"Forging isn't just about how you swing the hammer. The most important part is your feel for ores and metals—their traits, their temper, how they want to move."
Hephaestus's voice was calm and firm, the tone of someone who'd taught this a thousand times and still cared enough to be picky every single time.
"In that sense, forging is a lot like herbal medicine. Different minerals, different mixtures—change one ratio, and the final effect becomes something completely different."
She kept explaining as she worked—how to judge purity, how to read the color of the melt, how to listen to the ring of the metal, how to set the heat so it didn't ruin the grain structure.
"And when you're smelting…"
She didn't just tell him—she demonstrated with her own hands, correcting him in real time.
It was physical in the most literal way: hands-on teaching.
Her body pressed close behind him as she guided his grip and angle, warm and full against his back, her impressive chest leaving him painfully aware of every shift of her breath. She wasn't as absurdly stacked as Hestia, but she was still way beyond normal—thick, heavy, and impossible to ignore at this distance.
Takumi, meanwhile, soaked it all up like a sponge, drinking down every drop of knowledge she poured into him without wasting a single bit.
Hephaestus showed him once.
That was all he needed.
Less than an hour later, Hephaestus and Tsubaki could only stare with complicated expressions as Takumi swung the hammer—clean, confident, shockingly natural—and forged a refined lightning-attribute magic sword right in front of them.
[Ding! Acquired Trait: Forging (Blue)]
[Forging (Blue): Personally instructed by the Goddess of Forging, you possess extraordinary understanding of smithing and can easily forge weapons and tools.]
Takumi glanced at the new trait and immediately stopped caring.
Then he handed the lightning magic sword to Tsubaki.
The moment Tsubaki touched it, she felt the terrifying density of the lightning element inside. She exhaled slowly, eyes shining like she'd just met the love of her life.
"Whew… This is high-grade. No—this is ridiculous. It's not even worse than something I'd make."
She looked up at him like she was seeing a monster for the first time.
"First time forging, and you're already catching up to me… Is this what real talent looks like?"
Hephaestus's expression went even more complicated.
"Takumi-kun… you're basically a born smith. If you were my kid, how perfect would that be…" she blurted, then immediately looked like she wanted to bite her own tongue.
Takumi shrugged. "Hephaestus-sama, I'm not trying to become a blacksmith. And as for the kid thing… if Hestia heard that, she'd explode."
"Tch. I can't even say one sentence?" Hephaestus pouted, looking weirdly like a sulky girl instead of a goddess.
It was so unexpectedly cute that Takumi reached out and pinched her cheek.
Hephaestus froze on the spot.
"Y-you… what are you doing…?" she complained in a tiny voice, turning her face away like the contact burned.
Takumi immediately raised both hands in surrender. "You were just too cute. I didn't mean anything by it."
"T-too cute…" she muttered, trying to sound annoyed—while the corner of her mouth kept betraying her, slowly curling upward anyway.
Takumi leaned in a little and added, "As an apology, I'll agree to one condition. As long as it isn't too crazy."
Hephaestus's eyes lit up instantly.
"Deal. You don't get to back out later." She grinned like a kid who'd just stolen candy.
While those two were quietly sparring with flirtation, Tsubaki was fully absorbed in the sword and didn't notice a thing. She moved to the testing area, raised the blade, and poured magic into it.
Lightning erupted.
BOOM!
A roaring bolt shredded the target to splinters and scorched fragments, and Tsubaki's eyes went wide.
"This output… it's on the level of a Level 7 adventurer's full-power strike!"
Then she realized something even worse.
"And it's an unbreakable magic sword—no usage limit."
Her excitement only grew as she tested again and again.
"Wait—what the hell? You layered it even further. You can store magic power ahead of time?!"
Ordinary magic swords in Orario were basically like magic scrolls: they carried a limited number of casts, and once that reserve ran dry, the sword was done.
An unbreakable magic sword, on the other hand, didn't run out, but it drew directly from the user's own magic power—meaning the damage depended entirely on the wielder. Rare, yes, but for most adventurers, borderline useless. Low-level adventurers needed magic swords as life-saving trump cards—something that could fire off a high-tier spell without draining their own tank, even if it shattered afterward.
But Takumi's sword… combined the best of both worlds.
It could function like an unbreakable sword and had pre-stored power on top of it.
If something like this hit the market, it wouldn't even start below a hundred billion.
Tsubaki, who lived for forging, stroked the blade like she was touching a lover, then reluctantly handed it back with trembling restraint.
"Please—teach me. Teach me how to make a magic sword like this."
She bowed deeply, sincere as hell.
Takumi scratched his cheek. "It's not that complicated. You just combine a mana-storage formation with an enchantment formation—stack them properly, and you get this kind of effect."
He said it casually, but actually pulling it off in practice was brutally difficult.
Hephaestus immediately cut in, smelling opportunity like blood in the water.
"Even for Tsubaki, learning this won't be easy. Takumi-kun, if you've got time, come here and teach her properly. I'll pay you."
It sounded like a business arrangement, but the intent was obvious: get him to visit often enough that she could eventually lock him down.
Tsubaki nodded so hard her ahoge practically bounced. She looked at him like she was begging.
Takumi… really couldn't say no.
Especially because after firing off a few tests, Tsubaki had sweat beading along her skin. She casually pulled off her top to cool down, leaving only a single strip of cloth binding her upper body in place.
Her slim waist showed clean, sexy lines of muscle, her underarms were smooth, her long hands were elegant in a way that didn't match how violently she swung a hammer, and the cloth around her chest looked like it was one deep breath away from giving up and snapping.
Forging really was hot work.
Takumi swallowed, throat suddenly dry, and half wanted to strip too.
"…Fine," he said, voice slightly rougher than he meant. "I'll teach you when I have time."
"Yes!" Tsubaki squealed—then lunged forward and hugged him hard.
Squeeze~!
That heavy impact smashed into his chest like a wrecking ball made of pure enthusiasm. She didn't smell bad at all—just faint sweat and a subtle body scent that only made the hug worse in the best way.
Takumi's hands moved almost on their own, wrapping around her slim waist as he returned the embrace.
Hephaestus watched them with her brow twitching.
"This little bastard…"
But she didn't get too jealous.
Tsubaki was her kid, after all—and honestly, if Tsubaki helped keep Takumi tied to her Familia, that was a net win. Besides, if anyone was getting betrayed here, it was Hestia, not her.
And right then, Takumi suddenly remembered something and asked, "Where's Meteria? She's not here today?"
"Meteria…?" Hephaestus repeated.
She looked at him with a strange expression—one that made Takumi's scalp go a little numb, like he'd just stepped on a landmine without realizing it.