My Overpowered Bunny Girls

Chapter 17: 17. The Grandmaster’s Forge

Nathan woke to sunlight streaming through the thin apartment curtains and the distinct sensation of something small and fuzzy sitting on his face.

"Mirko."

’Yes, Master?’

"Get off my face."

’But your face is warm.’

Nathan exhaled slowly through his nose. Some things, he reflected, did not change with evolution. A bunny, whether F-Rank or E-Rank, whether four-legged or humanoid, remained fundamentally committed to being a nuisance before breakfast.

Mirko hopped off and landed on the pillow beside his head, Then Nathan sat up slowly, wincing as his ribs protested. The healing potion had done its work, but the body remembered trauma even after the wounds closed. He would be sore for another day at least.

His status panel flickered open with a thought.

[Name: Nathan Cross]

[Class: Archer]

[Level: 12]

Twelve. In a single day, he’d climbed from Level 1 to Level 12. Most graduates took weeks to reach double digits. Some took months.

The Bunny Girl System had changed everything, he was sure of it. He wasn’t too arrogant to believe all this was just from his hard work alone.

Nathan closed the panel and swung his legs off the bed. Lucy was already gone, she’d left for school an hour ago, judging by the cold half-cup of tea on the kitchen counter and the note beside it.

Brother!

I made you some tea but you were sleeping like a dead person so I didn’t wake you. Don’t forget to eat!

- Lucy

P.S. Tell Mirko I say good morning and that I will hug her AGAIN when I get back.

Nathan smiled faintly and set the note aside.

’Tell the tiny human I accept her tribute of future hugs,’ Mirko said, having hopped onto the kitchen counter to read over his shoulder.

---

The Tower Climbing Association headquarters occupied an entire city block in the capital’s central district. Nathan had seen it before from a distance but standing before it now, with Climber status freshly registered to his name, the building felt different.

The architecture was old, far older than the academy or the guild halls. Stone foundations that predated the Towers themselves had been reinforced with modern steel and mana-conductive alloys. The main entrance was a massive arch carved with reliefs of humanity’s first Climbers: men and women in outdated armor, their summons frozen mid-battle against creatures Nathan didn’t recognize.

Above the arch, engraved in letters that glowed faintly with residual mana:

[TO CLIMB IS TO DEFY. TO FALL IS TO LEARN. TO RISE AGAIN IS TO CONQUER]

Nathan read the words twice before stepping through.

The interior was vast and surprisingly busy. Climbers moved through the main hall in streams, some in polished guild uniforms, others in battered combat gear fresh from a Tower descent. Summons of every shape and size accompanied their masters: a floating eye trailing electricity, a stone golem small enough to ride on a shoulder, a feathered serpent coiled around a woman’s arm.

Nathan felt Mirko stir within his summon mark. He had decided to keep her there for now. The Grandmaster of Smithing was a professional contact, not a social visit, and walking around with a cute bunny in his arms or a volumptous bunny girl by his side would only draw more attention than he already had.

He approached the reception desk, where a woman with sharp features and a D-Rank Stone Hound resting at her feet looked up from a holographic interface.

"Name and purpose?"

"Nathan Cross. I’m here to see the Grandmaster of Smithing. Headmaster Wilhelm sent me."

The receptionist’s fingers paused over the interface. Her eyes flicked up to his face, then back down, then up again.

"Nathan Cross," she repeated. "The Tutorial Realm leader."

"...Yes."

"Huh." She typed something. "Third floor, forge wing. Take the east elevator. And..." A small smirk crossed her face. "...good luck. The Grandmaster’s in a mood today."

Nathan wasn’t sure whether "good luck" was sincere or sarcastic but he decided not to ask.

---

The forge wing smelled of metal and ash. The walls were lined with weapon racks... swords, spears, axes, bows, and stranger implements Nathan couldn’t immediately identify. Display cases held items behind mana-shielded glass, each labeled with rank, material composition, and the name of the smith who forged them.

At the far end of the hall, a massive set of iron doors stood partially open. Heat radiated from within in visible waves.

Nathan pushed through.

The forge was a chaotic scene organized into function. Anvils of varying sizes dominated the center of the room. Mana-forges glowed along the walls, each one calibrated to a different temperature. Tools hung from ceiling-mounted racks, some still glowing from recent use. And in the middle of it all, hunched over a workbench with her back to the door, was the Grandmaster.

Nathan had expected someone old. Male. And Probably bearded. The kind of gruff dwarf-archetype that fantasy stories had conditioned him to expect.

The woman who turned around was none of those things.

She looked maybe thirty, with sharp red eyes and black hair pulled back in a ponytail. Her arms were bare with lean muscle. Burn scars traced patterns across her forearms and disappeared beneath the leather apron she wore. A pair of tinted goggles rested on her forehead. free𝑤ebnovel.com

"You’re the bunny kid."

Nathan blinked. "I..yes. Nathan Cross."

"I know your name. Everyone knows your name." She set down the tool she had been holding and wiped her hands on a rag. "I’m Vex. Grandmaster of Smithing, Senior Forgemaster of the TCA, and apparently the person who has to give away an A-Grade item to an F-Grade Magic aptitude Archer who’s been a Climber for less than twenty-four hours."

Her tone wasn’t hostile. But It was... assessing. Like she was trying to figure out whether he was worth the resources she was about to expend.

"Headmaster Wilhelm said..."

"I know what Wilhelm said." Vex crossed her arms. "I also know you cleared the Berserk Ape with an F-Rank bunny summon. Which means either you’re the luckiest idiot alive, or you’re hiding something interesting."

Nathan kept his expression neutral. "Maybe I’m just good at strategy." frёewebnoѵēl.com

"Uh-huh." Vex studied him for a long moment. Then she snorted. "Fine. Keep your secrets. It’s not my job to pry. My job is to make sure you don’t die on your first climb because you’re running around with substandard gear."

She turned and walked toward a reinforced vault door set into the far wall. "Follow me. And don’t touch anything. Some of this stuff will melt your hand off before you feel the heat."

---

The vault was smaller than Nathan expected. Maybe fifteen feet square, with shelves lining every wall. Each shelf held only a few items, each item resting on a mana-dampening cushion with a small identification plaque.

"A-Grade doesn’t mean what most people think it means," Vex said, gesturing for him to enter. "It’s not just ’stronger than B-Grade.’ An item’s rank reflects its complexity, its rarity, and how much punishment it can take before breaking. An A-Grade sword isn’t just sharp... it’ll stay sharp after cutting through dragon scale. An A-Grade armor isn’t just tough...it’ll keep you alive when a spell should’ve turned you to ash."

She stopped in the center of the room and turned to face him.

"The Association’s reward to you is one A-Grade item of your choosing. But I’m not letting you choose blind. You’re going to understand what you’re picking, and you’re going to pick based on what actually helps you survive."

Nathan nodded. "I appreciate that."

"Don’t appreciate it yet, F-Grade. You might hate your options."

Vex walked to the first shelf and lifted a bow. It was beautiful, dark wood that seemed to shine in the light, strung with a silver cord that vibrated faintly with mana.

"Sky-Piercer." She held it out for him to see. "Longbow. Increases arrow velocity by roughly forty percent. Penetration scales with distance, the farther the shot travels, the harder it hits. It’s Downside is that it’s a longbow. It has a Heavy draw weight. Slow to reload. And if something gets in your face, you’re better off using it as a club."

She set it down and moved to a glass case containing a set of forearm armour.

"Voidguard Armguards." She tapped the glass. "Light armor. It absorbs a percentage of incoming physical damage and converts it into a small mana refund. It won’t stop a direct hit from a boss, but it’ll keep your mana reserves from bottoming out during extended fights. For someone with F-Grade aptitude..." She glanced at him meaningfully. "...that would matter... Alot."

Nathan kept his face completely stiff, She had done her homework on him.

Vex moved to the third option, resting on a pedestal at the center of the vault.

"Leyline Ring." A simple silver band. Unremarkable compared to the bow and the armor. "An Accessory that Passively regenerates mana at roughly double your natural recovery rate. More importantly..."

She picked it up and turned it over, revealing a small socket on the inner band. "...it’s upgradeable. Slot in the right materials, and this thing can scale with you. Most A-Grade items are static, they’re as strong as they’ll ever be the day you get them. But This one grows."

Nathan’s eyes lingered on the ring.

Then Vex moved to a final shelf, this one set slightly apart from the others. The items here weren’t displayed as prominently. They looked older and Stranger.

"And then there’s this category," Vex said, her tone shifting slightly. "The ’we’re not entirely sure what these do’ section."

Nathan raised an eyebrow. "The Association stores items it doesn’t understand?"

"The Association stores items it doesn’t fully understand. There’s a difference." She picked up a small, unassuming stone that glowed faintly green. "This was recovered as loot from a Tower thirty years ago. It reacts to summoned beasts, makes them stronger temporarily. But it also reacts to unusual summons differently. Familiars, spirits, demi-humans..." Her red eyes met his. "...maybe rabbits."

Nathan’s pulse ticked up slightly. "What does it do for them exactly?"

"We don’t know. The last person who tested it had a standard wolf summon. The wolf got a minor stat boost for about five minutes. But the readings suggested the effect wasn’t meant for standard summons." She set the stone down. "If you’ve got something unusual... this might do something interesting. Or it might do nothing. That’s the gamble."

Nathan stared at the small green stone.

His mind raced through the options.

The bow was for raw power. Offense. Kill things before they killed you. But it didn’t address his fundamental weakness: limited mana, limited endurance.

The armguards were for survival. Sustainability. A tool for drawn-out fights. But they were reactive, not proactive.

The Leyline Ring was for growth. It fixed his mana problem in a way that would only improve over time. For someone with F-Grade aptitude, doubling mana recovery was effectively doubling his combat endurance.

The mysterious stone was... unknown. A gamble. But it would react to unusual summons. And Mirko was nothing if not unusual.

’Master.’

Mirko’s voice echoed quietly through their mental link. She’d been silent since they entered the forge, but apparently she’d been listening.

’The ring.’

Nathan paused. ’what?’

’I am a Knight now. My purpose is to stand between you and danger. If your mana runs dry, I cannot do my duty.’ A pause. ’Also, the stone smells funny.’

Nathan almost smiled. ’Your descriptions of scents continue to be extremely informative, Mirko.’

’I am a font of wisdom, master! Hehehe’

"Made your choice?" Vex asked, watching his expression.

Nathan reached forward and picked up the silver band.

"The Leyline Ring."

Vex nodded slowly, as though she had expected that answer. "Smart choice. Most kids your age would’ve grabbed the bow." She took the ring from him and pressed it into a small engraving device on her workbench. "I’m imprinting it with your mana signature. After this, it won’t work for anyone else. Just a Standard security measure."

The device glowed softly. And after a moment, Vex handed the ring back.

"It’s yours. Take care of it, and it’ll take care of you." She paused, then added, almost reluctantly: "That bunny of yours...your summoning event at your graduation academy? It Had an interesting mana signature and phenomenal. I’ve been doing this for twenty years so i know what normal summons feel like. And Yours was definitely not normal."

Nathan slipped the ring onto his finger. The metal was cool against his skin, and he felt the mana regeneration kick in almost immediately, a faint, steady current where before there had been a trickle.

[Ding! Magic Aptitude: F-Grade+]

"I’ll keep that in mind."

Vex snorted. "See that you do. And Cross?"

He paused at the door.

"Don’t die on your first climb. It makes both me and the Association look bad."