Disclaimer: I do not own Danmachi or anything created by the author Fujino Omori; all rights go to him. I only own my original characters Sleipnir, Ikuchi, Sylphie, Myles and Akiri.

Speech: "Sly look I have crafted a staff for you with the durandal attribute!" Welf shows with pride.

Thoughts: Sly looks at the staff and decides to test how it behaves with his magic. 'How much mana can it take, it should be unbreakable so lets try my entire mana capacity.'

Screaming/Demonic Voice: Sly cries in pain. "Ouch! Why is the staff glowing red hot, I only cast foxfire with it!"

Magic: "As they cometh they goeth! - Crack!"

Runes: Sly what have you done? When you dropped the staff it cracked. Durandal should be! Indestructible! - "Fuin!"

Writing: Sly shrugs his shoulders and signs his name into the cracked Durandal staff. 'My bad?'

Chapter 21 Kogitsune-Maru

Morning – Sleipnir POV

His sleep was plagued by nightmares and bad memories. Instead of the usual adventurer sleep, Sly felt his thoughts linger in a dark place. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw phantom images of Acatl leaving. But in the moments his mind did get rest he saw not Acatl, but his first mentor displaying his shining black fur and with a whispered chant of illusio he disappeared for good. With a sudden jolt, he awoke.

It was still early morning and Sly forced himself back to sleep. This time the nightmarish images of a dagger with a translucent, purple stone as its pommel haunted his rest. His reaction was even stronger and before he could even think about it, he was on his feet, with both daggers drawn. His breathing was ragged.

Through it all Sylphie kept sleeping. The room was completely silent, the only thing he heard was his breaths. 'I hate nightmares. And that dagger… why does it appear so familiar?'

Sly grabbed his basic pouch, sneaked out of his room, and glanced back to Sylphie. With his gaze on her, he also spotted the enchanted tome on his nightstand. 'Perhaps I should take it along. Might at least do something productive.'

Once in front of the pond, Sly sat down in meditation in the early morning twilight. Today the moon didn't show its face, as a storm was approaching.

The minutes passed in quiet silence, and even after 10 minutes he did not find his usual focus. His thoughts always strayed from the peace and calm required to meditate.

After his fifth attempt, he gave up. 'Why won't my mind settle!' He looks down at the things he brought and notices the time. 'I might as well start writing down Aca… Hakase's lesson.'

Returning into the Martial Dojo, with a slight wave of his hand and the quietest whisper of foxfire a small blue fire no bigger than a candle flame lit and Sly took a seat at one of their tables.

Time passed quickly, and he ignored all but his entries. Soon every Core Rune was described together with all he knew about their chant.

As the morning light grew brighter Sly continued with his work. He was on his dungeon entries now. Soon it would be time for breakfast, and as Sly finally put his book down finishing Ikuchi's entry something came to mind. 'Didn't Hakase call out Ikuchi at the end of the lesson? No, that couldn't have been. Must have been one of the nightmares. Gods can't see into the dungeon.' Shakes his head in denial and has a quiet breakfast, before returning to his journal.

His familia left him alone for a few hours, but Chigusa once came into the study room. "Are you alright Sly-kun?"

He continued writing for another moment before answering. "I'll be alright." He forces a small smile to reassure her. Then quickly returned his head back into his books and journal entries.

A little later in the morning after Take finished the morning lesson without him, Sylphie flew in. She landed on his head and started playing with his ears.

He tried ignoring her but quickly determined that she wouldn't leave until he showed a reaction. "Sylphie. Could you please stop playing with my ears?"

She merely hums at him and continues playing with his ears. Causing Sly's tails to sway irritably. However, he was more patient and willed her away while refocusing on his dungeon entry.

A few minutes later Sylphie finally saw that she wouldn't win this round. "Fine! So great half-spirit kitsune, what are we gonna do now? The evil deity left, and even with your distraction, we haven't pranked her. Our little contract is left unfulfilled, which means we are stuck together."

Now focused on her at her defeated voice Sly asked. "Couldn't we break that contract? Or change the terms? Both of us are present and I doubt we'll get a chance to prank Hakase for quite a while. She might not have left for good… but I think it will be years till we see her again."

Sylphie groans. "That's a terrible idea! Both of us are tier two. It would likely push you back to your level 1 mana capacity and I might end up as a tier 1 spirit!"

Sly feels conflicted. For one he feels happy Sylphie will stay with him, which causes the first genuine smile of the day to show on his face before he hides it as Sylphie most likely wouldn't want to stay with him. "In that case, it seems we'll simply have to work together Sylphie… How about this? Let's be friends and find a way to punish Acatl upon her return with the greatest prank in the history of Orario."

Sylphie groans again but with less intent behind it. "It could have been worse… At least I don't have to get into trouble on my own. Wanna prank Apollo together?"

Sly chuckles but looks back at his magical journal. The entry he just added was from his date with Misha and the history of the Alf Mountains. "I think it might be better to focus on sensing spirits. In the dungeon, I barely sensed the presence of the tier 3 spirit following me. Perhaps with your help, I'll manage to sense its shape or type. 'I already know it's a fox spirit, but Sylphie doesn't know I know. Let's see if this knowledge will help in sensing its shape with my magic pressure.' Are you up to it Sylphie?"

Sylphie blinks in confusion. "Oh, you sensed the tier 3 spirit beside you? Sensing my wind wires must have helped you. I am the greatest!"

Sylphie floats in front of him in a self-satisfied hum. Suppressing an eye roll Sly says. "Sylphie how can I sense the type of spirit it is? I only barely feel the mana density of the spirit as it stays in the second layer. It led me to the conclusion that it is a tier 3 spirit, as its mana feels heavier than mine, but it's difficult to sense more. From the little I sense it seems as if its mana barely even interacts with the atmospheric mana on our layer at all."

She laughs. "Easy! Your focus is too broad! Try focusing on a smaller area. The spirit's right behind you. Instead of focusing on the entire spirit, only focus on the very edge of its presence."

Sly follows her instructions and with the picture of the fox in mind tries sensing its location. The presence of the fox is very weak, but the mana in the air is clearly less compared to the mana density around it. To add to this, Sly notices how his own mana pressure meets resistance when affecting mana in the area.

'So now that I have the general area, I only need to discern the boundary between the lower atmospheric mana pressure where the spirit stands and the higher atmospheric mana pressure of the surrounding air.'

Turning his focus and mana pressure fully onto a small sphere of barely 5 cm Sly is surprised when he feels the shift. It isn't easy to sense, because his mana pressure usually has an effect over a large area, but now that it is concentrated, he clearly feels resistance in the area with the lower atmospheric mana density. This is the area the spirit resides in.

Following this discovery, Sly broadens his view a little to a 10 cm sphere and continues following the fox's shape. Once he reaches its head, he notices a sudden movement of the fox and suddenly the mana pressure in the area rises a little and a small yip can be heard.

Sylphie shrieks the moment she hears it and Sly opens his eyes to see a waist-high three-tailed black fox sitting in front of him. Its eyes are a stark yellow and its underbelly is covered in white fur.

Sly is shocked to see it again. It is the same colour as the fox he saw after his vision. The spirit is watching him happily swaying tails. Then he hears a soft male voice, but the fox had not moved from its place nor its mouth. 'Congratulations on sensing me half-spirit kin.'

Sly jumps back and has his two daggers in hand immediately, before thinking in surprise. 'What on Genkai! I can hear it speak, even though it hasn't opened its mouth!'

The fox's calm voice answers his thoughts. 'Clearly, I am using telepathy. And you may refer to me as Akiri Kage, thank you very much Sleipnir-chan, or would you prefer your birth name?'

Sly panics and gives his utmost to only think what he wants the fox to hear. 'That won't be necessary Akiri-san! Don't tell it to Sylphie!'

The fox shrugs as his tails lazily sway about and steps closer to him, causing Sylphie to retreat further behind Sly. 'I won't. It wouldn't be becoming of messenger spirit to reveal the secrets of a spirit of mystery to his familia and contracted spirit, would it?'

Sly keeps himself calm. 'What is a messenger spirit? And why have you been following me Akiri-san?'

Akiri stops in front of the table and silently jumps on top of it. 'A spirit who conveys messages to other spirits and deities. As for me following you. I couldn't very well leave a young half-kitsune without a guide after sensing your birth.'

Sylphie whispers to Sly. "Be careful of him. A contract with a tier 3 could cripple you if broken."

Akiri watches the fairy in amusement before speaking to both. 'You don't need to fret. I have kept an eye on Sleipnir-chan for years. For now, I shall leave, I sense someone coming. If you need me summon me as you did before, and we shall converse further.'

Sly only needs a few more seconds to hear the heavy steps of Welf approaching.

The fox disappears in a puff of smoke and the faint presence returns to his side. He quickly turns to Sylphie. "So, when were you gonna tell me that a fox spirit was following me?" Sylphie edges herself toward the approaching footsteps. "Sylphie!"

Afternoon - Martial Dojo - Welf POV

Welf Crozzo Alias: ? Race: Human

Level 2

Strength: A 878 - S 909 - I 0

Endurance: B 766 - A 821 -I 0

Dexterity: S 901 - S 911 - I 0

Agility: C 691 - B 735 - I 0

Magic: G 211 - F 301 - I 0

Development Abilities:

Blacksmith: I

Enables the user to add special abilities to their creations.

Magic:

1. Will-o-Wisp: Will-o-Wisp is an anti-magic fire that forces an Ignis Fatuus to others in the process of casting magic.

Burn, dark magics - Will-o-Wisp

Skills:

1. Crozzo Blood: Enables the creation magic swords. Magic swords created by the user are far stronger than normal.

2. Veritas Burn: Gives high fire resistance and increases attack power when using fire element attacks.

3. Spirit Touched: The bearer of this skill has garnered the respect or attention of spirits. Excelia gain is increased based upon the spirits gravitating to them, but may also be hindered should the bearer fall out of grace with spirits or attract malicious spirits.

With another glance at his status, Welf made for the Martial Dojo. 'I am really happy with these stats. Overall, they surpass all of my familia members, but I can't help to imagine how strong my magic would be at S… Seems I've spent too much time around Sly. These stats are perfect for me!'

Welf reaches the Martial Dojo in a great mood. 'Sly wanted to participate in the creation of his firestaff naginata, let's see what high silver will do against his fire and my strength.'

He waves to Take, strange that Sly didn't train with them today. Acatl must have kept him late. No matter they would finally sit down and craft a worthy weapon for him.

Once inside Welf entered Sly's study. Inside he saw Sly sitting at the desk with his frantically waving tails. "No reason to look so startled Sly. I'm here to collect you. You wanted a hand in the creation of your staff, so let's get to it."

Sly jumped to his feet, exposing the fancy journal on the table to him. "Ah, I'm sorry Welf. I was slightly preoccupied."

Welf looks around the room and spots some glitter on the books and half a table sticking out behind a bookshelf. "I see that. Did Acatl have you through a lesson about runes as well? The crazy hag almost made me hit Mind Down with a single fire cantrip…"

He quickly notices Sly's drooping ears and tails and skips ahead. "How did your date go?"

At least Sly perks up a little at that. "Not bad… I'd guess. Misha showed me some of the sights and we discussed a little history. Even showed me a nice tea house."

Welf nods, takes his shoulder, and guides him outside. "Now Sly, let's get right to it! I'll get the fire gland from Asuka, and if you have any ingredients you want to test bring them with you. I want to test out my new level two stats in a field test! I'm itching to get some serious smithing done!"

Afternoon - Near Valka's Crimson Chamber – Sleipnir POV

While Welf collected the fire gland, which looked like a small 5 cm diameter red orb with constantly shifting flames after Asuka cleaned it, Sly quickly gathered every ingredient still stored in his room. Be it the old irregular needle rabbit horn, or the few by now room-temperature dragon scales he had left from Ikuchi.

They then met in front of the manor and left under the cover of an illusion. With the spirit-sensing technique fresh on his mind he even felt two strong spirits in the garden around Mikoto, however, he didn't have time to identify them. They were on a mission.

Welf didn't let him slow down and together with Sylphie hiding in his illusion to stay on the first layer, they were covering ground quickly. Soon they entered Welf's still rather small workshop.

"Now right to it Sly. We have the crimson bones of the hellhounds, a lotta high silver from your solo delve, and I gathered various materials from members of my familia that had scraps leftover." He distributes the materials in front of the forge.

Before looking him deep in the eyes. "This fire staff naginata will be my greatest creation yet. I'll forge it with nothing more than skill and hard work. Nothing like my cursed family." The last sentence was whispered, but Sly heard it thanks to his enhanced hearing.

Giving Welf a few seconds to get back on track, Sly adds his drop items to the pile. "Welf, have you prepared a mold for the staff?"

Clearing his head with a shake, Welf nods. "I have. The only piece I haven't finished yet is the spell focus." Welf shows him the mold. A long ingot of dungeon steel with a hole. The inside is cylindrical with a diameter of 4 cm and a length of 175 cm.

Above the first piece, there was a second. This one is shaped in the form of three separate lines, circling a sphere. This is where Welf placed the orb, before fitting the two molds together with sand in between. "Once we find the correct alloy, we will cast the entire staff. The handle and blade come in a second step, but today we shall prepare your staff."

Sly watches the mold with a critical eye. "Welf won't it be too heavy if everything is cast from the alloy we make?"

Welf just laughs. "Not really. We're adventurers! If you think this gets heavy you should see some first-class weapons. The strong ones can weigh up to a quarter ton!"

Welf rubs his hands together and leads them back to the materials. "Sly how much heat can you give me with your fire?" Welf asks him thinking how they should go about this.

Making a few calculations in his head Sly answers. "Well, we have no exact measurements in your smithy Welf, but when concentrated to a few centimeters and with around half my tier 1 mana we managed to melt dungeon iron. That can withstand around 1200 degrees."

Welf has taken his pouches of good-quality high-silver and added another box of scraps he gathered from his and the Goibniu familia. "How hot are we speaking now?"

Nodding quietly Sly concludes. "With my tier 2 mana density and the boost from hitting level 2, my current magic should at least be 1.5 times as potent as my level 1 magic, likely more due to the higher density…" Sly looks at Welf once he notices that he spoke about tiers, but seeing no reaction he finishes. "I'd guess by using half my mana capacity to create and maintain my foxfire we could push the heat to around 2'000 degrees with the added heat of your forge."

Welf smiles. "Great! Some of that magic talk went over my head, but with 2'000 degrees and my blacksmith development ability, I see us denting nosteel. Melting it is a little beyond us yet, but I see us crafting a seriously durable monster alloy from high silver."

Welf then quickly grabs his long blue apron, moves to a racket on the side, and throws it at him. "We're gonna need some protection. Level two endurance might help, but neither of us can withstand such heat." He then throws him his helmet, a pair of crystal goggles, and gauntlets for both of them.

At his inquiring stare, he only answers. "You won't want to look into your fire too long mate. Level two or not, that might blind you with your night vision this is even more important for you than me."

Conveying his thanks Sly asks him to continue.

"Now, let's get to it." He picks up a crimson bone and about half the high silver. "High silver melts at 960 degrees. At 2'000 degrees being in the periphery of the forge should suffice to melt it in a crucible. We'll have to watch the temperature though. The crimson bones will probably only melt at 1'800 degrees or even more. We can't forge crimson alloy at those temperatures though. The silver would clump up and the alloy would come out brittle due to the irregular distribution of the silver."

Sly observes as Welf prepares multiple crucibles, each of them filled with a little high silver, before adding them into the forge at different distances from the center. "Welf why are you preparing it in different crucibles?"

Welf looks over his shoulder and explains. "I have a general idea of the ideal forge range for high silver, but I'll split it into three containers this time. See these marks." Welf reveals specific indentations he has in the ground surrounded by the hot coals. "The closest to the center will receive the most heat and will be the most fluid, the further away we move the lower the temperature and the higher the viscosity."

Sly watches the indentations. Each is 10 cm further than the first, which is at the 30 cm mark. "In the very center, we melt the crimson bones. By the time the heat reaches the last crucible, we'll only be at around 1'200 degrees. Perfect for forging common alloys, but with the crimson bones at almost double that I doubt it will bind. So, I made two more, the second should be around 1'300 and the closest 1'400. One of them ought to work."

Sly nods in understanding. "Then shall I begin with my foxfire?"

Welf grunts in acknowledgment and adds more coal between the 4 crucibles. Then takes out his dungeon steel tongs and picks up the first crimson bone. "Start slowly. We'll collect the crimson monster metal in the first crucible, before mixing it."

Following Welf's instructions Sly calls out his magic. His senses tingled in anticipation, and barely felt two other spirits behind him. "Foxfire!"

The fireball starts small, barely 5 cm in diameter. However, size did not matter in this exercise, on the contrary, the bigger the sphere grew, the less heat would be concentrated. Its color is a strong blue, as most of his foxfire tends to be, but Sly concentrates and adds more mana with his magic control. After giving the tiny fireball a good chunk of his mana, it turns light blue, signifying the flame is around 1'000 degrees.

The crimson bone resists the heat without trouble.

Sly breathes deeply before adding more mana. Now the fire has a little more than a tenth of his mana capacity but is already at the highest point he managed during his level 1 days. It glows a bright white, with a tiny tint of blue to it and its temperature is at a solid 1'500 degrees.

The bone shows the first signs of wear and tiny, tiny drops start flowing at a slow pace down its side. With another deep breath, Sly pushes even more mana into the spell. The heat rises a little more and he has to focus to keep the foxfire contained to such a tiny area.

Welf uses the heat to slowly turn the crimson bone around and starts melting it piece by piece and collecting it in the crucible below. The high silver in the closest pot is already melting from pure proximity and the other two are not far behind.

It takes them a good minute to melt the entire bone. But Welf was not done. A quick glance at Sly to see if he could keep going and Welf took another bone. In the end, they managed to melt 3 bones before Welf had to stop as Sly grunted out that he was getting low on mana. Keeping such a potent foxfire stable was very draining for his mana. Sly had already used around half to create it in the first place, but keeping it active had drained another fourth of his mana.

At least Sly could now take a step back and prepare for the next step. With the bone melted and the high silver crucibles steaming it was now up to Welf to combine them.

Welf did not waste any time. As soon as his tongs were free of the bone, he picked up a second larger vice to grab the central crucible. He slowly removed it from the center of the forge and started adding it to the first crucible of high silver.

Sly did not stand idly by, he took a staff of nosteel to stir the alloy they were making. The resistance of 1'400 degree hot silver was minimal, but the crimson bone did not bind to it. Instead, they were getting a fascinating mixture of crimson and silver in the first crucible.

Gritting his teeth Welf gave up on the first one and moved to the second. Here the silver was fluid as well but retained some resistance. The crimson metal also had lost some of its heat but still retained its fluid state.

This made for the correct combination, this time instead of staying separate, the two alloys combined to the constant stirring of Sly. Welf didn't stop either and continued adding all the remaining crimson metal into the second crucible.

Once done he told Sly to continue stirring for another minute before he took out the crucible and poured it into a long mold he prepared.

Welf was sweating heavily after he finished pouring the cast. "Damn, that was close. Almost thought we missed the timing to cast the crimson alloy."

Sly was a little better off, having only been stirring and not carrying the crucible, but even he was sweating through his tails. "At least it's done."

Welf grins. "Not quite. We have cast your staff, but fitting the blade to it will be the most difficult and exhausting part. At least I already fit the fire gland into the cast."

Laughing Sly smiles. "Yes, that will be very interesting once we get to use it. Although I was surprised you wanted to simply lay the orb into the cast and build it around it."

Welf shrugs. "How else was I gonna forge around the damn thing? Hammer a hole into the shaft and put it in there? As if that was ever going to work! After the cast has cooled, we'll at least have three beams of sturdy crimson alloy covering 2 thirds of your spell focus. It should still be visible behind the metal encasing it, but it'll be far harder to damage than any other mage staff."

Just thinking about it makes Sly giddy to test it out. "Not to mention it's only at a height of 1.75 meters. That leaves 25 centimeters of the length to the naginata, which will make anyone wary of entering my reach."

Sly's room - Asuka POV

Certain Sly had left, Asuka looked around the manor and saw Mikoto training in the dojo as usual. Chigusa was painting in her room. A painting of a beautiful 9-tailed fox resting in a field of grass. Opening a single tired eye to the viewer.

She moved on quietly. 'Nobody is looking. Now is the time.' Asuka turned the silver ring on her finger. The small serpent engraved on it slithering along the movement, while a drop of her mana enters the ring.

She enters the passable wall to Sly's room. 'The resistance has increased since the last time I entered in here.'

Inside she quickly checked the room for any noise. Once she was certain nobody was present, including potential invisible entities, she used her clumsy magic sense to feel where the mana density was the highest in the room.

There are two spots. One near the spirit vervain, and another in Sly's bed. Taking a few leaves from the vervain Asuka debates about where to put the dungeon steel bowl she had specifically prepared for the lamia fang Sly gave her in private.

She ended up putting it under the bed, directly below Sly's head. 'That should work. The flow of poison from its tip depends on the mana density. Using magic stones to create more poison works, but with a living mana source living next to me, why should I waste magic stones? It isn't as if he wouldn't profit from my poisons.'

She then looks back towards the tiny bed beside the vervain. 'I think Sly forgot to hide it. But at least it proves that he has a new guest. From its invisibility and size, I'd wager a magical creature…'

Looking around again to ascertain nobody was close, Asuka turned her ring once more and began putting more ingredients below Sly's bed. 'The cloth from war shadows, hellhound fur and my salamander wool cloak…' Then she continues placing down all the herbs with any fire, dark and light affinity in her stock.

Finally, out of items, Asuka smiles lightly. 'I can't wait for the quality of my herbs to improve again. Though I do wonder how Sly hasn't noticed these items yet.'

Before leaving Asuka gathers a few bundles of Sly's very magical fur to add to his mana potions and the dust left behind on the bed of their new guest.

Next day - Near Valka's Crimson Chamber - Sleipnir POV

Sly was back with Welf testing the now cooled bladeless crimson alloy staff. He made a few careful swings first to get a feel for its weight. "Interesting. Welf this must weigh at least 25 kilos for a less than 2-meter long staff. This might change my balance point in battle, I'll need a little practice to compensate with my tails. And that's without adding the blade and pommel!"

Welf thinks about the material for the blade and pommel. "Yes, Sly you'll have to get used to it. Remember when I started practising with my greatsword? It also weighs 20 kilos. But with a proper balance all over the weapon, it shouldn't change your posture too much."

Sly nods. "So, what's the blade gonna be made out of?"

Welf grins. "Well, we had quite a bit of high silver left yesterday, so I traded some with my familia and got my hands on some mithril. The real Mithril, not just an alloy with similar properties, which means we can make another alloy outa of it. But first test your fire."

Sly smiles happy to test the long-awaited magical focus. Closing his eyes he slowly lets his mana flow into the staff. Welf notices him grimacing. Against Sly's expectations, his mana quickly meets resistance, which gets fiercer the closer he pushes towards the spell focus.

Gritting his teeth and not pulling back, Sly adds more mana pressure and finally his mana reaches the brilliantly glowing fire orb. A whisper of foxfire and a blue orb a shade lighter than his usual foxfire barely a few centimetres in diameter appears in front of Sly.

Breathing out Sly observes the orb. "Almost 800 degrees for around 1 twentieth of my mana capacity. Much better than yesterday. If I wanted to, I could push its size a little further too. But should it take that much effort to cast a spell with a staff?"

Welf had been observing him for around 20 seconds at that point and shakes his head. "No, it should not. Give me the staff let's see perhaps you're doing something wrong, or I miscalculated the crimson metal we added to the high silver…"

Sly gives the frowning Welf the staff. In contrast to him, Welf notices its heat. Almost 50 degrees after Sly cast his spell. "Not normal. Shouldn't waste this much mana." A frown mars his face and Welf mutters his own spell while pushing mana through the staff.

"Burn, dark magics - Will-o-Wisp!" In contrast to him, Welf's spell appears within seconds and a ten-centimeter-high purple flame slithers forth from the spell focus and towards him. Sly looks at it in confusion and swipes it away with an annoyed swish of his tail.

As flame crumbles against his fur, Sly looks at Welf in annoyance. "Now why would it work for you, but not for me? My magic should be close to two times yours Welf!"

Welf holds his hands up in defeat. "Hey don't judge the messenger. What can I say the alloy doesn't seem to like you."

Sly huffs and swishes his tails in annoyance. "No there must be something I'm missing. What's different between your magic and mine… Both are fire attributes… Your affinity might be higher, but that shouldn't affect mana conductivity."

Sly starts pacing in the smithy muttering quietly to himself. Only spotting Welf take a few steps back in the periphery of his vision. Which is when he startles and hears a loud voice next to his head.

Sylphie called to him from the second layer. "Sly could you stop pacing! You're making me dizzy. Plus, just take some astrum ore and add that to your damn staff and it should be working!"

Sly stares blankly at Sylphie, who is in the second layer but still visible to him thanks to Acatl runes. Behind him Welf is just about to ask what's up when Sly answers Sylphie. "Sylphie, that's brilliant! Of course, tier two mana! Welf doesn't even have tier one. My mana is far denser. Normal magical ores simply won't work for me. We need something with a connection to spirits." Sly exclaims in amazement. Laughter bubbles forth from Sly as he paces even faster causing Sylphie to follow his increased pace to her chagrin.

"We could add something from spirits to improve the conductivity. What could work to create astrum metal? Sylphie doesn't produce much besides a little fairy dust. I am not all that magical, or am I? My fur has magic resistance and is imbued with my mana…"

With fervent eyes, Sly focuses on the space beside a very concerned-looking Welf. "Akiri-san, may I ask for your help in understanding how we can make astrum metal?"

With a small sigh a black fox 3-tailed fox materializes in the first layer beside Welf. 'You just learned of my existence and are already asking questions. And that with a mortal around no less! Are you certain you aren't a mischievous kogitsune?' Akiri speaks into the minds of all present.

Welf finally has enough. "Sly could you please slow down? What by Hephaestus's name is going on!? Why is there a 3-tailed fox in my room? And what's with the talk about spirits?!"

Sly blinks and remembers where he is. Before awkwardly pointing one of his tails at Welf and the other at Akira. "You can both see one another, right?"

Akira nods, while Welf feels like a third wheel and looks between the two of them.

His ears heating up and his tails shaking a little Sly has an internal debate about how to handle this. At which point a tier two fire elemental slowly shuffles into the coals of the forge. 'This conversation wasn't supposed to start like this. Argh, why did I have to get lost in the moment?!'

At this point, Sylphie decides to appear in the first layer as well. "Well, the cat's out of the bag. Hey Welf-san the mean tier three spirit besides you is Akiri, I'm Sylphie and you should give Sly a minute to calm down."

Akiri laughs lightly and speaks directly into Welf's mind. 'What a fascinating and fortuitous turn of events. Welf-san, what my less experienced co-spirit wanted to tell you was that spirits were real and our dear Shin is a half-spirit.'

Welf stares at the spirit blankly. "How did you just..?" 'Talk to you? With telepathy of course!' "Bloody hell stop doing that!" 'Or you'll do what? I'm a spirit I can leave this layer as easily as I entered it.'

Welf takes a step back from the absurdity that his smithy has become. "Sly I'm gonna get some air. You'd better have a good explanation for…" Welf waves his hand over the assembled spirits in his room. "This when I get back."

A few seconds passed and Sly heard the telltale sound of a door that slammed shut. The spirits in the room all focus on him and he breathes out in a tired sigh. 'Just perfect… I lost myself to the thrill of discovery and lost track of my surroundings. A beginner's mistake. Now how to salvage this situation?'

Scanning the room with his magical and normal senses, Sly looks at Sylphie, Akiri and finishes on the fire spirit hidden in the coal. "Fire Spirit-san would you honor us with your name?"

The spirit leaves his bed of coals and pokes his red lizard head out, before stepping out of the forge to reveal its lizard-like body. "My name is Audax the salamander."

Sly gives the fellow tier 2 spirit a small bow before introducing himself and the remaining spirits. "So now that all of us know one another, any idea how we should go about explaining this to Welf?"

Sylphie shrugs, Akiri is busy grooming his tails and only offers a small tip. 'Actions have consequences young kitsune. Like a well-maintained illusion. Hold a mask for too long and you won't know when to take it off when the time is ripe.'

The salamander is back in the coals. "Just tell him the truth. His temper flares fast like a roaring fire, but take the fuel and it will crumble beneath his feet just as soon."

Pacing slowly Sly has to agree with their word or lack thereof. 'True, I have kept this to myself for long enough. Take already knows and Welf has seen too much. He'll probably want me to tell Chigusa as well and that is a scary thought. She might be furious with me for hiding something so big... I wanted to find a better time, but that might just be a pretext I have used to delay the inevitable…'

Breathing deeply to calm his nerves he stands a step before Akiri and Sylphie. He doesn't have to wait long, only a handful of minutes pass when Welf comes back into his workshop with a serious look at the assembled spirits. "Start from the beginning Sly."

That he does. Fighting against his natural response of only speaking half-truths Sly starts with him being a half-spirit. Welf listens quietly, his gaze locked on him, but he could not return the look. Too afraid of being rejected. "Welf-san after hitting level two Hakase told me that I became a half-spirit. How I can't tell, but from there she introduced me to Sylphie the wind fairy and just earlier today I managed to sense Akiri-san's presence. I wanted to tell you and Chigusa, but I never found the right moment…"

Welf replies quietly. "I see. At least I know now. So, what does that have to do with all the spirits in my smithy?"

Sly dares to look at Welf's face. There he sees neither disgust nor betrayal. "You aren't afraid or angry with me for hiding this? Even though you hate your bloodline, which stems from the blessing of a greater spirit as much as I hate nobles?"

Welf frowns and answers with barely repressed rage. "I never hated the spirit. When I talk about my bloody bloodline, I'm mostly angry at my family. The spirit blessed my line centuries ago, he had no way of knowing how my family would abuse his gift."

Sly blinks once then twice before showing a large smile. "Thanks, Welf. Now as for the spirits in your smithy, I am asking myself the same question. I didn't expect Akiri to pop up in the first layer when I asked my question." Sly turns to the assembled spirits. "So how can we create the alloy Sylphie spoke of?"

Sylphie floats in front of them. "Fine. Astrum ore exists in the second layer of Genkai and is used by elder fire spirits to create armor for spirits. It lets dense mana pass through with little resistance. How to craft it…" Sylphie flutters innocently in front of them. "I don't know."

Welf and Sly look at her in exasperation. "You're telling me I told Welf about spirits, just for you to tell me that you don't know how to make astrum!"

Welf puts a calming hand on his shoulder. "Hey don't be too harsh on the lil pipsqueak there." "How dare you!" "From what I've gathered she is the weakest spirit here." "I am the greatest!" "So, I'm sure one of the other spirits knows more."

The salamander spirit grumbles. "Good. Finally, some progress. Welf, I have been following you for a while. Mortals with connections to spirits and Hephaestus are rare, so you caught my eye. I'll help you two to make some astrum alloy. However, in return, the half-spirit will spend two days every week helping us with his fire for a year."

Sly watches the spirit carefully. Careful of a possible contract. "What do you consider 'helping you with my fire' and what will we be forging? Will it be up to Welf to decide, or will you elect what we make?"

Welf tries to speak up, but Sly shushes him with a tail swipe. "Leave spirit contracts to me. They are binding!"

Akiri touches his mind. 'I'd be the one to guide you. As the most senior spirit, I will elect what you shall craft.'

Sly looks at Akiri for a second before refocusing on the Audax. "If Akiri-san is the one to guide us, I accept to help in whatever capacity Welf may need me for a session similar in length to a dungeon delve, but only if we have the materials needed to work with."

Audax grunts in agreement. "Fine. You work with us fire spirits and Welf for a year, and we'll help you craft astrum alloy whenever you need during that time."

With the words finished, Sly's and Akiri's tails glow faintly for a moment.

Audax laughs roughly. "Perfect, let's get to work!"

1 hour later - Near Valka's Crimson Chamber - Welf POV

The first thing Welf had Sly do, was to prepare the staff for another cast. If they were adding another alloy on top of it they would need somewhere to put it. This led to Sly using a tiny not even 5 millimeter-long ball of foxfire to burn three pathways into the naginata. 1 on every side, from the top, to the spell focus and down to the base, where all three met.

The cast for the naginata blade was already prepared and they would need to cast two molds this time. 'Not quite Welf-san. If you want the weapon to be a true spiritual weapon it must be cast all at once and not be a set of two items.'

Welf grits his teeth. "Fine Akiri. Audax, can I expect your help during the cast to keep the metal fluid, otherwise we might not be fast enough. It will be hard, but we will do this. I'm not backing down from a challenge. This staff will go beyond simple magic swords it will be my proudest creation, a spiritual flame-staff naginata!"

In his bed of coal, Audax shifts his salamander form with a cackle. "That's what I like to hear! Have spirit smith, and we fire spirits shall support you. Do not back down and this project will succeed!"

Welf nods completely serious and turns to Sly, who has just finished burning the pathways into the crimson staff. Akiri steps before them, causing Sylphie to hide behind Sly once more. 'The first step to create spirit alloy is to cleanse the forge. With this many spirits present, it shouldn't take too long. Welf-kun, Sly-chan could you please clean the forge?'

Following Akiri's orders Sly and Welf take out some water and start cleaning out everything around the forge, and even remove the coal, before removing any spare iron, dungeon iron and other pieces of metal he ever spilled over.

The fire spirits meanwhile used their mana to burn through the atmospheric mana with a short chant. From earth's core it ascends! - Incendium! Behind them, Sly heard a faint whisper before the heavy mana of the tier 3 spirit settled over the entire workshop, locking out the atmospheric mana. Even though he was in the first layer Akiri's mana still overpowered Sly's easily. Likely to be at the very top of tier 3 in the second layer. Making his mana in the first the peak of tier 2 with the full mana capacity of a tier 3 spirit.

After they finish Akiri continues. 'Next up we need to perform a ritual bath. It shall increase the mana you will pull into the ritual.'

This led Welf and Sly back to the martial dojo. After a quick bath in the onsen, Sly and Welf wear a clean pair of smithing aprons and return to the smithy. Welf was shivering slightly by now. 'I'm gonna do it. I am gonna forge with the help of spirits. This goes beyond my family, I might not succeed, but even getting the chance to work with spirits is an honor. I will show Ignis that his gift has not been wasted on a family of cowards. I will give it my all and I know Sly has my back, I will not lose!'

The spirits have returned as well with glittering scales and shining fur in the case of Akiri. Which is quickly collected from both Sly and Akiri for the ritual. 'What part of a spirit is used isn't important. Any spiritual material can be used to create astrum metal if the magic inside can bind with it. However, as this staff is specifically made for Sly, using his own fur and the fur of a related spirit of a higher tier, will increase the mana conductivity of the staff for him.'

He and Sly then proceed to brush their tails to collect as much of their fur as they can and prepare it in white bowls beside the mithril. Welf takes the bowls and prepares them before the now clean forge. Not a single piece of metal besides their new ingredients tarnishes its interior.

Akiri nods in appreciation, while Audax steps into the coals, and starts generating heat. Before all the full spirits chant. "Declaramus hoc spiritum cudendi incoeptum. Hoc mortale dignum est, ut mana nostra in suis ductibus et essentia spirituum in hoc metallo ferant."

The ritual begins. Sly summons his foxfire at the 1'500 degrees range and then supports Welf as his smithing assistant. Giving him the perfect hammers and tongs, as he slowly began hammering their fur and magic into the metal. Every one of his swings resounding in the workshop with a clang, and thrumming with magic. But none left the workshop.

The resounding clang of the hammer continues. Every few swings the mithril is heated again to bind the fur of two spirits. Welf was beyond focused with the aid of not only Sly, his best friend but many spirits. 'I must take care. I must not let the mithril melt. NO, I NEED IT TO BIND! The fur will lose its magic if it burns. I can't let Sly down after he trusts me with his biggest secret.'

The magic in the air increases constantly. The spirits added their mana into his swings, but they were his swings. It was his work. He couldn't fail now. He would forge something not even Hephaestus could forge in this layer.

His arms were beginning to grow heavy, his back was burning and his falna was on fire, but Welf did not stop. Sly kept by his side the entire time, stretching from one hour to many until all of them lost track. Giving him the right tools, wiping the sweat running into his eyes. And never once did Welf lose focus.

Which paid off. 'Now give it the final bit. The fur has bound. The magic is imbued in the very metal itself. Melt the astrum metal and finish the ritual.'

Finishing his last swing with a resounding clang Welf pushes the uneven piece of magical metal into the forge and removes the tong, only leaving his strongest crucible pot in the forge. When Sly, Audax, and even Sylphie add more of their mana. The foxfire grew from white with a barely discernible blue hue to a glowing silver fire at least 20 cm in diameter, surrounding the metal in its entirety.

The heat skyrocketed beyond what they used yesterday and Welf could barely feel the mana far denser than even the Middle Floors of the dungeon rushing into the metal. Until, at last, the only mana he sensed was from the dark blue astrum metal!

He could only gawk at it, as he heard a thud next to him. Sly had fallen on his knees and was breathing irregularly, but Akiri hurried him along. 'Now cast the blade, there won't be another chance to do it.'

Welf takes the tongs and pulls out the crucible. It's heat starting to wear on his tongs. But he would need to cast it now. The larger part went into a cast for a blade at the very tip of the staff they made the previous day. As for the rest, it was slowly flowing down three perfect lines, less than 5 millimeters in depth Sly had burned into his staff.

The astrum metal was slow going, but Audax kept feeding the heat with his mana and finally, the last drop entered the staff. Welf closed off the very top and felt a sudden wave of tiredness hit him. His mind felt exhausted like it wasn't even there anymore…

At which point everything turned black.

Near Valka's Crimson Chamber - Akiri POV

The almost 300 years old 3 tailed fox showed a small smile. 'Very good all of you. Audax you may leave and look after the tier 1 fire spirits that partook in your part of the ritual.'

Akiri then turns to Sly and Sylphie. Both are barely conscious and close to Mind Down. The perfect moment to step closer for him. He observes Sly's face and his two tails currently lying on the floor beside him with care. 'I am sorry I couldn't interact with you earlier Shin. But messenger spirits must be called otherwise they can't interact with anybody, not even kin.'

Shaking those thoughts from his mind Akiri quickly brushes his tails against Sly's potion pouch retrieving two mana potions. 'I'll help you once Welf has recovered.'

Sly had heard him, as a faint thought came back. 'Please help him.'

Akiri then steps beside Welf who is laying on his stomach beside the fire staff naginata mold. Clearly at Mind Zero. 'You gave this your all. Your trust could see you harmed in the wrong hands, but with Sly beside you there will always be somebody you can trust. Kitsune loyalty lasts for life… It's good to see Sly make such good friends! Sadao would be glad…'

With a dexterous movement, one of the potions moves in front of Welf, while he uses his other two tails to sit him up. Akiri pops the cork out of the vial and slowly feeds the potion to Welf. He sputters for breath after the first gulp and quickly blinks in confusion.

He merely holds Welf stable and smiles at him. 'Well done, Welf-san. You finished the ritual. There merely remains one step to finalize the weapon. It needs a name. As the guide of this ritual, it is upon me to decide it, but as the creator, I will consider your ideas.'

Welf blinks a few more times, before looking out to the others present. Welf sees Sly and Sylphie sitting next to the forge, clearly confused but not injured, before returning his attention to him. "I have thought upon this for awhile in preparation for this project. My name for this spiritual weapon is the Rasen-jo ni Odoru Fokkusufaiya! (Spiraling Dancing Foxfire)"

Akiri merely sighs. 'A little too long in name for a spiritual weapon, but I think I know now what it shall be called.' With a flick of his now free tail, Akiri grabs onto a strand of mana that remains since he cast it before the ritual. Merely a thought and two runes are pressed into the still-molten side of the blade. The runes are none other than fox and spiral. 'Its name shall be Kogitsune-Maru! (Spiraling Fox)'

Author's Note

Did you think I'd upload on Sunday? Well in that case you have been fooled, as I was as I completely forgot to upload the chapter yesterday. It was ready for almost a month and I still forgot. I hope you enjoyed the chapter it is among my favorites and amusingly took the least time to write. I finished it in barely 5 days.