The Devil's Cage

Huuhaa! Huuhaa!

Kieran panted heavily.

He finally calmed down a few seconds later.

Yet he agreed to the price right away. Even though his soul of a scrooge was roaring in pain, he never even doubted that Blacksmith would make a false quotation.

During the battle with Black Hell Banning, Blacksmith stood for him without asking any questions.

It was enough for Kieran to look highly of her since then. In addition to the communication throughout the game, Kieran knew that Blacksmith's character wouldn't do such a thing.

...

Blacksmith: Bring the equipment u wanted to be embedded to Emma Street 99th.

Blacksmith: Ghastly Sapphire is different from other stones. The user has to be present during the embedding process.

2567: OK!

...

After replying with a clear answer, Kieran turned to his points tab.

[Points 310,000; Skill Points: 75; Golden Skill Points: 1; Golden Attribute Points: 7]

"300,000 Point needed for the embedding, what I have left… is enough!"

Kieran was calculating his expenses before he looked at Lawless.

"I need one or a pair of gloves that are at least Rare or above. It must not affect the nimbleness of my fingers and has to have great defensive stats. I can pay about 50 Skill Points and if the equipment is good enough, I can raise it to 75!" Kieran stated his request.

Kieran gave his based price to Lawless since there was no need to hide anything anymore between them.

Lawless nodded. After he knew what Kieran needed, he quickly made a move.

...

After 30 minutes, an orange glowing fingerless leather glove appeared.

[Name: Seattle Right Hand]

[Type: Glove]

[Rarity: Rare]

[Attack/ Defense: Strong]

[Attribute: Hand Shield]

[Effect: None]

[Prerequisite: Hand-to-hand Combat (Grand Master)]

[Remark: Defense is not the strongest but it will keep you alive!]

...

[Hand Shield: The glove will transform into a tower shield temporarily. It has Extreme defense level and lasts for 5 seconds, 3/day]

[Note: Gather Seattle Left Hand to activate its hidden effect]

...

"Nice!" Kieran commented.

The glove that cost 70 Skill Points was worth such a comment. If the Skill Points were converted to Points, it would have been around 21,000 Points, but the Extreme defense of [Hand Shield] compensated the huge amount spent.

Kieran guessed that Lawless utilized his personal network to get the glove. Otherwise, it was impossible for him to locate the glove that fitted his requirement so perfectly.

"Together?" Kieran asked Lawless.

"Sure!" Lawless answered.

However, when Kieran and Lawless arrived at Emma Street 99th, Lawless was rejected to enter.

Blacksmith told Kieran clearly that only he alone was allowed.

"So cold! So heartless!" Lawless was leaning back at the entrance of the garden outside the two-story western buildings and exclaiming his rants.

No matter how Lawless ranted, Kieran didn't stop walking.

Kieran has his priorities straight. There were times for games and there were times for work.

He waved at Lawless before entering. Kieran even sized up the delicately decorated garden that was filled with plantations before reaching the door. He knocked.

Tssk.

The door was opened and Kieran entered the room.

He was then in awe of the clean and simple decorations inside. In fact, frankly speaking, there was nothing in the room except for a giant round table with a double strapped school bag and [Ghastly Sapphire].

The tall Blacksmith in her red mantle was standing beside the table with her hands on the table.

The moment Kieran walked in, her gaze didn't leave Kieran; Kieran also didn't stop looking at her.

Even though both of them communicated for quite some time, it was their second meeting in person and the first time alone and private.

Kieran quickly kept away his gaze and took out [Seattle Right Hand].

His educational background forbade him to gaze recklessly at a lady without hostility. More so, he knew that Blacksmith was a person of few words with a cold attitude.

Maybe it was her nature or maybe it was her way to differentiate between the real and virtual. But regardless of what the reason was, Kieran had to respect it.

"Glove? I thought it was some armor of sorts!" Blacksmith was stunned a little when she saw the glove but that was all she asked. Before Kieran could answer, she started the embedding procedure.

A bunch of rubies was taken out from her bag and the rubies were ignited in Blacksmith's hand together with [Ghastly Sapphire].

That slim and fair palm of hers turned into a furnace and even more rubies were thrown inside.

Kieran was speechless when he saw the scene. He finally knew why this round of embedding would cost 300K points. The sole fact that Blacksmith had to burn away almost 30 pieces of rubies before him was enough.

A single ruby cost 2000 Points or 1 Skill Points but the price increased when coupled with more rubies. 30 pieces of rubies put together were roughly 200K Points already and the procedure still wasn't finished yet.

Kieran was silently counting the number of rubies that she had to burn away. When the number rose to 40, Kieran's heart started beating faster.

When the number reached 50, Kieran knew that he had owed Blacksmith another debt of gratitude.

Obviously, the cost of the embedding was a friendly price.

Kieran knew that a debt of gratitude was the kind that was the hardest to repay.

Fortunately, when Blacksmith burnt up a total of 50 rubies, the embedding process ended.

Blacksmith took up [Seattle Right Hand] and placed her burning palm over it.

The orangey glow unique to the equipment started to shine brilliantly and suddenly, another dash of gold was mixed into the brilliance.

The golden glow then replaced the orange glow with the speed of a thunderclap.

A golden glow was shining brilliantly. The glove's rarity was enhanced to Legendary.

Kieran than looked at Blacksmith with a strange gaze as he knew what happened.

The abilities that she showed had far surpassed Kieran's range of knowledge.

Kieran wasn't a newbie anymore. Although he didn't learn any embedding skills, he had a general grasp of the process. With his knowledge, none of the others could perform what Blacksmith has just done.

"Raising the equipment's rarity through embedding? And the methods of burning the same color gemstones… Is it some kind of skill or talent?" Kieran wondered in his heart.

He didn't forget to express his gratitude.

"Thanks!"

Kieran didn't immediately check the enhanced details of [Seattle Right Hand] but he looked at Blacksmith who seemed exhausted from the process and thanked her with all his heart.

"It's just mutual benefits. My talent needed such a grinding process to level up further. I hope you can help me find more gemstones of similar ranks to [Ghastly Sapphire]. I'll give you…"

Blacksmith was speaking softly but her calm tone was interrupted as her voice halted all of a sudden.

The system blur prevented her face from showing but her eyes were filled with astonishment. The clear eyes behind the red-framed spectacles were looking at Kieran with an unbelievable gaze. More precisely she was staring at the small button-sized black stone in Kieran's palm.

"If you don't mind… We can continue." Kieran said calmly like how Blacksmith was talking to him.