Melee Mage

Cecia's mind was still a bit hazy when she left Asgard Magic Academy. Rowan hadn't advised her to hold the ritual today.

She had told Cecia to rest well and keep herself in a stable mental state for tomorrow.

Cecia muttered as she walked, looking down at the shopping list in her hand.

“Twenty grams of mercury, a bowl of clear water, five grams of sulfur, and a spiritual white candle with incense.”

Holding the shopping list, Cecia idly browsed the magic chamber of commerce, then headed home carrying a large pile of items.

Thinking she should prepare a bit more, she naturally made her way to the Black Iron and Earth Craftsmen's Guild.

Normally, one couldn't bring physical items into a Spirit Realm Excursion, but Cecia was different. She was a forger herself—wouldn't it be fine as long as the items she forged had a soul contract with her?

Whenever she thought of this, Cecia felt that choosing blacksmithing was truly a great decision.

Not having to carve a soul contract onto weapons saved her a lot of effort.

She arrived at the main entrance.

There were very few people today—only one person, Hilna.

Hilna was swinging an iron hammer over there. Usually, Raven would be around at this time, but right now he was nowhere to be seen. It seemed he had been busy with the Abyss Cult's matters these past few days.

Cecia hadn't seen him in quite a while.

“Yo, Little Cecia actually brought herself to work overtime?”

Hilna mindlessly struck the glowing red iron billet, as if forging the item in front of her took no effort at all.

“I can be serious once in a while, okay! Besides, what kind of image do you even have of me?”

“A money-grubbing little goblin.”

“...”

Alright, she couldn't refute that.

“Big Sister Hilna, what are you doing? Working overtime? That's rare.”

Cecia was a bit curious. Usually at this time, Hilna would already be downing several bottles at the Adventurers Guild's tavern.

“I'm preparing for the Forgers Guild's Rank Two exam, and I'm already stressed out of my mind. Drinking gets in the way too much. Catherine even brought up some 'slightly tipsy studying method' with me before.”

“Did it work?”

“Once it goes to my head, I can't remember a single thing about forging.”

Hilna spread her hands.

Advancing in the rank of forger required not only meeting the hard requirement of skill proficiency, but also official certification from the Forgers Guild—otherwise, the guild wouldn't give you higher-value orders.

Hearing that, Cecia also mentioned that she was about to undergo a Spirit Realm Excursion.

Hilna, who had been all smiles, instantly dropped her face.

“That fast?”

“That's how geniuses are.”

“Tch! Don't get cocky, kid. Compared to those dragonborn, imperial princes, and monsters, you're still far off.”

Hilna puffed up her cheeks angrily and ruffled Cecia's hair.

The two fooled around for a while before getting back to business.

“Are you here today to prepare equipment for the Spirit Realm Excursion?”

“Yes, to help me cast spells faster.”

“I have some leftover mithril I'm not using, take it.” Hilna scooped up a pile of shiny metal and handed it to Cecia.

“Big Sister Hilna is so nice.”

“It's no big deal. Just listen to me brag a bit more next time we drink.”

Mithril was far from cheap. It might be ordinary for someone like Hilna, who was close to advancing to a Rank Two forger, but in Cecia's eyes, it was still a rare and valuable material.

“Are you really giving it to me?”

“Of course. If you didn't want it, I wouldn't even offer.”

“I want it.” Cecia immediately hugged the mithril to her chest.

Why refuse good stuff?

“Big Sister Hilna is my real sister.”

“Cut the glib talk.”

She walked carefully up to the forge.

She intended to craft a compact and delicate cane-wand.

It didn't need to be large.

As long as it enabled quick spellcasting.

Logically speaking, the larger the magic staff, the greater the power it could unleash.

Cecia also wanted powerful magic that could hit like a nuclear bomb with a single wave of a staff.

Unfortunately, Cecia's current path was clearly better suited for a mage-assassin.

The powerful stealth effect provided by 【Shadow Moon】 combined with her extremely fast movement speed could often achieve surprising results.

Paired with a large staff, it could work too, but unfortunately, Cecia's Fireball was far from apocalyptic. If she tried to ambush people from distant grass like a sniper in her past life, Fireball's accuracy was a bit lacking.

Besides, wouldn't 【Aegis of Light】 be wasted that way?

“What do you plan to make?”

“A compact cane-wand.”

“What will you use as the main body?”

“Cold iron for the main body, and mithril to engrave the magic circuit.”

“So thrifty, you money-grubbing little goblin.”

“This is called excellent cost control.”

Hilna felt Cecia would turn into a dishonest merchant in the future.

She didn't ask further. She trusted Little Cecia's forging skills—yesterday, she seemed to have already seen her begin forging Rank One magic items.

If she didn't work hard to pass the Rank Two forger exam, she would soon be overtaken by her junior.

She had to work hard too.

So Hilna continued preparing for her exam.

Cecia heated the metal until it glowed red and hammered it continuously.

She already had a blueprint in mind:

Short, sleek, and neat, just like in a certain Potter series.

Agile, precise, and portable.

Flames surged.

Cecia held the dark hammer.

She brought it down hard.

The crisp sound echoed through the room.

Cecia had been in the guild for half a month now. For her, it was no longer like her first time, where she felt as though she were trying to restrain a wild, raging boar.

In contrast, the current Cecia was more like an elegant cowboy in a Hollywood blockbuster—a true master at wrangling cattle and lassoing horses.

Forget wild boars; even if a herd of cattle or horses came, the result would be the same.

Completely different from her previous stiffness, her skillful leverage, proper force, and clever understanding of metallic properties were already the standard of a mature forger.

An elegant, proper, and exquisitely skilled display of forging truly left one awestruck.

Cecia's staff was soon crafted.

It looked like a pair of long, 26-centimeter chopsticks, if not for the gem embedded upon it.

The restless Hilna saw that Cecia had finished and leaned in to take a look.

“Is this really a staff? How is this any different from an expandable baton?”

“There's still a difference, okay?”

“What did you enchant it with?”

“【Rapid Casting】.”

“Just this one?”

“Just this one.”

“Simple and blunt—truly your style, Little Cecia.”

Hilna rubbed her chin, studying it closely.

Unlike those round-bellied nobles who wished they could embed every gem in the world onto their staves, Cecia only used a small amount of simple sapphires.

From a distance, it looked like an iron rod.

Cecia had even reinforced it with an extra ring of metal.

“I feel like you could use it to beat someone to death.”

“I have Starhunter. If I really beat someone, I'd use that.”

“...”

“Huh?” Hilna looked at Cecia in shock. “Aren't you a mage?”

“I can be a melee mage.”

Cecia smiled.