BUILDING MY OWN EMPIRE - My Journey from Nothing to Overwhelming Power-Chapter 56 – Deal in the Middle of Training (2)

Chapter 56: Chapter 56 – Deal in the Middle of Training (2)

"There’s one more thing," I said.

"What?" the Deception Monster replied. "No more conditions or the deal collapses."

"No," I cut him off. "Not a condition. How are we going to bring the furnace here?"

"You can’t bring it," the monster answered.

"Whaaat?!"

"By yourself," he laughed, as if watching my expression and mocking it.

"Take this," he continued.

From the void, a thread of light burst forth.

From within it, a green glass sphere appeared.

I caught it.

{ Objective Fulfillment }

{ Single-use item }

"It’s a priceless object. This alone should make you rethink the stupidity of refusing," the monster’s voice rose.

"Once you reach the furnace, throw it at it, then give a mental command to transfer the structure here. It will happen immediately."

"That easily?" I asked.

"It equals ten ancient weapons, you idiot. There’s nothing simple about it. It breaks laws."

---

After several minutes...

I stood above the grassy field.

"Maybe the others have already reached stage fifty or more," I murmured.

In front of the furnace...

I took out the sphere.

Then I tossed it lightly toward the structure.

BOOM.

It struck the front.

Then it shattered into pieces.

From inside...

green threads erupted and wrapped around the entire building.

I thought quickly.

"Transfer the structure to the Deception Monster’s cave," I whispered, thinking at the same time.

In an instant, the threads thickened and multiplied around the furnace.

Moments later, I couldn’t see it at all.

The threads began to scatter and fade.

And the furnace...

no longer existed.

"Return," the monster’s voice thundered inside my mind.

A sudden headache hit me.

"Damn you... no need for telepathy!" I shouted.

I steadied myself and headed back to the cave.

Inside...

a direct path opened for me.

At its end, the furnace stood in a large square area of its own.

"It’s time," the monster said from one corner.

From nothingness, a small black box appeared.

Shock wore my face at that moment.

"What weapon is this?" I said.

The box fell into my hands.

I opened it.

"A ring?" I whispered in disbelief.

My eyes narrowed at its details.

It wasn’t a ring in the literal sense, more like a black band with no features.

"Not just any ring," the monster replied.

"Should I throw it into the fire so its power becomes clear?" I asked.

"What?" the monster said.

He didn’t understand. Of course he wouldn’t—it’s not like he knew the greatest fantasy series ever written.

But honestly, items like this were always terrifying.

Above the ring, its name and description finally appeared.

{ Ring of Absolute Fortification }

{ When worn, all your attributes become protected from theft or inspection }

"Is this really considered a weapon?" I muttered. "It’s closer to a protective charm."

"This ring, boy, is the greatest defensive tool a lord can obtain," the monster’s voice echoed.

"But it isn’t a defensive weapon," I said.

"You’ll understand later," the monster mocked. "Now start."

---

When I entered, the furnace was still the same from the inside.

It looked bigger.

At the center stood a stone furnace, and in front of it a wide table.

To the left, a door led to the inspection room and suggestion of the appropriate weapon.

To the right, a door led to the weapon museum, where the items produced by the furnace were kept.

I stepped closer to the center.

I placed the ring on the table.

{ Diiing... Diiing... Diiing }

{ Sacrifice weapon }

{ Accept – Reject }

{ Accept }

Suddenly, part of the table rose.

It carried the item into the furnace.

Then another part came out again... alone, with no ring.

It was a scene I had seen before during the first sacrifice of the ancient weapon, the nameless sword.

I stepped back.

The furnace fire began to glow and burn hotter.

More than before.

It kept rising.

Sweat started running down my face.

I retreated until I reached the door.

Then—

{ Diiing... Diiing... Diiing }

{ Smelting complete }

{ Ten weapons ready }

{ Diiing... Diiing... Diiing }

{ Weapons transferred to the museum }

I moved quickly.

I crossed the first hall of the museum.

At the second hall, I paused for a moment.

There were two weapons.

{ Severing Scythe }

{ Venomous Thorns }

I would come back to them.

I moved on.

Toward the new third hall.

Each time a new weapon is smelted, a hall opens for it.

Previously, when I smelted the ancient weapon, two halls opened—one for the ancient and one for the specialized.

Now, a new hall opened because there was a new tier.

Step after step...

I entered the third hall.

It differed from the second.

Its walls were silver, with engravings and decorations in places.

Around the edges were many tables.

Only one was not empty.

Without thinking, hurrying with steps close to a run, I went toward that lone table.

On top of it...

"A book?" I whispered.

{ Art of the Flame }

{ Grants the owner the ancient Flame Art. Several fast, decisive strikes accompanied by explosive fire, causing enormous damage and erosion to living defenses }

What is this? Does something like this even exist?

{ Diiing... Diiing... Diiing }

{ Deception Monster requests communication }

{ Accept }

"So now you need permission?" I said mockingly.

He didn’t respond.

Silence filled the place.

Then—

"Flame Art... it’s a complementary weapon," he said.

"Looks like it doesn’t suit you," I mocked. "So it’s like I expected, similar to the water weapon."

"It’s an excellent weapon for you, boy," he replied.

"Well, I need to check its compatibility first. There are two other weapons too. Did you look at them?"

"I did. One cuts accumulation. The other is also a complementary poison weapon."

"That’s good," I said.

After the check...

I quickly decided to take Flame Art.

Its compatibility with me was 100%.

The moment I held it—

{ Diiing... Diiing... Diiing }

{ Do you wish to bind? }

{ Yes }

I answered immediately.

Suddenly...

I felt as if new memories invaded my mind.

Memories that felt like they were mine.

But I was certain...

they weren’t.

"It’s like downloading a new system into my brain," I whispered.

"A system that makes me master those movements, even though I never trained in them."

At the same time...

my combat stats increased by ten points each in speed, strength, and agility.

I felt like...

I wanted to fight.

Now.

"Don’t get excited," the Deception Monster whispered.

"Your body is adapting to the new power. Give it time."

The strange thing about the Flame book—

when I used the ancient weapon, there was no system notification about binding.

It seemed this was related only to complementary weapons.

On the other hand, regarding the new ancient ones...

the Venomous Thorns were also compatible.

I hurried to use it, but—

before I did, the monster advised me not to rush.

"You’re only rank two. It won’t be good for you to use two complementary weapons."

So I stepped back and settled for the book.

As for the other weapon, the Severing Scythe, it cut accumulation under certain conditions.

It didn’t seem suitable for me.

Maybe it would suit the others.

"Come on, boy. It’s time."

"Why?" I asked.

"So you can go out, and I can accelerate time. It’s time to get three batches. Did you forget the 25%?"

"Alright, alright."

---

As soon as I stepped outside, I still felt my body craving movement.

For the first time, I started feeling that heaviness.

"I feel my body is heavy?" I asked.

"Because of your rank," the monster replied quickly.

"Don’t try to use that weapon before reaching rank three at least. Your body can barely tolerate its presence, and it won’t be the same when you actually use it."

"Rank three then," I muttered.

To reach rank three, all my strength, speed, and agility stats needed to rise higher.

{ System }

{ Character }

{ Speed = 40 }

{ Physical Strength = 50 }

{ Fitness = 50 }

"Do you know the full requirements for ascending to rank three?" I asked the monster.

I didn’t know all the conditions, and there were no instructions in the system.

All I knew was that when I raised speed, strength, and fitness to thirty each, rank two unlocked.

"Of course," the monster said. "You don’t know?"

"No. My personal system doesn’t contain that information."

"Really?" he said, then continued,

"Listen. Rank three requires your development points to reach level sixty across the board. You also need to sacrifice an ancient weapon, possess an ancient weapon, and have three million accumulation points."

"Whoa... three million?!" I shouted in shock.

"How am I supposed to get that number?"

I have a large number of flowers in my inventory. I can use them to gain accumulation. I can also purchase other things from the shop... but

I doubt all of that will really push me to three million accumulation.

Isn’t there truly any method or tool that can generate accumulation??

If nothing like that exists... then how do the other masters manage their affairs?..

"What about a deal?" the Deception Monster whispered slyly.

"Here he goes again..." I muttered.

"He’s trying to squeeze out as much profit as possible. Every single time I corner him, he shows up with a solution. That bastard."

I let out a long breath, then asked,

"What kind of deal are you talking about?"