^^ A Mother's Wrath ^^

Sickly Sweet, saccharine words, whispered in my ears like always, promising fame and fortune and power and glory: these were nothing but a distraction to me, as I swung my hammer down into the silver light, aiming for the metal beneath as I had been for the past several months, or maybe even years, I wasn't sure anymore.

"As the Heir of the Lady of Gilded Silk, you could simply command the Artifact to be Completed, for a price..."

"The Heir of the Lord of Thundering Smites could smash this apart with ease, and achieve all you long for in a single blow..."

"The Heir of the Queen of The Golden Hoard could buy the very best materials, instead of the Common-Grade Metal you Strike so relentlessly..."

A crack appeared in the film of light underneath my hammer for only the second time since I'd begun hammering, and the voices hushed instantly, for the second time in however long, before another, harsher voice spoke, no longer cajoling or tempting, but rather degrading.

"The King of Soot scoffs at your pointless Tenacity, and demands you cease your pathetic rebellion; It is not within the Karma of the Realm of Mortals to Craft <Artifacts>. He Demands that you Know Your Place, Mortal."

The hammer lifted away from the light, allowing every one of the voices to take a breath of relief, only to gasp in unison as the hammer fell again, with all my might, and shattered through the light, driving the shards of silver light into the simple steel it had been protecting with all of my accumulated righteous fury behind it. The metal accepted everything, -my Emotions, my Mana, my Resolve, and the Stolen Mana of all the Gods of Craftsmanship alike,- all to finish its evolution into an <Artifact>. The first <Artifact> ever Crafted by a Mortal Being.

A new screen, now black with white letters, appeared over the arrow, making me growl and raise the hammer again, only for the contents and color to give me pause.

<The God of the Forge nods his head in acceptance: the Work <A Mother's Fury> has been judged a <Masterwork Artifact> of the Highest Tier Currently Possible in the Apotheosis Guide, the Divine Tier, despite its Common-Tier materials. Its Crafter has rightfully earned the qualifications for the Divine-Tier Class <Divine Artisan>. Your body's Awakening will begin Now.>

My breath left my body instantly as pain raced through my body, starting in my brain and heart and branching out to every fiber of my being before I could even blink. For what felt like hours, I stood perfectly still, unable to move, unable to think, unable to see or smell or hear, before one sensation returned, showing me a new message.

<The God of the Forge nods once more, showing his respect for your lowly accomplishment. His voice shakes the universe itself, and all who can hear him receive his Edict.>

"Go Forth, <Divine Artisan>, with the God of the Forge's Blessing, and Do As You Will."

— Three Years Prior —

My hands worked tirelessly, holding a pair of pliers steady and twisting two copper wires into a wire nut to bond them together, all while muttering mild curses under my breath at the hunk of junk starter I was attempting to repair, or at least bypass. "Come on... come on you useless sack of donkey shit, you've made it this far, either crap yourself out properly or work, none of this halfway-type-shit!!!"

Somewhere above my head, my youngest daughter giggled, leaning over the hood to look down at my awkward position inside the engine. "Mama, Mama! Guess what?!? I think the car is broke, mama!"

I sighed slowly, then twisted the wires once more, calling past the little hellion to her elder sibling in the driver's seat. "Edda, get out of the engine, you'll ruin your uniform before you even get to school! And what have I always told you?!? Nothing is ever broken! Just too expensive to keep!!! Now, Ephyrae, can you turn it over?"

The key turned, and I grinned slowly in relief as it sputtered noisily to life, sliding out from under the engine and dusting myself off with a satisfied sigh. "See, Edda? Nothing is ever Broken! Now let's get you on to school, huh?"

The step towards the driver's side door seemed to stretch oddly, my perception of time going screwy in an instant, but even more alarming was the greying out of everything around me, even my own body. Seconds passed, or maybe hours, before a gentle, matronly voice spoke, sounding like she was right behind my ear. "Such a lovely memory... so rare, in a life so full of endless monotonous toiling and pain, to have a moment of such purity... shall we have another, or are you ready to speak to me? I trust I've proven my existence as one of the Gods of Crafting is not a hoax?"

My vision swam even more, replacing the scene with a workshop of some kind, though anachronistic to me, like a medieval sewing parlor, but instead of rough medieval yarn and thread, everything was glowing silver and gold and bronze, every thread seemed to be a living metal, almost breathing as I watched. "Wow... okay, that's pretty creepy, but whatever; you said you could give me and my children a better life: what exactly are you offering me?"

Some of the thread began to gather together, making a humanoid rag doll out of glowing gold that soon began to melt into itself, surpassing the uncanny valley almost instantly to create the perfectly symmetrical face of an eastern beauty of some sort, dressed all in golden silk. Fully formed, she opened her eyes to show pure golden orbs, with no iris or pupil at all, then smiled, revealing golden shark's teeth. "Exactly that: a better life! But if you require details, I suppose I can oblige... there is a world we gods have abandoned, called 'Erebus', which is very similar to Earth, but also very different: it has been peaceful for around a thousand years, and as such has lost most of, if not all, of its military readiness... of course, that's not really your concern: your concern, would be their technology, which has stalled and stagnated, due to the lack of any conflict large enough to be capable of driving an arms race. As you know, the best inventions come from War, not Peace. Now, normally that wouldn't be an issue: we would simply allow them to develop on their own, as is our normal modus operandi, to allow a natural growth... but other Gods have seen our lack of interest, and misinterpreted it as a lack of control, so thus have considered it an invitation to harvest the souls of Erebus, without receiving our permission... or paying our tithe. Now, all of this is simple backstory, none of it matters to you, but here is what does: the Gods of Crafting have decided to assist this world, give it the strength to fight back, little by little, so that this world can pick itself up and move forward with... mostly its own power."

"And so you want someone to go introduce modern military technology so they have a fighting chance? I don't know how to make guns, so I don't know if that would go over very well for me..."

She waved a hand rudely at the mention of guns, shaking her head dismissively. "No no no, don't worry, I don't care about such barbaric inventions and 'modern weapons', no, I want you to be our apostle, our Heir, and I want you to create <Artifacts>, powerful magical weapons and items that can give them an edge, a 'leg up' on the competition, so to speak."

"So... like, flaming swords?"

She nodded seriously. "Oh yes, that is a very common enchantment, I see you've got at least the vaguest of notions as to my intentions, so that's good! Yes, I wish you to craft enchantments, and most of all, I want you to raise that world's technological state to at least the level of Earth in the early 1700's. Of course, with your modern knowledge you can skip over the Coal Age, hopefully, so that we don't piss off the Gods of Nature by ruining their atmosphere. Now, you're probably wondering where the promised Glory comes in, so I'll get to my final point: in this world, the more you craft <Artifacts>, the longer your lifespan will be, and the lives of your family will be likewise extended, as well as your physical and magical prowess! Your virility will also be increased, but I imagine that's of little use to you as a craftsman, I don't even know why it's been included in your blessings, so don't mind it. Lastly, and most importantly, whichever Deity you choose to be the Heir of will grant you specific boons at their whimsy, but no matter what, you will be able to Craft Dungeons, which will essentially ensure that you have a near-infinite source of Wealth and Materials for Crafting!"

"Wait, hold up, a few questions? 1: which 1700's, every continent was different in that era? 2: What's an Artifact? 3: did you just casually mention that you would make my family Immortal? 4: what type of Heir did you mean? Like, heir of fortune or Heir of Godhood? And 5: what's a Dungeon?"

She laughed softly, shaking her head and causing her whole body to visibly vibrate with the laugh, informing me that she was indeed still made of thread. "Ahh, yes, lovely questions... well, I suppose either Japan or Europe, in terms of which continent's Colonial Era? I just need semi-modern craftsmanship, their Medicine and Magic is already far beyond your own world's, it's only their Crafts that have suffered such total neglect. Next, an <Artifact> is an enchanted Item of some sort, blessed by the God of the Forge or another Crafting Deity. They're generally made by pushing Mana into a material and shaping it into something, which gives it purpose and power. Afterwards it becomes somewhat self-sustaining, though it does leech away it's user's life force for the price of using it... nothing the average mage or warrior couldn't handle regenerating, of course. Next, yes, immortality is rather simple, there's plenty of people in Erebus that live until they're killed. The birth rate there is rather low, but that will need to change soon, with the death rate rising due to the Dungeon Breaks. As for the definition of 'Heir', it simply means you become the Champion of a Deity, and they gift you power and knowledge about their specific type of Craft. In the eyes of the Churches, you would become the Apostle of that specific Deity, which would mean they would likely lavish you with whatever earthly desires you wanted, so Heir of Fortune works well enough... as for Godhood, yes, the Heirs are essentially apprentices, and after a few thousand years you may be able to Ascend to our Level, and get your own Heir. As for what a Dungeon is... that's a bit more complicated, so I'll just show you."

With one hand, the thread-maiden created what looked like a simple gold silk ribbon, and with the other, she produced a marble that was pulsing with golden energy, pressing the two together and fusing them with a process that I could sense with my whole body, like it was exposing itself to me intentionally. Each thread glowed individually, and eventually the entire ribbon was glowing, followed by a soft bell sound, and then a black screen appeared next to her, with words written in a runic script I couldn't read. Noticing my blank stare, she smiled and snapped her fingers, making my brain shiver for a moment before the words became instantly legible.

<The God of the Forge nods his head in acceptance: the Work <A Silk Goddess's Ribbon> has been judged a <Greater Artifact> of the Demiurge Tier, using Divine-Tier Gilded Silk and The Divine-Tier Blood of a 10,000 Year Forest Titan.>

She clicked her tongue irritatedly, having read the message as well, then sighed as a simple silver disk the size of your average person appeared beside her, floating silently in the air while the ribbon disappeared into nothing. "Well, I suppose I didn't put that much effort into it, so Demiurge-Tier is a Fair Assessment... regardless, this is a Portal to a Dungeon; inside is a pocket dimension, full of beasts whose souls, put together, are the same as the amount of power in the artifact. That is, if you use the <Artifact> as collateral to create the dungeon, which I did just now. The reason for this is that you can sacrifice a lesser <Artifact> to get access to greater materials, and thus you gain what you need to make a stronger <Artifact>. Generally, this is done at the end of the dungeon, when you've killed everything inside, the energy collects into one point and forms a material or even an <Artifact> of its own, if the dungeon was made by another Artisan."

"So... when you craft an Artifact, it can be used as payment for an Upgraded Material, as well as a portal full of monsters? What if I want to keep the Artifact and sell it, instead? If I'm happy with the Tier of Craft I made?"

She laughed softly again, shaking her head. "Who in their right mind would be Happy with a Lesser Work? Besides, the Materials gathered inside Dungeons are the main source of economic prosperity for Erebus, and the only <Artifacts> they currently have are cursed, made by the other non-Craft deities who want to harvest the planet. Each one has vicious little drawbacks, such as killing its user if they use it more than three times, or crippling them and forcing them to rely on the artifact forevermore. Better Artifacts are required, if Erebus is to be prosperous once more."

"I see... but to be clear, you don't Have to open a Portal when you finish an Artifact?"

She waved a hand at the portal, crushing it into a single marble instantly, and then handed me the resultant ball of glowing silver. "No, you do not... but why would you refuse to, when you could get something like this?"

<You Have Obtained the <Pill of Eternity> from a Demiurge-Tier Dungeon.>

<Crafting Options Include, But Are Not Limited To: The Philosopher's Stone, The Cauldron of Eternity, or Solomon's Goblet.>

<Consumption Options: .0000000000000001% Chance of Apotheosis. .0000000000000001% Chance of Awakening (?). 99.999999999999998% Chance of Instant Death.>

"Wow... okay... point made." I went to hand it back, but she waved her hand at it casually, refusing while gesturing at a small jar on one end of the room, visibly full of the same silver pills.

"I have no need of such trifles... keep it. Use it, perhaps, for your first <Artifact>. I am curious as to your skills... I look forward to you choosing a God to follow, and I hope it's me, but I get the feeling you're more the Hammer type than the Sewing one. Regardless, I'll be sending you over now, but you can make one request of me, and I'll do it, free of debt; what do you want?"

The words 'free of debt' caught my ears instantly, and I paused, thinking deeply. "Am I allowed to ask questions before I ask for the favor?"

"Indeed." She conjured a chair and a table, upon which a steaming teapot sat primly, and gestured to the seat that had appeared behind me as well. "I imagine you have many questions: feel free to take your time, time is not passing very quickly at all, in either your world or Erebus, so there's no rush."

As I obliged and sat down, her words caught up to me, and I froze in place. "Wait, hold up, you can control Time?"

She covered her mouth swiftly to hide her sharp teeth as she giggled at my urgency. "No, no, only Space a bit... though considering the two to be separate is an inefficient manner of thought. No, my Realm is in Weaving Threads and Fabric, so would it not then follow that I could weave the Fabric of Reality? To a small degree, of course."

I nodded slowly, understanding her point; if she could manipulate gravity, she could make it so that her own area experienced time much faster than others, like near a black hole. "Okay... alright: you said this world was like Earth, so can I assume it's mostly covered in water and has breathable air?"

"It is, yes. Most of the planet is uninhabited, however, due to the Dungeon Breaks of the past twenty or so years. If a Portal is not Conquered within a few months of its creation, everything inside of it eventually eats each other, gaining enough power to destroy its own portal and escape to the outside world... considering how weak the majority of the population of Erebus is, this means they have to throw thousands of cannon-fodder into a meat grinder like Ants every time a Portal is created. This method is the reason you are here, of course: they are losing population far faster than they are gaining it."

A grimace twisted my lips before I spoke again, forcing myself to focus. "Population?"

"Perhaps 850 Million left, originally it was around 8 Billion, like your planet... overpopulated, sure, but at least it was peaceful."

"That's... a pretty steep drop... but I imagine all the remaining remnants have moved to a small number of Bastions?"

"Mm, I believe so? There are only four cities left, if I'm remembering correctly. Great big things, they are, but hopelessly outdated and, of course, around medieval in terms of public works. If the Demons don't manage it, the Plague will wipe out all humanoid life on that planet in less than a decade."

I grimaced again, weighing my options. "That seems extremely dangerous, and not the kind of place I want my children in."

"Danger is Relative... as I said, so long as you make Artifacts, your children and you will live long, healthy lives. You need not fear the Monsters; you will be kept safe in your workshop, regardless of the exterior conditions."

"Mm... in that case, my best chance at saving that world would be to Build a fifth City, from the ground up, to ensure it has all the foundations and public works you'd need in a modern city... so where will I be working, then?"

"Wherever you would like, but it was not me who created it, it was Vulcan." She again waved a hand dismissively, seeming to dislike the subject, or perhaps the 'Vulcan' fellow.

I nodded slowly, then grinned. "Alright, I've decided on what I will Request from you!"