Lily's (Precious Friends)
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA?!" I half expected Bell's reaction when I explained Lily's situation to him. After a few days I realized that my white haired teammate is prone to over the top reactions. "Let me help, Viole! I promise I wi-" I covered Bell's mouth with my hand as I shushed him. With a motion of my head, Bell realized his mistake. Letting go of him, he glanced behind me and noticed what I had a while ago. We were being followed by Soma goons. I recognized three of the guys but there was a forth that I didn't recognize. Let's hope he's not a level two or higher. "I see now... But I'm not backing down. Viole, Lily, I want to help!"
"I knew you'd be interested." A smile creeped onto my face, one that I knew didn't look good but I had no reason to hide it. This is going to be fun. "Alright then, I already have a plan guys. Come in close."
Once I relayed the plan to my two teammates, who also grew creepy smiles, we made our way into the dungeon. Keeping their distance was the four Soma adventures, but I expected them to follow us in. There's no better place to assault adventurers than in the dungeon after all. Convenient alibi. We made our way through the first nine floors until we reached our old limit. The tenth floor. "I don't think I'm gonna get used to this floor's creepiness."
"Do you want me to hold your hand, Mister Bell?" Ignoring Lily's snark, Bell had a point. Unlike the first nine floors of the dungeon, the floor was covered with white trees with no leaves, white grass and thick fog. We've reached this floor three times, but every time we did we were far too tired to explore. Today, we purposely skipped as many fights as we could till we got here. "Sir Viole. Are you sure you don't need a weapon? The monsters here have quite long reach."
"I'm glad that you're worried Lily. But I can't get stronger if I don't learn how to close the distance." My supporter sighed but didn't press the issue any further. "Ready?" Lily loaded a bolt into her crossbow and Bell unsheathed a short sword that Lily had given him for earlier to replace his knife for this floor. "Let's devour em!"
Jumping down into the floor, three large green Orcs spawned around us. "A-Already?!"
"Focus, Mister Bell! Stick to the plan." Even though he was nervous, Bell nodded and ran towards the closest Orc, sliding under it's fist and slicing off it's right hand. This kid sure can flip on a dime. Not losing focus myself I engaged the two Orcs behind us. I knew that I was no match for two at the same time, but luckily I had back up. As I ran into the closest one I dug my hand into it's large gut, ignoring the disgusting sound and feeling as I threw the Orc into a nearby tree. As I was recovering, the final monster rushed at me only for it to stop in place, hands above it and with wide eyes. "Sir Viole, are you alright?"
"Fine, thank you. Those Paralysis Bolts sure are something, huh?" I casually walked towards the frozen monster and extended my hand to it's throat, quickly slicing it open. After a second the Orc burst into a cloud of dust and a semi-large monster crystal came out. "I apologize, but it must be done." Turning my head, I caught the orc that I had thrown and was slowly getting up, holding it's stomach in pain. Not letting an opportunity go to waste, I spread my magic to my right foot and kicked off its head. "Once again, sorry."
"You can be quite cruel sometimes, Sir Viole." Lily commented as she picked up the monster crystals off the ground. Bell quickly jogged to us with a crystal in his own hand and unhurt. "No wonder your gloves got so damaged."
"Sorry but we don't have the luxury of being honorable to these monsters. And I know first hand that honor does not win fights." The colors flashed through my mind again but went away with a shake of my head.
"Viole, you okay?" My white haired friend's innocent eyes washed away some of my recently gained fatigue.
"Yeah. Thanks again for the help guys. But we've got another hour to buy, so let's get to it."
SSS
Rabbit
Viole kind of scares me. I know that he's a nice guy, how far he's going for Lily is proof of that. But... in battle he's truly scary. His usually kind, Violet eyes change to that of a hunter looking for prey. When he fights monsters he does not give them an inch and kills them in truly cruel ways. While I usually am fine with slicing a monster in two. Still screwed up I know. But one way of killing the enemy that I can tell Viole favors is crushing their head under his foot. Whether it's a War Shadow or an Orc, if he gets the chance to do it, he will. This doesn't even mention the strange aura that his magic has. It feels...off. Though to be fair, the only experience I have with Magic is Firebolt.
"Mister Bell! Pay attention!"
"Huh?" Once I began to notice my surroundings once more, I saw a large orc using a tree as a club...swinging it at me. "Crap!"
"Idiot!" Viole pulled me from my spot as a bolt flew over my head and hit the monster right between the eyes and instantly killed it. "Hey are you alright man? You don't seem on top of your game."
"S-Sorry. I was thinking about something...ah." As I bowed in apology I noticed something strange. The hand that Viole had used to pull me had his magic dissipated. "Viole...why'd you take your magic off of your hand?" I instantly noticed my mistake. I spoke without thinking again! How many times had Goddess Hestia told me to fix that! "NEVER MIND! I didn't mean to pry! Please just ignore that!"
"Huh? It's no big deal. I don't like having the magic I use to fight to touch the people I care about. Simple as that." I was stunned at the straight-forwardness of his answer. It came so quickly there was no way for him to make that up as a lie, not to mention the softness in his eyes. "I've gotten comments on how my magic makes people feel strange so...never mind. Since you're feeling out of it let's call it a day. Alright?"
I was about to protest when I remembered the plan. It does feel like an hour past. "Alright. Viole, Lily. Please lead the way." Viole smiled, completely dissipated his magic and led our small group out of the floor and back up the way we came. But this was no time to relax, our plan was just beginning.
Floor nine...floor eighth...floor seven. When we entered that floor, Viole stopped and turned his head to the right. "Hey...anyone there?" Huh? Isn't this earlier than he thought? "I can sense you. So come out now, and drop your weapon. You're outnumbered." Out of the corner of the room came a man in a red coat and long black hair. He had a katana in his hands and dropped it on the ground. "Well that's unexpected. I thought you were going to be stubborn."
"I know better than to provoke a Loki member. Especially one that can sense me at level one." Viole smirked at the complement and leaned back into a shrug.
"What can I say, Loki's got an eye for talent." It was quite hard not to laugh at Viole's display. I know that he's intentionally trying to act like a hot shot, trying to use his overconfidence to intimidate our enemies. But the fact that it looked like it fit him was hilarious to me. "So then, is there a reason that you were clearly ready to ambush us, or are you just an opportunistic fool?" To emphasize his disinterest, Viole leaned forward towards the man and cracked his fingers with one hand. He's quite good at this.
"The girl."
"She has a name you know." For a second, some of Viole's true anger seeped out, and even though Lily told me about it, it was quite a change. The air grew cold for a second and his eyes glew red before returning to normal. "So you have a bone to pick with Lily, eh? Part of the Soma familia by chance?"
"I don't need to tell you." Viole shrugged at his answer as if to say 'fair enough'. "Some shady bastards promised me some good loot if I helped them rob the girl. So now that I gave you all I know, can I go now?"
Viole let out a laugh before nodding. "Yeah, but kick your sword to me."
"But-"
"Hey, I'm not a monster." A small knife appeared in our leader's hand. "I'm not gonna leave you to die. Plus I'm sure you'll find this knife to be quite valuable. Sell it to get a better sword." The man thought for a second before kicking the sword to me. After fumbling with it, I was able to place it on my belt. When I nodded to Viole, he threw the knife towards the man's feet. "Alright. Have a safe trip back to the surface, and I hope to never see you again." The man clicked his teeth and left the room. When he was finally gone, Viole let out a sigh and practically fell to the ground.
"Wow, quite impressive acting, Sir Viole." Lily's smile was infectious as I finally let out the laugh that I was holding in. "You really seemed in your element there."
"Ugh, sorry. I've had the pleasure of knowing someone like that so I just said what she would have." Viole rolled his shoulders and sighed once more. "Alright. If those guys really are on this floor, then the trap should already be set. Let's go."
Nodding we followed Viole around the floor. Our goal was simply the exit. Best case scenario, we never run into the people after Lily, but even I knew that was too good to be true. When we reached the middle of the floor, an old wolf man with brown hair, carrying a sack over his shoulders stood there, waiting for us. "Well, never thought we'd see each other again so soon, 'Sir Viole'"
Viole's mouth twisted into a disgusting grin which he immediately hid behind his hand. "Ahem. Well hello, old bastard. What a coincidence, but I'm afraid that we're kind of in a hurry. My friend here is tired and really needs a nap. So if you'd excuse us..."
"Now now. Why the cold shoulder?" Before Viole could walk past him, he threw the sack he was carrying towards Viole, who caught it on reaction. "Hold that for me."
"H-Huh?!"
"Sir Viole! Drop that!" Listening to Lily, he dropped the bag on the floor and a Killer Ant came out of it. "You...Are you an idiot?! You know that Killer Ants let out a signal to its kind when captured!"
"Do you want to argue here or do you want to get out of here alive?" Lily glared at the man as I just stared at the monster, waiting. Viole let out a sigh and scratched his head. "Drop all of your possessions and I'll let you go. So choose already!"
"Hey, old man." Viole's cold tone ripped the smile off of the man's face. "Where are your friends from the other day? Did they ditch you or something?"
"H...uh?" The man finally noticed. He was standing here in this room alone, no ants were responding to the signal of the monster that he had kidnapped and none of his other three partners were supporting him.
"You sure do have a one track mind." With a smirk, Viole used his hand to cup around his mouth and shouted. "You can come out now!"
"Very well." Coming from behind the man was an unbelievably beautiful blond woman dragging two unconscious people behind her. A-A-A-A-Ais?! The woman was the beautiful and strong Lady Ais WALLENSTEIN! "You aren't hurt, are you Viole?"
"I'm fine Ais, thank you. I'm more worried about those two idiots." Dropping the two people besides the old man, Ais walked until she stood next to Viole. When she noticed me however, she gave me a short bow. I CAN DIE HAPPY! "So then. Are you sure you want to continue down this path? Even with the Sword Princess here?"
"You...you'd go this far for some street rat?! This is enough for a War game! Wallenstein assaulted two Soma familia members!" The old man's eyes were bloodshot and spit rained from his mouth with every syllable.
"Street rat, huh." Viole took a deep breath before a sadistic smile came on his face. "It would be if you didn't try to rob us. Who cares about the order of events. Plus, it's not like people would believe some disgusting dog like you compared to my friend here." The two Loki members nodded at each other as our sudo-leader walked up to the man. "So this is what's gonna happen. You leave Lily alone from now on and never show your face to any of us ever again. Because we very well could have killed you here, so be grateful maggot." The dog man flinched but nodded as he bowed down to Viole. The smile creeped back on his face but he stopped it with a shake of his head. Viole... you really are scary. "Well good luck bastard. Eat shit and die."
SSS
Adventurer
"L-L-LADY Ais! It's a pleasure to meet you once more!" Once we reached the surface, Bell immediately bowed fifteen times to my fellow familia. "Thank you for helping us as well!"
"It was my pleasure to help a friend. Please, stop bowing. You will give yourself a headache." Bell immediately followed Ais' advice and instead kept glancing at her through the corner of his eye. "Are you sure that they won't mess with you again?"
"I'm sure. Those guys are nothing but cowards and there is nothing that cowards are afraid of more than being cornered. Hell, they'll probably leave town."
"I was surprised that you went down this road, Sir Viole." Turning to Lily, she was hiding her face in her hoodie as she was fidgeting with her cloak. "You seemed really ready to fight them the other day."
"I didn't want to bet your safety on my strength. Even with Bell. I had to make sure." Crossing my arms, I nodded at my perfect explanation. There is no way in hell that I'm going to get someone in trouble for my own incompetence.
"I see...you really are an idiot!" Lily tackled me into a hug that didn't move me an inch. The girl was so short that her head only reached my stomach. "Thank you guys so much!" Her voice was shaky and I could feel tears drying onto my shirt.
"No problem Lily." After calming Lily down, I invited Bell over to the Twilight Manor for a celebration, but he declined, saying that he needed to check on his goddess. As we said our goodbyes, I noticed something strange. Bell kept stealing glances at Ais. It was like every ten seconds. No way she didn't notice. Man, Bell has a crush on Ais, doesn't he? Good luck, my friend.
Leaving Lily to rest in my room once more, I reported everything that happened today to Loki, while getting my status updated. "Huh, well I've gotta say I didn't see this outcome. I expected far more injuries."
"What do you take me for?"
"A- Never mind." Loki began mumbling something under her breath as she screwed with the goddess given back tattoo that was my status. "At least Soma doesn't have an excuse to try and start a War game. Robbery with monsters is a pretty good reason to stay with another familia."
"What made you even think that Soma cared enough about Lily to do that? I thought he only cares about his wine... that's why we were in this mess. Also why is there a bottle of Soma wine on your desk?"
"Woah! Look at your status! What nice growth!" Shoving a paper in my face, Loki rushed around the room. By the time that I got it off my face, the Soma bottle was nowhere to be found and she was sitting on her desk nonchalantly. Whatever.
Viole
Level 1*
Strength I 98
Endurance D 221
Dexterity D 200
Agility H 190
Magic B 802
Skill Nightmare Rage
Magic Force Eater
Rouge Bringer
"By the way, Loki, why does my level have an asterisk near it?" I asked, putting my shirt back on.
"...say what?"