CHAPTER 12


    A SUCCESSFUL STARTUP


    Vanir thought he had seen it all when it came to Hans’ surprises, but he was blown away again by how clever these golems were acting. Arming them up with different mana stones sure gave them those elemental capabilities, but they were using it so creatively. One was even using fire with wind to increase its flame, while the other was using fire and water for producing mist for camouflage.


    “Are they alive, senior?” He asked, wondering.


    “Not yet, but aren’t they different from the hard-coded golems?” Hans asked, amused.


    “Yes, they indeed are.” Vanir smiled aghast. “Do you know how much of a recognition one can receive for creating this with just scraps?” He asked Hans, feeling their creation with his hands.


    “Scraps?” Hans shouted, hard. “Are you out of your mind? This costs us hundreds of thousands of gold—”


    “That is just scraps in alchemy, senior.” Vanir said indifferently, but he was proud inside to be a part of this. They set up everything and returned back to the Man-Eating Forest. “So is everything ready?” Dietrich asked, nonchalant.


    “You sure, don’t want to see more?” Seeing the departing look of Dietrich, Hans offered him to check his work in the Mystic Glades, now his dungeon. “I thoroughly recreated the place with SilvaOrtus, even the grass is in my control… or rather the core, my minion designed.”


    “That’s rather impressive. A thirteen-year-old is designing a core for a dungeon. Back in my day, he’d be killed at first sight.” Dietrich said, complimenting.


    “It’s nothing much.” Vanir, unaccustomed to such praise from someone of Dietrich''s stature, felt a warmth rise to his cheeks. Maybe it was the compliment or maybe the fear which came from the later part of his words. “It’s just a relay core to extend, Senior’s control. You can call it a core of a very big dungeon…Senior made the whole Mystic Glade a Golem.” He passed the credit swiftly.


    “Modesty in words but pride in the heart. You really would have been killed at first sight, ” Dietrich chuckled. “Want me to recommend you to Alchemists?”


    The fear disappeared as he heard the last words. “Can you?” Vanir spoke, surprised.This would instantly put him on the road to success where his talent for spell optimisation and crafting could be recognised.


    “Heck no.” Hans chimed in quickly, raparade.n his parade. “He is mine. Hans interrupted, shouting as he was marking a line.”


    “Don’t get possessive with me. “Don’t get possessive with me.” “I was just offering him something worth his intellect.


    “No, he is happy where he is, right now?” Hans calmed down and suggested, “If you really want to do something worth his intellect. Have his intellect, have his parents move to a residential island. His father is a knight, so he could help out somewhere, I guess.”


    “Hmmm!” Dietrich thought while Vanir clenched his fist. Before he met Hans, his initial plan was to somehow get an apprenticeship in the Alchemists department and bring his parents out of the slums.


    Meanwhile, Dietrich was proud of Hans. His foolish descendant was fulfilling the ambitions of his subordinate before Vanir could even ask. “Keep doing this, and you won’t get betrayed, child.” He turned to Vanir. “A traitor of this calibre could become quite a nuisance. So I’ll help you out this time.” Dietrich nodded. “Bring them in for this annual holiday. I’ll see that they settle down.”


    Vanir almost jumped out of happiness but controlled his composure; yet his eyes couldn’t lie. Meanwhile, Hans gloated, “See, I take care of my people.” He then grabbed Vanir, “Quit giddying. Let’s find our first sucker.”


    Their search wasn’t that wide because Hans already had someone in mind. “Aren’t we not allowed here, Senior?” Vanir pointed out as he found himself with Hans in the way to the task hall. “Yes, we are, but someone we know dabbles here.”


    Vanir understood whom Hans was talking about. He reluctantly confirmed. “The one whom we brought the Great Mamba for. Senior, I’m telling you he is not someone we should conduct our business with. He scammed us. You should’ve received twice the credits—”


    “That’s why we are here to return the favour.” Hans whispered and sent a message inside. The elf Alchemist, their old friend, came out in a cheerful mood. “Oh, Prince of Parv! What can I do for my country’s enemy?”


    “Your words don’t match your happy tone, ” Hans piqued.


    “Of course, and it shouldn’t. You brought anything to sell?” The elf Alchemistpointed at the task hall. “You aren’t allowed there. But I’ll try to buy it from you.” His eyes were practically drooling with greed.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    Hans quickly put on his acting face and started acting secretive. He called the greedy elf close, intentionally attracting other passersby. “Senior,” Hans whispered to elf Alchemistin his ear, “I’ve very good news, but I’ll only share it with you if you promise to give me half the reward.”


    “How big is it?” Elf Alchemistasked.


    “But I need your name before that? For trust and other things…”


    “Oh! Didn’t I didn’t tell you before? My bad. I’m Aron, junior apprentice. ”


    “Okay, senior Aron. This is secret, so please keep it your confidant, if you can—”


    “Just tell me.” Aron hurried, adding, “Coming from the Prince of Parv should be something.”


    “Of course, it is.” Hans put some confidence in his voice and said, “When I was in Grimgar. I’ve heard some high knights talking that they found a dead mage’s hideout. His whole treasure was waiting to be just taken, but there were many traps there, so they failed. But even in their failure, they managed to grab around fifty thousand gold-worth resources—”


    “Wait, 50,000 G should be—”


    “Around 500 credits. Almost the same as your annual savings. Aren’t you broke? I’ll tell you the location, but I need half.” Hans remained calm and confident, and his eyes told Aron that he wasn’t up for haggling.


    “I’ll check it first. If it is the same as you’ve said. Then I’ll arrange for some of my colleagues to explore.” Aron said, nodding. “I’ll promise I will share half of my profits.”


    “Okay.” Hans nodded like a naive child and opened his folded map. He pointed to the Mystic Glades, emphasising again that he shouldn’t tell anyone.


    Aron affirmed and went inside the task hall like a spy on the run, attracting even more attention. Meanwhile, Hans had another job for Vanir. “Dear junior,” Hans patted his shoulder while studying the gazes on him quietly. “Now, our kind observers will come to you for information—”


    Vanir quickly and on purpose, gently tapped his chest with his closed hand, making a sound that felt like they were in it together. “Don’t worry, I won''t say a word.” He said confidently.


    “No, no, my stupid minion. Tell everyone who comes asking and charge them a hefty fee.”


    “Ooh! I got it.” Vanir nodded while Hans sighed, thinking, “Maybe god only gave you the theoretical mind but left common sense—”


    “Senior.” Vanir said in a hushed voice, prompting Hans to pique his attention and added, “Thank you for moving my parents out of Clandor.”


    “What? You better utilise this time to leak some information rather than wasting it on stupid things like gratitude.” Hans bid him farewell, and it didn’t take others long to corner Vanir into some isolated places.


    Vanir tried resisting, but soon it spread that this little elf was a money grub along with the secret location of Dungeon and its hidden entrance that Hans and Vanir planned. They made it look like the protection runes were broken, allowing a small hole to form. The breaching point where now, Aron and his close people were looking.


    “Aron.” One of the female knights of the group asked the apprentice alchemist, “just how sure is your information? This looks like a little big thing for us.”


    “Oh, don’t be a chicken; that’s why you get dumped by men again and again. You have to be a little adventurous, take some risks. That’s how you are going to make a name for yourself and have some money too.”


    “How much money did you pay for this information? It looks expensive.” Another person from the rear, their guardian knight, spoke as he spread his aura to detect the enemies inside.


    “Nothing; that idiot trusted me to hand over half of the profit.” He chuckled, “As if I’m going to give it to him. I’d just say, I got two or three mana stones and hand him over some crumbs and change.”


    “Yeah, which idiot trusted you?” The group laughed aloud and entered inside. Quickly followed by one and another. Aron’s group was unaware of their followers, two separate groups were on their tails.


    Aron and his ragtags soon met a wooden plank with writing: This is private property. Leave before losing your life.


    “This is jack shit!” A mage from the group launched a fireballer at the sign, but suddenly sharp spikes impaled his left foot. A painful shriek echoed in the group. The mage cried as Aron pulled him out and nursed him back with his recovery potion. But this even solidified his greed. “See, no one wastes this many resources to protect nothing. I’m sure this place has treasure.”


    “Stop.” The scout of the group picked up the movement and shouted, “Get ready.” Soon a rumbling reached them and they got ready.


    Hans and Vanir were observing their first harvest from a distance, undetected by the three groups, who were facing the intelligent Golems, the same as their numbers. “Senior, who are you going to give honey to?” Asked Vanir, curious.


    “Of course it should be to our greedy Aron, but I won’t just hand it out to him. It’s nigh time we test our Golems. These people should at least spend every life-saving item they brought.” Hans said grinning, while the other two groups were swallowed by the forest one after another.


    The mystic glade spat them out in different locations, sparing only their clothes, their equipment, potions, and artefacts, all of which remained inside the Mystic glade. These valuables appeared beside the core and small treants like golems, which transferred them back to the ManEating forest. The passage Hans and Vanir had set connected the two places.


    “Ooh! I never thought stealing was this fun,” Vanir commented, giddy while Hans quickly interrupted.


    “This is not stealing; they are trespassers on someone else’s lands. I’m showing mercy by not killing them and teaching them a valuable lesson with a little fee, of course.”


    “Whatever helps you sleep, senior, but it’s quite fun,” Vanir pointed out, the Aron’s group almost out of items.


    “We should give them a little more of what they spend so they will come back to claim more,” Hans’s will was heard by the golem whom Aron was fighting. It showed a flaw which Aron exploited quickly with the girl knight they brought. However, before a decisive blow, the golem quickly transferred its core to the ground beneath. The remaining husk disintegrated and offered a mid-quality sound gem, worth around twenty thousand gold.


    “Now this is a good find…ha..ha..” Aron said, gasping, and asked, “Shall we go deeper or should we end here?”


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