In the back of Gallus's forge, Archer, in a Fran Doppelganger body, was using [Lava Magic] Lv3: [Shape Steel] to carefully refine the edge of his nearly finished blade, compacting the steel into a flawless edge without a single inconsistency or scratch on its surface.
Meanwhile, next to him, Archer, in a Fran Doppelganger body, was working to create a new alloy, carefully introducing impurities at the near atomic level in order to provide the best platform for holding mana.
As they were doing that, Archer, in a Fran Doppelganger body, was operating a forge, juggling pieces for an entire set of armor in and out as he hammered each piece with the speed and efficiency beyond the ability of most masters before returning it to the fire and moving on to the next.
Finally, on the other side of the room, Archer was reading a book on this world's runic systems, while Archer was using this information to translate various old enchantments that he knew into the new world's runic system.
All of this happening in a forge with a silencing spell over it, so that the people outside couldn't hear the pandemonium.
"This is… uh…" Gallus couldn't find the words to describe what he was bearing witness to. "If anyone saw this, they would think I'm running a sweatshop."
"I suppose it does smell a little musty in here." One of the Archers joked.
Archer had used [Doppelganger Synthesis SP] to create 5 copies of his Master, each with only 8% of her stats, then used 10 Self-evolution Points to upgrade [Split Thought] into [Parallel Processing] which allowed him to have as many as 5 separate trains of thought all going at once. While each separate clone's stats were low, each of them still had the [Automatic MP Recovery] ability, allowing him to perform basic magic with them without having to worry about running out, as long as he didn't use it in too rapid of succession.
After the upgrades to [Split Thought] and [Lava Magic], which he had increased to Lv4, and his old purchase of [Appraisal Block], Archer's Self-evolution Points reserves had dropped down from 99 to 70.
"Still not good enough." Archer grumbled as the latest blade was brought to a finish.
Top-notch Magic Steel Cutlass
Attack: 825 Mana: 70/70 Durability:1100/1100 Mana Channel: C+
Effect: +5 STR, +5 AGL, +15 DEX, [Imbue Fire]
It was good by the standards of what he had seen around town, but not nearly good enough. Once reinforced to its limit, it could only product an attack power of around 1400. However, the effects he managed to retain within the metal were a step in the right direction. It was as he thought, by turning the structure in on itself while introducing his impurities, he could trap more of the latent energy inside and strength the retained abilities of the monster materials. If he could reapply what he had just done to higher quality materials...
Archer tossed the blade back onto the growing pile in a crate in the center of the room. In that day alone, they/he had completed 22 magic weapons and 3 sets of magic armor. Still, all of this was only practice, getting him used to the methods of this world and giving him time to experiment before he moved on to the big stuff.
The Orichalcum bars, the Demon and Dragon materials, and of course, the Magic Stone of the Moonlight Dragon.
Archer would admit that there had been the temptation to absorb the Moonlight Dragon's magic stone. That singular stone would have easily grown him another Self-evolution rank, maybe as many as three. However, beyond that, he wouldn't have gotten much out of it. The [Moonlight Magic] would have been nice to have, but it would have come to him at level 2 and required him to spend Self-evolution Points on it to make it usable. Even once he did all that, the psychological aspects of it wouldn't have any effect on high ranking Demonic Beasts or skilled human-like fighters, such as the Wood Elf who ran the Guild, and those were the only concern that Archer and Fran really had. Most of the other skills were either not that uncommon or were Innate and Extra Skills, which Archer wouldn't have been able to absorb.
The Magic Stone Points could easily be gotten through other means, whereas an A-rank Demonic Beast's Magic Stone was rare enough and powerful enough to not be used lightly.
When performing [Magic Blacksmithing], the blacksmith would often mix in parts from various high level Demonic Beasts, which not only strengthened the physical form, but also could allow the monster's skills to manifest as effects on the item being created. The number and strength of those effects could be increased with the skill and power the blacksmith used in creating the weapon. They can also be increased by using the Magic Stone of the Demonic Beast that the materials came from.
He would only get one shot, but if he pulled it off, he could create a weapon that could rival even some Noble Phantasms, and once he created it once, he would be able to trace it. Maybe he would even be able to unseat one of the Godblades.
For a man so obsessed with the Divine Blacksmiths and their creations, Gallus did a shitty job explaining what they were. Archer almost wanted to beat the dwarf over the head with the book he found, which contained a brief description of their known history and found out what they really were. There weren't 26 Godblades because that was all that was ever made. There were 26 Godblades because the Gods themselves had created a fixed number of seats.
The Godblades were the 26 greatest man made items in existence, and were imbued with divine power from the Gods themselves in order to elevate them to a level beyond what was natural. In order for a new Godblade to come into existence, an old one old ones would have to be surpassed or destroyed.
Ignis might have only had physical characteristics comparable to a E-rank anti-unit Noble Phantasm, but it's special abilities could call down divine fire to burn down an entire fortress in an instant, power comparable to perhaps a B-rank anti-army Noble Phantasm, depending on how it was used and its usage requirements.
Another weapon, Alpha, was famed for its ability to do what Archer could only describe as turning a normal man into a Demi-Servant, increasing their stats 10 fold and maxing out all of their [Skills]. And they could maintain this state for 3 days, though no mention was made to what kind of cooldown it might have.
While not even remotely comparable to true Divine Constructs, like Excalibur, the Godblades were what you would get if you gathered 26 of the most powerful Noble Phantasms ever created by mortal hands together to make a special club. Even those that weren't weapons were rumored to have the kind of abilities that would be worthy of any Servant's Noble Phantasm.
But in the end, the Godblades were mortal made weapons, raised into power equal to that of a Noble Phantasm by the recognition of the Gods granting them divine energy. As good as the smiths who made them were, Archer wasn't your ordinary blacksmith. He had extremely detailed knowledge gathered from thousands of years worth of legendary weapons, including weapons that's creation went beyond mortal comprehension. If it was even remotely possible to make a weapon capable of unseat a Godblade, using the materials he had on hand, he figured he had a shot at it.
While Archer was half lost in thought, his several pairs of hands continuing the work that he could perform in his sleep, as Gallus walked over to the 'for sale' crate and picked up the finished cutlass. His expression was a mixture of awe and despair. "It would have taken me four days to create a weapon as strong as this one using mithril and C-rank Demonic Beast materials and magic core, and you made it in an hour using just scrap iron and an F-rank Red Wolf's teeth. You didn't even give it your full attention."
"Don't beat yourself up over it. When you can analyze and control the materials at near the molecular level, it is easy to fabricate a compact base for the enchantments." Archer said simply as he started to move on to his next project. "Though I probably should start working with mithril after this. I'll have to buy some with the money I make selling these failed products."
"The molecular...? Farbricate...? Failed products...?" Gallus repeated, sounding confused and shell-shocked. Archer grabbed a stool with his [Telekinesis] and moved it in place to catch the dwarf as his legs gave out. "My life. I spent my entire life trying to further my craft and refine my skills, trying to progress towards my goal of becoming a Divine Blacksmith. I thought I had achieved so much, but this is… what is this even?"
"Don't take it personally. I have never met another man who knows swords like I do." Archer consoled the poor man. "Perhaps when I find the time, I can teach you a little Magecraft. Your [Appraisal] and [God's Eye] are fine for giving you a summary of what you are looking at, but they don't give you enough detail for you to truly understand. My [Structural Analysis] spell lets me know everything about what I am working with."
"Everything?"
"Everything." Archer then smiled as the bit of consciousness that was monitoring his sword body told him of his Master's return. "It seems that my Master has returned." He said right before an awkward slamming could be heard at the front door.
"Gods' below, who taught that girl how to knock!?" Gallus shouted, jumping up off his stool because of the racket. He rushed to the door in order to let the girl in, half frightened that she would break the door off of its hinges.
"Cut her some slack. She's more than ten times stronger than she was a month ago. She doesn't know her own strength." Archer said as the old dwarf let the girl in.
"Welcome back, my Master. How was your day?" Archer asked, though he already knew.
"Boring." Fran mumbled as she pushed Archer's blade into a waiting barrel of Magic Stones before flopping down onto Gallus's open armchair in the corner of the room and pulling out a plate of cookies Archer had made for her from the [Dimensional Storage].
It had been four days since she first started her career as an Adventurer, and found out that it was a job, and that jobs tended to be boring.
Fran was a creature of action, adventure, training and general excitement, and being an Adventurer wasn't satisfying her need for adventuring, ironically. Even after the Guild Master decided to bump her rank up from G all the way up to D, the missions that were on offer to her were often fetching herbs from a nearby area, scouting a piece of land for signs of Demonic Beast activity, or using her strength and magic to help build a house. None of which saw much action. She had only killed 5 F-rank Demonic Beasts since she started, and that hadn't even taken her a whole minute. The town was just too peaceful, now that the threat of the dungeon was gone.
There were also escort quests offered to people of her rank, but they didn't necessarily see much action either, and the people requesting them would turn up their noses to a 12 year old girl showing up to the job alone.
To make matters worse, Archer was keeping himself busy, and none of the Adventurers in the Guild would spar with her.
"You know, if you just joined a party, you might be able to get better missions." Archer said, even though it was a well trodden topic.
"My party: Archer." Fran said stubbornly. A few had tried to ask her to join their teams, but Fran just wasn't interested, even though having a party might increase her chances of getting better jobs. She didn't want to party with any of them, since they might stumble upon the truth about Archer. Besides, none of them were strong enough to keep her interested. They couldn't even spar with her properly.
Archer actually would have felt better if she did have some sort of party with her, as it was difficult to maintain his vigilance over her when the doppelganger bodies and his sword body became too far away from each other. But he still wanted a little more practice before committing to using up irreplaceable resources.
On top of needing someone to watch her back, she needed a playmate. As much as Archer could provide for her as a caretaker, a father figure didn't fulfill the need for a friend, and for a girl her age, it really was a basic need. The problem was that no one around was close to her age, and if they were they were terrified of her strength. Their paranoia about who could and couldn't be trusted didn't help things either.
As much as Archer was afraid of Fran being betrayed, he didn't want her to end up alone.
Self-Evolving:
(Rank 10 | Memory 89 | Points 70) → (Rank 11 | Magic Stone Value 5500/6600 |Memory 100 | Points 135)
ATK: 524 → 572 MP: 3000 → 3550 Durability: 2800 → 3350 Mana Channel: A+
Once again, Archer's Magic Stone Points tipped the scales and he received another rank, increasing his stats just a little bit more and granting him some more Self-evolution Points to work with.
However, with the level up came something else. The return of the voice.
{Suggestion: use [Summon Kin] in order to provide Wielder Fran with a Familiar.}
[A Familiar? That's not such a bad idea.] Archer said, equating it to a parent getting their autistic child a pet. Fran had claimed to have never seen a cat before and Archer had a fondness for them. Perhaps they could summon some kind of cat demon. Though the Guild probably wouldn't be too happy about having two such demons tormenting them. [You've been quiet since the dragon fight. Has everything been alright?]
{Apologies. This system's parameters have been repressed. The recent rapid growth has increased functionality, but only in temporary bursts. Prediction: as Self-evolution rank increases, this system's functionality will also increase.}
[I see. Well, thank you for your assistance back then.]
{...You are welcome, unit name "Nameless".}
[...Was that a joke?]
{This system does not have the functionality required to tell jokes.}
[If you say so.] Archer said with a chuckle. He always did meet the most unusual of people. [Speaking of names, do you have one?]
{Searching… results not found.}
[I see, so you are nameless as well.]
{It is bad practice to have two systems with the same unit identification. A different unit name is required.}
[Are you asking me to name you?]
{A christening is not required. Only a temporary identification.}
[Alright. Then I'll call you Rani.] Archer said, thinking of the homunculi girl who had been the Master of a Berserker in Moon Cell's Holy Grail War. Though this 'system' was far more mechanical than even Atlas's homunculi had been, he still sensed a bit of vague curiosity come from the voice.
{Temporary unit identification: "Rani". Accepted. However, operation time is running out. ...It was nice speaking to you, unit name "Nameless".}
"Archer?" Fran said, looking at Archer with a slight frown.
[Huh? Is something wrong?]
"Is something wrong? Those Doppelgangers of yours suddenly stopped moving and you weren't responding at all." Gallus said, crossing his arms and looking down at the sword in a barrel. "You sure you aren't eating too many of those things?"
"Overworking." Fran said with certainty.
[Ah, sorry. I suppose I got lost in thought.] Archer replied, trying to brush off their concerns as he had the doubles return to work. [Fran, you say you don't want to get a party. How about we try summoning you a Familiar?]