Chapter 4 – The Inspired Chienthrope
The following morning in Orario, in the small building that houses the Blue Pharmacy, news of the incident with the two silverbacks arrived. The Blue Pharmacy was property of the Miach Familia a Familia that produces potions of all kinds.
Despite its specialization the pharmaceutical Familia was very poor, that being due to them being in a very large debt. That and the fact that the Familia only has one member. A chienthrope girl, named Naaza Erisuis, that gives it her all to support the God of her Familia, who had sacrificed everything for her.
Naaza had messy and wavy light brown hair that went all the way down to her shoulders. She has two bangs on the front, partially hidden behind the bangs are a couple of purple eyes. She wears a completely exhausted expression on her face, fact that is only accentuated by her heavy eyes and the bags under them. As a chienthrope she has a fluffy tail and a pair of ears on top of her head.
Miach on the other hand, was a very handsome God, with dark blue long hair and eyes. He wears his hair in a clinger ponytail style, leaving a long bang flowing down each side of his face with two shorter ones overlapping over the center of his forehead. He wears a simple black robe with a light brown stole that reaches below his shoulders. He is a very generous and kind God, always trying to help others.
The night before, Miach and Naaza had treated two badly injured bunnies. The two had started visiting their establishment after Astraea, Ardee and Eina had told them of the place. Ardee explained how they were very good people who greatly helped during the crisis, where Evilus attacked a year ago.
Unfortunately, due to an accident, they now faced very difficult times. Ardee wanted to help them in whatever way she could, so she told the rabbits about the place. Ever since then the two visited the place to buy potions and had become good friends of the God and Naaza.
The chienthrope girl though was inspired by the two. Seeing them come and go from the dungeon, always smiling and laughing. Naaza had discovered through the interactions with them that they were very similar to Miach, always wearing a gentle smile, extending a hand to those in need of help and always acting out of kindness. Seeing that Naaza kept getting inspired, only growing by the day as they returned safely.
Then that night the two arrived in a pretty bad shape, it only served to inspire her more, as despite their situation, the two smiled upon it. The siblings seemed unfazed by it, deciding to laugh it off instead. She wasn't sure what had happened to the two but she was happy that they were okay.
Then in the morning, news arrived of the incident that had happened the day before. Being the city of Orario, news spread fast and in detail. She heard people recounting of two rabbits and a smith being involved and taking down the silverbacks that had escaped.
She just couldn't believe it. From what she had heard, the two were fresh rookies. Yet despite that they had gotten caught in an irregular accident, dealt with it and kept smiling as if it never happened. Even Miach was surprised and couldn't help but worry about the two.
"Miach-sama, I would like to try going into the dungeon."
The sudden request came as a surprise to the God, who knew very well that Naaza suffered from a severe trauma, the dungeon being the cause of it. The girl on the other hand, had made up her mind seeing the pair of white haired boys braving the dungeon time and time again.
"Are you sure? Why the sudden decision and are you … really sure about going down alone?"
The chienthrope nodded with determination. Miach though wasn't sure, thinking back to Naaza's dark past with the dungeon and it wasn't like it was that easy to get over it. Around a year prior, long before the end of the dark age, Naaza had an accident. Her party was wiped out and she lost her arm. This obviously caused a severe mental backlash on Naaza, rendering her unable to cope with the dungeon.
She had never recovered and still hadn't went anywhere near the dungeon in the last year since that had happened. Naaza herself was a level two adventurer, but even with her status, she couldn't bring herself to go down to the first floor. Whenever she saw a monster she would freeze, causing her to be vulnerable to even the weakest of goblins.
The concept of monsters left a scar in her heart, from which she couldn't recover. At least that was until she saw the rabbits. She wanted to ask them if she could join their party, but before that, she intended to test herself. To see if she would be able to fight alongside the two rabbits. Her determination was flaring, until she was distracted by a Goddess who suddenly appeared from the back.
"Ah morning Naaza, sorry again about the intrusion."
Naaza shook her head.
"It's Miach-sama that invited you to stay since you don't have a home. I do hope that you find a Familia soon."
Over the past week, Hestia had suddenly grown up. She still acted spoilt sometimes but she was honest and much more calm and collected compared to when she first descended. She was kind and compassionate, a change which had caught everyone by surprise.
No one knew why the sudden change came but no one complained about it. The little Goddess smiled at the chienthrope before seeing the worried Miach, to which she wondered what was going on. Miach then explained leaving a surprised Goddess gawking at Naaza.
"I don't really think it's a good idea Naaza."
Naaza however remained unwavering.
"I can't always stay like this and hide from it, Hestia-sama."
The two Gods exchanged looks and Hestia nodded reassuring Miach.
"If you're so sure, but be very careful."
Said Miach who was still very worried for the one armed girl. Naaza nodded and went up to prepare herself. She wore her usual light blue shirt that had a yellow stripe down the middle. The shirt had yellow cuffs, with its left sleeve being shoulder length while her right one was a long sleeve that reached her wrist.
She also wore a leather glove on her right hand, to hide the silver arm that cost the Miach Familia to fall into their current predicament. Like Miach she had a cream coloured stole that covered her shoulder and a long black gown with brown shoes to cover her feet.
She grabbed a couple of potions and her trusty bow. She equipped a quiver that she filled with arrows as well as a dagger that she stored in a sheath attached to her left forearm. Placing the potions in a small bag on her hip, she walked down to the front of the store.
"I'll be going then Miach-sama, Hestia-sama."
The two Gods waved at her as she left the store and headed to the dungeon.
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She arrived shortly after at the entrance. She stood by the fountain, commonly used as meeting point. Seeing the groups of adventurers she suddenly remembered the day when the accident occurred. Like most she was there waiting for her party, they met up and entered together smiling.
Soon after they ran into Evilus and were quickly annihilated, the picture of her best friends dying hand was the last memory she had of them. The memories caused her breath to accelerate, as she slowly started to hyperventilate.
Then, the image of the smiling rabbits came to her mind allowing her to regain control. They had lived through an unprecedented disaster and kept venturing through the dungeon with a smile. Naaza wanted to take that back and be like them. The happiness, the fun, the adventures. She wanted to revert back to her old self, she didn't want to remain like she was now.
She took a deep breath and entered the dungeon alone, slowly taking one step at the time, going down the staircase and into the abyss of the dungeon. She grabbed her bow and cocked an arrow, ready to shoot at the first sign of a monster.
She was shaky, scared and unsure, but it was a step forward. Initially she wasn't able to walk, think or do anything rational when near the dungeon. To her it was a sign, one that signalled that she was healing. Perhaps soon would be the time she would overcome it completely.
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Nuri and Bell carried what remained of their armour and headed to the shop where they had gotten the equipment. They knew nothing could be done, but they still hoped that they could salvage something and much to their surprise Tsubaki was there again.
Under orders from Astraea, Miach and Eina they were to take at least two days off. They were supposed to recover from the silverback incident and in the meantime, they were also waiting for Welf to complete the weapons they had requested.
"Heya rabbits, here again today?"
Tsubaki happily greeted the two who turned to looked at her.
"That should be our line, did you do something again?"
Tsubaki tilted her head and bonked her head playfully sticking out her tongue a little.
"Maybe."
The two arched a brow at her answer.
"Did you sneak into her office again?"
She nodded with a defeated sigh.
"I couldn't help it okay? Give me a break."
Nuri and Bell walked to the counter and placed the broken armour on the table, Giselle who was around saw the state of the armour and her eyes widened, Tsubaki too was shocked by the state of the armour. The two wondered what happened and turned to the white haired boys for answers.
"We didn't expect the silverbacks to get out of the cages."
Giselle nearly choked hearing Bell say that they faced a silverback. The captain of the Familia then remembered Welf's story the day before.
"Oh yeah, Welfy told me about that yesterday. He got home completely wrecked. Heard you saved his ass again."
"Wait, wait, wait a minute, you mean the incident from yesterday? The one with the Ganesha Familia?"
The two nodded at Giselle's questions.
"Information flies really fast here."
Noted Nuri, to which Tsubaki giggled.
"Man, you didn't see the Guild yesterday, everyone was talking about it."
Tsubaki then turned her attention to the armour.
"Anyway, so this is why the armour is … well, in shambles. Can't even call it armour anymore. I'm surprised you two are alive."
The two were definitely lucky as much as they were skilled, and had they not been, they'd be dead for sure.
"Oh, so you two were the ones who bought Welfy's armour, eh?"
The captain's keen eyes spotted the name of the red haired smith incised into the armour.
"Yes."
"So that's why he was dancing around like he was on cloud nine. That cheeky brat. Oh right, you also better be prepared for Hephaestus-sama. When she heard this she exploded."
Giselle grew more and more surprised as she learnt of the relationship between the smithing Familia and the bunnies. Until now she hadn't heard them say anything about magic swords when Welf's name was brought up. And it was well known that the red haired smith had been hoarded before for his magic swords countless names due to his Crozzo name, which was very famous all over the world, or infamous, depending on who you ask. Not only that but she now learnt of their connection with Welf, Tsubaki and her Goddess. That's when sound of the bell ringing caught the group's attention.
"Speaking of the cheeky brat."
"What are you saying about me?"
Welf questioned the tanned skin girl as he comes in with a new outfit. Changed after his previous outfit was shredded in the encounter. He now wore a black shirt, with a black nagagi over it, tied with a brown belt. Covering his neck, he wore a long blue scarf and had white pants complemented by long black boots.
"Hey Welf."
Welf looked at the white-haired teen, completely forgetting his captain as he looked at them surprised, not expecting to meet them here.
"Say, I've been curious about it for a while."
Started Giselle catching everyone's attention.
"Do you know about Welf's surname, Crozzo and how it's related to magic swords?"
Welf waited patiently with bated breath, he honestly believed that the two of them already knew, but he felt the tension rise. Nuri and Bell had read books in the library of the Guild and through their exploration the city, had heard all kinds of news and rumours. As such they knew that Welf didn't like his ability of making magic weapons.
"We are."
"Huh?"
"We are aware, both of his ability and stance on the subject, as such we don't intend to ask him to make me a magic weapon. Not that we want them nor need them really."
The two bunnies managed to stun Tsubaki and Giselle, who initially thought that they didn't know of the name Crozzo.
"I see, so Tsubaki."
Welf smiled at the answer before turning his attention to the fellow smith.
"What were you saying about me?"
"Oh nothing just talking about your encounter yesterday. Other than that we were just talking about your armour."
Welf slowly turned to the rabbits pointing a finger at them but without saying anything.
"I guess you didn't notice since we always wear our robes over the armour."
He nodded.
"We were about to bring it up, but we forgot after getting excited in the dungeon."
The two gave him a sheepish smile. Welf though smiled, happy that the two were the ones that used his armour. However, that was short lived as he remembered their fight and saw the content of the crates, in which the armour, now broken, was stashed in.
"Man, the silverbacks really tore them apart."
He said now examining at the thrashed armour. They all noticed the disappointment on his face.
"It might have been manoeuvrable and light Welfy. It was made very well with the correct method and foundations but the resulting quality was quite low in level."
Welf frowned hearing the captain of the Familia speak but knew that Nuri and Bell also saw it that way, they just didn't say it out of kindness.
"You see Welfy, the purpose of the armour is to protect the user. If it breaks then it is a failure as it couldn't do its job. Looking at it, it's clear it wouldn't have done its job of stopping the silverback's attack."
Bell winced at the harsh comment, but knew that as a smith, he was prone to receive harsh criticism.
"Well, I'll just have to work on them again. I'll need to improve the quality, design and also get better materials."
Said Welf looking at the two.
"How about forming a contract?"
Giselle raised her hand.
"Do they even know what a contract is?"
They turned to them and Nuri nodded.
"A contract which you form with a smith, which establishes that you buy directly from said smith. You build a bond of mutual agreement with the smith and they supply directly to you, if the smith has no problem with it, you can then have more than one smith in the contract."
He explained the extent of what he knew.
"Huh, yeah, that's about it."
Confirmed Tsubaki.
"You know more than I thought, then again you do seem close with Hephaestus-sama. But to think it was you're first-time buying armour, man just for how long have you been an adventurer."
The brothers looked at each other, then after a while they turned to them.
"We'd say … about a week."
The jaws of the three smiths dropped, as not even Welf was aware of that.
"WHAT?!"
They shouted in surprise, a week into the dungeon and the had took down two silverbacks?
"So, a contract is an armour and weapon supplier type of deal?"
Asked Bell interrupting their surprise to which Welf absent-mindedly nodded.
"Yes, pretty much."
The bunnies looked at each other before looking at Welf.
"We accept then."
"Eh?"
"You said you wanted to form a contract with us. We are looking for weapons and armour while you, are looking for a contract. Welf, you are a smith we trust, having tried your equipment personally. So forming a contract is in our interest as well. You said e'd try it after getting to know each other better and nothing bonds people closer than a near death experience."
Welf smiled excitedly.
"Very well. From now I'm your contracted smith. I hope we get along well."
"Us too."
Tsubaki turned to the red haired smith and snapped her fingers to get his attention.
"Welfy, as happy as I am for you, we have outlined that your armour has a few faults. I like the rabbits and would appreciate if they came back alive. I believe Hephaestus-sama thinks the same way. So, go celebrate your contract but once you get back start working on the armour at once. I'll even give you some tips, so that it's at the peak of its quality."
"Alright … thanks Tsubaki."
The red haired teen blushed lightly as he begrudgingly thanked the half dwarf girl, who grinned victoriously.
"Umm, Welf? How will you take the payment for the contract?"
"Oh? That? I'm fine with how things are now. All I want in return is to keep going into the dungeon with you."
"Really?"
"Yes, that's fine with me Bell. I get to party with you two and get more than a fair share of valis with you two at my side. Besides, my main goal is to get stronger and raise my level. Like that I can get the blacksmith developmental ability and improve my craft.
More importantly it is essential for a blacksmith to get to the lower floors for the materials like drop items. Particularly since it is expensive to order such materials, unless someone brings them to you to have something made out of them. However, to practice and make things other than requested things, one needs a lot materials and not many are lucky enough to on the large expeditions with the Loki, Ganesha or Astraea Familia."
The red haired smith growled at Tsubaki with envy. The high smith though, only smiled smugly at Welf.
"Get better not only as a smith but also as a fighter and you might be asked to tag along. How do you think a level one like you is going to do on the fiftieth floor? And even if you were level five, unless you know how to fight, you'd just be a liability."
Welf glared but didn't talk back to the captain only turning away to leave, dragging the bunnies with him.
.
The sun had risen over the walls of Orario and was high in the sky, brightly illuminating the vast dungeon city. The bunnies and the smith just descended the tower of Babel, arriving in the main plaza where thousands of adventurers filled the area surrounding the tower of Orario.
It was late in the morning, but the number of adventurers wasn't in any way inferior to the number of dungeon divers you'd see early in the morning. Despite the massive size of the plaza, it was nearly overcrowded with people. Some had stopped by to prepare, others were waiting their companions to show up while some others were simply passing by and heading into the dungeon.
As the trio of rookies moved through the crowd of adventurers, a cloaked pallum eyed a random adventurer, who happened to be walking towards the bunnies and the smith. The little thief decided to make its move and swiftly approached the burly man, before silently and covertly snatching his pouch.
The short figure retreated and watched from a distance as the man that had been robbed bumped into a shorter cloaked boy with a cute face and red eyes. The shoulder of the two adventurers hit each other, neither of the two seemed to mind until the larger man suddenly stopped and his hand moved to search his body.
Shortly after, the large man flew into a rage, spinning around and grabbing the shoulder of the boy he had bumped into. The two accompanying him, a taller person similarly cloaked to the younger boy and a red haired teen wearing a black and white outfit, turned to look what was going on.
.
Seeing a random man suddenly shouting and handling Bell like that started to anger the older brother who stepped up to confront the rude man. He grabbed the man's wrist before pulling Bell behind him, ending up to the side of Welf.
"Are you okay Bell?"
"Y-yes, what is going on?"
"I don't really know."
The two turned to Nuri who was now arguing with the man. The others who were passing by or just standing nearby had gathered around hearing the commotion.
"Who do you think you are to treat my brother like that?"
His eyes narrowed dangerously as he spoke with a calm yet terrifyingly threatening voice.
"That little runt just stole my pouch."
"If you're going to make a lie to pick a fight with others at least make a believable one. My brother would never lower himself to the point of stealing, certainly not from a nobody ruffian like you. Now be wise and leave."
Welf watched amazed at the older rabbit. He knew how much he cared about his brother and wouldn't hesitate to start a fight for him, but despite the anger, that he could feel emanating from him, Nuri acted very maturely, without even shouting. Though the same thing couldn't be said about the stranger.
"Are you saying that my pouch disappeared?! My money was in there! Now you better pay up."
"Don't go pushing your problem onto others. You probably forgot it somewhere, maybe you dropped it, but I can tell you that we had nothing to do with it."
"You lying scoundrel."
"Hmph, bring a God over and he'll tell you if I'm lying or not."
"There is no need for that, I know you took it!"
The man took out his sword, making everyone in the crowd back up a few steps as a fight threatened to break out between the stranger and the older rabbit, who placed his hand on the hilt of his own tachi, hiss fingers grazing the rough grip of the sword, ready to protect himself in case he needed to.
The crowd gasped at they watched the event unfolding, while Welf and Bell panicked, not knowing what to do. That's when some of the adventurers parted to make way for a blue haired girl that was followed by Astraea.
"That's enough!"
The shout of the person recognized as the Ganesha Familia captain was enough to silence everyone in the plaza.
"Astraea-sama?"
Nuri was surprised to see the Goddess.
"Nuri, let us avoid a fight."
The rabbit's fingers loosened around the hilt of his sword and he began pulling his hand away from the sword as Astraea appeared. His eyes and attention had fully turned to the Goddess, which the sly man had noticed and took the opportunity to charge forwards, his sword still in hand.
"Watch out!"
Both the Goddess and the blue haired captain shouted at Nuri, whose eyes snapped back to the unknown man. He had dashed forward with his blade thrusted towards him. Nuri's senses flared and grew alarmed at the coming danger.
In a flash, Nuri took a step back causing the sharp sword to sail harmlessly horizontally, just a celch away from his face. His hand went back to the hilt and without knowing it he started to act. His training caused his body to develop a self defence mechanism to protect himself from the assailant. He took a deep breath in and unleashed the full strength of a flame breathing style form.
His hand dragged the blade of the tachi out and in one swift motion he unsheathed the blade, slashing upwards into the sky. His blade roared forth with a brilliant crimson fire, drawing an arc of blazing fire as the blade was swung vertically up. The attack cleanly severed the arm, from the elbow and below, of the stranger.
The large man fell back screaming in pain as he lost his arm from below the elbow and the rubellite flames ate at his flesh. The severed forearm fell limp to the ground with a fleshy smack. No blood spurted as the flame boiled it away with its intense heat.
Nuri gasped in shock, not knowing what he had done but quickly extended his arm and absorbed the fire, extinguishing the flame that was devouring the now passed out aggressor. He rapidly sheathed the blade, not wanting to attract people's attention to his weapon.
Two Ganesha guards had quickly intervened and subdued the man, not needing to tend to his wound as it was cauterized by the flame. Astraea was surprised by the reaction but not disturbed by Nuri slicing off the man's arm. When she turned to look at him though, she could see that Nuri wasn't happy with his actions.
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From afar, the little thief that had caused the scene watched amazed by the fiery move. Her eyes set on obtaining the sword, that was thought to have produced the flames. Though at the same time the little pallum was doubtful, how could she get her hands on the sword of someone who was so terrifying?
He seemed quite strong to her and the idea of fighting him terrified her. She didn't know who that guy was, as such there was no way he was from a big Familia or that he was a first class adventurer. However, he could still be a level three or four adventurer and fighting anyone at level one was already a stretch for her.
However, it presented too much of an opportunity. There was no doubt that the sword was much more valuable than any magic sword there was. Perhaps with that the little thief would finally be able to gather enough money to leave the Familia that the pallum had no wish of staying in.
From there the unknown thief would have the opportunity to start over and have a new life. One that wasn't hated or unfair. Be someone else and finally be happy. That was the goal and as long it would be reached, it didn't matter what had to be done. No matter how evil, cruel or unfair to others, as long as it was seen through and freedom obtained nothing else mattered.
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Together with Shakti, the Goddess approached the rabbit. Nuri was staring astounded at his actions, turning to take a look at his hand. His awareness was completely overtook by the shock of his actions until his hand was grabbed by the Goddess, successfully getting his attention.
"Astraea-sama."
The bunny then turned to the blue haired girl who stared with a raised brow at the affectionate display of reassurance of the Goddess of justice.
"I'm terribly sorry about this Shakti-san. I di-"
"Please don't. I said to stop, you did, he didn't. Not only that, but he had the gall to pull an underhanded trick and attack you while you were distracted. You were caught by surprise and unknowingly responded. It was a justifiable act of self-defence."
The bunny nodded at the older woman and thanked her.
"Onii-sama!"
The red haired smith and Bell rushed over to his side.
"Are you okay?"
"Y-yes, I'm fine."
Listening around Nuri heard a few people voicing their opinions.
"Wasn't that so cool?"
"Yeah, but wasn't it taking it too far?"
"Nah man, you saw it, the guy tried to take him by surprise with that dirty trick. That's what he gets in return. You ask me, I'd say he got what he deserved."
It didn't seem like anybody was criticizing him for his actions but he couldn't help but be disturbed by his extreme reaction. Of course, this didn't go unnoticed by the ever so caring Astraea, who turned to Bell.
"Bell, why don't you and your friend go on. I'd like to speak to Nuri for a moment."
Bell and the smith, who didn't question Bell about their ties with Astraea, bowed to the Goddess and quickly left Nuri with the walnut haired Goddess. She dragged the bunny away from the public area, into a more secluded place. Arriving in the alley, the Goddess turned to Nuri.
"Are you okay?"
"I apologize for the trouble I caused you Astraea and for taking it too far."
The Goddess sighed and shook her head. She looked at the bunny who looked down in shame, gaining his attention again as she cupped his cheek with her hands.
"Nuri, remember what Shakti told you. You acted out of instinct to protect yourself. Remember, I don't care what you do, as long as you are safe. You returning to me is the most important thing, remember that?"
The white haired boy took a minute to think before a slight smile appeared on his face.
"I understand, sorry for worrying you Astraea."
"Don't worry about it. It's good you understand. Stay safe, promise me?"
"I can't promise you that, but I can promise that I'll remember that from now and I will do my best."
The Goddess giggled and nodded, patting the soft hair, much to her delight. It was as soft as she imagined.
"I suppose that's a good enough promise from you. Now go and have fun with Bell and your friend."
Nuri nodded and accompanied the Goddess back to Shakti before leaving to find his two companions.
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Naaza slowly made her way down the dungeon. Upon reaching the first floor, she headed straight, looking out for monsters and adventurers alike. She followed the one way tunnel into a small room where a goblin was standing in.
Her breath became erratic and her hands shook from fear. She stood there, hesitant to proceed. It was just a singular, weak goblin, monsters that were hunted by the simplest of rookies. Even so, Naaza who was a level two felt an uncontrollable fear that she hadn't felt since the accident, when an irregular monster was brought by Evilus and slaughtered her party. Her determination, however, didn't let her retreat. She looked at the monster again and shook her head.
'No. I can do it. I can do it.'
The goblin had noticed her in the meantime and turned to her. Naaza didn't notice the goblin moving towards her until it let out a hideous screech. The chienthrope tensed up and snapped her attention to the goblin. She took aim with her bow and shot an arrow at the monster.
However, as she panicked she didn't shoot the arrow with neither enough precision nor with enough strength. The arrow, slow and already off target, missed the goblin as it moved towards her, only beginning running as he saw the adventurer miss. She hastily took another arrow and misplaced it a few times, wasting several precious seconds.
As she cocked it, she pulled with all her strength, shooting an arrow that cracked the wall, sticking out of the solid rock as it impaled it. Unfortunately, she missed the second shot as she rushed to let it loose. The goblin froze and came to a stop after witnessing her strength. The monster grew alarmed from the monstrous display of strength and felt fear creeping through its nerves.
Equally afraid of each other, the two stare off. However, the difference between Naaza and the goblin resided in the resultant action that fear caused. Whilst Naaza backed away a little, the goblin screamed and rushed Naaza. It felt afraid and desperately attempted to finish her off before it allow her a third chance.
It raised it claws as it readied to slash at Naaza. The chienthrope though didn't wait for the attack to land and hit the arm of the goblin with her bow sending it off course, as she jumped back to a safe distance. With her level two strength the swing instantly broke the arm of the goblin, but the monster rushed again, ignoring the pain of the bent joint as adrenaline pumped into the monster.
The monster opened its maws and sank its fangs into Naaza's hand. Naaza dropped the bow before using her right silver arm to punch the goblin. The pain angered the girl who punched the goblin in the head. The goblin died under the strength of the level two silver arm, its body falling down to the ground limp with its head crushed.
"Haah."
Naaza stood there looking at the corpse, panting heavily. She trembled, her whole body shook but not out of fear but joy and a smile then grew on her face.
'I did it! I killed a monster!'
She picked up the magic stone and was about to rush out of the dungeon to Miach, to show it to him, as if she was a level one rookie, who took on the dungeon for the first time, killing their very first monster. Situation which would have likely been by a certain white haired adventurer had circumstances been different.
Realizing that, she immediately stopped and flushed red in embarrassment. She was a level two adventurer, she couldn't be that excited over killing a goblin nor could she run out like that. Naaza then stayed there for a while, trying to get over her embarrassment.
She sighed and extracted the tiny magic stone, laying it in her open hand. She looked back up at the tunnel that continued, as she returned the magic stone to her pouch. She had done it, she had killed a monster, now she wanted to continue. She wanted to see how far she could go.
She applied a potion to her hand and rested for a couple of minutes before marching on. Her accuracy had decreased since she was bit, but it was still good enough to kill monsters. Slowly she moved lower and lower, reaching the sixth floor, where she started meeting not only kobolds, dungeon lizards and goblins but frog shooters and war shadows as well.
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Reaching the sixth floor, Naaza recalled the times when her friends were still with her. Adventuring together to then return to the sight of a smiling Miach. Her heart ached at the memory, wishing things could go back to those sweet days, though she knew that it wasn't possible.
That, however, didn't mean that she couldn't start over, make new friends and have new adventures with other people who would become dear to her. She closed her silver hand over her heart before looking forward. After confirming that she could fully adventure she'd find the rabbits who had inspired her to be brave and ask to join them.
Her calm walk was then interrupted by the dungeon, the mother of the monster didn't like when people relaxed within its mauls. Her ears perked up and her nose started to sniff the air as she smelt the monsters approaching her position. At least half a dozen were moving towards her.
However this would prove to be pointless. With her level two status, the monsters proved no danger to her and she knew that. Not allowing herself to be scared, she readied her bow and aimed forwards. As soon as a war shadow emerged from the darkness, it was instantly killed by an arrow hitting it in its head.
Following the fallen war shadow, another three shadowy figures marched forwards alongside three frog shooters. Her ears perked up again when she heard a kobold, two goblins and a dungeon lizard coming up behind her.
This was a terrible situation to be found in, even more so, for someone like Naaza who was trying to get over her trauma. However, no matter how much she thought about it, the chienthrope didn't feel scared by them. Did she know they proved no danger to her due to her level two status or was it something else?
She didn't know but she felt weirdly well, thinking about the rabbits who saved her, she might even say she's excited right now, despite the situation. At the thought of being excited when until just a few moments ago she was terrorized made her realize one thing. That it had been foolish, to be afraid of the dungeon, all for not having tried to overcome her fear even once.
With her soul cleared and healed, the adventurer started cocking an arrow whilst keeping the dagger in her left hand, with which she was holding the bow. The monsters circled around her, with only the goblins making a move to get closer.
Naaza though, ignored the little green monsters, aiming her first arrow at the frog shooter, hitting its big bulbous eye. The eye exploded and the monster wailed before dying, none of them got a chance to respond as another arrow killed the second of the three frog shooters.
She didn't let the monsters do more than turn back to her before she had closed the distance between her and two war shadows, cutting them down with ease using her dagger. She then rapidly cocked an arrow and shot the third war shadow in the head.
She leapt right to avoid the tongue of the last frog shooter and dashed towards itm cutting out the eye before grabbing one of the arrows from a dead corpse, to shoot and kill the kobold that had begun charging at her.
The goblins arrived at her from each side. She blocked the claws of the one on the right and dodge the fangs of the one on the left, stabbing it in the head as it was flying past her. The last goblin attacked again but stumbled as she parried the attack before stabbing it in the neck.
Looking around Naaza noticed that the dungeon lizard was missing and she doubted that it had ran away. Hearing a slight sound, she rolled to the side, dodging the attack from the missing monster, that had hid in the shadows of the ceiling.
No second chance was handed to the monster as an arrow flew in the air and struck its throat. The dead body detached from ceiling and fell down to the ground, splattering blood everywhere. The chienthrope quickly scanned around before moving to retrieve the magic stones.
As she carved out the cores of the monsters, Naaza analysed her own battle. She realized that she'd need to sharpen her senses after they went dull from not having been put in use for nearly a year. Her moves were a bit rusty but she could still fight efficiently without making too many mistakes.
Finishing the harvest, she kept going until she reached the ninth floor, where spotted a group of needle rabbits and killer ants. She stealthily attacked the group and cleared the monsters after fighting for nearly ten minutes.
She hadn't recovered completely, her full strength still being somewhat restricted, but she could fare for herself on the upper floors. She decided to stop there, right now Naaza wasn't at the top of her condition and venturing solo was dangerous even if she was a level two.
If she were to proceed to the tenth floor, she would find expansive fields with numerous large monsters. Even for her, that was taking it a step too far as of now. She had got this far, she didn't want to risk too much. With her decision set she started her track back to the surface. She occasionally came across monsters and other parties. She particularly paid attention to other adventurers not trusting anyone inside the dungeon.
Cautiously she made her way back to the surface and headed for the Guild. There she was met by a terrified Misha, who was completely blown away when Naaza gave her a sack of magic stones to exchange.
"You went into the dungeon?!"
Naaza nodded.
"I know, but please Misha, it's fine. I decided to return to being an adventurer again."
That left the Guild advisor completely shocked. She never thought that she'd see Naaza become an adventurer again. She was left staring at a fixed point, while a colleague exchanged the magic stones for Naaza. Having gotten her money Naaza said goodbye to Misha, who remained there waving. Not knowing how to take the news as she was happy but she was equally worried for the girl as well.
The chienthrope reached the Blue Pharmacy where she was met by a worried Miach and Hestia. She then showed them the sack of money and delivered the good news. It went without saying that the two Gods were elated to hear that and congratulated her for her success and hard work.
"Now I need to find Nuri and Bell. I want to ask them if they will let me join their party."
.
Nuri, Bell and Welf proceeded to a pub called the Hostess of Fertility to celebrate their newly established contract. As for the armour it was supposed to be ready in just a couple of days, which unfortunately meant no diving in the dungeon in the meanwhile. After the celebration Welf would go and work on the armour as he didn't want to delay it too much, since he too wanted to go in the dungeon.
"Say, is there anyone who will be joining us or is it just us?"
Asked Welf.
"Well, we don't know many people here in Orario, the only person we do know that is an adventurer, well, is someone who doesn't have time to go in the dungeon with us."
Welf nodded understanding well their position. As saddening as it sounded, it was the truth, they had their Goddess and she spent a lot of her time with them, much to their happiness, but she was no adventurer. Ardee was one of their first friend together with Eina and they were grateful for that, but she was a level six and was busy with her duties to the Ganesha Familia.
'Speaking of Ardee.'
Nuri thought about going to meet her now that he couldn't go to the dungeon. He had promised to visit her last time they had met.
"I see, what about other Familia members? Don't you have friends there?"
Welf asked curiously but Bell and Nuri just shook their heads, not revealing anything else.
"Alright I won't pry into it. Though I do hope you'll tell me about your mysterious Familia one day. But like you did for me, I won't ask unless you want to."
The two nodded.
"Thanks Welf"
"Of course, just know that I'm your friend, so from now you can count on me."
.
On the other side of the pub stood a black haired cat girl, who stared intently at the two white haired boys. She had her eyes on them since the two had come in. Lunoire was in charge of serving them and due to that, she was pestered by Chloe who kept asking details on the white haired kids, not that she had any success as Lunoire didn't answer the cat girl.
As she had her break, she decided to spend it by leaning on the counter of the bar and stare at the two boys with a predatory gaze, studying them from afar. She never let he gaze wander and near the end of her break she was found to be still staring at the two.
"Chloe get ready, you're shift is up."
Speaking to her was Anya, a fellow cat maid there. The black haired girl pouted and glanced at the maid before returning to the rabbits, Anya followed the gaze of Chloe and saw the three sat down at a table, a red haired guy and two white haired cuties. Anya stared at them for a second before returning her gaze to her fellow co-worker and grabbing Chloe by the uniform's collar and dragging her back in much to her displeasure, but she wasn't about to go against Mia.
.
Welf saw the clock hanging off the wall and decided he had to go.
"Alright you two, I have to get to work, don't want you two in there without armour. It should be done in a few days, so just wait until then."
With that Bell, Nuri and Welf paid the tab and left after saying goodbye. The two brothers exited the pub to realise that it was already late afternoon. Seeing that they had little to do, they decided to pay the Blue Pharmacy a visit. They had to restock on healing potions for their next dungeon run. Heading west, the same bearing they had taken to go to the Hostess of Fertility from Babel, they walked for thirty minutes before arriving.
Like usual, the Blue Pharmacy looked desolate. Despite the wealth of the city, there were many districts that were absurdly poor, abandoned and dirty. The two biggest being a huge abandoned rural area situated in between the Blue Pharmacy and the Hostess of Fertility and the other being Daedalus street. Whilst it wasn't abandoned, it was the poorest district of the city.
One could easily tell the difference between the regular houses and the poor wooden houses bunched up in the Daedalus area. The streets were so complicated it was called the maze of the city, as one could easily get lost and never get out.
The area in which the Blue Pharmacy was found was also rather poor. The buildings around were either abandoned or in poor conditions, the streets dirty and dark. The Blue Pharmacy itself was no better than any other building. Nuri and Bell looked around but couldn't find anything other than the rats running around the dark and shady alleys and streets.
They arrived at the entrance to the building, home to the Miach Familia and entered. The bell on top of the door rang, alerting Miach and Naaza to the presence of customers entering the modest shop. Miach soon came to the front to greet them.
"Welcome, oh, Nuri, Bell. What a pleasant surprise to see you here now."
Miach spoke with his usual soft and quiet voice, accompanied by his calm and gentle smile. The bunnies bowed to the God as they greeted him.
"It's nice to see you Miach-sama. Our God told us to stay out of the dungeon for at least two days, as you probably know already, the reason we were injured last time was because we got into a fight with a couple of silverbacks."
Said Bell with a sheepish smile to which Miach chuckled.
"Yes, I have heard about that. I believe you're here to restock on potions in preparation to your return to the dungeon?"
The two nodded, to which Miach then started preparing their usual order.
"You know, I owe a lot to you two."
The two tilted their heads in confusion.
"What for, Miach-sama? I heard about the debt, but we aren't doing that much."
Miach kept working as he chuckled.
"Well there is that as well, your patronage is appreciated mostly since there are few who come here, which trust me, it really helps, but what I want to thank you two for, is for helping Naaza."
The two looked at Miach more confused than before.
"You see, apparently Naaza was inspired by the two of you. Did you know she went to the dungeon alone today?"
The two rabbits, who were aware of her dark past with the dungeon were left shocked.
"She managed to get to the ninth floor. It seems like she can fight monsters and can start being an adventurer again. So, for that, I must thank you. Seeing her smile again and proudly going into the dungeon is something that has immeasurable value to me. Thank you for helping Naaza."
The two slightly blushed at the praise they received, but were glad that, even if indirectly, they had helped Naaza. Just then, hearing her name being called, the chienthrope came out from the back.
"Have you called me Miach-sama? Ah, Nuri, Bell, welcome."
The two greeted her and expressed their surprise, as they heard that she had went into the dungeon alone. Naaza giggled and after talking for a while Naaza turned serious.
"Nuri, Bell, could the two of you come to the back for a while? I'd like to ask something of the two of you."
They nodded and followed her as Miach took care of clerk duty.
"What is it Naaza-san?"
The girl fidgeted as she was unsure if they would accept her proposal.
"Well, as you heard, thanks to you two, I am starting to get over the trauma. However, there is one favour I'd like to ask you. Unlike other adventurers, you two are so humble and kind. Totally different from the others and I would like to join your party."
She bowed, surprising again the two.
"Eh? Are you sure? You can already go down to the ninth floor alone, we wouldn't be able to keep up with you."
She nodded.
"What I want are friends, people I can trust and have fun with. Besides you two will rapidly reach that area soon enough."
The two beamed.
"Then we're happy to have you Naaza."
She thanked them and continued talking to them for a while, to explain when she'd be available and how the party would be arranged before accompanying them back to Miach. The two then retrieved their order from Miach and bid their goodbyes to Naaza and Miach.
As the two left the Blue Pharmacy and watched the sky, they saw how the sun had sunk and the moon had risen. The two decided to head back later and explore the night life of the city instead. They went around the crowded areas, window shopping and exploring the lit up city under the night sky.
Without realizing it, the two had begun wandering into a dangerous or inappropriate area. The streets became incessantly busy, with large amounts of people roaming the streets. The buildings were red and built in an eastern style, low pink lights were lit up, giving the atmosphere a somewhat sensual feeling to it.
Aisha Belka, a level three adventurer of the Ishtar Familia, watched the lively Pleasure Quarter, from the top floor of one of the establishments there. She was with her fellow amazons, who failed to get her attention as she was too concentrated on scenery of the city.
She happened to spot two rabbits enter, the two cloaks they were wearing made them stick out amongst the crowd. The girl left the tower and moved in closer to keep an eye on them. Having seen the cute and handsome rabbits she couldn't help but want to get a taste of them. They looked like they would be fun to play with. Perhaps, she'd manage to catch one of the two by chance and hoped that she'd get a night with them.
However, she decided to put that thought on pause for now. She had bigger problems coming up. There was a damsel that needed saving. A sister, someone she cared about was in danger, she was in the same Familia as her, but her Goddess wanted to do something cruel to her and she needed a way to save her and quickly.
The girl that needed saving was a Renard, a rare race that lived in the far East. Aisha intended to wait for a good chance to get her out but having recently learnt from Ishtar about the killing stone ritual she could not afford to wait.
Eventually something like this would get leaked, so Ishtar would likely try to do it as soon as possible. Luckily for Aisha the ritual had very specific conditions that needed to be met and can't be altered artificially, giving her just enough time to come up with something.
To Aisha though, the biggest problem, was the renard herself. She needed to convince the Renard, that she was worth saving as she didn't believe so. Impure and filthy, she had given up hope, she didn't deserve to be saved was the thought that prevented her from running away. She was sure to stop Aisha from trying fearing the consequences she would face.
Aisha though couldn't allow Ishtar to just use the renard for her own goals. She couldn't help her herself as she was part of the Familia, that's why she needed the help of someone outside the Familia. She was sure she could get the help of the Astraea Familia, but how could she do it without getting caught. She thought about asking Freya herself, but quickly thrashed the idea.
She was sure that Freya would get interested in Haruhime, but there was also a great risk that she might get killed by a member of the Freya Familia when they discover that she is a threat to their Goddess. Now she was truly in a pinch.
.
Nuri woke up the following day intending to go out and meet Ardee before she got upset that he didn't visit. Having cleaned himself and gotten dressed in some casual white and black clothes, Nuri headed to the entrance of the building, ready to leave.
"Are you going somewhere onii-sama?"
Nuri turned to Bell.
"Oh Bell. Yeah, I'm going out to meet Ardee. We promised we'd visit her, so I'll go today. You going to come with me?"
Bell shook his head.
"I need to visit Hephaestus, she sent a letter that she needed to see the knives. Say hi to her for me."
"Alright, then if Astraea happens to come around for me, tell her I'm out meeting a friend."
Bell nodded as Nuri left the house and headed to the Guild.
.
The older bunny soon arrived at the Pantheon, the headquarters of the Guild. He entered the building to see Eina, who was sat at a counter doing her paperwork. He started walking towards her but Eina seemed to frown as she rapidly spotted him and spoke as soon as he got close.
"I am not allowing you in the dungeon."
"What?"
"You're going to rest for a few more days."
Nuri was unamused by the quick assumption of his advisor and stared at her with a pout.
"Come on Eina, why do you assume I'm always going to the dungeon?"
She looked at him deadpanned equally unamused at the bunny's question.
"U-umm, ok, ok fair enough, but! I'm not here for that, actually today I came here to ask you, if you would know where the Ganesha Familia home is."
Eina seemed surprised but soon returned a smile as she remembered a blue haired girl.
"I see, it's for Ardee isn't it?"
He nodded as Eina then pulled out a map and showed Nuri how to get to their Familia home from the Guild. The white haired adventurer thanked Eina and left with a wave, setting himself on the way to the Ganesha Familia home. He walked for several minutes before arriving at the home of the Ganesha Familia. The mansion was actually a large white marble statue of the God Ganesha himself with the entrance being situated … weirdly enough … at its crotch.
Now he could understand why Ganesha was considered a troublesome God. As he approached the statue two guards standing guard saw him and called out to him. A blue haired woman who happened to be there joined the guards as they spoke to the cloaked boy.
"Hello there, do you need something?"
Nuri looked at the tall blue haired woman.
"Ah yes, I was lo-"
Nuri wasn't able to finish his sentence as he was tackled to the ground by a flying missile girl. Nuri groaned as he looked down to see Ardee staring at him with an annoyed pout.
"You sure took your time to visit me! And not before I hear you ran into two silverbacks on the fourth level. Though I'm sorry. That was our fault. Still do you know how worried I was?!"
Shouted Ardee, only speaking quietly as she apologised for the trouble her Familia had caused him. Her pout however, made her more adorable than scary. Behind her the guards and the other woman all watched the scene not expecting this kind of development, particularly from the young vice-captain.
"Hmm, sorry Ardee, and I know it wasn't your fault Ardee. I heard that Evilus was apparently involved."
Nuri gave Ardee a gentle smile that made her look down in shame before she stood up and extended a hand to help Nuri get up. Ardee then crossed her arms as her pout soon returned.
"Hmph, now that you're here you better take me on a date like you promised."
She said surprising the other onlookers even more. Nuri himslef nearly slipped back to the ground at the notion of a date.
"Eh?! You were serious about the date?!"
She turned to him and smiled, making a victory sign with her hands.
"Of course!"
Nuri looked at Ardee and hesitantly nodded with slight blush.
"A-alright."
Ardee jumped around with happiness. All of which was happening in front of the other three Familia members.
"Ah, onee-sama, as you heard I'll be going on a date."
She said to the stunned blue haired woman, who happened to be her sister, Shakti Varma. The captain of the Ganesha Familia.
"O-oh, ok."
Shakti was still too shocked to formulate a sentence.
"Have fun?"
As Shakti and the others stood there, Ardee latched herself onto Nuri's arm and started dragging him off towards the tower of Babel.
"U-umm, where a-are we going Ardee?"
Ardee looked at him and giggled as she saw his blushing face.
"To have breakfast, it's still early morning after all."
Nuri nodded and had Ardee lead the way.
.
The two stopped by a small bar that had some very inviting doughnuts where they purchased their breakfast. On their way there, Nuri noticed that everyone had been staring at them. Though that didn't surprise him as he was on a 'date' with the vice-captain of the Ganesha Familia, the largest Familia in Orario, boasting more members than the Freya, Apollo and even the Loki Familia.
Besides, Ardee was one of the few level six adventurers of Orario and her sister Shakti was a well-known level five. The two sat down at a table with their round doughnut and chatted happily under the gaze of the passing by people.
"Say Ardee, why aren't you the captain of the Familia if you are level six while Shakti-san is level five?"
Ardee put a finger on her lip and thought for a while.
"I guess it's because I'm not really interested in the rank and I look up to onee-sama. I think she is a better person for the job. While I'm stronger, I'd say that she is smarter and wiser than me. More suited to being captain is what I would say."
Nuri nodded understanding her reasoning.
"I see."
The two quickly finished their breakfast and left.
"Come on Nuri, this date is far from over."
She said as she grabbed his hand and without much of a choice, he let her lead him to different shops, visiting the city hot spots. The two spent their day hanging out, exploring the city and visiting stores just like any couple on a date would.
After having lunch the two happened to pass by a jewellery shop. Nuri walked next to Ardee and he noticed how she glanced at a particular item in the window of the shop. A silver pendant with a moonstone rabbit at the centre. The eyes of the rabbit being made with a pair of shiny rubies, glinted under the rays of the sun.
"Hey, Ardee can you wait here for a little?"
Ardee was confused but nodded with a smile. After a few minutes Ardee turned around as she heard a door closing and saw Nuri coming out of a shop.
"What did you buy?"
She asked curiously. Nuri smiled brightly and raised his hands to show her a pendant which she very much desired and eyed just a few moments before.
"You seemed to stare at it like you wanted it."
Ardee looked at Nuri with shock.
"I-I … Y-you didn't have to."
She said quietly, but Nuri shook his head and closed the distance between her and him. He undid the clasp of the pendant and put it around her neck. Ardee heard the click from the clasp closing as Nuri put it on for her. The bright smile, the close proximity and the gift combined made Ardee blush furiously. Ardee shuffled and fidgeted, poking the index fingers against each other, looking down with her red face.
"T-thank you. But wasn't it expensive?"
Nuri shook his head.
"Don't worry about it Ardee, I have my ways. Besides, I'm doing this because I want to. You might not realise it but I'm grateful to you for just spending time with me. It was a bit lonely here in Orario."
Ardee stared at him surprised but it soon turned to a fond smile. She then lead Nuri to a park nearby where they sat under a tree, spending their time chatting and laughing together until Ardee turned to him with a serious look.
"You know Nuri, I've been really worried when I heard that you and Bell met two silverbacks on the fourth floor. I know you can't promise me to be safe, after all you are an adventurer. And we adventurers live with our life on the line. But I want to help you, so would you let me train you? I feel like that would make me feel a lot more reassured."
Nuri stared at her.
"Is it really ok? To train someone outside of your Familia?"
She nodded with a smile.
"I don't want you and your brother to die in the dungeon. So be prepared to be trained hard by me."
"I don't know about Bell since he seems busy with Hephaestus but I will certainly participate."
"Good."
Nuri smiled and thanked her before they returned to the Ganesha Familia home and the two parted ways. As the rabbit vanished from Ardee's sight, Shakti came down and greeted her little sister.
"Ardee, welcome back. So, how was the date?"
She asked with a teasing tone. After she had processed the information, she had become very happy to see her sister falling in love. Her eyes trailed down when she noticed the pendant around her neck and her blush at the question.
"Ah, I see it went well."
The usual Ardee, who was always cheerful and confident, was now a stuttering mess.
"I-it's not like that. I-I-I did a-ask him to go on a date, b-b-b-but it's not like I meant it that way."
Shakti giggled happily and left with a wave of her hand, leaving behind a flustered Ardee.
~To Be Continued