The phoenix fire roared to life, filling the chamber with heat that made the air dance and shimmer. I held Hades' spear in my hands, feeling the weight of divine craftsmanship and centuries of death magic, but something felt off about my original plan.
*A spear... why a spear when I could make something better and fit my fighting style?*
I set the spear down on the table carefully as I muttered "I won't be turning this into another spear."
"What do you mean?" Lavinia asked, genuine curiosity in her voice.
"I'm going to forge a sword instead," I said, my crafting instincts already mapping out the possibilities. "More versatile in combat, better suited to my fighting style."
Yoruichi's ears perked up on my shoulder. She was the only one here who knew about my skill acquisitions, about the breathing techniques and sword arts I'd learned. "That... actually makes sense," she said carefully, not wanting to reveal too much.
Grayfia studied me with that professional assessment of hers. "You have experience with swordwork?"
"Some," I said simply. *Understatement of the century, but they don't need to know about Thunder Breathing or Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryu.*
"A sword it is then," Lavinia said, moving to adjust some of the containment systems. "The process should be similar regardless of the final form."
I lifted the spear again, this time with the Holy Water of Life in my other hand. "Here we go."
The moment the Holy Water touched the divine metal, the reaction was immediate and violent. Death magic screamed as it was purged from the weapon, black smoke pouring off it in waves while the ice formations along the walls flared brighter, working overtime to contain the escaping energy.
"That's... intense" Lavinia breathed, watching the process with wide eyes "To do something like this to a divine spear with so intense death magic, holy water of life is a form of divinity"
The spear began to break apart, not physically, but on a deeper level. The very essence of what it was started to unravel as the Holy Water did its work, separating centuries of accumulated death magic from the underlying divine metal.
This was going to be a long week.
( Day 3 )
"So," Lavinia said during one of our breaks, watching me carefully monitor the purification process, "where exactly did you learn divine weapon crafting? It's not exactly taught in magical academies."
I was monitoring the energy flows, making sure the purification didn't damage the core structure. "It's a recent skill that I picked on. Let's just say I pick things up quickly."
"That's remarkably vague," Grayfia observed from where she was helping stabilize a particularly volatile energy spike.
"I prefer to let my work speak for itself," I replied, adjusting the phoenix fire's intensity.
Yoruichi stretched on her perch. "He's always been secretive about his abilities. Though it drives people crazy trying to figure him out."
"I can imagine," Lavinia said with a small smile. "Though I have to admit, watching your work is fascinating. The way you seem to instinctively know what needs to be done..."
*She's not wrong. The divine smithing knowledge feels natural, like I've been doing this for years instead of days.*
By the third day, the purification was mostly complete. The death magic had been stripped away, leaving behind pure divine metal that hummed with potential. But now came the harder part—reshaping it entirely.
( Day 5 )
The blessed orichalcum had to be integrated perfectly with the purified divine metal. Too much and the weapon would be too light-aspected. Too little and the death magic residue would corrupt the final product.
"The energy levels are spiking again," Grayfia warned, her power flowing smoothly to help contain another surge.
"I can see that," I replied through gritted teeth, sweat beading on my forehead from the concentration required. "Just a little more..."
The metals began to fuse, divine light and purified death magic finding a new balance. But this was just the beginning. Shaping a sword from divine materials required not just skill, but will. I had to impose my vision of what the weapon should be onto reality itself.
"The magic fluctuations are still intact," Lavinia murmured, monitoring her instruments. "How are you maintaining such precise control?"
"Perk of being a good blacksmith" I said simply, though the truth was the divine smithing skill was guiding me through processes that should have taken decades to master.
Hour by hour, strike by strike, the sword began to take shape. The blade emerged first—perfectly balanced, with an edge that seemed to cut through the air itself. The crossguard followed, then the grip, each component flowing seamlessly into the next.
But I knew this wasn't enough. A simple divine sword, even one forged from Hades' spear, wouldn't be sufficient for what was coming. I would not let that cheap Baraggan shit on me and just walk away, I swear to bring hell on him in the hell he is taking nap in.
. . .
By the seventh day, the sword was nearly complete. It was beautiful—divine metal that seemed to hold its own inner light, perfectly balanced and impossibly sharp. But it was missing something crucial.
*Now it's about time to put the final nail in the coffin*
"The weapon seems to be finished" Grayfia observed, studying the blade with keen interest.
"Not quite," I said, and before anyone could ask what I meant, I reached up and plucked out my right eye.
Yoruichi voiced out loud as she saw me standing proud holding eye in my hand "What the hell are you doing to do?"
"Akira, let me heal you" Lavinia was about to stop me, but Grayfia's grip made her stand still in her spot, as she looked at maid in confusion.
"We shouldn't interfere with his work" Grayfia said with calmness, her composure held better than the other two "Besides, he has access to the holy water of Life. So please control yourself Lavinia san and let Akira sama get done with his work"
I ignored them all, focusing on the red orb in my palm—the Sage's Eye that had been one of my earliest rewards. Blood ran down my cheek as I pressed the eye against the sword's blade and began channeling every drop of mana I had left.
The eye dissolved into pure magical energy, flowing into the metal and beginning to etch intricate patterns along the blade's length. Runes and symbols that had never existed before carved themselves into the divine metal, each one pulsing with its own inner fire.
"This is insane" Yoruichi muttered, but she didn't try to stop me. She knew better than anyone that when I made a decision like this, I had my reasons.
The engravings spread across the entire blade, creating a network of power that made the weapon sing with potential. But the process was draining everything I had—every drop of mana, every ounce of energy. My vision started to blur as exhaustion hit like a sledgehammer.
Finally, it was done.
The sword blazed with light that made everyone in the chamber shield their eyes. When the glow faded, the weapon had been transformed. The engravings pulsed with power, and I could feel the connection between the blade and myself—deeper than ownership, more fundamental than wielding. This sword was part of me now, with obvious upgrades and benefits that I specifically imprinted on it.
I smiled through the blood, sweat & exhaustion "Perfect"
My eye socket was already beginning to regenerate, new tissue growing to replace what I'd sacrificed. The Viltrumite physiology was useful that way, though it would take time to fully heal. As I predicted it got replaced with a normal eye, after all Sage's eye was implanted, not something I was born with.
But as I turned around, recovering from exhaustion, I was met with a sight that made me freeze in my spot.
All three women were staring at me with expressions I'd never seen before. Their pupils were dilated, cheeks flushed, and there was something in their eyes that made me gulp at their lust aura? that seemed to radiate from them like uncontrollable heat.
*Oh shit.*
That's when I realized what had happened. During the final stage of forging, with all my mana channeled into the sword and my control completely focused on the crafting process, my Charisma of Aphrodite as well got extracted from me in large amounts as the form of energy.
Damn.
Yoruichi was the first to move, her slow steps pacing my heartbeats with each movement "Akira..." she breathed and there was something in her voice that made my messy mind go completely blank.
Lavinia's innocent demeanor had vanished entirely, replaced by an intense focus that was entirely directed at me. Even Grayfia's perfect composure had cracked, her professional mask slipping to reveal something much more nasty as she undid her hairs to let it flow down to her hips.
*What's with this turn of events?!*
The sword clattered to the floor as exhaustion finally overwhelmed me, but even as consciousness began to fade slightly, I did my best to stay awake while taking the image of three pairs of eyes looking at me like I was the only thing in the world that mattered at this moment.
Maybe divine weapon forging came with more side effects than I'd anticipated, or should I say positive effects?
. . .
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