Within the Aeon mansion's garage, Allen stood in the middle, looking at the multiple cars around him, a hesitant look on his face. "Which car should I take this time...ahhhh whatever...eenie meenie miney-"
...
Hours later.
A luxurious private plane descended on a private airport, some time later, a silver car shot through the high way, shuttling between other cars like a fish in water, with smooth turns and perfect control. In a matter of moments, it was out of sight.
Seated in the shotgun seat, Charlotte held a tablet and viewed a map, tracing the route they ought to take to reach their destination. "Take the next exit, 600 meters on the right."
"I can see it." With a light smile and hand stretched, the car switched from the 3rd gear to the 4th, and accelerated, overtaking the two cars in front of him.
As the car speed increased, within a glint of excitement flashed in Allen's eyes. With his hand on the gear shift, Allen's spiritual senses covered the car and its surroundings, catching the perfect moment.
Smoothly downshifting the gear to the 3rd, with the exit meters away, Allen pulled the brakes and turned the wheel. With a screech, the tires burned, and the car drifted. "Woooohooo I LOVE IT!"
...
With a comet-like speed, a silver car shot in a straight line until they reached a gate. With the gate's door opened and the guards standing to offer their greetings, the car drove by.
A while later, Allen, Charlotte, and a middle-aged man were greeted by a crowd of the Earl family.
Standing in front was Nicholas, and with him was the patriarch of the Earl family.
"Welcome, Prince Aldrich. We are honored by your visit." The old man bowed according to the empire's etiquette.
"Glad to be here too, Marquise Earl." Allen replied, returning with a smile and a nod.
"This is my son and the future Patriarch of the family, Nicholas. I believe the two of you have met before a couple of times..." After exchanging pleasantries, the group made their way into the mansion.
A while later, Nicholas led Allen around the massive Earl mansion to the forging area. From far away, the faint sound of metal clanking and colliding could be heard coming from the forge.
Suddenly, the clanging sounds increased in intensity and grew louder to the point where the far away trio, Nicholas, Allen, and Charlotte, could hear it as if someone was hammering beside them.
BOOM! With a loud sound of an explosion, black smoke shot from the forge, and a violet wave of spiritual origin energy exploded into the surroundings of the forge.
Both Allen and Nicholas' expressions changed. Allen was at the Minor Origin, while Nicholas was at the Great Origin realm, but the energy heading towards them was stronger than both of them. They weren't afraid of getting hurt but were surprised by the sudden explosion.
Just as the exploding wave neared the trio, the middle-aged bodyguard flicked his fingers. With a puff, a wave of energy shot and collided with the incoming energy, canceling it.
Among the clanking sounds of metals colliding, the forge's door opened. Nicholas, Allen, and Charlotte entered while the middle-aged bodyguard merely scanned the room and stood beside the door.
Looking at the different artifacts, weapons, and the piles of raw materials spread all over the forging room, a sense of awe struck Allen.
On a workbench, engrossed in his craft, was an old man. However, the term "old" wasn't exactly what you could call him. Standing at a height of nearly two meters, with a body filled with bulging muscles, he was holding a massive hammer.
The old man started hitting the hammer repeatedly on a piece of heated metal, shaping it into something akin to a short sword.
With Allen's recent rise in cultivation, in qualitative increase in his senses occurred, with it he gained the ability to vaguely feel the life-force of others. From the moment his eye fell on the old man, Allen's senses were overwhelmed by a life force akin to an ocean.
Immediately, Allen remembered the information he once read about the Earl family. As one of the five great families, they were mostly known for their exquisite craftsmen while more forgot about their physique refinement golden body cultivation art. Such a life force could only come from a body cultivator, and a one of very high realm at that.
Condensing his soul energy, Allen sent a spiritual sense message to Charlotte beside him. "Charlotte, This old man... is that a king realm expert?"
Charlotte's reply came in the form of a spiritual sense message as well. "He is, however, he is a mere early stage King realm and a non-combat class cultivator.".
Just as Allen received Charlotte's reply, the old man turned and greeted Allen warmly, welcoming the group. After a short while of exchanging pleasantries, Allen said, "I'm here to receive the three items I sent for restoration a month ago. ".
"Ah, yes, yes. With the precious materials I received, I managed to partially restore the items," the old man gestured to Nicholas to bring boxes that were left covered on a table at the side.
Walking to the the outside, the old man gestured to Nicholas who brought the boxes, placing the three boxes in front of Allen.
"Prince, here are your items, check them and tell me what you think!" Pride and confidence were apparent in the old man's voice.
Opening the first box, Allen saw a lustrous black obsidian ring, intricately crafted with ancient runes in the inner side of the ring.
"This is a world ring, usually it can be easily mistaken as a spatial ring, however its a mythic type artifact. Usually, an artifact of its grade would have a spirit, but this one seems to have had its spirit destroyed. More or less its still damaged, but once the artifact is nurtured enough, it could be used fully, but for now, it could merely serve as a relatively large spatial ring," the old master explained.
" According to the runes inscribed at the inner side of the ring, the ruins the prince retrieved this ring from may very well trace to nearly a million years. ".
Surprised by the old man's explanation and excited, Allen wore the ring on his left hand and sent his spiritual sense to the ring. However, what came to him was a dark space with an area of around 100 cubic meters.
Turning his attention to the second box, a beautifully crafted sword lay within, with a hilt guard adorned with golden runes and a dark gray blade that shimmered in the light. "This sword is made of unimaginably high-grade materials, but as it barely had half of it when I received it, I supplemented it with heavy metal and ancient obsidian of the highest grade. Finally, I managed to restore it to a Quasi-Innate artifact," the old master said.
" It will serve you well in your travels. I restored the spirit rune of the sword. It gives you the ability to command and drive the sword from afar."
A glint of excitement flashed in Allen's eyes for a moment when he heard about the sword's ability, but soon his attention turned back to the third and final box. Allen opened the third box and saw an elegant crystalline mask, crafted from the finest materials. "This mask is mainly used to cover the wearer's aura and traces. There are many other abilities of this mask; however, after restoring it, I only figured out a few, with the ability to change one's features being one of them."