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"There are only two types of people, those who are toyed by fate and those that toy with fate- we all belong to the former and… I only know oneman who belongs to the latter" - Seiichi Takeo [Doujimaru]
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Finn sat in silence, as the captain of the Loki Familia, he was well aware of his Goddesses nature, at the same time- he was also curious about the young man that sat before him.
'He's someone who dares to play a joke on Loki despite knowing that her top executives are with her, he's either brave, an idiot or… there's something more to him-'
The captain of the Loki familia sneaked a glance at his patron, a renowned "trickster" among the God's.
'Loki's not annoyed, she's intrigued… so that means-'
Finn focused on the white haired man before him, sitting just across from him is the "genius" who had created revolutionary items.
"We've tested the items, they are powerful but limited, the gems especially need a powerful mage to show their true power…"
Starting it off, Finn praised the items they had tested, but he didn't go to far with the praise before he started to talk about their downsides. He then used that to pivot towards the other items-
"The Imp Staff also follows this trait, despite having some powerful effects, it still pales in comparison to other staves that actually increase the power of magic. Some could even increase the mind recovery and even make it easier to shorten or speed up chants. Though the Imp Staff, is powerful in the hands of a powerful mage, that is where the problem lies, it needs a powerful mage to handle it…"
Ryuta listened to Finn talk, he did not stop him nor did he interject. He simply listened but his face did not reflect his thoughts.
'Bingo'
The moment Finn spoke of the items, he had already won-
Hephaestus simply watched on, she did not even try to negotiate as she honestly had no idea what Ryuta was planning.
She didn't like the feeling of being "used" but if it's to acquire Ryuta's techniques- it was well worth it. After all, mortal methods to achieve the creation of such weapons were few and far between.
Hephaestus didn't need the complete technique, all she needed was a base, an idea, somewhere to start from.
After Finn finished his words, Ryuta nodded slightly, he returned a calm smile towards the group from the Loki Familia before replying.
"I understand, but you see- the products you tested, save for the gems, were all trials products"
Ryuta's words caused all three executives to scrunch their brows, seeing their reactions, Ryuta smiled internally.
'That girl with black hair and red eyes… eh? Is she a relative of mine or something? Nah… anyway, they reacted just as I expected them to'
"Trial products?"
"Yes, trial products, mere samples of what I could offer"
Finn paused, his eyes turned sharp as he glared at the silver haired man. Various thoughts raced in his mind until-
'I see…'
He let out a resigned sigh, he turned to Riveria and Gareth who were still unable to realize what had happened. Seeing their expression he shook his head, he turned to Maria but as always, she was still an enigma just remaining expressionless.
Loki on the other hand had an amused expression on her face which made him let out a sigh of relief.
He turned back to the white haired man, Pierrot, the creator of those eccentric tools and gems. He wasn't even given a chance to fight back.
In truth, he had thought of this scenario but he never really thought it would happen. After all, the tools and gems they had "sampled" were already powerful. It was hard to believe that something stronger than those existed.
Finn felt like a kid who was given a copper sword, made to believe it was a legendary armament, the only one of its kind, only to later be presented with a steel sword.
"You baited us"
"Wasn't it obvious?"
"It was"
"So why get mad?"
"..."
Ryuta and Finn had such an exchange which promoted Loki to interject asking-
"You really won't join my familia?"
"I'm quite satisfied with where I am"
(◠ᴗ◠)
Finn let Loki finish before he continued his conversation with the man-
"So, what is better than what we were shown yesterday?"
Ryuta smiled, he extended his hand an action which Hephaestus was familiar with but she never thought that Ryuta would show it off this early-
'What is he planning?'
Hephaestus could only stop herself from reacting as a large intricately designed halberd appeared in Ryuta's hands.
The halberd had an eastern dragon carved along its shaft, the dragon twisted along the shaft as its head connected to the tip becoming one with the blade. It had a deep crimson color and one could feel an ominous pressure being exuded by the halberd.
"That-"
Finn and the rest of the executives were left frozen in shock.
Loki on the other hand, for the first time, had opened her eyes, revealing a pair of crimson eyes.
'Another distant relative?'
Ryuta mused in his mind before he started to explain.
"This is a special tool, one that could bond with its user. Specifically, it connects to their soul, which allows them to grow alongside their wielder."
"A weapon that could grow?"
Finn was shocked to hear this, the mere fact that a weapon could connect to the soul was already something that caused their minds to short circuit much less this-
"Ye-"
Ryuta was about to explain when Loki cut him off as she teased.
"So you're the blacksmith who touched the divine~ The mortal who could create artifacts~"
Hearing her words, Ryuta's quickly reorganized his thoughts as his words that were carefully prepared were immediately rewritten as he responded-
"Yes, but unlike the previous trinkets, what I offer now are stronger "Artifacts" ones that could not only connect to the user but also to their Falna, have properties that allow the user to become a hero instantly… you could call them "Legendary Weapons" or something"
Loki shook her head upon hearing Ryuta's words as she shot back.
"Let's stick with Artifacts"
In response, Ryuta gave her a curious look, as he asked.
"Won't the other God's know?"
Loki's eyes that had remained opened stared deeply at Ryuta's expression.
'A calm smile but his eyes tell a different story'
She smirked as she then asked innocently.
"Are you going to sell to them?"
Ryuta chuckled like a villain who had just been caught as he responded with sly smirk-
"For the right price"
Loki was elated, she really like the kid but-
'It's such a shame'
She could tell that the man was not going to change his response anytime soon so she could only respond to him with a resigned sigh.
"How much?"
Seeing her reaction, Ryuta's smile shifted once more into a bright and innocent smile as he answered by raising three fingers.
"Three million?"
Loki asked but Ryuta shook his head showing a regretful expression-
"Three hundred million?"
Beaming, Ryuta gave a thumbs up but Loki didn't like that price-
"One hundred"
Loki said as she extended her hand but Ryuta shook his head as he responded
"Two-ninety"
"One-fitty"
"Two-eight-nine"
"Two-fifty"
Hearing the last price given by Loki, Ryuta quickly grabbed her hand as he said-
"DEAL"
But as he said those words his expression turned solemn as he said-
"But-"
He looked at the expressions of Loki and her familia, seeing their eyes glaring at him he shook his head helplessly as he said.
"The price is alright but I have a few requirements about the artifacts"
"Speak"
"First, I need at least a drop of blood from the user of the artifact"
His words caused all three executives and even Loki to show a hint of bloodlust.
"Now, now, if you're already reluctant with this then you might just reject the deal because of the second reason!"
Seeing her executives flaring at Ryuta, Loki sighed as she took it upon herself to respond.
"Which is?"
"Blood from the Patron Go-"
*BANG*
Ryuta was unable to finish his words when Finn had slammed his fist on the table- he was about to say something when Loki raised her hand to stop him as she asked.
"You need divine blood to craft weapons that could connect to souls, I get that, but does it need to be from the patron god of the artifacts wielder?"
Loki knew a bit about how the divine smiths create divine artifacts, she could understand the use and significance of blood but does the source of divine blood need to be so specific?
She turned to Hephaestus who remained silent as she waited for Ryuta to answer the question.
"To answer your question, the blood forms the bond between the artifact and wielder as well as the connection between the weapon and Falna"
Hearing the man's response, Loki smirked as she asked.
"Hm… so you can connect the weapon to Falna without the God's intervention?"
"..."
Ryuta kept silent for a moment before answering-
"It's not much me connecting to Falna but more of me using a "backdoor", since there already exists a connection between the user and the God through Falna, all I'm doing is binding the weapon to a connection that already exists"
Loki stayed silent, she stared at the silver haired man for a few minutes. This silence remained until Loki let out a sigh as she answered-
"... fine"
Hearing her words the four executives did not say anything. Finn wanted to respond but since he had no idea about artifacts and Loki herself decided it-
Fortunately, Loki didn't accept it blindly.
"But I need to watch the process of creation"
But Ryuta's response was quick-
"Denied"
Unfazed, Loki turned to Hephaestus as she asked.
"How about Hephaestus?"
Ryuta turned to the Goddess of smithing beside him, he "pondered for a moment" before turning back to Loki giving a resigned sigh-
"Fine"
With that Loki smiled brightly, her eyes turning into slits once more as she declared.
"Then let's have Finn and Maria be the first to get their tools!"
This was already discussed before they came to the workshop. Riviera already had her own weapon, one that cost quite a lot in fact. Moreover, Gareth, despite being senior Maria didn't really need anything.
Finn already had a weapon but as the lead of the familia and also one of the best fighters, he could properly test the artifacts and gauge their power.
Maria on the other hand… her abilities were amazing, but the weapons she had were not optimal.
Despite this, she still managed to match Riveria in terms of firepower, and that was despite being two levels below her. If she had access to an artifact that perfectly matched her abilities and fighting style…
What followed was the discussion between Ryuta, Finn and Maria.
Throughout the discussion, Ryuta found Maria- quite weird.
Finn acted like a typical leader but he felt something off about Maria.
At times he tried to use his "eyes" to "look" at Maria but when he tried to-
[INSERT IMAGE HERE]
*SHUDDER*
'What the fuck is she?'
He thought as he tried to get as much information about her as possible and what he learned shocked him.
'Level four… she's far from the level 6 the other executives are at and yet-'
As they continue to converse, Ryuta can't help but shake the weird feeling he was getting from Maria so he decided to steer clear of her.
"So two spears, two pistols, a tool for long distance viewing and a rifle…"
Initially, Ryuta was shocked to her someone talk about a gun but when Finn started to explain about guns and how none of them were made using magic, he immediately took note of this information.
'Better than making a mistake in identifying people as reincarnation just because they know about guns'
He thought as he left the room with Hephaestus but before leaving he told the Loki group-
"It won't take long, unlike normal smithing my method is quite fast so if you want, you could wait here for an hour or two"
Hephaestus ordered a passing smith to handle the Loki familia members as she followed Ryuta to the workshop prepared for him.
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A/N: I know the end of the chapter was rushed, but I didn't really want to spoil anything. The conversation between Maria, Finn and Ryuta is filled with the thoughts of Ryuta. It spoils a lot and would make the next chapter completely irrelevant… also become a P@tr0n if ya want to see the image of Maria! ✌︎︎
If you're reading this on P@tr30n, THANK YOU! (ㅅ´ ˘ `)✧
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[email protected]/lonelymountainsage