So, I practiced my magic, taught Lili my Soothing Touch spell after handing over my Whisperwood staff, and I once again lamented just how much easier things were when one had a teacher. It had taken me 9 months to learn how to control my Mind well enough to manipulate even that simple spell, but with some tutoring, instructions on a chalkboard, and the like, Liliruca Arde learned the spell well enough to be added to her falna in less than 4 months. The lessons learned from my failures had sped up her learning by leaps and bounds.
I had tried to get some one-on-one time with Riveria Ljos Alf in exchange for some equipment I made, but unfortunately, Lefiya Viridis had arrived in Orario and was now taking up the majority of her time. The elf Princess wasn't opposed to teaching me, but between my time in the smithy and our Dungeon dives, the amount of available time we could meet up was incredibly limited... unless I was willing to switch my entire day around. While I was willing to do so, the forges didn't operate at night for a reason.
Still, progress was made and it was damn good progress at that- I had been able to progress down to the 29th Floor before I hit my first wall for Level 3, which was about what I expected considering how I chained the monsters together. I stopped before I hit my "5 by 5" to avoid triggering the Status Update as required by Hephaestus, and I decided to stick to the 19th - 24th Floors and farm there with Naaza and Liliruca whenever Tsubaki couldn't chaperone me.
In fact, we were currently on the 23rd Floor right now in a joint mini-expedition that Hephaestus and Miach had put together; the Miach familia needed materials for their potions, and there were Mid-Steel and High-Steel ore nodes in abundance on the 19th-25th floors, while Nosteel and the first few nodes of Mithril, Damascus, and Light Metal were starting to appear on Floors 22 through 24. Myself, Vornir, and 21 Level 2 and 3 Smiths from the Hephaestus familia came, while all 17 members who were above Level 1 in the Miach familia attended as well.
We had 12 wagons between the 42 of us, and it was during this mini-expedition I learned why it took weeks for the expeditions from the larger familias to go and get anything done in the Dungeon.
Adventurers were fast while wagons were slow. Add in the fact that wagons attracted a lot of monster attention and that made movement even worse.
The Miach familia only brought 3 wagons while we had the other 8, and boy was it slow going.
We fought off Firebirds that tried to set our wagons on fire, Bugbears that looked like souped-up Goblins, Battle Boars that were surprisingly hearty and difficult to bring down for how simple it was to actually fight them, and the three and a half meter tall Trolls required a team of 4 Level 2s to bring down thanks to their quick regeneration. The insect monsters like the Gun Libellula were a pain for anyone not well-versed in archery to bring down, which pretty much meant that myself, Liliruca, and Naaza were on duty 24/7 to kill them efficiently.
The Mad Beetles were handled by the smiths who favored heavy axes and war hammers quite well though, so that was good; their thick carapaces might have shrugged off cuts from a sword, but they crumpled when faced with a cleaving strike or crushing blow. The Mammoth Fools were just like the Trolls in that they needed a 4 man team to bring down, but it was because they were just so damn big and not due to their regeneration.
We were currently on the 23rd Floor in a nice little encampment near the wall of the Large Tree Labyrinth, which was nice because the monsters didn't seem to spawn from the walls like the other Floors, instead they spawned the caves or from the ground. They also didn't spawn right on top of you as they did in the Upper Floors, which meant that the wagons could be circled up and a loose perimeter established. Vornir, myself, and the leader from the Miach familia for this expedition- which funnily enough ended up being Naaza's mother- set up "Away Parties" of a bare minimum of five members each, with at least one bowman and one ax/hammer wielder in the groups to ensure we have a proper mix of damage for the varied monsters this floor had; if we went down one more Floor then we'd lose some of the more annoying monsters, but trade them in for larger groups of more lethal monsters.
I asked Vornir to take a copy of the map we had and scout around the floor, marking off readily visible nodes of resources so that we could begin setting up a rotation to go out and collect them; we could scour the caves at our leisure for the more lucrative Nosteel, Damascus, and Light Metal once we had our quotas of High-Steel and Mid-Steel filled. The old dwarf huffed a laugh and patted me on the head, praising me for "thinking and planning ahead".
This was annoying because this was just basic scouting and reconnaissance- there shouldn't be anything groundbreaking or revolutionary about sending the Level 5 who can move quickly, was experienced with the terrain, and could handle themselves against even the largest monster parties the Dungeon could throw at them.
What the hell did they do before? Just... show up and walk around, gathering whatever they found along the way before deciding to head back up?
"Alright, Team 1, this will be your target- we have a visible Nosteel cluster that we don't have to hunt for later, and since it is on the opposite end of the Floor it isn't something we can grab on the way back unless we make a significant detour if we decide to go down to the 24th Floor. According to Vornir-sama, there are three clusters of nodes that are within 100 meters of each other at the base of this ridge; we can expect anywhere from 4 to 12 nodes per cluster, so grabbing them would greatly increase how lucrative this dive is." I looked up from my travel desk at the teams arrayed around the morning campfire.
"However, because this is on the opposite end of the Floor, Teams 2 and 3 will be assisting you, along with two Supporters from the Miach familia; there are only a few Mithril Pickaxes capable of mining those nodes, so everyone that isn't mining or watching the backs of those mining will be assisting them in harvesting whatever flora they find." I dipped my pen into the inkwell and returned to scratching out a rough copy of the 23rd Floor; the writing desk had a glass panel covering an opening which allowed light from a magic stone lamp to penetrate the map and thus allowing me to copy down the maps onto separate parchment for all of the teams.
"Are there any questions?" I asked and to my surprise, they all shook their heads. I would have expected some push-back at least, but I guess being a highly successful Level 3 and at least appearing to be competent and organized did a lot in making them compliant with my wishes.
I nodded. "Good, there are two routes that I've transcribed onto the maps that should get you to the mining area with less resistance. It is important that you stick to these routes unless the situation becomes untenable- Vornir-sama will be patrolling a route that will take him to each mining location for the day, and if you have deviated from the mining location or travel routes then he will come looking."
"Do NOT make him come looking. Do NOT get greedy. I don't care if a Mithril node pops up in front of your nose, or you trip over an Adamantium node on your walk over; finish your assignments and come back, but note such discrepancies on your maps." I shook my head as I passed the freshly copied map over to Team 1's leader before crossing my arms over my chest, "Your lives are the priority; we can always come back for equipment left behind, or we can purchase new things. Do you all understand?"
There was a chorus of various "Yes" and the like, and I stood up and placed my hands on my hips. "I will leave you with this: I have heard some fairly disturbing things about this area of the Dungeon- whispers and rumors, but I don't like them at all. Possible cloaked figures, monsters attacking in large groups, monsters appearing to be organized as if they have been tamed. If you see that you're being observed by other Adventurers beyond the normal, make a note of it and maybe write a brief description of who is observing you. If you get attacked by monsters that are well organized, fucking retreat to us okay?"
"Also, I don't think I should need to tell you this, but if there is anyone wearing a full-body cloak, that is and should be immediately suspicious, and I want that reported, alright?" That got a chorus of chuckles from the men and women, and I scratched the back of my head with my hands. "Good, now off with you and come back bearing gifts."
"Now, Teams 4 and 5, we have seven High-Steel and Mid-Steel deposits on the walls near the entrance here, just under 400 meters away from our current position, here is your map. I will send a wagon as well as Team 6 over to move the materials back here for processing-"
The "Processing" was merely the removal of the excess rock from around the nuggets of material; sure, it could be done on-site, but that was a fair amount of work, and I would much rather it be done here where we have a somewhat defensible position.
Move in, mine the nodes, and transport the nodes back; no need for excessive noise away from the safety of the group.
This was Evilus territory- even if I was still a way out from canon, I wasn't going to take any chances, not with my people's lives.
"I think I can see why my Naaza-chan is so taken with you, Bell-kun." A gentle voice sounded out while I began on the preliminary paperwork and organization of the ores we had collected thus far, and I turned my head to look at the floppy-eared beauty that was Naaza's mother.
Spoiler: Mila Erisuis
I guess it wasn't surprising to see how young she looked, but with Mila Erisuis' dark brown hair and green eyes, I had to guess that Naaza got her hair and eyes from her father. The floppy ears, button nose, and cute, pouty mouth were all her mother though.
My eyebrow arched as I finished counting out the Mid-Steel ores and began placing them back into the wooden crate in the back of the wagon before I stacked it back up and grabbed the next crate- 48 ores for crate #MS10, now onto #MS11. "What you're getting at Erisuis-san? I don't think that adding a little organization to this expedition is quite what you're getting at."
The woman tittered behind her hand coquettishly as she dumped a fair amount of tan powder from her mortar into a large tin container. The cheinthrope then grabbed a handful of some type of dried leaf and threw it into the stone mortar before her stone pestle began to grind away. "Oh, no, that isn't it at all. I just think that you seem to be a natural leader, someone that can grab everyone's attention not just through charisma, but because what you say makes sense to the people who hear your words."
She hummed to herself a little bit before she bobbed her head, her floppy ears bouncing away as she spoke. "The organization of the teams, the little strategies, and routes, even the organization of the wagon train and our supplies. I can honestly say that for the first time I felt like I was an Adventurer for one of the major familias! It felt very professional."
"Nyea, usually we don't come down this far at all, even with our Captain." A white-haired catkin chirped from another table where she was busy cutting the tough, purplish stems and veins from large yellow-colored leaves. "We have to rely on other familias to get us our ingredients, and they don't do the best job... if they even properly handle the materials at all!"
Spoiler: Mushi Erisuis
27, 28, 29, 30- I paused in my counting to look up at the two of them. "I find that pretty hard to believe- with the number of Level 2s you have the Miach familia should be regular visitors to these floors, or at least that is what I would have thought."
31, 32, 33, 34, 35...
"Meh, we're not an Exploration-type familia, nya know?" The cat-kin shrugged her shoulders as she used her knife to begin cutting the leaves into little squares that would be then stacked up and placed into some sort of dehydrator; the dried leaves would then be sent over to Mila for rendering into a powder. "We are a Crafting-type familia; combat and fighting are two things that we really don't like to do."
Wait, aren't combat and fighting the same thing?
The cheinthrope woman pouted, "We're getting side-tracked Mushi-chan, we're talking about the strong and reliable man our cute little Naaza-chan is interested in!"
44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, and 50.
I annotated the number of ores on my sheet and moved on to crate #MS13 and began counting them out. "Okay, I think I understand what you're getting at, Erisuis-san, but maybe you could provide a little context?"
"Mou! Just call me Okaa-san, O-Kaa-sa-n~!" The woman waggled her pestel at me from her chair with a disapproving pout on her face.
"Hee hee hee, yeah, you might as well, Bell-kun, you're practically married already!" The feline chuckled.
"Anyways, to answer your question, just like werewolves, cheinthropes naturally tend to form packs around capable men. It's just that Naaza hasn't grown up around other cheinthrope families, not like I have. So her instincts and desires were warring with her Orario sensibilities, which was why she was giving you the cold-shoulder when your little werewolf wives first showed up." The woman nodded to herself as her hands continued to work, "Mushi-chan and I had to have a little sit down with Lili-chan and Naaza-chan to help them understand that there was no reason to let things like jealousy interfere with how the pack operates, especially since it would be formed around a werewolf core; those tend to be more focused and regimented."
I blinked and stood up so that I could look more carefully at the two women, "What was it that you told them that brought them around? I thought I was going to have to deal with that for quite a while, at least until they got to know each other a little better."
"Oh, that's easy! We just told them that if they didn't like the fact that you had a pack forming around you then they could just look elsewhere." The feline grinned broadly as she twisted in her seat and placed her current stack of cut leaves onto a metal tray, "Solved that little jealousy problem really quick."
I squinted my eyes and gave the feline a funny look. "That was surprisingly blunt."
Mila Erisuis held out her hand and shook it a little bit, "Possibly, but that is just how packs work, my dear son-in-law. It is the natural order of things and going against one's instincts more often than not only leads to disappointment; it was her instincts that lead her to choose you, after all, and she is happy to be by your side. Why should she be angry when other young women see the same things and wish to share in that happiness? Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Pallums, and Weretigers tend to be monogamous, but Cheinthropes, Werewolves, Reynards, Sheep-kin, Cow-kin, Boaz, and Humme Bunnies tend to form packs, skulks, herds, warrens, what have you."
"Amaznyans and Cat-girls tend to be in the middle- easily going one way or another." Mushi chimed in, "I found a good man who already had a pack around him, and I wanted him, so I joined up. It is a simple as that, no?"
"So I'm guessing that the man you are referring to was... Naaza's father?"
"That's right, nya~!" Her exuberance and smile tapered off, "Although he died before he could give me a kitty of my own to raise. He wasn't a fighter, but he was intelligent, dedicated, and kind."
Mila Erisuis sighed and rested her chin on her hand as the grinding of the pestle came to a halt. "That he was. The man was someone that I thought for sure would do something great, but he left his notes behind, and Naaza-chan is going through them with gusto; she inherited his intellect, and I think that she'll be able to finish out his work."
I blinked and rubbed the back of my hand against my chin; was that where Naaza had gotten the idea to create her Dual-Potions? Her father had left her some notes?
"You aren't going to finish the work he started?" I asked absentmindedly as I turned back to my work and began counting the last crate of Middle-Steel nuggets; if they could chat and work at the same time, then so could I.
The cheinthrope woman let out a soft huff, and I imagined her shaking her head as I counted off both in my head and soundlessly on my lips; anything less than that and I would lose my count. "No, unfortunately, I can only read a little bit; everything I know about potion making comes from my Mixing ability and repeated instructions from Miach-sama."
Her voice was wistful and I heard the camp chair she was using creak, "It was how we met- the handsome city boy teaching the cute little girl from out in the sticks how to read... I would say that it sounds like something out of a romance novel but considering I'd never read any that would be untruthful."
"I find it surprising that a familia who specializes in medicines would allow someone to remain illiterate, what about Miach-sama? Doesn't he teach?"
"Oh, he does, but it is difficult for him to find time since he's the only one capable of making the High Potions our familia sells to the larger familias for their expeditions, so he's often incredibly busy filling out orders."
I blink and almost lose count, "The only one? That is a little surprising... what about hiring a tutor? I can't imagine that paying a few hundred valis an hour for instruction would be too difficult, even if your familia isn't as lucrative as it could be."
She hummed in response, and silence filled the working area as we went about our tasks. The air felt a little awkward, and I felt like maybe I might have stepped into something with that- since it had been her husband teaching her... maybe it had been a bit of a sore spot for her?
I let out a gusting sight and focused on my work.
Once I had finished with the Mid-Steel crates I moved on to the High-Steel crates and counted those out, making sure to write everything down so that I could have a comprehensive and clean report for my Goddess when we returned to the surface in a few days.
Once my tasks were complete I hopped out of the wagons and made my way over towards my equipment where I suited up in my armor and clipped on my weapons, my bow, and my quiver filled with Chantwood arrows- they were non-magically reactive, as not every Chantwood tree grew up to be useful for the making of Magical Focuses, but they were suitable for most enemies down to the 40th Floor.
They were incredibly expensive too, costing almost four thousand valis each when the normal arrows I had been using could be picked up for 200 valis; the trade-off was that the possibility of these breaking was far, far lower as long as my shot placement was good. I had to sit down with my Rookie Dungeon Advisor, Eina Tulle, and go through the various weak points on the monsters I would be fighting from here on out, with some solicited- and paid for- advice from the fletchers who had been Adventurers themselves before they retired.
My shortsword days were now behind me as I started my growth spurts, steadily inching up as the months began to tick by, and thankfully I was maturing what was considered "nominal" for young boys who got their falnas early- it took some extra time, he assured me, for my puberty to arrive, but it would arrive all the same. Had I remained a Level 1 I would have been just a few months behind, but the growth to Level 2 and Level 3 in less than two years would have set me behind even further if not for the healing God's intervention. Hephaestus applied some tweaks to the falna's underlying structure with Miach's help, and now I would continue to grow and age normally until I reached 20 years of age, in which the changes would revert themselves and my falna would revert to the previous settings.
So, overall I was a year and some change behind on my development, but since it wasn't harmful and it only impacted my sex life I decided that it was fine. I'd gone this many years without sex, I could go a little bit extra, especially since I was going to be living five times longer, if not more; a Level 3 human could live up to 200 years, a Level 4 250 years, and the longest recorded living human was a Level 5 who was still kicking around 327 years later. Considering the average lifespan was only 55 years, even with potions and magical items, for non-elves, living that long would be pretty damn good in my opinion.
No one liked dying. I winced at the thought, feeling a phantom pain lance through my belly. Yeah, that thought wasn't fun at all.
Anyway, I had grown a few inches, which allowed me to start using a heavier and longer longsword, and this one was made from Damascus that was Insert Forged with the core of the Minotaur horn that I had gotten from my Level 3. I fashioned it similarly to my shortswords, making it thicker and a fair bit heavier, but with my falna enhanced strength the additional 20 pounds of weight was superfluous (Damascus is pretty damn heavy), but I couldn't make it exactly the same due to differences in design philosophy from short to longswords.
Besides, it was a neat opportunity to differ the blades, and if you don't take the time to try new things then you're stagnating as a smith. I kept the frills and embellishments down to a minimum though, as I wasn't a fan of the amount of detail work that some of the smiths poured into custom orders- we made weapons, not showpieces.
Spoiler: Journeyman/Longsword Design
Besides, the amount of time that was put into gaudy detail work, I could have fashioned three more blades of the exact same make that I did before. So one beautifully crafted longsword that glittered with gems and gold or four longswords that could kill whatever you needed to kill? I knew where my time would be spent- not that I'd ever received any custom orders from anyone besides Tiona and Tione. Slowly but surely the more youthful of the pair was working her way towards the idea that would one day coalesce into the Urga, while Tione was perfectly happy using the Damascus scimitar and large kukri knives that I fashioned for her in my usual, extra-thick style.
Spoiler: Tione's Scimitar
Spoiler: Tione's Big Kukri's
Spoiler: Tiona's Big, Thick, Sword
Regardless, my smithing was coming along quite nicely, and Hephaestus promised me that I would soon begin learning how to make armor, if only to help fulfill my promise to Aiz- a promise that I didn't even know I made- and become her Contracted Smith as well. My Goddess had to remind me that smithing contracts weren't just about securing powerful and wealthy patronage, but it was about securing prestige as well, as the successes and stories of my clients would be my stories as well since I made the weapons and armor that saw them through their grand tales.
I broke down and ended up purchasing a single Minotaur horn from the Guild since Naaza, Lili, and myself couldn't manage to get another horn drop since my Rank-Up, and I used them to fashion my daggers again. So, I had my new Damascus-Minotaur longsword that I named "Journeyman" to commemorate my beginning journies into the Lower Floors, my twin Damascus-Minotaur steel daggers, and a plain Damascus steel boot knife that I would keep in the most obvious place to keep a boot knife- in the damn boot. The last piece was an elvish longbow that ran me just under 30 Million valis, fashioned from non-magically reactive Whitewood and made by a rival of the Alfheim Archery conglomerate who didn't believe in restricting their business to only elvish clientele.
Sure, the bows made by Selvim Solmeran weren't as good as those made by the cousins of the elf Princess Riveria Ljos Alf, but considering I wasn't an elf or adopted into the elvish royal family or something else ludicrous, his work was the best a non-elf archer was going to get. The only sticking point was that his work would only support me up till Level 5; once I made Level 6 he wouldn't have the skills to support me any further- I would have to try and broker a deal with the Alfheim archery to purchase a bow made by them. However, being a Level fucking 6 would more than likely help them make an exception to their policies, if only because I would be one step below the King and on-par with their much-vaunted elf Princess.
I traded in my High-Steel chainmail for Damascus chainmail that went under a treated orc-hide cuirass that had been Infused with Ant Chiton- the stuff was still surprisingly hearty even at the Floors I was currently on, but if I went any lower than the 27th Floor then I would need to step up to Mad Beetle Chiton. Over that, I wore a treated web-gear system that functioned similarly to the rigs used by the US Army in the 1970s; it was minimalist, functional, and it carried all of the little bits and bobs I was looking for. Trying to get it implemented in the familia or anyone else would require a pretty serious culture shift- standardized gear wasn't really a thing here in Orario; people wore what they wanted, how they wanted, and so convincing them would be a fool's errand without showing them how much better it was to have pouches and things.
Spoiler: LBE/LCE
I still wondered where half of the people even carried their potions and shit, because if they weren't wearing something skin-tight, then they weren't wearing much of anything at all; I swear, did the women just slip potion vials between their breasts or something?
Besides the LBE/LCE system was easy enough to slip on over my armor and it was comfortable and didn't get in the way of my movements when fighting. It was perfect in my opinion!
The only thing there was to do now was just wait for Team 6 to come back with the wagon load of High-Steel nodes from Team 4 and 5's Area of Responsibility, and then I could head out and do some training while doubling up on the Oversight Patrol route that I had Vornir on; it was still too early for Evilus, but I said it once and I'll say it again: I don't trust those fuckers as far as I can throw them.
The incident on the 27th was more than enough for me to be wary of what they could accomplish, and those 50 or so Adventurers that had perished had been Level 3s and above- the sheer numbers needed to take out that many High-Class Adventurers would need to be insane, and I didn't want my people out here in their territory for any longer than we needed to be. This went double since I think I had managed to somehow prevent the Miach familia from falling apart, though that didn't explain where Naaza's mother had gone after her wounding... or if the event that caused it had even come to pass yet.
Roughly a half-hour later Team 4 had come back, with Team 6 taking over their mining rotation since the nodes had been quite abundant- Team 4 would head back out and take over Team 5's position and allow them to get some rest time.
"Good, good. Just be sure to get some rest before heading back out yourselves. Then let Team 7 go out and relieve Team 6 in your stead and you take up the Guard rotation here at camp with Team 8." I handed over my self-made clipboard to the team leader of Team 4, "Just make sure to annotate on the list here just how many High-Steel ores are in each crate as you fill them up; save me some time in having hand count each one when I come back from my patrol, okay?"
The dwarf chuckled and patted me on the shoulder as he took the clipboard, "Not a problem, my boy. You just head out and kill what needs killin', leave this work to us professionals."
The issue was that I couldn't tell if he was being facetious or serious.
I made a quick back and forth of the semi-circular section of land that I had chosen as our base camp- it was a raised hill that had a steep ravine on two sides with the wall at our backs, leaving the monsters of the floor that weren't fliers only one real direction to come at us from. This gave us the high ground and made the area easily defensible, but it also meant that we would only have one avenue of escape unless we threw down ropes and climbed down- and yes, I had four ropes prepared and staked into the ground on the side closest to the staircase. Vornir and I could hold the line long enough to get the Miach familia evacuated, and we would eventually link up with them at the staircase to the 22nd Floor.
It always paid to think ahead, and it wasn't like the monsters would mess with our shit if we left the camp quickly enough; we would just have to travel back up to Rivira and hire out a dozen or so of the Level 3s there to come back down with us and retrieve our stuff.
They'd charge an eye-watering price for most small familias, but considering they were ores and medical supplies needed to supply the Hephaestus familia and the Miach potion-making familia, the familias who help keep Under Resort supplied with weapons and potions for minimal profit... it would behoove them to not do anything stupid such as charge us an outrageous rate. Sure, we'd lose out on a few Million valis hiring them, but that would be a pittance to the monster cores and drop items we'd bring back up, and since we're crafting familias we'd turn what we brought back into even more valis anyway.
I made three back and forth tracks with a few hundred meters in between each patrol, killing a few dozen monsters who were starting to creep a little closer to the camp than I'd like, but other than that the area was fairly clean. Since Vornir had started his Route in the north and would steadily work his way south, I decided that I would start in the south, head out east towards the furthest teams- 1, 2, and 3 going after the Nosteel nodes- and then work my way north towards teams 5, 6, and 7.
The 23rd Floor, much like the rest of the Large Tree Labyrinth, wasn't one that you could just blow through at full speed- it had a lot of swampy lowlands along with deep, interlacing caves and long stone bridges that connected the upper cave systems to the lower cave systems. It didn't help that half of the flora mimicked half of the plant-type monsters on the floor- there were carnivorous pitcher plants that lunged at you with serrated teeth, giant mushroom monsters that looked like other giant mushrooms, strangulating vines that attempted to choke the life out of you, and lumps of moss that clung to trees that would drop onto your head and try to use their starfish-like mouth tried to chew through your skull.
If you were someone like a Level 5 you could feasibly just run through the place, and woe betide whatever tried to nom on you, but for even someone like me, this place was dangerous, especially since I hadn't had a status update since I Ranked Up to Level 3. The safest way to travel was to rip a chunk of stone out and carry it with you, breaking off little pieces of it to throw at everything that looked suspicious.
However, considering everything on these damn floors looked 'SUS-AF', I got in a lot of throwing practice, but more often than not my intuition seemed pretty spot-on; I got to practice with my new bow quite often, killing the various monsters that wanted to take a bite out of my ass or choke me without at least giving me a 'safeword'.
I managed to collect some neat drops in the process- a pair of Sword Stag antlers that would soon be replacing my Minotaur knives, and a handful of Dark Fungus caps that the Miach familia would pay me handsomely for; the Dark Fungus monster surprised a lot of Adventurers and laid them up for days if they didn't have Abnormal Resist, so those antidotes were quite a moneymaker for the familia.
Toss a stone, reveal the monster, shoot it with an arrow, retrieve the arrow and monster core. Rinse and repeat.
The closest I got to some actual action was a Bloody Hive I encountered a few hundred meters away from Team 1, 2, and 3's location at the Nosteel nodes, but a half-dozen arrows silenced it before it could do more than spawn a dozen Deadly Hornets. I fired two more arrows into it just to make sure it was dead, which lead to me accidentally striking the monster core.
That sucked because it was considered a Level 4 monster, and its core would have given me 500,000 valis alone, but it did drop a Deadly Hornet Chiton for me, which I would save for later as it was superior to the Mad Beetle Chiton drops; Beetle Chiton gave improved protection but added weight when Imbued into armor, but Deadly Hornet Chiton gave better protection and lightened the weight.
As I patrolled around the work site I pondered about what I would do with the Deadly Hornet Chiton, and I decided that I would use it to Imbue the first set of armor for Aiz; depending on how much lighter it made the armor, I could afford to use a heavier material... but unless I picked up another Deadly Hornet Chiton I would either have to enchant her cuirass or her arms and leg guards, or her chainmail. With three Chiton drops, I could Imbue or Insert Forge them all.
Hmmm... segmented armor chest piece? Would have to be Damascus since that is all I'm rated for- I was doing my Nosteel, Heroic Alloy, and Hihiirokane certification classes with Hephaestus, but it would be another year before she allowed me to do anything more than look at Mithril, and probably another two before she let me do more than breath the same air as Adamantium or Dir-Adamantium.
Maybe a Damascus/Light Steel alloy? The Damascus was rated for Level 4 monsters, and Light Steel Level 3- if I could alloy them together then it would provide the best of both, and when chest pieces, gauntlets, and greaves were Insert Forged, I could imbue the chainmail...
The sound of feet approaching snapped me out of my musings and I turned to look towards the figure approaching me and spotted Vornir, and the dwarf alighted next to me up on the thick tree branch I was using as my Overwatch point on the teams below. "Heh, good. If ya' hadn't heard someone as big as me'self stomping through the forest here, I'd a hit ya' over the head for not paying attention."
The Level 5 raised his Adamantium Hammer Hand and wiggled it for emphasis.
I still couldn't believe the man had an Adamantium Hammer for a hand, of all of the possible prosthetics the man could have afforded, he chose to mount a hammer onto a brace and called it 'good'.
A smile wormed its way across my lips and I shook my head as I turned my attention to a trio of Gun Libellula, large dragonfly monsters that shot seed-like chiton bullets from their tails, approaching the camp, and I drew three arrows before losing them one at a time in quick succession; the Whitewood bow thwanged beautifully, and the velocity at which the Chantwood arrows were fired at they crossed the intervening distance in the blink of an eye and brought them tumbling out of the sky. They landed within jogging distance of the Guard members of the team, and they waved at me as they ran out to finish the monsters off and retrieve my arrows for me.
I gave the area one last scan before turning my attention back towards my Level 5 senpai. "I'm thinking about armor... what I'd make for Aiz-san once I get some coaching."
The dwarf smiled and stroked his beard. "Heh, eight wives ain't good enough for you, eh? Trying to add a number 9?"
A snort escaped my lips, "I have Blackie, Brownie, Shiro, and Kuro. Naaza and Liliruca are entertaining the idea, and I think that the more energetic of the Amazon twins- Tiona- is considering the possibility. I don't know what her sister thinks, but in any case, I said I would make armor for her when I learned how, and I'd be a poor Contract Smith if I made her wait that long, right?"
"Yup, a poor Contract Smith indeed; even if it isn't official by any means, I think everyone here has already resigned themselves to the eventuality that for the famous Sword Princess only the Smith Prince will do." He tugged on his beard. "So, armor, what are you thinking of using for materials? I know for a fact you don't have Hephaestus-sama's approval to work on any of the magical materials yet, so what's going through yer mind?"
"I'm thinking a Damascus/Light Steel alloy- maybe 60/40? She's still a Level 4 right now, but I think that might be changing soon. Hell, maybe she's already a Level 5? Regardless, something flexible and lightweight enough for her to move around in, yet durable enough to absorb some punishment. A well-padded gambeson made with Charge Sheep wool from the 30th Floor, Damascus/Light Metal chainmail- long-sleeved and fitted into a knee-length skirt; trying to move her away from everything cute would just get her Goddess to rebel, so I'll have to make it look stylish."
I rubbed my chin as I leaned up against the trunk of the tree, "Knee-length greaves and forearm guards- both the same Damascus/Light Metal blend. Insert Forge the large materials with Deadly Hornet Chiton, and then Imbue the chainmail. I think I have a pretty good idea of how I'm going to style it; I'm sure Loki-sama would be pleased, even if it isn't exactly revealing."
Yes, I was going to make Aiz Wallenstein into a Saber-Expy, but for the most part, it would be streamlined, and it would be a sight better than the skirt, knee-high leather boots, and half-a-boob plate. The real question would be whether to move her towards the navy and royal colors of Saber or keep her white and blue motif a la Saber Lily.
My dwarven senpai reached up and ruffled my hair. "Sounds like you got it all figured out, my boy. Jus' let me know if you need any help, ah' can help with the prototyping at least- help ya' figure out what works."
He released my head and cupped his chin, "The Deadly Hornet Chiton is an interesting choice- stronger and lighter; almost makes the Light Metal unnecessary. Though if she is a high-mobility fighter as you've said in the past, then sacrificing a touch of protection to cut the weight by half or more seems to be the correct path forward. Once you get your Nosteel certification, I have a pretty good Nosteel/Light Metal blend that I can share with ye'."
I blinked. "You'd... share that with me?"
Things like that were pretty personal to smiths, a lot of research and development goes into creating personal blends, and they're often closely guarded secrets, even among smiths of the same familia. The fact that he'd share such a thing was... humbling.
"Yeah, I would. It ain't like I've got any more personal contracts to keep up with since the Zeus and Hera familias left the city, but I've been speaking with the Freya familia about possibly equipping her up-and-coming Gulliver brothers; those Children just made Level 5, and they're going to be shopping around for new equipment soon." The dwarf chuckled and scratched the back of his head with his hammer hand, "Besides, I don't have any children of my own, and my last Apprentice went and got himself killed on the 30th floor almost three decades ago, so I think it is about time I start loosening my belt and sharing my knowledge with the more promising members of the familia."
He placed his hands on his hips and looked towards the ceiling with a huff. "You've got Hephaestus-sama's eye, and if someone is going to succeed Tsubaki-chan when the time comes I think it jus' might be you so... hmpf... well... good talk. I'm off."
I didn't even have a chance to thank the man, as it was pretty damn humbling to see someone as proud as Vornir 'One-Hand' say such a thing.
I guess that emotional things like this weren't his strong suit?
With a shrug, I turned my attention back towards the worksite and pondered.
Galbraith 'Hammer Singer', Vornir's predecessor had been missing his eye.
Vornir himself was missing his eye.
Tsubaki was missing her eye.
Hephaestus was missing her eye.
Was I going to lose my eye down the road too?
It sort of felt like a damn requirement at this rate, and I hoped that I would keep both of my eyes in the years to come; I was going to be too damn handsome to be missing an eye! Although, imagining my older, more gruff self with an eye-patch like Tsubaki's looked pretty damn cool- no, I liked having dynamic vision far more than I liked looking cool.
I tried looking cool once, and that led to me giving an embarrassing speech to an Amazon teen that I didn't know at all.
Never again.
We spent three more days on the 23rd Floor, harvesting every single node we could get our hands on, and the Miach familia was quite flush with alchemical reagents- their storehouse back at their small familia compound was going to be overflowing, and the members were already trying to decide what they were going to be reasonably able to use before their non-powdered and dried stocks spoiled.
It was likely that the remainder would be sold to Dian Cecht and a few other Potion-related crafting familias to handle the excess ingredients.
Our own wagons were bursting at the seams with all of the ores we had collected, and Vornir remarked that the Hephaestus familia hadn't had a haul like that since the Zeus and Hera familia loaned some of their members during their time in the city. Mid-Steel and High-Steel were in abundance, and Nosteel and Light Metal were found frequently enough in the caves that we were able to fill up a wagon each.
We even got lucky and found a few Mithril clusters during a particularly hairy cave dive- it had been an ambush with three Deadly Hives spawning Deadly Hornets in droves, but Vornir was able to power through them all with an amazing display of strength; the sticky fluids that the Hives used to tie their captives down so that they could be overwhelmed by their spawns did little to slow the dwarf down.
We were on the 20th Floor and about to head up to the 19th Floor when we encountered a pretty sizeable Monster Party, but I couldn't tell if it was anything out of the norm given my inexperience with these floors.
"Teams 1 and 2! Range out and meet the monsters coming from the left! Teams 4 and 5! Range out and meet the monsters on the right! We need to keep them away from the wagons!" I bellowed out from my position on top of one of the wagons stacked with sealed ore crates, the additional elevation would give me more than enough height to see the action and provide support. "Teams 3, 6, 7, 8, and 9 will keep this train moving! Do not deviate from our return path! I will guard the wagons here, Vornir-sama, stay close and back up any groups that are going to be overwhelmed!"
The teams of blacksmiths and potioneers that were capable combatants ran out to engage the monsters; they were coming in from two directions, but that was because there was a fairly sizeable mountain-like feature near our route that was splitting their number. It wasn't a sign of Evilus involvement. Just a bunch of monsters.
"Any reason why we haven't been sent out, Bell-kun?" Naaza chimed in from her position next to the wagon driver on the wagon behind me.
I pulled off my bow and drew an arrow before sending it out to put down a Lizardman that was attempting to skirt around the fighting. "Well, you and Lili are Level 2s, you don't need the Excelia as you aren't close to Ranking Up. Those going out now? They could use it. Besides, I'm going to need someone to help me watch over the train, so grab your bow and hop up top- that goes for you too Lili!"
"Yes, Bell-sama!" My little Pallum girl chirped up from the very front of the wagon train and she clambered on top of the Miach familia's canvas-covered wagon with her short bow in hand.
I drew and fired whenever some monsters tried to get cute, and Naaza and Lilirua handled those that weren't worth one of my more powerful arrows. Vornir exploded into the fighting wherever he was needed and scattered any murder balls.
The wagons kept moving, and about twenty minutes into the fighting I began the rotation. "Teams 3 and 6, range out and relieve whoever is needing to take a break."
They worked pretty well for a familia that didn't dive regularly into the floors as low as we were- the men and women handed off the reigns for the horses to their co-drivers before rushing out towards the fighting. Within a few minutes, those that were too tired to continue fighting were back at the wagon train and resting. I wished that I could have sent Teams 7, 8, and 9 out to fight, but they were Supporters and the less-combat inclined; even if they were Level 2, it would do more harm than good introducing them into the Order of Battle.
We had just arrived at the staircase to the 19th Floor when I noticed that something just wasn't right. The monsters began to organize, and I felt a thrill of fear run into my belly; it appeared that the Evilus Monster Tamers leading this fight hadn't expected us to make it this far and were now making an appearance to snuff us out in earnest.
"Naaza! Lili! Get this wagon train up the stairs, NOW!" I roared out and fired a few arrows, "Be prepared to face opposition at the top of the stairs- possible Rogue Adventurers!"
Thankfully they didn't question me, and their whole demeanors changed as their faces hardened.
I had been instilling in them over the last few years the possibility that there might be Adventurers who would intentionally cause deaths for personal gain. I hinted at Evilus, or a group of selfish Adventurers, possibly being the reason behind a lot of deaths in the Floors past Rivira, and while it took some doing, I think I accomplished my goal of making them more wary and ready for anything.
I used my perch to fire off another trio of arrows before I drained my quiver dry, and I dropped my bow and empty quiver into the wagon before I drew Journeyman and took off towards the fighting at my best possible speed; I needed to get there quickly so that I could direct a fighting retreat towards the staircase. Vornir was too busy to direct them as he was contending with large groups of monsters, and just as I arrived a cloak enshrouded form threw itself at the Level 5 with surprising speed.
Shit, we just lost our biggest asset!
"Form up! Form up! To me! TO ME!" I roared out as loud as I could, trying to shout over the din of the fighting. I had to use every last drop of speed I had to intercept the monsters that were attempting to get at the backs of my retreating men and women, but all of the years of tireless training had been worth it. So far, none of the people under my care were dead, and while they were shaken and exhausted, they could still run.
That was what mattered.
"Teams 4 and 5! Retreat towards the staircase over there! Take the climb as an opportunity to rest and imbibe some potions- there might be monsters on the other side waiting for us!" I hollered out from my position at the front, "Teams 1 and 3! You're with me here- we need to keep the monsters away from the staircase while our wagons are climbing!"
"This shit ain't natural!" One of my smiths roared out as his two-handed warhammer came down and crushed a Mad Beetle into a paste.
"No shit! This is being orchestrated!" I bit out as I ducked under Lizardman's sweeping claws to split open his belly with my blade.
"Where is Vornir-sama!" One of the few Miach familia members still with us cried out as she side-stepped a charging Battle Boar and dragged her dagger into its side as it passed.
"He's been intercepted, someone strong enough to contend with a Level 5 isn't in our wheelhouse! Our primary focus is to survive and make it back to Rivira! He can handle himself," I leaped forward and landed in a pack before unleashing the strongest spell I could. "STORM CIRCLE!"
Lightning arced out from the ground and sizzled flesh and stunned the Bugbears, Lizardmen, and Mad Beetles surrounding me. Journeyman lashed out, cutting down every target of opportunity it found as we continued our fighting retreat towards the staircase. There were more than a few wounds, but I easily parted with the healing potions I had on hand in my pouches, and it was enough to see us back to the base where Teams 4 and 5 were waiting for us; I had told them to rest, but it appeared that they just downed some potions and came back to rejoin the fight.
"Bell-sama! You're a Mage, right?!" One of the Miach members yelled out as we approached- wait, what was Mushi-san doing down here? The cat-kin waved my Songwood stave above her white-covered head, and I was surprised because my hand reached over my shoulder where my staff should have been but wasn't. Fuck me, I had left it on the wagon!?
Wait, the straps I used to hold it on my person were attached to the webbing that I used for my bow holster and quiver, so when I dropped them I dropped my staff as well! Welp, that was going to get fixed when we got back!
"Hold at the base, give me a minute of time! I don't have any offensive spells, but I can buff, rejuvenate, and heal!" The Songwood smacked into my palm after Mushi threw it with surprising accuracy, "The wagons are still going up, so we can't retreat until they clear the staircase! HOLD THE LINE!"
The six combat teams we had formed up- they were only 24 strong, 25 with me included. "Exhausted teams to the rear, everyone else up front!"
"My aura is the aura that solidifies the bonds around me."
"Magic begets Magic."
"Magic strengthens Magic."
"A pact as old as time is once again revealed to the world."
"Let all who cast here find their Magics brought to the peak!"
"Magician's Wonder."
The purple haze of my magic filled the air as a magic-boosting zone 12 meters in diameter came into being. The monsters that were persuing us had dwindled in number, but considering I spotted four Trolls at the back lumbering towards us we needed the small fry dealt with and everyone healed so that I could fight them.
"I'm about to cast a healing magic. Teams not fighting cluster in tightly! Quickly!"
"All hail the spirits of the forest,"
"The keepers of the mountains,"
"The carpet of the earth,"
"Let the unfortunate feel the relief of your healing breath,"
"Let the cuts be mended, the bruises be healed,"
"O' great spirits of the forest, come to me,"
"Let the sintered bone be splint, let the blood be returned,"
"Rejoice in this harmony, for the whispers of Gaia shall bring thee peace,"
"Forest Breeze."
Teams 4, 5, and 6 hopped close and packed in, shoulder to shoulder and nut to butt, just as my spell completed, and all of their wounds vanished in a matter of seconds, and a second wind filled their lungs almost on par with a Stamina Potion. "Teams 5 and 6, get back out there. Team 4, standby for buffs."
The two dwarves and two humans gave me a grave nod as their fellows ranged out to get back into the fight, Teams 1, 2, and 3 were already starting to flag again and were steadily giving ground. "Hands on me, you four."
"Firm is the body that carries the weight of the world."
"On our shoulders rest the responsibility of protecting Heaven and freeing the earth."
"Strong backs do not bow."
"Strong shoulders do not yield."
"Strong arms do not falter."
"Strong legs do not break."
"Go forth, Children of the Lower World,"
"Let the song of spirits buoy your spirits!"
"Total Body!"
The Total Body spell could raise all the stats of a single person by 1 and 1/2 Letter Grades except for Magic. While it wasn't as powerful as Dwarven Might or Fairy Grace, it was definitely more well-rounded. When used in the Magician's Wonder spell it was improved by 30%, and when combined with the Mage Developmental Ability? It was improved by almost double- 75% if I had to guess.
When split four ways it gave out a little more than 75 Stat Points to Strength, Endurance, Dexterity, and Agility. "Go! Send Teams 1 and 2 back here!"
"Forest Breeze." "Total Body." Teams 1 and 2 were healed and rejuvenated, while Team 1 was buffed and sent back out.
Team 3 and some wounded members of Team 4 and 5 were sent back and they too were healed while Team 3 was buffed and sent back.
I had to abandon the Magician's Wonder on more than a few occasions to clear out clumps of monsters that were rolling towards the groups in a murder-ball, and when the Trolls finally arrived on scene I managed to heal two more teams before buffing myself a full 3 Letter Grades- Trolls were strong and slow, but they were incredibly hearty; a five-man team of Level 2s is needed to outpace their regeneration, and while I was worth more than a five-man team of Level 2s, I had to fight four of them at once. "I've got the Trolls! Nobody die while I'm away, not after all the hard work I put into keeping your bastards alive!"
There was a chorus of roars that chased my ears as I cut my way through the thickest tendril of Bugbears and Battle Boars that were moving towards my men and I shot towards the Trolls like a rocket- the first one went down, exploding into ash- my longsword was just enough to pierce through its sternum and into it's magic core; I wouldn't have enough time or space to do it again, so it was the old fashioned way.
Exhaust their regeneration.
Jump back, then kick off the ground and more forward- lance through the kneecap, bring the 4-meter tall beast low, and open up its thigh with a rising slash as it falls. Change target, low sweep at the ankle, cut tendons, roll to the side to avoid landform club. Pierce calf of the closest Troll and yank the blade down and out.
This dance lasted for almost five minutes, but I still was able to keep an eye on the fight at the base of the staircase- the wagon train had cleared the stairs but it appeared that my men and women were holding their positions just because they could now; the number of monsters had been slowing the moment we got to the staircase, but they were down to a trickle now. Maybe 40 or 50 monsters left; spread between them they should be fine.
Whoever had been directing the monsters had left long ago- probably the cloaked individual that dragged Vornir from the fight.
Thankfully, the Trolls were on the losing end of this fight, as I had been able to inflict significant damage to them while avoiding everything they sent my way- my spells would last another ten minutes, which was more than enough. Though, if I'm being honest, I would have gotten fucked a few times there without the additional 300 and some change Stat Points; some of those clubs and kicks came far too close for comfort.
Two trolls went down as their healing factors gave out on them, but the final one was incredibly stubborn; even missing his hand having his foot cut off the fucker was still warding me off with his club, even down on his knees. Only a spear impacting his cheek gave me the opening I needed to sprint inside his guard and open him up from his floating ribs to his hip- I slid between his legs as his body collapsed onto the ground before fading into ash.
I let out a sigh of relief as I spotted Team 1, the majority of them members from my familia, jogging over with insane grins on their faces. "We did it, lad!"
A laugh left my lips as Bodie, a Level 2 half-dwarf smith, hefted me up and spun me around with what appeared to be the last vestiges of his strength. "Calm down, calm down, Bodie. We still have work to do yet."
I healed everyone up, gave them another magically induced shot of adrenaline, and then buffed them all for the full amount that my Total Body spell could muster. I had to chug down three Mind Potions and recast Magician's Wonder once more to boost the effects of the spells, but it was worth it in my eyes; out there in the fields, we fought across were hundreds upon hundreds of monster cores and Drop Items.
We still have space in some of the wagons, so leaving behind 30 to 35 Million valis or more was not something I was going to allow; we were all tired, but there was always time for the spoils of our victory.
That and I needed to look for Vormir.
I sent a runner up the staircase to inform Naaza of our success and told them to hold out until we could gather the scattered cores and Drop Items; thankfully the 20th Floor was rather tame compared to the other Floors of the Large Tree Labyrinth, so I didn't feel like I was leaving the Supporters underprotected while they moved about under the watchful eyes of their tired but triumphant fighting peers.
With my Songwood staff in one hand and Journeyman in the other, I moved back towards where the rolling battle began, stopping to pick up a few monster cores I could spot that were in odd places, and then I followed the destruction that could only be caused by two Level 5s duking it out. Large furrows were torn through the forest, great tears rent into the stone- some of the low-land swampy areas were devoid of water as great impacts had scattered it.
After about five minutes of careful travel- I wasn't about to get choked out by some Creeping Vines thank you very much- I came across my former familia Captain leaning against a boulder with a Mind Potion in hand. The old, one-eyed dwarf gave me a bloody grin after he tossed the potion back. "Hey there, laddie. Spare some healing for this poor dwarf?"
I immediately got to work. "Magician's Wonder." "Forest Breeze." "Total Body."
Vornir breathed a great sigh of relief as I ran through my current rotation of spells. "Sorry but that is the best I can do. We ran through our High Potions in the running battle. You'll have to settle for Mid-Grade spell healing until we can get scalped for a High-Grade at Rivira, old man."
He chuckled and grabbed onto my shoulder firmly so that he could use me as a way to prop himself up- his left leg was pretty fucked up from what I could see; my healing spell had done little for his bones, but it did lessen the pain enough that when combined with the 3 extra Letter Grades of Endurance he could tough it out and hobble back with me. "So did you see who you were fighting?"
"Aye. A pretty lass, strong too, crafty as can be, that one." The old smith grunted, "Caught me by surprise a few times during the fight- she might have broken me leg, but I broke her spine with my hammer. Heh heh. Bitch couldn't do more than crawl away- I woulda' done her in good and proper, but she just so happened to crawl away from me faster than I could crawl after her."
"T'was a pretty little ass to chase after though, let me tell you that. I burned those cheeks into me eye! Ha!"
We rested up at Rivira, spoke to another one-eyed man by the name of Bors Elder, the de facto leader of Rivira, and spread the warnings around; be on the lookout for cloaked figures and suspicious monster activity.
Spoiler: Bors Elder
Not that they could do much to fight against the cloaked woman, but with one of the Miach familia member's talents at drawing combined with Vornir's trap-like mind we were able to put together a composite sketch of the woman who I remembered being named 'Revis'.
Spoiler: Revis
Of course, they gave us space to rest, and we traded some of our smithing skills to reforge some weapons and make some new ones for food, clean water, the High Potions we needed to unfuck Vornir's leg. I made over two dozen of my longswords out of some High-Steel they had on hand, and a dozen of my shortswords as well.
After three days of resting up we journeyed back to the surface and were met with little fanfare- what, were they expecting to be greeted back with the sounds of uproarious applause like they were the Freya or Loki familias? I mean, don't get me wrong, the battle we survive was something great, but it wasn't like we just made it to the 50th Floor or anything else spectacular.
Vornir and I handed over a report along with the sketch of Revis to the Guild, and I told Eina Tulle that she might want to make sure that Ouranos sees the report and passes it along to the Loki and Freya familias; whether Fels would didn't matter, the ball was out of my court now and into theirs.
We also walked away from that expedition over 350 Million richer just from the monster cores alone, and we ended up keeping all of the Drop Items because, well, we were going to use them, of course!
The Hephaestus and Miach familias came out of that hellish battle stronger than they went in- of the 40 Level 2s that went down there, 15 of them came back up Level 3s, 11 of which were Hephaestus smiths and 4 of them were Miach's Children. There were celebrations throughout the familia as the smiths got drunk and told their progressively more outlandish and spectacular tales about how they went from fighting a large monster party to arm wrestling the Goliath, causing the monster to feel such intense shame at its loss that the beast ripped out its own monster core and offer it up to the Hephaestus familia in tribute.
It was a fair bit of fun, and I ended up getting a visit from Sooka and Khemi once they heard that I had returned. The Dungeon lifestyle was agreeing with them, and they positively glowed as we all exchanged stories about our experiences while I forged some weapons for the Guild; the reason I was doing that was that I really didn't want to be involved with the refinement and smelting processes of the ore we had brought back.
As long as I was contributing something I could dodge that bullet- the heat of my forge was far, far less than the large smelting furnaces in the Refinement warehouses of the district.
Miss me with that hot shit.
Tiona and Tione visited the next day to get some maintenance done on their weapons, and by maintenance, I meant complete rebuilds because those two brutes really put a hurt on my babies. I now understood the tears that Goibnu cried when Tiona said "Tee-Hee" in response to her destroying Urga on the 50th Floor. I wasn't going to fall into that trap, no, once I got Level 5 and learned how to enchant shit, Durandal was going on everything that I made for those two battle maniacs.
I just needed Level 5 and the Magic Blacksmith Developmental Ability, and all of those neat enchantments and the ability to make Magic Swords would be mine!
A/N: Whew, took me longer than usual to put this one out. I had a bad day yesterday- the rain had been hitting us recently, and the sun hadn't been seen in days. Just led to one of those really depressing "bleh" days where you don't want to do a damn fucking thing. I sat down to write and I could barely push out a page before I got up away from my computer and went to do something else. Today was much better though, the sun was out, I did some shopping, helped out the parents. I felt good after a nice burger and a nap, and here we are, one more chapter completed. 
Special thanks to Artillery, Dinero1121, Xodarap4, LMC 9389, DrkShadow, AuraofCalm, Markus, Zerak, R.Bulut, Chair Connoisseur, Omar, Zath, Splended, D. Wongsonegoro, AjiTae, Darkarma, Pope Yoda I for being Patrons!
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