Chapter 2
"What do you mean you don't have any more food!?" The shout of an Adventurer standing in front of a crowd of his own peers asked the question that was going through everyone's mind of the owner of a food establishment in Rivira. "It's a restaurant, you are meant to have food!"
"Exactly! And food is also meant to run out!" the owner snorted. "If intelligence was a stat, you wouldn't pass the two-digit frame."
"The fuck did you-" the Adventurer didn't get to finish his sentence as one of his peers pushed him to the side. "Are you really fucking suggesting that some glutton ordered every damn thing in your storage?" he expanded his arm. "And in almost all of Rivira's?"
That's why it was such a big deal.
Rivira wasn't big by all means. But it still had a fair number of restaurants and food establishments.
So, imagine the surprise ,and rage, of all the Adventurers when they found out most of said establishments had been completely cleaned off their food.
And apparently, all of this was done by one single person.
"Where is he?"
The owner simply pointed his thumb behind him.
On the other side of the establishment were two people sitting in front of the counter. One of them ate dish after dish at an outstanding rate, leaving a mountain of empty dishes to his side while the chef kept serving what was left in their storage after cooking it.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The warning of the owner fell on deaf ears as the Adventurer went past him and headed straight for the glutton in question.
"Dude, seriously, don't."
The warning came from the female sitting next to his target.
Had he been less angry, he would have noticed who the woman was. But he was too hungry to care as he put his hand on the blonde's right shoulder.
"Listen here you little-" he never got to finish his sentence.
Without turning his back the blonde quickly moved his right arm back to wrap it around his aggressor's, almost breaking his elbow by forcing it up.
"Hey-!"
The blonde then quickly let go of the Adventurer's arm after forcing him to get closer and delivered a quick punch to his nose to disorient him, and break it in the process, before he grabbed that back of his neck and slammed his face against the counter.
Tsubaki sighed.
"That makes it seven…" She picked the Adventurer by the back of his collar with ease and tossed him to an already accumulated pile of unconscious adventurers that were located on their side of the establishment. "In this restaurant, that is."
She was sure the overall count was somewhere around twenty-six.
Drake Aurion kept eating at a moderating pace and gave a soft 'Hmm' as his answer.
By his logic, he ordered the food and there isn't anything that says that you can't order everything.
Even though he wasn't the one paying for said food.
"Anyone else wants to try?" Tsubaki said loud enough for everyone at the entrance to hear, only to notice the crowd outside had dispersed in number.
It looked like they had finally recognized her in the end.
"So..." she voiced with a tired sigh before smiling at the blonde, who just kept eating. "Where were we?"
Drake took a moment to shallow before answering.
"Familias."
Drake wasn't happy about this whole situation.
But like every fucking sudden change in his life, he accepted it.
being destroyed when he was six, accepted.
Amnesia because of PTSD, accepted.
Having a voice inside his head tormenting him, only to find out way later it was a Spirit that fed on his despair, accepted.
Losing his adoptive sister in a terrorist attack, accepted.
'Losing' his brother, accepted.
Find out that deities were real, and that he was part of something that had been going on for the last 4000 years, accepted.
Finding out one of said deities was responsible for every bad single thing in his life… accepted.
And all of the above was merely the tip of the iceberg.
Even if all the previous situations were out of his control, he accepted them. Then worked with what he had in hand to keep moving forward… with a massive fucking grudge as a plus.
But this was just plain stupid in his opinion; being transported to a fantasy world.
He mentally sighed as he kept listening to Tsubaki.
Throughout the whole thing she had been kind enough to explain in detail how the things in Orario and the Dungeon worked.
Thanks to her, he already knew what use the purple crystals had along with all the monster drops he grabbed along the way.
And he finally confirmed part of his suspicions: the Dungeon was alive, and he assumed it hated him for some reason.
She had also explained how the Guild worked, unfortunately he couldn't ask too many questions because Tsubaki thought he was an Adventurer from a faraway place. At the very least, the Guild and its functions should have been known to him.
He thought it was weird, there had to be something that made Adventurers different from the simple fact that Tsubaki had asked him at one point what his level was.
His simple response had been 'High enough' to survive seeing he didn't have a scale to work with. He would have asked her the same question to get a measure, but she just laughed off his answer saying "Of course, no one with a brain cell would reveal their stats just like that."
The more he learned the more this looked like a D&D session.
But their exchange brought up a question that he kept asking himself; what exactly makes someone an Adventurer?
It looked like his answer would come up soon after he asked the subject about Familias.
He fucked up.
Big time.
Because Tsubaki was looking at him with a raised eyebrow before her eye narrowed.
"How can you be an Adventurer and not know what a Familia is?"
He sighed as he took a sip of water calmly, already having a solid argument in his favor brewing inside his mind. "I meant to ask, how are the Familias here in Orario? You had mentioned before you were the best help I was gonna get."
"Oh. My bad."
He hid his relief and prepared to continue with his food, but her next statement would ruin his appetite in an instant.
"Many Gods have small businesses from where-"
Drake kept listening as he made a motion to the waiter to stop serving, making the man sigh in relief while he noticed Tsubaki's little shift in voice at his action, but still kept going.
Since the beginning of her explanations there were a lot of things he didn't dare to question because of his lack of common knowledge of this world, now he could put all the pieces together on his own.
Tsubaki had just given him a vague explanation of how 'Every God had a different criteria for someone to join their Familia and bestow their Falna upon them.'
Just with that, he could already figure out that Falna was the Gods way of bestowing some kind of blessing to an individual, which meant that every single Adventurer was someone blessed by a God.
"You ok?" he closed his eyes at the question, his train of thought still going as he stared at nothing in particular. "You went kind of rigid the moment I mentioned the Gods."
She was worried, but he also knew her suspicions were increasing.
He could feel it.
"I am not fond of Gods. You can even say my basic nature is to hate them." He said as he focused on finishing the last plate in front of him while sensing Tsubaki's tension, he could tell she was at least very attached to her deity.
"The last two idiots that called themselves Gods caused a fucking genocide."
For the first time since they had met, Drake could see Tsubaki's shocked expression at his statement.
"… Sorry… I know it's touchy but-"
He waved his hand nonchalantly, stopping Tsubaki mid-sentence.
"It happened WAY before I was born, but one still has to learn from the past if you don't want it to happen again."
He didn't lie, at least not entirely.
The pseudo proclaimed brother Gods of Remnant, one of Light and one of Darkness.
"There was a woman that once tricked the Gods for her own selfishness, when they figured out they had been played they wiped almost all the population in the area before they left."
'It wasn't an area that was wiped out, it was 97% of the whole fucking planet gone in a single instant.'
But his hate for the divine didn't come from that event. If anything, it was just another thing to add to the list of things of why he hated deities by instinct. But…
"But I have come to meet other deities, and even accepted them. I'd even go as far as to call them friends." He said after finishing his plate. "… What? One sad tale is all it takes to make you put on that face?" He asked with a chuckle, trying to raise her spirits seeing she had a frown as she stared at her glass of beer.
Even though he himself was in a very bad mood.
Everything he said was the truth in that last statement. But those were the Spirits he was referring to, there were around 15 spirits in Remnant that were really in charge of running things and he knew all of them, only coming to hate one of them.
The rest still had their faults, and they also did a lot of terrible things in the past. But they had changed with time, and learned from their mistakes, so he could freely say he was on very good terms with them… sort of.
"I get you." Tsubaki said suddenly before gulping down the whole glass of ale in one shot. "I am not gonna say some had it worse than others. But a lot of people -Adventurers and normal people alike- have suffered thanks to some Gods as well."
She eyed him, red meeting emerald.
Drake could see the sorrow in her eyes. Something must have happened in Orario in the past that had left such an impression to put her in this state. Not only her, he could also feel the waiter and owner that had overheard the last arguments go in a similar state.
"But still… " she shifted her mood in an instant and put a hand over his shoulder. "Just like there are bad Gods, there are good ones as well. Wait until you meet my Goddess, she is one of the good ones, and one of the most rational ones, as well."
He frowned after putting his scarf back on and covered the lower half of his face.
"Goddess of Smiting?" he asked, successfully changing the mood in the area by their next exchange. "I wouldn't call her rational if she put someone like you in the position of captain."
Her smile twitched at the statement.
"As a matter of fact, I wouldn't be surprised if she was weirder than you. Seeing as every good blacksmith I know could be defined as weird and eccentric."
She opened her mouth, and then closed it before narrowing her eyes. "Is that supposed to be a compliment or an insult?" she asked before telling the owner to put the debt on her Familia tab and made a motion for Drake to follow her.
"Take it as you like, but the best blacksmith I know was a little weird and went overboard when it came to forging."
She snorted. "You haven't seen my best work yet."
"Sorry, but my big brother will always be number 1." He smiled behind his scarf as he walked next to her.
"Hold it. You are saying that you specialized in defensive clothes while your brother forged weapons? What? You come from a family of blacksmiths or something?"
She was honestly intrigued, and certainty motivated to have him join the Hephaestus Familia if he brought all that knowledge along with him.
"None of the things we made could be summarized by terms like defensive or offensive regarding their uses. But… being a blacksmith wasn't his life's purpose."
'Lloyd Aurion was a Guardian first and foremost.'
Tsubaki raised an eyebrow at the warm tone she was hearing, totally opposite to the cold blonde she has got to know so far.
Tsubaki couldn't put a conclusive thought about the little mystery that was Drake Aurion… no, that was a lie. She could certainly say he was cold, physically speaking at least. He was so cold she had fought the urge of flinching the moment they shook hands before.
He wasn't an elf, obviously. But he carried himself with an aura of authority. Or as she would call it, an aura of pompousness that some high-class elves possessed, like a certain blonde Elf creep from the Freya Familia.
'Then again, everyone in that Familia is like that to some degree.' She thought to herself.
He also had manners, at least at the table, despite devouring everything at speeds that would make almost everyone lose their appetite, which she had a vague feeling he knew but he was probably too angry to care. Although her previous train of thought remained, she noticed he had manners at the table, the kind you would only see in high class gatherings and meetings, she would know, being the captain meant she was forced to attend those from time to time with her Goddess as her plus one.
He had taken off his scarf to eat and stated that he was nineteen years old, and yet the only reason one could tell he was already a man was because his default expression was either an emotionless expression, or a scowl if he had to give an input about something. To summarize, he wasn't bad looking at all, and he would look better if he just smiled.
'Not that I would know if he did, he wears that scarf covering half of his face all the time.' She had thought with a snort. "Although…"
She had managed to catch a glimpse of a scar on the left side of his neck, it went from the edge to the center of his throat, someone almost managed to decapitate him, and it looked like it was fairly recent going by how noticeable it was.
Tsubaki doubted it was from the red-haired assailant he had described before, it wasn't that recent. It had taken a good amount of time and probably some healing magic to heal.
She had asked about it in a joking manner, asking if it had been done by a mortal enemy. To her surprise he frowned as he nodded and then said. "We could have been friends under different circumstances."
He had won, but he clearly didn't enjoy his victory, at least that was the first proof he wasn't completely cold-hearted. Which brought her to the current situation.
She had honestly thought he had been incapable of speaking in such a warm tone, and yet when he spoke about his older brother he was shutting her up in an instant. Whoever he was, his brother was without a doubt the biggest positive influence in his life.
"Although he could also be a dumb-ass most of the time." He stated with a tired sigh before releasing a chuckle.
"There just can't be a straight compliment coming from you, can it?"
"Beggars can't be choosers." He voiced as she just dropped her head in defeat before indicating him to follow her once more.
"As for your second question, no; my family isn't one of blacksmiths." He said going back to his usual tone of voice, but it wasn't as monotonous as before. "The Dwarf that helped raise us taught him how to forge."
"Chotto matte," she eyed him with full suspicion. "You are telling me; you were raised by a Dwarf…? I call bull."
He raised an eyebrow. "I don't know why you are making so much of a deal out of this."
"Because I am a half Dwarf, I basically grew up around them. And yet I haven't seen any kind of trait in you that could hint to that."
There was no ill intent, just pure curiosity. So, he decided to humor her, even though there was probably no guarantee that Dirk's traditions were the same as the Dwarf from this world.
"Ok then… ask me something only a Dwarf would know."
'It is a challenge then.' She thought, although she was the only one that saw it that way.
She nodded, and what she did next froze the blonde to the core.
"Dwarven vow #1, say it."
She smirked as the blonde stopped in his tracks, but then she was even more surprised at the state of shook that was being reflected in his eyes. "Hey… it's not like-"
"Let's work together for a peaceful world." He said after regaining his composure, making the roles reverse as Tsubaki heard the correct answer indeed, but before she could say anything else he said.
"Your turn, #10"
She smirked, now it was an actual challenge.
"Play Hard, play often. #55"
"A bad workman blames his tools, #134"
"Compassion benefits all. #3"
And so, they continued going back and forth for a good 3 minutes until one of them reached the lucky number.
"#7"
Tsubaki opened her mouth, only to close it immediately with a blank stare before looking at the ground to hide her blushing face. "Fuck you, give me another number."
"No, no, no, no." he moved his index finger from side to side.
She just knew he was smirking behind his scarf.
"Oh, come on! It's too fucking corny." She muttered.
"I know, that's why I would accept defeat rather than saying it. So, go for it."
She groaned as he raised her palm in the air. "You win."
He gave a chuckle as they finally reached the inn she was straying in.
"Say, why were you so surprised when I asked you the first vow?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "I was just surprised someone here knew them, that's all."
She raised an eyebrow, "That doesn't make any damn-"
Tsubaki never got to finish her sentence as the ground, or rather, the Dungeon started to shake.
Her eye widened. "You have got to be shitting me," Tsubaki said as she rushed to her room, while Drake looked puzzled and followed her at his own pace.
As he walked, he noticed that many Adventurers were rushing for something as well while shouting something along the lines of 'it's too soon' or 'Now!?'
There was something that he didn't know, the answer came to him as the presence of the Dungeon returned tenfold as he went up the floors.
'You piece of shit.' He thought to himself as he felt something starting to form on the floor above the one he was on. The Dungeon hadn't given up on him, decreasing the number of monsters after him in the previous floors was probably an effort to save energy for whatever would wait for him on floor Seventeen.
"Hey!" a random Adventurer turned around and recognized Tsubaki Cobrand, this time wearing a Japanese white coat with a red high collar with yellow arm guards, black pants, white boots, a black and golden breastplate and a spectacular naginata attached to her back.
"Blonde, green eyes, mean face, wears mostly black, have you seen him?"
Her question only gathered confused looks from all the Adventurers around her, and they all answered in the negative.
She and every adventurer participating in the raid were going up the stairs to the seventeenth floor.
She had instructed every member of her Familia and reminded them of what to look out for and then headed to the seventeenth floor to find Drake.
There was no need for him to be on the raid so she was going to suggest that he stay in Rivira and enjoy a good rest seeing how he had been up for over a full day. But he was nowhere to be found.
They had made a deal, and he didn't seem like the type to run away, which meant that there was only one place where he could probably be right now.
The simple thought of him going up to Floor seventeenth on his own with no weapon made her snort. Tsubaki had made sure that the weapon she confiscated from him was still in the inn, not that it could be used anyway, though.
'That blade was in no state for use in battle.' She thought to herself, surprised it had remained intact for so long, although she did notice that its durability had dropped in a manner that it seemed as if it had happened over the course of one single day.
She shrugged her shoulders as they finally reached the end of the stairs.
Strangely enough, the tremors had decreased in intensity, but they were still going as the Goliath had yet to spawn.
"Captain." One of her Familia members got her attention and pointed at the less populated part of the Floor to see the missing blonde, making her scowl slightly after thanking the Adventurer for the heads-up.
She didn't waste time in approaching him, almost ignoring the look Bors was giving her. It was almost as if he was saying 'Didn't you say you would keep an eye on him?'
She rolled her eye at the thought.
"What's the big idea? Leaving all of a sudden like that."
Drake Aurion didn't answer. Instead, he remained crossed armed and resting against the wall with his eyes closed.
"Don't tell me you fell asleep?"
"I wish." He replied as he looked at her.
It was at that moment she took notice of it.
He was tense, and she could feel the hint of annoyance in his tone. But the biggest clue as to his state of mind was without a doubt the look in his eyes.
She had to admit, the first time she saw his eyes she thought they almost resembled those of a dragon by how slit his pupils were. But now there was a certain edge in them that made it seem like there was an actual dragon standing in front of her.
"You were taking your sweet time," her train of thought suddenly stopped. "So I decided to head over here first."
Her eye twitched.
'It only took me 5 minutes to put on my armor, jackass!'
"Without a weapon?"
He shrugged.
"I would just do what every dumb-ass does: improvise."
She chuckled.
At least he managed to relax a little, which didn't last long as another tremor occurred.
"There was no need for you to be here. You could have stayed down in Rivira to have some proper rest, instead."
The tone in her voice was serious, but it was quickly replaced by a relaxed one. "But seeing how you decided to be so fucking stubborn, here."
She extended her arm and presented her blade.
"This is just a precaution, the Level 2 and 3 should be able to handle this no problem"
Drake simply stared at the blacksmith for a while before sighing as he accepted the blade.
"What's wrong? Why do you look wary all of the sudden?"
"Thank you." He replied, ignoring her question and examining the weapon.
It was a good katana, definitely better than the one he had been using previously.
'I just hope I don't have to hold back as much with you.' He thought to himself as he finally decided to address Tsubaki.
"Question-"
"Really? Now?" She interrupted as another tremor happened, but this one was taking too long.
It was time.
"The Dungeon." He stood back from the wall and noticed that something was starting to form inside the crystals located on the other side of the room. "Is there a specific time when it behaves erratically?"
She snorted as the wall on the other side was suddenly broken by a giant fist that emerged from it.
"It's the Dungeon, anything can happen at any given time… although," the head of the Goliath made itself present while it took a step forward from the newly created hole in the crystal wall. "If a God were to be here, that would be terrible."
She didn't see it, but Drake's body had become so tense that small cracks started to appear below his feet.
'So, that's how it is.' He thought to himself as they both saw some Adventurers charge at the giant while some stayed back to begin casting their magic.
"Hey… is it just me or is the Goliath staring straight at us."
'Not us.' He unsheathed the blade and let the handle slip from his fingers. 'Only me'
"I am going." He started to walk forward, not bothering to look back and at the blank stare she was throwing him.
"Suit yourself."
She knew something had him on edge. It wasn't the Goliath; he wouldn't be walking towards it with such determination if that was the case.
'But then… what is?'
'Something's not right.'
That thought was going through the mind of most adventurers.
Usually, the Goliath would do erratic moves when dealing with big groups. Thanks to the state of alert issued by the council the previous day, today's group wasn't as big as usual.
But it was still big enough of a group to make it so that the Goliath wouldn't focus on a single person.
And yet despite all that….
"He just keeps moving forward!"
Nothing seemed to distract it nor bother it in the slightest as several Adventurers decided to take advantage of its behavior to attack it from the rear.
"The mages still need more time!"
Bors's shout could be heard throughout the floor while a Level 3 leaped into the air and dived forward with a spear, going straight for the back of the Goliath's knee.
The self-proclaimed representative of Rivira grinned and clenched his fist in anticipation, that level of strength should be enough to make the Goliath bend the knee, from there they could turn things back in their favor… however, this was not the case.
'Hey, hey, hey!' Bors's thought astonished as the Goliath moved the upper part of his body around to hit the incoming Adventurer with the back of his hand, resulting in the Level 3 crashing against the crystal wall as he spat blood upon the impact.
'Shit' Bors thought as he noticed that a group of Adventurers near the Goliath were pulling back seeing they were losing ground, something the Goliath also noticed as he extended his leg to give a massive stomp.
The Adventurers in question didn't dare to look back, they didn't need to since the massive shadow that was above told them everything that was about to happen. That was until each felt something wrap around their hips as the sound of chains could be heard clearly, and yet, there was nothing to be seen as they were pulled forward, and so avoided the attack of the giant.
Bors saw it too, but just as he was about to question what just happened, a black blur rushed past him.
"Tell the mages to hurry, I will buy you some time."
The Level 3 managed to hear the words clearly as he quickly turned back to look at the Level 5 that was supposed to watch over the unknown blonde, only to receive a shrug from Tsubaki once he spotted her.
He growled, but decided to take the chance the blonde had given them.
"We don't have all day, hurry the fuck up you robbed bastards!" he then looked at the rest of the Adventurers. "Everyone who can do ranged attacks, get moving and give support!"
Everything appeared as if in slow motion to Drake for a moment as he raised his head for just a second to confirm that the Goliath was focusing on him.
He narrowed his eyes. 'It almost feels as if the bastard was smirking at me.'
The Goliath raised his right fist and rushed to where Drake would be while the blonde tensed his legs and jumped before the attack would reach the ground.
"[Tempest]"
Drake started to somersault and extended his blade onward while still airborne to pierce the skin of the Goliath as he continued up its elbow, the Giant roaring in pain.
He had to give props to Tsubaki's blacksmith skills. He had noticed that some of the Adventurer's weapons didn't manage to pierce the skin of the monster, and yet her blade was able to cut through it like its skin was made of butter.
This meant that he didn't need to put Aura into it while performing Artes and spend its durability.
Drake jumped back on the monster's arm as the Goliath's left arm moved swiftly to grab him.
He then hastily jumped forward on the back of its left palm to then perform another high jump to land on its right shoulder.
The blonde moved his elbow back and tensed his knees.
"[Super Sonic Thrust]" the swordsman rushed forward with a thrust backed by incredible force before the tip of the blade reached the monster's right eye.
The Goliath roared as he stepped back and brought its right hand to its face instinctively, forcing Drake to pull back his blade and jump high into the air to avoid being hit by the Goliath's palm-
"Stop hitting yourself." Drake thought out loud as he pointed his blade at the monster's left eye.
Tsubaki's katana started to glow red before all of its color gathered on its tip.
"[Hell Pyre]" The energy on the tip of the blade was released in the form of a fireball aimed at the good eye of the Goliath.
The projectile exploded once it made contact with the target, but unlike last time, there was no reaction from the monster.
'…' Drake stared at the cloud of smoke created by the explosion while still being airborne, only to then narrow his eyes as a shadow could be seen coming out of the smoke.
'Shit.' Drake thought as he rotated his body upward. "[Azure Edge!]" He shouted as he slashed his blade in the air to release a blue ball of energy that was shot upward, taking advantage of the recoil so he would descend faster in order to, just barely, avoid the giant's grasp. Regardless, it wasn't gonna stop his attempt as it opened his palm and began to descend on him quickly so it could either catch him or splat him into the ground.
Drake in return began to prepare for a swift landing as he reached for the scarf on his neck, but there wasn't any need for that as he caught a glimpse of several red objects flying off the Goliath's arm and straight into its face.
'About time.' The blonde thought as he heard an explosion coming from above. The Goliath roared and was forced to step back as more explosions and mid-level spells all targeted his face.
"Good, keep going!" Bors's shout from afar made Drake remember he was still falling and by the look of things, he was about to hit the ground. He prepared to give a flip and at the very least try to land on his feet and roll on the floor.
"Got you."
But it seemed that there was any need for that as he landed straight into the arms of Tsubaki Collbrande.
"My! Aren't you glad I am here?" There was a hint of smugness in her voice that made the blonde roll his eyes and ignore the fact that she was holding him bridal style.
"I had it under control."
She pressed her lips together and gave a sarcastic nod before smiling. "Uh huh. Ok." She replied as she let him fall on the ground.
"… Ouch." Replied the blonde as he sat and looked at the Goliath.
The Adventurers had previously tried to use explosives and spells, but it looked like they fired them at separate parts instead of focusing on a single part.
Tsubaki has made it clear that this raid had happened several times before. This strategy had worked well in the past, which meant that this Goliath had more endurance and resistance than the usual ones.
"Can you please drop that damn scowl?" his right eye twitched as he kept looking at the monster that continued being pushed back. "You are covering half of your face with that scarf, and I can still feel it."
She sighed as he offered her hand to Drake. "Everything is already under control, only a few minutes and the high tier spell will be ready."
"…" Drake didn't say anything and just grasped her forearm before being pulled up. "Thanks."
He didn't say anything else nor thought anything about Tsubaki's statement. Because knowing his current luck in the Dungeon, things would turn around him somehow. And not in a good way.
"Let's try that damn kneecap one more time!" The same Level 3 Adventurer from before shouted after dropping an empty vial of potion on the floor as several of his comrades lent their assistance this time around and various Adventurers charged together with him.
"Charge!"
Bors grinned as he observed the giant fall on its knee.
He quickly looked at the group of mages responsible for preparing the High-Level spells in hopes that their casting was already over. In return, the tired mage in the center of the group simply nodded.
"Good! Everyone, fall back!"
Drake and Tsubaki stared as various High-level spells flew to the monster face, resulting in a single explosion that forced everyone to avert their eyes at the blinding light that was created before the massive explosion took place.
"See." Tsubaki said as he could already tell its head had been blown off before the cloud of smoke was cleared.
The blonde released a sigh he didn't know he was holding in as the body of the Goliath fell on the ground while Tsubaki handed him the blade's sheath he had dropped before. "I am gonna go with my Familia and see what we can get out of the big guy. Feel free to wait or head to the inn back in Rivira," She started to walk away to the group of cheering Adventurers while giving him a thumbs up. "Good job by the way."
Drake chuckled and walked in the direction where the stairs that led to the floor below were located only to slow his pace little by little as his instinct started to react again at an alarming way.
"What-" his eyes widened as his sclera turned black. It took him time to notice because it was faint at the beginning, but now he could feel the massive amount of energy that was gathering in the wall in front of him, and it just kept on growing.
"Tsubaki." Drake shouted, loud enough for her to hear as he noticed her steps stop. "How long does it usually take for the Goliath to spawn?" he asked as calmly as possible while he kept staring at the energy in the wall.
By the way it looked, it seemed as if the Dungeon was siphoning energy from the deeper parts of its Floors as he looked down and tried to follow the trail of energy, but he couldn't tell from what floor exactly it originated.
"Normally?" she asked as her intuition told her something was wrong, noticing the wariness in his voice. "Two weeks, why?"
Her question was soon answered as tremors started to happen on the floor once again, making her eye shot wide open before looking at the blonde's back with an astonished look.
"You have got to be shitting me." Tsubaki rushed to the blonde to see what was going on while said individual was stepping back as he stared at the massive ball of energy that quickly started to take shape.
But there was something different about it.
He would even dare to call it sinister.
"What do you know!?" his train of thought was stopped as Tsubaki grabbed his shoulder and forced him to turn around, only to be surprised at the change of his eyes, but quickly shook the emotion away. "What are you not telling-"
Her words died in her mouth as she recalled the question Drake had made before regarding the Dungeon's behavior.
"… Are you a G-"
"I. AM. NOT."
He didn't need her to finish the question to know what she was assuming.
Tsubaki on the other hand was taken aback by his reaction. Drake had said he despised Gods, but he got along with many from his land. But it looked like his hatred for the general concept of what Gods were was still there, somewhere deep down.
"Then what are you!?" She shouted back as the tremor continued while several Adventurers were panicking at the Dungeon's irregular behavior from afar. "Because the events from yesterday until now have you related to all of this somehow."
"Do you really think now is the time for-" his words died down as he instinctively looked up at the wall to see a massive skull with a black body getting closer from the other side. But what got his attention was the pose it was doing as it prepared to break though the crystal wall.
'It's almost like if he was bending his knee to-' he didn't need to finish his thought as he saw the monster retracting his arm under its shoulder before going for a swing, making Drake jump in front of Tsubaki to embrace her instantly, the sudden action surprised the Level Five.
'What's with you all of the sudden!? This is no time to-' the sudden sound of shattering crystal stopped her train of thought, as almost instantly they were sent flying to the other side of the area they were in by the Goliath's sudden but effective straight punch after Drake tensed his body and surrounded both of them with some sort of black energy.
She heard Drake groan in pain as he forced his body to turn around as they crashed into the wall.
"He- Help them out of there!"
Tsubaki recognized Bors's shout as Drake's arms fell to his sides, freeing her from his grasp.
"Hey!" she shouted as she gently took him off the wall with the help of some other Adventurers as they noticed that some sort of black energy in the form of a shield around him shattered.
He had taken the Goliath's full attack for her, making Tsubaki grit her teeth as Drake coughed while he tried to stand up.
"Oh, this isn't good." Bors statement annoyed Tsubaki simply because of how obvious it was that the situation at hand wasn't good. But she wasn't able to get anything clever out of her mouth, because she was also rendered speechless after seeing the new Goliath.
The situation wasn't good because a second Goliath appeared right after defeating the first one.
It wasn't bad because this one had a darker color of skin and white hair, indicating he was a variant, much stronger than a normal Monster Rex.
It was bad because said variant had already taken the giant crystal off the first Goliath and was already devouring it in a rush.
It didn't take too much time for Bors to question himself a second time to know what he had to do.
"Retreat to the eighteenth floor now!"
To Drake's surprise, who was still recovering from the previous attack, the Adventurers weren't panicking as much as he expected them to, contrary to another group of individuals back in Remnant that were not worth mentioning.
"Come on." Tsubaki put his hand around her neck and helped him stand with ease. "I am gonna get you out of here and regroup later with the rest of Adventurers in Riviria."
"Hate to break it to you." He muttered as he started to heal internally. "But that thing is already stronger than you."
He didn't need to use his eyes, the energy it was emanating could be felt way too clearly for his liking, but even so he decided to eye the Goliath from afar as it continued devouring the crystal.
The changes were already too noticeable.
His complexion had gotten darker and his eyes were releasing energy as it stared at him with a mad look on its face.
'I am soooo gonna enjoy wiping that smirk off your face.' Drake thought as he fixed his posture, managing to tolerate the residual pain as a growl escaped his mouth. "I am gonna keep it occupied, you go with the rest and-"
"Would you for the love of Hephaestus stop being so damn stubborn?"
He chuckled. "Spoiler alert, I lack self-preservation."
He said it as a joke. But somehow, she just knew that wasn't the case.
"Leave the conversation for later, he's making his move." The Goliath kept grinning at him and prepared to rush the blonde but stopped as something else managed to catch his attention.
It was the shout of the Adventurers that were heading to the floor below.
The Goliath kept grinning as he opened his mouth.
"What the fuck is it doing now?" Tsubaki's question was answered by the blonde next to her as his eyes widened.
"It's gonna block the fucking way to Rivira." The eyes of the Cyclops widened as a beam of energy was shot above the stairs, making it so various giant crystals fell right on the entrance of the stairs and blocking the way forward.
Tsubaki gritted her teeth as she saw there were still several Adventurers on this floor, Bors being one of them.
Drake meanwhile had to admit it, Tsubaki had impressed him.
The situation was pretty much screwed in his opinion and yet despite being angry she didn't have any amount of Despair in her. Maybe it was her experience, overconfidence, or overall attitude, but she kept her resolve and courage firm.
The other adventurers on the other hand were a completely different story.
He had wished to be left alone on the Floor so he could deal with the Goliath on his own without having to worry about gaining unwanted attention. His Aura field was gone thanks to the courtesy sucker punch of the Goliath. Luckily, his clothes had also managed to absorb part of the impact. But he was sure there was no coming back if he was hit head-on one more time like that.
However, there was no other way around it.
He took a deep breath as his hair started to turn black.
'If life gives you lemons…' he looked at the Adventurers in panic and tapped into their very shadows so he could feed.
The remaining Adventurers continued attacking the crystals blocking the way downwards in panic.
They were so afraid that they didn't dare to look back and see what the monster was doing at the moment, the simple sound of its roar and heavy steps were enough of a warning signal to tell the Adventurers they had to hurry up if they wanted to live.
"Stop trying to use edged weapons against it, the edge might break at any moment seeing how all these crystals are ridiculously sturdy." Bors said in a surprising calm tone despite the chaotic situation at hand.
"He's right, let's try to use some of the remaining explosives we have."
"Any mage that still has Mind with an explosion-based Spell here?"
"I am sure the rest on the other side are already looking for a way to help us as well."
The Despair that had been in the air had suddenly disappeared as it looked like all the Adventurers that were previously in a state of dread were now calmly thinking of possible ways of getting out of their current predicament. This was easily noted by Tsubaki, who made herself present as she walked past then.
"Stand back." Her statement generated the expected reaction as everyone, but Bors made way for her as she gripped the hold on her Benishigure.
"Oi, oi, I just sa-"
Bors's warning was swiftly ignored as she made a sudden slash at the crystals blocking the way. It didn't even take a full second before the source of the obstruction shattered in many pieces.
"Blacksmith, remember?" Tsubaki's remark was accompanied with a snort as the Adventurers cheered.
"Hurry the fuck up!" Bors shouted, ignoring the verbal jab that The Cyclops had thrown at him. "We need to restock for provisions and re-group, that thing is not gonna kill itself." Many of the Adventurers were already rushing as he gave the order.
"Cyclops, what the hell is going on?" Bors asked in a low tone which only he and she could hear. "There are too many coincidences with the events of today and yesterday with blondie over there being the center of it all. And judging by the look of things, I would even dare to say he's a-… what the fuck am I seeing?"
Bors had looked at the center of the floor as he spoke, what he saw made him go quiet instantly.
"Hey, hey." Tsubaki had snapped her fingers several times to break him out of his trance. "Focus."
"He and I are gonna take care of things here. You go down there and prepare another raid group as fast as possible."
Bors rubbed the bridge between his nose as he tried to gather his thoughts. "Are you mental? That thing is a variant, probably at the same level as you. And that was before he consumed the crystal of the other Goliath, that means it could already be over your own level."
Tsubaki rolled her eye and groaned. "Drake had said the same shit, and yet I am gonna do my part so no need to put any more thought into it."
Bors blinked as he acknowledged the name of the unknown blonde man for the first time. He was about to ask for more details about him but Tsubaki shut him up with a serious glare, one she usually only gave to the members of her Familia for one reason or another regarding their work.
"Just to check something… do you feel ok?"
Bors looked puzzled at her question. "Of course. As a matter of fact, I would say I feel pretty… calm. Unusually calm, even." His voice started to die down as he realized where she was going with this.
He was full-on panicking a couple of minutes ago and then all of the sudden his mind was clear of any kind of negative emotion at some moment.
"What the fu-"
"Pay it no mind. Go to Rivira and start with things down there."
Tsubaki turned around and walked away as she ignored Bors's shouts.
"You can't just say 'pay no mind' to something like that and then just walk away!"
There was no reaction from her, but she did hear footsteps down the stairs a couple of seconds later.
"Ok partner, let's see what else you can actually do."
A couple of minutes before
"What the fuck-"
Tsubaki started cursing as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing. Not at Drake's sudden change of hair and sclera color, but at the weird movement around his own shadow.
It looked like his very own shadow was consuming some sort of energy coming from the direction all the other Adventurers were at.
"Disgusting." Drake muttered loud enough for Tsubaki to hear as he instinctively covered his mouth as if trying not to throw up before looking at the Goliath rushing in their direction with a rather enraged expression on his face.
"My best bet is he noticed whatever the hell you were doing?" she asked. Not bothered by the sudden change in his voice, it almost sounded unnatural.
Tsubaki was calm, not because she was being overconfident as before, but rather because the abnormality known as Drake Aurion was calm as well.
"I fed off your colleagues' despair to make up for the energy I lost before." Drake clapped his fingers, several sets of black energy chains materialized out of the Goliath's shadow to wrap every single one of his limbs while two other sets of chains strangled his throat in order to immobilize him. "I would have done the same with you, but you always remained calm and collected despite how fucked up the current situation is."
The blacksmith rubbed the back of her neck, being taken completely by surprise at the blonde's sudden positive comment about her.
Too bad she didn't know him at all.
"Are you a dumbass? Every single person with common sense would be in a constant state of panic given the current situation."
His compliments were usually double-edged.
"We are gonna have to work on your social interactions when all of this is done."
He snorted. "Bitch please." There wasn't any ill intent in his words but the sudden change in demeanor baffled her the most. "More stupid people than you have tried and failed miserably."
He started walking towards the Goliath, Tsubaki's blade unsheathed while the blacksmith in question could already hear the chains starting to break. "I am gonna go and open a way for Bors and the others, try to leave something for me, will ya?"
Drake narrowed his eyes at the Goliath. 'Not like I have a choice.' he thought as he heard her running away as the chains holding the Giant in place finally broke.
Their current dilemma was happening solely because of his presence. He didn't want to know what would happen if he actually decided to go beyond mortal capabilities, so he would no doubt need Tsubaki's help.
But right now, the one thing he could do was test what this alternate version of the Goliath could do and how much stronger it was than the original.
The Goliath didn't waste a moment and quickly shot another beam out of his gaping mouth. The blonde in response made a quick motion with his blade, his Aura coated the edge before pushing back and then forth.
"[Void Wave]"
A black beam was then shot from the tip of the blade and collided with the Goliath's beam. Drake didn't waste his time in watching the explosion between the beams as he rushed towards the Giant.
'You already showed me that attack, do something new you overgrown bastard.'
The Aura around the blade started to integrate itself into the metal as if it was a superficial layer, but it didn't take the same shape as Tsubaki's katana, his Aura instead kept growing in length after surpassing the original's.
It now looked like Tsubaki's blade had morphed into a pitch black nodachi.
The Goliath moved its leg back and then went full force forward as it kicked the ground to send several shards of the crystal floor at the blonde.
Drake jumped away from the shards and made a quick motion with the nodachi to shatter the shards that were flying his way and quickly prepared for the incoming kick while still airborne.
"[Shallow Fury]" he phased through the Goliath's leg while delivering two horizontal slashes before reappearing to deliver a rising slash, resulting in him almost being able to cut the Goliath's leg had it not been that the diameter of its limb was longer than the blade's.
But that was never Drake's intention in the first place.
He noticed that his skin was more resilient than the previous Goliath, but that wasn't the biggest problem.
"Of fucking course, it has high speed regeneration." He thought out loud as he noticed the speed at which its wounds healed: it appeared to be almost instantaneous.
His instinct forced Drake to look up before he landed, the Goliath had once again opened his mouth while staring at him ready to shoot another beam, probably thinking his prey wouldn't be able to dodge.
'Can't think of anything original, huh?'
His hair returned to his usual blonde as the intensity of his Aura concentrated in his back before it started to detach from his body as something with his same figure.
His own shadow had materialized behind him, in other words.
Without wasting any more time both turned around to face each other and quickly clashed enhanced fists so they could separate a large distance before the beam would reach them.
The Goliath quickly looked right and left confused.
There were now two Drake Aurion: one of them with blonde hair, while the second one's was black.
Both of them were now charging at it.
As a result, the Goliath started to move erratically, stomping the ground hard enough to cause a tremor that was causing the floor and ceiling to shatter, making the whole area around them a hazard zone thanks to all the constant shards moving and falling down.
"How cute, he can't decide who to attack first." Drake's shadow said sarcastically as it charged while the original did the same.
"Focus." The original commented as both focused on each of the giant's tendons all the while avoiding and cutting any incoming crystal shard he threw at them.
["Ghost Wolf!"]
Both phased through the monster's skin as two slashes managed to cut through, taking advantage of the monster's lost balance to jump on its knees and then on its shoulders.
["BEAST!"]
The Goliath received a full enhanced Aura punch as the sound of two roaring energy dragons collided with each side of the monster's head, resulting in its head exploding in a gruesome display of blood and gore.
Both Original and Shadow Drake groaned as not even five seconds later its head was regenerating at a fast pace. They quickly looked down instinctively to see its hands moving at each of its shoulders to grab them.
Both disappeared before it could grab them and appeared rushing down at its hand while performing [Ghost Wolf], [Shallow Fury] and [Tempest] to sever parts of its body at great speeds before then proceeding with its legs promptly once they had reached the end of its arms and repeated the process so it would fall on its back.
'I have to hurry up before all of its limbs regenerate' he thought as both surrounded the Goliath from each side and jumped high in the air with their blades aimed ready to impale its stomach.
He had noticed that this Goliath had taken the crystal of the previous one from its stomach. And since all the other parts of his body were pretty much amputated, it was safe to assume the crystal was in the same place once more. But it was pretty much confirmed where the crystal was located when neither of the blades seemed to penetrate its chest completely.
"Fucking perfect." Drake cursed as his instinct kicked in again but this time it was too late for him to react. One of the Goliath's arms had reformed far quicker than its other limbs and it had reached for both of them, it didn't waste any time in applying force in its grasp to crush them.
"Bet you are regretting not regenerating the Aura field."
The Original groaned at his shadow. "That's the Huntsman mindset. Since when have Artes users prioritize Aura fields over every other of our skill sets."
Drake increased the Aura usage on himself and his shadow to release themselves from its grasp. He could dispel his shadow, but while doing it there was a small window in which his sudden decrease in strength could allow the Goliath to overpower him.
"Low blow, me. We have to-"
"We are saving it; in case the original plan doesn't work."
They were losing in their battle of strength little by little, and to make things worse, the Goliath's other arm had already regenerated and was already over them.
"There isn't gonna be a fucking plan if our heads are crushed like fucking grapes." His Original didn't say anything as the shadow groaned. "Fine, we are-"
Just when the Original was about to relent, a blur rushed over the incoming hand and impaled it before twisting it and then severed it with her Naginata.
"About time/About fucking time."
Tsubaki fell on the Goliath's chest and hastily rushed to amputate the wrist of the hand currently holding Drake.
"So, I am gonna guess the plan in mind had the idea of piercing his stomach. Too bad his stomach it's way sturdier than the rest of its body."
"What more have you noticed?" Drake asked before all of them noticed that the body of the Goliath's was turning around on itself in an attempt to crush them.
"More resistant than the usual Goliath, highly stupid high-speed regeneration and obviously abs stronger than steel." She said the last part sarcastically as they jumped back. "Also, destroying its head won't do this time, you can shoot beams out of swords and there are now two of you, neat."
There was a little too much joy in Tsubaki's voice regarding those last two statements.
"Believe me, it isn't." Drake looked at his Shadow who nodded as he started to fade away while flipping him off.
"It also looks like he has a sharper tongue than you." Tsubaki commented as Drake's shadow hadn't been attached to him until the second Drake had disappeared.
"How good is your aim?" he asked, his hair turning black once again along with the tone in his voice becoming deeper and more intimidating.
Tsubaki looked offended at the sudden question as they noticed the monster's regeneration speed was increasing, also its skin had become even darker.
"That better not be a comment about my eye. Also, pretty fucking good in fact."
Drake nodded. "Your naginata is better than the sword you gave me, even if I am currently enhancing it." She wanted to ask about it as she noticed the energy and current form it had, it was only a second layer over the original blade, but now wasn't the time for questions.
"This is the plan."
The Goliath intertwined his hands and slammed the ground to send a shockwave in their direction.
Drake came rushing with [Sonic Thrust] to clash and dispel the shockwave. Tsubaki didn't waste another moment and rushed with her naginata spinning around her hand before jumping and cutting through the monster's right foot as if it was nothing.
'Knew it.'
Even if he coated his current blade with his Aura, it didn't hold a candle to Tsubaki's naginata. Which would prove important in order to pierce the Goliath's stomach.
The only problem now was the Goliath's regeneration had gotten almost instantaneous; it didn't even take a single second for its wound to heal. "Amputating is not gonna be an option this time!"
"Then we have to force him to bend the knee. I will force him to stay down after that!"
The blacksmith mentally nodded as she hastily stabbed the giant's kneecap and twisted her weapon, making it roar as she kept applying more thrust and pressure in her weapon little by little.
"Say," Tsubaki spoke as she forced the pole of her weapon down after the wound had cicatrized, the edge of the Naginata still inside the monster's flesh to force the Goliath to kneel. "Can't you create a giant blade out of his own shadow and pierce his damn back and the crystal in the process!?" Tsubaki asked as she noticed Drake dive kicking the Goliath's head, making him stumble a little, but not enough to make any difference.
"With how little Aura output I am giving-" he stopped mid-sentence and made sure to land a solid step on the Goliath's face in order to jump to its left shoulder before it facepalmed itself once more. "-not really. It would just shatter the moment it would try to pierce its skin!"
"Oh that makes- wait a damn second! Are you telling me you can put more of that energy on your constructs!? Why haven't you!?"
Drake groaned.
Tsubaki was way too smart for her own good.
"You already noticed how the damn Dungeon reacted to me!" He jumped behind the Goliath and turned around as Aura started to surround the black nodachi.
"[Distortion Blade]" Drake slashed down his blade as it took the form of a massive blade of black light with a considerable extended length to sever the Goliath's left arm. He continued going down to its left leg and stopped the moment he reached its kneecap just like Tsubaki was doing at the moment, which forced the Goliath to bend the second knee.
"What do you think would happen if I went beyond mor-" he bit his tongue by instinct. He had almost said something he shouldn't. "Just focus on the plan!"
Tsubaki groaned as she quickly retracted her weapon and rushed to the front.
'He's right, dealing with this bastard comes first.' She thought as she ignored his slip of the tongue while several chains of darkness came out of the Goliath's shadow once more to repeat the same process of impeding it from moving, but there were far more chains this time around.
"You got a clear way, go for it!"
Tsubaki grinned as she put all her strength in her legs and then gripped her weapon before jumping high in the air. Her grin never left her face, even as the Goliath opened his mouth to shoot another beam after it had managed to move its head down despite the chains around its neck trying to hold it in place.
She wasn't worried, because she knew her irregular partner had her back.
"Where the fuck do you think you are looking at?"
For the first time since the fight started, the Goliath had an unreadable expression on its face as it focused down to the ground and further back behind Tsubaki.
And then, it saw it.
Or rather, the Goliath had recognized the actual threat on the floor. It wasn't itself, an irregular monster that equaled a Level Six Adventurer, it wasn't the Level Five that was about to throw her weapons either, it was the damn actual monster in human form staring at the giant with his emerald draconic eyes.
The scariest thing was, there was no expression or emotion being displayed on his face and that scared the monster the most. Because the amount of killing intent that Drake was displaying was beyond that of an actual monster.
"I told you." The Goliath could hear his voice right next to its ear, which was impossible since Drake was so far away. "That I would wipe that smirk off your fucking face."
Drake grabbed his blade with both hands and made a circular motion with it before raising it over his head.
The instincts of the giant screamed as he felt the killing intent tenfold, as if his imminent death was coming. And to its surprise the Goliath would see the monster on the other side of the floor curl up the side of his lips a little.
"That's a more fitting face."
His soft voice reached the giant's ears and it could feel the level of mockery coming from Drake's tone. It gritted its teeth in irritation as he completely forgot about Tsubaki and charged its attack while aiming at Drake.
The small smirk on the Artes User disappeared as he lowered his blade to his chest level and then moved it next to the right side of his waist before finally pushing the nodachi forward.
He had already performed this Arte before, but it had been done in a rushed manner with no preparation or technique whatsoever.
But now, this was a proper-
"[Void Wave]" Drake whispered softly.
A massive beam of darkness with green outlines was shot out of the tip of the nodashi, easily overpowering the Goliath's beam attack unlike last time where it was just strong enough to intercept it.
The last expression Drake saw of the Goliath was one of being completely stupefied before the beam erased its head off as it kept going until it reached the end of the floor and hit the wall.
Drake sighed. "I hope it's ready, partner."
His soft whisper managed to reach Tsubaki's ear, her grin visible on her face. Her hand had been accumulating all of her strength to the point she couldn't flex her muscles anymore and the veins on her arm were about to pop.
"You are the absolute-" her hand moved forward. "BEST!" and her hand let go of her naginata.
Her Benishigure generated a shockwave the moment it pierced the monster's skin. "God dammit. It didn't go deep enough."
"I noticed!" Tsubaki caught sight of her own katana in its normal form spinning in the air in front of her and going further up as a sudden black blur followed soon after.
It was Drake, with this body upside down.
"Wait, are you gonna-"
She didn't get to finish her sentence as Drake performed a bicycle kick at the exact moment her blade had stopped spinning in order for him to hit its buttcap.
'His precision is unbelievable.'
She was truly amazed.
He threw the spinning katana in the air just so it could stop at the right moment. Then jumped before the blade had reached its maximum height. But the cherry on top of the cake went to the fact that her blade had made perfect contact with the Benishigue's buttcap, forcing the naginata to go even deeper as both heard a loud crack inside of the Goliath.
"Damn it! It's still not enough."
"Tsubaki!" her single eye widened as she noticed a part of Drake's white scarf in front of her.
She smirked for two reasons. One of them being she already knew what Drake wanted of her. And the other reason-
"I knew there was also something special about this!"
The length of the scarf had increased by an incredible margin.
Tsubaki grabbed the cloth item with a fierce grip before doing a full 360 spin while still being airborne to gain momentum while Drake simply held the other end of his scarf, letting himself be guided by Tsubaki's sudden movement.
"GO!" Tsubaki shouted after reaching the maximum point of momentum in order for Drake to let go of his scarf and to be sent flying at great speed.
"[RISING FALCON"]" Drake re-accommodated his body and gained even more momentum as he performed a propelled dive kick that hit the pommel of the blade once more before it fell to the ground.
"Come on!"
Tsubaki's naginata moved little by little. The sounds of cracks continued, making the Goliath roar even more in pain.
Drake had forgotten about it.
Neither he nor Tsubaki had paid attention to the moment the Goliath's head had been completely healed.
And he didn't need to look up to know it was about to shoot another beam at him.
But it was way too convenient that his partner was really reliable.
Tsubaki hadn't wasted a moment in rushing at the Goliath.
She jumped high above its head to then perfectly accommodate Drake's scarf in front of its throat before she began to descend, forcing the monster to look up as Tsubaki used the piece of cloth as another set of chains by grabbing it by both ends once she had reached the ground behind the beast.
"Just fucking pierce it already!"
Drake groaned as his Aura flared even more.
"[OVERLIMIT!]" a small explosion of energy took place as Drake's Aura increased tenfold. "Die already!" Drake shouted as he made a final push before both weapons were sent flying through the Goliath's body and into the ground a couple of feet behind Tsubaki.
The simple fact that the monster vanished instantly despite the amount of effort it took them to kill it really annoyed him.
"Aaaaand…" he didn't bother to prepare himself for landing. "Got you." Because he knew Tsubaki would catch him again.
"What? No smartass comments this time." She said, carrying him bridal style once more as his hair and eyes returned back to normal.
"Just don't drop me."
She chuckled at his whisper.
"Chill. You earned your break." Tsubaki let him down gently as his feet touched the ground while she went for her weapons.
Drake simply looked up with his eyes closed and sighed in relief. Or that would have been the case had a familiar sensation not invaded his senses once more, slowly making him menacingly open his eyes.
"You have got to be shitting me."
Tsubaki didn't seem to hear him as she continued in her way.
"Let's go. I wanna see Bors expression when he sees we beat it before the reinforcements arr-"
A sudden tremor stopped her words as she groaned in annoyance as the whole floor turned red once more. "Are you fucking shitting me!?"
She sighed, before she mockingly sang "An Adventurer's life for me."
"There really is no rest for the wicked, huh Drake?"
There was no response. "Drake?"
Again nothing.
She turned around to stare at the blonde, only to make a shocked expression at him.
There it was again.
The sudden flux of energy being siphoned from somewhere deep in the Dungeon.
But he didn't care about the source at the moment. Instead, he kept looking deeper and deeper into the Dungeon.
10 floors.
20 floors.
30 floors.
He kept going deeper and deeper until he finally saw what he was looking for, so he took a deep breath and raised his head.
Looking down literally and metaphorically at what could be considered the entity of the Dungeon. And then, with a simple tap of his right foot, the tremor stopped, and the room changed colors to a mix of black and emerald green.
"I have no interest in you. I don't care what your beef with the people of this world is since you nor your entire existence are of any worth to me whatsoever. However, you have been quite the annoyance."
There was no anger in his voice, and that was the scariest thing about him to the entity. Because even if his tone and expression were monotone, his flaring Aura described the complete opposite.
And all of this because he was simply annoyed.
"If you keep behaving like that, you will be able to gain my undivided attention. And believe me, you don't want that. Because I will reach to the deepest floor of this bullshit everyone refers to as a Dungeon for the sole and only purpose of finding you and eradicate every single fiber of your entire existence in the slowest way possible. So, let me give you a little piece of advice." His eyes sharpened. "Stop behaving like a daft cunt."
Half a minute passed before he finally stopped the output of his Aura as the color of the floor returned to normal.
"So…" he frowned, turning around to see Tsubaki sitting with a grin on her face, her back resting against the side of the giant crystal left by the Goliath. "Daft cunt?"
To her credit, he chuckled as he walked to her and sat beside her.
"She opens holes in the Dungeon to give birth to monsters that had been inside of her. Do I have to say anymore?"
His response made her laugh hysterically.
"That, and the fact that the number of women that had tried to kill me for personal reasons surpasses that of the opposite gender."
She laughed, but then little by little her laughter died down leaving room to an uncomfortable silence before Drake heard her moving her arm. He moved his eyes to see she was raising the side of her fist with a kind smile accompanied with an honest eye as if telling him 'It's ok'
He let out a small sigh he had been holding before looking away to lay back his head against the crystal with closed eyes as he raised his side fist to bump it with hers.
"So," Tsubaki started, not wanting to let silence take over again. "Mind telling me at least what exactly you are?" She laid back her head against the crystal like Drake and waited for his answer while staring at nothing in particular with a frown on her face.
"To be honest… It's complicated. All I can say for sure is…" He didn't want to accept it. But the words that the Great Spirit Ratatosk had told him in the past fit well with his current predicament. "I am something that shouldn't exist in this world."