15 Hansel's Surprise

In a secluded place outside a city, Rhys was breathing heavily. There were several holes around him. One day had passed since he got the divine weapon. He tried using it.

"This is just a bit of my power. You are still too weak. You cannot bring out my full power," said Fu while floating in the air.

Rhys smiled. "I'm just a normal human a few days ago. My level of light energy is still low, and my body's strength is still too weak."

Then he stared at the huge hole in the ground. "But I don't need to wield you for the whole duration of a fight. As long as I succeed in landing one fatal blow, even a powerful demon could die."

"Hahahaha! Boy, you are underestimating a tier 3. Their body is a lot tougher than you think. You cannot penetrate their body with your current strength even if you use me."

A frown appeared on Rhys' face. "Then am I still powerless against a Tier 3?"

"Of course you are! But if you reach Tier 2, then you might have a chance."

Rhys had a helpless smile on his face. "I just became an exonn. It will take time to expand my soul space or sea of consciousness to reach the next stage."

Fu had a mysterious smile on his face, and Rhys noticed it.

"Do you have a solution?"

"Hahahaha! Boy, do you think a divine weapon is just used as a weapon? I could use my light energy to expand your soul space!"

"Really?!"

Fu moved down and tapped Rhys' shoulder. "Boy, you are very lucky to find me. Many generations of your family's luck are probably accumulated to you, but I could not do it now because I don't have enough light energy. You must absorb the dark energy. When it is purified, I will help you use it to expand your soul space. Let's go back. I still have something to do."

Rhys chuckled when he heard the rabbit, but he felt grateful that his aim to reach higher stages would be faster and easier with the help of Fu. They had a conversation about the power of the ten wings treasure. Fu was aware of its power because he had a bit of memory of the previous owner.

They went back to their house. The rabbit immediately went out of his soul space when they entered his room.

Rhys continued studying the smithing while the rabbit was watching on the bed and chuckling and laughing every now and then. In the afternoon, they went to the association for Rhys' training. The rabbit went with him with reluctance.

"When can I freely show myself?" asked Fu.

Rhys was flying as he observed the city. "Tomorrow, after my test for smithing, I will go to the central city where they are selling magic beasts. I will buy a dobit. There are cases where sentient magic beasts pretended to be normal beasts, so they could enter Earth. You know, not every being in other worlds could enter our world. You will pretend as a race that belongs to whitezax, then I will register you to the association. I will be your guarantor. You can imitate a whitezax, right?"

"Of course! It's less handsome, but acceptable," said Fu, causing Rhys to chuckle.

Rhys trained in the association, then flew back in the evening.

Meanwhile, within an underground hall below a city, Tenel was sitting on a throne, while a man wearing a hood and mask was kneeling.

"The exonns are not following our exact script, but they are still moving in the direction that we want," said the masked man with an alias of Bishop.

"How did that musclehead find out about our network?"

"I heard that Abram captured a man named Jack. Abram has a weak head, but there are smart people around him. They were able to figure out how we make our pawns escape the pursuit of authorities from the information that they got. I don't know why you did not eliminate the pawns when they knew too much of the information. Some of your pieces in the federation got exposed."

Tenel chuckled and thought,"It doesn't matter even if they eliminate our pieces because other pieces will be activated to replace their roles. They are not related to each other, so they won't be able to connect the dots and find them. It is the result of decades of planning. Exposure of pawns and some pieces is already expected. Hahaha! The federation is probably in tension, which is what we want. This world will be conquered unless a variable appears in the plan, but if I see a tiny glimpse of it, I will kill it in the bud no matter the cost."

***

The next day, Rhys went to Hansel's shop.

"Show me what you got, kid," said Hansel with a smile.

The elf was also interested and was watching.

Rhys controlled the magic equipment and quickly became familiar with controlling the fire. The materials melted, then he poured them into a mold. He followed the steps, then a small magic dagger was made with his hands.

Hansel and Liliana were shocked.

"H-How did you do it?" Hansel asked subconsciously.

Rhys smiled. "I told you, I studied smithing in illusion for several years. I have a good memory, so I was able to remember the information that you gave me. I made many simulations in my mind. The simulations were my previous experiences. In my mind, I was smithing not just ordinary weapons, but magic weapons."

The elf took Rhys' hands and looked at him with shining eyes. "My clan needs a talented smith like you. Do you want to marry my sister?"

Hansel had a loud laugh. "You have known Rhys for many years. Will he limit himself to your place?"

"Hmpf! Old man, are you underestimating my sister?! Many boys will line up just to meet her!"

Hansel chuckled as he approached Rhys. "I was expecting that you might have a talent for smithing, but I didn't expect it to be this much. I will teach you everything I know. Kid, I'm interested in seeing the changes that you might bring to Earth and other worlds."