--

"So, you’re saying that you have GMU’s big man in Central City on speed dial? That’s cool."

"Ain’t it!?" Alex beamed for a second there. "But don’t think that we’re abusing that. As you could probably tell, Nathan’s a bit strict when it comes to rules and regulation. Plus, he’s loyal to the GMU. He also loves his job—his words, not mine."

"We can ask for his help for minor things, such as speeding up your licensing permission. But anything that might jeopardize the deeper operations of the GMU? Forget about it. Nathan would be our first wall instead."

"I see." Ren nodded.

Well, at the very least, now he’s got some connection for himself. It’s not as deep, sure, but at least it’s something.

And he did leave a good impression...much better than the one Nathan had with Alex, that’s for sure.

Done with this place, they made their way to Samson’s Smithy, the same place where Ren met Alex’s party before.

"Dear Lord, the plague-bearer is here again."

These were Old Sam’s first words the moment he saw Alex’s silhouette.

"I missed you too, Old Man." Alex wasn’t offended at all. He even smiled widely as he forcibly dragged the old man into a tight hug as if they hadn’t seen each other for a long time.

"Get off me, you punk!"

A strong push and a strong smack on his head are what that earned him. Old Sam scoffed and patted his clothes as hugging Alex dirtied him.

"What do you want? I swear if you’re up to no good again, I’ll attach swords to your back and have you run around butt naked in my smithy."

"Relax, Old Sam." Alex held up his hands in mock surrender, still grinning as if he didn’t take the old man’s threat seriously at all.

"I’m not here for trouble at all. It’s not me who needs help right now. It’s my cute cousin over here," Alex then said, pointing at Ren, who bowed slightly when Old Sam gazed at him.

"Good morning, Sir. I’m sorry for troubling you so early, but I’m here to check out some gear. I’m about to go on my first dungeon exploration, you see."

"My, it’s rare to see some kids with actual manners nowadays..." Old Sam muttered, looking a bit unprepared to receive respectful words and requests from Ren.

"Wait...how old are you again, Kid?"

"I’m 16 and half, Sir."

"16 and a half!?" Old Sam looked surprised now. "And you’re already at Bone Forging?"

"Yes, Sir."

Old Sam blinked at Ren, then at Alex, who shrugged and said, "Have I mentioned that my cousin’s a genius?"

"Unlike some other people, that’s for sure," Old Sam grunted.

Then, he stepped closer to Ren and placed his heavy and calloused hand on the young man’s shoulders. He gave it a squeeze and hummed.

Inwardly, he’s surprised. He did a surface evaluation of Ren’s physique just now. It’s a routine method for smiths like him; after all, gears should fit their users, and Ren knew it too, so he didn’t resist. It’s the norm here, after all.

Old Sam’s surprise came from how solid Ren’s physique was. He’s young, that’s for sure. No disguises on him, either. It’s surprising because Old Sam was expecting some instability in there: traces of forced breakthrough, overdose of supplements, surface weakness, etc. But he found none.

Ren’s physique was in a flawless state. One that is more than ready to learn and experience dungeons.

It wasn’t his first time sensing somebody with this kind of foundation, but feeling it from someone so young? That was new. That’s rare.

’Well, I’ll be...Alex might actually be right; this kid might, indeed, be a genius.’

Old Sam didn’t say this out loud because he didn’t want the kid becoming arrogant in his smithy. He quite liked the kid’s politeness, instead.

"Wait here..." Old Sam said after he finished his preliminary inspection. He then went off to his racks, probably to fetch some gear for Ren to try out.

Alex came with him, probably to help him pick and to also maybe bother the old man some more.

This left Ren wandering inside the shop, where his eyes eventually magnetized to the weapons hanging on the walls, on the racks, and on display behind some glass cases.

He found himself before one, a spear. It’s held up by a fork on the wall.

It’s about nine foot and nine inches long, based on his visual estimation. It’s got a sharp tip, a firm wooden handle, and a blunt end.

Ren took a deep breath and reached out to it.

The mere act itself sent shivers down his spine, as if his instincts were warning him that he was about to do something really dumb and dangerous.

But he did anyway.

When his hand touched the spear, he felt a deep sense of repulsion rising in his chest. A profound sense of wrongness flooded his senses, his mind screaming at him, "Go let go of it immediately."

Following that, pain crept up to his arm, making him wince. A few seconds later, he felt bruises forming on his arm. Then, a few more seconds after that, shallow lacerations started appearing all over his arm.

That’s when Ren had enough and let go of the spear.

He didn’t even take it out of its place. He just held it by the handle, and all of that happened in the span of seconds. Not minutes, seconds.

Ren felt a sense of relief flooding his whole body when he released his hold. It’s like he’s escaped from certain death all of a sudden and felt glad to have survived it.

It’s absurd that merely holding a weapon does that to him. Something so...simple and mundane was actually life-threatening for him...for his clan.

Since Ren discovered that he was a member of the Banished Arms Clan, it was already a foregone conclusion that he couldn’t touch anything defined as a weapon. And Ren never tried it before since it’s already clear that it wasn’t meant to be. This privilege isn’t available for someone like him.

Today, he tried it. And for the first time, he personally felt how absurd this cursed physique truly was.

The profound sense of repulsion and wrongness he felt when he held that spear left a deep impression on him. He never felt something like that before. Not in this life or the previous one.

It’s crazy to think that such an absurd thing was even possible, but that’s the kind of world he’s living in now.

"That’s something everybody in the clan tries at least once in their life. Glad to know you’re not an exception."

Alex’s voice nearly made Ren’s soul jump out of his body.

He turned around and smacked Alex’s shoulders out of surprise.

"Ow!" Alex cried out. "Well, I guess I deserved that."

Ren sighed. He really didn’t feel Alex’s presence at all. The impression he felt after touching the spear kept his mind occupied.

So Alex saw Ren touching the spear. And he also probably saw the bruises and cuts appearing on his skin after prolonged contact. That’s why he said that he’s glad that Ren wasn’t an exception. And that everybody in their clan tries something like this at least once in their life.

Ren supposed that it must be for confirmation. After all, it is indeed absurd how they’re banned for doing such a simple and mundane thing.

It’s just a weapon. It’s just touching a weapon. Why must the curse prevent them from doing something this...simple? Why so specific? What did they ever do to bear this kind of curse? Could there be an exception? Is there another way? Can it be cured? Fixed? Removed?

Ren wasn’t the only one. In the clan, this was almost a tradition. Like Alex said, at least once in everybody’s life, they’ve tried something like this. And they all found the same outcome.

Rejection.

Ren sighed; he looked down on the tattoos on his arms and said, "What an absurd curse."

Alex scoffed next to him and responded: "My words, exactly. But we have to make do with what we have, cousin."

"We’re blocked this way, but surely, there’s another way for us," Alex’s face then turned serious before saying, "And if there’s anybody who could find that path, I’m quite confident that it’ll be you. So keep going, cousin. The clan has your back all the way."

Alex didn’t have to remind him, really. Ren had the same thoughts himself. In fact, he was already working on it.

His cousin doesn’t have any idea that Ren was actually close to discovering a way forward. It’s just his martial realm that’s holding him back.

If Ren had his way, he wouldn’t make them wait for too long. But Ren isn’t one to use his clan as subjects for his experiments. He’d rather try it out himself first, and only when it’s confirmed to work will he reveal it to them.

Alas, he’s a little too weak right now. So, others couldn’t only wait for him. But it shouldn’t take that long. Ren’s progress was fast, after all.

Soon, real changes will happen to the clan. But for now, any little improvements on their lifestyle and living conditions should suffice.