Since they already had forging equipment, Alex thought this would be optimal.

Hermes led him to the kitchen and said, "Alexei-boy, I don't have a forging furnace, use the one in here."

"This one will do the job, thank you."

Hermes shrugged and disappeared off to somewhere, before coming back with a heavy anvil, a hammer, forging tongs, and a bucket in his hand.

He put down the equipment and exclaimed, "Well then, show me what the combination of Hephaestus's divine forging and Athena's handicraft can make."

Alex nodded and visualized the end product in his mind.

He wasn't currently in need of a weapon, but he remembered that he owed Achilles a spear, since he broke his previous one trying to save him from the titan Cronus.

This would be a long and heavy spear, fit for a nimble and strong warrior like Achilles.

Fortunately, Hermes somehow had chests full of raw iron and copper ingots at hand, and considering steel still wasn't invented at this time, Alex reasoned that this would be the best alternative.

He would start with the spearpoint.

He took a few ingots of iron and copper with a ratio of 3:1 to maximize the strength and durability of the tip of the spear.

Normally, a furnace like the one used in this kitchen couldn't reach the temperatures required to melt down metals like copper and iron.

However, they found a solution.

Fire ignites hotter when it is exposed to more air, so Hermes would fan the coal fire with his immense swiftness and it would very easily reach the requisite temperatures.

They did exactly that and using the tongs to not hurt himself from the heat, he placed the bucket full of metals in the furnace to melt them down.

Although, he accidentally touched the hot surface of the oven, and strangely, instead of instantly burning off his skin as he thought would happen, it only felt uncomfortable but not so painful.

'????' Alex was perplexed, this wasn't cookie-baking temperatures, but iron-melting ones.

'Ah' He came to a realization, however, that also explained how Hephaestus was able to live in that lava pit for hundreds of years.

It seemed his Essence gave him an increased resistance to high temperatures.

This was incredibly advantageous for forging, as he could handle the metals with much more ease.

'Hephaestus probably doesn't feel anything from the heat, it's still rather uncomfortable for me.' Alex only consumed one Essence, so he obviously didn't receive the full extent of the god's capabilities, but it still made his job easier.

After a while, the two metals were completely melted together and undesirable waste had floated to the top.

Alex skimmed off the waste and poured water over the metals to slightly cool them down.

*Fssssssss*

The water instantly vaporized but he reached his end goal.

Pouring the viscous alloy into the anvil, he waited for it to cool down just a bit further.

It would be perfect when it was still hot enough that he could shape it to his will, but cool enough that it would maintain its integrity.

Hermes was watching him carefully, and nodding at every successful step of the way.

The kitchen was now reeking of carbon dioxide from the combustion of the coal, but there wasn't any climate crisis at this time, so he had no need to worry about his carbon footprint.

At the temperature, the metals were currently at, Alex could handle them with his own hands with only minimal discomfort and thus used both his hands and the hammer to shape the speartip into the form of a diamond.

Putting the tip aside, he would now work on the shaft.

This part was much easier, but the length of the staff would be the only problem.

This time, he used the iron and copper in a 2:2 ratio, and melted them down as he did earlier, and then shaped them into an extremely long staff.

Now, he'd have to mold the two parts of the spear together.

He put the two close by in the furnace and when it reached his desired temperature, he struck down with his hammer.

*BAM* *BAM*

The ringing sound of forging occurred in regular intervals.

After a few minutes of doing this, the tip of the spear and the body were now connected, and he'd only have to wait for it cool down.

Hermes praised, "You did a really great job, Alexei-boy, Essence might have contributed, but you seem to have knowledge that also helped."

Alex shrugged, it was just basic physics and chemistry from Earth that he applied here for temperature control.

"Thank you for the help, Hermes." Alex thanked him, as he couldn't have been able to forge anything at all without the furnace temperatures.

"Don't mention it," Hermes said with a wink.

They waited a while and the spear was now cool enough.

It had a brown and gray color, and the tip of the spear reflected light off of it sharply, and it looked dangerous.

The shaft was very well adjusted to the shape of hands and felt somewhat comfortable and easy to grip.

If it were up to Alex, he would make it more comfortable, but this was for a warrior after all.

There were some minor adjustments that he made following that, and then he examined the spear using his System.

________________________________

(Excellent Spear)

Quality: Excellent

State: Great

Additional Information: A sturdy spear made by a blacksmith with divine skills and average materials.

_______________________________

Hermes asked him, "Is it good?"

Alex nodded and the latter replied, "How about blessing it?"

Alex shook his head, he was still clueless about casting blessings and such.

"Well, blessing objects is harder than living beings so you should probably forget about it, or wait, can I see the spear?" Hermes requested.

Alex obliged and passed him the long spear.

Hermes took a look at it and recited an incantation.

"Examine it now." He gave him back the spear.

As Alex took it back, he instantly noticed a difference.

The spear felt much much lighter and as he swung it around, the speed at which it moved was higher than before.

And, in fact, when he took a look at its information, the name changed to (Spear Blessed by Hermes) and a new line was added to the (Additional Information) tab.

____________________________

A spear blessed by Hermes to have greater swiftness.

____________________________

'This is excellent.' Alex commented.

"Alexei-boy, don't even thank me." Hermes didn't let him speak.

Alex chuckled.

Suddenly, Hermes' eyes widened.

"What's wrong, Hermes?!" Alex exclaimed.

Hermes regained his composure and stated, "I need to go."

"Where?"

"I can't tell you now, Alexei-boy. Perhaps in the future, I promise."

Hermes then instantly disappeared.

This was different from his usual method of transportation, where you can follow his tracks.

This time, he literally disappeared.

Perhaps Hermes was a god of greater mystery than Alex thought in the past.