#ADRIAN REYNOLDS POV#
"What exactly are you planning on doing?" Xenovia asks me as she sits next to me inside my Workshop
"I am planning on improving the wards around the estate," I answer her while looking over my notes
"Ok...?" She says a bit lost, causing me to chuckle lightly
"You remember the wards that I set up quickly over at the Abandoned Church and how I said that I would need wardstones of sufficient quality in order to make sure that we could do the raid easily," I tell her as she nods
"What I want is to...invest in the estate. Improve its defenses with wardstones in case we were to be attacked," I tell her, causing her to frown
"You think we might get attacked here?" She asks me, causing me to nod seriously
"Yes, and before I start anything, I want to ask you, Irina, and Asia something..." I stop as I try to think about how to say it
"Ask what?"
"Would...would you be okay if the wards take in energy from you...me included obviously," I ask her as she blinks several times
"Oh...like what you set up for the group inside the Abandoned Church to help power the wards," She says as I nod
"Yes, obviously, the drain won't be too much, but instead will just take a tiny amount of energy from us to help power it. Of course, we won't be powering it up all the time, but it will help fill up the Storage ward in order to power the other parts of it," I tell her
"Ok," She says, nodding, causing me to smile...
#A FEW HOURS LATER#
"Ok...I need to purchase a bit more..." I frowned while finishing the mental calculations needed for the project
"Hey," Irina comments as she sits down, finally coming out of her room
"Hey," I say after gulping down my chicken soup
"Hello everyone...so Heaven is alright with you keeping some of the Sacred Gear...orbs and are willing to...pay for the other ones," Griselda says as they all start giving me the stink eye, causing me to stare back
"What...I-no we need the money for the defenses of the estate," I say, defending myself from them as Griselda sits down to eat
"So...how much are they willing to pay for them individually?" I ask her, causing her to deadpan at me
"It would depend...thanks to the information that we got from the Fallen, we at least know which ones you guys have," She says, reaching into her pocket and bringing out a list which she passes to me
Looking it over, I am rather surprised at which ones we have available
I shrugged as I already had a Sacred Gear and took note that Irina's childhood friend had a Twice Critical with him
Irina still has the orb for it, and I am sure that she is going to be keeping it since she hasn't let it go ever since she got it
Looking over the list, none of them interests me as they are all really 'common'
The only one that catches my interest is the one called Sturdy Saint, and even then, I think that Xenovia could really put it to use since she is a full-on physical fighter and all...
My eyes widen as I reach one particular Sacred Gear
"What in the...how long were they going around taking Sacred Gears from?" I ask out loud as I read the Sacred Gear at the very bottom of the list
Blade Blacksmith
"Which one is it?" Asia asks as I show her, and she just looks at it confused before I pass it to Xenovia and Irina, who gasp as they read it
"Yeah...the church is really interested in getting their hands on it," Griselda says, rubbing her temples
"Either way, there isn't much they can say if you decide to keep that one, seeing how you have Heaven in your corner," She mentions, causing me to go quiet at that
Blade Blacksmith of all Sacred Gears...there is reason the Church had a lot of mass-produced Holy Swords back during the crusades...which is one of the reasons flaming swords are so commonly seen since the Church used to give them to every exorcist
I am not sure if I should keep this one, seeing how the church itself might give just about anything to get their hands on it
Sure...generating the swords at a fast enough pace would take a while from what I know of it...especially if they are to become permanent
A thought enters my mind before I shake my head
I already have a Sacred Gear, a rather powerful one too...but...even then I wouldn't know what to do with another one...
A plan starts to form in my mind about a deal I can make with the church
"I am willing to discuss a deal with a representative of the Church," I say, thinking about a plan to get me more resources
As I say that, Griselda lets out a sigh of relief
"I thought you would be against them selling it to them."
"Oh...I am not planning on selling it...I am planning on selling the swords to them," I tell her, causing her to sigh out loud
"Well...that's...good...I guess," She comments
"Look...I would honestly sell the Church if I could trust them. But knowing that there might be traitors inside the Church. I don't want to risk Blade Blacksmith ending up in the wrong hands. Then we might have to deal with a group of people producing Holy Swords of varying effects," I tell her, causing her to frown and mutter under her breath
Still...I can't really think of anyone who could use it...If it comes down to it, I will just see if I can contact Heaven and ask them if they could look for a suitable wielder of it
"That is...understandable," Griselda mentions before perking up as I start marking which Sacred Gears I am willing to sell to the Church and which ones I am keeping
I am keeping Sturdy Saint, Blade Blacksmith, and the Twice Critical that Irina is most likely going to keep, along with a Sacred Gear called Lightning Horn that allows one to generate and manipulate lightning.
I don't really have a need for Lightning Horn at all
Seeing how I can seemingly manipulate the Elements myself
Granted...due to the nature of my transformation, I can only call upon Holy Variants of the elements, but still...they are not something I have dug into a lot
So far, I can control Holy Water, Holy Fire, and Holy Lightning as they are the ones that I have bothered the most with
Looking back at the list, my eyes widen as I look at the sheer amount of money the Sacred Gears I am willing to sell are going to bring me
1.4 Billion Dollars
That is insane...
A smile appears on my face as I start making plans to put the money to good use on upgrading my home...