21 {Lord of Gifts}
A.N. Shoutout to my new patrons:
Floof
Sebastian Ignat
Big Smokey OG
clayton boyington
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The Loki Familia all released a collective sigh as they applied healing potions to their bodies, either by gestation or direct application. The point was that the executives had taken such a severe beating that they had used more potions than they'd have liked to in order to heal their wounds. Steve sat on a rock nearby giving Bathsheba some much wanted affection as he watched them recover.
"You lot good?" He questioned.
"Yes, we're fine now." Finn said. "I have to congratulate you Steve. Even when it was against the conditions of our duel, not only did you fight against us all but defeated us with barely an injury visible on you."
"Well, I've always done well under pressure." Steve said. The amount of times his friends had ganged up on him in PvP fights, and how had at the very least escaped with his lives was testament to that fact. And considering his in-game tendencies were becoming reality, it seemed even personal aspects of his game character became unquestionable.
"Now then Bete." Finn said. "Do you have anything to say for yourself?"
"What am I supposed to say?" Bete said indignantly. "It looked like he was going to kill you Finn. Did you think I would sit still?"
"You make it sound like you had the power to do anything." Tiona poked at him. "Aren't you the one that got the worst beating?"
"What's that supposed to mean!"
"You lost a tooth Bete, even though Gareth was the one being punched in the face." Ais said flatly, which although was usual for her, hit the nail harder on the head for Bete.
"Yeah, why were you punching me in the face so much?" Gareth grunted. "Do you really hate me to that extent?"
"Nothing personal Gareth." Steve grinned. "It makes sense to strike already wounded flesh as it makes the opponent more susceptible to pain. And also, it was more effective in dazing you, especially because you were carrying that heavy axe."
"You should be thankful you at least still have your weapon Gareth." Riveria said as she waved an elf away and looked at Finn's hand. "Finn's spear got absolutely demolished."
"Yes. Even though you were supposed to enchant it for me Steve." Finn deadpanned as he held Fortia's spear head which had a noticeable chip in it because of Finn's dagger.
"Not to worry." Steve said as he stood up in a rather quick manner. "You'll still get your enchanted weapon. We are not leaving this Dungeon until my promise has been acted upon."
"But I no longer have a spear." Finn said. "You broke it, remember."
"Then I'll give you another spear." Steve said as he clapped his hands. "Now then, if you're all done licking your wounds..." This spurred a grunt out of the executives. "...it's time we move on to the actual fun part of the day."
Tiona jumped up, excited.
"Are you going to do it?!"
"Yes I am." Steve chuckled at her enthusiasm.
"Yay! Let me get my Urga!" The Amazon cried as she ran off to get her signature weapon.
"What's going on?" Bete asked, still not completely in it due to the amount of knocks he'd taken to the head and thus couldn't connect the dots.
"We're about to have our gear enchanted." Gareth said. "And about time too. I've been dying to see the kinds of things he offers."
"You will not be disappointed." Steve said as he waved his hand and placed something on the ground that appeared out of nowhere.
It looked to the Familia like a cube of black rock, tipped at the corners with a blue gem that looked familiar but they couldn't tell to be sure. What they were fixated on most about this item was that above it was an open book filled with strange symbols, levitating over the top as if it were being held up by an invisible force.
"Bring it all here." Steve said as he sat back down on his rock in front of the Enchantment Table. Gareth was the first to approach with his axe.
"I only want to go with a weapon enchant for now." Gareth said. "I'll consider armour enchants at a later date."
"Not a problem." Steve said as he took out a scroll of paper and unrolled it. "This is a list of axe enchantments I can give to you. What would you like? Mind you, these are all level one enchantments anything above that will have to be upgraded in my shop on the surface."
"No issues here." Gareth said as he eyed the list given. Five minutes went by as he deeply thought about his decision. "What's the difference between 'Sharpness' and 'Smite'? Do they both have similar effect?" He asked as his Familia members listened in, intrigued.
"Simple. Sharpness will only increase the sharpness of your weapon. Smite however is a conditional effect. Meaning that against undead kind of monsters like Spartoids, Risens and lampreys etc, the damage your weapon inflicts will increase. You will hurt a Spartoid more with the axe than you would another monster of equal power."
"Right." Gareth said. "Can you explain the Efficiency then?"
"It simply allows you to swing your axe faster if you want a simple summary. Would you prefer the longer version?"
"No thank you. I'll take your word for it." Gareth said as he took his fingers off his chin as he decided upon what he wanted. "Okay, I'll take Sharpness, Efficiency and Unbreaking."
Steve held out a hand for the axe and Gareth gave it to him. The great axe was held over the enchantment table as Steve's other hand moved in the air in strange motions. But this was actually Steve playing around with his GUI, though it served a double purpose to make the Loki Familia think he was doing magic with those hand signs. Such techniques weren't unheard off.
The book floating above the table suddenly glowed and a bunch of ethereal symbols began flying out and rushing into the axe. When the flow stopped, there was a bright flash around the axe before a magical membrane covered it.
"All done." Steve said. "Try it."
Gareth took his axe and inspected it. The magical membrane made it slightly harder to examine but it was easily worked around. Gareth then touched his finger to the axe's edge and quickly drew it back again as his finger started to bleed.
"THIS it the result of a level one enchantment?" Gareth asked. "This thing has become sharp as hell. I nearly cut my bone!"
"Now you see why I didn't want to give you higher things right away." Steve smiled with a smug look of satisfaction on his face. "Even if it's only by a small amount, that sharper edge pays off a lot."
"I can see that." Gareth said as he held his axe properly again and swung it a little. "It feels...lighter?"
"No, the axe is the same weight." Steve said. "You're just able to swing it faster."
"...If these are level one, I dread to to think what higher levels can do." Gareth breathed before aiming a questioning eyebrow at Steve. "What's the highest you've gone yet on a weapon enchant."
"Typically, level five." Steve replied. "I could probably go higher but I'm yet to find a situation where that kind of power is necessary and not a danger to all living things around it."
"Understandable. I wouldn't want to be the maker of a weapon that perpetrated an accident." Gareth said. "But still, if this is the quality of your enchants, then you're still selling them short."
"Only while I just have you as customers." Steve said. "Once I have a bigger support base, my prices will increase so take advantage of my hospitality while you can."
"No problem." Gareth said as he walked away. The dwarf happily slung his axe over his shoulder, revelling in the bright glow of magical power it gave before coming to a sudden stop as he realized something. "This...isn't going to break my agreement with Tsubaki is it? He only enchanted it, he didn't make the axe."
...
"Who's next?" Steve called.
"ME! ME!" Tiona ran up and shoved Bete out of the way. She slammed her Urga onto the enchantment table. "I just want the fire! That's all I want!"
"You sure about that?" Steve said as he picked it up and looked over it. "You bang it up pretty easily from what I've seen. You sure you don't care about anything else?"
"...Okay, maybe the unbreaker thingy, but I want the fire one! No doubts whatsoever!"
"Coming right up." Steve shook his head in his mirth as he tended to the girl.
...
Meanwhile on the side lines, Raul was having an existential crisis just watching what was unfolding.
"I just don't believe it." The leader of the second string group said.
"Believe what?" Riine, a close associate of his asked, although she was on the same wavelength.
"Our top executives, our captain and all the strongest members of our Familia, the very faces of our honour and reputation just got thrashed by this one guy in a one sided victory. And yet they're all so calm about it! Like they expected it before they even started or something."
"Does seem that way." Cruz, another friend of his said with his ever present frown. "Are you really sure that nobody has heard of this guy before?"
"If anybody would have known, it would have been at least the top three." Riine reasoned. "But they were just as surprised. And he's been surprising us the whole way through that perhaps they've just gotten used to it. I mean c'mon, this is the guy who took out Balor and the entire 49th floor by himself. Would you expect anything more of him than being able to beat our executives by himself?"
"He's an absolute monster." Raul said. "But it's not like Finn to be so calm and friendly after those kinds of demonstrations or when meeting such a person. Usually he's more alert and cautious."
"That's because most of the strange people he comes across are complete assholes." Cruz replied as he rolled up a mat and stuffed it into a crate which he then loaded into a wagon. "But I've seen the captain regularly conversing with this Steve guy. They talk a lot though I don't know what about. And Steve himself is quite nice though, wouldn't you agree. The amount of times he's saved our skins from either monsters or Riveria."
"It COULD just be a ploy to get us to lower our guard." Riine said. "Realistically, we know nothing about him besides his name and that he's probably level 8, judging by his strength. But if he was planning something, I'm positive that the chance to implement it has come and gone. We're returning to the surface after all."
"But we were also supposed to go deeper." Raul said.
"So what?" Cruz said.
"So...what if he was planning something to do on Floor 50 or beyond, but he couldn't do that because the captain decided to turn back?"
"Where are you getting these ideas from?" Cruz asked with a raised eyebrow before he considered something. "Have you been hanging around Aki again?"
"She's second in command in this group. Of course I have."
"That explains it." Cruz said dryly.
"Besides," Riine added. "...look at what just happened. If he wanted to do something, he clearly could have done it at any point. The best means of defence we have is our executives and he took them out seemingly with ease. Do you think the rest of us could pull it off together once they were out of the picture?"
"Obviously no."
"Then as far as the circumstances portray it, he's not a malicious threat." Riine concluded. "And now he's enchanting their weapons. I have a feeling that the position our Familia is held in is going to change soon. The balance of power between us and the Freya Familia will actually tip in another direction entirely."
"Then it's a damn good thing we were the ones to befriend him first." Cruz said as he pulled a sheet over the cart. "Though I still would pay a fortune to see what happens when he inevitably comes across 'her'."
"True." Raul said. "She has a tendency of gathering the extremely powerful to her cause. In contrast to you Cruz, I'd pay a fortune to be as far away as possible from the conflict should anything ugly go down in that encounter." Raul looked up at the ceiling in the rough direction he thought Babel Tower would be in. "That Familia is considered even above us for a reason."
---
"I don't really have an enchantment for staves, Riveria." Steve said as the executives chattered excitedly about their now glowing and enchanted gear. "Nothing about my enchantments currently available to me really empower magical aspects."
"That's fine then." Riveria said as she began turning. "I wasn't too concerned about it. Thanks for the offer."
"I can still do something though." Steve quickly reason. "Technically your staff could be used as a throwing projectile, like a spear. I believe it would fit the basic requirements of a Loyalty enchantment."
"That's the one which returns your weapon to your hand correct?" Riveria asked.
"Yes. A mage can't really do much if they don't have their magical focus now can they?" Steve
"I think you'll find that I can grip a staff quite well."
...
"...(snort)."
"What?"
"Nothing. Anyway, I've enchanted your bow, so I guess that should be enough. Out of all your group, you were the one wanting to owe me the least. I can respect your decisions."
"Thank you Steve." Riveria walked away as Finn looked over his people with a happy smile.
"Well I'd say they're all happy." Finn said. "They look like kids with new toys."
"Yes, they do. Now, are you ready for yours?"
"This new weapon you're supposed to conjure up for me?" Finn said.
"Yes, the exact same." Steve said as he removed the enchantment table. "Although I'm not going to conjure it."
"No?"
"No." Steve pulled out a piece of raw ore out of thin air. "I'm going to forge it right here, right now."
"Huh?"
'Smithing mods on.'
---
The Loki Familia sat in great anticipation as they watched Steve quickly work his magic, forging a new weapon for Finn. To be specific, it was the executives who were watching. The rest of their Familia were loading up the wagons and clearing camp so they could soon make way to the surface. But time to time, they looked over in interest to see what was going on.
One of the things Steve always felt like was missing as an enjoyable feature in Minecraft was actual smithing. He once tried to ask for such a thing to be added into the game when he mailed the developers once. Not even as a default but as an optional feature one could switch on if they wished. No surprise, not only had there been no reply at all, but instead what came out was 'smithing templates' which safe to say pissed off a large majority of the Minecraft community.
Steve understood the core theme upon which the game was built but smithing counted as crafting. And yes perhaps doing actual smithing was perhaps too immersive and RPG a feature for a sandbox game like Minecraft. But with all the useless crap that the developers put into the game like Andesite, golden hoes or dead bushes, why couldn't they switch it up a bit to give the game a bit more realism as an optional feature?
So in his past life, Steve had teamed with some contacts of his and put his own skills to use as well to create a smithing mod that gave a realistic experience to actual smithing, with also a complete new inventory of things to create. Now that he was using these powers in reality, the mod made him feel more deserving of the 'Blacksmith' development ability.
His new friends watched as out of nowhere, he placed down a blast furnace, a heating furnace, and an anvil. Steve never got tired of actually getting to use realistic features in these items. He could have just used his GUI, but he was still capable of doing it all physically. It was one of the things that the ROB who had sent him here had advised him to do. In leisure situations, Steve actually quite enjoyed doing things the real way.
Unknown to them, he placed a piece of raw Orichalcum ore into the blast furnace and used some of the many felled trees nearby as a fuel source to heat it. He wasn't just going to pull out a lava bucket, because he assumed that even they were not ready for that yet, and to top it off it was bound to create some sort of natural disaster should anything happen. He waited for the blast furnace to start roaring and melting the Orichalcum out of the bedrock (the Dungeon's bedrock, not the Minecraft one) and tended to the heating furnace in which he placed some more of the felled trees around as fuel. The already existing coals in that furnace slowly started to burn from underneath as they began to to burn red hot.
Steve waited until the Ore had melted and the metal had filtered through some sort of filter built within the blast furnace, and collected into an ingot tray which he could pulled out from under the mouth of the blast furnace like a draw. When the red hot metal had filled the clay mould to the brim, he pulled out the mould with his bare hands with molten Orichalcum still sloshing around inside like soup, not feeling the pain of it at all, much to the shock of the Loki Familia who rushed to stop him from hurting himself at first but he assured them that he was fine.
It didn't take long for the ingot to form and harden, and he cracked open the clay mould with a sharp rap from his knuckles. To wash off the clay smears, he took out a water bucket and began washing the debris off inside it before waving away the blast furnace which just vanished into thin air from the Loki Familia's perspective. But they were used to these things now, knowing about Steve's storage powers.
Placing the Orichalcum ingot onto the anvil, he took out a pair of tongs and a hammer from his smith's inventory, grabbed the ingot with the tongs and held the thing inside the heating furnace while he worked the bellows. His superhuman strength contributed a lot to heating it up to temperatures that were making the executives sweat even when they sat a little further away. When the ingot became red hot again and ready for shaping, he took it out of the furnace and placed it on the anvil, hammering away. The first strike actually cracked the fresh anvil but that was just the game physics still existing, though it did raise a few concerns. Thanks to his strength and his speed, he was able to make quick work with the weapon.
With few reheating sessions and plenty of precise and heavy hammer hits, Steve eventually shaped it out into the shaft part of the spear, which he then quenched in a cauldron he filled with Ender Dragon skin oil to amplify the magical effects he was placing later. Once it was quenched, he set it aside and pulled a curious pouch out. To the Loki Familia's astonishment, from it fell a cluster of gemstones of large sizes, each worth a fortune.
Finn instantly wanted to know where he attained such wealth but the sheer look of concentration on the boy's face gave him quite an intimidating aura which unnerved the Pallum, and so he decided to hold his tongue and let Steve do his work.
What came along with this custom mod was that Steve now had access to all kinds of gems and not just diamonds, emeralds and amethyst. Now came along other things like rubies, sapphires, opals etc. All of various beautiful colours. He took his time examining each gemstone for one that he believed would compliment the silvery white of the Orichalcum spear shaft.
He settled upon a diamond of a much darker hue of blue, one reminiscent of sapphire but not as deep. Using a modded cutting table, he cut down the diamonds into the shape of a pentagonal spearhead. He adjusted it onto the shaft and technically completed the spear. But his love for aesthetics settled for using a more precise cutter to cut out Norse runes into the side of a pear, not in a straight line down but in a swirl that went all around the shaft. Into those rune cuts, he placed the remains of the blue diamond he'd cut up, so the runes were made purely of diamond now.
He then took out a press, before stopping to reconsider. He then shrugged it off as he used a GUI shaper to alter the appearance of the press into the symbol of the Ptah Familia, the same symbol upon his back.
That of an ox bearing an ankh between its horns. To add a little detail so it was distinguished as his own work in case anymore smiths joined the Familia, he placed a cube shape into the loop of the ankh.
He heated the press by sticking it into the still burning coal of the heating furnace, and when it was red hot, burned his mark into the spear. After that, he did away with all the furnaces and the anvil and replaced the enchanting table. He held it above the book, and personally chose the enchantments.
Unbreaking (?)
Impaling (?)
Loyalty (?)
Channelling (?)
He considered Mending, but he didn't put it on any of the others. Because the point was that the smithing industry made more money from repairing weapons than they did by selling them. It was the same how car companies made money not just from their sales but from how many times customers had to come back to them for services or when something was intrinsically wrong with the car that no random mechanic could help with. Perhaps it was immoral but to Steve, who could understand the sentiment, it meant one thing.
It's just good business.
Magic symbols poured from the book into the weapon, and thanks to the aesthetics of the mod which Steve had poured so much of his energy into creating, it was just the diamond parts of the spear that glowed with the enchantment magic while the Orichalcum shaft was left to shine in its own way.
He went a little further and quickly used a loom to design a miniature little red banner bearing the symbol of the Loki Familia in gold, and sewed it on near the top. He walked up to Finn, and the Pallum, as soon as he took a look at the complete weapon, fell in love with it. It radiated a kind of beauty and deadly glamour that the Pallum felt he was unworthy of.
"Don't refuse." Steve said before Finn could express anything. "Not after all the hard work I put in to making it, especially in front of you."
"...Then I am honoured, Steve, to accept this mighty gift." Finn reached out to take it before Steve held it back suddenly with a serious look on his face that startled them. Steve held the spear in his hands and ran a gentle finger down its length.
"I know that I have not given you all much reason to trust me." Steve said as he looked each of them in the eye. "Over the time we have spent together, we have made quite a few memories, for me at least. But principally, you all had no reason to trust me and you would be fools to still trust me...because I am wary of you too.
However, the minimum time I agreed upon with my patron has long passed at this point in which we conceal ourselves. Through my connection to him, I already feel he's ready to come out to the world with my identity and that which was at first hidden." Steve held the spear out in front of Finn, but made no motion of offering it, indicating that he was still presenting it. "But I wish to take a leap of faith and repay your kindness and your trust.
I will say now that I am not all good, nor am I all evil. All my life, I have been led by my own desires, and have followed my own designs. I have hid behind several veils and have posed under several names. And in that journey, I accumulated within myself an ocean of talent, technique, knowledge and power. And it will be a long time before that changes. Not to mention the boundless wealth I have to offer, which I intend to share with the world in various ways. This spear is the first true example of that." Steve looked at Ais with his next words.
"Some among you consider me a noble hero worthy of love and admiration. I do not agree with the sentiment but I will honour those feelings and try to live up to them in the ways that I choose. But do not expect of me to actively go out of my way in a path of righteousness all the time, for it is simply not who I am.
But I am someone who also loves to be generous when I can, and I love taking great people such as yourselves as friends. This spear is more than just compensation for the one I took from Finn. I intend it to be the physical embodiment of something new. A connection, a bond, an alliance."
"Alliance?" Finn raised a brow.
"Indeed. I had preconceived notions about most of you which I am ashamed of now because I have witnessed how good you all are barring a specific few. As powerful as I am, even I cannot deny the virtue that comes from befriending people like you who step in for the innocent in times where they cannot fight for themselves.
And though I am well aware you kept me around just to monitor me, I can understand it and I cannot blame you either. You had the best intentions at heart...I perhaps would have done the same thing. And you still gave me warmth, friendship and compassion despite the overhanging possibility that I was a serious threat to you all. But believe it or not, there are forces in this world which can still kill me, as invincible as I am to some of you. Which is why I would rather have good friends stand by my side when I eventually face my trials.
So I hope for something new to start between us, that it may be symbolised by this very spear. For as long as this weapon is wielded and claimed by the Loki Familia, may there be an alliance, a friendship and a pact of trust between us?"
Finn looked over at his Familia members. Steve's voice was full of bleeding sincerity, and there was an honest look in his eyes. His cockiness and arrogant antics they were so used to had completely melted away, like it had been a mask, revealing raw desire, emotion and intent beneath. Who could label such a face as a deceitful one? Each and every member, including Bete who did it begrudgingly, nodded their heads. The Pallum turned back to Steve.
"I swear upon the honour of the Loki Familia and the name of the goddess we serve, we will honour this alliance, with or without the presence of this spear." Finn said, returning the sincerity." For as long as you too would answer in our time of need, and you would not betray us in fear or for personal gain, this pact shall remain intact between our Familia. It is not just you who has benefitted from us, but you too have saved the lives of any among us. Contrary to your belief, you do go out of your way to help people and to be righteous. That in itself to me, is a noble and heroic act, one which should be returned in the form of bond not just embodied in material aspects...but the true friendship that shall blossom between us."
Finn held out his hand, and the brightest, happiest, most kindest smile they'd yet seen from Steve bloomed on his face. Unknown to all of them, his skills {Benevolence} and {Lord of Gifts} both activated and filled all of them and their weapons that Steve had enchanted for them with their power, as if both skills themselves testified to this oath. Steve shook Finn's hand and with that the promise was sealed.
"Then I bestow upon you Finn Deimne, the spear Fleinn'leptr. Not only will this spear be loyal to the hand of the one who has legitimate reason to wield it, but should you ever find yourself stranded within a storm and an enemy wishes to cause you harm, merely throw this spear straight and true. Upon striking your enemy, lightning shall rain from the sky and smite them. Cherish it well."
At last Finn was allowed to take ahold of it, and instantly he felt the connection, like the spear had a mind of its own and recognised its new master. It did not take a genius to know that the weapon he now held in his hands bore a power that surpassed anything he'd ever seen...and he was yet to see what this weapon could do.
"I hope this weapon serves your cause well Loki Familia." Steve bowed out respect, not submission. "Crafted by yours truly. You took faith in me...so now now I shall return the gesture as a sign of my trust before the world itself knows who I am."
"How?" Riveria asked.
In response, Steve put a hand on his chest.
"Stephen Hewer. Level 9. Captain, and Firstborn of the Ptah Familia."
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