(Monday, 26/10/1058)
(Henryk's PoV)
"It should be here" I looked at the direction I got from Loki, leading me to the Hephaestus Familia's home, Valka's Crimson Chamber. It lay in the industrial district, somewhere amongst the workshops.
'I'll have to give her a point in ingenuity. Her familia's home looks like one big forge from the outside'
I knocked on the door. A moment later, an armed familia member, notably holding a hammer, came to check on the door. Having to look up to see my face must have startled him a bit, evident by his widening eyes and the way his grip tightened around the hammer's handle.
"I want to talk to a rookie blacksmith from your familia, Welf, a redhead with blue eyes" I decidedly avoided saying his family name. Just in case he was passing by inside, I didn't want to give him the wrong impression of what I wanted.
"If you meant Welf Crozzo, then you just missed him. He went to his personal forge" The man sighed as he lowered his guard, albeit not by much. His features then sharpened again. "What's your guarantee that you won't harm him?"
"I came here to commission some weapons and armour" I said with some more respect. Someone who confirmed whether I would be safe to introduce to their familia member before allowing me to meet them deserves some modicum of respect.
"Give it here" The man sighed, stretching his empty hand towards my map. I handed it over, understanding that he will mark the place I'm most likely to find him. He then handed the map back.
"Just in case I missed him again, tell him that Henryk Williams of the Loki Familia came searching for him" I said, waving my hand as I walked away. I heard a dull thud that was not produced by the reinforced wooden door.
A few minutes following the drawing, and I find myself standing before what is supposed to be the door to Welf's forge. I knocked on the door. Hearing no answer and no footsteps behind the door, I knocked a little harder. I heard a response this time, a very loud groan.
'Oh, no. I seem to have disturbed him while he was smithing something up' I felt no guilt, as such accidents are bound to happen without him hanging a 'do not disturb' sign outside his door.
The door creaked open to show the grumpy face of a young man, which quickly turned to alertness upon realising that he had to look up to see my face.
'Seriously, what is it with these smiths? Haven't they seen someone this tall before?' I was baffled. I got the same reaction from two people during the same hour. 'It isn't like I'm the only tall person around, either'
"Good afternoon" Welf's expression quickly changed as he sighed in resignation. He showed me a friendly, welcoming expression. "Name's Welf. What's yours?" He asked as he stepped out of his forge. Though his hammer was still in his hand, it was loosely held now.
"Name's Henryk Williams" I stretched my hand out for a handshake. Upon shaking my hand, he gave me a curious look. "Left handed, yes"
"Uh..." His expression became awkward and somewhat apologetic.
"Don't worry about it, man" I said casually, dropping any hint of professionalism or formality out of the window.
"Fine, then. Could I call you Henryk?" Welf asked, getting the hint.
'I like that'
"I'd much prefer that, Welf. I'm not one for formalities and overly polite speech" My face twisted in disgust. While I could perform it, I hated it, high society's etiquette that is.
He smiled and invited me in. There was a small room with a closed door to the side, what I assumed led to the forge. This is probably a small reception room. He probably foresaw situations like this one coming.
"Pardon me, Henryk. I wasn't ready for guests" Welf said as he started brewing some tea.
"'Tis fine. Without further pleasantries, can we talk business now?" I urged. I want to be polite and wait for my host, but that was gonna take forever.
Welf raised an eyebrow and sat across me.
"So, what brings you here?" His expression became extremely cautious all of a sudden, though he tried to hide it.
"I'm here to commission a suit of full plate armour" I said, diffusing all his tension. "I saw Pyonkichi, but... well..." I stood up for a moment and stretched my arm straight to the side.
"I see. You want full plate, and Pyonkichi is not at a size you could wear while the armor is being made, to begin with" He cupped his chin in thought. "Wait a moment. I'll take your measurements"
He went to one of the tables and sifted through a drawer, fishing out some tape measure. We went through the whole process of measuring the length of each section of every limb, both stretched out and pulled in. Then came the turn for my back...
"Henryk-" "I'm human. Pure-blood human. The tail is a result of my falna" Having not mentioned if it was a skill or a spell, Welf got the message and didn't dig into it.
"That might need some chainmail, at the very least. Maybe actual plate covering it if you don't intend to use it in combat?" Welf asked.
"Now that you mention it, I want you to cover all of me, including my head, face and tail, in plate armour" I said, having remembered that most adventurers gave up a helmet or at least showed their faces. That is stupid. It just makes your face an easier and a constant target for enemy attacks.
After some talk and some more measuring, we were finally done taking my measurements.
"Man, making plate armor for your tail as well is gonna be tricky" Welf said while scratching the back of his head.
"Take it as some form of challenge" I remembered my earlier handling of the spear. It was awful. "Also, make me a two-handed sword and a full metal spear with good balance, both of which are 250 cm long from end to end" I gave him a quick sketch of them. They looked very plain and generic, but that's what makes them reliable. Having decorations takes away from a weapon's function in some cases. "Make them as heavy as a level one could lift and wield, even if with some difficulty"
"Alright!" He got fired up. He then immediately stopped to think about the spear. "Why a spear like that? You think the spear would be all-powerful? What about balance? The weight of the spear would throw you off balance if you thrust with it" He was curious alright.
"Here comes the armour" I said, raising a finger. "Again, I want you to make me a suit of articulated armour that covers my entire body, from every angle. Accompanying it would be a tower shield, again, made fully from metal, that I would carry on my back to offset the momentum of the spear"
"That, the armor, the shield and the spear, would be very unwieldy due to the sheer weight" He looked at me with a growing amount of worry. "Are you sure?"
"I am. I have ways to deal with that, and any wrist injuries it causes as well" I scratched the back of my head.
"Also," I outstretched an arm and summoned the Arrow of Orion in a burst of soft light. "I have this if the situation arises" Such an act of summoning a weapon to my position stunned Welf and made him glare at me for having what he assumed to be a magic weapon.
"Worry not. This isn't a magic weapon, it's a divine relic of a goddess. If this was not enough as an all-powerful spear, nothing would ever be" I said, snorting. I wanted to test my skills to the limit, not rely on a divine relic. "However, it would make me careless if I relied solely on it. I want mortal weapons, befitting the mortal me"
Welf's mouth opened and closed a few times. He composed himself and looked back at me with newfound respect. He nodded at me before holding up his notebook.
"Where could I find you?" He said, hands ready to start writing.
"The Twilight Manor" I said with a grin. I was having fun stunning him with that tidbit of information. His hands suddenly drew an erratic line instead of writing the address, his eyes widening notably as he slowly craned his head up to look at me questioningly. "Or the guild building. Either could work, honestly"
"You are a Loki Familia member?" He said in disbelief. "I have so many questions"
"I simply wanted to make a good 'returning customer' first impression, maybe even score an exclusive contract if I proved myself as one such customer" I said with hope-filled words. 'Well, can a man be greedy enough to derail the entirety of the timeline he knows? I mean... having discounts on Welf's products is a pretty good thing, and I lose nothing by being his exclusive customer'
Welf thought about my words quite deeply. So deeply, in fact, that his eyes had a clear loss of focus.
"Then, how about this?" Welf said as he finally opened his eyes. "You will add me to your party first, at least until I get to level 2 and obtain the blacksmith development ability"
I didn't even need to think over it for a fraction of a second. Having him as a party member was a good deal in and of itself.
"Deal!" I shook his hand, sealing the deal.
'Sorry, Bell. I'm taking this one' I thought, shedding a metaphorical tear of shame.
Before I went for the dungeon, Welf said that the armour should be ready in under two weeks, given I came back daily for any adjustments. As for the payment, Welf said that such armour would cost me around 50,000 Valis, at least. Further cost adjustment is to be seen.
Oh, he also said that he would rather finish what he was working on today. He will come with me starting tomorrow.
'Falna sure is a useful thing. The usual blacksmith should take months to fit a suit of full plate to one person, not less than two weeks' I was amazed yet again by the wonder that is the falna.
What I didn't know at the time was that my wonder would soon become displeasure, but that's the story of another time.
(On the way to Babel)
While walking, I had a thought.
'With the approaching events, it's inevitable that I need to grow to match Bell's growth speed' I grimaced upon remembering the most limiting factor of my magic. 'The speed at which I increase my growth speed each time is limited by my mind capacity'
I had a revelation that stopped me in my tracks. 'If my mind capacity is limited, why not introduce a sacrifice of sorts to supplement the cost? Would making my parameters less effective as modifiers be a viable option in this case?'
I resumed walking not to raise suspicion or attract unnecessary attention.
'However, I need to first increase my mind reserves beyond what they should be. I could start by creating a magic stone equivalent that will refine and store mind in a more compact, crystalline form'
I had another thought.
'What if the increase is not as dramatic, but still makes a difference? Even a day's worth of accelerated growth is gonna be worth a lot of saved time'
I mumbled my chant as quietly as I could, feeling secure enough now as I still am alone in the inner streets of this district.
{I ask thee, thou who oversees the fate of every living being, thee who directs the flow of things. Answer my prayer and grant my humble wish} {Alteration: Make my parameters' effects abysmal, but in exchange, grant me at least 5 times the excellia}
It worked, evident by the sudden lightheadedness, and the fact I had to use my spear as a walking stick until my body readjusted to a state when I just received lady Artemis's falna.
'It worked!' With total disregard for my current weakened state, I had a wide, shit-eating grin painted across my face. 'It freakin' worked!' I made my way to the dungeon with overflowing glee. It creeped out some people, yet I could care less right now.
The idea of fighting and struggling against upper floor goblins and kobolds was never as elating as it is at this very moment.
(At the foot of Babel)
"Henry!" Shira waved her hand and called my name, drawing my attention. "Here!" She was sitting there on a bench in the square, accompanied by Fey, who was sitting down and, innocently, might I add, was looking at and observing all kinds of people as they came and went.
I noticed a couple of elves who were tempted to get closer, to get a closer look at the wolves, but gave up the thought. The silver wolves and their stature were intimidating for most level 1s, which were the vast majority of adventurers as I heard. Not to mention, all of our party members were wearing some form of cloth with the Loki Familia crest on it.
That was very beneficial, seeing as some adventurers gave Kob murderous looks. Those were deterred by the prospect of having Loki running after them with a proverbial knife to their necks. The cherry on top was the Ganesha Familia's statement that the Loki Familia has a tamer, making the adventurers from other familias think twice before trying anything.
'Judging by how slow Freya's reaction to me is, I guess being a tamer is a largely unstable profession with uncertain results for adventurers'
Lastly, there stood Ais. She noticed me approaching and nodded before continuing to munch on a fried potato snack.
"Henhen!" I heard a voice grating against my eardrums.
'For fuck' sake!' It seems my happy moment was not permitted to me today.
I immediately defaulted to giving him a lariat. As I did that without much thought, I slammed my arm into his face instead of his neck. He was much too short compared to the past.
"You really went and did that, huh?" Carillon said, smugly, gloating as I nursed my forearm. Him being a level 4 threw things out of balance.
"Just you wait, Carillon" I said with a glare. We continued like this for a hot minute before we burst out laughing at each other's behaviour. Bell let out a tense sigh of relief.
"You going with the elder rabbit, younger rabbit?" I said, earning a cute attempt at a pouty glare from Bell and a disturbingly, completely unintentionally cute attempt at a glare from Carillon.
"Don't. It's disturbing that you look like a cute bunny, knowing who you are" I stared at him blankly.
"I actually wanted to propose that you take him with you" Carillon said, brushing my words aside professionally.
"I don't think he's ready yet. I go down to the 6th. He's too fresh for that" I said. 'I could also be called fresh, but fighting loup garou does have its benefits, unsurprisingly'
Bell, being the optimistic guy that he was, saw the brighter side of things and started fangirling over me.
"You already go down to floor 6?!" His eyes shone with a dangerous glint.
'Am I twisting him in incomprehensible ways?' I flinched. 'No, he's too pure to twist like that. He wouldn't see me as some hero... Would he?... No... Just, no... I'd hate to be compared to the likes of self-sacrificing heroes'
"Well, I have the parameters to go there. You should ask your advisor about this before attempting to go lower" I shrugged. I knew that he wasn't gonna listen and will go down floors he shouldn't anyway.
I wanted to suggest something, but a memory of moments ago prevented me from doing so.
(Flashback)
"Henry, let's talk" Shira said while squeezing my shoulders with shaking hands.
"I'm all ears" I sat down where I stood. That lessened the shaking of her hands somewhat.
"I'll be going with you" Shira said, forcing herself not to choke on her words. I could see her fear in every bit of her expression.
'There isn't anything preventing us from adventuring together, not when she's an archer. The strength and speed of monsters on floors down to the 6th are manageable for her role'
"Then, should we do it like this?" I said as I pulled her in, hugging her. She started stammering and saying bits and pieces of what was supposed to be her protest. "You remain a backline archer and practice your aim on monsters that aren't in my direction. The wolves could be protecting you against monsters that get too close"
"O-Okay..." She said, melting into the hug for a moment before her body jolted up and away from me. "We can't laze around forever!" She said with energy, forgetting that her flared-up tail made it clear she was putting on a mask to hide how flustered she felt.
(Flashback End)
'Can we make a rotation, so that a different one of you accompanies him each day?' I sent to the wolves.
'No' Came in Futura's firm reply. 'He's too appetizing a prey item that I may eat him thinking he was a real rabbit' A chorus of similar messages came from the other three.
"Sorry, I can't help with this one" I apologized. Then, a thought came to me as I saw an oversized backpack, bigger than its owner is tall. "What about finding him a supporter?"
Carillon caught on to what I was referring to, Liliruca Arde. Following where I looked, he was both glad and worried.
I leaned in close.
"If it's the timeline you worry about, I already broke it beyond belief many times over" I whispered into his ear. Bell shouldn't be worrying about a timeline or the other, not yet. "Forcing Bete Loga to eat dirt, nearly slicing Ais's face with a spear, talking to Welf so early, need I say more? Our existence already fucked up the flow of events as it is, what with you having Tiona follow you around instead of her gradually finding some interest in Bell. It's only gonna spiral more from here, and, having lived here for so long, you know that far better than I do"
Carillon sighed in defeat.
"Bell, I think you might find a party member soon" He said as he went over to Lili, talked to her, and brought her here.
"This lady here is a supporter. Her help will prove invaluable to you as you go deeper into the dungeon" He said. "I'll come with you for a few days, to make sure you could work well together"
Bell both deflated and not at the same time. Don't ask. I know not the nature of his inner workings.
"My name is Bell Cranel. What is yours?" Bell said with an optimistic smile, expecting the best from the future.
'Only if he knew, this unlucky teen' I shook my head.
"Lili's name is Liliruca Arde!" She said in her faked cheerful voice. It almost made me wretch in disgust at the pretense.
If it was her real self, that would have been fine. This, however, was an act to fool and take advantage of others. It was an abominable thing to do. The silver lining is that she had to do this to survive, and I have nothing against doing anything to survive if there were no other options, like in her situation. She has no proficiency with weapons and was branded a Soma Familia member and a supporter. This combination of circumstances made her life hell and limited the number of options she could choose from greatly.
A few minutes later, we went our separate ways. Thankfully, if Ais noticed anything amess, she didn't get involved.
"Should we go?" I said as I nonchalantly wiped some crumbs from Shira's cheeks. Her face flashed a blindingly bright red colour for a second before she regained her composure.
'The potato snack disease is spreading from Ais to Shira. Is it gonna be my turn next?'