Chapter 427: The God of Blacksmiths and Searing Volcanoes.

Chapter 427: The God of Blacksmiths and Searing Volcanoes.

Grimnir Luedbrumdar The dwarven man placed his hammer into his burnt smiths apron and walked closer to us, waving the brown earth gasses out of his face, allowing us to see his figure properly.

Two ram horns decorated his head, a fact I already knew as Grimnir described the god as a Taz dwarf. However, unlike Grimnirs normal spiral horns, this new Taz looked like his horns were made from molten rocks with magma dripping from them, landing onto his metal sabatons.

The dwarf had blindingly yellow hair that stretched down to his hips, held together by a single hairband. His beard shared the same color, but was cut short, looking similar to a month old beard. None of that crustlockthe petrified rock hair dwarves were so proud aboutcould be seen on him, nor the rock hide dwarves had on their ears.

As the man came even closer, I also noticed his eyes were glowing yellow, showing white cracks in his irises. His arms were similarly unnatural, looking like they were made from rock just like the Earth Elemental Emperor's. Once he cracked them, they lit up on fire, causing the rock to soften up and turn into literal magma.

The God of Blacksmithing and Searing Volcanoes, indeed. This is Bleidla, huh?

Urgh Both Grimnir and Tasianna groaned as they stood before us, holding onto their chest in pain.

[Dragon lass.] I heard the god speak to me, shaking my mind with the echo of his deep bass voice. [I shall speak telepathically to you to prevent their souls from collapsing. You need only to translate.]

[You can use [Telepathy]?] I asked in surprise. He was a dwarf, he shouldnt be able to do so.

He scoffed, shaking his head as if he was annoyed at my question. [I am a god.]

That was all he needed to tell me before I remembered he probably wasnt limited by the body of a dwarf, right now. Whether [Telepathy] or through the System messages, he could have spoken to me either way and it wouldnt be too weird. Well, I still would have loved a proper answer, but if he didnt want to reply I shouldnt pry.

Instead, I nodded and explained the situation to Grimnir and Tasianna.

I couldnt understand God Bleidlas speech in any case. How pleasant for you to act as my translator now, Lady Hestia, Tasianna responded with a smile, reminding me how she had to live translate everything back when I still hadnt mastered Common. It sure was a reversal of our situation.

Grimnir, though, only stared at the dwarven god, sizing him up before he lowered his head. He said my name, correct? I only recognized the Grim part.

As Aurena and Crustacia mentioned, my [Hestias Retainer] title was protecting both of them from the divine aura, yet it was clear that some interference was probably stopping them from fully understanding him. This must be how a normal personNo, a normal person wouldnt be here. This was how a normal blessed probably experienced talking to a god.

Oh right, where is Ellaine? Tasianna asked, which I was about to answer but Bleidla just had to interrupt me.

[Enough wasting time.]

Sheesh! Thunderous The tone reminded me a bit of my Papa and how he used to shout at me.

[Your friends do not have the time to stay here. Every second here, their souls continue to accrue damage. Let us make haste.] He took a step forward and opened up his palm, revealing a piece of green ore, unaffected by the flames on his arms. [Repeat this to them. The fairy only has a limited time due to her lack of piety to me, so she should leave now. Grimnir, too, has the same problem. He cannot become my blessed. You, though, are different, dragon.]

He nudged his hand away from Grimnir, directing the green ore to me, offering it to me.

[You can become a blessed of the Pantheon of Earth. Your connection to the earth, to the searing volcanoes and magma landscape that I rule over, is strong enough to bypass the piety needed, and I am willing to allow you to usurp the blessing for power if you spread my word.]

Wha! I gasped. Hold on, that wasn

[Translate what I said to them, first.]

You oldGrah!

Okay, correction, this guy sounded nothing like my Papa! Old, stubborn assshole with how he spoke to me, ordering me around just cause he was a god! Sure, I understood his position, but I met Aurena, Crustacia, and Yeostar, gods who were courteous to me while we spoke. I could give two fucks for this guy at this point, even if he tried to exude his aura at me. He could try to learn to be nice!

Disregarding my general impression of him right now, I still did what he wanted me to do as it was the right thing to do. I explained what he told me to my friends, causing Tasianna to smile wryly as she admitted she wasnt feeling too good.

I apologize for wasting your time, Tasianna I told her, feeling dejected that my plan didnt work. Even with my titles protection, inviting people to my meeting with the gods wouldnt work.

I am all right, Lady Hestia. It is still an honor to be able to meet a subordinate god in person. I shall rendezvous with Ellaine. Tasianna bowed before her soul vanished before me.

I turned to Grimnir, awaiting him to also go, but instead of following Tasianna, he just shook his head and turned to Bleidla. You reject me once again, I see. First you take away my eyes, now you cannot even give me an ounce of your attention? I trained my craft to bring honor to the blacksmith guild and to YOU! All those years I spent working for you, and the first thing you do is to cast me aside after I made my mistake. I let my greed get to me, I understand that, but I worked to overcome them but you never deemed me worthy of those eyes, again.

[Blacksmiths Eyes]a blacksmiths most priceless skill as it allowed them to inspect their creations and see the attack and defensive powers they gave their wielders. My [Mana Eyes] somehow obtained that ability in the past, for no apparent reason to me, and I have been using them on Grimnirs behalf whenever he needed to inspect something. He was usually skilled enough to guess the stats correctly, but he still needed confirmation from me.

The origin of that skill was none other than Bleidla himself. As Rudigan explained, the ability to give members of the blacksmith guild the skill was similar to how Yeostar handledAhem, used to handle the training of his Champions of Yeostar to assure they were the strongest blessed of the Pantheon of Light. These two examples were the few times gods could directly interact with mortals instead of acting like guides, but to balance it out, there was a cost.

Yeostar could only have one blessed at any time, and to become one, one must perform a ritual using the blood from one of his descendants. If the royal family of Yeos, or its branch family, were to go extinct, the existence of the Champion of Yeostar would end permanently. What was Bleidlas restriction?

[Leave, Grimnir. Your soul cannot handle my presence any longer,] Bleidla replied, which I immediately relayed to Grimnir. This discussion between these two was a long time coming, and I wouldnt interrupt it now that Grimnir had made his decision.

NO! Not before you answer my question. Bleidla! You think I would let this chance of a lifetime go? I can speak with the god I had blamed for all my mistakes, grievances, and bad luck! You were my boogeyman, and I will. Speak. My. Mind! Grimnir took a step forward, staring into the aloof gods cracked eyes. All this time, I always had to ask myself why you forbade the usage of Goddess Chihiros technology? Her blueprints and genius! Because of your persistence to keep them taboo, all of them are gone now! You are keepingUrrgh!

Grimnir! I called out as I saw his soul suddenly quivering, sending small waves around itself as if it was made out of water. He fell onto his knees, panting as he held his chest.

[ This is the normal interaction between a mortals soul and a gods divine aura. You have been spoiled by Goddess Aurenas actions, to the point you bring mortals to this realm? For a test? Something you could have figured out by simply using your rational thinking?] Bleidla chastised me in a scornful tone. [Asking a god to make someone a blessed? What nonsense this wish is, dragon. A blessed is an extension of a gods authority and ideals, one chosen by them because they fit their principles and can spread their faith the best! I dont care what Rudigan told you, this dwarf is an embarrassment to all the smiths who toil]

SHUT IT! Grimnir shouted, standing up despite his soul being in agony. I hadnt relayed any of the information to him yet, but despite that, his timing was impeccable. I dont know what you are saying to her, but I can feel how the lass is processing your words, Bleidla. The most involved god, that is the title so many people gave you, as no smith could ever work without your blessing. Those you abandoned or deemed unworthy are left to be ridiculed by others, unable to join the guild because of you. Even if they can forge, a smith without [Blacksmiths Eyes] is nothing more than a zuekluk when it concerns the blacksmiths guild.

I winced, remembering how I first met Grimnir. The local blacksmith guild ridiculed him, calling him a failure of a smith due to lacking [Blacksmiths Eyes], while the man himself was still grieving after the death of his cousin. All he could do was blame Bleidla for everything, in fact, one upping the blacksmith god for abandoning him was the entire reason why Grimnir even joined us in the first place.

He wanted my knowledge to inspire him to create more equipment. His current armor, his blasthammer, and even the armor he made for me were all modern ideas. Every time he would create something good, he would shout to the skies, See this, Bleidla! He was obsessed and driven by anger.

It had died down after he returned to Ankor-Nazta and made peace with his cousins death. Now, though, that rage was showing once again. It didnt help that he wanted to sorely know how the Prince of Greed even turned his cousins body into a fake that was able to imitate Broggarts skills and memories.

Tell me! Were you dissatisfied with what I did, or are you so petty that you hold my mistake as the defining trait about me? Ive always been told you respect the beauty of fine craftwork, so tell me, all that equipment I made that I dedicated to Crustacia, were you ever envious that you lost my dedication? His voice broke, sounding almost as if he was pleading for an answer, as if he was seeking the approval of a parent. But if you dont care, then so be it. However, I will not leave yet. I will obtain a blessing. I will become a blessed as the reward for the lasss Quest! I will obtain a new power to reach the person who defiled my cousins corpse; I will get my answer from that damn Prince of Greed!

Grimnirs powerful declaration left me speechless, reinforcing his conviction to me in this quest to confront the demonkin prince. Unlike Saori and Ellaine, I hadnt been able to witness Grimnirs confrontation with the corpse of Broggart nor his words to Maagneil. I had missed them but hearing it now made my chest feel floaty. No, it felt like something was rising inside my soul, making me want to see his path to the end.

Haa. He scratched his head, even massaging his temples before he was willing to speak. When the blacksmith guild was talking about allowing people to inspect Chihiros workshop, I sent a message to the leader of my church back then. I declare the creation of Chihiros modern guns taboo, as I feared the creation of weapons similar to the warhammer mana cannon we reverse engineered from the demons. You should know. Its just an oversized gun.

And the notification got reduced due to the strain on a mortals soul, right?

He nodded. I reduced my message to, Modern. Guns. Taboo. but I overestimated the faith of the leader, and the message was reduced to Taboo. Taboo and from there, the misunderstanding happened. I tried to correct it, as I do respect ChihiroI enjoy talking to her a lotbut when I sent the second message, the leader fell ill due to his soul fracturing. He recovered, but Ive been afraid of hurting others, so I accepted my mistake. My pride got in my way to ask the other gods for help, and Thats what happened.

Similar to Kramps, Bleidla seemed to have had a communication failure. The limitations of a god speaking with a mortal, and Bleidlas lack of blessed made it even harder for him to convey his mind.

Want me to clear things up for you? I offered, but Bleidla shook his head.

Its too late. My church and the church of Chihiro are feuding due to this failure and over 200 years have gone by for everything to stick. Trying to

You wont change anything if you keep staying silent. This is why language was invented, so we dont have to ook ook ah ah everything. I interrupted him before he made the same mistake like so many others. Just because its only a feud now, doesnt mean it cant turn into something worse in the future. You talk so much about getting rid of the festering old, but you cant accept an option to get rid of it? Its hypocritical and, you know what, I wont let you make that decision for me. Youre allowed to not accept Grimnir as your blessed because of your pride, but you are a god. You guide. The moment you gave me this information, I became the one to decide what to do with it.

He looked at me before shaking his head, mumbling, Now I understand why you want to help the humans and demonkins make peace.

I scoffed, crossing my arms. Its better than having the two of them fight each other to extinction.

Bleidla let out a wild bellow, slapping his round belly twice he returned to hammering the green ore dust. He was smiling all the way, seeming far less imposing than when he spoke to Grimnir. Once he was done with his task, he placed the dust into a bag he had, holding it up for me to look at the green glowing pouch.

You declined the bigger and better reward for the Divine Quest, but you still deserve something. I will add this to your Event Quest rewards, so accept this then.

What is it?

A little something that will help you out with the monster room catalyst you earned.

Oooh! I wanted to grab the pouch right now, but my hands once again went through it. It was weird that I could sit on chairs in the divine realm, but grabbing things was just impossible.

I could have probably upgraded your [Mana Eyes]s [Blacksmiths Eyes], but I wont. You arent a blacksmith, hahaha! He told me, earning me a chuckle too as I could understand the reasoning. Do consider helping Danterno, Hestia.

Haaaa maybe when Im in a better mood. Goodbye, God Bleidla. Enjoy the show after Im done.

I closed my eyes after I saw him nod to me, waiting for the burning heat around me to dissipate and to be replaced by a cool, icy wind. Noise entered my ears when I opened my eyes, confirming I was back in my body. I snapped my head towards the noise, noticing Ellaine and Rajahs head looking out of a shadow hugging an unconscious Grimnir, worry filling their faces.

He just fell over for no reason, Rudigan frantically told me. How long did he stay up there? Is his soul okay?

Rudigan as a blessed knew exactly what the problem was, which I confirmed after I told everybody what happened. Ellaines horror-filled eyes mellowed out, sighing deeply as she patted her masters back, feeling a bit annoyed that she was that worried due to his stubbornness.

It was a long time coming, I guess. In the end, though, a smile formed on her face. For the both of us.

I nodded, expecting KleaHatmaAhem, Klea, to react to it, but she didnt. Instead, I looked at Grimnir to make sure he was actually okay, to which Tasianna explained she had healed his body and inspected his Profile. I trusted her and had Rajah carry him as we departed from Chihiros workshop.

Once we were back up, I confronted Manethala on what I had learned about Crustacia, mentioning how Chihiro could look through the video recorder. When he heard this, the giant drake stood still, causing me to smirk as I entered my subspace, taking the recorder out to film him.

[W-wait, hold on, hold on! I look terrible, dont show her]

Too late. I teased him, smiling smugly as I had already pressed the recording button. Come on, say something. Miss Dravlia will be seeing this, or do you call her Chihiro in person?

[How am I supposed to speak like this!] he stated, bringing up a good point as it wasnt possible to listen onto our telepathic link.

So, instead, I spoke for him, He said he misses you, Chihiro-san!

[WHELPLING!] he shouted but I just boarded Rajah and sprinted away with everybody until I remembered the only way back up was through the elevator only he could control.

Oh oh

[Whelp. Ling.]

Suffice to say, being a naughty girl did not end so well for me.

Forgetting the massive lecture that old drake gave mewhich I was thankful for that he didnt get too drastic with itI left the dungeon and returned to the inn my party reserved in the inner part of Inkoran-Tazulthe authentic Japanese inn with the hotspring! We left Grimnir inside the subspace while I gave everybody a breakdown of what happened.

Unfortunately, some days had passed due to Grimnirs injured soul. He needed four days to wake up, feeling groggy and as if he had amnesia. Our entire party went into panic, but we quickly confirmed it was just partial and temporary. After some ale, the stubborn man remembered what had happened with Bleidla.

As he recovered, I also told him that when he was out, I paid the blacksmiths and the railroad guild a visit to announce what Bleidla told me. Using my authoritywhich was calling upon the Ankoran King for a favorI brought both groups into a room and told them everything.

It got a bit heated even if they believed I could speak with the gods, similar to Chihiro, since the blacksmiths guild tried to argue that what I heard must be wrong. Thankfully, using the details I heard from Bleidla on how this misunderstanding happened, I did eventually persuade the blacksmiths guild, to the point I guided them into Manethalas dungeon and had them take a peek at Chihiros workshop.

Haha, you did good, lass, Grimnir praised me. I bet Broggart would be happy to hear that. Goddess Chihiros grave is in the hold where she was born, but I presume she must be happy to have a new one in the very workshop she lived and worked in.

I nodded. The blacksmiths and the railroad guild told me they wanted another meeting with me, this time with Ellaine, Daichi, and you accompanying me. They want to talk about the blasthammer and the gun.

They arent against the gun blueprints? he asked, since Bleidla admitted to not liking the gun.

I tilted my head, making a face as his assumption was only half-right. They are willing to mend their relationship with the church of Chihiro, but, goodness gracious, those old men were stubborn! Ahem, they are still against it, but I told them to at least inspect it first instead of making an unbiased opinion on things. I think having them help us will help our endeavors against the Prince of Envy.

Good, your call. Grimnir then turned silent, staring into the air before he grimaced. Well, with that out of the way, you want to know what I got into?

I shrugged and nodded.

I somehow became a blessed for Goddess Chihiro.