Chapter 53

-One month later-

By this time, Timothy and Nora had been officially boyfriend and girlfriend for almost six months and so for their anniversary, Timothy had chosen to make her a shield that was in a heart shape that perfectly hit her body type so that she would actually be able to utilize it in combat and every time that she did, she would be reminded of their love for one another. Plus, at this time, Timothy had finally grasped how to place his own intent into each item he made so it would be equivalent to him being present also protecting the woman he loved.

Due to the blueprint of the shield showcasing that it was a very high level of difficulty for those of only the first star level, Timothy had spent nearly two full weeks making sure that everything had gone perfectly and even used two higher quality materials compared to what was recommended in order to make up for his still lack of skill. If the shield was unable to be used in battle, Timothy would feel rather bad since at that point it would only remain in Nora's storage ring forever just taking up space.

Knowing her, Nora would not care and would instead still be blown away from the gift but as far as cultivators were concerned, at a certain point it was unwise to carry on you anything that was bulky that took up a lot of space in your storage ring if it did not have any real practical uses. Sure one could continue buying more storage rings, but unless one was excavating a hidden area where a large supply of storage rings were recommended, it was best to just have one storage ring on you that fit everything that you would need.

This was the last day that Timothy had to finish the shield if he wanted to be on time for their anniversary and things were starting to become complicated. As the Grand Master had told him when he first started walking on the path of a blacksmith, if one worked hard enough, they would see themselves advancing a rank as a warrior and right now in the middle of making the most important item since he started, Timothy was feeling that he was about to breakthrough but he did not want the shield to suffer from said breakthrough.

Sure once he broke through as a rank three warrior he could receive a reward from the academy and even use it to buy something even nicer in retrospect for Nora, but he still wanted to give her something he spent time on making since it would mean more than just giving her some jewelry or an expensive pair of shoes which she could afford to get herself if she ever wanted such things.

"Timothy, do not worry, just stop what you are doing and breakthrough so your foundation is not harmed and if anything comes from the shield, you will still have the opportunity to fix any mishaps. Also my disciple, you still have chosen not to sell those bracelets back to the academy you have made two months ago which seem to be a unisex pair of bracelets so it would still make for a fantastic gift and would not necessarily be very easy to replace in general." At this point, even the artifact had to help Timothy decide what to do because if Timothy was not careful, he could become severely injured even if he successfully made the leap in strength.

However, by now the love Timothy had for Nora far surpassed his fear of being in danger from a little mishap in his training and so he continued on until finally he finished the last part of the shield as he sat down and crossed his legs in order to try and break through properly. Sweat covered his entire body and this caused such a commotion that even the Grand Master and several students within the Workshop headed towards the direction that Timothy was in. Due to his status as the Grand Master's personal disciple, Timothy was awarded his own room in the Workshop away from everyone else which meant that if something were to happen, it would take some time for anyone to arrive.

Letting out the equivalent of a roar that a domineering peerless dragon in the skies would sound like while approaching a prey, Timothy after letting loose every last bit of battle qi within his body was able to finally make his breakthrough. The Grand Master had the students leave immediately as he checked on Timothy's condition before telling the teacher who remained to get the school doctor and let him know that he may be needed. Timothy from the shock of compressing his breakthrough for so long had blacked out but all his vitals looked to be fine but the Grand Master was not an expert in medicine or the human body so he was not sure if something was in fact very wrong!

Three days later Timothy had woken up in the Grey Imperial Academy's Infirmary and was sleeping in a chair beside his bed was Nora and on his right side were Andrew and Ian. It was dark outside which meant that whatever occurred, at least classes ended for the day. Andrew was the first to wake up as he startled everyone else in the room as the academy's doctor checked out Timothy's body to make sure that he was alright. Timothy was told he had been out cold for three days but after receiving a deep and passionate kiss from Nora, he withdrew the heart shaped shield from his own storage ring on his finger.

And so just like that, Timothy was now a true rank three dual expert which meant that he was now able to do even more things including visiting the outside world on missions on behalf of the Grey Imperial Academy! In theory, when he became a rank three mage, Timothy had the qualifications to head out into the outside world with an instructor and several fellow students. However, the artifact made him promise that until he reached the third rank as a warrior as well, he would not do this in order to make sure that his safety would be completely guaranteed.