Kane and Grieselda walked alone to their inn near the merchant district.

Thora and Sira wanted to look around the city for a few more hours, while Brak and the other barbarians were hell-bent on training back at the Proving Grounds.

Kane felt happy knowing his warriors took their preparation seriously, but he wasn’t happy watching Grieselda right now.

She stood in the centre of the quiet room and reached out toward his waist.

She tapped the iron blade of his right axe twice with her pale finger.

A bright orange glow emitted from her hand, wrapping around the metal in a sudden flash of heat.

"What?" Kane asked, taking a quick step back.

Before he could finish acting surprised, the solid iron blade completely melted into nothing.

Liquid metal did not drip onto the wooden floor as the weapon simply ceased to exist, leaving only the wooden handle gripped securely in his holster.

"Huh? Did... you just?" Kane stammered, staring at the ruined stump.

She simply extended her other hand, gesturing patiently for his remaining weapon.

"You want this too?" Kane asked, handing her the second axe anyway despite his complete confusion.

She touched the edge of the blade, and the same orange glow emitted from her palm.

The iron softened instantly and melted away into thin air.

He stood in the quiet room holding two useless sticks.

"The fuck are you doing?" Kane asked, tossing the handles onto the bed.

Grieselda did not answer with words.

She raised both of her hands and crossed her wrists to make a clear X in the air.

Then she moved one hand down and pressed it firmly over her own heart.

A blue window popped up in Kane’s line of sight.

[System Translation]

[The weapon was not strong enough to withstand the heart.]

’Oh, you are translating for her now,’ Kane thought.

Actually, it made sense.

The corrupted bear was a level fifty boss, so basic iron weapons would just crumble under that kind of raw energy.

He needed a proper vessel for the crafting process, or he would just waste the rare drop entirely.

"Wait a moment," Kane said, opening his shop interface.

He navigated to the standard weapons tab to see if anything cheap could hold the upgrade.

The blue screen expanded, displaying a long list of basic gear.

[Bloodfang Market]

[Iron Broadsword - 100 Coins]

[Steel Mace - 150 Coins]

[Hunter’s Recurve - 200 Coins]

[Mercenary Spear - 250 Coins]

[Knight’s Kite Shield - 300 Coins]

[Assassin Daggers - 350 Coins]

’Hmm, this is not enough,’ Kane decided, quickly scrolling past the cheap metal options.

’These will just melt like the last ones, and I can’t afford to throw coins away on garbage.’

"Open Tier Two," Kane commanded aloud.

A brand new array of weapons formed in the air.

The system marked them all as rare items, and each one cost significantly more gold than the basic tier.

[Silvermoon Blade - 1000 Coins]

[Obsidian Twin Daggers - 1500 Coins]

[Frostburn Spear - 2000 Coins]

[Venom-Laced Whip - 2500 Coins]

[Thunderstrike Hammer - 3000 Coins]

[Blood-Iron Claymore - 3500 Coins]

[Sunlight Piercer Bow - 4000 Coins]

[Dragon-Bone Staff - 4500 Coins]

[Void-Forged Gauntlets - 4800 Coins]

[Mjoldr - 5000 Coins]

Grieselda stepped forward and raised her arm. Her slender finger moved directly toward the screen, stopping on the final message at the bottom of the list.

Kane widened his eyes in shock.

"You can see the screen?"

She nodded slowly, keeping her finger pointed at the expensive weapon.

He wasn’t sure how to feel about this strange development.

Thora and Sira never noticed the floating windows, and nobody else in the world had ever reacted to the system interface.

Grieselda was different, proving she held a much deeper connection to the magical laws governing this reality.

Her finger remained stopped at the most expensive weapon on the list, an axe called Mjoldr that cost five thousand coins.

Kane immediately bought it.

He trusted her bizarre instincts, and he desperately needed a new weapon anyway before the tournament began.

[Transaction Complete]

[5,000 Gold Coins Deducted]

A golden light flooded the small inn room, blinding Kane for a split second.

When the light faded, a magnificent new weapon rested heavily in his grip.

The axe featured a sleek, blackened steel handle wrapped in rich leather. The curved blade pulsed with a faint, icy blue aura that cooled the air around them.

It felt balanced in his hands, radiating an undeniable aura of lethality.

[Name: Mjoldr]

[Level: 100]

[Rank: S]

Grieselda reached out and touched the icy metal.

The blade brightened as her orange energy flared around her hand, but it didn’t melt this time.

She held her empty hand out again, waiting patiently for the final ingredient.

Kane opened his inventory and retrieved the rare loot he earned in the forest. He placed the item carefully into her pale hands.

[Rare Material: Grimfang Corrupted Heart]

[Description: A powerful still-beating core filled with ancient primal energy.]

The red core pulsed warmly between her fingers, dripping a few drops of blood onto the floorboards.

Grieselda gripped the corrupted heart tightly with both hands, and her eyes glowed for a brief second.

She pulled her hands apart, breaking the heart cleanly into two separate, bleeding pieces.

The first piece was placed directly into the flat side of the new axe blade.

Then she turned back to Kane.

She held the second dripping half of the corrupted core out toward his face, offering it to him with a blank stare.

Kane stared at the bleeding muscle resting in her pale palm. It dripped blood onto the floorboards, but her eyes remained expectant.

’This sucks.’

He grabbed the bloody piece, tossed it into his mouth, and swallowed it whole before he could gag.

A savage heat exploded inside his chest and spread through his veins like fire.

"Guh!"

Kane grabbed his shirt and fell hard onto his knees as his own heart began to beat faster against his ribs with terrifying speed.

[Warning: Heart rate uncontrolled]

Grieselda stood quietly over him. She held the newly forged Mjoldr in both hands, letting the red aura radiate from the steel blade.

’Wait, what are you doing?’ Kane tried to ask, but his throat seized entirely, so no sound came out.

Grieselda stepped forward without a single word of hesitation.

She swung the axe down and slammed the blade directly into the centre of his chest.