Chapter 39

(Bell and Ryuu)

Mikoto, Welf, Aisha, Lilly and the two Xenos hurried past Allen and his two opponents, Ryuu and Bell. Kodori's instructions on this part had been clear, 'discovery meant failure'. Even if they weren't -actually- discovered, they'd taken great pains to not be seen by anyone who wasn't part of 'the plan'. And aside from Bell being Bell, and warning the eighteenth about a possible monster rush from below, they'd followed that plan.

But Allen was here, and that meant it was time to abort the mission. To be fair, they'd actually accomplished the mission.

Now, win or lose, it was time to delay the 'witness' while the rest returned home.

Allen didn't bother to pursue the others as they hustled past. He was confident that he would finish up here then be able to hunt them down at his leisure. He might even come back here, and drag Bell up to Freya, or not. She might be sore about it for a while, but she'd eventually forget about him if he didn't return.

His first move was to back up a little more, getting into the mouth of a tunnel, moving so that the two of them couldn't flank him. This forced the two of them to come at him from the front, where his reach advantage would work more in his favour.

"You know." He said as Bell just barely managed to tap the head of his spear, sending the point over his shoulder instead of into it, "This is only going to end badly for you."

They two remained silent, focused entirely on him, with Ryuu moving in front to try and distract the spear, while Bell tried to dash in for a slash.

Allen frowned as they didn't reply, handily disengaging from Ryuu, blocking Bell's Hestia knife and kicking the boy in the gut. "When Lady Freya finds out the Fox is out, we're going to level your home."

Bell bounced back to his feet, his face showing a hint of anger, but he was back in control so fast it might have been imagined. This time, Ryuu stepped back to allow Bell a chance at the spear, before darting in and trying a thrust with her sword.

Allen's eyes went wide as the point of his spear rang off the wooden blade like it had hit steel, but he recovered from his surprise near instantly, "After that, we will remind the city who the top Familia is. Kick out all those weakling Familia who should have never have come to the city." Deftly, he hopped side to side, then dashed forward like an arrow, the point of his spear ringing off the metal of Bell's helmet.

Bell had to bounce away again, a thin trail of blood from just above his eyebrow threatening to get into his eye. He'd managed to avoid most of the attack, but Allen still hit hard enough for the metal rim of his helmet to cut through the leather padding and into his forehead. With a quick motion, he pulled off his helmet, took a potion pill vial from his belt, and smeared one of the little red beads over the cut. Ryuu, to give him time, tried to go on the offensive, her sword a blur as she kept her swings short, turning them into thrusts part way to try and keep Allen off guard.

"You two aren't much fun you know." Allen said, frowning, "Nothing to say? Maybe I should speed things up a little..."

"You're lucky Miss Kodori isn't the one fighting you." Bell said, scrubbing the last of the blood from his forehead and plunking his helmet back on.

Ryuu hopped back to stand beside Bell, "With us, you might live to see another fight." She started to mumble, the green wisps of energy starting to form around her.

Allen however was furious, "Don't take me lightly!" He yelled, lowering his stance, most of his weight on his back leg, spear held in both hands and pointed directly at Ryuu's heart, "If it were me, I'd have killed that stupid dog! Ottar's getting slow if she could beat him!" White fizzy energy started to surround Allen, "I'm going to bring you both to Lady Freya, hanging off the end of my spear!"

"I will show you something else, Bell." Ryuu said, "Watch, and be ready."

Bell planted himself in his usual 'ready to spring' stance behind and to the left of Ryuu, and without prompting, let his eyes unfocus, letting him take in everything without wasting time to move his eyes and think about it.

Allen just got angrier, the fizzy power around him starting to make him look like he was in the middle of a heat mirage, "Yes, perfect! Line up for me!" And he lunged forward, the point of his spear becoming a blur of silver light as it dove towards Ryuu's heart.

Ryuu was ready, the emerald wind around her seeming to soak into her wooden sword at the exact instant Allen started moving. Instead of striking though, she took a half step back and blocked! Moving her left hand to the top of her 'blade' and leaning back a little to absorb the shock of the strike, Allen's spear point hit the flat of Ryuu's sword at an angle, his speed and long thrust costing him control.

"WHAT?!" With the full weight of his body behind the point of his spear, he suddenly found himself angled towards the wall on Ryuu's right.

This gave him just enough time to wonder exactly what happened, brace his front foot to stop himself from putting his entire spear into the dungeon wall...

And see Bell's newly made 'clam shell' gauntlet fill his vision like an oncoming asteroid before it hit him right in the nose. There was the sound of crushed cartilage as Bell connected, spinning Allen around once, though, he managed to keep his hands on his spear and sweep it around himself to deter a second punch.

It had taken a few tries, a few switches in who was 'front' but Bell and Ryuu had worked out a combination to finally get a solid strike in on Ottar's 'rival' in the Freya Familia. "WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING!?" And yes, he was furious.

"Kodori would have punched your head off." Ryuu said, though she wasn't laughing, just smiling, "Bell, please don't learn how to do that from our sister."

Bell, still in combat mode, nodded once, gripping his two daggers tightly. His hand hurt, a lot, but Allen was level six, and very tough. "Miss Ryuu?"

"I will keep him from returning to the surface for a while, go on ahead." Ryuu said, tilting her head just a little to the side, "Your sister would be disappointed in you." She said to Allen.

Allen's (slowly blackening) eyes went huge for a moment, and he lunged towards Bell as he tried to escape. He was fast, but predicable in his direction, and Ryuu tapped her sword against Allen's spear, nearly hitting his fingers, "You got lucky, Gale Wind." He gave up his try for Bell as he dashed towards the stairs.

Ryuu waited until the sound of Bell's boots were faint, making sure to keep herself between Allen and the ramp leading upwards, "Kodori has brought many things back from her journey, but so have I." She smiled again, thinking of Sona's Queen, Tsubaki, as well as Cao Cao, "I see great promise in her plans for the future, but first she has to teach people the first steps, so they can make a path on their own."

"Yeah? Why should I care? All I see is a gathering of weaklings surrounding someone stronger than they are!" He sneered, "So what are you going to teach me then, since the Mutt isn't here to do it herself?"

Ryuu's eyes lost focus, her shoulders relaxed just a little, and she brought the point of her blade around to her front, pointing directly at Allen's nose, "I think I will start with Humility. It was the first thing I learned while I was away, after all."

(Bell)

Bell didn't like leaving people behind. Of all the things he'd seen, done and experienced, only one other thing had been worse. Thankfully, Fels was able to bring Weine back to life, making that moment of sheer heart stopping sorrow into hope once again. However, this time, it wasn't so much that he was leaving Ryuu behind, but that she was staying behind. They both knew he could have helped, but he was needed elsewhere, and Bell knew Ryuu could stand against Allen.

Could she win?

He felt the dungeon floor under him tremble for a moment, the sound and rush of a great wind pushing him forward from the direction he had just come from, the feeling not unlike Hestia's little hand on his back when she wanted to encourage him.

He was confident she could. Yes.

It wasn't 'what if', it was 'what now', and now, he was catching up to the others, the sound of monsters and metal calling him, pulling him forward. It sounded like they'd come across yet another mass spawning, and they would need his help for sure.

(Kodori)

We'd only gone up two floors but it wasn't for lack of speed. The three of us were easily capable of destroying anything that spawned down this low. It wasn't just the monsters though. Sure, there were quite a few of them. Minotaur 'half breeds' who looked more man than bull, but still had the horns. More rock golems. Spartoi. Sheep (I will note here, I made sure to pick up a couple more skulls, just so the two Oni would match again). Little mini were-wolves, who might have only been a little bigger than a goblin, but were exceptionally vicious...

No, it wasn't the monsters. But the thirty seventh floor was MASSIVE. Not just 'big', no, if I had to guess, it was comparable in diameter to Orario itself. Yes, it was at least that wide. And, as my two sided luck would have it, we'd started basically on the opposite side of the floor in relation to the way up.

However, when we weren't having short brutal encounters with monsters, the two of them were telling me about their travels. Of course, the monsters were where most of the focus was, but to someone who had yet to fight most of these things, that was important. It also told me something else, something new, and very important.

But also very dark.

"Wait... so..." I took in what they'd just said, "You tried to set up a butcher shop?"

"Yes." They said together, "It was quickly lost to the dungeon, but for about half a day we had most of the essentials." Okakai finished, scrubbing the back of his hand over his forehead to scrub a bit of blood away from his eyes.

"Table, hooks, knives, buckets." Fukawa added, "We met a Xenos, a mermaid, and she gave us the idea."

I nearly stumbled on a bit of loose stone, but my tails (as always) helped me stay balanced, "You didn't...?"

"No no." They laughed, "We chanced upon her while looking for a spot to bathe." Fukawa said, "Of course, she ran from us."

"And right into another monster." Okakai rumbled, "We protected her, slew the monster, then gave her most of a vial of potion pills."

I nodded, then my ears picked up a noise other than our feet hitting the ground as we ran, "Another mob." I said, the two Oni looking ahead properly instead of just a little behind at me.

"Maybe you'll catch up." Okakai said, "Sounds like a lot of them this time."

"I'd catch up easily, if you counted your scores individually." I grumbled.

From a side view, the three of us hitting a pocket of monsters looked something like throwing a bunch of red paint, black ash, pebbles and bits of random rusty armour into a jet engine. Since we were in a hurry, we only struck once, killing what we could and crippling what we couldn't with that single strike. My fists and elbows crushed anything 'fleshy' while the two Oni went for the more solid targets like the stone golems (I later learned they were called 'Obsidian Soldiers') and the Spartoi with their patchwork yet still very real armour.

The last monster in the pack was a lizardman, with thick blue scales and mean claws. With a massive golf swing of his metal dipped club, Fukawa swept its legs out from under it, sending it into a crazy forward tumble. Okakai, instead of simply flattening its skull with his own club, grabbed the back of its head with his massive hand and kept running.

"Observe." Okakai said as we broke through and continued running, the very angry lizard man flailing about at arm's length, "Brother?"

Fukawa took a stone knife from his belt, a drop item from one of those scary little were-wolves I think, and just... hacked off the lizard man's tail. Without missing a step, he caught the tail with his other hand and just... took a massive bite out of it.

I'd heard of eating on the run, but... yuck. Now, as a giant fox, I'd eaten live food before too, so it wasn't 'repulsive' just... yuck. Of course, the lizard man was even angrier now, but his arms and legs were too short to really harm Okakai, and now without a tail, it couldn't even try to lash at him.

"Notice, still here, and still alive." Fukawa said after swallowing, "Brother?"

"Thank you." Okakai took the tail and chomped on it as well, making sure to keep the lizard man's mouth pointed away from everyone, since yes, it could (and was) breathing fire.

"Next." We rounded a corner and they stopped, and I spotted the ramp up to the thirty third floor. "You disable the monster..." Fukawa moved around his brother, pulling sharply on the monster's arms to dislocate them both. Okakai then pressed the unfortunate creature's face into the floor. Fukawa stood on the creature's wrists, then Okakai picked it up by the ankles, hanging it upside down.

Then out came the stone knife again, drawing an extra smile under the lizard man's chin.

"Aside from being a little more careful, it is really no different than slaughtering swine." Fukawa bent down, putting a scavenged Spartoi helmet under the quickly draining blood.

Yup, I was disgusted, and had to focus on something other than the smell of blood... like one of my tails, yes, you are a good tail, even if you have a bald spot at the moment. "Okay, but what's different?"

The two of them smiled and nodded to each other, uncaring about the still thrashing, but quickly weakening monster. "First, you must not let the ash touch the blood, or anything else you take from them." Okakai said, looking down at the monster, then to his brother. Fukawa took his feet off the monster's hands, and Okakai flung the body away. Then to prove his point, he kicked what was left of the tail towards the dying monster. "The ash seems to be more than just... the effect of a monster dying. A catalyst of sorts."

Fukawa picked up the helmet and offered it to his brother, "The ash will destroy anything related to the monster, aside from its magic stone. There are exceptions, but they are exceptions to the rule." He accepted the helmet back after Okakai drank from it.

The lizard man expired then, vanishing into ash, along with the nearby severed tail. "One, is to consume part of it before hand." Okakai said, "Once it is part of something else, it won't 'vanish' with the monster. Cutting off something that isn't really 'alive' works as well." He motioned to the helmet that his brother was now dumping the last of the blood out of, "We simply removed that from the monster, then killed it a distance away."

"Huh." I nodded, "I suppose my grip also 'breaks' the rule... Since I've certainly had monster ash touch things I've pulled off before." Like the hundreds of teeth I've pulled out of myself before we could afford real armour. And the Skull Sheep head I was currently using for a sack. "But wait, how did... oh! Mermaid blood?"

"Yes." They said together agian.

"While healing her, I got some of her blood on me, and in return it restored some of the injury I'd sustained." Okakai said, "That was the goal of our experiment, aside from a better way to eat between fights."

"Cooked monster tastes just a little better." Fukawa nodded, "Next time we leave home..."

They paused, looked at each other, then laughed quietly, as if sharing a little joke between them, "Yes, next time we leave home, we will bring a quantity of salt with us at least." Okakai finished, "If that is permissible?" He looked at me.

"Of course." I said once I realized he was asking my permission, "With the ocean so close, salt is easy to get." I looked up at them, "But, you're going to have to stay home and have a couple of proper meals with us first. Then maybe take a little tour of the markets, so you know where to get it."

They nodded, smiling, "Let us continue then. The next floors have those annoying plant monsters, and we had to pass through at least one nest of them to get down here." Fukawa said, "I hope you have refined your technique for dealing with them."

"Me too." I said, my smile hidden by my helmet.

(The top of the Tower)

"My my, that was rather swift." Freya smiled as Ottar returned, then frowned slightly when she saw the look on his face, "Problem, my treasure?"

"Magic." He said shortly, his face almost as dark as the storm clouds over the city, "As you commanded, I went to fetch Allen, to send him into the dungeon, but, he had left his post." Freya remained silent, so he continued, "He had been keeping watch over the Manor, but some time between breakfast and lunch, he seemed to forget what he was doing there. He said he was unsure why he was even at his post, and returned to the tower. I met him in the lobby before sending him on his way again."

Freya's expression darkened with each sentence, "Did that insolent little Goddess try and charm one of MY Familia?" She stood, looking over the city through the clouds and rain. Below, the city was mostly staying indoors, but she was only looking for one thing.

Except... it wasn't... wait, there it was. "My lady?"

Freya seemed to be on the edge of a full on tantrum, "She tricked me! All afternoon, I simply didn't see them!"

Ottar took a step forward, ready to try and calm his Goddess. But his face was also unsettled, "I do not remember seeing it at all this afternoon..." He shook his head, "But why hide now?"

"Why else?" Freya looked down at the manor, her eyes spotting the dark spot that was Hagane, sitting in the middle of the Manor's front yard, "She's not there." Her other ability, the one to see the colour of a person's soul, showed her something else as well, "Most of them are gone! She thought to try and hide from my sight while she was out." She had the smallest of outbursts, stomping her foot exactly once on the nice soft carpet.

"Then the rumbling in the dungeon earlier was probably them. At least, it was the last three times. Your orders, my Lady?"

"I'm done playing cat and mouse. Pick a team, set up a blockade around the manor to reduce witnesses, then strike. It is time I reminded the city once and for all who really rules it."

(Orario)

Orario was a tough city. Built, and rebuilt, to stand against the many trials that nature would throw at it. Sure, entropy would eventually win out, but only under the most extreme stresses would things break. Like say, nearly a year long earthquake. So of course, a storm like this, a rare torrential thunderstorm, really just made people want to stay inside and note the occasional leak in the roof. In a way, this storm would be a final 'test' of the construction that had gone on during the dungeon's almost year long tantrum.

The sewer system was another marvel of the city. No one really knew that of course, but that was only because it had never once failed. Yes, it had been the entryway for a few monster incursions, such as the Monster Festival, or used as hiding places for the Xenos escape, but otherwise? The sewer system of the city was able to shrug off even this rare storm.

The people however. Well, they had these things called 'buildings' that kept the weather off. So unless they were hurriedly bringing in your forgotten laundry, or running home to get out of the rain, most of the city settled into their homes to catch up on household chores, a favourite book, a nap, or marking all those spots where water was dripping in. No sensible citizen would bother with something that could wait until tomorrow, in a storm like this.

And it was this, that the Freya Familia used to advance on the Hearthstone Manor. They knew the usual Ganesha patrol routes and where they would take cover from the storm. They knew where every Familia home was, no matter who's side they were on. They moved silently, covered by cloaks coloured the same dark purple as Freya's 'dress', slipping like shadows through the storm darkened streets.

(The home team)

"I think it is time." She said, looking around the dinner table, "I've lost the spell, and the foxes Kodori left to me are seeing people who are obviously trying to be sneaky."

Takemikazuchi put down his teacup slightly harder than was usual, "I do not approve of this plan, but, I see the sense in it. Are you sure child?" He didn't look at Shinkage, but to Haruhime.

"Yes." She said firmly.

"You don't like it?" Hestia said with a near continuous 'grr' in her voice, "What about me?"

"A home can be rebuilt. But without people it's just four walls and a roof." Astraea said.

"We've gotten everything together!" Ouka said, "Ow..." He looked down into the big rolling crib, where one of his hands was resting on the edge, "Why you bite?" He said towards the crib, getting a giggle from one of its occupants.

Despite the tension in the room, most people managed a laugh. Chigusa, who had pushed the crib into the room, added quietly, "The most essential things, and the little box Kodori marked as 'most secret' are with Asuka-chan."

"Sadly, I cannot carry all the things." Asuka said, giving the large pack over her shoulder a shake, "But, Chigusa-chan is carrying the rest of it."

"I've got them inside!" Delly called from the door of the manor, "No! No nipping the drapes! You better not do this when you grow up!"

"Woo!" (followed by a little -snap- of static).

"And no talking back either mister!"

"Very well." Takemikazuchi said, standing and putting his Katana through his belt sash, "Hestia, we've been given sanctuary, and they are in the most defended position possible, without being obvious."

"Yes, but..." Hestia sighed, "Whatever." She looked at Delly, Maki, Haruhime and Shinkage, "Please, do your best, but Astraea is right. Without the people, it's just a building.

And like that, the ones who had stayed home split up further. The three gods and the Takemikazuchi Familia went further into the Manor, the collection of birds and the mobile baby crib going with them.

"Well." Maki said, giving her equipment a once over, again, "I know why I'm staying, what about you?" She looked to Haruhime, "You know what would happen..." She shook her head.

"Fen-chan?" Haruhime smiled, giving the massive fox a chin scroofle as he seemed to solidify from the shadows in the room, "A lie must have at least the appearance of truth. And while I know you are skilled, you are still only level one. Without my support, you staying here would be... oh dear, I'm sounding a little too much like her, aren't I?"

The three of them, yes, even Shinkage, laughed at her sudden switch from 'Kodori' back to her mild polite speech, "Nah." Delly also made sure to give Fen-chan a scratch behind the ears, "I think this is exactly the right time for brutal honesty." They all started towards the door, "I'll start, potions?"

They all gave themselves a pat, yes, even Shinkage.

"Heh, my turn. Armour and weapons?" Maki said, looking at her bracers through the eyes of her white fox mask, then making sure her sword was properly hooked to her belt. Delly took her wand from her cute little belt, made sure to rub her palm over the polished end, then put it back. Haruhime rolled her shoulders a little to settle the Goliath skin robe a little better, and brushed her palm over the little tanto at her belt. Shinkage ran her fingers over the tops of the spell cards she had in a little leather pouch at her hip. Fen-chan? Well, he shook himself a little, making his ghostly fur swish about, then smiled, gold and silver teeth gleaming in the dim lighting.

They stepped outside of the manor and into the rain. "They've surrounded the manor, past where the foxes can go, and it seems there are five of them coming towards the manor directly." Shinkage said.

"Is it time to call for help yet?" Delly asked, putting a strip of cloth over her forehead as a headband to keep her hair from her eyes.

Haruhime shook her head, putting the hood of her robe up, "Until they step onto the grounds, no law has been broken." She did however take a simple pendant from under her robe, the face of it holding a smooth glass bauble, "No matter what happens however..." She looked to Fen-chan, "Now now, not yet."

The giant foxxo pouted, a silly noise for something his size, then faded from sight again.

(Bell and the gang, minus Ryuu)

"We're almost there!" Welf shouted, applying his heavy leather boot to a giant wasp that someone else had downed but not killed, "Gotta admit Lilly, your job is harder than it looks." Both Welf's arms were still bandaged, so he'd fallen into a supporter roll, killing things that had been injured.

"Don't suppose I can keep this sword of yours?" Aisha asked with a laugh, "Heavier than I'm used to, but it's really sharp!" Heavy being a relative term, since she was level four and very strong.

"No way! I can make another more your style later though."

"There it is! Finally!" Fear said, motioning with one of her wings, then hopping sideways to avoid a flying sword, "Gah! I hate those things."

Ray was there to kick the razor sharp bug out of the air, "Ow, yes, they hurt even when you kill them properly."

Bell, serious as always, only chose now to speak over the noise of combat, "Miss Kodori will make you foot armour, if you ask her." He looked around at everyone, then made what most would call an 'executive decision', "Lilly, hand Mikoto the rope. Mikoto, dive under and secure it. We're rushing through."

"Osu!" Mikoto called back, hacking a giant beetle's legs off, fading backwards, then grabbing the coil of rope from Lilly, "Welf, the other end."

"No!" Bell said back, "Lilly, Fear, Ray, hold the rope. Mikoto, pull them across. We'll swim. We are wasting time!"

It was unusual for Bell to be this impatient. But they could all understand why. But even then, he'd ordered the wounded, 'guests' and the least combat capable out to safety first, as was proper. "What about Ryuu?" Aisha asked, finishing that same beetle with a quick overhand chop of Welf's sword, "Damn this is a nice sword!"

"Still not giving it to you."

"She's holding back Allen." Bell said, executing a short jump and punting another flying sword out of the air in an explosion of little bug bits, "And will join us later." He said firmly.

As if to punctuate his words, another warm breeze came up from the direction they had come from.

They breached the final room, and Mikoto dashed towards the pool, Welf holding the other end of the rope, while Fear and Ray kicked at anything that got too close, "Going under!" Mikoto said, diving into the pool like a dolphin.

(Ryuu)

The dungeon around them had become a bit of a wreck. The walls showed many scars, parts of the ceiling had fallen in, magic stone littered the floor... Yet, the two combatants were still on their feet and looking strong, if a little worse for wear.

Allen was just as furious as he was confused. This should not be happening. Not be possible at all. He was level six! Nearly level seven! Ottar's rival! Vice-commander of the largest and most powerful Familia in Orario!

Yet, he couldn't seem to win. Every attack had its speed and power sapped out of it by clever footwork, precise attacks and elegant use of that emerald wind that had given Ryuu her nickname those years ago, Gale Wind. Aside from his broken nose (that he had put back into place at some point, while they both took a short breath) he bore many bruises, a few cuts, and pride that had been getting more brittle as the fight went on.

"I read somewhere, while away with Kodori, that the first step to solving a problem, is admitting you have one." Ryuu said, just loud enough to be heard over her still flowing magic. "You, the Freya Familia, and many of the adventurers of Orario, have a problem."

"Shut, UP!" Allen dashed forward, anger fuelling his strike, only to have the point of his spear flicked aside, and his follow up kick blocked with the flat of Ryuu's sword, the two of them separating again while bits of the walls around them flaked off from the meeting of power.

"Being the strongest is a trap." She said, distracting Allen with a few slashes of razor sharp green wind. Even if they had hit Allen, they would have inflicted no more than the smallest cut, but, Allen was too angry to notice just how little power she was putting behind her magic. "How do you get stronger, when nothing challenges you?"

The two clashed again, but this time Ryuu was forced to back off a step as Allen reversed his spear and tried to clobber her with the other end, then slash her again while gripping his spear just behind the blade, "Are you accusing me of getting complacent? Of slacking off?" He tried another spin of his spear, but again Ryuu slipped away like the wind she had summoned.

"Yes." Ryuu replied, bouncing back from her rear foot, and tapping the side of Allen's nose with the butt of her sword.

Allen's poor nose went out of alignment again, and he yelled in pain, backing off and setting it yet again. He glared at her, but paused, taking a moment to try and think, since Ryuu didn't press the attack.

"Because now, when something you thought weaker than you rises up," Her magic started to gain density, her spider silk and Fenris fur armour hardly ruffling while bits of stone, crystal and other dungeon detritus whipped around her, "You whine and complain, trying to crush them before they can help you improve."

Allen could tell she was focusing for a real attack now. That simple pause in battle and the shock of getting his nose tweaked again helping to restore a bit of clarity to his anger addled mind. He had to admit, despite his anger, Ryuu had certainly earned her title. Once again, he settled into his stance, his body surrounded by white fizzy energy.

"Predictable."

Was the last word he heard, before that torrent of wind around her seemed to pivot, and he was suddenly looking at her through what looked like a tornado filled with jagged rocks and stone that looked like it had extended from the end of her sword like a spear of elemental disaster.

Then, with a little pop, that tornado of rock and green energy was suddenly filled with thick white smoke. Suddenly unable to see, Allen aborted his attempt to dash through the oncoming storm and tried to deflect it instead.

But even with him being level six, named Orario's 'fastest', and Ottar's rival, there was little he could do against nearly a ton of rock and the wind needed to throw it at him.

He didn't know how long it had been, but when he woke next, and finally managed to dig himself out of the pile of stone he had been buried under, all he found was a small potion vial, sitting perfectly balanced on the butt of his spear, which had been planted point down into the ground nearby.

(Kodori)

Their lessons continued between fights, while we fought monsters I had seen while back on Earth, as well as monsters I hadn't. I was not a fan of the Violas (those giant plant monsters that look like giant vines with heads that look like flowers), but new to my list of 'yes I can kill it, no it's not fun', was a giant... tree monster. It surprised the two Oni as well, since they didn't encounter it on the way down. But it was basically a massive tree and root system that had taken over a large room, and attacked us with all manner of plant based things. Pollen clouds, vines, thorns, a couple nests of giant wasps, apples that were actually just apple shaped rocks, and finally, its own mouth. Stupid thing tried to bite me when we finally spotted its 'head' and I went to punch it.

As if to mock us, when I DID punch its head off, the entire thing vanished, leaving me ten metres off the ground in a 'mount' position, and dropping me on my rear. It did however leave behind one of those stone apples, and while it wasn't food, it seemed to be a sort of dark red crystal formation. Once I got back, I was going to make sure it was safe, and maybe hang it from the ceiling in the nursery for the children to look at.

"Hmm, seems your pool isn't as nice as advertised." I said, looking across the room at what might have been a nice collection of run-off pools, fed by the water coming down from above.

Now, it was filled with broken stone, and a chaotic uneven cascade of water slopping over an unseen cliff above.

"Hm, a shame. But this is where we met Marie." Okakai said, walking ahead and standing next to what might have been a nice flat rock next to a shattered hip high wall that was letting water leak over the floor.

"Perhaps now we could greet her properly." Fukawa said, "Ah, let me..." He put his big hands over a boulder, and pulled it out of another pool, "Ah, it is a little muddy, but certainly better than what we are covered in."

I looked down at myself, though, I didn't need to. While yes, I didn't usually care about getting dirty, I -felt- filthy. Like having wet socks inside your shoes, except all over my body. Even if my 'clothes' were really just made of my magic, the armour, and my skin, still had... stuff clinging to it.

"Urg... getting wet just made it start to smell again." I said after I'd sunk down into the nearly freezing water and just... wiggled around a bunch to try and get clean. "Going to need more than this little pool at least."

"If the way up is still clear, we can get to the Basin from here." Fukawa pointed up at one of the sputtering waterfalls.

"If not, then it is... another hour of running." Okakai added, squinting up at the waterfall.

"With this much rubble down here, who knows what the basin looks like." I mumbled, "Well, I can at least see a little light from above. I'll go first, use my tails to give you two enough space to get through."

They nodded, "Call down when you reach the top. We will hear you."

NOTES!

A little shorter than usual, but lots happening. Things come together, people plan and move about the board. Lessons are taught. Showers are had. Rocks fall, but no one dies.

See you in five days. Party on responsibly.