Any decent craftsman worth their salt in the city knew of the void root. It was one of the few legendary materials that had a consistent appearance recorded over the years. Many of those craftsmen calculated that around this time it would once again appear and were making preparations to hire adventurers or delve themselves in search of the elusive treasure. Taliya herself was no exception and had already sent her own parties in search of it.

Fabio nodded with a grave expression. “I’m afraid so. Every test frame I used to contain the root wouldn’t last more than three uses before breaking. If only someone could make something strong enough to contain it.”

“I can! I can! Please let me help!” She couldn’t conceal her enthusiasm as she basically begged him to participate. If anyone who knew her saw her now, their image of a strong willed, no-nonsense woman would shatter.

“Hmm, I don't know…” Fabio said as if it were an extremely hard choice.

“Pleaaaase! I haven’t even seen a legendary material since becoming an A-Ranker! I’ll follow your lead!” She had no shame as she continued to beg, all that was left was for her to get on her knees to beg.

“I suppose you can help…” He spoke as if he were unwilling to accept her help but it was honestly a no brainer. He just couldn’t help but tease her.

Taliya pumped her fist in the air. “Yes! I have a few rare metals I collected in preparation if I ever found it. We can try them out and find out which has the best synergy with the void energy.”

She went on to list every material she had collected and possible creations they could make but realized all her plans only took into account her abilities.

“With my [Hammer of Creation] and your [Energy Gearworks] we might even be able to make a real legendary product!”

Fabio was inclined to believe her. At first, he thought it would be at most pseudo-legendary, as one legendary material would likely be insufficient to make a true legendary item, but adding her skills and precious materials it might be possible to make something more.

Her excitement was beginning to infect him as well, causing him to feel eager to get back to work. “What are we waiting for then? Let's get to it!”

“Master, who is he?” Unbeknownst to the two, the young woman had finished the chestplate and noticed her master speaking with a stranger. She found it especially odd as her master never allowed anyone, even the leaders of the Big Three, into her private forge.

Taliya completely forgot her apprentice was in the room and hoped she didn’t witness her earlier display. She straightened her back and let out a dry cough. “Ahem, I should probably introduce you two. Fabio, this is Elizabeth, Lisa for short. She is my one and only apprentice. Lisa, this is Fabio… my senior.”

Fabio looked at Elizabeth curiously. “So you took an apprentice…”

Though he had many questions, he refrained from asking them at this moment in front of her apprentice.

Elizabeth presented her hand outward in a professional manner. “Nice to meet you, would you rather Master’s Senior or Fabio?”

Her attitude was out of his expectations.

Taliya patted her apprentice's head and reassured Fabio. “She’s a tad serious, but pay it no mind. You get used to it rather fast.”

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Fabio nodded and shook Elizabeth's hand. “Just call me Fabio.”

“Understood, Fabio,” she responded plainly.

Taliya then clapped her hands. “Alright! Now that that's out of the way, let's get to work! Lisa, I’ll need your help as well.”

“Yes, Master.”

Taliya dashed from one side of the forge to the other, grabbing tools and materials while Elizabeth heated the furnace once more to prepare the melting and shaping of metals.

Fabio watched as this happened while thinking to himself, ‘Don’t you want to see the void root first before anything else?’

He could only sigh as he realized that in some ways she hadn't changed one bit. He mentally braced himself for what would most certainly be an exhausting week.

…

Later that day, inside the hideout of the Fire Whisperers, a furious voice roared through its halls.

“Worthless pieces of shit!”

Crack!

A glass table cracked from the force of the fist that slammed down on it. The fist belonged to Ryogan, a rather handsome man with flowing black hair. Even while furious, he didn’t look unsightly, but the one who stood in front of him couldn’t help but look away in fear.

“Eight! Eight of you idiots can’t steal from a damn tinkerer!”

As Taliya correctly guessed, he and his group were indeed the ones behind the thievery attempts. When his informants told him of void energy blasting out of the roof of Gearworks, he immediately coveted whatever caused it.

“I would go myself, but that bitch protected his shop! I have too many eyes on me to make a move myself. Dammit!”

Ryogan slammed the glass table once more, this time with more force, completely shattering it.

The one who stood on the other side of the now broken glass table suggested nervously, “M-maybe we should stop. We don’t want to antagonize the Hammer of Destruction.”

They both clearly knew Fabio’s store was under Taliya’s protection, but the allure of whatever created that void energy beam was too great for him. It was exactly what he needed, not to be used as a weapon, but to learn and take his magic to the next level.

“Fuck it, I’ll go myself. [Rift Walk].”

Ryogan took one step and vanished in a flash of purple light.

The next moment, outside the back of Gearworks, a purple light flickered as Ryogan appeared. He looked around in confusion.

“I swear I meant to teleport inside… Did they set up a barrier?”

While he was teleporting, he felt like he hit a wall, causing him to be expelled outside just short of his real destination. He wasn’t sure what it was exactly, but it was definitely some kind of spatial magic defense.

If he couldn’t teleport inside, that was no matter to him. After all, he wasn’t most known for his spatial magic. He reached his hand outward and was prepared to burn a hole in the wall until he felt someone approaching him extremely fast.

‘They found me already?’

He lowered his hands as he knew he wouldn’t be able to continue. Not a moment later, a voice asked from behind.

“What are you doing here, Ryogan? You know you aren’t allowed aboveground in the city.”

He turned around to face the person that interrupted him with an innocent smile. “C’mon, Grand Knight Lawrence. Can’t a man go on a walk every once in a while?”

The Grand Knight obviously didn't buy it. “I doubt you did much walking, given there is still residual spatial magic in the area.”

Ryogan scoffed. “What do you know, [Rift Walk] has ‘walk’ in the name, so I’m clearly walking. How did you find me so fast? Normally it would take you around five minutes.”

Lawrence didn’t answer as he stared the man down. “I’ll give you a chance to teleport back now. If you don’t, well, I don’t mind taking down one of the leaders of the Big Three.”

“... [Rift Walk].”

He didn’t dare stay any longer, and in a flash of purple light, he vanished once more. He reappeared back in his hideout where his lackey that was about to leave jumped in surprise.

“You’re back already! Did you get it?” the lackey asked out of curiosity.

Ryogan didn’t respond but stared daggers at the poor fool.

“Get out.”

“Y-yes!” The lackey scurried off without hesitation.

Though he was furious and he wanted to vent his anger, he wouldn’t randomly kill his own men. He wasn’t like the Rat King who killed his closest allies for even the slightest reason.

Ryogan took a seat behind the shattered glass desk and leaned his head back as he stared at the ceiling contemplatively. ‘If only Lawrence wasn’t in the capital, I could easily break in and take the void energy item before anyone else arrives. He’s simply too fast, and now that they can detect me faster than before, I have an even shorter window of time to operate in the city. I can’t keep sending my best men there either just to get captured by the guards…’

Though it seemed that his chances of obtaining the void energy were bleak, he didn’t plan to give up. He took out a communication gem and sent mana into it.

‘Time to call in a few favors.’