Chapter 43 - Arga's Proposal

“Wha—W-what did you say?”

Her fiery eyes glimmered under the single ray of light peering through the window.

“Listen Rei, I know there’s more to you than you let on. You have a pretty big secret don’t you.”

My heart sank.

I’ve been found out…

As if she knew what I was thinking, she tried to settle my racing heart.

“Don’t worry, I won’t ask you to tell me about it. So you can relax on that, we just met yesterday after all.”

Her words were so rational, her tone even calmer. There was sincerity behind it, I could feel the friendly touch she was putting on her words.

This isn't like the Arga that I know…she’s being so serious. It must be important.

“Ever since I could remember, I’ve had amazing eyes. My dad said it was a gift that I was blessed with and that I could succeed him and his fathers…all with these eyes. I can take one look at an ore and come up with the best weapon to create.

It’s something that’s always sort of just been there, so naturally I decided to put it to good use. I don’t know when I forged my first sword but I know that I’ve never stopped since.” She spoke with her eyes lowered but then suddenly they jolted up.

Her stare was in full effect, glaring at me with a determined look.

It felt warm.

“When I look at you, I see something too. Like one day you’re going to change this world, I don’t know how or when but I know it will happen.” Arga’s eyes remained set on me.

Change the world? This is the first I’m hearing of it, it sounds like some sort of cheap prophecy that you’d get at a fortune teller along the side of the road.

I want to believe that she’s crazy but…I feel somewhat convinced that she believes it. From her eyes alone.

“When you fought that Barhemoth you were holding back, that much I could tell. You were only really moving as fast as you could when it came time to kill it.”

“…What of it?”

“I want to see it…” Arga muttered.

“Excuse me?”

“I want to see it, with my eyes. How your journey turns out, I want to see the heights you’ll go to. I have my own goal you know?” Arga rested her hand against her chest.

“Think about it, the greatest adventurers all have their own, personal smiths. Those guys are working just as hard as the ones wearing their equipment—pouring their hearts and souls into making the weapons that bring us higher to the top of this Tower!”

She had a point. It’s said, behind every large guild is one of the greatest blacksmiths. Exceptional gear is the only way to stand out in the Tower, to advance. So it only makes sense that someone equally as exceptional would need to create it. So even Arga dreams of things like that then.

“So then what is it that you want exactly, Arga?”

“I want my gear at the top!”

Her words were so honest that I was taken aback.

“I must be crazy to think someone’s planning to reach the top of this Tower but…even so, I want my gear to be what gets you there. I want to be your blacksmith.”

Silence fell over the room.

She was fixed on me, waiting for a response. Her steeled expression turned discouraged. Just from looking at my puzzled expression, she assumed the worse. She had her answer.

Except.

“You’re not crazy.” I replied firmly.

Her eyes sparked open and the flame was relit.

“My dream isn't quite the top, but at least there’s something up there I am looking for. If you’re willing, a blacksmith would help a lot.”

I extended out my hand and she grabbed it zealously.

That was kind of embarrassing but…I don’t mind so much~

-

Arga raised her head back with a hand over her face. She looked relieved from my answer, I can’t imagine how long she must have been preparing that exchange in her mind before telling me.

“Phew~ I’m glad that’s out of the way, now we can get back to the main event!”

Straight to it.

She stood up with a sudden bolt and ran over to the workstation in the corner of the room. It was a long table with many loose papers and materials scattered on it, her hand went specifically to the large wooden box resting at the centre of it.

She opened it up and grinned.

With a quick gesture, she tossed it over to me.

“Here.”

A new Chakram was tossed to me, I extended out my hand and caught it by the handle. This one was even more shocking than the one before.

Unlike the silver metal base I was used to, this blade was completely white! The sharp outer layer blended in perfectly with the rest of the weapon. It was bright but easy on the eyes, giving out a subtle elegant look to it. The only part of it that didn’t resonate a snow-white colour was the black material wrapped around the handle where my hand rested.

“Another Chakram?”

Let’s see if I appraise it…

{Stronger Unnamed Chakram} {Rarity: A}

{Attack: 45}

This one is way stronger! It’s got more than 10 points higher in attack than the other—this blade is by far stronger between the two.

“Are these for me?”

“Well of course, you know anyone else who uses blades like that.”

Why do I get the feeling these were what she would have convinced me with, had I said no to her proposal earlier…

“They’re amazing, I can tell that they are strong blades.” I took a second look at them and the titles caught my eye. “Arga, why is this one all white though?”

Her eyes went sharp.

She stood up and walked over to the covered bumpy figure in the corner of the room. With a swift tug, she pulled off the sheet and revealed what was underneath.

“—?!”

A large wooden pole with armour wrapped around it lay beneath the sheet. My eye gravitated to the large chest plate that hung at the centre of the pole. It was an ashy blue colour with a silver vine pattern marked on it. The material itself was quite thin but it seemed more than durable.

I tapped it with my finger to confirm and a silent thung bounced back at me.

“It’s solid!” I said with a bewildered gaze.

Below it was knee pads made from the same design, along with a vambrace and shoulder pads. They were all made from the same material by the look of it, each fitting the design of the chest plate perfectly.

Once again reading my mind, Arga gave me the go-ahead and I rushed to take them off the mantle and try it on.

“It fits perfectly?”

Every piece of equipment managed to fit snuggly onto my body but left plenty of room to move around in. The armour was solid but surprisingly light, it couldn't have weighed much at all.

She wasn’t lying about having amazing eyes—these fit perfectly! How did she manage to get my sizes down so accurately just from yesterday's trip into the Tower…scary.

“How is it?” She asked.

I looked around the room, judging to see how much space I had to work with. I jumped into the air, my foot flew up diagonally and created a swish through the air. When I came back down to the floor, I flipped my body back and landed on my feet.

A perfect landing.

“It’s light but moves well. It's perfect—you made it perfect, Arga! Thank you!”

Her usual toothy grin returned and she gave her thumbs up of approval.

“I made it from those gems we smashed off of the Barhemoth. I melted them with some Makrum for the base and it made a light but sturdy material. I didn’t have any elements to infuse with it but the Barmenite has an effect of its own.”

“What kind of effect? Am I going to be able to shoot lasers?!” I gasped.

“Nothing like that… remember when we fought against it? That bastard was tough as hell but it also didn’t take get hurt from your wind blasts. It had a pretty strong resistance to magic so the armour should have the same effects.”

“R-really?! So I’m resistant to magic now…” I looked down at my hands as if my body had unlocked a crazy rare skill.

“Don’t get cocky though, it’s only a slight buff. A large amount of anything would be able to break through that effect. Also, it may be sturdy but it’s meant for monsters on the sixth to the eleventh floor, a strong enough hit and that armour might break.” She waved her finger around while emphasising her point. “Don’t push it!”

Suddenly my feeling of being invincible vanished and I was brought back to reality.

“There’s one more thing.” Arga handed me a pile of blue cloth, it had an ashy colour to it.

I held it out, letting its contents unfold from gravity.

“It’s a cloak?”

“I used Silver Moth as the material but when I heated up that Barmenite, it became like a liquid! So I thought I might as well mix them together." She grinned as wide as she could, excited for the creations I was wearing.

“This one also has a buff, it’ll amplify your stats slightly so your skills will be a little stronger.”

My face lit up even further.

I looked down at the set of gear wrapped around me and my face turned red.

{Barhemoth Gear} – {Defence: 30} – {Added Effects: +10% Skill effects, +15% magic resistance}

With this, I finally look like an adventurer!

**Author Note**

Would you want Barhemoth Gear? I bet it would be a cool cosplay right?