With a thoughtful look stamped on her face, Stella couldn't help but inquire while gesturing towards Diana: "Why are you giving this to me? I thought you would give it to her."

  "I wouldn't mind giving it to her either. But she STILL doesn't have the necessary resources to make the most of this material," explained Alexander. "So why not help you and get on the good side of your family?"

  Alexander's simple and carefree way of acting and speaking always left Stella a bit confused by his unpredictability, because she couldn't tell if he was being serious or playing with words.

  As if all that weren't enough, he also began to provoke people.

  When everyone had made their decision and eaten their leaves, night had completely fallen. But they couldn't simply sleep while there was a group that might ambush them out of revenge.

  "Can you take Diana with you?" Alexander asked Stella.

  Upon hearing Alexander's request, Stella turned to look at him and seemed to understand his plan. "No problem. But are you sure your wolf can keep up with our horses carrying you on its back?"

  Hearing her answer, Alexander just laughed. "I don't want to belittle your mount, but the right question would be if your horse can keep up with her."

  "Woolf!" declared Ocean with enthusiasm, as if confirming Alexander's words.

  This sequence of events left Stella surprised. It was the first time she had seen a 1st evolution familiar with that level of intelligence.

  Her surprise turned into a desire to have it for herself. But Alexander quickly brought her back to reality: "I recommend you don't continue with that line of thinking."

  "Hmm?" asked Stella, confused at being "suddenly awakened."

  "Wild creatures are very sensitive to negative intentions," explained Alexander. "That's why it's so complicated to have and/or maintain a familiar."

  "Even if you really don't want to take her and this was just an 'innocent' thought, Ocean sensed the greed you emanated and isn't at all happy about it," warned Alexander.

  Upon hearing Alexander's warning, Stella turned to Ocean. But as soon as she did, she regretted that decision, because the wolf was staring intently at her and didn't seem at all happy.

  Since he could understand both sides better than anyone else, Alexander calmed Ocean for a while, and only then did the group continue their journey.

  An ordinary wolf would definitely lose to a traveler's horse in terms of endurance while carrying someone.

  Fortunately, Ocean was not an ordinary wolf. She was a magical beast at the peak of her 1st evolution… There was no way she could lose.

  By advancing even during the night, the group managed to shorten the travel time considerably and arrived at Iron Hammer City the next morning. Thus, a journey that would normally take 1 day of 'normal' travel, or 2 days in a merchant's carriage, took less than 1 day in actual hours, which, in the case of the Aurora world, was about 33 hours.

  When they arrived in the city, everyone was tired—except for Alexander, who had much more energy than everyone else and didn't need to expend almost any thanks to Ocean's help.

  Even though he wasn't physically tired, mental fatigue persisted. Staying awake all night wasn't pleasant and much less invigorating.

  Alexander then told them that their first priority should be to find a place to rest. The second was to meet the next morning at the door of the local branch of the adventurers' guild.

  Since everyone on the team was too tired to want to disagree, they simply agreed and went to look for a place to sleep.

  Alexander and Diana made the obvious choice of renting at the Guild. But before Diana could go to her room, Alexander asked her to stay with Ocean and left after giving her some money for Ocean's expenses.

  Before leaving the Guild, Alexander stopped to get information.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  After asking around a bit, he managed to discover the location of the blacksmiths' association, and that this city had a total of 15 dungeons in its surroundings: 6 beginner, 5 intermediate, and 4 advanced.

  According to some accounts, the advanced dungeon farthest from the city was responsible for the horde that attacked Phoenix City.

  After thinking a bit, Alexander set the dungeons aside for a while and went to the blacksmiths' association in search of Jayce's brother, John.

  Alexander didn't need much effort to locate him, as he just needed to ask at the reception of the blacksmiths' association.

  The only problem was the need for a good reason to meet him personally, meaning it was up to him to consider a possible letter from Jayce as a good reason to appear.

  With no other choice, Alexander showed the letter addressed to John. "Tell him I came at Jayce's request and that I have a letter from him for him."

  Seeing that Alexander wasn't willing to hand her the letter, the receptionist didn't insist. She just asked one of her colleagues to take her place and went to deliver the message personally.

  "It seems Jayce's brother really has some prestige around here," analyzed Alexander as he observed the people and things around him.

  It didn't take long for the receptionist to return, but this time she was accompanied by a robust dwarf.

  As soon as he arrived in front of Alexander, the dwarf cast a very severe look at him. "I hope you're not lying when you say you have something from my brother for me. I don't like to waste time."

  "I'm not lying. Here is the letter he sent you," said Alexander while showing him the letter. "But could we talk about this and other matters in a more private place?"

  John looked at Alexander for some time before taking the letter. As soon as he took it, he turned around and left only one instruction: "Follow me."

  After following a few corridors, they arrived at a luxurious room with 2 beautiful sofas facing each other.

  Seeing John sit on one of the sofas to open the package sent by Jayce, Alexander felt comfortable enough to sit on the other and wait until he finished reading the letters.

  "What do you need, kid?" asked John, seeming quite happy with the content of the letters.

  "A bit of everything," replied Alexander. "I have some items I want to sell. But I also want to buy and commission others."

  "Then you came to the right place," assured John.

  "Let's see what items you have to sell," said John enthusiastically. However, upon seeing the items Alexander brought, his smile became twisted.

  "I can imagine more or less what you're thinking and I assure you I didn't steal them," assured Alexander. "I obtained them legitimately by hunting a group of bandits. I have no involvement with robberies or thieves."

  Alexander wasn't lying; the items he showed came from the box he obtained on the day he saved Cristina's carriage.

  His questionable attitude of not returning the box may be condemned by some, but he wasn't the one who attacked the Black Moon caravan and caused them to lose the box.

  John wasn't surprised or doubted Alexander's story, as it was quite common; there were even groups whose goal was to hunt bandits to keep their treasures.

  What really surprised John was the quantity and quality of the items, as they were worth a fortune.

  The most suspicious part of this whole story was the fact that Alexander wanted to sell them to the blacksmiths' association and not at an auction, where he would have a higher profit margin.

  "If the story is really as you tell it, why are you selling to the blacksmiths' association and not at auction?" probed John.

  "What better place to sell used items for forging high-quality equipment than a blacksmiths' association?" countered Alexander.

  John was surprised to see that Alexander knew the ideal use for the items. An ordinary person would think they were just valuable.

  The truth is these items had undergone various procedures that made them perfect for equipment forging.

  "Your reasoning seems logical, but it doesn't answer my question, because the items would still be more valued at an auction," insisted John.

  "You got me," admitted Alexander. "I do have ulterior motives."

  "I want to commission some things, but the cost they would charge me for the details would be exorbitant," explained Alexander before showing a sketch of his request. "That's why I'm trying to build a good relationship with the blacksmiths' association, even if it reduces my profit."

  John’s expression darkened as he looked over the sketches and their accompanying notes, each bearing the same instruction: "Please correct the conceptual errors in my drawing, but don’t alter its form too much."

  "Is it possible to do this?" asked Alexander, with an innocent tone of voice.

  Alexander’s sudden innocent tone clearly irritated the blacksmith. Just by looking, John already knew well that the request was heavy.

  If he accepted such a request, John would have to spend a lot of time correcting all the errors and improving each item's designs, without altering them much, to ensure they were perfectly balanced.

  Without his brother's request, John would have already kicked Alexander out of the association for making such an immoral proposal to him.

  After one last sigh, John gave in: "It's possible. But besides the cost being high, the association doesn't have the means to obtain all these cores."

  Alexander feared he would claim exactly that, because he knew his request was "a little bit" exaggerated.

  Fortunately, he still had a "plan B." "I was afraid you'd say exactly that… But it's not as if all is lost either. I know someone who might be able to help me obtain them."

  "How wonderful," John said sarcastically, without much enthusiasm upon learning that this madness would still continue.

  The worst part was that he would still have to make such a request with a very low profit margin in his brother's name.

  After settling the last details, Alexander gave John a wooden replica in the estimated size for his spear, and John gave Alexander 12 small black diamond coins, which was the value left over from the sale after deducting the cost of the down payment for his commissions.