Chapter 8:
XxXxX
A new day, another session at the dungeon.
"Gagh!" with a downward slash, Rigo claved a Goblin in two, the small creature popping out as soon as its magic stone was reached.
It gave one last soundless scream before dissolving into dust, leaving Rigo's sword free to stab just in time a Dungeon Lizard that fell from the roof. The monster squirmed erratically for a moment, before too dissolving in dust.
With both monsters dealt with, Rigo collapsed into his bag.
The Contractor was breathing hard, his body still feeling phantom pains from last night's activities.
"Grag-!"
Another Lizard tried to get the jump on him, only to be struck by a golden arrow. Rigo had to clean the dust from his face.
"Out of breath already?" with her hands on her hips, Sita had a cheeky smile on her face.
Rigo huffed, before scrambling to get back on his feet, making sure to pocket the magic stones they have earned at the moment. "Not yet," he assured the redhead, before he looked far away into the distance. "I think I am ready for the 5th Floor."
In the blink of an eye, Artoria was at his side, a crossed expression on her face. Looking at the rest of the party, Rigo could see that all of them had different reactions to his suggestion. Although only Artoria voiced her concerns.
"We have talked about this already, you are not ready yet," the way she held her staff suggested that the fae was ready to bash his head with it.
Rigo held her gaze with determination. He knew he could simply order them to go to the fifth floor, but at the same time realized that they were doing this for his own good. He bit the internal part of his cheek, his mind far away.
From the beginning, he knew that he had plenty of options to empower himself easily enough. Hell, with the Credits that he got from Selling Francesca, he could have bought the beginnings of Dragon Heritage and said 'fuck it' to his own self-esteem issues. He could have gone with OCDS-ing plenty of powerful individuals, but he instead chose the hard way and now here he was, grinding in the dungeon of this world. It may be pride, or simply stupidness, but it wouldn't settle well with him if he took the easy way out.
He could leave it for the other Contractors out there to super charge themselves on Talents, Defenses, and Perks. This was his way of doing things, damn it!
…as such, he knew that Artoria and the rest knew better than him on this kind of stuff. They were just trying to look out for him, after all.
Rigo let out a deep breath. "Ok, fine. Not 5th Floor today," he relented, before quickly adding. "But we are staying here for a couple of hours."
To that, Artoria could agree. They have settled a schedule for their divings into the dungeon. They would take two days at each floor, for Rigo to get the hang on this and for them to limit their power to acceptable levels for the locals.
It was working at the moment. According to both Europa and Arturia, Rigo was making steady progress regarding his abilities. The system that they have established proved to be working at the moment. By day venturing into the Dungeon, and by night training Rigo in what he wanted to learn, be it swordsmanship from Arturia, or Magecraft from both Irisviel and herself. He was shaping up to be a powerhouse of his own someday, but not in the immediate future.
Artoria had a small smile on her face. Despite some small incidents here and there, she could finally see that Rigo has come out of his shell. There was still some work to do regarding his own self-confidence issues, but she was more than willing to walk down this path with him.
Now and forever.
XXX
"Aghh~" Europa sighed in bliss, her body completely relaxing under the soothing waters of the goddesses private bathing.
She had heard from this place, of course, and had received invitations on Loki's part on more than one occasion, but until today, she hadn't found a reason to come. Acting as a goddess here involved not getting into violent situations and being able to spend all day simply sprawled into a comfy bed.
It was a nice routine in Europa's opinion, but even she has finally come to get bored of such activities. There wasn't much she could do on her part, her lover and the rest of the coven tended to spend most of the day down in the dungeon, go to the guild to exchange magic stones, have some dinner, and finally come back when the sun was gone.
There was still Lancelot in the Sweet Home, although his own lack of mental faculties beyond being able to say variations of Arthur and Berserker Speech made him unsuitable to carry on a conversation. As such, she finally decided to accept Loki's invitation to the hot springs.
Suffice to say, she isn't lamenting the choice.
"Watcha got there?" like a mischievous gremlin, this world's version of Loki was looking over Europa's shoulder, observing attentively the ring tied to a chain that rested between her breasts.
It was her day of carrying the Stampin Ring, such a good coincidence if Europa admitted.
Europa gave the goddess of mischief a candid smile, making the redhead pause a bit on her ogling of Europa's body. It was such a sweet smile, it managed to take her aback.
"It is a ring, one of my children gave it to me not too long ago," Europa said with a quiet voice, garnering the attention of the rest of the goddesses present.
"Ho? Do tell," ever the gossip, Aphrodite tried to dig for some juicy information. The gossip vine has been quite dry lately.
"Do, do!" like sheep, the rest of the goddesses repeated.
Europa shrunk on herself, fidgeting with the ring.
"It is nothing special, just a token of appreciation," she explained, undoing the links around the ring and starting to play with it in her hands. "They bought it with their first gains from the dungeon, and have taken to carrying it around from time to time," she then laughed a bit to herself. "My poor child didn't know that it was a prank ring. It leaves a stamp very hard to wash off," and with a quick movement, she stamped the foreheads of the goddesses closest to her: Loki, Aphrodite, Demeter, and Brigid.
The quartet of goddesses owlishly blinked for a moment, trying to process what just happened. Then they reacted.
"Gagh!"
"Get it off me!"
"It doesn't wash off!"
"...you hit me a bit too hard."
Europa crackled at their reactions, and gave the rest of the goddesses a playful look. They immediately backed off, just as Europa linked the ring back at its chain. Her smile for a moment turned dark.
"What did Rigo call this?" she mused to herself, before remembering. "Oh, right. All according to keikaku."
XXX
Rigo was stretching on the couch, feeling the satisfactory 'pop' of his joints after a full day exploring the dungeon. Just as they had agreed, the group spent most of the day exploring the 4th Floor, Rigo managing to bag himself some kills from the monsters. His retinue took care of any groups that they considered too big for him to take care of. He had discovered that fighting three monsters at the same time was his limit at the moment, with a fourth one if he managed to break his limits.
Having Irisviel and Artoria always present really helped him recover some of his lost energy each time he reached his max. Sita and Artoria normally took care of any monster that would provoke any sort of life-threatening wound on his person.
It was a slow process, but he himself has noticed a certain growth in his abilities. It gave him…peace. Inner peace with himself. While his mind was no longer haunted by his overwhelming anxiety, he still had some issues to work with. Honest work like this helped him settle his affairs in order.
It has allowed him to notice a certain issue that he has failed to notice before jumping here.
"So, how have you and your Familia had acclimated with the Dungeon?" his Guild Advisor started the conversation, her tone indicating that she didn't have time for any nonsense.
"So far, so good," Rigo indicated to the pouch filled with magic stones placed on the table in front of him. "We haven't ventured beyond the 4th Floor just yet, although Arturia thinks that we may be ready in a couple of days."
"You all have good coordination from before the Dungeon, so it is not surprising that you have managed to reach the 4th Floor in less than a week," his Advisor conceded, before she raised a valid point. "But the deeper you enter the Dungeon, it will be more noticeable a certain element that your party lacks."
"A Support," Rigo spoke, recognizing that he had been negligent on the matter.
Rose Fannett gave him a nod, before taking a stack of papers and presenting them to Rigo. "These here are the Supports that have put flyers with the Guild, I have taken the liberty of organizing them in such a way that you and your Familia are able to see if you can hire them," she explained in a gentle manner.
During her time as a Guild Advisor, she had been forced to say goodbye to many promising Adventurers that were too cocky at the wrong moment. She would do everything in her power to not lose any more of them. She will supply them with what they need, give them the tools to survive in the dungeon. Rose just hoped that this young man didn't join her long list of deceased adventurers.
Rigo took the stack of papers, carefully concealing them between his leather armor and his clothes, before giving Rose a slight node. "We will give these a look, thank you for everything, Miss Rose."
Rose gained a small smile. She felt good with herself at that moment.
KNOCK KNOCK!
Both looked at the door with a raised eyebrow.
"Did you have any appointment before I came?" Rigo asked.
"No," Rose negated immediately, before announcing to the person on the other side of the door. "Come in!"
With their cue, the doors opened slightly, and Aiz Wallenstein, the Sword Princess, entered the room.
"Miss Rose, they told me at the front desk that I could find you he- Oh, hello," Ais hadn't noticed Rigo until she was halfway into the private room.
Although Rose couldn't personally blame her, he somehow seemed so unamussing that he tended to blend into the background. Neither could she blame her for barging in like that. Rigo didn't have an appointment, it just so happened that Rose saw him entering the Guild to exchange his magic stones and she wanted to have a small chat with him.
And, since they were bound to see each other again, sharing the same advisor and all, she decided to present them then and there.
"Rigo, this is Ais Wallenstein of Loki Familia. Ais, this is Rigo Gonzalez of Europa Familia," Rose announced for each other, before giving Ais a questioning look, resting a hand on her hip. "What do you need, Ais?" she asked one of her wards. She looked a bit rushed.
Ais gained a hard to read look, speaking to both Rigo and Rose. "I was here to ask if you could put me in contact with the Europa Familia, I wanted to talk with its Captain," the last part was directed at Rigo mostly.
Rose shrugged on herself. "Then I think this is something you two should talk about between each other."
Rigo gave Ais an uncertain look, before picking up his bag of magic stone and making the motion of going out. "We can talk while I exchange these if you like," he suggested, to which Ais gave a simple nod.
The duo exited the room, and while they were waiting in line to be attended to at the front desk, Rigo decided to simply ask.
"Why do you want to talk with Arturia?" Rigo asked the blonde adventurer.
Ais' expression was rather similar to that of a puppy, she bit her lower lip while considering the answer. "Finn, the Captain of my Famila, told me that she reminded him of me," Aiz explained, before gaining an insecure look. "I…I wanted to meet her, to confirm something."
Knowing a bit of her backstory, Rigo was getting sort of an idea as to why Ais wanted to meet with Arturia. It would supply him with an easier capture of one of the strongest adventurers in Orario. Gifted horse and all that.
"I will take you to meet her," Rigo declared, handing the now available front desk employee his bag of magic stones. "Although I cannot ensure that she will want to talk with you," he told her rapidly, at the same time sending his retinue a message through the Company provided Command Seals. "I am going back home, with a tagalong. Europa, have the Stamp ready."
"Got it!"
With a new kind of weight on his pouch, Rigo gave Ais a thumbs-up while they were exiting the Guild. "Let's go!"
XXX
Walking through the less recurred streets of Orario never gave Ais any pause. She was a Level 4 adventurer of Loki Familia, only a handful of individuals could do something unsavory and get away with it, and the last time she had checked, they didn't have any grief with her or her Familia.
What had Ais nervous about her meeting with this Arturia Pendragon was something she had been struggling with since she was 7 years old. Finn had told her that the woman reminded him of herself; he later revealed that it was not only her physical appearance that both shared, but the look in their eyes and the way they carried themselves. Although just a Level 1, if Arturia made Finn give her such a view, she must be something else altogether.
Ais needed to find out if there was something she could learn from the other woman in order to gain more power.
"Here we are," her guide informed her once they arrived at a fairly basic building.
It wasn't as glamorous as the mansion that the Loki Familia occupied, but it looked good enough for a newly formed Familia to inhabit.
Rigo, the adventurer of Europa Familia, opened the door of the building and entered, making Ais a signal to follow him.
"I am home!" he announced to the entrance, before quickly adding. "Arturia, there is someone here that wants to talk to you!"
"I am coming!" a voice was heard from the hallway to their left.
Rigo went to sit on one of the couches at the entrance, before talking to Ais. "Take a seat, please," he signaled to a single seat right in front of the couch he was seating himself.
Without any doubt on her person, Ais took the offered seat, seating with her back straight and looking front and center.
Rigo raised an eyebrow at her posture. "You can relax, you know?" he told her in a soft tone of voice. "If anything, I think I should be the one worried here. It is not everyday that we receive a visit from a member of another Familia."
"I am…relaxed," Ais tilted her head to the side, unknowingly giving a cute image to her host.
"Yet you look ready for a fight to break at any moment."
Ais turned into the direction of the voice, finding herself face to face with a woman of blonde hair and green eyes. She was wearing a button shirt with a blue ribbon tied at the neck, also with a plain, blue skirt. Her brown boots looked comfortable.
Ais was taken aback, now understanding why Finn said that. But it wasn't only her appearance that was familiar to Ais, it was her eyes. Those were the eyes, not of a beginner adventurer, but of a seasoned fighter. One who has achieved unparalleled prowess of martial talent. She transmitted an air of power without even trying.
Arturia didn't talk. Rigo didn't talk.
Ais herself did something that surprised even her.
"Please, let me be your student!" she was on her knees, begging at Arturia.
"..." the Servant didn't know how to react, luckily her liege was able to vocalize her own thoughts.
"What the actual fuck?"
XxXxX
AN: Yeah, this seemed about right. A bit of day-to-day activities for MC and his waifus, plus a few future Captures.
Next chapter, the misadventures of Ais Wallenstein, the squire