My Succubus Harem System

Chapter 173 173 - Sword

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Turning, she threw a piece of iron at the door. The force was so great that it hit the wall, and with a heavy step she looked at him angrily.

"You! I knew I was being watched!"

Ryan bowed, and respectfully introduced himself.

"My name is Ryan Whitemane, and I would like to ask for your services"

The girl suddenly changed her reaction, going from an annoyed face to a complete and true surprise.

"Oh! So you're the boy they were talking about!"

"I apologize if they spoke badly of me, but I really need your services"

'She changed her behavior so fast' he thought.

"Seriously, at first it was annoying. But much of the forge was eager to work with you. Look, it's not very nice to be snooping on others, but I don't mind, although you should have just knocked on the door. Well, my name is... Oh you should know by now, you went through all this for me"

Holding out her hand, she went to greet Ryan.

"Oh, that's a bit inelegant" she said, and then removed her own Glove.

"Artemis" she said.

"Ryan" he replied.

The way Artemis behaved was a little different from the ordinary, she was acidic and gentle at the same time. Oscillating between an angry demeanor to a gentle and calm girl, which at first, left Ryan a little confused about what was going on. 

<'They usually call that a Tsundere, don't they?>

'Where do you find out about these things?

<But that's what they're called, right?>

'Yes...'

<Hahaha! My studies on humans are evolving!>

As Nyx stood laughing in mid air, with a victory pose. Ryan approached Artemis, the two were standing in front of a wooden table that seemed to be a bit worn out. The young man then spread his project on the table, and as soon as the girl's eyes touched the leaves, a warmth rose in her heart.

"What... Is this?" she said, her voice low. She was completely surprised by the work Ryan had done in the last few days, it was dozens of pages of details of how the weapon he was needing should be designed.

It would need to be good at sending spells, as well as have a fast blade for cutting. Its weight couldn't be too heavy, but for some options to work, it would need to be made of a material that wasn't so light. There were details of how the blade support should look like, since part of the mana flow would flow through it, as well as a complex design of the weapon's aerodynamics.

Artemis looked at Ryan as if he were a happy kitten, her eyes were shining as she jumped up and down excited about the work she was going to do. 

"It's been so long since I've felt this excited" she said, as she looked at the papers. She had a big smile on her face, which to Ryan, made no sense at all.

"I've been preparing this project for a few months, but I haven't found any interesting craftsmen. But the student council president practically forced me to come here when she found out about you, so I hope you can make this weapon" he said, but the girl didn't seem to be paying attention.

"Hoh... Well, you've come to the right place. Let's start working on it" Said the girl, who turned around and removed the bandana that was on her forehead. Wiping the sweat from her face, she ran the cloth across her chest and threw it on a table. "I need to wash this" she said, and sighing, she began to sort through the necessary materials.

"Are you going to be able to complete this today?" Ryan said, surprised. But the girl's answer was obvious, shaking her head she denied. 

"This project is too complex, probably a few more months work. But I'll start working on the basics right now" she concluded.

A notification popped up in front of Ryan's eyes. Surprised, he opened his system.

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The Fate's Desire was completed

The Soul Desire was completed

[You relationship with Artemis Smith has reached 100%]

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<Apparently, your project was enough to win her heart.>

Ryan couldn't figure out exactly how he managed to win Artemis over so easily, but to him, it was evident how the girl's reactions and behavior changed from water to wine that day. She now had a much greater respect for him, even more so for how he had regarded that weapon.

The two of them in a way resembled each other a lot in that aspect. Ryan wanted a versatile and innovative piece of equipment, and Artemis wanted a challenging project that could evolve her skills and put everything she knew about forging to the test. So the two got to work.

Ryan first explained the different details of his sword's design. Including the flow of mana and the drawing he had already prepared. Artemis was able to give details of problems in his design, things that only an experienced smith could explain. For example, the hammering of the hammer could affect the mana flow he wanted in the weapon, so the whole energy part should be engraved after that.

"We can make an iron mold for the sword" she said, while looking at Ryan, waiting for his approval.

"An iron mold? Wouldn't that take too long?" he replied, but the girl again shook her head. Her golden hair went from side to side, and soon after she walked to one of the corners of the room. There were dozens of massive iron pipes, which were stacked against the wall.

Reaching out her hand, she grabbed one of those pieces of iron, and swinging it like a light stick, she transformed that object into the shape of the sword Ryan wanted.

The metal had not changed color or weight, nor did its appearance seem to have changed. It remained somewhat opaque, with a few shiny parts. Still, the shape was exactly as Ryan wanted it.

The sword had a relatively large handle that could be held with two hands. There was a guard for the hilt that went all the way down to the blade, which had only a single side. The sword was relatively large, although not that tall. Its blade was slightly curved at the front, following a fixed line to the end. 

"This, is exactly what I wanted" he said, and stretching out his hands he held that sword. The weight was much greater than he was imagining, the finishes were practically non-existent, but the shape was exactly as he imagined it should be.

"No, of course it's not" she replied, giving a small smile. Returning to the table, she stretched and said, "At least the format is decided, now we just need to start working on that design. Can you handle the programming of the sword?"

Ryan nodded. "Yes, but first, how did you do that?" he said, pointing to the weapon.

Artemis then patted his own face, as if he had forgotten something obvious. "This is a magic I've been developing for the past few years. I haven't named it yet, but it's iron manipulation. Perhaps, fluid iron manipulation? I don't know, I'm horrible with that sort of thing."

Confused, he approached her surprised, "You, created this art?". She nodded, handling it as if it was no big deal, "Yes, you just need to mold your mana around the iron atoms, and then the process is no different than manipulating earth."

Ryan then held out one of his hands in front of the sword, and following what she said, he managed to lift a small cube in the middle of the sword blade.

"THAT! THAT WORKS?!" he said surprised. 

"Of course it works, in fact I wonder how no one had come up with something along those lines" she said nonchalantly.

The manipulation of iron was considered an impossible art, mainly because of the difficulty of manipulating the material as a whole. What Artemis had thought was to simply pass mana through each small atom of iron and then shape it, so the material would not lose its durability and strength. However, this was a bit more complicated than Ryan had imagined.

Picking up a small sphere of iron, Ryan bid Artemis farewell with a hug. The girl blushed at the same instant, and then gave him a gentle push away. "See you later" she said, waving goodbye with her hand. And then, she headed off to the forge to work.

Ryan walked away, handling the metal with difficulty as he thought about how to make Artemis' job easier. When the class was over, Ryan returned to the forge to work on that project, by now he had a slightly better idea of how to start the core of that weapon.

But when he walked through the door, all he found was an elated and panting girl. Artemis had her hair completely messed up, she was panting and completely sweaty. Her clothes were different, and her gaze seemed to be shining like a cat's in the middle of that gloomy room. Behind her, there was a piece of burning metal.

"Ryan, I did it. I made a prototype" she said, before she started laughing euphorically. Next to the anvil were ten test swords, some with the iron still red.

Running close to her, he held her before she fell to the ground. The girl was exhausted. With serene eyes she slept in his arms.