A week had gone by, and I returned back to camp. I greeted the others and unloaded the goods in front of the forge. Not all of them, of course, just the ones needed for the construction of my new weapon.

“Oh! That’s quite a lot of stuff… Not much Celestial Metal though.” Thener noticed after a moment of inspection.

[It is as she said.] I gestured at Calla. [There’s not much of the stuff going around. I checked with at least ten different groups of people and even a few loners.] All that effort barely doubled the pile of Celestial Metal scraps. Enough for maybe two greatswords. The problem was, I needed enough for at least fifty. Maybe even a hundred, depending on how big I wanted to go.

I vaguely gestured in the direction I came from. [I pretty much exhausted that part of the Wastes, so I’m probably going the other direction next. Before I do, though, are there any news?]

“Can’t you just read his mind?” The Drow shouted from afar. “You already did that before, remember?”

[No offense, Thalza, but you don’t know how unpleasant that is. People’s minds aren’t usually a nice place to be in. I do it out of necessity, not because it’s fun. Especially after the last guy. I don’t even remember what I saw, I just know that I spent an hour purging my mind because of it.]

Even just thinking about it gave me goosebumps. And that was after I removed even the memory of a memory. That’s how bad it was.

[I wonder if I killed him? I can’t quite remember. Huh.]

“Well, there is something…” Thener said, distracting me from thinking about the horrible experience. He produced a small round shape out of black metal and presented it proudly.

“I call it the Abyssal Ward. Care to guess why?”

[Forget that… Is this the broken dagger?] I pointed at the broken half of the black blade set into the plate-sized shield. I took the buckler and gripped the handle. Its color was dark gray, nearly black, with threads of Spirit Metal on a base of Ferrite surrounding the superalloy blade.

Its size was small, barely enough to shield my head, but that was not its main purpose.

“Yes! That’s exactly right. We used it to make a treasure that consumes magic. Incredibly well might I add. We tested it, and it can dispel considerable amounts of energy, leaving the bearer completely unaffected.”

[Really?] I squinted at the buckler and stroked my chin. [That sounds interesting. How about a demonstration?] I handed the Abyssal Ward back.

“Ehm… Well, I think you should keep the shield, boss. I don’t really have a healing ability, and…”

[Oh, I get it, I get it. Wuss.] I rolled my eyes with a smile and hid the buckler behind me. [Hit me then. Without the Ward first.]

“Um… I’m also not that good with-”

[Alright! Geez… Thalza, come here!] I called. [Blast me a few times please.]

“With pleasure!” The Drow replied with a predatory grin and quickly took her spot. “Just don’t cry if you get hurt.”

[Enough talk. Hit me!] I ordered.

Thalza wasted no time gathering the energy required for her attack and formed a sphere of energy between her palms. It was just a simple, straightforward blast of Qi, and she aimed it straight at my handsome face. The attack was really good, she was just a bit too into it.

The Qi ball struck my skin, and the energy unraveled, trying to tear apart and deform my skull, but there was no actual damage. The potency of the attack was below the threshold of even my natural defenses, so it just harmlessly did its thing and disappeared.

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“Hmph.”

For some reason, the Drow lady seemed disappointed.

[Okay, the baseline was established. Now try again, same potency.] I told her and lifted the buckler to guard my face.

She repeated the attack, launching the sphere right in the middle of the Abyssal Ward. As soon as the two collided, I felt something happen differently. The Qi sphere tried to unravel just like before, but before it did, the broken blade sort of cut it to pieces, ruining its shape, and as if that wasn’t enough, the amplified Qi devouring ability rapidly absorbed the expanding Qi.

If looked at in real-time, the ball of energy just kind of burst as it smashed against the Ward like a full water balloon and then got sucked into it. No explosions, no face-rending shenanigans, nothing. It was really… weird. No doubt effective, but weird.

[Cool. Do it again. Stronger, if you can.]

“Sure…” Thalza said, looking a bit too enthusiastic.

I was bombarded by a few more energy spheres, all of which ended up bursting with similarly little effect.

[Not bad. I can certainly see how this could be useful… It’s just not for me.]

I looked at Thener who appeared to be disappointed by my statement, and handed him the shield. He looked at me questioningly.

[Keep it. It’s yours.]

“Ah… Thank you, Master!” The man immediately bowed, nearly rendered speechless for a moment.

[Just keep me informed if you figure out something new.] I added.

“Of course!”

With that done, I left, going to see the other side of the wasteland if I could get lucky finding the materials there.

----------------------------------------

The environment was much the same everywhere I went. Gray rocks, sand, dust, and a dim red sky with swirling clouds above. The air was dry, stale, and mildly warm. Enough for a Mortal to survive without trouble. In fact, I would almost say it was the perfect temperature. Not too hot and not too cold.

Almost as if the place was designed to have as little stimulation as possible. It was a fucking hell. I felt my mind going numb after such a long time of scanning the horizon with basically no changes. Even just the sparse bubbling tar pits that appeared once every hour or so were a welcome change.

They were the amalgamation of all the death and decay that happened in the Lower Wastes, and they stank like hell, so you can imagine how mind-numbingly boring the place was if just seeing them was exciting. Working in the mines was like a wild party in comparison.

While flying, I swatted down a pterodactyl-looking bastard, a creature with large leathery wings that was the size of a jumbo jet. Its bones snapped surprisingly easily for a creature that neared the peak of Spirit Realm. Maybe not all beasts were stronger than humans. I somehow struggled to picture a Cultivator dying to one of my casual slaps.

I swooped down after the corpse and had a feast, chewing on the tough flesh for a while. That was one of the rare things that brought me joy in the otherwise depressing landscape. Growing stronger by simply eating. How could I ever get bored of that?

While I was happily stuffing my face, a group of people came by. They detected the disturbance I created by killing the flying beast and decided to check it out. Maybe I meant that for that to happen. Maybe I detected them some time ago and decided on a different approach. Maybe, maybe…

They gathered around, staring while I ate. My form was gradually growing bigger as my stomach was filling up, and though I sat on the ground, in a few minutes I was taller than the people around me.

I was surrounded, yet none of them spoke, so I decided to do it first.

[Spirit Metal, Celestial Metal, Ferrite, Void Stone… If you have any of those, or a relic you have no use for, I will buy them all for a fair price.]

None reacted to my call, at least not physically. I detected a trace of Intent growing behind me.

[Your Divine Grasp, what a pretentious name for a spell, will not be enough to hold me. I suggest you do not start what you cannot finish.]

More hostile Intent rose around me, the hardened faces of the men and women showing readiness for battle. I snorted a laugh at the attempted intimidation and looked at the one they called boss.

[What do you say, big man? Oh, mighty leader. Should we deal in blood or Stones?]

The man frowned. I could see his thoughts squirming in his mind. Just a surface glance was enough to understand the man was tense and confused.

“Who… What are you?”

I slowly rose, towering above them, and bowed with a grin, a hand over my heart. [Gerald Fireborn is my name, a wanderer of these lands. A merchant in the desert. A warrior on the battlefield.]

My skin began turning red and my eyes darkened, scales growing from my skin as claws touched the ground, pushing the stones aside. Horns grew and my cheeks split, revealing a giant fanged maw and the face of a Dragon.

People flinched and stepped back as I grew, purposefully slow for greater effect. They were tense, confused, and afraid.

[Hu, hu, hu…] I laughed slowly.

Finally, as my wings grew to their full size and the flickering flames touched the sky, I lowered my head even further, letting it rest on the ground as I spoke to the man in charge. My voice was gravelly and deep, rough like a rumble, as I growled with a smile.

[Empty your pockets. Hand over your treasures, and name your price. Today you will be walking away as rich men… Or you will not be walking at all.]