Loki
After writing everything down, Alvar had a dissatisfied look on his face.
"...Is the magic limit a full system? For example, being in the 1st slot, can they use three healing spells or only three spells at maximum?" Alvar was hopeful, but that hope quickly turned into dissatisfaction with Hephaestus' next words.
"...Three spells at maximum."
"...Might I ask why their magic capabilities are so limited?"
"I'm not sure. As I said before, I don't know anything related to the magic aspect of the falna, and I am sealed." She shrugged. Nothing was wrong with the three-spell limit in her mind simply because it has always been like this ever since her descent.
'I wonder...' He thought as he asked, "That is understandable. Do you know of anyone that broke that ruling and is capable of using multiple different kinds of magic or a very versatile one?"
"There existed very few of those over the years, but the current ones that I know of are Nine Hell. She is a part of the Loki Familia and is capable of using more than the limited three. The only versatile one I know of would be Scarlet Witch, but she died a year ago."
'I heard of the Nine Hell from drunk adventurers inside the hostess... The naming sense of these people is worse than I thought...' Alvar's thoughts disappeared as he heard the last part of her sentence.
"What familia is Scarlet Witch from and what type of magic did she use?" Alvar asked, curiosity evident in his voice and facial expression.
"From the Aestrea Familia. She used scarlet-like flames that she could manipulate. It really is a shame that they got wiped out," Hephaestus sighed, clearly sad at what happened to them.
'...'
"If you don't mind me asking, how did they get wiped out?"
"The Astrea Familia was a powerful group that upheld the justice inside of Orario. They would patrol the area to keep everyone safe. A group called Evilus was threatening to destroy Orario simply because they were evil. After a long battle, they were mostly destroyed and the deities that were a part of it were executed and sent back to heaven. The Astrea Familia didn't make it out alive because a trap was set up by Evilus inside the dungeon."
"Only one member survived and went on a killing spree, killing anyone that may have been a part of Evilus."
"Does Evilus still exist?"
"They were wiped out."
"I see..." Alvar nodded to himself, none of his thoughts influencing his voice or facial expression.
"About the Falna, is there any other version of it?" He changed the topic to clear the somber atmosphere.
"There is an older version used before we descended. It was an era where spirits helped the adventurers. The Falna of that time didn't give any skills, magic, or even development abilities, but in turn, it gave them all more excelia."
"Do the abilities granted by a falna depend on the deity too? An example is if an adventurer gains different skills from a smithing falna compared to a war falna."
"The Divinity of the deity does not have an effect on their abilities. Only the atmosphere of the familia and familia type has a role in how the adventurer grows." Alvar nodded his head.
"I see, one last question and then you can start using the forge. If a deity's blood is used by another deity, whose falna would be created?"
"...I'm not sure... You are slowly treading dangerous territories with your questions."
"It is simply a researcher's curiosity- no need to be so worried."
'Evilus... At the Denatus I will be looking into this matter in detail.'
'And I have just the right excuse to pull it off.'
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"You do know that I gave you the manual, right?" he said with amusement.
"...I don't want to talk about it," she answered, embarrassed.
Alvar looked down at an annoyed and embarrassed Hephaestus who is lying on the ground, her clothes slightly charred.
"And didn't I warn you that turning the temperature too high would cause problems?" Alvar asked again as his smile grew wider.
"..." She turned her head away and pouted which made Alvar chuckle as he reached his hand out to help her up.
She begrudgingly took his hand and got up.
"It's fine, no need to be so upset."
"I didn't think it would be this difficult to understand how your forge works. If Tenkai found out that I am a Smithing Goddess who couldn't use a forge, I wouldn't hear the end of it."
"Luckily for you, this room has all the anti-surveillance enchantments necessary that those unsealed wouldn't even be able to peek through." Alvar handed her a small silver mirror which she took with an annoyed look.
"Can you stop teasing me? I know I look like a mess." Her glare is completely ignored by Alvar.
"That's not it, I marked this place with that mirror and I marked this one with your office. Just stare into the mirror for about 3 seconds and you will be transported to the marked location." He said as he handed her another mirror, but this one was golden.
"..." She absentmindedly looked at the two mirrors in her hands as a soft smile grew on her face. The annoyance is nowhere to be seen.
"...Why are you going so far for me?"
"Simply because I don't know what else to do with my forge. I don't want it to gather dust since it served me greatly in the past, yet I can't figure out anything else I could do with it. So I would rather have another talented individual have their fun figuring everything out and maybe even discover something that I haven't yet."
"With the added effect of us both being bored to death, we might as well help each other overcome it." He shrugged with a smile.
"..." Hephaestus looked at Alvar before laughing.
"I'll show you just how 'talented' a goddess can be!" She said with a grin.
"The talent you showed so far was nearly getting burnt to a crisp~"
"SHUSH!"
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Alvar set up all his extra weapons outside his shop to catch the attention of a few adventurers, and to possibly meet the Loki Familia.
Having contact with them as Cyrus would only be beneficial in the long run. Perhaps even getting in contact with Nine Hell. Even if a Falna gave them their magic, some research should have been done to get stronger in that magic, at least that is Alvar's hopeful theory to gain so much knowledge.
'Some of those adventurers inside the Hostess did talk about a few women, and I believe they mentioned that Nine Hell was a scholar. So I can only hope they have a few notes on magic, but I'll figure that out in the future. I need to have something to trade first for that knowledge... or I could steal it if I get curious enough,' Alvar thought as he waited at his desk.
He already sold a few swords and daggers. So far every adventurer was surprised at the cheap pricing and how high the quality of the weaponry is.
'I can't say I blame them. No competition in the marketplace would lead to them being able to make the pricing higher and higher... and being so reliant on skills would lead to a wall in quality too.' Alvar's face slowly formed a frown under his mask.
'I still can't believe how bad most weapons are for their pricing. Even if I keep telling myself to stop comparing worlds, I can't help but be dissatisfied with the gap.'
'I wonder how badly the economy will be impacted? After a couple of months of selling the same high-quality weaponry, it would more or less become the standard pricing for them... But this pressure might cause the smiths to work harder and break their limits.' A grin appeared on Alvar's face.
'I wonder what type of diamond this pressure could create?'
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After a few hours, a lot of people already started buying his equipment. He already had to restock two times and is almost sold out again.
There were even a few people who wanted to join his familia but were declined. Others were shocked that a God was willing to work under another since most were extremely prideful.
Alvar felt the multi-colored necklace under his clothes get a bit hotter. Alvar got confused at this as he heard a small whisper in his ear.
'They feel the presence of something that feels like a spirit?' Alvar's curiosity peaked as he scanned the area with his eyes and spotted a young girl with long Golden-Blonde hair and golden eyes. But he found something strange about her aura, something that should have been impossible.
'To think a natural human-spirit hybrid would exist in this world.' He thought as he looked at the people around her.
'The Loki Familia has a few talented individuals.'
A Half spirit, dwarf, elf, Pallum, two Amazoness', and a werewolf.
'What a diverse group... and that must be Loki.' Alvar thought as he noticed the light redhead with closed eyes.
'She is oozing with mischievousness.' As they came closer to the shop, Loki noticed Alvar's aura and walked up to him with her grin.
"Who might you be~?"
"My name is Cyrus and you must be Loki?"
"That I am!" She said as she glanced at the stall with intrigue until she saw Hephaestus' symbol.
"A god working under another~? And you're hiding your face too~ First time I have heard your name as well ~"
"I wonder what you are hiding from, Cyrus~" Her voice filled with playfulness as a grin formed under Alvar's mask too.
'A perceptive trickster.'
"I simply didn't mingle with anyone up in Tenkai so no one knew my name. I hide my face for the same reason Hephaestus hides her eye. The same reason I decided to work with Hephaestus in this shop of mine... But I can tell you are hiding something as well, little Loki~" Loki's grin slowly grew smaller as she heard Cyrus' words.
"You brought down something from Tenkai, didn't you?" Alvar said low, but the high-level executives heard it all.
"What are you talking about?" Her facial expression didn't show any signs of lies... except for a few droplets of sweat.
"I wonder how a camera found its way to Tenkai~?" Alvar continued, but this time he had the same level of mischievousness in his voice as Loki.
"H-how do you know about that?" She broke this time but was extremely suspicious as to how he would know about this.
'I am thankful that a couple of my insect summons were able to find some blackmail on this type of deity.'
"I simply thought it was in your character~" The sweat on Loki's forehead started to look more evident than before as Alvar continued his words.
"I am happy you proved me right." At this moment, Loki slowly started grinning again, her closed eyes slowly opened a bit wider to take a better look at the masked man.
Before the meeting, Alvar wondered how he could get close to one of the top Familias, but the moment he met her he knew how.
He simply had to one-up the trickster with one of his own to gain her curiosity.
"My children just came back from their expedition- you want to join us~?" Loki tried to act seductively as she leaned down on the counter.
"So that you can get me drunk enough for me to spill out my secrets?" Alvar's tone was as monotone as possible, as Loki knew she got caught. But his next words made her grin even more.
"I'll take you up on that offer~," Alvar said as he stood up and stored the few weapons that were left outside.
The rest of the Loki Familia was left standing there bewildered. At the same time, the women there had their eyes narrowed.
They knew their goddess' perverseness well enough and her reaction towards the object called 'camera' sent warning signals into their minds.
As for Finn, the captain of the familia, he was simply confused about his goddess' reaction. He didn't think much of the unknown god because of one simple reason.
His thumb never ached.