Mount Vulcan was the largest volcano within Olympus and was rich in countless forms of ore.
The volcano was located on an island in within the Pontos Sea off of the eastern coast of Pangea; Olympus's main Continent. It took up the island's entire central area, covering millions of square miles, and radiating intense waves of heat as explosions sounded out from within.
The sky above the island itself was covered in dense gray clouds, flashes of bluish-white lightning emerging every so often.
A bustling port city was located on the island's western shore. Its buildings were structured in many different styles. This was due to the island's position as the Main Headquarters of Iron Giant; a corporation known across the entire Heavenly Realm and the countless Sub-Realms connected to it.
Iron Giant was founded by Hephaestus, countless years ago, functioning as both a Major Chamber of Commerce and Artificing Firm.
As a result of its reputation, countless people visited its main branches and shops to either commission items or sell their wares across its vast channels.
Countless people moved through the port city's streets. Most of them moved in groups as they escorted cars loaded large amounts of Divine Materials which couldn't be stored within Spatial Bags and Rings.
Divine Materials possessed 10 different ranks which were identical to those of weapons and equipment. They all possessed traces of Divinity, hence, their title of Divine Materials. Their ranking system was; Ancient Bronze, Cryptic Iron, Phantasmal Silver, Resplendent Gold, Dark-Gold, Fabled, Epic, Mythic, Legendary, Symbolic, and Paragonic.
A wide array of ships were docked in the port, some resembling ancient sailing ships and others similar to modern-day battleships and aircraft carriers. All of them were made from Divine Materials of at least the Fabled Rank. This allowed them to travel safely through the most dangerous seas located in the Heavenly Realm, and Sub-Realms.
The Central District possessed buildings hundreds of feet tall, and its streets were much less crowded with the rest of the city. It catered to those of an especially high social stratum who purchased and sold goods at the highest level.
At this moment a particularly large ship was in the process of docking at one of the few piers which led to the city's Central District.
It was constructed from Birchwood Planks taken from trees that had lived for hundreds of thousands of years, becoming Mythic Ranked Divine Materials. Its sails were folded and sconces carrying golden flames decorated the ship.
After the ship finished docking, Hestia stepped onto the pier, followed by four women of exceptional beauty comparable to her own.
Each of them emitted a unique aura that further accentuated their beauty.
One had an appearance strikingly similar to that of Aphrodite, yet conversely, to the goddess, she cared a calm and demure aura. She wore red colored robes that carried decorative white and gold embroidering.
The second gave off a resolute and prideful aura. She had brownish-red hair and emerald green eyes. Her body was curvaceous and she wore a blue-dress which revealed her shoulders and a slit up its left side. Underneath the dress, she wore a short black skirt and a pair of fishnet stockings.
The third possessed an aura of pride similar to the second, yet hers was more steadfast in nature, possessing a warrior's edge. She had dark hair with purple ends and wore a set of black and white robes, decorated with pink lotus petals.
The fourth possessed a soldierly and detached aura. She had long, silvery-white hair and pinkish-red colored eyes, with a small beauty mark beneath her left eye softening her aggressive aura. She wore white, black and gold, military garb.
"Hey look over there, its Hestia and her Grand Priestesses!"
"Yeah, and they're just as beautiful as everyone says. And their cultivations are profoundly deep."
"That's not all! Did you see the ship they just got off of!? Constructing a single such ship alone would cost a small mountain of Void Gold!"
There were six commonly used denominations of coins within The Heavenly Realm, with their value being maintained by The Holy Kingdom. From lowest to highest they were; Magic Copper Coins, Cryptic Iron Coins, Phantasmal Silver Coins, White Gold Coins, Purple Gold Coins, and Void Gold Coins.
The current conversion ratio was around; 10.000.000.000, 100.000.000, 1.000.000, 10.000, 100, 1. As such; a single coin made from pure Void Gold was worth 10.000.000.000 coins made of pure Magic Copper.
Void Gold was an Epic Rank Divine Material, useful in creating similarly ranked weapons and equipment. It was especially popular in the production of armor due to its ability to conduct Divinity and dissipate impact force.
Void Gold Coins were the most common form of currency for beings of their level, yet even they wouldn't be able to easily fork over an entire mountain's worth in order to construct such a ship.
Hestia remained calm under countless scrutinizing gazes as she led her Grand Priestesses through the Central District.
They eventually arrived in front of the most attention-grabbing buildings in the city.
It stood high above even the other giant structures in the Central District at almost one thousand feet tall covering as much square footage as a football stadium.
It possessed a hexagonal pagoda structure and over 60 above-ground floors.
A signboard hanging above the building's grand set of double-doors read 'Iron Giant'.
As Hestia prepared to lead the group inside a woman whose beauty paralleling that of Hestia stepped outside to greet them.
She had thick, pink-colored hair hanging down over her forehead, and metal protrusions extending from either side of her head. One of her eyes was blue and the other was gold.
A single metallic horn also extended outwards from her forehead.
She was dressed in a white-colored gown similar to a traditional wedding dress and a pair of long gloves. She wore a pair of knee-high, long-heeled, combat boots, made from silver metal.
"Holy Maiden Hestia, it is good to see you once more." She spoke in a low tone as she bowed her head in greeting.
"It is a pleasure to see you as well, Francesca." Hestia cupped her hands in appreciation as she returned the woman's greeting.
The woman, Francesca nodded her head before speaking once more; "I shall be responsible for guiding you to the warehouse where you may take possession of the materials you requested, before leading you Lord Hephaestus's workshop within Mount Vulcan."
"Thank you for your efforts," Hestia spoke once more in appreciation.
Francesca nodded before turning around to lead the group to am elevator guarded by giant men dressed in full suits of armor.
The guards made way for their group and they stepped onto the elevator before the doors slowly closed behind them.
Francesca placed a hand on a glance panel beside the elevator doors and output her unique Divinity Signature.
"Checking Authorization... Identity Confirmed as Francesca Nightingale, First Disciple of Hephaestus and Manager of Vulcan Island."
A monotone voice entered their ears after a few seconds, and the elevator proceeded to descend to it's only designated floor.
Once they reached the bottom floor the elevator doors slid open and they proceeded to exit into a small reception area.
There was a long receptionist desk, placed before an entryway leading to a stadium-sized warehouse.
Francesca nodded to the receptionists behind the desk before leading Hestia and the others into the warehouse.
Inside were mountains of various types of Divine Materials and countless pieces of weaponry. There were also ships, tactical weapons, and even inactive mechanical beasts contained within various Runic Arrays.
Metal giants patrolled the warehouse in groups of 3 or more. Each of them emitted an aura of a Tier 7 expert at the very least. Furthermore, as they were created by the refinement techniques of Hephaestus himself they were fully capable of resisting Tier 8 attacks with their hard exteriors.
Their presence served to remove any thoughts of thievery held by visitors.
Francesca escorted them to a round-table situated in the center of the warehouse.
Rectangular chest made from Divine Metals and Crystals were stacked high on the table.
"The Divine Materials you requested; 500 pieces of Sunfire Crystal, 500 pieces of Arctic Star Jade, 10 pieces of Void Stone, the heart of a Pureblooded Tier 9 Arctic Flame Dragon, 5 vials of blood from a Tier 10 Reality Breaker..." Francesca opened one chest one after another and ran down the list of Hestia's requested items.
Hestia cast a glance over the items in appreciation and spoke, "Only Iron Giant could gather all of these materials in such a short span of time."
"Thank you for such praise, but this was truly no easy task. In fact, our acquirement of both the Arctic Flame Dragon's heart and The Reality Breaker's blood was purely due to luck. Pureblooded Dragon's themselves are rarely encountered nowadays, let alone one that possesses the Arctic Flame Bloodline. But we just so happened to acquire such a heart through a trade recently, and it was in that same trade that we received the blood of The Reality Breaker." Francesca responded graciously before explaining how they acquired some of the more rare materials.
"Is that so...?" Hestia asked softly as multiple thoughts flashed through her head.
"Yes," Francesca responded concisely.
"Very well then." Hestia shook her head free of wandering thoughts and responded to Francesca.
She then spoke to the women following her, "Gather up the chests."
"Yes,"
"Very well,"
"Understood,"
"As you command,"
The women responded before moving forward and began to collect the chests into their spatial items.
