System's POV
chapter-127

Thirteen, Cristopher, Norris, and Adira parted ways after the auction ended.

Although he felt touched when Adira told him that she bid for the Five Leaf Clover in order to avenge him, he would rather the masked man win, than have her win.

If she won the Five Leaf Clover and gave it to Thirteen, he knew that it wouldn't be free, especially when she spent millions of coins for it.

Also, it was almost impossible to steal from a Drow, who could see clearly even in dark places.

"Turn left on this street, Giga," Thirteen said. "After that, turn right."

He and Cristopher were currently riding on top of the Chad Skunk, who was as tall as a horse.

But, unlike a horse, it didn't run as fast, and preferred to walk in the wild.

In fact, it very rarely had the need to run, even if there were predators nearby.

Their stink spray was enough to deter predators, especially those with higher Ranks than them.

Also, their meat wasn't really the most delicious of all the beasts in Solterra, and was in fact, just as stinky as their stink spray.

In short, there was no merit in killing it for food, so this race of Monsters lived relatively peaceful lives in the plains and rain forests of Solterra.

When they arrived at the warehouse, the first thing they heard was the sound of hammers hitting on metal.

Thirteen had asked his slaves to produce as many arrows as possible, for their next expedition.

'It's a shame I didn't get the Dark Wing Bow,' Thirteen thought. 'I guess I'll just have to craft one myself.'

Thirteen had already bought some clay, which he could use to mould anything he wanted.

He also planned to use a mixture of steel, orihalcon, and the powdered horn of a Bronze-Horned Rhino to form the base of the bow.

The reason why he intended to use the Horn of the Bronze Rhino was to make the finished product lighter, and more flexible, allowing Thirteen to pull the bowstring to its fullest potential before releasing his arrow.

The last thing he needed to find was a strong material to be used to make the bow string to complete his weapon.

'The perfect bowstring material to be found in these parts are the hairs from the Warsor Black Hound,' Thirteen thought. 'The only problem is that it's a Rank 3 Monster, and runs as fast as a horse. It will take a lot of planning to hunt it.

With these materials, the end product would be a Mid-Grade Bronze Weapon, which was still better than the mass produced bow in the city.

The slaves, who were in the warehouse, were surprised when they saw the Chad Skunk.

But, after hearing Thirteen's explanation that it was a Slave that he bought in the auction, everyone settled down immediately.

After finding a place for the Chad Skunk to rest, Thirteen immediately went to work to craft the mould of his bow.

Using the clay as a base, the boy also sprinkled some powdered Horn from the Bronze Rhino on top of it, to ensure that the mould wouldn't crack once the melted metals were poured into it.

He asked Bruno to knead the clay like a bread dough, as he sprinkled more and more powdered horn on it, making it firmer.

When he deemed that the powder and the clay were mixed properly, he asked the ogre to use the make-shift rolling pin to flatten it a bit.

Once that was done, Thirteen started to carve the design of his bow.

He planned to use the bow as a long-range and close combat weapon that could be detached in the middle to form two short swords.

Although he couldn't use it for long battles because he didn't have the arm strength to dual wield for an extended period, a quick and decisive fight was possible.

After finishing the mould, he baked it over coals, to solidify its body.

This process took several minutes before Thirteen was satisfied with the result. He allowed the moulded clay to cool down for a while while he had dinner with Cristopher.

Two hours later, he returned to the Smithy and asked Bruno to smelt some metals for him.

The Ogre was already used to smelting metals, and had become adept in it.

Because of this, Thirteen was more than happy to delegate the work to Bruno, who was starting to enjoy his new hobby.

The boy watched as the Ogre paid close attention to the metals that were slowly being melted in the forge.

'He might really have a knack for Smithing,' Thirteen thought. 'If Cristopher becomes strong enough to no longer need Bruno's help, I'll ask him to hand the Ogre's Avatar to my father to serve as his assistant in the Smithy.

'This way, he would still be able to help Cristopher by crafting weapons for his other Brute Monsters, who would continue to follow him in his journeys in Solterra.'

Half an hour later, when the metals were all melted, Bruno gingerly used the blacksmith tongs to take the melted metal out of the forge.

He then poured it slowly into the mould that Thirteen had made, making sure to cover everything.

Thirteen did the rest as he used a metal spatula to make sure that the metals were properly distributed inside the mould.

While Thirteen was busy doing the things he was doing, Harry, Colbert, and two more teenagers finally arrived in Gronar City.

But, they didn't dare to enter it because they were afraid that they were going to be questioned and detained.

Suddenly, Harry saw a group of people headed to the city, and immediately recognized the young lady that was mounted on top of a Black Horse.

He didn't even bat an eye, and immediately ran towards Rianna, whom he had worked together with in the past.

Seeing that someone was running towards their leader, Rianna's Hunting Party immediately took a defensive formation with Rufus, Eren, and Jeane, at the front with their weapons drawn.

"Lower your weapons," Rianna ordered after recognizing who the boy was.

Some of the teenagers recognized Harry and Colbert because the two of them had also been captured by the Orcs, and stayed in the same prison as them.

"Rianna, can you help us enter the city?" Harry asked. "I will owe you a favor if you do."

Rianna frowned, but still nodded her head.

"I will help you, and your two friends, but not him," Rianna stated as she pointed at Colbert.

"W-Why?!" Colbert, who had been singled out, was surprised. "What did I ever do to you?"

"You didn't do anything to me," Rianna replied. "However, you conspired against Zion. This is something that I cannot forgive. If you want to enter the city, you can enter it on your own. I will not help you."

"You B*tch!" Colbert shouted. "Do you not know who I am? I am a retainer from a Prestigious Family!"

"So?" Rianna asked back. "So what if you are from one? You don't have power over me. So, goodluck in entering the city alone. Also, don't try to join our group when we enter the city, or I will ask my members to cripple you."

Without another word, Rianna urged her horse, Lancelot, to head towards the gate of the city.

Jubei, who served as the Guardian of Rianna's Hunting Party, gave Colbert a side-long glance before reporting him to Cristopher via telepathy.

Thirteen had asked Jubei to immediately report any kind of incident back to Cristopher.

Naturally, the chubby boy would report these things to his Young Master, who would decide how to deal with the boy, who had done what he could to get all the teenagers he had saved to turn their backs on him.