Heading to the Hephaestus Familia

Dungeon, Ninth Floor.

In the winding passages, a youth was cutting a bloody swath through a chamber teeming with monsters.

Wielding twin swords, he swung his weapons without pause, each motion reaping the life of another monster.

A heavy pack weighed on his back, yet there was no sign of it hindering his agility, as if he carried nothing at all.

His steps nimble, he wove left and right through the monster horde, like a willow swaying in the wind, impossible to pin down.

With eyes and ears attuned to every direction, he watched all enemy movements closely. Even though his strength already crushed them, he never let his guard down.

His vision had no blind spots, and he always turned enemy attacks to nothing with effortless grace.

Blocking or dodging.

He was a completely different person from the one ten days ago.

This figure was none other than the newcomer of the Loki Familia, the traveler from another world, Shirou Emiya.

After finishing off the last monster, he turned back to look at the Magic Stones scattered across the ground, his mood growing lighter. "Another day of a bountiful harvest!"

As time passed, Shirou Emiya had now reached over 600 in every basic stat, with his Magic stat exceeding 800.

This made facing his former opponents incredibly easy.

For the past ten days, he had fought only on the Eighth and Ninth Floors, with no intention of entering the Tenth Floor. After all, starting from the Tenth Floor, he would enter a region filled with mist.

There, the terrain was wider, but visibility was limited. That kind of environment was still a bit dangerous for him.

After all, Shirou Emiya knew himself well. Sure, he had once torn through the Holy Grail War in a single night, but that was in the past.

Now, he was just an ordinary magus who had learned his Reality Marble early.

At present, he was surprisingly similar to the protagonist Bell from the original story.

Leaving aside their growth rates, both were pay-to-win players wielding first-class weapons.

Whether it was Bell's Hestia's Blade or the Gan Jiang Mo Ye that Shirou Emiya projected, both were Divine Weapons far beyond what adventurers of their level should be able to use.

In terms of magic, without resorting to a big move like his Reality Marble, his Illusionary Collapse should be a notch above Bell's Flame Volt in power.

Add in his experience from participating in a mythological war, and he realized: I'm basically the protagonist, but upgraded.

Jokes aside, Shirou Emiya had once worried about his lack of Combat Power, so he hadn't planned to go to the Tenth Floor.

But now, he felt the time was right.

However, before that, he needed to go to the Hephaestus Familia to learn forging techniques.

Although the matter of learning forging had already been arranged by Loki, Shirou Emiya hadn't gone immediately. Back then, his hardware just wasn't good enough.

Come on, he had only been an ordinary high school student before. Where would he have the stamina for such heavy work?

Without stamina and strength, learning forging would only yield half the results with twice the effort.

But now, with all his stats above C, he was fully qualified.

"That's enough for today. Tomorrow, I'll go to the Hephaestus Familia to learn forging. Once I've mastered it, I'll go all out, pushing deeper until I level up."

Shirou Emiya had long planned his future path and direction.

Now, he just needed to follow the road he had laid out.

After some twists and turns, Shirou Emiya made it back to the surface safely. Though this world's settings were a lot like a game, the lack of teleportation devices—having to rely on walking everywhere—was a real downside.

Not to mention he was carrying a load.

His reason for working part-time as a supporter was purely for training. With his combat experience, it was hard for monsters to hit him, so his endurance stat was the slowest to rise.

But with the extra weight, even if the growth rate wasn't much faster, it was still better than nothing.

As the saying goes, even a mosquito's leg is meat!

And what about danger? Just open his Reality Marble, and no danger was a danger anymore.

If mindless slaughter actually helped raise his abilities, Shirou Emiya would have charged into the middle floors long ago.

Pocketing the pouch of Valis he had just exchanged, Shirou Emiya stepped out of the Guild and took a deep breath of cool air.

Sure enough, the surface was the best!

Looking at the vast sky above, Shirou Emiya couldn't help but complain. "The dungeon's environment is way too oppressive. It's not as dark as I imagined, but the cave terrain is just too cramped."

"People living in caves for too long wouldn't have good mental health. I'd better hurry to the Tenth Floor. The terrain there is much wider."

Carrying his bulging money pouch, Shirou Emiya didn't head straight back to the Familia. Instead, he went to the shopping district to stock up.

After ten days of hard work, he now had a decent amount of Valis. He was no longer the broke guy he used to be.

With some spare cash on hand, he started decorating his room.

"Perfect!"

After some arranging, Shirou Emiya's room became warm and cozy.

He was extremely satisfied with his handiwork. After all, he was a master of Household Arts EX!

Lying comfortably on his soft bed, Shirou Emiya couldn't help but think back to his sister, Miyu Shizuki.

"I really wish I could have brought Miyu along too!"

Lost in memories of those happy times, Shirou Emiya soon drifted off into a drowsy sleep. That night, he slept soundly and sweetly.

"So this is the Hephaestus Familia's headquarters? As expected of Orario's most famous smithing Familia."

Gazing at the building, no less impressive than the Loki Familia's Twilight Manor, Shirou Emiya stepped inside with a hint of nervousness and asked, "Is anyone here? I'm Shirou Emiya of the Loki Familia—I arranged a visit beforehand."

"Yo, so you're the Loki Familia member who wants to learn smithing?"

Hearing Shirou Emiya's call, a woman with black hair, red eyes, and an eyepatch over her left eye appeared before him.

"I'm Tsubaki of the Hephaestus Familia. The Goddess has entrusted me with teaching you smithing!"

"I never expected Miss Tsubaki herself would instruct me—I'm truly grateful!"

Shirou Emiya knew exactly who this woman was. She stood at the pinnacle of the Hephaestus Familia, the greatest smith in all of Orario.

She was the captain of the Hephaestus Familia, Tsubaki.

Seeing Shirou Emiya's deep respect, Tsubaki stepped forward, clapped him on the shoulder, and said with a grin, "No need to be so formal. Our two Familias are good friends. Speaking of which, I haven't seen Finn and the others in a while—how are they doing lately?"

Shirou Emiya rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I'm still a rookie. I joined the Familia not long ago and haven't even met the captain yet."

Indeed, Shirou Emiya had only been with the Loki Familia for about half a month, and the main expedition force was still away.

Tsubaki smacked her forehead in regret. "Look at my memory—spending too long in the Blacksmithing Room, and I forget even things like that. Finn came here to stock up before he left."

With that, she said boldly, "Come on, kid. I'll personally teach you the art of smithing! This is the true legacy of Orario's number one smith, so you'd better learn well!"

"Yes, Lady Tsubaki!"

Shirou Emiya answered promptly.