The morning of a new day arrived, and everyone got out of bed, except Niko, who had to be woken up by falling off the bed after receiving a kick from Vi.
As if it were a habit, as soon as he touched the floor, he opened his eyes and quickly rose to the ceiling, sticking to it. When he looked down, he saw everyone laughing heartily while Vi pointed to the table.
"Good morning, princess, it's breakfast time."
Detaching himself from the ceiling, Niko fell in front of Vi with a sleepy look and gave her a tap on the head while murmuring.
"...Strawberry head."
Quickly turning towards the bathroom, leaving a furious Vi with her fist ready.
"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING STRAWBERRY HEAD?"
After freshening up, he returned to the room a bit more awake and sat between Vander and Vi with a smile because everyone was waiting for him, and especially because there was a sandwich with cold cuts for breakfast.
'BON APPÉTIT.'
Ready to start eating, he reached out for the sandwich, but Vander's voice stopped him while everyone else was already eating.
"Niko, can you explain why early in the morning people came to the tavern saying that a red monkey man had appeared swinging through the city?"
The eyes of the others widened with disbelief, looking between Niko and Vander.
Niko's face turned deadly serious as he stared at Vander.
"The zoo is-"
Vi's fist on his head interrupted his words.
"Why did you hit me? Do you even know what zoo means?"
"I felt it was nonsense."
"...I might have sneaked out for a while to train, sorry for not letting you know, Vander."
Instead of getting angry, Powder seemed somewhat confused.
"How were you swinging? ...Wait, Ekko was right! You shoot webs from your as-"
"STOP, it's not like that, okay? *sigh* Just watch."
Niko turned his back and shot a web from his wrist that stuck to the wall.
"They come from my wrist, okay? Never think of something like that again, understood?" Niko's annoyed look spread to Vander, who returned the words.
"Let us know if you're going out, understood?"
Niko's slightly embarrassed look leaving him somewhat ashamed.
"...Understood."
Vander nodded, and a mischievous smile appeared on his face.
"You know, they also mentioned something amazing, the monkey man seemed to jump off a building, but just when he was about to crash, he let out a pretty sharp scream-."
"Stop! That's enough-"
Vi covered Niko's mouth with a smile and nodded to Vander to continue.
"As I was saying, everyone thought he was going to fall, but with a scream, he shot a web at a pipe, swung around, due to the scream, everyone thought it was a scared little girl who was watching everything, but they realized it was the same man."
Vi, Powder, Mylo, and Claggor, each of them tried to suppress their laughter at seeing Niko's face and ears even redder than Vi's hair as he lowered his head.
Without saying a word and enduring the laughter echoing in his head, he grabbed his breakfast and started chewing.
'Someone kill me.'
Cutting the brief episode of embarrassment, Vander got his attention.
"Remember that today the metals I mentioned yesterday are arriving, Sevika should be outside the shop waiting for the delivery."
Somewhat excited by the idea of receiving materials, Niko began to eat faster. Powder got excited and started calling out to Vander.
"Vander, do you know what Niko's shop is called?"
"Oh, did he name it? What is it?"
With a bit of teasing, Vi was the one who answered.
"You'll be surprised by his creativity, The Last Forge."
Vander looked at Niko, who didn't hear the conversation as he was focused on his food.
"Well, it's actually Zaun's Last Forge, Violet."
Shrugging, Vi continued eating while Niko thanked everyone for the food and went to clean up in the bathroom.
'I really need toothpaste, hygiene is scarce around here.'
Exiting the bathroom, he said goodbye to Vander without paying attention to the kids who seemed to want to tell him to wait.
Niko headed to The Last Forge while holding his head with both hands and talking to himself, earning the attention of some passersby.
"Damn, I can't think of anything. How the hell did the guys in the movies create them?"
{Why don't you try reverse engineering your webs? You might discover how to make them}
Niko's face lit up, and with a slap on his cheeks, he cheered up, only to feel dejected seconds later.
"Good idea, but how am I supposed to do reverse engineering if I have no chemical knowledge, I'm a literature guy, not a science one, besides, I don't have the tools to do it."
{Making the casing of the web-shooter is easy, but if you want to produce artificial webs, you'll have to sneak into the Piltover academy. Besides, what's the rush? You still have the organic ones, and you have me}
Niko stopped his steps for a moment but recovered with some embarrassment.
"...I thought it would be great to create my own web-shooters."
He continued walking, waiting for a response, but only ended up somewhat annoyed at receiving: {You seem like a child, and I don't mean physically}.
Ignoring Sectio, he quickened his pace, and a few minutes later, he arrived near the shop, finding a long line.
He moved along the side of the queue, catching the attention of those forming it, and when he reached his building, he saw Sevika sitting on several boxes seeming to wait for something.
Sevika's serious face changed slightly when she saw the boy looking at her.
"Good morning."
'Hmm? She's acting strange.'
"...Good morning, Sevika, would you mind telling me what's going on with them?"
Sevika tilted her head to one side, giving him a better view of the situation; there were about 20 people, all with various items in their hands or carts.
"They've been here for a few hours, they said since you didn't specify what time they could come back, they would wait to be served sooner."
Somewhat surprised by what he had just heard, Niko quickly turned around and cupped his hands around his mouth, letting out a shout.
"THANK YOU FOR COMING SO SOON, I'LL SERVE YOU AS SOON AS POSSIBLE."
Then he approached Sevika, turning his back on the people in line.
"Sorry to bother you, Sevika, I'll need you to put the materials in the shop, could you?"
"Leave it to me."
Both nodded, and Niko headed to the forge room; in the corner, the thermos and tools were still there. Seeing that everything was in place, he turned on the oven and began to work.
About 10 customers later, roughly two hours, Sevika prepared to usher in the next client, encountering a familiar blond head.
"What are you doing here, kid? Niko told you to come tomorrow."
Ezreal entered the shop somewhat intimidated by Sevika and shrugged.
"I may have snuck out again..."
Sevika looked incredulous at the blonde in front of him. 'Is this brat stupid?'
"He told you not to worry about that relative of yours. Why have you come back?"
Under Sevika's scrutinizing gaze, Ezreal looked away.
"Curiosity, and I wanted to sort things out with Niko."
"...Well."
Sevika knocked on the forge door, and shortly after, a somewhat tired Niko emerged.
"Hmm? Good morning, Ezreal. Wait, did you sneak out again?"
"...Nooo."
Sevika and Niko stared at Ezreal, who avoided their gaze.
"Well, yes, I wanted to drop by, you know, to observe for a bit, have some fun, and honestly, the only entertaining thing up there is going to the museum to see some excavation exhibits."
Niko was astonished. "The most fun thing is going to a museum..."
Ezreal became annoyed to see he was receiving looks of complete pity.
"Ahem, well, can I stay for a while? I heard you're a blacksmith, by the way, the green hammer outside is pretty cool."
"...Well, if it's you, nothing will happen. Do you want to come into the forge or help Sevika?"
Ezreal glanced between the terrifying Sevika and the friendly, tall Niko.
'Wait... tall?'
Ezreal's eyes seemed to bulge, and he pointed forward with his finger.
"WHAT THE HELL, WHY ARE YOU AS TALL AS ME."
"I drank a lot of milk and slept very well, Sevika, or the forge, choose quickly."
Ezreal crossed his arms as he contemplated whether he should start using his allowance on milk instead of sweets. Niko had to snap his fingers in front of him to get his attention.
"Ah, yes, the forge."
"Okay, Sevika, could you call in the next one while I accompany Ezreal?"
Receiving a nod from her, Niko and Ezreal headed to the forge. Upon entering, Niko gestured for him to sit on one of the piles of titanium, near to the piles of silver and stainless steel.
Indeed, it was titanium; it turns out that all the titanium from Mineral Emporium was purchased by Vander, and now 300kg of the blacksmith's wet dreams and other materials belonged to Niko.
Ezreal, who studied various archaeological sites, was familiar with some of the materials found in them, and metals stood out among them. The one he was sitting on was not unfamiliar to him. Just as he was about to ask, he was interrupted by Niko.
"What happens in the forge stays in the forge, understood?"
"Sure, by the way, what's all this titanium for? Are you going to polish it and make ornaments with it?"
"Not even close, I'll be working with it; I have some ideas in mind."
Ezreal was a bit surprised to hear this, as he knew that working with titanium was something only those from the surface were familiar with.
'Is he a Piltoverian abandoned in Zaun?'
Unaware of Ezreal's thoughts, Niko headed to the door to attend to the next client.
"Welcome, how can I..."
{Niko, are you sure about showing Ezreal how you work? He's quite the blabbermouth in the future}
'Ekko is too, haha, don't worry, they're blabbermouths, but you know.'
{Yes, yes. Since you'll grow up with them, it's better not to lie to them. But are you sure?}
'I prefer to be honest, you know, many lies bring many headaches.'
Niko finished taking the customer's order and headed to the forge.
'Besides, it'll be fun to impress the future Prodigy Explorer.'
Upon entering, he went to one of the material piles and summoned Sectio in the form of a rod, leaving him hidden from Ezreal's view.
He grabbed some silver and the hammer and headed to the furnace. Ezreal, who was watching the process, could do nothing but watch closely, not allowing himself to blink.
He heard some commotion as they headed to the store, but he didn't expect it to be so changed. From that striking green hammer to the long line outside the store, the whole situation was a huge contrast to the desolate store from yesterday.
Now he couldn't take his eyes off Niko's hammering; each strike was powerful and determined, creating a beautiful rhythm for anyone listening.
But what stood out was the precision with which he worked; he worked with a small portion of silver that was minuscule compared to the anvil, and shortly after, he pulled out a tool that looked like a screwdriver but with a sharp and shiny tip.
Niko had made this titanium punch while attending to some customers, as many asked him to make ornaments upon seeing the paint outside and the counter at the entrance.
Right now, he had been commissioned a silver ring, with inscriptions on the inside and ornamented on the outside as a gift for a wedding anniversary.
He worked on this without using Flow, as he wanted to get more accustomed to this body to the point where he could perform every action to the millimeter of precision, and he feared that excessive use of Flow would make his brain unable to keep up with his body's rhythm in normal situations.
Using the titanium punch and yellow paint, he began to strike the newly formed silver ring, creating flower patterns with a striking large flower in the center.
[IMG here]
"It looks more like gold than silver, well, I hope he likes it."
Ignoring the astonished Ezreal behind him, he went to the entrance, where the man was amazed by the ring and paid him a generous amount of 750 coins, which this time astonished Niko.
"Come back soon~."
After pocketing the money, he approached Sevika to stop admitting anyone else and exited the store. Facing the line of five people waiting outside, he clasped his hands together and raised his voice slightly.
"I regret to inform you that I'll be taking a short break for a few hours, so I'll memorize your faces, and anyone who returns later will receive a discount for the inconvenience."
The customers were upset; they had gotten up early and had been waiting for quite some time, only to have to wait again now. However, upon hearing about the discount, their mood changed, and they all smiled. These guys really love money...
After seeing that there were no complaints, he turned around, ready to take Ezreal on an excursion.
"Sevika, I need to go somewhere with Ezreal, so I'll have to ask you not to accompany me this time."
"Can I ask the reason?"
"I'm taking him to End Point; I figured you wouldn't want to come."
Sevika couldn't even imagine a reason like this and was alarmed by it.
"Are you crazy?! You can't take him there; that place is a madness, the worst of the worst. You'll just get him killed."
Niko waved his hand, indicating that she shouldn't worry, and headed towards the forge. Before he could enter, Sevika's voice stopped him.
"Niko, is there something you want to tell me?"
He knew what Sevika was referring to. Last night, when he went to bed, a noise woke him up, and he heard Vander talking about his plan to travel the world. With a sigh, and without turning around, he replied.
"I'll be leaving Zaun in the future. I've been thinking about what will happen if I leave after improving this place. If you want to follow me and learn what I do, go ahead, and then I won't have to worry about it later."
Sevika was somewhat confused and happy. She didn't expect him to be so sincere, nor did she expect him to designate her as his future leader when he left.
"Can I follow you right now on your outing?"
"I didn't mean-"
Niko's words stopped as he looked at Sevika's determined gaze. He was sure that if he denied her, she would follow him secretly.
"...Do as you please. But you'll have to bring me some leather and glass in return."
Niko handed her some money, and Sevika, quite confused by the sudden request, nodded without giving it much thought.
In a few minutes, Sevika returned and headed into the forge, where she saw that Niko had finished some metallic structures that shone brightly in blue, and Ezreal was standing beside them, wide-eyed and murmuring "titanium" intermittently.
"Here are the materials, boss. And what's going on with him?"
"I think I surprised him, haha."
Taking the leather and the glass, he began making harnesses and combining them to make some kind of masks. Ezreal, who came out of his daze, began shouting while pointing between Niko and the metal he had been sitting on.
"CAN YOU WORK WITH TITANIUM?"
"I thought I had told you before."
"Yes, but I thought you would bring a machine, not that you would hammer it yourself WITH A HAMMER!"
Sevika was somewhat surprised by the conversation, but the annoyance due to Ezreal's constant shouting overshadowed any interest.
"Shut up already, you damned brat."
Niko ignored them and stored the three masks he made in a bag and then left the store while gesturing for them to follow him.
"Where are we going?"
"I'm going to take you for a walk."
Ezreal got excited and started to visit all the shops in the market, earning a sigh from Niko. 'This will be worse than I thought.' A few minutes passed as they strolled through the commercial district.
They observed everything from animal shops and clothing stores to entertainment venues like casinos and a public spectacle of a beautiful silver Waverider. '...I want one.'
They continued to observe antique items from street vendors and the huge, flashy buildings with neon lights. Niko, already tired, grabbed Ezreal by the shoulder and led him to a street food stall.
"Are you going to buy me food?"
"Whatever you want, just order something."
Ezreal ordered, and Niko ordered a sizable amount himself.
"Are you going to eat all of that?"
"No, it's for some acquaintances."
After paying a rather large amount for the meat, he headed to Emporium of the Mineral while offering some skewers to Ezreal and Sevika.
Upon arriving at Tessa and Mark's store, he found no customers inside. He went straight to the counter, where the couple was in a somewhat affectionate embrace, and he had to cough to get their attention.
"...Good morning to both of you."
Tessa and Mark separated, surprised and somewhat embarrassed. Mark was the first to return the greeting.
"Good morning to you three as well, Niko."
Tessa, for her part, murmured an almost imperceptible whisper that Niko could hear: "He always comes at the worst times."
"Ahem, I stopped by to bring you some food and thank you for the titanium."
"Really? Thanks Niko, we were just about to go out to buy some food. You know, we were also surprised to find out that the buyer gave us the address of your store. What a coincidence."
Niko handed them the bag and introduced the two beside him.
"Oh yes, she is Sevika as you already know, and he is Ezreal, a friend."
Mark also introduced himself to the two, but Ezreal was sunk in his thoughts. Since he was young, he had only focused on his interest in ancient ruins and exploration, so he had never been interested in interacting with others. Thus, someone calling him a friend was new to him.
He pounded his chest and grabbed Niko by the shoulder with a smile.
"That's right! I'm Ezreal, Niko's friend. Pleasure to meet you!"
This interaction earned a little smile from the couple, who saw Niko looking somewhat nervous. They glanced at each other and smiled at him.
"Don't worry, Niko, everyone has their things, and something we learned from Zaun is that it's not good to meddle in other people's affairs."
Niko let out a sigh and nodded to them. He was somewhat worried about why they didn't ask anything about his recent change. With a smile, he said goodbye to them and dragged Sevika and Ezreal out of the store, heading to End Point.
As they advanced, Sevika's face darkened, and the people around them became fewer and fewer until there were none left, and the green mist began to become noticeable.
Somewhat scared, Ezreal turned to Niko. He didn't believe that Niko would do anything to him because he had already helped him once, but that didn't change the fact that he was scared right now.
"N-Niko, where are we?"
However, he didn't respond and instead took out the three titanium masks from the bag, offering two to each of them.
[IMG here]
Niko showed them how to put them on and headed deeper into End Point.
"Whatever happens, don't vomit inside the mask, hold it in no matter what."
A shiver ran down Ezreal's spine, and he only nodded slightly while Sevika grimaced at what she was about to see. Though she didn't want to see it, her curiosity about Niko's intentions outweighed her reluctance.
{He's only 10 years old, Niko}
'In Arcane, Zaun never improved, and the disputes only worsened the situation. On the other hand, no matter how much Piltover boasts about being the city of progress, they never attempted to improve their relationship with Zaun. I'll just make him aware of the reality of Zaun.'
{...You're going to traumatize him 100%}
'He'll endure it, I'm sure.'
Five minutes later, Sevika and Niko had returned from End Point and watched as Ezreal vomited up the meat he had eaten earlier. Sevika looked at Niko, who seemed somewhat concerned.
'Shit.'
{Told you}