Hestia opened her mouth, wanting to ask Arthur whether he actually knew anything about blacksmithing, but Hephaestus reacted much faster. The forge goddess immediately covered her friend's mouth with one hand and silently shook her head.
"Mmgh?!"
Hestia struggled in protest for a moment, but when she noticed Hephaestus's unusually serious expression, she finally stopped resisting.
The red-haired goddess's eye remained fixed entirely on Arthur, as though afraid that even the slightest interruption might ruin something important.
Arthur himself seemed completely unaware of the attention gathering around him.
The moment he stepped before the forge, his consciousness had entered a strange state of focus. It was almost like a trance. His body moved naturally, guided by instinct and by the countless abilities now woven into his existence.
One of the hidden passive effects granted by the Successor of Pagma was an almost supernatural awareness of temperature.
Arthur could feel the heat around him with impossible precision.
The moment he approached the furnace, he instinctively understood exactly how intense the flames needed to be and how much they should fluctuate depending on the metal being forged.
The material he had taken from the vat was unfamiliar to him, yet he showed no hesitation.
Instead, Arthur activated several abilities simultaneously.
[Comprehension].
[Insight].
[Six Eyes].
[Keen Insight].
The metal in his hands immediately became easier to understand. Its structure, density, impurities, melting point, and optimal forging process unfolded inside his mind in mere seconds as though years of knowledge had been compressed into an instant.
Without wasting time, Arthur tossed the metal into the furnace before beginning to work the bellows with his foot. The flames gradually intensified, shifting into a hotter and purer state until the bar of metal inside began glowing with a brilliant orange radiance.
Only then did he pull it free using a pair of tongs.
The first hammer strike rang through the forge.
Clang!
The sound was unpleasant.
Arthur frowned slightly.
The angle had been wrong.
Without saying a word, he adjusted the position of his feet before trying again.
Clang!
The second strike sounded much better, but Arthur still seemed dissatisfied. He shifted his grip on the hammer slightly, adjusted the tension in his shoulders, and then brought the hammer down for a third time.
CLANG—
A clear metallic tone echoed beautifully throughout the forge.
Several nearby blacksmiths immediately turned their heads toward him.
The sound alone was enough to catch their attention.
Inside the workshop, only two people appeared unhappy with the result.
Arthur himself…
And Hephaestus.
Arthur because the rhythm still wasn't perfect.
Hephaestus because she immediately realized just how absurdly talented this newcomer actually was.
Arthur inhaled slowly before striking again.
The fourth blow resonated through the forge like music.
This time, the rhythm was correct.
Satisfied, Arthur continued.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Soon, the entire forge became filled with the steady song of hammer striking metal. His movements grew smoother and smoother with every passing second. The heated metal gradually changed shape beneath his hammer as Arthur folded and refined it repeatedly, occasionally returning the blade to the furnace before continuing the process anew.
The precision of each motion was mesmerizing.
There was no wasted effort.
Every movement looked refined to perfection, as though Arthur had spent decades forging weapons.
More and more blacksmiths gradually stopped what they were doing to gather around him.
Even veteran craftsmen stared silently.
Arthur's advantage over Grid lay in one crucial difference. Unlike the original wielder of Pagma's powers, he wasn't bound by the limitations of the Satisfy system or the whims of Morpheus. Abilities that activated randomly for Grid could instead be consciously controlled by Arthur whenever he desired.
As the forging process continued, Arthur activated additional abilities.
[Legendary Blacksmith's Patience].
[Legendary Blacksmith's Breath].
The aura around him subtly changed.
Hephaestus immediately noticed it.
The flow of his breathing synchronized perfectly with the rhythm of the forge itself, while his concentration deepened to an unbelievable degree. The quality of the metal visibly improved under his hammer strikes, causing even the forge goddess herself to feel a faint sense of jealousy.
Not toward Arthur…
But toward Hestia.
Because somehow, her hopelessly troublesome friend had stumbled into someone monstrously talented.
Eventually, Arthur reached the final stages of forging the weapon.
Without needing to be asked, Hephaestus quietly ordered one of her Familia members to bring suitable materials for the sword's hilt and fittings. The blacksmith she selected sprinted away immediately, desperate not to miss a single moment of the forging process.
By the time he returned, Arthur had already begun tempering the blade.
Instead of water, Arthur chose oil.
Once again, he controlled the temperature with terrifying precision, ensuring both the blade and the oil reached exactly the proper conditions before swiftly submerging the glowing metal.
Sssshhhhh—
Steam erupted upward.
The gathered blacksmiths watched in complete silence.
The assistant hurriedly handed Arthur the requested materials, and Arthur thanked him politely before beginning to assemble the hilt. His fingers moved with incredible speed and precision while fitting every piece together flawlessly.
Most people believed the sword was complete at that point.
Arthur, however, did something completely unexpected.
He gathered mana into the tip of his finger before beginning to engrave strange symbols along the blade itself.
The symbols glowed faintly as they were carved into the metal.
Hephaestus narrowed her eye immediately.
"Those symbols…" she murmured softly.
She recognized them as some form of runic language, yet the structure differed from anything she personally knew.
Finally, Arthur raised the completed weapon before everyone.
It was a one-handed longsword with a sleek and elegant design. The blade was slightly thinner and longer than standard adventurer weapons, giving it both grace and lethality. The perfectly refined silver-colored metal gleamed brilliantly beneath the forge light, while faint runic engravings stretched elegantly along the flat of the blade.
Even without touching it, every blacksmith present could instinctively tell the weapon possessed extraordinary durability.
"Arthur," Hephaestus finally asked, unable to contain her curiosity any longer, "what exactly are those symbols?"
Arthur glanced toward the blade.
"They're runes," he explained calmly. "If you inject mana into it like this…"
The moment mana flowed into the weapon, lightning erupted across the surface of the sword.
Crackling arcs of electricity danced along the engraved runes, illuminating the forge with flashes of blue-white light and giving the weapon an almost divine appearance.
Gasps echoed throughout the room.
"It has other abilities too," Arthur continued casually, "but I probably shouldn't activate them inside the forge."
At that point, the jaws of nearly every blacksmith present had practically hit the floor.
He wasn't merely a master craftsman.
He could create magic weapons.
Several craftsmen looked at Arthur with expressions filled with disbelief and excitement. Many of them desperately wanted to ask questions or request guidance, but with Hephaestus herself present, none dared to interrupt.
Eventually, most of them reluctantly dispersed, though they repeatedly glanced back toward Arthur while mentally engraving every detail of his forging process into their memories.
Meanwhile, Hestia proudly grabbed the completed sword and admired it excitedly.
"It's amazing, Arthur! This weapon is incredible!" she said while holding it carefully in both hands. "You've already got the perfect weapon for exploring the Dungeon!"
Arthur blinked in confusion before casually shaking his head.
"This?" he said. "No, I'm planning to sell it."
Both Hestia and Hephaestus froze.
"I don't even know how to use swords properly," Arthur added honestly.
For several seconds, neither goddess knew how to react.
Finally, Hephaestus spoke first.
"Arthur… you should seriously reconsider that decision," she said with complete seriousness. "Inside the Dungeon, the quality of your equipment can easily become the difference between life and death."
Hestia nodded rapidly beside her.
"She's right! That sword belongs with you!" the tiny goddess insisted while hugging the weapon protectively against her chest. "We can think about money later, but finding a weapon this good again would be almost impossible!"
Arthur simply shook his head at their objections. He already knew it would be difficult to convince either of them with words alone, so instead of continuing the discussion, he decided to show them directly.
A faint pulse of energy surged through the air.
The next instant, a pair of dark crimson metallic gauntlets materialized around Arthur's hands.
The armor pieces locked themselves into place with mechanical precision, covering his forearms and fists in beautifully crafted plates engraved with glowing patterns resembling dragon scales.
Thin lines of crimson light pulsed beneath the surface of the metal like flowing blood vessels, while arcs of blue lightning crackled intermittently around his fingers.
The design vaguely resembled the gauntlets of the Red Dragon Emperor, yet the structure was sleeker and more refined, almost as though they had been forged for a king rather than a berserker.
The atmosphere inside the forge changed immediately.
Even without touching them, everyone present could instinctively feel that those gauntlets were extraordinary weapons.
Hephaestus narrowed her eye sharply the moment they appeared. As the goddess of blacksmithing, her senses were far more sensitive than those of ordinary craftsmen. She immediately realized that the craftsmanship behind those gauntlets was terrifyingly advanced.
The forging method itself was completely incomprehensible to her.
The materials.
The energy flow.
The seamless integration between weapon and wielder.
Everything about them defied her understanding.
And yet, despite not understanding how they were made, one fact remained obvious.
Those gauntlets were monsters.
Arthur lightly clenched his fists, causing lightning to surge violently across the metallic surface.
"I prefer fighting with my fists," he explained calmly.
Hestia blinked repeatedly in shock while staring at the gauntlets.
"They look so cool…" she muttered instinctively.
Meanwhile, Hephaestus remained silent for several long moments before finally letting out a low sigh.
"…I understand now."
At that point, she could no longer argue with him about using the sword personally. If anything, the weapon he had just summoned was clearly even more suited for combat than the blade he had forged.
Eventually, after calming down somewhat, Arthur and Hephaestus began discussing business matters regarding the sword. The forge goddess proposed selling the weapon through the Hephaestus Familia's network, confident that a masterpiece of that caliber would attract enormous attention from wealthy adventurers and nobles alike.
Arthur agreed without much hesitation.
In exchange for allowing her Familia to exclusively handle the sale of his creations, Hephaestus offered him access to her workshop facilities whenever he desired in the future. Although she tried to sound calm while making the proposal, inwardly she was already imagining the chaos that would erupt if a blacksmith of Arthur's level started producing weapons regularly.
By the end of the discussion, the deal was settled.
Once everything was finished, Arthur checked the time and realized evening was rapidly approaching. Since he intended to enter the Dungeon early the next morning, he decided it was best to find lodging for the night and prepare properly.
"I'll head into the Dungeon first thing tomorrow morning," Arthur explained while turning toward Hestia. "I'll come back in a few days, and after that, we can start looking for a proper home together."
The moment Hestia heard he was leaving already, her expression immediately changed.
"Eh?! Already?!" she cried before practically throwing herself onto him.
Arthur barely managed to catch her as the tiny goddess wrapped both arms tightly around his waist.
"You literally just joined my Familia!" Hestia complained while glaring up at him. "You can't disappear into the Dungeon immediately! What if something happens to you?!"
Despite her words, Arthur could sense genuine worry beneath her exaggerated reaction. Hestia might act dramatic most of the time, but she truly cared about the people close to her.
Arthur gently patted her head in an attempt to calm her down.
"I'll be careful," he reassured her softly.
Unfortunately, Hestia only tightened her grip further.
"No! Absolutely not! I forbid it!"
At that point, even Hephaestus looked exasperated.
"Hestia," the forge goddess said while walking over and grabbing her friend by the shoulders, "you're supposed to be a goddess. At least try to preserve some dignity."
"But my first child is abandoning me already!" Hestia protested dramatically.
"He's going to the Dungeon for a few days, not marching off to war."
Even so, Hestia continued clinging stubbornly to Arthur until Hephaestus finally managed to pry her away by force.
Arthur couldn't help laughing quietly at the sight.
Eventually, after promising once more that he would return safely, Arthur finally left the forge and stepped back out onto the streets of Orario.
Night had already begun to descend upon the city. Warm orange lights illuminated the roads while adventurers moved between taverns, inns, and shops after returning from the Dungeon. The enormous silhouette of Babel Tower dominated the skyline beneath the darkening sky, giving the city an almost dreamlike atmosphere.
Arthur pulled his hands into his pockets and began walking calmly through the streets.
There was one particular place he vaguely remembered from the series—a location where he knew he could rent a room for the night before beginning his journey into the Dungeon tomorrow.
-
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