Mythic grade artifact user

"Sir guard, you forget that I am not just any prisoner though. As long as I have the drunken god hammer, I will always be hailed as the best blacksmith of the Spirit Empire."

Hoivra laughed and raised his right hand, showcasing the jet-black tool in his hand...

*thunk*

...and lost the grip on it, ending up dropping it on the floor...

"...fuck..."

The man groaned and bend down to pick it up, but lost his balance and fell next to it instead, revealing his face to the other two.

Hoivra's face would be considered average – even handsome – if not for how much damage the constant intake of the ridiculous amount of alcohol has done to him through the years.

Although he was not older than forty, he already had the look of a seventy-year-old man who lived a hard life.

"Hold on...! Hoivra...? This is Hoivra?!"

It wasn't the face of the man, but rather the name of his soul artifact that allowed Viria to realize why his name sounded so familiar to him.

"Hoivra Eterlast?! The blacksmith that made the faulty armors and caused the deaths of almost every single member of the Emperor's favourite elite dungeon exploration party a year ago?!"

Viria gasped and raised his voice in utter disbelief, staring at the wreck of a man trying to crawl back up.

"The very same one."

Bossac nodded his head, looking at the struggling Hoivra with a mixture of pity and disgust.

"This guy has the mythic grade soul artifact, one of the best tool soul artifacts ever in existence – the drunk god hammer. Unfortunately, to use its powers he needs to be constantly drunk and on the verge of a stupor. If not for that setback, his artifact would be considered the strongest one, far outclassing even the best god-grade tool artifacts recorded in history. That fool was put in charge of forging the best possible armor for the exploration party favored by his heavenly highness the Sprit Emperor, but botched the job causing the deaths of five out of six members of that exploration party, enraging the emperor."

Bossac confirmed Viria's words and his expression hardened.

"...you should go already..."

Hoivra managed to scramble on all fours and mumbled while picking up the dropped soul artifact that didn't look anything special but was supposedly imbued with incredible power.

"Yes. Yes, we should. There's no point in young Viria working with someone like you."

Bossac scoffed in agreement and turned right around nodding at Viria to follow him.

"Let's hit the restaurant as you said earlier, how about that? Chux's normal place is way better than the lousy stand you saw yesterday!"

The helpful guard tried to raise the mood and clearly wanted to not think about the fallen blacksmith anymore, so he cheered out and patted the young man's shoulder.

"Sure. Let's."

Viria nodded, glancing back over his shoulder at the smithy.

"I know what you might think – don't. You have seen what his artifact looks like now. It has been sealed by the Spirit Emperor himself. That guy is now just a drunkard who can barely hold up a hammer to make basic equipment. If you consider trying your luck with smithing, go to the other place."

As if reading in the young man's mind, Bossac shook his head and patted Viria's shoulder again.

"Oh... Yeah, no. Of course."

Viria flinched and nodded still bothered.

With all the workshops tour over, Bossac took Viria straight to the restaurant run by the prisoner that already served them food the day before.

There was no need for a tour as even Bossac said himself that it would be better for Viria to check them out at his own leisure.

The meal they ate – the one recommended by Chux himself – was the mole-fox roast with various vegetables. There were offered an alcoholic beverage to pair up with it but both refused and settled on water and juice respectively.

"You didn't have to treat me, but I am grateful. Do you want to go see around the mining location?"

As they left the restaurant full and said farewell to Chux, Bossac patted his stomach with a satisfied expression and said, glancing towards the street that Viria didn't have a chance to explore yet.

"I'm grateful for the help, that's all. As for the mining area... I will see it later. My artifact isn't suited for excavation and mining so I would have to buy the equipment and all..."

The young man breathed out and shrugged his shoulders while checking whether the monster cores were still safely stored in his hair.

Truth be told, he just wanted to return to his shack and hole up in there to attempt cultivation.

He knew it would be better to wait until dusk, but the allure of finally being able to cultivate properly was simply too great to ignore.

"Sorry, truth be told, I am simply tired already. You healed me up perfectly but with a full stomach the sleepiness hit me like a tru... carriage."

Viria noticed the rather bothered look that Bossac was giving him, so he changed his answer on the spot, making it seem as if he was feeling guilty.

"Ah! Pfft! I see! You were worried that I would feel offended because my soul artifact isn't that great with erasing tiredness and only reducing it, were you? No worries, boy. I understand. If you will encounter a problem do not hesitate to come to me for help! Now off you go, get some sleep."

Bossac interpreted Viria's behavior his own way and sent the young man off with a wide smile.

Viria arrived back at his shack relatively fast considering that he actually had a hard time recognizing the place that he saw only once.

His worries about getting spied on and spotted using the monster cores that he didn't report were one thing – if he was spotted using the monster cores that he didn't report IN SOMEBODY ELSES HOUSE, things could turn out worse.

Far worse.

Nonetheless after the surprisingly nerve-racking experience of trying to confirm that the shack he was standing in front of was definitely his – which it was – the young man slid the loose door close and seated himself on the blanket.