CHAPTER 14: Level 2?! And New Armor

Early in the morning, Aiden and Loki left Familia and went to the Guild.

Soon Aiden and Loki arrived at the guild and went inside. Since it was early in the morning, there were very few people. Aiden and Loki looked for Rose and found her at her table.

"Good morning Rose-san." Aide said.

"Hm? Aiden-kun? What brings you here at this hour?" Rose asked.

"What's up, Rose-chan? We're here to report something about Aiden." Loki said.

"Report? Did Aiden do something?" Rose asked.

"No he didn't." 

Loki said and then they went to one of the private rooms where the three of them could sit and talk.

"So Loki-sama what is the report?" Rose asked.

"Ahem! Aiden is a level 2 now!"

"H-Huh!!" Rose let out a cry of surprise.

"Aiden is the Record Holder now right. After my Ais-tan now another Record Holder from my familia." Loki said.

"H-How is that even possible? It has been 2 weeks since Aiden started going to the dungeon and only 1 week since he entered Familia. How can he level up in 1 week!" Rose said in shock.

"Well he did somehow." Loki said.

Procedures were then followed and when it was confirmed that Aiden had reached level 2, a record notice was put up on the board as a new record holder.

Aiden and Loki then exited the guild and Aiden went to Hostess of Fertility while Loki returned to Familia.

Meanwhile, after Aiden and Loki left, many people entered the Guild to deal with their daily chores and a big fuss broke out when they realized that the Record holder had changed and the new Record holder leveled up in 1 week and that Aiden raided the dungeon faster than the others but otherwise didn't do much.

Aiden arrived in front of the Hostess Of Fertility and saw Anya at the door as usual.

"Good morning Anya-san."

"Hm? Oh Aiden~nya. Good morning~nya. Syr~nya and Ryuu~nya are worried nya~." Despite Anya's usual abundance of '~nya', Aiden chatted briefly until Mia called Anya and Aiden over.

"You've been gone for two days, and the day you show up, you're just making these girls slack off." Mia said.

"Yeah sorry about that. I had to do something for the last two days, but I'm all done now."

"Syr was very worried about you." Lunoire said.

"She was very worried nya~" Chloe said.

"She was nya~" Anya said.

Syr was starting to blush and the other girls, knowing this, continued until...

"Enough of Slacking off!" Mia shouted and all the girls jumped up in surprise and ran to their work.

'Wow.' Aiden thought.

"Sow how's it going? Your stats."

"I have a surpri-" Before Aiden could finish his sentence, the sound of several people running and shouting came from the street.

"Record Holder changed!! New Record Holder Aiden Kurogane!!"

"Well that was the surprise."

"..." There was a deep silence.

*Eeeehhh!!!!

Everyone let out a cry of surprise and looked at Aiden.

It took a long time, but Aiden calmed everyone down and explained, then talked about the celebration at night and went to the dungeon.

'Now that I'm level 2, maybe I can go to the middle floors, but first I want to hunt at least one infant dragon.' Aiden thought.

Aiden entered the dungeon and started moving forward. He soon realized that he needed to continue his title quest first, so he equipped his title, Nothing Left Alive, and slaughtered Killer Ant and others up to the 10th floor. Thanks to his enhanced stats, he eliminated all the monsters with extreme ease in a matter of hours, and the Nightmare of Upper Floors title was only effective from 1-4 before, but now it was effective from 1-9.

Just as he was about to proceed to the 10th floor, Aiden noticed someone acting strangely.

A girl with red hair and she looked like she was in pain.

"Um Are you okay? Do you need help?" Aiden asked to the red haired girl.

"Ugh! N-No thanks for asking." She said as she turned around. She had red hair and green eyes and looked to be in her early 20s.

"I'm Aiden Kurogane no need to thank me but are you really alright? You don't look good." Aiden asked.

"My name is Alise Lovell and don't worry I'm oka-." Alise fainted in front of Aiden before she could finish her sentence and Aiden took Alise in his arms and started to leave the dungeon and go to the guild.

'I guess I won't be able to continue today.' Aiden thought.

Aiden quickly left the dungeon and went to the Guild. He went through the door and first looked for Rose but she was not there so he found the nearest guild employee.

"Um excuse me?" Aiden said to a brown haired half-elf.

"Yes, how can I help you?" Woman said turning to Aiden.

"I think this person's name is Alise Lovell, and she passed out in the dungeon. I want to take it to the Familia, can you help me um..."

"Eina. Eina Tulle." 

Eina looked at Alise's face and when she was sure

"Alise Lovell is the captain of the Astrea Familia. And here's where her place is." Eina said and gave Aiden a small map with a location marked on it.

"Thank you Eina-san." Aiden took the map and went to the marked place with Alise lying in his arms.

Soon Aiden came to a house with flowers and plants outside.

'Wow. It's so different from my familia's house.' Aiden thought.

*Knock! Knock!

"Who is it?" Suddenly a woman's voice came.

"Um it's Aiden Kurogane. I brought Alise-san. She's sick."

The door swung open and a goddess with walnut brown hair and indigo eyes stepped out.

"I'm Astrea. What happened to her?" Astrea asked.

"We met Alise-san in the dungeon and she was acting like she was in pain, but there was no wound that I could see on her body and she suddenly fainted."

"I see thank you. Which familia are you from?"

"Oh I'm Aiden Kurogane from Loki Familia. I hope she gets better soon." Aiden said and walked away, leaving Alise with Astrea.

(Astrea Familia)

Astrea lifted Alise and laid her on the couch.

"Astrea-sama did someone came?" A door opened and a woman with black hair and violet/pink eyes wearing a kimono with one arm entered.

"Yes Kaguya, an adventurer. He brought Alise here when she fainted."

"Who? Did he tell his name?" Kaguya named woman answered.

"He did. He is from Loki Familia and his name is Aiden Kurogane."

"K-Kurogane?! Did he really said his name is Kurogane!?" Kaguya looked extremely surprised.

"Yes his name is Aiden Kurogane, it wasn't a lie."

Kaguya quickly turned back and entered her room and closed the door.

'Does she know this boy by any chance? Hm, but she reacted to his surname, not his name. Maybe it's something to do with the Far East.' Astrea thought. 

Then Astrea took off Alise's armor and took care of Alise.

(Aiden)

'I hope Alise-san recovers.' 

Afterwards, Aiden went to Babel, where Hephaestus familia's smithy and shops are located.

'I think it's around here somewhere.' Aiden thought as he stepped on the floors and finally found the floor with the low level blacksmiths.

Aiden learned this floor from Loki. Normally those in Loki familia went to a different blacksmith family, but Aiden had a feeling that it wouldn't be for Aiden, and when he entered the floor, it became clear why.

[Inspiration leading...]

A directional arrow appeared in front of Aiden's eyes and he started to follow it.

As Aiden walked, the appearance of the shops on the road began to worsen.

"I think this is the place." 

Aiden went to the worst looking of the shops and was surprised when he walked in.

'They look awesome!' Aiden thought.

It was filled with weapons and armor that looked very beautiful and powerful. Aiden walked in and the moment he touched one of the armors he was disappointed.

[Name: Failure]

[Rank: F]

[Description: The worst product of a master blacksmith. Only looks fancy.]

[Physical damage reduction: 0%]

[Effect: Looks fancy.]

"..."

Aiden was surprised and then tried to look at all the products but they were all the same till...

He saw and touched armor that looked rusted and useless.

[Name: Rustbane Plate]

[Rank: A]

[Description: The work of a master blacksmith. Behind its rusted appearance lies a powerful armor.]

[Physical damage reduction: 70%]

[Effect: Agility +20%]

[Effect: Stamina Regeneration +15%]

[Effect: Lightning Resistance +10%]

'Holy!' Aiden totally schocked.

Aiden then looked at the other armor and realized that all the bad looking rusty armor was at least B-rank.

"Hey!" Turning in the direction of the voice, a dwarf came out from behind the counter.

"By any chance, are you the person who looks after the store?"

"And you?"

"A customer I guess."

"Customer huh. Okay, choose the armor you want." The dwarf said, pointing to the shining armor.

"Actually I want the other ones." Aiden said while pointing rusted looked armors.

"Hey! If you don't have money then just say it!"

"No, I really want this."

"Fine, I'll make a discount so just buy the good ones."

"I wonder if you made these armors."

"Yes, I did al of them. So what?"

"Why do you deliberately give bad armor a good appearance and good armor a bad appearance?" Aiden asked directly.

"Haah?!! Before I lose my patience with you brat, get that shiny armor you like and don't insult the armor I make." The man at the counter shouted with an angry expression.

"Nope I really don't want that shiney armors. I want useful armor not fancy."

"Humpf! Don't talk like you know something."

Afterwards, Aiden and the blacksmith argued for a while and the blacksmith's name turned out to be Brokk.

"Adventurers only want to wear armor that looks good, they are willing to sacrifice protection just because the armor looks a bit old. I can't stand that. If they want to wear shiny things, they can wear them as much as they want outside the dungeon. What is important for an armor is its protection, not its appearance."

After their heated argument, Brokk seemed to soften a bit as he observed Aiden's determination. Seeing the young adventurer's unwavering conviction, Brokk's gruff exterior melted away, replaced by a thoughtful expression.

"Kid, you've got guts, I'll give you that," Brokk grumbled, scratching his beard. "I've been in this business long enough to know when someone's serious about their gear. I'll tell you what. If you're dead set on this rusted armor, then I'll make it for you. But don't come crying to me if it doesn't meet your expectations."

"Okay. So payment?"

"Not now. I have the material, all you have to do is come back in 2 days and I'll give you the armor, if you like it I'll get paid and you'll get the armor, but remember I don't do anything too flashy. Also tell me what kind of armor you need."

"Okay. Armor must be a fullbody armor and..." Aiden explained his fighting style etc. and after Brokk listened, he set an average price and Aiden left Brokk's shop.

"Crap! It's almost night I have to go to Familia!" Aiden looked up and said and went to Familia at full speed.

"I guess no one noticed." Aiden said as he walked through the outer door of Familia.

"Ahem!!" A voice came.

There was Riveria with her hands crossed in displeasure.

"Um h-hello Riveria-san."

"Where were you until now?" Riveria said and she quickly took Aiden and they went towards Hostess Of Fertility.

They arrived quickly because the distance was not far and Aiden changed his clothes from his inventory and then they went inside.

The whole Familia was already seated and waiting for Aiden and Riveria.

"Sorry for being late."

Then everyone sat down and the food and drinks were brought to the table. Everyone except Aiden, Ais and Lefiya had alcohol, while Aiden, Ais and Lefiya had other drinks.

Aiden never liked the taste of beer. He had tried it once on his previous visit, but beer was not Aiden's drink.

"Well, safe exploration and safe return of all of you and today's special event, Aiden reaches level 2 and breaks the record for the fastest level up of all time, CHEERS!" Loki said with joy.

""CHEERS!!"" Everyone in the family raised their glasses and the fun began.

================================

Sorry readers I got exams so I couldn't write. I also started rereading danmachi and the Sword Oratoria series so I don't miss anything.

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