Chapter 174: Becoming Someone New

Everett was shocked to hear they had defeated the second floor already. The team arrived just in time for dinner. None of them had kept track of the number of hours they had been inside.

Once they had eaten and gotten a chance to meet with a few of the other faction members not currently in the tower, Max and the rest retired for the night, looking forward to a few days off and some planning.

“Are you okay?” Tanila asked as she ran her finger across Max’s bare chest. “You seem distracted.”

He turned and smiled, kissing her softly on her forehead. “I am, just considering things about the floor. I showed you the journal, and I’m keeping track of everything. Part of me wants to know why the fiftieth floor is the cut-off zone for so many, and I also want to know how easy we can expect our second run through the first fifty floors to be.”

Tanila chuckled and gently pinched him. “You say that this is a certain thing, that we are guaranteed to make it.”

Bobbing his head, Max shifted so that he was facing Tanila, staring into her green eyes as her red hair sprawled all over her back and shoulders.

“Do you doubt that we will reach the fiftieth floor?”

She took a deep breath and slowly let it out, studying Max’s intent gaze. “I don’t doubt it, but I also don’t want us to be stupid and rush into things we aren’t prepared for. At some point, we must ask ourselves if those rare spawns are worth it.”

Frowning, Max knew that question would keep coming up.

“Do we want the items that will help us reach the top?”

Tanila sighed and nodded.

“I agree there may come a time for us to have to skip something, but if we look at the gains we have gotten from the risks we took, there has to be a reason. A ten percent ring was given to everyone!” he exclaimed quietly. “That alone is worth ten levels of tower experience! The power of your spells saw a massive jump from that one item alone!”

She nodded and found no good response to Max’s argument.

“Do you think we can still trust that the gods are blessing you?”

“Right now, that is the one thing that is keeping me pressing forward. After the dragon and demon dungeon, I know someone is. What really scares me is what will come when someone finds out who I am. If they attempt to hurt you or the others–”

Tanila put a finger on Max’s lip, stopping his rant about a topic that always got him upset. “Let it go. Remember, you are not alone, and we are not weak. They won’t have to deal with just you.”

Kissing her finger, Max closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths, letting the frustration leave as much as possible.

“You’re right… as always.”

She nodded and winked, rolling over. “I know. Now, get some rest. We got a lot to do.”

“A magical disguise, you say?” Firbina asked, tugging gently on her orange beard. “Are we talking about something more than just making people look away from you and not recognizing who you are?”

Max nodded, glad that the dwarf owner hadn’t forgotten who he was and seemed excited to help him out.

“I know this might sound weird, but I don’t need to change a lot. Maybe just something that makes me have hair on my head and my face. Eyes that are the same color. Stuff like that. And change my voice as well.”

She nodded, and Max saw her as she started staring off to the side a little, eyes darting between things. A small case suddenly appeared in her hand.

It had a pair of eyes drawn on it, each of them shut. The small wooden case didn’t look impressive, but Max could almost feel the power coming from inside it.

“Do we need to talk price beforehand?” Firbina asked as she opened it up.

“What? No deal for your favorite arena combatant?” Max replied with a wink. “How much are you thinking?”

“I’ve got three different ones, but for what you want, I’m going to say it will be this necklace.”

She pulled from the case a long silver necklace wrapped around a black crystal with a single white line running through it.

“This will last for up to a week of constant use. For every minute used, it requires two minutes to recharge. The big problem is that you cannot keep it in dimensional storage during that time. It has to be left somewhere else in the world. This one will run you two hundred gold coins.”

Max couldn’t help the cough that came, even though he had prepared himself for the cost.

“And if I wanted something that never ran out of time?”

Firbina began to laugh and shake her head. “That’s not something I sell, and most couldn’t ever hope to afford. Kings and Queens play with those rare items, but you would probably need at least fifty thousand gold, and even then, they wouldn’t sell it. The kind of power to sustain an illusion like that forever is immense.”

Stolen novel; please report.

Pulling four coin bags from storage, Max tried to ignore the puckering sensation he felt below. Everett had given him three hundred gold, not asking too many questions about why he needed such a large amount.

He applauded my waiting to ask until after I had given the crystals and materials from the second floor.

“You don’t play around, do you?” the dwarf said with a smile. “Now then, let me show you how to use this, and we’ll go from there. Anything else you need?”

Shaking his head, Max fought back the grin that wanted to take over his face.

One step down, one more to go.

“You don’t look like a weaponsmith,” the dwarf stated as he studied the brown hair, brown-eyed human before him. “You certain you know what you’re doing?”

Max smiled and nodded, pointing at the materials in the back of the weaponsmith's shop. “As I said, I’ll gladly pay for my own materials and use of a station. I can’t promise I’ll be here often as I’m traveling with some family, but I’d like to practice some while here.”

The dwarf frowned, rubbing his dirty hands through his black beard, and finally nodded.

“Twenty silver per day, plus the cost of materials. Did you bring an apron and tools?”

Max nodded, pulling the apron from his storage and slipping it over his head.

The dwarf’s eyes twinkled at the sight of a young boy with storage and claiming to want to practice.

“Joshua, perhaps we need to rediscuss the price if you’re using one of those,” Zach said, chuckling slightly.

“Now, that wouldn’t be right, especially since it’s my father's,” Max replied. “Regardless, here is enough for two days, and I’m assuming the ingredients I’m going to use.”

The pouch he handed Zach made the dwarf’s eyes gleam and a grin appear.

“Okay, go have fun, but remember, if you break it or ruin it, I’ll make sure you pay!”

Nodding, Max moved to the forge area that Zach had pointed him at. All around the shop were eight forges, six currently in use by various dwarves and humans. The sound of bellows and hammers striking metal filled the air. The heat would be oppressive to many, but Max didn’t even seem to notice as the stats he had made the heat of the forges nothing more than a warm breeze. The air coming through from the open sides and giant doors helped make the area less stuffy and stale.

“Need help, sir?”

Max turned to see a young boy about the age of sixteen, sporting a little more muscle and a few burns, coming up to him.

“Working on your skill for choosing day?” Max asked, smiling at the red-headed teen.

“Yes, sir! I can work the bellows if you want and help as well!”

“What’s your name? I’m Joshua.” Max asked as he held out his hand.

“Brian, sir!”

“Enough, sir,” Max said with a grin, pointing at the forge Zach had given him to use. “I’ll be over here, but if you want, you’re more than welcome to come help me.”

The boy nodded, ran over to the forge, and saw the coals' temperature.

“I’ll get them heated if you need!”

Max nodded, putting the tools he had down, all wrapped in a leather cloth on a table. “Sounds good. I’ll be back. I want to see what kind of materials Zach has.”

The boy nodded, not saying another word, and was already starting the pump. The coals were starting to glow from the air he was forcing over them.

A few minutes later, in the area where a female dwarf watched everything he touched, Max found a few metal ingots ready to go and held them up for the woman to see. She nodded, and he put them in storage, watching her eyebrows raise as she sat forward, the book she was holding not as interesting anymore.

There were a couple of different types of wood already cut and carved out for handles of different sizes, and Max took two, knowing they would work for what he wanted right now.

Simple daggers, learn the process before trying to go all big.

The choice of the metal and the wood seemed easy, as his mind told him which ones were better. He knew that one ingot wasn’t perfect and that three of the precut pieces of wood had flaws.

Armed with that knowledge and some supplies, Max moved back to his area of the forge, ready to see what he could do.

Time had passed faster than Max had realized. The process itself was calming, heating, pounding, stretching, heating, and repeating over and over.

His skill told him where to hit and how to hit. The hammer felt perfect in his hand, and before Max knew it, the first dagger was ready to be quenched. The steam and fire from the oil, as it hissed, washed over his arm.

“You ok?” Brian called out over the noise.

Nodding, Max waited as long as he knew it needed, pulling the dagger from the oil and smiling. “The fire and steam aren’t that bad. After a while, you’ll get used to it.”

Brian made a face of disbelief, pointing to the burns and scars on his forearms and hand. “I’ll take your word for that, sir!”

“Ever made a grip?”

Shaking his head, Brian moved to the bench Max motioned to.

Setting the blade down on the bench and removing the tongs from it, Max began to show the red-headed teen how to measure and craft a handle for the dagger. The blade was nine inches long, and the balance was perfect so far. Once it was ground, sharpened, oiled, and finished, it would be worthy of an adventurer.

Max found himself smiling and laughing as he listened to Brian ask questions that he was able to answer even though he had never forged a weapon in his life.

His skill taught him everything he needed to know. With his strength and dexterity, Max was able to make mountains move in moments, shaping and crafting in a way that most couldn’t imagine possible.

Soon, two pieces of wood were perfectly cut and ready to be glued and hammered into the gap between the disc guard he had made. A small pined pommel would tap on top, and he could easily hammer the block into place.

Once the blade was set with the disc guard and everything was ready, Max used a smaller hammer, driving the metal piece into the tang.

He had ignored the looks from the other weaponsmiths, choosing to shape the wood now. Max went to work with the blade secured in a clamp, letting his skill guide him as the chisels took off just the right amount of wood, crafting the perfect shape and adding small lines to help hold the blade if it got wet.

Stepping back, he smiled and saw that all he needed to do now was sand down the wood and apply some oil. Before that would happen, he went to where the large grinding and sharpening section was.

“Brian, if you would,” Max motioned to the wheels.

The young redhead sprung into action, working the pedals and watching as Max began sharpening and finishing the dagger.

Giving the weapon one last wipe with the cloth, Max smiled and knew the blade was complete.

[ 10 Experience Gained ]

[ Rare Weapon Created ]

[ Choose a stat to grant a bonus to ]

Max couldn’t believe his eyes at the sight of those notifications.

Ten experience?! At that rate, it would only take one hundred more of these for a level!

Glancing up from the dagger, Max saw Zach and Brian both staring at him.