ã€ŠBirth Of The Crafts-Godã€‹


 Chapter 1 Dead Again

    [[DISCLAIMER: NOTHING IN THIS WORK IS REAL OR RELATED TO ANYTHING REAL. THIS IS A WORK OF FICTION.

    "How is the research going?"

    A middle-aged man in military attire asked the scientist in whitebcoat beside him as they both nced at the sealed room ahead.

    The scientist, a man in his 30s with lush ck hair and a staggering appearance that would stun the hearts of women, frowned as he nudged his sses.

    "Giving life to an inanimate object isn''t that easy, you know? Acting on the idea will inevitably be more difficult than in theory, general. This is essentially stepping on the path of a god. "

    "But he has constantly done the impossible. It''s not a stretch to call him a god." The general smiled as he stared at a particr figure in the room.

    Around the duo were individuals of different military, political, and educational backgrounds and foundations. What they all had inmon was that they were famous people of their various backgrounds¡ªpeople who held sway over their upations and were renowned for their influence and achievements. However, at this moment, all eyes were on the personnel inside the sealed room ahead.

    A couple of metres away from the group was a sealed room with only one doorway that served as both an entry point and an exit point.

    The five vertices of the room were barricaded by metal walls that were at least two metres thick. The sixth vertice, which also had the door, was, however, formed by a ss wall. Although the wall was ss and transparent, its thickness was at least equal to the length of an adult''s forearm, and the material was a special metallic alloy that looked and acted like ss but was even more durable.

    Within the room were contraptions of cutting-edge equipment from advanced-level engineering and scientific research. One could say that simr equipment only existed in top-secret military bases, and the number in the world could be counted on one''s hand.

    From the robotic assistants to the high-techser-targeting systems, or even the strange energy reactors further in, the miniature particle elerators, and the energypressors, everything could be described as limited edition.

    Apart from the equipment, there were a few researchers¡ªseven or so¡ªcoated in white level A hazmat suits. They were either working with the equipment and machines or taking records of the progress of the experiment. Coincidentally, this metallic ss alloy was also a product of this team, or, to be specific, the team head.

    "It''s starting." The suave scientist silently said.

    "Beginning Alpha Testing of Particle 019, the Barrion Memory Alloy." An assistant in the experiment room announced.

    A microphone was fitted into his suit, which broadcast his voice to the spectators on the other side.

    "Begin." The general pressed a button on a remote in his hands.

    A green bulb lights up in the experiment room, giving the crew the go-ahead.

    History was about to be made¡ªin technology, in consumer products, and in war.

    . . .

    48 hourster...

    "Cheers to sess and a new world with a new Rhodia."

    "Cheers!"

    In a luxurious event hall, a party featuring some of the most powerful men in the country just kicked off. ssical music yed by a world-famous orchestra resounded in the hall while the guests could be found mingling with each other with a ss of champagne in hand.

    "You''re the man of the day who has made a remarkable achievement, and you''re just staying here all by yourself."

    A soft yet sweet voice sounded, catching the attention of a man who stood on the edge of the balcony, away from the crowd.

    In a silver gown that properly entuated her curves, ady with ck silky hair and a face capable of toppling a few cities, clearly at the peak of her beauty, walked over with a ss of champagne in each hand.

    "It is but one of my multiple achievements. I don''t really feel anything about it." The man replied as he twirled his ss filled with champagne.

    "Tch. Annoying as always." The woman snorted, but there was aplex look of warmth and mncholy in her eyes as she stared at the man.

    Lucas Saunters is currently 37 years old. The name might not seem special to an average man in most households, but to anyone in the science and even politicalmunities, he was a reputed genius in chemistry and, most especially, material science. So much so that some even began to nickname him the ''father of metals''.

    At a very young age, he had already begun to show signs of being a genius, but he truly stunned the world once he clocked 27 years old. His research, developments, and advancements in material science were unlike anything ever seen before.

    Before the age of 33, Lucas had won three Renobel prizes in either physics or chemistry for his research, two of which were consecutive when he was 30 and 31 years old. He also held the record for being the youngest Renobel Prize winner in chemistry.

    Lucas had developed a few new materials and elements that were unheard of, like the metallic ss alloy that was encased in the experiment room. Even the experiment that birthed thetest new material being celebrated in this banquet, the Barrion memory alloy, which could potentially win him a fourth Renobel prize, was a creation of his.

    Despite all of that, the chief celebrant of the asion was outside the party, giving off a lonely figure. It was simply his personality. Aside from his love for metals, Lucas rarely paid attention to anything or anyone else, not even her.

    "You should really stop drinking too much. It wouldn''t look good on your skin." Lucasmented, seeing the two sses of champagne held by the beauty of the material sciencemunity, Rachel Grey.

    "I dare you to say that again." Rachel retorted.

    Lucas nced at her and sighed, not saying a word further lest she throw a punch at him. In his mind, he thought that such a beauty being an alcoholic was weird behaviour, but he had seen much worse. At the same time, he wasn''t one to judge.

    Rachel approached Lucas in her tight-fitted silver-coloured dinner gown and downed one of the champagne sses before tossing it away.

    Lucas raised an eyebrow but didn''t say a word.

    "Are you really okay with them taking all the credit?" Rachel asked as she stared at Lucas.

    "It is not something to be really bothered about. I''ve made my mark in themunity and the world. Standing on the stage can get a little tiring, you know." Lucas replied.

    Although he made it sound simple, Rachel knew that the truth was different. She was, after all, his number one rival, a member of his team from thest project, as well as his number one lover, albeit unrequited and unknown to Lucas.

    Lucas Saunters. When a member of the sciencemunity thinks of the name, they imagine a world-ss genius like Einstein or Newton. However, when those in the political and even military sectors recall his name, they think of a walking weapon.

    Apart from some practical day-to-day creations, most of Lucas'' discoveries had the potential to be disastrous, an equivalence almost rivalling WMDs (weapons of mass destruction). About seventy percent of Lucas'' new discoveries were all capable of being turned into weapons, which attracted the attention of the military and also a ton of money being invested in his team and research.

    Of course, this also attracted the envy and ire of some in themunity, but Lucas never bothered about them. All he had in his eyes was hisb and research.

    The side effect of being a walking knowledge bank of weapons was having the attention of the whole world on him. If it weren''t for Rhodia being a top 5 world power, Lucas would have already been kidnapped by a foreign power and put under house arrest in a research facility.

    But even then, Lucas had still either received countless invites or suffered multiple assassination attempts in thest six years.

    Not many knew this, but as someone close to him and who had been paying so much attention to him, Rachel was aware of the burden Lucas carried.

    "I understand. Rachel sighed as she sipped on thest ss of champagne.

    The two remained quiet for a while, staring at the moon high up in the sky.

    ''It''s been 37 years now. Are you guys doing okay?'' Lucas got lost in his thoughts, staring at the moon. Those around him only knew him as Lucas Saunters, but only he knew that this was just his second shot at life.

    "Lucas," Rachel suddenly broke the silence.

    "Hmm?" Lucas turned towards her.

    A stunning face that could steal the show and attention, even in a crowded ce, stared at him. Even at the age of 32, there was no sign of aging on her, and she looked to be at the peak of her beauty: mature and regal like an empress, yet exquisite like a fairy. However, there was aplex mixture of emotions in the eyes of this iparable beauty.

    "What''s wrong?" Lucas asked.

    Just as the words left his mouth, Rachel leaned close and kissed him abruptly.

    Being so close to each other, Lucas could smell the perfume on her, but his thoughts were distracted from that. He could feel her soft lips clinging to his and moisturizing them with the touch of her tongue.

    What felt like an eternity but was in reality a mere two seconds brought the kiss to an end.

    "...Rachel." Lucas felt confused.

    Rumor had it that a young minister had once shown interest in Rachel, promising her a life filled with luxury and rxation, but she had rejected him. And now that beauty had just locked lips with his.

    "Don''t say anything." Rachel stopped him with a smile on her face.

    "Consider it my month''s wages."

    Saying that, Rachel suddenly took off, leaving behind a stunned Lucas.

    "Was I just taken advantage of?" Lucas whispered.

    Luckily, Rachel wasn''t close by, or she would have buried him with her fists.

    Feelingplicated about what took ce as well as how to respond to Rachel''s emotions, Lucas sighed once again and kept on drinking.

    The dinner party went on, but Rachel was nowhere to be found. Lucas guessed that she felt too embarrassed and left early.

    "It''s about time we depart." A man in a ck suit whispered to Lucas.

    This was one of his personal bodyguards, an assigned agent from the state''s secret security service, the Federal Interior Security Agency, or FISS for short.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Lucas nodded and left with him.

    Outside, a limo guarded by two other suited men who were also FISS agents was parked waiting for him. Even then, the driver was one too. A sedan was parked ahead of the limo, and within it were two more agents. From this lineup, one could see how much the nation of Rhodia valued Lucas; after all, a single FISS agent was equivalent to five highly trained military agents.

    Six FISS agents were the same as 30 military guards. Only the president had more FISS agents than Lucas, while the vice president was on par.

    Apart from the FISS agents, Lucas usually had a security convoy made up of some men from the military with him. However, as this was a celebratory ball involving multiple influential and powerful guests, there was no need for a military escort. Overall, such an event would be peaceful, and no one would have enough guts to make a move there.

    After Lucas got into the limo, the agent who escorted him sat shotgun, while the other two, who stood by the side of the vehicle, sat in the backseat of the sedan.

    A few minutes after the group had left the venue, an estate appeared up ahead. It was a safe heaven made by the Rhodia government to house and protect important personnel who could bepared to national treasures.

    "We are almost home, Mr. Lucas." The bodyguard, who sat in the passenger seat of the limo, said:.

    Lucas nodded and didn''t say a word. The celebratory dinner party had been eventful but ended in aplex manner for Lucas. For the first time ever, his thoughts were currently filled with a woman and not metal. There was no doubt that Rachel''s actions today had shaken him.

    ''I guess I''ll just sleep over it and deal with the issue tomorrow.'' Lucas thought.

    As the convoy approached the estate, they slowed down before the gate for the usual security check and clearance. Just as the sedan in front of them got cleared, something abruptly took ce.

    Boom.

    "An explosion!"

    The guards at the gate yelled. Some of them exited a building that stood by the gate and ran to the scene.

    "Fire! Call the fire department and the bomb squad. Get a team here!" One of them, who seemed to be in charge, ordered with a shout.

    "Whose car was that? Who was inside?" The captain asked one of the men who regrly handled vehicle clearance and security checks. As it waste in the night and he was inside the building, he failed to identify the vehicle.

    "That, that¡­" The young man was stunned.

    "Answer me!" The captain roared.

    "That was a Hondian 43LMS. Only one person has that car apart from the president and vice president." The young man didn''t give a direct answer but he believed this would be enough.

    As expected, when the captain heard those words, he froze in shock.

    "We are dead."

 Chapter 2 : Transmigration

    Eretre was a upied majorly by a two-legged specie known as hyumans. On paper, they looked no different from humans but they were very much different gically. One could even say that hyumans were an evolved version of humans, just like the homo sapiens were evolved versions of the homo Erectus, but the gap was wider and not just a difference in skull or teeth size.

    Hyumans were currently in their prosperous age, having explored the universe and conquered the stars. This was all thanks to one of the gic improvements they had whenpared to humans, which enabled them to manipte and assimte ster energy. Utilizing this ability, hyumans had grown stronger and defeated countless civilizations to be the overwhelming force they were now.

    Eretre was a in the hyuman upied sr system, Ken, and was one of eights.

    Currently in this, in an alleyway in one of the nations located on Eretre, a young man sprawled across the floor slowly regained his consciousness.

    "Ugh, where am I?" The young man, who looked to be in his early 20s, subconsciously muttered as he used one arm to support his body while the other hand massaged his forehead.

    The young man nced around to try and see if he could recognize his surroundings, but at that moment, a strange wave hit him.

    "Ugh."

    With a low cry, he grabbed his head with both hands as he felt a wave of memories flush into his head. Those weren''t the memories of his present life or anything but his past life. He remembered who he was.

    "Hehe, so in the end, I still died again huh?" The young manughed. However, if someone else were close by, they would sense a hint of sorrow in his voice.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Rising to his feet, the young man nced around until he spotted a window on a building nearby. This was an alleyway with buildings beside it after all so it was normal to find a window or two. The young began to walk towards the window and nced at his reflection once he was close.

    "This¡­how is this possible?" The young man, or rather Lucas Saunters, was shocked.

    This body wasn''t the body of some native of this world or anything. It was actually his; or to be exact, the body of his first life.

    "Was it all a dream? Or did I go back in time? Howe?" Lucas was stunned.

    However, he realized something strange. The air here was different, both from that of his previous life as well as his first life. In his previous life as Lucas Saunters, the air was a mix of very negligiblepounds in the air; a product of pollution in the world.

    As for his original life, the presence of true energy and mana were the most prevalent points, but neither Earth from his past life, nor this world he was currently in had any. The air in this world was entirely different, and the closest description Lucas had for it was ''pure''.

    In that case, despite being in the body of what looked to be his younger self, Lucas realised that he didn''t go back to his previous world. He was in a brand new world but in an ''old'' body.

    ''What the heck is really going on?'' Lucas frowned as he walked towards the exit of the alley while pondering on his circumstance.

    The truth was Lucas had no knowledge or idea on how his previous transmigration had worked. Without the prerequisite strength, it was impossible to try and unravel the mysteries surrounding a mysterious phenomenon such as transmigration. However, Earth didn''t have any sources of mana or true energy, so Lucas had given up the idea.

    This was why he began to focus on the study of materials and metal; an element that fascinated him even in his first life, after all, the Lucas from then was a renowned cksmith.

    As he exited the alley, Lucas was greeted by an impressive sight. Low altitude flying cars, or hover vehicles circled around the ce in a hurried yet orderly fashion, towering buildings and floating tforms entered his sight. In the distance, he could even spot skyscrapers with heights averaging between 400-600m.

    Amidst what could be described as a jungle of advanced technology, the colourful hair atop the heads of the walking humanoids had also managed to grab Lucas'' attention[1]. Compared to the humans on Earth, those here had an abundance of naturally colourful hair.

    ''No wait. They aren''t humans.'' Lucas thought as he studied them carefully from the edge of the alley.

    Although ''they'' looked just the same as humans, Lucas felt they weren''t the same. His soul was quite powerful, a result of his training and tempering in his first life as well as his first transmigration. As such, it was quite sensitive.

    While he was suspicious and cautious, Lucas figured out that he wouldn''t achieve much by merely hiding in the dark, so he left the alley and decided to walk up to someone.

    The closest person before him was a youngdy who looked no different from a human except for the naturally purple frizzy hair she had. If it weren''t for his senses, Lucas would have taken her to be a youngdy on a wig.

    "Excuse me. Can you please tell me where I am?" Lucas stopped before her and asked.

    At first, the youngdy was shocked and confused by his actions but then a look of disgust suddenly crept on her face.

    "Get the f*ck away from me."

    "¡­"

    Lucas was speechless as he stared at that face that disyed so much repulsion. If he hadn''t stared at his reflection a while ago, Lucas would have almost mistaken that he had a pile of dog shit as his face.

    "I''m just asking a question. What''s with your reaction?" Lucas frowned.

    No matter what, the treatment he got was strange for a simple question. Having lived close to the peak in his first life, and being a massive achiever with a statusparable to a natural treasure in his second life, it was natural for Lucas to have a degree of pride.

    Being looked at like a disgusting vermin that should be in the sewers was definitely a new treatment, and one Lucas couldn''t get used to all of a sudden; especially from someone who looked not much older than his current body.

    "Didn''t you hear me you stinking human? Get out of my face before I make you go extinct." The purple-haired youngdy frowned in disgust.

    ''Wait a minute¡­ disgusting human?''

    Something seemed to click in his head but Lucas didn''t have the liberty to keep pondering on this as he noticed that thedy had caused such amotion that the others were staring at them, or rather, him. On one hand, some had an expression almost as if they were looking at a zoo animal while the others, just like the youngdy, were repulsed.

    Lucas stepped away from thedy''s sigh, returning back to the alley he exited with his heart filled with shock. The shock wasn''t just due to the experience but the fact that he also noticed that thenguage was quite different from any he knew on Earth, yet strangely enough, Lucas could speak it.

    ''Where the fuck did Ind this time?''

    Just at that moment, a screen popped up before Lucas apanied by a mechanical voice sounding in his ears.

    "Pre-booting processpleted.

    Initializing loading sequence¡­

    Loadingpleted.

    Connecting to the Origin source¡­

    Connectionplete.

    Verifying host''s eligibility and assessing host''s capabilities¡­

    Verificationpleted.

    Assessmentpleted.

    Starting up programme¡­

    Start uppleted.

    Wee, Lucas Yohan Saunters."

 Chapter 3 : Hyumans

    "Pre-booting processpleted.

    Initializing loading sequence¡­

    Loadingpleted.

    Connecting to the Origin source¡­

    Connectionplete.

    Verifying host''s eligibility and assessing host''s capabilities¡­

    Verificationpleted.

    Assessmentpleted.

    Starting up programme¡­

    Start uppleted.

    Wee, Lucas Yohan Saunters.

    Please check your inventory for the System Activation And Wee Package."

    A few lines of words filled Lucas'' vision as he stood frozen in shock. Although there were a bunch of words, one thing crossed Lucas'' mind at that moment, ''system''.

    If it were prior to his transmigration to Earth, Lucas would be confused right now, but it wasn''t. Before the age of 27, when he became popr on the international stage, Lucas had spent his time exploring the culture and technology of earth. Even after that, he still had a few hobbies and pastimes outside his research.

    One of them was reading; however, it wasn''t just reading research papers, library books and informative articles but also novels. From them, Lucas knew a lot of fantasy terms and ideas, some of which, surprisingly, were real in the world of his first life.

    Seeing one y out in front of him, Lucas couldn''t help but feel suspicious. In most simr tropes, the system was a creation of a certain being who either wanted to utilize the host for a greater plot or possess him. In summary, it rarely meant he would have a peaceful ending.

    ''When did this happen? Who could it be?'' Lucas contemted as he furrowed his brows.

    All the names and faces of top mages, witches, deserters and cultivators in his first life began to cross through his mind but none of the seemed to fit the shoe.

    ''Well, one step at a time I think.'' Lucas thought as he decided tomunicate with the system first.

    At the moment, his first priority was to understand his new environment, but with the racist treatment he got earlier, that would be difficult. Luckily, this time around, Lucas had a system with him.

    "System," Lucas spoke quietly.

    "where am I?"

    "The host is currently located in the suburbs of Bands City, which is located in the Groeten continent of Eretre, which in turn is in the Ken sr system. For more details on this, host needs to explore on his own or fully unlock the system." The mechanical voice from earlier sounded once again.

    "Definitely not Earth."

    Receiving the system''s response, Lucas sighed as he had now confirmed that he was in another world.

    Earth was in the Milky way gxy and in an unnamed sr system. Although unnamed, one thing was for sure, the sr system wasn''t Ken and the blue wasn''t named Eretre.

    "System, what are you?" Lucas asked the next question on his mind.

    "I am the Training system for the Crafts god. My very existence lies within my role, which is to grow the host to be apetent craftsman and rise to the rank of god."

    ''A god? And a Crafts god at that.'' Lucas was surprised at the response as he never expected it.

    It wasn''t like the books he read where the system helped the host to get stronger and reach the peak of strength, but instead wanted to aid him in crafts.

    ''Wait a minute¡­''

    "System, are you the one responsible for my first transmigration?" Lucas asked with a serious tone.

    In his first life, Lucas was known as Yohan and he was one of the top 3 most popr and skilled forgers of all time. What''s more, he was the youngest of the three and managed to reach that level far earlier than the others.

    At the age of 443 years, Lucas or rather Yohan, had managed to be a grandmaster at forging and sixty yearster, his skill was rumoured to be closely approaching that of the second greatest forger alive at that time, a man with more than three thousand years of experience.

    503 years might sound like a lot, but to Yohan and those around him as well as the society of that world, he was actually a junior who just reached adulthood. He was destined to be one of the best in history if not for that incident back then which lead to his death.

    Thinking about it now, Lucas wasn''t suspicious that the system had nned his death, but that it had taken his soul away from the cycle of samsara and transmigrated him onto Earth with his memories intact, before doing so once again now.

    "Correct."

    It was just one word but it stunned Lucas. Not even the Ancients back in his first life were capable of such, but the system was. This was both impressive but also scary. After all, Lucas now had his life in its hands.

    "Since you''re to help me, you have no evil designs on me right?" Lucas asked innocently.

    "Indeed." The system replied.

    ''If it had any ideas on me, it should have acted on them already but it hasn''t. This means that I''ve either not fulfilled all the conditions or it is truly harmless.'' However, thinking up to there, Lucas chuckled. It was clearly the first option as even the system had somewhat admitted it already.

    ''Wait a minute, don''t the systems in those novels have the ability to read minds? What if it can?''

    "I can." The system''s voice sounded again.

    ''...''

    Awkwardness filled the air as Lucas froze with an expression simr to that of child who got caught stealing candy.

    "Ahem. System, tell me more about this world. Not in terms of location but culture, race and simr details." Lucas asked with a straight face, almost as if he wasn''t the one being suspicious of the system''s intentions a while ago.

    "Due to the host not unlocking the full functionality of the system, only the basic information can be provided."

    "Go on."

    "First will be the lifeforms. The Ken sr system has eights of which only five are habitable. It is majorly popted by hyumans, with three of the five habitables having a concentration of at least 80% hyumans, the fourth having 60% while thest having less than 2%.

    Apart from hyumans, there are also other winged anthropoids which is actually amon term for two winged humanoid species, the Mara and Vara. Finally, there are the Nysa, the Kerman, and the human races."

    ''That''s quite a lot of races.'' Lucas raised an eyebrow at the report, astounded a bit by it.

    Although his previous life did have some other intelligent lifeforms, they were mostly monsters that had gained sentience and very few inherently intelligent species. However, just this sr system alone six races on fives.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Apart from these intelligent races, there also exist a special ss of animals distinctly separated from the usual taxonomy ssification[1]. Although they are still in the same domain as other living creatures, they belong to a new kingdom of creatures in the taxonomy; the Destum, ormonly known as Deste beasts." The system continued.

    Lucas sighed and felt grateful that his memory was impressive as he could recall his high school biology lessons, otherwise he would be confused by the terms used by the system, just like the readers and the author a few minutes ago.

    "The current rulers of the Eretre is the Oklo Dynasty. The current ruler of Bands city is the city lord who is also the head of the Bergs family."

    "What about the sr system?" Lucas asked.

    Although that was out of reach for him, being able to know this wouldn''t hurt.

    "ess denied." The system ndly responded.

    Lucas'' lips twitched.

    "Hold on. You mentioned the hyumans as the dominating race and humans as separate. Aren''t they the same?" Lucas abruptly recalled.

    "They aren''t. Although their ancestry can be traced to be the same, the hyuman race is an evolved version of the human race due to artificially controlled intervention." The system answered.

    Lucas finally had an inkling of why he was looked down on earlier, as if he were a cockroach. It was simply because the other party thought of him as a lesser existence.

    Even in his past life in Rhodia, racism, although frowned at and very much discouraged, urred amongst a species that were the same but different due to skin colour. In this new world, the difference wasn''t simply skin colour and was on a gic level, with one being an evolved version, so it was inevitable that the treatment would be even much worse.

    It was no longer a matter of racism but speciesism.

    "Artificial? By who? And what for?" Lucas asked the system as he felt it had the answers he wanted.

    "ess denied."

    Not too surprised by this, Lucas turned to the only exit of the alley after a sigh and suddenly asked.

    "I need information about the training system in this world as well as how to level you up."

    When he was outside, apart from noticing the difference in their soul wavelength which determined them as a different species, Lucas also discovered that the hyumans were much stronger. Some of them even seemed to possess some sort of special energy within their bodies. Without a doubt, those were practitioners of a special kind of magic system, martial art or something simr.

    "ess denied."

    "The heck?" Lucas cursed out loud.

    The system however, ignored him and continued.

    "To level up the system, host has toplete missions and make achievements. The host is also reminded not to be over-reliant on the system for information and explore this brand new world."

    It seemed that the system''s first response was to the first half of Lucas'' question which could be counted as an individual question.

    At that moment, footsteps sounded at the exit of the alley. Three figures appeared blocking the path and set their eyes on Lucas.

    ''As I thought.'' Lucas frowned.

    His intuition had sensed something which was why he turned towards the exit and in the end, he was right.

    One of the three men suddenly smiled at him.

    "A human, huh? And a young one at that. You look quite healthy and handsome. Hehe. I wonder how much you will go for in the ve market."

 Chapter 4 : Slave Traders

    "A human, huh? And a young one at that. You look quite healthy and handsome. Hehe. I wonder how much you will go for in the ve market."

    Three men blocked the exit of the alley as they stared at Lucas.

    One of them scanned him with a creepy look on his face while the other two grinned mischievously.

    Lucas frowned but didn''t know what to do. He could sense that these men were quite strong; although they didn''t seem to possess a mysterious energy like some of the hyumans he had sensed earlier, these fellows still gave of a dangerous vibe.

    Also, Lucas had just gotten transmigrated into a new world and although it was with his body, there was no ounce of magic within him. Even his physical strength was average.

    ''Damn it.'' Lucas cursed as his brain went into quick-thinking. He had just transmigrated into this world and hadn''t even seen most of it. There was no way he would let it end just like this.

    "Can I help you gentlemen?" Lucas smiled while hemunicated with the system in his head.

    ''Hey system, don''t tell me you want me to go out just like this? Isn''t there usually some cheat-code or something?''

    "Please check your inventory." The system sounded in his ears.

    Meanwhile, the trio were stunned by Lucas as they suddenly began tough.

    "Kid, you''re really funny." The previous speakerughed.

    All three were at least middle-aged, so addressing Lucas as a kid wasn''t entirely wrong from their perspective.

    "Indeed, you can help us. Juste with us quietly." Another one of them spoke up with an evil smirk.

    During this time, Lucas had summoned the system interface, which was only visible to him and found the inventory section almost immediately. Entering that section, he saw the wee package, which was a red gift box with a purple coloured ribbon on top. Ignoring the trio before him, Lucas hurriedly opened the gift box and nced inside it.

    ''I should have known better.'' Lucas sighed inwardly.

    A few items had appeared in his inventory after the bundle was opened, but none of them were practical enough to get away from the situation.

    There were three sets of strange looking clothes, two sets of cksmithing apron, a few loaves of bread, and twenty metal ingots of two different metals -ten each- weighing 1kg individually.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    There were also a few cksmithing tools, like an anvil, a pair of tongs, a hammer, a hand-held sander, two sets of heat resistant gloves, a box of ten chisels of different sizes and shapes, another box of punch sets, a grinder, and a swage. In summary, apart from the clothing and bread, which stood out, the remaining items were portable tools rted to crafting and forging.

    Even though he didn''t get what he expected, Lucas wasn''t too disappointed. While these may be work tools, in the right hands, they could also be used as weapons.

    "What''s taking you so long, kid?" The man with the evil smirk said this after noticing Lucas'' silent reaction.

    He moved his hand towards his back and withdrew an object that looked like a dagger. Having spent so much time studying metals and cksmithing, Lucas could see that the metal used to make the dagger was umon and unlike any he had seen before. He could also feel a strange energy on the surface of the weapon, reminding him of special items from his very first life; magic weapons.

    Although the dagger wasn''t a magic weapon, it seemed to behave as one but was still a lot weaker.

    "Oh, I''m sorry. I just had a little bit of stomachache just then." Lucas naively smiled before walking towards them.

    The trio felt that they had sessfully scared him; after all, the target was a human while they were hyumans. Although their ster refining wasn''t anything noteworthy, they were still strong enough to handle a human youth. It was better that things went smoothly like this than cause amotion.

    The city government might not seem to care much about humans considering how speciesism was a norm here, but that wasn''t entirely the case. On the surface, humans still had their rights and were protected by the government; after all, they shared the same ancestry as hyumans and were the predecessors of hyumans.

    So, even though ve trade wasmon, it had to be done under wraps. If Lucas were to cause a scene, the city patrol officers might step in.

    "Good kid."

    Seeing Lucas just a few steps away from them, less than three metres, the trio grinned as they felt they could already see their pay rolling in.

    "What''s going on here?"

    Just as Lucas was prepared to summon a chisel and kill the men, a soft voice spoke out.

    The trio abruptly turned to the exit, and even Lucas had his attention drawn. There, a stunningdy with ck silky hair, a stern face, and an arrogant air around her stared at the four men with suspicion in her eyes. Dressed in a unique blue and ck uniform with ck trousers and a ck boot, she exuded an air of indifference and a powerful aura.

    One nce was enough for Lucas to tell that she was a woman in power.

    As for the trio, they nced at the special crest fixed on the woman''s chest alongside the medallion hanging on her neck and frowned. Thedy was a city patrol officer and not just an average one.

    Although, based on her uniform, her rank of lieutenant wasn''t something to be scared of, the medallion on her neck was an insignia of a certain organization within the Bands City Patrol Corps; the Red Fangs.

    Unlike the regr Patrol Corps members who functioned like the police, the Red Fangs were a special unit that dealt with high-risk cases. Sometimes, they even performed joint exercises with the Defense Corps.

    "Oh nothing. We just found our buddy here, who was apparently lost, and came to help him with directions." The man who spoke up the first time hurriedly replied. From how he behaved, he seemed to be the leader of the group.

    Although the crackdown on very wasn''t part of the job of the Red Fang, they had worked with the regr Patrol Corps members on one operation. The trio didn''t intend on drawing the attention of a Red Fang to them.

    "Ain''t I right, bro?" The man nced at Lucas with a threatening smile.

    Lucas stared at him for a moment before smiling back.

    "Indeed. But I just remembered the road back, so I won''t be following you guys any longer."

    The trio frowned but didn''t push their luck with the female cop here. They watched as Lucas left the alley while cursing their luck.

    "Don''t think I don''t know who you guys are. Don''t push it." The woman said as she stared at them.

    "Alright officer. We will be off now." The leader chuckled and walked off with his crew.

    Once he passed the officer, he scowled and tried to find Lucas, but thetter was long gone.

 Chapter 5 : First Mission

    Lucas was already long gone from the scene by the time the trio departed. This wasn''t to say that he was scared of them but that Lucas felt it was unnecessary to draw the matter. Originally, he would have killed them if the female cop didn''t show up but since she did, he decided not to. The reason was quite simple; Lucas had just arrived in this new world that he knew nothing about.

    Rather than creating trouble out of nowhere, it was better to leave it behind until hepletely understood this world.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    One thing he had learnt was the intense speciesism but from the female cop''s attitude, Lucas guessed that not everyone was like that. However, he couldn''t be so sure that he would be treated fairly if he had killed those three and it waster found out.

    Walking around the city, Lucas tried to keep a low profile considering he was ''special''. Luckily for him, it turned out not to be too difficult. Unless someone paid close enough attention, they wouldn''t really notice his status as a human after all, hyumans and humans looked almost the same.

    ''First I need to gather information.'' Lucas thought.

    This would be difficult if he faced bigotry but Lucas already had an idea in mind.

    ''From the system''s description, this seems to be a really developed society with interster travel capabilities. Developed societies on Earth tend to have a ce with cheap services andrge traffic.''

    Recalling the pubs, open-air restaurants and cafes back on Earth, Lucas felt that was a good option. Althoughck of currency was a problem, in ces like this, he could simply take a seat and order anything while he tries to strike up a conversation with others.

    As for how to find such a ce, Lucas simply decided to ask around. One might wonder why he didn''t use this method to get the information he needed. This was because no one would stand up for a long time and answer every one of his questions.

    After experiencing one derisive look and three stares of disgust apanied with disregard, Lucas finally got the directions he needed from someone, who albeit wasn''t as discriminative as the others, still behaved awkward while talking to Lucas.

    ''Is the bias really that deep?'' Lucas frowned.

    Humans were innately a special existence on Earth, but despite being intellectually superior, they had certain negative qualities that were demeaning of their intelligence. Despite having evolved to a newer species entirely, it still seemed that such characteristics remained with them.

    In a couple of minutes, Lucas finally appeared before an unimpressive two-storey building with a signboard that said Klein''s Pub. By the standards of Earth, the building was quite impressive and would cost no less than a couple hundred thousand, but from the various buildings he had passed by so far, the pub was indeed unimpressive.

    Nheless, Lucas wasn''t here to admire the scenery but to obtain information, and from the ambience within the pub, he felt that this would suffice.

    "Hey owner, send over a few bottles of jaur."

    A boorish voice sounded just after Lucas stepped into the pub.

    Klein''s pub was a popr hangout location in Bands city. While it couldn''tpare with the four star restaurants or even the three star locations, it was impressive in its own way. With an assortment of affordable drinks and meals while still retaining good quality, an underground arena and a great location at the outskirts of the city, it was the ce to be for any average hyuman or alien.

    Lucas could see the bustling atmosphere which had a mix of hyumans and winged anthropoids which he suspected to be either the Mara or Vara races. These fellows were on average 1.9 metres tall and they each had a hawkish appearances with pointed ears, feet with talons, and colorful wings. There were also some individuals who looked hyuman but not, presumably of mixed blood.

    Some had long ears and vertical eyes, others had four eyes instead of the usual two with a ferocious mouth and some even had horns on them.

    One could say that the pub was a melting point of different races and species, and with its spacious interior, there was no problem having them all together.

    Being in this ce, Lucas felt somewhatforted as he thought that even with his nature as a human, he shouldn''t attract much attention.

    He was wrong.

    "A human?"

    A light voice sounded in the midst of the noise,

    Usually, no one would have bothered or even noticed, but the content of the speech was quite shocking to say the least. All of a sudden, the pub went quiet as everyone nced at the speaker who happened to be staring at the entrance. Gazing in that, they found an individual who kept aposed face and studied him a bit just to realise that the speaker was indeed correct; that was a human.

    "Oh my god, I haven''t seen one of them in a while now." Someone remarked offhandedly.

    Having so many individuals stare at him, Lucas felt ufortable, but still maintained a calmposure. In his first life as Yohan, he had met with more powerful individuals whose pressure -even just a one percent of it- was more daunting than the stares of the group here.

    Even in his second life which was the one before this, Lucas had attended events with hundreds and thousands of individuals and gave a speech. He had even stood before a Rhodian council once whichprised of the president and vice president, the senate and all the other influential individuals in the nation without breaking down.

    "Haven''t you guys seen a human before? Let the young man off and focus on your conversations." A grumpy voice sounded from the door that blocked the kitchen.

    Maybe it was thanks to the speaker, but after the first few seconds of staring, the group seemed to have gotten bored and returned to their prior actions almost as if they never looked his way. However, Lucas knew this was otherwise as he could still hear some whispering about him and ncing his way. Nheless, this was much better than being treated like a zoo attraction.

    Ignoring all of this, Lucas walked to a table by the corner and sat. As the pub was almost at full capacity, there were no empty tables, but the one he chose only had two other individuals. However, Lucas had no problem with this as it would make things easier for him.

    "You''re a human huh? You''ve got guts showing in the city like this." One of the men who wore a pair of sses and had brown hair studied Lucas.

    "And why''s that?" Lucas acted natural as he asked.

    The four-eyed fellow smiled and didn''t answer, instead taking a sip from the ss in his hand.

    "Are you daft or something? Isn''t it obvious? You''d get kidnapped and sold in the ve rings." The man who reeked of alcohol answered instead.

    Hearing that, Lucas recalled his prior experience and realised that it was actuallymon here. Despite thews and the existence of the patrol corps, people still kidnapped humans and traded them as ves in broad daylight, otherwise this wouldn''t be well known in the city.

    "Seeing as you came here looking ignorant, I''m guessing this is your first time out huh? Which area are you from anyway? The Eastern Suburbs? The slums? Or is it from outside? Digress?

    I heard the city is quite amazing for something built by humans and mixed bloods." The drunkard bombarded questions right after the other to Lucas.

    Thetter didn''t reply right away but smiled mysteriously. How could he reply when he knew nothing of what the man spoke. But if Lucas simply disyed hisck of knowledge, it might make things more troublesome for him, hence the silence.

    The drunkard felt his question was crossing the line so he kept quiet while enjoying the view outside.

    Lucas however, had just decided to move with his n. Staring at the two, he now struck up a conversation.

    . . .

    At the end of the conversation, Lucas walked out of the pub with a much calmer expression. Although it was difficult, he had managed to do get some information from the strange duo thanks to his socialising skill.

    Lucas opened his interface then nced at a section of it; the Mission tab. After opening the section, he saw at the very top a line of words:

    [[ Mission Description: As a trainee on the path of the Craftsgod, you should have a base of operations. Find and own one within one week.

    Overview: Own a building and build a store.

    Rewards: An Adventurer''s Manual

    Penalty: Death.]]

 Chapter 6 : Vinis

    [[ Mission Description: As a trainee on the path of the Craftsgod, you should have a base of operations. Find and own one within one week.

    Overview: Own a building and build a store.

    Rewards: An Adventurer''s Manual

    Penalty: Death.]]

    During his conversation with the strange pair, Lucas had received a notification from the system informing him of a new mission; his very first. The details surprised him and made Lucas even more irritated with the system but he didn''t say a word about it. In fact, he had to guard his thoughts for the moment as he really couldn''t ascertain whether the system was to be trusted or not.

    Only folks who aren''t cautious would abruptly ce their trust on an existence that had manipted their life and death while making a home out of their consciousness without permission or a heads up.

    While the system had indeed stated it had no negative intentions and it had yet to actually do anything harmful to Lucas, as someone who has been betrayed in the past, he wouldn''t trust it just because it said so.

    As for the mission, Lucas had asked for information about any unowned or on-sale properties within the vicinity to which he got an answer from the man with the sses. They both scheduled to meet the next day in the pub with the property owner to discuss the deal.

    As for the price, the man informed Lucas that it would cost at least four thousand federal coins as he didn''t know the averagend price here, but toplete the mission he decided to go for it.

    Lucas couldn''t determine whether that was expensive or not so he decided to do more research with the time on his hands.

    Staring at the sun high up in the sky, Lucas felt he still had a bit more time on his hands and walked in another direction.

    The reason why he had scheduled the meeting for tomorrow was to purchase the building as soon as possible, after all, he had no roof over his head. As for where his confidence to get the money came from, it was the reward from the system.

    The metal ingots Lucas had received from the system looked valuable and the energy sensation he got from them wasn''t low. As such, Lucas believed that he could pawn these metals for some cash. However, he didn''t n on putting up more than two of them.

    It took Lucas a considerable amount of time to get to the spot he was directed to, but looking at the exterior, Lucas felt that it could be worth it. The building wasn''t luxurious per say, but it looked much better andN?v(el)B\\jnn

    deluxe than Klein''s Pub.

    "Vinis."

    Pawnshops usually weren''t popr in Bands city, but this area of the city was different.

    From the information Lucas got from the two, Bands city was an extremelyrge city. In fact, calling it a city was an understatement as it was actually a city-state. The city-state of Bands consists of twenty districts, five of which made up the main city while the other fifteen were essentially smaller cities and towns scattered outside the main city.

    The area Lucas had appeared in was in one of the five districts of the main city, the West wing. Compared to the other locations, the West Wing district was more poorer and pointed towards the Wastnds, arge expanse of space devoid of greenery and filled with a mountainous terrain.

    If one were to head further west out of Bands city from West Wing district, they would encounter the slums; a ce where the poorest of the poor stay as well as all manners of individuals and in between the Wastnds and West Wing district.

    It was due to the rtively poor economic status of the West Wing that pawnshops thrived in this location. Offering loans and sometimes buying items was a business that profited quite a lot here in the West wing.

    But of all the various pawnshops and trade houses in the district, Vinis was well known for it fair deals, offering up to 90% of an item''s value as loan when pawning, which was much higher than the typical 75-80%.

    Since he was low on cash, Lucas wanted to get the best value for his items while he can.

    After entering the building which was guarded by some men, Lucas scanned around as he headed to one of the empty front desks ahead.

    "Good day. Pawn or sale?" The young man behind the counter spoke without looking up.

    "Pawn." Lucas replied a secondter.

    "Item and amount please."

    Handing over a purple metal ingot to the young man, Lucas stated, "Full price."

    In the Vinis pawnshop, one could decided how much value percentage of the coteral they wanted to loan. Full price indicated the highest which was 90%.

    The young man received the ingot and weighed it with his hands almost immediately. Once he turned his nce towards the metal, a look of shock shed on his face and it took him a while to conceal it, but Lucas had already spotted it. The young man finally turned his gaze towards Lucas and seemed surprised but hid it much quicker this time.

    Lucas guessed that the young man figured his identity as a human based on the second look of surprise but he wasn''t bothered. ording to the words of the drunkard, although humans were rare, they weren''t extinct or endangered. In fact, the system had already stated that humans did in fact live in this world, but just in the minority.

    "This is a Purple Iridium. It''s quite rare, but the energy in it isn''t up there. The size is also quite small."

    After scanning the metal ingot with a special hand-held device, the young man began to talk.

    "I''d say the value of this item is 5,500 federal coins. 90% would be 4,950 but I''ll round it up five thousand seeing as you''re a new face." The young man smiled at Lucas.

    From his attitude, one would feel his actions were professional yet friendly to the customer. There was no doubt that the fellow was a skilled businessman, but who was Lucas? More especially, who was with him?

    "System? Is that the appropriate value?" Lucas asked.

    "No."

    "What''s the correct value for this amount?"

    "Between 10,000 to 12,000 depending on the demand."

    A simple reply made Lucas frown as he stared at the dealer. Although he was shocked by the value of the metal, Lucas was even more irritated by the fact that the dealer offered him little. While it was true that Lucas wasn''t selling the metal but rather pawning it, as he was just starting off in a new world, the more money he could have in hand, the better things would be for him.

    "Since you are aware it is Purple Iridium, don''t you think that''s a bit too low." Lucas replied with a frown.

    The dealer raised an eyebrow, surprised that Lucas seemed to know the true value of the metal but didn''t fret. Instead he kept his smile as he replied.

    "While you are indeed correct, our store has a habit of offering lower values to unregistered customers. This lessens the debt burden on them and makes it easier for them to pay back. Also, you''re merely pawning the item to us and not trading it, so there shouldn''t be much of a hassle on this. If anything, this deal is in your favour.

    Of course, if you want a loan based on the real value, which is ten thousand federal coins, we can work something out and offer you nine thousand instead. Our store values our reputation above all else."

    Although the words made sense, Lucas felt something strange with them. Also, the store presented the lowest possible price for Purple Iridium as its real value. It was clear that this was how they made their profit even while offering a high rate. By giving a lower ount of an item''s value, even if the debtor ended up defaulting on the debt, they would still profit.

    And since the value they gave was factually correct, the Vinis pawnshop stood out from other pawnshops who gave lower prices.

    "If you aren''t content with that either, we can work something else."

    "How about we do this? I''ll take the five thousand and if I require more money, I''ll change my application to nine thousand, receiving an extra four thousand." Lucas replied.

    "That isn''t a problem, but understand that if you eventually upgrade to the nine thousand offer, the interest rate would be calcted based on that." The dealer countered.

    "No problem." Lucas confidently replied.

    The dealer then prepared the documents following which Lucas scanned through it and signed before handing over the metal.

    "Cash or transfer?" The dealer asked.

    "Card." Lucas said.

    "I presume you are aware of the processing fee of 20 federal coins?"

    "Fine by me." Lucas shrugged. However, deep down, he felt quite shocked.

    One of the reasons why the Vinis store was very popr was because of their treatment to customers. An example was the payment options. While cash or transfers were the go-to options, there was the alternative of requesting a pre-paid debit card. This was for individuals, who for one reason or the other, didn''t have a bank ount and had no intention of moving around with arge sum of cash.

    However, from his conversation with the duo in the pub, Lucas was aware that the average monthly ie in Bands city was 500 federal coins, but this was on the higher side for those in West Wing district. The average in West wing district was somewhere around 400 federal coins. In regions outside the city, it was even lower.

    As such, paying a processing fee of 20 federal coins for a pre-paid debit card that would eventually be useless was quite extravagant, but Lucas didn''t have much of a choice. It was safer to move with a card than a bag of cash.

    The dealer then handed over to Lucas a stic card. It was a prepaid debit card that had already been loaded with the money. Once he got the money, Lucas departed the store.

    However, the dealer had a glint in his eyes as he stared at Lucas. A few momentster, he left his position and went deeper into the building.

 Chapter 7 : Stellar Refinement And mDNA

    Having left the pawnshop, Lucas'' next task was to find a ce to stay for the rest of the day as the next day, he would be meeting the sses-wearing man from the pub to go purchase a store. For the moment though, Lucas intended to know more about this world.

    "System, how do I unlock your full functionality asides missions?"

    "Upgradese about from levelling up the system throughpleting missions. Asides from that, host can upgrade the system if special conditions are met. Said conditions are deemed confidential to the host and it is expected that you explore." The system answered.

    "You want me to explore a new world without any form of protection or knowledge? What if I get killed while taking a walk? Wouldn''t you be hostless?" Lucas couldn''t help but find the system''s methods to be obstructive.

    "If that were to be the case, then it means that the host was never fated to be the Crafts-God." The system sinctly replied.

    Lucas sighed at his fate that was quite miserablepared to certain main characters. At least in the books he read, the main characters would get transmigrated into a body with knowledge of the world, some in a noble family, a godly constitution, or whatnot.

    But in his case, he was brought over with no knowledge or information, has to deal with speciesism, and is in a body acimed to have the worst potential.

    Since the system wouldn''t give him the information he needed, Lucas decided to find it.

    This was a technological world and apart from electricity being an essential factor to such a world, there was something else equally important; the inte.

    For a world to advance, especially technologically, there must exist a vastwork that holds massive information and enables an easier transmission of data or information from one point to another. On Earth, this was known as the inte and its Eretrean equivalent was what Lucas was after.

    A library was another good option but Lucas couldn''t be so sure that such would exist here. A digital version might, but it would most likely be in schools or educational facilities rather than the public area.

    During the next few hours, Lucas did his best to familiarise himself with this new world. He had managed to purchase a device known as amunicator, the Eretrean equivalent of a mobile phone. The device with ackadaisical name referred to a more brand collection of devices which had different forms like a watch, a hand-held device or even a pair of sses.

    Using the device after a little bit of learning, Lucas logged into the Eretrean server in the Ken Sr System Intrawork (KSSI). This was argework that covered an entire sr system and within thiswork were servers dedicated to each in the sr system.

    There was a simrwork that spanned the entire gxy with each star region being a server, but most times, the average individual didn''t need to log in to suchworks as information and news on that level was too far from them. Having to focus on a sr system alone was more than enough most times.

    As for what a star region was, it was a new term Lucas had learnt. The system had only informed him that he was in Bands City located in the Groeten continent of the Eretre, and that this massive was in the Ken sr system.

    The Ken sr system, from what Lucas read about however, was one of four (4) active sr systems out of a total of twenty one (21) sr systems in a region known as the Blue Mist star region. Above star regions was the entire gxy which was dominated by the hyuman race, and this gxy was called the Niera gxy.

    Apart from that, Lucas had also managed to learn about the world in detail specifically its power system. Unlike Earth of hisst life, this would seemed to cultivate a certain type of energy.

    In his very first life as Yohan, Lucas had practiced in the art of magic which was one of the mostmon. In his first life, there were two major forms of energy refining or cultivation based on two major mystical energies prevalent at the time: Mana and True energy, an energy equally as mystical as mana.

    In that world, there were two ssifications for mystical energy users but the most used was based on the energy one refined. Those who refined and practised with mana were known as either mages or witches, while those who refined true energy were called deserters.

    Another ssification was based on the usage of mystical energy with those versed in the art of summoning known as Summoners and they could either be mages or even deserters. There were also body honers who used mystical energy to refine their body and improve their physical strength and power, spell-casters, and so on.

    As Yohan, Lucas had started out as a spell-caster but when he began to venture into cksmithing, the need to improve his body came about and so he dabbled into Body-honing as well, achieving both status by relying on mana.

    In this new world however, the mystical energy that existed was just one; Ster energy. Just as its name implied, it was a mystical energy that existed in the cosmos and was rumoured to have birthed the stars and the universe as well.

    Although generally, the maniption of Ster energy is known as Ster refinement, the ssification of practitioners was based on utilisation as there was only one type of mystical energy. The equivalent of body-honers were known as Ster evolvers and their art, ster evolution, was the act of using Ster energy to purify and temper one''s physical form.

    There were also summoners, but they were very rare. As for the rest, they were nominally called ster refiners.

    Ster Refining was the art of refining and absorbing ster energy into the body. Based on the refining manual one used as well as the path they chose, the result would be slightly different and as such, everyone''s strength differed. There was also another determining factor of one''s strength and that was their talent.

    When reading about this, Lucas finally found out why humans were treated as such.

    Initially, the ancestors of the hyuman race were just like earthlings, humans who were upying their home and had barely even explored their sr system. However with time, their technology advanced and they encountered alien civilizations.

    The ancestral humans had allied with one such civilization as a means to adapt to the interster society quickly, although they had the lower hand in this alliance. In the process of that, they had realised their weakness. Unlike the other intelligent species, humans couldn''t absorb and manipte ster energy; in fact, they couldn''t even sense it.

    All civilizations had advanced by relying on ster energy, aiding them at higher levels to rely less on their physical needs like food, air and so on while strengthening them beyond their base form, which in turn enabled the species to explore more regions in space, move in space and even do battle.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Without the ability to manipte this mystical energy, it was deemed that humans would be left behind until they would eventually be conquered by a stronger alien race.

    Through the aid of their allies as well as the brightest minds in their race, the ancestral humans found a way to artificially induce evolution within themselves, creating the hyuman race; a stronger version of humans who could utilise ster energy.

    Overtime, due to proliferation and thew of survival, humans began to go extinct while hyumans overtook them after all, who would want to remain a weakling or want their child to end up as such?

    Nheless, not all hyumans were born equal with some more talented than others in ster refinement. This was all because of a special DNA within them; the essential element that differentiated hyumans from humans and enabled the former to manipte ster energy. It was known as the mDNA.

    Every hyuman was born with a different concentration of the mDNA in their body and the more one had, the higher their future prospects would be and the greater their talent. Due to the extinction of pure-blooded humans and some other factors, an mDNA concentration less than 10% couldn''t qualify as a hyuman and would be called a human.

    At less than 10%, one had almost no future in ster refinement as such, there was no reason to see them as hyumans.

    At the start, the ancestral humans weren''t born with mDNA so they had to manufacture it. Overtime, natural hyumans came to be. As such, there are two types of mDNA: the m(o)DNA (Metamorphosed DNA) which was naturally urring in modern-day hyumans, and the m(z)DNA (Metamorphized DNA) [1] which was used to create the first generation of hyumans.

    Hyumans born with a low m(o)DNA concentration can inject themselves with m(z)DNA to increase the overall concentration of their mDNA and in turn increase their talent. Of course however, there were limitations to this otherwise the hyuman race would easily be able to mass produced super-powerful beings with the ability to rule the entire universe. The limit was usually a 30% increase.

    For instance, a hyuman who was born with mDNA of 20%. As they are born as such, this implies their mDNA is entirely m(o)DNA. Said hyuman now injects the special serum containing m(z)DNA, increasing their total mDNA count by thirty percent to be a concentration of 26%, as thirty percent of 20 is 6.

    Also, although the total mDNA concentration increased one''s talent, the value of the m(o)DNA was more influential in this.

    Take for instance a hyuman whose mDNA concentration is 40% with seventy percent of this (28) as m(o)DNA and the remaining thirty percent (12) as m(z)DNA. They would be less talented than another who has the same mDNA concentration value, but entirely made up of m(o)DNA. What''s more, thetter can inject m(z)DNA into their system and increase their ability thirty percent, bing more talented.

    "So in the end, two things determines one''s strength in this world; your refining method and your mDNA value. Unfortunately, pure-blooded humans don''t have a chance." Lucas sighed.

    It was stated that the current serums containing m(z)DNA couldn''t work on humans or rather hyumans with less than 10% mDNA concentration, much less true and pure-blooded humans like Lucas. Which meant that he was destined to be at the bottom rung of society.

 Chapter 8 : Ambushed

    "System, is there anyway to change my physique or something? You don''t expect me to somehow be a god without the ability to manipte ster energy, do you?" Lucas called the system.

    "The system is the Training system for the Crafts god. My task is to grow the host to be apetent craftsman and rise to the rank of god. It will only be natural for there to be solutions. Host needs not bother about this and focus onpleting the mission at hand." The system responded with a t tone.

    Lucas sighed inwardly but didn''t dwell on the issue. Although the earliest version of serums used in making the first generations of hyumans could be produced again, it was much costlier and was made on order. Considering Lucas just arrived into this world without any background of the sort, much less having a custom-order serum, he couldn''t even afford the mainstream versions.

    Those were drugs capable of changing one''s future; it was natural that they would cost a lot. The best option at hand was to trust the system, even if he didn''t want to.

    ''Hmm?''

    At this moment, Lucas suddenly felt a malicious gaze on him. He didn''t turn towards the direction of the gaze but acted natural and kept walking forward while trying to guess who it was.

    Having transmigrated twice and lived two different lives, Lucas'' soul was very sensitive, which in turn improved his body''s perception.

    ''Who is it?''

    Despite being human, it wasn''t obvious at first unless one took notice of him, so Lucas eliminated the option that someone in the crowd was after him. Also, the gaze had an intensely malicious hint to it, almost as if the wielder had some past history with Lucas. As such, it definitely wasn''t a stranger, but someone he had encountered.

    But Lucas had only been in this world for a couple of hours¡ªnot even a full day.

    There were only three options: from the pub, from the pawnshop, or the trio who tried to kidnap him.

    The first was possibly a human trafficker who was after him. The second implied that the owner of the pawnshop was after the material on him as well as its source, so it made sense why they would have hostile intentions. The third was self-exnatory.

    Moving naturally and without revealing a clue, Lucas slowly moved towards a less popted area while making sure his pursuers remained close. Once he noticed they were still after him, he slowly began to make his way into an abandoned alley.

    The West Wing district was close to the slums and bothered the Wastnds, so it wasn''t devoid of abandoned areas.

    Once Lucas was in the alley, three figures appeared behind him and blocked the exit.

    "Long time, no see, kid."

    A voice called out to Lucas, who halted his footsteps.

    "Oh, it''s you guys." Lucas calmly nodded.

    The group was surprised by his calm demeanour but weren''t scared either. Rather, they were confused. Humans were known to be unable to practice ster refining, and even if there was a miracle amongst them, their achievements wouldn''t be much; getting stuck at the Body Strengthening stage.

    It was rumoured that on the Beast continent, the humans had teamed up alongside the mixed-bloods and formed a city-state there, just like Bands, with some impressive characters amongst them leading the state. However, Bands city was very far from there so it was impossible for the target before them to be from there.

    For that reason, even with their somewhat negligible level of strength, the trio didn''t fear Lucas. They had the upper hand both in numbers and quality so there was no reason to be afraid even if Lucas had a trump card with him.

    "Quite ying around, kid. You have two options;e with us now or we take you by force, although I can''t say how many intact bones you''ll have left if we do so." The man in the middle who seemed to be the leader of the group said.

    Lucas'' current body was that of his first life in his early 20s, andpared to the men before him, he was a lot younger, so it wasn''t exactly wrong for them to call him a kid, although it was demeaning.

    "I haven''t even been here for long, and you guys came after me. Luckily, I do have some good use for you." Lucas suddenly said.

    The trio were confused, but Lucas continued.

    "I spent quite some money getting amunicator, and I''ll have to spend some more on housing and feeding. I''m quite reluctant to use the little money I have on me, and it seems you guys understand this. So thank you, thank you for volunteering to foot my bills."

    "Is this kid crazy?" The man on the left couldn''t help thinking out loud.

    "Forget about it. Just take him down." The leadermanded.

    The ster refinement path of the hyumans has six main stages: the Body Strengthening stage, the Aperture Opening stage, the Guardian or Origin stage, the Sage or Moon Walker realm, Star Lord realm and Paragon realm, with each stage or realm having having sub-levels. For example, the Body Strengthening stage had five levels, while the Aperture Opening stage has twelve levels.

    The current ruler of the hyuman gxy who was also known as the Divine Gxy Protector, was said to be at the Paragon realm, enabling him to dominate the gxy and found the top power that controlled the gxy.

    While hyumans had a bright future, the same wasn''t true for their ancestral counterparts, the humans. Thetter''s limit was at the Body Strengthening stage and going any further was next to impossible for them.

    The trio were in the Body Strengthening stage and although their progress wasn''t anything to boast about, they could sense that Lucas had no achievement in ster refining, so beating him was going to be an easy task. In fact, any of them could do so.

    The Body Strengthening stage had five sub-levels but the duo by the sides were at the second sub-level while the leader was at the third. They were just quite stronger than average people, but not too far off the limit, especially for the weaker two. This made sense, as anyone stronger would usually be off making a living fighting monsters or exploring the universe rather than kidnapping humans.

    The man on the left, who had a bulky physique, charged at Lucas with a low growl, intent on ending this confrontation in one move.

    Lucas calmly stood in front and stared at him. Although his body was devoid of any ster refining art, he still had his memories. Lucas'' first life as Yohan saw him practice both body-honing and magic spells, so he knew a couple of martial arts and fighting skills. Even without having his body improved by ster refinement, Lucas was confident in his skill and vast experience.

    "Restore."

    Staring at the iing figure, Lucas uttered a single word without a hint of emotion.

    Suddenly, a pair of strange gloves appeared on his hands. These were the heat-resistant gloves that came in with his wee package from the system, but since it was a product of the system, needless to say, it was definitely special and out-of-the-ordinary.

    The leader who stayed behind raised an eyebrow at this development. Although he was surprised, it was nothing too much. For starters, the current world was developed, so having storage items or items with invisibility features wasn''t rare. Also, wasn''t it just a pair of gloves? How could Lucas possibly threaten them with it?

    The man approached Lucas quite quickly and threw a punch right at him. Although his attention had been on Lucas, just like the leader, he saw no reason to retreat just because of the abrupt appearance of a pair of gloves.

    At that moment, Lucas, whose focus had already been heightened to the max, narrowly dodged the blow. Right after that, he threw a punch of his at the man with his right hand.

    A gentleman always had to give a response.

    Bam.

    The fist connected, and the impact was resounding. For a moment, the man was forced to see stars and took a few steps backward, almost falling to the ground.

    Seeing his opponent dazed and retreating, Lucas followed up with another attack, finally putting the man off his feet and down on the ground. He proceeded to ensure that his opponent was knocked out cold.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The duo behind were stunned during this time; after all, their partner wasn''t supposed to be such a weakling.

    Although the second step of the Body Strengthening stage was nothing notable outside, it still increased one''s power, speed and endurance since it had to do with refining the muscles. In other words, even if a ster refiner at this stage got struck by the hind legs of a horse, they would remain standing without so much as a flinch. Yet this happened.

    Meanwhile, Lucas moved his gaze from the man on the ground and faced the duo at the exit, as he said,

    "That''s one."

 Chapter 9 : Taking Them Down

    The leader of the trio stared at the gloves on Lucas'' hands, thinking they were the reason for this strange turn of events. In truth, he was somewhat correct.

    [[ Craftsman Gloves : Gloves suited for one pursuing the path of a craftsman. Heat-resistance, pration-proof, shock-absorption, burn-resistance, and elemental resistance guaranteed. A certain level of strength boost and increased hit-rate is also applied. ]]

    This was the description Lucas had seen when he was studying the gloves in his inventory.

    Although the gloves looked like those of a cksmith, both its name and description implied that the former was nowhere on the same level as it. From a surface nce, the gloves didn''t seem to be any weapon of any sorts, but Lucas could see beyond just that. The strength boost advantage was clear but the shock-absorption feature could also aid in battles if used well.

    It made the gloves essentially an attacking and defending item, and since it was a product of the system -which was an entity that orchestrated his previous transmigration- it would definitely be more than ordinary.

    Also, Lucas'' current body was that of the 21-year old Yohan from his first life, and apart from his magical powers from back then, his current body retained every characteristics from the time, including his physical prowess. Although young, at the time, Lucas was quite strong and had dabbled a bit in physical development.

    When it came to mastering mystical energy, physical development would always be the first step. This was obvious even in this world where the Body Strengthening stage came first. Even with the improvement of the human species to be hyumans, they couldn''t jump right into manipting or storing ster energy in their body, and still had to make proper preparations.

    These preparations were the five levels of the Body Strengthening stage.

    Lucas'' current body had physical strengthparable to someone who just began the second level of the Body Strengthening stage, the Muscle Refining step. With the strength boost from the gloves as well as an element of surprise, it was no shocker that he took down the man in a few moves.

    "Get him."

    Although theirpanion had been defeated, the leader didn''t fret and took it as a slip-up from their side. He was still confident in capturing Lucas.

    Having received the order, the man on the right charged at Lucas just like his partner from earlier, but this time around, he took thetter seriously.

    Even though he had lost the element of surprise, Lucas still wasn''t scared. He had a few cards up his sleeve, and from how he saw things, there was no way he would lose.

    "Ha!"

    The attacker released a shout as he pounced at Lucas, sting a fist in his direction.

    Lucas dodged the attack and maintained his distance from the attacker. His strength might prove to the task, but this didn''t mean that Lucas'' other abilities were on par with his opponent''s.

    The man delivered a forceful kick right after which forced Lucas to block with his arms and didn''t suffer a loss. On the contrary, he grabbed the leg, offsetting his opponent''s bnce.

    The leader who stood behind raised an eyebrow in surprise, but how would he know that Lucas'' gloves could absorb the force from any blow?

    While holding the man''s leg, Lucas tightened his fist and let loose a punch right at the knee.

    Crack.

    "Ahhh!"

    The man cried out, but Lucas ignored him and rained down a turret of fists on the same knee.

    "Ahhh!"

    The man let out a hideous cry, looking rather pitiful as his leg got bent in an outrageous position.

    Lucas coldly nced at thetter and still didn''t let go, drawing him closer and striking another blow at his face.

    After two more hits, the man was simrly knocked out, and Lucas finally let go of him. But at that moment, a deadly sensation swept towards him.

    Lucas hurriedly took a step back to avoid the attack, but his senses still ticked him off as he turned on his heels and moved to the side.

    Poom.

    A low rumble was heard as the punch from the assant released an explosive forceprised ofpressed air.

    "Good instincts." The leader of the triomented, as he stared at Lucas like a predator facing off against prey.

    Lucas inwardly let out a sigh of relief. He had underestimated the fighting ability of this group, seeing as they were still unable to truly utilise ster energy. However, that didn''t mean they were weak or without some skills.

    For instance, the move used by the leader was one where the user would release a st ofpressed air, which could only be done by someone who is both incredibly strong and fast.

    The leader of the trio was at the third step of refining in the Body Strengthening stage; the bone refining stage.

    The Body Strengthening stage focused on tempering the body and enhancing its physical nature. This was, in essence, setting the foundation for one to truly begin absorbing and storing ster energy in their body.

    The first step focused on tempering the flesh, the second on the muscles, the third on the bones, while the fourth was dedicated to the organs, with the fifth dealing with the blood vessels, nerves, and the blood.

    Through this method, the digestive, respiratory, circtory, musculoskeletal, endocrine, nervous, and all other systems of the body would have the appropriate foundation to ensure that no harm is done when storing ster energy in the body. They would also experience arge increase in physical attributes.

    At the bone refining stage, the focus is on the two hundred and six (206) bones of the human body, and whenpleted, with the prior muscle refining stage in mind, the boost to physical abilities like speed, strength, and endurance bes staggering.

    Although one wouldn''t be at the stage of moving at the speed of sound or something as insane, their speed and strength could easily top any of the best Olympic athletes in history. Their average punch could even reach as high as 150,000 units [2], so one could imagine how powerful their blows be when they are serious.

    While the man had yet toplete the bone refining stage, his punching power was nheless incredible, especially when he became serious.

    "You should have juste with us quietly." said the man as he withdrew a dagger from his side.

    This was the weapon Lucas had seen back then, which reminded him of magic weapons from his first life. Although the weapon was a lot weaker, it still contained a hint of the ever-mysterious ster energy, making it far more deadly than an average dagger.

    With the dagger in hand, the man lunged at Lucas and thrust forward.

    ''Fast.''

    Despite having created what he felt was a safe distance away from thetter, Lucas felt like he had underestimated the man''s prowess, and thetter closed the gap quickly with the threat of the dagger looming right in front of him.

    He hurriedly brought his right hand in front of him, opening his palm and grabbing the dagger.

    The man sneered as he thrust the weapon forward. While he had some suspicion that the gloves weren''t ordinary, what he had in his hands was a ster vestige¡ªa weapon made with ster energy infused. Despite the dagger not being a military-grade vestige, it was far better than a normal de.

    There was no way the gloves on the young man, which had no trace of ster energy, could even face off against his dagger.

    ''You''re dead.'' The leader thought as all he could envision was a ssh of blood from Lucas'' hand.

    Tink.

    The dagger got caught in between the gloves, not moving an inch further.

    "How?" The man was shocked silly by this.

    How could an ordinary looking glove remain intact despite being stabbed with a vestige by a third level Body Strengthener?

    Lucas had already been expecting this to happen; after all, this glove was a gift from the system and had the attribute ''pration proof''. After seeing the effect of the shock-absorption attribute, Lucas had no doubt and was never scared from the start.

    Gripping the dagger tightly within that one second, Lucas punched out with his other hand, aiming at the right side of the man, right where his liver ought to be.

    Bam.

    A liver shot [3] connected.

    The man opened his mouth wide, yet no scream could be heard, as the pain he felt at that moment was horrendous. Even with his prior body tempering and so on, that punch dealt an insane amount of damage. He was still at the bone refining level and had yet to have his organs refined, so the weakness still existed.

    However, he was still a Body Strengthener of the third level, so one punch alone was still unable to take him down. Lucas seemed to have realised this as he let loose another left hook.

    Bam.

    With the second shot connecting, another inaudible moan escaped the man''s mouth and he seemed close to crumbling but was still on his feet.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Bam.

    The third punch connected, and this time around, it did the job as the leader copsed to the ground while passing out at the same time.

    If someone were to have told him earlier today that he would meet a young human who would first escape his assault butter face off against his men, defeating two of them, stopping his attack, and finally taking him down, the man would haveughed it off as the joke of the century, but yet, such had happened.

 Chapter 10 : Lurking Danger

    Although the battle looked easy, it was anything but that. One shouldn''t forget that the opponents were stronger than Lucas in all physical areas. The only reason he came out on top was due to a few factors like the system''s aid. But the ones that stood out were his battle experience, the fact that he was underestimated and the element of surprise.

    The criminals underestimated Lucas and treated him like a simple human since they couldn''t get a whiff of ster energy on him. At the same time, they didn''t know the qualities of the gloves and took it as something ordinary since they simrly couldn''t sense any bit of ster energy from it. They never would have expected that it could not only absorb shock but was pration proof.

    They also would have never guessed that their opponent wasn''t a simple human but someone with over five hundred years experience with a majority of that spent facing super-powered freaks and mages.

    After defeating the trio, then came the issue of clearing the scene.

    Lucas was having trouble deciding what to do now. If this were his home world, he would have killed them right away but it wasn''t. Back on Earth, Rhodia had security cameras on almost every street in every city somitting crimes was quite risky. For a technologically advanced world and an interster civilisation like this, the security measures would be even more impressive.

    Lucas wouldn''t even be surprised if there was a satellite up in the sky watching his every movement at the moment. As such,mitting murder was risky.

    Although he could argue that it was done in self-defence, Lucas'' act of taking down the enemy was already enough and proved to show that there was no need to be extreme as he had already overpowered them. That added with the treatment humans received, Lucas doubted he could escape jail if he was caught.

    At times like this, it was best to stay low and not go overboard, so murder was off the topic.

    In the end, Lucas decided not to think too much about things. He simply searched the men and seized any valuables, specifically in the form of wallet cards andmunicators. He wasn''t lying when he said he would have the group fund his lifestyle for the meantime.

    While this was an advanced world, the technology of credit and debit cards were still usable means. Although one could link their ounts with theirmunicators, for various reasons and fears, some would special cards called Wallet cards. These were special cards that functioned like a credit card and a debit card at the same time.

    Unlike the cards on Earth, they weren''t just a stic or metal te but made from a special alloy encoded with a high level security protocol. The more expensive ones were such that transactions couldn''t be carried out on them without a biometric confirmation to prevent theft. Of course, these trio couldn''t afford such cards.

    Once he was done collecting his spoils, Lucas dragged the bodies of the men and kept them out of sight before leaving the alleyway.

    . . .

    The Vinis pawnshop had two floors from the outside. The first floor was where they received clients and made their deals. There were also a couple of rooms dedicated to functioning as offices here for meeting high profile clients.

    The second floor was more different as it was a mix of both the office area meant for the store''s executives as well as showroom that took up to a third of the entire floor. Here, the store disyed some of their items put up for sale.

    However, there was a third floor, the basement. Unlike the other two, it was inessible to the public and even majority of thepany''s staff couldn''t get here. While the second floor had a showroom, the basement was their storage room. But it also served an extra purpose, one that was rted to thepany''s dark secrets.

    "Any news?" A cold voice suddenly spoke up in a dark hall underneath the prosperous pawnshop.

    A shadow appeared in the hall and bowed towards a certain direction in the hall. "None yet, sir."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "I need results." The voice sounded once again, this time more coldly than before.

    At that moment, the silhouette hesitated a bit but eventually spoke up.

    "...we noticed that he was being trailed by Ramirez'' people. But he managed to take them down alone."

    "Ramirez is on to him? Wait, he took them down alone? How is that possible?"

    "We don''t know. There was no sign of ster energy or any mystical energy of sorts. He simply did it with brute strength and a cksmith glove that seemed special. It was able to remain undamaged even after taking a direct hit from a vestige, albeit a low grade one." replied the silhouette.

    "Despite being a force worth contemting about, Ramirez'' people are much too weak. Nheless, keep an eye out on him and don''t underestimate him. It seems that apart from the Purple Iridium, this fe has a few more secrets of his own. Don''t lose them." The voice said before going quiet.

    The silhouette bowed and left the room.

    Unknown to Lucas, his action of pawning just a single ingot of Purple Iridium had already alerted the higher-ups of the store.

    Purple Iridium was a rare with great value one of which was forging vestiges. Just from the fact that its base price was 10,000 federal coins per ingot was enough to show how valuable it was. There was also the fact that Purple Iridium wasn''t mined in Eretre. Even in the entire Ken sr system, there was no Purple Iridium deposit so it was much more valuable.

    When the system told Lucas the value of Purple Iridium to be between 10,000 to 12,000 federal coins, this was actually the value when considering the entire Niera gxy, as such it was heavily underpriced.

    In a ce like the Ken sr system that had no deposits or mines for Purple Iridium, the value per ingot was higher, reaching up to 14,000 at the base price and this was if the owner was in a hurry to sell it. Otherwise if one were to purchase it from outside the sr system, including custom duties and transport fee, it would cost 16,000 per ingot.

    This ''cheap'' price of 10,000 was why the clerk had readily agreed to Lucas'' offer. At the same time, he had reported it to his boss. There was no way someone who could afford Purple Iridium would be in the West Wing and decide to pawn it. The only exnation was that he had stumbled upon it somewhere.

    The upper figures in Vinis pawnshop guessed that there was a possibility Lucas had a stash somewhere. As long as they captured him, they could find the information, but they didn''t n on doing that. Instead, they wanted to make Lucas lead them to this ''stash'' instead. This was a safer option because capturing Lucas did not mean sess.

    If thetter decided tomit suicide or refused to talk even with the threat of death, their golden egg would be gone. They saw that as a killing the goose for its eggs which was a dumb move. It would be better to monitor Lucas and find out where he stays then ransack the location and any other suspicion area he frequents.

    While all this took ce, Lucas used the money he got from the trio and rented a room in a somewhat fancy hotel, and spent the night sleeping. Even though his soul was much stronger than in the past and this improved his senses, the tracker sent by Vinis pawnshop was a professional and wasn''t at the level of Body Strengthening, so it was impossible for Lucas to know he was being trailed.

    In fact, after Lucas defeated the trio, the man tasked with monitoring Lucas had changed the tracker to a stronger fellow.

    The next day, Lucas awoke and freshened up. After scrolling through the KSSI (the sr system web) and learning more about his new world, especially so about the value of money and housing, he checked the time and departed for the Klein''s pub where he met the man with sses and a friend of his who also happened to be the owner of the building Lucas was interested in.

    The building looked a bit run down but that in terms of this world''s development. Although it had a few faults internally, its outward appearance was still above averagepared to some of the buildings in hisst life on Earth.

    For instance, the two storey-building had a helipad parking space on its roof that could fit ten SUV-sized hover-cars, a backyard with a not-so-small shed, as well a balcony on the second floor.

    The structure of the building wasn''t cement nor wood, but a special soft metal alloy that felt like bamboo to the touch but was a lot tougher than cement with a suitable heat conductivity and retaining factor, making it warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

    Apparently, this used to be a family-owned restaurant, but its isted location and the low profitability margin made the owner, who was in debt, want to sell it and relocate elsewhere with the money. In summary, it was a rush sale.

    The starting price was 3200 federal coins but Lucas managed to get it for less -2800 federal coins- after some bargaining. The location of the store was bad after all and the interior needed a lot of fixing. 2800 was the equivalent of seven months pay so it wasn''t a bad price. Once a price was agreed, they began the deal process.

    Unlike on Earth where purchasing a building was a big deal, Eretre had a much faster yet secure system for this. Communicators were everything and made everything 10 times easier. They simply connected to the city-state government''s office online, filled the necessary forms, made the appropriate payments and signed on them with their biometrics and ounts.

    After a few minutes of waiting, the deal was confirmed by the city-state government and the documents were sent to Lucas while he got debited the required amount. In the other side, they got the money and the name on the ownership document in the government''s database was changed to Lucas Yohan Saunters.

    When Lucas bought hismunicator, he had registered an ID with the city government as well as opened a bank ount and an ount on the KSSI. On his ID, his first name was Lucas and surname Saunters, same as his life on Earth. Yohan was his middle name here and also the name he used in his original life.

    An interface visible to only him appeared in front of Lucas at the same time the deal was concluded.

 Chapter 11 : Mission Complete

    "System, now what?" Lucas said after the duo left while he held the keys to the building.

    [[ Mission Description: As a trainee on the path of the Craftsgod, you should have a base of operations. Find and own one within one week.

    Overview: Own a building and build a store.

    Rewards: An Adventurer''s Manual

    Penalty: Death.

    Status: Completed.

    ept rewards: Y/N

    ]]

    "To be honest, this reward is quitecking if you ask me¡­" Lucas sighed.

    "Host is alsocking in a bunch of ces."

    "..."

    To be honest, Lucas wasn''t looking down on the system''s reward. Just the abilities witnessed so far from the items he got from the wee package were already good enough. So while the reward for his first mission was just one item, Lucas was still looking forward to it. He only made that statement to try and profit more.

    Lucas epted the reward and he received a notification about a new item in his inventory. He opened the inventory and saw a tome in his inventory space with the title ''An Adventurer''s Manual''.

    Lucas first entered the building before he retrieved the tome from his inventory. As it appeared on his hand, a pop-up showed up right beside him.

    [[ ept input? Y/N ]]

    "Yes."

    Suddenly, the book began to disintegrate bit by bit into a flow of light that went into Lucas'' forehead. It only took three seconds for the entire tome to disappear. At the same time, Lucas felt an increasing pain on his forehead, almost knocking him out on the spot.

    However, he gritted his teeth and endured throughout the entire ordeal while subconsciously cursing at the system for attempting to murder him. Of course, this was just a joke, as he knew that it didn''t intend on doing so.

    It took five minutes for the pain to subside and in those five minutes, Lucas felt as if his brain was about to burst. Even after the event, his clothing was drowned in sweat and Lucas had to support himself on one of the chairs in the building.

    ''What a horrible feeling.'' Lucas sighed with relief.

    While it was an incredibly painful sensation, the result was worth it. Lucas could feel that there was a new set of knowledge in his brain. It was broad and could be termed as an encyclopedia''s worth. The category of knowledge focused on minerals, monsters, and even advanced information about astronomy such as calcting a''s orbit or direction and so on.

    Although the tome was termed ''An Adventurer''s Manual'', Lucas found it hard to believe that an average adventurer would require this much information. If someone did, they would have to be a very very high ss adventurer or space explorer.

    Apart from all the aforementioned information, Lucas also got to know about the power system of this world, although he already knew that after looking it up the previous day. However, ''An Adventurer''s Manual'' gave more detailed information than what Lucas got from themunicator, which included how to achieve each level.

    Sadly, there was no information for humans on the subject, so Lucas still had no solution to his innate problem.

    After going through the information once, Lucas realised that he had spent three hours. He was surprised, as he didn''t realise he had spent that long reversing the information in his head, but he wasn''t affected by it. In a sense, Lucas was jobless, so even if he spent his time staring at the sun, there was no heavy repercussion, per se.

    "Host has finally awoken."

    The system''s voice sounded in his head.

    "What about it?" Lucas replied.

    "The building has been recorded in the system''s database, and renovations would need to be carried out. Host needs to be informed and grant the system permission to go ahead with nned renovations."

    "Oh?" Lucas was pleasantly surprised.

    He has previously been worried about renovations and how much it would cost him, but seeing as the system could provide simr services, he was amazed and d.

    ''At least that saves me a couple of coins.''

    "Can I see the renovation n?"

    "ess denied."

    "If I can''t ess the designs to make amendments, why is my permission even required?" Lucas sounded frustrated by the system''s actions.

    "As the host gets stronger and the system upgrades, changes would be made avable." The system''s nd voice sounded in Lucas'' head once again.

    With a sigh, Lucas granted the system permission to renovate the building.

    "Renovationmencing. ETA: 24 hours. During this period, the store would be closed and only essible by the host and employees. Store activities would be on hold. Please be patient."

    "Employees? What''s that about?"

    "ess denied."

    "..."

    Despite being mentally old, Lucas couldn''t help but curse inwardly as he began to make his way to the top floor.

    The two-storey building was formerly a family restaurant. The ground floor [1] was the main serving location, and the first floor was reserved for private rooms and guests. There was also a rooftop terrace that could also be essed from the top floor, reserved for guests who wanted to have their meal while enjoying the view.

    However, with the terrible location of the building, being surrounded by taller buildings, andcking a natural scenic spot, there was no view to enjoy from the balcony.

    Behind the main building was a smaller building that looked like a patio of sorts, but it''s function was something Lucas was unaware of and wasn''t bothered about either. After all, the system would be renovating everything, so what it was in the past didn''t matter.

    Lucas went into one of the rooms on the top floor and decided to take his rest here. With the system upgrades taking twenty four hours and Lucas not knowing as much as he felt was enough about this world, he believed it was best to stay indoors for the time being and expand his knowledge.

    Although he had it in his memory now, Lucas had yet topletely digest the information from the manual. The three hours he spent were merely on perusing the information and just from the fact it took that long, one could imagine how much information was inside it.

    While one could say it was in his brain already, it wasn''t readily avable, just like how people experience an event but find it difficult to recall it after a lot of time has passed. The memory exists, but it''s not readily recalled.

    There was also themunicator, an advanced technology that could aid Lucas a lot in learning more about the world.

    As for the matter of food, there was the bread he got from the system and if that wasn''t enough, Lucas could simply order with hismunicator.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    As such, the next couple of hours were spent surfing the KSSI or the intr [2] and revisiting the knowledge stored in his head until Lucas couldpletely grasp it.

    While Lucas was absorbing information on arge scale, a figure hid in a neighbouring building and kept a lookout for him. The individual was the spy currently in charge of monitoring Lucas. He had been keeping an eye on thetter the past few hours but was slowly getting impatient.

    Usually, a professional wouldn''t, but due to the pressure from his employers, the tracker felt he was running out of time.

    ''The boss already asked for an update in forty eight hours but this dude is just sitting. What the hell am I supposed to do now?''

    The spy''s mission was for him to find out about the source of the Purple Iridium and, if possible, get more. There was also a new side mission included, which was to find out where Lucas came from and how he had defeated the trio from Ramirez''s gang. Usually, 2¨C3 days would be enough to find out something about his target after spying on them for so long, but Lucas was different.

    Apart from meeting with the duo from the pub to buy the building, Lucas had spent most of his time indoors, dazing around or on hismunicator.

    The first made no sense and as for thetter, there was no way for the spy to seize Lucas'' device without alerting him. Hacking it was also out of the question.

    Communicators were state-of-the-art devices with high-tech security systems and locks. Since they were linked with one''s personal information and ount, it was only natural that there security was the best.

    Also, since the KSSI was an intrawork and now an interwork, this increased the difficulty of hacking since to hack into one''s device directly and make a data request, a hacker would have to be able to hack the KSSI first, which was next to impossible.

    This was awork that served an entire sr system and so there was no doubt that the security was out-of-this world; both literally and figuratively speaking, as the data centers were in space.

    ''If he doesn''t make any move soon, that will leave me with only one option.'' The spy narrowed his eyes.

 Chapter 12 : Debt Collector

    On Eretre, a day happened to be the same as Earth, exactly twenty four hours consisting of roughly eleven hours of daylight and thirteen hours of nighttime. In truth, it wasn''t the same in some of the neighbouring and farthers.

    For instance, Jota, one of Eretre''s neighbours, experienced 42 hours per day; 18 of those in sunlight with 24 in darkness.

    This might seem a lot but one should recall that a day in Venus is 5,832 hours (243 Earth days) whereas in Mercury it was 1,408 hours (almost 59 Earth days) or 4,224 hours (176 Earth days) depending on how one wanted to define a day [AN: tooplicated to exin but in AN section].

    Although there were ces with shorter days like Jupiter or Saturn, none of the habitables of the Ken sr system were like such.

    Eleven hours might seem much but they easily went by for Lucas and it was nighttime soon. At that point, Lucas realised he was hungry but didn''t leave the store either. Instead, he used hismunicator and ordered for a meal before resuming his activities which was mostly educating himself on the world.

    Apart from educating himself about his new world, Lucas had spent a significant part of his time revisiting an old love of his; metallurgy, the study of metals. Back on Earth and even in his first life, Lucas loved studying about materials, especially metals. In his first life, he worked on them with his hands and developed a passion for the art.

    In his second life on Earth, Lucas developed a passion for the science of the subject and went as far as bing a world-renowned scientist for his groundbreaking research in metals and materials.

    Now he was in a new world that seemed to havebined both of his past world experiences, Lucas'' interest was hyped. Just as he had suspected, this new world had an assortment of new and old metals and materials so there was so much to learn about even after he had finishedprehending all the knowledge from the tome.

    Before Lucas knew it, he fell asleep deep into the night after being overwhelmed and woke up the following day.

    [[ Estimated time until renovationpletion: 6 hours ]]

    There were still a few more hours before the store''s renovation and Lucas decided to spend the time reading again.

    One might wonder why hecked an interest in moving around but to Lucas, it was best to know more about the world before doing so. This wasn''t like with his first transmigration to Earth where he was born into the world and so could easily fit into it. At the same time, he was a victim of speciesism here, to the point that he was almost kidnapped less than an hour into his transmigration.

    Without being able to refine ster energy, Lucas'' next best option was to fully understand this world before moving around.

    However, Lucas wanting to live in peace didn''t mean that he would get his peace.

    Bam. Bam. Bam.

    "Hey, open up."

    A loud knock sounded at the door just as Lucas woke up from his sleep.

    Normally, he shouldn''t have been able to hear the ravings from the speaker, but thetter was putting in so much force into his knock and yelling provocatively, such that even if Lucas wanted to ignore it, he could still hear them.

    Infuriated as well as perplexed, Lucas went downstairs to see who it was.

    "Reminder: No one except the host can step into the building." The system informed Lucas.

    "I know. I just want to see who it is." Lucas replied. He indeed wanted to know who it was. Lucas hasn''t had much contact with anyone so far as he had only been in this world for barely two days with today being the third.

    "Who is it?" Lucas asked.

    "What do you mean who is it? Did you forget it''s time to pay your weekly fees? Open up and don''t try to run from me." The voice on the other side said.

    "Weekly fees? What weekly fees?" Lucas was confused.

    "What do you...hold on. Your voice sounds strange. Aren''t you Ramon?" The speaker asked.

    Lucas'' eyes glistened strangely. Ramon was the name of the previous owner of the building; the man who sold it to Lucas.

    ''It seems like there''s more trouble with this.'' Recalling that the man he met in the pub told him that Ramon was interested in finding a buyer to settle his debts and move out, Lucas had an inkling of what was going on.

    Ramon probably owed arge amount of money and was making weekly payments on them while trying to find a buyer for the building. Once it was sold, rather than clearing the debts, he used the money to escape town and start a new life.

    The problem was that, the creditor had yet to receive their full sum with the interest, so they wouldn''t easily give up and might even try to seize the house. However, Lucas wasn''t worried about that. The deal was approved by the city government so that meant there was nothing sketchy about it.

    Ramon was also confirmed to be the owner of the building and it wasn''t being used as a coteral for his debts, otherwise the deal would have been gged by the city government and he would have been notified back then. In other words, there was no way the creditors could take it from Lucas'' hands so Ramon''s debts had nothing to do with him.

    Once he figured that part out, Lucas confidently replied back.

    "No, I''m not. Ramon sold this ce to me just yesterday. I''m the new owner."

    "He what?! The heck you mean? Open this frigging door right now!" The other party began shouting at the top of his voice. From the tone, Lucas easily identified the speaker to be a male.

    "I''m sorry but I can''t. Whatever issues you have with Ramon, go settle them yourself." Lucas ignored the other party and walked away.

    "Hey, you better open this door right now or you''ll regret it. Do you know who Ramirez is? I work under Ramirez. Ramon borrowed from him and I''m here to receive the payments. It would be wise not to make any stupid mistake and open this door right now."

    Lucas ignored the fellow. With the system''s assurance that no one could enter this building during the renovation period, he wasn''t scared of anything. As for after that, Lucas had a feeling that the system would unveil a couple of surprises to him which might turn out useful.

    "Hey, can you hear me? I know you can. Open the door right now."

    The party on the other side kept talking and knocking, but after realising that Lucas was a ''stubborn'' individual, he gave up and left.

    For Lucas, this experience wasn''t one he liked. He tried contacting Ramon but realised that the other was avoiding his calls. This further verified his earlier suspicions. Ramon might have even been expecting this to happen.

    Nheless, none of this dampened his resolve. Lucas simply filed a report of harassment to the city guard corps and left it at that.

    Meanwhile, the spy who was lurking in the dark watched all this happen and it made him all the more insecure. After a moment of contemtion, he finally reached a decision as his gaze on the building sharpened.

    This night, he would strike.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    . . .

    On the other side of the door was a young man who dressed stylishly and had braided purple hair. Hyumans were gically different from humans, and some of them had naturally coloured hair just like the young man.

    The young man had a frown on his face as he left the area after banging on the door yet receiving no response. He hailed a hover-cab and moved away.

    A couple of minutester, the young man alighted from the vehicle at a certain virtual gaming store and watched as the cab left. He wandered around the area for a few minutes, then began walking in the direction opposite the store. At times, he would turn in one direction, then walk a circle around a block before moving in the opposite direction.

    This went on for while and looked pointless but at the same time, the young man was actually moving further and further way from his starting point. It took thirty minutes of this seemingly pointless action until he began walking in a specific direction with a smirk on his face.

    At the same time, a couple of dozen metres away, a figure appeared with a frown and mumbled, "Lost him."

    Meanwhile, the young man, who had a victorious smirk on his face, soon reached a building that wasn''t anything special. On the outside, it appeared to be a fruit store, which didn''t stand out in any way. While supplements and the like were quite popr, organic food still had its ce in the market.

    He walked in and said a few words to the cashier, who then led him to a room with a hidden elevator that descended downward.

    A deep voice in an intimidating tone greeted the young man as soon as he exited the elevator.

    "What took you so long?"

 Chapter 13 : Renovation Completed

    "What took you so long?"

    A deep, cold voice sounded just as soon as the young man exited the elevator.

    At that moment, he felt his entire body freeze and was scared out of his mind. The boss was angry, and whenever he was angry, someone had to pay. While still frightful, the young man managed to keep his calm as he responded while keeping his head low,

    "I was being monitored by some bugs. It took me a while to get rid of them."

    "Where''s my money?" The owner of the deep voice changed the topic.

    The young man looked even more nervous at this point but he knew that remaining quiet would cost him his life.

    "It''s as we suspected. Ramon escaped. What''s more, he sold the building to someone else."

    Crack.

    At that moment, a sound interrupted the young man, and he went silent.

    "Find him and get me my money."

    "...what about the building?" The young man fearfully asked.

    "What building? You mean my building?"

    "I understand." The young man hurriedly replied.

    How could he not understand what the boss meant by those words? Ramon might have thought he could y a trick and escape, but the man before him was someone not even the patrol corps could easily mess with.

    "I''ll take my leave now." Seeing as there was nomand left for him, he bowed and raised his head as he prepared to leave. It was then that he noticed a corpse on the floor with the head bent in an impossible manner.

    Recalling the sound he heard earlier, the young man realised what had happened and made his exit right way.

    . . .

    Unbeknownst to Lucas, undercurrents that could cost him his life were stirring, but thetter was engrossed in his reading. With a strong soul that bolstered his physical capabilities, not only were Lucas'' senses sharp, but his reading speed and memory were better than they were in the past.

    "Congrattions host. The store has officially been upgraded and is open tounch."

    While Lucas was reading about the metals and materials in this new world and some other information that piqued his interest, the system''s voice interrupted his focus. However, Lucas wasn''t angry but was pleasantly surprised instead.

    ''Finally.''

    Lucas smiled as he felt that his efforts were finally paying off.

    It was then that he noticed that the interior of the room was quite different from how it was before. Probably because he was too engrossed in reading, Lucas had failed to notice when the room began to subtly change. It still retained the same background colour but the cracks and damages on the walls were gone.

    There were also some new patterns and posters that brightened up the ce, as well as some new furnitures that didn''t look out of ce. Everything had changed so drastically yet quietly, that if Lucas didn''t know what the room looked like before, he wouldn''t even have noticed anything different.

    This in turn raised his hopes, as he couldn''t wait to see theplete renovations.

    Departing the room, Lucas began to take note of the area and easily spotted the differences. The staircases were a different colour, the same with the floor tiling. The lighting was upgraded, and on one side of the wall was a rectangr tablet fixed on the wall. Lucas walked towards it and clicked on it, finding out it was a special kind of control device with monitoring capabilities.

    It seemed like the system had installed cameras around the building, and he could monitor the situation from this device.

    Lucas walked downstairs and was amazed by what he saw. Compared to before, the ground floor looked more organised and impressive.

    The old tables and chairs were reced with new and exquisite ones. Theyout wasn''t that of a diner like before, but a waiting lobby with sofas and coffee tables arranged in a random yet mysteriously organized fashion. There were a few paintings on the wall and some nts at the corners of the lobby, adding a natural touch to the room.

    The waiting lobby was divided into two sides, but this wasn''t obvious as the demarcation was nothing more than a few pirs with nt vases. As such, one could still easily peep into the other area.

    There was a checkout counter by the wall, close to the stairs, for attending to customers. Behind the checkout was a door that led to a room at the back. Lucas walked through the door and entered the room, only to be greeted with an astonishing work area for a cksmith. There was a furnace, a work bench, a rack filled with tools, a line of counters, and more.

    In summary, the room was quite spacious and very well equipped and ventted. Even as he stood here, Lucas felt as if an air conditioner was turned on, but he saw none in here. Lucas had no doubt that even if he was working here, the room temperature wouldn''t be as high as the furnace.

    Lucas happened to nce behind and noticed that beside the door was a see-through window, however, he never noticed the window from the other side. He went back to the checkout and nced at the wall before returning to the work-station with his eyebrows raised in surprise.

    It turns out that wasn''t a window but an LCD screen that disyed the lobby area of the store. It was just so thin, and the current angle disyed made it such that Lucas mistook it for a window.

    Apart from the work-station, there was another room on the ground floor as well as a restroom.

    "This is quite impressive, system. Good job."

    So far, so good, Lucas was pleased with the renovations.

    "Host hasn''t explored the store entirely. The renovations cover the entire premises and not just this building." said the system.

    "The entire premises?" Lucas was shocked, following which he left the building and checked out the entire premises. One should recall that along with the building he bought, there was also a smaller one by the side.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    It wasn''t until thirty minutester that Lucas was done, and he had a grin on his face. The system''s renovations were definitely of the highest standard, and what''s more, it added an extra floor to the main building; a basement. The basement could only be essed from the workshop, and whaty underneath was part of the reason for Lucas'' grin.

    Lucas walked outside and realised that the changes were indeed epassing. Even the pavement and grass were fixed up. Behind the building, there was now a small flowerbed that was in the opposite direction of the patio structure.

    As for the structure on the other side that looked like a patio, it was simrly renovated and became a building at this point, but wasn''t on Lucas'' mind at the moment. The system''s renovations, apart from the main building, would not drastically change the contents of the other structures.

    While it looked like a storage room, there was a possibility that it might not be simple, but Lucas left that for another day. He was already satisfied with the renovations, and he couldn''t wait to get to work right away.

    "Before host begins, the system would like to give a word of advice." The in voice of the system sounded in Lucas'' ears after he re-entered the workstation.

    "Oh, what''s up?"

    "The operating mechanism of the workstation has been modified to suit the host''s familiarity, however, changes were still made to improve the integrity of the equipment and functionality. For instance, in the forge [1], you have to select your choice of mes, and this can be done through the push of a button or mentalmunication.

    For the moment, there are only two options; Crimson Dragon mes and Blue Magma mes. As for their functionality and differences, host will discover that on your own. Do keep in mind that certain mes would need to be fed when in operation.

    "The counters are spatial storages with a maximum storage of five cubic metres and you can find some spare materials for starting up in them. Some of the equipment in the work-station are automatic, while others operate manually. Host can decide to utilise them through either actions or thoughts. There are a few other things to take notes on, but host will find out as you go on.

    As the training system, it is inappropriate if the system is to give you all rted information from the start."

    With each statement the system made, Lucas'' eyes shone brighter as a smile appeared on his face. He wasn''t bothered by the fact that he had to figure out the rest of the features but was pleased that the system gave him a starting investment. Lucas wasn''t exactly financially buoyant unless he sold his Purple Iridium stock, which was both dumb and out of the equation, so this was helpful.

    . . .

    Lucas eventually got to work and lost track of time. Before he knew it, the day wasing to an end. It was at this moment that the spy, who had been monitoring the premises, decided to make his move.

 Chapter 14 : Invader

    One might wonder how did the spy, who had his eyes and attention on the building for most of the time, fail to realise that the building and its attachments had abruptly changed. The answer was simple; the system''s meddling.

    The system was an entity that could easily orchestrate Lucas'' rebirth on Earth and transmigrate his soul as well as his past life''s body into this world. Changing a building and a few structures while brainwashing a character by the side at the same time, was nothing too difficult. Of course, neither Lucas nor the spy even knew this.

    At the darkest point at the night, the spy felt it was best to strike. He had less than fourteen hours to give results to his boss. What''s more, Ramirez'' men hade into contact with the target twice now. The spy felt a sense of urgency to make his move otherwise he wouldn''t get hismission and his profile in themunity might get ruined.

    He arrived by the building and quietly scaled it, reaching towards a window by the side. Being a professional tracker at the first first level of the Aperture Opening stage, this wasn''t too difficult to pull off.

    The spy prepared to break in through the window but noticed that it was actually open. Albeit surprised, it wasn''t by much. Different people had different preferences.

    The room was dark but to the spy, this wasn''t an issue. He looked around and spotted a bed with a silhouetteid on it.

    ''Found ya.''

    The man pulled out a tranquilizer gun, but shaped like a Glock. He aimed at the silhouette and fired twice.

    The silhouette moved a bit but quickly went still. The spy smirked seeing this and approached the target.

    Suddenly, he took a step back and tilted his head to the side as his eyes abruptly narrowed.

    A chisel darted towards his throat but the previous action of the spy proved to be useful as the tool narrowly missed. However, that wasn''t all.

    At the same time the chisel flew out, a figure lunged at him from the other side of the bed. The spy had sessfully dodged the chisel attack but he was put in a difficult position to dodge the next attack. Nheless, there was no sign of anxiety or fear in his eyes as he let go of the weapon and punched forward.

    Bam.

    Two fists collided and surprisingly, they were equal.

    Although he was slightly surprised, the spy counterattacked right away and punched with his free hand at the opponent.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Thud.

    The attacker was forced backwards until they crashed into the wall.

    An opportunity to follow-up appeared, but the spy wasn''t in a hurry. From what he had experienced so far, the assant was much weaker than he was, both in terms of speed and strength, so there was no rush.

    "Oh, it''s you." The spy said.

    "It seems like you noticed I''ve been monitoring you. I''m sure I was careful so howe?"

    Lucas stared at the enemy without responding, part of the reason being the intense pain he felt almost as if his internal organs were tumbling about. If not for his experiences in his past lives, the pain alone would have knocked Lucas unconscious.

    Originally, Lucas wouldn''t have been able to notice the man but with the spy constantly monitoring him all the time, it was inevitable that he would slip-up once. With his strong soul force and increased senses, Lucas would be able to spot him during such slip-ups.

    "Doesn''t matter. I''ll be taking you with me now, especially that glove of yours." The spy said. Together with the information he had as well as the earlier sh, he could see that the cksmith gloves were quite special and probably had some force-negation effect.

    Lucas stood up from the ground with a frown on his face.

    This time around, the enemy was much stronger and the gap wasrger. Lucas'' real strength averaged at the Muscle refining level of the Body Strengthening stage. Together with the special effects of the gloves, he could take on an opponent at the Bone refining level. However, the opponent this time around was different.

    Lucas could clearly sense a mystical energy within the enemy which showed that his assant hadpleted the Body Strengthening stage. In this world, that would make him a practitioner of the Aperture Opening stage.

    In the Ster Refinement system, until a practitioner reached the Guardian stage, which was the third stage, they would be a body-honer or Ster Evolver; depending on their physical abilities and using ster energy to boost those abilities. However, the second stage, Aperture Opening stage, was quite different from the first.

    Apart from relying on physical strength, they could also manipte ster energy externally. This, as well as the increase in physical prowess, made them much stronger than the first stage practitioners.

    Even with his experience and everything, Lucas was aware that this battle was one he couldn''t win. But at the same time, it was one he had to win. Luckily, he had the system.

    "You should just stay down quietly."

    The spy charged at Lucas once he stood up.

    Lucas tried to dodge, but despite having expected the attack, he was too slow to react in time.

    Tap.

    "Hmm?"

    The spy was surprised that unlike thest time, there was no reaction from his punch. The previous blow hended on Lucas was held back with the only intent to keep his opponent down but not critically injure him.

    This time around, the spy used more power as he wanted to knock Lucas out while dealing a severe blow to him. However, Lucas remained standing and didn''t even take half a step back.

    The spy was confused but his thoughts were interrupted when he saw Lucas'' fist closing in on his face. He dodged right away but instead of retreating, the man sent a more powerful blow attack at Lucas.

    Tap.

    Without a doubt, the result was the same.

    At this point, the man suspected Lucas to be in possession of a force-negating body armour. If there could be a set of gloves, why not an armour? This wasn''t mentioned to him because Lucas'' previous enemies were unable tond a clean blow on him. Due to this, it was natural for his true skills to remain a mystery and so, it surprised the man.

    The man released another punch but the result was the same. Seeing Lucas prepare to counterattack, he hurriedly retreated andnded behind with a light step.

    "Who would have expected this to be happening? Quite interesting indeed." The spy smirked.

    At the same time, Lucas heard a voice in his head.

    "Host Protection Mechanism has been fully activated."

    Host Protection Mechanism (HPM) was a new feature Lucas had unlocked after the store''s renovation waspleted. Unlike the other benefits he got from the system, the Host Protection Mechanism was only activated within the store (the additional building included) and the surrounding area of ten feet around it.

    Once the HPM was fully activated within the applicable space, Lucas would be immune to all forms of harm as defined by the system. ording to the system''s description of ''harm'', this happened to be a hit with a certain level of force capable of injuring the host. At the same time, ''harm'' also referred to any dangerous substance or item capable of injuring the host.

    Essentially, within the area of the store, Lucas would be immortal and unkible.

    As for why the first attack by the spy had injured him, it was simply because Lucas didn''t fully activate the Host Protection Mechanism at that moment. He had wanted to experience what it truly felt like to face someone on the Aperture Opening stage with his current abilities.

    Nheless, because the HPM was meant to protect the host, it would always be active, but in this passive form, the host could receive damage but not enough to kill or severely injure him. The excess damage from an attack would instead be converted into pain, which exins why Lucas was in severe pain after receiving a blow that should have broken a few of his ribs.

    "Although I don''t know how you did it, I don''t think a defence such as yours can stop me. To be honest, I''m quite curious. How much force can your armour negate? Which wouldst longer, the armour or you?" The spy''s voice sounded.

    Lucas frowned but took a battle stance right after standing up. There was no escaping here, what''s more, he had to capture the spy and interrogate him about his employers. Apart from the debt-collector and the kidnappers, Lucas didn''t recall offending anyone. Of course the pawnshop was a suspect and even the pub, butpared to the other two, they weren''t as suspicious.

    So to ensure he made no mistakes, Lucas wanted to capture this lead.

    ''I can''t lose this.''

 Chapter 15 A Gamble

    Once again, the man charged at Lucas but this time around, Lucas could sense a dangerous vibe from the opponent. If the previous strikes were an attempt to take Lucas down and capture him, the pressure Lucas felt at this moment was simr but mixed with killing intent. The spy was now serious.

    Whoosh.

    A fist tore through the air heading towards Lucas. Thetter tried to dodge but proved slower than his attacker as the strikended. However, once again, the blow didn''t result in anything substantial, but the spy was unperturbed by this as he unleashed a flurry of attacks on Lucas.

    Even though Lucas was immune to harm, the constant hits by the spy seemed to be somewhat effective as it managed to shake Lucas.

    ording to the system''s description of ''harm'', any amount of force capable of injuring Lucas would be mitigated. However, this didn''t mean that all the force from an attack would be eliminated. A slight amount of force would remain, but to Lucas, it was very negligible.

    However, with the spy constantly attacking and not giving him any breathing space, the force began to have a minimal effect on him.

    To put it into perspective, it was like using a massaging equipment on your body. The force from the equipment isn''t enough to injure and could be described as soothing. However, if one were to have hundreds of massaging equipment acting on their body at the same time, the force would be ufortable and might even cause harm.

    This was what Lucas was experiencing. Nheless, it wasn''t harmful but ufortable, which caused him to shiver a bit.

    The spy noticed this and presumed that his attack was having an effect, strongly believing that he was close to reaching the breaking point of Lucas'' ''equipment''. As such, he increased the strength and speed of his attacks.

    Most times, Lucas failed to dodge the attacks and was struck by multiple of them. But there were a few times he either managed to dodge or block the attacks. Even so, things didn''t look good for him as the spy sessfully dodged each of his counter attacks.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    If Lucas couldn''t turn things around, the spy might eventually get tired and decide to end things quicker, forcefully seizing Lucas. The Host Protection Mechanism could only protect Lucas from direct harm, but being captured didn''t constitute as direct harm.

    Also, being sedated with a tranquillizer didn''t count as harm too, which was why Lucas had faked his silhouette on the bed with a couple of pillows to avoid the tranquillizer gun.

    Realising that at this point, things looked bad for him Lucas decided to change his strategy.

    Lucas fired a fist at the spy but thetter easily dodged it by moving his head to the side.

    At that moment, Lucas'' eyes turned vicious.

    ''Restore.''

    A chisel appeared on his other hand right when Lucas counterattacked and he flung it at man. But the enemy dodged it and instead countered with another ferocious blow to his.

    Previously, the spy had been aiming at Lucas'' abdomen and limbs, but this time around, the attack was aimed at Lucas'' head. He wanted to knock Lucas out and end the battle.

    ''Restore.''

    Lucas didn''t retreat in the face of the attack, rather he couldn''t. Nheless, there was no worry in his eyes as he summoned another chisel from his system inventory and stabbed at the spy''s neck. He nned on taking the hit while delivering a ruthless attack of his own.

    The spy realised this and prepared to retreat, as it was impossible for him to continue with his attack and dodge Lucas'' attack due to the angle it came from. However, he noticed that there was a slight trace of hesitation and worry in Lucas'' eyes and this made him have seconds thoughts.

    All this happened within a few milliseconds and there was not much time to think, so the spy bit the bullet and continued with his attack.

    The man''s thought pattern was that Lucas wouldn''t be able to handle his attack and was bluffing with his. The trace of worry and hesitation in Lucas'' eyes was what made him confident in his estimation so he went on with his attack.

    The man guessed that Lucas was approaching his limit and his attack was threatening to thetter. So, as long as his attack hit, Lucas would be injured and unable to go on with his retaliation.

    Puchi.

    Blood dyed the ground as the sounds of fighting went still.

    He spy had his eyes wide open as he stared at Lucas who was unharmed, however, the same wasn''t true for him. Blood spurted out from the injury on his neck as reluctance hung in his eyes, but his emotions couldn''t change the result. His gamble had failed.

    Seemingly realising something, the man red at Lucas and wanted to say a few words, but thetter strengthened his grip on the chisel and stabbed deeper into the man''s throat.

    The spy still tried to hold onto his life, refusing to believe that this was how he would do down, but Lucas wasn''t so nice. With a frown, Lucas moved his other arm -which also had a chisel in it- and stabbed at the other side of the man''s neck. Then he took out both chisels, leading to a stream of blood flowing from the two wounds.

    The spy was now gued with two grievous wounds and the light in his eyes became clouded until they went dark.

    In the end, the spy died despite his unwillingness. As hisst thoughts turned dark, he couldn''t believe that this was how he departed this world; at the hands of a human who didn''t even have a shred of ster energy. The man didn''t even go all out against Lucas and only relied on his physical abilities, but that decision of his had now cost him his life.

    Lucas stepped away and let the corpse fall to the ground. He let out a sigh of relief as he sent the chisels back into his inventory and massaged his head.

    Although the Host Protection Mechanism had sessfully kept him safe throughout the fight, Lucas couldn''t help but finally feel relieved.

    As for how he won, it was a trick he yed mid battle. Lucas made a slight expression of fear and hesitation when the spy struck out, but he hurriedly kept it back. In truth, this expression was feigned and the intention was to mislead the spy. With the skills of the man, it wouldn''t have been difficult for him to dodge Lucas'' assault if he gave up on attacking.

    As such, Lucas had to prevent that from happening, hence why he gave the man hope through his expressions. Being quite skilled, it was naturally for the spy to spot the ''hidden'' meaning behind Lucas'' expression. In the end, he took the bait and fell at the hands of one he looked down on.

    Many factors affected this battle and led to Lucas'' victory like the fact the spy underestimated him, or hisck of knowledge on the existence of the Host Protection Mechanism or its impregnable characteristic. If the spy had from the start utilised his ster energy or gotten his hands back on his tranquillizer gun, Lucas would have lost.

    This battle made Lucas aware of weakness and further strengthened his resolve to learn magic or ster refining at the very least. This time round, the system came to his rescue but what about next time? What if he was assaulted outside the store? He could no longer keep dulling; this wasn''t Earth.

    With the spy now dead, Lucas couldn''t question him about his identity and hirer, but that wasn''t a problem. Lucas searched the corpse and found amunicator just as he had suspected. From the spy''s attitude, it was clear he didn''t find Lucas a challenging opponent, and with that being the case, he wouldn''t see the mission to be stressful.

    This might not seem like much, but it meant that the spy would be less cautious, to the point of carrying evidence and traces with him. If the target was a more higher or powerful figure, the spy wouldn''t move around with hismunicator, lest his leaves behind trails once caught or killed.

    Lucas used the biometric option and activated themunicator after using the man''s finger. He then scrolled towards the message app and went through them one at a time, until he found something interesting; a name that made his blood turn cold.

    Kalvin Petri.

    The name wasn''t familiar to him, but the words written beside it was what caught his attention.

    Kalvin Petri (Vinis Store vice-manager).

    It was somewhat unexpected that the spy, or kidnapper, was sent by the higher-ups from the Vinis store. While he had been a bit suspicious, Lucas had his attention more on the debt-collector from earlier or the three gang members he killed previously.

    He even felt it was more likely for a stranger who had seen him before to assault him as he had already experienced the ''allure'' humans had on his first day. The Vinis store was on the lower side of his list of suspects, after all, the store had a good reputation in the West Wing district for doing business. But it looked like that was a lie, a well-hidden one.

    ''I guess I owe them a visit one day.''

 Chapter 16 : Going Out

    Seven days went by with Lucas locking himself up within the store''s premises. He spent the days doing what he loved; forging and reading about metals and materials. Apart from that, Lucas had also tried to find a solution to his ''curse'', but there was nothing on that.

    Rather than saying there was no solution, it was more like Lucas was on the bottom tier of the power pyramid, so the information he needed was out of his reach.

    Lucas did find something interesting, though.

    As such, the four continents of Eretre ended up being divided into thirteen city-states. However, it might be more apt to say that there were twelve city-states split across three continents, as one of the four continents only had a single city-state and was ruled directly by the Oklo Dynasty.

    Despite being called city-states, their territories were essentially asrge as nations on Earth. Each city-state had its own form of division, but the main seat ofmand would be the main city, which would have the same name as the city-state. Take Lucas'' location for instance; the city-state was called Bands while the main city was called Bands city.

    The lower divisions were called districts, but the five districts at the center were special because they formed Bands City. A district was a veryrge city or town, nothing like their Earth counterparts.

    Back to what Lucas found out, there was a certain city-state known as Digress on the Beast continent. Unlike the other city-states, Digress was formed by humans and mixed bloods or different species. In summary, it was a paradise for lifeforms and species rejected or mistreated by the hyuman society or other alien societies, after all, Eretre wasn''t only popted by hyumans.

    It was rumoured that there were practitioners of ster refining there, and they had reached high levels. Even the current city-lord of Digress was a human at a high level of the Aperture Opening stage; on par with the other city-lords. However, not only was Digress city-state on a different continent quite far away, the system had based Lucas here in Bands so leaving wasn''t that simple.

    "System, Digress city-state is run by a human. How did they pull it off?"

    "Host needs to open the store for business; otherwise, the system can''t assist the host."

    Lucas was not surprised by the answer.

    Nowadays, the system has been harassing him to open the store, but Lucas spent the past week revisiting his forging skills and experimenting with the metals of this world. The system already gave him a stock of metals to work with, and although they couldn''tpare with the Purple Iridium and Red Iris Stone -the second metal he got as a reward alongside the former- Lucas was satisfied with them.

    He nned on using a month''s time to freshen up his skills and improve his strength in some way before leaving the store to explore. It might sound cowardly, but safety was important, and this was most likely hisst chance at life.

    Suddenly, Lucas'' interface opened up in front of him with a message on it.

    [[ Mission Description: The host has been dying, and as such, the system is being forced to take action.

    Overview: Open the store within thirty six hours.

    Rewards: Basic immunity package for craftsmen.

    Penalty: Death. ]]

    "Oh wow, how supportive of you." Lucas sarcastically remarked.

    Although the system''s rewards were usually worth it, the fact it decided to use a mission with a death penalty to force Lucas to open the store made him feel ufortable. This time, the mission wasn''t difficult, but what about next time?

    "Host need not worry. To prevent abuse of power and to give the host free roam, the system has a limited monthly quota of self-made missions. The quotas can''t be umted as well."

    The system, which clearly read his mind, replied.

    "How many is that?"

    "ess denied."

    Lucas gave up and exited the work-shop with a few objects in his hand. One of them was histest creation; an object that looked like a t board.

    Apart from spare materials, there were also some blueprints and drawings for Lucas to practice and learn from. When he first spoke to the system and asked what it was, the system stated that it''s role was to train a Crafts-god, not a cksmith god. Originally, Lucas didn''t think much of it until he saw the blueprints.

    Lucas ced all his creations into his system inventory and left the store after taking a quick bath and a change of clothes. The clothes, surprisingly, had appeared in his wardrobe after the renovations werepleted, and they fit right into the fashion standards of this world.

    With a map disyed on hismunicator, Lucas analyzed his surroundings.

    The location of the store was a bit isted, one of the reasons why Lucas had managed to get it cheap, but the good thing was that it was still in the region of the market zone. The closest building to it was a closed down shop and two warehouses, but a couple metres away, there were more buildings and stores. Some of them sold clothings and apparel, while a few dealt in jewellery or some tech.

    There happened to be two stores that sold weapons and handled maintenance, but they were spaced apart by at least one hundred metres. Despite that, they had a lot of traffic. One of the most frequented buildings ''closer'' to Lucas was a restaurant, and it so happened that this restaurant was the reason Ramon went out of business and sold the store.

    Lucas decided to check out one of the stores that sold weapons, as, in a sense, they would end up being hispetitors in the future. On his way, he noticed that a few of the clothing stores around him didn''t sell regr clothing. Rather, what they had in their stores was special clothing that doubled as armour.

    West Wing bordered the Wastnds to the west, so although it was part of Bands city and protected by the city patrol corps, it was at risk of attacks by deste beasts. For this reason too, one of the mostmon upations in the West Wing district was Frencing.

    Not to be confused with the equivalent on Earth, frencing was a mercenary or adventurer role, from what Lucas found out back when he spent his time indoors reading. Some ster refiners who were confident in their skills and needed a source of ie orbat experience, would venture into Frencing.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    They would take missions from a client to either hunt down a specific deste beast or retrieve some rare herb or material in risk-prone areas like the Wastnds. Even when they weren''t on missions, frencers would still venture into such regions to seize materials or kill deste beasts for their parts, which they would then sell for money.

    West Wing was the closest to a deste beast habitat, the Wastnd, so it was only natural for many of the upants and visitors to be frencers. The lower ranking frencers lived in the West Wing district, but the much stronger and better rankers lived in the better districts away from the slums. Nheless, to get to the Wastnds, one would still have to pass the West Wing district.

    With that in mind, many of the stores in this market zone cater to frencers.

    Lucas walked in and took a look at the armour and special clothings the store sold, impressed by the craftsmanship involved. The armours were lightweight yet sturdy and almost imprable, while the special clothing looked no different from everyday wear, but the materials used to make them were not your average cotton or wool.

    Even though he merely nced at one of them, having worked with weapons and armour most of hisbined lifetime, Lucas was certain that even the sharpest daggers on Earth wouldn''t be able to pierce the t-shirt despite its simple appearance. Maybe the vestige, the special dagger used by one of the three kidnappers, could do some damage. But to what extent was unknown unless Lucas tried it out.

    One of the blueprints at the store was a design like the armours here, but Lucas was still working on the simpler designs at the moment.

    "Hello, sir, are you interested in anything here?" A salesgirl walked up to Lucas and asked.

    "Not really. I''m just looking around." Lucas replied.

    The girl nodded and was about to step aside, but then she halted and stared at Lucas a bit more before she left. He noticed this but acted as if he didn''t. Lucas understood why she reacted like that. She probably noticed that he was a human after getting close to him. From a distance, it wasn''t obvious, but under scrutiny at close proximity, a hyuman would be able to see the difference.

    Lucas walked around the store a bit more as he took in the sight of the designs and clothing, there were jackets, dresses, trousers, and even underwear, both regr and special. Just as he was about to take a closer look at a trenchcoat that caught his eye, Lucas heard a voice from behind.

    "Excuse me, sir, but the management wants you to leave the building."

 Chapter 17 : Prejudice

    "Excuse me, sir, but the management wants you to leave the building."

    Lucas turned around and noticed the speaker was a man standing behind him. Looking at his outfit, he could easily guess that the man was an employee of the store.

    As he turned around, Lucas was a bit surprised and questioned,

    "Me?"

    "That''s right, mister. You." The man replied.

    "And why''s that?" Lucas asked.

    The man frowned slightly, seeing as Lucas was still asking questions, but he replied him albeit less pleasantly.

    "I''ve been monitoring you for a while now. From your actions, you seem be loitering around the store rather than meaning to purchase something. Our store doesn''t patronise loiterers as they consume space and might affect the business of others. As such, we have to escort them out."

    The man then pointed at a billboard hung on the wall.

    There was indeed a ''No loitering'' sign.

    Lucas was surprised that a store actually had such a rule. While reasonable, it might give off a bad impression and seem like a form of mistreatment. But then again, such a rule wasn''t exactly bad and gave off a premium air to a store.

    However, something was weird about this.

    Lucas hadn''t even spent five minutes in the store, and he was already deemed to be loitering. If someone said there wasn''t something strange happening, he wouldn''t believe it.

    At that moment, the pride of having sat on high tables and held powerful positions took over him.

    Lucas stared at the man with an enigmatic smile as he asked.

    "But what makes you think I was loitering?"

    "You''ve spent a lot of minutes wandering around the store, and it''s very obvious you can''t afford what we sell. Security, please escort this man out of the premises."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    At this point, the man was irritated and could no longer bear having a discussion on the topic.

    It was then that Lucas understood what was happening. The clothes that he got after the system renovated the store weren''t trendy or high fashion but average. That, paired with his identity as a human, Lucas understood a lot.

    The security guard wasn''t a living being, but a humanoid robot that stood guard by the door. There were three such robots, and one of them walked over after receiving themand.

    "Pleasee with me.

    Lucas couldn''t sense any sign of life in it, but based just on appearance alone, it looked no different from a human being, even if its bodily expressions were being considered too.

    Lucas ignored the robot and pointed at the apparel he was staring at before the drama started.

    "Wrap this up for me before I leave."

    Both the robot and man were stunned, looking at Lucas with a confused expression.

    "What? You don''t attend to customers any longer? I want this item wrapped up for me." Lucas said calmly.

    The man frowned as he was about to say something when Lucas added with a loud voice, "Last I heard, the store is open to every customer. Or am I wrong?"

    Lucas faced the man calmly, without any evident expression on his face.

    The man knew that, at this point, he couldn''t chase Lucas away. Their sh had already drawn attention, and with Lucas iming to be a customer, they had to attend to his needs.

    Speciesism might exist in Bands City, but that doesn''t mean everyone agrees with this point. An example was when Lucas went to the pub but wasn''t treated differently, or when the salesgirl noticed his identity but didn''t shoo him away from the store.

    With the matter now escting, the man had to let Lucas be. However, he had a n. The trenchcoat was quite costly, and unless one either had an impressive amount in their savings or worked a high-paying job like a frencer, it would be difficult to afford it. On average, humans couldn''t work as frencers due to their gic disabilities.

    As for other high-paying jobs, those usually depended on one''s connections, and the connections a human would have in the West Wing district would definitely not be worth much. With all that in mind, the man suspected that Lucas was trying to find a way out.

    "Sure, let''s get it wrapped for you." The man smiled sinisterly.

    ''I''ll see whether you can afford it or not.''

    Lucas and the man walked towards the check counter with the security robot. An order was made for the trenchcoat. A bag was brought by a different salesgirl who was in charge of finalizing purchases.

    While all this took ce, Lucas remained calm.

    The Purple Iridium ingot was pawned for five thousand federal coins. Lucas spent two thousand and eight hundred (2800) coins to purchase the store, leaving him with two thousand and two hundred (2200) coins left. However, after killing the three kidnappers and the spy from before, Lucas rummaged their corpses and retrieved abined sum of seven hundred coins from both parties.

    In truth, he got more, but the cards with the majority of the money were inessible to him. The aforementioned amount was in the form of cash and prepaid debit cards. For most prepaid cards, the pins weren''tplicated and were sometimes recorded behind the card.

    With that much money, he wasn''t bothered about the cost of the clothing. The average monthly sry in the West Wing district was four hundred federal coins. Even for frencers, this was still a sum for most.

    Also, this store didn''t look all that premium; otherwise, it wouldn''t be here. From that, Lucas estimated the trenchcoat to cost less than a thousand, even if it was of high quality. He nned on checking it outter in detail, so one couldn''t say that this was a rushed purchase, as Lucas would have both something simr while walking around the street.

    Once the salesgirl returned with the item, she also reported the price to Lucas.

    Normally, the price is reported before the item is brought, but the man made the salesgirl switch the order. Lucas gleamed from this that the man was probably a high ranking individual in the store.

    "Two hundred and seventy five federal coins." The girl said.

    Lucas raised an eyebrow, surprised it was ''cheaper'' than he thought. However, the man misinterpreted his silence as a concession.

    "Well, well well, I think it''s ti-"

    Before he could go on, he was interrupted by Lucas, who stretched out his hand with a card in it.

    "You can process the payment for me now and hand me my item."

    At that moment, everyone in the store was stunned. That was two hundred and seventy (270) federal coins, not some cheap change. Even rent in the West Wing district''s residential area didn''t cost that much, yet Lucas handed it out with an unperturbed expression. This showed that he didn''t consider it as much. Then what was ''much''? Their store probably didn''t even have such an item.

    In that very moment, the man who had singled him out was stunned.

 Chapter 18 : The Old Man And The Little Girl

    Two hundred and seventy (270) federal coins was not chicken change no matter how one looked at it. While federal coins were the major unit of currency, there was a lesser unit called federal pence, of which one hundred of them were equivalent to a federal coin. This was a means to prevent intion due to the high value of a federal coin.

    Generally, most everyday transaction was calcted with pences and usually didn''t exceed thirty coins. Even thetest technical gadgets wouldn''t go past this figure most times, unless it had something to do with ster energy or frencers.

    The impressive value of the federal coin could be seen from the fact that the Vinis store charged twenty coins for a prepaid debit card, which was very costly for an average folk.

    So when the store employees saw as Lucas was unperturbed by the price of the trench-coat despite his looks, they were shocked and realised that they probably underestimated him.

    Being human didn''t deny one of the majority of opportunities, and while there weren''t much human frencers, it didn''t mean that there weren''t wealthy characters amongst them. At this point, the man who worked as a salesman in the store, guessed that Lucas was one of them.

    ''Damn it.''

    The store had a rule against loiterers but not customers as that would be dumb. Now, the man was stuck in a difficult situation. He could simply swallow his pride, apologize and process the deal, but he didn''t want to.

    It was just like Lucas had guessed; the man had prejudice against humans and looked down on them. Despite the obvious fact that hyumans descended from humans, he looked down on thetter and felt that theparison was the same as cing apes on the same pedestal as humans. So even if Lucas could afford it, the man wasn''t willing to give up.

    He had some authority in the store, and refusing to sell to some random human should not affect him negatively, even if the news got to the manager.

    "I''m sorry, but the item is out of stock." The man said this to Lucas.

    Not just Lucas, but even the salesgirl by the counter was shocked. The customers in the store who were paying attention to the scene were also surprised but some had a knowing look on their face. It was clear what was going on, but there was no solid reason for them to intervene; it had nothing to do with them.

    "Out of stock?" Lucas nced at the man as if he were a fool.

    Holding back his anger, the man ndly replied, "Yes. What you see here is thest of our stock, and it has already been reserved by a high-value customer. As such, we can''t sell it. Pleasee again next time, and maybe we will have one avable for you."

    At this point, Lucas realised that the man wasn''t willing to give up. One way or the other, he was determined to humiliate Lucas.

    Just when Lucas was considering whether he should blow the matter up or not, two individuals happened to appear close-by. One of them was a young girl, not more than fourteen years of age. She had brown hair and orange eyes, showing that her genes were extraordinary. The other individual was an elderly man with grey hair and a friendly smile.

    He looked like a genial grandfather figure as he held the little girl''s hand and walked closer.

    "Grandpa, what''s going on over there?"

    "Oh, it seems like the store''s employee is shing with a customer."

    "Really? That''s bad."

    Some were surprised that the two were talking without a care in the world, despite the situation at hand. Even the man who was confronting Lucas had a slight frown on his face.

    Lucas, on the other hand, felt the duo were strange, especially the elderly man. Based on his experiences and senses, Lucas felt that the man was quite powerful. There was also a special feeling the man gave off. It wasn''t obvious and was even somewhat suppressed, but Lucas was quite sensitive to it.

    This sensation was one from someone in a powerful position as well as a figure who had seen blood; and lots of it. The old man was definitely not as ordinary as he seemed.

    "Grandpa, why does that guy give me a strange feeling?" The little girl said this as she pointed at Lucas, not caring how he felt.

    Thetter raised an eyebrow in surprise but didn''t argue with her, as she was a little girl.

    "Hmm, that''s cause he''s human." The old man replied.

    "Human¡­?" The girl knit her brows.

    "Oh, like the people they taught us in school. The older generation. That''s amazing." The girl stared at Lucas with interest.

    "But why is he so weak?" She mumbled.

    "That''s how they are." The old man answered.

    ''...system, are you happy now? Even a kid mocks me in broad daylight.'' Lucasined.

    "Host should open the store and then maybe there''s a chance." The system replied.

    Lucas'' eyes brightened, but then he calmed down. This might still be a ploy by the system to get him to open the store as soon as possible.

    The man was tired of the charades of the two, so he faced Lucas once again.

    "Since you are not buying anything, sir, please vacate the premises so we can better attend to other customers."

    Lucas frowned and for a minute, didn''t know how to respond. Based on the man''s reply, it was clear that even if he wanted to buy something else, the same dumb excuse would be given to him and Lucas could do nothing about it.

    Just then, the little girl''s voice sounded again.

    "Are they bullying him? Grandpa, can you lend him a hand?"

    The elderly man didn''t say anything but simply nodded as he nced at the man.

    "Young friend, could you let him off for my sake?"

    The man frowned, seeing as the elderly man was about to intervene. He wanted to speak back, but when he nced into the old man''s eyes, the man suddenly froze. Fear was in his eyes as he began to shiver slightly. Even breathing became an issue for him as he slowly felt his head be light.

    The robot guard that stood on standby noticed this and turned to the man, but he merely nced at it, and the robot simrly froze in ce. Despite the programming within it urging the robot to make a move, it just couldn''t.

    "You will do me this favour now, won''t you?"

    The man could finally breathe, but he was still terrified. He realised that the person facing him was not an ordinary figure but a frencer, and a very high-ranking one at that.

    "Y, yes. Process the payment, quick!" The man rushed the salesgirl.

    She was stunned but did as she was told.

    Lucas paid for the item, and it was given to him right away.

    Seeing that everything was settled, the old man turned to the young girl with a smile on his face.

    "Let''s go elsewhere. I don''t think what we are looking for is here."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Sure, grandpa." The girl nodded.

    The girl was previously interested in Lucas'' identity, but it seemed like she had lost interest as she didn''t bother with him again.

    "Esteemed sir, please wait. I can help you look around for what it is you want. Even if we don''t have the exact model, a suitable recement should be avable. There are also a few nice items in stock."

    The salesgirl could guess a thing or two and realised they were high-value customers. If they spent a lot, she might get amission, so she tried to convince them to stay.

    "No, thank you." The old man responded and left with the little girl.

    The robot was now free to move, yet it didn''t make a move any longer. The duo had already exited the store, and considering they didn''tmit a crime, its programming prevented it from chasing after them. Also, the robot knew that it could do nothing against the elderly man. After all, it was equipped with machine learning capabilities, so it was intelligent.

    As for Lucas, he had also left the store, not bothering to remain behind any longer. However, he did something no one else thought of doing.

    "Why are you following us?" The old man nced behind.

    "I didn''t say my thanks for the help sir offered." Lucas bowed slightly and smiled.

    "No need." The old man responded with a t tone.

    "If there''s anything the elder would like, I may be able to offer my help to you." Lucas said.

    "No need."

    "..."

    At this point, Lucas felt that he wasmunicating with a physical version of the system that usually went ''ess denied'' each time he was fishing for important information. Nheless, those experiences made him adept at handling such a situation.

    "Thank you for the help, little girl." Lucas said.

    "As a way to offer my thanks, I have a gift for you."

    Saying that, he took out a box, opened it, and disyed the content, which immediately attracted the little girl''s attention.

 Chapter 19 : The Interesting Youngster

    Inside the box Lucas took out was a metal bracelet with a red gem in the middle. The bracelet was designed so well that it was aesthetically pleasing just to look at. Being a girl and a less young one with not much worldly experience, the girl couldn''t resist being attracted to the jewellery.

    The elderly man frowned at Lucas'' actions, but when he nced at the reed gem in the middle, he couldn''t help but raise an eyebrow. Although it looked like a gem, on closer inspection, one would realise that it was actually metal. This was a rare and valuable metal known as Red Iris stone.

    It was called a stone because of its outward appearance, but under further scrutinization, one would find out that it was a metal.

    Seeing this expensive piece of metal in a bracelet, the old man couldn''t help but study Lucas once again, trying to figure out who he was.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "I like it." The little girl said this as she left the old man and approached the trinket box.

    Even though Lucas was a stranger, she wasn''t scared and instead had her focus on the bracelet the whole time. Lucas couldn''t help butment at how naive she was, but that helped his case.

    "What do you want?" The old man ignored the girl and stared at Lucas with a solemn expression.

    There was no way someone would give out a bracelet with Red Iris stone and ask for nothing, even if the piece was just the size of a thumbnail. What''s more, the elderly man could see that the craftsmanship used in making this ornament was exquisite.

    Although there wasn''t much ster energy in it nor any ster matrix on it, so much so that one could say it''s a failed product, it was the purest form he had seen in an item in the entire West Wing district.

    If the cksmith who crafted this piece of jewellery had imbued more ster energy into it by etching runes or a formidable ster matrix on it, the bracelet would easily be a top-tier vestige.

    At that moment, Lucas came under the same pressure as the man in the store and couldn''t move his body. But he wasn''t afraid.

    "Nothing really. Like I said, I just want to give my thanks for the help." Lucas calmly replied.

    "Using a vestige with Red Iris stone?" The old man scoffed, clearly not believing Lucas'' words.

    Lucas smiled, but still spoke calmly, "If you don''t believe me, so be it. I found your actions helpful and decided to thank you with a handcrafted item of mine. I could see that you were of great standing, so I had to show more honesty and thought with my gift. Sir, you shouldn''t think too much about it."

    The old man was surprised when he heard this. Not because of Lucas'' reasoning, but a im he made.

    A handcrafted item of mine.

    This meant that the skilled cksmith who made this vestige with such pure ster energy was actually the young man before him? The old man couldn''t help but be shocked.

    In Eretre, the sses of metalworksmen was divided into two: cksmiths and Vestige-smiths. The former dealt with metals, whether ordinary or special. Thetter made vestiges out of these metals. This might not seem like much, but the difference was.

    cksmiths simply made weapons and even the best of their creations could only produce a trace of ster energy using special metals. However, vestige-smiths could imbue ster energy in any of their creations by relying on either formidable runes of other/ancient civilizations or ster matrices which was the culmination of hyuman technology.

    Most vestige-makers were vestige-smiths and only few cksmiths had enough skill to rival them ore close. The bracelet had a trace of ster energy; the criterion for defining a vestige. For a young man like Lucas to be able to achieve this without relying on runes or ster matrices, his skill was the real deal.

    "Howe I''ve never heard of you before?" The old man asked.

    "I just moved in and haven''t opened my store yet. That will be tomorrow." Lucas replied.

    "Alright." The old man nodded. He nced at the little girl who was taring at him with puppy eyes. Although she had dashed towards the jewellery for a closer look, she wouldn''t take it unless he agreed.

    "Go ahead." The old man smiled at her with a gentle expression, a direct contrast to how he dealt with other people.

    "Yeh!" The girl rejoiced and immediately took the bracelet, ignoring the box even though just like the bracelet, it also had a trace of ster energy.

    Clearly, she fancied the bracelet not for its properties but just its appearance.

    Lucas couldn''t help but sigh and at the same time rejoice that a knowledgeable figure like the old man was here otherwise his plot would have failed.

    Indeed, everything that was taking ce was a n of Lucas. The system wanted him to run a store, so in the long run, profits would be a focus of his. Considering the isted location of the store as well as the existence of reputablepetition, it would be hard for Lucas to stand out. So, he had to utilise ingenious methods to steal customers.

    The elderly man and the little girl didn''t seem like ordinary people. Based on how they carried themselves, the little girl was probably born into money and power while the old man wield it.

    Using one of his experimental products to win the favour and attention of such characters could be described as an investment. Originally, Lucas couldn''t do such out-of -the-blue, but the excuse of appreciation for prior aid offered worked really well.

    As for why he was confident that he had won the elderly man''s favour without thetter asking any question in particr, it was based off their actions and reactions.

    "Is there anything else, young man?" The old man asked.

    Knowing that the old man was hinting at his departure, Lucas replied with a slight bow, "Nothing. Thank you, sir."

    "Alright." The old man responded and left with his daughter whereas Lucas now had a smile on his face.

 Chapter 20 : Vestiges

    After separating from the elderly man and the young girl, Lucas began to check some other stores. His experience in the clothing store didn''t dampen his desire to explore the other stores. This trip was vital to the sess of his store, after all.

    In the next few hours, Lucas checked out some other clothing stores, jewellery stores, and a cksmith shop. Unlike his experience in the first store, Lucas didn''t encounter any ''special treatment '' again.

    Although some of the customers and staff were surprised that there was a human, they eventually moved on from the shock; after all, humans were almost no different from hyumans based on their external appearance alone.

    In fact, the only notable external difference was the fact that hyumans were born naturally with coloured hair and eyes, unlike humans that were limited to brown, blonde, red and ck for hair, and blue, amber, brown, ck and, very rarely, grey, for eyes.

    After checking out a few stores, Lucas finally reached hisst stop for the day. It was a Vestige store.

    ording to what he learnt during his seclusion period indoors, vestiges were special products that had ster energy within them; this world''s equivalent of magic weapons. The advantage of having mystical energy within an object was that they would be much stronger, durable, and powerful than their regr counterparts.

    Most vestiges were weapons or armours as the main reason vestiges were made was tobat alien species who could utilise ster energy.

    The production of vestiges was even rumoured to havee about before the first generation of hyumans, after all, humans were still exploring their star region but they faced threats from other alien species. Regr firearms and weapons couldn''tpete with the enemy, so they had to make improvements and that was how vestiges came to be.

    Ster matrices, which was the core of vestiges, were created during this period as well.

    cksmiths dealt with regr items but the smiths that crafted or created vestiges were usually called Vestige-smiths. The title wasn''t just for those who made weapons, but those who made space-ships, jewellery and any object that contained ster energy.

    Considering that the system intended for Lucas to be the Crafts-God, there was no doubt that its intention was for him to be a vestige-smith. As such, Lucas had to be familiar with the standards of this world.

    Just as Lucas stepped into the store and nced around, he noticed a familiar figure browsing the items in the store. It was the female cop he met when he first came into this world; thedy that had intervened when Lucas first shed with the kidnappers.

    Despite seeing her however, Lucas made no attempt to meet her nor greet her. Both parties were strangers, and based on her behaviour back then, Lucas knew that trying to be friendly with her might backfire at him. For that reason, it was best that he stayed in hisne.

    Lucas nced around and noticed that apart from cold weapons like swords, axes, and the likes, there were surprisingly hot weapons too. Lucas saw an assault rifle on disy, but unlike the ones from Earth, this has some strange carvings and groove marks on the barrel and other parts of the body. Even the cartridge[1] that was kept beside it wasn''t spared.

    There were a few other rifles in this section with differing designs.

    Both the weapons and the cartridges, especially thetter, were made of special metals and had either runes or ster matrices on them. One of the guns by the side was marked with ster matrices while its corresponding cartridges were carved with runes.

    There weren''t just guns though, as other popr hot weapons like grenadeunchers, RPGs and so on were on disy.

    Lucas was surprised to see hot weapons here but not so much. This was a technological world so it was understandable. In fact, despite seeing the designs and appearance, Lucas had a feeling that the principle of operation for these weapons were probably different from those on Earth. In other words, while it looked like an RPG, it might be aser-type weapon.

    "Hey system, what''s going on?" Lucas asked mentally.

    The system understood his question and replied, "As host levels up the system, new blueprints would be avable. For more information, please open the store for operation."

    Lucas nodded as it made sense. If he were just to get ess to everything right now, he would have almost no need for the system. At the same time, some of them might be tooplex for him at the moment, and being a training system, it wouldn''t make sense for the system to grant him ess to these blueprints right now.

    Despite being a grandmaster cksmith in hisst life, Lucas wasn''t so self-invested or prideful to think that he could make anything and everything in this world right away. Just this past week of working on the blueprints from the system already widened his perspective and taught him a lot.

    After looking around a bit, Lucas prepared to leave. He had tried purchasing one of the vestiges but found out that he needed to have either a frencer license, a permit or a rmendation from a registered frencer. This wasn''t like a certain country in his past life on Earth where one could walk into a store and easily get a rifle as long as they were above 18 years of age.

    There was a strict system here that prevented vestiges from easily getting into the hands of an average individual.

    The difficulty of purchase aside, Lucas had already checked out the cold weapon-type vestiges and made some mentalparisons with his own creations as well as the vestige he took from the corpse of the kidnappers. Thisparison made him more confident in his skills, with the only problem being hisck of knowledge on ster matrices and alien runes.

    Although he could find some sort of receable information on the KSSI (the sr system intr), it couldn''tpare to that of reputed vestige-smiths orpanies. One could learn the meaning of certain runes and ster matrices online, but the tutorial on inscribing them was different.

    Because runes and ster matrices were closely rted to creating vestiges, they were ssified information of sorts and confidential to individual vestige-smiths andpanies. Even getting ess to the basic and standard tutorials required one to be influential of sorts, or have passed certain exams by the city-state government.

    However, Lucas wasn''t worried. He had done a few experiments and found out that the magic runes from his first life worked out just fine here too, after a few changes. Being the only one familiar with such runes would make his products unique, and this was intended to be one of his selling points; a branding strategy, if you will.

    Just as he turned around to leave, Lucas overheard a conversation from a couple. They seemed to bementing about the absence of a certain item they wanted. As he caught sight of this, a thought crossed Lucas'' mind and slowly solidified into a n.

    A man and a woman left the vestige store and began to walk away into the distance, however, after going a few metres, they stopped and turned around. Behind them was a young man who looked to be between 21-23 years of age. Despite being so young, his eyes gave off a light of wisdom and calmness, something that an average young adult shouldn''t have so soon.

    "Who might you be, and why are you following us?" The man asked.

    Lucas, who had been following behind the couple, calmly replied with a s mile.

    "I mean you no harm. In fact, I can''t harm you. As you can see, I am a human." Lucas answered.

    "As for why I was following you, I overheard your conversation in the store. Something about looking for a spear at the third grade."

    The couple visibly rxed after Lucas'' reply, but they still kept their guards up, but not by much. It looked like the line ''I am human'' worked a lot to Lucas'' advantage.

    "And what about it?" The man asked with a in look.

    "I happen to know a friend who''s a vestige-smith. I went over to his ce just the other day and saw a really nice spear. It gave off an intimidating vibe, and looked quite powerful, too. I could hook you up if you are interested."

    Saying this, Lucas opened hismunicator and projected an image right away, not giving the duo any time to react.

    The couple nced at the image and were quite surprised by it. The spear in the image was well made from an aesthetic viewpoint. Even without seeing the real deal in front of them, it looked like a marvelous work by a cksmith. However, what they wanted wasn''t regr metal work but a vestige.

    One couldn''t judge the value of a vestige by mere images, so there was no telling whether the spear was as powerful as it looked. Otherwise, it might as well just be a ceremonial weapon[2].

    The man frowned and prepared to reject, but thedy replied just then.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Can we have a look too?"

    "Well, not now. You see, he just moved into town and ns to open his store tomorrow. At the moment, none of his works are for sale until then." Lucas sighed.

    The woman stared at him for a while, before asking for the address of the store to which Lucas gave her. Right after that, the duo left.

    As for why Lucas lied and imed the store was ran by a friend, it was simple. The duo were much stronger than him and having seen the value of a vestige in the previous store as well as knowing the importance of a vestige-smith, Lucas didn''t n on telling them lest they kidnapped him and forced him to hand over his weapons as well as his secrets.

    Who knows, they might even lock him up in a secluded location and force him to make vestiges.

    This wasn''t impossible as human trafficking was a thing even with the government''s attempts at stopping it. As for whether those attempts are genuine or not, it wasn''t Lucas'' ce to say.

    Lucas was currently weak, so he didn''t intend on drawing attention on himself at the moment. Unless he was in the store, he was as a weak as a chicken in the face of any frencer out there. Nheless, even with the risk, Lucas still decided to give it a shot and invite them over for hisunch the next day.

 Chapter 21 : Final Preparations

    The day wasing to an end, but Lucas wasn''t satisfied yet. While he had managed to draw the attention of two high-profile potential customers, he felt he could do more. Although it was true that the system didn''t give him a task to do so, it was obvious that once he opened the store, its progress and sales would affect the system.

    Apart from that, Lucas still owed the Vinis pawnshop, so he had to make enough sales to pay back the principal amount plus interest.

    The best method to generate hype for his store''sunch was to create a scene.

    If one''s goal was to be renowned, there was no such thing as bad publicity; this was something Lucas learnt on Earth. Even serial killers had blockbuster movies made after them, pocketing millions while in jail.

    Nheless, Lucas didn''t n on going that route, as while it would give him the publicity he wanted, it woulde at a cost. Rather, he had another idea.

    Lucas found a ce to sit and logged into the intr. He then looked for an advertising agency for cheap and paid them for their services. He had made seven hundred federal coins from the kidnappers and the spy sent by Vinis pawnshop.

    Even with the expenses from purchasing the prepaid debit card, the store, the trenchcoat, and feeding as well as transportation during this one week period, Lucas still had an excess of two thousand five hundred and sixty five (2565) federal coins. Considering the value of federal coins, it was more than enough to use five of them for advertisement.

    With the advancements in technology as a whole, it wasn''t difficult for the agency to generate a design based on Lucas'' requirements. There were AIs to help sort that out, so all it took was three minutes and Lucas'' ads were up and running.

    The caption read, "Seven Sparks Forge isunching: 3 days free maintenance and upgrade for the first 10 customers each day, spin the roulette for a chance to win a custom vestige."

    "Seven Sparks Forge" was the name Lucas came up with for the store. The number seven was quite special to him, as apart from being a lucky number, it was also the number of his birth month in his two previous lives. ''Sparks'' was derived from his name Lucas [1]. In summary, the name of the store had an intricate rtionship with Lucas.

    The three days of free maintenance and upgrade for the first 10 customers each day was an idea Lucas came up with to attract people to his store. Being confident in his skill, Lucas believed all he needed to be sessful was an opportunity to showcase that skill. However, not everyone could afford it, hence why he gave out free slots.

    Having seen the prices other stores charged for their services as well as their products, Lucas intended not to charge even one pence less. He was a grandmaster after all, and although he was new into vestige-smithing, it was roughly the same as making magic weapons. With the experience and skillset he possessed, there was no way he would offer his services for cheap.

    As for the roulette spin, it was a fancy idea Lucas thought of to act as an entertainment of sorts for people while feeding off the innate desire of humans to gamble or risk.

    The roulette spin was simple; a roulette wheel like the ones used in game shows, would be set up in front of the store. One would have to pay a fee to spin the wheel. There would be a few sectors on the circle with differing lines on them such as ''spin again'', ''10 federal coins'', ''win'' and ''fail'', with thetter being the mostmon.

    Uponnding on the ''win'' sector, the yer would have an opportunity to order a custom-made vestige from the store with no additional fees attached. The ''10 federal coins'' sector meant that the yer would win ten federal coins. The other two sectors are self-exnatory.

    To make the roulette spin more attractive, the fees were quite cheap. There were two tickets: the student ticket which costs three federal coins and the normal ticket which costs five federal coins.

    The reason for this difference was that there was a public school close to the market zone; and unlike how schools on Earth were, most schools in the main cities of Eretre also taught students ster-refining apart from the usual curriculum. When the students graduate, they either work for big families, corporations, the military/para-military[2], or as frencers.

    Very few work regr jobs as that would be seen as a waste of the training and education they received.

    The students simrly used weapons, especially those in their final year or penultimate year (the year before finals), as that was when the students would be sent on more practical activities to gain experience facing off deste beasts.

    Lucas'' market targets were not just frencers but these students as well.

    Although the sale of vestiges was regted, students in these schools were somewhat of an exception as long as they were in their final or penultimate year with the proper identification and registration. To purchase a vestige, the conditions were for one to be a frencer.

    In the case that one wasn''t, you''d either need a permit issued by a city-state government, an approved rmendation from a registered frencer, or be a member of the city-state''s military or paramilitary forces.

    Students in their penultimate or final years could apply for a permit.

    The idea of the roulette spin was to attract individuals to try their luck. The cost of the spin for students was three federal coins while for others was five federal coins.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Although the daily wage of an average individual was thirteen federal coins, making this quite costly,pared to the price of custom-made vestige -which was at least five hundred federal coins for the lowest grade- the ticket price was nothing. That added to the fact that there was another win option -the ten federal coins sector- many wouldn''t mind taking the risk.

    As long as they came to the store, they would eventually take a look around and might even buy a product or get a service.

    The number one target of a business should be to get people to know about the business and visit it. This was what Lucas wanted to achieve.

 Chapter 22 : Seven Sparks Forge Opens For Business

    The next day came soon enough. Today, Lucas was going to finallyunch the store and begin operations after staying over a week in this new world.

    The time ted for the opening was 12pm, but there were still a few hours before then. Lucas spent the time at the work-station, improving on his skills.

    *Ding*

    Just as Lucas had spent a couple of hours at the work-station, the bell at the entrance rang, signalling an entry from the outside. This bell was special in the sense that the sound could be heard everywhere within the store''s area, even from the backyard. However, it wasn''t as loud or ring as one would think.

    At the same time the bell rang, Lucas received a notification from the system.

    [[ Congrattions on opening the store, Seven Sparks Forge.

    Mission Description: The host has been dying, and as such, the system is being forced to take action.

    Overview: Open the store within thirty six hours.

    Rewards: Basic immunity package for craftsmen.

    Penalty: Death.

    Status: Completed.

    ept rewards: Y/N

    . . .

    Congrattions to the host for levelling up the system. The system store is now avable, inventory expansion has taken ce, as well as a few other features.

    ]]

    Lucas was pleasantly surprised by this series of notifications as he ignored the bell.

    "Yes."

    Suddenly, Lucas felt an abrupt sensation creep over his body as invisible changes began to take ce. At the same time, the system''s voice sounded in his ears.

    "Host has received Basic immunity package for craftsmen. Heat immunity increased by up to 2000¡ãC (3632¡ãF). Cold immunity increased to -150¡ãC (-238¡ãF). Poison immunity for Grade C and below poisons and diseases is granted. Shock endurance is increased by 20%.

    "As a bonus for levelling up the first time, healing factor is increased by 1.5x. Strength, endurance, vision, and senses are increased by 30%."

    Lucas was all smiles after the system informed him of the changes to his body. They might not seem like much, but they were very helpful, especially the basic immunity packages. These weren''t mere resistances but immunity, the difference implying the effect.

    To understand how helpful those were, the average temperature of molten magma is between seven hundred degrees Celsius (700¡ãC) and one thousand and two hundred degrees Celsius (1200¡ãC). In another context, that would be 1300¡ãF to 2200¡ãF. But Lucas was now immune to the heat of up to 2000¡ãC. This meant that he could dip his hand into magma and feel nothing. His skin wouldn''t get burned either.

    The same applied for the cold immunity effect Lucas received as well. The coldest temperature recorded back on Earth was -92¡ãC (-133.6¡ãF) [1]. The immunity level granted by the system was much higher. Although he had yet to understand the grading system, Lucas was confident that the poison immunity would be equally effective.

    After receiving his rewards, Lucas got up and went to the lobby area. He noticed that there were a few individuals already seated and checking the ce out. Although there weren''t many, there were at least twenty of them present. Some had a malevolent vibe or the scent of blood on them, with a strong aura being radiated from their body.

    Just this one look made Lucas easily guess their identities; frencers.

    It seemed like the advertisement he had posted on the intr was quite helpful. The somewhat small number didn''t mean that the advertisement''s reach was small, but that people wouldn''t easily check out a new store in a secluded location right away. Having this many people present was already better than what Lucas initially expected.

    "Are you the owner?" One of them asked.

    "You can say so." Lucas nodded.

    "Wee to Seven Sparks Forge. How can I help you guys today?"

    Another of the men nced around and said, "Your store looks alright, but it''s quiteckluster for a grand opening day, don''t you think?"

    Lucas nced at the other and noticed the man had ck hair. Most hyumans usually had coloured hair, and while ck wasn''t strange, it wasn''t prettymon.

    "I''m merely opening a shop, not throwing a party. All that fanfare is quite tedious for me."

    The ck haired man smiled at Lucas'' response and didn''t say anything else.

    At that moment, another character narrowed his eyes as he stared at Lucas.

    "You''re human, aren''t you?"

    "What about it?" Lucas looked at him.

    "Tch. What a waste of my time." The man grunted and left the building. Some of the other guests did the same after Lucas'' confirmation.

    While it was uncertain whether they acted as such due to prejudice against humans, the most likely reason was the weakness of thetter.

    Vestige-smithing required one to not just be skilled with handling metals but also with controlling ster energy, since runes and ster matrices depended on them. For humans who were limited in their ability to manipte ster energy, due to their gics, they were innately horrible vestige-smiths.

    In fact, it was impossible, at least to the knowledge of the citizens of Bands, for a human to be a vestige-smith; a cksmith was possible, but not a vestige-smith.

    Also, even if the best cksmiths wereparable to vestige-smiths, looking at Lucas, it was obvious that he was too young to be such a cksmith.

    Many of the guests today came to check out the store as it was advertised as one run by a vestige-smith. With a human being in charge, and one quite young at that, it was natural for them to think they had been tricked and depart in anger.

    At the moment, Lucas'' guests had dwindled down by half.

    "What about you guys?" Lucas nced at the others.

    The man with the ck hair smiled as he replied, "You don''t need to worry about me. I decided to try my luck here, so until I''ve done that, I don''t n on leaving early."

    The others replied in a simr manner.

    The appearance of the store owner was unexpected, but they still remained behind, hoping to luck out.

    Fraud was highly frowned at and cracked down on thanks to modern technology. The penalty was also severe, so very few individuals engaged in such. This made some of the guests decide to still risk it and check out Lucas'' store.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    The advertisement stated that a custom-made vestige could be imed if one won the roulette spin. At the same time, there would be free maintenance for the first ten individuals on their vestiges and weapons for the following three days.

    If it turned out to be a lie, Lucas would be arrested for fraud and deceit, and the guests would bepensated for their losses from Lucas'' possessions. If everything were true, they would have cashed out greatly.

    One should recall that custom-made vestiges were very expensive. Apart from that, it wasn''t easy to meet with a vestige-smith to have one made. Most vestige-smiths worked for big corporations and only took special orders from notable individuals. Having someone close by would be advantageous for these people, hence why they rushed to be the first.

    If Lucas turned out to be a grandmaster cksmith or do the impossible and be a capable vestige-smith, being the first of his customers would help them build some sort of rtionship with him; a rtionship that would offer more profit than loss.

    "Alright then. As promised, the first ten individuals get free maintenance while the rest can make their orders." Lucas said. At the same time, he appeared behind the checkout counter and turned on the monitor. He went through the security footage and ascertained the order in which the people arrived, determining the first ten individuals, excluding those who departed.

    There were currently twelve individuals in the store, so only two wouldn''t be able to ess the promo.

    One of the twelve, the first to arrive, walked up to the counter.

    "Maintenance. It got damaged while facing a Nolkin."

    As he said this, the man ced a short-sword on the table.

    From the special reward, ''An Adventurer''s Manual'', Lucas knew that a Nolkin was a type of deste beast that could fly and also dive into the water. It was a weird creature with wings and gills, looking like a mix between a batoid (manta ray and/or sting ray) and a bird.

    They usually spend one cycle of the day (day or night) either underwater or in the skies, then spent the other cycle in the other location.

    These creatures were quitemon in the Wastnds and a popr hunt for frencers due to the fact that there was arge market for their body parts.

    However, the problem most frencers faced when fighting a Nolkin is that their saliva was corrosive and these creature usually coat their ws in them. As such, hunting a Nolkin was a money-burning affair because at the end of the battle, one''s weapon would usually be damaged.

    Nheless, as long as the hunt was sessful, the frencer would make a profit even after considering the fees for repairs.

    Lucas nodded and received the short-sword. He checked it out and slid his finger across the de.

    "A basic repair would take thirty minutes, but if you''re interested in the advanced repair, it would take two hours."

    "What''s the difference?" The man asked.

    "Basic repair is just as it means; I''ll simply repair your vestige and it would be as good as new. The advanced repair means that I''ll make some new changes that would help. In this case, I''ll increase the corrosion resistance of the sword. If I''m correct, it gets worn out after one battle, right? I can increase its resistance and should be able tost three to four battles against a Nolkin.

    Any higher is impossible due to the materials used in making weapon." Lucas calmly replied.

    The man was surprised, as this was the first time he had heard of it. Other stores would offer what Lucas called the basic repair and it took them one hour. Compared to Lucas, that was twice the repair time. In fact, it was much more.

    Lucas had to attend to customers first before working, but those stores had a division ofbour system in ce, with employees dealing with customers and those handling the repairs. In other words, although Lucas said thirty minutes, it would take less time if he were to leave the counter and go work on it now.

    Also, there was no such service like the advanced repair in those stores

    "The advanced repair, please." The man replied.

    "Anything else?" Lucas asked.

    Maintenance was free for the first ten individuals, whether it was a basic or advanced repair. If he wanted to make profits, they would have to make a purchase or ask for a new service; otherwise, Lucas would have to attend to nine more people first.

    The man shook his head and went away to take a seat.

    He just wanted to check out the validity of this new store, which is why he went for the free service as well as using an auxiliary vestige. That way, even if things turned out for the worse, the man''s losses wouldn''t be much. If they report Lucas as a fraud and he gets arrested by the patrol corps, the man would be reimbursed for his weapon.

    "Next person." Lucas said.

    "No need, we can wait." The ck haired man spoke up at this time. He was next in line, but in no hurry to be attended to.

    Just like the first person and everyone else here, he just wanted to try his luck. Now that someone has provided an opportunity for Lucas to showcase his skills, the man didn''t need to get attended to for the moment.

    Lucas nced at him and everyone else in the store, easily reading their minds. He wasn''t bothered, however. Humans were innately suspicious and skeptical, and while hyumans were an advanced species, they still descended from the former.

    Lucas nodded at the men and then turned around with the short-sword in hand, heading into the work-station. It was time for him to make his official debut in this new world.

 Chapter 23 : Upgrading The Short-sword

    To the twelve men in the waiting lobby, two hours wasn''t long. They were all frencers and usually spent days in the Wastnds, where there were man-eating horrors and monstrosities that could give one sleepless night. Compared to that, sitting in afortable ce and admiring some artwork for just two hours was no problem.

    In the work-station, Lucas kept the short-sword on a work bench as he prepared his equipment.

    Repairing the short-sword wasn''t a difficult task, and he could get that done in twenty five minutes or less. The problem was upgrading it.

    Due to the limitations of the materials used in making the sword, Lucas couldn''t upgrade it from its current grade, Grade 1, to the next.

    The grading system for vestiges was the same as the power system for ster refinement. The main sses were Aperture ss for Aperture Opening stage ster practitioners, Origin ss for Guardian stage or Origin stage ster practitioners, and Moon ss for the Moon Walkers or Sage realm practitioners. Each ss of weapon was subdivided into lower levels based on quality and power.

    In Eretre, the vestiges were all Aperture ss vestiges and graded from 1-6. Grade 1 was a beginner level of Aperture ss vestiges and was typically used by first or second Aperture Opening stage warriors. Third Aperture Opening stage frencers used them too, but most preferred the next.

    Grade 2 was still in the beginner ranks, but better than Grade 1. It was also a moremon option for veterans, as they were affordable but still more powerful than Grade 1 vestiges.

    Grade 3 vestiges were used by the stronger and wealthier professionals, usually frencers at the fourth or fifth stage, as at this stage, it would take some effort to be able to afford it. Most sixth Aperture stage[1] practitioners also used this.

    Grade 4 Aperture ss vestiges were even more expensive, and only the top frencers could afford them. They were usually found in the hands of seventh Aperture stage ster practitioners or the more powerful sixth Aperture stage practitioners. People like this usually lead famous paramilitary frencing groups or guilds, while some hold high positions in the military or other powerful forces.

    Grade 5 vestiges, were on a different level, and some could even be considered family heirlooms. Not just anyone could get their hands on them, as the vestige-smiths capable of making them were all concentrated in the Oklo Dynasty. It was rumoured that only the city lord residences and top families of each continent had them.

    These vestiges were best suited for eight and ninth Aperture stage ster practitioners. Even the tenth stage practitioners used it. These were individuals who led a powerful family or a very powerful force. For instance, the current city lord and head of Bands city-state is a ster practitioner of the tenth Aperture Opening stage.

    The head of the Ross family, which runs a few industries, is at the eighth stage. Other simr family heads, like the Mertens, were at the ninth Aperture stage.

    As for Grade 6 vestiges, they couldn''t be found in Bands city-state or even the entire Groeten continent. Only in the Bernin Continent ruled directly by the Oklo Dynasty could one find such, and it would only be in the Dynasty''s royal pce.

    Back to the present, Lucas couldn''t upgrade the short-sword before him so easily. In fact, the process of upgrading a weapon to the next grade without smelting it and reforging it was impossible. If one were to reforge it, the runes and ster matrices on the vestige would be ruined, and new ones would have to be traced on it.

    As such, upgrading a weapon was costly for the customer and tiresome for the vestige-smith. This was one of the reasons other stores upgrade services weren''t so popr.

    Although Lucas could pull it off, he didn''t offer such an upgrade simply because it couldn''t be termed maintenance any longer. Reforging a vestige wasn''t a maintenance service.

    The advanced repair, however, was different. It involved changing or strengthening the ster matrices and runes. Such an act could only be performed by a skilled vestige-smith whose rune and matrix-tracing skills were much higher than those of the vestige-smith who made the vestige.

    It wasn''t easy to find someone of that calibre and this was one of the reasons other stores didn''t offer this service.

    Another reason was that, it wasn''t profitable to do so.

    Why make the customer''s equipmentst longer and reduce the number of visits they make to their store?

    But none of that worried Lucas. In fact, it would serve as an advantage for him and draw customers to his store.

    Lucas performed the basic repairs on the short-sword first, cleaning it, fixing up the notched parts, sharpening the de, and polishing the sword, taking only twenty minutes to get these done. For an average cksmith on Earth, just fixing the nicks and notches alone would take half an hour or more, but Lucas didn''t have such issues.

    Not only was his equipment of the highest standard, but his skills were also on par.

    After the basic repairs, Lucas dipped the short-sword in a special gtinous material and left it for five minutes. The liquid was a specialpound that could eliminate the runes and ster matrices on a vestige without damaging the product.

    Advanced repair was to either change or upgrade the matrices and runes, but for the short-sword, Lucas felt it was best to change the tracings (both ster matrices and runes) on it. A magical rune from his past life crossed his mind when he saw the vestige and the damage done to it.

    The rune was an ancient draconic rune, meaning it was made by dragons of yore. The dragons used the runes on their flesh to strengthen the defensive property of their scales. This would in turn make them more sturdy and impervious to various attacks and damages, such as the corrosive effects of slimes.

    Lucas estimated that this rune would simrly be effective in making the short-sword more durable when facing Nolkins. Of course, it would also be stronger, but the increase wasn''t noteworthy enough to raise its grade.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Apart from the draconic runes, Lucas also added two special magic sigils which would help with the flow of ster energy, after all, this was a vestige. While he couldn''t trace ster matrices, there were still simr arts in his first life, considering ster energy was also a type of mystical energy just like mana and true energy.

    Inscribing the draconic runes from scratch took Lucas thirty minutes, and he spent twenty minutes working on the two sigils. In total, Lucas used seventy five minutes or an hour and a quarter (15 mins), to work on the vestige. There were still forty-five minutes left from the estimated 2 hours of advanced repair, but Lucas didn''t intend on using them all.

    In truth, he took quite some time working on this vestige, as it had been a while since hest inscribed draconic runes.

    Lucas then dipped the sword into another liquid for five minutes, but this time with the intention of strengthening the sword''s structure and cleaning off the surface. During the first five minutes of sword-dipping, Lucas had been working on the sword''s scabbard. He concluded the work during these five minutes and sheathed the sword right back.

    After that, he walked out of the work-station with the short-sword in hand.

 Chapter 24 Taking Orders

    Lucas exited the workstation and arrived back at the waiting lobby with the revamped short-sword in hand.

    Once he appeared, everyone in the room stared at him, or to be specific, the short-sword. Even though it was still encased within its sheath, they peered at it, trying to uncover its secrets with their eyes.

    "Complete." Lucas said as he ced the weapon atop the counter and called for the owner.

    In fact, there was no need to do so, as the owner was already headed towards him. The man took the sword out of its sheath and looked at it. A simple nce showed that it looked almost no different from before except the fact that the notches were absent and it seemed to shine a bit more. However, having had it in his possession for months, the man knew the short-sword like the back of his hand.

    He could see that the runes on it were quite different from what they used to be, suggesting that Lucas had changed them entirely. Even the new matrices on it weren''t the same ster matrices previously.

    "This..."

    "There''s a room by the side for testing out vestiges. You can go have a try there." Lucas pointed at a door on the side.

    Apart from the work-station and lobby, the ground floor had two more rooms; a restroom and a spare room used for testing vestiges. The testing room had a simtion feature which made it great forbat testing, and from the checkout counter''s monitor, Lucas could easily control the changes in the room.

    The man went in the direction Lucas pointed, but he wasn''t the only one as over half of the guests remaining did the same.

    It didn''t take them long before they returned, with the man disying a pleasantly surprised expression on his face. Without a doubt, everyone could easily guess that the advanced repair was well worth it.

    "Are you really a vestige-smith?" The man couldn''t help but ask.

    Like the others, they hade to the store in hopes of finding a vestige-smith. However, when the identity of the owner was revealed to be a human and a young one at that, he had given up that idea and hoped for Lucas to be a good cksmith or at least, in contact with one or a vestige-smith.

    But from what he had just seen, there was no way a cksmith could make something as good as what Lucas had done while still being so fast with it. This showed that Lucas was definitely not an ordinary individual.

    "Why can''t a human be a vestige-smith?." Lucas looked at the man before turning towards the others.

    "Next please."

    With a calm tone, Lucas called out the next individual on the list.

    The guests were currently shocked, but in a pleasant manner. Although some still had their suspicions about Lucas'' true upation, the fact that he could still work on vestiges was what they were interested in. It seemed like their gamble paid off. Now, what they needed to know was the limit of Lucas'' skills. After all, the vestige the man gave Lucas was a Grade 1 vestige.

    Top ss cksmiths could fix them without too much of a hassle.

    The ck haired man was next and he walked towards the counter with a smile on his face. Compared to the others, he wasn''t visibly bothered.

    "Grade 2. Damaged ster matrix. I''d like to go for an advanced repair." The man said.

    Lucas nodded and took the vestige. This time around, it was a gun-type vestige with the shape of a pistol. Compared to cold weapons, vestiges based on hot weapons wereplicated. This was because the vestige-smith would have to be versed in the technology and design of hot weapons before they can make or fix such.

    The ck haired man was clearly testing Lucas'' knowledge with this task.

    "Is that all?" Lucas asked, unbothered by the request.

    "What are your rates?" The ck haired man asked.

    Lucas was surprised. Truth be told, he didn''t expect anyone to actually ask for a service apart from maintenance today.

    "Due to the obviousck of pricing system in this world as well as to prevent undervaluing, the system would designate prices for all services and products in the store."

    The system''s voice sounded in Lucas'' head before he could say a word, stunning thetter.

    Following that, a series of words and numbers appeared in his head, and a price list also popped up on the monitor.

    "System, what is the meaning of this?" Lucas was astounded.

    The prices the system gave for each product or service was eschewed. It would either be too expensive or too cheap. For example, the basic repair cost less than that of other stores. The advanced repair was different as its price depended on the grade of the vestige as well as the runes and sigils Lucas used on them.

    Generally however, it was slightly cheaper than that of stores who happen to offer advanced repairs just like him.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    However, when it came to crafting vestiges, whether they be custom-made or standard, the prices were insane. Standard products simply referred to vestiges that were made inrge copies. Based on the system''s pricing, standard products would cost at least fifty percent more than the other stores while custom-made vestiges were an almost 200% increasepared to other stores.

    Lucas couldn''t help but curse inwardly, wondering how he would make money at this rate.

    "Hello?" The ck haired man called out to Lucas.

    "Take a look."

    There was a disy screen on the counter facing the direction of the customer. With his attention being brought to it, the man nced at the screen and raised his eyebrows.

    "This..."

    "Our prices are fair." Lucas said.

    Since the system had already decided on the price with no way to negotiate, Lucas decided to settle with it. Also, his skills were at the peak in hisst life. Even if this was a new world, he could definitelypete with high level vestige-smiths. Hence, the prices were fair in a sense.

    As for why the basic repair was cheaper, it could be some sort of advertising or maybe the system just looked down on such activities.

    The man was stunned that Lucas defended these prices and he almost had the urge to curse out. These prices were so insane that only the vestige-smiths at the Central prefecture district of Bands City couldpare.

    The ck haired man hesitated, but decided to change his strategy in the end.

    "Are there anypleted works?"

    Buying a created vestige was a much safer option than asking for one to be produced. Thetter required one to have trust in the skills of the vestige-smith, hoping that thepleted product would be of high quality. In the case of the former, one could ascertain the quality of a vestige on the spot, as even in every grade, there were still differences between each vestige.

    For instance, the vestige used by the kidnappers was a Grade 1 vestige, however, it couldn''tpare with the short-sword Lucas was given to repair.

    "Sure. Take a look at the side." Lucas gestured.

    The lobby area was divided into two, and while the second side still served the same function, it had a few items on disy already. The ck haired man had noticed them, but each vestige was encased in a special ss that prevented him from sensing the energy level of the items, so he couldn''t determine their grades.

    With permission from Lucas, he walked towards the area along with a majority of the guests as this was an opportunity to see what Lucas was capable of.

    "Whichever one you intend on screening, just tap on the ss." Lucas'' voice sounded from the checkout counter.

    The group nodded and did as he said, following which a series of exmations sounded in the store.

    Their eyes were wide open as they stared at the vestiges in the ss. The view suddenly became breathtaking as a few frencers were stunned silly on the spot, their eyes frozen on the vestiges before them.

    There weren''t many vestiges, but they were all of different grades. From Grade 1 to Grade 3, there were vestiges of high quality. Most of them already surpassed what could be found in mainstream stores in the West Wing district. Only vestige stores in the Central Prefecture couldpare, but even then, there was still a slight difference.

    The ck haired man stared at a certain vestige. It was a ck trench coat with a belt on the waist. The energy from the trench coat signified that it was of Grade 2, but the ster energy was so pure that the man was convinced that the trench coat could even rival a standard Grade 3 version.

    "This... how?"

    Not just the ck haired man, but the others were simrly stunned. The owner of the store was a human. Common knowledge dictated that humans couldn''t achieve much in matters rted to ster energy. But what they saw before them broke this belief.

    If it were true that Lucas made these, then his skill wasn''t evenckingpared to most vestige-smiths. Heck, he could even rival the best Bands City has to offer.

    While some were thinking of this, others had a strange glint in their eyes.

    Before them were multiple treasures valued at hundreds if not thousands of federal coins. Just one of the Grade 3 vestiges here could feed an average family of four for two years, and there were five of them. This was but the financial aspect of thesd weapons. In terms of power, they could improve the strength of these frencers by at least fifty percent.

    If they could own one of these vestiges, their frencing lives would be easier. However, the cost would definitely be hefty.

    But...the owner was a human.

    When they recalled this fact, a certain thought began toy a foundation in their minds.

 Chapter 25 Clash

    Lucas could sense that some of the gazes of a few guests[1] were different, but he didn''t dwell on it.

    Suddenly, one of them -who had a bald head- asked Lucas, "Can you remove this ss? I need to feel it up close and check if the weight is suitable for me."

    Lucas nced at the other party before turning away. He found the question dumb and didn''t bother with the speaker any longer. It was obvious that the other party wasn''t actually interested in buying the vestiges.

    Releasing the vestige''s aura wasn''t the only thing that took ce once the ss was tapped; there would be a disy that appears on the ss, showing some of the details about the vestige like its name and weight.

    At that moment, a coercive force was released from the speaker as he stated at Lucas.

    "I insist you take the ss and let me have a closer look." The man with a bald head said.

    Right then and there, the atmosphere turned strange as it seemed like a confrontation was brewing; almost about to break out. The other guests knew what was going on, but none of them made a sound. Whether they were of the same idea as the man, or they were just spectators, was unknown.

    Despite the looming threat, Lucas ignored the man.

    The ck haired man watched as things folded, wondering what made Lucas feel so calm and confident against a second Aperture Opening stage frencer, as a human.

    *Ding*

    Two figures walked through the entrance of the store right when things were heated up. They nced around before settling their sights on Lucas and walking towards him.

    "Wee." Lucas nodded at the neers.

    The duo were the couple he met the previous day; the young man and woman who were looking for a Grade 3 spear.

    "I reckon what you told us was a lie?" Thedy asked.

    "Not exactly. I''m just running the store for a friend." Lucas replied.

    The ck haired man who was by the side was surprised by this. Lucas'' previous statements and actions always seemed to hint that he was the main vestige-smith here, but his exnation to the new arrivals showed that this wasn''t true.

    If that''s the case, then what was?

    "You might have to wait in line. The store has a firste, first serve policy." Lucas said.

    The young man who came in with thedy frowned and released a bit of his aura.

    "Can''t you make an exception?"

    Fifth stage! [2]

    This was the highest level of strength Lucas had ever seen, bar the elderly man from yesterday.

    The guests in the store were shocked and even the bald-headed man who wanted to cause a scene went quiet. He still couldn''t determine the rtionship between Lucas and the neers.

    "Rules are rules." Lucas ignored his show of strength.

    The Host Protection Mechanism kept him safe from all forms of threat and harm. While the pressure the man gave off wasn''t ssified as harm by the system''s definition, it was still of no threat to Lucas. In his first life as Yohan, Lucas had met face to face with the Dragon King, the Lord of all seventy-two dragon species.

    Such a powerhouse could wipe out the entire Eretre with ease and evenpete with the entire hyuman Federation with its forces. Compared to the Dragon King who was like the Sun in its peak, the man before him wasn''t even worth calling a firefly. The difference was too big.

    "Don''t make things hard on the storekeeper." Thedy by the side calmly said.

    The young man frowned but didn''t make things hard on Lucas as she instructed. Instead, he nced at the guests.

    "Can you guys take a step back? The ck Lemon Squad would appreciate it."

    ck Lemon Squad!

    Once the frencers in the store heard those words, they understood right away and couldn''t help but be shocked.

    ck Lemon Squad was one of the top frencer squads in the whole of Bands City, and by rtion, Bands city-state. The leader and founder of the squad was a six Apertures Opening stage ster practitioner.

    Although he still wasn''t at the top and couldn''t contend with some top family heads, the founder was incredibly strong especially when paired with his Grade 6 vestige; so much so that he could even contend with an average seven Apertures Opening stage ster practitioner.

    A Grade 4 vestige was the limit for most frencers, and unless one was a top figure in a city-state with some ties to the Oklo Dynasty''s region, it would be impossible to have a higher ranked vestige.

    Under the leadership of such a powerful figure, the ck Lemon Squad made its name as a top paramilitary force in Bands City. It had also attracted other talented frencers at the fifth and even fourth stages. As for those lower ranked, they were more, but each and every one of them was an elite.

    The young man in the store was a  fifth stage frencer, and by the ck Lemon Squad''s rankings, he would be a squad captain. In other words, he was a big shot.

    Just as the guests were about to relinquish their spots and let him go ahead, Lucas spoke up.

    "Relinquishing spots is against the rules. If you want to buy something or request a service, please queue up rightfully."

    The young man frowned and red at Lucas, but little did he know that Lucas was cursing at the system right now.

    Just a while ago, the system had told him that queue-skipping was not allowed, neither was trading spots. This was to prevent powerful individuals from hogging the store''s services all to themselves. If they wanted something from the store, they had to line up for it, fairly and justly.

    What pissed Lucas off was that the timing of this information was bad. It would make it seem as if he was trying to purposely get on the bad side of the young man. Nheless, Lucas wasn''t scared of offending him, but he was irritated by the system''s antics.

    "Are you messing with me?" The young man stared Lucas in the eye.

    Lucas stared at him back for a while then ignored him and nced at the ck haired man.

    "Are you buying anything else or not?"

    At this time, the young man lost it and unleashed his aura entirely. Even the youngdy didn''t say a word as she too was pissed by Lucas'' actions.

    Lucas could feel a strange pressure acting on him in an attempt to get him down on his knees. Truthfully, this pressure wasn''t worth anything thanks to the Host Protection Mechanism acting up right away as it determined the pressure to be harmful. However, Lucas still felt an ufortable sensation on his body as he frowned slightly.

    The young man, thedy, as well as everyone else, was surprised to still see Lucas standing up straight without any sign of difort. In fact, the only difference between the Lucas under pressure and the Lucas not under pressure was the slight frown on his face.

    This intrigued the young man, but he was still pissed nheless. He increased his force and as he saw nothinge of it still, he stretched out his hand to attack.

    The young man''s movements was too fast for Lucas to see but he didn''t even bother dodging or anything. The system had his back.

    The young man''s hand caught Lucas by the neck and he grinned at him.

    "What do you have to say now?"

    Originally, everyone thought Lucas was impressive or maybe even like the human exceptions in Digress city-state. But when they saw him taken down so easily, they were surprised.

    Lucas nced at the young man, seemingly unbothered by the situation he was in.

    Although the young man held him by the neck, the force was mitigated and Lucas simply felt as if a hand wasid on his neck with no force applied.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Sighs. Why do people behave like this?" Lucas said.

    The young man was surprised that Lucas could still speak after all, the force he used to mp his neck was supposed to prevent that. It was then that the young man noticed that his hands weren''t tightly gripping Lucas'' neck as he thought. There seemed to be a strange feeling from his hand that despite being in contact with Lucas'' neck, he couldn''t tighten his grip.

    "What''s this?" The young man said out loud, but Lucas replied him with a punch to the face.

    *Bam*

    The young man was forced back and his hand released Lucas. He frowned and moved again, this time drawing out his ster energy as he punched again.

    Until the tenth aperture is opened, hyumans don''t possess any superpower so most of theirbat is done by using ster energy in its refined form as well vestiges.

    Lucas saw the iing attack but didn''t fret, letting it hit him.

    *Bam*

    A loud sound reverberated after the hitnded, but Lucas was still standing firm. At this point, everyone in the store was stunned silly.

    How the hell did a human take a blow from a fifth stage frencer without taking a step back?

    The answer would remain unknown as in the very next second, Lucas had already retated. The cksmith glove has appeared in his hand at some point as heunched his counter attack.

    *Thud*

    The young man was punched and this time, he was sent flying.

    Again, the crowd was stunned.

    That was a fifth stage frencer!

    The blocked strike could be exined as some high grade vestige. However, even if Lucas had some defensive gear to keep him safe, the gap was toorge to be able to deliver an attack capable of sending the opponent flying. Considering Lucas'' strength, unless it was a Grade 5 or 6 vestige, it would be impossible to pull this off.

 Chapter 26 : Chased Away

    The crowd was stunned silly for the second time in a row.

    That was a fifth stage frencer!

    The blocked strike could be exined as some high grade vestige. However, even if Lucas had some defensive gear to keep him safe, the gap was toorge to be able to deliver an attack capable of sending the opponent flying. Considering Lucas'' strength, unless it was a Grade 5 or 6 vestige, it would be impossible to pull this off.

    The spectators stared at the gloves on his hands, as that was never there from the start. They suspected it to be a vestige, but there was no aura of ster energy on it. Even so, some didn''t give up their suspicions so quickly. Lucas was a human with no sign of having refined ster energy before, yet he was able to go unharmed after two attempts by the young man.

    Only Lucas knew the truth. Although the gloves did improve his strength, and with the thirty percent increase to his base strength after levelling up, Lucas'' strength only added up to one at the Bone refining step of the Body Strengthening stage. The only reason he turned out superior was thanks to a feature that came out after the system upgraded.

    Host Retaliation Function.

    Like the Host Protection Mechanism, it was only active within the store. Contrary to thetter however, the Host Retaliation Function was an attacking feature. It only activated when there was arge gap in strength between the host and the attacker. The effect was that it would mimic a portion of the attacker''s strength and apply it onto the host''s attacks.

    Together with the craftsman gloves boost effect, the attack would roughly be on par with his opponent''s.

    "You bastard¡­" The young man stood up and prepared to attack again.

    Lucas frowned seeing this. The young man was interrupting his business. He had held back with his blow as he didn''t want to take things out of proportion, otherwise the young man would have been seriously injured. But if thetter continued harassing him, Lucas would take things seriously.

    "That''s enough." Thedy who came with him spoke up.

    The young man red at her, but she red right back. Seeing her take her stand, he snorted and drew back his energy. It was clear that he didn''t want to go again after she interfered.

    "Let''s forget about the little disagreement and head back to business, okay?" Thedy said.

    "No problem." Lucas nodded.

    Thedy smiled seeing this, then asked, "Can I see the spear?"

    "Stand in line. Also, he needs to leave." Lucas ndly replied.

    There was no way he was going to give them special treatment, not after the young man tried to kill him. Not chasing them both away was already Lucas being nice. As for letting her see the spear? That was actually no problem as the weapon was already on disy, but Lucas easily recalled it into his inventory as such, they had failed to spot it.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    After his levelling up, the system''s abilities experienced a boost and the inventory was a direct beneficiary. It experienced an expansion and was also now capable of taking in outside-items (items not rted to the system in one way or the other).

    Finally, as long as he was within the store, Lucas could ce anything from the store into his inventory with just a thought, regardless of the distance between them.

    The woman was surprised that Lucas was still on this even after knowing they were from the ck Lemon Squad. She guessed it had something to do with their actions, but even then, so what?

    "Can you please make an exception for us this time around? On behalf of the ck Lemon Squad, we''ll owe you one if we find what we want." Thedy pleaded.

    Her actions were nice and her words were too, but, Lucas couldn''t help but get a chill.

    Venomous.

    If Lucas were to describe her with one word, it would be just that.

    Thedy was prideful and this could be seen from the fact that throughout the period of the incident, she made no effort to stop the young man, doing so only until after Lucas had take him down. Despite the actions of the young man, she never apologized even at the end of it all.

    She tried to brush it off and still requested they received special treatment, using the ck Lemon Squad''s renown to pressure him.

    Lucas was no saint, but even if he was one, he wouldn''t tolerate such nonsense.

    "There''s no need to bother. I won''t be attending to you any longer." Lucas said.

    Thedy froze in shock and even the young man who had yet to leave was astounded.

    They had already mentioned who they were and decided to drop the matter, but Lucas remained staunch.

    "Are you sure about this?" The young man said.

    Lucas turned towards him and replied, "What are you still doing in my store?"

    At that moment, the young man understood that Lucas was being serious.

    This was the first time he had ever been treated like this, what''s more, it was in this backwater called the West Wing district.

    "Hmph. Fine. Fiona, I hope you''re happy now." The young man said to the woman while ring at Lucas, before he turned around and left.

    While he could remain obstinate in the store, the young man was aware that he wasn''t Lucas'' match. His attacks allnded, but had no effect, whereas all of Lucas'' attacks took him down.

    Thedy nced at Lucas once and also left the store.

    The guests who remained behind could finally breath a sigh of relief, but some of them immediately left the store too. Lucas had offended the ck Lemon Squad, and he was a human at that too. The frencer who left were weak and didn''t want to get caught in the crossfire between the two parties.

    After a few seconds, only seven of the previous twelve guests remained. Seeing this, Lucas couldn''t help but sigh.

    ''Running a business sure is difficult.''

 Chapter 27 : New Mission

    After the entire debacle, which left the number of customers down to seven, Lucas introduced the services of the store to them, including the roulette spin. He wasn''t worried that someone would be able to cheat with the roulette spin, as doing so would require the individual to be at least a ten Apertures Opening stage ster practitioner.

    Someone at that level would be on par with the city lord and most likely live in the Central Prefecture and not the West Wing district.

    Each spin cost five federal coins, and although the odds were 0.001%, or 1 in 100,000, the frencers still went ahead and spun. A standard Grade 1 vestige costs at least five hundred federal coins. If one were lucky, they could get the custom-made chance without even spending that much.

    Some customers tried their luck, and naturally, they failed. Some were unrelenting, and the roulette spin awoke their gambling addiction. It wasn''t until they had lost quite a sum with the daying to an end that they finally gave up.

    It turned out that at the end of the day, the ck haired man had bought a vestige from Lucas; a Grade 1 vestige. This pleased Lucas until the system sounded in his head and took away his joy.

    The system would be taking seventy five percent (75%) of his earnings as some kind of tform onboarding fee. ording to the system, this was to prevent the host from bing zy and prodigal" from his earnings.

    Lucas didn''t say a word, or rather, there was no point in doing so. Throughout the period he hade into this world, the system had never backtracked in a single one of its decisions, and it definitely wouldn''t do so now.

    The next day came rather quickly and Lucas met a few more customers lined up, reaching a total of seventeen. It seemed to be due to the news spread by the seven.

    Some of the customers yed the roulette spin, while the rest asked for maintenance on their equipment. After the ten free slots were gone, the rest had to pay, but they didn''t mind. Some of them were friends with the seven from the previous day, while the others had arrived after spotting the advertisement online.

    When thetter saw the results of the maintenance upgrade, they simrly didn''t mind paying for it.

    Although some of them had heard about Lucas'' sh with the ck Lemon Squad, they weren''t bothered by it. Some of them weren''t scared, while others believed that the sh could not directly affect them. There was no way the ck Lemon Squad would go around harassing everyone that visited Lucas'' store, as that could potentially offend the frencermunity.

    . . .

    Four days went by like this. The store had officially been open for six days and Lucas had spent two weeks and five days in this new world; over half a month.

    Today, just like any other day, he attended to the customers interested in maintenance. The promo was over, but there were still more people seeing him for maintenance, even though they had to pay for it. However, this wasn''t an issue. The price list made by the system was considerably cheaper when it came to maintenance services.

    Ding. Ding. Ding

    The sound of a bell continuously rang from the front.

    Lucas thought it was from the door but realised it wasn''t. The pitch of the sound was different, and this bell rang out multiple times.

    ncing ahead, Lucas noticed that it came from the roulette spin.

    Suddenly, a thought crossed his head; someone had actually won.

    Lucas couldn''t help but be surprised and walked over to find out who won. Soon enough, Lucas was outside, looking at every face until he stared at one.

    The individual was a young teen, about fifteen years old. He was dressed in an obvious school uniform, which implied that he was a student of a neighbouring school.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Lucas was surprised, but not by so much. The entire roulette spin was luck, with a touch of the system''s calctive approach. With six days having gone by with no winner, it was a good thing that one now popped out.

    Lucas invited the kid over to the store and sat down with him. The young boy was clearly nervous from his expression.

    "You can rx. I''m not going to deal with you or something." Lucas said.

    "Alright." The boy nodded, but he was still clearly anxious.

    Winning such a lottery no doubt made him happy, however, he was scared that he might have done something he shouldn''t have.

    Lucas smiled but didn''t try to get the boy to calm down. Rather, he acted naturally and began asking the young boy a few questions. Most of the questions asked were regarding the custom-made vestige, and he took notes on the answers. This happened in the lobby in the presence of everyone, with the intention of quelling any disbelief.

    Some had been using Lucas of rigging the roulette spin, which was why he had to do this. Luckily, a winner appeared; otherwise, Lucas didn''t know how he would exin himself.

    As they talked, the young boy eventually calmed down and rxed. He then spoke about his specialties once Lucas asked. The young boy was skilled in speed, with even his physique pointing that out. So, he needed a weapon that wouldpliment him. One that could be carried easily in fights; light yet still powerful and deadly.

    After learning about the young boy''s preferences and skills, Lucas decided that the best option was a spear. However, Lucas made intense changes to the design, making it more suited for the young boy while retaining its power.

    At the same time, a notification popped up on his system interface.

    [[ Mission Overview: You have finally received your first custom order. It''s time to let the world witness your light.

    Mission Description: Craft a high quality weapon, using the Violent Sun ores from the Wastnds, in one month.

    Reward: Bronze Grade Card.

    Penalty: Loss of reputation.

    ]]

    ''A mission?'' it''s been a while.

    "By the way, since this is the very first custom order, I n to make a special equipment. However, it will take a month or less to get it done." Lucas said.

    The young boy was surprised and began to fret. Although the three federal coins he used weren''t much to the frencers here, it were for him. He didn''te from a wealthy family but wanted a vestige. After seeing the prices, the young boy knew that there was no way he could afford it, until he remembered an ad he saw a couple days ago.

    After that, the young boy went to the location noted in the advertisement, and the rest was history.

    He never expected to win on the first try, as such, he began to wonder whether he was scammed or something.

    Lucas saw his anxious expression but didn''t say anything to calm the young boy down. That was none of his business. Instead, Lucas began contemting the safest way to carry out this mission since he still couldn''t refine ster energy.

 Chapter 28 : The Wastelands

    [AN: Changed mission location from Beast continent to the Wastnds]

    [[ Mission Overview: You have finally received your first custom order. It''s time to let the world witness your light.

    Mission Description: Craft a high quality weapon, using the Violent Sun ores from the Wastnds, in one month.

    Reward: Bronze Grade Card.

    Penalty: Loss of reputation.

    ]]

    "System, this says the Wastnds right?" Lucas couldn''t help but ask.

    "Yes."

    "Same region swarming with deste beasts, correct?"

    "Indeed."

    "How am I supposed to, you know, go and not die?"

    "As a legacy inheritor of a god and the sessor to the Crafts-God, the host should be familiar with the term ''miracle''. With that in mind, the mission has been with the host''s strength put under consideration."

    ''Bullshit.'' Lucas cursed internally.

    The Wastnds was one of the most dangerous ces in Eretre. To the people of Bands city, the Wastnds was a risk-filled location with many deste beasts all over the ce. It was home to a horde of deste beast with varying degrees of strength. Here, there were deste beasts of all levels.

    It was even rumoured that a few of them couldpare with city-lord ss existences, in other words, ten Apertures Opening stage ster practitioners. However, this rumour was either false or the number was far too small, otherwise, the deste beast would have overrun Bands City.

    With his current strength, heading over to this region was no different from suicide.

    Lucas ignored the system and began thinking of how to make it work. He could have ced an order for the Violet Sun ores andmissioned a frencer to get it for him, but the system clearly stated that Lucas had to make the trip himself.

    ''Wait, it didn''t.'' Lucas suddenly thought of something.

    "System, do I have to do it myself? Can''t I justmission someone to get it?"

    "No, as doing so would eliminate the purpose of the mission." The system replied.

    Lucas sighed. He was partly expecting such a response, and the system lived up to his expectations. Even so, Lucas wasn''t entirely disappointed or frustrated. He couldn''t keep living like this¡ªlocked up in a store and only working on vestiges. He had to get stronger to secure his safety.

    Although this mission was very risky and even deadly, since the system gave it to him, there was a significant chance of survival. With that being the case, there was no reason for Lucas to reject it.

    This was an opportunity to see the world outside, beyond the walls of the city. He would encounter different deste beast and people. As long as he was careful and nned properly, there shouldn''t be much harm.

    Frencers frequented the Wastnds in search of wealth, with the lowest of them being at the peak of the Body Strengthening stage. Although Lucas wasn''t truly there, relying on the craftsman gloves and some of his self-made vestiges, it was possible for him to take on someone at that level. His attack power might evenpare with that of a one Apertures Opening stage ster refiner.

    This meant that even without the protection of the store, Lucas could ensure his safety to some extent.

    ''No use thinking too much about it.''

    Lucas decided to leave the next day. After the customers were gone and the store was empty, he closed for the day and made his preparations.

    . . .

    The next day, Lucas hung a ''Closed'' sign and left the store. He had already done his research and knew that there was a public transport system to the Wastnds, courtesy of the city state government.

    The history of Bands City was quite interesting. Historically, the Wastnds predated the city and was home to much more deste beasts than at the moment. Back then, it was said to be the central hub of deste beasts on the Groeten continent.

    When the Oklo Dynasty began its war for expansion, theyunched multiple assaults and raids against the deste beasts on the Groeten continent, but even then, they failed to annihte them entirely. In the end, they forced most of the deste beasts into the Wastnds and built a fortress city to blockade a possible deste beast retaliation or invasion. This city was known as Bands City.

    With Bands City as the central area, other towns and cities propped up around it. Under the control of the Oklo Dynasty, these cities and towns were known as districts, and by swearing fealty to Bands city, they would be offered protection and other services. This was how the Bands city-state was formed.

    Being a fortress city, Bands city was the wall between the rest Wastnds and the rest of the Groeten continent. To be specific, it was the West Wing district that was the real border.

    To prevent a possible deste beast upsurge, the Bands city-state government, which was essentially the Bands city lord office, allowed frencers to venture into the Wastnds. In fact, they encouraged this act and put in ce different incentives to attract frencers to the city and send them to help explore the Wastnds while cutting down the number of deste beasts.

    One such incentive was free public transport to and from the city and the Wastnds. Although the Wastnds was said to border the West Wing district, this didn''t mean that the distance between the two ces were close. One should still recall that there was a small area ofnd known as the Slums, just outside of West Wing district.

    One would still need to go further west, at least seven hundred kilometres (434.96 miles) away, before they reached the Wastnds. With the current technology, this distance was just alright for the Bands city-state government to monitor the region and react in time to any changes.

    After purchasing a ticket for a ride, Lucas headed into the light-rail train and took a seat. It was surprising that he got admitted despite not having a frencer identity, but the agency in charge didn''t care. Some people would always want to try their luck with their meagre while others desired suicide or an opportunity to run away from reality.

    While this might sound sad, some saw it as a means of poption control, and so, didn''t stop anyone. As long as one was of age, they could get a ride. The only difference was that non-frencers would have to pay a fee, albeit a small one of three federal coins.

    Using a light-rail train, it would only take thirty to thirty five minutes to cover the distance even with disturbances. Despite being called a train, it was actually a flying shuttle merely shaped just like a train. In truth it could go faster, but due to the weight and weapons attached to it, as well as other safety reasons, it maintained a speed of between 1200km/hr-1350km/hr.

    Nheless, this speed was already fast enough for most.

    Very soon, the light-rail train hadnded at its destination and everyone inside stepped out.

    The base station in the Wastnds was a small camp made up of a couple buildings. Some of these buildings were lodges and the others were varied spots like bars, restaurants, shooting ranges and even training centres. At the edge of the camp was thending zone for the light-rail trains.

    The base station was made by the city-state government, but other forces helped with the further development, investing their resources into the ce. For instance, somepanies, especially those rted to frencers and basic needs, had their branches set up here. However there were few suchpanies.

    This was because the base station was located in the Wastnds, and very few individuals would want to work there.

    The living locations were only essible to frencers so if a regr individual wanted to work in the Wastnds, they would have tomute from the West Wing district. As a result, most stores were operated by robots.

    The Wastnds base station was the gathering spot intended for the frencers who worked here. It wasn''t a strange thing for frencers to spend months in the Wastnds. The city-state government hence built the base station just at the outer edge of the Wastnds. This was another incentive program to motivate frencers to spend more time in the Wastnds.

    Although it didn''t have everything, the base station had everything one needed.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Lucas admired the sight and thought to himself that it would have been better if he had set up his store here instead.

    While others could buy vestiges, the major customers of a vestige store were frencers. Other parties, like students and the city patrol corps, didn''t engage in muchbat, and as such, their vestiges were usually in top form. However, frencers fought day and night as it was their source of ie. This led to their equipment being damaged regrly.

    Just the expenses on maintenance alone was the bulk of a frencer''s expenses. If Lucas had set up shop here, the money he would have made from maintenance in two weeks alone might have cleared his debt.

    ''No use crying over spilt milk.'' Lucas thought as he walked away from the port and towards the base station. His first task at the moment was to find a map to help him navigate to his destination.

 Chapter 29 : Meeting The Guide

    The Wastnds Base station was built from scratch by the Bands city-state government, and further developed by the different forces residing in the city-state.

    As a product of the city-state government to motivate more frencers to raid the Wastnds, there were a couple of buildings built to help satisfy the needs of the frencers living here. One such was the Guild Centre building.

    The Guild Centre was actually a government agency made by the Bands city-state government to help monitor and oversee the activities of frencers. While the hyuman race now had the ability to refine ster energy, not all members were interested in such and this led to a power divide.

    The Guild Centre was made to ensure that all frencers and other ster practitioners didn''t misuse their power. It didn''t directly control frencers, but it did monitor and restrict them in certain ways. It also aided them by providing incentives and help whenever needed.

    The Guild Centre had a second head office in the Wastnds Base station which was a three storey building. The first floor was open to everyone and was a store of sorts. Here, frencers could exchange some for their gains from the Wastnds in exchange for points that could be used to purchase items and resources in the same building.

    They could also purchase information or trade with whatever they had.

    There were simr stores owned by the top forces of the city, but the advantage of the Guild Centre was that it was run by the city-state government. The disadvantage however was that they didn''t have much resources to offer so most times, frencers traded with the other stores.

    However, none of this concerned Lucas as he just wanted to get a map so he picked the most trusted.

    "Hello. Can I get a map of the Wastnds?" Lucas said to the clerk once it was his turn.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    The clerk stared at him suspiciously, thinking that Lucas was one of those ignorant people who wanted to hit it big by killing a deste beast. Nevertheless, he could do nothing to stop him and the clerk wasn''t interested in doing so either.

    "Your identification and upation please."

    "Lucas Saunters, cksmith." Lucas said as he disyed an ID in hismunicator and showed it to the clerk.

    "Are you registered with the association? Where''s your badge?" The clerk asked.

    "I don''t have any cause I''m not registered."

    The clerk frowned slightly at the response, then stared at Lucas once again. It was then that he noticed thetter wasn''t hyuman but a human. His expression then took an abrupt change.

    "Are you joking with me?" The clerk frowned.

    "I''ve already provided my details to you. If you want to have another look, I''ll dly let you." Lucas said with a straight face, ignoring the clerk''s attitude.

    The clerk snorted before asking rudely, "What do you want?"

    "A map." Lucas repeated his intentions, getting slightly irritated at the treatment he was receiving.

    "There are two types of map, but seeing as youck proper identification and are not a frencer nor pioneer, I can only offer you the basic version."

    There were a couple of upations for ster practitioners with the majority dealing in fights. The frencer role was the most notable of them all. However, there was another upation quite simr to it. The role of a Pioneer majorly dealt with exploration.

    While Frencers took missions and killed deste beasts for resources, Pioneers explored dangerous regions and new locations, drawing maps and recording new species of alien races or deste beasts. Very few worked as a pioneer aspared to frencing where you''re adventuring in an explored region, pioneer was all about searching for the unknown and was as such, much more risky.

    When faced with the choice of risky and very risky, it was obvious which one people would choose right away especially since the pay gap wasn''t sorge.

    Since Eretre was 70% explored, there were few pioneers here and on the Groeten continent, most of them resided close to the Wastnds; one of the few unexplored regions.

    Lucas paid five federal coins for the map, a price much more expensive than the trip from West Wing district to here. After that, he left the Guild Centre building.

    However, Lucas didn''t go straight into the depths of the Wastnd just yet. As this was his first time, he needed a guide, even with a map in hand. His destination was quite far and dangerous, so it was much safer to have someone lead the way. Luckily, frencers could be hired for the task. This was something he learnt on his way here.

    Frencers would take almost all sorts of jobs provided one paid well enough for it. Being a guide in a perilous region such as the Wastnds was a way for some frencers based here to earn extra ie. They were already familiar with the ce, so using their knowledge to make some quick cash was not a problem.

    Lucas'' destination was the Cicalien Mountains, but it was quite far away from the base station and unpredictable in a bad way. What''s more, it was located in a region within the Wastnds known as the Astranian Forest.

    The Astranian Forest was a hunting ground for high level frencers, but even they didn''t frequent the spot often as it was still quite dangerous. From this, one could guess that the level of deste beasts in the area was quite high. For that reason, a guide was necessary lest he dies without knowing how.

    Lucas hired a frencer team that was well known in the area as his guide. Although they were quite expensive, they were reputable and had even worked with a few humans before. As such, Lucas had no worries hiring them.

    Just a short while after Lucas left the Guild Centre building, two people came towards him; a man and a woman. The man had brown hair and ck eyes with a calm poise even in his walking steps. As for the woman, she was a stunner, even in this world. With ck hair let down behind her, a pair of blue eyes and a pretty oval face, she would have easily stood out on Earth.

    She was 169cm in height (5`6) and gave off a confident yet prideful aura with her eyes.

    Lucas nced at the new arrivals who smiled at him.

    "Lucas Saunters, I assume, correct?" The man asked him.

    "That''s right." Lucas nodded. He recognised the duo, not because he was familiar with them but that they were his guides for the trip; part of his guides to be exact.

    The team Lucas hired was the Autumn''s Gate guild, which had seven official members. They were a well known frencer guild and although quite expensive, the group had a good reputation and had even worked with humans in the past before, albeit not any pure-blooded ones like Lucas[1]. Even so, they were the best possible option for Lucas to travel with.

    For this trip, due to the uniqueness of the destination, four of the official team members were sent for the trip and Lucas had all the relevant information about them including their strength and appearances.

    "Alright then. Let''s go. Chad and the others are waiting for us." Thedy said.

    The trio departed from the scene but unknown to them, there was someone monitoring them. A man stood beside a building with amunicator shaped like a tablet. Disyed on themunicator''s screen was an image; Lucas'' picture.

    [1] In chapter 7, I made an important distinction. There are two sses of humans: the pureblooded ones like Lucas and hyumans with less than 10% mDNA concentration. Having such a very low mDNA concentration means that their ster refining potential is absurdly low. Even with serums, they have no future in it unless they utilise special grade serums for humans.

    But those are almost impossible to get.

 Chapter 30 : Autumnâ€™s Gate Guild

    "So where are we at?" Lucas asked the group during their break.

    "Still a couple miles away. At the speed we are moving at, we might make it the next day." said one of the men, who had ck hair but grey eyes.

    Parked close to the squad was a hover-vehicle used for traversing dangerous terrain. It was called a ''Sare'' shuttle or carrier, and looked like a space-shuttle but was much smaller and without the ''wings''. It was equipped with attack options and made with a tough material less susceptible to deste beast attacks.

    Most frencer teams and guilds made it their priority to get one of these, even if it were the cheaper editions. The journey in the Wastnds was usually not smooth or safe, so having a vehicle such as this was quite helpful for most teams.

    Apart from Lucas, there were seven other individuals present. These seven were the members of the Autumn''s Gate guild.

    Originally, Lucas was meant to move with only four of them, but coincidentally, the guild received a mission in the same direction Lucas was headed. As such, it ended up being all seven escorting him, but as this was an unnned event, Lucas didn''t need to pay extra.

    The seven members of the Autumn''s Gate guild included their leader, the two vice captains, and the other team members. In truth, Autumn''s Gate was muchrger than just the seven, however, the others weren''t official members. Also, due to the risk involved with the mission, the weaker members were asked to stay behind, with all seven official members taking part.

    The strength of the seven was impressive, as this was what led to the guild being renowned. The guild leader was at the sixth level, whereas of the two who went to meet Lucas, the woman was a vice captain and at the fifth level. She was quite a popr figure due to both her strength and potential, as it was rumoured that she reached this level just before her twenty-fourth birthday.

    A year has gone by since then, and while her strength didn''t break through to the next level, it was reputed that her current ability was nothing like the person she was a year ago.

    The other vice captain, who was also at the Five Apertures Opening stage, was a young man Lucas hadn''t spoken to yet. The other four members had their strength split between the third and fourth levels, making them all elite figures.

    It had been over twelve hours since they departed the base station, and they had yet to reach Astranian Forest. This wasn''t that their speed was slow, but because the distance was long.

    The Astranian Forest was home to many deste beasts that couldpare to ster refiners at the third to fifth level of the Apertures Opening stage. For that reason, the base station was built a couple kilometres away. Even if one were to use a vehicle, it would take over a day to get there.

    "You guys have been here a couple of times, right? How was it? Any survival tips?"

    As this was his first time outside the city, whats more in a dangerous location, Lucas wanted to know more about the area. This was a survival tactic from his first life kicking in. Back then, Lucas had lived his early years as an orphan, which was one of the worst-case scenarios for anyone in a world governed by the rule of the strongest fists.

    It was only natural to research and absorb as much information about a foreign ce as possible in order to increase his chances at surviving.

    The grey eyed fellow was someone Lucas got a bit familiar with as he was chatty. He was a frencer at the fourth level of the Apertures Opening stage named Ju¨¢n.

    Ju¨¢n replied him,

    "Well, the experience was definitely one of a kind. There aren''t as many deste beasts as the rumours say on the outer ring, but deep inside is a hellhole. For instance, while there were not many, there were still a handful of deste beasts at the third level and a few at the fourth level. Everyone of them are more skilled than their counterparts elsewhere, like here.

    If you take too long settling a fight, the noise might attract even more deste beasts to the area. So I guess that''s a survival tip. If you need something more detailed, it depends on the species of the deste beasts, but the Astranian Forest has all types of them."

    Lucas nodded in understanding. Just these past twelve hours, they had encountered a few deste beasts on the way, with each differing drastically from the other in terms of both appearances and strength. There were different ways to take on different deste beasts, as their weak points differed. Only experienced and knowledgeable frencers and pioneers could differentiate.

    Luckily for Lucas, the system had given him the tome, ''An Adventurer''s Manual'', which was an encyclopedia of different topics. One such was deste monsters.

    "You shouldn''t think much about it. The main key to survival is being calm and cautious at all times. Once you see a sign of danger, do not hesitate and run." The second female in the group said.

    During each fight the team engaged in, Lucas would pay attention to the techniques they used as well as their fighting style. Apart from the team''s leader and vice leaders, this woman was the next strongest in the group. Her level was at the fourth level, but by using a Grade 3 vestige, she was much stronger than your average fourth level Apertures Opening stage ster refiner.

    Lucas even estimated that she could hold her own against a deste beastparable to a fifth level ster practitioner.

    "Well, Anna has a point on this." Ju¨¢n said with a smile.

    Lucas nced at him and understood the situation right away. He might not be experienced in that department, but Lucas had some knowledge of it.

    The trio chatted away and eventually rested. It was currently dark, and although there were technologies to help them see in the dark, hyumans were diurnal and preferred moving around during the day. Also, the nocturnal deste beasts were so adept at hunting in the dark that a single misstep could cost one their life.

    Hence, it was safer to move during the day, even more so as they were heading in the direction of the Astranian Forest.

    When daybreak arrived, the group was already prepared to move, and they resumed their journey. However, they had only gone a few kilometres in when the scout signalled for them to stop.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "What''s the problem?" The leader of the team asked.

    He was a brawny fellow with red hair and a crewcut, who gave off a thick military vibe. His deep voice and thick muscles made him look formidable and scary, but he was actually an approachable figure with the alias Crimson Fang. At the sixth level of the Aperture Opening stage, the man was quite famous in the frencermunity of Bands City.

    It was even rumoured that some big forces had once tried to recruit him, but after retiring from the army, he had instead formed his own force; the Autumn''s Gate guild.

    Today, the Autumn''s Gate guild was among the top twenty frencer squads in the city with a total force of almost fifty men.

    "I spotted tracks of a Blue-gemmed Cockatrice up ahead." The scout, who was at the third level and controlled the scouting drones on the outside, said.

    Crimson Fang as well as the other team members in the vehicle, frowned. Ever since they were closing in on the Astranian Forest, they released a couple of scouting drones to move head of their vehicle. The team''s scout was a man with sharp-eyed vision, which made it easy for him to spot some irregrities in the terrain, using the scouting drones'' vision.

    A Blue-gemmed Cockatrice was a dangerous monster that usually operated at the Astranian Forest.

    It was on par with a fifth level Aperture Opening stage practitioner, but as the deste beasts of the Astranian Forest were on another levelpared to the others, even a fifth level ster refiner would almost have noplete confidence in taking on this creature alone unless with a powerful vestige in hand.

    Usually, the Blue-gemmed Cockatrice resided in the depths of the Astranian Forest, so most frencers who came to the location never came across it unless they went deeper in. As such, encountering one at the fringes was unheard of before.

    Crimson Fang couldn''t help but take this urrence seriously. Powerful deste beasts were known to be territorial, and the only reason they would abandon their operating region was either due to ack of food or they were forced out. None of the options were good for them.

    "Keep going, but be more cautious and monitor the surroundings even tighter. Try to avoid it, but don''t go too far out of our path. Ju¨¢n, work with him as well. The rest, prepare for a possible battle. If we can''t avoid it, we have to finish the battle as quickly as possible." Crimson Fang gave his orders.

    With his strength, a Blue-gemmed Cockatrice was no problem, but Crimson Fang still had to consider the possibility that there would be even stronger deste beasts up ahead. Regardless, he had no choice for now. The pay for the mission was very high, even for them, and there was no way they would retreat without even reaching their destination.

 Chapter 31 : Blue-Gemmed Cockatrice

    It didn''t take long for the scout to calm the attention of the team again. Despite their efforts, the Blue-gemmed Cockatrice had managed to locate them. It was still a few kilometres away, heading in their direction, but to monsters of its size and speed, the distance could be covered in a few dozen seconds.

    "We can only afford thirty seconds on this with a max of forty five seconds. Any longer, and chances are high, we''d get spotted by a much stronger creature." Crimson Fang said with a slight frown. Even for him, a Blue-gemmed cockatrice was a hassle unless he utilized his vestige.

    The region they were in now was a vast expanse ofnd that constituted a savanna. Because there weren''t many trees to act as obstructions, a battle on arge scale would easily draw attention. Typically, battles with strong, deste beasts always drew attention.

    "What''s its power level?" Crimson Fang asked.

    Unless one was skilled at it, it was difficult to ascertain the power level of a hyuman face-to-face. The same was even more true for deste beasts, as their refining system was different from hyumans. As such, equipment for that was made and vehicles like the sare were usually equipped with such technology.

    Ju¨¢n, who manned the cockpit alongside the scout, began to press a few buttons, following which a reading was disyed on a holographic screen before him.

    "Peak fourth level." Ju¨¢n replied at that moment.

    "So it''s a young one." Crimson Fang nodded as he recalled something.

    Usually, the Blue-gemmed Cockatrice were at the fifth level, with the only exception being the immature ones. A Blue-gemmed Cockatrice was one in its adolescent stage, almost at adulthood. It wasn''t a problem for the team to handle whenpared to an adult version, but the circumstances were still strange.

    Even in the worst-case scenario, such as starvation, an adolescent Blue-gemmed Cockatrice wouldn''t leave the Astranian Forest.

    "Anna, Leno, with me." instructed thedy with the blue eyes, the second vice captain of the Autumn''s Gate guild.

    Leno was thest official member of the team, and just like the scout, he was at the third level of the Apertures Opening stage. Nheless, he had a Grade 3 vestige on him. Every official member of the team had at least one Grade 3 vestige, although they were of differing strengths.

    With thebination of the female vice captain, who Lucas found out to be named Lisa, Anna and Leno, a fourth level Blue-gemmed Cockatrice should be no problem. Crimson Fang didn''t have an issue with the lineup and so gave his silent permission to it.

    The trio approached the exit of the sare, and tapped on a badge located on their chest. The badge suddenly expanded and released a material that covered them like armour. The process was alluring to a craftsman like Lucas, no matter how many times he saw it.

    The armour had a few strange lines carved on it, and there was a noticeable pattern on their back and chest regions. It was a ck mist [1] in colour and had a lot of handy features added to it.

    This was a high tech armour unlike anything Lucas had ever seen before. It utilised nanotechnology, which made it portable and efficient. Despite its small size in its dormant state, the material of the armour dense and durable. The weakest edition among the team members could tank a full on hit from a fourth level Apertures Opening stage practitioner and not leave a scratch.

    Only top frencers could afford it, as this equipment was expensive as hell. It was no underestimation to say that it cost a dozen years of an average family of four''s spending.

    "Activating artificial gravity." Ju¨¢n said as he pressed a few buttons from the cockpit.

    In the very next second, Lucas felt a forcetch on to him strongly. This force was simr to gravity but much stronger than what he had ever felt before.

    "Go." Ju¨¢n''s voice sounded as the exit door opened up.

    Whoosh.

    Due to the difference in pressure, a vacuum was made, and the oxygen in the sare was quickly sucked outside. Lucas felt a pulling force from the exit, but thanks to the artificial gravity in ce, he remained fixed in the spot. Nheless, he was quickly losing his oxygen supply and turning pale.

    This situation didn''tst long, as Lisa and the other two had already jumped off the shuttle and the door was closed back. Oxygen was then pumped in from the reserve tanks, and within just a few seconds, everything was back to normal. The sare also dropped its speed and began to hover not too far away from the departed trio.

    On the outside, Lisa, Anna, and Leno were currently skydiving. Suddenly, the ster matrices on their armour abruptly glowed a dim blue light, and they began to hover in mid air.

    A few secondster, arge azure monster showed up on the horizon. It had two thick legs with ws attached to them. Its wings were like those of a dragon, and its body was like that of a serpent. But one of the most odd features of this monster was its head, which shaped like a rooster''s.

    However, with the size of this monster, its head was muchrger than that of a regr rooster and looked vicious. Another odd feature were the pair of fangs hidden behind its beak, making it look both hideous and scary.

    On its head was a crown madepletely out of a blue gem that looked almost like a sapphire. This was the origin of the cockatrice''s name as well as its most valuable part.

    "Caw!"

    The cockatrice spotted the trio from afar and let out a warning sound, attempting to intimidate thetter into giving up.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Lisa ignored it and said to the duo, "Anna, you and Leno try to take it down as soon as possible. I''ll provide cover and prevent it from escaping."

    Even though it wasn''t recognized for its speed, a Blue-gemmed Cockatrice still wasn''t a simple bird. From the start, the trio couldn''t fly on their own and depended on their gear to do so, which meant that their top speed was limited to what the armour could reach. This was different and also quite slower than the cockatrice, who depended on its own skill to fly.

    Since they intended on taking it down quickly to prevent any unforeseen circumstances, they had to prevent the monster from escaping.

    Some deste beasts were very petty and vengeful, so unless one intended to avoid them from the start, it was best to finish them off rather than give the monsters an opportunity to strike backter.

    A few secondster, the cockatrice was now only one hundred metres away. At that moment, Lisa gave themand.

    "Now!"

 Chapter 32 : The Power Of A Vestige

    Hovering in midair, the trio took out their vestiges and prepared to battle.

    Anna had a bow that looked technical and not like a product of wood carving. The bow was metallic and made of different tiny parts linked together to make the weapon, just like apound bow. While it still maintained the structural appearance of a typicalpound bow, the crafting of this weapon was much moreplex.

    Every metallic part was integral to the weapon''s efficiency and functioned a specific role, being very distinct from their traditional counterparts. Even the string wasn''t as thin as regr bows, but was a metallic string the thickness of a thumb. Instead of the usual wheels, there were instead special rails built on it.

    At a single nce, one could indeed call this a bow, but at a closer look, it was much more advanced and even different.

    The bow didn''t use physical arrows, rather, it consumed the wielder''s ster energy to form a ster arrow, while applying the effects of the ster matrices and runes carved on it to the arrow. Unlike a regr bow, it even had a semi-automatic feature, meaning that as long as one had enough ster energy, the bow could fire as fast as an assault rifle.

    The weapons Leno had were a pair of pistols, but not like the ones back on Earth. Its attacking ability was dependent on two factors; the user''s ster energy and the rounds fired. However, the guns could still be used even without specialised rounds, as one''s ster energy couldpensate; the only difference being that its attacking power would be much weaker.

    Apart from that, Leno also had a golden staff hanging behind him. It was currently in its passive form, measuring only a metre long. Compared to the pair of pistols though, the staff''s energy level was much lower, clearly a sign that in terms of grades, it couldn''t be ced alongside the former.

    It was quite normal for frencers to have more than one set of vestiges, as each type performed a different function and could be used a different way. Nheless, not everyone was financially bouyant enough to afford such.

    Most times, a frencer would concentrate their funds into one equipment, while those who desire the path of having a backup, would have their main and auxiliary vestiges, with thetter being weaker than the former.

    This wasn''t to say that they didn''t want both to be in the same grade, but the financial resources required to not only acquire the vestiges but also maintain them, was no chicken feed.

    The duo, who were already armed, immediately headed for the cockatrice. As for Lisa, she remained on standby. Her role for the battle was to prevent the monster from escaping and also ensure that her teammates didn''t get hurt. Also, if she managed to spot a chance to deliver a heavy blow to the monster, she would take it. In summary, she was the backup for the battle.

    While they were expected to end the battle quickly, they took every opportunity as a moment to hone their skills and train. Lisa stepped out of the way to give Anna and Leno enough space as well as an opportunity to face a peak fourth level deste beast on their own.

    To prevent the monster from escaping, Lisa had also taken out her vestige; a ck streamer that was iid with special gems and carved with countless ster matrices.

    Once the cockatrice got within a one hundred metres distance from them, Leno released his ster energy and channeled it into the pistols. He took aim and at the very next second, let loose his weapon, firing multiple shots at the monster.

    *Pew-Pew-Pew*

    Aquatic blue dots with a slender shape shot out from the pistols, almost at the speed of light. The shots tore through the air, heating it immediately and striking at the cockatrice. However, a peak fourth level monster, especially one from the Astranian Forest.

    *Bang* *Bang*

    The Blue-gemmed Cockatrice gave off a light blue shimmer from its body which then solidified to form a sturdy shield in front of it. The shots from the magical pistols collided into the light shield, forming sparks with each collision yet failing to prate through.

    Even so, Leno was unbothered as he kept raining shots after shots down on the monster, forcing its speed to slow down as it focused on defence.

    Although each shot wasn''t backed with a rune-carved round, the pistols themselves were a Grade 3 vestige and had a special enhancement function. Through this, Leno -despite being at the third level- was capable of releasing fire powerparable to a peak third level or a beginner fourth level practitioner.

    Even for the cockatrice, this firepower, although not deadly, was still of harm to it, so it regarded the attacks with caution.

    In the meantime, Anna wasn''t just taking the spectator role as she gripped her bow and drew the string right from its nocking point while injecting her ster energy into the vestige.

    An energy arrow began to take shape on the bow, giving off an intimidating aura that could quell ghosts.

    The cockatrice suddenly sensed something as its gaze shifted from Leno to Anna, but by then, it was toote.

    Twang.

    The string was released alongside a one chord melody, with the energy arrow darting at its target at a speed difficult to be caught by the human eye.

    *Bang*

    Unlike with Leno''s attacks, the light shield formed by the cockatrice shattered immediately the tip of the arrow made contact with it. Like a ss wall falling apart after a gunshot, it broke into shards, but the arrow was not done yet.

    The remnant energy of the strike broke through the shield and hit its target with next to no resistance. As the cockatrice wasn''t expecting such a powerful attack to be made avable so soon, its guard wasn''tpletely up and the arrow dug into its left wing.

    If it weren''t for the tough hides of the monster as well as its natural constitution, the arrow would have prated all the way until the other side.

    Lucas marveled at this scene as he could witness the difference between a fourth level and third level ster practitioners of the Aperture Opening stage while using vestiges of the same grades. Albeit there was some slight difference in quality, both the bow and the pair of pistols were Grade 3 vestiges, but the effects they produced in the hands of their users differed due to their levels.

    While Leno found it difficult to shatter the light shield, Anna was able to do it with one shot.

    The cockatrice had now identified Anna to be a threat as it turned its horrifying gaze at her.

    Originally, it had kept a lookout for Lisa as its instincts could sense that she was the strongest. But the distance between them made it less cautious. Also, even though it had sensed Anna to be at a somewhat simr level as itself, the cockatrice was a proud and cocky monster and deigned to believe that a creature much smaller than it could pose a significant threat to it.

    Leno''s shots being unable to prate its light shield gave this conclusion more grounds of being a fact, and so, it didn''t put up much caution against them.

    There was also the fact that this Blue-gemmed Cockatrice was an adolescent and probably didn''t have much, or even, any experience dealing with hyumans so it underestimated the group.

    Being injured by creatures it considered lesser, the Blue-gemmed Cockatrice didn''t get scared or consider a retreat. Rather, it red up with anger, spreading its wings wide as it cawed at the duo. Its menacing eyes red red as its fangs glistened with its mouth wide open.

    *Vroom*

    A blue beam of light exited from the mouth of the formidable creature, sting its way forward towards Anna.

    Anna had already expected such a counter attack as the information regarding the Blue-gemmed Cockatrice was already publicised amongst the frencers. In fact, to minimise fatality rates, information regarding many deste beasts was either open to the public as general knowledge or sold by Pioneers.

    Very rarely would one die at the hands of a deste beast in the Wastnds unless they were uninformed, inexperienced, or facing a much stronger deste beast.

    The blue pulverizing ray was amon attack method of a Blue-gemmed Cockatrice, apart from its physical attacks with its ws, beak or tail.

    Anna''s battlesuit surged with an intense intense blue light and a low hum, as she hurriedly dodged the beam.

    Meanwhile, Lisa flung her streamer with at the beam, effectively blocking it with the vestige and forcing the attack to dissipate. This was to prevent the pulverizing ray from causing amotion elsewhere and attracting the attention of other deste beasts towards their location.

    Right after that, Lisa controlled the streamer to extend around the battle zone, forming a circle around the threebatants.

    The radius of the circle was quiterge and the cockatrice was in an enraged mode, having its attention on Leno and Anna alone, so it failed to notice this stealthy action.

    Meanwhile, Leno kept firing shots at the monster, and while the damage dealt to the cockatrice wasn''t much, it did seed in drawing its aggro towards him. When the situation looked deadly or when she spotted a chance, Anna would shoot her energy arrows at the monster.

    In this fashion, the duo kept the cockatrice busy, but this time, Anna''s arrows didn''t always hit the target as the cockatrice relied on its natural airborne talent to dodge the attacks. Even for the attacks it felt difficult to handle, it would sh head-on with them using its ws that glowed silver right before each collision.

    When Lisa''s vestige, the ck streamer, formed aplete circle, the gems on it lit up and the light extended to envelope the markings of the ster matrices. When all the matrices were lit up, Lisa then muttered a word.

    "Seal."

    A strange wave was released from the ck streamer, epassing the battlefield and forming an invisible sphere over it. Inside the sphere were the trio: the Blue-gemmed Cockatrice, Anna and Leno.

    At this moment, the monster felt a shiver and immediately awoke from its enraged state, but it was all toote.

    "Bury." Lisa said with a solemn voice, like a monarch dering an indeliblemand.

    In the very next second, something incredible took ce. The ster matrices ''separated'' from the streamer and turned into sevenrge ck and red magic circles, epassing a muchrger height than the streamer.

    At the centre of each magic circle, a bolt of pure energy began to form, turning into magnificent weapons that suffused with the scent of death. In the eyes of the Blue-gemmed Cockatrice, fear appeared with a trace of anxiety as the creature dashed towards the opposite direction of the duo, ignoring them and fleeing for its life.

    However, the cockatrice didn''t get far away as it crashed into an invisible barrier that forced it back. Even though it was injured from that experience, it didn''t relent as it charged once more and wed at the barrier. But all its efforts were for naught as the monster feared by many, was incapable of passing through the barrier.

    It only managed to keep attacking for two seconds before the bolts of deadly energy took aim and fired right away.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    *Boom*

    All seven bolts, despite the distance between them, reached the Blue-gemmed Cockatrice all at the same time and exploded into a terrifying surge of energy. The attack was so powerful that even the invisible barrier materialized by the streamer failed to remain standing, dissipating alongside the creature.

    In that moment, Lucas was in awe. Even though he has seen much more powerful and stronger attacks and weapons in his first life, if he were to consider the level and strength of an Aperture Opening stage ster practitioner, being able to produce such a formidable attack was very much impressive.

 Chapter 33 : Assassins?

    When humans first began to explore the far reaches of space, they came to the conclusion that their bodiescked the innate ability to manipte ster energy and survive in the vast expanses of space. The issue of thetter could have been solved by developing special suits, but the former was a drastic disadvantage, so much so that it was termed a disability for the entire race.

    Humans then became a naturally disabled race, a title they felt humiliated by.

    After years of research, the first generation of hyumans: an advanced species that could not only manipte ster energy but could also live in special regions that humans would find uninhabitable.

    However, the impairment of their gic constitution was but one of the problems the human race faced at the time. The inadequacy of their weapons topete with that of alien species was a w in their society; one so bad that the leaders at the time felt it was on the same level as their gic impairment. The creation of hyumankin seemed to point at a solution to this.

    Relying on their newly gained abilities thanks to their advancement on a gic level, hyumans began researching a way to imbue their weapons with ster energy, raising its destructive prowess up by a few levels. In time, which was apanied by intense research and progress, the first generation of vestige-smiths were born.

    Vestige-smiths were talented geniuses with a high ster energy maniption ability, who dedicated themselves to the art of crafting ster energy-based technologies known as vestiges. They differed greatly from the upation of engineers and cksmiths, but were somewhat simr.

    If one were to describe a vestige-smith in a simple description, you could say that they were thebination of an engineer, a cksmith and a scribe, an upation from Lucas'' first life that focused on storing spells inside scrolls by drawing magical runes on them.

    But at the same time, vestige-smiths weren''t just a simplebination of all these upations; otherwise, a cksmith could just learn engineering and memorise a few runes, then inscribe them on his product, and vo, a vestige.

    The truth was as simple as the description, yet not. It was for this reason that the professions of engineers and cksmiths were separated from vestige-smiths. To be able to attain thetter title, one would need not only knowledge of the former two upations but also to be extremely talented and naturally blessed.

    The blessing here simply refers to having a high m(o)DNA concentration and an exquisite ability to manipte ster energy to the atomic level and even further below; something even a Guardian¡ªa being at the peak of a and referred to as its ruler¡ªmight not be able to achieve.

    All these requirements gave birth to a profession that defined the next few generations of humanity and the hyumankin.

    Looking at the dead body of the Blue-gemmed Cockatrice, which was taken down without a hitch by a vestige, albeit one under the control of a fifth level Apertures Opening stage frencer, Lucas began to look forward to the extent of power a vestige-smith could realise through their creations.

    In his first life, there was an equivalent profession known as a magic weapon craftsman. However, these craftsmen were more of cksmiths with some knowledge on inscribing runes. Compared to vestige-smiths, it was like a bicycle maker to an automobile engineeringpany; the difference was vast. Their creations weren''t on the same level of power.

    Nheless, Lucas wasn''t an average magic weapon craftsman, as he was among the top three in his world. He had also transmigrated to Earth, where he broadened his perspective and absorbed a lot of theoretical knowledge, exactly the same as those in this new world. As such, Lucas was confident that he couldpete with the top vestige-smiths in time.

    ''One day, I''ll make a killing weapon like that.'' Lucas thought as he stared at the streamer that returned to Lisa''s side.

    At this moment, the trio were slowly returning to the sare shuttle, yet seemed to be bickering about something. It was only when they had gotten into the vehicle that Lucas realised that Lisa was actually reprimanding the duo on their actions. In her opinion, they used the wrong strategy and could not finish off the monster in time, forcing her to then step in.

    The team continued on their way and didn''t experience a strange event of a native monster abandoning its habitat as with before. This began to make them think that the situation with the Blue-gemmed Cockatrice was different and unique.

    Eventually, it took a few more hours until they had arrived just a few kilometres away from the Astranian Forest. As it was getting dark, the team captain was against entering at that time and instead decided to go in the next day. He was the only one with a handful of experience with the Astranian Forest, as well as being the team leader, so it was natural that everyone else went with his decision.

    Theynded the sare and set up camp around twelve kilometres away from the forest. The distance might seem like much, but to a deste beast of the middle levels, it wasn''t. Nheless, it was an appropriate distance that would offer the team enough time to assemble their formation or retreat, depending on the strength of their assant.

    A while after they had set up camp, the team leader walked towards Lucas and sat beside him.

    "Hey." The middle-aged man smiled.

    Lucas was confused but nodded back in greeting while trying not to seem impolite.

    "I''ll get straight to the point." The middle-aged man said.

    "Did you offend anybody?"

    Lucas was surprised and immediately became suspicious, wondering what the man''s intention was.

    As if he sensed this, the man continued.

    "I''ve noticed that we were being trailed by someone. Their strength is lower than my team''s, so I doubt they''re after us. Our enemies wouldn''t be so dumb as to send weaklings to deal with us. That leaves the only possible target to be you, which is why I asked."

    Lucas now understood the man''s actions, but at the same time, he couldn''t help but be worried. It seemed that someone was keeping an eye on him, even after he left the West Wing district. What''s more, this was the Wastnds'' Astranian Forest region.

    If anything were to happen to him here, it would be easy to make it look like a monster assault and not a nned murder, so the city-state government wouldn''t even be able to avenge him. If it hadn''t been for this middle-aged man warning him, Lucas would have been at great risk.

    "Why are you telling me this?" Lucas asked with a slight confusion.

    "Naturally, it''s because you''re our client. Until the mission isplete, your safety is in our hands. However, I''d like to rify one point: even if the enemy is much weaker than us, we can''t interfere too much in this. At best, we can grant you secure passage into the forest and dy them from finding you for a while, but after that, we can''t do much.

    This is because of an unwritten rule in the frencermunity, so unless we''re specifically being hired to ensure your safety throughout, it would be impossible for us to neutralise your trackers."N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Although he didn''t entirely understand, Lucas nodded at the response. The frencer profession was based on epting missions andpleting them for a designated fee. However, there were situations where two missions could sh. In such situations, the frencers involved were expected to act professionally.

    For instance, if one was hired to find a rare special material and another frencer was hired to do the same, the two would have topete professionally. If one of them found it, the other wasn''t allowed to attack him for the package, as that would draw the ire of other frencers.

    Such an unofficial rule was put in practice by the top frencers and guilds, over time bingmon knowledge in themunity. This rule helped to maintain a certain sense of formality as well as safety to themunity.

    In this case, someone was tracking Lucas and might have even been sent to deal with him. However, the Autumn''s Gate guild couldn''t interfere in this as their rtionship with Lucas was merely limited to a single mission of them having to escort him safely into the Astranian Forest. As for what happens after he gets there, it was none of their business.

    This met that as long as the trackers didn''t make a move on Lucas until he arrived at the Astranian Forest, the Autumn''s Gate guild could not interfere. Coming out to warn Lucas of a possible threat in the shadows was already a warm gesture by the team leader. Having even offered to dy the trackers said a lot about the middle-aged man''s personality.

    "Thank you." Lucas said as he bowed slightly at the man.

    "There''s nothing to thank me for here. I just wanted to let you know to prevent any problems from my side. It would be bad on our reviews if this trip of ours ended on a bad note." The middle-aged man chuckled before standing up and taking his leave.

    As for Lucas, he began to brainstorm a solution as the protection offered by the Autumn''s Gate guild woulde to an end the next day.

 Chapter 34 : Departure

    In truth, the head of the Autumn''s Gate guild was slightly hoping that Lucas wouldmission them with a new task, which was why he said those words.

    Being a top 20 frencer squad involuntarily meant that those who could afford their services were big corporations and rich individuals. However, these parties either had their own private force, or were in an alliance with another top team, sponsoring them in exchange for their services.

    Even if the wealthy individual orpany was looking for an independent frencer guild for a task, there were still other top guilds, much stronger than the Autumn''s Gate guild, in the market.

    Naturally, there were the asional wealthy merchants and so on who required their services; otherwise, they would have closed shop. Even so, the number of such missions they received in a month was still not enough in the guild leader, Crimson Fang''s eyes. He wanted his guild, the Autumn''s Gate, to be a top ten frencer squad, and to achieve that, a lot of money was needed.

    Currentlycking sponsors, the best way for them to make that money was through missions, but they couldn''t drop down their price either.

    Although Lucas might be suspicious about the unwritten rule amongst frencers, he could do nothing about it. The best option for him would be to draw up another contract with the Autumn''s Gate guild and have them protect him until he returns back to the base station.

    At the base station, it would be impossible for anyone to threaten him, otherwise the retaliation by the city-state''s Guild Centre would be enough to end them. Even a top 500pany of Eretre wouldn''t want to go against the city-state government.

    Unfortunately, Lucas wasn''t interested in another contract. How would they know that just this escort contract has cost him a lot? Even though Lucas could have been said to be a bit wealthy after pawning the Purple Iridium ingot, the escort mission nearly cost him 150 federal coins, and this was already cheap.

    One should recall this price was made in mind with him having only four members guarding him, of which two would be official guild members. However, he had luckily ended up with all seven official members escorting him. If Lucas were to request a new deal, he would have to consider all seven official members onboard. At that time, the price might even reach up to 500 federal coins.

    Considering his expenses from when he went shopping until now, including the fee for the escort, Lucas had only two thousand two hundred and fifty (2250) federal coins left. Spending almost a quarter of that would hurt his insides and eat him for a long time, even if it was for his safety. This was especially so since it wasn''t like Lucas was entirely out of options.

    . . .

    At the break dawn, just right when the first ray of light struck the ground, the group had already awakened and prepared to depart. Within just a few minutes, they covered the twenty kilometres distance and arrived a few hundred metres away from the Astranian Forest. This distance was nothing to the sare shuttle and one could say they had already reached their destination.

    The Astranian Forest was an astonishing vast expanse ofnd that could evenpare with a state or prefecture in size. It was like a whole other world of its own, dominated byrge greenery and massive trees towering up to twenty metres, roughly the same height as a four storey building.

    Even from the sare which was flying through the clouds, Lucas couldn''t see the entirety of the Astranian Forest. Just from this alone, he could now see why this was ce meant only for frencers with high ranks. One could only imagine how many deste beasts were in here as well as the level of the strongest ones.

    From what Lucas knew, the Astranian Forest was merely just one of the many regions in the Wastnds. One could think of the Wastnds as a country, and the regions within it being states. The Astranian Forest was one such ''state'', and within this ''state'', there were areas the size of a city.

    Lucas'' destination, as well as the location of his mission objective, was a ''state'' known as the Cicalien Mountains.

    The escort mission was only meant to stop him within the Astranian Forest, as the cost of being escorted into the Cicalien Mountains was a lot more than he could ept. However, even though they had arrived at the Astranian Forest, the escort mission wasn''t entirely over.

    As with tradition, the Autumn''s Gate guild would drop him off a few hundred metres to one kilometre in, securing the perimeter and ensuring that nothing dangerous happened to their client.

    It was at this point that the guild leader signalled to Lucas and everyone else on the ride. Earlier on, the guild leader had already noticed the rest about the hidden party trailing them. Actually, the two vice guild leaders had sensed them, but they didn''t say a word to Lucas as it wasn''t their ce to do so.

    The n was such: the guild leader as well as one vice guild leader would drop off at a specific point and hold back the trackers. At that moment, Ju¨¢n would speed off with the sare to a destination quite far from this point where he would then drop off Lucas. The other vice guild leader was present to ensure that nothing would happen during this trip.

    As soon as Lucas was dropped off, they would move in another direction to create a fake trail and the contract would be over.

    Lucas didn''t have any problems with this n; in fact, he couldn''t even disagree with it. From the behaviour of the team, Lucas could sense their earnestness and see how much effort they put into this when in fact, they could decide not to do so. Their contract was simply to get him into the Astranian Forest safely, and already being in the region, nothing else should have concerned them.

    But they went the extra mile, despite the fact that he was a human.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    This impressive action bred a strange emotion in him and for a second, Lucas was tempted to tip them. But when he recalled how ''poor'' he was, he eliminated that thought without any hesitation.

    "Get ready." The guild leader, Crimson Fang, said as he wore his armour.

    The vice guild leader who would apany him was Lisa, as her vestige was very suited for hindering attackers and creating a defense. As for the other guild leader, his vestige and even fighting style, were all about offence, so he was better suited to move with the shuttle.

    Just after the group had moved three hundred metres into the forest, Crimson Fang and Lisa jumped exited the shuttle and arrived in mid air.

    Lisa unfurled her streamer and as with the battle against the Blue-gemmed Cockatrice, the streamer upied arge area around them and formed a world of its own. At the same time, Crimson Fang abruptly pointed at multiple locations in mid air, sting an orange ray from his finger each time he did so.

    *Boom*

    *Boom*

    Explosive sounds broke out as the orange rays crashed into obstacles in midair. Once the air was cleared up, four figures were forced into the open. They were the trackers who were following the group.

 Chapter 35 : Separation

    The sare shuttle sped through the air within the Astranian Forest, but it didn''t fly above the canopy of trees. The reason for this was clear; the Astranian Forest was a very dangerous location filled with tons of deadly deste beasts.

    Standing out would turn one into a target for the countless bloodthirsty creatures around. Under the assault of tens or even hundreds of such monsters, even a tenth level Apertures Opening stage ster practitioner would die. As such, even if the defence of the sare was staunch and unbreakable, most would still not want to test it against the vicious wave of monsters.

    Inside the vehicle, the other vice captain of the squad and also vice guild leader, nced at the screens disyed in, only taking a break away after he failed to spot any deste beasts nearby.

    He then nced at Lucas and noticed how thetter was calmly sitting in silence. At that moment, the vice guild leader couldn''t help but frown.

    Truth be told, he was against Crimson Fang leading Lisa to hold back the pursuers. His justification was the unofficial rule as well as another important point; there was no reason to risk offending an unknown party all because of an ''expired'' deal.

    From his senses, the vice guild leader estimated that there were four pursuers with two of them being at the third level, one at the fourth and another at the fifth. One should know that individuals at the fifth level could be squad leaders or high-ranking members of a strong guild, just like himself.

    As for fourth level frencers, they would be elites and still valued to some extent no matter where they were. This was because the average power level of a frencer was between the first and third levels.

    Someone who could afford to hire these figures would definitely not be an ordinary individual or faction. Intercepting the pursuers would no doubt offend the party behind them, and this might attract unnecessary trouble for guild in the future.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    When the shuttle had reached a safe distance, they slowed down and Lucas exited the vehicle right away. The shuttle then zoomed off in a different direction. From here onwards, the deal with the Autumn''s Gate guild had ended and Lucas was on his own.

    Lucas didn''t look worried, even after this reality had dawned on him. On the contrary, he made his move, heading towards a different direction that led to the Cicalien Mountains. As was mentioned before, the Astranian Forest could be considered a ''state'''' within the ''country'' called the Wastnds. As for the Cicalien Mountains, it was a ''city'' within this ''state''.

    Compared to the broad green area, the Cicalien Mountains was fraught with more danger. This was how the Astranian Forest was; every distinct region would be crawling with dangerous and powerful deste beasts, making them more perilous than the shrub-filled zone.

    Lucas opened up hismunicator and located the mountainous region to be a couple kilometres away; less than ten kilometres to be precise. This distance wasn''t much; Lucas could cover it in twenty five to thirty minutes. But with a group of pursuers right behind him, it was a risky journey. He may not even have up to thirty minutes.

    ''Looks like I''ll have to use them.'' Lucas thought as he kept on running.

    Astranian Forest was a well known danger zone, and even a simple browsing action would reveal this. Since he was aiming for here from the start, Lucas had naturally done his research previously and made proper arrangements. The arrangements were specifically for deste beasts, but there were also some preparations he made against hyumans.

    It mighte as a surprise that Lucas was looking out for any unfriendly hyuman, but if one were to recall that his first encounter upon transmigrating into this world was to almost get kidnapped, and that he was assaulted on his store within just two weeks of transmigration, then everything would make sense.

    So far, Lucas has been in this world for three weeks, but these three weeks have been filled with a handful of ''interesting'' experiences, which in turn made him more cautious.

    As Lucas was travelling through the air, he asionally stered a piece of paper marked with red ink, on the trunk of a tree. He did this for roughly every three hundred metres until he had stered seven paper slips over a 2.1 kilometres distance. Each time he was nine hundred metres away from a paper slip, Lucas would change an incantation and form some hand seals.

    But the time he was nine hundred metres away from the seventh paper slip, he chanted the same incantations and former the same hand seals.

    By this time, if one were to look at the area around the first paper from an aerial point of view, they would notice that a few deste beasts of different shapes and sizes were conglomerating towards that direction. The same held true for the other five paper slips, with only the seventh one not showing any effects yet.

    Beast attracting talisman.

    This was a special talisman made by the witches in his past life. It was the direct opposite of the ''Beast warding talisman'', a product of deserters who cultivated in True energy. The Beast attracting talisman was a weapon of war hated by many factions, and its manufacturing process was bizarre.

    It required the caster or scribe, as they were called, to use their blood and draw a rune onto a special piece of paper known as a talisman paper. The blood would be infused with mana during the inscribing process, forcefully infusing a spell into the paper, to create a talisman.

    Once the talisman was activated, the scent of the blood on the paper would be reignited and strengthened, while being forced to diffuse around the area alongside an attractive aura produced by the mana.

    However, the scent of blood as well as the attractive aura of the mana would be noticeable only to beasts and man-eating monsters.

    In summary, the beast attracting talisman was a bait for monsters. However, if done well, it could be used to create a trap. In Lucas'' case, he intended to have the beasts cover up his tracks and force the pursuers to slow down if they somehow found out the direction he moved in.

    With that done, Lucas was confident that he would have enough time to make it to the Cicalien Mountains. As for when he would have to return, Lucas would naturally use a different route.

 Chapter 36 Encountering A Desolate Beast

    The Cicalien Mountains was a vast chain of mountains connected to form a mountain range. Towering peaks of different heights spread all over the area, forming ''waves'' in the region. Home to many deste beasts, the mountain range was a dangerous ce even for a high-ranking frencer. However, despite being dangerous, it was also home to many mineral deposits and lodes.

    A couple decades back, the Bands city-state government hadunched an exploration campaign, aimed at understanding the Wastnds more in preparation for a future beast wave that could potentially pose a significant threat to the city-state.

    This campaign wasn''t meant to eliminate the monsters in the outer region, but to understand and record the various species of deste beasts in the Wastnds as well as to map down the entire region. If there was also any important resource stock in the Wastnds, they would think of a way to retrieve and control it. Although this campaign ended in failure, a lot of progress was made.

    At that time, the city-state government had discovered the Astranian Forest and located the Cicalien Mountains deep inside. As the campaign was an exploratory study, they had special equipment for discovering valuable minerals. Under the investigation of their scientists, the team found out that the Cicalien Mountains had a special ore, Keton, deposit on one of the mountains.

    Keton was a metallic material which wasn''t expensive and could be said to bemon. However, it was very vital to various industries. It was an importantponent for manufacturing certain hover vehicles and furniture.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Logically, the city-state government should have built a mine on the deposit and began operations.

    But after considering the expenses for the project: which not only included construction of the mine, but transportation of both construction materials, ores and workers, protection of the cargo and workers, the setting up of a base, as well the payment of workers which would have to be high as they would be working in a perilous area, which they thenpared to the value of the metal ore, the city-state government came to the conclusion that the excavation was not worth it and abandoned the idea.

    Some powerful industries andpanies came to find out about the mine, but for the same reason, they also gave up on it.

    As for individuals, any one of them who could make it to the Cicalien Mountains was definitely a strong character, and someone like that wouldn''t stress themselves with a tiring task such as mining. Also, they would be able to make more off killing deste beasts than mining for the ore and having to travel into the city to sell it, an endeavour which was clearly time-consuming and expensive.

    This led to the special situation where everyone knew that the Cicalien Mountains had ore deposits, but no one could retrieve it. It was like a pie in the sky.

    The metal Lucas was looking for wasn''t some cheap metal like Keton or something simr. In fact, it wasn''t even among the discovered ore deposits. On the contrary, it was a mineral deposit hidden inside the mountain. Unlike the discovered mine, this one was filled to the brim with a valuable metal called Violent Sun ores.

    Due to the presence of a special element around the Violent Sun ore deposit, a natural electromaic field was formed, invisible to the eyes. This EM field had jammed the equipment used by the exploration team and other groups, and this led to the deposit remaining untouched for decades. Luckily for Lucas, this wasn''t a problem as he had the system to aid him.

    The system had verified its existence, but the task of finding it was left to him.

    . . .

    Once he was in front of the Cicalien Mountains, Lucas was greeted by the impressive sight of a marvelous mountain range. After admiring it for a bit, Lucas made his way into the Cicalien Mountains, making sure that he proceeded towards the northwest direction.

    ording to the instructions from the system, there was an average-looking mountain amongst the rest but located deep in. Hidden within this mountain was the target for his mission.

    Just five minutes after Lucas had appeared within the Cicalien Mountains, he noticed a strange silhouette less than one hundred metres ahead.

    Without any hesitation, Lucas immediately concealed his aura and breathing, and came to a stop as he studied the silhouette in front of him.

    It was a creature that looked like a mole yet was muchrger than that. It was four metres tall when standing on its hind legs and had a pair of special hands equipped with ws on them which aided it in digging through the mountain floor. It had a long snout and its huge body was covered in intense brown-green fur that was as thin and sharp as needles.

    Its long snout was coloured green, but of a darker hue.

    At the moment, the monster was nibbling on some gnawed out rocks, seemingly having a look of bliss on its face.

    ''The Green-Snout Metal mole '' Lucas thought as he stared at the monster. He then began to revisit the knowledge regarding the monster in his head.

    The Green-Snout Metal mole was a special kind of deste beast limited to the Cicalien Mountains and any other zones with metal ore deposits. It had fur as tough as metal, which was threatening to attackers and predators. Its terrifying arms also packed a punch so powerful that it could crush a boulder with one hit.

    Above of all, the ws of the Green-Snout Metal mole was its most dangerous weapon, capable of cutting through refined steel with ease. It was thanks to this that it could dig deep into the ground and excavate metals.

    The Green-Snout Metal mole was a monster with a capable defense, offense and stamina. Its only known weakness was its speed and vision, which were nothing impressive. However, it seemed topensate in that department by possessing a long range attack option; it could fire some of its sharp needle fur at the target.

    Generally, a Green-Snout Metal mole was at the very least a third level beast, but most times, the majority would be on the fourth level. If one were unlucky, they would stumble upon a fifth level Green-Snout Metal mole.

    Luckily, Lucas didn''t encounter such a special situation. Even more so, this Green-Snout Metal mole was at the third level, the weakest of its kind.

 Chapter 37 : Sneaking Away

    The Green-Snout Metal mole joyfully feasted on a huge rock thaty in front of it. Within the rock were metallic ck pieces, which were a special metal that was quitemon. Despite that, the deste beasts behaved as if this was the best meal it had ever had in its life.

    One could only feel pity for it, as it was clear that the beast was ostracized by its kind to the point that amon metal could arouse such satisfaction from it.

    The deste beastsmunity, even for the social ones, was one in the form of a pyramid. Those at the top would enjoy all the resources, while those at the bottom would almost have to cater for themselves. It operated by the rule of the strongest fist reigns supreme¡ªa dog-eat-dog world.

    However, none of this concerned Lucas. His n was to move ahead while escaping the senses of the Green-Snout Metal mole. As for killing it? Was that even possible?

    The current Lucas, despite all the physical training he did in his spare time, was only on par with a Body Strengthening stage practitioner at the Bones refining step. Even when paired with his signature gloves and a Grade 3 vestige, he could onlypare to a first level Apertures Opening stage ster practitioner in terms of power alone.

    As for physical abilities like movement speed and reaction speed, Lucas still wasn''t there.

    In other words, even in his strongest form, a third level Green-Snout Metal mole was beyond him. If he were to face it, Lucas might die without even knowing how.

    There was the option to escape and go elsewhere, but he didn''t fancy that. The reason was quite simple. The Cicalien Mountains was very big and as previously mentioned, on par with a city. It would take a very long time to search every high and low for the Violent Sun ores.

    If one were to consider the roaming deste beasts and other risks within, heaven knows how long it would take and whether Lucas could live through it all.

    But the presence of the Green-Snout Metal mole changed it all.

    Green-Snout Metal moles typically loved underground and loved to feast on metals; the more precious and powerful the metal was, the greater their desire or gluttony for it. Also, they were social deste beasts and lived in a pack known as abour [1]. In abour, there would be at least an average of one hundred and fifty (150) to two hundred (200) Green-Snout Metal moles.

    With such numbers, it was easy for them to cover arge part of the outer region of the Cicalien Mountains.

    Lucas intended on sneaking into the moles'' tunnels and using them to explore the outer region of the mountain range. If there was any Violent Sun ore lode in the outer region, there was a ny percent (90%) chance that the moles had found it. As long as he followed the explored path of the moles, Lucas would definitely find the lode.

    From his position, he could see that there was a hole a few metres away from the Green-Snout Metal mole, which was most likely dug by it. As long as he followed the hole, he would be able to trace it back to their burrow. The problem, however,y in not only getting past the beast, but also sneakily entering the hole and exploring the burrow while remaining hidden.

    For this, Lucas pulled out a couple of talisman. He had made proper preparations beforeing here. As for how he made the talismans, it was through using a secret technique from his past life. The talismans required mystical energy[2] to be activated and without being a ster refiner, Lucas couldn''t pull it off.

    But he was a grandmaster cksmith and also talented at drawing magical runes, so it was only natural for Lucas to know a few strange methods of manipting mystical energy without having refined it himself.

    However, such methods were limited and difficult to utilise in battle; otherwise, Lucas'' fighting strength would have been raised by at least one level.

    Of the three talismans he pulled out, one of them was an aura erasing talisman, meant to eliminate his scent as well as seal his aura and heat within himself. Green-Snout Metal moles, due to living most of their lives underground, had bad vision. But topensate for that, they had evolved to possess infrared vision, which helped them track down predators and live prey.

    Apart from metals, these moles asionally ate smaller deste beasts or creatures for their source of protein.

    The second talisman was a cooling talisman. This was to counter the adverse effect of having his body''s heatpletely sealed inside of himself. At the same time, it could help Lucas outer body''s temperature match that of the underground environment since, typically speaking, the underground was colder than the surface.

    The third talisman was an invisibility talisman. Compared to the others, this was much more difficult for Lucas to make. Theplexities were well above-average and, logically, should have been impossible for someone without mystical, but Lucas managed to pull it off thanks to his experience. However, he could only make two of them.

    With all three talismans hanging on him, Lucas browsed through his system inventory and withdrew a pair of boots from his inventory.

    After the system had upgraded, following the opening of the store, Lucas could now store foreign objects -which were items not provided by the system- inside the inventory.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The pair of boots were purchased the day before he left, and he modified them right after, improving their ability. The boots were meant to reduce the sound of one''s footsteps to the point that it was almost negligible. However, after trying it out, Lucas found out that the advertisement was deceitful, and so he made appropriate changes to it.

    Now, the boot could mitigate the force one used when walking, even distributing it in such a fashion that the noise generated was truly negligible. He also added cushions, which helped to reduce the sound.

    After changing his shoes to the new pair of boots and storing them in the inventory, Lucas prepared to take action.

 Chapter 38 Exploring The Underground Burrow

    When Lucas had made each talisman, he did so in good faith that they would work as simted. As he was residing within the West Wing district, there was no means of testing any of his creations.

    For a talisman like the beast attracting, testing wasn''t exactly necessary. It was already well known that deste beasts were attracted to the scent of blood, and most of them wouldn''t mind having a bite of human flesh. All this increased the odds of the talisman working out, and the only problem was simply the range the scent and aura radiated by the talisman could cover.

    A talisman like the aura-erasing was also not difficult to test out. With the current advancements in technology, infrared cameras sold for peanuts. There were also cameras equipped with scent-identifying capabilities. Gas detectors were already a thing back on Earth, so for an advanced civilisation like this, a scent-identifying camera wasn''t out of the ordinary.

    However, even with all of this, there was no assurance that Lucas could hide away from the Green-Snout Metal mole''s senses. He had no knowledge of its extent, and for technology capable of perfectly mimicking the creature, Lucas couldn''t afford them. Hence, his products were made using experimental data from his past life.

    To decrease the chances of getting detected, Lucas needed a distraction.

    Lucas retreated away from the monster and arrived at a different location. Here, he took out a talisman which turned out to be a beast attracting talisman. However, he didn''t just activate it. An average beast attracting talisman might work against any carnivorous or bloodthirsty deste beast, but the major food of the Green-Snout Metal mole was metals.

    As such, Lucas had to make some small changes to the talisman.

    Lucas withdrew a b of some slightly precious soft metal and chopped off a piece from it. He then crushed it and sprinkled the dust on the centre of the talisman while chanting some mysterious words. By doing this, the talisman would absorb the essence of the metal and attach it to itself. This was seen right away as part of the metal dust was clearly being absorbed by the talisman.

    By doing this, once the talisman was activated, it would no longer simply possess the aura and scent of blood, but also the metal used. Lucas didn''t consider using the Purple Iridium metal or Red Iris stone even if it was just a slight piece, because the value was way too much to be used as bait.

    Also, any metal would do and while the aforementioned two would be more effective, there was no difference between 100% and 300% in this scenario. As long as he could draw the beast away, it didn''t matter.

    After all the arrangements were done, Lucas stepped away and returned to his previous hiding spot from which he then activated the talisman and waited.

    It took only two minutes for the Green-Snout Metal mole that was gnawing in a few metal pieces to begin sniffing its nose and turning in the direction of the talisman. A gluttonous gaze appeared on its face as it stated tightly in that direction. The beast seemed to hesitate a bit for whatever reason, but it couldn''t hold onto reason again as it stood up and immediately dashed towards the talisman.

    ''Now.''

    Once the Green-Snout Metal mole was away, Lucas activated all three talismans hanging from his body and dashed towards the hole in front. Although the Green-Snout Metal mole was quite fast as it was a third level monster, Lucas was still able to cover the hundred metres gap in time and dive into the hole.

    Inside the whole was dark with a cold breeze blowing through it at the moment. Lucas ignored all of this as he kept sliding his way deeper into the hole. By now, the Green-Snout Metal mole should have found out that there was no delicacy and would return back to its meal.

    If it were a bit cautious, it would check the tunnel, so Lucas had to make sure he had gone far enough to be safe from such a possibility.

    The tunnel was long and wide unlike what Lucas had expected. The structure was stable enough to have two Green-Snout Metal moles pass by side by side. When he had gone down for about fifty metres or so, Lucas finallynded on a horizontal surface. Thanks to the special shoes, he barely made a sound when doing so.

    The tunnel was so dark that one could barely see their fingers the further they went in. It was only thanks to the lighting from the exit point fifty metres above that Lucas could see the area five metres ahead of him. However, if he wanted to explore the burrow, he would need to be able to see past this distance. Luckily, Lucas had predicted such a scenario.

    Mineral lodes were synonymous with underground terrain and caveworks, so Lucas had considered the possibility of low lighting when he made his preparations. However, as the Cicalien Mountains was a danger-filled zone, using something like a shlight would be a bad idea. shlights, however, were not the only solution. Even on Earth, there were night vision goggles and infrared sses.

    Lucas had purchased a special goggle equipped with night vision and infrared capabilities from the base station.

    As the zone fashioned to amodate frencers, equipment such as this was very easy to find anywhere, including at the Guild Centre building.

    Armed with the goggles for sight, Lucas began venturing in deeper into the tunnel in a cautious format, least he attracts unwanted attention.

    At first, the tunnel was quite simplistic, despite being wide, was just a single underground corridor that led forward for up to three hundred metres. But when Lucas approached the three hundred metres point, he encountered a junction that had three paths ahead of him, all in different directions.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Taking the wrong road would not only cost him time, but might even ce Lucas at risk, so he had to consider his options carefully. At one point Lucas had even tried to question the system for help, but it was of no use. In the end, he settled for the path on the right as based on his investigation, was the most frequented path of the three.

    The reason why Lucas picked based on such a premise was because the Green-Snout Metal mole would have to regrly return to its home after scavenging for metals or monitoring the area. For that reason, the road which led to its home would be the most used of the three.

 Chapter 39 Astonishing Discovery

    Lucas followed the tunnel by the right, which took him through multiple turns, making him feel as if he was in a maze. Sometimes, the tunnel would make a turn to the right and then to the left. Sometimes, it would lead downwards or even upwards, forcing Lucas to rely on his physical abilities and make the climb.

    There were even times when he woulde across a junction, and relying on the previous method, Lucas would make a decision and pick a road. In summary, the journey was an ''adventurous'' one that Lucas never really expected.

    It wasn''t until after an hour of exploration that Lucas finally sensed some movement ahead. Relying on his strong senses and spiritual soul, Lucas could feel the movements of two creatures at the turn a few metres away. Although the talismans were still active, Lucas put more effort into maintaining his camouge as he reduced his speed and even slowed down his breathing.

    When he got to the turn, Lucas peaked at the other side and spotted two Green-Snout Metal moles much bigger than the one above ground. Even the aura they radiated was a lot more ferocious, showing that these two were no strangers to murder, albeit he couldn''t be sure whether their targets were hyumans or other deste beasts, but thetter was more likely.

    Not only were theyrger, but they were also talked, and their fur was also losing its green colour and tilting towards brown. It was clear thatpared to the first Green-Snout Metal mole he met, these ones were stronger by a factor. They were most likely at the fourth level, as this was the mainstream strength of most Green-Snout Metal moles.

    Lucas ''glued'' his body close to the walls and lowered his breathing speed by another factor as he scanned the two and waited for an opportunity to proceed. The two beasts weren''t guarding the road but had simply met each other and decided to offer a ''greeting''. Green-Snout Metal moles were social creatures, so this action of theirs wasn''t out of the ordinary.

    After a few seconds, the two monsters went their separate routes with one heading deeper into the tunnel and another moving towards the direction Lucas wasing from.

    Immediately, Lucas didn''t hesitate to remain absolutely still. He even held his breath right away, fearing that the slightest of actions would attract the attention of the beast. Fortunately, the fourth level Green-Snout Metal mole failed to notice anything and continued on its way.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    As the tunnel wasrge enough for two to walk by, there was enough space for Lucas to avoiding in contact with it.

    Once the deste beast went by, Lucas waited long enough to feel confident that the smallest movement wouldn''t attract it. From then on, it seemed as if he had closed in on the main burrow of thebour of moles as every couple of minutes, Lucas would be forced to remain still and hold.his breath, as he hid from the Green-Snout Metal moles.

    Apanied with this was a problem; Lucas couldn''t use his previous method to choose a route amongst a group of paths. There was one junction wtih four paths, all of which had been frequented a lot. When Lucas investigated, he noticed that there was almost no difference in the amount of times the moles had passed by, based on the footsteps and evenness of the ground.

    In the end, Lucas randomly decided on a path and proceeded forward.

    After a while, he appeared in arge open cave with dozens of tunnels leading in different directions. The tunnels were so much that it was estimated to be almost one hundred of them. Lucas was stunned by the sight, even more so scared as a few metres below, at the centre of the cavern, there were tens of Green-Snout Metal moles moving about, all at the fourth level.

    asionally, there would be one or two exiting a tunnel and heading into another. This led to a realisation that he had finally appeared in the mainwork of the Green-Snout Metal moles'' burrow.

    As long as Lucas went in the right direction, he would find the Violent Sun ores. However, if he didn''t, he would have wasted his time. What''s more, he might end up unlucky and get spotted by a Green-Snout Metal mole. Once that happens, death would be the only oue for him.

    ''Come on. Think.'' Lucas froze on the spot and stared at the various tunnels, trying to differentiate between them and find his target.

    The traffic in the cavern was much, and so, it was difficult to scan every single mole and reach a conclusion from there.

    It was a good thing that the tunnel he was in barely had many users amongst the mole horde below him. This gave Lucas some breathing space to run various calctions in an attempt to choose the best possible route.

    Thirty secondster, Lucas noticed a Green-Snout Metal mole leaving a tunnel with something in its mouth. There was a yellow object within its mouth. The object was sorge that a part of it protruded out from the mole''s mouth, preventing it from closing the pair of jaws.

    Lucas stared at the mole and watched as it exited one tunnel and entered into another. He then waited for less than a minute and noticed another mole carrying a simr material from the same tunnel but heading into a different one. Another mole also left the same tunnel but ended up going in the same direction as the first one.

    It was then that a thought appeared in Lucas'' head. Some of these tunnels were entrances to various mines while others led to storage houses or even the private residence of the moles.

    For example, after spending ten minutes watching the deste beasts, the route of the first mole was followed by a few other moles, all carrying the same yellow object in their mouths. There were a few, however, who exited the same tunnel but went in a different direction.

    Topletely understand the paths of the beasts, Lucas maintained his stealth mode and spent an entire hour monitoring as many Green-Snout Metal moles as possible. The talismans would allst for at least six hours. Not more than three hours had gone by since he activated them, so spending an hour to increase his odds was no problem.

    At the end of the one hour duration, Lucas finally had a basic understanding of the cavern and its tunnels. Relying on his knowledge of metals from both self-study and information from the tome, ''An Adventurer''s Manual'', he had also managed to identify the majority of minerals being miner by the Green-Snout Metal moles.

    Every one of them was valuable to some extent, and Lucas had even managed to spot two to three rare metals.

    It should be known that during the exploration campaign decades back, the Bands city-state military had found a few lodes and deposits of various metals and minerals. However, after checking the value and estimating the size of such deposits, they reached the conclusion that it wasn''t profitable to establish a mine in the region.

    The investigation at that time wasn''t publicised, but news of it had spread to some extent, and so the frencermunity roughly knew the number of mineral deposits found in the Cicalien Mountains. There were seven such; two medium-sized ones, four small ones, and only onerge lode. The ssification was based on the estimations of the amount of minerals and metals in each deposit.

    Of the seven deposits, only one small one had rare minerals, but said metal wasn''t so rare as there was a supply point just north of Bands City. The remaining six lodes were all filled withmon metals and minerals.

    However, from his one hour stay here, Lucas found the truth to be more than just that.

 Chapter 40 : Discovered

    The Cicalien Mountains was a rocky, mountainous region, and a personal favourite of earth- and metal-type deste beasts. It was rumoured to be filled with metal and mineral deposits, with the difference between the two being that one held metals while the other contained materials that were in a solid form but not ssified as metals.

    Based on the ssification of metals and minerals, there were five grades: Common grade, Special grade, Rare grade, Recherch¨¦ grade and Ster grade.

    When the Bands city-state government carried out the exploration campaign of the Cicalien Mountains, they discovered seven deposits. Two medium-sized ones containing metals, four small ones of which three were minerals and thest one was a metal deposit, and onerge lode filled with metals, were discovered at the end of the campaign.

    The ssification was based on estimations of the amount of minerals and metals in each deposit.

    Of the seven deposits, only one of the small mineral deposits had rare contents, but said mineral wasn''t exactly rare in the region as there was a supply point just north of Bands City. The term ''rare'' was used whenpared to the minerals and metals in the other six lodes, which were filled with Common grade materials, as well as their supply on the general market.

    In truth, the grade of the mineral was merely at the Special grade of materials.

    This information was open to frencers at the Guild Centre building, and many top corporations with investments in beast hunting and mining were aware of it. But what Lucas saw in this cavern implied that the city-state military''s investigation was wed.

    Lucas had identified a total of eleven metals and four minerals among the materials the Green-Snout Metal moles were carrying. This meant that there were fifteen metal and mineral deposits in the mountain range; a whopping eight more than the city-state military discovered and two of them were Special grade metals, on par with the one found before.

    Of the eight lodes discovered, seven were metals whilst thest one was a mineral deposit. If this news were to be leaked, the Bands city-state government would surely consider setting up a station here.

    As long as the size of the mines was worth it -with three medium sized or above deposits and at least one of the Special grade metal deposits being a medium-sized one- they wouldn''t even hesitate tounch a new campaign in the Cicalien Mountains.

    Opening a mining area within the Cicalien Mountains was a costly endeavour. The mountain range was located in the Astranian Forest inside the Wastnds. Running a mine entailed creating a new transportation route from the mountain range to the Wastnds base station.

    Even if they intended on using Light rail trains, protection would have to be provided for those trains; otherwise, they would risk getting attacked by flying deste beasts.

    Apart from that, the mines would also have to be protected 24/7, and the miners would need to receive an enormous wage, worker benefits, and so on, otherwise, no one would want to ept the job. The materials used to build the mines and the mining station would have to be of high quality, to resist attacks by deste beasts.

    Even the equipment would have to be of high quality, since the rocks in the Cicalien Mountains were tougher than regr mountains.

    These problems might not seem like a lot, but every single one of them was extravagantly costly, such that, the seven mines alone were only able to break even and not secure a profit. But if there were eight additional deposits added to the mix, the story would be different.

    Even if operating expenses such as protection and employee fees increased, making a massive profit would still be very much possible.

    This was the value and attractiveness of the real Cicalien Mountains. Unfortunately, only Lucas currently knew of this, and he didn''t n on revealing it. Instead, he wanted to monopolize this.

    The current civilisation was developed, and conflicts that would lead to death were exceedingly rare thanks to the improved security. However, there was a greater desire for resources. As such, the government tried to encourage pioneering, as they alone couldn''t provide for the masses.

    One such means, for instance, was that if one discovered a mine within the neighbouring region of a city-state, he or she could own it as long as they paid a certain amount of money as bothnd ownership rights and taxes to the government. This applied even to the mines in the Wastnds.

    Due to this benefit, a lot of bigpanies and frencer squads would asionallyunch exploration campaigns into the depths of the Wastnds and other unexplored regions, all in a bid to discover a new resource point. Even professionals at this, known as Pioneers, would asionally be spotted at the Wastnds base station.

    As long as Lucas went to the Guild Centre building and the City Hall to make his reports as well as file for ownership, he could gain control of the mines. But that would be forter; for now, he had better fish to fry.

    The hour of spying didn''t just enable Lucas to identify the materials being mined by the moles. It also helped him construct a n.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    One of the seven new metals Lucas found was called Igrum steel [1] or Red-Fire iron. It was a special heat resistance metal that had above average ductility and malleability while maintaining an impressive degree of toughness. It was also a Special grade metal.

    The most important point for Lucas here was that an Igrum steel deposit had a certain chance to produce Violent Sun ores, although a very low chance.

    Nheless, this didn''t stop Lucas from having hope.

    The system gave him the mission to find Violent Sun ores in the Cicalien Mountains of the Wastnds, which at first seemed like a suicide mission; after all, Lucas had no powers. But prior to all of this, the system had informed Lucas that it had no intentions of killing him and that every mission assigned was done so based on his current abilities.

    Thinking in this direction, the Violent Sun ores would definitely be in the outer region of the Cicalien Mountains as this was the only ce Lucas had a reasonable shot at survival; anything further in was certain death.

    It was for this reason that he had decided to use the Green-Snout Metal moles'' burrow for his exploration, as these monsters were on the weaker scale of the Cicalien Mountains monster pyramid, and they resided primarily in the outer region.

    Now, seeing that there was Igrum steel present here, Lucas was sure that the Violent Sun ores were also close by. The question was, where?

    From the actions of the Green-Snout Metal moles, it was clear that they were mining the materials and moving them over to a storage room. As such, there were two options before him at the moment: the first was to check out the moles'' storage cave as if there was any Violent Sun ores present, they would have mined it and stored it away. The second was to go to the mine and look for it himself.

    There was also a third option, which was to wait at the tunnel leading into the mine for a mole carrying the ore, and kill it. However, this option wasn''t even considered by Lucas was very obvious reasons; he was too weak.

    ''Wait. It''s been an hour already now. If there was any Violent Sun ores, I should have seen them carrying it. This means that they''ve probably not found it yet.'' Lucas thought as he stared in the direction of the mine.

    Reaching this point in his thoughts, there was now only one option left for Lucas. To go to the mines himself.

    After staking out for a few minutes, Lucas suddenly began to move towards his target; the tunnel that Green-Snout Metal miles carrying Igrum steel exited from. Lucas didn''t move hurriedly, but maintained a cautious and slow approach, ensuring that he wasn''t spotted by the moles.

    Luckily, the moles were too focused on their actions, and maybe it had to do with the fact that this was theirir, but their alertness was at its lowest.

    It didn''t take long for Lucas to reach the exit to approach the tunnel, and it only took him thirty minutes to reach the end of the tunnel, the location of the mine. This wasn''t just because the path was long, but mainly that Lucas had to proceed carefully and slowly to avoid being found. As of the moment, he had only an hour and a half left on his talismans, so he had to be quick.

    Scanning around the mine, Lucas'' eyes were filled with the colour red. The light was so intense that the mine was brightened up a bit. This made Lucas even more cautious as the possibility of his stealth beingpromised was much higher in here.

    All around were ores of Igrum steel mixed along with rocks and dirt. Igrum steel was a Special grade metal with a high fire attribute, which caused it to have a resplendent crimson colour. The space within the mine was higher in temperature despite the cave being very spacious with even the rocks closest to each steel being hot to the touch; a result of the attribute of Igrum steel.

    Luckily, it wasn''t at a point Lucas couldn''t handle, otherwise, he would have to retreat and make a new n.

    Special grade materials were just as their name implied; they were very special and possessed mysterious capabilities. In the past, the ssification of all materials were simply divided into two: Common and Special grades, with Common grads being materials that possessed no special attributes, and Special grades having one.

    However, with the discovery of even more powerful and unique elements amongst the Special grades and even Common grades, the material ssification system had to be rebranded.

    For instance, the Purple Iridium metal Lucas had would have been termed as a Common grade metal in the past, but its toughness and strength was above mostmon metals. In fact, based on the new system, it was ssified as a Rare grade metal, much higher than a Special grade.

    Lucas stared around, looking out for any moles, before moving deeper into the mine. Since the Green-Snout Metal moles had yet to find the Violent Sun ores, it could only mean that their mining progress was slow. There was also the possibility that there was no Violent Sun ores in this mine, but Lucas was unwilling to believe it just yet.

    ''System, can''t you provide me with some sort of help? Otherwise, how would I find what I''m looking for?'' Lucas mentallymunicated with the system as he hid by the walls of the mine, in a position that was in the blind spot of the resplendent lighting of the ores.

    "The system is intended to help train the host, and not provide a solution to every difficulty." The emotionally absent voice responded in his head.

    Lucas sighed and gave up having to request help from the system after that rejection. Instead, he began browsing the memories of his first life for a solution. Within a minute, he found one.

    A technique that used one''s spiritual sense to scan an area. This was suitable for Lucas because it didn''t require the use of mystical energy, albeit using one would double the efficiency.

    By transmitting one''s spiritual senses through matter, the user could extend their senses, turning the matter into their sensory organs and probing it. In this way, whateveres in contact with the matter appears in their spiritual vision.

    One could think of it like channeling electricity through a metal; whateveres in contact with the metal would have a part of the electricity transmitted to it and get shocked. The concept was somewhat simr although not exactly the same.

    Lucas leaned on the wall and ced both hands on it, turning his focus onto the wall. His spiritual senses then extended into the wall and began scrutinizing every aspect of it.

    While it sounded simple, it was anything but that, and a huge amount of risk existed. If a mistake were to be made, Lucas could potentially end up crippled mentally. However, he was already experienced with such methods from his past life, and as long as he remained calm, nothing would happen to Lucas.

    Luckily, it didn''t take long for Lucas to be done as he found his target soon afterwards.

 Chapter 41 To Raid Or Not To

    When Lucas began searching the mine using the wave-style spiritual searching technique, it didn''t take him long to find the Violent Sun ores. In fact, Lucas was quite lucky. The spiritual searching technique couldn''t cover the entire mine and he had to be discreet about it.

    Lucas'' original n was to search every area one at a time, but as fate would have it, he found the Violent Sun ores'' location just as he was checking the first area.

    Nheless, the ancients had a saying; that bad newses hand-in-hand with good news and they weren''t lying about that.

    Just after he found it, Lucas realised that the ores were deep inside the walls nearby. They were at least three metres deep into the walls. This was understandable as if they were closer to the surface, the Green-Snout Metal moles would have discovered it and began mining for the metal. Even so, that would have been a better urrence than the current situation.

    There was no way Lucas could dig five metres into the rock walls without making a sound. Once that happened, the moles would eventually spot and kill him.

    Lucas was now stuck in a conundrum. The current situation was such that it was equivalent to seeing the pie but not being able to eat it; a pie in the sky as one would say.

    "Chirp!!"

    Right when Lucas was preparing to risk it, an ear piercing squeal rang out in the entire mine from the cavern outside, almost deafening Lucas for half a second. Confused, he immediately froze on the spot and held his breath right away. The first thought that crossed his mind was that he was caught, but Lucas didn''t want to believe that as he was confident in his stealth.

    Before he could understand what had happened, the moles in the mine, numbering in the dozens, abandoned the metals they were mining and began to dash towards the exit. Lucas remained still and took all this in, wondering what had happened.

    Themotion outside got louder and despite being inside the mine, Lucas could overhear stomping sounds from the cavern. It seemed like all the moles in every funnel had been assembled to the cavern. Just from the sounds of their steps, Lucas estimated there to be almost a hundred moles, and the number was still increasing.

    Two thoughts crossed Lucas'' head as he began trying to understand the current situation. The first was that the moles were having a meeting of sorts, but the rate of gathering as well as the speed at which they moved was insane and violent.

    As for the second possibility, it was that a formidable invader had arrived in the burrows of the moles.

    Lucas was more inclined to believe thetter option as that would exin the sense of urgency amongst the moles. However, he didn''t act just yet, but waited for a couple of minutes to ensure that the moles had gone far enough.

    Once he felt that the coast was clear, Lucas went exactly at the wall he sensed the Violent Sun ores to be and extended his senses into it. This was to ascertain the exact location, depth and point the ores were.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    After a few seconds, Lucas frowned but was slightly relieved. The distance was about five metres deep. It was still within his reach.

    Pulling out a spear, Lucas gripped it with both hands before taking a stance.

    The spear was a Grade 3 vestige made with an alloy of various precious metals Lucas found in his workshop. It was also mixed with a bit of Red Iris stone, the second metal he received as a reward from the system alongside the Purple Iridium metal.

    Red Iris stone was a metal that had a stone-like appearance. It wasn''t suitable for making weapons on its own as it didn''t have a suitable malleability; it would crack upon exposure to intense hammering. However, the metal had a special quality; it was a superb conductor of mystical energy.

    By mixing Red Iris stone into the alloy of metals, Lucas was able to create a Grade 3 spear with impressive strength and mystical energy conductance. If a first level Apertures Opening stage ster practitioner was using this spear, they could take down a second level practitioner.

    After taking in a deep breath, Lucas thrust the spear into the rocky wall with the entirety of his strength.

    *Bang!*

    The spear pierced the wall while shoving out a few rocks, however, it only managed to go less than a metre in.

    Lucas wasn''t disappointed by this strike as he had expected a simr result. The rocks were solid enough that even fourth level Green-Snout Metal moles had to take their time digging through them; otherwise these beasts might have found the Violent Sun ores long ago. If it weren''t for the Grade 3 spear in his hands, Lucas might not even be able to make a mark on it.

    However, the result of the strike spelt out a clear problem; his weakness.

    If it were a second level or even first level Apertures Opening stage ster practitioner, they would have been able to dig deeper with a Grade 3 vestige in their hands. Relying solely on his physical strength, which was even weaker than a true ster practitioner, he would have to take more time digging through the rocks.

    Lucas resumed bombarding the walls with attacks from the spear. He didn''t bother to be careful with his actions as most of the moles were gone already, so Lucas didn''t hold back in his strikes. It eventually took him quite sometime, but Lucas managed to sessfully dig out a five metres deep hole, about the width of an adult''s head.

    From the hole, Lucas could see a special ore that glowed just like the Igrum steel ores, but instead of a red glow, the rocks were orange. Their temperature was also higher than that of the Igrum steel ores.

    Although be already had a high resistance to heat, Lucas immediately wore his craftsman gloves before grabbing one of the ores. All of a sudden, a notification popped up in front of him

    [[ Violent Sun ores collection rate: 2% ]]

    A progress bar was disyed just below the line of text and Lucas understood right away. He used the spear to make the hole a bit wider before extracting as much ores as he could until the progress bar was filled. Even then, Lucas still emptied the hole before he stopped.

    ''Time to get out of here.''

    There were asional vibrations and muffled sounds Lucas heard while mining, and he surmised them to be from the battle outside. It was getting furious and while there was no risk posed to him at the moment, Lucas felt ufortable remaining behind for long.

    Just as he was leaving, Lucas nced at the Igrum steel ores left behind by the beasts. The sizes of the ores were veryrge after all, a beast at least two metres in height could mine and carry more than a palm-sized piece of rock. Every single ore weighed at least 100kg and was as big as a twelve year old or even more.

    Seeing these mined ores justying on the floor, Lucas couldn''t help but feel pity that the ores would get cold and turn homeless. As such, he immediately stored them into his inventory. The system inventory was a mystical ce that could store anything regardless of size, so even the hefty pieces of ore were no problem.

    Lucas gathered all of them up in his inventory and didn''t stop until he cleared the entire floor. Satisfied, he then ran towards the exit of the mine.

    There was less than an hour left on his talismans, so Lucas had to get away quickly. Although the battle would serve as a suitable distraction, it was better to be safe.

    When he arrived at the cavern from earlier, Lucas was surprised. The previous popted area was now sparse of Green-Snout Metal moles. The very few Lucas spotted, not numbering more than a couple dozen, were all dashing with gusto and fearsome appearances towards a certain tunnel, which was most likely the direction of the battle.

    ''The invader has to either be really strong or a group.'' Lucas couldn''t help but feel chilled.

    It was like ying witness to a war of species. His past life was filled with chaos and he was quite familiar with such events, but being in the presence of one with his current weak state was very worrisome to Lucas. He decided to get away quickly lest he gets caught in the crossfire.

    As Lucas took the first step out of the tunnel that led to the Igrum steel mine, he suddenly froze.

    A crazy thought appeared in his mind and firmly took root, refusing to disperse.

    Lucas nced in the opposite direction of the tunnel, towards the part of the cavern that had the tunnels leading to the ''warehouses'' of the moles.

    A glint shed through his eyes as the thought finally settled down and took shape. Lucas was ready to take a crazy gamble.

 Chapter 42 : Windfall

    In a few seconds, the cavern would bepletely empty and devoid of Green-Snout Metal moles, leaving the entire ce to Lucas. On the other side was a makeshift warehouse carved out by the moles to stash their mining gains.

    Without any security measures, it was all open to Lucas. It would be a lie to say that he wasn''t tempted to raid the tunnels. Actually, Lucas had already decided to do so.

    In less than a minute, the cavern waspletely empty, but Lucas still didn''t make a move, waiting an extra minute just to be sure, before dashing over to the first tunnel. Based on his inspections, this tunnel had the shortest length, but the metal stored inside was important to him.

    Even with the equipment and his skills from his past lives, Lucas still couldn''t work with every metal, as the higher they were, the greater the requirement for refining them. Beyond the rank of Special grades, Lucas would need ster energy to make aplete vestige. This was why he hadn''t created aplete vestige using the Red Iris stone or Purple Iridium metal.

    All the vestiges he made using them were produced with an alloy with a small quantity of these metals¡ªjust the right proportion he could bring under control.

    With a variety of metals before him but limited time, Lucas had to make his picks based on the metals he could work with for now.

    It took him less than two minutes to make it to the warehouse at the end of the tunnel. Inside, Lucas was greeted with a mix of stones and dull yellow metal, quite simr to gold but with a darker sheen.

    Without any hesitation, Lucas moved everything to his inventory and left the tunnel.

    As he was doing so, Lucas felt that his speed was quite slow, and since the situation at the battlefield was still unclear, it would be better if he could wrap everything up fast. He took out a talisman and applied it to his body.

    Lucas called this talisman a speed boost talisman, since it increased his speed by almost a factor of two. Simr to the Invisibility talisman, it was difficult to make and he only had two of them. Lucas'' intention was to use these two talismans to escape danger and depart the Cicalien Mountains once he was done with his mission.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    But with the allure of metals before him¡ªthe love of his life¡ªLucas couldn''t resist using it to increase his progress.

    Within fifteen minutes, thanks to the speed boost talisman, Lucas managed to loot five more warehouses, leading to a total of six raided warehouses. If the Green-Snout Metal moles were to find out about this, they would surely rampage around in anger, as there were only fifteen such warehouses, and Lucas had wiped forty percent (40%) of them clean.

    It should be known that each warehouse was very big, as the individual sizes of these beasts and the size of their horde wererge. The metals in these caves were supposed to serve as food supplies when things turned difficult for them. So, the size of each cave wasrge¡ªveryrge¡ªat least enough to contain a two story building with a 100m2 area.

    You could imagine how many ores were inside one of them, much more, six caves.

    Right when Lucas was about to exit the sixth cave, he abruptly halted and froze on the spot. Even though his actions so far seemed to have been careless, Lucas was on alert all the time. There was also slightly more than twenty minutes left on the clock for the other talismans he had one. The speed boost only had five minutes left on it as each talismansted only fifteen minutes.

    The reason why Lucas stopped was simple; he could sense that in the cavern ahead, there were living presences. In this situation, it could only mean one of two things: a victor had been determined between the two fighting sides, or the battlefield had shifted towards the cavern.

    Lucas paid attention ahead and focused his senses, deciphering a few sounds of collision right away.

    ''They''re still fighting.'' Lucas sighed with relief.

    As long as the chaos remained, escaping wouldn''t be too difficult.

    Once he arrived at the edge of the exit, Lucas nced down and finally caught sight of the invader as well as the defenders.

    At the bottom of the cavern, there was a horde of deste beasts gathered into two parties. The strangest thing, however, was that one of the two parties was only a single beast, facing off against the others.

    The deste beast had the appearance of a scorpion but was a chimera version. It had two che [1] just like a normal scorpion, but its body was different. Unlike the wide and sturdy abdomen of a typical scorpion, it had a slender body, almost like that of a snake, but still retained the stinger of a scorpion.

    At its mouth, just after the chelicerae [2], there was a pair of jaws like a mammalian creature, with gory looking teeth.

    The chimera deste beast was in a confrontation against the Green-Snout Metal moles. Amongst the moles was onerger than the others and more intimidating. It reached a height of at least three metres when on all fours, and seven metres when it stood on its hind legs. Its ws were terrifying and longer than the average Green-Snout Metal mole''s.

    On its head were two small poles jutting out from its head. A closer look revealed these ''poles'' to actually be bones; the mole was growing two born horns on its head.

    It was now clear who the invader was.

    Even with the distance between them, Lucas could feel the menacing aura from the two sides, albeit slightly off. The chimera''s was stronger than the leading Green-Snout Metal mole by almost one factor, however, it was outnumbered.

    Staring at the grievous injuries afflicted on both sides, Lucas finally realised what the off sensation he got from their aura was. Based on the degree of the injuries, it was evident that the two creatures were not in their best form.

    Lucas estimated the chimera to be at the sixth level or the peak of the fifth level at the very least, whilst the leading Green-Snout Metal mole was at the fifth level.

    Logically, it should have lost long ago, but Lucas guessed that the moles used tactics simr to humans, aka the human wave tactics, drowning the chimera with their numbers. Even though each individual Green-Snout Metal mole was iparably weaker than the chimera, by relying on each other, they were able to pose a significant threat to it.

    Despite the grievous state of their injuries, the two sides were still capable of putting up an intense fight. The chimera dropped from the peak of the fifth level to the peak of the fourth level, bordering so close to the fifth level. As for the ''king'' Green-Snout Metal mole, it had dropped to the early point of the fourth level, on par with most of the other moles here.

    However, this was just in terms of ster energy capacity, not pure strength. It still wasn''t a match for the chimera alone, but relying on its species, it was difficult to say who would eventuallye out on top.

    At the moment, the normal moles were harassing the chimera on the side while the ''king'' recuperated. However, the chimera was more dangerous than predicted. It tore apart every mole that could get within its attacking range, relying on its ws and mouth. But the king was unbothered by this.

    Their battle had alreadysted over thirty minutes and it was aware of the prowess of the chimera better than the other moles thought, so it knew the end result. But even then, the king didn''t give themand to stop. If it were to beat the chimera, it would have to rely on this cheap trick to do so.

    Meanwhile, as he stared at the ongoing rampaging battle, another insane thought crossed Lucas'' mind; this time even more terrifying than thest one.

 Chapter 43 No Risk, No Reward

    For the second time now, Lucas was breeding a daring idea in his head. Raiding the caves of the moles had resulted in him profiting a lot, but seeing the two mid level deste beasts, Lucas felt it wasn''t enough. But even if he set his sights on them, there was a problem.

    The Green-Snout Metal mole king and the chimera were both heavily injured, but their aura was still on par with a fourth level and a peak fourth level ster practitioner respectively. The battle was still far from ending, but the chimera had an advantage. If it won and managed to wipe out all the moles, no matter how weak it became, Lucas would not be of any threat to it.

    On the other hand, if the Green-Snout Metal moles won, they would still be able to handle Lucas. The weakest amongst the horde was a third level deste beast whereas Lucas was still in the Body Strengthening stage.

    If he wanted to be the fisherman who catches both the m and snipe [1], Lucas needed to make sure that both parties ended up dead or too weak to resist. The problem was, how?

    ''I should have spent my cash on a gun or something.'' Lucas began to regret his parsimonious behaviour.

    Vestiges used for battles were divided into two sses: cold weapons and hot weapons.

    The cold weapons were the typical swords, spears, daggers and so on. The power of these vestiges heavily depended on the user. For instance, even though the spear Lucas used was a Grade 3 vestige, which was suitable for a fourth and fifth level Apertures Opening stage practitioner, he couldn''t produce enough power topare with a fourth level practitioner.

    Hot weapons however, worked different. Just as with Leno''s pair of guns, they could be fired with one''s ster energy or specialised rounds. For the former, the power of the weapon would depend on one''s ster energy level, while in thetter, the attack was mostly dependent on the rounds.

    Although one''s ster energy level still had some influence on a hot weapon, it wasn''t as much as with a cold weapon; in essence, the bar was lowered greatly.

    If Lucas had spent a lot to get a powerful cold weapon type vestige, as well as some specialised rounds, his attack power would have risen greatly. At the very least, he could maintain a steady output at the second level or even the third, if he spent more. It wouldn''t have been impossible to st the mole king and the chimera to pieces as long as their strength dropped one more level.

    ''Hold up, st them to pieces...''

    Lucas'' eyes brightened up. An idea just struck him.

    At this time, the dozens of Green-Snout Metal moles were attacking the chimera with the Green-Snout Metal mole king leading the assault, but Lucas wasn''t focused on that.

    Violent Sun ores.

    There was a reason why the ores were called ''Violent'' and this had to do with its explosive nature. Usually, they were in a stable state, but they could be used as explosives after going through some processing. To prevent acts of terrorism and destruction, the process was unknown to themon people, and even few frencers knew how to pull it off.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    But this wasn''t a problem, because the Violent Sun ores reminded Lucas of something.

    In his first life as Yohan, Lucas was a grandmaster cksmith and had dealt with many different types of elements. There was a certain metal which looked and behaved just like a Violent Sun ore and it was called the Explosive Sun stone.

    Just like the Violent Sun ores, the Explosive Sun stones were incredibly stable in their natural form, but they contained enough energy to set off an explosion.

    During his first life, there was a war that broke out between the Deserters -those who used True energy- and the Mages -those who used mana-. The mages resided in the south and the deserters in the north. Both sides asionally shed due to ideological differences, and sometimes, those minor shes resulted in a full blown war.

    In one such war, there was a popr DIY [2] weapon which used Explosive Sun stones to create explosive devices. The process was so simplistic for a mystical energy user that even an amateur could make a bomb within fifteen to twenty minutes. Lucas was familiar with the production method and he intended to use it on the Violent Sun ores since both metals were very simr in nature.

    While Lucascked the mystical energy requirement, it didn''t mean that it would be impossible to make the bombs. Rather, it would be more difficult, but his experience as a grandmaster  could make up for that.

    Lucas began to sneak back towards the tunnel that led to the Igrum steel mine. One strange yet important requirement for making the DIY explosives was the need for heat in the process. This was quite contradictory as heat and explosives did not go together, but this had to do with the nature of the Violent Sun ores/Explosive Sun stones.

    One of the major reasons the metal was able to remain stable despite having enough energy to cause an explosion was the strange effect caused by the heat generated. This was also why one needed to be a mystical energy user to make the explosives, as they could generate heat with their energy.

    On the way to the mine, Lucas was presented with another challenge. How to ensure that the explosion didn''t go out of control.

    Until the tenth level, hyumans had to utilise ster energy directly or empower their bodies with it. They would only unlock their innate superpower at the tenth level. However, deste beasts were different.

    Unlike hyumans, deste beasts relied on their physiques. At the same time, they were natural existences whereas the hyumankin was a product of intense research and development by the past human race. This meant that deste beasts would unlock their superpowers at an earlier level. It also meant that they had a much stronger physique and body than hyumans.

    For the two top deste beasts, even if they were severely injured, they still wouldn''t die so easily if Lucas were to drop a bomb on them. The explosion has to be intense and powerful enough to prate their external defence, especially for the chimera which was covered in a hard carapace.

    However, if the explosion was too powerful, it could bring about the copse of the cavern. This was of course, bad because not only would Lucas not be able to reap the benefits of his kill, but his life would be at risk once the cavern began to copse; escaping might be a dream that he''ll never achieve.

    Nheless, if the explosion were too weak, it wouldn''t do the job. So on one hand, Lucas had to ensure that the explosion was strong enough to take down the two deste beasts as well as the ''side dish''. On the other hand, it had to not blow the entire ce up.

    The calctions required to pull this off was quite high, but luckily, Lucas had majored in physics and chemistry during his lifetime on Earth. He wasn''t new to calctions.

    Very soon, Lucas arrived at the mine and vegan to take action.

    Making the explosives wasn''t so difficult, requiring -apart from the physical elements- only intense focus and a stable hands.

    Lucas made a makeshift furnace by digging a hole into the wall and stacking it with Igrum steel roughly separated from the ores. He then carved specials runes on the Violent Sun ores before making a cearful cut.

    All of this urred whilst the chimera and the mole king facing each other.

    Soon Lucas was ready.

 Chapter 44 : Hasta La Vista With A Bang

    The Green-snout metal moles didn''t hold back, even at the cost of death. There was no shred of care or caution, but simply viciousness. They charged at the chimera even if they were to get bit in half or crushed in one strike.

    Compared to earlier, the chimera had more grave injuries on its body. One of its legs was broken, while another was missing some flesh on it. Even with all these injuries, the chimera was still a terrifying beast.

    Lucas, who had already finished making the explosives, appeared by the edge of the tunnel. His talismans had all expired, and he was visible in in sight. However, because the deste beasts were too focused on the battle, they failed to notice him. Even if they did, they might be a bit surprised but would be unbothered by his presence, as Lucas was far from being a threat to them.

    To counter the issue of the explosives causing a cave copse, Lucas had two reasonable options: to detonate within the deste beasts or to control the size of the explosion.

    By detonating from within, the solid exterior of the beasts could act as a cushion and mitigate a portion of the explosion. This option, however, wasced with issues. For instance, it would damage the beasts'' body parts, rendering them almost unusable. Lucas did all this for their body parts, and if his gains turned out to be unusable, this entire n would have been pointless.

    Also, he could only make one bomb in this time frame, and that meant only one target, which would most likely be the chimera. If the explosion was diminished so much, it would sessfully kill the chimera but might only injure the Green-snout metal moles.

    As for controlling the size of the explosion, Lucas had never worked with the body parts of a deste beast, much less any of the two species gathered here, so he couldn''t properly estimate the degree of toughness. In other words, he didn''t know how powerful he had to make the explosion to kill them.

    From this, one could see that both options had their ws. As such, there was only one suitable choice; the third option ofbining both.

    In Lucas'' right hand was a strange contraption that looked like a pipe. It was his home-made rocketuncher, created using a Grade 1 pole-type vestige he made as well as some other metal parts. For the propulsion system, Lucas had smashed a handful of Violent Sun ores alongside the Igrum steel.

    He also calcted the strength of the explosion to be close to the theoretical limit of the point where it could cause the cavern to copse. The reason for this was to be sure that all the deste beasts in the cavern would die, even if they were away from the centre of the explosion.

    Leaning on the ground by the exit of the tunnel, Lucas monitored the battle as he waited for a chance. Just then, he spotted one. The chimera was preupied with the king mole, having little attention for the weaker moles, which numbered less than twenty, a third of which were at the third level.

    One of the third level moles, knowing it was no match for the chimera but having no intentions of retreating, lunged to the back of the chimera. A third level Green-snout metal mole was about four metres in height when standing on its hind legs. There was enough atop the chimera for it tond.

    *Bang*

    The third level Green-snout metal mole brandished its ws on the chimera''s carapace, dishing attacks after attacks on it. Usually, the chimera would only feel a tingle from these strikes, as the gap between the two was vast, but this time around, things were different. Albeit still standing, the chimera had been beaten ck and blue and covered with injuries.

    Its healing factor had fallen, and its energy was dropping too.

    The king mole and the other Green-snout metal moles saw the chimera falling behind with its attacks, and they all closed in on it from different angles, attacking furiously in a bid to end the battle then and there.

    Being assaulted by the mole king on one end, and having to split its attention to the other dozen Green-snout metal moles, the chimera was unable to pay much attention to the mole atop. It could only withdraw its tail from attacking a metal mole on the side and control it to go for the one atop.

    By doing so, it inadvertently left a particr spot open.

    ''Now.''

    Lucas, who had already set the rocketuncher on his shoulder and calcted the perfect trajectory, aimed his DIY weapon at the chimera''s pink spot [1], which was revealed as it stretched out its tail.

    The chimera''s fighting pattern was such that its tail attacked from an angle capable of shielding that precious chrysanthemum. But as it had to aim for the mole atop, the tail had to be fully stretched, which would in turn reveal that gap.

    "Asta vista, or something." [2] Lucas pulled the trigger and fired the rocket.

    *Shhh*

    *Boom*

    Smoke blew out from the other end of the rocketuncher, and with a low but reverberating sound, a projectile shot out from the pole and darted towards the chimera''s pink spot.

    Lucas had built the rocket luncher and created the propulsion system to function in such a way that the projectile would make it to the target at the fastest speed possible. He performed his calctions while considering the distance of the tunnel''s exit to the opposite end at the bottom of the cavern.

    This was the farthest possible reach, and Lucas ensured that even if the target was there, his projectile would make the dash within a second.

    At the same time, there was a detonating sequence set for exactly one second. In other words, one second after the projectile entered the propulsion sequence¡ªjust as it began to exit the rocketuncher¡ªit would explode.

    This timing was made to ensure that it would explode close enough to the beast''s behind, but not inside of it. This way, the chimera would surely be killed, but its inside wouldn''t be damaged to the point of being unusable. With all the Green-snout metal moles literally hugging the chimera, Lucas was sure that they would all die.

    Even if by some absurd miracle, they lived, their injuries would be so severe that lifting a finger would be impossible.

    Lucas, though, hadn''t even bothered to check the result of his shot. The very millisecond he felt the rocketuncher lighten, he threw it aside and ran back into the depths of the tunnel with all his strength. He had even activated the second speed talisman a few minutes earlier.

    One should recall that the force of the explosion was calcted to be close to the limit of causing a cave copse. In other words, it was so powerful that the majority of the cavern would be in mes, and part of those mes would spread into the tunnels. Standing at the entrance of the tunnel was no different from trying to turn himself into a human barbecue.

    *Boom*

    Lucas hadn''t even taken two steps when a loud explosion sounded behind him as the entire area brightened up. He didn''t even have enough time to curse his luck or pray for some miracle as Lucas felt the space behind him swiftly heat up. Despite that, he kept running and running to the point that his muscles were close to tearing up.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The system had given him heat resistance, but this wasn''t wless. As a cksmith and a craftsman, being sensitive to the changes in heat was very important, so if he waspletely resistant to it, his skill would drop. The heat resistance Lucas was blessed with could only make sure that he wouldn''t get killed or injured by any form of heat.

    However, Lucas could still feel the change in temperature, and therefore the pain, to some extent.

    But this wasn''t the problem.

    The problem was that the temperature of this explosion most likely exceeded his resistance limit, which was 2000oC (3632¡ãF). In other words, if Lucas didn''t run for his life, he might end up like an overcooked turkey.

    "Restore."

    A trenchcoat appeared on Lucas'' body and began to glisten with a dark light. Two secondster, Lucas felt an incredible force m into him, but the coat managed to protect him from the majority of it, although Lucas was still sent flying forward for a couple of metres.

    Lucas gritted his teeth and held his head with his arms to prevent getting a head injury from the iing crashnding.

    *Whoosh*

    mes engulfed him while still burning his coat, until Lucas'' silhouette was nowhere to be seen as the mes had zed past his position. The entire walls of the tunnels turned ck as they were being charred by the mes.

 Chapter 45 : Return

    Deep inside the tunnel that led to the Igrum steel mine, the charred walls had hardened intensely after being exposed to extremely high heat for a few minutes. The rocks in the walls had an impressive heat resistance level, which was why they birth Igrum steel ores. This was why it solidified rather than melting due to the high heat.

    Even after the explosion, the entire tunnel was still intensely hot, reaching at least 200¡ãC in temperature; this was enough to turn water into steam within a second.

    *Crack*

    *Bang*

    At one edge of the wall, there were a couple of stones piled. The stones were pushed from the inside, falling off and crumbling the pile as a silhouette came out from it.

    "Damn, I almost died back there. I really shouldn''t try stuff like this again."

    Lucas, whose face was covered in soot, let out a sigh of relief. He waspletely naked as both the vestige he had on and his clothing could not survive the scorching mes that went beyond 1000¡ãC.

    Lucas quickly changed to one of the sets of clothing provided to him by the system''s wee package when he has just recently been transmigrated into this word. With a light this, he then flopped to the ground to catch his breath.

    Even though the temperature of the stones were still scalding hot, he acted as if it was nothing. Lucas'' forge back in the workshop had reached temperatures much higher than this, so he wasn''t affected by the slight heat. There was also his heat resistance abilitying into y. Thanks to it, the pain of a 200¡ãC burn wasn''t even worth mentioning.

    He took off the remnants of the night vision goggles on his face and tossed it away. During the collision, the goggles had almost cost him his vision. Luckily enough, the design was made such that even if the lens were destroyed, they wouldn''t be able to harm the user.

    After breathing in a couple mouthfuls of hot air, Lucas stood up and walked towards the tunnel''s exit. There was still his gains waiting for him there. While walking, he took out a new pair of goggles from his inventory. Lucas was a cautious individual and being as weak as he was, he had to make multiple preparations and have extra sets of every important item ready just for this trip.

    It took him only a few minutes of walking to get to the exit, but when Lucas nced outside the tunnel, he was dumbfounded.

    Although the tunnel was dark before, he could still see it with his night vision goggles, which also had the added feature of giving colour to the view. The cavern''s walls then were red-brown, a bit like wet y or terracotta, and there were some tiny pieces of metal ores discarded by the Green-Snout metal moles stuck on them.

    However, the current cavern looked greatly different from that. Not only was it even hotter than the tunnel Lucas exited, but all its walls were covered in soot with some areas sporting cracks on them. If the explosion was any more powerful andsted longer, the cavern might have copsed.

    Lucas nced downwards to the battlefield. There he saw jet ck shapes and objects, some of which were half ashes and the other half still maintained an indescribable form. Of the various figures down, only two could barely be made out and they were the chimera and the Green-Snout metal mole king.

    The other metal moles were burnt to ashes, and even the leftovers that seemed to still have a form were mere shells of disguise. A simple touch and one would watch as the figures copse into burnt ashes.

    Looking at the work of his hands, Lucas couldn''t help but feel relieved. As for pity or worry? None of that. He already knew the power of the rapid-made explosives. Back in that war, Deserters were quite difficult to kill with a regr explosive as they would simply conjure up a magical barrier.

    In order to cause enough damage to shatter the barrier while also harming the target, lots of research was put into this explosive for various metals andpounds were tested. The Explosive Sun stones/Violent Sun ores were the final pick after checking the data. Their power was unmatched when it came to potentials in explosion amongst simr materials at the same rank.

    The next hour was spent trying to scavenge whatever he could from the two corpses, following which Lucas now went looking for the exit of the burrow. But he was in no rush.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The deal Lucas struck with the Autumn''s Gate guild was to drop him at the Astranian Forest and pick him up too. This was only natural as going back was equally dangerous asing. The return trip would be three days after he was dropped off, and so far, only one day had gone by.

    Considering there were some individuals looking for him, it would be wise to wait just before thest 24 hours to head to the rendezvous point.

    Also, the original arrangement was made without knowing that the Autumn''s Gate guild would be carrying out a mission afterwards. There was a chance that instead of after three days, the pick-up time would be longer. Although the odds were low, Lucas had to be prepared for anything.

    Luckily, Lucas had their contact info and the team would also message him twenty four hours before pickup.

    . . .

    "Any time you need a ride, just let us know alright?" Ju¨¢n said to Lucas as he separated from the crew.

    About four days had gone by since Lucas killed the chimera, the Green-Snout metal moles and the remaining metal moles with his explosives. After waiting a day, he received a message from the guild and reached the rendezvous location the following day. The return trip took two days, making the entire ''vacation'' from start to finish take six days.

    It had now been three weeks and four days since Lucas came into this world; almost a standard month, in terms of week-count [1].

    "No problem. I''ll seriously consider it." Lucas smiled.

    The trip was filled with ups and downs, but Lucas had to admit that the Autumn''s Gate guild was very professional. While they didn''t eliminate his pursuers, they did hold them back, granting Lucas enough time to escape and be free from worry for a long while.

    To ensure fairness in transactions between frencers and others, the Guild Centre had developed a software for tracking mission progress and processing transactions. Once Lucas made the payment through the software, Autumn''s Gate guild would receive half after he was dropped off and the other half once he was brought back safely.

    This might as well be the reason why they intervened, but it was still not an easy decision to make.

    If it were any other team, they would have just stopped at dropping him off while receiving half their payment, and not involved themselves in the fight, even if it meant they wouldn''t get the other half.

    This attitude of the Autumn''s Gate guild which was contrary to many others, made Lucas had a better opinion about them and consider them a more likely option for any possible trips in the future; although Lucas wished more than anything that he wouldn''t have to be back here again.

    After saying his goodbyes, Lucas departed from the group and headed elsewhere.

    "He''s a strange person." Lisa, the female vice leader of the guild, said in a low voice as she stared at Lucas'' departing silhouette. Beside her, as well as the target of her statement was the guild leader of the Autumn''s Gate guild Crimson Fang.

    "Indeed. I had a feeling about that." Crimson Fang replied.

    "Is that why you decided to protect him?" Lisa nced at him.

    "Someone, despite not even being a true ster practitioner, decides to head into the Astranian Forest. Doesn''t that sound strange to you?"

    Lisa frowned and was about to say something, but Crimson Fang continued.

    "Even if he wanted tomit suicide, he didn''t need to pay for our services. There are other teams who would send him there for cheap. There are also other destinations he could go to and still achieve the same go. Since he asked for us, he definitely wanted his safety to be ensured. That means, he intended oning back. However, he is still weak.

    So I wondered, what made him so confident and daring? Was it stupid ignorance, or  did he really have something to rely on?"

    However, Lisa wasn''t satisfied as she countered.

    "And you decided to bet on him? But that''s not enough. We don''t even know what he was doing in there."

    "You''re right on that. But think more deeper, Lisa. What separates the Astranian Forest from the other regions?" Crimson Fang asked with a mysterious smile.

    "It''s quite big and is like a hive of different special regions. But the most notable ones are the forest area and the Cicalien Mountains. They aren''t too dangerous, yet still possess precious resources." Lisa said after some thinking.

    "Hmm," Crimson Fang nodded, before continuing in a mysterious tone, "when I shook hands with him, I felt his palms were a bit tough; tougher than normal. They reminded me of a certain friend of mine working in a particr upation."

    Lisa widened her eyes as she knew what he was implying. This was because she had met that friend of Crimson Fang.

    "Do some more background check on him. It wouldn''t hurt to know more about our customer." Crimson Fang said before walking away.

 Chapter 46 : Ramirezâ€™ Threat

    From the Wastnd base station to the West Wing district of Bands city was a short thirty to thirty five minutes flight, and before he knew it, Lucas was back in the city. He didn''t waste any time, heading straight to his store, as he had been pursued just a few days ago.

    There was no saying that his assants didn''t prepare a n for his return, so it was best to get to the store as quickly as possible.

    When Lucas was a few metres away from the store, he noticed a silhouette waiting just a few feet away from the building. Lucas paused for a second, before proceeding calmly.

    Although he didn''t have photographic memory, Lucas had a good recalling ability, almost like an Eidetic memory [1]. The man with a hat who stood before his store was an unfamiliar figure and not a customer from the past. This made Lucas cautious, but he didn''t let down his guard or disy any outward reaction.

    "And you are?" Lucas asked as he carefully stopped a few steps away from the man.

    The store''s entrance was only seven metres away, so he didn''t worry too much. His instincts told him that the man was a second level ster practitioner of the Aperture Opening stage. Against such a figure, Lucas was confident enough to be able to cover a seven metres gap.

    "Lucas Saunters? Am I correct?" The man asked with a smile.

    "It''s not nice to not introduce yourself, you know." Lucas didn''t answer the question as he stared at the man.

    "I''m not here to start a fight, so rx. Rather, I''m here to strike a deal with you."

    The man then pinched the ring on his left ring finger as a screen was projected from it.

    Lucas nced briefly at the ring, which was apparently amunicator like his but shaped like a ring, before looking at the projection. It was a contract, and the terms of the contract was to...

    "Hand over the building behind me and you''ll definitely not regret it." The man said.

    Lucas slightly frowned as he wondered what kind of trouble the previous owner of the building, Ramon, got into. Last time, during the renovation period, he was visited by a rascal who tried to barge into the store. Luckily, the renovation period prevented individuals other than the host from entering. But from the looks of things, the other party didn''t give up.

    "If you''re worried about the renovation expenses, I''ll reimburse you, so don''t fret." The man calmly said, as if confident that Lucas had no other option than to sign the papers.

    "And why would I give up a building I bought with my money?" Lucas turned his eyes away from the contract and to the man.

    Truth be told, if they were willing to consider buying the property, Lucas might consider it.

    Lucas wasn''t one of those individuals who would risk his life by offending someone unless he had no choice. Also, there wasn''t much of an option since he was weak and a disregarded member of society due to being human. In other words, it was possible for the other party to harm him and nothing would be done about it.

    Until he had grown strong enough to stand on his own, avoiding fights was for the best.

    However, from the terms stated in the contract, they simply wanted to take the building in exchange for...a chocte bar.

    Not even Buddha or a Saint could tolerate this, but Lucas remained calm.

    If anyone from any of his past lives saw this, they would be sweating profusely.

    "Because it''s not your building." The man said, not caring about Lucas'' opinion.

    "Ramon staked the building as coteral to take a loan from my boss. He didn''t pay up before he ran away. As a result, his coteral¡ªthis building¡ªis now ours. Not yours."

    "There was no data about the building serving as coteral for any loan when I closed the deal." Lucas countered.

    This was an advantage of doing deals through the city-state government''s office. There was essentially no risk of a real estate scam as long as one made the deal through the city-state government. The building and/ornd would go through rigorous checks to ensure its validity for sale, which included checking whether the building was put up for coteral on any official tforms.

    If it was, the deal would be gged and the buyer notified. If, after the validity check, nothing was wrong with the deal, it would be approved, and the buyer would be debited the required amount while the seller would get credited. The ownership details and documents would also be changed in the government''s database.

    Such a fast and efficient method was essible to everyone, with a small fee attached to it.

    Since the deal wasn''t gged, it meant that it was never up for coteral on any official tforms.

    ''That only means one thing.'' Lucas thought.

    ''Ramon took a loan from an illegal organisation.''

    This was understandable, aspared to the official financial institutions, getting loans from these underground organisations was faster and had fewer requirements. But it wasn''t a free lunch.

    The problem with taking loans from an underground organisation was that they had high interest rates and were run by underground kingpins; meaning that the method they used to collect their principal amount and interest was not a simple act of coercion.

    Most times, very few people patronised these underground organisations and would usually favour banks or even pawnshops, unless they didn''t want their deals to be tracked.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Thinking back to the previous scenario, Lucas had a feeling that Ramon intended on scamming the underground organisation he took a loan from. Since the loan was undocumented in the city-state government''s database, it was, byw, nonexistent. However, Ramon couldn''t just default on the loan and remain in West Wing district, as the organisation would hunt him down.

    Even if murder was illegal, there were many methods they could use to deal with him.

    So instead, Ramon took the loan and sold the coteral, before running away from the city with everything. Usually, no one would think of doing this as these kinds of organisations were dangerous, but Ramon was probably a man with a strong liver [2].

    Although this was fraudulently smart, it brought a boatload of trouble to whoever bought the building, in this case, Lucas.

    Of course, the underground organisation would still be searching for Ramon, but in the meantime, they would want to cut their losses by collecting the coteral. The issue was that, byw, Lucas was the new owner of the building. They couldn''t just seize it, as he was registered in the government''s database as the new owner.

    Hence, the man tried to coerce him into selling it, but for a chocte bar.

    To an underground organisation, being scammed by Ramon was already irritating enough, and so they had no intention of suffering another loss. This meant that there was no way they would want to buy the building from Lucas at a fair price.

    "Data or no data doesn''t mean anything. My words are more important, and you can even take them as advice. Sell the house." The man smiled.

    "You''re a human, right? You see, humans don''t have it easy in life, even more so in amunity filled with hyumans. Just sign the contract, and we''ll offer you as much protection as you need. Like I said, you definitely won''t regret it."

    "No, thanks. If you have any issues, settle them with your debtor and not me. This is none of my business."

    Lucas ignored the man and continued walking towards the store. He appeared calm and in no rush, but this was all a facade. His direction, posture, and hand cement were all nned to set a trap. If the man were to make any move on him, Lucas would not only be capable of reacting in time, but also countering the offensive with a threatening attack of his own.

    However, the man didn''t take any action but simply smirked as he turned to face the opposite direction.

    "You''ve made a huge mistake, Mr. Saunters. Opportunities like this usuallye only once. Don''t regret it."

    Lucas paused and looked up at the sky.

    A white cloud with an odd shape happened to be passing by at that moment, and he caught sight of it. But Lucas'' gaze seemed to transcend the cloud¡ªnot just the cloud but even the sky.

    "There are only three things I regret all my entire life, and even up until this moment. But after those events, I swore to never have any regrets about the present or the future."

    Lucas then turned around and nced at the man with the hat.

    "If I were you, I would go looking for the culprit rather than harassing a bystander. If you keep up with this instead, who knows when you might end up hitting a wall in the end? But not just any ordinary wall; it might be one with thorns."

 Chapter 47 : The Young Boy Worries

    Three days went by quickly and apart from the short confrontation with the man sent by Ramirez, Lucas didn''t encounter any trouble. In fact, the days had been too peaceful for his store. He barely had any customers.

    This wasn''t because they were threatened or anything, but simply because Lucas was bad at running a store. The previous set of customers had already received modifications to their vestiges, and those who could afford it, bought some to use. Right after, they all went to the Wastnds at separate intervals. Typically, frencers spend most of their time in the Wastnds or the base station.

    Those whoe back to the city either do so for important events or to take a break from work.

    The current period was early May, which was part of the most active window of the year for beasts. So most frencers would have their schedule booked by this time. A good example was the Autumn''s Gate guild which had received a high pay mission to the Astranian Forest.

    Without new blooding to the store, it was natural for it to turn empty, but Lucas wasn''t bothered by this one bit. The less work he had to do, the more time he had to research and create new vestiges. Lucas had nned on fixing his weakness by creating a special set of vestiges to cover for them and boost his strength, and this time period happened to just be the best opportunity for that.

    However, the store being empty was contrary to the system''s goals.

    "Host is reminded to up the transaction numbers of the store to level up the system and receive bonuses. Remember, once the system approaches the required level, the host can ess options to enable you to refine ster energy."

    "Not interested." Lucas replied.

    While the system''s words were tempting, Lucas knew that the level the system had to reach in order for him to be able to find a solution to his ''disability'' was definitely high and not something he could achieve soon. So for the meantime, his decision to find a short-term solution was better than nothing.

    "Host has left the system with no choice."

    Suddenly, Lucas had a bad premonition.

    [[ Mission Overview: The system has once again been forced to take matters into its metaphorical hands. It''s time to be a proper craftsman.

    Mission Description: Receive 100 customers before the month is over

    Rewards: Bronze Grade card.

    Punishment: Crippling of one arm. ]]

    "Well, fantastic." Lucas sarcastically remarked.

    He could still remember the previous time something like this happened. It was during then that Lucas found out that the system could assign missions based on its learning machine capability. These missions were different from those within the built-in algorithm of the system, and merely devices by it based on the situation it perceived.

    Luckily, the system had a limit on its ability to create such impromptu missions per month, and the counts couldn''t be stacked.

    "Hold up..."

    Lucas nced at the reward section.

    "Another one..." He muttered as his serious face copsed with a grin.

    The Bronze Grade card was Lucas'' reward from the previous mission. He had already checked it out and knew what it was all about. It was a special item with a very special ability; it could raise Lucas'' power level (both physically, mentally and energetically) up to the level of the card.

    In other words, if it were a fourth level Bronze Grade card, once used, Lucas would be as strong as a fourth level Apertures Opening stage ster practitioner.

    This sounded impressive, making the Bronze Grade card a very much desired item, but there were still ws to this godly item. First, the card was a one-time use item, so once Lucas used it, it would be gone. Second and most importantly, the buff effect is temporary.

    All this made Lucas have a desire to umte as many of these cards as possible, since they could ensure his safety in a way more proactive and better way.

    ''All I just need to do is get one hundred customer this month, huh?''

    *DING*

    The bell at the entrance door jingled, separating Lucas from his thoughts. He cleaned himself up a bit and left the workshop to find out who it was.

    "Oh, it''s you." Lucas was slightly surprised by the appearance of the individual but not so much.

    "Hello, mister." A young boy looking about 15-16 years of age greeted.

    Lucas remembered him to be the first winner of his roulette spin, and the reason why the system gave him the mission to go to the Wastnds. What caused Lucas'' surprise though, was that he had informed the boy the trip might take up to a month, but he was here after a bit above a week.

    "So soon?" Lucas voiced his surprise.

    The boy nervously replied, "I initially wanted to wait a bit longer, but something came up. My school''s mid-term practicals areing up."

    "What''s that about?" Lucas asked.

    When he looked up the details of this world, Lucas only focused on the important things like geography, politics, finance, and material science. Things like the school system and holidays of the year were not in his interest.

    The boy was slightly surprised by this question but didn''t think much of it.

    "Schools are typically divided into three; civil, technical and practical. The civil path caters to growing civil characters like a business genius, a political authority and so on. Technical focuses on the technical aspect of life like engineering, vestige-smithing and the likes. As for Practical schools, they raise frencers.

    This differentiation isn''t so clear in high schools but it bes so in universities.

    "I''m currently studying at the Greendale Highschool which is a subsidiary of the Greendale School of Refiners. Although the high school is a subsidiary of a technical school, they are still required to teach all the fundamentals of the other two paths. So twice every year, we carry out practical exercises. I''m currently in my senior year,  so our practicals aren''t the usual hand-to-handbat again.

    Instead, we''re sent into dangerous regions to face deste beasts. There are invigtors to protect us, so the death rate is almost zero. However, the purpose of the exercise is to score high. I was hoping I could get something to help increase my chances at getting a good score."

    Listening to the boy''s exnation, Lucas suddenly had a question.

    "Vestiges are allowed?"

    "Why not?" The young boy was confused.

    "A vestige is ssified as part of one''s power regardless of its grade. It''s amon fact that to draw out the power of a vestige, one should equally be strong as well. A Body Strengthening stage practitioner with a Grade 3 vestige would at most draw out a Grade 1 power from it, and that''s if they''re talented enough."

    Hearing this, Lucas'' mind began to spin. It was as if he had just received a burst of inspiration which could help himplete the mission.

    Lucas was truly surprised. While he knew that students in their final and penultimate years could purchase vestiges, this was applied to university students and not highschoolers.

    ''Hold up, vestiges are illegal for use to anyone who isn''t a frencer, a military or registered paramilitary member, doesn''t have a permit or official rmendation from a frencer. Is it alright to actually give this kid one? I won''t get in trouble right?''

    "Debatable." The system replied. It then exined to Lucas,

    "As the customer won the vestige in a lottery spin, it can''t necessarily be ssified as a transaction. However, vestiges are valued items so the host might potentially get into trouble. The simple solution would be to apply for a permit on the customer''s behalf, but he doesn''t fulfill the criteria for one. Hence, the only solution is an approved rmendation from a registered frencer."

    Lucas frowned as he realised what a messy decision he had made. It was unlike him to make such a w, but making a mistake didn''t mean he would quit.

    "By the way, mister," the young boy hesitated, "the, the vestige..."

    "Hey kid,e back tomorrow. I''m a bit busy now." Lucas waved him off as he turned around.

    "But, but, the practicals are in a week''s time. I need to make preparations and get used to the vestige as soon as possible."

    "Are you doubting me?" Lucas nced at him.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    The young boy''s statement might seem to have no problems but Lucas could sense a bit of anxiety in them. The young boy probably thought that he was scammed and wanted to make sure about it. If it turned out to be true, he would have to look for a backup solution as soon as possible, as he was running out of time. But why would Lucas even want to scam a kid? And of three federal coins at that.

    Lucas felt insulted.

    "Don''t worry. Come back tomorrow and I''ll make a vestige that you''ll fall in love with right away. I''m busy now, so see yourself off."

    Lucas walked away.

 Chapter 48 : The Dark Side Of Hyuman society

    The next day came quickly, the second day of the fifth week of Lucas'' stay in this new world.

    Lucas had been busy all throughout ever since he met up with the highschooler. Apart from the ''encouragement'' he got from the system, another reason Lucas was desperate to make money was that his debt was piling.

    When he first came into this world,cking any financial ability whatsoever, Lucas had to pawn an ingot of Purple Iridium metal to the Vinis pawnshop. This decision of his had brought about a significant amount of thrill and danger to his life, but it also helped him to stabilise himself in this new world, buying amunicator, a house and grocery items.

    The first month had gone by, so it was time to pay the loan. Lucas had taken a five thousand federal coins loan, and with a fifteen percent interest rate, meaning he had to pay back five thousand seven hundred and fifty federal coins.

    For every week he defaulted, he would pay an extra five percent, and not on the principal amount, but the outstanding amount after the first month, which was the initial interest and the principal.

    This seemed like a rip-off, but it wasn''t. The interest rates were bigger than banks, but for the fast response and good offer of ny percent the agreed coteral''s value, it was a good deal. Also, the Vinis pawnshop was a registered financial institution in the government''s records, which ensured security for every transaction. With that in mind, the rate was eptable.

    Back to reality, Lucas was in need of money; dire need. Once this week ends, he would have to pay five percent extra, bringing his total debt to six thousand and thirty seven federal coins, five pences. There was the solution of using the Purple Iridium to pay off the debts, but for Lucas, that was ast resort he had no intention of using.

    Inside the store, apart from Lucas who was sipping a cup of a drink simr to ice c, the young boy from the previous day was on the opposite side with both knees tightened together, clearly anxious.

    Ever since he arrived at the store, the young was kept aside by Lucas. Even when thetter left from the work-station, he didn''t say a word about the vestige and just told him to wait.

    *Ding*

    The entrance door was opened as a figure walked into the store.

    "Oh, you''re out?" The neer said with a informal time of speaking.

    The neer was a ck haired man and one familiar to Lucas. In fact, his arrival was as a request from Lucas. He was one of Lucas'' earliest customers and had been a regr ever since. His name was Harrison Reid, or Harry for short, and he was the leader of a team of frencers.

    After witnessing Lucas'' skill with his eyes, Harry decided to introduce a couple of his team members to Lucas who eventually became regrs. There was no reason for this other than the fact that Lucas'' basic repairs were better and much cheaper than the others. Even if they were frencers who made a lot of money, their expenses were also a lot, hence the desire to find a proper bnce.

    If they could save more on repairs while getting better quality and service, then why not.

    "Did you bring it?" Lucas asked.

    "Of course. It''s a bit difficult to get ready with such a deadline, but you''re lucky you met me." Harry smiled.

    Lucas nodded then nced at the young boy.

    "Wally, right?"

    "Yes..."

    Wally O''Connor was the name of the young highschooler which Lucas found out earlier.

    "Do you know what it means to have a vestige?" Lucas asked him.

    "...I don''t understand."

    "Let me change it then. Do you know the requirements to own a vestige?" Lucas stared him in the eye.

    "Y, yes. Everyone is taught about this in school." Wally nervously replied.

    "Have you fulfilled any one of them?"

    Wally turned quiet.

    "Then how do you expect to use a vestige for your practicals?" Lucas asked.

    "I, I don''t know. I, I just wanted to sneak it in and use it just this once. Even if it''s seized from me right after, I don''t mind. I just need to get a good score." Wally replied tensely while shivering a bit.

    Lucas frowned and began to radiate an overbearing aura subtly.

    "Do you know that if you''re found out, not only would you get jail time despite being a minor, but I''ll also have my store forcefully closed and get arrested? Your actions had almost jeopardised not just your future but also mine."

    "I know, and I''m sorry. But I don''t have a choice." Wally retorted.

    Tears began to flow from his eyes as he continued.

    "I''m not strong like the others. My arms are weak. I look younger and weaker than my age, and no one takes me seriously. I''ve always performed badly in the practicals, but if it goes on, my grades would be badly affected. I had no choice but to take the risk. My family is just average.

    We''re no better than a human. My parents aren''t talented in refinement and neither is my older sister. But I''m different. I''m the only hope in the family, but even then, I''m a failure."

    Wally began to cry.

    "15%." Wally muttered. "Even though I''m the hope of my family, my m(o)DNA concentration is only 15%. I''m an utter failure."

    Lucas was surprised as he didn''t think the boy''s mental resilience was this weak. He almost began to feel bad for him even.

    An individual''s future aplishments in Ster Refinement heavily depended on their mDna count; to be specific, the m(o)DNA. It was both the greatest creation of humankind, but it also created rifts in society. The higher one''s m(o)DNA concentration was, the more potential they had.

    Even if they reached the limit of their potential, they could increase it by injecting themselves with m(z)DNA serums, thereby increasing their total mDNA count. However, this was limited to only thirty percent of their m(o)DNA. From this, one could see the importance of a higher m(o)DNA concentration.

    Humans couldn''t produce m(o)DNA, and so serums with m(z)DNA couldn''t work on them and would instead kill them. This was why the human race was looked down upon; they couldn''t utilise ster energy no matter how hard they try. But hyumans weren''t spared from this discrimination either.

    Anything less than ten percent m(o)DNA concentration was termed as trash and no different from humans, because the serums would simrly not work on them, although it wouldn''t kill them.

    With a very low m(o)DNA concentration and no possibility of an increase in overall mDNA count, hyumans with less than ten percent would have no future in ster refinement. Even if they tried their best, they would most times get stuck at the Body Strengthening stage just like Lucas, or at best, make it to the first level of the Aperture Opening stage.

    It was rumoured that Digress city-state had a way around this, but no one could confirm that as the city-state was not just far, but it barely had any contact with the other city-states.

    For one to be a hyuman considered with a potential in ster refinement, their m(o)DNA concentration had to be at least fifteen percent (15%), and this was just the barest minimum. It was exactly why Wally was depressed. He might have the highest concentration in his family, but outside of that, he was trash.

    One could only imagine how much suffering, bullying and mistreatment he had received for this.

    Even if Wally worked five times as hard, could afford serums, and gave it his all, his mDNA would reach a count of neen percent (19%) [1]. With such an mDNA count, reaching the third level might be his greatest achievement.

    Although mDNA count was usually used as an estimation of one''s talent and could be wrong, since it had to deal with gics, it was mostly urate and became the mainstream method of determining one''s potential.

    "Enough crying like a little kid already. You think I care about your sob story?" Lucas used one finger to pick his ear.

    "I came here to talk to you about how you almost got me into deep trouble and not listen to your backstory."

    "Damn. Even I can''t be this heartless." Harry muttered from one corner.

    "I, I am. Sorry." Wally hurriedly bowed down and apologised sincerely.

    "Sure, whatever. Either way, I''ve already made a promise. I can only me myself for not predicting this situation." Lucas sighed, before stretching his arm to Harry.

    "Hand it over."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Hold up. That''s for this kid?" Harry was surprised.

    "Yeah, who else? Do you think I need something like that?" Lucas stared at him as if he was looking at a fool.

    Harry froze for a second, then palmed his face. Lucas was right; he was a vestige-smith, so why would he need that?

    "Sure." Harry then took out amunicator and projected a piece of paper.

    "All you have to do is scan it and it will be transferred over to themunicator." Harry exined.

    Lucas couldn''t help but be amazed by the technology of this world, but now wasn''t the time for that.

    "Oi, kid. Scan this document and go sob elsewhere."

    "Eh?"

    "Don''t make me repeat myself."

    Wally was confused but he immediately did as he was told.

    As he scanned the document, he took a glimpse into it and saw the header.

    "This, this..."

    Lucas pat his shoulder and said to him, "Make good use of it, and don''t get it lost. Understand that you''re my living, breathing and walking advertisement."

    Wally was confused by the statement, but that didn''t stop him from dwelling grateful to Lucas.,

    "Thank you, mister. Thank you very much." Wally bowed his head as his eyes gushed out with years, but this time not of sadness, but gratefulness.

 Chapter 49 : Harrys Thoughts

    Thank you, mister. Thank you very much." Wally bowed his head as his eyes gushed out with years, but this time not of sadness, but gratefulness.

    In hismunicator was a document detailing a request for the wielder to have and use a vestige alongside a rmendation for the request to be passed.

    That''s right. What Lucas had asked Harry to get was an approved rmendation letter.

    Harry was a frencer and not just anyone, but one at the fifth level and even led a squad of his own. In other words, he was on the higher side of the rankings for frencers. With his connections, prestige and power, providing a rmendation with his name wasn''t difficult, but would merely take some time.

    However, time was something both Lucas and Wally werecking. So, Harry had to pull in a few of his strings and get a temporary permit to be used for the meanwhile. This wasn''t illegal and was made to be issued quickly in scenarios where the duration for an official permit or the period for a rmendation to be approved was too long for the applicant to wait.

    In such a case, they would be issued a temporary permit after twenty four hours; enough time to do a background check on the applicant of the permit or the sponsor/patron and the assignee for the approved rmendation.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    However, temporary permits had short lifespans; usually less than a month, depending on the results of the twenty four hours investigation.

    Lucas already had a n in mind since he heard about Wally''s practicals. This was the time to have his goods advertised to a part of his target market.

    Although high schoolers couldn''t normally own a vestige, they could bypass the rules by getting an approved rmendation like Wally. At the same time, there was a chance they would also know someone who could use a vestige.

    As long as Wally''s performance was amazing enough to draw attention to the vestige, people would ask questions which would lead them to his store.

    To ensure this n worked, Lucas had to find out all the requirements and any issues that would interfere with it. Luckily, he was on good terms with Harry, otherwise, getting a temporary permit, much less an approved rmendation, would have been impossible.

    "Now that''s settled, it''s time to begin your training." Lucas said.

    "My training?" Wally was confused.

    "You don''t think that having a vestige alone would turn you into some superhero or something, right? Well, it could if you can draw out the power of the vestige, but you''re too weak for that. Hence the special training." Lucas said.

    "Don''t worry about it. You might bleed, cry, or even shit yourself, but it will definitely be worth it."

    "Okay."

    Wally nodded, unsure about what was to take ce and a bit scared. But to score better results in this semester''s practicals, he was willing to do anything. This was why he had ended up gambling his birthday money for a shot at winning a vestige. Luckily for him, Lady Luck had smiled his way then.

    "Before you guys go do whatever it is, you owe me a favour, you know." Harry said as he smiled at Lucas.

    For some reason, Lucas felt as if he was about to get scammed, so he didn''t say a word right away. Instead, he stared at Harry without moving an inch.

    "Don''t try to y dumb with me." Harry then stretched out three fingers.

    "Three custom-made vestiges, Grade 3."

    "***king thief. I''d rather bleed to death!" Lucas fumed as he cursed with ring eyes.

    Despite being reputed for his calm and level-headed personality, Lucas couldn''t resist cursing at that moment. It couldn''t be helped; that price was insane and no different from highway robbery.

    "Okay, okay. I''ll take a step back. Two but still Grade 3 customs. Either that or three vestiges: two one custom and two standards, all Grade 3."

    ''System, is there a cklist function?''

    "Host is adviced to think carefully before doing so." The system didn''t directly answer him.

    Time went by as the duo continued their "negotiations" with Harry tossing out a ridiculous price while Lucas tried to resist the urge from putting him in the store''s cklist.

    In the end, they settled for a ''fair'' price. Lucas would make a Grade 3 vestige but Harry would have to provide all the materials and pay thirty percent of the bill. This couldn''t be helped as the system refused Lucas to perform acts of service it termed as "free transactions".

    Discounts could be given on certain conditions -in this case, Harry having to provide the materials- but there was no free item. Even the roulette spin wasn''t exactly free but a discount.

    Harry exited the store with a slightly disappointed look on his face, but once he was out of the Seven Sparks Forge building, his face broke out with a wide grin.

    ''Hehe, a kid is a kid. There''s no way he could beat me in a game of negotiations.''

    Satisfied with the deal he got, Harry departed.

    It might seem much, especially since the price of custom-made vestiges in the store was twice that of other vestige stores, but Harry didn''t see that as a problem.

    Compared to other vestige stores, the Seven Sparks Forge''s services and products were on another level. Just in terms of the purity of ster energy in them was gaps ahead of the others. There was also the fact that the runes and matrices Lucas used were different yet more efficient than those used by other vestige-smiths.

    This would end up bing a selling point for him, and make Lucas'' goods more valuable and popr in the future. In other words, once Lucas became more popr, this vestige Harry had got for a price that seemed to be expensive, would be even more valuable. The resale value alone might even surpass the cost price he got it at.

    In the vestige-smith business, one''s runes and ster matrices were the lifeline of their business. It was apany secret which defined their brand. The size, shape and quality of a vestige could be replicated, but the runes couldn''t unless one had studied them. This was why the famous vestige-smiths would always have customers and followers even though there were other good vestige-smiths.

    "If that is to be a reality, I''ll need to help advertise his business too. But I have to profit more before I do so." Harry smiled.

    Having decided on what to do next, Harry immediately departed for the Wastnds base station. He had arrived from there and didn''t carry any valuable items with him. At the same time, he also had to take a trip to the Wastnds and acquire more precious items and resources for his custom-made vestige.

    Frencers didn''t usually rece their vestige often, so Harry wanted his to be as powerful as possible since it would end up being his long-term partner. Even though the Grade had already been decided upon, there were still differences between Grade 3 vestiges. His goal was to make sure that the materials used were top notch, so the result would be at the top amongst Grade 3 vestiges.

 Chapter 50 Paying A Visit To The EVL

    On the road of a certain street in the West Wing district, a ck haired young man was strolling while taking in the sights around him. Despite not doing anything strange, there would be a few of the passerby ncing his way with a look of disgust or surprise on their face. However, he had no reaction to this.

    After Lucas had made a deal with Harrison Reid, aka Harry, he wasn''t expecting thetter to make the thirty percent deposit a few hourster. With this, as well as the previous vestige sale to Harry when the store wasunched and his profit from past maintenance services, Lucas was able to raise enough money to cover back both the principal amount and interest of his loan.

    A custom-made Grade 1 vestige costs at least five hundred (500) federal coins. Custom-made Grade 2 began at three thousand (3000) federal coins, depending on the materials used and the vestige-smith as there were better skilled vestige-smiths in the trade. As for Grade 3 vestiges, they began at ten thousand (10000) federal coins.

    As for standard items, they were slightly cheaper than their custom-made counterparts.

    The system, however, priced Lucas'' custom-made products at almost 200% of the base market value while the standard products at fifty percent market price.

    For instance, the Grade 3 vestige Harry requested was valued at seventeen thousand, two hundred and fifty (17250) federal coins. However, their deal was that Harry would only pay thirty percent but provide the materials; after all, one of the major reasons for vestiges costing so much was due to the materials used in making them.

    Nheless, thirty percent (30%) of seventeen thousand, two hundred and fifty (17250) was five thousand, one hundred and seventy five (5175) federal coins. Together with his earnings from maintenance and leftover cash, it was enough for Lucas to clear his debt of five thousand seven hundred and fifty (5750) federal coins.

    When he made the payment, Lucas was pained. Not because of ''losing'' so much money, but that he had rejected the deal from the members of ck Lemon when he had opened his store. If he had sold the Grade 3 spear vestige to them, he would have made at least sixteen thousand federal coins from that; more than enough to clear his debt.

    Regardless, this ''regret'' didn''tst long and even if time were to be taken back, Lucas would still have done the same after how they treated him.

    Lucas was currently returning from the Vinis pawnshop and on his way to the Eretrean Vestige-smith League (EVL) building.

    The trip to the Vinis pawnshop wasn''t eventful. After making the payment, the Purple Iridium ingot was returned to him. Both sides acted formal with the transaction and Lucas didn''t reveal any hint that he was aware they were behind his attempted kidnapping.

    As for the other side, they only knew that their hitman went missing. Whether the hitman had met Lucas or not couldn''t be confirmed by the group.

    With both sides reining themselves in and acting natural, the transaction went smoothly.

    As for why Lucas was on his way to the Eretrean Vestige-smith League, he was nning to get his official registration as a vestige-smith done.

    When Lucas went to the Guild Centre building in the Wastnds base station, he was asked for a cksmith badge after dering himself as one, a decision he made because no one would believe that a human was a vestige-smith.

    The query he received then made Lucas realise that there were associations in charge of overseeing various important upations in the city. The cksmiths had theirs, and the vestige-smiths did too.

    After asking Ju¨¢n about this during one of their discussions, Lucas found out that it was called the Eretrean Vestige-smith League, and it was in charge of aiding and protecting themon interest of all vestige-smiths on the.

    It wasn''t a strict organisation and membership wasn''tpulsory for vestige-smiths, but it did have many perks. For instance, being a member would grant one a special badge which was an identity as well as a sort of confirmation that the owner is a vestige-smith. One could also gain ess to connections andwork with various vestige-smiths around the world.

    However, what Lucas aimed for was the badge.

    Lucas decided to pay a visit to the league, apply for membership and get a badge, because it would be helpful in the long run. For instance, advertising himself as a verified vestige-smith and a member of the league could help increase the value of vestiges and draw more customers to his store.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Having spent most of his money on repaying his debts, Lucas was almost broke so he couldn''t pay for a ride to the EVL building. Luckily for him, the distance wasn''t so far -in Lucas'' terms- from the market zone, which was where the Seven Sparks Forge was located.

    After a mix of walking and running for two hours, Lucas finally arrived. That''s right. A journey of two hours was still ''not so far'' for Lucas.

    The Eretrean Vestige-smith League building was a two storey building that didn''t have an exaggerated outward appearance, despite being the centre of vestige-smiths in the West Wing district. It was also quiet as there was no one making their way into the building. However, it was still somewhat unique.

    Unlike most buildings, the two storey structure was painted ck. It had a fence around it with only one gate that served as both an entrance and an exit. In front of the gate stood an individual facing the street but with closed eyes.

    Lucas tried to get a feeling from the guard and realised that there was no sense of life from him. He derived two exnations right away: the first being that the guard was an expert who could rein in his aura entirely, and the second being that the guard was not a living being, but an android.

    Thetter option was the most likely as various corporations tend to hire androids to take positions in theirpanies. Unlike living beings, androids didn''t need to eat or sleep, and could work 24/7, requiring no breaks at all or even a pay.

    The only problem would be maintenance expenses, but even the lowest rank amongst current models could be active for three years without any problems, if no extreme damage was incurred. After that, maintenance would only need to be carried out once a year or even once in two years.

    The biggerpanies bought models which were not only stronger but also made with memory alloys, which were self-repairing metals. That way, even if the android was damaged in a fight, so long as the damage wasn''t extreme, it could still self-heal.

    Compared to hiring an expert which would cost a lot, an android -albeit weaker- was a more cheaper and suitable option to act as a gatekeeper.

    Lucas approached the gate which automatically opened as he stepped through it. All this while, the android didn''t open its eyelids, but Lucas had a strange sensation that made him realise he had already been scanned by the entity as soon as he walked by it.

    It probably had no reaction to him as it had ascertained Lucas to be of no threat; most likely because he had no weapon on him and was also a human.

    Ny nine point ny nine percent (99.99%) of humans couldn''t go past the Body Strengthening stage. To an android with physical abilities on par with a peak Body Strengthening stage practitioner, and armed with hot weapon-type vestiges, such a character was of no threat.

    Knowing this, Lucas silently cursed, but that was all that he could do. Who told him to be transmigrated as a human?

    When he stepped into the building, Lucas experienced a slight shock. Compared to the exterior of the building, the interior was on a whole other level.

    The interior of the EVL building had white and gold colours as the theme, and was decorated with art pieces hung on the walls, or nt pots set in appropriate locations.

    ''No, wait...'' Lucas nced at the furniture and decorations once more before taking in a cold breath.

    The furniture and decorations weren''t ordinary products but top of the ss cksmith goods. Different from vestiges, cksmith products contained no ster energy. The best of them might however, have a very negligible amount of ster. Nheless, this ''w'' didn''t mean that a cksmith product was crap.

    The level of craftsmanship and skill one needed could only be gained either by being a godly genius or an experienced professional with years practicing the art under their belt.

    From his experience as a grandmaster cksmith in hisst life, Lucas could see that the furniture and decorations in this building were made by a very experienced cksmith. The quality was so good that a few of them had a slight amount of ster energy in them; just the size of a strand of hair, but this was still incredible.

    ''Based on skill alone, the person who made this could barelypare with a one star Exponent. He''s justcking the mystical energy requirement.'' Lucas judged the creations with a look of appreciation on his face.

    An Exponent was the title given to a cksmith in his first life. The rankings then were: Apprentice, Novice, Exponent, Master, Grandmaster, with each rank having at least five subranks. The Exponent rank however had nine sub-ranks, one star to nine star, with nine stars being the highest.

    After that short pause, Lucas walked over to the counter to be attended to.

 Chapter 51 : Wait What?

    With the aggressive expansion of the reach of hyumankin, it was only natural for them toe across new species in space, with each species being different from the other not just in looks but also ability. Hyumankin had to constantly improve with every battle as the next opponent became stronger.

    At a point, when the hyumankin had yet to reach its current peak, they were facing two species of simr strength as themselves. During that period, hyumankin was the closest it had been to bing extinct or being relegated to second ss citizens, apart from its inception era into interster travel. There was fear on alls and rumours of extinction spreading around.

    The people were beginning to lose faith in the Federation Assembly, and even the Congress found it difficult to manage the problems in society, both economically and politically.

    In the end, however, hyumankin had managed to turn things around and win the war, wiping out the two alien races that ganged up on them. This period marked the great ascension of the hyumankin to be one of the top races in the universe, expanding their rule, increasing their rule and gaining numerous resources.

    And the key to this victory, was the vestige-smiths.

    From then on, vestige-smiths were treated preferentially, and the Federation Assembly had even granted them many perks, building a grand school of vestige-smithing in the Pangaia sr system of the Arcadia star region.

    The Arcadia star region was the centre of the hyumankin and the home of the Federation Assembly with only three sr systems. One of them serving as the location of every important administrative facility in the gxy, the home of the senators and supreme judges, and also the home of the founder of the Federation Assembly and de facto ruler of hyumankin; the ''Divine'' Gxy Protector [1].

    The other was the headquarters of the military and the final one, Pangaia, was the ''open area'' as well as the wealthiest sr system in the entire gxy.

    The fact that the vestige-smiths were given a grand school in one of the fours of the Pangaia sr system showed how much the Federation Assembly valued them. This was because not just anyone could erect a structure or even own a piece ofnd or building in any of the fours. This applied to the three sr systems of the Arcadia star region too [2].

    After the vestige-smiths received such great honour, the majority of them decided to band together to form a union that could help protect their interests. The union wasn''t to be too tight as most vestige-smiths liked their freedom, hence the first vestige-smith league was formed, and it oversaw vestige-smiths on a grand level.

    The Eretrean Vestige-smith League was but a much smaller version that copied the former. Even though it was a mere copy though, there were some connections between the two.

    The Eretrean Vestige-smith League oversaw the vestige-smiths in Eretre but not in an official manner. It had no control over vestige-smiths in general, but protected the interests and safety of its members. In other words, if a member of the ESL was in trouble or in need of help, they can request aid from the league and would be provided such.

    They also had a library filled with knowledge and experience of various vestige-smiths.

    As the upation of vestige-smithing was somewhat closed off with each smith hiding away their precious knowledge and ster matrix inscription methods, it was difficult to move further or learn the trade without working under somebody. However, the library of the Eretrean Vestige-smith League was open to all members, and contained quite a few books about ster matrices and runes.

    This, as well as a couple other fringe benefits, were what solidified Lucas'' decision to get registered. It would also be helpful in the long run and help him get a better idea of the vestige-smithing skill level.

    . . .

    Simr to the guard at the gate, the clerk at the counter was also an android. It was so realistic that if not for the absence of a life aura, it would have been difficult to differentiate. For a normal hyuman or human, they would fail to spot a difference, but a strong practitioner or one with a sensitive soul like Lucas would find it odd.

    Having seen two androids taking up important roles, Lucas was a bit surprised, but he didn''t think too much; on the contrary, he felt this decision to be novel and it widened his understanding of the role of vestige-smiths in society.

    Compared to the cksmiths in his first life or the engineers in his second life, vestige-smiths were ahead of the curve. The upation was like abination of the two, but more advanced thanks to the utilisation of ster matrices and special runes.

    "Good day. How may I help you?" Thedy behind the counter asked with a smile on her face.

    "I''d like to register as a member of the league." Lucas replied.

    Thedy raised was a bit surprised as the feedback from the guard at the gate informed her that Lucas was a human. Based on the information in her database, 99.9% of humans couldn''t get past the hurdle of the Body Strengthening stage, which made it impossible for them to be vestige-smiths.

    It was impossible to be a member of the Eretrean Vestige-smith League without being a vestige-smith. The only way for an exclusion to be made was for the applicant to be an exceptionally talented genius, showing significant potential of being a great vestige-smith even while being at the Body Strengthening stage.

    Forget being such a genius, the idea was absurd because Lucas was a human.

    "I''m sorry but, I can''t process your registration." Thedy apologetically said.

    Lucas wasn''t startled by this and he had expected such to happen. What dumbfounded him however, was her attitude and reaction. If it were a hyuman in front of him, Lucas might have been thrown out from the building and given a restraining order.

    ''I guess androids are much nicer than people.''

    Even though he appreciated the gesture, Lucas wasn''t going to give up so easily.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "I''m guessing it''s because I''m human, right?"

    Thedy wasn''t confounded by this as she already guessed that Lucas would know why. Even so, she was confused as to what he was attempting to do by stating this.

    "While it''s true that I am a human, the Eretrean Vestige-smith League is open to all vestige-smiths even if they''re of a different species. On the official site, I saw some members of the Vara and Kerman races, so you can''t deny this."

    Thedy nodded, "You''re right, but I have no intention of denying it either. However, we both know why they can make the cut and why you can''t."

    "There''s an exceptional basis for entry and it requires one to take an exam. I would like to apply for it." Lucas replied.

    Thedy behind the counter finally went speechless. She didn''t expect this to have be Lucas'' intention right from the start.

    The Eretrean Vestige-smith League only epted vestige-smiths into their numbers, but there was an exception; one had to be a very talented genius with potential to be a vestige-smith who would then be rmended to apply for an examination by the league. If the examinee sessfully passed, they would be granted membership, albeit one with a lower tier due to their inadequacy.

    "But to apply, you''ll need a rmendation from a-"

    Thedy suddenly went quiet as she noticed a document being projected by Lucas''municator. It was a rmendation letter from a vestige-smith.

    Naturally, Lucas didn''t contrive a phoney replica or something. He had asked Harry to get this for him in exchange for another favour. Luckily for Lucas, being the head of a frencing team, Harry had a widework and knew a bunch of people. After a little bit of convincingced with some bribes, he managed to acquire an original rmendation letter for Lucas.

    There was nothing illegal or wrong about this as a vestige-smith rmendation letter had no real value except giving one an opportunity to take the exams. It was also somewhatmon for vestige-smiths to give out rmendation letters to people they felt had potential.

    "I guess, you can apply." Thedy finally relented.

    Lucas sighed with relief. If the androiddy didn''t relent and kept refusing to ept his application, there was nothing he could do. Even if Lucas tried to make some noise in the by giving them a bad review or reporting the league, no one would take him seriously.

    A human iming to be a vestige-smith? No one would believe that was even possible. Even some of his customers still believed that Lucas could only perform maintenance and repairs on vestiges, while the standard and custom-made vestiges were done by an elusive in-house vestige-smith.

    "I''ll send you a registration form which you''ll need to fill out. After that, you''ll have to wait for the next exam. It might take anywhere between two weeks to a month from now. It could even be shorter than that. Just be on the lookout and turn on your notifications for any mail from the league.

    The exam would be at the head branch in the Central Prefecture district, so make your preparations before then."

    "Alright." Lucas nodded.

    "Wait, what?"

 Chapter 52 : The Factions

    "This branch in the West Wing district only caters to the needs of members and registration of new members. We don''t have the authority to carry out exams." The android female said.

    Lucas was nonplussed for a while before he sighed.

    Bands city-state government had twenty districts, each the size of a city. Even though the five districts of Bands Cityprised the city itself, they were still individually as big as a standard city on Earth. The Seven Sparks Forge was located in the market zone of West Wing district, which was pretty close to the centre.

    The distance from the Seven Sparks Forge to the Central Prefecture alone was a five hours walk.

    One could imagine howrge the entire Bands City was. It could even dwarf some of Earth''srgest cities whenparing the two sides.

    There were light rail trains and hovercars which made moving around better. Nheless, moving was costly. Even if one was going for a vacation, they would have to consider the difference in value between the two ces. For instance, West Wing district was the bottom of the barrel among the five districts of Bands City.

    As a result of this, the economy was poorer and the cost of living wasn''t exaggerated.

    However, stepping outside the district, one would realise how much costlier things are and how impoverished West Wing district was. The difference was especially so when the target ofparison was the Central Prefecture district, the home of the wealthiest in the entire Bands city-state.

    Just a night at a three star hotel there might cost up to twenty federal coins. The equivalent in West Wing district wouldn''t reach up to five federal coins. Nheless, quality was assured in the Central Prefecture district.

    But this wasn''t Lucas'' problem. The issue was that, he was broke.

    Clearing his debts made Lucas turn from an opulent human to a miser. Even worse, he was now owing Harry a favour. All the money Lucas had on hand at the moment could only help him survive, unless he sold a vestige.

    ''One problem at a time. One problem at a time.'' Lucas massaged his temples.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Thanks for the help." Lucas waved and left.

    At the very least, he now has the registration form so once he had enough money, Lucas would fill it and wait.

    ''Next week is Wally''s practicals. He''s been doing well in training so far, so he''s likely to make an impressive performance then. As long as he stands out, people would spot the value of the vestige he has and they''ll being to me. Then there''s Harry.

    If the vestige I make turns out to be amazing enough, he''ll advertise my business to his teammates and the frencers who observe him in action would also be interested.'' Lucas thought.

    ''But that''s not enough. I can try to run some ads on the intr again, but it''s not as efficient. Deals would fall apart too once they find out I''m human; not everyone can be as nice as an android. Do I pose as a reclusive vestige-smith?''

    Although Lucas was mentally more than five hundred years old, his experience was only in a specific niche; that is, creating magic weapons. His life on Earth had helped him broaden his mindset and knowledge, but Lucas had only spent thirty seven (37) years there, and the majority of it was studying physics, chemistry, engineering and material science.

    When it came to running a business, Lucas could only applymon sense and his experience from his first life.

    It should be known that despite being a magic weapons creator, Yohan (Lucas in his first life), did not operate a store. He simply forged on request and as he got better and better, there was no need to advertise himself or utilise marketing strategies. He had already be renowned for his high quality products.

    In other words, all of this -running a business and marketing strategies- were all new to him.

    ''The number one method of building a sessful business should be to stand out. Since most frencers already have a go-to store and pretty much every vestige-smith has a strong reputation, making somethingmon just like the rest would get me drowned in the market until I go bankrupt. Standing out would almost be impossible. Hence, I have to do something unique.''

    Lucas suddenly stopped and gazed in front of him. His eyes stared ahead nkly,cking focus in them as he was lost in his thoughts.

    ''There are two schools of vestige-smithing under weapons. Hot weapons and cold weapons, each with their advantages. Cold weapons are the usual des and spears; much easier to produce but the requirement for the base material is very high. On the contrary, hot weapons, like the guns and cannons, don''t have such a massive requirement for base material.

    But they do have a significant demand for knowledge.''

    Weapon-type vestiges, apart from the grading system, were divided into two: cold and hot weapon-type. This division also defined two schools of vestige-smithing: the Forger faction and the Multiplex faction. There were other factions and schools of thoughts in the vestige-smith trade, but when it came to weapon-type vestiges, there was only these two.

    The Forger faction advocated that cold weapon-type vestiges were the best as not only were they simpler to create, but there was no need for any sort of ammunition, hence making them moresting and reusable. They believed that cold weapon-type vestiges were the way to go, being more efficient than hot weapons and cheaper in the long run.

    After all, when using hot weapons, one would need to still purchase rounds for the weapon, but such a thing was nonexistent for cold weapons.

    There was also the fact that hot weapon-type vestiges were veryplicated to make as they didn''t just require ster matrix inscription knowledge, but also engineering, physics and sometimes chemistry knowledge. You couldn''t make a gun or aser cannon without knowing any or all of these.

    However, the Forger faction only used cksmithing knowledge paired with ster matrix inscription, as such the bar for entry was lower, and it was easier to train vestige-smiths.

    Despite this, the Multiplex faction argued differently. The Multiplex faction believed that hot weapon-type vestiges were more efficient than cold weapon-type, the opposite of what their rivals said, because they believed and had proven that hot weapon-type vestiges had a low limitation for usepared to their adversary.

    When using a spear or sword Grade 3 vestige, the amount of power one could exhibit with them depended on the strength of the user. A Body Strengthening stage practitioner using such a vestige might not even be able to bring out destructive force on par with a first level Apertures Opening stage ster practitioner. But this issue was mitigated on hot weapon-type vestiges.

    If the Body Strengthening stage practitioner was using a Grade 3 gun vestige, as long as they had loaded specialised rounds inside the weapon, exhibiting strength on par with a first level Apertures Opening stage ster practitioner was as easy as drinking water.

    If they tried their best and used better rounds, they could even possess the destructive force of a second level Apertures Opening stage ster practitioner.

    This was what the Multiplex faction argued: that hot weapon-type vestiges reduced the bar for vestige usage, thereby increasing the overall prowess of a frencer. Although the cost of rounds was something to consider, nothing was free. In exchange for more power, that could not only save oneself but increase their hunting ability, what was a little extra spending?

    Also,pared to cold weapon-type vestiges that required high quality metals to make, hot weapon-type vestiges didn''t necessarily need such. To make a proper and very durable sword, one would need high quality steel. The higher the grade, the higher the demand for the quality of the metal.

    However, although the crafting of hot weapon-type vestiges did utilise high quality materials, it wasn''t always a metal and the demand for quality wasn''t as extreme as with cold weapon-type vestiges. This made the base price slightly cheaper, but in the long run, the consumption of rounds might overall make it costlier.

    The debate between the two factions on whose ideology was better was something that had been going on for over a hundred years. Both sides had their advantages and their appeal, so they naturally existed even until this point in time.

    ''If I want to stand out, I can''t just follow the line. I have to be unique, but in an entric fashion.''

    Lucas abruptly smiled. An idea just came to mind;, one that could potentially tear down the rivalry between the two factions or better yet, create an entirely new faction to face them.

    Just as Lucas decided to continue walking, he abruptly sensed somethinging his way.

    *Bang*

    The sound of a gunshot reverberated in the area.

 Chapter 53 : Assassination Attempt

    Ignoring the looks of disgust and intrigue from different people who noticed his ''uniqueness'', Lucas began considering how to stand out from other vestige-smiths and stores on the spot. He came to the conclusion that he had to do so in the most distinctive way possible which was bypeting against the two factions of weapon-type vestiges, the Forger faction and the Multiplex faction.

    There was a certain phrase Lucas had learnt from Earth, and that was ''there''s no such thing as bad publicity'', and this inspired his idea. If Lucas was to basically stay in line with the other vestiges and abide by the philosophy of one faction, it would be hard for him to stand out. Even if he practiced both philosophies, the situation would still be the same.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    In fact, many would doubt his expertise as most vestige smiths focused on one area.

    Hence, the only way to really make a hit was to rely on an entirely new school of thought¡ªone that might bring about doubt but also curiosity.

    Having thought of an idea, Lucas began walking again, this time around nning to check out a few material stores in the market zone.

    Just then, Lucas spotted an individual walking towards him from the front. There were many others who were simrly walking either from behind or from the front as this was a somewhat busy street, away from the Eretrean Vestige-smith League''s building and quite close to the ever-busy market zone. As such, there were a lot of people going anding from different directions.

    Despite the traffic, for some reason, this individual stood out in Lucas'' senses.

    At that moment, Lucas noticed that one of the individual''s hands, hidden inside his jacket, was being pulled out. rm bells rung in his head and without even a moment of hesitation, Lucas jumped towards the side.

    *Bang*

    The sound of a gunshot reverberated in the area, drawing the attention of the crowd to the scene. Few among the crowd on the street fled to a safe distance before ncing backwards, while the majority were merely stunned and frozen on the spot.

    At Lucas'' original position, a figure had copsed on the ground, eyes wide open with one arm gripping their chest. The youngdy was dumbfounded, being confused for second before turning anxious, scared and sad. She could feel thest bits of life flowing away from her and try as she might to run away from it, death was slowly pulling her into its embrace.

    "M-murder!"

    A bystander abruptly yelled with disbelief.

    The crowd was dazed silly.

    This was Bands City, this was the capital region. How could such even happen? Despite the fact that this was the West Wing district, the poorest and least safest district in Bands City due to its proximity to the Wastnds, it was actually very safe. There had been no deste beast tides approaching the gates of the district much less invading the district in thest eighty years.

    Crime rates (against hyumans) were at an all-time low and incidents of murder were barely ever heard about.

    All these resulted to the average citizen having a very low sense to danger. One could say that their warning systems were turned off, which was why the majority didn''t think to take cover or retreat right after the gunshot. A murder, much less one with a hot weapon, had never urred in over thirty years.

    The result of such an extended period of peace was quite obvious at this moment.

    ''Damn it.'' The man who wielded the gun vestige cursed as he looked at the corpse a few metres away from him.

    Just as he had pulled out his gun and taken aim, Lucas had jumped to the side, dodging the shot. However, there was a hyuman behind him who became the victim of the attack. That miss had caused a rpse in the assassin''s thoughts and Lucas took the opportunity to dash away from the scene.

    The man knew he was in big trouble after not only missing but killing a hyuman. If the victim was simply Lucas, although he would be arrested, his boss could pull some strings and get him out with the condition that he would be forced to never step foot in Bands City again. He might also get a fine and some jail time due to his usage of a vestige, but that would be all.

    However, the victim was a hyuman. Even his boss would be forced to cut off any tracks that would lead to him, otherwise the consequences would be severe. The case might even be handed over to the Red Fangs of the Bands City Patrol Corps due to the involvement of a gun vestige; and if it were, death would be an even better option for the man.

    The mission could have been done with a regr cold weapon-type vestige, but the previous attempts had shown that the target was not an easy figure to kill. Hence, why the man went for a hot weapon. There would be no trace of it, no killing intent, and it could be fired from a range. Nothing was supposed to go wrong, but it did.

    "Damned fucking bastard. This is all your fault." The man roared before chasing after Lucas.

    Lucas'' heart was beating profusely but he had managed to calm it down as he continued running. The assassin''s moment of hesitation was enough to give Lucas a fifteen metres head-start, but that wasn''t enough. The opponent had a gun and the previous attempt had already revealed him. As such, he would have less concerns about shooting again.

    Lucas maneuvered through the buildings and the crowd, weaving left and right while using any and every thing as a cover. Even if it was wrong to use a living being as a cover, in the face of such a threat, Lucas wasn''t bothered about right or wrong, but simply surviving. This was a trait he had developed in his first life when he was forced to live in a dog-eat-dog world as an orphan.

    Unsurprisingly, Lucas'' actions forced the assassin to not take aim again as another shot would potentially kill someone else and increase the crime on his head.

    The realization of the death of the youngdy had awoken a sense of fear and dread in the crowd, causing chaos all around as everyone ran in different directions. This chaos proved useful for Lucas and unfavourable for the man. Despite trying his best to chase after Lucas, the man eventually lost him in the crowd.

    ''I need to get out of here.'' The man eventually gave up on his mission and decided to escape.

    Since his boss would abandon him, it was best to run away now. If he were caught, it would be the end of him. As for selling out his boss to the patrol corps, that would be a dumb move; even more so than his current crime. As such, the best cause of action was to attempt an escape from the west Wing district and Bands City as whole.

 Chapter 54 : Lucas In Troubleâ€¦?

    A couple of minutester¡ªless than twenty minutes or so¡ªthe patrol corps had arrived and locked down the scene. The deceased had already been taken to a hospital earlier, along with some of the civilians who were involved in a stampede that broke out while escaping.

    Among the patrol corps members who were there, two individuals stood out from the rest. The two were both men, but one was younger than the other and had brown hair, while the older one had red hair. With a slightly different uniform from the others, their uniqueness didn''t just lie in this, but in the aura they exuded. Even the other members of the patrol corps kept their distance from them.

    They were members of the famed Red Fangs; an arm of the Bands City Patrol Corps that handled special missions. They were highly trained and very professional in their work, but most of all, they were all very strong and dangerous. Due to this, the Red Fangs only handled high-profile cases involving a lot of risk, and they asionally participated in joint missions with the Defense Corps.

    Founded over a hundred years ago, they even participated in thest disastrous deste beast tide eighty years ago. Although, the members who did so were either dead, retired, or held very high positions in military or paramilitary organizations, the current members should still not be underestimated.

    "A murder in the city, and what''s more, with a gun. It seems like these underground gangs are getting quite ballsy." The brown-haired officer looked at the scene and smiled.

    "Indeed. It looks like we might have to carry out a purge sooner orter. I''ll bring this up to the lieutenant when we get back." the red-haired man said.

    "No need." A female voice sounded from above.

    The two, as well as the other corp officers present, nced above and saw  a hovercar silently descending. Hanging by the door was a stern lookingdy who was also a beauty rivalling the midnight moon. She wore a unique ck and blue uniform coupled with ck trousers and a ck boot; the standard uniform of a Bands City Patrol officer.

    However, the medallion on her neck signified her identity; a member of the Red Fangs. What''s more, the red-gold patch marked on her cor and shoulders indicated her rank of lieutenant.

    It wouldn''t take a genius to know that she was the person the red-haired man mentioned.

    Thedy jumped from the hover car, ignoring the potential risk of a ten metres fall, andnded safely on the ground close to the duo.

    "Lieutenant, ma''am." The two members of the Red Fang saluted.

    She nodded at them in response and asked, "What''s the report?"

    "At exactly 14:13pm, an attack urred in the vicinity, leaving one dead and twelve injured due to the chaos caused by it. The victim is a female hyuman, about 20 years of age. Identification measures have currently been carried out on the deceased, and we found out she worked as a salesgirl in a store but recently got fired.

    Also from a family of four." The red-haired man projected a document as he spoke.

    "That''s not what I want to hear." The womanmented.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The red-haired man paused, then switched the document before continuing,

    "We examined the security footage of the crime scene and found out that the deceased was a victim of circumstances. It turns out that she was never the target of the assant, but someone who was just unlucky. As for the target, he is a human."

    "A human?" The woman was surprised.

    Humans were quite rare with the majority of them living in districts outside of Bands City; in other words, residing in the other fifteen districts. The only city where they could be found inrge numbers was Digress City, but that was on an entirely different continent.

    "Yes. We followed up from there and performed facial recognition on the target. We then ran a database check and found out the information of the target."

    As the red-haired man spoke, an image of Lucas as well as his details appeared in the projection.

    ''It''s definitely him, alright.'' The woman thought as she looked at the picture.

    When she heard the target was a ''human'', Lucas crossed her mind and she once had an encounter with him a few weeks back. However, that was a brief one but a bad experience for Lucas, so she thought that he would have left the city right away. Who would have thought that not only did he remain behind, but he was now a target for an assassination.

    "Lucas Yohan Saunters, age twenty three. Born on the eighth of July. 179cm tall, with ck hair and brown eyes. His mDNA exact value is unknown but from the spiritual feedback sensed by the onlookers and his ID, it''s too low to be ssified as hyuman, hence he is human. He runs a store in the blue area of the market zone and it''s said to be a vestige store.

    He''s apparently carried out a few transactions in the store already, one with a famed frencer, Harrison Reid, a deal with the Autumn''s Gate guild and even a sh with the ck Lemon squad. We are trying to find more information on him as we don''t anymore, except that he recently made an ID about four weeks ago. I''m guessing he''s most likely an immigrant, but not from the surrounding districts."

    "In other words, he isn''t an indigene of Bands city-state. Not much information is known about him because of this." The brown-haired man added.

    "I always knew that stupid bill for open registration would cause such problems." The woman snorted.

    A couple of months ago, the Minister of Human Resources for the Bands city-state had pushed for a bill to make registration easy and open to everyone, in a bid to increase the overall poption of the city-state as the city-state''s poption was projected to be declining.

    The bill made it such that immigrants could easily get an identification and citizenship to be able to work in the city-state. However, it sacrificed the stringent measures which were originally in ce to prevent spies and criminals from sneaking into the city.

    It wasn''t like the indigenes of Bands city-state were against the bill¡ªit wouldn''t have been passed if that were so¡ªbut rather, the security personnel had an issue with it because it affected that tracking and background-checking ability.

    "Please, lieutenant ma''am, we are in public. It would do us all well if you kept thements about the ministry to private conversations." The red-haired man sighed.

    The woman nced at him briefly while releasing some of her pressure.

    "I apologize, ma''am." The man hurriedly bowed.

    "Hmph. Continue."

    ''Handling the boss is always such a hassle.'' The man couldn''t help butin inwardly, but he didn''t show any signs of doing so.

    "We are currently trying to find out who would want him dead and why, but with little information about him, we can''t be so sure just yet. However, we do have suspects in mind; a pawnshop and the underground human traffickers."

    "What about the assassin?" She asked.

    This time around, the brown-haired man spoke up,

    "The assassin is an unknown small rat from the underground, so it would take some time for us to find something on him."

    "In that case, let''s go find the other one." The woman turned around and walked towards the already parked hovercar.

 Chapter 55 : The Hunter Becomes The Hunted

    About twenty minutes ago...

    After Lucas had lost the assassin, he didn''t return right away to the Seven Sparks Forge, but hid somewhere close by and monitored the assassin.

    Lucas might always act calm and cautious most of the time, but it didn''t mean he was one to take a beating without hitting back.

    A peak Body Strengthening stage practitioner might be able to survive gunshot on Earth, but it was still not enough to tank a shot from a vestige. The weapon might have sounded just like a gun on Earth, but the mechanics as well as the rounds differed, resulting in a more intense power. However, Lucas wasn''t scared.

    Compared to an average Body Strengthening stage practitioner, he had his self-made vestiges and the system''s equipment.

    ''Who could it be this time?''

    Lucas began pondering once he had hidden himself in an alleyway.

    There were two parties possibly after his life.

    The Vinis pawnshop had already proven themselves to be a possible main suspect after their kidnapping attempt a few weeks ago. However, with Lucas repaying the bill and taking back his ingot, they should have taken a more subtle approach than this.

    The store had a reputation and if they were found out to be rted to this incident, even if Lucas was a human, their reputation and business would fall apart. They would lose customers and the City Patrol Corps would react aggressively, especially since a hyuman had been involved as a victim.

    The other suspicious party was the group of harassers who had been after him since Lucas got the building. They were an underground organisation and even after Lucas had asked Harry to help him investigate the name ''Ramirez'', there was not much information about them except that the individual was a former frencer.

    However, their desperation to get back thend, to the point of sending a second level Apertures Opening stage ster practitioner after him was insane.

    The two sides were equally suspicious and guessing around wouldn''t lead to any oue. So, Lucas decided to take matters into his own hands.

    . . .

    The assassin wasn''t exactly a professional as he didn''t keep a lookout for any pursuer. Truth be told, he couldn''t be med. The incident had only urred less than two minutes ago, which wasn''t enough time for the Patrol Corps to react. Also, who would have expected that the target wouldn''t retreat, but chase after him?

    From a typical logical perspective, the assassin needn''t worry about any retaliation or tracking, at least for the next two minutes. But reality gave a different story.

    The hunter had unknowingly be the hunted.

    "Damn that fucker. That bastard human. Why the heck did he have to jump at thest moment?"

    The man cursed under his breath as he ran away. He had parked a hover car about two blocks away from the scene in an isted spot as part of his escape measure. As long as he got to it, the assassin could have a chance of leaving the district. This was only a chance at escaping the district however, not the Patrol Corps.

    ''There it is.''

    At a certain corner that had almost no hyuman traffic, an unsavoury and typical hover car was parked by the side, almost as if it were neglected. It looked like a sedan from Earth, but with some slight differences. However, with the current technology in this world, such a ride wascking in taste.

    Despite its looks though, this hover car was packed. The engine had been switched with a more powerful one that utilised nuclear technology with heat conversion devices, ensuring that there was almost no energy lost.

    The vehicle had an exhaust pipe but hover cars didn''t use an internalbustion engine; the exhaust pipe was actually a set of nitro-benede boosters, a variation of nitrous oxide that only exists in this world.

    It was pretty much a sleeper build.

    The assassin hopped into the hover car and started the engine almost immediately. The car hovered into midair at around fifteen metres, before hanging there and beginning its taking off sequence. During that moment, the man noticed that there was a figure a few metres ahead, looking his way. The man gawked at the figure in disbelief.

    "I can''t believe this shithead chased after me." The man cursed.

    He wasn''t scared of Lucas as thetter was a human and a Body Strengthening stage practitioner at best, the same as him. However, Lucas might take a picture of his vehicle which would aid the Patrol Corps in finding him faster.

    "Dman that brat. You''ve ruined me and I still can''t do anything." The man growled.

    In order to increase his chance at escaping, the man had initiated the hypersonic drive sequence before booting his ride. That way, he would be moving at top speed as soon as he took off. If the Patrol Corps were on his heels, it would take some time to initiate the hypersonic drive sequence, hence why he started it now.

    The vehicle was a typical hover car and not a Sare [1] like the Autumn''s Gate guild''s which was equipped with attacking options. A hover car was just a civilian vehicle after all.

    ncing at his timer that had ten seconds on the clock, the assassin decided to forget about Lucas. There was nothing he could do to this target of his, and at the same time, there was nothing Lucas could do to stop him.

    Was what he thought...

    Lucas stared at the hover car up in the air, with its engine slowly gaining momentum. Even though he had never driven a hover car nor knew its principles of operation, he could easily surmise that the vehicle was about to depart with great speed; the assassin was clearly trying to escape.

    This wasn''t what Lucas wanted, but with his target now encased inside the vehicle which offered some sort of protection, he was somewhat out of options here.

    "Retrieve."

    The craftsman gloves made an appearance once again as they wrapped around Lucas'' hands. But that wasn''t all he took from the system inventory. A spear had also appeared in Lucas'' hands -the same alloy spear he had used in digging the Violent Sun ores in the Igrum steel mines.

    This was Lucas'' most powerful weapon in his arsenal, thanks to the mix of Red Iris stone. Although he wascking mystical energy, which would have increased the power of the vestige and ensured that it would prate the hover car, Lucas wasn''t worried.

    Gripping the spear tightly, Lucas took a stance and aimed at the hover car.

    The assassin, who was inside, noticed this, but smirked at it. Even though the exterior of the hover car looked nothing special, it was still not something just anyone could damage. It was durable and strong, as the intention was to survive a hypersonic speed trip. It wasn''t something that a Body Strengthening stage practitioner could wreck by just tossing a spear.

    The man was thinking how much of a fool Lucas was to try and attack his hover car when Lucas shot the weapon. In the next moment, only half a second was left before the hover car entered hypersonic drive, but Lucas'' attack had already appeared before it.

    *Bang*

    To the astonishment of the assassin, the spear pierced through the exterior of the vehicle and happened to strick the engine.

    *Boom*

    A loud explosion sounded as the hover car was forced from its hypersonic drive by force, following which it crashed towards the ground.

    *Boom*

    The hover car crashed horrifically to the ground, and with the already damaged engine, an explosion set off on the spot. Lucas retreated, but not before taking the spear which was thrown away from the vehicle by the explosion.

    Immediately after that, Lucas turned away and left the scene.

    Luckily, the area was empty -an intention of the man, which ended up killing him and aiding Lucas to cover his tracks.

    By the time the people outside had noticed what had happened, Lucas was already gone.

    A short whileter, a Patrol Corps member has appeared at the scene and closed the ce off before informing the others, following which more Patrol Corps officers arrived and blocked off the area while investigating. Twenty minutester, a hover carnded close by and from it appeared three individuals; the three members of the Red Fangs.

    "Is this hisst location?" The woman asked.

    "Based on the security clips, yes. He was here about twenty minutes or so. Apart from him, the assassin was also present." The red-haired man said.

    "We surmised that the assassin was trying to escape with a hover car fitted with hypersonic driver systems. But for some reason, he has failed."

    "Do you really think it''s a strange that he failed?" The woman nced at the red haired man and asked.

    Thetter was stunned a bit before shaking his head.

    "Even if we want to say he did it, there''s no evidence of that happening. Also, he is a human; how can a human destroy a hover car, especially one with hypersonic speed capabilities and structure?" The brown haired man said.

    Thedy stared towards the horizon as she said,

    "There''s only one way to find out."N?v(el)B\\jnn

 Chapter 56 Lucas Is Arrested

    "Based on the security clips, we''ve gathered that Lucas Saunters was indeed here before; about twenty minutes ago to be precise. Apart from him, the assassin was also present." The red-haired man said as the trio stood close to the site of the wreckage.

    The fire had been extinguished, but the damage was still clear. The metal on the hover car had melted in some areas due to the high heat. There was no sign of a corpse, despite the fact that a peak Body Strengthening stage practitioner''s flesh was tough and sturdy. This showed that the heat from the explosion after the crash was so intense, that the corpse couldn''t even survive it.

    "We surmised that the assassin was trying to escape with a hover car fitted with hypersonic driver systems. But for some reason, he not only failed but also died while at it. The forensics are currently on it, but the preliminary scan identified a problem with the hypersonic drive sequence. It seemed to have been damaged just before it reached full output."

    "Don''t you think it''s strange that he failed?" The woman nced at the red haired man and asked.

    Thetter was stunned a bit before shaking his head. He understood what she meant, but until the forensics analysis in the ce waspleted, they couldn''t go around pointing fingers, especially at a human.

    "Even if we want to say he did it, there''s no evidence of that happening. Also, he is a human; how can a human destroy a hover car, especially one with hypersonic speed capabilities and structure?" The brown haired man said. He simrly knew what the lieutenant meant by her words, but he was of the same idea as his colleague.

    Thedy stared towards the horizon as she said,

    "There''s only one way to find out."

    . . .

    After Lucas had murdered the assassin, he immediately made his way back to the store as that was where he felt safe. Although he was close to the market zone, the Seven Sparks Forge was still far from the area, so Lucas decided to bite the bullet and pay for a hover taxi.

    While in the hover taxi, Lucas asked the system,

    "What are the odds of them finding out I''m rted to his death?"

    "One hundred percent." The system sinctly replied to him.

    Lucas wasn''t surprised by this.

    This world was much more advanced than Earth, especially in terms of technology. Even though he had never spotted any cameras, Lucas was sure that there was something keeping an eye on everyone, but he couldn''t identify what it was. There was no saying whether he was caught by the monitoring system when the crime took ce, but it definitely observed him following after the assassin.

    "If I get investigated, what are the odds I''ll end up in jail." Lucas asked again.

    "Host should know that the system''s function is to aid you in bing the next Crafts-God and not for answering a Q&A session."

    "True, but as it stands, that would be difficult to pull off if I get in jail. Who knows, it might be so long that I''ll end up dead in prison." Lucas said nonchntly.

    "In that case, the system would take the next best course of action."

    Lucas felt a foreboding feeling before asking

    "...which is?"

    "To abandon you and find a new host."

    Lucas silently cursed at the system for being so heartless, but he wasn''t affected by this. He took the system as an equipment to help him get stronger and improve his skills, while the system used him as a probablebrat. Each to his own, but it was still a win-win situation for both sides. There was no emotional entanglement between them and it was simply a transaction rtionship.

    Lucas brought his thoughts back to reality and began analysing his situation. He had currently murdered a hyuman, which was one of the gravest crimes in Bands city-state. Even though the target was an assassin after his life, Lucas has survived the attempt and the option of escaping was a viable course of action. However, he chased after the man and killed him.

    It would be difficult to ssify this as self-defence.

    What''s more, Lucas was human. If he was a hyuman, it might be possible to fight for an exoneration on the terms of self-defence and retaliation. However, if the judge was someone who disliked humans, that would be impossible.

    Even if the judge wasn''t a speciesist, about seventy percent of hyumans didn''t consider humans to be the same as them -quite alright-, so they didn''t have any sense of rtion or consideration for them.

    All this added together made Lucas realise that if he was arrested and trialled, there was a more likely possibility of him ending up in jail.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The hover taxi soon reached the store and Lucas got down and went into the building. Right now, he had to figure out a way to not escte the situation.

    ''Worsees to worse, I''ll hole up in the store or I''ll just burst out of jail.'' Lucas thought.

    He went to the workshop to work on some items, almost as if he had forgotten about his impending trouble. It didn''t take long for Lucas to abruptly stop and face the entrance of the store.

    "System...?" Lucas asked as he could sense something strange in the air.

    "Host''s suspicions are correct. The store is currently surrounded."

    "Indeed. They came quite fast." Lucas smiled as he walked out of the workshop.

    *Ding*

    The bell on the door rang as a few figures stepped into the store.

    In the lead was an icy beauty dressed in a blue and ck attire with stern looking eyes and an air of indifference around her. Despite being in foreign territory and looking not more than twenty five years, she wasposed and still radiated a confident feeling as if everything was under her control.

    Behind the woman were two men dressed in a simr attire, with one of them looking younger and having brown hair, while the other one had red hair. The brown haired man was like a snake, with shifty eyes that scanned the entire store while giving out a dangerous vibe.

    As for the red haired man, he gave off the feeling of a veteran tiger that had lived in the jungle for a long time, mastering the art of stealth and burst.

    When the trio saw Lucas they stopped a few metres away and simultaneously studied him for a few seconds.

    "How may I help you?" Lucas inly asked.

    Even if they were the police or whatever, he wasn''t obliged to give them special treatment and neither would he. Lucas had seen even more terrifying people in his past life, and while he might be starting anew, it didn''t mean that he would behave differently.

    "Are you Lucas Saunters?" The red haired man asked, despite having seen his picture before.

    "I am." Lucas replied.

    "Pleasee with us. We need your help in answering a few questions." The man smiled.

    Instead of replying, Lucas nced at the woman. She was clearly the leader of this group, but relegated the role of talking to her deputy. For some reason, this irked Lucas a lot. The look in her eyes was almost as if she considered having a conversation with Lucas beneath her.

    This wasn''t the same as the haters of humanity who looked down on him due to his species; this was an innate sense of arrogance she possessed.

    But even with such an exnation, Lucas didn''t like it.

    "And who might you be?" Lucas asked, facing the woman, but his words were clearly aimed at the group.

    The woman''s brows wrinkled as she released a hint of her pressure.

    Fourth level of the Apertures Opening stage.

    From his experience with the Autumn Gate guild and the deste beasts of the Cicalien Mountains, Lucas could easily approximate the woman''s strength. Such a level of power achieved and while still being so young was amazing. But, Lucas had seen more. Even if one were to eliminate his past life''s experiences and solely consider his encounters in Eretre, Lucas had seen more powerful characters.

    For instance, Lisa, the vice guild leader of the Autumn''s Gate guild, who was of roughly the same age as the woman before Lucas now. However, Lisa was much stronger and already at the fifth level.

    Others were: Harry, who was at the fifth level; the chimera monster at the Green-Snout metal moles'' hideout, which was at the peak of the fifth level; and Crimson Fang, the guild leader of the Autumn''s Gate guild, who was at the sixth level.

    All of them were much stronger than the woman present, and Lucas didn''t react to the disy of their aura. So, there was even less to say about this attempt. What''s more, this was the store; the Host Protection Mechanism was always active.

    Lucas just stared at her as normal, looking as if he felt nothing.

    The woman was surprised by this and increased her force, pressuring Lucas with it, but he still remained nonchnt.

    Suddenly, the lieutenant snorted and grabbed at Lucas.

    Her hand speed was so shockingly fast that Lucas failed to react in time; even if he could, there was nothing he could do about it. Before he knew it, his neck was sped in her hand.

    "You''reing with us, now."

 Chapter 57 The Central Prefecture

    "Is this how you treat a citizen?" Lucas looked at the hand and asked calmly, seemingly unaffected by the chokehold.

    "Cut the crap. Don''t think because I saved youst time that I''m on your side. You know what you did." The woman stared at him with a menacing expression on her face.

    "And that would be?" Lucas stared her in the eye, unfazed by her expression.

    The brown haired man smirked and answered, "Murdering of a hyuman and causing amotion in the city."

    "So, self defence?" Lucas responded.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "The deceased was a valuable asset to finding the ones behind the assassination as well as taking down an underground organisation or two. But thanks to you now, none of that would happen." The lieutenant scoffed.

    "So, I also helped you clear out some trash." Lucas smiled self-assuredly.

    Not only the lieutenant, but even the other two men were stunned by Lucas'' response. His reaction was definitely not what they expected and all too calm, almost as if he wasn''t even their target.

    "That''s enough talking,e with us." The woman let go of his neck and ordered.

    Lucas massaged his neck a bit to relieve it of the slight pain. However, he didn''t go with them just yet.

    "I''m a victim in this entire incident, but rather than treat me as one, I''ve been threatened and harmed by you. What makes you think I''ll now go with you? What if I do, and you end up trying to silence me? With such a risk, do you think I''ll take it?"

    "Are you intending on resisting arrest then?" The red haired man asked with a confused look on his face.

    Although Lucas'' actions were a bit against thew, it wasn''t too serious as he had been attacked by the assassin. However, if he resisted arrest, it would make things even more problematic for him. The man just didn''t get why Lucas would want to make a mountain out of a molehill.

    "No. I just don''t trust myself to be safe in your hands." Lucas replied.

    "From the very beginning, your actions have been recorded by a hidden camera in my store. Even if you try to use me of resisting arrest, I can simply present the video recording to the court and rify the incident. By then, it wouldn''t be me who is in trouble, but you. I can sue for trespassing, assault and battery, as well as speciesism.

    It might be true that humans like myself are looked down on, but in the eyes of thew, we are all equal." Lucas smirked.

    The lieutenant, her deputy and the brown-haired man finally realised that their opponent this time wasn''t an ordinary individual. He was a crafty fellow who they had to treat with caution.

    The woman stared at Lucas but didn''t say a word. As a result, the atmosphere became even more cold and the temperature was steadily dropping.

    "Fine. I apologize on her behalf. We won''t harm you or anything, but we do need your assistance for the ongoing investigations." The red haired man sighed.

    Lucas nodded as he knew this was the best he could get from them. Pushing the group more might be counteractive to his ns.

    When he stepped out of the store with the trio, Lucas noticed that the store had been surrounded in all four major directions by other members of the Patrol Corps. They were in ce just in case he tried to escape.

    Lucas only nced briefly at some of them before departing with the trio in the hover car they came with.

    It took almost an hour for the hover car to reach its destination, but during the trip, no one said any word.

    When the hover carnded and Lucas came out beside the brown-haired man while the other man and the woman walked ahead of them. Lucas scanned the area and discovered that he was in an entirely new area. This wasn''t the West Wing district as he knew it to be.

    The air was fresher, the buildings were more stunning and modern, even the roads were paved with a different material than those of the West Wing district. The hover cars in the air were also more luxurious in terms of appearance.

    "Wee to the Central Prefecture district. You''ve probably not been here before, I take?" The brown haired man smiled.

    ''Makes sense.'' Lucas thought while ignoring the former.

    The Central Prefecture district.

    If Bands City was the capital of Bands city-state, then the Central Prefecture was the capital of Bands City and the major centre of Bands city-state. This was the region reserved for the city-state''s richest and most influential factions and powers.

    Whether it was the wealthiest families, the top frencer guilds, top 500panies on the continent, or the city lord''s office, they were all based here.

    Every important administrative agency was also headquartered here, and as a result, the security was on a different level.

    Unlike the West Wing district that was littered with underground organisations and human traffickers, the Central Prefecture had none of that. Describing it as being on an entirely different level wasn''t enough; it was at least two levels ahead of the West Wing district.

    The cost of housing and living was much higher, and acted as an obstacle to anyone interested in living here.

    However, the most notable barrier was the indispensable requirement of owning a Recognition Permit, which was a special kind of document granted to people who had lived in Bands City for at least ten years and fulfilled a couple of conditions or were rted to residents of the Central Prefecture in some manner.

    It was this absurd requirement which had led to the Central Prefecture being termed as the Forbidden City[1].

    There were exceptions for special guests and visitors, but the rule was applicable to those who intended on residing within the ''city''.

    "I thought I was just heading over to a station." Lucas asked the brown-haired man.

    The fellow smiled before responding, "This is our station. Ah, I think you made a mistake about our identities. We aren''t you average Bands City Patrol guys, but members of the Red Fang. I''m Barry and the red-haired fe over there is my mini-boss, Nafir. As for the missus..."

    The brown-haired man, Barry, liked around carefully and walked closer to Lucas before muttering, "she''s my boss, Lieutenant Lily. A pretty girlish name, if you ask me, which is probably why she doesn''t like anyone calling her by that. Just call her lieutenant if the need be."

    Lucas was surprised and nced at Barry, wondering why he told him such information. Actually, he had guessed it. Based on Barry''s cunning appearance, Lucas could fathom that his intention in saying this was to have Lucas do exactly just that; to call the lieutenant by her name at some point.

    Although he didn''t know what would happen, Lucas reckoned that the result wouldn''t be good for him.

    The trio headed into the building and were greeted by the individuals there; to be specific, it was the lieutenant, Lily, who was greeted by them. It seemed like in the Red Fangs, the rank of lieutenant was somewhat high.

    As they walked, Lucas scrutinized the area as well as the individuals here. Just like Barry and Nafir, they all possessed a certain vibe. Based on his past experience, Lucas determined this vibe to be that of a killer. Every single individual in this building, even those at the desk and the onesughing intimately, were all killers, and professionals at that.

    ''This is like a den of monsters.'' Lucas thought as he calmly proceeded forward with the trio.

    Being a killer didn''t mean they took the lives of others hyumans. Lucas guessed that the lives they took were mostly that of deste beasts.

    He had heard of the Red Fangs once, when he was reading about the organisations to look out for in Bands City.

    Despite being a government agency,  the Red Fangs operated almost like a private militia. They were under themand of the Commissioner of Police, just like the Bands City Patrol Corps, but they took orders directly from the Director of the Red Fangs.

    They didn''t handle average internal security issues like the regr Patrol Corps, but mostly ones rted to deste beasts and organised murders. They also took on high risk and high-profile cases that the regr Bands City Patrol Corps couldn''t handle.

    However, one of the most interesting discoveries about the Red Fangs was the fact that they carried out missions outside of the city -a stark contrast to the regr Bands City Patrol Corps who always operated within the city.

    These external missions were mostly joint missions with the City Defence Force, and they entailed exploring the Wastnds and other dangerous regions, as well as quelling terrorist groups, riots and beast tides in the other fifteen districts.

    Terrorism was one of the major problems faced by the current hyuman society and it was somewhat unavoidable. With hyumankin having expanded and raided various other civilisations, they didn''t always eliminate all the intelligent lives they encountered, but forcefully assimted some of them.

    However, in some areas, these intelligent lifeforms were treated like second ss citizens, and sometimes worse.

    Considering humans, the ancestors of hyumans, were treated terribly and even trafficked by underground organisations, one could imagine how alien lifeforms were treated.

    This resulted in some of them banding together and forming terrorist organisations, wreaking havoc throughout the gxy.

    Eretre was a that was ny percent upied by hyumans, but there were some alien life forms here. Although the majority were in Digress city-state, some were scattered all over. They lived in peace and istion, but a few of them asionally carried out terrorist acts.

    The Defence Force and the Red Fangs were the organisations who handled such rogues. So, it was inevitable that they would have a ton of blood on their hands.

 Chapter 58 Interrogation

    Inside an interrogation room with only one table and two chairs, Lucas and Nafir, the deputy form the Red Fangs, were both seated on the opposite sides.

    "Lucas Yohan Saunters. Age, 23. DOB, 8th of July. You run a vestige store in the blue area of the market zone." Nafir read out loud from a projected screen.

    "Those are merely your basic details, and not much is even known. Other details regarding you include your actions of severely injuring three hyumans, but their involvement in human trafficking and attempted kidnapping led to this case being buried under the tag of self-defence. You had a sh with the ck Lemon Squad just when you opened up shop.

    You were also under the surveince of a first level Apertures Opening stage ster practitioner. At exactly 00:02 a few weeks back, he had invaded your store with the possible intention of murdering you or kidnapping you. However, based on security footage, he never left the building, but you were alright."

    Lucas was surprised by the information in the hands of the Red Fangs. Many of these were things he had carried out secretly in the past and the assault on him in his store was one he was surprised they found out.

    But along with the surprise was a slight trace of anger in Lucas'' heart. Since they knew that someone had assaulted him in his store, why didn''t they help him? Why didn''t the Patrol Corps investigate the matter?.

    Seemingly, sensing Lucas'' emotions, Nafir spoke up,

    "To be honest, your file is really interesting. It was buried amongst the masses, but this incident brought it to limelight. We werecking information on you since your identification papers are just recent, so we had to review all footage from your arrival until now."

    "I thought I''ll be interrogated regarding the attempted murder, but nothing of the sort has taken ce since we arrived here." Lucas said as he turned his eyes away from the projection and faced Nafir.

    "Don''t underestimate the Patrol Corps. Whether you say something or not, we will be able to find out who was behind the assassination attempt. However, we want to use this opportunity to find out more about you. Lucas Saunters, who are you really?" Nafir studied him.

    "Humans are well known to be unable to utilise ster energy as efficiently as we hyumans. This makes them terrible vestige-smiths from the start. Even though the state of Digress has found a way to improve their strength, thereby defying the previous opinions, they are still unable to manufacture vestiges.

    Digress city-state had solved the problem of quantity, making it possible for them to possess ster energy and advance in their refinement. But the issue of quality still remains, hence why they can''t refine vestiges.

    "Despite this, you''ve somehow achieved something that a city-state couldn''t. In fact, it''s no understatement to say that you''ve done something an entire civilisation has failed to do. What''s more, you did it without even reaching the Apertures Opening stage.

    "So I ask, who are you really? Where are you from?"

    Lucas was somewhat surprised by this, as most refused to believe he was a human vestige-smith; even Harry seemed to believe that there was a reclusive vestige-smith backing him. However, after recalling the past couple of minutes, he felt it was natural. The information garnering capability of the Red Fangs was clearly not something he couldpare with that on Earth.

    "I''m just as you''ve found out. A human who''s also a genius." Lucas replied calmly, as if stating a fact.

    Nafir stared at him for a few seconds as if scanning him. However, Lucas'' heard the system''s voice in his head just then.

    "Detecting a mental invasion on the host. As this is the first time, the system would consume one of the host''s exoneration slots to exterminate the threat.

    "Threat detected and analysed.

    "Determining an appropriate response sequence in rtion to the host''s current situation. Found.

    "Carrying out response sequence.

    "Sessful.

    "Threat extinguished."

    Lucas was dumbfounded by the series of announcements, but he didn''t show it on his face. At the same time, his body turned cold as he became aware how much he had underestimated these people.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "System, what was he trying to do and what response sequence did you carry out?" Lucasmunicated mentally.

    "The invader''s technique is one used to pry into a target''s memory and scour through it. However, the user is clearly unskilled and merely intended to use it to determine whether the host was lying or not. Since it would not show any signs of usage, the target''s mental guard wouldn''t be raised and they would fail to spot anything. Luckily for the barely capable host, the system is active 24/7.

    The response sequence was simply a false response created and fed to the user''s technique."

    Lucas ignored the sarcastic jab by the system and couldn''t help but be startled that such a technique existed. Ever since he had been in this world, Lucas had yet to encounter someone with a special power as it was said that only at the tenth level of the Apertures Opening stage would one have a chance at gaining an innate power. It looked like he had to be more cautious nowadays.

    Apart from the shock, he was also impressed by the system''s ability and rapid response. Lucas couldn''t help but wonder what exactly the system was and who made it.

    Nafir''s eyes flickered a bit, holding a variety of emotions within them which disappeared almost right away as he changed the topic.

    "Know this face?"

    An image of a man with a brawny appearance and a rough beard was projected.

    Lucas shook his head.

    "His name is Ramirez. One of the most powerful figures in the undergroundmunity of West Wing districts. We have reasons to believe that the assassin was sent by him. Do you know why perhaps?"

    "I did receive a threat from some guy about the building I bought. It was from an individual that owed some money to someone named Ramirez. The loan was supposed to use thend as coteral, but there was no information about this from the city government office." Lucas responded.

    Dragging the police in this matter would force Ramirez to consider his actions more carefully before he made a move. At least this would give Lucas enough time toplete his preparations.

    "Alright. Please write out a report concerning this as well as some of your thoughts on the matter." Nafir said. It was clear that he had put behind the previous topic and was now focusing on the incident.

    "Regarding your murder of the assassin, it would still have to be mentioned to the appropriate departments. Chances at that you might get dragged to court for it, and if your luck is bad, the judge might be anti-human. The good thing is that even in the worst case scenario, your sentencing would only be limited to a fine, as the matter could be defined under self-defence and retaliation.

    Once you''re done with the report, you can leave." Nafir added before he left the room.

    Lucas thought deeply about those words. It seemed like the Red Fangs already knew that there were people who hated or looked down on humans, but they could do nothing about it; maybe they didn''t bother themselves about it. It was quite sad.

    Humans, in some way, could be called the ancestors of the hyumankin. There would have been no hyumans without humans. Despite this obvious fact, the sessors looked down on their predecessors and tried to make life difficult for them.

    Even for the hyumans who weren''t speciesist, they closed an eye to the matter, sharing somewhat simr sentiments that humans were weaker and shouldn''t be cared about as much.

    ''I guess this is just a part of the cycle of natural selection.'' Lucas sighed.

    The evolution of the human race to create hyumankin was all in a bid to survive the intergctic era. Not only could the hyumankin refine and store ster energy in their bodies, but they could also survive in more extreme habitats, whether they be higher or lower temperature regions, or radioactive regions. Inparison, humans were indeed too weak and not fit for intergctic exploration.

    All that the hyumankin had achieved today would have been impossible if they were still humans.

    . . .

    On the other side, after Nafir left the room, he went up to the female lieutenant who stood in another room, watching a disy screen that showed the previous room. Apart from her, there was also Barry, the brown-haired man who came with them.

    "My technique didn''t find a strange reading on him. Everything he said was the truth." Nafir said.

    "Makes sense. If he was a spy, there would be no reason for him to stand out like this." said the lieutenant, Lily.

    "But it''s still strange. Is he truly a genius?"

    "I can''t say for sure, but he should be. That''s unless he found a way to bypass my skill." Nafir answered.

    Barry shook his head. "That should be impossible. No one knows that you''ve unlocked a hint of your superpower so early. Most would have to wait until the tenth level and exceptions are very rare. Exceptions like yourself, who tap into a bit of their innate power at the third level, are even rarer. Also, superpowers are already rare much less mental superpowers.

    Apart from myself, the boss and the director, no one should know about the details, so it''s impossible to be prepared for it."

    "The ancient humans never thought that in the future, their kind would dominate the gxy, but here we are. Nothing is impossible." Lily suddenly interrupted.

    "Once he''s done, send him back, but keep an eye on him. Don''t make it clear though; he seems to be aware of any surveince on him. I have a feeling he will bring us more surprises in the future, but whether they would be good or not, I don''t know."

 Chapter 59 Chapter 59 Last Day Of Training

    "Again." Lucas nced at Wally who was breathing loudly like a dog that had just run a mile.

    After the interrogation at the Red Fangs station and making a report of the event that day, Lucas was sent back to his store the following day. At the store, he resumed his usual daily activities, which were improving his skill, calcting and testing out the feasibility of his idea, and finally, training Wally O''Connor.

    The duo were inside the white room that was very spacious. The walls and flooring of the room were designed with criss-crossed ck lines, just like a grid, giving the entire ce a weird feel.

    The ground floor of the Seven Sparks Forge building had four rooms: the work-station, the lobby for attending to guests, a restroom and finally, this white room which was called the Simtion room.

    The Simtion room was the strangest ce in the entire store after the system''s renovation; it was even more fascinating than the workshop, a fact Lucas had a hard time admitting to.

    The special thing about this room was that one could change its appearance and even size. ording to the system''s description, it utilised advanced spatial maniption technology to be able to expand and contract the size within the room. Whenbined with top-of-the-line illusory and simtion technology, the Simtion room could be changed to replicate any environment.

    Due to the sturdy nature of the room, it was the best ce to test out the power of vestiges as well as to carry out Wally''s training.

    Wally held a spear in his hand as he wiped the sweat on his face. Compared to other spears, the vestige he had was lighter and more slender. But one shouldn''t be deceived by its appearance as the weapon was as deadly as a Grade 1 spear.

    Grade 1 was the limit of vestiges students could use for the mid-term practicals. As the students were still at the Body Strengthening stage, it made no difference what Grade they would use as even the most talented of them would at best disy a level one ster practitioner''s strength with even a Grade 3 vestige.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Since there was no difference in power, it was best for everyone to be limited to the same grade of vestiges, as a difference would now mean relying on the equipment; after all, in terms of structural integrity, a Grade 3 vestige was more durable than a Grade 1.

    With a cap to the grade of vestiges allowed, Lucas made Wally''s vestige to be exactly at that grade. However, it was much stronger than the average Grade 1 vestiges and the ster energy within the runes was even purer. At face value, it was definitely a Grade 1 vestige, but the power one could exert with it was closely approaching Grade 2.

    "Even though you''re allowed to use vestiges for the practicals, you shouldn''t depend too much on them." Lucas said as he nced at Wally who was still trying to recover.

    While thetter had a spear in his hands, Lucas was unarmed.

    This was natural, after all Wally''s opponent was a 530+ years old former Grand Magician who had engaged in intensive physical training too. Even though he wasn''t on par with his past life''s peak, for Wally who was still at the third level of the Body Strengthening stage, it was enough.

    Wally stood up and nodded. He didn''t charge in right away, but calmed his beating heart and stared at Lucas like a calctive hunter.

    ''This kid... he''s definitely something.'' Lucas thought as he smiled.

    "Come."

    Just as the words left Lucas'' mouth, Wally abruptly lunged at him with the spear aimed for Lucas'' neck.

    With a slight smile, Lucas stepped to the side and tapped the shaft of the spear with two fingers.

    The spear suddenly moved to the side and Wally almost lost control of it. Instead of resisting this change, Wally flowed with it and moved the spear in the direction of the force, making a full circle at the spot and sweeping the spear at Lucas.

    Lucas was unperturbed by this attempt as he bent low and let the spear just sweep above him. Having been fed up with dealing with attacks, he delivered a kick right away, forcing Wally to block with the spear''s shaft.

    *Bang*

    The kick didn''t have Lucas'' full strength, but it was still on par with a fourth level Body Strengthening stage, and almost forced Wally back. However, the teen was already experienced with such powerful attacks from Lucas. He didn''t even budge as he retaliated, firing a punch at Lucas with his left hand.

    Lucas retreated while taking back his foot, but Wallg followed up right away. His attacks with the vestige was almost like the wings of a hummingbird, shing rapidly at Lucas.

    What looked like one strike would be two or three thrusts, aiming different locations in a bid to minimise Lucas'' range of motion.

    The attacks intensified so much that Lucas was nearly having a difficult time with them. After days of intensive training, Wally could now concurrentlyunch five thrusts with the vestige each time he made a move.

    Once Lucas tried to widen the gap, Wally would chase right after him. Even when Lucas had prepared a counterattack just for that, Wally would block with the spear before attacking with his left fist. Lucas would then be forced to either block or dodge, giving Wally enough time to attack with the spear again, resuming the same relentless assault strategy.

    This resulted in a situation were Lucas was forced to stay on his toes as any slight rpse in concentration would lead to his defeat.

    "I guess this is enough for a warm-up." Lucas suddenly said.

    Wally was startled by this, but almost immediately his muscles tensed.

    ''It''sing.'' Wally thought.

    This wasn''t the first time something like this happened. It was about two days ago. Wally had made massive improvements and could force Lucas to be on the defense for over thirty minutes. Although it was mostly because Lucas was holding back and fighting only with the strength of a fourth level Body Strengthening stage practitioner without a vestige, it was still impressive.

    However, Lucas became dissatisfied and burst out with more power. He was still using the strength of a fourth level Body Strengthening stage practitioner, but the skill and expertise with which he did so made it difficult for Wally to be able to react and he was beaten ck and blue soon after.

    In the end, Wally''s training became as such: the first half would be made up of him suppressing Lucas until thetter had ''warmed up'', following which it would be Wally''s turn to take a beating.

    ''Here!''

    Although he was still forcing Lucas to remain dodging on the defence, Wally noticed the air around him change.

    At the start, Lucas could be described to be giving off the air of a friendly sparring partner who was just trading blows with him, but with no intention of causing severe harm. However, when he had turned serious, the Lucas before him would be an oppressive and formidable beast that could rip him in shreds within a few seconds.

    It was almost as if what he was facing was no longer a human, but a bloodthirsty creature that had survived in the wild and knew thews of the jungle; silent but deadly, and seizing any and every opportunity it got within a split second.

    Just after Wally hadunched a barrage of thrusts and was about to attack again, he saw a fist shing in front of him.

    Wally was stunned by the speed of the attack, but he didn''t lose his cool as this wasn''t the first time such had happened. Instead, he hurriedly retreated while moving his head to his right.

    Grasping his vestige tightly, Wally was about to attack and seize back his momentum, but a kick suddenly appeared at the edge of his right eye''s vision, aimed for his head that had tilted to the right.

    Gritting his teeth, Wally forced his body to react quickly as he ced the spear in between him and the outstretched leg, blocking the attack. But that wasn''t all.

    A fist appeared from his left side, aimed his chest. Wally''s two hands were upied as they held the vestige in resisting the kick, so he was left open.

    *Bam*

    The fist connected and Wally spewed out a bit of saliva with his eyes bulging in pain.

    Even after seeing this, Lucas didn''t hold back in his attacks as he pummelled Wally right away. This beating, ah, training session, went on for five more minutes before Lucas stopped.

    "You managed to handle two attacks this time. That''s quite good." Lucas praised.

    However, Wally''s mouth twitched at those words. Who would be satisfied with just blocking two kicks while getting pounded like yam for five minutes straight?

    "Your practicals begin next week right? That''s in two days." Lucas suddenly asked.

    "Yeah." Wally barely responded.

    "Alright. You don''t need toe tomorrow. Take a break and get your body in peak form. You can go now." Enjoy new chapters from empire

    "...alright." Wally nodded before dragging his weakened body out of the simtion room.

    Lucas nced at the youngster who was leaving with a mysterious look on his face.

    Wally might have taken it to be him letting out his frustrations, but the beating was still part of the training. Lucas had only been training Wally four hour sessions for barely five days, but in this time, Wally had shown so much progress that Lucas thought him to be inhumane.

    Lucas had initially raised the bar high, starting with a fourth level Body Strengthening stage degree of power while using only five percent of his skills. But within three days, Wally had actually managed to force him to remain on the defence. Although part of that had to do with the fact that Wally was armed with a vestige while he wasn''t, it was still incredible.

    To prevent being disgraced, Lucas decided to asionally use ten percent of his skill when things got a bit risky, and in just two days, Wally had managed to react to two strikes of his. If he was a bit stronger physically, he might have blocked the third attack.

    ''Is this a hyuman thing or is this kid a genius?''

 Chapter 60 Chapter 60 The Mid-Term Practical Test

    In Eretre, the education system was somewhat different from that of Earth, but roughly the same as the standard in the others of the Federation. This has to do with the fact that there was a lot more to study thanks to hyumankin''s intergctic exploration and expansion, and also because of the presence of ster energy and the art of refinement.

    Education in the Federation was divided into three paths: Civil, Technical and Practical. The Civil path was the standard path and one of the mostmon. It included mostly art majors and social sciences such as history,nguages, politics, economics, and mostly theoretical knowledge like pure mathematics.

    The Technical path focused on the more hands-on majors like engineering, vestige-smithing, nuclear studies, and so on.

    As for the Practical path, it was one of the most aspired, but relied heavily on natural talent. It was aimed at raising ster practitioners who would either be frencers, private workers or work for the government. Experience tales with empire

    While someprehensive schools -institutions that taught all paths- did exist, they usually focused more on one path than the others. For instance, Wally''s high school, the Greendale Highschool, was a Technical school, but they offeredprehensive courses in the Civil and Practical paths. Such an institution was referred to as aprehensive school with the opposite being a ''pure'' school.

    The Bands City-state had a couple of high schools and colleges, but very few ''pure'' ones. The term ''pure'' simply referred to institutes that ced their entire focus on only one path, specialising solely in it rather than offeringprehensive courses.

    It was every student''s dream to attend such a school as the teaching standards and education offered was much higher and better thenprehensive schools. However, such institutions had high standards, were more expensive, and difficult to get into.

    But there was a shortcut to getting into one. If the student''s high school or previous institution of education was a subsidiary of a pure school, as long as they did well, they could get a letter of rmendation to get into the pure school.

    The Greendale Highschool was aprehensive school subsidiary to the pure college, the Greendale School of Refiners. This made it somewhat easier for students of the high school to get into the college; but to do so, one had to show promising talent in vestige-smithing, craftsmanship and engineering, as the college was one on the Technical path.

    This seemed somewhat unfair to students of other paths who studied in the high school, as such, the mid-term and final term practicals were brought about. These were a series of tests used to quantify a student''s talent, skill and performance, which would then be recorded in the student''s data folder.

    When a student applies for college, apart from the entrance examination, the college would take into factor the information from the student data folder from their high school.

    For students who dreamed of the Practical path, the term practical tests in their final year of high school was the most important, as that was when their ability as a ster practitioner would be tested. They only had one mid-term and final term practical tests, so failing even one would be disastrous.

    As for those of the Civil Path, their performance would usually be tested in the previous mid-term and final term practical tests. As for the Technical path, it was regrly tested, after all, the Greendale Highschool focused on the Technical path.

    Wally was currently in his final year of high school, making him a senior. It was time for the mid-term practical tests -the first deciding test for a student who dreamed of the Practical path.

    Truth be told, Wally wasn''t a fan of battles and fights, rather much preferring to sit behind a desk while working on a spreadsheet, or spend his time reading webnovels. However, his family''s circumstances weren''t the best to speak of. Although both his parents were working, and even his older sister had a job too, they could only live an average life in West Wing district.

    West Wing district bordered the Wastnds, so it was a ce frequented by frencers a lot. In recent years, the cost of living has begun to steadily increase. As such, the more sessful individuals here were people whose job was rted to deste beasts or frencers. Unfortunately, of the three working adults in the family of five, none of them worked in the appropriate sector.

    All three were busy most of the time, and barely had time to spend with Wally and his little brother.

    To give his family a morefortable life, Wally''s best option was to be a frencer. As luck would have it, he had a better mDNA count than the rest of his family members, and his m(o)DNA concentration of 15% meant that he had a good chance of reaching the third level of the Apertures Opening stage, which was the level of a veteran frencer.

    But to be able to reach such a level, Wally had to work on his potential as early as possible. A pure school of the Practical path was the best option for him. The mid-term and final term practical tests were the tforms Wally needed, and he had to make the best of them.

    "Yo, Wally. Been a while." A young boy roughly the same age as Wally greeted.

    "Oh, Astar. It''s you." Wally replied.

    Astar was one of Wally''s few friends in high school. They both bonded easily and had been friends ever since their sophomore years [1].

    "What''s gotten into you? You haven''t been to sses the past few days and you''re already looking lost." Astar asked worriedly.

    "Nothing much. Just been training." Wally smiled.

    Before any of the practical tests, the academy usually gives the students a two weeks break from mandatory lectures. During this period, students are free toe to sses or not. The whole point of the break is to give them time to prepare themselves for the test.

    Wally had been practicing with Astar at school during the first week, but in the second week, he started his training with Lucas at the Seven Sparks Forge store.

    "Oh, that''s good." Astar felt d. "How do you feel about this time''s tests?"

    "I can''t really say. I just did my best to prepare."

    "Is that a vestige?" Astar pointed at the wrapped item Wally held with his right hand.

    "Yeah." Wally smiled.

    "Wow. So cool. How did you get that? Can I see it?" Astar became intrigued.

    A vestige was costly and not anyone could afford it. Even if one could, buying it had strict requirements. They were highschoolers, making it almost impossible for them to own a vestige unless they had some sort of connections.

    Astar knew a bit about Wally''s situation which was why he was surprised that thetter had a vestige with him. It should be noted that Astar also had a vestige.

    "I had to make a deal with the owner." Wally awkwardly replied.

    Astar suddenly grabbed Wally and shook him furiously.

    "Are you alright?! It''s not those kinds of deals where you sell your organs or be abrat, is it?"

    "N-no. Nothing of the sort." Wally hurriedly calmed his best friend.

    While the two continued catching up and discussing the tests, amotion broke out behind them. They were at the assembly hall of the school, and every final year student was supposed to be gathered here. The other years had their gathering location.

    Turning to the scene of themotion, Wally and Astar discovered that it was due to the appearance of three students simr to them; two boys and a girl.

    "The heavenly trio have arrived." Astar muttered mysteriously.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Wally''s eyes glistened as he took notice of the trio.

    The Heavenly Trio was a special nickname given to the top three students of their year, who also happened to be the top 3 students of the academy. Not only were they well versed with Technical and Civil courses, but their Practical path skills were the best of everyone else.

    It was also rumoured that their mDNA count was ahead of the others and their m(o)DNA concentration could even match up with some of the top frencers today.

    All three students were judged to have enough potential to reach the fourth level at least, and even possibly charge for the sixth level. Compared to Wally whose limit would be the third level of the Apertures Opening stage even after using serums, they were on a different ne.

    Every student envied them while the teachers looked up to them. In time, these three would be popr names in the frencermunity.

    ''I shouldn''t think too much.'' Wally shook his head.

    Unlike the trio, he wasn''t born ''blessed'', so he had to keep his dreams close to the ground. Reaching the second or third level and earning a decent amount of money was all he wished for.

    ''And to achieve that, I have to do my best.''

    After a short while, all the final year students of Greendale Highschool had arrived at the assembly hall. A few minutester, the dean alongside a few other teachers arrived at the stage.

    Once the dean stood on the podium, the students turned quiet, awaiting the opening speech.

    "As you all know, this is the mid-term practical tests. I''d like to rify to you all that this isn''t the same as the previous practical tests you''ve had before. Not only would the mid-term not be held on school grounds, but your opponents would be bloodthirsty deste beasts. This is a very important test that would define the future for many of you here.

    Although it is targeted at those walking the Practical path, I sincerely hope that the rest of you still give it your all. This is a matter of your student data folder, which is of immeasurable value to you all. Do your best, but consider your safety foremost. With that well said, you may proceed to the test venue."

 Chapter 61 Chapter 61 Greendale Highschools Practical Tests

    The Greendale Highschool''s term practical tests were the most important evaluation exercises for the students, as the results of these tests would go into their student data folder.

    The Student Data Folder (SDF), was a digital folder that contained the performance of a student in all previously attended institutions. One could think of it like a r¨¦sum¨¦ for students.

    For the students of Greendale Highschool, the mid and final term practical exercises were very important, not just because they would be inputted into their data folders, but that the high school was a subsidiary of a pure college. As such, it''s evaluation was taken even more seriously.

    It should be noted that the term practical tests weren''t always ''practical'' in nature and could simply be a quiz or a written exam.

    For the first years, or freshmen, their mid-term and final term practical tests were written exams focused more on courses of the Civil path with the other two paths taking lower stances.

    The second year''s (Sophomore year) term practical tests focused primarily on courses of the Technical path, a bit on the Civil path, and the Practical path barely taking up much space. Much like the first year''s term exercises, they were also theoretical.

    The third year''s (junior year) term practical tests were slightly moreplicated. The mid-term practical tests were an equal mix of Technical path and Civil path questions, but the final term practical tests were a mix of exercises from the Technical path and Practical path. However, unlike the first and second years, the third year''s term practical tests were hands-on exercises.

    The Technical path tests involved maintenance and repair of some technological equipment and vestiges. The Civil path tests were questions that required intense reasoning and knowledge on the application of the various topics. As for the Practical path tests, they were sparring sessions against fellow students.

    The fourth and final year''s term practical tests were focused on the application of the knowledge rued from the past years.

    For the mid-term practical tests, the students would take two tests. The first was a written examination on the Practical path. The written test would gauge their knowledge about various deste beasts, how to deal with them and how to identify resources in the wild.

    After that, they would be shipped to a designated region for the second test, where the students would have to survive three days against deste beasts. Survival was only one aspect of this test, as they were expected to hunt down the beasts in exchange for points.

    "Damn. I''ve never written a test so hard." Astar looked downtrodden after exiting the examination hall with two other boys his age.

    "Tell me about it." Wally, who was beside him, sighed. He nced at the boy by his side, who looked much better and relieved than himself.

    "How did you do, Klein?"

    The third boy, Klein, was a mutual friend of Astar and Wally. The trio made a clique and were quite simr to the other, one way or the another. While Astar and Wally became friends in their second year, Klein was a longtime friend of Wally since their first year.

    "Hmm, I think I''ve decided on what I want to do in the future." Klein suddenly said.

    Although confused by the statement, Wally asked, "What''s that?"

    "I''m going to give up on being a frencer and just take after my dad''s shop." Klein responded.

    ''Yeah, he''s fucked up too.''

    Wally and Astar thought at the same time.

    "Let''s look at the bright side. The written part only ounts for thirty percent of the final scores. The survival test is what matters most." Wally tried to cheer his colleagues up.

    "True, but it still won''t be easy. This time around, out opponents are deste beasts. Any small rpse and we could die." Klein said seriously.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "I don''t think the academy would let that happen. There should be some security measures in ce for us." Astar countered.

    Klein nodded, but he still argued the statement.

    "True, but what if they don''te in y at the right moment? What if something goes wrong? Or something out of the ordinary urs? Let''s not forget, we signed a possible death contract before the practical tests. Also, idents have happened before."

    The trio recalled that during their freshman year, the final term practical tests for the then senior years had ended with a mishap. Usually, the Practical path aspect of the mid-term and final term tests for senior years was to hunt and survive against deste beasts in a designated zone.

    The zone would have been secured by the academy and made safe, in the sense that there would be a limit of the strength and number of monsters -just enough to make sure they don''t die. However, a mistake had happened back then.

    Apparently, the zone prepared for the Practical path trials for the senior years was secretly harbouring a third level deste beast. For the high school students, who were usually at the peak of Body Strengthening stage or the first level of the Apertures Opening stage in theirst semester, a third level beast was an opponent they could not beat, even with a Grade 3 vestige.

    That incident had resulted in ten students dying before the academy swiftly took the monster down. And this was with the academy responding almost immediately. If the deste beast was left to roam the field a bit more, at least half of the students would have died then.

    "Well, not like we can bail out now so what use is there in worrying." Astar shrugged.

    "If we work as a team, we should be safe. Even if we encounter a first level deste beast, taking it down shouldn''t be too much of a challenge. Escaping would be even more easier." Wally said.

    The other two nodded as he was right.

    The Greendale Highschool didn''t prevent students from teaming up during the tests, but what mattered in the end was one''s points. Points couldn''t be shared and only the student who gave the final hit would take it. As such, teaming up was an urrence only for students who weren''t confident in their skills and strength.

    For the geniuses and talented ones, they would rarely team up together unless their target was strong. Like for instance, ate rank first level deste beast, which was the strongest grade of monster found during the trials.

    A short while after, all three hundred or so students of the senior ss were done with the written aspect of the mid-term practical test. They were then guided by their teachers to arge vehicle that was hovering in the parking lot.

    The vehicle looked like a reallyrge bus with a ''nose'' just like an airne. It was also wide but shaped like a cylinder. This was a Sare shuttle [1], the typical vehicles used by frencers in dangerous regions. However, this one was muchrger and could carry up to five hundred people at once.

    For the less than four hundred students of the senior ss, along with some teachers and frencers for security reasons, the vehicle was more than enough.

    When every required party had boarded the vehicle, it lifted off and zed towards it destination: the Bayena ins.

 Chapter 62 Chapter 62 Bayena Plain

    Eretre has four continents with thirteen city-states spread across them. The Groeten continent had five city-states, of which Bands city-state was one of them.

    However, the territories of all five city-states only added up to roughly sixty percent (60%) of the continent''sndmass, averaging twelve percent (12%) per city-state. The remaining forty percent were upied by deste beasts, with the Wastnds being thergest of them all. It was rumoured that the Wastnds was equivalent to twenty percent of the continent''sndmass, the estimated.

    The remaining twenty percent were various other danger zones and arid regions devoid of civilisation. They were upied by deste beasts, abominations and banished individuals.

    The Bayena in was one such region. It was home to a few deste beasts and abominations. Abominations were strange creatures that weren''t deste beasts, but they couldn''t be defined as an alien civilisation either.

    Abominations weren''t exactly a species, but a general term used to define a group of monsters.

    Once upon a time, the Oklo Dynasty as well as some other powers had conducted experiments on deste beasts. There were also some underground organisations and terrorist groups who experimented on hyumans, humans and other intelligent lifeforms in a bid to produce something novel and powerful.

    However, all the experiments, whether they be those by the legal authorities or the illegal factions, all ended in failure and resulted  in the creation of abominations.

    Compared to deste beasts, abominations were much weaker and usually used as training targets. As they bordered between intelligent lifeforms and deste beasts, abominations were a more challenging opponent. But their weak ster energy prowess made them less dangerous than their deste beasts counterpart, which was why abominations were seen as good training dummies.

    The Bayena in was a well known hotspot for abominations and the average level of deste beast here was lower than the fourth level. Even the third level deste beasts were rare.

    "That''s what the introduction manual says." Wally projected a document using a wristband-typemunicator.

    The students were still on the Sare and had yet to reach their drop-off point as it would take forty minutes from the academy. If they were using a light rail train, it would have been faster, but such a medium of transport was somewhat costly. Most especially, it was needless.

    While the students waited, many of them had already grouped themselves and were discussing the strategies they would take.

    "There are five levels in the Body Strengthening stage. The Flesh Refining level, Muscles Refining level, Bones Refining level, Organ Refining level, and the Blood Cleansing level."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Whoever named the levels of the Body Strengthening stage is reallyzy." Astar muttered, interrupting Wally''s briefing. Even though he knew the levels even before his freshman year, Astar was confident that he had a better naming sense than whoever did it.

    "Hey, hey, at least we didn''t get a Blood Refining level." Klein smiled.

    "That''s enough." Wally sighed at his friends who had interrupted him just to crack a joke.

    "As I was saying, apart from the first three levels, we get points for killing abominations from the fourth level and above, and deste beasts. 1 point for an Organ Refining level abomination, 3 points for a Blood Cleansing level abomination or deste beast. 5 points for abominations at the first level, but 10 points for deste beasts.

    15 points for abominations at the peak of the first level and 20 points for deste beasts on the same level. 30 for abominations at the second level and 50 points for deste beasts at the second level.."

    Deste beasts were born at the peak of the Body Strengthening stage, unlike hyumans and humans who have to strive for that level. In fact, this situation wasmon in other alien species. Hyumankin and the human race were much weaker inparison.

    As for why there was a stark difference in point between deste beasts and abominations at the same level, this has to do with the fact that deste beasts were stronger and had more ster energy than abominations; even though thetter had more fighting patterns.

    "It''s advised not to go after second level deste beasts though." Wally added.

    "Of course we know that. The addition of second level beasts to the scoring system is probably due to the Heavenly Trio." Astar sighed.

    "Indeed. The academy is probably trying to spur them to go all out." Kleinid out his thoughts.

    "Regardless. That has nothing to do with us. We should set our sights on the peak Body Strengthening stage monsters and first level. We all have vestiges so it should be okay to handle those." Wally said.

    "Let''s use this time to get ourselves together and rest. The test wouldst for three days after all."

    With that said, the briefing came to an end. There were still murmurs and whisperings here and there, but the trio tried to not concern themselves about it. They did some final checks for their supplies and decided to rest for the remainder of the journey.

    Twenty minutester, the Sare shuttle had finally reached the drop-off location in the Bayena in.

    "The test officially begins today. Students, you have 72 hours to survive in the wild and rue at least twenty points, otherwise, you will be determined to have failed this try. I wish you good luck."

    One of the teachers in charge of this trip said.

    ''Twenty points. That''s twenty abominations at the fourth level of the Body Strengthening stage, the Organ Refining level. Or two deste beasts of the first level of the Apertures Opening stage. Even if one is going for the easiest method, three days should be enough.'' Wally thought.

    ''But that''s not enough. I''ll do my best and shine as much as possible in this. I don''t only have my family depending on me, but Mr Lucas. He''s put so much faith in me; I can''t just end this with a mediocre score.''

    "Wally, let''s go." Astar''s voice sounded, waking him up from his thoughts.

    "Hmm."

 Chapter 63 Lucas Retaliation

    "I finally have enough time to work on this now."

    Lucas smiled as he stared at the skeletal framework that was arranged in front of him.

    During thest couple of days, Lucas had spent at least four hours a day training Wally. This was to ensure that thetter would perform well, especially with the vestige he had made for him. However, this has led to a drop in Lucas'' working time.

    Lucas'' time was usually spent researching the vestige-smith art, calcting and simting the two major projects he had in mind, and improving his skill. Anyone of the activities would consume a lot of time, and with him spending not less than four hours a day on Wally, it made Lucas tight for him.

    With the training cycle over, Lucas finally felt relieved.

    ''It would have been nice if this test were a couple of months, or at least weeks away. I would have had a prototype ready by then.''

    Lucas sighed. But when he recalled that there was still a final term practical test, he wasn''t as bothered.

    There were currently two projects Lucas was working on: the first has to deal with his security. Lucas has been worried about how to go about exploring other ces and surviving dangerous encounters against other hyumans who were at the Apertures Opening stage.

    Although he had the Bronze Grade card, it was a one-time usage item with a time limit, and Lucas didn''t want to have the fate of his life lie in such an item.

    The second project he was working on, was something that would possibly redefine the vestige-smithing society. It was the new equipment Lucas nned to create to make a name for himself and seize a part of the market. He could still remember the system''s mission to have received one hundred customers before the month was over.

    After working for five straight hours, Lucas decided to take a break. But even during his break, he was still working, at least mentally.

    ''Toplete both projects, I would need a powerful control unit or CPU. The more advanced it is, the better. But unfortunately, I can''t make those.'' Lucas thought.

    What he was trying to build wasn''t something that could simply be described as a weapon any longer, so the requirements for it were... special. Sadly, Lucas couldn''t create the entire parts himself and would need to outsource some of them, particrly the most importantponent, the CPU. However, it was not just an ordinary CPU but a ster processor.

    When the usage of ster energy became more popr, technology was simrly influenced. The profession of vestige-smithing also came to be.

    A misconception by some was that vestiges were all weapons, but this was wrong. Even the two factions -the Multiplex and the Forger factions- were just branches in the weapons department of vestige-smithing. Vestige-smithing went beyond just making weapons, to reshaping technology.

    It was to the point that the lines of differentiation between it and engineering were so blurred, that one could mistake them to be the same.

    When a technology was made without the utilisation of ster energy, it was simply an engineering technology. However, when ster energy was used, either as a power source or an important integral of its operation, it became a vestige. Inyman''s terms, a vestige was a technology made with ster energy in mind.

    Apart from themon weapon vestige-smiths, there were also all other types of vestige-smiths. For instance, there were the vestige-smiths who built the light rail trains and sare shuttles. There were those who made consumer tech and even security tech.

    However, the most popr branch of vestige-smithing, apart from the weapons branch, was the school of vestige-smithing known as the School of Analytical Reasoning, with the leading faction being the Methodical faction.

    The School of Analytical Reasoning was the most popr branch of vestige-smiths, together with the weapons branch, because they made a very importantponent that almost all engineers and vestige-smiths couldn''t do without -ster processors.

    Ster processors were Central Processing Units (CPUs) or microprocessors made using ster energy as a very importantponent.

    Compared to typical processors, they were more powerful, could handle more intensive tasks, and were very fast. Most interster spaceships and even hover cars were powered with a ster processor at the control unit, which was exactly why the Methodical faction was the most popr vestige-smith faction.

    "System, I''m supposed to be a Crafts-God, but there''s no training manual to be a ster processor vestige-smith. What''s with that?"

    "Host is clearly a bit slow." The system responded.

    "The difficulty of making ster processors is on par with a Grade 4 vestige. As host currentlycks the ability to make such, you shouldn''t even be considering this."

    Lucas'' lips twitched, at the response as he had a sudden urge to curse the system. It could have passed the message in a much nicer way than that, but clearly, it refused to do so. Sometimes, Lucas was convinced that the system had emotions, despite its dispassionate tone of speaking.

    "Hey owner, get the fuck out right now!"

    A loud voice sounded from the lobby.

    Lucas was surprised that someone was causing trouble, after all, he had lived a somewhat quiet life here. As he left the work-station, Lucas tried to think of anyone who would do such, and only one party came to mind, but that was even more unbelievable.

    At the entrance of the store, three men stood and stared at Lucas as he walked into the lobby from the work-station. They all had menacing looks on their faces, and two of them held batons in their hands. Seated in front of them was another individual with a hat, one whom Lucas found to be familiar.

    "We meet again." The man with a hat spoke up.

    "To my disliking, yes." Lucas replied.

    The man was the second level Apertures Opening stage who had confronted Lucas the day he came back to the store from the Wastnds. From what Lucas knew, the man was ackey of Ramirez, the underground boss who had his eyes on thend the Seven Sparks Forge was set on.

    "You thought having the Red Fangs know about our little matter could save you?" The man smirked.

    "You''re too ignorant. Not to talk of the fact that the Red Fangs base is in the Central Prefecture, the West Wing district is Ramirez''s home; it''s our backyard. Even if those Fang fellows leave a few guards to monitor your surroundings or investigate that suspicious attack, there are many ways for us to go around them or to draw them away."

    "To what do I owe this visit?" Lucas calmly asked as he took a seat opposite the man.

    One of the men behind, the one without a baton, walked forward with a bottle of wine and a ss. He carefully handed the ss to the man with a hat and then poured a bit of wine into it.

    "Ah. Refreshing." The man said after taking a sip of the wine.

    "Regarding my visit, I think you can easily guess it. My boss is interested in meeting you."

    "I''m quite busy, so I''ll have to decline." Lucas waved his hand.

    "Busy?" The man smiled as he nced around, implying that the store was anything but that.

    "You wouldn''t know anything." Lucas ignored his scornful attitude.

    The man with the hat couldn''t help but chuckle. He wasn''t just dumbfounded by Lucas'' response, but most importantly, his behaviour. Despite being a human, Lucas showed no signs of fear even when confronted by a second level Apertures Opening stage ster practitioner.

    As he thought about this, the man couldn''t help but keepughing.

    "Haha. Haha. Haha."

    *Bang*

    The wine ss in his hand abruptly exploded as hisughter came to an end.

    The man in the hat narrowed his eyes at Lucas as he said, "I wasn''t asking for your permission."N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The two men behind, who held a baton in their hands, walked up and came to Lucas'' side. They red at him and radiated a bloodthirsty air as the grip on their weapons tightened. With such an overbearing nature, their peak Body Strengthening stage aura was on full disy.

    Even without saying a word, it was obvious that they were signalling for Lucas to leave with them; otherwise, they would let loose and attack him right away.

    "So, kidnapping?" Lucas raised an eyebrow.

    "It''s not your first experience, but it won''t end as before." The man calmly replied.

    Lucas'' eyes glistened. The man''s response seemed to hint that the trio he met when he first came into this world were rted to them, and the man was aware that Lucas had dealt with them.

    "I''m honestly tired of so much killing. It''s barely been a month, and I already have this much blood on my hands. Why must you force my hand?" Lucas sighed.

    The two by his side didn''t hesitate to strike with their batons right away. They had been informed that Lucas was at least on par with a fourth level Body Strengthening stage practitioner, which is the Organ Refining level. He was more likely to be at the peak level of the Body Strengthening stage, which was the Blood Cleansing level, the same as themselves.

    With that being the case, it would take them going all out and cooperating well enough to be able to take down Lucas without being injured. Any hesitation on their side would result in a disastrous result, even with the second level Apertures Opening stage practitioner on their side.

    Their batons swung at Lucas, smashing through the air with great force as they headed for Lucas.

    Even with the iing threat, Lucas remained calm and maintained his sight on the man in the hat. He ignored the duo attacking him to the point that one would have to ask whether Lucas failed to sense the iing threat or he was just dumb.

    ''Idiot.''

    Both fighters sneered at him. Even if Lucas was at the first level of the Apertures Opening stage, trying to tank two full-powered hits from peak Body Strengthening stage practitioners aimed at his head, was almost nothing short of suicide. Even if he didn''t end up with his brain mushed, Lucas would suffer a severe concussion and be unable to retaliate.

    *Bang*

    The two batons connected with their target without fail, but the result astonished all sides, except Lucas.

    There was no sign of damage nor any reaction from their target. Even his head remained in the same position, not moving a slight inch.

    "How..." One of the attackers couldn''t help but exim.

    In the very next second, all four intruders went speechless as Lucas'' voice sounded

    "That tickles."

    Both men were simultaneously embarrassed and infuriated as they took back their weapons and swung at Lucas again. However, even if the attacks would cause no damage to him, Lucas had no intention of acting as a punching bag for the duo.

    He moved forward and dodged the two swings, then stretched out his hand towards the two.

    "Retrieve."

    A pair of daggers mysteriously appeared in Lucas'' two hands, and unlike the weapons of the two attackers, they were vestiges.

    The timing of the daggers'' appearance was such that as Lucas stretched out his hands, they appeared and stabbed into the two attackers.

    The two men had not expected Lucas to retaliate. Considering the previous shock from their first attempt, they were too enraged to evaluate the possibility of their prey attacking them. This led to a w in their attacks, a w that Lucas had targeted and sessfully clinched.

    "You..."

    "Ahhh."

    The two men now had vestiges stuck on their chests, just a few centimetres away from their heart. Regardless, the damage was dealt and they were in severe pain and desperate straits.

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    But Lucas wasn''t satisfied with just a stab alone. He gritted his teeth and tightly gripped the daggers, dragging them horizontally and widening the wound.

    The two attackers only had the chance to let out a mournful scream before they fell to the floor with blood flowing from their wounds almost like a stream.

    "Interesting. I underestimated you a bit, but this is all you can amount to."

 Chapter 64 Suppression

    "Interesting. I underestimated you somewhat, but this is all you will be achieving today."

    The man in the hat said as he slowly stood up from his seat.

    Even with the twockeys he brought lying dead on the floor, he showed no sign of remorse for them. It was as if they were nothing more than insects who had served their purpose and died.

    "I hope you can entertain me a bit, or I''d have to take back some interest." The man chuckled as he took off his hat.

    It was then that Lucas realised that the man was bald. However, theck of hair wasn''t the most startling reveal; rather, it was the jarring scar on his spotless head.

    Lucas didn''t have enough time to study the blemish, as the man had abruptly appeared in front of him with a wide grin on his face.

    A fist appeared in Lucas'' field of view, and he could barely respond to it as it connected with his abdomen.

    *Bam*

    Lucas released a low grunt as he was forced back by the attack. The pain was intense, and if it weren''t for the Host Protection Mechanism, he would have been dead.

    As for why he had been forced back, it was simply because Lucas had used the HPM''s passive mode, which would allow a certain degree of damage to take effect on him but not enough to injure or kill Lucas severely. The reason he had done so was that Lucas wanted to figure out the difference in pure strength between himself and a second level Apertures Opening stage ster practitioner.

    ''That really hurts.'' Lucas couldn''t help but frown.

    The second stage of Ster Refinement, the Apertures Opening stage, was supposed to focus on opening the apertures within a hyuman''s body, enabling them to store ster energy and increase their refinement speed. For every aperture opened, the practitioner would gain an extra storage ''tank'' and their refinement speed would increase by a varied percentage.

    This step in ster refinement was essential and unavoidable for hyumans as if they attempted to skip it, their progress speed in ster refinement would be very slow. It would be so dawdling that even with a thousand years of lifetime, it would be impossible to get to the fourth stage of ster refinement, the Sage or Moon Walker realm, irrespective of their mDNA count.

    Because the second stage, Apertures Opening stage, was focused on opening the body''s apertures, it was thought to be more focused on energy, with the increase in physical attributes being secondary. Despite this, Lucas felt that the casual blow from the man was on par with a peak Body Strengthening stage practitioner''s all-out punch.

    "Hmm? You''re uninjured." The man was surprised.

    He was confident that the force within his attack was enough to incapacitate, if not severely injure, an average peak Body Strengthening stage fighter. However, Lucas was still standing.

    Another thing which caught the man''s attention was that at the veryst second after the punch connected, he felt a strange sensation upon collision with Lucas'' body. While the man felt the entire force of the punch transfer over, at the same time, it felt like a majority of it disappeared. The feeling was fleeting, and the man wasn''t sure if he had made a mistake in his senses or something.

    Nheless, he wasn''t worried. The scarred man didn''t say another word as the air around him abruptly changed.

    Lucas, who had recovered from the previous hit, could sense something brooding in front of him. His instincts went crazy, informing him that there was great danger ahead.

    Lucas nced at the scarred man and noticed that, at some point, he now had a pole in his hands. Scrutinising the weapon, he found that there was a strange energy wrapped around it. Lucas wasn''t unfamiliar with this phenomenon.

    It was ster energy.

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    Until the tenth level, when Apertures Opening stage practitioners unlocked their innate superpower, most of thebat was physical. Although there were a few individuals who unlocked a hint of their superpower before the tenth level, for instance, the Red Fangs member Nafir, all battles weremonly done this way.

    Vestiges were used to supplement one''s attack power, while ster energy was used to boost one''s damage and power those vestiges.

    The vestige the scarred man had taken out was a Grade 2 vestige which was understandable as Grade 3 vestiges were costlier and could only be properly used by fourth level practitioners.

    *Whoosh*

    ''Full activation.''

    The pole,den with ster energy, swept through the air and struck towards Lucas. It was so fast that Lucas was only able to get one thought in before it appeared right in front of him.

    *Bam*

    The pole struck Lucas'' left arm, emitting a thud, but Lucas stood unaffected.

    The man was a bit stunned by this, but being a veteran at dealing with people, he didn''t drop his guard or slow down his pace as he unleashed another furious attack.

    The pole was immediately retrieved andshed out in the very next second, but this time, it was a thrust.

    The head of the pole once again connected with Lucas'' flesh, but there was neither any sign of harm nor a resultant effect from it. Well, there was one, which was the clothes Lucas had on being shredded at the targeted spot, but that aside, Lucas took no damage whatsoever.

    ''Interesting.'' The scarred man grinned horrifically.

    It was like a child seeing a new toy and couldn''t help but be attracted to it. Like a predator who had found tasty prey, the man stared down at Lucas. He relentlessly attacked with the pole, striking Lucas with every hit, but thetter remained firm even after the man had increased his force.

    On the other hand, Lucas was beginning to get frustrated. Just in terms of physical prowess alone, Lucas was greatlyckingpared to the man. In terms of pure strength, he wasn''t doing badly.

    Lucas had already summoned his craftsman gloves to amplify his strength, and with the added effect of the Host Retaliation function¡ªdue to the difference in strength between him and his attacker-, Lucas'' attacking power was somewhat equal. However, his speed and reaction were a notch slower. By the time Lucas had discerned the man''s attack, he could barely react in time.

    ''I need to make an opportunity.'' Lucas thought as he tried to dodge the man''s attacks but to no avail.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    There was a reason why the hyumankin were superior to the human race, and it was thanks to the difference in ster energy prowess. The gap between a first level Apertures Opening stage ster practitioner and a peak Body Strengthening stage practitioner was already massive, much less when the former was a second level Apertures Opening stage ster practitioner.

    *Bam*

    Another strike from the polended on Lucas, but rather than the usual indomitable response, he was flung in the direction of the attack while coughing up a slight amount of blood.

    The active mode of the HPM would eradicate the force of any attack on him. While this was impressive, it prevented Lucas from being able to use the force of his opponent''s attacks to his advantage, like in retreating. So, Lucas had to deactivate the HPM''s active mode, bringing it back to its passive mode.

    There were two reasons for this, the first was to utilise his opponent''s attack to retreat, and the second was to create an illusion.

    ''It looks like whatever he''s been using is approaching its limit.'' The scarred man thought as he chased after Lucas.

    ''Retrieve.''

    Lucas swung his hand at the man while internally chanting the inventory keyword.

    A sword suddenly appeared in his hand, and it brandished its way towards the scarred man.

    The enemy wasn''t befuddled by the sudden appearance of a vestige. He had already noted that Lucas could summon items out of thin air from when he had taken down the other two men and with the gloves'' abrupt appearance. Such a technique wasn''t really special. It could be achieved with a piece of special equipment called a spatial vault.

    A spatial vault was an essory that contained a certain amount of space within it. It was very expensive, being equivalent to a Grade 4 vestige in terms of price; which meant that it would cost at least a breathtaking fifty thousand federal coins. It was very rare, and only a few amongst the top frencers, families and organisations had one.

    The only reason the scarred man knew about it was because he had once seen a famous frencer guild leader use it.

    Although he was surprised that Lucas had one, the scarred man was more pleased because it would be his if he took Lucas down.

    When the sword came his way, the man took a step back and easily dodged the de of the vestige with a smirk on his face. He followed up by swinging the pole at Lucas once again. The ster energy revolving around the pole was even more vibrant than before, and it had a deathly feel to it.

    The appearance of the vestige had ignited his greed, and the man wanted to end the battle quickly.

 Chapter 65 Lucas Versus The Scarred Man

    When Lucas swung the vestige for the first time, the scarred man dodged it without a hassle before brandishing his pole at Lucas. The ster energy revolving around the pole was even more vibrant than before and Lucas could sense a terrifying feel from the man.

    Previously, the opponent had been battling Lucas to find out his limit. However, the scarred man now intended to take him down right away.

    Even though he had managed to deceive the Red Fangs and snuck into the Seven Sparks Forge building, the man knew that it wouldn''t be long before the Red Fangs came back. At best, it would be within the next twenty minutes. Enjoy exclusive adventures from empire

    Seeing the pole encroach towards him, Lucas ignored it and shed his sword again.

    ''Stupid.'' The scarred man thought.

    Lucas had already coughed a bit of blood from thest strike, implying that he was already approaching his limit. With the strength of his attack raised a notch, it would be difficult for Lucas to tank the hit safely. So, ignoring the sword and pushing onward with his attack seemed to be the most logical course of action.

    However, the scarred man was quite cautious. He didn''t ignore Lucas'' strike just yet but grabbed at it with his other hand while channelling ster energy through it.

    The sword gave off the energy of a Grade 2 vestige, and in the hands of a peak Body Strengthening stage practitioner, it would demonstrate a first level Apertures Opening stage strength at best. Even if it were a bit stronger, it was still something that the scarred man could catch with his hand.

    But he was wrong.

    *Whoosh*

    "Ahhh!"

    The sword cut through the man''s hand, slicing off half his palm, including his five fingers. Thetter was stunned, and his eyes opened wide as he let out a horrifying scream.

    Because both attacks were at the same time, the man''s attack was still unaffected by this. On the contrary, it had reached Lucas at the same time. However, Lucas had already reactivated the Host Protection Mechanism''s active state and he only felt a slight itch from the pole strike.

    The pain from having his palm sliced in half prevented the man from responding in time, and Lucas made good use of that time. He quickly closed the small gap between them with a step forward and brandished his sword once again at the man.

    When the scarred man realised this, there was only one second left for him to respond. But that was on the condition Lucas let it be. After being suppressed for so long and finally finding an opportunity, there was no way Lucas would give him half a second to breathe, much less a full second.

    ''Die.''

    With eyes wide open, the scarred man could only express thoughts of regret and frustration as the vestige pierced through his chest. To make sure that he got his opponent in one hit, Lucas had aimed for the heart.

    "Ugh."

    The abrupt explosion of force, which destroyed his heart, affected the man''s blood flow, forcing him to spit out blood.

    As the life in his body rapidly drained out, the scarred man could only raise his eyes and stare venomously at Lucas. Never did he think that he would go down like this; so easily, so quickly, without even a chance at saying hisst words.

    Lucas pulled out the sword, letting blood stter on the store''s flooring as the man''s corpse fell to the ground.

    Peak Body Strengthening stage practitioners had strong vitality, and it was even more so for Aperture Opening stage ster practitioners. Usually, if they are stabbed by a de, they could still walk away from it, albeit with the degree of injury depending on the stab.

    Weapon-type vestiges were made with this in mind, which was why they were so lethal and made ster practitioners seem like average humans after getting stabbed by one.

    After recalling this fact, Lucas raised his head and nced at thest man standing; the fellow who stood behind the scarred man and served him.

    "Y, you. What do you want to do to me?" The man nervously asked as he took a step back.

    Lucas was tempted to kill him right away, but he held back. As it stood, Lucas didn''t know much about his opponent. All he knew was what Harry had told him, which was pretty much open information in the frencermunity. If he wanted to know more about Ramirez and his organisation, it would be best to interrogate one of them.

    Staring at the man who acted weak but had secretly slid his right hand behind to extract some type of weapon, Lucas abruptly made his move and knocked the fellow out before he could react.

    For Lucas, who had survived his very first life in a world filled with unscrupulous humans, entities and living beings, he was quite cautious and could tell between a coward and a sly individual.

    After knocking thest man out, Lucas tied him up and hid him in the work-station. This was the only ce in the store that no one could enter without his or the system''s permission. Following that, he gathered the three corpses and threw them into the furnace.

    The Red Fangs were already on to him and suspicious of his ability. This might not seem like a problem, but Lucas'' identity as a human was the issue.

    Lucas had recently learnt of something after his stay at the Red Fangs station. The various city-states, despite being ruled by the Oklo Dynasty, were somewhat independent and not exactly close friends or allies. It was even more so with Digress city-state.

    It had an isted identity, and most of the other eleven city-states (Oklo excluded), were on unfriendly terms with it and the others were basically neutral. Bands city-state just happened to be neutral, but it was leaning more on the opposite side, which was clearly obvious from how humans were treated in the city-state.

    If the Red Fangs found out that Lucas was stronger than a peak Body Strengthening stage practitioner, he would be suspected of being a spy from Digress city-state, as that was the only ce on the where humans who exceeded the Body Strengthening stage were found.

    If he was arrested on the grounds of being a spy, Lucas could kiss his freedom goodbye. And since he wasn''t even an actual spy, neither did he have any rtions with them, the Digress city-state would not be bothered to intervene for his sake.

    As such, Lucas wanted to erase as much suspicion as possible, and clearing the ''evidence'' was the best way possible. Although the city''s security footage might have caught the four gang members arriving inside his store, Lucas could just tantly bluff that he had no idea where they went.

    Within the store, the system was god, and as the host of the system, Lucas was the proxy of god. Lucas didn''t just possess immortality in the store; he could easily ''reset'' the store''s appearance. This would bring the Seven Sparks Forge to its initial state (the state after it got renovated).

    In other words, it would clear away every single footprint, thumbprint or traces, that might lead to suspicion.

    Right after doing all that, Lucas returned to the lobby and sat down. A tablet appeared in his hands, which was a store-maintained appliance. Just like the desktop on the checkout counter, it was a piece of equipment that came with the renovation.

    It wasn''t like amunicator and didn''t have many functions except aiding Lucas to monitor the store and control its various equipment no matter where he was.

    A few minutester, Lucas saw a Sare shuttle appear close to the Seven Sparks Forge. The shuttle looked fancy and didn''t have the usual space-shuttle design. Instead, it looked just like a sports car, but a bit bigger and without any tires.

    From the vehicle, a familiar duo stepped out and walked towards the store. They were the ''cops'', Nafir and Barry. This time around, the lieutenant, Lily, didn''t show up with them.

    *Cling*

    The sound of the bell hung by the door frame rang, signalling movement from the door.

    Lucas nced at the door''s direction after having put away the tablet into his inventory.

    "Oh, what a surprise. To what do I owe this visit?" Lucas calmly looked at the two men.

    "No visitors?" Barry asked as he nced around, not even bothering to greet.

    "Not exactly. Although business has been slow recently, I do have a few." Lucas answered.

    "What about the men that came in a while ago? Did they leave?" Nafir asked as he stared at Lucas.

    Lucas suddenly had a feeling that Nafir was using the same technique from his time at the Red Fangs base. However unlike then, Lucas was now in the Seven Sparks Forge. Any mental spell or technique applied to the host would always be deemed as a threat, so the Host Protection Mechanism disabled the technique.

    However, the HPM didn''t give any rebound or feedback to the attacker; it simply acted like a hidden cushion and absorbed an attack. So, Nafir wouldn''t notice that his technique failed. Nheless, Lucas had to respond properly, otherwise, Nafir would notice something out of the ordinary and be on alert.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

 Chapter 66 Monster Attack

    One day had gone by since Wally and the other senior year students of Greendale Highschool had arrived at the Bayena in.

    Thanks to the preparations by the academy''s staff, there was no recorded case of death, but there were injuries. This was inevitable, as the students were up against deste beasts for the first time in their lives.

    Although the strength cap of the beasts was at the second level of the Apertures Opening stage, the majority of the students were still at the peak of the Body Strengthening stage or below. Wally, for instance, was at the third level of the Body Strengthening stage.

    Against a first level Apertures Opening stage deste beast or abomination, he would likely end up severely injured, and if not for the security measures by the academy, killed.

    It was for this reason that Greendale Highschool didn''t prevent forming teams between students with no limit to their number. Nheless, they still prioritised thest hit on the monster to be the receiver of the points. In this way, the academy was testing the students'' team-working capabilities and leadership abilities.

    As for the absurd gap in strength between the mainstream students and the peak limit of deste beasts and abominations, it was just as Astar had said¡ªthese monsters existed to test the strength of the top three students who had already reached the peak of the Body Strengthening stage.

    For the Heavenly Trio, as they were called, they could take on a first level Apertures Opening stage abomination with a vestige in hand. If they worked together, it might be possible to face a second level Apertures Opening stage deste beast.

    Due to this, the academy had only let in one second level Apertures Opening stage deste beast and one second level Apertures Opening stage abomination into the region. The peak first level Apertures Opening stage creatures were less than ten, while the regr first level Apertures Opening stage creatures numbered at least fifteen.

    The remaining monsters below this¡ªboth deste beasts and abominations¡ªwere in the hundreds. There were, after all, three hundred students or thereabout, so the monsters had to be a lot.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Apart from limiting the number of elite creatures, the academy had also provided the students with special bracelets that could project a light shield capable of blocking attacks from a peak first level Apertures Opening stage deste beast. It could also survive three hits from a second level deste beast.

    However, there would not be a need for that as the operating area of the second level creatures was limited and quite a distance away from the students''nding zone.

    Wally, Astar and Klein had naturally teamed up for the practical test. All three had vestiges, and they have been familiar with one another for over a year. Their strengths were also roughly the same, with the strongest being Astar, who was at the fourth level of the Body Strengthening stage.

    Long term familiarity, simr strength, and good understanding made it so that teamwork wasn''t an issue for the trio.

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    Klein took the lead as he was the most knowledgeable amongst them. His grades in the theoretical aspects were well ahead of the other two, and he was more logical in his thinking, making Klein the best option to be in charge.

    They were currently in a slightly bushy area of the in. There were a couple of trees here, which made it suitable for ambushes. The tactic they used was to have Astar bait some abominations or deste beasts towards the target location, where the other two would nowunch their attacks on the prey.

    The target location was rigged with traps to help take down the monsters quicker, and after each assault, the area would be cleared out and the traps renewed.

    "We''ve already scored the required points with this." Klein said as he dropped his bow-wielding arms and sat down to take a break.

    "Finally." Astar sighed with relief.

    "Giving just three points for peak Body Strengthening stage and one point for fourth level Body Strengthening stage monsters is crazy. Had us grinding for so long just to get sixty points." Wallymented.

    "I doubt just anyone can pull this off so quickly on their own like us. Excluding the obvious trio." Astar said.

    Klein shook his head as he said, "You''re forgetting the few like yourself. As long as they form a team of at least three, taking on peak Body Strengthening stage monsters shouldn''t be difficult with vestiges. They might even be able to get sixty points in a day."

    "Twenty one monsters in one day? Is that even doable?" Wally was shocked by the statement.

    Taking on just a single peak Body Strengthening stage monster, whether abomination or deste beast, wasn''t easy. At the very least, one would need seven of those to get the required points, as each one gave three points, adding up to a total of twenty one points. Even with a vestige in hand, it would be difficult for students as this was the very first time they faced monsters as their opponents.

    "It should be. A fourth level Body Strengthening stage practitioner with a Grade 1 or 2 vestige can deploy strength on par with a peak Body Strengthening stage practitioner, and even burst out with the power of a first level Apertures Opening stage ster practitioner. If there are three of them, it wouldn''t be difficult to take down a peak Body Strengthening stage monster in a few seconds.

    Sixty in a day shouldn''t be impossible." Klein exined.

    "It''s too bad that we can''t see the leader-board yet. It would take at least two more hours before it''s uploaded." Astarmented.

    The leaderboard was a table that disyed the students with the most points, but it would onlye online halfway through the tournament, which was at noon on the second day.

    "Doesn''t really matter to us. Now that we have our points, surviving and avoiding elimination should be our main goal." Klein proposed while stretching his arms a bit.

    Elimination entailed when students were attacked by monsters and their defence shields were activated, or when they got severely injured. Once a student is eliminated, regardless of whether they had rued the required twenty points or not, they would be deemed to have failed the test.

    Klein was of a cautious mindset and preferred that the group find somewhere safe to wait out the test, which was why he made that suggestion.

    However, not everyone was of the same mindset.

    "We should work for more points." Astar suddenly said.

    It should be recalled that the Greendale Highschool was a subsidiary of the Greendale School of Refiners, which was a pure school of the Technical path. It didn''t exactly cater to students of the Civil or Practical path, but the information that it could input to one''s Student Data Folder was very valuable.

    However, for students who dreamed to walk those two paths, they had to perform exquisitely in the required mid-term or final term practical tests. The term practical tests for the senior years was aimed at those who intended to walk the Practical path. Astar was one such student.

    Telling him to simply quit and be satisfied with the bare minimum of twenty one points was the same as cutting off his future. If Astar wanted to get into a good university or college, especially a pure school, he had to perform superbly in both the mid-term and final term practical tests. There was no way he would end up being satisfied with the bare minimum.

    Despite this, Klein wasn''t of the same mind. Klein, unlike Astar, pursued the Technical path, so as long as he passed this test, there was no problem. Whether he got twenty one points or even forty points, made almost no difference for him, as the Greendale School of Refiners didn''t care about one''s fighting ability.

    "What do you say, Wally?" Klein turned to face Wally.

    As the third member of the group, he was the deciding vote in this poll.

    Wally nced at Klein, then turned to gaze at Astar. He could understand thetter''s feelings.

    "We can''t just quit right away. Let''s at least keep hunting for today." Wally said.

    His response was appropriate, as he didn''t truly side with any of the two options, but managed to satisfy both sides. Killing monsters for the rest of the day would help the group gain more points, benefiting Astar. However, after the day was over, they would have to stop.

    Whether Astar went on his own or not would be left to him, but at the very least, their rtionship wouldn''t be affected as much.

    Klein narrowed his eyes, quite impressed by Wally''s response and nodded. Even Astar had nothing to say about it.

    Just then, a loud roar sounded a couple of metres away from them, spooking the trio. rmed, they immediately rushed into hiding.

    "What the hell? How did it get past our perimeter?" Astar couldn''t help but curse over the team channel using hismunicator.

    When the group had found this ce, they made a circle of motion sensor bots around the area to ensure that they wouldn''t get sneaked up on by any monster. This circle of motion sensor bots was nicknamed the ''perimeter'' by the trio.

    "The motion sensor bots can only cover a limited range. If we had expanded the range, there would have been too many blind spots." Klein suddenly said.

    "What''s your point?" A slightly irritated Astar questioned.

    "Even with that arrangement, there still exist some ws in the perimeter. We''ve been overlooking it for a while, as we didn''t notice any monster that could get through the perimeter through that method." Klein calmly continued his exnation.

    "You mean..." Wally suddenly sucked in a cold breath of air as he understood where Klein was heading. He immediately raised his head up.

    Astar might have been slow, but he wasn''t dumb. It took him only a second or twoter to finally guess what the two were referring to. Right away, Astar looked up as well.

    "Roar!"

    A mighty roar hollered from midair as arge beast cast a shadow down to the ground.

 Chapter 67 A Mistake

    "Roar!"

    Above the ''forest'' the trio hid in, a deste beast about seven metres long hovered while asionally releasing a frightening roar.

    Wally, Astar, and Klein felt their blood run cold as the aura of the beasts pervaded the area. Even though the monster was in midair, it was still able to give off such a presence from the distance, rming the trio.

    "First level Apertures Opening stage. Peak level." Klein muttered with fear visible in his eyes.

    A first level Apertures Opening stage deste beast was more than enough to tear apart any single one of them, and even if the trio were to face it head-on, they only had a slim chance of sess. Against one at the peak of its level, even running away would be a challenge.

    While it was said that a Body Strengthening stage practitioner could exhibit a first level Apertures Opening stage power with a Grade 1 vestige, this was on the condition that the user was at the peak of the Body Strengthening stage. Otherwise, they would have to be a true heavenly genius.

    In other words, none of the students could hold their own alone against a first level Apertures Opening stage deste beast.

    There was a reason why first level Apertures Opening stage monsters were limited after all. The existence of these monsters was merely for the Heavenly Trio, who were peak Body Strengthening stage practitioners. Having them hunt Body Strengthening stage monsters was of no challenge, neither was it of any meaning, as they wouldn''t have a problem against such monsters.

    As such, first level Apertures Opening stage monsters were brought in. There were also two second levels isted in a specific region, as a sort of coboration challenge for the trio. Discover exclusive tales on empire

    Apart from them, no one else was expected to face the monsters at the Apertures Opening stage.

    Before the test, the academy had worked with some frencers to carve out a region in the Bayena in for the test. To ensure that the students didn''t face the Apertures Opening stage monsters so soon, they further separated them.

    Based on the original map, it would take at least a five kilometres journey from this small forest before one would reach the zone upied by the Aperture Opening stage monsters. On a normal asion, the monsters couldn''t leave that region. So the only exnation was that this was an abnormal urrence.

    Even though they could guess this, none among the trio were bothered about the reason. On the contrary, their focus was on how to survive this encounter.

    "From the looks of things, it has yet to notice us." Astar''s voice sounded on the team chat.

    "Then why is it here?" Wally asked with a frown.

    "It''s chasing after something." Klein, who was the most familiar with the patterns of deste beasts, disclosed his thoughts as he stared at the monster with a scrutinising gaze.

    "Chasing after something?" Astar couldn''t help but be surprised.

    The monsters of the first level Apertures Opening stage were kept away in a different area. There were also contingencies made to ensure that they couldn''t escape from the area. For a deste beast to escape and chase after something or someone over this distance, it had to have been important.

    Just then, Astar and Wally focused their hearing and nced towards a certain direction ahead. They could both hear the slight footsteps that sounded.

    "What''s the matter?" Klein asked in the team chat.

    "Other students." Wally answered him.

    A few metres ahead, a group of four students made their way to the point where Wally and the other two were hiding. The distance between the two parties was less than twenty metres. However, as they had remained still all this while, the neers failed to spot them.

    Wally couldn''t hear what they were saying as the group wasmunicating on a team chat just as they did.

    "Look at their energy level." Klein suddenly said.

    "At least one of them is on par with Astar, and another might be too. I''m guessing they intended to try their luck with a first level Apertures Opening stage monster. But they picked the wrong target. It''s possible that during their escape, they might have inevitably helped the monster escape too."

    Astar and Wally nodded as they felt that the exnation was reasonable.

    "However, why haven''t the instructors noticed it yet?" Wally asked the question that had been on their minds.

    Just then, themunicators of the three suddenly vibrated. It wasn''t just theirs, but also the four students who had arrived recently had simrly received a notification on theirmunicators. However, themunicator of one of the four had instead released a low-pitched ding.

    The trio of Astar, Wally and Klein carefully checked the notification. Almost right away, they were stunned by the contents.

    {{ Warning: The Bayena in has been invaded by terrorists and the resident monsters have been agitated into causing amotion. The test will be halted as a result of this unexpected urrence. Kindly find a safe environment and wait for the rescue team to locate you. }}n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    While they were still processing this shocking information, the deste beast in midair suddenly flew over and hovered exactly around where all seven students were. It nced at the four students who it had been chasing for a while before turning its eyes at Astar, Klein and finally, Wally, as it sensed them around.

    The deste beast had located all seven of them thanks to the notification by the academy.

    Most students had switched theirmunicators to silent mode, but one of the four neers made a silly mistake, which would now cost them their lives.

    Having found its target as well as a new group, the deste beast didn''t hesitate any longer. It let out a roar and immediately charged down at the team of four first, swinging its w at them.

    "Help." Someone amongst the four cried out as the monster''s w reached for them.

    Almost at the same time, a green light shield appeared and protected the boy. The same happened with the other three students on his team, as they were all shielded by green force fields that were projected from a bracelet worn on the wrist.

    *Bang*

    The beast''s w shed against the force field but failed to cause any damage to it. The deste beast didn''t give up and continued with relentless attacks, but all it managed to do was force the group four to remain at the same spot. Seeing that it couldn''t get to its targets right away but they were also unable to escape, the monster abruptly turned towards Wally and his two friends.

    "Run."

 Chapter 68 Argument

    "Run!" Wally screamed as he took to his heels and made his escape.

    Astar and Klein didn''t dilly-dally either as they ran away from the scene. None of them had their four fellow students in mind, as the only thought in their heads was to escape.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    The deste beast was at the peak of the first level of the Apertures Opening stage. It was an opponent none of the students could take on their own. Escaping was already a challenge, so there was no need to consider rescuing their ssmates.

    As the three ran, the deste beast didn''t rush to chase right away but nced at the four students on the ground who had a green light shield protecting them. A bird in hand was better than one in the sky, and the deste beast seemed to be familiar with this proverb. It tried to w at the shield but failed. It even tried to eat them, but the shield was tough.

    In frustration, the beast pounded two of them deep into the ground and threw the other two into the distance, before rushing after Wally and his crew.

    The trio didn''t run much, as their legs could only take them so far aspared to a flying deste beast. Instead, they relied on theplicated terrain to immediately find a new hiding spot, which was a hole situated close to arge tree. The hole was barely wide enough to let one person through at a time, but the inside was quite spacious.

    It could fit in the three of them with a bit of room to spare for movement. It was most likely a burrow of some underground deste beast, but had been abandoned by the said beast or maybe the owner had been killed. They remained there while pondering their next course of action.

    Although the light shield was an option, doing so was no different from failing the test. Even if it was temporarily halted, there was no saying whether they would be excused or not, as the Greendale Highschool is known for its strict standards. This event might even be recorded in their student data folder, together with their response to it.

    After all, in the real world, idents and unexpected scenarios were verymon; things wouldn''t always go as nned. This means that, if they performed well, it would be a plus. But if their reactions were poor, it would affect their future.

    So until they had no other option, relying on the shield was the veryst decision they would take.

    "We should split up. There''s no time." Klein abruptly said.

    "We can''t. We''re no match for it on our own." Wally refuted right away.

    "Then what else can we do?"

    "Why don''t we kill it?" Astar suggested.

    "Are you crazy? That''s a peak first level deste beast!" Klein turned and red at Astar as if he were a mad man.

    "Look, we already know a lot about deste beasts; their weak points and all that. Also, it''s still at the first level and we have vestiges with us. We are also split well, with ranged and closebat fighters. If you go all out, you can make a shot with your vestige that''s pretty close to the first level in terms of power. I can also exhibit something simr if I push myself to the limit.

    It''s worth taking the risk unless you want all our hard work to go down the drain." Astar stared back at Klein.

    Seeing the daring look in Astar''s eyes, Klein couldn''t help but yell back, "You''re truly a mad man. Leave me out of this."

    "Hold up first. What do you say, Wally?" Astar asked, hoping that Wally''s response would be on his side.

    "We can''t. It''s too risky." Wally shook his head.

    He felt that maybe because it was Astar''s first time facing monsters or that things had been going somewhat smoothly for them, but Astar''s danger sense was badly low. He was bing more daring with his suggestions. Although such a mentality was good for a frencer, they were still just students.

    "Are you guys really going to give up on such an opportunity? That''s twenty points." Astar couldn''t help but try to convince them.

    "Oh yeah? And who would be getting it?" Klein narrowed his eyes.

    "I canpensate you guys for it. But just please, let''s do this." Astar said.

    Wally couldn''t help but frown.

    Of the trio, Astar was the one in the mostfortable financial situation. This was why it was only until their second year that they became friends. On the contrary, Klein was in a simr situation as Wally, but a bit better as his family could afford a vestige for him, albeit after losing an arm [1].

    Originally, the difference in social and financial status never affected their friendship, but Wally sometimes got a certain feeling from Astar in their conversations; it was the aura of a trust-fund baby. Even right now, Astar was overconfident and detached from the reality that their ''target'' was a monster that could kill them over and over, if not for their shield.

    Instead, he felt that they could take it on, which was somewhat delusional. He even thought he could convince them to risk their lives with his money.

    "Wally, I''m leaving." Klein suddenly said as he turned around to crawl his way out.

    "Roar."

    The deste beast''s voice sounded outside.

    "It''s close. We don''t have much time to escape. Our only option is to fight." Astar said.

    Klein ignored him and quickly crawled out of the hole before dashing in the opposite direction. Only Wally and Astar were left, but they quickly exited the hole as remaining behind was risky. The deste beast might have been toorge to crawl in, but it could bury them in the ground.

    Just as they left the hole, the roar of the monster was quickly heard and only just a few metres away.

    "It''s toote." Wally sighed as he prepared to fight.

    "You guys keep it distracted while I try to aim for its weakness." Klein''s voice sounded in the team chat.

    "You''re still around?" Wally was surprised.

    Klein had left a few seconds earlier, which was enough time for him to have gotten to a safe distance. Even if the deste beast showed up, it would have been distracted by Wally and Astar, giving him more time to escape. Despite that, Klein didn''t run.

    "We came here together, so we have to leave together. Astar, you owe me one." Klein said. Explore more at empire

    "Sure."

    Astar grinned as he understood that Klein''s statement was the same as agreeing to let him have the points if they managed to kill the beast.

    At that moment, the deste beast came into full view in front of the group. Previously, they were too scared and in a hurry, not bothering to take a good look, but the situation was different now.

    "A helokiel." Wally muttered.

    There were a lot of deste beasts in the world, and the species depended on the environment and even the, as each had different living conditions. The majority of deste beasts on Eretre had been recorded. For the Greendale Highschool students, they were taught about the monsters on their continent¡ªthe Groeten continent.

    The helokiel was a somewhatmon aerial deste beast in the region. It had a stout body with eagle wings, menacing jaws, and terrifying ws. Unlike most monsters, it didn''t have a tail.

    If one were to describe a helokiel using normal animals, it would be a monstrosity with the head of a hyena, the wings of an eagle and a muscly body simr to a tiger, but without the patterns and tail.

    "We can''t handle this." Wally said.

    "Hold on."

    Seeing as the deste beast had yet to take action, Astar took out a certain pill and swallowed it. He grimaced a bit, but in the next moment, Astar''s face was flushed, and he looked energized. Even his aura had subtly risen to be on par with a peak Body Strengthening stage practitioner.

    "!!!"

    Wally and Klein were both surprised by this but they didn''t say a word. Now wasn''t the time to be asking questions.

    "We have fifteen minutes."

    Astar gripped his vestige, which happened to be a sword.

 Chapter 69 The Spears Ultimate Skill

    The pill Astar took was called a booster drug, which was a type of drug that was best effective for Body Strengthening stage practitioners. Booster drugs increase one''s physical prowess by pushing their body to its limit or burning one''s vitality.

    Since the focus of the drug''s effect was on one''s physical strength, this was the reason why it was best effectively used by a Body Strengthening stage practitioner.

    At the Apertures Opening stage, the determinant of one''s power was in their ster energy and not just physical strength. So, booster drugs weren''t used by most Apertures Opening stage ster practitioners. But unlike the Apertures Opening stage, the Body Strengthening stage focused on honing the body and improving it. As a result, physical prowess became the determinant of one''s power.

    This made booster drugs very useful for such practitioners.

    Since booster drugs worked by either stimting one''s potential or burning their vitality, they had intense side effects and were frowned upon by many. The Greendale Highschool had also listed booster drugs as a prohibited item for the practical tests for this reason and one more.

    The longer the effective period of a booster drug was, the costlier both its price and the side- effects would be. A booster drug with a fifteen-minute effective period wasn''t something just anyone could afford and the side effects were nothing to smile about either.

    Read exclusive adventures at empire

    But neither Wally nor Klein paid attention to any of this. They were in a life-and-death situation, so the current goal was to survive.

    "I''ll take the front." Astar said as he held the sword and charged at the deste beast, Helokiel.

    With the stimtion from the booster drug, Astar was currently on par with a fifth or peaky level Body Strengthening stage practitioner. Together with his Grade 2 vestige, Astar was currently capable of taking on a first level Apertures Opening stage monster. Defeating one though, was still under debate, even more so for a peak first level.

    As a sh of sunlight glittered on the de, the sword swept forward and aimed for the monster.

    *ng*

    The deste beast, Helokiel, struck its w against the vestige, managing to block it as sparks flew away from the collision.

    Wally, despite being afraid, held back his fear and recalled his training with Lucas. He had been watching Astar''s moves, looking for an opportunity. When he spotted one, Wally attacked right away with his spear.

    At some point, he was already beside the beast and thrust his spear forward.

    "Roar."

    The helokiel was incensed and shoved Astar away, before swiping its other w towards Wally.

    *Bang*

    A loud metallic reverberation resounded as the two weapons shed. Despite its weak appearance, the spear forged by Lucas for Wally was very strong. It was only a Grade 1 but its structural integrity and ster energy purity could almostpare with an average Grade 2 vestige. As such, the weapon was able to hold out against a direct sh with the helokiel''s w.

    Astar, who was flung away, managed to get his feet back on the ground and charged back at the monster.

    Klein hid behind and fired a few arrows at the monster. Since he couldn''t use ster energy just yet, all his attacks consisted of physical arrows, which were expensive. Every shot was precious, and Klein didn''t just randomly fire them. He only made his move when an opportunity provided itself or one of his two friends was in danger.

    The helokiel was enraged by the irritating tactics and tried to go after Klein, but Astar intercepted it.

    Astar went full out, brandishing his sword in a flurry in this battle of life and death. At times he would abandon the option of defence just to force the helokiel to show an opening, which Klein would then capitalise on.

    The result of such a self-inflicting tactic became obvious as the helokiel was constantly being harassed by both Wally and Klein. Eventually, it growled furiously and ignored attacks from the two sides, beforeshing out at Astar.

    "Astar!" Wally screamed as he watched his friend sent flying by the deste beast.

    However, there was no time to hesitate as the helokiel appeared before him.

    ''Just like mister taught, use its force to my advantage.''

    Wally calmed his breath as he concentrated his attention on his opponent.

    With a formidable roar, the deste beast swung one of its four ws at Wally. Wally waved the spear at the beast, blocking the strike while taking a few steps back as his strength couldn''tpare with it. But this in itself was already impressive, after all, even Astar¡ªafter taking the booster drug¡ªwas sent flying by the monster.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    When facing Lucas, Wally was able to force him to use five percent of his fourth level Body Strengthening stage power and still suppress Lucas. Five percent might sound so little but when Lucas was at the second level, he had killed a third level Body Strengthening stage practitioner and two second level practitioners with ease.

    Five percent of his ability wasn''t something an average inexperienced teen could handle.

    The two metres tall helokiel was incensed that Wally still stood in front of it and immediately lunged right at him once again. Wally jumped to the side and avoided the attack, but the monster''s reflexes were faster as it reacted right away and chased after him.

    ''Damn it.'' Wally cursed as he thrust his spear at it to force the monster back.

    The helokiel dodged the spear''s tip and opened its mouth as it tried to devour Wally.

    "Are you ignoring me you fucking beast?!" Astar shouted. He ignored his injuries, which were clearly bleeding, as he shed his sword at the deste beast''s right wing.

    *Spurt*

    The vestige managed to not only hit the monster but prate almost halfway through its wing, spilling blood on both the de and Astar.

    "Roarrrrr!" The helokiel stopped its assault as it cried out in pain.

    It immediately moved its body and bashed Astar away as it retreated in fear. The damage dealt to its wing disabled its airborne capability and the monster was clearly infuriated by this.

    *Twang*

    The sound of a bowstring being drawn quietly resounded from the grove of trees as an arrow tore through the shades. It pierced through the wind and stuck its tip right on the hind legs of the deste beast.

    "Roar!"

    The helokiel almost fell to the ground but managed to barely regain itsposure. However, on its left hind leg was a ck arrow firmlytched.

    From the point of entry of the arrow, a mixture of green and ck fluids steadily poured out, staining the shaft of the arrow and the monster''s leg. The green liquid was its blood whereas the ck liquid was poisoned blood. The arrow was a unique type of arrow that could be termed as a vestige. The arrowhead was crafted with a special material that was poisonous to most deste beasts.

    The moment the helokiel had tripped, Wally, who had been on alert all this while, gripped his spear tightly with one arm and chanted a word.

    "Rez."

    The spear suddenly gleamed with a dull purple light and released an inaudible hum as Wally lifted it over his shoulder. In the very next second, he forcefully threw it at the monster.

    The spear flew mid-air, tearing through the air and moving at a speed closely approaching the speed of sound. Even with the difference between them and the strength of the helokiel, it failed to notice the flying spear in time.

    The spear aimed for the cut on the monster''s wing and before one could even say the word ''go'', it dug deep into the injury, tearing through the flesh, muscles and bones of the deste beast and detaching the wings off from its body.

    "Roar!"

    The helokiel cried as it did its best to retreat away.

    "Wow."

    Astar and Klein were both shocked by this. Wally''s throw had impressed them, being capable of cutting off the half injured wing after being thrown out. But what was even more astonishing was the quality of the spear, and the weird effect it gave off just then.

    "Concentrate, guys."

    Although astonished as well, Wally recovered quickly and yelled at them. He had already tested this special effect with Lucas during his training, so he wasn''t as stunned by it. Nheless, Wally never expected it to cut through the helokiel''s flesh like hot knife through butter. If he had known this, he would have just aimed for the monster''s head or body instead.

    With its right wing cut off, depriving it of its aerial ability; its left hind leg injured, inhibiting its movements; and finally, the monster having been poisoned, it looked as if the team was on the road to sess. If they kept on and defeated it, this record would be put down on their student data folders, increasing their chances of getting admission into their various academies.

    The same was true for Klein, as even though pure Technical path schools didn''t care as much about one''s fighting strength, having it as a bonus wasn''t bad.

    At this moment, ten minutes had already gone by since Astar took the booster drug. There was only five minutes left and they had to make it count.

    "Let''s end this." Astar grinned as he held on tightly to his sword.

    Just then, the deste beast of the air, the helokiel, froze and began to shudder.

 Chapter 70 Bayena Plains Invaders

    Somewhere deep in Bayena in but close to the region designated for Apertures Opening stage deste beasts and abominations, the entire ground was smeared with the colour of red. This wasn''t the natural colour of the soil, but in fact, a change brought about by the immense amount of blood flooding the surface.

    There were corpses and limbs strewn all over the floor, the source of the blood that had muddled the area. Some of the corpses were iplete, with signs of either being eaten, chopped or just crushed.

    Looking closely at the corpses, one would notice that they were all hyumans, rather than monsters. What''s more, some of them wore a certain uniform, synonymous with that of the Greendale Highschool staff. Some of the corpses were dressed in special leather or metal armour, simr to what frencers wear. Some of their armours were actually vestiges, Grade 1 and few Grade 2.

    The armours weren''t the only vestiges present, as various kinds of weapons, whether cold or hot, were scattered right beside each corpse.

    However, the most interesting thing to note about the corpses wasn''t their appearance or the clothing or weapons they had on, but their aura. Even though they had been killed, their blood was still warm and fresh, with a hint of their aura left on their corpses. Every one of the corpses was at least a second level Apertures Opening stage ster practitioner.

    There were even a handful of third level Apertures Opening stage frencers amongst them.

    In total, there were at least thirty second-level and above ster practitioners. Such a lineup should be able to handle any threat in the Bayena in with ease, but they had ended up mercilessly butchered, leaving behind corpses, scattered limbs, and vestiges.

    Despite the protection and weaponry, they all ended up dead with their eyes wide open in fear. One could see that even until their death, they were still haunted by the terror they faced.

    "Yawn~ Even though we exposed just a tiny trace, they still managed to catch up to us so quickly, huh. The hyumankin sure is annoying, don''t you agree?"

    A figure who stood at the centre of the corpse yard yawnedzily as he gazed into the distance.

    The speaker had two legs and two arms just like a hyuman, but his facial appearance was quite different. Although he looked like a hyuman male, he had four eyes instead of the usual two, with the upper pair appearing like a regr hyuman''s while the lower pair were narrow slits. Each pair was coloured differently, with the irises of the upper pair being brown, while the lower pair were purple.

    The individual''s ears were vertical, simr to those of the legendary elf races in human folklore, but they were much thinner and closer to the head.

    Apart from the difference in facial structure, the arms of the speaker were unique. There were a pair of des sticking out from each arm: one on the forearm and another on the upper arm. Blood was currently dripping from the two pairs, staining his arm with a deep red colour, but he ignored it.

    The creature also had a maroon (brownish-red) skin tone, but in the Niera gxy where hyumans had different skin tones due to the differing environments of thes they lived on, this wasn''t special to be exact. But in Eretre, such a skin tone was unique and rare.

    The man was a mixed-race creature, born of a hyuman and an alien parent.

    "Kroka Gataka sho."

    Behind the crossbreed was a creature, which was truly a monster in the simplest of definitions.

    The creature walked on four legs that looked like those of a spider. Each leg was incredibly thick, rivalling the thigh of a fully grown adult from top to bottom. Unlike the legs of a hyuman that could be divided into the thigh and the lower leg, the legs of this creature were uniform. Its upper and lower legs all had the same size and thickness. Read chapters at empiren/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    As for the upper body of the monster, it was unlike anything that ever existed on Earth. If one were to find an Earthling with the closest appearance to it, one would have to go back to the prehistoric era of dinosaurs. From there, one could then describe this monster as having the head of a triceratops and the body of a Borealopelta [1].

    From its appearance alone, there was no semnce of intellect; even its response sounded like the ramblings of a monster.

    However, despite its monstrous look, this creature was actually an intelligent species. Just like hyumans, it could speak, think, and innovate, but in a different way from hyumans. It was part of an alien race known as the Saurian.

    Back when hyumans were expanding their empire, the Saurians were an alien race they encountered which heavily resisted their efforts. Nheless, the Saurians fell to the powerful hyumankin and the majority of them were wiped out.

    Unlike other races the hyumans had conquered, the Saurians had too much hate for hyumankin and their race was well known for holding grudges. The Federation Assembly,prising: the Military Chamber; the House of Senates, which is also known as the Congress; and the House of Lords, which is also known as the Parliament, had passed a bill to wipe out the Saurians after the war.

    Even the Universe Supreme Court, which was the highest judicial power of the hyumankin, didn''t find a fault in this act.

    However, some Saurians had managed to escape extermination, but their hate still remained. They eventually became space pirates or terrorists, trying to destroy the stability of the hyumankin''s Federation.

    "Oh, you agree with me too? Well, that''s to be expected." The crossbreed smiled.

    The Saurian ignored him and began to munch on a corpse, not caring about any possible diseases or the blood that stained its carnivorous mouth.

    "Enjoying yourself? Well unfortunately, we''ll soon have to leave. The space-sink bomb has already beenunched, and the effect has been recorded. Also, with the amount of hyumans we''ve killed, the next batch would be much stronger. We might actually die if we hang around here for too long."

    The Saurian lifted its head and growled slowly,

    "Bashoko jeta kuli?" (What about your toys?)

    "Hmm, it should be acting up just about right now. It would have been a shame to show up here and not leave a gift for the new generation, don''t you agree?" The crossbreed smiled mysteriously as his upper eyes squinted.

 Chapter 71 Ill Stand With You

    Right as Wally, Astar and Klein prepared to put an end to the helokiel, it abruptly began to shudder like a human undergoing a seizure.

    "What the hell is happening?"

    The trio were dumbfounded by the strange urrence. There was no written record about deste beasts undergoing frantic seizures, so the group of friends were inevitably confused about the situation.

    "We have to kill it." Wally suddenly said as his instincts yelled at him.

    Having fought against Lucas for a couple of days, Wally had improved considerably and gained certain skills he could call his own, one such being his sixth sense. Although he didn''t know what was happening, Wally felt that it was very dangerous.

    Klein nocked a ck arrow with an orange arrowhead onto his bow. The arrow he used wasn''t the ''cheap'' variation he had been firing all this while, but ones that were very expensive. He could only afford three of them after scraping his savings for an entire year.

    Originally, Klein had no intention of using these arrows during the mid-term practical tests, and had only gotten them for the finals, but he brought one of the arrows just in case he would need it.

    Seeing as Wally was almost in a hysteria and the helokiel wasying down wide open, Klein decided to end it once and for all. As for the agreement to have Astar take thest hit, that would depend on his luck. If the monster was left on itsst legs, then Astar could proceed. If it wasn''t, there was nothing Klein could do. Their survival mattered more than a few dozen points.

    Once the arrow was set in ce, Klein aimed it at the chest of the monster, in the position where its heart was meant to be.

    *Twang*

    The bowstring was released and the arrow darted through the air as it made its way to the helokiel. The speed of the arrow couldn''tpare with Wally''s previous spear throw, but it was still not something one could dodge so easily. With the deste beast undergoing a severe seizure, it was all the more unlikely for the arrow to miss its target.

    Just then, the aura of the helokiel went through the roof. The energy it exuded was no longer the same as a peak first level Apertures Opening stage deste beast, but closely approaching that of a second level. It was almost indistinguishable at this point as the trio felt cold sweat seep through their skin.

    The arrow was still on its way when this happened, but it immediately arrived before the deste beast before the next second. It struck the monster and prated through its tough hides, almost as if it were cotton.

    *Whoosh*

    An orange me burst out from the arrowhead which had prated the monster. The wound was set aze as the mes erupted from the spot, charring the flesh of the deste beast ck. Despite this, the helokiel was unmoved and didn''t even scream. It merely retained its jerking state while a part of its body was set aze.

    "What is going on?"

    Astar and Wally were surprised whereas Klein was bbergasted.

    Klein knew the power of the arrow he had shot. It was almost equivalent to a one-time usage Grade 1 vestige in terms of power as it was an arrow that contained the outer mes of a vestige-smith''s furnace. These were mes used in refining metals for the production of vestiges. The temperature was insanely high, and its burn damage was nothing to joke about.

    Yet, even with all of that, the helokiel didn''t make any reaction.

    "Run!"N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Wally shouted as he turned around to escape.

    Although there was no exnation for what took ce, one thing was for sure; remaining behind was suicide.

    Klein followed suit and even Astar, who was pro-battle before, didn''t stop to question or convince anyone otherwise and also escaped.

    While the trio ran, the aura of the monster slowly increased until it settled into the second level for the Apertures Opening stage. It didn''t stop at the ''entrance'' but went a bit in until it waspletely stable. With a roar, the helokiel regained itsposure and shook away its fatigue. It was in a new self, and even with the injuries previously afflicted on it, the creature felt reborn.

    Being at the second level, the poison used on it was no longer as effective and the helokiel could ignore it. The injury on its left hind leg slowly closed up as the arrow was forced out together with the poison and infected blood. Its wings couldn''t recover back, but the helokiel was more energetic than before.

    As for the seating mes on its body, the deste beast shook once, releasing a grey streak of energy that put the mes out.

    After settling itsposure in ce, it nced at the direction the trio ran and chased after them.

    Unlike before, the group of three failed to find any hiding spots and were forced to remain on the run. However, they could only go so far before the helokiel caught up to them.

    It was now a second level Apertures Opening stage deste beast, and even if it wasn''t, catching a group of humans below the peak Body Strengthening stage even with a head start wasn''t anything difficult.

    "Damn it. What the heck happened?" Klein cursed as he ran.

    Suddenly, he felt a gaze on his body. His blood ran cold and without even a hint, Klein knew that the helokiel was eyeing him. It was probably still incensed by the harassment shots and what''s more, the ming arrow Wally had used just a while ago.

    ''N,no.''

    Klein began to feel desperate as he forced himself to run quicker.

    However, his legs could only do so little so for him.

    "Klein!"

    Wally''s cry sounded as the helokiel appeared just behind Klein with a w outstretched.

    "Damn it." Klein cursed before activating the bracelet given to him by the academy.

    Although the protective light shield could activate automatically, Klein didn''t want to take the risk and wait for that, deciding to do so himself.

    *Bang*

    The helokiel''s w crashed into the shield and forced Klein back, but he was at least safe from that attack.

    But that was for now.

    The light shield could only handle three attacks from a second level Apertures Opening stage deste beast. Usually, that would have given enough time for the staff on duty to dispatch a frencer to the scene, but the situation was different. The students weren''t aware that most of the staff and frencers had already been killed by two terrorists.

    Even if they didn''t know, some could figure out that the appearance of the terrorists would lead to a dyed rescue effort. This was why the trio''s first response was to try and escape. They could guess that there was no oneing to help them, as if there were, they would have showed up minutes ago.

    "You guys should run while you still can. I''ll try to hold it back." Klein shouted at the two.

    "You can''t! You''ll die." Astar screamed.

    "Just shut up and run!" Klein didn''t look back at them but faced the helokiel with his bow in hand.

    "Don''t let us all die here. Better one than all three."

    With tears in their eyes, Wally and Astar wanted to stay back, but they knew that Klein was right. If they remained behind, everyone would die. But if Klein stood back, he could at least buy some time for the two of them. His shield had also been activated and the helokiel seemed intent on taking him, which made things easier for them.

    However, they couldn''t just abandon their friend.

    "It''s all my fault. I''m sorry. I''m really sorry." Astar cried as he ran away.

    Klein sighed, but didn''t hate him. Survival was an instinct of every living being. Just as he prepared to take on the helokiel, he noticed that Wally hadn''t left.

    "You..."

    "Shut up and focus!" Wally roared. He didn''t run as Klein had wanted; he couldn''t.

    Even if there was a chance at surviving by doing so, Wally knew that such a chance was nothing more than a fleeting hope. With the speed of a second level helokiel, it would catch up to him eventually. The only hope would be to encounter a frencer or teacher on the way, but if that were to happen, it would have been so a couple of minutes ago.

    As it stood, death was pretty much certain no matter which option it was.

    However, there was a small viable shot at living if they fought the helokiel. It was still injured, so maybe they could kill. But Wally knew that this was also a futile wish.

    In this moment of life and death, Wally simply decided to stand by his friend. Since they were going to die either way, he might as well die with someone having his back.

 Chapter 72 Wally Is In Trouble?

    Going back a while ago...

    "So what about the men that came into the store a while back? Are they gone?" Nafir asked Lucas as he stared at him.

    Lucas already knew that Nafir was using his special lie detection technique, but he wasn''t worried about it. The Host Protection Mechanism of the store automatically blocked out all mental arts from affecting him. The issue however, was in the HPM.

    The Host Protection Mechanism didn''t block out attacks but absorbed them, just like a sponge would absorb water. This led to a situation where the attacker wouldn''t feel any feedback from their attack. In the case of Nafir and his mental spell, receiving no feedback, even if it was a rebound, would give rise to suspicions and this wouldn''t bode well for Lucas.

    As Lucas was unable to create a false impression for the technique to perceive, he had to figure something out quickly. Otherwise, once Nafir noticed something strange, he would have a suspicious inkling that Lucas could avoid his technique. This would then lead to him presuming that the results of the interrogation at the Red Fangs base station, might have all been tweaked to Lucas'' advantage.

    ''I hope this works. Deactivate HPM''s active state.'' Lucas gave themand.

    He usually had the active mode turned on all the time, but Lucas decided to switch it off for now. The passive mode was still there to protect him though.

    "Hmm. They did arrive at the store, but they''re gone now." Lucas responded with a calm demeanour.

    By switching off the HPM''s active mode, Lucas could reduce the obstruction of the technique. Through mixing the truth with lies, he wagered that he could deceive Nafir. As for whether it would be sessful or not, only Nafir could say.

    After a short second, Nafir nodded at Lucas. His face was still the same, preventing Lucas from knowing the results.

    "By the way, I shouldn''t be telling you this but a problem recently cropped up. Normally, we have some guards stationed close to you, but we had to call them back for an emergency, which led to this." Barry, who stood on the side said.

    "And, what''s that about?" Lucas asked nonchntly. He truly wasn''t interested in the conversation, as he wanted nothing more than for them to leave the store.

    Barry ignored Lucas'' attitude and continued, "Terrorists have been spotted close to the city, with their target being the Bayena in. ording to our info, this happens to also be the test venue of a group of high school students. If I''m correct, they should students of Greendale Highschool, an impressive institution with good standards.

    There''s also been a weird space break there and the monsters are going out of control. To prevent more lives from being lost, the Red Fangs had to call up everyone nearby including the men who watched you in secret."

    Lucas froze and couldn''t respond at all. His face was still the same nd look, but deep inside, Lucas'' mind was in turmoil.

    Terrorists. Greendale Highschool.

    ''Wasn''t that the name of Wally''s school?'' Lucas was stunned and couldn''t believe what was happening.

    "Why are you telling me this?"  Lucas stared at Barry.

    "From the information we''ve got, it seems you had some dealings with a student from the academy. This happens to be his final year in campus, so he''s one of the test-takers at the moment. His life could potentially be at risk any moment from now, so we decided to give you a heads up just in case he doesn''t make it out alive." Barry exined.

    "I guess that makes sense, but I''m not like his parents or anything. I also can''t exactly do anything about it. Civilian security is meant to be provided by you guys. Since the opponent is a terrorist, they will be an Apertures Opening stage practitioner and as you may already know, I''m only at the Body Strengthening stage.

    I feel this information may be a little needless to me." Lucas expressed as he just shrugged his shoulders.

    "True. You do have a point there. Well then, sorry for disturbing you. We''ll be on our way." Nafir said before leaving the store with Barry.

    After they left, Lucas still remained seated. He took out his tablet and calmly scrolled through it for a few minutes.

    ''System?''

    "Clear." The system''s voice resounded in his head.

    Lucas sighed before his face suddenly contorted.

    "Why didn''t you tell me about Wally?" Lucas grimaced.

    In Lucas'' opinion, the system was an existence that bordered the term ''all-knowing and all-seeing''. It was nigh omniscient and omnipotent as it was able to spot him out of billions of living beings and have him transmigrated not once, but twice.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    That wasn''t something even the Dragon King could pull off; and this was a creature who exceeded many of the strongest Grand Archmages in terms of both power, knowledge and spells.

    Lucas firmly believed that the system knew about Wally''s current situation as thetter was an important customer, yet failed to notify him.

    "The system is created to train the host to be the next Crafts-God. As such, matters deemed unnecessary to this will be automatically sidelined by the system." The system''s emotionless voice sounded, a bit cold to Lucas'' ears.

    "Even if it''s rted to a customer?" Lucas'' response came, even colder than the system''s tone.

    Truthfully, to Lucas, Wally wasn''t just a customer. In Wally, Lucas could see an old friend of his, one of the few people he had met during his lowest times in his first life.

    Back when he lived the life of Yohan, Lucas was an orphan who lived more than seven years on the streets and the mountains. To survive, he would beg, go through trash, or even steal from merchants. On one such asion, Yohan had tried stealing from a baker''s stall, but was caught by the baker''s son, a young kid of the same age as the young Yohan.

    The kid looked a bit pale, but was slightly healthier than Yohan, which was strange as thetter was an orphaned beggar while the former was the son of a baker.

    At first, the young boy chased after Yohan for the bread, barely catching up to him and engaging in a fight. But in the midst of their tussle, he lost to Yohan before he ended up crying. However, Yohan didn''t get away entirely as the bread was broken and covered in gravel. Nheless, being literally dirt-poor, he still picked it up and ate.

    The young boy was slightly astonished by this, and holding back his tears, he questioned Yohan why he ate it, to which Yohan replied, "I don''t have a choice like you do".

    That intriguing encounter became the start of a friendship between these two young boys.

 Chapter 73 Will you be my brother?

    Later on, Yohan would asionallye to steal  bread from the stall, but the young boy would try to beat him, losing in the end. Although their sh was quite intense, Yohan felt it was more like a game of tag. Even the young boy slowly began to treat it as a contest, hoping to one day finally beat Yohan.

    In the end, a friendship blossomed between these two, with the young boy asionally sneaking out some other baked goods for Yohan.

    Days passed by and turned into weeks, until two months had gone by. These two months were special to Yohan because the young boy''s father had found out about him and took pity on him, sharing some of his produce with the young Yohan in exchange for his help. At that time, Yohan had worked as a part-timer for the man after he upgraded his stall to a rented shop, making deliveries for the store.

    The young boy had also enrolled into a magic school after he was discovered to have potential for magic.

    One day, Yohan was passing by a certain street and saw the young boy getting bullied by others. Incensed, he ran and stood up for the boy. Even though the opponents knew some basic spells, the mana-less Yohan fought against the other bullies and chased them away at the cost of a few injuries.

    When asked why he did so, Yohan didn''t have an answer, but to not appear soft, he replied "Only I can bully you."

    After that he asked the boy what had happened. It turned out that the young boy had the lowest category of potential for magic and was being bullied by others in school for that. However, he hid the truth from his father and even Yohan, until then. The young boy cried that day, making it the second time Yohan had seen him in tears. At the same time, Yohan found out more about him.

    The young boy was born with a certain disorder and that may or may not have affected his magic potential, but it affected his physique nheless. Even though the young boy was born physically weak, his father still wanted him to live a better life than he did, so he enrolled his son into a magic academy with all his savings. However, the young boy could barely make much progress. Enjoy new tales from empire

    While others made progress with a single stroke of effort, he would have to make three times or even four times the effort to result in the same progress. But with the state of his body, it was even more difficult to do such. One could imagine how much despair he felt. On his shoulders were his father''s dream for him to have a better life, and the young boy''s wish to not disappoint his father.

    But with the weakness of his flesh, it was next to impossible to defy reality.

    Despite all that, he still worked hard. Yohan could even remember the times he saw the boyte at night, carrying out exercise routines, jogging round the street, and attempting to lift any heavy object he could find. It all made sense then. Yohan felt pity for the boy, but that was all he could do as he too was young.

    However, everything changed one day. Yohan had gone out to deliver some baked goods and when he came back to the store, it was wrecked. The father and son were murdered in broad daylight.

    From the chatter of the spectators at the scene, a mage had visited the store and wanted to buy some bread. When presented with the pastry, he was irritated by the taste and caused a ruckus. When he wanted to take down the building, the baker tried to stop him and in anger, the mage killed the man.

    The baker''s son was in so much anguish, pain and anger that he attacked the mage, leading to his death as well.

    To the spectators, such a situation wasn''t umon. That was just how harsh their world was. But to the young Yohan, the world became a cold ce; a very cold and heartless ce.

    Even until now, Lucas could still hear the voice of his young friend from his life as Yohan.

    "When I grow up, I want to be a strong mage. I want to make dad proud and build a brand new bakery for him. I''ll help him hire staff so he won''t have to work aste as he does. He would have some free time to spend with us."

    "They said my potential for magic is too weak. I''m such a disappointment. How can I help dad? How can I make him proud like this?"

    "I need to work harder. Even if it takes ten times the effort, I need to do it."

    "Hey, Yohan. Dad made some pie for us. Come, let''s eat together."

    "Yohan. Sometimes, I wish you were my brother. Will you be my brother, Yohan?"

    Recalling memories from then, Lucas'' eyes unwittingly became wet, but his anger to the system still existed.

    Wally reminded him of his young friend in his past life. They both had their family give their all for them to have a better life. They both were born with the worst potential possible. But even at that, they both struggled and gave their all to be better. They both wanted to be better, not just for themselves, but for their family as well.

    Despite being so young, they were both mature mentally, held back so much pain and hurt behind their smile, just so they could hope for a brighter future.

    One was dead, while the other might soon be as well. However, Lucas had no intention of letting that happen; he wouldn''t, even if it meant losing an arm or a leg.

    "System, get me to Wally''s location or you can forget about having a host."

    "That can''t be done." The system refuted.

    "The life of the hyuman known as Wally will in no way rte nor affect the host''s progress towards bing the Crafts-God. As such, the system sees no reason to intervene."

    Lucas'' aura red up and his anger was through the roof. If the system were a physical entity, there was no doubt that he would be strangling it to death right now.

    "Speak." Lucas calmed down and said.

    If he tried to make it on his own, it might be toote. But the system would definitely have some method to teleport him there. This method was what Lucas was targeting.

    "The system cannot assist the host. Unless..." The system''s voice trailed off.

    "Unless what?" Lucas narrowed his eyes as he felt the system was scheming at the moment.

    "ess denied." The system returned to its monotonous mode of speaking.

    "I don''t get you. You can help me but don''t want to tell me how?" Lucas became infuriated as he mmed his fist on the table.

    After a moment of silence, the system''s voice sounded again.

    "...the host can make a trade off."

    "A trade-off? What''s that?"

    "ess denied."

    Lucas frowned as he felt there was something weird going on here. The system presented him with an opportunity, but it came at a cost which he couldn''t know anything about. No matter what anyone told him, this was filled with too much conspiracy. Who was to say that the system didn''t predict or arrange this? Despite such thoughts, there was nothing that Lucas could do about it without any proof.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    After hesitating for a bit, Lucas finally stood up.

    "I ept. Just get me over to where Wally is right now."

    It took two minutes before Lucas finally got a response from the system.

    "A teleportation portal has been established to the target''s location. The warp point is located in the restroom."

    "The restroom?" Lucas was surprised, but then froze.

    "Where exactly?"

    "The toilet." The system replied.

    "Fuck you."

    Lucas couldn''t resist cursing even if he was Buddha. After all, he was being forced to enter the toilet in order to be teleported over to the Bayena n. Lucas could almost see a floating figure above his head.

    -1,000,000 aura.

    "Is there no other way to go about this?" Lucas asked, clearly reluctant to enter the toilet.

    "Host is free to reject." The system ndly responded.

    "Tch. Fine. Isn''t it just to enter the toilet?"

    Lucas snorted before entering the work-station. He packed up some special items and new products, storing them all in his inventory before departing for the toil-, the teleportation station.

    "If there everes a day you be a physical entity, dread that day, system." Lucas cursed before using the whimsical whirlpool.

 Chapter 74 Is This The End?

    Astar retreated under the cover of Klein''s existence, whereas Wally had stayed behind to fight the monster along with his friend. However, this was nothing more than a suicidal action. A second level Apertures Opening stage deste beast wasn''t something two teens below the peak of the Body Strengthening stage in their early years could take on.

    "Roar!"

    "Watch out!" Wally barely let out his shout before the helokiel had jumped Klein again.

    *Bang*

    The creature smashed its ws into the light shield and Klein was once again thrown a couple of metres away.

    "Klein." Wally worriedly let out a shout.

    The helokiel turned and nced at him with intense bloodlust exposed in its eyes.

    ''Shit.''

    Wally only had enough time to let out a thought before a shadow appeared in front of him.

    *Bang*

    A green flicker appeared in front of Wally, shielding him from the attack of the helokiel. However, just like Klein, he was thrown away by the impact.

    The protective shield bracelets given to the students were all high quality items. Since it was made in consideration of a second level beast''s potential attack, the deployment speed of the shields equally matched such monsters and even slightly exceeded some of them.

    In this fashion, even if the students were too slow to respond to an attack, the shield woulde up at the very second before they were attacked.

    "Roar!"

    The helokiel let out an intimidating roar as it asserted dominance. The nearby ster energy in the atmosphere immediately into it and was absorbed in a flurry as the monster''s aura zed.

    The reason the helokiel had lost the first half of the battle was a mix of the duo having coordinated perfectly with Astar, whi had taken a booster drug to help increase his strength to hold it back. Following that, they were on an aggressive offense, targeting its weak points while working in an almost perfect sync.

    The helokiel had also underestimated them from the start as they were weaker than it, so when the trio had taken hold of the battle''s momentum, it was toote for it to counter. If it had taken them seriously from the start, they might have beaten it, but after taking severe injuries.

    However, now it was different.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Not only was the team of three brought down to two with the most important individual departing, but the helokiel was now at the second level. The difference between the first and second level was arge hurdle, almost the same as the first level and the peak of the Body Strengthening stage.

    At the first level of the Apertures Opening stage, one could still be considered as a Body Strengthening stage practitioner of some sorts. This was because, despite being able to now store and utilise ster energy, there wasn''t so much contained in the body of a first level ster practitioner.

    Most of the time, the ster energy was sparsely used, and even when it was, it could only be employed to boost one''s strength.

    This was why it was still possible, but not certain, for a peak Body Strengthening stage practitioner to defeat a first level Apertures Opening stage ster practitioner, especially with a vestige.

    However, when the topic of focus changed to a second level, winning was a dream. One would have to be a mythical genius to be able to win at the peak of the Body Strengthening stage, but anything below was ludicrously impractical. As for a mythical genius? In the more than three thousand years of history, Eretre under the Oklo Dynasty has never witnessed such a legend.

    The helokiel didn''t move right away to finish off the duo, but intoxicated itself in the new sensation of power. Suddenly, the ster energy visibly gathered to its mouth as the monster let out an even more terrifying roar.

    *Crack*

    Wally''s shield began to crack under the pressure of the sonic attack, but his mind wasn''t on it. Instead, he ran towards Klein to check up on him. As the roar was a ster energy attack, the shield could defend against it, but not for long as the attacker was at the second level, which was the shield''s limit.

    "Are you alright?" Wally asked as he helped Klein up.

    Klein''s shield was heavily damaged and filled with many more cracks than Wally''s. Just from appearance alone, it looked as if it would copse any second. This made Wally even more anxious, but there was nothing he could do about it.

    *cough* *cough*.

    "You should have run away when you had the chance." Klein let out a few words as he barely got his footing.

    Even with the shield in ce, some of the force from the helokiel''s blow had got him. It was a second level deste beast and the shield had already been damaged, so this was unavoidable.

    "Even if I got away, you wouldn''t havested this long. It would havee after me right away. At least with both of us, we can buy Astar some time." Wally said.

    "Yeah..."

    "It''sing." Wally stopped talking and faced the deste beast with his friend.

    The helokiel saw that the effect of its sonic attack wasn''t as impressive as a close-up. This had to do with the fact that it was still inept with ster energy skills, but to the helokiel, this was an insult. The two insects that had injured it were still standing even after three attacks.

    "Roar!"

    The helokiel suddenly disappeared from the vision of Wally and Klein, before appearing in front of Klein.

    "Watch out."

    Wally had guessed that it would aim for Klein first as thetter''s shield was visibly more damaged than his. The second before the helokiel had made its move, he had swiftly jumped in between the duo and brandished his spear in front of Klein.

    Just as he had predicted, the helokiel appeared in front of Klein, but with Wally in the way, it had to face him first.

    *Bang*

    "Wally!" Klein''s eyes went red as he stared at Wally''s fleeting body. He could already guess what had happened and his body shivered in response.

    The helokiel didn''t care about Wally, whom it had sent flying. It promptly turned its attention back to Klein and swung its ws at him.

    ''Is this it?''

    Klein froze at the sight of the helokiel, which had now exceeded a two metres height after its advancement.

    *Bam* Read exclusive chapters at empire

    The w crashed into the shield, but this time around, the shield shattered on impact, exposing Klein to the remnant force of the attack.

    "Klein!"

    Wally, who had forced himself to recover quickly, gazed ahead and witnessed as the helokiel''s w was dyed red.

    The helokiel''s blood was green, not red.

    "Ahhhh!"

    Tears gushed out from Wally''s eyes as he let out a scream like never before.

    Klein''s body fell to the floor as the helokiel turned its attention to Wally who was crying in pain. Deste beasts weren''t entirely brainless and were actually much smarter than most animals. It stared at Wally for a second, then abruptly grinned. Although it couldn''t understand emotions as effectively as hyumans, it could understand that Wally was in pain after what it did.

    The helokiel bent down and nced at Klein''s body, before lifting it''s right w and brandishing at the body once again.

    *St*

    Blood sprayed once again and the helokiel grinned even more fiendishly.

    "Bastard!" Wally cursed as he bit his lips.

    He gripped his spear tightly and with his eyes filled with red, Wally charged at the monster.

    Even though Wally knew that this was suicidal, even though he knew that doing so was meaningless, even though he knew that doing so couldn''t change what had happened to Klein, Wally was still outraged at the brutality and behaviour of the helokiel.

    The helokiel maintained its grin and abruptly shed, appearing before Wally.

    As if expecting this, Wally had already swung his vestige at it. This time around, it was glowing a dull purple lightjust like before.

    In that one second before the helokiel''s w struck him, Wally nced at the deste beast who appeared at him as he had expected, managing to utter out only one word as he stabbed out.

    "Rez."

    The spear let out a muffled hum and began to visibly shudder, but Wally kept it under control as he thrust it out.

    *Bam*

    *Schtick*

    At the same time the helokiel''s w struck his barrier, the vestige managed to pierce it, stabbing deep into its body.

    "Roar!"

    The helokiel let out a painful roar as it halted in its steps. As for Wally, he was thrown away by the attack. His shield had shattered, but as the deste beast held back at thest instance, Wally wasn''t severely injured but thrown away.

    However, not being severely injured didn''t mean Wally was tossed out unscathed.

    "Hehe. Even if I go down, I''ll make sure you regret it." Wally simultaneouslyughed and cried as he bled from his head and body.

    "I''m sorry, Klein. I couldn''t make it in time. Mom, Dad, sis, I failed you. I couldn''t do it in the end, and I''m going to die here. Little Tom, your big brother couldn''t be rich and famous, and buy you spaceship collections as I promised."

    With no shot at surviving, his body bleeding and his best friend dead, Wally couldn''t see a reason to keep going. It wasn''t that he wanted to end it all, but there was literally no way to survive this scenario. His body was aching and he couldn''t find the strength to stand up and fight. Even if he could, the helokiel wasn''t an opponent Wally could beat.

    Wally knew that he would die here, but what pained him the most was that he couldn''t see his family onest time. He couldn''t call them or even anyone as for some reason, themunicators had no service.

    So, Wally decided to record a voice note and send it out to them. As long as themunicator wasn''t destroyed, the message would be sent once there was service.

    "If there''s some God in this world, please, keep them safe and watch over them for me. Mister Lucas, I''m sorry, but I might not be able to fulfill my own end of the bargain." Wally cried with a smile before closing his eyes.

    *Boom*

    Just then, an explosion sounded.

 Chapter 75 The Gauntlets Debut

    "If there everes a day you be a physical entity, dread that day, system." Lucas cursed before stepping into the toilet.

    Right as his right leg entered, the water began to spin into a whirlpool that forcefully tugged at him, dragging him into it.

    "..."

    Lucas held his breath and shut his mouth, mentally cursing intensely at the system and wondering why things had to be like this.

    Luckily, the toilet water was sparkling clean otherwise he would have torn his brain out and searched for the system to murder it.

    A mix of dark and dull colours appeared all around him as Lucas was in a state of confusion during this while. He could neither hear, smell, nor feel anything. Lucas could only ''see'' the dark dull colours that surrounded him as he expressed a strange sensation.

    In the very next second, bright white light greeted his sight, stunning Lucas'' eyes for a second as he hurriedly adjusted to it. pping sounds resounded in his ears as Lucas experienced a sense of weightlessness with a slight force tugging him downwards.

    When his sight had recovered, Lucas surveyed his surroundings just to find out that he had appeared high up in the sky, and was rapidly falling down.

    "..."

    For the umpteenth time, Lucas had the urge to curse out loud, but he knew that it was of no use. Also, having appeared in a new area, it was best to understand the situation than expose his location right away.

    As for the current situation? Lucas had been in worse situations and he came prepared. So, he wasn''t worried about a fall, even though it was from over a kilometre high, and would take less than half a minute to fall down.

    Staring down beneath him, Lucas saw a vast in covered in a few shrubs and scattered groves. Lucas narrowed his eyes at a region where his instincts seemed to have alerted him of danger. Thanks to his improved spiritual senses and the advantage of a bird''s eye view, Lucas could sense an incredible blood energy from that exact location

    Based on his experience, there were only two reasons for this: there was either a blood magic user, or arge-scale murder had been carried out there.

    ''It seems that the situation is worse than I thought.'' Lucas frowned.

    He then turned his eyes towards a location closely beneath him, where he sensed an intense energy outburst alongside a roar.

    Scanning the area with his eyes, Lucas noticed a deste beast with a thick body and one wing, as the other had been sliced off. He watched as it stared at a particr location.

    At first, Lucas thought it was a regr student and decided to save them. Once he did so, he could ask them to help him find Wally.

    However, as he kept watching whilst free-falling, Lucas managed to catch sight of a familiar silhouette.

    Instantly, his eyes widened as Lucas gripped his palms tightly.

    "Retrieve."

    The craftsman gloves first appeared on his hands, boosting his strength significantly. But that wasn''t enough. Based on the energy signature he was getting as he approached the monster, Lucas knew that it was at the Apertures Opening stage, and above the first at least. The power boost from the craftsman gloves wasn''t enough, but as was earlier mentioned, Lucas had made preparations before leaving.

    "Retrieve."

    A pair of gauntlets suddenly appeared in Lucas'' arms. The gauntlets covered the entirety of his forearms, but what was most conspicuous about them was the size of the gauntlets. They each looked to be almost as big as the waist of a fully grown adult male.

    The ck metal gauntlets had beguiling red lines on them and strange patterns carved on the surface. It appeared like a piece of metal art that somehow managed to wreak a devilish energy from it.

    The gauntlets were made using abination of Devil Mark stones and Gretac-Titanium alloy, which were metals Lucas received in the work-station after the building was renovated. There was also half an ingot of Purple Iridium metal put into the work, and despite wanting more, Lucas could only manipte a maximum of half an ingot at a time, due to hisck of ster energy.

    For the magic runes and sigils, Lucas used Red Iris stone, which was well known for its conduction of ster energy, and the recently acquired Violent Sun ores for some parts, to give the runes more aggressive nature and force.

    The pair of gauntlets was Lucas'' tour de force of vestige-smithing ever since he came into this new world. It had taken him a total of eight hours to melt the metals and prepare the materials, twenty hours just to make the structure, and seven hours to carve the runes. The truth was that it could have been longer, but this was the first prototype of the deisgn.

    They were meant to be a part of a set Lucas was building to protect himself, but so far, only the gauntlets had beenpleted without any issue.

    The gauntlets also applied the recent ideology Lucas came up with, which was why the creation process was lengthy andplex, and the size was thisrge.

    *Hum*

    When he was less than one hundred metres above, a height that would take less than five seconds to descend, the gauntlets suddenly began to glow along the red lines.

    At this moment, the helokiel was about to dish the finishing blow to Wally, who had already given up. However, it suddenly sensed something above and lifted its head to take a look.

    *Boom*

    The gauntlets smashed right into the face of the helokiel. On impact, it let out a small explosion, shoving the monster down to the ground.

    The astonishingbination of the force from a free fall, the intense punch, the weight of the gauntlet, and the explosion released on impact, all dealt a heavy blow to the monster, burying it into the ground.

    "What was that?" Wally was stunned and tried to lift his head to take a look. However all he could see was a mix of dust and smoke.

    He had barely escaped the reach of the explosion as he wasn''t within its range, but the attack still caught him unaware.

    "Hey, kid. Who said you could die without fulfilling your end of the bargain?" Lucas'' cold voice sounded from the haze.

    "Mi-mister?" Wally was astounded. He couldn''t believe his ears even though he found that voice to be familiar and knew the owner.

    "Move away a bit. I need to teach this fe a lesson for messing with my ns."

    "O-okay." Wally nodded before forcing himself to stand up and leave.

    When he saw Klein''s body on the other side, Wally froze at the sight.

    "Mister, please-"

    "I got it." Lucas cut him off.

    Although he had just arrived, Lucas got a quick glimpse of the situation from above and understood right away.

    "Oi, get up. There''s no way you would go down from that alone." Lucas massaged his arms as he nced at the crater formed by the attack.

    "Graaaaa." The helokiel rose from the crater and released a low growl.

    It was incensed by the new arrival, especially by the attack that struck it. On the helokiel''s body, a hole the size of the gauntlet''s fist had appeared, bleeding out green liquid. The edge of the hole was filled with burnt marks and even part of the injured flesh was as ck as soot.

    "Second level Apertures Opening stage deste beast. An irritating fellow." Lucas'' brows furrowed.

    If it were a first level deste beast, the gauntlets he had on as well as the boost from the craftsman gloves underneath, would have enabled him to take it on. However, a second level beast was out of the equation. Taking the risk of facing it alone might end up with him dying.

    "Although I''d like to y with you a bit, I''ve got bigger fish to fry."

    Lucas took in deep breath and in the next second,

    "Release."

    *Boom*

    A burst of aura exploded from Lucas, rising quickly from the peak of the Body Strengthening stage to the first level of the Apertures Opening stage. It didn''t settle there and went one step further to the second level, before calming down a bit. His body was also covered in strange ck tattoos that gave him a mysterious and somewhat culturally aesthetic appearance.

    *Whoosh*

    At the same time, a grand mass of ster energy gushed into his body, rejuvenating Lucas and giving him a new sensation.

    ''So this is ster energy.'' Lucas relished in the sensation of having a mystical energy flow through his body, blood, veins and organs.

    ''It''s a bit like mana but less weighty. Are all mystical energies different?'' Lucas thought.

    The helokiel stared at him wide-eyed, speechless as to how the creature before it had gone straight from the peak of the Body Strengthening stage to its current level. Although it had also previously undergone a transformation, the helokiel was at the peak of the first level and had received assistance from two strange creatures before achieving its current state.

    But the little being before it simply breathed in and out once.

    *Bang*

    "Let''s get this done with." Lucas pounded the gauntlets together, generating a strange wave of electricity over them that dissipated almost immediately.

    "Roar!" The helokiel released an intimidating bellow.

    The enemy was merely at the same level as it, and had only managed to injure it by surprise. Even though it was injured, the helokiel suspected that Lucas'' current state was a sham.

    In truth, the helokiel was a tad right. Lucas'' current state was as a result of activating the Bronze grade card he got from fulfilling a mission in the past. It was a second level card which meant that for the next two hours, Lucas would possess the strength of a second level Apertures Opening stage ster practitioner.

    "Noisy." Lucas muttered.

    In the next second, the helokiel disappeared and appeared beside him, waving its w towards him.

    *Bang*

    Lucas'' left palm opened wide and caught the helokiel''s w, leaving the monster dumbfounded.

    "Ro-"

    *Bam*

    A punch greeted the helokiel''s face, shutting it up halfway through its roar.

    "I said you''re being noisy." Lucas coldly stated.

    His gaze was like that from the deepest depths of the abyss, freezing the monster and making it shiver for a bit. For a second, the helokiel was confused as to who the real beast was.

    Still holding tightly onto the monster''s w, Lucas grabbed a part of its head -which included an eye- with his right arm, and lesser firmly on it.

    "This is for making me use my equipment before it''spleted."

    The helokiel''s covered eye could suddenly see a blue light that rapidly expanded before sting brilliantly.

    "Roar!"

    The monster let out a mournful scream as it tried to struggle away from Lucas'' grip. It brandished its free w at Lucas in an attempt to efficiently escape.

    Lucas didn''t hold onto it any longer, letting the monster withdraw from his reach since it was counter-attacking. He wasn''t bothered about it escaping; with thebination of his new vestige and his strength now at the second level of the Apertures Opening stage, the helokiel couldn''t escape even if it were at the third level.

    "Save a bit of your voice before you lose it. You''ll be screaming like this a couple more times soon."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

 Chapter 76 The Red Fangs And CDF Arrive

    [[AN: CDF is an acronyfor the City Defence Force. ]]

    At the outskirts of the Bayena in, two silhouettes were moving across the grass at a steady speed. Their aura was almost nonexistent that if someone was close by, they wouldn''t even sense or hear them. Even if one were to nce in their direction at a distance, they might confuse the silhouettes for normal creatures as the duo didn''t have a hint of ster energy on them.

    But the truth was the opposite.

    The two figures were the wanted terrorists who had invaded the Bayena in and interfered with the Greendale Highschool students'' practical exercises. They were currently making their escape from the region, having gone over thirty kilometres from their previous location. Currently, they were fast approaching the border of the Bayena in and past that was a mountain range.

    The mountain range was a suitable ce to escape from as the terrain could help shield them away from satellite view. The thick rocks could also block certain scanning signals from sare shuttles and unmanned drones.

    While dashing across the in, the monster duo abruptly came to a halt.

    "They caught up quickly." The crossbreed smiled as he nced backwards.

    "Ho koron bo." (I told you). The saurian grunted.

    "Whatever. You pretty much know why I had us slow down. I''d like to see how good the fighters in this backwater are. Don''t act like you aren''t interested as well."

    The saurian snorted, but didn''t speak anymore. Instead, he gazed into the distance together with hispanion.

    *Hum*

    A sare shuttle appeared in mid-air, quickly closing in on the duo. Within only just three seconds, the shuttle had appeared less than one hundred metres away from the two criminals. But that wasn''t all.

    Loud humming sounds broke out as more shuttles flew over from the horizon. They were a rapid response team hurriedly gathered to vanquish the attackers. There were at least six of them and everyone was an attacking model with impressive speed designs and defence.

    They hovered to a stop less than two hundred metres away and faced the terrorists, spreading out and forming a defensive. The two hundred metres distance might seem significant, but it was nothing to a sare shuttle. However, it was still enough to keep the passengers safe from the attacks of the terrorists.

    Drones hovered away from shuttles, flying towards the other side and surrounding the shuttles. Once the drones got into formation, they released strange blue lights that connected with each other, forming an energy.

    All of this took less than fifteen seconds, but the two terrorists remained calm at the sight. They didn''t even bother to stop it, merely ncing at the ''show''.

    "Give it up, you''re surrounded."

    A voice sounded from the lead sare shuttle as two fighters stepped out of it, encased in armour. One of them was a woman, and someone Lucas was quite familiar with. She was a lieutenant from the Red Fangs and at the fourth level of the Apertures Opening stage.

    As for the other individual, he was a lieutenant of the Bands City Defence Force, and simrly a fourth level ster practitioner.

    It should be recalled that the Red Fangs unit was a security uniform concerned with Bands City. However, unlike the City''s Patrol Corps, they usually operated outside the city, with the few internal matters being high risk cases. One of the mostmon tasks handled by the Red Fangs was the quelling of beast tides, usually in coordination with the City Defence Force.

    But there was also another mission handled by thisbination; the dispatching of terrorist groups and individuals.

    The Greendale Highschool had earlier informed the City Defence Force of a mishap in their practical exercise, after they failed to get feedback from their staff members and the frencers sent over. So, a Red Fangs toon and a toon from the Defence Force were sent over.

    This was because the incident had urred outside the city and involved the disappearance of many second level fighters and a couple third level Apertures Opening stage frencers.

    A toon consisted of sixteen soldiers and was lead by a fourth level Apertures Opening stage ster practitioner. In other words, there were currently thirty two soldiers split between the first to third levels of the Apertures Opening stage, and two lieutenants at the fourth level.

    "Is that a battle suit? Interesting. I never thought I''d see one here, although it''s an inferior edition." The crossbreed smirked as he nced at his opponents.

    "What is your decision, criminal?" The lieutenant from the Bands City Defence Force coldly asked.

    "That''s a stupid question cause you know the answer better than I do." The crossbreed chuckled.

    "You''re not from here, are you? Why are you here and why are you doing this?" Lieutenant Lily asked.

    Saurians weren''t native species to Eretre. Even if there was one that came for a visit, they would be recorded in the''s database. The appropriate city-state would also be informed by theary Transport Security Agency and update their records about the visit.

    Bands city-state had no record of a saurian paying a visit, so the only exnation was that thetter wasing over from a different city or snuck in.

    The first possibility could be checked by asking theary TSA for recent visitation records of a saurian, but that would take some time. As for second possibility, it was what they decided to go with. Regardless of whether the saurian was from a different city, he had arrived in Bands city-state''s territory and wreaked havoc.

    Since the crossbreed was with the saurian, then their situation should be simr.

    "You''re right about us being foreigners. As for why we are doing this? Why shouldn''t we?" The crossbreed turned to her.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "You hyumans have always felt yourself to be a more powerful species, thanks to all your countless sessful campaigns. Isn''t it about time you got put in your ce?"

    "By killing innocent lives?" Lily frowned at the man''s nonchnt attitude.

    "''The sins of the parents are passed onto their children. No one is innocent.'' This is a line poprly said by a certain Federation senator. How can you not be aware of it?" Chuckling once again, the crossbreed shook his head.

    "You shouldn''t be like this. I understand your situation and the mistreatment you''ve received, but you can be better than this." Lily argued.

    "Oh? What''s this? Mikolos, is she actually pitying us?" Turning to the saurian, the crossbreed showed a surprised expression. Thetter however, ignored him.

    "You''re an interesting fellow. But your worldview is wrong. Well, it can''t be helped as you live in such a backwater ce like this. Enough talking; I know that you''re trying to buy time. I''ve already patronised your attempt enough." The crossbreed smiled.

    Lily and the lieutenant from the City Defence Force both grimaced. The crossbreed was right about that. Their two toons was merely a rapidly assembled strike force. Although it consisted of their members, facing up against two terrorists who had wiped out dozens of ster practitioners at the first, second and third levels, victory wasn''t certain.

    As the duo had kept their aura to themselves, it was hard to discern their power level.

    Although the two lieutenants were at the fourth level, if their opponents were at the same level as themselves, it would be a tough fight even with their toon members offering some backup. However, if the terrorists were stronger, it would be even more challenging to win.

    This was why Lily tried to buy time for backup.

    "I guess we have no choice. I''ll take the saurian while you handle the other guy." The man said.

    Saurians were an innately aggressive race and Thier entire physical body was a war machine. The scales all over their body was extremely solid and difficult to cut through. Without a doubt, it was most likely the strongest opponent of the two, by face value.

    Lily didn''t disagree with the man''s decision, and summoned her vestige right away. Although they were both at the same level, he was slightly strongest than her and had better equipment.

    "I hope you can entertain me a bit."

    Seeing Lily charge towards him, the crossbreed calmly smiled at her and swung his arm forward.

    *ng*

    The sound of metal colliding with metal resounded as sparks flew off between the two.

    "Feisty." The crossbreedmented as he shoved Lily away with his arm de.

    On each arm, there were two des sticking out of them; one from the forearm and the other from the upper arm. These were the crossbreed''s weapons, and they were almost as solid as a Grade 2 vestige.

    The human race was disadvantagedpared to other species, not just because of their inability to utilise ster energy, but also their physical form. Although the creation of the hyumankin had enabled them to harness ster energy, they were still handicapped in terms of physical form.

    This was why the invention of vestiges were one of the human race''s greatest ever achievements alongside the creation of the hyumankin.

    Vestiges gave them a way to contend and kill alien species, otherwise, hyumans would not have been able to be the superior species in this part of the universe.

    *ng* *ng*

    The crossbreed dashed at Lily and swung both arms crazily, with each action moving from a difficult angle. Compared to a sword or any other ded weapon that was an external aspect, des that literally stuck out from one''s arms were somewhat at an advantage.

    "Come on. Faster, faster."ughed the crossbreed as he turned his attack speed up a notch.

    Lily remained calm and cold, responding to every strike with a sh of her sabre [1].

    After a short bout, the two separated and stared at the other.

    "Do you know what the outside world looks like?"

 Chapter 77 There Is No Justice

    "Do you ever wonder what the reality of the outside world is like?" The crossbreed suddenly asked.

    "The reality of the world outside? What do you mean?"

    Lily stared at him in confusion. She could guess that he referred to the other sr systems ands ruled by the hyumankin, but Lily still didn''t understand his question.

    "I guess you don''t." The man smiled.

    "You''re probably taught about how magnificent the world outside is, or how amazing the society out there is. Of the prosperity that exists withoutparison, and the peace that thrives just like the lotus on ake. Of the strength the practitioners wield and of how the hyumankin advances step by step, facing no solid obstruction nor observing any pause.

    Taking it one step further, you''re made to believe in how there is equality and justice, and how every race or species are treated the same, whether victor or vanquished.

    "What a joke." The crossbreed scoffed.

    "There is no peace that thrives without the suffering of another. No prosperity is achieved without exploitation. With each step hyumankin takes in the universe, many alien races fall to the cold hands of death and face extinction.

    "What about the ideology of equality that is being preached? It is a mere illusion; a painting on a wall, created to hide away the dark reality that every species face behind that wall.

    "In life, there is no justice."

    "Absurd. You don''t know what you''re saying." Lily refuted.

    The crossbreed chuckled calmly and he responded.

    "Oh, but I do. Unlike you, I''ve been to the outside world. I witnessed not just the harsh reality of this world, but that of the so called ''justice''. In fact, I didn''t just witness it; I lived and breathed in it."

    Lily hesitated as she saw how serious he was.

    Lily Mayer was someone who firmly believed in justice and the rule ofw. Even though she kept a cold face, she was actually quite considerate about other species. Take for instance how she came to Lucas'' rescue when he first transmigrated into this world, preventing him from being taken away by the kidnapper trio.

    There was also how she let Lucas go even after the murder hemitted in broad daylight, on the ount that it was self-defence, which was a valid reason. If it were someone else, they would treat Lucas harshly, especially if they knew that he was a human.

    However, Lily didn''t look at one''s race of species in negative light. Since thew had stated that all species under the federation were equal, she held steadfast to that belief and presumed it was so, especially on a broader scale. This was why Lily always hated terrorists and couldn''t understand them.

    While it was true that the hyumankin had destroyed their civilisation and seized theirnds, all was fair in war. Even after that, the hyumankin had shown mercy, not wiping them out despite their losses and still returning a portion ofnds back to the original owners. They were also granted rights, freedom and ess to the technology the hyumankin possessed.

    With such greatpensatory treatment, there was less of a reason why one should engage in terrorism.

    But the truth was different, and terrorism became such a serious issue in the gxy, to the point that even individuals, like Eretre, were affected.

    Listening to the crossbreed''s speech, Lily understood a bit, but she still refused to believe it. She was convinced that while there might be people who looked down on other species and disliked them, they only existed in backwater ces like this. In the grand scheme of the universe and the world outside, where thew was more firm and stable, there was peace, and eptance.

    As for the terrorists who existed, they were simply people bored of the status quo, and desired to change it radically. They were also alien species who had lost to the hyumankin and wanted to regain back their honour, and not individuals who were mistreated.

    This was Lily Mayer''s belief.

    "You''re lying." Lily firmly refuted.

    Explore more at empire

    "You still refuse to believe me, huh? I guess it has to do with the fact that people like you, who were born in this backwater, could easily rte with other species. What''s the average mDNA count here? 18-22%?" The crossbreed held his chin as he revealed.

    "With it being so low, it''s no wonder why the ''hate'' here is just average. In the outside world, anyone at your level would merely be relegated to beginner roles, and the treatment you would receive might as well be the same as that offered to other races. In summary, it doesn''t matter whether you believe or not, as you are not much different from us.

    "The truth will forever remain the truth and nothing more. You wouldn''t know that until you see it."

    The crossbreed said confidently.

    *Whoosh*

    Lily widened her eyes abruptly as a figure appeared in front of her. She immediately moved her sabre and blocked in front of her.

    *ng*

    A de appeared in front of her, being hindered by her sabre. However, that wasn''t all.

    The crossbreed attacked with his other arm, utilising both des attached to it forced Lily into a retreat.

    "Ha!"

    The battle suit Lily wore suddenly glowed purple as the energy in it exploded.

    Battle suits were special types of vestiges made with differentponents and parts. The aim of a battle suit was to increase one''s overall strength, or in some cases, a particr aspect.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Lily''s battle suit was equivalent to a high quality Grade 2 vestige, and it was very powerful; at least more so than a single Grade 2 equipment.

    She responded to the attack of the crossbreed vehemently, managing to make a mark on his skin, forcing the opponent away.

    "That''s the spirit! Let''s make some music and dance to the rhythm."

    The crossbreedughed as he re-engaged Lily in a fierce battle.

    The two continuously attacked each other, forming craters on the ground after every failed attack. Even though they were only at the fourth level, their attack and reaction speeds were far ahead that of a regr hyuman. At times, there would be blurs shing round the area as they moved at the speed of a race car.

    The toon crew could only remain in their shuttles and monitor the situation from inside. This battle was beyond their capabilities and if they were to attack with the sare shuttles, they would risk hitting the wrong target.

    Instead, the crew tightened their surveince of the surroundings and deployed anti-escape equipment to prevent the terrorists from running away. Some of them also contacted the approaching reinforcements and urged them to hurry over.

    asionally, Lily would nce on the other side to see how her partner had been holding. However,  pared to her, the man was having a much harder time.

    Saurians didn''t speak like hyumans and they were also an aggressive race, so it didn''t give the man any breathing space as the crossbreed did with Lily. It was only natural for the man to have been having such a hard right from the start, even if he was stronger than Lily. However, he still held on and wasn''t in a disastrous situation. He even managed to get a few hits in.

    After a minute of constant shing and intense battling, the crossbreed said,

    "I''m tired of this farce."

 Chapter 78 97% Mortality Rate

    "I''m tired of this farce."

    As the crossbreed said this, he gave up on defence as heunched a self-inflicting tactic against Lily. He was wide open to her attack, ignoring it while swinging both arms at her.

    Lily was immediately taken aback by the act, but responded quickly by lunging towards the side.

    The crossbreed waved his left arm and took a nick at Lily''s armour, leaving a mark on it.

    "You guys are too inefficient with your powers. Fourth level Apertures Opening stage and you depend so much on your vestige. Well, what can I expect from people living on the fringes. With all that power and all you can do is wave a stick, howughable."

    Snickering, the crossbreed stretched his hand towards Lily with the palm facing her.

    "Let me show you how to truly use ster energy."

    Suddenly, a small gust of air flowed by as a swirl of ster energy gathered in front of the crossbreed''s palm. A green-ck ball of ster energy was taking shape on his palm and it evoked a sense of danger from Lily''s instincts.

    Just as the crossbreed was about to attack, he suddenly raised his eyebrows with his lower pair of eyes widening abruptly. The hand that held onto the energy ball quickly turned to the side and aimed to the sky.

    *Vroom*

    The green-ck ball of energy exploded into four green-ck energy beams, as thick as an adult''s arm, that shot into the air.

    In mid-air, another energy beam, even thicker, was rapidly descending towards the crossbreed. However, it met with the green-ck beans instead and collided into them.

    *Boom*

    The two attacks crashed into each other and set off a magnificent explosion in midair. Radiation burst from the point of collision as a stunning yet lethal aurora formed right after. However, that wasn''t all.

    Almost immediately, more beams of sizzling energy shot down from the small fleet of sare shuttles, simultaneously targeted at the crossbreed.

    The crossbreed didn''t have enough time to think and simply raised both arms up, shielding his face.

    *Boom*

    *Boom*

    *Boom* Find your next read on empire

    Multiple beams struck him, scorching the ground ck and raising arge amount of dust into the air. The explosions were so powerful and loud that even the saurian and the lieutenant from the City Defence Force paused their battle and looked that way.

    "Ginon..." The saurian said as it stared at the centre of the explosion.

    Lily had already retreated after the attack, and she gazed at the scene, narrowing her eyes at the location of the crossbreed.

    "Did we get him?" A voice sounded from her battle suit.

    It turned out that there was amunicator on it, and Lily had used it to signal the fleet to attack.

    "Good job." Lilymented, "but it''s not over yet."

    "Howe?" The speaker on the other side was surprised by her conjecture.

    Lily, however, didn''t reply and remained staring at the area.

    A gasp could be heard on the other side of Lily''smunicator, but she didn''t even notice it. Rather, her focus was on the rming energy signal she could sense from the centre of the explosion.

    "Haha. That was a nice party trick." The crossbreed''s voice sounded from the centre of the area.

    The crossbreed waved his arm once, shoving away all the dust in the area. His stature was revealed to the open, devoid of any critical injury or harm. There were only a few burnt patches on his red skin with a portion of his hair being gone. Apart from this, the only injury worthy of note was a ping-pong sized hole on his left arm.

    "You..." Lily''s eyes were wide open as if she had seen a ghost.

    She wasn''t dismayed at the fact that the crossbreed survived that assault without any serious injuries, although that in of itself was shocking. Lily''s speechless expression insteadid in what she sensed from his body.

    "This energy...it can''t be."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "You know, you guys almost caught me there. If I were a regr fourth level practitioner, I would be dead, or at the very least, lost half my body. Unfortunately, you weren''t aware of my full capability."

    From the body of the crossbreed, the aura radiated was no longer that of a fourth level Apertures Opening stage ster practitioner, but a fifth level.

    "I was really thinking of holding back all through, but you forced my hand." The crossbreed sighed.

    He then waved his right hand in the direction of the small fleet of six sare shuttles. Even the seventh shuttle which was used by the lieutenants to arrive was targeted.

    A bizarre and invisible vibration coursed through the air at the speed of sound, reaching the shuttles before they even noticed it. When the waves touched the shuttles, they were immediately torn apart. There was no explosion, no mes, or any backward movement; the shuttles were simply shredded into metal scraps.

    Some of the scraps were stained red or with fleshy parts stuck to them, but neither Lily nor the other lieutenant paid attention to this. They were appalled by the ability the crossbreed had demonstrated. That wasn''t a simple manifestation of ster energy; that was a superpower.

    For hyumans, only at the tenth level would they possess such due to their inadequate physical form. There might be exceptions, but even they could only utilise a tiny bit of their innate superpower. But the same wasn''t so for alien species. Unlike hyumans, most alien species could use ster energy and even more so, had innate superpowers.

    The more superior races could already use it right from birth.

    The crossbreed was born of both a hyuman and an alien species, so he possessed the qualities of both sides. Hence, it wasn''t strange for him to be able to have an innate superpower at the fifth level rather than the tenth level.

    The saurian, not wanting to be left behind, simrly burst out in power.

    ''Oh no.''

    The lieutenant tried to retreat, but the alien, despite its heavy body, shed and reappeared in front of him, sticking one of its legs through his body

    "Puah."

    The lieutenant puked out blood with his eyes wide open.

    As the saurian, Mikolos, pulled out its leg, the lieutenant copsed to the ground with blood rapidly flowing from the new hole in his body.

    "We have to get going." The crossbreed, Ginon, sighed.

    "In my eyes, you''re no different from us, but even more pitiful. So, I''ll spare you today. Bye~" Ginon smiled before tossing out a strange orb behind.

    The orb exploded and formed a ckhole which he and Mikolos stepped into before it closed up.

    Thirty-four ster practitioners were sent on seven sare shuttles to take down the terrorists. Even if they couldn''t, they were expected to hold them back just long enough for reinforcements to arrive.

    However, in less than seven minutes, thirty three (33) of the thirty four (34) practitioners were killed; a mortality rate of 97% percent.

 Chapter 79 Uproar

    "Good morning everybody. This is the Bands City News Network, or BCNN for short, and I''m your host for the Sunrise Programme, Fiona Von Aurst." [1]

    A blondedy white yellowish skin and blue eyes sat in front of a desk and faced the camera. The news was being disyed live to multiple devices, and almost everyone in Bands City was tuned in to it. Even the public squares in the five major districts had their disy screens tuned in on the channel.

    "On today''s programme, I bring you breaking news, and I mean this both literally and figuratively. We''ve just received and confirmed information that yesterday, a group of students, along with their staff and a few frencers on protective duty, were killed by terrorists; radicals who seek to usurp the current peace of the gxy.

    "The affected institution was the Greendale Highschool located in the West Wing district''s Sinol street. ording to our investigations, more than sixty casualties were recorded; a mix of students, academy staff, hired frencers and members of the Bands City Defence Force and Patrol Corps wing, the Red Fangs.

    The perpetrators have been identified as two terrorists involved: a crossbreed between a hyuman and an Evonika; and a saurian, both suspected to be at the fifth level of the Apertures Opening stage. They have been used of not only directly attacking the victims, but also drugging the deste beasts in the area, increasing their abilities and violent tendencies.

    This in turn created a chaotic situation that was too difficult for the students of the practical tests to handle on their own, leading to dramatic losses and deaths.

    Find more adventures on empire

    "Further investigation on the identities of the culprits have yet to be confirmed, but we can assume that they might still be within the territory of Bands city-state.

    "As a result, a notice from the Bands City Lord Office has been released. Everyone is to move with caution and report any suspicious activities or individuals to the Patrol Corps or the Defence Force."

    On the screens of the viewers, there were two images disyed alongside the reporter. They were the images of the crossbreed and the saurian. After disying the images for a short while, it switched to the scene of the incident, where the corpses of the frencer and staff were being carried out by the medics.

    Many people stared horrified at their devices. Deaths weren''t somon, especially to people who didn''t work in the line of Frencers. Even for those who did, such arge casualty count from one incident was very rare in the industry.

    The news of the attack had stunned everyone and it reminded them that even with the peace that existed, there were some who still threatened it with the power they held.

    Some of those watching the news were parents who had sent their kids off for the practicals three days ago. Others were rtives or even spouses of the frencers and Defence Force soldiers who had passed away. Tears streamed down their eyes as they watched the news.

    While a few of them had been informed of the situation the previous day, not everyone got the memo in time. Finding out that their loved one had passed away in the morning news was definitely not how they nned to start their day.

    "Death to all foreign races!"

    No one knew who yelled it first at the public square of the Eastern Creek district [2], but very soon, many others joined to do so. Even in the public square of West Wing district, which was the most affected by the news, there were ongoing shouts and chants for alien species to be strictly monitored and investigated.

    Some even went one step further and called for all humans to be taken into custody, and the city-state of Digress to be brought to ''justice''.

    A furore suddenly broke out in the two most populous districts of Bands City; the West Wing district to the west, and the Eastern Creek district to the east. The Patrol Corps hurried to keep things under control and prevent a riot from bursting out, but the people were still allowed to protest as it was their right.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The anger in the air was evident, and even some members of the Patrol Corps were influenced by the news this morning. Some of them are rted to the victims while another group was friends with them.

    One should recall that the Red Fangs were a division of the Bands City Patrol Corps. The two organisations were closely rted and had worked a few times on cases within the city, so it was inevitable for members of both sides to get familiar with each other.

    Hearing that their friends who they drank with,ughed with, or celebrated with, were now dead, some still felt the situation to be unreal

    With the ongoing protests and chaos, the City Lord''s office quickly organized a meeting to discuss their next measures.

    Originally, the news about the attack wasn''t supposed to be broadcast, but with the massive casualty rates, there was no way to keep it under wraps for long. Apart from that, some of the frencers and staff had survived due to being mobilised elsewhere, like rescuing the students for instance.

    They leaked the news to their colleagues and those rted to the deceased, and as the circle of those knowledgeable increased, it eventually got to the ears of some mediapany. These mediapanies circted the information quickly the previous day, and the City Lord Office was forced to act.

    The City Lord Office at that time, had decided to use the city''s official media, the BCNN, to make a formal announcement about the deaths. This was because if the people were not given an answer to unconfirmed information circting from the other media channels, they might lose faith in the government.

    With his reputation slightly damaged due to this incident, the current city lord decided to focus on damage control. This was why they made the announcement in the end. Since some of the people already knew and the majority would find out in the end, it was better to admit to the incident having taken ce and make some reparations for it.

    Of course that alone wasn''t enough, but the government nned to perform 200% of the usual and crackdown on all crimes during this period.

    Regardless of whatever reason the City Lord Office had or whatever decision they would take, it was no doubt that the recent incident had sparked a strong sense of hate in the hearts of many.

 Chapter 80 The Board Of Trustees Visit

    After saving Wally, Lucas escorted him and Klein out of the area. As it turned out, Klein wasn''t dead yet, but was close to being so. With second level Apertures Opening stage power for the next two hours, leaving the Bayena in while watching over two teens wasn''t an issue for Lucas.

    The Bayena in was mostly home to abominations and deste beasts below the third level, and with his new vestige, even third level monsters might not be an issue to take on.

    When he brought the duo to a safe location, which was very close to a temporary shelter set up by security forces and the academy, Lucas reminded Wally not to mention that he was there no matter the circumstance. He also made up a suitable fake story for Wally, before returning back to the store.

    It was currently the next day; Lucas, just like seventy percent of the Bands City poption, was watching the news report on the Bands City News Network. Although he was in Bayena in just the other day, Lucas didn''t get to look around much, so he wasn''t aware of the casualty rate or how deadly the event was.

    ''I should really stay in the store more often.'' Lucas thought.

    Having used hisst Bronze grade card, Lucas was truly powerless. The new vestige might be powerful, but without having ster energy, Lucas couldn''t utilise its true power. Until the set wasplete, activities far from the store would have to be postponed.

    "System, when will you fix my condition?" Lucas asked as he recalled that the system stated it had a way for him to use ster energy in the future.

    "When the system reaches level 5, the host would be able to utilise ster energy." The system responded.

    "Level five? What level are you at now?"

    Read exclusive adventures at empire

    "After the host had opened the store, the system had stepped into the first level."

    "How can I get you to level up faster?"

    "Missions rted to the system''s growth would asionally be released. Also,pleting regr missions, whether created by the system or originally programmed for the host, would grant the system a random number of points which would aid the system''s growth."

    "Hold up, shouldn''t it be the other way around? Shouldn''t I be getting experience points or something?" Lucas froze. This wasn''t what he read in those web novels.

    "The host doesn''t think you can simply get stronger by doing random missions, do you? Wouldn''t that invalidate the efforts of others who have been working hard? Or those who have been born superiorly talented?"

    Lucas was speechless at the system''s retort. On one hand, it had a point, on the other hand, he never expected it to give such a response.

    Sighing, Lucas gave up arguing and asked another question.

    "How difficult would it be to get to level five? Is it close or far?"

    "Well, five minus one is four, and four isn''t really a big number."

    Lucas was once again dumbfounded.

    "If I didn''t know any better, I''ll genuinely think you''re against me."

    Lucas gave up the topic and focused back to reality. Although the system has joked around, which was something quite rare, it did answer his questions in a roundabout manner. Getting to level five wouldn''t be so difficult and merely be a matter of time. However, how strong he would be in the future stillrgely depended on him.

    The system''s only role was to raise a Crafts-God, not a Battle God, so strength wasn''t an important point of focus for it. It would provide him with materials, training manuals and even equipment to improve his skill; the system might even help him with ster refining. But as for battle techniques, skills and anything fight-rted, Lucas would have to figure all that by himself.

    Luckily, he was a transmigrated body and soul from a magical world.

    *Ding*

    Just then, the doorbell rung, signalling a guest in the store. Lucas, seated on the checkout counter, raised his head and stared towards the entrance.

    Three hyumans had walked in. They all appeared different, with one of them having pale skin and ck hair while another had a slightly yellow skintone and brown hair. Thest man had medium-fair skin with purple hair. They scanned the area before walking towards him.

    The dressing of all three was quite formal, and from the way they carried themselves, it was obvious that they were people of somewhat high standings.

    "How can I help you?" Lucas nced at them and asked.

    "Are you Mr Lucas Saunters?" One of the three men, the one with the ck hair and pale skin, asked.

    "Yes." Lucas replied.

    The man immediately smiled and introduced himself.

    "Hello. I''m Mr. Gerald Veltmann, a manager at Norsegold Co. I''m also a board member for the Greendale Highschool Board of Trustees. These are fellow members of the board as well."

    "Hi, I''m a Dean at that academy." The man with brown hair and yellow skin stretched out his hand.

    Lucas shook the hand, and nodded, turning over to thest man who simrly did the same.

    "I''m also a member of the board of trustees."

    "I''m sure you''re confused, but we''re simply here to thank you for your aid yesterday." The Dean said.

    "Aid?" Lucas froze.

    Before he left, he had sternly informed Wally not to let anyone know of what happened as it might bring trouble for him. Lucas was confident that Wally would follow his orders to thest letter, so he was confused as to how they found out. Themunicationwork was also down during the time, so it was technically impossible for him to have been noticed.

    ''Did they really find out?''

    "Indeed. A student by the name Wally O''Connor had helped save a couple of students with a vestige from your store. From our findings, the sess of his rescue operations wasrgely dependent on the vestige. Although it doesn''t seem like much to you, we still needed to thank you for your efforts."

    Lucas calmed down but was still quite surprised.

    It seemed that Wally had participated in a rescue operation after he dropped him off at the temporary shelter. Lucas could guess that there weren''t many security personnel on ground at that time, so they were forced to work alongside some student volunteers to rescue the other students.

    From what the news had reported, the terrorists had used some sort of drug to stimte a couple of the deste beasts, strengthening them by a random percentage. In the case of the helokiel, it had experienced an increase in level after the drug treatment.

    This had caused the students to be in dire straits, and any further hesitation on the part of the rescue team would have lead to more deaths. The mass wipeout of the rapid response teams made things more difficult for the academy''s personnel. One hand, they needed to provide reinforcements to capture the perpetrators, and on another hand, they had to send in more men to rescue the students.

    The surviving staff and frencers were few and only at the first level, which wasn''t enough to move alone in the Bayena in, even more so with the deste beasts more aggressive than ever.

    Forming squads with a mix of talented students and surviving staff members and frencers was the best option at the time.

    "That was nothing. It was simply a transaction." Lucas honestly replied.

    It was indeed a transaction and one he hoped would turn into an advertisement. There were changes to the original procedure, but it seemed like the end result was the same.

    "Oh please. We still have to offer our thanks for that." The dean smiled before handing a card to Lucas.

    "It''s a simple thank you from us at the board of trustees. Twenty federal coins." The dean smiled.

    Lucas was pleasantly struck by this. Twenty might sound like a small number, but when the follow-up words were ''federal coins'', it was anything but small.

    Twenty federal coins were enough for one to order a table full of food in a fancy restaurant, four times. In a more practical usage, it was enough to feed an individual in lower districts (the other fifteen districts) for a month. Even in the West Wing district, it was the equivalent of five percent of the minimum sry.

    Nheless, in a ce like Bands City, it was somewhat the equivalent of a tip for some of the more wealthy folks.N?v(el)B\\jnn

 Chapter 81 Interested Partner

    "It''s a simple thank you from us at the board of trustees. Twenty federal coins." The dean smiled as he handed Lucas a prepaid debit card filled with twenty federal coins.

    In  the Vinis pawnshop, such a card was worth twenty federal coins, so in total, one could say that the ''reward'' was worth forty federal coins. However, Lucas wasn''t moved by it.

    A custom Grade 1 vestige would go for at least five hundred federal coins, and could go higher depending on the choice of materials and design. A standard version was cheaper, albeit reaching at least three hundred and fifty federal coins. Some versions even sold for up to four hundred.

    Thanks to the system''s high quality standards, Lucas'' items sold much higher than market price. The standard items sold for at least fifty percent (50%) higher, whilst the custom items sold for at least two hundred percent (200%) higher.

    This means that, even after considering the system''s 75% ''taxation rate'', Lucas would make at least one hundred and thirty one (131) federal coins on the cheapest Grade 1 vestige. For a Grade 1 custom item at base price, he would make at least two hundred and fifty federal coins. Hence, the ''generous'' tip from the board didn''t attract much of his attention.

    ''Rather than this, it would be great if they have some way to help me cut down the system''s tax rate or level up at least.'' Lucas thought.

    Lucas had once found out that one of the perks of the system''s leveling up was the decrease in its on boarding fee percentage. As long as the system gets to the second level, it would drop from seventy five percent (75%) to fifty percent (50%), and even further as it levels up.

    The system''s justification for the onboarding fee was to prevent Lucas from gettingcent with his earnings and to urge him to fulfill missions and work harder. While he didn''t like this, Lucas had to admit it was unfortunately effective.

    Who wouldn''t want to pay less taxes?

    Coming back to reality, Lucas shook his head and didn''t ept the card, which made the dean a bit surprised.

    Your adventure continues at empire

    "I''ll be more grateful if you patronise my business." Lucas pointed over to the collection of vestiges disyed on the other side of the lobby.

    "Oh, about that," Mr. Gerald Veltmann, the manager from Norsegold Co., interrupted.

    ''Here ites.'' Lucas thought.

    He wasn''t a dummy and knew that the visit by these men wasn''t to reward him for any act of service. What Lucas had done was what any dealer or vendor would do, which was to sell their products. Even if it was an impressive work, there was no reason for Wally''s actions and achievements to be attributed to Lucas for his act of selling a vestige to Wally in the first ce.

    It was clear that these men were after something else, and the ''reward'', was merely a means to bring themselves closer to him and make Lucas feel as if he owed them.

    "I saw your products in action and I''m quite interested in them." The man said.

    Lucas wasn''t familiar with the name Norsegold Co., but he could easily figure out that they were a tradingpany with some stocks in the vestige market; the weapons branch to be exact.

    "Oh?" Lucas appeared to be interested.

    Mr Gerald smiled friendly while his eyes shed cunningly.

    "That''s right. I don''t know whether you''re aware, but mypany, Norsegold Co., it a leading tradingpany in various frencer materials and equipment. We also deal in the sale of weapon vestiges and have many branches across Bands city-state. We would like to form a partnership with you, purchasing your goods at a solid market price rate.

    In other words, we hope you can be a supplier for our store."

    Lucas raised an eyebrow, slightly interested in the idea. However, it was merely an interest. He had no intentions of working under anybody, or doing more than necessary.

    One shouldn''t forget that Lucas only loves his hobby of burying himself in the workshop or reading about metals and materials, and nothing else; otherwise, the system wouldn''t have been giving him abrupt missions or limiting his finances.

    "The host should sincerely consider the idea of running the store properly." The system''s voice sounded in his ears. By ''running the store properly'', the system didn''t mean partnering up with some one or cooperation, but to just do exactly the literal meaning; to run the store properly.

    "Sure thing." Lucas replied with an unenthusiastic expression.

    "What would the details be?" Lucas asked Gerald Veltmann, wanting to know whether there would be an opportunity to work together in the future or not.

    Although he wasn''t skilled enough to run a megapany, Lucas has some experience in day-to-day trading activities. One shouldn''t forget that in his first life, Lucas was a cksmith and had to run a store at one point to make a living. He had been fleeced a couple of times back then, before bing experienced in the market.

    Apart from that, Lucas had also asionally read some topics at random, one of which was a bit of marketing and another was contractw; but only a little bit.

    The first was due to just a random interest while the second was because Lucas needed to understand how contracts work. After he became popr in the material engineering society, there were manypanies and countries interested in working with him, so it was important that he knew what each cooperation meant.

    "Ah. For that, I would have to discuss it with the vestige-smith as well." Mr Gerald said.

    "I''m the vestige-smith." Lucas curtly responded.

    Mr Gerald froze for a second, ridicule and vexation shing through his eyes, before heposed himself right away.

    "Oh really? That''s interesting."

    Although the words were said nicely, for some reason, Lucas could feel a hint of sarcasm in them. He has also noticed the expression in Gerald''s eyes, as his powerful soul strength has heightened his senses.

    "Regarding that, it''s quite simple you see. Norsegold Co. would have priority pick for all your vestiges and purchase them at a rate ten percent above market price. We''ll purchase at least ny percent of your creations as long as the quality fits our taste, so you don''t need to be worried about sales. For more details, you can go through this preliminary contract if you''re interested."

    A document was projected onto the air right after that. Lucas pointed hismunicator at it and the document immediately shed into it.

    This was a prettymon feature ofmunicators. One could download a hologram by simply pointing theirmunicator towards it. As long as the hologram was disyed with a public share feature, it would be downloaded into the device.

    After downloading the document, Lucas didn''t respond but began to browse through it. It was quite thick for a preliminary contract, having at least through pages, but this wasn''t a problem for Lucas. A stronger soul meant stronger mental abilities, including mental focus, which in turn meant faster brain processing speed and reading speed.

    It only took Lucas less than five minutes to flip through the document and he had just one sentence to say: this man had some balls.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

 Chapter 82 Failed Talks

    To summarise the document, it would give the Norsegold Co. priority pick in any vestige he makes. This meant that they would get to decide whether they want to keep it for themselves or not before anyone else, which included Lucas himself. As long as the vestige was to their liking, the Norsegold Co. would buy it at a price ten percent higher than market price.

    This sounded nice to the ears, but one should recall that based on the system''s price settings, Lucas'' vestiges already sold at least fifty percent above market price. The system would never settle for less. Even if Lucas did, there was still the seventh five percent ''tax'' rate, which would make his earnings even lower.

    From a considerable one hundred and thirty one (131) federal coins in profit to only ny six (96) federal coins, which was roughly a twenty seven percent (27%) drop in profits.

    What''s more, when the system''s rates drop after it reaches level two, the loss margin would be even wider.

    The drop in profits wasn''t the only problem with this use. Norsegold Co. agreed to buy at ten percent of market price, which made it seem impressive, but in truth, Lucas'' vestiges could sell for more. They were made utilising never before seen magic runes, and epassing a bit of his knowledge together with the new ideology he thought up.

    In summary, they were novel to the industry, which inherently increased their value. Ifunched properly, ignoring the system''s pricing scheme, they could sell for at least thirty percent above market price or much more.

    Giving Lucas ten percent above market price was quite unfair, considering that the work of production would fall onto him alone.

    But this wasn''t all.

    All vestiges sold to Norsegold Co. would be tagged as unbranded. This meant that the former could simply im to have produced them in-house and brand it as an original product. It didn''t just stop at the vestiges, but the R&D (Research and Development) rights would also be handed over to Norsegold Co.

    Which means that the production method and the rights to expand on those, would automatically be Norsegold''s.

    This might sound simple, but there existed a deviousyer of trap in this use.

    Once the production method belonged to Norsegold Co., Lucas would have to request permission to be able to forge a simr vestige again. If he forged a vestige using the same runes and production method as the vestiges sold to Norsegold Co., they could sue him for intellectual property infringement.

    This simply meant that they would sue Lucas for using ''their production method'', although it was initially his. This part wasn''t mentioned in the contract, but it was obvious to Lucas that this is what would take ce.

    There was also another use in the contract that stated that Lucas wouldn''t be able to cancel the deal for the next five years without paying a hefty sum in termination fees (fees paid as penalty for breaking a contract).

    In summary, this wasn''t a partnership contract or anything that Gerald made it to be; it was a thieving contract.

    This was why Lucas'' first thought, after skimming through the document, was to curse the man.

    "So, how about it?" Gerald asked once he noticed that Lucas'' atttention was brought back to reality.

    "I''ll pass." Lucas shook his head at the question.

    "If the pay isn''t to your liking, we can discuss that." Gerald said, but Lucas remained firm in his decision.

    How could it only be the payment rate that would be discussed?

    Seeing the behaviour of Gerald, Lucas had decided to eliminate any possibilities of cooperation with the Norsegold Co. Not to talk about the fact that this wasn''t even a cooperation, but a disgustingly thieving contract.

    Read new chapters at empiren/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    A subtle glint shed in Gerald''s eyes after facing an unexpected rejection from Lucas, but he didn''t let it get to him.

    "No problem. Please contact me if you decide to change your mind, or if you need anything."

    Gerald ced a card on the counter before nodding to the other men and leaving. After Gerald, it turned out that the third man, the one with purple hair, was also a worker for a differentpany. He presented Lucas with a slightly better offer, but none were entertained by Lucas.

    The dean had simrly departed with the rest, but he didn''t give Lucas any offer. It seemed as if he was had been there to escort them or something else, but Lucas didn''t bother.

    For the moment, his attention was on how to dealt with the next wave of guests. These two has probably capitalized in their position as members of the board of trustees to get first-hand information and make it here. However, with time, there would be more agents andpanies finding out exactly what happened the previous day.

    Some would also get interested in the vestige Lucas made and might either try to get it off Wally''s hands for research, or juste to meet him; thest option being the more likely one.

    Lucas wasn''t interested in a deal, but recalling the ''one hundred new customers'' mission, he had to do something to spread the awareness of his store.

    Lucas also found out that the system was against him selling the store or any rights, and working as an employee of anyone else. In the system''s opinion, to be the most suitable host and candidate for the Crafts-God role, Lucas would have to maintain the store himself and exhibit a certain level of independence; something he wouldn''t be able to do as an employee.

    He would however, be able to hire employees, but that was after the system''s next level up.

    For the moment, Lucas'' main focus was on his growth and the mission. He let the matter about cooperation rest at the back of his mind as he knew that a sincere partner would be rare to find.

    Wally''s vestige was a trial product at the new ideology, but it wasn''t what Lucas created to truly stun people. If there was one suitable, it would be his new vestige -the pair of gauntlets-, but those weren''t for sale. Lucas was already working on something suitable, and it would be ready by the next day.

 Chapter 83 The Suspicions Of The Public

    The next day, things yed out as Lucas had predicted, while he was busy at the store.

    Try as they might, the academy wasn''t able to keep information regarding the day of the event a secret, especially since the Bands City News Network had already confirmed it took ce. Due to this, many media channels had interviewed a couple of students, staff and frencers who were present that day, to get a proper understanding of what exactly took ce.

    From the retelling, they found out that a few students had actually teamed up with the adults to rescue their colleagues. The media teams then focused their efforts on interviewing these students and covering the event.

    In order to reduce the criticism for not providing proper security, despite having hired frencers to be on duty that day, the Greendale Highschool decided to aid these media teams by providing some footage from the day and allowing the staff to be interviewed regarding the event. Stay tuned with empire

    Naturally, the staff were to mention that the academy had made a lot of security preparations and the attack was out of their capability. Also, the security footage released were those that disyed the academy''s efforts to control the situation and rescue their students after the deste beasts had changed.

    This was all done in a bid to present the academy in good lighting, and wash away the stain on their record as much as possible.

    In some of those videos were the fights of the students who participated in rescue operations. The idea was to show that the Greendale Highschool, despite being a subsidiary of a pure school of the Technical path, could train talents of the Practical path.

    The Heavenly Trio had caught the most attention, being the strongest of the final year students. Their fame wasn''t just due to their strength, but their skills and battle awareness. Many in the media team were wowed by their performances and couldn''t wait to interview them. However, some others also managed to stand out, one of them being Wally.

    When his battle clip was checked, the media team wasn''t as impressed as they were when watching any of the Heavenly Trio, but they soon noticed something. Wally''s fighting style might have looked a bit crude, but he had a lot of potential. The professionals amongst them could even see that he had only recently received some sort of special training.

    However, what really grabbed everyone''s attention was the power of the vestige.

    "Incredible. It appears to be a Grade 1 vestige, but its power is closely approaching Grade 2. I''ve never heard of a vestige-smith who could pull off something like this."

    "Look at the runes on them. It''s unlike anything I''ve ever seen before."

    Many of these men in the media team needed to work in dangerous regions and so, they had a certain level of power, reaching at least the fourth level of the Body Strengthening stage. All of them were well versed with frencer terms and equipment, so they could easily spot what separated Wally''s vestige from the rest.

    "That technique used with the vestige, it kind of reminds me of some cold-type weapons with theplex nature; the Magi branch."

    In the weapon branch of vestige-smithing, there were two main ideologies or factions: the Forger faction and the Multiplex factions. These were the two that had existed since time immemorial and still held the ruling positions. However, as of recent, a new school had been on the rise in the weapons branch.

    To be exact, it wasn''t really an independent school and more of a sub-branch in the Forger faction. They were called the Magi branch.

    The Magi branch was a vestige-smithing school of thought that created vestiges using technology gotten from ancient civilisations who used a system simr to ster refinement. However, this system approached what the humans had called magic.

    An example of a vestige made by the Magi branch is the main vestige of Lisa, one of the two vice guild leaders of the Autumn''s Gate guild [1]. Her vestige was a ck streamer with iid special gems on them. Those gems were a product made using the techniques of an ancient civilisation.

    They were what made the streamer powerful, otherwise it would have been nothing more than a piece of material with impressive defensive property. The gems contained special spells within them that would activate once the appropriate keyword was uttered by the wielder.

    Compared to traditional cold-type vestiges, the vestiges of the Magi branch were more mysterious, but they still abide by the ideologies of the Forger faction. For instance, there was no need for knowledge of physics, chemistry or engineering when smithing a vestige of the Magi branch.

    It also wasn''t asplicated as building a ray-gun for this reason, but it was more difficult than forging a spear [2]. Vestiges of the Magi branch also required high quality materials just like other Forger faction vestiges.

    Back to the point, some reporters felt that Wally''s vestige was a product of a vestige-smith from the Magi branch, but such individuals were scarcer than vestige-smiths of the Multiplex faction. There were only three known vestige-smiths of the Magi branch in Bands city-state, and they all resided in the Central Prefecture.

    An average student from the Greendale Highschool would have no connection there, much less to those vestige-smiths.

    The reporters had also confirmed that Wally didn''te from wealth, so after a round of questioning, they finally found out where he got it.

    The Seven Sparks Forge.

    The name was unique and unheard of for these reporters who were familiar with all top frencer stores. However, they were sure that Wally didn''t lie to them.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    Some of them continued their investigations and interviews, while a few actually smelled a story and left for the store right away.

    For Lucas, who wanted to have a one day break after his ''stressful activity the previous day'', he was deemed not to have one right away.

    Speaking of Lucas, he was currently focused on one of his two major projects.

    Many suspected his vestige to be following the path of the Magi branch, but Lucas knew it wasn''t. He was aware of the Magi branch, as they seemed to create items simr to the magic weapons from his past life. Using that knowledge, Lucas could easily have blended as one of them, but that wasn''t what he wanted. Lucas hoped to take the world by storm and start something that had never existed before.

    While others suspected that he was a vestige-smith of the Magi branch, Lucas was actually trying to create an entirely new faction in the vestige-smithing industry. And his key to doing so, was the project he was working on.

 Chapter 84 The Unexpected Guest

    After dealing with a bunch of customers that were a mix of story-hungry reporters, curious frencers and more, Lucas sighed with relief and plopped onto the seat beside the checkout counter.

    ncing at the mission progress on his interface that disyed forty three out of one hundred (43/100), Lucas felt a bit satisfied.

    The mission was to receive one hundred customers before the month was over, however, there was no distinction between old and new customers. This made the task easier, but not by much. Lucas'' old customers were few to start with, and it was not everyday one would want a basic or advanced repair. Most frencers didn''t maintain their equipment often unless it was damaged.

    Apart from that, they were usually at the Wastnds base station, where there were other stores who could offer the same services, albeit not of equal quality.

    As for buying equipment? The only thing the average frencer could afford without skipping a heartbeat in the Seven Sparks Forge were the repair services. As for the vestiges on disy, those cost at least fifty percent (50%) more than the other stores. Even if the quality was much higher, most would go for the cheaper option as they were still technically of the same grade.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    This made it such that on average, Lucas would get from anywhere between 0-2 customers per day. Even if he got the max of two customers per day, in a thirty days time margin, Lucas would still fail to reach one hundred customers. So, he needed new customers.

    Almost two weeks, or exactly twelve (12) days, had gone by since Lucas received the mission. There were still eighteen (18) days to go and having almost reached the halfway point, he couldn''t help but be pleased.

    The crowd that had visited his store managed to score some points for him. While the majority of those interested in his services opted for the repairs, three people actually bought vestiges from him, Grade 2 to be exact. This sent Lucas through the roof as his finances were slowly dwindling to a state of abject poverty.

    Ever since the Seven Sparks Forge had opened, Lucas had only sold a vestige twice, and both times were to Harrison Reid, aka Harry. These three new sales were now added to the record.

    One of them was a custom order for a vestige while the other two simply wanted the standard items on disy.

    The two standard orders were at three thousand and seven hundred (3700) federal coins, and three thousand, eight hundred and fifty (3850) federal coins respectively. As for the custom order, it was valued at five thousand and four hundred (5400) federal coins. A grand total of twelve thousand, nine hundred and fifty (12950) federal coins.

    Even after the system''s taxing, Lucas still and at least three thousand federal coins. He was pretty much a mini tycoon.

    ''I need to level up the system, fast.'' Lucas thought after realising he had ''lost'' nine thousand federal coins just like that.

    *Ding*

    The doorbell rang for the umpteenth time today. Lucas wearily nced ahead to get a look at the figure. When he saw an old man standing by the entrance, Lucas froze.

    "I thought you wouldn''t be showing up anytime soon." Lucas smiled.

    The old man was a familiar face a few weeks back. The day before the Seven Sparks Forge was opened, Lucas had gone around the neighbouring stores and when he encountered a problem in one of the stores, the old man had helped bail him out under the plea of a little girl.

    Read thetest on empire

    Lucas had then used a special bracelet he made, as a "thank you" gift to the little girl in an attempt to bridge the gap between them. Even after inviting them to his store''s ''grand opening'', they made no appearance ever since, so Lucas forgot about him. At least that was until now.

    "I really didn''t think I would be here either. But you ended up surprising me." The old man said without any expression.

    Lucas remained silent after those words. He knew that the old man was someone immune to ttery or needless talks, so he would get straight to the point soon.

    As expected, the old man continued,

    "I heard about you and decided toe take a look. You don''t need to worry as I''m not interested in your business."

    Lucas was slightly surprised by that. This was the first person who came today, except the journalists and the frencers, that wasn''t interested in acquiring the store by some means. Apart from Gerald from Norsegold Co and his pals, there were a couple other agents and managers who came to the store to strike a business deal.

    "Even if I was interested, you''d have to be worth investing in. And from what I know, there''s nothing worth investing in here, at least not yet."

    When Lucas heard this line, his lips twitched a bit. This was the second person to brutally assault him with word; the first being the omniscient system.

    "Then what are you here for?" Lucas asked.

    "To know whether you''re worth investing in."

    Lucas was confused. The man had just said he had no interest in the store, yet he came to gauge whether Lucas was worth his interest.

    ''What kind of crazy old man is this?''

    But Lucas didn''t say that out loud. Not only was he suspicious of the man''s strength being at the sixth level or even higher, the old man deemed to be someone of status and wealth. There were more benefits to befriending him than offending the man, and even if Lucas didn''t want to make friends with him, it was still best to keep their rtionship not hostile.

    "Take this."

    The old man tossed an envelope to Lucas.

    Lucas raised an eyebrow in surprise at this. In this world of advanced technology, papers were rarely used, much less something like an envelope.

    Removing the wax seal, he took out the card that was wrapped inside and read it.

    "As long as your performance is enough to get rmended, I''ll consider working with you. I don''t have any intentions of buying you out or anything like the others. But my offer will be something you simply can''t resist." The old man said as he walked out of the store.

 Chapter 85 The Truth Behind Lucas Death?

    Sare shuttles of different shapes and sizes zoomed in the air zone of the modern jungle known as the West Wing district. The streets were bustling with crowds of various skin and hair colours of different shades; a view that a human on Earth would be unfamiliar with.

    Even though the West Wing district was the least sessful of the five districts of Bands City, it was still a part of the city, making it more populous and wealthy than any of the other fifteen districts. The market zone of the West Wing district, most especially, was known for being the centre ofmerce of the district.

    West Wing district neighboured the Wastnds, one of thergest and most dangerous deste beast zones in Eretre. As a result of this, the district developed in consideration of this, building its economy around the trade of deste beasts and the upation of frencing. The market zone, being the centre ofmerce, was the go-to area for every frencer who made their way to the district.

    There one could find all sorts of stores, buildings, malls and even stalls, dealing in vestiges, deste beast parts, armours, shuttles, and whatever it was a frencer needed.

    The Seven Sparks Forge was located in the western region of the market zone, in a corner far off the centre. However, it had recently gotten a bit of fame, being rted to the terrorist attack and the outburst of deste beasts in the Bayena in. But right when one would expect the owner of the store to capitalise on this little fame, the door was currently shut close.

    In the lobby of the Seven Sparks Forge, a burgundy coloured envelope with a broken ck wax seal and a letter peeking out from it,id atop the checkout counter opposite the entrance. The store was empty, devoid of any life except for the owner who sat down by the counter and stared at the ceiling, lost in thought.

    Lucas was currently contemting the offer of the old man.

    Since he came into this world, Lucas never intended on working for anybody, but being entirely independent had its ws.

    For instance, in his first life, Lucas had lived a solo life,cking any power or organisation backing him. When he was a nobody, this wasn''t necessarily bad, so Lucas had it somewhat easy. However, when he became famous, a lot of sects, cults, organisations, bands and whatnot tried to invite him to work for them.

    They lured him with whatever imaginable idea they could think of, and with his past world being one where the fist ruled, some even tried to kidnap him or threaten Lucas.

    The appeal of a magic weapon-smith was just as attractive as a vestige-smith in this world, and maybe even more. This was because Lucas'' first worldcked the level of technology in this world, so everything had to be done by hand. In this universe, cold weapon-type vestiges could be assembled by machines with the rune writing and ster matrix inscription done by the vestige smiths.

    This lead to a situation where there was arge influx of vestiges as the procedure had been simplified.

    But in his first world''s situation, there was no technological advancement and magic weapons had to be created by hand from the very first step until the end. This made magic weapon-smiths valuable, and the higher one''s skillset, the more valuable they were.

    Respect would be given to them by organisations on their righteous side, but some on the dark side simply utilised threats and any means they could to have magic weapon-smiths do their bidding.

    This was how Lucas had died, but, it was more, interesting, than that.

    The experience of his first life made Lucas understand that working for an organisation was important as he could be offered protection. This was how he led his second life on Earth.

    After being recognised for his smarts, Lucas gave his skill and knowledge to the service of his home country, Rhodia. But who would have thought that even after being regarded as a national treasure, he was still assassinated in the end.

    His second death had left Lucas with a bunch of unanswered questions, and truthfully, he was suspicious about it. There was no way a foreign power could have been able to sneak past his security and nted a bomb. All the guards by his side were also members of the Federal Interior Security Service, which was concerned with his safety. None of them could be spies.

    All of this led to Lucas drawing up an insane conclusion; his home country had orchestrated his death.

    Rhodia ranked top amongst the top five most powerful nations in the world, and Lucas'' existence was steadily pushing them to be number one. Lucas wasn''t just a genius; when it came to the study of materials, including nuclear elements, he was like an incarnation of Einstein, Newton and Galileo of his time, all in one body.

    If he wasn''t such a genius, Lucas wouldn''t have been ssified as a national treasure.

    His research had created new metals and materials, expanding the periodic table as we know it, by at least thirteen more slots; five of which had the potential to redefine the weapons industry, with two of them being radioactive in nature [1].n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    While all this sounded great, Lucas'' existence was a threat to other nations. Even if they organized joint projects with Rhodia, Lucas being an asset of Rhodia irked them and they tried to kill him secretly. This was why Lucas was assigned security detail on par with the vice president.

    Despite this, while Lucas was secured, the same couldn''t be said about Rhodia. They had been pressured by other nations above and under the table to give up Lucas. Whether it was in trade deals, sanctions and so on, Rhodia experienced it all. Find more adventures on empire

    Lucas suspected that the harassment was getting out of hand, which was why they had decided to take him out. If that were true, then the Rhodian government must have destroyed his research on the surface after his death, while secretly hiding them for their own use.

    To further ensure that no loose ends were made, they probably weren''t the ones to have actually killed him, but an assassin from a foreign nation. But in a normal situation, the assassin wouldn''t seed, unless Lucas'' security purposely exposed a w.

    With Lucas murdered by a foreign assassin and all his research ''destroyed'', the other nations would have no justification to keep harassing them lest they wanted a world war. In fact, Rhodia could cause amotion as Lucas'' death was a direct act of one of the top foreign powers. They could showcase out a ''hurt'' disy and retaliate against the other powers for a while, before calming down.

    As long as Rhodia yed the act well enough, the other foreign countries -suspicious or not- would lessen their pressure on Rhodia, while thetter could explore Lucas'' research in-depth in secret.

    Of course, there was no way to confirm any of this unless Lucas could get back to Earth and find out the events that took ce after his death. But regardless, his suspicions made Lucas realise that working for someone else was also not a viable option. That was unless his partner/employer was so powerful that no one would want to offend them.

    But as he was now, why would such an individual or organisation approach Lucas?

    The two options marked out, left Lucas with a new option. With the store and the system assisting him, Lucas was confident that he could do better in this life. But before that, he would still need some help.

    ''A business cooperation doesn''t sound bad, but I have too many secrets and I don''t think the system would let another person run the store with me. It''s pretty much a majority shareholder and decides most of the store''s rules already. It would be difficult to exin that to another shareholder.''

    ''But this is a tempting offer.''

    Lucas nced at the letter on the table.

 Chapter 86 The Silver Fig Trade Convention

    "Finally, the Red Fangs have teamed up with the City Patrol Corps to crack down on many underground organisations after the terrorist incident. If I''m correct, the city lord is very likely pissed and wants to win back the favour of the people. The next elections would be in two years time, so such a drastic event like this could affect his votes then. That''s all."

    Underneath the Vinis pawnshop two storey building, there was a basement as wide as an entire floor. In the hall in the basement, a silhouette briefed a shadow on the current happenings in the city. The silhouette knelt infront while the shadow could clearly be seen seated in a throne.

    "So the city''s underground is in chaos now? Interesting." A cold voice sounded from the direction of the throne.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    The terrorist attack which had led to the deaths of many academy staff and frencers, as well as a multitude of deste beasts going berserk and ughtering the students, had caused a lot of trouble for the city. It had also affected not just the academy, but the people''s faith in the City Lord.

    If it were a simple beast wave, then the me would have been on the academy alone for not making proper preparations and arrangements. However, there were terrorists involved. The people began to feel that part of the me should be assigned to the city-state government for being unable to monitor the area and prevent terrorists from sneaking in.

    On the sare shuttle the students used, it took them forty minutes from the academy in the West Wing district to the Bayena in. With a light rail train, it would have been much faster. The whole point was that with a vehicle, the distance wasn''t much to get to West Wing district. At such a ''close'' distance, terrorists had been spotted and they had carried out a massacre.

    It was only natural that the people wouldn''t feel safe again, and so they called out the City Lord for this.

    To regain the people''s trust, the City Lord government has ordered for harsh measures to be carried out to anyone suspected to be in rtions with the terrorists.

    "Ramirez shouldn''t be doing so well now, right?" A cold voice sounded from in front of the man.

    "Yes. On suspicions of his involvement with the terrorists, his gang has been the most affected. Ramirez is currently on the run and the security personnel have yet to find him." The man responded.

    Ramirez had taken advantage of the terrorist attack, which had forced the Red Fangs to drop their guard, to attack Lucas back then. The Red Fangs had a hunch that Ramirez knew the assault would take ce as his ordered attack on Lucas was too coincidental.

    With the go-ahead from the City Lord to operate harshly on any suspicious avenues, the Red Fangs had immediately raided Ramirez''s hideout and taken down most of his gang members. Even with his strength, Ramirez couldn''t do much against a government body like the Red Fangs, and was forced into hiding.

    Experience tales at empire

    "That kid, Lucas, seems to have an impressive halo. Not only was he able to mysteriously survive all the assasination attempts on his head, he also had the Autumn''s Gate guild as well as the Red Fangs protect him. I hear his vestige store is also doing well, and the prices are much more bloated than thepetition''s. It would be nice if we could have him under our control.

    For now, withdraw our underground arms until the coast is clear." The speaker with the voice stated.

    "Understood." The man nodded.

    . . .

    Four days had gone by since the old man''s visit to the Seven Sparks Forge. The atmosphere in West Wing district had calmed down considerably whenpared to the time of the terrorist attack. Hyumankin has advanced much, and with a widework like the KSSI, which allowed one to browse the ongoing situations in the entire sr system, there was so much information for one to consume.

    The inevitable result was that situations like the terrorist attack, could be forgotten after a few days. But this was only in a broad sense. When the election period arrives, it would be dug out, which was why the City Lord had put so much effort into clearing the incident.

    With the incident briefly forgotten, the city has recovered a part of its energy considerably. However, today, it was a bit more festive than usual, particrly the public square.

    At the centre of West Wing district was a clear expanse devoid of any towering skyscrapers or fixed abode. It was the public square, and a ce set out for hostingrge scale events in the district, second to the auditorium. The public square was currently filled with stalls and temporary buildings erected to act as stores.

    There was a mammoth crowd of hyumans swarming the area, and on each stall were disyed some items; vestiges to be exact. Whether it be swords, spears, guns,ser canons or even armour, one could find them all here. This was a strange situation as such a sight was usually onlymon in the market zone, but today, the public square had all the attention instead.

    That was because today was the start of the annual Silver Fig Trade Convention.

    The Silver Fig Trade Convention was a special trade fair organised by an alliance of merchant groups andpanies known as the Silver Fig Consortium. These parties ran toppanies rted to the frencer role in Bands city-state.

    They held a share of either the vestige market, danger zone logistics, sare shuttle business, deste beasts market, materials industry or some other market/industry. They were like the Nestler and Kreft Heinzer of Bands city-state''s frencer industry. In summary, they were the industry movers and the market controllers of the frencer industry.

    The Silver Fig Trade Convention was a trade fair organised by the consortium as a pro-bono service, and it took ce for five days in all five districts at the same time.

    The public squares of each district would be rented out for the duration of the convention by the consortium, and store owners, vestige-smiths and other businesses could only open a stall or a temporary shop and disy their goods.

    Usually, no items were sold during the fair and it was more of an exhibition show than a market. However, frencers, guilds and mercenary teams could check out the various vestiges that catch their attention and ce orders for the items.

    The whole point of the convention was to offer free advertisements for other small or medium-sized businesses, and have them disy their prized works to the public. As for why these businesses would do such a thing, this was because appraisers of the Silver Fig Consortium would secretly move around the public squares of the five districts during these five days.

    They would create a list of items and vestiges they found captivating and with magnificent potential. The creators or owners of these items would then be invited by the consortium to present their products for a high ss auction typically held on the sixth day, the day after the convention.

    Apart from that, if a member of the consortium finds the product to be worth investing in, they could initiate a trade deal with the producers. The businesses were protected from harassment regarding any affairs that took ce during the convention.

    This meant that even if a deal crashed or was rejected for one reason or the other, the small or medium-sized business would not need to fear retaliation from the consortium member.

    It was this rule that ensured that these businesses could disy their magnum opus with nothing to fear. Thanks to the hype of the convention and therge spectators and high-profile guests it attracted, it became the perfect advertising spot for new releases and the likes.

    From this, one could see the value of the Silver Fig Trade Convention for small to medium-sized businesses in the frencer industry. Even some bigwigs who weren''t part of the Silver Fig Consortium would still participate in it, as the event was equally advantageous to them.

    Although the Silver Fig Trade Convention was free for participants, bing a participant wasn''t easy. One would have to either be formally rmended by a consortium member or have submitted a bid statement for a spot prior to the convention.

    The bid statement didn''t cost much money from an enterprise''s point of view -only ten federal coins- but it would take a period of examination and evaluation by the consortium staff before one was approved through this method. Usually, this would take between one month to three months. This made the procedure very time-consuming, and one would have to begin way before the event itself.

    Lucas was new, and he only came into this world barely over a month ago. There was no way he would have been able to participate as it was toote to submit a bid statement. However, inside the envelope the old man handed to Lucas was a rmendation letter from a consortium member, so Lucas would be participating this year.

 Chapter 87 The Silver Fig Trade Convention 2

    The envelope the old man gave Lucas has only one letter inside, which was the rmendation letter as well as an approval slip attached to it, that was marked with some information. However, the old man''s departing words were that a cooperation between them could only happen so long as Lucas got a sale slot for the auction to be held on the sixth day.

    In other words, the old man wanted Lucas topete with all the vestige businesses in the West Wing district, for a limited opportunity. Not only was this insanely difficult, but it was impossible for any regr individual to pull off. Even an experienced vestige-smith couldn''t say for such that they had this in the bag, unless they were one of the top in the district.

    Even then, it was possible for a nobody to get a slot over them, as what the appraisers judged wasn''t the fame of the creator, but the value and potential of the vestige.

    For Lucas, this convention was good news. He would get the free advertisements he''s been dreaming off, and he could get a boatload of money from the auctions too. As part of the pro-bono movement for the industry, there was nomission on items sold in the auction, so the entire money generated would go to the creator.

    Arriving at the public square, Lucas nced around and was surprised; even though he left as early as 7:30 am, he was still te''. Many stall owners had already erected their selling point. As for the bigpanies participating, they had set up temporary buildings on the spot. With the technology of the era much advanced, moveable houses were a thing.

    Staring at the temporary houses a few metres away, Lucas couldn''t help but want one. Unfortunately, those weren''t sold in the West Wing district, and Lucas didn''t know how to make them.

    He ignored the others and logged into the KSSI, locating the site designated from Eretre and then Bands City. Lucas searched for the convention''s homepage and logged in with the details on his rmendation letter.

    For the convention, participants had the option to rent setup equipment from the organizers at a fair price, and Lucas had opted for this option a while after he arrived.

    To prevent fights and disagreements from breaking out, the distribution of vendors in the public square was assigned by the organizers as soon as a participant was approved.

    On the approval slip for Lucas'' rmendation letter was marked a location for his stall to be opened. The old man''s rmendation had only enabled Lucas to get enough space to open a stall, and not a store, but Lucas didn''t mind. Even if he had enough space for a building, he didn''t have the connections to buy one of those temporary buildings, and he couldn''t make them either.

    After putting in the details and paying for a stall to be set up, Lucas immediately set off for the designated location. The space wasn''t so big, but it wasn''t small either, roughly about four metres wide and three metres long. It was even smaller than a studio apartment, and roughly the size of a small bedroom, but that was to be expected.

    It didn''t take long for few drones carrying equipment to arrive at the scene. The unmanned drones immediately began to assemble the stall in front of Lucas as he waited.

    "Excuse me." Explore more stories with empire

    Just as Lucas was waiting for the assembling to be done, a voice called out to him. He turned around and noticed the person calling out was a middle-aged man in uniform, exuding the aura of a second level Apertures Opening stage ster practitioner. Based on the outfit he wore, Lucas figured out the man was a security guard for the event, but this shocked him even more.

    Most functions would use robots for security as they were much cheaper and could be deployed en masse. But the Silver Fig Consortium had actually hired frencers for security purposes. The cost for this was definitely not cheap, and the convention wasn''t a moneymaking event either. This just showed the financial prowess of the consortium.

    Seeing Lucas turn, the man said, "Identification."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Lucas handed the letter to the man to check, alongside a projected image of his ID.

    After going through them, the guard nodded, then handed the letter back to Lucas and left. He was slightly surprised but didn''t seem to be bothered about Lucas'' identity as a human participating in an event usually dominated by hyumans.

    The reason was actually quite simple; some stores had proxies running them until thest two days, which was usually when the original owner would appear and unveil their masterpiece. In the guard''s opinion, Lucas was most likely an employee of a business who was sent to look after their position for the meantime.

    After waiting for about thirty minutes or so, the stall was finallypleted. Although it was called a stall, due to the avable space, it was muchrger than a typical booth. It had a partition inside which separated the space to create a private room for the owner. Lucas was impressed by this and intended to use that private space as a work-station.

    "System, will any transaction carried out here, be added to my mission count?"

    The system didn''t reply right away until three secondster.

    "Yes."

    "Perfect." Lucas grinned.

    The Silver Fig Consortium banned the physical sale of vestiges during the Trade Convention, but orders weren''t prevented. In other words, one could ce an order for a vestige and get it outside the convention or after it was over. The aim of the convention was the same as an exhibition show; to attract attention and offer advertisement.

    In the case of services such as maintenance, the procedure was slightly different. On-site maintenance was banned just as physical sales, but one could simply leave their vestige with the vendor and collect it at the end of the day or elsewhere.

    For instance, frencer A could give his vestige to the smith at B, who would then fix it and return it to A after the convention was over for the day or at ater time outside the convention''s venue.

    Because of this rule, most participants would ce a limit on the vestiges they would ept each day for maintenance, unless it was a bigpany that had dozens of workers. But even they still limited their maintenance slots per day

    The main focus of the event was still on vestiges and not services, so most of the vestige-smiths would be busy making final touches to the vestiges they nned on showcasing from the fourth day.

    But Lucas was different. Compared to other vestige-smiths, his speed at maintenance and repairs was on another level, one could even say he was two levels ahead. As such, he could ept more requests than others, and evenpete with the bigpanies.

 Chapter 88 Vestige Duel

    On the first day of the Silver Fig Trade Convention, the event had just kick-started, so there was a lot of fanfare ongoing. The convention was an annual five days long event and hosted by an alliance of the top richestpanies in the vestige industry. It was only natural that it would get the best coverage and be an event worthwhile for frencers.

    While the other participants of the convention had set up their stalls and showcases earlier, Lucas had justpleted his. But right after doing so, he left to check out the other participants'' booths.

    It was his first time attending such an event, and it gave Lucas the opportunity to see upfront, the difference in products between the other vestige-smiths and himself. While Lucas had previously visited a couple stores for this, the convention was on a different level. Here, no vestige-smith vendor or business would hold back or hide away their prized creations.

    Everything that could be termed as the ''best'' would be put on disy, and on thest two days, they would pull out their ''ultimate weapons''.

    On the second day, Lucas still left his stall empty and unattended as before. Once again, he wandered around the public square like a potential client.

    Compared to the first day that was calm and peaceful, the second day was different. There was still arge crowd, but the atmosphere was different. If one were to describe it, the atmosphere was energetic and eventful. As for the reason, it was quite interesting.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The Silver Fig Trade Convention, for big businesses, was a routine operation that they were obligated to participate in. But for others, especially small businesses, it was different. For them, the convention was an opportunity to stand out and make a name for themselves.

    The selection process for the convention''s participants, while cheap, had strict standards to prevent scammers from getting in. This was why the process took between one to three months.

    For the small businesses that managed to pass, they were d and took it as an achievement, but the journey didn''t stop there for them. In fact, it only began.

    Due to the fact that the convention was an annual event, it gathered tons of vestige-rted businesses in the district. The West Wing district was asrge as a major city and close to the Wastnds, so there were a lot of such businesses in the district. Even after the selection process, many businesses of different sizes still got approved.

    This made it difficult for the small parties topete and attract clients in the convention. So, some of them decided to utilise unconventional approaches and techniques to stand out.

    One such was the Vestige Duel.

    A vestige duel was a contest between two or more vestige-smiths or businesses, with the focus being on the quality of their vestiges. It involved having vestiges from the differentpetitors exposed to the various tests until there was a clear lead. It was simr to the "striking de against de" challenge that was used to test swords in the ancient epoch of the human race era.

    The second day of the convention was usually when vestige duels began to take ce, which was why the ambience was more lively than the first day. On this day, many small businesses or vestige-smiths would go to different stalls or stores and challenge the owner to a vestige duel.

    Since such events werepetitive and interesting, it attracted a lot of spectators. The winner would receive exposure and even a few interested clients. As for the loser, as long as their vestige performed well in the duel, they might still make an impression on the spectators. But there was always the risk of being ridiculed and developing a bad reputation.

    The challenged side could reject the duel, but it might give birth to the idea that they were afraid, unless the difference was vast. For instance, if a random small-time vestige-smith were to challenge one of the vestige-smiths at the top, it was natural for thetter to ignore the duel and consider it a waste of time.

    Big corporations and well-known vestige-smiths valued their prestige a lot, so they didn''t engage in vestige duels as often. As a result, the ''sport'' was moremon for small-time sides, and asionally witnessed between medium-sized businesses or vestige-smiths with some reputation.

    Currently, Lucas was spectating a vestige duel. It was between a somewhat popr vestige-smith against a vestige-smithpany.

    Vestige-smiths weren''t somon, but they weren''t rare either. It was an upation just like doctor, engineer, and so on, except it had even more strict requirements. Just like an average upation, seeding alone as a vestige-smith was something very difficult, hence why there were more sessfulpanies than individually-ran businesses.

    It should however be noted that vestige businesses were different from vestige-smith businesses. Whereas the former only sold vestiges, thetter sold as well as created vestiges. Despite that, a vestige-smith business was sometimes not even owned by a vestige-smith, but someone who knew how to run a business.

    Nheless, such vestige-smith businesses could still participate in the convention, and a duel as well.

    Vestige businesses could participate as well, but without the ability to produce a vestige, it was pointless to do so as they would be overshadowed. Most times, they attended the convention as a client, looking for vestige-smiths to partner with. The Norsegold Co., for instance, was a vestige business, and they would most likely be in attendance at the convention as a client.

    The vestige-smith was the challenger, and the vestigepany was the challenged side. The vestige-smith was someone who had a bit of a reputation in the West Wing district. Many vestige businesses ced orders with him and bought his products, which they wouldter sell at a higher price.

    "I can''t believe ''Grey Finger'' Sofoklis is participating in a vestige duel as a challenger. It''s been so long."

    "You''re right. Thest time Sofoklis challenged someone was five years ago, and it was a fellow vestige-smith. I heard that not only did he win, but he won so convincingly that he ended the man''s caterer as a vestige-smith."

    "Yeah, I heard that too. Rumours say his opponent retired from the industry and became a teacher instead."

    "That''s insane."

    Listening to the murmurings and discussion by some in the crowd, Lucas couldn''t help but be surprised as he stared at the middle-aged man who stood opposite a stall.

    The man was calm and didn''t show any reaction to the words of the crowd, only staring at the stall. ''Grey Finger'' was an alias given to the man, as that was the insignia he left on the vestiges he made¡ªa kind of logo to promote his brand.

    The stall in Grey Finger''s view was simr to Lucas'', but it was slightlyrger. It was clear that even though the Silver Fig Trade Convention was open to all, the treatment each participant received was slightly different. Lucas was unknown, so the space he was given and the stall were all basic.

    But this vestige-smithpany had a bit of a reputation in the district, so it was natural that their treatment would be better.

    While this didn''t seem like much, it would still affect one''s ability to attract clients.

    In the stall were five individuals who appeared slightly ufortable at the challenge.

    A vestige duel might seem like an opportunity, but it was one filled with risks. Even if the loser could still retain a bit of dignity after the duel, it was only on the condition that their performance was simrly impressive and the gap was not much. If it were the opposite, it would not only affect their sales but also their stocks.

    Hence why vestige duels were very risky for businesses, and avoided by the bigpanies.

    "Is the Gold Rain Factory going to remain hiding in their stall, or will you ept my challenge?" Sofoklis said as he stared at the five individuals.

    "Is the Gold Rain Factory catching cold feet?"

    "It can''t be helped. The title ''Grey Finger'' isn''t an unknown one. Apart from those bigwigs, not many vestige-smiths couldpete with him. There''s a reason why he''s a supplier for many businesses you know."

    "Even still, if the Gold Rain Factory does nothing, they''d lose a lot of trust from the market. Can''t they at least put up a fight?"

    The crowd discussed the situation that took ce. Lucas watched with interest, not intending topete or interfere with them. It was currently afternoon and Lucas had already watched a few vestige duels, but those were between small-level businesses and vestige-smiths. This was the very first one that involved reputable parties.

    One of the five, who happened to be the manager assigned to the venue for the day, walked out with an anxious smile in his face

    "I don''t know why you''re targeting us, Mr Grey Finger. Can''t we just talk this out amicably?"

    "I''m not targeting you. I''m merely here to prove a point and test a new creation of mine. Don''t waste any time and give me a response, as my time is limited." Grey Finger Sofoklis replied without any consideration of giving face.

    It was clear that he didn''t n on retreating just because of a few words. Experience new stories with empire

    The manager, seeing that his efforts to avoid a duel had failed, gritted his teeth.

    "Don''t look down on us just yet. Since you want a duel, a duel you shall, receive!"

 Chapter 89 The Trident

    Vestige duels were challenged thatpared the performance and statistics of a vestige with another with the purpose of finding the marginally better side.

    Since vestige duels were created to attract attention and boost the prestige and reputation of a vestige-smith or vestige-smithpany, they were typically done with fanfare; a stark contrast to the personal tests vestige-smiths would conduct on their creation.

    "So, how do you want it to be?" The manager menacingly asked the ''Grey Finger'', Sofoklis.

    Weapon vestiges differed from one another, and this was a well-known fact. The existence of the two main design schools that focused on cold-type and hot-type weapons, respectively, was a clear example of this. As a result, vestige duels became somewhatplicated to organise.

    For instance, if a vestige-smith of the Forger faction challenged another of the Multiplex faction, how would theypete? How can one determine the better of a gun and a sword, in a way that emphasizes their overall structural integrity, strength, and design? It was close to impossible as both were different. It was like asking which is a better fruit, an apple or an orange?

    Both had their advantages and might even have slight simrities, but they were innately of different families, structures, and nutrients. Simrly, the Forger faction vestiges and the Multiplex faction vestiges, despite all being vestiges, were different.

    Even among the vestiges of the Forger factions, differences existed. Some weapons could be specifically created to be used in certain environments, while others were for general purposes. Take, for example, a sword made to be able to function properly and withstand a -78¡ãC (-108.4¡ãF) temperature pitted against an average sword or spear.

    The two weapons were made for different environments, and so, the former might perform worse than thetter in some tests or vice versa.

    Hence, a variety of genres were created to be conducted during a vestige duel, depending on what was to be tested.

    "Let''s go for a general duel." Sofoklis replied.

    A general duel was pretty much the mostmon duelling format. It was meant to be used for standard gear. The opposite was a specialized duel, which would be used for special vestiges, like the extreme-cold-resistant sword from the previous analogy.

    Less than a minuteter, the four other staff in the stall brought out a few pieces of equipment. Every stall that was rented from the convention''s organizers was given the items as a bonus. The organizers were already familiar with the tradition, so they did what they could to help it; after all, this made the event flourish in turn.

    Sofoklis stared at them, but didn''t act right away, choosing to shut his eyes instead. The manager of the Gold Rain Factory''s stall thought that Sofoklis was getting ready by meditation. This wasn''t an umon practice, so he felt nothing about it. However, he was wrong.

    Less than two minutester, the spectators suddenly cleared out an area as a group of men in uniforms appeared. They were the security personnel for the convention, but they came here for different reasons. In their hands were a few pieces of equipment, which were immediately set up in the open.

    "What''s the meaning of this?" The manager was confused, but for some reason, he felt wary.

    "Nothing much. I''m already bored of using the standard equipment we''re provided with, so I applied for something better." Sofoklis said with his eyes still closed.

    The manager began to feel dread, and even his forehead was slowly being covered in sweat. Find exclusive stories on empire

    The duelling equipment provided by the organizers was naturally not of the best quality. There were hundreds of participants and the organizers had to ount for the possibility that everyone would be involved in a vestige duel.

    As such, they cut corners when providing the equipment for the duels, going for second-rate items, or standard ones for the better known vestige-smiths and vestige-smith businesses.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    While this sounded wrong, there was no problem with it. The duel could still be carried out, with the only issue being that the tests would not be as urate, but they wouldn''t be wrong either. Also, the set of equipment was suitable for testing most vestiges.

    Small time vestige-smiths, who usually participated in vestige duels, were unlikely to be able to make anything that could surpass the limit of the equipment, even if they were substandard.

    As for the standard equipment, it was usually more than enough for the more prominent and renowned business and individuals.

    For Sofoklis to make a special request for a new set of equipment, what he wanted to test was definitely not ordinary and could possibly surpass the testing limit of the standard equipment. Usually, only the ultimate vestige created by each participant could achieve such a mark. However, such creations were kept hidden until the fourth or fifth day of the convention.

    ''Is he revealing his masterpiece so soon?''

    The manager wasn''t the only one who thought this way. In fact, over eighty percent of the crowd had the same opinion.

    "Is it possible that, Grey Finger intends on using his masterpiece from thest convention?" Someone in the audience asked the person beside him.

    "That might be possible, but the Gold Rain Factory can also do the same. Also, it''s been over a year now. Everyone is aware of the quality, weaknesses and strengths of all the masterpieces fromst year. Even if Grey Finger made improvements to it, the Gold Rain Factory could have done the same with theirs. In fact, that''s how most new ultimate works are made, so I doubt that''s what he did."

    A year might seem long, but in the interster era, it was actually quite short. In such a short period of time, it was naturally impossible to make great progress at every convention. And so, some vestige-smiths and businesses would just improve on their work from the previous year and present it as their magnum opus.

    "Then are you saying that he made two masterpieces for this year''s convention?" The first speaker was surprised.

    "...we can''t say yet, but we can''t eliminate that possibility."

    While the crowd discussed, the security had finished setting up the new equipment.

    "Let''s begin." Sofoklis finally opened his eyes. To the manager who stared at them, it felt as if hidden within those eyes was a space filled withplexity he found no words to describe with.

    The manager of the Golden Rain Factory''s stall gritted his teeth and whispered something to one of the staff. The man froze, but quickly recovered and rushed into the stall beforeing out.

    "Can the two duelists present their vestiges?"

    A man who had followed the security personnel to arrive earlier spoke up. He was dressed differently from them, but this didn''t make the public treat him less. In fact, unlike the security personnel that were hired, the man was an employee of the organizers of the Silver Fig Trade Convention; an employee of the Silver Fig Consortium. He was present to act as an overseer for the duel.

    Since Vestige duels were a variety of tests conducted to find the better vestige, there was no need for a judge. However, an overseer was required to ensure the integrity of the duel and act as a witness.

    Behind Sofoklis, a young man walked out with a long box in hand. He kneeled on the ground piously and carefullyid a cloth, before dropping the box on it.

    ''From what I''ve heard, it''s said that Grey Finger is part of a sub-branch under the Forger faction and that guy should be his disciple. They call themselves the lesiastics.'' Lucas thought as he watched the disy.

    The lesiastics, just like the Magi branch, were a sub-branch of the Forger faction. However, they were very entric. Unlike how most factions or branches are formed, the lesiastics weren''t formed by a technological idea or belief, instead, it was a religious ideology. The lesiastics revered vestiges.

    Whereas others saw the creation of the hyumankin to be the number one achievement of the human race, the lesiastics argued otherwise. They held the belief that vestiges were the number one creation of the old race, and also the very importantponent that led to the rise of the hyumankin''s position in the gxy.

    Whenever a member of the lesiastics created a masterpiece product, they would treat it as their precious baby and, in some cases, as their god.

    Lucas had one word to describe them; they were loco[1].

    ''Best to avoid them if possible.''

    With a reverent expression, the young man carefully opened up the box and a vestige was revealed. It looked like a spear, but at the same time was not.

    ''Hmm? A trident?'' Lucas thought as he nced at the smaller-sized prongs by the side of the weapon''s shaft.

    Apart from the alluring matching red and purple colours, a result of the metals used, the trident didn''t seem special. It didn''t even radiate any ster energy, which was a typical sign of the power of a vestige.

    Some in the crowd were confused as to why Grey Finger had brought out such a vestige topete, but the professionals were astonished.

    Unless the vestige Grey Finger''s disciple brought out was a wed item, then it was powerful, very powerful. For a vestige to be able to rein in its aura was a testament to the vestige-smith''s skill.

    The manager, although not a vestige-smith himself, was familiar with the craft. He already guessed the two possible exnations for the vestige having no aura. He had simrly eliminated one of them and chose the more likely option, which wrapped him with fear.

    This trident was definitely a masterpiece!

 Chapter 90 The Duel Tests

    After the unveiling of the trident by Sofoklis'' disciple, it was the turn of the Gold Rain Factory team to disy their vestige. The staff who had been sent away had returned with a simr box as Sofoklis'' disciple. It was simr in length, butpared to thetter, it appeared to be more decorated.

    There was a ruby-like gem iid atop the box, and on the sides were carved some cryptic writings.

    The vestige-smiths and well-learned ones among the spectators easily identified the gem to be a special material that had a sealing-like function, and the writings as runes. The runes worked in tandem with the gem to create a seal that worked over the box. While this sounded like magic, it was just a different method of utilising ster energy and a part of the hyumankin''s technology.

    It was just like how a caveman would consider the idea of sending messages or voices from one part of the world to another as magic, but the modern man would term it technology.

    When the box was opened, a burst of energy exploded into the air and was felt by the crowd. Roughly ny percent of the spectators were frencers at the first level of the Apertures Opening stage and above, so they were quite sensitive to ster energy.

    The nature of the ster energy was quite pure and aggressive. It was like the aura of a warmonger general whose loyalty lied to the country¡ªa man who would ughter enemies on the battlefield until hisst breath, even if he was thest man standing, simply because he had a people to protect behind him. This was the sensation the crowd could feel from the aura exuding from the box.

    "What a marvelous creation." An experienced vestige-smith in the crowd couldn''t help but exim.

    A vestige that could arouse emotions from the wielder and stir the crowd just by the aura it exuded was definitely not an ordinary one. This was another masterpiece. It was of a different nature to Sofoklis'' vestige, but that didn''t make it any bit weaker.

    The people who attended the convention as clients today couldn''t help but be d. No one would have expected that two masterpieces would be revealed today, and even more so, be pitted against each other in a vestige duel.

    Masterpieces usually came out on thest days of this five-day convention, but it was merely the second day. Also, even when masterpieces were revealed, they were hardly challenged to a vestige duel. The reason for this was simple. Every participant who had a masterpiece creation revealed it for the sole purpose of attracting the attention of the appraisers from the Silver Fig Consortium.

    As long as they captured the interest of the appraisers, they would earn a sot for the auction. Since the appraisers could determine the quality of a vestige at a nce, there was no need for a vestige duel; those were used only to impress the public.

    For these auction aspirers, a loss in a vestige duel could affect their chances of getting a slot. Even if the appraiser clears their vestige to be auctioned, the final price might end up affected by that negative sentiment born from the loss. Although winning would increase their chance of getting selected for the auctions and even possibly raise the final bid price, the risk was more.

    Recovering from the shock of the ster energy, the crowd stared at the item inside the box. It was simrly a long weapon, but rather than a trident, it was a spear; an overbearing one at that.

    The spear was coloured gold with the runes and ster matrices engraved on it with a special white ink. There was a purple-red gem fixed on the shaft, just below the point where the de connected to the shaft. A white tassel was attached to the joint, giving the spear a royal feeling.

    "I present to you all, our masterpiece for this year''s convention: ''Annalia''. It takes its name from the ancient human race era, meaning ''God''s grace to me''." The manager introduced.

    "It seems the rumours are true. It all makes sense now." Someone in the crowd said.

    "What rumours?"

    The man exined, "It''s said that Grey Finger has a rival in the lesiastics. Both sides were talented vestige-smiths and hadpeted with each other ever since they got their certificates. His rival was said to have gone missing a few years back, but about two years after the Gold Rain Factory announced that they had recently attracted a new vestige-smith into their ranks.

    However, the vestige-smith''s identity wasn''t disclosed, even on their official website. However, rumours eventually came out that the new vestige-smith was of the lesiastics branch. The Gold Rain Factory neither refuted nor admitted to this, so the rumourster died down. But it seems like they were true; and the vestige-smith is probably that man."

    Although no name was mentioned, the crowd could guess who ''that man'' was. When they thought about things, it finally made sense.

    Sofoklis probably knew that his rival had joined the Gold Rain Factory and that this year''s masterpiece was a product of his, hence why he challenged the Gold Rain Factory to a vestige duel. By using his masterpiece topete, the Gold Rain Factory would be forced to do the same, unless they wanted to throw the towel or just refuse the duel.

    However, the Silver Fig Trade Convention wasn''t an ordinary exhibition fair. Any action taken here by a corporation or vestige-smith would affect their reputation in the market negatively or positively, depending on the nature of the action.

    Throwing the towel or refusing the challenge would definitely affect the public opinion since Sofoklis wasn''t a nobody, so they would most likely give it their all.

    From the start, Sofoklis wasn''tpeting with them to find out the better side, but was merely re-enacting his rivalry. He didn''te topete with the Gold Rain Factory, but his old rival. Read exclusive content at empire

    The spectators were once again swept in emotions and couldn''t wait for the duel to begin. Even Lucas couldn''t help but look at Sofoklis differently.

    "Let''s begin." The overseer said.

    Sofoklis'' disciple wielded the trident while the staff who brought the box carried the spear in hand.

    The vestige duel was a general duel thatprised of multiple tests to evaluate the performance of a vestige. It was simr but different to the quality tests performed by vestige-smiths.

    The tests of a general duel for cold-weapon-type vestiges were focused on seven properties: durability, sharpness, hardness, strength, power, rune or ster matrix efficiency, and finally, ster energy purity.

    Durability was the ability of a vestige to withstand damage and wear.

    Sharpness was a measure of the vestige''s piercing factor.

    Hardness was the ability of the vestige to retain its shape under resistance.

    Strength, simr to hardness but entirely different, was the vestige''s ability to maintain its structural integrity under stress or strain. Simply put, it was the ability of a vestige to resist permanent deformation.

    The difference between strength and hardness was that the former was the measure of how much stress a vestige could handle before permanent deformation or fracturing. In simpler terms, it was a measure of how much force a vestige could handle before cracking or breaking. As for thetter, it was a measure of a vestige''s ability to resist surface deformation, like scratching or piercing.

    Power was a measure of the vestige''s grade, or better yet, the grading system for vestiges.

    Efficiency of the runes and ster matrices was a measure of the inscriptions'' ability to function. Some runes were more powerful than others, and some ster matrices could draw ster energy from the vestige''s wielder faster than others.

    Even if two vestige-smiths were to use the exact same runes and ster matrices for their creation, there would be differences in efficiency, resulting from the differing inscription expertise of the two vestige-smiths.

    Ster energy purity was a very important property as this not only determined the grade of a vestige, but it also affected its ranking on the grade. It was well known that even within a specific grade, there would be differences in raw power between vestiges.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    For instance, Lucas'' vestiges were more powerful than other vestige-smiths, which was why Harry didn''t mind paying the bill for one even though it was costlier. This was all due to the fact that the ster energy purity was on a different level.

    Ster energy purity didn''t rely on whether or not the vestige-smith had ster energy. Instead, it was influenced by the material used as well as the refining process.

    Every material used in forging vestiges had some amount of ster energy naturally stored within them, and the higher the ster energy and its purity was, the more valuable and rare the material became. However, the purity and even concentration could be affected by the forging method of the vestige-smith.

    The ability to retain almost or the exact same quality and concentration of a vestige, defined a vestige-smith''s ability. In some cases, some vestige-smiths could even raise the ster purity and concentration by creating a resonance with other materials used.

    For instance, if one were to create a vestige using an alloy of a valuable material and a lesser one, if the vestige-smith''s skill was up to the task, he or she could create a resonance between the two materials. By doing so, the final product -the alloy- would have a ster energy quality and purity not just higher than the lesser material but even on par with the more valuable material.

    "For the first test, the durability test."

 Chapter 91 Another Mission

    "It, it can''t be..." The manager fell to his knees with a horrified expression.

    The vestige duel had just concluded. All seven tests were carried out in public and the results were disyed at the same time to everyone. Continue reading at empire

    The trident crafted by Grey Finger Sofoklis had actually surpassed the spear by a margin. Although the gap wasn''t wide, winning only four out of the seven tests, a win was still a win.

    The durability test was won over by the spear created by the lesiastics member from the Gold Rain Factory. It also managed to clinch a victory in the Sharpness and Strength tests.

    However, the ster energy properties -ster energy purity and matrix efficiency- were won by the Trident. The Hardness test was also taken by the Trident as well, bringing both sides to an equal number of victories.

    The power test was thest test and it usually ended in a draw in most vestige duels. It wasn''t easy for one to forge a Grade 4 vestige, so that made the best piece of equipment anyone could create to be at Grade 3. Minute differences couldn''t be used to determine a victory here because that was used for the ster energy purity test.

    If such practice was taken, it would mean that whoever won the purity test would naturally win the power test, which would imply there was no point to thetter test.

    As it usually ended in a draw, the manager was calm and felt lucky. Even if the trident won the ster energy purity test, it didn''t matter. A draw was better than a loss, and it wasn''t like the spear performed badly in the tests it lost.

    However, just as the power test was carried out, his worst fear -which he never even considered- urred.

    "Hand of God Trident, Grade, Grade 4!"

    The overseer screamed while staring at the result. It might be the weakest Grade 4 he had ever seen, but it was definitely a Grade 4 vestige.

    In fact, the overseer wasn''t the only one shocked by it. Everyone else was too.

    Hand of God was the name of the trident Sofoklis had created; a masterpiece that could truly be described as a one after this vestige duel.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    A Grade 4 vestige was something only the toppanies and master vestige-smiths could make; it wasn''t something the Gold Rain Factory or the previous Sofoklis could create. For it to be done now, there was only one exnation, Sofoklis had advanced in rank and skill.

    As for whether he cheated and had someone else forge it, no one had that idea. It was a taboo for a vestige-smith to use a vestige not created by their hands for a vestige duel, unless they stated it prior to the duel. The other exception applied topanies.

    If one were found guilty of cheating, not only would they lose their standing in the industry, but they would be stripped of the right to create and sell vestige anywhere on the. If the higher-ups were informed of this, they could even lose the right to sell vestiges anywhere in the gxy. Hence, no matter what, vestige-smiths never cheated during a vestige duel.

    Sofoklis remained calm, but the slight smile on his face showed that he wasn''t truly immune to the gasps and shocking stares of the crowd.

    "Master Sofoklis, have you?" The overseer carefully asked.

    Sofoklis didn''t reply to him, but his aura burst forth. It was at the seventh level of the Apertures Opening stage.

    "Indeed. I apologize for the disrespect." The overseer bowed.

    While the sixth level of the Apertures Opening stage was difficult to achieve, ster practitioners at this level could still be found here and there. Most frencer guild leaders were at this stage. In top families and higher ranks of the City Defence Force and the Patrol Corps, one could also find them. However, the seventh level was a different story.

    At this level, one would be an influential member of society and a true leader.

    For vestige-smiths in Eretre, themon prerequisite to be able to forge Grade 4 vestiges was to be at the seventh level of the Apertures Opening stage. It was due to this prerequisite that there weren''t as many Grade 4 vestiges in the market as there were Grade 3, because vestige-smiths capable of making such were rare.

    Being a seventh level ster practitioner was difficult, but being a seventh level ster practitioner and a vestige-smith was even more so difficult.

    Now that Sofoklis was confirmed to be this level, he couldn''t be treated the same as himself from a few minutes ago. Even the overseer, despite being from a hegemonic association had to be respectful and address Sofoklis as ''master'', while also apologising for the questioning.

    "Don''t worry about it." Sofoklis remained calm while signalling for his disciple to pack up the vestige.

    As soon as thetter was done, the duo left the scene, acting as if what they had just done and revealed was amon urrence.

    ''Tsk. Such horrible acting.'' Lucas snorted, but he didn''t underrate them.

    A Grade 4 vestige was truly a powerful item from what he could sense during the test. Actually, thanks to his sensitive soul, Lucas had already identified the winner before the vestige duel even began. He had noticed that Sofoklis'' vestige was quite different from a Grade 3 vestige.

    Having made what could be described as the best Grade 3 vestige ever, Lucas had to admit that even the gauntlet could only barelypare to the trident.

    There could hence only be one exnation; the trident was at a higher grade.

    ''Grade 4 vestiges are indeed something. If I could make one of those, I wonder how much it could sell?''

    With the store''s 200% pricespared to others, Lucas couldn''t help but salivate at the amount of money he would make from one Grade 4 vestige sale. Even if the system took its usual charges, his profit would still be enough to purchase a few shops in the market zone.

    ''No, this is wrong. System, you have to bring down your charges.''

    Just as he said so, a mission popped up.

    [[ Mission Overview: The host has finally been exposed to some of the traditional practices of vestige-smithing. It is now time for the host to announce his existence to the world and stomp all other craftsmen to the ground.

    As the sessor to the Crafts-God, neither failure nor mediocrity is eptable!

    Mission Description: Consecutively defeat twenty vestige-smiths in a vestige duel before the convention is over. Host is to not take any loss or reject a vestige duel during the duration of the mission.

    Reward: Two Bronze Grade Cards (fourth level, second card''s level depends on the level of the strongest vestige-smith the host defeats).

    Penalty: There exists no penalty for abandoning the mission or failing toplete it in time. However, if the host were to ept the mission and lose a vestige duel, one random ability granted by the system would be taken away. ]]

    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and

    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 92 The Four Forbidden Techniques

    [[ Mission Overview: The host has finally been exposed to some of the traditional practices of vestige-smithing. It is now time for the host to announce his existence to the world and stomp all other craftsmen to the ground.

    As the sessor to the Crafts-God, neither failure nor mediocrity is eptable!

    Mission Description: Consecutively defeat twenty vestige-smiths in a vestige duel before the convention is over. Host is to not take any loss or reject a vestige duel during the duration of the mission.

    Reward: Two Bronze Grade Cards (fourth level, second card''s level depends on the level of the strongest vestige-smith the host defeats).

    Penalty: There exists no penalty for abandoning the mission or failing toplete it in time. However, if the host were to ept the mission and lose a vestige duel, one random ability granted by the system would be taken away. ]]

    Lucas was surprised by the notification that popped up in front of him, but he wasn''t vexed by it. On the contrary, this mission actually rhymed with his n.

    There was a reason why Lucas had yet to open up his stall even after the first day had gone by. Part of his time was indeed spent checking out the other stalls and stores, but the reason for that was to estimate the quality of the vestiges produced by others. The market zone had a bunch of stores with vestiges on disy, but those were justmon items.

    To see the rarer ones, one would either need to be a VIP of the store, or provide proof of wealth. It was only during the Silver Fig Trade Convention that one could see the best of the best without any stringent conditions.

    As for why Lucas wanted to estimate the ability of the vestige-smiths, it was because he wanted to outshine them. This was just how he was back in his first life. Lucas always aimed to be the best at his craft, and in this life, it was no different.

    The system mission just came in time, and what''s more, it was exactly what he nned right from the start, albeit a bit more tedious.

    "Hey, system, is it me or are your penalties much nicer? At least I don''t have to lose an arm or die, and also, I could actually reject the mission."

    The system went silent for a few seconds, before replying,

    "The fourth-wall beings filed aint."

    "Huh? The fourth what?" Lucas was dumbfounded.

    ''Does the system have a chuunibyou-self or something?''

    Lucas decided to ignore the system and return back to the Seven Sparks Forge store. He had seen enough for today and decided to resume his project.

    Because the gauntlet was intended to be a secret weapon of his, Lucas had decided to craft something new and exquisite for the convention.

    Due to hisck of ster energy, Grade 3 vestiges were the best Lucas could make using the forbidden techniques from his past life -techniques that fed on his blood and mental energy. This was why Lucas didn''t have more than four Grade 3 vestiges in his arsenal. After each creation, he would need to take some time to recover his lost energy.

    "''If I want to make something that stands out, I need to go all out."

    At the work-station, Lucas stood before a work bench situated at the centre of the room. Although it was called a bench, it looked more like the centre table in a kitchen.

    Atop the table was a blueprint stretched out, which Lucas was currently working on.

    ''There are currently four forbidden techniques I can use in my current state, capable of making a Grade 3 vestige or even higher. All four have high requirements for a substitute to mystical energy, and the closest substitute is blood energy.''

    In the world of Mana and True Qi, a witch had once tried to find a means for normal civilians, who could not practice magic or cultivation, to be able to contend against mages, cultivators, deserters and other witches. The said witch, after a stroke of inspiration, decided not to look for a solution outside, but internally.

    After an intense and lengthy study of the anatomy of the human body, down to even the spiritual aspects, the witch had finally discovered something: blood energy.

    Blood energy was a term used to describe a theoretical mystical energy that existed within living beings. It was the equivalent of one''s vutal life force, and the energy that kept the body alive. Once a person''s blood energy went too low, they would either die of spiritual exhaustion or be too feeble, and might end up a vegetable.

    Hence why individuals had to be careful with their blood energy usage.

    Due to the unique nature of the blood energy and the studies of the witch, it was discovered that blood energy could be somewhat used to substitute mana or true qi. The issue, however, was that unlike the other mystical energies which could easily be recovered and increased, an average human typically has a fixed amount of blood energy they could store.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    What''s more, this amount would decrease as they aged.

    The witch went a step further and created a technique that could cast spells bybining both blood energy and mental energy, a unique kind of energy that was weaker than mystical energy. But this still wasn''t enough, and was merely a stop-gap to the issue.

    One of the forbidden techniques Lucas knew was exactly this technique. However, he didn''t use it for fights, but to create vestiges. The amount of blood energy spent on creating a vestige was less than in a battle. Also, Lucas could take his time to recover after each usage. If he instead used this for fights, the effect would be detrimental to him, especially with how often he got into battles.

    The second forbidden technique wasn''t exactly a taboo per say, but was more of a lost technique. Lucas happened to have chanced on an ancient relic and found it there. The technique was one that allowed a non-mystical energy user to be able to possess mystical energy by tapping energy from a unique material.

    Unique materials were naturally urring objects that could store mystical energy, like the metals used in making vestiges and so on.

    This technique could allow the user absorb the energy and use readily. However, there was no way to store it in the body. As such, practitioners of this technique always had to carry a unique material on hand.

    The downside of this technique, apart from having to carry a unique material everywhere you go, was that unique materials had a fixed amount of mystical energy, and it usually wasn''t much. So, unless one was lucky enough to find a heavenly metal, herb or something, with a boatload of mystical energy, they would have to constantly carry a significant amount of unique materials.

    This obviously resulted in this technique inefficient forbat, which was why Lucas never used it for so. However, in a work-station, it wasn''t bad.

    The third forbidden technique was now something that could truly be termed as a forbidden. It was a heinous technique that came about from a different research -a deserter- who wanted to fix the w of the Blood energy technique.

    An individual''s blood energy was fixed and would steadily decline as they grew older. There was no way to increase the cap, and even the rumoured methods required heavenly items that were as rare as a Phoenix. Naturally, this created dissatisfaction for many.

    The deserter, was a mage who got banned from the mage society after he fixed this w. As for how he did it, it was with a method he deemed natural.

    Since one''s blood energy was limited, why not plunder from others?

    The deserter created a technique that could allow the user to steal blood energy from other living creatures of blood. Needless to say, this harmed the target of the technique. If the user were to go all the way, the victim would be totally drained of their blood energy and die.

    The most suitable targets for this blood energy were living creatures of blood, but the closer the living creature was in nature to the user, the more in sync the plundered blood energy would be with the user. Hence, humans were the best targets.

    Both the mage, witches and cultivation societies collectively agreed to ban this technique and hunt down anyone who practiced it, terming them as devils.

    As for how Lucas got his hands on this technique, that was for another day.

    The final technique was equally atrocious. However, while it did plunder from a living creature as well, it didn''t have the same limitations as the previous one. This technique aimed not at blood energy, but the soul of a living being.

    The soul was a mystical existence that couldn''t be seen or described as it was an enigmatic concept. However, a certain crazy cultivator had made a study in secret. This was after the discovery of blood energy, and that research had paved the way to it. The cultivator theorized that since the body possessed a mystical energy of its own, why not the spirit?

    He tried to work with mental energy, but felt that wascking.

    Having made no achievements, the cultivator decided to stop looking for an energy, but a form. If there was no energy, why not use the form as a fuel? After all, a human body, when burnt at the right conditions, could form charcoal which could fuel a fire.

    After working in that direction, the cultivator chanced on the soul, and then created a technique which could be used to strip this incorporeal form away from the target. The technique would not just seize the soul, but also dpose it to form soul energy, a new kind of mystical energy.

    Compared to the previous forbidden technique, this was even more nefarious because it would deny one an opportunity at reincarnation. As it targeted all existences with a ''soul'', it wasn''t only limited to lifeforms of blood, as even trees had spirits.

    The flexibility of this forbidden technique to direct its spear at any lifeform and also deny them the opportunity of reincarnation, made it even more hated than the Plundering Blood Technique. The creator was not only caught, but he was also executed in public. Every record of the research was also destroyed by the joint alliance of witches, cultivators and mages, or so they thought.

    Because if that were so, Lucas would have never learnt about it.

 Chapter 93 Buying Desolate Beasts

    The Blood Energy cirction, Materialization Technique, Blood Plundering Technique, and the Soul Dismantling Spell were the names of the four forbidden techniques.

    The Blood Energy Cirction dealt with utilising the blood energy of the user.

    The Materialization Technique enabled powerless humans to be able to draw the mystical energy within unique materials for their own use.

    The Blood Plundering Technique was a modified version of the Blood Energy cirction, but it relied on alternative sources of blood energy apart from the user.

    As for the Soul Dismantling Spell, it was a forbidden spell that could be used to absorb and dpose souls to form soul energy, an artificial mystical energy.

    Of the four forbidden techniques, Lucas had only been using the Blood Energy Cirction and the Materialization Technique. Usually, he used either one, but for more powerful vestiges, Lucas would have to rely on both methods to cover up for hisck of ster energy.

    For instance, during the forging process of the gauntlets, Lucas had used the two forbidden techniques in tandem to create the vestige.

    Looking at the blueprint on the work bench, Lucas sighed. Since he wanted to defeat everyone with one item, it had to be very powerful; at least on par with the gauntlets. But even making those was too difficult for Lucas.

    When making vestiges, the importance of ster energy was not to be underestimated. For some unique materials, they couldn''t simply be melted or shaped by exposure to high heat. Ster energy was also used in the quenching process, making the final product more durable.

    In summary, ster energy was used in a whole bunch of ces during the vestige-smithing process. The more ster energy one had, the easier the process and better the final product would be. This was because some of the processes in vestige-smithing couldn''t be paused, so the vestige-smith wouldn''t have the time to recover their ster energy.

    The higher the intended grade of the vestige, the more one would encounter such processes.

    If the vestige-smith was forcefully stopped or used an inadequate amount of ster energy in the process, probably due to being drained out, the quality of the vestige would be affected and it might even turn out to be a failure.

    To avoid a failure during the forging process for the gauntlets, Lucas had spent eight hours just to melt the metals and twenty hours to create the form. That was the most intensive task he had ever taken ever since his death in his first life.

    However, Lucas was currentlycking time. He had less than sixteen hours to work with, and this was with pulling an all-nighter. The only way Lucas could conclude before the deadline was if he used a different forbidden technique apart from those two.

    ''Should I pay some underground gangs a visit?'' Lucas thought.

    ''Forget it. Security has been tight recently. I should have kept those corpses intact if I had known I would be doing this.''

    Sighing, Lucas opened hismunicator. After scouting the for a while, he visited a certain site, and made an order.

    "System, do you believe that there''s such a thing as an evil technique?" Lucas suddenly asked.

    After four seconds, the system responded,

    "The system doesn''t concern itself with such remarks. What matters in the end is the end goal."

    "Hmm, I guess we''re the same, but not at the same time." Lucas said.

    "How so?" The system asked; a situation that rarely ever urred.

    Albeit slightly surprised, Lucas answered,

    "I don''t believe in evil techniques. A technique can only be called good or evil depending on what it is used for. Even good can be done for evil reasons."

    "Isn''t that the same?"

    "No, my ideology differs from yours. You believe in the end goal, but not the principle. If I were to sacrifice innocent lives to forge the greatest vestige ever in order to save the world, the end goal would be achieved, but the act would still remain evil.

    However, if I were to sacrifice criminals, or individuals who willingly give up their life for the cause, to achieve the same result, then the act would be more justified." Lucas answered.

    "Isn''t that hypocrisy? Isn''t all life being equal amon belief of humanity?"

    "All life should be equal, but unfortunately, all life is not equal. It''s the same way a mother would value the life of her child over that of a stranger. In her heart, her child''s life is of more value than the stranger''s, and even hers." Lucas said with a strange tone, staring out in the air.

    Less than an hourter, a hovercar appeared in front of the building. As itnded, a humanoid robot walked out with a form.

    It nced at Lucas and scanned his face at the same time to confirm his identity.

    "Good evening, esteemed customer. Please sign here."

    Lucas took the form and signed where necessary. After the robot confirmed the signatures, it went into the hovercar and carried out a few cages. There were four in total and inside them were deste beasts.

    West Wing district had the nickname of Frencer city and this was due to the many businesses that catered to and supported by the frencermunity. The trade of deste beasts was one such.

    Deste beasts had different physical and anatomical structurespared to hyumans, with some of them having bones as strong as metals and fireproof skin. Due to this, it was only natural that people would want to acquire their body parts, which was how most frencers made their money. However, some enthusiasts wanted deste beasts as pets, or might just want to have a taste of their meat.

    As a result, a new career in frencing was born, which was capturing young deste beasts.

    Young ones were targeted because once they matured, they would be at the Apertures Opening stage, and capturing a matured deste beast, although not impossible, was quite difficult.

    Two of the deste beasts brought out looked like rabbits, but their appearance was more wild and ferocious. They had a pair of fangs with ears as long as a child''s arm. On their feet were sharp talons that could year apart their earthly counterparts.

    One of the remaining two deste beasts looked like a crossbreed between a wolf and a lion. While standing on all fours, it surpassed the waist level of an average human adult. On the two hind legs, it could easily tower an adult. The lion-wolf deste beast didn''t only have a set of vicious fangs for teeth, but it exuded a bloodthirsty aura even in captivity.

    Its crimson eyes stared at Lucas like a beast eyeing a prey. There was no doubt that once the cage was opened, it would pounce on him right away.

    The final deste beast was a viper-like monster, and unlike the other three, it looked docile. However, Lucas knew better than to treat it as harmless. Of the three types of deste beasts, the snake was the most dangerous.

    This was because while the other two were termed deste beasts, they were younglings and below the Apertures Opening stage. However, the snake was closely approaching that level. One could even say that it was equivalent to a peak Body Strengthening stage practitioner who just needed a slight push.

    Thanks to his sensitive soul, Lucas could ''see'' that the snake had already umted almost enough ster energy to break through. It was a suitable offering for the forbidden techniques.

    ''Good thing there''s no such thing as animal cruelty for deste beasts, otherwise I would have my store shut down.''

    Lucas thought as recalled his past life on Earth where a certain animal-lovers organisation constantly hampered down on people. Although their goal was a respectable one, they tend to take things too far, even at the cost of harming other humans.

    With the purchase of four deste beasts, Lucas'' newly acquired wealth had dwindled considerably. Deste beasts, even if they were young and of the lowest grade species, cost a lot. However, these expenses were necessary for what he wanted to do.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 94 Im Not Showing, So What?

    The third day of the Silver Fig Trade Convention kicked off at the ninth hour of the day (9:00 am). Although there was no grand stylememoration or performance, that didn''t diminish the interest or excitement of the crowd. Find exclusive stories on empire

    The previous day was the start of the vestige duel fever and the clients had witnessed a lot of fascinating matches. There were many winners and losers the previous day, but regardless of the result, none of the participants closed down their stall.

    The Silver Fig Trade Convention was the biggest event for vestige-smiths and vestige-smith businesses in Bands City, so just leaving after the second day was a loss no business nned on taking.

    Losing a vestige duel didn''t mean that a stall would fail to attract clients during the convention; that was unless the losing side lost drastically and underperformed expected targets. And so far, only a few losers have underperformed so badly that the convention might as well be tagged over for them. As for the bigpanies and famous names in the industry, they still kept their stands.

    However, none of them had exposed their masterpiece yet; the situation with the Gold Rain Factory was a rare one and the Factory couldn''t really be ssified as arge member of the industry.

    With the start of the third day, expectations were high. Everyone was looking forward to the uing vestige duels and wondered if they would be a reputedpany participating in one just like the previous day.

    "Hmm? This stall is finally open?"

    A frencer who had attended the event as a client nced at a stall by the side. He had beening to the event for the past two days and followed a simr route each time. ording to his memory, this stall, although set up, had been closed each time.

    At that time, he presumed that it was run by a vestige-smith and thetter was probably ill or something, and so couldn''t attend the convention.

    ''I guess he''s back to good health.'' The frencer thought.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    He then walked over to the stall to check it out. By its design, it was clear that this was run by an unknown vestige-smith, but to be able to participate in this convention was a testament to the person''s skill. The frencer decided to find out more, probably in hopes that he would stumble upon a good vestige-smith and be able to close a cheap deal.

    "Wee." Lucas greeted the man who stood in front of the stall.

    The man nced at Lucas with surprise. There were two reasons for this and each was equally astonishing. The first was that Lucas was a human. Why would a human be here? A suitable exnation could be that he operated the stall on behalf of the actual owner, so this calmed the man a bit. But the situation still made him stunned

    It was because Lucas was rxing by the side of the stall.

    Between each stall was enough space for three people to work side by side. Just within that gap, Lucas had set up a retractable deckchair andid on it calmly. He also wore a pair of sunsses, a pair of floral-patterned khaki shorts and a t-shirt with flip-flops on his feet. Rather than a convention, it looked as if he had gone to the beach.

    The frencer couldn''t help but be speechless at his appearance.

    "Is there a problem?" Lucas asked.

    Of course he was aware the man''s surprise probably had to do with his outfit, but that was exactly what Lucas wanted. Acting out of the ordinary would always attract attention. Yes, this was all a strategy, and not because Lucas was too poor to afford proper clothing. Definitely not that.

    As for where he got the outfit, the system had provided Lucas three sets of clothing as well as a couple other items and equipment in his wee package. The entire outfit made up one set of clothing.

    "Uhm, no. Nothing really. I just wanted to see your goods." The frencer asked.

    "Not showing." Lucas waved him off.

    "..." The frencer was once again dumbfounded.

    "What do you mean, ''not showing''?"

    "I mean not showing." Lucas straightforwardly replied.

    "After being exposed to so much craptely, you wouldn''t be able to differentiate silver from stainless steel."

    The frencer was stunned. This was the first time a participant not only shooed him away, but humiliated him. Although he wasn''t renowned, he still had a name to himself and as a third level ster practitioner, not anyone could treat him so badly.

    "Do you want a beating? Call your boss right now and if I don''t receive a proper apology, I''ll make sure to report you and have your stall torn down." The frencer grimly stared at Lucas.

    "Well, I''m the boss."

    "Do you think I''m stupid?"

    The frencer got tired of talking and grabbed at Lucas.

    Fights were banned during the convention, but considering that Lucas was a human and the owner of this stall was a low and almost unknown vestige-smith, teaching Lucas a small lesson shouldn''t be a problem. At best, the frencer would have to pay a small fine after that, but so what?

    In exchange, Lucas'' bones would be broken and he would know his ce as an attendant and most importantly, a human.

    *Pat*

    Lucas struck the palm of the man to the side and red at him.

    "How?"

    The frencer raised his eyebrows in surprise. He recovered almost immediately, and with cheeks burning in shame, he attacked once again, but this time more ferociously.

    Lucas frowned and unlike before, he didn''t go easy on him again. The Craftsman gloves appeared on his hand and he grabbed the frencer''s fist and responded with a punch to thetter''s face.

    *Bam*

    The frencer''s face scrunched up after the punch, but before he could even recover, Lucas released a flurry of attacks on his face and body.

    *Bam* *Bam*

    Every punch was resounding, but it was executed with just the right force and form to ensure that the target wasn''t hurled away yet.

    After delivering fifteen blows to the man, Lucasnded a final hit and knocked him out.

    "If I say, not showing, I mean, not showing." Lucas dered.

    The system had already informed him that the stall was counted as an outlet of the Seven Sparks Forge for the duration of the convention; therefore, all abilities of the system could be used here as well. As such, he had no fear of attackers or troublemakers.

    With themotion caused by the fight, a lot of attention was drawn towards the area. The neighbouring stalls and guests who walked by all stared towards Lucas. In their eyes was not only shock due to seeing a human take down a frencer, but there was also a bit of mirth.

    "Dimwit. Doesn''t he know the rules?"

    "Haha. He''s a human, what do you expect from such archaic species? Let''s just watch how the show turns out."

 Chapter 95 The Bigger The Better

    "There is no such thing as bad publicity."

    These were the exact words spoken to Lucas by a friend of his on Earth. This friend was a graduate of the esteemed Pavard Business School and he had a degree in marketing as well.

    Back then, Lucas had just graduated from college and was seeking sponsorships for his research on materials. However, as a fresh graduate and an unknown individual in the sciencemunity, getting grants for his research was no doubt extremely difficult.

    Lucas had topete with prestigious academies and famous names in themunity, and even if he was a genius, hecked the experience and connections of these parties.

    In order to achieve his goal, Lucas had once asked his friend for advice. This friend of his gave a suggestion that was somewhat ridiculous, but also valid. He told Lucas that the best way to achieve his goal was to gain publicity and the method didn''t matter, whether good or bad.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    As long as one carried out an action that gained enough media coverage, the higher-ups would be the ones to decide whether it was worth punishing or rewarding. Even the scientists of a certain formerly powerful nation were absorbed into the forces of a superpower on the winning side, despite their hands in the sinful crimesmitted by their warlord.

    So, the main point of worry wasn''t what action to take, but whether Lucas had something worth offering. As long as he did, then all Lucas had to do was gain as much publicity as possible by carrying out an insane stunt. The bigger the act, the wider the publicity.

    Back then, to be rewarded a grant, Lucas rented a boat and sailed to an unupied ind. Once there, he set off a nuclear explosion, sinking the ind while filming the entire process.

    What Lucas had to offer was a new material he had discovered, or to be specific, artificially created. It was radioactive in nature and had the potential to rival hydrogen when used to create a bomb. Lucas had controlled the amount and made proper calctions to ensure that the bomb would damage the ind, but he had slightly underestimated its power as it caused the little ind to sink.

    When the video came online, it attracted a ton of attention as some had testified to hearing a loud explosion and seeing a mushroom cloud on the day of the explosion. The secret service of Rhodia had even caught on to it from their satellites, and within two days, Lucas was arrested.

    He was eventually released and given whatever amount he wanted in grants to continue his research, proving his friend''s point.

    Now in a new world with new intelligent species, Lucas decided to once again employ the same tactics. He wasn''t going to set off an explosion, as that would obviously be more disadvantageous than advantageous to him, but Lucas still intended on causing amotion.

    That''s right. From the very start, Lucas had intended on goading the frencer to attack him. Lucas was aware that fights were banned during the convention, and together with his identity as a human, it would surely attract a lot of attention.

    The security personnel for the convention arrived and they surrounded Lucas'' stall. At this time, the frencer was still knocked out, but they managed to get him back to his feet while one of them interrogated Lucas.

    "What is the matter here?"

    The captain of the security team asked.

    "Nothing if you ask me." Lucas shrugged.

    "What do you mean ''nothing''? A fight broke out and someone was knocked out. From the report, you''re the known cause of this incident. Is that what nothing sounds like to you?" The captain frowned.

    "oh. If you''re talking about that, it was merely me handling a troublemaker." Lucas calmly replied. But at the same time, he studied the captain and couldn''t help but have a thought.

    "A troublemaker?" The captain asked.

    Pointing at the frencer who just awoke, Lucas said,

    "That''s right. That stranger over there. He came over to my stall to cause trouble for no apparent reason."

    The frencer flushed and screamed,

    "Liar. I just asked to see your vestiges, but you denied me and even knocked me out. This is a convention; since when was ncing at a vestige a crime? Please treat this matter sincerely."

    Thetter part was said to the captain of the security team, a third level ster practitioner just like the frencer.

    The frencer knew that if he was found guilty, the usual punishment would be a ban or suspension from the current and future Silver Fig Trade Conventions. For any frencer who intended to further their career, this was quite devastating.

    The security captain then turned to Lucas.

    "What do you have to say for yourself?"

    Lucas nced at the frencer, but wasn''t surprised. Read thetest on empire

    It might seem like Lucas had attacked a random person, but the opposite was true. From the man''s reaction to Lucas'' words back then, it was clear that he looked down on humans and people he considered lesser. A normal response at that time would have been to ignore Lucas and walk away, or if one was still interested, question him on the criteria to see a vestige.

    But the frencer''s mode of response was tounch an attack right away.

    For someone so violent, Lucas saw no reason to be nice to him.

    ''I guess I''ll y with you a bit.''

    "My stall operates a special rule. Due to the nature of the vestiges, not just anyone can be allowed to take a look at them. The man over there didn''t qualify, hence why I didn''t show it to him. As for his ims of attacking him, I only acted in self defence after he assaulted me."

    "That''s enough fraudulent usations. What do you take me for?" The frencer argued back.

    "One more word and I don''t mind showing the clip to the security." Lucas red at him.

    "What, what clip?" The frencer stuttered as his eyes held a trace of suspicion in them.

    "The stalls aren''t fitted with security devices as no one expects any individual or party to cause trouble during the convention; offending the Silver Fig Consortium over a minor argument is clearly a stupid action. Theck of security might have emboldened you to act, however, I have a habit of making sure my surroundings are filmed as a result of my special identity." Lucas smiled.

    The frencer finally froze as his blood turned cold. He could now understand what Lucas meant.

    When he attacked Lucas, the frencer was aware that there were no security cameras around. He also knew that even if the security team were to arrive, most of the bystanders would side with him as eighty percent of hyumans in the city were anti-social and critical about humans.

    Even if there was one good Samaritan amongst them, it wouldn''t matter; the victim was a human so even the security team wouldn''t take it seriously.

    However, he never expected that not only would Lucas be capable of retaliation, but he had also filmed the entire act.

    Also, Lucas'' statement that somewhat offhandedly mentioned not offending the Silver Fig Consortium was actually a slight way to pressure not just the frencer, but also the security captain. It was a clever use of words that would force the security captain to handle the matter properly.

    Humans might be looked down upon, but if a situation where a hyuman was in the wrong first was brought out to the open with hard evidence, even the security team couldn''t act like hypocrites. After all, the city-state''sw covered both hyumans and humans, and the Silver Fig Consortium was an alliance of businesses operating under thisw.

    "Let the matter go." The security captain suddenly said.

    "He was in the wrong and you''ve punished him for that. I think we can end this here."

    It was clear that the security captain wanted to end things here, and not mete out the full punishment or even carry out a proper investigation.

    Lucas turned to him, at first with displeasure, but then quelled his rage.

    ''It seems like I''ve forgotten the true nature of reality.'' Lucas thought.

    Having associated with a few friendly individuals in this while, Lucas had actually forgotten his ''ce'' in the city. He was a human, and in Bands City, that was no different from being a second ss citizen; in some cases, it could be even worse.

    "Sure."

    The frencer sighed with relief, but before he could walk away, Lucas'' voice sounded.

    "But that depends on something."

    "What?" The security captain frowned.

    He had thought that Lucas would be smart enough to figure out his intention and act ordingly, but it seemed like he was wrong. Either that, or Lucas just wanted to make things more difficult. Regardless of which, he had already aggravated the situation and irritated the man.

    "The usual way matters are settled; a vestige duel."

 Chapter 96 A Bet

    "Let''s have a vestige duel."

    "Haha, are you delusional or dumb? I''m not a vestige-smith." The frencer mocked as he breathed out with relief. He had expected Lucas to ask for something impossible, but thetter just had to be half-witted.

    "Of course I know you aren''t one, but that doesn''t mean you can''t participate in a vestige duel." Lucas smiled.

    "Typically, vestige duels are between vestige-smiths. Even if you want to challenge him to one, how would you go about it?" The security captain red.

    "There''s never been an official rule about who can participate in a vestige duel, so it''s simple. We justpete."

    Lucas exined.

    "I''ll also toss in a handicap for him. All he has to do is present his best vestige and I''ll match its grade with mine. How''s that?"

    The frencer was stunned, but he felt something was wrong.

    With the proposal by Lucas, it essentially gave him the advantage. As a third level ster practitioner, it was natural for him to have a bit of wealth umted which he would invest into his gear. Although his best vestige wasn''t a Grade 3 vestige, it was still one of the top quality Grade 2 vestiges avable, and a customised version at that.

    Typically, apart from higher grade vestiges, only a few vestiges of the same grade could beat it in terms of quality. So, it seemed destined that he would win.

    However, something still felt off.

    ''Maybe he''s just ignorant and underestimated me.''n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Thinking of this, the frencer couldn''t wait topete and put Lucas in his ce.

    "I ept. But let''s make it a bit more entertaining. If I win, not only would this matter end here, but you will kneel down and apologize to me whilepensating me with a suitable fee for my wasted time." The frencer dered.

    Muffled bursts of surprise came from those who stood by the side to watch the scene. None of them had expected the frencer to be greedy, despite being the one at fault.

    Lucas however, had an idea after those words.

    "In that case, if I win instead, you don''t need to kneel and apologize. Just a smallpensation fee of one hundred federal coins should do."

    This time around, the crowd''s astonishment shifter towards Lucas. Not only was he greedier, but he also imed a fee of one hundred federal coins to be a ''smallpensation ''.

    However, in some sense, it was ''small''. Frencers made a lot more than the average worker and just the cheapest vestige alone already cost the average monthly sry in West Wing district. Hence, in some sense, one hundred federal coins was indeed ''small''. At leastpared to the frencer''s vaguepensation that could imply anything, a stated fee was cheaper.

    "Sure." The frencer agreed, confident in his victory.

    Lucas smiled once he got the reply he wanted and asked the security team to clear some space for the duel.

    The captain nced at Lucas and was annoyed by the look on his face, but he still did as told.

    As for Lucas, he had already walked into the stall to retrieve the necessary items for a duel. As he was the only one around, it took quite some time for him to do so.

    "I''ll need a volunteer to act as an overseer." Lucas spoke towards the crowd.

    Since the vestige duel wasn''t between participants of the convention, the organizers of the convention didn''t need to send in a staff to act as an overseer. For that role, Lucas would have to outsource elsewhere, and his best bet was the crowd.

    An overseer didn''t hold much influence over the results of a vestige duel as it was clear to everyone; their role was more of a referee without significant authority.

    "Let me."

    A middle-aged man walked from the group of spectators. He was a vestige-smith participating in the convention, and his stall was only a few metres away from Lucas. He had taken note of the sh that urred earlier, and had his interest piqued by Lucas'' way of settling the issue.

    For a vestige-smith, there was no glory in challenging a regr individual to a vestige duel. If one were to win, there were no benefits. However, a loss would affect their reputation. This brought about confusion for some vestige-smiths regarding what Lucas was trying to do. Although he wasn''t a popr vestige-smith, having his image stained in a big event like this would affect his growth.

    "What test do you want to start with?" The man asked.

    Vestige duels consisted of seven tests each aimed at seven major andmon characteristics of a vestige:, Durability, Hardness, Sharpness, Strength, Ster matrix efficiency, power and ster energy purity.

    "I''ll leave the decision to the challenged." Lucas replied.

    The frencer smirked and called out the first test.

    It was the sharpness test.

    After that, he took out his vestige.

    "That''s...!"

    "Oh my goodness, this vestige-smith is done for."

    Exmations burst out from the crowd once the frencer revealed his vestige.

    It was a Hozier-ss Halberd, a special series of halberd made by a certain popr vestige-smithpany, and what''s more, a custom-made variation.

    Thepany was founded by a Tier 1 Master vestige-smith, which was the rank for vestige-smiths capable of creating Grade 4 vestiges. Due to the rank of the founder, thepany became renowned and quite popr. It also had a couple other vestige-smiths to support production.

    The Hozier-ss Halberd was one of the bestselling vestiges made by thepany in their premium line. It covered vestiges from Grade 2 up to even Grade 4. The Hozier-ss Halberd in the frencer''s possession was a Grade 2 edition, even then, it was very powerful and few other Grade 2 vestiges couldpare.

    The man who acted as the overseer for the duel was visibly shook and somewhat worried for Lucas. Not many vestige-smiths could make a vestige that could beat a Hozier-ss Halberd, even more so for an unknown vestige-smith.

    However, when the man turned to glean Lucas'' reaction, he noticed that thetter was calm and unaffected by the vestige.

    ''It''s either he''s confident, he''s putting up a front or he doesn''t know what that vestige is. If it''s the former, that would be nice. But if it''s thetter, then he''s a failure of a vestige-smith.''

    The man shook his head. He had already surmised it was most likely the former. After all, no average vestige-smith could beat a Hozier-ss Halberd.

    He was visibly disappointed that Lucas still put up a front, and if it was thest option, then that was even worse. As a vestige-smith, one should be familiar with all top vestige-smithpanies and vestige-smiths. It was like being an athlete and not bothering to research other athletes, especially the top figures in the sport. It showed that one was either too proud or too stupid.

    While the spectators expressed their different thoughts yet simr thoughts about the duel -already judging that Lucas had lost-, the man at the centre of this stared at the halberd, unimpressed.

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    ''Oi, system, why are people thinking that this piece of junk could win?'' Lucas couldn''t help but ask the system.

    Although he already had a certain understanding of the vestige-smithing skill in the West Wing district, that was only for themon models. As for the ones in the Silver Fig Trade Convention, except for the ones from small-time vestige-smiths, they were all a notch or two higher than what was on the market.

    At the very least, with the exceptions remaining excluded, everything here was at Grade 3 and above.

    In other words, this was the first time Lucas was seeing a vestige from a premium line that was lower than Grade 3.

    "I''m d the host feels the same way. As such, the system hopes you understand the pricing scheme for the store.''

    ''I definitely do alright. If I had ster energy, I could even make something like this with my eyes closed.''

    Ignoring the cacophony in the background, Lucas browsed through his system inventory for a suitable vestige.

    ''I need to wow them, but not overdo it just yet. That''s difficult.''

    All the vestiges Lucas had made were stronger than the Hozier-ss Halberd before him, that was unless it was of a lower grade.

    ''Let''s go with you.'' Lucas nced at a vestige in the inventory. He then left for his stall to create the illusion that he wanted to retrieve the vestige from there. If the general public were to know that he had a spatial inventory quite simr to the Grade 4 vestige, Spatial vault, Lucas would be in big trouble.

    After a few seconds, Lucas returned with a dagger in his hand.

    The crowd was surprised by this. One should know that typically, a dagger was weaker than other types of weapons. This was because its small size made it lighter and weaker inparison to weapons like a sword or a spear. It was also more difficult to fend against such weapons using a dagger. The same applies with vestiges.

    "Is he giving up already?"

    "Well, what else can he do? He''s up against a Hozier-ss."

    While some questioned the choice of vestige while others weren''t surprised by it, the major consensus was that Lucas was giving up on the duel. Even the frencer thought the same as he had a mocking grin on his face.

    "Let''s get this started."

 Chapter 97 Hozier-class Halberd Versus An Ordinary (?) Dagger

    Among the testing equipment Lucas brought out for the duel were two robots about a metre tall. They were known as robo-testers and they were the personnel that carried out the testing.

    While society had advanced to the extent that quality tests could be carried out in a few short minutes with a simple scan, vestige duels were made a bit more traditional in order to generate more suspense.

    In a situation involving a living being, it was easy to manipte the test, but with programmable robots, integrity and uracy were ensured.

    Robo-tester was a type of robot capable of exhibiting strength up to a first level Apertures Opening stage ster practitioner. However, because the Silver Fig Consortium cut costs in the vestige duel equipment, the robo-testers were models capable of only exhibiting the same strength as a fourth level Body Strengthening stage practitioner.

    While it might seemcking, this wasn''t a problem as the purpose of the robo-testers were to test the vestiges and not participate in battle.

    The two vestiges -the Hozier-ss Halberd and the in looking dagger- were each handed over to a robo-tester.

    "The first test, the sharpness test." The man who acted as the overseer announced.

    In front of each of the two robo-testers was a strange block of metal with a screen at the top. The metal block was taller than the robo-testers, reaching a simr height as an average human adult [1].

    This metal block was forged entirely out of an alloy of a special hard metal known as Deophene. Deophene was a metal stronger than steel with an verypact molecr structure. This made the outer and even inneryer quite difficult to cut through. It was so tough that it made cutting through diamond look like child''s y.

    The name Deophene was also adapted from an ancient humannguage known as Latin, with the ''Deo'' standing for God. This was to imply how difficult it was to slice through the metal.

    Deophene, despite being so tough, wasn''t used for a vestige-smithing as not just any vestige-smith could work with it. It was also quite expensive despite its difficult nature, but not so much as it wasn''t a rare metal. However, Deophene had a special allotrope [2] that was much tougher, costlier and rarer.

    For the sharpness testing metal block, it was an alloy of Deophene and two other metals. It had a low concentration of Deophene, which made it easier to cut through, otherwise this test would have been pointless. Nheless, the presence of Deophene still made it almost impossible for any vestige below Grade 4 topletely slice through it.

    As for testing the sharpness of higher grade vestiges, the metal block used for that would have a much higher concentration of Deophene than the one before Lucas and co.

    The sharpness testing equipment didn''t just consist of the metal block alone, but two other parts; the screen and a special x-ray scanner tool.

    The purpose and procedure of this sharpness testing was quite obvious. The robo-testers would utilise the same amount of force andnd one attack at the metal block, with the intent to cut through it. The one that cut further into the block would win.

    The x-ray scanner device had the responsibility of measuring the cut and it would send the result to the screen to be disyed.

    "First would be the shing."N?v(el)B\\jnn

    As the overseer''s voice went low, the robo-testers immediately swung their weapons at the metal block.

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    A resounding metallic sound rung in the air. It was almost as if the two vestiges had struck an iron te except it was something harder.

    However, upon closer inspection, one would notice that a cut was made on the rocks; it wasn''t deep, but it was still clear. But as which of the two cuts were deeper, it was difficult to tell from the angle and distance the crowd stood.

    The frencer frowned, not expecting Lucas'' dagger to not be garbage. Nheless, he wasn''t bothered. He has to admit that Lucas must have something to rely on to be so arrogant, and it was probably this dagger.

    ''But it''s not going to be enough.'' The frencer grinned.

    "Next, thrusting." The overseer''s voice sounded again.

    The scores wouldn''t be disyed yet until both segments of the sharpness test were concluded. Then, the processor attached to the screen wouldbine both figures and judge the better side after running some calctions.

    The robo-testers immediately took their stances once again, but this time, they thrust their swords at the metal block.

    *ng*

    The familiar metal ring but of a different pitch, sounded once again. This time around, the crowd could glimpse a few differences between the two based on the depth the swords managed to fix themselves at.

    "The dagger seems to be better."

    "I don''t think so. It''s probably due to its small size, that''s why you think such."

    When they surveyed the vestiges, many noticed that the dagger seemed to have gone deeper in whenpared to the halberd, but this sparked an argument. Most of the spectators refused to believe that it was possible for an unknown vestige-smith to be able to beat the Hozier-ss Halberd in any thing.

    Although sharpness wasn''t the halberd''s strong quality, it still performed well above average in this department.

    After the robo-testers retrieved their vestiges, the crowd didn''t resume arguing and decided to just await the results.

    *Ding*

    The disy devices fixed atop the separate metal blocks simultaneously released a tune as they lit up with figures.

    On the testing equipment of the halberd, a few numbers were disyed: 182.

    One hundred (100) was the standard sharpness measurement for a Grade 2 vestige of the lowest quality. Anything below this was a failure for a ded weapon.

    One hundred and twenty (120) was the standard mark however. As from one hundred and sixty (160) and above, this was the average digits for a premium model ded Grade 2 vestige.

    A score of one hundred and eighty two (182) was an impressive performance, as not many vestiges could top that.

    "Heh." The frencer grinned, before turning over to look at Lucas'' score.

    "How can this be?"

    Exmations burst from the crowd.

    The disy screen on Lucas'' testing equipment was already lit with a value: 192.

    One hundred and ny two (192) was a really high number. This was because above two hundred (200) was the entry point for Grade 3 vestiges in terms of sharpness; anything close to this was the peak in terms of sharpness for a Grade 2 vestige. As such, every one digit after one hundred and ny (190) was of deep meaning and power.

    "This is impossible!" The frencer couldn''t help but shout.

    "He must have cheated somehow and tweaked the equipment beforehand. Yes, that must be it."

    The usation was heavy, but it managed to still convince some amongst the crowd. This was because Lucas'' opponent wasn''t just any vestige but a Hozier-ss Halberd. What''s more, he had managed to score a peak value in terms of sharpness, using a in looking dagger.

    To top it all off, Lucas was a human and the vestige-smith behind his stall was unknown, otherwise, they wouldn''t have gotten such a basic stall.

    No matter what he wanted to say or how he wanted to defend himself, it would be difficult for Lucas.

    Soon enough, a couple of individuals in the corner were convinced and began pointing fingers of usations at Lucas.

    "That''s right. He probably cheated."

    "True. This makes no sense. How could he beat a Hozier-ss? If he could, we would already know who he was."

    "Are you kidding me? He''s clearly a human. There''s no way he can forge such. He probably works for an Elite vestige-smith or even a Master. Who knows where he got this vestige. You can''t call that cheating." Someone tried to defend Lucas.

    "If he was representing someone, he should have stated so right from the start. Not doing so is cheating." Another countered.

    Lucas however, was simply picking his ears at themotion.

    ''Working for some Elite or Master? What''s that? Also, why would they still think I can''t forge even after I''ve said so?''

    "Hehe." Lucas smirked coldly and chuckled.

    "What''s with you?" The frencer red at him.

    "Nothing much. I just find it funny that even after taking a loss, you can''t admit it. I cheated? Then prove it. Otherwise, stop barking like a dog and let''s proceed to the next test."

    The crowd went silent seeing Lucas'' strong stance. For a second, some of them began to hesitate.

    Vestige duel was a tradition of the vestige-smith trade, and it was an abomination to desecrate this tradition by cheating. Anyone found guilty would not only be sidelined by the other vestige-smiths, but in some cases, they could even have their license revoked.

    "Putting up a strong front, are you? I''m not scared. Overseer, please confirm that he isn''t cheating." The frencer turned to the middle-aged man acting as the overseer.

 Chapter 98 Surprise Turn Of Events

    With the usation of cheating beingid out, the duel was put on hold. The overseer, who was also a vestige-smith, approached the equipment and performed a status check on them. He also did the same with the other equipment, to prevent a possible reurrence. The entire process wasn''t time-consuming and was eventually wrapped up within

    "Everything is fine."

    The middle-aged man announced after looking through the equipment.

    "How can that be?" The frencer was bewildered. He couldn''t believe that Lucas had actually won fair and square.

    "I understand that while I might be somewhat unknown, you might not trust. Do, however, not doubt my judgement as an overseer." The middle-aged vestige-smith coldly said.

    The frencer decided not to cause a scene any longer, lest he offends the man. Vestige-smiths took pride in their upation as it was one that the entire hyumankin civilisation relied heavily on. Offending one of them through false usations could harm his career in the long-run, so it wasn''t worth it.

    With the results being confirmed, there was nothing else to say. Even if the crowd was surprised, they still went on with it after the investigation.

    The Hozier-ss Halberd wasn''t extraordinary in terms of sharpness, so losing out on this round didn''t really affect the spectators'' belief in its victory. However, they were impressed at Lucas'' vestige and couldn''t wait to see if there were more surprises it could give.

    "Begin the next test."

    The hardness test was next. It wasn''t particrly difficult orplicated as it was a test to see how much a vestige could resist surface deformation like scratching, indentation or piercing.

    There was a machine that was roughly half a metre tall. It consisted of a special hydraulicponent with three different types of attachment. One was an attachment with a sharp tip, another with a blunt tip, while the final one had three tips. All three tips were made a Deophene alloy for better effectiveness.

    For the hardness test, the three attachments would be used on each vestige while a sensor takes note of when the vestige approaches its limit. The sensor was to ensure that the limit would be discovered before any irreparable damage was done to the vestige, as that could potentially affect the other tests.

    After the halberd and the dagger were tested, the results were once again calcted. This time around, the halberd came out on top, unsurprisingly to the spectators.

    The values were of the same parameters as the sharpness test, and this was so for all the other tests; a decision made by the Hyumankin Gctic Vestige League (HGVL). The halberd had scored an impressive 191, which was typically a score for thick vestiges like a staff. The dagger however, onlynded a 182 on the score board, which was still pretty high, butckingpared to the halberd.

    Typically, winning the hardness test would mean the same for the strength test and vice versa, although this wasn''t always true. However, it did happen this time around.

    Once again, the halberd snatched another win, scoring 192 in the strength test while the dagger scored 185.

    At this point, even though the crowd believed that Lucas would lose, they were still impressed by the quality of the dagger. It was a vestige that could be sold as a premium model, yet it was unknown. This made them interested in the vestige-smith as some believed that if thetter gave their all, they could probably make something on par with the Hozier-ss Halberd or close.

    Some had already decided that once the vestige duel was over, they would meet with Lucas and try to speak to the vestige-smith to close a deal.

    Even the frencer was a bit tempted, but knowing that he had offended Lucas, he wasn''t confident he could make a deal with thetter.

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    ''I''ll just meet with the vestige-smith instead. He should be easier to talk to than this crappy bastard.'' The frencer thought.

    With three tests done, only the durability test was left for the physical aspect, after which thetter three tests would all focus on the ster energy aspect of the vestige. Since both vestiges were of the same grade, the power test didn''t matter, so the results of the six other tests would define the winner.

    With the Hozier-ss Halberd on a two test win streak and Lucas'' dagger having only won on the sharpness test, there were three more to go. Due to the fact that the Hozier-ss Halberd was a premium model of a poprpany and the blueprint was originally designed by a Tier 1 Grandmaster, many believed it would win the ster energy categories.

    In other words, defeat was already certain for Lucas. All he could do now was lessen that by winning the durability test. That would at least prove that the dagger was a good premium model.

    The durability test was aimed at a vestige''s ability to withstand wear or tear and tost long under pressure.

    While the strength test focused on finding out the maximum force a vestige could handle before breaking or cracking, durability was a bit simr but with respect to time [1].

    It was conducted with the same equipment as the strength test but with different settings. The equipment specially ensured that there was no need for the vestiges to experience irreversible damage to figure out the values.

    Since it was time-based, the durability test was the easiest test to determine a winner as the audience could spot a winner without having to wait for the sensors to disy the results.

    It usually took thirty seconds for the durability test of a Grade 2 vestige to bepleted with this equipment. But even after that time had psed, both equipment were still being tested.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "Past the thirty seconds mark is usually reserved for premium models, yet both are still going."

    "That''s to be expected for the Hozier-ss Halberd, but this dagger is truly a premium model."

    "Indeed. All that remains for confirmation is its performance in the ster energy category, but asides that, it''s doing just fine."

    While the crowd discussed, a chime was suddenly heard, signalling that one participant was down.

    Many weren''t surprised by this and nced to the site expecting to see the dagger, but they were surprised when the vestige signalled out was the halberd.

    "Howe?"

 Chapter 99 A Tie

    Sharpness Test: Lucas'' Dagger 192, Hozier-ss Halberd 182

    Hardness Test: Lucas'' Dagger 182, Hozier-ss Halberd 191

    Strength Test: Lucas'' Dagger 185, Hozier-ss Halberd 192

    Durability Test (physical aspect) : Lucas'' Dagger 52 seconds, Hozier-ss Halberd 45 seconds.

    "Howe?"

    The durability test involved exposing the vestige to varying proportions of pressure and force over time, aiming to figure out the vestige''s longevity and resistance to wear, fatigue and environmental factors. Due to this, simr to the other tests, it had more than one phase.

    When done in ab, it was moreplicated, but for a vestige duel, the process had been simplified into three phases; the physical, chemical and environmental aspects.

    The scores disyed were for the physical aspect of the durability test, which many expected the Hozier-ss Halberd to easily win. After all, it performed greatly in the hardness and strength tests, so by logic, it should be much more durable than the dagger. Yet, the results turned many speechless. The dagger has actuallysted longer.

    "This should be impossible, right? I mean, the halberd is stronger and harder which implies it''s of a better build and material. So logically, it should be more durable." Someone couldn''t help but utter.

    "What do you know? A vestige''s durability isn''t only dependent on the material used. Some vestige-smiths can make their vestiges longersting even if they make it with in stic." Someone said.

    As it turned out, the performance of Lucas'' dagger in the vestige duel was so splendid that it had managed to garner some fans. Some of the vestige-smiths were at the lowest rank andpared to a hugepany like the one behind the Hozier-ss Halberd, they were nothing. It has always been a dream of theirs to top such an entity, but theycked the talent to do so.

    With someone capable of pulling off such a miracle, while some might be envious, it was natural for a few others to support him.

    "Indeed. There''s a ster matrix known as Hulmit''s Prism. It''s a somewhatplicated ster matrix and quite difficult to inscribe. One would have to be at least a Tier 1 Elite vestige-smith to be able to pull it off. However, it''s capable of increasing the durability of a vestige by making some ethereal changes to its internal physical structure.

    Because of this, the vestige''s hardness and even strength might not exhibit much improvements, but its durability would skyrocket." Another exined.

    Tier 1 Elite vestige-smith was the rank for vestige-smiths capable of making Grade 3 vestiges, and it was a very respected rank in Bands city-state, second only to Tier 1 Master.

    The frencer doubted the score and was about to protest, but he held back the urge. The overseer has already confirmed that the pieces of equipment weren''t tampered with. If he protested, not only was his doubting the overseer''s judgement, but the frencer would inadvertently be questioning his victories.

    The frencer''s anxiety couldn''t be helped, after all, he had wagered one hundred federal coins for this duel.

    ''It''s not over yet. There are still two more phases and even if I lose this, I still have two wins. My halberd should also be able to win the Steller energy categories, so the win is still in the bag.''N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The chemical aspects tested a vestige''s resistive ability towards toxic chemicals that could be found in certain deste beasts and regions. Most of these toxins were harmful to the hyuman body, but they could also damage vestiges. As such, a vestige-smith had to consider making their vestige durable against such toxins, hence why this test came to be.

    The environmental phase test measured a vestige''s resistive ability to various environments, such as cold, hot, increased gravity and so on. This was because each had different environmental parameters and in somes, the regions drastically differed. Take for instance Earth, where the north and south poles were exceedingly colder than the regions along the equator.

    Vestiges had to be made considering contrasting environments in mind.

    Nheless, this didn''t mean that the average vestige could be used in all environments, but that they were made to still maintain their form at least for a while and a few short battles; the longer the period was, the better. However, there were still unique vestiges for special regions which differed from the typical vestige.

    Despite his hopes, the frencer actually went on to lose the chemical and environmental aspects. When all three results were coted and formted into the final durability test rating, Lucas'' dagger won by arge margin.

    Durability Test : Lucas'' Dagger 196, Hozier-ss Halberd 184.

    "Incredible. This is a score equivalent to some of the top premium model vestiges."

    "Indeed. Beyond the 189 mark is left for top ss premium models at Grade 2, but above 195 is for the best of the best. This dagger could alreadypare to them in terms of durability."

    "Hey, forget about that. Haven''t you guys noticed it yet?" Someone said.

    "Noticed what?"

    "They''re tied." Experience exclusive tales on empire

    "!!!"

    The statement finally brought the crowd''s attention back to reality -the vestige duel. Both sides had two wins each from the four physical tests and were now tied. Even though the majority of the crowd didn''t believe Lucas would win, drawing with a premium model vestige while using an unknown vestige model was downright unbelievable and breathtaking.

    It was enough to appear on the front page of vestige magazines and frencer gossip sites.

    In fact, some had even begun hoping, praying even, for a miracle to happen.

    "It would be remarkable  if that dagger can somehowe out on top."

    "Heh. Why do you think that?" A supporter of the Hozier-ss Halberd scoffed.

    "Isn''t it obvious?" Someone else replied. "The dagger was able to win the durability test by relying not only on its materials but the matrices inscribed on it. This means that in terms of ster matrix designs, the vestige-smith is better."

    The doubter was stumped and didn''t have a reply.

    "Delusional." A vestige-smith who wore sses sneered.

    "What did you say?" The man who had replied before snarled.

    "I said you''re being delusional. So what if he won based on a matrix? It could just mean that he was more knowledgeable about unique stellr matrices. Also, the Hozier-ss Halberd is a finished design; adding an extra ster matrix would be difficult, which would exin why itcks something like the Hulmit''s Prism ster matrix.

    The material used is also firm and of good quality, so there''s no need to abandon an existing attack matrix for a durability-boosting. We can see that from its score. The dagger just won simply based on luck, so saying that the result already implies that the vestige-smith of the dagger is better than the veterans of the Ninth Arc Company is absurd and risible."

    The nearby vestige-smiths, frencers and other attendees froze. They thought deeply on the words and realised that he was right. Even the new supporters Lucas had just gained were slowly losing their newfound fervour.

    Even after tying after four tests, the odds still weren''t in his favour.

    "Now that we''re more than halfway through, why don''t we take a short break?" The overseer suggested.

    "No need. Let''s round this up quick." The frencer said.

    He was scared that Lucas would try to pull something sneaky during this break, so he wanted to finish things right away.

 Chapter 100 Peak Premium Model Rating

    With the frencer asking for the vestige duel to continue without a break, the overseer looked towards Lucas for his opinion. After all, both were the two sides of the duel and their input was needed before any decision was taken.

    "Sure." Lucas expressed his thoughts.

    "Okay. For the next test, it would be the ster energy purity test."

    The robo-testers took the vestiges from the durability testing equipment for the environmental phase, and stood before the crowd. On one hand was the vestige and on the other metallic mechanical arm was a small piece of equipment. It was a ster energy meter, which was used for measuring ster energy and determining its purity.

    It was a prettymon piece of equipment not just for vestige-smiths, but also frencers and a couple other professions.

    The ster energy meter used for the vestige duel was one specifically for vestiges.

    For the ster energy purity test, the vestiges would be tested by the meter which would then take the readings. Compared to all the other tests, this was one of the simplest and leastplicated, as just about anyone could carry it out.

    *Beep*

    *Beep*

    *Beep*

    The meters began to make beeping sounds once their probes were ced on the vestiges. After a short while, the beeping stopped and some values appeared on the meters. However, the crowd couldn''t see this just yet.

    "Announce the results." The overseer said to the robo-testers.

    "Hozier-ss Halberd. Alpha reading, Grade 2. Final ss reading, Median Orange."

    Unlike the physical test that utilised a uniform system in their calcted values, the ster energy purity test used a different value system.

    The Greek alphabet was used to identify which stage of ster refinement the quantity of ster energy within the vestige was qualified as. The grading was for the grade of the vestige. As for the ss reading, it was the purity of the vestige''s ster energy and was identified via a six-colour scale, from the least pure to the purest: Red, Orange, Yellow, Ice-Blue, Grey, and White.

    Each colour was further separated into three sub-groups: light, median and deep.

    An Alpha reading implied that the tested vestige was at the Apertures Opening stage. As for the ster energy purity, it ranked orange which was pretty high. In Bands city-state, the highest reading ever recorded was median Ice-Blue, and this was for a Grade 1 vestige. Going higher, it became more difficult to achieve better purity levels, even for a Tier 1 Grandmaster.

    Orange was pretty much the standard for premium models irrespective of the grade of the vestige, although the entry point was light orange. Very few premium models could achieve deep orange.

    The frencer smirked at the result. A median orange ss was pretty good as the average Hozier-ss Halberd was at the light orange ss. It was probably due to the fact his vestige was a customised model that it had managed to be better than the standard models.

    ''Let me see you beat this.'' The frencer waited to Lucas'' robo-tester to announce its result.

    "Unknown dagger. Alpha reading, Grade 2. Final ss reading, Deep Orange."

    Another win.

    "Impossible!" The frencer yelled.

    Despite interrupting the contest, no one actually stopped him. In fact, the crowd was stunned speechless that they couldn''t even help but doubt their ears.

    "What did you say? Repeat it." The overseer nced at the robo-tester.

    "Unknown dagger. Alpha reading, Grade 2. Final ss reading, Deep Orange." The robo-tester repeated the exact words with the same tone.

    The overseer inhaled arge amount of air at the response. Still doubting, he asked the robo-tester to conduct the test again, but this time it swapped the ster energy meters with the other robo-tester. As for the other robo-tester, it re-conducted the test on the Hozier-ss Halberd as well.

    Once done, the two robo-testers announced the results and it was still the same.

    "Pe-peak premium model rating." Someone in the crowd stuttered after regaining himself.

    With the robo-testers having re-conducted the tests after exchanging meters, no one could doubt the results any longer. Lucas had one, and he had done so in a terrific manner.

    While the crowd was still shocked by this, Lucas couldn''t help but sigh. Unlike the other vestige-smiths, he never had a habit of testing his vestiges after they were created. By mere ncing at it, he could instinctively estimate its quality. This was a skill Lucas had learned from his extraordinarily long time as a magic weapon forger, and his powerful soul improved this ability.

    However, Lucas'' estimates were usually done with the standards of his past life in mind, and not that of the vestige-smithmunity. With this being the first time a vestige of his was tested by this world''s methods, Lucas couldn''t help but release a sigh.

    ''If it''s deep orange ss then it means the others were at light yellow or even median. I guess this is how far I can go without ster energy.''

    The dagger was the weakest item. It was so weak that even Wally''s spear was of a better quality. However, this allowed Lucas to be able to estimate the quality of his other works. The result was disappointing for him and it made Lucas want to learn ster energy refinement desperately.

    ''I guess I finally know why the system charges so high now. Orange ss is the standard for a premium model, but my creations are already an entire ss above that. Charging two hundred percent more doesn''t sound so absurd now. In fact, I think it''s even cheap.''

    Lucas suddenly had this feeling that maybe Harry was aware of the truth, which was why thetter would always try to get Lucas to owe him a favour and cash that in for a vestige.

    ''I''m not letting him go easy the next time I see him.'' Lucas thought.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    While he was absorbed in his thoughts, Lucas failed to notice that many in the crowd were staring at him. When they heard his sigh and saw the look of disappointment on his face, they couldn''t help but twitch their lips. Some of them had almost ran towards Lucas to strangle him.

    Who the hell would sigh and disy a disappointed face after taking our a vestige that has achieved a deep orange ss?

    What kind of two-faced shameless actor was that?

    This was deep orange ss!

    Only those toppanies, like the ones in the Silver Fig Consortium could actually make one of these. Even though the vestige was Grade 2, which dropped the difficulty for achieving purity, deep orange still wasn''t something just any riffraff or average vestige-smith could pull off.

    "Hmm? What are you still waiting for? Let''s wrap this up." Lucas nced at the overseer.

    Thetter almost spewed out blood and cursed, but as Lucas was apetitor and he simply acted the role of an overseer, the middle-aged man held back his temper.

    "Fine."

 Chapter 101 Final Test

    Looking at the overseer that had almost lunged at him, Lucas was confused for a second, but quickly understood. Nheless, he didn''t care.

    To the people around him, a deep orange might be impressive, but it wasckluster to Lucas. Having been aware that there was a much wider world out there, Lucas couldn''t keep his sights on Eretre alone; and this was not even considering the fact that he had transmigrated from another world.

    Deep orange ss might seem impressive to the crowd, but Lucas believed that it was nothing in somes out there.

    Experience new stories with empire

    Eretre was one of five inhabiteds in the Ken sr system. The Ken sr system was one of four popted sr systems in the Blue Mist star region. As for the Blue Mist star region, it was one of five star regions in the hyumankin''s Niera gxy. The number ofs alone in this gxy was staggering, even after the abandoned and uninhabitable ones were taken out of consideration.

    The Blue Mist star region was an average star region. It couldn''tpare to the Eastern star region that was the centre of production, or the gxy''s centre of wealth and power, the Arcadia star region. It also couldn''tpare to the Calux star region that was inhabited by many alien species, making it a melting point of technology and culture.

    What''s worse, the Ken sr system was a miniscule sr system in the Blue Mist star region, that didn''t get as much attention as the other three sr systems in the star region.

    From this, one could see that Eretre was a kind of backwater in a backwater sr system. The citizens were aware of this, but they didn''t think too much about it. Just exploring the entire alone was a herculean task for many, much less the entire sr system. As for the star region? That was left for the powerful or excessively rich folks.

    But what Lucas took from this was that he shouldn''t base his standards with this''s. He should always aim at least three floors higher.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The system wanted him to be a Crafts-God and to be honest, Lucas wanted that too. Who wouldn''t want to be the God of a hobby or activity they loved? As such, Lucas always had to walk more than three steps of the crowd. If others worked hard, he had to work at least thrice as hard. Even one hundred times as hard shouldn''t be out of the equation.

    There was no such thing as too much hard work on the path to bing a God. As a former grandmaster for sixty (60) years, and the youngest at four hundred and forty three (443) years old, Lucas knew the importance of hard work and dedication. From the tender age of 14 until 443, all those years were spent building the foundation of one who was to be the youngest ever grandmaster cksmith.

    But to build a god, the difficulty level would be iparable, even with the system assisting him. The mentality was still very much needed.

    "Next test and the final test. The ster matrix efficiency test."

    The ster matrix test was quite simr to the ster energy purity test, but the main difference was that it wasn''t the vestige''s dormant ster energy being tested but the runes and matrices inscribed in it. This was done by having ster energy power them to check their functionality, while a scan would also be carried out to check the skill level of the inscription.

    For urate measurements, a ster energy meter was also used, but the settings would be rewired, not to measure purity but efficiency.

    Fixed to the meters were a pair of extended probes with one side connecting to the vestige and the other side free.

    "Can we get two participants to assist us?" The overseer looked towards the crowd.

    After a short while, two people stepped out with one grabbing the halberd while the other took hold of the dagger. The robo-testers then attached the free probe of each meter to the practitioner holding the vestige.

    As soon as the practitioners released ster energy through their hands and into the vestiges, the meter would quantify the amount of ster energy released. Once the ster energy flowed from one end of the vestige to the other, through the runes and ster matrices, the other probe would simrly quantify the amount of ster energy flowing through the inscriptions.

    Both values would be gathered and their differences taken by the sensor''s processors.

    If there exists a loss in ster energy, the processors would be able to determine the size of the loss. The amount of losses experienced would equate to the quality of the ster matrices.

    Losses during transmission were a natural and almost unavoidable incident for vestige-smiths. It was the same even for modern technology. The moreplex the matrices were, the harder it was to prevent ster energy losses. It was only in an ideal situation that there would be no losses.

    However, an ideal situation was only a theoretical situation and couldn''t exists in reality due to various reasons and conditions.

    When the signal was given to the two participants, they released their ster energy into the vestiges. The two were at the second level of the Apertures Opening stage. This made them suitable to test out the Grade 2 vestiges as their ster energy was neither too strong nor too weak.

    After about thirty seconds pumping in their ster energy into the vestiges, the two stopped and retrieved the energy. Only a negligible amount was expended since they didn''t battle with it.

    As the crowd waited in abated breaths, with even the frencing tightening his fists, the robo-testers called out the readings.

    Just as with the ster energy purity test, the values for this test didn''t follow the standard for the physical category.

    It simply made use of a 0-10 range, with 0 meaning no loss and a count of ten signifying 100% loss. However, this didn''t mean that every one digit was a ten percent loss.

    For a premium model, the typical value was around 4 points. The halberd was expected to get just around that, or maybe even 3.

    This time around, Lucas'' scores were called out first.

    "Unknown dagger, rating of 3."

    "It''s over." Someone quietly whispered.

    Even though the Hozier-ss Halberd''s rating hadn''t been called out yet, many doubted it could beat Lucas'' dagger. A rating of 3 just about meant that the energy loss was at the level of a premium model vestige.

    Even if by some stroke of luck, the Hozier-ss Halberd was at the same rating, it would be a tie, but Lucas would win the duel as he was currently leading. As for winning? Only a peak premium model vestige could top this level and the Hozier-ss Halberd wasn''t one.

 Chapter 102 A Lie

    "It''s over." Someone quietly whispered.

    Even though the Hozier-ss Halberd''s rating hadn''t been called out yet, many doubted it could beat Lucas'' dagger. A rating of 3 just about meant that the energy loss was at the level of a premium model vestige.

    Even if by some stroke of luck, the Hozier-ss Halberd was at the same rating, it would be a tie, but Lucas would win the duel as he was currently leading. As for winning? Only a peak premium model vestige could top this level and the Hozier-ss Halberd wasn''t one.

    As expected, when the robo-tester called out the rating for the Hozier-ss Halberd, it was a rating of 4, which meant that Lucas had won the vestige duel.

    "Incredible."

    Many stared at the dagger, not Lucas, in surprise. To the crowd, Lucas was just someone running the stall on behalf of the actual vestige-smith,so they didn''t pay much attention to him. Rather, it was the vestige as well as the mysterious identity of the vestige-smith behind it, that got them talking.

    "Since we''re done, pay up." Lucas beckoned the frencer.

    "You, you cheated. Otherwise how?" The frencer pointed at him and spat.

    "This again?" Lucas frowned.

    "That''s enough." The overseer appeared angered as he nced at the frencer.

    "Are you doubting my judgement once again?"

    The frencer hesitated a second, but bit the bullet.

    "It can''t be helped. Otherwise, how do you exin some unknown brat pulling out a dagger that could beat a Hozier-ss Halberd?"

    "The new reces the old. It''s not impossible for an upstart to be able to surpass an existingpany." The overseer argued.

    "Ha. That only works after a bit of experience. As for the vestige-smith of this dagger, we know nothing about them. Heck, we''ve never heard of them before." The frencer mocked as he pointed to Lucas.

    Enjoy new stories from empire

    "What''s more, this fellow ims to actually be a vestige-smith? A human? As a vestige-smith? Don''t make meugh. He''s clearly hiding the real identity of the vestige-smith for a reason."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    The frencer made a good point which caught the attention of the crowd. Although stalls could have anyone operate them and even participate in a vestige duel on the behalf of the vestige-smith -like with the manager of the Gold Rain Factory had done the previous day- this was only for the owner of the stall. If it were otherwise, one would have to dere the vestige-smith they were representing.

    The frencer''s argument was that Lucas didn''t use a vestige forged by the vestige-smith who owned the stall, but had used a different vestige from a higher ranked vestige-smith, and failed to dere such. While there was no evidence for this, suspicion didn''t necessarily need one as long as the statement was convincing.

    Lucas, at this point, was tired of the farce and usation.

    "You can say whatever you want, but you still owe me and you can''t default on that. Considering that the overseer had already done a preliminary investigation and found nothing, by tradition, I''m innocent and your usation is a sham. Since you''ve lost, you have to fulfill your side of the bet.

    As for any other concerns, those should be touched upon after further investigations, if you wish to do so. The convention will be ongoing for at least two more days, which should be enough time for your investigation."

    In a vestige duel, the overseer yed the role of a referee and monitored the process. Since the overseer had previously admitted that Lucas was not cheating, by right, Lucas was innocent of all usations. Even if the frencer had his suspicions, he still had to go by the rules of a vestige duel.

    The frencer could continue his investigation after the duel, and if he turned out to be right, the duel''s result would be cancelled. A new one might also be done, or the win awarded to him, depending on what the frencer wanted.

    However, at the moment, the frencer had to follow the rules, and by the rules, it was technically his loss.

    "He''s right about that." The overseer suddenly chipped in.

    Originally, he intended to stay out of this, but the frencer had been calling his judgement to question which had irritated him. Also, what Lucas said made sense. It followed the standard, and it also gave leeway for doubt.

    The five-day Silver Fig Trade Convention would still be going on for two more days as this was only the third day. Two days was enough time for the frencer to request some experts from the organizers to check the equipment for any modifications.

    "Indeed. He''s right."

    "True. This is a vestige duel so we have to stick to the rules of a vestige duel."

    Lucas'' supporters, or rather, the supporters of the dagger, all sided with Lucas'' statement. Not only did they do so because it was correct, but because the frencer had actually offended them by questioning their tradition.

    Vestige duels were almost ritualistic to vestige-smiths, and they abhorred the practice of cheating. But at the same time, they hated when someone questioned a duel without solid evidence and only mere prejudice.

    "Hmph. Fine. But I''ll see how long you canugh."

    The frencer snorted and sent Lucas the money.

    With one hundred federal coins in his wallet, Lucas could finally let out the stifled breath he had been holding in. He could finally eat good food and not be frugal with his money.

    As soon as the duel was settled, a few frencers and agents from vestige businesses came over to Lucas. Without a doubt, they all wanted to know more about the vestige, its creator, and its avability status.

    If Lucas handled the matter well, he could easilyplete the one hundred customers mission from the system.

    "Good day. Can we talk to the vestige-smith please? Or at least have his contact info?" One of the men said.

    Lucas didn''t answer right away. From past experiences, it was clear that no one would believe he was the vestige-smith. Even Harry, his number one customer and closest acquaintance, still believed that there was a reclusive vestige-smith behind the store despite Lucas having stated otherwise.

    If Lucas were to be honest to these men, many would doubt him and presume he intends to swindle them. Some might also look down on him for that. Although Lucas could prove the truth by disying his skill before them, that would be very disadvantageous to him.

    If he did so, Lucas might end up being tagged as a ''spy'' from Digress city-state, as his techniques -which allowed humans to create vestiges- was something that should probably only be possible in Digress city-state.

    There was also the ring issue of Lucas'' weakness. Who could tell when one of these men would attempt to kidnap him in order to steal his techniques for themselves or have him ve all day and night for them?

    All these added to his worries and made Lucas reach a simple conclusion; to create a fake individual.

    "I''m sorry, but my master strictly mentioned that I do not provide any of his personal details."

 Chapter 103 Day 4

    "I''m sorry, but my master strictly mentioned that I do not provide any of his personal details. But I can facilitate any deal on his behalf, so no need to hesitate." Lucas answered the group.

    Creating a false persona to wield the identity of the vestige-smith was a much safer option than being honest. It would also shift some attention away from Lucas as people would take him to be an errand boy. But with Lucas being the only point of contact to the vestige-smith, this would ensure that he wasn''t mistreated by anyone.

    "No problem. Why don''t we continue this conversation inside?" The man suggested.

    The reason he said this was to see the other vestiges made by the vestige-smith and decide whether he would only purchase the dagger or not.

    "Sure." Lucas nodded and turned around.

    . . .

    [[ Mission Description: Receive one hundred customers before the month is over.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Status: Completed.

    ept rewards: Y/N

    ]]

    "Finally." Lucas smiled as he nced at the notifications.

    The awareness brought about by the previous vestige duel was very beneficial towardspleting the mission. Previously, Lucas had already achieved forty three visits out of the required one hundred, but he didn''t have much hope ofpleting the requirement if he kept at it with his previous pace. And so, Lucas had decided to attend the Silver Fig Trade Convention.

    The exposure from the Greendale Highschool incident added together with that from the vestige duel made it easier for Lucas to close a few deals. Some of them were maintenance-rted as the agents who came over wanted to know more about the vestige-smith''s capabilities.

    The name, Seven Sparks Forge, was now beginning to stand out in the vestigemunity.

    "ept."

    Lucas gave themand and a new Bronze grade card appeared in his inventory. Ever since he had spent the previous one, Lucas had been a bit desperate to get a new one as it made him feel safer. With that now sessful, he could let out a sigh of relief.

    . . .

    A new day began with the rising of the Ken sr system''s orange sun, Lomarus. The fourth day of the five-days Silver Fig Trade Convention officially began. Different from the other days, there were more people in attendance today. The reason was for none other than the fact that today would be the first day top vestige-smiths and vestige-smithpanies would finally disy their masterpieces.

    The incident with the Gold Rain Factory was umon. On one hand, usually, no one would challenge such apany so early. On another hand, the Gold Rain Factory couldn''t truly be deemed as a top vestige-smithpany just yet. The toppanies included those who were members of the Silver Fig Consortium, and some others in the industry.

    They usually waited until the fourth or fifth day before they unveiled their masterpieces.

    With today being the fourth day, it was the first day of masterpiece revtions, and many agents of vestigepanies, reporters, and frencers from top guilds in West Wing district would be in attendance.

    "Are we going to check out the usual stalls this time or work around a bit?" Ju¨¢n said as the team walked into the public square.

    "It''s been a while since we''ve explored so no need to stick to routines. You can go around and see if you can find something useful for us. I have a feeling that this year''s event wouldn''t be the same as usual." Crimson Fang nced around the public square.

    The group of seven who just walked into the Silver Fig Trade Convention were the main force for the famous frencer guild based in West Wing district, the Autumn''s Gate guild.

    Autumn''s Gate guild was a pretty popr guild in the West Wing district and the Wastnds base station. This was due to the fact that the guild leader and founder was at the sixth level of the Apertures Opening stage, while the two vice guild leaders were at the fifth level. The other four were pretty strong as well, being between the third and fourth levels.

    Even the weakest was armed with enough power vestiges to enable them to take on an average fourth level Apertures Opening stage deste beast at least for a while.

    While their strength and status were impressive, what mattered to vestige-smiths was transaction size. The Autumn''s Gate guild didn''t only consist of the seven, as there were a few dozen more members. For such a big and famous guild, they were an important customer to any vestige-smith or vestige-smithpany.

    "Why do you say so?" A purple haired young man who stood slightly behind Crimson Fang asked.

    The young man had purple eyes as well, which were alluring, and with his hair that would easily stand out on Earth, he had an attractive face and could be termed as both a beauty and a handsome talent. There was no doubt that if he was born on Earth, he would be a feast for the eyes especially for thedies, married or not; a natural homewrecker.

    The young man, apart from being the second vice captain for the Autumn''s Gate guild, was also the scion of a rich family. His father operated a vestige business[1] that had chains in the other minor districts of Bands city-state. Those areascked a vestige-smith as they were concentrated in the city, so they mostly relied on vestige businesses to supply them.

    Young, handsome, strong, and rich, this was the perfect recipe for ady-killer.

    Crimson Fang smiled at him and replied, "You guys didn''t do your research? There''s been a small upheaval recently. It started around two days back. It''s giving me a feeling that we might soon see more surprises this year."

    The group was surprised by this and a bit of anticipation welled up in some of them. They couldn''t wait to explore, and who knows, if their luck was great, they might spot an unknown vestige-smith with a masterpiece collection in their hands. Bidding for a masterpiece was difficult and costly, but with unknown vestige-smiths, they would have nopetition.

    Only the purple haired young man and Lisa were calm. For the young man, he was from a wealthy background and has seen a few masterpiece vestiges growing up. There was even one in his father''s collection, so these vestiges didn''t really draw much interest from him.

    "We''ll move in groups. Ju¨¢n and Anna will form one group. Lisa and Scout, Nathan and Leno would form another group. I''ll move alone." Crimson Fang said.

    "If you find anything impressive, do make sure to note it down and let us all know."

    Nathan von us, the purple haired young man, had a slight frown on his face because of the pairing. He nced at Lisa, who was to move with Scout, and then towards Crimson Fang, but he didn''t say a word.

    Right away, the team split and departed in different directions.

    The Autumn''s Gate guild wasn''t the only frencer guild present today, neither were they the only reputable faction in attendance. Lots of guilds, associations, agents of vestige businesses, and reporters of vestige and frencer magazines showed up. But at the same time, some parastatals were in attendance. For instance, the Red Fangs.

    "Ugh, another Silver Fig event. Yeah..." The brown-haired Barry sarcastically celebrated.

    "Behave. We are here to get a new deal for a batch of vestiges, so don''t be dramatic." Lieutenant Lily Mayer chastised.

    "Yes, ma''am." Barry saluted, but then he smiled slyly. "But wait, if I recall correctly, doesn''t that human fellow run a vestige-smith store?"

    "Oh, really? A human? Well, what about it? I don''t think he can make it to such an event, or am I wrong?" A Red Fang member who apanied them asked.

    Nafir was busy with work, so someone else tagged along. However, this new face wasn''t as familiar with Lucas as Nafir.

    "Oh, you might be. Who knows? But from a certain investigative report, I found out that his store has been closed for thest three days. This is something onlymon for small-time vestige-smiths who are participating in the convention." Barry smiled.

    "Oh? That''s impressive then. But what does it have to do with us? Don''t tell me you want us to source our vestiges from a human?" The manughed.

    "I wouldn''t say that close to, ehem, if I were you." Barry whispered as he nced briefly at Lily.

    Lily ignored his statement and kept leading the way.

    Seeing he got no reaction, Barry smiled and felt emboldened.

    "My point was, while we are here to find a new batch supplier, we could go see how he''s doing. It shouldn''t be so much of a hassle right?"

    The Red Fang member was confused as to why Barry spoke so much about this human. But at the same time, this confusion brought about interest in this mysterious figure.

    "Lieutenant Mayer, what do you say?" The man asked.

    He was of a simr rank as Lily, so he still had to ask for her input.

    "That''s fine." Lily said after a bit of thought.

 Chapter 104 A Frog In The Well

    "Duel over. The win goes to Seven Sparks Forge." The overseer announced.

    "Wow. That''s the seventh straight win now, right?"

    "Damn. He''s been steam rolling everyone that came by."

    "Incredible."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    After beating the frencer in a vestige duel, Lucas didn''t have the time to take things easy. He was swarmed by a group of agents and reporters, who were covering the convention. The discussions mostly centered on the dagger, whether there were other vestiges like it, and the identity of the vestige-smith.

    Lucas answered the first two truthfully, while sticking to his cover-up lie for thest question.

    However, even when he was done with all the queries, Lucas still had a lot more to do. There was still the other mission from the system, with even better rewards. Lucas didn''t n on letting that mission go, as the rewards were too attractive for him, and it would also help boost his renown.

    Luckily, Lucas didn''t have to do much. Less than two hourster, a vestige-smith had appeared to challenge him to a duel.

    The news about what had taken ce had already made some rounds, and alerted a few vestige-smiths. After all, the dagger had managed to beat a Hozier-ss Halberd in a vestige duel. This meant that the vestige-smith''s skill was worth taking note of, and beating such a person would aid their fame.

    Those confident in the task had appeared to challenge Lucas to a vestige duel. They were smart enough to use a Grade 3 vestige, as the stats of the Grade 2 dagger was something none of them could beat. However in the end, they failed; all of them.

    Seven vestige-smiths and businesses, seven duels, seven wins for Lucas.

    "Is there anyone who can even stop him?"

    "In this region? I don''t think so. The difficulty level of his opponents need to be increased for us to find the boundary."

    While the spectators and ''analysts'' discussed about the duels, Lucas was quietly seated beside his stall as before.

    The seven vestige duels were quite profitable, not just in terms of the exposure they gave him, or the fact they helped fulfill his mission quota; they were actually profitable in mary terms.

    Following the vestige duel with the frencer, Lucas decided to add a bet to all other duels. The vestige-smiths, who were desperate to beat him, didn''t mind as they were confident in their works. But with their loss came expressions of shock while Lucas smiled counting his earnings.

    From all eight vestige duels, Lucas had made more than three hundred federal coins.

    ''Seven duels are done but I have toplete twenty. However, the second Bronze grade card''s power level depends on the strongest vestige-smith I''ll face.'' Lucas thought.

    By vestige-smith, the system referred to the creator of the vestige and not the person standing in for the duel. So, if Lucas were to beat a stall''s Grade 4 vestige as his highest rank duel, once hepleted the mission, the second Bronze grade card would copy the power level of the vestige''s creator.

    The creator of a Grade 4 vestige was usually at least at the seventh level of the Apertures Opening stage.

    A Bronze grade card at the seventh level was enough for Lucas to easily take on any opponent in the West Wing district. Even the entire Autumn''s Gate guild would lose to him inbat. Sadly, the requirements for Lucas to make a Grade 4 vestige capable of challenging a Grade 4 masterpiece were arduous. He would also have to depend on one of the more heinous forbidden techniques to pull it off.

    However, that didn''t men''s that he couldn''t aim for those just a bit lower.

    "Today''s the fourth day of the convention. Aren''t you going to reveal your masterpiece?" Someone suddenly asked Lucas.

    Lucas nced at the speaker and saw it was a previously unfamiliar but now familiar face. The speaker had been present for a few of his duels and also participated in the negotiations the previous day, making Lucas recall her identity. The speaker was a woman, and from her introduction the previous day, she was an agent of a vestige business called Novanio Tech.

    Novanio Tech was a vestige business that dealt in the wholesale and retail sale of types of vestiges, specifically ster processors. They were quite big for apany, but the vestige industry was a difficult one and Novanio Tech had manypetitors due to that.

    Recently, they''ve been trying to expand into the weapons market, but as all the top vestige-smiths were either working for a vestige-smithing business or started their own, Novanio Tech was facing difficulties entering the market.

    The famed techpany decided to search low for vestige-smiths with potential and have them sign a supply contract with them. However, their standards were quite high, so they had yet to find a good partner. Even Lucas was still on their consideration list.

    Nheless, Lucas didn''t care about that.

    "My masterpiece? I don''t think there''s anyone here worth making me show it." Lucas stated as a matter-of-fact.

    The crowd went wild at his statement and soon enough, those words were spread around the region.

    The public square wasrge and was segmented into three regions for the Silver Fig Trade Convention. The region Lucas stayed in was for the lower ranked vestige-smiths andpanies -those at the bottom and near it. In this region, Lucas was already quite popr and many people were watching his every move, waiting to see his masterpiece.

    So, within the first thirty minutes after the statement was made, over seventy percent of the stalls in the region have already gotten the info.

    "That bastard. Who does he think he is because of a few wins?"

    "A mere errand boy actually has such guts?! And a human being at that? We need to put him down to his ce!"

    "Just one good win, and a mere seven lucky ones and he thinks he''s something?"

    "...I don''t agree with you there. Seven wins can''t really be lucky, right?"

    "Yeah, true. Ahem, I meant, seven wins against weak opponents, how''s that?"

    "Much better for our propaganda."

    The various vestige-smiths and stall managers reacted differently, but one thing they all had inmon was that they believed Lucas was tooting his horn.

    Just then, a fresh announcement appeared on the forums.

    A masterpiece from one of the top 10panies had just been unveiled.

    This immediately attracted attention as everyone wanted to know more about it. However, this was just the start. By the time it was 12pm, four hours after the start of the day''s event, eight morepanies had unveiled their masterpiece and six vestige-smiths who were popr in themunity joined in as well.

    West Wing district was home to a lot of frencers, so it was filled with many vestige-smiths; after all, vestige-smithing was an upation just like any other, only much more difficult to seed in and requiring more talent. As a result of this, there were quite a fewpanies and businesses founded by vestige-smiths, but only less than twenty stood out in the West Wing district.

    In a virtual press conference by one of the top twentypanies, the reporters caused amotion, trying to have their questions answered.

    "Sir, you just released your masterpiece vestige today, rather than tomorrow. Are you that confident in your work?" One of the reporters asked.

    "Of course. As a vestige-smith, it''s only natural to have faith in our products. This time around, although our masterpiece is only at Grade 3, it''s still capable ofpeting with some Grade 4 vestiges out there, in the right hands." A middle-aged man with silver hair and ck eyes responded.

    He was a vestige-smith and the creator of the masterpiece. Usually vestige-smiths wouldn''t attend the convention until the fourth or fifth when the masterpiece would be unveiled, and the man had appeared just for that.

    Another reporter asked, "Excuse me, sir. I don''t know whether you''re aware, but there''s a stall from the lower grounds making rounds recently. The stall has consecutively won eight vestige duels and one of them was against a Hozier-ss Halberd, albeit a Grade 2 one, while the other duels were with Grade 3 vestiges.

    Recently, the manager of the stall announced that no one is worthy of seeing their masterpiece. What do you think about that? Or to be specific, do you think your vestige is up to the task?"

    It was clear what the reporter''s intentions were, but he wasn''t reproached by anyone. Gossip sold better than documentaries, and what these reporters wanted was a tale to sell. Intentionally brewing rivalry was also amon tactic they used to create a story.

    The silver haired man was aware of this, but he simply smiled in response.

    "A stall from the lower grounds actually thinks no one is worthy? Well, I don''t have much to say about that. It''s like our ancestors used to say; a frog in the well knows nothing. As for challenging the stall to a vestige duel? That would be equivalent to insulting our masterpiece. But I don''t mind ying around with him with some random vestige.

    I think that alone should be enough."

 Chapter 105 Tomans Workshop

    3pm.

    "That''s another victory. He extends his streak to ten with this."

    "Whoever made these vestiges is talented. If they aren''t a popr vestige-smith yet, then in a few years, they would be."

    The crowd conversed as Lucas seized his tenth win. That''s right, excluding the vestige duel against the frencer, Lucas currently sat on ten wins now. What''s more, they were consecutively without suffering any loss.

    ''Ten more to go.'' Lucas thought.

    As he was soon to round up the mission, Lucas decided to turn his eyes elsewhere. At this rate, he needed to challenge someone more difficult, so that his reward would be even better.

    At this moment, the agent from Novanio Tech walked over.

    "Aren''t you tired of beating these people over and over? It''s quite clear that you will find nopetition amongst them."

    Lucas nced at her, understanding what her intentions were.

    Among the group of agents that came over the previous day, not all of them made a deal with Lucas, and even those who did, didn''t ask for much. Although the volume helped Lucasplete the mission, it equally disyed the degree of trust the agents had in him. They has yet to see anything extraordinary, as the dagger was simply just a Grade 2 vestige.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    There were a few other vestige-smiths who could make something on par or even better.

    For these agents who wanted to build a rtionship with such type of vestige-smiths, they didn''t invest much effort in talking to Lucas. However, there were a few of them who believed that the vestige-smith backing Lucas was worth the wait.

    Today was the day most vestige-smiths andpanies reveal their masterpiece, and they were expecting to see Lucas'', but he didn''t show any. Now some of them, like thedy, were getting a bit impatient.

    "What I do is my own business. I think that should be obvious, right?" Lucas asked.

    "True, but I''m guessing your master had you attend this event to help advertise his crafts. You would get a better effect facing off against more reputable vestige-smiths rather than what you''re doing."

    Lucas couldn''t help but mentally agree that she was right, but he didn''t say anything as she continued speaking.

    "As it just so happens, a certain top twentypany had a few words to say about you."

    Lucas was surprised by this as he asked, "About me? That''s quite interesting."

    "Well, it wasn''t reallyplimentary so I don''t think so. They also offered an open invitation to a duel. What''s your opinion about that?"

    "What''s my opinion? Of course I have to take a look." Lucas smiled.

    The news came just in time as he wanted to change his opponents. Without further dy, Lucas closed the stall and went towards the location of the mid tier region.

    The mid tier region was an area in the public square designated for slightly renowned and somewhat popr industries for the Silver Fig Trade Convention. The Gold Rain Factory belonged in this category, albeit at the top ranks. Even if this area was left for mid rankpanies, there would naturally still be a difference between them.

    "Hmm, aren''t you going there?" Lucy, the agent from Novanio Tech asked.

    As she was still one of the few agents seriously interested in Lucas, she had been monitoring him from the start of the day.

    "Do you think they''d be bothered with me, if I did? They can simply ignore my challenge and no one would think anything about it. For the moment, I need to build momentum." Lucas smiled as he walked towards the first stall.

    A graphic signboard was hung in front, written on it ''Toman''s Workshop''. Toman was a somewhat popr vestige-smith who operated a store on his own. Despite being a Tier 1 Elite vestige-smith, he refused to work for anypany and decided to open a workshop and operate independently. He was skilled enough to make his name known and gain a few contracts from vestige dealers.

    Lucas appeared in front of the stall with a shield in hand. Heid the shield in front of the store and announced.

    "I''m challenging you to a vestige duel."

    "Who are you?" A man in the stall asked. He was Toman''s eldest son and manager of the stall in his father''s absence.

    "Who I am has no meaning, only my intentions." Lucas stated with a nonchnt expression.

    "Heh. I don''t know what makes you think that some rag-tag individual can challenge us, but leave. We''re busy." The man pursued Lucas.

    "Acting like a big business when you''ve been constantly rejected for three years now. Where''s all this attitudeing from?" Lucasmented.

    Toman''s workshop had previously participated in the Silver Fig Trade Convention and this was their fifth attendance. However, for the past three years, they had failed to make a masterpiece worth being invited to the auction on the sixth day. This had been a thorn in their hearts as being invited for the auctions would raise their prestige.

    But having failed to achieve this for three years in a row, especially when they had done so in their first attendance, now roughly ced them with those beneath.

    The young man became incensed at thement, as this was something that pained him. He was soon to take over the workshop and it was a dream of his to break this ''curse'', and with this year''s event being his first time in charge, he hoped to do just that.

    "Hehe. Fine. You want to be humiliated? Then let''s go."

    Lucas smiled. He didn''t juste to the mid tier region with no n in mind.

    Previously, Lucas had asked Lucy for help; to be specific, he asked for information on some of the notable vestige-smiths andpanies in the area, irrespective of their ranking. Toman''s workshop was one such popr one, but it had recently been going downhill.

    "I don''t intend on making it difficult for you, so I will go easy on you." Lucas suddenly said.

    The young man was confused about what he meant by going easy, but  before he could even question that, Lucas continued.

    "All six tests, excluding the Power test. If you manage to beat me in just one, it''s your win."

    "!!!"

    The young man was immediately livid at the statement and the spectators who gathered upon hearing a vestige duel were stunned silly.

    This was the first time someone had suggested such a format, and it said a lot about their confidence. However, the opponent was Toman''s Workshop, and even if they hadn''t been invited for the auction yet, they were still pretty good at making vestiges. Looking down on them like this was something only the best vestige-smiths in Bands City might be capable of doing.

    Not even the top vestige-smiths in the top tenpanies could disregard them this much, when the contest is with vestiges of the same grade.

    "Are you crazy?" The young man growled.

    "What do you-"

    Lucas interrupted, "You''ve epted so don''t waste so much time talking. I''ve already taken out my vestige. Where''s yours?"

    The young man tightened his fist and was incredibly pissed, but he began to chuckle furiously.

    "Sure."

    "Oh, I forgot. Fifty federal coins. Winner takes all." Lucas pped his head.

    At this point, the young man was just a bit away from losing it at lunging at Lucas but he forcefully held back his anger. Gambles weren''t new in vestige duels, so there was nothing wrong about it. Also, Toman''s Workshop might have been going downhill, but it wasn''t to the point where they couldn''t afford fifty federal coins for a vestige duel.

    Soon after, the young man returned with a box. Ster aura suffused from the box despite it being closed, signifying the quality of the vestige. It was clear that even though he saw Lucas as a fool, the young man didn''t underestimate him.

    When the box was opened, a cold-weapon vestige was revealed. It was a blue sword that appeared to be made of ss, but that was actually a special type of metal that was pretty rare. Inscriptions decorated the de of the sword and the hilt was carved with runic marks. The aura of the sword was cold, like a killer assassin.

    Mere ncing at the sword would make one filled with chills and a longer look for those below the third level of the Body Strengthening stage would hurt their eyes.

    "This is the masterpiece fromst year, Aquilo''s Sword."

    One of the bystanders who was familiar with Toman''s Workshop said.

    "If they''re using the masterpiece fromst year topete, does it mean they have something new this year?" Someone couldn''t help but ask.

    "They should. After all, it''s been a dream of theirs to get back into the auction."

    With the reveal of the sword, more and more people were attracted by themotion. This was the only vestige duel currently ongoing in the region, so it was unavoidable that it would garner some attention.

    The young man nced around felt sullen. A win was pointless and could be termed as bullying since Lucas was unknown. But a loss would greatly affect their reputation, although he didn''t believe that he could lose.

    Aquilo''s Sword was a very powerful Grade 3 vestige, so much so that it was close to the ranks of a Grade 4. However, the auction had limited slots for each district, and the West Wing district only had fifteen slots. Aquilo''s Sword had lost out as it only managed to take the eighteenth position -three spots always from invitation.

    This time around, they had worked on a new creation, but that didn''t make Aquilo''s Sword any less valuable. The vestige was still a weapon many frencers desired. Unfortunately, the materials used to make it were very costly and the effort was tedious, so it couldn''t be mass produced.

    The old man, Toman, has rather kept it in his collection, as a reminder of how close they were and why they should work harder.

 Chapter 106 14 Wins

    "Overall winner. Brown shield." The overseer announced with shock.

    "How, howe?" The young man was astonished.

    Lucas calmly retrieved the shield from the robo-testers and dusted it a bit.

    Brown shield was the name of the shield. There was no hidden meaning or anything; the shield was simply brown so Lucas decided to call it that.

    Lucas ignored themotion and walked to the next stall on his list. Simrly, he beat them after a few minutes. But he didn''t stop there.

    By the time Lucas arrived at the fourth stall, Lucas noticed that it looked a lot different from the one he had. In fact, the stalls in the mid tier region were all improvedpared to his in the lower tier region. However, this particr one had a drastically different appearance. At this point, it was no longer a stall, but a small building.

    "West Wing district, rank 15 store." Lucy said as she stared at the building which belonged to a vestige-smithpany.

    Above the mid tier region was the high tier region, but only the top tenpanies and vestige-smiths in West Wing district had a shop there. A store with a rank of 15 was one quite close to the top ten. The ranks were determined from the previous year''s rating.

    Aquilo''s Sword had taken the eighteenth ce for Toman''s Workshop, butpared to that, this store had seized fifteenth cest year, which meant that their masterpiece had qualified for the auction. They were definitely not a simple opponent.

    However,pared to them, the vestige-smith who had mocked Lucas had achieved the thirteenth cest year, and was poised to earn a spot this year once again.

    "A mere fifteenth spot. It would be good if they can make me work a bit." Lucas said as he approached the building.

    At this point, the staff had noticed theming thanks to the small crowd following behind the duo. They were a bit confused, but after one of them said something, they appeared stunned and a bit nervous. This was unavoidable. As a result of his consistent run of thirteen victories without a loss, Lucas had built some level of reputation already, especially amongst the participants.

    Although ten of those wins were against those from the low tier region, the other three were against some names with a level of reputation, especially his first win here which was against the rank 18, Toman''s Workshop.

    While the low tier region had hundreds of participants, the mid tier region had a couple dozens. Nheless, being capable of appearing in the mid tier region was an achievement, but above all, being in the top 20 rank. Even if they were outside the top fifteen, the other five in the top 20 rank were characters capable of fighting for the slot, unlike those below them.

    This was why the victory against Toman''s Workshop, especially using a shield, was impressive.

    One should recall that among the seven tests, there was a Sharpness test which favoured ded weapons. Despite that, Lucas had managed to beat Aquilo''s Sword using a shield. Although it was because the shield had detachable ded teeth around its edge, winning was thought to be impossible, but he still achieved it.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    "I''m here for a vestige duel." Lucas announced right as he stopped in front of the building. Just a few steps away was the entrance, which was without a door, but he didn''t go any further.

    "Should we ept?" One of the staff inside the building whispered to another.

    "We don''t really have a choice. He''s not like the other challengers, so we can''t ignore him." The manager of the stall sighed.

    "Bring out the masterpiece."

    At the moment, many had already begun to consider the brown shield Lucas had used to beat Toman''s Workshop and the next series of participants as a masterpiece item. This was a vestige that beatst year''s eighteenth ce masterpiece, so it was definitely strong enough to enter the top 15 ofst year, and maybe even this year.

    So, avoiding a challenge from Lucas was equivalent to damaging their reputation as avoiding a vestige duel against another masterpiece was a sign that one wascking confidence in their own masterpiece. Even if the appraisers from the Silver Fig Consortium didn''t look down on them, the public''s opinion would be that their creation was weaker.

    Since they would be facing Lucas, the only worthy opponent would be their masterpiece for the year''s convention. Usingst year''s product was the same as asking for a loss, since Lucas already proved that this product was more than capable of entering the ratings ofst year.

    "Winning by his terms won''t be enough, so we have to bring down his momentum entirely. Doing so with our masterpiece would not only raise its value, but also the reputation of ourpany. Our stocks could even rise a bit from this." The manager motivated his staff.

    A box was soon brought out and the manager walked out alongside three other staff members.

    "You should be aware of my usual terms, or do I need to repeat them?" Lucas asked.

    "No need." The manager confidently smiled.

    The usual terms were that if Lucas lost even one test out of the seven tests, it would be the same as admitting his loss. There was also the fifty federal coins bet as well. There was no way Lucas was letting that go as it was almost free money to him. From just thest three vestige duels alone, he had made one hundred and fifty federal coins "tax-free".

    Making so much without the system''s evil hands stretching towards his money felt a bit addicting.

    "Let''s begin." Lucas smiled.

    15 minutester, Lucas was spotted calmly departing the building''s environment with the same iconic brown shield in hand. Meanwhile, the crowd was dumbfounded, even more so the manager of the store, who stared at the vestige he had brought out.

    The vestige was a red saber that gave off a fiery glow and the energy around it was tumultuous. It was like a weapon of the god of mes, incarnated  into a mortal form. Just mere staring at it for long would give one the illusion that their body was on fire.

    If the person looking at it was below the fourth level of the Body Strengthening stage, they would feel dehydrated the longer they stared at it. However, it wasn''t true dehydration, but simply the body responding as if it were indeed dehydrated.

    Below the third level and looking at the saber for longer than three minutes could lead to death, as by then, the brain would truly believe that it was dehydrated and give out.

    Despite such impressive abilities and strength, the results didn''t end in the favour of the saber.

    "Another win. The record continues." Someone in the crowd widened his eyes in utter disbelief.

    No doubt, this saber could have been able to enter th top fifteen for the year; it had a very good shot at doing so. Despite that, it had lost to a nameless brown shield.

    "A legendary masterpiece. It''s probably on par with those from the top vestige-smiths in the Central Prefecture." An old man who looked knowledgeable said.

    The Silver Fig Trade Convention was not only held in the West Wing district. It was an event for the entire Bands City, but due to the massive size of the city, the event has to be split.

    For five days, there would be a convention held simultaneously in all five districts of Bands City, and the top fifteen rated vestiges from each district would be brought to the Central Prefecture district for the true Silver Fig Trade Convention on the sixth day, which was the auction.

    Seventy five top ss vestiges from all five districts in one ce. Such an event was one every single vestige-smith in the city desired to attend.

    West Wing district had the most vestige-smiths, but it didn''t mean they had the best. That record was held by the Central Prefecture district, which was the home to not just the best vestige-smiths, but also the strongest frencers, powerful families, and also headquartered toppanies and conglomerates. The Central Prefecture was truly the best in all regards, and the centre of the city.

    The top vestige-smiths there were steps ahead of this in the West Wing district, and the same was true for thepanies based there.

    "Old man, isn''t that a bit overboard?" Someone asked.

    Describing the brown shield as being on par with the masterpieces from the Central Prefecture was typically apliment left only for creations of the top ten West Wing district vestige-smiths.

    "Hah. What do you know? I''ve been to the auctions at the Central Prefecture before. I can tell you that that brown shield had what it takes to qualify." The old man snorted.

    "Don''t take that old man seriously. He''s a drunk who says too much nonsense." Someone else interrupted while staring at the old man with disgust.

    "Not to talk of the fact that the top vestiges from the Central Prefecture district are all Grade 4, even their Grade 3s are capable of seizing the top spot here. The Silver Fig Trade Convention being held in five different locations at once was to simply give everyone an equal opportunity to qualify for the auction.

    Otherwise, the entire auction would be filled with vestiges from the Central Prefecture district. That''s just how aplished they are."

 Chapter 107 Newfound Fame And Riches

    After that bout with the fifteenth ce, Lucas went on to carry out two more vestige duels before the day finally concluded. Unsurprisingly, the other two opponents had surrendered before the duel even began. The news had already spread, and no one was foolish enough to bother engaging in a vestige duel with Lucas.

    Luckily for him, the system still considered them as victories, so his count was now brought up to sixteen. There were now only four more vestige duels left and Lucas would havepleted the mission.

    Just as he returned to the stall to close up, Lucas was surprised to see a crowd of people gathered in front.

    "What''s going on?" Lucas asked.

    "You''re finally back." The man lined up in front smiled.

    "We''re here to check out your services, and get our gears fixed."

    Lucas was surprised by this, but on second thought, he understood.

    Having generated a buzz recently and made a name for himself, or at least the vestige-smith supposedly behind him, it was only natural for there to be more customers interested in the services offered. It was just like when he had won his very first vestige duel against the frencer and was flooded by a few agents and frencers.

    Except this time around, Lucas had defeated vestiges much more impressive than the Hozier-ss Halberd, and this made people take him more seriously and even want to patronise the stall for their own benefit.

    "If you''re here to take orders, you can copy the code in the stall and check out our price list. But if you''re here for services, unfortunately, there''s a limited slot for those."

    The Silver Fig Trade Convention banned on-site trading and maintenance, however, the organisers had purposely left some loopholes to this rule. For the first, one could simply draw up a contract for the sale of vestiges and the matter would be settled at ater date.

    As for maintenance, the vestige-smith stall could ept maintenance orders and fulfill them outside of the public square or at ater date after the convention.

    However, due to this, vestige-smith stores would be busy after the convention. To reduce the load, they would limit the number of transactions, especially maintenance works, that they epted.

    "No problem. Just let us know and we''ll figure it out." The man smiled.

    Lucas nodded and went into the stall before bringing out a small stic board, the size of a palm. The board was turned on and it projected a special diagram that looked like a QR code.

    The diagram could be scanned by amunicator to reveal the information on it; the pricing list of vestiges in the Seven Sparks Forge.

    When the crowd scanned it and went through the list, one could hear asional sounds of astonishments and deep breathing. Lucas, however, was already used to this and wasn''t bothered. He now has a good understanding of the vestige-smithing ability of the West Wing district. As such, Lucas was more than confident that his prices were fair.

    "These prices, aren''t they a bit too much?" Someone carefully asked.

    "A bit? With these prices, I can buy two vestiges. If I want to consider quantity and not quality, I might even be able to get three vestiges." A middle-aged man grumpilyined.

    Lucas nced at him for a brief second before ignoring them all and walking towards the stall.

    Whether they wanted to buy or not, Lucas didn''t let that bother him. Those who could afford it and understood the real value would buy it. Those who couldn''t afford a vestige here, yet still understood its value would inform those around them about this. But there are those who could neither afford nor understand the value of the vestige.

    For such kind of people, Lucas deemed it unnecessary to dawdle on their matter.

    Seeing him ignore them, the group went speechless. Usually, a vestige-smith stall would try to convince them otherwise. They would use all sorts of linguistics, marketing tactics and lines all to make them consider buying something. But Lucas straight up ignored them.

    "Who does he think he is?"

    "You''re wrong. The question should be who do you think he is? He beat the top eighteen and fifteenth ce fromst year. He''s currently on a sixteen win streak; seventeen, if you count his victory against the Hozier-ss Halberd."

    "Yeah, but the one who did all that was the vestige-smith. He''s just a representative." Someone else argued.

    "True, but that makes him the only connection between us and the vestige-smith. So, we might as well act politely." The man who stood on Lucas'' side said.

    Eventually, some from the group had departed over the prices, while the others entered the stall and made their orders. At the end of everything, including previous orders, Lucas had now made over thirty thousand federal coins in revenue. Even after the 75% deduction by the system, his profit wasrge.

    After he was done with that, Lucas left and returned back for eh Seven Sparks Forge building in the market zone.

    . . .

    Meanwhile, somewhere in the West Wing district. A fleet of hover-bikes with members of the Bands City Patrol Corps. There were at least ten of them, and behind the pursuing group was a hover car with the logo of the Patrol Corps.

    "Catch him." A voice sounded in the helmets of the Bands City Patrol Corps as they pursueed their target.

    Inside the hover car were three members of the Red Fangs, with the one leading them being a familiar face. It was Nafir.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    Soon enough, the pursuing team caught up to the target and pinned him down on the ground.

    The target was actually a green-skinned alien who appeared in a humanoid form. However, despite having two legs, the lower part of the legs branched out to form a pair of lower legs. As a result, the alien had two upper legs but four lower legs.

    Also, rather than hair on his head, the alien had a few tentacles. Each tentacle wasced with enough poison to knock out a full grown adult horse, making the alien a walking danger. He also had three fingers as opposed to a regr hyuman.

    The hover car arrived and Nafir stepped out of it alongside the other.

    "A mixed race? Tell me, what are you doing in a Bands city-state unregistered?" Nafir nced at the creature who has been cuffed with special handcuffs.

    "Kekeke. You might have caught me, but don''t think I''ll talk. A mere patrol corps, don''t get too high on yourselves." The alien grinned.

    Nafir fromwed and waved, signalling to his men to take him away.

    Suddenly, the alien began to convulse before frothing from the mouth.

    "Poison, hurry!" Nafir screamed.

    One of the Red Fangs near him rushed towards the hover car for a medical box, but by the time he returned, it was already toote. The alien had died.

    "There goes our lead." One of the Red Fangs duo sighed.

    "To be able tomit suicide, just to prevent leaking any type of information. Such a kind of dedication to his belief, is incredible, but also dangerous in this case." Nafir frowned as he studied the corpse.

    "Bands city-state might soon get less peaceful in times toe."

 Chapter 108 Anticipations Of Day 5

    While the Red Fangs were hunting for a lead to the terrorists who had attacked the Greendale Highschool students at the Bayena in, the fifth and final day of the Silver Fig Trade Convention drew closer until it arrived.

    Simr to the fourth day, there was a gigantic crowd in attendance for the event today. Being thest day of the convention right before the auction, it was only natural that everyone in the industry would try as much as possible to be in attendance today.

    "You guys heard about what happened yesterday?" Ju¨¢n looked at his teammates as they arrived at the public square.

    "You mean the ''masterpiece killer''? Yeah. It''s been awhile since the convention has been this eventful." Crimson Fang said with interest.

    "The ''masterpiece killer''?" Nathan asked.

    "Hmm. It''s the title given to some new fellow representing a vestige-smith. Apparently, it''s his first time in the convention, but he''s defeated sixteen other participants -six of whom were based in the mid tier region. One of them was at the eighteenth ce fromst year, Toman''s Workshop. They had contended with the same vestige, Aquilo''s Sword, but lost the duel.

    Fifteenth ce fromst year was also in attendance, but even after using their masterpiece, they simrly lost." Ju¨¢n enthusiastically exined.

    "That''s impressive, but I don''t see why he should be nicknamed ''masterpiece killer''. The only notable opponents were one party that barely qualified forst year''s auction and another that didn''t even make the mark." Nathan dismissed. Although the record was astonishing, he felt that people were overreacting.

    "If that was all, then yeah, you''re right. However, it isn''t." Ju¨¢n mysteriously said.

    Nathan raised an eyebrow, waiting for thetter to continue, but he didn''t. After a bit of hesitation, curiosity got the best of him and Nathan asked,

    "What else? Did he beat someone more impressive?"

    Ju¨¢n smiled seeing that he was hooked.

    "It''s not that. Rather, it''s how he beat his opponents. The ''masterpiece killer'' had challenged the six opponents from the mid tier region to a vestige duel using the same grade vestiges. The win condition was for the challenged side to win just one test out of all seven, yet they all failed to do so. What''s more, the ''masterpiece killer'' won using a shield."

    Nathan was immediately stunned, halting at the spot. In fact, he wasn''t the only one shocked by this as Lisa and Anna reacted the same. It was clear that the duo simrly didn''t know much about the ''masterpiece killer''.

    "He won such a contest?" Anna dazedly questioned.

    "That''s exactly why he''s making rounds and why we should go check him out today." said Ju¨¢n.

    "He''s currently on a sixteen win streak and has been challenging from the lowest level up. Spections suggest that he would still challenge more people today, maybe up to twenty. It''s also believed he would soon aim for the top ten since his vestige us quite powerful." Leno, who was a fan of vestiges, replied.

    "Well, I guess we can go check it out together then." Crimson Fang decided.

    "However, if any of you have a different opinion, feel free to go with it."

    The others didn''t say anything contrary as they were actually all interested, including Nathan. A vestige capable of beating masterpieces at the same grade without losing a single bout was definitely something rare, even if it came from the hands of vestige-smiths of the top tenpanies. Maybe only those old fellows in the Central Prefecture could do better.

    It wasmon sense that a sword would be sharper than a shield, an axe stronger than a dagger and so on. However, this ''masterpiece killer'' had defied such logic as the vestige fielded for the fuel was actually a shield. A shield that was  sharper than a sword was something no one would have ever thought to be possible.

    "So where should we go?"

    "There''s only one answer." Ju¨¢n took it upon himself to answer the question.

    "I heard that he was dissed a while ago by a certain vestige-smith in the mid tier region, ranked eleventh ce. However, he hasn''t challenged them yet. Let''s go over there and wait."

    "Alright then." The group agreed and made their way over.

    The Autumn''s Gate guild wasn''t the only group making their way there as well. Many other frencers and drama-lovers who had heard the news were also heading towards the building.

    The silver haired vestige-smith who had insted Lucas -calling him a frog in a well- had already caught onto the news. He couldn''t believe that this frog was actually so deadly, but that didn''t change the man''s mind. At best, Lucas'' store was okay and has corrected his earlier prejudice, but it didn''t mean that he was scared that he would lose.

    "Unlike his opponents, we''ve appeared in the auction for seven years now. The Silver Fig Trade Convention auction only began ten years ago. I can confidently say that I''m not worried about anything. He might be worthy to gaze at our masterpiece, but if he thinks he would win, then he''s being delusional."

    When those words were spread around the convention, the guests and spectators were pumped. They could sense an intense rivalry brewing and many expected this vestige duel to be the highlight of the convention.

    Eleventh ce ranking might be out of the top ten, but it was the closest one coulde towards it. At the same time, the silver haired vestige-smith had once made a vestige that appeared in the top ten rankings, about three years ago.

    While his next two works failed to get the qualification, rumours had it that the man was confident of usurping the top ten rankings this year. The vestige duel against Seven Sparks Forge was said to be the first step towards this. Winning it would raise the prestige of his creation which could also influence the judgement of the secret appraisers sent by the organisers.

    At the same time, this was seen as another difficult challenge for the Seven Sparks Forge stall.

    Compared to previous opponents, the current target was someone who had previously made it to the top ten and confident to do so this year. Defeating the opponent in the same style as the previous duels would imply that the brown shield vestige was very capable of getting a top ten spot; as for the top fifteen, many already believed that the brown shield was more than qualified for that.

    Due to the stakes, many had begun to term this as the first battle for top ten. As for the current top ten, they held no opinion nor disyed any reaction to this. However, rumours had it that they were secretly spectating this duel. After all, the winner of this vestige duel would be their opponent for the ranking. This was especially so for the tenth, ninth and eighth ces.N?v(el)B\\jnn

 Chapter 109 The Anticipated Duel

    When Lucas arrived on the fifth day, he noticed a crowd of people gathered around his stall but he wasn''t surprised by this. Lucas had already gotten used to having people follow around him ever since the previous day.

    Ignoring them, he opened up his stall before leaving once again. The act of opening the stall was a somewhat mandatory action as it implied to any passerby or potential client that the owner was around, even if there was no one present at the moment.

    The entire point of this was to make it so vestige-smiths wouldn''t lose out on an opportunity, but at the same time, they would be able to freely explore the convention.

    If anyone interested in the stall wanted to have a conversation with the owner or see more vestiges, there was a contact info pasted on the side of the stall.

    Leaving the low tier region, Lucas stepped into the mid tier region. It was just as many had spected -he wasn''t going to stop challenging at just sixteen wins, and he was going to face the vestige-smith who had mocked him. Having built a reputation now, Lucas was confident that he wouldn''t be rejected on the grounds of being "too weak" or unknown.

    If the other side were to avoid the duel, it would be perceived both by the system and the people as a win.

    But before that, Lucas stepped into a random mid tier region stall and smiled at the staff. When they saw who it was, their blood froze and they red at him.

    Even though Lucas was human, he was currently the most feared character for all stalls and vestige-smiths outside the high tier region. Although the losers in the low tier region didn''t have it as bad afterparing themselves to the others who lost, the participants in the mid tier region were scarred by his presence.

    They would disy a hint of fear upon seeing him as the oue was generally known even before the duel began.

    Some of them had even tried to bribe Lucas in secret to prevent him froming to their store, even though the odds were low. However, despite his recent love of money, Lucas refused the offers. To Lucas, no amount of wealth couldpensate for the mission.

    "I''m here for a vestige duel. " Lucas stated.

    "Is there even any meaning to this?" The manager in the stallined. However, Lucas paid him no heed and waited for an appropriate response.

    After hesitating, the manager finally sighed and shook his head.

    "It''s our loss. We surrender. "n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    [[ Congrattions to the host for the seventeenth win in a row. ]]

    "Time to round this up." Lucas said before leaving for the venue everyone expected him to be at.

    A few minutester, Lucas was now at the scene. As he walked, a few eyes moved towards him as he scanned the area. Compared to the crowd following him, there were a lot more people present here, seemingly having anticipated this final showdown. Lucas even spotted Autumn''s Gate guild and some members of the Red Fang in the scene.

    He would have seen a lot more but unfortunately, these were the only ones Lucas was familiar with.

    "Are you the one?" A man who stood at the entrance of the building like a guard asked as he saw Lucas walk forward.

    "I don''t know what you mean by that, but I''m here for only one thing." Lucas calmly said.

    "State your purpose." The guard red imposingly at him.

    "A certain vestige-smith had once called me out for being a frog in a well. So today, I decided toe pay him a visit to broaden my vision and experience." Lucas smiled, but beneath that smile, many could feel a lurking de hiding underneath.

    The security guard clearly understood why Lucas was here and couldn''t stop him, so he went in to call the vestige-smith.

    Meanwhile...

    "Hey, isn''t that that guy from back then?" Ju¨¢n pointed at Lucas.

    "It''s him. What''s he doing here? Don''t tell me he''s the ''masterpiece killer''?" Leno was surprised.

    "It''s said that the ''masterpiece killer'' has never really made an appearance in public, and all the duels have been carried out by his human employee. I''m guessing that''s him." Crimson Fangmented.

    The Autumn''s Gate guild wasn''t the only one with something to say after spotting Lucas. Lieutenant Lily wore a shocked expression, and even her lower rank, Barry, was also surprised by this. The other Red Fangs lieutenant who showed up with them was confused by their expressions. However, when he sensed that Lucas wasn''t a hyumankin like him, but a human being, he pieced two and two together.

    "Is that the guy? I thought you said he runs an average vestige-smith store?" The man felt like he had just discovered a shocking detail.

    "I also thought the same." Barry appeared stupefied seeing Lucas there.

    Unlike the crowd, the Red Fangs had done some digging on Lucas'' background, so they were aware that his vestige-smith store wasn''t being backed by any notable vestige-smith. It was difficult¡ªalmost impossible¡ªfor someone that good to sneak through the Red Fangswork. The only reason the terrorists made it past was due to the possible existence of a mole, otherwise, it would have been impossible.

    However, Lucas never had such a connection, and there was no other mole found after the department''s cleansing. So, it was clear that the store belonged to Lucas, although how he made the vestiges was unknown.

    Never in their lives would they have thought that the human they ignored and considered to be just a side character, would have developed into a main character in just a few days.

    "Do we ask him to help us?" Barry''s eyes shed as he expressed his thoughts.

    The lieutenant frowned slightly but began to actually consider the subject. He had previously joked about it, but with Lucas now turning out to be the ''masterpiece killer'', or at least rted to the real fellow, having him help them with a new vestige batch was looking like a reasonable idea.

    "Let''s see whether he wins and can make it to the auction first." Lily Mayer cut in.

    Just then, a group of people walked out from the building. One was the recognisable silver haired middle-aged man who had made thements that sparked all of this the previous day.

    Beside him was someone dressed in a suit with a monocle on his left eye. The monocle was actually amunicator with appraisal capabilities.

    Seeing this ''one-eyed man'', the crowd was surprised.

    "That''s an appraiser from the consortium!"

    "Indeed. Today is the fifth day, so they should already be moving. Considering this is the most hyped duel, it''s not impossible for at least one to be in attendance."

    Many whispers broke out, but the gist of the matter was that the man was an appraiser from the Silver Fig Consortium, sent over to rate the masterpieces of the various vestige-smiths.

    Usually, there would be at least ten appraisers who moved around both secretly and in the open. The appraisers would inspect the masterpieces of each stall that had one and give it a detailed rating in a simr format as a vestige duel, m from one to ten, with ten being the highest.

    After the day came to an end, the ratings would be gathered and calcted, with the rankings being formed from it. The top fifteen on the rankings would be announced the morning of the next day; from there, proceed to the auction to be held the evening of the same day.

    A trip from any district in Bands City to the Central Prefecture usually took roughly five hours or less using a light rail train, so there was no issue with the process.

    It was because the system of rating used by the appraisers was simr to vestige duels that the toppanies and vestige-smiths usually avoided challenging a masterpiece with a masterpiece. If they were to lose, it would make their vestige look bad even if it was quite strong.

    The appraisers wouldn''t turn biased because of a loss, but with aparison in mind, the public would have their own thoughts. Also, with a clear lead, it was unavoidable that the loser would end up with a worse rating than the victor.

    Apart from the appraiser, there was someone else who happened to be with the silver haired man.

    "Oh, Lucy. Is that you?" The man asked.

    Lucy nced at the brown coloured man by the side who had orange hair. Just like her, he was also an agent from Novanio Tech.

    Novanio Tech was apany that designed and developed ster processors. Novanio Tech was a really bigpany in Eretre, but the branch in Bands city-state wasn''t doing really well. As such, they wanted to delve into the weapons market.

    However, the weapons market was already somewhat fixed, and it would be difficult for a newpetitor to be born, especially if the existing yers in the industry found out thepetition was started by a multi-million federal coins corporation like Novanio Tech.

    To ease their entry, Novanio decided not to develop their own vestige-smith industry for weapons, but to start a dealership or a vestige business. However, for this to seed, they needed a supplier.

    Most top vestige-smiths were already in exclusive deals with other dealers, or were hired to work in top vestige-smithpanies. So, the board at Novanio Tech Bands city-state branch decided to search low.

    On this matter, there were three factions with differing opinions. One opted to find some established vestige-smiths and poach them from otherpanies or steal exclusive rights from other vestige dealers.

    The second faction thought to aim a bit lower and find the less renowned vestige-smiths and sign deals with them.

    The third faction went even lower and wanted to find vestige-smiths with potential and invest in them. The advantage of this was that if Novanio Tech ever had a change in mind and decided to start a weapons vestige-smith branchpany, these low ranked vestige-smiths potential can be the core force and foundation of thatpany.

    After all, unlike established or renowned vestige-smiths who were quite prideful, a vestige-smith they invested in and supported from the hardest stage up, would definitely feel like they owe them a lot and wouldn''t mind working under them.

    Lucy belonged to this third faction, which was why she was in the low tier region. As for the orange haired man, he was a member of the first faction; the faction that aimed to find top vestige-smiths and get exclusive sales rights from them.

    The top ten were allpanies with a couple of vestige-smiths under their belt. Only the eleventh ce wasn''t a registered vestige-smithpany but a single vestige-smith doing the work. Such a party was exactly what the first faction wanted best.

 Chapter 110 My Vestige Was Incomplete

    The top ten were allpanies with a couple of vestige-smiths under their belt. Only the eleventh ce wasn''t a registered vestige-smithpany but a single vestige-smith doing the work. Such a party was exactly what the first faction wanted best.

    "I never thought we''d meet again so soon even more so like this, Lucy." The orange haired man smiled.

    Lucy grimaced upon seeing him. Even though all sides worked under Novanio Tech, the three factions werepeting with each other, so they kept their movements hidden from the other.

    "Arlott." Lucy nodded at him.

    "Oh don''t be like this. You seem to forget it''s your side that''s challenging mine, so no need to act offended." Arlott smirked.

    Lucy frowned and ignored him. On one hand, Arlott was right, but on the other hand, all this started because the vestige-smith had decided to mock Lucas during his press conference the previous morning.

    "Are you the little guy who''s been making so much noise recently?" The silver haired vestige-smith asked as he stared at Lucas.

    "If that''s how you want to address me then fine." Lucas shrugged.

    The inspector suddenly walked out and stared at Lucas.

    "I''ll be the overseer for this vestige duel."

    Lucas had no problem with that and wasn''t worried. An overseer didn''t have much influence in a vestige duel after all.

    "Both contestants bring out your vestiges."

    "Since you''ve beenpeting with a Grade 3 vestige, I''ll entertain you today."

    The silver-haired vestige-smith smirked. While Lucas'' streak of victories might seem troublesome to others, to him, he wasn''t bothered by it. The reason was quite simple; he was very close to the Tier 1 Master vestige-smith, meaning he could barely make the weakest Grade 4 vestige with assistance from others. However, he didn''t field such a vestige for this duel.

    In fact, even his masterpiece wasn''t Grade 4.

    Unless one was a bona fide and experienced Tier 1 Master, a Grade 4 vestige wasn''t necessarily stronger than a Grade 3.

    For instance, Sofoklis, who had just ascended into the ranks of Tier 1 Master, hadpeted against the Gold Rain Factory using a Grade 4 vestige he made, the Hand of God Trident. Despite the difference in grades, the Gold Rain Factory''s Grade 3 Annalia spear had managed to beat the Hand of God in three tests -durability, sharpness and strength tests.

    The Hand of God only managed to win the vestige duel rather than draw simply because it was a Grade 4 vestige, thereby winning the Power test.

    Forget being an experienced one, the silver-haired vestige-smith wasn''t even a Tier 1 Master yet. Trying to make a Grade 4 vestige would only result in what could be termed as a half-baked creation. Putting the effort and resources into making a powerful Grade 3 vestige was much better.

    An assistant walked out from the building with a box. However, the box was sorge and heavy that he needed the aid of two lift robots to carry it. Lift robots were robots that appeared to be automated mini forklifts. Their main function was to assist one in carrying a heavy load.

    The fact that the box needed to lift robots to aid the assistant was a testament to its great weight.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Defeating you with just any vestige won''t do it. So I''ll let you know the difference between us." The silver haired man spoke.

    When the contents of the box was revealed, it turned out to be an axe and a reallyrge one at that. The full length of the axe was equivalent to a door, while the des were half the size of it. Their edges were ck with red runes inscribed on the left de while blue runes were on the right. The shaft of the axe was unsurprisingly metallic with a silver sheen to it.

    At the point where the two des connected to the shaft, there was a strange red and blue crystal fixed on the point.

    "My masterpiece for this year''s convention: Winter-Summer axe." The silver haired man introduced.

    The Winter-Summer axe was a very powerful vestige that made its debut just the previous day. It was a masterpiece created by the silver haired man, Nichi, and was one everyone was confident would get epted into the auction. All that remained was for its final ranking to be determined.

    There was no doubt that this was a top fifteen rank vestige in the entire West Wing district, and it could potentially rank in this year''s top 30 Grade 3 vestiges in Bands city-state.

    "The Winter-Summer axe is designed with the ability to deal out two varying types of damage, making it suitable for battling in two different environments. Due to the dual kinds of damage, the danger value of the Winter-Summer axe is increased to a whole new level." Nichi said with a proud smile on his face.

    The Winter-Summer axe was most likely the only vestige he had that could beat the brown shield from their investigation.

    A vestige duel was a duel where the results were open to all, hence why there was no need for a judge. However, this was somewhat problematic for some. In this case, Lucas had participated in over sixteen vestige duels, with six of them involving the brown shield, the results of the vestige duels were pretty much known, as well as the details of the vestige.

    This allowed Nichi to pick the most suitable one he could find to achieve a clear victory.

    As for why Lucas'' opponents didn''t use such a method before, it was because there was no time. Unlike with Nichi, who had a couple of hours to prepare and was facing a somewhat popr foe, the other vestige-smiths were seeing Lucas for the first time during their duels. Their experience was the same as with Toman''s Workshop -looking down on Lucas and not taking the duel seriously.

    It was only after a couple of wins with the news spreading around that the details of the brown shield were finally spread around. That was after Lucas'' duel against the fifteenth ce on the list; the fourteenth match. The next two duels ended with the opponents surrendering as they were now aware of the abilities of the brown shield and knew they couldn''tpete against Lucas.

    But now, such a decision was against him. Lucas, however, wasn''t worried about this. On the contrary, he had a smile on his face.

    "It''s your turn." The overseer nced at Lucas.

    While the majority in the crowd didn''t think much, some already realised that Lucas had the lower hand in this duel already. Nichi had enough information about his vestige, and so could field a much better option.

    On the other hand, Nichi''s masterpiece, which was only just revealed the previous day, had gone unchallenged by any other participant until today. As such, there was no single detail of information about it, except what Nichi had mentioned in public.

    However, Lucas was very sensitive to mystical energy, and he could tell that the brown shield as it was would surely lose to the axe. The gap wasn''t so wide, but it was enough for a clear winner to be determined.

    Nheless, Lucas smiled and still took out the brown shield. However, he didn''t hand it to the robo-tester just yet.

    "I never really said anything about it before, but the brown shield is iplete."

    "Iplete?" Nichi was stunned for a moment before frowning.

    "What kind of stupid tale are you spouting here?"

    "Whether it''s stupid or not, we''ll find out soon enough."

    Lucas'' free-hand suddenly appeared to have a metal te sitting on it. The metal te was ck in colour and roughly the thickness of a newborn''s arm. It was decorated all over with yellow runes that gave it a mysterious yet somewhat solemn feel.

    Once the te approached the brown shield, apartment formed on the shield, roughly the same shape as the metal te, revealing a space avable for the te to be fitted in. Lucas did just exactly that and the metal te attached itself to the shield with a click.

    "You see, when I made this shield, I didn''t finalise the designs. I held back a bit as I thought it was unnecessary topete with the final product."

    As the metal te fitted into thepartment, it let out a low hum and the yellow runes on it lightly glistened.

    "The final product is a vestige I made bybining two major philosophies; a new path I''ve decided to pave myself. You should feel proud being the very first vestige-smith to experience this first-hand in a duel."

 Chapter 111 Winter-Summer Axe Versus Upgraded Brown Shield

    "The final product is a vestige I made bybining two major philosophies; a new path I''ve decided to pave myself. The idea is still under realisation, but it''s more than enough for today. You should feel proud being the very first vestige-smith to experience this first-hand in a duel."

    After Lucas said that, the hum quietened and the glow disappeared. The entire area was silent as the crowd was stunned by just what took ce. They could all feel that the brown shield became different after the metal te was inserted, but they couldn''t put their finger on what the difference was.

    If anything, the brown shield gave off a strange solemn sensation.

    Ignoring the confused looks, Lucas finally gave the shield to the robo-tester to begin the vestige.

    "First test, hardness test."

    The overseer recovered himself and adjusted his monocle. The overseer had his reasons for choosing the hardness test as the first test.

    After the brown shield''s transformation, even he, despite being an appraiser of the Silver Fig Trade Convention, was unable to spot the change in the shield. To be exact, he had sensed a rise in ster energy purity and quantity and spotted slight changes to the runes, but that was all; if he were to have truly noticed nothing, then he was ipetent.

    However, the appraiser believed that the change wasn''t limited to just that; in fact, he felt it was much more. This was why he went for the hardness test.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The hardness test was a priority test for shields to pass, alongside durability and strength tests. Passing alone wasn''t just enough, as they had to ace it. A premium model shield vestige had to score the highest in these tests. Even an average model had to score within the highest possible range for an average model vestige.

    The performance of the brown shield was already known to all, but the appraiser felt that there would be a surprise waiting after that transformation, hence why he wanted to figure it out right away.

    Nichi nced at the appraiser and could guess his thoughts, but he wasn''t bothered. From the start, the advantage was in his hands, and he had made proper preparations. What could a metal te attached to a shield change?

    The robo-testers carried the two vestiges to the hardness testing equipment, which was aplicated piece of equipment about a metre and a half tall (fifty-nine inches or roughly five feet tall). It looked like something one would get straight out of a factory or aboratory, with its arms, sensors, disys, and hydraulic press.

    There were three stages in the hardness test, each done with three different attachments used on the equipment.

    The first stage was carried out with the first attachment, which was a probe with a sharp tip, simr to the Vickers hardness testing machine. The probe would stab the vestige with a specific force that would be slowly increased to find the vestige''s pration point.

    The second probe had a blunt round tip and was used for finding the dull indentation point of the vestige.

    As for the third probe, it was shaped like a trident. Its function was a bit moreplicated than the other two, but it worked for checking the scratch resistance and rune defence features of a vestige. As there were runes that increased the strength and hardness of a vestige, it was only natural for the effects of such runes to be tested in this regard.

    This was a different test from the ster matrix efficiency test carried out in vestige duels.

    Compared to his previous vestige duels, as this was one with great stakes, the equipment used for testing was a level higher than the ones Lucas was more acquainted with. Just the difference in height between the hardness tester used here and the one used in his vestige duel against the frencer was enough to show the difference.

    The preparations for these pieces of equipment were done earlier since many had already predicted he would be challenging Nichi today.

    Both vestiges were tested at the same time, with all three stages carried out at once. It came as no surprise when the Winter-Summer axe began to show signs of damage before the brown shield. In all three stages of the hardness test, the brown shield came out on top.

    The point systems followed the same logic for the Grade 2 vestige duels. From the 201 points mark up to 500 was left for Grade 3 vestiges. This was quite a vast rangepared to the 100-200 points for Grade 2 vestiges.

    The reason for this was simply because Grade 3 vestiges could be made in various ways and by different people, who were even more skilled and creative than Grade 2 vestige creators, the Tier 1 vestige-smiths [1].

    For a Grade 2 vestige, it usually had to average at least 400 and above in all tests to be considered a masterpiece. The even more powerful ones could go past 500 points in some tests, touching the level of a Grade 4 vestige. The Winter-Summer axe, for instance, was rumoured to have achieved such a feat.

    For the results of the hardness test, Lucas managed to do very well, scoring an incredible 484 points. As for the axe, it only got 467.

    Lucy appeared relieved at the result. One could say that apart from Lucas, she was the next person whose results affected the most in their camp. This wasn''t just a contest between Lucas and Nichi, but one between Lucy and Arlott, and the factions behind them as well.

    Whichever side came out on top, as long as they could sign a deal with them, the Novanio Tech board would reward the agent who aided the deal.

    Supposing Lucy got Lucas to sign a deal, but he lost to Nichi, the aftermath would be negative. Usually, the loss wouldn''t be an issue, but if Arlott were to bring Nichi, the victor, over to his side, then it would definitely be a big deal. It would affect how much interest and resources thepany would invest in Lucas.

    This in turn would also affect her, the agent who brought along a ''failure" to thepany, after all,parisons breeds discontent.

    "Hmph. Lucky strike." Arlott snorted.

    However, unlike the agent from Novanio Tech, Nichi, the overseer and some others were stunned at the result.

 Chapter 112 Another Win

    Whereas Arlott saw the scores to be a lucky win for Lucas, Nichi and the overseer¡ªas well as a few others¡ªsaw things differently.

    Previously, Lucas hadpeted in multiple vestige duels. This led to there being a boatload of information about the performance of the brown shield. However,paring that to the current information, they realised that there was a problem; the two weren''t the same.

    The brown shield got 484 points in the hardness test, but in the past, it only managed to get 459.

    ''Is this change brought about by a single metal disc? He didn''t make any previous adjustments, now did he?''

    Improving a masterpiece wasn''t against the rules or anything, but it was easier said than done. Nheless, Nichi felt this was the most likely exnation. He just couldn''t believe that a simple metal disc could improve the stats of a vestige by so much, even if one were to consider Lucas'' words that the brown shield was previously iplete.

    The crowd regained themselves and the duel had to go on. The overseer wanted to confirm his suspicions, so the next test was just the same as the first¡ªone that gave the shield an advantage. The strength test.

    In this test, Lucas once again scored higher with the brown shield.

    Then came the durability test, and surprisingly, it was a draw, which was very rare.

    The current scores were two wins with one draw for Lucas, and one draw for Nichi.

    Even though he was losing, Nichi wasn''t as worried as one would expect. However, he was a bit anxious. This anxiety didn''te from the fact that Lucas was taking the lead, but rather that the points the brown shield scored in the following two tests after the hardness test differed from previous records.

    It was just as he had feared, Lucas, or the vestige-smith behind him, seemed to have upgraded the masterpiece by a notch. It was closely approaching the level of work for the top tenpanies.

    "Shall we go on?" The overseer asked as he nced at the two sides.

    "Of course. I don''t know about you guys, but I haven''t had breakfast yet. So, I need to get this done as quickly as possible." Lucas said.

    Nichi didn''t say anything either, silently epting the same decision as Lucas.

    With both sides havinge to an agreement, the overseer could only do as they wished, as his role was simply that of a referee.

    The vestige duel went on, but with each test carried out, the gap increased.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    ''Howe?'' Nichi gritted his teeth and widened his eyes, both in shock and fear.

    At this point, Nichi didn''t want to win the normal way again. He simply hoped he could win just one test. Even the sharpness test was simrly lost to the shield.

    The ster energy tests of purity and matrix efficiency came along then. The brown shield''s clean sweep of the Winter-Summer axe was so unexpected, that the overseer had even personally inspected the runes of the brown shield himself.

    While no one had said it, some were beginning to consider that the duel was rigged in Lucas'' favour because everything that took ce was unexinable. But the issue with this judgement was that the Silver Fig Trade Convention would be drawn as a suspect. The entire equipment for this vestige duel was provided by them, and Lucas had no way to interfere.

    So, the only exnation based on this suspicion, was that the organizers wanted to side with Lucas for some reason. Maybe he was an industry nt, or his backer had connections with them, who knew which exactly?

    The overseer feared such news breaking out and tainting their image so, he decided to actively participate in the vestige duel in an attempt to find a fault. However, he was astonished to realise that he couldn''t identify any of the runes on the brown shield.

    Not all appraisers were vestige-smiths, but they knew the trade as well as thetter, especially when it came to runes and ster matrices. While vestige-smiths learnt the application, appraisers learnt the history and identification. Despite this, the overseer had failed to identify the runes on the brown shield when he had inspected it personally.

    ''Just who was the vestige-smith behind this creation? Did he explore ruins? Does he have connections with the pioneers? Is he from Bands city-state?''

    The overseer had so many questions, but now wasn''t the time to be asking them.

    When it was time for the ster purity test, the Winter-Summer axe scored an Alpha reading Grade 3 with a ss reading of light Yellow.

    Greek letters were used to refer to the stage of ster refinement. Alpha, being the first letter of the Greek alphabet, represented the Apertures Opening stage, which was the first stage of true ster refinement.

    The ss reading was divided into six colours: Red, Orange, Yellow, Ice-Blue, Grey and White, each further sub-divided into three shades: light, median and deep.

    Bands city-state''s highest-ever ss reading on all Grades was median Ice-Blue and this was for a Grade 1 vestige made by a Tier 1 Master from the Central Prefecture district.

    For the Winter-Summer axe tond a light yellow reading was pretty impressive. It easily surpassed at least eighty-nine percent of vestiges in the convention. However, the brown shield was not one of them.

    "Alpha reading Grade 3. ss reading light Yellow." The robo-tester announced.

    When the score was called out, everyone stared at the brown shield in shock. It was another draw, but in the ster aspect.

    This was thest test, and totalling it with all the others, Lucas won five and drew two. Although it wasn''t a devastating loss as with the previous challenges, the result still shook many. However, having reached the stage, not everyone was stunned. The constant victories and one draw had already made it clear that Lucas would win.

    "You can forward the payment to my ount," Lucas said before picking up the brown shield and walking away. He still had two more victories to take.

    ''Ah. This is getting boring now. I''ll just wrap it up with some small wins.'' Lucas thought.

    Nichi was a Tier 1 Elite and the strongest Lucas had met. He was at the sixth level of the Apertures Opening stage. Having a card at that level was pretty powerful and could help Lucas deal with most of his problems and some in the future. For instance, Ramirez, who was at the fifth level.

    As Lucas left, he noticed someone was after him. He stopped and nced behind to see there were two people following him. One was Lucy, and considering she wanted to sign a contract with him, it was understandable. However, the second person was actually the overseer for the vestige duel, who was an appraiser from the Silver Fig Consortium.

    "Pardon my actions, but I needed to clear some of my doubts." The man said once he got within talking distance.

    "First, I''d like to invite you to the auction. Your masterpiece is more than capable of qualifying for such a prestigious event. As this is your first time, I''ll be forwarding to you the rules regarding the auction as well as an invitation card. It can be used to attend either physically at the conference venue in the Central Prefecture district, or the online broadcast."

    The Silver Fig Trade Convention organisingmittee has ess to the information and contact details of the participants, so Lucas wasn''t surprised this could be done.

    "Next, if possible, I''d like to discuss with you about those runes. Preferably in private." The man sneaked a look at Lucy.

    "No need. I don''t know anything about that, as I am not the vestige-smith." Lucas tly declined.

    This was one reason he had decided to create a persona to take on the role of the vestige-smith. At the lower level, one might not notice anything, but the professionals and veterans might spot something different between Lucas'' vestiges and the ones in cirction. Unlike them, Lucas couldn''t use ster matrices or the runes concocted in this world.

    On one hand, it was because Lucas wascking ster energy. On the other hand, it was because he didn''t know them.

    Having a fake identity to take all the me and suspicion would put him in a safer ce.

    "I am aware of that, but I just want you to help connect me to him." The man pleaded.

    Lucas hesitated, before replying with a sigh, "I''ll see what I can do, but the master isn''t a fan of outsiders or guests."

    "Thank you." The man smiled before walking away.

    As an appraiser, he still had to mind his behaviour as well as public perception, especially with how the vestige duel had ended. Spending too much time conversing with Lucas might raise suspicions about the result of the vestige duel.

    "Let''s talk at the stall." Lucas said to Lucy before walking away.

 Chapter 113 Notification From The EVL

    [[ Mission Description: Consecutively defeat twenty vestige-smiths in a vestige duel before the convention is over. Host is to not take any loss or reject a vestige duel during the duration of the mission.

    Reward: Two Bronze Grade Cards (fourth level, second card''s level depends on the level of the strongest vestige-smith the host defeats: sixth level).

    Status: Completed

    ept Rewards: Y/N ]]

    Seating opposite the checkout counter in the store, Lucas epted the rewards for the mission. His stock of Bronze Grade cards was now brought up to three, making Lucas feel much safer.

    The first card came from the mission he received to get one hundred customers within one month. The card was at the third level, and the weakestpared to the other two, however, Lucas wasn''t bothered. In his hands, the strength of a third level Apertures Opening stage ster practitioner couldpare to a fourth level''s.

    Even with the advancements in gic research, hyumankin was still with a limit. As for Lucas, he had lived for over five hundred years and experienced so many events and battles. His battle experience was something no hyuman on the couldpare to. At the same time, he was also a genius.

    However, the said genius was now counting his profit with a money-grubber-like smile on his face.

    ''Hehe. Twenty vestige duels but if I exclude the three who gave up before the duel, that''s seventeen duels. If I include the one with that frencer, that''s eighteen. Multiply that by fifty and I''m rich. Damn you, system~ You can''t touch this.'' Lucas couldn''t help but chuckle like a kid who just stole a lollipop.

    Although odd, this behaviour couldn''t be helped.

    The Silver Fig Trade Convention let Lucas know the difference between himself and the other vestige-smiths. This didn''t just apply to skill but also finances. Whereas the vestige-smiths didn''t mind gambling away fifty federal coins, Lucas was penniless at the start. Fifty federal coins deducted from his ount was enough to bring him close to debt.

    One cause for this was the system''s taxes, but in truth, it couldn''t be med as much. The major reason for Lucas'' miser behaviour was the crazy expenses he made when making a powerful vestige.

    Lucas'' limit when solely using the Blood Energy Cirction technique was Grade 2. Any higher and he would have to use the other forbidden techniques instead, or Lucas would die of exhaustion.

    The Materialization Technique required quality materials, and the higher the grade of the vestige, the more valuable and powerful the material had to be. To a vestige-smith or cksmith, using precious materials just to draw energy out of them was wasteful and Lucas felt the same.

    This meant that only thest two techniques could be considered. However, of the two, the Soul Dismantling Spell was ruthless and denied one a chance at reincarnation. Hence, the only avable option was the Blood Plundering Technique, but for this, Lucas couldn''t go aroundmitting massacres, so he had to pick the next best option; using the blood of deste beasts.

    Each Grade 3 vestige Lucas made took a lot from his pocket as he had to buy enough deste beasts to provide the energy for the creation. So, even with the impressive amount he regrly made from sales, he would still have to spend a boatload for the next vestige-smithing. This would continue until the system reached level 5 and gave him the key to practising ster refinement.

    "Now, to settle this." Lucas stared at a few documents projected in front of him.

    Today was the sixth day of the Silver Fig Trade Convention, and although not officially a part of the event, it was the day of the auction. However, Lucas didn''t attend it. He didn''t even put the brown shield up for auction. The reason was a bitplicated.

    Originally, Lucas thought the process for the auction was simple: create a good vestige, it gets appraised, you get qualified for the auction, it''s sold, and you get your money. But the truth was different.

    First off, being qualified by the appraisers and invitee was just one step. To boost the value of the goods and reassure the participants of the auction on the values of the vestiges, there was a contract every vestige-smith, who has their vestige rmended, had to sign. It was an exclusivity agreement.

    The details of the agreement went two ways, and the vestige-smith could decide which of them to go by. The first option was that the auctioned vestige would not be replicated or reproduced in another form within the next three years. The only exception to this is if the vestige-smith intended to use an upgraded version to partake in the following year''s Silver Fig Trade Convention.

    The second option was that the vestige-smith would be granted a limited number of replica slots for five years, and not produce more than that. Usually, the number of slots was limited to seven, but could be reduced to five, depending on the Silver Fig Trade Convention organisers'' evaluation of the vestige.

    Another important detail in the agreement was that the organizers would take a seven per cent cut from the vestige. There was also a priority sell option to them if the vestige-smith chose the second option and intended to sell the replicas.

    These, as well as a few other little details, were what caught Lucas'' attention and made him refuse the invitation. Although the poprity and money he would make would have been significant, Lucas didn''t like the binding nature of the contract. He wasn''t averse to contracts, but the uses just weren''t to his liking.

    Irrespective of whichever option it was, Lucas refused it and, as a result, didn''t use his invitation to attend the event. What point was there going, especially since the destination was an expensive area?N?v(el)B\\jnn

    Lucas changed the documents being projected into something else. This time around, it was still a document, but the details were different. This was a draft contract; an MOU (Memorandum Of Understanding) sent by Lucy. The document detailed how their cooperation would go. Lucas, or rather the vestige-smith behind him, would mass produce as many vestiges as he could, and they would buy them all.

    It wasn''t abour contract, as Novanio Tech could not determine a fixed number of vestiges Lucas would make. It was a contract of equality where whatever one side produced, the other side would buy.

    The MOU also detailed that Novanio Tech would have exclusive distribution and sales rights in the regions outside of Bands City. This wasn''t a problem for Lucas, as he only had and operated one store, which couldn''t cover the entire city-state. The city alone was more than enough for him at the moment.

    Overall, the contract was okay, but what Lucas had a problem with was the pricing. The MOU stated that Novanio Tech would only purchase the items at a maximum price of twenty percent above market price. However, the system set the prices of the vestiges and all of them exceeded seventy percent, much less a meagre twenty percent.

    This contract might be attractive to others, but to Lucas, it was nd and out of consideration.

    Just as he thought this, Lucas''municator let out a ding. As he nced at the mail, Lucas was surprised as well as delighted.

    The mail came from the Eretrean Vestige-smith League and it was a notification to inform him about the date for the exceptional basis examination.

    When Lucas had gone to the EVL building in the West Wing district before, he was rejected from the registration process as he was a human. Being an official registered vestige-smith with the league would give a ton of benefits, and it would create connections for Lucas. He would also have an official identification badge that would have him recognised as a vestige-smith.

    If he were to keep running the shop without these, it might end up troublesome at some point in the future. However, the rejection had affected his ns.

    In the end, Lucas chose the second option, which was to take the exams for exceptional individuals.

    The EVL only epted bona-fide vestige-smiths, and the only time an exception was made would be when the applicant was a genius with potential and a passion for vestige-smithing. They would then, under rmendation from a registered vestige-smith, apply for membership on an exceptional basis. After an exam, the individual would be registered as a member if they passed.

    Failure, however, didn''t just mean that they won''t be epted but that one could no longer try to register as a member through this method.

    The notification was a message informing Lucas of the time, date and location for the exam.

    "Central Prefecture district. I guess in the end, I''ll still be going over there today."

    The location was within the Central Prefecture district, and the date for the exam was the next day. In order not to miss it, Lucas had to depart today as the exam was in the morning of the next day.

 Chapter 114 Revisiting The Central Prefecture District

    The notification was a message informing Lucas of the time, date, and location of the exam.

    "Central Prefecture district. I guess in the end, I''ll still be going over there today."

    The location was within the Central Prefecture district, and the date for the exam was the next day. In order not to miss it, Lucas had to depart today as the exam was in the morning of the next day.

    He left to pack his things, and once done, Lucas hung a "Closed" sign on the door. As long as the sign was up, the store would be locked by the system, with only Lucas being the one capable of undoing that. After closing the store, Lucas left in the direction of the light-rail train station.

    A few hours after Lucas had left the store, a hover car parked close by, and from it, two figures descended.

    "Such acklustre and low-traffic area. Are you sure this is where he is?" A man asked as he walked around the ce.

    "Looks can be deceiving, right? But don''t worry, sir. We''ve confirmed with a few visits that this is the ce." Barry said.

    This group was roughly the same team sent by the Red Fangs for the Silver Fig Trade Convention. The only difference was that Lieutenant Mayer, who was a part of them, was sent to the auction instead of all three. The goal of these two was Lucas, but unfortunately, thetter had just departed for the Central Prefecture district.

    "It''s closed. I guess we''rete."

    . . .

    Lucas was currently in a light-rail train heading for the Central Prefecture. Light rail trains were so fast that even the 700km (434.96 miles) distance between the West Wing district and the Wastnds could be covered within thirty-five minutes.

    For the Central Prefecture district, which was about three hundred kilometres from the light-rail train station, the journey was a mere fifteen or so minutes. Nheless, Lucas left a short while after he got the notification because the procedure for getting into the district was strict.

    Thest time Lucas was here, he was under arrest and so, did not need to go through the usual process. However,ing in as a visitor, he had to go through procedures. At the same time, Lucas decided to take a look around the district.

    With over one thousand federal coins in his possession and more toe thanks to the agreement deals he made during the convention and the maintenance works he took, Lucas wanted to enjoy himself a bit. What other better ce to do so than the centre of the entire Bands city-state?n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    The light-rail train stopped at a station located just at the border of the Central Prefecture district. Stepping out of the vehicle and inhaling the air, Lucas had a sense of deja vu, which was expected as he had been here before. After enjoying the refreshing air that was almost addicting, Lucas checked out the ce.

    The station was massive and well-furnished, almost like a museum. The interior design and decor were almost like they was made by a world-renowned architect. Even the chairs weren''t standard items you''d see outside.

    With paintings hung on the wall to give a vibrant touch and decorated pirs that gave off an imposing yet dignified feeling, the light-rail train station would have been a must-go tourist destination on Earth.

    The station had only two entrances and exits on opposite ends. One of them was for the light-rail trains, while the other was for civilians. In other words, as long as one came in from the outside, they could only follow a single path into the district from here on out. At the same time, if one wanted to depart the district, they would have to do so through the light-rail train exit.

    This was because the entire Central Prefecture district was covered by an invisible shield to prevent invaders.

    Unlike the other districts, the Central Prefecture district''s security was on an entirely different level. Not only did it have the headquarters of every security agency in the city, but it also had a powerful invisible barrier preventing spies and intruders from sneaking in.

    The only way to enter the district was through the light-rail train stations at the border, but getting through the gates required strict checks and searching.

    With the email from the EVL, his identification card, and some of the previous letters of rmendation he got from Harry, Lucas managed to get through the checkpoint after fifteen minutes. It took this long simply because this was his very first time. For constant visitors or citizens of the district, the checks didn''t take more than a minute but usually averaged around half a minute.

    Walking through the gates of the station, Lucas was now able to see the Central Prefecture district in its glory. The sky-high skyscrapers scattered, the aesthetic monuments set up in strategic positions, or the roads that were paved with a materialfortable to walk on, yet capable of withstanding wear and tear¡ªevery single aspect of the district spelled advanced technology.

    Even though the West Wing district was pretty advancedpared to Earth, the Central Prefecture district raised the bar up a notch.

    If you could imagine it, it probably already existed there.

    "I guess it''s time I do some exploring," Lucas said to himself.

    Ever since he arrived in this new world, he had limited himself to the West Wing district; the only exception being the mission that forced Lucas into the Wastnds. Part of the reason for his unwillingness to travel was Lucas'' weakness. But with three Bronze Grade cards in his hands now, Lucas didn''t need to worry too much.

    He opened up hismunicator and activated the GPS function. The Central Prefecture district''s map, which was normally unavable, became avable as he was within the district.

    Lucas browsed through the map before finally settling on his destination; a restaurant. It was a crime to travel out and not try out the local cuisine, even more so in such a gentry-dominated environment.

    Throughout the next couple of hours, Lucas was spent trying out the district''s unique features until he got tired. He then found a motel and stayed the night. The next day would be the day of the test, so Lucas needed all the energy he could get.

 Chapter 115 Oder Family

    Before 9 am, Lucas left his lodging and located the EVL head branch in Bands City''s Central Prefecture district.

    Staring at the skyscraper that towered over one hundred floors, Lucas couldn''t help but admire the stunning building like a piece of art. Although he had seen even more massive and impressive buildings in his past lives, the architectural style of the Eretrean Vestige-smith League main branch was of a different taste.

    "What a stunning sight to see. Am I right?"

    A voice interrupted Lucas'' thoughts.

    Lucas nced sideways to discern the speaker. It was a young boy about eighteen years or so of age. He had brown hair and amber eyes with a light smile on his face.

    "I''m Havos. Nice to meet you." The young man extended his arm and introduced himself.

    Shaking his hand, Lucas replied, "Lucas."

    "What''s a human like you doing here?" Havos asked his question after they were done with the pleasantries.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "I''m participating in the exams. I''ve been a vestige-smith for a while now, but they won''t let me get registered, and so, here I am." Lucas exined his situation.

    "Oh. A human vestige-smith? Is that even possible?" Havos stared at him astonished.

    "Why shouldn''t it be?" Lucas countered.

    "Haha. You''re right. You''re one funny guy indeed." Havosughed right after.

    Suddenly, the duo turned towards the side, where they noticed a young man walking towards the building. He looked to be of the same age as Havos, but unlike thetter, he had a cold bearing and an arrogant look on his face. His eyes seemed to say that all existences were beneath him as the young man ignored the bystanders and made his way forward.

    "He''s here too?" Havos suddenly appeared ufortable.

    "Who is he?" Curious, Lucas asked.

    "Maximillus Oder. Hees from the famous Oder family, which is a family with a deep vestige-smith history. It is said that their ancestor had studied under the guide of a Tier 1 Grandmaster vestige-smith from the Bernin continent for a while. He then relocated to the Groeten continent during the expansion phase of Bands City, some three hundred hundred years ago.

    "Maximillus is said to be a genius in cksmithing with a high education degree in engineering. He evenpleted college at a Pure School at the age of 18. It''s rumoured that he''s already made his first vestige at the age of seventeen, but this hasn''t been confirmed yet.

    I''m guessing it''s true but he held back the information because he wanted to participate in the tests and stand out." Havos said with a sorrowful expression. Competing against such a talent meant that there would be nopetition for first ce.

    The exceptional basis exam had a ranking system. The whole point of the exam was to permit geniuses to be registered under the EVL, even if they couldn''t vestige-smith yet. At the same time, it also allowed for one to be registered as a vestige-smith in the EVL even if they had yet to meet certain standard requirements.

    The ranking system was included to identify people with better potential and talent worth investing in. It also made the examspetitive for the applicants and made them give it their all.

    As for the Oder family, it was a very influential family with a deep background. Tracing their lineage up to three hundred years in the past, and to a student of a Tier 1 Grandmaster vestige-smith, was a boastful heritage to be proud of. Although the Oder family wasn''t among the top four families, it was still a famous and powerful family.

    The Oder family had records and training manuals from the time of their ancestor and controlled a vestige-smithpany as well as owned shares in a couple of vestige dealerships. They were somewhat of a behemoth in the industry.

    During the Silver Fig Trade Convention in the Central Prefecture district, the Oder family''s Prestige Star Ltd. made a masterpiece which managed to clinch the second position. At the same time, Prestige Star Ltd was also a member of the Silver Fig Consortium.

    From this, one could see how powerful the Oder family was in the vestige industry.

    Lucas only stared once at Maximillus before turning away.

    So what if the young teen was a genius and had a college degree at 18? When he was still in his mother''s womb, Lucas was busy winning international prizes and more Earth. Before Maximillus'' father was born, Lucas was already a grandmaster. Before the Oder family''s ancestor was even born, Lucas was already a famous cksmith; one much better than a Tier 1 Grandmaster vestige-smith.

    Maximillus Oder might be a genius, but Lucas had seen even more absurd geniuses. A college degree at 18? He has seen someone swallow a star at 12. A college degree at 18 doesn''t sound as cool again whenpared to that.

    The duo walked together without needing to make a verbal agreement. Havos kept talking about the exam and even the building, but Lucas noticed that his tone had a bit of disquietude in them. It was clear that Maximillus'' presence added a bit of pressure on him. Regardless, Lucas didn''t bother tofort him or anything.

    Inside the building was arge waiting hall with many people present. As it turns out, Lucas, despite leaving early, was stillter than most. Many were either anxious about the exam or, for one reason or another, had decided to make it to the venue extraordinarily early.

    Some of them were as young as Havos and Maximillus, while others were as ''old'' as Lucas, and some even older, although not exceeding twenty-four (24) years of age. Even though there were many vestige-smiths, there were many more who failed to seed in wielding the title. Despite that, they still wanted to gain some benefits from the Eretrean Vestige-smith League.

    As long as they could pass the exams, they would gain ess to the library of the league, which was arge pool of information that could increase their odds of being a sessful vestige-smith.

    For the cksmiths in their early to mid-20s who wanted to advance in upation, the exceptional basis exam was their best option unless they had some sort of connection or enough financial resources and talent to apply to a Pure school.

    After waiting for a while, a man walked out from a door by the side of the hall. Lucas didn''t sense a sign of life from them and reached the conclusion that this was a robot. Robots were prettymon and used for menial tasks and roles, as they were cheap to maintain and required neither wages nor breaks.

    "Wee everyone. As you all know, today is the day of the exceptional basis exam. For the first-timers, if you check yourmunicators now, you will see a message with the rules and format of the exam. You''ll be given ten minutes to go through it, after which the exam willmence."

    The robotic man went silent right after, and the first-timers like Lucas and Havos, began to check their mail. However, not all first-timers were like this, as some already knew the rules and format. For instance, Maximillus Oder.

    ''So the exam is a two-part exam, both written and technical. Well, crap.'' Lucas thought.

    Engineering was not his major on Earth, and he didn''t study that here either

    Luckily, the exam was made with consideration of the various branches in vestige-smithing: the weapons vestige-smith branch''s Forger faction and the Multiplex faction; the School of Analytical Reasoning''s Methodical faction; and various other branches.

    There was no one-size-fits-all in vestige-smithing, so the exam had to be done after proper consideration. The result was to test the basics of vestige-smithing. Ster matrices and runes knowledge, inscription skills, analytical skills, forging techniques and so on were tested.

    When ites to ster matrices and runes, Lucas didn''t know any, as such knowledge was kept tight and one could only learn such in a Pure school or to study under a vestige-smith, neither of which Lucas has done.

    ''Whatever. I just need to pass, right?'' Lucas thought as he turned off hismunicator.

    Soon afterwards, the ten minutes was up and the robotic man spoke up once again,

    "Any questions?"

    After waiting a short while and no response, the robot continued,

    "You should all now be familiar with the procedure of the exam. Pleaseply with the rules and not cheat. The punishment for cheating won''t just be a simple failure, but you will be banned by the Eretrean Vestige-smith League from practicing vestige-smithing. If it is discovered that you have broken these rules, you would be imprisoned or have your ster refinement crippled."

    While the Vestige-smith League didn''t control vestige-smiths, they protected their interests, and in exchange, most vestige-smiths just went with their decisions as long as they were fair and weren''t extreme.

    The group of examinees walked behind the robotic male, who led them to a different hall for the first part of the exam, which was going to be a theoretical exam.

    As a science major, vestige-smithing had a lot of emphasis on theory. Just like engineering, it relied on physics, material science, chemistry and more, depending on one''s area of expertise. Apart from that, there were still the ster energy courses like matrix and rune inscription, material refining methods, vestige-smithing techniques and so on.

    In summary, being a vestige-smith didn''t just rely on skill, but also a wealth of knowledge, and the theoretical exam tested just this.

    For many of the participants, this was the exam they were least worried about. For Lucas, this was the exam he was most worried about.

 Chapter 116 Rankings Released

    In the exam hall, Lucas sat before a table with a single small cube on it. The cube was a miniputer¡ªmuch like amunicator¡ªbut only contained the questions for the exams. It was a foolproof device that could ry and receive questions and answers within a second.

    The cube achieved this by making the exam a silent one. All the examinee had to do was touch the cube and the questions would be projected into one''s mind. The examinee would then mentally answer the questions and the cube would capture and process their brainwave signals, before sending the answers over to the main system.

    The main system would nowpile the answers, score the students and record the results.

    The cube could also take note of the changes in its surroundings, whether they be physical or astral. This would prevent the examinee from cheating even if they had amunicator with them.

    The questions were divided into two sections: the general and the specialised sections. The general section contained questions rting to basic knowledge and the know-how of vestige-smithing. The specialised section dealt with questions rting to the examinee''s focus on vestige-smithing.

    Not everyone present was interested in the same branch of vestige-smithing, so, questions for each branch would be given to the student interested in it. The EVL knew this from the form they had filled out earlier.

    For Lucas, he had selected weapon vestige-smithing. When it came to which branch he was¡ªcold or hot¡ªLucas decided to go for the cold weapons branch. So far, he has been making only cold weapons. However, picking this didn''t mean that he would go under the Forger Faction; Lucas was still intent on building a new school of thought.

    ''It''s not as bad as I thought. In the end, the physics in this world is still pretty much the same.''

    Lucas, whose eyes were closed, calmed down a bit. He proceeded to answer where he could and left empty the ones he couldn''t. Even with his thirty years on Earth, the knowledge from there was somewhat antiquepared to Eretre''s; new theories had been made, phenomena discovered and much more.

    Nheless, Lucas was still able to do fine with his Earthly knowledge, and substituted some parts with what he knew from his first life.

    After a while, the exam was over and everyone was asked to leave the hall with the cubes remaining where they were.

    Once outside, Lucas spotted Havos walking out with a rxedposure. He looked much better than earlier when he saw Maximillus.

    "So, how was it?" Havos asked.

    "I probably did okay." Lucas replied, unsure of how the examiners would consider his answers.

    Havos froze as he stared at Lucas, but thenughed it off. The theoretical exam was usually the easiest, and if one were to find it average or difficult, their performance onwards would usually be below par. Regardless, Havos didn''t think much about it. He didn''t know Lucas personally, so he couldn''t really judge him.

    "How did you do, Maxxy?" A voice spoke loudly, not considering the people around.

    Lucas and Havos turned to the side and spotted a shy-dressed teen who was sporting opulent attire from head to toe. Lucas identified a vestige brand on his jacket, and the watch gave off the energy of a vestige.

    A typicalmunicator was just an electronic device. Very few would be powered by a ster processor, and even fewer were made as a vestige. Thetter was very expensive due to its rarity, as the vestige-smiths capable of making such were rare. Just the price alone was enough to limit those who could afford it.

    The affluent teen with ck hair smiled at Maximillus as he called out to him.

    "Vergil." Havos said with a strange expression.N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Who''s he?" Lucas asked, feeling that the information was quite important.

    "He''s simrly from a powerful family like Maximillus. However,pared to the Oder family, Vergil''s Mertens family is wealthier and more powerful. They aren''t into the vestige business, but food production and the deste beast industry. They''re also younger than the Oder family, but thanks to their incredible line of family heads, they rose to a bigger rank than the Oder family."

    The deste beast industry was another industry that thrived in Bands city-state thanks to the Wastnds close by. It was the industry that epassed the selling of deste beasts (dead or alive), their body parts, and even their flesh. Frencers hunt deste beasts for their body parts, which are valuable as materials for vestige-smithing, medicine, or even food.

    Some deste beasts'' blood could be used to produce either a life-saving medicine or even a strong alcohol.

    For instance, among themon deste beasts, a Helokiel''s skin could be used for leather as it was much tougher than that of farm animals. A Nolkin, which had corrosive saliva and looked like a mix between a batoid and a bird, had tasty meat, and its saliva could be used to produce medicine. In the underground world, the same saliva was also used to produce a special hallucinogen that sold crazy.

    Some even used this hallucinogen as a recement for alcohol in making wines.

    Overall, there were many utilisations of deste beasts depending on the type, which was why the frencermunity was one of the biggest and wealthiest in existence, creating other industries from it alone. And the Mertens family was a family that capitalized on this to be a top three family in Bands City.

    Havos continued, "I heard that their young generation has two geniuses, but one of them is a potential vestige-smith genius. The family has invested a lot in him in hopes of finally entering the vestige-smith industry. I didn''t think the supposed genius would be such a yboy."

    Lucas nced at Vergil once again. The yboy personality didn''te as much of a surprise to him, but it was the fact that there were so many people with deep backgrounds here. It was just his second day in the Central Prefecture district, and Lucas had alreadye close to two individuals from the top four families of the city and, by rtion, the city-state.

    Chances were that the others around him were all from some sort of significant background, albeit not as much as Vergil and Maximillus.

    Lucas suddenly turned to Havos.

    "Who are you?"

    Havos was struck speechless by the question, but he understood and smiled lightly.

    "Me? I used to think of myself as a genius, but seeing so many others, I don''t really know. My family isn''t rich or powerful either. I''m just a guy who came all the way here through a schrship."

    After the response, Havos asked back, "What about you?"

    "I''m human." Lucas replied.

    Havos raised an eyebrow, surprised that was his answer, but then understood. A human can never be influential or have backing in Bands City or anywhere else, apart from Digress city-state. The answer "I''m human" was a perfect response.

    . . .

    While Lucas was taking the exam to get an official registration under the Eretrean Vestige-smith League, the Silver Fig Trade Convention auction was still underway.

    Although the auction was alluded to kick off on the sixth day, which was the previous day, that was merely the opening ceremony and formalities. Since the convention would end on the fifth day, the auction began on the evening of the sixth day, giving the participants enough time to make preparations and arrive on time.

    Some items and vestiges would be sold at the same evening, but not too many of them. The best, as always, would be left forst, which was exactly on the seventh day since the start of the Silver Fig Trade Convention.

    On this day, not only would all the approved vestiges be sold, but a ranking would also be released midway into the event. The ranking would determine the annual ranking of vestiges for the year as well as those who would be appearing in the high and mid tier regions for the convention the following year.

    For vestige-smiths, this ranking was the highlight of the event for them and mattered a lot. Only the top fifteen vestiges from each of the five districts, adding up to seventy five (75) vestiges, could participate in the auction. But the top fifty masterpieces of each district would appear in the ranking, meaning it was a top two hundred and fifty (250) ranking out of tens of thousands of vestiges.

    Sometimes, one might spot a vestige-smith saying they wouldn''t mind going celibate for a year as long as they could appear in the rankings. That was just how much they valued it.

    Roughly at the same time Lucas had concluded the theoretical exam, coincidentally, the rankings were released at the auction. Fifty vestiges had already been sold, leaving behind twenty five more. Releasing the rankings would affect the final prices of the vestiges, but with most of the weaker ones already sold, the organizers weren''t bothered.

    If anything, the rankings could even influence the final prices for the remaining twenty five vestiges positively.

    "Ladies and gentlemen," The auctioneer spoke.

    "Before I call out the next item, we will now release the rankings for this year''s Silver Fig Trade Convention."

 Chapter 117 Virtual World

    The top two hundred and fifty vestiges of Bands City were announced at the auctions, and the list was uploaded to the official site. As vestige-smiths, staffs, and corporation leaders nced at it, some rejoiced while others felt down. There were a few who didn''t have any reaction to it, but they were mainly the toppanies who felt the results were expected.

    Although the rankings only judged vestiges, many used it as a way to rank vestige-smiths and vestige-smithpanies; after all, if one''s best work was ranked high, it meant that their skill was stupendously remarkable.

    The top 250 had a couple of changes as those ranks were easy to subvert. In the top one hundred, there were still significant changes in some spots, but it wasn''t as much as with the top 250. The top 20 had even fewer changes, especially concerning new entries. Most on the list were all familiar names in the vestige-smithmunity. However, there was one new entry to the rankings this year.

    Brown Shield by Seven Sparks Forge.

    "What''s that?"

    Many questioned as they found the name of the creator, Seven Sparks Forge, to be unfamiliar. Only those in the West Wing district knew of the name and couldn''t help but be astonished.

    Many of them in the West Wing district had expected Lucas'' vestige to gain an auction qualification after beating Nichi, and, in turn, get ranked. But this was only in terms of the district ranking, and not the city ranking that was being announced.

    "How, how did he do it?"

    At the same time, the district rankings were also dropped. When those in the West Wing district went through it, they found out that Lucas'' ck shield somehow took the seventh position. It didn''t just beatst year''s eleventh ce, Nichi, but proceeded to defeat the tenth, ninth, eighth, and seventh ces. For a debut, that was a spectacr achievement that even the media took notice of.

    However, while this urred, Lucas was unaware and faced the second exam-the practical exam.

    . . .

    Just like the first exam, the second was also done on a mental ne. This was not only cheaper, but it could also ensure the uracy of the exam and prevent cheating.

    For this round, the examinees were given special VR headsets. Upon activation, their consciousness would be transferred into a virtual ne where the exam would be conducted. Since it was a virtual world, every material needed could be provided without consideration of cost, and time wasn''t an issue.

    A procedure that may take four hours could be shortened to take only thirty minutes, thanks to the time management system in the virtual world. In simpler terms, time moved faster in the virtual world.

    To ensure the uracy of the exam, the examinee''s physical condition was mimicked close to perfection. This would ensure that the integrity of the exam in the virtual world was sustained, and there would be noints right after.

    Looking at the vast expanse of white space, Lucas couldn''t help but admire this futuristic technology. In this white space, anything can be created. The dead can be brought to life, the fabric of reality torn apart, and more, as long as one could imagine it, it would be so in this world.

    However, for the exam, limitations were put in ce, otherwise, there would be no need for an exam if the examinee could just imagine the right answer.

    "Applicant," a voice sounded in the white world.

    "You are to attempt creating a Grade 1 vestige. The closer your attempt is to an actual vestige, the higher your score."

    "So I just need to make a vestige." Lucas was surprised. He never thought it would be that easy; however, on second thought, it wasn''t.

    The exceptional basis exam was made for two types of people. The first was the younger generation, who were potential geniuses. As they were yet to fulfil the criteria to join the EVL, the exam was made for them as a means of early ess to the EVL''s resources. However, some under this age group were already qualified as vestige-smiths, but had yet to register under the EVL or graduate from college.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    The second category of individuals were those, who, for one reason or another, didn''t reach the requirements of the EVL, yet were still very skilled. Most under this category were skilled cksmiths and engineers, whocked the necessary and final push to be a vestige-smith.

    Usually, candidates from both categories weren''t vestige-smiths, so the exam was to make an attempt at vestige-smithing, which was very difficult. The closer one''s attempt was to a sessful vestige, the higher their score. This score would then be calcted alongside the theoretical exam scores and their age¡ªsince the point of the exam was to find geniuses¡ªto give the final exam score.

    As long as one passed the cut-off mark, they would be epted into the EVL on exceptional basis.

    Despite supposedly being difficult, for Lucas who had already made a few grade 3 vestiges worth calling a masterpiece, it was too easy. Nheless, there was a problem.

    "System," Lucas called out. Since it was his consciousness that was brought into this world, Lucas believed that the system has tagged along as it was rooted within him and could even ess his subconscious thoughts.

    "Everly present." The system sounded.

    "Can you make the security system here fail to identify my techniques?"

    Lucas'' method of making vestiges was different from mainstream ones as it could allow even a powerless human to be a qualified vestige-smith. However, this would bring trouble to him once it was discovered, so Lucas had to do his best to keep it hidden.

    In this situation, the system that had brought him back to life twice, and given him superpowers, was his strongest support. For the system, invading a virtual world shouldn''t be a problem. It was more of whether or not it would do so, but Lucas wasn''t worried about that as he believed it would.

    "Initiating the protection sequence for the host."

    After a short while, the system''s voice sounded again.

    "Sessful. Host is free to move as you please."

 Chapter 118 Sixth Place

    In a room elsewhere, a group of individuals¡ªabout eight in number¡ªwere seated staring at a disy screen ahead of them. The disy screen showed the virtual world of a few select participants, enabling the people in the room to spectate their actions. These men were of different age groups, but none younger than 33.

    Despite appearing ordinary, their bearing was anything but that; their backgrounds were even more awe-inspiring.

    Every single individual in the room, whether woman or man, was someone of significant wealth, influence, and background. Whether they ranpanies in the vestige industry, the food industry, or even politics, they were all ounted for here.

    "The exceptional basis exam is held every six months, but this period''s talents are said to be the best in thest three years. How urate is that?" A middle-ageddy who looked to be at the prime of her beauty asked as she stared at the screen.

    Thedy was a second-generation heir to a conglomerate and was pretty popr in the upper circle of people in the Central Prefecture district.

    "It''s as urate as it could ever be, Giselle." A man with arge beard replied. With red hair and a red beard, he looked as if he descended from a direct line of ancestry belonging to intimidating Vikings.

    "The little kid from the Oder family and the Mertens'' special case are among the participants this year. It''s definitely going to be a show."

    "The results of the theoretical exams are out. Let''s look at them." Someone said.

    The disy screen split into two, with one side still showing some of the examinees. As for the other side, it broadcasts a list. The list contained the names of all the examinees as well as their scores from thest exam.

    "Unsurprisingly, first ce is the Oder kid." The man with the red beard said as he narrowed his eyes.

    The Oder family''s business was a directpetitor of hispany, and seeing a genius being raised in the family was an ufortable feeling.

    "Thank you for yourpliments. It''s just the theory and doesn''t matter much." A young man around 27-28 years of age smiled as he sipped from a ss of wine. The young man was Maximillus'' older brother and a high-ranking manager in the Oder family''s Prestige Star Ltd.pany.

    With one of their descendants participating in the exams, it was only natural for a representative of the family to be present at the scene.

    "At second ce is that yboy." The middle-ageddy, Giselle, faintly smiled.

    Her words might have seemed like nothing, but she was hinting that Vergil Mertens was closing in on Maximillus, and with the older of the Oder brothers iming the theoretical exam was nothing, her words further implied that the gap wasn''t much between them.

    Even though the individuals in the room were gathered together and appeared to be friendly, the truth was quite different. Being from wealthy factions that controlled various industries, it was unavoidable that they would have shed often on the business frontlines. The red-haired man''spany and the Oder family''s Prestige Star Ltd. were a good example.

    As for Giselle, while her family wasn''t directly into vestige-smithing, they sold and maintained hover vehicles and sares, a special kind of hover vehicle used by frencers and government agencies operating outside the city-state. For sares, a certain branch of vestige-smiths helped maintain them.

    The Oder family''s Prestige Star Ltd also had a branchpany that maintained hover vehicles and sares, so the two families werepetitors.

    Nothing would make her more happy today than seeing the acimed genius of the Oder family being brought down.

    "Hmm, who''s this kid?" A man with white hair nced at a name on the list.

    "Lucas Yohan Saunters, a human?"

    The man was dumbfounded as he saw the word in the species section.

    "What''s a human doing here?"

    The others asked with a strange expression.

    "Not just that. Look at his score." The white-haired man said.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "Sixth ce?" Red beard eximed.

    For this year''s exceptional basis exam, there were sixty-four examinees, and a few of them were even repeats. For a human to take sixth ce was an amazing feat. Red Beard''s exmation was very much justified.

    "He''s probably a bookworm and sixth ce is all that will get him." Someone else in the room calmly said.

    "That''s harsh. Maybe he''s trying to prove us wrong with his talent." Giselle smirked, but her eyes made it obvious that even she didn''t think so.

    While harsh, there was nothing wrong with the statement. Humans had an innate weakness when it came to ster refinement, and due to this, they couldn''t be vestige-smiths.

    However, while the rest mocked Lucas, Red Beard had a different emotion in his eyes. He had a suspicion, but couldn''t confirm it as Lucas'' virtual world wasn''t one of the selected ones on disy

    . . .

    In the virtual world, Lucas was currently creating a vestige. Since the requirement was a Grade 1 vestige, he didn''t intend on going past that. There was no reason to show off, and making a Grade 1 vestige could easily be done with the Blood Energy Cirction with little side-effects.

    Since the virtual world could mimic his body''s conditions and various scenarios, Blood Energy cirction could be replicated. If it couldn''t, Lucas would have to resort to the Soul Dismantling Spell and consume a part of his soul, but he would rather fail the test than do so. Luckily, the Blood Energy Cirction worked without a hitch.

    For the exam, Lucas didn''t put much thought into the vestige. Instead, he decided to give himself a handicap and experiment a bit. The vestige he had in mind was a gun, and it was his very first time making such in all three lifetimes. Although Lucas was familiar with the mechanics, making one was entirely different from reading about it. However, the gun he would make was not just an ordinary one.

    Gun-type vestiges, although not asmon as cold weapons, were still popr in the frencer world. Lucas'' new vestige-smith philosophy was tobine the mechanics of both types of weapons to create an all new one. He had somewhat seeded in this with the gauntlets, which could shoot outsers and has special boosters attached to the sides to increase the user''s punch speed.

    However, that still wasn''t enough. The philosophy Lucas had in mind was one that could perfectlybine hot and cold weapons, and not just adding a few features.

    ''Let''s give it a shot.''

 Chapter 119 First Place Is A What?

    "Time''s up."

    A voice sounded in the virtual world.

    Lucas nced at the finished vestige before him and felt a bit satisfied. It looked like a handgun but with a futuristic appearance and strange hieroglyphs carved all over it. The weapon was powered not by bullets but by a ster energy capsule Lucas had also created at the same time.

    This meant that even if one was a Body Strengthening stage practitioner, or even worse, a human, they could still use the vestige. However,pared to a ster practitioner who could utilise ster energy, their power output would be weaker and they would be using only a portion of the vestige''s real power.

    ''Doesn''t matter anyway. This is a virtual world and none of this is real.'' Lucas thought as he studied the handgun.

    Since it was a vestige created using his new theory, it wasn''t just as simple as a weapon that could shoot ster energysers. Apart from the runes that could boost the power output of the rounds depending on how much ster energy the user imbued, or the other runes withplementary features, there was one special rune inscribed on the handgun. It was called a transformation rune.

    When the transformation magic rune on the handgun was activated, it could reshape the handgun into a dagger. However, it was not just any normal dagger. As the original form of the vestige was a handgun, some of its properties would be maintained despite the modification made to it. For instance, the magic runes inscribed on it.

    While this might not sound as much when one considers that in its handgun form, the vestige''s working principle, it bes a bit different.

    The vestige, in its handgun form, is powered by a ster energy capsule, which can be substituted with the user''s ster energy. Through the internal workings with the assistance of some runes, the ster energy ispressed into a somewhat unstable pellet that is fired at great speed.

    The pellet is capable of withstanding the air resistance for a while before setting off once it exceeds its maximum tolerance level. It could also explode upon contact with an obstruction, giving it impressive firepower that could even damage the scales of a defence-type deste beast. However, that''s not the point.

    The point is that this entire mechanic is preserved even after the handgun transforms into a dagger.

    In other words, the dagger would possess the ability to fire projectiles, albeit not as urate or enhanced as its handgun counterpart.

    ''However, in close range, the effect is much more impressive.'' Lucas smiled.

    Hot weapons have the problem of limited power. A gun would usually produce roughly the same amount of power even if fired multiple times. One could use factors such as wind direction and speed to their advantage, especially in the case of a sniper rifle, but it''s not like the environment would always be on your side.

    That limitation also exists for gun-type ster vestiges, and it''s more pronounced as factors such as wind can''t affect it as much. Although runes can help boost the power considerably, it remains limited. But this is entirely different.

    It is a well-known fact that the maximum velocity a bullet attains is at its muzzle. Upon exit, it begins to lose this velocity with time. Velocity, in turn, affects the power of a gun. This is because momentum is affected by velocity, and it can define how much damage a bullet can cause. Thisw also applies to ster energy, as all energy possesses mass.

    If a gun was fired at point nk, it would possess its strongest force at that moment. Then imagine if it was fired from the inside of the target.

    When transformed into a dagger, the vestige could be used to pierce the target. Once sessful, the user could activate the runes and fire aser from within the target. Compared to shooting from the outside in its handgun state, the damage caused by this would be more deadly to the enemy.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    ''This should sell well in the real world.'' Lucas thought as the virtual world began to fade out of existence.

    In the next second, his consciousness recovered in his body. Lucas knew this because he could feel a weary sensation as he opened his eyes, and his soul felt different here. In the virtual world, it felt free and open, but at the moment, it was somewhat stuffy and contained.

    Taking off the headgear, he left the room filled with people just like him and exited.

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    As with the theoretical test, the examinees won''t be made aware of the results just yet. Only after everything had been calcted and no cheating was confirmed, would the results be announced.

    ''System, nothing should go wrong, right?'' Lucas asked the system once he returned to the waiting lobby.

    Recalling how he had requested the system to prevent the virtual world''s artificial intelligence from monitoring him, Lucas was a bit worried that the examiners would feel something was up.

    "Host should not be afraid. The system ensured to cleanse all tracks, up until the point the vestige waspleted. As it is a virtual world, cheating is almost impossible, and no one would believe that it could be hacked either, even more so by a human. The examiners would most likely summarise it as an equipment fault.''

    Lucas felt relieved by the exnation.

    "Hey, Lucas," Havos called out as he walked towards him.

    "Well, how was it?"

    "It was okay." Lucas calmly responded.

    ''Another okay?'' Havos'' lips twitched as he began to feel sad for Lucas.

    ''It was okay'' was a line used after an exam by people who usually didn''t do great. That, or a genius who felt nothing about it. But no matter how Havos looked at things, Lucas was definitely not a genius.

    "Oi, Maxxy. How did you do?" Vergil appeared once again and shouted.

    "You should stop being so obsessed with me." Maximillus nced at him and frowned.

    "Tch. You don''t always have to be so stuck up. Chill out, party a bit more often, and hang out with thedies." Vergil grinned.

    "I wonder what your sister thinks about your lifestyle."

    Vergil froze at thement and gritted his teeth, before walking away with a huff.

    In the Mertens family, there are currently two geniuses in the younger generation. One of them was the family''s first-ever vestige-smith genius, who was Vergil. However, the other was a ster practitioner genius and Vergil''s older sister, Laura Mertens.

    Born with an m(o)DNA count of 27%, Laura was termed a destined genius from birth. With such bloodline purity, it meant that she could boost it using m(z)DNA serums to get a total mDNA concentration of up to 30%. 30% was the hallmark requirement to reach the peak of the Apertures Opening stage.

    Every family head, famous frencer, and even the city lord had at least this much mDNA concentration in their body. In other words, Laura was a potential family head figure.

    Being born with potential was one thing, but she exhibited the skills and growth rate of a genius. It was said that Laura achieved the first level for the Apertures Opening stage at fourteen. At the age of sixteen, she had already reached the second level of the Apertures Opening stage, a level that most would get to in their early or mid-20s.

    When Laura was eighteen, she was well into the third level. At the age of twenty, Laura had achieved the fourth-level status.

    At the moment, she was currently twenty-four years old, and not much was known about Laura''s ster level. But by following the pattern of progress every two years, it was estimated that she was at the sixth level. Even if one were to consider the fact that going higher became more difficult as of the fourth level, she would still be at least at the fifth level.

    With such a sibling older than him, it was rumoured that Vergil was overshadowed by her brilliance and had focused more on vestige-smithing rather than ster refining, as he saw no chance to surpass her. Many also suggested that his bad boy behaviour was his act of rebellion against the ''treatment'' he received from his family.

    As for what was true or false, only Vergil and the direct family members of the Mertens family knew, but that didn''t stop Maximillus from attacking him.

    Lucas took all this in strides and didn''t think much about it. Second, third or fourth generation rich kids¡ªeven one-hundredth generation- Lucas had seen all. He could surmise, from his experience, that the upper ss was a murky water.

    After a few minutes of waiting, it was time for the results to be announced, but there was a dy in the examiners'' room.

    "What did you say?!" A man in a white gown roared at the humanoid robot before him.

    Despite being a robot, the humanoid being actually disyed signs of fear at the man as it stuttered.

    "F, f, first ce, is a human."

 Chapter 120 Level Up

    "First ce is a what?"

    Inside the room, which held the main processor system for coting the examinees'' results, a man in ab coat stared at the humanoid robot as it informed him of the final scores.

    "F, first ce is a human." The robot, which looked just like a male teenager, stuttered.

    Although it was a machine, it was a high-end product equipped with emotional reaction capabilities and a special algorithm known as ''Reading the room'', which allowed it to act more hyuman. The robot could sense and process the man''s emotions, reacting in the most proper way that would make it seem emphatic. In this case, it was now truly afraid.

    "How the heck did a human get first ce?! How am I supposed to announce these results? How the gaggle-lore am I supposed to exin this?" [1] The man roared.

    Your journey continues at empire

    "Do you think anyone would believe these results? There''s the genius of the Oder family, the Mertens'' star child, Master Bolks'' personal disciple, Kalerka Pure College''s number-one student in thest decade, and so many other freaking geniuses. How do you think their backers would feel once they hear that a human outperformed them? Who would even believe this crap?!"

    No matter how the chief examiner looked at it, it was just ridiculous. A human being taking sixth ce in the theory was already strange enough, but not entirely impossible. However, to take first ce in the practical was practically impossible. The craziest part wasn''t just a human doing so well in the exam, but surpassing certified geniuses who participated alongside him.

    No logic, mystery, or magic could exin it. Even Digress city-state didn''t have any human vestige-smiths despite having figured out a cheat code to improve their ster energy level. So, even if the main system had calcted the results and given them to him, he refused to ept them.

    The humanoid robot kept silent, but in truth, it was calcting usible exnations or a justification for this incident. There were two possible conclusions it had calcted.

    The first was that Lucas had cheated in the exam, but that was impossible as the technology was foolproof. The virtual world was a technology the Bands City''s EVL branch got from the head office in the Bernin continent. The only way to cheat was to hack the system, but doing such was incredibly taxing and difficult.

    What''s more, how could a young adult human male pull it off without anyone noticing something strange?

    The second possibility was an equipment fault. However, the robot had conducted a test of all the pieces of equipment and found nothing wrong. It then decided to check the footage of the virtual world to see if it could notice something strange.

    Suddenly, its eyes flickered.

    The man in ab coat had been paying attention to it as he knew it was trying to figure out an exnation. Seeing the change in expression, he hurriedly asked,

    "What did you find?"

    The robot blinked its eyes and responded.

    "The recording of the vestige-smithing process is nonexistent. It seems like a fault urred at that moment, and so, there is no footage avable."

    "Damn it." The man cursed.

    None of them suspected Lucas for this. The idea that a human could tamper with the footage of the virtual world was as absurd as an ant lifting a on its back.

    After a bit of thought, the man''s eyes glistened.

    "Release the results, but ce that human kid in twenty-third ce."

    There were sixty-four examinees, so having the human take twenty-third ce, although unbelievable, was still not as bad as first ce. At the same time, such a ranking would draw attention to him. This was because the top twenty were those who had either sessfully made a vestige or their final product was 90% close to a real Grade 1 vestige.

    Being just three ces behind would mean that Lucas wascking only a little, but not a vestige-smith. This made sense, as a young human couldn''t be a vestige-smith. However, being a skilled cksmith was still doable.

    If Lucas wanted to argue the result, who would believe him? A human, making a vestige? That sounded like the joke of the century.

    cing twenty-third was already impressive, and since everything was in a virtual world, there was no evidence that he had made a real vestige. The examiner also had the right to decide whether or not to release the footage, and deciding not to do so would not be seen as an issue by the others, and that was all that mattered.

    "What about first ce?" The robot asked.

    "Who''s second?"n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    "It''s a tie between Maximillus Oder and Vergil Mertens."

    The man was surprised by this but then sighed with relief.

    The two individuals were from top families that could somewhat influence even the EVL branch in Bands City. Having their descendants caught in a tie was a safe bet. It could also motivate the two to be true rivals, and maybe the city would witness the birth of two more Tier 1 Masters. Tier 1 Masters were hard toe by, and Sofoklis was the most recent one in thest four years.

    "Release the results as they are." The man ordered.

    . . .

    "What''s going on? Why haven''t they released the results yet?"

    Amotion burst out in the viewing room filled with powerful individuals and the waiting room for the examinees. It usually takes less than fifteen minutes after the exam has been concluded for the results to be released. But thirty minutes had gone by, and there was still no sign of it.

    "Sorry for the dy." The robot who had spoken with the examinees at the start arrived.

    "I will now disy the results."

    Meanwhile, Lucas wasn''t paying attention because he had just received a notification from the system.

    [[Congrattions onpleting the hidden mission: The One Above All.

    Mission Description: Take first ce in a vestige-smith registration exam.

    Rewards: Random precious materials x10, Special ability card x1]]

    The notification was pleasing, however, it wasn''t that notification that got Lucas'' attention but the next one.

    [[ Congrattions to the host for leveling up the system. Inventory expansion takes ce. One new system ability granted. Host can now earn system coins per mission.

    Rewarding 10 system coins. One drop of Icarus'' tears. ]]

 Chapter 121 Icarus Tears

    [[ Congrattions onpleting the hidden achievement: The One Above All.

    Mission Description: Take first ce in a vestige-smith registration exam.

    Rewards: Random precious materials x10, Special ability card x1]]

    The notification was pleasing, however, it wasn''t that notification that got Lucas''attention but the next one.

    [[ Congrattions to the host for leveling up the system. Inventory expansion takes ce. One new system ability granted. Host can now earn system coins per mission.

    Rewarding 10 system coins. One drop of Icarus'' Tears. ]]

    ''Finally.'' Lucas felt d.

    It had been almost a month since the previous time the system had levelled up, which also happened to be its first. With this, the system was now level 2, and that meant three levels left until level 5, which was a turning point for Lucas.

    ''In this one month, I''ve four missions; one of those was forced, two were in line with its programming or so the system would. As for thest, it was actually a hidden achievement. The levelling requirement is either dependent on the number of missions or how many experience points the system gets from them, if any at all.'' Lucas analysed.

    For so long, Lucas had been trying to figure out how to level the system up faster, but the system didn''t give him any information on that except to keeppleting missions. What''s worse was that there was no progress bar, so Lucas couldn''t monitor his progress or witness the value of his efforts.

    He had almost given up and decided to just keep going along with the system, but this experience helped him to have a slight understanding about how things worked.

    ''A hidden achievement. If I''m correct, the experience points the system gains from this should be more, seeing as the rewards are quite different from the usual.''

    Lucas had ignored the description of the hidden achievement as he felt nothing about it. First in the exams? That was a given.

    Although he wasn''t confident about the theoretical exam, when Lucas had stepped in for it, he was surprised it wasn''t as difficult as he had expected. Some of thews, principles and practices were simr to those on Earth and even his first world''s. However, there were still those Lucas knew nothing about, which made him not confident about his result.

    As for the practical exam, if Lucas took second ce, who would dare take first ce?

    Even if he had held back and used the exam as an opportunity to experiment, the ster energy purity of the Grade 1 vestige Lucas made was on another level. Based on vestige duel standards, it had an Alpha reading Grade 1 with a final ss reading of Median Orange, which meant it was close to a premium model vestige. Premium models began from a final ss reading of Deep Orange and above.

    For these first-timers and even the examinees who knew how to make a Grade 1 vestige, creating something on the level of Orange was a dream. Even the best amongst them could barely achieve a standard of Deep Red.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

    With such a wide margin in the most important aspect of the exams, it would be easy for Lucas to close the gap created in the theoretical exam and snatch first ce. As such, he never worried about it. Instead, he had his interest on the rewards from the notifications.

    ''Special ability card?''

    Lucas opened his inventory and saw a card much like the Bronze Grade card, but of a different colour and design.

    A short detailed description of the card appeared once he tapped on it.

    [[ Special Ability Card: For a limited time, possess a random superpower with limited effects. ]]

    In the next second, Lucas ignored the card and searched for the other item.

    A random superpower with limited effects? That could be good or bad. If anything, Lucas felt it was almost useless.

    What if he was in a near-death scenario and the random superpower was the ability to tell good jokes? Whose life could that save?

    Turning his to the other rewards, Lucas was now pleased.

    The ten random items all seemed to glow from his inventory screen and they possessed a strange energy around them. They were definitely valuable materials and good for vestige-smithing. Some might even be better than the Purple Iridium ingots he had, and those almost cost Lucas his life.

    ''That reminds me, I need to pay those guys back for all the special treatment.'' Lucas thought.

    The next item he checked out were the system coins.

    When Lucas had first levelled up the system, he had unlocked the system shop. The system shop was a feature tied to his system. On the shop were special items with unique properties that Lucas could purchase. However, he needed system coins to do so, but there was no way to earn them. Seeing the notification and the coins in his inventory, Lucas finally understood.

    Based on the prices in the store, ten system coins could get Lucas a few items there.

    The final physical reward Lucas received from the system was the unique item called Icarus'' Tears, of which he only got a single drop.

    ncing at the description for the item, Lucas almost stumbled despite standing.

    ''This, this, damn!''

    Lucas couldn''t believe his eyes.

    [[ Icarus'' Tears: A unique material that can be used to create heaven-defying items, for instance, a revival drug, or a potion to change one''s physical condition. Consuming in its raw form would grant the user a random percentage of gaining a mysterious superpower rted to transcendence. ]]

    The contents of the description tab was breathtaking, but what caught Lucas'' eyes was a certain phrase: a potion to change one''s physical condition.

    This was a material that could be used to fix Lucas'' special condition. Continue reading at empire

    Suddenly, Lucas had a thought. To confirm this, he asked the system.

    ''System, is this what you meant by waiting until level 5? After each level, I would get a material to make the potion, am I right?''

    "Host has finally unlocked his inner wisdom. Yes." The system responded.

    Lucas'' lips twitched at those words, but he understood that it was the system''s way of telling him that he was right. There were three more levels to go which meant three more materials needed to make the potion.

    However, Lucas was somewhat tempted by thest line. Consuming the drop of Icarus'' Tears would grant him a mystic superpower, and with how the superpower is said to be rted to transcendence, it definitely wasn''t an ordinary one.

    Nheless, Lucas held back the temptation. Gaining the ability to use ster energy was more important than having a random superpower. With ster refinement, he would eventually wield a superpower once he reached the tenth level.

    While he was thinking this, Lucas overheard a few shouts.

    ''It seems like the result has been released.'' Lucas thought as he moved his line of sight from the invisible system interface to a hologram that was recently projected in the air.

    "What the fuck?"

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