Chapter 29: To Become Stronger, One Still Needs to Spend Money

“It’s all Leo’s fault for suddenly saying such things.”

Michelle fiddled with a strand of silver hair, looking somewhat indignant.

Although she said this, she had no intention of blaming Leo at all.

“It’s my fault, Saint, please forgive me.” After the joke, Leo apologized.

“To forgive you, let’s have a big meal later.” Michelle suddenly changed her attitude.

Leo: ???

What does forgiving me have to do with a big meal?

“Then I’ll have a big meal too.”

Leo realized that his relationship with Michelle had become closer, and it seemed easier to get along.

“Master Jekes, I brought a friend over.”

In front of a weapon forging shop, Michelle stopped and waved to the owner.

“It’s Michelle, wait for me a moment.”

The forge was bustling, and the owner, Jekes, was bare-chested, vigorously hammering a weapon.

Leo approached, and a wave of hot air hit him.

“What kind of weapon do you want to forge?”

After finishing up, Jekes put on his clothes and came to Leo.

“A sword, here’s the blueprint.”

Leo handed him the forging blueprint he had prepared in advance.

“This sword is a bit special, do you have any other requirements?”

After studying the blueprint for a moment, Jekes got the general idea.

“As long as the shape is right, the strength doesn’t matter. The sword might break later, and I may need to find you to forge another one.”

“Leo, Master Jekes is very skilled. The weapons he forges are of high quality and won’t break easily. It’s very disrespectful to have the mindset of breaking a weapon from the start.”

Michelle reminded him from the side.

“Michelle is right. If it weren’t for her introducing you, I wouldn’t forge for a young brat like you.”

Jekes clearly seemed a bit displeased with Leo’s words.

“How much gold for this sword?”

“At least a hundred, more could be tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, depending on your requirements. Since it’s for Michelle’s sake, I can give you a 10% discount.”

Leo frowned and hesitated. If forging a sword costs a hundred gold, he wouldn’t have enough to spend.

After all, until now, no sword could withstand his full strength, unless he spent a great deal to forge a legendary weapon.

“Maybe I should just go to a regular forge.”

“If you don’t have enough gold, I can lend you some temporarily. A good weapon is a matter of life and death for a swordsman,” Michelle said.

“That’s not the point. My swordsmanship is a bit special, and cheap weapons break easily, so I often need to change weapons. Either forge a legendary weapon or use cheap weapons that can be frequently replaced.”

Leo expressed his concerns.

“Do you want to see the sword I forged?”

Jekes took a sword from the weapon rack and handed it to him.

Leo took it, carefully observed it, and flicked the blade lightly. From the rebound’s melody, he roughly confirmed the sword’s quality.

“It’s a good sword, but it might only withstand my full strength about ten times,” Leo thought for a moment and said.

“Hahaha! I’ve never seen such an arrogant kid, boasting that it can only withstand a dozen full-strength attacks.”

Jekes suddenly laughed, not mockingly, but as if he had simply heard a funny joke.

“Do you have an ordinary sword? Give me one.”

Leo returned the sword to him.

“Although I don’t know what you want it for, take it.”

Jekes casually pulled a sword from the scrap pile and handed it to him.

Leo picked up the sword, flicked it a few times, and then slashed at the sky.

A powerful sword aura was released, spanning hundreds of meters, tearing through the clouds, as if the sky was split in two, while the people around were completely unaware.

Jekes looked up at the sky, stunned by this shocking scene.

And the sword in Leo’s hand shattered in response.

“See? Now you should believe it. An ordinary sword is only enough for me to strike with full strength once. A slightly better one can manage two or three times, while a sword worth a hundred gold won’t last more than twenty times.”

“No wonder Michelle brought you here; you actually have this kind of strength. I’ve encountered many swordsmen, but I’ve never met someone who breaks swords like you. I will forge a sword for you at full strength, and I’ll only charge you for the materials. I’m very curious to see how many times you can wield a weapon I forge at full strength.”

Jekes was somewhat excited; encountering a swordsman like Leo was also a challenge for a blacksmith.

“Is that okay?”

It was clearly a losing deal, and Michelle felt a bit guilty. “Moreover, the strength of a weapon is greatly related to the forging materials. No matter how good the technique, low-class materials can’t forge a powerful weapon.”

“Let’s use ordinary materials first. The first sword will be my sponsorship to you. Once you gather high-class materials, I’ll forge a new weapon for you.” Jekes was very generous.

“Thank you very much. I also want to forge a pair of gauntlets and greaves, very heavy, to increase my weight for daily training.”

“This is also no problem. How heavy?”

Gauntlets and greaves for increasing weight are easy to forge and not expensive.

“Each weighs one hundred twenty-five kilograms, totaling five hundred kilograms for four pieces.”

As soon as Leo said this, the two beside him were once again speechless.

“Leo, you’re still so young; five hundred kilograms is too heavy for you.” Michelle was a bit worried.

“Is it heavy? I don’t think so. Using magic power to strengthen my body can achieve this, and I can appropriately reduce the magic power to increase the training effect on my body.”

Leo was constantly using magic power to strengthen his body. At first, it was indeed tiring, but over time, he would get used to it, and the training effect was evident.

“No wonder you’re so powerful; it seems there’s a reason for it.” Jekes marveled, “Leave it to me; you can come pick it up this afternoon.”

After leaving fifteen gold coins, Leo and Michelle left the weapon shop.

With the weapon matter settled, as they passed by the church, Leo suddenly remembered that he still needed to learn a few commonly used skills.

“Can you wait for me a moment? I’ll go to the church to learn a few skills first.”

Michelle should also have the ability to grant skills, but granting professional skills is one of the church’s important duties. Public and private matters should be clearly distinguished; even if their relationship was good, he couldn’t casually ask her to grant skills.

“Okay.” Michelle readily agreed.

Not long after Leo entered the church, Michelle also arrived at the church entrance.

“Greetings, Saint!”

The holy knights guarding the church immediately knelt upon seeing her.

“The Saint has arrived.”

“Where is she?”

This church was just one of the many inconspicuous branch churches in the holy city, and usually, no big shots would come here. As soon as Michelle entered, she attracted everyone’s attention.

People gathered near the main door, all wanting to catch a glimpse of the Saint’s true form.

“Is that Michelle? How did she come in?” Leo was a bit curious. “Maybe she has something to do.”

After explaining his intentions to the nun, he paid the gold coins for learning skills and was taken to a room to wait.

He learned a total of three skills: incantation, spatial storage, and reconnaissance skills, which could detect the opponent’s strength to a certain extent.

Each skill cost twenty gold coins, totaling sixty coins, which significantly reduced his wealth.

Indeed, to become stronger, one still needs to spend money.

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