Chapter 374 - Her Holiness
Keniil brought Kana through the streets of the city of darkness. She was very surprised to see the way the undead were living their lives here. There were many shops selling different goods, and although few she even saw some food stalls, but the meat was not something she could eat since it was rotten. But just the sight of this city that was bustling like any living city would be was quite amazing.
"Down this way will bring us to where the weapon and armor forgers are. There are ten in total on this street, one of which I personally use. I will bring you to that one first." Keniil said as he directed Kana down a side alley. The alley was filled with the sounds of clanging. The repeated strokes reverberated together, filling Kana's ears and making her excited to see what they were making.
As she walked down the alley, Kana stopped her steps when she saw something interesting in one of the shops. "Keniil, one second." Kana called out as she walked right into the weapon shop. Keniil turned around to see Kana walking away and quickly followed after her.
The shop was simple, and the swords on the wall did not look special, but this was not what caught her eye. It was the man who was sitting by the forge banging away on a hot piece of metal on the anvil. "Shit, once again..." The man swore as he tossed the lump of metal to the ground.
"Are you dumb?" Kana asked suddenly, almost making the man jump out of what was left of his skin. He turned to look at where the voice came from, only to have his eyes open wide. He immediately dropped to the floor and prostrated himself in front of Kana. "Wh-What do-do I have the pleasure to have your Holiness visit my humble smithy?"
"Stand up and pick up that piece of metal you just tossed on the floor. Why waste perfectly good materials?" Kana said in a scolding manner. She saw the swords in the shop were low par, and after spending so much time training under Creige, she could see the man's issue right away.
"Huh?" The man raised his head and looked at Kana with a confused expression.
"I said pick up the metal, and you just tossed down! I know your ears have rotted off, but you can still hear with those holes in the side of your head, no? Don't tell me your intelligence has rotted away too!" Kana yelled. She was starting to get impatient.
Keniil was standing behind Kana with his bony mouth covered, trying to hold back his laughter. He never knew this new goddess of death was so outspoken. The man, after being yelled at, quickly jumped to his feet and picked up the metal off the ground. Kana looked at the man and then at the fact that the man's bones seemed to be burning and held her head while shaking it back and forth. 'An idiot! A pure idiot!'
"Quickly put it back on the anvil before you lose your hand!" Kana yelled once more.
"Huh!? Ahh!?" The man yelled out, tossing the metal back on the ground blowing on his bony hand as if he felt pain.
Just seeing the man's clumsiness made Kana wonder why she was even still trying to help this fool. She turned around to see a group of three huddled together giggling away and wished she could be one of them so she wouldn't have to deal with this. "Quickly pick it up correctly this time and put it on the anvil."
"Yes!" This time the man seemed to have his wits about him as he used the proper tool to pick up the hot metal and placed it onto the anvil.
"Good, now watch closely." Kana said as she picked up the man's forging hammer and began to hit the metal. Each hit seemed ordinary at first, but as time went on, the metal became purer and purer. Kana felt nostalgia as she hammered away and even lost track of where she was as she worked the piece of metal.
"She's in her own little world again..." Naru said as he watched Kana completely ignore the man next to her and began forging a weapon of her own.
"Yep, when she gets like that, we can only sit back and wait." Aoi commented.
"How long will she be in this state?" Keniil asked. He could tell by one look and the serious expression that was matched with a faint smile as she worked that Kana had lost all connection to the outside world. One thing he could tell was that their new goddess was a master blacksmith. The way she hammered was so refined and perfect that even the low quality ore she was hammering away at was slowly being refined in a higher quality after the impurities were being hammered out. What's more, was the hint of the death element that was being imbued into the sword with each strike. If he had one word to describe what he was seeing right now, it would be godly. Her technique was not something anyone could pick up without years of practice. This thought alone led him to believe that Kana was thousands of years old.
"Mmm.. it depends on how fast she creates her work. It could be a few hours to a few days. But from the looks of the size of the metal, she is using, it will only be a few hours." Aoi answered.
"I see… I am lucky to be able to see Her Holiness's forge a weapon." Keniil had a much higher respect for Kana now. Just knowing she was willing to teach someone who looked to have no talent and show him the skills she learned herself as she refined a weapon gained his utmost respect.
"Her Holiness?" Aoi was wondering why people were calling Kana as such. She knew the lich respected Kana for her status but this way of calling was more of a worship than a respectful way of calling someone.