(Nightmare Odyssey)
Capped
What the hell is going on?! One second I was taking a peaceful walk towards a hill in the distance, the next the floor that is supposed to be a safe zone is crawling with monsters. "Go away! Give me the strength to devour my enemies, Force Eater!" Coating my single arm and legs in magic, I kicked off an orc's head as it rushed towards me. "ISH!" Landing after my attack, a rush of pain filled my body, but I couldn't allow it to slow me down. If I stop for even a second, I'm dead! I forced my body to continue on. Dodging any attacks from monsters that were rushing at me and killing the ones that got close. My goal was the hill that I was going to in the first place, if it's true that Bell, Lily and Welf were there, they could be in more trouble than me! "Dammit legs move faster!"
"Viole, get down!" Before my mind could interpret what I'd heard, my body listened and instinctively dodged the arrow that hit a minotaur in the head that was right behind me. Seeing as the bolt itself didn't kill the minster, I drove my foot into the bolt, forcing it all the way through the monster's brain, killing it. "Viole!, thank the gods you're okay!" Lily rushed to my side and gave me a look. "You're not injured. That's good."
"What the hell is going on? Why are there monster's everywhere?!" Lily cringed before forcing me to duck another attack. The two of us both kicked at the orc that attacked us and we were able to kill it easily. Lily's getting better at close combat. Nice.
"If what Lord Hermes is right...then that-" She pointed at the large monster that seemed to be fighting multiple adventurers at the center of the floor. "That's the floor boss. It looks like that because...the gods aren't supposed to be in the dungeon, so the dungeon is trying to kill them."
"So it supercharged the floor boss and we're just collateral. Well isn't that just fuckin nice." The floor boss, the Goliath, usually looks like a gigantic monstrous man with grey skin and brown hair. The monster ahead looked like an absolute titan with pure black skin and shining white hair. It radiated the sense of danger. "This isn't good. Even I can tell that we stand no chance at handling that thing. Please tell me the Loki familia haven't left yet."
"I'm pretty sure we would have seen Aiz or someone do something by now." Great. What happened to leaving someone behind to look after me?! Dammit! "What do we do? Bell, Miss Lyon and the Takemikazuchi Familia are fighting it. You're hurt but...I don't think it's a good idea to leave you alone."
"Even you don't trust me? That actually hurts a bit, Lily." My small friend looked apologetic but didn't say anything. "But you're right, I am a bit of a suicidal idiot. That's why you have to promise me that if I live through this, you should knock some sense into me."
"Wait, what?!"
"Sorry Lily." I grabbed the sling that my right arm was in and threw it off of my body, and immediately forced magic into the limb. "I'll go back up Bell. So do me a favor and stay safe."
"You idiot! If you die, I'll kill you!" Lily's concerned words forced a smile out of me.
"Sure, sorry Lily."
SSS
It hurts, it hurts, it hurts! Dammit, why did I think this was a good idea?! Running towards Bell and helping him was easier said than done. My entire body was one fire, while my arm felt like sweltering lava! Even with my magic coating it, I could feel every single bone creek with each movement. Every time I killed a monster, my body shook. But I couldn't stop, even if I wanted to, I was in the middle of a forest surrounded by monsters. "Agh! Screw this! Void Out!" Stomping on the ground, a geyser of dark magic corrupted in a line in front of me, creating a path. Using that, I ran towards my goal and made it to Bell and crew. Just in time to see the monster's destroyed face regenerate and slam the ground, throwing every adventure in sight down on the ground. You have to be kidding me. "Bell?! Welf?! Anyone?"
"Ugh..." A few feet away from me, Bell was on the ground, covered in cuts and bruises."Viole?"
"Damn! Hold on." I rushed over to the kid and helped him up to his feet. I wasn't afraid of the monster attacking us because it seemed like the adventures from town were launching magic attacks, stopping it in its tracks. "Are you okay?"
"I'll be fine...but you shouldn't be here! You're injured!" Bell regained his usual energy almost immediately and had his usually concerned eyes. Think about yourself every once in a while.
"Sorry but we've got to talk about this later, we've got company." Quickly, a horde of monsters had surrounded us. "Sorry, but we've got to fight for now."
"Ugh! You're so reckless!" With that, Bell began to cut down the Minotaur's around us while I liked the Orc's. With each attack, the pain in my body just flared but I continued to ignore it. Just as I was about to rip off the fifth orc's neck, a gust of wind enveloped me and the Orc, shredding it to pieces.
"Impressive for an injured man." Standing beside me was the titular maid of Mia, with a sly smirk on her face.
"I don't need your snark." Looking back, I saw that the captain of the Hermes Familia was assisting Bell. "So can I assume you have a plan?"
"Yes, it's quite simple actually. You and Bell will take care of all the monsters here while we stall for the mages of Rivira to charge up another attack to kill the boss. If it doesn't work the first time then we simply repeat until it does." It was honestly...
"That's one of the worst plans I've ever heard in my entire life. Not only is Bell just level 2, but I'm capped and I'm running on fumes. It's only a matter of time before I tap out and there's no way Bell can last much longer alone. Not only that, but eventually the Mages will get hit with Mind Down. This plan will only kill us!" It's honestly just a suicidal decision. And is based around sacrificing idiots who think that they can fight forever. The entire plan pissed me off to no end.
"Well, do you have any other ideas? Hmm?"
"I..." Her question stopped the tracks of my mind. What else can we do? Only the reserves of the Loki expedition, townspeople and us are here. There aren't many strong options here but, a feeling in my gut told me that her plan wouldn't work. Maybe at one time it could, but not now. "I don't but...wait a minute." Something inside me told me that there was an option, something that I could do to help.
"That look..."
"I've got an idea, first try and get Bell a Magic Sword of some kind. There has to be one around here and tell him to use Argonaut to shoot it at the boss when I've given the signal. Don't worry, I've got a feeling the signal will be hard to miss." Without hearing what Lyon had to say about my plan, I rushed to get it started. I guess this is what Riveria was talking about when she said 'your magic will come naturally.' Though I doubt she'd be happy about what I'm about to do. My plan was simple, let my body do the magic!
Running around the Boss was a complete and utter hassle. For some reason the monster kept aiming at me, shooting magic out of its mouth, slamming it's arms into the ground, I was lucky to still be in one piece. But at least it let the mages get in some good hits. It's being worn down, if only I could get it to stop looking at me!
Just then, the Captain of the Hermes Familia flew up to the monster and attacked it's eyes with some sort of Achelic magic. "Perfect!" Taking the chance, I leapt onto the large routes of the tree that stood at the center of the floor. Using my claw-like hands I was able to continue to climb all the way to the top of the tree, being able to look down at the monster from above. If it were any other time, I'm sure the view from here would be wonderful. But right now... It was nothing more than a fiery hellscape. "One that I'll end"
And so, the chant began. "Nightmares plague my very existence, whether it be in the past or present. My soul yearns for vengeance yet my heart fears it. With no other choice, I walk into hell! Fall into darkness with me, Nightmare Odyssey!" Finishing the chant, I jumped off of the tree and stabbed both of my hands into the monster's head. At first, nothing happened but slowly...
A single spike made of dark magic exploded out of below the monster's right arm. Then another on it's left. Then another, another, another! Until the large monster's entire body was stabbed from the inside. I... I felt a large magical presence building up in front of the monster, so I forced my body to begin moving. Yanking out my arms, I slowly made my way to the edge of it's head before I... guess I'm done here... It all went black.
SSS
"Ya know, being an adventurer had to have been the best and worst thing that ever happened to me."
"Huh? But you always have such cool stories! You make no sense!"
"Yeah! You always said that you always had fun over there! Daddy, I wanna go too!"
"Not yet Abby. After the _ incident, I don't think I can take you there any time soon."
"No fair!"
"Hey, don't worry, I'm sure the two of you will become great adventurers one day."
"Sorry Dad, but no can do it. If I ever go to Orario it's because I'll be a-"
SSS
"Where...oh I recognize this ceiling." It seemed like I was back in my room, at the Twilight Manor. "Guess I slept through the fun part."
"Hell yeah you did!" An excited voice yelled to my side. A voice that I recognized. A drunk Loki. She was standing in my doorway. "How are you feeling? Up for a drink?"
"No way, I feel like my entire body is in a bath of goop." I couldn't exactly move my body, it seems like I truly did take it too far earlier. "Nightmare Odyssey, huh?"
"Congrats! You are officially a strong Capped." In a second, Loki seemed to have sobered up. "You've broken the boundary and have four magic spells for a level 1, a signature staple of being capped, you break other caps, congrats!"
"How'd you-"
"I took the liberty of updating your status while you were asleep. Here, take a look." My goddess produced a piece of paper from under her hot pants. Uhhhhh ok. And showed it to me.
Viole
Level 1*
Strength B 831
Endurance SS 1556
Dexterity D 672
Agility C 749
Magic I 24 *1
Skill Nightmare Rage
**R**
Magic Force Eater
Rouge Bringer
Void Out
Nightmare Odyssey
"Huh?! Huh?! There are so many questions, how the hell did my magic reset? Why did my stats increase so much? What the hell is that second Skill?!" I'd be jumping up and down from confusion and amazement if my body could move.
"Well I can answer two of those. Your magic didn't reset, it's just that the Flana system can't just add another S, your magic stat at the moment is 2024. After the third SSS, the flana just labels it I with a label for how many times it's looped around. Cool, right?"
"I suppose that makes sense. If my level won't ever go up, at least my stats will."
"Of course! Being capped isn't too bad." How I missed her shit eating grin. "Secondly, you're capped. It's only natural that your stats increase so much when you've been stuck in the dungeon for three days and force your body past its limits. I'm going to have to lecture you about that later."
"I guess Lily told you about my arm situation."
"Hell yeah, she did." Lily, how dare you betray me like this? "About the skill, that one I've got no idea. Seems like the skill just isn't ready to be seen yet. Kinda weird though, capped usually only get a single skill." is that so, strange... "agh! I should probably get out of here before they show up. It took me forever to get them outta here, Can't let them notice I'm here."
"Huh? What did you do this time, Loki?"
"N-Nothing! Just get more rest, teehee!" With that, my eccentric goddess jumped up and left my room while waving back at me. "Glad your safe Viole."
"Thanks Loki."
SSS
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...uh..." The next time I opened my eyes, I had to stop myself from having a miniature heart attack, as the strongest person I knew was staring into my eyes not even two feet away from me. "Ais, is everything alright?"
"..."
"Okay..." Turning my head, I saw Lily was fast asleep on the couch where I usually slept. I couldn't help but feel a little guilty for that. But that left me in a room with a staring Ais Wallenstein. "So...what can I do for you?"
"How are you feeling?" That was a surprisingly normal question for this situation.
"Better than when Loki was here. At least that's an improvement."
"Loki was in here..." I see, it seems like Loki did something that even made Ais angry. That goddess needs to fix her drinking issue. "Well, that's good. I'm glad, but please don't put yourself in danger like that again." Okay...now it's just confusing.
"Ais, I get that we're friends and all, but I can't help but feel like you're worry for me goes further than that. Why is that? I mean, we only met a month ago, and it seems like you're always worrying about me. I can get Loki, she's my goddess. But...I'm sorry but I don't understand why the Sword Princess of all people, would worry about a Capped that came in just a month ago." It's been bothering me since the eighteenth floor. She was always checking in on me, staring at me during the feast and chasing after me when I went for a walk. It made no real sense to me.
"That's because...I want to."
"Is that it?" She said something very similar when we had lunch that day as well.
"Yes...that's it." It didn't seem right, that answer seemed to bother her.
"Ais, I-"
"I have a request for you. Please call me Ai. I...would really appreciate it if you did."
"Ai, huh? I don't know why but for some reason, that just seems right to call you that. Ai, it is!" I don't know why, but my body relaxed when I said it, blowing away any doubt I had for her. I unconsciously smiled. "Haha! It's a cute nickname, don't you think?"
"Yes...I really love it." For the first time in a while, Ai had given me a smile of her own.
Arc I: Beginning of an (Odyssey)
End
Theme: Kaishingeki - Eve
AN: And so... Arc 1 has finished. There will be one interlude that connects directly to the beginning of Arc 2. The reason why it's not a part of the first or second is because it feels more like a transitional chapter. It's still important, as you'll see. Arc 2 will begin the divergences from the source material. The first arc was mostly the same with some small differences but Arc 2 will truly start the story. There will still be some source material events, especially at the beginning, but how I like to see this story is sort of like how the Sword Oratoria LNs are handled. Another story that is happening in the background of Bell and Ais' adventures.
Also, the whole theme thing. Music helps me visualize what I'm writing most of the time and it can help me center an arc around something when I have a central theme song to it. So I thought that I should tell you all what I listen to every now and then when I write or think up ideas. Not every chapter has a song or songs that I feel help me but the main arcs definitely do. Though this may just be my glorified way of recommending music, sorry about that!