I used magic to begin cleaning off the blood covering my body. I did this by forming a kind of "net" of mana particles and removing only foreign material from my clothes and body. Because it was "foreign material", it was effective at cleaning off dirt too, though the smell remained to an extent.

When I reached the top of the stairs, Christy's back greeted me. I could tell she was holding her arm and looking at the floor. She noticed my presence and spoke up. "...You're much more brutal than I ever imagined. And... You were smiling in the bloodshed. Is killing really so fun?"

Iris: "Was I? I cant remember smiling during all of it. And if you ask if I enjoy it, well..." My voice fell silent. I wanted to say I don't particularly care for it, but maybe somewhere in my mind I knew that it was fun. To revel in blood and death. Maybe I should accept it, but if I did, would I still be human? "...I can't say. More importantly, we should head back. And killing that scum wasn't a questionable thing to do. You saw the experiments they were conducting, didn't you?"

Christy: "...Yeah, I suppose so. Let's go. And you better explain why you did 'that' earlier!" She said, looking at me with a pout as we walked side-by-side out of the warehouse. I gave a slight nod but... 'That'? Earlier? I wasn't fully sure what she was talking about. I had forgotten.

Instead of climbing over the city wall to get back into the middle ring, we decided to go around to one of the gates and enter through there. This way we could lay low instead of risking attracting attention, especially since we just wiped out a part of the Alchemists of the Deep. 

Next, as it was coming close to mid-day already, I began to walk towards Lira & Patton's shop. I wanted to check in on the progress of my new equipment and perhaps order some modifications to my existing weaponry. We did take our time though, so we did shopping Christy wanted to do first. We dropped by a book store for engineers, and I browsed the material while she bought a few books. Next, we stopped by an accessory shop for hunters, and we bought a dimensional bag for christy. I had my own already, but she said she needed one too. I chipped in and helped buy a better one than the bag she was going to originally get.

Next we dropped by a curio shop I took interest in. It was on the same street as Lira & Patton's workshop, so I may have had slightly higher hopes than normal. There truly were some odd things inside. Magical orbs that held various effects, old trophies from long-dead monsters like skulls or limbs. There were chemical goods too, both mineral and organic. Some artificial. I took a few that Licht was interested in experimenting with, but he didn't tell me why.

There were also mechanical objects. There were a set of cylindrical objects that were listed as "hand-pilebunkers", a basket of small grey spheres listed as "Smoke-bombs", of which there were other types too. Tear bombs, poison bombs, odor bombs. How eccentric. I took a small pouch of tear-bombs. 

Conveniently, near them were a selection of goggles. Eye protection will also be essential some day, so I took two pairs of goggles as well. I guess the owner knew eye protection would be a requirement for some of these bombs. The store sold masks too, but they weren't next to the bombs. After all, you could just hold your breath and cover your mouth. I rang my order up at the counter, at which was a scrawny old man... Not. Actually, unusually, a small girl in a baggy shirt and shorts was at the counter, reading a book wider than her torso. She looked up at me with a bored expression and turned her attention to the order as she began tallying the cost.

Shopkeep: "Unusual for a girl to show up here at this shop. Usually weirdos. Weirdo hunters. But you're a weirdo too, even if you're a girl, right?"

Iris: "If I'm the weird one here, then you must be some mythical creature."

She let at a giggle before responding. "Right you are miss, I'm a one-of-a-kind little girl that makes weird tools and sells them as a hobby. Names Mica, Hope to do business with you in the future." She gave my total and I paid up

Iris: "Sure, I'll probably stop by again. My name's Iris."

She waved me off after I stuffed the items into my bag and left. I waved back before the door shut behind me, and I made my way over to the workshop, Steam & Steel. Someone just came out of it too, a Middle-aged man with a greatsword on his back. He looked like a heavy warrior, with big, heavy gauntlets and pauldrons with a breastplate and greaves. Seems like his tactic was to play the vanguard and deflect attacks with his armored arms while keeping the core free to move.

We passed by each other without any notice and I entered the workshop with a ring of the bell. The shop clerk greeted me and recognized me after

Clerk: "Ah, welcome iris."

Hearing that, the other figure who just appeared from the back room carrying a cloth bundle under their arm exclaimed "Iris?! Ah, just in time! We just finished your order! Come check it out." It was patton, who hurried over to the counter and rolled out the cloth to reveal the mechanism I ordered. I approached the counter to take a look at the mechanism. It was a long, square object with a pair of heavy leather straps meant to be worn under the forearm, with a recess in the middle that housed what looked to be a blade. I put it on before looking at patton.

Iris: "By the way, what's Lira doing?"

Patton: "Ah, we jus' got anotha order, ya see. So Lira's workin' on makin' it."

Iris: "I see. Do you have a target dummy around?"

Patton: "Sure, lemme show ya."

I followed patton into the back of the store, where materials and goods were stored, as well as a wide open space with a target dummy set up. I stepped onto the range and held out the mechanism before flexing my arm and channeling mana. With a click and a SHIHNCK, a straight blade came flying out of the box with a metal cord attached, and the blade unfolded into a hooked sickle, digging into the dummy and forcing the cord to hit and wrap around the target. Once wrapped, I clicked the mechanism again with mana inside and with a vrrrrm, the cord started reeling back into the box as the sickle sliced the target into ribbons, being forced along the path of the cord. As it reached the box, it folded back into a thin blade and slid into the mechanism.

Iris: "It works perfectly, how much do you want for it? Im very satisfied with what you've made for me."

Patton: "Fantastic, I'm glad it worked out. As fa payment... 1 silver should be fine. We got some fun outta it anyway."

Iris: "Sure, then here you go." I paid him the silver coin, before bringing up another topic. "By the way, could I ask you to modify my steamgun? It's good as is, but I want more stopping power behind it, and I have an idea or two."

And so I gave him my steam gun and told him about what I wanted as he listened attentively. It took me a bit of time and I had to draw some example blueprints and write keynotes, but he agreed to work on it enthusiastically. And so I left the workshop one weapon down and another up. Christy had been waiting outside the whole time reading one of the books she purchased, and greeted me with a smile as I came out. Except I had the feeling there was danger around. I subtly looked around us with paranoia.

Where was I getting this feeling from? Then it hit me as she spoke. "Iris. Now that we have time, would you like to explain"

Iris: "Um... Christy? Explain...?"

Christy's expression almost looked like it darkened. Certainly a girl like her wouldn't have 'Pressure', right? "Surely you didn't forget. How you stole something of mine? A 'first'?"

Stole? First? I didn't take anything from her... Ah. It was as if the cavern itself collapsed on top of me with revelation. Like Licht facepalmed in my mind without interfering. I think it was apparent on my face too.

Christy: "You! You did forget! That you kissed me out of nowhere! That was my first time, and it was so easily forgotten..."

She pouted hard while blushing deep red. I couldn't tell if she was embarrassed or angry from the color, but it felt like she was both. I became rigid and bowed deeply before explaining myself. "Im sorry! I had to hide us in plain sight so we wouldn't be questioned for eavesdropping on a suspicious conversation. That was all I could think of at the time. Sorry!"

She remained silent and crossed her arms. I could feel her staring at my head for a long time before she huffed and sighed. "Haah, really, this girl... I'll forgive you this once, but you'd best take responsibility." She said before turning on her heel and walking away. I sighed in relief as I followed behind her. What a day...

DrakanVecta

Small update to this chapter, I wanted to take a moment to talk about Iris' weapons. She has a lot now and I'm not stopping yet. Iris has, so far: Two short swords, closer to large daggers that can connect into a longsword, a set of throwing knives, a Low-caliber steamgun, Claws, magic darts, and now what I'm gonna call the Grapple-sickle. The reason Iris is expanding her armory so much is because options are crucial in combat. She, as a primarily solo fighter, has to be prepared for any possible engagement. This means having multiple options for ranged combat, multiple options for close-range combat, and a number of tricks to catch an opponent off-guard. Such as a grappling hook, being able to restrict an enemy or move to an unexpected location or in an unexpected way is very valuable. Anyways, this might all have been obvious, but I wanted to talk about it anyway. Hope you all continue to enjoy my series