Chapter 104: Epitaph

"So, tell me, baby... what kind of weapon do you want?"

Snow Valestorm stood in the center of the area, her hands resting confidently on her hips, her striking blue eyes completely focused on Leon. She had effortlessly transitioned from a flirtatious, overbearing admirer into a focused, high-tier weapon crafter. Her SS-Rank True Weapon Forger talent was practically humming beneath her skin, eager to be unleashed.

Leon remained seated on the woven silk cushion, his elbows resting on his knees. He didn’t answer immediately. His mind began running across various combat simulations.

He already possessed the Blade of the Dragon God. It was a Mythic-ranked greatsword, an absolutely devastating weapon for area-of-effect damage, wide-cleaving execution strikes, and dominating physical clashes.

But as his grueling thirty-five-minute duel with the Level 245 Silent Aegis had proven, a massive greatsword had severe kinematic drawbacks. It was heavy, its swing animations required a large physical commitment, and its sheer size made it a massive target for an enemy to parry or redirect.

He also possessed the ethereal void-daggers, which provided absolute attack speed but lacked the kinetic mass required to crack high-tier armor.

He needed something that perfectly bridged the gap. He needed a weapon that offered the maneuverability of a one-handed blade but delivered the catastrophic, armor-crushing trauma of a heavy blunt instrument. He needed a weapon designed specifically to hook, trap, and dismantle an opponent’s guard.

"An axe," Leon decided, his voice breaking the tranquil silence of the room. ℯℯ𝑙.

Snow’s white eyebrows raised slightly in intrigue. "An axe? Ooh, baby, I like how you think. Going for the brutal approach. Are we talking a massive, double-bladed executioner’s block? Something you drag behind you that leaves a trench in the dirt?"

"No," Leon shook his head, standing up from the cushion. "I don’t want a lumbering block of metal. I want a weapon of absolute precision. The haft should be roughly three and a half feet long—just long enough for a comfortable hand-and-a-half grip, allowing me to swing it single-handedly for speed, or two-handed for maximum leverage."

He raised his hands, gesturing the specific dimensions in the empty air between them.

"The blade itself must be thin. Razor-thin," Leon specified, his icy blue and golden eyes locking onto hers to ensure she understood the exact geometry he required. "I don’t want a thick, wedge-shaped head that relies on raw weight to split armor. I want a sleek, elongated beard—a curved lower blade that I can use to hook over an enemy’s shield, catch an incoming sword strike, or rip a knight’s footing out from under them."

"A bearded battle axe," Snow nodded, her expression turning entirely professional, her instincts tracking his reasoning perfectly. "Thin profile, wicked edge. It’s an aggressive duelist’s weapon. It sacrifices the raw smashing power of a thick wedge to gain incredible aerodynamic speed and utility. I can absolutely forge that, baby. But what about the nature of the weapon? The element?"

"Hmm," Leon reeled firmly. "If this weapon is going to be my dedicated armor-cracker against Steadfast-tier enemies, I don’t want flashy elemental damage. I want raw, unmitigated physics. I want absolute kinetic disruption."

Snow tilted her head, stepping closer, genuinely fascinated. "Explain it to me, baby. Give me the exact concept, and my talent will translate it into system code."

"When I strike a target with this axe, I don’t want the kinetic energy to stop at the surface of their armor," Leon explained, his voice cold and analytical. "I want the weapon to inject a localized, concentrated pulse of force directly into the target. A shockwave that bypasses the outer shell and violently ruptures them from the inside out."

Snow bit her lower lip, a thrill of excitement passing over her delicate features. "Kinetic severance. That is brilliant, baby. An internal detonation mechanic. It’s simple, it’s clean, and it’s terrifying."

She closed the remaining distance between them, standing so close he could smell the faint scent of winter mint that seemed to follow her. She reached out with her black-gloved hands, gently taking hold of his right wrist.

"My talent scales based on your current level," Snow explained, her voice dropping to a softer, more intimate register. "Because you are Level 100, the base statistical strength of this Legendary weapon will be multiplied by 1.5. It will possess a base Level 150 scaling. Baby, that should be a weapon capable of killing a lot of steadfast monsters. To forge it, I need to anchor my mana to your core. I need you to flood your aura into my hands."

"Do it," Leon commanded.

He didn’t hesitate. He tapped into his bottomless reservoir of mana and pushed a surge of his Steadfast ranked aura directly down his arm, channeling it into Snow’s grip.

Snow gasped, her eyes fluttering shut as the sheer, terrifying density of the Steadfast-tier energy slammed into her Level 47 frame. The silver cross-chains draped across her black leather shorts began to rattle violently, vibrating against the sudden surge of ambient gravity in the room.

A blinding, icy white light erupted from her palms.

"True Weapon Forger," Snow whispered.

Leon watched in quiet fascination as the ambient mana in the room violently compressed. Snow was not striking hot iron on an anvil; she was literally pulling the conceptual code of the world and forcing it to take physical shape.

A long, sleek haft began to materialize in the air between them, forged from an unknown, pitch-black metal that seemed to actively absorb the light around it. The grip wrapped itself in tightly braided, dark silver leather. Then, the head of the axe formed. It was exactly as Leon had described—a masterpiece of lethal geometry.

The blade was not wide or excessively bulky. It possessed a razor-thin, crescent-moon curvature. The upper point of the axe head extended into a vicious, armor-piercing spike, while the lower blade swept downward into an elongated, wicked beard designed specifically for hooking and disarming. The edge of the blade shimmered with a dark, volatile silver energy that caused the air around it to visibly warp.

Snow opened her eyes. They were glowing with a brilliant, transcendent blue light.

She let go of Leon’s wrist, wrapping her hands around the haft of the newly forged weapon. She strained slightly under the immense weight of the Level 150 scaling, sweat beading on her forehead.

With a triumphant, exhausted smile, she held the weapon out to him.

"It’s yours, baby."

Leon reached out and closed his fingers around the braided grip.

Ding!

[Weapon obtained!]

[Weapon: Epitaph (Legendary)]

[Base Strength Scaling: Level 150]

[Tethered User: Leon Wes]