The Ascension Age

Aire returned to the Stellar Smith 17th Branch the next day to ask Due to teach him about the materials he wanted to work on. However, as soon as he got inside, he noticed a small commotion at the counter. In any case, it wasn't his problem, so he ignored it and went to the side, trying to enter the forging area.

Unfortunately, as soon as those people saw him, they immediately gave up talking with the employee on the counter and rushed over to where he was.

"It's him. It's Aire!"

"Aire, wait! We need to talk!"

"Aire, right? Ignore these guys and follow me!"

"Fuck off! I arrived here first, so I have the right to talk to him before any of you!"

"Ha! Why would I care about that? In the end, it's up to who he wants to partner with."

Aire was quickly surrounded, not being able to even walk a single step. 'What the hell?!' Obviously, he felt overwhelmed by the sudden popularity.

It was then that Stellar Energy began to condense in the area and envelop all those students. Following that, as if they had been grabbed by invisible hands, everyone was moved further away from Aire as a man walked in as he said, "Alright, everyone. That's enough for now. Aire's a member of our 17th Branch, so I won't allow you to bother him."

"Supervisor Due!" Aire said with glee as he was happy to see the man. At the same time, he heard Stella's voice say, 'Wow! He's quite strong. Supervisor Due's already at the Stellar Core Level. Well, I guess it makes sense considering his age and the resources he's entitled to.'

Aire was taken aback to hear that. The Stellar Core Level was three entire levels above Aire's current level. Such a level was incredibly difficult to achieve. 'As expected of the Main Ascension Age School on Earth, I guess?'

Aire then put these thoughts behind before asking, "What's happening here?"

"Isn't that obvious?" Due asked in response with a smile. "I told you before that your results would be uploaded to the system sooner or later. It just so happens that a result like yours took priority, so it happened very quickly." Due laughed as he explained and then pointed at everyone, saying, "Now, all these teams are looking to have you become their personal Stellar Smith. Not bad for the most rejected and difficult side occupation, right?"

Aire bitterly smiled when out of nowhere, he had an idea. Soon after, he smiled at everyone before saying, "Everyone."

With that, all the people trying to scout him paid attention, which allowed him to continue. "I believe you're only here because you haven't checked my information."

Aire then pulled out his communicator and sent a message to everyone present. Naturally, those people didn't waste time and looked into it as he said, "As you can see, I'm part of the Crazy Bitch Altina's group. Are you sure you want me to become your personal Stellar Smith? Hahaha!"

The room went silent for a moment when soon after, everyone burst out.

"Who cares about that?!"

"It has nothing to do with your abilities."

"As long as you forge me high SMA materials, I don't mind even kneeling and kissing Altina's foot!"

"Who cares about kissing? Aire, our team can pay you quite well!"

"Besides, the news about her isn't getting as much attention as before, according to the non-official media ranking."

Aire's mouth twitched after hearing that as he thought, 'Right! I asked Stella to make Altina's news disappear little by little. A lot of time has passed since then, so the news about her should be quite sporadic and far down in the rankings. How could I forget that?!'

"Ahem! Alright, I was just joking. The fact is that I will focus mainly on my own team. At most, I can take side jobs when I have free time." Well, that was Aire's only alternative. No one would be able to blame him for focusing on his team, after all. 'Why the hell is this job so avoided while everyone wants to take advantage of it? Shouldn't it be the opposite?!'

Stella immediately answered even though he was only talking to himself, saying, 'Heavy work and definitely high Stellar Energy Aptitude. Don't forget. Not everyone has the same capability as you to achieve such amazing SMA, so they don't even try doing it.'

Aire sighed after hearing that but had to admit it was true. However, Aire didn't expect that the war over him would continue even after he said he could only take side jobs when he was free.

"I'll get it! Let's sign a contract, then!"

"Shut up! He will sign with my team!"

"To hell with all of you. My team can pay more than any of those!"

"Aire, we don't care if you only use your free time to work. We'll take everything! Sign with us!"

In the end, Aire could only look at supervisor Due by his side, his eyes obviously begging for help.

Supervisor Due, who was already expecting such a move, put a hand on his shoulder before announcing, "All of you, I want your teams to file the conditions on which you would work with Aire and send them to my 17th Branch's server. Aire will then look at each of your conditions and decide on his own which are the best offers." Of course, Due was planning to help Aire choose correctly when that time comes.

Everyone there more or less expected that to happen. Nevertheless, they had to at least try and snatch Aire first before it. Now that the supervisor of the 17th Branch stepped in, they could only follow those rules. They would have to think very well about how much they would offer and how much they wanted from Aire's time. If they asked too much or offered too little, some other team would definitely get the 'free time' mentioned by Aire, which they couldn't afford to lose.

Supervisor Due then brought Aire inside the private area of the Stellar Smiths and told him, "Alright, Aire. Just work on your training today. As I mentioned before, I'm giving you a personal teacher who will work with you alone during the time you're here."

Right after, someone patted Aire's shoulder and said, "Hey, it seems like we're together again."

Aire couldn't help but smile and respond, "Hey, Cala. It seems like you're going to be stuck with me, huh?" Because Cala was already used to Aire and had a great deal of experience, Due simply chose her again.

"Hahaha! Don't worry. Uncle Due here is paying me quite well to be your personal teacher," Cala said as she laughed. From the look of delight on her face, Due gave her quite a good deal.

Due didn't feel that happy with how Cala called him, though. "Ahem...here on the 17th Branch, I'm supervisor Due, not Uncle Due. Understood?"

Cala shrugged her shoulders, saying nonchalantly, "Fine..."

Due sighed as he looked at Aire's weird expression. "Well, as you can see, she's my niece. Anyways, she won't go easy on you just because of that, so be prepared. Also, I'll help you decide on which job to choose later on when the files arrive."

Aire nodded as he thanked Due, "Thank you, supervisor Due."

The three of them talked for a bit more before Due finally decided to leave.

Taking the opportunity, Aire looked at Cala and headed straight into the main topic. "Cala, I need to learn how to work on these items." Aire then passed her the list with the Galot Alloy, Tempered Viran Iron, and Latsil Powder. After all, that was Aire's priority.