My Blacksmith System: Transforming my Weapons into Beautiful Maidens
Chapter 49: Stefen

Chapter 49: Stefen

(Rizwon Town, Vergino Kingdom.

The pub was lively with people drinking and gossiping with one another.

Beautiful waitresses served customers, and the bartender stood behind the counter, mixing up drinks for the people.

This was a well-known pub in the town of Rizwon, said to be the only place the Count’s son would come to have a few drinks.

Since they sold high-quality drinks, most of the people in Rizwon would come there daily just to have a taste of it.

It was like they were obsessed.

The owner of the establishment was the bartender himself, Stefen Lukemon, a man who looked to be in his 20s, having brown hair with eyes that were often called shut.

People loved him due to his kind nature and popular establishment.

Bang!

The door to the pub house opened.

A woman dressed in a black dress with a black umbrella over her head walked in calmly, with another man following right behind her.

She was none other than the Sixth Pillar, Echidna, and the man following behind her was Rouga.

Walking through the path before her, the people watched with amazement.

"Wow, she’s beautiful."

"Damn, she has such an attractive body. I can’t tell if she’s a child or an adult."

"Shush, she can hear you."

Yes, she could, but Echidna was used to hearing such compliments anytime she showed her face in public.

Normally, the Pillars were meant to always remain hidden until the countdown began, but there were special situations that called for a change in rules.

Arriving in front of the counter, Echidna settled on the chair while Rouga stood behind her.

He had a face that proved he’d rather be anywhere but with Echidna.

"Give me a beer," Echidna requested.

Stefen stood in front of her, placing the glass cup on the table as he poured the booze inside for her to drink.

"Thank you," Echidna uttered before gulping down the entire cup.

"Don’t ask me such a stupid question. You already know why I am here," she suddenly spoke.

Stefen replied, "I just wanted to be sure, Milady. You seem rather pissed off this evening. Did something happen?"

"You can say something like that. Another..." Echidna pushed the cup closer to the bartender.

’Uhn? Am I the only one questioning how she knew he was going to ask her that?’ Rouga thought to himself as he stood there.

Echidna gulped down the remaining booze in the cup.

"I don’t think you should drink so much. We still have somewhere to go tonight," Rouga whispered.

"Don’t come close to me," Echidna said, giving Rouga a nasty look. "I can’t get drunk no matter how much I drink. So shut up and let me do the talking."

Rouga instantly wished he could disappear. Getting embarrassed in front of a human bartender was nothing short of death.

Looking away, Echidna asked the bartender, "Are you not going to help me? Or are you only allowed to answer when your master gives you permission?"

"My master has told me to help you in any way I can. I just never expected the Sixth of the Great Pillars to need the help of a simple Hakia bartender such as myself," Stefen replied.

Echidna knew Stefen was a Hakia under the command of the Fifth, though she never understood why he allowed his slave to open a bar in the city in the midst of so many humans.

Echidna sighed. "Well, I didn’t expect it either. But there’s a rat I really need to catch. The others are worried about it, so it’s worth looking into. Besides, this rat has a lot of guts killing one of our own."

"Oh, I see. I heard of this person—the one with the ability to kill us? Even the kingdom is looking for him. Posters of his powers are everywhere, along with the dead bodies of the Hakia he killed."

Crash!

Echidna broke the glass with her hand, her anger clearly rising the more Stefen spoke.

"That fucker! He’s just a human... no more, no less..." she uttered to herself.

Stefen couldn’t help but give a nervous chuckle. He then uttered, "I see all the Hakias hate him. Well, if you’re here to track him down, then you need not worry. I can do just that."

Echidna groaned a bit. "Well, get on with it then. I feel so dirty being in the midst of so many humans."

"Ah, right. Do you have anything belonging to the individual that I can use as a lead?" Stefen asked, the music covering up his voice in order not to be heard.

"Rouga!!!"

’Seriously?! Yelling my name even though I’m close to you. Damn,’ Rouga could almost tear up. "Here you go."

He handed Echidna a single strand of silver hair.

Not long after, Echidna gave it to Stefen.

"This hair belongs to the girl that was said to be with him during the fight. Rouga managed to get his hands on it. If we find her, then we’ll find him too."

"She has beautiful hair. I’ll get to it right now."

Stefen took the hair and placed it on his palm before closing his eyes.

In the world of Hakias, there were some who were given the chance to have unique abilities that made them stand out from the rest.

Unlike the Pillars, they were weaker but had more authority than the rest.

The reason being, their powers were given to them by the Hakias themselves, earning them the name Vessels.

Stefen was one of them. He was given his ability by his master, the Fifth—the ability to track down anyone by just having a single one of their properties.

Opening his eyes, he smiled. "I know where she is."

Tapping her finger impatiently on the table, Echidna waited for Stefen to tell her.

"The barony to the south. Nearing the abandoned border to the next kingdom. She is there."

Echidna stood up from the chair and placed the umbrella above her head.

"You have my thanks, but I’ll be leaving now. Oh, and try to kill as many humans as you can, just to relieve yourself of the stress. You have enough prey already."

As she said that, Echidna walked out of the pub, with Rouga tailing behind her like a lost dog.

....

[[You have cleared Level 5. Would you like to advance to the next level?]

The system announced while Rashin was sitting in the midst of the dead monsters laid across the ground.

Daki and Satella were at the sides, waiting for their master to issue his next command.

For the past few hours, Rashin and his maidens had been climbing the levels in the playground, a way for him to grow stronger in case he ran into any enemies.

’I wonder how many rewards I got. I haven’t really been paying attention lately.’

He tapped the air, allowing the system to bring out the rewards he had earned from Levels 2-4.

[Rewards]

Two skills:

Weapon Duplication (This skill allows you to use blueprints of lesser weapons unlimitedly).

Dark Mist (This skill allows you to turn into dark mist for a limited time).

Three blueprints:

Red Crossbow

Long Sword

Silver Shield

Items:

Goblin Skin

Gorilla Bone

Witch’s Blood

17 Soul Stones

He kept his eyes on the system.

From what he noticed, the three blueprints did not have the qualifications to use a soul stone for an upgrade, which meant they could not become maidens like Daki and Satella.

Still, they had the option of being upgraded with magic stones, which meant they could gain unique abilities too.

The same went for his Weapon Duplication skill—it could only work for weapons without a soul stone.

’Which means I should be able to create as many short daggers as I want? Interesting.’

[17 Soul Stones]

That detail stood out the most.

Last time he checked, both Daki and Satella were in Gold Soul Rank, and for them to advance to Platinum Soul Rank, Daki needed 8 soul stones while Satella needed 7.

’Maybe I should. I’m pretty curious to know what type of abilities they would gain after ranking up.’

He looked at them. "Come here."

They answered instantly, both of them finding their place in front of him.

"Yes, young master. Are you feeling tired? I suggest we head back and continue this tomorrow," said Daki.

"Hmm, I also think so too," Satella agreed.

"I already planned on that. The time limit for today has been reached anyway. I couldn’t go any further even if I wanted to. But that’s not why I called you, though."

[Daki: 8 Soul Stones to upgrade.]

[Satella: 7 Soul Stones to upgrade.]

Rashin uttered while calmly pointing at them, "I’m about to upgrade you guys, so tell me if anything feels different."

Both Daki and Satella were surprised, never expecting to receive another upgrade so soon.

"M-Master, you said you get these stone thingies when you kill monsters, right? W-Why not just use them to make more maidens?" Satella uttered, a bit of worry on her face.

Rashin simply replied,

"Quality far outmatches quantity."