Pushing aside his sadness, Tegpus carefully examined the half-finished king-tier equipment.

"I really didn't expect that a king-tier equipment design, something that I've spent half my life pursuing, would have already been realized by Bert first."

​​

Tegpus muttered to himself, marvelling at Bert's genius.

However, after some careful observation, he pushed the prototype back to Fike.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"Although Bert's design for this king-tier piece can theoretically be forged, I'm afraid I have to inform you it won't be possible to fulfill his last wish so soon."

Looking back at the blacksmith, Fike asked.

"Why? Is there a flaw in the design?"

"No, even as a half-finished prototype, it's already close to perfection. Even if I didn't do much to it, at its current quality, it would easily be able to reach grandmaster-tier, but..."

Fike saw that Tegpus had lost himself in thought, so he suggested.

"Is there a missing piece of material?"

"That's right!"

Tegpus answered quickly.

"The missing piece cannot be found throughout the entire Lieluo Empire. Even as I've participated in many rare material auctions, I've yet to find a single trace of its existence."

Fike quickly understood what he meant.

Opening his backpack, he fished out the Era Jade.

"Master, this should be what you're referring to?"

Seeing the Era Jade glinting in Fike's hand, Tegpus' eyes widened as he snatched it.

"Little guy, where did you find this thing? Yes! Yes, yes! This is it! This is what's missing! The Era Jade!"

Watching as Tegpus fell into a frenzy over the material, Fike explained.

"By chance, I happened to enter an ancient palace. I found this Era Jade there!"

Tegpus continued to speak excitedly.

"Kid, your luck is really too good! Even such a rare thing can be obtained coincidentally by you!"

He brought it close to his face, examining thoroughly as he muttered to himself.

"This texture! This purity! This color! It's simply perfect! What a splendid material!

"With this, Bert will have died a worthy death.

"Kid, leave this matter to me!"

Tegpus took the semi-finished king-tier equipment back from Fike's hands.

Turning around, he began to study it again.

Fike was relieved to see the master blacksmith being so excited. Now that he had relayed his request, he finally looked around the interior of the workshop.

Rare materials were scattered all over the floor, and the completed equipment that had been forged by Tegpus himself hung on the walls.

A high-quality staff, indestructible breastplates, and an incomparably sharp sword...

A sword?

Fike suddenly remembered that ever since he had mastered the 32 Swords Slash, he had never wielded a suitable sword.

As such, he had never been able to realize the full potential of the technique.

Fike thickened his skin and opened his mouth.

"Master Tegpus, I have another selfish request!"

With his back still turned to him, the blacksmith said in a hoarse voice, "Speak."

"I hope you can forge a sword for me!"

Hearing that his request was related to forging another piece of equipment, Tegpus turned around and looked at Fike.

"Kid, you're not from the Melee School, right? Why do you need me to forge a sword for you? Can you even use something like that?"

Seeing that there was a chance, Fike continued to explain.

"Master, I once learned a set of formidable sword techniques. Even using a tree branch, I was able to release incomparably sharp Sword Qi.

"However, because I don't have a suitable sword, I've never experienced the full power of this technique."

After hearing this, Tegpus smiled slightly.

"Is that so? I'm a little curious now after hearing what you've said."

Tegpus continued to speak.

"I'll accept your request, but you'll have to provide the materials yourself!"

Seeing that Tegpus had agreed to his request, Fike beamed.

"Don't worry, I can give it to you now!"

Seeing his confidence, Tegpus grew somewhat curious about what kind of rare material this kid would bring out next.

His reveal of the Era Jade had already been enough to leave Tegpus stunned for decades.

Taking his sweet time, Fike eventually took out the Eye of the Demon Lord from his backpack before handing it to Tegpus.

The man examined the strange material curiously, the twisted eye still writhing in front of him.

"How can this thing still move?"

Tegpus muttered in surprise.

Soon, however, what really caught his attention was the potential of the demon's eye.

"I seem to be unable to evaluate the quality of your material by normal standards, but I can clearly tell that it would be enough to rival the master-tier, or even the king-tier.

"I didn't expect you to have so many good materials!"

As Tegpus continued inspecting the Eye of the Demon Lord, his face abruptly darkened.

Opening his mouth, he asked slowly, with clear enunciation.

"The Demon Prince-tier Exotic Beast that was discovered in Miracle Forest last month... was slain by you, right?"

Fike's palms had begun to clam up.

Seeing that the boy was not saying anything, his expression awkward, Tegpus continued.

"I don't have any intention of making things difficult for you. If you don't want to say anything about it, then forget it.

"After all, these beasts are the common enemies of both you Earthlings and us Miracle natives, isn't that right?"

Fike heaved a long sigh of relief, glad that Tegpus was so understanding.

The blacksmith went on.

"The rest of the materials used for this equipment will naturally have to be matched similarly to this eye. Only then can the final finished product's performance be maximized!"

Hearing this, Fike hurriedly piped up.

"Master, don't worry. I still have these!"

Fike procured the Demon Prince-tier Exotic Beast's tusks and blood essence from his backpack and handed them to Tegpus.

Tegpus stared at them, dumbfounded.

"Three Demon Prince-tier tusks and two bottles of its blood essence. Little man, do you know how much these materials are worth?"

Fike shook his head bashfully.

Seeing that Fike had no concept of the value of these rare materials he had so casually handed over, Tegpus continued.

"It's almost enough to buy over the entirety of Romon Restaurant!"

"What? The entire Romon Restaurant?"

After thinking for a bit, Tegpus returned one of the tusks back to Fike.

He continued.

"For a sword, two tusks and two bottles of blood essence will be enough. However, we're still lacking one material!"

Fike asked, curious.

"What material?"

"This one will be easy to find. I think I recall that the Romon auction house will be having it up for sale tonight!

"You can follow me there.

"As for the money…"

Tegpus glanced at the remaining Demon Prince-tier fang in Fike's hand and chuckled.

"If you have things like that, I bet money isn't much of a concern! Hahaha!"

Fike smiled, relieved that Tegpus was already prepared for everything.

However, as he suddenly recalled Maggie's words to him, he lamented, "But I have a class tonight!"