Elion looked over the manor’s exterior, noticing the mossy texture clinging to parts of the walls that stood out prominently.

Compared to the other estates that they had passed, this one felt less maintained. It wasn’t so bad as to say it was neglected, but he could definitely say with a bit of certainty that it was not pristine.

The grounds told the same story. They were not overgrown, but not meticulously kept either. It had character and a quiet kind of disregard for appearances.

Soon enough, they walked up to the door.

Alexander stepped forward and pressed his thumb against an oval-shaped device mounted on the wall beside it. It had a small metal grill embedded into its surface.

A sharp beep echoed the moment he made contact.

They waited, and a few seconds passed in silence before the pleasant sound of a woman’s voice crackled to life from the device.

"Welcome to the Odin Estate. How can I help you today?"

"This is Prince Alexander," he said calmly. "I’m here to commission some equipment for another one of the heroes."

There was a long moment of silence before an audibly exasperated sigh came from the woman on the other side.

"Another one? The master won’t be too happy about this, you know?"

Elion glanced at Alexander to see what he had to say, only to notice a faint grimace had formed on his face. He could only assume that this famous crafter was a somewhat difficult person.

"I am aware," the prince replied evenly. "But he should take that up with my father, not me."

They waited for another long moment with no reply before a soft click came from the door, and it promptly creaked open slowly.

"You know your way to my office," the voice said simply before fading into static.

Alexander let out a quiet breath and stepped forward through the open door.

"Come on," he said, motioning for Elion to follow as he walked inside.

Alexander led Elion through multiple hallways, and Elion quickly took note of how empty the interior looked.

Most of the furniture seemed to be covered with cloth sheets, likely to preserve them while unused. The manor didn’t feel abandoned, but it certainly didn’t feel lively either. It was almost too quiet.

Their footsteps echoed softly through the halls as they walked. After a while, they stopped before a dark oak door. Alexander knocked once before opening it without waiting for a reply, and the pair stepped inside.

It looked like a tidy office, and seated behind a desk buried behind a large stack of paperwork was an absolutely gorgeous, bespectacled young woman with long white hair, with sharp, intelligent eyes hidden slightly behind the lenses.

She looked too young for the exhausted look she currently wore.

Dark bags rested beneath her eyes, probably from lack of sleep, and her expression carried the fatigue of someone who had long since given up on proper rest.

She looked like she had seen better days. Now Elion understood why she hadn’t bothered to personally receive the prince at the door.

She was probably too tired to care about formalities anymore.

"Busy as ever, Cecil?" Alexander said lightly as he approached the desk.

The woman looked up slowly from her paperwork. A faint smile appeared on her face.

"Good to see you too, your highness."

She promptly looked toward Elion.

"I take it this is the hero?"

She gave him the same faint smile, which Elion returned quietly.

"What kind of weapon is our new hero looking for?"

"A sword and armour," Alexander replied. "Though the specifics are lost on me."

He looked toward Elion.

"One-handed longsword and some light armour," Elion chimed in.

"And I take it you want them to be legendary-grade, just like the others?"

"If you please," Alexander nodded.

That prompted a sigh from her.

"Thought so."

She adjusted her glasses slightly.

"Do you have a sample or blueprint for the type of sword and armour you want?"

"Not really," Elion replied honestly. "I prefer my swords on the thinner side. As for the armour... so long as it’s light and durable."

Well, he probably wasn’t going to wear it often anyway. He was considering selling it if he managed to take this equipment with him when the trial ended.

’It should be fine if I put it in my storage,’ He thought.

But they didn’t need to know that. In any case, he would definitely try it on, so it needed to fit his preferences at least.

Cecil pulled out a piece of parchment, dipped her quill into ink, and began writing things down.

"Any specific preference in materials?"

Elion thought for a moment.

"I heard dragonbone is light and durable," he said.

Truthfully, he had no idea if he could just ask for any material he wanted. He wasn’t knowledgeable enough about crafting for that. So he simply named the material he knew the most about.

If he had known this visit was happening sooner, he probably would’ve done some research beforehand.

He also knew about mithril, which was supposedly light and durable as well, but according to Oliver, dragonbone was much better in that regard.

Cecil nodded lightly.

"Well informed, I see. Dragonbone is indeed light and durable."

She reached into one of the piles on her desk and handed him a worn, slightly dirty parchment.

"A list of materials we currently have access to, along with their density and durability index."

She tapped the parchment lightly.

"In other words... check the numbers on dragonbone and compare them with similar materials."

Elion nodded and began reading through the list.

It was written in the format of a table, with the name of the material, a durability index, mass per unit score, and a short description pertaining to the material in question.

’How informative.’

Bronze had a durability index of fifty and a mass per unit score of one hundred and five. It was durable enough for an early alloy, but extremely heavy. Iron was stronger at sixty durability and one hundred MPU, though it rusted easily. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Steel reached eighty durability with ninety-five MPU, making it far more balanced between durability and weight. Dwarven steel improved further with eighty-five durability and ninety MPU, forged through secret dwarven techniques.

Silver had a poor durability index of forty and a high mana permeability of one hundred and five. It was soft, but excellent for magical conductivity and particularly effective against undead creatures.

Gold was even worse structurally, sitting at thirty durability and one hundred and twenty MPU. Heavy, impractical, but excellent for amplifying magic. Electrum, the gold-silver alloy, had forty-five durability and one hundred and ten MPU, making it prized for enchantments despite its mediocre strength.

Adamantine was monstrous, boasting ninety-eight durability and eighty-five MPU. Nearly indestructible, though much heavier than mithril. Orichalcum followed closely behind at ninety-two durability and eighty MPU, a legendary alloy famous for resisting corrosion.

Starsteel had ninety-five durability and seventy MPU, forged from meteoric ore and surprisingly light for its toughness.

Then came dragonbone.

Ninety durability.

Forty-five MPU.

Feather-light compared to most metals, while still incredibly durable, and capable of resonating with draconic magic.

Mithril was even more absurd. Ninety-five durability with only forty MPU, making it the ultimate lightweight metal for elite armour. Elion immediately knew it would feel too light for a sword, though it would be perfect for armour.

Runed iron had seventy durability and ninety-five MPU, strengthened through glyph infusion. Ebonsteel sat at eighty-eight durability and eighty-five MPU, a dark alloy used by shadow-smiths that literally absorbed light.

Titanium had seventy-five durability and eighty MPU while remaining both light and strong. Moonsteel had ninety durability and seventy-five MPU, forged under lunar magic and naturally resistant to magical attacks.

Bloodiron sat at sixty-five durability and ninety-five MPU. Brittle, cursed, and forged through sacrificial rites. Crystalsteel had eighty-five durability and seventy MPU, capable of refracting energy due to its quartz infusion.

Voidglass was strange... only fifty durability and sixty MPU, fragile but exceptionally light, mainly used for magical focuses. Lastly, Leviathan scale had eighty-seven durability and sixty-five MPU, flexible, wear-resistant, and lighter than normal steel.

It was quite a... sizeable list, to say the least. Elion’s brow twitched slightly when he saw gold listed as a weapon material.

’Who the fuck picks gold as material to make a weapon?’

For some reason, his mind immediately pointed toward William.

It was heavy and not even durable; the only thing it was good for was looking expensive. But then again, maybe this crafter made more than just weapons, maybe enchanted jewellery and ornaments as well?

The most obvious choices were mithril and dragonbone, but he knew he wouldn’t like it if his sword felt too light, so mithril was a no-no for weaponry. Even the sword Oliver had made for him already felt lighter than he preferred.

He could only imagine what mithril would feel like, though it would definitely be perfect for armour. After deliberating for a bit, he finally nodded.

"A dragonbone sword and mithril armour," he said. "Is that alright?"

"Good choices," Cecil said with a small smile.

Then she added lightly,

"If the battlefield ever starts feeling dull, you’re welcome to join the world of crafters."

"...Huh?"

Elion blinked.

Alexander leaned slightly toward him and whispered,

"That’s a compliment. She means you have a good eye."

Elion immediately felt like smacking the prince on the head with his fist.