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kofi.c om (slash) christophernagura
Nad19: No, it's not an OcNatsu and he'll be in a Familia at the end of Arc 1 of the story.
Deathpen16: I've already addressed these sorts of reviews before, not doing it again.
Phantom Thief of Hearts: Hestia is still a vital part of this story, especially later on which is why I had Natsu meet up with her. As for the next part of your review, I will include events from DanMachi Memoria Freese, but no so much from Orario Rhapsodia as I haven't played that one before.
Kriim-Sauce786: He'll have access his Lightning-Flame Dragon Mode eventually, I already have an idea of how it'll happen.
trey Dragneel: It's a nice idea, but she's in Earthland, I wouldn't know what to do by including another FT character into the world.
Temsen: The latter.
Argo Devilian: Hmm, you're not wrong, but we don't know how much the original debt was, so I just assumed. Besides, considering Natsu earns around that sum anyways, that would ruin what I had in mind.
Chapter 13: An Adventure!
Location: The Blue Pharmacy
"A drop is all that's needed. Be sure not to add too many otherwise it'll be ruined."
"I understand." Naaza responded as she narrowed her eyes and gently brought the vial close to the cauldron before slowly tapping it on the edge of the container.
A single drop fell into the mixture and a loud whistling sound which only lasted a couple of seconds before it quieted down, with the contents turning from clear to a deep blue liquid.
"It's completed." Miach smiled happily and Naaza reciprocated that with an uncharacteristic smile on her face as well. Though, considering the fact that they had been working on this for weeks with no signs of success.
Fortunately, they managed to reach their goal and perhaps might finally be able to reach where they once were in the past.
"I'm sorry for having you help me out again, Naaza." Miach said as he turned to face the other occupant in the room with an apologetic smile on his face.
"You don't need to apologise to me for this, Miach-sama. I'm the only member of your Familia, it'd be a problem if I didn't help you out." Naaza sighed to herself.
Ever since she had been returning to the Dungeon with Natsu and Welf, the god would always apologise to her whenever he asks her for help. Though there was no denying that she definitely preferred being out and about with her friends in the Dungeon rather than being cooped up in a small room. But she couldn't deny that it was nice to be able to have some peace and quiet and NOT worry about monsters killing you every now and again.
In the past this would never have been an issue, but then again back then she definitely wouldn't have imagined stepping foot back at the Dungeon ever again.
"Even if that may be the case, I'm glad to see that you've been enjoying your time at the Dungeon with your friends." He said with a gentle smile before a small frown replaced it.
"As a god, I feel ashamed that I was unable to do anything to help you overcome your trauma."
Despite the fact that the accident occurred a couple of years ago, the god could still remember the look of terror etched on the girl's face when she returned from the Dungeon. Even after procuring the prosthetic arm for her, he was never truly able to make her happy again as she had once been before.
While he was glad that she was now able to smile again, he also felt regret that someone else had been able to make her happy once more while he had failed to do so.
It was a regret he kept buried deep in his heart.
"You've already done more than enough to help me Miach-sama, and I will be forever grateful for your help." She said with a small smile as she gestured to the prosthetic arm.
The god couldn't help but smile as he closed his eyes, "Still, I must thank Natsu for what he has done for us. Had it not been for him, things would be much different had he not been here." Though speaking of the pinkette, that was when he placed a hand on his chin.
"Though I can't help but be curious about Natsu. Has he told you what Familia he had been a part of?"
"Now that you mentioned it, I'm not sure…" The chienthrope's eyes widened as she tried to think back to a time when the rosette revealed his Familia to her. Though nothing came up.
It was obvious that Welf belonged to the Hephaestus Familia, as he constantly talked about smithing and whatnot, but the same can't be said for the pinkette. Since he claimed that he was from outside Orario and was used to fighting monsters of this level, she always assumed that he belonged to a Familia outside.
'Though if that were the case, would that mean that he did it knowing that he wouldn't be able to update his status at all?'
There were a lot of mysteries which surrounded her pink haired friend, but she was certain that he'll eventually open up to her about it.
After all, she trusts him, and she is certain that he trusts her too.
"I'm sure he'll tell me when he feels like it. There's no need for me to press for an answer if he's uncomfortable about it."
'You've certainly changed, Naaza.' The blue haired god smiled as he stared at his child.
Even in the past, the chienthrope could be considered to be blunt and distrustful of others. This obviously led to some problems between her and her friends at the early stages of their friendship. Now, she was willing to put trust in someone despite only knowing them for a month.
It looked like there was one other thing he needed to thank the pink haired male for.
"So, what do you assume the two of them to be doing?" Miach couldn't help but ask.
"Knowing Natsu, I'm sure that the two of them will be heading towards the Middle Floors again to scout out some of the areas there." She sighed.
Even as she said that, she couldn't help but worry that the two would do something reckless now that she wasn't there to supervise them. But surely, they wouldn't do anything stupid while she wasn't there with them… right?
Location: The Dungeon (13th Floor)
Natsu suddenly sneezed, which surprised his partner who jolted in shock.
'Why do I have a feeling Naaza is talking about us?' The Dragon Slayer thought to himself.
"Are you alright?" Welf asked curiously, raising an eyebrow at the pinkette who was rubbing his nose.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just have a weird feeling that someone was talking about me."
"Well, whatever the case we need to be careful, we're about to enter an area we haven't been to before. Who knows what the Dungeon has in store for us?" The blacksmith said warily, getting a nod from the rosette as the two continued on trekking through the massive hallway.
However, unknown to the both of them, it wasn't going to be the Dungeon that would disrupt their adventure.
Miles ahead of the travelling duo, a dark figure quietly landed on the ground as he began scanning his surroundings. His eyes managed to catch sight of the nearby walls and a dark smirk formed on his face.
'It's time for the plan to run its course.' The figure thought to himself as he made sure to hide himself.
A few minutes passed and the dark figure saw Natsu and Welf chatting excitedly as they pass by the area where the figure was at.
'Let's see you try and handle this pinky!' at that moment the figure threw his spear at the ceiling. This caused a loud bang to reverberate within the Dungeon.
Upon hearing the loud crash, both adventurers stopped to look around their surroundings and Natsu's eyes widened in shock when he looked up and saw rocks falling down towards them as he quickly pushed Welf out of the way before diving the other direction.
The barrage of rocks continued to fall like water as the two adventurers panted softly as the rockslide subsided.
However, because of this, large rocks now stood in each other's path, and there were no signs of either being able to reach the other.
"Oi! You alright there Welf?" Natsu called out.
"Yeah, I should be alright… thanks for saving me there, things would have been pretty bad if you hadn't." The blacksmith coughed out due to the thick dust.
The rosette looked at the pile of rocks in front of him and he had half a mind to just destroy the rocks in front of him with a Fire Dragon's Iron Fist, but he was reluctant to do so, 'I should be able to break my way through these rocks no problem, but Welf might get caught up in the blast.' [1]
'There's got to be a way around this, but I can't find a way out because of all the dust.' He thought as he rubbed his nose.
"Welf, you should probably head back up to the surface."
"And what are you going to do?" he asked.
"Don't worry about me, I'll probably just walk around the place and try and find an exit. It's definitely worth a shot." He responded with a shrug.
While it probably wasn't the wisest thing to do, it was the only choice he could think off. It wasn't as if the rocks would magically disappear after a while.
"Are you crazy? How are you going to find an exit if you don't even know your way around here?!"
"Don't worry about me, I'll eventually find a way out of here. Just trust me."
Welf gritted his teeth when he heard that. While he knew that the pinkette was ridiculously strong, but would he be able to last long enough to find an exit? The Dungeon was a maze and with one exit blocked off, it was going to be extremely difficult to find another one, especially since neither were familiar with their surroundings.
Though that was when an idea appeared in his head.
"Oh wait, I know! Natsu, you should head down to the 18th floor!" Welf shouted.
"Wait, you want me to go down even further?" The Dragon Slayer responded in confusion.
"Yeah, it's because the 18th floor is also known as a Safety Point in the Dungeon. There's usually a ton of adventurers who stay there, so I'm sure you'll be able to get someone to help find an alternate path back to the surface." Welf explained and Natsu's eyes widened.
'Now that I think about it, I remember Eina talking about those Safety Points before.' He thought to himself before shaking his head.
"Alright then, I'll head down over there. What about you? What are you going to do?"
"Hmm, I'll let Naaza know about this, and if I know her, I'll assume that we'll most probably meet you down there. If we still haven't come down in a few days, you should head back up with someone who knows a way out."
"Sounds like a plan. Anyways, be careful on your way up!" Natsu shouted.
"Same goes for you, we both know you're stronger out of the two of us, but you never know what the Dungeon might throw at you." The blacksmith responded back.
"I'll keep that in mind!" With that, the two walked off, both with different objectives in mind.
Soon after Welf had left the area, the dark figure slowly emerged from behind the walls before turning to face the rocks, knowing that the pinkette was behind it, 'Well, my role here is done. Try not to get yourself killed kid.' He smirked to himself as he began walking away.
Location: Orario Streets
A light blue hue filled the skies of Orario as a large group of people could be seen walking through the streets. The hustle and bustle of the people ringed in the air as the sounds of cheers and shouts reverberated everywhere. Though, amongst the busy crowd was a blonde male wearing a feathered cap with a girl with short blue hair walking slightly behind him.
"The talks about the mysterious pink-haired adventurer who defeated the Irregular Infant Dragon to be nothing more than a farce and that the people living in Daedalus Street were being delirious. Some even claim that they created a fake adventurer in order to gain more visitors to the area."
"Hmm, pretty cruel don't you think? But if you ask me, it sounds like their jealousy speaking rather than themselves." The blonde responded with his hands behind the back of his head.
It wasn't uncommon for adventurers to speak ill of one another, especially in regards to any successes they had.
Though the only exception to that would be the top members from the Loki Familia and Freya Familia. After all, it was uncommon for an adventurer to reach Lvl 6 in their lives, yet both Familia's had several members, with the exception of the King who was the only Lvl 7 adventurer in Orario.
However, the talks about a pink-haired male couldn't help but be reminded of the encounter he had with a strange man with pink hair who claimed to be not a part of any Familia. He wondered if the two were the same people.
And if so, how he'd been able to do it? Did he join a Familia after or was he fighting these monsters without a Falna?
'I hope to meet him again soon. I have a feeling that he could be the one.' He thought with a smile.
Though that was when they noticed a red-haired man, wearing a Salamander Wool over his body, run past them, panic written over his face.
"Something must have happened to him." The girl pointed out, but the man hadn't heard her.
It was rather often for adventurers to be running about, especially in regards to an emergency. It shouldn't have caught his attention. Yet, for some odd reason his instincts were telling him otherwise.
'Hmm, I have a feeling someone interesting is about to take place.' The blonde thought to himself with a mischievous look on his face while his partner, who saw the look, could only sigh in exhaustion.
Location: Blue Pharmacy
"Wow, it's definitely been a while since the three of us gathered here in one location." Miach pointed out with a smile on his face as he sat alongside his closest friends from Genkai, Takemikazuchi and Hestia.
"Yeah, I've been so busy with my job that I haven't gotten the chance to get a break! Fortunately, the owner was kind enough to give me one after so long!" Hestia exclaimed with a sigh.
"Well, whatever the case, it's certainly nice to be able to relax every now and again." Takemikazuchi pointed out with a smile.
"Hmm, so these three must be your children, Take?" Hestia asked as she stared at the three adventurers who were currently standing at the side of the shop with Naaza.
"That's right, they've been with me ever since they were small children back at the Far East." The War God grinned happily causing the goddess to slam her head on the table.
"Urgh! I'm so jealous of the both of you! I want to start a Familia of my own!" Hestia flailed childishly as the two males couldn't help but sweat drop at the sight.
"I'm sure the day will come when you finally convince someone to join your Familia, Hestia." Miach comforted with a smile.
"I sure hope so…" she mumbled to herself as the other two gods smiled at her childish attitude.
Meanwhile, onto the conversations between the children…
"Naaza-dono, I heard that you've been returning to the Dungeon from Takemikazuchi-sama, this is splendid news!" Mikoto exclaimed with a smile on her face.
"Yeah, we were surprised when we heard the news from Takemikazuchi-sama but it's nice to hear that you've returned." Ouka added.
As the two male gods were close to one another, it also meant that the chances for their children to interact with each other were higher, especially since the Miach Familia was working in this line of work, which meant the members of the Takemikazuchi Familia would frequent the shop in order to buy the necessities needed for the Dungeon.
"Yeah, I've partied up with some of my friends." Naaza said.
"That's wonderful!"
"Exploring with friends is truly a fantastic experience! Fighting together, growing stronger together and even having each other's backs! Surely you feel the same way, right Naaza-dono?" The onsen-loving girl asked with a grin.
"Yeah, I do..." A gentle smile appeared on the chienthrope's face as she thought about the pinkette she had teamed up with for weeks now.
Now let's move on back to the conversation between the three gods.
"Speaking of which, I've heard that you were able to pay for most of your debt back to Dian Cecth, Miach." Takemikazuchi pointed out and Hestia's head shot up from the table.
"Is that true? Good for you Miach!" Hestia exclaimed.
"Yes, you've heard right. Unfortunately, we couldn't have pulled it off by ourselves." He mused as his two friends looked at him with confused looks.
"You see, it's all thanks to a particular adventurer that Naaza and I met a couple of weeks ago." He smiled fondly as he poured the two some tea.
"His encounter with us wasn't exactly what you would call a good one, but had it not been for him, Naaza would have never found the determination to return back to the Dungeon nor would we be in such a good position today."
"So, an adventurer helped you too, huh?" Takemikazuchi said with a smile as the attention suddenly fell over to him as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Believe it or not, a single adventurer also saved my children from an Infant Dragon when they were in trouble. I've been wanting to thank him for his help, but we've never gotten the chance to meet one another yet."
"Wow, looks like there's another thing we all share in common then." Hestia pointed out.
"Oh, is there someone helping you out as well, Hestia?" Miach asked curiously as the virgin goddess nodded her head as she rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.
"Yeah, truth be told, he said he was willing to give me some of his earnings in order to pay back my debt to Hephaestus." She said causing Takemikazuchi's eyes to widen in shock.
"Is this true?! I never expected anyone to be so willing to give away their hard-earned money like that… did you offer him anything in return?" Hestia shook her head.
"Asides from giving him an extra Jagamarukun or two, I haven't given him anything." She rubbed the back of her head in sheepishly.
As embarrassing as it was to admit it, the goddess of hearth couldn't find it in herself to lie to her closest friends, especially when they too revealed how they had received help from a mysterious adventurer.
"That's incredible, I've never heard of such a kind adventurer before… if you don't mind me asking, what's his name? I'd like to meet up with him in the future." Takemikazuchi asked with a smile.
"Oh his name is-" Though before she could finish her sentence-,
"Naaza!" Welf pushed the door to the shop open causing everyone within the room to jolt up in shock at his sudden arrival.
"Welf? What's wrong?" Naaza asked, noticing the sweat profusely falling down her friend's face.
"Natsu needs our help!" He exclaimed.
This particular name caught everyone's attention as they turned to stare at the redhead.
"Hold on, Welf. Explain it from the beginning, what do you mean Natsu needs our help?" She asked as she tried to calm the blacksmith down.
"Well, you might get mad at us, but we were planning on heading down deeper in the Middle Floors-" Though Welf was immediately cut off by the chienthrope.
"Wait a minute, the two of you went further down the Middle Floors without me?!" Her eyes widened in shock upon learning this news before face palming.
She should have expected this. Why did she think for even a second that her two friends would even listen to her? Especially in regards to the Dungeon.
"Well, to be fair, we were just planning to head down a few more floors since Natsu said he wanted to try out his new gauntlets…" He tried explaining but the glare he received from the chienthrope caused him to cough into his hands.
"Anyways, when we were walking, we were caught in an accident which separated us."
"So where is Natsu now?" Naaza asked with concern in her voice.
"I told him to head down to the 18th floor and wait for us there, so he's probably going to head there now." Naaza frowned when she heard that.
"I'm sure Natsu would be able to arrive there no problem… but if the two of us head down there now, what are the chances we'd be able to reach all the way down there? You're not a Level 2 yet, and I haven't been into the deeper levels yet…" She explained.
"Then we'll offer our assistance!" someone voiced out as everyone turned to the owner of the sound to see that it was none other than Mikoto who said it.
"You will?" Naaza asked, raising an eyebrow at the girl who nodded her head.
"Yes, after all, it was Natsu-dono who was the one who helped out us when we were in trouble. Thus, we want to return the favour we owe him!" Mikoto explained, getting nods from both Ouka and Chigusa.
"Yeah, it wouldn't be right for us to ignore someone who needs help, especially when we owe them." Ouka added to which Chigusa shyly nodded her head in agreement.
"But, even if we all went down there together, would we be able to reach the 18th floor by ourselves?" A deafening silence filled the room as everyone struggled to come up with an idea.
"You all sound like you need some help there." Everyone turned towards the entrance where they saw a man with mid-length blonde hair wearing a feathered hat, leaning by the doorframe with a bespectacled woman with short blue hair standing behind him.
"Hermes,"
The head of the Hermes Familia now entered the shop with the blue-haired girl standing close to him.
"What are you doing here? You don't normally stop by here." Takemikazuchi pointed out, staring at his friend from Genkai with a suspicious look on his face.
Though the blonde merely waved it off with a laugh, "Now, now surely there are more pressing matters that need to be discussed first, right?" he said as he sat down on the table alongside his friends and smiled.
"So, what's the issue?"
Location: The Dungeon (17th Floor)
"Phew, I finally reached the 17th floor…" The Dragon Slayer panted softly as he saw the light shining in front of him.
Ever since he had separated from Welf, plenty of monsters had spawned in front of him to halter his progress forward and while they were no match for him, the sheer number posed to be a threat even to him.
Another problem was that since he hadn't studied much about the Middle Floors with Eina, he did not know about any Safety Points where he could take a breather as well.
'Thank goodness those Hellhounds were around, otherwise, I doubt I'd be able to reach this far without eating their flames.' While he was confident in his constitution, that didn't mean he was sure to be able to carry on fighting all the way down to the 18th floor without any rest. Fortunately, it was those very same beings that also helped him recover some of his energy again.
Although, there was no denying that he was going to run out of steam eventually, and there was no way he'd be able to reach back up to the surface, nor was he willing to try.
'I just need to pass this floor and I'll reach my destination; it'll be alright.' He reassured himself as he entered through the doorway.
Though the moment he entered…,
'Woah! This place is massive!' The pinkette thought in amazement as he stared at the room before him.
The entire hallway looked to be around two hundred metres long and a hundred metres wide. The walls and ceiling are made of many different-size rocks piled on top of one another.
Though there was one thing that caught the Dragon Slayer's attention as his eyes drifted to the side where he saw a large wall, completely smooth and flat and unlike the rocky formation which formed the other walls.
'I have a bad feeling about this, I should head out quickly.' The pinkette thought as he stared at the wall before shaking his head as he began running towards the exit.
However, that was when he heard it.
Crack
The pinkette immediately turned his head to the side where he saw a massive crack running down the wall from top to bottom.
He quickly got into his battle stance, ready to battle, but he immediately lowered it when he saw the monster which spawned in front of him.
The monster, which resembled that of a human, stood at over seven metres tall, with its thick muscular greyish-brown body.
"Now this looks like a problem." Natsu couldn't help but chuckle uneasily to himself as he stared at the large monster staring down menacingly at him.
"OWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
The entire room shook violently from the intensity of its roar as Natsu was forced to cover his ears from the loud volume.
'Looks like I'm not going to have an easy time now, am I?' The pinkette thought to himself as he stared at the large monster.
At first glance, Natsu couldn't help but compare the size of the monster in front of him to the Lullaby as well as the Deliora monsters he encountered back at home. However, the only difference was that now, he was alone.
He had no Erza or Gray to help him in this battle.
Though to say that the rosette was scared of such a monster would be terribly mistaken. Rather, he was filled with thrilled!
Excitement filled his eyes as he stared at the massive monster standing in front of him.
Whenever the going gets tough for the pinkette, he would make sure to stare at it in the face and charge at it. After all, giving up had never been in the list of words he knew, and it wasn't about to be added any time soon.
"I'm all fired up." With a grin on his face, the Dragon Slayer charged in towards battle against the Monster Rex, who turned towards the rosette before letting out a massive roar that shook the entire room.
This marked the battle between a Dragon Slayer from another world and a Monster Rex who has claimed plenty of lives.
Location: Tower of Babel
"Now… let me see you how well you handle yourself in this situation…"
Sitting comfortably in her red seat was none other than the Goddess of Beauty herself, Freya, as she played with the glass of wine in her hand as she stared at a window that was floating in the middle of the room.
With the battle between Natsu and the Goliath playing on the screen.
This was possible due to the existence of the Divine Mirror, the only Arcanum which was allowed in Gekai. Its usage was strictly for entertainment purposes only and anyone caught using it for their own personal gain would be punished and sent straight back to Tenkai.
Despite the large risk and everything which follows, Freya couldn't help herself.
Ever since she had witnessed his battle against the Infant Dragon, she had been thirsting to witness more of his abilities. To watch the boy who had melted her heart grow stronger and stronger until his flames finally shined brighter than ever before.
She couldn't deny that this was an uncontrollable desire, but she couldn't help herself. After all, she was completely drawn towards his flames.
With Natsu
Charging straight into the fight, the Dragon Slayer made the first move as he extended both his arms out as flames engulfed both of them.
"Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!" Swinging his arms forward, the flames headed towards the Goliath's direction. However, despite the attack directly hitting its target, the Goliath shook off the attack and glared at the pinkette.
Thus, it began moving towards him, but while its steps were slow, its large steps were able to make amends for that.
Though, that didn't mean that the Dragon Slayer would allow it to reach him just like that as he quickly jumped backwards and engulfed both his hands with flames.
"Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flames!" After combining the flames from both his hands, the Dragon Slayer threw the large fireball at the monster who cried out in pain, its body now sustaining burn marks.
Enraged by the rosette's continuous attacks, the monster raised its massive arm before slamming it at the ground. The force of the monster's attack was able to push Natsu back due to the wind following the impact of the monster's attack.
'If even one of those attacks were to hit me directly, it'd squish me like an insect.' Shaking his head from sure gruesome thoughts, Natsu quickly got back into the battle.
"Fire Dragon's Roar!" The Dragon Slayer fired out a massive torrent of flames from his mouth directly at the monster who was slightly pushed back from the attack, but ultimately, much like his previous attacks, it was able to withstand it.
'Damn it, this thing's skin is too thick! I won't be able to pierce its body with these attacks…' Cursing in his mind, the pinkette quickly jumped backwards in order to dodge yet another of the monster's attacks.
'Well, looks I'll just have to go in close! As they say, the bigger they are, the harder they fall!'
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" Natsu quickly engulfed his fist in flames before sending a right hook at the monster's leg, in hopes of knocking it down, but despite its cry of pain, the Goliath managed to stand its ground.
Glaring at the pinkette, the monster quickly raised its leg and stomped the ground, in hopes of crushing the Dragon Slayer, but to no avail as he managed to jump out of the way.
But he wasn't out of danger just yet as the Goliath pulled its arm back at the Dragon Slayer who turned around to see a fist flying towards him.
'Shit!' Natsu quickly realised the predicament he was in as the Goliath swung its arm straight at him.
The pinkette quickly crossed his arms in order to weaken the damage, but the force of the Monster Rex's punch was strong enough to send him flying into the wall, creating a medium-sized indent in it.
He coughed out some saliva mixed with blood as he dropped to the ground with a loud thud.
He slowly pushed himself up and wiped away the blood from his mouth and stared at the massive monster standing in front of him.
"Looks like this isn't going to be as easy as I thought…" He couldn't help but chuckle to himself.
Looks like he has his work cut out for him after all.
Location: The Dungeon (18th floor)
Meanwhile, just outside the 17th floor was a beautiful and serene forest. As Welf had mentioned earlier on, the 18th floor of the Dungeon was a Safety Zone, one of the rare locations in the labyrinth where monsters do not spawn.
Because of this, plenty of middle-class and high-class adventurers would always make stops here in order to recuperate before moving onwards to the lower floors.
In fact, in order to reinforce this, a town had been built with said purpose.
Its name was Rivira, a town built and operated by adventurers that also goes by the name of the "Paradise of the Dungeon".
However, just on the outskirts of the town were a large group of adventurers, with numerous camps set up around the clearing.
All of which belonged to none other than the Loki Familia.
The group had recently made history as they managed to conquer the 59th floor, something no Familia in history, not even the famed Zeus and Hera Familia, were capable of doing. It had been a hard-fought battle against the Demi-Spirit, but they eventually managed to overcome the odds and pull out victorious.
After their victory, they intended to head back up to the surface in order to notify the guild of their success. However, because they spent the majority of their potions on the way towards the 59th floor, it meant that their supplies had thinned on the way upwards and because of that, most of their members were injured and incapable of continuing further. [2]
This was why Finn had some of their fastest members head up to the surface in order to get medicines for them as soon as they could.
Meanwhile, the other members who were able to move about were left to their own devices, and some decided to head to Rivira to purchase some goods, others were busying themselves with assisting the healers with the injured and some others were merely resting in their respective tents.
Speaking of which, Aiz Wallenstein was currently sitting in her tent, lost in her thoughts as her mind wandered back to the encounter, she had with the Demi-Spirit they had recently encountered.
How had she known her mother?
The more she tried coming up with an answer only led to more questions for the blonde, but she knew for a fact that she wouldn't be able to get those answers until she reached the end of the Dungeon.
Though she was quickly snapped out of her thoughts when a loud roar emerged from the Dungeon.
The blonde stepped out of her tent and much like everyone else, she stared at the entrance to the 17th floor.
"Looks like somebody must have awoken the Goliath." Finn mused to himself as he faced the Dungeon from where he sat.
"Should we do something about it?" Riveria asked curiously as she stared at the Pallum who looked to be contemplating her words.
"Well, as adventurers, it's better for us to help one another whenever we possibly can." Finn pointed out, as he grabbed his spear.
"…Correct me if I'm wrong, but I have a feeling that might be nothing more than an excuse." Riveria pointed out to the blonde man who chuckled when he heard those words.
"Perhaps you're right, but… I just have a feeling that something interesting is about to happen soon… and I can't help but want to satisfy that curiosity of mine." He responded with a smile.
Riveria sighed when she heard this but did nothing to stop him as she grabbed her staff as well and decided to follow him.
Upon seeing both Finn and Riveria heading to the 17th floor, some of the members looked at each other before shrugging to themselves as they got up and followed after their Captain seeing as they had nothing better to do.
Aiz hadn't known why, but for some odd reason, she had a strong desire to join along. While she had no idea why that might be the case, she decided to get up and join the small group.
Besides Aiz, a few high-ranking members of the Familia which included Lefiya, Raul and Anakitty decided to tag along just because the others were going.
However, the moment they arrived at the 17th floor; the group were surprised at what they were seeing.
Upon entering the room, they had expected a group of Adventurers to be facing off against the monster. Never would they have imagined seeing a lone adventurer facing against the Monster Rex by HIMSELF.
However, to Aiz, what had surprised her the most was WHO said adventurer was. She hadn't expected to see the pinkette again so soon from their last encounter. Especially not in this situation.
"Captain, should we go in and help him?" Raul asked curiously as he got a look of disapproval from the Pallum.
"Not yet. We'll only intervene if the battle looks to be going south." Finn instructed as he kept his eyes on the battle.
They all nodded their heads as the group watched as the pinkette easily avoid a right hook from the monster, which created a massive indent in the wall as he climbed up the monster through its arm before engulfing his arms in flames before landing a direct strike to the monster's right cheek, causing the monster to cry out in pain and even stumble back from the force of the attack.
As the pinkette landed on the ground, he quickly rolled out of the way as the Goliath slammed its fist at where he landed, creating a small crater in the ground.
That was when the Dragon Slayer fired out a torrent of flames from his mouth at the monster's face causing it to swing its arm wildly while using its free arm to dab its eye.
Though that move alone was enough to heighten the shock the group had.
"He didn't even chant an incantation for that spell!" Someone cried out in shock.
"Not just that, but did he just fire out magic from his mouth?!"
"What sort of magic is he utilising…" Finn muttered to himself as he addressed the question to the two elves of the group.
"I don't think I've ever seen magic like his before…" Lefiya pointed out with a shake of her head.
"Neither have I." Riveria added, which added to the shock the group had.
While Lefiya was definitely knowledgeable when it comes to magic, but for someone like Riveria to not know of such magic was a different story as she was considered to be someone who had a wealth of knowledge when it comes to magic.
So, if even she had no idea about the pinkette's magic, they wondered how he managed to obtain it. But they decided to push it to the back of their mind, instead choosing to focus on the battle taking place before them.
The rosette quickly engulfed both his arms in flames, combining them to form a large fireball which he threw at the monster.
The Goliath growled as it punched through the fireball, dispersing it in an instant. However, that was when it realised the pinkette was no longer in front of it. The monster darted its head left and right in search of the pinkette, with said pinkette currently climbing the wall behind the large monster.
That was when the rosette jumped down towards the humanoid monster who managed to turn around just in time before slapping the adventurer into a nearby wall.
But he was able to quickly push himself up as he charged towards the Monster Rex. He managed to slide through the monster's legs before engulfing his hands in flames and striking the monster's leg causing the Goliath to cry out in pain as it dropped to one knee.
The Goliath then reached out to grab the pinkette, but after engulfing his entire body with flames, he managed to free himself from the monster's grasp as he quickly jumped back in order to create some distance between them.
Both fighters locked eyes with each other as they charged at one another to continue their fight.
Meanwhile, watching the battle from the sidelines were none other than the Loki Familia who were all engrossed in the fight taking place in front of them, so much that no one made a single sound, as if to not interrupt the battle.
"Just who is he?" Anakitty mumbled in shock as she watched the pinkette battle against the Goliath.
As a member of the Loki Familia, it was rather common for them to deal against Monster Rex's, such as the Goliath or even the Amphisbaena, but they would always handle them in groups. Heck, even Tiona and Tione, who would sometimes take on monsters with just their bare fists and feet, would need to use their weapons when dealing with the Goliath. And this wasn't even mentioning the strange magic he was capable of using as well…
Yet, there was no look of fright on the pinkette's face, instead, he looked rather… excited? Not to mention he was handling himself very well, at least much better than she had expected him to.
It normally took a large group of Level Two Adventurers or a Level Four Adventurer to handle the Goliath, so does that mean that the pinkette was a Level Four? Or could he perhaps be even higher than that?
Though, if that were the case, how come none of them had ever heard or seen him before? Could he perhaps be someone new in Orario?
Each member all shared that same thought, and while their minds were busy occupied by the mysterious pinkette, Aiz, on the other hand, kept silent and was busy watching the fight taking place in front of her, making no effort to step into the fight.
It wasn't because she didn't care for her fellow adventurer, had it been anyone else she would have stepped in to help out. However, this time was different…
Her eyes locked on with the pinkette's movement as he elegantly moved from one side to the other, avoiding the monster's attack without any trouble whatsoever.
She wanted to see it…
She wanted to witness those dazzling flames once more!
With Natsu
'This is tiring…' The pinkette thought to himself as he dodged yet another attack from the large monster as he fired out torrents of flames from his mouth in order to push the beast back.
His body was exhausted and he was certain that he wouldn't be able to keep on fighting much longer…
…
'But…-!'
Even with that in mind, the Dragon Slayer kept on pushing forward. He wanted to overcome his limits.
He wanted to get stronger…strong enough that he would be able to beat his rivals…strong enough that he would be able to reach his goals…
The Dragon Slayer's eyes shone brightly, as a dazzling blaze burned within him. The flames, as if responding to his cry began burning brighter than ever before.
He wanted to be strong enough to save everyone!
'So, this must be what Ryuu was talking about…' the pinkette thought back to the elf's words to him a few days back.
"Adventures mean something entirely different to each Adventurer as it's something which helps pushes them over the edge and making them stronger."
'This has to be the adventure she was talking about!' He thought with an excited grin on his face.
He had been confused by her words the first time she explained it… but this battle definitely answered all the questions he had in his head.
There was no denying that this was definitely the most difficult monster he's had to deal with ever since arriving in this new world.
In fact, it was definitely stronger than most of the monsters back at Earthland.
But, what truly answered his question was how this battle felt different from most of the ones he had back at Earthland.
This feeling… it felt foreign to him…
Back in Earthland, most of the battles where he fought someone stronger than him usually involved someone, he wanted to protect…
But this time… there was no one to fight for, no one he needed to protect…
This was a battle of the death.
A battle where even the tiniest of mistakes would lead to his death…
However, he had no intentions of dying here.
He had too many things he wanted to do first, and he wasn't about to let those desires be left unfulfilled!
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" Flames engulfed the pinkette's arm as he ducked under the monster's strike before choosing to strike it, which further injured the monster as the impact rattled its thick skull, but otherwise seemed fine.
The Goliath growled and pulled back its arm and aimed at Natsu, who managed to jump back to avoid the attack. But it didn't stop there, it continued its attack, advancing forward with each attack.
By the end of it, Natsu was now pressed against the wall with no chance of escaping.
However, escaping was far from the pinkette's mind as he quickly climbed the wall and faced the Goliath.
"Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!" Natsu engulfed his entire body with flames as he pushed himself off the wall as he propelled forward towards the Goliath at high speed, colliding directly against the monster's centre.
The Goliath let out a shriek in response to the pain it received before it immediately swung its massive arms at the pinkette who was unable to dodge the attack as he crashed into the ground. Though, he managed to push himself up and create some distance between themselves.
The two stared intently at each other as they panted heavily.
The Loki Familia watched on with bated breaths.
For the members like Finn, Riveria and Aiz, they were considered to be elite adventurers, a target for most adventurers to reach for. And it was common for them to watch low-level fights between adventurers and monsters, if anything this fight shouldn't even be worth their time.
Yet, none of them shared that sentiment.
Much like the other members, they too were drawn to the fight, wanting to know the final outcome of this battle.
And it was clear that both parties were exhausted and neither would be able to last much longer.
Though it was only a question of who would be able to outlast the other. Who will emerge victorious in this battle?
Their answer would soon be answered as the Goliath let out a massive roar as it opened its mouth and an energy beam began to form at its mouth while the pinkette merely stood still.
As they all had fought the Goliath numerous of times, they knew what was about to come and many of them cried out at him to get out of the way.
Yet, despite all the noises around him, despite the danger that he was currently in…
Natsu closed his eyes and remained where he was, a calm expression written over his face as the attack headed straight towards him.
Aiz quickly reached out for her sword as she wanted to rush in and help, but that was when she saw it.
Dazzling red-orange flames danced around the Dragon Slayer's body as he opened his eyes.
"This is the end!" He roared as torrents of flames clad themselves around his body as if they were protecting him, gathering around his arms as he spun them around.
"Dragon Slayer Secret Arts: Crimson Lotus: Exploding Flame Blade!"
A massive torrent of flames erupted within his hands as it condensed into tiny miniature explosions that were sent towards the monster. As the flames continued advancing forward, its shape started morphing to that of a phoenix as it flew straight towards the Goliath.
The two attacks seemed to be in a power struggle before the flames slowly engulfed the attack and continued forth towards the unmoving Monster Rex, who before it even realised it, was slowly engulfed in the sea of flames.
Its pained cry reverberated within the hallway as it desperately tried to put out the flames, yet no matter what it did, the flames continued to grow, before it slowly enveloped its entire body.
The monster let out a wailing cry as it dropped to its knees and as its body leaned forward towards the ground, it slowly disappeared into ashes as if it were never there.
The only signs of a battle taking place there was the large magic stone that fell to the ground and the damage which surrounded the entire area.
"H-he did it…" a member of the Loki Familia muttered underneath his breath as he stared in disbelief.
If anything, it was amongst the few emotions that were shared between most of the member of the Familia.
Disbelief. Shock. Amazement.
Aiz, on the other hand, had a gentle smile on her face after witnessing the battle. The strength, determination and willpower that he displayed in that battle…
It was exactly what she had wanted to see from him, and so much more.
Of course, the same could be said about the other members who were all still in awe at the display they had seen.
If anything, even if they were not a part of the same Familia, they all could still acknowledge him as a strong adventurer after the display he had just put on.
Though that was when the pinkette slowly leaned forward before crashing on the ground with a soft thud.
This obviously alerted the Loki Familia as Finn turned to face Riveria who nodded her head as she walked up towards Natsu as she began checking for any severe injuries on the pinkette.
…
…
…
She found none.
With that, she turned to face the group and shook her head.
"Don't worry, he's alright. He just collapsed out of exhaustion." She said as she extended her hand out towards the pinkette's body as a light green aura surrounded her hand.
"He must be experiencing a Mind Zero…after everything he had just displayed; it makes sense why." Riveria added softly as she began healing him.
They were all relieved that the rosette was safe, but one question still lingered in everyone's minds.
"Just who is he?" Raul muttered, loud enough for everyone to hear.
However, they too were unaware as to who the mysterious pinkette was.
All except one,
"Natsu."
A soft voice managed to cut through the air as everyone looked back to see that it was none other than the Sword Princess herself who had uttered those words.
Though this only created more confusion amongst the group as they wondered how she knew about the pinkette's identity. (Especially one elf in particular)
"Do you know him, Aiz?" Finn asked the blonde who nodded her head.
"He was the one who defeated the Irregular monster that was on the surface." She responded.
Finn's eyes widened in shock, recalling that Loki had reported to him to look into any mysterious pink-haired males with fire abilities in Orario. Of course, he had been unable to find any information with those sorts of characteristics, but he decided not to look further into it as he had placed their expedition as the top priority.
To think that he was able to find the identity of that figure in a place like this.
'It's something for someone to be able to handle an Irregular Infant Dragon, but he even managed to defeat the Goliath by himself? There have been no records about a male adventurer with pink hair before… Is he an adventurer from outside? Or is he another secret member from the Freya Familia…?' Finn couldn't help but feel slightly concerned about their rival.
It was no secret that there were plenty of secrets that the Freya Familia were keeping from the guild, and in turn from all of Orario.
He knew that one day there would be a duel between the top two Familias' in Orario in order to determine which of the two were stronger.
He assumed that Natsu was around Level 4 or Level 5 based on how he fought, and while they had several members of their Familia who were higher in level than him, but his unique fighting style, his magical abilities and firepower, all of which couldn't help but make him feel slightly anxious.
In order to achieve his goals of bringing fame back to his tribe, he was willing to do anything in order to achieve it… Of course, he wouldn't do anything drastic, but he just needed to make sure that he knew what he was dealing it.
"While I normally wouldn't permit this to happen, but Riveria could I ask you to confirm his status for us?" Finn asked his long-time friend.
The green-haired elf looked at the Pallum for confirmation, to which he nodded his head causing her to sigh as she nodded her head in understanding.
She kneeled down and moved away his vest so that she could see the Falna on his back.
However…,
"This is-!" She gasped in shock, alerting everyone in the vicinity.
"Riveria, what's wrong?" The High-Elf mumbled something underneath her breath, though none of them could hear it.
"What did you say?" Finn asked as Riveria turned to face the group with a surprised look on her face before she shook it off, "I said that this boy does not possess a Falna."
Everyone's eyes widened in shock and surprise at the revelation, as the pinkette continued sleeping, blissfully unaware of the chaos he had just caused.
End Chapter
[1] You might question me for this, but believe me. I wouldn't want Natsu to cause MORE damage to Dungeon than there already is. Wouldn't want to awaken the beast after all…
[2] The battle against the Spirit was much more difficult since Finn hadn't used Bell's fight against the Minotaur as an added inspiration for the group, thus more members were hurt.
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