Give me your power stoness!!!!! NOOOOWWWWWW!!!
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First, I went to Welf's shop. I changed my appearance again before entering, since I had only spoken to Welf using my real appearance. When I walked in, Welf greeted me with a smile on his face.
"Zane, you finally showed up! It's been a day since I finished the job. Where have you been?"
"I was just taking a break these past few days. So, where is it?"
"Come with me."
Welf led me to the back of his shop again and then pulled a short sword out of a box. I had requested a smaller sword, a large two-handed sword, and a set of armor.
The short sword looked similar to the second sword I bought from him, but it was clearly of higher quality. It looked like he put more effort into forging this one.
"This looks great."
"I used better materials for this sword. Its quality is far superior to anything else I have in the shop," Welf said, pointing at the other swords on display.
"I'm not going to explain the details of how I made it since you wouldn't understand, but just know it's a great sword."
"Hmmm..." Hearing Welf say I wouldn't understand gave me an idea.
"Welf, have you ever thought about taking on a student?"
"Don't tell me you want to learn how to forge?"
"No, not me, but I have a friend who's eager to learn. Why not talk to him sometime?"
"No way. I'm not good at teaching people—and I'm not good enough to teach someone anyway."
"Don't say such nonsense, you're great."
I patted Welf on the shoulder and then glanced at the two-handed sword he forged.
"Hmmm, this is excellent. My friend is going to love it."
Berserker is going to become a killing machine with this sword.
It's amazing.
"I'm still curious about this friend of yours. People who use two-handed swords are usually pretty strong."
"Believe me, he's strong. You asked before if he was a Minotaur, right? I'd say he's pretty close."
His stats aren't that high yet, but he'll surpass a Minotaur soon.
"Bring him here sometime."
"Sure. And is this the armor?"
"Yeah, that's right."
The armor was very similar to the one I bought from him some time ago, but the quality was clearly higher. I could tell just by looking.
Since it adjusts to size when equipped by my clones, it doesn't matter how big they are.
"You did a great job, Welf."
"Of course I did. I'm confident in my skills."
"If you're that confident, then why not take my friend on as a student?"
"I already told you, it's not a good idea."
Tsk! I clicked my tongue, and Welf chuckled.
After that, I left his shop and hid in an alley.
I stored the items in my inventory and changed my appearance to head to the Hephaestus Familia's store.
'I hope the sword is ready. This will be the first time I use a magic sword from this world.'
Speaking of which, I only said I wanted a katana, right? I never mentioned what kind of enchantment I wanted.
'This is going to be like a gacha. The sword could be amazing, decent, or complete trash.'
But I trust the smiths from the Hephaestus Familia.
####
When I arrived at the tower, I noticed some commotion going on.
"Hey, did you hear that the assassins who were killed were from the Sekhmet Familia?"
"Really? I thought that was just a rumor."
"No, it's true. The Loki Familia confirmed it this morning. I'm not sure why they took so long."
"Maybe they were investigating more thoroughly."
"Could be. The Sekhmet Familia is screwed now. I think it's over for them. You think a war between Familias is about to start?"
"I don't know, but that would be fun."
Fun? This guy's insane.
A war between Familias could cause all sorts of problems.
'But on second thought… it could be fun after all...'
I smirked and headed up the tower. I went to the shop where I had placed my order, and when I arrived, the woman recognized me. She walked up smiling.
We chatted a bit, and then she went to get my sword.
It was inside a box, extremely well protected.
As soon as she opened it, I saw the sword they had made, and I felt a surge of excitement. I hadn't given many details about what I wanted, but they crafted a sword that matched my taste perfectly.
The sword had a fixed hilt and a long, curved blade. A katana.
There were inscriptions or runes carved into the blade. Not only on the blade, but also on the hilt.
At first, I thought the hilt was completely black, but then I noticed some red details.
"This is amazing. It's beautiful."
I grabbed the sword and gave it a few swings. The woman didn't mind me testing it right there—I had already paid for it, after all.
'The weight is perfect. I can have some fun with this.'
The problem is that magic swords tend to have low durability if I keep using the embedded magic repeatedly.
I need to talk to the clones about this.
'But now that I think about it… I think the clones can activate the enchantments whenever they want. Their swords will be copies of this one.'
"Excuse me."
"Oh, sorry, I got lost in thought. This is amazing. What enchantment does it have?"
"Ignis."
"Oh."
Of course, I knew what that meant. The sword has a fire-based enchantment. Which... is kind of useless since I already have fire magic. I really should've asked for something more specific.
Some incredibly powerful enchantments can be placed on a sword.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Thanks for this."
But the important thing is that this sword is better in every way. And even if I already have fire magic, the enchantment will help the clones.
After chatting a bit more, the woman offered to sell me a few other items, and then I left the store.
Now that I have a better sword, it's time to equip all my clones with one.
I stored the sword in my inventory and deactivated the NeuroLink ability.
When I got home, I received a new notification—I had leveled up again.
"I finally have enough points to buy the [Artificial Soul] skill."
I guess I should go ahead and buy it.
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Next chapters: Chapter 39 - Magic sword. / Chapter 40 - Pov: Finn / Chapter 41 - I've said too much. / Chapter 42 - Another city. Potions store. / Chapter 43 - You've reached the limit.