Four days after the Mazzanti family's weapons test...
Near the easternmost border of the Scott Province, a creature with pale skin, dark red lips, and a serene look on his face stopped between the branches of the trees in that area. He momentarily closed his eyes, smelling a particular aroma.
As he did so, a smiling bow formed on his lips, while this being, who was already at the peak of the Mid-level of the 3rd stage, clenched his fists.
'I'm close to them!' He thought as he opened his blood-red eyes and looked ahead, aware that Layla and Casey were close by, no more than a few days' journey from where he was now.
Thinking about it, he couldn't help but remember the face of that super-talented black-haired young man he had met months ago.
'I'll soon have you in my hands, young monster! There's no point in you trying to run away! Sooner or later, I'll drink your blood!' He moved again, but he couldn't help but feel full of energy to deal with Vicente.
Whether Vicente was where he was going at the moment didn't matter. What mattered was that he could reach his target if he found the person's friends, especially that magician's lover.
This vampire had great instincts. He knew that Vicente had started a relationship with Layla after they had escaped from him. He could smell it on that woman!
As such, he couldn't help but imagine that he would reach Vicente as long as he reached Layla!
'Wait for me. It'll only take a little longer, young monster!'
As he disappeared from that area, several eyes opened in the vicinity of where he was standing!
...
Meanwhile, in Saltstar City...
After testing his weapons a few days ago, Vicente had returned to his family. He finished producing the remaining weapons and ammunition.
He was now fully focused on finishing the 4th stage robotic armors, while the strongmen of his family were already properly armed and in positions around their headquarters.
Meanwhile, members of the local factions dominated by the Fuller family were on high alert for threats from outside the city.
Vicente and his men hadn't made it clear what these threats were, but they had been using the men of these local underworld factions to monitor most of the city.
If anything happened, they would quickly realize the problem and move!
But as much as the family was already poised for action, with their local allies and partners aware of their concerns and plans, Vicente remained at home, hoping to have as much time as possible.
For him, every extra day they had to fight the vampire was a victory.
He had enough materials to create six new robotic armors. He had already produced components for some of them, but it would still take him six days to finish the entire production process for these magical artifacts.
Every day gained was a new armor in their favor to face the vampire, so he didn't want the damned vampire to arrive in town so soon.
But even so, Vicente and his family were naturally anxious to deal with the creature and solve the problem.
From the moment they were free to act again without having to fear the persecution of a vampire, they would have a lot of things to do with the family's future in mind.
Not only that but living in anticipation of the arrival of an enemy was terrible. Nina's lessons had finished a few days ago, but she had been practically stuck at home because of Vicente's worries about the vampire's arrival.
As such, as much as he wanted the creature to take a little more time, he also hoped that it wouldn't take too long.
Meanwhile, he was at home working alongside Benson and some of his family's 3rd-stage blacksmiths, who were there to assist him.
Seeing Vicente in action today was a great opportunity for each of those blacksmiths while he needed help to do the less important and more laborious steps of the robotic armor production process.
Benson enjoyed it the most, watching his disciple work with great attention and a smile on his face.
...
Vicente transmuted a few more metals and quickly used his skill to make a mixture of ingredients before shaping the component he was now focused on producing.
The moment it landed softly on the ground, small rays shot out from it, while the ground around it seemed to vibrate with its magical fluctuation.
Benson felt a chill run through his body, already imagining the wonders that the 4th stage robotic armor would be able to do.
'This armor will be even closer to my dreams than the previous one.' The old white-haired blacksmith thought to himself as he looked at just the dismantled components of the armor.
When the last newly-produced component landed on the ground, Vicente let out a deep sigh as he stopped using his skills.
"I need to rest for a while." He said to the blacksmiths there with him, tired after more than an hour and a half of constantly using his magical powers.
Setting aside the materials in his residence's large training room, Vicente stopped next to a table with normal drinks and recovery potions.
He drank a potion first, before downing more than a liter of juice in one go.
Then, one of the blacksmiths stopped next to Vicente and commented. "Your skills are supreme, boss. It's a shame that the resources we need come from so far away and take so long to reach us. If we could reach places rich in high-quality materials faster, we could produce these little beauties on a large scale."
Upon hearing this, Vicente was reminded of something and couldn't help but open his mouth at the thought of the methods earthlings used to transport resources from distant places.
In the Polaris Realm, there were different ways of traveling. The fastest method was individual flight, in which individuals use their own mana to move through the air.
There was also teleportation, but it cost a lot and depended on the construction of unique sites at the point of departure and the point of arrival. But it wasn't a viable method for constant use, only for emergencies.
In any case, none of these options were interesting for carrying large loads. The only way to do this was via water ships, flying ships, or wagons, but they were all relatively slow and time-
consuming.
However, there was a more down-to-earth way of transporting resources!
'Train. A train would do what this man suggests relatively quickly!'
