Bell Winters]
It has been 16 months since I first came to Orario, and despite the inherent danger of the Adventurer lifestyle, I had never once even come close to experiencing death. Hell, even in my past life, the closest the Grim Reaper's embrace ever came to grabbing onto me was when a rocket impacted the opposite side of a rebar-reinforced T-Wall while I was taking a shit in the porta-john.
It scared the literal shit out of me, and while it had been pulse-pounding at the time, the years after that I could always recount that story with a smile on my face and a laugh on my lips. If the rocket-jockey had aimed the rocket just 1/10th of a degree or so to the left he could have got me, with my literal pants down while dropping a deuce. It was something that could have come out of one of the Commando-Comedies of the 1980's starring Charlie Sheen.
It was hilarious even if it had been terrifying.
My first brush with death in the Dungeon was far less hilarious and far more terrifying.
After my 30-day Dungeon ban had been lifted by Hephaestus, I found that the amount of time I could spend in the Dungeon had been cut by a fairly significant margin- my 4 to 6 hour daily excursions had been curbed to 2 to 4 hours three days a week; maybe four days a week if I could cajole Tsubaki into coming with me.
If I am being honest, it shocked me how much just 30 days of not fighting for my life could degrade my skills. It took me the better part of two months to get back to where I had been before due to the greatly reduced hours and days I could go in and combat the monsters- fighting is not like riding a bike, and it took a concerted effort to get myself back up to par. By the third month, I was back to where I had been previously and I was back on track to improving once more.
Hephaestus had me handling a variety of different smithing projects, from making door handles and doorknobs to handling the more time-consuming steps of manufacturing the blades that the familia provided to the Guild for their "Partnership Program" where they sold weapons to the Dungeon Guild practically at-cost. Heat-treatment and tempering, grinding, and sharpening - chances are if you were a poor Adventurer and purchased a Low-Steel blade from the Guild because it was the best you could afford, then chances are I had worked on whatever longsword, shortsword, dagger, spearpoint, or arrowhead you were wielding in the Dungeon to slay monsters.
One of my great contributions to the Hephaestus familia was a jig that could be clamped onto the edge of a workbench that held whatever grit whetstone was needed in the sharpening process and could help you put the exact edge on whatever the weapon required using a simple bronze thumb screw and wingnut; a shortsword with a half-bevel needed a 13-degree edge, a longsword with a full-grind bevel needed a 15-degree edge, a dagger with a short-bevel needed a 10-degree edge. Thanks to the free-floating arm that could be manipulated easily on a well-lubricated ball joint, even things like axes with curved blade faces could receive the same edge all along the length with a single continuous stroke. The little contraption saved the Apprentices like me a boatload of time.
Thank you Facebook for the hundreds of ads that I didn't want to ever see but eventually saw anyways for helping me on my blacksmithing journey. However, since I was the newest of the Apprentices, I didn't get to use my own invention, because that was cheating. So I had to learn how to sharpen everything properly by hand first, and when I'd proven that I could get the edges just right every time, then I was allowed to utilize my time-saving "invention".
It wasn't all bad, however, as Hephaestus let me patent it and I now get a few thousand valis from the familia in royalties every time we make one- Mia Grand purchased four of them for her restaurant's kitchen knives, which made me smile as that was a glowing recommendation not just from one of the city's famous Level 6 Adventurers, but it was also from a fellow chef. That made me smile quite a bit.
So, yes, the reduction in Dungeon time brought about an improvement in my knowledge and skills as a smith, and it gave me time to practice my Magic more; I managed to get my cast time down to just under three minutes for my Soothing Touch spell. It was roughly a half-a-minute improvement, but it was still an improvement.
That was when I finally realized that despite having many more years before "canon" even started, I was finally running into the wall that TIME represented. There were only so many hours in the day, only so many days in the week, and only so many weeks in the year. If you focused on one thing, then inevitably the skills in another area would suffer; while one didn't need to continually work on one's body to have their Strength, Endurance, Dexterity, Agility, and Magic be maintained, as the falna kept them stable no matter how much time passed, the rate of growth for one's personal skills is directly correlated to how much time they can spend on improving them.
Spend more time in the Dungeon? Then my blacksmithing skills would grow more slowly and so would my Magic.
Spend less time in the Dungeon? Then my blacksmithing skills improve as I can take more projects and accrue more experience, however, my Magic would only improve in very small but still measurable increments.
It was a delicate balancing act for me that meant I needed to keep to a strict regimen on what I could and could not accomplish. The issue was that I already had a strict regimen- everything I did from the moment I woke up to the moment my head hit the pillow was laid out for me, with small gaps in time here and there to account for things running over.
Without being able to find a teacher to help me with my magic- during which I learned that not even my rabbit-like cuteness could win over some 'pretty Mage onee-sans', even when I offered to pay for their tutelage- advancing in my studies was dubious at best, so I was forced to continue playing it safe there. Trying to get my blacksmithing instructors or Hephaestus to push me through a more condensed training montage was utterly unthinkable when everything I did was steeped in tradition with over three hundred years of experience showing that doing things "this way worked".
It was so laughable that I chided myself thoroughly for even thinking of it. Just like fighting, blacksmithing was a process, one where you took orders and odd job requests that slowly but surely added something new to your blacksmithing 'tool-kit' each and every time you did it. I was learning something new every day, and even with the falna improving my memory retention I had to sacrifice almost an hour of my magic training at the end of the day to write down what I learned, utilizing pages upon pages of parchment to start by creating what I was going to call the "Blacksmith's Bible".
It was going to be one of my major contributions to the familia and if I ever took the Captaincy from Tsubaki in the coming decades it was going to be required reading for every future Apprentice and incoming smith.
I felt like I was slowing down, which was an awful feeling when I was already more stagnant than pretty much every other Adventurer in the familia. After a few days of agonizing over a solution to my issues, I figured that the best that I could do is try and fit higher quality Dungeon time into the few hours I had available. That could only be accomplished by fighting tougher opponents and advancing in the Dungeon.
I felt some trepidation when Tsubaki and I finally made it down to the 5th Floor of the Dungeon, and already I could tell that there were a lot of small, tiny differences in the floor that the Guides I had read from the Guild had pointed out. The Floor was slightly darker overall, the bluish hues of the ambient lighting darkening to an inky purple, and where the walls had once been flat and straight there were now cracks, crevices, and protrusions that could hide the new monster native to this Floor: the War Shadow.
I remember the scene when Bell Cranel let Bete's barking get under his skin and he charged off into the Dungeon, killing monsters left and right with no regard to his own safety. The stupid bastard ran into a Monster Party that was comprised of like twenty War Shadows and the fucker somehow managed to kill them all.
That scene, in particular, I felt set the tone for various Danmachi fics I'd read in my previous life to make the War Shadow out to be just as much of a chump as the regular Goblins and Kobolds. Canon also failed to mention the Capsian Moths- grasshopper-like insect monsters the size of a small dog that released a cloud of powder when attacking that I could only compare to CS gas.
The shit irritated the fuck out of your eyes, made your nose run, your skin itch and burn, and it amped up your skin's sensitivity to the point where just wearing your armor was enough to make you want to take it off and cry. Thankfully, unlike CS gas, a good dousing of water neutralized the effects, as did the Soothing Touch spell. However, in a fight, having your vision blur over from the tears streaming out of your eyes, your breathing thrown off because you're hacking up a lung, and every cut and scrape you were experiencing get amped up to 11 made everything much more dangerous.
The Capsian Moths combined with the War Shadow's soundless footsteps and ability to conceal its form within the shadows the Floor provided really amped up the difficulty for me in a way that was overwhelming. For someone whose stats were frozen just outside of the range needed to navigate this Floor, it was a hellish training experience, but if I'm being honest, it was sort of fun. It forced me to move differently, to think less and either react better or be more proactive; I could no longer sit back and wait for the Goblins and Kobolds to make a mistake and then capitalize with a counter-attack, no, I had to go on the offensive or I would be pinned in by the Gobos and Kobos, disrupted by the Capsian Moths, and then finished off by a War Shadow.
More than a few times Tsubaki had to intervene and bail me out of a sticky situation, but the more I fought on the 5th Floor the less she needed to. I was learning their tricks, their patterns, and movements. I also learned that the Gobos and Kobos on the 5th Floor were a fair bit stronger and faster than their previous Floor counterparts, but with Adventurers getting frequent status updates that sort of muddled with their ability to properly gauge just how much stronger their opponents were. The interesting thing about it was that the Adventurers advanced in strength more quickly than the monsters did going down the Upper Floors, at least until they hit the 13th Floor, and that was where the Almiraj and Hellhounds showed off their lethality with group tactics and larger leaps in strength and ferocity as one advanced to the Minotaurs on the 17th Floor.
Still, I was at a wall when it came to my stats, a self-imposed wall, but a wall nonetheless. I could only improve in skill, and it was here fighting a small Monster Party with Tsubaki watching over me that I reached the ragged edge of my current limits; I could advance no further in the Dungeon with skill alone, and it was a most painful lesson to learn.
This particular Monster Party had been a Pass Parade, a small group of Adventurers from a familia neither myself nor Tsubaki could recognize, but at least they had the decency to stop when my Captain identified herself.
They were a trio of teenage female humans and a cute little cheinthrope with a sleepy expression. Her face tickled my memory, but I had more important things to focus on. "Tsubaki, I'm off."
"Fine, but be careful. I'll tend to them."
While the half-dwarf administered a High Potion to their most wounded member, I dropped my pack and drew my bow. Arrows flashed out at every target that ran around the corner, and I counted ten kills before I moved to close the distance- moving forward to meet and engage the monsters so that I had plenty of room to retreat rearward towards the spacious cavern and Tsubaki.
I managed to put down two Capsian Moths before I was forced to slide my bow over my shoulder and into the little leather clamp holster in the middle of my back to prevent it from moving around as I fought; my steel-toed boot pulping a Kobold's skull as my shortsword flashed out and removed a Goblin's head from its shoulders.
Goblin leaping- side-step and counter with a downward chop; good strike, the blade slipped between the discs of the monster's spine where the resistance was lowest to cleave it in two; had it hit the spine itself I might have chipped my Low-Steel blade edge and introduced microfractures.
War Shadow from the right- prioritize removal!
Kick Goblin in the chest, ward away a Kobold to make space, dash forward and through the gap made- thrust into the magic stone and immediately disengage; I was in the middle of the group now, and I had to pour every last ounce of willpower and skill I had accrued over the past 16 months into killing every monster in my path so that I could return to my position at the mouth of the tunnel. I gained a few cuts here and there, but my leather and chainmail did their jobs in keeping me from receiving more, and my retreat was rather timely as two more CS Moths landed right where I had been only a few seconds before; they were likely late additions to this Monster Party.
I threw my shortsword and speared two Kobolds together with it, freeing up my hands to draw my bow and three arrows- those CS Moths had to go; they were Priority Number One, while the War Shadows were Number Two, and everything else could be killed at my leisure. My legs carried me into the air so that I could get an angle, and my three arrows flew- one speared the insectoid monster through the head, killing it instantly, and the other pierced its abdomen and pinned it to the floor; my third arrow was turned towards the closest monster and then loosed.
When my feet touched the ground my bow was already holstered again and my twin daggers were drawn, and it was back to killing. Step back, thrust and pierce. Duck and thrust up, let the Kobold's forward momentum disembowel itself as it sailed over me.
Pain shot up my leg as a Goblin clamps its jaws around my calf where the leather for my boots and leg guards is at its thinnest- stab it through the head and take a few seconds to pry its jaws open by using the hilt of my dagger on its jaw hinge; sure, I have to defend myself from a static position with an awkward body posture, but it sure beats doing something silly like ripping my calf free along with a good chunk of my leg along with it.
I could have just stabbed the stone and been done with it- the less experienced me would have done it immediately without a single care for the valis lost, but I was at the peak of my game and more skilled than any four Adventurers combined of the same Level even with my handicapped Stats.
I was confident in my ability to defend myself while extricating from the Goblin's jaws, and while I was right- four more monsters died trying to capitalize- it allowed the most 5th Floor's dangerous opponent to pull one over on me.
The Capsian Moth that I had pinned to the Dungeon floor leaped forwards- freeing itself- and managed to get within spitting distance of me, and that was my downfall. By the time the dagger left my hand and speared it through the face, the insect had already flapped its wings and sent a small cloud of powder at me.
Leaping back only carried me out of the initial 'blast radius', but since this was a tunnel, the powder could only travel two directions- towards me and away from me. With the powerful wings on the monster, it was pretty easy to tell where the majority of it went.
My eyes immediately began tearing up, and it was hell forcing myself to slow my breathing to a stop so that I wouldn't get it in my lungs; my nose had already started leaking like a faucet by the time I resumed my battle with the remaining monsters. I continued to give ground, the skin on my face was on fire, and the powder was already irritating me at the joints where I lacked armor entirely. I started taking more wounds as my vision blurred with tears- I lost my left forearm guard entirely as a Kobold's fangs cut through the leather straps holding it in place; the teeth leaving deep gashes as he yanked it away.
Getting hurt... hurts.
The greatest failing of the falna in my humble opinion is that it does nothing to dull pain unless your Endurance is so much higher than whatever is attempting to damage you- Ottar could let a Minotaur wail on him and he would feel nothing at all, and Tsubaki didn't feel a thing when she snapped my Low-Steel dagger on her abs. However, if something could injure you, then you got to experience the full amount of pain that any other mortal could feel; the difference being the pain had to be immense to counteract the falna's Endurance, which meant that passing out from such immense pain really wasn't an option unless it was so debilitating that it could overcome the falna itself.
It left you with only one avenue for survival, and that is to fight through the pain.
I'd been cut, bitten, crunched on, kicked so hard that my ribs broke, among many, many other injuries during my years as an Adventurer, but nothing had prepared me for the sheer agony of having a War Shadow stuff his tri-clawed hand into my gut and attempt to pull my entrails out.
This one was smarter than the others, always at the edge of the fight, never taking any action until it knew for certain that I could not defend myself; most of the wounds I had taken in my retreat towards the cavern were from him- the bastard used his fellow monsters as a screen to lash out. His claws were easily able to part the leather and chainmail of my armor as they were both mundanely fashioned and made of mundane materials.
A Kobold surged forward and I swung wide and hard, my dagger taking the top half of his head off while another Goblin attempted to take me out at the legs like a linebacker; the heel of my boot crumpled his skull to reward his efforts. However, even with my awkward position, my left fist was more than capable of intercepting a charging Kobold, the dog-like monster's neck snapping as my knuckles impacted it.
It was then- with my knife far away, my other fist extended, and my heel planted in a Goblin's skull- that the War Shadow slipped into the fight once more. His three claws entered my body just beneath my belly button, and he curled them upward towards my heart.
I honestly don't remember how I was able to grasp his wrist so quickly, but my punching arm rechambered and caught him before he could flex up and end me; my small hand crumpled the limb, and my knife quickly reversed itself in my palm so that I could sink it into the monster's forehead.
Just before my steel parted his flesh, for a tenth of a second, I felt the War Shadow. We were connected, we were one. I could feel the anger, the hatred, the sheer boiling rage it felt at my mere existence. There was no intelligence, only cunning. There was no way unintelligent monsters and mortals could ever co-exist. It was kill or be killed.
It was one thing to know that, but it was another thing to know.
The War Shadow turned to dust upon its demise, but it left a parting gift within me. I could feel it, a single War Shadow Claw floating in the remains of my mangled intestines. The fucker.
That was when the pain hit.
My vision went white, but I somehow managed to remain standing as the sheer agony of simply doing so beggared belief. It took all of my willpower to drag my eyes away from the few coils of my small intestine that were attempting to escape my body and survey the battlefield; the four-man party that we had saved were back up and fighting off the last dozen or so of stragglers while Tsubaki strode up and cupped my head before lowering me to the floor.
I could barely breathe, and as much as I wanted to pass out the falna was there to keep the black from encroaching on my vision. I brought a hand away from my belly and intercepted the High Potion that the half-dwarf tried to bring to my lips. "-Ki. Ki. Ki. W-wuh, w-wuh-ait. Stahp. Stahp. Stahp. Its s-ss-sssstill in me. A-a-a-a Cuh-cuh-c-uhlaw."
The woman's lip curled into a snarl as her lone visible eye scrunched shut. "Hey, you Pass Paraders. I'm going to need some space. Keep them off of me."
H-hey n-now. Don't get mad at them, Tsubaki.
"Bite down." My Captain stuffed something leathery between my teeth and pulled out a dagger from... from somewhere. What was she going to do-
My eyes lost sight as she stuffed my small intestines back into my belly through the holes and then I felt even more pain as she dragged the knife along me to open up the wound enough to stick her fingers inside me. I don't know how long she rooted around in my guts for, but I never felt so relieved to see that War Shadow claw covered in my viscera clenched between her fingers like one would a playing card.
The High Potion was stuffed into my lips the very next second and the pain faded away quickly as my intestine mended. It was a strange feeling, the sheer itching that quickly healing wounds brings, but it was a welcome change. The only thing I didn't like about the whole process was the lone hole that remained in my stomach as the potion forced the intestinal fluid and blood out of my body and onto the Dungeon floor before the hole too finally sealed.
I was exhausted and more than a little chilly as somewhere between the time I informed Tsubaki of the War Shadow Claw stuck in my body and her drawing her dagger to make a larger incision the half-dwarf had torn my cuirass and chainmail off of my body like a Gym Bro would his t-shirt. Even with a stamina potion and some water, my Captain had to carry me out of the Dungeon on her back, and she enlisted the aid of the Adventurers we saved to carry all of my shit for me.
They walked with us from the Dungeon all of the way back to the Hephaestus Familia Forge District before she released them; upon handing my stuff over to my familia members, the Adventurers were insistent that we accompany them to their God and have him look me over.
That was when I first met Miach and realized that the cute cheinthrope girl whose visage kept tickling my mind was Naaza Erisuis.
Goddess, she was adorable!
After that little incident, Hephaestus had been adamant about forcing a Status Update on me, and I agreed wholeheartedly.
"I was going to ask for an update anyway, Hephaestus-sama." I bowed my head low; even after years of living in this world, using the honorifics made me feel utterly silly, "I finally reached a wall where my skills can no longer carry me any further. Maybe if I were older and had greater reach I could have come out of that engagement in better condition, but as I am now there will be no further advancement in the Dungeon without greater stats and better equipment."
The Goddess gazed at me critically with a neigh-unreadable expression on her face, but the crossed legs and arms were all I needed to see that even if I wanted to hold off, she would find some way to disabuse me of my bullheaded notions. Tsubaki was seated in a large bean bag-like chair with a similarly stern face, but the woman was more focused on concealing the trembling of her left hand. The same hand that she used to pull the War Shadow Claw out of me.
My Goddess let out a soft sigh and nodded her head. "Good, good. That is... good. I'm glad that you understand your limitations so well, Bell-kun."
It took me some time to finally wear her down and have her use my given name. Being called "Winters" by my own Goddess just felt so impersonal to me, I didn't like it at all.
I pulled off the plain linen shirt I had changed into after the bath that Miach and his nurse-assistants had given me and sat down in the Update Chair; the cool leather against my flesh made my skin pebble, which only heightened the sensations I felt when her firey-hot ichor dripped onto my back. The update took quite a while as the Goddess had to sift through five months of Excelia since my last update was when I learned the Soothing Touch healing spell well enough to have it added to a Spell Slot on my falna.
The woman let out a brief sigh as she placed the parchment against my back and transferred everything over. "Well, it appears that your methods have borne you fruit, Bell Winters."
Spoiler: Bell Winters - Level 1
Bell Winters
Level 1 -> Level 2 (Eligible)
Strength: 535 D -> 999 S
Endurance: 566 D -> 999 S
Dexterity: 592 D -> 999 S
Agility: 598 D -> 999 S
Magic: 511 D -> 956 S
I felt my heart soar, but it was quickly shot down when I turned my head over to my Goddess and saw her stern expression. I swallowed tightly. "One month, and then I'll Rank Up."
I worked my jaw, and thankfully she let me finish my thoughts on my bargain. "I'll only go into the 1st Floor for the Jack Bird and then return each week. I'll focus on my smithing projects and my magic. I'm very, very close to maxing it, Hephaestus-sama. I... I held myself back for a very long time, and I am not going to take this Rank Up now, not after I've come this far."
Her expression softened and she carded her ungloved hand through my hair, her calloused yet wonderfully soft fingers scrubbed over my scalp. "I wouldn't ask you to take the Rank Up, Bell Winters. You're finally at the finish line of your very first race- the end of a monumental project; I would never tell you to give up or turn it in before you finished polishing the blade."
She dropped down onto her knees, her face was so close to mine that I could smell the scent of hot coals and melted steel. Her ruby red eye softly gazed into my own. "I want to see you performing at your very best, my Child, and if you need a month to reach what you feel in your maximum potential, then I will give you that month as long as you don't break your promise to me."
At the end of my 17th month in Orario, I was now firmly 11 years old, and I had finally maxed my Magic stat after performing one hundred casts of Soothing Touch. Honestly, it was simply amazing how much easier it was to control my Mind as it flowed through the weaves of the spell with the additional 445 stat points in my Magic; I cut down the two and a half minutes to just under a minute and a half, and after my Rank Up?
I could cast Soothing Touch right at 40 seconds without my Whisperwood focus, and with it? 27 seconds.
Spoiler: Bell Winters - Level 2
I had "Hunter", "Mage", "Blacksmith", "Abnormal Resist", and "Ranger" as options for my Developmental Abilities after my Rank Up, and while Mage was extremely tempting to pick, I could grab it as my Level 3 instead since the other known Level 3 options weren't nearly as enticing; besides, I believed that Mage was vital to learning the "Concurrent Chanting" skill, and I would really need that going forward. "Mystery" seemed like an excellent pick-up for Level 4 as it synergized well with Blacksmith.
"Ranger" was an interesting one, and I was certain that it stemmed from my time with the Beltor and Rimurad tribes. It was essentially my "Lead the Way" skill in the form of a Developmental Ability that could improve its bonuses over time; according to Hephaestus she had to ask around to try and find out what it did because she had never seen the Ability before- she ended up having to purchase a bottle of Soma for Loki to get her to ask her Children if they'd ever heard of it.
Riveria Ljos Alf was quite familiar with the "Ranger" ability because it was a very common pick for the Elvish Rangers that patrolled the borders of the various nations within her Empire.
That was pretty darn cool in my opinion, but it did sort of feel bad that my Unique Skill was just someone else's Developmental Ability. The fact that it was almost considered a mandatory pick due to its usefulness for an entire Empire's military softened the blow somewhat.
After having Tsubaki tell me about "Hunter" I threw that option right out the window. A Developmental Ability that gave you a preternatural perception of the movements and weaknesses of monsters you faced previously while helping you kill them more easily? That flew in the face of everything I was doing, and would end up gimping me; sure, for the average Jobber in the Dungeon it was a great, maybe even a life-saving choice, but for me?
That would ruin me as preserving the difficulty for as long as possible was what helped me grow far more quickly than everyone else. Sure, time-wise I was 5 years, and 5 months to Level 2... but how many people could say they went from E, F, D, D, I to all 999 S's across the board in 17 months?
No one... and no one would unless I told them; Hephaestus decided to honor my request and keep my training methods in-house. She even went through and began cutting back her monthly status update down to quarterly after my Rank Up; only during an emergency would she allow them to get a Status Update sooner. It would take some time for my (read: Zeus and Hera's) to show fruit, but this would only be a net positive for the familia as it would force the Dungeon Diving members of the familia to slow the fuck down and actually "Get Gud" instead of relying on their superior stats to carry them along.
To celebrate my Rank Up, my Goddess finally let me forge a few weapons for the first time so that I could imbue one of them with the War Shadow Claw that I earned with my new handy-dandy Blacksmith ability.
By a few, I mean a lot.
I spent the whole month of my "Vacay" from the Dungeon making blades, and the next month after that.
I was making three, sometimes four shortswords a day thanks to my improved parameters giving me greater strength with which to pound the steel into shape- cutting down on the number of re-heats I needed to do. The greater Endurance meant that the days of needing to rest every two hours with a salt-water-filled water skin surgically attached to my face were long gone. The additional Dexterity helped me put the blows where I needed them, and the Agility helped me strike with greater frequency.
I only made a single style of shortsword, and I made it over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over again until I was fucking sick of looking at it. Then I made it some more.
Spoiler: Shortsword/ 'Last Laugh'
It was a simple blade, 27 inches in length, and it had a fairly shallow but wide fuller that ran along the center of the blade almost to the tip. The crossguard was fairly short, but it protected the hands like it was supposed to, and the grip was long enough for a hand-and-a-half hold that kept it short enough to not get in the way of one's wrist movements, but long enough that it could be gripped with both hands to deliver a little extra power to a strike.
I learned a lot from Hephaestus and my fellow smiths, like, for example, I thought that the fuller was just there to keep blood away from the handle so that one's grip wouldn't be fouled, but the fuller served an actual purpose. It added rigidity to the blade, keeping it nice and stiff while making the cuts or clashing with another blade- watching one of my fellow Apprentice's crowning achievement, a very beautiful greatsword, bend and stay bent after Hephaestus tried to cut through a pig carcass with it was eye-opening.
One of my shortswords cut almost all the way through when my Goddess handled it, but that was due to a variety of factors, including the fact that I made my swords almost twice as thick; it gave the short blade a little extra heft, but with an Adventurer's strength, the difference between a 4-pound shortsword and a 6.5-pound shortsword was negligible, but the extra thickness gave it much better rigidity and cutting power.
Tsubaki also showed off her Katana and gave me an impromptu lesson on why her blade had two fullers- apparently they whistled slightly when she struck out, and considering I'd been on the opposite side of that blade almost three days a week for 17 months, I knew exactly what she was talking about. If she could hear three whistles - one from each fuller and one from the back edge of the blade as it sliced through the air- then she knew that her grip and swing were perfectly aligned with the strike; Far Eastern styled blades and torsional forces did not go well together, so a proper cut is essential to using them.
I am not going to lie though, when I saw less and less of my shortswords being recycled and were instead going towards the Guild to sell to Adventurers... it was an amazing feeling.
My Goddess- Hephaestus, Goddess of the Forge- thought that my blades were fit to be not only sold but to be sold to the most underserved class of Adventurers in Orario. Sure, I didn't make a single valis off those blades because they were sold at cost, but being able to put my forge-mark onto those blades and hold my head up high whenever I saw Adventurers carrying them on their hips into the Dungeon was just...
Overwhelming.
I worked with Vornir to make an Adamantium stamp, roughly the size of a half-dollar, or a 100 Million Valis Mithril Coin, and I had a simple church bell with a Ranger-Tab styled rocker above it and below it; if you looked closely you would see the words "WINTERS" on the top rocker and "CRANEL" on the bottom.
That was my mark. That was me. That was my way of showing the world that I made this!
Vornir was kind enough to point out that since I had access to my Magic stat, I could include a small bit of Mind into the mark that would get transferred into the stamp upon impact- this would prove that whatever blade was held was a genuine article. Every magical signature was different, and after using it to stamp my first piece, I learned that my mana was Steel Grey with a border of almost a colorless Snow White.
I felt myself tear up looking at it, seeing the marking glow with my colors.
I was Jeremy Winters. I was Bell Cranel. I was Bell Winters.
Even if my experience, knowledge, and memories had somewhere overflowed, like a gallon of grey-dyed water being poured into a shot glass of white-dyed water, there was still some of that bright-eyed boy living within me.
It was a relief, truly.
"Alright, lad, place the War Shadow Claw in between the cuts we made and back away." Vornir grinned as he and Tsubaki held white-hot glowing bricks of High-Steel bar stock in tongs.
This was another part of the ceremony- the making of one's first personal weapon.
Every smith was in attendance, to at least see the first strikes; they would return later if they were able to see its unveiling.
Tsubaki placed her stock onto the anvil and I stepped forward, placing the War Shadow Claw directly in the center before backing away, and Vornir placed his material on top of both of them before he pulled his arm back and swung his Adamantium Hammer Hand down with a mighty roar. The square head impacted the two bricks perfectly, and with each successive blow the High-Steel began to flatten down; dark-grey scale and other impurities flaked off until the bar stock had been fully forged welded together.
It took him less than twenty seconds, and the pair released the clamps letting the freshly formed block of High-Steel sit on the anvil. The wide, muscular Dwarf let out a pleased huff as he used the edge of his Adamantium Hammer Hand to spin the block in place and inspected his welds. "That should do it, laddie. This is a momentous occasion for you, my boy. Just follow Tsubaki-chan's instructions and make it as you would those other shortswords of yours... and you'll do just fine."
There were three ways that the Blacksmith ability could be used:
The first way was what we were doing currently, was called Insert Forging, which was the alloying of a Drop Item into the base material. This would impart the desirable attributes of the item onto the material in a way that was durable- integral- to the equipment created.
The second way was to actually use the Drop Item itself to fashion a weapon, and this was called Draw Forging. Welf Crozzo demonstrated this when he used the interior of the Minotaur Horn that Bell Cranel had killed and the marrow was forged to create Ushiwakamaru and that Ushiwakamaru-something knife.
The third way was what I could only describe as Magical Electrolysis, called Imbuing. The item to be embued was placed in a Mithril tank filled with distilled water, clamps were attached to the piece of equipment to be imbued and to the Drop Item, with Mithril ribbons connecting to a box that contained a monster core; typically a Minotaur core was used as the power source because it was obtained in enough frequency for a disposable battery.
It was by far the least effective method, but it had the lowest cost associated with Drop Item equipment, and you could essential enchant the equipment you already had to be more effective in the Dungeon. For those looking to save every valis but still remain relevant in the dangerous line of work we lived in, then this was the way to go.
My High-Steel Shadow Claw shortsword would cost about 75,000 valis on the open market, but purchasing one of my shortswords from the Guild would run about 14,000, a War Shadow Claw would cost 15,000 if purchased from the Guild, and the imbuing process would cost another 20,000 for a grand total of 49,000 valis. While it wouldn't be as strong, maintain its edge as long, and wouldn't be as lubricious as the Insert Forged blade, but when every valis mattered it was a solid move that most Adventurers who traveled past the 7th Floor saved up for when they could.
Those that couldn't make it past the 7th Floor, however, saw it as a waste of money- they could purchase almost 10 brand new longswords from the Guild that amount.
The forging world of Orario truly was a "Buy Once, Cry Once... until you Ranked Up or got to a Lower Floor" sort of place. It came down to how much you valued your life, and whether you were willing to forgo some weekly visits to the Red Light district or nightly visits to the pub to purchase better equipment.
The alloying process was pretty drawn out, as I had to fold and draw the material out a dozen times before pounding it out into a sheet that could be folded like a napkin and then reformed into a single contiguous piece of bar stock. While this was ongoing, Tsubaki stopped me multiple times throughout the forging process to have me use a Mithril rod to push Mind into the material- this was what activated my Blacksmith ability and allowed it to work; if all one needed to do was to stuff materials in and fold it, then anyone could do it. No, the Blacksmith ability helped the material break down and spread throughout the stock.
It really drove home just how inefficient Steel was at conducting Mind, as it required almost a tenth of my total Mind to finish the process; Tsubaki chuckled and told me that most smiths doing this for the first time have to chug Mind Potions to maintain their pacing, but since I was practically a Mage without the Developmental Ability, I was a lot faster and more efficient with my forging.
The blade was forged- the bevels and fuller hammered into place, the rough patches ground down, the bevel and edge ground out, and then the final sharpening was put onto the shortsword. I could hold a piece of parchment over the edge and drop it, the sword parting the paper like it wasn't even there. I nearly had a heart attack when Tsubaki ran her palm over the edge, but the slight screeching of metal on metal allayed my fears when she pulled her hand back and showed off what were essentially papercuts on her palm and the pads of her fingers that contacted the edge.
"Wow, Bell-kichi, well done! If you tried to stab me with this, then you just might be able to nick me with it!" The half-dwarf's smile was gorgeous, and I felt my cheeks burn as she picked up the whetstone and ran it over the entire blade again.
The crossguard was put on, the handle secured and wrapped with leather, and the High-Steel octagonal pommel hammered and then pinned into place. The final step was the acid etching of the blade, and after a quick dunk before it was dipped into a tube of water, we finally got to see the beautiful patterns emerge along the entirety of the blade; the bright, clean silvers of the High-Steel were swirled with inky black in some portions while it was sandwiched in others. The effect it had when it caught the light was mesmerizing, and only Tsubaki using my cranium as an elbow rest knocked me out of my musings.
I blinked and looked up at her. "One day soon I will be taller than you, Tsubaki, and when that day comes... then it will be your head that becomes the elbow rest."
The busty smith just smirked and pushed off my noggin so that she could grab me by my collar and drag me over to the polishing station. After a quick and dirty polish, she dragged me over to the presentation podium and placed the sword onto the red velvet cushion, and then draped over it a royal purple cloth.
"Just as a head's up, Bell-kichi, you should probably use this time to think of a name if you haven't already. Every smith's first blade should have a name, yanno? Just make it a good one, or else we'll never let you live it down."
"Oh? This coming from the very same Tsubaki Collebrand who named her first sword 'Heaven-Piercing-Dragon-God'?"My lips quirked, feeling damn good at finally having a legitimate opportunity to fire back against her for the first time in 17 months. "Bonus points for naming it in Far Easter too. Very cool and totally not funny at all."
Tsubaki pouted before flicking my ear with a muttered, "Wise ass."
She picked up a piece of bar stock and hurled it at a gong hanging from the wall, and within ten minutes every smith that wasn't busy had gathered back into the forge. Hephaestus had yet to arrive so everyone waited. Then we waited some more.
About thirty minutes later Hephaestus arrived, with two guests in tow- the Goddess Loki and one Aiz Wallenstein.
I was sort of surprised to see them considering it had been almost five months since we last met, and Loki's expression looked like she had just been handed a mug of sour milk. "Oi, Hephaestus. I thought we were going to see this up-and-coming new smith of yours, not the totally uncute chibi who dared to make fun of my Aiz-tan!"
Woman, I am very cute! Have you seen these cheeks!? Sure, everything else about me wouldn't look out of place on a bodybuilder, but with the loose clothes, I favored when not in the Dungeon most people didn't even notice all of my muscle!
Aiz blinked, her voice quiet. "A rabbit."
I inhaled but did my best to let it escape as inaudibly as I could, but the other smiths were more than happy to supply the laugh track for this comedic interaction.
However, this was an opportunity- no doubt a spur of the moment thing for my Goddess because she did know that I felt bad about speaking ill of Aiz Wallenstein- to apologize. "Aiz Wallenstein, Level 3 of the Loki familia-"
Loki crossed her arms over her non-existent chest and pulled her shoulders back. "She's a Level 4 now, just did her Rank Up this morning."
I gave her a plastic smile as I continued - "- Level 4 of the Loki familia, alias Sword Princess. Five months ago I observed you for the first time while you were with a party heading into the Tower of Babel, and I made some comments to one of my companions that I thought that your Dungeon attire was indeed fashionable-"
"Huuhuuhuu- my Aiz-tan is super cute!"
"- I thought that it was wholly impractical for the Dungeon-"
"Whhhaaaattt????"
I bowed at the waist deeply before righting myself. "I didn't know at the time it was considered taboo to comment on another Adventurer's equipment, especially one who was well-known and famous. So for that, you have my apologies."
"Why you shrimpy little bast-"
"What... about it is impractical?" The young head tilted in such a fashion that it made me want to pat her on the head and give her a cookie.
"Do you want my admittedly meager advice? I've only just reached Level 2 today." I arched an eyebrow.
She blinked and didn't speak for a few moments. Then she opened her mouth. "Yes. You are... young, like me, but you are a smith, and Riveria-onee-chan said I should always listen to my smith's advice."
"Woah, woah, woah. Aiz-tan. Don't say things like that. He is a smith, not your smith-"
With permission like that, I launched into a ten-minute diatribe on the utter impracticality of her equipment. From her thigh-high stockings (on a 10-year-old girl), to her heeled platform boots that offered zero ankle support, to the skirt with exactly 2.5 inches of Absolute Territory - ("No! Not her Absolute Territory! Don't take that away from me~!!!") - to the half-a-boob chest plate, and the utterly ridiculous half-sabaton hanging off of her hip that only covered the outside of one, single, thigh.
I made sure to keep my explanation as simple as possible for her, however, I had to keep my critique short because while half of my audience was nodding along, the other half was staring out into space; I felt for them- what should have been a 5 minute revealed turned into a 40-minute long wait and now a ten-minute long lecture on armor.
"-so the headpiece doesn't serve any purpose other than to make you look cute. It does not protect your head or your eyes. I would recommend purchasing a helmet that would actually protect you in dangerous engagements- you can simply put it in your pack when you do not need it."
Aiz looked at me blankly before nodding. "Yes. I... understand. Will you make armor for me, then?"
I gave her a soft smile but shook my head. "I would love to be your personal smith, Aiz, but unfortunately I have only just learned the finer points of making only a single style of sword. It would take me many years to yet to learn how to fashion armor that would suit your fighting style and your magic, after all, just like Dungeon diving, blacksmithing is a journey of a thousand steps. We can only walk at our own pace."
Hephaestus smiled broadly as she took that opportunity to segue to what we were all there for - the Reveal. "Yes, you've only learned to fashion a single style of blade, but I think that if you can apply the same level of dedication and determination to every item you smith, then maybe you'll be at the Level needed to fashion young Aiz-chan her equipment."
I smiled back and took my place at the podium and gave a small speech, thanking everyone involved who helped me create the blade, Tsubaki and Vornir in particular. "- and as for the blade's name, I think I have one that fits it just fine; the War Shadow was wrist-deep in my belly, but I managed to grasp his wrist and break it before stabbing him in the face. Tsubaki-sama may have had to fish his claw out of my guts, but unlike him, I am alive, and he isn't. I turned his body into my blade, and so I guess you can say that I got-"
I pulled the cloth from the podium and revealed its shape to the world, the sunlight streaming from the windows hitting the blade just right to show off its dazzling patterns; the High-Steel of the crossguard and pommel glinting. "- the Last Laugh."
"Shit, that's a pretty good one," Loki grumbled as she stuffed her hands into her non-existent pockets.
There were more than a few eyebrows raised, and I couldn't keep the grin from my face as Hephaestus grasped the hilt and held it up, and began looking it over with a critical eye, barely audible whispers leaving her lips. "Balance is good, a little heavy towards the rear- easier manipulation with a single hand. The blade is true, although heavier than standard. Fuller is clean, very few blemishes-"
She gave it a few swings before she smiled at me and popped the blade up and grasped it in her hand before she presented 'Last Laugh' to Aiz Wallenstein; the girl grasped the handle and Hephaestus backed away. In fact, everyone backed away to make space, someone grasping one of the nearby workbenches and dragged it along with them to create a pocket roughly fifteen paces in diameter.
The Sword Princess felt around the grip before she found a spot where she liked it best and went through a number of slow swings and various stances, moving from one-handed strikes to two-handed blows; with each strike, she got faster and faster until the air dragged along by her swings were enough to blow my hair back. On the last swing, a horizontal two-handed chop that rattled the tools hanging on the wall on the other side of the forge, the girl looked down and held the weapon with two hands before she walked over and presented it back to me. "It is good."
I smiled and accepted the blade back, noting that the steel was now warm to the touch with all of the friction that her strikes had generated. "Thank you for your kind words, Aiz Wallenstein. My name is Bell Winters, it is nice to meet you."
The girl's cheeks speckled pink and she nodded. "Yes. You as well."
After that she turned on her heel and walked over to Loki who wrapped her up in a big hug, her fingers coming up to her eyes in the tried and true 'I'm watching you' gesture. I gave her my bestest, most winningest smile. Her frown turned into an angry scowl and she marched the young girl off all the while loudly proclaiming that I was 'a lousy smith who her precious Aiz-tan would never patronize in the future!'
There were chuckles all around, and the other smiths each filed through to get their turn messing around with the blade- one asshole used it to cut through a Low-Steel chain when I wasn't looking- but upon seeing that the sword was fine I felt my anger abate. When the others had returned to their work the sun was just starting to set, and only Hephaestus, Vornir, and Tsubaki remained.
"S'a shit blade, laddie." The old dwarf rumbled with a chuckle as he handed it over to me, with his hand free he patted me on the top of my head, "I guess you'll just have to make the next one even better then, right?"
I smiled back and nodded as best I could with his meaty paw encapsulating my noggin.
"Good, good," He pat me a few more times before walking back towards his personal forge, the one-handed smith speaking out at me from over his shoulder as he left. "Keep your eyes on the horizon, my boy, the day you die is the day you stop moving forward!"
I couldn't help the chuckle that escaped my lips. "Wise words, old man."
An electric thrill slip up my spine as I felt Hephaestus' gloved hand slide up my neck before carding through the hair on the top of my head. "Denatus is next week. I'll try to get you a good alias."
I snorted, "I think I'll get what they give me. I swear, listening to the alias people have, makes me wonder if they're all just making fun of us in some underhanded way."
Her fingers stopped and she smiled thinly. "Who knows? Now, why don't you go visit Hammgard and the tanners over in Warehouse 7 and get a sheath for that blade made, hmm?"
I took the opportunity to wrap my arms around her hips and bury my face into her belly. I was feeling a little bit emotional, okay? "Thank you, for accepting me, Hephaestus-sama."
After a few seconds of hugging, I released her and smartly walked away from the chortling of the half-dwarf. I didn't need to give Tsubaki any more ammunition on me than she already had.
[Hephestus - Goddess of the Forge]
On the very top floor of the Tower of Babel, the 100th Floor, with a wide-open floor plan and windows that stretched from floor to ceiling, this was where the Denatus was held. Large marble pillars of Alabaster with gold veins running over the surface lined the circumference of the room, and in the middle of it sat four long tables of the same marble as the pillars with hundreds of chairs. At the head of all of them was a 'C' shaped table with five seats where the Divines of the Top Five familias sat.
Loki was grumbling the whole time. "Hephaestus, my Aiz-tan won't stop asking about your shrimp. How are you going to compensate me, huh? I can't get my daily dose of Aizutanium without her poking me about getting her better armor!"
The Goddess of the Forge felt her lips quirk up as she sipped at her wine glass. "I'm afraid I don't know why you're asking me about this, Loki, this sounds like a personal problem; maybe you wouldn't be getting the 3rd-Degree from her if you just outfitted her properly in the first place?"
"Feh, you're just trying to reach into my pockets again," The Goddess crossed her arms, "What, was my Finn-kun's Spear Gaelia not enough for you? You want to take another 120,000,000 Million valis out of my purse?"
"-and now that the usual business has been completed. The floor is now open for comment; after that, we'll move on to everyone's favorite event." Freya's smile widened as the cheers ripped out of the crowd at her words, "Are there any takers? Complaints? Grievances?"
Much to everyone's surprise, there was one Divine who stood up. The man had shaggy, unkempt black hair that hung to his shoulders, a scruffy, thin beard, and his clothing was all black except for a dark grey scarf that was wrapped around his neck twice and then his hands.
Ah, so it seems that Soma was finally bowing to the pressure. Or, more likely, he was finally forced to leave his wine distillery. He sounded very tired. "Yes. I am Soma, and I would like for Hephaestus to please withdraw her embargo against my familia."
There were a number of whispers in the crowd of curious Gods, but Soma held up his hand to silence them, a sigh escaping his lips. "My Children cannot purchase anything in this city now except for food. They cannot purchase weapons or armor, nor can they buy me the tools I need to make my wine."
If Soma cared about politics, that would have sounded like a master-stroke, but the man truly cared about nothing except for his wine. There wasn't a God of Goddess in the city that didn't enjoy Soma's wine, and it was a very hot commodity; whenever it hit the shelves it was snatched up without fail, often at exorbitant prices. If building up a coalition to force Hephaestus to capitulate was his goal, then it would be the first step in ending the embargo.
After hearing about her Bell-kun's experience with the Soma familia Adventurer in the Dungeon, the Goddess had been rather... cross was an understatement. It took the Goddess of the Forge physically laying her hands on Tsubaki to prevent her from roaming down to the Soma familia and slaughtering them down to the last man; she had practice doing so with the Evilus fiasco- while Finn Deimne took credit for ending the threat, it was Freya's familia that took the lead. There were over a dozen familias that had been associated with the villainous organization, and having lost her entire party to their machinations she had no trouble turning her blade against them.
Hephaestus and Tsubaki used the month-long ban for Bell in the Dungeon to do a little bit of investigative work- mainly asking the Guild, and it was clear to see that the Soma familia had taken a turn for the worst after the unfortunate death of their last Familia Captain in the Dungeon; the freshly raised Level 2 Zanis Lustra, alias Gandharva, seemingly taking the wine-making familia in a new direction.
When she confronted Soma with Tsubaki at her side with the dozens upon dozens of formal complaints about the familia for things ranging from theft, rape, loot theft, murder, Intentional Monster Partying (which is just as bad as murder), extortion, blackmail, coercion, among many, many others... the God was displeased but ultimately unsympathetic. He told Zanis to investigate these allegations.
Well, while Zanis Lustra 'investigated', Hephaestus put out the word to everyone even remotely affiliated with her: "The Soma Familia Shall Do NO BUSINESS HERE".
Accompanying the notice was the list of their reported crimes, along with a note that any business caught selling to the Soma familia would be removed from her network. While someone might point out that the embargo only worked with those that sold Hephaestus familia products, she wrangled Goibnu and Kagu-tsuchi into joining her as well- that accounted for over 90% of the smithing and forging capacity of the city, and the threat of blacklisting was more than enough to close all doors to anyone affiliated with Soma.
Soma might make wine that the Divines and the wealthy enjoyed, but the smiths made your weapons, armor, knives, forks, spoons, door handles, locks, nails, roofing tacks, horseshoes, hinges, pots, pans, bowls, needles, and pins. The smiths of Orario made the city function, and when Soma can't purchase the copper tubing, funnels, bronze and copper vats, stills, and butter knives... well, that got Soma up off of his bottom.
The Dungeon was dangerous enough without his unruly Children making things even more dangerous.
"We will continue the embargo until the situation improves, Soma-san." Hephaestus' words were firm.
"How am I supposed to fix this?" The God mumbled as his fingers splayed across the gold-flecked white marble table.
"By doing what every other God in this city would do- questioning your Children individually and then removing the troublemakers; preferably by removing their falna and then handing them over to the Ganesha familia and the City Guard." The Goddess of the Forge leaned forward with her hands folded in her lap. "Did you lose your ability to sense Truth from Lie when we weren't looking?"
He blinked. "That sounds like a hassle."
Loki's chuckle brought the room's attention onto her, the Goddess of Mischief's smile was as wide as it was unsettling.
Hephaestus rolled her eyes; what little scheme was she cooking up now?
"It really is a hassle! You've got over a hundred members, right? That would take you forever to get through them all!" Loki leaned back in her chair while covering her eyes theatrically, "The kiddies can get especially tricky with their words too- if you let them, they'll just talk around your questions entirely!"
The God of Wine's head bobbed up and down as Loki spoke, his lips moving. "Yes, I have noticed that Zanis can be... evasive at times."
"Oh, if only there was someone who could help you out, Soma-kun! Someone who was just so brilliant - and beautiful - and intelligent that they could solve allllll~ of your problems in a single swoop!" Loki's fingers parted as she watched the God look around the room.
There were shaking heads as multiple variations of 'Hell no bro, you un-fuck your own problems' went around. Finding no support elsewhere, eventually, his eyes moved back to Loki. "You'll help me?"
"Fufufufu." The Goddess of Trickery stood up, "Well, if no one else will help you, Soma-kun, I will! Just come see me after and we'll talk business, okay? However, since no one else stepped up, I just want to make sure that there will be no complaints in the future, alright everyone!?"
"Have at it, Loki!"
"You go, Loki-noboobs! Get us our wine back!"
"Work hard! The stocks I've got in my cellar are only going to last so long!"
"Go! Go! Loki-chan! Do! Your! Best!"
Hephaestus felt a small smile tug at her lips as Demeter, ever the air-head, gave Loki some genuine praise.
Freya's hands clapping brought the focus back onto her. "Excellent, I am quite a fan of Soma-kun's work, so I look forward to seeing him return to work soon enough. Now, since that bit of business is finished, is there anyone else?"
"""""NO!"""""
The Goddess of Love and Beauty smiled beatifically. "Excellent, now it is-"
""""""ALIAS TIME!"""""
Carts laden with hundreds of thick packets were wheeled into the room by Guild attendants before they exited, leaving the Divines closest to the ends of the tables to grab stacks and spread them around. Hephaestus, being the lowest ranking member of the 5 Pillar familias, stood up and walked over to grab five packets and brought them back to the Head Table and distributed them to Freya, Loki, Skadi, Inari, and then one for herself.
Freya looked through her packet and cleared her throat. "First on the list today, we have a new member to the Denatus, Anubis-kun, and he gained entrance to our hallowed halls thanks to his Amazonian Child Selka-"
"Brown Tornado!"
"V-String!"
"Clapper! I mean, look at that ass! No doubt they clap when she walks!"
"Come on, doofus, forget her ass, look at dem titties tho! I vote for 'Chocolate Ocean', because you could swim in those breasts for days and not need to come up for air!"
Hephaestus gave the cheinthrope aligned God a sad smile as the man looked around in utter shock, his thin ears flickering each way as he looked around for someone, anyone, to save him and his Child.
Sorry, Anubis, but she was saving her Capital for Bell-kun.
Welcome to Denatus.
"- Sammi Rawlins shall henceforth be known as 'Sun Chaser'."
"Kiss Apollo's ass some more why don't you!"
"- Demeter's Child, Karen Wilmer, shall now be known by her alias 'Buttercup'."
"Hee-hee. The milkers on that girl."
Demeter, for her part, smiled and clapped excitedly. "Oh, she loves buttercup! It's her favorite flower, oh, I'm sure she'll be so pleased!"
"Next up on the docket, is for our dear Hephaestus-chan. Her Child, Bell Cranel, has finally ranked up after 17 months!" The Goddess of Love turned her attention to Hephaestus, "I've heard that he is quite the hard worker, and is shaping up to be an excellent young Apprentice for you."
The Goddess of the Forge smiled placidly even as she felt a sense of trepidation dig deep into the pit of her belly; she knew the den of vipers that Denatus brought in every quarter.
Bell had done well in choosing an artist to draw his portrait- the boy had worn the best possible clothes he could; a crisp white shirt along with a fancy tanned leather coat. His hair had been cut close and his expression was neutral; he tried to appear older than he was, but he couldn't quite pull it off.
The only other thing of note was the four deer horn totems that he had hanging from his neck on a leather necklace; he made sure that the artist drew them in detail- they were important gifts from the tribes he hunted with, and he wanted their hard work to be shown to all who would see his portrait.
The Forge Goddess straightened herself up. "Actually, he qualified for a Rank Up the day he arrived back at my forge; I'd sent him to live with his Grandfather out in the countryside after a... parental dust-up."
Most of the Divines in attendance winced in sympathy; custody battles were back enough as it was with regular mortals, but those within familias tended to be particularly vicious. "During his time there he became quite an accomplished hunter, and he slew a surface Hobgoblin with an arrow- straight through the eye at 75 paces while it was charging."
Hephaestus leaned over and looked at the crowd. She needed to play him up properly so that they would be focused on back-handed but at least aggrandizing names. She didn't think she had the Capital she once had after Soma's protest. "Instead of taking the Rank Up, he decided to hone himself even further, and dare I say that he has put for excellent effort for any Adventurer, let alone a young boy."
Skadi hummed, the werewolf aligned Goddess' ears flickering. "Achieving a Rank Up outside of Orario from hunting alone is quite the feat; the number of worthy challenges not in the Dungeon are few and far in between."
"He's still nothing when compared to my Aiz-tan! She's a Level 4 now, yanno?!" Loki caterwauled from her chair, and the Divines began deliberating.
"So... he's small?"
"Yup, he's small all right."
"His muscle mass pleases me greatly. You can tell how much he lifts with how tight the shirt is."
"Shut up, dude bro, we're not here to compliment the kid! Get with the program!"
"He looks like a rabbit! Like I just took him out of one of my cages! So cute!"
"Yes, Demeter, he does look like a rabbit. We get it."
"Yeah, we could do better. Hephaestus, tell us more about the kid so that we can give him something really appropriate. This profile is a little thin."
"Everything you need to know is right there in the portrait." Hephaestus tilted her head and looked down the rows of Divines seated and the Goddess of the Forge looked over at the woman who spoke. She was Lupo, one of the three werewolf-related Divines in the city, and the woman looked rather pleased.
"What about it?" One of the male Gods scoffed and Hephaestus watched Skadi lift the sheet closer to her face before she placed it down onto the table with a small huff.
"He has four betrothed, at such a young age." The grey-haired werewolf Goddess chuckled, her fingers coming up to run around the smile on her lips. "Those totems are used in the Beltor, Rimurad, and Hokusini tribes in the plains to the northwest. Damn fine hunters, those Children- more than a few of mine and Lupo's number come from there."
Lupo leaned forward and looked down the table, her silvery-white ears perked sideways she gave Hephaestus a fanged smirk. "Your boy must be quite the accomplished hunter to garner such attentions; the girls there don't give such things out easily."
Disbelief swept through the room.
"Wait, you're saying this kid already has four wives?"
"They're betrothal totems you fool, he has not been wedded yet," Skadi growled as she smacked her hand onto the table.
"Still! His balls haven't even dropped yet!"
"Yeah! He can't possibly enjoy those far-striding huntress beauties properly! Hephaestus! Give your Child to me and I'll show him how to properly take care of his wom-"
Hepahestus' fist smacked the table as some of her Divinity leaked out of her mortal shell- hellfire blazed in her lone crimson eye.
"So, accomplished hunter, Level 2, cute, and apparently has four soon-to-be-wives."
"The kid seems to be winning on every metric and his balls ain't even dropped yet... how are we supposed to make fun of him?"
"Public Enemy?"
"""""Public Enemy."""""
Loki chortled as Freya shook her head, which dragged everyone's attention to the Goddess of Trickery.
"Is our pain funny to you, Loki?"
"Yeah, is our suffering at the hands of this bishounen-shounen amusing?"
"Aaaahhhhnnnnn~? You want some of this, Loki-noboobs?"
Said Goddess snapped her head, "What? When did I get dragged into this?"
Apollo, the fop, stood up. "My friends, it appears that our dear Loki has forgotten the power that we hold here, and I think it is time that we remind her."
"""""Here, here!"""""
The God of the Sun ran a hand through his hair as he smirked devilishly. "Now, I try not to listen in on conversations at the Head Table, as that is quite uncouth, but I couldn't help but overhear that your little Sword Princess was quite interested in little Cranel-kun, yes?"
No.
"No." Loki's words echoed Hephaestus' thoughts.
"Since the boy appears to be another prodigy, then why don't we pair them up, hmmm? How about... a 'Smithing Prince' to go with our beloved 'Sword Princess'?"
The applause was thunderous.
Even if the male Gods despised the thought of there being anyone to stand beside the tiny Aiz Wallenstein, the opportunity to lash out against both Loki and Hephaestus in a single strike without reprisal was far too good for them to pass up.
Loki poked fun at them constantly and was always as obnoxious as possible when it came time for her Children's Rank Ups to be announced, meanwhile, Hephaestus had been revealed to be the reason for the shortage of Soma wine and the current astronomical prices that they were forced to pay thanks to her city-wide embargo.
Two birds high up on the tree that was outside of their reach were now able to be brought low by a single stone.
"I'm so sorry, Bell-kun." The Goddess of the Forge whispered to herself as Freya announced the official tally.
[One Week Later]
[Liliruca Arde]
Lili couldn't do anything other than sit beside her Supporter Pack outside of the brick and mortar wall of the Soma compound.
She was in complete disbelief.
Liliruca Arde was free from the Soma familia. Free from Soma wine. Free from Soma.
She was free.
However, much like the dog that chased the wheels of a wagon cart, now that she had finally caught it, what did she do with it? For years she dreamed of this day, and now that it was finally here she was beside herself; happiness, shock, joy, trepidation, fear-
She blinked as the bright light of the sun was obscured by a shadow, and when she looked up the softly smiling visage of a boy with white hair and red eyes was revealed. "Hello there. I've been searching for you, Liliruca Arde."
The Pallum girl flinched when his arm reached out- was he someone she'd stolen from in the past? No, impossible. She'd remember someone as eye-catching as this boy-
A warm hand grasped her own and she gasped as she was pulled to her feet, his other hand coming around and wiping the dirt off of her pants. "W-what do you want with Lili, Adventurer-sama?"
His soft smile firmed up a little bit. "None of that, I know who you are, Lili. I know what you've done."
She swallowed and tried to pull away from him, to grab her pack and run away, but he was strong; her hand didn't budge in his grip.
"Slow down," He murmured softly, the boy pulling her into a hug. "I know that you've stolen, but given your situation in that piss-pot hellhole, do you really think I'd blame you for stealing to survive? From skimming a little off the top from piece of shit Adventurers who were underpaying you anyways?"
The Pallum's rigid form relaxed, if only slightly.
"What if I offered you a place in my familia? You'd have to learn how to smith, but it isn't that difficult- you can grow strong there, strong enough to fight for yourself, make your own equipment, and live your life how you choose to live it." He grinned slightly, "Wouldn't that be grand?"
"It sounds too good to be true." She mumbled sullenly, just waiting for the carpet to be yanked out from underneath her feet.
"Well, it's not too good to be true, it's just highly improbable," The boy released her and placed his hands on his hips, "But, if you're willing to take a leap of faith, maybe you'll find that there are people if this world who be willing to catch you."
"So, what do you say, Liliruca Arde, formerly of the Soma familia? Do you want to sit back down on the sidewalk or do you want to jump into a hot bath with a roof over your head?" The boy stretched out his hand, "Besides, I'm at least partially responsible for the Soma familia's dissolution- never thought that Loki would convince him to zero out his familia and move into her basement. Heh, certainly solves both of their problems neatly; she gets wine whenever she wants, and he gets funding for his wine research without having to futz around with a familia."
His red eyes tracked up to the large red-brick mansion of the former Soma familia, "Probably going to save a ton of money not having to pay property taxes too."
Liliruca Arde's head felt fuzzy, but it didn't stop her from picking up her Supporter pack and grabbing onto the boy's outstretched hand.
Worst came to worst, she didn't think the Hephaestus familia would force her to stay, and this boy... his hand felt warm, and that was the best she'd had in a long, long time.
The tears that spilled down her cheeks as they walked through the city streets of Orario towards the Hephaestus Smithing District went unnoticed, or if he did notice he didn't comment on them; at least he knew not to draw attention to such things!
[Canon Omake - Upon the Slaying of the War Shadow that almost killed BellSI]
Tsubaki had just finished having a long heart-to-heart with Hephaestus-sama; the events of today were far too close for comfort.
The events of back then and the events of today were not the same.
While her companions had been killed by one of Evilus' ambushes, Bell-kichi had almost been killed fighting a War Shadow while she had been busy attending to the injured member of Miach-sama's familia; the human teen had received a terrible wound along her back that almost hit her spine. Had they not run into Bell and herself, with the size of that Monster Party they would have surely died.
The warmth of the bath and the feeling of silk against her flesh did little to keep her mind from wandering, all of the paths leading to the same place- a place she really didn't want to return to.
The scent of blood hung heavy in the air, and her breathing was ragged as she cradled her last surviving party member to her chest. "Baki. B-baki. I'm not g-ggg-going to m-mmmmake it."
Their potions had run out long ago, and Harim, Gella, and Rudolf had given their lives to buy them time to escape. The Sacrifice Play was the only play they had left; if they stayed, then they all would have died. There was no way around it.
"Come on, that's quitter talk." Tsubaki heaved out as her legs carried her as fast as they could go, she was a Level 3, she had Endurance for days. She could run all the way to Rivira without stopping, so why was she so damn tired!
"W-we both know that there is only one w-wwway this e-ends." The black-haired Pallum man chuckled painfully, "'less we run into another par-tttty, there ain't nothing for me."
Blood-soaked teeth grinned up at her ruefully, "T-ttaught you everything I know 'bout the Dungeon a-a-an smithing, Baki-chan. H-heh, knew that this was always h-h-how I w-was going to go out."
Tsubaki didn't speak as she mantled over the large, high roots of the 22nd Floor, her feet barely finding purchase in the damp dirt of the Large Tree Labyrinth.
"C-cccould really u-u-use the forge right a-aaabout now." Thomas, her senpai in both smithing and Adventuring, shifted in her arms with a wince, his lips peeling back with each shiver that wracked his frame. "S' getting p-p-pre-t-t-ty cold..."
A tiny knock on the door knocked Tsubaki out of her reverie, and she shifted in her bed before slipping out and walking over to the door; the half-dwarf made one last check to make sure she was indeed clothed before she opened up the door to find Bell-kichi with a cloth-wrapped bundle under his arm. He swallowed as he took in her nightgown-clad form.
"I... was having trouble sleeping." He spoke lowly before he turned his head away towards the floor, "I really need to put up curtains in my room; the trees swaying outside cast shadows in my room."
Tsubaki let go of her trembling hand and pulled the young boy into her room and closed the door behind her, a small smile pulling at her lips. The boy protested, making sure to tell her that this was a temporary thing, and not to get any ideas; the lights were playing tricks on his mind, 'keeping him alert'. He couldn't rest properly if his 'hind brain' thought that there was a War Shadow in the corner.
The half-dwarf Captain of the Hephaestus familia kept her smiles hidden at all times until the boy had wrapped himself up in his blanket and put his head on the pillow he'd brought with him. That was when Tsubaki wrapped her own blanket over the top of him and pulled his little burrito tight to her chest, the woman ruffling his hair to the wonderful tune of half-hearted grumbles.
The warmth was nice, and his form fit well in her arms. She focused on gently scraping her nails against his scalp until his breathing evened out, and then she buried her face into the back of his head.
When she fell asleep herself, she found that her dreams were not as horrible as they could have been, and for Tsubaki Collebrand, that was just fine.
A/N: Yes, I'm aware that the sword doesn't have a fuller, but it was the only picture I really liked. So just reduce the grind on the sword edge and slap a fuller in the center of the blade and call it good.
Also, this would have been out way, way sooner - like eight hours ago- but I had made the mistake of trying my hand at writing while doing a DnD campaign with some friends. It did not go well. Almost 4k words and I had to scrap it all because somewhere along the line my fingers started writing out the words my friends were saying and it turned out to be a mess.
There was some good content there, but it was a complete wreck, so I had to re-write it all. lol