Chapter 40: The Blacksmith Of The Gods
CLANG!
CLANG!
CLANG!
I watched the monstrosity mindlessly pound away at the steel with a hammer three times my size. With every hit, it was like a sonic blast reverberating, causing an earthquake that violently shook the surrounding structure.
The pressure alone was enough to knock me off my feet.
"Who are you?!" I asked, forcing myself to maintain my balance through the rumbling.
He didn’t answer; it wasn’t because of the noise either—no, that bastard saw me.
"Hey! Answer me!"
CLINK-CLINK-CLINK!
Metal pieces clattered from above then landed at my feet without warning.
"If you’ve got energy to shout, then you can work too," the creature said, directing me to the tools that had dropped in front of me. There was a hammer, an anvil, and a pair of tongs.
"What am I supposed to do with those?"
He gave an angry grumble before answering.
"If you want to get out of here before you’re cooked alive, then I suggest you pick them up. There’s a workstation over there you can use." He grumbled, glancing over to a spot in the corner. "I’m not answering any of your questions until you start working."
I reached out to grab the tools on the ground, but as soon as I touched them, I was forced to let go. They were piping hot. I glanced back at him, but he was completely ignoring me, engrossed in his work.
So be it.
I reached out once again and picked them up. I could feel the skin on my hand melting off as I gripped them, but I didn’t utter a word of complaint and just carried them over to the workstation. I gritted my teeth and diverted my thoughts elsewhere.
"You’ll need a heat source," he said in a low voice, not even sparing me a glance.
As he said that, I activated my tempered heat skill, but he immediately refuted it.
"Not that type of heat. You won’t be using your system for this," he said in a stern voice that I was almost certain was meant as a threat. "Grab a bucket and scoop up some magma."
Clearly, I heard wrong. He definitely didn’t just tell me to scoop up magma with a bucket.
"There should be one beside you," he continued.
I picked up the bucket and held it in my hand. Something told me it wasn’t an ordinary bucket.
"Open Weapon’s stat."
[OPENING WEAPON’S STATS]
WEAPON NAME: BUCKET
WEAPON TYPE: UTILITY BUCKET
LEVEL: EPIC GRADE
CAPACITY:
10 Liters
WEIGHT: 3
ATTRIBUTE: HEAT RESISTANCE
Huh? It has an attribute called heat resistance. With the added reassurance that I wasn’t going to be burned alive while scooping up the magma with the bucket, I went over to one of the cracks in the ground and filled the bucket with magma.
I carefully carried it back, feeling the pressure of the heat emanating from it while being careful not to spill. On the workbench was a half-finished piece of metal that looked like it was being forged into a sword.
"Put the sword on the anvil and pour the magma over it," he muttered grumpily. "Use the tongs so you don’t burn yourself."
I did as he instructed, being careful not to burn myself, but the heat was almost unbearable. After I finished, I picked up the hammer, having some idea of what to do.
"Hammer it like your life depends on it," he instructed.
Holding the hammer in my hand, I realized it was almost weightless, just like my dagger. I hoisted the hammer into the air and swung it down with as much force as I could muster. The hot metal roared, sending sparks flying everywhere.
I caught the giant staring at me, his unimpressed expression making me uneasy.
"Ask your question," he ordered.
I didn’t waste any time.
"Where am I, and where are my classmates?"
"Hrf, you’re inside the volcano Etna, my home. As for your ’classmates,’ I do not know. I only pulled you here."
So he was the one who brought me here.
"Why did you bring me here?" I asked, but instead of answering, he commanded something of his own.
"Hammer."
At his words, I lifted the hammer once again and struck the metal as hard as I could.
"I wanted to speak with you," he answered simply.
"About? Who are you, anyway?"
He didn’t answer my question and only stared at me in silence, prompting me to hammer the metal.
"I am Hephaestus—the god of fire, volcanoes, forges, and blacksmithing."
Hephaestus? He was the god who supposedly granted me my system. I didn’t know what I thought a god would look like, but it certainly wasn’t him.
"As for what I wanted to talk to you about..." he paused for a moment, as if pondering something. "I don’t suppose you know my story."
Upon seeing my expressionless face, he took it as an answer and continued.
"My story, like yours, is one marked by tragedy and rejection."
Tragedy? I didn’t remember my life being a tragedy. I bet his little sob story is just a feeble attempt to connect with me.
"Both caused by our fathers," he continued. "Shortly after I was born, my father—ahem—I mean Zeus, found out that I had a disability and tossed me away like I was nothing but garbage. Seeing what happened to you reminded me of myself, which is why I chose to give you my system."
He said this with an eerie smile flashing across his face.
"Well... partly. The other reason was that I needed a new weapon—this time one made of flesh." He dropped his hammer and somehow hoisted himself up on his twisted legs. "You, Liam, my boy, are a harbinger of chaos. For all a blacksmith’s worth, they could never create a virus like you."
"I don’t think I like being called a virus," I replied.
"Hahaha! The most interesting part about you is that you don’t even realize your own deformity."
He was spewing nonsense. Nothing he said made an ounce of sense.
"What deformity do I have?" I asked, to which he quickly answered without skipping a beat.
"One of the mind. Your deformity lies in the way you think. Looking at your intelligence, I wouldn’t say you’re especially smart, but it’s the way you think that throws others for a loop."
Speaking to him is a waste of time. God or not, he was deformed; I could work around his disability, and in one fell swoop, I could have his head rolling on the ground. Maybe then I would get out of this damn place.
This thing and the heat was getting to me. I can’t even think clearly.
As soon as I thought that, an eerie smile appeared on his face.
"Attacking me isn’t in your best interest. After all, I’m the one who can give you what you really want—power."