10 Interesting Developments

I changed my mind about the MC's sword. To fit the whole Elf theme a bit more, I've changed Balmung to the Foe-Hammer (aka Glamdring)

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"I'll gladly accept you If you wish to join my familia." she finished, causing me to sigh in relief subtly.

"Then I will gladly accept your offer," I said, giving a deep bow to Hephaestus that drove her to smack me lightly.

"What have I said about the formality? If you are to become one of my children, then it will be best for you to act more casually. There is no need for formality among smiths and craftsmen." She stated proudly.

"Your wish is my command," I said, grinning to show that I was messing with her by this point.

Hephaestus huffed, but I could tell that she was pleased by the way the meeting had gone. Since everything was now settled, Thorin took his leave and Tsubaki moved off to the desk to continue working on something or other. That left the goddess and me to sort out the details of my joining the familia before she actually gave me a falna.

While familias are like a big family with a god at the head, it is also much more complicated than that. For the Hephaestus familia, it is also a business first and foremost, so what I was going to do for work, whether it be exploring the dungeon and collecting materials or being a crafter, needed to be sorted out. There were also issues like housing and getting squared away with the guild to discuss. With so many things to discuss, it wasn't until late into the evening that we got the details sorted.

"Okay," the goddess said, running gloved fingers through her short red hair, "You'll have a somewhat unique role in the familia since you won't have a set position as a crafter or explorer but will work to transport goods when called upon. When you aren't needed, you are free to craft or explore the dungeon."

"If you want to form a group for dungeon exploration, there are meeting places in Etna Volcano, our home base and manor where everybody lives. It isn't located too far from the dungeon and is close to the industrial district." She continued to explain, "We do group Falna updates every month on the first day of the month. If you want to learn other professions than smithing, we will sort things out depending on what you want to learn. Do you have any questions or concerns?"

"No concerns. Everything sounds perfect. However, I do have one question. How often should I be expected to be called upon to transport goods for the familia, and will it be exclusively in the dungeon or elsewhere too?" I asked, trying to get everything squared away in this one meeting.

"I'll call on your aid perhaps once or twice per week, and it will probably be split between jobs in the dungeon and outside of it." she explained, "If that's it, then we can set up your falna right now."

"Sure," I said, unable to hide the excitement from my voice or face, which made Hephaestus smile as well.

Since there was no comfortable place to lie down, I just lay down on the floor, ignoring the goddess's raised eyebrow as she kneeled above me. I pulled up my white robes and exposed my back for her to inspect. I watched with Magic Sense as she pulled her hand free from one of her gloves and began to trace over my back lightly with an outstretched finger while chanting in an unknown language quietly. Then, she gave one final tap to the center of my back, and I felt the falna come into being.

There was a cool feeling as all the lines she had previously traced were turned into tangible things. I couldn't help but watch in fascination as an image of two hammers in front of an erupting volcano came into existence on my back. However, before anything else, something strange happened. Time seemed to slow down rapidly to my perception and I heard the Voice of the World speak to me, except this wasn't like how it normally spoke.

[Error: Conflict of powers. Choose to potentially enhance inherent (Tensura) abilities or external (Danmachi) abilities]

I quickly glanced around, but time continued to move at a fraction of its pace, so it seemed I was being given time to think. 'So I get to choose if I get some sort of augmentation to my Tensura abilities, like some sort of mini Harvest Festival,' I thought. 'Or I can gain new Danmachi skills and or magic,' I continued mentally.

"However, there is only a chance that I will get anything no matter which I choose to enhance. Furthermore, I may be faced with this decision at every level up as well, so I will have to consider everything carefully." I whispered to myself, though my voice echoed oddly in the slowed time.

Eventually, I decided to enhance my Tensura abilities because I felt it would make the most immediate difference. Plus, I was pretty sure I would gain the Unique Skill: Mathematician by doing so. So, with my decision made, I hesitantly spoke aloud, unsure of how exactly this would work. 

"Inherent abilities," I called out to the Voice of the World awkwardly, not sure if this was what I was supposed to do, but luckily it worked out.

[Proceeding with the enhancement of inherent abilities. Unique Skill: Mathematician acquired. Extra Skill: Flame Manipulation acquired.]

Once the Voice of the World announced my two new skills, time snapped back into place, though I remained dazed. The formation of Mathematician had enhanced all of the subskills under it, so suddenly, I was forced to adapt to a severely enhanced Though Acceleration in particular. It took a minute to adapt, but by the time Hephaestus had placed a paper flush against my back and pulled it off again, I was back to normal.

By this point, Tsubaki had returned to join us and grabbed the paper from the goddess, inspecting it. "These are some of the strangest names for a skill and magic I have ever seen," she said, passing the paper to me as I sat up.

I took a moment to glance through the paper quickly since I was pretty sure I already knew what it contained.

- - - Status - - -

Name: Thranduil Tyrion 

Level: 1

Strength: I0 

Endurance: I0 

Dexterity: I0 

Agility: I0 

Magic: I0 

~ Magic ~

Magicule-Mana Conversion

~ Skills ~

Voice of the World

- - - Status - - -

I immediately understood what Tsubaki meant about the names of my magic and skill since, without the prerequisite knowledge, the names made no sense. Even Hepheastus hummed in agreement with Tsubaki as she took the paper after me and continued to inspect the name closely. After a few minutes of this inspection, she handed the paper back and stood, moving back to the seat of her desk and sinking into it before speaking.

"I have never seen anything like that magic or skill, so I can only assume that this is the first time that either has ever manifested," she said with equal parts disappointment and excitement, "On one hand, they are exciting and new, probably quite powerful too. However, I won't be able to help you with them at all other than a few suggestions, perhaps."

"I am prepared to work things out solo, so there is no need to be concerned with how much you can aid me with these things," I said, comforting her since I already knew everything these abilities did. 

"Still, I wish I could offer you a bit more." She said, somewhat downcast.

"I'll take a personal tour of Etna Volcano in exchange if you aren't too busy," I said, trying to lift her mood a bit and succeeding. 

"Sure, though, it will have to be tomorrow, given how late it is," Hephaestus said, lacing outside where the moon was now hanging high in the sky, "Why don't we all head back together right now, in fact? It's getting late."

"Goddess," Tsubaki said, giving her a flat look, "What about the work that you have left here?"

"We can bring it to the manor if we must," she said, though it was clear that she was going to do no more work tonight. 

Tsubaki simply sighed, and we all gathered our things and made our way out. Then, we took the elevator down to the ground floor of Babel and navigated through the streets of Orario, guided by only the soft illumination of the buildings around us and the moon.