The settling of a human did not draw much of Zoe's attention.
He sat in front of the forge, hammering away.
As the hammering finished, a sharp, dark-red steel needle was forged into shape.
Zoe picked up the steel needle with tongs, plunged it into oil to quench it, and then skillfully polished it to a sharp point.
[Common Forging Lv. 3 (E-grade) Proficiency +3]
[Common Forging Lv. 3 (E-grade)] 347/2000
Zoe's [Common Forging] had reached Lv. 3 some time ago.
Lv. 3 [Common Forging] allowed the items he forged to match those of an excellent blacksmith with twenty years of experience.
Now that Zoe's forging technique had reached Lv. 3, he had also begun forging his own weapons.
Steel needles.
These steel needles were melted down and forged from the iron ore on the Ore Dragon, which Zoe had personally refined.
Each steel needle was the length of a human palm, sharp at both ends, with the thickest middle section being about the width of a pinky finger.
Each steel needle was kept perfectly consistent in thickness and weight.
Zoe could store the steel needles inside his body and spit them out at supersonic speeds to conduct precise physical attacks.
Among Zoe's attacks, Acid had low piercing power, and Corrosive Gas Slash had a cooldown to accumulate the corrosive gas.
This kind of piercing attack caused by sharp steel needles would be highly beneficial to Zoe.
This winter, along with the improvement in his forging technique, Zoe had also obtained his second Lv. 5 skill.
[Acid Lv. 5 (E-grade)].
Upon reaching Lv. 5, his Acid's corrosiveness was greatly enhanced.
In addition to that, the morphological changes of his Acid became much more diverse.
Zoe could now spit out two types of Acid.
One was standard Acid, and the other was an Acid into which he could infuse mana, consuming more magic power.
After infusing it with mana, Zoe could briefly manipulate the ejected Acid from a distance.
The principle behind this was using the infused mana to influence the physical shape and behavior of the Acid.
However, this process would drastically consume the mana Zoe had injected into the Acid, meaning it could not be controlled for long.
“Another skill I didn't even actively practice has broken through to Lv. 5,” Zoe grumbled.
“Why are [Devour], [Digest], and [High-speed Regeneration], which I practice all day long, still not maxed out in proficiency?”
After persisting for so long, Zoe's proficiency for both the [Devour] and [Digest] skills was approaching 3,000.
[High-speed Regeneration] was nearing 4,000.
However, the further along he got, the harder it became to level up. It felt exactly like a network drive's download progress bar.
Having entered the Month of Melting Snow, the Great Hera Forest was beginning to wake up as well.
Monsters would resume their activities, and the monster alliance made up of various monsters in Zoe's territory would also conduct military drills.
At the same time, Zoe had set up several outposts on the eastern side of his territory, stationing monsters to keep watch.
Should a large force of goblins or other monsters invade, the outposts would rapidly raise the alarm.
The goblin tribe located to the east of the Great Hera Forest remained a constant underlying threat.
The battles that had taken place before had already made Zoe mentally label the goblin tribe as a latent danger to his territory.
“I wonder if the goblins will attack this year...”
Even as Zoe lamented and dived back into endless training...
Far away at the easternmost edge of the Hera Plains, which sat at the westernmost border of the Grand Duchy of Rose—the boundary between the human and monster worlds—stood Hera City.
The city lord, Jaden Asher Jacob—also known as Sir Jaden of the Jacob family—was hosting a banquet.
The banquet was in celebration of Sir Jaden's thirtieth birthday.
As a knight knighted by the kingdom, the High Elf Evelyn—who held the profession of a Sacred Circle Knight—had her noble knight status recognized by the Grand Duchy of Rose as well.
Therefore, she had also received an invitation from Sir Jaden.
Having decided to follow Evelyn on her adventures in order to see more of the world, Lady Flora Sable had received an invitation card as well.
For Flora, banquets held among the nobility were something she was already quite accustomed to.
As the "light of tomorrow" for the Sable family, Flora did not merely leverage her swordsmanship talent to practice blindly.
Dining etiquette, social etiquette, dress etiquette, refined taste, and cultural cultivation...
Dance, poetry, music, painting...
And so on, allowing her to display her personality and charm on all sorts of occasions.
“The pearl of the Sable family truly lives up to her reputation. Your brilliance is as dazzling as a pearl,” a voice said.
The almost "exquisitely trained" propriety and charm that radiated from Flora naturally drew the attention of the banquet's host, Sir Jaden.
Sir Jaden walked over to Flora, bowed slightly, and offered his hand.
In the manner of a well-bred lady, Flora also smiled and extended her right hand.
Sir Jaden did not plant a direct kiss on the back of her hand like the greasy nobles Flora so despised; instead, displaying perfect gentlemanly grace, he hovered just above her skin in a mock kiss.
“It is my honor that you remember me, Sir Jaden,” Flora said, maintaining a humble posture.
Jaden Asher Jacob's father was the third son of Grand Duke Jacob of the Grand Duchy of Rose.
He held a nominal claim to the succession of the Grand Duchy of Rose, placing his status far above Flora's.
After all, as a woman, Flora did not possess the primary right of inheritance for the Sable family.
“My younger brother is also studying magic at the Rose Academy of Nobles. He has mentioned you to me on more than one occasion.”
“The genius flower of the Magic Swordsmen, Flora Sable. You are indeed worthy of my earnest remembrance.”
Flora took Sir Jaden's praise in stride, treating it as truth and responding with a polite, ladylike smile.
The socializing continued. As the star of the banquet, Sir Jaden naturally could not remain by the side of an unmarried woman for too long, lest scandals break out the next day.
Consequently, once the aristocratic greetings and pleasantries concluded, Jaden and Flora ended their conversation with mutual, elegant tact.
“Hey, why am I the only one doing all the socializing? We came together to gather information, yet you're just sitting here looking perfectly relaxed!”
Flora finished a warm exchange with a merchant with a smile, then made her way over to Evelyn, who was sitting in a corner.
Even at a ball, Evelyn had merely changed into a gown, while the golden mask on her face remained firmly in place.
Despite spending some time with Evelyn, Flora still had no idea what this High Elf actually looked like.
“I saw that you are very well-suited for these occasions, so I left it to you.”
“You did wonderfully, and you've been a huge help to me. Thank you.”
Evelyn's sincere praise and gratitude made Flora feel a little overwhelmed.
After all, this was the heartfelt, lie-free appreciation of a Sacred Circle Knight, unlike the hollow pleasantries shared among nobles.
“I-I didn't really do all that well... Anyway, putting that aside, have you found any suspects?”
According to Evelyn's investigation, the Headhunter Cult within Hera City was colluding with a certain powerful figure in the city.
For this reason, Evelyn and Flora had chosen to attend this banquet, hoping to ferret out the suspicious individual.
“Not yet.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“The other party is highly cautious, completely different from the members of the Headhunter Cult I've hunted down in the past.”
“Cautious yet insane—extremely dangerous.”
“He only utilizes single-line contacts, leaving behind absolutely no traces of connection to the Headhunter Cult.”
Evelyn set down her wine glass. Following the soft clink of the glass, two wine servers carrying trays approached them.
This caused Evelyn to stop speaking, and she and Flora fell silent together.
However, the wine servers did not seem to be there to refill their drinks. After bowing deeply, one of them spoke.
“Respected Sacred Circle Knight, Sir Jaden requests that you and Lady Flora join him in the side chamber. He mentions that he requires your assistance with a certain matter, Knight.”
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