James was immersed in practicing his meditation technique, which allowed him to replenish his mana and potentially increase or refine it, depending on his mastery. However, he was still unable to master the other two associated abilities. Meditation led him to reflect on his promise and consider the necessary means to fulfill it. He knew that to achieve it, he would need power, and his Supreme class would be crucial in this aspect. However, he couldn't activate that class at the moment. Nevertheless, he felt that his current training and his development as a world builder could be the key to unlocking it.
The more he thought about it, the more he reached a conclusion: if he wanted to harness his Supreme class, he would need an equipment worthy of a Supreme. As a world builder, he had mastery over the fundamental aspects of reality, which meant that if he couldn't obtain supreme weapons, he would forge them himself.
James slowly opened his eyes, displaying determination in his gaze. All other magical paths would have to wait; now he only needed to forge a team worthy of a Supreme. It was a challenging task, but necessary.
The next day, James decided to share his conviction with his master, albeit without going into details. He told him that he had access to an advanced combat class but needed a special weapon forged by himself to adopt it. James was surprised to see that his master found it completely normal. Apparently, there was a class called runic warriors that he was unaware of. He had underestimated the depth and complexity of the classes in that world.
When James felt that everything was falling into place and he knew exactly what to do and where to go, something unexpected happened. Just as he reached six months in Elysium, he was suddenly sucked into a void, feeling weightless as he traveled through empty space.
After a few moments lost in nothingness, James finally regained consciousness. As he looked around, he realized he was in the same place where he had first entered Elysium, in a dead-end alley, sitting behind a garbage container.
It took him a while to regain his composure fully. He remembered the situation he was in: he had traveled to Elysium as a last resort to escape. A sense of desperation began to well up within him, but this time James managed to control his mind and act rationally.
He thought about how to convince his pursuers, and once he had a plan, he went out to confront them. He stood up and positioned himself in the middle of the alley, waiting for a few minutes, but no one appeared.
Confused by the delay of his pursuers, and after waiting a few more minutes, he decided to leave the alley and assess the situation. Life seemed to go on as usual: cars were driving on the nighttime streets, bars and pubs were filled with people, mostly of dubious company. Nothing had changed except for one detail: when he looked at the date and time in a store, he realized that a month had passed since he entered Elysium.
James returned to the spot where he had been and tried to re-enter Elysium, but a message appeared in his mind indicating that he wouldn't be able to return for another month. If a month on Earth was equivalent to six months in Elysium, James felt quite nervous. He couldn't afford to fail in blacksmithing for such a long time; his master would surely expel him. However, no matter how hard he tried to return, he couldn't do it. He even tried negotiating with the ring, but he soon realized it was nothing more than a tool without the power to grant him what he desired.
James was deeply lost. He didn't know what to do during that month; he had no job, savings, or a temporary place to stay. Moreover, it would be very difficult for him to find employment that would accept his disappearance for a month, and his bad reputation had spread throughout the city, making his situation even more challenging.
He decided to take a walk despite the late hour of the night. The city was generally full of life, one of the attractions of large metropolises. Finally, after walking for a long time, James decided to stop at a park located in a more affluent area. Everything around him exuded an aura of luxury: the fancy cars driving through the area; in general, everything seemed to highlight his status as an unwanted outsider.
James tilted his head back and contemplated the night sky, but his view was obstructed by a dense layer of smog covering the firmament. An ironic smile formed on his lips as he closed his eyes in that position.
Suddenly, someone sat at the opposite end of the bench and heard someone yelling at him, "Hey, scum, get out of here, this space is occupied!"
James opened his eyes and directed his gaze towards the newcomers. The person who sat down was a young woman in her twenties, exceptionally beautiful, surrounded by a group of five elegantly dressed men and two women.
"Don't worry, big guy, I don't want any trouble. I'll leave right away," James calmly responded as he stood up.
"No problem. It seems the gentleman is tired. Stay a little longer," the young woman said without even looking at him, focused on her documents, clearly wanting to avoid any conflict.
James and the big guy glanced at each other and silently nodded.
James sat back down and began massaging his neck. After a minute, he finally turned his gaze towards the young woman and, to his surprise, noticed among the multiple documents she was analyzing some symbols that looked like runes.
For a moment, James was stunned. He lowered his head and closed his eyes, comparing the runes and quickly reaching a conclusion.
Most of the runes resembled the ones he had seen in the market: basic runes that, on their own, didn't hold much value and were usually used to teach beginners how to carve them into weapons. These runes didn't usually have effects on their own or had very limited and useless effects.
Among all the runes he saw in the young woman's documents, there were only two that were truly useful: a strength rune suitable for shields and a maintenance rune useful for weapons like axes and swords.
The young woman continued examining and comparing data and graphics. There was a wealth of information on the papers, and James didn't understand most of it.
After observing the young woman's frustration while reading various reports, one of the women stepped forward and offered her coffee.
"You need to calm down, miss. So far, no one has found a solution to this problem. I doubt we can achieve anything without additional information," the woman in the suit and glasses replied.
The young woman looked at her, massaged the bridge of her nose, and responded, "You're right, Isabela." Then she took the coffee.
"We've wasted a lot of resources. The weapons and armor we bought are useless. We're being scammed day after day. The worst part is that there are competitors who know something but refuse to share it," the young woman expressed.
"Well, at least we're not in the worst situation. Other competitors have lost entire teams. Besides, your sisters aren't doing so well either, Miss Jasmine," Isabela replied.
"I know, but if we don't get results, we'll never be able to get ahead," said Jasmine, the young woman.
At that moment, James decided it would be a good time to seize an opportunity.
"I can help you, in exchange for a small reward," James said, not expecting much from the situation. He did it more because the young woman seemed to have money, and $100 didn't seem like a problem for her.
"What can a filthy vagabond like you know? Get lost, kid, before I break your legs," the bodyguard replied.
"Nice gorilla you got there," James said before deciding it wasn't worth it and simply stood up and began walking with his hands in his pockets.
"If you really have information that can help me, I can pay you $1,000," the young woman said.
James turned around, visibly angry, and replied, "It was $1,000 before your gorilla kicked me out. Now it's $5,000." He continued walking without looking back.
The young woman was surprised by the hostile response and then gave an angry look to the bodyguard, feeling a chill run down his spine he took a few steps back.
Before James could get too far away, his assistant gestured to him and ran after him. Catching up, she said, "The miss is willing to pay the amount if your information is truly reliable." She urged him to return to the bank.
James agreed to go back and asked, "How will they know if my information is reliable? I don't have time to wait." Then he looked at the bodyguard and said, "Besides, I don't trust you guys."
"Don't worry, sir," Isabela said, finally hoping to learn the name of the person she was talking to.
"James," he introduced himself to the young woman who seemed to be leading everything.
"Mr. James, we will relay your comments to the gaming center where our teams are playing online. If your information is correct, we will pay you immediately," the girl said with a smile.
James looked into her eyes for a few seconds and then briefly glanced at the gorilla. Finally, he burst into maniacal laughter and couldn't stop laughing.
The people around him began to feel uncomfortable with James' attitude. He simply sat down and, looking at the sky, said, "You've got some nerve inviting me back and threatening to kill me."
The atmosphere quickly grew tense. Even Isabela drew her gun from her waist.
"The gaming center says," James repeated with a smirk and finally looked at the woman and said, "Do you want to surpass your sisters or not? Because these clowns will only make you miss more opportunities," he stared into her eyes.
For some reason, Jazmin felt uncomfortable under that gaze and quickly responded, "Fine, for the $5,000." But before she could finish the sentence, she was interrupted by James, who made disapproving sounds with his mouth.
The young woman felt completely belittled. No one had treated her like this before. She cleared her throat and said, "Fine, $7,000." However, James made the same disapproving sound again.
Infuriated, the girl clenched her fists on her knee and shouted, "Fine, $10,000! Let's get on with the exchange. I don't want to be around such irritating people one more minute than necessary." Then she asked her assistant to bring paper and a pencil.
"I suppose you don't have a bank account," the young woman rhetorically remarked since it was evident that James lived on the streets. "Isabela, go get cash."
Isabela simply nodded and left the place.
"Now, tell me what I need to know," Jazmin said authoritatively.
James, on the other hand, took his time. Silently, he gathered all the rune sheets and information Jazmin had and organized them. Finally, he separated three sheets and set aside approximately 80. He said, "All of these are garbage."
Jazmin's face paled. "What do you mean, garbage? We paid a significant price to acquire information for each of them."
James raised an eyebrow and pondered as he glanced over some sheets. "Unfortunately, almost everything is false or inaccurate. You've been scammed."
Upon hearing this response, the girl's spirits plummeted. She was truly indignant and furious. "Why? What's wrong with the information?" she asked.
However, James remained silent. The girl asked again, but James simply shook his head and pointed to his empty hand.
Even more irritated, Jazmin stood up and began pounding the ground while cursing two women with flower names, just like hers. For James, it was highly possible that she had been scammed by her sisters.
Finally, the money arrived, and the young woman calmed down, sitting back down. James picked up the three sheets he had separated and began to explain. He took the first sheet and said, "These are the runes for sharpness, sturdiness, and durability. Sharpness is quite self-explanatory. Sturdiness is used to add mass to an object intended for blunt force, such as maces or two-handed axes. It's important to note that it doesn't actually increase the mass, so it doesn't make it harder to handle. Durability, on the other hand, protects the weapon from environmental factors. For example, if you're facing creatures with corrosive blood, this rune will be your best ally."
At this point, everyone fell silent. The assistant started taking notes in a serious manner. Initially, they all thought the young man was trying to scam them with some excuse or speaking nonsense, but now it was clear he knew what he was talking about. That made him dangerous; an expert like him wasn't an ordinary person.
"On the second sheet, we have the runes for swiftness, sturdiness, and flexibility. These don't need further explanation, except for the sturdiness rune. You'll notice it looks similar but isn't the same as the previous one. That's because this is an improved version. You shouldn't attempt to use it on a weapon as it requires a lot of space to be crafted, and yes, it does add a percentage of weight, but it's much more efficient at preventing being knocked down by larger opponents."
On the third sheet, there was only one rune, but to the untrained eyes of the rest, it seemed as if there were six. James looked at it with apprehension for a moment and said, "This is a forbidden rune, belonging to another species. If they catch you with this in your hand, good luck."
With that, James stood up along with his money and began to walk away.
"Is that all we're getting for ten grand?" asked the annoyed girl.
"I gave you much more than what you paid for. Next time, it'll be the full price," replied James without even turning around, waving his hand above his head.
"Miss, do you want us to take care of him?" said the bodyguard.
"No, he's too convenient for me to harm. I need you to investigate him further. He could be useful if what he said proves true. The rest of you, let's return to headquarters and organize our information," said Jazmin with a serious expression. There was no trace of the childishness she had shown earlier.
On the other hand, James felt like he had escaped a storm and emerged unscathed. His heart was racing like a Formula 1 engine. He truly thought they would have "put him to sleep with the fishes" if he didn't prove his worth. Fortunately, the other party had recognized his ability.
With $10,000 in his pocket, James felt like he deserved a drink, maybe two. But first, he was tired and hungry. Since he had nowhere to stay, he decided to go to a motel to rest and recover. Upon waking up, he headed to a nearby restaurant and started contemplating what to do with his newfound fortune when suddenly, something caught his attention.