Chapter 735 Claiming Blessed Weapons
Flying away from the mountain peaks, Shiro watched as Quella's butterfly regained its l.u.s.tre.
[What the hell happened?] Quella asked with confusion and panic in her voice.
"Nothing much. I just had to fight an annoying boss but I got something good out of it."
[Oh? What did you get?] Quella asked.
"A set of armour and a sword crafted by Hephaestus. However, I can't use them just yet so I'll need to find something to replace this sword for now." Shiro sighed while summoning the broken Nivlim.
[Eh? What the hell even happened to the sword? Since it became a blessed weapon, its durability should be off the charts even for an attachment!]
"Mn, well this sword has gone through quite a bit of punishment so I don't exactly blame it breaking on me." Shiro shook her head and unsummoned the sword.
"In other news, have you found out some clues about the blessed weapons while I was in there?"
"Some but you should probably repair your sword first. You're primarily a melee fighter right now so you should have a good melee weapon. While your bow is good, a lot of the monsters that you have been facing so far have strong armour that make it so that Artemis' bow is having a hard time. Unless we find Orion's Arrow, it's going to be near impossible for you to harm them with your bow.]
"Mn, that is true. Thankfully I have gotten my petrification enchantment otherwise it would indeed be impossible hais." Shiro agreed since Artemis' bow had lost a lot of its usefulness as she got stronger. However, that wasn't to say it was useless since it would still have its uses.
"Do you know where Maria is right now or is she still in the same city?" Shiro asked.
[She's still in the same city. Though it's gotten quite lively now that everyone knows that there is a blacksmith who could make them attachments to their weapons to make it stronger.] Quella replied.
"Hm… I'll see if I can talk to her I guess. Otherwise I'll have to trouble you to search for a blessed weapon which is a blade." Shiro sighed as Quella nodded her head.
Returning to the city of Vox, Shiro immediately noticed how busy it was now that Maria could make attachments.
Seeing people flaunt how good their attachments were with others along with queuing up to get more, Shiro could only sigh and queue up as well.
After waiting an hour or so, she finally saw Maria who seemed a little tired from all of this work.
"You look like you've seen better days." Shiro smiled softly as Maria gave a hollowed chuckled.
"So many experiments. So little time. How can I help you Shiro?" Maria asked after sitting up straight.
"I was wondering if you could repair this sword or perhaps make something similar to it. It was broken after a recent fight." Shiro sighed while summoning the broken Nivlim.
"Eh? How did the blade break? It should be quite sturdy after fusing with the chains no?" Maria widened her eyes and examined the blade.
"Petrification, bunch of bosses with hard defences, parrying attacks and fighting a living armour."Shiro shrugged.
"I see… Goodness you must have put this blade through quite some work. Though it seems like the breaking point was you stabbing this sword at something which couldn't be pierced and snapped it in half. Am I wrong?" Maria asked while looking at the snapped area.
"Nope. You're completely right." Shiro chuckled.
"Mn… I might have to make this with sturdier materials then. Since this one has snapped in half, I don't think I can repair it per say since the damage has been done. The most I can do is probably make a new blade and see if it is compatible with the chains. I don't have much soul metal left so the effects might not be the same."
"That's fine. I just need a good sword since it's one of my main weapons right now." Shiro smiled.
"Alright. Take this sword and swing it a few times like last time. I want to see if your fighting style has experienced any changes." Maria said while handing her a spare sword.
Nodding her head, Shiro did as Maria said.
*Whistle~
"You must have gotten a really good divinity huh? Your body strength is much stronger than before. I can probably make a slightly heavier sword for you if you want." Maria said as Shiro shook her head.
"Something light and can be moved around fast would be good enough. Sturdiness should be the next one to prioritise I suppose."
"Noted. Come back in a month or so I'll have it done by then. As for cost don't worry about it since you helped me make the attachments." Maria smiled.
"Are you sure?"
"Yup. I'll talk to you later since I got more customers ok?" Maria chuckled as Shiro nodded her head.
"Ah before I go do you have a decent sword or sword attachment I can use for now since this one is going to take a month?"
"Mn I do, take this one." Maria nodded her head and handed her a silver sword.
"It's decent and I haven't broken it so it should serve you well."
Giving Maria her thanks, Shiro left the sword with a silver sword.
Detaching the old blade from her chain, Shiro connected the new sword and had a look to see if there were any changes. Unfortunately, there were no changes as the chains reverted back to their usual stats. Only now with an above average sword attached to it.
Shaking her head, she couldn't expect every sword she got to provoke an upgrade from the chain.
"We have a month to hunt for some blessed weapons. Hopefully a month should be enough since I'm not keen on delaying the Tower of Nyx for more than a month." Shiro said as Quella agreed.
###
For the next three weeks, Shiro had been constantly on the hunt for Blessed weapons and so far she had managed to obtain two. A spear and an axe. The spear was the same spear she had tried to obtain back in the trial with Nike which had left her since she was unqualified just yet. But after finding its location, claiming it was simple. As for the axe, it belonged to Hephaestus which was rather ironic since Shiro had already claimed two of Hephaestus' masterpieces and with the axe, she now had one of his blessed weapons too.
The tests itself for both weapons were rather straightforward. Ares' spear required her to fight quite 'a few' enemies along with a boss who kept regenerating but petrification was able to solve that problem.
Currently, Shiro was on the hunt for Orion's arrow. They had managed to uncover some clues but they were rather vague. Only that someone had been said to have found Orion's Arrow but failed to claim it.
Strangely enough, Orion's arrow was actually rumoured to be located in the Section of Night near Nyx's tower. Which wasn't too strange considering that Orion became a constellation.
"Are you sure the rumours pointed here?" Shiro asked, looking at the cave entrance that descended into the deep unknown.
[It should be. Apparently after entering the cave, they saw a constellation light up above them and there they spotted Orion's arrow but it refused their capture.] Quella replied.
"You think if I show him this bow he'll come to my side?" Shiro chuckled and summoned Artemis' bow.
[Most likely but who knows.] Quella replied.
Shrugging her shoulders, Shiro proceeded into the cave.
###
"Now then. With only three trials left and Shiro being presented with a second clear condition, what do you think she'll choose?" Nyx asked as Gaia paused for a second. Unlike the other two gods, Gaia had decided to stay to watch the rest of the trial since she was quite interested in Shiro's choice.
"Well… the Ancient Terror is getting stronger so she should probably prioritise that. However, and I mean however, should she choose that she'll give up on the remaining divinities no? Clearing the condition means she'll end the trial." Gaia furrowed her brows.
"Yes but she should have enough time for one more. Though there is the choice of completing all the trials so that she can get the full benefits." Nyx chuckled.
"But do you think she'll do that?" Gaia asked.
"Most likely not. Since doing so means this realm gets destroyed." Nyx narrowed her eyes while glancing at a crystal ball next to her which showed a small replica of the different sections and their towers.