Ch 14: Mayhem (1)

ENJOY!...

...

The fight going down was intense with neither side backing down. They were equal in power it seemed, though one was stronger while the other was faster. Other Loki familia members tried to intervene but were stopped by Tione who insisted on handling this herself. This was purely fist to fist battle with no weapons involved. Sound of thick, dull thumping could be heard again and again as their bodies clashed with each other with animal like ferocity. Attacks so powerful, they could tear apart a normal man in a single strike with hard to follow split second reflexes.

Dust was rising in the air as their clashes produced shockwaves destroying the structures around, injuring anyone nearby. The road was clear in no time giving both fighters a lot of space to manure around. The control they both had on their bodies was nothing short of masterpiece and as the onlookers watched, they were dazed. This form of fighting was brutal but honest to the core.

It brought out the wild nature each person had in their hearts, but they didn't try to act on these impulses. That would simply be suicide in these conditions.

Seeing all this happening from up above, Bell couldn't help but be marvelled at the sight. This was his first time watching two powerhouses go at each other and this was also first for him to watch this sort of battle. Although he couldn't follow their movements, but he felt insignificance. He had a feeing that without his weapons, in head-to-head fistfight against either of these two would destroy him even if they were brought down to his level.

"She's losing" Zoro too watched this battle but wasn't too surprised. He had heard of Amazoness way of life, and this just highlighted it. Even though they were fast, almost nearing the speed of sound, Zoro could still feel who had the upper hand.

The one called Tione was slowly but surely losing her ground and this was mostly due to stats difference that existed between them. In terms of skill, they were about equal.

Still, both combatants were ruthless to the core with each of their strikes aimed at the other vitals. In this aspect, that other amazoness was definitely ahead. It seemed she had fought a lot like this and thus had lot more experience than Tione, but Tione wasn't weak either. She too had a lot of experience and even though she couldn't do what the other was doing, she could still block all attacks. She excelled when it came to adaptation and versatility.

Still, Tione was being forced on defensive. He opponent attacked and blocked at the same time. Every single one of her attacks came with pre-prepared counterattack of any kind. Before Tione could even muster up the next blow, she would already have countered it. No doubt her experience in this field was vastly superior to Tione.

While watching their battle, Zoro's focus was taken by another pair. It seemed they were about to intervene regardless of whatever Tione wanted, "This is going to turn ugly fast". From his vantage point, he could see a lot of amazoness prepared to stop that pair. All these amazoness were following that woman who had teared apart the flowery monster.

Aiz and Tiona came forward only to be stopped midway.

"Move, Bache!" Tiona screamed readying her fists to strike at a moment's notice only to be ignored. She and Aiz hurled themselves at her, but that Bache woman was fast. She managed to counter both of them, forcing them to take a step back. Two lvl 6 adventurers were forced back by a single individual. Sure, they were unprepared and all, but this demonstrated the power and skill level of this other amazoness. She was in no way weaker than the two fighting.

This exchange took place in an instant but neither side backed down. Aiz un-sheathed her sword and Tiona too took her battle stance. Next strike would be real, but they weren't able to step forward. Several Amazoness warriors surrounded them, blocking their way. Seeing this, other Loki Familia members who were just dazing off too came forward, prepared to fight tooth and nail against these amazoness.

A battle which should have just included two individuals, was about to turn into a full-blown war. Bache eyed Tiona while many amazoness eyed Aiz along with other Loki Familia. They had vast numerical advantage and were different from the likes of Apollo. Among these amazoness, the weakest was peak novice lvl 2 and each individual had polished their skills through numerous battles. They were like a pack of wolves, just ready to attack a tiger.

In this way, both sides came to a halt except for the fighting duo. They fought, unaware of all the happenings around, one smiling while other enraged.

"Hahahahahahahahahaha! You've changed Tione. You really have!" The amazoness laughed sadistically, enjoying every moment of this battle. She wanted more and more and more. For her, fighting and killing were the way of life. If she died then that would just mean, she was weaker. That she became part of whoever killed her and if she killed someone, she would drink all their blood, making them part of her.

She launched another barrage of heavy attacks, each one landing on their designated spots. Tione had started to lose in this battle, and it was obvious to anyone.

"What happened to all that ferocity, all that anger and hatred. But one thing hasn't changed. It really hasn't changed Tione! Look even now is no different than before. You were weaker then and you are weaker now" she could already taste her victory. It was her who taught Tione all that she knew. The base of Tione's power and martial skill was made by her and so it was easy. It was easy to predict each of her moves beforehand.

"Ggh-!" Tione on the other hand was just furious. Her eyes were blazing red, as if boiling blood would immediately spurt out. She was giving it her all and yet was being suppressed, both in power and skill.

Her passive skill was such that it made her stronger with accumulated damage. That meant, the more damage she received, the stronger she would become and yet even with that continuous growth, she was on the losing end. Her mind was going blank, unable to think or differentiate.

Seeing her in that condition, Zoro shook his head.

"She's hastening her own defeat"

Anger. That was one emotion one needed to be careful of. Yes, this anger sometimes made you stronger but at what cost? Tione right now was growing stronger with each blow and yet that anger clouded her mind, messing up her judgment. She was repeating the same moves again and again, just trying to breakthrough. If she kept cool head then it would be easy to avoid this situation but as things seemed now, if she didn't get back to her senses soon then that would be the end.

Then he turned back to other members, "Do not be influenced by this fight. This isn't your forte neither is your body the type. Don't try to imitate them battles since each one of those are suicidal. It's either you die, or I die kind of fight. Do so only when you're desperate and there's no other choice" he could see them getting red as the fight progressed. It was living nature to be influenced by something this hot blooded, but it wasn't desirable.

"YES!" all of them replied in unison and controlled their breathing which had become ragged. They were lost in that moment but finally regained their calm.

Their battle was still continuing until eventually Tione lost her footing "Gaahhh!" and got a punch to her gut going airborne unable to control her body. She vomited a mouthful of blood and with loud (CRASH!) sound, decimated several stone pillars behind.

"TIONE!" Both Aiz and Tiona screamed and no longer cared about the surrounding amazoness. They both attacked at the same time followed by other Loki familia members. Their main purpose was to breakthrough and stop that amazoness named Argana from further harming Tione.

Right at this moment,

[("Assemble, breath of the land - my name is Alf") "Veil Breath"]

Tione's body was suddenly covered by green light, blocking Argana's next attack, absorbing most of the damage. At the same time, a powerful will descended upon everyone present stopping any and all actions

"THAT'S ENOUGH!"

"Things are gonna be troublesome if this continued"

They were Loki and Reveria. They had gone outside to do something and yet by the time they returned, this was happening right in front of their housing in this city. The road had massive gaping holes in it while the inn they were staying in along with several other shops had received tremendous amount of damage.

That and many people present in the inn and shops had receive varying number of injuries. It was fortunate that no one had died otherwise they wouldn't know how to explain to the guild.

"You too Argana. Let's stop for today" another voice could be heard from another terrace. It sounded childish but filled with ferocity. With that another individual came into view. She had long red hairs similar to fresh blood. She had brown skin and wore somewhat of a revealing outfit like the members of her Familia along with a necklace made of bones, a mask with fangs, and possessed a foreign and powerful gaze.

This was Kali. The patron of these amazoness and queen of Telskyura, the island country of amazoness. It was located on a peninsula faar to the southeast of Orario, surrounded by sea and harsh cliffs. There, they lived more like animals than anything else. Fights were commonplace and so were the deaths but from Kali's perspective, that was simply the way of life. That's simply how things were supposed to be and all amazoness living in that country followed the same philosophy.

"This is our first-time meeting, ain't it?"

"Indeed!" suddenly she looked at Loki, measuring her from top to bottom until finally speaking, "I didn't know Loki was male. Colour me surprised"

"Wh-what the hell do you mean!? I'm a woman dammit and super pretty one at that" Loki was fuming in rage. Even that midget never incensed her this much with just a single sentence. Speaking of, her ears suddenly picked loud laughing.

"Hahahahaha…ha.. ! What do you expect with body and clothing like that?" Hestia was barely keeping her tears in check. This must have been a huge blow for Loki and something she enjoyed

"SHUT UP brat!" then she turned to her familia "Hey you girls. Smash them, destroy them. Kill em all!"

"Hah… And where did all that 'that's enough' go?" Riveria came forward, calming her anger. This was a sore spot for Loki, something not many touched upon.

"Bu-But she called m-"

"Enough!"

"Fuh! Fine. whatever" all that dignity from before was gone replaced by childish mentality

Kali ignored that rant and turned towards the twins, "Tione, Tiona, great to see you doing so well."

"Kali…! Why are you here" Tiona asked her in loud voice. She needed to know her purpose since Telskyura was long ways from here and yet she came over. What was the purpose?

Hearing that question, Kali couldn't help remembering a meeting from last night when she met the one who invited her here…

Anyway, this small fight was only the beginning, just to probe, to estimate the strength Loki familia brought here and also to measure the amazoness sisters' growth. Just a greeting of some sort while the main event remained.

Kali couldn't help getting excited just imagining the scene of those past years, students versus teachers. What a spectacle that would be. Still, she kept it under control, replying to Tiona "Just some sightseeing". After that she turned around and left with heaps of amazoness warriors following behind but not before leaving one last sentence, "We'll meet again very soon!"

And with that, they disappeared. The combatants finally put their weapons down while the onlookers' heaved sighs of relief. This incident was extremely dangerous since if both familias truly did come to blows, this city would have received a lot of damage by ensuing battles and chaos it would spread.

"So, it's over" Hestia muttered under her breadth. This was first for her as well seeing the power of those top-tiers in present era. This was an eye opener, but she wasn't disheartened because she fervently believed her children to reach same heights and even surpass them with time.

"Kali Familia… never heard of them. Do they not belong to Orario?" Bell tried to remember anything about this familia, but nothing rang the bell. With individuals that powerful, they could easily contend for one of the strongest spots in Orario and if they truly were from outside then that was truly terrifying. Orario had dungeon, the best source of getting stronger. The only way he could possibly think of reaching that sort of level was through continuous fighting against powerful monsters and yet they, from the outside had already casted many familias in Orario in shadows.

Just where did they come from and how did they become so strong?

The reply came from Lily, "They're from a country called Telskyura, the land of amazoness warriors. Though that's all Lily knows since not much information about them is available"

"No surprise there since that Kali is just that sort of character. What I'm more interested in is, why did they come here? Surely not just for sightseeing" Hestia had pensive look on her face. Those amazoness looked ferocious, like beasts and it was hard to understand a beast's thought process.

"Be careful around them", finally Zoro too spoke up. They looked starved, as if just ready to hunt. Was this the danger that clocked person had warned them about?

Everyone nodded in unison and went on to deal with their stuff.

Hestia decided to go and meet some of her old acquaintances in the city she hadn't met for a long time with Emma and Lily deciding to tag along.

Leo on the other hand decided to stay behind in the Inn to read some stories he had bought this morning before all this started. It seemed he had his fair share of experiences so wasn't as shaken as Bell. Still, he just like Bell liked to read the old legends, the stories of heroes of the past and had similar aspirations due to which, they had gotten quite close, kind-a-like teacher and a student. He had already red most if not all the stories Bell knew of and now here, he found some more.

Bell decided to tour the city. This was his first time visiting a city other than Orario, so he was a bit excited. There was another reason as well. He had gotten much better since last night, but a change of scenery would be nice.

Zoro on the other hand went to those caves. No one could be certain that what Bell and Leo encountered was all there was to it. Perhaps more would be present even deeper inside, so he decided to inspect it thoroughly. That said, he wasn't alone in this endeavour.

...

Kali with childlike smile on face, riding Bache's shoulders came back to her lodging. It was a bit faar, about three-hour normal walking distance from that inn which they managed to cover within half-an hour. It was a tent, rather a group of tents lined up by the shore and the place turned out to be the beach Loki and Hestia Familia were present the last day.

The way here wasn't easy since there was no road to speak of, just some winding pathways in the hills each divided into further branches, which if taken the wrong route could deliver you somewhere else. That said, none of this mattered to the likes of Kali Familia since they were already used to such places. Running up and down the mountains and steep cliffs was a norm for them.

By the time of returning, it was already 11 in the morning. She got down from the shoulders and went into her tent, alone. There was nothing fancy here, just a small wooden bed with some chairs and table lined on the side. One thing that stood out in this tent, completely different from everything else was a sofa. It was intricate in design and looked very comfy and expensive, but even more eye blinding was the one sitting on top.

It was none other than Ishtar, brown skin donning clothes one couldn't even look at, putting even amazoness to shame. She was the best example of…

That said, her usual flirtatious smile wasn't there and was replaced by a frown as she looked at Kali asking, "Satisfied!?" it seemed she wasn't happy about whatever Kali was doing.

"Why so angry?" Kali took a sip from long pipe, exhaling, "We already have an agreement, don't we? I won't take any compensation in return of your help to keep others of that familia in check and like I thought, most of their heavy hitters aren't here. It shouldn't be difficult for you to keep that Aiz and others in check while we deal with our business"

Hearing that, Ishtar was lost for words for a moment and eventually asked with squinted eyes, "Just what sort of grudge do you have with those sisters?"

Hearing this question, Kali laughed like a madman, "Grudge?! Hah! That's what you think. It's nothing of that sort, just some greeting…"

"Greeting! Like this?!"

"Battle is the best sort of greeting one could offer. I don't know why you fellows do not understand that." For Kali, bloodbath was life. To live was to struggle, to fight, to kill. The best way to go out was through war and mayhem. This was a philosophy shared by some celestials, but Kali was most extreme in the regard.

Naturally Ishtar could never understand this sort of ideology since her beliefs were rooted in what she represented, 'beauty and lust', and her ideology focused on these concepts.

"Anyway, this is my private matter. You help me here and I'll help you there but…", Kali looked at Ishtar seriously which reminded her of their last night meeting. She remained silent waiting for Kali to finish who continued after a while of staring, "…You're playing with fire. Truthfully, I want to battle world famous Freya Familia, but… I just can't imagine just the two of us taking that behemoth down!"

All this planning and preparations were for only a singular purpose and that was to get rid of Freya. Ishtar was just fed up with her, with this constant feeling of inferiority. She envied Freya's prestige, her influence and more than anything the fact that Freya was known as the most beautiful in the world.

She herself too possessed equal level of beauty with her domain even covering that concept. She was in no way inferior to that woman and yet the way everyone looked at both was different, opposite even. They gave Freya all the respect in the world and yet she was met with contempt by many and had even been nicknamed 'scentless flower' while others called her 'Withered Lotus'. Even though no one said that right to her face but still she knew that's what they called her and the worst of all, she didn't even know what that meant.

Just thinking about that woman made Ishtar burn with rage but she didn't let it control her. She steadied herself before replying, "We've already discussed this in detail. Why ask again?"

"Nothing! It's just… you're confident in those aces, aren't you? Mind giving some insight!" Ishtar wanted to remove her (self-proclaimed) rival who probably boasted the strongest or 2nd strongest power in the world right now while Ishtar herself couldn't even enter top 10. Still, she had this much faith in those 'aces'. It was no wonder Kali was intrigued.

"You'll know when the time comes" naturally Ishtar wasn't about to reveal her trump card even if Kali was an ally. Truthfully, neither side fully trusted the other. This alliance was made mostly based upon interests anyway.

Kali too understood that and thus took a step-back, "Fine. Do whatever you want. I'm fine so long as we get to battle the famed Freya Familia and even become a catalyst to bring it down"

Ishtar took a long sigh looking at kali. She was happy seeing this enthusiasm, but something still worried her to no end, "What you're doing could really jeopardise the plan!"

Loki familia was the only one in current time which was on par with or perhaps stronger than even Freya Familia. These two families stood at the very top of world right now and just fighting one was too much but this ally of hers wanted to pick a fight with the other one as well.

"I'm no fool neither do I have any interest in fighting them all. My goal are the two sisters and… this is helping you. Is it not?"

Ishtar was just about to say something but stayed silent. Yes, in a way this was a good idea since no suspicion would be raised. Everyone would just conclude that Kali familia was here to duke it out with Loki Familia. It would serve as a good distraction along with some warmup for that big battle but things going south fast was always a possibility.

Thinking of any and all possibilities, Ishtar looked into her eyes, saying "I'll help you in holding others back but… if it starts to turn sour, I'll call my girls back and leave", no matter what, if it came down to it then she would simply just abandon this idea of alliance with Kali. She had already waited a lot and a bit more wouldn't cause much harm. In fact, she might even be able to find better alternatives. Thus, little wait was acceptable in her books.

"Fine Fine" Kali just replied nonchalantly, not worried at all. Afterall she too had the same idea. If Ishtar couldn't even handle such small group of Loki Familia's forces, then there was no point in this alliance. Kali would never ally herself with the useless.

In the next instance,

"Fufufufu…..."

"Hahaha…."

… both laughed at the same time unaware of some happenings outside which would probably affect their plans in major ways.

...

While this meeting took place, over on the northern part of Melen…

Someone could be seen running down the alleyways, covered from head to tail in shawl which itself had gotten wet likely due to sweat. Ragged breathing, growling stomach and heavy footsteps, all pointed towards a case of extreme exhaustion and yet they didn't stop. No matter how slow they got, no matter how small a distance they could cover, nothing mattered. The only thing that mattered to this one was to move and move until seeing the light of bright sun, the light of freedom. There was hope but also a bit of uncertainty as if they might never succeed.

They turned back again and again afraid if someone would be following behind but nothing. Due to so much exhaustion and built-up fear, they didn't even stop when the alley connected to the road and even when there were crossroads and the result, slammed right into a person falling backwards

"I'm sorry. Are you alright?" a concerned voice could be heard but the consciousness was already hazy so much so that darkness covered the mind and all. It seemed all that pent up exhaustion finally could no longer be controlled. Even if the will was strong, the body itself had its limits and this one's body had reached said limit for quite a long while now.

Bell looked down at this cloaked person who had slammed into him. Nothing really happened to him, but the person lost consciousness which startled him. He was certain that however insignificant, he had managed to mitigate some impact but…

"So beautiful!" that was the first thing he muttered after seeing the face of this cloaked person. Long blonde hair, and fox ears with exquisite face one which could cause downfall of countries. Bell knew this race; it was a Renard but… he had never seen one with such beauty.

Bell looked at her for quite a while, lost unable to decide his next course of action. "Wait...! is she sick?" her expression was flushed and after touching her for-head, he could be certain. She was literally burning

"I should take her to a hospital" with that muttering, he picked up the Renard girl and started dashing, searching for any establishment nearby but to no avail. He was new here and had no idea of the city's structure. While he was running around, the Renard's expression grew more and more red as if it was about to burst and her breathing grew weaker and weaker. After not finding any such establishment, he decided to take her to the Inn they were staying at. Hestia' group should have come back by now or so he thought…

...

At the same time as this encounter was taking place…

Zoro could be seen standing on a rocky hill looking in front, muttering to himself "So, these are the caves?" at the entrance leading to this cave system. There were more than twenty entrances but even the guild only knew three of them. Others were too deeply hidden and on surface, the reason for Hestia Familia's presence here the day before was in order to inspect and find more of these entrances.

In terms of pure size, this cave system probably covered the entirety of Red Mountain Range, that meant more than 7000 km of area, but Zoro's purpose was only the hills so in essence covering around 10 km of area which was going to take some time even with their speed.

"Indeed! It seems you didn't come here before", an answer came from behind him in rather friendly voice. It seemed this person had good impression regarding Zoro.

"Someone needed to stay back with Hestia", this was more of an excuse but whatever. It was needed anyway.

"True", this time a different carefree voice was heard.

There were in total two reasons for Zoro's presences here. One was his own intuition while the other one was a quest. It was a secret request from that fellow in robes who was apparently named Fels. That fellow came back in the dead of night and that's also when Zoro found Bell missing so went to search for him only to find them…

The rewards promised by the guild were also quite hefty and even though he never cared about that stuff but now he was captain of a familia and not a pirate. His life was no longer just drink, sleep, fight and adventure, it was much more. Now he needed to think about the Familia's future and its direction and in case he got tired of all that, he could just pass on his position to Bell.

Still, right now he was the captain and from that perspective, these rewards would help the familia grow stronger. Other than that, even if Fels didn't specifically ask him to do so, he was still thinking of taking care of this matter, so it was a win-win situation. Fels wanted him to scour the area and remove anymore filth that might still be present in these dark places.

"By the way. Why didn't you bring Hestia Familia along?", it was a rather blunt questioning tone which seemed a bit confused.

Hearing that, Zoro didn't turn around and instead walked into the cave, answering "They should just enjoy this little vacation"

He hadn't told anyone from Hestia Familia except for Hestia about his plans. He didn't want them to be burdened unnecessary when it was vacation. Another reason were Bell and Leo. He wanted Bell to come in contact with all sides if the world, of nature of the living, of the races but everything should flow smoothly. Too much within short time could instead become a poison. Bell had come in contact, even taking actions which were unexpected even for Zoro and that was enough for now.

Other than that, if it wasn't clear enough than he wasn't alone here. This quest was given to him along with another familia whose members he met just outside the Inn. That's also the reason he managed to come here without getting lost. His sense of direction was bad mostly due to him never paying attention to surrounding landscape. Another reason was his wandering nature.

Back then, he was fully focused on a single goal, to become strong, to become best. He never paid attention to anything else, and landscape was the least of worries. After the disbandment, he took the life of a lone wolf, just wandering and drifting in the vast ocean which didn't help either.

Now he had started to pay a little bit more attention to these things, but time was needed to become normal.

Anyway, he was here along with three others making it a party of four. All other three belonged to Hermes Familia. This familia on the surface was exploration type but their real job was in a way to run errands for the guild and to collect information from all around the world. They were kind of like secret agents of Orario known to very few, only three within the guild. They were trusted by the guild and thus the members could come out whenever there was a need. These three were called to Melen for some info gathering, mostly on Kali Familia and their reason for being here. Now another problem had arisen, so they were allocated here.

Each of these three belonged to a different race.

There was a were-tiger leading this group named 'Falgar', holding a battle axe over his shoulder. It seemed he was the vice-captain of Hermes familia. He had very humble and friendly personality completely contrasting his ferocious looks and that piercing gaze.

Then there was a Chienthrope girl named 'Lulune' who reminded Zoro of Lily somewhat though their personalities were very different. One serious while other carefree but from their dialogue here, it could be seen she very much like Lily was a fan of money thinking of all sorts of schemes and strategies to make more.

Then lastly, there was a pallum girl named 'Meryl' hiding behind that Falgar fellow. It seemed she was a very shy person, perhaps due to age. Then again, it was difficult for Zoro to differentiate a pallum's age from outer appearance. He had once thought Finn to be 11 or perhaps 12 in age and was quite shocked to know him being 42 years old. From appearance all Pallums looked same in age just like how all dwarven men looked same in appearance.

After coming inside, they found the same scenery as Bell and others, several branches. They didn't have time to investigate every single one, so it was better to go with the one Bell chose. Falgar asked Zoro, "So, which one?"

Zoro looked at a rough piece of paper before replying, "Hm… let's see. Second to the left", hehad asked Lily after Bell went to sleep. He already had plans to come over after hearing him and so Lily had drawn a rough sketch for him. Even though Lily and Emma didn't go the same route as Bell and Leo, they did come back using it.

Not to mention, "Yeah, the footprints are both ways from that cave", Lulune was an expert in this matter. There were two caves where footprint could be seen going inside but only one where the traffic was two ways.

She turned to Zoro, "Could you show it to me?" aiming her fingers at that rough sketch.

"Sure" Zoro just handed it over. He had no reason to refuse anyway.

"Hm… like I thought. The caves are interconnected inside. Anyway, let's go and stay close" she led the way forward, holding a magick stone lantern.

It wasn't difficult for them to reach the ruined chamber due to that golden powder sprinkled along the way. Even though the heat itself was gone but the dents and holes in walls along with heaps of debris and dust were best proof of what had happened here. While on the way Zoro had told them a bit of what he'd heard from Bell so everyone this this party was aware of the individual causing this messthat's what was truly surprising.

"Is he really lvl 2?", looking at all this destruction, Falgar couldn't help muttering. Meryl beside him was also staring at this mess in shock. It had to be known that she was a mage and was considered exceptionally capable within lvl 2 mages but still even her full powered attack wouldn't cause this much destruction and yet, here a fighter using magic was able to cause this spectacle.

This was unbelievable and thus doubts arose. Hermes familia itself was filled with strong members whose levels had been falsified on the reports. On paper, they only had two lvl 3's and yet these two lvl 3's were actually lvl 4 and there was a dozen or so lvl 3's present in the familia with falsified records of lvl 2 and so on.

No. On second thought, perhaps he truly was lvl 2 with no falsification. The reason Hermes familia could get away with this was due to their special circumstances and the role they played while Hestia Familia had no such status, atleast they didn't think. Still, if there truly was no falsification than that was even more terrifying. A lvl 2 with such power?! What if he reached lvl 3, lvl 4 and above? They couldn't even imagine.

Anyway, now wasn't the time to be thinking about all that. Their next course of action was rather obvious, to find more canals and only one could be seen here. Perhaps there were more but had been covered by all this debris. There were only two ways left, one they came through and…

"Let's go", Zoro took the first step, moving towards the other way. This was a connecting channel from where Lily and Emma came over after hearing that loud noise. Others too agreed and steeled themselves, moving towards there.

They came across three canals along the way, which they ignored since according to map provided by Lily, these had already been inspected with nothing unusual found.

"Perhaps there aren't anymore!"

"I hope so…"

They walked and walked silently, moving through several tunnels. Some so small that they ended with a single chamber while others continued on with no openings anywhere.

"This reminds me of 30th floors!" this silence was suddenly broken by Lulune. It seemed she had gotten bored. She was a skilled mapper and had been mapping the ways they moved through. It had been over ten minutes and not a single new entrance came about to either side and so she too had stopped that mapping just waiting for an exit. In the meantime, it seemed she wanted to start some sort of conversation.

Hearing her, Zoro turned to her asking, "30th floors?", the information of those floors wasn't all that well known. Since there was nothing to do here for now, he could hear some stories to pass time. Meryl too picked up her ears, listening attentively. She hadn't gone there and hadn't heard much even from her familia members, so this was her chance.

Lulune replied, "Yeah. Your familia has yet to go there so you won't understand. Floors from 31st to 37th are in true sense a massive maze with each floor being as big as Orario or perhaps more", there was nothing to hide really. "The pathways there are different from here. Every single tunnel connects to many others each of whom goes with same rhythm. Even till now, no complete floor map has been made of those", Hermes familia had managed to reach up to 41st floor and they had explored quite a bit of space there. The main reason to go that deep was to gather some special ingredients and also to make themselves stronger.

While talking her mood suddenly soured as if she had remembered events which were better to be forgotten, "The worst of all, except for few places, everything else changes in periodic manner. The structure, their directions and literally everything shifts. It's very easy to lose the way…"

Sensing bitterness in her tone, "It seems you did?", he inquired if for nothing than to have her continue but answer came from someone else…

"Not just her, our entire familia once lost our way there. That was our first time going so deep so we lacked experience. Honestly it was pure luck that we were able to escape otherwise most who lose their way never return", it was Falgar with nostalgic look on his face. That event was scary, but it was also one he would never forget so long as he lived.

"Sounds like a pain!"

"Hahahaha! Indeed it is but… in a way they're also the easiest floors to reach next one since there's literally a straight road going floor to floor till reaching 38th one. Most usually directly skip those floors unless asked by the guild"

While talking and laughing, the group finally came across an opening. It was a crossroad with three tunnels ahead, two on each side and one upfront.

"Finally!?", Lulune cried out in excited manner and once again picked her pen and paper to continue. They had been walking for an-hour in this straight line with nothing to do. Now atleast there was a hope of something happening.

The question now was, where to next?

Falgar and Lulune came forward at this point and started sniffing in each of the three directions. Each of these three could be massive so they needed to decide on a single route to continue so as to not waste any more time.

After a while, both pointed towards the left side tunnel and started walking towards it, "I can sense something strange there. Let's go" Zoro and Meryl looked at each other and simply followed them. It wasn't like they had any better idea. If they were smelling something fishy there, then so be it.

It didn't take long for them to come across more tunnels, and they kept on walking in whatever direction that smell came from. Finally, they arrived at someplace but…

"Are you sure it's down there?" Zoro asked seeing both of them stopping in front of a downwards slope.

Falgar nodded answering, "Yeah. I can smell it more clearly now. It's very close and this scent… Foliage?" he said in un-certain tone. These red hills were purely stone based and not a single blade of grass grew on them and yet, in here deep down he could smell flowers, trees, grass and much more. This was extremely strange

Lulune on the other hand was pale faced. Now that they could smell more clearly the pen and paper fell down. "No! this can't be?!", she fell on her knees covering her head. She seemed frightened.

Seeing her in this sudden condition, Falgar immediately went to her, asking worriedly "What happe ", but stoppedas ifsuddenly seemed to remembering something and started sniffing towards that direction. The more he sniffed, the graver his expression became. He once again turned to Lulune, "You don't think? No! How's that even possible?"

"W-we should go back" she was shivering, hugging herself with her own hands.

"No point. Look! Whatever it is has found us. There's quite a lot", Zoro shifted their focus downwards. Many strange wiggly things could be seen coming towards the group. These were similar to that one monster he had seen in the sea which was torn apart.

"VIOLAS!?" seeing these monsters, all three of them screamed at the same time. What were these things doing down here, they didn't know neither was now the time to think any of that. They needed to survive first and foremost before doing anything else.

Zoro unsheathed all three of his swords, while speaking to Falgar, "Get yourselves together", Lulune was shivering in fright while Meryl was paralyzed where she stood. It seemed they had some sort of trauma relating to these monsters but now wasn't the time.

He imbued all three of his swords in armament before jumping down, putting the swords held in hands over the one in his mouth, behind shoulder and…

(Three swords style, Tiger Hunting!)

swung down with as much force as possible. That posture looked like a tiger attacking with open jaws.

Three of the fore-front Violas got cut instantly dying as a result while the others focused their gazes upon him, attacking with open mouths. Zoro covered in green liquid jumped back using head of one the viola as a foothold while swinging his swords in mid air directing many air slashes towards Violas.

These things were strong and tough. Many of these slashes only left some light scratches on their bodies while there were those who dodged his attacks. A small number perished due to losing top part of their heads due to slashes landing in their open jaws.

"So that's the weak spot" he muttered to himself while landing on the ground. These things were persistent and many in numbers. Even he wasn't certain if he could kill them all. Perhaps if he could use advanced armament or conquerors then things would have been different, but he couldn't, not right now atleast. This point, he never understood. From what he had seen, skills and magick were things which would just appear. One couldn't decide what they wanted and when they wanted. It would automatically appear reflecting one's experiences, then what about Haki?

Haki in essence was representation of will power. One needed huge amount of effort and training with intent to just be able to learn armament and observation. Then further training would be required to make them even stronger, so it was different from skills or magick. He had a lot of experience in using highly advanced forms of Haki and yet now even after trying again an again, even after training and fighting high risk battles, he just couldn't use the advanced form. It was like a wall, stopping him from moving forward.

Same went for conquerors and infact this confused Zoro more than even the previous two. Yes, they were representation of will, but they weren't the wielder's 'will power' itself. One needed strong will and perseverance to be able to learn and advance other two so they didn't come naturally and would be as strong as the effort put into them but what about conquerors?

Yes, only the conquerors Haki could be a considered a sort of skill since it was hereditary but even then, it was different. It could not be trained in. It would be strong or weak according to wielders personal will power because it was the 'will power' in literal form. One just needed powerful will and awareness to be able to harness it and powerful intent to be able to imbue it. Back then, Zoro was using advanced conquerors without even knowing he was using it or if he even had it. No training, nothing. He was just unconsciously using it due to having the intent to use it and it was powerful from the get-go unlike armament or observation which needed to be trained in to make them stronger.

That is conquerors and, in all sense, and purpose, he should be able to use that advance form from the get-go and yet he just couldn't. He felt like something was missing and that's why he looked forward to gaining his observation Haki back since perhaps that was the last piece of puzzle to complete him.

Anyway, right now wasn't the time to think about all that. He needed to end them with what he had right now and that's what he was going to do. He attacked them in continuous manner picking only their most vulnerable spots while also moving about constantly. He could not stand at the same place or even take a breath since they would just swarm him there.

He suddenly turned around attacking another Viola whose body was in front of him while the head came from behind, almost biting him. His attack landed straight into its open jaws killing it, but that moment was enough for another Viola to emerge from his blind spot. He once again jumped backwards avoiding another fatal attack while sending the air slash, killing it only to be forced to cross his blades in front of him in defensive posture while jumping up. A powerful push came sending him flying towards the ceiling of this slanted cave. A viola had used it's snake like body to attack him which he managed to react and due to jumping backwards managed to mitigate the impact but still suffered a strong push.

"Tch! So annoying" these things were like snakes and moved erratically. Judging their rhythm was hard since they could use any part or posture to launch an attack from any direction. They were also quite fast in these movements.

While airborne, he let go of the sword in his mouth while at the same time held both of his hand swords parallel to each other and…

(Two Swords style, Nigiri Otoro)

Swung them down towards that Viola. Two air projectiles reinforced by gravity came down in straight line cutting said Viola in two pieces.

In the next instance, he coated his feet with armament and…

"THUD!"

… smashed into the ceiling with those feet digging into it planting himself there. Following which, he propelled himself from that ceiling with as much force as possible going straight down for those violas. He spun mid-air launching multiple air slashes in quick succession. These slashes were imbued with a lot of force and momentum and did a lot of damage this time, injuring a handful them, impeding their movements something Zoro took full advantage of. He launched another set of projectiles (air slashes) and this time they weren't able to dodge and died by having the top half being cut away.

But he didn't stop there and buckled himself for more action. Most Violas by this time were either dead or injured, with only a dozen or so remaining whom he once again engaged in fierce battle for survival.

Over at entrance on the top, they watched with disbelief with Lulune rubbing her eyes, pinching herself as if in a dream. By now she had managed to calm down and was ready to fight but still…

"I knew he was powerful but this?!" Falgar took words from her mouth saying them himself. He wasn't able to participate due to needing to get the girls come back to their senses, but he too was stupefied. Even he wouldn't be able to do so much despite being lvl 4. Violas weren't weak with just their physical defences being equivalent to top tier lvl 3's. That in addition with body composition, weight, speed, fighting style and powerful jaws made them deadly and yet here they were dying like flies.

Meryl on the other hand had also gotten better, "I-I think we should…", she spoke in mosquito like voice but wasn't able to complete her own sentence.

Hearing her, Falgar replied "Hm… ah yeah! You're right. We don't have time to be gawking. Let's back him up even though it doesn't look like he'll need it", a bitabsent-minded in the beginning but picked himself up. With that he too ran forward with Lulune in tow.

Falgar readied his battle axe and went ahead to join Zoro in this hunt while Lulune and Meryl took out those injured ones. Meryl was a mage specializing in fire magic which was extremely effective against these plant type monsters. She stayed behind launching her attacks at these Violas while Lulune being an assassin type fighter, finished them off as cleanly as possible.

With their addition along with Zoro in the vanguard, it didn't take long for remaining Violas to be wiped out.

With fighting all but concluded, Falgar along with Meryl and Lulune came before Zoro, bowing a little,

"Thank you very much. Without you, none of us would be going back alive"

"Yeah. Thanks"

"T-thank yo-u…"

Hearing their heartfelt gratitude, Zoro waved his hands as if it was no big deal, "No need to bow but tell me, do you guys perhaps have some sort of history with these monsters?", he naturally remembered how their condition were just due to scent alone and how they became after Violas appeared.

Hearing this question, all of their expressions scrunched as if recalling something they didn't want to. Looking at their expressions, "No need to tell me if it's difficult", Zoro didn't press on.

Falgar shook his head, replying "No. It's nothing like that. Well… These monsters and the scent here, we're familiar with it. It's similar to another one we experienced a month ago…" he looked aggrieved as if remembering something or someone, "…We lost many of our colleagues and… these monsters were one of the major reasons", after saying this much, he grew silent with heads down. That must have been a painful experience.

"I see"

Silence once again prevailed the tunnel.

"Aaawwww…! I'm getting sleepy. Let's get this over with", Zoro broke this silence. He indeed was getting a bit sleepy and had no interest in staying here anymore than necessary.

Hearing him, others broke their silence as well, "Exactly. Let's go" it seemed Lulune had regained that cheerful side of hers or atleast she was no longer gloomy like before.

Zoro took the first step followed by Falgar and the others. Not too long after, they reached the end of this tunnel and indeed, the smell of forest was heavy in the air. Even though there were no trees present, the foliage was in great quantity spreaded about. Looking at this once again reminded Hermes Familia of that tragedy. They walked forward fully vigilant and ready for any circumstance, but nothing happened. It didn't even take them a minute to reach a rather large hall which too was empty except for something.

It was an orb of some kind, "This is-?" it seemed even the Hermes familia members or atleast those present here had no idea of what this thing was either. Zoro went ahead and picked it up only to be shocked by what was inside.

This Orb was about the size of a human's head and a baby, or something like a baby pure black in colour could be seen inside, eyes closed as if sleeping. It was even breathing in intervals.

Lulune had a pondering look seeing what was inside and suddenly came forward, "Wait!? I think I know what it is. Although I don't know it's purpose or how it's formed, but it's something called 'Jewel Fetus' and… some dangerous people are after it. Perhaps guild or Loki Familia might know something about it"

"Is it?" Zoro looked at it seriously. It emanated a strange ripple and aura something which felt dangerous.

After looking around a bit and not finding any more Violas, Falgar took a sigh of relief. Still it was a wonder of how so many of those monsters were found here. Something was definitely going on in Orario they weren't aware of. Still atleast now he understood what confused him till now, "Perhaps those Violas stayed here due to this thing otherwise I don't see why they wouldn't just go out and cause havoc", that was just a guess but nothing else made sense.

Hearing him, Lulune nodded her head saying, "I agree!" She looked around for some sort of clues, but everything was covered in green moss. If there were some evidences, then probably had been covered.

"Let's go. I think this should be enough to satisfy the guild", Zoro in a way was the one leading this party so whatever he said, goes. Anyway, just this information alone would blow guilds heads away and even if something else could be found with more search, they couldn't do so. Only four people simply weren't enough for a project like this.

Hearing him, everyone nodded their heads, "Yeah", No one disagreed and went back from the route they came from without looking back. No one spoke on the way back with their thoughts occupied with what was found here. Someone was definitely involved, someone powerful otherwise it simply wasn't possible for something like this to be out here.

A shadow could be felt looming over this entire mess…

It didn't take long for the party to get back. What had to be done was already done. Now they just needed to go back and take a long rest for all the troubles encountered here. Hermes Familia decided to accompany Zoro back since their place of staying was near the Inn but…

They all couldn't help gasping by what lay before them. This was especially the case for Zoro who looked angry and confused "What the hell!?", he couldn't help cursing aloud and why wouldn't he.

The Inn was gone…

...

AND END!

Perhaps now each of my chapters are gonna be this long but who cares. Anyway, thanks for your support like always. Next chapter would probably be dropped next month, maybe. I'm not really certain of how long it might take to update it.

Still, I atleast enjoyed writing and hope you fellows will enjoy reading

Now let's talk about why(s)? I didn't add Loki Familia's meeting and plans along with Njord and nothing that's going on between them and would probably will not write much about their fight with Kali familia.

This story is based on Hestia familia and in a way, all other familias for me atleast are side character. Perhaps I might change that in the future, but I'll only write what is in one way or another relevant to Hestia Familia. Something which would have direct impact on Hestia Familia and Vice Versa so I skipped all of their preparations and plans and reasons etc.

That's my take for now.

Anyway, that's all I had to say. Have a wonderful day

REGARDS