32 A Proposal
What Jackal considered a perfectly concluded date was, unfortunately, extended by an annoying situation. Since his first choice of arms contract did not pan out with the Blacksmiths of the Hephaestus Familia, he chose to visit Goibniu Familia before their Blacksmiths retired from their day's work.
He was confident in his chance.
After all, he had a business to sell, too. The materials gained from War Shadows and Needle Rabbits can be sold for a pretty dime, and as far as Jackal is aware, the material from the War Shadow is something entirely new and can be used differently based on the blacksmith's skills.
"So, imagine my surprise that your Familia's captain decided to claim my name. Funny enough, your competitors even agreed based on some professional courtesy. Why?"
The chatter from the street couldn't be more evident as the shop is set on the North-West Main Street with one of the most expensive and showy pieces set on display for the adventurers wandering the street. Needless to say, this location had a splendid security detail that grew tense at Jackal's sight due to the rumors surrounding him.
Seated across him, revealing a stupefied expression, is a wavy red-haired goddess with a good portion of the right side of her face covered by a large patch of black fabric acting as an eyepatch. The Goddess wore an open-collared white shirt while her trousers weren't visible behind the desk. Behind the goddess, leaning over on the long counter along the wall with her arms crossed under her breasts is an amused Tsubaki—The said captain who Jackal came to meet.
"You did that?" Hephaestus turns a little to look at her Familia's captain as the dark-skinned half-dwarf shrugs.
"It isn't as exaggerated as the boy is hawing for. All I did was spread the news that I'll beat the living shit out of the Blacksmith who takes his next order before me. But it was all in good heart! Promise!"
"Yeah?" Jackal scoffs and stares at the woman pointedly before Hephaestus speaks. "You know my name and my store. You couldn't say that to my face?"
Tsubaki blinks in surprise and points at the stack of paper beside her on the counter.
"I've been busy?"
"Bitch, you think I ain't?!" Jackal exclaims back as Hephaestus raises her free eyebrow in surprise.
"Look. Just tell me what kind of ax you'd like me to forge with that material, and we'd be even."
"What material?" Hephaestus questions curiously.
"Oh, a strange drop item from a War Shadow. The first time I'm seeing it. I could forge an alloy that passes through physical material, so, it won't be your usual weapon."
"I told you I don't want a one-time blacksmith," Jackal shrugs. "Finding a better weapon is easy. I'm getting richer by the day. What I want is an awesome blacksmith."
"I'm awesome!" Tsubaki grins.
"Who has time to make weapons for the little old me."
"Ah, nah. It'll be a waste of my time."
"Like mine is being wasted right now?" Jackal scoffs and readies to leave. "Look, I have plenty of that drop material, so consider that one a gift. Let's not waste more time if you can't fulfill my needs. Good day, and let this be a warning of sorts to not butt in my business."
"Or what?" Tsubaki chuckles. "Even I heard what you did with Soma. By the way, our Goddess rejects both of you."
Jackal looks at Hephaestus, who is left scrambling for inner peace with how wildly the pace of this conversation is shifting.
"Reject? Then let me propose for real. Uh, Hephaestus? Would you take me as your husband and accept my non-existent harem?"
Tsubaki's jaws hang low in amazement while Hephaestus fares no better.
"Pfftt! Puhahahahahahaha!" Tsubaki's boisterous bout of laughter spreads outside from the enclosed room, and soon she clutches her stomach with tears flowing down her eyes—including her left eye covered by a moderate black eyepatch.
But not amused, Hephaestus clears her throat loudly. Tsubaki could barely control herself as she bit her bottom lip. The half-dwarf's shoulders trembled.
"What was that?" The redhead eyes Jackal seriously, who cups his chin thoughtfully.
"Calling us even? You rejected me, and now I proposed. Usually, it happens the other way around with a proposal happening first, but things are on the right track again."
"And what track is that?"
"I have no fucking clue. But no woman is rejecting me without a proper proposal!"
Hephaestus purses her lips and taps her gloved index finger on her table blankly. The atmosphere in the room descends into a silence broken frequently by Tsubaki's muffled giggles.
"We done here?" Jackal questions after a short while.
Hephaestus shakes her head and shoots Jackal an annoyed stare.
"What Tsubaki was referring to is the—"
"Yeah, the rumors about Soma and I fighting for ginger, right? Everyone with a brain cell knows Loki started all that to get a word out she's hot shit. Your point being?"
"I didn't reject you in any manner."
"Cool."
"And you proposed to me."
"I'm kind of regretting it now. You keep repeating the obvious."
"Puh—!" A choked gasp slips Tsubali's lips before the captain falls to her knee while covering her mouth with one hand and gently slapping the floor with the other hand.
Hephaestus takes a deep breath to calm her nerves as she sees a distinct shadow of a vermilion-haired goddess on Jackal. Regathering her composure and tempering her nerves for other wild sentences that may leave their guest's mouth without any deception in his words, no less, the Goddess gestures to Jackal to relax and looks at her impish captain.
"Tsubaki, leave us."
"You sure? I heard he pounded Soma real hard."
"You did that on purpose, didn't you?" Jackal deadpans as Tsubaki straightens her back and shrugs for the umpteenth time.
"Who knows?"
But she accepts the order and leaves Hephaestus' office.
"Jackal from Humble Jackal's, right?"
He nods.
"Well, Jackal. I suppose this is a good time as any to relay my interest in your goods, including the Butterfree Era. Had I known you possess a steady supply of rare drop materials, the origin of which shall undoubtedly remain your trade secret, I would have set a meeting with you sooner. May I see the drop items Tsubaki spoke of?"
Jackal ponders quietly for a moment.
Again, he is aware the moment he chooses one path to sell his goods, it'll create tension with said organization's competitors.
Even if Goibniu Familia seems to dominate the architectural and low-tier blacksmithing industry, Hephaestus Familia is in the same business in varying degrees. It wouldn't have mattered if it were usual organizations, but Gods… are emotional. Only a few create a business solely for money and later, make rational decisions.
Most gods are exceptionally passionate about their work, and the moment someone favors their competitors, they might as well tear the last shred of decency. Hephaestus and Goibniu don't fall into these extreme categories, but their competition is no less fierce.
The Goddess finally feels relaxed as if she can sense Jackal's thoughts whirring to the side of the business. Sighing, she smiles. "I merely want to look at the product you have to offer."
"Hmm."
Jackal unzips his frollet before taking out a spare glimmering red crystal ball the size of a War Shadow's eye.
She questions as she picks the crystal ball from the table.
"Do you have a detailed description of what this dropped item is valuable for? Just because Tsubaki can make something notable from this item doesn't translate well for the market value of this item."
"Not yet." Jackal leans back with a huff.
"You could let the Guild inspect it," Hephaestus offers as she toys with the product in her hand.
"For what? Zeus and Hera Familia are the ones who originally bolstered Guild's records about the entire enterprise of adventuring. If possible, I want to establish my base of knowledge before entertaining the notion of sharing it with others."
The Goddess nods calmly.
"Anything else?"
"Here."
Jackal tosses a short horn in her direction.
"From Horned Rabbit. The supply for all the materials I produce will be steady until the market demand drops. You know, I'm flexible that way. Miach can guarantee that."
"Pun intended?" Hephaestus frowns.
"What pun?" Jackal inclines his head with a curious look.
"Nevermind."
Hephaestus soon sets the items on her table after exhaling quietly.
"I will reprimand Tsubaki for her actions duly. But she did not lie. She is indeed a bit overworked—"
"And I'm not buying that. She was screwing around, and it's plain as day, but I'm not pissed or anything. Just wanted to make sure something like this doesn't happen again."
"Understood. As for your products, I would have to make a few of my children work on them before committing to any supply."
"Are you free?" Jackal questions.
While she narrows her eye suspiciously, the Goddess nods calmly and supplants, "Aside from the paperwork as tall as Olympus, yes."
"Are you better than your children when it comes to skills?"
"You already know the answer."
"Then why don't you test the two materials and get back to me?"
Hephaestus frowns. "Excuse me?"
"Look, Miach is the one who tests my potions, but I have contracted someone to mitigate this issue. Until I find a way to test the use of the drop materials I procure, how about you busy yourself with them?"
Her frown deepens as she remarks strictly.
"I'm not your lackey in any form or manner. Just because I tolerate your foul language does not translate into my willingness to accept such insults."
Jackal surprises Hephaestus with a confused expression. "What the hell are you smoking? Lackey? I wouldn't propose to a lackey, would I?"
Her expression darkens while Jackal waves his hand dismissively.
"But I ain't stupid. I didn't mean for you to fall under my command. It was just a suggestion 'cause gods have better senses, no? If you don't wanna do it, don't."
"I see… apologies for jumping to conclusions."
"No worries."
"And another thing. I do not enjoy frivolity with marital proposes, so kindly knock it off."
Jackal scoffs and stands up.
"Frivolity? I thought gods could differentiate truth from deception. Contact me if you'd like a steady stream of my products. Since you showed curiosity, I'll gladly give you three days before I start sniffing elsewhere. Oh, and keep Tsubaki on a leash, will you?"
"Don't say that in front of her. She can be a little—"
Before Hephaestus can warn the 'well-mannered' mortal, he pushes open the door and looks straight at Tsubaki.
"Don't go running off without your leash!"
Now Hephaestus cannot claim in good faith that she felt a little happy when Tsubaki knocked Jackal's head with enough force to make him cover his head with a scowl but—damn, it felt good.
"So?" Tsubaki closes the door behind her as she enters the office and winks mischievously. "Another fake proposal, eh? Want me to beat him up when he goes on spreading bad shit about you for no reason?"
Hephaestus looks at her captain and blinks curiously.
'Fake?'
'Ah… I forgot to reject him. Next time it is.' She glances at the two items set on her table.
"Nothing like that. And if you want to use the alloy you created, just make a magic weapon and send it his way. I doubt it will be functional after two or three use."
Tsubaki huffs. She likes to get her customer's input for a more fitting weapon, but this will have to do… for now.
As Tsubaki returns to her seat to assist her Goddess with paperwork, Hephaestus herself starts getting more irritated the longer she stares at the two items.
'Even if his words did not contain deception, his truth will change once he sees my right side.'
---
Knowing that he will dive deeper than usual in the dungeon, Jackal equips himself better. His black compression undershirt and trousers that cupped his balls rather snugly are tucked under a belted tunic, and trousers strapped with light armor on his body purchased from his trait Humble Store.
Again, he chose leather over metal for his body. But in this case, it meant items made from rather expensive materials—Ligerfang Hide. Finding the proper material, the correct size, and a fitting quality took Jackal three hours which he spent by holing himself in his house since he can't be spied on there with mystical means.
"Jackal-sama! I'm ready to go with you!"
Tucking Lili in her bed was far easy when he literally held her from her pits as she continued to struggle with… surprising strength.
'Her update must have been awesome.'
But he heard none of it.
He didn't plan to stop in any manner until he filled himself to the brim. It also means he would sprint till floor seven so he doesn't 'fill' on weaker monsters.
His goal is simple—Getting as strong as an orc physically without using monster phantoms.
What he still didn't change was his collection of axes. They were still the same guild-approved newbie axes. But then again, he has dozen of those.
---
The deeper one goes into the dungeon, the more complicated the structure expands. From simple cave-like arrangements to the innards of an ant hill when it comes to long and narrow passages, Jackal now finds himself strolling in short paths of moss-clad pastures of greenery with adequate light originating from the more distant ceiling. While it's positively dark outside the dungeon, the interior lighting gives the illusion that it's still early morning.
"See?" He dodges a green claw.
*Kkrrrk*
"This is just unfair." His ax cleaves the head of the goblin before making quick work of three other mates of the poor green bastard.
Goblins and Kobolds aren't limited to the first two floors. Like other species of the Dungeon, they can appear on the lower floors with greater strength than their upper-floored tenants.
This isn't strange in itself. Monsters aren't a set species. They have many other variants of their own kind, making it harder to document all of them—Silent Goblins, for instance. A small, undiscovered corner of the Dungeon may hide many other variants for all Jackal knew.
His only interest in these goblins and kobolds is the confirmation the items he creates from these variants will be of better quality, or not.
Things may change greatly if the answer is positive.
But life is rarely so favorable.
Jackal descends further into the Dungeon after hunting a kobold.
---
Floor 10.
The caverns widen to accommodate rocky structures on the bit of greenery hidden from sight by mist crawling on the ground and layering the atmosphere of the Dungeon with a level of haziness that has gotten many adventurers killed by the monsters who make sensible use of it.
For example—a skull-sized pitch-black flying rodent, Bad Bat.
Jackal grits his jaws the second this bat screeches. It might bring a wave of discomfort to others, but for Jackal, whose hearing was stupidly sharp because of Silent Goblins, it was punishment.
"Ugh," he grunts and makes a mental note in the passing to train his senses further to fall in his commands while letting the phantom of a silent goblin dance over his head, making the situation a lot more bearable.
Cleaving down the first bad bat with a throwing ax, Jackal pulls out the silent potions from the frollet on his waist, and he tosses the silencing potions laced with monster-attracting baits.
The first group of bats rush at the flasks and smashes them open before dancing in the liquid. What little sentience they might have set in their panic for them when they couldn't let out their 'sonorous' voices.
By then, however, it is too late.
One of the 'shriekiest' groups of monsters is sliced off in pure silence. Before the smell of their corpses could even attract other monsters, Jackal carves out their magic stones and store them for safekeeping.
But the day is only starting for Jackal.
The Bad Bats are physically weaker than him, but this doesn't mean he didn't have a soft cap for them. It still existed but on a proportionally lower scale. Jackal could feel his throat being more nourished than the rest of his body alongside his ears.
He also made sure to use his Mind while slaughtering new monsters, so the next time he encounters a group of Bad Bats, he can see their threads of fatality to attack where it hurts.
But again, he sought Orcs and Silverbacks the most. In contrast, Imps and Needle Rabbits looked lackluster.
What Jackal did not want to face just yet was an Infant Dragon—Not out of fear but caution.
It took him all he had and his tricks to fuck Zanis up. A level 2 monster or human is still not something Jackal can contest against easily without facing certain risks and injuries—risks that can prove fatal in this location.
And as usual, he takes his promises seriously. Eina and Rose went as far as buying him some equipment to feel more assured of his survival. The least he can do is not throw himself in danger for 'fun.'
"Ooh~! Is that a fat and juicy orc I spy?"
Clearly, he is trying his best not to get carried away…
***
Alternate Title: A Literal Proposal; No Lies~!; Selective Rivalry; Rejected… Again? A Marital Proposal; Jackal Takes that Back, Hephaestus' Recollection of the Obvious is Annoying; No Backsies?; The Fight Over Ginger; Laying Rightful Claim on Customers; Tsuabaki's Leash Needs Tightening; New Fit; Lower Tenants; Breaking Bad Bats; Silencio!; A Fat and Juicy Orc to… Butcher!
***
Psst, hey, wanna join the dark side and share some powerstones? If yes, follow the path of your seniors!—
Sahil Malik!!
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