The weapons I forge are absolutely flawless.

"The rest are just trivial matters, which I can handle. You should rest for a while, Your Highness," Schuster said, bowing.

"Rest, huh..." Edel slowly closed her eyes, as if recalling something.

After a moment of silence, she spoke softly, "How's it going with Viner?"

“He contacted me through Anna the day before yesterday, saying that it was completed. At that time, His Highness was too busy to attend to everything, so I retrieved the items for His Highness.”

With a gentle wave of his hand, Schuster caused delicate magical patterns to appear on the previously empty floor of the office.

With a soft hum, an exquisite wooden box slowly rose from the magic circle.

It was the box that Schuster had given to Wiener to hold the materials.

"Your little trick has been seen through." A smile flashed in Adele's eyes as she looked at the wooden box.

“Lisette von Cordelia is indeed a rare talent, so it’s not shameful that she saw through my disguise,” Schuster explained.

Then he waved his hand again, and the wooden box lid opened completely. Two battle axes wrapped in white silk cloth slowly rose from inside the box and hovered in mid-air.

"Two?"

“Yes, according to Navina, he made two Basara axes, but not knowing Your Highness’s preference, he simply presented both for Your Highness to choose from,” Schuster replied.

"He only accepted payment for one item, yet he handed over two. This Venere is quite interesting," Adele murmured to herself.

As she spoke, she rose gracefully, walked by instinct to one of the axes, and gently lifted the white cloth covering it with her slender fingers.

A Basara axe, with its simple and elegant design, smooth lines, and faint gleam of cold light, was displayed before Edel.

"Your Highness."

Schuster pulled a scroll from his pocket, intending to hand it to Edel.

"No need."

Adele shook her head slightly, refusing the appraisal scroll that Schuster offered, and stretched out her fair, jade-like hand to directly grasp the battle axe suspended in the air.

"call--"

With a gentle exhale, Adele flicked her wrist, and the battle axe whistled through the air.

"brush--"

With another swift swing, the axe flashed by, as if even the air itself had been torn in two.

Whether it works well or not, you'll know once you try it.

With just these two casual movements, Adele had already figured out the quality and balance of the battle axe.

"Impressive," Idel sighed softly.

With this Basara Axe, my previous weapons are completely obsolete.

This made her even more curious about the other Basara Axe.

Adele gently put down the battle axe in her hand and slowly turned to another battle axe covered with a white cloth.

Gently twist your fingers and slowly peel it off.

A cold glint, identical to the previous one, came into view.

In terms of both appearance and the aura it exudes, it is virtually identical to the previous one.

But just as Adele reached out to touch the battle axe, a subtle force surged from it, repelling her.

This unexpected turn of events surprised Adele slightly.

“Give me the Appraisal Scroll,” Adele instructed.

Schuster handed the scroll over again, and Edel tore it open without hesitation.

In an instant, the magic contained within the scroll transformed into intricate magical runes, instantly covering every inch of the surface of the Basara Axe.

As the light faded, when the final assessment result—the words "Rank A"—came into view, Adele's gaze froze.

"It's just an A-rank weapon."

She recalled Wiener's "outrageous statement" once again.

"A master-level blacksmith?"

Schuster's eyes widened as well.

Any skill, once associated with the word "master," becomes synonymous with being extraordinary and refined.

He never expected that this young man, who had just embarked on the path of a Herald, had already reached a state of perfection on another path.

“Your Highness, I retract my previous statement. This man is worth our empire’s best efforts to win over,” Schuster hurriedly advised.

“Of course I know that.” Edel reached for the Basara Axe again.

Unlike before, this time Basara's Axe did not refuse.

The emblem on Edel's chest seemed to awaken, radiating a dazzling light that resonated with the Axe of Basara, as if creating some kind of harmony.

Chapter 231 The Lion with Human Body

Dungeon Level 2, Teleportation Array Number 6

With Rikka joining them, the three of them made rapid progress on the second floor.

Most of the time, Lisette doesn't even need to lift a finger to solve the problem.

Perhaps it was a case of one gaining at the expense of the other, but the trio's luck wasn't so good this time. They had to clear out all the teleportation points before they could finally find the entrance to the third level of the dungeon.

Guarding the entrance was a creature with a human-like upper body and the agile limbs of a lion.

It's just a little bit big in size; even half of its body is more than two meters tall, making the whole thing look like a two-story-high chariot.

"Achoo!" Viner suddenly shivered, and the arrow he shot went astray.

"Is someone talking badly about me behind my back?" Wiener muttered to himself.

It's hard to say whether anyone was cursing him behind his back, but one person did curse him out in anger to his face.

"Vina! Who the hell are you shooting at?!" Felix yelled.

Who understands the feeling of being halfway through a fight with the enemy, only to have a cold arrow suddenly shot out from behind?

"Pretty much, pretty much the same," Wiener replied dismissively.

The lion-mane is most fond of beauty and is skilled at using bewitching magic to charm its enemies.

Her upper body is transformed into a face of unparalleled beauty, and each transformation is a perfect replica of the most beautiful face ever seen.

Unfortunately, it ran into its worst opponent.

The three people and one puppet on Viner's side are either immune to bewitching spells or have extremely high resistance to them.

Even Felix didn't wear the Star Necklace around his neck for nothing.

Furthermore, the main attackers showed no mercy to women, so even though the human-lion was fighting them in Felix's guise, it only resulted in a more ferocious attack.

Felix was responsible for entanglement with the opponent's body, and the two countered each other's moves, effectively blocking the opponent's main attack methods.

Rikka wielded the incredibly fierce Peerless Blade, focusing her attacks on the lower body. With just a few strikes, she shattered the magical barrier surrounding the lion-man body.

In terms of defense, Rikka's sturdiness is in no way inferior to Thief's Armor, and its destructive power is further enhanced by the Twin Blades. If Venerer is a tortoise, then Rikka is a humanoid tank.

Since Rikka joined the team, Venus has been freed from her role as a vanguard, and only needs to keep an eye on the battle and occasionally fire a few stray arrows.

With another slash from Rikka, the lion-man's body shattered with a deafening roar, leaving a horrifying, deep gash on its lower limb, revealing the bone.

"Ahhhh!"

A sharp and painful scream pierced the sky.

However, the sound did not originate from the head of the lion-man, but rather from approximately its abdomen.

"Whoosh!"

Wiener seized the opportunity and shot the lion in the abdomen with an arrow.

At that moment, it was as if some kind of power had been completely shattered, and the lion-man could no longer maintain its disguise, revealing its original ferocious and terrifying true face.

"Ow!!!"

As the disguise collapsed, the lion-man's roar completely lost its human disguise, transforming into a beastly howl.

"Found it, it's here!"

Viner's arrow, like a guide, directly marked Felix's vital points.

Then he won't be polite.

The twin swords crossed, drawing a perfect cross-shaped slash trajectory in the air. The surging sword energy, carrying destructive power, followed the trajectory of the cross and instantly struck the lion-man.

"Snapped."

With a heavy thud, the massive lion-man was finally unable to support itself and collapsed straight into a pool of blood.

“Call it over and call it a day.”

After confirming that the Sphinx was completely dead, Venere clapped his hands twice and announced.

-----------------

Although the human-lion had fallen, the aura it emitted was the strongest it had ever been, making the other magical beasts dare not approach.

Below that is the unknown third layer.

The three decided to recover their strength before entering the third level, so they set up camp near the remains of the human-lion.

"Ptooey, ptooey, this meat is so sour, it's inedible, Venus."

Felix frowned, took a bite with difficulty, and then quickly spat out the piece of meat, looking at Vina with regret.

"Okay, I see."

Upon hearing this, Wiener threw the already grilled meat skewers into the fire without hesitation.

Not all magical beasts are as tender and delicious as the chicken-snake beast; some meat is simply unsuitable for consumption.

However, no one has ever eaten the flesh of a lion with a human body before, so I tried it out.

"There's no other way but to make do with some dry rations," Vena said to Listy.

He believed Felix's tasting results.

“Hmm.” Lisette nodded and handed the water bag to Vina.

Wiener took the water bag, took a big gulp, and suddenly noticed Rikka squatting on the ground in a daze. He then asked, "By the way, how does Rikka move around?"

“It’s magic energy, of course,” Ritsuka said, swallowing a small bite of her dry food. “Ritsuka can store magic energy from the air as a power source.”

"If the concentration of magic essence is insufficient or the loss is too great, magic power can be temporarily injected to replenish it."

In the high-concentration magic environment of dungeons, there is absolutely no need to worry about the endurance of the Six Flowers.

“It has definitely made things much easier,” Wiener remarked.

“Of course.” Lisette’s lips curled up involuntarily upon hearing this. “Don’t you even know whose handiwork this is?”

"Yes, yes, yes, Lisette is the best." Vena couldn't help but chuckle, her smile full of doting affection.

He reached out and gently ruffled the top of Lisette's hair.

This scene happened to be witnessed by Rikka.

Then, with a "whoosh," he stood up from the ground and ran over to Lisette in a few steps. He and Venus stroked Lisette's little head from the left and right sides.

"...I think I know who Rikka is studying."

If Rikka's hair was being stroked by Venus, Ritsuki's face showed a hint of shyness, but when Ritsuki also placed her hand on Ritsuki's hair, her expression became more helpless.

“It’s fine, isn’t it?” Viner chuckled. “And Felix, I advise you to take your hand away.”

"Cut~"

Upon hearing this, Felix pursed his lips and wisely withdrew his hand from above Venus's head.

"What should we do after we enter the third level?" Ritsuka slowly moved her hand away and asked.

It took almost a day just to explore the second level of the dungeon, and that was with the help of the teleportation array coordinates.