Nameless King

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

The massive flaming hammer slammed onto the red-hot piece of metal, causing a ringing sound that echoed throughout the cave. The blows were so powerful that the potions under the anvil cracked, gradually sagging a little deeper.

"Pffffff... That was hard..." Ceozi muttered as she wiped the sweat from her forehead and picked up the glowing form of the huge sword. The temperature was enormous, enough to burn her hand to the bone, but it had no effect on Ceozi. She was a Demon with the attribute of fire, so even when exposed to the sun she could endure a few seconds before burning to the ground.

"Not a bad billet, but I still need to work on turning this piece of metal into a decent weapon." Ceozi smiled slightly before tossing the sword aside. It half went into the wall as well as hundreds of other weapons.

Ceozi took a short break before she began preparing for her next weapon. The very first and most important step was finding the right materials, so Ceozi needed to look through the hundreds of different metals that she had.

Crackle. Crackle. Crackle.

Suddenly a shudder went through the whole cave as the massive door at the very beginning opened, though Ceozi did not give the order to do so.

'Hmm? What the hell is this? Has someone decided to attack me? Ceozi frowned since from last time she had greatly increased her defense, so now even the monster on the Absolute Stage was not able to break through the barrier.

'Well, whoever it is, enemy or not, this one is very strong. At least Demigod Stage, though in that case, I could give him quite a bit of trouble.' Ceozi smirked as her hands were covered in a powerful flame.

She stared intently at the doors ahead, which after a while opened, revealing two dark silhouettes. Ceozi was ready to attack at any moment, but as soon as she realized who it was her eyes went wide.

"Wain..." Ceozi muttered in disbelief, "Is it really you...?"

"Oh, Ceozi, it's been a long time, hasn't it?" Wain smiled waving his hand, "I see you've gotten a lot stronger. To reach the Absolute Stage as a blacksmith is a great achievement."

Ceozi was puzzled, slowly coming to her senses since she absolutely did not expect to see Wain and not only him today.

"Yeah... thanks, I guess." Ceozi nodded uncertainly as her gaze moved to Nicole, "Who is that? Is that your girlfriend?" Ceozi smirked.

Wain's face went pale as he began waving his hands quickly, "No, no, no, no, how could you even think of such a thing? We are no match for each other even in theory. She's a monster, one of the leaders of the territories in my Void."

Nicole stared at Wain with a strict look, as if she were displeased with something, but she did not say anything.

"Hmm...? A monster... in your Void...?" Ceozi asked as she tilted her head in confusion, "That sounds rather strange considering she is on the Demigod Stage while you are on the Absolute Stage... How is that possible?"

Ceozi was not surprised that Wain was able to reach the Absolute Stage, as for someone as capable as that was only a matter of time, however, Nicole's stage was inexplicable to her.

"Agh... Looks like I have to tell the same story again. This is beginning to get tiresome." Wain complained slightly shaking his head, "Well, in that case, listen to me carefully, I'm not going to repeat it as I've already done it too many times."

...

"Well, now I understand why you have such a creepy aura even though you're only on the Absolute Stage." Ceozi nodded with a serious look, "I won't ask you any questions, I think you've already told me everything I need to know, so... why did you come here today?"

Wain smiled slightly, "Isn't it obvious? Nicole wants a weapon for herself. She's never had a weapon before, so she thought she could buy it from a merchant, but I convinced her to order something worthwhile from a blacksmith."

Ceozi smirked, crossed her arms over her chest, and said, "Hah, as a blacksmith, I am flattered that the Nameless King himself decided to approach me. Aren't there any blacksmiths on your list of acquaintances on God Stage?"

Nicole gave Wain a questioning look since she didn't understand it either.

"Well... Maybe if I wanted to I'd have a contact for every master smith, but I haven't used their services since I got Gladius. I mean, once you get a weapon that you're willing to grow with, then everything else stops making sense. Other less meaningful things like clothes or accessories could be found quite easily." Wain waved his hand with a shrug.

"Yeah... I see your point... Fine, I'm willing to help, how can I refuse to fulfill an order, from an assistant to the Nameless King himself?" Ceozi smirked as she stared at Nicole, "Girl, do you know what kind of weapon you want?"

Nicole wondered as she touched her lips, "Hmm... Maybe a sword? Wain, what do you think?"

Wain shook his head, 'A sword is definitely not your type of weapon. You chose to say that because you were impressed by my fight with Frigus, but you could never be a master swordsman."

Nicole frowned, but she kept going over her options, "How about a spear? Or maybe a hammer would work for me? A combat glove? An axe?"

Ceozi sighed, "I see... Looks like we have a little problem. Nicole, if you don't know which weapon suits you best, we need to find out. If I create a sword and it's a real masterpiece, but you're not a sword person, it won't make any sense."

Nicole frowned as her face became sad, "Agh... I understand that, it's just that I've never had a weapon... I've always fought with my bare hands, so I'm a little puzzled..."