Clang... Clang... Clang...
The sound of a hammer striking hot ore echoed through the forge. The room was swelteringly hot, making anyone there break into a sweat. Despite the heat, Megumin and Darkness stayed to watch Kazuma's hard work.
In the scorching room, Kazuma kept hammering the ore relentlessly, working to remove every impurity. When he was finally satisfied with the purity of the ore, he began shaping it into a ring.
Clang.... Clang.... Clang .....
Actually, Kazuma didn't truly understand how a blacksmith worked. His only reference for blacksmithing came from watching anime and reading manga. He didn't know much about the theories or skills a blacksmith needed, all he knew was that a blacksmith just had to keep hammering heated ore, and somehow, it would magically changed into what the blacksmith want.
Of course, with the power of his Smithing skill, Kazuma could shape the ore into anything he wanted, even without the necessary knowledge. All he needed was enough material and to hammer it continuously until it took the shape he desired.
As a beginner blacksmith, it took him quite a while to turn a lump of iron ore into a ring.
"Yosh! Finished!"
Kazuma shouted, celebrating his first successful attempt at forging a ring.
In front of him lay exactly ten rings he had crafted from iron. Since he was just experimenting through trial and error, he only needed low-grade materials. Using high-grade materials like mithril for trial and error would be inefficient and wasteful.
Megumin and Darkness, who had nearly fallen asleep from waiting so long, jolted awake at his shout.
"Ooh, Kazuma, are you done? Then what are you waiting for? Hurry up and make a magic explosion ring!"
"Oi, Megumin, you're rushing things. There's no way I'd use high-level magic like explosion magic on my first experiment."
"Then what magic are you going to use?"
"Watch this—I'm going to start with Create Water as my first test."
Kazuma picked up one of the rings and placed it on a table. He also prepared magic stones as additional materials.
"Alright, I'll use this ring as the main material, Create Water magic as the ring's ability, and the magic stones as the energy source to activate the magic."
On the table, he had neatly arranged an iron ring and the magic stones. Kazuma extended his hands toward the materials he was about to work with. His right hand focused on activating the Create Water spell, while his left hand tried to activate his Mystery ability.
"Mystery!!"
Kazuma wasn't exactly sure how to activate his Mystery ability. He figured that if he shouted the ability's name like with other skills, it might activate on its own. And, as it turned out, Kazuma's guess was correct.
Kazuma's right hand, which was supposed to activate Create Water and produce water, didn't release any water at all. Instead, a magic circle filled with hieroglyphs in the language of the gods appeared from his hand.
The hieroglyphs left the magic circle and moved toward the iron ring on the table. At the same time, the magic stones beside the ring drifted toward it, merging together. Once all the hieroglyphs had gone to the iron ring, the magic circle in Kazuma's hand slowly faded, losing its color and gradually becoming transparent.
On the table before Kazuma now lay an iron ring engraved with glowing hieroglyphs, filled with blue magical energy.
"It's done"
Kazuma exhaled, feeling that he had completed every step successfully.
"Alright, Kazuma, now use that magic ring on me!"
Darkness eagerly volunteered to be the target of Kazuma's newly made magic ring. It was the perfect opportunity, and she wasn't about to miss it.
"Wait, Darkness... you naughty crusader, you're thinking something perverted again, aren't you?"
Megumin interrupted from the side, trying to stop Darkness from doing something foolish. But before Darkness could respond, Kazuma had already slipped on the magic ring and, without hesitation, aimed it at her.
"Alright, Darkness, your wish is my command. Feel the power of Magic Ring: Create Water!"
The hieroglyphs engraved on the ring Kazuma was wearing suddenly glowed brighter than before. It didn't take long before the magic ring unleashed a burst of water directed at Darkness.
Though the burst wasn't large because the magic stones Kazuma used were relatively small, it was enough to soak Darkness completely. Tragically, Megumin, who was close to Darkness, also became a victim of the magic ring's effects.
SPLASSSSHHHH!!!!
"Aaaaaaahhhh!"
Darkness let out a slightly mischievous sound, her face flushed. At the same time, she succumbed to her pleasure and dropped to her knees on the floor. Currently, Darkness wasn't wearing her armor because it was too hot; she was only dressed in a thin black outfit. Even without getting wet, the fabric already revealed what lay beneath. Once it was soaked, it clung even more, accentuating her figure. Underneath the damp fabric, two mountains and a valley hidden by clouds were visible to the naked eye..
Beside Darkness, Megumin was soaked from head to toe, her mage hat drooping slightly from absorbing too much water. She was a bit shocked but didn't say anything as she tried to process what had just happened. At least for Megumin, who was used to being drenched in frog saliva, this wasn't too terrible. Still, just because it wasn't that bad didn't mean she liked getting soaked like this.
"Hentaizuma, what exactly are you doing?!"
Megumin quickly approached Kazuma, pinching both his cheeks.
"Ow... ow! Let me go!!!"
"Megumin, that's unfair! Let me join in too!!!"
"AAAH... OI, DARKNESS WHY ARE YOU ... AAAAAAAAH !!"
...
...
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[Bell's POV]
What the hell am I supposed to do about my current situation?
I don't know what's going on, but I'm on my way to the dungeon with Aiz Wallenstein, the Sword Princess. During our journey to the dungeon, I felt the gazes of various adventurers on us.
Although I felt a bit uncomfortable with their stares, I understood why they were looking at us. How could they ignore one of the most famous female sword fighters in Orario heading to the dungeon with a low-level adventurer like me?
Just looking at my equipment, it was clear that I was a complete novice. Every piece of gear I was wearing, from the armor to the dagger I was holding, was stuff I had bought with a debt from the guild.
A weak adventurer like me going to the dungeon with the Sword Princess must be really embarrassing for Aiz-san.
"What's wrong with you?"
"Ah... nothing... it's nothing."
Oh no... Aiz-san must have noticed that I've been acting strangely.
"Then why have you been quiet this whole time?"
Aiz-san leaned closer to me, as if she didn't care at all about the gazes of the other adventurers around us.
"Ah... it's just that I'm worried I'll be a burden to Aiz-san."
"Don't worry. I'll be supporting you from behind."
"By the way, Aiz-san, is it okay for you going to the dungeon with a member of another Familia like me?"
Without thinking twice, I asked Aiz-san. I couldn't help but wonder why she was willing to accompany me to the dungeon. Could it be that she believed Kazuma-san's words about the Power of Friendship?
Well, even though it's strange, but I believe what Kazuma-san said, but it wouldn't make sense for Aiz-san to trust someone who had just harmed her Familia, especially following Kazuma-san's request to go to the dungeon with me.
"It's fine. My Loki Familia is still resting because we just came back from a dungeon expedition. Even so, we have to go back to the dungeon in two weeks because we lost a lot of money in the War Game against Aqua Familia."
"I see... I'm sorry."
I felt a bit awkward after hearing Aiz-san's story. Don't tell me that now all the members of Loki Familia hate me because they lost their home and 1.23 billion Valis.
Yeah, I think they must hate me now. After all, 1.23 billion Valis is an unimaginable amount of money. I wouldn't even know what to do if I had that much.
"No... no... this isn't your fault. I should be the one apologizing. It's entirely my fault; I should have stopped Bete when he started talking nonsense like that."
"No... no... no... Aiz-san, it's okay. I don't mind it at all."
Ehh? Aiz-san is apologizing to me?
Isn't Aiz-san mad at me because I can be considered one of the reasons her Familia is in this situation?
"But... I still feel like this is my fault. As an apology, let me accompany you to the dungeon for the next two weeks."
"Eeeeeeh... Aiz-san, are you serious?"
"I'm serious."
"W-well then, thank you very much!"
At first, I hesitated a bit, but when Aiz-san said it herself, for some reason, I reflexively agreed to let her accompany me to the dungeon for the next two weeks.
Not long after that, we entered the dungeon together.
Right now, we were on the first floor of the dungeon. As adventurers, the only way for us to explore the dungeon was to rely on our physical abilities. This applied to both adventurers who wanted to delve deeper into the dungeon and those who wanted to return to the surface.
This was because there was no magic that could transport adventurers directly to floors they had already visited or magic that could take them directly from the dungeon to the surface.
If such magic existed, the mortality rate of adventurers would surely decrease dramatically, and dungeon expeditions would become much faster. In fact, there is magic like that, but it's only possessed by the gods, allowing them to travel from heaven to the lower world and vice versa.
"SCREEECCCHHHHHH!!!!"
While I was deep in thought, I heard the screams of a goblin.
Reflexively, I drew my dagger and aimed it at the goblin in front of me. For a moment, I glanced to the side to see Aiz-san's reaction, but she didn't respond at all.
She simply looked back at me and nodded without drawing her sword or preparing to fight the goblin. It seemed like a message from her that I had to face this goblin alone.
"Alright... come here, you!"
I charged at the goblin and quickly thrust my dagger into its chest.
After stabbing the goblin, I immediately stepped back, ready to dodge its counterattack. But suddenly, I saw a sight I couldn't comprehend.
"PHHWAACCHHH!"
"EEEEEEEEH????!!!"
The goblin in front of me had turned to dust, and on the dungeon floor, I saw the small magic stones left behind from the goblin I had killed.
"Bell... what happened?!"
Aiz-san appeared before me in an instant, holding her sword to protect me, even though there was no threat in front of me.
"Aaah... it's nothing... I was just surprised that I could kill this goblin in one hit. Usually, I have to attack it several times before it dies."
After ensuring I was okay, Aiz-san sheathed her sword and hurried to continue our adventure.
This is strange...
It feels really strange...
The further we venture, the more I sense that something is off.
Right now, We've reached the fifth floor. For some reason, I'm able to face all the monsters with ease. In fact, I often find myself defeating them in a single strike.
And the most important thing is that Aiz-san isn't helping me at all; she's just watching me from the sidelines as I fight all the monsters we encounter.
Could it be...
Could it be that this is what Kazuma-san meant?
The Power of Friendship?
(To Be Continued)