The next morning, Dexter joined Stella to hunt goblins in the Tier III zone, located in the southern part of the Sunscar Kingdom.
"Hiyaaa~!"
Stella was busy fighting goblins. With every shout, she struck them with her staff.
"What a weird fighting style… Now I'm confused about what to craft for her," Dexter thought, scratching the back of his head.
Even if Stella took only minor damage, she would immediately heal herself.
After wiping out the goblins in the first room, Stella immediately looted all their bodies, collecting coins piece by piece.
She grinned while picking them up, and even Dexter didn't know why she was like that.
"Stella... let's go to the next room... I need to analyze your fighting style more so I can craft an item based solely on how you fight."
Stella then got up, brushed off her white gown, and walked toward the next room.
This time, her enemies included a bow user — still a goblin.
She tried to dodge the arrows coming toward her but failed. After tanking most of them, she cast Heal first, then Shield.
This made Dexter facepalm.
'She should have cast her shield first...'
Still, he didn't help Stella, enduring the sight of her struggling against the goblins.
With a loud shout, she rushed forward, swinging her staff at the small goblin — but the strike lacked enough force to deal fatal damage.
After getting close to the Goblin Archer, she smacked its head so hard that it echoed like a bell.
Dong!
Dexter's mouth twitched, unsure whether the goblin's head was hollow or if the staff had a special sound effect.
Then, Stella was attacked by a horde of goblins — so many that she was overwhelmed, bitten, and clawed at from all sides.
"Dex! Help!"
Yet Dexter was still busy analyzing her fighting style.
'So she needs something to keep enemies from getting near her — either projectiles or melee attacks... Maybe something that can push enemies and projectiles away in a small radius, just enough for her to bonk their heads with her staff?'
Stella struggled to smash the goblins — her staff became useless and didn't have much force when she bonked them without using the end of it.
'A bonking staff that could lifesteal on every hit? Too OP, I guess... Well, anyway, it's good for her to be OP.'
'The problem is, her bonking ability isn't powerful enough to crack a goblin's head in one strike... What's the issue?'
Dexter switched his bracers to a Fire Staff and hurled fireballs at all the goblins attacking Stella. After wiping them out, he swapped to a Nature Staff.
"Stella, follow me..."
Dexter walked first, followed by Stella. When he found a single goblin, he cast Root on it, leaving the confused creature thrashing wildly upon seeing Stella approach.
"Stella... hit its head with full force."
Stella nodded and immediately raised her Holy Staff overhead before smashing the unlucky goblin's skull with all her might.
The powerful blow inflicted a stun effect, making the rooted goblin sway violently yet remain upright, trapped by the entangling roots.
"Smash it again like you did to that bandit who killed your foxes," Dexter urged.
Stella's eyes trembled as memories flooded back — the bandits slaughtering those cute foxes on Tutorial Island. Her body shook violently, eyes gleaming with pure hatred.
With an overhead swing that put her entire weight behind it, she pulverized the stunned goblin's head. Blue blood erupted across her body as brain matter splattered grotesquely across the dirt — so visceral Dexter mentally searched for a censor option.
When she turned to him with that smile, Dexter instinctively flinched from her demonic visage.
"Hehe... I killed it..." she giggled, eyes curved into sinister crescents.
"O-okay... l-let's keep moving..." he stammered in reply.
'I will never let her be mad at me... I swear!' Dexter screamed internally.
As they walked deeper, Dexter rooted another goblin — but this time he stopped Stella from rushing in.
"Stella, stand right in front of it... smash it again, and don't think about the foxes, okay?"
She immediately smashed the goblin, stunning but not killing it.
'Hmm... Not sure if this will change anything...'
Dexter then cast Root on Stella's feet, confusing her with the sudden action.
"Now smash it again... just like last time, but a little harder..." Dexter gestured with pinched fingers, indicating a small adjustment.
Stella nodded and bonked the "lucky" goblin once more — this time killing it instantly.
'So... is it the weight? Or her balance?'
Dexter noticed something crucial when Stella smashed goblins — her feet lifted off the ground during full-power bonks. But when he rooted her feet to prevent this, her strikes became noticeably stronger.
Rubbing his chin, he pondered what footwear to craft.
'Weight addition? Or better balance?'
'Probably needs something for stability that anchors her during attacks...'
'Well, I can make prototypes for both approaches and observe her combat performance with different gear.'
Dexter changed his Nature Staff back into bracers, canceling the Root skill on Stella.
She skipped toward him, smiling brightly.
"So how was it, Dex? Am I good enough? Hehe~ Can I hunt with you now?" she teased.
"Nope... I'm hunting bad guys in Uncharted Zones. Hmm... Maybe we should practice in the Arena first so you can get used to fighting people."
"Hmm, don't worry... They're all bad guys anyway."
'Because there are no truly "good" people in Eldrion — except you and Gridlock.'
In Dexter's twisted reality, he viewed everyone as mere AI. Yet Stella and Gridlock transcended that — and treated them as real people, just like himself.
...
Exiting the dungeon, Dexter transformed one of his bracers into a Summoner Staff and summoned a Tier IV llama.
"S-so cute!" Stella's eyes sparkled as she pointed at the fluffy creature with its cloud-like white wool.
Dexter laughed, lifted her up, and seated her on the llama before they journeyed across the sandy dunes toward the Sunscar Kingdom.
Upon returning to their island, Dexter immediately headed to his workshop. After a week of meticulous crafting, he presented Stella with the prototype Tier V Masterpiece set: a leather jacket that activated lifesteal around the user in small radius when HP fell below 30%, shoes designed to maintain perfect balance, pants that reduced fatigue and regenerated SP, gloves that mitigated carried item weight, a cape with toggleable wind pulses that pushed nearby objects every second, and a crown with pain nullification.
Stella accepted the gear eagerly. When she emerged minutes later to model it, Dexter nearly drooled.
The noble hunter-style outfit hugged her curves perfectly, its dark brown tones contrasting beautifully with her flowing blonde hair. Her radiant smile melted Dexter completely.
'Oh God... I'm so lucky to have her...'