Cynthia stood quietly in the center of Crowned Era's workshop, staring at the enormous storage interface floating in front of her.
She had been silent for several minutes.
At first, she had simply intended to familiarize herself with the guild's resources. Rio had told her that she could use whatever materials Crowned Era had available for her crafting, but Cynthia had assumed that meant the usual assortment of common ores, monster parts, and dungeon materials that most guilds kept in their warehouses.
She had been completely unprepared for what she was seeing.
The storage interface seemed almost endless.
Iron ingots filled several pages by themselves. There were stacks of monster hides, claws, fangs, bones, scales, magical crystals, rare herbs, refined ores, elemental stones, alchemy ingredients, and countless other materials. Some were from monsters Cynthia had never personally encountered, while others came from dungeons she had only ever heard about through player forums.
She slowly scrolled through another section.
Then another.
Her eyes became wider with every passing page.
For a crafter, materials were more than simple items stored inside a guild warehouse. They were possibilities. Every strange ore represented a potential weapon. Every unusual monster component could become part of an armor set. Every magical crystal could potentially solve a problem that conventional materials could not.
And Crowned Era had an absurd number of possibilities.
Cynthia understood exactly how difficult it was to build a workshop with this level of inventory.
A guild didn't acquire resources like these by accident. It required players who were willing to spend countless hours farming monsters, clearing dungeons, exploring dangerous regions, gathering rare drops, and bringing everything they found back to the guild.
More importantly, it required a guild capable of organizing all of it.
Cynthia's lips slowly curved upward.
For the first time since joining Crowned Era, she began to understand just how large the organization she had become part of actually was.
This wasn't simply a guild with an impressive headquarters.
Crowned Era had built the infrastructure necessary to support someone like her.
"There is so much..." Cynthia murmured.
Rio, who had been standing several steps behind her, smiled.
"That's what happens when you have people who refuse to stop collecting things."
A hand immediately rose beside Rio.
"Hey. I resemble that statement."
Rio slowly turned toward Ryota.
"You absolutely do."
Ryota lowered his hand, looking perfectly satisfied with himself.
Cynthia couldn't help laughing.
She returned her attention to the storage interface and continued scrolling. The more she looked, the more excited she became. She could already imagine dozens of different experiments she could attempt with these materials.
Then her finger suddenly stopped.
Cynthia leaned closer to the screen.
Her eyes widened.
"...No way."
Rio tilted her head.
"What?"
Cynthia turned around so quickly that her hair nearly brushed across Rio's face. She pointed toward the storage interface with an expression of genuine disbelief.
"How did you guys manage to find so many Yakolith ores?"
Rio's confident expression immediately disappeared.
Her eyes shifted toward the ceiling.
Then toward the floor.
Finally, she looked away from Cynthia entirely.
"...Ryota."
Cynthia blinked.
"Ryota?"
Rio folded her arms, her voice carrying the unmistakable irritation of someone remembering a particularly unpleasant experience.
"Yes. It was Ryota."
Cynthia slowly looked toward him.
Ryota was standing beside another storage unit, apparently completely unaware that he had just become the subject of the conversation.
Cynthia looked back at the storage interface.
The number was impossible to miss.
233 Yakolith Ores.
Two hundred and thirty-three.
Cynthia stared at the number for several seconds.
Then she looked at Ryota again.
She knew the drop rate.
She knew how difficult Yakolith ores were to obtain. Even with efficient farming, collecting two hundred and thirty-three would normally require an absurd amount of time.
"Two hundred and thirty-three..." she repeated quietly.
Ryota scratched the side of his head.
"Yeah. I got lucky."
Rio's eye twitched.
"Lucky."
She repeated the word with such disbelief that Cynthia almost laughed again.
"You call that lucky?"
Ryota looked at her innocently.
Rio raised one hand.
"I spent hours farming those things."
She raised another.
"Hours."
Then she pointed directly at Ryota.
"I got four."
Her expression became increasingly annoyed.
"He walks around for a while and somehow ends up with two hundred and thirty-three."
Cynthia stared at Ryota.
Then she leaned toward Rio and lowered her voice.
"Have you checked whether he somehow cheated his luck stat?"
Rio stared at Ryota for several seconds.
He was currently examining another storage unit with the innocent expression of someone who had absolutely no idea what he had done wrong.
"I'm not sure anymore," Rio whispered.
She sighed.
"I've stopped trying to understand it."
Cynthia covered her mouth, suppressing another laugh.
"Why?"
"Because if I start thinking about it too much, I'll get angry."
Cynthia finally let out a quiet laugh.
Ryota suddenly looked over.
"Why are you two whispering?"
Rio answered immediately.
"Nothing."
Ryota narrowed his eyes.
"...That definitely sounded like something."
Rio ignored him.
Cynthia smiled as she turned back toward the storage interface.
The enormous collection of resources no longer felt intimidating.
Instead, it felt exciting.
For the first time in a long time, she was looking at materials and thinking about what she could create rather than worrying about what she could afford.
She could experiment here.
She could fail.
She could try again.
If something didn't work, she wouldn't immediately have to worry that someone would tell her she had wasted the guild's last rare material.
Cynthia quietly placed one hand against the interface.
A small smile remained on her face.
Maybe this was what it felt like to finally have somewhere to belong.
Before she could continue exploring the storage, however, footsteps echoed through the hallway.
Rio immediately looked toward the workshop entrance.
Ryota followed her gaze.
The footsteps were approaching quickly. Several sets of them could be heard, accompanied by the faint metallic clinking of armor.
Cynthia turned as well.
A moment later, several figures appeared beneath the light of the corridor.
Kiraya was at the front.
Hinabi walked beside her, while several Crowned Era combat NPC units followed behind them.
They had clearly just returned from a dungeon raid.
Their armor was scratched and dirty, several weapons bore obvious signs of battle, and more than one shield had been dented. One of the NPCs was even limping slightly as they walked.
Rio's expression softened.
"Welcome back."
Kiraya smiled when she saw her.
"Rio."
Hinabi gave a small nod.
"We're back."
Rio looked over the returning group.
"How was the dungeon?"
Kiraya's smile became more satisfied.
"It was a success. The new skills you gave us helped a lot."
Rio nodded.
"Good."
Kiraya's expression became slightly more serious.
"There were some casualties, though."
Rio's gaze shifted toward the NPCs.
"The combat units?"
Kiraya nodded.
"A few died during the raid. They're already registered to the guild system, so they'll respawn normally. We're just waiting for them to return before sending the next group out."
Rio nodded.
"Then let them rest."
Kiraya turned toward the NPCs.
"You heard her. Everyone, return to the barracks and recover."
The NPCs immediately straightened and saluted.
"Yes, Captain."
They turned and began walking down the corridor. The metallic sound of their armor gradually faded until the workshop became quiet again.
Kiraya turned back toward Rio.
Then she noticed the woman standing behind her.
Her eyes widened.
"...Cynthia?"
Cynthia gave an awkward little smile.
"Hi."
For a moment, Kiraya simply stared.
Then her expression brightened.
"I never expected you to be here."
Cynthia laughed softly.
"Honestly, I never expected to see you either."
Kiraya stepped closer.
"I heard you left Oblivion Pledge."
Cynthia nodded.
"I did."
Her eyes briefly moved toward the Crowned Era emblem displayed prominently on the workshop wall.
"I just never expected I'd end up here."
Kiraya smiled.
"Guess the three of us were destined to journey together."
The words immediately brought back memories of Dragon's Peak.
The snow-covered mountains.
The freezing winds.
The long expeditions.
The countless hours they had spent hunting monsters and trying to survive dangerous areas together.
Cynthia smiled warmly.
"I guess we were."
Rio stepped forward.
"Actually, there's something you should know."
Kiraya looked toward her.
Rio gestured toward Cynthia.
"Cynthia just joined Crowned Era."
Kiraya blinked.
"Really?"
Rio nodded.
"She's going to be our head crafter."
Hinabi immediately smiled.
"Then welcome to Crowned Era, Cynthia."
"Thank you."
Before Cynthia could say anything else, Kiraya stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her.
Cynthia froze.
"Eh?"
Kiraya laughed.
"I'm seriously happy you're here!"
Cynthia's face immediately turned red.
"I-I'm happy too."
Hinabi smiled at the scene.
Ryota leaned slightly toward Rio.
"She made a friend pretty quickly."
Rio smiled.
"That's good."
Then Rio's eyes moved toward Kiraya's arm.
She suddenly remembered something.
"Kiraya."
"Hm?"
"You needed a new shield, right?"
Kiraya's expression changed.
She glanced toward the empty space at her side.
Her previous shield had been destroyed during the battle against Epsilon Dawn. Since then, she had been forced to fight without one.
"I do."
Kiraya sighed.
"To be honest, having one again would make things a whole lot easier. It's been difficult clearing dungeons without being able to block attacks properly."
Her eyes shifted toward Cynthia.
A hopeful smile appeared.
"Could you make me one?"
Cynthia immediately nodded.
"Of course."
She turned toward the main crafting station.
"Come with me."
Kiraya followed without hesitation.
Hinabi followed as well, her curiosity already getting the better of her. Rio and Ryota exchanged a brief glance before following them into the center of the workshop.
Cynthia stopped in front of the main crafting table.
The atmosphere around her changed.
The moment she activated her crafting interface, the cheerful woman who had been laughing about Ryota's absurd luck disappeared.
In her place was a focused craftsman.
A projection appeared above the table.
Then another.
Then another.
Within seconds, dozens of shield designs filled the air.
Tower shields.
Round shields.
Kite shields.
Bucklers.
Heavy defensive shields.
Magic shields.
Elemental shields.
Hybrid weapon-shield designs.
Experimental models.
Kiraya's eyes widened as the number continued increasing.
"You made all of these?"
Cynthia nodded.
"Most of them."
She continued scrolling through the designs.
Each blueprint contained detailed measurements, material requirements, structural notes, and possible enchantment configurations. Some were clearly unfinished. Others had been abandoned halfway through development. Several contained pages of notes explaining why Cynthia had rejected particular designs.
Hinabi stared at the floating blueprints.
"How long have you been making these?"
"A few months."
Cynthia continued searching.
"I like designing things even when I don't have the materials to actually build them."
Kiraya looked at the endless collection.
"Then you really are a crafter."
Cynthia smiled.
"Probably too much of one."
She continued scrolling.
Then her finger stopped.
Her expression changed.
"...There."
A particular blueprint appeared.
Unlike the others, Cynthia didn't immediately explain it.
She simply stared.
She remembered this design.
She had created it several months earlier, after their journey through Dragon's Peak.
Back then, she had watched Kiraya fight repeatedly.
She had seen the way Kiraya positioned herself between danger and her companions, how she absorbed attacks that would have killed someone else, and how heavily she relied on her shield to control the battlefield.
Cynthia had noticed the weaknesses in Kiraya's old equipment.
So she had designed something better.
A shield that would complement Kiraya's fighting style instead of merely replacing what she had lost.
The problem had been the materials.
She had never possessed enough resources to actually build it.
Until now.
Cynthia selected the blueprint.
The projection expanded across the crafting table.
Kiraya leaned closer.
"What is it?"
Cynthia smiled.
"A shield I designed after our journey through Dragon's Peak."
Rio's eyes softened.
"I remember."
Cynthia nodded.
She turned toward the storage units.
"I'll need these."
One by one, she began selecting materials.
Metal ingots.
Reinforced leather.
Monster materials.
Rare crystals.
Elemental components.
Each material appeared on the crafting table before being carefully organized into separate groups.
Then Cynthia paused.
She looked toward another category.
After a moment, she selected several additional materials that hadn't been part of the original blueprint.
Kiraya noticed immediately.
"Those weren't in the original design."
"I know."
Cynthia smiled faintly.
She didn't explain.
There was something she had promised herself.
After what Rio had done for her—after being given a place in Crowned Era—she wanted her first major creation to be an answer to that trust.
She would work harder than she ever had before.
She wouldn't waste Rio's faith in her.
She wouldn't allow herself to become the person everyone had once called a burden.
Cynthia turned toward Kiraya.
"Do you have any special ore you'd like to add?"
Kiraya immediately opened her inventory.
She scrolled through her materials.
Iron.
Copper.
Monster fragments.
Several low-grade ores.
Nothing stood out.
"I'm not sure what you're looking for."
"Anything special."
Kiraya continued searching, but none of her materials seemed suitable.
Then Rio spoke.
"I have something."
Everyone turned toward her.
Rio opened her inventory and withdrew a small piece of pale blue-white ore.
The material shimmered beneath the workshop lights.
A faint layer of frost seemed to move across its surface, as though the ore itself carried a trace of winter.
Cynthia's eyes widened.
"Shimmer Frost Ore..."
Rio nodded.
"It's a special ore from the snowy mountains."
She held it out.
"I've had this since our journey through Dragon's Peak."
Cynthia carefully accepted it.
The moment her fingers touched the ore, a chill spread across her hand.
The material seemed to resonate with the blueprint.
A faint blue light traveled through the projected shield design.
Cynthia looked at Rio.
"You kept this all this time?"
Rio smiled.
"I thought we'd eventually find a use for it."
Cynthia looked down at the ore.
"I'll make sure it doesn't go to waste."
She placed the Shimmer Frost Ore onto the crafting table and began arranging the remaining materials around it.
Everything was ready.
Cynthia took a slow breath.
The workshop gradually fell silent.
Even Ryota stopped joking.
He knew that moment.
The moment Cynthia entered her world.
The crafting interface appeared before her.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Crafting Equipment
Blueprint: Frostmane
Crafter: Cynthia
Required Materials Confirmed
Crafting Difficulty: High
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Cynthia placed her hands against the interface.
Her eyes moved across the blueprint one final time.
Then she confirmed the process.
The workshop immediately reacted.
Brilliant light erupted from the crafting table as the materials began rising into the air.
The iron and other metal ingots melted first, transforming into streams of glowing liquid. Monster materials were broken down and refined, their useful properties separated from the unnecessary components. Crystals dissolved into ribbons of magical energy that spiraled around the forming structure.
The Shimmer Frost Ore rose last.
For several seconds, it remained suspended above the table.
Then its pale blue glow intensified.
Cynthia's expression became completely focused.
She guided the materials with careful precision.
Nothing was rushed.
Nothing was left to chance.
She layered the metals together, reinforced the outer frame, strengthened the internal structure, and carefully constructed the channels that would allow magical energy to circulate through the shield.
Several times, she stopped.
Adjusted the proportions.
Reheated a section.
Reinforced another.
The shield didn't simply appear.
Cynthia built it.
Piece by piece.
Decision by decision.
Every alteration reflected the experience she had gained from countless failed experiments.
When the outer frame was complete, she carefully embedded the Shimmer Frost Ore into the center.
The entire workshop trembled.
The blue light surrounding the shield intensified until it became almost blinding.
Cynthia gritted her teeth and continued controlling the flow of energy.
"Come on..."
The magical energy surged.
She adjusted the final channel.
Then—
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
A wave of blue-white energy exploded across the workshop.
Everyone instinctively raised their arms to shield their eyes.
For several seconds, the entire room disappeared beneath the brilliant glow.
Then, slowly, the light faded.
Silence returned.
A shield remained on the crafting table.
Everyone stared.
The finished weapon was beautiful.
Its main body was a pale white, framed by light red accents that ran along the outer edges. A magnificent lion emblem occupied the center, its mane formed from intricate frost-like patterns that seemed almost alive beneath the light.
A faint shimmer covered the surface, resembling a thin layer of permanent ice.
Cynthia stared at her creation.
Then she opened the equipment window.
Her eyes widened.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Equipment Successfully Crafted
Frostmane
Class: Epic
Type: Shield
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Kiraya stepped forward.
"Epic..."
Cynthia nodded slowly.
But before anyone could say anything else, another system window appeared.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Active Skill
[Crusader Skill: Lionheart's Frostmane]
Creates an ice barrier around Frostmane.
Damage received is reduced by 10%.
The user is healed for 2%.
Mana Cost: 55
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The workshop fell silent.
Kiraya stared at the window.
Hinabi's eyes widened.
Ryota gave a low whistle.
Even Rio raised an eyebrow.
A ten-percent reduction to incoming damage was already an impressive defensive effect, particularly for a Crusader who regularly stood at the front of the party.
But the additional healing made the skill even more valuable.
Kiraya had built her fighting style around enduring punishment.
Lionheart Requiem rewarded her for the damage she suffered.
Now Frostmane gave her another way to survive those same attacks.
The shield wasn't merely defensive equipment.
It fit her.
Cynthia carefully picked it up and walked toward Kiraya.
"Here."
Kiraya accepted it.
The moment her hand closed around the grip, a faint blue glow spread across the shield.
Her eyes widened.
The weight was perfect.
It was sturdy without being cumbersome, and the balance allowed her to move naturally without sacrificing defensive stability.
More importantly, it felt familiar.
The lion emblem reminded her of Lionheart.
Not because the two weapons were identical, but because Cynthia had designed Frostmane with the same understanding of who Kiraya was as a fighter.
Kiraya slowly raised the shield.
"This is..."
She looked at Cynthia.
"I've never felt a shield like this before."
Cynthia smiled.
"I'm glad."
Kiraya examined the edges and reinforced frame before looking at the Shimmer Frost Ore embedded near the center.
Then her gaze returned to the system window.
"An Epic shield..."
She laughed softly in disbelief.
"And that skill..."
Her eyes widened again.
"Ten percent damage reduction and two percent healing?"
Cynthia nodded.
Kiraya looked at her for several seconds.
Then laughed.
"This is incredible."
Hinabi stepped closer.
She was clearly still processing what she had witnessed.
"Cynthia..."
She looked between Frostmane and the crafter.
"You made this on your first day as Crowned Era's head crafter?"
Cynthia immediately became embarrassed.
"I already had the blueprint."
Hinabi shook her head.
"That doesn't make it less impressive."
Ryota grinned.
"She's really living up to the legendary crafter reputation."
Cynthia's cheeks turned red.
"Don't call me legendary yet."
Kiraya laughed.
"Too late."
She raised Frostmane slightly.
"This is already proof."
Cynthia smiled.
For a moment, she simply watched Kiraya holding the shield.
There was something deeply satisfying about it.
She had designed Frostmane because she remembered how Kiraya fought.
She had considered her movements, her defensive habits, her reliance on Lionheart, and the way she willingly placed herself between danger and her companions.
This wasn't a random shield.
It had been made for her.
Kiraya seemed to realize the same thing.
Her expression softened.
There was something nostalgic about holding a shield crafted by Cynthia.
Cynthia had crafted Lionheart for her before, and that weapon had become one of the most important pieces of equipment in her arsenal. It had protected her through countless battles and eventually become part of her identity.
Now Cynthia had created something else for her.
Not a replacement for Lionheart.
A complement to it.
A shield designed to restore the defensive fighting style Kiraya had been forced to abandon after losing her previous shield.
Kiraya tightened her grip around Frostmane.
For the first time since the battle against Epsilon Dawn, she felt as though she had regained the complete fighting style she had once relied upon.
She looked toward Cynthia.
"Thank you."
Her voice was quieter now.
More sincere.
Cynthia smiled.
"You're welcome."
Rio watched the two of them silently.
She had known Cynthia was talented.
She had known that, given enough resources and freedom, Cynthia would eventually produce something extraordinary.
But seeing it happen here, inside Crowned Era's workshop, felt different.
This wasn't the Cynthia who had sat in a restaurant wondering whether she was a burden.
This wasn't the crafter who had been told that her experiments were too expensive and her failures too numerous.
This was Cynthia doing what she had always been capable of doing.
She simply hadn't been given the opportunity.
Crowned Era had given her that opportunity.
The guild had given her resources.
Rio had given her trust.
Ryota had welcomed her without hesitation.
Kiraya had immediately trusted her enough to place her equipment in Cynthia's hands.
Hinabi had recognized her talent.
And now Cynthia was standing in the middle of the workshop, looking at something she had created with her own hands.
Something powerful.
Something useful.
Something that had made another person smile.
Cynthia slowly looked around the workshop.
The enormous storage units were still filled with materials.
The crafting stations waited for their next project.
The forge continued burning quietly in the background.
The shelves were filled with resources she had once only dreamed of having access to.
She turned toward Rio.
Their eyes met.
Rio smiled.
Cynthia's expression softened.
When she had first joined Crowned Era, part of her had still been afraid.
Afraid that she would eventually prove everyone else right.
Afraid that her experiments would fail.
Afraid that the resources would run out.
Afraid that Rio would eventually regret inviting her.
But standing here now, she realized something.
She didn't feel afraid anymore.
She wanted to create.
She wanted to experiment.
She wanted to fail and try again.
She wanted to discover things nobody else had discovered.
Not because she needed to prove that she wasn't a burden.
Not because she needed to convince another guild to keep her.
She simply wanted to create because that was who she was.
Cynthia looked at Frostmane once more.
A small, determined smile appeared on her face.
This wasn't the peak of her career.
It was the beginning.
She quietly made another promise to herself.
Next time, she would make something even better.
And after that, something better still.
Not because anyone demanded it from her.
Not because she was afraid of being discarded.
But because she had finally found a place where she was free to create.
A place where failure didn't mean rejection.
A place where experimentation wasn't treated as waste.
A place where people believed in her.
Crowned Era wasn't simply giving Cynthia materials.
It was giving her something she had been missing for a long time.
A reason to believe in herself again.
And as Kiraya stood beside her, Frostmane shining beneath the workshop lights, Cynthia smiled.
For the first time in a long while, she was genuinely excited to see what she could create next.
The legendary crafter everyone would one day talk about hadn't reached her peak yet.
She had only just begun.