Chapter 703 The Divine Forge



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Ding!

[The [Special Subclass Quest] related to the current [Quest Chain]: [Forge a Dagger and Impress Ambil with your Skills!] has been Successfully Completed!]

[Not only you've impressed Ambil with your skills, but you've even created a new type of metal altogether! Your path towards becoming a fitting successor of the Blacksmith God might not be that far away.]

[Now that you've passed the test, it is time for Ambil to open up and tell you about what he knows about Hephaestus, and while at that, probably learn more about the reason behind the Family Forge's constant decline...]

[Clear Rewards]: [10.000.000 EXP] [100.000.000 Gold] [New Quest Chain]

[Level Up!]

[Your Level has to Level 139/180!]

[You earned Bonus Stat Points and Skill Points.]

After completing the Quest I got so much EXP I ended Leveling Up, I was now Level 139 out of 180, almost halfway through!

"Amazing, is that the dagger she made with just an ingot?" Asked Rita. "It's so very shiny! You could use this as a flashlight..."

"It is certainly very shiny..." I laughed with embarrassment. "It could help adventurers get through dark places such as caves or dungeons easily though, it also requires little mana to unleash spiritual attacks, so it can be used by mostly anybody with a good enough INT stat."

"Certainly, the requirements are very generous and the ability it has is really good too." Mark nodded "Amazingly done... I wonder if I could commission you a weapon in the future?"

"Sure! Once I get a bit better at crafting and all, I could make weapons for everyone." I smiled happily.

Well, I've already made some back on Earth, but that was more like just sticking items together with spiritual fusion without much of a mastery or delicacy on the creation or shaping of the items.

But things are completely different now! I will get even better at this and... One day, I could probably supply my entire Guild and small country with proper equipment, so they can face off against any threat.

"Sounds like a lot of fun! Maybe I should also try to learn some sort of crafting stuff." Lily wondered, as Ambil crossed his arms with a rather proud smile.

"I guess you've earned some of my trust, that was... well, I hate to admit it, but it was great." He sighed. "Now, where do we begin...? Ah, right, you... Planta, right? Do you posses some sort of Title related with the God of Blacksmiths, Lord Hephaestus?"

"Yep." I smiled. "I wanted to talk about it, but I felt like you could already tell. Was this test to see that I indeed held such title?"

"More or less." He nodded. "I once was told by my father that one day, someone carrying the Title of Hephaestus Successor would appear in this world, and the Divine Forges that he left behind would finally unseal themselves. This is a legacy we've been protecting for many generations in the Ember Family. But I just can't believe that person would be a Player, and a woman, no less! And also a Dryad! This is my first time seeing a female work with the hammer, and you're not half-bad!"

"I don't know why a female would surprise you." I sighed. "But anyways, yeah, being a Dryad is the weird part, because I am actually made of wood and spiritual energy, it is rather hard to handle things and so on... But still, I got the Subclass of Hephaestus Successor after I forged this weapon, which I reforged out of broken parts from the Ancient Heroic Sword Gram." I showed him the Gram I possessed.

"O-Oooohh! A-A heroic weapon?!" He muttered in utter disbelief. "IT IS! This luster, this shine, these materials...! It does feels like a weapon you would make, but it also possess the ancientness of Heroic Weapons, once wielded by the Legendary Heroes that slain the Demon Kings..."

"I didn't really do it all on my own, and we used a method of synthesis and alchemy too, to make it quicker." I sighed. "There's another sword because Gram was cut into two, the other is on the Dwarven Kingdom, while they let me keep this one. That one was made with the help of the Dwarf King's amazing Blacksmithing Techniques, I only helped on unifying the materials and enchanting them in the smelting process."

"So you made this one in cooperation with many, and the other only with the Dwarf King...?" Ambil was left speechless. "This is... It's just so incredible. You really are a successor of Hephaestus then! Without a doubt! ...However, just by giving this amazing sword a few glances, I can tell it lacks a lot of finesse, majesty, and masterfulness on its craft. It looks good in the surface, but its balance is rather off, its mana conductivity is so-so, and it is mostly being carried by its incredibly high-quality materials, rather than the craft itself. Also, it's strange... It feels like this sword is actually two into one."

"Geh, that's harsh..." Acorn sighed. "We used all our alchemy abilities to somehow imitate forging and blacksmithing, but I guess it would never be the same, hahaha..."

"I-Indeed, to think my father and I thought it was a masterpiece, even Queen Titania found no issues. I guess Blacksmiths are the only ones that can spot such issues easily." Brisingra laughed.

"Father?" Wondered Ambil. "Wait, are you...?!"

"I guess there's little point in hiding it, it seems that Lady Planta trusts you." Brisingra smiled, as she presented herself differently, with delicacy and regality. "I am Brisingra, the Princess of the Dwarven Kingdom of Svartalfheim."

"Such a person is in my forge?!" Ambil panicked. "And you all... I bet you're not normal either, huh?" He glanced at the rest of our party.

"More or less, hahaha..." Mark laughed a bit.

"Heh! You're finally acting a bit more respectfully, old man?" Rita smiled confidently, crossing her arms, and glaring at Ambil with a cocky smile.

"Well, only to those that deserve such praise!" Ambil angrily said.

"Did you said that the sword was lacking?" I wondered. "I wonder if it could be possible to fix it a bit and make it much better?"

"Certainly." The blacksmith smiled. "But first, follow me, I have something to show you all, well, especially you." He gave me back Gram and then opened a door in the floor.

In there, stairs leading to a large underground area emerged...

And an aura of slight divinity and flames started coming from there, I felt as if something was whispering to me, calling for me to walk downstairs.

"W-What is this place?" I wondered, as we started walking downstairs, red-colored torches lighting up as we walked down magically.

"This is the greatest legacy of my family, what we've been protecting all this time for many generations." Ambil smiled, once we reached the last stair, we landed in the middle of a large underground temple.

It looked ruined and covered on dust and spiderwebs everywhere, however, at the end of this seemingly endless hall, there was a huge gate, decorated with beautiful carvings on the black stone, with many red colored jewels decorating it.

The carvings showed a tall, muscular man with two shiny ruby eyes, long white hair, and a beard of the same color holding a huge hammer, made of metal, holding it above an anvil, and behind it, a flame shaped into some sort of spirit.

The number "1" as right above the figure.

"This is... Hephaestus' First Divine Forge."

It is right beneath the damn city?!

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