Death... and me

During the next day, Roan stayed in the class to teach the kids with the other warriors while Rean and Alanda went to talk with Juri. Roan knows nothing about metallurgy, so his presence there wouldn't have much of use anyway.

"So, what is it that you wanted to talk about?"

Rean then started to explain.

"As I told you before, I came from another world. I worked with metals in that world, so I would like to teach the blacksmiths in the Tribe how to forge something new."

Alanda and Juri looked at each other before asking Rean back.

"Didn't you say that you were not a cultivator in your previous world? If it is just common weapons and armors, we already know how to make them."

Rean shook his head.

"You don't understand. Indeed, that was a world where Spiritual Energy didn't exist, nor did cultivators and demon beasts. However, it is precisely because we didn't have them that humans there choose another path. So I can tell that there isn't a single person who understands metals better than me in this world. Simply put, our methods were hundreds if not thousands of times more advanced than yours."

"The fact that we didn't have cultivators led people to use their intelligence. In my world, it means nothing to be strong. It doesn't matter how much strength your body has, the ones who are at the top of the food chain are those with intelligence."

"Anyway, even if I explain how my world worked, you two wouldn't understand very well. I would need several years just to describing the general common knowledge of my previous life, and you probably wouldn't even believe it. Don't misunderstand me, I'm not trying to be rude. It is just that both worlds' methods are totally and utterly different from each other. I could be said to be an idiot regarding cultivation as well. You two definitely know a lot more about it than me, that's what I mean."

Juri pondered a bit and then nodded.

"Very well. I will give it a try since we don't have much to lose. What do you need?"

Rean smiled after hearing that.

"At first, I need three blacksmiths. Their talents don't matter since my methods are entirely different from yours. I will need as many samples of metals possible. Since we already have an Ore Mine, I'm sure you also used it to trade for other ore types that we don't have."

Alanda confirmed.

"Indeed. Our ore mine is for iron, and at its depth, we have some spiritual iron. Of course, it doesn't have much of a quality."

"Spiritual Iron?"

Alanda nodded.

"It is Iron Ore that was able to retain some Spiritual Energy. It is a lot sturdier and can make much better weapons. I heard that some high-level cultivation blacksmiths can even make Spiritual Equipments with it."

Rean nodded and didn't ask any further. As a metallurgist, he would know what to do when he gets it. He even had some ideas on his mind on how to use this so-called spiritual iron.

"Very well, at first, I will also need coal and limestone."

"Limestone?"

Seeing Juri and Alanda's puzzled face, Rean could only sigh.

'As expected, with another language, other names come with it. It was good that they had iron and coal before, so I learned how they were called here.'

As mentioned before, the language of this world is different, so even iron and coal were called different. Sure enough, limestone would have a different name. Rean pondered a bit and then explained how limestones looked like.

Juri and Alanda looked at each other with surprised faces.

"Is this thing good?"

Rean immediately nodded.

"The metal I wish to create here first needs a lot of limestones. It is essential for the entire process."

Alanda then pointed at another mountain not too far away from the Tribe. It is even part of the Tribe's territory as well.

"Well, there are loads of it there, but since we never had any use for it, we never bothered collecting any."

Rean couldn't help but laugh out loud. They had iron, and coal was easy to produce, but limestones were what he was most concerned about.

"Great! You guys simply have no idea that that stone will be a mine of gold for you. But that also brings us to another problem, and a gigantic one at that."

Juri nodded. He immediately understood what Rean meant.

"Secrecy. If this new metal that you create is really that strong, we would be a Tribe holding a treasure that we cannot protect. It might even bring calamity to us."

Rean nodded.

"So far, all the weapons and armors I saw our and the other tribes using didn't have this type of metal. I guess it is safe to say that no one knows about it yet. First, I need to try my hand on it and see the results. If it turns out to be practical, I will stop immediately. After all, before going ahead with this plan, our Tribe will need a backer and not just any backer. It has to be someone capable of protecting our Tribe even against a force like Hanoi Tribe."

Juri started to massage the space between his eyes. He couldn't help but feel a headache coming. Juri doesn't think that Rean is lying since it wouldn't bring him anything good. By this point, Juri totally believes that Rean and Roan are definitely not kids, at least not in mind.

Alanda couldn't help but comment.

"The Nari Tribe will be far from enough to do something. In that case, we only have one option, the city lord's protection. However, they will absolutely ask for the formula to create this metal that you are talking about. Once they get it, there won't be much of a meaning to protect us anymore."

Juri shook his head.

"No, there is one more option that would allow us to keep the secret while getting good enough protection."

Alanda and Rean immediately looked at him.

"The Zafa Bank."