Back in Lindarth, you immediately found your way to Lisbeth's shop. It was already well into the night, but despite that, you could see the lights on through the windows. Her shop was officially closed, so this was entirely work on the raiding party's equipment. When you got close to the entrance, you could hear Lisbeth's hammer rhythmically pounding away at metal. The front door was locked, so you couldn't just let yourself in. You didn't have a key, either. Instead, you forcefully knocked on the door, just to make sure you could be heard.

Soon enough, you heard the beating stop. A moment later and Lisbeth was at the door with her trademark smile. And a set of whiskers.

"Who's there…?" She paused when she realized who was at the door. "Oh, it's you! Come on in!"

As soon as you stepped inside, she shut the door and trapped you in a giant hug.

"Silica told me about what happened. Thank goodness you're okay."

Then something made her jump back.

"Whoa!" Liz yelped as she pulled away.

"What's the matter?"

"You feel really hard right now… hard as a rock."

"It's a long story." You didn't catch onto her implication at first.

"Aww, I just didn't think you'd be this happy to see me!"

"Wait…" It took you a second to get what she meant. "Wait, no! That isn't it! I swear I'm not!" She turned you into a blushing mess immediately. At least you got to hear her adorable laugh afterwards.

"I know, I know! I'm just messing with ya! Tell me what actually happened later, though. I'm still in the middle of this job. Might have to pull an all-nighter for it."

"Right, I just came by to say hi and all. And not to work yourself too hard, I guess. I gotta ask though, what's with the whiskers?"

Getting a closer look at them, they looked awfully familiar.

"Oh, these?" She traced one with her finger. 'It's just something Silica came up with. Said trying a neko style might bring in a few more customers. I find that pretty hard to believe, but last time a friend gave me fashion advice, I became one of the most successful businesses in Aincrad."

Honestly, you found that hard to believe as well.

"Wouldn't you need ears to go along with them, though?"

"Yeah, I would. Silica said she had a pair, but isn't letting me borrow them." Her voice was getting slightly more uncomfortable.

"Oh, fair enough."

"Anything else you need?"

"Just wondering if I could stay the night with you."

Her face went chili-red. "What? Why?"

"Doctor kinda drained me of cash, and I don't think I can afford one night at the inn because of that."

"Are you sure about that? It just seems a little odd for you of all people to be broke."

"Yeah… it's true." You weren't actually certain of that, but the big bill from the rock fungus stuck out, so you believed it anyway.

"Listen, I can't do that tonight. Bad timing. I need absolute focus if I'm gonna finish what I'm doing. But here. I'll give you the money for the inn. Use that. I don't think I've properly thanked you for helping me out today."

That was definitely not what you had in mind, but it works out.

"Oh… thank you."

"I'll get the rest of the payment to you as soon as I can. Sorry if I seem a little off-putting right now."

"No, no, it's fine. I'll just go now."

You left the smithy without another word. Unfortunate, but there was no getting around her workload. Maybe you could've offered more help, but you had no smithing skills. So much for getting more time with her before the raid. The whiskers on her face still puzzled you, though. Silica's suggestion seemed like something she'd tell Liz, but those whiskers looked too familiar to something you've done before. If it was what you thought it was, then what was she planning to do with that skill?

Whatever it was, it was far too late to start deducing things. You went to Lindarth's local inn and paid for a single night. As soon as you entered the room, you felt fatigue wash all over your body. The floor boss raid wasn't until later in the day, but everyone involved was expected to thoroughly prepare in the time before. Your rocky chest made it a pain to move around in your armor all night, so the freedom of taking it off was like pure bliss. Hopefully it would completely disappear soon. You plopped onto the soft mattress, closed your eyes, and began to drift off.

At some point during your deep sleep, you heard a knocking on the door. The sound was enough to wake you, but not immediately. As you got up, you noticed that your eyesight was still blurry, and your body still felt heavy. Looking out the window, you could at least tell that it was still dark outside, so it couldn't have been too long since you dozed off. Taking a moment to get a hold on yourself, you got out of bed and went over to the door.

This could've been anyone, but as long as you were awake and in a safe zone, you theoretically couldn't be hurt. You simply opened the door, and saw Lisbeth standing before you. The bags in her eyes were becoming quite noticeable.

"Liz? What are you doing here this late?"

"I need something from you. Don't laugh when I ask this."

"O…kay?"

"The Martial Arts quest on Floor 2, how do I beat it?" She spoke at an almost unintelligible speed.

"That… is that what the whiskers are for?"

"Just answer me! This was supposed to be a surprise, and I'm already sucking up a lot of pride to ask you."

Not questioning it any further, you tried to remember what you did to gain the Martial Arts skill. It had been forever since you did it, not helped by you being exhausted, so maybe it was safe to ask what the quest entailed to jog your memory.

"Could you… remind me what you have to do for that?"

"I have to break a rock with just my hands, so do you just have to be really strong?"

After a moment, you somewhat remembered what you had to do.

"No, it isn't that. I think I had something else break it… some enemy in the area, something like that. I think there's some oxen down there?"

"That's it?"

"Yep."

"Thank you and good night!" Once again, she spoke quickly before shutting the door. You could then hear a muffled scurry down the hallway.

So, it was for that skill. Knowing that would actually make it harder for you to sleep, since now there could be so many more possibilities to explain why she wanted it. Expanding her business for brawlers like yourself, convenient self-defense for when her mace fails, things like that.

It's questions like these that kept you up far longer than you should've, but eventually you did manage to drift off into a deep sleep. Soon enough, the sun had risen, touched the center of the sky, and forgot to wake you up along the way. When you finally did awaken, the raid was mere hours away from beginning.

You had nothing ready. Your armor and weapons needed repairs and enhancements, your potion stock wasn't in top-shape, and you were still rock solid from yesterday. Whatever you needed done, it'd either have to be rushed or forgotten. You might have enough potions to get by the dungeon and subsequent city rush, but only barely. Weapons and armor were much more important.

Liz had been working all night, but hopefully she was still available to tend to your gear. You ran straight from the inn to her shop. This time, it was open, so you busted straight through the door to come face-to-face with her NPC assistant.

"Is Liz available?" You spoke between heavy breaths.

"No, Lisbeth isn't currently available. I can still handle your purchasing needs, however."

"Nuts… what am I gonna do about my gear?"

"Hold on a second, you're Lisbeth's partner, am I correct?"

"I am. What for?"

"I was told to hold onto something for you. Would you like to accept it?"

A gift? From who?

"Let me take a look."

The NPC opened up a few menus, and on the counter in front of her appeared a note and a pair of metal katars. They were shaped like gauntlets on the top with a blade attached to the wrist, but the underside was hollow, leaving only the grip. It was an effective build for blocking attacks. The blades shimmered a dim red in the light coming through the window. The design was deceptively simple, but had a small touch of regality with a gold trim going down the handguard. You stared in disbelief at the weapons.

"Go ahead. They're yours."

You picked them both up, fitting your hands extremely well, and causing a stat window to appear describing the weapons. They were named the "Ruby Talons," a pair of Katars made for Martial Arts users. They had high bonuses in Strength and Agility, perfect for flurrying attacks. The damage on them matched weapons of floors in the 60s, and they had a passive ability that increased your defenses, all of which came completely unenhanced. This weapon could easily last until floors in the late 70s. Lisbeth really made this for you.

Immediately, you equipped them and stowed your old katars. No need for those anymore. You then opened up the note, which caused it to disappear and appear as a message in your system menu.

"
Hey, I never got the chance to properly thank you for everything you've done the past couple of days. It might not seem like much, honestly, but that doesn't mean I haven't taken it to heart. I want you to have these weapons. To keep you safe in the future and all. Sorry I couldn't give these to you in person, though. I can barely keep my eyes open writing this, so I might be out cold by the time you come in tomorrow. Just see it as a reason to come back once the raid is over. You better do that, by the way. I want first dibs on all the cool stuff you find up there.

Oh, and I had something else I wanted to tell you in person. See you then.

Lisbeth
"