"So, are you certain that's all you want?" The God's eyes crinkled as lips were tugged to the sides in a rather pleased smile.
Spoiler: Hermes
Considering said smile was on the face of Hermes I automatically hated it- the God was, in my opinion, one of the Divines who came down to Gekai primarily for entertainment. He was someone that played all sides of the field, though he had a more "Light Side" bent to him if what I remember seeing of him during the series. However, he wasn't for the "good guys" simply because it was the right thing to do, he was for the "good guys" simply because that was what made the most exciting tale.
He was the type of person that would withhold important, pertinent, crucial information solely because he wanted to see just how Bell Cranel would react when he was faced with the truth of whatever shitty situation the white-haired rabbit found himself in.
Something along the lines of 'Ah, I wonder how you'll react when this gets revealed, Bell Cranel-kun. Huu, huu, huu, huu.'
Disgusting, really.
However, because of his shifty nature and willingness to play ball no matter what field it was on it meant that pretty much all sides used him to gather information on their foes; whenever he worked with the "bad guys" he would always find a way to drop a hint somewhere in the right ear to make sure that their nefarious plans couldn't come to fruition, and in such a fashion that it would never get linked back to him. It was rather brilliant, how he worked, and while I'm thankful that a double-agent like him exists to feed me information for the right price it meant that you had to deal with him, and boy oh boy was he frustrating.
He reminded me of a Lisa Wilborne except he was more competent thanks to his countless years of experience being a professional gossip monger.
I arched an eyebrow, "I do believe that is what I said, yes. I want your Child, Asfi Al Andromeda, to tutor me in how to efficiently utilize my Mystery Developmental Ability so that once I decide to Rank Up I can hit the ground running, so to speak."
The four of us- Hephaestus, myself, Hermes, and Andromeda- all sat in my Goddess' office; it was after work hours, and the God of Travel had been quite adamant about that because he was currently on the Guild's shitlist for having 'forgotten' to pay their taxes this year.
Again.
So they were forced to sneak into the city.
How my Goddess had managed to even find the far-traveling God eluded me, but she had been pretty smug in the fact that she'd managed to track him down within a single week of my request to her. In fact, she looked like she was about ready to burst with all of the smug that she was barely keeping contained within; I should have never bet against her.
I don't know what sort of favor she'll extort from me in the future, but whatever it is it can't be good.
My Goddess' lone eye crinkled in delight and I felt ice form within the pit of my belly. Unnerved by my Divine's happy disposition I turned my focus back to the twenty-one-year-old Asfi Al Andromeda; she was pretending to be the cool, calm, collected beauty that I had been familiar with from the show, but she was far away from being what she tried to portray herself to be.
"Hmmmm..." The God leaned back and threw his leg over the armchair, the man slouching in the seat so that he could pull his stupid cowboy hat down to hide his eyes, "You're asking a lot, Cranel-kun-"
I could see his left eye barely hidden by the back of his glove- the Divine tried to get a rise out of me by using Cranel's name. Why? I couldn't tell you.
"-those sorts of things are often kept quite secret, you know? Would you hand out the secrets of your smithing techniques?" His drawl was overdone, "Besides, my sweet little Asfi-chan didn't have anyone to teach her about the Mystery Developmental Ability, and now here she is- all grown up and considered one of the best users in all of Orario!"
Asfi twitched at his compliments, her cheeks going ruddy. "Hermes-sama..."
Spoiler: Asfi Al Andromeda
Her voice was full of warning, and the God chuckled nervously in a playful fashion as he straightened himself up and warned her off with his hands held up in surrender.
"I understand that, however, I do believe that my Goddess called this in as a favor, one of the many that you owe her," I had expected this, and I reached down to my side where a manila envelope was carefully placed and I pulled it out before bending the thin metal tabs that kept it sealed.
Hermes' smile faltered just a touch as his eyes tightened minutely- the scary part about him was that I couldn't tell if he showed me that on purpose or not. The man way truly a terrifying actor.
"However, I understand that the world isn't run solely on favors, and sometimes times get hard and you get down on your luck," The pages came out and what was revealed to all in attendance was the Official Publicly available paperwork from the Adventurer's Guild of Orario. That caused the God's eyebrow to rise and his posture shifted to one that was more attentive.
Good.
"Let it never be said that I am not a reasonable person, and I'm not so crass as to demand that you give me this training solely to repay a debt," I flipped through the pages until I found what I was looking for and I rand my finger along the words in a small touch of showmanship that I knew deep down the God would appreciate, "It says here that you owe the Guild 13.537 Million valis in back-taxes for this year, and 11.245 Million valis in the previous year's taxes as well. All told you owe the Guild 24.782 Million valis, and because you owe said taxes your familia is currently barred from entering the Dungeon and exchanging monster cores and drop items."
I could see his lip twitch as he regarded me cooly, but it was more that he was fighting a smile than anything else. Likely he knew exactly where I was going with this.
I steepled my fingers in front of my chest while my elbows rested on the armrests of the leather, high-backed chair that all but swallowed my small teenage form. "So, here is what I propose."
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Asfi tensing up, no doubt she thought that I would probably try to blackmail them into teaching me. Not that it would do any good as nothing the Guild could do to them would stick- the Hermes familia has allies all over Orario, including in the Adventurer's Guild; the organization's complaints were more a formality because Hermes often worked directly at Ouranos' request. Hermes would go delinquent for a few years and then magically he would show back up with enough money to pay his dues and his restrictions would be lifted... and then he would go delinquent again years later.
I was convinced that it was part of his cover- he played the fool, someone that was always dealt a string of bad luck, and that made people relax around him- his foes believing that he was incompetent. They believed that his foolishness and weakness gave them power over him, that it would allow them to bully him into doing what they wished, and he would use that to royally fuck them over later. We saw that in the Haruhime debacle where Hermes himself was tasked by Ishtar to find and deliver to her a killing stone- which she paid him handsomely for- and he then dropped the right words into the ears of the right little hero and the Goddess of Love had her whole plans come tumbling down around her.
"I will give you the valis needed to cover the Guild taxes, plus ten percent extra- you and I both know that there just might be some little extra fees here and there that they might tack on just because you inconvenienced them. In addition to that," I stopped my words as I leaned back in my chair and did my best 'little boy trying to be serious' impression, "I will pay Asfi Al Andromeda-san 500,000 valis per day, and I will cover her expenses while we are in the Dungeon."
I saw the young woman's jar drop slightly, which completely gave the game away on their end- both parties negotiating needed to put up a united front. Asfi-chan would need a few more years before she could play the game marginally as well as Hermes. Or, on the flip-side of that her inexperience at negotiating was something that he accounted for and decided that bringing her in on this was more beneficial than it was harmful.
Ugh, shit, I hated stuff like this- I was a Ranger, let me kill bodies and break some shit!
"That's mighty generous of you, Cranel-kun," The God drawled and he straightened up in his chair completely as Asfi coughed into her fist to center herself. He rubbed his chin, "I do have a pair of younger members who need some training, and being able to go into the Dungeon again would certainly help get them stronger whenever we eventually leave for the outside world again."
His eyes slid over to his young familia Captain, "What do you think, Asfi-chan? Sound like a good deal?"
Asfi, to my knowledge, was a fresh Level 3 at this point in the series, and it would take her many, many years to make it to Level 4 by the time canon kicked off, and even then she was one of those "I'll Rank Up as soon as I'm able" types; this hamstrung her growth and because of her personal weakness it ended up getting many members of her familia killed on the 25th floor against Evilus. She was a crafter first and an Adventurer second, which led to her overly relying on her created items when more durable weapons, better strength, and skill would have served her better.
They were also quite poor seeing as they were only in Orario a quarter of the year if the reports were to be believed, so that meant that their members had to learn how to fight without equipment; fuck, one of their guys fought in the Dungeon by throwing stones from the Dungeon floor for God's sake!
Ill-equipped and ill-prepared, which made me incredibly angry because if I remembered correctly at the start of canon Asfi had a personal net worth of over 40 Million valis, and yet she allowed her familia members to languish with bottom-of-the-barrel weapons and armor.
Still, it was obvious that she didn't have that much money now because she wouldn't have batted an eye at the possibility of earning half a million valis a day. Instead, she looked quite dazed at the prospect.
"That... seems very generous," The woman swallowed as she adjusted her glasses, "I would be... amenable to such an arrangement."
"Then it's settled then!" I gently clapped my hands with a small smile on my face, and I felt no small bit of satisfaction as Hermes sighed audibly and rubbed at his temples with his hands.
Despite her cool, intelligent look the woman did not have a grasp of the Art of the Deal; when negotiating it is always pertinent to dig your heels in and fight for every scrap, and then you'd ease off after having gotten some more concessions. I was the weaker party in this transaction, and while Hermes knew it Asfi didn't.
The joke was her though because I had been willing to go as high as 2.5 Million valis per day to secure her teachings, if only because I knew just how much faster-learning things was when you had someone who'd gone through the pitfalls firsthand.
After all, it took me nine months to learn the healing spell Soothing Touch, and yet when I tutored Liliruca it took her just shy of four months.
"Excellent," I nodded to myself, as I reached down to my other side and pulled out another manila envelope and pulled out the paperwork, "I thought that we might be able to come to a mutually beneficial arrangement, so I took the liberty of drawing up this contract here. It protects us both, you see."
I slid the paperwork over to Hermes as I fixed Andromeda with a jovial look, "Now, since I'm paying top valis for an education I will be expecting a top valis education. Take this week to organize your thoughts and put together a lesson plan, on paper, as well as a timeline for how long you think that teaching me will take. Do be sure to draw up a list of materials you will need- parchment, blank books, quills, inkwells, travel cases for said sundries, and things like drop items to create practice materials, etc, etc."
The girl blinked as I vomited the information at her, and she nodded numbly as I slipped out of my chair and pushed it away from the table. I walked around the table and firmly shook her hand, "A pleasure doing business with you, Asfi Al Andromeda. Do be sure to have that done within the week, as Vornir-sama and I will be going down into the Dungeon for an extended dive, and you will be coming with us."
I released her hand as I gave my thoroughly amused Goddess a side-armed hug and gave Hermes a shallow bow. I continued speaking as I strode towards the door. "We'll be using the Under Resort as a base camp, so feel free to pack a little bit heavier than usual as we already have a storage unit rented in Rivira. No need to worry about food or water, I'll be taking care of all of that, as I did say I would be handling your expenses."
Once at the door I grabbed the door handle and paused, "Now, I have a lot of swords I need to make before I skip town, so to speak, is there anything else that anyone has questions about? Kami-sama?"
Hephaestus was fighting her grin as she shook her head, "No, I do believe that I can answer any questions they might have, so go on and get to work, Bell-kun."
I grinned and bowed at the waist, "Once again, a pleasure, Hermes-sama, Andromeda... sensei. I will see you at the front gates in a week! Until we meet again."
As I closed the door I was just able to catch Hermes letting out a soft chuckle, "Wow, what a frightening Child you have there, Hephaestus-chan."
Asfi's hazy murmur was harder to catch. "Did I just get swindled by a child?"
"I know, isn't my Child the greatest?" Ah, Kami-sama. Please, that's too embarrassing.
Spoiler: Hephaestus
[Three weeks later.]
[Bell Winters]
It had been two weeks since myself, Asfi, and Vornir departed from Orario with three wagons and three horses.
The wagons served a very important purpose- they would not only carry our loot of monster cores and drop items back to the surface, but they also contained plenty of refined materials that I would need to being my armor-smithing training under Vornir; I'd already done two of the quarterly seminars under my Goddess' watchful eye, and some of the other members of the familia had given me some tips and tricks here and there... and while I was confident that I could make armor that any Level 1 would trust their life to in the Upper Floors of the Dungeon I wasn't satisfied with just 'good enough'.
Especially not when I would be making armor for the Sword Princess.
The third wagon contained the smithing tools that I would use in the Under Resort's forges. It was part of the deal we had worked out with them- to gain access to the forges that they already had set up Vornir and I would fix weapons and armor for the medium-sized village's inhabitants at a discounted rate. Not that the blacksmiths already down there weren't good- there were five of them there, two Level 3s and three Level 2s who were all competent at their jobs- the issue was that being in the Dungeon 24/7 meant that their weapons and equipment saw more use, and that led to a lot of wear and tear that the five men couldn't keep up with.
The Under Resort was home to over five hundred Adventurers, and with 100 Adventures breaking shit to every 1 blacksmith who could fix said broken shit they were in a constant state of backlog.
It worked out in our favor though because it once again garnered good-will between Rivira and the Hephaestus familia- something that we were sharing with the Miach familia as they sold potions at discounted rates whenever we came down for our joint Expeditions- and that also meant that we didn't have to pay the exorbitant rent rates for a room at the shitty hotel. It also meant that no one would be stupid enough to fuck with our shit while we were away.
Bors, the one-eyed Level 3 nominally in charge of the Under Resort, had even promised to have a pair of his most trusted boys watch over our wagons while we were down in the lower floors.
Ah, the wonderful things that splendid cooperation could bring- why swing around a big sword when you could have them eating out of the palm of your hand and thank you for it?
Yeah, that was a much better way to go about it.
Besides, since we were going to go down to the 29th through 36th Floors, colloquially known as the Killing Fields, it meant that we had an excellent chance to do some business with Bors, and by extension Rivira.
"25 percent, huh?" Bors rubbed at his jaw as he leaned back in his stump-turned lounge chair in front of the firepit behind the village of Rivira's lone "inn"; though to call it such would be rather generous. It was a hovel with dirt walls, no windows, a "room" that was large enough to fit a bed and a travel trunk to store your gear, and that was about it. Hell, it didn't even have doors!
Yes, you heard me right, it didn't have doors! It just had a curtain that looked like something even the poorest scrounger in Daedalus would toss away with a scoff.
The fact that this "inn" only had five rooms made the comparison even worse.
"That's coming in pretty low, kid," The one-eyed man looked at me with suspicion, "The Hephaestus and Miach familias have really been doing us a solid- coming through and fixing our weapons and getting us potions on the cheap, but we still paid a fair price for it."
Fair price my ass! We were practically giving our potions and services away! At least be honest about that, you scheming prick!
I sighed and shook my head, "Listen, Bors, we're not doing this out of some sense of altruism, we're making this offer because it makes financial sense."
My thumb and forefinger came together in the universal sign for 'scratch', 'gelt', 'okane', and in case you missed what I was getting at... 'money'. "We're going to be farming the 29th through 36th floors for monsters, and while we're braving the Bloodsaurus packs and the like we're also going to be collecting the Dungeon Fruit that grows there."
I gave him a small, wry grin. "Now, we both know that Dungeon Fruit can sell for as high as 30,000 valis and as low as 10,000 valis. It's a delicious little fruit that is a novelty for those Adventurers who want to know what success in the Dungeon tastes like, as well as those Divines who want to eat what everyone else is eating; the rich Gods and Goddesses often compete to see who can have the widest variety of Dungeon Fruits at their little soiree. They pay top valis for these little fruits."
The man grunted as the fire between us crackled and popped, flares of fire shooting up into the evening air. "I get that, kid, but what I don't get is the rate. You're the one collecting it, and you're only asking for a 25% cut when you're the one who arguably did the most work."
A chuckle escaped my lips and I shook my head, "Let's cut the shit, Bors. You guys pinch every valis down here and upcharge the fuck out of every new Adventurer who doesn't know how Rivira functions. However, I get that- you have to do things like that to survive; other than the Dungeon Fruit you need to have food shipped down here on a weekly basis to keep this Outpost for Mortal Kind up and running. So, because of that, even if you weren't going to be malicious or stupid enough to put our current relationship in jeopardy, you or someone else is going to try and skim something off the top. Then someone else is going to take their cut. Then someone else. Then at the end of the day by the time the product is delivered and the coin makes it back to my familia's hands the initial 50% cut I was promised would end up being far less."
"So, to keep someone from making me very unhappy, I'm coming in low from the get-go so that the majority of the proceeds can end up in Rivira's coffers. You can use that money to purchase new weapons," I leaned forward with a small smile on my face, "I happen to know that a glut of Warshadow High Steel and Damascus Minotaur Horn long swords will be hitting the market really soon, all of that at a good price even. You're going to want those weapons because the regular High Steel weapons you got break too often."
I reached into my sleeve and pulled out a rolled sheet of parchment that had a white and grey ribbon tied to it with a silver wax seal that contained my Adamantium stamp's imprint, "I just might even be able to reserve for your buyers a not inconsiderable amount of those weapons before they even hit the Guild's shelves."
Bors paused and then he began chuckling, which turned into full-blown laughter that caught Asfi off guard- the woman startling at the man's sheer volume. "You sure you weren't born in Rivira, kid? Because that is quite the scheme you've got running."
The one-eyed man leaned back and rubbed his nose while his gaze wandered up to the large crystal that emitted a soft blue light for the Under Resort's night cycle. "Even if we somehow stiffed you on the valis you'd still be getting your money back from us, man, what a scheme."
He shook his head, "Though it would still be in our favor, you have to know that, right?"
I shrugged my shoulders, "Of course, I know that, but I will say that Rivira provides a very important service to the wider Adventuring community by merely existing. I don't think I need to list everything off, but if you all went down because you didn't have the weapons and the potions needed to fight then everyone on the surface will be much worse off. I think it's high time that people up top stop sneering down at you and give you some modicum of respect and support, and I would like for it to be the Hephaestus and Miach familia's that give you all the support you're needing."
"In exchange for preferential treatment and prices, of course. If we need to offload some materials or monster cores that we can't carry, or if we need emergency repairs or potions then I do hope that we can at least expect something close to market rate... maybe 200% mark-up at the max?" I raised my hand and tapped the side of my nose, "That and if, for example, we get forced away from our wagons by a Monster Party, you'd be able to put together a good, solid team to help us retrieve them at a reasonable rate?"
The man winced and rubbed at his ribs as if I'd physically struck him.
Considering Rivira charged anywhere from 500% to 1,000% the prices on the surface giving such a 'discount' would be a huge hit if the Hephaestus and Miach familias decided to utilize their services too often.
Bors let out a sigh as he looked towards the shadows where one of his Lieutenants sat underneath a tree; I could see him from where I was seated but the signal must have been on of assent because the Leader of Rivira scrubbed at his head and nodded. "You drive a hard bargain, kid, but these people put their faith in me to keep them alive, and I know a good deal when I see one. You've got your terms."
"Excellent, a pleasure doing business with you, Bors-san," I smiled genuinely, glad that they would accept my offered help while veiling under the guise of a business transaction; the men down here were as proud as they were hard, and charity wasn't something they took kindly to. I tossed him the scroll and stood up to head back to my room.
Vornir formed up beside me, acting as if he were some sort of subordinate.
The bastard looked like he was just barely holding in what would be boisterous laughter.
So, every day we went out to the Killing Fields, a place that I had come to call the "Lost World" because pretty much every monster here was based on some sort of dinosaur- the Bloodsaurus was more the rule rather than an anomaly.
The 28th Floor was a safe area just as the 18th Floor was, but it wasn't nearly as nice of a place; there were a few streams with some trees that provided shade, and they were much needed because the "sun" blazed overhead and there was hardly a breeze to provide relief. Granted, it wasn't as debilitating to me or Vornir as it was to Asfi, as we were used to working with the heat of the forges and our Endurance stats were much higher than hers, but still, it sucked when compared to the temperate Under Resort. We really only stayed there long enough to cover the Dungeon Fruits, cores, and drop items we harvested and then moved back down to the soothing mists of the Water City post haste.
The Killing Fields were quite unique in that they were what was considered the first true taste of what the Lower Floors would be like for the uninitiated. The Upper Floors introduced Adventurers to the monsters while the Middle Floors introduced them to the concept of quantity. The Lower Floors starting with the Water City allowed the Adventurers to get used to the concept of "Quality" as the sheer lethality that the Dungeon could unleash; the Large Tree Labyrinth was deadly, true, with its hidden ambush monsters and poisons, but it was the Water City that showed the complacent just how bad it could be with monsters that could easily kill a Level 3 and force even seasoned Level 4s to flee rather than die.
The 29th through 36th Floors though? Those introduced "Quantity" and "Quality" at the same time. Once you got past the 30th floor the rocky outcroppings and sparse trees gave way to rolling hills and wide open prairies that only had small copses of trees that were close to streams, and the sheer numbers of Level 3 and 4 killing monsters that the Dungeon could bring to bear here made every engagement a Monster Party; you had to be quick and efficient with killing everything because with the wide open floors the monsters could see you fighting and they would rush to join the battle.
If you didn't clear them out quickly enough then you wouldn't have time to rest up between groups, and that would lead to your demise.
Still, the danger was worth it because within those trees were the Dungeon Fruits that we would be sending up to Rivira and the surface for quite a pretty valis. They ranged from the size of a crab apple all the way up to pineapple in size, and because they were that small we could pile hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds of them in our wagon and take them back up.
Unfortunately, they tended to spoil within a week of being plucked, so we had to prioritize them over the monster cores we were collecting from the various dinosaur-type monsters, so we found a nice spot that was out of the way on the 28th Floor safe area and began piling our monster cores and drop items there.
There was always a possibility that someone could take some of it, but the sheer amount we had made it highly unlikely that anyone would be able to steal it all. Besides, at anywhere from 2,500 to 7,500 valis per fruit, we would be making a significant amount of money regardless. We could fit just under 500 fruits if we piled them up and secured them with a tarp, which meant that every day we were sending up almost 2.5 Million valis worth of Dungeon Fruits.
So many in fact that we'd probably depress the markets for a few weeks while everything attained equilibrium after we stopped our flow. It was even better for Rivira because they would be pulling in almost 7.5 Million valis per day as long as the prices held out, and that money would go a long way to helping them purchase important items like Mithril weapons and stronger bows.
It took the Dungeon fruits about a week to regrow, so we made a circuit where we plucked fruits from particular groves and then left them to rest while we moved onto different groves the following days.
I fought the monsters under the watchful eye of Vornir, though I learned very quickly that the man was less willing to intervene than my Tsubaki-nee had; I had more than once almost had my arm munched off because the older smith had decided that experiencing almost debilitating amounts of pain was the best teacher a man could have.
It... sucked.
It was jarring, to say the least- I was no stranger to pain, especially since I'd become an Adventurer, but Vornir was more than willing to let me get injured to the point where only a High-Quality potion could mend my injuries.
Later on, I would thank my sempai- in smithing and in life- for letting me learn those difficult lessons, but at the time I really missed the Tsubaki-nee who'd cleave a monster's head from his shoulder with her knife hand before flicking me on the forehead and admonishing me for getting distracted in a fight.
Thankfully, Vornir didn't let this training mindest extend to Asfi, as she was only here to be an extra body and help us gather the Dungeon Fruits, as that was how I was paying her half a million valis salary, but the old dwarf had her fighting at least a quarter of the monsters we drew to us every day. He was much like me in the fact that we both thought that she relied far too much on her toys to kill monsters and that negatively affected her abilities as an Adventurer.
He had her close by to watch my fights, and it was pretty cool that I was being used as an example of how to properly Adventure to someone who would be held up in a few year's time as one of the City's "Greats".
Now, if only he would keep his commentary just a touch quieter while I was fighting.
A grunt escaped my lips as I threw myself into a diving roll underneath the snapping jaws of the Bloodsaurus that had been bearing down on me; it was a risky maneuver considering the monsters had no qualms with dragging their jaws on the ground like a snow plow, but I learned that the monster's had terrible frontal vision, so if I stayed on my feet then they keep their heads level with my body, allowing me to drop low at the last moment and avoid their charge altogether.
"Ha! You see what he did there, girle!?"
I completed my roll and swung my weapon with all the force I could muster at the beast's tendon, and the unnamed Nosteel longsword that I'd forged just before coming down here bit into the flesh; the weapon was excellent, and I felt no small sense of satisfaction as I saw the tendon tear and retract up into the monster's leg, the retreating sinew bulging up noticeably as I essentially hamstrung the beast. The Bloodsaurus roared in anger and agony as its leading leg gave out from underneath it and it skidded along the grassy plains, and I had to leap to the right to avoid the angry swipe from the thiccc, meaty tail.
I quickly circled around and leaped into the air, bringing my blade down between my legs like I was a certain Ocarina slinging Time Traveler from the lands of Hyrule; the Nosteel sunk into the scales and parted the monster's skull, and I wriggled the blade around like a blender to make sure that the fucker was good and dead.
However, I was forced to relinquish the weapon and hop off the Bloodsaurus' noggin because another one of the fucker's had come to play as well. The issue for me was that I was mid-air, and that allowed it to spin on one leg and it slammed into me like a runaway freight train.
A roar of pain escaped my lips as my right arm and all of the ribs on my right side cracked under the force of the blow, and I was hurled across the plains, my body kicking up grass and plumes of dust as I skidded across the hilltops of the dusty prairie.
I barely managed to turn my ungraceful display into something salvageable by tucking tighter and then opening my body up once I had a firm grasp as to how I was oriented compared to the ground- my boots dug into the ground. Rather than try to stop my backward momentum by digging my toes in I allowed the force to continue to carry me away from the charging Bloodsaurus as I reflexively grasped the short Songwood staff attached to the back of my harness and began chanting.
"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."
A sigh of relief left my lungs as my fractured arm and ribs were set back into place and healed, and not a moment too soon as the giant, 15-foot-tall Dinosaur managed to cross the intervening distance in the 8 seconds it took for me to finish the spell.
I rolled to the side to avoid its charge and pulled my spare Nosteel longsword from its sheath on my back, but the beast barely gave me any time to strike as I was forced to lay flat on the ground- its thick tail sailing just over my head, close enough to tickle the hairs on the back of my neck. I sprung to my feet and dashed forward as fast as my legs could carry me, and I side-stepped its chomping jaws so that I could leap and pierce its chest cavity with the blade; the grey metal sinking all the way up to the hilt. Rather than letting the weight of my body pull me and my weapon free I clenched my core and brought the soles of my boots against its chest and I kicked off, holding one hand out to catch the ground.
Instead of turning the maneuver into a back handspring, which would have conserved my momentum and sent me further away, I knew that was folly; I would only be putting myself back in front of the beast's jaws, and having been munched on twice before from similar mistakes I had learned really quick that while their frontal vision is shit their sense of smell is pretty damn strong. Strong enough to pluck me from the air and toss me around like an excited dog would a chew toy.
Those teeth were sharp and incredibly pointy- only my obscene armor layering saved me from having my heart and lungs punctured.
So, rather than subject myself to that again I clenched my whole body and swung my feet down to the earth, the impact cratering the ground underneath me. My freshly healed arm, ankles, and knees screamed in protest at my rough movements but being able to leap in again as the monster back peddled away and stab it right in the core this time was well worth it; I felt the crystalized mana shatter under the force of my thrust as the Nosteel punched between its ribs and punctured its heart.
The Bloodsaurus was fading away to ash as I crested the hill and jogged my way back towards Asfi and Vornir; the closer I got the better I could make out my sempai's words.
"So, you can see that while he had dealt what should be a killing blow the Bloodsaurus didn't automatically turn to dust," Vornir's rumbling voice carried easily over the hills, "Because of that his weapon was stuck in its carcass and that forced him into a very unenviable position. Can you tell me what he did next?"
"He... abandoned his weapon?" It sounded unsure, but Asfi wasn't the most experienced with martial combat; no doubt she had been trained to never relinquish her weapon at all, "Though I thought you weren't supposed to leave your weapon behind?"
"You don't leave your weapon behind if it's your only way of handling the monsters you're fighting," Vornir scoffed, "Ideally you would be able to last long enough barehanded until you were able to recover your weapon. However, he avoids such a scenario by making sure he has multiple weapons on his person."
I could see Asfi's lips thin into a firm line as she watched me sheath my second Nosteel longsword and walk over to where my primary blade rested in the grass next to a grapefruit-sized monster core. Upon checking the weapon over, searching for cracks, chips, and bends I swung the weapon around a few times before trotting back over to them; you never sheathed your weapon in an area like this, not when the Packosaurs could pop up at any moment; the wolf-sized, featherless velociraptor-expys were keen to use the tall grass to sneak up on you like the ambush predators they were.
"Keep that in mind when you get back to the surface, girle. Your little baubles are indeed fierce and powerful weapons, but you run into the same issue that all Archers have, and that is you are limited by how many of your explosive globes you can carry," Vornir huffed as he scrubbed the side of his cheek with his adamantium hammer hand, "They should be something that will give you an edge, not your whole combat style. You say that you always make sure to pack enough for whatever expedition you're going on, but what happens when you are forced into a situation that is outside your calculations? What will you do then? I can guarantee you that little Nosteel shortsword you're carrying around will only see you safely up to the 27th floor- it won't be long enough to penetrate deep enough... as you are no doubt experiencing already."
Asfi's lip curled in embarrassment as she ducked her head to hold back the tears pricking at the corners of her eyes.
Reality sucks, Asfi-chan, and I know that more than anyone else.
Though you really should not cry, I didn't see you get munched on by a Bloodsaurus these past two weeks.
Still, Vornir-sempai had a point- she had to bleed each and every monster she fought that was bigger than a Packosaur dry with long, sweeping lacerations because her two feet of blade couldn't penetrate deep enough to hit anything vital or pierce their cores. Vornir and I made sure to handle everything else that tried to join in on her 1v1s.
The old dwarf patted the woman's head with his meaty paw, "Don't worry about it though, girlie. When we get back up top I'll make you a nice Nosteel longsword, and I'll only charge you at cost! Quite a generous deal if I do say so myself."
I nodded while he chuckled, "That is a great deal, though I would make sure to remember that is more than just you in your familia, Asfi-san. If you're blowing your familia's budget on explosives then that means your familia members are running around with High Steel crap or even something else stupid, like throwing rocks or something."
Her face screwed up into something unsightly- regret and shame painting her features. "Besides, there really isn't any need to fret- good weapons are 'Buy once, cry once'. If you get them good gear now then they won't have as much room to complain when you do decide to spend too much on big booms."
That didn't help, really, but it wasn't meant to- I wanted her to wake the fuck up and realize that her familia needed real weapons and armor too.
While I'd kept my questions innocuous about her current familia members, what she did tell me was enough for me to start dropping some hints.
I don't care how skilled a woman is with her whip, it wasn't a weapon that should be in the Dungeon.
Vornir gave me a raised eyebrow, the old dwarf mouthing the words "busybody" to me with a small smile on his face. He then clapped his flesh and blood hand against his adamantium hammer hand, "I think that is enough for today! So why don't we take these fruits down to Rivira and you two can go slip away to do your mystical magic training? Sound good?"
A sigh of relief escaped my lips and I nodded gratefully.
The roars of a trio of Bloodosaurus along with the screeching of a Glideodon- one of the flying, pterodactyl-like monsters- filled the air.
Vornir grinned and patted me on the shoulder. "Protect us as we usher our cart and horse back to Rivira, Bell-kun, you can do it, laddie!"
I groaned and reached back to grasp my staff as I cast Magician's Wonder and Total Body in sequence- I was going to need the extra 308 stat points to deal with the monsters before they could get close to the wagons. Thankfully they were still a ways out, so I could handle the first two Bloodsaurus and then shoot the Glideodon out of the sky-
I continued my musings as I moved in front of the wagon, and about thirty meters into my run toward my quarry a dozen fucking Packosaurs leaped out of the tall grass like a bunch of rabid dogs. Fuck! I hate these guys!
"STORM CIRCLE!" I roared out, and in a fifteen-meter radius around me lighting arced out from my body, the magical electricity slipping into their bodies and interrupting their nervous systems so that I could quickly stab their paralyzed bodies. However, despite having killed off the initial wave more poked their heads out of the tall grass, eyeing me warily and clicking their tongues. They weren't going to leave us alone because these weren't wild animals- they were Dungeon monsters, and if I didn't hunt them all down right now they would just ambush us while I was fighting the bigger threats.
They turned around and began loping away.
I hate these little bastards more than anything!
[Later that evening]
A happy sigh escaped my lips as Vornir and I looked over the roiling crucible of High Steel as we pulled it out of the large furnace.
The five smiths of Rivira were busy pulling the ingot molds away from the blazing fires and lining them up perfectly in multiple rows- it was important to heat the molds to not only ensure that any moisture was burned away, but also to prevent them from cracking as the liquid metal was poured into them. With our strength, it was easy for my former familia Captain and me to grasp the large crucibles with the tongs and pour them into the molds without spilling a single drop.
We'd spent the last hour tearing down old swords and other broken weapons, separating the scrap into Low Grade, Mid Grade, and High-Grade steel, and then we tossed the scraps into the corresponding crucibles and set them into the furnace to melt down. The Low Steel components would be used to fashion short-bladed knives, shovels, hand axes, nails, and silverware while the Mid Grade steel would later be used to make spearheads, arrowheads, and other "disposable" weapons. The High Steel would be used for the weapons that would useful for the traveling parties that would take monster cores, drop items, and other items back up to the surface to be sold at the Guild to purchase important equipment; according to Bors the village of Rivira had an expense account with the Guild that valis could be drawn from the make the supply purchases in the city.
We had only been down here for three weeks and already I was seeing a lot of the new purchases that Bors had directed his trusted Lieutenants to pick up now that the Rivira expense account was bursting at the metaphorical seams; building and construction materials, more weapons- bows, arrows, and spears being the primary purchases- and I also noticed about a dozen brand new wagons and an equal number of fresh horses. Already the village of Rivira was bustling with new life as they began stockpiling for another move.
According to Bors the village of Rivira had been destroyed and rebuilt almost a dozen times now, and while everyone was stalwart and hearty there was a desire among the people living there to tear down the village and rebuild it someplace more defensible. They were currently positioned near the entrance to the 18th floor, but even doing a cursory inspection around the Under Resort you could find far more defensible positions with better access to important resources like water if you looked- the issue was they had never really had the time or supplies to move over and set up shop.
The Dungeon really didn't seem to mind as long as one didn't try to dig down into the Dungeon floor itself, and already Vornir, Asfi, and myself have been dragged into a few strategy and planning sessions for the impending move to greener pastures. In the center of the Under Resort was a massive tree that looked to me to be the best possible spot for them to shift the village over to- it had the best sight lines due to the large, elevated hill it stood on, its centralized location made it easy to respond to monster incursions from the 17th and 19th floors, and because of the massive raised roots of the tree itself, they could build the village at the base of the tree and only have to worry about walling off the front.
While I wasn't a Combat Engineer I had spent most of my Army career practicing on how to assault highly defensible locations with light infantry, and my gut was telling me that the base of the tree was likely the best location for the village to be shifted over to. Vornir agreed with me, and he offered to help act as a go-between between Hephaestus and other Gods and Goddesses of Construction; he along with a small handful of others within the familia were part of the old guard that still acted as foremen on important construction projects.
Creating a fortified village without digging down to secure a stable foundation was a challenge that the old dwarf thought to be a worthy challenge, and he was certain that there were others who thought the same.
I myself was merely looking towards the future- a more stable Rivira would only be a boon to future dives, and if we could take Rivira's success and replicate it on other Safe Floors deeper in the Dungeon then it would make conquering the damn thing that much easier. Still, it would be another few months before Rivira would be able to make the move, but in the meanwhile, they followed our advice and began making large purchases for building stones, paving stones, and the like; the building materials would be staged at the base of the tree so that when everything was ready they could start construction.
I wiped a fair amount of sweat off my brow as I sat the emptied crucible back inside the slowly cooling furnace and moved over to the bucket of water provided to cleanse the soot and dust from my arms, neck, and face. I had just finished washing the soap from my head when I felt a meaty paw clap on my shoulder, but considering I've felt that singular hand for the past four years I didn't need to look to know that it was Vornir.
"Alright, laddie, good work, as always. Go ahead and head to your little, heh-heh, late-night rendezvous with the little Miss. Just be sure to not stay up too late, we've got to forge a dozen swords from this here fine steel before we head out in the morning," Vornir's rumbling words caused a few of the other smiths to chuckle.
I understand that we're not exactly advertising that Asfi Al Andromeda is providing me lessons, but can we at least make it sound like we're not sneaking off for some nookie!? I already have more women than I could ever hope to handle without the falna bolstering my stamina, let's not raise any flags for more!
I shook my head as I wrung the dirty washcloth out and tossed the bucket of cloudy water over the high wooden wall, "Of course, Vornir-oji-sama, I'll be here."
With that I made my way through Rivira toward the other side of the village where the small motel was, and as I walked inside I walked over and knocked on the wooden beam that held up the roof next to the curtain of Asfi's room. "Asfi-san, I'm back. Give me ten minutes to wash up real fast and change my clothes and we can head out."
"Of course, Cranel-kun. I will be waiting," Came the Hermes familia Captain's cool reply.
I stopped by my room and dug into my bag to grab a washcloth, an unscented bar of lye soap, a change of clothes as well as my towel before heading around the back. With a small wave to Bors, who was sitting in front of the firepit in his tree trunk-turned-chair smoking a pipe filled with a sweet-smelling tobacco, I walked to the edge of the village walls.
"Hey, Bandi, I'm going to hop the wall and take a quick bath at the lake," I spoke out to one of the few Rivira members I recognized who was seated on a long-legged watch chair overlooking the wall, "If I ain't back in fifteen minutes send a search party, okay?"
"Che, yeah right, kid. You're almost a Level 4- if someone was able to take you out, even buck naked with your cock in your hand, then the only one we could send out to look for you would be Vornir-sama," The grizzled Level 2 waved his hand at me, "But alright, kid. Enjoy your bath."
A chuckle escaped my lips as I crouched down and then leaped over the fifteen-foot high wooden wall with the barest amount of effort, my knees bending to easily absorb the impact of my fall; even after all of these years it was amazing that I was capable of such feats- to think that leaping 15 feet and then landing would be no more difficult than walking down a simple step. Truly, my life was mind-boggling.
As I jogged towards the nearest lake I ruminated on how insane it was that I was able to kill monsters with a sword that would have required an Abram Main Battle Tank to kill in my past life. The title for one of those "Versus Battles" on Youtube spun through my mind- "Who Would Win? The 1st Armored Division or some Dinosaur Bois?"
The Under Resort's 'Night Light' in the sky gave off a faint blue glow that was reminiscent of a full moon, and with my considerable night vision it was easy to see into the crystal clear waters of the Dungeon lake in front of me, but a quick loop around the shoreline along with a few high hops into the air gave me enough peace of mind to shuck off my boots and clothes.
Just because a water-based monster had never been spotted in Rivira yet doesn't mean that one couldn't! With the shiftiness of Evilus and the Dungeon you really couldn't rule anything out.
I dived into the water, my enhanced constitution allowing me to ignore the cold temperatures; my calloused fingers scrubbed at my scalp for a minute before I surfaced and waded over to my dirty clothes. Lathering up my hands I scrubbed at the soot-covered fabric, before rinsing it in the water, and then I went about cleaning my body- sitting on my freshly washed shirt so that I could scrub my toes and feet firmly with my washcloth; foot fungus was still something that could affect Adventurers, and while there were plenty of tinctures and salves that could be purchased up on the surface considering we'd be down here another month at least I decided that cleanliness was next to Godliness.
I got dressed after toweling off, and after wringing the water from my freshly washed clothes I was heading back towards Rivira at a healthy trot. With a quick wave to Bandi I hopped the wall and entered the motel and moved back to my room, hanging up my clothes before pulling out my study materials from the thick Damascus steel foot locker.
"Asfi-san, I'm ready to go," I called out softly, and hearing the swishing of cloth I stepped out of my room and stood in front of the young woman.
"Then, let us go, Bell Cranel-san, there is much to cover tonight."
Honestly, there really wasn't.
Mystery, when it was boiled down to a single, easily digestible blurb, was a Developmental Ability that allowed the user to pull upon Divine magic- a literal miracle- and use that magic to create magical items.
I thought that I would be learning a complex system, with various levers, dials, and switches that needed to be manipulated to create a magical effect on an item. Like the Blacksmith Developmental Ability, where there were certain methods that had to be used with certain items to create certain magical effects.
If you wanted a more lubricious blade, one that wouldn't get caught in a monster's body, then you could use a War Shadow's Claw to get that effect. If you were someone, say a whip wielder, and you wanted a more springy, energetic whip, then you could Imbue the whip with a Frog Shooter's tongue to increase elasticity. If you wanted tougher, more durable armor then you could use a variety of different monster hides or items, such as Killer Ant Chitin, to obtain that effect.
Insert Forging, the process of inserting magical properties by directly incorporating monster drop items into the metal, Draw Forging, creating weapons or armor directly from the monster drop items themselves, and Imbuing, lacing the magical properties into an already created item, were all the vehicles in which the Blacksmith ability worked. Within the familia there is a binder that listed all of the other ways that different smiths over the centuries had tried to make the Developmental Ability work differently, and to date, out of over a hundred and twenty-three different methods, no one has been able to make the ability work differently.
So, I thought that with a Developmental Ability like Mystery, one that is arguably just as powerful- if not more so- than Blacksmith, there would also be a similar system in place. A system of checks and balances that would prevent something from being too powerful or unstable.
It turns out that there really is nothing like that.
Why?
Because the ability uses actual, factual miracles to create said magical items.
Of course, there are limitations, such as you need to use good materials and the form of the item has to at least somewhat match the function- you couldn't create a magical broom that would sweep up all of the dust with a sword... no, a halberd with a nice, big ax head would function much better.
A user of the Mystery DA was pretty much only limited by their available Mind pool with which to fuel the miracle and their own imagination.
It was horribly broken.
Or... at least that is what I would think if this was a video game. Imagine being a game developer and then giving Crafting players in an MMO access to all of the sliders and base coding in order to create their own items as long as they had the resources and mana to construct them. It would objectively be insane- totally cool for a little while- but insane.
However, this was not a video game. This was real life, where being incredibly overpowered was the goal.
The issue is that Mystery is a pretty rare Developmental Ability, with the requirements for having it show up being a... mystery to everyone, even to the Divines who have Magic as their very domain; I hedged my bets, believing that showing aptitude towards creation and magic, was something that heightened one's chances for unlocking the ability. I fulfilled those requirements by having Blacksmith and Mage as my Developmental Abilities, and if it didn't pop up at my next Rank Up then I would probably pick Metalworking; of the two known holders of Mystery in Orario both Lenoa the Witch and Asfi had Metalworking, at least that was if you listened to the rumors.
So Mystery was essentially a "I wish that this item had 'X' attributes and 'Y' abilities attached to it" and then applying Mind while utilizing the ability; the strength of the enchantment directly corresponded to how much time the user spent on their meditation with said item and how much Mind was used in the item's creation.
It was no wonder why Asfi was actually excited by the prospect of teaching me for such a large sum of money; after the first few hours of lecturing the remainder of her lessons boiled down to her using the materials she brought and making them in front of me. The items she created were placed in her little "Bag of Holding" and she would hold onto them until we were finished down here, and once we returned to the surface she would have a whole bevy of magical items to sell to the few shops she trusted to give her a good price.
A writing quill that held an infinite amount of ink within its tines.
A fine charcoal pencil that never needed to be sharpened and never broke as long as it was handled with care.
A compact mirror that could "zoom in" on facial problems and highlight areas where makeup was applied incorrectly or too thickly.
A sleeping mask that offered unparalleled beauty rest to whoever wore it, and they would wake up after exactly seven hours of sleep feeling refreshed and full of energy.
A tube of lipstick that never wore away, allowing someone to use the same tube indefinitely.
Asfi had created other magical items, of course, but the majority of her work was centered around small items that gave people who could afford them an improved quality of life.
I internally rolled my eyes at the young woman who stereotypically turned towards making magical cosmetic items, but considering they were incredibly easy to make, low cost to purchase the materials, and sold for vastly increased sums of valis I couldn't really fault her. Especially after learning that she bankrolls pretty much the entirety of the familia's exploits around the world- the few months out of the year that they were in the city and delving into the Dungeon it was mainly to allow Hermes to touch base with his "clients" and to fulfill their quota of successful Dungeon dives to maintain their status on the roles as an Exploration-type familia. In Hermes' eyes, the fact that upholding said obligations generated some useful income was merely a bonus.
Honestly, it sort of pissed me off- such a lazy jerkass didn't deserve such a hard-working young woman; he was the Divine equivalent to a dead-beat boyfriend who let his girl pay for all of his things at the gas station while he hung over her in public with his hands in her pockets.
It only solidified in my mind how lucky I was to have such an amazing Goddess in Hephaestus, and how lucky the future members of Hestia's familia were going to be once she finally descended to Gekai.
So, after the first few days of actual learning, we'd settled into a routine where she would make magical items and I would ask whatever questions came to mind.
During my questioning, I found out that if I used monster drop items that had properties that corresponded to the effects that I was trying to get out of the item then it would be much easier to make it. After some gentle probing, I found out that Asfi had yet to make the Hades Head, a magical helmet that could turn her invisible to the naked eye without needing to dip into her Mind stores. I posited to her a possibility that if she were to use Skull Sheep wool then a helmet of invisibility might not be outside the realm of possibility.
Though I did remind her that even if she was invisible she would need to take care of the other two senses that High-Class Adventurers could rely on- their hearing and sense of smell- into consideration; if she ever found herself fighting a rogue Adventurer or monster that was stronger than her then muffling the noise she made along with neutralizing her scent would be important. Along with a weapon that was sharp enough to pierce even the toughest hides; an Adamantium ice-pick would suit that purpose nicely- it would be small, lightweight, easily concealable, and if she stabbed them in the carotid artery or in the eye then she might be able to cause enough damage to get them to back off or die.
Though she better hope that her alpha strike killed them quickly or she would be in trouble.
Together the pair of us created a shoe covers with an elastic-like band that she could slip over her heeled sandals, and they did an excellent job of muffling her footsteps; I had to close my eyes and focus intensely in order to hear where she was coming from. In the heat of battle that would be more difficult to do, but if they were Level 6 then they would hear her regardless. An amulet that contained a small coin-sized portion of soap was able to de-scent her body, at least to my nose; the amulet, when in use, actually consumed the soap, but since it was soap she would have no issues keeping it fed.
I was thankful that we did our testing alone in the woods because I would not have wanted to try and explain why I was smelling her armpits after she hadn't bathed in three days to confirm that the amulet did indeed work.
She would have to get her cheinthrope or weretiger familia members with more sensitive noses to confirm it, but I felt like we had something that worked!
It was honestly quite fun to see her so enthusiastic about working with me, even if she tried to play it off like the fake 'cool beauty' that she was; she'd had the Mystery DA for years now and had gotten so focused on making items that made her lots of money for little cost that her drive to create new and different things had cooled. It took some time, but she eventually admitted that she hadn't felt this excited about creating new magical items since she first created the winged heels that took her up into the clouds.
"So, Asfi-sensei," I spoke up as we entered into a clearing that Asfi had chosen for us to work in while I was handling things at Rivira's forge; the woman had been quite paranoid about working close to the village, and she never worked in the same place twice. "What are we working on tonight?"
Granted, I could understand her unease- if people found out just how easy it was to create the magical items that they paid top valis for then there would be a riot; she paid 10,000 valis for a tube of top-shelf lipstick, spent ten minutes enchanting it, and then turned around and sold it to various wealthy ladies and Goddesses for almost twenty times the price; she didn't even bother gilding the bottomless lipstick in gold either- the woman selling to her customers the idea that such a 'mundane' lipstick case wouldn't be the target for theft like magical items were.
"Here is far enough," Asfi spoke, the young woman reaching into her bottomless pouch to pull out a thick cushion that she placed onto the grass in the clearing. After that she took a seat, sitting crosslegged with her back against the trunk of the closest tree; a cloth came out next and she unfolded it. Upon the cloth, she placed out five tubes of lipstick and four compacts that were gilded with gold and silver accent trims.
Ah, looks like we're having a brainstorming night tonight.
These brainstorming sessions were pretty much just the two of us throwing ideas at each other while she enchanted whatever items she needed to enchant for the night; some nights she created items that needed her complete concentration, and I watched on silently while writing things down in my notebook. On nights like this, where she was handling easy enchantments that didn't require her attention- only a steady trickle of Mind- we talked back and forth.
Of course, we'd made a verbal pact that all ideas discussed we could both produce said items, and we would establish a contract where we would set our prices similarly so as not to inflate the markets. I know that she kept some ideas to herself, just as I did- we were student and teacher for now, but once I got my Mystery DA then? Then we would be rivals.
"I was thinking about something that we could use to give those traveling deeper into the Dungeon better rest," She began as she picked up a lipstick tube, a soft blue glow enveloping it, "My sleeping masks are quite the hit with the nobles and Goddesses, but Adventurers are a lot that cares about their appearances."
"That and your masks are enchanted to not wake them up until seven hours have passed, and from what you've told me... unless someone physically takes the mask off of the sleeping person then they sleep like the dead; no amount of sound or jostling will wake them," I leaned back against my own tree, notebook in hand, my charcoal pencil sketching out circular lines, "That's incredibly dangerous in the Dungeon."
Her lips firmed into a thin line, "Agreed."
"So, why not something like a travel pillow?" I asked, flipping over to a new page, my pencil sketching out a rectangular pillow. She thankfully let me finish my quick drawings, "Something made out of the stomach or bladder of an animal. Stitched to be airtight with a tube or valve that would allow the user to inflate the pillow with air by blowing into it; then when they're ready to go they can just deflate the pillow, roll it up and put it back in their packs. Maybe make a sleeve out of soft animal fur for added comfort. Reduce the strength of the enchantment so that someone can be woken up easily without grogginess, and maybe helps calm the mind so that falling asleep is easier instead of magically inducing the sleep."
She blinked and I saw her lips curl up as she held my sketchbook up to the light of the crystal hanging from the floor above us. "Yes, that seems like it would be a definite way to improve longer expeditions."
There was something in her tone that drew my attention, and I peered more closely at her, "Asfi. Are you... alright? Have you been having trouble sleeping?"
She blinked and her lower lip was caught between her teeth as she averted her gaze. "I... have been, yes. It's just... I've never stayed down in the Dungeon this long before."
A sigh escaped her lips and her head thunked against the tree trunk, "The longest we've ever been down here before was four days, and yet here we are more than two weeks later and... I can't help but shake the feeling. This sense of unease. It's like the Dungeon is whispering to me, ratcheting up my anxiety and making it... hard to sleep."
I nodded to her as she handed me my book back.
Honestly? I'd never really experienced what she was currently feeling before, but everyone handles things differently; I was right at home sleeping under my poncho in the woods but there were some of my fellow Rangers that just couldn't sleep well unless they were in a barracks.
I worked my jaw a little bit, "If... you'd like, I can move my bed into your room and you can use one of your masks to get a good night's rest. If anything happens you can be sure that I'll wake you up."
Asfi opened her mouth as her chest inflated, but I guess that there was something about my earnest gaze- and the fact that I wasn't a full-grown man- that quelled her objection. She blinked and gave me a small nod, "I would like that, I think. A good night's rest is something I'm going to need if Vornir-sama is going to have me fighting those Bloodsaurus again."
"Yeah, he's going to make you fight again for sure, but hey- look at it this way," I nodded with a small but reassuring smile of my own, "You're getting some time away from your troublesome God, making magic items that are going to net you a lot of valis, getting training from one of the premier Level 5s of the previous age, and you're getting paid to do it! Sounds like a damn good deal to me!"
A snort escaped her lips and she shook her head, "I suppose that for a little monster like yourself this would be a great deal, huh?"
We lapsed into an amiable silence for the rest of the night until she was finished enchanting her items. The walk back was just as quiet, neither one of us breaking the mood, and when we got back to the motel I quietly slipped my bedframe into her room while stuffing our footlockers under my bed; it was a very tight fit, with just enough space between our beds to slide our legs, but like hell was I going to do something stupid like sleep on the floor! I paid for a bed and I would sleep in it!
The footlockers were just small enough to fit underneath the bedframes, and clad in my pants for the next day I laid down and closed my eyes and went to sleep.
When I woke up the next morning I found out firsthand that Asfi Al Andromeda was a clingy sleeper- the women had crossed that little gap between our beds and wrapped around me like a limpet. Thankfully she was still wearing her mask, so I was able to carefully place her back in her bed and put the covers over her before I took the facemask off of her and woke her up.
While she was yawning and sitting up I was dragging my bedframe and footlocker back into my bedroom, getting dressed the rest of the way, and waiting out the boner I'd popped at feeling the woman's firm, feminine flesh against me.
Hopefully, that wouldn't be a regular thing, but considering my luck with attracting women into my orbit I... no, I was taking gigantic leaps in logic; this was a death world. It was also an anime harem-romcom world.
I shook my head as I straightened out my clothes and began the process of limbering up; I had two hours in the forge before we headed out, and it was always smart to have stretched properly.
Let's just hope that the next few weeks turn out to be as productive as the past two weeks.
You guys rock!
So this chapter ended up being longer than anticipated, but by the next chapter I think we should be getting into the meat and potatoes of the Astrea Record arc. This is the build up, showing off the training, hard work, and aquisition of knowledge needed to make all of the parts and pieces fit together in a satisfying manner.
I still haven't watched the video yet, so I can't speculate as to how the whole event is going to play out here, but I've been getting some good feelings about what I have written so far. Despite the fact that I didn't even know that this was a thing a few days ago I really fell like this is going to be a lot of fun for both you and me!
The fact that it gives me some sort of narrative framework to follow and fuck up at my leisure really makes things a lot easier- writing unique content for something like Danmachi when there is a lot of wriggle room is both very easy and very difficult when you aren't riding the rails of canon; you have to come up with cool things and then you have to make sure that it is internally consistent/or plausible within the framework of the setting. So there is a lot of pressure on me to write something engaging- like my interpretation of the Blacksmith DA and how it works, along with the Mystery DA.
With so much space to world build there is a unbridled possibilities, but also it means that there is plenty to screw up