Wrong Ground, Spiral Twins

Hephaestus looked increasingly helpless towards her little friend who remained silent and in the same posture.

It's been two days and one night.

This is how long Hestia bowed her head to her, begging the Hephaestus Familia to make weapons for its members.

She was not bragging. The works of the superior blacksmiths belonging to the [Hephaestus Familia] enjoyed the highest quality reputation even among their peers, and the prices were so high that even first-rate adventurers or [Family] could not afford them easily.

It is even more impossible for Hestia's family who are still staying in the hotel to have the money to afford the goods of their own family.

For Hephaestus, the leader of the Hephaestus Familia, it was a taboo to casually sell the weapons made by her children with her hard work and sweat. So, she rejected Hestia mercilessly, but...

I'm being entangled!

Hephaestus couldn't drive her away, so she decided to ignore her and let her do whatever she wanted until she got hungry or something and gave up.

But two days and one night had passed, and she had not yet retreated.

For her best friend who kept this kneeling posture even when she was sleeping, almost scaring her to the point of falling off the bed, only this time did Hephaestus completely fail to understand her feelings.

Although Hestia had asked her for many things before, the situation seemed a little different this time.

"What on earth have you been doing from yesterday till now? What does this posture mean?"

"...Toshita seat."

"Dogeza?"

"As long as you do this, no matter what you do, you will be forgiven, and no matter what you ask for, it will be granted. This is the ultimate secret... That's what Jian said."

"Ajian? Jian Yulei?"

"Uh-huh!"

After getting the confirmation, Hephaestus thought of the god with whom she had some friendship.

"That rascal……"

Hephaestus sighed deeply. Unable to concentrate on her work, she finally put the quill in her hand on the corner of the table and put the affairs aside for the time being.

"Tell me, Hestia, what brings you to this point?"

"That child needs my help!"

Noticing the change in Hephaestus' attitude, Hestia continued to sit on the ground and answered excitedly, "He reached the sixth floor a few days ago, and may be exploring the seventh floor now. That child is really working hard and trying so hard to become stronger that he is always pushing himself.

"Every time he comes back from the dungeon, he is injured. He is hardly ever in good health. He is running on a very dangerous path. If he continues like this, I am very worried that he will suddenly collapse one day."

"In this case, even if you prepare the best weapons for him, you may not be helping him."

"I know, so I'm not just asking for a weapon.

"As for that child, he actually didn't want to get more help from me. When he realized that I would come here to seek your help, he even refused without hesitation, trying to stop me from doing so."

At this point, Hestia's voice was filled with a hint of laughter. "But I told him that I would not let him have his wish. I must let him know that he is not alone, and his life does not belong to him alone. I will respect his will to move forward, but I will never allow him to despise his own life."

The act of asking God for something is a ritual of being honest and showing oneself without reservation.

"Do you know what he did the morning after he knew I was coming, before I got here?"

"what?"

"He bowed to others!"

Hestia slowly raised her head, and her sincere and determined eyes met Hephaestus's gaze.

“Although he always addressed me with honorifics, in his heart he was actually prouder than anyone else, even a little arrogant.

"After all, he was a child who didn't even want to owe the gods more than they deserved. However, after realizing that he couldn't stop me, he ran to see an elf with whom he only spoke a few words, bent down in front of her, bowed his head, just to ask her to teach him.

"Hephaestus, I know it's shameless and embarrassing for you to come to you to help that child, but I still want to help him.

"For so many days, I have been accepting his offerings unilaterally, and I have been able to do very little to help him. I don't want to be a burden to that child, Hephaestus, I am the main god of that child!"

After revealing her most sincere feelings, Hestia lowered her head again, waiting for the result as if she was waiting for the judge to make the final judgment.

After a long silence, Hephaestus slowly stood up.

She could feel that Hestia's intentions were not false, and although agreeing to her like this would make her seem too doting on her, she was clear in her heart that she was happy to help Hestia now. Compared to her previous self who only knew how to eat and do nothing and stay in her room, Hestia now was obviously much cuter.

Thinking of this, Hephaestus couldn't help but smile a little, "I know. Just make a weapon for your child!"

Hestia opened her eyes wide, suddenly raised her head, and was stunned for a long time before she replied happily: "Thank you, Hephaestus!"

Seeing her best friend trying to stand up, but staggering due to kneeling for so long, and then returning to the position of hands and feet on the ground, and finally smiling with red cheeks, Hephaestus sighed hypocritically.

"First of all, you still have to pay. No matter if it takes dozens or hundreds of years, you must pay off this debt."

Public and private matters must be clearly distinguished; this is Hephaestus' bottom line.

The world-famous [Hephaestus Familia] would never work for free. Even Hestia, their best friend, would have to pay the corresponding price.

"Of course! I will definitely not default on my debt."

"Remember what you said."

Hephaestus glanced at Hestia, who was holding her head high and chest out, and walked towards the wall frame fixed on the wall.

There were several small hammers on the shelf that were polished to a shine like new ones. Hephaestus picked up a scarlet hammer and then walked to the transparent crystal material box. While unlocking it, she asked, "What weapon did your child use?"

"It's a one-handed sword... He-Hephaestus, are you planning to make the weapon yourself?"

"Yes, of course!" Hephaestus glared at Hestia with her left eye that was not covered by the eye patch, and said, "This is a completely private matter between you and me. How can you involve the children?"

"Well, well, well!"

Hestia nodded in surprise, her childish face full of smiles.

Chapter 13 'Small Goals'

When a person is determined to move forward and give it his all, it seems that there is never enough time in the day.

Every morning at 5:30, I would go to the 'Hostes of Abundance' tavern on time, and return to the hotel for breakfast before 8:00. Then, I would either learn the common language, or digest the gains from the guided battle, or just go to sleep, rest for about three hours, and then at noon, I would finish my lunch early and go to the dungeon.

The routine of life between two points has changed, but in the dungeon, fighting is the constant theme.

"laugh--"

A sword pierced directly through the brain from the mouthparts, killing the last monster in sight, but Su Mo did not dare to relax at all.

Being able to enter a pure rational state at any time and improving his combat skills allowed him to reach the seventh floor on the third day after arriving at the sixth floor. On this floor, the most common monsters were the killer ants, which were also known as the "newcomer killers" along with the shadow ghosts.

Phosphorescent light poured down from the ceiling, bringing some light to the dim cave. In this quiet environment, the sizzling sound of the soil rubbing against each other was so clear.

As the soil layers were lifted up one by one, killer ants, whose bodies were all red and whose appearance reminded people of ants, broke out of the ground.

With four legs and two arms, the upper body stands upright with a slender waist as the starting point, as if raising its head.

The front end of the arm is four well-developed claws, and the curved, twisted and protruding posture exudes a creepy luster. The killing power does not need multiple rounds, and in terms of protection, the shell covering the surface of the killer ant's body is as hard as armor, and half-hearted attacks will only be bounced off.

However, the abilities that earn the killer ants the name "newcomer killers" are more than just these. The biggest threat to defeating killer ants is that they will call on their companions.

It's not the kind that shouts loudly. When killer ants are in danger, they will emit a pheromone-like substance that is imperceptible to ordinary people and directly attract their companions to come.

Therefore, the best way to defeat killer ants is to attack the soft flesh inside the shell through the gaps in the shell and kill them with one blow.

"--squeak--"

After locking onto the target, the killer ants that were born almost immediately rushed towards Su Mo with strange squeaking sounds.

He held the sword diagonally to block the claws, took a step forward, and the tip of the sword slid into the killer ant's upright body through the gap in the shell.

After accepting Liu's guidance, Su Mo's biggest gain was that he changed many unnecessary fighting habits, and at the same time he began to truly grasp his own advantages.

What is his greatest strength? Is it his fighting skills? Is it his durability? Or is it his strength and speed?

No! He could remain calm even in life-or-death situations. His greatest advantage was his ability to make precise counterattacks.

It is better to have one fresh trick than to have all the tricks!

It is unrealistic for him to become a swordsmanship master in a short period of time. High-rise buildings all start from the basics.

Dodge, defend, counterattack while ensuring your own safety, abandon unnecessary actions, correct habits that are not conducive to combat. Being able to accomplish these three points in the most streamlined way is a success.

The moment he chose the one-handed sword as his weapon, Su Mo wanted to become a master of the wind who would move forward fearlessly and strike harder and harder.

But the reality is always cruel. Gorgeousness and handsomeness are not used in dungeons. Here, simple and unpretentious techniques are the most practical and effective means.

Fighting and retreating, soon, the five newly born killer ants returned to the arms of their "mother".

Recovering the magic stones and dropped materials at the fastest speed, Su Mo quickly changed direction...

……——……

Starting from the sixth floor, the materials dropped by monsters began to increase. Many materials, such as the fingers of shadow ghosts and the scales of killer ants, were much more valuable than magic stones.

As an Asian, Su Mo's luck is neither good nor bad. He can obtain one or two valuable materials every day.

Due to the increase in material drops, more magic stones were used by Su Mo to absorb. As a result, a small misunderstanding was born, because the materials and magic stones were completely disproportionate when exchanging money, Su Mo rarely received praise from the consultant, Aina.

When attacking a dungeon alone, you should attack the magic stone directly. You can earn money slowly, but you only have one life, so you did the right thing... The above are Aegina's original words.

If he remembered correctly, this was the first time he was praised by the consultant, although it was due to a misunderstanding.

Exchange money, get treatment, buy supplies...

The time spent in the dungeon has been reduced in the past few days, but the hunting efficiency has improved a lot.

Especially in terms of treatment and medicine expenses, after clarifying the fighting method, the rising trend finally dropped, which made the drugstore's sign lady look at him with a bit of a strange look recently.

It was a look of both relief and regret, as if one was about to lose an important client and wanted to retain him but felt powerless... To be honest, it was a bit creepy.

He returned to the hotel at nine o'clock. Three days later, Su Mo saw Hestia again in his room.

She was sleeping very soundly, and even when Su Mo opened the door and the magic stone lamp made a lot of noise, it did not disturb her.

——Is it because you didn’t get enough rest these days?

Walking closer slowly, the little goddess seemed to be immersed in Su Mo's beautiful dream, with an obvious smile on her face, but it must be admitted that her sleeping posture was really bad.

After gently covering her with the quilt, Su Mo's eyes turned to a long package on the bedside table.

He picked up the package quietly and opened it carefully. What caught Su Mo's eyes was a one-handed sword with a pitch-black hilt and scabbard, and a small rectangular wooden box.

When the wooden box was opened, there was indeed a contract, or rather a bill, inside.

Although he has been taking time to learn common characters, there are still many characters that he does not recognize. However, Su Mo can still recognize numbers.

There are seven zeros at the end and two numbers at the front. If you count them carefully, it is 320 million Fares. Converted into RMB, it is almost a "small goal".

Su Mo took a deep breath.

His family was fairly well-off, with the porcelain craft having been passed down for several generations. They were a typical family that was content with a modest fortune.

By the time of his father's generation, in addition to the old workshop that inherited the craft, he and his uncle jointly opened an automated factory. Such family conditions were not bad at all. But even if all the assets of his family were added up, it would only be 10 or 20 million, or 100 million at most... Well, he had never been so rich.

Starting from today, there is one more 'small goal'.

After collecting the bill, Su Mo turned his attention to the weapons.

The moment Su Mo picked up the weapon, the first thing he felt was heaviness, both physically and mentally.

Slowly pulling out the sword, the blade was completely black and engraved with complex marks. The overall shape of the weapon was like a work of art, revealing an indescribable sense of sacredness. Just one glance was enough to make people unforgettable.

Referring to the two hundred million small black knives, these complex marks should be the sacred texts.

"!"

The sacred words on the back seemed to begin to heat up, and in response, the jet-black blade began to emit a light blue-purple luster. The moment the sword was completely pulled out, the heaviness disappeared, replaced by a perfect weight that did not make people feel uncomfortable at all.

This is the characteristic of being ‘alive’… The feeling of the weapon changing with its master made Su Mo a little amazed.

Chapter 14: Pure Killing

The bone blade was stained red with blood, the sharp dragon claws tore the flesh, and the crazy roar was mixed with harsh sound waves. In the "deep layer" that even the second-level adventurers dared not easily set foot in, in the deep cave tunnels, a pure killing was taking place.

Kill kill kill kill kill——!!! ...

Many monsters that were regarded as powerful enemies by adventurers were fleeing frantically, but most of them could not escape the fate of being slaughtered.

In the dim cave, magic stones and materials fell to the ground, forming a long path, telling the beginning of the killing and the ongoing process.

There is no need for a reason, no demand, and even no fixed target. It is just killing for the sake of killing, the purest killing!

The huge devil spider let out a panicked wail. With one of its feet suddenly grabbed, it could no longer bear the word "devil". The real devil raised the butcher knife behind it and fell without hesitation...