Bell was unsure how this trip could get any worse. Their party had entered the dungeon on the sixth floor. Immediately, the Xenos started struggling. Their imprisonment and starvation had taken a toll on them, making their movements sluggish. Bell was forced to bargain for a blade and take the lead. The low and mid-level monsters were not a problem for him. Finally, they had made it to the eighteenth floor, but many of the Xenos could go no further.
"We need sustenance" the fumore's deep voice broke Bell out of his reverie. The Xenos all crowded around a pond. The water level actually dropped from the quantity they were consuming. "Adventurer Bell, is there any procurement location on this plane for sustenance?"
"Not really. Most of the time, we bring down food with us," Bell replied. "What would you normally eat down here?"
"The mother is all giving. Mosses and meat vines grow near our home," the fumore replied again. Bell had never heard of meat vines, but then again, Aisha had always made sure they had plenty of food.
"There is a small town not far. They won't have much food, and what they will have is very expensive."
Bell knew that there was no way he could procure the food necessary for the large number of Xenos. "I have a couple of crystals that I could trade, but it won't get us much, maybe ten pounds of meat."
"We will need to prioritize the figures. We can feed the rest when we get home," Ray said, wiping water droplets from her face with her wings.
Bell nodded, grabbing one of the adventurer's backpacks before leaving. He slipped through the trees and to the town of Riveria. It was abuzz today, and he had no problem slipping into the town. Making his way to the Inn, he mentally counted his Valis again. Ten pounds may have been optimistic.
The inn was every bit as dingy as he remembered. The barkeep stood polishing an empty glass a scowl on his weasel face.
"What do you want," the barkeep's nasally voice greeted him.
"Dungeon dinners," Bell replied, plopping the crystals on the table and keeping a hand across the crystals. That's what the girls did anytime they tried to buy anything, well, that and lean forward, crossing their arms. But he was sure that portion would be unhelpful to him.
"Five crystals a pack, seven if you want a canteen," the barkeep replied.
Bell relaxed. The rates had dropped since last time. He could get thirteen rations instead of ten. Pulling out the required number of crystals, he counted as the barkeep stacked the small trays on the bartop. Shoving them into his pack, he began to make his way out of town. A large group of people stood in his way, their backs turned to him as they jeered at whatever was in front of them.
Moving into the crowd, he kept several people between him and the source of the crowd slipping to the side, intent on slipping outside the gate. A small group of adventurous stood panting.
"I'm telling you, it was a monster party! They had everything from an Al Miraj to a Fumore!" One of the humans yelled angrily at the crowd.
"Did they have a Goliath too!" Someone in the crowd yelled back, laughing. Bell's shoulders relaxed. They all thought it was a joke. An adventurer who had fled from the dungeon looking to save face. Bell walked out of town with several other groups, many of them joking about seeing a Fumore on a middle floor, a safe floor at that.
"Here, I got a little more than I thought," Bell said, handing the pack to Ray. The siren nodded, picking several of the largest creatures to move forward. Each given one pack of rations, Bell noted that Ray herself didn't take one.
"You have been fighting at the front the whole time. Why didn't you take one?" Bell asked as the lucky Xenos devoured their meals.
"If there isn't enough, it is my job to provide for others first," she replied simply, a gurgle from her stomach causing her face to turn red.
He nodded, his eyes roving across the Xenos a frown growing across his face as he recognized several new weapons. "Where did you get those," he asked, his voice barely more than a whisper as he pointed at a long sword.
"They were in a death mound nearby. The dead have no need so we procured these for our return," the fulmore replied.
Bell was almost hyperventilating. Ryuu had killed several familias worth of people to avenge her familia. What would she do to the Xenos for desecrating their graves?
"We need to return those, now!" Bell knew he sounded slightly hysterical. The Xenos in possession of the dead familias weapons clutched them closer.
"The dead cannot protest. Your fear is unfounded," the fumore replied again, standing to its full height as it stared down at him. Bell stepped forward until he was almost directly in front of the monster, his fear of the elf much higher than the Fumore.
"If they were all dead, you would be correct, but Ryuu comes to visit their graves often. If she finds you took her familias weapons, she will hunt you, and she will kill you," Bell warned them.
"If we do not keep them, we will not survive. I promise we will return them once we are able," Ray said, gently pushing him and the fumore apart.
A high-pitched scream broke the silence. "Ryuu," Bell whispered, the sound of the heart-wrenching scream causing knots in his stomach.
"Will you journey on with us, adventurer, or is this where our destinies part?" The Fulmore asked. Behind it, the Xenos were already moving toward the nineteenth floor.
"I will get you home, but then we will return the weapons," he replied, gripping his own stolen weapon closely. If Ryuu caught up with the Xenos, no mere sword would stop her, she would absolutely tear them apart. He swallowed a lump in his throat, unsure if she would spare even him.
Ryuu was shaking, the flowers in her hands torn to shreds.
"Ryuu, if you continue pacing, you will cover their tracks," Horn spoke. Ryuu forced her feet to stop. She wasn't even supposed to be down here. Freya had ordered the entire family to be on high alert. Had Horn not volunteered, she would have missed her familia's death anniversary for the first time.
Ryuu watched as Horn leaned down, her hand tracing through the grass.
"These prints are not human," Horn finally stated. "One is clearly a Lizardman, the other appears to be a —fumore?"
"I'm going to retrieve their weapons," Ryuu stated, following the crunched grass. The wind burned her face as she ran, the trees blurring, following the tracks leading further into the dungeon.
"Ryuu, slow down! We are not gaining on them, you need to be careful. If they are outpacing a level five and six, I don't know if we can take them in a fight."
"I just need to see who they are. Then we can leave," Ryuu replied, breaking out onto the expanse of the twenty-fourth floor. The rushing waterfall almost drowned out her words.
"There!" Horn pointed down to the base of the falls. Ryuu almost choked. The monster party was like nothing she had ever seen, a mismatch of creatures from all floors, and they were tearing through other monsters.
"What in Freya's name is that? The Fumore just tore apart those crabs," Horn whispered. "Is that a human with them?"
Ryuu followed Horn's finger, it was a human dancing through the monsters, his longsword cutting through creatures like butter.
"That's Bell," Ryuu stated. Why was Bell with the monsters, and why didn't he stop them from defiling her familias grave? An odd sting of betrayal settled into her gut.
"We need to tell Freya!"
"You tell Freya. I will follow them," Ryuu replied. She took off before Horn had a chance to argue.
Horn made her trip back up, the floors mostly clear. She made good time back to the eighteenth floor. Her thoughts turned to how her lady would likely order the entire familia, or at least most of it into the dungeon to recover Bell. She had been specially put out when Bell had refused her.
"Stop," her musing was cut short as she reached the exit to the seventeenth floor. Several amazons stood guard.
"Is there a problem?" Horn bristled. This was something she would expect from the Soma Familia, a shakedown in the dungeon. She counted ten amazons, but without knowing their level, it was impossible to guess if she could take them down. But, if it took her coin purse, she would gladly sacrifice it. After all, she would be coming back this way with her entire family. It would be a simple matter to retrieve it.
"I haven't seen you around before. What familia are you with?" The leader asked.
"Freya," she smirked at the look of discomfort that waived across their faces. She watched as one of the amazons turned and set off into the forest. They were likely low levels then and were going to get reinforcements. "Now, if you don't mind. I am headed to the surface."
"We can't let anyone pass," the leader said again. Her weapon trembling in her hands. Horn could feel the grin splitting her face it had been a long time since she had been allowed to fight fellow adventurers. Nobody had dared challenge her familia either in the dungeon or to a wargame. So why were they challenging her now?
It had to be the boy. They had lost him and now were attempting to hunt him down. Preventing anyone who may have seen him from returning to the surface. The intimidation would likely work too on every familia except hers and maybe Loki.
"Lena, stop," Horn turned to stare as another amazon ran over. The captain of Ishtar's familia if she remembered correctly.
"You are one of Freya's?" Horn nodded in agreement. "Have you seen a white-haired boy? One of ours is lost. "
"I haven't. I was just down here to pay respects to the deceased."
Horn firmly believed that the best lies always had some truth to them.
"The mound of dead? We noticed the weapons were missing. I would have thought a daughter of the familia of war would be hunting the defilers down. Not running away." Aisha said, frowning.
"Normally, I would, after all, my lady would have no problem with me killing some adventurers." Horn smiled at the nervous fidgeting of the amazons around her. "But alas, it was in vain. Monsters must have killed them and taken the weapons. I will be returning to the surface to pick a supporter."
"Say, isn't there an elf in your familia who was a member of the Astrea familia? Where is she?" Aisha asked, a smirk growing on her face. "Do you want to know what I think? I think you did see Bell and left the elf to chase him while you return to get reinforcements."
"That would be quite the leap of faith. Even if I had seen him, what would you do? I doubt you could stop me before anyone sees it. Freya gives generously to anyone who would turn in those who hurt her familia." Horn said, pulling her staff off her back
"I would ask you where you saw him and then take my amazons after him."
"If I refuse to tell you?"
"Then you won't be returning to the surface. Ever. My goddess has made it clear return with Bell or not at all." Aisha replied, pulling out her weapon.
Horn stared at the amazons. Aisha was on the same level as her. With the group around her, there was no way she would be able to fight them all off.
"How do I know you won't take the information and kill me?" Horn replied, fingers turning white as she clenched her staff.
"I swear on my goddess, the only interest I have is recovering Bell. Ishtar has no interest in fighting Freya, except if she takes Bell." Aisha replied before sighing. "I just need to get him back. Once he is back on the surface lets, let our goddesses fight this out."
"He is leading a monster party deeper into the dungeon," Horn stated, watching as the amazons shifted, now staring at their captain.
"Let her pass. I don't want to be hunted by a Boaz."
An explosion shook the floor causing the crystals on the ceiling to crack. What in the goddess's name could cause the dungeon to shake? Horn took off to the surface as Aisha and the Amazons delved deeper into the dungeon.
AN
: A huge thank you to the Beta Readers who assisted with this chapter. I can say without a doubt they made this chapter what it is so a huge thank you to Eurille and Gogo2015