I Just Awakened My Sharingan, and You're Telling Me This Is DanMachi?

The steady ring of hammer strikes once again echoed through the forge.

Ryota didn't rest — in fact, he never even considered resting.

The sword for (compensating) Ais was done, so next on the agenda was forging a weapon truly his own.

At the iron table stacked with materials, Ryota carefully picked out the three rarest items he'd bought from the Adventurer's Guild marketplace.

These were the keystones he'd saved specifically to forge his ultimate sword.

This time, he wasn't trying to replicate anything — he was determined to create a Kusanagi Sword that was completely, unmistakably his.

Flames surged, the forge temperature pushed to its limit.

Lightning-nature chakra flowed through his palm, sinking into the molten metal, interwoven with fire-nature chakra. Before the sword blank had even taken shape, he was already "pre-injecting" the dual chakra elements.

It was an incredibly dangerous, brutally demanding technique.

Anyone else attempting it would have ended up with a ruined blank or a catastrophic forge explosion.

But Ryota was perfectly calm.

His chakra control, refined by countless hours of observing, refining, and forging with the Sharingan, had reached a near-superhuman level. Every thread of chakra he fed in was as precise as if it had been calculated by a machine.

He even began weaving circuits inside the sword's spine with lightning chakra, while sculpting explosive strike trajectories into the blade edge with fire chakra.

Bang—

As the final hammer blow fell, the entire sword quivered. A mingling crimson and azure glow flowed down the newly formed blade.

Ryota lifted this new Kusanagi Sword from the anvil.

Compared to the standard model he'd used at the start, its entire construction had changed dramatically.

Even without testing it in battle, his instincts told him straight away —

this new Kusanagi Sword could fully channel both his fire and lightning-nature chakra.

"I remember Sasuke had a move called Chidori Blade,"

he murmured to himself,

"basically pouring lightning-nature chakra into the edge to boost cutting power and penetration."

"So that means unlocking lightning chakra should let me expand into a bunch of new hybrid ninja arts and weapon forms."

He nodded in satisfaction, then reached out to pick up the Kusanagi Sword.

The moment it settled in his grip, Ryota's eyes showed a flicker of surprise.

"The weight…?"

But he quickly realized what it was.

It wasn't that the sword had become physically heavy —

it was power flowing through it.

Not a drag on his wrist, but a sense of surging force from deep inside the blade's core.

The effect of the Mystery development ability had activated again, granting the sword a new trait — Strength.

"Interesting — the opposite of the Agility attribute I gave Ais's sword."

He gave the blade a light swing.

Woomph

A dull, resonant sound rippled through the air, as if even the atmosphere had been compressed by the weight of that slash.

Instead of the light, quick profile of the previous sword, this one was built for heavy, steady, explosive power.

Ryota suddenly pictured that blue-haired woman in glasses from the Hermes Familia.

"Tch… I guess I can understand why Asfi gets so obsessed with all those weird experiments."

"This feels just like opening a loot box."

Clearly he had hammered out every strike with his own two hands — yet the final traits that emerged always carried these delightfully unexpected surprises.

And they all tied back to Mystery.

They weren't pre-programmed results, but rather some kind of "fate" hidden inside the metal, revealing itself only at the end.

The thrill of discovering that unknown…

yeah, it was addictive.

Ryota stretched, casting a glance outside the window.

"It's already… noon, huh."

Time had flown faster than he realized.

But being so deeply absorbed, you could easily forget hours were slipping by.

While his hands were still feeling good, he'd originally planned to forge something else — maybe a gift for a certain blockheaded elf girl who'd been glaring at him lately.

"A belt? Or maybe a breastplate? Elves usually have lower defense, right? Those might be good…"

He mulled it over while walking toward the table of materials.

But the moment he got close enough to see clearly, Ryota froze in place.

The table was empty.

All that was left were a few scraps and corners — nothing even remotely usable for a new piece.

"…Huh?"

He looked over at the torn-up cloth sacks, the empty bottles, and a heap of metal shavings in the corner, and felt a stab of heartbreak in his chest.

"I dumped all that valis into this… and only got two swords out of it?"

Ryota couldn't believe it.

He'd never imagined he could be both so productive… and so good at going broke.

"Next time I head into the Dungeon, I better scavenge as much as possible…"

Since he was out of materials, there was no point lingering.

After tidying up the forge, Ryota strapped both swords to his back — officially wrapping up this "luxury" forging session.

Originally, he'd thought about asking Tsubaki if the Hephaestus Familia had any cheap but usable leftovers lying around.

After all, he was completely broke, and restocking through purchases was basically a pipe dream.

But just a few steps out the door, he was struck by a far scarier thought:

If Tsubaki, that blacksmith demon, got a look at his new swords, she'd absolutely grill him for every last detail.

"Forget it…"

Ryota stopped dead in his tracks, spun around.

"Better to finish that Designated Commission, and maybe grab some loot in the Dungeon while I'm at it."

"If I'm lucky, maybe there'll even be an Irregular event, like a Monster Tide or something."

After all, once you were down there, magic stones and monster materials were as good as cash.

And that young dragon… could turn out to be one hell of a resource stash, too.

With that, he gave up on finding Tsubaki, tugged at the swords on his back, and headed out of the Hephaestus Familia headquarters with a determined sigh.

—

It didn't take long before Ryota reached his next stop.

The moment he stepped into Twilight Manor, his eyes landed on a familiar silhouette lounging on the main hall's couch.

Loki had her legs propped up, staring at the ceiling with a bored expression.

Hearing the door open, her fox-like ears twitched, and she practically jumped up with a grin.

"Well, well, if it isn't Ryota-boy!"

"What've you been up to all morning, huh? Finn and the others are off doing their own thing — I'm so bored I'm about to rot!"

She circled around Ryota with a playful gleam in her eyes, then suddenly stopped when she noticed the two swords crossed on his back.

"Huh? You went forging at Hephaestus's place again?"

Ryota gave a simple "mm" in reply, then pulled the slender sword from his back and handed it toward Loki.

"This one's for Ais," he said.

"Do you know where she is right now?"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than Loki's face darkened with a visible black aura, arms crossed, fuming.

"A sword gift? I knew you were trying to get some alone time with our dear Ais!"

"Not a chance! I'm going with you — don't even think about sneaking off for any romantic nonsense!"

With that, she practically glued herself to Ryota's side, dragging him toward the backyard.

"No way I'm letting you have some private moment — we're going together!"

Ryota could only laugh helplessly and let her pull him along.

The Twilight Manor's backyard was as calm and quiet as ever.

As before, the Princess Ais sat under the shade of a tree, propping her chin on her hand, lost in thought.

Behind her, Mama Riveria leaned against the trunk, head lowered in quiet contemplation.

The moment they sensed Ryota and Loki arriving, they both looked up.

Standing in front of the blonde girl, Ryota didn't waste any words.

He simply offered the sword to the freshly risen Ais.

"Ais — this is for you," he said.

"Consider it compensation. It's not worth forty million valis, but it should serve you well."

Ais tilted her head, her golden eyes settling on the silver-sheened slender sword.

She reached out, took hold of the hilt, and the moment her fingers wrapped around it, she felt an almost tailor-made familiarity in its grip.

Before she could say anything, Loki jumped in,

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait a sec, Ryota — you actually made a sword?! I thought you were joking!"

"Ais isn't just going to use any random sword you throw at her, you know!"

Loki clearly didn't trust Ryota's forging skills one bit.

"Look, if you wanted to give her something, you'd have been better off with some red bean cream–filled fried potato balls — those are Ais's favorite!"

You couldn't exactly blame Loki for doubting him.

After all, Ais's usual sword, the Desperate, was a legendary one-of-a-kind masterpiece forged personally by Goibniu, worth ninety-nine million valis.

Even her backup sword was a custom weapon worth forty million — though it had already been destroyed.

Any sword that could make it into Ais's "arsenal" was a pinnacle of craftsmanship, born of a master smith's blood, sweat, and tears.

Ryota?

He'd only been apprenticing with the Hephaestus Familia for a single week.

Sure, that pseudo–magic sword of his the other day had surprised Loki —

but that was a special case, only suitable for a LV.1… well, LV.2 now, but still a rookie.

Ryota, being no fool, could hear the skepticism woven through Loki's teasing. He didn't bother explaining, just smiled and said,

"Got it, Lady Loki — I'll remember the fried potato balls next time."

Ais, however, ignored her goddess completely.

Lowering her head, she focused intently on this sword, so similar in shape to her usual Desperate, yet clearly lighter and more nimble.

Swish—

A clear, piercing sound split the air as Ais gave the sword a gentle flick.

As the blade cut through, even the air seemed to ripple and tear with delicate waves.

In that moment, a vivid gleam of surprise lit up Ais's golden eyes.

Riveria, who had been quietly observing, stepped forward and asked softly,

"Ais — may I take a look at it?"

Ais said nothing, merely looked up at Ryota.

That look wasn't refusal, but a subtle confirmation of permission.

Ryota shrugged.

"Don't look at me, Ais — it's yours now."

At that, Ais nodded, and handed the sword to Riveria.

The moment Riveria took the weapon, her expression froze.

Light…

It's so light…

As if she were holding a feather.

Even without being a smith, she could sense that this sword was far from ordinary.

"Loki."

Riveria lifted her gaze, her tone uncharacteristically serious.

"What's up?"

"I remember you saying this morning… that Ryota's development ability was Mystery, correct?"

Loki nodded.

"Yeah, that super-rare one — why?"

Riveria glanced once more at the sword in her hands, then at Ryota, and spoke slowly,

"Then lock him up."

"Have him make custom gear for every single member of our Familia."

Ryota: ?????

Loki: ?????

Ryota was about to protest — "If you just pay me, I'll do it anyway, you don't have to lock me up" —

when suddenly, that familiar mechanical chime echoed in his ear.

This time, it was a mission completion notice:

[Ding! Main Branch Quest: Provide a power boost to any member of your Familia — Completed!]

[Reward processing.. ]

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