16 Change of Resolve

~There's parts of me I cannot hiiiiiiide...I tried and tried a million tiiiiiiimes~

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"The nerve of that elf!" Steve fumed as he brushed Bathsheba's fur. "It was bad enough I hated her character in Sword Oratoria but her tendencies are actually genuine! At least with Eina I could sympathise a little because she had a difficult childhood and her attachments are too quick. But that idiot who's always freezing up during fights and causes trouble for everyone else? The hell am I supposed to do?"

Bathsheba snorted a little.

"I know. But I can't handle that responsibility. Ais needs a hero type character, and therefore Bell, to soothe the turmoil inside her. But her saying that I'm her hero doesn't even mean that she has an interest like that in me. She follows anybody that is strong or that might have a secret for speedy growth."

Bathsheba turned to look at him and rumbled a little.

"Yes, yes. I know that I haven't been subtle at all. But you don't understand what I mean by background character. I still want the plot to happen, I still want the little rabbit to have his adventures. But I just want to be in the background working to make things better. Let him go on his hero's crusade while I work to make my life better. Now that is not going to happen if Ais Wallenstein is going to be following me around like a puppy."

A few more grunts.

"I only kept the low profile like this because Ptah wants it to be that way. Otherwise I'd have no problem telling them my affiliations or my level. Even if they did have a problem, what the hell could they do anyway? I could just run a simple command and they would all be dead instantly and nobody would be any wiser to that fact."

Steve sighed as he stopped brushing and then just sat against the side of the giant wolf.

"Maybe I should just say 'Screw it' and take the reins after all. The Loki Familia already know about me. It won't be long before word eventually spills out anyway because Royman insists on posting my information sometime soon. Ptah's just procrastinating. And when that happens, I'm going to be at the centre of attention. I didn't even know I was going to be this level. I just assumed I'd start off from level one. I was so happy when I saw that my level was that high...but now I wonder if it was truly a blessing or whether it just messed everything up."

They sat in silence for a few more moments before Steve threw up his hands.

"You know what? Screw it. I'm not holding back anymore. I'm going to do what I want and I'm going to test the limits of my power in Survival Mode however I wish. By the time we go back to the surface, it will already be well over a week since we entered the dungeon, which is the minimum time Ptah said he needed to calm down. I'm going to fight until we reach Balor and then I'm going to take the bastard out with a single attack. I've estimated his power now, it should be a piece of cake."

Bathsheba gave a few questioning whines.

"I know. Perhaps I am overreacting because of one stupid little girl. But I am frustrated. Everything in the Dungeon so far has been a disappointment. I feel no excitement whatsoever from killing these monsters because they're just so damn weak to me. My interest is in the new kinds of monsters I can create using the dungeon. I've already written up a bunch of plans I need to start implementing the moment we reach the surface. I don't need the ego of a fanatic fangirl clucking at me either."

Bathsheba then tilted her head and yapped a little bit before panting.

"Yes, I am interested in Tiona. I plan on pursuing her but whether or not she will be your Mama, I don't know. I would definitely like that to be the outcome. But it's too early to even think of that now."

...

"Already thinking that far ahead?" Tiona said as she stepped up onto the platform they were on. Steve had seen her coming anyway. "You're an ambitious one Steve."

"Only when it comes to you." Steve replied. "What do you want?"

"I came to apologise on behalf of Lefiya." The amazon said as she sat next to him and began to rub Bathsheba's muzzle as the wolf licked her hands.

"You can save it then, Tiona." Steve said as he instantly looked away from her to focus on the task at hand.

"Why?"

"If anybody should apologise, it should be the one that was shameless in the first place."

"Lefiya is not very good at communicating, and she's quite timid by nature usually."

"Seemingly not so in regards to me. She was outright rude and by no means timid, shy or whatever other synonyms you want to employ."

"...Just please don't be too hard on her." Tiona said as she moved closer to him. "You're within your rights to be angry. But Lefiya is burdened by a lot of expectations and Ais is one of the people that continuously rescues her from dangerous situations. So as you can imagine, she's become quite attached."

"I can appreciate and understand that you're sticking up for your fellow Familia." Steve said. "But that does not excuse the bratty attitude. And don't give me that look like it just came out of nowhere. For the entire time I've been with you guys, she's constantly been sending me death glares or pulling faces when she thinks I'm not looking. Add into the fact that she acts like a liability, always putting herself in danger which in turn forces another adventurer to put their lives on the line for her unnecessarily just because she freezes up whenever they so much as look in her direction. I can't even count the amount of times I've had to do it in this expedition alone so I'm sure it bothers you a lot more."

"...Yeah, we do have to save her a lot." Tiona rubbed the back of her head. "Just don't be angry for too long. I like the happy you that jokes and makes fun all the time."

"Already there." Steve said. "Is that all you wanted to to say to me?"

"No. Finn says we're moving again in a bit, so he wanted to know if you're still joining."

"Yeah, of course I am."

"Great!" Tiona smiled before looking like she'd just remembered something else. "Oh yeah, Ais also wanted to know what enchantments you put on her sword. Do you mind coming over and telling us?"

"I've half a mind to take them off, since I did it all in anger."

"Ais would probably be unhappy if you did that. She's been staring at it ever since you left."

"Fine, give me a minute while I finish up here."

...

"Okay, so the first enchantment is called 'Sharpness'." Steve said as he held up Desperate in front of the core members. "As implied by the name, it increases the sharpness of the weapon it's cast on."

"And just how much sharper is it now then?" Finn asked. 

"Ais'll have to test it out on monsters she's slain before to see the difference. The second enchantment is 'Unbreaking'. It basically increases the durability of the weapon and prolongs it's breaking point."

"Well if that's the case, then it's a good thing for Ais because it means she'll stop breaking her stuff." Tione said as she looked at the golden haired girl. Ais was transfixed by Steve as he demonstrated with her weapon.

"As for the next one, 'Sweeping Edge' just increases damage dealt to monsters from a sweep attack, like so." Steve said as he performed the specific attack. "And finally, the last one, the most special one...I will leave that up to you to find out." Steve said as he handed Desperate back to Ais.

"OHH COME ON!" Tiona moaned. "WHY?"

"I must reiterate the same question." Riveria said. "Why refrain from telling us?"

"Because that particular enchantment provides a bit of an unfair side effect." He said as he pulled out his sword. "I took that particular enchantment off my own sword because of how scummy my victories could be. Not to mention it's also quite hazardous."

"I'm not sure I quite appreciate you giving one of our kids such a dangerous weapon then." Riveria said with a raised brow.

"As long as she doesn't attack an innocent person, there's really not a problem." He said. "But the next time she hits a monster, she'll see what that new addition really is."

"Leaving whatever that is out..." Finn said as he counted on his fingers. "...to give such enchantments to Durandal weapons, just one of those would cost nearly half of what you charged Ais. It would be a more understandable price if it was a weapon a little above the normal grade. But Durandal weapons? You could be making fortunes from that alone."

"Which is why I've decided on what favour I'll be asking you on." Steve said quietly next to Finn while the younger members bickered with one another on the new value of Desperate, with a couple wondering if they should ask for such enchantments too but then remembering they were already in heavy debt.

"Go ahead." Finn said, hoping it wasn't something unreasonable.

"When I open my Familia business, obviously I won't have much traction since nobody will know who I am. But when I do, you will use Ais's weapons as an example and you, Loki Familia, will endorse my products. That should encourage some people to come along and buy from me."

"That can be managed." Finn said. "Sure. We'll do it."

"Good."

"Of course, that is given that your product actually works well and is satisfactory." Finn smiled.

"Prepare to be satisfied then...pleasantly so."

---

Ais gaped as the Barbarian was bisected clean through like a knife through butter, and on top of that, his two halves burst into flames as it lay on the ground howling in pain while it cooked alive. After a few seconds, the monster burst into smoke, dropping behind a sooty monster core. The Loki Familia stood by and gaped for a bit as they tried to process what had happened.

"And THAT is the last enchantment I put on Desperate." Steve said as he walked past them casually. "'Fire Aspect' sets the target of the sword on fire when you land a hit. You can see why I told you to make sure to never hit a person. Otherwise that could end up happening to them."

"...I WANT ONE!" Tiona cried as she leapt forwards and hugged him around the waist as he pulled her forwards. "PLEASE!"

"If you're willing to pay for it." Steve said.

"But I don't have that kind of moneeeeeyyyyy!" Tiona whined. "Why does Ais get to have one and I don't? I thought you liked me."

"Ais gets to have hers because Finn and I have made an arrangement that will bring me so much more than what I demanded of her." Steve said. "And just because I like you it doesn't mean I'm handing out freebies."

"As you shouldn't." Riveria said as she looked at the place where the monster had died. "If this is the kind of powers you're offering, then not many will be able to afford what you ask. A good thing since I know a lot of people who would use such weapons for more bad than good."

"Precisely why the price is so high." Steve said. "People will think twice before spending millions of Valis on a singular enchantment if they have evil intentions."

"Only first class adventurers would singularly be able to afford weapons like that." Finn said as he looked down at his dagger which Steve had also enchanted long before Desperate, back when they began their adventure together. The Pallum had been using the dagger a lot more than he admitted, since the 'Loyalty' enchantment just fascinated him more and more the longer he used it. "Do you have any enchantments that would be good for spear by any chance Steve?"

"Yes. For the right price I can do it. No problem."

"And my axe?" Gareth asked.

"The axe too. I've got some really nice ones that you could use on your axe."

"Hold on, why are you two suddenly asking about it?" Riveria asked her two fellow elders.

"Why else?" Finn asked.

"And how exactly do you intend to pay for them, given his prices?" The elf raised said warningly.

"..."

"You will not be giving away a portion of our spoils!" Riveria said firmly. "What would be the point of this expedition in the first place?"

"They are technically his spoils as well. He just wants the drop items and the boss monster stones."

"Doesn't change the fact we're always coming back in deficit." Riveria said. 

"You can't deny that you're not interested either."

"Of course I am. Practical and convenient magic like that is simply unheard of but I'm not going to let my interest in the topic blind me to bankruptcy."

"I could arrange a discount for all of you since you'd be my first customers." Steve said. "As long as you send good word about my work, I don't mind it. I'm already making a fortune off of all the spoils I am taking, so I have more than enough money to fund my budding Familia." 

Bete suddenly cocked his head as he remembered something.

"Hey, your armour glows that weird colour too." The werewolf said as they stepped down into another floor. "You were making ice with your feet when you fought Amphisbaena. What kind of armour enchants do you do?"

"If you're inquiring about what I can enchant your Flosvirt with." Steve said as he looked back at Bete. "I can do enchants that can do a number of interesting things. For one, I could put the same 'Unbreaking' on them so you don't have to get them maintained as you do. Then I can cast various types of protections that will protect you from things like projectiles, explosions and fire too. That's not counting the enchants specific to boots."

"And what are they?" Finn asked, more interested in this than ever. He was Captain of the the second most powerful Familia, so it made sense he was scouting anything that could give them an edge over the Freya Familia.

"Well there is 'Frost Walker' which I put on my own boots, hence why my feet created ice on the 27th floor. When you walk on water with them, the water surface turns to ice. Then there is 'Depth Strider' which lets you swim in water as fast as you walk on land. And then there is 'Feather Falling', an enchant that slows down your fall. Say if you jumped off a cliff, the boots would slow your fall down so that you take less damage to your legs when you land. Of course there is an upper limit to this with each level of 'Feather Falling'. It doesn't stop damage like that completely."

"Wait levels?" Tione said. "What do you mean levels?"

"Oh did I forget? My enchantments have different levels to them." Steve pointed to Ais's sword. "I put 'Sharpness I' on her Desperate, which increases the weapon's base sharpness. Since hers is made of Orichalcum, the enchantment increases by a fourteenth. 'Sharpness II' would increase it by a seventh, 'Sharpness III' would increase it by about a third and so on. Same applies for 'Unbreaking'. The higher the level of the enchant, the more durable your weapon or armour piece will be and the longer it will take for them to break."

"That's..."

"Just cheating." Tione said. "You'll overthrow Orario's entire idea of strong weapons."

"Yes. That is what I am planning to do." Steve said. 'Not to mention the modded powers I can add to those weapons.' There was one in particular which would make any random sword capable of cutting through space. 

Speaking of space, Steve wondered if any of his portal mods would be able to take him to other universes. There was one such mod he had where he could just type in the place he wanted to go and the portal would take him there. Of course, it was provided that the destination was on a pre-prepared list of worlds which were already built and generated. So you couldn't literally go 'anywhere'...except now this wasn't the game. His powers were one by one adapting to reality and not just sticking to game physics. So if there was supposed to be a portal that could take you anywhere you wanted...then it had to do just that, right?

Because if he could travel to other fictional universes he'd wanted to see...oh boy did that open a whole other range of options. He was also half certain that his game character made him immortal too since that was one of Minecraft Steve's traits. He could be killed in survival but he couldn't die from old age. Steve stayed ever youthful.

"You said you make weapons too. You're a smith right?"

"...Yes." 

"And the potion you gave me." Ais perked up. "I've never seen that kind of healing potion before. Did you make that too?"

"Yep."

"And you said you found Bathsheba and tamed her. So you're a tamer too?" Tiona said as she rubbed the Warg's neck.

"Mhm."

"You're a warrior, a smith, an alchemist and a tamer." Bete grumbled. "I guess you're a dedicated mage as well huh?"

"Not dedicated since I don't use magic all that much. But, my 'spells' are very, VERY powerful. The Fireball you saw from me the other day, that is beginner level magic for me."

"So what exactly can you do when you're serious?" Riveria leaned forwards slightly in interest as they walked, with Steve nonchalantly back handing a Fomoire away.

"You'll see when I deal with Balor. I intend on killing him with magic instead of my weapons."

"Now that's a fight I want to see." Gareth said. "None of us can deal with Balor on our own. Are you sure you're up to the task kid?"

"Oh I am. You just wait and see. Today is the day that power gains a new meaning...and a new image for not just you....but all adventurers to come." Steve said as he chuckled inside.

When he said he wanted to be a background character, he meant it as he wanted the plot to happen and for Bell Cranel to continue his adventures. Steve just would not take too much of an active part in it.

He had no issues showing people now, just how terrifying he could really be.

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