Death... and me

“Alright, alright! Everyone, calm down! Can’t you see that I’m just a single person? It’s obviously impossible for me to make all your equipment like this,” Rean complained.

Roan didn’t know anything and kept waiting for Rean to continue. To make things faster, Rean simply decided to share his memories of the Flash Beast ‘egg’ that he found in the cave. ‘Anyways, Roan. I’ll talk to you later after I finish dealing with all these people wanting a piece of equipment.’

Roan also saw what was happening to Rean and nodded. ‘Alright. I’ll think about this issue while you’re at it. By the way, since you’re going to craft weapons, make a new scythe for me. I used the World Essence in the previous one, and now it broke apart.’

‘Such a waste…’ Rean couldn’t help but mutter inwardly. ‘Alright, I’ll work on it. There should be enough World Essence now to make one more weapon.’

Rean then returned his attention to the people around him. “For those who asked where I was, I had some business to take care of. In any case, the fact still stands that I’m back. Since you’re all here, I believe you all found about the Elements Gathering Equipment I’ve made in the Blacksmith Hall. However, there’s only so much I can make with the time I have. I can make one piece of equipment per day, that’s all. I’ll attend the people by order of arrival. I don’t give a fuck about your background nor how much you wish to pay. Now, who was the first to appear here?”

“Me!”

“No, it was me!”

“Like hell it was! I was here before any soul thought about it.”

Rean massaged his forehead after that. Obviously, it would be impossible to find the real one like that. However, a smile appeared on his face a moment later. “Oh, so all of you arrived here first, huh? Very well, let’s use a Soul Binding Contract stating that you must be telling the truth about your arrival. If it turns out to be a lie… let’s see… dying is too harsh… aha! If you lie, you will never get a piece of equipment from me ever.”

Immediately, all the voices disappeared. Obviously, it would be impossible to lie with a Soul Binding Contract in place. The worst part was that they wouldn’t get a piece of equipment for sure if they did.

After some time, a young woman stepped forward before saying. “My name is Hura, and I was the first one to arrive at your home’s doorstep.”

Rean nodded and looked around. No one there seemed to want to contest her claims, which proved that at least a few of them saw her here before themselves. The rest simply didn’t know. “You can prove it with a Soul Binding Contract, right?”

“Yes!” Hura immediately took a Soul Binding Contract from her spatial ring, ready to write the terms down. However, Rean held her hand before she did that. “No need. The fact no one’s contesting it is because they knew you were here before them. Very well, your request will be the first.”

Rean then looked at the rest. “It will be annoying to decide the next ones, so I’ll just say this. While I spend a day working on Hura’s equipment, I want you all to decide on an order for me to work. If I’m back and you haven’t decided by then, I’ll simply make you all draw lots.”

Rean turned around and decided to make his way to the Blacksmith Hall. However, some people there were not in it for the weapon. Instead, they were interested in Rean’s Elements Gathering Method. “Wait a moment.”

Suddenly, an old man came out of the crowd, followed by a few others. The disciples there could tell that they were all elders of the Sacred Land, so no one tried to intervene. “Before crafting their weapons, can you make an exception and forge a few for us? We are elders of the Blacksmith Hall and would like to study your technique.”

Some people thought that Rean wouldn’t like to hear that. After all, that basically meant they were trying to steal Rean’s ideas. However, Rean simply smiled back at them. “It depends. If the disciples here don’t mind it, I can work on your equipment first.”

The elders nodded, satisfied. Right after, the leader between them looked at the disciples around. “I believe no one here has a problem, right? Don’t try to bring your background against me, just saying.” He obviously didn’t seem afraid of whose some of those disciples were related to. Rean then looked around, and sure enough, there wasn’t a single voice of discord. Only ugly expressions could be seen as they knew they couldn’t go against the elders’ wishes. “There you go, Rean. You will work on our weapons first.”

“No problem. Which type do you want? The normal element gathering type, or the special edition? The normal type can jump one stage in power, while the special edition can jump two. The first one costs 100 Rank Two Divine Stones, the second one 300. As elders of the Sacred Land, you won’t actually try to make a new disciple work for free, right?”

“Hmph!” Rean’s words obviously hit their pride. “Here, take it.” The elder then threw Rean a Spatial Ring. There were ten elders there, so there were 3000 Rank Two Divine Stones inside. “This should be enough to forge all our equipment.”

“Thank you for your patronage.” Rean then looked at Hura before continuing, “Of course, your weapon will be the first one since I already gave you my word. Sorry elders, but I can’t go back on my promise.”

It was only a single weapon, so they still agreed, although the elders didn’t feel happy. “Fine. We will come by in the Blacksmith Hall tomorrow. After all, you said you need a day to forge each piece of equipment.”

Hura couldn’t help but feel excited while Rean just smiled. “No problem, I’ll be waiting for all of you.”