Danmachi: Hephaestus is my Wife

I fused the two swords in front of my eyes. The old sword began to melt, turning into a strange mass. Since the sword was made of Mithril, its color was stunning.

"Now that I think about it, I didn't consider this, did I?"

Maybe the swords must be made of the same material to be fused.

The strange mass wrapped around the sword on the anvil and slowly began to "merge" into it, causing it to grow in size momentarily. But when the process was complete, the sword returned to its original size.

[Process completed!]

[Bonus: +20 points]

"Oh? So I earn points just by fusing swords? That's interesting."

I picked up the sword and examined it. A system window appeared, displaying all of the sword's abilities.

[Lightning LV4]

[Magic Enhancement LV2]

[Jump LV2]

"Isn't this pretty strong? Even though this sword doesn't have Magic Enhancement at level three, the attack power of the Lightning ability must be absurdly high."

But what if I do this?

I grabbed the sword I had been using for training with Tsubaki.

A legendary-rank sword.

[Magic Enhancement LV3]

[Movement Enhancement LV3]

[Light Regeneration LV3]

Can I fuse them?

To my disappointment, it wasn't possible!

[The ranks of the swords are different]

[The materials of the swords are different]

[The sword needs to be at level 2 for this to be possible]

[You need to have "Magic Enhancement LV3" on both swords to create a sword with "Magic Enhancement LV6"]

Several error messages appeared, and I started understanding how this process worked.

First, the swords must be of the same rank and made from the same material.

Second, the swords need to be at the same level.

Third, the abilities of the swords must also be at the same level.

"It's just like New World. You use two identical items at the same level to create a higher-level item. In other words, leveling up items takes time."

To create a sword with "Magic Enhancement LV8" from scratch, I would need two level 1 swords with Magic Enhancement LV2 to create a level 2 sword with Magic Enhancement LV4.

After that, I would need two more level 1 swords with Magic Enhancement LV2 to create another level 2 sword with Magic Enhancement LV4. Then, I could combine the two level 2 swords to create a level 4 sword with Magic Enhancement LV8.

It might seem complicated, but it's pretty simple.

"But there's one key difference. In New World, you would need two level 2 items to create a level 3 item. But here, the levels stack, doubling. So if I combine two level 8 swords, I'll get a level 16 sword."

Thinking about it, this is extremely overpowered.

"But considering the difficulty of forging swords with the abilities I want and with the same rank, it won't be that easy."

At least now, I finally understand how this system works.

"But I'm too lazy to check all the swords I've forged just to fuse them. I'll do it later."

I swung the sword, considering testing "Lightning LV4," but quickly abandoned the idea.

I couldn't do it here.

When I tested it at level 2, it had already caused massive destruction. "At level 4, this ability must be at least two or three times stronger."

I stored the sword in my inventory and prepared to forge the next one.

####

*Freya's POV*

"So?" I asked Boaz, who stood in front of me. He averted his gaze for a moment before replying.

"I couldn't find much information on him. I asked Allen to investigate, but the only thing he discovered was that he is currently training with the captain of the Hephaestus Familia."

"I see… He's a handsome man, but very mysterious."

Eryk—an odd man who appeared out of nowhere just a few days ago. And yet, he caught my attention. Especially because of his looks and his relationship with Hephaestus.

A boyfriend, right? He must have been by her side for a long time for their relationship to reach this level. But even if that were the case, I had never heard of him before.

How did he escape my sight?

"Should I do anything else?" Boaz asked.

I thought for a moment and decided to let it be for now.

"I'll keep an eye on him for a while. Don't do anything unnecessary." The corners of my lips curled into a smile as I stood up. Boaz silently left the room, and I walked toward the window.

Looking outside, I had a view of nearly the entire city. I could see the tower in the distance.

"Perhaps I'm overreacting a little?"

He seems so simple and fragile.

"…"

My smile widened even more.

####

*Hephaestus' POV*

*A few days earlier*

I was in my office, reviewing some documents, when suddenly someone burst through the door.

"Goddess!"

I lifted my head to see who had just barged in. It was Mikari, wearing a concerned expression.

"What happened? Why do you look like that?"

"You don't know yet?" Mikari's face was pale. That made me worried—was something wrong with Eryk?

I immediately stood up, slamming my hands on the desk.

"What happened!?" I shouted.

Mikari took a step back, startled by my sudden outburst, and then said, "The ores… they're disappearing!"

Hearing her words, I calmed down slightly, but I was still confused.

"What kind of joke is this?"

"I'm serious. The ores are just vanishing as if they were being stolen."

"Stolen?"

"Wait, don't jump to conclusions! We're not being robbed—the ores are simply disappearing. Not just ours, but our suppliers' ores are vanishing too!"

"What kind of madness is this?"

"I'm not joking."

Mikari handed me a letter. I immediately recognized the signature—it belonged to Armand, the man who supplied all the ore for our Familia.

It was a letter explaining everything that was happening.

The ores had stopped appearing, and the ones in storage had slowly begun to disappear, leaving only a small amount behind.

Reading that message, a chill ran down my spine.

Eryk's ability came to mind.

'Could this be…?'

####

Read more chapters on my patr eon: patr eon.com/parodygirl

Next chapters: Chapter 50 - What are you two doing? (Hephaestus's POV) / Chapter 51 - Ex-girlfriend. / Chapter 52 - Hephaestus is so cute. / Chapter 53 - The darkness consumed my entire body. / Chapter 54 - Excessive jealousy. / Chapter 55 - Does Nina like me? / Chapter 56 - What did she mean by that? / Chapter 57 - Kicked out.