Ey.
Chapter 34.
Took me a long f-ing time, too, for only 6k words.
But well, not a lot to write when you just deal with the aftermath of something. So yeh, here's the Chapter I guess.
Warning, though: this will get very dark, very soon.
On another note, I somehow once again reached 100+ followers and favourites, and roughly 20k views. That's about 1/5 of what the original post of Kenshi had by the time I deleted it like an f-ing idiot.
And that's confusing, especially since I only posted this re-upload at the end of September.
And that, in turn, brings me to my next point:
The Danmachi fanfic "Wandering Familia" by my man zantarak.
He posted it in April and has about the same number of Chapters as me. However, his quality is at least twice as good as mine. And yet, he only has a fraction of the statistics the original Kenshi post had.
Like...that's confusing to me.
Compared to his ability to developed the plot and the growth and evolution of his OCs, Kenshi is just dog crap left out in the rain.
Literally.
Believe me as the author who knows what the ending of Kenshi is when I say that.
With that said if you have time to read whatever this fic is, go and read his, instead. I guarantee you'll have a much more enjoyable time over there.
So yeah, that's about that.
Kay bye.
XXX
He didn't understand anything anymore.
From his previous discussion with Amid to losing for the first time in his life, and now even abandoning his own rules and principles, it was all so fast paced he did not have time to process it all. It felt like a badly paced story, truly.
But, he made his decision and saw it through despite how hard it was to do so, each word he uttered making him feel sick to his stomach. But, he saw it through.
Everything.
He had told the Ganesha Captain everything, and by extension his Familia's Top Executives and Tsubaki, as well. He kept nothing back: everything was explained to the smallest detail, from how he got to meet the Were-Jaguar to how the fight progressed and how he was mercilessly overpowered, as well as how he escaped with the help of his Magic.
Had it not been for Raiju he would be dead and halfway through a Monster's intestines, he told them in a sombre tone.
In all honesty it was only this recap that allowed him to realize just how absurd the Were-Jaguar's strength was. When asked how he would rank the criminal's power he replied that nothing short of two Level 6 Adventurers would be able to handle the man. His strength, speed and durability were simply too high for anything else to be effective on him.
After all, not even his sword could fully cut through the man, a statement which shocked both his Familia as well as Tsubaki. He was known for nothing if not his incredible offensive power, able to cut through Monsters a Level 2 like himself should never be able to harm in any capacity.
By the end of his lengthy explanation he had asked someone to bring him a pencil and a sheet of paper. His arms were still numb but were otherwise functional. Within minutes he had drawn a realistic portrait of the man in question, giving the drawing to Shakti so she could use it to find the man and also raise alertness among the Adventurers.
And with that he revealed his loss to them.
The one act he swore to himself he would never see through.
What exactly pushed him to do so, Fuzen couldn't say.
...No.
He knew why.
The thoughts that flooded his mind of countless 'what-if'' scenarios where many people would die unless he revealed everything.
Where she would die.
He believed that a lifetime of hardships had been enough.
That brutally losing everything he once cared for had been enough.
That he was now cold and uncaring enough to do his duty efficiently.
But again, he was proven wrong.
Once again, he choose others before choosing himself.
Once again, he was shown that he was soft.
And he hated it.
He truly, truly hated it.
"What...did you say?" The old man asked baffled as he stood at the foot of the bed. His report having come to an end Fuzen asked everyone but Yamamoto to leave him. Next to the old man stood Kato, having been present all throughout the report Fuzen gave the first Class Adventurers.
That he had managed to remain hidden and unseen until the moment he was called out of the shadows was testimony of his abilities.
"You ain't old enough to have hearing problems." Replied the boy dryly and clearly. His lack of teeth was still a reality, however as he spoke and explained the events that had happened he managed to figure out how to adjust his tongue and breathing to speak normally once more.
Just one more useless talent among dozens which helped him little in his one true pursuit, Fuzen though ironically.
The two men exchanged a worried look between them, checking if they heard right. Unfortunately, they did. "I'm leaving the East District. Get all the papers ready for me to sign. I'm handing everything over to you, my house included." Fuzen repeated his order once again, then looked up for a brief moment. "Ah, yes. It's all unofficially so no papers are needed, right? There you have it. Now piss off." He signalled the end of the discussion as he turned on his side and pulled the blanket over him.
He was still at the Dian Cecht Pharmacy but although he was already back to full health he doubted the Doctors would mind if he rested for a couple more hours.
He felt tired.
Very tired.
"That's too rash a decision, Young Master! Please reconsider!" Yamamoto however did not get the hint and remained within the room.
A loud sigh was heard, a very annoyed sigh. "I planned to use you for my own goals. All of you." Fuzen voiced. "And in return, you used me and my strength for your own goals, to keep yourselves safe. But I lost. So that's the end of that. No one in this world needs a worthless, beaten dog so stop this whole charade already. There's nothing to be gained from sucking up to me anymore. So scram. Now."
"Young Master-"
A hand reached out for the night stand besides the bed, grabbing the half-empty glass of water. "I SAID LEAVE!" And in a childish fit of rage, he threw the glass at the old man.
It made impact a moment later, the sound of the glass shattering reaching into the hallway outside. However, it did not hit it's intended target, Kato quickly moving in front of Yamamoto and taking the hit instead. His Level 2 Status prevented any injury from being dealt to him.
"...Young Master." The average looking man voiced after a second of silence. "I do not know what made you believe that this is a charade of any kind, and I will not inquire about your reasons for thinking as such. But that is not the case."
No reply came from the occupant of the bed but he frowned at the words, obvious enough he did not trust them in the least.
"We are not playing at anything. Neither I, nor Yamamoto-san, nor the Genyutai nor the people of the East District. We are here to stay."
"Says the man whose whole existence is to simply be others lapdog." The words were venomous and sharp, an eerie and very dark smirk forming on his face as Fuzen's uttered them. The old man flinched at the words, but Kato did not. He kept himself calm and composed.
"Yes, you are correct, Young Master."
Not receiving the reaction he had anticipated a soft Tsk escaped Fuzen's lips, the frown on his face getting even angrier than before. "Bullshit. All of it…"
"No." Kato shook his head, the steely resolve reflecting in his eyes. "We are here to stay, Young Master. Your defeat means nothing to us. We sworn our loyalty, and we do not forget to whom."
A moment of silence, an instant of pondering and then a smirk which did not fit the boy at all. "Then kill yourself. Right here, right now, one dog dying for another's sake. Show me this so-called loyalty you speak of."
Piss off already, asswipe.
That was the other meaning of his words.
"Understood." The man in question did not flinch however, unlike what Fuzen believed. He drew the knife he kept on him and put it at his neck. The blade bit into the skin and flesh and blood soon began to drip down and soak the collar of his shirt. "...Please step away."
"…"
"Young Master."
"…"
"I cannot fulfil my orders like this." Kato voiced as Fuzen grabbed his right hand and kept the man from letting the blade dig any deeper into his own flesh. It had been an instant reaction: no sooner had Kato's knife cut a small line across his neck did Fuzen jump out of his bed and grabbed the man's hand, keeping him from proceeding any further.
"...What the hell are you doing?"
"Following my orders."
"Are you a retard?"
"I believe not, Young Master."
"...You are a retard."
"Not as much as you are a brat at the moment, Young Master." The boy in question required a moment to process the words and realize it was a slap across his face. "Do you know why there is no hesitation in my current action?"
"…"
"Because I knew that you would stop me from seeing this order to the end. Because you are not as hard to figure out as you would like to believe, Young Master. Because your taunts to keep us away are half-baked, at best."
Too much.
Too much was going on recently, no time allowed to process each and every one of them.
He had reached a limit, and he knew it.
Anything past this could turn very, very ugly if he was not careful.
Inhale.
Exhale…
"...Leave."
Though the word had been the same as the one he uttered a while earlier, it lacked any aggression or ill intent behind it. The two men in the room nodded and turned to leave. "We will be waiting." Yamamoto said as he was the first to leave through the door. "In the East District." Kato followed and a moment later he closed the door behind him.
Finally, Fuzen had silence for himself.
And it was driving him mad.
"God damn it..."
XXX
"Well...shit." The red-haired Goddess uttered the word as her Captain's report came to an end. "This ain't good."
It didn't bode well at all.
Probably not quite as surprising as one might expect, status was rather important in Orario for a Familia. For example, if a Familia's Captain lost and this fact was made known, other Familia seeking to increase their own fame could use this moment of weakness to assault and destroy those they saw as competition.
Their local swordsman was not the Captain or even an Executive for that matter, but following the events in Altena it was not false to say his fame reached heights a person in those roles might be attributed.
He had been seen leaving the Dungeon in a state as bad as that however, and many witnesses were present. Granted, they were Loki Familia and the ones that could actually pose a threat for them could be counted on one hand alone, but…
"It'll come to bite us in the rear later."
Loki could already imagine what the next Denatus would have in store for her, the various Deities she was not on friendly terms with throwing remarks at her because of Fuzen's loss.
It hardly mattered at the moment, however.
"The damage is minimal, at worst." Finn replied from his chair to her side.
"Have all groups been recalled from their dives?" The Goddess asked but her Executives shook their heads.
"Most of them, but a couple are still in the Dungeon. The ones Cruz and Alicia sent back last were already the second to last group to go into the 30th Floor and beyond, however. We can expect everyone to be back by midnight. We'll hold a meeting then and relay all the information we have as well as determine group composition for Dungeon diving while keeping the Were-Jaguar threat in mind."
"Good, good." The Goddess nodded twice, a single moment of silence following. "What about him?"
Finn and the other two Top Executives did not answer immediately. They had all watched Fuzen closely as he revealed the events which had transpired and they all noticed the change in the boy. His usual sharpness had been nowhere to be seen. "...I think it would be best not to think of him as an active member for the foreseeable future. Though his body has been healed back normal, many issues still remain." The blonde Pallum said with a heavy sigh. The other two leading figures nodded in reply.
Screech.
The sound of wood sliding on the floor echoed for a short moment followed.
"Bete?"
"Dunno if it's because of old age catching up to you geezers, but all I hear is stupid."
"Hm?"
"He ain't gonna fold that easily." The Werewolf sneered as he made for the door, obvious enough he cared little for the meeting any longer.
"Where are you going?" The Pallum inquired.
"A walk." And with that he was gone.
However, his Goddess and the top three Executives knew better than to fall for his lightning quick answer. "Heh, what a tsundere."
"Can't say I don't understand how he's feeling, tho." The Dwarf voiced.
"You are right. This is certainly a feeling I have not felt since that time with Ais and the Captain of the Ishtar Familia." The High Elf agreed with a nod.
"You are correct." Added the Pallum with his usual Braver smile visible on his lips.
"Haha, I know right?!" The cross-legged Goddess laughed from atop the table on the far end of the room. "This Were-Jaguar man…"
He sure has a lot of balls…
Had anyone been unfortunate enough to be present in the room they would have felt a wave of absolute animosity wash over their skin, making it impossible to breath.
XXX
This isn't bad…
He thought to himself as he lay on the bed, his lips shut tight in a line.
Seiji had followed Fuzen's request and made his way to his friend's mansion in the East District. In truth, he had seen the building a couple of times from afar as he strolled through the city but never set foot inside before. Fuzen had a rather fluid daily schedule and it was hard to catch him at home.
Slightly excited to see his house Seiji stepped inside the garden and called out at the front door.
He had not expected to be greeted by a clique of adult women, all of them staring at him as one.
At first it felt rather uncomfortable, each of the woman eyeing his suspiciously regarding his motives for being there.
Then he informed them he was Fuzen's friend and everything changed immediately, the intensity in their eyes multiplying threefold. In but a moment he was grabbed by the arms and dragged inside without the chance to as much as utter a single word.
Seiji's heart raced: he had no idea what was going on and what he should expect.
It was understandable, then, that when he was placed in front of a table full of food confusion got the better of him.
Then followed tea.
Afterwards, a massage.
After that, a bath prepared just for him.
Then some more tea.
And then a soft bed, on the basis that it was getting late and he should spend the night there.
Had he known that the women were simply overjoyed at the thought that their otherwise anti-social Young Master actually possessed a friend, Seiji would have been less confused and taken aback by their actions.
However, he knew nothing of their inner thoughts.
But, even so…
This...really isn't bad…I need to become strong quick so I can afford this sort of comfort for Boss and Captain, as well...Just a little longer, Naaza. Just...a little...
Allowing the comfort to set in and falling asleep a mere moment later, he completely forgot why he had come to Fuzen's mansion in the first place.
XXX
A worried God paced around the room, walking the same circle for the hundredth time in a row. "...He's late."
"Yes." The Chienthrope to his side agreed.
"What if something happened to him?"
"...No. I'm sure he just got involved in something he shouldn't have."
"...But what if something actually happened? Let's put in an emergency Quest for a search to be dispatched."
"...Miach-sama, we don't have the funds for that."
"I'll do something about it. Right, I could take a loan-"
"We are already in debt, Miach-sama. Neck deep in debt."
"…" The God stopped in his tracks then fell down to his hands and knees. "I'm sorry for being a failure as a God…"
"No, that's not...Sigh…"
A boy slept peacefully.
A God worried.
And a girl rubbed her temples.
Little did the boy know the magnitude of the scolding he would soon experience in the morrow.
XXX
Absent-minded, he simply walked.
Where?
He had no idea in all honesty. His legs simply moved slowly on their own, one foot in front of the other, one step at a time.
His ability to detect signatures from living beings would have allowed him to avoid any and all people on the streets, but not this time. This time, he bumped into half a dozen civilians as he moved forward.
Some thought nothing of it while others stopped and yelled after him to apologize.
'Didn't your parents thought you any better?!' A couple of the people he bumped into asked him.
'Eat shit and piss off.' Had been his reply to all instances.
Three times had a punch connected with his face following his replies.
In any other instance he would have shoulder-thrown the ones who did such a thing to the ground to defend himself as the Successor of the Lightning Sword Style, but...He had no energy or motivation to do any such thing at the moment.
He simply moved on.
What was even the point of doing such a thing?
What Successor?
What Lighting Sword Style?
What grasping the Heavens?
"...Bullshit. All of it..."
There were no swords fastened at his hip. Both of them had been shattered and broken, after all.
Normally the lack of weapons would make the boy feel agitated. His sword was his sign to the world of his path, of his history, of his burden. A swordsman without a sword is no swordsman at all.
But he did not feel agitated as he did before.
It felt liberating, in a strange and unfamiliar way.
The lack of physical weight, sure, but also the lack of what equipping a sword meant.
It was strange and he knew it.
Without his sword a capable Level 3 would be able to prove a challenge to him, maybe even defeat him. He should feel threatened without the piece of metal just a draw away at his hip, the piece of metal his Skill and Ability were based on.
The piece of metal his whole life centred around.
Finn, Riveria even Tsubaki, they had told him things before they left him alone following his full report.
Don't worry about it too much.
You're still alive, that counts for something.
From here on out you can only get stronger.
In any other instance he would be thankful for their words, or at the very least, think nothing of them. But this time it only irritated him.
They didn't understand.
They didn't understand at all.
'Why do I have to suffer?'
That had been the one personal question he had asked of his former God when his circumstances had pushed him to the edge of the cliff.
'You suffer now so that the past won't repeat itself later.'
True to his one-minded self, the God had answered him calmly and instantly with no regards to the unstable mindset Fuzen himself had reached thanks to the spartan lifestyle Hachiman himself decided for him.
There was a single purpose for his life and Fuzen knew it.
And yet, despite this knowledge, he had lost.
He went ahead and did the one thing he was not supposed to do.
The one thing that was forbidden.
Yes, usually he would have been thankful for the other's words of encouragement.
But right now he didn't need any of that.
Right now, he was experiencing a great inner turmoil. It was shameful to admit it, but that was the case.
Right now, what he needed the most was…
"...Ah." The boy raised his head and noticed he had arrived at the Twilight Manor, the Home of his Familia. His legs had brought him here on their own. "That's right. She should have the answer…"
With the tiniest increase in movement Fuzen walked past the gate and headed inside the large building. Though slightly unfocused he did feel a great amount of Ki signatures from within the part of the Manor where the dining hall was.
Had something happened?
He was not sure. But no one had came to seek him out after his Executives left him at the Dian Cecht Pharmacy, thus he doubted it.
Paying it no further mind he went up the stairs, navigating the many staircases until he reached a door on the far end of a left hallway. He pushed the door open and stood inside his own room.
Closing the door behind him he made for the drawer on the far right side of the room and sought out a box he hid inside.
From inside he pulled a book, one visibly old and worn out.
The Journal of the Lightning Sword Style.
Or better said, a copy of the original Journal. Six hundred years do not prove easy on any written manual, after all.
Most of the book had been originally written by none other than the Founder of the Lightning Sword Style herself, with Masters of their martial school leaving their own share of knowledge only after she had passed away.
Knowledge gathered over her more than sixty years of martial pursuit, all written down for those who would walk the path she had paved.
Surely something inside the Journal would help him.
Something, anything.
Grabbing the journal from inside the box Fuzen sat down on the edge of his bed and began reading. In truth he knew the inside of the journal by heart, having read it a thousand times over during the span of his life, but nonetheless he read it, in hopes it would give him what he needed the most at the moment.
Basics on swordsmanship.
Practical knowledge on stances and correct breathing.
In-detail description of the Lightning Sword Style Techniques and illustrations showing the movement and breathing pattern needed to execute them, as well as the allocation of Ki required to pull them off.
Theoretical knowledge on the energy known as Ki and it's uses.
The history of the Lightning Sword Style and how it came to be, as well as the accumulated experience the Founder herself had gathered on her path to become the strongest sword user and the journey that saw her travel half the known world.
One hour turned to two, and two hours turned to three.
Fuzen read and read, once again finishing the journal in a single session. He read it not unlike a madman, and still…
"It's not here...It's not here at all…" He whispered as he had reached the last page, where the Masters of his martial school had written down their own experiences over the centuries following the death of the Founder.
So many people had written in the Journal, and yet..."Don't fricking write if you don't have anything useful to say, asswipes!"
Fuzen yelled as he closed the Journal and tossed it across the room, the book hitting a wall with a dull noise. A sacrilegious action to be sure, but he cared little for it at the moment.
His head fell inside his palms, closing his eyes and inhaling and exhaling a couple of times to gather himself.
It helped him little.
"Why can none of you be useful for once…?"
Raising his head Fuzen's eyes fell upon the sword on display on the table opposite of his bed.
Raiju no Yoki.
Vessel of the Thunder Beast.
When he became a Disciple of the Lightning Sword Style, their school's Relic had not been part of their dojo.
Acquiring that sword back for his martial school had been probably the most difficult task he had performed to date, taking in consideration his Level 1 Status at the time and his lack of refined mastery over Ki that he now possessed.
He remembered the hardships he had to go through to get that one sword back, and yet…
…
…
…
"Hey." He called out, spotting the one he was looking for sitting at the edge of the cliff. Their training had brought them to the sea-side, where they had spent the last week. "Jiro."
The young boy turned his head to look over his shoulder, his eyes just as tired as his own. "Oh, it's you."
"What are you doing here?" He had asked as he walked up to his friend's side, looking over the sea on which the morning sun shined and reflected. It would have been a beautiful sight, but he lacked the energy or motivation to think of it as beautiful. As of late everything lacked any colour in his eyes.
"...Thinking."
"...Training starts soon. The others are gathering. You should have rested while you could."
Jiro chuckled lightly. "Training...yeah. That is what we are here for, aren't we?"
"...Obviously?"
"Yeah. Obviously…" The boy one year his senior in age nodded a couple of times, not taking his eyes off the scenery before him. A smile found it's way on his lips. "You've been training with Hachiman-sama for years before he sent you here, didn't you, -?"
"...Yeah."
"You're pretty weak, then." His statement was accompanied by a light chuckle. "Even though you have more experience you can't win against any of us in sword fighting."
"S-Shut up. By the time our year-long training is over I'll have you all eat my dust!"
"I don't doubt that." Jiro replied confidently, rising to his feet and looking over at him. "You're weak, but...you have a will stronger than any of us. An indomitable will fit for the one to be called strongest."
He raised an eyebrow at the strange behaviour of his friend. "Have you been eating strange mushrooms again? What's up with you?"
"Just felt like helping out my buddy, is all. Don't doubt yourself, -. You can do it."
"…?"
"And...sorry."
"What for?"
"I would have liked to see you reach the top, but...I can't do it. I wasn't cut out for this." Jiro shook his head, a faint smile on his face. "I really thought my desire to avenge my family was strong enough to put up with this hellish training, but...it's not. I can't...do this anymore. I just..."
"...If you have time for self-pity you have time to train." He said with a frown on his brows as he turned around and began to walk. "Come on. We'll avenge your family, together."
"...Yeah, sounds good...Mhm, I'm coming..."
But he heard no footsteps following behind him.
He turned around and Jiro was nowhere in sight.
A moment later a disgusting, splashing noise reached his ears originating from the foot of the cliff.
"...Hey."
And yet no response came.
He walked back to the edge of the cliff, looking down below. "...You clumsy idiot."
A sigh left his lips as he began to descend down by using a path slightly to the left of where they were standing. One whole minute later he reached the rocky beach below and walked up to his motionless friend. "Come on, let's go."
He reached out and grabbed Jiro's arm but as soon as he pulled he was thrown back on his rear. There was no resistance to his action, a popping and ripping sound following a single moment later. "...Ah."
He looked at what he was holding in his hand, staring at the bloodied arm for a full second with an unreadable expression.
Then he rose to his feet again and grabbed the boy, placing his arm inside his belt and putting his heavy body on his back as he began to walk back up to the cliff above. The fabric of his shirt quickly absorbed the now lukewarm blood as Jiro's weight pushed into him. "We need to patch you up first. You can't train like this. That old geezer won't be happy at this waste of time, you clumsy idiot."
And yet, no response came.
"...Ah. Right. We're out of bandages. I'll need to run to the town and buy some. Think you'll manage until then?"
And yet, no response came.
"...I see. I'll try to be as quick as possible, then. Hang on, ok? Just...hang on."
And yet…
…
…
…
Fuzen stared at the Relic for a long time, then got up and walked up to it. He reached out a hand, but it began to shake before he could grab the sword.
If he grabbed it the Were-Jaguar would stand before him again, and he knew it.
"...Indomitable will my ass, you fricking idiot...Every single one of you asswipes...Sigh…"
His hand fell down, as did his head.
"Successor, my ass…"
A moment later something else drew his attention, something he had placed besides the Relic on display.
Letters.
Two of them, at that.
One of them he received from Seiji upon their reunion in Orario.
The second one arrived a short while ago.
He had yet to open any of the two. After all, they were not the usual replies to his reports written by Hachiman but letters sent to him by none other than his Mistress.
To this date he had not managed to muster the courage to open any of the two.
But maybe, just maybe, her words could grant him what he was seeking the most in his moment of turmoil.
Guidance, on what he was meant to do next.
He inhaled and exhaled a couple of times, readying himself for his next action. He knew that word of his deeds in Altena could not have reached the Far East just yet, especially the backwater region his dojo was located in.
The letters did not have his deeds as the reason behind their arrival.
It must have been something personal.
So even then, would they contain the guidance he so desperately needed?
Fuzen reached out for them, time appearing as if slowing down as he went through the motion.
Would they really contain something which he could use?
Something he could hang on in order to move forward?
Words that would make the feeling in his chest go away?
Inhale.
Exhale.
Inhale…
Exhale…
He closed his eyes and pressed down on the table with both hands.
Of course they fricking won't.
He sighed, then grabbed the table by either side.
"ARRRGHHHH!"
XXX
"Pfew, that was a lengthy meeting…" The Elf girl muttered under her breath as she made her way back to her room.
Finn had given the order for all members of Loki Familia to gather at the dining hall, even going as far as to call back those members who grouped together and dived into the Dungeon for either Quests or to simply improve their Status.
Two hours ago the last group had arrived and Finn and the other Top Executives began to explain the reason for this last-minute meeting: there was a high Level individual inside the Dungeon who targeted Adventurers, and this man had met none other than their local swordsman, Fuzen.
Suffice to say, the boy had been in critical condition following his loss at the hands of the Were-Jaguar.
Lefiya blanked out as those words reached her ears.
This wasn't some ordinary run of the mill Level 2, after all.
This was the individual whom Lefiya saw with her own eyes defeat her idol, Ais, in a sparing match. The same boy who brought her idol to the brink of death by beating her black and blue.
If this Were-Jaguar could inflict that much damage upon him, then...where did that leave all of them?
The Level 1's, and 2's and 3's of Loki Familia, what chance did they have? After all, Finn told them his body count was already in the double-digits, Level 4's among them.
Just thinking about it send a shiver down her spine.
As such, the meeting had been held in order to discuss the man himself, which Finn and the other Top Executives ranked as either Level 5 or Level 6 in strength.
Precautions needed to be taken in order to avoid casualties among their Familia. Thus, they were not allowed to dive into the Dungeon as single groups anymore until the man was confirmed either dead or captured.
Finn then went on to explain that all members would be assigned to groups closer in size with small scale expeditions and each such group would be led by an Executive. They were allowed to dive into the Dungeon only as a whole group: solo dives were forbidden.
Suffice to say, with the size of their Familia the meeting had taken two whole hours as Finn and the others made sure to allocate approximate the same amount of members to each group while keeping the Level difference stable.
Even the Second Group of mostly Level 4's had been split to be allocated to multiple groups and keep their overall power constant.
Lefiya herself had been assigned to Tiona's group and while she was happy to be assigned the role of head Mage of her group she would be lying if she were to say she wasn't slightly disappointed not to be included in her idol's group.
No, I can't think like that. This is the time for each member to do their part for their Familia. And mine's in Tiona's group. All right, let's do this! The Elf girl pumped up her fist into the air as the tips of her ears wiggled ever so slightly in response to her excitement.
Crash!
Her excitement was quickly subdued by the sound of a loud crash somewhere on the floor above where Lefiya was. This immediately drew her attention. Loki Familia was slightly rowdy by default but no one would simply engage in mindless destruction.
The tiniest bit hesitant but beliving herself to be the closest to the source of the noise, Lefiya walked up the stairs to the next floor having a rough idea from where the crash originated.
She went up the stairs then took a left onto the first hallway, then another left. At the end of the second smaller hallway she noticed what appeared to be the pieces of a wooden door and a wooden table, the table having been thrown at the door from inside the room with great enough force to break both objects.
This is...his room.
The girl grabbed the sides of her dress, feeling anxious all of a sudden. She did not like the boy at all. Not just because of what he had done to her idol, but also because of his demeanour and the fact he simply caused troubles for Loki Familia as a whole without seemingly caring for the consequences.
She was still thankful for the time he took a couple months ago to help her with meditation and battle training but that was roughly the end of her gratitude for him.
But her animosity towards him aside, Lefiya did not think the boy the impulsive type who would destroy things on a whim. Something was wrong, and so she approached his room.
Carefully stepping over the broken parts of the door she came nearer to the door-frame. She gulped once then leaned over to peak inside.
It took her a single moment to spot Fuzen: he was sitting down and leaning on the opposite wall of the door, below the single window to be found inside the small room.
His lips were slightly parted and his eyes stared holes into the ceiling above him. In his hand he held a single letter while to his side a pile of recently ignited ashes could be seen and smelt.
Whatever negative thoughts Lefiya had of the boy dispersed within a single moment of looking at him: could she have reached a state so low two years ago, when she had been his age?
She doubted it.
She doubted she could have ever experienced something so bad it would make her look so lost, and hurt, and simply at the end of her wits.
And yet he did.
And Lefiya felt for him.
Just then his eyes turned to look at her, hazel meeting dark blue for a split second. The hollow look in his eyes sent shivers down her spine.
"...The world is...pretty messed up, don't you think?" He asked dryly as he raised his arm holding the letter, bringing it closer to his face while his eyes scanned it's words one more time. A spark of electricity zapped between his fingers afterwards and the letter began to burn. "It's people, above all else…"
And as the letter burned in his hand Lefiya noticed his lips trembling ever so slightly thanks to the shadows on his face caused by the fire.
And the sight broke her heart.
XXX
If you are still here after you read what I wrote in the above AN, then I dunno what else I can say.
I literally told you there are better reading options to pass your free time than this fic, and I said that only because I wanted to look out for your best interests as a form of gratitude for putting up with this shitty fic for whatever reasons pushed you to do so.
Obviously, it is up to you whatever you want to follow my advice or not.
With that said, this Chapter:
Not a lot to say about it, as everything was pretty direct this time around. No smoke and mirrors.
As for next Chapter, well…
It will continue this sort of 'mood' but there will be some action, as well. I do go a lot into details but I don't believe I overdo it. So if everything goes according to plan, a new Arc will begin with Chapter 36.
Probably one of the Arcs I'm looking the most forward to writing, in all honesty.
That's about it.
Kay bye.