Fairy Tail: Igneel's eldest son in Anime Multiverse

Charles completely forgot about hunger and exhaustion; the magic stone lamp stayed lit the entire night. After pulling an all-nighter studying, he had finally grasped the fundamentals of divine script.

Divine script was the writing of the gods—one of the most unique forms of language in this world.

In fact, the most essential divine blessing in this world existed in the form of divine script.

The increase of stats, the acquisition of skills or abilities, even leveling up—all of these were changes executed by deities through rewriting divine script.

What made divine script so special was that not even gods could alter it at will. It could only be rewritten when certain conditions were met.

In other words, adventurers had to accumulate experience and perform great deeds.

According to the materials Hephaestus had given him, divine script held inherent power. But only gods and a very small number of humans could wield that power.

In theory, as a written language, it should be something anyone could learn to read and write. However, using its power was an entirely different matter.

The texts noted that divine script written by gods or by those who held the trait \[Mystery] was fundamentally different from what others could produce.

To put it simply, the rules of the world operated like lines of code, and divine script was the programming language. Only those with administrative privileges could write it.

And aside from gods, \[Mystery] was the only existing privilege.

Charles closed the book in his hands, now feeling more frustrated than enlightened. Just when he had finally found a potential breakthrough, his progress hit a wall again. Without mastering \[Mystery], there was no way to advance further.

Still, Charles wasn't disheartened. He instead threw himself into studying the reading and interpretation of divine script.

That \[Mystery] was related to divine script was beyond question. Learning to read it was the only thing he could do now. Even if his efforts ultimately yielded nothing, it was still better than giving up.

Without invoking any special powers, divine script was simply another language. Charles quickly learned its basic writing and reading forms.

After that, it was like being stuck in a game without the key item—he couldn't move forward.

But he'd already anticipated this outcome, so he wasn't discouraged.

He returned all the reference materials to Hephaestus and took the chance to ask her where Welf's workshop was located.

Upon finding Welf, Charles saw him in the middle of forging a greatsword.

After a brief greeting, Welf returned to his work without further fuss.

Charles didn't mind. He began casually inspecting Welf's workshop.

Compared to Charles's own setup, Welf's forge looked much more like a traditional blacksmith's space.

Most of the room was taken up by furnaces and smithing tools. The rest was cluttered with raw materials and completed weapons.

Charles picked up a greatsword, examining it closely before giving it a few swings to test the balance.

He had to admit—despite not forging magic swords, Welf was an excellent blacksmith.

This particular sword was of very high quality—top-tier gear for a lower-tier adventurer.

But according to Welf, all the gear in his workshop had been returned from stores because it hadn't sold.

Not surprising. While the quality was high, the cost-performance ratio wasn't ideal.

Charles could tell Welf had used a small amount of adamantine—an advanced crafting material—in the forging process.

For a Level 1 adventurer, buying a sword like this would cost about as much as outfitting an entire set of gear.

This highlighted the classic disconnect between smiths and adventurers. Smiths wanted to forge the best weapons possible, while adventurers had many other factors to consider.

That's why, beyond regular inventory, smiths often signed contracts with adventurers to craft tailor-made equipment.

Charles set the sword down and began watching Welf's forging process attentively.

His own smithing career hadn't been long, and it was only thanks to Fal's assistance that he had managed to overtake others so quickly. In terms of forging techniques, he still had much to learn from someone like Welf.

After a round of steady, rhythmic hammering, Welf plunged a partially finished short sword into the cooling solution.

As faint patterns began to emerge on the blade's surface, Welf wiped the sweat from his brow and smiled with satisfaction.

Charles noticed the unique appearance of the sword and immediately understood.

Welf must've drawn inspiration from Charles's own work. In forging this short sword, he had added a drop of his own blood.

Speaking of spirit powers—Crozzo blood also contained such potential. And sure enough, the short sword had developed distinctive patterns.

Unlike the dragon-scale-like grid patterns of Charles's Twin-Headed Dragon Armor, Welf's short sword bore patterns that looked like interwoven flames.

It was still unfinished, so its abilities remained unknown.

Just as Charles was about to walk over and take a closer look, a massive crash sounded from the entrance—and he clearly saw the workshop door go flying.

Yes, the entire door had been blown clean off its hinges and smashed into a pile of materials off to the side.

Charles was stunned. Welf might not be the most popular member of the Hephaestus Familia, but getting ambushed like this seemed extreme.

Had he offended someone lately? Charles instinctively assumed a fight might break out and was ready for combat.

But Welf remained calm—he actually seemed used to it.

Rubbing his forehead, Welf sighed in exasperation. "Finally had some peace and quiet, and now she's back again?"

Despite the irritation in his words, Charles could tell Welf wasn't actually upset.

"Welfie, I'm back!"

The voice was followed by the entrance of a wildly dressed woman. She wore Far Eastern-style hakama pants on her lower half, and just a few rough strips of cloth wrapped around her upper body, exposing large areas of skin.

Her messy black hair was cropped short, her left eye covered by an eyepatch, and her right eye gleamed like a red gem.

Tsubaki Collbrande—the captain of the Hephaestus Familia, Orario's number-one blacksmith, and a Level 5 first-tier adventurer.

Tsubaki was a half-dwarf, though apart from her smithing talent, Charles couldn't see any obvious signs of her dwarven bloodline.

If she was back, that meant the Loki Familia's expedition must have concluded.

Welf grumbled, "Can you at least try not to wreck my door every time you visit?"

Tsubaki strode over and clapped Welf on the shoulder—so hard that his eyes nearly rolled back in his head.

"Don't be so uptight! Welfie, you've made something amazing again, haven't you? Lemme see!"

She had already spotted the half-finished short sword in Welf's hand, and the flames of smithing passion ignited within her.

"I saw a few pieces of equipment in the lobby back at HQ—don't tell me those were yours too!"

As soon as Tsubaki returned to Hephaestus headquarters, she had noticed Charles's creations on display and been instantly captivated.

Without even finishing her expedition report, she had rushed to Hephaestus asking about the gear. But when she heard Welf's name mentioned, she immediately made a beeline for his forge—probably assuming he had made them.

Welf gave a wry smile and said, "I'm not that skilled. The one who made those is right behind you."

Tsubaki turned around skeptically and spotted Charles standing off to the side, observing with curiosity.

Her intense gaze locked onto him. Charles stepped forward.

"I'm new to the Hephaestus Familia. My name's Charles. Please look after me, Captain Tsubaki!"

"Yeah, yeah, formalities can wait. Charles, huh? I'll call you Charlie-boy. Did you really make that gear? What forging technique did you use?!"

Her passionate enthusiasm left Charles a little flustered.

As expected from Orario's top blacksmith—this kind of pure love for smithing was rare to see.

And for someone like her—loud and wild, but straightforward and sincere—Charles didn't find it unpleasant in the slightest.

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