Divine Luck: SSS-Rank Battle Maid Harem-Chapter 630: Fire

A pool of fire. That was one way to describe it. It was the simplest way. It was by no means sufficient to fully preserve and convey the majesty and power contained within the flames.

After the staircase, Zach’s group stepped onto a ledge that rounded a large spherical stone room, the bottom half of which was filled with seemingly liquid fire. Here and there were thin openings in the ceiling that the fire could escape into.

If they hadn’t been too busy looking at the dancing flames, they would have figured out that those openings were channels to the surface. Furnaces and forges used the flames from the true Friebel’s Hearth.

The flames were a violent crimson, mellow orange, and tranquil gold.

It was more than the heat that threatened to take their eyebrows. The fire wasn’t just destructive. It was ruthlessly destructive, to the point where ordinary rock turned to goop, ash, smoke, and nothing within a matter of seconds when tossed in.

But that wasn’t everything the fire could do. It could refine the same rock into a nugget of whatever mineral was inside. It could purify and cleanse filth from even something as flammable as cloth.

It just needed someone to control and guide it. But that was easier said than done.

Not even Vera could claim mastery over it. There was only one who could.

The Goddess of Smithing.

Vera pointed at it once Zach and the others finally looked like they could hear her words over the silent rumble of the roiling flames.

"That’s where you need to prove yourself."

"Huh?" Zach looked up, still in a daze.

He understood what she meant, but he wasn’t sure if he understood correctly.

Vera looked at him for a second.

"You are trying to learn advanced smithing techniques straight from the Goddess of Smithing. While there are techniques for cold forging, those won’t be enough for you. That means you’ll need heat. A lot of it.

"You need to prove that you can handle it. Prove it by jumping into the pool of fire and walking back out without dying."

"That sounds..." Zach took half a step back. He wanted to say that it sounded reckless.

"Like the fastest way to take what others might spend lifetimes trying to learn?" Vera asked curtly.

"..." Zach held his tongue.

Rienne nervously glanced at Zach. She knew he was strong. She might not know exactly how strong. But she was confident that few things would make him falter.

However, Vera was telling him to dive into a pool of what was essentially the flames of a god.

As Rienne had expected. That was enough to make even Zach hesitate.

Vera’s expression changed slightly.

"That’s why I told you to prepare. The forge upstairs is the same flame but gentler. Get used to that. And prepare a suitable amount of offerings. It will make it easier. You’re asking the goddess for a favor, after all."

"So, I do need to bribe her, after all."

Vera shot Zach a sharp look.

"Minerals, weapons forged by yourself, and novelties work a lot better than superficial offerings of massages."

"There’s nothing superficial about my offer."

"Trust me. Continue like that and you’ll wish it was." Vera’s voice was cold in stark contrast to the heat of the room. She didn’t mind Zach’s playful nature, at least not more than the rest of him. But she did not tolerate him making jokes in relation to Friebel.

Zach nodded once before continuing to look into the pool of fire.

His eyes narrowed.

He was a descendant of the Hydra. He should have some degree of fire affinity. But it had not really manifested at any point during his life so far. He shouldn’t bet on it.

That meant his best option would be to rely on offerings.

But his assets were limited to what he had on him. He was rich, stupidly so. But that wealth was locked on another continent and not easily brought over.

He had to make some money or get ahold of a lot of minerals some other way.

He couldn’t forge his own weapons. And he wasn’t sure what Vera meant by novelties. A mountain of minerals it was.

"Any suggestions on how or where to get a lot of minerals?" He asked Vera.

Vera raised an eyebrow.

"Do you need me to hold your hand when you use the restroom later as well? Maybe I should read you a bedtime story when you go to bed?" She asked sarcastically.

"No, that’s alright. I don’t do either of those things anyway."

"What?"

"I’ll help you with that, Zach," Rienne offered.

"You will?" Zach tilted his head.

"Alright, but why?" He asked. Shouldn’t she want to explore the city and continent and learn more about the enemy? That was her job as a member of the Imperial Family and the official reason why she and Yan had followed them to Kuros, after all.

"No reason." Rienne shrugged.

Zach just bobbed his head. Who was he to judge?

"Got any ideas?"

Rienne’s face broke into a wide smile at Zach’s question.

"I hope you don’t mind getting your hands dirty," She said mischievously.

Zach’s eyes narrowed. But before he could ask her what she meant, Vera started ushering them back up to the forge. And when they reached the forge again, Rienne grabbed Yan and Lahso and took up before he could try again.

If he wanted to find out, he could. But clearly, Rienne wanted to surprise him. Zach only minded surprises when they were the unpleasant kind. He doubted Rienne was preparing one of those.

He was just curious about what it was she was going to do in this place where she had no influence, no connections, and no knowledge.

The only thing she had was Mandra’s spell to help her communicate.

To keep his curiousity from having him chase after her, Zach distracted himself with the heat of the nearby flames. It didn’t hurt getting used to the fire before he had to throw himself into the pool of divine flames.

Except, it did. It hurt quite a lot putting his hand in the smoldering embers, actually.