Danmachi : Start With Terraria Calamity Mod! Chapter 27 27: Preparations Before Opening for Business

As the holy land of adventurers, Babel Tower, built over the Dungeon, was filled entirely with shops designed specifically for adventurers.

Most of them were stores operated by business-oriented Familias.

Among the most representative of them was naturally the Hephaestus Familia, the one Drake belonged to.

"Fifth floor… this should be the one."

After stepping off the floating elevator-like platform, Drake held Lili's small hand and looked around.

The shops in Babel Tower were generally located on the fourth floor and above.

The first floor functioned more like an entrance hall, ant to accommodate the huge number of adventurers entering and leaving Babel Tower and the Dungeon.

The second and third floors contained public facilities run by the Adventurers' Guild, such as the exchange office and the appraisal office.

And the key Drake had earned through the Molten Festival was for a certain store on the fifth floor.

"Captain, is this also a magic-stone device?"

Lili looked back at the "elevator" they had ridden and asked in a low voice.

Unlike when she was in Terraria, once she went outside she had returned to the appearance Drake first t her in—her small face hidden under a large hood, as if shutting out the gaze of the world.

"That's right."

Drake nodded and explained softly.

"The principle behind this kind of lift is simple. A large number of magic stones are installed in the base, and their magic power is converted into buoyancy."

In the modern world, this kind of effect would require cutting-edge technology.

But once magic got involved, it beca child's play.

"Of course, since the magic power inside the stones can run out, they have to be replaced from ti to ti."

"I see…"

Lili nodded, half understanding and half not.

As a supporter, she had always wondered why the Adventurers' Guild endlessly bought back magic stones.

And what exactly all those collected stones were used for.

Today, she had finally seen a small piece of what "magic-stone technology" could do.

The atmosphere inside Babel Tower was completely different from the streets of Orario.

Almost everyone here was a fully ard adventurer, with different races, genders, and styles all mixed together in a dizzying display.

Because most of the shops on this floor belonged to the Hephaestus Familia, the goals of the adventurers coming here were all very clear.

They were here to find equipnt they liked—or to have worn armor and damaged weapons maintained and repaired.

As he passed display windows filled with armor and weapons, Drake also swept his Appraisal skill over them a few tis and couldn't help but sigh.

As expected of equipnt forged by the Hephaestus Familia—the quality really was excellent.

If he compared it to Terraria armor tiers, the equipnt here was at least on the level of Gold Armor.

So of the true high-end pieces, displayed as store treasures, even had stats comparable to Hardmode armor!

'So this is the effect of a developnt ability…' Drake thought to himself.

Most of the smiths in the Hephaestus Familia were at least Level 2, and had acquired the Smithing developnt ability.

Once one possessed that ability, one could use the power of the God's Blessing to imbue equipnt with extra properties.

For example, swords that would never break, or arrows with homing effects.

With ordinary forging thods alone, sothing that absurd could never be made.

The magic swords sought after by countless adventurers were also one example of this.

Right now, Drake was still only Level 1, so if he wanted a developnt ability, he would normally have to continue accumulating excellia and then rely on luck when leveling up…

But then again, maybe not.

With the Terraria Craftsman skill, he was guaranteed to receive a craftsman-related developnt ability when he leveled up!

"Wah… everything here is so expensive."

While Drake was browsing the equipnt in the windows, Lili also let out a shocked cry.

"Even a random weapon costs several million valis…"

"This red sword is actually thirty million valis?!"

"Even if Lili saved up for a hundred years, she probably still couldn't afford it…"

"Well, they are high-end goods stamped with the Hephaestus crest."

Drake rubbed Lili's head. Even through the hood, it still felt pretty nice.

"Captain, what's the difference between having the crest and not having it?"

"Of course there's a difference."

As a mber of the Hephaestus Familia, Drake naturally understood the logic behind it.

"Even within my Familia, only so smiths are qualified to engrave the Familia crest."

"Because it affects the comrcial value of the Hephaestus Familia na. Once the crest is stamped on it, that ans it's a high-quality piece of equipnt produced under Hephaestus."

"If soone deliberately sold it too cheaply, they might even be punished by the Familia."

Of course, that didn't an the Hephaestus Familia had no affordable equipnt suitable for low-level adventurers.

It was just that most of that lower-grade gear was sold under personal nas, not under the Familia crest.

"Eh? In that case…"

Lili seed to realize sothing, and her eyes widened in surprise.

"If Captain is able to open a shop here, doesn't that an you're also qualified to engrave the Familia crest?"

"That's right."

Drake smiled, then stopped walking and looked up at the plain, unmarked storefront in front of them.

"We're here."

This was the shop front he had obtained as part of the Familia's business property.

For the next year, he would enjoy rent-free use of it and have the chance to really make sothing of himself.

After unlocking the door with the key Hephaestus had given him, a wave of stale, dusty air rushed out.

The room inside wasn't exactly dirty or ssy—it had just gone too long without anyone taking care of it, so dust had piled up everywhere.

"Well then, let's clean it up first."

With Lili's help, the shop was soon completely refreshed.

As for the furnishings inside… Drake didn't even need to go out and buy them. He could just craft them by hand.

"Lili, give so wood and stone. And so gel too."

"Right away!"

At Drake's command, the prum girl quickly pulled a large quantity of materials from her inventory.

She had a full 100 inventory slots, and with the Piggy Bank added on top of that, it ca to 160—basically a walking humanoid warehouse!

"Workbench, furnace, anvil, sawmill, heavy workbench, solidifier, glass kiln… that should be enough."

After decorating the shop using the furniture he had crafted, Drake looked over his handiwork with satisfaction.

With the shop's layout finished, the next step was to fill it with rchandise.

Unfortunately, Drake didn't currently have the materials needed to craft equipnt, and the iron bars he had obtained through Eina's help were already used up.

He could, of course, make the absolute lowest-level items out of wood—things like wooden armor, bows, and swords.

But… selling that kind of junk under the proud banner of the Hephaestus Familia would be a terrible waste.

"I'll start by putting out healing potions and mana potions. As for equipnt, I'll deal with that once I have the materials."

After thinking it over, Drake bought a batch of potions from the Terraria shop and arranged them in the display cases and on the shelves.

"Captain, I think those torches could also be sold."

Lili, who had the rchant role, raised her hand and made a suggestion.

"The torches we have would already count as magical tools in Orario."

"As long as we explain that they never go out, and price them at 5,000 valis or more, people should still buy them."

"Hmm… that's true."

After thinking it over for a mont, Drake imdiately made a few signboards to explain the rchandise.

After all, not everyone had an Appraisal ability like he did.

"Oh, right—if torches have a market…"

Thanks to Lili's reminder, Drake's thinking widened.

"Then this should sell pretty well too!"