I chuckled as Loki and Zoë shook hands, and she sat back down. "So, Dorian. Did you bring me a present?"

"That I did. A rather large hoard of loot is being placed in the treasury now. The wagons and their mounts are being taken to the stables as we speak." I nodded.

She hummed. "Good... and Freya?"

"Nothing new." I shrugged.

"Hmph. Patience is a trait I do not have, unlike you."

"Yes, well, it's my trick, so you had better learn patience, and not ruin it." I said, gazing at her seriously.

She tsk'ed. "Whatever. I don't want anything to do with that Big-Tittied bitch anyway. How was the fight?"

"Theatrical, but relatively easy." I shrugged.

"Good... very good. You've done well, I guess." She sighed.

I smiled. "Awwww don't pout because I'm playing a trick and you're not invited. You get to watch, guiltlessly, which is even better." I chuckled lightly.

She hummed. "Maybe. Anyway, go, shoo. Report accepted... two months until the Familia Returns from the Deep Floors... make them count. I want this battle over before my Rangers return." She flicked her fingers at me, and I nodded, saluting, before guiding Zoë and mother out. Johnny passed us, and I grinned when she laughed.

We made it back to the Club, which I'd named St. Vincent's Paradise, after Johnny, (to which he had been less than enthusiastically resistant,) and settled down on a large fluffy couch.

I contemplated my new Ability, Mystery... the ability to cause miracles, and create magic items... I decided that I needed a Teacher.

---

I knocked on the front door of the Hermes Familia, and waited.

A blue haired woman opened the door, gazing at me suspiciously. "Yes?" She asked.

"Hi, I'm looking for <>? I was recently given the Mystery Ability, and I'd like something of a crash course?" I asked easily.

She blinked slowly. "You're a bit too open with your status... that's not something you blurt out like that."

I shrugged. "Eh deception is more Loki's thing than mine. If you want a peek at my status, in return for that crash course, I'd be happy to oblige." I grinned charmingly.

She snorted. "Oh you're one of hers alright. Come in."

I stepped past her, and grinned. "I'm Xavier <> Dorian, by the way. Nice to meet you, miss-?"

"Asfi Andromeda, <>." She shook my hand quickly, and then walked into a large metalworking shop, with me following closely.

"Cool place." I nodded.

"Alright. Strip." She crossed her arms.

I shrugged and started unbuckling my pants. "Whatever you say, lady-"

She covered her eyes quickly, peeking through her fingers. "No! No! I meant your shirt! Status!!"

I grinned and fixed my pants, then allowed my vest, the only shirt I was wearing, to fade into a pair of bracers.

She blinked. "You've already made Magic Items?"

"No, these are a different magic." I shook my head.

She hummed and then examined my status. "Wow. Alright then, <>, I'll accept you as my student. Well start with- cloth yourself, please." She blushed.

I shrugged and recreated my suit.

"You'll need something less destructible."

"This is made of Dragon Scales and Bones. If it can cut this, I'm dead anyway." I said blandly.

She hummed and shook her head. "No. Change into something like this." She placed a thick leather apron on, and matching gloves.

I hummed and did the same, leaving my back bare, and then followed her to the Forge.

She picked up a lump of scrapped metal, and plunged it into the fire with her gloved hand. "First, Metal. It has to be hot, to accept the Mystery better."

"White-hot, or Melty-Hot?" I hummed.

"Hotter the better." She nodded, and pulled out the piece of metal, then a hammer. The hammer glowed blue, and she nodded. "Activate your skill, and then begin working the metal, thinking about the magic you want it to have. It has to be magic you've seen someone use, or can cast yourself."

She began hammering the metal, and it slowly turned the color of her blue hammer, before taking shape as she molded it into what looked like a baseball cap, almost.

I grinned. "Cool."

She plunged it into water, and it hissed, before stopping glowing, and then cooling to a normal temperature. "Indeed." She smirked.

"Alright... very interesting... and I guess the Magic and Form have to align? No gloves that make people telepathic, right?"

She nodded. "Exactly."

"What about God Magic? If I know the Chant and the effect?" I asked.

She nodded again. "It's possible, but the Mind/Mana required would be astronomical."

I nodded. "Sounds reasonable. Too bad it's impossible, but hey. What can we do, yeah? So, does this only work with metal?"

She shook her head. "Any man-made material is capable of taking the Mystery... Elvish Wood is also able, but less stable."

I smiled. "Interesting... and it's that easy? Just like that?"

She nodded. "Yes. Of course, you have to think of all the Rules of your artifact before you make it. This one is a shoddy piece, but it should grant something close to invisibility."

I hummed. "I've seen that before, in the tournament. A Lvl 2 used it to go invisible, but I could still feel him."

She hummed. "Right. So any questions before you start on your own?"

"No... I think I've got it." I picked up a chisel, and stepped to a Marble block as tall and wide as my chest in one corner, chiseling out a small rectangle of stone the size of my palm.

I focused on the Mystery, and then started chiseling a line in the middle, and then smoothing and detailing the other edges and faces.

As I worked, I thought of the blade that had been used in the tourney. It had cut through everything it touched. This Whetstone would sharpen any blade it sharpened, and also enchant it with that same <> ability.

I finished, and held it up for inspection.

She touched it, humming. "An Enchantment Artifact with an <> Ability, hmm? Well done. And it's beautiful." She smiled.

I smiled back. "Thanks. And thanks for the tips. Really couldn't have done it without you." I tucked the whetstone into my pocket, and then hummed. "So who sells Magic Items? So I know where to take them? Or should I just come to you, so I know I'll get a fair price?"

She smiled. "You think too well of me. Like any shopkeeper, I will swindle you if you aren't careful."

I chuckled. "I'm not worried."

"Oh? And why's that?" She crossed her arms.

"I always know when women are lying." I walked out, waving, and then sang a soft tune to amuse myself.

"🎵Ho avuto le stringhe

Ma ora sono libero

Non ci sono nessun stringhe su di me.🎵"

(Points if you know what he sang;-) heh.)

Arriving at my home, I went down into the basement, Johnny's room, and smiled as I opened the hidden stairwell behind the dusty bookshelf he didn't use very often.

I walked down even further, into a section of the building that wasn't on any of the plans. A huge portion of the Underground Sewers had been sealed off behind thick walls, and now held what was likely where the previous owner had kept his women while they weren't working.

I began renovating by hand, tearing down chains and cages, and then tossing all the scrap metal into a pile. The loose stones were likewise piled in their own pile, and anything of miscellaneous purpose was gathered in a leather sack for proper disposal.

The lighting was rather dim, so I poured some magic into the lamps, which were made of magic stones.

They immediately brightened, filling the room with an ethereal glow.

I grinned at the bones of the room, built to last, and then saw a lake of some sort against the far wall. I approached, and realized it was the Bath. I tsk'ed and almost Flambéed it, before I noticed something swimming in it. Several somethings.

I looked more carefully, and saw large fish, easily the size of children, that looked reminiscent of sharks.

I hummed. "Sharks... I don't know what I think about a Shark Pool in the Prostitute Cells... Richard was one severely cracked teacup."

"Was?"

I whipped around, and Alex flinched. "You shouldn't sneak up on me, Alex. It doesn't go well for people. And what are you doing down here? I figure this is the place you want to be."

She shook her head. "I wasn't ever down here long... this was where he broke us... I... I broke easy." She said softly.

I nodded. "I see. Still. What are these, then? Sharks?"

"Kelpies... monsters from the Dungeon. They eat people." She whispered.

"Monsters don't actually eat humans. They just rip them apart... not much different, but the specification is necessary for me." I shrugged. "Kelpies, huh?... interesting. Are they intelligent?"

She shook her head.

I nodded and then stepped back, and cast a full 'Infiammare' (Ignite-fire element spell) at the water, burning it and evaporating the water.

The Sharks crisped and then turned into smoke, leaving small stones behind, and I nodded. "That's done and over. Good. I'm turning this place into my Workshop, so I'd be thankful if you didn't tell anyone this existed, Alex." I said simply.

She nodded. "Okay... I came to find you because your mother says that dinner is ready."

I blinked slowly. "Ahhh, she had dinner cooking? Bene. Then let's go eat, huh?" I grinned and led her out of the new Workshop.

---

I looked at the giant pile of metal, sitting on my heels. "Now what to do with you..." I murmured.

I shrugged and cast another 'Infiammare', tossing the ball of fire into the metal. It began to immediately melt, forming a pool of molten metal. Then, I used Tempest to push the metal onto the sides, and keep it cool.

"Now I have a metal lake... hmm..." I began tossing the broken stones in, and managed to fill the pool. Then, a last 'Infiammare', and the pool filled with liquid granite, with veins of coal running through it.

The coal ignited, and I got a good idea. I reached down and just barely touched the molten rocks with my Claw, using Cinder Ella to connect with it.

Then I changed its composition slowly, but surely, into pure carbon, and compressed it all, until it crystallized, and formed a handful of Red Diamonds, each the size of a walnut. I chuckled and pulled the metal out in the same way, turning it into White Silver.

I began fastidiously crafting a necklace, based off one I'd seen in a movie, on an actress portraying Aphrodite.

As I crafted, my fingers glowed red, and I focused on the magic that Loki had placed on me, making me able to resist Freya's influence. I turned it around, and simple negated the wearers magical influence.

While she wore this, no one would be magically bewitched by her, and her divinity would also be restricted. As the last touch, I added in the spell Loki had used on me when I told her my plan, which, at my spoken word, wouldn't allow the wearer to lie or speak half-truths.

When it was finished, I carefully cut '' into the back of the largest Red Diamond, and then under that ''.

I grinned and held it up to the light, carrying it out to find mother.

I found her quickly, and grinned. "Mother! Stand still!" I settled the necklace around her neck, and adjusted it, then hummed. "How's it feel? Missing anything?"

"Oh! I liked random gifts, my son, but... this isn't my color."

"Hmm? What? Oh, no, I know that, but your skin is almost her shade, I'm making this for someone." I smiled.

She nodded and examined it in a mirror. "Hmmm.... it's a little heavy, but I suppose with this many Rubies it would be."

"Red Diamonds, actually." I carefully extricated it from her cleavage, and settled it in a velvet box.

"Ooh, what's that?" Zoë asked, leaning over my shoulder.

"A present for the goddess of Beauty." I shut the box swiftly, and tucked it under my arm.

She smirked. "Ohh, getting her expensive jewelry already?"

"I just finished making it, actually, so it was free... but don't tell her that." I winked and darted out.