New Gear, New Problems

Walking away from his house, Mateus had to muster the totality of his will to not stop and go back. For as mad as he was, he was feeling just as refreshed with all the gains to his Stats. Moreover…

'I could probably go back and be accepted with open arms,' Mateus daydreamed as he recalled the first thing she said to him, before he had snapped at her. 'She seemed satisfied enough to accept me if I came back running to Dual Cultivate with her...'

"But, I refuse!" Mateus shouted despite there not being another person in sight on the sidewalk. 'The last thing I need right now is to get caught by some honey trap and lose sight of my main goal,' Mateus thought, completely unperturbed; as if he hadn't just yelled randomly.

…

"Welcome to the Smithing Department." A young man working as a receptionist welcomed Mateus, "How can I help you today?"

"Yeah, I kind of need to completely overhaul my gear," Mateus said. He had come into the Sect with nothing but the robes on his back which were questionable standards, even for mortals, and Lunabelle had destroyed his Fractured Spirit Wire.

"Hmm..." The receptionist looked at Mateus skeptically as he said, "So you're looking for a full set of Low Mortal Grade armor and a Low Mortal Grade weapon?"

"No," Mateus could understand if he was assumed to be poor. "I aim to be a Water and Yang Cultivator. Money shouldn't be a problem, so if you could show me your best Water type sets of armor and your best Yang type Wire Artifacts… I mean, if you have any," Mateus' eye twitched as he grumbled, "I understand if you don't have someone around who can forge Yang type Artifacts."

His decision was made simply enough. Water, which was naturally suited more for defensive styles of combat, should make up the defensive parts of his gear. Conversely, Yang, which literally had founding principles in being "hard," and "aggressive," should make up his main weapon. He wanted both to take up material parts of his gear to balance out their use; and not just for the purpose of fighting.

"We have someone who can forge Yang type Artifacts," the receptionist said. "In fact, just last year, I think I heard they had managed to pass their Journeyman Smith exam, and can now forge up to High Mortal Grade Yang armaments."

"Great," Mateus grinned as he began planning on securing the materials to upgrade the bundle of Yang Wire he had yet to even acquire. He did not want a repeat of what happened to his Fractured Spirit Wire.

"To get in contact with our Journeyman Yang Smith, it will take a little bit. So, why don't we look over some Water Type Armor Sets and see if any of them, uh… suit you," clearly, the receptionist was finding it hard to accept that Mateus could pay for even a single piece of Peak Mortal Grade armor.

Who could blame him?

Mateus very clearly only had the cultivation base of a Beginner Mortal and he had come into the Smithing Department with not even the worst quality Low Mortal Grade robes.

"This is it," Mateus said as his eyes sparkled with desire.

[!Status!

Name: Soft Water Armor Set

Grade: Mortal

Quality: Peak

Type: Six Piece Water Armor (Soft Breastplate Chest Armor, Soft Vambraces, Soft Leg Guards, Soft Thigh Armor, Soft Sharp Pauldrons, Water Cowl)

Description: An impressive set of armor, suitable for Cultivators at or below the Peak Phase of the Saint Stage.

Effect 1 (Stat Increase): Strength +25, Agility +25, Vitality +50, Constitution +50, Energy Quality (Water Specific) +200, Energy Control (Water Specific) +200.

Effect 2 (Water Cowl Specific): Reduces Rudimentary Energy and Martial Qi Energy Costs on one's reserves by half when using Water type Martial Arts and Skills.

Effect 3 (Soft Armor Specific): Reduces the amount of force behind any strike relative to the amount of Water Energy used to reinforce the armor.]

"Uh, sir… This set of armor costs 8,800 Spirit Ston—"

The receptionist nearly bit his tongue as he found himself gobsmacked by the pile of Spirit Stones that had just materialized out of thin air. Or rather…

'He had a Spatial Ring?' Only now did the receptionist take notice.

Mateus, oblivious to the man's bafflement, took the pieces of armor and said, "Feel free to call me if I miscounted the Spirit Stones or something." He wasn't stopped when he left to go change into the armor set.

When he came back, he found that there was another person waiting for him beside the receptionist.

"Are you the Yang Smith?" Mateus asked. In response, the mystery person turned to face him and nodded. He looked to be a boy around Mateus' age, with short brown hair parted evenly down the middle.

"Well..." Mateus looked at the Yang Smith and then the receptionist, before saying, "What will it cost to get a hundred meters of High Quality Mortal Grade Yang Type Spirit Wire?"

For a time, the Yang Smith and the receptionist just looked at one another. But, just when Mateus was starting to lose patience, the receptionist said, "That, um… depends."

"Wait, let me guess." With all that time passing, he had thought about how things would go down given his luck. So, he asked, "Now, I've found a Yang Smith, but he probably lacks the materials to make my Yang Wires, right?"

He took their eyes widening and jaws dropping as confirmation.

The receptionist started, "Right. So, either you can accept a set of Fractured Yang Spirit Wire, or—"

"I have to get the materials for fully fledged Yang Spirit Wire myself, huh," Mateus finished.

"Well?" He rolled his eyes, "I was planning on leaving the Sect to check out the world outside anyways. I'll just treat this gathering quest as the tutorial mission for the Sect's Mission Board."

The Yang Smith, instead of verbally responding, opted to pick up a pen and a piece of paper from the receptionist's desk and write. His message read, "Two options, both low in success rate. Both require a trip to a Yin Quarry."

"Right, because only the most extreme sources of Yin can produce the required amount of Yang, that I currently need for my wire, to remain stable," Mateus nodded in understanding.

The Yang Smith wrote another message that read, "The lowest level Yin Quarry I know of is the Sinking Moon Clan's Yin Quarry in their Frigid Moon Subdimension. That place is littered with Soldier and Warrior Stage Demonic Beasts..."

'Great… It's like the universe itself wants me to bounce between psychotic girls,' Mateus thought in response to the idea of dealing with the Sinking Moon Clan in any capacity, so soon.

"Alright chief," Mateus said to the Yang Smith, "I'll go make a couple breakthroughs and fetch whatever you need."

The Yang Smith paused to look at Mateus oddly, before eventually writing, "Finding either a Yang Demonic Beast Core or a vein of Yang Spirit Stones will be extremely rare. Your best bet would be to buy some from the Black Sin Clan if you can."

"Good call," Mateus said as he made to leave. "I'll call you back when I get your materials, yeah?"

After the Yang Smith nodded, Mateus left the building without a problem.