Leaving the smithy was supposed to be an easy part, wasn't it? No one could guess that we were going into the forest, no one had any reason to stop us. Only when Eve looked around the room and saw the devastation caused by my uncautious moves from before I realised that we weren't finished here!

"Ugh, sorry for breaking the forges. I took a swing earlier to test the balance of my sword but didn't expect for it to bear such great results!"

While I pretend to be filled with regret and shame, there is no way I can hide my excitement and pride! Those forges were made out of hard bricks and pure stone, even smashing them with a hammer could prove to be difficult, yet I completly wasted them with just a sword!

"Yyyyy… Let's just report it to the guardian of the smith. We can say that some accidents happened here resulting in the broken forges. That should do the work for now!"

Giving me a way out without even knowing what really happened! What a lovely woman! Despite knowing her for just two days, I think I'm slowly falling in love with her!

Okay, that might be a little overstatement, but what could you expect from a guy deprived of love through his whole life? And no, parental love doesn't count!

But it's time to go. If we won't get moving soon, we will miss the last bits of daylight! But before we even exit the room, I need to somehow cover my blade. Yes, its strange form could attract some attention, but I couldn't care less. I just don't want to destroy everything that I would be simply walking by!

With no better alternative - I'm not a carpenter to procure myself a sheath - I just cover the blade with a piece of cloth lying on the nearby table. When the last bit of metal hidden, I can safely put it away to my storage ring.

"Let's get going then!"

As we exit the room, Eve makes sure to close the doors tightly. It's better if no random passerby will try to use the smithy inside! Saving me from explaining my sorry ass, she leaves me by the door and goes to the counter.

While it takes some time, muted shouts and exaggerated gesticulations from the portier, everything ends up rather smoothly, without guards appearing to comprehend us. Well, even if that happened, I would just trade one of the parts of the demonic beast to pay for the damage!

"I appeased the porter and blamed the damage on faults in the forges. With that, your mishaps won't draw much attention."

What an awesome woman! Even after everything is said and done, she still manages to get rid of my greatest worry! While a destroyed forge or anvil might not be something to be killed for, if people were to investigate it and connect it to my person, I could've got some troubles later on.

Exiting the entire building, we are back on the internal sect road. Probably because of the late time of the day, the streets are already deserted, with most of the people either busying themselves with their cultivation at homes or attending their daily duties somewhere else.

"Normally, even at this hour, this place would be busting with people. It seems that Sect Master moved more people to investigate the forest than I thought."

Eve seemed to be rather distressed with the situation. It was easy to fathom what worried here. If the training ground is under strict investigation, any extraordinary event will be swiftly noticed!

"Let's do it in another way."

After walking and thinking simultaneously for a moment, I come up with a rather nice idea.

"Instead of sneaking in, we will announce that I want to test my limits in the lower tier of the training grounds. Since I'm not sure how much my strength amounts too, we will ask the people to vacate the area in advance. This way, we will be able to play around with our new weapons as much as we want, without any curious eyes bothering us at all! But here is the question, do you have enough authority or are your ties with the sect master strong enough to make this happen?

"Ugh… I was tasked to show you around for as long as you require it to stabilize your mind. I think that using the Master's authority to comply with your idea won't be too much of a stretch! And even if she will punish me later on, I will consider this as my repayment for such a glorious weapon!"

Hugging her sword tightly to her chest, Eve made up her mind. From her excited look, it was apparent how much does she value my gift! At least in her case, showing up openly with her new weapon won't attract much attention, since the weapon structure is much closer to the commonly seen types in the sect!

Set on fulfilling my wish, she even hastened her steeps, as if unable to handle the time left for us to start our fun!

As soon as we arrived at the gate with a huge "Forest training grounds" nameplate on it, Eve trodded forward and started talking with one of the guards. Even staying quite a distance away from her, I was able to notice her haughty attitude directed towards the poor gatekeeper. In just a few moments, the pitiful man moved aside and placed his hand on the frame of the entrance. In the next second, the massive doors started to slowly open!

Noticing Eve's inviting gesture, I jog forward and cross the gateway with this easygoing girl on my side! As soon as we make our first step inside, the doors behind us instantly close itself! Unbothered by this notion at all, Eve turns around, spread her arms and says with a jovial smile.

"Welcome to the initial area of the forbidden forest!"

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Discord link if you have an idea You want me to implement into the story:

https://discord.gg/5PrTcac