As he walked, something caught his attention.
Rather, a sound drew him in.
Metallic strikes, but not like a training fight. They were more like dry blows against metal, as if someone was trying to shape it.
He left the matter of Cabin Six for later and let the sound guide him.
It did not take him long to reach a forge, quite a large one, in fact, where the children of Hephaestus were working with metal, both forging new weapons and repairing others.
Without even asking, the blond stepped inside the forge. He could feel the heat emanating from the melted metal even from a distance, but it was not unpleasant. In truth, if someone had even a slight interest in the subject, it could become something enjoyable or therapeutic, since being there could make you forget everything else.
Damon continued watching closely as each of them did their part of the work without even looking around. The most important thing to them at that moment was forging.
He stayed watching one in particular, who looked like a ball of energy with a hammer in his hand.
Curly black hair, dark brown skin, black eyes like coal, and thin. Although what caught his attention the most about that boy were his ears, pointed like an elf's.
He moved closer to the boy and observed his work.
That kid had a gift.
Not only because he was a son of Hephaestus; Damon was sure he stood out even among the other children of Hephaestus, just like what happened with the others. The boy was so focused on forging that he did not notice Damon standing right to his left, watching what he was doing in detail.
"Almost done," the dark-skinned boy said as he reached for his hammer without even looking.
Seeing what the boy was doing, Damon grabbed the hammer and handed it to him.
"Thanks," he said, without even looking at him.
—Pum. Pum—
The sound of metal striking metal filled the forge once more.
He was giving the final touches to the Greek sword he was forging. He raised the sword to inspect it, nodded, and placed it into a bucket of cold water, where the hiss of the heated metal could be heard.
Not much time passed before he pulled it out of the water and raised it again to inspect it one last time.
"You're a genius," the blond said, carefully looking at the sword.
The dark-skinned boy turned sharply to see who owned the voice. It was the first time he had heard it in his life, and it was not common for someone new to enter the forge.
"I-It's not that big of a deal," the boy said. He was not used to compliments, especially from one of the people the entire camp had been talking about lately.
"Believe me, practice makes the master, and you don't look older than sixteen. Even so, you are a better blacksmith than many masters I've seen," the blond said as he raised one hand and ran it along the blade of the sword, which remained sturdy.
"If you sharpen it well, it will be a great sword," he continued, running his finger down the blade.
"Do not underestimate sharpening. Even if it is the easiest task, it is one of the most important. You are literally deciding what it is capable of cutting and what it is not."
The last words impressed the boy a little. He had never seen it that way. He thought sharpening a sword was only giving it the power to cut, not deciding what it would be capable of cutting.
"Thanks for the advice," the dark-skinned boy said without looking at the blond.
"What is your name?" Damon asked, raising his hand to shake the young boy's hand. The boy was not very sure about doing it, since his hands were not clean and he thought it might bother the blond.
But after all, Damon was the one who offered.
"Leo Valdez," the dark-skinned boy said as he shook the blond's hand.
"Suppose this is a pretty stupid question, but you forge things here, right?" Damon asked. "I mean, can I order something special?" he finished with a smile.
"We don't take orders. We mostly just make whatever we want, unless Chiron comes asking us for something specific."
At the answer, Damon made a small grimace, as if someone had just taken away something he did not even have.
"But I wouldn't mind forging something for you," Leo said quickly.
Damon's small disappointment vanished instantly, and the blond raised his head with stars in his eyes. "Really!?"
"Y-Yeah," Leo stammered. "So, what do you want?"
"Do you know what kunai are?"
"Kunai?" he asked, confused. "Like what ninjas use?"
The blond nodded.
"Are you a ninja or something?" Leo asked, more out of curiosity than anything else.
In truth, he thought the older blond just had some kind of ninja obsession.
Damon only smiled without saying anything. In reality, he did not need the kunai. He could make them himself if he wanted to; after all, he was the god of creation. But that was not the reason he was asking for them.
It was simply a good way to earn the favor of the children of Hephaestus.
A small gesture… After all, they were still his family.
"Celestial bronze or tempered steel?" Leo asked.
"What?"
"The kunai," Leo answered. "Do you want them made of celestial bronze or tempered steel?"
"What's the difference between the two?" Damon asked, tilting his head.
How did he kill the Minotaur without knowing what celestial bronze is? Leo thought.
"Celestial bronze is for killing monsters," he answered. "Tempered steel is more for killing…"
"Humans," the blond finished, receiving a nod from the dark-skinned boy.
"Actually, I have a special metal."
Now it was Leo's turn to have stars in his eyes. It was not every day you got the chance to forge with a metal that was neither celestial bronze nor tempered steel.
Helping this man had definitely been an excellent decision.
Damon focused a little of his chakra into the seal he had on one finger of his left hand, and from it came an enormous rock of chakra-conductive metal weighing around thirty kilos.
The loud noise the metal made when it hit the floor caught the attention of all the children of Hephaestus in the forge. They had not realized Damon had entered, and when they saw the strange metal, they moved closer to get a better look.
On the other hand, Leo went pale when he saw a rock seemingly appear out of nowhere and looked at the blond as if he had two heads. He had no idea what he had just gotten himself into by talking to him.
"You'll need more heat to melt it than with normal steel, but once it's melted, it becomes much more malleable."
Leo only nodded mechanically, not knowing what to do or say.
What kind of man was this? Weren't gods supposed to be the only ones capable of making things appear out of nowhere?
Well, he answered that question himself. They said you received benefits depending on the god or divine being who claimed you as their champion. Being the champion of Chaos had to come with that kind of benefit… or so he believed.
"If there's any metal left over, you're free to do whatever you want with it. Think of it as my way of thanking you for forging the kunai for me," Damon commented, receiving a smile from Leo.
It seemed the prodigy son of Hephaestus was already experimenting with the conductive metal. A shame he would not be able to bring it to its full potential. It would be interesting to see what he could create.
"If you need more, just ask me. I have tons of this stored away."
"Hey, do you have more of that? I'd like to try it too."
The voice of one of the children of Hephaestus was heard. Apparently, Leo was not the only one who liked experimenting with new metals.
Damon looked at the boy who had spoken. He was like Leo, but more robust and without the pointed ears.
"Of course," Damon replied with his usual ear-to-ear smile.
A similar rock formed out of nowhere, which Damon picked up from the floor as if it weighed nothing and handed to him.
"Christopher," the other son of Hephaestus spoke again. "My name is Christopher."
"A pleasure," the blond replied.
As soon as he handed the heavy metal rock to Christopher, the others present surrounded Damon like a pack, also asking him for a bit of conductive metal.
There was a saying: curiosity killed the cat.
Well, the curiosity of knowing what they could do with the new metal got the better of all the children of Hephaestus.
All Damon could do was sweat at everyone's behavior and promise that he would give them a larger rock for everyone, which he left in a corner so it would not get in the way and they could take from it whenever they wanted.
"Any special shape?" Leo asked before the blond left the forge.
When Damon heard the dark-skinned boy, he immediately knew what he meant. He picked up a pencil beside a piece of paper and started drawing: a perfect drawing of a strange three-pronged kunai.
Leo carefully looked at the kunai. "Very peculiar, actually."
"Can you make it?"
"It won't be a problem," Leo replied. "When I finish making them, I'll go to Cabin Eleven and let you know."
"Cabin Two," Damon corrected, surprising Leo a little, along with those listening to the conversation. "I earned the queen's favor, and she let me sleep in her cabin," he said as he walked out the door.
Leo only nodded without saying a word. He did not know why, but he had the feeling this day would completely change his life.
>>>>>>
A good relationship that will prove to be useful later on )))))))))))
BTW wtf happened to Discord, it is down🥲
P@treon: Brotato up up to chapter 93 just beat the sht of olympus 🤣🤣