The Villain Rising: Ascension of Arcane Trickster.-Chapter 221: God of Forge [1].

Rael stepped into the dimly lit room, where a blacksmith and a child welcomed him but they weren’t the only ones, as a familiar presence greeted him in an awkward way as well.

That familiar presence was none other than his ever-trusted cloak, which had abandoned him this whole time and was now casually chilling in front of the fire inside the room.

He wanted to curse that bastard immediately but he held it in as there were others present and he had a reputation to maintain.

It tried coming closer to him but before it could cling to his back, he walked away without even acknowledging its presence.

"I greet the God of Forge." He muttered, looking at the broad-shouldered man, the blacksmith who had been rhythmically striking the anvil with his hammer before he arrived.

He didn’t know how else to respond.

The Divine Treasury was his creation and beyond that, he barely knew anything about him as the God of Forge hadn’t made any appearances in the novel.

Which meant he shouldn’t have known who the child was and yet... he had a hunch.

The story of a blacksmith father and his blind son was still fresh in his mind, especially after absorbing the same memories again and again through the loops.

The artifacts he obtained from the Forest of Unmasked, all of them carried descriptions of a blacksmith father who forged artifacts for his son, only to kill himself in guilt after the boy’s death. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

So he had suspected that perhaps the blacksmith had somehow ascended to godhood... becoming the God of Forge.

Just then, the child standing beside the blacksmith started giggling.

"You are funny, big bro. Why are you calling my father by my title?" His voice was calm but the pressure carried within it was anything but normal.

Even though he didn’t flinch, his physical body reacted on its own as his knees buckled slightly.

His mind raced immediately.

Shit, is he not friendly after all?

He wasn’t stupid enough to believe that everyone he encountered would be good and kind to him. Still, he had expected him not to be hostile as his cloak was far too comfortable in his presence for that, but... was he wrong?

Even so, he wasn’t afraid.

Although the novel never introduced the God of Forge directly, it did explain the existence of the Divine Treasury because otherwise, it would have made no sense for a divine domain to exist in the world at all when divine interference itself was forbidden by the Heavenly Principles which made sure the rules were followed.

According to what was written in the novel, the God of Forge had created the Divine Domain which could only exist within the bounds of mortal realm and made a deal with Heaven themselves to allow it to exist and in exchange the God would provide countless treasures to mortals who passed the tests within the treasury

Even then, the Heavenly Principles wouldn’t have allowed the real God of Forge to be here and that meant the boy who claimed to be the God was merely an avatar of the real one just like Hel.

Normally, even that level of presence was restricted but this was a divine domain allowed by Heavens, so the rules regarding the avatars were slightly loose.

But unlike Hel, who had been free, this God was bound by the contract he had made. So even if he wanted to hurt Rael, he couldn’t and Rael was confident that was the case.

Still, he kept his tone polite because Gods had countless ways to kill a human even without being physically present. "What do you mean, oh great god?"

He genuinely couldn’t understand how Winter could be the God of Forge.

"Don’t worry, I am not planning to hurt you and nor can I actually do it without suffering some major problems." His voice was mischievous. "We will discuss everything in depth but before that, have a seat because we have a lot to discuss, you know?"

—

A few minutes later, once Rael had finally settled into his seat, the cloak drifted toward him again but Rael didn’t even spare it a glance.

Just then, the boy’s voice echoed.

"Don’t be so harsh on the poor guy. I was the one who asked him to stay for a while... for old time’s sake."

Rael looked at the God of Forge politely, a smile on his face, saying nothing at first before finally speaking.

"What might you need from me, oh great god?" He slipped into his act, settling comfortably into his persona as he controlled even the tiniest part of his facial muscles perfectly.

Winter smiled. "I don’t need anything from you, big bro but could you please cut the act and stop being so formal..."

His voice was soft.

"Just call me Winter like you did before."

Rael couldn’t understand what he was playing at but he decided to go along with it. "So, what do you wish to discuss, Winter?" He asked, genuinely curious about what the boy had to say and where all of this was actually headed.

But the boy’s smile widened. "Nothing serious, actually. Just tell me how you’ve been and all that. Oh, and you can ask me anything you are curious about as well and I will try to answer, as long as it’s not something you shouldn’t know."

Rael didn’t even need to think as his first question had already been prepared. "Why do you keep calling me big bro?"

He was genuinely curious why the boy had been calling him that repeatedly even though he was likely millions of years older than Rael himself.

Hell, even Rael’s entire lineage might not have existed when the boy ascended to godhood...

So why was he calling me big bro?

Winter looked at Rael with a mischievous smile. "What else am I supposed to call you... when you are my big brother?"

Rael’s eyes widened as a question slipped from his mouth unconsciously. "What do you mean?"

The boy looked at Rael once before he began his story.