Bucco was getting tired. Abigail was a slaver, forcing him to hammer out order after order for her. He definitely had the strength for it, but he didn’t know why Abigail needed him for this.

“I need someone who can make things from our world without me having to explain each part. I want a better magic gun, as it takes too long for me to cast spells like Nolan. The old model is only good for one use as well.”

Bucco was never a patient one, but he found something oddly pleasing about slamming his hammer on the anvil. It felt like he was smashing his enemies’ faces over and over again. Actually, why even use an ax? It would just get stuck when it pierced someone’s skull anyway. Smashing it to bits sounds way better.

And with that, Bucco and Abigail grew close. Mico came by every now and then, bringing resources and taking the items to be sold. For some reason, Mico was really happy.

“What’s up?”

“This reminds me of the old you, happily doing what you want. I remember how you wanted to be a knight, so I was always sad when you didn’t want to go.”

“You know why I chose what I did.”

“Yeah, I do. But it hurt me to see my best friend have to make such a terrible decision. Well, at least your sister is alive.”

“No joke. But isn’t there something else you’re not saying?”

“Hehehe, good luck, Bucco! I’m rooting for you!”

And then the weasel-like guy ran off!

“What was that about?”

The pretty fire elemental walked in, her curves enticing and obvious. She looked like an adult, which was strange for a twelve-year-old. However, these two were definitely older than that.

“Uhh, nothing.”

“Hmm…”

“It’s nothing! Alright?!”

Bucco huffed and rushed back into the smelting room. Abigail’s body was entirely covered in flames, but she could adjust her heat. She didn’t follow after him but actually left to go outside. She cooled herself off and turned black, appearing almost like a normal human, if not for the many cracks like cooled off magma. She blushed, which brought flames to her cheeks and ears, but she had a small smile as she looked at the smelting room with a longing gaze. It seemed that Bucco wasn’t the only one to have a change of heart.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Several days later, two girls approached their smithy.

“I heard that some players are here. I am Tetra and this is Bailey.”

Bucco and Abigail silently stared at the two before shrugging towards each other and sitting down to hear what they had to say. After Nolan had been taken away, these two had pushed their efforts to make all sorts of amazing weapons with special effects, but they were running out of ideas. They were, however, making a lot of money.

“I am wanting a special set of daggers made. They need to also form a claw-like shape that I can wear, like gloves.”

“I need a chain whip sword something or other.”

“”Made of Orichalcum””

The two were surprisingly similar, but maybe they had worked on the unison part. Bucco had calmed down a lot, as he now had a visual goal of what he wanted. With Abigail’s help, he had eventually thrown away that old anger of his. He wasn’t some main character, he was just another spoke in the wheel.

He knew these two weren’t all that special, but they were plenty strong, just like themselves. Just as they were about to say they needed the resources, Tetra and Bailey pulled out a couple of luminescent chunks of ore.

“If you complete this for us, we will join your club next year.”

Not caring either way what they did, Abigail and Bucco began their work. As soon as the two girls left, Bucco’s and Abigail’s faces relaxed. They grinned at each other and got to work. They needed a lot more strength and fire power for this job. They couldn’t slack off.

Meanwhile, Yidris was confused. She wasn’t all that special, but she would sometimes be invited by the duo to enchant special equipment or make things a little more expensive. However, she was being slowly left behind. Even while working, the blacksmith duo trained their combat prowess.

Even Zack was coming up with new creations to terrorize his enemies. After the Principal sanctioned his experiments, for some reason, his creations had become rather…famous amongst the campus. Delicious potions aside, he still made very awkward concoctions. Some that increased the desire to reproduce, some that dissolved clothing, he had put his efforts into the most perverted of things.

But Yidris felt like she was just…there. After seeing the strong and imposing image of that mad Nolan, she would get weak in the knees and get a weird expression on her face. She had found her domineering man, but he was already with three others. Also, he was still recuperating. Not seeing the visage of her newfound crush, she was mostly depressed and wondering what she should do.

Her archery was amazing, yes, but it wasn’t going up. That was when Princess Ophia approached her.

“I need you to do something for me. I had no need of you since I was always around Emeril, but now I want you to help me. Please.”

Yidris couldn’t disobey her orders, but they both knew that the current Yidris wasn’t the same Yidris that was in love with the princess just a year ago. So, in order to not be found out by any other NPCs, Yidris would help.

“What is it, your highness?”

“I need you to go train. I need a capable archer to help when Emeril, Josine, and I go down the dungeon.”

“But the Labyrinth isn’t that hard. Didn’t you complete it already?”

“We did. That is why we are going to the Forest when he comes back.”

Yidris took a sharp breath, unsure of where this was coming from. Yes, the Forest was the next level dungeon after the Labyrinth, but it was immensely dangerous as it had far more monsters than the Labyrinth did.

And so, against her will, she got stronger the normal way. Lots of practice.

But Princess Ophia looked on with a sad smile before leaving to go hang out with Emeril. She knew what she was doing. She didn’t want to see the girl who admired her for so long be so depressed, even if she wasn’t the same as before.