Hephaestus was no stranger to creating life.
And even more so, she excelled at forging divine artifacts that embodied authority, carriers of power.
Zeus's Aegis, Helios's solar chariot, the many scepters and ornaments of the gods, Hephaestus had crafted most of them.
She was the most creative and skilled artisan of all Olympus.
But this… this thing Eros had presented, this concept of Cloth, was something she had never seen before.
Forging armor as a divine tool? Sure, she had done that. But they were always lifeless shells, tools that only functioned under the direct will of their owners.
Like when Eros borrowed Apollo's divine bow: without Apollo's power flowing through it, it was just an exquisitely crafted bow.
But Eros's Cloth design flipped the rules completely, he wanted to embed divine authority directly into the artifact itself.
That was outright reversing the master–tool relationship.
Wasn't that… dangerous?
Hephaestus imagined the scenario:
Zeus's thunder stolen. Someone else wielding the authority of the sky, throwing lightning and disturbing the world.
The image grew more absurd the more she considered it.
Even the dumbest bard wouldn't make up something that ridiculous.
After all, no matter how powerful a divine artifact was, it was always the god's will that animated it.
That had been Hephaestus's foundational belief: all tools were dead things. At most, they were vessels for divine might.
But now… Eros was proposing something that externalized divine authority itself.
After poring through every design sketch in the stack, Hephaestus fell into a rare moment of silence.
"Well? Can you forge it?"
Eros's tone was casual, but hopeful.
"No. I'm not making that thing for you."
She suppressed the temptation swelling in her chest. The artisan's urge to create warred with her instincts, but she resisted.
"Why not?"
Even though her eyes had gleamed with interest the entire time, she still refused.
"Simple. Your design is cute and all, but where am I supposed to get the divine authority of the stars to forge it with?"
She flipped the blueprints, wagging them at him like a scolding teacher.
But then, Eros pulled something out, and slammed it right on the table.
A shimmering divine core, radiant as a stellar nucleus, glowing with celestial light.
Hephaestus fell silent.
"I've already secured the material. And the so-called Small Cosmos power? That's mine. My personal strength."
He gestured confidently.
The godhood of Astraeus, the Titan god of the stars, gleamed brightly on the table.
"This design is tailored specifically for me."
Hephaestus blinked.
"You're gonna wear all eighty-eight of these yourself?"
"Wait, where did you even get this?!"
That was when the real issue dawned on her.
Astraeus. The defeated Titan. Sealed in Tartarus.
So where had this human gotten his divine essence?
Her expression darkened instantly.
"Take off your mask. Tell me who you really are."
Before, she hadn't minded the mystery. Now? It was a potential crisis.
"You… are you one of Gaia's pawns? Or a follower of Cronus? How did you even get your hands on this?"
The forge roared to life. Flames burst from the furnaces. Even the stone beneath them trembled.
"Hephaestus, calm down. You're misunderstanding something."
Prometheus quickly stepped forward to de-escalate.
Though she too was shocked by what Eros had casually pulled out, she knew it couldn't be related to the primordial traitors.
"You're overthinking it, mighty forge goddess."
Eros slowly removed his mask.
"Sorry I can't say my name aloud, it might reach the ears of a certain jealous woman, but this should be proof enough."
With a snap, a spark of lightning danced on his fingertips, the authority of the sky. Zeus's power.
That alone made everything clear.
Especially when he added:
"A certain jealous woman…"
Of course. It all made sense.
The tension evaporated from Hephaestus's stance.
"Ah. You. The human lover of Father. I'd heard you died."
Her amber eyes scanned Eros's features again, but not with desire or awe.
It was more like an artist inspecting a masterpiece.
"Tch. Such a perfect creation. I'm tempted to clone you, honestly."
She leaned close, almost pressing her face to his, as if performing some formal greeting.
Her breath was hot, but her skin… was cold.
Like steel.
Eros instinctively stepped back.
"Now that you know who I am, and the materials are all here, can you forge it?"
"Tch."
She tapped the desk, visibly torn.
"To forge divine essence into an item mortals can use… to manifest authority…"
"Correction," Eros interrupted. "Only those with strong enough Small Cosmos."
"Same difference," she waved him off.
"Authority is something only gods can wield. Even among us, it's not a free-for-all."
Like how Amphitrite was fated to become Queen of the Sea, a god's potential was often determined by their very nature.
This wasn't a meritocracy where a dog could suddenly become King of Olympus.
"If I forge something like this, it means authority could be transferred from gods to tools."
"The balance we've kept for so long, gods in harmony because their powers are limited and distinct, would collapse."
"What happens if any god can claim multiple domains by wearing these things? It'll be chaos."
And worse, she didn't say it, but she knew.
If she created such tools, she'd be the one responsible for starting that era of chaos.
Gods turning on each other. Absorbing one another's essence. Crafting tools from each other's divine corpses.
A world of nightmare.
"You're wrong."
Eros remained completely calm.
"You're overestimating the impact."
"What you fear? It's already a joke. The cap you think this could break, some beings are born past that."
"There are dozens of gods in this world who can already hold all divine essences at once."
He listed them in his mind:
Oceanus, Gaia, Chaos, Eurynome the Serpent, Nyx, Cronus, Ananke…
Even Hecate and himself, Eros, had the potential.
"With that many cosmic bigshots, why worry about this one little trick?"
"If someone could become the Creator God just by absorbing divine bits, what would be the point of talent?"
"Not everyone can be a Saint."
Hephaestus went silent.
She realized it, she'd been overthinking again.
Just because someone held a tool didn't mean they could master it.
"So you see," Eros added with a smile. "If it really were a problem, Zeus would've shown up already to stop me."
Hephaestus sighed.
"Fine. You've convinced me. For now."
"But I've never made something like this before. Especially this Small Cosmos energy of yours, I've never even heard of it."
"So?"
"So… I can't promise success. Not until I study it first."
Her gaze sharpened again, focused on Eros's body.
That weird scientist glint was back.
"Study? How?"
Eros's spine straightened as he instinctively pulled his robes tighter.
He, Eros, could endure hardship, but not that kind.
If she tried to disguise something shady as 'scientific research', he'd walk.
"What do you mean how? You said it's custom-tailored, right? So obviously, I need to familiarize myself with your body."
"And your Small Cosmos. I need to feel it. Personally."
Hephaestus's voice was flat. Her lips curled slightly.
"Perfectly logical reason, right?"
Damn. With a proper excuse like that, how could he refuse?
After a theatrical pause, Eros nodded.
"Alright. When do we start? Now?"
"Heh. I like you. You're just the kind of guy who acts fast. Suits me."
She smiled eagerly and stood.
"Come. Let's begin with a basic body checkup."
Prometheus stood behind them silently.
She thought to herself,
"Wait… Hephaestus doesn't even know medicine, right?"
"So what exactly is she checking? Growth rate?"