[Bell Winters]
It's been roughly seven months since our ambush at the hands of Evilus in the Dungeon, and while I did my best to not use up all of my "Pls, Tsubaki-nee Save Me" points I inevitably did. Considering I had been swarmed by a flock of Iguazu on the 27th Floor there wasn't much I could do there; the monsters were about the size of a seagull and they looked like a red-feathered swallow. They had a teardrop-shaped body and what made them deadly was their preferred method of killing- they oriented themselves towards their unfortunate target and shot themselves through the air with a speed that rivaled a modern-day bullet; their drill-like beaks could punch clean through anything short of thick Damascus plate armor.
The monsters died on impact with whatever their target was, so while that was a unique blessing, it was cold comfort when you had a baseball-sized hole torn through your body. They were so damn fast that even with my well-above-the-norm Level 3 stats and Total Body bolstering me they were red blurs that I could barely track, so the key for me to fighting them at all was to either kill them with an arrow while they were roosting or to draw them out one at a time; they were incredibly quick in a straight line, but their attack patterns made them utterly predictable- I forged a one-inch thick Damascus kite shield and let them kill themselves on it like birds with a window.
Their feathers were incredibly sought after in the fashion circles of Orario's crafting familias, so it was always worth it to try and kill a few dozen when their feathers were worth roughly fifty thousand valis a piece; you might get two or three feathers for your troubles, but the drop rates were pretty high, and considering they were feathers it had one of the highest weight-to-valis ratios for a drop item.
I ended up tossing a rock a little too close to a larger roosting point and instead of three or four there ended up being almost forty of the flying bastards; Tsubaki had to step in and help me out more than five times during the course of that extended fight because despite my strength if three of the birds impacted my shield at the same time it was more than enough to force my arm out of position. While I was wearing a Killer Ant treated Orc hide cuirass with a Damascus/Light Metal alloy chainmail shirt that wouldn't have stopped the Iguazu from tearing right through me.
I was just a touch (read: very) morose about having to get a Status Update following my colossal failure- burning through all five of my "Save Me!" points in a single short engagement was galling; doubly so considering I'd gone 13 months without needing an update entirely.
The only thing that soothed me, besides getting a big ol' hug from my Tsubaki-nee, was the knowledge that even a seasoned Level 4 would have difficulties soloing the 27th Floor; a lot of monsters in the Water City could kill most Level 3s without much issue if they weren't careful, and while the numbers never reached the large groups that a Monster Party in the Large Tree Labyrinth they more than made up for it in sheer lethality.
Bell Winters (Cranel)
Level 3 -> Level 4 (Eligible)
Strength: 0 I -> 793 B
Endurance: 0 I -> 866 A
Dexterity: 0 I -> 902 S
Agility: 0 I -> 879 A
Magic: 0 I -> 999 S
Developmental Ability:
- Blacksmith H -> G: Gain improved blacksmithing skills with small increases to the durability of all crafted items. Gain the ability to forge weapons, armor, and items from Monster Drop Items. Gain the ability to imbue additional strength, durability, and other effects from Monster Drop Items into weapons, armor, and items.
- Mage I -> H: Gain improved Mind total, Mind Control, Spell Efficacy, and Spell Efficiency through the manifestation of a localized spell circle when casting a spell or an ability that consumes Mind.
Skills:
- "Lead the Way": Pathfinding, navigation, hunting, and tracking are much easier for you, and you gain a small bonus to Strength, Dexterity, and Agility when wielding ranged weaponry.
- "Pathfinder's Determination": Increases the effects of Skills and Developmental Abilities when focused on a single goal.
"Not bad for 13 months' worth of work," I spoke as I stared down at the sheet of paper in my hand and nodded to myself, "I'm guessing maybe four more months and I'll have everything maxed out?"
I hadn't set a goal of a 12-month Rank Up, per se, but that was generally the time frame that I wanted to get it since I didn't have Realis Phrase to bolster my growth to obscene levels. However, I needed to be realistic with my desires so that I didn't get bogged down- I was splitting my time between Archery, Swordsmanship, Magic, Tutoring, and Blacksmithing; if I only had to worry about the first three there was no doubt in my mind that I'd be able to improve faster.
As far as Adventurers went I was incredibly generalized, epitomizing the maxim of "Jack of All Trades, Master of None"; many would argue that I was spreading myself too thin with all of the work I was doing, and they wouldn't be wrong, but I rather liked having options.
If I'm being honest with myself I think that my Unique Skill, Pathfinder's Determination, was putting in a lot of work behind the scenes that weren't readily apparent unless I was looking for the signs- I never really got bored, and when I set my mind to something I was able to find the willpower and muster the energy to see it through. I remembered the days back in the Army when I'd get burnt out after month-long training exercises and six-month deployments to Afghanistan, and yet here I was, able to put in twelve to fourteen hours a day practicing a variety of different disciplines without feeling too out of sorts.
"Hee, hee, hee," I felt a calloused hand muss up my white hair, and I tilted my head to look up at the grinning visage of my elder sister Tsubaki; the woman was all smiles- she must have won some sort of betting pool or something for her grin to be that broad, "I'd say that I am surprised to see that your Magic stat is already maxed out, Bell-kichi, but considering you use your magic every time you can I think that is pretty much on par with what I've come to expect from you."
"Just rachet up the pressure on me a little bit higher, why don't you, Baki-nee." I groused good-naturedly as I reached up and gave her wrist a gentle squeeze. I leaned to the side and stretched my arm out to hand the paper back to Hephaestus, and when the half-dwarf released my noggin I stood up from the Ranking Chair and slipped my shirt back over my shoulders before tucking it back into my pants. My eyes slipped around my Goddess' office, tracking over the weapons mounted on the walls- Hephaestus had a "Weapon of the Year" contest and she would take the winners of each Level and would put it up on her wall until the next contest; the weapons would either be returned to their smith or they could be put up for auction.
It was a prestigious thing, to be given such an award, and the winners more often than not found themselves with new business after their pieces made their way out to the public auction houses. I, unfortunately, being a Level 3, found myself in the bracket with the stiffest competition; almost sixty percent of my familia's blacksmiths were Level 3, and that was before the events of the 20th Floor where eleven of my familia members gained their Rank Up.
"Thinking about what you'll be doing for this year's competition, Bell-kun?" Hephaestus hummed, drawing my attention away from the wall and back towards my Goddess' lone, twinkling eye.
I shrugged my shoulders, "Well, I won't be winning anything until I finish my certifications with you, Hephaestus-sama. However, that isn't to say that I don't have a few ideas in mind."
There was only a week left of my Nosteel, Heroic Alloy, and Hihiirokane certification classes that I had been undertaking along with my current smithing, training, and Dungeon diving responsibilities; I could have probably been cleared to work with the magical metals a month ago, but there were certain formalities that needed to be observed. My Goddess held the classes once a week in a six-month cycle, and she would teach you everything there was to know about the new materials, how they were structured, their uses in weapons and armor, how to work the materials, and so on and so forth. They were incredibly comprehensive and involved just as much time in the classroom as it did in the forge, and Hephaestus had incredibly high standards, so if you were going to take a Certification class then you better bring your A-Game and be prepared to buckle down.
Most of the smiths in the familia took one course every few years, but me being the ambitious little munchkin that I was decided that I would take all three of them at the same time. It was incredibly difficult balancing all of my responsibilities, but the information retention exercises and schooling that I'd done in my previous life helped prepare me for the rigorous schooling. That and it didn't hurt in the fact that Heroic Alloy and Hiihirokane were actually incredibly similar in their material composition and structure; while I wasn't exactly a metallurgist the two materials were more like a magical titanium than anything else, and because of that a lot of the "textbook" information was shared between the pair with only a few differences.
My Goddess interlaced her fingers in front of her on top of her desk and she gave me a warm smile, "Well, your final examinations will be soon, next week in fact, so you'll be able to work with the materials to your heart's content afterward."
"Eh, I'm not worried at all, Kami-sama," Tsubaki puffed out her chest as she placed her hands on her hips, "Bell-kichi will ace those tests, no problem!"
The dark-skinned woman closed her eye and nodded her head, "Yup, no problem! Besides, he's got a wittle pwomise two kweep wit' his wittle Aiz-chan~!"
I felt my soul die just a little as I schooled my features to the best of my abilities; my cheeks colored a touch despite my efforts. "Tsubaki-nee, I thought you said you weren't going to keep teasing me about that? It's pretty hurtful, yanno?"
Hephaestus had workshops that taught the basics of armor-smithing every quarter for the smiths of the familia who felt inclined to learn; while some were more than happy to dedicate themselves to making the best weapons possible, as a High-Class Adventurer's Endurance often made most armor superfluous, there were certainly those like me who thought that the additional weight was more than worth the extra sweat shed to carry it around.
I wouldn't say that there was a "type" of blacksmith that looked to build armor in a world where armor was more of an afterthought, or worse, a fashion statement, but they typically tended to be the smiths that had their lives saved by a good, sturdy set of armor while in the Dungeon.
They also tended to be the smiths that would either dive frequently into the Dungeon on their own or would join the monthly Hephaestus/Miach familia journey down to the Large Tree Labyrinth, and that gave them a lot more recent combat experience than some of the older Level 3s and Level 4s were lacking. While I didn't want to disparage the men and women who decided to become "Forge Monkeys" and forsake stepping foot in the Dungeon in favor of living by their anvils... over time there has grown to be a disconnect between them and the smiths that have been colloquially named "Bell's Boys (and Girls)".
In my personal opinion, those smiths had grown to view the Dungeon with rose-tinted glasses, those men and women have forgotten most of the struggles and hardship that Adventurers face down there in that hell hole, and it showed in their work more often than not; their weapons were increasingly bulky and overly ornamented. While they are certainly excellent works, they were more fit to be display pieces hanging over some wealthy Divine's mantle than down in the Dungeon killing monsters. Not that they couldn't kill monsters, as they were indeed weapons made with excellent materials, but it was as if they had forgotten that Adventurers don't care about gold filigree and silver inlays; the men and women risking their lives in the Dungeons only cared for lethality, durability, and ergonomics.
Everything else was secondary.
It was quite a shock to me that in my push to get the Hephaestus familia more self-sufficient by taking monthly expeditions into the Dungeon I had inadvertently created a rift in the familia between those that wanted to still go on adventures and those that were content to smith for those that did. It was pretty telling even for the people on the streets who purchased our products- the Hephaestus stores in the Tower of Babel all used to sell the highest-valis products they could, but now there was a clear delineation; half of the stock in a shop would have premium pieces from the "Forge Monkeys" and the other half would have more utilitarian pieces.
Somewhere along the way the smiths in my "camp" had taken a page from my book and began making weapons and armor that were built to last and reasonable for almost every budget; it didn't net them nearly as much valis, and they ended up losing even more on the back-end as Adventurers didn't need to have their weapons replaced as often thanks to the sturdier construction, but what it did do was grant us a lot of goodwill with not just the Guild but with the smaller familias as well.
Ultimately it was a short-term loss that I think has ended up becoming a long-term gain for the familia as a whole; because of the shift to higher quality, more durable goods my familia's popularity with the general Adventuring populace has climbed sky-high. It's gotten to the point where most Adventurers won't purchase anything else, and because of that the Kagu-tsuchi, Goibnu, and other smithing familias have all begun copying our style in order to keep pace.
Probably not a good thing for our familia's profit margins, but competition bred enthusiasm, and with that innovation.
"Aw, I'm sorry, Bell-kichi," Tsubaki guffawed as she reached down and grasped the sides of my head so that she could lean down and plant a wet, sloppy kiss on my forehead, "I know I did, but ribbing you on your desire to make the Sword Princess' armor sooner rather than later is just too cute!"
Considering the difference in strength between my Familia Captain and myself there wasn't much else I could do except take the distilled condescension with dignity and grace.
I most definitely did not squirm.
When she finally released me I wiped her spit off with the back of my hand, "Well, maybe if you'd find some time in your busy schedule to help me with my armor training I wouldn't be in such a hurry?"
I'd asked her to help me out, but Tsubaki, while more than capable of tutoring me in how to make better armor, had decided to beg off of it, thus forcing me to attend the workshops and poke the sleeping bear of smithing that was my former Familia Captain Vornir; the man bore my frequent questions and constant pestering with dignity and grace, but other than a few tips and tricks here and there I hadn't made much more progress on finalizing the design of Aiz Wallenstein's armor in the past seven months.
Over time I had a small well of guilt building within the pit of my stomach, one that grew in size each time I poked my head into his workshop to ask him a few questions; he assured me that the only stupid question was the one not asked, but the man was incredibly busy with projects of his own.
It didn't stop me from asking, as it was always best to get information from a subject matter expert, but the feeling remained.
"Eeeehh... you know I don't like armor, Bell-kichi," Tsubaki waved her hand, "I mean, sure, I'll make some if a client requests it, but I'm more of a weapon smith; something sharp, heavy, and bladed is more my speed. If you want me to help you make a new sword? I'll be more than happy to help, but sitting around and debating about which stitching to use for a padded gambeson just isn't much fun for me."
The woman popped her neck with her hands before she strode towards the doors to our Goddess' office, "Especially when the materials are just going to be wasted the moment she Ranks Up; what would have protected her on her previous floors just won't hold up, and the whole outfit will have to be redone."
The half-dwarf gave me an apologetic smile before she turned her attention to Hephaestus, "Is there anything you need me for before I go, Kami-sama?"
Hephaestus' blinked, and the black-gloved fingers on her right hand rose up to stroke her chin. The sounds of parchment being shifted around on her desk filled the room for a few moments before she shook her head, "No, I don't think there is, Tsubaki-chan. Just make sure to remind Vornir-kun that the Gulliver brothers will be stopping by his forge later on this evening to get fitted for their weapons and armor."
The door clicked shut and a small sigh escaped my lips as I scrubbed a hand through my hair, my eyes not leaving the polished brass door handle, "I know I take up a lot of her time already, Kami-sama, so am I being unreasonable asking her to help me out?"
I stiffened a little bit when my Goddess' arms wrapped around my shoulders and I was pulled firmly against her belly; the knot that had formed in my gut slowly unraveling as one of her gloved hands came up and carded through my hair soothingly, "Don't hold it against her, Bell-kun, but she has other things on her mind right now; it would be prudent of you to not pry, alright?"
Ignoring the positively delightful way her bosom pressed against my neck I shook my head, "I understand, Hephaestus-sama, and I won't; she's a woman grown- if she wants my help with whatever it is she's handling then she'll ask."
"Good, good," The Goddess planted a firm kiss on the top of my head before she squeezed my shoulders firmly, "Now, to get a handle on your need craft the perfect set of armor for Aiz Wallenstein."
I shrugged my shoulders, "Tsubaki-nee won't help, Vornir-sama can't help, Goldrin-dono, Shimi-dono, and Haruki-dono are busy with their own orders... and Darlene-dono is out of the smithy on her maternity leave; I don't know of anyone else who has the proper certifications as well as a desire to actually craft the style of armor I'm looking to make."
"There are others who could help, Bell-kun, but they don't wish to," Her lips twisted into a soft grimace.
Translation: They didn't want to help out the familia's golden child.
I'd only been in the familia for a few years now and I've made a lot of waves, ruffling more than a few feathers in the process. Not that they were all salty, sour pusses- most of them were of the generation that believed in failure being the best teacher, and thusly didn't believe in just handing out knowledge. Others were, in my mind, just angry that I'd rocked the boat; they had been able to coast along with the current state of affairs before my arrival, but the paradigm shift within the familia had suddenly drawn a spotlight on them- no longer could they do the bare minimum in regards to their obligations and just skate under the radar.
She stepped away from me and circled around her desk again, the woman displaying just how damn quiet she could be when she wanted; the floor was stone and she had on her usual heeled boots, but I'll be damned if she wasn't as quiet as a cat on the prowl. Instead, the sound of wood on wood filled the air as she pulled open a drawer and pulled out a small envelope with a golden wax seal on the back of it.
The Goddess held it out to me and I took it gingerly.
"That right there is a letter from myself addressed to the Goddess Arachne, the Divine of the Arachne familia. She owes me more than a few favors, and I know for a fact that her Captain is more than capable of providing you with the assistance you're looking for," The red-haired woman scratched at the bottom of her eye patch as a wan smile tugged at her lips, "Her name is Trisha Gothold, and she used to be one of my Children before she decided that fashion was more her passion than metalworking."
Hephaestus blew out a small breath that brushed her bangs away from her face and she sat down in her chair with a huff, "Just take that letter to their shop, the Holy Diver, on the 8th floor- the Arachne familia's luxury boutique is there just down the corridor from Forge Fire; you remember where that's at, yes?"
I almost rolled my eyes- how could I forget about Forge Fire? It was the premier Hephaestus familia boutique in the Tower of Babel; if one of your pieces was there then you were a made man. That's where Tsubaki and Vornir sold their wares, and boy oh boy were there a lot of zeros attached to their products; for someone who was throwing around millions of valis every week from my dives and profits from my blades just seeing the price tags on those weapons and armors made my eyes water.
Still, it was a wonderful little field trip that impressed a lot of children who'd been attending Hephaestus' classes with me during my first year.
"Yes, Kami-sama, I do remember," I held the letter out in front of me and stared at it for a second before I grabbed my leather coat off of the end table next to the Status Update chair and tucked it into the interior breast pocket, "Should I wait to deliver this a certain amount of time?"
Her lips quirked into a little bit of a smirk as her right arm crossed under her bosom while her left hand went up to cradle her chin, "You should probably wait until you have your certifications first."
[Three Weeks later]
My eyes are bleeding, as are my fingers.
No, it is more accurate to say that my fingers are cramping.
So. Much. Backstitching.
I don't think I truly understood the great pains that one had to go through in order to live in the world of fashion, but I think I have a pretty good idea now.
My certifications were done, and I passed my Goddess' test by making one of my patented no-frills longswords- one of Nosteel, one of Heroic Alloy, and one from Hiihirokane; the Nosteel was the trickiest of the bunch due to how it acted when brought up to temperature... no matter how hard you pounded the thing the magical steel seemed to move sluggishly. It formed the blade exactly how I wanted it, but it didn't form quickly- it took me almost twice as long to forge the Nosteel longsword as it did the other ones! It was frustrating, to say the least, and it wasn't like I didn't know that Nosteel was considered a "somewhat lazy metal" to begin with, but being lectured to about it and having a literal Goddess of the Forge demonstrate it didn't do the metal nearly any justice.
Nosteel was sluggish while the other two metals in its same bracket- Heroic Alloy and Hiihirokane- were snappy and responsive, but the magical metals were magical metals, and that meant that they got to be picky; Hiihirokane almost universally accepted anyone from the Far East while Heroic Alloy preferred those of a more... heroic bent. Nosteel just accepted everyone and would do whatever anyone asked if they didn't mind its magical properties being a little lethargic.
Regardless, I passed my final examination and got my certifications, and when I had some free time the following day I grabbed my sketchbook along with the various designs that I'd drawn up for Aiz Wallenstein's Saber Lily cospla- armored outfit and headed over to the Tower of Babel and ascended the elevator so that I could head toward the Holy Diver boutique of the Arachne familia.
The 8th floor was the last of the commercial floor space for the Tower, with every floor from the 9th through the 47th floors being distributed for personal apartments from the Divines in Orario that were wealthy enough to afford the astronomical rents; the last three floors were, according to Hephaestus, used as the neutral ground for all Divines, though it was primarily used as the meeting place for functions like Denatus and for the War Games.
Spoiler: Tower of Babel - 8th Floor
The display cases that showed off the hilariously gaudy and expensive weaponry forged by my familia members abruptly gave way to display cases showing off hilariously gaudy and expensive clothing manufactured by the Arachne familia. However, just like cases displaying my familia's wares had some beautiful and functional weapons and armors so too did the Arachne familia- if anything I saw a beautiful emerald-colored strapless dress that would look dashing on Tsubaki-nee.
While the number of zeroes attached to it was high for clothing, it was far more palatable than some of the dir-Adamantium daggers on display just a few cases over; I made a note to ask Hephaestus for Tsubaki's measurements because she would know that I wouldn't be asking for nefarious purposes.
Thought if I bought Tsubaki-nee a dress then that meant I would have to purchase a new dress for all of my brides-to-be; even if Tiona hadn't quite yet joined the wolf-pack officially she pretty much hung out in my forge when she wasn't diving, training, or doing other things with the Loki familia. Tione spent more time with her peers, no doubt trying to get her Captain's attention, but knowing what I know about the man it is a lost cause to try and get his attention; if anything I'll probably be having to fight off his advances towards Liliruca once she grows up a little bit more and achieves her first Rank Up... it should be any day now- she has the High Quality excelia for it she just needs to finish maxing her Magic and Strength stats and she'll be good to go!
Hmmm... one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, and Tsubaki- ah, shit, I'll have to get Hephaestus one too... that's... 37 million valis for ten dresses of the same quality. I can make upwards of two and a half valis a day with my dives down to the 27th Floor after Guild taxes and familia tithes... so it would take me about fifteen days to pay for all of these dresses. Doable, most certainly, but fucking A that's a lot of money.
Still though, these are the most important women in my life, and it would be in poor taste for me to not show my appreciation for them! I already handle all of their equipment and weapon needs, so now that I look after their health and safety when they're in the Dungeon I can look after their morale and welfare on the surface with some beautiful dresses.
Though if I get them dresses it's going to look out of place without at least some modest jewelry to go along with it-
Fuck.
I was dragged out of my musing when I had finally crossed the threshold of the Holy Diver and I was immediately hit in the nose with the scent of fresh, clean linens and lavender. I blinked and looked around and saw bolts upon bolts of various fabrics in a wide variety of colors and patterns; silk, cotton of differing thread counts, wool, cashmere, and a whole bunch of other shit that I didn't even know the name of.
Spoiler: Holy Diver - Just with more 'Fantasy'
To be frank it was kind of intimidating- I got the same thrill in the pit of my belly when I looked at a fully stocked blacksmithing forge for the first time, but as with the forge this uneasiness was something that would fade away with time and familiarity.
Or so I had thought.
No, my ill feelings would be realized in the shape of the woman who was to be my teacher and her Goddess who gave me some very strange vibes; Arachne didn't look like Medea of Colchis in the slightest, but her desire to dress up cute things was just as strong.
Spoiler: Arachne - Goddess of Weaving
I ran afoul of her because despite my Adventurer's physique with my baby face, exotic white hair, and red eyes I fell firmly into the category of 'cute' as long as there was enough fabric on my body to hide my muscular frame.
However, if I was creeped out over Arachne then I was broken by Trisha Gothold.
Spoiler: Trisha Gothold - Familia Captain
"Again."
I had been drawn into her orbit, her soft brown hair, watery blue eyes, and calm, motherly smile set me instantly at ease.
"Again."
She earned plenty of goodwill from me when she damn near punched her Goddess out of the window when she brought out a butler uniform for me to wear; the prospect of modeling in exchange for lessons wasn't something I was unwilling to do, but pants shouldn't have to be painted onto a little boy's bottom.
"Again. This time double the stitching, Winters-kun."
However, it was all a facade. A beautiful veneer of a civilized woman that hid a monster of fashion underneath. Everything that I'd seen in clips of fashion reality TV shows in my past life, the snippets of "visionaries" being wholly unreasonable while trying to turn garbage bags into dresses worthy of "displaying the suffering of mother Gaia"- had nothing on Trisha Gothold.
"Again. You will not let your needle anywhere near the Sword Princess, not while you still haven't managed to hem a straight line!"
The worst part about all of this was that despite being an utter perfectionist about every little detail, I honestly can't say that I hated her for the hellish fashion camp she was putting me through... if anything it just made me respect the hell out of her even more for it; her Goddess asked her to train me as a favor to my Goddess... and Trisha pulled no punches.
She took into consideration my current skills and abilities and then put together a training program that would help me achieve what I was setting out to achieve.
Funnily enough, she absolutely loved "my" designs for Aiz Wallenstein's outfit.
Spoiler: Aiz "Lily"
I pretty much blatantly ripped off Arturia's Saber Lily costume but made sure to keep her arms and legs covered; a thin body suit with a padded gambeson over the top of that, with a chainmail, long-sleeved shirt that was encased in fabric would be the final layer before the segmented chest plate. Thankfully the design wasn't boob armor, so I didn't have to change much; though the sabaton design was a touch problematic, so I flattened them out a little bit, reduced the curvature just a touch, and that made it possible for me to include an integrated LBE system; Aiz Wallenstein would now have pouches to store important things.
She didn't even know she needed pouches, but once she has pouches she won't want to live without them.
Muhahahahahahaha~.
Anyways, I showed Trisha the sketches, advancing the age of Aiz as best as I could imagine, and as the Sword Princess grew older she would transition to a more Saber-like costume, trading in the silvers and whites of her youth for the royal purples and golds, and if she grew up to be a stacked beauty then maybe a more Lancer-esque look would not be amiss.
She liked them, a lot, but unfortunately, she'd seen the part of the sketchbook that I hadn't really intended for anyone to see.
She saw my homage to the various versions of the hand-knit turtleneck sweater (and sweater dress). Both with and without sleeves.
Spoiler: I made a wonderful mistake...
Honestly, it gained me some bonus points, and in her eyes that just meant that I was more capable than she had initially thought... which meant that she whipped me hard and harder than ever.
I measured.
"Again."
I cut.
"Wrong. Try again."
I stitched.
"Again."
Oh, lord have I stitched. I did a lot of my sewing and stitching when I was in the Army, if only because like hell I was going to pay forty bucks for the Korean ladies at the PX to sew on a single patch! I ended up doing most of my own work, and while it was good enough to pass my uniform inspections without the Sergeant Major curling his lip in disgust, whatever skills I thought I had were being thoroughly dismantled by my teacher.
It was cool though because she was more than willing to work around my schedule, though I had to push my dungeon time ahead a few hours which meant that Tsubaki couldn't accompany me into the Dungeon four days a week like she usually did. However, considering I was borderline for maxing out my stats, when I used my Total Body spell there wasn't much there that could threaten me at this point; while an average Level 4 might have issues soloing the Water City, I wasn't the average Adventurer. I still made mistakes, yes, however, I was able to push myself to the limit time and time again, and because of that I actually knew what I could and couldn't do.
Without Tsubaki-nee I would have been dead a long time ago, but she understood my reasoning and more importantly she understand that my methodology worked, and considering the Zeus and Hera familias had used it to great effect she watched over me and kept me from getting in over my head, but for the most part she let me fuck up... and for that, I'll be eternally grateful.
"You need to work on your chain stitch some more, Winters-kun; it is a touch uneven." Trisha's voice knocked me out of my thoughts and I looked up at her for a moment before I looked back down and realized that I'd fucked up. Thankfully it was a scrap piece of fabric, but that still meant that I would be starting over again, "Grab another piece of fabric and try again; I won't allow you to leave until you can perform a perfect chain stick across one length of fabric."
"But... I have my Dungeon dive in two hours?" Why... did that sound like a question?!
"Well then, I suppose that you should not mess up this time?"
I damn near speared my finger with the needle, but as infuriating as she was on the surface level, Trisha Gothold was a hell of a teacher and she knew how to get you motivated.
Now if only she would let me eat my breakfast...
I was forced to eat my breakfast on the run back to the smithing district, and if I'm being honest I was almost half an hour behind, but considering I had already told them just how much of a slave driver Trisha was I should be covered. If I was running late to an official function I would have been more than annoyed, but it was just myself, Blackie, Brownie, Naaza, and Liliruca heading into the Dungeon today... so hopefully, my betrothed wouldn't try to take it out of my ass.
The speed I was capable of moving at was truly mind-boggling. While I didn't run too fast, as the crowds entering and leaving the Tower of Babel were quite thick, I was able to maintain an Olympic-level sprinter's pace the five kilometers back to the Hephaestus smithing district; at that speed it was incredibly easy for me to avoid the people in the streets, and since most of the people out and about were also Adventurers at this time of the morning I didn't have to worry about startling anyone.
Even a Level 1 could see me coming with how slowly I was moving, but considering nothing was on fire I didn't feel the need to rush any more than I already was.
Judging by the sun's position in the sky it was just about ten in the morning when I made the turn onto Crossed Hammers avenue- the main thoroughfare that had the primary gate to the smithing district. The roads were wide enough for two large wagons to pass each other by, and there were numerous smaller, independent smithy shops that dotted both sides; the streets were clean, to a certain extent, but the constant smoke and smog that billowed from the hundreds of forge fires inevitably meant that unless you cleaned your business front daily there was always going to be some level of soot present.
The interesting thing about this whole district is that the Hephaestus familia didn't do business directly from the forges; it sort of reminded me of the bullshit with the car manufacturers from my previous life- just like you had to visit a car dealership to purchase a car instead of ordering it directly from the manufacturer you had to visit a licensed reseller for the vast majority of products our familia produced. Even weapons and armor were sold to the Guild or put up for sale in the familia's shops in the Tower of Babel; the only time direct business was conducted on premises was when an Adventurer was looking to commission a piece- then they could come up and get their weapon from the smith they hired. So, because of that, the majority of the traffic on Crossed Hammers avenue mainly came from merchant caravans that were looking to cut out the middle man and purchase supplies and building materials from my familia, but when they were inevitably turned away the independent smithies were right on our doorstep ready and willing to poach our business.
I thought that it was a bit silly to be giving away business, and when I voiced my thoughts to my Goddess she shook her head and laughed. Firstly, we didn't need every valis worth of business; just a handful of weapons commissions would see our familia funded for the whole year. Secondly, by working through resellers we were able to have our wares in multiple locations without our familia needing to build a location, staff it, and more importantly, pay taxes on it.
She explained to me that the Guild made their valis on taxing the monster cores and drops sold to them from Adventurers. Since most crafting familias rarely went into the Dungeon and made items that the Guild couldn't tax- because the drop items used were often sold directly to the crafting familias without the Guild getting a cut- there were rules put in place long ago that taxed crafting familias the more they tried to expand their familia's influence through direct storefronts. So by working with the small businesses and setting up an Affiliate program where they were able to purchase bulk goods at a discount my familia skirted around those additional taxes while still being able to sell more than enough goods.
It not only supported small businesses and gave them a nice cut of the profits, but it also considerably reduced the short-term risk that my familia incurred should there be large fluctuations within the markets; if there was a sudden glut of structural nails because housing developments had tapered off in the villages and towns surrounding Orario then all we had to do was cut off production until prices stabilized or demand rose. It sort of sucked that our affiliates would be stuck holding the back with tons of nails or other products taking up their valuable inventory space, but that was just business.
It was surprisingly forward thinking in a world where technology and other human developments had stagnated for the better part of 1,000 years.
I waved to a few people who recognized me as I slowed my run down to a brisk walk as I rounded the bend and caught sight of the front gate; standing out in front were my beautiful beloveds and they were all geared up and ready to go.
'Hurry up, waiting on you~.' I chuckled to myself as the age-old military song that was often sung, or yelled, at the last person to show up to any function.
Khemi and Sooka's ears perked up and flicked in my direction before their heads turned to follow, no doubt their sensitive hearing heard my soft laughter. Their golden eyes lit up happily and their black and brown tails started wagging behind them gently. Naaza and Liliruca followed suit, and while the Pallum girl had tried to give me a disapproving mug, the small tugging at the sides of her lips told me that she was just as happy to see me as everyone else was. My sleepy puppy looked like her usual sleepy puppy self, with her artfully drooped eyebrows and an equally lazy smile on her face.
"Sorry I'm late, girls, that slave-driver wouldn't let me leave until I'd made a correct stitching line that was up to her specifications," I waved with a grin as I crossed the distance and gave them each a hug.
"It is alright, dear," Sooka, my black-furred, black-haired werewolf betrothed smiled gently, "I've asked around the pack and one of them was able to confirm to me that your teacher is indeed a perfectionist."
"Mmhmm," Khemi nodded at her sister-wife-to-be's words, "Besides, we have not been waiting overly long. We're only going down to the 18th floor to hunt the Minotaurs today, so missing half an hour of the hunt will not hinder us."
"Excellent, excellent," I clapped my hands gently, "Before I go inside and get changed, is there anything anyone needs me to grab while I'm inside?"
They shook their heads and I gave them each a kiss on the cheek, waving to Daldi manning the security booth at the front gate; the olive-skinned human was one of the Level 2s that gained their Level 3 when he went down with us during that first fateful expedition.
As I headed back to my room I ruminated on my girls.
Today was a momentous occasion for the Khemi and Sooka; after two years of hard work they were both completely maxed out on their statuses. Thankfully I didn't have to work all that hard to convince the two werewolves to follow their seasoned betrothed's advice and hold off on attempting their Rank Ups. While the pair were more than happy to follow my lead after seeing my Status Update sheets, it aggravated their packmates within the Skadi familia that they decided to languish as Level 1s for two years when they could have attempted a "Leveling Trial" much sooner. The "Leveling Trials" were a list of monsters or feats that their familia had created over their century of history that aspiring Adventurers could face that would lead to almost a guaranteed Rank Up. While it was sort of common knowledge that certain monsters, when defeated, often were more than enough to garner a Rank Up, however, the techniques and particular hunting locations were familia secrets.
Even if my women believed in the promise of our marriage enough to leave their homes and follow me all the way out to Orario there was no way in hell that I'd ever be able to convince them to betray the Skadi familia's trust and tell me what they knew. Not that I would ever dream of asking them, but it was something that I had to be mindful of; I was similarly barred from revealing my own familia's secrets to them- Liliruca was a member of my familia, and those rules extended to her as well.
Once I got to my room I stripped out of my clothes, and pulled on a nice neutral brown colored bodysuit, then some non-reactive Skull Sheep wool stockings, and a pair of tan canvas tactical cargo pants. I stuffed my feet in my knee-high armored Minotaur leather boots, making sure to squirm my toes around and check the fit; I was still a growing boy thanks to the alterations to my falna by Hephaestus and Miach, so I needed to check my clothing and armor frequently to make sure that they didn't get too tight.
I pulled on a proto-type combat shirt over the body suit and tucked it into my pants before I secured it with a thin leather belt, and over the top of that was a very fine Damascus chainmail shirt that had long sleeves. The chainmail itself had been imbued with Kelpie Hair that I picked up on one of my many jaunts down to the 27th floor, and while it didn't add to the durability of the armor it did pick up the magical properties of the water horse- while wearing it the chainmail kept me cool, and it also made it easier to move while submerged in water; it wasn't a direct replacement to Undine cloth, but considering I had an Undine cloth scarf that I wore whenever I went down to the Water City just in case I ever got knocked into the water.
Over the top of my chainmail, I added on another combat shirt that was a half as thick as the first one, but this was mainly just for aesthetic purposes; the light brown contrasted nicely with the tan I was wearing, and even if the chainmail was beautifully done with Tsubaki-nee's help... naked chainmail was just not that nice to look at. Considering we were only going down to the 18th floor I opted to put on my Killer Ant Chitin imbued Orc hide cuirass; it was well used, with scars and pits running along its emerald green surface, but it structurally was just fine, especially for the monsters that we would be facing.
The last things to go on were my LBE web-gear with all of my potions and pouches and the harness that carried my bow, arrows, knives, my short Songwood staff, and my Damascus longsword Wayfinder; I retired Journeyman before it could accrue too much damage, and I made Wayfinder in the same style except with an extra inch in length because I was steadily ticking my way up in height. However, instead of using a Minotaur horn as I had previously, I decided to insert forge a pair of Deadly Mosquito proboscis and was testing to see how it fared; the dog-sized insects on the 25th through 27th floors had proboscis that was stronger than steel, and while it didn't strengthen the material as much as the Minotaur horn did, there was a significant improvement in the way the sword pierced my foes.
The main reason I started retiring my equipment before it could be destroyed was that soon enough I'd have a bunch of children of my own, and in case anything went pear-shaped I wanted to leave them all with tangible items that they could remember me by. I had a lot of good times with the old 22 Long-Rifle bolt action that my father left me before he died, and whenever I missed him I could pull the rifle out of the soft case underneath my bed and run my hands along the wood; the fact that he owned that weapon and used it to go out and have fun plinking cans and offing squirrels in the woods behind my house.
It gave me a connection, something real. Something that I could hold onto.
The fact that they could one day use it to keep themselves safe or earn some coin if things got tough for them made it all that much sweeter.
With my pre-Combat Checks and Inspections completed I grabbed my supporter pack and walked out the door, making sure to lock up my room. The steady thumps of wood gave way to the crunch of gravel as I left the dormitories and made my way down the streets of the district back towards the front gate. The gate came into sight and it was quite obvious that my werewolf gals were quite excited to head on down- this was their Rank Up day, and there was no doubt in my mind they would be able to accrue the needed High-Quality excelia needed to make that step.
All I needed was for Lilicura to take that step- she'd been spending more time learning the duties of blacksmithing and working on her magic versus working her body, and that had slowed her growth somewhat. She was in the 900's on all of her stats, but considering she had only learned how to read in the last year she'd been with the familia I wasn't down on her at all for not keeping up; the Pallum girl was still a child, and she was learning how to be a smith, learning magic, training herself with her weapons, and diving into the Dungeon all at the same time. I feel like her competitiveness was doing her a world of good here, and the fact that she had plenty of examples to see that anyone could accomplish what we were doing if they put their minds to it must have allayed her fears tremendously.
Speaking of Liliruca, I turned towards my halfling girlfriend and placed my hands on my hips, giving her a confident, blinding smile. "So, I heard that your Apprenticeship trial is coming up soon."
The Pallum girl's face scrunched up as we walked towards the Dungeon, "Yes it is, Bell-sama. I've been asking around, trying to figure out what exactly it is so that I can prepare for it but no one seems to be able to tell me anything. It's quite annoying!"
I reached up and patted her head with a gloved hand, "Don't worry, Lili, you'll be fine. You've spent two years preparing for this moment, and I have full confidence in your abilities."
"Well, I guess it's fine then," Liliruca grumbled halfheartedly.
"Besides, the nature of the test is secret, you know? It's a right of passage for all of our smiths!" I grinned broadly, "It's a momentous occasion, one that you'll remember for the rest of your life, so you'll have to forgive the others who don't want to spoil your very first solo task."
"Oh, I remember when Miach-sama had me make my first order of potions," Naaza intoned wistfully, "I was so confident that I could do it all by myself, and I ended up breaking all of the equipment and creating a high-strength acid by accident."
"It was quite embarrassing, but Miach-sama ended up being able to recreate my mistakes," The cheinthrope's droopy smile became something of a smirk as she continued, "We now have a high-strength acid that we sell to locksmiths who need something strong when they can't conventionally pick troublesome locks."
I raised an eyebrow and gave the sleepy puppy a look. Gloat more why don't you?
Her smirk didn't fade at all as we moved out of the sunlight and into the darker interior of the Tower of Babel.
Let's go get us a pair of Rank Ups!
The 18th floor hadn't changed one bit since I last had been through- a dark stone labyrinth that was chock full of Minotaurs; myself and Naaza had handled the small-fry from the 11th floor onward, if only to let the werewolf pair save their strength. Other than a few fights on the 17th floor to get Sooka and Khemi warmed up we did a majority of the fighting and collecting; my pack was already quite full of monster cores and drop items, and while Liliruca had her Artel Assist skill I was still by far the strongest and the fastest- best to burden me with the additional weight.
Though with how many monsters we were able to slaughter on our way down Liliruca's large supporter pack was already half full.
"Alright, you two, this is it," I turned my eye towards the pair and gave them appraising glances; they wore a similar armor to my own, and they wielded the standard weapons of the Skadi familia- a long spear, a short sword, and a pair of long-bladed knives. They would have had their bows and arrows with them, as they were more than skilled with them, but unfortunately, they were still a good ways off from purchasing a 30 million valis bow along with the 2000 valis Chantwood arrows needed to kill anything past the 25th floor, so they left them behind. They focused on upgrading their spear and swords first, and we were hoping to get a pair of Minotaur horns from this expedition.
If the Dungeon decided to be a dick, which it usually did, if this expedition bore no fruit then we would purchase a quartet of horns from the Guild and I would fashion for them a spear and a shortsword much like my own as their Level 2 gifts; I hadn't much experience with spears, so I would have to enlist the aid of my Tusbaki-nee- she was the one who made all of the Braver's spears, so I knew she was damn good.
"You know what you have to do, and the same rules apply that Tsubaki-sama applies to me will apply to you; I will stick to the edges of your fights and if I see you falter then I will step in. You get five mistakes- after that, I'll call it," I nodded my head, "However, since there are two of you the chances of your getting separated are fairly high, so in the event of separation I will follow one and Liliruca and Naaza will follow the other."
They both nodded wordlessly and I stepped forward and planted a firm kiss on their lips. "Hunt well, my loves, and may you emerge victorious."
I felt a little cheesy saying such a thing, but the werewolf tribes that they were from were all about saying embarrassing things while being completely and utterly serious about it. Their faces were firm but the way their tails swished to and fro let me know that my words had stoked their fires.
Without a word, the pair hugged each other and they both sprinted down the tunnel leaving myself, Naaza, and Liliruca to follow back at a distance.
It was odd seeing them not attacking the same target as they usually did during our previous dives together- unless they were a loner like Bete most werewolves tended to operate in the Dungeon as wolves did on the surface; they attacked as a group, surrounding, and attacking from multiple angles. While I'd long since outgrown Minotaurs as opponents, my wives- while having all 999's for their stats- were still Level 1; the bull monsters were Level 2 for a reason, and I'm not going to lie and say that watching them fight these beasts while just being barely up to par didn't give me heart palpitations.
I dropped my pack a few times to cull the herd of Minotaurs that roamed in, trying to interfere in the separate duels that Sooka and Khemi were running, but other than that I thankfully didn't have to intervene; their spears gave them more than enough reach to stay out of the range of the Minotaur's devastating fists, but when the monsters realized that they were just going to be bled to death by a thousand cuts they stopped holding back.
It was always crazy to see the sudden change in the Minotaur's behavior once they realized that their opponent wasn't something they could toy with and crush beneath their hooves; it was like a switch was flipped and they went from 60 to 100 in a single, incredibly violent instant. They stopped holding back their speed and strength, and blows that would have cracked ribs were now more than capable of pulping a Level 1's internal organs, and punches that could be handily dodged were now damn near impossible because even if they were horrifically telegraphed they shot out like a piston with crushing force.
Most Adventurers could survive the first stage, but they perished when the Minotaur's got serious; if they had a party backing them up they could possibly survive long enough to overcome the shock of seeing the monster let loose, but for the solo Adventurers foolish enough to wander down here without being a mid-tier Level 2 with solid equipment? Those guys and gals died the moment the kiddie gloves came off.
That was something that Khemi had experienced firsthand- she was forced to block a strike with her spear that shattered the haft into a hundred tiny pieces when she wasn't quick enough to even parry the strike. The War Shadow claw High Steel spearhead tumbled through the air before embedding itself in the wall, but despite being caught off guard by the sudden increase in ferocity the werewolf managed to make enough distance to draw her shortsword- one of my make- and she engaged close in, the weapon drawing angry lines that gushed putrid black ichor onto the stone floor beneath them.
I flicked my eyes over to Sooka and saw that she was having a little bit easier time with her Minotaur- she'd broken her spear as well, but it looked to be more on purpose because the spearhead was lodged firmly in the monster's kneecap; this cut the frightening mobility almost in half and allowed her to dance around the beast with her short sword stabbing and hacking.
I was a bit surprised to see that Khemi, despite having the demonstrably tougher Minotaur, was the first one to finish it off- her sword thrusting up into the monster's mouth and emerging through the top of its skull when it tried to gore her with its horns. Sooka followed her sister-wife shortly a few moments later, her weapon biting into the minotaur's neck, sending arterial spray all over the walls; the monster collapsed and tried to stem the bleeding, but with my girl being the hunter she was the werewolf was content to stay back just out of reach and wait the few dozen seconds for the Minotaur to bleed out.
When they both retrieved their Minotaur's monster cores I gave them both a big kiss and scratched behind their ears. Two solo kills of a Minotaur while being Level 1? That was a definite Level 2. "Excellent job, girls!"
The werewolves soaked up the attention with gusto, and I cast Magician's Wonder underneath me so that I could heal their bruises and reinforce their bodies with Total Body, "Now that your Rank Up requirements have been met, let's have a bit more fun with them, shall we? This should last for the next twenty-three minutes, so try and kill as many Minotaurs as you can before it runs out."
Between the thirty percent increase from the Magician's Wonder and the one hundred percent increase from the Mage developmental ability I could boost one person nearly three and a half letter grades, but when split between the pair they each gained 173 stat points to their Strength, Endurance, Dexterity, and Agility. It might not sound like a lot, but it is more than enough to tip the scales more in their favor- I estimated that the two of them could maybe kill ten more Minotaurs before their buffs ran out, and that was more because they were going to be using their shortswords instead of their spears.
My silent hunters touched the base of my ear with their noses and then they were off like a shot, the sound of battle picking up down the tunnel just a few seconds later; I rolled my eyes at their enthusiasm but hefted my pack and made sure it was secure before taking off after them- I had High Potions that could heal everything short of death and dismemberment as my spells were good but they weren't good.
Still didn't mean I would be so inattentive to let such wounds occur on my watch in the first place.
I took off down the tunnel with Naaza and Liliruca flanking me to the left and to the right.
Special thanks to Lmc9389, Artillery, AuraofCalm, Mioismoe, D. Wongsonegoro, Darkarma, Acrimonius, T. Balewood, Randall Randall, Dominyx Black, CyberCrisis, Blue, Russ Stilter, Legion_13, Mike Fatal_Bullet, P. Nguyen, J. Ricardo Passos, K. Weierbach, R. Alderman, A P, Arrorn, PbookR, and Mortaegus for being Patrons!
You guys rock!
So, this chapter was brought to you by 0-2 Corpse Drag run 737. 737 runs and still no PK. What the fuck is the drop rate for her? LOL
Regardless, this chapter ballooned way out of proportion for the parts you got to read- I didn't even get a chance to get into the Level 4 rank up, Bell's 13th birthday, his testing out and fooling around with Mystery. However, this felt like a pretty good stopping point 10k words in and acts as a nice transitional chapter- a sort of break from the grind and all of the action as we do some exploring, do some world building, and interact with the world around the MC.
So all of that will be done next chapter! I hope you all enjoyed!