A few days later, the three met up once more. Meteria was the last to arrive again as she had to get past several overprotective members again.
Brioche: So, let's try for Floor 7.
Silver: I'm game.
Meteria: Yeah, let's do it!!
They went down and began fighting off several waves of monsters. Silver was quick to harvest the stones so everyone could move quickly through the floors. About two hours passed by the time they finished through floor 6, and they were taking a break.
Silver: We're making pretty good time here. Floor 7 is just up ahead.
Brioche: Yeah, our teamwork has gotten a lot better.
He turned to Meteria.
Brioche: You say you're new, but you're one of the best newbies I've seen. No level 1 fights as well as you.
Meteria: *Giggle* Well, I do have a lot of friends to help me and my sister too.
Brioche: Right, her. That child prodigy. I guess it's no wonder why you're so good. That makes me glad to have you in the party.
Silver: Yeah, thanks for being here.
Meteria: Thanks for having me. I honestly was worried I'd have to go with some of my Familia members.
Brioche: Is that a bad thing?
Meteria: Well, considering how I doubt they would let me fight anything here, yes. I wouldn't have the freedom I have right now so I can get stronger for everyone.
Silver: I can agree that they wouldn't let her do anything if it meant her getting hurt.
Brioche: That sounds rough.
Meteria: It's fine, I know they all mean well.
Brioche: Let's get a move on then.
On the surface with Zeus and Hera...
The meeting room was filled with the members agreed to be present from both Familias.
Hera: Now that everyone is in attendance, let's begin this meeting. We have our goal to reach Floor 65, so let's work on the finer details.
Zeus: Why don't we start with who's going?
Maxim: I think the best idea will have to be to split into three groups based on levels. We should keep the lowest levels on the safe zone on Floor 18. The stronger ones can stay on Floor 50 while the rest push forward to Floor 65.
Chiron: I propose any level 4s or higher may join the groups to floor 50, but are not obligated to.
Callisto: Hey, if they want to swim with the bigger fish, I say let them.
Europa: I have no objections to that.
Hera: Then that is decided. Which brings us to how we will go down.
Alexander: Perhaps the same as last time?
Io: It should be fine. The weakest group can go first and clear the monsters for the rest of us.
Europa: We should keep in mind the amount of people going with us. Even if we do split into three, there will still be a lot of us.
Callisto: Relax, only half of both Familias are going.
Io: That's still a lot. Plus we still need to leave some stronger members behind to protect the city.
Chiron: What about Freya and Loki?
Europa: What about Freya and Loki?
The man just sighed and shook his head. Those two will never stop being bullied by them.
Chiron: Fine then. The groups will go in 20 minute intervals. Group 2 will go 20 minutes after group 1 and the same for group 3.
Io: What if they run into problems?
Callisto: *Waves her hand* Ah, it's just Goliath. They can handle it.
Europa: Well, according to records, Udaes has a bit more time until it's respawn, so we'll have to take care of both it and Balor once it's time for the expedition.
Callisto: I call dibs on Balor!!
Alexander: Oh no you don't!!! It's my turn to fight it!! I might get my level 7 from it!!
Callisto: Oh, come on, XanXan. Please? *Pleading look*
Alexander: Will you stop calling me that?!
Chiron: Well, if that's taken care of, now we can move onto the topic of allies. We can handle supporters, but we will need some blacksmiths on hand to perform maintenance on our gear.
Europa: Money shouldn't be a problem for hiring Hephaestus smiths. We just shouldn't take too many of them. A few in each group should be enough.
Maxim: We need to prioritize their safety as well. We could be down there for almost 2 months.
Chiron: Then, we all know how we'll handle this now?
Everyone nodded.
Hera: Then, we have everything planned out. The guild wants us to mobilize in 2 weeks from today. Use that time to make any preparations you need.
Everyone: Yes!!
Zeus: Then I think that takes care of everything.
Hera: Good, now we can take our leave from here. Come along, everyone.
With that, they said their goodbyes and left for their side of the land. The day was beginning to get late as dusk was already here. They returned to see Meteria coming back through the gates from the dungeon.
Hera: Meteria!
Meteria: Goddess, hi!!
They all went to greet the girl when they saw how roughed up she was.
Hera: What happened to you? *Worried*
Callisto: Damn, you look terrible.
Meteria: Hehe. Well, I actually look better than the rest of my party.
Io: What did you do in the dungeon?
Meteria: When stayed on Floor 7 for a while. The war shadows and other monsters roughed us up a bit.
Europa: You went to Floor 7 already?!
Meteria: We were able to handle it fine, I swear!!
Hera: I'm so proud of my girl!! Barely a week into adventuring and she's on Floor 7!!! *Hugging her*
Meteria: *Tapping her* G-Goddess... air...
After Hera let her go, they all went back inside while Meteria went to clean herself. She then sat in her room to take care of her gear when Alfia came in.
Meteria: Hi, sis!!
Alfia: What are you doing?
Meteria: Taking care of my armor. Today was a tough one for us.
Alfia: Good to see you're alright. I'm just letting you know dinner is coming soon.
A sparkle appeared in her eyes and she dashed out the door leaving her sister spinning before she tried to catch up.
Meanwhile...
Silver: I'm back, Dad!
Zeus: Perfect timing!! Clean yourself off and come with me!!
He was confused by the sudden request, but Silver agreed. After some walking, they arrived at a tower where they sat near a window. That's when Zeus pulled out a telescope.
Silver: Can you tell me why we're up here now?
Zeus: We're here to help you practice being a man.
He set the telescope up and gave it to the boy.
Zeus: Take a look.
Silver did and a blush crept on his face when he saw what was enhanced for his sight. Many of the Hera members were currently enjoying themselves in a hot, outdoor bath. Some splashed water at each other and laughed while others enjoyed the warmth of the water. Silver kept his gaze there for a moment when he saw a face he knew well.
Down in the baths...
Meteria: Come on!!
Alfia: You sure we have to do this after eating?
Callisto: Loosen up girl. We're here to relax and you could use it. You're way too tense all the time.
Alfia: *Sigh* Fine... let's go in.
Meteria: Hooray!!!
She jumped in and splashed water on the ones near the entrance which would be everyone but Europa who was near the other end of the pool.
Io: Hey, easy there!! *Laughing*
Meteria: Oh, like this?!
She took this time to throw water in her face. Her bangs covered her eyes while Meteria giggled at her.
Io: Hey, Calli? You know what to do...
The woman then gained a glint in her eyes as she put Meteria in an arm lock.
Meteria: H-Hey!!
The girl then felt a chill when she turned to see Io standing with her arms in front of her, wiggling her fingers.
Io: Time for our favorite game... *Menacing look*
Meteria: Wait wait, time out!! This isn't fair!!!
There was no such thing and the woman quickly went to tickling the girl. For a long time, it was common knowledge among the executives that Meteria was ticklish. Now that she was healthy, this meant they got to play this game with her more often as a playful prank if the girl got too cheeky.
Meteria: Alfia!! Heeelp!! Hahaha!!!
Her sister was nowhere to be found as she was lying down in her own spot in the pool. After 5 minutes of agony, they let Meteria go as she floated, tired in the water while Io got out of the pool.
Callisto: Io?
Io: One sec.
Back with Silver, he saw everything that had happened. Some of the steam had blocked some of his view, but that wasn't enough. However, he eventually ripped his eyes away and turned around.
Zeus: What's wrong?
Silver: I-I-I think I'm good now. (I can't take looking at naked girls!!! I see why Dad likes them but it gets way too intense.) I-I'll just meet you back home.
Zeus: Ok, then. See you. *Goes to the telescope* More fun for me.
He smiled and went to put his eye in when an arrow head suddenly shot through it, startling the old god.
Zeus: GYAAAAH!!!
At the pool...
Io: That takes care of that. *Puts down her bow*
She then made her way back to the pool which made Callisto curious.
Callisto: You need to use the toilet or something?
Io: N-No, I just had a different urge I needed to get rid of. *Looking away*
Callisto just squinted her eyes at her before smiling and shrugging.
Callisto: I guess you are still young. Still, I don't think this is the time or the place to be doing that.
Io: What? I just felt someone spying on us. *Blushing*
Callisto: Oh, I figured you were feeling a little hot after being in the same room as XanXan. I know how you've been looking at him for a while now, but I guess I misunderstood.
The woman's face then exploded in red.
Io: W-W-What are you s-saying?!
Callisto: Relax, I'm not judging you or anything. The guy is fine, so I'd see why you might play with yourself after what happened today.
Thud*
The blonde woman was now on the ground, passed out from the teasing while Callisto sighed and shook her head.
Callisto: (He saved your life back when you were rookies and you've been chasing after him ever since. Why can't you just tell him after 9 years?)
She hoisted the woman on her shoulders and laid her on a bench to cool off before sitting back in. The sudden noise brought Meteria back to the world of the living. When she saw Callisto, she immediately got into a defensive position.
Callisto: Chill out, I'm not gonna do anything.
Meteria: I'll be the judge of that.
Callisto: Look, I want to keep this between us for now. Tell me, you've been crushing on that Zeus boy for a while now, right?
Meteria: *Blushing* I-I'm not sure what you mean!
Callisto: You really don't have to hide it from me. You know I'm not like the others and hate men.
Meteria: That really isn't the reason I'd hide anything from you. Why do you want to know anyway?
Callisto: I'm just curious. Well, if you don't want to talk now, I'll find a way next time.
The girl felt a chill and wondered what the woman would try on her. Once Io regain consciousness, they all dried up and went back home. When they arrived, Meteria went to Hera's office.
Meteria: *Knock* Goddess?
Hera: Come in.
She opened the door and saw Hera drinking a cup of tea and looking ready to head for bed.
Hera: You need something?
Meteria: Yeah, can I get an update?
Hera: Sure. Get your shirt off and show me your back.
She did so and Hera performed the update.
Meteria
Hera Familia
Level 1
Str I-98 - H-114
End I-89 - H-106
Dex H-106 - H-122
Agl H-128 - H-151
Mag I-0
Hera: Hm, considering it's been a while since the last time, this is a good jump for you.
Meteria: I kinda wish I had some way to boost my magic stat.
Hera: Well, you'd need magic for that. You know I could use a grimoire for it.
Meteria: No, I couldn't accept that!
Hera: Well, the option is always there in case you change your mind. Now then, you best get to bed now.
Meteria: Thank you, Goddess. *Bowing*
She left and went to her room to go to sleep when she saw Alfia reading something.
Meteria: You're still awake?
Alfia: I will go to sleep soon. You can go now if you want.
Meteria: Okay, good night.
Meanwhile...
Now in the Zeus Manor, Silver was looking to cool off and soon found himself in the Familia library. He looked around for a while before stumbling across a strange looking book. Compared to the others, it looked rather worn out.
Silver: "Lakrios: Rise to Ruin" hm, this looks like something Dad would make.
He skimmed through the pages before stumbling across a picture he thought looked cool. The image was a roughly drawn and showed a boy holding two swords. A red and black one on his shoulder along with a gold one stuck in the ground. The boy himself was one of white hair and amber eyes.
Silver: Is this what the first hero looked like?
He read the book some more and before he knew it, he fell asleep. Some time later, Zeus had arrived and saw him there with the book under him.
Zeus: (Where did he find that?)
He questioned how the boy had gotten his hands on it, but put it off as he went to wake him up.
Zeus: Wake up, son.
Silver: Mmm... dad?
Zeus: Morning, sleepyhead.
Silver: *Looking around* Huh? Where...
Zeus: I found you passed out in here. I went to look in your room and saw you weren't there. I figured it was too early for you to leave for the dungeon and eventually found you here. So, what's this book?
Silver: I, uh, I'm not sure. (Oh, I should ask him about that person I saw!)
He looked through some of the pages to try and find it, but it wasn't there.
Silver: Where is it?
Zeus: Where is what?
Silver: There was a picture of someone in here and I wanted to ask you about them.
Zeus: Maybe you can do that when you get back.
He pointed to a clock that showed it was nearly time for Silver to leave for the dungeon.
Silver: Oh no, I'm gonna be late!!! I-I gotta go, bye!!!
He bolted out of there and rushed to get ready. Meanwhile, Zeus flipped through the pages of the book himself and also saw his picture had vanished.
Zeus: Argh, it's too early for this!!
He didn't want to hurt his head anymore before a girl did that to him. In frustration, he just put the book back and went about his day.
Timeskip an hour...
Silver was running to the meeting place when he saw Meteria running there too. He called out to her and the two ran together.
Silver: Late start too?
Meteria: Ehehe... *Blush*
The two eventually made it to where Brioche was waiting.
Brioche: You two lovebirds take a detour? I've been waiting for a while.
Silver: *Blushing* W-We were not taking a detour!! And why the lovebird talk?!
Meteria: Hey, let's all just go now. We're here now, so no need to waste anytime.
Brioche teased Silver the entire way down while Meteria stayed in the back and gushed at the talk of her and Silver as lovebirds. Once they arrived on Floor 1, they put their game faces on and got to work once again. A few hours later, they made it to Floor 7 once more and had a much easier time than before. Now that her stats were higher, Meteria handled the monsters much easier now.
Brioche: You get a status update?
Meteria: Yeah, and I went up a lot.
Silver: This is a lot less stressful than yesterday. Though...
He looked down and saw all the cracks his armor had.
Brioche: We can call it for now. You can use the rest of the day to go shopping. As much as I'd like to keep going, I doubt your armor will keep up with you any longer.
Silver: Sorry, man.
Brioche: Hey, it's no big deal. I'm sure we make more than enough for you to find a good enough replacement.
The three then made their way back up and cashed in the loot they got.
Brioche: I'll meet you back same time tomorrow. Good luck on your search.
Silver: Thanks, I'll see you.
His friend left and now it was him and Meteria now.
Silver: I guess I'll see you tomorrow too.
Meteria: You don't have to.
Silver: Hm?
Meteria: *Smiling* I'll go look with you! I wanna check out the shop too! It'll be my first time there!
Silver: Are you sure?
Meteria: Yeah, it'll be fun!!
And so, the two went to Babel and looked around the shops for a good armor set. After a while, they had no luck, but the two were enjoying themselves. They weren't sure how the other felt, but both thought it was a date. Eventually, Silver found another armor shop and looked around. He soon eyed a familiar set and saw it was similar to his old one. Nothing special as a whole, but this one looked improved. It was just a standard breast plate with separate joint pads. There were also graves and vambraces with it so it was a full body set. He tried to find a name and price, but only found one.
Silver: No name and pretty cheap too. I guess it's a reject, but that works for me.
He went to the desk to purchase it.
Silver: I'll take this one.
Clerk: Hm, that's gonna be 4,200 valis.
He handed the money he owed and took the crate of armor with him. He exited and went to look for Meteria.
Silver: Where'd she go?
After some searching, he eventually found her in a weapon shop barely carrying a battle axe in her arms. The blade was larger on one side and it was mostly blade in color. It was also decently long and looked well made compared to the other weapons inside.
Meteria: Check it out, I think I'll use this!!
Silver: You're going to use that as your main weapon?
Meteria: Yeah, it makes me look strong, plus you hardly see anyone using something like this! It's always swords and daggers so a little variety doesn't hurt!
He didn't have any reason to argue, so he just went with it. They left the tower and got ready to head back.
Meteria: I can't wait to show this to everyone!
Silver: Yeah, I'll get this set fitted and be ready tomorrow.
Meteria: I'll see you then!
Silver: *Nodding*
The two left once they arrived at their Manors. Meteria charged through and went straight to Hera.
Meteria: Goddess, loomat the new weapon I got!!
Hera: Meteria, how was your- OH MY GOODNESS!!!
Her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when she saw the massive battle axe the girl had with her. Meteria was sweaty from being able to barely carry it, but she was excited to start using it in the dungeon.
Timeskip...
Hera: Why did you buy this again?
Meteria: I wanted to use a more unique weapon. I don't see a lot of people using battle axes, so I wanted to join the club.
Hera: *Smiling* Well, that's wonderful to hear. Still, you startled me when you brought that with you. You might need some more time before you use it though.
Meteria: *Flexing her arm* I'll be sure to work hard, Goddess!!
Hera: I know you will. Now, off to the bath with you. You're covered in sweat.
Meteria quickly exited and went to clean herself off while dropping her new axe in her room with the rest of her gear. The more she got used to this routine, the happier she felt. It was nice having this kind of lifestyle rather than being stuck in that bed. As she got ready to go to sleep, she wondered who those two were that helped her and her sister. Meteria wouldn't get an answer that night, so she just had different dreams instead like cutting through monsters with her new axe. Alfia quickly went to bed, but would eventually ask her sister about the axe in the room in the morning. Though, that would be a topic for tomorrow as the day came to a close.
In another place...
Two kids could be seen preparing their gear inside a tent. A lamp was lit inside as they finished gearing up before the tent flaps opened to show an older looking grey haired werewolf with a black haired man coming in after him.
Werewolf: Hey brats, you done yet?
Mysterious Girl: Just finished. We're ready to go now.
Blackhair: We have them pinned at the main choke point. I want you two to break through their defenses so the rest of us can move in.
Mysterious Boy: Understood, Captain.
Suddenly, a cat woman poked her head through the tent.
Catwoman: Raul, we need to leave now if we want to make it!!!
Raul: I know, Aki. *Turning to the kids* Come on!
The girl had a dark smirk on her face before throwing a fist into her palm.
Mysterious Girl: All right, time to throw down!!! I'll go with Uncle Bete!!
Bete: Be my guest, just try to keep up. *Smirking*
Mysterious Girl: Please, I'll be the reason they regretted starting this war with us.
Raul: Enough talk, time to move out!!
AN: And that's another one done. The plot thickens once more and once more I won't say anything.
Thanks for reading and I hope you liked this one. Let me know what you thought and I'll see you in the next one.