Aqua

  The workshop I enter looks rather large. Larger than I was expecting.

  I can tell that it’s part workshop and part store, since there’s a desk at the front with several rows of displayed armor all around the place along with some weapons. But that’s pretty much all. Not that much in terms of the store front.

  And there’s no one manning the desk.

  That said, I can hear conversations coming from behind the door at the counter.

  Out of curiosity, I walk up to some of the gear before kneeling down next to the armor to check it. Then I glance at my own armor, where I realize I never actually bothered to replace the armor piece on my now-regrown arm.

  After a few seconds though, I decide it doesn’t matter. Seeing as that armor would just be crushed by creatures that I can easily crush myself. So the armor is pointless.

  With that in mind I don’t even bother putting the last pieces back on again. In fact, I actually take off the rest of my armor, leaving me in shorts, a t-shirt, and a hoodie. Because all that armor does at this point is slow me down.

  And once that’s done with, I put my hands in my hoodie’s front pocket as I walk over to the desk to ring the bell on it.

  “One sec!” I hear an unfamiliar yet very gruff voice echo from inside the door. Then more chatter between him and a voice I do recognize, followed by the door opening and them both coming out while arguing about something.

  “Armor should be thicker and have more defensive power! That’s just how armor should be!” the tour guide practically barks at the guy I’m assuming is the blacksmith.

  Meanwhile the blacksmith, a man with long hair and a beard and standing at a height even taller than the tour guide, barks back, “We’re underwater you dolt! Lighter armor meant for speed is where you go! No exceptions!”

  They continue barking back and forth between each other for a moment even after stepping out, seemingly more interested in their argument than the person who rang the bell. Which goes to show that this is probably more of a custom work specialized workshop than a ‘walk in and shop’ store.

  To make matters worse, the chat starts joining in on the argument despite the two idiots in front of me not being able to see them.

  I take a hand out of my pocket and rap my knuckles on his reception desk, making both of them turn to me and shout, “What?!”

  Only for them both to take in my appearance and freeze up. One of them showing recognition while the other is confused as hell until he no doubt sees my level and name.

  Then the blacksmith turns back to the tour guide and exclaims, “See? The First Ranker is wearing nothing but clothes underwater! That’s a build for speed if I’ve ever seen one!”

  “She was wearing armor before! This isn’t her usual look!” the tour guide shouts back before turning to me and asking, “Right? You were wearing armor before, so where’s your armor now?”

  After briefly raising a brow at his trying to pull me into the argument, I answer, “It was garbage and needed replacing. And I have some ore on me that I’d like to see if you can forge into new armor for me.”

  The tour guide deflates, seemingly disappointed in my answer somehow. Meanwhile the blacksmith gets a gleam in his eyes as he steps forwards, practically putting his face within inches of my own.

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  Pissing off the chat in the process.

  “Really, lady? You’ll order from me?!” the blacksmith asks with his eyes sparkling like a child’s. “And what type of ore is it you have?”

  The man is pulled away by the tour guide as he exclaims, “You’re too close. Give her space.”

  I ignore their bickering as I summon a piece of ore from my storage ring and pull my hand with said ore out to show him. Only for the man’s eyes to bulge as he shouts, “You have Deep Ore?!”

  That makes me blink.

  Deep… Ore?

  “I found it in one of the caves,” I answer with a shrug.

  The man glances between me and the ore over and over again before eventually sighing and saying, “Deep Ore is the strongest ore on the planet, that’s true enough. But I can’t work with it. None of our tools are strong enough to melt it.”

  “What about the System’s assistance?” the tour guide asks while tilting his head a little. “Could that help?”

  The blacksmith turns his gaze towards the tour guide as he answers, “Yes, but not for a long time. Until then this ore will remain useless to us.” He turns his gaze towards me with a slightly saddened expression. “I’m sorry little lady. I won’t be able to help you with this.”

  I just nod my head and take the ore back, not really expecting much.

  This is pretty much what I expected in fact. Since it’s doubtful that this material could be harvested very easily by these people, much less forged into something.

  “I’d be perfectly willing to forge you a new set with regular materials if you’re up for it,” the blacksmith says while puffing his chest out with a look of pride on his face. “I am the best blacksmith on this side of the Fortal Ocean!”

  “Debatable,” I hear a certain tour guide mutter while hiding it with a cough. Albeit not very well.

  “You bastard! Whose armor did I just spend weeks forging?!” the blacksmith shouts at the tour guide.

  I don’t have the time to watch another argument though as I answer, “Sorry, but I know a place I should be able to find better armor soon. If I ever need something forged in the future I’ll know where to go though.”

  The blacksmith looks a little disappointed, only to look me over for a moment and ask, “In that getup?”

  “He’s right,” the tour guide says. “If you’re going back to your home to search for equipment, you should at least wear a temporary set of armor while you’re at it.”

  Oh. Right.

  That backstory of his again.

  After that, the two insist on lending me some armor to wear the next time I go out. Which is nice and all, but I really don’t like taking charity from others.

  What’s worse is that I don’t even have anything to give them in return.

  No money. No items. Nothing.

  I’m not giving them any of my equipment or my storage ring, and I… wait a second…

  Ah. That could work.

  I open the Sponsorship System menu before accepting a couple sponsorships that I never would’ve used. Along with a couple I would but allow me to accept quite a few.

  Some food from the Alliance, a cooking knife available to level 25 and up Pioneers, and a special charging whetstone. One that sharpens weapons using mana.

  The two look incredibly confused as they see the items I dump on his desk. Only for the blacksmith to suddenly look excited when he picks up the cooking knife and the whetstone.

  And after a second, the tour guide joins him in the excitement when he tries some of the food. Seemingly enjoying it quite a lot.

  Which makes sense. The Alliance’s culinary skills are far more well trained than that of a newly initialized world.

  “You can have these as thanks for the temporary armor,” I tell them with a nod of my head and a faint smile, feeling rather satisfied by their reactions and the fact that I won’t owe them anything for this.

  As for the chat…

  [Aww, smug Aqua is adorable.]

  [Gimme more!]

  [So cute.]

  [She looks so proud of herself despite barely showing anything on that lazy face.]

  I, of course, choose to ignore them.

  At least my anger has cooled off a little bit thanks to these idiots.

  After watching them for a moment, I step into a side room pointed out by the blacksmith who is currently fussing over the cooking knife and whetstone before changing into the new armor he gave me. Temporary armor that’ll last until I level up once more and accept another armor core for level thirties.

  The armor itself doesn’t fit on very well over my hoodie though. So I’m stuck taking that off and putting on the armor in just my shorts and shirt.

  But that’s fine.

  As for the armor, it’s a rather plain dark blue in color. And the design is very basic.

  Although it’s a little tight around the chest and a little big in some other areas.

  I wonder if he made this just generalized for a female customer or if he made it with someone in mind?

  Either way, I leave the room with a slightly uncomfortable frown on my face, only to see the two arguing again about light or heavy armor.

  Seriously?

  I let out a sigh.

  Then I walk up with my arms crossed, attracting their attention before I state, “Lighter armor is better underwater. Period.”

  Making the tour guide instantly explode into some argument about heavier, more defensive armor working better against monsters with brute strength and duller teeth.

  Ridiculous.

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