A Ghastly man with piercing red eyes walked down the grandiose hallways of his home with a frown 

His pale skin was white, resembling a dead body. while his eyes were blood-red, standing out in contrast to his skin

seeing him walk down the hallway, the maids bowed and tried to move away

Except for one, a puppet in human shape 

The maid couldn't talk, but the look of fanaticism looking at the man resembled an emotion no puppet should ever have.

Puppets were soulless creatures, nothing more than a shell and lifeforce.

But this one was different. it had human emotions and human features while retaining the puppets undying loyalty to their master.

Looking at his creation with a smirk, he went into his throne room 

There a greasy old man greeted him. he had a kind expression on, but his eyes and mouth and vibe told you he was a cunning and cruel person

"M'lord,"  the geezer said  "I have bad news to report" 

"Speak, Atticus" The gastly man spoke, with his hands on his throne

"The assassination of that duke's daughter went wrong. all assassins were killed, and we don't know whether they know their information or not"

"Fucking rats," The gastly man said 

A crash sounded as a maid hiding that was behind a wall listening to their conversation appeared in the throne room

"Don't kill m-" the maid shouted as her body went limp

Seeing her body, the gastly man laughed  "Your soul is powerful, should be a good snack for later" He said, whisking her away. Looking towards his loyal minister, he frowned  "I needed her inheritance magic!" He said "If you don't get hers, ill take yours," He said, walking away, leaving the shivering minister to sit down for a second 

---

Aryan looked towards his spawn point and laughed. it has been god knows how long and he's came back to kill the mantis

2 months have passed since the Cornwall family explosion. He waited for 2 months due to the synthesis skill to make stronger weapons

Looking at the Karambit's in his hand, he nodded his head in approval

---

Daggers of the Norse gods - Dagger - set

+35 damage (when both are present, 35 damage. When alone, 15 damage each)

+5 in dexterity 

Special ability 

Thunderclap - with the power of lightning, able to "Teleport" Via supersonic speed. 4 hours cooldown

Requirements 

Soulbond to Aryan Aldine 

---

2 daggers that sparked with lightning every now and then 

He fused 2 low-grade lightning artefacts each , giving them powers of lightning and thunder 

he came back to explore the Hephaestus shrine, which was apparently close to where he saw the Nos mantis for the first time

with speed due to his Dexterity stat, he quickly ran through forest, back when he hid through the bush 

Sensing a prescene behind him, he clashed with a mantis claw that was behind him

---

Noz mantis - Level 20 (Mature)

---

Suddenly, he watched as hundreds of Noz mantis showed up on the tree branches, watching him 

"Fuck..." Aryan sighed, was it over for him?

Suddenly, the Noz mantis that he was fighting with stopped and went to the others 

An elderly Looking mantis walked out, making all the mantis bow with respect

Elderly didn't mean weak, since his blades were pure black and glowed with a shine that outclasses the younger generation

Looking at Aryan, the elderly bug walked up to him

Looking at him up and down, the elderly mantis beckoned him to follow under the watchful eyes of 100 powerful Noz Mantis 

Trying to use Appraisal on it,  Aryan felt a stinging pain in his eyes as blood came out

---

Appraisal blocked.

---

turning around and giving Aryan a death stare, the elder continued 

They soon reached a black building, which looked nothing more than a black igloo 

Walking in, there was a small hallway leading straight down 

With a glance, the elder used his claws and pointed at the hallway 

"You want me to go into there?" Aryan said, confused where this was 

With a nod, The mantis gave a light push to Aryan, causing him to roll into the deep, dark abyss

finally stopping after a minute, he got up, only to get met with a  system notification

---

The successor of Hephaestus dungeon!

Winning conditions: to make a cure to the poison system that infected you, make perfect grade pottery, make a perfect grade low tier artefact

Rewards: Title: Successor of Hephaestus, Class upgrade to all crafting related skills,  Title: Bishop of the Church of God of Steam and Machinery

Failure conditions: non of the condition above met. 

Failure punishment: To keep this a secret, the host will be neutralized if conditions are not met

---

Seeing an image pop up in his head looking at the Church of the god of Machinery and Steam, he looked towards it

"Looks cool," Aryan said

Something that wasn't cool is that his life was in the line. He didn't like how the system could control his life and death.

With a frown, he moved down the dank and dark Dungeon