Arriving at the Saltstar City Blacksmith Association, Vicente walked through the entrance and headed to the Council of Elders.
He was a member of the Council himself, so no one could stop him from reaching the best blacksmiths in the place.
Soon, he was in a large room where High-level Mages were chatting in a luxurious, old-fashioned living room.
"Vicente?" One of the men there was surprised to see this young man with black hair.
The leader of this post smiled exuberantly, feeling that this young man had fulfilled all of their goals for their trip to the Chutha Dynasty.
None of them knew that Vicente wanted to take revenge for the things that had happened to him in the past. They thought he was going out of the kingdom mainly to advance his level and improve his understanding of the forge.
If he was back there, it meant he had succeeded!
"So? Did you get new techniques and resources?" The head of the association post asked him anxiously.
Vicente smiled as he threw a spatial ring in the direction of the white-haired man. "In this spatial ring are all the techniques, books, and small resources I could buy with what you gave me.
I also ordered resources for my family on the way back, including some things that might interest you. The shop I bought them from should be delivering them in a few weeks. If you want the resources I've ordered for you, all you have to do is pay the difference from the payment I've already made."
Those men's eyes lit up with interest. Of course, they were interested in any resources Vicente might have ordered from outside this place.
Saltstar City was a place with many opportunities for Mages. Unfortunately, 4th-grade items or interesting items for 3rd-grade artifacts were difficult to find or even order here.
Traveling around the kingdom was another problem. Blacksmiths often had good combat skills because of their strength. But that didn't make them warriors, and they would be more susceptible to the dangers of a long journey than born warriors.
So, traveling and obtaining their resources was also a difficulty. If someone was willing to do it for them, and then the delivery would be made in their city, they would be more than happy to finish paying for those resources.
"What about you, Vicente?" The leader of this place asked, realizing how much material he and his companions would soon have to study.
"I just managed to advance." He smiled. "But I haven't found my next pentagram yet. I will prepare for a while before I go looking for something interesting."
"I see... Well, congratulations on becoming a Sovereign, haha. You must be the only one in all of Saltstar City." The leader of this place said before the other old men there also congratulated Vice on his success in reaching the 4th stage.
"Have you learned some of these things?" Asked another old man who was analyzing what was in the spatial ring with the forging materials.
"I have read all these books and techniques. I still need to train and assimilate the meaning behind each of their special moves, but I have enough to become a 4th-stage blacksmith.
It will probably take a few weeks, but I'll get there." He said confidently as each of those old men looked at him with a mixture of happiness and regret.
If Vice became a 4th-stage blacksmith, they could take his advice and approach the 4th stage more easily. But since he had become an Earth Sovereign, it also meant he wouldn't live in Saltstar City for long. That was the sad part of it.
The leader of this group knew that Vicente had a little sister who was still a teenager, so he tried not to think the worst. 'He will probably be available to us until the girl awakens her powers... We have about three years to absorb everything he can teach us.'
He quickly pushed that aside and changed the subject. "Well, you must be looking for your master, right? Benson is in the training area for the elders of the Association Council."
"Thanks for the information. See you later."
With that settled, Vicente made his way to the basement of the large association building, in the same wing as the side that only Council staff could access.
When he arrived, only two training rooms were in use. After scanning the area for his master, he found where he needed to go and arrived at the room where Benson was working on the components of a robot armor.
Benson didn't notice Vicente entering the room. Still, after watching him in silence for almost a minute, the old man turned to see Vice standing at the entrance to the forge.
"Vicente!" Benson frowned, then relaxed when he saw his most successful student standing there.
"You're back at last? Were you able to achieve your goals?" He asked as he approached Vicente with a smile on his face.
Vicente nodded positively. "I got my revenge. I killed my mother's murderers and also reached the 4th stage."
"You're already a Sovereign?" Benson's eyes widened at the end of his disciple's speech.
That was the first of his disciples to reach the 4th stage!
Several of his disciples had reached the same level as him or even surpassed him. But he had no information about any of them reaching the 4th stage.
Vicente nodded in confirmation before showing his master the current configuration of his pentagrams, making the man even happier for him.
"Impressive! Your first pentagram has evolved again and is now yellow!" Benson laughed with satisfaction. "You will probably become a 5th-stage blacksmith in the future, Vice. With this new skill, whatever you forge will be better than anything forged by blacksmiths of the same rank as you!"
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Vicente didn't understand.
"Didn't you know that you can now change the nature of the metals under your control?" Benson was much more experienced than Vicente and had almost the same understanding of forging as the young man.
Looking closely at the new feature of the post-evolution Vice pentagram, Benson couldn't help but notice something very important.
"If I'm not mistaken, you can transmute metals from now on, Vice! You won't be able to work miracles, but you can use this power to change the materials at your disposal into better versions more compatible with your interests!"
