Birth Of The Crafts-God

In the exam hall, Lucas sat before a table with a single small cube on it. The cube was a mini-computer—much like a communicator—but only contained the questions for the exams. It was a foolproof device that could relay and receive questions and answers within a second.

The cube achieved this by making the exam a silent one. All the examinee had to do was touch the cube and the questions would be projected into one's mind. The examinee would then mentally answer the questions and the cube would capture and process their brainwave signals, before sending the answers over to the main system.

The main system would now compile the answers, score the students and record the results.

The cube could also take note of the changes in its surroundings, whether they be physical or astral. This would prevent the examinee from cheating even if they had a communicator with them.

The questions were divided into two sections: the general and the specialised sections. The general section contained questions relating to basic knowledge and the know-how of vestige-smithing. The specialised section dealt with questions relating to the examinee's focus on vestige-smithing.

Not everyone present was interested in the same branch of vestige-smithing, so, questions for each branch would be given to the student interested in it. The EVL knew this from the form they had filled out earlier.

For Lucas, he had selected weapon vestige-smithing. When it came to which branch he was—cold or hot—Lucas decided to go for the cold weapons branch. So far, he has been making only cold weapons. However, picking this didn't mean that he would go under the Forger Faction; Lucas was still intent on building a new school of thought.

'It's not as bad as I thought. In the end, the physics in this world is still pretty much the same.'n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Lucas, whose eyes were closed, calmed down a bit. He proceeded to answer where he could and left empty the ones he couldn't. Even with his thirty years on Earth, the knowledge from there was somewhat antique compared to Eretre's; new theories had been made, phenomena discovered and much more.

Nonetheless, Lucas was still able to do fine with his Earthly knowledge, and substituted some parts with what he knew from his first life.

After a while, the exam was over and everyone was asked to leave the hall with the cubes remaining where they were.

Once outside, Lucas spotted Havos walking out with a relaxed composure. He looked much better than earlier when he saw Maximillus.

"So, how was it?" Havos asked.

"I probably did okay." Lucas replied, unsure of how the examiners would consider his answers.

Havos froze as he stared at Lucas, but then laughed it off. The theoretical exam was usually the easiest, and if one were to find it average or difficult, their performance onwards would usually be below par. Regardless, Havos didn't think much about it. He didn't know Lucas personally, so he couldn't really judge him.

"How did you do, Maxxy?" A voice spoke loudly, not considering the people around.

Lucas and Havos turned to the side and spotted a flashy-dressed teen who was sporting opulent attire from head to toe. Lucas identified a vestige brand on his jacket, and the watch gave off the energy of a vestige.

A typical communicator was just an electronic device. Very few would be powered by a stellar processor, and even fewer were made as a vestige. The latter was very expensive due to its rarity, as the vestige-smiths capable of making such were rare. Just the price alone was enough to limit those who could afford it.

The affluent teen with black hair smiled at Maximillus as he called out to him.

"Vergil." Havos said with a strange expression.

"Who's he?" Lucas asked, feeling that the information was quite important.

"He's similarly from a powerful family like Maximillus. However, compared to the Oder family, Vergil's Mertens family is wealthier and more powerful. They aren't into the vestige business, but food production and the desolate beast industry. They're also younger than the Oder family, but thanks to their incredible line of family heads, they rose to a bigger rank than the Oder family."

The desolate beast industry was another industry that thrived in Baylands city-state thanks to the Wastelands close by. It was the industry that encompassed the selling of desolate beasts (dead or alive), their body parts, and even their flesh. Freelancers hunt desolate beasts for their body parts, which are valuable as materials for vestige-smithing, medicine, or even food.

Some desolate beasts' blood could be used to produce either a life-saving medicine or even a strong alcohol.

For instance, among the common desolate beasts, a Helokiel's skin could be used for leather as it was much tougher than that of farm animals. A Nolkin, which had corrosive saliva and looked like a mix between a batoid and a bird, had tasty meat, and its saliva could be used to produce medicine. In the underground world, the same saliva was also used to produce a special hallucinogen that sold crazy.

Some even used this hallucinogen as a replacement for alcohol in making wines.

Overall, there were many utilisations of desolate beasts depending on the type, which was why the freelancer community was one of the biggest and wealthiest in existence, creating other industries from it alone. And the Mertens family was a family that capitalized on this to become a top three family in Baylands City.

Havos continued, "I heard that their young generation has two geniuses, but one of them is a potential vestige-smith genius. The family has invested a lot in him in hopes of finally entering the vestige-smith industry. I didn't think the supposed genius would be such a playboy."

Lucas glanced at Vergil once again. The playboy personality didn't come as much of a surprise to him, but it was the fact that there were so many people with deep backgrounds here. It was just his second day in the Central Prefecture district, and Lucas had already come close to two individuals from the top four families of the city and, by relation, the city-state.

Chances were that the others around him were all from some sort of significant background, albeit not as much as Vergil and Maximillus.

Lucas suddenly turned to Havos.

"Who are you?"

Havos was struck speechless by the question, but he understood and smiled lightly.

"Me? I used to think of myself as a genius, but seeing so many others, I don't really know. My family isn't rich or powerful either. I'm just a guy who came all the way here through a scholarship."

After the response, Havos asked back, "What about you?"

"I'm human." Lucas replied.

Havos raised an eyebrow, surprised that was his answer, but then understood. A human can never be influential or have backing in Baylands City or anywhere else, apart from Digress city-state. The answer "I'm human" was a perfect response.

. . .

While Lucas was taking the exam to get an official registration under the Eretrean Vestige-smith League, the Silver Fig Trade Convention auction was still underway.

Although the auction was alluded to kick off on the sixth day, which was the previous day, that was merely the opening ceremony and formalities. Since the convention would end on the fifth day, the auction began on the evening of the sixth day, giving the participants enough time to make preparations and arrive on time.

Some items and vestiges would be sold at the same evening, but not too many of them. The best, as always, would be left for last, which was exactly on the seventh day since the start of the Silver Fig Trade Convention.

On this day, not only would all the approved vestiges be sold, but a ranking would also be released midway into the event. The ranking would determine the annual ranking of vestiges for the year as well as those who would be appearing in the high and mid tier regions for the convention the following year.

For vestige-smiths, this ranking was the highlight of the event for them and mattered a lot. Only the top fifteen vestiges from each of the five districts, adding up to seventy five (75) vestiges, could participate in the auction. But the top fifty masterpieces of each district would appear in the ranking, meaning it was a top two hundred and fifty (250) ranking out of tens of thousands of vestiges.

Sometimes, one might spot a vestige-smith saying they wouldn't mind going celibate for a year as long as they could appear in the rankings. That was just how much they valued it.

Roughly at the same time Lucas had concluded the theoretical exam, coincidentally, the rankings were released at the auction. Fifty vestiges had already been sold, leaving behind twenty five more. Releasing the rankings would affect the final prices of the vestiges, but with most of the weaker ones already sold, the organizers weren't bothered.

If anything, the rankings could even influence the final prices for the remaining twenty five vestiges positively.

"Ladies and gentlemen," The auctioneer spoke.

"Before I call out the next item, we will now release the rankings for this year's Silver Fig Trade Convention."