Prytaneum
Shining Steel
I staggered out of the Pantheon feeling exhausted, but also lucky. Eina had seen fit to continue our 'lessons,' and this time she'd been even stricter. I couldn't complain because it was useful stuff, even if most of it was morbid, such as the top twenty causes of death in the Dungeon. First place had, of course, gone to 'going too deep into the Dungeon,' which I was pretty sure I'd managed to correctly translate into 'disobeying your beautiful advisor.' But the others had been interesting, including some stuff we hadn't go into too much last time—stuff like the Hard Armored on the eleventh floor who had the greatest defensive ability on the upper floors or the Batpat on the tenth whose soundwaves could disrupt someone's concentration at a crucial moment.
Stuff like that was useful to me, especially given the tactics the Dungeon had taken to employing against me. On the seventh floor, the armies of Killer Ants had just been a distraction for the Purple Moths, buying time for their poison to take effect. Eina hadn't mentioned anything about, probably because even she didn't truly know how much trouble I tended to get into, but I could already imagine having to fight a horde of Orcs while a ton of Batpats were shrieking in my ear. I'd need to think of a way to deal with that before I got to the tenth floor.
Which looked like it could take a while, given the amount of progress I still needed to make on the seventh, to say nothing of the eight and ninth. Still, I appreciated the heads up. I was pretty sure Eina hadn't been happy telling me about the stuff on the deeper floors, given how I'd gone against her recommendations before, but she'd still told me without me even having to ask. She'd probably anticipated that I'd be going deeper when I got the chance and had been trying to simultaneously scare me out of it and prepare me for the dangers.
I appreciated that, really. After the nasty surprise I'd found on the seventh floor, being given a chance to prepare for what was ahead of me was something I was glad for. Even so, I couldn't lie and say I hadn't been relieved when someone had come in and interrupted her lecture to drag Eina away to finish up her work; I honestly did have other stuff to do today, even with as little left of it as there was. Thankfully, Eina had allowed me to leave with my life, on the condition that I promised to stop by the Pantheon again before going into the Dungeon, which I had. And I'd keep my word, of course, but…
A part of me wanted to sigh. This honestly might be easier if I just told her the truth, but I wasn't sure if I could do that. Part of that was Hestia's warning and the promises I'd made to her, of course, and I wouldn't tell anyone without at least asking Hestia's opinion on it. Frankly, she probably knew more about, well, everything in this city than I did and she could tell me if talking to my advisor about stuff like that was okay.
But truthfully, I thought it would probably be okay if Eina knew. She struck me as trustworthy and was obviously going out of her way to try and help me, even if she was upset. I didn't think she'd knowingly do anything that might put me in danger, at least.
I just wasn't sure if she'd believe me. I hadn't worried about telling Hestia, both because I trusted her and because I hadn't actually known she'd think it was that big of a deal—but how was I going to tell Eina I was a demigod, something that was apparently considered impossible, and expect her to believe me after knowing me for two days? Gods knew I'd never managed to any of my principals that I was anything but a delinquent when I'd tried to defend myself to them. Eina was an advisor to adventurers and she'd probably seen some weird stuff in her time, but I doubted she'd ever seen anything as weird as me. But while I didn't really mind Eina thinking I was insane, but I didn't want her to think I was crazy.
…That didn't really make any sense, did it? But I didn't have much in the way of proof, even though Hestia had believed me. I'd be asking her to believe me over everything she knew, including all the evidence that I was just a madman. Maybe if I showed off a bit of my power, though? I didn't really have to convince her I was a demigod, just that I was able to protect myself. If I showed her some 'magic,' then maybe…?
This time, I actually did sigh, shaking my head to clear it. I'd just have to think of something to deal with that, along with every other problem in my life. Maybe if I did it well enough, I'd actually convince someone I knew what I was doing. In the meantime…
I looked up to make sure I was where I was supposed to be, not that I could really miss it. All I had to do was look for one of the few signs I could actually read.
'Hephaestus.' My next stop.
Peering through the window, I saw that I was in luck and entered the shop.
"Wayland," I said with a smile, kind of relieved he was still here. I honestly had no idea if he man this shop all the time, had a shift, or what, but he was exactly the person I was looking for.
The older man looked up from…what he was doing, and squinted at me for a moment.
"Boy," He said after a moment, gruff voice sounding a bit pleased. "Made it back in one piece, did ya? You find what you were looking for?"
"I did, actually," I said. "Thanks for the directions you gave me; I found Lady Hestia just like you said."
"Did you…?" Wayland trailed off a bit, reaching over his shoulder to pat himself on the back.
"Yeah," I replied. "I'm an adventurer now."
"Good on you," He said, though his smile was complicated. "You've got a lot of work ahead of ya, as the start of a new Familia. It can't be easy."
"I'll manage," I answered with a shrug.
"Atta boy," He said. "You need anything in particular, then, or did you just wanna say thanks?"
"I actually have another question and just don't have a lot of people I can ask," I told him. "This might sound like a weird question, but…do you know where I can get some armor?"
I cast a look around at all the pieces of armor around the shop, all of them looking polished and amazing—and strapped to price tags with a minimum of six digits. A little above my pay grade, even after I'd exchanged everything I'd had at the Guild. Fifty thousand valis was nothing to sneeze at, apparently, but kind of looked like chump change in this place. And that's even ignoring the fact that I had to provide for Hestia, too; twenty-five thousand wasn't bad but wouldn't get me anything in here.
Luckily, Wayland seemed to understand what I meant.
"Have you registered at the Guild yet?" He asked. "They should have given you the option of taking a loan for some basic equipment. That's probably the best place for you to start, as a beginner."
"I did," I said. "But I broke it in less than a day."
Wayland made a face, clicking his tongue.
"That's what the Guild gets for buying from the lowest bidder," He said, sounding honestly annoyed. "How much did it cost you?"
"Three thousand something," I said. "I already paid it off, though?"
"Yeah?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "Already?"
I nodded.
"I've been spending a lot of time in the Dungeon," I replied. "Have to provide for the Familia, you know?"
"Don't go too deep now," Wayland warned. "The first few layers aren't too dangerous as long as you keep your wits about yourself, but don't forget that the Dungeon's got it out for ya."
You have no idea.
"I won't," I replied. "Trust me, my advisor's been hammering that into my skull. But I managed to find someone I know and she's been watching my back in the Dungeon."
"Good on you," He said. "Strength in numbers and all that. It's always good to have someone who's got your back."
"It is," I agreed. "Wouldn't mind some armor on it, though."
"Damn right," He replied. "Now that's what I like to hear. You want me to direct you towards something you can afford, I assume? Shouldn't be a problem. Worst case scenario, I'll ask around and see if some of the new members have cooked up anything. It won't be like the professional work you'll find in stores, but even that should be better than what the Guild gave you."
"Appreciate it," I said, heft up my newly filled coin bag and putting it on the table. Wayland looked at me one and then reached for it when I gave a nod.
"Not bad for a few days' work, boy," He said, whistling slightly. "That friend of yours helping you out?"
"Yeah," I replied, thinking of Mrs. O'Leary and all her hard work, as well as her strange new appetite. "She's been going out of her way. Giving me all the drops, all the magic stones I can carry, the works."
Which was true. Not at all in the ways I was implying, but true—and really, I'd been yelled at enough today for working on the seventh floor.
"Kind of her," He said, emptying the bag onto the counter and sorting through the contents with deft hands. Like coins were gathered together as he counted them, quickly organizing the whole bag.
"There should be about fifty-four thousand total," I said to spare him the trouble. "About half of it's for the Familia, though."
"Let's say twenty-five to thirty thousand," He said, nodding. "Plenty enough to get you some real armor, if you know where to look."
"I don't," I admitted.
"But you came to the right place," He said. "And that's what matters. This isn't no secret or anything, but it's something most people don't realize for a while, until they get the funds to go looking. See, you've probably walked right by what you're looking for a dozen times."
"I'd believe it," I admitted again. "But where specifically."
"Babel, boy," He stated, as if revealing some grand mystery. "You ever wonder what's in that big tower?"
"Yeah," I said. "But I've been kind of busy. What's in it?"
"Most everything you need," He told me. "There are shower rooms, a cafeteria, a hospital, and even an Exchange in there."
I was pretty sure I looked surprised—but thinking about it, that all made sense. If I were building a tower over the entrance to monster land, I'd want a hospital there for sure. Having a shower for all the sweaty, smelly warriors was probably a good idea, too, as was a place to eat. But…
"There's an Exchange there?" I asked, shoulders falling. "I've been walking all the way over here every time. That would have been so much easier."
"I'm not surprised you don't know," Wayland said. "I'm pretty sure they don't tell people on purpose. Everyone figures it out eventually, of course, but…well, you can't imagine the lines in that place until you see them for yourself. It's the easiest one to get to so it's the one everyone goes to; they probably want to direct as many people as possible to the main one here. Frankly, it's a good thing to know about, but if you get out of the Dungeon before five or six? Don't bother with that place; it'll be faster to just come over to the one over here."
"Makes sense," I said, still feeling a bit down. "I'll keep that in mind. But there's other stuff, too?"
Wayland nodded.
"All that stuff is on the second and third floor," He said. "Above that, the Guild rents out space to shops and such—and the Hephaestus Familia rents out the first four. It's where we sell most of our stuff in fact—this place here is our main branch, but, well, look around."
I did, again focusing on the price tags. If all those zeroes were eyes, I'd have probably gotten stage fright.
"But there's cheaper stuff in Babel?" I asked.
"Mhm," He said before tilting his head and considering it. "Hey, you got some time, boy?"
"Um…sure?" I wondered, tilting my head at him. "Why?"
"It's your lucky day," He said. "I have to head over there in about half an hour, anyways. Wait around for a bit and I'll do you a favor of showing you around."
"Really?" I asked, surprised. "Is that okay?"
"Sure," He said, giving me a half-smile. "Think of it as my way of helping out a newbie. Let's see if we can't find something that'll keep you alive, eh?"