Danmachi- Hell’s Forge

It took me three whole days after leveling up to return to some sense of normal and not feel like my body was holding a grudge against me. That wasn't to say my body was done with it's refinement from the level up in that time merely that I no longer felt like shit. It came as little surprise but my tattoos had grown a bit though admittedly not by much. I now had three long triangles on my back at each side just under my shoulder blades which I assumed represented wings of a sort.-

'If I ever actually turn into a cursed spirit I think I'll actually look like a demon at the rate this is going.' I thought with a chuckle.

"Level three already lad? Really making the rest of us look bad with how fast you and that other lad are shooting through the levels." Hroldar said with a laugh.

He like most of the city had gotten the news of my level up almost the same day it was reported to the guild and had come for a visit as a result.

"Not much sense in slowing down when we can rise quickly now is there?" I asked with a shrug.

"Aye that's true. Still you two got some people starting to wonder if you'll come to threaten those hegemons sitting at the top at the rate you're growing." he said seriously.

"Not likely, while I can't speak much for Loki and her familia we are fairly friendly with both Freya and Hephaestus at the moment so neither are likely to turn hostile to our rise." I said honestly.

"Now that you mention it how come you aren't charmed by Freya like everyone else? Hell she's even got a bloody level seven charmed and yet you seem unaffected." he asked curiously.

I shook my head with a chuckle "Ottar isn't charmed by her, just devoted to such a degree that it might appear that way. As for myself I am just the exception to the rules so that infamous charm of hers rolls right off me rather than digging in. Ironically that is actually one of the things that pleases her the most and why she is so friendly with me, she's lonely." I said honestly.

"Bollocks! She can get nearly any man or woman in the entire world into her bed if she wanted to." Hroldar said in disagreement.

"Indeed she could but that was the whole damn issue, she can't have friends like normal folk because her charm affects damn near everyone. For all the "company" she could have she is so alone that besides Ottar she has no real companions. I present an oppurtunity for her to change that so naturally she was eager to take it. That was how we got where we are now." I said calmly.

"Hmmm, hadn't thought of it like that but upon imagining it it doesn't seem so farfetched at all. How do you know all this anyways lad?" he asked and I smirked.

"She told me herself of course." I said casually.

Hroldar wasn't the only visitor I got after my level up got passed around as Tiona, Ptah, Hermes and Hephaestus also came to give congratulations as well as look to uncover juicy information for themselves*cough Hermes cough*. For Tiona she wanted to test how much stronger I was now but left disappointed that I wasn't in any shape for sparring. Ptah was under the impression that after my level up my crafting abilities had no doubt soared to new heights and wanted to commission a whole plethora of things from me at my new and improved level of ability.-

I had to quite bluntly explain that that wasn't how the fuck that worked at all. While in theory leveling up should make me a better craftsman the reality of the matter was that all it did was increase the room I had to grow as a craftsman instead. I had already reached the pinnacle that I could achieve in the short term for my level two abilities before I leveled up but now I had a new pinnacle to stride towards after leveling up.-

Cursed tool crafting was simply just like that where there was in fact a limit to what you could achieve depending on your actual level of power. More power meant a higher limit, simple as that. Obviously you could exceed these limits with the right circumstances but the idea still stood just fine. Even in terms of my noncursed tool creations such as the figurines all my leveling up had done was increase my available cursed energy pool while allowing me to use less energy to do more. -

That last part was entirely because the energy had gotten an upgrade in quality when I leveled up and thus a smaller amount was worth more than before. [Cursebody] was also needing to be taken into account here as it boosted my efficiency by a not small amount. In any case I had bluntly told Ptah that he needed to chill the fuck out with his rampant commissioning as I still needed time for myself and didn't want to spend all of my time working like his commissions would have had me. I did accept a couple of smaller projects from him though just to keep him happy.-

Hermes was less welcome when he visited however as I still maybe was holding a small grudge from the previous incident.

"I have to admit you certainly have a pair on you to actually show up here looking for information." I said with a raised eyebrow at the smug blonde god sitting across from me.

"It wounds me that you'd think so little of me, do I seem like such a treacherous individual?" he asked feigning sadness.

I nodded vigorously "Yep, you give me the impression that you'd be more than happy watching terrible shit go down if it meant you achieved your goals." I said seriously.

His face twitched a bit at that and I chuckled "Seems like I struck a nerve, dead on am I right?" I asked and he sighed.

"That skill of yours is rather annoying, no hiding ones intentions at all when your very soul is laid bare to see. Since this is the case I'll be straightforward, you are dangerous and I'm here to make sure you don't become a problem." he said firmly with a sharp look in his eyes.

I smiled "See, was that so hard? It's a wonder how much we'd get done if everyone was so clear from the get go. Not that you are being entirely honest here that is. You already know becoming evil isn't possible due to my skill. No you are here to try and fish for information on my full strength, no doubt to try and make plans to "tame" me so I don't get in your way." I said with an amused look as his expression darkened.

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