"Yeah… the Bloody Lands…" Raymond nodded with a troubled expression. "Just recently, it’s said that a number of Bloody Creatures were discovered in the Nofalark Forest."

  "Now, with Grilla City taking the lead, more than a dozen nearby cities have already sounded the alarm. If it’s confirmed that the Bloody Lands have indeed emerged… then we’re in for another brutal war."

  "Not bad news for mercenaries, though," Caius said with a smile.

  "Sure, there’s money to be made. But if we lose… mercenaries are always the first to pay the price," Raymond shrugged.

  Caius nodded, not pressing the topic further. Instead, he said, "Alright, I’ll take those missions. I was planning a trip to Nofalark Forest anyway."

  The missions included investigating and confirming the location of the Bloody Lands, and hunting Bloody Creatures. Their corpses would be purchased by the authorities at market price—no limit on quantity.

  After leaving the Iron Tavern, Caius headed straight to Oern’s Smithy.

  He planned to spend the better part of the day forging a dagger for Kiki.

  Compared to a short sword, Caius believed a dagger suited Kiki better.

  Though short swords offered slightly longer reach, that very length would hinder Kiki from fully utilizing her petite, agile frame.

  When Kiki heard Caius was going to forge her a dagger, she was thrilled and insisted on staying behind in the heat just to watch the entire forging process.

  Seeing her enthusiasm, Caius let her stay.

  It was also a chance to build some heat tolerance. Caius figured if it got too hot, she could just step outside and cool off. After all, being a coastal city, Ocean City had no shortage of sea breeze.

  Unlike longswords, daggers didn’t demand high flexibility—they needed hardness.

  The harder, the better!

  So, Caius selected a high-grade material known as Tenfold Iron—a super-hardened metal that, as the name suggests, only deforms after being forged over ten thousand times.

  His goal was to refine it into Tenfold Steel, enhancing its hardness even further.

  It was grueling work. Every single strike from Caius had to be at full strength—over thirty thousand strikes in total. Similar to refining Astralite, but the end result was even harder than Ethereal Steel, albeit less flexible.

  Soon, the rhythmic clanging of hammer on metal echoed through the smithy. It took over two hours, but at last, dripping with sweat, Caius had forged the Tenfold Steel into the shape of a blade.

  Next came quenching, tempering, fine-grinding, and sharpening. During the process, Caius also retrieved a piece of high-grade, black-and-red wood for the handle.

  From eight in the morning until one in the afternoon—five full hours.

  Fortunately, Oern’s smithy was fully equipped, allowing Caius to finish the weapon.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  The finished dagger was matte gray-black, with a textured, non-reflective surface—perfect for an assassin.

  After all, no stealth fighter would want a blade that gleamed like a mirror. That’d be suicide.

  Beneath the matte finish were layered stripes—tens of thousands—formed through repeated folding, forging, and the fusion of auxiliary metals to enhance specific properties.

  The blade was only about a finger and a half wide, with an especially sharp tip. It featured a sharpened spine, optimized for piercing.

  Caius even carved two blood grooves into it to improve both structural stability and aesthetic appeal.

  The handle had a custom finger slot for improved grip—sized perfectly for Kiki’s hands.

  He also crafted a matching sheath from the same wood—tight-fitting and seamless. When drawn, the edge could cut through a single strand of hair in the wind.

  On the blade’s spine was an engraved image of a cute little cat face, and beside it, the character “Caius”.

  Only true masters of the forge had the right to leave their names on their work.

  Caius’ craftsmanship had already earned Old Oern’s approval—he was more than qualified.

  "Here. Your personal weapon—Mewtooth." Caius handed the dagger to Kiki.

  She carefully received it with both hands, then began admiring it with sparkling eyes.

  "So comfortable to hold… meow~"

  "So sharp… meow~"

  "So pretty… meow~"

  "You like it?" Caius chuckled.

  "Like it? I love it, meow!" Kiki jumped up and down with joy, then pounced into Caius’ arms, wrapping her arms around his neck and planting a kiss on his cheek.

  "Thank you, big guy, meow!"

  Watching Kiki beam with happiness, Caius grinned and ruffled her hair.

  "Alright, let’s go find Little Swan. We’re heading to Nofalark Forest today. It'll be a good chance for you to get some real training in."

  "Okay, meow!" Kiki beamed, but then tilted her head in confusion. "But… didn’t you say we were leaving tomorrow, meow?"

  "Plans changed. The sooner, the better," Caius replied with a smile.

  In truth, it was intentional.

  Saying tomorrow would give Little Swan something to look forward to—but then showing up today? That’d make for a delightful surprise. Perfect for stirring up a little emotional chaos~

  Without wasting any time, Caius stepped out of Oern’s Smithy, bid Oern farewell, and activated his Magic Array Plate—teleporting directly to the plaza at Hydis Magic Academy.

  But Caius didn’t go looking for Hilda right away. He didn’t even know where she was—and it was class time.

  Instead, he figured it was a good chance to check in on Instructor Holan and that silly mushroom.

  He headed straight for the library.

  Inside, Instructor Holan was in the middle of a lecture—with the same group of students Caius had seen before.

  The ones who had been foolish enough to think they could go hunt Magic Beasts… until Caius had scared them straight.

  But as soon as he entered, Caius noticed something odd about the way they were all looking at him.

  Not just the students—even Holan’s gaze felt a little strange.

  For some reason, Caius felt a creeping sense of unease. "What’s going on here?" he asked.

  "Mercenary bro… you… you really beat the President yesterday?" asked Jelly, one of the students, eyes shining with admiration.

  Ah, so that was it.

  The President, meaning the student council president—Hilda.

  So the rumors had gotten around.

  Apparently, what happened at Zachary’s estate—where Caius had taken down Okot—wasn’t the only thing he’d done worth talking about.

  At Hydis Academy, anything involving Hilda was bound to be big news.

  Caius had a feeling this would come back to bite him later.

  Not that he cared.

  He simply nodded. "Mhm."

  With that confirmation, the students all exchanged shocked glances—then immediately swarmed him.

  "Mercenary bro, what rank are you?! You actually beat the President?"

  "I saw it happen! You were awesome! Honestly, I thought you were doomed!"

  "Mercenary bro, what’s your relationship with the President?!"

  As the students bombarded him with questions, Caius shot a pleading look at Holan. But the instructor merely smiled, offering no help at all.

  Caius could only raise his hands and say, "We’re just friends. As for my rank… well, as an external affiliate of the academy, that’s confidential."

  He glanced subtly at Holan as he spoke.

  Holan gave a slight nod, his expression easing.

  But Caius knew—this wasn’t the end of it.

  Sure enough, Holan soon stepped forward to rescue him: "Alright, that’s enough. Your job is to study. Stop asking so many questions."

  "Back to reviewing. I’ll speak with our mercenary guest..."

  With that, she tilted her chin toward Caius, then turned and headed toward one of the private rooms in the library.

  Caius sighed inwardly.

  Sigh… Fame sure comes with trouble. This damn charm of mine…