Hearing Yennda’s shout, one of the instructors present at the outer ring to police the students came over and observed the Roto Spear. He waddled his way to the front of the crowd and stared at Yennda coldly, “Has your exhibit been approved?”
“Yes,” Yennda nodded confidentially.
“By whom?” The instructor asked, coldly, wondering if an instructor had been bribed to allow such a nonsense exhibit to be displayed. ‘Ten times the speed? If something like this was true, we would have created it long ago.’
“By Instructor Mandu from the 44th Settlement!” Yennda said aloud.
The instructor looked around and leaped afar, crossing the crowd as he approached Instructor Mandu and brought him to Yennda’s stall, pointing at the Roto Spear to ask, “Is this for real?”
“Well, there are plenty of issues with it, but it’s real.” Instructor Mandu grinned smugly, “This kid only needs support to perfect this Roto Spear into something even we can use.”
“Let me test it,” Saying so, he grabbed the Roto Spear from Yennda and infused his Prana into it, instantly overriding the imprint on it. In a matter of seconds, he turned it into his Spirit Weapon and caused it to fly in the air.
The tip of the Roto Spear spun so fast it caused a high-frequency buzzing sound. But the speed was too much for the Roto Spear to handle. A faint burning smell emanated from it as a result. The gear mechanism inside had caught fire. 𝒪𝗏𝓁xt.𝗇𝓔t
But despite damaging the Roto Spear, the Instructor was shocked as he stared at Instructor Mandu, “As you said, this has plenty of issues. But it’s the real deal.”
“Roto Spear, was it?” He asked Yennda, speaking upon seeing the latter nod, “It’s too weak for the elites, but it’s already the strongest weapon a student could wield. If you like it, I wish to promote your Roto Spear to the middle ring.”
“Please allow me to take care of that,” Instructor Mandu said, unable to conceal the smile that formed on his face upon seeing more Instructors coming to the stall to show interest, “Since you have checked it yourself, do you wish to vouch for it alongside me?”
“The completion of this weapon is to the benefit of the Mammoth Clan. Of course, I’ll vouch for it.” Saying so, the Instructor grabbed the Roto Spear and leaped over the wall to enter the middle ring.
“You succeeded, brat.” Instructor Mandu patted Yennda and whispered, “Leave the rest to me. I’ll do my best to get you a favourable deal.”
“Thank you, Instructor Mandu.” Yennda bowed happily.
“How many Roto Spears can you make in a month?” He asked next.
“One,” Yennda said, “But if I manage to reach 100 Prana, I can create up to four per month. If I can recruit a talented student as an assistant, I can make even more.”
“Got it,” Saying so, Instructor Mandu too leaped over the wall and entered the middle ring.
‘It’s a success.’ Yennda laughed, partly proud but mostly relieved that he had succeeded. He was tense all along. There were plenty of close calls, especially in the clouds before. He almost died back then.
Yennda stared at his bruised arm. He expended most of his Prana to focus on healing it, but there was still enough damage there, ‘Resha! How dare you break my arm!’
“Is…what you said the truth?” A girl approached him, hesitant but hopeful, “Can someone with the Fragment Disease have hope for the future? Will that be possible with your weapon?”
“You are…” Yennda asked, despite being aware of the other party’s identity.
Her bones were slightly deformed, causing her to hunch a little, an angular face with protruding cheekbones, and an overall sickly appearance. In Sumatra Chronicles, she was a girl casually mentioned in passing, taking up space no more than one sentence.
In the Mammoth Clan, she was the second woman with Fragment Disease. There were many such women in history, but were rare. At most there existed one or two per generation. And in the current generation, the first was Granny Oyo, and the second was her.
“Yuza,” The girl introduced herself, “I too am affected by the Fragment Disease. I had given up on life, but today, when I saw many students with the same condition as me giving their all, I wanted to do something to change myself.”
“When I saw you, I felt hope.” She stared at Yennda, teary-eyed, “Is what you said the truth? Can we be saved?”
“Do you despise your weakness?” Yennda mimicked the pose and tone of a popular anime protagonist and extended his hand towards her, fired up, “Do you desire to grow stronger? If yes, then take my hand. Become my assistant and we’ll jointly work towards a better future for ourselves.”
“I do,” Yuza teared up in happiness. At the sight of her, Yennda was excited, ‘There was a reason only two females with the Fragment Disease showed up. Usually, there’s a correlation between women and any uniqueness. It wasn’t stated explicitly there, but when I think about it…’
He grinned and wiped Yuza’s tears, ‘Through her, I can cure myself.’
“Will you follow me to my settlement?” He asked her, “You’re from the 43rd Settlement, right?”
“Yes,” Yuza nodded, “But, is that possible? Can I enter your settlement?”
“Let’s see,” Yennda trailed off as he stared at the wall, “I’m waiting for permission.”
An hour later, Instructor Mandu returned, happy as he threw a bag of Parute to him, “There’s an advance of 2000 Parute in it. You have been allotted a small workshop where you’ll be working from tomorrow onwards. All materials necessary to build a Roto Spear will be provided to you. As long as their family permits, you can assign a student as your assistant.”
“At the successful completion of each Roto Spear, you’ll be paid 100 Parute.” He concluded.
“Only a hundred?” Yennda sighed.
“Yes, but all your other necessities will be taken care of.” Instructor Mandu patted his shoulder, “Besides, that’s only for the current Roto Spear. You get what I’m saying, right?”
“So, it’s to motivate me to perfect it faster.” Yennda understood what the higher-ups implied. If he completed six Roto Spears per month, he’ll get 600 Parute. That means, before his graduation in eleven months, he’ll have more than enough Parute to reach 100 Prana.
Once he reaches the Body Stage, his Parute requirements would increase. Moreover, he’ll also be needing all sorts of resources from then on, making his earning of 600 Parute lacking. The only way to satisfy his appetite would be to complete the Roto Spear that could be wielded by elites.
Only then would he earn enough. So, to get more investment, he would have to succeed. If he remained content with his current accomplishment, he wouldn’t survive once he reached the Body Stage. Therefore, he was forced to complete the Roto Spear in a year.
Yennda stared at Instructor Mandu and nodded, “I accept the condition.”
“Please lead me to our workshop.” He pointed at Yuza, appointing her as his assistant, smiling upon seeing his proposal get accepted. ‘I now have everything I need.’
Chapter end