Foster stepped out of his room, now wearing his new casual outfit. He figured that he should only wear the Gi for actual training and when they went out for adventurer-related things, or when they entered a dungeon. Otherwise, wearing these clothes was more than enough.

“You guys ready to go?” He asked. Octer shrugged, “That’s why we’re here, right?” 

“Fair enough.” Foster replied, looking his friends up and down for a moment. They were wearing their new outfits as well. Octer clearly seemed quite happy with it, but Lynol seemed somewhat nervous. It didn’t particularly show on his face, but he was fidgeting with his new cloak quite a bit. As if wanting a distraction while they started walking, Lynol pointed at Foster’s hands, “Why are you wearing those gloves? You wore them when you got back earlier too.”

Foster looked down and slightly held his hand up, “They’re those casting-support gloves that the necromancer at the mage tower gave me. He told me to wear them as much as I can to get used to them.. It can feel sort of awkward to have my mana flow through them, so that’s why.” He explained, “Well, he did also want me to wear some under-gloves most of the time. He thinks I only have some level of resistance, and not complete invulnerability like I do.”

“…Why would that matter?”

“Ah, there’s some kind of necromancy gemstone set into it. I really don’t get it, but that’s sort of what he said.” Foster replied quickly, and Lynol wondered, “Are you planning on learning those spells on the spell scrolls that he gave you?”

“Yeah, I was thinking about it. But I don’t really know if I will. I don’t really get how it works.” Foster said, “But maybe I’ll figure it out at some point, who knows?” He pointed out, as the group of three made their way to their appointment together. It was as busy on the upper layer as it always was, so they went down to the bottom layer to save some time. Zhaine’s place was down here anyway, and the streets weren’t as confusing as up there.

It didn’t take long until the three of them spotted the sign of the restaurant, as well as Rae and Kyla standing in front of it, waiting for them. They were here to introduce Rae and Zhaine to each other. Zhaine was going to be their blacksmith of choice, so if Rae was going to try and be their handler, those two were going to be working together closely at times. Introducing them now was better than later.

Everyone greeted each other, although Lynol seemed to be completely distracted throughout it. He was staring at the shop’s door, wanting to just storm inside as quickly as he could. Today was the day that his new sword was going to be ready, after all.

“Let’s get inside.” Foster suggested, noticing Lynol’s longing expression. Before he even finished speaking, Lynol had already pushed the door open and was inside. Hearing the ringing of the bell that told him someone was there, Zhaine stepped out from the back of the shop, “Ah… yer here.”

“Yes. Is my sword ready?” Lynol asked, not wanting to wait another second. Zhaine smiled lightly, and nodded his head, “Aye, of course it is.” He said, pointing at the corner of the room. There was a white sword, hanging from a few hooks. Its shape was mostly similar to the sword that Lynol used before, with some differences, of course. It seemed like only the edges of the sword were made of the bones, while the core was still metal. Metal that was taken from Lynol’s old sword. And the handle as well, it was recycled and placed onto the new sword. 

Lynol stretched his hand out, wrapping his fingers around it, as he pulled the sword toward himself. With one hand, he started lifting it up, and soon added his other hand, since the sword seemed to be heavier than he thought.

“Seriously, those bones? Harder to work with than you’d think.” Zhaine complained, “Fairly malleable with the right techniques, but it’s just damned dense.”

“Thank you, Zhaine.” Lynol said, looking at the sword with a smile, “It’s heavier than I’m used to, but that’s fine. Rather, it’s perfect. But… do you maybe have a sheath of sorts for it?”

Zhaine scoffed, “Ya think this is my first day?” He asked, throwing something toward him. It started unrolling in the air. This was the sheath. Of course, you would never be able to pull something this size out of a normal sheath, so it was basically just a leather strip that Lynol had to throw diagonally over his body. On his back, there would be a hook to hold onto the handle, while the tip of the sword went into a rigid pocket, to hold everything in place.

Lynol placed the sword into the sheath and then put it onto his back. He seemed quite happy with all that weight placed onto his body, weirdly enough.

“We should go test it out as soon as we can.” Lynol suggested, looking at his party, “Don’t you think it’s time to go head into the basement as well?”

“Hol’ up for a moment.” Rachel said, interrupting this conversation from going anywhere, “You’re not even a complete party yet. You don’t even have a porter yet.”

Lynol sighed, looking at the handler, “If we head into the dungeon, it is just to get a feeling for it. Not to try and get particularly far into it or anything.” He pointed out. Rae looked back with a frown. She thought about it for a moment, and then soon came to a conclusion, “Fine, you’re right. It’s just, I don’t suggest you going particularly far without having someone that can at least take care of ranged attacks. From the fifth to tenth floor, there are a lot of flying monsters, and I’m not sure you would be able to take care of them that easily with your current party.”

“…Good point.” Lynol replied, before looking at Kyla, “What do you think?”

“Huh? Me?” She asked, surprised that Lynol would ask her for her opinion. But the swordsman simply nodded his head, “Of course. I’m pretty sure you know the most about the dungeon out of all of us.”

“…Well, that is true, but Rachel already said all there was to say. We shouldn’t try to get past the fifth floor until we have at least some sort of tactic to deal with them.” Kyla replied, and now, at least more than before, everyone in the party accepted that suggestion. Something that seemed to annoy Rae quite a bit.

“Oi, why’d you believe it when she says it? She’s a cleric, what does she know about dungeons?” She scoffed, before Kyla glared at her. That was something that made her even more angry than Lynol talking badly about religion or the gods.

She stepped up right in front of Rae, and locked eyes with her, “Listen here, I know more about dungeons than you can ever hope to be able to comprehend, you little brat!”

“That so, then-” Rae started, but Foster quickly stepped inbetween them and clapped his hands together, “Please both of you, shut it. We’re not done here yet.” He said loudly, and both Rae and Kyla fell silent. Foster quickly turned toward Zhaine, “You’ve still got something left to show us, right?”

“Heh… I knew you’d notice…” The Dwarf chuckled, as he slowly stepped into the back of the shop, soon bringing a wooden crate to the front that he placed onto the ground, “I finished the sword quicker than I thought, and you mentioned that you need some new armor too, so I took the liberty of using the bone scraps to make some for ya. I also used some of the metal from yer old sword.” He explained, presenting some new armor to Lynol. He raised his brows surprised, slowly picking it up.

“This looks like amazing armor. Thank you, Zhaine.” The swordsman said, but the dwarf just laughed quietly and shook his head, “No need to thank me, it was a fun project.” He pointed out, before turning his head toward the next person who he did work for, “Now to you. Yer shield was a real pain in the ass, ya know?”

“Ah… sorry, I know. It was really damaged, right? I know I should probably get a new one, but I can’t really let go of it yet.” Octer pointed out awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. But Zhaine immediately shook his head, “It’s not that… but rather… where did you find a ridiculous item like that?”