[ BONUS CHAPTER (3/??) ]
...
They appeared on the planet he arranged for them to work. Hephaestus looked around to see where they are.
"Where are we? I can say that we are not in Eden... Is this.. another planet?"
He smiled and explained how his inner universe works. Needless to say, she was shocked. She never met even a god or goddess capable of creating a universe and much to her shock inside their soul.
"Just what is your identity, Ash?"
He tilted his head and said,
"Even I'm not sure really. But have you heard about the name, Celestial Body? Even that is temporary."
Hephaestus became shocked again. Although she wasn't a primordial goddess, she was one of the oldest goddess to exist. She doesn't know what it is, but she knows one thing. Even Primordial Gods like Uranus needs to respect such a being.
"I don't know what it means, but I know how much fear even Uranus have against such a being. Are you saying you are one of them?"
He nodded. In truth, he wasn't a Celestial Body at all. He was a peak human by standards of One Piece. But when he travelled to Danmachi world, his existence transcended to the peak power of this universe. In other words, he is growing every second. If he were to go to another world where the most superior beings live, for example High School DxD, or Mondaji, he will evolve to be the strongest living being to exist. But he doesn't clearly know how it works even now as his gift [Infinity] has many secrets to unveil.
"I'm a different kind, but I'm similiar to it."
Hephaestus nodded. Although she was shocked, that doesn't mean she will treat him any different. To her, he was still the person who made her life more colorful and precious.
"In this building, I have built every items and the others we need for this project. By the way, How much should I convert the time dilation for now?"
Hephaestus had a thoughtful expression before she said,
"We need to work and rest, besides this project can take time, so, may be year or two where outside is two months? If we need to, we can change it, right?"
He nodded.
"If I want to, I can make it as much as longer we want. For now, let's do like may be two years : two months as an insurance. We can change it later."
She nodded. Ash smiled and pointed towards the building and said,
"I made rooms for us, so choose one and let's get started."
Thus they decided to start their work. Ash snapped his finger and his clothes transformed into something he can use for work, while Hephaestus went towards her new room and changed into her working suits.
Inside the forge, the two were deciding first what to make. Hephaestus asked what was his plan. He said he was planning on making a weapon for himself and for her. For him, he was planning on making an artifact with all in one weapon function and for her, he recommended a hammer. Although she already have a specialised Divine Artifact which she uses in blacksmithing, he was planning on making more of a weapon plus working weapon.
He chose Thor's Mjolnir as a template. But not with thunder attribute, but rather Primordial Fire Attribute. For his Weapon, he was planning on making it attributeless weapon. But what he wanted to do was, to make it capable of manipulating any attributes! It will be a transforming artifact. He chose to make it look like a locket with Transparent Infinity Symbol mixed with golden and silver shine.
When she heard him talking about making a hammer for her, she nodded. But when she heard about his weapon, she felt like she was hearing things. But when he explained the ideas and when he motivated her, she accepted.
First thing to do, it was choosing the materials. They were going to make his weapon first. Simply because it will take more time. For his locket, he made a Material he created filled with almost Endless Divinity, Mana and many other energies and also his aura. He called it Divine Pearl. It was pearl like but transparent like glass. It has hardness at a level which he needs to use a 3% of his unknown full physical power to slightly squish it. Especially with the Divine energy in it, and his possible blessings at the end, it will become an indestructible item!
The most hard part for Hephaestus was the melting of Divine Pearl. It wasn't melting even with Primordial Fire which he tried. Although he could have just willed it, he wanted to do more normal way. But it seems impossible unless he wills it, so he casually did it to melt it, giving her a lot of relief. But that was a small start.
Although it is melting, it was impossible to melt in like a normal metal. Instead when it was hot enough, Hephaestus began to flatten it with her artifact hammer. Every time she beat the piece, It made a shockwave with her as the centre. Of course she wasn't affected by it.
But unlike she expected, it wasn't flattening that easily. Even after she beat it for a few hours, it was still round shaped, or Oval shaped. It wasn't flattening that easily. And she felt more tired doing this. So, he told her to rest and he took over.
Needless to say, he was able to flatten it by evening as he was holding back. She was surprised he was able to do it more than herself who is supposed to be a goddess of blacksmithing.
But they both were happy that they had a good start. Since it was already evening, Hephaestus was tired. Although as a goddess she wouldn't be tired, this wasn't her true body. It was a vessel. So, she felt tired especially after trying flattening Divine Pearl.
When it was night, Hephaestus first took a bath and went to rest. Ash followed after and he too decided to sleep.
...
Three Months Later Inside Inner Universe!
*Clang!*
*Clang!*
*Pshhhh!*
Hephaestus put the material in water to harden it. After hammering the Divine Pearl for Three months straight, they were able to make it take the shape of a elongated wire. Though it was only 5cm in width, and its length was about 40cm. He was planning on twisting them together, then make the Infinity Symbol.
*Sigh!*
"Finally! After doing it for so long, we are successful!"
Hephaestus exclaimed in happiness after sighing. As a goddess of blacksmithing, she was very elated to make such a reality shattering weapon. So, seeing one process finsihed, she felt even more relieved.
But some incidents happened during this three months. Although they haven't become closer than how friends should be, they have become much closer than how best friends can be. In fact, both of them trust each other a lot now. And since it was just him and Hephaestus here, he completely was relaxed, living like a normal human, letting her even sneak upon him sometimes.
"Let's stop here for today. We already got its shape. What we need is next to atune and let it grow inside the pool of mix of orgin spiritual water and my blood. After that, we may need to wait for a few months for it to condense the necessary divinity, and core for its birth."
Although they have only given shape to it, they still need to do a lot of tasks like tuning the different weapons it can convert itself into. After it stays under the pool for a long time with increased time dilation for only the pool, it will transform into a more powerful material. For the weapon convertion, they are planning on using internal rune which will be resolved into the pool. But just mixing the rune works in the pool was not enough. To make it work, they have to continuingly control the core of orgin of the weapon. He was planning it to have weapons like, Sword, Spear, Bow, Hammer, Axe, Staff, Katana and Finally, a mysterious cube. For that, he has to control each rune work for one month each. So, about 8 months in total. But that process will be after he converts the string of material dipped in the pool for millions of years, ofcourse in the increased time dilation.
"So, we can have a small rest huh..? How long will it be?"
"Hm? Why don't you decide? I certainly don't mind whatever you decide."
Though he was missing the girls a lot, he has to hold on. Unless he is cruel enough to let Hephaestus enjoy loneliness. For the girls outside, it will only be two months at max. But for Hephaestus, it would be more than just that.
"... Then let's take three months of rest. Although not physically, I'm mentally tired. Besides, I want to enjoy that show you told me about!"
When she mentioned the show, she was very excited. The show she was talking about is Anime! Ash told her that when they have free time, he'll let her watch some shows that may help her relax!
"Of course. Then, for three months, let's leave for another planet."
He said and snapped his fingers and the two of them disappeared from the forging planet!