Chapter 92: Upgraded Weapons (Beginning of Volumet 2)

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Once the morning came and I woke up all nice and refreshed, I was greeted by a surprising sight. Hilda was still awake, polishing a bunch of items on a table in front of my bed!

"W-What… You're already finished?!" I asked.

"Oh! Anna, you're awake! Yeah, I'm mostly finished with the items you gave me last night." She smiled happily.

Wait, she's been working all night and isn't even a bit tired?! This woman's a monster!

"You're not tired at all?!" I asked. "Did you sleep?"

"Sleep is for the weak." Hilda giggled. "Ahaha, don't worry, thanks to my Skill [Divine Blacksmith Vitality], I don't get tired when doing jobs related to blacksmithing. Even more, my Stats increase, and my MP and HP Regeneration speed becomes much higher!"

Wow, there she goes again, revealing to me her abilities. She's completely carefree, isn't she? But now that I hear that, she's certainly a broken character.

I wonder if I can inherit one of her skills. What are her conditions?

[The power of [Eye of Truth] has been activated.]

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[Player Name]: [Hilda Hamelin]

[Title]: [Hephaestus' Apprentice]

[Sponsor]: [Hephaestus (Interested, Guiding)]

[Innate Skills (3)]: [Divine Smith Hands (S)] [Divine Blacksmith's Vitality (S)] [Hephaestus Forge (SS)]

[Skill Copy Conditions]: [Hilda is a girl who was raised in the countryside, in a small village where her family followed the tradition of smithing all sorts of tools before the First Awakening. Once the first Awakening happened, her village in the countryside was destroyed, and only her grandfather survived from her entire family, which she maintains with the money she earns.]

[Since she was a child, she has admired her grandfather and followed his teachings to become a blacksmith herself. Now blessed by Hephaestus, she tries every day to improve, not just to make the god proud but also to make her entire family's legacy proud.]

[To Copy a Skill from her, you must help her create an Ultimate Item that will make her grandfather proud and also all of her ancestors.]

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So those three Skills are her innate Skills! They're all crazy good for a blacksmith, and the copy conditions are... extreme. But I don't think they're impossible; as long as I can find her enough materials shortly, I might be able to get my own Hephaestus Forge one of these days.

"Your abilities are sure amazing; I think you might become the best blacksmith in North America," I said while nodding.

"Hahaha, well, the guild master's still better than me." She giggled.

"Oh, the guild you come from?" I asked. "What was its name again?"

"The Smithy Hammer Guild! The guild master's an S-Rank Blacksmith, the most famous in all of North America! Every S-Rank hunter uses his equipment. However, he declined Hephaestus because he said he was too old to become the god's incarnation and left such a task to me, as the god was also interested in me." Hilda sighed. "He thinks really highly of me, but it is quite a huge responsibility I'm carrying."

"I see." I nodded. "I've heard there are other potential incarnations out there too."

"Y-Yeah… From other countries, but I don't know how they're doing." Hilda shrugged. "But I have to be grateful to you, Anna! This night, I've progressed my Skills the most in the last two years! And above all, Hephaestus even gifted me some new powers and titles!"

"Woah, well, I'm glad!" I giggled. "Anyways, how about we go eat breakfast?"

"Y-You're not going to check them first, though?!" She implored me, giving me puppy eyes.

"Ah, well, I thought you were still polishing them, but…" I quickly glanced at the items.

I had given her mostly all my old items, the shield included. She even restored the durability of the Sylph Ring and the Warrior's Necklace, which were already very low because each time I use their buffs, some durability is lost. The Bastion Shield was also fully restored to its durability, as were my two trusty daggers, the Blazing Dragon Tooth and the Frost Wolf Fang.

However, these last two seemed different; their stats had increased much more, and they looked cleaner and better. The Dragon Tooth Dagger had become darker in color, with black scales on the handle, while the Frost Wolf Fang gained a golden-colored blade and a stronger aura of frost.

"Hahaha, I didn't only restore their durability! I decided to use some of the items you gave me to improve over them because it felt like they still needed to unleash more of their potential." Hilda giggled. "For the Dragon Tooth Dagger, I added demonic black dragon scales, blood, and fangs, and as for the Frost Wolf Fang, I added a small amount of Angelic Heart Core Dust and an angel's feather."

"So that's why they're now emanating a darker and holier aura... I didn't think they could go this far, honestly." I was amazed.

"While I did that, I noticed these two daggers have small wills of their own and really love you! You must have fought many times with them for them to be so attached to you- In fact, all of your equipment seemed very attached to you. It is the first time I met someone who loved their equipment as much as you, Anna."

"Huh? Really?" I wondered, checking the two daggers' stats. "I've only treated them roughly, though."

Are they masochistic or something?

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[Demonic Dark Blazing Dragon Tooth]

{Item Type}: [One-Handed Weapon] [Dagger] [Dragon Weapon] [Demonic Weapon] [Magic Weapon]

{Item Quality}: [A Rank]

{Item Requirement}: [Only Those The Weapon Allows Can Wield It]

{Item Durability}: [2500/2500]

{Item Effects}

[ATK]: [+1500] [HP]: [+250] [MP]: [+350] [STR]: [+250] [VIT]: [+125] [DEX]: [+125] [AGI]: [+250] [INT]: [+100] [WIS]: [+100] [LUC]: [+80] [CHM]: [+80]

{Item Abilities}

[Black Dragon's Flames]: As a Dagger made using the sharp canine tooth of a black dragon, it possesses the enormous power of the dragon's flames within its breath attack. Grants powerful Dark Fire Attribute Damage with each slash of this sword.

The Dark Accursed Flames, as they're dragon and demon attributes, grow in intensity the more they burn their target, dealing damage over time and draining the target's Health and Mana by -0.5% per second while decreasing their Stats by up to -30%. Durability decreases whenever the Dark Accursed Dragon Flames are conjured.

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[Celestial Frost Wolf Fang]

{Item Type}: [One-Handed Weapon] [Dagger] [Magic Weapon] [Holy Weapon]

{Item Quality}: [A Rank]

{Item Requirement}: [Only Those The Weapon Allows Can Wield It]

{Item Durability}: [2400/2400]

{Item Effects}

[ATK]: [+1450] [HP]: [+220] [MP]: [+330] [STR]: [+250] [VIT]: [+115] [DEX]: [+1200] [AGI]: [+350] [INT]: [+80] [WIS]: [+70] [LUC]: [+70] [CHM]: [+70]

{Item Abilities}

[Celestial Frost Aura]: As a Dagger made using the sharp canine fang of a Frost Wolf and the divine materials of angels, it possesses the freezing power of the wolf's magic and the divine light of angels within.

Grants powerful Frost and Holy Attribute Damage with each slash of this weapon. The Celestial Frost can grow in intensity the more they freeze their target, dealing damage over time and draining the target's Health and Mana by -0.5% per second, while decreasing all Stats up to -30%. Durability decreases whenever the Celestial Frost Aura is conjured.

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Talk about glow-ups; they do seem pretty amazing now, even more decent than before! And if one can conjure some Demonic, Dark Attribute, and the other a bit of Holy, I can cover both spectrums decently well, though not as amazingly as with Gram.

"And as for this scythe, I seemed unable to change it much. I was only able to recover its durability, but it seems to be below a powerful curse that doesn't allow me to change its form. However, I think that with some compatible materials, this scythe could be repaired and brought to its former strength." Hilda said, giving me Thanatos' scythe back. "Honestly, all these items are amazing! Where did you get them?"

"Inside a dungeon, technically." I shrugged. "I don't really want to talk more about that, though, so let's leave it at that."

"Oh, alright! It is part of the job to be confidential about these things." Hilda nodded. "And lastly, tonight's magnum opus! Ta-daaah! Reforged Gram!"

She quickly handed Gram to me; it was looking much different than before. It now had a jewel on its handle, made out of Leviathan's Manifestation Core and also of the Angelic Core I got, half and half combined together into an angelic demonic core, which apparently kept the sword's powers balanced.

"I created this mix between the demon core and the angel jewel; I'll name it Nephalem Crystal! It will help Gram regulate between its two forms, as long as you imbue enough mana into it." Said Hilda. "Also, it can now keep a "neutral form" or, if you want to go all-out, a "full balance form," which combines both celestial and demonic power! But I don't recommend that one too much unless you're in a pinch; it decreases Gram's durability with each second!"

"I see! I'll have to use that for emergencies then…" I nodded.

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[Divine Dragon Slaying Heroic Sword: Reforged Gram]

{Item Type}: [Two-Handed Weapon] [Great Sword] [Divine Relic] [Dragon Slayer] [Demonic Weapon]

{Item Quality}: [SSS+ Rank]

{Item Requirement}: [Be Chosen By The Sword]

{Item Durability}: [100000/100000]

{Item Effects}

[ATK]: [+28000] [HP]: [+2000] [MP]: [+2000] [STR]: [+2000] [VIT]: [+2000] [DEX]: [+2000] [AGI]: [+2000] [INT]: [+2000] [WIS]: [+2000] [LUC]: [+2000] [CHM]: [+2000]

{Item Abilities}

[Divine Sword: Gram]: A Divine Relic created by Odin himself and gifted to Sigurd's father, who later inherited his sword from his son, the Hero that slayed Fafnir with it, piercing his heart and ending his life. This sword is so powerful that it possesses a will of its own, and it will only choose its master if it deems them worthy of wielding it.

[Dragon Slayer]: This Divine Relic has the ability to slay all dragons. While fighting a Dragon-type foe, Damage Dealt increases by +500%, and the sword can ignore 80% of the Dragon's Total Defenses. Additionally, this sword can recover durability by feeding on Dragon's Blood and their Hearts.

[Demonic/Celestial Mode Shift]: Through the power of the Nephalem Crystal, it is possible for Gram to change between its {Celestial Mode} and {Demonic Mode}, both having their own strengths and weaknesses.

{Celestial Mode} will generate a protective aura that heals the user over time and deals with Holy Attribute Damage. {Demonic Mode} drains the user's health points but increases attack range, explosiveness, and damage dealt tremendously, while also giving Demon Attribute Damage.

Lastly, it is possible to merge both forms when both are used at least once beforehand, creating the {Balance Mode}, which has both the {Celestial's Mode} protection and the {Demonic Mode} explosive damage with mixed Holy and Demonic Attribute Damage.

[???]: Although this weapon has been fully repaired, it lacks the necessary materials to awaken its complete powers yet. To regain its former strength, this sword must be fed the Blood of Evil Dragons, and their Vile Draconic Hearts.

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Not only did the bonus Stats increase a lot, but they gained the same effect that Hilda just explained! Nice! I wonder how Gram feels.

"How do you feel, Gram?"

["I'm alright; this lady fixed me really well. It feels like I've been reborn anew! My durability is at 100%! I can take on as many dragons as possible! Hahahaha!"]

He was really spirited.

"He seems to be happy; thanks a lot, Hilda... I feel like I should pay you somehow now." I sighed.

"Oh, no, please don't mind it! I've already been paid with all the power and improvement I've gained on my skills, alongside Lord Hephaestus' approval!" Hilda was excited. "Anyways, do you have anything else I could work on?!"

"Err, Hilda Today's the day we need to stop the dawn of a New World if they ever plan to kill government officials so…" I muttered.

"A-Ah! Right, I had come here for THAT reason... I completely forgot." She said this, rubbing her chin.

"So you were still here, Hilda." Suddenly, my brother entered the room. "That's… all of Anna's weapons are repaired? So fast?! And… her Gram's sword is enchanted!"

"Jack! Nice to meet you!" She said. "Sorry for having to sleep over here…"

"Don't mind it. Anyway, if you could, I've got some items you could repair before we go out. I've got a lot of Mana Crystals over here." My brother opened his Inventory, dropping a pile of weapons, materials, and mana crystals.

"Ooooh! For sure, boss!" Hilda quickly got into the workaholic mood again.

"I-I think we shouldn't abuse her willingness." I told him.

"What? But she looks so happy doing it." My brother smiled.

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It was already almost 2 PM and we were all gathered in our positions. To bait the Dawn of a New World from coming without being wary, we had to hide from them, mostly inside the surrounding buildings, while leaving the major and the other government officials with just a few normal hunter guards, not stronger than B Rank.

This is how we would give them a false sense of security. It was necessary if we ever wanted to catch them off guard. I am not even sure we would be able to beat them all.

But as long as we can take down one or two of them, it would be enough, I would say.

"Major." The government official quickly gave the major a pen to sign the new law that would increase safety for civilians and give them more rights.

"Very well." The old major nodded, holding the pen, and was about to sign the paper. "With this, ladies and gentlemen, we hope to build a better future, where the safety of the old days-"

"Safety of the old days, you say?" A loud voice echoed from above the skies, interrupting the major's speech. The clouds in the sky started to spiral, growing darker, with purple lightning emerging from within.

A mass of shadows and demonic energy started emerging, descending slowly, with the faint shape of a tall young man with glowing silver eyes. Other shadows also descended from the skies, very dramatically accompanying his descent. These guys really love showing off.

"W-What's happening?!"

"Monsters?! Are those monsters?!"

"R-Run…! RUN!"

"Major, run!"

"Uuaaagh!"

The people quickly started to panic.

"Hahaha, such a ridiculous statement... Ladies and gentlemen, your leader is utterly delusional. This world no longer abides by such archaic rules. We shall survive by the rules of the jungle. Your pathetic game of pretending to have rebuilt society ends now! The strong will survive, the weak will PERISH!"

The bastards are here.

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