In the morning, Sophie and Eilis had a massive argument.
Recently, Sophie’s expenses for forging weapons had become far too extravagant. She had squandered no less than 700 gold coins and used up a vast amount of her master’s high-quality iron ore. The only success she had to show for it was the **[Radiant Valkyrie Kilij]**. Consequently, she was flat broke again.
The white-haired witch had endured it for a long time before finally speaking up. “Sophie, what is wrong with you? We can’t afford this kind of reckless spending. I’ve gone out and sold no less than 200 magic crystals. I need to remind you today that your behavior over the past six months has been truly wasteful.”
She sounded like a frustrated wife complaining about a deadbeat, spendthrift husband.
The capable wife, Eilis, and the incompetent husband, Sophie. Right?
“Eilis… you know… I want to forge a katana. Truly… please trust me one last time. I… I need a little more money…”
Sophie, now on her knees, had already begun a full prostration.
Sitting directly in front of her, Eilis maintained a nonchalant expression, acting as if it had nothing to do with her. She even crossed her beautiful legs in boredom, her toes—covered in white silk stockings—dangling a cat-themed slipper.
After all, Eilis held the family’s purse strings firmly. Before she had accused Sophie of being a spendthrift, they had indeed fought quite fiercely. At first, Sophie was a bit heated, but once she realized she was in the wrong, she quickly pivoted to a humble prostration.
At this moment, Mistress Eilis had no intention of letting Sophie off the hook easily. Her toes tapped the floor lightly, as if keeping a beat.
Suddenly, a wicked idea began to sprout in her mind.
“Sophie, I’m in a bad mood today. Crawl over here. As punishment, let me step on you~” Eilis leaned in a bit closer to Sophie, whispering hot breath against the girl’s earlobe.
“?!”
Sophie was stunned at first, but then her face dropped. Eilis couldn’t see her expression, but the person currently prostrating complied immediately.
“Sophie, there are some things you might not understand—like who exactly is earning all this money.” Eilis lifted her small, slender legs, encased in white silk tights, and rested them on Sophie’s back.
“?!!”
“As friends and childhood companions, we should be more honest with each other, shouldn’t we? Isn’t that right, my little stool? Oh, I forgot. Stools can’t talk.” Eilis used her toes to intentionally stroke Sophie’s back through the white silk.
“Hehehe…” The “Lady Stool” hummed. Her heart was racing, and her breathing became heavy and slightly labored. A deep crimson flush spread across her face, burning from her ears down to her neck.
Seeing that Sophie actually wasn’t resisting, Eilis’s temperament shifted even further today. Another idea surfaced. Perhaps she had been teased by Sophie too many times in the past, and her suppressed desire for revenge was finally bubbling over.
“Miss Stool, let me give you your deserved reward. Come here and help me take off my slippers.” Eilis laughed playfully, lifting her shapely, ivory-white feet toward Sophie’s face.
“So, do you know what a noble’s kiss is?” Eilis asked with a smirk.
“?!!!”
The “Lady Stool” said nothing, and Eilis still couldn’t see her face. However, Sophie quickly grabbed Eilis’s ankles, removed the slippers, and suddenly pressed a fervent kiss against her silk-covered feet.
“Huh?! You… you idiot! You actually did it!” Eilis was truly a glass cannon; she had high offensive power but zero defense. She was the one who was instantly stunned, her head practically steaming with embarrassment.
“Cough! Ah! Pervert! You green-eyed freak!” Eilis immediately pulled her legs back and delivered a kick straight to Sophie’s face.
Collapsing to the ground, Sophie was finally no longer a piece of furniture. She let out a *slurp*, licked her own cheek, and said, “Thank you for the treat~”
Unable to watch any longer, Angelica shyly covered her eyes with her small dragon claws. She spoke through a mental link: ‘Lady Eilis, please just forgive Lady Sophie. If we are truly short on money, you can take my dragon scales to town to sell. They should fetch a high price in Hollywood…’
Angelica was truly an angel; it was enough to make one cry. To be honest, no matter how broke they were, Eilis would never easily pluck her scales.
On second thought, could she trick Angelica into giving up a scale? It didn’t seem impossible…
Eilis suddenly shook her head like a rattle, trying to dismiss the thought. The two beside her had no idea she was having a mental brainstorm.
‘Right! I need to stay calm. I can’t let that green-eyed freak influence me. I must maintain my image as the head of the household!’
“This is the last time. Make the most of this opportunity. Don’t expect any more money for forging next time—you little fry, Sister Sophie~” Eilis spoke half an octave higher than usual as she pulled a large bag of gold coins from the cabinet behind her.
Although Eilis’s tone was flat, there was an almost imperceptible hint of a giggle at the end of her sentence. The white-haired witch was becoming more of a rascal by the day.
—
“Too slow. I’ve already finished my wine and had a nap. It’s just a bit of snow; are the roads really that hard to walk?” A dwarf reeking of alcohol began his usual sarcasm the moment they met.
The next day, after traveling nearly 30 kilometers to reach Sunderland Town, an exhausted Sophie felt an urge to let out her long-suppressed anger.
Enduring for a moment might bring peace, but the more she thought about it, the angrier she got!
“Master! I’m a girl! Is this how you treat a lady? Are you some kind of heartless iron-head who doesn’t know how to treat a woman?!” Sophie shouted in frustration, though she was actually being quite polite given the circumstances.
“Sorry, kid. In my dictionary of combat, there is no gender. I only recognize the strong,” Black said, rubbing his nose with the back of his hand.
Great. He really was a heartless iron-head.
“In our Second Continent, Tissomde, the strongest alliance is between the elves and the dwarves. Aside from my dwarven brothers, the person I respect most is that Elven Valkyrie.”
Black’s words revealed some information about the Second Continent. Sophie was somewhat curious about the strength of this Valkyrie.
Black added, “Let’s put it this way: Fiona Cox-Aelim is truly worthy of the title of the world’s strongest Sword Saint. Right now, she could beat my giant axe using nothing but a long wooden stick.”
“Wait, seriously? Under normal circumstances, a wooden stick couldn’t possibly parry a power-type weapon like a giant axe. Wouldn’t it just shatter on impact?” Sophie found it hard to believe and remained skeptical.
“A true master of the sword doesn’t care what weapon is in their hand. They are experts at the pinnacle of technique. Hmph, kid, you still have a lot to learn.”
“I think if I teach you for another six months, there won’t be much left for you to learn from me regarding combat.” Black already had the answer in his heart.
“Since you are the descendant of Lady Felicitala, the leader of the resistance and I will write a letter of introduction for you. How about you apprentice under Fiona after this? If you refuse this chance, it will be very difficult for you to improve your swordsmanship any further.”
The dwarven master offered the suggestion sincerely. After hammering Sophie for a while, his attitude had softened, and he wasn’t as harsh as he was at the beginning.
Sophie was incredibly diligent in her combat training, and her various techniques were constantly improving. Her previously criticized habit of being reckless and brainless had also seen significant improvement.
Regarding the matter of going to the Second Continent to apprentice and study swordsmanship, Sophie had indeed agreed to Black’s proposal, but she hadn’t told Eilis yet…
Finally, the dwarven master formally began teaching her his forging and smelting techniques. These were the secret skills of the dwarves. If Rachel hadn’t repeatedly persuaded Black—and paid him a substantial fee—he likely wouldn’t be teaching his best trade secrets now.
To put it plainly, dwarves were greedy! He had pocketed the money Sophie gave him without even blinking.
That was right! This guy only came from the Second Continent to be a mercenary because he valued money. All that talk about his friendship with Aunt Rachel was just nonsense.
Sigh, since it had come to this, the money was spent, the hardship was endured, and she owed Aunt Rachel a favor. She might as well settle down and learn this well.
—
Today, under Black’s watchful eye, Sophie pushed two pieces of highest-grade, blue-quality **[Meteoric Iron Ore]** into the furnace. The flames dancing inside weren’t ordinary charcoal fires; it was “Flame Crystal Fire,” produced by burning a mixture of sulfur, lime, and flame crystal birch. It could reach temperatures of over 1,000 degrees, making it easy to melt and cast refined steel.
Sophie had been studying forging in Sunderland Town for over six months, yet she had faced failure after failure in her quest to create a weapon she was satisfied with.
Truthfully, there was so much to learn in the field of metallurgy. After six months, she was only just starting to get a feel for it.
Before, all sorts of mistakes had occurred: failing to strike the blade with even force, causing it to snap; failing to quench it in time, causing the purity of the steel to plummet; or over-adjusting a single spot and ruining one of her master’s best pieces of top-tier meteoric iron…
Sophie shook her head vigorously. There could be no mistakes today! She wanted to focus her mind completely on the work ahead.
Once the blade made of meteoric iron was heated until it glowed a brilliant, searing orange-red, Sophie used chained iron tongs to pull it out. Then, on the anvil, she began the most heart-pounding moment of the day.
“Eighty! Eighty! Miracles through sheer force!”
…
Finally reaching the third round of forging, fine patterns began to appear on the blade. This wasn’t the reflection of ordinary iron; it was a beautiful luster that almost met the standards of modern refined steel.
Good. Sophie quickly submerged it into a stone trough filled with special cooling water. With a loud *hiss*, a massive cloud of white steam rose, carrying the pungent scent of cooling metal. The weapon was actually finished!
“Kid, I don’t know what you were making. But this weapon doesn’t fit the style of a knight’s sword, a claymore, or a Viking sword. Creating a weapon of this quality—one I’ve never seen before—is truly an eye-opener.”
Black gave a very fair assessment. Then, the two of them looked at the katana together.
**[Dusk Frost]**
**Item Grade: Highest Grade Purple Katana**
**Effect: Increases Strength by 180%, Agility +135, Sword Skill bonus 150%, and provides a 25% Magic Power boost for Magic Swordsmen.**
The patterns revealed by the katana in the sunlight were sharp and intricate, looking as beautiful as the frost patterns that form on a frozen lake in midwinter.
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