Chapter Seven

"To get to level two, you need a lot of low-quality Excelia or a decent amount of high-quality Excelia..."

I Ponted out as I launched a minitour stumbling into Welf's greatsword that pierced through the bull's chest.

Welf heaved the sword on his shoulder as I grabbed the dropped Magic stone.

"Is that why we are on floor fifteen?"

I nodded.

"Wouldn't floor eleven be enough though?"

I shook my head negatively, it would be a common misconception, but Excelia here worked like bunches of exp, small ones were low quality, medium ones were subpar quality, and so on.

"It would be but it would take longer, besides..."

I looked to the side, where a Crystal mantis was crawling down a wall.

"More drops in this place, the more we get the more you can practice for the blacksmith skill along with working on your dexterity stat."

He nodded as he backed up to stand next to me.

"Are you sure you're level one? All of this seems too easy for you..."

I bent my knees in preparation as the mantis jumped at us, one of its claws coming down on me as I raised a hand to deflect it with the back of my palm, a small nudge that sent the claw a millimeter away from my body.

The claw dug into the ground as I grabbed the other one with my hand and twisted, circling around the matis and pressing a leg on its body to lower its head down.

Welf brought his sword down in an overhead slash and took off the monster's head.

The monster burst into smoke as a wing was left behind that dropped to the ground.

"I leveled up to level two just before you gave me these."

I patted the Kusarigama on my hip as he bent down to pick up the crystal wing, and almost dropped it in the process.

"Wait, you leveled up? How long have you been an adventurer? I gave you those yesterday!"

I chuckled, grabbing the wing he handed to me and putting it inside the bag.

"I had Falna for a while now, but I did come to Orario recently."

That was what Hestia and I agreed on, I had Falna before coming here, that's what would be told and that's what the truth would be.

He blinked and nodded, a look of understanding coming over his face.

"Ooh, that makes sense..."

I nodded back as I looked around, seeing that nothing was around.

"This has been easier than I thought it would be, honestly. I know that there are groups of four adventurers that travel down to this floor... You must be really experienced... Or really strong, I'll go with really strong."

I chuckled, shaking my head and taking out a pack of rations, tossing it to him, getting a nod in response as I kept a lookout as he ate.

"By the way, I'm going to need a few throwing knives... which will probably be made from minotaur horns..."

Welf sent me an amused glance.

"Is it just me, or do you hate minotaurs in particular?"

I rolled my eyes, smirking.

"I might need to stop killing them for a while, or they will name me the Minatour's bane."

We shared a laugh and he finished eating a bit later. We continued our path to exploring the floor.

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"I keep telling you, man, chains this long will not fit in that small box..."

Welf sighed, as I weighed the well-made chain in my hand.

"It's fine, trust me."

it's been two days since our dive into the dungeon, which we did one more time the day before and the chains were ready. I spun the chain in my hand, soaking in the familiar feeling.

I grinned as I stopped spinning it and put the chain in the small box again. I took out a bag of coins and tossed it at him, which he immediately dropped on the table as if he was not concerned about the accuracy of the money inside.

I picked up the box and held it under my arm.

I was about to turn around and leave when he extended a belt to me, filled with simple red throwing knives with leather wrapped around their handles.

"This is a present, I will not be accepting money for this."

I stared at it for a moment before chuckling.

"I'm not going to complain, thanks Welf."

I grabbed the belt and put it on top of the box.

"You took me down on the fifteenth floor, Bell, I was expecting floor nine, and hoping for ten, I didn't think I would be seeing anything past floor ten for a few years. Besides, thanks to you, I got a lot of new material to work with, so take it as my token of gratitude."

I shook my head in exasperation, rolling my eyes.

"Thanks again."

He waved me off, and I walked out of his smithy with a wave of my own and headed toward the rundown church again. I would need to enchant the box that would hold the chain, so I had my work cut out for me.

I glanced at the throwing knives and took one out, twirling it in my hand. It was very balanced... Looks like I made a good decision with Welf, the guy had a good future as a smith.