The principal’s face darkened immediately because a large crowd has gathered at the other stall. He has no way to counter this move by the Devilheart family except by risking his own position, and right now Kairos do not have such a worth within his plans yet.
But for the others, there were hyped to see the creators of the two most successful auctions to open their stalls at the same location. A sizable amount of people arrived at an instance, even reputable businessman and master craftsmen.
Even a blind man could see that the seal sword made by the Devilheart family is a direct challenge to Kairos’ goods, and they can’t wait to see what kind of retaliation the boy would do. After all, they are both young and hot-blooded!
However, it was the old steward of Calculus that started the ball rolling, “Everyone, thank you for coming to our young master’s stall. The items on display are the same as the one sold on the auction. Each of our weapons is finely crafted to be peerless in their tier.
In fact, an inferior steel weapon will be able to dominate even vortex metal weapons if it is made by our family. It’s perfect for your family’s guards! Please, come over and take a closer look.”
“Damnit, this clan of sly-faced foxes!” Alan swore. They won't have a single sale if the opposite stall continues to advertise like this.
Calculus who was standing across them heard it and glared at Kairos, giving him a cold stare. His expression seemed to be saying, “Learn to control your dogs to not bark as they like.”
Then, the young noble walked across the pavement, stopping only when he is right before their booth and shouted for all to hear, “Kairos, don’t think that our family have forgotten your arrogance. Today will be a little payback. I will make your grand opening into a grand closing.”
“Oh really?” Jones spoke as he looked straight into Calculus’ eyes.
As a born-fighter, he naturally could maintain his composure towards aggressors, but when it comes to money, just a little bit of provocation is like throwing oil on fire.
All of a sudden, Jones’ figure flew towards Calculus’ stall with such great speed that even the steward and guards who are B ranked fighters were unable to react to this sudden rush.
There is no way anyone could expect that Jones will rampage right in the middle of the academy and also in front of such a large crowd, so they were unable to prevent his approach.
The guards of the Devilheart family immediately drew their swords, but the unthinkable did not happen.
In the fraction of a second, Jones is back by Kairos’ side once again, but in his hands, he held a seal sword which he took from Calculus’ stall. With a flick of his hand, he threw the stolen object to Kairos.
“What are you giving me this for?” Kairos said while holding the seal sword like it belongs in the trash.
“I thought that you could glean from it to create a counter to their seal sword,” Jones confidently replied Kairos, then turned and looked at Calculus, and with a voice heavy with sarcasm, he exclaimed, “Calculus! You say that you can close our stall by beating us in business? Why don’t we make a bet on who shall shut down who today?”
“Huh? Wait, how do I create a counter weapon?” Kairos asked blankly. What happened is already completely out of his expectations.
“With your brains, it should be no problem!” he declared proudly while laughing, then, with a tiny voice that no one else could hear, “You created a cultivation method for me on the spot, and so far it is superior to anything I’ve seen before. The more I practised it, the more amazed I am!
With your abilities, making a counter weapon should be as easy as breathing.
Didn’t you also make the refinement method for engraving weapons? I’m sure with Calculus’ seal sword you can do something spectacular.”
With a frown on his eyebrows, Kairos sent a strand of his Soul Perception into the seal sword. To make a counter weapon on the spot is definitely testing his limits.
Suddenly Calculus laughed loud, drawing the attention of everyone, “Hahaha. What morons. Everyone, did you hear how these fools dare to claim that they can create a weapon that overwhelms the ones craft by my Devilheart family?”
“There’s no point in playing with words. If you don’t dare to take my bet, just pack up and go home!”
Calculus was about to rebuke Jones. However, Jim hurriedly added, “And if lost, you will close down your stall and slap yourself on your face while apologising. I dare you!”
As the serial prankster of the group, he can accurately deduce the most hurtful words for Calculus’ pride, and he shrewdly put it across in a way the other party could not decline.
As he expected, Calculus immediately took the bait, “Fine! But if your side loses, then I want all six of you to cut off your right arms!”
Hearing his vicious demand, even Jones’ face paled. It’s not because he is afraid to cut off his own arm, but because this bet has become something his friends may need to pay for. Even if Jones has very few friends, he treats each of them preciously, and the magnitude of this bet honestly scares him.
“Sure, you can take our arms home if you can beat us,” Alan said the moment he saw a smirk on their captain’s face. Surely Kairos have discovered something after sending his Soul Perception into the seal sword.
“S…sure…!” Jim who didn’t see Kairos’ expression could only pretend to be gutsy. At this stage, if they are going to be crippled, then they will brave it together! It’s better than letting the enemy always walking over them, right?
He has experienced such things too many times before! If Calculus managed to bully them once, the second time would come swiftly, and more vicious than before.
“Haha, don’t need to be scared Jim, this is no big deal!” Tommy who also didn’t saw the smirk has instead laughed with ease. If giving up one of his arms can uphold the pride of his friends, he wouldn’t twitch an eye to do so.
Now, the only one that has not spoken is Edward. But he did not need to say anything either. His aura spread like a heavy chill, and at once, Calculus and his men shivered. It was as if death is tightening his claws around their necks.
“Nonsense!”
When the scale of the bet has become huge, Kairos is the one that spoke up. He knows that they do not actually have to agree with such an imbalanced wager. How could Calculus shutting down his stall and slapping himself compare to the right arm of all six of them?
“If you want one arm from each of us, then in return you need to add…”
Kairos~
As he was speaking, Aias’ voice suddenly sounded in his mind.
That boy has something precious on him! It is an Orc crystal egg, but it is very different and very powerful. Aias sense that you may need it!
Hearing that, made Kairos’ mindset. He had at first wanted to gather more money for the Snowdrifts by asking Calculus to top up on his bet, but if Aias felt that this Orc crystal egg is special, then it probably is a better choice.
“… you will have to add in the Orc crystal egg that you have on you.”
Calculus’ face turned dark when he heard what Kairos wants. There is no way that this peasant boy should know about the egg that he swiped from the Orc hatchery but somehow he did.
While many will pay a heap for a magical beast’s egg, the Orc’s eggs are nothing special, and even if it was sold for a handsome sum of money, the return is too little for the heir of the Devilheart house to care.
The only reason he had interest in that egg was that it was somewhat different from the rest and at the time of the raid he wanted a souvenir. After he brought it back to his family to research, what is unique about this egg is still completely unknown to him.
However, using this egg that has no actual value to him to cripple all his enemies in one fell swipe… It’s worth it!
After that, only Luciette will be left for him to deal with. Even the White Snow clan could not protect her!
“Fine. But I wouldn’t want you to go back on your words. We will seal our bets with soul slips.”
Under Calculus’ suggestion, the seven of them sent a fragment of their souls into their jade with the winning conditions.
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As long as they do not go back on their own words, their soul will not resonate with the jade slip, and the slip will stay harmless.
The format they decided for the wager is rather simple. Calculus and Kairos’ side will each produce a weapon to clash against each other in the same way as the auction until a winner naturally appears.
After that have set up the bet, the two parties are supposed to prepare a weapon from each side. Seeing that Kairos only have copper, iron and steel weapons, Calculus produced a Black-Gold sword with a glint in his eyes.
This weapon is made from one of the highest tier ore that the empire could craft. Its strength is three whole tiers above steel weapons, the best that Kairos have. With such a powerful vessel, his family could embed a much stronger seal stone into the sword.
It was a magnificent weapon with unnatural sharpness, even if it is completely unrefined, it would still be able to break even vortex metal weapons with enough strikes easily; not to mention steel weapons.
Of course, Kairos couldn’t win with what he currently has. In fact, unless he can find a high-grade uninscribed sword, he hardly stands a chance, but to get one out of nowhere is even more impossible.
The only way to win lies in his runes.
He took a sword from his stall and immediately started the refine it before everyone’s eyes.
His friends wordlessly covered his actions from sight, and it prompted Alucard and the principal to help him set up concealment barriers. With their help, no one could tell his methods.
When Kairos previously sent his soul perception to probe Calculus’ weapon, he had truly discovered something. The seal stone had drawn on his soul energy like a whirlpool, and it made him remember something similar that happened to him before.
Two whole hours later, after some testing and tempering, his weapon is finally complete. It was much faster than the onlookers had expected, but still within their realm of acceptance. After all, he is the creator of the original inscriptions, and it looked as though he was only adjusting the previous runes for the bet.
Considering his age, to be able to finish within two hours it was impressive, but any master Inscriptionists only needs half the time.
Now that they can carry out the wager, the two sides started searching for neutral testers in the crowd.
There were many eager to volunteer. It is definitely a good opportunity to have first-hand experience with a new weapon, if only for the bragging rights. However, in the end, they finally settled on an old instructor that is neither affiliated with the Third Prince nor the Fifth Prince and a young lady from the Trade Federate. The former had a head full of wispy white hair, and both his arms and legs are shaking. Age had worn him down unkindly, but his eyes were still filled with sharp wit. On the other hand, the latter wore trendy robes and had a clean and pretty face. Her seductive eyes seemed to draw breath away from every bat.
Though both of them looked weak physically and had similar cultivation, the woman already won over the crowd with her looks.
As their arrangement, the two were offered the weapons. The old man took Kairos’ steel sword with trembling hands that looked like he will fall over from a strong gust.
The young woman stood gallantly, as her Ki coated Calculus’ Black Gold seal sword. Just a look is enough to tell that she is, in fact, a highly trained swordsman and not only a simple attendant from the Trade Federate.
“Oh no! Kairos is at a huge disadvantage now.”
“Indeed, look at her stance, the way she holds the weapon, she is like an unsheathed blade herself!”
“This isn’t fair, why didn’t they pick someone more carefully?”
“It can’t be helped, they can only select those with similar strength through sensing cultivation levels. The extent of physical strength of external practitioners cannot be measured by sight, and thus they picked the weakest looking ones, but Sword Mastery is completely unreadable until the swordsman reveals their skill.”
“Well, then why didn’t she say so in the first place?”
“Hah, why should she? If I’m in her shoes, I will also do the same. The wager is agreed upon by the two sides, and no one can cry foul after selecting the testers. Wouldn’t the Devilheart family handsomely reward me if I happen to bring them any significant advantage?”
“How should we use these weapons?” The old man asked for the both of them.
“For my weapon, you need to insert a bit of your internal energy into it. When it senses your Ki, it will be engulfed in flames,” Kairos said calmly. The activation for this weapon seemed no different from the one he sold on the auction.
“For my weapon, just as before, you do not need to do anything and simply strike down your opponent’s sword. The seal stone within will act against any foreign energy and do the rest,” Calculus proudly explained.
Just by their instructions, the onlookers already determined that Calculus’ weapon is still the superior one. Not only that, the time Kairos spent was really too short.
This refinement speed is way too fast for a mere boy to create a counter-weapon. The possibility of doing so is simply unthinkable!
Many people mumbled their thoughts out. Almost everyone believed that Kairos had been over-confident.
“He is too young after all. Just a little success made him think himself invincible.”
“Maybe he thought that if his engraved swords could create much more elemental power, it will overwhelm the seal sword?”
“Ah, that’s possible, I guess? The firepower of his refined weapon is strong enough to melt green copper stone after all.”
“Nah, there’s no way he could melt a Black-Gold weapon. A single Black-Gold sword is enough to cut down a meter-thick steel wall with ease.”
“What he said is true. I once had the fortune to own a weapon of such a tier. Maybe if young master Calculus had picked a steel seal sword, the boy’s upgrade could still melt it, but a Black-Gold weapon? There’s simply no way!”
“I guess he is indeed inflated with his self-esteem... No wonder people say early life success is the most dangerous. What a waste.”
The crowd started feeling pity for Kairos. Such a young and talented boy had stupidly sealed his fate using soul slips. Not only did he bet his right arm, but it was also merely to win back his honour and an Orc’s egg!
That’s the most ridiculous bet they have all seen or heard. How could he cultivate or become a top-tier inscriptionist after losing an arm? In return, how much would one’s honour worth? Can it be eaten? And, the add-on prize of an Orc Egg is even more nonsensical. Orcs are extremely low ranking magical beasts! Their strength lies in their numbers, in fact, getting a human combat slave would be better!
However, even though most shook their heads truly believing in Kairos’ eventual loss, they still held a hope that a miracle could happen.
That wish was not formed because they wanted him to win, but simply for a more entertaining sight for them.
Only his brothers – those that raised hell and braved death with him - truly believed in his victory.
As their commotion brewed, Snow, Leaf, Small and Smaller hurried over. Likewise, those from the Snowdrifts were gathering. They had left their stall unattended and rushed over, hoping to be able to help out somehow.
After joining the crowd, they had to ask around what had happened, and their faces turned ghastly pale when they heard about the bets.
Snow was about to rush forward to stop this childish wager which could cripple the six most talented fighters of their age when Luciette stepped in front of her and shook her head.
Luciette and George had been here since the start, but the two had hidden their presence in the crowd because they felt there was no need to step up.
“Snow, don’t stop them. Kairos will win for sure,” she said.
“Huh? Why do you say that? I thought you hated him and his group?”
“That’s because they tricked me! I won’t forget what those jerks did! But... but… Kairos is a respectable opponent. Those that looked down on him will suffer. Don’t you see his relaxed gait?”
The four nodded in agreement after looking carefully at Kairos, then George added on, finishing what Luciette had started, “With that easy manner, I may not know what he is up to, but no doubt he has something in store for us. After all, he is someone that have overturned countless unfavourable situations, and this time as well, I expect him to do so.”
“Let’s watch carefully. If he lost the bet, then it just means this is all he amounts to.”
The old instructor infused his energy into Kairos’ steel sword. Despite his age, his Ki had not weakened at all. The weapon quickly glowed brightly as the fire runes inscribed on it activated. Soon a bright golden glow is emitted from the weapon, making it look like a small sun held in the old man’s hand.
The young lady from the Trade Federate nodded her head to indicate she is ready as well. For a craftsman, she had held many weapons previously and is no stranger to using one.
The two stepped forward to a comfortable distance, and then aimed at each other’s weapon.
*Pang*
The weapons of the two adversaries clashed loudly once again.
The fiery weapon sparkled radiantly against the pitch black sword with a metallic sheen.
The moment the two blades touched, all the fire Ki that was on Kairos’ steel sword was sucked into Calculus’ Black Gold sword, and there was immediately a crack on the steel sword.
For a moment, the crowd froze.
“That is the Swooping Crow Slash! Great technique! She found the weakness in the steel and instantly struck it… How could Kairos win this way?”
“Not only, even without using sword skills, their weapon’s base materials are also too different.”
“Indeed, the seal stone in the Black Gold weapon has much more capacity and is too powerful for the other. Before it could be melted, the energy is absorbed.”
A few people sighed. The scene they wish to play out has not happened indeed.
All of a sudden, while invisible to everyone’s eyes but registered in the soul perception of the six boys, a small fire dragonling swam out of Kairos’ steel sword and went into Calculus’ seal sword.
The fire dragon fearsomely travelled through the Black-Gold blade seeking where its flames had gone with terrible wrath. When it located the seal stone that stolen all the energies, it greedily took a large bite at the seal stone.
*CRACK*
Swimming about within the black gold, it clashes against the seal stone again and again. Chunks after chunks of energy and seal power are bitten off by the tiny dragon.
With each bite, the dragon grew larger. Made of pure Ki, it could assimilate the fiery energies that came from the runes on the sword.
Finally, after the tenth clash, the seal stone shattered into dust, and the small dragon swam back into Kairos’ steel sword with a satisfied look.
While this happened, the two testers did not even have the time to pull back their sword from the first clash.
In fact, the speed where the fire dragon Ki clashed against the seal sword was so quick that even the six boys could hardly track it. They only felt a small string of light swirling extremely quickly and striking the seal stone multiple times within a fraction of a second.
Even Kairos who had the best capacity with Soul Perception barely counted how many times the small dragon struck because it was simply too swift. The rest of them only felt a blur of reverberations. Even the talented Jones failed. Granted, he is also the most inexperienced among them.
When the two blades parted, the sword in the old instructor’s hand immediately blared out with large flames once again.
This amount of power that is suddenly released have exceeded the threshold of refined steel weapons, yet somehow the metal managed to endure.
Most of the onlookers were only shocked by its force, but the craftsmen went into deep thoughts.
They did not know that there was a fire dragon dwelling within the sword, and with its control, the flames could no longer threaten the metal. Unfortunately, the existence of a Ki dragonling was simply unthinkable, and none of the craftsmen could reason out the phenomenon.
Instead, they only became even more tempted to bring home a sword for research. Too bad, even the most talented amongst them would be unable to discover anything since almost all inscribed weapons have the presence of Ki within. A Ki Dragon? What is that?
The two testers struck at each other’s’ weapon again. Aside from the Origin Energy users, none knew that the match had already been settled.
This time when the two sword edges met, the fire dragon bit the Black-Gold itself.
The metal that was eaten immediately transferred into the steel blade and began to combine into a new alloy.
“Oh no! Aisa stop the fire dragon!”
Aisa immediately heard his thoughts and sent a message to the fire dragon Ki. This ability to augment the material of the weapon is too huge of a news for the empire. If anyone noticed, countless would die for its secrets!
Fortunately, the dragonling stopped in time, and obediently burned away the Black-Gold it ate.
This fire dragon is actually the same kind of existence as the frost dragon Ki that Kairos had sent into Xuan Xian’s rolling pin.
Made from a part of Kairos’ Origin Energy, it follows its creator’s will and is sentient.
Unfortunately, despite the fact that it could understand words, there was no way for Kairos to speak out before the crowd. Especially, the knowledge that the creator of the sword can order the sword around no matter who is wielding it would be huge trouble.
Fortunately, there is someone who could converse without words cuddled in his pockets.
Everyone in the crowd looked at what happened with stunned faces.
Their shock was from the fact that the Black-Gold sword’s blade had chipped against Kairos’ steel sword.
If they knew that the steel weapon almost upgraded itself with the Black-Gold’s metal, maybe none would be able to remain conscious from the shock.
“Ah!” The old instructor cried out, “It… it’s sucking out my internal energy!”
Kairos’ face turned grim at once. He had imparted his will to absorb all energies and destroy any opposition to the dragonling.
The fire dragon Ki took to the instruction literally, and began to absorb all the internal energy of the sword holder, and even attack the old instructor when he resisted.
“Speak to the sword, esteemed instructor. It will be able to understand you and stop at once.”
Kairos quickly explained to the instructor since it would be too odd for anyone who is looking if he gets Aias to stop the fire dragon Ki, once again and the sword appears to cease activation by itself.
Those that heard him all received another shock of their life. Telling, verbally, to a weapon to stop? And, it is expected to obey?!
What kind of sentient weapon is this?
“S…stop… absorbing my power….?” The old man said with disbelief.
Immediately the fire dragon stopped. It had also heard the words of its creator - to stop if it was told so – and it simply obeyed the same way like how Xuan Xian’s rolling pin could.
Actually, sentient weapons are not unknown in the world. However, it is simply too rare, and for a country that depends heavily on imports, it is normal that the people had no familiarity with such items. The crowd were flabbergasted! Finally, a Runemaster who is talented enough to forge one has appeared!
Unfortunately, Kairos was not finished with his surprises.
“Now that the steel sword has absorbed enough of your internal energy, this weapon is now able to activate by itself without requiring any infusion of energy for a while. It can now serve as a seal sword and an engraved weapon simultaneously.”
Predictably, several of the older members in the crowd fainted after hearing his declaration. This isn’t the first time that people turned their eyes backwards and went into deep meditation on the meaning of life because of him, so Kairos did not even blink an eye when it happened.
The significance is too great for their minds to absorb and overloaded. This type of weapon means that any person can now use an engraved weapon. Even non-practitioners!
Not only could it absorb the power from the opponents like the Devilheart’s seal weapons, but it can also be infused with energy before a battle, only to be unleashed when needed.
Not only is this useful for internal practitioners, but this also means that external practitioners can now use this weapon to augment their limited amount of internal energy. In the past, inscribed weapons and armours will take up a chunk of their Ki in battle, and it is a fatal flaw for those without enough stamina.
A wager between children has suddenly become something more than revolutionary. The weapons that Kairos made has already altered the future of warfare.
The most important question now for the crowd is confirming if he could mass produce such weapons.