Hey guys, hope you're ready for the next chapter. Uni is starting up again so I might not have much time to write as opposed to right now, but I'll keep trying to bring you new chapters when I can. Now, onto those reviews.

AgressiveCat69: Yeah, Freya will be playing a key role in Akihide's development as well as setting events in motion that will help him grow not only as an adventurer, but as a person. Light spoilers, but I plan on her and Akihide having a very good relationship later in the story. Also, you sparked a small idea for the very bottom of this chapter, so I hope you enjoy it.

Funny-Little-Cute White Fox: Man, imagine being the one to break the news to Loki and Riveria. Someone would not survive that little tidbit of news.

.upg: Well wait no longer, my friend!

MC-Ramen-Sensei: No, thank you, sensei!

Anyway, onto the story.


Akihide looked down at the staircase. Ottar had lead him down to here, not actually performing any of the fights himself and leaving it to Akihide, but was kind enough to help gather the magic stones, despite Akihide's insistence that he collected all the stones, since he was the one wasting Ottar's time by having the older adventurer take him down to Floor 10. Ottar told the boy that if he wanted to surpass his level 5 record and surpass him, he had to go on an adventure to lower floors in the Dungeon. And if the Loki Familia wasn't keen on allowing him to go, he would be more than happy to take him down and watch him grow.

"To be an adventurer, one must not grow complacent with their abilities." he said sagely to Akihide. "One must always look to grow stronger, to surpass the ones who came before him. That is my goal, to prove myself worthy of standing beside her by being stronger than anyone else, even those that came before in the Zeus and Hera Familias. Level 9 is my goal for now, but it will change when I accomplish it." he said, remembering the words of the previous Captain of his familia, Mia Grand, well.

And so, he accompanied the boy down the first nine floors of the dungeon, giving the boy tips on how to use his new weapons. Utsukushī-me, the wakizashi, was very easy to get used to. He simply used it as if it was his tantō, but it just meant getting used to the longer blade. The katana, Megami no Hana, was a different story. Akihide had no practice swinging a sword, so it took him quite a few tries killing Kobolds and Goblins before he somehow managed to get a basic and unrefined understanding of the blade. All in all, he wasn't bad for a newbie to the weapons, he was actually very good. Not good enough to be considered a prodigy, but more than enough to be considered naturally talented.

And that lead them to here, standing at the entrance to Floor 10. Akihide looked down and gulped slightly at what was down there, but had a smirk across his face all the same, simultaneously terrified and excited to explore a new area of the Dungeon and face new monsters. Ottar looked over at the boy and nodded. "It's time to go. Are you ready for this?"

Honestly, Akihide didn't know if he was ready or not. All he knew was that if he continued listening to Riveria and not going on adventures, he was never going to get stronger. Akihide nodded his head. "Well, there's only one way to find out." he replied. Ottar seemed satisfied with that answer, and the two began descending down to Floor 10.

"The monsters you will encounter here are ones you've never seen before, and there are no familiar monsters from the first nine floors, barring the Needle Rabbit, but they are much rarer in these floors." said Ottar, as they went down the staircase which was longer than any other staircase that Akihide had been down ever. "The most common ones you'll find are Orcs and Imps, but there will be Bad Bats as well. Orcs can make even level 2 adventurers lose their footing, but they're extremely slow, so use your superior speed to your advantage. Imps are always in packs and attack in groups. They're clever as well, so be sure to kill them quickly as well. Bad Bats are special in that they create sonic waves of sound, which can dull your senses and throw you off, and that they can fly. Be sure to make quick work of them. The trick to Floor 10 is speed."

Akihide nodded as he listened to Ottar. Each of the monsters on Floor 10 were dangerous in their own way. Orcs had their insane strength, Imps were clever pack hunters and Bad Bats caused the senses to go haywire. All of them were trials and adversities he hadn't overcome before, the closest was the strength of a level 2 when he faced off with Kaguya during training. But he had to be ready to face things he wasn't prepared for. The incident on Floor 4 taught him that much at least. To deal with the unexpected, such as pass parades, enhanced species and new monsters he hadn't fought before. It was all part of being an adventurer.

Ottar looked ahead as they finished their descent. "The fog on this floor is much lighter than the fog on Floors 11 and 12. It shouldn't impair your vision too much." said the level 6 as he looked out at the floor. Akihide soon followed, gasping as he laid his eyes on Floor 10. It was indeed covered with fog, but not too much to make it unable to see. He wouldn't be able to see much further than 30 meters in front of him when they got down there, but standing on the platform at the entrance allowed him to look over the place. The floor was littered with small patches of white grass, but mainly was regular rock and dirt, with white trees without a single leaf growing on them. It was truly a sight to behold.

Ottar looked along the ground, spotting a group of monsters, both Imps and Orcs, just a little distance away from where the two stood on the platform. "Test your skills against that group down there." he said, pointing to the monsters. Akihide turned to follow his finger, nodding and drawing Utsukushī-me. Ottar continued. "Average stat is around E Rank, but Orcs have an A Rank strength stat and G Rank agility stat. Imps are more well-rounded." said the strongest adventurer to the young renard. Akihide appreciated the info, before he jumped down, landing on the ground with a small thud and drawing the attention of the group of monsters. Two Orcs and four Imps.

"Alright then... let's do this."


Finn sighed as he looked at the mountain of paperwork that was beginning to pile up on his desk. Oh, how the young pallum did not see this coming when he agreed to join the Loki Familia when he was a younger man, barely in his teens. To spend all day sitting around a mountain of paperwork after becoming a beacon of hope for pallum everywhere, but even then that goal wasn't accomplished. He had a long way to go, even if he was the strongest pallum in the world and leading one of the strongest familias in Orario, pallums still lived under the thumbs of others as scum.

"Why is there so much?" Finn complained to no one but himself, looking at the mountain of paperwork that seemed to continued to grow. "It's like there's no end to this nightmare..."

However, he was soon broken out of his thoughts as a rapid set of knocks came from the door. "Enter." Finn called, expecting something from Evilus. His mind began to wonder as Arcs entered the office, visibly freaking out. 'Is it an attack, or a message on their goals?' he wondered.

"Captian!" called out Arcs, before continuing with his report. "A report from the Guild says adventurers have seen Akihide making his way down the Dungeon, sir! And his company is none other than Ottar of the Freya Familia!"

...

Finn looked at Arcs as if he grew a second head. "Ottar, 'The King' Ottar, the strongest adventurer in Orario, is in the Dungeon with Akihide?" he asked in genuine confusion. Why in the hell would Ottar be in the Dungeon with Akihide? Akihide couldn't even go down to Floor 10, so why would Ottar take him of all people into the Dungeon? "Where are they? Floor 9?"

"Floor 10..." muttered Arcs, seemingly fearing for his life. Finn couldn't blame him, as the last person who told Riveria Akihide had disobeyed her was significantly horrified when she went on a warpath for the boy. To deliver this news would be any member's worst nightmare. Finn certainly couldn't blame him for not going to Riveria and coming to him instead.

Finn took his spear from the mantle abouve his fireplace. "I'll investigate this myself. No one tells Riveria about this until I confirm all the details. She must not know." said the pallum Captain. It seemed Arcs needed no further convincing, as he ran out of the room to allow Finn to do his thing. Finn sighed as he began running for the Dungeon.

'What's your game, Ottar?'


Ottar looked at the scene in contempt. 'He's good. He handles those blades well against these monsters, and his intuition is on another level.' thought the strongest adventurer in Orario as he watched Akihide slice off the head of a Imp with Megami no Hana, before jumping off the corpse and driving it into the chest of an Orc, killing it as well. 'He's getting better at predicting the monsters and their next moves. He'll definitely get Hunter when he levels up with the way he's killing monsters.' he observed as the boy continued to kill the monsters on Floor 10.

But what Ottar was most interested in was that skill of his. Akihide had leapt between great distances in an instant, faster than anything he ever saw before, even from Allen Fromel. "His movement speed is average for a level 1, but with that skill that lets him teleport..." he muttered to himself as he watched Akihide use said skill to appear in front of a Bad Bat 5 meters in the air and slice it with his sword, before using it once more to land safely on the ground. "With that skill, he moves between distances even faster than me..."

It seemed, that in terms of travelling distances quickly, Akihide Okami was in a class of his own.

'He's definitely better than most adventurers when they begin coming into the Dungeon.' thought the King as he watched Akihide teleport into the air right behind a Bad Bat and slice it's head clean in two before it dropped to the floor, dead. 'He's a natural prodigy. He needs to work for it, but he's better than any other adventurer who's just starting out in the Dungeon. My Goddess will be most pleased.' he thought as he continued to observe the boy. Watching him cut his way through monsters bought a smile to his face, as it reminded him of a time when he explored Floor 10.

Good times.

Ottar turned his head as he bought his attention away from Akihide for a moment, turning to face a blonde pallum, wielding a spear with a look of neither happiness nor anger. "Braver Finn." greeted Ottar, turning back to Akihide, who was so caught up in killing monsters that he didn't realise Finn was there. "You have a good adventurer here. He's rusted, unrefined, but he's a prodigy."

"Why are you here with him, Ottar?" asked Finn, staring intently at Ottar. "What does Freya want with Akihide?"

Ottar sighed as he turned to face the Braver. "He claimed he was going to break my record. I want to see what kind of person he is and if he can achieve it." said the boar man. "But it won't be just me he beats if he continues on like this. I can see him breaking her record."

That got Finn's attention. Of course it had, since Ottar had insinuated Akihide was skilled enough to be compared to one of the strongest and fastest-growing adventurers in Orario's history. "You think he'll beat Alfia's record?"

In the city of Orario, the Guild somehow held control of the city, despite how powerful the familias of the gods were in comparison. The only reason that neither Loki nor Freya took over Orario from the guild was simply due to it being too much work for them. No one wanted to do that, not even the Guild, but they sucked it up and did all the boring stuff so the familias could focus on the Dungeon or their money making revenues. But that meant the Guild had a certain level of control in the city, as well as about what was released to the public in terms of adventurers and their achievements. Ottar was labelled as the strongest because the Guild needed the people of Orario to not lose hope after the Zeus and Hera familias failed to kill the One Eyed Black Dragon 5 years ago, which lead to them claiming Ottar levelled up faster than anyone before.

That was not true in the slightest. It had taken Ottar 10 years to hit level 6. That, in and of itself was incredibly impressive. However, when compared to her, it meant nothing.

Alfia had managed to hit level 7 in as many years as it took Ottar to reach 6.

"His talents need to be cultivated." said Ottar, glaring at Finn, who glared back at the giant of a man. "If the Loki Familia is unable to do so, then I will take their place and forge him into a sword against the Dungeon myself."

It was the desire of his goddess, after all. Whatever Freya desired, Ottar would do his absolute best to provide for her, to give her anything and everything she wanted, as her champion.

Finn continued glaring at his fellow Captain. "We know Akihide hasn't been progressing as fast as he'd like, but we continue to train and educate him in a safe manner." argued Finn to the Freya Familia Captain. "Akihide won't break your record if he dies before he reaches level 2. We're taking the appropriate actions to make sure he gets as strong as he wants safely. When the time is right, we would take him down to the lower floors with his party." said the pallum, defending himself and his decisions from the larger adventurer. "Akihide Okami's progress in the Dungeon is entirely none of your business, nor the business of Freya."

Ottar continued to glare at Finn, before turning back to watch Akihide finish off the last Orc by stabbing it through the head with Megami no Hana. "Let Akihide grow, or I shall take matters into my own hands." he said once more.

Akihide turned around to see what Ottar thought, before his eyes caught the mop of blonde hair that was Finn and he stopped suddenly. At that moment, only one thing had the capacity to come out of his mouth.

"I am so dead, aren't I?"

"You are."


Finn had been kind enough to spare him this one time by telling Riveria that he had taken Akihide down to Floor 10 on his insistence. Riveria had not been happy, but it was better than telling her that Ottar took him down without anyone knowing. She had promised Akihide that a suitable punishment would be given sooner rather than later, probably something involving humiliation or pain, perhaps both. Gareth had 2 thousand valis on a public spanking in either the mess hall or the main entrance.

Loki, however, was told everything. It wouldn't be any use lying to her anyway, seeing as mortals couldn't lie to the divine, and that she would see everything when she updated his Falna. Loki was the furthest thing from happy when she heard what Freya had done, knowing full well that Ottar wouldn't take this much interest in the boy without Freya throwing him at Akihide. Then there were the weapons, Megami no Hana, or 'Goddess Flower', which related to the flower motif of Freya's outfit, as well as Utsukushī-me, or 'Beautiful', Freya's divine attribute, were obviously gifts from Freya, which could only mean one thing.

That slut of a goddess had her eyes on Akihide.

"This isn't good..." muttered Loki, looking at Finn with fury in her eyes. "That no good, cheating eyed, slutty bitch is after my child! Is that why she got him the weapons?! To get him in her debt so she could try and poach him off me?!" she asked in a frantic panic, before levelling her eyes and glaring at the giant tower in the sky, Babel. "Oh, you better believe this is on, bitch. I'm not letting you have him!"

Finn sighed at Loki's antics, but was completely in agreement with her. Freya had no right in intervening in what as a Loki Familia matter, yet she stuck her neck out for a boy she hardly knew. Why did she do that? She generally wouldn't be this forward, she was much more of a schemer, wanting to know every contingency and having a plan set in motion for every possible outcome. For her to be this direct this quickly meant that she either had something planned, or she had thrown caution and plans out the window entirely and was acting erratically based on emotions. And Finn wasn't sure which one was more dangerous, Freya with a plan or Freya without one.

"She must see something in Akihide we don't." theorised Finn, his thumb beginning to twitch. "If she can see aura like you claim, maybe she saw something about his soul. Maybe something to do with a past life."

Loki thought for a moment before remembering something. "When she first met him, she said his aura was brighter than anyone's she's ever seen." said the trickster. "Whatever this brightness is must be something she's interested in. But I wonder what it is... potential maybe? Or perhaps something related to reincarnation. Either way, it doesn't spell anything good for us if Freya wants it, and him."

"Maybe we could get something out of Freya, like an exchange." said Finn, thinking for a moment. "If we can figure out what exactly she wants, then we can possibly figure out a way to keep her away from him. It's something to fall back on, and probably won't work, but it's better than no plan at all."

In all honesty, both of them knew that if Freya really wanted to, she could destroy their Familia and send Loki back to heaven, taking Akihide for herself. That wouldn't happen, since it would drag Orario into another age of pure darkness, which the city was slowly starting to recover from and didn't need to be put through again. Evilus was still present, and it takes every Familia in Orario working together to push them back and keep the city safe. If Freya threw that out the window for a child, well then she was an idiot. And everyone knew that Freya and idiot did not belong in the same sentence.

"For now, let's just focus on Evilus and levelling up some of the newer members." said Finn, looking at his paperwork once more. "If we can catch up to Freya's numbers in terms of members and level, then we should be much better off to do something in case she makes a grab for Akihide. We should plot out another expedition soon, maybe we could take Akihide and some of the others down to Riviria and have them explore the Dungeon down there."

It was a solid enough plan, letting some of the lower level adventurers show the newbies the ropes, and for the level 2s to bring the level 1s back to the surface if they took their scarcely few level 1s. At the moment there were only three level 1s, Akihide included. They were Liza and Lloyd, and both were on the brink of hitting level 2, which made Akihide the weakest in the Familia. but that fact didn't seem to bother him as much as the others thought it would. Akihide was simply determined to do better because of the fact he was weaker. It was okay to be weak. What was not okay was staying weak.

Loki thought for a moment before shaking her head. "I don't think he's ready for Floors 13 and below. It'd be better just to prepare him for Floors 11 and 12 before you head out again, in case Freya tries to pull something like this again when you're on an expedition." offered Loki, getting a nod from Finn. "Anyway, I'm tired, so let's leave all this for the night and go to bed! We'll get to see Akihide's punishment nice and early tomorrow!"

Finn nodded once more, wishing his goddess goodnight before slipping out of her office. Loki sighed as she held up the paper once more. "What other surprises do you have in store for us, Akihide?"

Status:-
Level: 1
Strength: 535(E) → 574(E)
Endurance: 504(E) → 546(E)
Dexterity: 496(F) → 540(E)
Agility: 588(E) → 639(D)
Magic: 525(E)
Magic: Kaizen no Mon
Skills: Mico Grandus
Development Abilities: N/A


Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. The next one will include a new time skip of a month or two and begin to focus more on the current situation of Orario with Evilus. Anyway, there's something I've been thinking would be fun for me, so I'll present you all with my very first omake for the series, and the first part of my continuous omake series.


Omake: Akihide Okami- Vanadis Odr

It was cold.

Those were the only thoughts going through Akihide Okami's head as he laid in the snow, dying. Long had his hunger and dehydration been forgotten in favour of the cold. It was torture.

Every establishment and familia had turned him away, no one willing to accept or take in a child with no money. So, he had been left to die in the snow, alone, and without accomplishing his goals. 'Mother... father... Kuzu-imouto...' he thought of his deceased family as he began to think he would join them. 'I'm sorry... I can't get revenge for you all...'

It was then that the unexpected happened. Someone grabbed him form under his arms and lifted him up. "Oh my..." muttered the voice, feminine and soothing. "Who would leave such a child to die in the snow like this?"

Akihide was so exhausted he had trouble keeping his eyes open. He could see a silver figure in front of him, but couldn't make out any other details, aside from one. This person was a god. "Please... falna... monster... revenge..." he muttered, trying desperately to get his message across.

The goddess smiled. "Save your strength." she told the boy, picking him up. "From now on, you are my child, and you will live to stand by my side." she said, running a hand through his hair as he fell asleep in her arms.

Freya smiled at the boy. "Welcome to the Freya Familia."