Disclaimer: I do not own Danmachi or anything created by the author Fujino Omori; all rights go to him. I only own my original character Sleipnir and Ikuchi.
"Lava can be around 1200 degrees celsius hot."
'Gods are one of the entities that can see lesser spirits.'
"Invigorate"
"What this chapter is focused on the side characters?"
Chapter 7 Growth
7 AM - Martial Dojo - Takemikazuchi POV
After the ritual of the summer solstice, Take noticed a definite change in the spiritual presence around the martial dojo. There were now quite a few smaller spirits inhabiting their garden and even a few following his students during their training.
Even in his mortal body, Take maintains his perception of the spiritual. Like every god, he can see through the layers of reality and observe the spirits that still inhabit their world.
Sadly, most mortals have lost their respect for the spirits; with mortals slowly forgetting the old rituals, the malignant spirits started accumulating and displaced the benign spirits. This higher accumulation of malignant spirits causes a slow corruption in the surrounding mortals, which in turn caused all other lesser spirits to hide.
Nowadays, most benign spirits keep themselves far away from the corruption surrounding mortals and only appear near deities. Only the strongest spirits still appear in front of humans and even they have grown exceedingly rare.
The last spirit Take knows of that actively helped humans was Aria, and even she disappeared after her battle with the One Eyed Black Dragon. 'At least through this small ritual a few spirits may settle with my familia and complete our dojo.'
After giving himself another few moments of observing the spirits, Take refocused on his students and their sparring matches. Most importantly, Ouka.
He had listened to their different explanations of their recent split and, as much as it pained Take to see it, couldn't solve it for them. This rift in the familia was something they had to overcome themselves.
Perhaps it would finally push Ouka into not just acting responsibly for himself, but actively embracing responsibility for his familia as a captain should. After all, leaders are not born but forged through adversity.
It could also prove to be a valuable lesson. In the east, they rarely had to interact with anyone outside his familia since Take oversaw all their problems. Now they were making connections to the Hephaestus and Miach familias. Perhaps exchanging words with them was in order.
With a few more katas for everyone, Take ended the training at 8 am. Barely a quarter hour later, Take watched the first party leave for the dungeon. He was feeling slightly qualmish when he wished them a successful hunt. He really hoped his familia would get along and soon.
After Welf left for his workshop and Sly for his lesson, it was also time for Take to visit Maria Marten in her orphanage. Ganesha told him about the small orphanage during their last meeting and it was time Take accepted a job to do his part for their familia.
Her orphanage was a five-minute walk away from the Martial Dojo, based in a church on Daedalus Street. Take was quite excited to finally return to one of his favourite pastimes he found on Genkai: Teaching.
The small walk went without trouble and soon he arrived in front of the small church made from orange bricks. The front doors were made out of solid, alder wood and Take already spotted a few children playing in the backyard.
He walked towards the door and pulled back the handle to knock while observing the stained-glass windows. He also gave another cursory glance at the neighbourhood and was worried about the living conditions of the children, considering that Daedalus Street was the poorest district in Orario.
After a few moments, one child opened the door. He was around 8 years old with brown hair and countless scratches. Making Take wonder if the boy annoyed a cat a little too much.
The small boy asked Take with curiosity. "Who are you, mister? Marie-san did not mention visitors?"
Take chuckles lightly before going on his knees and telling him. "I am Takemikazuchi, a god from the far east and my good friend Ganesha recommended this orphanage to me. So would you be so nice to call Marie-san for me... ?"
"Oh! My name is Rye, Takemikazuchi-sama!" He bows deeply to the eastern god. "I will bring her right away!"
Shortly thereafter, Marie Martel came to greet Take with a bow he returned with a slight incline of his head to show she had his full attention. Marie was an older woman with black hair tied at the top of her head. "Greetings Takemikazuchi-sama. One of our regular aids from Ganesha-sama had mentioned that we could expect you soon. It's nice to see that there are more gods interested in helping children."
"I am happy to be here, Martel-san. Shall we go to your office to negotiate terms we both will find agreeable?"
Maria gives Take a nod with a grandmotherly smile. "Of course, follow me."
Maria then led Take through the lively little church. At the front, there was a small chapel that most mortals used to pray to gods. Of course, Take found the idea silly since prayers can reach gods from anywhere as long as they were spoken with sincerity.
They then used a side passage to find a corridor with many small rooms, each for 2-4 children depending on their age. They seemed lived in but Take saw his doubts about the capacity of this orphanage drain away hearing the laughter of children.
They then entered a small office, where Maria conducted all official business and kept the important papers on all the children.
Maria turned to him and looked at him with a scrutinising eye. "Let's talk terms."
The discussion took a few hours. In the end, Take would spend his mornings teaching the children about their world and look after them in the afternoon if he had no other responsibilities.
Another important rule Take had to follow was that he mustn't try to recruit any of the children he teaches unless they come to him on their own and were at least 12 years old.
8.30 AM - Dungeon - Ouka POV
Ouka was feeling marvellous today. Since the ritual bath, he had a surplus of energy, almost as if the spirits themselves were empowering him today.
The feeling of elation lasted through the training and even continued on the way to the dungeon. There he even saw a glimpse of the strength of a first-class adventurer.
Ouka saw a werewolf doing push-ups with an enormous boulder. He moved it in a slow, meticulous movement; Up and down, up and down, and continued for at least 20 push-ups with it before putting it aside to release the tension of his muscles. A minute later, he picked the boulder up and continued.
The sight mesmerized Ouka. The length to which adventurers could grow to was still staggering for him. Mikoto, in contrast to Ouka, saw it as a reason to train even harder. She quickly pushed them along to enter the dungeon. Asuka was the last to follow, as she couldn't help but sigh exhaustedly at her teammate's antics. At least she prepared a good number of different potions she brewed under the supervision of the Miach-sama.
Asuka also began training her magic. Now that she worked with a skilled alchemist, she could begin infusing her mana during the brewing of potions to increase their potency slightly.
It would be a few more weeks before she learnt her first spell from Naaza, but any improvement in that division was a godsend to her.
In the dungeon they had to take it a little slower with their party reduced to three. Mikoto, with her level 2 strength that dwarfed the prowess of the upper floors, still did the most and rushed along their frontline, killing one monster after the other. Able to level up but seeking max stats, Ouka took all the stragglers Mikoto missed. However, he kept a close eye on both Asuka and Mikoto to help should the need arise; this was unlikely on these upper floors.
Asuka used a one-handed crossbow. She still had to use her second hand to reload it but otherwise kept one hand free to collect magic stones or throw potions. She has trained it in parallel to her archery for the last week since she knew she would branch into alchemy soon.
They descended without incident up to the ninth floor. On the tenth floor, they had a bit of trouble with the imps and bad bats, as Asuka, with her lower status and a weapon she hadn't trained in for long, had difficulty defeating the bats quickly. The other monsters that fought in the melee weren't too challenging for a rested Ouka, and even less so for Mikoto.
Seeing that the ranged enemies were too many for her as she was right now, Asuka began using potions. These were not just any potions but strengthening potions, whose specific recipes belong to Blue Pharmacy. Miach allowed Asuka to brew them for her own use only, and she still had to pay for the ingredients.
There are many kinds of potions adventurers have access to, but all potions besides healing potions are rarer in comparison. Alchemists still brew them, but in far fewer numbers.
Because every alchemy familia has certain quotas of healing potions, they need to produce to keep up with the demand from the many low-level adventurers. Other types of potions exist, but most adventurers can't afford them. Thus, they remain mostly in the hands of the alchemists themselves.
There are several potion types besides the standard three healing potions, but most are familia-specific recipes and many differ from familia to familia. That makes them more complex and time-consuming, even without the fact that most require specific drop items to be created.
A few of the rarer potion types would be strengthening potions that increase certain attributes for a few hours, different poisons and toxins to harm monsters, potions that affect some of the user's mana like fire breathing potion that changes the attribute of the user's mana into fire that is expelled through their mouth.
Then there are the physique altering potions that have permanent effects. The potion of longevity or the elixir of life would be examples of two of the strongest potions alchemists can create. The only higher potions are the legendary ones, which are only possible to brew with the aid of gods.
The difficulty of potion brewing is dependent on the mana that's infused in a potion. Stronger monsters leave behind drop items with more mana that are used for stronger potions. But the higher the mana concentration of a potion, the more chaotic the reaction gets in the brewing process, and the more skilled the alchemist must be.
The opposite also counts for the consumption of potions. Besides healing potions, almost every other potion can overwhelm or harm adventurers of lower levels than the ingredients. A potion that increases the strength of a level 1 adventurer to that of the level three hill giant monster, would indeed give the adventurer tremendous strength, but only for a few minutes before his body burns through all the energy it has and begins burning through his muscles, most likely killing him.
As for the potion Ouka sees Asuka drink, it is the Rabbit Speed potion. It increases her agility and dexterity to the point where she rivals the quick needle rabbits they are fighting. Like most strengthening potions, its effect will last up to 5 hours depending on its quality. In her case, Asuka will be faster for only 3 hours, as she is still a novice at brewing and does not have the brewing development ability. After the effect passes, it will severely weaken her until she can take an extended break. Even stamina potions won't heal physical exhaustion if its because of another potion.
With the added speed of the potion, Asuka quickly uses her crossbow to snipe the ranged monsters, keeping out of the range of Ouka and Mikoto.
The one potion was sufficient until Mikoto ran into a pantry. There were entire swaths of needle rabbits, and the ceiling was pitch black until a literal wave of bats descended, all of them provoked by Mikoto's intrusion.
Mikoto POV
Boring. That is the word that would describe how the day had been so far. Shredding through goblins, kobolds, dungeon lizards, frog shooters, war shadows, killer ants, and moths did nothing for Mikoto, her skills nor her falna. After all, to grow stronger, one had to challenge themself, to go on an adventure.
It is this thought process that turned her attention to a larger chamber she sensed with Yatanokurogarasu; it was a pantry.
Approaching, Mikoto sees the pantry is teeming with needle rabbits and bad bats, but these aren't what drew her full attention. A horde of 10 orcs drinks from the pool of the pantry on the opposite side of the chamber, some with weapons.
A smirk draws itself across Mikoto's face, stepping into the pantry with no thought of stealth. Her hand lays on the hilt of her katana, the one Takemikazuchi gifted her after reaching level 2. Clicking it in and out of its sheath with her thumb in tandem with her steps and drawing the attention of the entire chamber to her.
'Come here, monsters. It's time to dance. To refine my skills and grow. I need to keep challenging myself.'
The monsters all look at her in startled confusion. Still smirking, Mikoto accelerates to her highest speed. Now her test could begin. Take taught her his quickdraw technique Zekka. Mikoto began drawing her katana in one fluid motion, while spinning through the conglomeration of needle rabbits towards the orc.
The rabbits can't touch her at this speed. Feeling adrenaline flood her system, Mikoto begins using systematic cuts to create her path through the imps that are flying in her way. The stones they throw head directly for her path, but with the traction of her boots, Mikoto simply changes direction and zig-zags towards the orcs.
In front of the imps, Mikoto jumps over the first groups while spinning her katana and taking all their wings. The second larger group still has their stones ready and are waiting for her next jump. However, she only jumps over the rabbits in front of the imps before sliding below the imps with her armour and cutting a line through their numbers.
Then she reaches the 10 orcs. Only 5 seconds have passed since she entered the pantry and now the entire monster horde is rushing towards her. The dance makes Mikoto's heart sing.
Three orcs wield heavy clubs and one even carries a longsword. But with her speed, Mikoto continues to weave between the orcs going from one to the next, dodging every attack. That is until the remaining imps she just carved through come to their brethren's help. Now she must dodge their projectiles as well.
This is not the end, however, as the bad bats are next and with their cries distract both Mikoto and the monsters. Now their attack patterns are chaotic on top of being numerous; nevertheless Mikoto continues avoiding the orc's attacks and slays countless imps and bats, even causing the orcs to hit the smaller monsters.
Next, the needle rabbits join into the fray as well. To an observer, the battle looks like a swarming hive of monsters rushing after a purple red form, who is constantly changing directions and with each step there is another silver flash from her katana and another small monster falls.
Eventually, Mikoto makes a mistake. A single missed step, and a needle rabbit scratches her thigh. This allows the imps to descend upon her and scratch her with countless claws. Even under these circumstances Mikoto continues avoiding the orcs. However, with all these distractions and minor wounds, one of the club bearing orcs gets a hit, killing the imps clinging to her and resounding in a loud crack.
Quickly feeling her stomach with her offhand, Mikoto feels that at least one of her ribs broke with that last hit. Grinning at the worthy challenge, Mikoto stands back up to continue her battle. That's when she notices Ouka's chanting and Asuka cry for a retreat.
Mikoto gave her party a quick glance before rushing back in to continue the battle, but the tide was already turned. With her broken rib, Mikoto slowed down and could no longer weave between all the monsters at once.
Just in time, Ouka finished his chant. Spotting Fortify shields on her flanks and above her, Mikoto laughed and continued fighting against the orcs, who were now limited to three at a time thanks to the shields.
Ouka POV
Ouka had no choice but to help her by quickly using his spell to split the monsters. "Call upon the defender, the guardian, the leader, the mentor's unperceivable shield of war - Fortify."
Ouka began repeating his spell two more times to create three solid shields of stone. One positioned above Mikoto and two by her sides to keep the monsters from surrounding her. They wouldn't hold for long against the attacks of the orcs but would buy them time to make a fighting retreat and thin out the number of monsters.
The only problem is that Ouka had to use almost half of his entire mana reserve for three shields at maximum power. At least they were quite sturdy after training diligently with them for the last two weeks.
Chancing a glance back, Ouka also noted that Asuka did not remain idle for long, already having a fiery red potion in her hand. Without the time to question, Ouka quickly joined beside Mikoto and used his shield and spear combination to block strikes from the orcs while killing one needle rabbit after another.
Mikoto meanwhile, kept her focus on using the opening Ouka created by blocking the attacks of the orcs to cut them down with all her strength. They kept this formation while retreating with stone shields Fortify created at their sides.
Once they cleared the entrance of the room, Asuka threw the alchemist fire potion in her hand and an explosion rocked the room, killing all the small monsters that were too close to them and reducing the badly damaged shields to rubble.
Once they retreated farther outside, they waited for the 8 remaining orcs that survived the blast to come out and then dealt with them quickly due to their injuries and lack of surviving weapons.
Ouka was quite angry at himself for running into a monster pantry. 'Why did I forget to ask for a copy of Chigusa's map! We could have avoided this encounter if we had it. And then Mikoto! She did not even bother using Yatanokurogarasu to scout ahead. She might have even come here on purpose!Breathe Ouka breathe, do not lose your patience. Mikoto needs to learn to recognize such mistakes on her own. Criticize her, but do not go too far.'
Ouka then focused on Mikoto, who had many small stab wounds from the needle rabbits and even three broken bones from being hit by the orcs. "Mikoto, I've said this before and I'll say it again. Stop running ahead! With only the three of us, floor 10 is dangerous and you can't keep challenging monsters without a plan, no matter how certain you are that we can beat them!"
Mikoto retorts, "But we got so many magic stones and drop items from them. Not to mention how much our status will increase once Take updates them. I can finally continue to grow stronger!"
Ouka sighs in silent acceptance. "Mikoto. Everyone improves in their own time. You can't rush fighting, otherwise there will come a battle you are too tired to fight and that will be the end of it. It won't matter how strong you are once you're dead! Do you think Take wants that!?"
Mikoto huffs in indignation. "We won, and that's all that matters. We weren't even all that injured. But if I have to, I will take it a little slower without Chigusa as support."
Asuka quietly shakes her head. "Hardly injured. I would not count broken bones and all the poison in your system as hardly injured! Come here Mikoto, let me treat you."
Asuka then patched up Mikoto and Ouka with a few healing potions and used an antidote to cure Mikoto from the weakening effect of the needle rabbit poison. While the poison is lethal for level 1 adventurers, as a level 2 Mikoto is only slowly growing weaker without the antidote.
Afternoon - I AM GANESHA - Takemikazuchi POV
After securing himself a job, Take helped in the orphanage and got to know the children a bit. It was time well spent for him. But alas, he had another appointment with Ganesha today, which led him here.
Take sits once again on the couch inside of Ganesha's office with Ganesha in his beanbag and Acatl draped over the other end of the couch imitating a cat.
Ganesha begins their discussion with a pointed look at Acatl before looking to Take. "Now that we are all comfortable, let our discussion begin! First, how did your interview with Maria-san go?"
Chuckling, Take explains. "Good, I got the job and now have even more children to teach. It will be a better use of my time than constantly reading up on the situation in Orario."
"Thats true. For us who live Aeons, the situation in Orario with so many of us can change in the blink of an eye. The children of mortals are the future of Genkai. It is our responsibility as gods to help them when they seek our guidance and most often the greatest help is knowing the past. Knowing the history of their own people and others will lead to extended prosperity."
Take then directs his gaze towards Acatl. "Quetzalcoatl-san what is your opinion on the matter and how is Sly-kun progressing?"
Looking up from her comfortable position, Acatl answers. "As long as another age of magic approaches soon, I have nothing against progress. As for Nibi-kun…"
Acatl plays with a strand of illusion mana, showing a 3D model of Sly with both his tails. "Hmm, more or less like one ought to expect from a half-spirit with an insane talent in magic."
Ganesha looks intrigued. "Spirit? How is it that I am hearing of this only now?! It has been years since we had a spirit in Orario!"
Acatl rectifies Ganesha's words. "Half-spirit at the most right now. Sly, as he is still young for a kitsune, has only exhibited a spiritual trait for an accurate sense for mana types and fascinating interactions between his mana and the environment."
Perking up a bit, Take questions, "Interesting interactions. Are you talking about his illusions?"
Sitting up, Acatl answers. "Not only. One very strange effect is from his touch based illusions. They can affect matter. Not by much right now, but the interaction is there. That should be impossible with illusion mana. Then there is his foxfire! I don't even know where to start! It is a skill for Tenkai's sake! It should be spell and I mean I literally have not found one example where a renard had foxfire as a skill instead of a spell!"
Coughing lightly, Take gives another example of Sly's tendency to break the norm. "I know the feeling. Right now, my familia is split into two groups since Ouka and Sly both have an affinity for leading others. Sly began forming his own party and ..."
"You mean after they ditched him when he needed better gear for floor ten?"
Blinking in surprise, Take asks, "Well yes, but how would you know of that?"
Acatl once again rests against the couch. "Nibi-kun is my apprentice. Of course I ask what he does during his day and how he progresses in the dungeon. So, your problem is that he took the smith with the blood of Ignis and the archer girl, Chigusa, and made his own party to distance himself from Mikoto."
Ganesha then speaks up. "From my own experience; I would let their two groups go their own way. They will come to a point where the individual teams face a challenge on a deeper floor they can't overcome on their own and then they will band together. It might even be a learning experience for your two party leaders Take."
"Thank you for your encouragement, Ganesha." Take takes a calming sip from the jasmine tea and hides a small frown behind a cough. 'How can Sly's tea be so good that it ruins the taste of normal tea? Perhaps I can ask for the blend to bring with me the next time?'
Ganesha smiles brightly before exclaiming. "It's only natural, my friend. And if it helps with your situation, all the better." In a far more solemn and serious tone, Ganesha continued.
"I had a lot of trouble with it two years ago. Many groups from my familia had similar problems after the fall of the Astrea familia. We had many joint groups, but all of them had to disband with their fall. I had to take up a lot more low-level members since then to fill the void left behind by the death of the strongest law enforcement familia. It was difficult and still is a work in progress but slowly the crime rate between familias is falling again. Still, we are a far cry from the powerhouses of the Astrea familia, who were in the back of everyone's mind whenever they thought about escalating a conflict beyond the reaches of their familia.
Acatl then finishes with the words. "Where there is law, there will always be crime. The only difference is in the kind of criminals. Your familia prevents individual crime quite well, elephant, but working against familia wide crime is out of your jurisdiction without the power to maintain those laws."
Still serious, Ganesha replies. "I know Acatl. But enough of this political debate. I am interested to hear of your recent discoveries from all my tomes you are studying for the people."
Floor 11- Mikoto POV
On the eleventh floor, Mikoto leads the group with more caution in her steps. Her injuries haven't fully healed, and she feels Ouka's assessing eyes on her back whenever she spots a monster with Yatanokurogarasu.
The battles are fought a little slower, with more time to perfect her sword strikes and strike at the weak points of monsters. While she does not need to aim much on the higher floors, the monsters that appear from floor 11 are all tough enough to need her to focus.
They still fall after a few exchanges of gradually weakening them with strikes at different tendons to limit their movement. Meanwhile, Ouka defends her from the smaller monsters and hitting one magic stone after another with his spear. He still carries his greataxe but reserves its uses for the large monsters she battles the most.
With every battle, Mikoto spots more enemies and must suppress the urge to rush ahead. It's difficult after the confidence she's built up to this point, but she distracts herself with collecting the magic stones and drop items after every battle to keep herself collected while Ouka plans for what's next.
After the first few battles, Mikoto spots something new with her Yatanokurogarasu. Something large they have never fought before. She feels her blood pump in excitement and leads Ouka there to see.
When they are close enough, she spots it. 'An infant dragon! It is the strongest monster on the upper floors and a perfect measure of her strength!' It lays spread out on the dungeon floor around 1.5 meters tall and has a length of at least 6 meters with scales a bright orange with glowing red lines underneath.
'I feel it. This is the challenge that can push me further. Finally, my stats will increase again! I can't pass this chance. My stats increased by less than 30 since reaching level two. Take will have to notice me again when he sees my growth with his technique.'
Mikoto turns her attention to the cautious gazes of Ouka and Asuka. Ouka returns her gaze, in trepidation, as an obvious warning while backing away from the sleeping dragon.
Mikoto struggles against the adrenaline flooding her system with nervous anticipation of just rushing towards a glorious battle. However, after another glance, she acknowledges the worthy foe and follows her party to prepare.
A safe distance away, Ouka speaks. "We are not prepared to fight an infant dragon. It is a level two monster and will kill even you Mikoto if you're not careful."
Mikoto retorts. "I know it's challenging, but I know we can take it. I am even prepared to work with your tactics this time. This is a worthy foe that needs a good strategy to beat."
Sighing, Asuka logically dissects their chances. "Mikoto. You need to understand our position. The infant dragon is a level two threat. Ouka and I are level 1. We are strong for our level, but most likely Ouka will, at most, deal minimal damage and only if he uses his axe, meaning he must forego defence entirely! I can't hurt the dragon even if I tried unless I use potions and I don't have many left!"
"I know Asuka. I hate nothing more than following Sly's tactics, but how are my chances if I use a sneak attack? If absolutely necessary, I would even use one of your poisons to weaken it."
Thoughtful, Asuka looks at the five support potions she has left. "If you make the most out of it and are the only one that attacks it while Ouka and me distract it, it might be possible. But without an escape plan, I won't step any closer than we already are!"
Ouka steps up. "Wait wait wait! Just a moment. We should not fight this monster..."
Ignoring Ouka, Mikoto speaks with an inquisitive undertone. "Could you use one of your potions to blind the beast?"
Taking out a yellow potion, Asuka answers. "It could be a perfect field test for my flash potion. But sight alone won't be enough. I will also need the last of our purple moth dust to get rid of its ability to follow our scent. Fine! Against my better judgement, I am ready to work with you. However, if something goes wrong, we bolt!
Ouka does his best to stop them but, to his annoyance, the youngsters already put their feet down and would not back away from their plan now. "Stupid children always running into danger. Where is Sly when you need him? At least he would be over-prepared."
They prepared, and before Mikoto knew it, she was already sneaking towards the infant dragon. She is by no means as good as Sly with his illusions, but against a sleeping monster, it is enough.
Moving closer towards the back of the dragon's neck, Mikoto once again lathers the poison on her katana before looking for the ideal angle to strike with all her strength and her quickdraw technique.
Spotting a place where one scale is looser than the other, Mikoto prepares herself after a quick nod to a focused Asuka and a nervous Ouka.
Sheathing her blade silently, Mikoto grips her katana tightly before she calls out Zekka and unleashes an explosively fast slash towards the neck of the dragon. The resistance of the scales is substantial, but with her technique, Mikoto pushes through the scales and into flesh.
The dragon roars and rights itself while looking around with a wild gaze before focusing on her. The wound in its neck cleaved nearly a third of the way through, but Mikoto noticed steam billowing from the wound. Most of the poison was evaporating from the heat the monster emanated!
The infant dragon roars with wrath and charges her with a speed easily comparable to Sly's speed and only a little slower than Mikoto herself. The power behind its strikes is overwhelming and enough to throw her away if she tries blocking, forcing her to dodge.
Meanwhile, Asuka shoots a few bolts at the dragon as a distraction and Ouka uses his axe to strike from its blind spots whenever she has its full attention. The damage he does with his axe is minimal, barely cracking through tough scales.
After a few more exchanges, she decides to go after a previous wound. She darts forward around its next bite, to strike at its wounded neck. The cut gets even deeper, but she can feel the dragon inhaling massively.
Seeing the obvious preparation for a large attack, Mikoto jumps back away from its head, creating distance. Ouka has fought dragons before and knows of the dangers of their breath attacks, panics, calling upon his own magic. "Call upon the defender, the guardian, the leader, the mentor's unperceivable shield of war - Fortify!"
A stone shield raises in front of Mikoto a second before the infant dragon is ready to release its breath. However, the beast is clever and changes its aim at the last moment.
Instead of breathing fire and molten rock against the shield, it flies over it and bathes Mikoto's right side from the arm downwards. The heat is almost unbearable, and the pain is intense enough to stun Mikoto.
It burns through her leather armour in seconds and continues burning through her skin. She almost doesn't see Ouka rushing to her and ripping off all the burning armour. It doesn't stop the unbearable pain where molten stone touched her arm and leg but is enough for her adrenaline to kick her back into focus.
Asuka had been shooting bolts at the dragon to distract it while it broke through Ouka's Fortify. But once through it began inhaling for another breath attack. Expecting it, she throws her flash potion directly into the dragon's face. The flash bursts forth as soon as the glass shatters and the liquid touches the air. The light is bright enough to blind her.
She feels herself dragged away by her arm and stumbles after Ouka, who calls. "Retreat!"
While running, she hears something else soar through the air and another shattering glass behind her at the raging dragon. However, with the shock and pain still throbbing through her, she can do nothing more than stumble after Ouka.
Minutes or hours? Mikoto couldn't tell as she ran. She might even have lost consciousness, because she awoke in a small side cavern surrounded by magic stones. She still smelt the odor of healing potions in the air and chanced a glance at her arm.
Her right arm was an angry red and, at the points where her armour was burned through, black. Asuka was holding her on the ground and spreading health potions over the burns on her legs. "H-how bad is it?"
Asuka, still focused on the burn on her leg, answers in a steady tone. "Bad. Before I began administering potions, you had a few burns I would classify as fourth degree. The molten rock burnt you down to the bone on your hand, arm, and tight. A full recovery is possible with potions, but I will need stronger regenerative potions from Miach-sama."
Finished binding her tight with the cloth of her pants, Asuka bandages her hand and arm. "Mikoto, you can forget fighting with your right hand on the way up. Your left hand came out unscathed, but you won't be able to walk without help."
Mikoto looks silently at her bound leg and tries moving it slightly. The pain of stretching it, even a little, pierces her head like a thousand needles. She grits her teeth. "How did we get away?"
Ouka steps into the cavern. "Like Asuka planned. Although she did not anticipate such injuries."
"How should I have known the dragon could breathe molten rock! I will kill the thing the next time we meet! What will Takemikazuchi think of me now!? I lost to a monster of all things!"
Ouka looks at her with clear disapproval in his eyes. Then he began speaking in his no-nonsense captain tone he only ever used in live or death battles. Ouka was serious, deathly serious, and she was the reason for it.
"Mikoto, you are already losing his approval with your reckless actions!"
With a growing glare, Ouka commanded, "You will listen to me now Mikoto! I forbid you from fighting in any way until we reach the surface unless it is in self-defence. Asuka will support you and I will cleave us a path to the surface. Then, when we return home, I ban you from entering the dungeon! You will meditate on your mistakes and only when you apologise for dragging us into a hopeless fight will I rescind my command!
You must learn this lesson now before it costs you your life or ours. Safety comes before honour and growth. We are adventurers; we are always in danger. However, as Misha-san told you, adventurers don't go on adventures if they want to survive! Your focus on training borders on suicide. You must learn to temper your actions to be both honourable and prudent.
Think about this carefully and reevaluate what's truly important to you. Only then may you join us in the dungeon once again!"
Floor 11 entrance - Ouka POV
After berating Mikoto, Ouka felt drained; even more than all their fights today put together. 'I hate taking charge more than anything, but I can no longer sit back. I had hoped Mikoto would grow out of this phase on her own, but I can't risk it any longer. Perhaps I should have put a stop to it when it pushed Sly away, but I noticed too late.
Now, I must get us back to the surface on my own. No more holding back. Shield and spear are my best bet. I really regret not taking one of Sly's maps. They would have been perfect to avoid monsters.
We only have 2 health potions and one stamina potion left, and Asuka has only one flask of alchemist fire for 1 room. I will need Mikoto's Yatanokurogarasu to avoid any large groups of monsters and fight quickly and efficiently.'
"Asuka, Mikoto, we are leaving now. Mikoto, use your Yatanokurogarasu and tell me where every monster is that you sense. We will avoid as many as possible, and the ones we can't avoid will be slain as quickly as possible."
Both nodded and Asuka began supporting Mikoto, who still had to grit her teeth from putting any strain on her almost lame right leg. She then used her ability and avoided as many monsters as possible.
Asuka had to carry Mikoto and avoid attacks while Ouka held his position; this made progress slow. The occasional Fortify is the only indication that he noticed Asuka shooting down the few monsters that got past him, while he focused on hunting down all the small monsters. They posed the largest threat of attracting more monsters and could rush past his defence towards his familia if they became too numerous.
They avoided or distracted orcs with a Fortify shield before escaping during the resulting confusion and he beat the annoying needle rabbits with calm concentration.
This continued for the entirety of floor ten. It took almost 1 hour to get through, but with Mikoto's guidance they avoided almost every bat to prevent engaging in any large-scale battles.
Floor nine was another hell entirely. Weaker monsters, but in greater numbers. The goblins, kobolds, and killer ants came in hordes after smelling the sweet scent of blood. However, Ouka chose his position carefully; standing in the middle of a corridor allowed him to halt an entire horde and thin out their numbers until he could take them one room further.
Another hour had passed and Ouka was sweating as they finished floor 9. He hadn't pushed his stamina like this in years. But he had to endure; this was the result of his own complacency.
Floor 8 was slightly better than floor 9. The smell of their blood attracted swaths of monsters, but they were slightly weaker than before. He still took a lot of small injuries and had to drink the penultimate healing potion and last stamina potion, but it was enough.
Floor seven was markedly easier due to the reduced monster diversity. Nevertheless, Asuka had to use their last alchemist fire flask against a purple moth amidst an army of killer ants to avoid further exhaustion.
On floor six, Ouka was pushing his limits once more. He spent most of his energy, but with his iron will, he took one step at a time and killed one monster with every strike. They were far weaker than him, but in his state of severe exhaustion, it took every ounce of his power to kill the war shadows before they reached Asuka and Mikoto.
On floor five, Asuka gave him her crossbow and all remaining bolts with it and Ouka began shooting down their enemies to save as much strength as possible.
Floor 4 was the first time the monsters reached Mikoto as Asuka was just as tired as Ouka from protecting her constantly. Mikoto grit her teeth and took Asuka's sword and fought them with her weaker hand. The katana Take gifted her was lost in the breath of the infant dragon.
On floor three, a party of Ganesha familia members found them barely holding themselves together. They decided to help them as Takemikazuchi was a friend of Ganesha. After all, friends helped each other in a crisis.
With their help, they reached the surface, and they carried Mikoto to the blue pharmacy, as Asuka told them she could heal her there. They reached Miach and Naaza, and both immediately stopped their current projects to help Asuka heal Mikoto.
Miach took out a potion of regeneration from their high-level stock. It might be on the more strenuous side of healing potions for a level two adventurer but would be most effective to regain lost muscle mass.
Miach needed to dilute a fraction of the potion with a normal healing potion, as troll blood, a level 4 ingredient, was used to create the potion of regeneration. He made the ratio 1:4 for the potion from the regeneration and normal healing potions respectively. Which he then combined by heating them to specific temperatures and extracting the vapour into one single potion.
The finished potion had a deep red hue with a swirl of orange inside. Miach gave it to Naaza and told her, "Use your spell to strengthen it. It will stabilize the diluted regeneration potion and allow it to heal young Mikoto."
Naaza nodded at the command. She then focused on Asuka. "Asuka, please watch closely. Learning how to use this spell will be your next step as an alchemist."
Naaza concentrated and slowly began chanting while putting both hands on the potion vial. "Magic entwined with hope, I humbly ask for aid. The crest of progress calls! It bolsters, demands, and lifts those it affects! Fulfil the pleading cry, baffle and stun the unfaithful, disrupt disaster, and bring hope to my peers - Invigorate."
Asuka saw how a green glow started surrounding Naaza's hand before it spread over the vial. The green glow then coalesced into the swirling red fluids of the potion giving it another swirling colour of green besides the orange.
After a careful moment of deliberation from Naaza she nodded at the stable potion and began giving it to Mikoto in small steady gulps. The first sign that it helped her was that she began regaining colour after a few minutes. Her muscles then began twitching in a frenzy and Mikoto felt the worst itch she had ever felt on her injured side.
The terrible itch continued for the entire night, and Asuka kept by her side to observe the effects. While her lost muscles started regrowing, she noted their odd state. It seemed the regrown muscles were functional but had none of the muscle memory nor her previous strength. She would need to retrain her right side to do anything more than a civilian.
Author's Note
First of all, I love alchemy and think it adds a lot to Danmachi to increase its uses. Many of my potion ideas were taken from dnd and Pathfinder WotR.
Secondly, Mikoto. She is slowly turning into OC material. She will begin to wisen up and grow into her danmachi persona a little more, but with the addition of Sly and Welf, her personality is bound to develop differently than in the original. Just as a fair warning. The other Takemikazuchi familia members are not exempt from this change, it is just less prevalent with Ouka and Chigusa. And Asuka was almost a blank slate in danmachi, so I took the creative freedom to use her as an aspiring alchemist.
Next up I finally started reading more of the danmachi novels. With the main danmachi novels I just finished book 7, but first I will read a few of the Sword Oratoria books. I need to know the lore demi spirits get in the main danmachi verse before accidentally breaking stuff. However, I can guarantee that spirits will play a major role later on.
Lastly, I still have one spot for another Beta reader if anyone is interested and enjoys this story. You might even have a hand in future development like LazyHapa. If you're interested PM me. Or if you have a good idea I would love to hear of it in a Review.