Golden Artificer c20

Hephaestus felt this strange mana wash her over. It felt like it was doing something to her body.

‘To think that a mortal’s ritual could work on me…’ 

At first, she didn’t believe it. It was a simple and aimless shot at something she had no hope.

But now, she can feel something is happening to her right eye. There is a gentle burning sensation.

The red-haired goddess pulled out a knife she always had with her. She checked the blade; there was enough reflection on it.

So she removed her eye patch and looked at her eye.

Her eye widened to a large extent as she saw a perfect eye! Her deformity has been fixed!

“Incredible! Simply incredible!” 

Happiness washed the Goddess as she no longer needed to cover her right eye.

“It appears it has worked, Goddess Hephaestus.” Alfia noticed that the Goddess was not covering her eyes anymore.

“It appears so. To think that something like this could work.” The Goddess looked at the floor, seeing the circle had dulled to some extent.

It appears the mana has been used to affect her body. It still has some energy left.

“Well, I never thought my disease would be fixed either.” 

“Simply incredible. To think something like this could work!” The Goddess exclaimed with a happy tone.

This development changes everything! It’s only a matter of time for other Gods and Goddesses to move. The Goddess of Forging needs to establish her territory.

“However, Goddess Hephaestus, you used this without permission.” Alfia then reminded her about a small detail.

“...Right…hehehe… I will think of something~.”

She then walked out of the circle. She still needs to adjust to looking at things with two eyes instead of one.

After that, they walked to another room where Marcus was sitting in the middle of the circle.

“...Hmm. Another complex circle.” Hephaestus tried to think what it was, but half of her mind was away—basking in the euphoria of having her eye fixed. By this point, she only wants to hug Marcus and take him to her Familia, regardless of what he thinks.

However, she resists this urge because she understands him enough to know that he doesn’t want that and will most likely rebel in a gruelling fashion.

“Yes, This time around, he altered it in a bunch of ways and spent millions in Valis’ worth of magic stones.” The Maid clarified.

“No doubt.” The Goddess can see empty chests at the side.

After a few more minutes, Marcus opened his eyes and slowly stood up. The ritual circle stopped glowing.

The Alchemist wobbled for a couple of seconds as he had to orient where he was.

“Ugh… What a weird experience.” He said that as he walked out of the circle. He then noticed an extra person.

“Hephaestus?” Marcus noticed her standing next to Alfia.

“How are you feeling?” The Goddess asked with a concerned tone.

“I am fine. I have used a ritual that syncs my body with my soul. At this moment, they are not fully compatible.” He explained to her as he shook his head.

“I see. I would like to speak with you once you are fully healed. How long will this take you?” The red-haired Goddess asked him.

Marcus was not in the best condition to see the changes in her, like missing an eye patch or different behaviour.

“You can come tomorrow. I will be fine after some good sleep.”

“Oh, Good. Then I will see you tomorrow.” 

“Alright. Alfia shows her the way. In the meantime, I have to get something to eat.”

“...Understood.” 

It was not that Hephaestus needed guidance, as she knew the way. Regardless, as they left, Marcus erased the circle with some basic magic.

The ritual was deadly for anyone but him. So he swiftly erased it. 

‘I can use this room for something else.’

After cleaning, the alchemist went to the kitchen and started cooking a huge amount of food. Even midway, he was eating something like an apple or grapes.

The reason for his hunger is that his body is ‘reacting’ to his soul. In other words, his soul is that of an adult. That means that his body is ‘forced’ to catch up.

More or less, it was put into a ‘shock’. It’s like it was forced to wake up, and now it needs to start working. While he won’t become an adult in a year or two, he will be there in half of what is required.

The downside of such rapid growth is that he will consume twice as much food.

“Are you okay?” Alfia returned to the kitchen after showing Hephaestus out.

“My appetite has been doubled. My body is in shock, I will be consuming twice as much food from now on.” He explained to her as he finished an apple.

“...Are you forcing yourself to grow?” She asked him, as this was the only thing she could think of.

“In a way, yes.” He proceeded to eat another apple as the smell of cooked chicken started to spread through the kitchen.

“Isn’t it dangerous?” She asked with a concerned voice.

“Normally? Yes, but I have another ritual on standby to heal me in case anything happens.” He replied after chewing and swallowing bites of apple.

“...About that, Goddess Hephaestus used the healing ritual,” Alfia said with a small, embarrassed look. She was ashamed for letting the Goddess use it without asking him first.

“...That’s just great.” He groaned hearing that. He then pondered what to do. Well, there was only one option for him, and that was to use the magic stones rapidly to recharge the ritual, that is, if the pain became unbearable.

“Sorry that I let her use it without permission.” She apologised. Marcus looked weirdly at her as it sounded…wrong to hear her apologise. As he is confident that she rarely apologises.

“It's fine; she is a goddess, and I doubt one can easily raise one's hands against one.” He shrugged, the alchemist didn’t fault her for that.

“Not quite. While killing a God is strictly forbidden, it's not unheard of.” 

“Semantics, but I understand where it is coming from.” He smirked at her, understanding what she meant. The Gods lose more from dying than humans. Humans just die, while gods return to Tenkai, where they lick their wounds for an extended amount of time.

“Good, now let me help you.” She started to worry seeing him just keep on it. The silver-haired maid proceeded to assist him in cooking while allowing him to eat instead of multitasking.

~~~

After eating, the pair went to sleep. While quite early, Marcus needed to rest as his body was shutting down. In other words, he is falling midway through eating his chicken. 

She saw that he swiftly went to his bed after cleaning himself up.

The maid went along the way as she needed to make sure he was fine. 

After hearing him fall asleep, she sighed in relief, not realising that she was holding her breath. Then, she stopped in her tracks. She heard a sound similar to bones popping!

Her eyes widened as she walked over to his side. She heard his knees making a sound, as did the other parts.

‘Is he growing right before my eyes!?’

She thought to herself as the maid decided to watch him closely. If he was growing rapidly before her eyes, then he would definitely need that ritual, as such rapid growth would hurt his body afterwards.

After a while, Alfia sighed in relief and went downstairs to clean up the kitchen. It appeared the ritual was a success, at least to her understanding.

Once she was done with all the cleaning, the silver-haired girl went to the bathroom, where she enjoyed a proper bath. She was able to relax with Marcus deep asleep; no one would slip into her bath now. 

An hour later she finally joined her Master in the bed and went to sleep.

~~~~~~Meanwhile~~~~~~

“Hephaestus… what happened?” Hestia asked her friend when she saw the red-haired Goddess walk in with extra vigour in her steps.

Not that she needed to reply, as the twin-tailed blue-eyed girl exclaimed when she saw her friend’s face!

“No way! What happened? Who fixed your eye?” She asked with disbelief. Such a birth defect is something one couldn’t fix before.

Yet, here she was! All healed!

“Marcus Goldman has a ritual site that heals people,” Hephaestus said in a happy voice, but her smile morphed into a serious gaze.

“I won’t let him join your familia. No, I will make sure he will join mine.” 

Hestia grimaced when she heard that.

‘Right! As if he will join mine! He looked at me like I was some freeloader!’ Internally, she huffed and puffed, thinking about that encounter.

“Don’t worry, I don't think he sees me as worthy to be his Goddess.” The twin-tails Goddess dismissively waved her hand as she tried to play down her serious attitude.

“Hmm. I suppose you are right. I will see him tomorrow as he just went through a ritual and is resting at the moment.” Hephaestus casually mentioned his situation, perking up Hestia's interest.

“What ritual?”

“Soul and body synchronisation, according to him.” The Smith Goddess commented.

“...What does it do?” She asked her with even more confusion.

“I will see it tomorrow because I don’t know either.” The red-haired goddess had a strained smile, saying she doesn’t, which is the most frustrating thing for a crafter like her.

“...It should be something else if you don’t know Hephaestus.” Hestia’s comment made her eyebrows twitch.

“Is this how you show your respect to your ‘house owner’, Hestia?” The smith Goddess asked with a growing wicked grin.

“Hold! It was a joke, Hephaestus!” Hestia started to worry that the Goddess in front of her would arbitrarily increase her debt!

“Then, instead of joking, you should think how you will pay me back!” Hephaestus snapped back at Hestia's reply.

~~~~~~Next Morning~~~~~~

As Marcus’ eyes snapped he could sense Alfia hugging him tightly. The silver haired beauty’s assets were pushed into his sides as he saw her snuggling into him.

‘Well, I never imagined her becoming such a teddy bear after a couple of days of ‘training’.’

Marcus thought, feeling that his mouth was dry and his body demanded liquids.

“Nhnn~ are you waking up?” She asked after sensing him waking up.

“Yeah, I need water.” He spoke with a dry tone.

When she heard that, she let him go, and Marcus, like a zombie, ‘glided’ to the kitchen, where he grabbed a bowl and started filling it with water.

Once the bowl was full, he started to drink it like it was the first water he had had in weeks.

After drinking the entire bowl a satisfied groan escaped from his lips.

He placed the bowl back and then walked to the workshop, where he stood next to the door frame and inspected his height.

The alchemist left a mark on the last day before the ritual, and now, a night has passed after the ritual. Bodies grow the most when resting, so there should be some indication that he is growing.

Once he marked his height, he pulled back and inspected. The growth was evident; he gained a couple of inches in a single night.

“Damn, I got around two inches in a single night.” He said after comparing the two marks.

“That’s impressive growth,” Alfia said as he heard him speak.

“Tell that to my knees.” Marcus chuckled sarcastically as he started to stretch himself.

“I want you to start making breakfast while I will hit the gym.” He motioned towards the doors, which led to the makeshift gym.

“As you wish. Do you have anything specific you want?” She asked him.

“You can start with chicken. I will join you midway after I take my shower,” Marcus said while starting to walk towards the gym.

“Very well.”