Chapter 52 - Partnership With Hephaestus
"This effect... is too powerful," Hephaestus exclaimed.
This sword was a low-tier weapon, but because of rune it easily cut through higher-tier weapons.
Feeling the sharpness herself, Hephaestus could tell that this sword now possessed the sharpness of a top-tier weapon.
Just using a rune could make such a weapon.
This kind of leap was too exaggerated, she thought.
Bell didn't care too much Hephaestus's reactions.
"Hephaestus, do you think selling a rune like this for 200,000 valis is good?" he asked.
"I think this should be the minimum prize, Bell," Hephaestus smiled slightly.
A simple runestone makes a low-tier weapon approach top-tier quality.
Achieving such an amazing effect with only 200,000 valis— It's cheap!
However, this buff should be one-time use only. So, how long could it last?
"Bell, how long does this magic last?" she asked.
"I've tested it with weapons and it can only last for five minutes," Bell answered.
"Five minutes," Hephaestus repeated to herself, then nodded slightly. "That's sufficient time."
It could even be said that, if used well, it could change the entire situation in the dungeon.
"Is it troublesome to make?" Hephaestus inquired.
"It's not very troublesome. Runestones are not that difficult to make. If I'm skilled, I can make dozens of them in one minute," Bell replied.
Hephaestus twitched slightly. She now understood what does EX Luck means.
Anyway, runestone would definitely become the target of all of Orario's familias.
And this was just an upgrade of a low-tier weapon.
What if the enhanced weapon was already high-tier?
Wouldn't that be truly extraordinary?
"Then increase the price a little more. Such a runestone should be sold for one million valis," Hephaestus suggested.
"That's too much!" Bell couldn't help but complain inwardly.
He knew that the cost of making these runes was really low; even stones on the ground could be used as materials.
That is to say, it was almost zero cost.
However....
"Hephaestus, if the price is set too high, no one will buy it," Bell protested.
"Bell, can the effect be further improved?" Hephaestus suddenly asked.
"Uh... Do you mean effects?" Bell inquired.
"Yes," she confirmed.
Bell thought carefully for a moment and nodded hesitantly.
"Yes, but It can only be about three times higher than the current one," he explained.
"Three times!?" Hephaestus exclaimed.
She felt that even if it was only doubled, it was already perfect.
Generally, she only use percentages to describe the quality of weapons.
Alas, Bell directly triples the quality.
"In that case, normal runestone can be sold for 500,000 valis, and advanced can be for three million valis," Hephaestus decided.
Five hundred thousand valis might be a sky-high price for many adventurers, but for large familias, this price was not particularly expensive.
As long as the effect was strong enough, many familia would definitely be willing to pay for it.
As for the advanced runestone, Bell didn't mind Hephaestus suggestion.
The manufacturing process of those runestone was much more complicated, and its target market was not ordinary familias, so it was normal for the price to be higher.
"Bell, replace the runestone's crafting materials with some ore from the dungeon," Hephaestus suggested.
"Well... But Hephaestus, I don't have that kind of material," Bell replied.
"The materials can be provided for you. Correspondingly, I want 30% of the income," she proposed.
"Thirty percent? So little?" Bell paused for a moment, then glanced at Hestia behind him, and his expression softened.
But he shook his head slightly.
"Hephaestus, I think you're asking for too little."
Hephaestus was slightly taken aback.
'Is 30% of this business a small amount?' she wondered.
"Hephaestus, all the materials for the runestones I make are provided by your familia."
"Under these circumstances, I would be able to hide my identity as the manufacturer. Which also wouldn't bring me any troubles."
"Similarly, I also hope to establish a deeper friendship with your familia. I propose that we share 50% of the proceeds," Bell suggested.
'An extra 20% directly?' Hephaestus pondered deeply.
Even she was surprised by such an offer, but Bell proposed it straightforwardly.
And the reason for this was simply to build deeper friendships.
Wasn't this an attempt to tie the Hestia Familia and her Familia together?
This meant that the relationship between the two familias would be unusual in the future.
She would never have agreed to this before.
But now, Bell's abilities were becoming more and more diverse, which made Hephaestus think carefully.
Doing so would also greatly benefit her familia.
Especially considering that Bell's future was limitless, it made sense to invest in advance.
Of course, the most important thing was Hephaestus wouldn't have considered this for other familias, but because it was Hestia's, so she agreed.
***
Bell successfully established a deeper friendship with Hephaestus, which further bound the two familias together.
The benefit is gaining support in the dungeon.
Although Bell is very confident about his future, with his current abilities, he will inevitably embark on the path to becoming the strongest.
But before embarking on this road, there are still countless trials waiting for him.
Bell felt he shouldn't be so stubborn when he could think of a simple solution.
It's difficult to achieve greatness by fighting alone.
If he's not wrong, grandpa must have sent Hermes to look at himself.
After agreeing with Hephaestus on the time to meet in the afternoon.
Bell excused himself.
As he went downstairs, Bell didn't feel any gazes upon him.
'Runes are really useful.'
Pushing open the door, Bell walked out of the Hephaestus Familia's shop.
As Bell pushed the door open, the bell above rang.
"Welcome... Huh?"
The clerk who was about to greet the guest was stunned for a moment. She didn't see anyone coming in, nor did she see anyone going out.
"Strange, I heard the sound, but why is there no one?"
After leaving the Hephaestus shop, Bell walked along the side of the road.
Bell was always paying attention to everyone around him, but none of the pedestrians on the road turned their attention to him.
Even when Bell was standing next to the entrance of the dungeon, none of the adventurers who came in and out turned their attention to him.
At this moment, Bell could be very sure that his sense of existence was super low.
But...
Bell, who was standing at the entrance, bumped into an adventurer who was walking towards the dungeon.
BOOM!
Bell stood still, but the man he bumped into took a few steps back.
At the moment their bodies collided, the rune was broken.
Bell's was now back to normal.
"Where did this person... come from?"
The adventurer who was hit was stunned for a while, but then felt a slight pain in his shoulder.
But before he could say anything, he met a pair of red eyes, which directly caused a chill down his spine.
"Watch where you're going," Bell said in a low tone.
The adventurer who was hit looked uncomfortable.
'It seems like you hit me, right?' But he really couldn't say that.
Because from those eyes, he only felt a sense of dread, as if he would fall to the ground after saying a word.
This feeling was even like fighting with monsters.
No, it was even more dangerous than facing monsters.
"Y-Yes, sorry," the adventurer stammered and quickly apologized.
Although he was the one who was hit, he knew that strength was the truth.
"Be careful next time."
Bell just glanced at the adventurer in front of him then walked towards the west Street.
The adventurer looked aggrieved, but in the end, he could only swallow his grievance.
His companion came over after seeing Bell leave.
"I told you to watch where you're going before. How come you can't even see a person walking by?"
"I... I don't know either..."
"Alright, they didn't do anything too excessive... Be careful when you walk in the future. Don't collide with those adventurers who are stronger than us. Next time, maybe apologizing won't be enough."
The joking companion persuaded the hapless man in a low voice.
"You don't want to get into trouble with those adventurers. We Level 1 adventurers are nothing in their eyes."
The hapless man silently patted his hand on his shoulder.
"Damn! Do you think I'm an idiot looking for death?"
"..."
The adventurer turned back to look for the figure just now, but that figure had disappeared.
"From the looks, he was either a pallum or a teenager. We're already 25 this year, but we can't even keep up with their talents."
Listening to the unhappy words, the joking companion also lost his previous laughter.
"This is our reality, and we need to recognize it.
"We who only have Level 1 are at the bottom, and we have no hope of continuing to improve in our lifetime."
"Don't expect to change; your wife and son are still waiting for you to come back."
The two turned around and walked directly into the dungeon, but they never noticed that the person who had disappeared before their eyes was actually standing not far from them.
Bell looked at the two people walking into the dungeon, and he felt guilt in his heart.
'Anyway, I'll give you some money for the troubles I caused.'
Bell was really thankful for the adventurer, it was because of him that he could find the limitations.
'Thank you.'
Bell turned around and looked up at Babel, his eyes deepening.
'It's time to end my low-key career.'
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How about an extra chapter? if I get 10-15 new reviews!
.
.
.
.
[IMG of anyone]
.
.
.
.
Liked It? Read 10 advance chapters at:
patreon.com/heavenlydawn
.
.
.
.
(For every 500 Power Stones, get an extra chapter)