Golden Artificer c12

The pair walked through Orario's marketplace. Marcus checked the prices. His lips twitched as the prices went up.

“I suppose I have another reason why I want to blow Evilus up again.” He said to his maid as he looked annoyed.

“With how much Loki Familia gave you, you should not worry about money,” Alfia said lazily as she followed him.

“I should, But I am not used to living with finite resources.” He exclaimed with a disappointed sigh.

“...finite? Is this some sort—”

“It means resources which end. You thought that I needed resources before?”

“...Wait… you telling me you used to make things from nothing?” She tried to grasp how he could do that. Not even gods with their arcanium could make stuff just pop from nowhere… There should be an A to B to C process that allows items to appear.

“There is no such thing as ‘nothing’.” He shook his head as he continued to look for that glorious meat.

“I used to have something called Triple Core Reactor. In simple terms, it's a miniature planet. Something which I could make now. But the other thing which I could not is the Matter Converter. In simple terms, it's automated Alchemy.” 

“So you could make energy from this reactor and then turn that energy into things, like food or water?” 

“Precisely.”

“...I see. What is stopping you now?” She asked him with ever-growing curiosity.

“Difference in magic.” He replied.

“Magic here requires more steps than from where I came from.”

He clarified what he meant.

“If I wanted to make my Matter Conventerr, it would be around 50,000 times more difficult,” he said with a sigh.

“But I am not going to give up that easily. I might create something in between, and I might be able to create it again in some shape or form.” 

Alfia slowly nodded. Whatever it was sounded to her like some sort of Magnus Opum of her Master.

“...I see… well, I will help you with whatever I can.”

“Good to her.” He nodded at her, grateful that his new maid had stopped resisting and was now part of his camp.

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

In the Tower of Babel, Gods have gathered to discuss Evilus' recent actions.

But more importantly, to discuss Marcus Goldman.

The appearance of such a powerful being has piqued everyone's attention.

“Now, let’s discuss Marcus Goldman. I have heard that Astraea’s Familia and Loki’s Familia made the most contact with him.” One of the gods said with a grin, as he wanted all the details.

“From what I know is that he is some reincarnation of Grand Sorcerer. My Familia’s captain said that he is a weapon smith and wields an array of strange magic without any chants.” Loki said with a grumpy tone.

She was pissed that Marcus did something to HER Ais. The girl was not the same after this. The blonde girl started reading books and, on top of all, became very obedient. 

While all these traits are great, what annoyed Loki is that it was not her or her Familia who changed her!

But this guy! Who is not of her Familia!

‘Humph! Just you wait! I will pin you down and force you to join my Familia!’

What is interesting for the Gods is that Marcus is not part of any familia. This allows him to be fluid and interact with all familias.

After Loki, it was Astraea’s turn. Unlike Loki, who looked more like a guy than a girl, Astraea is a gorgeous brown-haired beauty. 

“Unlike Loki, my Familia barely interacted. But from what the girls understood, he has ample experience.” The Goddess said with a thoughtful tone as she thought over the words he said to his girls.

To think that he could easily make them question everything is something she never expected.

It doesn’t help that Ebirus challenged their beliefs beforehand.

“I see.”

“And what about Alfia, the ‘Silence’ of Hera’s Familia? She serves him now. She is another level 7. Her just being with him makes him one of the strongest factions in the whole city.”

It's funny how, just by mentioning that every single God gathered here from minor familias, has their greed piqued. They all want those two in their Familias. If they have them, they will become major players immediately.

“True. Then I suppose… may the best one win?” 

“H-Hold! He interacted with us the most! He should join us!” Loki slammed her hand on the table.

“You already have a bunch of level 5’s…” One of them complained.

“A couple of 6…” Loki said with a mosquito voice while looking down.

“Haah?” 

“Finn and Riveria levelled up after I checked their status yesterday.” The God of Mischief clarified.

“...Damn…” 

While there was a commotion, one of the seats was empty, and that one belonged to Freya, who was not in the meeting.

Perfectly honest, after she saw Marcus' soul, which reminded her of the starry night sky, she couldn’t control herself and wanted to acquire such a person as soon as possible.

Now that her strongest fighter is a level 7, she has a good shot at getting him under her spell.

~~~

“As I said. We have company.” Alfia said without even looking. She could sense several people following them.

“Wonderful. I doubt anyone is going to miss them.” Marcus smiled. His smile was wicked. People of this world have no idea how dangerous a proper alchemist is. Especially him, who mastered life and could turn dirt into gold.

People haven’t realised that if he can make dirt into gold, what about people themselves?

To Marcus, these people are nothing more than working resources.

“...Are you planning to end them?” Alfia asked with a curious tone.

“Yes, of course. They are walking resources. You do realise that I am an alchemist,” he said with a smirk as he, on purpose, decided to walk towards less-used roads.

He realised that whatever God wanted him couldn’t wait for evening.

And that is just sad. You have been alive for a thousand years, yet you have not developed some sense of patience?

Alfia swiftly realised that he was intent on dealing with them now. She will assist with whatever she can. 

A few moments later, four people dressed in black appeared in front of them. They looked quite short.

‘Pallums?’

Then, behind them, two more appeared.

“Is this supposed to be an insult to my Master and me? Your Goddess, send a couple of level 5s and a level 6?” Alfia turned around and faced the big, tall guy. 

“I have slain Zald. Such feat allowed me to level up.” Then, his hand moved on the weapon on his back.

“You two better come with us. Our Goddess wants a word.”

“... I should be impressed?” The black-clad girl replied with a mocking tone.

“We are on the same level now.” As the big guy was about to pull out his big sword. All of them dropped to the ground.

“W-What the fuck is this!?” The cat person who was next to the big guy started to swear.

“Fundamental force: Gravity. The same force which allows you to walk on the ground leisurely has been weaponised against you.” Marcus turned around and looked at them.

“While you are at the same level as my Alfia—” The silver-haired girl blushed when she heard that.

“You need at least a hundred thousand people to be able to fight me. You should have realised that levels to me are meaningless.” As he said that, he showed his glowing gauntlet.

“You are facing a being who conquered life, destroyed planet size civilisation and traversed void.” He said while walking over and pressing his foot down on the swearing cat person.

“That is why. You all shall be an example.”

“W-What is happening!?” The guy tried to scream in pain, but at that moment, Marcus slammed his face into the stone ground.

Slowly, everyone realised that he was turning the cat guy into some sort of black material.

Alfia’s eyes widened as she realised what he meant! Even people could be transmuted! 

Regardless of level! Such realisation made her feel that her knees would give up. Thank her Goddess that she didn’t resist that much. Now she realised how terrifying her new Master can be when he is pissed off!

“A-Allen!” The big and tall guy exclaimed as horror filled his eyes.

“Don’t worry; you are next, and then I will go after your Goddess. If she is pretty, I might turn her into a toy.~” Marcus’ eyes glowed with sadism.

“Y-You!!!” He tried to stand up, but at that moment, something broke…

He coughed up blood at that moment.

“You think that you can push through with sheer willpower? It’s not magic that is holding you down but the land itself. No living being can resist when land itself is calling for you to drop on your knees and beg for your life.” As he said that, the cat guy by the name turned into rubber. Except for his back, which became a paper sheet with his falna.

Marcus won’t miss the chance to study Falna.

“So much for level 6. It appears that a higher level only makes you suffer for longer.” The alchemist joked as he removed his leg and looked at the tall Boaz.

“You are next. Don’t worry. I promise to make you into something useful.” He said with an honest tone. 

“F-Fuck you…”

“That’s the spirit!” Marcus exclaimed with a proud tone as he once again slammed his foot on the guy he started to turn into rubber.

Alfia could only watch how Marcus turned one of the best current Adventurers into crafting material.

After the transformation, he turned and looked at the group of Pallums. They looked petrified.

“Aren’t you guys just cute? None of you are begging to spare you. Quite the loyalty you have.” Marcus was impressed. None of them are snivelling under his foot and begging to spare them.

“These are Goddess Freya’s Familia members.”

The moment Marcus heard that Goddess' name, he frowned. He immediately lost interest. He thought someone with a better reputation would come after him, like Astraea or someone like Artemis. Maybe even some sexy Egyptian Goddess counterpart. But it was the Norse slut.

“I see.”

With a hand motion, all of the Pallum just rot away and dies.

“To think that I will have the attention of a slut.” Marcus complained as he lowered his hand.

“...You are the first person to call her that way.”

“Oh? Am I wrong? She is Goddess of Beauty and Sex, no?” Marcus frowned. Was he wrong? He has heard about Loki, who was a prankster. He saw her banner, then Astraea, Goddess of Justice, and Hephaestus, Goddess of the Forge. Then Thanatos, God of Death.

Though Ebirus had a different Divinity, from what he heard, he was God of Evil… So, might it be different?

“Not quite. No one had the gall to call her a slut. Not even other Gods. Though she does have rumours of charming people to join her Familia.”

Marcus' frown returned with force when he heard that.

“Oh, is that right? I might as well retrain my mental barriers then.” The alchemist replied as he proceeded to collect the remaining weapons and armour. He just got more resources to work with.

“What is that?” For a second, she forgot about the fact people died and instead asked what he meant by ‘mental barriers’.

“It's an art alchemists use when they work on something volatile. Most of the common alchemists work with liquids. But the better ones can work with hard materials. The thing about this art is that you can control your memories, double check your old memories or build mental barriers when you have people who can use mind magic like charms.”

“Do you think it will work against Goddess Charm?” Alfia asked curiously. She wondered if it would.

“Depends. Is her Arcanium truly sealed? If it is, then it’s most likely. “ He shrugged at her. As long as they don’t use Divinity, it should hold. In the end, it will be a battle of wills and energies.

Something like charm is dangerous as you can’t see it or deflect it. But mental barriers level out the fighting field.