I announced on my Wattpad page I probably wouldn't be posting for a while, but I just needed something to do to help me keep my mind off Axel. It's been hard for me to lose one of my dogs to a tumour no one knew he had, but what makes it worse is that when my family took him to the vet late at night, I didn't go because I had a shower after I got home from my work a bit before and didn't get to say goodbye to him. That's honestly the part that's killing me the most, the fact that the last words I said to him were "Don't cost us too much on this vet trip."

If you have a pet, just stop what you're doing for a minute and just tell them how much you love them. Really, do. You'll have no idea when the last time you see them will be, or what your last words to them will be, so make the most out of every moment you have with them. Every little second with your pets is a blessing. Don't ever take it for granted like I did and regret it for the rest of your life.

Also, to answer your questions:

Guest: Yes, Bell will be appearing in this story and Akihide will be taking a proactive approach in his development. Also this will be Ais/Bell.

Guest: Yeah, Kaguya talking like that to Akihide can be interpreted as lording power over him, but at the end of the day, she does have his best interests at heart. The life of an adventurer is usually a shitty one filled with heartache, pain and loss, and if it means Kaguya has to be mean to Akihide to keep him alive in the best way she knows how, you best damn believe she's going to do that, especially with Evilus still running around.

Onxio: No, this story is not going to pair Akihide up with Ais romantically. Their relationship is going to be a more stereotypical older brother, younger sister. Lots of arguments, sharp jabs and laughing at each other's misfortune, but at the end of the day they'll have a platonic love.

Funny-Little-Cute White Fox: Thanks mate, means a lot to me.


Utop the largest tower in Babel, a certain goddess looked out her window. But she did not care for the scenery, only for the show she was seeing in the Dungeon. The fight that had been forced on her future Odr. She had already told Ottar to go down to the Dungeon and assist Akihide if he needed to, but not a moment before. Akihide was not only an adventurer, but her future Odr. He needed to know how to handle himself in the Dungeon, but that most certainly did not mean leaving the boy to die after what those cowards dared to pull.

"The audacity of some adventurers these days." she sighed, as she watched the young boy kill a Goblin. Not very impressive for most adventurers, but for a boy who had only been in the Dungeon for around a week? And only trained for a month?

It was more than sufficient.

"He has a talent for this..." she moaned, smirking as she bit her lower lip. "Prove it to me. Prove you can become my Odr and stand by my side."


Akihide slid one of his blades into the skull of a Goblin, successfully killing it. He had to move immediately, as a Kobold came after him with a club swing. As he landed, he noticed another Kobold trying to attack him as well, making him flee once more as the monster attacked. However, he was too slow, and a club slammed down into his shoulder. He screamed in pain, but noticed that it slid straight off him, so the monster didn't get an actual attack in, and only grazed his shoulder slightly. That was a relief, since that meant he could keep fighting.

The trio of the 'Kiddy Party' had their hands full. With well over 20 monsters on them at once in a narrow hallway, things weren't looking good for them, not by a long shot. Akihide had managed to take out 4 monsters, and Ardee had managed to kill 6, but the numbers didn't seem to stop or slow down at all. Airmid had been told to save her last spell in case they needed it desperately, and allow the two melee fighters to do what they could to kill as many monsters as possible.

Ardee yelled as she slashed through her seventh monster, a Kobold. However, a Dungeon Lizard soon took it's place and continued the attack against her. "There's too many of them!" she called out, as she blocked another swing from a Kobold whilst kicking the Dungeon Lizard away with her foot. Whilst these monsters were nothing on their own to the three, in a massive swarm like this there was a lot of things that were forcing them back at once. Since all these monsters came at them at once, there was no way they could separate them and try to take them out individually, which would have been much easier to do. "Fuck it! Airmid, start chanting!" she called out, swinging her blade once more, killing the pesky Dungeon Lizard who had been bothering her for a bit.

Airmid nodded, and held out her staff. "Dazzling stars crossing the jet-black sky." she began, as small fragments of light appeared over the horde of monsters. "Listen to my immature prayer, guide the flash - Come, shine of tears, defeat the filthy! Lumine Pleiades!" she finished chanting, holding he staff up in the direction of the light she had made with her spell. And just like that, beams of light shot down from over the enemy monsters, slicing through their bodies and their ranks. Airmid had pushed herself as hard as she safely could without risking a mind down, which worked out amazingly as 10 monsters had been taken out by her alone with a single spell.

"Woah..." muttered Akihide, looking at the carnage of monsters. "That was amazing! There's only ten monsters left now, and they're mainly Goblins!" he yelled in excitement, rushing forward and slamming his tantō down into the first of the Goblins, killing it. He smirked as he immediately rushed to the next one, jumping over it's knife swing and slicing it's neck, killing it as well. He had the least kills of the group so he needed to pick up the slack.

Ardee was soon right on top of him, slashing another monster that was closing in on him. "We're so bragging about this later." she exclaimed in excitement, the ending to their little fight drawing closer and closer. "That'll show Shakti I can handle myself in the Dunge-"

"Another group approaching the rear!" called out a startled Airmid.

The two turned around for a brief moment to see another ten monsters appearing from behind. "Damn it! And just when I thought this was over!" screamed Ardee in frustration. "I'll take out the new horde. Just keep killing these ones!" she ordered Akihide, as she ran to the back to cover the new group of monsters. Akihide turned around, as another, smaller group of monsters entered the fray from one of the other hallways immediately on his left. He sighed as the 7 Goblins became 8 Goblins and 4 Kobolds.

"I should have just listened to Riveria..."


Riveria was not usually one to freak out. She always managed to keep up a calm facade around others in all situations, be it political, Familia, or Dungeon matters. However, when she had absolutely no luck in trying to find Akihide anywhere, she began to freak out like she never knew she could.

"Akihide!" she called out down the street, running in search of the young boy. "Akihide! Where are you?!" she demanded, not letting up her search for the boy for even a moment. She had not been this stressed in a long time, and even then she never acted like she was in the streets at this moment, like a desperate mother looking for her wayward son.

Honestly, that's probably how a lot of the onlookers saw Riveria at that point. And it was completely how she felt.

The boy had been at neither of the forges or shops. No one had even seen him come through this way. So where could he have gone? Possible scenarios began rushing through her head. 'Kidnapping maybe? Someone would probably try to ransom him off to the Loki Familia for a few million Valis.' she thought, before tossing the notion out the window. 'No, even with the anarchy of Evilus, Loki Familia has 3 level 5 adventurers. No one would be foolish enough to take him from us and try to get us to pay a ransom. Not even the Freya Familia would be able to do anything like this with Orario as it currently is.'

But then what else could it be. He could have gotten lost in the streets and wandered too far from the main road, leaving him lost in the middle of the city with no way home. That genuinely horrified Riveria, who remembered how she first met Akihide in the streets of Orario, cold and on the side of the road. "Not again..." she muttered, continuing to run and look. "I won't let that happen. Akihide!"

"Airmid!"

Wait, what?

Riveria turned around to see something she didn't think she'd ever see. The ever gloatful and charismatic Dain Cecht was looking around frantically, much like she was a few moments ago. From how he was shouting out for someone, she could only assume that he had also lost someone from his Familia. So close to their home as well, it must've been tough for him. But perhaps this was for the best. Two collective efforts were better than one.

She approached the god. "Lord Dian Cecht, is something the matter?" she asked the god, respectfully but urgently.

The god turn before his face broke out in relief. "Nine Hells! Oh thank goodness you're here! One of my familia has been missing for most of the day and no one can find her! She's like a daughter to me, I raised her myself!" he cried out. "Oh Airmid! I'm sorry I said those mean things to you!"

A member of his familia stepped up. "Airmid Teasanare is a young girl, aged 9. She has silver hair and blue eyes, and her training equipment for the Dungeon is gone. We asked if she had been through the guild, but apparently no one reported seeing her in the Dungeon. We don't think she's there, we've told her numerous times she can't go alone."

Riveria nodded. "That's good advice. I gave the same to Akihide. Told him never to go into the Dungeon alone. Always have backup with him, in his case either myself, Gareth or Finn."

That's when the two of them stopped. They turned their gazes towards one another. "Now that I think about it... Akihide was here earlier saying he was exploring the city, and Airmid went missing shortly after..."

Riveria couldn't take it. Oh how she was going to skin that boy alive when she got her hands on him. But for now...

She'd have to make do for a scream that pierced the heavens.


Akihide panted against the wall, trying to catch his breath as the last of the monsters were killed. "How... how did we survive?" he wondered out loud.

"Airmid really saved our asses..." muttered Ardee, looking at the younger girl. "She managed two more spells before entering mind down. She truly is something else."

Akihide turned back to her, noticing how scratched up she was. It made sense, given that she had killed the most monsters out of all of them. "Should I heal you or restore her mind?" he asked, looking between the two girls.

"Get her on her feet." ordered Ardee, as she stood up. "You cast your magic while I collect the stones. We can't risk an enhanced species spawning after they eat all these." she said, as she walked past Akihide to begin picking up the stones.

Akihide turned his attention to Airmid and began his chant. "On the divine path up the mountain's edge. Guide my unworthy soul down the path of the gods. Showcase your brilliance and give this body the power the bestow your blessed might onto others. Let the gates of heaven open up and allow your holy power to flow. Second Gate: Kokoro no Mon!" he called out, allowing a blue, glowing torii gate to appear, identicle to the first in all but colour and that it had the character for 'two' instead of one. It began to restore the mind that Airmid lost, but Akihide had to be careful not to overuse it like he had when he healed Ryuu that one time in the Stardust Garden when he began training.

With enough practice, he was successful in restoring Airmid's mind enough that her mind zero was nullified and she opened her eyes. "Wha..." she began to question, before seemingly remembering where she was. "I'm recovered?"

"My magic." responded Akihide, enlightening her. "I can heal, restore mind and enhance basic abilities. I just restored your mind and awoke you from mind down." he said.

Airmid nodded. "Thanks." she said, before picking herself up off the ground she had been laying on. "We should get moving while we still have a chance."

"Good idea..." replied Akihide, turning around and helping Ardee pick up the magic stones. "Jeez... this is a pain in the ass..."

"Tell me about it..." muttered Ardee, before looking at the young boy with a smile on her face. "But we made it out of there, so we're going to be okay. At least until our familias find out about this..." she trailed off with a small laugh. Akihide couldn't help but grin too, smiling at the thought of seeing Riveria again, and then shivering at what her punishment was going to be for this little excapade.

"Um... guys?" called Airmid. The two melee fighters of the party turned back to her to ask what was wrong. "Kobolds are usually grey, right?"

Ardee managed to figure out what she meant and turned around once more to look ahead, finding something horrible. A single Kobold, but not a standard one by any means. It's fur was red, and in it's hand wasn't a club like most of them used, but instead a bloodied sword that looked too man made to be something the Dungeon gave it. "Oh no... and enhanced species."


"Riveria!" called out a voice to the Vice Captain of the Loki Familia. Said elf turned to her left to see a certain Captain of the Ganesha Familia coming her way.

"Shakti, is everything alright? What's happening?" she asked, trying to hurry the interaction along so she could drag Akihide out of the Dungeon by his ears.

"Seems my sister took your adventurer into the Dungeon a few hours ago. People have been talking about this party of kids that entered Floor 4 a little while ago. 3 adventurers, one's my sister, another's Akihide, but no one knows who the third is." said Shakti, trying to keep her anger inside for the time being as to not insult Riveria or make a fool out of the name Ganesha any more than her foolish god did.

"Airmid Teasanare of the Dian Cecht Familia." reponded Riveria, shocking Shakti. "I'm on my way in there now to grab Akihide and Airmid. Perhaps we should go together and make sure to lecture them at once. Two authority figures looking down on you is much worse than one." offered the elven mage.

Shakti accepted the offer and the two made their way down into the Dungeon. However, not too soon after they began their descent, they picked up voices.

"-ose kids gonna be okay? They're just kids after all..."

"Don't feel too bad about it. It's the way the Dungeon works. Prioritise your survival over three small children. They knew the risks entering the Dungeon, now they deal with the consequen-"

And that was where the conversation ended, as they noticed a pair of absolutely livid adventurers staring down at them, one of them a famous first-class adventurer and another as one of the biggest protectors of the city.

"We are so fucked..." muttered one of the adventurers.

Riveria didn't even dignify it with a response, pushing past them and running down to Floor 1 with breakneck speed. All the while Shakti told two members of the Ganesha Familia to restrain the men as they went into the Dungeon to save Ardee, Airmid and Akihide.


Akihide grit his teeth as he blocked the sword of the Kobold enhance species with a cross guard. Ardee followed up with a swing, but the monster was smart and moved away. Akihide went to follow up and attack himself, but the monster kicked a rock from the dungeon floor that smacked him in the face, sending him tumbling down to the ground.

Airmid rushed to his side and helped him up as Ardee fended off the attacking Kobold. "Come on, we need you in there!" she said, helping the boy to his feet. "If we dont do something soon, we're going to get killed by this thing!"

Akihide nodded wordlessly, getting up slowly and moving forward once more, rushing at the Kobold as it locked swords with Ardee. 'I just need to be faster than it.' he though as he rushed forward. 'Faster...' his thoughts races as he closed in, 'Faster than it. Be faster!' he finished thinking as he drew closer. Taking his tantō, he shoved them at the Kobold who didn't see him coming, aiming for the legs he swung down, embedding the blade in the thigh of the monster, causing it to scream in pain. Akihide was once again smacked to the ground, the Kobold sending it's injured leg into his face, knocking him back to the ground and out cold. Ardee too advantage however, screaming out in fury as she ran the sword further down the monster's stolen blade and bisecting the monster in two. It looked down in horror at the gaping wound in it's chest before collapsing onto the ground, dropping the sword that it stole from one of the unfortunate adventurers to cross it's path.

Ardee collapsed onto the ground, completely exhausted, sword falling to her side as she rested on the Dungeon's wall. She needed a moment to catch her breath, as the previous fights with the pass parade and the enhanced Kobold had taken everything out of her. Airmid went to check on Akihide who was still lying face down on the ground with a large bruise on his face from where the Kobold had kicked him. Ardee sighed as she looked at the tunnels, waiting for more monsters to spawn or an adventurer to come and take advantage of how exhausted they were by killing them or stealing their magic stones and gear. Someone had to be sure to keep an eye out as the two other members of her party were otherwise busy being knocked out and tending to said other party member.

However, heavy footsteps soon filled her ears and her heart with dread. She groaned as she got up, taking up both the sword she had and the one the Kobold stole, holding them in front of her body in a defensive position as she prepared herself to defend the two kids behind her. 'It's my responsibility as the oldest one here, as well as the strongest. I need to protect them from whatever the Dungeon throws at us.' she thought, steeling her nerves for battle.

Around the corner turned a beast of a man, fully fitting his shirt with muscles that made him look like a mountain, carrying a pair of swords on his back that had to weigh at least 50 kilograms each, and a pair of boar ears atop his head. Anyone and everyone could tell who he is.

"O-Ottar 'The King'?" asked Ardee in a confused and exhausted voice. Ottar nodded, walking past her and kneeling down in front of Akihide.

"You said you'd surpass me and break my record. I can't let you die before you try accomplishing your goal to the fullest." he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a potion. He drenched it all over the boy, recovering the numerous small injuries he recieved in the Dungeon. "As someone important to me once said, never stop looking up. Never stop reaching higher. Never stop growing stronger. Never be satisfied with the way you are. Keep aiming to be better. Learn from this experience and grow. Come back stronger than before until you have the power to conquer me and stand alongside me as an equal, and then her, as she has instructed you to do."

Akihide nodded, seemingly hearing everything, despite the face he was still unconcious. Ottar continued to wear his expressionless face like a mask as he picked the boy up, turning around. "Follow me. I'll escort you all out of the Dungeon. It would be best for all of you to rest after today's events."

The two girls followed, nodding as they made their way to 'The King' of Orario himself. However, as they walked, and as grateful as they were that Ottar himself came to their rescue, they couldn't shake a single thought that crept into their heads, knawing at their brains as an they went with the man to the surface.

How did he know where they were, or that they were in trouble?


Akihide opened his eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling. It was pure white and adorned with a little gold in the shape of flowers that soothed his soul. His whole body felt heavy, preventing him from getting up as he tried to sit where he was and figure out his position.

"You're in the Familia medical wing." said a voice, making Akihide turn his head to see Loki, staring at him from a chair seated next to him. "You did something stupid Akihide, going into the Dungeon with a pair of inexperienced adventurers. Riveria was so pissed at you. You're lucky you've woken up as she was going to get something to eat, she's been practicing her 'I'm mad and dissapointed' speech for the last three days in a row."

That sent a chill up his spine. The boy was not keen on dealing with a Riveria who had three days to prepare her speech. Oh no, that wasn't going to go well for him.

"The two girls," continued Loki, getting his attention. "Ardee and Airmid, they took quite a bit of blame off you by saying they made you go into the Dungeon with them, but Riveria is still pissed. Those adventurers who gave you that Pass Parade are in trouble with the guild now too and owe our Familias quite a bit in fines."

It made Akihide glad to know the adventurers didn't get off lightly. But at the same time, he knew he was going to die either way to the pissed off Riveria.

"While I have you here, I might as well update your status. A larger enduance stat will at least help you recover quicker." offered Loki, turning Akihide onto his back and lifting up his shirt. "You've been through a lot, so try to keep your head up when Riveria goes to town on your ass."

And with that, Loki pricked her finger and allowed the blood to flow onto his back, opening up his Falna to her and his memories of the Excilia he gained. The young boy heard the goddess gasp before snickering slightly as she finished, grabbing a piece of paper she kept nearby. "Goddess?" he asked, as she looked at his paper and smirked.

"Congratulations on your first skill, Akihide." she said, handing him the paper.

Status:-
Level: 1
Strength: 229(G) → 254(G)
Endurance: 259(G) → 286(G)
Dexterity: 210(G) → 231(G)
Agility: 276(G) → 308(F)
Magic: 229 (G) → 249(G)
Magic: Kaizen no Mon
Skills: Mico Grandus
Development Abilities: N/A

"Mico Grandus, or Flash Step. Looks like a new one I haven't seen before. Allows you to teleport anywhere that you can see with your own two eyes." said Loki, smiling at the seemingly ecstatic Akihide. "Don't think this will save you from Riveria, but at the same time, this is good news. You've done our Familia proud by surviving what you did. Both an enhanced species that killed other adventurers as well as 30 monsters is no small achievement, which is why you not only developed that skill, but also gained 125 points in just over a week. You did good, Akihide. Stupid, but good."

And it was at this moment Riveria came into the room, eyes filled with a storm of rage and head red in anger. Akihide took one look at her before resigning himself to die. This was it, he was going to die. "Y-You..." she began storming over to him as Gareth and Finn entered the room, their faces apologetic. That was when Akihide knew without a shadow of a doubt that he was going to die. "You..." Riveria tried again, still trying to form the sentences she wanted to say through her gritted teeth. Akihide shut his eyes tight and tensed up, prepared for death.

Riveria grabbed him in a bone crushing hug.

"Don't scare me like that!" she called out, tears flowing down her face. "Do you have any idea how worried I was?! I was searching for you for hours, only to find out you've gone to the Dungeon, AGAINST MY ORDERS I MIGHT ADD, with some random girl who never stepped foot in there before! And then there was Shakti's sister going with you to make matters worse! On top of all that, you had to be carried out by Ottar completely unconcious! I was so worried about you! I'm so angry, and scared and horrified I don't know where to begin!"

Akihide was prepared for death. He was ready to be embraced by the cold arms of an angry guardian who was becoming more and more like his mother as the days went on. But one thing he was not prepared for was the feeling of guilt over making Riveria cry. That sinking feeling in the bottom of his chest had to be one of the worst things he had ever experienced in his life in Orario. It made him feel horrible about himself on the inside and want to crawl into a ball and die. He couldn't even bring himself to speak, to explain himself or to apologise to Riveria, he could only sit there and feel guilty.

Finn stepped up. "What you did was reckless Akihide. Going into the Dungeon without one of us was a stupid decision, and I'm sorry I'm saying it like this, but I want you to understand how upset we all are." he said, apologising to the boy for his harsh words that seemed to bring him to tears, but it was what he needed to hear, no matter how guilty Finn felt at the end of it. "Obviously, you won't be going into the Dungeon for a while, a month at least. During this time, you'll be helping us run errands while you continue to train. Kaguya has told us that she plans on increasing your training intensity so you're too exhausted at the end of it to even consider going into the Dungeon."

Akihide nodded solemnly.

Gareth stepped in. "However, we figured it's be good for you to make some friends closer to your age. So, we'll be placing them under training with you on Dungeon theory so once the time comes, you can all go back into the Dungeon as 'Kiddy Party'."

That news shocked Akihide, who assumed he'd be getting no contact with either Airmid or Ardee ever again.

Finn took the role of Captain once more. "Now then, we'll have a few jobs for you, first thing in the morning. Get ready, because your time as our personal assistant begins first thing tomorrow."

Akihide gulped.


As she sipped her coffee, she scrunched her face and ears in an attempt to block it all out. She sighed, wondering what she was even doing. She had things to do and sitting here enjoying coffee was not getting it done. She had to actually start moving soon if she wanted to tick off everything on her to do list. So she stood up, amongst all the chatter of the busy streets of Orario and amongst all the noise.

Then she stopped dead in her tracks.

She looked down the street at what she heard, watching as a young boy cam running past her, hair as white as virgin snow and eyes that shimmered gold. But his appearance wasn't what drew her attention.

'The noise...' she thought as she watched him run past. 'It's a soft melody. One I havent heard before. Why do I hear it when I look at him.'

Alfia of the Hera Familia watched the boy disappear into the busy streets, looking at where she last saw him.

"Is he a hero?"


Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. This marks the end of Arc 1 and we'll begin Arc 2 whenever I damn well feel like it after dealing with losing my dog. I don't know when that'll be, but I'll try to get a chapter out as fast as I can. I'm just not feeling like writing much at the moment. I'll do what I can, but I make no promises, so I'll ask you all just to be patient with me for the time being. That's all I really had to say, so I'll leave you guys for now and come back as soon as I can.