Undead Beast Master: Living Solely for My Desires

Putting his hand on the door handle, Zaroth's heartbeat began to speed up due to anticipation.

'Is this how kids feel when they are about to receive a present they had been looking forward to for a long time?' Zaroth asked himself. Due to his poor childhood, he never got the privilege to feel this feeling.

Not wanting to waste more time, he turned the knob and entered the Otherworldly Forger. The small bell above the door let out a beautiful sound as before, and the loud sound of metal being pounded resonated in the whole place—it was even more intense than the last time he had come here.

The first thing his gaze fell upon was the small, petite girl with brown hair stationed at the counter.

This time, once she saw him, her eyes didn't widen and she didn't feel any kind of fear. Why would she? This man had already paid upfront half of the cost of the weapon that he had requested, and it was not a small sum at that, so she knew that he wasn't the one to cause trouble… at least to them.

Stopping before her, he asked, "So how is it going, any news?"

A professional smile appeared on her face as she answered, "Boss should be almost done now. Why don't you wait here?"

Zaroth didn't really have much to do anyway, so with a nod he sat on one of the chairs in the forgery. There was no point in inspecting the weapons and armor on display, as he had seen them all last time.

His gaze was still on the girl. Funnily enough, with each powerful strike that Torin was making as he pounded the metal, the girl's hair would bounced slightly from the force alone.

This continued for a few minutes. Zaroth was itching to enter the forgery and see the process, but he didn't do it for two reasons. The first one was that when forging a weapon or armor, the room needed to be in a consistent high temperature, so if he entered now, he would disturb it and most likely ruin the process.

And second, he would break Torin's concentration, which would be even worse, as once his concentration was broken, he would not be able to go back into the flow. As such, Zaroth was left waiting in excitement.

Zaroth wondered—would he be able to do what Torin was doing? It had been three days since Zaroth had placed the order, and ever since then, Torin had begun to craft his new weapon—three days, not eating, sleeping, or break of any kind.

Zaroth went to the bath house, defended the city from the bandits, freed Zoe, got seduced by Betty, spent a whole day and night with her—and all this time, Torin was diligently doing one single task with no break.

'Would I be able to stay concentrated on something for so long? It seems that these professions are much harder than one initially assumes,' he thought.

Finally, after what felt like a eternity, the pounding of the metal ceased, and Zaroth was already upon his two feet, watching the door that led to the forgery with excitement.

Not too long after, it opened and Torin came out. "The weapon is rea—" he began to speak but stopped as soon as he saw Zaroth was already waiting.

With a smirk, Torin gestured for him to enter. "What couldn't wait?"

Taking up the offer, Zaroth entered, and once he did, he thought that he was going to choke to death—the air was so hot, he felt like he was in the middle of a volcano. 'Holy shit, he has been working in these conditions for three days straight?!' he thought as he looked at Torin.

At the moment, the man looked in a vulnerable state—his breathing was irregular, and his pupils had enlarged, most likely from all the stimulants he had taken just to keep himself awake for three whole days. His body was drenched in sweat, he had most likely sweat buckets.

Seeing that Zaroth was looking at his forehead, Torin smiled awkwardly as he tried to brush off the sweat from it, only to realize that he couldn't, as his arms had been so overlocked he had long pushed past his limit.

Seeing the state of the man, Zaroth was happy he had chosen him for creating the weapon—the man was clearly giving it his all when crafting it!

"Now, let's not keep you waiting!" Torin exclaimed as he grabbed the handle of the odachi and lifted it high in the air, giving Zaroth a better view.

It was safe to say that the thing looked magnificent—black in color, it seemed to be absorbing the light around it, making the surroundings darker. It was almost to an unnatural level, and with just a glance Zaroth knew that it was the sharpest thing he had ever seen.

"And before you ask about the color," Torin grinned in pride as the odachi slowly changed color—now it was no longer black, but shifted into pure white—perfect for Zaroth's current set.

"It is light and very durable. At the same time, flexible if the need arose. You can test its sharpness later, but be careful to not cut yourself! After all, it has been poisoned as well—and if the poison you gave me was as strong as I think it was, then this really is a beast of a weapon." Torin listed out all the things he had achieved when creating the odachi.

As Zaroth took the odachi in his hands, he was struck by how impossibly light it felt. With a single swing, it sliced through the air, the sharpness so pure it seemed to split the very wind.

"This is a masterpiece!" he spoke with a smile.

However, rather than showing a prideful smirk, Torin's eyes dimmed a little. "It's a fine weapon, I'll admit... but not a masterpiece. For that, you'd need rarer, far more powerful materials—like the remains of a Mythical beast, or of a Primordial demon. Only then could you forge a weapon called a relic. Only then would I dare call it a true masterpiece." He explained.

Zaroth barely heard him, as he was too eager to try the weapon himself. "Thanks for the work!" he spoke, as a grin appeared on his face—though it wasn't visible behind the mask.

Paying the other half of the weapon, Zaroth stormed off, ready to test his new weapon and compare it to the last one. It seemed that this was going to have to wait, however, as he was stopped by two guards that seemed to have been searching for him.

It was worth noting that while the soldiers had left the city—now that Zaroth was present—guards still remained, acting as lawkeepers in case any citizens stepped out of line.

"Sir!" the two guards bowed a little as they saw Zaroth.

With a sigh of regret, he spoke, "What is it?"

"We've had a newcomer enter the city. Despite the ban on outside visitors due to fears of spies, she insisted we notify you of her arrival."

Zaroth raised an eyebrow. "And who is this person?"

"She said that she goes by the name Midnight."