Another 35 days have passed since Casey returned to Saltstar City.
Vicente and Rory have continued to train daily to improve their collaboration, having reached an impressive level of combat for both of them.
Rory and Vicente realized they could fight above the level they normally could when they teamed up to form a massive storm.
That cheered them up even more for the future, as it gave them hope to solve the problem of the vampire coming after Vicente, as well as better conditions to face the calamity brewing in the north of the continent.
Meanwhile, Nova had gotten the approvals she needed from the Martial Court and had already obtained the right to explore and build a new city in the province in the area she had chosen for Vicente.
She warned him about this during those days before returning to focus on the development of her faction, which he had authorized her to do.
They would need army soldiers on their side to explore and build a city there, so she was now focused on getting the men she could put on Vicente's side.
For him, he had assigned Benson, Eve, and Rory the task of studying the area's rock composition and the amount and types of minerals they would need to create a metal city.
To create such a place would require many workers, professionals such as blacksmiths and engineers, and coins, shelter, and food.
Those three were already taking care of that for Vicente, while he had been focusing almost half of his day on working on his forging skills since before Casey's return.
But after a lot of hard work and study since his return to Saltstar City, he finally achieved the understanding needed to become a 4th-stage blacksmith!
...
It was evening in Saltstar City when Vicente was almost finished with his day of study and training at the forge. He felt something different in his being arise, along with a sudden urge to forge something.
He quickly grabbed some of the best materials he had at his disposal at home and used his skill to extract the metals he wanted from the ores before transmuting some of them into other metals that were stronger and better for what he had in mind.
He was eager to see the result, so he built something simpler than his robotic armor. He focused on producing a firearm, making a pistol right after he had finished manipulating the different components that would make up that weapon.
After less than five minutes since he felt that sudden sensation, he made a silver pistol appear in front of him, and three golden bullets fell into his hands.
As he stopped using his skills and let his pentagrams return to his body, Vicente felt the strong magical fluctuation of that artifact, which could only be classified as something of the 4th grade!
'I've finally become a 4th stage blacksmith!' He smiled as he looked at that beautiful weapon, finally reaching the highest level of forging he could achieve in the Seidel Kingdom.
That weapon wasn't the best he could produce as a 4th stage blacksmith. It was the best he had ever produced in his life. Still, it was only 61% efficient, enough for him to be considered a 4th stage blacksmith, but far from the 100% that would make that item dangerous even for newly promoted Paragons.
However, achieving 100% efficiency on weapons like that would be difficult, but not only that, it was enough for Vicente for the time being.
'This weapon will give the power to a High-level Mage to kill an Earth Sovereign!' He smiled as he pressed his fingers on the weapon, imagining that his family would be much stronger once he produced this weapon and its ammunition on a large scale.
There were High-level Mages capable of doing this. But most Mages weren't like Vicente or Snow Claw. For most Mages, like those in the Fuller family, an Earth Sovereign was invincible and it would take many High-level Mages to deal with a single one of them.
That's why that weapon was so valuable!
But as he looked at his newly-produced item, Vicente noticed what Benson had told him long ago.
'But there seems to be a deficiency in it... Indeed, Benson wasn't wrong. These weapons won't go beyond the 4th stage, even if I keep improving and get better materials.' He concluded.
But Vicente was not disappointed. He could certainly produce 4th-grade weapons with 100% efficiency, which would make them devices capable of threatening Paragons, even when used by mere Sovereigns.
That would be impressive enough for him, given that there were very few Paragons on the entire continent!
With this breakthrough in mind, Vicente would soon leave his forge and get something to eat before going to see Layla.
Even though he had just done something incredible, he had already trained for many hours today. He needed some rest before continuing his efforts.
However, having achieved the previous feat, he already planned to focus much of the next few days on producing 4th-
stage firearms and 4th-stage robotic armor.
He had enough material to create 10 armor and 40 firearms with enough ammunition to take over a city the size of Saltstar City.
So his next few days would be entirely focused on forging, the last thing he had to do before the arrival of the 3rd stage vampire in his city.
...
A few days later...
After some time working at the forge to produce 4th stage items, Vicente was finally presenting his new weapons to his family.
Today, the main family members were gathered on the outskirts of Saltstar City, where three of the family's soldiers were in position with the family's new weapon models.
As of today, all the High-level Mages in the family would receive one of those guns and 300 bullets.
Rory stood next to Vicente as he waited for the signal for the test to begin. Meanwhile, he asked. "What about the armor? When will we be able to see them in action?"
Benson was there too and couldn't help looking at Vicente with anticipation in his eyes.
"In another 10 days or so," Vicente replied with a smile. "That's the time I need to finish building the armor components and assemble them.
If the damned vampire doesn't get to the city before then, we'll be able to count on them in the fight against him."
"That's good," Benson commented with a smile on his face.
Rory asked. "What do you think is stronger? The robotic armor or the firearms?"
"The armor, of course."
As soon as Vicente said this, the three soldiers of the family fired their weapons, making a loud popping sound before everyone in the place saw the result of those shots.
In front of them a few seconds ago was a small mountain peak, about a kilometer away from them. But after a resounding 'bang,' that piece at the top of the hill disappeared after being hit by three bullets!
