Is it wrong to try to pick up girls in a dungeon?
Fanfic: Familia plus One
chapter 5. Monsterphilia
I still don't own it.
...Familia Plus One...
It had been 3 days since the twins and Wyntir had first adventured together. True to his word, Wyntir had kept an eye on Bell, and the younger white-haired boy was infact, washing behind his own ears.
Wyntir continued to put money away in the coffers of the familia, and still set the allowances for all three members of the familia aside. Hestia's purse was now full to ALMOST bursting, since it wasn't the strongest coinpurse ever made in the first place.
While neither he nor Bell had used the vails of potion given to them by the kindly Kami of the Miach Familia, they never left the chapel without the potions in their posession.
The trio had made some good coin, and they were now headed to Wyntir's very first Monsterphilia.
They were not, however, making very good time getting there.
The twins, Azalea and Isabelle, two cheinthropes of the Corgi variety, were proving their nicknames as 'Zig' and 'Zag' once more, by moving quickly from stall to stall, seemingly trying to touch, smell, or buy something from each and every vendor who had a stall set up around the Arena. This large circular building was where the Ganesha Familia were having the celebration for their Kami's birthday.
Wyntir had stopped asking about their strange wanderings after the third time they had told him, "The surroundings….."
"...Of the event…"
"... are almost…"
"….. as much fun as…"
"….. the event itself."
Their odd way of speaking had threatened to give him a headache, since they seemed to have no rhyme or reason as to who started the pattern. Normally there was a tell. It might be something like who was standing closer, or who had finished their last meal first.
But today they seemed to be trying to confuse him as much as possible.
Shaking his head, and smiling, he hoisted the small set of packages he was carrying to get a better grip. His long sleeved dress shirt kept getting it's cuff caught between the handles of the various bags.
He was wearing part of his three piece suit, but had left the jacket at the chapel, since he was not expecting to fight today, and it seemed like it was going to be a nice warm day. As it was, his vest, shirt, tie, and pants were pressed and clean, and he had gotten more than one complement about how he looked.
While a part of him wanted to insist that he was not a packmule for them to throw their purchaces on, he held his tongue, because they did, after all, do the exact same thing for him every day they went into the dungeon together.
The odd comment he heard from women as he walked by about what a gentleman he was, or how strong he was, didn't hurt either, if he was being honest about it. He wasn't sure which pleased him more, being seen as well dressed, or well mannered.
Suddenly, as he pondered this, a familiar chill raced down the tattoo on his back. Every adventurer knew this feeling well, and each one that valued their lives heeded it. This feeling was the warning that their Familia's Kami's blessing gave when monsters were near.
Moments later a scream sounded out, and Wyntir quickly scooped both girls up, along with the bags he had been carrying, and the daughter of the vendor they had been buying from, and moved forward into the stall, stepping all over the goods for sale as he dodged a monster rolling down the path that was in the middle of the market place.
Setting them down, and stepping back, he looked at the odd, Pangola-like monster. "What's a Hardarmor doing here?" He asked aloud, not expecting an answer.
The large reptilian with it's over grown scales, and need for a manicure, had hit a large chest out of which a merchant was peddling silks and scarves. The chest had been destroyed, but it had stopped the rolling monster, who has now trying to find a way out from under the mass of cloth that had become draped over it.
Looking back to the three girls he had just saved, Wyntir checked to make sure he didn't see any blood. "Are you three alright?"
"We're."
"Alright." The twins chimed in, seemingly surprised by what had just happened. judging from the way the fur/hair on their heads was standing up, they too had felt the chill of their Marks.
"OH! Papa's gonna be mad at me!" The younger girl exclaimed, pointing down at the items spread out on the ground that Wyntir had stepped on. They were mostly small vials of scent that were made to go into the dungeons, and so didn't break easily. There were no damaged good that could be seen, and no repugnant smells seemed to be forth coming.
She ducked down, and began trying to organize the vials again, seemingly not even noticing the monster that had nearly made a short stack of adventurer pancakes out of them.
A moment later, the Hardarmor seemed to find a way out from under the pile, as his head stuck out, and he looked around. A small child catfolk, standing in the middle of the market's street, with his hand out stretched, stood frozen, stating wide-eyed at the beast.
The child's mother was fighting against a vendor who was trying to keep her out of the way, so the monster wouldn't attack her. The child, seeming to notice that he was no longer holding his mother's hand, flexed his fingers, grabbing as if to suddenly feel her, and know she was near. turning his head, he looked at his hand, flexed his fingers once, twice, and then held them closed in a fist, and looked back wide-eyed at the monster, who hissed angrily.
The child then did what any 5-year old, suddenly faced with a beast from their worst nightmares would do. He teared up, and began to cry. large teardrops rolled out of his eyes, and down his whiskers, as the Hardarmor tucked it's forelimbs in, and prepared for it's rolling attack.
The Hardarmor set off, it's scales digging into the cobblestone road as it charged towards the young cat folk.
The market square was silent.
Vendors tried to wave the kid down, as if they could get the child out of the way with just a hand motion.
Wyntir's mouth moved, no noise seemed to come from it.
The child's mother broke out in tears of her own, a glistening trail sliding back throught he air as she tried to get out of the charm-vendor's arms.
Zig and Zag covered their eyes, their ears drooping, knowing they couldn't gat their slings out in time to do anything.
A dull roar resounded in everyone's ears as the monster neared it's target.
The silence was shattered by two words.
"AGILITY STORM!"
….Familia Plus One….
"Goddess Hestia!" Bell cried, pulling his Kami along by the hand as the larger armored Silverback chased them through a section of the market. "Why is that thing after you, have you ever seen it before?"
"No! Never!" Hestia yelled back, once again glad that she had the good sense to always wear flats.
The two ran through a pair of buildings, and came out infront of a familiar sign.
"This is Daedelus street.." Bell muttered to himself, before pulling Hestia into the labyrithian twists and turn of the famed 'bad' section of town.
From the time he and Wyntir had spent living there before they had become part of the Hestia Familia, Bell knew the street's twists and turn better than some of the residents who lived there still.
Quickly running down the alley, looking at the spots he knew to be dead-ends, and moving past them, Bell guided his Kami to a large opening between buildings. Pausing for a moment before moving out into the open, Bell was thrown onto his back by the shockwave caused by the large Silverback landing from the rooftops.
With reflexes honed in the Dungeon's depths, Bell rolled back onto his feet, and looked up to meet the red-eyed monster's gaze, only for his body to suddenly freeze in place, the memory of his encounter with the Minotaur replaying in his mind.
He couldn't move
He couldn't breathe.
He couldn't afford to sit there while his Kami was in danger.
'I'm a man aren't I?' he yelled at himself in his own mind. 'You can't run away from a girl who's in trouble!'
Pulling his blade, he ran forward, jumped of the monster's knee, and thrust downward,trying to plunge in blade home for a one-shot kill to the skull of this beast.
His own disbelieving face looked back at him, reflected in the shards of his blade. A moment later, he was batted aside like a fly.
….Familia Plus One….
Motoko, shop-girl, adventurer, Child of the Miach Familia stood, fighting a beast in the middle of town. Her throwing stars kept the large, slow Orc at bay. Without it's landform weapon, the pig-faced monster was much less of a threat. Pulling the tanto knife from the small of her back, The slender woman rushed forward, and stabbed the tip of the blade into the exact point where she knew the beast's crystal to be.
Both hearing, and feeling the shattering sensation of the crystal unbinding itself from the monster, she stapped back, and smiled under her mask as the greenish beast burst into soot and dust.
She had killed dozens of these ponderous monsters in the Dungeon, now she had killed one on the surface.
Bending over to pick up the crystal, she blushed as she heard people beginning to cheer for her, clapping and whistling loudly.
Townsfolk could enter the dungeon without a blessing, but weren't allowed to go past the second level. Few of them ever did, and so they rarely got to see anything like this, except for at events like Monsterphilia.
Even then, they normally saw it from a safe distance, high up on the bleachers of the colloseum. This was new for them. they could even smell the acrid odor caused by the bursting monster.
It was new for Motoko as well, since she was not used to having an audience. Slipping the crystal in a small pocket, she blushed harder, and a hand went to the back of her head, rubbing just below her ponytail.
…..Familia Plus One….
"Are you alright kid?" Wyntir asked, handing the boy to his mother, who looked at him with wonder and praise in her eyes.
The boy just burried his face in his mother's shoulder, and mewed piteously.
The monster struggled, a scarf that had been in the pile was still wrapped around it's neck. Once end of this scarf was pinned by the sword of Wyntir's weapon, which stood upright between two cobblestones, where he had stuck it while under the effects of his enhancement spell.
The Hardarmor tried in vain to pull free, but the scarf was a well made piece, and did not rip easily. stopping for a moment to pant and hiss, the monster glared hatefully at the suited adventurer who had stopped it's rolling attack.
Several cracked cobblestones lay in the road, signs of the beast's thrashing and temper.
Wyntir was at an impass now. The bludgeon like staff of his weapon wouldn't be able to kill this beast, and yet he could not risk getting in close enough to pull his sword free. Not only would it put him in danger, but the monster would be able to attack freely once more.
"Adventurer!" a voice from the crown shouted.
Wyntir turned just in time to catch a shiethed sword thrown to him by one of the merchants. In a single smooth move, he pulled the fencing saber free of it's confinement, and gave it a quck test swing.
He had time for no more, though, as a ripping sound filled the air. The Hardarmor was finally pulling hard enough to tear at the scarf. It ripped a bit more, and a bit more.
Now only a few precious strands of silk held the beast in check. it let out a low hiss.
Wyntir turned to face the monster, and gave a duelist salute with the blade, before taking a fencing stance he had been taught long ago during practice sessions with his brothers.
No one dared to move in the market, and it seemed that the air itself was quivering with anticipation from how thick the atmosphere was.
Wyntir held his sword-cane staff between his ring and middle fingers, while his middle and index fingers with his thumb held the scabbard of the sabre. The blade of this new weapon shone in the light of the sun, as the monster pulled free of the scarf, Wyntir's sword unbending and standing upright as the tension was let off of it.
The world was still, the monster, rolling up to charge him, the marketplace silent, not even the insects dared to make noise.
Wyntir smiled. 'This is just like that day…...'
'That's right, It was a clear day just like this…..' Bell thought, looking up at the sky, and smiling wistfully, the metal barred door latched shut to keep his Kami safe.
Two members of the Hestia familia, half a city apart, thought the same words at the same time.
'...the day I met him!."
A/N
Sorry this update took me so long, My job just got alot more demanding. I was originally going to write this chapter and the next as one long one, but I wanted to give everyone who has favorited and followed this story, and me, a little something to know that I'm still here, and haven't abandoned this story.
Add to that the fact that I couldn't figure out what monster I wanted Wyntir to be fighting, and the fact that I re-wrote these scenes over a dozen times all total.
I do hope you all enjoyed this chapter.
I want to address a few questions posed to me in the reveiws.
Wyntir is not going to have the same skills as Bell will, but he's not going to be without his own set of skills either.
Remember, he is older, and has experience hunting monsters outside of the Dungeon, so he will be ahead of Bell for a bit. I haven't decided if I want him to level up before Bell does, or just after him but with time to go before the naming banquet.
I'm loving all of the positive comments about Wyntir's gentlemanly theme, and the support from everyone so far.
Preview of the next chapter.
How Bell and Wyntir met.