"If you don't accept my proposal. You will lose a hand, a leg, an eye...and... Ah, yes, an ear." He grinned and asked. "What do you say?"

"I'll work for two years." He said and nodded vigorously as if he was made for working in his shop. However, only he knew the condition of his heart. He wanted to cry but no tears came out of his eyes; he wanted to scream but didn't dare to; he wanted to complain but had no courage. In the end, he could only sigh with self-pity.

"Alright, tell me, why do you want Black Iron?" Kadyn said with great interest.

Hot Rod eyed Kadyn and shook his head, suppressing his depression before replying. "That metal isn't Black Iron."

"Ohh, then what kind of metal is that?" Kadyn asked, eager to know more.

"Hustril." He replied.

"Hustril?" Kadyn frowned as he had never heard this term before. "What kind of metal is that?"

Hot Rod hesitated, but then he sighed, and replied. "Though this metal is just a Common Rank. It is a special and rare metal. Almost scarce in a place like the Magic Association. One would hardly come into contact with it. Furthermore, it looks just like Black Irons, however, there are blue dots on Hustril that Black Iron lacks. I have read it in a book by chance, or I also wouldn't know about it."

"Can you tell me the use of this metal?" Kadyn said. "I don't want to know its history."

Hot Rod nodded and said. "It is used to forge Storage Artifacts."

"Wha...t?" Kadyn left agape when he heard Hot Rod. "Are you sure?" he asked with an agitated expression. How cool that would be to have a Space Ring or a Space Bracelet. He could store anything inside without any problem.

"I'm not lying." Hot Rod said with full confidence.

An excited look appeared on Kadyn's face. Then he asked Hot Rod. "Can you forge it?"

"I've never tried, but I'm sure I can succeed." Then an embarrassed look appeared on his face. "It's just that... I don't have an Inscription for it."

Kadyn stared blankly at Hot Rod and sighed. Why did he even expect something from him? Without Inscription, there was no difference in normal weapon or artefact. One could say, an artefact becomes an artefact after the artisan inscribed the Inscription on it. Furthermore, different Inscriptions needed in different situations.

[Author Note: Previously, I've used Array instead of Inscription.]

He glared at Hot Rod and asked with irritation. "Are you lying because you don't want me to know the Inscription?" After all, Inscriptions were the most precious thing for Artisans.

"No, no, I'm telling the truth." Hot Rod hurriedly replied.

Kadyn glanced at him and said. "Lying would do you no good. So I would suggest you behave."

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

At this moment three shadows appeared inside the shop simultaneously. Kadyn glanced at them and laughed. "Have you finished the task?"

Three of them walked towards Kadyn and revealed their faces. They were Elder Jyn, Leader Barret, and Potioneer Yel. Elder Jyn grinned at Kadyn's question and threw a man who hanged in his hand like a bag of rice. As the body fell in front of Kadyn it made a "Thump" sound. The man groaned and moaned in agony.

He appeared in a miserable condition. His nose was broken, his limbs appeared useless, his clothes were covered in blood and sweat. He lifted his head after some struggle and gazed at Kadyn, but the figure was blurry, and he could not see the face clearly. Then he said. "Wh..y are y..ou doing this?" his voice was weak and pathetic, trembling with fear.

Khrom walked out from behind Kadyn as his eyes glittered with hatred and kicked Gul Palius on his head without a shred of mercy. He squealed like a pig and smashed in the distance. This sudden development caught every off guard, including Elder Jyn and others. They exchanged glances with each other and shook their heads. It seemed the real reason Kadyn captured Mayor Palius was because of this guy.

Khrom padded towards Gul Palius and realised that he had fallen unconscious. Then he looked towards Elder Jyn and the other two with a questioning look. It was Leader Barret who replied. "Though he is just a Rank 1 Magus, he has reached the peak. Therefore, we had to struggle quite a bit to subdue him. If it wasn't for Elder Jyn's help we would have been slaughtered by him."

As he said, his face turned red. He was the Branch Leader of the Magic Association in Avibria City. He was supposed to be the strongest person in the city. But someone had already overtaken him. It was Elder Jyn who controlled the situation. However, the outcome didn't fare too well for Mayor Palius, as he had turned into a swollen pig.

At this moment Khrom turned towards Kadyn. "Can you give me five Healing Potions?" he said. "I'll pay you later when I have energy points."

Kadyn thought and nodded. Potions weren't provided by the Shop, so he had full control over them. He passed five vials to Khrom and said, "This is the first and last time. Next time I won't give you a single thing without energy points." After all, he needed to follow rules strictly. Otherwise, no one would value the rules.

Khrom nodded gratefully and poured the entire vial inside Mayor's mouth. Kadyn saw and understood what he wanted to do. "There is a place behind the Shop. You can do whatever you want there. We don't want to wake up the children due to some strange noise after all." He said to Khrom. Then turned towards Elder Jyn before speaking. "Follow Khrom, and help him, if the Mayor tries to struggle."

Elder Jyn nodded. He knew there was no option of refusing, so he could only nod with a sigh.

"So, it was you, hahaha!" Mayor Palius opened his eyes and glanced at Khrom who was in his original appearance. After all, he needed no more to hide. Gul Palius stared at Khrom and mocked him. "You want revenge for raping your wife, huh? Then you're also a sinner. You killed her, after all ."