Timeless Assassin Chapter 367: A Reality Check

Chapter 367: A Reality Check

(Planet Tithia, Inner Furnace District, Supre Master Blacksmith Argo’s Forge)

After his eting with the First Elder concluded, the Twelfth Elder stepped into the Inner Furnace district, which was ho to THE undisputed best blacksmiths in the universe.

He had co here to secure a small dinsional portal point that he could supply Leo with in order to complete the mission.

However, when he made the request to Master Argo through a communication crystal the previous day, the man had not taken it well and imdiately started shouting like a rabid dog.

In the end, Argo demanded that Noir visit him in person at the forge, which left Noir with no choice but to make the trip himself.

*Crackle*

Noir’s neatly pressed robes billowed faintly as heatwaves rolled over him like silent fire.

Sparks danced through the air as hamrs pounded molten tal, and apprentices scrambled to make space, bowing low the mont they recognized who had entered.

But the man at the center of it all did not bow.

He didn’t even glance up.

Until Noir cleared his throat once.

“Supre Master Argo, you called for ?” he began, as the sound of hamring ceased instantly.

The chief blacksmith raised his soot-streaked face, his expression not one of reverence—but exasperation.

“You people again?” Argo muttered, before he stood up fully, wiped his palms on a dirty rag—and without warning, bit into one of them.

*RIP*

The sharp snap of his teeth tearing fabric echoed through the smithy.

“Are you out of your damn mind, Lord Twelfth?” Argo snapped, eyes blazing as he spat the torn rag aside and stepped forward.

Noir blinked, caught off guard not by the words, but by the sheer hostility in the man’s tone.

“Like I already explained to Lord Fourth when he ca into my smithy with the sa harebrained idea as you…. what you’re asking for is not practical!” Argo barked, his voice thunderous now, startling several of the junior smiths nearby.

Noir frowned, but said nothing.

Argo didn’t wait for a reply. He bent down, picked up two random pieces of junk tal from the forge floor, and held them up.

“Let spell it out for you like you’re a first-year at the Academy of Arcanoscience,” he growled. “Teleportation has laws. Rules. Limits. The bigger the jump—the bigger the damn gate needs to be.”

He held up one finger, positioning the two objects a centiter apart.

“If I want to teleport this scrap from here to just one centiter left, I can do that. A grain-sized portal will suffice, smaller than your thumb, and it’ll work flawlessly.”

He then extended the other hand, pointing skyward.

“But now… if I want to teleport this sa chunk of trash from here to Planet Ixtal?” His gaze bored into Noir’s.

“Then the portal required would need to be the size of this entire planet, Lord Twelfth.”

He let the tal clatter to the ground.

“There’s a reason instant interplanetary travel doesn’t exist. The space between planets is too vast. No matter how many high-grade mana stones or divine energy cores you throw at , the physics just won’t bend.”

Noir’s brow twitched.

He hadn’t expected miracles, but he hadn’t expected the limit to be so… sharp.

“So what you’re saying,” he said slowly, “is that if I want a teleportation point small enough to fit in my pocket—but still capable of sending a squad in and out—then the operatives need to already be on that planet to make the jump?”

“Exactly,” Argo muttered, already massaging his forehead. “Close is an understatent, they would have to be within ten kiloters, or you make the portal point larger. Much larger.”

He sighed.

“I told the Fourth Elder the sa thing when he tried to storm the Grand Arena with five divisions using a coin-sized gate. The damn thing collapsed and lted two of my assistants’ faces off.”

Noir winced.

“And don’t get wrong, we definitely have co a long way compared to the rest of the universe in dinsional travel.

We’ve got dinsional anchors, quantum relays, and so new hybrid magic-tech platforms. But we’re still bound by the rules of space, ti, and energy.”

He paused for breath, then added coldly, “So no, Lord Twelfth, I cannot forge you a ping-pong ball that teleports troops from Tithia to Twin Fang.”

Noir looked down, his fingers tapping his wrist.

He had promised Leo a portal. Had told him the Cult would handle the rest after he dropped the portal point inside the Black Serpents Vault, but clearly, the situation was more difficult than he’d thought.

He looked back at Argo. “So then… what can we do?”

Argo blew out a breath and walked over to his bench.

“The best I can offer you is a photo-fra-sized dinsional gate,” he said. “It won’t be fancy, and it’ll take at least seven more days to calibrate, but I’ll make it portable and durable.”

Noir’s expression darkened. “And the range?”

“If I push it to the absolute edge,” Argo muttered, “it might let you link to a supply ship orbiting near Twin Fang. Sothing small. Sothing close.”

He t Noir’s eyes again.

“Which ans, your people will need to hijack a courier vessel or a low orbit skiff if you want a realistic shot at getting back. It’s doable. But the real danger… starts after the teleportation.”

Noir nodded silently.

It wasn’t the clean operation he wanted, but it was the best they could do.

“Well if that’s the best you can do, then the soldiers will have to make the rest work from their end…..Thank you, Supre Master” he said at last, as he bowed before turning away.

As he stepped out of the forge and the searing heat gave way to cold air, his frown instantly deepened.

This was supposed to be a secure and easy mission after Leo dropped off the portal point.

However, today just seed to be a day full of unnecessary headaches.

“It’s a good thing that Supre Master Argos is the most talented blacksmith we have, a pioneer in both dinsional and missile technology—because with that attitude, no one would tolerate him otherwise,” Noir muttered.

“Realistically, it’s going to be far more difficult for Skyshard to smuggle a photo fra-sized device into the vault room compared to sothing pocket-sized. But I suppose he’ll just have to step up his ga.”

He paused, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

“The sa applies to the operatives completing the heist. They’ll have to adapt quickly and manage far more variables due to the teleportation’s limited range.”

Noir let out a small sigh and shook his head.

“Well, I have done everything I could to provide them with the best resources available. The rest is in their hands now.”

Noir said at the end, as he shrugged his shoulders and began thinking about other important issues now, which was how to deal with the labour unions once he went back to Planet Vorthas.

In his mind, he was working to the edge of his abilities and doing the best he could for the Cult and its people, however, while his intention to help the Cult was indeed present, his thods to achieve desired results were most definitely questionable.