Just as they had stated, the results came after a few days. The Agency finalized its assessment process and gave an official announcement on Bastain’s new Archon rank. Abraham, already expecting this outcome, immediately threw a small party in Stefan’s backyard on the same afternoon. He had even planned to hire some expensive plaza for this occasion but was persuaded against it by Jack, for the Harper still hadn’t yet recovered to the point of lavish spending again. Moreover, Jack wanted to test out the other houses’ willingness first. If they felt like the recently-ruined Harper was too lowly for their taste, they didn’t need to show up. Of course, if it were Bastian's dirty old forge shop where the celebration was held, many would gladly crawl their way there if they had to. But since Bastian had conveniently ceded the bargaining power to the Harper, they would have to do the same.
The old smith didn’t bother himself with the fancy celebration at all. He only accepted attending since Jack had helped him big time. Bastian did cheat the test with his apprentice, but to say he didn’t deserve the outcome was just plainly wrong. After experiencing the forging process of Black Lightning Blade, the man could confidently say he would do it again, alone this time, especially when he had felt his enhanced spirit aspect and mana manipulation capability after the lightning strike.
Resting at a corner after having helped Stefan with some of his stuff, Jack frowned, staring at the old smith who was in his pair of tight suits, further highlighting his already enormous belly, walking around to pleasantly cheer with everyone in his path. This “master” of him had given the Harper a hard time convincing him to go to this celebration with all sorts of excuses; among them were exhaustion, all those smirking faces gave him a headache, and none of them were worthy enough to speak to “the great Bastian.” But, none of that became a problem anymore after his ear had caught something about “very expensive alcohol.” He then proceeded to let Jack and Abraham do basically everything.
“Good day, Jack,” Arnold Hensley walked forward, a pair of drinks in his hand. He gave the boy the one with fruit juice.
Jack politely stood up and received it, bowing his head.
“Hello, Mr. Arnold.”
“Oh, if only Patrick were here, then I could give you two more times to hang out with each other.”
Jack smiled as if he didn’t notice that it was a mockery of him being unable to attend Koisine.
Looking straight at the delightful and friendly pair of eyes under the monocle of the man before him, Jack calmly responded.
“Oh, I believe he’ll be back here soon.”
“And what do you mean by that,” Arnold frowned a bit.
“I mean, he has to visit his parents often, right?” Jack pretended to be a little nervous.
Arnold relaxed, realizing he had just let his distrust of his son slip.
“Yes, of course!” Arnold said with a smile.
Jack sighed.
“Oh well, I’ll return to the guest now. I think my dad is having a hard time handling this many people.”
Jack politely bowed, then quickly blended into the crowd. It was never pleasant acting nice and all with someone who had put a price on your head.
Arnold followed Jack with his darkened eyes. He, too, wasn’t fond of the conversation, but since everyone here seemed to be avoiding him, he had to start with something. Abraham’s intention was all too obvious to the guests when they saw the head of the Hensley household’s name on the list of invitations. Refuse, and it would be taken as a sign of weakness; accept, and he now had himself quite a rough night. Arnold had thought about killing some times by picking on Jack, but the boy had proven himself as tough as anyone in the garden.
Still, the man had other purposes here, to make it known that he was ready to play this grappling game with the Harper. He had spent a fortune to win Dan Herring to his side, and once the Artificer arrived, he would expect some minor houses to start gathering around him. After all, most essential high-ranking consumable items, such as Crusader Bomb and Grenade, were all under the influence of this man. Not everyone was wealthy enough to afford themself an Archon weapon.
Making his mind clear, Arnold calmly emptied his glass, surrounded by vigilance eyes.
Jack had also been observing the Hensley man but didn’t take it too seriously.
“Jack, come here!” Abraham called out from a distant table, where people with the most luxurious and formal of clothes gathered. That and Meinhard, who was still in his principal robe.
Jack greeted every one of them, lowering his head, then stood straight up so his father could start the introduction.
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“This is the mayor, Marvin Humphrey,” Abraham said, pointing his hand at the slim and tall man wearing all kinds of colorful jewelry.
“Greeting, Mr. Mayor,” Jack formally put his hand forward.
Marvin Humphrey laughed out loud seeing that, then put his hand on Jack’s shoulder and shook the point a bit.
“Like father like son!”
“Thank you for the compliment,” Jack said cheerfully.
“No wonder the boy can handle Bastian,” the decorous woman by the mayor's side commented. She wore a striking dress, dark blue, shimmering under the moonlight, letting people at the party know the fancy fabric’s worth.
“Who handled who?” Bastian waved his mug around. “Come, we’ll see who handles who.”
The old swordsmith, never known to be a polite and pleasant person, was already half-drunk. Sophie went and calmed him down, like calming an annoyed child, to the surprise of the guests.
Jack puffed, thinking Bastian was, after all, just a kid in an old man's appearance.
“This is Lena Quinn, the Guild Master of the Artificer Guild in Oxdale,” Abraham continued after Bastian had left. “I reckon you will see her a lot more in the near future.”
“Oh, I’ll be in your care then,” Jack spoke to Lena.
Unlike Marvin, Lena grabbed Jack’s hand with both of her. She, more than anyone else here, understood how much of an Artificer prodigy she was greeting to. The lady had learned how Jack had assisted Bastian during the most crucial part of the ascension examination. Though she was still a Crusader Artificer, for her, that alone proved Jack, with the right guidance, would go very far. Even so, she would have regretted not putting even more effort into befriending Jack had she learned he was the culprit behind the ascension.
“And that’s someone you’re already familiar with,” Abraham said with a blink of an eye.
“Good evening, Jack,” Meinhard delightfully cheered with the ten-year-old boy under the watchful eyes of the mayor.
Jack then proceeded to continue his conversation with Lena, the topic of which quickly turned to Marvin, who was still keeping his distance from the Harper’s father and son. After listening to Jack explaining in-depth technical matters of Artificer, even the Mayor had to quickly take part in the conversation. Lena, who had a strange knack for being on the same page with Jack, steered the talking toward trade and business, giving Abraham and Marvin more room to talk about, to which Jack quietly gave his sincere appreciation. Meinhard simply added one or two comments, just to remind everyone he had always been a staunch supporter of the Harper.
Arnold Hensley, still watching from afar, gritted his teeth seeing the five in their rumbling talk. Although Dan’s arrival had brought a small group of people with shared interests to his table, at the end of the day, Abraham had gotten what he had wanted.
It wasn’t until midnight that everyone started leaving en mass, and Jack found himself exhausted. In the good old days with Manuel, Elle, Emily, and Xerath, only the last one ever challenged him to a drinking contest. As he recalled his time with his friends, his consciousness slowly faded.
The next day came with Bastian and Jack, their arms crossed, staring at the removed left arm on the table surface.
“Are you sure about this?” Bastian warily asked.
“Certainly! Worst case scenario, I’ll just get another arm.”
“Hell, boy, as if you’re the one making them.”
Jack smiled, moving to the side to spread the design out.
“Alright, let’s get started!” Bastian said while breathing out.
Jack nodded, activating the micro-adjustor and putting the arm along with the required materials inside.
Bastian had given Jack a free bonus favor for his contribution to his ascension, which Jack immediately used to upgrade his arm, an idea he had been trying to convert onto the drawings, as well as validate it with the smith.
The upgrading process was even more costly than the original crafting one. Jack had to withdraw two hundred newly-acquired mana crystals from his growing business to pay for the materials. As for mana potions, he gave Bastian two of them, both level eight. The old swordsmith was no longer interested in asking where Jack had gotten them from.
Jack walked around, reminding Bastian of the crafting steps and tips, as well as directly involving himself in the process if something out of the ordinary occurred. It wasn’t until the night sky could be seen through the massive hole above them that Bastian finished. The smith had left it there as a memento of his recent glory, which Jack didn’t even bother to disagree with.
“Try it on!”
Jack nodded, then once again slit the amputated part of his arm.
After another painful connecting process, he raised his artificial arm up. With a thought of command, the arm quickly morphed into an oval shape with a hole at the end and a small tray above. Jack put a small mana crystal inside, and the thing was quickly absorbed.
Taking a deep breath, Jack channeled the newly added mana into the conversion unit inside the item. One second later, he pointed his arm upward. unleashing a mana projectile the size of his palm with a blast of shattering wood splinters.
“It works?” Bastian, surprised by the outcome, stared at the new hole on his rooftop.
To channel a projectile of that size would usually require a lot more time than that. Utilizing the power of a mana crystal, Jack had managed to build a mechanism to bypass this. Still, it was a very expensive shot, though the fact that he didn’t have to use his own mana to use it could come in handy.
Jack wanted to immediately try out Arcanist skills and abilities like Lightningbolt on this new arm of his but thought better of it. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust the old smith enough, but being cautious certainly wouldn’t harm anyone.
“Hey,” Bastian said, his face a pale red, “your dumbass has to fix the roof now. The only thing they’re reminding me about is how much of a troublemaker you are. No glory in that.”
Jack was too absorbed in his upgraded limb to pay any heed to the complaints. Something popped up in his mind; he looked like something he had seen a long time ago, something very memorable.
He exclaimed in exhilaration.
Megaman Jack ver 1!