Hello everyone, Chapter 3 is here as promised! I've had a blast writing this always, especially this chapter, as the story is finally starting to pick up. I won't say much about my plans for the story in the future, but I do want to touch on both the SO and MS storylines respectively. So for those who want to see Hestia Familia, you'll have to wait a little longer!
As always, I hope you enjoy reading this chapter!
Chapter 3 - The Wolf
Thud-
"Oww…." Sharp pain flared in my head and my back. Opening my eyes slowly, I saw a white ceiling overhead. Slowly turning my head, I could see the frame of my bed to the right, and my sister's on the left. Bright yellow rays of light shone in from the windows, bathing the room in a harsh bright yellow light. My mind was still half awake and blurry, unable to make any sense of what I was seeing.
"Urgh…." Groaning in pain, I willed my muscles to move and sat up. Instead of soft bedding, I felt like I was sitting on cold hard concrete. As my mind started clearing up, the realisation hit me.
I fell out of bed, didn't I?
Trying to ignore the pain I felt from my back, I slowly stood up and walked over to Yuna's bed. She was still sleeping, the way she slept paired with her snowy white hair gave off an aura of purity and elegance.
She looks like….yeah, like a princess.
"Princess….your prince is here to see you," I called, shaking her shoulder gently.
"Mmmm? Prince...?" Yuna rubbed her eyes, still half awake.
"Pfft-y-yes. Princess, I'm here to save you from harm."
"Huh, what-…...FENRIR!"
"Ahaha-Ouch! Ouch! I'm sorry!"
"Geez, you should stop pranking me like that."
"Eheh..sorry."
"Hmmph. Let's go, you still haven't gotten your weapon ordered, right?"
"Oh, right."
After Yuna had calmed down, I noticed a piece of paper slipped under the door. Picking it up, I unfolded the paper and read the contents.
"'Go to Tsubaki when you are ready'….did Finn persuade her to make a weapon for me?" I put down the letter on the nightstand and went to change.
After changing out from our sleepwear, we exited our room and headed to the cafeteria for breakfast. I wore brown pants with a dark grey tunic with black patterns along the collar and sleeve. I wore the headpiece Aurora had given me, the polished gold and silver surface shone brightly in the daylight. It gave me a small boost of confidence.
Yuna wore a long-sleeved top and a deep brown skirt down to her knees. Her hairstyle was simple but pretty, with two rope braids tied together at the back of her head.
"Fenrir, are you going to that blacksmith later?"
"Yeah, Aki left me a note from Finn saying she would make a weapon for me."
"I see, you should be thankful. I heard that blacksmith is very experienced."
"Ahaha...I just got lucky, that's all."
When we arrived at the cafeteria, I went to the counter and ordered toast with eggs and some fresh milk. Carrying the food on a tray, I found a relatively empty area and sat down waiting for Yuna.
As I waited, I noticed Tiona and Lefiya walking around looking for seats. I wanted to call out to them, but with so many people around…
Tiona noticed me sitting alone and came over, with Lefiya following behind.
"Oh! Good morning, Fenrir!" Tiona waved cheerily, she seemed to be always in high spirits no matter the circumstances. I wonder where she gets that energy from.
I awkwardly waved back, "G-good morning, Tiona-senpai and Lefiya."
"Huh? Where's your sister?"
"Uh, I think she's still ordering food."
"I see, then you don't mind if we sit here?"
"N-no, I don't mind."
They sat down on the seats across from mine and began to eat. Tiona munched on a large piece of meat, while Lefiya took small bites from a small loaf of bread. I noticed Lefiya's tired expression, there were bags under her half-closed eyes, her hairdo looked messier than when I saw her yesterday. Tiona had noticed it too.
Did she spend the whole night in the Dungeon?
"Lefiya, what's up with you?"
"Huh? N-nothing, Riveria made me practice more than usual these few days..."
"I see, Riveria wants you to be ready for the expedition soon, right?"
"Y-yeah. But I'm pretty nervous, this is my first expedition."
"You guys are going on a trip to the Dungeon? Can I follow?"
"H-huh!?"
"You can't yet, little Fenrir! You just joined yesterday, it's still too dangerous for you to be on expeditions."
"But Tiona, you've taught me so much. I know how to fight!"
"No means no. You still have a lot to learn."
I was too focused on the conversation to notice that someone came up beside me. A knuckle came down and hit me on the head, making me jump in surprise and pain.
"Oww! Wha-Yuna?"
"Don't be so hasty, you haven't discussed anything with Tsubaki yet."
"Huh? You two haven't commissioned your weapons yet?"
"Yeah, he has yet to submit an order to Tsubaki, and I still can't find a weaponsmith who can make what I want."
"Well, they will still take some time to make, so you should consider getting something temporary from our armoury. I can bring you two there later."
"Oh, one more thing. Since we are now in the same Familia and all, could I ask you to watch over him so he won't do anything reckless?"
"Yeah, no problem."
"Thank you, Tiona."
"No problem, it's my job as Fenrir's teacher to keep his tail safe, after all." Tiona giggled.
"I-I can take care of myself!"
"Yes yes, finish your food first, little Fenrir. We have a lot to do today."
"Mm." I nodded and ate my meal.
After we finished our breakfast, Tiona brought us to the armoury to get some gear. The longer we walked through hallway after hallway, the more I realized how gigantic this manor was.
"Alright, here we are. The Loki Familia private armoury." Tiona gestured towards a big wooden door with a reinforced iron frame and hinges. The security made sense, seeing as a Familia as big as Loki Familia would probably have enough weapons and armour to gear an entire platoon.
As we entered the room, we were greeted with shelves upon shelves of weapons. Rows of swords, spears and axes line the wooden shelves in the room. In a corner, piles of wooden boxes with the top panels removed contained different types of armour.
I stood there, eyes opened wide.
"Wow…"
"Impressed, huh? But most of these weapons don't fit a werewolf's style, so start looking around."
Yuna and I looked through the shelves, with Tiona following behind to give input. Many of the weapons looked too heavy for me to wield, as I glanced past the last shelf, I saw a pair of blades that looked light enough for me to use. Taking them from the shelf, I held both blades with my hands and showed them to Tiona.
"Tiona, what about these?"
"Oh, those are Tione's old knives. She doesn't use them now since she has a better pair, but these should be perfect for beginners like you."
I took a closer look at the blades, it's greyish-brown surface gave it a clean yet menacing look. The blades had a recurve shape, making it possible to deliver powerful slashes with a momentum similar to an axe. On the surface, some characters were etched on the side of the blades. I couldn't read it, but I had seen similar symbols before, outside Orario.
"These characters….are these from the Far East?"
Yuna came up to us, wearing a set of light armour with a recurve bow and quiver strapped to her back.
"You found a weapon yet, Fenrir?"
"Yuna, can you read this?" I handed the blades to Yuna. Grabbing both of them by the hilt, Yuna inspected the characters.
"Yeah, no doubt these were made by someone from the Far East. But I can't make sense of the characters." Yuna handed the blades back to me.
"..." I stared at the dual blades, a feeling of power bubbled in my chest. I felt like I could slay anything the Dungeon threw at me with these.
"Hey hey, since you two are fully geared and all, let's go have a quick trip to the Dungeon after we visit Tsubaki!" Tiona suggested. She loved to jump at any chance to fight anybody or anything, as expected of an Amazonian.
I nodded and looked up at Yuna, my expression beaming with excitement.
"Let's go, Yuna."
"Mm, no time to waste." Yuna nodded in agreement.
"Alright, wait for me outside the manor. I'll be right back with my weapon!" Tiona called as she cheerily ran back to get her gear.
With our armour and newly acquired weapons, Yuna and I went outside and waited for Tiona in the lobby. Not long after, Tiona ran over to us waving excitedly, holding something gigantic in her right hand.
"T-Tiona? What's that-"
"This? It's my weapon, Urga." she held her weapon out with one hand. It was a gigantic double-bladed sword with a rounded tip on each side. The sheer size and thickness of the blade would have made it extremely heavy, and yet Tiona casually wielded it one-handed. I stood there amazed by Tiona's raw strength.
"Wow…"
"No time to gawk, Fenrir. Let's go meet your blacksmith first." Yuna reminded, snapping me back into reality.
"Mm," I nodded. "Her shop should be close by."
The three of us headed over to Tsubaki's shop first, the streets were beginning to fill up with adventurers heading towards the Dungeon. Large and small shops dotted the streets, trying to sell their goods to the giant crowd of adventurers. It was still early in the morning, the cool stone pavement had yet to be heated by the sun. The clear blue sky above us was incredibly beautiful.
Even though most people would get a feeling of safety and comfort from this. I realized that I still couldn't get used to this peaceful atmosphere, something about it irked me. It felt like….like I didn't belong.
It's probably just because I'm still new to Orario….yeah, probably.
I ignored the feeling and continued walking. Maybe it was just the food I ate this morning.
After walking through the streets for a while, we arrived at the Hephaistos Familia store where I met Tsubaki yesterday. As we drew closer, my ears perked up, two faint voices were coming from inside the shop. One of them caught my attention, even with the noise outside, I could tell one of the voices was loud and agitated.
It sounds like...an argument.
"Fenrir? What-"
Sensing trouble, I dashed in front of Tiona and opened the door. Inside the store, I saw a man dressed in leather armour arguing with the blacksmith manning the counter. The man took out a sword in its sheath, taking the sword out, he slammed it on the counter.
"What da hell were ya thinking selling me this crap!? Look, I just bought this a day ago and da edge is already busted! I want a refund!"
"Sir, I'm afraid you've misunderstood. We don't offer refunds to sold goods, and that sword isn't-"
"Da hell are ya talking about!? I could've died down in the Dungeon, ya know!? If ya value yer own life, give me a refund right now!"
"Sir-"
Anybody could tell that the conversation was pretty one-sided. The adventurer was telling the worker to refund a weapon that he had allegedly bought. But it was obvious that his attitude was extremely rude. As I watched the worker get threatened, a fire blazed inside my heart, my tail stood up as I bared my fangs in anger. Adventurer or not, this selfish act couldn't be dismissed.
But...I couldn't do anything. I couldn't possibly fight another adventurer, not in my current state. I had nearly zero experience with real combat.
'Even then, I can't just stand around and let that worker get harassed!' I thought as I stood there, claws and fangs out in the open, my anger boiling. My werewolf instincts were taking over me, it wouldn't be long before it took over and I went into a rage. But just as I was about to burst, something stopped me.
Pat. I felt a hand patting my head, sending a jolt down my spine. Turning around, I looked up at the Amazonian who did it with pleading eyes.
Tiona nodded at me with a smile. As if she was saying, 'It's fine, leave it to me,' and walked towards the adventurer.
"Oi, you are disturbing us. Get the hell out."
"Huh? Who the hell are-" The man looked back in frustration, but his expression quickly turned into surprise and then into fear as soon as he saw Tiona.
"L-Loki Familia!?"
"I said get out, or you'll be having a nice conversation about that weapon with my Urga." Tiona held her Urga menacingly, causing the adventurer to start sweating bullets, his expression filled with terror.
"Y-y-yes! IM SORRY!"
Without another word, the adventurer quickly fled. Leaving the shop in dead silence for a moment.
"It's ok." I felt a pair of arms wrap around me from behind. Looking up, I saw Yuna looking at me with a slightly worried expression, her pure white hair hanging down.
"It's fine, I'm here for you."
"Yuna..." The fire had died down, my body began to relax a little. I realized that I was still weak to Yuna's affection, maybe it wasn't so bad to rely on her.
No no, you're an adventurer now. You have to grow up sooner or later! A voice chided inside my head.
"Cheer up, we have a lot to do today. Forget about that guy, alright?" Yuna smiled sweetly.
"Alright," I replied, remembering what we came here for. I gently broke free from Yuna's embrace and walked towards the counter.
"Um, excuse me. Could you tell me where Tsubaki is?"
"Y-yeah, she's in the workshop. Also, thank you for dealing with that guy, um...Loki Familia Tiona Hiryute." The worker nervously looked at Tiona, with Urga on her shoulder, she looked pretty intimidating despite her cute looks.
"Hmm? No problem, but you should thank this little wolf too, I wouldn't have butted in if it wasn't for him." Tiona tilted her head in my direction.
"N-no…it's not...I didn't..."
I didn't feel like I deserved any credit, seeing as I only stood there and watched as the worker got harassed. I tried to deny it, but the words that came out of my mouth were jumbled and messy.
"Ahahaha...as timid as ever, huh?" Tiona giggled.
"Tiona!"
"Huh? What's all this commotion?"
Tsubaki walked out from the door at the back, attracted by the sudden commotion happening at the counter. Noticing us, she asked us what had happened.
"Well, some adventurer wanted a refund for a weapon he allegedly bought and was being a prick about it, so I scared him away."
"I see. Well, I've met a good number of rude customers in my time, nothing you can do about them." Tsubaki shrugged like it was nothing. "So, are you ready to decide what your weapon will be, Fenrir?"
"A-ah, yeah."
Tsubaki let us into the workshop at the back of the store. Inside, a small and simple forge and anvil were set up. Considering the racket that was involved in forging a weapon from scratch, It was probably used more for repairs and maintenance than for forging. Nevertheless, the radiating heat coming from the forge made me sweat like crazy.
"So, what kind of weapon do you want?" Tsubaki asked, her hands rested on her hips, her chest covered with a white cloth as usual.
"Um…"
Remembering what I came here for, I thought back to last night, when Yuna and I stayed our first night in the Twilight Manor. While Yuna had slept pretty quickly, the lingering adrenaline and feeling of euphoria or excitement from joining Loki Familia had woken me up at midnight, unable to sleep. Since I couldn't sleep, I decided to brainstorm about the weapon I had wanted. After asking a few members of the Familia, I headed to the library inside the mansion and picked out a few books, and returned to my room silently, careful not to wake up Yuna. Putting them on the table inside the room, I lit a magic stone lamp, letting the light illuminate the table and began to read. The books I had picked out were tales of different heroes, warriors, gods and deities from many places across the world. From their stories, I noted down the ones that had caught my attention.
A war god that possessed two blades infused with the fires of hell, with chains that tied the blades to his arms.
A fire giant, who wielded a greatsword with the power to plunge the world in eternal fire.
And finally, a legendary hero from the Far East, who used his bow to bring down nine suns.
These tales, I wasn't sure why, but some of them made me feel incredibly uncomfortable. As if I was remembering something I had purposely forgotten...about someone...somewhere deep inside my memories.
Pushing these thoughts away to the back of my mind. I focused on my current problem.
'So many different weapons to choose from...what will it be?'' I thought to myself, creasing my forehead and covering my mouth with my left hand in thought.
I did not have the power or strength to use a greatsword.
I lack the aim and dexterity to be accurate with a bow, too.
I touch the blades I had taken from the armoury, I put them both in a sheath located above my hips at my back.
I guess I'll go with the first option. But I already have two blades…wait.
My eyes opened wide in a moment of eureka.
I remember now, a story I used to love listening to, a story that Aurora had used to tell me when I was in bed.
An old tale from the Far East. A werewolf, who protected his people inside the walls of his city along with his brother, who used a crossbow and possessed incredible accuracy. And their teacher, a swordswoman who had turned her back against the terrible social norms of females in her society, and had left her village to train to be a warrior for the sake of her father, who had fallen ill. Together, they were a formidable team that had kept an indefinite number of enemy factions from taking over their city.
That's it…a werewolf who protected his city...his sibling, and his teacher. His weapon was….right, I remember!
"Um….Tsubaki, this might be a weird request...but…."
Tsubaki tilted her head, her eyebrow raised and her usual expression turned into curiosity.
"It's fine, say it. I couldn't possibly call myself a smith if I couldn't handle a request from a kid."
I gulped, after reviewing everything from last night, I could think more clearly now, the pieces of the puzzle I was looking for had clicked in place. Looking up at Tsubaki, I told her the weapon I had in mind.
"I see...tell me a little more, I'll sketch it here, so tell me everything." Tsubaki took out a pen and a piece of paper and put them on a table.
"R-right! So...this here..." I started pointing out the details I had in mind. Tsubaki nodded as she masterfully sketched the designs on the paper with a feather pen.
"Hey hey, don't you think he's starting to act a little more mature?"
"I don't know for sure, but I'm proud of him either way."
Tiona and Yuna watched from the side, proud smiles appearing on their faces.
At the tower of Babel, many adventurers have already started entering the Dungeon to defeat monsters. A handful of deities from small Familia were also there, wishing their children good luck and telling them to come back safely. This was a daily occurrence in Orario, as adventurers, new or old, went down into the deadly abyss for another adventure. Many come back from the Dungeon with bags of magic stones and smiles on their faces, but many also never come back up again.
After finishing up with Tsubaki, Tiona brought us to Babel for our first trip into the Dungeon. As we walked up the stairs to the Dungeon entrance, we saw a pair of elves standing at the top of the stairs. One of them stood there with a stoic expression on her face, her eyes glaring daggers at the other elf, who was bowing her head in apology.
"Oh, Riveria and Lefiya! What are you two doing here~?" Tiona asked playfully, waving her Urga in the air, which nearly gave a nearby adventurer a heart attack. Lefiya's ear twitched at the sound of Tiona's voice. Turning around, her nervous expression turned into relief as she saw us.
"Ah…save me Tiona..." Lefiya started walking over to Tiona, her hands outstretched, but got stopped by Riveria. It looked like she'd been scolded by Riveria, but I couldn't tell much since Riveria had a stoic expression on her, just like when I saw her yesterday at the Manor.
'Vice Captain Riveria and Lefiya...they feel like complete opposites.' I thought to myself.
"Oh, Tiona. Good timing, could you do me a favour and keep an eye on Lefiya in the Dungeon?"
"Huh?"
"I was supposed to go with her, but something else has come up. Could you do it for me?"
"Oh, it's fine. I was about to bring Fenrir and Yuna down there anyway." Tiona replied casually with both her hands behind her head. I took half a step back from her Urga, fearing decapitation.
"Alright, I'll leave Lefiya in your hands." Riveria turned over to Lefiya. "Make sure you practice what I taught you, and don't weigh down the party, alright?"
"Y-yes…" Lefiya nodded dejectedly.
After Riveria had left, we followed Tiona into the stairs leading down to the Dungeon, with Lefiya following behind. The stairway was a ten meders wide hole with a set of steps spiralling down towards the bottom. We were not the only ones there, countless adventurers were also there waiting to go down into the Dungeon. As we walked down, a feeling of uncertainty grew in my chest, I tucked my tail unconsciously, my fangs threatened to bare themselves in the open. My body could tell, whatever creature laid below that place was a threat.
"Rrgh…"
I touched on the blades I had taken from the armoury in their sheaths, hoping it would calm me down a little. I was confident that I could handle whatever monsters were in the Dungeon with what I learnt from Tiona's lessons. Besides, I had Yuna and now Lefiya coming along with us too.
Then why do I feel so nervous?
It's okay, I can do this...I have Yuna beside me.
No no, I have to protect Yuna. I can't let her protect me all the time.
The voices in my head grew louder and louder, forming a cacophony of doubt inside me. I tried to push them away to the back of my mind, but the voices kept coming.
BADUMP- As we reached the bottom of the stairway, I could hear my heart beating heavily against my chest. A set of reinforced doors stood at the bottom of the stairs, the door that led to the Dungeon.
This is it, the Dungeon. I stared at the doors. It had no special look about it, but they represented the gateway to one of the three great unexplored areas in the world.
"Here we are, the entrance." Tiona gestured towards the doors. "Let's go have some fun!"
Tiona opened the doors, and we stepped inside.
"Those walls...are blue?" I asked.
This was the first time I and Yuna had entered the Dungeon. Even though I have heard some things about it from Aurora, the otherworldly look of the Dungeon caught me off guard.
"Fenrir, Yuna, Lefiya."
"""!?"""
"I'll stay at the back and protect you guys while we're down here, but only if I need to. You're on your own for now."
"Y-yes…"
Lefiya was the first to respond, Even though her expression looked calm, I could see the pure terror in her dark blue eyes. Seeing her like this, my brain instantly went into overdrive. My eyes darted around the long hallways, looking for a threat. Sensing none in the immediate vicinity, I placed both my hands on the hilt of my knives and drew a quick breath.
"Yuna, Lefiya, I'm going."
Shhunk- Drawing both my knives, I rush towards the wide hallway in search of monsters. A growl emerged from my throat, I bared my fangs, my eyes darted left and right.
The wolf had begun its hunt.
"Fenrir! Wait!"
Seeing Fenrir rush ahead so suddenly, Yuna was stunned for a moment. Remembering the dangers that lay in the Dungeon, she quickly drew her bow, nocked an arrow and dashed in the direction her brother went with Lefiya following close behind. Yuna knew little about the Dungeon just like Fenrir, this was her first time here. But she had experience fighting alongside Aurora in the past. Letting her instincts took over, she looked over at Lefiya and called out.
"Lefiya, you're a mage, right? Get your spells ready!"
"I-I can't do it while running!"
"...I see, then keep your eyes open. Stay behind me!"
As they ran through the main road of the first floor, known as the Beginning Road, cracks began to form on the walls beside them.
"!"
Grrroarr- Four green and short humanoids emerged from the cracks, their large and savage eyes bulging from their heads. The weakest monsters of the Dungeon, Goblins. The four of them observed the girls for a split second and charged.
Without wasting a second, Yuna nocked an arrow. Raising her bow, she aimed and let loose the arrow in one quick motion.
Thunk- One arrow landed on the first goblin's head.
Thunk- Another arrow landed on its target.
With a fluid motion, Yuna shot arrow after arrow into the oncoming goblins, not wasting a single action. The four goblins disintegrated into dust, leaving behind four purple shards, their magic stones.
"Wow…"
Lefiya could not believe her eyes, the goblins didn't even have a chance to get close before they got shot down. Yuna's accuracy with a bow was something not to be reckoned with.
She could be even better than Alicia in archery. Alicia is Lefiya's fellow elven friend, a Level 4 adventurer who was one of the best at archery in Loki Familia.
Instead of the pretty, cheerful sister that Lefiya saw a minute ago. Yuna now had a serious expression across her face. After all, this was not her first time dealing with monsters, she had experience fending for herself.
Without stopping for the magic stones, Yuna nocked another arrow and continued running towards the direction Fenrir went.
"Let's go, Lefiya!"
"R-right."
I have to get myself together! I have to do my job as a mage, or else I'll weigh everyone else down later on at the expedition!
Lefiya gathered her thoughts and followed Yuna deeper into the Dungeon in pursuit of Fenrir.
Where did he go?
Yuna and Lefiya had explored every room on the first floor of the Dungeon, they had found no signs of Fenrir except for a few piles of magic stones and some footprints leading towards the stairs to the second floor. That only meant one remaining possibility.
"He's...gone deeper," Yuna concluded, she crouched down and inspected the footprints. "These footprints are his."
"Not good, he's in big danger!"
"...We have no choice, let's go."
"Y-yes!"
Yuna and Lefiya hurried along the path that leads to the stairs to the second floor. Along the way, they found more magic stones scattered throughout the path. Normal adventurers would already have picked up the magic stones as soon as it was safe, which meant this was the work of someone who was killing monsters for the sake of it or someone who had lost themselves.
Fenrir...I'm so sorry.
Yuna blamed herself for being unable to stop Fenrir. She had known he had tendencies to lose control of himself, but she has never seen him get like this.
Did his werewolf side react that strongly to being in the Dungeon?
No, I can't focus on that now. Making sure he's safe is the priority.
Yuna quickly got rid of that thought and started running faster down the stairs to the Second Floor. She didn't want to lose another family member, she was the only pillar holding the three together after their father figure had passed. If she had lost another family member, there was no stopping her from losing her mind just like Fenrir.
Yuna reached the bottom of the stairs, the environment hadn't changed much. The Second Floor looked identical to the First Floor, but if what Yuna had heard from Aurora was correct, either new monsters or stronger variants of the same monsters appeared the deeper you went.
Yuna scanned the ground for magic stones, but there was none to be found.
Not good, there's no trail...
"Lefiya, get Tiona here-"
"I'm here, what's up?"
Tiona appeared on the stairs with a cheerful expression as always. She had been following them from a distance, but she didn't see what had happened to Fenrir. Lefiya quickly briefed Tiona on the situation while Yuna scouted in front.
"I see, then let's go find him then."
Yuna pondered for a moment. If there were stairs like these leading to the lower floors, then there was a possibility that Fenrir could go much deeper. The lower he went, the harder it was to find him, and the more likely Fenrir would be in grave danger.
"Wait, Tiona. There are more floors below this in the Dungeon, right?"
"Huh? Yeah, there are a lot more, but Fenrir definitely can't handle more than the third floor right now."
"How many ways are there to enter the floors below?"
"Well...for someone like him, the only way would be the stairs. There's only one per floor."
So there is only one way for him to go deeper… Yuna was relieved, this meant their search would be significantly easier. Even though he had a head start, Fenrir didn't know enough about the Dungeon to know where the stairs were. That meant they had a chance to corner him, and calm him down from his rampage.
"Then...how about this? Tiona can go to the entrance to the second floor and wait for him there. We'll search for him on this floor for the time being, he probably wouldn't have gone that far."
"Alright." Tiona hefted her Urga on her shoulder and sprinted towards the entrance to the third floor. If Yuna was right and Fenrir hadn't gone deeper, they had a guaranteed chance to find him. But if he had already gone deeper, they would have no chance.
Fenrir, please. Please be safe. Her own emotions were also threatening to burst out, but she tried her best to keep calm despite the situation. Panic was an adventurer's worst enemy. First-tier adventurer or not, failing to keep a level head would get you killed.
Grroarr-
"!"
Kill the monsters. Kill them all. My mind wanted nothing else, it only wanted bloodshed.
Grrrrr- I snapped my head in the direction of the growling. Three black wolves stood in front of me, their bodies lowered to the ground, ready to pounce.
Kill or be killed, slaughter or be slaughtered. I raised my blades. Everything was red before my eyes; I had lost control of my thoughts, lost to the feral beast inside which took over my body.
The second they saw me, the three wolves rushed towards me, their fangs itching to dig into my flesh. But I was moving before they did, with speeds I didn't know I possessed.
Rrrrrr- A feral growl left my throat as I dashed to my right. Raising my right hand, I threw my blade at one of the wolves.
Thud- One kobold fell to the ground, my blade sticking out from its body. Turning to my right, I grabbed my other blade and rushed towards the remaining two wolves. I jumped forward and jabbed right into the skull of the kobold in front of me.
In my state, it didn't register to me that I had lost both my knives. Both were stuck inside the kobold's corpses, and there was still one remaining. Noticing that I was now empty-handed, the last one reared its body and pounced.
"Rrrrrraaagh!" With incredible speed, I ducked under the razor-sharp claws and fangs. Twisting my body around, I raise both my legs, springing them upwards with all my strength towards its underside.
The kobold suffered an impact equivalent to a cannon shot. Its ribcage shattered to pieces, its vital organs damaged beyond repair, all the oxygen in its lungs had been pushed out from the impact. It landed back on the ground on its side, its body spasming involuntarily.
I glared at it with bloodshot eyes. It wasn't a threat now, but the beast inside me wasn't satisfied. I pulled out my knife from one of the dead wolves and proceeded to stab the last one on its skull.
Kill it, Kill it, Kill it. I twisted the knife and pulled it out. The kobold disintegrated along with the other two, leaving behind three shards of purple stones. I could collect them and sell them for Valis, but the beast had no use for them.
I had used up all my energy fighting, the satisfied beast finally returned to its slumber. My legs buckled, and I fell to the ground. Moments before I passed out, I saw two tall figures walking out from the corner, and I swore I heard them giggling.
"My, my. How generous of him to offer to clear these monsters for us."
"Heheheh, should we give him a potion so he could kill some more?"
Rrrrragh-
"Lefiya, did you hear that?"
"Y-yeah, was that Fenrir?"
"I'm not sure, but let's go check it out. Quickly."
They followed the source of the sound, Yuna's could hear her heartbeat loud and clear through their footsteps. They had been running around for what seemed like forever, the Dungeon's long winding tunnels slowly sapping away their stamina, but Yuna had not slowed down. Even though Lefiya had the speed and stamina of a Level 2 adventurer, Yuna was her equal in both.
As they turned a corner, they spotted two adventurers. They were following a trail of magic stones, picking them up and putting them into a bag as they went. Something was off, unless they had one person who was using ranged combat, the magic stones should be in a small vicinity, not in a trail.
Something seems weird about those two… Lefiya thought to herself.
Yuna rushed over to the two adventurers and asked if they saw her brother. Lefiya watched closely from behind, her eyes slightly narrowed in suspicion.
"Excuse me, have you two seen a young boy come through here?"
"Eh? I don't know what are you talking about, get outta here."
"Yeah, we haven't seen anybody come through here, other than you two."
Lefiya looked at the two men, she couldn't shake off the feeling that they were doing something suspicious. Going off her theory, she glanced at their weapons.
A sword, a polearm and a pair of knives…
"Excuse me, could I ask where did you get those knives?"
"Huh? None of yer business, get out of my face, girly."
As soon as Yuna heard what Lefiya said, her eyes widened in realization. With lightning speed, she reached out and took one of the knives from the adventurer.
"Oi! Give that back!"
"These markings..."
"I said, give it-" The adventurer reached out to forcefully take the knife back.
Thud! Before he knew it, he was dropped to the ground. Yuna had punched the adventurer in the lungs with remarkable speed and strength. Seeing his friend get hit, the other adventurer came to take revenge.
"You little...take this!"
Pulling out his polearm, he quickly swung it at Yuna, aiming for her head. Yuna stepped forward, pulling out her bow, she caught the polearm between the bow and the string. Spinning around, Yuna landed a back kick to the adventurer's chest.
"Ghgaaghh-" The adventurer suddenly lost his ability to breathe and dropped to the ground, desperately gasping for air. Terror had replaced the arrogant expression on his face.
"Tell me where he is, now."
"He….he-he's over there!" One of them shakily pointed at the direction they were going previously. "Please forgive us!"
"Yuna, go find Fenrir."
Lefiya placed a hand on her shoulder, silently telling Yuna to ignore the two adventurers. She hadn't expected to see this side of her, so she only did what she could. Reluctantly, Yuna took her eyes off the two adventurers and rushed in the direction they pointed out, calling out for Fenrir.
Lefiya glanced at the two adventurers. She was infuriated that they would do such a thing, to a little boy no less. But she had to keep herself from doing anything rash, or else she might cause problems for her Familia. Taking a small breath, she gathered her thoughts and faced the two adventurers.
"Hand over the magic stones and weapons you wrongfully took from him, and we might turn a blind eye to this."
"Y-y-yes, here!" The adventurer nodded in terror. Taking the bag and the remaining blade from his belt, he handed it to Lefiya, his hands shaking uncontrollably.
Lefiya took them from his shaky hands and went in Yuna's direction.
I hope he's safe.
Where am I? I felt weightless, I couldn't feel my limbs. It felt like I was in a dream.
I sat in a dark abyss, black nothingness stretched in all directions. The only thing I could see was the beast that sat in front of me.
Be grateful, brat. Without me, you had no fighting chance.
"You're wrong, I have Tiona's teachings, I've been training for months for this. I don't need the help of something like you. So why?"
Tch, do what you want. But you'll learn with time that you need me to survive down there.
"Go away, I don't need you."
The beast smirked, its blood-red eyes glared into my soul.
Heimdall was a failure of a god, he didn't even think to teach you how to control yourself before he turned tail for Heaven. What a joke.
"Get out of my head!"
The beast laughed with glee, and all I could do was watch helplessly.
…..
"Fenrir! Are you okay!?"
"…?" I opened my eyes slowly, but the blinding light forced me to close them again. After blinking for a few seconds, I could make out the shape of two people, one was sitting down to my right, another was standing beside the wall. The person to my right noticed I had woken up, and spoke in a worried voice.
"Fenrir...you're okay...I'm so glad…"
Overcome with emotion, Yuna put her hands around my neck and hugged me tightly. I could feel the familiar warmth of her body through the blanket. As my vision started to clear up, so did my memories.
"I-I'm sorry, Yuna…"
"..."
Even though I got no reply, I could feel her hug tightening. As if she was making sure I wouldn't run away again. After what felt like an eternity, the girl that was standing against the wall spoke out.
"Geez, I didn't expect you would be in such a sorry state after your first trip inside." The girl sighed disappointedly.
"A-Aki…"
"Your sister and Lefiya carried you out a few hours ago, she nearly had a panic attack seeing you covered in blood. They brought you to this clinic run by the Guild inside Babel." Aki explained, her arms crossed at her chest.
Even though she hadn't said it out loud, her tone implied that I had given them some unnecessary trouble. My heart instantly sunk, I had messed up badly on my first day in the Dungeon. No doubt I had made them worried, especially my sister.
What would Tsubaki and everyone else in Loki Familia think of me now?
"Aki, I-I'm sorry for making everyone worry about me. I'll try to make sure it doesn't happen again..." Even though I had meant what I said, it felt like I was only trying to convince myself.
"It's fine, you should worry about yourself first. If what your sister said was accurate, we should go take a look at your Status."
"What do you mean?"
"You suddenly lost control after sensing monsters, right? Judging from how you were the first time I met you, it didn't seem natural. That means it could be something similar to the Captain's magic." Aki mumbled the last part silent enough that I didn't hear it.
"Y-yeah, I don't remember anything from after I heard a goblin nearby."
When we first entered the Dungeon, I did run out to look for monsters first, but I had only lost control after sensing a group of goblins and kobolds nearby. I didn't remember anything after I detected them, which meant my instincts took over somewhere during that time.
Ugh, I feel so bad...
"The nurse said you could be discharged later today, so rest well and come back to Twilight Manor when you do." Aki nodded at my sister. "And, I think your sister passed out."
"H-huh?" I looked to my right. Yuna was still hugging me, but her arms had loosened up, her head was hanging down. I shook her a little by moving my upper body, but Yuna gave no response.
"Yuna...?" I tried to pry myself away, but I couldn't summon any strength to my arms.
Noticing my predicament, Aki came over and gently moved Yuna to a more comfortable position, her upper body now rested on my bed while sitting on the chair. Released from my sister's embrace, I realized my back muscles were also weak. Unable to support my weight, my upper body fell back onto the raised bed with a groan.
"She's been sitting here worried sick about you for hours now, it's no wonder she passed out. Let your sister rest a little."
I nodded in reply.
After making sure that everything was taken care of, Aki decided to leave us alone. Walking out the door, Aki told me one last thing before she closed it behind her.
"Remember, find Loki once you return to the Manor, alright?"
"R-right. Thank you, Aki."
"No problem."
Closing the door behind her, I was now alone with Yuna, who was still knocked out. I decided to let Yuna rest a little, considering the troubles I had caused her earlier.
Could I even go back to the Dungeon? That thing might take over me again...I don't want it to harm my sister or anybody in the Familia.
I thought back to the promise I had made to myself, the very reason I had decided to join Loki Familia in the first place.
No, I have to. To be able to protect and stand alongside Yuna and Aurora, I need to be stronger.
I had promised myself that I would get stronger so I wouldn't have to depend on my sisters, and protect them in return. Now, two things stood in my way, and one of them was particularly worrying.
The monsters of the Dungeon.
Or the monster inside me.
If I let my guard down, one or the other would rip me to shreds.
Ugh...this is too complicated.
I decided to take a step back, overthinking this wouldn't do me any good. I decided to think about what I had to do right here, right now.
First, meet Goddess Loki to get my status checked as Aki said.
Then, ask her or Finn about it.
My mind is now fixated on another goal, to understand what was dwelling deep inside me. I knew that I had to understand whatever it was before I could focus on getting stronger, or else I would cause more trouble for everyone around me.
"Ugh...why does it still hurt...everywhere?"
I have been stuck in the clinic bed for a while, I was still too weak to be able to sit up. As I stared at the ceiling, I suddenly heard some mumbling to my right. Looking over, I saw that Yuna had woken up.
"Yuna, are you okay? You suddenly passed out..."
"Huh? Oh, I was just a little tired, don't worry about me."
"Are you sure? I was worried about you."
"Yes, I'm fine. Anyway, we should head back to the Manor soon, you haven't eaten or showered since breakfast."
"R-right." I nodded. Yuna reached into her pouch and pulled out a glass vial filled with a dark blue liquid, a potion used by adventurers. She sat closer to the bed and handed me the potion, I took the vial with shaky hands. I tried to pry the cork open with my right hand, but my fingers had no strength.
"Nghh…" I dropped my hands onto my lap, I struggled to muster the strength to open the cork, let alone drink it. "My hands, I can't..."
"It's okay, here." Yuna reached out and put my hands together with her own. Pulling out the cork, she lifted my hands to my lips, tipping the vial in an angle so the liquid would flow out.
"..." As I drank the dark blue liquid, I felt a slight buzzing in my muscles. As my body slowly absorbed the potion, the buzzing felt stronger, slowly giving me back strength.
So this is what potions can do. Amazing.
In seconds, I could feel strength returning to my muscles, I moved my hands around like a newborn learning how to use their limbs.
"Wow...I can move my hands now."
"Good, good. Can you stand up by yourself?"
"Uhh...maybe-"
"W-wait, your legs are shaking! I'll support you."
"Eh-thanks."
My legs still felt a little weak, the potion I drank wasn't enough to return all my strength. Seeing this, Yuna offered to support me on the way back, but I felt a little guilty for having to rely on her again.
Even after getting Goddess Loki's blessing, I'm still weak, huh?
"We're back, Goddess Loki."
"Yo, welcome back ya two!"
"I-I'm back..."
"Go get a bite first, yer faces look as pale as Aizuu's."
We arrived back in the Twilight Manor in the evening. It took us a little longer coming back mostly due to my weak muscles, the sun had started to dip in the horizon, bathing the city in its warm yellow light. Loki ordered us to have a meal before we went to get our Status updated, so we went to the cafeteria and ate dinner.
As we walked around looking to find a place to sit with our food, a familiar-looking elf called out to us from a table alongside the wall.
"Welcome back, you two. Are you feeling better, Fenrir?"
"Yes, thank you for saving me."
"N-no, your sister did all the work, I only brought you to the clinic afterwards."
"Take credit, Lefiya. Your knowledge saved him, I had no idea where any of the medical facilities were until you told me."
"R-right."
As we ate, Yuna and I thanked Lefiya for saving my life. Considering how weak I was when I woke up, I would've been in danger if my treatment took too long. Even then, Lefiya was reluctant in taking credit, downplaying her actions. Either she was not good at receiving compliments, or she has trouble with her self-esteem. I decided to go with the former.
Even though I was grateful that I was alive sitting here enjoying dinner, I still felt nervous at what was about to happen soon.
Whatever is in my status, to make even Goddess Loki eager to see it. I don't know what it is, but I have a bad feeling.
Inside Finn Deimne's office, the three commanders and a certain werewolf waited for the werewolf boy. Lefiya had reported what happened to him earlier in the day to Aki, who had passed on the information to Finn himself. This situation was something the three commanders had never seen before in their long careers as adventurers. A fresh Level 1 adventurer had lost his sanity and went on a monster massacre, which reminded them of a certain golden-haired girl they raised years ago.
"This is a pain, why'd ya make me wait here?" Bete blurted impatiently, his mood as foul as always.
"Be patient, Bete." Riveria chided.
"So what if he's a werewolf? It's not like I'm an expert at it, old hag."
"Cool it, Bete. That boy ain't any ol' regular werewolf, and since yer the only other werewolf here," Gareth explained. "Yer our best bet at understanding this."
"Tch, whatever."
Finn sat at his office table with both hands covering his mouth, deep in thought.
This boy isn't like Ais, he had been acting normally when I had met him, I'm sure of it. But to suddenly shift personalities and be consumed with bloodlust just by entering the Dungeon, is something different.
Knock knock-
"Come in."
As Finn allowed the visitors to enter, he glanced down at his right thumb on a whim. Finn thought he'd felt it throb for a moment.
"Yo! Sorry to keep ya two waiting, I'm done with updating his Status," Loki announced, she gently led the werewolf boy standing behind her into the room with her hand.
"H-hello, Captain."
"Mm, take a seat. I want to discuss something." With a nod, he motioned for the boy to sit down. Finn felt relieved that the boy hasn't changed, but his azure eyes looked weary as if he'd just woke up from a nightmare.
But that means the cause of his sudden loss of control is another problem entirely. If we don't get to the bottom of this, he might put himself and his sister in danger.
"Loki, can we see his Status sheet?"
"Yeah, here ya go."
Fenrir Ahlberg
Level 1
Strength: I0 I6 Defense: I0 I4
Dexterity: I0 I8 Agility: I0 I10 Magic: I0
"I'm pretty impressed, a growth of nearly 30 in only one day." Loki whistled.
"The rate of growth is something. But, are you sure he has no skills or abilities whatsoever?"
"Nah, other than Beastification, he doesn't have anythin' yet."
All werewolves were known to get Beastification when they first receive a Falna, it was nothing out of the ordinary. It was also the reason why werewolves were considered one of the least suitable races for Dungeon exploration, as they couldn't use their beastification inside the Dungeon.
As Finn thought over the possibilities, he realized that he did not have enough information to reach a conclusion. If it was a problem of the boy's mental state, Loki's divine sight would have picked it up instantly. And he did not possess any skills or magic that affected his self-control, unlike Finn.
Other than that, his growth is considerably fast considering that he didn't spend long on the Second Floor. This is something else entirely. Finn thought as he turned towards the other werewolf in the room.
"Bete, do you know anything?"
"Like hell I do, me being a werewolf doesn't make me an expert. So he lost control, big deal. He can go crazy and die down there for all I care."
"..."
Loki scratched her head in thought, even the Goddess of Tricksters herself was baffled by this "trick".
"But Bete, didn't ya see the sheet? Little Fenrir here has no abilities other than Beastification. Come on, rack that little brain of yours and think!"
"Shut yer mouth!"
"Well, it is something we've never encountered before, it's not a surprise that even Bete doesn't know," Riveria added.
"Yeah, whatever. I'm leaving." Bete marched out of the room, slamming the door behind him, causing the boy to nearly jump out of his seat in surprise.
His aggressive attitude made the werewolf boy visibly uncomfortable. It was a shame that Bete couldn't even get along with another fellow werewolf. No matter how much they tried to get him to open up, Bete wouldn't budge.
"Don't mind him, Fenrir."
"...Okay," Fenrir timidly nodded at Finn. The boy had thought that the famous Braver, commander of Loki Familia, would be the strict and warrior type. But every time they met, Finn had met him with gentle smiles and always spoke calmly to him. This time was no different.
"In any case, we'll have to have someone to watch over you in the Dungeon while teaching you the basics. We can't risk having you lose control again, after all."
"Hmm, who would be the most suited for Little Fenrir ere'?"
"..."
"..."
The room fell into silence, everyone focused their eyes on Riveria. Finn, Gareth and Loki all silently voted for the high elf, who has experience with taking care of another young Familia member before.
Sensing their gazes, Riveria looked up at them with an unsettled expression.
"Hold it, you guys want me to do it again?"
"Ha-ha-ha...ye got more experience than me and Finn now, don'tcha? Besides, I think this little lad here will like you!" Gareth laughed, ruffling the werewolf boy's hair with his thick hands. They knew that the high elf had the qualities of a parent, her time spent taking care of the now-famous Sword Princess back then had proven it.
"Well, seeing as I have a little more spare time now, I'll also chime in when I can." Finn offered with a shrug.
"Then that settles it!" Loki announced with glee. "Mama Riveria is back in business!"
Riveria placed a hand across her face in exasperation, she found herself in the same situation that had taken place years ago in this very room. Riveria glanced at the boy sitting on the chair in front of her, the boy looked back at her with his innocent azure eyes. Quickly averting her eyes, her face blushed with embarrassment, Riveria resigned to her fate.
"Why is it always me…"
Thud!
Several heavy books landed on the desk.
"...What are these?"
"Starting from today, I'm going to teach you the fundamentals of the Dungeon. Skills, magic, abilities, the works."
Riveria had brought me to her room to give me reading materials about the Dungeon and several other subjects. Looking around, the room was decorated with wooden furniture and decor, giving off a sort of natural aura befitting of an elf. Along one of the shelves were an array of vases with peculiar-looking flowers that I've never seen before. On the other shelf, magic potions and gemstones were neatly arranged on the top.
"And, you are not allowed to go back in the Dungeon until I say so."
Thud. Three more heavy books landed on the table, the pile of books on the table was intimidating, each of them was about as thick as my arms.
Those books are so big…
I forgot to mention that-
"Uh…Miss Riveria, I'm not good at reading."
"You can't read Koine?"
"W-well, I can read a little…I think." I've only read one or two books in my life. Well, It'd be more accurate to say that Aurora had read books to me before we went to bed. I've tried reading them myself, but I had trouble understanding the characters.
"..."
Riveria's stern gaze turned warm as if she was remembering something.
"I'll teach you Koine as we go through these books one by one. And don't worry, I'll also let you go into the Dungeon too, but only if you pay attention. Alright?"
"...Yes," I nodded at Riveria.
It felt weird that one of the commanders of Loki Familia would still keep books about the basics of adventuring. I thought back to the conversation that they had in the Captain's office just now. Loki and Gareth had implied that she had previous experiences taking care of new adventurers, Loki herself had even called her a Mama.
I wonder who she taught before me. I thought to myself as Riveria picked out more books from the shelf.
While she was arranging the books on the table, I couldn't help but stare at her silky jade hair, which rivalled Yuna's snow-white hair. Riveria seemed strict, but I had a slight feeling that I would heavily regret speaking out against her. I was only a Level 1, and Riveria was a Level 6.
"Alright, bring these to your room and study them."
Riveria picked out a few thick books from the pile and handed them to me. But my arms couldn't handle the weight and some of them dropped onto the floor, I was struggling to pick them up. Seeing this, Riveria came over and helped me pick them up.
"Don't push yourself, I'll carry them."
"Sorry…"
"Are your hands still injured?"
"N-no, I'm fine."
"...Let's head to your room to put these down then."
"Yes, Miss Riveria."
"..."
After picking up the books, we exited Riveria's room and headed for my room on the adjacent tower. The sky had begun to turn dark, the sun slowly descending behind the clouds as if it was being consumed.
As we walked around the edge of the towers, I could see the main building of the Manor right below the railings. The size of the Manor never fails to baffle me, a stark contrast to the small cottage I lived in just days ago. I lifted my head and looked at the sky.
It's been hard, but we've come pretty far. Right?
I closed my eyes in silent prayer.
Please watch over us a little longer.
"...?" I felt a gentle pat on my head. I looked over at the high elf next to me, her warm eyes looked like that of a mother. Her jade hair fluttered gracefully behind her.
"Come on, you'll catch a cold if we stay out here." Riveria extended an arm towards me.
With a nod, I took her hand and followed.
Pitter-patter…pitter-patter...
Black clouds had descended upon the city of Orario, the usual blue shade of the sky has now become dark grey. Across the city, people ran into buildings and under roofs for cover. The melodic tapping slowly turned into a roar.
From her room, Yuna looked out towards the city through the window. The city shrouded in dark clouds paired with the roaring rain made for a relaxing view. This was the first time Yuna could enjoy such a view for herself, but the smile on her face was melancholic.
In truth, her brother has been on her mind the whole time. That image of him lying in the middle of the dead monsters, covered in dark red blood, had been stuck in her head ever since. She had known him before he could even walk, but she'd never seen him lose control like that. She'd been thinking about it for a while, and while some pieces of the mystery had fallen in place, it was only enough to make a wild guess.
"The Dungeon itself…maybe."
Yuna glared at the clouds, looking for someone who was now high above the skies.
"You old geezer, you should've told us earlier," Yuna let out a sigh and closed the window. As she did, the door swung open behind her.
"Yuna, I'm back!" Fenrir stood in the doorway with Riveria behind him. Smiling, he held out the pile of books he was carrying.
"Oh, welcome back. And...you-"
"I'm his mentor for the time being. You are his sister, right?"
"Yes, I'm Yuna Ahlberg. And you're Vice Captain Riveria?"
"Just call me Riveria, I don't care much for that title."
Riveria turned to Fenrir who was putting down the books on the table.
"Tomorrow, you'll be having study sessions during the morning, and do some combat training with the other members in the afternoon. Got it?"
"Yes, Miss Riveria." The boy nodded obediently.
After the high elf had left, Yuna sat on the table with Fenrir and looked at the books he had brought, helping out with the words he couldn't read. From behind, their long hair made them resemble sisters, or mother and daughter.
"Yuna, do you think we could visit Aurora sometime soon?"
"Hmm...I don't know. But I think we can see her again soon enough." Yuna reassured her si- brother. Yuna was also a little worried about how Aurora was doing with Hermes Familia, a Familia that dabbled in a little of everything, she had heard rumours that that particular Familia has had dealings with suspicious parties.
But for now, her focus was on protecting Fenrir a little while longer.
"You could pray for her safety, it is raining after all."
"Yeah, I already did."
"I see, then I'll do it too."
As the deafening thunder and rain roared, the two siblings went on without a care in the world. They knew the road ahead was going to be rough, and they promised that they would be there for each other the whole way, no matter how bad it got.
But for the first time, they were separated.
Extra
Yuna Ahlberg
Age: 14
Affiliation: Loki Familia
Weapon: Wooden Recurve Bow
A human girl who came to Orario along with her two siblings a few months ago. Her snow white hair extends down her back, paired along with her usual kind and collected personality, gives her an aura of elegance and royalty. She has a very close bond with her siblings, as she is a motherly figure to them.