Ch 176: He’s not my father. He’s my grandfather!

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Erick entered the store without telling me which rune would be positioned in the third slot. Even though I am the customer, he did what he wanted with the spear…

‘Well, actually, I don’t care. I trust him. The more comfortable he feels, the better the results will be.’

Some time later, he returned with the spear in his hands.

“There! Weakness nullified! And it is not only that, but it now has an affinity for mana.”

[Boar Spear Armor] [(Rock) (Feather) (Celestial Chalice)]

“Celestial Chalice?”

‘The name of the rune has an incredible name. Why do I feel as if its trade value equals the immensity of its name?’

Very proud Erick said, “The fall of this rune is listed as one of the worst. You can spend a whole year defeating the monster, but the rune will not fall. Of course, that doesn’t stop thousands of adventurers from giving it a try. So, while it is rare, it’s not really that rare.”

Erick is throwing too many flowers at the rune. I fear this long introduction is just the beginning of a meaningless chatter, so I’ll go ahead and look at the description granted by the UI.

[Celestial Chalice]

[A ceaseless flow of mana falls from the golden chalice. Hundreds of years were enough for it to change its golden color to pure, whitish celestial. Whether in a weapon or armor, its properties will change like the chalice, bringing with it prosperity].

‘I’d better have listened to Erick’s description!’

“Hm… Erick.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Could you repeat what you said?”

Erick: “…”

It’s a good thing Erick wasn’t like Old Gerald, because I’m sure he’d throw every weapon he had on hand at me.

“Haa… In short, having an affinity for mana causes the weapon to gain great resistance to magical attacks. Also, if the wielder allows it, the weapon will be surrounded by mana, adding magical property to the attack… Now, I won’t lie to you; the consumption rate is horrible. A normal adventurer could only deliver mana to it for 20 seconds, and then fall limp to the ground.” He shook his head and said, “Just use it for surprise attacks or finishing attacks. If you use it right, then this spear will have no equal.”

Surrounding the weapon with mana?! Adding magical properties to the attack?!

God. Now I understand why this ability can only be kept active for 20 seconds. Because if there were more time, this spear would be unbalanced!

‘Haa. What would Erick think if I told him that my MP has 10 points? Would he throw his weapons at me just like Old Gerald? because I’m sure in my hands the duration won’t be 20 seconds. It’ll be over 3 minutes! And if it is thought that this weapon will be used by Delia, it will be at least 6 minutes!’

And this is based on pessimistic calculations because there is the possibility that the mana consumption will decrease exponentially in relation to the user’s status points.

“Erick”

“Yes?”

“The price”

I’ve already prepared my heart. Even though my money sense is skewed, that doesn’t mean my wallet doesn’t hurt. Especially since I’m only purchasing one item. If it was more than one, then I wouldn’t even feel it.

That’s how human psychology works.

As if waiting for this moment, Erick rubbed his hands together like a professional trader.

“All expenses, including labor and rune fusion, bring the sum of 15 gold coins, dear customer. I am proud of this masterpiece. I would be offended if you ask for a discount.”

‘Ugh, I was just going to ask for that.’

“Haa… Remember, you ordered a weapon made from scratch. If you had ordered it in parts, then its price would decrease. If today you ordered the spear, then I would charge you 6 gold coins. If you wanted the fusion tomorrow, then each rune would cost you one gold coin, except for the Celestial Chalice rune, whose price is 2.5 gold coins. Furthermore, 1.8 gold coins serve as a payment for the fusion. If my calculations are correct, the final price would have been 12.3 gold coins.”

‘Hmm, as I demanded a lot of work from the blacksmith without prior notice, the price increased accordingly.’

“It’s okay; don’t worry. I know this weapon is worth it… Here you go” I handed him the money.

“It’s good that you understand. I like to work with customers who value my work.”

As I touched the spear, I instinctively felt its request. It’s very similar to the Perception Inhibitor in a sense, as I can feel how the spear in my hands is asking me for mana.

‘Since I am the guinea pig, I might as well do my job accordingly.’ Without hesitation, I accepted the spear’s request.

*Swoosh*

With the sound of a small gust of wind, the spear was surrounded by a very transparent celestial aura.

*Swish* *Slash* *Fwoosh*

After performing a few movements, I managed to immediately feel the benefits of the mana surrounding it. In a nutshell, all of its basic qualities have had their properties increased by a factor of 30%. Furthermore, having mana means that any attack made with it will have the added magical damage.

If a shield that does not possess defense against magic is attacked, then the mana will pass through the shield and manage to damage the enemy anyway.

“What do you think?” said Erick with a proud smile.

“It does its job.”

“Hey!” he said in a furious tone.

I said it just to annoy him, but I inadvertently touched his sensitive nerve.

“Cof cof. Let me explain.”

“Talk!”

“Don’t you think… Um… it looks like the weapon a Lich would use as a last resort”

“Ah…”

‘This is a bone spear…’

I was hoping that Erick’s skills would be enough to turn the loot into a holy weapon that would be perfect for the hands of a Saint, but what I have in my hands is a bone spear.

‘No matter how you look at it, it’s a bone…’

The only exception is its blade, which looks white and gleaming.

After thinking hard, Erick slapped his hands and said, “I know! If it’s imbued with magic, there’s a great chance that its appearance will change once again.”

“But… wouldn’t it just make magic symbols appear on the weapon?”

I still remember how he laughed when he saw my bow, saying that it was imbued with magic because magic symbols appeared on the material.

“This is a different case. This weapon has an affinity with mana, remember?”

“Oh…”

“You must have gotten the idea by now, but yes, you’re right. Having a mana affinity implies that the changes will be even more profound, but… There’s a problem.”

“Speak up, don’t leave me in suspense.”

“Hm… I don’t know how to imbue it with magic.”

‘Gosh… now that’s a big problem!’

The blacksmith I entrust all my weapons to can’t imbue them with magic? Hm… I’ll be very nervous if I have to visit an unknown blacksmith to do the job. After all, weapons are intertwined with the user’s life. I will practically be handing Delia’s life over to him along with the spear.

‘I don’t want to place all my hopes in an unknown blacksmith… Huh?! Wait… Wait a bit!’

“Do you think the Archer brothers can imbue it?”

Erick: “!!!!”

Erick looked very surprised at this crazy idea. And the reason it’s obvious. Those guys specialize in anything to do with archery. It’s unheard of to think that they could do anything about it.

But one important thing to stress is… Those brothers love money! As long as you give them enough money, they’ll be willing to sell their own souls!

They did an amazing job with my bow. And, despite its odd appearance, it now appears quite beautiful to my eyes, just like my arrows. Because of the effort they put into them, I have a lot of confidence in them as blacksmiths.

“From a different perspective… a spear is a large scale arrow, isn’t it?…” Erick shook his head and said, “But you better explain the situation to them personally; we won’t get anything by guessing.”

“You’re right…”

‘Hmm, I don’t have much time left… I should leave right away if I want to catch those brothers, but I couldn’t help but ask.’

“You look strange, Erick, did something happen?”

I noticed him to be very sentimental throughout our conversation.

“Haa, you noticed, huh? Actually, it’s no big deal, it’s just that… It is my father’s birthday, that’s all.”

“Leo’s birthday?”

“Puh… Hahaha!”

Although at first I thought it was strange that he was laughing, I quickly thought of something.

“Don’t tell me…”

“Leo’s not my father. He’s my grandfather! Ahahahaha!”

‘Ah, so even the gallant clone can be wrong, huh? But I don’t blame him. All of the clues pointed to Leo being Erick’s father, so we weren’t too far off. After all, they had a blood relationship. We were close. So… how old will Leo be? For a grandfather, he looks super young! After all, he only appears to be 48 years old!’

“Before he was a slave trader, my grandfather was a Knight, a Swordsman, an Adventurer, and I don’t know what other classes. He was always very active despite his age, and because of that, his level went up and he achieved his current appearance. But you’re the first one to tell me to my face that Leo is my father! Ahahaha!” Erick laughed gleefully.

‘So everyone else avoided asking him about Leo, huh? They sure are dying of curiosity!’

“Haa, I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time. If you’re interested, we’ll talk about him another time. Now go find those brothers before they get drunk.”

Emir: “…”

‘Wait… if they agree to imbue the spear while they are drunk… Will the weapon description mention them? I don’t want the Saint Delia’s spear to have a similar description to the Identifier Tablet! Not on my watch!’

I quickly said goodbye to Erick and set off in search of the Archer brothers.

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