With the money they got from the butler, Elias and Marcus decided it was time to make a fresh start.

“Alright,” Elias said, looking at Marcus with a determined gleam in his eyes, “We’ll leave the smithy tomorrow morning to get the materials and tools. It’s time to build this place up.”

Suddenly, Elias’s wife, Sasha, walked into the workshop with Lucas and Ethan by her side.

Elias’s face softened. "Is everything alright, Sasha?"

Sasha, looking slightly nervous, replied, "I’ve decided to visit my hometown, Elias. I’ll take Lucas and Ethan with me. I was hoping to ask my family for help."

Elias smiled and pointed to the bag of gold sitting on the workbench. "You don’t need to ask for help anymore, Sasha. Look at this—see how much we’ve earned!"

Sasha, Lucas, and Ethan were stunned at the sight of the bag filled with gold coins. Sasha’s eyes widened, and she immediately turned to Elias, her voice shaky with fear. “Elias... did you borrow more money from the moneylender? We’re already drowning in debt. How are we going to repay all of this?”

Elias quickly raised his hands to calm her down. “Wait, honey. You’ve got it wrong. I didn’t borrow a single coin. We earned all this by selling Dominic’s blade.”

Sasha’s face paled as she processed what Elias had just said. Her voice was filled with shock as she cried out, “ELIAS! How could you sell it? That blade was a gift to Dominic! Go and get it back, right now! I’ll ask my family for support until we recover.”

Elias shook his head gently. "It wasn’t me. Dominic sold the blade of his own will."

Sasha turned to Dominic, her voice trembling. “Is that true, Dominic?”

Dominic nodded. “Yes, Mother. I was the one who sold the blade.”

Tears welled up in Sasha’s eyes. “But it was your most precious treasure...”

Dominic walked up to her, his voice calm and resolute. “To me, my family is the greatest treasure. I won’t let anyone or anything hurt you all.”

Overcome with emotion, Sasha fell to her knees and opened her arms. Dominic rushed into her embrace, holding her tightly. As tears streamed down her face, Sasha whispered, “I’m so proud of you... but it still breaks my heart.”

Lucas and Ethan, watching their mother and brother, couldn’t hold back their emotions any longer. They ran over and joined the hug, tears flowing down their cheeks.

Marcus, watching this touching moment, scoffed, “Lucas, Ethan, stop crying like babies. Act like men.”

Lucas shot him a glance, wiping his tears but still sobbing. “You stop crying first, you muscle head.”

Marcus, with his face streaked with tears, yelled, “Who are you calling muscle head, four-eyes?”

Ethan, frustrated, piped up, “Will you both stop fighting? We’re having a moment here!”

Elias, standing back, burst into laughter. “HAHAHAHAHA!” The sound echoed through the workshop.

Hearing the laughter, Dominic smiled. I will protect all of you, he thought. No one will hurt my family. Even if it means bringing down the entire world.

After everyone calmed down, Sasha wiped her face and stood up. “Alright, I’ll make chicken stew and roast pork for dinner tonight.”

Marcus cheered, “Woohoo!”

Lucas grinned. “I love chicken stew!”

Ethan jumped up excitedly. “I’ll help prepare the kitchen!”

Elias, “It’s been too long since we had a meal like this. Let’s fill our stomachs tonight! Come on, boys!”

Sasha, Lucas, and Ethan left to buy the ingredients for dinner, while Elias and Marcus started cleaning the workshop and smithy.

Dominic lingered for a moment, then spoke up. “Father, Marcus, can I see you for a minute upstairs?”

Elias glanced at Marcus. “What is it, son?”

Dominic hesitated but said, “I want to talk to you both about something.”

Elias, busy cleaning, replied, “Can it wait until we finish up?”

Dominic nodded. “Sure, Father.”

Once the workshop was clean and after they’d taken a much-needed bath, Elias and Marcus went up to Dominic’s room. When they entered, they found him sitting by the window, staring outside with his chin resting on his hands.

Elias broke the silence. “So, what’s on your mind, son?”

Dominic turned toward them, and said “Please, sit down, Father, Marcus.”

Once they were seated, Dominic took a deep breath. “What I’m about to tell you cannot leave this room. You must not tell anyone—not even Mom or the others.”

Elias “You’re scaring me, Dom. Just say it.”

Marcus nodded, silently urging him to speak.

Dominic looked at them both seriously. “Father, I need 1,000 gold coins.”

Elias, surprisingly calm said "OK"

Dominic stared at him in disbelief. He had expected a lot of questions, maybe even resistance.

“Don’t you want to know what the money’s for?” Dominic asked

Elias smiled warmly. “Dom, we got this money because of you. If you need it, take it. We trust you.”

Marcus nodded in agreement. “You earned it.”

Dominic was overwhelmed with gratitude. “Thank you, Father, Marcus."

Elias smiled. “There’s no need to thank us. We’re family.”

“Marcus, go get the money,” Elias said.

Marcus left and soon returned with the sack of gold. Handing it to Dominic, they both stood up.

“Alright,” Elias said, “we’ll leave you to it. If you need anything else, you know where we are.”

As they left, Dominic sat down with the sack of gold.

Now... let’s begin.

Dominic opened the system window and accessed his inventory. He took out the potions, one by one, and began drinking them. His strength and stamina stats surged with each gulp, the power coursing through his body.

I need to test this, he thought.

After telling his father he was heading out, Dominic made his way to the nearby forest. He stood before a large tree, clenching his fists.

“Alright,” he muttered, winding back his arm, “Let’s see how strong I’ve become!”

With a powerful punch, Dominic's fist smashed into the tree, leaving a gaping hole. He stared at his hand in shock for a moment, then a wide grin slowly spread across his face. He moved toward a boulder and delivered another strike. His fist left a deep imprint, but the boulder didn’t break.

“This will do for now,” he said, satisfied with his newfound strength. He returned home, just in time for dinner.

He came back to his house. By the time he arrived, it was already night, and the dinner preparations were almost done. He helped with setting up the table, and soon everyone dug into the food prepared by Sasha.

After dinner, Dominic went to his room. Later that night, after everyone had gone to bed, Dominic opened the system window once more. His eyes fell on the shop icon. Curious, he clicked on it, revealing a long list of items and materials.

He was surprised to see all the items and materials displayed. At the top, a description read: "You can purchase the items mentioned in the below list. The list will be updated with more advanced items once you start leveling up."

So, I can buy things from here… he thought.

So he started scrolling to find any items that would catch his eye.

He scrolled through the list and stopped when he saw Steel Bar 1x = 1000 copper coins. His eyes widened in surprise. “That’s only 0.1 silver coins!”

He looked at his available money—1,000 gold coins—and realized that the system had calculated the gold his father had given him.

Dominic quickly set the quantity to 10,000 steel bars, costing him just 1 gold coin. He clicked Buy and watched as one of the gold coins disappeared from table.

A message popped up on the screen: “Thank you for purchasing from the shop. The items you purchased have been added to your inventory.”

Excited, Dominic opened his inventory and saw 10,000 steel bars neatly stored.

He pulled back his shirt sleeves, eyes gleaming with excitement, and said, “Let’s do some more shopping...”

After some time passed, he said, “Alright, this should do it.” He thought to himself, Is this what they call a shopping addiction? I couldn't control myself after seeing all these items.

"I should be very careful going forward. I might spend everything here," he muttered, shaking his head.

“Let’s get some sleep. Tomorrow is a big day,” he said, pulling the blanket over himself. The moment he hit the bed, exhaustion took over, and he drifted off to sleep.

The next day, Elias and Marcus prepared early and headed out to purchase materials and tools for the smithy.

After sleeping soundly, Dominic woke up and made his way downstairs. He found Lucas and Ethan bustling around, getting ready for the day.

“What are you two up to?” Dominic asked, his curiosity piqued.

Lucas turned to him, a hint of excitement in his voice. “Today is the royal office exam day! We’re getting ready to attend the exam. Mom is coming with us, so you’ll be home alone.”

Dominic raised an eyebrow, feeling a mix of envy and pride for his brothers. “Good luck! I hope you both do well.”

Ethan nodded enthusiastically. “Thanks! We’ve been studying hard for this.”

As they finished up their preparations, Dominic couldn’t help but feel a bit lonely at the thought of being home by himself. But he knew he had plans for the day too—he had a lot to think about after yesterday’s discoveries.

Sasha approached Dominic, her hands busy adjusting her apron. “I’ve made sandwiches and heated up yesterday’s leftover pig roast and chicken stew,” she said with a warm smile. “They’re on the table. Have them when you feel hungry.”

Dominic nodded appreciatively. “Thanks, Mom. I’ll make sure to eat.”

Sasha continued, “I’ll be back by evening, so make sure you lock the doors. Your father and Marcus will be back soon.”

“Don’t worry, I will,” he assured her.

Sasha grabbed her lunch bag and waved goodbye to Dominic. “Take care, honey!” she said as she left with Lucas and Ethan. The door closed behind them with a soft thud, leaving Dominic in the cozy silence of the house. He could hear the faint sounds of the world outside—the chirping of birds and the rustle of leaves—as he made his way to the table, ready to dig into the warm meal his mother had prepared.

Dominic approached the table, his mouth watering at the sight of the food. He grabbed a plate and filled it with the leftover pig roast and chicken stew, along with a fresh sandwich made that morning.

As he took the first bite of the sandwich, he couldn’t help but smile. “This sandwich is amazing! Mom really knows how to make breakfast,” he said, then took a hearty bite of the pig roast. “Even though the pig roast and chicken stew were made yesterday, they still taste like they just came off the stove—absolutely delicious!”

He chuckled, “I think Mom should consider opening a restaurant. I’d be the first customer and the official taste tester!” He grinned to himself, relishing the warmth of the meal and the love that came with it.

Dominic finished his plate, licking his fingers in delight. He leaned back in his chair, feeling satisfied, and let out a loud, exaggerated burp. “BUUUUUURP! Excuse me!” looking at the empty plates before him, he said “I think I might have overdone it a little, but it was totally worth it!”

Dominic pushed his chair back and stood up, stretching his arms. "Alright, time to start my plan," he muttered under his breath.

“System, open inventory,” he commanded, ready for the next step in his grand scheme.

He clicked on the blueprint for the blade he had crafted and selected the "Craft" option. The system responded with a prompt: "How many blades do you want to craft?"

Dominic paused for a moment, considering his options. Although I have enough materials to make a few thousand blades, it’s better to stick to a small number for now.

“Let’s go with 10,” he decided, inputting the quantity with a firm nod. 

After entering the number and pressing "Craft" again, the system displayed a pop-up message: "Your items have been crafted. Do you want to move them to your inventory or open it now?"

Dominic pondered for a moment. Moving them to the inventory will be safe, he thought, but I want to know how the blade looks and feels.

With determination, he clicked on the option to open one of the crafted blades. Instantly, a shimmering blade materialized in front of him, glinting in the sunlight streaming through the window. He picked it up, feeling its weight in his hand, and ran his fingers along the smooth, polished surface. “This is incredible!” he exclaimed, admiring the craftsmanship.

With this, I can start my plan, thought Dominic, his eyebrows sharpening as his eyes glinted with rage. I will show you guys what happens when you touch my family, you Blackwood bastards!

--------------End of Chapter 4------------