Chapter 226 - Talk with Venna

While I didn't want to part with my energy sword, the fact that I was unable to analyze its stats with the system irked me to the point of losing my mind. Considering how it was able to put a slight dent on the 'Utopy' blade, it had to be of high quality, but compared to my Magician's stick, there was no way I would give up on all those awesome buffs and stats just for the sake of using some random item!

Having both of the weapons already crafted, we didn't linger needlessly in the treasury room but cleaned up the mess that we made while indulging in the bits of pleasure and crafting the weapons before leaving the place altogether.

"How did it go?"

The moment that the hole in the outer wall of the room appeared with the door behind us instantly disappearing, I heard Venna's voice. Stepping through the threshold before helping Eve and pengu out as well, I saw the sect elder resting her back against the wall, with her arms locked on her chest and a slightly annoyed smile all over her face.

While there was no dust lingering on her shoulders or arms, it was plain to see that she has waited quite a while already, explaining the reason for the stiff air around her.

"Rather nicely. I promised you a sword, didn't I?"

Taking out my energy sword, I turned it handle first to her. My earlier test of it against the utopy was just for the sake of testing out which blade was better. Even if I promised to provide good weapons for the Heavenly sword sect, Naturals and the city hall, it didn't mean that I was going to distribute weaponry of equal quality to all of them!

"Isn't that the one that you showed up during that incident? Are you sure you can part ways with it?"

Despite the profitable business that I just offered her, Venna was genuinely worried for my sake! When I thought about it, it apparently made some sense. Seeing how eager she - a damn elder of a major sect! - was to help me out in a lot of ways, it was obvious how highly did she value both me and Eve. Be it for the sake of poking the Katenaris or their main rival, Draconic Sabre sect, with how much care did they invest towards me, I had to make sure to repay them accordingly.

"You don't need to worry about it. Other than that, if you get your hands on even better materials, be sure to contact me. This way I will be able to improve the weapons that you currently have your hands on while improving my own situation as well!"

"Wait, before I forget, what materials did you use? While it's not a burning issue, I need to settle the costs of acquiring them with both the sect and the Bakari house."

With her face dyed in red, Venna was for some reason ashamed to point this issue up. I guess that just another point where our common sense differs. Maybe it's because the highly capitalistic structure of the earth, but it was plainly obvious for me that if I used something, I had to pay for it not to speak to include it in the account books. While I never had to bother with it myself, there were countless times when I saw my parents racking their brains over the various recipes, payslips and tax forms for days!

"I used up all the Dragon's Iron, most of the Serpentine Core jade and the entire stock of the Bakhlevian steel. On the side note, where did you get your hands on it? Its properties are insane!"

There was no point hiding out the names of the ores I used, despite already being out of the tightly secured treasure room. Taking the allegory back to the wandering sword sect, with the same resources as other smiths back there, I was able to create weapons of an entirely diffrent level. Seeing how easily Eve was able to cut through the treasured sword of one of the Neutrals geniuses, this reality was still true in this city as well. Thinking about it in this way, even if someone were to be able to eavesdrop this talk, they wouldn't be capable of even imagining the prowess of the weapons I created!

"While I can't give you the perfect amount of the Serpentine jade, you can check it by looking inside the storage ring that you left me. But while I would talk to you more, I'm kind of pressed for a time right now. There are only two and half days before the auction, and I want to get the visit in the city hall and neutrals as soon as possible, but keeping in mind what you warned me against, I don't want to go there unprepared. With that said, could you provide me with the window to visit Nadia or the Elder you mentioned back then?"

With the tournament out of the way, I really wanted to make sure about the details of our transfer to the heavenly sect, but I did realise that my net worth in the eyes of both Venna and other elders depended mostly on the outcome of the auction and some other miscellaneous affairs. Only by proving myself to be a valuable asset to their sect, would I be able to get the best terms possible!

That's why it wasn't rational to discuss the terms right now, where the entire enterprise was still in the phase of projecting the costs and benefits, instead of showing the profits in a hard coin. Instead of wasting the time on doing so, it was far better for me to finally visit the naturals, get some of their goodwill by presenting them the Utopy that one of their geniuses already used and finally get to thank Nadia for everything she did for Eve.

"Sure thing. Before that though, I need to get some people to escort you around the city. I'm not sure if you noticed, but the City Mayor guarantee applied only to Eve, and only for the time of the tournament! Only by travelling with some of my underlings will I be able to project the power of the sect to protect both of you from the hands of Katenari's or the Dracons. As for the meeting, it won't be a problem. From what I heard, your courtesy towards their genius already earned you some brownie points amongst their upper echelons!"

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