Everyone followed Arwin back to his smithy, where he very proudly unlocked his door, pausing to make sure everyone saw him push it open. “Why’s he doing that?” Rodrick whispered as Arwin walked inside. “He got a door,” Lillia explained. “That doesn’t explain anything.” “No, it makes sense.” Lillia looked back at the door and nodded. “It’s a nice door.” Rodrick didn’t respond. He’d spotted the pile of armor lying on the ground beside the anvil. Sitting on top of the anvil were a pair of scale greaves and a chest piece, both faintly shimmering with the Mesh’s power. He stood in mute disbelief, staring at the items as if they were a pile of glittering gold. Rodrick swallowed heavily and looked over to Arwin, raising a finger toward the armor. “That… me? It’s for me?” Arwin chuckled and nodded. Rodrick looked like someone had just told him he had a long-lost son. Edging toward the magical pieces of equipment, Rodrick drew up to the anvil and let his hands brush over the scale plate. Fortunately, finding Reya was a fairly simple task. By the time they left the smithy and headed toward the tavern, she was on her way out of it in search of them. “Did I miss something?” Reya asked. “Also, hi Arwin. Haven’t seen you much recently. Did you like what I did with the smithy?” “Wait, that was you? You swept everything up?” “Yep! It looks way better, doesn’t it?” “Much better,” Arwin agreed. “Thank you very much. It’s looking more and more professional with every day. I still have no idea how you managed that while I was working, though.” “No offense, but you’re basically as dense as a brick while you’re smithing,” Reya said through a snicker. “I was singing to myself the whole time while I cleaned, and you didn’t notice me once.” Arwin grunted. That was mildly concerning – he’d have to remember to lock the door while he was working in the future so nobody strolled in and robbed him blind. “So, what’s everyone up to? You all look excited, and it’s making me feel left out.” “We decided it’s just about time to use that key of yours,” Arwin said, bringing Reya up to speed on everything that they’d just discussed. “Are we really going to be able to handle a Journeyman level dungeon, though?” Anna asked once Arwin had finished, biting her inner cheek. “I mean, we barely managed to handle a high Tier Apprentice Lizard.” “That was some time ago, and there are more of us now,” Arwin said. “Dungeon monsters, especially ones at the start, should be easier to handle. I’ll admit that it’s far from ideal, but the forest is too dangerous with the Wyrm roaming around it. This might be our best shot at a safe training space.” “Do you think the thieves’ guild will let us in? I bet they’re still guarding it.” Reya warned. “It’s hard to say. If they want to pick a fight, I think we’re pretty well equipped to handle it,” Arwin said. “They won’t have their whole guild there, and I think we more than made our point the last time we had a disagreement.” “You had a disagreement with a whole guild? Were they a small one or something?” Anna asked. Arwin cleared his throat. “Maybe we’ll tell you the story on the road. It’s a bit of a long one, and all that matters in the end is that we’ve got a chance to do something big here. If we can handle the dungeon and get strong enough to fight off the Wyrmlings – not only will we get stronger, but I’ll have a slew of powerful new materials to work with.” “I’d have new ingredients to cook with as well,” Lillia said, licking her lips. “It’s dangerous, but we’re not getting anywhere by hiding like cowards. I’m in.” “I was in the moment you gave me this,” Rodrick said, tapping his armor. “If you need a whole guild destroyed, just point me in their direction. I’ll take ‘em out.” “You’re such an idiot,” Anna said with a laugh. “I’m in, obviously. Journeyman Tier monsters aren’t going to be easy, but I’ve seen almost everyone here fight. We can handle it as long as we can get past that guild, it’s a chance. If we pull this off, we might actually have enough capital to look into becoming a proper guild.” “I’m obviously in as well.” Reya gave Arwin a confident grin. “I’m not letting you just take my key and waltz off with it. Besides, I’ve got a new class to test out. I want revenge on that stupid Wyrm for eating my dagger. Let’s do this.” “Hold on. We should wait for Lillia to take off her disguise first,” Rodrick said. “It can’t be comfortable to fight in all that stuff.” “Actually, it’s semi-permanent,” Lillia said. “It doesn’t really come off easily. I’ll just fight in it.” “Seriously?” Rodrick let out a whistle. “Wow. You’re dedicated to the cause, aren’t you? I respect it.” I can’t believe that actually worked. I suppose anything is more believable than her being a literal demon. “We’re all in agreement, then.” Arwin scooped his blacksmithing hammer off the ground and tested its weight. Even though it was meant for the forge, the thing was one hefty bastard. It would be perfect for bashing in the heads of anything that got in his way – at least until he got the chance to forge his new weapon. “Reya, care to take the lead? We’ve got a dungeon to start clearing, and the only thing that might be standing in our way is a tiny little guild.” “So they were small after all?” Anna asked. “What, do they have five members or something?” “No, it was more like thirty,” Arwin replied absently. He ignored the horrified looks that Anna and Rodrick sent him. “Don’t worry about that. We probably won’t even have to fight them again. The last time I confronted their guild I sent a pretty strong message.”