Chapter 362: Machinations of Fate

Celestial Plane, inside Kurohana's plane.

Quite some time has passed since Kurohana had checked on Aurus's progress in terms of his evolution. At the moment, both Kurohana and her clone, Shirohana, were sitting near one of the corners of her white cube as their understanding over the Greater Law of Reincarnation had vastly improved since the last time she checked up on Aurus.

Compared to the power they exuded before, the power the two of them were exuding when combined would definitely scare most Greater Gods at the stronger end of the spectrum, with Nix even probably becoming surprised that Kurohana had reached such a level.

Nevertheless, even though her power had vastly improved when compared to the time before she started to train her control over the Greater Law of Reincarnation, it was still far from enough from reaching the power an Immortal Verdict Wielder wielded, much less to say her Greater Law of Reincarnation transforming into an Immortal Verdict that had control over something far broader than reincarnation itself.

After a few more minutes of them not doing any other action, Kurohana soon opened her eyes while Shirohana was still engrossed in comprehending the Greater Law of Reincarnation. Then again, it made sense. Shirohana was the clone that contained most of Kurohana's strength at the moment, so it would be beneficial to her if Shirohana continued to comprehend it while she did her own things.

Of course, the things that Kurohana would do involved none other than Aurus itself. Standing up after sitting cross-legged for quite a long time, Kurohana went ahead and did some light stretches with her body before sitting down on the chair placed in front of the orb that allowed to view what was happening to Aurus.

After taking a seat on the chair, Kurohana then affixed her gaze onto the orb to see what Aurus was doing, only to be inwardly surprised by the evolution that Aurus had undergone. Naturally, Aurus was already finished with his evolution since on the orb, the sight of Aurus sitting cross-legged while blood red particles surrounded could be seen.

But to Kurohana, who could see even more than what the naked eye offered, noticed that the things that made up Aurus's body had changed as a whole. It was as if she could feel a hint of the power only gods exuded coming from him.

Although she didn't know how Aurus had achieved this evolution as she wasn't manipulating anything other than his fate to be turned into a weapon, she was incredibly ecstatic to find out that the main material of her masterwork weapon was going to be leagues better than before. There was even a chance that her power would instantly shoot up to the Immortal Verdict Wielder level thanks to this change.

Rubbing her hands in excitement, she then muttered to himself with a light yet scheming chuckle, "It seems that it's almost time to harvest my rewards. Fortunately, the time taken for him to reach this point wasn't that long compared to the deadline I gave myself."

"In any case, I should prepare his retrieval," Kurohana soon added before closing her eyes as she contacted multiple gods within one second. Not long after, she opened her eyes with the gaze of someone who was able to see through everything. Well, the reason for her gaze was because she had obtained permission from the gods who controlled laws related to fate, destiny, and the future itself.

Of course, since she wanted to manipulate fate, then that meant that she contacted the goddess that controlled fate itself, the wielder of the Immortal Verdict of Fate, Phatia.

Unfortunately for Kurohana, her request to give her permission to control the entirety of fate itself was denied. Though, since Phatia knew what Kurohana was doing, she did not mind giving Kurohana the temporary ability of being able to control a quarter of the fate in the universe. Thankfully, a quarter of the universe's fate was enough for Kurohana to do what she wanted to do.

Taking in a deep breath, she then placed her hands over the orb as the strands of energy she would send out back then wouldn't be enough for the adjustments she was going to make. Channeling all of the energy in her body towards her hands while allowing the laws she had gained temporary control over to combine with it, she then started to manipulate the fate of the world of Erudinia one by one, with each adjustment she made related to Aurus.

"First off, let's manipulate his final strength. Naturally, he would have to reach the peak strength possible in his current form," Kurohana muttered, only to sense through one of the laws that it would take Aurus an incredibly long time if she did go ahead with it. Pondering for a bit, she then decided that giving Aurus a month's worth of time was enough of a strength boost for the masterwork weapon she had in mind.

"Next, the location," she soon muttered as she expanded the scope of the orb to the entirety of Maerr-viki Continent. Taking into consideration the location Aurus was currently in, she eventually decided that the closest kingdom to Aurus would be the best place for the event to happen. Nevertheless, she could not help but say, "Although their blacksmiths aren't the best when taking into consideration the entirety of Erudinia, it's still good enough as a platform."

"And lastly, the cause," she said soon after as she returned her focus on Aurus. A few seconds later, a massive wave of energy emanated from her hands as the aura surrounding Aurus had changed for a short while. Though, not long after, the aura surrounding Aurus had returned to normal.

Making sure that the aura Aurus emanated was still the same as before, Kurohana then lightly nodded as she said to herself, "Yeah, that would do. Although it would take quite some time for the changes in his personality to take effect, it'll definitely wouldn't make others suspicious. On top of that, it also ties into my final change."

"The event itself," Kurohana let out a light chuckle as she thought about how Aurus's presence could be tied into the event that was happening in the kingdom she chose. Thankfully, it did not take her that long to create what she considered a spectacular ending.

After that, she double checked if the adjustments she had made had taken effect, or were the correct ones. After checking it a couple more times, she then lightly nodded in satisfaction as she removed her hands from the orb while the laws she had temporarily gained control over headed back to their respective gods.

She then stood up from her chair before heading back to where Shirohana was, sitting in front of her not long after.

Before closing her eyes, she could not help but gloss over the changes she had made once more as she let out a light giggle. "Definitely a spectacular ending that would leave the world speechless."

"In any case, whatever I've manipulated is now…"

"As fate ordains."

…

Back at Verdant Breeze Town, Argentum, Delmann, Felix, and the others were still talking with one another regarding the initial plans of development they could do in order to improve the state of the town. Of course, Argentum's last few words left Delmann at a loss for words, wondering if he had heard wrongly.

"A-are you certain you want to do that, Sir Argentum?" Delmann asked in clarification. "Tripling the amount of funds for the clean water source project and the farming project, while adding on a house renovation project would total up to a lot of gold coins, you know?"

"Surely it wouldn't go over a thousand gold coins, right?" Argentum asked with a light smile on his face as he looked at the three and said, "In any case, you don't have to worry. I'm sure our benefactors right here have more than enough funds to make sure that my orders happen. Isn't that right, Undying Flame, Grand Blue, Mother of Earth?"

"Just give me a sign and I'll transfer the funds straight away," Rosalia, who Argentum called as Mother of Earth, was the first one to reply. Then again, she was the first one to give Argentum a share of the profits she got from selling the Heaven's Earth Potion, so it was no surprise for her to be the first one to respond.

"It'll take a while on my end to amass the funds, but as long as I create that initial channel, there's no problem in transferring you the funds," Felix was the next one to respond, taking on the moniker of Grand Blue. In fact, even if Argentum hadn't told him to, he would have still given him a share of the profits just because he had obtained a steady supply of gold coins, as well as a path to improve his understanding over the Water element.

At this point, only Eleanor was the only one who didn't reply. Naturally, the focus of the four right now was on her. And so, in usual fashion, she responded in the manner she knew best.

"W-what those two said."

Well, better to get an answer than not get one at all.

Seeing that the three benefactors had great confidence that they would be able to fund the three projects, though the last one was quite unsure, Delmann's uncertainty gradually disappeared, though a hint of doubt still remained. Nevertheless, he replied with a nod, "I'll hire some architects and water mages next thing in the morning so the projects could begin as soon as possible."

Nodding in satisfaction with Delmann's response, Argentum had a light smile on his face as he then moved onto the next plan he had in mind. Thinking about this next plan, he looked at Delmann and asked, "Delmann, do you know how many people in this town have attained a level of education?"

In response, Delmann went silent for a bit before showing a bitter smile. He then responded to Argentum's question, saying, "Unfortunately, Sir Argentum, only us guards have attained a level of education. On top of that, it's just the basics of the basics, being able to read and write. As for the town's citizens, I'm sure a few have attained the same level of education here and there, but for the most part, I'm quite certain that the town is filled with illiterate people."

"Guess I'm modifying this next plan quite a bit, then," Argentum said in response before refining the plan he had in mind. Nevertheless, from the question Argentum asked, it was quite obvious what Argentum's plan was about.

A school!

After making sure that the plan was clear in his mind, Argentum then looked at Delmann and the three before saying, "So, for this next plan, it will happen after the first three projects are done. Delmann, what I want you to do is to allocate a decently sized piece of land while you expand the town's walls. If you want a specific value, then a lot that could accommodate around 50 houses in a square."

Without giving Delmann the chance to speak or to process the shock he felt from Argentum's words, Argentum continued, "This vacant piece of land would be the birthplace of the next plan, an academy."

At that moment, Delmann instantly understood what Argentum was planning to do. Without hesitation, he asked, "Would we be charging admission fees for this academy?"

In response, Argentum went silent for a bit before shaking his head, "At the beginning, we won't charge any admission fee. But when the number of people that reside in this town increase, then we'll gradually charge an admission fee. Of course, the original citizens of this town are exempt from this."

He then added, "There will be two sections for this academy: a section made for kids and teenagers, and a section made for adults."

After that, he looked at the three and asked, "Is it possible for you guys to find some willing people to teach in the academy? Just make sure that the maximum salary you could give them is 100 gold coins a month. Though, as long as you think that person is worth it, then you can give them a higher salary."

The three of them then talked with each other through their own means while Delmann was left shocked once more by Argentum's words. A gold coin was enough to feed a family of three for over half a month, and he told them that the salary an instructor for the academy would get was a hundred times that?

If he was well-learned, then he would've been tempted to become an instructor. Unfortunately, he only had a basic level of education.

After some time, the three were finished talking, with Felix becoming their representative as he said to Argentum, "We'll try to find people willing to teach in the town. You have to make sure that they have their own accommodations, though."

"I'll keep that in mind," Argentum said as he nodded. Since the first three projects hadn't even started yet, he only told Delmann and the others that he was going to build an academy in the future. Unlike others, he wanted to take things step by step to make sure everything was done well.

After talking about the academy, Argentum went silent once more as he pondered on what plans he could come up next. Eventually, he focused on one part the town was lacking as he looked at Delmann and asked, "Delmann, is there any unique resource this town has? Or to be more exact, can we obtain a resource that we could use to enhance this town's commercial sector?"

"Hmm…let me think about it," Delmann said before lightly frowning as he pondered over the question for quite some time. As time passed, more and more wrinkles would appear on Delmann's forehead as he put his mind on overdrive. Fortunately, after about ten minutes or so, Delmann had recalled a certain place near the town which could be used for what Argentum wanted to do.

With an expression of relief and delight, Delmann then told Argentum, "If my memory serves correctly, there's a large vein of iron ore near the town. Although we haven't truly checked how pure this ore vein is, we're quite certain that it's definitely on the purer side since the weapons the guards use are made of this iron. Our weapons haven't cracked even after a year of constant use."

At that instant, Argentum had an idea that went beyond the plans he had in order to speed up the development of the town. He was now looking at the town from a future perspective. Taking into consideration Delmann's words from a while ago, he now had an idea as to what direction this town would take. In the future, Verdant Breeze Town would turn into a town of…

Blacksmiths!