Chapter 11: Twenty-Two Refined Swords—and the Whole Region Takes Notice
Elara?
Cassian set down his bowl and opened a call.
The connection came through almost immediately.
Elara’s projection appeared in front of him. Blood stained her silver-gray light armor, and somewhere behind her came the occasional wolf howl and clash of metal.
Cassian spoke first.
"What was that about?"
Elara blinked, then understood.
"You think I was giving you money?"
"Weren’t you?"
"You sold a sword worth around three thousand for five thousand."
Cassian looked at her.
"It does look that way."
Elara rolled her eyes.
"Cassian. You’re still as irritating as ever."
Then she sent him a map capture.
Cassian looked once, and his eyes narrowed.
[Unknown Epic Creature]
[Level: 10]
[Threat Level: Extreme]
Behind the monster lay a wide stretch of exposed silver-black ore.
[Large High-Grade Iron Vein]
Elara rubbed her forehead.
"That thing is three kilometers outside my Domain. I’ve already lost two Gale Riders."
"Rare troops."
"And the worst part is this."
She pointed to the ore behind the creature.
"I want Rank II. I need that vein if I’m going to produce Refined Iron fast enough."
Cassian’s attention stayed on the Epic monster.
Level 10.
Epic.
That meant a large amount of Battle Essence, high-quality drops, and the thing he cared about most.
[Core Trait: Unknown]
He was genuinely a little envious.
"Your luck is pretty good."
Elara’s eyes widened.
"I lost two Rare cavalry!"
"Mm."
"That’s why it’s only pretty good."
"If no one had died, it’d be very good."
Elara took a slow breath.
"I’m not doing this with you."
"My frontline equipment is too weak. I need more combat power now. That’s why I bought your sword."
Cassian caught the important part immediately.
"You need more?"
Elara paused.
"You have more?"
"How many do you need?"
"How many do you have?"
They both stopped.
Elara stared at him.
"Cassian. How many do you actually have?"
Cassian glanced toward the Forge. The second batch of Blacksteel Swords had just come out.
"How many people do you still need to equip?"
"Twelve Wolf Riders. Ten Gale Rangers. The ordinary troops don’t need replacements yet."
"Twenty-two."
Cassian nodded.
"Then twenty-two swords."
Elara’s eyes opened wider.
"Wait. How many?"
"Twenty-two."
"I’ll give you a normal price this time. Two thousand five hundred each."
Elara kept staring at him.
"I’m not asking about the price."
"I’m asking where you got twenty-two Refined weapons."
Cassian said nothing.
Elara was not stupid.
One sword could come from a chest.
Two could be drops.
But twenty-two identical standard weapons—same level, same design, nearly identical attributes—had only one explanation.
"You already built a Forge?"
Cassian smiled faintly.
Elara continued.
"And you have stable Refined Iron?"
Silence.
"You found an Iron Vein?"
Cassian still did not answer.
Elara finally lost patience.
"What kind of ridiculous luck is that?"
Cassian raised a brow.
"Which one of us just found a Level 10 Epic sitting beside a huge high-grade iron vein?"
Elara went quiet.
The call ended.
——
Two hours later, a system message flashed across the Regional Exchange.
[Cassian Vale has listed Blacksteel Sword ×22 for a designated buyer.]
[Quality: Refined]
[Level: 5]
[Unit Price: 2,500 Aether Crystal]
One second later—
[Transaction Complete.]
The regional channel went silent.
For two full seconds.
Then it detonated.
"Did I read that quantity wrong?"
"Twenty-two?"
"Twenty-two Refined weapons?"
"I haven’t seen one Refined item all day!"
"How did he suddenly produce twenty-two?"
Someone realized it quickly.
"Wait."
"They’re all Blacksteel Swords."
"Same level. Same specifications."
"Those aren’t drops."
"They’re mass-produced."
The channel quieted again as the implication spread.
"A Forge?"
"He already has a Forge?"
"The Forge isn’t the important part."
"Refined Iron is!"
"Ordinary iron can’t reliably produce weapons like that."
"He already controls a source of Refined Iron?"
"How long has the region even been open?"
"I haven’t reached Rank I and he’s already preparing Rank II resources?"
Cassian watched the messages scroll.
He did not answer.
His Aether balance had already surged.
[Aether Crystal: 55,013]
Fifty-five thousand.
For the first time, he was genuinely rich.
And once twenty-two standardized Refined weapons appeared at the same time, the people who had only been watching finally stopped sitting still.
[Seraphine Valcrest: Cassian, can we talk privately?]
Another message appeared almost at once.
[Mariel Thorn: Vale, if you’re willing to join the King’s Frontier Legion, I can immediately reserve a knight’s commission for you and provide access to future Rank-advancement resources.]
Then a name that had barely spoken before appeared.
[Alaric Voss: Cassian, a common-born Lord like you doesn’t need to carry every risk alone.]
[Alaric Voss: Become my Resource Vassal.]
[Alaric Voss: 10,000 Aether Crystal per month.]
[Alaric Voss: You handle production. I handle protection.]
Elara appeared immediately.
[Elara Vayne: Keep dreaming.]
[Alaric Voss: I’m talking to Cassian.]
[Elara Vayne: So?]
Lucan joined in as well.
[Lucan Deyne: Ten thousand is already generous.]
[Lucan Deyne: Ordinary Lords enter the Shattered Marches for resources in the first place.]
[Lucan Deyne: If House Voss is willing to offer that much, Cassian should be grateful.]
Cassian finally replied.
[Cassian Vale: Not interested.]
[Alaric Voss: Don’t refuse too quickly.]
[Alaric Voss: You have Refined Iron production. That’s not the kind of resource an F-grade Domain can protect forever.]
[Alaric Voss: Once Raid Writs begin circulating, you’ll learn that some things can’t be kept just because you don’t want to sell them.]
The regional channel slowly quieted.
Raid Writ.
During the seven-day newcomer protection period, Lords could not normally declare war on one another. A Raid Writ was one of the exceptions.
[Raid Writ]
It opened a short, limited resource raid without normally threatening the target’s Domain Core. Noble Lords sometimes used one as a negotiated resource transfer: name a price, agree on what could be taken, then conduct the raid under the rules.
And if the other side refused to negotiate, the same writ could turn that pressure into a legal raid.
Seraphine finally spoke again.
[Seraphine Valcrest: I’ll be direct.]
[Seraphine Valcrest: If you allow me one Controlled Raid, I will take only enough Refined Iron for Rank II.]
[Seraphine Valcrest: 200,000 Aether Crystal.]
Two hundred thousand.
The entire channel went silent.
"..."
"Did I see an extra zero?"
"Two hundred thousand?"
"That’s what a Valcrest opening looks like?"
"My entire net worth is four hundred!"
Even Cassian read the number twice.
It was tempting.
If he did not already have a stable revenue line through the Forge, he might have seriously considered it.
But now—
[Cassian Vale: No.]
Seraphine did not press him.
[Seraphine Valcrest: A pity.]
Alaric was less gracious.
[Alaric Voss: Then we’ll each rely on our own methods.]
[Lucan Deyne: Buying Raid Writs at a high price. Low level is fine.]
[Alaric Voss: Same.]
[Elara Vayne: Try touching him.]
[Mariel Thorn: We’re all from the same newcomer cohort. I suggest we avoid internal fighting this early.]
Cassian read the channel and suddenly smiled.
Veyra happened to pass nearby.
"What is it?"
"Someone is preparing to attack me."
"Many?"
"Possibly."
A faint light entered Veyra’s eyes.
"How many do you need me to kill?"
"No rush."
Cassian reopened the exchange.
[Blacksteel Sword ×2]
[Unit Price: 2,500 Aether Crystal]
The listing announcement appeared.
The regional channel filled with speechless reactions.
[Mariel Thorn: Cassian...]
[Mariel Thorn: Could you be a little less conspicuous right now?]
Cassian replied with one word.
[Cassian Vale: Broke.]
Another ordinary Lord answered almost immediately.
[...]
[Good luck surviving.]
Cassian closed the channel.
With more than fifty thousand Aether Crystals, he suddenly had many choices.
Better equipment for himself.
A larger army.
More buildings.
More investment in Veyra.
Or Rank II preparations.
Cassian was still weighing the options when Pack Dominion sent a violent pulse through his mind.
[Warning.]
[One of your Blackfang has been severely injured.]
Cassian’s head snapped up.
His first thought was to identify which scouting group.
His second was not worry.
His eyes brightened instead.
A three-beast scouting group of Level 5 Blackfang was difficult for ordinary monsters to seriously injure.
If something had managed it—
then there was something stronger out there.
Veyra saw his expression.
"Your wolf is hurt."
"Mm."
"Why do you look like you found money?"
Cassian was already on his feet.
"Because I finally found something valuable."