Chapter 260: – Another Job Offer.

Heavy Metal

Rusty stared silently at the woman across the desk. For a moment, neither of them moved. Then Aburdon burst into laughter inside his armor.

“I like this one. Direct and completely shameless. She is trying to poach you in broad daylight.”

Alexander did not sound nearly as amused.

“You did hand her enough material to reorganize half the city guard…”

Rusty slowly lowered his gaze to the papers spread across the desk. Only now did he truly examine what Aburdon had added to the report. Since he had never written one before, it had not seemed strange to include diagrams and mathematical calculations explaining what should be done.

“It is not surprising that she wants you, but be careful, Rusty. If you accept her offer, she will probably expect complete loyalty to the city guard.”

Alexander’s tone grew more serious as he looked toward Arlin.

“And unlike mercenaries, guards are bound by laws, politics, and chains of command.”

“Chains are useful when they are wrapped around other people.”

“I actually agree with the hero this time. This woman will weigh us down with endless paperwork and slow our leveling progress. There is no reason to agree to anything. We are better off staying mercenaries, at least for now. We can always use her later if necessary, my dear Rusty.”

Rusty remained silent for a moment while Arlin watched him expectantly from across the desk.

“You have not answered.”

Her fingers tapped against the stack of papers. Unlike before, she no longer looked merely curious.

“I am not sure if I…”

Rusty was about to decline the offer when he heard a commotion behind the door.

“Stop, you cannot just…”

The guard who had let him pass shouted at someone, and the voice that answered sounded familiar.

“I can and I will!”

A moment later, Galiena burst through the entrance. She was Rusty’s current employer and the commander of the new mercenary group. Earlier, he had seen her speaking with the guard commander as though they already knew each other, and now his suspicion was confirmed.

“Arlin, how could you do this to me!”

The moment she entered, two guards grabbed hold of her. One clung to her leg while the other held her arm, yet she still overpowered both of them with sheer strength. Commander Arlin clicked her tongue in annoyance and turned her face aside as though she had been caught in a lie.

“Do not be so dramatic, Galiena.”

Arlin leaned back in her chair, though the twitch near her eye betrayed her irritation. The guards continued struggling to restrain Galiena, whose glare remained fixed on the commander behind the desk.

“You tried to steal my subordinate right after I officially recruited him!”

“He is not your subordinate yet. The contract paperwork has not even been finalized.”

“Stop hiding behind paperwork! He is my Second, not yours!”

Galiena jerked her arm free from one of the guards, sending the poor man stumbling sideways into a shelf stacked with notebooks. Several toppled off, and he scrambled to catch the shelf before the whole thing came crashing down.

“Let her go already and leave.”

Arlin rubbed her temple as she glared at the guards. They immediately released Galiena and hurried out of the room before they could become collateral damage. The door shut behind them, and silence lingered for a moment before Galiena marched straight toward Rusty and planted herself between him and the desk like a protective wall.

“You back off, my man!”

The large woman growled while Rusty stood there silently.

“From what I can see, he is not quite your man yet. If it were not for me, he would be rotting in prison.”

“No, he wouldn’t. I would have handled it just fine!”

The two women leaned closer until their faces were nearly touching, and for a moment, the air between them seemed to ignite into sparks.

“Oh my, Rusty, you devil. I did not know you had it in you.”

“What are you talking about, Aburdon?”

As the two women glared at each other, Aburdon whispered into his nonexistent ear.

“Do not be bashful now, Rusty. Two powerful women fighting over you? This is exactly when you start playing both sides!”

“No, it isn’t! What are you even trying to teach him now?”

Before Aburdon could continue his ridiculous line of thought, Alexander interrupted with a tired groan.

“You are corrupting his innocent mind.”

“Innocent? He is a monster who has killed many. This is simply education in the ways of allure. He might have use for it in the future, so why not? Do not be such a stick in the mud, hero.”

“Allure? He is a suit of armor. How would that even work?”

“Haha, want me to show you, hero? You are so innocent.”

Rusty continued listening to his two guides argue, though he was not entirely sure what they were talking about. Meanwhile, the two women continued their confrontation, and after giving it some thought, he finally made his decision.

“Excuse me, but I think I will remain a mercenary for now.”

The room fell silent the moment Rusty spoke. Galiena blinked, clearly caught off guard by the immediate answer. Arlin’s expression froze as well, though only for a fraction of a second before she regained her composure.

“Are you sure? If this is about money, I am certain we could work something out. It would be a waste for someone with your talents to remain a simple mercenary.”

Arlin protested his decision, but Galiena only grinned wider at the revelation.

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“Why would he want to be a guard tied down by pesky rules? Being a mercenary is far better!”

“My apologies, Guard Commander, but as my boss said, I prefer a greater degree of freedom, and I am not interested in writing that many reports.”

“I see… Well, that is very unfortunate.”

Galiena immediately slapped Rusty on the back hard enough to make the floor creak beneath his armored feet.

“Excellent choice!”

Rusty nearly stumbled forward, though he was more concerned with keeping his helmet in place and hiding his true hallowed form.

“You really need to stop doing that… boss.”

“Hah! If that little tap affects you, then your training still is not good enough.”

Arlin pinched the bridge of her nose while watching the two of them.

“You are impossible, Galiena.”

“And yet I still won.”

“For now.”

The two women glared at each other again, though the hostility had eased somewhat. It no longer felt as if they were about to start fighting inside the office. Rusty, however, wanted to leave as quickly as possible.

“If there is nothing else, I would like to return home.”

Arlin glanced at the papers again before giving a reluctant nod.

“There is one more thing.”

Rusty paused as the Guard Commander spoke.

“The city districts have been cleared out, even the slums, but the orc movements have been erratic. We have already notified the Adventurer Guild to recruit a few capable helpers, but it would be better if your mercenaries participated in the scouting mission as well.”

“Scouting? I am not much of a scout…”

“That is fine. We just need you to defend the trackers while they investigate whether the orcs are planning something. We will be leaving in three days, so rest until then.”

Galiena crossed her arms.

“The perfect mission to test out more of my men!”

It seemed his new boss was going to agree. In three days, he would probably finish his evolution, so it did not seem like much of a problem.

“Well then, if it is in three days, I will see you then. I have a few things to take care of.”

“That is fine, Second. Have some fun, but do not drink too much!”

Galiena laughed again and smacked him on the back as he was leaving. From what he had gathered, she was much harsher on the other mercenaries, and they were starting to call her the “She Devil.” Luckily, as someone who had already proven himself, he was exempt from basic training.

Rusty left the guard headquarters shortly after the meeting concluded. Galiena remained behind, apparently still arguing with Arlin about “poaching etiquette,” whatever that meant. He did not wait to hear the outcome and instead returned to his lair to prepare for his entrance into the Soul Forge.

“Well, Gleam, I will leave everything in your hands. This should not take long.”

“( ˵•̀ ᴗ •́˵ )”

Just like many times before, he hid his body in the secret compartment and began the evolution process. His vision faded, and he found himself standing before the massive castle and the bridge leading to it.

“This does not feel as intimidating as before, now that I can access the Soul Forge, even if only occasionally.”

As he continued to grow, so did his connection to the Soul Forge space. After his last evolution, he had been given three options and had chosen to unlock the summoning chamber. If things worked the same way this time, he would likely be able to unlock either the training chamber or the library, a decision he was still uncertain about.

Without wasting any time, he hurried inside and rushed toward the door leading to the main area where his new body would be hidden. Alexander and Aburdon were there as well, but he barely spared them a glance. Instead, his attention was drawn to the suits of armor standing before him, two of which looked far more imposing than the others.

“Those two… just like before.”

As always, there were multiple choices, but he already knew he would not choose the two on the sides. His eyes were fixed on the option directly in the middle.

The first two armors resembled the lesser variants he had seen before. Their forms were similar, but the metal they were made from looked shinier and more refined. The Darkness Armor bore even more spikes than before, while the Light Armor appeared more angelic in design. More importantly, choosing either of them would instantly raise him to C rank, allowing him to skip two entire tiers through a single evolution.

“Interesting, but clearly this would give me fewer overpoints.”

Rusty had become far too experienced with how the world system worked. He understood that advancing one rank at a time was the proper path. Even if his progress was slower, by the time he reached the highest rank, his body would become the best version it could possibly be.

The name of his frame kept growing longer and longer, yet he would still be made of steel, which felt somewhat disappointing. He knew of metals such as Adamantium and Orichalcum, materials said to be among the strongest in the world, along with many others. He had hoped for a breakthrough into something more exotic, but it seemed he would have to wait until reaching C-rank.

“I’m quite used to High Steel by now, so creating more forms should not be too difficult. But first, I should probably do some research.”

Although he was curious about what his old friend had been doing and had not seen her in quite some time, studying came first. Just like before, the library had been updated with even more knowledge. He could now browse additional crafting techniques along with more advanced enchantment methods. For now, however, he decided to focus on something else, discovering skills and abilities that he might be able to develop.

“A bit late for this, isn’t it, my dear Rusty?”

As always, Aburdon occupied the library while Alexander was drawn more toward the crafting area.

“It’s never too late to learn!”

For most people, researching living armor types along with their abilities and skills would have been obvious, but Rusty was not like most people. Although his knowledge continued to grow, he still had a long way to go. His mind was still fresh, constantly absorbing new information. On top of that, he struggled to stay focused on any one task for too long.

Learning was not something he naturally enjoyed. He much preferred activities that involved honing his skills or leveling up. Even crafting interested him more than studying old parchments filled with dense theories that made his mind wander. For some reason, every book he read seemed incapable of getting straight to the point, which irritated him tremendously. Still, in this place where time flowed more slowly, he could afford to be patient.

For now, he focused not only on researching the weaknesses of his own form but also on possible ways to overcome them. Abilities such as weight control and lightning resistance were essential, but there could be others that would make him sturdier and even more powerful.

Time passed within the forge. Aburdon and Alexander continued their arguments, but once Rusty’s curiosity was satisfied, he moved on to the next stage of his plan, the summoning chamber.

“I’ve learned a lot, but before I continue, I need to finish a few other things.”

At the very least, he needed to create the two frame variants of Goliath and Wraith to match his new metallic form. However, during his research, he had also discovered various other forms he could adopt, along with additional equipment pieces he could craft and integrate. Before any of that, though, he needed to get one thing out of the way: his summoning.

“I sure hope I can access it this time around.”

With that in mind, he headed toward the summoning chamber. Moving through the forge instead of using the chambers separately still felt strange, but he quickly found his way. Soon, he looked over the mission list. Previously, Gwen had been too weak to summon him again, leaving him unable to help her continue her journey.

“It’s there!”

Luckily, that was no longer the case. When he opened the mission list, the one connected to Gwen had finally appeared. But that was not all. To his surprise, more of his old summoners were also active and accessible, including the one belonging to the dungeon he had only recently finished helping, with just one missing.