The following morning, Wallace walked into the blacksmith organization and headed directly to Robert's office. Robert, clearly expecting him, didn't even allow him to open the door before it opened automatically, and Wallace walked in. There, he saw a lean middle-aged man with a handsome face alongside Robert in his office. Wallace squinted at the middle-aged man, who also looked at him with a strange expression.
Wallace looked at the middle-aged man because his build was lean for blacksmithing; every blacksmith he had met had a burly body, a result of carrying hundreds of kilograms daily. However, this man's skin was smooth, like a newborn baby, and he had a slim build. The man also looked at Wallace, who was only four feet tall with slim, fair, and smooth skin. He had a pair of gloves covering his palms. All in all, he didn't look like someone who had carried a forging hammer before.
"Wallace, this is Mustang, the president of the blacksmith organization," Robert introduced the man to Wallace, who bowed slightly. "This is Wallace Ace, the blacksmithing prodigy," Robert also introduced Wallace to the man, whose eyes never left him.
The atmosphere in the office turned slightly awkward before Mustang took his eyes off Wallace and coughed.
"Even though I've been hearing that the blacksmithing prodigy is a little young, seeing you in person surprises me, though I've been prepared for it," Mustang said.
Wallace didn't know what to say. "I reviewed your blacksmithing, and I must say you are a prodigy. You've opened a brand new world to us blacksmiths; that's why I thought I must meet you today," Mustang continued.
"I'm flattered," Wallace said, smiling at Mustang.
"Will you follow me back to the empire?" Mustang asked.
"Not yet; I still have some things I want to do here," Wallace tactfully refused.
"Oh, when you come to the empire, make sure to visit the blacksmith organization," Mustang said, handing him a golden card. This was the highest card in the world of blacksmithing, and it was the sole belief of every blacksmith. Only one person had the card, and it was the president standing before him.
Wallace looked at the golden card with his name on it and was a little surprised. "Don't reject it; you deserve it," Mustang said.
"Then I will accept it; thanks for your kindness," Wallace said, putting the card in his pocket.
"Also, can we be friends?" Mustang asked.
"No problem," Wallace answered.
"Very good; we are sworn brothers from now on," Wallace's mouth twitched at the shamelessness of this man, who had clearly mentioned just being friends a minute ago and now turned it into sworn brothers upon accepting.
"Very good; we are sworn brothers from now on," Wallace's mouth twitched at the shamelessness of this man, who had clearly mentioned just being friends a minute ago and now turned it into sworn brothers upon accepting.
If any blacksmith had been there, they would have been surprised because the overall president of the blacksmith organization in the Aslan Empire was showing his goodwill towards a youngster.
"As the older brother, I've prepared a gift for you," Mustang said, handing him a ring. Wallace peeked into the ring and saw a bunch of low-grade mana stones inside. Lucy had given him up to one thousand mana stones the day before, and the president had just handed him another bunch of mana stones; judging from the amount, it was up to ten thousand. His eyes shone as he couldn't help but praise Mustang in his heart.
"This guy sure is rich."
****************************************
After the brief meeting with the president, days passed, and another weekend soon arrived. Wallace spent the whole week trying to acclimatize himself with his newly found strength, so his life had been uneventful because he was trying his best to break through to rank ten. Even though he had yet to master force control and projection, he already had one hundred percent control over his body and strength.
He finally decided to break through to rank ten mage that day. He was sleeping on the floor, but his body was undergoing rapid change. The transparent mana in his mana vessel quickly condensed. The mana that filled his mana vessel before quickly reduced until it occupied only one percent of his mana vessel, but even though it had reduced, it had changed from its former transparent color to a light blue color, showing that he had successfully broken through to rank ten.
A blue force was discharged from the vessel and went to every part of his body, strengthening him and improving his body stats, which had just been improved once again.
**Congratulations on officially becoming a mage: 1000 prime credits received_
_Hidden quest finished: Reach rank eleven within two months: 10000 prime credits received_
_Space ability available in the shop_
_Blueprint for rank 1 AI robots_
_Blueprint for a standard rank one stronghold available_
_Inventory available_
_New Quests available_
_Preparation for the future missions activated_
_Become a magico within a year_
_Penalty for failure: .... Rewards for completion: 10000 prime credits_
_Have a secret stronghold within three years_
_Stage one: Look for a suitable position to build a stronghold_
_Penalty for failure: ...…. Rewards for completion: 10000 credits**
He saw the notification that he just received, and he was confused when he saw the preparation for the future. He also felt the one cubic meter inventory in his mind and smiled, thinking, "This will be very handy." He couldn't ask any questions because the one who was going to answer was currently asleep. He simply summoned his stats screen:
**Name: Wallace Ace_
_Race: Partial Primo-human_
_Level 17_
_Blood essence required for next evolution: 8530 / 12800_
_Cultivation stage: Rank 11 mage_
*Strength: 40 *3_
*Speed: 40 *3_
*Physique: 40 *3_
*Defense: 40 *3_
_Spirit: 50_
_Shop_
_Quest_
_Notification_
He looked at the notifications and couldn't help but smile wryly. He was happy that his strength had increased, of course, but at the rate he was improving, he could even deal with most rank three mutated beasts himself now, but his mecha would soon be useless. One had to know that the mecha could only boost his stats to one hundred and forty, but now his stats were now in 120.
"Well, I won't have any restriction about fully using the mecha," he thought happily.
Looking at those missions, he couldn't help but shake his head. It was time to push his blacksmithing mission forward; he now needed a lot of funds and also needed to look for a place outside the empire where he could start building a stronghold. Even though it was still three years, it was quite a short time. He had to look for how to get resources that he would use to build a perfect stronghold and also needed to employ the assistance robots that would help him build them.
Talking about robots, he decided to go to the blueprint section:
**Shop_
**14170 prime credits available**
**Blueprints**
**Advanced mecha blueprint: 5000 credits**
**AI robots: 1000 credits**
**Stronghold blueprint: 10000 credits**
He left the blueprint section, and the first thing was to test his strength and finally learn some combat ability related to his elements. He felt that ever since he broke through, not only could he sense the elements, but he could also remotely try to control them.
He looked towards the glass of water in front of him and, with just a thought, the blob of water rose from the cup and transformed into a spear that rushed towards the other side of the room but splattered all over the wall. He felt his mana decrease by at least one percent with that control. If any mage had been there to witness what he just did, they would have been surprised.
A rank ten mage cannot exert such control over any element. They always have to bring a portion of their element with them, and mana consumption makes the magic useful for fighting against a normal human; they can fight for long. His ability to control the water element showed that his affinity for water was not something that could be explained by pure talent. He was a monster. A normal water elemental mage would lose almost two-thirds of their mana reserve, but with his mana having a hundred percent purity, his mana reserve was at least five times larger than ordinary mages.
He simply took out the book given by Lucy. This book covers the beginning principles of water, lightning, and wood, respectively. He took the water principle book and started reading it. In this world, there were no skill or ability books for mages except those from magical families with deep heritage. Most mages developed their spells themselves. A saying amongst mages was,
"Talent determines how far a mage can go, while comprehension ability determines how strong a mage can be." The ability to derive attack power from elemental affinity made the gap between mages wide. Even with elemental affinity, a mage with lower affinity could easily defeat a mage with higher affinity if they could derive superb attack power.