Chapter 53 - Hidden Threat
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It was morning, usually Alfonso would still be sleeping, however, this morning something woke him up earlier than usual, too early in fact.
"The fucking sun has not yet rise!" Cursed Alfonso.
At his side, another figure woke up, it was no other than Demeter, who had sleep by Alfonso's side the entire night. However, Alfonso was so furious that he didn't notice this goddess sleeping by his side, not only that, he didnt even notice that Demereter had walked by his side this entire time grabbing his hand. He really hated when people woke him up after all.
Curiously enough, They weren't the only ones who woke up earlier, every single member of the manor woke up earlier than usual.
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"So…. I think that the troublesome habits of Hephaestus are…." Said Alfonso.
"Yeah"
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"As you guessed"
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"He likes his job a little bit too much"
"THIS IS WHY I DIDN't LIKE TO SLEEP ON THE OLYMPUS~, I WANNA SLEEP!!!" Shout Demeter
The causes of all these strange things began yesterday.
......................................
Yesterday, Hephaestus was quite satisfied with his new workshop, so he insisted that he wanted to start as soon as possible. However, he had several demands.
"I need my equipment; do you have it?" Asked Hephaestus.
Alfonso thought for a sec before going to the system, indeed, there was something like that there.
[Blacksmith's set
Price : 3000 Drachmas
Includes :
- Forge
- Anvil
- Mold
- Pincers
- Hammer
Remark : All of these tools were selected by Hephaestus although they are nothing especial, it's still something he put some effort in selecting ]
When Alfonso read the price he almost spit blood.
"3000 Drachmas! Why don't just rob me!" Thought Alfonso.
He finally had some funds, and he had to spend more than half of it in less than a day.
At the end, with pain in his heart, Alfonso bought the set, of course, he could send some people to buy a normal set of instrument, however, he felt that it was disrespectful towards Hephaestus, he wanted to make a connection with this god that could become the key for his future plans, so he decided to take this as a small invest.
"Here you go"
Hephaestus examined the set of tools before given a satisfied nod.
"I remember this set, I gave it to one of my apprentices, thanks mortal, I will surely give you something in return…. Do you mind giving me that cane of yours?" Said Hephaestus,
Alfonso was surprised, he looked at the cane of his. He already that this cane was a part of him, even if he could walk normally. He would still use this cane, so he was a little reluctant, also there was that other post-effect.
"The pain will be unbearable" Thought Alfonso.
We can't forget that the cane is working as morphine for Alfonso, once put down the cane, the pain will come. A curious fact was that Alfonso usually sleep with the cane by his side, he couldn't tolerate the pain after all.
"Don't worry, I just want to repair it, of course, I can't bring it nearly as close as it used to be , however, I can repair the small cracks that it has" Said Hephaestus.
Alfonso knew that the cane has some damage, it was obvious, the bite of Cerberus wasn't something light after all.
Alfonso reluctantly give his cane and Hephaestus went back to his workshop.
"Eh?" Demeter felt something that made him look at Alfonso in a special way.
After that they went on his way to the manor, Alfonso was supported by Artemis, Demeter was just quietly looking at Alfonso, to be more precise, Alfonso's gestures.
Alfonso thought that he could merely make it to the manor, so he didn't need to walk anymore.
Alfonso, however, had underestimated the post effects of his injury.
"AHHHHH!!"
On their way, the pain become more and more unbearable, it was so painful that he felt that he was going insane.
"I cant, I cant, I need my cane, I need my cane…." Shout Alfonso.
Artemis, who was supporting Alfonso was shocked, she didn't think that the injury was this serious.
"Demeter!"
"Little Al! calm down!" Demeter run over and lifted the agonizing Alfonso.
"My cane, give me my cane!"
A special kind of green aura appear in the body of Demeter, after the aura appear, the face of Alfonso changed for a most relaxed one, after that he lose consciousness.
"Demeter, he is..!"
"Don't worry, he is just sleeping" Said Demeter.
Artemis made a relieved sigh before grabbing the sleeping Alfonso, however, Demeter was still holding his hand.
"For now, I need to stay by his side, if he wakes up, he will suffer the post effect of his injury once again" Said Demeter.
"I don't understand, even if his injury is serious this is….." Said Artemis.
"I have a theory….but if is true then the consequences are severe" Said Demeter in a serious tone.
"What do you mean…"
"The cane of Chronos, when I first notice it, I only thought that it was a mere artifact that someone made for him, however…. I have notice something… Little Al never let that cane go… never" Said Demeter.
"That's because of his injury!"
"A mere injury isn't so powerful to make someone go insane!" Declared Demeter.
"What are you talking about?"
"When Alfonso gave the cane to Hephaestus, a little bit of my power when to Alfonso, usually, this power never activates, at least….."
"At least what" Asked Artemis.
"At least someone is mentally ill!" Said Demeter
Artemis was shocked with this statement and looked back at Alfonso. Demeter was actually talking about her passive ability that power up when she evolved to the hero level, Light of life!
"Mentally ill, what are you saying!"
"I know is sounds completely insane, but I didn't make a mistake, when Alfonso dropped the cane, his mental state became rare, is like the pain he actually feels multiply in his mind, causing his body to react like this, is like something is telling him that his injury is worse than what it actually is." Explained Demeter.
Artemis was stunned. Who would have thought that a simple cane could cause this!
"What do we do now?"
"For now don't mention it, it just a hypothesis anyway, however, we must be careful with that can... nothing good comes from that old fart!" Said Demeter with an unusual angered expression.
After that the two of them agreed that Alfonso should sleep with Demeter.