Deep in the alley behind the Warg Red House, headquarters of the Hephaestus Familia, a workshop chimney belched heat into the morning air.
Clang. Clang. CLANG.
The dull percussion of hammer on metal punched through thick stone walls and echoed down the lane.
The workshop door stood open. Leon rapped his knuckles on the frame rather than walking straight in.
"Tsubaki. Busy?"
"Oh? Leon?"
A dark-skinned woman barely half a head shorter than him looked up from the forge. Black hair, eastern-style clothing, and a smithing hammer in her grip that looked like it weighed more than most people's ambitions. She set it down, rose from the searing heat of the furnace, and flashed him a grin that was equal parts welcome and mockery.
"Well, well. A rare guest! You're way too cheap to show up without a reason. What happened, did the Dungeon monsters finally teach you a lesson?"
Leon was long past flinching at her greetings.
"Being cheap isn't a character flaw, it's a financial condition." He spread his hands, utterly shameless. "Why do you think I bought your practice gear made from scrap materials in the first place? Cut me some slack."
"Tch!" Tsubaki Collbrande planted a fist on her hip.
"Save the jokes. What do you need?"
The woman standing before Leon was none other than the legendary Cyclops, Tsubaki Collbrande.
Lv. 4. Captain of the Hephaestus Familia. Half-dwarf, born of a human mother from the Far East and a continental dwarf father. Black hair, red eyes, a patch over her left eye. Beyond being one of Orario's premier smiths, she also possessed the combat prowess of a second-tier Adventurer.
As far as Leon knew, every piece that left her hands bore the Hephaestus signature and qualified as the cream of the crop. Any single weapon could fetch tens of millions, sometimes over a hundred million valis.
Their acquaintance had been pure dumb luck. Back when Tsubaki was still Lv. 3, she'd been selling off practice pieces forged from leftover scraps at bargain prices. Leon had stumbled into a deal at 49,900 valis, and after tracking down the maker's mark on the equipment for repairs and maintenance, one visit led to another until they'd become something like friends.
"Don't get me started," Leon said. "Ran into an Irregular in the Dungeon. For a second there I was seeing my dead ancestors waving me over. Barely made it out in one piece. Your armor's the only reason I'm standing here, so... thanks for that."
Tsubaki waved it off and took the bundle of damaged gear from his hands. She laid it out on the workbench and began inspecting each piece.
"Tsk tsk. Look at all these gouges. The coating and plating are wrecked." Her fingertip traced a deep claw mark. Something clicked behind her eyes, and she looked up at him with a flicker of surprise. "You made it down to Floor 6? What's the story there? You never go past 4 or 5. Getting cocky?"
"..."
Leon answered with an awkward smile.
"Forget it. You always have your own schemes cooking." Tsubaki let it drop. She picked up the shredded gauntlet and studied the damage closely. "This kind of destruction... you're sure this was a Floor 6 War Shadow? Not one from Floors 11 or 12? This level of force..."
Her brow furrowed as she turned the gauntlet over, reassessing.
"It was an Irregular," Leon said. "Weird things showing up isn't exactly surprising under those conditions."
"Fair point." She nodded and set the gauntlet down. "Alright, leave the gear. Come pick it up in a few days. Repairs will run you 30,000 valis."
"..."
Leon wordlessly produced yesterday's spoils and handed them over.
"See what these materials are worth and take the fee out of that. Oh, and take a look at this one for me." He pointed to one particular finger blade among the lot.
Tsubaki glanced at the Drop Items. With her expertise, identification was instant.
"War Shadow Finger Blades, three of them. Market buyback sits around 45,000 valis. These move well, solid demand. We'll do trade price with a small bump: 50,000 each, 150,000 total." She rattled off the figures without hesitation, then picked up the unusual piece. "This is also a War Shadow Finger Blade?"
She frowned at the Drop Item in her hand, familiar yet distinctly not.
Leon nodded. "It's from a special variant War Shadow. Based on what it can do, I've been calling it the Anti-Magic War Shadow Finger Blade."
He walked her through the creature's abilities.
The moment she heard this thing could slice through low-level magic, Tsubaki's attention locked onto the blade so completely that she didn't even blink at the fact that Leon apparently knew magic. Every ounce of her focus zeroed in on the Anti-Magic War Shadow Finger Blade.
"Anti-magic properties? Something like that actually exists? Let me test it."
"Hey, what the... careful!"
Leon backpedaled fast. His frame was not built for tanking the kind of experiments she had in mind.
Tsubaki snatched up a cracked Magic Sword from a rack and swung it casually. Fire roared to life, screaming through the workshop air. She pinched the finger blade between her fingers and drew a clean line through the oncoming flames.
The fire split apart like curtains.
Sparks peppered her clothes. The skin on her arms flushed pink from the heat. She didn't so much as flinch. For a high-level Adventurer and master smith, magic of this caliber was a light breeze on a warm day.
Leon watched from a safe distance, quietly stunned all over again at what top-tier Adventurers could shrug off.
"Confirmed anti-magic properties," Tsubaki said, flicking her hand dry. A trace of regret colored her voice. "But the performance ceiling is limited. Useful within Lv. 1, sure. Anything above that and it falls off hard."
No surprise there. It was a Floor 6 product, after all.
"Just tell me what it's worth," Leon said, cutting to the chase.
"Tch, you really have got coins where your soul should be! This is an unknown rare material and you..."
"How much."
"..."
A vein twitched on Tsubaki's forehead. She glared daggers at him.
"Forging it into a weapon or tool is out of the question. Not enough structural integrity. But the uniqueness alone makes it invaluable for research. Lady Hephaestus would be very interested. Wait here. I'll go get her."
"Lady Hephaestus is here today? She's not inspecting the shops at Babel?" Leon raised an eyebrow.
As the patron goddess of one of the largest commercial Familias in existence, Hephaestus ran an operation that spanned all of Orario. Weapons bearing the Hephaestus brand flowed through merchant guilds, noble houses, and Adventurer hands across the entire continent.
Anyone with even a passing interest in equipment dreamed of owning a Hephaestus-signed weapon. It was proof of power and a badge of status in one.
This was no idle goddess killing time in the mortal world. Through the sheer strength and influence of her Familia, Hephaestus stood at the apex of Orario's pyramid of countless Familias, looking down on a sea of gods and their followers. A figure who ranked among the city's most powerful by any measure.
"Evilus has been stirring things up again," Tsubaki said. "Everyone in the Familia agreed to adjust her schedule for safety. Keeping her close to home for now."
"That makes sense." Leon nodded.
So Evilus's latest moves really had put the entire city on edge.
...
Tsubaki returned shortly. The workshop was right behind headquarters, after all.
The figure who followed her through the door carried an air that sharpened the room.
Close-cropped red hair with a slight curl. A signature eye patch over the left eye, mirroring her captain's. A clean white blouse, black trousers, and knee-high black leather boots with heels that clicked against the stone floor.
Lady Hephaestus radiated the composed authority of someone accustomed to power, layered with something otherworldly that only a god could possess. The combination was magnetic and slightly unnerving.
"Lady Hephaestus." Leon rose immediately, placed a hand over his chest, and offered a respectful bow.
"Leon, is it? Tsubaki's told me about you." Her gaze settled on him, her voice even but carrying an edge that seemed to see straight through him. "The boy who got lucky sniping one of Tsubaki's pieces."
"Ah..." A wry smile. "You might not believe this, but after that lucky find, I didn't see a single Drop Item for two straight months."
The faintest curve touched the goddess's lips. "Alright, let's get to business. I've examined the finger blade. Its research value is exceptional."
Her expression turned serious.
"This kind of anti-magic property is terrifying. We're fortunate it ended up in our hands. If Evilus had gotten hold of this and found a way to weaponize it, the threat to the entire city would be enormous. Lower-ranked mages especially."
The goddess of the forge paused, then named a price that nearly stopped Leon's heart.
"Thirty million valis. Or, if you'd prefer something other than coin, I'll authorize a custom-forged armament within that price range. Your choice."
Leon forgot how to breathe.