"This is~"
"Vibranium."
Eitri clutched the massive chunk of Vibranium in Garfield's offering, his eyes wide with disbelief.
"Where did you obtain such a legendary material~"
Garfield rolled his eyes. "Is this prince not worthy enough to be adopted by Odin as his son?"
He saw no need to answer directly, Eitri's imagination would suffice.
Indeed, the dwarf king pressed no further.
If Odin could provide Uru, the sacred metal of Asgard, it was perfectly natural that Garfield might possess such a treasure.
"This single piece of metal could forge the core components of a star-killing super-battleship," Eitri breathed, still cradling the ore.
"If the great empires of the universe learned of its existence, they would launch wars to claim it."
"It's not that impressive," Garfield replied with a flick of his tail. "Just a washbasin-sized raw ore."
"What are you so excited about? This prince has more where that came from."
Fuwano immediately scooped Garfield up, pressing him close to her face. "Your Highness, could you sell some to us Elves?"
"Not much… just this much." She gestured, indicating roughly half of what Garfield had produced.
Garfield regarded her suspiciously. "Is that much considered 'not much'?"
Fuwano fell silent, and Eitri answered for her. "It's not a question of quantity, Your Highness, but of cost."
"Such a large Vibranium ore, alloyed with other metals and enchanted materials, could yield wonders beyond price. Could you sell some to us Dwarves as well?"
Garfield considered for a moment. "Not for sale."
Eitri and Fuwano's expressions fell.
"I can give it to you."
Both stared, momentarily stunned. But they were not foolish… such generosity came with weight.
Fuwano asked softly, "Your Highness... what price must we pay?"
"Smart folk are easy to deal with. I don't ask for much. If your abilities permit, you must accept my employment."
Fuwano inclined her head. "Agreed, so long as it does not involve the slaughter of civilized races or the defenseless."
The Dwarves were less charitable than the Elves, but Eitri nodded cautiously. "Agreed as well, but you understand we cannot neglect Asgard's normal demands."
"Acceptable."
The foundation of their bargain was struck.
The finer details could wait, now, they must focus on forging Garfield's armor before his imminent departure for the Kree homeworld.
Each component of the divine attire was not crafted separately but cast as an integrated whole.
First, runic patterns were inscribed upon the molds.
Enchanted circles bearing the required attributes were embedded within.
Rare materials were positioned in advance for specific parts. Finally, molten metals were poured in, completing the piece in a single, seamless casting.
It resembled the forging of Thor's Stormbreaker, every element prepared beforehand, requiring only the final smelting to unite them.
Artifacts were not born easily.
The molds alone demanded painstaking labor, impossible to complete in a single day.
To hasten progress, Eitri reassigned dwarves from their current commissions, setting them to work simultaneously on three separate molds.
The Elven enchanters proved even more committed, every available hand abandoned their tasks to collaborate with the dwarven smiths.
Days passed.
As expected, the first three molds encountered difficulties, two sets failed when magical materials refused to blend properly during production, rendering them useless.
To safeguard against further failure, Eitri commissioned two additional backup molds.
Fortunately, with the hard-won experience from earlier attempts, the fourth and fifth proceeded smoothly.
And to everyone's relief, the third set, against all odds was successfully completed.
Once the third mold was successfully completed, the latter two were clearly no longer needed.
Discarding them seemed wasteful, after all, considerable rare materials had been incorporated into their construction.
Recycling was possible, but troublesome.
Eitri studied the fourth and fifth molds thoughtfully. "Your Highness, perhaps we could preserve these two molds as foundations for future upgrades?"
Garfield considered this. "Acceptable. Now, let us prepare to forge the weapon."
Eitri nodded. "For your form, I would recommend fist-blades or claw weapons."
"I concur." Fuwano agreed.
Garfield shook his head. "This prince desires a hammer."
Eitri blinked. "What?"
Garfield repeated firmly. "This prince desires a hammer."
Fuwano's expression shifted. "Your Highness, we are familiar with certain regional dialects. You must not utter profanities~"
Speechless.
Garfield gestured emphatically. "I desire the Hammer, the one in Thor's possession."
Ohhhhh.
Eitri and Fuwano relaxed, apologizing hastily. "Forgive us, Your Highness. We misunderstood."
"Yes, your phrasing was... remarkably similar to something else."
Garfield grew curious. "How do the two of you understand that particular idiom?"
Eitri explained, "Some time ago, when a Brother Wang Defa came to teach~"
Fuwano added eagerly, "He brought us delicious rabbit heads. Cold-eating rabbit."
"We dwarves have developed quite a fondness for Sichuan-style hot pot," Eitri continued. "Very stimulating. Excellent flavor."
Wang Defa?
Garfield's ears perked. " Trench coat, baggy pants, flip-flops?"
"Yes, precisely him."
Garfield scratched his head thoughtfully.
Something was amiss. A puzzle demanded solving.
But finding answers proved difficult. Odin's ravens, Huginn and Muninn, had long been transformed into figures by Godzilla back home.
Earth's remaining source of cosmic insight might be the Moon God, perhaps a visit to his temple was warranted.
As for Olympus... Garfield considered whether he should seek out his little wife.
He imagined her alone, traversing planets, haunted not only by memories of that deceased pilot but also by the ceaseless task of repelling invading monsters across the world.
So distressed.
What to do when one is too weary?
Eitri, oblivious to Garfield's wandering thoughts, pressed on with practical matters.
"Your Highness, what attributes should the hammer possess? Summoning wind? Fire? Lightning? Or frost and chilling gales?"
"Let it be thunder. In future, I may be called Thunder Garfield. Mighty Garfield Odinson. Or... Godzilla."
Eitri had no idea where the 'Godzilla' reference originated, but he nodded sagely.
Forging a Hammer meant following Thor's original structure, with enhancements.
Vibranium. Other rare metals. The finished product might rival Stormbreaker in power.
Garfield, unlike Thor, required no Rainbow Bridge for travel, he could open portals himself.
This simplified matters considerably.
Two furnaces ignited simultaneously. Eitri worked with practiced precision, adding Vibranium and various enchanted materials to the primary Uru metal. Since this hammer was crafted for Garfield alone and didn't require pure Uru throughout, a smaller furnace sufficed.
When smelting completed, molten metal flowed through pipes into the waiting molds.
As both filled to capacity, Eitri commanded the dwarves to seal the channels and retrieve the castings.
Two molds.
Ready to open.