A few weeks go by, and Cirrus was making good progress, his gear was far better than when he started with, and Eupheme worked hard to make them. She put her blood and sweat into them even asking Cirrus about his thoughts.

“So Cirrus, Clang!! How far have you made it? Clang!!”

“Uhh, about the 9th floor, I’m almost done fully exploring it.”

“Hmm… Clang!! you told me there is no one else in your Familia, right? Clang!!”

“Yeah, so far I’ve been able to get by, by being extremely careful and smart in how I fight.”

“Yet you are still a level 1.”

“…. That is right, I have been on an adventure for a while now.”

“A while? You're 7 years old. What age did you start?”

“Far younger than one would think.”

Cirrus lied as naturally as he breathed.

“How cruel… why don’t you tell me your god’s name so I can ask Lady Hephaestus to give them a good thrashing?”

“Haha…” Cirrus chuckled at her words. “So, uh, why are you asking now?” Cirrus said, changing the subject.

“Well, I was thinking ill come with you. I am a level 2, after all.” She said in a proud monotone tone of voice.

“Level 2… don’t you have a title?”

“I do, Clang!!, it is Karaoke!!” she said with a visibly smug grin on her face as she makes a pose.

“… Ah cool!”

‘The fuck is that name!!! Isn’t that Japanese for Empty Orchestra? Is that praise or an insult??’

There were many titles that Cirrus have read when he walked by some level up paper put up by the Guild or word of mouth. They were either pretty cool which was very rarely and reserved for the strongest Familia's. Then their was the very, very, cringe, 'I'm 14 and this is deep.' kind of cringe.

“One day you will have a title as amazing as mine, Clang!”

“Well… I guess so. I mean, what weapon do you use?”

“Wait, a second. Clang!!” She quickly worked faster, hammering at the weapon before putting it in to cool off. She got up and walked to the wall of weapons and picked up the spear. “This is my weapon of choice.”

“Ooh! You use the spear!”

“You sound excited? Did you want to learn how to use a spear?”

“I did, but I went with the sword, since it was an easier weapon for me to use.”

“Hm, I see… then I shall teach you how to use the spear down in the dungeon.” She said with a slight smile.

“Then where do you wanna meet up tomorrow?”

“Meet me back here. I still have my quota to make.”

“Quota?”

“Yes, Lady Hephaestus makes all of her smiths make stuff and sell them at Babel.”

“Was that why this short sword you made so cheap?”

“Mostly yes, I made it with cheap material and gave little thought to the price, still I wish you at least make yourself a better weapon.”

“I bought it. It’s mine. Besides, it’ll be a waste to not use a weapon to its fullest.”

“Hmph…” She looked a bit peeved.

 

Cirrus leaves the shop and returns home. The next day, he returns to the shop.

“Knock, knock. Eupheme I’m here!” Cirrus says, entering the shop.

“I'll be down in a second.” She said.

Cirrus waited downstairs, checking his gear once more, his mix of leather and metal armor pieces in good condition.

“Huh… a shield? Maybe I should invest in learning how to use it?”

He picks it up but finds it uncomfortable to use and more restrictive. He puts it back on the wall.

‘Guess no shield.’

After a bit, Eupheme came down in light armor and a headpiece holding her now clean hair and a 4-edged pointed spear.

“Now shall we proceed?” She said as she gets a large supporter's bag.

 

Down in the dungeon, they went down to the 9th floor and finished exploring it before heading down to the 10th.

The 10th floor is similar in structure to the previous 2 floors except it's filled with mist, making it hard to see. Euphemia helped Cirrus traverse the floor greatly.

“Hm, so have you gotten used to traversing this floor?” Eupheme asked.

“A bit. This spear is pretty good. Maybe I should carry one with me.”

“Hm, I can make you one, of course. I will take some of these as down payments.” She said, picking up the magic stones she got from killing monsters.

“I know… but this floor… doesn’t it seem a bit creepy?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, you can get away pretty easy?”

“That is true… we should leave for today; shall we explore more tomorrow?”

“Yeah!”

As they were leaving back to the surface, they met the Loki Familia coming down from the 9th floor.

“Oh, it's you again, Cirrus,” Riveria said.

“Ah, Riveria right? You haven’t come by recently.” Cirrus said.

“I have been busy.” She said.

“You know her Cirrus?” Eupheme asked.

“Hm, she’s a customer of my aunt’s magic store.”

“Oh… well, I am Eupheme Leukos, a blacksmith of the Hephaestus Familia and this one’s guide.”

“Oh, one of Goddess Hephaestus's blacksmiths, huh?” said a blonde Pallum who was slightly taller than Cirrus.

“You are Finn Deimne, the captain,” Eupheme said, surprised.

“I am sorry, but can you tell us if you saw or felt something was off?”

“Well, Cirrus here felt that this floor was creepy.”

Finn looked at Cirrus.

“Yup, this mist doesn’t sit well with me. A lot of stuff can happen in it, and we won’t be able to see it.”

“I see… well, we should be going. Everyone let's go.” His Familia began to move on. “It was nice to meet you two.” He then left with his Familia.

“I'll be sure to come by again to Lenoa’s shop,” Riveria said, walking with them.

“Great work getting this far, kid!” said a dwarf, slapping Cirrus on his back.

As they all left, Cirrus and Eupheme continued to the surface.

“… You don’t think Evilus was on or below the floor we were on, right?” Cirrus asked Eupheme.

“I do not know, but it is fortunate for us we did not meet them.”

They returned to the surface, and they turned in their magic stones and drops except for Eupheme, and returned to their own separate homes.