Afterward, Leon explained to the shiftless main deity that he needed a weapon forged and wanted Loki to introduce him to a reliable blacksmith Familia.
Upon hearing Leon's words, Loki simply reached out her hand directly toward him.
"Hand over all the materials and the money you have on ya."
This sentence made Leon freeze for a moment.
But without overthinking it, Leon handed over all of his accumulated savings along with the young dragon's fang he had obtained not long ago.
This young dragon's fang was an item that had dropped only after Leon had successfully subjugated three separate young dragons.
On the 12th floor, Leon had defeated two young dragons back-to-back, but neither had yielded a drop item. It wasn't until Line guided him to the 11th floor, where he tracked down a third young dragon, that he finally secured a drop item from its body and claimed this fang.
Fortunately, the final drop turned out to be a young dragon's fang. If it had been a young dragon's scale instead, Leon would have had to abandon his idea of supplying his own materials.
Young dragon scales couldn't be used to forge weapons—they were only good for crafting armor. Only a young dragon's fang was suitable for making a weapon and could satisfy Leon's needs.
After handing over the fang and his savings of four million valis to Loki, Loki left him with just a single sentence.
"Come back to my divine chamber tomorrow night."
With that, Loki shooed Leon out.
"——Does this mean she intends to handle the whole thing for me?"
Leon figured that much out.
"That works out well. Saves me the trouble of negotiating with others myself."
Leon shrugged and left Loki's divine chamber.
The next day, Leon uncharacteristically did not venture into the Dungeon.
Without a proper weapon by his side, exploring the Dungeon wouldn't be very efficient anyway, so he decided to take a day off to rest at home.
When he informed Line of this, Line muttered softly under her breath.
"Mr. Leon finally knows how to take a break——"
Good heavens, ever since she teamed up with Leon, Line hadn't seen him rest for even a single day. He hadn't even taken a break when he leveled up to Lv.2, setting off for the Dungeon the very next day exactly as usual. He was even more of a workaholic than Ais, who was universally recognized as the greatest grinder in the Loki Familia.
Now that she heard Leon wanted to rest, Line didn't feel any disappointment; instead, she let out a massive sigh of relief.
However, Line also reminded Leon that people everywhere outside were currently looking for him. The deities in particular were burning with curiosity about him. Even if Leon wanted to rest, it would be best if he didn't step foot outside at all, lest he be pestered by those gods and other people with ulterior motives.
Leon thoroughly agreed with this, especially when he saw people starting to gather outside the Familia's headquarters early in the morning, creating a racket and clearly fishing for information about him. This cemented his decision to stay indoors.
Ais, on the other hand, had actually headed out to the Dungeon early this morning, looking as though she was ready to grind herself to death, which meant Leon didn't catch a glimpse of her all day.
"——Did she really take that much of a psychological hit?"
Leon finally felt a sense of reality regarding Loki's teasing words about him.
It wasn't just Ais either. The twin Amazon sisters, Tiona and Tione, as well as the Familia's second-tier forces led by Raul, seemed to have followed his example over the past few days. They left early and returned late every single day, staying in the Dungeon for the entire day, leaving the usually bustling Familia headquarters quite deserted.
"Hard work is a good thing, but those bastards better not hold up the preparations for the expedition, or else this old man is going to start cussing people out."
When Leon ran into Gareth in the hallway, the old man spoke in those exact terms, showing that the Familia's leadership was starting to find this phenomenon a bit of a headache as well.
With an expedition to prepare for, the members of the Familia were still leaving early and returning late, never at home during the day. When the leaders wanted to assign a task, they couldn't find anyone around. How could they not want to scold them?
"You got nothing to do today, kid? Then just go over to logistics and find something to keep yourself busy!" The old man turned his head and immediately began ordering Leon around, his voice rough and gruff. "You're familiar with that place anyway."
Thus, despite supposedly resting at home today, Leon was press-ganged by the Familia leaders and exiled right back to the logistics department, picking up the tasks he used to do back when he was still an apprentice member.
Leon didn't complain about it.
Idle hands were the devil's plaything, so doing logistics work was fine by him. In a grand organization like the Loki Familia, a mere Lv.2 really was only meant for logistics anyway.
As a result of this work, Leon ended up staying busy until nightfall.
By the time he finished dinner and arrived at Loki's divine chamber, the main deity threw an object directly at him.
"Here, see if it suits your fancy."
Having something tossed into his arms completely out of the blue, Leon almost failed to react in time.
But the moment he caught it, his attention was instantly captured by the object in his hands.
It was a sword housed within a finely crafted scabbard.
The blade was concealed inside the sheath, while the hilt remained exposed. Leon spotted a line of markings on the pommel at a single glance—"Hephaestus".
"This is——the mark of the Hephaestus Familia?"
Leon looked at Loki in utter astonishment.
Hephaestus was a deity who enjoyed the name of the God of Fire in the heavenly realm.
This deity was both a god of fire and a god of smithing. After descending to the lower world, she established her own Familia in Orario, namely the Hephaestus Familia.
The Hephaestus Familia was a highly prestigious organization in Orario and enjoyed a grand reputation worldwide, possessing a level of renown that wasn't inferior to the Loki Familia in the slightest.
This was because the Hephaestus Familia was the largest and most famous blacksmith Familia in the entire world.
It possessed and nurtured a vast number of high-tier blacksmiths, renowned within the industry for producing high-quality and high-precision weapons and gear. Their products were considered top-tier masterworks in the lower world, highly sought after not just within Orario but across the globe.
"Don't look at me like that, Heffy and I happen to be best buddies." Seeing Leon's face full of shock, Loki immediately boasted with immense pride. "After all, this is about forging a weapon for you. Even if it's just a third-tier armament, a person's first special piece of equipment can't be handled carelessly. That's why I took a special trip over to Heffy's place today and had her find a reliable, high-tier blacksmith to forge this sword for ya."
"Draw it first and take a look."
Hearing this, Leon suppressed the shock in his heart and drew the sword from its sheath.
With a crisp, clear metallic chime, the blade hidden within the scabbard revealed itself to Leon's eyes.
This was a blade slightly longer than Leon's small straight sword but somewhat shorter than Ais's Desperate, measuring roughly eighty centimeters in length.
The entire blade shone with a silver-white hue, its surface reflecting a sharp, piercing arc of light. The edge radiated an aura of sharpness that made it instantly obvious how incredibly keen it was.
Loki's voice rang out, drifting into Leon's ears.
"This sword was made using the young dragon's fang you provided as the primary material, blended with a small amount of adamantite."
Adamantite, also known as ultra-hard metal, was a metallic mineral that could only be mined within the Dungeon.
It was a premium material used for forging weapons, typically only harvestable in the lower floors or even the deep floors of the Dungeon. Its hardness was exceptionally high, and it was exceedingly rare. Among rare metals, it was reputed to possess the highest tier of hardness, making its value astronomical. It was a treasure that could serve as the primary material even when forging first-tier armaments.
It was said that except for the legendary orichalcum, which was known as the hardest metal, adamantite was the absolute hardest among the rare metals circulating on the market. Weapons forged with it possessed an incredibly high durability without exception, making them extremely difficult to break.
A weapon infused with such a rare metal was guaranteed to never break as easily as Leon's previous small straight sword had.
"Even though it's technically only a third-tier armament, because the blacksmith's craftsmanship was exceptionally superb, its power is extremely close to a second-tier armament. If we're talking purely about hardness and durability, it can already stand shoulder-to-shoulder with a second-tier armament."
Loki stood with her hands on her hips, giggling as she leaned in close to Leon to claim credit.
"How is it? Didn't disappoint ya, did it?"
It wasn't just a matter of not being disappointed; it was practically a massive surprise.
However, Leon found himself unable to smile.
"For such an excellent sword, the price must have been incredibly steep, right?"
Leon felt a sudden wave of dread.
A weapon whose power was extremely close to a second-tier armament, and whose hardness and durability could even match one—anyone could figure out with their knees that even among third-tier armaments, this was an absolute masterpiece.
Add in the infusion of the extremely precious and rare adamantite, along with the fact that the creator was a high-tier blacksmith from the Hephaestus Familia, and even with Leon providing the primary material himself, it would likely still command a staggering price.
The reality reflected exactly that.
"Its original price was four and a half million valis. Even with you providing the raw materials, you'd normally have to pay around four million valis for the labor and extra materials."
"..."
Loki stated a fact in a cheerful voice that caused Leon's face to warp instantly.
In other words, this shiftless main deity had thrown his entire life savings into this single blade?
Just as Leon was contemplating whether he should use this very sword to give Loki a solid thrall, Loki's next words instantly elevated his mood from hell to heaven in an instant.
"Don't worry, I haggled for ya."
The moment those words came out, a jolt ran through Leon's entire body.
He remembered now. His main deity was an absolute master of bargaining, a legendary existence capable of grinding down the price of Riveria's staff—renowned as one of the 'Five Great Staffs'—to an unprecedented bargain.
That staff, known as Magna Alfs, would probably command a starting price of five hundred million valis on the market, and that wasn't even counting the nine magic stones embedded in it. Yet Loki had forcefully hammered the price down to three hundred and forty million valis, shaving off hundreds of millions in a single go.
Now, this grand deity had exercised her supreme talent once more. Surely the final transaction price for a weapon originally valued at four and a half million valis wouldn't disappoint him?
Sure enough——
"One million eight hundred thousand valis. I snagged it for ya at that price."
Loki's smiling words made Leon feel, for the very first time, that this main deity of his was truly magnificent—so magnificent that he felt a sudden urge to plant a massive kiss on her face.
To top it off, the good news didn't stop there.
"I know you're walking the path of a magic swordsman, so besides a sword, you're also lacking a staff. That's why I kept an eye out for a staff while I was out today as well."
Loki tossed another item toward Leon—a magic staff.
Leon hurriedly caught it and looked closely, his eyes instantly drawn to the staff in his hands.
It was a forty-centimeter-long short staff. The shaft gleamed with a jade-like luster, while the tip was embedded with a crystal-like orb. It felt cool to the touch, and a distinct flow of mana could be felt circulating inside.
"The name of this staff is the Jade Staff. Just like your sword, it's a masterpiece among third-tier armaments. The materials used in its construction are jade gemstones from the elven forests along with rare crystals containing mana. It can raise your 'Magic' basic status, regulate your mental focus, and enhance the power of your spells. Its mana compatibility is not inferior to an ordinary second-tier staff."
Loki spoke with a thoroughly refreshed expression, looking as though she had thoroughly enjoyed her bargaining session today.
"The original price was five million seven hundred thousand valis, but the final transaction price was two million valis. If it weren't for the fact that the shop girl was pretty cute and looked like she was about to burst into tears, I definitely could have hammered it down to the cost price. Here, the remaining change is yours."
Loki handed back the remaining two hundred thousand valis to Leon, leaving him caught between laughter and tears.
He didn't know whether to praise Loki for being incredible or wonder if she had used some kind of illegal methods, like threatening the shopkeepers. Otherwise, how could anyone bargain down a price so absurdly?
A sword and a magic staff—two pieces of equipment that combined for an original price of over ten million valis—yet she had forcefully ground the price down to just three million eight hundred thousand valis, cutting off well over half the cost. Was that a price that could truly be achieved through standard bargaining?
If he didn't believe that Loki still held onto some baseline of principles and was unlikely to use truly despicable or shameless methods, Leon would have seriously suspected she used some illicit means to secure these two pieces of equipment.
Of course, compared to Riveria's staff where she chopped off hundreds of millions of valis, this could only be considered child's play.
"——Should I say thank you to you?"
Leon looked at Loki with a complicated gaze.
"No need. Just work hard, kid, and bring some glory to our family." Loki waved her hand at Leon, completely unfazed. "I've been using your name to brag outside quite a bit lately anyway, so just consider this your reward."
Although she hated the deities who kept trying to poach from her family with a burning passion, she had to admit that after Leon's absurd leveling speed sent shockwaves through Orario, Loki was met with looks of envy, jealousy, and hatred wherever she walked. Even the gods she usually couldn't stand couldn't help but sound incredibly bitter whenever they spoke to her, which had given Loki an immense amount of satisfaction.
She simply loved watching those fools look incredibly envious yet completely unable to do anything about it.
It was a pity the Denatus hadn't arrived yet. The last Denatus had been held the day after her Familia returned from their expedition, back when Leon hadn't even received his Grace yet. Otherwise, Loki could easily imagine how many envious gazes she would have drawn during the assembly.
"There are still two months left before the next Denatus. If you work hard enough, kid, squeezing into Lv.3 by then shouldn't be too hard. When the time comes, I'll definitely secure a grand title for ya."
Loki patted Leon on the shoulder, speaking with an expression full of anticipation.
"A title, huh?"
Only then did Leon recall this matter, nodding his head.
Hopefully, it would be a relatively normal title.
He hadn't forgotten that those meddlesome deities loved nothing more than giving the children of the lower world incredibly embarrassing, chuunibyou-inducing titles.
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