The day had arrived; it was time for the Loki Familia's expedition to the deep floors. Their goal was to reach floor 62. Everyone was gathered at the dungeon's entrance. Most of it was the raiding Familia, but smiths from Hephaestus also came including Tsubaki who was making sure all of their weapons were in order. Ais was with Riveria who was talking with Ryuu and Alise who were joining the group.
Alise: Ready to kick some butt, Ais?
The girl nodden with fire in her eyes. She spent the last month making sure she was absolutely ready for whatever came their way.
Ryuu: We swear to give our all down there!
Riveria: There's no need to tell me that, I'm sure you all will.
They all turned their attention back to Finn who was getting ready to rally the forces..One Morale Boosting Speech Later...Everyone sounded off and prepared to leave. Suddenly, when they had finished descending the stairs and prepared to enter floor 1, a black robed figure had appeared in front of Finn. This naturally put everyone on guard before the figure handed Finn an envelope with Ouranos' seal on it.
Finn: For me?
The figure nodded before Finn cautiously opened the envelope. His eyes widened before Riveria went to ask what was wrong.
Riveria: What's going on?
The prum just gave her a confused look as he handed her the letter.
Finn: Well, Ouranos himself is lending us some help. Apparently this person will be joining us on our dive.
Thankfully, no one was able to recognize Bell with his new look, and the voice manipulator in his mask would allow him to speak to people he knows.
???: I look forward to working with you on your expedition.
Finn and Riveria were caught off guard by his politeness. Seeing as how the seal was genuine as all who've tried to forge it met the harshest of punishments, they were able to breathe easy knowing this person was on their side.
Finn: Well, I guess you're part of the team, umm...
Arno: Arno will do. (Good thing I had this name. Fels was nice to give me the name of a friend of his back when he was human.)
AN: I went with this because it was the first one that came to mind. I also had a funny history with it with some of my friends but that's for another time.
Finn: Right, well Arno, you will join the front with my group. According to the letter, you will be more than capable of handling yourself.
Arno nodded and everyone began moving forward after Riveria went back to give the signal. The first dozen floors were uneventful as the monsters were easily beaten by Arno and Ais. It had been a boring few days as nothing was a challenge yet. The girl was surprised that the new face was able to keep up with her. One thing that was weird was that his movements felt familiar to her. She was pulled from her thoughts when she heard Finn give the next command.
Finn: We've arrived on floor 50! The group I assigned with me will press forward while everyone else will stay here. Aki and Cruz will lead in my absence! Is that clear to everyone?!
Everyone: Yes, sir!!!
Finn: Good, now then, we best rest up. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.
Now that it was getting time to sleep, Bell was keeping to himself. He missed not being able to interact with his friends, but he had a job to do. After smuggling some food to a remote location and eating it, he climbed onto a tree branch where he used some cloth to make a hammock to sleep in. The day came, and everyone was ready to get going.
Finn: Alright, the formation is going to be this: Arno, Ais, and Ryuu in the front; Myself, Riveria, Raul and Tsubaki in the middle; lastly Gareth and Alise in the rear.
Everyone nodded before beginning their trek through floor 51.
Raul: I can't help but feel that we're undermanned for this. We're a party of nine that's going to clear to the early 60s.
Tsubaki: Oh please, most of this party first class, if not right next to it!
Alise: She's right, we can manage!
They continued down as the four in the front had little trouble clearing the way. Since Bell's last update, he now clearly surpassed both Ryuu and Ais in almost every way. The elf just had some more experience in the dungeon than him. What surprised the two was how unaffected he was when Finn called for a small break on floor 53. The two were winded while the masked man was showing few signs of fatigue. Everyone else saw this and were impressed by him.
Finn: Well, Lord Ouranos certainly kept his word with him.
Tsubaki: The dude is crazy! How can he handle all of this and not look tired?!
Arno: (All those training trips in the deep floors paid off for my stamina. Ryuu and Ais definitely helped a lot.)
They did one last check on their inventory before moving out. As they descended, Ais had kept an eye on the man and wondered why he felt familiar to her. She saw when they first began fighting how well they fought together, like he already knew what she wanted to do and the best way to help her.
Ais: (Who are you?)
After many days of fighting, they finally reached floor 58. Ready to meet them was several valgang dragons that Finn and Gareth easily tore through. Arno had some difficulty, but was able to kill some with the help of Ais, Ryuu and Riveria. Being only level 4, Ais and Ryuu were beginning to feel the difference in strength with the monsters. Thankfully, the monsters stopped spawning and they got a chance to rest.
Alise: Thank the gods it's finally over.
Gareth: Is everyone holding up okay?
Finn: Nothing major, just a bit tired.
Ais: Floor 59 is just up ahead?
The high elf looked to the girl and smiled when she asked her.
Riveria: That's right, it's supposed to be quite cold so we'll be switching our gear before we head out.
The got Arno's attention when she talked about the next floors. He heard his grandfather talk about it and he said that it was supposed to be completely frigid. If that was the case, they should be able to feel it, but that wasn't what was going on here.
Arno: Something isn't right.
They looked to him wondering what he meant.
Raul: Something wrong?
Ryuu: When you say it's supposed to be cold, shouldn't we be feeling some of it here?
Her words dug deep into everyone's minds when it clicked.
Finn: That's odd, that description is what the Zeus and Hera Familias put.
Gareth: What's our plan, Finn?
Finn: We shall proceed there with caution. This time, I'll be joining the front as well. Let's move out!
With that, everyone grabbed their things and moved onward to floor 59. Rather than some cold ice field, they were met with a humid jungle. Everyone looked around confused when they couldn't find anything that matched the description they were given.
Arno: I'm no expert, but this doesn't look like a glacier.
Gareth: What is this?
They had little time to think about the place before they heard a screeching sound close to them.
SCREEEEEE*
Out of nowhere, a horde of green caterpillar monsters appeared as they got ready to fight. Ais was about to engage one before Finn called out to her.
Finn: Move, now!!
They ran just in time before the monsters spit out a purple acid from their eye on their heads. The liquid quickly melted the area they were in before.
Gareth: Close one...
Finn: Guess that's why I felt a throb.
Alise: Any ideas for this? I doubt a close range attack is very smart.
Finn: It isn't, Riveria!!
Riveria: Understood.
Arno, Alise and Finn went forward to give Riveria space to chant. Alise went to try and slash one of the monsters, but acid leaked put from the wound she made forcing Arno and Finn to back away.
Alise: Gross...
Arno: Your sword!!
Alise: Huh? WAH!!
She looked at her sword that was covered in the purple liquid quickly melt away.
Alise: Oh no!!
Ryuu: It melted away so fast!!
Finn looked back and grimaced as Riveria was only half done with the chant. A few more seconds was all they needed, but they were being surrounded fast with no way to force them back.
Arno: Shatter Stream!!
Finn and Alise turned back to the masked fellow and saw him launch a fire spell at the monsters. A wave of fire approached the horde before the man moved his arms upward causing his spell to bend up and miss the target.
Alise: What the hell! You missed them!!
The spell flew up a bit before stopping in the air where it formed a ball of fire. When it did this, Arno immediately threw his arms down causing the ball to shatter and fall down to the ground destroying a small portion of the monsters.
Everyone was speechless when they saw the small gap where the caterpillars used to be.
Gareth: Ha! Nice shot!
Finn: You had magic?
Arno: I had to conserve my mind. I didn't mean to hide that from you.
Finn: It's fine, you bought us enough time. Everyone fall back!!
They got out of the way for Riveria to cast her spell
Riveria: Rea Leavateinn!
Flames quickly burst from the ground and surrounded all the monsters near them. A wide range annihilation spell dealt with all the remaining monsters and let them move forward. Their search continued and they found that the jungle kept going. By floor 61, it was still more or less the same as floor 59.
Ais: It all still looks the same.
Riveria: This is too strange. What could have happened?
Raul: Even weirder is how we've only found those caterpillar monsters.
Alise: That's true. Once we were able to get a closer look, their magic stones looks different too.
Finn: The guild will want to know about this.
Arno: Better let Lord Ouranos know about this.
Finn: Yes, it is best if we alert him first. If there is a rat in the guild, we can't risk this leaking out.
Tsubaki: You've mentioned this before, but who could it be?
Riveria: I'd put my money on Royman.
Ryuu: With how he acts he would be the most likely suspect.
The ground started tumbling when they arrived at the entrance to floor 62. As the descended, the jungle grew more dense as trees crowded the floor. The humidity also got more intense. They arrived at a clearing to get some rest before checking their gear.
Finn: This should be our last inventory check. We've arrived at our goal, but there isn't much left for us to do here.
Alise: Thank goodness! I'm getting sick of fighting those caterpillars!
Raul: I have to agree, getting my skin melted was not fun.
Tsubaki: That, and the fact that tomato head here blew threw almost all my weapons. I've only got two magic swords on me.
Alise turned to her.
Alise: Those things literally bleed acid! What was I supposed to do about it?!
The half dwarf shrugged.
Tsubaki: Maybe not stab it?
Alise: Then what am I supposed to do?! I don't have any other way to fight!
Gareth: Alright, that's enough. We'll rest up some more before heading back up and regrouping with the others.
Once a few more minutes passed, they got ready to leave, but soon they heard cracking on the wall near them. The put themselves on guard to see a huge green monster with two horns on its head. It had a large wooden club in one of its hands and stood tall over them. The body was human in form and looked well built.
Finn: What is that?!
Gareth: We're down pretty deep so it could be a floor boss of some kind.
Finn: Whatever it is, we need to be cautious.
They nodded before Ryuu and Alise went to engage it. The two went to attack its sides, but it was much faster than it looked. It caught their swords and threw them to the side leaving craters in the wall.
Arno: Are you guys alright?!
The red head was pulling herself out of the wall while holding her head.
Alise: Oww... I'll live...
Raul: We need some kind of plan here.
Gareth went to try his against it. Being level 6, his odds of fighting it were a lot better than the others. He also hoped to by them time to get a plan together. Arno was right behind him.
Finn: I'm thinking...
Tsubaki: I've got one!
Raul: What is it? Do you think it'll work?
Tsubaki: That depends. Can you get it in a Full Nelson?
The black haired man was sweating as he turned back to her.
Raul: Any plans that don't kill me?
Tsubaki: Ah I'm just messing with ya, I got nothing!
Riveria: I'll try casting my spell at it.
Finn: Let's give that a try.
The prum readied his spear and went to join Gareth and Bell in battle.
Raul: I need to go heal the other two, can you cover Miss Riveria?
Tsubaki: No sweat! I got the girl with me too!
She gave him a thumbs up as he went to Alise and Ryuu. The elf was doing her best to heal them after taking a huge blow from the monster. Raul still had some healing potions in his bag so he gave it to them and brought them back in top form.
Alise: Sweet, time for round 2!
The woman enchanted herself with her flame magic and jumped in with the others. Ryuu thanks Raul before going in herself and readying her own spell. The fight raged on, but they quickly realized that they were outmatched. When Finn went to attack it with his spear, the weapon chipped a bit when it bounced off the monster's tough hide. Arno's weapons weren't doing much damage either. Even with his ability, the difference between them was huge.
Slash*
Boom*
Arno: It's not deep enough!
Gareth: Damn, this is a tough one.
The dwarf went to punch it after the head of his axe blew off when he went for a swing. When his fist collided with it's back, he felt a shock travel up his arm before he backed off.
Gareth: The hag better be done soon!
Ryuu: Everyone, move!!
They looked up and saw Ryuu with a green glow around her body. She jumped into the air before launching her spell.
Ryuu: Luminous Wind!
Several orbs shot from her and slammed into the monster. It cried out in pain as the explosions of wind continued.
Alise: Alright!!
The dust soon cleared before the monster was shown with next to no injuries.
Ryuu: What?!
The monster then crossed its arms in front of its face before increasing them and firing off a blob of acid in the elf's direction.
Ryuu: ?!
Arno: Look out!!
He was quick to move her out of the way, but some of the acid hit his shoulder when he grabbed her.
Finn: Are you ok?!
Arno: I'll be fine!
Raul saw this and went to him right away.
Raul: We don't have many of these left.
He poured a potion onto his and the burns on his skin slowly faded away.
Raul: Even these high class potion take a while to heal it.
Finn saw this and alerted them.
Finn: It can spew acid, be careful not to let it touch you!
Ais: Finn, its ready!!
He turned to the girl and saw Riveria done with her chant. He smiled before ordering everyone out of the way. The high elf glared at the monster before firing at it.
Riveria: Rea Leavateinn!
Like before, flames surrounded the monster as it cried out.
Alise: It's working!
When the fire died out, the dust cleared showing the monster with burn marks on its body, but nothing beyond that.
Riveria: It has such high magic resistance.
Gareth: Finn!
The prum was deep in thought as he contemplated their next move.
Finn: We have to settle it here. It's too fast to just retreat.
Tsubaki: I'm all for it, but how do we do that?
Arno: I can do it.
They turned to the masked man.
Finn: You have a plan?
Arno: If you can buy some time, I can prepare an attack that should destroy it.
Raul: But-
Alise: There's no time for that, we may as well give it a try!
Finn: Alright, how much time do you need?
Arno: At least three minutes.
Gareth: I think we can manage that.
Finn: Let's go everyone!
Everyone went to throw what they had at the monster. Tsubaki even took her last magic swords out to wear it down. While they did this, Arno charged his Argonaut into his kamas. He learned recently how to silence the ringing and it helped immensely when he wanted to take out some powerful monster in one shot. He's practiced it before and can handle it now, he just needed time to charge it.
Crash*
Boom*
The attack was almost ready. Finn and the others were on their last legs as the monster fended more of their attacks off. Riveria was able to focus her ice spell on the monster's weapon before Gareth smashed it to pieces. Now unarmed, the monster used its arms to bat away at them. Alise, Ryuu and Ais were tiring out fast, but were still able to fight. Alise's fire and Ais' wind made a good combination to power up their attacks. The monster was covered in cuts and burns before Arno called to them.
Arno: It's ready!!
They got clear for him as the boy was cloaked in a white fire. He put his weapons together before channeling his magic into them. Now that they were also on fire, he spun it at high speeds before throwing it at the monster. The monster saw this and was prepared to jump away, but Ais was able to lock it in place after she used her Lil Rafaga on its back to stun it. The monster was pushed forward before the burning disc made contact with it as it began to burn through its skin. It was a clean cut from top to bottom with the power of Arno's fire plus a fully charged Argonaut throw. After it was bisected, it exploded into dust as every had a sigh of relief.
Finn: It's over.
Plop*
Alise: Agh... I'm sore all over!
Gareth: Best get up, we need to go back.
Alise: Can't we rest for a bit?
Finn: There's no telling what else could be here, we need to retreat. We already have what we came for.
As they talked, Arno went to where the monster died. He found his badly damaged weapons along with the same peculiar magic stone.
Arno: Hey, Finn.
The prum turned to him as he held to large magic stone in his arms.
Riveria: It's the same as those monsters.
Finn: My thumb doesn't like this. In any case, we should head back up.
They made their way back up to meet with the others. Fortunately, they met little resistance on the way back which was good as Arno and Riveria were low on mind by the end of the fight. They eventually returned to floor 50 to where the rest of their Familia was. They saw the camp was run down a bit and went to see what happened. They found Anakitty there applying potions to several of their members. When she saw Finn, she and the others were shocked to see the state they were in.
Aki: Captain?!
Cruz: What happened to you guys?
Finn: We'll tell you after you explain what happened here.
Gareth: Did a monster party show up here?
The cat girl rubbed her head.
Aki: That isn't far off.
Finn: What happened?
Aki: Every thing was fine, but suddenly these weird caterpillar monster came out and attacked us. They spit out this acid and it tore down the camp we made.
Cruz: Most of our supplies got destroyed. There weren't any casualties, but we cant stay here any longer.
Finn: Good thing we don't have to. Our business in the lower floors is complete and we can return. We will make for Rivira and rest there before making our way to the surface.
Many days past before they made it to floor 18. They had spent two days there to rest before making the final trip back to the surface. The Goliath being dead already made that even faster for them. They were climbing up the stairs when Finn gave more instructions.
Finn: Everyone can head back home now. I and Riveria will remain to give our report to the guild.
Gareth: If the time's right, Loki is probably gonna celebrate tonight.
This raised everyone's spirits as they were tired from climbing all day. They went their separate ways before all that remained was the three executives plus Ais, Arno, Alise and Ryuu.
Finn: I can't thank you all enough for your help. Without you, I'm not sure we would even be here.
Arno: It's fine, Lord Ouranos made this request of you, not the other way around.
Riveria: Still, we owe the god a favor now, and it's one we will repay some day.
The masked man nodded.
Alise: Well, that was a ride. Lion and I will be heading back now.
Gareth: You two get some rest, you've earned it.
Ryuu: I'm willing to bet she'll pass out once she finds her bed.
They laughed as they said their final goodbyes to them.
Arno: I should be taking my leave as well.
Finn: Of course. I hope we'll work together again in the future.
The prum held his hand out as the masked man took it.
Arno: Me too.
With that, he left and Gareth went to take Ais back.
Gareth: I'll take her back. I'm sure you want Loki to update your status right away.
The girl nodded as they made their way to Twilight Manor. Gareth went to find Loki and bring Ais to her. He found her in the main hall welcoming the rest of the Familia.
Gareth: Loki!
Loki: Oh, hey!
Gareth: Ais here wants an update.
The girl had sparkles in her eyes as she looked at her Goddess.
Loki: Sure thing, let's get to your room.
Ais had a small smile on her face as she dragged Loki there. The Goddess did her usual procedure and saw how much the girl had grown.
Loki: Wow, that's nuts!
Ais: How is it?
Loki: Great, you went up around 370 points! You must've been busy down there.
Ais: Mhm, they put me in front to handle a lot of monsters.
Loki: Well, good for you. Won't be much longer till you get level 5.
She patted the girl's head giving her a bright smile as she looked at her status sheet.
Loki: Anyway, you should get cleaned up. We're going out with everyone to celebrate.
The girl nodded as she ran to the washroom. Back with Finn and Riveira, they had given a rundown of the mission to Ouranos. To say the old god was troubled was putting it lightly.
Ouranos: And you're positive that's what you saw?
Finn: It is. Nothing matched the records the guild had of those floors.
Ouranos had a grimace as he rubbed his forehead. The fact that the floors had changed was of great concern. If that weren't enough, they encountered a new species of monsters down there.
Riveria: We need to keep this between us. I'm sure Gareth has told our goddess about it already.
Ouranos: Good, I have my list of suspects to keep an eye on. Apart from that, it is a relief to see you all return safely.
Finn: It certainly is. Going through all of that and suffering few casualties is something to celebrate. Which reminds me, I have to thank you for the help you gave. That adventurer was even better than I thought.
Ouranos: I'm glad to be of help. Being one of the top Familias in the city, it is important that nothing happens that cripples you.
Finn: Right.
Ouranos: I've kept you for long enough, you may go.
The two bowed before leaving. That allowed two figures to enter the chamber.
Ouranos: I suppose you enjoyed yourself?
The masked figure took his mask off allowing his white hair to be free again.
Bell: It sure was! I've never been that far down before!
The old god chuckled a bit before giving Bell the update on their plans.
Ouranos: I have this list of suspects for you. These people need to be under surveillance, but be careful not to alert them.
The boy nodded.
Fels: I'm also glad to inform you that the Xenos are doing well. Their strength and numbers have increased well.
Bell: Cool, maybe Asteruis and I should have a fight.
Ouranos: Save that for later. In the meantime, let me update your status.
Fels: (It's been a month, I wonder how much stronger he's become?)
The boy nodded and went to the god and showed him his back.
Bell Cranel
Level 4
Ouranos Familia
Str X-1381
Vit X-1249
Dex X-1345
Agl XX-1633
Mag XX-1589
Skills
Liaris Freese
Argonaut
Thunderlord
Blaze
Development Abilities
Luck H
Abnormal Resistance G
Aero Mana I
AN: If some haven't known already, I'm making a small change to Aero mana for the sake of the story and Bell. Making it an ability instead of a skill will be more impactful later down the line. That's all.
Ouranos: This is incredible!
His eyes widened when he saw the status of the boy. The numbers he had were unbelievable, and he wasn't even first class. Not yet at least.
Ouranos: Well, I'm happy to say that you are able to level up. Will you do it?
The boy's face brightened as he turned to the god.
Bell: Yeah, I wanna do it!
The god nodded as he had Bell ascend further. His stats reset once he became level 5.
Ouranos: Let's see, for abilities there are two: Strong Body and Hunter.
Bell: Hm, I think Grandma once told me how useful hunter was. What's the other do?
Ouranos: From what I can tell, it makes your body tougher. I'm not entirely sure on the details.
Bell: I guess I can take that one then.
Fels: Strengthening your defenses would be a wise approach given your already large arsenal or firepower.
The boy laughed to himself as the god then went about his skills.
Ouranos: Looks like there's a new one. It's called Accelerant.
Bell: Accelerant?
Ouranos: That's right, from what I can see it looks to amplify your fire magic. It's right under blaze, but we can only guess from there.
Bell: Okay then.
Ouranos: That will be it then. Congratulations on being level 5 and becoming first class.
Bell: Hehe. Thanks.
With that Bell went to the Xenos village to celebrate with them. Though, Asterius had to be put under control when he sensed that he and Bell were nearly equal..
In Stardust Garden...
Alise: We're back!!
She opened the door and saw everyone relaxing after a long day. They turned to the door and were relieved to see the two back in one piece.
Kaguya: (And my vacation comes to an end.)
The far eastern girl remembered what Hera had told her a month ago when they left..
Flashback...
Hera: You should let them go. Think about it, a whole month of peace without them. No loud, obnoxious captain and no clumsy elf. You deserve a good break as vice captain, no?
This put a smile on her face before turning to Ryuu..
End of Flashback...
Kaguya: *Sigh* Good to have you back safe.
Alise: It's good to be back. Now, it's time for me to see our goddess.
Ryuu: I'm coming too. I want to see our growth.
Ardi: You guys might even hit level 5.
Neze: That would be a good jump for the Familia.
Alise: Heh, wish us luck!
The two went to Astraea who welcomed them before giving them their updates. Their wishes came true as both were ready to level up. Alise took hers, but Ryuu remembered how she was outclassed by the monsters they found past floor 50. She recalled what Alfia had said to her and decided to hold off on hers.
Ryuu: I have a few more that can go to A and S rank. I'll wait until then.
Astraea: I'm sure Alfia would agree with that. In any case, let's celebrate on our newest First Class.
They went to the living room to give the good news. Everyone was happy for Alise on her level up. Alfia and Zald along with their gods gave the girl their praises. The silver haired woman was glad to see the new generation doing well. She only wished Bell were here to celebrate with them.
AN: And that's another down. Sorry for the delay, classes are back in session. Only a few more months to go until the year is complete.
Thanks as always for reading. I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you in the next one.