Genius Mage in a Cultivation World

Neither of the two moved even for an inch. The middle-aged leader of the carpenters stood his ground and so did the senior of Irea's student.

"My, my, to think that guilds would fall so low…" Putting a vicious smile on his face, the youth dressed in clearly expensive robes looked down on the craftsman. "I didn't know you were moving out personally for some second-grade teachers and outcasts!"

Raising his hand up, the youth pointed his finger right at the middle-aged man's face. A few paces behind, Layn pushed his hand to the side, firmly holding Irea in place.

"I don't think you quite understand the situation you are in." Instead of flying into a rage, the foreman only shook his head in silent defeat. "You." He raised his head. "Are." With his calm eyes, he stared into the youth's eyes. "In." As soon as he took a step forward, the senior student backed off. "My." With the push not ceasing, the youth lost his stability and fell down on his arse. "Way." Looming over the youth, the middle-aged man seemed to gain some kind of aura that pinned the youth down.

"I…" Observing the situation with curiosity, Layn involuntarily leaned his head to the side. 'Still, that was a surprise!' Secretly expecting yet another cliche development of the young master bullying, Layn couldn't tear his eyes from the beautiful sight of his now trembling lips. "I'm sorry!" Rolling from his back to his knees, the senior student growled at the man's feet.

"Scram." Waving his hand away, the foreman quickly dispersed the entire crowd. Before Layn could even notice, even the haughty senior student managed to make his escape. "I'm sorry for the delay, let us go." Gracing the shocked duo behind with a kind smile, the foreman pushed forward, quickly followed by the rest of his group.

"Meet Daniel." Pointing her hand at the middle-aged man, Irea whispered to Layn's ear in a conspirative tone. "He is a true three stars cultivator." Her finger was slightly shaking as if the girl was scared the man would see her and feel displeased because of that.

"I might be three stars, young lady, but I'm just a carpenter." Laughing up, Daniel turned his head around, unbothered by the three huge logs he was carrying on his right shoulder. "A proper fourth stage two stars veteran could easily take care of me. I never had the talent to join the sect, so this rank holds no value to me."

Explaining his background for some weird reason, Daniel managed to astound the girl and put a cringing look on Layn's face. 'What is this, some kind of stupid exposition by a third-grade author of an online novel?' Ridiculing the situation in his thoughts, Layn shook his head to get rid of the memories of all the stories he used to read as a kid.

Back when he still had time, when he could still pursue whatever fantasy he could imagine. Back when he still didn't know how the world itself would restrict everyone in it. How the reality would push back against any attempt to change one's fate.

"Either way, that's quite a nice project you guys have." Turning his head back towards the direction he was walking for, Daniel suddenly announced. "Is this some kind of stage? Memorial?" Rubbing his chin, the middle-aged man looked up. "Or maybe some kind of shrine?"

Layn's eyebrow moved up when the craftsman hit the bullseye. While that was only to be expected given all the drawings they passed to them as there were only so many uses for such a peculiar structure. 'Yet to figure it out right on the third attempt? This guys surely know his job.'

In the end, there was one thing within the archmage's soul that refused to change over the years. Ever since he saw a random cook on the streets derive immense joy from just flipping patties of meat, Layn became aware of how worthy of respect was one's crafting skill.

Only later on did the archmage learn how big of an impact all sorts of specialties had on human development. 'Just like if there would be no mages, there would be no magic, if there would be to carpenters, then we would never move away from living in the huts made from our own shit.' This single saying that Layn liked to repeat back in the days perfectly emphasized on Layn's approach to the topic of craftsmanship.

And it didn't matter what time it was. To a huge degree, even with all the modern technology that the kingdoms obtained during the height of the technological explosion that Layn saw happen with his very own eyes… Modern humans would struggle to achieve the same feats the ancients did out of the back of their hands.

"A shrine it is." Noticing the changes on Layn's face or maybe in his aura given how his head still faced forward, Daniel muttered under his nose. Yet, before the talks could progress any further, their relatively short walk to the academy grounds have concluded.

"Halt! Stay where you are!" Noticing the huge group of burly men all equipped with the tools of their trade and stockpile of wooden palls, it was only to be expected for the guards to stop them. Thankfully, before Layn's could even think about a new fake story to convince them, Irea already rushed into action.

As the girl rushed forward, Layn quickly became a witness to the frantic movements of her hands and extremely enchanting expressions she made. 'Seeing her like that, I guess she could force them to believe we are a group of grade-schoolers on our way to a picnic…'

Despite Layn's ironic and internal remarks, Irea's actions apparently worked. Instead of receiving a throughout checkout or outright denial of entry, she somehow managed to get the entire group right to the designated construction site. 'Thinking about it,' Layn turned his eyes to Daniel. ' the looks the guards sent to this man may have something to do with how easily everything went…'

By the time the group arrived at the spot, a huge number of people already noticed them. Yet, even though Layn made no arrangement with the academy at all, no one appeared to stop their actions.

"If we just march in and do what we need to do, the academy will face a concluded event. And if we do it with confidence, no one will dare to think we are not permitted to build there!" That was the reasoning Layn used to convince Irea to the plan. And from the looks of things, it seemed to work pretty well!

Yet, the heavenly ignorance could last for long. Thankfully though, by the time a figure with any sort of authority appeared, a small, roundish shrine was already finished.

"Well, that concludes our deal. If I may ask…" Stepping away from the former construction site, Daniel smiled to Irea while reaching out with his hand.

"Sure thing." Replying with a huge smile, the girl reached out to one of her pockets before pulling five grade-one stones. "Here is the second half. It was a pleasure." Lowering her head in a clear expression of respect, Irea's eyes wandered to the silhouette of the approaching academy's official. 'I guess that's it for my teaching career…' Silently accepting her loss, Irea straightened up.

Noticing a small look of distraught on his girl's face, Layn stepped forward before surrounding her back with his arm. Unsurprisingly, Irea didn't protest, opting to rest her head on Layn's chest for a bit instead.

"Layn…" Muttering silently, the girl managed to push the archmage into action. "I know, I know…" Pulling out the finished treasure, Layn smiled. 'They finished it right in time…' Noticing the dim glow of the twig that the treasure was made off, Layn quickly stepped towards the build.

Created on a base of a simple circle, it had five curtains rolled up to the low ceiling. By lowering them down, one could easily create five separate rooms out of the already small original insides. But the place that Layn was interested in, rested right in the middle.

"And you go… here…" bringing the treasure up, Layn opened up a special hatch before inserting the energy-producing core into a special shelf. Hidden behind a cleverly roused entrance, it allowed for an equal division of the outflowing energy across the entire shrine.

"And with that, the first project is finished." Wiping the sweat out of his forehead with a swing of his arm, Layn smiled before moving outside. Because along with the silhouette of the approaching official, a storm was brewing about this insanely important place.