Visiting a Crafter

"A crafter?!" Callie's eyes widened once again and she looked nervously around the hall.

"Don't worry, we are mainly going to look for gear for me." I grabbed her shaking hand and led her out of the association building and down the busy street.

It seemed as though a lot of the crafters had set up around the dungeon. A lot of buildings had been damaged at the appearance of the tower, so I guessed that the real estate there had become cheaper.

The possibility of an outbreak must have driven the prices down as well. The more I thought about it the more it made sense for them to set up shop right outside of the dungeon.

I usually sold all of my materials to the association, so I never thought about saving much for someone to craft me my own gear. It would probably be better to come back when i had materials on hand, but I couldn't put my weapon situation off any longer.

If I could create a personal relationship with a crafter, then I could keep my capabilities from the association. I still felt like somehow my information would get into the hands of others whom I didn't want to know about my situation.

"Wait! Miss Richards!" Callie's voice rang out over the crowd of people walking down the street. I realized I had been practically dragging her down the sidewalk.

"Oh, my bad. Here I will let you go now." I released her hand and Callie hunched over taking in deep breaths. She really was too weak. However, I had heard healers did not get the same basic skills as other hunters.

"I'm sorry I am incredibly weak. Even among other healers, they all said it was hopeless to take me into the dungeon." Callie's face looked dejected.

"Don't be like that. There must be a reason for that. Maybe you are meant to become a better healer then all of them. You need to stay positive and build your own path."

I tried my best to encourage her. After all, I really needed a healer. I didn't want what happened to Kei to happen to anyone else. As long as I was there I did not want anything else to happen to someone.

The tricks I learned in my past life were not a lot and I wasn't a particularly good hunter back then. However, I wanted to help at least those close to me. There was only so far one could go in the dungeon by themself. My past life was like a cautionary tale in that regard.

"You're right! I need to be positive!" Callie made a fist with her hand and seemed to pick up her spirits. How cute.

"You would have never made it out of the tutorial if you were weak. There, see. That this is the building where we are going." I pointed to the building two doors down. It was made from concrete, different from the more modern looking buildings with glass surrounding them.

"For a newly built building, it sure looks different from the surrounding buildings." Callie scratched her head as she tilted her head.

"Well crafters can often have accidents. They probably needed a sturdier building than any old business building." I tried to sound confident with my explanation, but it did seem like a strange building material. "No matter. I'm sure that the owner is just a bit eccentric in this new age."

We walked up to the building and opened the thick doors that were a bit intimidating. A bell chimed as I thrust the door open and we walked into a lobby with elevators at the end. An information board that listed the different businesses in the building stood directly near the doors.

"Let's see. We are looking for Dyno Works…" I skimmed the list and found the name of the first crafter on the list that the association had given me. "It looks like he is on the third floor, Callie. Let's take the elevator up."

I felt nervous. Meeting new people was always difficult for me. When I worked at the bank, they would often put me in the back office because I was not always so good with the customers. The music in the elevator was your typical elevator music. It made me feel silly for being nervous. I just needed to focus on getting a good weapon for the dungeon.

Finally, the elevator chimed as we made it to the third floor. As soon as the doors opened a loud explosion could be heard with cursing soon to follow. I hesitantly stepped out of the elevator and took a look around. It seemed like a simple shop was set up showing various wares. Smoke was filtering out of the back room.

"Um, is this normal for a crafter?" Callie was peeking out from behind me. At some point she had latched on to me. I guess the explosion had broken the confidence she was showing earlier.

"I'm not sure, but we are already here. The least we can do is take a look, right?" My voice shook a little bit since I had not even convinced myself.

"Oh, I didn't realize I had customers. Sorry for the mess. I was testing some new materials that came in from the association. My name is Dyno and welcome to my shop. Although I am an independent crafter, I still do occasional jobs for the association to pay the bills." A dark skinned man exited through the back doorway with a tight shirt on.

Dyno looked apologetic as he turned on a fan to let the smoke dissipate in the room. It looked like some soot had gotten all over him as the shirt he was wearing appeared filthy. He grabbed a rag off the counter and began using it to clean his hands.

"So what are you in the market for? Weapons, armor, or maybe you need some support items?" The hands that had been so attached to the back of my shirt eased slightly at the man's smile.

"I would like to browse your weapons first, if you don't mind."

"Of course, my recent works are over here on this shelf. What weapon are you most accustomed to?" Dyno gestured to the far wall and moved with Callie and I as we approached the shelf in question.

"I mostly use knives, but I am in need of a heavier weapon to deal more decisive blows."

"A heavier weapon, huh?" Dyno scratched at his semi-thick beard and eyed the weapons on the wall while sizing me up at the side. "You're kind of small for a really heavy weapon. Most likely you will only be able to handle a one handed sword or similar weapon that is more geared towards speed."

I was surprised that he could guess all of that just by a glance. This Dyno seemed like the real deal. Perhaps he would be able to help me more than I thought. Callie crept out from behind me and began looking excitedly at all the different weapons on the shelf. A small grin formed on Dyno's face as he observed her.

"Can I see the weapons you have been using up until now?" I nodded and fished in my backpack for the worn out knives and sword. Dyno whistled as he picked up all of the blades. He held it up and tested the balance. "I see you have not been maintaining the blade at all. How long have you had them?"

"I used them in the dungeon for the first time last week."

Dyno looked back at me with a look of shock. He frowned as he glanced over at the wall beside us, then with my weapons in hand, he walked into the mysterious back room from which the smoke had finally cleared up. I did not follow him, since I wanted to keep an eye on Callie as she practically drooled over the shiny weapons on display.

I could hear banging in the back and the sounds of many things being thrown about. The sound of a hammer striking metal made me hedge towards the door of the back room. The noise seemed to have attracted Callie as well as I felt her hands firmly attach to the back of my shift once more. We peeked into the room and a bright, expansive room—filled with different materials—with Dyno at the back, hammering the sword I had been using over a bright blue fire, appeared.

As Dyno worked, the heat from the forge he was working with began heating up the room and I could feel sweat fall down my back. Dyno paid us no attention as he worked on the chipped sword from before. He kept drowning it in a shiny, blue liquid before bringing the sword back to the anvil where he would hammer it several times. I wondered what he was doing.