Christian accepted the surge of essence — be it in the form of the shadow attribute, lightning and fire, or even the space one drawn from the techniques he was currently training in calmly, along with the many other flows already coursing through him.
Already accustod to this routine, he quietly welcod the sharp rise in his strength.
And when he finished, Christian looked around, trying to sense if sothing was off.
Only when he was sure everything had gone smoothly did he turn his attention elsewhere.
He opened his status window.
[Idle System]
Host: Christian White
Rank: Mortal, First Stage
Level: 67 (EXP: 27,500,000 / 98,000,000)
Age: 20
Constitution: 220
Comprehension: 250
Essence: 680
Unassigned Points: 0
[Skills]
Advanced Trading Lv.2 (56%)
Passion Reader Lv.-
High School Knowledge Lv.10 (Max)
Expert Human Biology Lv.1 (0%)
Expert Hand-to-Hand Combat Lv.1 (30%)
Danger Awareness Lv.-
Breath of the Shadow Blade 4 Lv.2 (30%)
Mortal Concealnt Technique Lv.2 (60%)
Mortal Talent Detecting Technique Lv.6 (10%)
Mortal Flawless Body Lv.5 (80%)
Interdiate Combat Android Lv.9 (85%)
Mortal Essence Manipulation Lv.7 (40%)
Expert General chanic Lv.3 (20%)
Mortal Blacksmith Lv.3 (5%)
Void Art (First Chapter) Lv.8 (10%)
Mortal Harmony Physique Lv.2 (12%)
Infernal Spark Lv.6 (50%)
[Idle practicing slots: (0/6)]
Looking at his status, at his attributes specifically, and feeling his body, Christian, who sensed that the second stage was closer than ever, couldn’t help but waver.
He wondered if he should have pushed himself to break through, reaching the second stage before switching the idle slots to General chanic.
But... would that really change anything?
He thought of the Iron Fla that Anastasia had pulled out so casually.
And in the end, Christian just shook his head.
He kept staring at the status window, though.
He looked at the changes in it, from small things like his age to the more substantial ones — his attributes, his skills.
And he was satisfied with his progress.
But when it ca to facing Anastasia, it all felt useless.
The only grace was that, until this mont, his Danger Awareness skill hadn’t activated.
aning, Anastasia has not ever thought of harming him — not even after the argunt that had happened between them.
Christian, with heavy eyelids, decided to stop thinking about it for now and finally give himself the long-overdue rest.
He dismissed the status window, laid down on the bed, and curled in on himself.
No one was beside him this ti, like usual.
And in no ti, he drifted into sleep.
It was then that, beside his bed, out of the empty air — Anastasia appeared.
Had she just arrived?
Or... had she always been there?
Christian, deep in his sleep, couldn’t ask himself that question.
And Anastasia, eyes fixed on him, simply watched.
A beaming smile touched her face, quiet and unreadable, before she vanished once again.
--------
The next day arrived.
But instead of heading to the chanical workshop, Christian, accompanied by Anastasia, was inside the forging room.
The fire had already been lit.
Christian, wearing light clothes this ti instead of being topless like usual, was tending to the tal in the flas — preparing it for the next part, when he would begin forging the pieces for what would beco her android.
He was focused, working seriously.
In his mind, the paynt — the Iron Fla — was more than worth the effort.
Even so, Anastasia’s gaze kept bothering him.
It wasn’t the playful, and cheeky one, like usual.
"Why have you not built a battle forge?" she suddenly asked, genuinely curious, as her eyes scanned the setup in front of her — sothing that could barely even be called a forge.
And Christian, with patience, explained.
This forge — this one she didn’t like — was the best out there.
It truly was, as he had made many modifications to it after becoming able to hold so fire attributes within his body, and he could produce a better fla than before.
But still, it apparently couldn’t et Anastasia’s standards.
She seed ready to speak again, but then, Christian took the heated tal — glowing orange — out of the forge, placed it onto the anvil, and began hamring at it.
At that mont, she stopped paying attention to the forge entirely.
Instead, her eyes followed his movents carefully.
It was in the way he handled essence — how he wove it into the tal — that caught her attention.
Her expression changed.
The playful grumbling faded, replaced by sothing more serious.
Surprise was written across her face.
And how could it not be?
Even if Christian was handling the tal sowhat awkwardly, like an amateur, his essence manipulation was too refined to ignore.
He was only at the first stage, yet the control he showed was comparable to that of soone at the seventh stage.
Anastasia’s eyes sparkled as she quietly nodded to herself.
And then, once again, she began asking questions.
She had already figured out that Christian was self-taught as a blacksmith.
So now, she wanted to test him more — see how far his knowledge went.
Again and again, she found herself satisfied with his answers.
Because when it ca to theory, Christian seed even more advanced than his actual forging skills showed.
He just needed more practice.
Unaware that he had just earned a silent praise from her, Christian, who felt puzzled by the sudden wave of questions, glanced at her and suddenly asked:
"Are you a blacksmith?"
And Anastasia tilted her head cutely as she asked back, "Why do you think so?"
"Well... your questions are just too specific for soone who isn’t a blacksmith. I just can’t imagine anyone else knowing all that. Even if they were really strong."
That was Christian’s reply.
But there was sothing else running quietly through his mind.
If she was a blacksmith, then with her strength, she had to be an incredible one.
Which ant—
Forging the parts of her android should have been far too easy for her.
She didn’t need him to do it.
She could do better.
Reviews
All reviews (0)