(Riven POV – Hearth of Threads)
'It's closing time.' I think as the shop finally comes into view.
The sign is already flipped to Closed as it hangs on the door, which is a relief. It proves that Hestia did wake up and go to work.
That's one more worry off my back.
Still…
'She's not waiting for me outside?' I wonder, given that it's only 3 minutes after closing.
The thought barely finishes forming before I push the door open and step inside. It's unlocked, meaning she's either still here, or forgot to lock up.
And I find her instantly.
Hestia is slumped over the counter, cheek pressed against the wood, arms loosely folded beneath her head. Her breathing is slow and steady… deep enough that there's no doubt she's completely unconscious.
My lips curve upward.
'You really pushed yourself, didn't you?' I think fondly.
I step closer, careful not to make any noise. Up close, I notice the shadows beneath her eyes, and the fatigue that permeates her entire body.
She must've forced herself to stay awake right until the end.
'It'd be a real shame if someone woke her up.' I think in amusement.
Thankfully, that someone isn't me.
I slide an arm beneath her knees and another behind her back, lifting her slowly. She stirs slightly as if suddenly aware of me, her arms instinctively tightening around my neck as I shift her onto my back.
Her forehead presses against my shoulder.
"…Riven…" She mumbles, barely audible.
My grip tightens just a little.
"I've got you." I whisper, even though she can't hear me.
I lock up the shop and step back out into the street.
The city is still alive with adventurers laughing, vendors shouting, footsteps echoing against stone… but somehow, none of it reaches her. She clings to me like she trusts that nothing bad can happen as long as I'm here.
So I walk slower, making sure she's as comfortable as possible.
And by the time the church comes into view, I'm already grateful I fixed the place up. The door opens smoothly now, no creaks or groans to threaten her sleep.
The floor doesn't squeak, and the stairs don't groan as we descend into the basement.
I lay her gently onto the bed, the new mattress yielding beneath her weight. She sinks into it with a faint sigh, hands reaching out blindly as if searching for me.
I'm tempted to let her catch me…
Then I pull the blanket up over her shoulders and tuck her in properly as she relaxes almost instantly.
"…Stay…" She murmurs groggily, and I have to double check to make sure she's asleep.
I straighten slowly, taking a step back.
'She clearly hasn't learned her lesson after last night.' I chuckle as I turn away.
I still have things I need to do today. And while I can always push them to tomorrow, it would be an unnecessary waste of time.
'Are they really more important than crawling into bed and holding my Goddess until morning?' I wonder idly.
[Answer: Affirmative.]
I roll my eyes at her answer.
"Even you can be wrong sometimes." I mutter under my breath.
[Answer: That is correct. But based on your current priorities, physical affection with Hestia ranks significantly lower than—]
"Yeah, yeah." I interrupt with a sigh. "I get it. You're right. I'm wrong."
No response comes back since none is needed.
I glance over my shoulder one last time, making sure Hestia is comfortable, before heading back upstairs.
'When will I finally get Sassy Sage?' I think wryly as I step outside and close the door behind me.
I look forward to that day.
(Riven POV – Hephaestus Familia Workshop)
The sun has long since sunk behind Orario's walls, as I continue exploring the Industrial District.
Even this late, the streets are alive, lanterns flickering as blacksmiths work through the night and the clanging of metal penetrating the walls.
I've spent the last few hours wandering from forge to forge, stepping in and out of workshops while GS quietly analyses everything she sees.
Beyond just copying the equipment, she analyses the principles that went into their creation, and how that can be applied elsewhere.
And with all that—
'I'm long overdue for proper armour.' I conclude, stopping in front of my destination.
The Hephaestus Familia's northwest workshop.
While I don't yet need armour, it never hurts to have it. Especially when I plan to fight a floor boss. In the unlikely event something goes wrong…
'Better to have and never need, than to need and not have.'
With regard to materials, Monster drops aren't a problem. I have more than enough.
What I don't have are ores worth a damn.
Floor seventeen monsters just don't compare to refined metals like adamantite, mithril, or high-grade alloys. Given how easily I kill them, I doubt equipment made entirely with their drops would be able to help me if I really were in danger.
Even if I brute force added Durandal on everything… besides being highly inefficient, Durandal works off the base material's durability.
So it's better to start with the best, since they'd last me much longer.
And Hephaestus's workshop is the best place to get it.
I push the door open, and warm air washes over me instantly, chasing away the cool evening breeze. The sound hits next. A hammer striking metal in a steady, practiced rhythm, echoing from deep within the workshop.
The place is packed.
Weapons and armour line the walls, each one radiating superb craftsmanship. Even without GS, I can tell they're amazing.
Before I can admire them further—
"Oh? Look who finally came back."
I glance toward the counter.
Tsubaki is leaning against it, chin propped on her palm, her black hair tied back, eyes sharp and amused as she smirks at me.
"It's been a while, hasn't it?" She says in a teasing voice.
I tilt my head. "Not really. We saw each other quite recently."
"Even that's too long!" She snaps instantly. "Do you know how many times we went to your Familia looking for you?" Her brow creases. "And you weren't there once."
I stare at her.
"…Couldn't you have just left a note?" I ask calmly. "Then I'd have known you were looking."
She blinks.
I blink.
Then she bursts out laughing, slapping the counter.
"Why the hell didn't we think of that?" She roars, laughter booming through the shop. "Damn it… we're too used to people looking for us instead." She sighs, before squinting at me.
"Doesn't help that the person we're looking for doesn't care enough to seek us out either." She muses.
"I care." I reply, shrugging. "I've just been busy. Adventuring is a full time job."
"Yeah, yeah." She waves it off. "Whatever. What matters is that you're here now."
She jerks a thumb toward the back of the workshop, where the hammering hasn't stopped for even a second.
"Hephaestus is busy forging. She's been fired up since you made that GreatSword. If you're here to see her, you'll need to wait a while."
Her eyes flick back to me, gleaming with curiosity as a grin spreads across her face. "Still haven't heard what you named it."
"…Sword." I say after a pause.
"…Huh?"
"I named it Sword." I repeat.
Her smile freezes, then her expression slowly twists, and I immediately sense danger.
"…You're messing with me." She says softly, cracking her knuckles.
"Nope." I reply honestly.
'Even if I lied, Hephaestus would eventually figure it out, and I'd be in even deeper shit then.'
"You made a blade that even the Goddess of the Forge couldn't…" She growls, leaning forward. "And you named it Sword?"
"Even if it's a good sword…" I say evenly. "There's nothing particularly special about it. So I didn't see the point in a fancy name."
The workshop seems to tense.
"…Are you mocking me?" Tsubaki asks quietly. "And probably every blacksmith in existence?"
She straightens, her eyes burning.
"Even Lady Hephaestus couldn't casually make a blade like that."
I stare at her blankly.
'The sword really isn't anything special.' I sigh internally.
And judging by the way Tsubaki looks ready to drag me into the forge and throw me into the furnace—
I probably shouldn't say that out loud.
'I just wanted to buy some ores…' I lament.
(Hephaestus POV – Hephaestus Familia Workshop)
Steam erupts as I plunge the blade into the quenching trough.
The hiss is violent, and white vapor billows upward, clinging to my skin as I lift the sword back into the light.
Long before this moment, I already knew.
"…Another failure." I mutter.
I turn the blade slowly, my trained eye tracing every line, every microscopic imperfection. Flaws that once would have escaped me now stand out in painful clarity.
Yet—
I smile.
"It's better than the last one." I admit quietly. "Not by much… but it is better."
That alone makes my chest tighten.
Excitement wells up inside me. A warmth burning more fiercely than the forge before me.
Passion.
A feeling I haven't truly known in a long, long time.
After millennia standing at the peak, and believing I had reached the limit of what I could create… meeting someone better than me should have been crushing.
Instead, it's intoxicating.
'I can still grow.'
The realization sends a thrill through my veins. I wipe sweat from my brow, my clothes clinging to my skin as the forge roars behind me, but I don't care.
I set the blade aside and turn, ready to begin again—
When a hammer strike reaches my ears.
I pause.
"…Hm?"
That sound—
'That didn't sound like Tsubaki.'
It's too different.
The rhythm is off. The pitch, the cadence, even the force behind each strike… it doesn't belong to Tsubaki. And knowing her, she wouldn't let just anyone lay hands on a forge in this workshop.
'I need a break anyway.' I reason, feeling the fatigue settle into my muscles, and curiosity creeping into my mind.
Rolling my shoulders, I step away from the forge and follow the sound.
And the moment I enter the adjoining space—
I stop cold.
My exposed eye widens.
Riven.
The boy I've been meaning to confront, to observe, and understand.
He's forging. Not through his skill, but actually forging.
His hammer comes down in a clean, decisive arc, striking the half-formed blade with uncanny precision.
My first instinct is immediate.
'An amateur.'
Not wholly untrained, but unmistakable signs are there.
His stance. His footing. The angle of his swing. The rhythm he uses.
Wrong.
Every lesson, tradition, and rule we engrave into smiths from the moment they pick up a hammer—
He breaks all of them.
It's a mess of contradictions. Moments of undeniable expertise woven together with glaring inexperience, making everything look chaotic.
And yet—
'I can't look away.'
There's a strange harmony buried in it. An order hiding beneath the disorder, like a pattern only he can see.
I glance at Tsubaki. Her brow is furrowed tight, mirroring the same discomfort twisting in my chest.
Seconds stretch into minutes as I watch.
Then it hits me.
'Wait…' My breathing pauses. 'Is that… even possible…?'
My heart begins to pound rapidly.
This isn't a forging technique. There's no theory behind it.
It's just… brute force.
Every blacksmith follows a process. Heat, shape, reheat, and quench the material. Then repeat until you're done. A proven formula refined since the dawn of time.
Riven follows none of it.
He heats and cools at irregular intervals. Strikes with a rhythm that makes no sense. Adjusts the blade mid-process in ways that should warp it, crack it, ruin it.
For anyone else—
It would.
But his blade doesn't fail.
It improves.
Each strike pushes it closer to something frighteningly precise. Something approaching perfection.
I watch, transfixed, as the metal bends to his will.
Once again, that same question rises unbidden to my lips.
"…How?" I whisper.
Tsubaki stiffens beside me.
Riven doesn't even look up.
And once again…
I feel it.
Not jealousy.
Not resentment.
But the sharp, burning thrill of discovery.
*********
A/N: Hello Everyone! How are you all? If you've enjoyed the chapter and book thus far, please consider leaving me some comments, reviews, or power stones. It really helps the book out.
So, this is the chapter. Riven finally forged without cheating (or is he still cheating?👀). As for the why and how, you'll see next chapter. It's quite interesting to me, since Hephy is a love interest, so it's nice to give her screen time. But, making her focus on Riven and ignore her passion is illogical, so passion first, love much much later.
I'm progressing things, and as for Riven wanting to get armour... Yeah, he just wants to be cautious. I meant he almost got roasted by Hellhounds before, so having a little endurance couldn't hurt. And, as said, Durandal scales with the item. I mean, 100% Durandal would be invincible regardless, but getting there is almost impossible with the mind it requires. And 5% Durandal Adamantite is better than 5% Durandal wood.
Stuff like leather armour can be made from Monster drops, definitely, but you'll see what he's going for later on. I've also thought through the fight with Goliath, and I'm looking forward to it. I'm probably gonna do a time skip after this. I wanted to deal with Naaza, but it seems better to do so after Goliath. It should take her a few .it's days to finish up the potion. What do you guys think is a fair distribution ratio, since Naaza would be handling everything, and Riven would just be profiting? Let me know. I'm personally leaning towards 60-40, or maybe 70-30.
You can also read 10 chapters ahead and support me at [email protected]/AMV_WEAKLY
But yeah, that's all from me. Hope you have a good rest of your day/night 😁