After taking leave of Sophien, he thought about how school officially started tomorrow, and it was still early. So he decided to use that forging voucher.
For this trip to the academy, apart from figuring out how to get Helgort out, the only thing he was interested in was this.
He took out the forging voucher, and it seemed to read his mind, emitting a faint glow. Then, a route appeared out of nowhere in his mind.
“Magic… it’s really convenient.” Thinking about his current situation, he chuckled self-deprecatingly. Then he followed the route in his mind.
Soon, he arrived at a deserted blacksmith shop that looked like it had gone out of business.
Outside the shop, a chubby child was playing on top of an anvil. Noticing Man En approaching, he first shouted, “Customer!” then immediately fell off the anvil. Man En wanted to help him up, but the child scrambled toward the house.
This sudden situation left Man En speechless. Then, a man with stubble was reluctantly pushed out by the child.
“Are you the one who wants something forged?” he asked casually.
‘What’s with this arrogant tone? I’m the customer…’ Before he even spoke to him, Man En was already getting angry.
“Before we start, let me make this clear. I work on the principle of getting what you pay for. If you’re broke but want the best, go somewhere else.”
‘He’s already chasing me away! How much does he not want to work?’ Man En started to wonder if he had been scammed. But if this voucher were fake, why would so many students fight for it? Anyway, he decided to show the voucher first.
“Hm?”
“From the academy?”
“Yes.”
The man’s attitude improved significantly upon seeing the voucher.
“You came at a bad time. A month ago, someone paid a high price to order a large number of weapons from me. I can’t forge for you now, unless you have your own materials.”
“A month ago? And bought a large number of weapons? Could it be the Heretic God Sect here?”
“Um, could you tell me what that person looked like?”
As soon as he said that, the boss looked at Man En with contempt. “Are you insulting me? I’m a businessman, no matter what. I would never sell out a customer!”
‘Well, he’s relatively upright. Looks like I won’t get any information from him.’ On second thought, it probably wasn’t the Heretic God Sect anyway, since those guys would never buy things honestly. Since things had come to this, there was no point in staying. Man En could only leave dejectedly.
But just as he turned around, a person in a black robe brushed past him.
Sensing his mana fluctuation, a strange yet familiar feeling filled his mind.
‘No mistake, this guy… is a Divine Emissary!’ Man En was shocked, but he didn’t say anything.
He circled around and found a suitable spot to observe this person.
“Are the weapons I ordered ready?” A low voice spread around, feeling particularly oppressive.
“Of course! Fu, bring out the goods for the customer to see!”
The child heard the order and immediately bounced toward the house.
With the sound of heavy gears grinding, a comically large box slowly slid out of the room. On top, the huge lid flipped down, revealing hundreds of neatly arranged weapons, each emitting a faint magical glow. Even Man En was staring wide-eyed.
Obviously, this boss’s forging skill was on a different level from ordinary craftsmen. With such ability, his arrogant behavior was no surprise.
“The goods are all here. Deduct the deposit, and pay the remaining balance in one go!”
“Hehehe… well, sorry about that…”
“Oh?”
“Trying to welch?”
The blacksmith’s face turned amused.
“Then I’m sorry too, no refund on the deposit!”
“Fu!”
“Fu?”
“Are you calling him?”
The black-robed man said coldly, watching the flustered blacksmith. He slowly extended his hand from under the robe, and held in it was the unconscious child.
‘How is that possible? How did he do it?’ As Man En was astonished, a chilling murderous intent spread freely.
“Bastard! Let him go!”
The blacksmith went crazy trying to charge forward, but he couldn’t move a step. Something transparent blocked his path, useless against all his attacks.
“Your existence is a threat to us, so today I must kill you. Blame your own talent!”
As he finished, the killing intent peaked. “Die!”
“Ground Shrink Extreme!” With a huge roar, the airflow became extremely chaotic. Sand and stones flew around, taking a long time to settle.
“Oh?” The black-robed man looked at the dagger approaching his neck, completely indifferent.
“Damn! What’s up with this guy? Why can’t I stab him?”
Man En was also startled by the sudden situation, but quickly realizing something was wrong, he changed targets and with extreme speed cut the child’s lifted collar. Then he rapidly retreated backward.
He stared blankly at Man En, as if trying to confirm who this person was and why he had no memory of him.
Man En, on the other hand, was on high alert. From that brief clash, the feeling of spatial dislocation… he was now certain that the enemy before him was the successor to Li En, the new emissary of the God of Space.
Recalling that troublesome ability gave Man En a headache. Under the current circumstances, even at full strength before, he would have no chance in a direct confrontation, let alone with two burdens.
If there was one good news, it was that he had successfully contacted Sophien. So the course of action was clear. One word: stall. Stall until Sophien arrives!
Man En made up his mind, but the next moment he felt two invisible things rapidly approaching. Startled, he quickly jumped away, bringing the blacksmith and the child with him.
The black-robed man watched Man En dodge his attack, finding it hard to believe. Without any mana, how could he have dodged?
“What? Surprised that I could avoid it?”
“Hmph, buying time? No matter how fast you are, I’ll just seal you up.”
As the black-robed man slowly clenched his hand, Man En felt a suffocating pressure coming from all directions. He tentatively touched the space around him, which was constantly contracting toward the center.
“In front of me, your speed means nothing.”
Man En, the blacksmith, and the child were trapped in the air by something invisible, completely unable to move. He tried to use Divine Light to resist, but it was useless.
“Die in peace!”
As the spatial prison tightened further, a sense of unease rose in Man En’s heart.
‘This is bad. If only I could still use mana…’ But that was impossible. His current body couldn’t store or absorb it.
‘Sophien… why isn’t she here? Am I forced to use that unknown skill?’
‘Damn… not much time left!’
Just as his patience was about to run out, a dragon roar resounded across the sky.
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