Death… And Me

Chapter 4307: Dedication

Rean explained his project to Dongaro, detailing his plan to build an entirely new airplane. Naturally, Dongaro found the idea rather absurd.

”An entire airplane with enough space for at least ten passengers?” Dongaro looked at Rean as if he had lost his mind. ”I think you are severely underestimating the difficulty of a project like that, friend.”

”The amount of runes, the blueprints, the materials, the assembly time... You don’t even have a proper assembly line to put everything together. Achieving the precise cuts and producing the correct alloys are also major challenges on their own. How long are you expecting this to take? Ten years? More? I want Astryte, but not badly enough to commit to something on that level.”

Rean simply shook his head. ”Don’t worry. I already recruited two Array Masters who are currently working on the new runes. I’ll also personally manage the entire project while helping wherever I can. The only reason I need a Level Two Blacksmith is for the alloys that require external energy manipulation to be made. If everything goes according to plan, I don’t expect the assembly to take more than four months.”

”Four... months?” Dongaro genuinely thought he had misheard him. ”You truly have no idea what you are talking about.”

Yet Rean immediately saw an opportunity in that reaction. ”Is that so? Then I think we can reach a pretty good deal here. Give me five months of your time. You are a cultivator, so five months shouldn’t be much of an issue, even in the Celestial Plane. In exchange, I’ll give you five kilograms of pure Astryte. It will be purer than what you would obtain if I simply handed you the raw ore for refinement.”

Now, that truly caught Dongaro’s attention.

”Five kilograms? Are you willing to sign a contract guaranteeing the payment?”

”Of course,” Rean replied without hesitation. ”If we fail to finish within five months, you are free to leave whenever you want. The payment will also be made monthly. One kilogram per month, obviously.”

Dongaro pondered for a moment before finally nodding. Five kilograms would be vastly more useful to him than three. Three kilograms was merely the bare minimum required for his own project, while five would provide a far more comfortable margin for error.

”Very well. My condition is that I cannot leave the city during this period. I have no intention of relocating or changing residences. Of course, I’ll go wherever you need me for this project if it is in the city. Also, I won’t pay for anything else. All materials and expenses must be covered by you.”

”That is naturally acceptable. The airplane belongs to me, so all costs will be mine to bear. What I need from you is your expertise.” Rean paused briefly before adding, ”However, I also have one condition of my own.”

Dongaro narrowed his eyes slightly. ”Go on.”

”During these five months, you are not allowed to complain about my methods. What I say goes. That means you will be attempting new forging methods and energy manipulation techniques you have never tried before. Some of them may even look pretty ridiculous. Will that be a problem?”

Dongaro didn’t seem particularly concerned. ”As long as I am allowed to use whatever I learn after our contract ends, I have no issue with that condition.”

Truthfully, he highly doubted Rean possessed forging methods superior to those already available, but it wasn’t his place to question his employer.

”Good!” Rean was genuinely pleased to hear that. ”Then please go ahead and prepare the contract for us. I still need one more Blacksmith for this project.”

Dongaro didn’t mind at all. ”Very well. By the way, if you are willing to part with more Astryte, I can introduce another Level Two Blacksmith to you, someone just as capable as myself. I’m not claiming to be some extraordinary genius, but I am proud to say that I’m very competent.”

This time, however, Rean refused immediately. ”No. You are the only Level Two Blacksmith I want. The other one must be a Level One Blacksmith who is also an Aura God. That way, I can shape the person however I want from the beginning. It’s difficult to get rid of people’s bad habits once they’ve already settled in.”

Dongaro naturally didn’t believe he possessed any bad habits himself, but he could tell Rean wasn’t trying to provoke him, so he decided not to insist further.

”Very well. I’ll contact you later. I already have your number here, so expect a call within the next few hours once the contract is ready.”

It had been a very straightforward and somewhat boring negotiation. Rean was perfectly happy with that outcome, though.

From there, he used his Blacksmith ID to enter the workshop where the Branch Guild Master was currently teaching while demonstrating his smithing techniques.

Quite a few blacksmiths were gathered there watching attentively, most of them already Level Two Blacksmiths. Rean glanced at the enormous screens displaying the Branch Guild Master forging some kind of specialized tool. After observing the man’s work for a while, Rean gave a slight nod.

’Definitely an ascender... His work clearly reflects absurdly long-term experience.’

Still, Rean didn’t pay too much attention to the demonstration itself. Instead, he focused on the information regarding the blacksmiths currently present. There was only one Aura God there who also remained a Level One Blacksmith. Rean quickly located him at one of the open Smithing Stations.

The man stared intensely at the Branch Guild Master’s work while trying to reproduce it at his own station. Unfortunately, it was painfully obvious that things weren’t going well for him. The tool’s inscriptions were completely disorganized, the alloy displayed uneven colors that clearly revealed poor forging quality, and the shape looked nothing like the one shown on the screens.

As Rean approached, he could hear the man’s quiet yet furious muttering.

”Fuck! Why isn’t this working?! I followed every single step exactly, but this damned thing still refuses to take the right shape.”

Rean couldn’t help but feel impressed.

Most people would fail to understand the actual problem and would simply conclude that the man lacked talent. The tool itself wasn’t even particularly difficult to forge, either. However, Rean could identify the issue immediately just by observing the man’s body.

’His meridians can’t properly support his energy. It is far too chaotic. That’s the sign of someone with poor body development but an enormous energy pool. As time passes, his condition will only continue to worsen.’

Rean continued observing silently for a little longer, growing even more impressed. He was honestly surprised the man could accomplish even this much despite his impairments.

No... not a man.

A Devil Beast in humanoid form.

’Talk about dedication...’