The girl introduced herself as Ardi, and Rayleigh's mind flashed back to a scene.
In that scene, the girl before him had tried to protect a child, only to be ambushed by the Evilus and killed by a bomb strapped to the child.
'She's still alive, and she hasn't reached Level 3 yet. That means the "Evilus" plan hasn't started.'
"Hello, Ardi. I'm Rayleigh."
"Riley?"
"It's Rayleigh."
"Haha, sorry! Am I being dense?" Ardi scratched her head, looking embarrassed.
Rayleigh watched her, the corners of his mouth lifting.
But he still turned her down.
"I'm sorry, but I've decided to join the Hephaestus Familia. Thank you for the invitation, though. I'm honored."
The Ganesha Familia.
One of Orario's few S-Rank Familias.
The Guild categorized Familias into ten ranks based on their size and strength, from S to I.
Upgrading a Familia's rank required completing difficult quests and was no simple feat.
S-Rank Familias were a rarity even in Orario.
Their strength was clear.
Hearing his words, Ardi's excitement deflated.
"Oh, right... You mentioned you're a blacksmith... Wait, a blacksmith? That's right. You're the one who made this incredible blade. In that case, could you forge a custom weapon for me?"
Ardi, who had been crestfallen for less than two seconds, perked up again!
Meeting her pure earnest gaze, Rayleigh paused for half a second before replying, "Of course. I'd be happy to."
"That's great!" Ardi threw her hands up in joy.
"However..."
"Hmm?"
"My blades aren't ordinary weapons. They're bound to your fate and must be forged with your soul." Rayleigh's expression was serious, leaving no room for doubt.
"My... soul?" Ardi tilted her head, intrigued but not understanding.
Rayleigh didn't elaborate further.
Instead, he said, "Also, my fees aren't cheap. If you want one of my blades, come find me with fifty million Valis."
Although Ardi met his criteria for a Zanpakutō wielder, business was business.
Having a good impression of someone was different from having a close relationship.
He had less than ten thousand Valis to his name—calling himself poor wouldn't be an exaggeration.
Fifty million Valis was a rock-bottom price and he had planned to charge up to five hundred million valis.
"Fifty million Valis..." Ardi was taken aback by the amount.
But it was only surprise.
As a star member of the Ganesha Familia and the younger sister of its captain, Shakti Varma, spending fifty million Valis on a weapon wasn't unreasonable.
Such were the benefits of belonging to a powerful Familia.
"I understand," Ardi said. "Coincidentally, I haven't gotten a personal weapon since I reached Level 2. I'd be thrilled if you could forge one for me, Rayleigh."
She had witnessed firsthand its sharpness in cutting through the greatsword and its beautiful form.
Because of that, she acknowledged Rayleigh's skill.
"It might sound strange coming from me, but you shouldn't trust people so easily," Rayleigh remarked, feeling the girl was a bit too earnest!
Back at the Guild, some people had questioned whether the weapon was his creation.
He hadn't been angry since it was a reasonable doubt.
Blacksmithing wasn't child's play.
It was a profound craft that required years of accumulated experience to master. It was common and normal for young blacksmiths to be met with skepticism.
"I... I trust you, Rayleigh! You're like the wandering swordsmen from the storybooks I've read... Ah, no, please forget I said that!"
'Wandering swordsmen? Storybooks? Ah. Right.'
Rayleigh recalled one of the girl's hobbies. Her love for hero stories.
Especially Argonaut.
If someone who connects everything to romance is called "love-brained," then this girl was "hero-brained!"
'To trust me for such a reason...' Rayleigh shook his head with a faint, amused smile.
As he turned to leave, he waved goodbye to the girl.
After bidding farewell to Ardi, Rayleigh followed the directions to a shop run by the Hephaestus Familia.
Even before stepping inside, he saw weapons with extravagant price tags displayed on the shelves.
The materials alone—their luster and texture unlike anything ordinary—made it clear that these weapons were forged from precious metals.
However, these weren't high-end weapons.
Most were only Third-Tier.
To use gaming terms, they were roughly equivalent to Epic-tier gear. There were still two rarer and more powerful tiers above them.
Rayleigh pushed open the weapon shop's door and stepped inside.
Hearing the bell on the door jingle, a girl in a uniform turned and stepped forward to greet him.
"Hello, welcome to the Hephaestus Familia's weapon shop."
Rayleigh looked at her and got straight to the point. "Hello, I want to join the Hephaestus Familia. How do I go about taking the assessment?"
Hearing his words, the shop girl's face mirrored the same expression as the receptionist at the Guild.
"Uh, you want to join the Hephaestus Familia?"
Rayleigh nodded and explained, "That's right. I'm a blacksmith."
His voice carried into the back of the shop, where it was overheard by a striking woman with fiery red hair, dressed in men's clothing.
She lifted her eyes, her expression turned intrigued and walked out from the back.
"You say you want to join the Hephaestus Familia?" the red-haired woman asked as she appeared.
Rayleigh followed the sound of her voice and saw the figure.
Her divine aura left him stunned!
Though it was just a glance, he understood.
'She's a god!'
Moreover, the eyepatch covering her right eye, combined with her fiery red hair and eyes...
Such features were rare, even among goddesses.
There was no mistake.
This was...
Rayleigh placed a hand over his chest and bowed.
"Goddess of Smithing, Hephaestus. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Rayleigh. I have crossed half the continent to be here, hoping to become a member of your Familia. I pray you will accept me."
Faced with his directness, Hephaestus looked him up and down with a smile in her eyes.
Her gaze lingered on his face for a moment before shifting to the sword at his waist.
As the Goddess of Smithing, she saw things ordinary people could not.
"Is that child your creation?" she asked. "May I have a look?"
Rayleigh drew the Asauchi and handed it to her.
Hephaestus took it and began to inspect it.
After a moment, she asked with a hint of surprise, "This is a guess based on intuition, but... is this sword incomplete?"
Rayleigh's expression shifted.
'As expected of the Goddess of Smithing, the world's greatest blacksmith.'
With a single glance, she could tell the Asauchi wasn't a complete Zanpakuto.
He hadn't awakened the ability to forge a 'real' Zanpakuto yet, so he could only forge an Asauchi.
But once he received Falna and unlocked his potential, he would be able to forge a true Zanpakuto!
"Yes," Rayleigh confirmed.
"Remarkable."
"You flatter me."
Hephaestus felt she might have stumbled upon a treasure.
"How old are you?"
"Fifteen."
"You're... young."
'?' Rayleigh didn't understand the deeper meaning behind her words.
"Rayleigh, hmm..." Hephaestus studied him for a moment longer, then extended her hand. "Welcome to my Familia. From this day forward, you are my child. As your Patron God, you can come to me with any troubles or hardships you face."
A Familia was a shared home for a Patron God and their children, similar to a family.
But fundamentally, a Familia was also a faction.
And as a faction, its survival depended on the interests that sustained it.
Headquarters, supplies, and operating funds all required sufficient money to maintain.
Therefore, every member of the Familia had to possess their own value.
Rayleigh had demonstrated his worth.
It might sound cold to put it that way, but right now, he was a rough stone.
Whether he would become a gem depended on how far his potential could take him.
No matter how much a mortal honed their skills, few could reach a level that would astonish even the gods.
To become a gem, one had to demonstrate sufficient qualities after receiving Falna.
What the gods valued most was the potential of the mortals in the Lower World.
For them, it was like opening a blind box, and Falna was the key needed to open it!