Mountain of the Immortals

"By the Underworld, that’s amazing!" Artemis exclaimed. "Thirty-eight percent increase, and considering all of the buffs I can get in a full party, I'm getting critical hits from two out of three arrows I shoot. And now those will hurt even more!"

"What can I say, except ‘you're welcome’…" Ares said, and took a few steps back. "I'll meet you later, I guess? Need to talk with my people after I clean myself up."

As he walked away, I heard the wet sound of his feet inside his boots. It was both comical and frightening at the same time, but I supposed that was the nature of gods as seen from the perspective of other deities.

"Did you know that we'd get XP like that at the end of a siege battle?" Hephaestus asked.

"I had no idea," I admitted.

"I knew the Dark Energy would award us something, but I didn't know it would be that much XP," Aphrodite said. "To be fair, the information I had on the subject was from sieges involving mortals, where I guess the numbers and powers are completely different."

"So, what's the plan now?" Artemis asked. "I've sent word to the mines that it’s safe for people to come out again, but what do we want to do?"

"I think we should first get up to speed with our upgrades," I suggested, "before people start appearing with questions and requests. Did you all check your skills?"

"I did," Artemis replied first. "Nothing new. Upgrades on my best passive and active skills, and of course A-grade mastery."

"Say, Artemis," Hephaestus said, "You must love that C-grade bow of yours a lot. You must have had it for a long time."

"For centuries," she replied. "I've never seen a bow higher than +17, and it's much stronger than any B-grade bow I've encountered too."

"I guess what I'm trying to say," Hephaestus said, looking a bit intimidated by Artemis's love for her weapon, "is would you be open to trying an A-grade bow? I mean, only if it's stats are better than what you have now, of course."

"I don't know," Artemis said, seemingly trying her best not to offend him. "I don't doubt you could create something stronger and more beautiful than this bow. But this is my bow, you know. From its name to its core. I don't even care about it being +17 anymore. I just feel like it's part of me now."

"What if I used it as a base to craft you an A-grade one?"

"Wait, people can do that?" I asked, confused.

"People can't," Hephaestus corrected me, "but I'm not people. I’m the god of the forge and I can do things others can't."

"What would it involve exactly?" Artemis asked hesitantly.

"I’d base my whole crafting process around the weapon," Hephaestus explained. "It wouldn’t exactly be like upgrading your existing weapon, but rather stripping it down to its core and using that for your A-grade weapon."

"Would it still be the old bow?"

"The name will transfer to your new bow, and the feeling of using it will be the same. I’ve tried it before with C-grade to B-grade weapons. It feels like you're using your old weapon, only it's better in every way. Stronger, faster, more well balanced."

"I suppose it could use a bit of balancing," Artemis admitted. "It's only C-grade, after all. But wait, is there any chance it might not work and I'll lose it forever? If so, I'd rather—"

"Out of the question," Hephaestus said before she could finish. "The transfer will be successful. I can say that with absolute certainty. The only thing that isn't certain is how much of your existing enchantment level I'll be able to transfer into your new weapon."

"Hold on," I said. "You can move enchantments from one weapon to the other?"

"Only with specific powerful weapons," Hephaestus explained. "I can't enchant a simple E-grade weapon to +20 and then pull those enchantments into an A-grade weapon if that's what you're thinking."

"Yeah, it figures that the Dark Energy would never allow for such a loophole to be exploited," Aphrodite pitched in.

"And you're right," Hephaestus agreed. "It's mostly a quirk I discovered after centuries of crafting. Certain weapons of importance allow for it, and I’m sure the bow of Artemis would classify."

"How much of the enchantment could you actually keep though?" I asked.

"The most I've managed to maintain was around three-quarters. The rest was lost in the process."

"So you might be able to make her a +13 A-grade bow?" I said, opening my eyes wide. "That's insane!"

"First off, you're rounding up. Second, when I got that high percentage, it was C-grade to B-grade while this would be C-grade to A-grade. I don't expect that high of a conversion rate this—"

"Let's do it," Artemis interrupted, holding her red-glowing bow forward.

"Are you sure?" Hephaestus asked, not quite reaching out to take the bow from her hands just yet.

"Yes, I am!" Artemis exclaimed and shook the weapon. "Just take it before I change my mind. Do what you can with it. I think it makes sense to upgrade it. We need to be as strong as we can if we're to fight an actual titan, and it would be selfish of me to cling on to my bow for sentimental reasons when it might not be the strongest option."

"Thank you, Artemis," I said, and she nodded with a smile that looked a little forced.

"I’ll do my best," Hephaestus said as he took the weapon off the goddess of the hunt and put it in his inventory. "In that case, I think I'd better get back to crafting. We’ve got a lot of equipment to prepare."

"Hephaestus?” I said. “I want to be there when you craft the titan-killing spear."

"Don't worry about that, I'm leaving that for last," he said, and then turned to face me with a puzzled expression. "One thing though. You said spear? I was thinking more of a sword?"

"A sword?" I said, trying to hide my surprise. "I mean... I haven't used a sword for centuries. I'm sorry, did I tell you that it should be a sword? Because if I did, that was a massive screw up on my—"

"I told you he was going to lose his words," Aphrodite said, chuckling.

Hephaestus burst out laughing too.

"How is this funny?" I asked, failing to see how they might be enjoying this.

But Aphrodite and Hephaestus seemed to find it hilarious. Artemis was smiling too, but was still visibly shaken about her choice to let go off her bow.

"If you could see you face when you thought I'd honestly make you a sword, you would understand how funny it was," Hephaestus said.

"Hey, you didn't tell us," Aphrodite called to him before he left. "Did you get anything good with your new level?"

"I certainly did," he said, nodding. "The ability to craft you A-grade weapons and armor. Isn't that the greatest?"

"I meant, apart from that?"

"Same old, same old upgrades," he replied with his back turned, before he set off toward his workshop, whistling as he went.

"What about you?" I asked Aphrodite. "You know you're the most important person whenever we gain levels."

"I most certainly do know that," she replied, as though that was the most natural thing for me to say but I could tell that she still enjoyed hearing it. "However, I think the A-grade mastery is the only good thing the Dark Energy has gifted us at this level."

"You mean you didn't get anything else?" Artemis asked.

"Oh, I did get a few upgrades alright. It's just that it's fairly basic stuff. Armor masteries, weapon mastery, increase in Magic Defense. No upgrades to any of my buffs, I'm afraid."

"That's alright," I said. "We're more than perfectly happy with what we have right now."

"No joke," Artemis said. "Between Aphrodite’s buff and Ares', I can kill almost anything with a single arrow."

"And I can withstand any attacks thrown at me," I added.

"Will that be enough for Cronus though?" Aphrodite asked.

"It'll have to be," I said. "But first, let's wait and see what kind of gear Hephaestus can craft for us. I should have asked him how long it might take him to craft everything."

"I did already. He said he'll probably need a few days," Aphrodite replied.

"That's great. We'll be done before the deadline given to us by Hyperion. Hopefully we'll be done with my father by the time the deadline comes too."

"Just to clarify," Artemis said, focusing on me, "when you say ‘be done with your father,’ do you mean killing the king of titans, taking the throne of all the Greek realms for yourself, and establishing a secondary city for our guild on Mount Orthys?"

"Yes," I said begrudgingly. When she put it like that, it did seem like a lot to achieve in just a few days.