Chapter 534: Revamped Artifact

"Ms Mimi, wonderful story aside, I'm pretty certain you owe me a little something something?" Ares was referring, of course, to the bet he won soundly earlier by guessing her race correctly. She mentioned a reward, something only she could offer him, and it was more clear now what form that reward would take exactly. Her services, her Godly talents in the realm of smithing, had been on the line. Chances are, even the other sect members, even the inner court disciples, core disciples, elders, and sect master would have to queue up and wait for Mimi to feel like helping them so Ares skipping that queue, and having a custom tailored order being given preferential treatment, was pretty premium. He was like a VIP! This was a highly valuable chance and opportunity that had presented itself to him, falling neatly into his lap, as this was someone who created the Brotherhood robes from scratch without even knowing any of their intricacies and while working with cheaper materials. Now that she'd seen and worked on the real thing, learning even more complicated smithing techniques and procedures to facilitate it, her talent must have been one of a kind and through the roof.

Asking for Mimi's services normally would cost a fortune, maybe even enough stardust to purchase an entire domain and then some, so Ares' reward was looking real promising here! To think he'd been uninterested in it prior to finding out who he was dealing with, and even assumed it was fake... Part of it was reverse psychology but he still very nearly made a mistake he couldn't take back and lost out on this sweet deal! Luckily, with pride like Mimi's, there was no way she was letting any misunderstanding about her prowess slide. Surprisingly, she wasn't as boastful as Ares expected, though there were multiple moments of immodesty, but it just went to show she wasn't in this for the fame or the ego-swelling nature of being a celebrity. She would rather forge in passionate anonymity than be unable to in glorious stardom; that was the way Ares saw it and that was respectable to him. He also believed people with this mentality had greater prospects and talents, typically, than those without even if it was a completely unfounded expectation. Ares still wasn't entirely able to picture how she smithed, her build just didn't seem right for it even if she manipulated strings more so than her own limbs, but he could tell she did and that she loved it as a profession, hobby, and way of life... That and pranking...

Mimi rolled her eyes and clicked her tongue. "Yes yes, gloat and enjoy your promised reward. Is there anything you want me to make now or is this a 'favour you'll remind me about in a hundred years, at an extraordinarily inconvenient time, after I've completely forgotten about it' kinda deal?"

"The former, you relax. I've actually been meaning to work on an artifact I have with me but didn't have the spare time to get around to it. I can do it myself by why not see the great Mimi strut her stuff in person? It's a relatively low level artifact so I'm sure it won't be too much work for the magnificent you to spruce it up a bit."

Mimi ignored the sarcasm oozing out of Ares' every pore, and word he spoke, as she was in full-fledged blacksmith mode right now and was more concerned with her task at hand than his good-humoured teasing attitude. "Do you have materials for me to spruce it up with or are you a freeloader expecting me to cough up rare resources like a material pinata?" Of course, just because she was ignoring him that didn't mean she'd take his comments lying down either and threw out her own jabs and checks too.

"No, that's fine, I've got everything...Though if you feel the urge to splurge with your personal horde of material wealth, Miss Moneybags, then I'm not saying no!"

Mimi sneered in response to the suggestive winking of Ares' upturned puppy eyes which was as good a refusal as any. Ares would be doing all the supplying here but that was perfectly acceptable as he wasn't expecting anything else from the start anyway and was merely probing. His weapon of choice for upgrading was the Biome Eagle and he was already planning on using that feather he received from Drai regardless. Even if Mimi had better quality materials whether or not they would be suitable for the weapon, or at least as suitable as the feather, was another matter entirely. It was better to use a low ranking material that fit the theming of the weapon, and stuck to its strengths, rather than veering off course and trying to create some monstrosity born of wealth and misaligned materials that don't fit with one another.

A king once tried to cram his crown full of the rarest jewels sourced across all the lands he controlled. The crown, as a result, supposedly came alive, in the form of some sort of toothy monster, and bit his head off in a fit of rage for being made to look as terribly gaudy as it was. People believed that story to be mere folklore, a bedtime story to spook cultivator kids with to prevent them from making any similar silly mistakes, but it was actually based on truth and had some merit to it. If Ares now hammed the Biome Eagle with worthless materials that didn't benefit it Garuda would not be happy about his home being vandalised and might actively turn on Ares when he was least expecting it. Sentient magic can feel uncomfortable, if stored in artifacts or treasures, if something avoidable goes wrong with them so it's best to keep them in a good mood if possible. As for that crown, it was also an artifact that developed some sentient magic within it and that was what led to the aforementioned rampage. In that example, though, the crown had really been pushed way too far. The crown was more jewel and bling than anything regal or bearing any semblance of royalty by the time the narcissistic king was done with it. The original material the crown was made of quite literally couldn't be seen anymore, it was practically just a colourful amalgamation of hideousness and diamond vomit.

Out there, somewhere, was now a sentient, bloody, overly-jeweled crown monster that went on occasional rampages and chewed people's heads off like something out of a horror film. It had become somewhat of a legendary tale but finding the crown was extremely rare and most people who did would not live to tell the tale. It had been many years since the original incident so the crown was mostly relegated to the history books and the insane ramblings of crazy men that nobody in their right mind believed. It's rampages were mistaken for monster attacks too so it had become a hidden menace terrorising people but there were many such examples of this sort of mishap occurring and it was mostly ignored. Cultivators often had a habit of pushing things too far in the pursuit of self gain and screwing everything up, leading to natural disasters and consequences for others that couldn't be easily contained. This was just how things worked and incidents like this weren't investigated often as officials were busy tracking down living targets who were far more dangerous and actively problematic. Even if the crown's whereabouts were known it wouldn't be more important to solve that issue than dealing the genocidal cultivator collecting corpses for his sick experiment living next door with thrice the kill count, for example. 

Ares summoned his Biome Eagle and used some telekinesis to hover it over towards Mimi who was visibly shocked Ares had a method of defending himself in this immobile state. It made sense, to be fair, pressure didn't require the body to actually move and its mana consumption was pretty none-existent for the most part. In Ares' case, he didn't even need mana to control pressure anymore thanks to the Backfire Bindings but Mimi didn't know that. Anyhow, this meant Ares could actually put up a fight while lying pathetically on the floor like a slug and he'd really just let himself get pushed around up until now for the fun of it. Mimi snatched the artifact out of the air, glared at Ares for ruining her fun in hindsight as it felt less accomplished knowing he was enabling her to do it, and began inspecting the weapon while Ares silently gloated with a smug grin on the floor.

When Mimi was done analysing the ins and outs of the artifact, she looked up and found a floating feather which she assumed was the material Ares wanted to add to the artifact... Although she didn't appreciate him sneaking the material in front of her without her noticing. She had no idea how he did that either as, even if she was immersed and deeply focussed on something else, not detecting that feather was an issue. Supposing it had been a weapon, and not a feather, it could have done some serious damage given how close it got to her. She narrowed her eyes and glanced at Ares, who was still stuck to the floor, and took note of the fact that he had more methods up his sleeve than she was aware of and was a dangerous foe even now. For someone who leant towards open devastation and destruction, Ares could apparently be quite underhanded and tricky when the need arose as a result of his circumstances changing. She was unaware that the hidden feather was actually a trick enabled by Visitation, Ares had summoned the little guy behind his back and utilised his talents specifically to mess with Mimi, but technically it was an ability that he would one day possess anyway thanks to One With The Universe once he reached that stage. This was a sneak peak of the sort of stuff he could do in however many years time even if the current example wasn't technically his own personal doing.

All that aside, Mimi opened up a segment of the bronze stool she was seated on, a segment on the side of the cushioned seat that unfolded like a hidden compartment and created a small table off to the side, and placed the Biome Eagle and upgrade material on it as she gave her verdict. "That's a good artifact. Really good. Boring but good. The creator was meticulous and is probably talented enough to run a small smithy in the mid domains if they weren't trapped in Sheryashka, presuming they came from there, and the quality of this item should be far and above most other things you'll find in that domain. Also, picking the feather was a wise decision as it's synergistic with the weapon and should provide an interesting outcome. But that's where the praise ends. The execution of the Biome Eagle idea is impressive but the idea itself is lacking. There are many improvements even a beginner blacksmith from the higher domains could spot, suggest, and ultimately make if they were given sufficient time to look at this artifacts inner workings. There's untapped potential aplenty and that's not even talking about the material you want added, just altering the raw design would improve this thing tenfold. It might be a simple low domain artifact but I think that in order to do the adjustments it needs justice I'll have to use my real cultivation base. It won't take long, so I can do it here and bypass the enforced limit placed on the domain, and I have permission so that's fine, but it'll still be annoying to deal with the backlash even if it's minor. It's unavoidable, and I'll be tired later, so be grateful I'm doing this for you out of the goodness in my heart."

"What goodness?"

"Shut up. Besides, this artifact is practically screaming out for assistance. Poor thing was moulded well but left crippled and its destiny unreachable. Like a cultivator with an affiliation for every known pillar but who was only ever taught to wield one. It's pitiful so I'm doing this out of obligation as a blacksmith rather than anything concerning our bet as the former is my priority and the latter a nuisance I have to address for the sake of my reputation. I would have sleepless nights if I left this artifact like this so don't go thinking I'm expending this much effort just because you're my junior and I'm spoiling you or whatever other silly idea is floating through your head.

By the way, you said you were thinking about working on this artifact yourself? Are you a beginner forger or something? Well, in that case, watch and learn chump. You're about to witness greatness unfold before your unworthy eyes. I'm not even sure your puny mind will comprehend what it sees so at least try not to faint from wonderment and awe as I beguile you with techniques you could only dream of, and in your wildest dreams at that!" Though somewhat exaggerated, her blacksmithing talents were actually born from soul forging so they were likely too phenomenal for Ares to understand on a deeper level even if he wanted to.

Ares had his own forging method, a method that couldn't be replicated thanks to his sole access to nothingness, so there wasn't anything to learn here but he really couldn't even if interested him. He'd need to understand how to control and manipulate souls extraordinarily well before he could even think about doing whatever Mimi was about to. Maybe his Omniscience could piece together the intricacies of her method but he wasn't interested in the process at all so why even bother? He could stand to gain from her insights into how to improve the weapon but he'd use his merging to make it a reality in the future and not some soul forging technique adapted to blacksmithing, that wasn't his ideal method and she could keep it. Whether his own method was superior or not he didn't know but it was highly functional and something that would, at bare minimum, be competitive with whatever she was doing.

Ares, thanks to his abundant talents and options, could probably thrive in any cultivation path he wanted to walk if he attempted to do so but being a blacksmith just didn't tickle his fancy and he'd rather leave it to talented people around him instead. Some basics here an there meant he wasn't completely hopeless if he needed to forge for whatever reason but, for the most part, going forward, when it came to anything he wanted made or tinkered with, he'd be relying on Dabble and, if possible, Mimi. For that reason, he didn't bother activating Omniscience as it would dig up secrets relating to Mimi's soul method that he wasn't interested in and would be rude to peek at; he was more interested in the final result and the changes she'd make to his artifact to get a better sense of what was possible for somebody more experienced with this sort of stuff. Forging was not his path, he was adamant about this as he had more important things to be doing!... Though whether the universe, and his own body, agreed with him was another matter... But that would only become relevant once he acquired his own legacy treasures as his cultivation realm reached the point he could summon them. For now, he just watched Mimi out of pure curiosity and nothing more, not attempting to steal her method.

Mimi flicked her wrist and both the Biome Eagle and the feather were lifted into the air by strings Ares could barely even see. The table they were seated on originally, the one attached to Mimi's bronze chair, now sported a pretty glass and a bottle of wine. The wine seemed to garner more attention from Mimi than the ongoing smithing procedure did as she was already diverting her attention elsewhere as if she was no longer needed. She flicked her wrist a second time and four massive claw marks appeared in the sky, all forming a slightly misaligned square of scratches that threatened to rip a chunk out of reality. Soon, those tears widened as four black hands forcibly opened and widened the space between them. The hands were followed by a demonic head and muscular upper body that resembled, via the bust of a black goat with horns, Baphomet. The upper body of this four armed demonic creature reeked of divinity so Ares assumed it was the corpse of the blacksmithing God Mimi mentioned earlier.

"Hâgrâ." Ares could only guess that Mimi's art, the one she just chanted, was the name of the fallen deity and that this art was the magic that kicked off her smithing display. Strings crept up and around the God like writhing snakes and animated its movements as though they were bringing its soul back from the underworld. The reality was more grim than that, however, as the eyes of the corpse remained firmly shut and so the harrowing experience of watching a dead God be paraded around like a puppet was now on full display. How domineering this giant creature must have been in life contrasted sharply with the obedience and subservience it showed to Mimi who effortlessly controlled it without even sparing a single look in its direction. She was simultaneously controlling the floating artifact, the feather, and the blacksmith God with a single hand as she used her spare hand to pour herself a drink.

Hâgrâ leant down, shadowing the entire courtyard as its four arms circled around the artifact. Within those once-empty hands spawned four ancient hammers, scarred, scratched, and chipped all over as though they'd seen centuries of hard labour and yet they remained resilient and unfaltering whatever the task ahead demanded of them. A strange ripple emanated from the artifact and the feather, creating a greyish barrier around them both that was likely connected to Mimi's soul forging method and the key to her entire career as a blacksmith. She began rotating her string adorned wrist in all sorts of strange but fluid motions and the smithing began in earnest in response. All four hammers, wielded by all four calloused hands, converged on the grey barrier surrounding the artifact and crushed it. 

CLANGCLANGCLANGCLANG

The hammers, after battering their target, retreated. Mimi, now revealed as the hammers departed, took a small sip of her drink. She turned to face Ares with a slight blush on her face as she leant her chin on the back of her hand. She was obscured soon after, though, as the hammers converged in front of her again and hid her presence as they worked in the foreground at her command.

CLANGCLANGCLANGCLANG

This time, when the hammers retracted, Ares paid attention to his artifact instead and noticed the barrier around it had shifted slightly. The two items inside the grey barrier, the feather and the gun, were now partially stuck together as though they'd been melted and combined half and half. It was an ugly mish mash but the connection between the two items was solid and would likely flourish with a few more well aimed strikes from the hammers. It was a fascinating process. The hammers kept ravaging the grey barrier which, in turn, appeared to affect the materials contained within. Mimi did not actively hammer the materials or the artifact she was working on, instead she changed their essence directly which was a rather unique way of going about it. As for the woman herself, she looked entirely unbothered so the strain on her was evidently minimal. Maybe if she was working on a higher tier item, using her full power unrestrainedly, or perhaps channeling a higher tier blacksmithing art, she might have broken a sweat but, as she was now? Drinking her wine leisurely and grinning from ear to ear at a captivated Ares, who was watching her Godly show with much interest, seemed to be her intent. The things she could show him if she really went all out were beyond anything he'd have ever seen in the lower domains but she had no reason to as this artifact didn't require such means to be improved multiple times over. He could be satisfied with this for now and learn more later. For starters, each of the four hammers wielded by Hâgrâ were unique treasures that were fantastic for working on different types of craft-able artifacts and treasures. On top of that, Hâgrâ had an affinity for fire magic and, once its eyes were opened, the flame show would begin as it spewed magma from its mouth like a fountain of doom. There were many tricks Mimi had but, again, now was not the time or place for them. She could even use Hâgrâ in combat if she wasn't certain her life wasn't at risk.

Another few minutes later, after the forging process was repeated another ten or so times, the artifact had been born anew and floated in the air with a resplendent sheen. The shape of the weapon had changed slightly, a second barrel was added, making it look a tad bulkier, but the new power coursing through every inch of it spoke for itself. Whatever Mimi had done to this thing, it was going to become a weapon worth using a lot more than what Ares had gotten out of thus far... Also Garuda... Ares was admittedly very excited to see what had become of that obnoxious bird... Luckily, rather than stumble around in the dark, Mimi put down her wine glass, although she looked a bit tipsy and had to make sure she didn't accidentally miss the table, and was ready to explain all the new changes Ares would get to enjoy. She looked tired, the backlash of using this power had put her in somewhat of a slumped position, but she wasn't completely out of it... Ares looked on with an amused glint in his eyes as this was precisely the moment he was waiting for. Still, he'd let her talk about the artifact first before he pounced and got his revenge! She thought she could mess with him one-sidedly and get away with it!? Nuh uh, not happening!