Is it Wrong to pick up girls in a Dungeon.
Fanfic: Familia Plus One.
I do not own the manga, anime, or concept of 'Is it Wrong to Pick up Girls in a Dungeon'. My OC's are not intended to reflect or imitate any person, living or dead.
Hestia Familia Chapel:
Lower level
Wyntir opened his eyes, and rolled over, onto his back. His left arm had been pinned under him at an odd angle, and was tingling. Glancing at the clock on the shelf above the headboard of Hestia's bed, he saw it was 5 am.
After years of always being woken up at 5 by his family, getting ready to start the day, Wyntir had a hard time sleeping past that time now. He could, but he knew from the experience of doing it once, that it would throw off his entire day.
Getting up as quietly as he could, he gathered the futon he slept on and folded it up, stashing it in the space behind the book shelf where Hestia kept her few books. He grabbed his cane sword, and quietly walked upstairs.
Sitting down, with a small nub of a candle, Wyntir began to do his primary duty in the Hestia Familia. Having grown up in a family which ran a small buisness, Wyntir had been taught early on, some of the requirements for playing part in such a setting. The main one he used for his new Familia, was Bookkeeping.
His math skills were far better than Bell's, although Bell was more flexible in how he used the knowledge he did have. And while Hestia was in charge, as the Kami of the Familia, she admitted to not having alot of experience at record keeping, or budgets. To be certian, Bookkeeping wasn't his only task in the Familia, just as Bell's wasn't just to sweep the upper and lower levels of the Chapel.
But it was something that he felt was best done either just before bed, or first thing in the morning. Since Hestia and Bell liked to stay up and talk with him, he couldn't focus on anything for more than a few minutes in the evenings.
Sitting down, he opened a hollowed out section of one of the pews, and took out his ledger. It wasn't anything impresive, a dozen pieces of scrap paper, folded in half, and with some simple green thread going through the fold to bind the pages together. Bell had been very impressed when he saw Wyntir making a book out of such items. Hestia had just smiled, and nodded to him, showing her approval of his enginuity.
Writing down three letters, H, B, And W, in a vertical coloumn, Wyntir began to record how much each of them had brought in the day before. He totaled it up, and in all, they had brought in 8,107 Vallis. This was the single largest day since they had become a familia, 2 weeks and a day before hand. It was certianly the largest one since he had started keeping this ledger, 12 days before hand. Using each opeing as two dates, Wyntir was able to keep a record of each person's income, and allowance.
Hestia, of course, had the largest Allowance of them all, but even she didn't have alot. 150 Vallis per day was about average. They still didn't own this Chapel, after all. There was the matter of the money lender, who had given them the loan for this place. That person needed to be paid back. With Interest.
Before going to bed the night before, Bell and Hestia had given Wyntir their funds from the day, and now, he would put it in the Familia's fund to pay bills later on. The Familia's fund was kept in an old cast iron pot, which stayed under the Lecturn in the pulpit of the chapel.
After doing some math, and putting a healthy amount of what they had in the pot, Wyntir paid Allowance into the three pouches he kept for just such a purpose. The Brown one was Bell's, the blue was Hestia's, and his was green. Each one had been made with a few scraps of material, and was just sturdy enough to hold a few coins.
With the bookkeeping doen, Wyntir drew his blade, and began his morning exercizes. One slash, upper left to lower right, then upper right to lower left, then a thrust in the middle of the imaginary 'X' he had drawn. Then back to his original position. and again.
He did this 40 times with each hand every morning, just as his grandfather had taught him.
8 months ago, when Wyntir had originally expressed his intentions to go and be an adventurer, his Grandfather was the only one who had taken him seriously. The next morning, Wyntir had awoken to his grandfather pulling the covers off his bed, and telling him to dress and meet in the yard.
For 5 months, this routine had been his morning training. Start with the morning exercizes, then his grandfather and he would spar with a pair of tree branches, shaped to look like swords. After that, the morning exercises had stayed, but his Grandfather had instead begun teaching him the basics of magic.
The cane sword he used had been a gift from his grandfather, it was something he had picked up years before hand, but never used. Wyntir had promised to treat it well. it was the weapon given to him the day he helped his grandfather defeat one of the few monsters that roamed free, outside of the Dungeon.
Finishing up his exercizes, Wyntir shiethed his sword, made sure he had properly hidden both the pot, and the ledger, then grabbed the bags of allowance vallis. He went down stairs, and saw both Bell and Hestia-sama were on the couch now. It seemed as though Hestia had started to wake up, when she heard Wyntir get up, but fell asleep trying to get Bell to wake up..
"Good morning." Wyntir greeted the room, as Bell mumbled something, and Hestia grumbles, clenching her eyes shut as she tried to cuddle closer to Bell. Stoking the ashes in the small stove in the corner of the living space, He soon had a small fire going, which warmed up the fre fried potatoes that were still left from the day before.
Wyntir smiled to himself, as he heard Bell exclaim in shock, and fall off the couch. Hestia quitly mumbled something as she tried to hold a boy who was no longer next to her.
"Here are today's Allowances. We each get a bit more today, since we had a good day yesterday, but we need to keep doing well if we want to keep getting this kind of Vallis." He passed out the bags, and then laid breakfast out on the table.
Bell opened his bag, and gasped at the coins inside. Normally, both he and Wyntir got a single 100 Vallis coin. Not alot, but enough for a little something. Today, he had a whopping 600 Vallis. He could afford an actual lunch, at a restaurant today. "C-c-c-can we really have this much each?" He had been saving his allowances for the past week, wanting to but a nice shiny new blade, or some armor.
Hestia rubbed the sleep from her eyes, the smell of fried potatos reheating waking her up. She was likewise impressed by her 1100 Vallis. Had Wyntir seen her looking at that dress the day before? No, he was in the dungeon. there was no way, but this was almost the exact price she needed. It wasn't a fancy dress, nor was it overly expensive, but Hestia had fallen in love with the cream colored sun-dress the moment she saw it. Like Bell, she had been saving what she could to buy something nice. There would be a gathering of the Kamis soon, and she wanted to look nice when she represented her new Familia.
She looked up at Wyntir, hope in her eyes, that this wasn't a mistake.
"Yep, like I said, it's just for today. If we can get to the point, where between us 3 we are bringing in 5 digits or more, then we can have this much every day." Wyntir smiled, before closing the grate to the stove, letting the fire die out faster.
Bell tilted his head to the side. "5 whats? I haven't brought home any fingers…. in fact, you're the only one who has gotten a drop item so far."
"Awwww Bell-Kun, you're So KAWAII when you're confused like that!" Hestia said, before taking a bite of her potato.
"Kami-sama, you're being a meanie again." Bell deadpanned, still not understanding the conversation.
Hestia smiled and stuck her tounge out playfully, before taking another bite of her breakfast.
…..
After brushing their teeth, and saying their goodbyes, The two adventurers set off for the Dungeon, while Hestia went to her part-time day job. As Bell and Wyntir walked, they enjoyed a companionable silence, and observed what was happening around them. While Bell had two outfits, his armor, and his street clothes, Wyntir had 3 suits, the one had had worn yesterday, had been spelled clean, and hung up on a hanger, strung from a wire. Today, his suit was a Two-piece, without a vest. It was a charcoal grey color, and he wore a green shirt with a black tie with it. The inside lining was the same dull red as all of his suits.
Shops were opening up, merchants were setting out their wares, and smells of various foods being cooked were beginning to fill the air. Taking a turn down Daedulus street, Bell and Wyntir nodded to the people they knew, and returned what greetings were sent their way.
Daedulus street held many wonders, from hidden shops, and trick walls, to small inns and meeting areas. It was in one of these smaller inns, that the two boys had spent their first few weeks after arriving in town. Wyntir had some funds given to him by his family, and Bell had a few coins from his grandfather. Neither had enough to make it on their own, but together, they had kept a roof overhead.
It had taken every coin they had possessed though. They had been on their last night being allowed to stay at the Inn, when Hestia had found them just outside of the Hera Familia's training house, ready to give up.
It was a story that wasn't unusual here. Most of those small stalls, merchants, inns, and restaurants were owned, run, and staffed by people who had come to challenge the Dungeon, only to find they didn't fit with any Familia. They had given up their dreams of adventure, for the safety of a warm bed, and food every day. It was an understandable decision. Everyone did need to eat, after all.
That didn't mean that things had been easy for the Hestia Familia. They had taken 3 days to find a place for sale, and another day to find a Loan Broker who would finance them. Wyntir and Hestia had covered that, while Bell had started going into the upper floors of the dungeon.
Now, they were beginning to get some money saved up, and would be seeing better days, or so they all hoped.
Exiting Daedulus street, the two had saved some hassle, trying to fight crowds, but now had to re-join the foot traffic heading for the Dungeon. A small voice stopped the two Adventurers.
"Excuse me? Hello? Excuse Me!" Turning, the boys saw a young lady, about Bell's age, smilling, and cupping her hands together.
"I think you dropped this Adventurer-san." She said, opening her hands, and showing Bell the crystal inside. Reaching out to pick it up, Bell's eyes widened just a moment before he smiled.
"Thanks so much! I thought I had lost all of these yesterday. It's really great that I didn't."
The girl smilled, and Wyntir cleared his throat. "What my companion is trying to say, is that his name is Bell, mine is Wyntir, and we're honored to meet you miss."
Bell suddenly snapped up straight, and put a hand behind his head. "Ah. Y-yes! nice to meet you, and thank you very much."
Just then, Bell's stomach growled. "Didn't you eat enough this morning?" Wyntir asked a smirk pulling at his lips.
"Here." The young woman said, suddenly placing a box wrapped in a cloth in Bell's hands.
"I can't take this? Isn't it your breakfast? and I'd feel bad taking something from someone I just met." As Bell tried to make excuses, Wyntir smilled, and took a step back, letting the two have some space.
"Can't you? It'd make me really happy." the young woman said, putting a finger to her lips, and blushing slightly. "Besides, I work here, and I can just get some food from the kitchen." She said, stepping aside, and motioning to the pub behind her, wehre other ladies dressed in similar fashion to herself were working to clean and get ready for the day ahead.
Seeing Bell was about to argue again, Wyntir grabbed him by the shoulder, and pulled him back, wrapping an arm around his shoulder, as he turned Bell facing the other way, with a quckly muttered, "Please excuse us, we'll be right back."
Wyntir cupped a hand to Bell's ear, and whispered for a moment. Bell looked over at him, increduously, at which, Wyntir nodded, and gave Bell a push back toward the woman.
Tilting her head to the side, she stood patiently waiting to see what was going on.
"Umm, my name is Bell," He began nervously, repeating what Wyntir had said only a few short seconds ago. "And I'd love to take this...but I would need to know the name of….." Bell looked back at Wyntir who just flashed a thumbs up sign at him. "...such a kind and b-b-bea-beautiful woman f-f-first." Bell blushed as he stuttered the last few words out.
Sporting a light blush, and a wide grin, the woman did a quick curtsey. "My name is Syr, and if you want to make it up to me, you can come here tonight." She placed her finger on her lower lip again, and smiled. "I'd really like to see you tonight."
"We'd be delighted to, miss Syr, we'll see you there tonight." Wyntir said, causing Bell to turn and gawk at him. "If you wil excuse us now, though, we really must be getting on our way."
"OH! Yes, please, don't let me keep you from the Dungeon, have a good day!" Syr said, before bowing, and running back into the Pub. Stopping at the door, she turned and waved "Bye-bye!"
Taking a few steps away from the pub, Bell looked at Wyntir. "Can we really afford to spend money to eat out tonight?" Their familia was just starting out, saving money for later was a must.
Wyntir looked at Bell, and smiled. "We can, so long as we both do well in the Dungeon tonight. If all goes well, we can take Hestia-Sama out for dinner." He flashed Bell a smile and a thumbs-up. "So let's both do well today, yeah?"
Bell smilled, and nodded with a small grunt of agreement, a light blush still coloring his face. In all the confusion, and blushing, neither boy ever noticed a pair of eyes on Bell from the second floor balcony across the street.
….
Dungeon 4th floor
Wyntir POV
….
The Dungeon was always changing, shifting itself. New paths would oven up, old ones would collapse, or cave in, only to be re-discovered later on. As such, Wyntir wasn't surprised when he couldn't find his way back to the Scale-Back spawning grounds he had come across the day before. It would have been nice to have another big day like he'd had before. With the crystal Bell had recovered, he was already 400 Vallis ahead.
Wyntir adjusted his tie, and brushed some dirt from his coat. His spell would clean it immediately, but there was just something nice about using his hand to brush off a bit of dirt, like he was brushing some stress, or random negative thought away with it.
A familiar cracking sound echoed through the Dungeon from somewhere behind him. turning, he saw a few Gremlins spawning. The short fat pale green creatures where mostly humanoid, but with elongated skulls, and red eyes resting above razor sharp teeth. Three of them spawned at once, and rushed Wyntir, who drew his sword, and took a stance to fight.
He thrust quickly, hitting the center one in the left eye, causing it to freeze in mid-air before bursting.
…..
Surface streets
Hestia POV
…..
Hestia smiled and waved, as another set of coustomers walked away from the stand where she was working. The owner came up behind her, wiping off a few drops of grease from his hands onto a towel. "Well, that's all our stock for today, Kami-Hestia. Thanks again for all your hard work."
The Owner was a large man, with a deep voice, and thick arms. He had worked hard as a farmer, and merchant for years, and as a result, some of the people in the city were afraid of him. Haggling over produce in bulk was much differnt than selling cooked vegetables at a store front, after all. His daughter had been the one to run this until earlier this year, when she married a merchant from another town. With two sons at home to tend the feilds, the man had taken it upon himself to try and sell their goods in town.
His success had been limited in the extreme.
Hestia coming along had happened at just the right time for him. In just 9 days she had not only improved sales, but had sold off all the back-harvested produce that had been sitting around not being bought. Reaching into one of the pockets of his overalls, the Owner pulled out a pouch. "Here are your earning for today. I'm going to be needed on the farm for a few days, You've done so well, that I need to help my boys gather up some more produce to sell."
Hestia smilled, and cupped her hands, letting the larger man place the coin-pouch in her palms. "Not at all, thank you for hiring me, it feels good to help my Familia out."
Smiling, she went into the back area of the stall, to change out of her uniform, and into her dress. If she had time, she would be able to go and get that cream colored dress she had seen in the shop window earlier.
Running, holding her clutch in one hand, Hestia was once again thankful for the good sense to buy flats. She was able to make it to work on time a few times, only due to this decision. She came up to the store front, and looked around for her dress. the one she had wanted so badly the day before.
Hands pressed to the glass, she looked left, right, in front, in back, and even jumped on the back of a passing wagon, and tried to look in to see if she had missed it somewhere.
There! the dress was still there! The price had even been dropped on it!
Squealing loudly, she chearge into the store, to buy the dress.
…..
Dungeon 5th floor.
…..
Cries of attack rang out, amdist chittering of insects, as Bell drove his blade home again and again. The Killer ants just kept coming.
Normally not a problem in small amounts when the over sized insects swarmed, their ability to reach under over and around each other with their 26 inch long razor sharp pinchers became a problem.
Another one came from behind, crawling down the wall from the ceiling where it had spawned, and tilted its head to try and take a bite out of Bell as he slashed at two others in front of him.
The Killer Ant on the wall opened it's jaws, and then burst into soot and ash, as Wyntir's blade penetrated it's skull.
Wyntir had been here, on the 5th floor, as deep as either he or Bell could go, when a few ants had surprised him. He had taken them down easily enough, when someone shouted his name from behind. He turned, saw Bell, and nodded, lifting his scabbard in greeting, before turning and thrusting his blade into the last ant.
The few seconds delay had allowed the last ant, whose left pincher had already been severed, to send out a distress call to it's swarm-mates. And withing a few minutes, the two of them were fighting dozens of Killer ants, weaving circles around each other, and fighting back to back at times.
With the two of them being there, the numbers never got to high, but Killer ants spawned so quickly, that they just kept coming. So long as the two were on this floor, and there were killer ants already spawned, the Distress call would continue to be repeated, as the ants moving in to reinforce their comrades let others know where the danger was.
The two continued to fight, taking stances to guard the other whenever possible, to let the other have just a moment or two to catch a breath in the middle of everything.
"Damn, Bell, I'm going to need a few seconds to chant here. we're running out of options." Wyntir said, moving back from one fo the three entrances to this room of the Dungeon where they had been fighting for what felt like hours.
"Right." Bell said, drawing his second dagger, and moving up to another entrance, and stabbing an ant that had just come around the corner in the eye.
Stepping back, and placing his sword in it's scabbard, Wyntir stood in the center of the room. If there had been three openings on one side of the room, that would have been one thing, but the three hallways almost split the room into thirds. There was no practical space to go to avoid being attacked.
"By the Wind and Water within, I unbind myself and flow like a raging storm. Agility Storm!"
Wyntir's form took on a silvery blue outline, as his spell took effect. He opened his eyes, and stepped forward. The first step was at a normal pace. After that, He sped up drastically. Drawing his sword, he moved forward, dancing around the room, with his sword leaving a silver trail in the air behind it. He slashed, and struck over and over again, trying to make his movements as fluid as possible to extend the use of the spell.
The effect allowed him to move at three times his normal speed, and with double his Dexterity, for a short period of time. If he didn't cancel the spell early, it would only last for 30 seconds.
His blade slashed through one ant's head, and before it could burst, he was alredy moving to the next. Bell's eyes widened as he watched it, before he heard a chittering above him.
Looking up, Bell saw a Killer ant spawning from a glowing red opeing in the ceiling. it's jaws wide open, and leaning down to attack. Bell didn't even have time to yell in surprise, before the ant burst into soot, just above him, leaving a sword, with a receeding bluish outline in its place. Bell spat and coughed, as soot from the ant got in his eyes and mouth.
Wyntir leaned against a wall, panting. The spell didn't do anything to boost his endurance, so it always took a few minutes to recover after using it.
The two boys waited, panting, and looked around. Silence.
They looked at one another and smiled. Stooping to begin collecting the Crystals scattered around, Both boys tried to catch their breaths.
"Hey Wyntir look!" bell held up a smaller version of the Ant's pincers. "Drop item!"
Wyntir smilled, and held one of his own up. "Me too." The item was a small piece of exoskeleton, holding the pair of pinchers together.
The boys chorused together. "Lucky!" before glancing at each other, and laughing. A laugh that was cut off suddenly by chittering sounds.
Glancing around the boys saw more Killer ants at each door, getting ready to attack.
Drawing their weapons, the two went back to back, and got ready for a fight.
'This is bad.' Bell thought, trying to figure out a way to get out of this. He was only 14, and had been home-schooled by his grandfather for most of his life. He didn't know a lot of things that other people considered common sense, but was able to figure out almost anything quickly, because he didn't have years of books telling him one way to think, act, or do things.
Still, he couldn't come up with anything. 'Maybe if Wyntir can recover and cast that spell again, he can clear one tunnel, and we can get away.' Looking over, he marked that off. 'No, Wyntir needs 5-10 minutes before he can cast that again, otherwise the spell just fizzles out.'
"Burn from ashes of my foe, and be reborn again till all foes are gone. Phoenix Ember!"
A voice suddenly called out from down one of the halls. A bright red ball of fire, no bigger than a chicken's egg zoomed around the room, hitting each Ant, and bouncing around, off the walls, and floor, even hitting the ceiling a few times.
It's speed made what Wyntir had been moving at just before hand seem like a snail's crawl. Neither boy could fully track it with their eyes. The flaming egg-shaped spell hit the last Killer Ant, and stayed there for just a moment, before the entire ant burst into soot and ash, it's crystal dropping to the ground. Each ant burst apart as well, and in only a fraction of a second, they were all gone.
"Pitiful really." A voice said, as a Raven haired elf woman stepped into the room, a bow in her hands, with an arrow notched, the tip of the arrow engulfed in flames. "That so called 'Adventurers' like you would even be allowed to come into the Dungeon at all." Her green robes had a myriad of dancing shadows, some from her arrow, and others from the lighting in the Dungeon it's self, making it seem like the two were fighting against each other some how. Standing taller than even Wyntir, she had the characteristic long elven ears, and high cheek bones. Her natural beauty, however, was ruined by the haughty disapproving look which seemed to be permenantly etched on her face.
Bell and Wyntir both grimaced at her. They remembered this woman well. She had mocked them both on their first day in town, when they had tried to join the Apollo Familia.
"You two can't even handle a few measly little bugs. Any school child could have done better than the two of you did." She mocked, lifting the bow so that the emblazoned tip of the arrow was near her lips, before blowing out the flames.
"Lady Cassandra." Wyntir greeted, forcing himself to be polite though grit teeth. "We thank you for your assistance in this matter."
Cassandra scoffed, and looked down at the two Hestia Familia adventurers. "As well you should. I'm leading a team from the Apollo Familia down to the 17th floor to face a floor boss, I can't be expected to save every single little boy who gets in over their heads." Turning to her comrads, who were just now coming though the door, she pointed at Bell and Wyntir.
"Do try to remember, that we are the Apollo Familia, we are better than rabble like this."
A chorus of "Yes Lady Cassandra." came back from the 7 gathered Apollo Adventurers.
"Well then, let us be off, it does no good to dally." A moment later, she was gone, leaving a silent Dungeon, and a mess of crystals she hadn't even seen fit to kick out of her way.
Bell, in a rather uncharacteristicly childish manner, pulled his eyelid down, and stuck out his tounge at the now departed group. Wyntir scoffed under his breath, and rolled his eyes. "Come on Bell, let's gather up these crystals, and head back."
"Right." Bell said, before adding in his mind, 'I'm not sure i want the ones she killed though, it feels like taking charity.'
…..
Dungeon Advisor Offices
…..
In the end, there had been no additional drop items, and 50 more crystals, each one of a decent size. Bell and Wyntir were sitting over the the side of the hall, at the small table Eina and Bell had been at the day before.
"See Bell, this is the one's place, heres the ten's place, and this is the hundred's place. each time the number in this place changes, the total number changes. Each time a location left of the starting point, or decimal, is filled by a number higher than zero, the numbers between that place and the decimal are called digits. So since 791 is made up of three numbers, it had 3 digits."
Bell nodded, watching from across the table at the sideways piece of paper Eina had provided for them. "So if it's a number like 800, with zeros still in it, does it have one digit, or three?"
"It has three. And, you can write that number three ways. The first is '8-0-0'. You can also write it as '0-0-0-8-0-0'. Just because there are no numbers being written, doesn't take the potential for there to be a number, or the 'place' from being there. Likewise, you have numbers that go on the other side of the decimal. We'll talk about those another time, but you can also write it as '8-0-0-.-0-0'."
Bell looked at the piece of paper, and nodded again. It was kind of confusing to him, but he almost understood it. Wyntir placed a hand on his shoulder, and told him that he didn't expect Bell to get it right away, it had taken Wyntir months to understand it himself.
There had been a long line of Adventurers cashing out for Vallis when the two boys first came in, so they had taken a break, reported into their advisor, and then had an impromptu study session. The line was much shorter now, so the two boys got up, and walked over, depositing their Crystals and items. Bell first, and then Wyntir.
With the crystals from the swarm of Killer ants split between them, Bell had made 12,400 Vallis, while Wyntir had made 10,800. Bell grinned with his eyes closed. "Looks like I win this time!" he sing-songed to Wyntir.
Wyntir laughed good naturedly. "Yes, and it also looks like we can afford to take Hestia-Sama out for dinner tonight." After waving farewell to Eina, the two began walking back to the Chapel.
….
That night, Hestia Familia Chapel.
…
"Kami-Hestia! How did I grow that much? I only got hit three times, and look, my Endurance is up to 45. My Experience is nearly 200!"
From the bed, where Hestia sat on his legs, adjusting his scores with a frown on her face, Wyntir's expression showed confusion. There was no way they should have grown that much. Adventurers given the gift of blessings from a Kami gained experience at a set pace. It wasn't unusual for a short burst of grown when something big happened, like a level, or the first time fighting a floor boss. But just from a swarm of Killer ants? He took the paper Hestia shoved at him, with his status on it.
"i don't know, how should I know why you're suddenly so great that you don't even need help?" Hestia snapped, anger in her voice. "Who even cares?" she grabbed her coat from the closet, where her new dress hung, and threw it on. "I have to go make sure the cart got locked up well. Since you are so great and can do everything your self, just go to dinner without me!"
The two boys looked at each other in confusion. What had they done to set their Kami off?