Danmachi- Hell’s Forge

The city grew larger and larger the closer we got to it until I began to question whether or not the place was built by these seemingly medieval people. Reason being the nearly two hundred foot tall SOLID stone wall that surrounds the entire thing and was nearly as wide as a standard two lane road back on earth. This city was so large that when we were standing in line to go through the gate I couldn't see the end of it by looking to either side like it encompassed the entire side of the horizon.

Apparently the wall wasn't there to protect the city so much as to keep any monsters that break out of the dungeon from escaping. I mean it made sense but considering the goblin I met briefly a week ago I am pretty sure the wall failed to do it's job. Anyways the entry procedure for the city was rather straight forward as the guards took one look at the Artemis familia before sending us through since they were regulars coming and going from the city. Inside the city was downright fascinating as immediately you were hit with just endless rows of buildings of every sort of architecture imaginable.-

Most were noticeably made of stone and wood though which Rethusa told me was because it was the easiest to replace in case it got destroyed. The shops, oh the shops! Every variety for as far as you could see, potions, food, clothes, weapons, you name it and there was a shop for it right near the gate hawking their wares.

"Don't even think about buying anything from these stores if you value your money." Ariande warned seriously when she saw me looking around excitedly.

"Why not?" I asked curiously.

"These places are newbie traps, Not saying they don't sell good stuff but it's all way more expensive than the stuff closer to the dungeon. I'll show you a couple shops that will do for you until you get to at least level two since they are on the way." she said with a smile.

"I appreciate it!" I said gratefully.

"It's fine. Truth is we all feel kinda responsible for you after getting you here you know what I mean?" she said waving off my thanks.

I nodded since I could understand the sentiment fairly well. It was a bit like rescuing a baby squirrel from a felled tree until it could take care of itself. An amusing thought now that I had it, me in a squirrel costume that is.

"You said you wanted to be an adventurer right Alex? Any Idea what sort of weapon you want to use?" She asked after we left the shop conversation behind.

"Hadn't really thought about it to be honest. Hey is punching the monsters to death an option?" I asked with a chuckle.

"Eh not until level two at the earliest and even then you'd need to specialize in strength and endurance." Ariande said after thinking about it for a moment.

It was a joke on my part so my surprise could be understood when she flat out told me that at some point it was totally doable. It basically tipped me off that any weapon was an option as well as your fists were as raw damage as you could get with weapons being force multipliers instead. I fell into thought as a result and allowed Ariande to physically guide me as we walked.

"I think I know what I want to use." I said suddenly which caught her and the rest of the Artemis familia off guard.

"Well don't leave us in suspense whatcha come up with?" Ariande asked curiously.

"I think I want to use a hammer. The sort meant for two hands but that has a short handle so I can use it with one hand." I said with a wide grin.

"That's a new one for me to hear about. Can you give better details like dimensions and weight?" Erisa a half-dwarf woman who had the blacksmith developmental skill in the familia asked curiously.

"Do you have a piece of parchment and some coal? If you do I think I can draw it out." I said honestly and even though they didn't it was an easy fix by stopping into a general goods store for them.

I took the parchment and coal stick and carefully sketched out Thors hammer from the marvel movies I remembered. On earth it would be impractical to use the thing as a weapon but here adventurers were super human so it was totally doable. The idea alone got me excited and I may have gotten a little over detailed in my sketch of the hammer. Front, side and top views were each drawn out to the best of my memory alongside the length and width of every part.

When I was done i handed the parchment over to Erisa who looked it over with a critical eye. "Hmm, at first glance this design seems impractical but if you were to turn one side into an axe head like this it should work on any kind of monster." she said after sketching out her modification.

Surprisingly it was similar to the storm breaker axe Thor used in the later films except the axe head was square shaped like a giant wedge and the handle was much shorter and of course had the standard Mjolnir hammer head on the other side. I loved it immediately.

"That's perfect!" I said with a wide smile as I admired the design. 

"If your first one is made out of steel I think you aught to be able to get it for cheap, Hell I think a few smiths would give it to you for free just because of how unique the weapon is. Bit of a warning though you should also get some gloves or you'll shred your hands on the handle from the weight in each swing pulling at your skin. After you raise your endurance though it should be alright to go bare." Erisa said helpfully.

"Thanks for the advice I'll try and remember it. To be honest though I am surprised none of you are trying to convince me to use a different sort of weapon instead." I said honestly.

"Nah sometimes a weapon just calls to you and you gotta embrace the call. We could all see the yearning in your eyes just looking at the sketch. That weapon theres got your name on it and that's a precious thing for an adventurer, shows talent." Ariande said seriously and the rest of the familia nod when i look at all of them including Artemis.

"Truthfully you've got it easy since you know what weapon you want to use before becoming an adventurer. Most of us just pick up whatever we can since nothing calls to us. Means we lack the passion for the weapon that you have and take it from me that passion goes a long way when it comes to mastering your weapon." Erisa said seriously and many of the women grimace at the reminder.