Chapter 15: Studying Forging.
Vritra, Solomon, and Constantine before they practised anything began by making Fire Seeds. Fire Seeds were concentrated flames that were nearly solid and meant to be used without needing Vritra to constantly be blasting fire. Making a Fire Seed was simple as it just required a lot of a particular type of fire before concentrating it together.
Quickly enough Constantine had a Fire Seed from Vritra and Solomon. Once he had them, he set them aside as he began to use his Black Sword to chop up the swords and weapons he picked out into smaller pieces.
He then placed that in a Crucible made of black metal and placed it into the Foundry which he fired up with the black flames it came with. He then closed it and let it melt and in the meantime, he began to prepare the molds.
When he would be ready to forge his true gear, he would quench it in the River Styx itself. This time, he wanted to experiment with something.
"Vritra, prepare a bucket of your venom please."
"Comming up."
The Serpent Dragon opened his mouth before putting pressure on his venom glands before he started to produce Draconic Venom infused with Divine Dragon Mana. The black and purple venom had a slight golden glow to it and released vapors that Constatine and Solomon were immune to, but others were not.
It would melt any Demigod to just breathe it in and maybe even monsters. While Vritra did that, Constatine prepared another bucket and he filled it up with magic water produced through water magic.
Once both were prepared he set them apart from each other to not contaminate the results. Once he set out his molds, he walked over to the foundry before opening it up and seeing the Celestial Bronze was melted.
It still glowed Bronze, but now it seemed to be darkening slightly. He reached in with his bare hands and pulled out the Crucible before pouring it into the ten ingot molds. Once he poured out the metal he placed the Crucible back into the foundry after turning off the fire.
He then waited for the metal to start to solidify before he placed 5 ingots into the bucket of magic water and 5 into Vritra's poison. Both liquids began to bubble with the heat of the metals as they rapidly cooled.
Constantine waited before the metal hardened before he pulled the ingots out of the buckets. One of Dragon Poison and the other Mana Infused Water. What he saw was interesting.
The Celestial Bronze that had been quenched in Vritra's poison had come out Jet Black and released a dark toxic mist. He picked it up and breathed in the mist and he exhaled it out like a cigarette.
"Damn, now that is toxic."
Vritra slinked over before licking the ingot. He tasted it and got a feel for it.
"I agree, one cut with a sword forged from this and a cursed poisonous death is sure to follow. Demigod, Monster, Nymph or not."
He placed it on the anvil and picked up one of the black skull hammers he had been given. He grabbed it with both hands before he came down on the ingot with all his strength.
When he did so, the ingot flattened just a bit, but it resisted the force of his strength. He smashed the hammer on it several more times each time the metal didn't shatter at all. It just became flatter a bit without cracking or anything.
"Hahahaha, now that is amazing."
He walked over and set the ingots of Celestial Bronze aside that had been turned black by Vritra's poisons. He then checked on the ones that had been quenched in mana water.
The metal did get darker from the flames it was forged in, but still bronze. It was not poisonous, or anything, but to his magic senses, it seemed that the metal was off. When he placed it on the anvil and came down on it, this time it cracked into pieces. Once he saw that he reached into his shadow and pulled out one of his journals.
He needed to learn Occulency as he had several ideas to develop a mind palace modeled after the Realm of Chaos. He didn't want anyone other than Vritra to read his mind as he and the dragon were partners.
'Celestial Bronze smelted in the Underworld's Black Fires should not be quenched in Magic Water. Vritra's Poison works better.'
Once he wrote that down, he collected the rest of that failed metal before going again to remelt it. He would see if the metal was damaged permanently or if it could be saved.
Once it melted, he poured it back in the molds and once it became solid placed it for quenching in Vritra's poisons. When he pulled it out he repeated his tests and found that the metal was not damaged at all. After resmelting it and quenching it the metal gained the properties of the first batch.
"Good to know in the future. Now, I need to do another test."
Constantine got another bucket and this time he slashed open his wrist as he began to collect a bucket of his blood. As he expected his blood had become far darker than before turning almost purple, but it had a golden afterglow.
Signifying his Divine and Draconic heritages. He also wanted to learn like Ichigo to use specific race traits of his many bloodlines. For the Asuras, growing three heads and six arms would be a good asset in battle.
In a way, he would be like Siegfried in DxD with six arms, but he would need to prepare more weapons for such a thing. Once he had a bucket of his blood he focused on recovering and his regenerative abillities he recovered from his blood loss in a few moments.
Even his wound closed without a scar so he went back to experimenting where he melted down more Celestial Bronze. Once it was melted, poured into the molds, and quenched in his blood for study.
Unlike Vritra's venom which turned the metal pitch black and toxic, his blood did not. It turned dark purple with his Divine Dragon Mana flowing through the metal. He did his usual tests and found something interesting.
The metal was just as resilient as Vritra Poison quenched metal, it just lost the toxic properties and it was more attuned to magic. Meaning when he did forge his gear he would need a good ratio of both to get the best properties of both.
That was not even testing the Stygian Iron he needed to alloy to his blood and venom-quenched metals. He still had to research quenching metal in the River Styx itself and how that would mix.
He smiled as blacksmithing was quite fun and this was his first time. He proceeded to get lost in his work for countless hours as he even did research with the Fire Seeds combing with the Underworld Black Fire.
The result was that all the properties of the metals were enhanced. The ingots even burned with a dark illusionary fire that made them even more durable, magic-resistant, shock-absorbent, and heat-resistant.
During this time, he even practiced forging some simple daggers and swords from his metal which a son of Hephestus would tell him were subpar. However, for a first-timer, he did it respectfully.
Once he studied his wrongs, he melted down his weapons to recycle the metal as these practice weapons were no good. However, 20 hours after he started he had not even begun practicing with Magic Smithing or Soul Smithing yet so he had a lot to go.
---
At the 20-hour mark, he was standing in a scorching forge room not even sweating as he looked at a European Longsword he had made from Celestial Bronze forged in a fusion of Vritra's, Solomon's, and Underworld Black Fire.
From ingots forged in that same fire quenched in his blood and Vritra's Toxins. He was currently running a cloth down the blade that was soaked in fresh venom from Vritra. As he was doing this Medusa entered his room.
"Master, your Mother is waiting for you."
"Ah, be right there."
When Medusa looked at the dark sword in his hand and the swirling mist of toxins and smoke around the blade she didn't feel fear. No, she felt like the sword wouldn't harm her as her heart had been made of Vritra's Poison and Blood.
She walked forward and looked at the sword in her Master's hands.
"What will you name it?"
"Mediocre. This sword is not up to my standards, no Magic Smithing or Soul Smithing was used to make it. Not even any runes on the blade. I will only name successful items."
Medusa looked at the sword with a bit of longing.
"What do you intend to do to it?"
"Melt it down and make it again. Why?"
"Can I have it? It may not be to your standards, but I can make it work. I promise."
He looked up at her confused why she wanted a trash sword.
"Sure, I guess, but it is a failure. This blade is just a prototype of better swords. It doesn't even have Stygian Iron in it. It doesn't even have a sheath."
Medusa didn't mind.
"That's fine, you can just reforge it when you think you are ready."
He shrugged before handing it to her.
"Here, be my guest. I will make you better weapons in the future as that sword will need to be reforged and enchanted."
"I understand."
When she had the sword he stepped out of his forge room, and placed a hand on his body before changing his clothes to some comfortable clothes. Solomon decided to stay in his room before jumping on the bed. Vritra did the same and now both were on his bed.
As for Medusa, she was busy fawning over the sword her Master made even if said Master hated the sword. After a decent walk, he made it to the dining room which Hecate had set up today just for them.
All around the table was Greek food with Hecate and several ghost maids getting things ready. When he sat down next to her she smiled at him.
"So, you're settling into your forging?"
"Yeah, I managed to make a subpar sword, but Medusa became enamored with it for some reason. It was mediocre at best since I didn't use any Magic or Sword smithing, I didn't enchant it, I didn't use Stygian Iron, and it was not quenched in the River Styx.
It wasn't soul-bound to someone making it a defective item."
Hecate smiled as she heard that.
"Sometimes, a 'defective' item can be a treasure to someone like her. I bet this is the first time in a long, long time that she felt something that reminded her of herself. In a way, that defective sword just might be what she needs."
"If you say so, Mother. As for me, if I make something for myself, it has to be the best. I won't be able to make my God Slayer Gear without making the best."
Hecate chuckled.
"Of course, only the best for you. Until then, let's enjoy our dinner. It's the first time I have cooked like this in decades."
For now, he did just take the time to enjoy his meal with his Mother. Every time he took a bite, he felt pure magic flow into his body as everything was made with magic in it. From the meat to the herbs to the vegetables.
It was a good thing he was protected from the Underworld rule of eating or he would be stuck here. As they ate their meal, they started up a conversation about how he used magic. She wanted him to set time apart for them to learn magic together.
He felt it was fair as he had no time limit on his lifespan. As long as he had his Dragon Heart and his Divine Blood kept increasing he wouldn't die of age or something like that.
Though, she did ask that if he wanted to take a bath he could just join her. He didn't refuse her offer and after dinner, they did share another bath. Once again, his horney Greek Incest-loving Titaness Mother got him in the mood, and she gave him another handjob.
Though, this time she wanted him to kiss her while she did so. He for sure was not complaining as he technically was Greek. If he didn't partake of incest even once he was shaming his ancestors, though he wasn't going to be turning into animals and raping women.
Artemis didn't count as she was a bitch and needed a good dick to fix her up. When he returned to his room, he didn't sleep and he delved back into his forging. Sleep was for the weak and he was not weak.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone