Last Ruler Of The Empty Throne-Chapter 52: Blacksmith

"I’m going to the blacksmith. If you need me, I’ll be there."

Holding the black rod and waving it at them, he left the room, leaving Gar’al and Ronald behind.

Before long, he was walking out of the building and entering the privileged area. After showing his plaque and stating his reason for the visit, he was allowed to pass.

Taking some turns around the buildings, he came across a place that was meant to be a car garage.

He went through the automatic door and entered, as he had scanned it earlier. The place was now refurbished and used as the smithy since blacksmithing had become somewhat essential. Although the place had only recently been transformed, it already looked as if it had been that way for years.

As the saying goes, a skilled smith can even forge in the rain. From what he had sensed, it was an old man managing the place, but he looked completely dejected.

He wasn’t crafting, and the place was now warm. Maybe because of his evolution, but his definition of warm was quite different. It was hot enough for a normal person without any levels to start heating.

When Jon entered, the old man didn’t even notice, despite Jon making no effort to hide his presence.

It was a risky habit in this kind of world.

The old man was sitting on a chair, looking at the dying flames around the forge. The flames flickered weaker as time passed.

Jon just went beside him and sat on the floor. Even now, it didn’t seem like the old man had noticed him.

After a while, Jon spoke, "Old man."

"Mhm..." Only now did the old man look to his side to see a young man sitting beside him.

Before he could say anything, Jon continued, "The flames shouldn’t go out." By now, it was clear he had activated his Moon Gaze on the fire rather than on the old man. Hence, the reason for his unclear words.

"They don’t want to."

"Haa...I know, I know, young one." The old man sighed and replied as if he already understood what Jon was talking about.

Then Jon began to share, "I had a friend who died at the hands of another friend that day. He wasn’t a zombie."

Jon didn’t need to explain further. The old man’s eyes were already wide open, as he clearly understood the story. It was the influence of the skills on young people.

"Then I had another friend who made me feel a little better, but he also died under my protection a few days later."

’This young man has seen pain too, huh?’ the old man thought after hearing only two sentences.

"That’s why I want to build a place where that will never happen again."

The old man suddenly felt his heart stir at Jon’s words, spoken from the heart.

"Even if it’s built on a mountain of corpses, I will create it. So, the flames shouldn’t go out."

His voice grew louder toward the end of his words.

DADUUM...DADUUM.

The old man’s heart started beating faster all of a sudden, causing a reaction in the fire, which had been dimming.

SHAAAAAA.

The fire suddenly surged from the furnace, and a phenomenon he had seen only once before was happening again. The old man was naturally increasing in levels.

DADUUM...DADUUM.

A power surge overcame him, and he began to change. His heartbeat and strength grew until he reached the limit of the unranked realm. His power calmed down once he reached the edge. Jon didn’t stop his Moon Gaze for a second, and seeing this extraordinary situation, something clicked.

The old man had been a normal person, but had suddenly reached the peak of the unranked realm. Normally, one needed the levels of others to advance, but seeing this made Jon suddenly aware of another way to level up: comprehension.

The unranked realm was for preparing one’s mindset for the evolution process. Many achieved it by absorbing the levels of others, but it could also work like this. Jon didn’t know which method was better, but what he did know was that what he had comprehended was profound.

[YOU HAVE GRASPED ANOTHER SECRET OF ****][YOU HAVE RAISED YOUR FOUNDATION][YOUR **** HAS INCREASED]

His mind and body suddenly felt freer, as if released from more shackles, like during his evolution. His Mind World rumbled and expanded from its previous 50 meters to around 80 meters.

But these changes were still internal; the highlight of it all was still the old man. His eyes opened, and he looked easily 20 years younger. The first thing that assaulted him was the messages from the system.

[YOUR LEVEL HAS INCREASED][YOUR LEVEL...][YOU HAVE REACHED...][THESE ARE POSSIBLE EVOLUTION CLASSES...]

"Woah." Before he could even start checking out the system messages, he stretched out his hands, feeling the power coursing through his body.

His mind, which had always been heavy and burdened, was suddenly light. Not that his burden had suddenly disappeared—no, it just felt lighter. His eyes were still in shock at what had happened, but he couldn’t help but look at the young man who was smiling at him from his sitting position.

"Congratulations, old man." Jon was genuinely happy for him. In return, the old man’s blacksmithing knowledge would increase, allowing him to teach him better.

"I—I will repay this, young one." He even started to bow, but Jon quickly stopped him.

"Then teach me blacksmithing."

"Hmm...I figured that’s why you came. Alright, I’ll teach you to the best of my abilities." The old blacksmith finally smiled for what felt like years.

"Alright, my name is—" the old man began.

However,

BOOOOM!

Jon and the old man suddenly snapped their heads in the direction of the explosion.

WHOOM.

Jon immediately unleashed the full force of his ’Divine Sense’ to see what caused the explosion.

As he stretched its limit, he saw silver energy blazing around Jenny as she held a created sword with real flames, not the simulated flames she usually conjured.

He also saw Cynthia in the process of unleashing her Dark Flame Tornado, while Laura was about to release her lightning. If there was one thing certain, they all looked furious. He didn’t even check who they were furious at.

Jon’s mood instantly changed, and he disappeared on the spot.

The old man, who had only heard the explosion, was left in confusion, not even realizing when Jon had vanished.

A few minutes before the explosion:

Jenny, Cynthia, and Laura had been placed in the same house, and it wasn’t a coincidence. They also wanted to be among people they were comfortable with.

And just like Jon did, Jenny and Cynthia also confirmed the skills and orbs they got after evolving to the first realm.

Cynthia now fully understood her telekinesis, similar to Jon’s but different. Cynthia’s was entirely wind-based, while Jon’s was space-based. Jenny also formed a contract with her silver flames.

She now understood the difference between creating flames and using real flames, akin to the difference between a clone and the original.

A clone could replicate it, but the unique essence of the original was missing. She didn’t know what it was yet, but that was her path. That essence could make a replica no less than an original. And the day when she finally created flames indistinguishable from actual flames, that would be the day she mastered creation.

And as they were engaged in their various activities, trying to check their orbs—

BANG...BANG.

A knock on the door alerted them. Normally, it would have been a simple knock, but this was unmistakably forceful, as if they didn’t have a choice.

So, they opened the door:

"Your attention is required at the leader’s mansion," a woman said indifferently, not caring about the exploitation happening to her fellow women.

"What for?" Jenny asked and narrowed her eyes.

"I’m not aware. Your male friend has also arrived and is waiting for you."

"Jon is there?" Jenny’s suspicion was almost cleared as she heard Jon’s name, and the other girls even believed it somewhat.

Nobody could force Jon to do what he didn’t want to, so if he was there, it must be for a reason. The woman had taken a gamble, hoping to catch their attention by mentioning the other male. She initially intended to threaten them with him, but chose the safer route.

And the mention of Jon was the reason the three girls followed her out of their house and into the conference room in the leader’s mansion. But when they entered, they frowned. The conference room was dark, there were signs of people in it, but no sign of Jon.

The woman then turned to face them with a nonchalant expression.

"What is the meaning of this?" Jenny asked, still trying to resolve things peacefully.

"Submit," the woman said simply.

"What are you saying?" Jenny raised her voice, but then people started emerging from the darkness.

They were guards who had stayed behind with the leaders in the earlier meeting. And there was also a familiar face—the overall head.

The old man stepped forward and said while licking his lips, "Honestly, I just want to taste you, young woman. I don’t know what the others want."

"What?" Laura spoke in disbelief. Laura wasn’t there before, so she didn’t know what happened. However, hearing it, she suddenly felt weak. It wasn’t an attack that was used, but a certain feeling. It was like describing the way men saw her—they never said it to her face, so looks alone were what she could endure. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

It suddenly dawned on her how damned this new world was.

However, Cynthia, who already knew about it, wasted no time and unleashed her true power.

WHOOM.

"Dark Flame Tornado!" She created two tornadoes, using her telekinesis to hurl one toward the people about to surround them and another at the window.

BOOOOM.

The window crumbled, and without wasting time, she picked up Jenny and Laura and jumped outside.

When they landed, they released their full power, ready to strike.