Chapter 24: Weapon Grades
After deciding to study forging at the Hephaestus Familia, Shirou temporarily stayed at their base.
Unlike the dilapidated basement room of the Hestia Familia, the Hephaestus Familia's base was quite large, occupying almost an entire floor of the Babel Tower.
And not just that — almost every weapon shop within Orario could be considered part of Hephaestus's domain.
"I'll take you to the forge first," said Hephaestus.
She led Shirou through the interior of the Familia's territory.
Though the Familia members around them were curious about the man walking beside their goddess, none came forward to ask. They simply continued their own tasks — either forging weapons or preparing materials for the process.
"Since this is your first day, you should start by getting familiar with the environment and the relevant tools," Hephaestus said as she introduced various tools in the forging room.
This was a traditional smithy, equipped with a furnace, hammers, bellows, anvils, tongs, files, and other tools.
Hephaestus explained each tool to Shirou and demonstrated their use briefly.
"While the smithy provides the tools, you'll have to pay for your own forging materials. After all, material costs are always a headache for blacksmiths, and our Familia is no exception," Hephaestus said. "However, if you manage to acquire the [Forging] skill, you'll receive some special privileges from the Familia."
"Forging skill?" Shirou asked.
"Don't adventurers typically awaken various skills and magic?" Hephaestus explained. "Those skills aren't limited to combat. Some are profession-specific — forging is one of them."
"I see," Shirou replied.
He recalled the adventurers Naaza and Armid he had encountered previously — one had a skill for making potions, and the other had healing magic. Clearly, these weren't combat-related, but instead connected to medicine.
If there were medical skills, then naturally, there must be unique skills related to forging as well.
And for an adventurer, gaining a skill often resulted in a significant power boost. Having a profession-related skill was a sign of immense talent and potential, so a Familia would naturally be inclined to provide support and preferential treatment.
"But I'm not a member of the Hephaestus Familia," Shirou said. "Even if I gain a forging skill, it won't benefit your group, right?"
"In theory, yes — but in practice, not necessarily," Hephaestus replied with a smile. "Even if you aren't one of us, if I — as the representative of the Hephaestus Familia — offer you some support, and you have potential, you'll inevitably form a close relationship with us in the future."
"…I see."
Shirou was surprised that even matters of personal favor and future ties had been considered. He had to admit that this goddess was quite shrewd — no wonder she'd managed to build such a successful Familia.
"Alright, let's stop with the extra talk," Hephaestus said with a wave of her hand. "You don't have a forging skill anyway, right? Even among my own Familia, those with powerful forging skills can be counted on one hand. So stop thinking so far ahead and just start with the basics."
"You're right," Shirou nodded.
With Hephaestus's hands-on instruction, Shirou quickly grasped the basics of forging and how to use the various tools.
To Hephaestus's surprise, he managed to learn the fundamentals in just half a day. She couldn't help but feel a bit impressed and muttered to herself, "I really didn't expect Shirou to be one of Hestia's Familia. Is this what they call dumb luck or a blessing in disguise?"
"Hestia may not be the brightest, but she's a good goddess," Shirou responded.
"Heh, I'll give you that one," Hephaestus chuckled.
The more she looked at Shirou, the more she liked him. If it weren't for the fact that he belonged to Hestia, she might've seriously considered poaching him for her own Familia.
But if she did that, Hestia would probably come crying and hang herself right in front of her, so Hephaestus wouldn't stoop to stealing someone else's follower.
"Well, that's enough for the basics," Hephaestus said as she stood up. "Too much at once and you'll chew what you can't swallow. First, get used to the tools and try forging a standard-quality weapon."
"A standard-quality weapon? There are different quality levels for weapons?" Shirou asked.
He used the opportunity to inquire further.
"Well, there's no official standard recognized by the public," Hephaestus answered, "but there are definitely differences between weapons. Otherwise, prices wouldn't vary so much."
"According to my personal classification, I divide weapons into five grades — just like adventurer levels. The first grade is called 'Divine Artifact,' weapons on the level of the gods themselves. So far, I haven't recognized a single weapon in this dungeon city worthy of that title."
"Divine Artifact, huh?"
"Yeah," Hephaestus nodded. "Though I place great expectations on my children, none have yet crafted a weapon I'd consider deserving of the name of the gods."
"Below the first grade, there are grades two through five. You'll see plenty of weapons from those grades around the dungeon city. You can mostly judge their quality by their price. Grade two weapons are generally over ten million valis, grade three around a million, grade four in the hundreds of thousands, and grade five in the tens of thousands."
"That's a pretty crude grading system," Shirou remarked.
"You cheeky brat," Hephaestus laughed but wasn't offended. "What can I say — weapons are important, but they're never the most important thing. No matter how great your gear is, adventurers still have to grow stronger through their own power. There's only one exception to that rule — magic swords."
"Magic swords?" Shirou asked.
"Yeah. Unlike the graded weapons, magic swords are classified separately. That's because they alone can allow even a weak level-1 adventurer — or even an ordinary person without a blessing — to unleash power rivaling that of high-level adventurers. They're truly weapons that can change the world."
As Hephaestus spoke, her expression grew complicated — clearly, she had many thoughts about the existence of magic swords.