"So," Kaelis said instead, leaning back in his chair, tone relaxed.
"What made someone like you rush all the way out here over what should've been a simple transaction?"
He looked straight at the old god before him, directly making eye contact.
They had settled down around a small table inside the shop after Kaelis had introduced himself.
Goibniu stared at him for a second, realizing his earlier reaction was disrespectful on his part.
He then let out a rough chuckle.
"Straight to it, huh?" he said, rubbing his beard before his expression sharpened again.
"Fine. I'll be just as direct. That sword—where did you get it?" He pointed at the sword, now placed on the table between them.
Kaelis met his gaze calmly. "I made it."
For half a heartbeat, Goibinu's eyes focused on Kaelis's words.
God's in this world are very perceptive beings able to detect lies in mortal words.
Though it's a very effective ability, like any other lie detector, its flaws lies in how the lie is perceived by the person telling the lie and not being reliable against other lie detectors, eg. Other gods.
And even though Kaelis is not unaffected by the ability, his words were true but not complete.
Then again, both confirmation was enough to satisfy the god.
Goibniu's eyes lit up.
"You—!" He stopped himself, then laughed, loud , slapping the table hard enough to break it.
For a sealed old god, his strength is surprisingly high.
"By the forge, I never knew it was possible! Who would've thought such creation was possible!"
The young man standing behind him stiffened.
"I–Is it really that impressive, Lord Goibniu?" he asked nervously. "I mean… I couldn't tell. It just looked… really fancy."
Goibniu turned on him immediately—no anger could be seen on his face, just genuine excitement.
"That's because you're still looking at the surface," he said, pointing a finger at the boy, grinning.
"All those decorations? The tassel, the guard, the finish? They might give the impression it's a ceremonial sword—they're practically begging you to underestimate it, but don't let it fool you, Liam."
His voice, trying to keep steady as he imparts a small lesson unto the boy.
He leaned forward, voice dropping with excitement.
"But the scabbard hides perfection itself."
The young man blinked. "P–Perfection…?"
"The blade," Goibniu continued, eyes gleaming as he grabbed the sword and unsheathed it, discarding the scabbard like it was useless.
He traced his finger across the blade as it sheened.
"No weak points. No imbalance. No stress lines. Not a single flaw where force would disperse wrong. It's the kind of blade that makes you wonder if it was forged—or if it simply appeared."
The workshop had gone completely silent.
Kaelis turned his gaze to a far corner.
"To make something like that," Goibniu continued his lesson, almost to himself, "you'd need skill surpassing the divine. Or a god."
He paused, then clicked his tongue.
"Even for me… it'd be difficult. Even with my power."
As the god of smithing, his skill was the highest one could achieve in reality only rivaled by Hephaestus, the goddess of forging.
And neither one of them could—even with their divine powers couldn't hope to create a perfect blade.
At most, their creation would be overpowered with powers surpassing the previous generation.
But never would their skill reach the level of this blade.
Liam's eyes widened.
The other smiths who had followed their god froze in place, shock written plainly across their faces.
A god…outdone by a mortal in their field of divinity…? This is unheard of!
All their gazes flashed onto Kaelis with admiration. To be acknowledged by their god was one thing, but being his equal and possibly greater…
Goibniu muttered under his breath, barely audible.
"…I need to show this to Hephaestus."
Kaelis let the praise wash over him, a faint smile tugging at the corners of his lips.
He hadn't expected this kind of attention—certainly not from a god—but who was he to complain.
Keep the wanking me.
Still, he found it amusing.
He hadn't thought at all that the blade itself, rather than the material, would be what caught Goibniu's attention.
The Nullstone alloy he'd used was rare and otherworldly, yes—something most blacksmiths would drool over—but Kaelis had assumed the smiths here would care more about the metal's properties than the sword's form.
Apparently, gods didn't think that way.
Of course, Kaelis thought quietly, I never really considered that a god could be impressed by the appeal of a blade itself.
And yet, here they were.
Goibniu was practically vibrating with excitement as he sniffed the sword, and Liam and the other smiths staring at him like he'd just performed a miracle.
What they didn't know and what Kaelis found mildly entertaining was that the sword hadn't been forged by hand at all.
Every curve, its edge along with every tiny detail had been generated by his ability.
He had fed in the design—yes, but his ability had processed the raw materials he'd studied, and constructed the sword from top to bottom.
The result? A blade that was flawless beyond human—and apparently divine—capabilities.
No hammer, no forge, no sweat.
Just perfection distilled directly from his ability.
It had transformed the raw, unprocessed Nullstone alloy into a 101% processed material to be used to create a sword that bore no imperfections whatsoever.
A blade made perfect from inception.
Kaelis leaned back in his chair, spinning the short sword lazily on his fingertip, watching Goibniu's reverent handling of the blade.
He hadn't lied to the god.
It was technically true that he had made it.
But Goibniu didn't realize that Kaelis' definition of "made" didn't involve a forge, a hammer, or mortal skill—it involved something far… less conventional.
Cause at the end of the day, his ability was him and he was the ability.
It was one thing to craft a blade with your hands.
It was another entirely to command the very essence of materials and bring perfection into existence.
And Kaelis? He'd done exactly that.
He just hadn't expected the divine attention it would draw.
Yet somehow, it made this little visit even more entertaining than he'd anticipated.
Goibniu set the sword down with a slow sigh, running a hand through his beard.
'I still can't figure out how you did this,' he thought to himself.
No matter how much he inspected, he couldn't figure out or learn anything from the blade.
That's to be expected, it had no methods.
He shook his head, clearly a little unnerved. Even for a god, this was unusual.
Then he spotted the short sword spinning casually on Kaelis' fingertip.
"And that one… you made this too?" he asked, leaning forward.
Kaelis nodded, setting it down beside the first one. "Yep. Same method."
Goibniu picked it up, inspecting it closely before nodding. "Another perfect blade…"
He looked back at Kaelis, now fully focused. "So, what are you planning to do with these?"
"Sell them. Trade them for metals. Nothing fancy."
Goibniu blinked. "Trade them? For metals?"
Kaelis shrugged. "Yeah. One piece of each good metal, maybe some cash. That's it."
Goibniu stared at him like he'd lost his mind. "You do realize how much you're underselling these, right?"
Kaelis smirked. "I don't need much. Just one piece of each. Done."
The god shook his head, half amused, half exasperated.
"You're unusual… but I like it. If you ever need my help, I'll do what I can. You've made something even I can't replicate easily."
Kaelis nodded, before resting the sword on the table.
"Fair enough," he said.
Goibniu let out another long sigh, muttering, "Unbelievable… absolutely unbelievable."
Chapter 81 end.
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Had to pull out a dictionary for this chapter.