The SSS Ranked Villain's Return

"Yup, you guessed it," Aella said, giggling. "A 24-hour surveillance on that guy you don't like."

Neraxis was in disbelief. "But... how?"

On the monitor, an aerial X-ray view of Bale was displayed as he strolled around his own house.

"Don't worry about it. I made sure to spend a bit of time preparing this, and I'll send the app to you now," Aella said, tapping on her phone a couple of times.

Soon, he received an attachment, and upon clicking on it, an app was downloaded.

Neraxis navigated to the map, and immediately, he was able to see what was displayed on the monitor, with a few added buttons for camera control or to simply turn off X-ray.

"There should be everything you need... oh, and one more thing." She walked up and pressed a red button to the side, displaying an interesting prompt.

<Kill the bastard? Y/N>

"If you click the red button, the nanobots inside him will self-destruct, immediately killing him," Aella stated with a smile.

As random as this was, Neraxis couldn't say he was disappointed. "You really have a knack for developing interesting stuff, don't you? Thank you."

This little device would sort out any extra precautions he would need to take in the high chance Bale decided to rebel one day.

With the press of a button, he'd be dead.

Very convenient, Neraxis remarked, before glancing into Aella's eyes. "Turn around, I have a surprise."

A smile immediately appeared on her face as she turned on her heels, facing away from him.

Even then, he could see her shaking slightly, which made him ease up a little.

Nonetheless, Neraxis quietly took out the sapphire necklace he had bought for her.

"Close your eyes," he said, and after a few seconds, he gently brought the necklace around her neck before finally locking it in place.

"You can look now," Neraxis finished.

Aella stiffly turned around, meeting his gaze and looking past him to the mirror that was on the wall.

"Wow... it's beautiful," she exclaimed with amazement.

The necklace fit even better than he expected, as its colors perfectly matched her eyes.

"You're beautiful," Neraxis corrected with a chuckle. "I hope you like it."

"Of course I do!" Aella said. "How could I not? These sapphires look pretty... I feel bad for not getting anything for you now."

Neraxis shook his head. "You gave me more than enough, Aella. That little gift of yours makes me feel like I should've gotten you a whole dress made of sapphires, but I'll save that for next time."

"Hahaha... don't be silly, I don't need anything fancy," she replied with a smile before walking toward the center of her workshop.

This entire room seemed incredibly well-made, almost like a small factory packed into a single space. Below them, Neraxis could see the waves hitting the glass panel, which, curiously enough, had something akin to a water slide leading downward.

As for the walls, they seemed to be made of some reinforced metal that dampened sound—a perfect fit for a loud workshop.

Last but not least was her stash.

There were teapots with mouths, guns that looked like swords, and even some kind of armor that protected everything but the vitals.

"Sorry for not cleaning up too much. I thought it would be a waste considering it would become a mess right after you left anyway," Aella said with a giggle.

"I respect it. I can't imagine myself being so passionate about something," Neraxis remarked. "Though I see you've created a bunch of interesting gadgets, care to show me some?"

Aella immediately jumped to action, putting on a proud look. "Yup. You wanted to see the nanobots, right? Look."

She held out her hand, and in her palm, Neraxis could see the miniature nanobots, resembling ants.

He was only able to see them because of his Cosmic Sight.

"Hahaha, I know you can't see it, give me a secon—" Aella was about to walk away, but he stopped her.

"No, it's fine. I can see they have little symbols—a green cross for the healing one, and a shield for the defensive one, right?" he said, making her eyes widen.@@novelbin@@

"Woah... that's some good eyesight... Wanna help me create something?" Aella asked hesitantly, and after a bit of thought, Neraxis nodded.

"I don't see why not."

Ever since that moment back when he used mana against Seraphina, he was able to feel a slight passive change in the way he perceived things.

Everything seemed more defined, easier to spot—almost as if he had a built-in zoom function.

Nonetheless, the most important boon of them all was that he was really close to increasing his mana capacity to D- rank—only a few more training sessions and he would be there.

Soon, Aella tapped him on the shoulder, snapping Neraxis out of his thoughts and handing him a massive hammer.

"Take this," she said, making his brow rise.

"We're starting already?" he asked.

Aella merely shrugged. "I mean, why not? Or do you want to grab food first?" She froze. "...I forgot about food, I'm sorry!"

"Don't worry about it, I already ate a few snacks on my way here," Neraxis assured her, making Aella ease up.

Soon, she straightened her back and put on a serious expression. "In that case, we will be making a simple Fire Ring."

With those words, a blueprint suddenly materialized out of thin air, landing on the massive marble table by the side.

"You mean an artifact?" Neraxis widened his eyes. "You know how to make actual artifacts?"

"It's an easy process, as this artifact is merely D-rank," she turned back to him. "But it's enough for a first-timer to craft—or at least, I would hope so."

Noticing the expectations Aella had seemingly placed on him, Neraxis mirrored her seriousness.

"I'll try not to disappoint."

It was odd seeing this side of her, as she was usually the teasing type of girl who was really easy to get along with.

But it seemed like even that same girl had a serious side when it came to her passion.

The two approached the blueprint, and after just a few seconds, Aella had put it away.

I didn't finish analyzing it... Neraxis sighed.

Nonetheless, he got the basics down—as well as his role in all this.

He was just the person who would hammer the smelted ring, and Aella would be the one doing the more complex stuff.

"Neraxis," she spoke, "focus. I will start the material gathering process now."

Continue your adventure at My Virtual Library Empire

As her words fell, Aella brought out some sort of tablet before tapping it a couple of times.

Immediately, the floor of the workshop shook, and in the very next moment, Neraxis watched as a furnace rose from what he thought was the water slide earlier.

"We need a bit of iron too... hmm..." Aella muttered, seemingly lost in her own world as she tapped away at the tablet, making each item necessary come up one by one.

"Alright, that should be the last of it. Neraxis, are you ready?" she asked.

He replied with a nod, holding the massive hammer in his hand. "Of course. Just don't do too much complex stuff—I'm still a newbie."

"A newbie who will climb a hurdle today. Prepare yourself," Aella added, making a shiver go down his spine.

All of a sudden, she lit up the fire, and in an instant, it reached a temperature capable of smelting iron.

Some kind of magical forge? he mused.

She put the materials in one by one—crystals, ores, and some strange dyes whose purpose he couldn't quite grasp.

Yet the process seemed a bit long, as his turn hadn't come up yet.

But just as those thoughts fell, Aella suddenly took the melted materials out of the furnace and threw them into a rough circular casting mold before pushing it over to him.

She flashed a small smile as sweat trickled down her face.

However, as he took one glance down, he noticed her clothes were practically see-through now.

Instead of being flustered, Aella flashed a small grin, pointed to her own eyes, then gestured down at the molten casting mold.

"Neraxis, you're up."

***

A/N: Just a heads up, the next chapter is going to be a bit spicy.