Ultio smirked as the two other men flinched upon his arrival.
"What's the matter, gentlemen? You both seem tense,"
Jourgen held a hand to his chest and let out a breath. "Well it's not often we get to see a shadow leap out of a shadow... And then a man leaping out of said shadow,"
Ultio smirked slightly.
"Welcome to Niðavellir, I'm Jourgen Hreidmar, the owner of this masterpiece of a forge. A pleasure meeting you, Mister..." Jourgen trailed off, as he stretched out a hand, waiting for Ultio's response.
Ultio shook Jourgen's hand, fascinated by the dwarf's mannerism. "Ultio V. However, I believe it would be more convenient for both of us if you'd just call Ultio,"
"Indeed, Ultio," Jourgen said with a small laugh.
Ultio rose an eyebrow as he took in the beautiful interior of the forge and nodded appreciatively. "Quite a breathtaking forge you've got here, Mister Jourgen,"
Jourgen laughed heartily, pride visible on his face. "Well she's just a little something I put together myself," He said and 'waved' off the compliment, however the wide smile on his face said otherwise.
"It's outstanding, Mister Jourgen," Ultio said with another nod. He knew his words were simply filling Jourgen with pride, but he had learnt from the memories he had stolen from various victims* that doing such would improve people's opinions about you.
[A/N: The victims here are a reference to all shadows under Ultio. After creating the shadows, Ultio gains the memories of the person they once were. Ref. Chapter V.]
Jourgen chuckled. "Well it is indeed the most outstanding forge in the mortal realm. But this isn't all. This is just the 'reception' of the forge, the main forge is a few miles underground, far away from-"
"Ahem!"
Eric cleared his throat sharply, interrupting Jourgen's rambling. "Thank you for sharing, Jourgen. Now if you don't mind, Mister Ultio, would you please supply the materials you would like me to use,"
"I believe the materials should be landing in a few seconds," Ultio stated and began to walk towards the door of the forge.
Eric and Jourgen frowned slightly at Ultio's words.
"I believe you mean, 'arriving', Mister Ultio,"
Ultio froze a few steps away from the door and chuckled. He turned his head slightly to face the two gentlemen behind him. "No. I do mean, landing,"
BANG!
As soon as Ultio finished speaking, a muffled bang came from outside the forge. Although the effects were greatly diminished due to the forge's secure structure, Eric and Jourgen still felt a little vibration.
"What in the name of..."
Ultio smirked and stood before the forge's large double doors, which opened up automatically a second later. "Shall we step out, gentlemen?"
*****
Eric and Jourgen were stunned to the point of silence as they stared at the stack of large black scales which stood just outside the forge. Even more stunning and much more frightening, was the large black and blue Wyvern that stood behind the stack.
At that moment, a black and blue blur zipped past the two men and stopped just before Ultio.
"Boss, we have arrived," Hermes said while kneeling at Ultio's feet.
The two men felt shock and fear at the speed of the creature kneeling before Ultio. A few seconds later, they felt even more fear directed at Ultio as they realised that the creature had called him boss.
"Indeed you have, Hermes. You can stand upright now," Ultio said distractedly as he patted Eric and Jourgen's shoulders.
"Gentlemen, my materials have landed,"
*****
With the help of Hermes, Brute and the other shadow soldier, Eric and Jourgen were able to get the stack of Wyvern scales into the forge in no time at all.
"Now what? And also, I've been meaning to ask, Mister Midas, how do you plan on handling these tough, flexible scales?" Ultio asked curiously as he sat elegantly on the leather chair in the forge.
Eric smiled slightly as he lifted a meter-wide piece of Wyvern scales. "You'll see," He said simply.
It wasn't surprising to everyone present that Eric could lift the scales himself. After all, it was common knowledge that the scales of Dragons and Wyverns are incredibly durable, but just as light. The only reason the shadows had to help in the first place was because of the sheer quantity of scales.
At that moment, he walked towards one of the walls and stood patiently until a section of the wall opened up to reveal a small space dominated by blue flames. And although these flames burned brightly and actively, they seemed calm and didn't seem to release any heat.
"Oh? Flames of Hel... Interesting," Ultio said after seeing the blue flames burning behind the wall.
Jourgen and Eric seemed immensely surprised that Ultio could identify these blue flames. Eric hadn't even known anything about these flames until a year prior.
"You are just full of surprises, aren't you, Ultio?" Jourgen said jokingly. However he was really impressed... And also moderately terrified.
Eric shrugged, seeing that Jourgen didn't make a fuss about Ultio being able to identify the blue flames, and tossed the scales through the open section of the wall and into the fire.
Then he repeated the process several times, until all the scales were in the flames.
"Now," Eric said and let out a breath. "It's time to take your measurements,"
Ultio seemed intrigued by this and laced his fingers together. "And how do you plan on doing that without your sense of sight?"
Eric chuckled and spread out his arms. "There are more senses than you think," He said smugly.
"I believe you are speaking of the constant pulses of mana you release passively which help you sense your surroundings," Ultio said and Eric immediately took a defensive stance, while Jourgen frowned deeply. "Oh don't look at me like that, it's not like you tried to hide it. Besides, from that, I could tell you have a very large mana pool, and that's what made me offer you a god's eye in the first place," Ultio said and motioned for Eric to continue the creation of his outfit.
After a while, Eric finally relaxed and sighed. "You never cease to amaze me, Ultio," He said and applauded.
Although Jourgen didn't completely ease up, he still nodded and applauded a little.
"Don't mind me, just carry on. I'm a little curious to see how you plan on piercing the Wyvern scales,"
Eric smiled at Ultio's words and took then as a sort of challenge.
A light blue glow suddenly appeared from within Eric, causing his body and clothes to glow slightly. The blue light flowed to his arms and them gathered at his hands. At this point, his blindfold fell off his face, revealing his cloudy eyeballs.
While smiling, Eric lifted his hands into the air and shut his eyes. A second later, he opened his eyes, revealing two light blue orbs that radiated mana. The mana from his body suddenly escaped his body and gathered above his head.
"In that case, let me give you a good show," Eric said as the mana above his head formed a large, needle-like silhouette.