After causing a ruckus for roughly two hours, I was finally subdued by Tsubaki and made to sit down... Tch.
"Still, our goddess was in the wrong too, so I let you go for two hours. Keep it reasonable from now on. Honestly, even I think I'd have a heart attack if a Level 6 showed up while I was Level 1..."
"...Did you hear that, my goddess?"
"Well, I mean... You did ask me to introduce you to a First-Class adventurer..."
"Even if you were introducing us, you should have come with him...! I thought my heart rate was going to shoot up to 150 in an instant...!"
"...Sorry?"
God, my blood pressure...!
"But now you won't be intimidated even if you meet most adventurers, right? You've already seen the very peak, so seeing those beneath it won't scare you. It's all part of your great goddess's magnificent plan, you see!"
"Just what you'd expect from the goddess of a business Familia. You sure can talk..."
"Hold on, I can't accept that statement."
She suddenly got serious...? Did I say something wrong? Confused.
"It's not that I can talk well. I can do that too!"
"..."
"..."
"Tsubaki."
"Yeah."
"Want to beat her up together?"
"Let's do it."
"H-hey, you two? Calm down... Aaaaaah!"
.
.
.
.
.
.
"Now then, let's update your Status."
"Don't you two have a little too little respect for your goddess...?"
"Now then, let's update your Status."
"Um... you two?"
"Therefore, let's update your Status now."
"...Fine."
Whew, that feels refreshing. All my stress is gone.
Honestly, it's just a hunch, but I think I leveled up from making [Gwyn]. If a great feat means accomplishing some miraculous thing that someone at my current level should be incapable of achieving, then a Level 1 making a First-Class weapon good enough for a Level 6 to use as a backup weapon is an impossible miracle, isn't it?
"All right, bare your back and lie facedown here."
"Okaaay~"
"Your Status is really unusual... How does a blacksmith's Magic stat rise all the way to B...?"
"It's probably because of the Skill [To the Stars in the Sky I Looked Up At], right? Even when I'm not doing anything, its effect of increasing my Magic means it's like I'm constantly training it through everyday life. If I started using magic in earnest, it might rise even further..."
"No matter how I look at it, this Skill is absurdly overpowered... The person who gave you your blessing—could they have been a Deus Dea who secretly descended without sealing their Arcanum, using some method we don't know about...?"
"Haha..."
"Well... let's hurry up and update it. I think you'll level up this time, and gain [Mystery] too."
"If I level up this time... I'll be able to make what I want through smithing and magic too, right...?"
"Of course. Once you level up this time, we'll count the [Smithing] you gained this round and promote you to a High Smith. As for the [Mystery] Development Ability, let's reveal it once you reach Level 3. Then let's begin. If [Mystery] appears, even if another Development Ability appears too, I'll arbitrarily rank up [Mystery] instead, all right?"
"Yes, please."
Something viscous drips onto my back, followed by a spreading warmth. It must be Ichor, my goddess's blood. At last, I am taking my first step as a blacksmith in Orario. Level 1s make up well over half of Orario. It's time to rise from being just another small fry and enter deeper waters!
"Smith."
"Yes, my goddess."
"Congratulations on becoming Level 2. You're a full-fledged High Smith now. It may not be a record-breaking achievement, but it's still quite fast, you know?"
Reining in my surging emotions, I rose from the Status-update bed—the kind used at massage parlors. A sense of omnipotence filled my entire body. Right now, I felt confident I could leap over a two- or three-story building from a standing start. If becoming Level 2 felt this omnipotent... what kind of sensation did First-Class adventurers live with every day...?
"All right, here's your Status."
Name: Smith
Level 2
Strength: I-0
Endurance: I-0
Dexterity: I-0
Agility: I-0
Magic: I-0
Abilities: [Smithing] G, [Mystery] G
Magic
[Noble Phantasm - NOBLE PHANTASM]
Chant
This is an illusion.
This is my imagination.
This is our ideal.
A dream that shall remain eternal within fantasy.
I depict all things in creation,
And contain every phenomenon.
I forge an illusion born from a wondrous vision,
And all creation blesses that illusion,
Solidifying its form as an idol.
Everything is for the sake of one single end.
- Forges a weapon as close as possible to the envisioned illusion.
- Cannot be used again until a single weapon has been completed.
- Continuously grants additional bonuses to Dexterity, Strength, and Magic until the illusion is completed.
- Upon completion, a special ability of the user's choice may be added.
- The higher the degree of completion, the more abilities may be added.
[]
Skills
[Tempering of Steel]
- Greatly increases Endurance.
[Soul of Flame]
- Extremely high resistance to damage caused by flames and heat.
[To the Stars in the Sky I Looked Up At]
- Grants a bonus to Agility.
- Increases Magic recovery speed.
- Slightly increases Magic at fixed intervals.
Finally... finally...!
"Hahaha... Hahahahahaha! Ahahahahahahahahahaha!"
"Congratulations, Smith."
"Congratulations, Smith."
"I'm Level 2 now, so how about we have a celebratory dinner, my goddess?"
"Sure, sure. It's a happy day, so let's have a dinner party under the pretext of the money from selling your sword."
"Ah, the commission you mentioned earlier?"
It was going to be spent as Familia funds anyway, and now we're using it for my dinner? Sounds good to me!
"So, how much did you get?"
"Ah, she said sixty million earlier, right? She added another five million, making it sixty-five million. They said they'd send it later through the Familia."
"Wow... You really are a born merchant... You even squeezed more out of them on top of that?"
"Well... if the buyer is happy, that's all that matters. It's not like I set the price and then gouged them."
What? What is it?
I'm completely justified. I've got nothing to feel guilty about!
"So where should we have the dinner? You pick."
"Well... let's go to the Hostess of Fertility. Their food is good."
"Then today's dinner party will be at the Hostess of Fertility! Let the others know."
"Yeees, ma'am."