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By obtaining an SS-Rank magic core, we’d be able to quickly evolve and synthesize our skills. We could also sell it, but currently it’d be better to use it for other means.

“Rir, let’s make good use of this magic core.”
“Woof, woof… It’s an SS-Rank magic core…” she was rubbing her cheeks against it.
“Hey~, Rir?”
“Oh, my apologies, Master. You’re right, let’s use it.”

Now, how to go ’bout this?

First things first, I’ll synthesize Appraisal Master and Harvest Master. Synthesizin’ each of those two skills together with the five 1-star skills of the same type, that is.
By doin’ that, I’ll be able to create Appraisal King and Harvest King.

I quickly performed the synthesis. Due to the point overflow, both skills were already maxed out. In total, that used up one B-, one A-, and one S-Rank magic core.

This left us with eight¹ S-Rank magic cores.

At this point, it was the books’ turn again. Towards the end, a series of 4-star weapon skills with the name “Secret … Technique” were mentioned. They had apparently consulted with Kruzel, one of this country’s knight commanders, and an SSS-Ranker called Gilmars on how to create them. I absolutely wanted Rir to learn those skills.

As for how to synthesize them… To put it in Gilmar’s words, it was haphazard. “Just jam every last SK2 skill you got into the synthesis, and you’ll obtain it…” that had been the man’s comment. There was no proper synthesis recipe. And that went for the whole “Secret Technique” series.

For now, I’ll just have her put in Great Axemanship and every other SK2 skill she got.

“Rir, could you try synthesizin’ your Great Axemanship together with whatever SK2 skills you like?”
“Huh? Uhm… sure, understood.”

Some time later, she told me that she found a combination that would result in “Secret Prison Axe Technique”.

I had her perform the synthesis. It required one S-Rank magic core (and a bunch of A-Rank and lower ones) to create, and then 400 SKP. Obviously, she maxed it out directly.

“Rir, try to find a combination for the others, too…”
“U-Understood!”

After that, she haphazardly continued to try combinations with “Secret Prison Axe Technique” as the base, and managed to add “Secret Roaring Axe Technique” and “Secret Extreme Axe Technique” to her arsenal. Just changing the order of the synthesis ingredients was apparently enough to get these two skills.

All required the same amount of magic cores and SKP as the first one she made. She created them and then maxed them out.

There was one skill remaining… Rir had a ton of other SK2 skills, so I told her to max those out and try the synthesis again. With this, she managed to create the last skill, “Secret Imperial Axe Technique”, without any further issues. She maxed that one out, too.

“Somehow, it feels as if I’ve gotten incredibly strong…”
“That so? Try swingin’ your axe a bit. At those trees around us.”
“Alright. Master, it might be dangerous, so please take some distance.”

I gave her some space in accordance with her warning. She then readied her iron axe and, after muttering a skill name, swung it.

All the trees in a vast range were chopped down at once. From the looks of it, she even chopped down some in places that shouldn’t have been affected.
That’s some insane power…

The one who ended up most surprised was Rir herself.

“Rir… what was that just now?”
“The first skill of ‘Secret Extreme Axe Technique’… I didn’t think it’d be this strong… Just how did this happen?”
“That was the attack you just unleashed, y’know.”
“Well… yeah. That’s true…”

She produced that kind of effect with a super cheap iron axe. What would happen with a better weapon?
…That’s it, we still got four S-Rank magic cores left. I’ll have her create an axe summoning skill, like the one for my sword.

“Alright, Rir! Now, let’s make a skill that lets you summon an axe. An S-Rank one.”
“Huh…? But what about your part of the magic cores, Master?”
“It’s all good. I got enough already, and we’ll probably find more SS-Rank magic cores.”

Simply by shootin’ my magic at that orb thingy, I’ll get legend grade stuff. We’ll probably get at least one of these cores every ten rounds.

“Woof… If you say so, Master…”
“So, Rir. What kind of attribute would you like your axe to have? From the image I have of you, you feel like a wind person…”
“That’s fine for me, I guess. Though I’d also like to have the fire you always use…”
“Gotcha.”

An S-Rank axe summoning skill with the fire and wind attribute. How to best synthesize this?

To start with… One of the Secret Technique skills as the base. Which one to use… Just on whim, let’s take Secret Roaring Axe Technique.
Synthesize that with Wind and Fire Magic… and finally Secret Extreme Axe Technique.

Said combination resulted in an A-Rank skill called “Roaring Axe of the Extreme Fiery Wind Summoning Magic”. While the name sounded like some S-Rank skill, it was only A-Rank. Rir said that she’d be satisfied with this, but the goal was S-Rank. I wouldn’t compromise on that.

I had her use the “Roaring Axe of the Extreme Fiery Gale Summoning Magic”, in which she had allocated 150 SKP to make it usable for synthesis, as the base and combine it with Fire Magic, Wind Magic, Secret Extreme Axe Technique, Secret Roaring Axe Technique, and finally all the stat modifying skills (like Stronger Arm) she had.

By spending three S- and eight A-Rank magic cores, she was able to create an S-Rank (sub-rank 18) skill with the somewhat overblown name “Booming Axe of the Extreme Blazing Gale Grand Summoning Magic”. It required 750 SKP to max out, which cut it a bit close, but she still had enough points left to allocate.

Yep, that’s about it for most of the SS-Rank magic core and Rir’s SKP. I’ll keep mum that this started to get fun while we worked on it².

“Should I try summoning it?”
“Sure thing, show it to me.”

Rir summoned the axe. It was a truly splendid piece with a similar feel to my sword. Even on a single glance, you could immediately see that this wasn’t some tool for cutting down trees, but a weapon. It had a light yellow-green color with a red pattern on top of it. Both its shape and the decorations on it were lavish and magnificent.

…Just lookin’ at this axe, it seems impossible to associate it with Rir.

“Wow… W-What do you think, Master?”
“It’s amazin’… super cool.”
“You’re right… Come on, Master! Let’s do another round! I want to try out these powers you chose for me!”

Author’s note:
Stat screens of Shuu and Rir at the end of the chapter:

TL notes:
Seeing just how far a single SS-Rank core gets the two of them kind of puts into perspective how extraordinary 5-star skills like Alim’s Item Master are, which usually require one of those to create. Also, it’s fun to see the trend of “just throw in anything you got and see if you’ll get the skill” continue for the Secret Technique skills.

1. It says 7 cores left in the original, but there should be 8 left at this point.
2. The original is 途中で楽しくなってきたのは内緒だ. Thanks to Kemm for explaining how this sentence works.