-A/N-
Who would you guys like to see in the harem?
I have a general idea who I want, but maybe you guys can give some suggestions.
Also did you know that you are almost ten times more likley to die falling down the stairs than in a plane crash.
...
‘The Best Ass in Heaven.’ were the first thoughts in my head after following the Goddess. She wore tight black leggings that showed off her round ass and smooth thighs. I looked down on my childish hands and for the first time in my new life I truly regretted being young again. Not that I was a Chad on Earth either. I had barely started highschool…
I miss Perry. He was a real homie…
Anyways I filed away the pick up line. “It's no wonder you’re called a Goddess, because that ass is divine.” into the back of my mind where I’ll probably never use it.
“Here it is,” She said, suddenly knocking me out of my contemplation of perfection.
We were in one of the back rooms of the shop where some others were hanging around. They looked at me with interest but were shooed away by Hephaestus.
“This is where we sometimes have our more experienced smiths demonstrate for the younger ones. Though it hasn't been used recently because of all the trouble.”
“Uhm, so what do you want me to make?”
“Just a dagger will do, though try not to take too long, we have a lot of tools prepped here that you can use.”
“Okay, can someone tell my parents that I’ll be here for a while? They’re waiting outside.”
“Aww, how cute.”
I really needed to grow up. She got someone to tell them, but I had already started working.
I prepped my equipment first, checking everything, from the temperature of the forge to the weight of the hammers in my hands.
The small ingots that I could use were varied in material. Of course I wanted to dive right into the foreign stuff, but I was here to show my accumulated skills, not practice with new stuff.
Instead of going for a traditional multi-use knife I decided to go for a stiletto, a long and thin knife used to finish off wounded opponents by stabbing them in the heart. It was also good at delivering poison deep into opponents bodies.
Once everything was ready I began to strip.
“What are you doing?!”
“I am immersing myself into the forging process by being as bare as possible,” I said simply folding my shirt and placing it neatly on the side.
“I see the elven blood hasn’t taken that trait out of you,” She said.
“That and I’ll be ten times sexier if I smith while shirtless.”
“Is that so?”
The door banged open to show Tsubaki, wails from a forgotten name could be heard from behind her.
“Hey! I heard you were-” She saw me standing there about to pick up my ingot.
“Awwwwww!” She said running to me and picking me up in a bear hug. “Look at him, what a cutie!”
Half of my head was swallowed by her breasts as she swung me around, despite her more toned body her breasts were extremely supple and soft.
Maybe being young isn't so bad.
“Tsubaki let him go, he's about to show us his smithing skills.”
No please let me stay! I’m not done carving the memory into my soul.
Unfortunately we were separated, but I refocused on the task at hand.
-Hephaestus-
The two one-eyed smiths watched the boy as he worked. Hephaestus had to say that the boy was well trained and obviously took time to hone his abilities. He did this weird thing where when he had a free moment while waiting for the metal to heat or brushing off the scales he would do a little dance.
Since starting he hadn’t sent a single look their way, as though they weren't even there.
“What do you think?” Hephaestus asked Tsubaki quietly.
Tsubaki knew that the Goddess wasn’t asking about the weapon.
“Skill, patience, confidence. It's a bit harder to tell but he's also extremely talented. It's almost as though he's playing chess with his hammer, being ten steps ahead with each strike.”
Like Kova was watching the blade take form they were watching him, wondering if he would shape out well.
He wasn’t perfect, there were moments where he would hesitate from a bump in the road, like when the tang was a bit too wide for the handle and he had to shave it down, but he didn’t let it stop him.
“You seem a bit more interested in him then others. Finally found a potential boyfriend?” Tsubaki jokes. “It wasn't as though he was lying when he called you beautiful right?”
Hephaestus covered the lower half of her face with a hand, still not looking away, but also not wanting anyone to see her blush.
“He’s unique, that’s for sure. I can’t say yet because he hasn’t officially joined and it's his personal life, but I can definitely tell why Bast wanted him for herself.”
She could see his talent and skill, despite this being his first time in that particular forge he looked as though he had been working there his entire life. Already knowing where particular tools were and being able to nimbly move between small obstacles.
Now she just needed to make sure he had the drive.
…
I finished the stiletto and handed it first to the Goddess. A window outside told me it was nearing evening. She nimbly twirled the balanced blade in her fingers looking at every angle.
“Not bad at all.”
She handed it off to Tsubaki who took her turn examining it. Our eyes met for several seconds and a little smirk showed on the Goddess’ face.
“Expecting better praise?” She asked.
“What? No, I want criques to tell me what to do better.”
This was a chance to learn from a God of Forging, there was no way a little thin blade was going to make her call me the best smith under heaven. The whole test was just to make sure I didn’t have some self inflated view on my skills.
Her smirk spread into a pleased smile. So she told me about my mistakes and small adjustments I could make.
Afterwards she brought me to another room, she told me that every new member had to do this.
The inside of the room was barren, nothing on the walls nor was there even a carpet. Just a single stand and a single sword, but it dominated my mind.
A silver longsword that light seemed to ripple off of. The cross guard extended out, showing intricate inlay and geometric shapes were better than any painting. I felt as though I could cut through diamond like butter if I used that sword.
“I made this,” Hephaestus said simply. “No godly powers, no Falna, Skills or Development Abilities. Mortal hands just like yours and all the others in my Familia.”
I had gotten so close I could see my pupil constrict in the sheen of the blade, I dared not touch it though.
“So what you’re saying is… That I can make something like this?”
“That’s not up to me, it's up to you.”
For a moment my pride in my skills made me want to try to make this without a Falna just like she had, but the logic in my brain shattered that idea. I could spend my entire life trying to make something on that level even with a Flana and never succeed. I would need every ounce of help to get on that level, and maybe just maybe, if I could make something on par with that sword.
Then I could make something better too.
“Goddess, I think I fell in love.”
I'd actually be cool if you forgo the harem if he gets with Hephaestus and stays loyal to her. That'd be more cute and fulfilling, harem for harems sake because isekai isn't always great and has ruined a lot of stories.
You can bring in women (such as Freya) who make her possessive and jealous and want him for herself even more. They'd also be able to push each other further in attempts to master smithing together and learn more about each other in the process. Also moments where they Smith together and stuff like that as well.
This is mainly because you may not have a clear plan for his harem which can negatively impact the story. Plus pursuing the goddess is a lot more fun too and embarassing Hephaestus is gonna be cute! Her constantly refusing and him slowly but surely wearing down her walls whilst he grows up and learns from her.
One trope you can go for is him finding a way to cure Hephaestus' damaged eye which is a big scar for her emotionally and physically (using this as a way to finally break down her walls). There's a lot you can do in their dynamic.
I think while harems are great showing him being faithful to his craft and his love is more appealing than having multiple lovers. Would be great if he managed to have kids with Hephaestus too. Gimme some of that slice of life goodness!!!
Food for thought. Tsubaki makes a good choice as the onee-chan character. I'd like him to pull the ass pickup line on Hephaestus though and see her reaction. (Tsubaki's would be hilarious and I can imagine Hephaestus tripping over).
TFTC looking forward to more
If it was my own OG novel i wouldn't do a harem, but its fanfiction and I'm down bad. But I am going to try to make sure that each girl gets her own development with the MC.
(Also I'd think it would be cuter if Kova said there was nothing to fix for Hephaestus' eye.)
Prefer no herem but if it must be one keep it small, if there are more than 3 I start to not care.
Agreed. More than 2 can be a hassle to read imo
If the guy actually read the source material before being reincarnated, you could always go full NTR and have him court all the waifus that would've gone to Bell, his beta grasseating ass notwithstanding. That would've been fun.
As is, it'd be nice to find out if this guy is effectively sterile, kinda like mules, or if something could be done about it magically. Kinda suck if he couldn't sire any cute kids. After all, what's the point of having lots of s*x if it isn't to spawn lots of little hellions?
This applies to any story with a larger cast but in order to succeed each major character added who interacts a lot with the protagonist or antagonist character in the story should lead to an exponential increase in character development. this would be because each character is not interacting in a vacuum. In the case of a harem story this would include things like conflict between harem members, unique personality traits that keep harem members relevant to the story, and how "in charge" of everything Kova would be and how other characters influence him.
I 100% agree I want to make sure i dont just make a collection of girls like trophies.
@IronOwl in regards to suggestions for harem members, have you thought about creating more OCs most of the non-elven and non-deity characters from danmachi are rather young and somewhat scattered in location at this point in time if i am remembering my lore correctly and the idea of Kova having his own rescued porter type of situation tickles my fancy a little.
@aggroniast if you mean Lili, I don't particularly like her, but I have thought of it. I just want to make sure that if I do add a girl to the harem then its a gradual process instead of meet n bang scenario.
That trivia about higher death rates on staircase accidents than plane crash deaths is actually obvious in hindsight because you traverse more stairs than traveling in a plane.
Thanks for the chapter.
Ryuu would be great
👍
He’s still a child, WTF