Dwarven Dragon Wine

Loki called Hephaestus to the manor to work out some details pertaining to the expedition, there were other reasons such as having a drinking buddy but there was something she wanted to do, ask for a favor Goddess of the Forge… Loki has seen the pieces Lumas has forged and while they are wonderful pieces, what she wanted to ask was of Lumas could sell his wares in her shops, Lumas refuses to sell his Magic Crystals and Item Drop saying 'They could be useful' but Loki thinks he's just a hoarder

Getting a message that Hephaestus was seen close to the Loki Manor she went to the front gate to greet her, Arriving at the gate at the same time the two goddesses exchanged pleasantries while the guards with Hephaestus were lead to the common room, leaving only Hephaestus' 2nd in command Tsubaki Collbrande, Like her Goddess she covers one eye with an eye patch despite her dwarf heritage she stands at 170cm with sun kissed skin, dark brown almost black hair, and a large ōdachi at her hip… Loki turned towards Finn

"Go fetch Lumas, Ais said he didn't return last night so he should be in the forge… Take Tsubaki with you she might enjoy it"

Seeing the mischievous smile threatening to break Loki's face Hephaestus felt like she fell into a trap with a sigh she spoke "Go ahead Tsubaki… I doubt there will be problems here"

Giving her Goddess a curt nod she left with Finn heading to the back of the property, where a slightly rundown 2 story building could be seen… As for the two goddesses they went towards a meeting room that was much more extravagant than any other room in the manor excluding Loki's own, Both Sebastian and Susan were already within before Loki could even reach for the door it gently swung open revealing Sebastian with a single hand behind his straightened back

"Tea?" Susan placed cups down on a table separating two lounging chairs, Various snacks were placed on the table "Or would you rather something… Stronger?" the sly smile on her face showed that Susan never planned on giving them tea in the first place

"Strongest you got," the smile on Loki's face only grew when Susan pulled out a bottle she didn't have in her collection

Presenting the bottle with two glasses Susan spoke with a smile "Dwarven Dragon Wine... Aged for 900 years served with a cube of frozen grape juice"

Loki nearly ripped the bottle from Susan's hands when she heard 'Dwarven' and 'Aged for 900 Years' she didn't even question how she managed to get it, Loki could barely contain herself when Susan broke the wax seal she was nearly bouncing in her seat with a faint line of drool running down her face, Hephaestus however understood how precious this bottle was

"Loki, You sure? I can't even imagine how much that costed you"

Loki just waved it off "Eh don't mind it, It was practically nothing" her smile was widening as the smell reached her nose, the heavy scent of alcohol seemed to be drowned out by a light white grape scent with a touch of honey, Taking a swig of the wine Loki slumped into her seat with a content sigh "Amazing~"

Hephaestus let out a short chuckle as she followed suit, surprised at the amount of flavor stored within the transparent greenish liquid, the sight of the purple ice cube slowly melting within mixing with the transparent liquid was something when paired with the heavenly taste… It reminded her of the wine Soma was able to make before they descended although the alcohol content couldn't compare…

"So who's this Lumas fellow?"

Loki didn't look up from her glass "That can be talked about later let's iron out the expedition details before we move onto other things"

;-;

In the forge Lumas was sharpening his sword on a whetstone, he was soon realizing that he underestimated the strength of Emperium and Adamantine the process of sharpening was taking forever it took nearly an hour to get an edge on the blade… While he was busy the door opened and two people walked in Lumas didn't look up from his sword as he spoke in a domineering tone

"Feel free to look around, Don't touch any of the tools unless you can tell me the materials they were made from, If your looking for me let me finish this real quick"

Finn didn't pay it any mind this wasn't the first time he heard those exact words, but he saw two things which weren't there previously however not at all knowing what they were made of so he didn't bother and simply sat down waiting, He knew Lumas wouldn't stop for Loki no need to ask… However Tsubaki looked around at the room more then surprised at the tools in sight then her eyes landed on some left over metal thrown into a bucket and her eyes went wide

"Is that Orichalcum?"

"Mhmm? Oh yea its a pain to work with a normal forge won't get hot enough to get it malleable"

"What?" Tsubaki was confused the kid in front of her is talking about a legendary metal like it was simply Iron, something she's only heard of this kid just threw aside

"It's hard to work with and ruined my blade" Lumas sneered at the metal, obviously upset about it making his blade look gaudy, Tsubaki nearly tripped Orichalcum ruining a blade? She wanted to beat the kid to death but instead she let out a heavy sigh

"Can I see the sword?"

Lumas nodded and wiped down the blade with a rag before passing it towards Tsubaki, he then turned towards Finn "What's up?"

With a wry smile Finn replied "Loki wants you but she'll be busy for a moment… Mind telling me what Orichalcum is?"

"Sure," taking an ingot of Orichalcum from his 'Item Box' he tossed it towards Finn "One of the three legendary metals, Known for its flexibility and mana storing capacity… the other two legendary metals," Taking an ingot of Adamantine and Mithril out setting them on the anvil next to him "Adamantine known for it's strength and sharpness, Mithril known for its lightweight and Magic Conductivity… Adamantine is the heaviest then Orichalcum, with Mithril being the lightest"

Tsubaki reluctantly looked up from the blade in her hands with slight fear in her eyes, not fear of Lumas but fear of never being able to use these metals "Lumas?"

Lumas turned his head toward Tsubaki with a smile while returning the legendary metals to his 'Item Box' "Yeah?"

"Do you understand the weight of everything you said has in the forging community? Let alone this sword, what are these runes? What about these crystals? Ugh I have so many questions"

Lumas didn't answer any of her questions instead he just stared at her before turning to Finn "Who's this?"

Withholding a chuckle Finn spoke "Tsubaki Collbrande, Captain of the Hephaestus Familia" Lumas froze as he looked back to Tsubaki, then he jumped up with a gleam in his eyes "I'll tell you about the runes if you get me a meeting with Hephaestus"

Finn nearly broke out into laughter but stayed silent as Tsubaki glared at him before turning to Lumas "I can do that… Now about these runes…"

"They kinda based off intent but you have to use certain inscriptions…"The two slowly sank into their own world exchanging various tips and information, Lumas avoided revealing too much information after a while Finn spoke up

"Alright alright, Loki's probably waiting on us let's not make her wait any longer" Lumas groaned as he grabbed his sword from the enchanting table where the two moved their chat to, sliding it into the 'Item Box' Tsubaki eye him but he ignored it and left the forge with Finn leading the way with Tsubaki next to him chatting about various thinks revolving around smithing

When Lumas entered the room and saw the short haired redhead with an eye patch covering the majority of the right half her face he felt… robbed he had to put effort into not letting his shoulders droop, he simply looked at Tsubaki with an annoyed yet blank face. Turning back towards the two goddess with a slight smile nodding towards Loki his focused all his attention to Hephaestus shocking both the goddesses Susan giggled behind a tray

"Miss Hephaestus… I would like your insight on one of my projects, I have reached an impass in my work"

Loki's jaw dropped, this isn't Lumas… she about stood up to go find Ais and beat some sense into this 'imposter'

"Show me what you have so far and we will go from there"

Lumas shook his head "Too many people," he looked up at Sebastian "If you would."

Sebastian gave a curt nod "Of course my lord," Hephaestus' eyes slightly widened at his words before a smile came to her lips as she looked at Susan who was dumbly smiling sneaking glances at Lumas although she was hiding them well they were obvious infront of her trained eyes

After Sebastian cleared the room leaving only the goddesses, Lumas, and Susan while Sebastian stood outside the door. Susan just stood off to the side seemingly not able to hear a thing, Lumas took out the sword and showed it to Hephaestus. Loki's eyes narrowed as she saw the blade she even recognized some of the materials her eyes moved to the back of Lumas' head as they narrowed further

Lumas could feel Loki's eyes drilling a hole straight through him however his focus didn't waver, he watched as Hephaestus' eyes narrowed, widened, narrowed once more, then a wave of astonishment as she looked up at Lumas

"What are you trying to accomplish"

Lumas' took a wide smile as he sat down and sighed "My goal is to surpass you… Not you here… but up there" pointing upwards he stared her in the eye

Hephaestus looked back down at the sword "Is this your best piece so far?" Lumas nodded and she returned her gaze to the sword heavily scrutinizing it "What rank is your 'Blacksmith' developmental?"

Lumas looked reluctant and looked towards Loki, Hephaestus was amused "H," Loki coughed as she withheld a laugh while Hephaestus' eye widened threatening to fall out, they both knew he wasn't lying gods/goddess' we like walking lie detectors

"Although I would like to invite you into my Famila it seems I lost my chance," Looking at Loki "However I am willing to train you, I'm curious how far you will be able to go."

"As for this, why haven't you named it?" Lumas was surprised she knew but shrugged "I don't know, couldn't really think of one… How about 'Shadowsteel'?" The swords blade darkened slightly, the weight seemed to fade in Hephaestus' hand… the blade seemed to be reforged in her hand

Lumas felt a migraine wash over him, over half his mana just left him he gasped for air as he didn't expect it slightly, he closed his eyes and left out a slow breath

"What was that?" Lumas unexpectedly spoke aloud he was focused on remembering his skills, was it 'Magic Bestowel'? or maybe 'Reforge'... "It's amazing, I don't know exactly how you did it but… it's like the name was the other half of the sword, there's so much mana held within, so violent yet so caring… How…"

Hephaestus looked up at Lumas with an indescribable expression, this mana gave her the same feeling as her 'Divine Flame' how a mortal came to possess a 'Divine Item' so strong she had no clue but her curiosity only grew "Can you show me your magic?"

Lumas shook his head "No," Lumas paused "Is it necessary?" He seemed reluctant "Do you forge with it?" Lumas sighed as he nodded creating a small flame above his finger, as the small tall wispy flame danced Hephaestus' whole being was telling her to run she was wrong this was nothing like her 'Divine Flame'... no they are similar, she can feel the caring side slowly overwhelming the flames violent tendencies. Lumas didn't know what happened he simply wanted a small cute flame, he could see the fear in Hephaestus' eyes she seemed calm but he could tell her mind was elsewhere

Snuffing out the flame he watched Hephaestus wondering which direction this would go...

[Shadowsteel (S-Rank/Elemental)

•Durandul

•Fireborn: No heat could effect the item imbued with this aspect, the edge may be cold... but it carries extreme heat

•Magic Conduit: The item imbued with this aspect will harvest ambient mana storing it within creating 'channels' for mana allowing for larger amounts with higher quality

•Worthless]

(A/N: D-D-D-Double Chap... sorry sorry some bullshittery may be in this who knows, about worthless... it works in mysterious ways, the sword itself will never be worth something however the insights gained from the blade could be useful depending on the knowledge of the person)