Hello everyone, and we meet again for a new chapter of The Hunt Beyond The Dream.
Reminders:
-I am not English and therefore do not write it fluently. So if there are any mistakes, please let me know, I'll be glad to correct them.
-I accept and respond to all constructive criticism that helps me to improve.
-Finally, I am an amateur writer, doing fanfiction on my free time, for free and voluntary. So I don't owe you anything and have no reason to force me to publish more or to impose constraints on my writing.
Another piece of information, I will take liberties with the Lore and Canon of Danmachi and Bloodborne (which is the purpose of fanfiction), so if things are not clear, they might become clear later.
Sorry for the inconvenience and enjoy the reading.
This chapter has been corrected.
Chapter 1 : A Stranger in the Shadow.
It should and would have been an ordinary day for the citizens of Orario. But people soon realized that things were not quite right when the earth started to shake.
This was no classic earthquake. It was... different. An aura of rage and repulsion came from the ground beneath their feet followed by an intense bloodlust that came straight from deep within the earth. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the dungeon was involved in the recent development.
The shaking had not stopped, growing stronger every moment. A low, moaning sound resounded from the still unknown underground caverns, sending waves of despair and agony to the surface.
An unintelligible whisper echoed through the corridors and into the entrance of the dungeon, sending a shiver down the spine of the adventurers present.
The citizens had begun to panic and even the most seasoned adventurers seemed worried. The dungeon had always been known to be a living, self-aware entity, but such behaviour was more than unprecedented.
The bloodlust coming from the deepest floors didn't even seem to come from the ground but from an independent creature. The whisper that had sounded the first time became faster and more understandable before it was stifled as if it had never existed.
It was as if the dungeon was expressing its feelings and asking for help to get rid of an unknown parasite within.
On top of a huge tower, a queen sitting on her throne overlooking the city felt a cold draft. She looked down into the dungeon and began to understand the true nature of the power emanating from the depths of the dungeon. She basked in the warm aura that leaked through the sensation of death and blood before letting out a sensual moan.
A red-haired goddess sitting at her desk froze in her laughter as she felt the faint scent of death wafting through the city and the cheerful facade that animated her tore away to give way to unearthly fear before calming down as she discovered the heat that seemed to stalk death. A whisper escaped him.
"Something has happened..."
A goddess of home and family was busy in front of a food stand serving customers when the tremor began. Like all the others before her, she stopped moving, suffocating under the evil aura, before calming down. But unlike the others, she felt a certain familiarity in the heat that she did not recognize.
"I hope Bell is okay," she asked, looking toward the dungeon.
A white-haired boy fell to the ground destabilized by the sudden earthquake. The monster he was facing looked around in panic before escaping to a hole in the wall with a groan.
The tremor grew in intensity and a rock came loose from the ceiling, falling right in front of him, followed by more stony projectiles. The boy's eyes widened, and he picked up his weapon before running to the surface. He didn't have to stay here.
A joyful god laughed as he felt death, another mocked as he felt fear engulf him. The vilest ones froze, not knowing if any of them had decided to act without the consent of the others.
One thing was certain, no God in Orario had failed to feel the unexpected surge of energy. No God had underestimated its significance. The sudden arrival of evil energy chased by a noble power was reminiscent of a god's arcana. Their use was considered an extremely serious crime, and no one wanted to be sent back to heaven. Especially in the absence of concrete evidence of the event.
A week had passed and nothing of note had happened.
A Denatus had been hastily called and every God had appeared, even those who did not really care about their divine counterparts. Everyone knew how their absences could be a sign of guilt and held as evidence for immediate banishment.
The debate began calmly and then devolved into an uninterrupted exchange of hurtful remarks and spurious accusations. Eventually two conclusions were reached.
Someone had entered the dungeon, used their arcana and returned without anyone noticing. This was unlikely, mainly because of the surveillance around the dungeon.
Or something new had happened in the dungeon and a god or something close to it was responsible.
Neither answer was particularly popular, but they were the only two possibilities that could be unanimously accepted.
No one knew what had happened and an expedition to the lower levels was already being planned by the Loki Familia to investigate the source of the supernatural power that had been gushing out of the dungeon.
Finally, it was decided to wait for the expedition to take place to get information about the strange phenomenon that had taken place.
Many people had quickly begun to put the earthquake behind them, blaming it solely on a mystery in the dungeon. But the adventurers knew better than anyone that something had happened underground.
The monsters seemed to behave differently. They were suddenly more docile, running away whenever they could and hiding in holes or crevices trying to escape from something.
The worst was when they were cornered, they became more aggressive than before, launching reckless and devastating attacks, charging into suicide attacks in greater numbers than before, as if they were trying to eliminate the threat as quickly as possible so they could get back into hiding.
The unease began to build further when it was discovered in the lower floors of the areas completely emptied of its monsters. Entire floors had been decimated leaving only the stones and rare items that the monsters dropped.
The word in the taverns was that a shadowy figure seemed to be watching from the corners as the adventurers made their way down to the upper floors.
This strange shape seemed to be moving inexorably toward the surface, using the adventurers as an unwitting guide.
One adventurer had testified to meeting a man in mysterious grey and black robes walking behind her. A headband covered his face, and a strange hat hid his hair. He had disappeared in a cloud of white smoke as soon as she turned to attack him.
Fear settled in everyone's mind, and more and more Familias began to lend their own members to the Loki expedition in the hope of getting to the bottom of the mystery and getting rid of the monster known as the Silent Crow.
And then, the day of the expedition's departure arrived.
Nearly fifty adventurers from a dozen Familias were lined up and ready to go. Loki was there, proud to see such a massive task force under her command. She the only goddess to have decided to go down with her Familia. Although other gods were present, it was more out of concern for their members.
The expedition started early in the morning and the second floors were quickly passed. The monsters were hiding in a furious fear and did not even try to approach the adventurers in any way.
The first nine floors were easily passed in a few hours of walking. It was on the tenth floor that things became more problematic. The once peaceful monsters had begun to turn violent, attacking the adventurer lines in waves.
Something was noticed, the monsters kept looking back and fleeing the eleventh floor.
"We're getting close to the source," Loki muttered to Aiz who was standing next to him. The blonde nodded.
The expedition carefully descended to the eleventh floor. No sooner had they taken a step into the new floor than the screams of monsters reached their ears. The bestial howls of the most dangerous creatures echoed throughout the walls before being cut off as if nothing had happened.
At first, no one reacted.
A command from Loki silenced the crowd, and the goddess ordered them to move upstairs. The group moved toward the source of the noise. The further they went, the more the green grass became coloured with a multitude of shades of blood. The corpses of monsters had been left there without even touching them. It seemed that whoever was there had no interest in skinning the monsters.
The screams of the Silverbacks began again. The Sword Princess Aiz took the lead of a small group and moved faster. The scene she saw as she arrived was worthy of a legendary saga.
A single man stood in the centre of five Silverbacks who had surrounded him. Aiz and the other adventurers tried to intervene but stopped when the man drew a sharp-toothed saw. The weapon was covered in monster blood and some of the teeth of the blade were still smeared with blood and pieces of flesh torn from his enemies.
The man moved his arm quickly and the saw followed suit. The weapon went through the throat of one of the monkeys, which screamed in pain and fell backwards, choking on its own blood. One of the Silverbacks tried to attack him, but the man turned and threw himself to the side in an expert roll before spinning his body around, throwing his weight into the weapon and piercing the beast's belly in one masterful motion. As he was about to stop his movement, the man seemed to notice the movement of the other monsters and took advantage of the kinetic energy produced by his previous attack to move towards one of the three surviving monkeys who were frozen in intense fear by the death of their two fellow monkeys.
The saw drew from its scabbard, transforming itself into a massive cleaver that in one motion took out two of the monkeys instead of its first and only target.
The last monster looked at the man as if he saw the devil and turned to flee. The hunter didn't give it a chance and drew his pistol, putting a bullet directly into the head of the runaway.
A spurt of blood burst into the air and flowed in a never-ending stream.
Nobody moved, Aiz was unable to understand what had happened. The fight had only lasted a little less than a minute. Amid the silence, the man's breathing was low, as if he had just finished a workout, not as if he had just come out of a fight to the death.
Loki arrived at that very moment with the rest of the expedition. She looked at Aiz and then turned to the man she was staring at. The corpses of Silverbacks were slowly disappearing into the thick haze of the floor.
Finally, he seemed to notice them and turned back to them.
Aiz and then examine it in its entirety.
The man was wearing an outfit like the one described in the testimony. A long trench coat that covered his entire body, every part of the fabric was covered with blood and battle marks. The long saw blade he had used sat proudly in his hand and she could see under the folds of his outfit a sword of some sort. A wide-brimmed hat covered his head, partially hiding his medium-length blond hair, while a scarf hid his face, leaving only his bright blue eyes visible.
Even from a distance, it was easy to tell that the man was relatively young. He couldn't have been more than seventeen years old. However, one could see that he had fought a lot.
"Are you allies or enemies..." the man grunted in an exhausted voice.
His eyes were covered with a kind of bloody veil, and he moved only by instinct. A wrong word meant he would attack. Loki, who had not seen the fight, replied.
"We are allies."
The man seemed to have a sigh of relief and mumbled a single incomprehensible sentence before collapsing to the ground.
At first, no one reacted. Then, suddenly, everyone did, cautiously approaching the man on the ground.
When they had surrounded him, they noticed that he was unconscious.
A command from Loki silenced the crowd, and the goddess chose her vice-captain to tend to the injured man. The green-haired elf rushed forward, and her hand glowed with mystical energy as she flew over the man's prone body. For a minute, nothing happened.
The elf frowned, grumbling in concentration as she repositioned her palm dozens of times. She suddenly stopped the spell, resorting to physically checking the man's body with her fingers and eyes. Finally, she stood up and said simply.
"I can't heal him."
A hushed silence descended on the crowd.
The elf shook her head.
"It doesn't work because he's not hurt at all. It's exhaustion. All he needs is rest."
Murmurs erupted. Even Loki was too stunned to quiet them. A man who appeared to be in such a desolate state was completely unharmed.
Loki stopped and went back into his thoughts. They had found something in the dungeon at the site where the monster corpses had been found dead. It partially matched the information and was most likely human.
Should they continue the expedition? Was the arrival of this strange new human related to the strange incident of a week ago?
No god had claimed him as one of their own, and no adventurer recognized his face.
After intense thought, it was decided that the expedition would go back up with the new stranger. Any information the man might have could potentially save lives and save them a lot of time. But more importantly, he may have been the person behind it all.
Deep cuts on his left arm, broken ribs, twisted right foot and probably a good half of his right eye embedded in his skull. On top of that, there were burns all over his body and his lungs were on fire from the ash that had built up and the constant exertion.
Now the wounds were significant enough to merit the use of a vial of blood. Or maybe not yet?
No... It was not necessary for him to take any risks.
The worst thing was not the pain that came in uninterrupted waves. He had been used to it long enough not to feel any more.
It was the mental fatigue that weighed. Sometimes the hunts lasted for days, but there was always a break when he could let his mind wander to a tavern with other hunters.
But not here. No rest. One moment of inattention was death. Especially if there was no way back.
Even during the long night, he could enjoy a few minutes to rest in the dream. The nightmare had been quite long, more than many others whose nights had been short... A bad luck of the period when he had signed...
The burned walls were gone. The creatures had changed, becoming slower and clumsier and a strange feeling of unease had come over him.
Where was he? Was this the waking world?
Aiz was on call the day the man woke up. She had been sitting for hours and would have continued to sit for hours more, but her patient put her hand over her face and opened her eyes groggily.
"You're awake," she said, tilting her head.
The man blinked at her voice, sitting up and looking at her with a blank expression. She saw his eyes fall on the sword on her hip for a few moments before looking up again.
"Am I dead?" he asked rather ironically with the same blank face as his interlocutor.
"No," said Aiz, shaking his head. "We found you fighting in the dungeon and brought you back."
The man frowned and noticed his weapons were gone. He looked around the room before asking.
"Where are my weapons and my bag?
"Here," Aiz pointed to a pack in the corner of the room. The man quickly stood up and checked his weapons before sitting back down on the edge of the bed.
Finally, he turned his head to look out the window, blinking several times as he registered the scenery beyond the glass. He put his hand in front of his eyes shielding his face from the sunlight hitting the room.
"Where am I?"
"Orario. We brought you back from the dungeon."
The man squinted his eyes and Aiz could hear him say the word "Orario" to himself in confusion.
"Who are you?"
"Aiz Wallenstein. And you?"
"Ashton Warden..."
Several minutes passed in total silence. It would have been awkward for many, but neither of them was awkward. Ashton was busy checking his weapon while Aiz watched him with some interest.
A slight noise sounded. By the time the door knob turned, Ashton had already sharpened his senses, knowing that whoever was standing on the other side was a potential threat. By the time the newcomer entered, the hunter had already acted. In the blink of an eye, he had risen to his feet and pointed his fully unfolded cleaver at the newcomer's throat.
The terrified scream of a young girl, however, made him immediately back away.
"Eek! What's your problem, you bastard?! Are you going to point guns at everyone you meet?"
Ashton looked at her still wary. The person had a human form, but it was easy to see under that an immense power.
The hunter had not let his guard down and despite his lowered weapon still stood ready to act. The presence reminded him of Amygdala and other Great Elders he had had the honor, or rather the despair, of experiencing. Creatures as close to divinity but still mortal as his human mind had been able to glimpse.
Here, however, stood a true god, one who had overstepped the bounds of the ancients. His aura was far more dazzling than Amygdala's.
"You are a god," he said in an almost accusatory tone.
If she was surprised, the goddess didn't show it.
"Yes I am. Why? Sharp senses you have, boy. I am Loki."
Ashton grunted apprehensively as he looked at the young woman before putting his saw away at his side. In any case, even if he fought her he knew he didn't stand a chance of winning.
Although these powers were hidden, if she released them it would be carnage. Especially with the reinforcement of the young woman in his back. He turned his head in the direction of Aiz.
"You can put away your blade. I'm not going to attack her." he said, noticing the stunned eyes of Aiz who nodded briefly before releasing the hilt of his sword.
"Are you really a God?" he asked doubtfully as he looked him up and down. His stoic face made it difficult to know what he was really thinking.
The goddess rolled her eyes.
"Of course I'm a Goddess. I'm Loki. You can ask her," she said, pointing to Aiz. "She's part of my Familia.
In fact, that short statement had raised many more questions for the hunter.
"What is a Familia?"
Loki squinted at him and his eyes turned into thin lines.
"You're an adventurer and you don't know what a Familia is?"
"Adventurer?" repeated Ashton still more surprised. His tone although surprised did not correlate with his face which remained inexpressive. "I don't know what it is either.
"You were found in the dungeon covered in blood and you don't know what an adventurer and a Familia is?"
"I am a hunter of hunters." simply answered the young man.
The goddess sank into an empty chair, brought a hand to her face and sighed deeply.
"You don't know what the Dungeon is either, do you?"
Ashton nodded. Nothing Loki had said so far made any sense to him. The redhead began to make a bunch of strange hand gestures.
"A dark, maze-like place. Lots of monsters? Blood and fighting?"
Ashton blinked in surprise before remembering what had happened to him when he came out of the dream. This must be the place where he had landed and fought.
"Not a good place," Ashton hissed, remaining neutral. "Not worse than the Dream or the Hunt but still tiring... Thought I was going to die once or twice."
Loki leaned over to him, looking at him as if he were a piece of meat.
"Yet here you are. How can you be so uninformed and still alive?"
"Training, skill, and luck," Ashton replied simply.
Loki didn't even seem convinced at all.
"But you have a Falna, right?"
"No idea what a Falna is..."
"A Falna is a blessing from God. It gives mortals abilities and boosts their stats. In exchange the mortal joins the Familia of his god."
"Blessed by a god?" asked Ashton with amusement. "The only gods I know were the kind that wanted to kill us... So giving us a blessing and making us join a Familia? A folly I never thought I'd even hear of."
His still neutral face had let a slight moment of fatigue pass that Loki did not miss. Despite his young age, it seemed that he had lived a lot. His eyes seemed haunted by visions of horror that no one should see. It reminded him of the other person in the room. The boy could see a pained expression cross Loki's features as he stopped.
"I don't know where you're from but here it's pretty normal for the gods to bless adventurers."
"I'd like to see that..." he declared.
A predatory gleam shone in Loki's eye.
"You have? That's great! Then I can totally show you by giving you my Falna!" announced Loki, raising her arms victoriously. "I am the best Goddess in Orario."
"I don't want to join a Familia" announced Ashton immediately cutting her off in her rant.
If he had learned anything from all his time in Yharnam it was that mixing with the gods was always a disaster waiting to happen. The proof had been in the pudding with the Church of the Remedy and the students of Byrgenwerth.
Loki looked more annoyed than disappointed. A soft smile graced his lips.
"I want to know where you're from," she asked.
"You don't need to know," he said, cutting short any questions.
His time in the dream was to remain in the dream and so was what he had discovered. The Great Old Ones, the madness of blood. Everything had to remain forever lost. Especially would he never give it to a god.
"You know I can make you.
Ashton's eyes crinkled with suspicion.
"Try me," he growled contemptuously.
Was this goddess really trying to corrupt him? Like the others?
Gods, he despised with every fiber of his being, but here he had to keep a low profile, especially in front of one. His life could be gambled on a single wrong word.
"Tell me a lie and I will be seen if it is true," she said confidently.
"I'm a demon that took human form."
As she moved her lips, he felt something tug at his mind and force him to tell the truth.
Ever since he had discovered the existence of the great ancients, but especially after his first real encounter with the strange powers of illusions and telepathy of some of the beasts of Yharnam, he had made it a point to never have his mind affected by magic.
The blood that flowed through his veins gave him a welcome resistance, but not nearly enough.
Ashton knew of this type of mental spell that affected the mind and had protected himself from it by a hard mental training and a certain investment of his blood echoes with Doll.
The thread that pulled the information broke cleanly causing a slight snap in her mind.
The goddess blinked at him in surprise. Then she began to poke him with a stick she had summoned from nowhere.
"You're...not really a demon...are you?"
"No." he said flatly. "Do I look like one?" he asked, turning to Aiz who seemed to be holding back a small laugh.
"Excuse me." she said as she ran toward the door.
Ashton turned again to Aiz, who was still impassive, but whose face showed his slight amusement. The two stolidly looked at each other for a few moments before the hunter spoke.
"Uh... are all the gods like this, or is Loki particularly weird?"
Aiz shrugged before looking towards the ajar door.
"Coming from someone like you that's pretty ironic." the blonde said.
Loki returned quickly, but this time not alone. She had brought three other women with her, each of them ridiculously beautiful, and then asked him to lie to their faces.
Ashton knew they were powerful. He felt it to the core of his being. So he had deduced that just like Loki they were goddesses. Taking the risk of disobeying seemed to him, on the one hand stupid, and on the other counterproductive.
His life was worth more than a useless affront to such powerful beings.
When he succeeded in doing so, they all had bewildered looks on their faces, except for Loki, who wore a triumphant expression that the hunter had only seen in some of the younger arrogant hunters.
"You are all goddesses, aren't you?" he asked calmly.
His face, always impassive, betrayed no emotion.
They nodded.
"I am Lady Hestia," said the one with black hair tied in two braids. "Goddess of Home and Family.
"Hephaestus. Goddess of the Forge," said the one with short red hair and an eye patch.
"Freya" said the last one.
Ashton felt a kind of charm, which made him say that his deity was related to beauty. Unfortunately for her, the runes prevented the spell from taking effect on him. He couldn't see any ill will in them, and more importantly, they weren't shapeless and violent like the Great Old Ones had been.
For the first time in ages, the hunter felt relief wash over him. The gods here were not harbingers of destruction bringing with them the madness of dreams, nightmares, and the hunt.
"So, Ashton," Freya said, her voice soft and calm, "If you're done with your questions, we have a few of our own we'd like to ask you."
He shrugged indifferently still sitting on the side of the bed with his weapons at the ready.
"Where are you from?" asked Hephaestus.
"From the dungeon," the hunter answered simply.
Perhaps he couldn't affront the gods but annoying them with simple contractions was within his capabilities.
"I mean before I went into the dungeon." she added, noticing the glint of childish amusement in the hunter's eyes.
Ashton's face turned dark and cold.
"Yharnam, the dead city. Or more commonly known as the city of fools..." he replied with venom.
He knew that the outside world and even the hunters of other cities and nations considered those of Yharnam to be madmen, and he himself had to admit that this was the case. A few years in the hell on earth that was the dark city would make him consider anything else peaceful.
"I've never heard of this place before" replied the goddess of the forge followed by the denial of every goddess present.
This time Ashton looked confused.
"What are you talking about? Although it is not world famous, it is still a city that is remembered..."
"I may not be the most knowledgeable about world geography... But I've never heard of a place called Yharnam," Loki replied, scratching his chin.
She thought about it for a few moments, there was a hint of fear in the young man after they said that, but he had to confirm it.
"Yharnam may have disappeared at the end of my hunt... What other countries were there..." he muttered under his breath as he tried to remember more.
He didn't know they could hear him, and he didn't really care. The advantage of being a goddess was a certain experience coming with age that the boy did not have.
"Hunting?" wondered Freya inwardly.
"England? Ireland? Kingdom of France?"
The woman shook her head, which made his heart flutter, so he hoped something good would come of it. Were they gods? Beings close to the ancients in their forms, they had to know if...
"Nightmare of Mensis? Great Old Ones?" he asked again.
Loki shook his head again.
"Never heard of it," the other two replied.
He breathed a sigh of relief; it was as if death no longer followed him. He asked one last question that he hoped would be favourable.
"Gerhman the First Hunter?"
As one, the four goddesses shook their heads. His heart clenched at the cold thought he choked, a hint of sadness and remorse was heard by the goddess of home.
Finally, he answered the question.
"I don't think it's anywhere near here. I was fighting monsters," he lied. "And the next thing I knew, I was in the Dungeon, surrounded by more of them than I'd ever seen..."
"So ... You were summoned to the Dungeon? How long were you there?" asked Loki as he went on. "What kind of monster did you fight."
He shook his head.
"I can't say for sure for how long. But the first monsters I fought were some kind of black obsidian armour and skeletal sheep. When I started to go back up to the upper floors, I came across a kind of huge room with white walls. I fought a huge lizard that I killed with difficulty because it was blocking the way back. After that, I just went back up killing the monsters on each floor, looking for an exit. When I started to run out of healing, I ran away from the bigger monsters and only faced the necessary."
The goddesses exchanged a look, as if they had confirmed something they suspected.
"Did you see anyone else out there?" asked Hephaestus.
He shook his head.
"I didn't see anyone for a long time. About twenty floors I think... I saw a few people after that but I avoided them at first because I didn't know if they would attack me. On one floor, there was a kind of city around a huge tree, but I didn't try to approach it. I was afraid it would hurt me."
For a moment Ashton's childish side came out and was not missed by Hestia who smiled sadly.
"The one time I went near humans, they ran away. So, I just ended up giving up and following them to the nearest stairwell."
A revelation came to Ashton again, if he was no longer in the nightmare and the dream... It meant he had no more second chances. That death was final, that he no longer had the obligation to hunt monsters. Above all...
Without considering the goddesses, he raised his sleeve and checked the veins in his arm. Although they were still a blue colour tending to black, there was no longer the red colour that signified disease.
He then looked at the back of his hand and saw it was empty of any trace. The mark... It was gone. He... He was free!
A smile graced his lips. The disease was gone, but he still had the old blood in him.
"Oh, what are you so happy about?" asked Loki.
"Nothing... I just don't seem to be affected by an old enemy anymore." he said before putting his sleeve back in place.
The four goddesses entered the giant meeting room. Every God, at least the most important ones, were present.
"So?" asked Hermes. "Did you find out anything?"
"He was probably the one who caused the disturbance," said the trickster goddess. "He was transported from a city called Yharnam.
"We suspect that a God used his arcane powers to transport him to the Keep and leave him. From what he described he was dropped off near the fortieth floor," Hestia added.
"Why would someone do that?" questioned Ganesha.
Loki shrugged.
"Who knows? But you must think that he was separated from everything he knew before he was brought here... From what little he has to say he seems to be from another world.
"Poor thing..." said Hestia, looking at the floor.
"More importantly, we have confirmed that the boy really does have the ability to lie to us," said Loki.
"So, everything you think you know about him could be a lie?" asked Hermes.
"It's an interesting ability that seems passive," said Freya. "I've looked at his soul and it's an incomprehensible mix even to me. Interesting but not nearly as exciting."
Freya stood up quickly.
"I'll go check something with him." she said calmly before leaving.
None of the gods reacted. There was a brief discussion between the gods before a very important question came out.
"How strong is he?"
Loki felt his face twitch.
"He is very responsive and put his blade to my throat when I returned, and he was able to climb back up from the deepest floors of the dungeon alone and without injury other than fatigue. I'd say he was teleported to the thirty-eighth floor because he encountered obsidian soldiers. One thing is sure, he is more powerful than Aiz, even though he must be his age... And above all, he looks very much like him in his behaviour... "
"This must be a common thing of all very powerful adventurers!" declared Ganesha with a smile.
"I see." Hermes nodded thoughtfully. "We have an excessively strong unknown adventurer with no ties and not being in any Familia..."
"That's right..." said Hephaestus. "And... Wait... Didn't Freya go to see him?!"
The eyes of Hestia and the other gods widened.
"My god!"
"We have to catch her!" said Hestia as she jumped out of her chair and ran for the door.
Far too late, everyone had realized what was happening. It was a mad dash out of the meeting room, each God rushing to stop the other from claiming Ashton Warden in hopes of taking him for himself.
Just as they had reached the door, they saw a supernatural scene of Hestia and Loki trying to break down the door to the room.
"Freya! Open this door!"
"We were too late." Loki growled. "He's at least level six if he was killing monsters on the thirty-eighth floor!"
The door swung open, and Hestia fell forward into the room. Every God held his breath in anticipation.
Freya came out, a forced smile on her face.
"Oh, my goodness. What a crowd. What are you doing here? Have you come to visit?"
"That was a low blow." said Hephaestus. "You didn't manage to recruit him, did you?"
She giggled with amusement as she saw the defeated face of the white-haired goddess.
Freya's cheeks twitched a little in annoyance.
"No. I didn't make her join my Familia," she said, just as Aiz walked out of the room behind her. Loki gave his sword princess a thumbs up sign.
"You stopped him from recruiting?! Way to go Aiz! Plus ten points Loki!"
Hestia managed to sneak up behind Freya and had a scream.
"He's not here!"
Loki blinked, as did everyone else.
"What do you mean he's not here?!" yelled Loki.
She ran to the door and through it too, only to be greeted by an empty room and an open window. Hestia was bent over, trying to peek under the bed.
"Aiz, where did he go?" asked Loki.
The blonde girl pointed to the open window and made a downward sign with her finger.
"You mean he went out the window?!" asked Hestia. "You didn't stop his suicide?!"
"He was too fast. There was nothing I could do."
The redheaded goddess felt her eyelids twitch.
"Aiz... Do you know where we are?"
"Yes, Lady Loki. We are on the seventh floor."
An understanding seemed to dawn on the young blonde woman's face. The princess of swords looked at her. Then she walked over to the window and peeked her head over the sill. She turned around and gave Loki a thumbs up.
"He doesn't appear to be dead... There's no corpse and no blood."
Loki rubbed his eyes.
"Sometimes I wonder who taught him common sense."
"It was you Lady Loki." replied Aiz innocently.
"Ho! Shut up!"
The gods walked away from the door beginning to disperse.
"I can't believe we didn't pass up a chance like this..." grumbled one of the gods.
"He must be hanging around town somewhere. We can always find him!" retorted another.
Loki turned to Aiz.
"Did he tell you why he jumped?
Aiz shrugged.
"No. He didn't say.
Loki could tell her knight was lying, but she didn't want to question him further with so many people around.
She held back an annoyed groan and walked through the door toward her Familia.
So ends the first real chapter of The Hunt Beyond The Dream. A chapter with few "real" fights.
Useful to introduce Ashton in the world of Danmachi while familiarizing him with the Gods. The Lore of BloodBorne tends to remind men of their smallness compared to the Great Old Ones. It will take time for him to truly accept and regard the gods with more than a fierce and mocking contempt. I was inspired by another Danmachi fanfiction for this chapter (Is It Wrong For A Godslayer To Have A Harem Of Goddesses?). Although I made my own version.
Nothing special to say except take care of yourself and your family.
See you soon for the next chapter.