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Chapter 424: Forging

Maerr-viki Continent, inside Verdant Breeze Town.

A week has passed since the incident at the capital of Seraph Kingdom had occurred. Being there to witness the whole ordeal firsthand, it could be said that Argentum had been tempered from a certain perspective, focusing on giving it his all in managing the town. In fact, he had become incredibly engrossed in managing the town to the point that not only did Herellia and Horell tell him to take a break from time to time, even Felix and the others asked him to stop for a bit and not be hasty in achieving results.

Surprisingly, Argentum listened to them and went to rest for a day. However, he quickly regretted that decision as memories related to the fight popped up in his mind, acting like a trauma that he could not escape from. Add in the fact that the last string of thoughts that Aurus sent to him still resounded even after all that, it was no surprise that Argentum wanted to distract himself.

Then again, he was not actually distracting himself. Instead, he was following the words Aurus had told him to the letter, trying to use his authority as the leader of a town to find the culprit that involved Aurus in this entire problem. Naturally, while thinking up of ways to do so, he recalled how Aurus acted like a bloodthirsty killer back then, knowing very well that the normal Aurus wouldn’t do something like that.

Mulling over it for the past few days, he had come to the conclusion that a being at the Animate level had no abilities to do so, given how Aurus could fight against an Animate without a sweat without going all out. With that in mind, he thought about Transcendent level beings becoming involved in this matter, perhaps even Divinity level beings. After all, that was what Aurus had told him through the thoughts he sent. Though, he was not sure if he was just basing it on the opponent he was fighting against.

Nevertheless, as Transcendent and Divinity level beings were the most plausible suspects in this whole problem, Argentum asked Felix and the others to disband the real-time information network they had established to track Aurus before he was captured by the kingdom. Although they were quite surprised to hear such an order come from Argentum, with a couple of them even trying to persuade him to not do so, Argentum’s will eventually won as those involved in the information network were paid.

As it was an incredibly high-level information network that gave information every minute, it was no surprise that the amount of money they had to pay in the end was well over the initial cost they had in mind. In short, they had paid a total of 300 million gold coins to all of those involved. However, all of them did not even bat an eye or feel great shock from doing so. After all, they still had over a billion gold coins from the Rank 9 Mana Stone they sold, which sold for about 1.5 billion gold coins.

At the moment, Argentum was inside the manor made for the leader of the town, gazing out of the large window in front of the desk he sat behind. Silently looking at the townspeople that had experienced a great improvement in their quality of life, he could not help but ponder as to whether it would be a good idea for him to inject all of the money they had earned from the Rank 9 Mana Stone into the town.

At first, he thought of it as a good idea. However, once he thought about it for a bit longer, he decided otherwise. Although rapid improvements weren’t unheard of, rapid improvements at the scale Argentum was thinking was more or less impossible. After all, all of the people that used to live in the town before the rapid improvement would feel a sort of culture shock, perhaps even think of it as a ship of Theseus situation. It wouldn’t be a surprise if that was the impetus for them to move town, even if it would result in a better foundation for the new and improved town in the long run.

With that, he wrote up a plan to invest the gold they had into the town bit by bit, increasing the speed of improvement of their town by a good amount, but not too much where the townspeople may feel alienated. As he thought about this, he could not help but laugh at the thought that his town would have amenities normally found in a city.

And that’s when it clicked.

Standing up from his seat, Argentum quickly headed out of the manor with the help of movement boosting skills and spells, arriving at a part of town that had multiple people arranged in a formation. In other words, Argentum had arrived at where his town’s military, the Tempest Regiment, stayed.

“All men, salute!” Claude ordered as he saw Argentum arrive at their barracks, prompting all of those in formation to salute in unison. Seeing that, Argentum waved his hand down in response, allowing the men to relax as he told Claude that he wanted to say something to him.

Slightly confused as to why he was being called all of a sudden, Claude still nodded in response as the two of them entered the barracks specifically made for instructors like Claude. Then again, Claude was the only instructor of the Tempest Regiment for now.

“So, why did Sir Argentum come to the Tempest Regiment’s barracks to talk with me?” Claude could not help but ask. In response, Argentum looked at him and said with a solemn tone, “I have a plan in mind that would involve mobilizing the Tempest Regiment. You’ll have to talk about this with the commanders you’ve assigned for the various divisions.”

Pondering in silence for a bit, Claude’s eyes could not help but widen as he realized what Argentum was planning to do. “Are you telling me that… we’re…?”

“Indeed.” Argentum nodded.

“It’s time for Verdant Breeze Town to expand outwards and become a city.”

…

Maerr-viki Continent, inside a certain hall in the Seraph Kingdom’s royal palace.

At the moment, multiple people were conversing with one another as they looked at the quickly built stage in front of them. Naturally, they were curious as to why a stage was in front of them, even though they were requested to enter the royal palace for another reason.

To help in the forging of a weapon.

With just one glance, one could see two types of people mingling with others in the hall. Naturally, the first type of people were the blacksmiths. However, these blacksmiths were not just any normal blacksmith one would find at a town, toiling away as they hammered metal. Instead, all of these were blacksmiths that had reached Rank 4 at the very least, showing that they had great proficiency with their profession.

As for the other type of people in the hall, they were the mages. To be more specific, mages that were specialized in enchanting equipment. Unsurprisingly, Dalton had been requested by the kingdom to come as well, given how he was the Supreme Sage of the Arcana Tower, someone who knew all types of spells, even enchantment spells. Seeing as how the people were conversing with one another, he could not help but scratch his head, muttering, “Well, ain’t this a bother.”

At another part of the hall was a man and a woman. The man sported a red robe that complemented his handsome face and his thin black-rimmed glasses. As for the woman, she wore gray overalls that had soot and dust generally coming from working near the forge. However, seeing as how there was next to no dirt on the woman’s face, allowing her beauty to be accentuated, it was apparent that she considered this event important.

“What do you think may be the reason why we were called here?” Kelsey could not help but ask Dane beside him.

Coincidentally, just as Dane was about to respond that he did not know the answer either, a man that radiated an aura of great magnanimity had stepped on the stage, prompting him to point towards the man and tell her, “It seems we’ll find out very soon.”

“Ehem.” Clearing his throat to catch the attention of everyone in the hall, Zeldrion started to speak. “I humbly welcome all of our mages and blacksmiths into the Seraph Kingdom’s royal palace. However, I would like to apologize in advance that I am not able to hold a banquet for you. Naturally, that is because of the request I’ve sent all of you.”

Whoosh!

As if they had rehearsed it in the first place, a being with jade green skin appeared beside Zeldrion, seemingly out of thin air. At first, the people looked at the being that had appeared with slight confusion, only to become speechless as they now had an idea of what they were going to do.

“Right here beside me is Verdante, previously part of the Spiriveritas Assembly. As a Spiriveritas, he is an Inanimate in essence, specifically an X-grade Inanimate,” Zeldrion started to explain. “Fortunately, he had consented to this beforehand, so let me explain what I specifically want you guys to do.”

“I want you… to turn Verdante right here into the supreme heirloom of the royal family!” he bellowed, leaving all of the people silent for a bit before a great clamor resounded throughout the hall. While the people were in chaos, wondering how that fight from before had birthed the current situation in front of them, Aurus could not help but say to Zeldrion, “You really sure you want to turn me into a weapon? You know I could fight on the same level as Wilhelm, right?”

“Of course I do,” Zeldrion replied. “But there’s a nagging feeling inside me that tells me to turn you into a weapon, no matter what. Also, the kingdoms in the continent have signed a treaty to only have one being that could fight at the Transcendent level in their kingdoms at all times.”

“Well… that’s kind of suspicious, but I guess I have no choice but to follow the rules as well,” Aurus said in response before redirecting his attention towards the blacksmiths and mages, who have seemingly come to a tacit agreement as to what they want to achieve.

A few seconds later, one of the more well-known blacksmiths stepped forward and asked Zeldrion, “King Zeldrion, is there enough space for us to work?”

“But of course.” Zeldrion nodded in response, snapping his fingers soon after. Hearing that, Dalton went ahead and cast a giant magic circle, covering the entire hall as multiple furnaces and anvils appeared out of nowhere. On top of that, all of the necessary items needed in forging were there. Of course, items needed for enchantment were also there as well.

With the audience being at a loss for words from the sudden transformation, Zeldrion took this chance to say, “We shall be transforming Verdante right here into a weapon that would grow alongside the user, as well as have multiple transformations that would allow the user to tap into greater power. All materials and items needed for the forging process shall be provided to you by the kingdom. And of course…”

“We’ll pay you plenty afterwards,” he said, instantly motivating everyone as the blacksmiths headed to their respective furnaces while the mages headed to their enchantment stations.

Seeing this, Aurus could not help but ask, “So, should I head to where the blacksmiths are?”

In response, Zeldrion shook his head as he replied, “No. We’ll have to transform your body into something that would be compatible for forging first.”

“Dalton,” he soon said, prompting a man that seemed bored to come up the stage.

“I better get something from this once this is done,” Dalton replied, the aura surrounding him giving off the feeling that he did not want to be here in the first place.

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that,” Zeldrion chuckled as he replied. “Once this is done, I’ll give you access to the entire royal library. Of course, only the sections that interest you.”

“You could’ve said that earlier, you know?” In an instant, Dalton’s mood had undergone a 180 degree turn as he enthusiastically told Aurus, “Alright, Verdante. I shall be converting you into a special type of forging material. Note that this process may hurt a lot, so I hope you can endure it. Naturally, I shall try to reduce the pain you feel as much as possible.”

‘… Is this really gonna go well?’ was the last thing Aurus thought to himself before the entire hall worked in full swing.