CHAPTER 13: RECRUITING THE ARTIFICER

James chuckled softly, amused by the artificer’s arrogance.

"We’ll see about that." James chuckled and instantly turned serious as he continued. "But before we go any further, I need to make something clear. What I’m about to show you cannot, under any circumstance, be leaked. If you dare to spread even a whisper of this..."

He paused for a second, then smiled viciously as he tapped his foot in rhythm. "I can guarantee you that the Steelhearts will do their best to hunt you down. And no matter where you run, you will die sooner or later."

Listening to such a threat, Eldric wasn’t scared and became interested instead as he raised his eyebrows and smiled. "Interesting... Now I’m curious. What is it that’s worth such a threat?"

James nodded, satisfied that Eldric understood the weight of his warning. He reached into his inventory and drew out a token, tossing it across the table.

"I want to know if you’re capable of creating this." James smiled faintly, tapping his fingers on the table for a moment, and continued. "I have a couple more of something like this, but if you can’t even make this, then there’s no point in continuing our conversation."

James obviously lied about the fact that he had a couple more. Naturally, he didn’t lie for no reason, as he thought that he would definitely get something like this in the future from the daily rewards.

Though, the main reason he lied was because this would increase his chance of recruiting Eldric if what Uncle Edmund said was true.

Uncle Edmund said that Eldric was looking for a chance to improve his skill further, and doing something in a whole new realm like crafting these things would definitely capture his attention.

Eldric’s curiosity was piqued when he heard James’s remark, considering that there should be no one in the same rank who’s more skilled than him in this kingdom, as he believed that his skill could even be said to surpass those artificers of the higher ranks.

"This... this... this..." Eldric’s hand trembled, mumbling to himself a few times.

"Where did you get something like this?" Eldric asked excitedly, tightening his grip on the token as if he had come across a priceless treasure.

"You don’t need to know that," James waved his hand casually and changed the topic. "The only thing that matters is this—can you make it?"

Eldric burst into laughter, unable to hide his enthusiasm. "Hahaha! I can make this, yes. But it’ll take time as it’s unlike anything I’ve ever crafted before. A whole new field entirely."

Sigh!

"Good. That’s all I needed to hear," James sighed in relief because he was really afraid that the man in front of him didn’t have the capability of making it. And if that were to happen, he would be clueless in finding another artificer, as Uncle Edmund said that this man was truly one of the best artificers he could find.

"Umm, Young Master James..." Eldric’s attitude changed as he rubbed his hand with a grin. "You mentioned that you have a few more items like this... could I take a look at them?"

"Of course," James replied with a shrug. "But I don’t have them with me right now. They’re being kept in the Steelheart treasury."

Knowing what he implied, Eldric responded. "You mean...?"

"Obviously, you’d have to work for me and the Steelhearts to access those blueprints." James leaned his body forward and smiled as he tapped his fingers on the table in rhythm.

"What if I don’t want to work for the Steelhearts?" Eldric frowned slightly, shifting his gaze from James to Nyxrael and Gareth cautiously.

James leaned back again, expression turning indifferent. "That’s your choice," he said calmly. "Don’t worry, we won’t force you just because you’ve seen one of our blueprints."

He paused for a second before leaning forward again with a cold expression. "Of course, you’re still forbidden from leaking anything even though that’s actually the least valuable blueprint we currently have at the moment."

Then, he tapped his fingers on the table with a smile. "Now then, what’s your choice? I’ll give you a minute to consider it since I don’t have all the time in the world for this."

Eldric instantly lost himself in his own thoughts, contemplating this opportunity that might have been the one he had been waiting for.

"Hmmm, it’s not that I don’t want to work for the Steelhearts... but I have a personal goal I’ve been chasing for years."" Eldric spoke with a bitter smile.

When James heard it, he frowned and thought to himself. ’Should I kidnap him?’

Looking at James’s expression, Eldric immediately continued as he scratched his head awkwardly. "I mean, perhaps I could work for the Steelhearts temporarily instead?"

James raised his eyebrow and asked. "Why? What’s your reason?"

In response, Eldric started telling the reason why he ended up in this city.

In a nutshell, Eldric was actually not from this kingdom, and the reason why he stayed in the Lycranor City was because he met someone who had saved his life and claimed to be a prophet. That person told him that if he wanted to reach an unimaginable height as an artificer, he needed to go to Grimwald Kingdom because he would then meet a fated person on the border of this kingdom.

James squinted his eyes, thinking to himself. ’Is this person so fucking dumb that he wasted a decade just to wait for the so-called fated person?’

But then he suddenly had an idea in mind.

"Have you ever considered," James said with a slow grin, "that I might be that fated person?"

"I mean, think about it. I’m pretty sure that your skills will reach a new level with these creations that have never existed in this world. Can you imagine the glory of being the first artificer who would soon turn the world upside down with these creations?" James grinned as he tapped his fingers in a slow rhythm.