It has been a week since Kars brought the metal enhancer from the central plaza market and reassured his worried concubine that he would be fine playing around with it. The boss of the slum now could be seen standing inside a simple-looking pavilion that was quickly built behind his shops, where he had ordered his men to build a special open-air forge for him to forge his own weapon and armor.
And since he fancied himself a blacksmith, Kars had to spend most of his time practicing forging a sword these past few days as he exploited his cheat of rapid improvement and the smithing skill he stole from a couple of blacksmith souls who became indentured to him.
And as a result, Kars now could be called a master swordsmith who has experience forging a thousand blades in just a few days with only ten swords that he actually forged with his own hands.
With the rhythmic clanking of hammers hitting against steel, Kars watches as the green glowing smithing hammers move in the air by themselves with his telekinesis magic as he controls the hammers to shape a thick piece of hot steel on the anvil into a greatsword he intends to use as his main weapon.
As for why he didn't hammer the sword himself directly, Kars had to specifically develop this telekinetic forging technique for the application of metal enhancer powder so he could eliminate any human contact with the dangerous enchantment process entirely. It is the best solution with the least complication and effort that Kars has thought of after he brought that cancerous blue powder.
The glowing hammers continued to swing midair, hitting and sculpting the glowing soon-to-be greatsword with machine-like precision while orange sparks flew from the hot steel as it quickly changed shape into what Kars desired.
And after the chunk of glowing steel took a proper sword shape but was not yet fully formed, Kars quickly began the enchantment process with a method that he had learned from the merchant, which he also improved even further using his knowledge of Shao Kahn and this world's alchemist, who unfortunately became Kars' victim because that guy broke a blood contract with him and refused to be his legal slave.
Then the process begins with Kars stepping back from the forge, and then he puts a large special reinforced glass container that looks like a giant cup he prepared beforehand over the unfinished greatsword on top of the anvil and covers it in an airtight space with the metal enhancer and hammers inside.
He continues to control everything with his mind as the hammers are still hammering the steel on the anvil in midair while the vial of blue powder is open inside the glass container, and then he pours the metal enhancer into the greatsword like he is sprinkling spice and salt on the cooking steak.
The blue powder's effects were immediate as the hot steel darkened unnaturally, veins of cobalt threading through the surface like spreading frost under Kars' gaze from outside the glass container, and a minute later, the cobalt-veined greatsword suddenly shines bright blue as it hisses like a kettle while the hammers continue hammering, shaping the greatsword into a perfect instrument of war.
The greatsword continued to pulse like a living thing, its blue veins throbbing under the hammer blows until the glow faded into a dull, natural metallic sheen that Kars had been waiting for, and with his telekinetic magic, Kars plunged the sword from the anvil into the quenching oil below, making blue smoke erupt from the sword in thick, acrid plumes that filled up and coiled inside the glass container.
Kars watched, arms crossed, as the metal cooled and the blue magical toxin smoke started to fade away like fog, and when the greatsword emerged from the oil with his telekinetic grip, he saw a shiny 1.7-meter-tall and 100-kilogram blackened steel greatsword that looked imposing and almost demonic floating in the air.
Kars waited patiently until the toxic smoke was completely gone inside the glass container before he opened it to finish his newly forged sword with the crossguard and the pommel. Then he wrapped the sword grip with sea monster leather and embedded an enchanted jewel with a self-cleaning effect on the sword as well.
With the greatsword finished, Kars brought the sword in front of him, and then he grasped the hilt and marveled at the heavy weight a little.
Five times heavier, just as the merchant promised. A weight that a normal human wouldn't be able to lift with their strength, but Kars' extraordinary inhuman strength still made him feel like he was holding a very big toy as he swung the greatsword experimentally, causing the air to scream as it split by the blade's unnatural density, creating a cloud of dust in the air.
The sword's edge made a gush of wind as Kars swung it around in various ways, testing the balance and weight distribution of his creation, like it actually mattered with his super strength.
"Good sword." He smirked in approval, but despite its sword shape, the thing in his hand was no mere sword; it was a heavy piece of brute force given form, a double-damage dealer of sharp edge and blunt impact.
"Finally, a worthy weapon for a human male..." Kars murmured, tilting the greatsword sideways to catch the sunlight filtering through the pavilion. Behind him, Sophia leaned against a wooden beam, her arms crossed beneath her large breasts. Her silver hair was tied back in a neat bun as usual.
"I have my doubts, but you really managed to forge such a thing after only a week of smithing," Sophia remarked with an amazed expression before she stepped closer to Kars as she touched his arm with a concerned look. "More importantly, is it even safe to wield it? It was inside that blue smoke, you know?"
"Heh, you don't have to worry about that; the blue powder only produces toxic fumes during forging and will quickly disperse in the air afterward like you just saw," Kars chuckled, running his thumb along the sword's spine. "The finished product is perfectly safe to touch and will not cause any harm, as I already checked when I tested out the metal enhancer on a simple dagger days ago."
"I hope you're right..." Sophia could only sigh and say nothing more as Kars turned toward a poorly made wooden dummy he had set up beside the pavilion before he walked to the dummy, ready to test his greatsword against it.
"It is time for you to fulfill your destiny, John." Kars said solemnly as he raised the greatsword in a two-handed grip over his head, his muscles coiling like steel cables beneath his skin. The dummy, which was a lashed-together collection of random things that were mostly wood and straw, stood defenseless before him, unable to change its own inevitable fate.
Finally, with a quiet exhale, Kars brought the greatsword down in a blur of brutal vertical slash on the innocent dummy.
And as you might expect, the impact wasn't a neat, clean slice but a devastating crunch and boom of a meteor as the dummy exploded outward in jagged shards, with its straw bursting into the air like a ruptured pillow as the dummy head and torso were crushed and cut in two halves along with the earth under the dummy, which exploded with a cloud of dirt as if a mini meteor had just hit there.
When the dust settled, Kars examined the mangled remains of the dummy as its straw scattered around and the splinters littered the ground. He then pulled the sword out of the earth and flicked the greatsword sideways to get rid of the dirt and dummy fragments, while in the place where the sword landed, the heavy weight of the greatsword had carved a deep furrow in the dirt.
"What do you think?" Kars then turned to Sophia with a satisfied grin while Sophia wrinkled her nose slightly at the cloud of dust, straw, and splinters drifting through the air, brushing a stray piece from her shoulder.
"I suppose brute force is your preference in a lot of things..." she mused, stepping closer to inspect the dummy's wreckage state that Kars left it in. The blade had pulverized it completely, and Sophia doesn't even want to imagine what the human would look like in the aftermath of this attack instead of the dummy Kars just slain...
÷×÷×÷×÷×÷
The next day afternoon, Kars could be seen lying sideways on the couch of his mansion's living room with only trousers on after he had been at the forge forging his personal equipment all morning.
Now he is relaxing and having fun teasing his maid while his concubine is away, busy with taking care of his businesses.
"B-Boss... this costume is too inappropriate...!" Siesta protested in embarrassment as she was forced to dress in a modified maid outfit that only had a frilly headdress, a frilly detachable collar, a frilly apron, a black micro-bikini, a black lace garter belt with stockings, and high-heel shoes.
The midday sun shines through the gap in the curtained living room windows onto the maid, highlighting her exposed skin to the lewd slum boss she now serves as Siesta stood stiffly in the middle of the room in front of Kars with her hands covering her barely covered breasts, her curvy body trembling slightly while she fought the instinct to curl inward and scream in embarrassment.
Kars watched the flustered Siesta with a smirk, propping his chin on one hand as his lustful amber eyes traced the trembling curve of her thighs where the garter bit into soft flesh before he slowly looked up at her ample breasts that she was trying to hide from him.
"Inappropriate?" Kars said with a lazy tone as he molested the maid with his invasive gaze. "You're still more clothed than half the whores in brothels... just stand boldly and let me see what you are hiding."
Siesta's breath hitched as Kars' command fully registered in her mind, his tone leaving no room for disobedience. Slowly, under Kars' silent pressure, her arms peeled away from her chest, revealing the perky swell of her large breasts barely contained by the flimsy black fabric of the bikini top.
"Uuuuuh..." Siesta made a small, embarrassed noise as she felt the lustful gaze of the man in front of her all over her exposed skin, raising goosebumps in its wake. She swallowed hard, her fingers gripping her apron at her sides, yearning to cover herself up once again but unable to.
"Good, now bend forward and show me your cleavage," Kars ordered next with his voice low as he reclined further into the couch cushions, his gaze locked on her breasts like a predator.
"Uhhhh..." Siesta's cheeks burning crimson as she obeyed, her arms folded under her boobs as she bent at the waist. The movement made the bikini top strain dangerously against her hanging breasts, the valley between them deepening enticingly as they sway lewdly.
"Hold them with your hands and make them bounce," Kars instructed next with a lewd smirk while he made a cupping gesture and moved his hand up and down in the air like he was bouncing something in his hand.
"I-I am... ah... t-that..." Siesta stuttered as she hesitated, but her fingers twitched toward her large boobs regardless as she finally cupped her own breasts, squeezing them slightly as they deformed in her hands under the flimsy fabric.
Kars's smirk deepened, his amber eyes half-lidded while he watched the maid's fingers sink into her soft flesh as she started moving them in her hands, making them bounce and jingle. The movement was awkward and clumsy, but gradually Siesta started getting the hang of it and began making more provocative gestures with her boobs to entice her boss.
"Hmmm, good girl," Kars hummed as his cock stirred in his pants by the provocative boob-taunting skill of his maid, and Siesta shuddered by both the praise and the sight of Kars's big penis making a tent in his trousers, which made her nipples erect and her thighs pressing together instinctively in return.
Siesta doesn't even know what to think about the fact that she just made Kars have an erection with her boobs, and somehow she is kind of happy about it, just a little bit.
Then suddenly the front doors of the mansion swung open with a sharp click of the latch, cutting short the pink atmosphere of the living room as Sophia stood in the doorway before the entrance hall, her silver hair slightly windswept from her hurried return.
And like she had a radar to detect Kars in her head, Sophia's pale blue eyes turned sharp as she immediately went to the living room and took in the scene of Siesta fidgeting in her lewd outfit, her hands covering her own boobs, and the unapologetic Kars lounging on the couch with an erection. The maid's face flushed with mortification as Sophia entered the living room with a huff of exasperation before she pinched the bridge of her nose, exhaling sharply through her nostrils.
"Must you harrass every woman under your roof?" Her heels clicked against the marble as she walked toward the chuckling Kars, her black skirt-covered hips swaying with each step while Siesta used this chance to retreat as she sneaked out of the living room quietly.
"Heh, is it obvious? They are mine now, so it would be a waste if I didn't play with them." Kars' smirk widened as he saw Sophia roll her eyes.
"And it is still quite early for you to be back home, so what is it?" Kars then changes his tone to a serious one as he gets up to sit on the couch with his back leaning against the backrest while Sophia sighs and sits down next to him before she leans her head on his shoulder, clearly exhausted from whatever made her come back early today.
"Well, something unexpected did happen," Sophia starts as her fingers caress Kars' hard bicep with her voice low and measured. "One of my siblings reached out to me today..."
"Oh? Which one?" Kars asked in a casual tone, but Sophia recognized the spark of interest in Kars's gaze. The House of Silverveil, where Sophia was once a part of before she became Kars' concubine, had seven legitimate children and more than a dozen illegitimate ones, each more ruthlessly ambitious than the last, from what Sophia spoke of them.
"It's Mei Mei," Sophia revealed, her fingers tracing Kars' abs now as she spoke. The name sounds odd but also kind of cute to Kars. "My younger half-sister, a legitimate one, sent me a letter saying she wants to discuss a business deal with you, apparently."
"That's so?" Kars said with interest since this is the first time someone has actually wanted to discuss business with him other than people begging for a loan. He wonders what kind of woman Mei Mei is.
"Here, it was delivered by a crow, her pet, I think?" Sophia murmured, reaching into the inner pocket of her silver-trimmed jacket she wore today as she pulled out a folded letter that was already opened by Sophia with its edges slightly crumpled. Kars could see the red wax seal broken as she pressed it in his hand.
"Hmm, so what is she like, your sister Mei Mei?" Kars inquires as he opens the letter and starts to read the content.
"Well, she is the most decent of the bunch, but she's a true merchant at heart, I suppose." Sophia smiles wryly as she recalls her money-obsessed sister in her memory...