"Ken! I swear, I’ve never woken up feeling so refreshed in my life!"
"That's... great to hear."
Laphne greeted with her hair in a ssy bedhead and a pillow mark still visible on her cheek. anwhile, I was feeling groggy, with dark circles under my eyes.
"It’s definitely because I slept with you. It’s the Ken Feinstein effect!"
Laphne, who clearly had the best sleep she’d had in a while, was brimming with energy this morning. She had often struggled with restless nights, so I was glad she’d slept so well.
"Hey… Ken, if I sleep with you, I can rest so well..."
She gave a pleading look, her eyes filled with hope.
"Can we sleep together again tonight?"
"I’m sorry, but if we do, I might not be able to function like a normal person tomorrow."
"...Hing..."
Don’t look so disappointed, Laphne. I have to survive if you want us to sleep together again, right? If I spent another night like that, I’d probably end up bashing my own head with my work hamr due to sleep deprivation.
Oh, they’ve already arrived?
After getting washed up and finishing breakfast, I noticed a large bundle sitting outside the window. It had to be the materials I ordered yesterday.
She really managed to gather all of this in just one night…
Anette must have been pretty desperate. The bundle contained orichalcum, dragon bones, pure gold, and several large, golden spirit stones.
No wonder she said I could na any price... This package alone must have cost a fortune.
There was even more than I’d requested, likely to cover any potential failures. The risk of failure was high for , but it was even higher for Anette. She was probably hoping for a successful repair even more than I was. Of course, I had to succeed for the sake of getting the Full Moon Necklace.
"Ken… aren’t you going to leave? You’ll be late for the academy…"
Laphne’s voice broke through my concentration as she nervously watched from the side. She clearly didn’t want to go, but at the sa ti, she didn’t want to get into trouble for being late.
"I’m taking the day off from the academy."
Repairing the Thunder Spear might even take more than a day. To make sure I had enough ti, I had already arranged to skip the academy and Siegfried’s morning training for today.
"Huh? R-Really?"
Laphne, who had looked a bit disappointed earlier, brightened considerably after hearing this.
"Wow! This is the happiest I’ve been in a while! Thank you, Ken!"
She jumped up and hugged tightly, bouncing up and down in excitent. Was she really that happy? Seeing her like this made wonder if I should skip the academy more often.
Alright, let’s get started on the big stuff first.
I placed the broken Thunder Spear, Aspetra, on the workbench. Thanks to Anette’s generous supply of materials, I could afford a few mistakes. I recalled the countless repairs I’d done the previous night and started examining the spear closely.
The most important thing I’d learned was to tackle the largest broken part first, then move on to the smaller details. The most significant damage to the Thunder Spear was in its core—the central shaft. It was split clean in half.
I’ll need to replace the entire shaft first.
Luckily, the most critical part of this legendary item, the crystal embedded in the center of the blade, was still intact. The crystal, said to hold the power of thunder itself, was made from the heart of a Thunder Dragon. If it had been damaged, there would’ve been no way to repair it. But since it was fine, I could complete the repair by replacing the damaged parts.
The first step was to separate the broken shaft from the blade. While I could have attempted to nd the split shaft using so other thod, Anette had asked for a perfect restoration. The only way to achieve that was by crafting a new shaft from the sa materials.
Fortunately, the structure of the shaft was simple enough that I could replicate it with my current skill level. The only problem was...
...This rune design is insane.
The shaft was covered in a staggering number of runes, intricate and complex, like a circuit board. Just looking at the design made it clear how extraordinary this weapon was.
This is definitely going to take more than a few hours…
Recreating the runes wasn’t impossible since I only needed to copy the existing design, but it was going to require intense concentration and ti.
Alright, let’s do this!
I grabbed the dragon bone and began crafting the new shaft.
Laphne had been sitting beside for hours, silently watching as I carved the runes into the new shaft.
…It’s been five hours already.
Ken hadn’t taken his eyes off the work in front of him for even a mont. His concentration was unshakable. Laphne watched him with growing admiration.
…He’s amazing.
His serious expression, the focused glint in his eyes, the way his hands moved with such precision—it was sothing even Laphne, who knew little about crafting, could appreciate. She couldn’t take her eyes off him as he worked.
She had always enjoyed watching him make things, but today, for so reason, seeing him so absorbed in his work made her heart race. She quietly stayed by his side, assisting when needed, completely unaware of the passage of ti.
…Why didn’t I notice this about him before?
Her heart pounded as mories from the past began to surface. Laphne recalled how, a year ago, she had mocked and mistreated Ken.
"...Ugh."
Those mories were now a painful reminder of her dark past, sothing she wished she could erase. Every ti they resurfaced, she felt a wave of regret and sha wash over her. No matter how much she tried to forget, the image of Ken’s frightened face when she’d been cruel to him wouldn’t leave her mind.
Does Ken ever think about those tis?
She clutched her chest as she watched his side profile, the mories of her nightmare still fresh. It wasn’t just last night—every ti she had a nightmare, it was the sa. In her dreams, Ken was always angry with her, accusing her of her past behavior before walking out of her life. The dreams always ended with her being left alone.
...I’m so selfish.
Even though she knew it was her fault, what scared her the most was the thought of being abandoned. That was why she shalessly asked Ken to stay by her side. It was a constant source of guilt that weighed on her heart.
"...Phew! Finally finished!"
Ken wiped the sweat from his forehead, having completed the shaft’s runes.
"Hey, Laphne, could you pass the finishing materials?"
"Uh, sure…!"
"…Laphne?"
Ken, who had been lost in his work, finally looked over and saw that Laphne was crying.
"Huh? What’s wrong? Why are you crying?"
"N-No, it’s nothing. I’m sorry, Ken. Here’s the finishing material."
Is she really okay?
Although she was crying, she still responded to coherently, so I decided not to press the issue. Laphne had always been emotional, and it probably wasn’t anything serious. I shrugged it off for now.
Just one more piece to assemble!
I had no idea how long I’d been working, but by the ti I looked up, night had fallen. I had spent the entire day repairing the spear. The task that took the most ti was copying the runes onto the new shaft. I’d even ruined a few materials along the way due to mistakes, but in the end, I did it.
All that remained was replacing the cracked blade. Carefully, I began assembling the newly forged orichalcum blade, hamring the joints into place and sanding down any misaligned parts.
As I finished the last bit of polishing, a notification appeared in front of .
[System: You have successfully completed the repair of a high-rank weapon. Bonus experience granted for the new achievent.]
[System: Crafting proficiency has reached its maximum. Related skills have leveled up.]
[Crafting – Repair LV 4, Material Identification LV 2]
"I-I did it!"
The status window and the gleaming, fully restored Thunder Spear appeared before .
This is… an incredible mont!
I had worked non-stop for over ten hours, skipping als and barely taking breaks. My eyes were dry, and my hands trembled, but all the fatigue lted away in the face of the overwhelming sense of accomplishnt. This wasn’t sothing I had made from scratch, but it was still a masterpiece that I had restored with my own hands. The satisfaction alone made the effort worth it.
The Thunder Spear no longer looked like a broken relic—it was now restored to its original, godly form. Faint yellow lightning flickered along its surface, its divine power almost palpable.
"Ken! Are you crying? Are you hurt?"
"N-No, these are tears of joy."
"Oh, um… so you’re not hurt?"
Laphne looked flustered as she watched tear up over the restored spear. I wasn’t crying out of sadness—it was pure joy. But Laphne seed unsure of how to react.
"It’s okay, don’t cry, Ken."
Just like I had done for her before, Laphne hugged and gently patted my head.
"L-Laphne…? No, really, I’m not sad…"
"Really?"
She must have been trying to comfort , rembering how I’d comforted her before. Even after I explained, she didn’t let go for a while.
"If sothing really sad happens next ti, I’ll be here for you."
Her touch was gentler than usual. Was this related to her crying earlier? The warmth that started at the tip of my nose quickly spread across my face, leaving flustered.
…Huh?
As I blushed under Laphne’s embrace, another status window popped up in front of .
[System: The perfect repair of the Divine Thunder Spear Aspetra has saved its data in the category for weapons.]
Wait… It’s saved in the category? Does that an…
My thoughts raced. Could I… make it? Could I recreate a legendary weapon that had never been crafted, even in the ga?
I glanced over at the leftover materials from the Thunder Spear’s repair, generously provided by Anette.
But… I don’t have the Thunder Dragon’s heart core…
The fact that the weapon data had been saved ant that if I had the materials, I could theoretically recreate it. But the most critical component, the Thunder Dragon’s heart, was irreplaceable.
...Or is it?
A thought began to take root in my mind. It was the sa logic I used when crafting the Goddess’s Pendant.
If I could use a substitute material…
My eyes landed on the massive golden spirit stone. This stone, used as the energy source for the spear, was similar to the Thunder Dragon’s heart in that it contained pure energy. While the power output was vastly different, it was still worth a try.
It’s worth a shot.
With my mind made up, I grabbed my hamr again.
"Ken…? You’re not done?"
"Sorry, Laphne. I’m going to need to stay one more night."
"Huh? Oh… okay?"
I wanted to try making it while the feeling of the spear’s restoration was still fresh in my hands. Without looking back, I started processing the dragon bone for another shaft, while Laphne watched in confusion.
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