I'm a tough bastard though and only had to deal with feeling like death for three days before I stabilized again. I sent Bell to the hostess while I was sick to let Syr know what was going on since i didn't want to deal with that problem when I saw her again. My gut told me that I really didn't want to make her mad so I tried to keep her neutral with me at the very least in any given instance. I wasn't sure if she was actually just that nice or if she had a thing for me but either way neutrality was the way to go for me. -
Yeah I was friend zoning the fuck out of her but I REALLY wasn't interested in that sort of thing. On the third day when I was starting to feel better Tiona showed up with a whole satchel of drops for me. It was like christmas as none of them were below level two monsters and I even got a goliaths tooth. The Loki familia was A okay in my book after this as they took responsibility and even gave me a bunch of expensive drops to craft my weapon again as an apology.-
There was a small issue though with Tiona going nuts after discovering that I was the one who made the bone figurines. The bag of drops was really heavy and I was sick so she brought it into the room for me which was when she saw all my unfinished figurines.
"Could you make one that looks like me? OOH what about Ais or Riveria?" she asked excitedly and I sighed.
"I could but not right now since I am not feeling well as you can see." I said in a nasally voice as I was sitting on the couch wrapped up in a blanket.
"Hey what about the clothes, could you make them look like us naked?" she asked with a lewd expression.
"First off, bad, no horny. Second I would need to see what you all look like naked to do that as otherwise the details would likely be off. In other words no I can't nor would I even if I could as that is a breach of privacy." I said seriously.
"Hmmm, I don't mind showing you if you leveled up a few times. Level four minimum to try and take me off the market." she said with a playful wink.
"I'll keep that in mind. Now if that's all I'd like to go back to sleep so I can get rid of this illness faster." I said tiredly and she shrugged before saying goodbye and leaving while swaying her hips intentionally on the way out.
'Now to embrace the sweet relief of sleep.' I thought as I started to nod off only to hear a new voice from upstairs.
"Yo Alex you here!?" I heard Hroldars voice call out from the large church room above me.
'Ugh, more guests.' i thought bitterly as I hauled my weak body up the stairs to see what Hroldar wanted.
"Bloody hell lad you look terrible." the dwarf said when he saw me and I had the force myself to remain polite.
"It wasn't planned believe me. Anyways why are you here?" i asked confused.
"My god said he'd set up a trial to see if you are as good a craftsman as you say you are and he just got it finished. Somehow he convinced Hephaestus herself to compare your work to something from her best level one. Trick is you both are to make a dagger out of a minotaurs horn and then she'll compare the two. I'm here to drop off the horn you'll be using." he said with a grin.
That whole part of the conversation had totally slipped my mind what with how eventful my time since then had been.
"How long do I have?" I asked since I was confident in my work to a great degree after getting the enlightenment of black flash.
"Three days starting tomorrow and remember no supplementary ingredients for this test, just this horn." Hroldar said as he handed over the solid brown horn about seven inches long and two inches wide at the base.
"Anywhere specifically I should go to drop the blade off after I'm done with it?" I asked and he shook his head.
"Nah I'll be dropping by in the afternoon to pick it up on the third day. You go get some rest though as you really do look terrible lad." He said before leaving and I was all about doing exactly that.
The next day I had a bit of a runny nose still but otherwise felt fine and got to work on that dagger. It was a simple design really as I got rid of all the impurities in the horn before transforming it into a bowie style blade with a slip guard and spiraled handle for grip. Then I did what would set my blade apart from any other at this level, I refined it. The finished product was so sharp that I could cut through iron like butter and so durable that nothing I did to it without my cursed energy so much as scratched it much less chipped the edge. Overboard? Absolutely! Worth it? Definitely!-
I claimed to be the best level one craftsman in this city and I damn well mean it too. Plus knowing that Hephaestus herself would be comparing the two blades meant I needed to bring my A grade not to be embarrassed. Ironically I didn't even need the entire three days to finish the blade but only one. The last two days I spent fixing up the church now that I had enough energy to do so as well as the time for it. Bell had spent the last few days getting used to his new leather armor I made him before my sickness hit.-
Mostly it was just him working out in it and practicing the little bit i had taught him about how to use his weapons. Still his improvement was clear to anyone with eyes and I was thinking about letting him go delving soon even if his stats didn't reach G rank. Sparring with me was great and all but there was a difference between facing someone you know won't seriously hurt you versus a monster that literally wants to rip you apart. It was a whole mindset thing and Bell needed to adapt to that as soon as possible.-
I am quite proud to say that by the time Hroldar came to pick up the dagger the church had gone a full one eighty and looked brand new. It was rather amusing to see the look of confusion on his face as he looked around. I had basically tore out anything that didn't come from a living source other than the glass of the windows and replaced it with hardened refined wood I "appropriated" from nearby abandoned buildings. Just for shits and giggles I also put a very much alive tree in full bloom at the top of the church grafted into the wood so it worked like root extensions into the ground.