The merchant was unable to comprehend what was going on here. He did not expect to come through a high-level weapon in this remote village. He reached for the blade, but Valerian pulled back and said, "Sir, may I ask what price you are willing to pay for this?"

The merchant woke from the trance and said, "Five gold coins."

Wen was shocked and wanted to agree to the price when Valerian said, "I cannot sell it this low, Sir. My master told me not to take one coin less than seven gold coins."

The merchant shook his head and said, "No, I cannot give you this price."

Valerian sighed and bowed, "Thank you for your appreciation, but we cannot have a deal."

The merchant could not believe that Valerian would refuse him so decisively. He said, "Wait, we can negotiate."

Valerian shook his head and said, "I cannot do that, Sire. You see, refining a high-level weapon takes a lot of effort. This thing can cut through steel as if it is cutting through butter. How many people will compete for it? You can auction it to the highest bidder and be rich. But, we people need to find resources to make such weapons, and those materials cost a lot."

The merchant was left speechless. Valerian had put up a barrier around him. Either he would pay seven gold coins for one sword or go out empty-handed. Thinking about it, he said, "What if I take them by force?"

Valerian smiled and replied, "Sire, this weapon is so strong that even a child holding it can kill a few people. Even if we do not wish to kill anyone, as blacksmiths, we have enough power to inflict serious injuries."

His words shocked the merchant. Then thinking about the entire conversation, he realized that it was an immensely profitable deal for him. If he could auction these swords off in the market of a big city, he could earn more than twenty-one gold coins.

Valerian was patient and allowed the man enough time to decide after a few minutes of careful consideration. The merchant nodded and said, "Twenty-one gold coins for three swords."

The two young men exchanged a glance and bowed to the man after the goods were exchanged. Valerian took out a high-level dagger engraved with a few birds on the side of the blade and said, "Sire, it would be our honor if you could hold on to this dagger. This is a gift to express our gratitude."

The merchant was even more surprised when Valerian handed him the sheath made up of metal. The article was intricately carved, and it seemed to him as if the birds would fly up. He held onto the dagger, and his impression of Valerian and Wen improved.

He said, "Young man, I am Kaseem. This small caravan is owned solely by me. Are you interested in a business proposition?"

Valerian asked, "What proposition, Sir Kaseem?"

Kaseem leaned in slightly and said, "How about we make a deal? I will bring your swords to the city for an auction. Then we can split the profit fifty-fifty?"

Valerian did not bother to negotiate and shook his head. He said, "Sire, thank you for the consideration, but we will be leaving the place to follow the wishes of our master. We are unable to keep up with the promise. Forgive me."

Although Kaseem was disappointed, Valerian said, "Sire, although we intend to go away, it will still take time. During that time, if you pass by our village. We will sell you all of our high-level or medium-level weapons. We will take five gold coins for a medium-level weapon and charge you seven gold coins for a high-level weapon. Is that alright?"

Kaseem thought this was a golden deal and agreed to it. He wanted to keep Valerian over for some discussion, but the young man said they had a few things to do.

...

Valerian walked back home with a bag of gold coins in it. He asked Kaseem to give him twenty gold and one hundred silver coins to be sure he could use some of these coins. Yes, that was how the denomination in this world worked. One gold coin was equal to one hundred gold coins.

They reached home and found that Zen was working in the kitchen. Wen was so overwhelmed that he could not think of anything else to express his happiness. He approached Zen, who was looking at him and embraced her.

Zen was shocked, but Valerian told her, "We sold three swords for twenty-one gold coins."

Zen’s mind went blank, and she could not understand what was happening. She asked with a stammer, "What did you just say?"

Valerian repeated with a goofy smile, "Sister Zen, we sold the three swords from the batch for seven gold coins."

Zen finally woke up from her stupor, and her eyes teared up as she hugged Wen. The siblings cried while holding each other. The young man was too heaven-defying for her. The two people took half an hour to calm down, and when they woke up, they found that Valerian was missing from the house.

Zen entered the backyard and found the young man sitting on the ground with his legs crossed. She asked, "Valerian, what are you doing here?"

The young man shook his head and did not say anything to her. Zen raised her eyebrows and walked in front of him. She found him crying. She was flustered and asked, "What happened to you, Valerian?"

The young man shook his head and replied, "This is the first time I have cried."

Zen recalled what he said during the storytelling. Valerian could not cry because the dragon god gave him many gifts. She asked, "Did something bad happen?"

Valerian shook his head and said, "Nothing bad, just that I got emotional when I saw you and Wen crying. I have never been able to express my emotions to my family like that. Now that I think of it, spending the rest of my life in this world is not a bad idea, but how will I live without my family?

What are they doing, what happened to my elders, and what will my youngsters look like? Gradually, everything will fade away. The scene fell silent, and Zen sat down next to him. She said, "You are not alone, do not give up. You will soon find the solution to your problems."

Valerian nodded, and the two people spent the night gazing at the stars. Wen joined them a few minutes later.

...

One more week passed, and Valerian refined ten more high-level swords and fifty middle-level swords. He used the rest of the scraps to refine middle-level arrowheads. He told Wen not to sell more than one high-level sword at a time and must keep these in a secret location.

Wen agreed to him. He also knew that selling too many high-level weapons would attract his unwanted attention, which was not good. Treasures can bring fortunes, but they can also bring you disasters.

After everything was settled, Valerian taught Wen about the skills and guided him patiently. Two months passed in all this. The accumulated wealth of the two siblings had exceeded a hundred gold coins and thousand silver coins. Valerian turned his focus back to the main issue.

He began to fix the magic armor. Although Wen could not fix it, Valerian knew what he needed to deal with this magical armor. Ordinary fire will not be able to melt it up. The young man placed the armor into the fire. He calmly waited for the armor to reach red hot.

Wen asked, "This is going to melt."

Valerian shook his head and said, "Do not think too much. This is magical armor. It needed dragon fire to forge it. Ordinary fire can only heat it a lot but not melt it."

Wen was skeptical, and Valerian used his tongs to shift the chest placed on the anvil and began to hammer it. When he fell from the void earlier, the armor was dented out of shape. The hammering began to show results, and Wen was surprised.

Valerian would beat the metal once and place it in the fire for an hour. This process was completely different than expected, but it was showing results. When Valerian moved the armor late, Wen could see that the metal would begin cooling down super quickly.

...

After two days of continuous work, Valerian was finished dealing with his armor. Tomorrow he would leave the village and find a way back home. Zen and Wen were aware of this. These past few months have been very emotional for Valerian.

He did not wish to leave this place if possible, but he had no other options. People were waiting for him.

...

That night, the three people were eating much less and did not make any sound. Zen had put her feelings to rest, but she still did not wish for Valerian to leave. The young man thought of something and said, "Would you two like to come with me?"