The Villain's Story

"First of All, I would like to thank you all for coming to celebrate my daughter's birthday party."

A dignified old man with bright navy hair announced in a loud but mellow voice.

"This event is also celebrating her advancement to A-Rank at the age of 25!".

There was a round of Applause, and the man handed the microphone to his daughter.

A woman with long bright navy hair, and blues eyes that resembled the sea, wearing a blue dress that highlighted her feminine features, and her sexiness.

She spoke in a mellow voice, a voice that enamored the crowd.

"I won't delay you all, please enjoy yourselves at this party.

I can already catch a glimpse of many prospects of this generation, who will lead humanity to another Golden Era.

Please, Enjoy Yourselves!"

She raised her glass to the sky, a crowd did the same.

And she spoke in a loud and happy voice.

"Cheers!"

""Cheers!""

The crowd followed after her, and the birthday party began.

"Alice, Alan, stay close to me."

Richard said to Alice and Alan, and they silently followed him as he went around the party, meeting all sorts of guests.

And they encountered a group of people, whom Alan recognized.

The same old man, who was appraising his ring, was dressed in a suit that didn't hide his enormous muscles.

The suit looked funny on him, to be honest.

"To think I would meet you this much sooner!"

The man said as he grasped Alan's hand, and shook it fervently.

"Umm, Yes nice to meet you too..."

"Brock's the name!".

The man, Brock stopped shaking Alan's hands, but then he started touching Alan's arms.

"What muscles you have at such a young age!"

"Sir Brock, If you could please."

Thankfully, Richard Saved Alan from Brock, who composed himself fairly soon.

"Ahem, I apologize for my actions, I was just amazed by your craft."

Brock said as he took off the ring on his index finger.

"Such a fine piece of art, embedded with mana so delicately, so balanced that even words cannot explain it."

"Thank you."

Alan expressed his thanks while thinking of something else in his mind

'...I CAN NOT tell him I made that thing in just 5 minutes.'

I can't.

But, I will receive some other advice from him.

"Ahh, can you give me some advice for artifact crafting, im thinking of creating some other artifacts as well, particularly weapons?"

"I'll be glad to do so young man!"

Brock put his arms over Alan's head and brought him close to his mouth as he told Alan all sorts of things.

"The thing about weapons is a lot of about mana conductivity, the tempering of the blade, the quality of mana fire, the folding, and the materials..."

He said all sorts of things, while Richard and Alice silently left the two alone.

Alan on the other hand took out a notebook and pen from his inventory and began to write, much to Brock's shock.

"You have personal storage without a ring?"

"Yes I do, and can you repeat what you said about folding?"

"Oh, for most mana blades, folding the metal 30 to 40 times is enough up to B rank, For A rank and above blades, it can be as long as 50 to 70 times.

However, the quality of the mana fire and materials used also affects the result.

I suggest you don't cut off any expense on the usage of mana stones to fuel the fire, it can get rid of any excess impure mana and also other impurities in the metal, for the tempering, just hammer it until you run out of strength, and finally about the mana control..."

Brock continued on and on about crafting, and Alan silently took notes.

****

"Haaahh..."

Elijah sighed as he leaned against the wall and held a glass filled with juice in his hand.

"Are you tired already?"

Henry asked him, and Elijah replied in a tired voice.

"You have no idea how many suits I put on before this party, and im wondering how she even got those suits."

"?"

"Anyways, what are you doing here?"

Henry, taking a sip of his 'drink', looked at Elijah with a confused gaze.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't you have to be with your guild?

Serena and Elaine went with their respective entourage, and I don't know where Sabrina is."

...

...

...

Henry silently took a sip of his 'drink' before he replied.

"There's no need for me to go, someone else is the shining star of our Guild."

His eyes looked at another young man with features similar to his, but only much more older and refined.

He silently looked at his drink and took a big swig to get rid of a bad memory.

​ "Hey Eli, give me your drink."

He said to Elijah when he emptied his glass. Elijah gave him his glass, and the moment he drank one gulp.

He looked at Elijah's glass and asked Elijah.

"We're you drinking juice?"

"What else am I supposed to drink, water?"

Henry silently put his arm over Elijahs Shoulders, who was currently creeped out.

"Dude, what the heck are you doing?"

"I'm going to show you wonders."

"Wonder?"

"The wonders of Alcohol."

****

(Alans PoV)

I silently made my way over to where the alcohol was.

Im drinking alcohol today, no matter what they say.

And while I made my way to the bottles,

I heard a voice behind me.

"...Alan?"

"What the heck?"

And when I turned my head to see who it was, I found it to be Henry and Elijah.

And without saying a word, I silently put my finger on my lips, signaling them to shut up.

And then, I bagged as many bottles of liquor as I could in my inventory.

Henry got beside me and used his body as some sort of a shield to hide something, and muttered in a low voice.

"Get some for us too."

Very well comrade, as long as you help me, I help you. You hide my deeds with your body, I gift some to you

'...so we're not gonna question his appearance now?'

Elijah, the only innocent one, silently stared at the heist in front of them.

All while wondering.

What the heck is happening?

And what in the world happened to Alan?