Birth Of The Crafts-God

Chapter 170 Attack From All Sides

"That should do it."

After a round of shopping, Lucas returned back to the store with a satisfied expression. Of the over three hundred and sixty thousand (360000) federal coins he made, Lucas spent one hundred and sixty thousand on materials, metals and other products. He had also purchased some desolate beasts to work with.

Although with the recent hire, Kelvin, Lucas wouldn't need to worry about his stellar energy issue within the store, he decided to experiment on desolate beasts. There were a bunch of various different techniques he could use with them, and the blood energy from these monsters could be used to forge talismans. Lucas wanted to use the talismans as insurance for his protection, rather than depending on Bronze Grade cards.

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Considering how much purchasing power federal coins had, the items Lucas could get with one hundred and sixty thousand of them was surely significant, but the reality was contrary to this. There was a reason why there weren't so many billion FeC businesses even though vestiges cost a lot.

When buying low, one hundred and sixty thousand federal coins could purchase mountains of items. However, the rarer and more exceptional the item was, the steeper its price would get. This was why some of the biggest winners in the economy were businesses who dealt with desolate beasts and resources, rather than creating vestiges. For instance, the Mertens family which was wealthier than the Oder family, despite the latter being older [1]. There were a couple more reasons involved, but this was a major factor at work.

With a large sum of money in his pockets, it would be almost impossible for Lucas to not purchase some of the higher-end products on the market, whether they be desolate beasts or materials. Although they were still costly, it was around the price of nine to eleven thousand (9000-11000) federal coins per ingot or unit, for the more costlier ones —which were on par with the Purple Iridium metal; Lucas' most valuable metal in his collection. Meanwhile, the 'cheaper' ones went for two to four thousand (2000-4000) federal coins per unit.

'Ah~ With this number, I can lock myself up for another month.' Lucas drooled as he imagined himself stuck vestige-smithing and carrying out his research all by himself.

Just as he arrived at the store, he was surprised to see that it was empty.

Although there were still people who avoided coming to his place due to their prejudice against humans, they were now in the minority. No one wanted to be left behind as they noticed that Lucas' vestiges were more powerful and durable than others. While the prices for vestiges in the store were still something to think twice about, many came for the maintenance services which were cheaper and boasted better quality than other stores.

There was even the few who wanted to order an SS vestige from Lucas, since by contract, the Legacy Crafts dealership in Baylands City couldn't sell them and it still wasn't being officially sold. These fellows had neither the connections to go around the back, nor the patience to remain on the waitlist for their turn. As such, the store behind the vestige was the best choice for them.

Regardless of which side or reason they had, none of those customers were present today.

"Hey, what's going on?" Lucas glanced at Kelvin who was rushing towards him.

"Boss, we have a huge problem."

Kelvin, who had been celebrating the previous day over his big paycheck and the future of the store, happened to be frightened at the moment.

Seeing as Kelvin, who had been through ups and downs and worked for a big atelier, was acting all worried, Lucas couldn't help but frown.

"What is the problem?"

"We're being targeted." Kelvin immediately took out his communicator and projected an image to Lucas.

It was a document, or to be precise, a notice. The notice was from the Baylands City-state Commission for Technology. It stated that the Seven Sparks Forge was an unregistered business in the city-state, and would soon be closed down.

Lucas barely had time to let the information settle when Kelvin swiped to another image. It was also a notice, but it came from the Baylands City Tax Commission, and stated that the Seven Sparks Forge was guilty of tax avoidance. It then mentioned that any trade or business carried out by the store should be shut down, until the owner arrives at the commission's office to clear the situation. Failure to do so would lead to his arrest.

Just as Lucas was about to curse, Kelvin swiped to another notice. This time around, it was from the Eretrean Vestige-smith League branch in Baylands city-state. It stated that the vestige-smith behind the Seven Sparks Forge was an unrecognised personnel, and not in their numbers nor records. Although this didn't prohibit the store's business or anything like that, unlike the other two notices, the damage it did was more devastating.

One should know that the EVL, although not official per se, was the recognised organisation that protected, and to some extent, supervised vestige-smiths on the planet. Membership wasn't compulsory, but it served as a guide to certify one of their occupation and skill. This was because to become a member of the league, one had to pass some tests to confirm their abilities. As such, the average citizen saw the EVL as the official organisation for vestige-smiths, even though it truly wasn't.

With such an organisation coming out to make a comment denouncing the existence of a vestige-smith, it would no doubt harm the image and business of said vestige-smith. Lucas could handle the two commissions some way, but the EVL's statement was difficult to take care of.

For an average vestige-smith, all they had to do was apply and get their membership, but not Lucas. He was human and the only way to do so was through the Exceptional Basis Examination. However, Lucas had tried that and not only did he fail, he had also gotten on the chief examiner's bad side. What's more, the exceptional basis exam could only be taken once in a lifetime, unless special rights were granted. There was no doubt that Lucas would be unable to gain such special rights, after how the last exam had ended.

As for the suppose vestige-smith backing him to come and take the membership exam, that was all a lie. There was no backer or anything, unless the system could be called one. But the system couldn't take a physical form.

From the looks of things, the Seven Sparks Forge was deemed to be taken out just as it was starting to rise.