"...Make me your apprentice!"
"Huh…?" Julian stood frozen for a moment, blinking as he tried to comprehend what was happening. "But—"
"Please!" Juliet's voice shook with desperation, cutting Julian off.
"Juliet, please get–" And before Julian could respond, floating words appeared before him.
[Guidance]
The Lv. ?? Blacksmith, Juliet, wants to be your apprentice. It is up to you to decide whether to accept her or not. Accepting her will lead to the continuation of the quest: [Juliet's Dilemma.]
"A… continuation of the quest?" Julian blinked at the words as he whispered to himself.
"Wait…" Juliet immediately looked up, her wide eyes locking onto his as she heard his whisper. "You mean... this entire time, you didn't know you were on a quest…?"
"You… knew I had a quest?" he asked, his confusion growing as even he himself didn't even realize that he had one.
Juliet nodded slowly. "I received a quest, too. It said to confront Bran, and it would lead to... good things. But wait… I thought… I assumed you also received a quest—and that's why you were helping me."
"No. I… I don't like checking Guidance too much," he admitted, keeping his tone casual.
"What other reason would I have for helping you, Juliet, other than to help you?" Of course, there was also the fact that everything that was happening was his fault, but he wasn't going to say that.
"T… that…" Juliet's lips trembled slightly at his words, and without any hesitation, she once again pressed her forehead against the ground, even harder this time. "Please, accept me as your apprentice!"
"I don't think I'm at the point where I could accept an apprentice," Julian let out a long sigh as he rubbed the back of his neck, "We could be—!?"
"Please!" Juliet's forehead hit the ground with a loud thud again. The sound was so loud that it almost drowned out the noise from the other smithy. "I will do anything, Master Julian!"
"No, I…" Julian was about to refuse her once again, but feeling the genuine passion and determination in her voice just made him pause for a second.
"Please!"
"I…" And after a few more seconds of thinking about it, Julian sighed and crouched down, gently placing a hand on Juliet's shoulder. "I don't really know about being a master, but… I know I'll learn a lot from you too, Juliet. So… okay."
"Okay…?" Juliet's very slowly lifted her head up as a bright smile crawled on her face.
"Okay, but please don't call me master. We're… smithing buddies."
"Really!?" she gasped, her forehead still very much swollen from hitting it on the ground several times. "Thank you, pretty boy!"
"!?!" Julian's breath caught in his throat as Juliet suddenly threw her arms around him in a tight hug, her strength overwhelming. And right there and then, he realized just how much physically stronger Juliet was compared to him.
"O…okay," Julian wheezed, tapping her arm several times to signal her to let go. "That's… that's enough."
"S…sorry, got a little excited," Juliet chuckled, finally releasing him from her iron grip.
"...Right," Julian coughed.
"Well then…" Juliet then placed her hands on her waist and glanced around at her messy smithy. "I… need to clean all of this up. You had somewhere you needed to be, right?"
"Uh…" Julian glanced over at Cyrus, who nodded eagerly.
"Yes," Julian said, "Are you going to be alright by yourself? Someone might… steal all of these. This is a lot."
"Heh. I dare them to try!" Juliet suddenly reached behind her forge, pulling out a large axe with ease.
"I'll be sleeping here from now on," she declared, her eyes narrowing as she scanned the area, daring anyone to approach. "I also want to see the look on that guy's face when the khopesh gets stolen, ha!"
"Right…" Julian instinctively backed away from the axe, his hands raised slightly in surrender. "We're going now. Be careful, Juliet."
"You be careful. You're going to a dungeon, right?" Juliet's eyes flicked toward the cart of ingots, her expression protective, almost like a hawk watching over its nest.
"Hm. Thank you."
Juliet did not really respond anymore and remained fixated on her pile of ingots, her axe held tightly in her hand, ready to defend her precious metals. Julian gave her one last glance, letting out a hum before they started walking back toward the inn.
"Well, folks, that was an intense moment, right…?" And while all of that was happening, Cyrus was still deep into the chat, "Our very own Sword Junkie just took on his first apprentice! I don't know about you, but I'm already looking forward to seeing what kind of weapons these two will forge in the future. But for now… it's time for the dungeon!"
"Cyrus…" Julian turned to Cyrus. "Just… how do quests work, exactly? I didn't even know I had a quest relating to Juliet."
"That's… a little bit complicated and simple at the same time," Cyrus cleared his throat as he strayed away from the chat, "Some quests would automatically be accepted, and if the [Guidance of Artemis] didn't think it was major or important enough, it won't even bother showing it to you—after all, if it alerted you every time someone requested something, you'll just end up blind, reading a wall of texts every time you talk to someone."
"...And if it asks you to confirm a quest?" Julian asked.
"Then that means the quest is really, really—wait…" Cyrus's eyes quickly narrowed, "...Don't tell me you have a major quest?"
"I'm just curious."
"Ho…" Cyrus narrowed his eyes even further. But he didn't really press on and just shook his head.
"What… what about Levels?" Julian quickly tried to change the subject, "Is there… some sort of reference for how strong one actually is?"
"That's even more complicated," Cyrus raised his finger. "Sure, levels are a clear indicator of your strength, but this isn't like your typical video game. This is real life. Stats grow over time depending on how you train, how often you fight, and even your natural abilities."
"Hm." Julian nodded, listening closely.
"Take you, for example," Cyrus continued. "You managed to defeat those goblins and even those racist grunts from the Order of Artemis, right? That's because you were already strong, Julian. I mean, bro. Look at your arms. Look at it."
Julian glanced down at his arms, and then at Cyrus's arms which were thinner than even his wrist. "Hm…"
"To give you a reference, the average player starts with a strength value of about… 3," Cyrus explained, raising a finger as he spoke. "I started at 3 myself. The average adult hyum should also be around that. What about you? What did you start at?"
Julian furrowed his brow, trying to remember. "I… think I started at 9."
"What—?!"