“This is the life, a normal breakfast with my friends.” Cain sat down and ate alongside them. It appears that years of muscle memory still carried through.
“Bleh.” Nue put out her tongue. “Not the same.” She even made it a point to throw the plate out the window. Unfortunately for her, the plate bounced back and hit her straight on her forehead, making her tear up.
“It’s still tasty, Master. It’s just that… the food you made last time was so much better.” Harry still consumed it all in one gulp but he still pointed it out.
“Argh, annoying. I don’t even feel like eating anymore.” Helena seemed to be the most pissed one out of all of us. Despite looking like the youngest, her authority in this group was unquestionably the highest. She then took out her plate and shoved it in front of Cain.
“More? But didn’t you just say that-” Cain tried to reason what Helena just said but decided against it of his volition. Helena’s death stare definitely didn’t have anything to do with it. Cain quietly took her plate and gave her another batch.
After breakfast, Helena finally put up the most problematic issue, “Where’s the products you were supposed to sell?”
Cain felt extremely embarrassed, “I was going to make it this morning.”
“Well, that’s great. We’re poor, weak, and hungry. What else could go wrong?” Helena looked at Nue trying to escape through the front door. “Nue, don’t make me…”
“Old woman,” Nue shouted out and immediately ran upstairs.
“That was just personal now, haha,” Harry smirked and laughed out loud. He immediately came to his senses when Helena stared at him. “Sorry, ma’am.” He did not dare irk Helena.
“Sigh, there’s no point sitting around doing nothing. At least we have a place to live in for now, well what are you waiting around for? Go work!” Helena pointed at both Cain and Harry.
Following Helena’s orders, both Cain and Harry went downstairs. It was equipped with the best quality tools possible, to the point that… they couldn’t even use it.
Cain tried to grab a hammer yet failed due to his strength having declined to an unbelievably weak degree. Harry was the exact same, he tried to pump down a blower to start the forge only to fail severely.
“Master, I think we’re going to starve.” Harry disappointingly said. “How are we going to deal with this?”
“I think I have a plan, go meet me outside.” Cain thoughtfully said.
After Harry left, Cain summoned the store.
[Note: The store function changes based on the user’s strength.]
“You can’t be serious! What about skills? Can I buy those at least?”
[Note: The store function for skills hasn’t been unlocked yet. It is suggested for the host to learn those skills from other people as you have done last time.]
“That… how about a quest?” Cain was looking at all the options he had right now.
[No available quest for now.]
“We’re so doomed! Luckily Helena got us in a pretty good place. As always, she’s right on the money!” Cain’s mood slightly improved after remembering where they currently were.
“Let me exchange my Points for some mana stones.”
[Conversion Rate: 1 Point for 1 Low-Quality Mana Stone. How many will you exchange?]
“That… now that really hurts. What about the golden coins I got from the other world? You told me they were worth a lot!”
[Conversion Rate: 1 Fragment of Fate for 1 Point]
“It used to be 1000 Points each! You’re playing with me!”
[The Fate Value of the other world is higher than the host’s current world. Thus the severe reduction in value.]
“Dammit! I should’ve exchanged it back then! Your random rules keep making me stupid in front of the others!” Cain raged, he had been going along with the system’s common sense. It didn’t take long for Cain to realize that the system’s common sense was actually not common… at all!
“Fine, fine! Exchange everything! Let’s see how much wealth I actually have. Don’t cheat me this time!”
[Points: 100,000 -> 126,250]
“I don’t even want to do the math. That hurts…” Cain felt betrayed, severely betrayed. “Since it’s like this… how much does Eternal Silk cost?”
[Item: Eternal Silk
Price: 1 Spool of Thread for 150,000,000,000,000,000,000 Points
Current Balance: 126,250 Points]
“Alright, I can see why Helena got mad at me. Hell, I’m mad at my previous self! I can’t even count the zeroes!” Cain kneeled down on the ground. “I gave away… so many points…”
No matter how painful the feeling was, Cain had to bring himself back to reality. “I’ll exchange 1,000 Points… this hurts so much.”
The Low-Quality Mana Stones were directly deposited into his own personal storage space. This was a specialized space that only Cain could access. Due to numerous kinds of methods and magics mimicking this, no one even cares about it.
Left with a burning hole in his pocket, Cain went back up with Harry and continued on forward in the very first city that humanity had created, Pioneer City. Due to special powers and methods, construction wasn’t even difficult or time-consuming anymore.
They had set up a small building within the commercial district where they could easily be seen by the countless people exploring the dungeons. As the dungeons were all interconnected with each other through various means, it didn’t matter where people were since they could always access them quite easily.
As for Pioneer City, one major force established itself as the sole authoritative force. Whoever disobeyed them would be met with appropriate punishment. Those who stole minor wealth and slightly inconvenienced others were sent to prison but those who committed crimes such as murder would directly be executed.
This one force calls itself the Secret Pavilion. No one knows why they called themselves as such since everyone knew who they were. It really wasn’t much of a secret. However, there was one thing that everyone knew about it, each and every Enforcer that they had was Rank 6.
This strength was more than enough for them to stand as one of the reigning powerhouses of the world. This led to countless other developed groups leaving them be and the up-and-coming groups staying clear of their way.
They only seemed to have one goal, to accumulate as many resources as possible. This was given that everyone who lived in Pioneer City had to pay tax towards them in the form of resources. However as one’s strength becomes higher, the less and less tax they would have to pay. Alternatively, after reaching Rank 4, the Secret Pavilion would pay them to stay instead.
Helena somehow managed to get through such countermeasures and didn’t even register within the Secret Pavilion’s radar.
Harry was admiring for the first time, the women who had finally returned back to Earth. He was completely glued to their faces and figured, entranced by how beautiful women could actually be. “Master, I finally understand why none of the beauties back in the other world could move you. I fully understand.”
A compliment that came from his own desires.
Harry gave Cain a thumbs up to him. Cain looked at the girls showing off their curves on the streets and sighed, “They’re just wearing makeup. You’ll get over it soon.”
“Hehehe, I don’t think I will.” Harry tried to walk up to one of them when Cain grabbed him by the collar.
“We have more important things to do. Follow me,” Cain dragged Harry away against his will. “If Helena hears about this then you just might get disowned.”
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Harry was trying to claw his way out of Cain’s grip yet once he heard Helena’s name, he immediately stopped fighting back and properly followed Cain.
Helena’s name is such a good threat. I should remember this. Cain noted to himself.
“Where are we going, Master? Harry finally recomposed himself and finally looked the noble that he was supposed to be. His blond hair and emerald eyes, alongside his dastardly tempting face, made the onlooking girls slightly fawn over him while some of the guys turned jealous.
“We’re going to ask for a blacksmith to teach us the basics of forging.” Cain didn’t trust Harry enough to let him be. He was keeping a tight leash on Harry’s movements.
“Why can’t we just use our own place… oh, yeah… we can’t really use them. The same goes for my room too. So why can’t we just ask a blacksmith to let us use their rooms?” Harry suggested.
“I don’t think we can really do that. It’s better for us to lay low and just listen to them while we get our mastery up. Once we can wield our tools in our basement then we should be good but until then we have to suffer like this.
Harry precisely nodded his head. “Understood, Master.”
Meanwhile, inside the store, Helena took the rabid Nue out of her room, more like dragging her out but that was beside the point. “I’m taking you out to train. You should make yourself useful for once you rabid dog.”
“Training is boring!” Nue tried to escape Helena’s grip but couldn’t. Nue’s ability was taken out from her so severely that she was even weaker than a normal human. This made it look extremely weird as Helena, a child, was dragging a teenager out.
“There’s sparring too, you can fight to your heart’s content. Happy now?” Helena continued on to drag Nue but this time she wasn’t fighting back as hard anymore. She finally got sedated by the promise of fights. However, that didn’t help their image as passing pedestrians wondered about them.
Back to Cain and Harry, their appeal for apprenticeship was surprisingly approved very quickly. A very vigorous middle-aged man with messy hair showed up in front of them. “You lads have a good eye. I can’t believe a bunch of youngsters could actually find out about yours truly.”
Cain whispered to Harry, “I thought your luck was good. Why are we talking to a lunatic?”
“Master, I wish I had the answer but for now I think we should listen along to his ramblings. It might make him feel better.”
“Gahahaha! Two aspiring blacksmiths suddenly appeared before me after being rejected by every other workshop in town! Your luck truly is legendary!” The middle-aged man continued speaking.
“Not really, you were more like the first person we asked.” Cain blatantly said.
“Ahem, is that so?” The middle-aged man shook his head and regained his composure. “Nevertheless, fate just seems to love you. My name’s Garred, the greatest smith of the other world. My blades forged from dragon breath could pierce through the void! The war hammers I crafted could shake the very foundation of the planet itself! The knives I delicately…”
“Master I think I was wrong, we should find someone else,” Harry whispered.
Cain nodded, “Anyways, Sir Garred, it seems as if it getting late I think we should-”
“What do you mean late? It’s early in the morning! It’s not even lunchtime yet!”
“Master, master, I think you messed up the wrong line!” Harry nervously tugged Cain’s shirt.
“You think I didn’t notice?! He’s starring daggers at me right now!” Cain was edging closer to the door that could lead to his freedom.
“It looks like you two haven’t realized just how great I actually am. You must’ve been teleported to a world that hasn’t been as developed as mine.” Garred, the self-proclaimed best blacksmith of his world, said this to the man who had crafted a robe of immense strength that even the absolute peak monster of the greatest civilization had to appreciate.
Unfortunately, that same person was very clueless as well, “No, no, I believe you. Let’s get to work.” Cain was now forced to follow along with the ‘greatest blacksmith of his world.’
“Master, I think we’re getting killed.” Harry kept on whispering to Cain.
“I hope Helena feeds Nue well. She’s a pretty picky eater.” Cain sighed.
Meanwhile, Helena and Nue’s adventure had changed a bit slightly. For some reason, Nue was holding a thin metal chopstick in her hand and was surrounded by four elite guardians. Their battle had been swift yet extremely brutal.
“Drop your weapon, woman!” A Rank 2 trembled in the face of such an overwhelming force. “It’s still not too late to surrender yourself!”
“Nue, listen to the man!” Helena was eating a bowl of noodles and watching the entire scene unfold. “If you don’t listen then you’ll have to fight him!” Helena went back to watching the scene in front of her unfold.
“Fight?” Nue looked back at Helena grinned sadistically at the group of Rank 2 guards and rushed in. “Hahaha! Come at me!”
“Argh! Don’t break formation! Her attacks are lethal!” A Rank 2 guard parried her stab, only to notice that the greatsword in his hand had multiple holes in it already.
“Hey, you there, block your neck! Nue likes attacking weak points!” Helena kindly warned the guard who barely dodged Nue’s iron chopstick. He felt his entire body freeze up as he just narrowly escaped death. A red mark cutting through his skin could be seen as a droplet of blood formed.
This never gets old. Helena enjoyed her after-breakfast meal in peace. It would’ve been better if Cain made me something. Which reminds me, I wonder what they are doing right now?
Cain and Harry are currently listening to Garred explain the process of how to properly create a blade. He explained that each metal had a specific purpose, some were better suited to be the handle of a spear, while others were better suited to be the blade of a sword. He told them the accurate way to observe and determine how to properly use each metal.
While Harry was starting to doze off, Cain was actually interested. He had never thought about it before, he just used whatever metal he had on hand to create a weapon that he wished. He didn’t think about it at all.
“How about a demonstration? I’ll give it to you as a gift.” Garred proudly announced. “Don’t worry it’ll be included in the fee. Hehehe, 1,000 Low-Quality Mana Stones should be enough!”
Does this guy have a system too? How does he know how much I have enough? Cain shivered at the thought.
“Fine, here you go…” Cain felt his heart completely bleed out but decided to still fork it out.
Garred then proceeded to start the forge. Instead of common coal, he did something else, he used pure mana as his fuel source. This kind of technique is the kind of technique that would completely revolutionize the entire concept of forging.
Using his literal blood and sweat as the catalyst to forge his own the blade was his own personal developed technique. Each hammer strike resonated with the metal, creating a beautiful sound causing even the sleepy Harry to finally realize just what kind of greatness he was experiencing was.
As the hammer that Garred struck down on the molten sword resonated with each other, so did it resonate within the entire city. Countless swords within the city trembled before the birth of a new monarch. Even the choir of the swords resonated with the rhythmic strikes of perfection.
Garred was initially casually forging a sword for demonstration but suddenly shifted into something much more grand than he could ever expect. “This sword! This will be my first legacy of many to come! From the fires of rebirth, the world changes and grows and so will this! I, Garred Youston, name my first masterpiece, New Age!”
As the mana within Garred started depleting at a rapid pace, he laughed out loud as power surged within himself. He was running out of time forging it yet it wasn’t enough for what he wanted. He could still push it!
“New Age! Not yet! You are still undone!” Garred continued pouring in his mana on full blast when an intruder suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Garred could feel it’s power rise to an unbelievable amount, Rank 5, Rank 6, Rank 7… it was still pushing even harder!
“Need help?” Another old man appeared from within the darkness. “I can help you supplement enough mana to forge the sword but I have one condition.”
Garred was pouring his entire everything into the sword, “Name it! Quickly!”
“I desire to purchase this sword from you.”
“That… as a proud blacksmith, I will not bend my words! This sword belongs to that man over there! My apprentice!” Garred pointed at Cain. Cain immediately felt the judging looks of this mysterious old man.
Cain looked around to see that he really was looking at him. “I don’t really need the sword. You can buy it…” Cain didn’t want a target on his back at all! Helena’s eyes were more than enough for that.
“Well, that is good enough for me.” The old man then poured in his own surgically pure mana into Garred, fueling him even further to push his limits. Upper Rank 7, Peak Rank 7, Lower Rank 8… it was still pushing through its limits, rising to beyond what it should.
Garred felt his bone solidify, his muscles taut, his skin unbreaking, and even his mind push through the very boundary of mortality. It felt as if he was forging his very existence and reflecting the results on New Age. Higher Rank 8… the power held within the sword had already surpassed the greatest danger that the current world was facing.
Countless other experts went over in response to the cry of their swords, feeling that a new tyrant would be born. A sword among swords, a king among kings, a sword that would rule for a long time to come. At the very edge of possibilities, the sword had reached… Peak Rank 8!
As the mysterious old man’s mana was starting to finally get depleted, Garred could see that they were just that one tiny bit off from letting New Age approach perfection. Harry who was currently listening to the sound of metal molding metal suddenly said out loud, “That sounds nice. Though doesn’t New Age sound weird? Wouldn’t it be better named, The Dawn of a New Age?”
At once, the sword, previously named New Age, started breaking through the mold that it once had. After taking on a new name for itself, The Dawn of a New Age, the first sword to reach its peak, finally appeared on Earth. The very first Rank 9 sword was finally born.
“Woah? I guess I was just lucky, haha.” Harry laughed to himself as the first Rank 9 sword bestowed itself upon him. It hovered in front of Harry, submitting its very existence before him “Hey Master, here you go.”
Harry casually threw the very first crafted Rank 9 sword towards Cain who then pointed it at the old man. “So… how much are you buying it for?”
Compared to when it hovered in subservience towards, Harry, the sword, The Dawn of a New Age, trembled in complete and utter fear when Cain held it within his hands. The old man saw this and realized something very cruel.
A Rank 9 sword suddenly being born out of nowhere? That’s blasphemy! These two people before him were the true monsters that could allow a Rank 9 sword to be born out of nowhere. He could not mistake the complete and utter fear of the sword in Cain’s hands.
He… he’s the true reason why the sword was born! A true divine being! The old man trembled as he was faced with reality.
“It was pretty expensive getting this sword. So, what’s your price?” Cain saw that it was pretty cool but that was all. When he examined the sword he realized something really terrible.
[Item: The Dawn of a New Age
Power Level: Super Duper Weak (Really Bad)
Description: Forged by a completely inept blacksmith named Garred Youston. Inefficient forging techniques accompanied by the distaste of the heavens above, this is a blunt sword that’s only good for decoration. Fortunately, Harry’s luck let this useless piece of iron show off something cool for people to see.
Point Value: 0.2]
Tch, trash after all! Cain scoffed.
This clearly opened Cain’s eyes as it started to reflect on his status window. He felt as if this wasn’t such a waste when he saw his status screen next.
[Host: Cain Ex
Power Level: Super Weak
Mastery: Apotheosis Crafter - Basic Mastery Lvl. 1
Body: None
Points: 126,250]
Wow, I guess the 1,000 Low-Quality Mana Stones weren’t wasted after all. Cain nodded as he was decently happy with the results.