Assembly of Gods

"Assembly of Gods"

In the workshop, under Tsubaki's intrigued gaze, Riezel barely hesitated before stating the request he had considered beforehand.

"I need a sword that is as sturdy as possible, not easily damaged, and preferably has the Indestructible Attribute."

Indestructible Attribute.

As the name implied, it was an attribute that allowed something to remain intact forever, never to be damaged.

Weapons forged by high-ranking smiths skilled in Smithing would all possess, to some extent, magical attributes and effects. The Indestructible Attribute was one of them, a relatively rare and advanced special weapon attribute.

The sword Ais used—Despair Sword—was a First-Class Armament with the Indestructible Attribute.

Because she possessed Wind Spirit Sprint, a spell that placed an enormous burden on weapons and could destroy them at any moment, Ais had specially commissioned such a weapon. It allowed her to extend her fighting time as much as possible and avoid losing both her weapon and combat ability in battle.

With such a precedent before him, Riezel, whose weapons were likewise easily damaged due to Wind Spirit Sprint, naturally made a weapon with the Indestructible Attribute his first choice.

However—

"You actually want a special weapon with the Indestructible Attribute?" Tsubaki said happily. "Looks like this is another big order."

That was right. Even within the Hephaestus Familia, commissioning a special weapon with the Indestructible Attribute counted as a major order.

In short, it was expensive.

Special weapons with the Indestructible Attribute were, at the very least, Second-Class Armaments, and often even First-Class Armaments. Their cost was absolutely staggering.

To put it bluntly, even a Second-Class indestructible weapon could sell for tens of millions of Valis. A First-Class indestructible weapon selling for over a hundred million Valis would not be surprising at all.

And that was precisely what gave Riezel the biggest headache.

"My budget isn't very large. If it's truly too expensive, then forget about the Indestructible Attribute."

That was why he had said "preferably" rather than "definitely."

For Riezel, who had only been an adventurer for a little over a month, a price tag of at least tens of millions of Valis was still quite a burden.

Although after teaming up with Lefiya, Riezel had stopped ignoring magic stones and Dropped Items, and the two returned fully loaded every day, it was naturally impossible for him to earn much in just over a month.

Since reaching Lv. 2, Riezel and Lefiya had been exploring the Middle Floors beyond the 13th Floor. They could earn roughly over a hundred thousand Valis a day, leaving each of them with nearly a hundred thousand after splitting it.

At that rate, after more than a month, Riezel had only earned several million Valis. That included the eight hundred thousand Valis Lefiya had advanced for his weapon.

Fortunately, when he fought the 17th Floor's Floor Master, Goliath, in a One-on-One Battle, Riezel not only obtained an enormous magic stone, but also received a Dropped Item—Goliath's Hard Skin.

The value of a Floor Master's Dropped Item went without saying.

Then there had been the Monster Feast he encountered while exploring the 16th Floor a month ago. After slaughtering monsters throughout that Monster Feast and selling all the magic stones and Dropped Items, Riezel's savings had only barely reached around ten million Valis.

That sum was not insufficient for purchasing a Second-Class Armament.

However, Second-Class Armaments varied greatly in quality. The good ones were not much worse than First-Class Armaments, while the bad ones were only slightly better than Third-Class Armaments. As a result, their prices fluctuated enormously: low-end ones were worth several million Valis, while high-end ones cost tens of millions, and some Second-Class Armaments had even been inflated to astronomical prices exceeding a hundred million Valis.

Unfortunately, the Indestructible Attribute was an advanced attribute. Special weapons possessing it were practically all high-grade products, and none cost less than ten million Valis.

Riezel certainly wanted a weapon with the Indestructible Attribute, but his budget was insufficient. If there was truly no other way, he could only settle for the next best option and have Tsubaki forge him a sturdy, durable Second-Class Armament.

Honestly, that was a bit of a waste.

Orario's greatest smith was standing right before him. Her works were undoubtedly the finest in the world, and any commission requiring her personal work should at least have been for a First-Class Armament.

Yet Riezel was asking her to forge a Second-Class Armament. It really was somewhat wasteful.

But there was no helping it. No money meant no money. Riezel was perfectly frank about it. If Tsubaki did not want to forge a Second-Class Armament, he would simply find another smith.

If Finn had not told him to ask, Riezel truly would not have planned to commission Orario's greatest smith to forge him a weapon.

Originally, he had intended to have another smith from the Hephaestus Familia accept his commission when Finn settled the matter of the order.

Now that Finn had told him to ask, Riezel had asked.

Surely, for the sake of Finn and the Loki Familia's reputation, even if Tsubaki was not interested in this order, she would arrange for another smith in her Familia to take it, right?

However, just as Riezel was thinking that, Finn suddenly spoke.

"Forge him the best indestructible weapon you can, Tsubaki."

The unexpected words left Riezel stunned.

"Captain?"

Riezel looked at Finn in surprise.

"I know your budget is lacking, so the Familia will advance the money for you this time." Finn smiled at the astonished Riezel. "At your rate of growth, a Second-Class Armament probably won't be able to keep up with your strength before long. When that happens, you'll have to abandon the weapon you worked so hard to acquire. That would be a real waste of money."

As someone who had watched Ais grow all the way through, Finn knew very well how troublesome weapons could be for someone with an extraordinary spell like Wind Spirit Sprint.

A Second-Class Armament was a level of special weapon that even a Lv. 5 First Class Adventurer could use as a main weapon. In theory, such a weapon should have been more than enough for Lv. 4 Riezel.

But Wind Spirit Sprint was simply that unreasonable. It not only tormented its user's body, but also their weapons and equipment. Ais had suffered greatly from this problem in the past, and only later made up her mind to spend a fortune commissioning a weapon with the Indestructible Attribute.

Now that Riezel had gained the same power, it was naturally best to avoid this problem if possible.

It could be said that a weapon with the Indestructible Attribute was the most suitable weapon for a Wind Spirit Sprint user.

Although its performance was somewhat lower than other armaments of the same class, its inability to break was unquestionably invaluable to Riezel and Ais, whose weapons could be damaged at any moment.

Finn truly believed that, at Riezel's rate of growth, he would likely become a First Class Adventurer before long.

By then, weapons that only barely met his needs would once again fail to keep up with Riezel's combat intensity and have to be discarded.

Rather than that, it was better to prepare the best from the very beginning.

"The expedition is about to begin as well. Even if you aren't one of the main forces, you'll still be a formidable vanguard. A good weapon will let you bring out one hundred percent of your strength. That's a good thing for you, for us, and for the Familia."

Finn patted Riezel's thigh and smiled.

"Then it's settled."

Hearing that, Riezel fell silent for a long while before finally nodding.

"You've worked it out, then?" Tsubaki finally spoke at just the right moment, asking Riezel, "So I'll take this order? Any other requests?"

"No." Riezel shook his head, then thought of something and added, "If possible, I'd like the weapon to be as light as possible."

Naturally, he made that request in order to trigger the effects of Light Armor.

The lighter the weapon, the better the effects of Light Armor would be, and the greater its enhancement to Agility and Dexterity would become.

Thus, aside from being tough, Riezel wanted his weapon to be light.

As long as those two requirements were met, he did not care even if it sacrificed advantages in other areas.

With Wind Spirit Sprint's enhancement, even if the weapon's performance was lacking and its power was weak, Riezel could make up for it with magic.

Just as he no longer needed armor now, with Wind Spirit Sprint's Wind Power protection, there were already few attacks capable of piercing Wind Armor and injuring him.

"Fine!"

Tsubaki forcefully slapped Riezel on the back. Her uncovered eye fixed on his face as she smiled.

"I'll forge you the finest sword!"

"Let me see just how high you can climb with my sword!"

"A future hero who will leave even the gods in awe!"

At the same time, an Assembly of Gods was being held on the 30th Floor of the Tower of Babel.

"Enough nonsense!"

Loki, seated at the head of the table, sprang to her feet, planted one foot atop the table, and roared with a savage expression.

"The thousandth Assembly of Gods! Begin!"

Following Loki's declaration, thunderous cheers erupted.

Looking closely, countless gods had gathered in this hall, where an entire floor had been transformed into a temple.

Aside from rows of solemn, imposing Stone Pillars, the spacious temple hall contained only a large round table in its center and nothing else.

The distant walls were entirely made of enormous glass, surrounded by the sky at the height of thirty floors.

The ceiling was unusually high, making the entire space vast and boundless.

The gods of Orario's major Familias sat around the great round table, cheering loudly at Loki's declaration.

"It's here, it's here!"

"We've finally waited for this day!"

"I can't wait any longer!"

"I'm dying of curiosity!"

"Lady Loki! Please satisfy our curiosity!"

"Ooooooh!"

Whether male or female, the gods all joined in the ruckus.

And the target of their attention was naturally the star of this occasion—Loki.

"Quit your damn yapping!"

Loki did not hold back, immediately swearing at them.

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