Shout-out to my new patrons:
John Jones
dan.
PolAr BeAR
You are legends!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Lyze POV)
It had been a bit of a hassle getting all of the executives' equipment up to the workshops. I wondered at first why we didn't go to the actual workplaces site of the Hephaestus Familia. It would probably have made for a shorter walk as well, not to mention that I knew for a fact in can that they didn't come here for repairs.
But then upon unloading the equipment that was supposed to be sent, I realised that they were high quality items that actually just belonged to the executives. After all, it was just comprised of Finn, Riveria and Gareth at the moment as far as I knew. I didn't really bother to interact much with other members of the Familia apart from the ones I knew already.
I supposed that when the executive group expanded with the addition of Ais, Bete, and the twins, then the Familia had to start sending their stuff over to the workplaces as it was a much larger order to handle. You also had to take into account the amount of equipment that they younger lot damaged and broke in their fights, most specifically Tiona and her Urga. Or was Ais worse?
Ais didn't have Desperate at the moment so I would probably have to reserve judgement until then. Thinking about those people however set me thinking. I'd joined at a point where those other three had not yet joined. The twins would be in the Kali Familia at the moment, and currently living miserably. And the loud-mouthed werewolf was not someone I'd like to deal with.
I had half a mind to make sure that he didn't join us at all. His tendencies to belittle weak people simply because they were beginners really pissed me off at times. I mean how the hell are you supposed to expect somebody who just started dungeoneering (I created that time by the way, at least I hope) to be strong? Had he ever heard of the concept of newbies?
Although if I had to truly be honest with myself, the stupid mutt had his uses and his talents. His presence would add much to the Familia, no matter how strong I became. I wasn't exactly keen on changing canon too much either, as I wanted to keep the power balance between us and the other Familia, at least until I tipped it all with my own power.
I could understand that Bete was traumatised. And he only belittled weak people as a means of protecting them. If they were weak willed, they gave up and spared themselves from being killed in the dungeon. And those who were defiant gained the drive from his harsh words to become more powerful, strengthening Orario altogether.
I settled upon letting the dog join if he had to. But I would spare no effort to terrorise him while he was here. Currently he should be the Vidar Familia's captain which would eventually get destroyed. Let them go down, it was not my problem. He'd be a level 3 by the time he joined, and when he did, I would be even stronger than that. I would make sure of it.
Coming back to the topic, I left Raul and Aki to take the cart around the market and gave them the list of necessities on the list Finn gave me for them to shop. I'd hoped that Ais would go with them, but she insisted on staying by my side. For some reason, I had the feeling that she was doing everything she could to stay by me no matter what. I was not unappreciative of her presence, so I let it be. The girl had some perks to her after all.
"Ais." I said to her as we took the elevator. She turned to look at me in reply. "Thanks for standing up for me back there, if only for a brief moment."
"That man was an idiot." She said as her eyes drooped a little. I came to realise that this was a sign of displeasure on her part. This younger version of Ais Wallenstein was more expressive than her older self as per the storyline, but she did still seem to have a bot of trouble connecting with her emotions. "I didn't do much anyway. You had it handled."
I smiled at her and patted her head. "I still appreciate it nonetheless. Don't discredit yourself when you stand up for a member of your Familia. We are family after all."
She pouted a little. "You don't need to pat my head you know. We are the same age."
"Head pats are a way of showing affection to someone younger when they make you happy. So just take it."
"But we're the same age."
"I'm going to be nine soon. You yourself didn't turn eight not that long ago."
"Hmph." She said as she looked away. "I'm a lot older than you think." She said quietly.
'I know. But I pre-existed Fujino Omori ever creating the Danmachi universe, so I'm older than you and all the gods and mortals combined...technically. At least my soul is. But the body I currently inhabit is certainly younger than you.' I thought to myself.
I looked ahead of me again, and slowly felt her eyes on me as she gave me side-stare. I'd noticed that she'd been doing that a lot. What was up with that? I quickly looked her way and she jumped a little upon being caught.
"Why do you keep staring at me Ais?"
"I-I'm sorry." She stammered. "Was I bothering you?"
"No, not really. But is there a reason why you keep doing it?"
"I-I don't really know." She said, a light blush appearing on her cheeks. I took it to be shame at getting caught. She tried to change the subject. "By the way, why are we going to lower blacksmith levels? With the money you have, why don't you go to the upper levels and by something of good quality there?"
"I'm not really concerned with armour all that much. I really only use armour when training. In the future, I'll adopt the use of more armour because by then I will have to go deeper into the dungeon. Perhaps even reach the Deep Floors. But as of right now, just small pieces will do."
Things like arm guards and a chestplate were a must. And perhaps some armoured boots as well as the terrain could get a little rough down in the dungeon. There was a chance that normal boots would get worn out, even if the leather was tougher than was expected from a modern worlder. I mean, I was sure as heck surprised at just how good a quality of life people had.
The reason why I was not concerned with armour too much was because if I had lost a limb, the my actual Chaos powers would kick in and regenerate them. It would not do the same to wounds and minor burns due to my own impositions on it.
I'd expressed my concern to Nekros of the possibility that a monster in the dungeon may devour a part of my body and take a fragment of Chaos with it, just like Cath did with Arthur. The consequences of that would be disastrous as my powers with Chaos were limited despite me being the host. Monsters evolved simply from eating other monsters and their cores, so I couldn't imagine if they gained even a sliver of Chaos's powers.
With only a fragment, Cath had been able to transcend time, space and death. I was quite excited in all honesty at what I would become. Arthur Pendragon hosted Chaos for sixteen years and he still hadn't mastered it. I however grew up with it, and I was still yet to mature with it a still intrinsic part of me. I had no doubt that by the time I actually did manage to unlock Chaos's powers in full, I would have complete mastery.
Nekros had explained to me that rather than lodging itself in my body, it had actually nestled inside my soul. Now that I think about it, the guy was always talking weird and cryptically. When I questioned why I was so different that Chaos decided to make my soul its vessel instead of my body, he responded by saying something about 'The One True King of Chaos' and that I was better fit. Which didn't make sense because not long before, he'd said I was at the moment incompatible.
I guess Chaos was all about contradictions wasn't it?
Still, I did not need to wear that much armour as it would restrict my speed, something I capitalised on quite a lot in my fights. Just the chestplate to cover my most vital areas and the arm guards to deflect a weapon or a claw with my arm. Perhaps a helmet was in order as well to protect my head. I'd certainly taken a bashing to it with Goliath.
We finally entered a decent looking shop that sold weapons in it. Despite the lesser floor being dark and not holding as much wealth as the one above, it was still a floor in which members of the Hephaestus Familia operated. So you could bet your life savings that the weapons here were forged properly and were meant to last as opposed to things people sold you in the street shops.
Same with this shop. Despite it being cluttered and just really having shelves and crates crammed with normal weapons and armour made from iron and steel, you could tell they were good. It was extremely untidy, but I chose to treat it like a treasure hunt, hunting for the best piece of armour I could find.
The shopkeeper eyes us as we browsed the shelves in the dim light. Ais also took care to bring stuff to me as well, small bits and pieces here and there that she thought I would like. I unfortunately turned down all that she offered. She gave me small pouts each time but I couldn't help it. I just didn't like what I saw. I noticed that the shopkeeper's eyes widened in recognition when he saw her though.
I supposed that it would benefit me in some way. Ais was famous all around for her level up in a year and I was quickly catching up to her in that infamy as well. Eventually I settled upon a chestplate that looked to be made for a Pallum. I supposed it wasn't common that children came in here for armour as they were not exactly adventuring most of them. The two of us were exception. I found some arm guards as well that also looked to be made in Pallum size. They were all a dark grey in colour.
There was something I found however that was peculiar but I liked it. I found a viking helmet. Not the stereotypical ones that had the horns of a bull on them or whatnot. This was a helmet that actually was plain and had nothing fancy about it. It covered the top of the skull and had a visor that was actually forged as a part of it. It came down the face in a sort of mask with only two eye holes to see. It was black and also seemed to be made in Pallum size.
I brought them over to the front counter where the shop keep grunted and looked over them before putting them in a small box for me.
"A good helmet you chose here lad. You're a lucky one too." He muttered. There was barely any noise at all in this shop so I heard him just fine.
"Any particular reason why?" I asked him.
"Aye, one of them haughty Gulliver brothers from the Freya lot sold this to me. Said it was old and whatnot and sold it to me for cheap. Just came in here, tossed it over the counter and told me to give him a good amount for it."
I froze at that. The events of the day and last night had made me forget about Freya, even when I had met her as Syr last night. I still hadn't really made up my mind about that woman.
Now honestly...I did not dislike her. People back in my world often called her a harlot and stuff like that and were just overall toxic because one of the things she was goddess over in Norse mythology was sex. Utter stupidity in all honesty.
What about all the other things that she was actually more famous for. Like being a goddess of war for example? Vikings offered the blood of their enemies as tribute to her and I had no doubt her Familia was the same. When you took into account all her other domains, she was actually a pretty terrifying person.
She was not just a depraved goddess. She was calculative, cunning and in the long run well meaning. The only thing was that she was obsessive and at times could be extremely selfish when she wanted to be. And yes, she was not above taking things by force.
But she fought the hardest against Evilus. She stood vehemently against them, and genuinely intended on protecting the mortal world because despite charming her followers all the time, she was a goddess of love. She held genuine love for those that served her.
My point was that for all that made her dangerous, she just had a lot of misplaced priorities in peaceful times. I did not see her as a whore as to be honest, there had not been proof that Freya had slept with every male god in the banquet. We are all familiar with how Hestia is willing to say anything to Bell to deter him from other women.
As with the situation with the Gullivers' master, it was not clear whether or not she actually did sleep with him. As far as I knew, it was said that the Gullivers murdered him for daring to make that demand of her. I honestly didn't believe that a woman as dignified as Freya would ever allow herself to lay with such a dirty man.
More likely, she knew how obsessed the brothers were with her already and agreed to that demand while subtly manipulating them into doing what they did. That they grew so furious that the man would make such a demand of the literal goddess that came save them that they ruthlessly killed him for such insolence.
Say what you will but logically it made sense to me. She was a ruthless, devious woman, and she'd suddenly become all too very real to me. If you were to ask me on certain things regarding my tastes...I would honestly admit that I didn't mind. But I was not just going to throw myself at her like her posse.
I was determined to keep my distance from her if I could help it. If there was anybody in this world that could find out about Chaos even without me revealing it, it was her. And it was something she'd either use against me, or she'd try to stoke and use it to make me grow.
"Hey kid! You lost or something." The shop keeper clicked his fingers in front of my face.
"No. I'll buy it." I hurriedly said.
He grunted and named his price. I handed over a few thousand Valis and made my way out with Ais tailing behind me.
I realised now that the feeling of being watched that I'd discovered yesterday...it'd never left me. Even now I could feel it, which means she was watching me. I'd grown too used to it hovering on the edges of my senses. She had her eyes on me. And if there was one thing I knew about her...
...she would make her move soon.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Read 9+ chapters ahead on my Patreon:
Patreon/ Vulkizaro_Zoromi
Ko-Fi/ vulkizarozoromi