6 Chapter 6(Training prep)

Please read the author's notes. (Examples and explanation of moves and appearance+ Monster Sources)

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CHAPTER START------

YANG POV------

Leaving Hephaestus's office made me feel as if a weight was removed from my shoulders. It isn't even sunset yet but here I am ready to curl up into bed. Unfortunately, my stomach has other ideas. All that fighting took more energy than I realized, adrenaline really is its own miracle sometimes huh. I'll sleep after I eat, guess I should find Tibor first and get some food to unwind a bit. Slowly I made my way through the adventurers' markets and notice lots of people have somber looks on their faces, huh, some even give me what appear to be looks of pity. I guess everyone knows how bad the situation is in there. Hopefully, their friends can get out alive. Making my way to the citizens market out of the Tower of Babel I tiredly find Tibor packing up his stall for the day and wave at him as I approach.

Yang: "Yo! Tibor let's go eat. I'm hungry."

Tibor sees Yang and his eyes go wide as he approaches leaving his workers to pack up the stall.

Tibor: "Yang! You made it out, thank goodness. had me all kinds of worried kid. Yeah, the boys will pack up let's go get some food, I'm sure you had a long day...to say the least."

His face gradually changes to a somber look as he finishes speaking. His mind failing, either for a lack of experience or fear, to imagine the horrors the young man before him had to deal with.

As we make our way to the Hostess of Fertility. Neither of us tries to start a conversation, the things that happened today don't need to be brought up. At least not yet. We slowly made our way to the pub and fortunately got seats at a small table in the corner of the establishment. Chloe immediately approached us to take our orders.

Chloe: "Welcome back Yang, Mr.Tibor.Um, I heard about what happened today Yang, I'm glad you got out. Um would you like a menu or do you ne-"

Yang: "Well have 2 of today's specials please, dinners on me tonight. Thank you."

Chloe only responds with a small nod and walks away from the table.

Tibor: "Don't suppose you're in a talking mood huh."

Yang: "I just, wish I could have done more. It's not like it would amount to much at as a level 1 fighting 3 floors of monsters but well. I didn't realize how dangerous it could be, how quickly the situation can turn around on us and well, I feel like I just stood there being useless as I watched people die!"

As Yang spoke his breath becomes more ragged as his eyes become watery, this was the first time he was telling anyone how he felt. Thinking about this new world and the possibilities is one thing but experiencing it is another, and vocalizing that thought somehow makes them that much more real.

The entire pub was deathly silent as they all stared at his outburst. At least until a voice cut the silence

????: "Nobody could have predicted what happened, and nobody blames you. You stood with them and fought until the last man and from what we heard you even managed to save one of your party members by fighting most of the monsters yourself. At least that's if you are Yang, the boy with the burns, yes? If you want to protect people you need to be stronger, focus on that and the rest will come naturally."

????: "Finn is right just focus on being stronger and you'll be better at protecting people. You cant change the past so just focus on that."

Finn: "Yes Tione is right. Don't lament the past too much."

Yang: "Thanks,um,im Yang and you are...?"

Finn: "I'm Finn, these are Tione, Tiona, Ais, Riveria, Bete, and Lefiya.We are the Loki familias' main team."

As Finn introduced his teammates who mostly just kept eating their food unbothered by the interaction he looked over all of them. They gave off the feeling of being experienced adventurers from what little he knows and some of them seem to be quite attractive. His eyes however fell onto the person last introduces, Lefiya. She was gorgeous in his eyes. He really didn't care for the drop-dead gorgeous type of woman but this girl was around his age and she looked just right for him. The short golden-haired elf girl seemed adorable in her own way as she quietly spoke to the one Finn introduced as Ais in hushed tones completely ignoring everything around them. It took a moment before Finn and Tione realized that Yang was lost staring and got his attention again.

Finn: Faking a cough to ease the tension the Loki familia captain begins to speak once more "Right, so anyway just focus on resting for now then get stronger if you want to protect people close to you. That's what you should make your goal. Enjoy your meal."

Finn and Tione turn back to their meals as the pub slowly begins to regain its cheerful atmosphere. As Yang sat down Tibor quietly began to speak to him.

Tibor: "The big shots should know their stuff so take their advice ok. Just focus on yourself and getting stronger then you can better achieve your goals. For now, let's eat." Tibor eagerly says as he notices Chloe bringing their plates over.

Yang: "Yeah that makes sense, what do you mean big shots?"

Tibor: "Well I guess you're new so it makes sense you wouldn't know, Loki and Freya familias are top dogs in Orario.The one you were talking to is Loki familias captain, Finn. Think of him as their Tsubaki. Level 6 and older than me to boot.Ais is level 5, doesn't talk much and keeps to herself, seems nice, and stays out of trouble but people are starting to call her the sword princess. The others are high level too, all level 4 aside from Lefiya who is still level 2, you know the girl they caught you gawking at just now" Tibor finishes with a large grin on his face. " Heard that she only really cares about being like Ais so good luck kid hahaha."

Yang: "Ugh I guess it's useless to ask if anyone else noticed huh."

Tibor: "Well take a look, seem like Tione is teasing her and looking at you so it doesn't get more obvious than that."

Yang: "Damn. After tonight I think I'm gonna spend my next week training, new things happened when I leveled up today."

As the words left his mouth Tibor almost choked on his ale and subtly across at the Loki familia table Finn's spoon stopped in place with his soup on it as he heard these words.

Tibor: "That's not funny kid, you are joking right?"

Yang: "Nope. Level 2 on my first day, didn't think it was that strange honestly, is it?"

Tibor: "Jeez kid, yeah leveling up takes years of work you know, not to mention actually finding a feat(Adventure) that can push u past the threshold to the next level. Guess you fought way more than I realized in there, at least you came out stronger for it I guess, whatever semblance of a silver lining that is."

Yang: Yeah I guess so. Hephaestus said I was "An absurd anomaly" but I guess without comparison it was kind of alien, now I know a bit more at least. I'm taking the week off the practice my magic anyway so I should figure out some more about myself. Then ill go back into the dungeon. But I need to do some shopping for tomorrow before the market stalls in the tower end, and I need to order some gear that my magic won't destroy at least.

Tibor: "Well we're just about done here and the rations stall should be closing in about 2 hours, head over there after and get your things then you can go visit a blacksmith. Shouldn't be a problem with your familia walking around. I suppose I'll see you in a week then huh."

Yang: "Yeah, and when I have a successful day in the dungeon I'll treat you and the family to a fancy meal."

Tibor: "Kid, any day you walk out of there is a successful day. Don't ever forget that. Now let's get out of here before the stalls close, I'll see you in a week."

Yang quickly made his way to the ration stall to start preparing for his week of training.

Yang: "Hi there I need some rations."

Clerk: "Hi and how many do you need."

Yang: "Well how long can they last."

Clerk: "Well as long as they stay dry up to 4 years, they are high-calorie flavored biscuits."

Yang: "Alright ill take as much as I can get for 8,000 valis and ill take that tent in the corner."

Clerk: "Um that's many months of rations are you sure."

Yang: "Yeah it's fine."

As Yang paid and all his items were gathered, the rations he bought came in a small crate. One biscuit had enough calories for an average day in the dungeon so he should be fine. To the clerks' surprise, Yang emptied the entire crate before storing the Crate itself and the rations as well as the tent his inventory.

Clerk: "Um, what was that--"

Yang: "Magic, simple. Well, I'm done here, thank you for your time, and have a good night."

Clerk: "Of course come back whenever you need survival supplies for the dungeon. The tent comes with a basic survival kit so be sure to open it before you go into the dungeon."

Yang: "Thank you."

As Yang left he quickly made his way to Sarran to request some gear. He quickly found Sarran about to pack up for the night called out to him.

Yang: "Yo Sarran wait up a moment."

Sarran: "Oh Yang! Of course, what do you need, and I'm glad to see you already up and walking around after hearing what you went through today."

Yang: "Yeah well that's actually what I came to talk to you about. I think my magic did more damage to me than anything else honestly so I need your help with that. Can we go inside and talk?" nodding slightly towards the blacksmith's shop.

Sarran: "Of course, of course, I was just waiting for the forge to cool a bit before I went to get a drink you know." As he leads Yang inside the small shop and takes a seat on a bench signaling Yang to get comfortable.

Yang: "Yeah my armor and clothes kind of didn't last much when my magic activated. It looks like I got some kind of fire magic but it hurts me a lot too, some of my skills help reduce it eventually, but my armor is beyond their control. I need clothes that won't get incinerated too quickly at the very least. Some gauntlets, shin and leg guards, boots, and a pauldron would be good too. I also need a sword and a small dagger just in case but they can't have any flammable materials. Do you think you can make that happen for me?"

Sarran: "Why not full armor?"

Yang: "My skills and magic work best if I fight with my hands so, I need the mobility, and I have a feeling my magic will make me pretty hard to hit when I get the hang of it," He says grinning madly as he imagines all the people he can copy by just using his elemental magic.

Sarran: "Fighting with just your hands doesn't seem very smart you know. But if your skills let you do it then it should be fine. How did you get magic anyway?"

Yang: "Oh got it during the fight, I hit level 2 Hephaestus said don't go blabbing till I hit level 2 so telling people I trust should be fine right?"

Sarran: "What! Level 2 already, on your first damn day! It took me years just to get to level 3.Damn kids these days." 'I really lucked out by placing some of my eggs in this basket with the starting equipment yesterday'. "Anyway, I think I can make the things you need but the fire-resistant materials won't be free, unfortunately. The metal and leathers are on the house as long as you tell people who made it when they ask and show off my brand a bit. The special components will cost you about 20,000 Valis, however."

Yang: "That should leave me with a bit leftover if I need anything else. Will it be immune to fire."

Sarran: "No that kind of equipment will cost you a few million Valis at least and you'd need to hire someone to hunt some specific monsters on the mid and lower floors. This will be resistant but it will last a bit. The components aren't that rare either so I should be able to get more when this set is worn out. I can't sponsor the base materials for those however so that'll cost you maybe 35,000 Valis for a new set."

Yang: "That doesn't sound too bad.How long with this take. I plan to leave for a week to go train my magic and skills outside the city."

Sarran: "Well the materials I'll have to buy tomorrow so should be done in about 4 days' time.Anything else you need. I can have it all delivered to your room if you'd like."

Yang: "Yeah I used that health potion from the equipment earlier. So I need a few more. Like 4 more maybe."

Sarran: "That's 2,000 Valis."

Yang: "Yeah add those in as well to be here when I get back."

Sarran: "Alright all that should be ready by the time you get back, expect a crate in your room with your new gear. Now if that's all, I need to go get a drink."

Yang: "Yeah Sarran I'll see you in about a week, take care man."

Sarran: "Yeah kid, you too."

As they exited the shop and parted ways Yang quickly went to his quarters and took a bath before packing the basic clothes included in his closet into his inventory and going to bed. He was finally ready to start his week of training and living his dream of having real magic.

END CHAPTER 6------