Death... and me

"How can I help you?" the worker behind the counter asked.

Rean took out his badge before replying, "I would like to join the Blacksmith Hall. At the same time, I heard you could join the Blacksmith Guild through the Sacred Land's Blacksmith Hall, so I would like to join them as well."

The worker nodded in response. "No problem. What's your blacksmith level at the moment? Be aware that we will have to test you out, so if you're lying, there will be a penalty."

"I'm a Golden Initial-level blacksmith," Rean answered straight away. He knew very well where he stood.

"Alright." The worker used Rean's badge for a moment before giving it back. "You can head to the testing workshop on the right side. There should be two or three elders there responsible for testing the new recruits' skills. Just forge something in the level you mentioned before passing the equipment to them."

Rean was quite satisfied with the straightforwardness and quickly headed to the testing workshop. Because there was only one recruitment every one hundred years, there wasn't much of a reason to keep many elders in this place. In fact, it usually only had a single one. But because of the recruitment, the Sacred Land increased the number to three just in case. It would go back to one a few months later.

"Are you here for the test?" One of the elders there asked Rean as the other two seemed to be occupied with other new recruits.

Rean nodded in response. "Yes, I just joined the Blacksmith Hall. I'm here to take the test as a Golden Initial-level blacksmith."

The elder then pointed at one of the workstations available. Sure enough, everything there seemed to be pretty high quality. If not because Rean had the system's tools and equipment, this would have been the best workstation he had ever seen. Naturally, he could use this one as well. Although it wouldn't be as good as the equipment that he made using his personal workstation in the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm.

The elder then explained, "We don't care which methods you use as long as you can achieve the desired results. Naturally, every blacksmith here has a different background and was taught differently, after all. Just be aware that you have to provide your own materials. If you don't have them, our Blacksmith Hall has them for sale, but it will cost will Merit Points."

Rean obviously still had a lot of Golden Initial and Middle-level materials, thanks to Kentucky. He took them out of the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm and immediately turned on the forger. However, this time, Rean didn't use his Elemental Gathering technique or other methods, like tempering. He simply forged a normal Golden-Initial level sword. For him to sell his Elemental Gathering Equipment at a high price, the method of forging them had to be a secret. A few hours later, Rean passed the sword to the elder. "Here you go."

The elder poured his Divine Energy inside and made a few moves. He didn't seem impressed or anything, though. In the end, he simply nodded and told Rean, "It's a Golden Initial-level Sword, alright. A pretty common one without any inscriptions either, but one nonetheless. Alright, you pass the test. I'll input your name in the Blacksmith Hall and the Blacksmith Guild."

Rean smiled in response. "Thank you, elder."

However, just as he was about to leave, the elder called his attention, asking him, "This isn't your limit, is it?"

Rean looked back at the elder in surprise and replied, "I truly can't forge anything above Golden Initial-level, elder. I don't have the cultivation for it."

The elder shook his head, though. "That's not what I'm talking about. I know you can't forge something at Golden Middle-level because of your cultivation. What I'm talking about is that you could make a much better sword, am I right?"

Rean scratched the back of his head as he nodded in response. "Is it that obvious?"

"Hmph!" The elder snorted. "Your forging process looked so easy that anyone with eyes could tell it. From the looks of it, you do have some talent. Let me see one of your real creations. Don't worry, I won't change the results of this test."

Rean pondered over it for a bit before an idea popped into his mind. "Alright, elder. By the way, I'm called Rean. What should I call you, elder?"

"Ghiraha Lan is my name. I'm just a normal elder of the Blacksmith Hall."

Rean nodded and took out a sword from the Dimensional Realm. This one, however, didn't have any inscriptions on it. Its only difference was that it was forged with Rean's Element Gathering power. Of course, it was also much more resistant than weapons at the same level, but it didn't matter at the moment. "Elder Ghihara, I'm intending to sell my creations to the cultivators of the Sacred Land. Would you be able to tell me how much this is worth?"

Ghihara narrowed his eyes as he took Rean's sword. It was a Fire Element Gathering sword. "There's no lack of high-level blacksmiths in our hall. Unless you make them cheaper while keeping it the same level as others, it will be hard to make a quick profit."

Rean smiled in response. "Or...my forged equipment might have some extra perks that others don't."

Ghihara's interest was piqued when he looked at Rean's confident expression. "You seem convinced that you have a good product here. Very well, let me give a quick check."

With that, he poured his Divine Energy inside, preparing to make a few swings while using his Divine Sense and Soul Power to check the sword's internals. However, his expression quickly changed from that of empathy to that of surprise. Not too long after, it went from surprise to disbelief. "This..."

He looked at Rean like he was seeing a ghost. "Ho-how did you do this? There are no inscriptions at all. Or could it be that I can't see the inscriptions?"

Rean shook his head and told him, "There are no inscriptions."