"So, Khal, huh? Where did you learn the Spirit Refining and Tempering techniques?" while Bazz was still speechless in the back, Chief Rou approached Khal, his gaze fixed firmly on his face while his body emitted a presence that was neither strong nor weak.
'Seventh Cultivation Stage?' Khal felt somewhat shocked inside, but his face didn't show any change which startled Chief Rou.
However, because he didn't want to lose face before Khal, Chief Rou began to leak a bit more of his presence to put pressure on Khal, but not even that helped him achieve what he wanted as Khal still stood before him in one place, his face and posture as calm as an ancient pond.
"Hmph! Not bad from Summoner who is only on the Fifth Cultivation Stage," exclaimed Chief Rou with a slight sneer once he was a meter away from Khal.
Yet, the moment he said those words, both Khal and Bazz tilted their heads to the side in confusion, not understanding what he just meant by that.
"A Summoner? Fifth Cultivation Stage?" Khal asked, as he felt somewhat confused about what Chief Rou was talking about.
Chief Rou's brows lowered into a deep frown once he heard Khal's question, and after a moment of silence later pointed at Rubie, "She is your summon, right? And as she is on the Fifth Cultivation Stage, it means you are also on the Fifth Cultivation Stage too, thus that makes you her Summoner."
And only then did Khal realize what Chief Rou meant, thus he just smiled and waved his hand, "Haha, no she is not. She is my comrade, Rubie."
"Eh? Your what?" Chief Rou froze up the minute he realized his mistake and asked with a voice filled with disbelief, "You say... She is your... Tamed Beast?"
"Well, you can say that, yeah. But I prefer the word, companion, as it sounds better" said Khal, clearly showing his disgust toward the word Tamed Beast as he felt Rubie was more than that.
"Uh..." Chief Rou quickly turned silent as he now didn't know what to think.
However, before he had the chance, Khal tossed his Inferno Steel into his spatial ring and asked, "If Respected Senior does not have anything else to ask me, then I shall leave..."
After bowing at Chief Rou, Khal began to move toward the exit but was shortly stopped by Chief Rou who stepped before him.
"Slow, kid. You still didn't answer my question." Chief Rou narrowed his gaze at Khal as if he tried to figure out his secrets just with a single glance!
Khal quietly clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction as his plan to get away without answering the question failed, hence now he had no other choice but to answer.
"What can I say? If I tell you it's just happened would Respected Senior believe me?"
"Of course not. It's not like you can learn and use both the Spirit Refining and Tempering technique just because 'it happened'!"
Khal somewhat waited for this type of answer hence nodded and shrugged, "Then I don't know. Maybe I was just lucky that's all."
"Bullshit!" yelled Chief Rou, but fast recollected his composure once he realized he got out of control and cleared his throat.
"Even if you have somehow got lucky, it does not explain how you were able to use those two extremely difficult techniques under such a short amount of time, especially that you are a rookie as I heard from Bazz!"
He then continued, "Except if you had been possessed by the God of Blacksmithing himself, there is no crap such as luck or coincidence! You either have been born with a hammer in hand or used some kind of cheat! In both ways, you are not an amateur and lied shamelessly to both your Master, Bazz, and me, the head of this Department!"
Khal remained silent and after pondering for a while he sighed, "Okay, you got me. The main reason I can use the Spirit Refining and Tempering techniques is that I have Hidden Talent associated with blacksmithing, or to be more precise with hammers.
Bazz and Chief Rou frowned, hence asked, "Hidden Talent? Do you mean that Hidden Talent that only a few out of a million has? A Talent even rarer than Cultivators with Natural Born Talents?"
"I think so, yeah." nodded Khal and proceeded on lying without a flinch, "And since I have this Hidden Talent, I can occasionally forge like a professional, even create Soul and Spirit Essences without a problem. Hell, who knows, maybe I will be able to forge Life and even that legendary God Essence if I reach higher Stages in my Cultivation! Haha!"
When the two men heard Khal laugh merrily they both became speechless, but they still couldn't help but feel as their bodies trembled from sheer excitement!
The only person in existence that achieved creating God Essence was a legendary person who already reached the Higher Realms with his otherworldly knowledge of blacksmithing while no one else was able to copy his way of forging!
However, now that they heard what Khal just said about his Hidden Talent and thinking back on how effortlessly he forged one of the most dangerous metal's Spirit Essence under less than a day, maybe they could see another prodigy's rise after so many years!
"Do you swear what you told us is really the truth?" asked Chief Rou, still feeling kind of skeptical about Khal's story.
Khal however stopped laughing the moment he heard the question before his face turned dead serious and said in a calm voice, "If I lie about my ability to forge and create Soul and Spirit Essence, God himself should punish me right here and now!"
Hearing and seeing how serious Khal was, both Chief Rou and Bazz remained silent, now all of their suspicions washed away at once.
"I see, then how about this? Would you like to become my student? I will promise if you do, I will definitely give you all the resources you need!"
"Chief!" Bazz immediately yelled with shock, speechless that his boss would pull such a shameless move on Khal, especially before him, his Master!
"What? I just simply asked him a question. It's not like I am forcing him or something." shrugged Chief Rou, his gaze calmly fixed on Khal, "So? What is your answer?"
Khal remained silent, but when he saw Bazz's depressed gaze and Chief Rou's cunning gaze below his indifferent complexion, he already knew what he should answer.
Thus, he sighed and bowed politely. This caused Bazz's face to turn even uglier while Chief Rou's smile rose even wider with the slight hint of joy.
"Haha! Perfect, then from now on yo-"
"I deeply appreciate Respected Senior's kindness, but I have to decline the offer. I already have a Master and it would be disrespectful for me to turn my back on him after what he has done for me until now," said Khal, ignoring the fact he just interrupted the Chief of the Blacksmithing Department.
"Huh?" Chief Rou's face immediately froze as he soon realized that Khal indeed just declined his offer which was the first after so many years.
However, no matter how much he wanted to say the things currently in his mind and also pursue Khal to be his student, as he was not that shameless he just simply nodded and turned around before walking away in silence.
And when Chief Rou's figure could be no longer seen, Bazz turned to look at Khal, almost as if he stared at a ghost in human flesh.
"What?" asked Khal and shrugged, "One day as a teacher, like a father for a lifetime."
Bazz became speechless, but even before he had the chance to react, Khal suddenly frowned and asked, "Anyways... Master, do you know where can I buy pebbles or small crystals? I am quite in a need of a few so I need your help."
'...'
"Eh?"
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om