Heaven's Greatest Professor

"I'm somewhat of a runesmith myself."

"You are joking," Miss Arden said, clearly not believing the words.

Warden smiled and took the real spear from her hand. He infused some amount of energy into it and checked. Although the scripts were hidden from prying eyes, he could somewhat detect them through the benefits they provided.

"There are four-by-six empowering scripts, two-by-four amplification scripts, and the restoration shell is barely one-by-six. Unfortunately, the spear could have used more shells to be of better benefit. I guess the one who made this was somewhat new to runesmithing," Warden said, and found Miss Arden's face turning red. "Other than that, there were some enchantments on the spear.

I guess that is through the special forging process and the fire used to forge it."

Miss Arden's eyes widened sharply, and the same calculated look appeared in her eyes.

"Did I make any wrong assumptions?" Warden smiled. "It has been some time since I had done any real runesmithing, so my hands are quite clumsy, I guess."

"Other than the terms you use, you are mostly right," Miss Arden said grudgingly. "We call the four-by-six shell a tier-4 shell."

"I guess I am not from around here," Warden said and shrugged. "Regardless, this spear would do for now. What is the price of it?"

"360 iron-grade essence gems," the redheaded woman announced, causing Warden to frown.

Essence gems were basically purified and refined beast cores assembled into small gem-like shapes, which could be used to recover one's energy and stamina, as well as to power all sorts of array formations. Essence gems were the prime article for rankers to do business.

For example, 100 gold equaled one iron-grade essence gem. So, the 360 iron-grade essence gems were like 18 months of his remuneration from the academy. Warden couldn't help but sigh. He hadn't even gotten the first month's remuneration yet. No wonder Jason said the pay was shit.

"Miss Arden, 360 is quite a steep number, considering you said the spear would last Warden a couple of months," Jason tried to negotiate.

"That's his problem, not the spear's," Miss Arden said. "Tier 7 reinforced steel is an alloy that lasts years, even in a silver ranker's hands. It wasn't our fault that he has mastered the art of destroying his weapon along with the monster."

Warden thought for a moment. The alloy was by no means anything bad. Though it was mostly cold iron with Aethyl and Tentium and other first-class metals, the synergy between them made the reinforced steel truly desirable. Warden did not know how they did it, but it was by no means a simple process. They probably had a special fire and refining process for the alloy alone.

With all the beast cores and money Warden had in his pocket, it wouldn't go over 30 iron-rank essence gems. But even if he had those 360 odd essence gems, it would be a waste of money to buy that spear. Warden genuinely believed he could make one better than that.

"I'm not going to buy a spear with some half-baked scripts," he said, which seemed to aggravate the woman. "However, the alloy is really something. How much do those reinforced steels cost?"

"Unfortunately, sir, we don't sell our alloy to unaffiliated rankers," Miss Arden said with a bright smile, her eyes cold with calculation.

Warden turned to Jason. "Can I buy those alloys somewhere else?"

Even though he asked Jason, it was the redhead who answered. "Reinforced steel is patented by Dragonforge Emporium alone. You cannot get it anywhere else. Most people tend to melt the equipment they bought to get the alloy."

I guess I'll never escape capitalism, he groaned.

"Warden, you can get another version of reinforced steel from elsewhere, though none as good as the dragon-forged ones," Jason informed. "This alloy is one of the big reasons Dragonforge became the sole empire in the weapon and equipment business. You won't get any materials from them without signing a deal."

Warden narrowed his eyes. "Fine, let us sign a deal, then."

Both Miss Arden and Jason looked dumbfounded. To them, it did not feel as simple as that.

"What? We're in," he asked. "As I mentioned, I have some expertise in runesmithing. I am ready to exchange my expertise to get some alloys. Or you don't take just anyone for a deal?"

"Our organization is always in demand for a competent runesmith," Miss Arden said. "We would be delighted to have you in our ranks, though some processes are in place for acquisition. What tier runesmith are you?"

Warden shrugged again. He didn't even test that. "I know I can do better than the scripts on that spear."

"Impossible!" Miss Arden seemed needlessly aggressive when she said that.

"How about I show you proof?"

The redheaded woman agreed. "Let's go to the forging room, then."

"No need, I can show you here," Warden said, prepared to draw the empowering script in the air. "I hope you know your thing and can judge it."

The scripts on the spears were mostly elementary, joined together to make a somewhat complicated shell. The four-by-six shell meant there were three layers and six rows of the same script in place, meaning twenty-four in total. Warden could do double that if needed, but there was no need for a show-off.

He crafted three layers of perfectly symmetrical empowering scripts one by one, under the dumbfounded gazes of Jason and Miss Arden. Jason, of course, didn't know anything better, only impressed by the reaction the redhead was giving.

The woman already had her eyes transfixed on the semi-corporeal scripts in mid-air, as Warden finished the craft within a few minutes.

"You are a master?" Miss Arden said. "Why haven't you told us that before? There wouldn't have been any need for all this farce if you had just said so."

Warden smiled, unsure of what would term someone as a master. Internally, he felt like he could draw dozens of layers, though his low attributes might restrict him.

"So, about those alloys?"

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