Over the next few days, Vicente would be meeting with various partners of his Fuller family to update old agreements and deal with serious matters with these forces. He would also meet with nobles with whom he had never done business before, seeking to expand his family's influence and collaborate for the common good of Saltstar City's powers in the face of future threats.

His meeting with the Duke had not been kept secret, and many local powers had already expected him to have made some kind of deal with the most prestigious local nobleman. Consequently, he had no difficulty approaching new families with whom he had never worked together.

The main topic of their conversations was what was to be expected, the problems that would arise if The Purification were to become a reality.

No one could say that the great vampire sacrifice wouldn't happen, so preparing for the worst seemed sensible to practically everyone.

He didn't sign any agreements for the future, but he did present some of his plans and the fact that he would be back to talk to these nobles about their actions to prevent and defend against The Purification.

He also clarified to these families that now was not the time to scrimp and save. On the contrary, it was time to use reserves created over generations and raise these families' power levels.

He didn't know how touched the nobles he had spoken to during these days were after their conversations. But since he hadn't warned anyone about the vampire coming to him, he was sure that everyone would take his warnings seriously and move once that creature acted against him in this place.

While he had talked a lot with his allies and new and potential future partners, he had also worked hard to advance his knowledge of forging.

Unfortunately, it wasn't that easy to master the 4th stage of forging.

The higher one got, the more difficult and time-consuming their progress became, both in mana absorbed or controlled and in improving their understanding.

But he was still improving at an impressive rate and was gradually beginning to be able to transmute metals, as instructed by Benson.

He would still need more time working on this in conjunction with his advancement to the 4th stage of forging, but both he and his master could already see where he would be very soon.

As the resources he had ordered in Chilldale would still take some time to arrive in Saltstar City, he had time to improve further and better prepare for the production of items for his group to face the vampire and continue his expansions.

Amid this, Vicente had received a visit from a friend and old acquaintance. Shelby had recently passed through Saltstar City and met up with him again after more than a year without seeing each other.

She was doing very well in terms of her magical cultivation and position leading the Staples family.

From what Vicente had heard these days, she was going for the title of Count for Levi Staples while she had caught the attention of the main branch of the Staples family.

The main branch of the Staples family had the title of Marquis. At the same time, any closeness of those people to Shelby would be beneficial to her and her brother.

Vicente won when his allies became stronger and more influential, so he was very pleased to hear the results from this woman.

In addition to these meetings and the things he spent his time on these days, Vicente also reconciled his relationship with Nova and Layla, having talked to his first girlfriend about what had happened between him and Layla.

Nova had already made it clear to him that she would accept it if it didn't happen in her presence, so she accepted the situation after repeating what she had already told him.

Everything was going well until the eighth week since Vicente's return to Saltstar City.

After several weeks of waiting, Vicente's big order finally arrived at the local Blacksmiths' Association!

...

That afternoon, in front of the association's building, dozens of people, whether or not they were members of this continental organization, stood around looking at the large number of wagons parked here and there.

In all, 43 wagons were currently parked in front of the association building, lined up all the way to the back entrance of this place, surrounding almost the entire block in the city's center.

Many guards and mercenaries were in these wagons, many looking tired but also quite relieved to finally be in this place.

In front of the first wagon in convoy, a group of the city's highest-level blacksmiths stood waiting for Vicente to arrive while looking at the many wagons with a gleam in their eyes.

"That... That really is a lot!" Said one of the men standing next to the elders of the association council.

One of the envoys from the Chilldale guild heard this and agreed. "Has your entire guild ordered resources from our post?"

"Most of those resources are from just one person."

"What?" That person at the front of the first wagon exclaimed before looking once again at the group he had led to this place. "Who could do that?"

"The richest man in the city, I suppose." A young disciple of one of the council elders commented as he looked in the direction where Vicente and Rory had just arrived. "I just didn't know that was the richest man in the city. But now things are clear."

Benson was already there waiting for Vicente. As soon as the young man reached the front of the first cart, he said, "Here's the person who ordered those resources."

"Are you Vicente Fuller?" The man sent by the woman who had talked to Minos in Chilldale asked as he looked seriously at Vice.

"That's me." He smiled as he greeted the person and asked. "How much do I owe for these resources?"

The man handed Minos a piece of parchment and said. "6,000 gold coins."

Minos looked at the elders of the association and said. "You can make the payment to them. My men will take my materials in these wagons and leave the items that belong to the association here."

"That..."

"Maybe..."

The council elders hesitated, but the strongest and most renowned of them soon sighed and said. "All right. Let's get on with it."

He paid the coins owed by Vicente shortly afterward before seeing more than 50 men from the Fuller family appearing nearby to pick up Vice's materials.

Benson joined Vicente and Rory's subordinates, eager to start producing new robotic armor and weapons for the family to prepare for the challenges ahead.

Vicente didn't stay behind to give explanations to those new arrivals in the city or to the blacksmiths from the local association. After just 10 minutes there, he and his men left with 85% of the volumes brought here from Chilldale.