Hate me, Miss Witch!
Chapter 72 - 60: The Blade Forged with a Thousand Hammers and a Hundred Refinements

Chapter 72: Chapter 60: The Blade Forged with a Thousand Hammers and a Hundred Refinements

"Is this girl getting upset with herself again?"

Watching the golden-haired girl dive back into the meditation room, Shiayar couldn’t help but sigh softly.

He considered himself quite adept at understanding people’s hearts, yet Enola always proved to be his Achilles’ heel. This type of stubborn, single-minded, intuitive individual was primarily characterized by elusiveness. She was impossible to observe, impossible to predict; any attempt to understand her was bound to be wrong, any statement about her, mistaken. Indeed, she was the bane of someone rational like Shiayar. After all, rationalists need clues and logical reasoning to draw conclusions. Intuitives, on the other hand, reached conclusions simply based on ’I think so,’ with the result materializing before the process. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been caught by Enola because of Dyres time and again. Each time Enola caught him, her methods were more cunningly unexpected than Shiayar could anticipate.

"Crimson, oh Crimson, you’ve truly made impressive progress, enough to even unsettle Ennie."

"MREOW!"

In the air before Shiayar, a small, crimson, ball-like entity silently materialized.

It seemed to sense Shiayar praising it.

Shiayar perceived the joy transmitted through their Soul Pact from Crimson’s astral spirit body.

Before forging a contract with Shiayar, the little silver spirit hadn’t expected that this young master could bring about such rapid improvement.

And the greatest change was this: the corrupting presence that had invaded its astral spirit core, constantly eroding its soul’s essence and severely suppressing its growth, was now restrained.

The "Blood of Filth" had already integrated into its astral spirit body, becoming part of its very essence. It was impossible to remove completely, as doing so would severely damage the astral spirit body itself. However, Shiayar, an expert in Illusion Technique, possessed a wealth of experience dealing with the corruption of Evil Gods. He had even successfully hypnotized and suppressed beings like Silvia, who harbored the Twilight Half-Body.

Dealing with the mere remnants of Twilight pollution on Crimson was naturally child’s play for him.

Utilizing "Moon Reading," he easily lulled the Blood of Filth within the little silver spirit into an Eternal Slumber state, ensuring it no longer interfered with the little silver spirit’s growth.

Once this shackle, present since its very creation, was removed, the little silver spirit’s growth rate could only be described as progressing by leaps and bounds.

Shiayar’s gaze slowly swept over Crimson’s status panel.

[Species Name: Silver Spirit "Twilight Corrosion State"]

[Category: Abyss Species, Polluted Species]

[Attributes: Metal, Darkness, Sword]

[Stage: Growth Period]

[Soul Pact Status: 3rd Soul Pact (Master-Servant Contract: Shiayar Egutt)]

[Combat Level: 33 (3rd Order)]

[Species Rank: High-Level Sovereign (4th Order)]

[Pet Beast Skills: Blood of Filth ("Perfection"), Dark Descendant ("Perfection"), Slash (Extraordinary), Sword Bone ("Perfection"), Blood Incineration ("Perfection"), Heart of the Tyrant ("Perfection")]

After over a month of intensive training and exercise, Crimson’s status panel had undergone an earth-shattering transformation.

This was the epitome of accumulating patiently and bursting forth spectacularly.

After Shiayar exhausted his remaining Rhine gold coins to purchase a massive quantity of Metal-attribute extraordinary materials, ensuring an unrestrained supply, Crimson’s combat level broke through the Commander Rank and reached the 3rd Order in just two months.

Its growth stage had also reached the Growth Period, keeping pace with Shiny, Silver, and Shiayar’s own advancement rate.

When ordinary Pet Beasts suddenly gain such an opportunity and complete a great leap in rank, they often struggle to adapt to the sudden surge in power. Their combat skills become rusty, turning them into mere paper tigers—impressive in appearance but useless in practice.

But Crimson was different.

In its earlier, weaker days, what appeared to be thousands of futile, self-deceiving sword swings had actually allowed it to master a level of skill and power control far exceeding that of other Pet Beasts.

Even now, having advanced to the 3rd Order, its control over its power hadn’t diminished in the slightest; it still had strength to spare.

In its weakness, it had been like a crude steel embryo. Then, through constant tempering, the impurities within were gradually expunged.

After enduring a thousand hammerings and a hundred refinements, those cumulative, painstaking efforts finally bore fruit.

At this moment, it blossomed—forging a resilient and indestructible blade.

Furthermore, Crimson’s skill proficiency also made a qualitative leap.

After Shiayar exhausted every last drop of free experience accumulated from past missions in the free experience pool, every single skill in Crimson’s skill list had been elevated to the "Perfection" stage of proficiency.

The multifaceted enhancements resulting from this improved skill proficiency were far more astonishing than what was outwardly apparent.

What it had demonstrated in the previous training battle with Enola was merely the tip of the iceberg.

This nearly all-in nurturing approach made the onlooking Shiny and Silver envious beyond measure.

After all, they themselves still had a host of mediocre skills that hadn’t been upgraded, lingering at awkward stages like ’Proficient’ or ’Expert.’ Yet, who could have imagined that Crimson, who had joined the team less than two months ago, had already achieved "Perfection" in all its skills? So, were childhood friends destined to be no match for a heaven-sent newcomer?

However, Shiny and Silver were well aware that Shiayar’s favoritism was not without reason.

Many of Crimson’s skills would play a crucial role in the final scene of the Echo of History in the Ancient Dukedom Azure Garden.

"Crimson, it’s all up to you this time."

"MREEOOW~ (Leave it to me, Master!)"

The fiery red, ball-like astral spirit body quivered, and Shiayar felt the resolute will transmitted through their Soul Pact.

Having just joined the team a short time ago, it had received an unimaginable level of attention and resources. Therefore, it absolutely could not fail to live up to its Master’s expectations.

As Shiayar reached out to touch the red ball on his shoulder and was about to speak, his spiritual power subtly fluctuated.

"Flash" activated. His figure silently vanished and reappeared at the manor’s front gate.

Outside the manor, on a street in the Black Lily District, a man in a military officer’s uniform with a composed expression was slowly approaching.

"Colonel Zieg, what brings you here?"

Aware of Shiayar’s arrival, Colonel Zieg turned.

He strode toward Shiayar, a smile breaking across his usually solemn and resolute face.

"Haha."

"I’m here on behalf of the Military Department to visit and commend the great hero who recently shattered the Ashes Cult’s conspiracy and saved St. Roland Academy, am I not?"

Colonel Zieg opened his arms wide and gave Shiayar a big hug.

And just as their bodies brushed past each other, Colonel Zieg’s voice, barely audible, reached Shiayar’s ear.

"Those things you asked for—"

"His Highness had me bring them to you."