Chapter 307

Originally, this boss monster had various gimmicks.

It was equipped with the alchemical apparatus in the boss room, ready to amplify magic or summon test subjects.

But there was no time, and no reason to hold back.

We unleashed our firepower all at once, and the overwhelming onslaught made short work of the boss monster.

"Damage dealers really are the best."

I nodded in agreement as I observed the boss's emptied HP bar and its pitiful fallen form.

At that moment, Junior, standing next to me, murmured with disappointment.

"...I thought I could finally show off my skills after so long..."

She had seemingly hoped to showcase her talents against a high-level mage.

Though watching a magic duel between high-level wizards might have been interesting, I can't stress enough: we were on a time attack! There wasn't time for that!

"With the lives of the traitors... If this experiment succeeds..."

The fallen boss monster—Lab Director Dirandahi—murmured weakly.

"To present my thesis at the Magic Tower... to finally gain recognition... to synthesize a new guardian tree..."

"Just hurry up and die! We need to loot and get out of here!"

Every second was precious! Without hesitation, I delivered the finishing blow. The troll sorcerer fell lifelessly.

Ding!

The dungeon clear notification appeared, and the treasure chest inside the boss room unlocked. Without even checking the loot, I hastily stashed everything into my inventory.

'There's not much time left!'

The timer for the [Emergency Equipment Repair Quest] now read 3 minutes!

Fortunately, all the required materials were gathered. It was time to head back.

Upon clearing the dungeon, a safe zone appeared, and a familiar teleport gate activated, opening a portal.

As I was about to dash into it, Verdandi stopped me with urgency.

"Ash! There's something I must say!"

"Huh?! What?! Make it quick!"

"This dungeon! There are still monsters left and unexplored areas! Can our party explore a bit more?!"

Verdandi and the Holy Grail Seekers looked at me earnestly with their request.

You guys aren't even under my command; why ask for permission? Just go for it. Or maybe you already feel like part of my crew?

I waved my hand dismissively.

"Fine, only my party and I will return! The rest of you can help the Holy Grail Seekers explore the remaining areas! Okay?!"

Verdandi's face lit up.

"Thank you, Ash!"

"No problem! Let's go!"

I threw myself into the teleport gate. Only one minute left!

Zap-!

***

The moment I emerged from the teleport gate at the base camp, I sprinted towards Kellibey's blacksmith shop.

"Kellibey! I'm back!"

Inside the forge was complete chaos, with dark tentacles sprawling everywhere. What the hell happened to the equipment?!

As Kellibey swung his hammer to beat back the tentacles, he looked at me with a gleam in his eye.

"Did you bring all the materials?!"

"Here you go-!"

I threw him the bag of materials. Catching it effortlessly, he grinned mischievously.

"Perfect! Now, you tentacled freak, meet your doom!"

He spread out the materials I had brought, sprinkled various ingredients on his hammer, and proceeded to whack the tentacles one by one.

(A warning, perhaps: ※This is a scene of refining a weapon in a blacksmith's forge.) was probably necessary. How was this scene in any way related to equipment refining?

"Huh~?"

Evangeline, who was watching the scene from behind me, asked in a creepy voice.

"Senior. Those tentacle masses... they aren't my family's equipment, are they...?"

"No, no, no way! Why, why, why would that be the case?!"

Am I... sweating?

"Heh... Right? That wouldn't happen. Hehehe..."

Evangeline, with her large green eyes twinkling, drew her bone spear and teasingly licked the blade with her tiny tongue.

"If, just if that had happened... I might have been a bit disappointed with you, senior. Hehehe."

"Yikes!"

Thankfully, Kellibey's emergency equipment repair was effective.

Every time his hammer imbued with magical light struck, the writhing tentacles shrunk and melted back into the equipment.

As the dark tentacle energy dissipated, the beautifully refined spear and shield emerged.

What had been a faded, rusted, battle-damaged piece patched with metal plates was now returned to its original grandeur through Kellibey's craftsmanship. Its beautiful design was white with gold ornaments.

"Phew!"

Drenched in sweat, Kellibey sighed in relief as he set down his hammer, revealing the Cross family's spear and shield in pristine condition.

After removing his welding mask and peeling off his gloves, Kellibey gestured to them.

"It's done. Check it out."

Evangeline, who a moment ago had a fierce look on her face, now appeared like a child receiving a Christmas present.

Wide-eyed and slightly open-mouthed, she approached the table and gasped.

"My god."

Gently tracing her fingers over the spear and shield. 

Kellibey let out a chuckle.

"So, are you pleased?"

"If that dwarf grandfather was 50 years younger, not bald, and without a beard, I would've given him a kiss. I'm that pleased."

Kellibey furrowed his brow at me.

"...Was that an insult just now?"

"From her perspective, it seemed like a compliment."

Fortunately, it looked like Evangeline was pleased. Her eyes sparkled as she carefully equipped herself with the items.

"It's fascinating... It looks completely different, but the weight and balance feel the same!"

"Of course. Its essence remains unchanged. Everything else was upgraded."

Embedded in the spear and shield were new red and blue gems. Evangeline inspected them with curiosity.

"What are these?"

"Those were the tricky parts..."

As Kellibey sighed, the two gems emitted a magical light and...

"Whoa?!"

From each gem, a fairy with butterfly wings emerged. A startled Evangeline exclaimed,

"Could it be... elementals?"

From the cavalry spear in her right hand, a fire elemental twirled around the conical blade. From the shield in her left, an ice elemental playfully slid down the metal surface.

I blurted out in surprise.

"Elemental weapons?!"

Elemental enchantments were among the top-tier options for all equipment enhancements! In the game, they were extremely rare drops.

"Kellibey, can you really add elementals to equipment on your own?"

Such a talented blacksmith! 

As I asked in excitement, Kellibey pointed to the side.

"It wasn't me. It was Hannibal's doing."

Then, from the inner workshop, a burly boy cautiously stepped out.

It was Hannibal, the N-grade mercenary I'd hired to assist Kellibey.

"Hannibal is an elemental mage. He can communicate with elementals."

"An elemental mage? I thought that was a lost profession from the past..."

It was a profession only known in the game lore, never one to hire.

'So, he had a hidden talent, and it was elemental magic.'

Seeing everyone's surprise, Hannibal bowed deeply.

"I-I'm sorry...! I thought infusing it with a spirit might make it a better piece of equipment, so I attempted the enchantment on my own, which led to this..."

According to Hannibal's explanation:

Evangeline's equipment had such high potential that, in trying to improve it by infusing it with a spirit, the spirit went wild, leading to the black tentacle incident.

'...So those wriggling tentacles from earlier were the same spirits?'

I stared at the fire and ice spirits that Evangeline was joyfully interacting with. Hmm.

"I truly apologize. I won't overstep like this again..."

Hannibal, looking disheartened, sniffled. I crouched down in front of him and gently grabbed his shoulders.

"What are you saying, Hannibal? Thanks to you, we have this magnificent equipment."

"Y-Your Highness..."

"It's okay to fail. So keep pushing forward and never give up."

Elemental weapons are so valuable... and precious!

With you around, we can keep creating more! Never give up, pipsqueak! Uh, I mean, Hannibal!

Anyway, the finalized stats for Evangeline's personalized weapon were:

[Cross Family's Spear Revised - Ifrit Edition(SSR) Lv.75]

[Cross Family's Shield Revised - Glacier Edition(SSR) Lv.75]

The "Revised" indicated an upgrade.

When affixed to personalized weapons, it signifies the weapon is functioning at its original performance.

And the appended 'Edition' is an adjective exclusive to elemental weapons, indicating which elemental spirit is infused.

The spear was imbued with the fire spirit, Ifrit, and the shield with the ice spirit, Glacier.

"At first, the spirits might be a bit rebellious, but as you become more accustomed to them, they'll become a significant power."

As Hannibal finished speaking, Evangeline, while frolicking with the two elementals, found herself caught between the fiery and icy embraces, screaming... Grow stronger, Evangeline.

Moving on, the weapon's inherent features were:

[Crossroad]

- A trait developed from the accumulated deeds of the Cross family, known for slaying monsters and protecting people.

- Allows the user to perceive and move along the optimal path in any combat environment.

- When active, it continually consumes MP.

This near-intuitive trait, [Crossroad], originally drained Evangeline's magic power when active. 

But with the upgraded personalized equipment, it could remain constantly activated without consuming any magic power.

Now, Evangeline would never be caught off guard and would always move optimally.

Additionally, the special function [Booster] was available.

Thrust!

Evangeline lunged with her spear, and from the guard of her cavalry spear, a blaze of magical fire surged backward.

The spear, propelled at an incredible speed, suddenly came to a halt mid-air due to a counteracting blast of magical fire from the spear's tip. Evangeline exclaimed,

"Wow, what's this? Awesome! I can control the acceleration and deceleration as I wish?"

Not just the spear, but the shield too. She could accelerate or decelerate its movement by expelling a jet of magical fire in the desired direction.

And on top of that, her tremendous stats.

Until now, the most powerful equipment we acquired were known as [Nightmare Slayers].

Equipment forged from the power cores of the Nightmare Legion leaders.

Damien's [Black Queen], Junior's [Lord of Crimson], and Kuilan's [Slayer of the Full Moonlight].

The upgraded personalized equipment boasted performance on par with the Nightmare Slayers. It was essentially an end-game piece, and that said it all.

'...Though the Black Queen is somewhat non-standard.'

But that's because the user is also non-standard. Regardless, all of them were end-game gear.

"Hmm... Hmm..."

After setting down her equipment, Evangeline, deep in thought, turned to Kellibey and Hannibal and asked,

"Should I give you a kiss as a thank you?"

A flustered Hannibal quickly hid behind Kellibey, who waved his hands dismissively.

"No need, young lady. An old, bald dwarf with a beard doesn't need such gestures. If you feel like it, give your commander one."

At that, Evangeline swiftly turned to me with open arms.

"Great! I'm in the mood! Commander, come on!"

"I'll just accept the thought, just the thought..."

"You know, opportunities like this don't come often."

I'd decline even if given three chances, cheeky girl.

Evangeline playfully puckered her lips and hummed. Shaking my head to ignore her antics, I signaled to Lucas.

"Did you see that, Lucas? The power of upgraded personal gear. Next time, I'll repair your 'Bequeathed Sword', so make sure to bring it."

"..."

Lucas responded with a wry smile and then slowly nodded.

"Yes, My Lord. I'll prepare it."

"...?"

I tilted my head.

Why did he seem uneasy every time the 'Bequeathed Sword' came up?

'It's one of the most powerful pieces of equipment in this game world once upgraded.'

Did he possibly lose it or trade it for something else? Huh?