Authors Note

First of all, I rewrote a lot of the dialogue and the character introduction in chapter 1, the first 1'000 or so words. It only changed Asuka slightly, as she was a rather blank character in the previous draft, but now she is more plant-focused and also interested in alchemy.

You do not have to go back to it as it changes almost nothing besides Asuka, but it might give you a short summary of what each character wants to achieve if you want a refresher. I also added a small scene at the end of chapter 1 to at least an inkling as to what the Xenos are doing.

More at the end of the chapter.

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.

Speech: "A slower chapter without any dungeon delve this time."

Thoughts: 'Wow, the dojo even has a field to train on.'

Magic: "Fortify"

Screaming/Demonic Voice: "Quick Asuka, Take is trying to cook again!"

Chapter 8 Martial Dojo

1 week later - 7.30 PM Hostess of Fertility - Sleipnir's POV

After his first successful dungeon dive with Welf, Sly took his time to explore the remaining floors until the ninth. They found a few additional traps and another secret room on the ninth floor, but it only had a particularly old killer ant nest inside and aside from a few enhanced drops, they found nothing special inside.

In the morning, he continued to help Acatl to search for information and read up on the history of the Zeus and Hera familia. He found very little about the creation and the younger members of the familia but found many novels about their big battles. Unfortunately, most of them were only second-hand and did not contain their chants or which members contributed the most on the three great quests. The Njord familia made the only good representation of the battle against the Leviathan. Sly was currently studying the report in detail, while Acatl read the older tomes that were written in older languages. He also asked a few more questions and continued training his foxfire and practising his illusionary arms.

In the evenings, Sly spent his time with his familia. After he prepared Ouka's chant, the main party got even further and even reached the eleventh floor. Mikoto even made a few plans to challenge a baby dragon soon.

After everyone ordered their meals, as usual, Take coughed to get their attention. "My familia. After counting all the valis you all worked for in the last week, we can now purchase the land of Amaterasu's dojo. I even waited a little more, so now we have 150'000 valis to not only buy the dojo but also renovate it. After all, Amaterasu has not used it in 15 years."

Sly's tail stops in its movement, and he looks at Take with curiosity. "Takemikazuchi-sama, does that mean that we will leave the Hostess of Fertility tomorrow to move into the dojo? What about Mia-san and ... ?"

Take raises the flat of his one hand to placate them before Sly can ask too many questions. "That is the case, Sly-kun. I already spoke about it with Mia Grande. I already visited the dojo once and it will probably take us a few days to renovate it all. So, we will indeed use tomorrow to work on the dojo. You will have to visit Crozzo-san and Quetzalcoatl in the morning, so they do not wait for you needlessly."

Mikoto then raises her hand. "What is our plan? Who will work on which parts of the dojo Takemikazuchi-sama? Can I take the baths?"

Their god then replies with amusement in his eyes. "The plan is to first show you the dojo and area we have to work in. We will do everything else on-site. As for working on the baths, Mikoto-san. They will only be normal baths for now, as we do not have the means to install an onsen or hot spring."

Mikoto slumps her shoulders in pure disappointment before whining. "But we need a hot spring. They are a divine gift from the gods and we can't just leave Takemikazuchi-sama, the greatest god, without one."

"In that case, Mikoto, you will just have to earn even more valis to build one. Until then, we need to set our priorities." Take glances at Chigusa and Asuka that remained quiet till then. "Any wishes from you two?"

Asuka blinks quietly before replying in a steady tone. "A garden for ingredients would be nice. Perhaps a few trees."

Chigusa remains quiet for a moment, but after the quiet extended for a few seconds, she forces herself to speak up. "Perhaps an archery area outside if we have the space." Then in barely above a whisper. "And perhaps a small painting board."

Ouka clearly heard Chigusa even at her volume. "That should be no problem, Chigusa-chan. I am certain Sleipnir-kun will help you with it. And for me, I think a small area outside to eat and relax should be nice."

Take looks at Sly, who has waited till now. Once he notices the look, he also speaks up. "If we have enough space, a small library would be nice to continue with the books Acatl-hakase gives me."

After hearing all their ideas, Take bows with an energetic speed. "We should have enough space for all of your ideas, so we should rest early today to rise with the first light tomorrow."

They all finish eating and already thank Mia Grande for hosting them for so long and promise to eat in the Hostess of Fertility when they have the chance. They also thank Ryu and Chloe, who have served them the most.

7.00 AM Hostess of Fertility - Sleipnir's POV

Sly woke up early the next day and visited both Welf's workshop and Acatl. Welf was happy to accept a few days free of expeditions, as his work has piled up. "Perfect. Then I can finally finish your armour. Sly focus on the dojo. I know you had fun, but work comes first, and if you get the chance, spend some time with Chigusa. From what you have told me, she seems to look up to you, so now that you are working together, she will probably want to spend time with you."

Welf then finished filing away the nicks his greatsword took during their last dungeon delve. "And the next time we delve into the dungeon, we may even challenge floor 10. Hephaestus just gave me a status update. Here, take a look. I trust you. Just keep it to yourself."

Welf looks Sly seriously in the eyes and, after seeing an unsure nod from him, he then shows his status.

Welf Crozzo Alias: ? Race: Human

Level 1

Strength: A 809

Endurance: C 668

Dexterity: B 799

Agility: C 641

Magic: H 135

Development Abilities:

Magic:

1. Will-o-Wisp: Will-o-Wisp is an anti-magic fire that forces an Ignis Fatuus to others in the process of casting magic.

Burn, dark magics - Will-o-Wisp

Skills:

1. Crozzo Blood: Enables Welf to create magic swords. Magic swords created by the user are far stronger than normal.

2. Veritas Burn: Gives high fire resistance and increases his attack power when using fire element attacks.

After reading it, Sly can only look in confusion at the very short status sheet. 'Seems Takemikazuchi is more meticulous than Hephaestus and even writes down minor Skills. Also, why is Welf's magic so incredibly low? With an ability like that, he could be incredibly strong against mages.'

He then reads the rest of the status.'Wow, even his magic and skills are all listed. Welf must trust me quite a lot. I should probably also show him some more of my tricks. After all, I only really used minor illusions and nothing large scale with him yet and he has had my back for an entire week. Perhaps he is one of the few honest humans deserving of my trust. No, that's too much. Perhaps he only is so open, because we have a contract and it's in his best interest to work with me. But he does not feel like a liar. I think I will trust him just a tiny bit more. At least I shouldn't hold back in fights anymore.'

Sly then bows formally at a 45-degree angle, with both his hands folded in front of him, to Welf. "Thank you for your trust in me, Welf-san. It's nice to see that you progressed as well. I just need to ask why your magic is as low as an H?"

Welf seems confused by Sly's bow before hearing his earnest words. "No need to bow to me, Sly. We are friends and I trust you to keep my secrets. As for my magic. To be honest, I kinda forgot I had it until we started dungeon diving. Most monsters don't use magic and I can only train it with others that have magic. That makes for a very troublesome stat to improve."

Sly listens closely. "Aha. In that case, as my god forbid me from sharing my status, how about you join me in my daily training after we finish the dojo? We can even train your magic against my mana control, after I teach you my basic mana control exercise."

Welf thinks for a moment, then says. "Thank you for the offer, Sly. I am honored to train with your familia."

After leaving Welf's shop in the east part of Orario, Sly went to the northern districts to visit Acatl in I am Ganesha. The winged serpent goddess was still tired from skipping sleep, but still managed to grumble at Sly. "Fine. Help the old battle maniac, but make sure that the dojo is worthy of a scholar. Do not let Take trample you and spent all your founds on a training facility. Perhaps Ganesha will even allow us to allocate some work for your dojo in the future. Hmm. Thats a discussion for another time."

He then returns for their last meal at the Hostess of Fertility. He ordered a last verbena tea and breakfast. There was an excited mood. After all, they would refurbish the dojo today.

Shortly after they ordered, Syr brought the dishes for them. Her gaze lingered particularly long on Sly's eyes. Before her eyes started twinkling and she gave a quick glance at his hidden tail.

Sly noticed her gaze while listening to Ouka. 'Let's hope she keeps quiet about it. Up to this point, most high-class adventurers simply ignored my illusion. After all to them, I am a little different from a rookie. The most they should see is a blurred area of magical interference with a vague outline of my second tail. To them I might as well just be using the illusion for the sake of vanity.'

After breakfast, they quickly left for the dojo. Takemikazuchi leads them to the east of Orario, close to the wall and through Daedalus Street.

It is one of the poorer streets and many buildings were built without regard to the layout of the city. Some buildings were in the place where the street should continue and the path instead went up one layer and through the second layer of buildings built on top of the first. Then there were underground passages and many dead ends. A few passages were even underground. They tried following a straight path in the winding streets of Daedalus but quickly lost their way until an amused Ouka asked for directions from a fellow adventurer.

Afterwards, they reached a more open area. They saw a coliseum, church and even passed an orphanage. And only 200 meters from the wall, they located the dojo. To be clear, it wasn't only a dojo, but more akin to a traditional eastern building besides a smaller dojo separated by a small pond.

In front of the buildings they have a 50-meter-long field, or to be more precise field of weeds. There are a few wild bushes in one corner where once might have been a garden. A simple wall in the colors of Daedalus Street surrounds the field. There lay a once simple brick path towards their future home that by now been almost completely devoured by the weeds.

The buildings were built with a sturdy stone base. The walls are out of white stone with dark brown hardwood connections in regular intervals and as the material for the corners. The roof is tiled with red clay bricks that have mostly lost their luster and there are even a few holes.

Once inside, they entered through the gate. The group was quiet while they looked at their future home. Ouka then coughed and ended the awkward silence. "Seems like we got our work cut out for us. We should focus on our familia home first before tending the field. At least the walls and wood aren't too damaged. Aside from a little paint, we only need to re-tile the roof."

Chigusa looks around while they walk towards the house. "Takemikazuchi-sama, how many rooms are there on the inside? I could start cleaning the inside. We will need the bedrooms today."

They quickly move inside. There Take gives his directions. "We have a total of 13 rooms. On the first floor, there is a common room, a kitchen, a bathroom and there are 2 empty rooms. On the second floor, we have 8 small bedrooms. And as for your orders. I will work with Chigusa-chan and Sly-kun to clean the rooms and look for any things that are to be replaced. Ouka and Asuka will look outside and in the dojo for any things that are damaged and after going through all the rooms, he will be shopping for replacements. Mikoto may begin with the bathroom and then continue with the kitchen."

They quickly split up and began tidying up the house. Luckily, adventurers were almost immune to common allergies and nobody had any problem with the excessive dust they had to clear out. The only issue that arose is that Sly had to lower his naginata whenever he entered a room with it, as there are low wooden beams at every entrance. They were traditional for eastern martial homes, as they restricted attackers from swinging their weapons around.

Sly also made good use of his foxfire to burn large swaths of dust. Chigusa saw that as a challenge and used her Jian Yajirushito create a magical Jian bird to destroy all the spider nets. Take watched their game and gave them a few pointers.

Sly, on the other hand, observed Chigusa's spell with energetically swishing tails. "Chigusa-chan, your control has improved quite a bit since we got here. The next step for your Jian bird should be to learn actual commands for it. Right now you must focus on it to control it and cannot act at the same time. With an improved chant, your spell could follow a target autonomously as long as you maintain the spell with a little mana."

Chigusa nervously waits a few seconds before answering quietly. "Thank you Sly-kun. Your control over your fire also improved. You have even started changing the temperature. My achievements are too small to compare."

"Nonsense Chigusa-chan. Your achievements are just as great as mine and with only small pieces of advice from a novice mage, while I learn under Acatl-hakase. There is no reason to belittle yourself."

Chigusa quietly accepts the compliment, but her movements are a tiny bit more fluent than before.

They spend the next few hours cleaning all their rooms and placing simple futons for them to sleep. Sly even adds a small stationary illusion in front of his room to imply that the sliding door to his room is, in fact, a wall. The illusion even had the same wood-like texture of the surrounding walls, but was still traversable with a little push. Hiding trickster, oh cunning fox spirit, refracting prism, unfeeling tinge, by the father of the eight-legged horse, I command thee to affect the judgement of reality - ILLUSIO

Of course, he told the others so they could still find his room. Take then helps Mikoto downstairs, while Chigusa and Sly work on the balconies.

In the meantime, Ouka and Asuka wrote down all the damage on both the dojo and the familia home. This led Ouka to buy the replacements, while Asuka began tidying up the kitchen before then cooking their dinner.

Mikoto somehow managed to finish the bath, but couldn't resist sneaking in an expensive magic stone water boiler. She even prepared everything for hot baths, even if she did not have the means to build an onsen, for now.

Back to Sly and Chigusa. After they worked for around an hour with only a little small talk and a few tidbits of magic, Chigusa mustered her courage and spoke with determination. "Sly-kun. I never had the chance to apologize for Mikoto's treatment to you on the first day we entered floor 10."

Sly frowns with stilled tails. "It isn't your fault. I know you did not push me away."

"But it is. I should have done more, but I did not. I couldn't gather my courage to speak up against her. Her aggressive stubbornness still intimidates me." Chigusa pushes on while her determination still holds.

Sly stops working and hugs Chigusa with a tail. "I know I also have difficulty speaking against her all the time. On that day, it was simply the last straw to crush my motivation to argue with her, if she won't listen. It's also why I am disappointed with Mikoto and angry at Ouka. As the familia captain, he should put Mikoto into her place and tell her when she crosses the line, but he did not. They broke my trust and now they must pay the price."

He then slowly breathes out and hugs his second tail. Chigusa continues. "What do you plan to do after you get your armour? Will you come back to our party?

Breathing slowly and hugging Chigusa tighter. "No. I still need more time or I will just lash out at her. I will keep my distance and also show Ouka-san that while I still listen to him, at some point he has to step up as the familia captain. I am sorry that I can't help you, but I must look after myself first. I ..."

Chigusa intervenes. "I also wanted to ask if I could join your party Sly-kun. Please. Mikoto-san is even more stubborn since you left."

Sly's tails go limb from surprise. "Are you certain? And how could she possibly become more stubborn?"

"Without you there, most of the complex plans Asuka and I propose are destined to fail if she deems them dishonorable. Unfortunately for us, Mikoto-san deems most traps and large-scale attacks dishonorable. Leading her to rush headlong into an encounter more often than not.

Sly looks horrified at the notion. "How has Ouka not stopped this till now? If things are that bad, then I will gladly accept you into my party, even if Ouka-san might see it as a challenge to his authority."

Chigusa smiles at him while brushing over both of his tails. "You know, Ouka-san isn't the jealous type. And Asuka-san knows how to protect herself. In that case, can I join your party?"

Sly shakes himself out of his stupor. "Of course, I and Welf would be happy to have you along, Chigusa-chan. You can even teach us the details of the tenth and eleventh floor and exchange maps."

Thus, they spent the rest of the afternoon in amiable discussions about the dungeon and finished the balcony on the first floor.

Ouka used the same time to buy all the replacements they needed and began repairing the roof and floors with Take. While Asuka began cooking with the assistance of Mikoto, who also bought the ingredients for her. She then prepared a typical cold elven dinner with many vegetables.

During dinner, they discussed who would cook the following days and agreed that Ouka would have the next and Sly the after to cook.

Sly used the evening to place a few more stationary illusions around their new home. Informing the others of his actions, he placed a few wrong illusionary turns leading back to the entrance. Few false equipment stands he primarily used as decorations together with a few illusory familia banners. Lastly, a few minor illusions simulating the quiet wind outside.

After he placed all the illusions, they would no longer require his focus but could be seen through by people who have better perception than Sly. But the most important weakness of the stationary illusions is their need to be charged with Sly's mana at least once a day.

7.00 AM Martial Dojo - Sleipnir's POV

The next morning, they were ready to go once again after a good adventurer's sleep. They tidied up their futons and then went out together to buy furniture for their new home. They visited a small shop Take found the previous week. There they met Lu Ban, the god of carpenters and architects. He was a stern-looking god, perfecting even the tiniest nicks in his woodwork.

Take already knew him, and they agreed to buy their furniture from him. After 2 hours, they then returned with a great assortment of different pieces they collected from Lu Bans familia, most of them following Eastern designs.

They also bought some paint to repaint the old wooden beams and returned to their new home. Which they decided to call the Martial Dojo. They then spent the morning repainting the dojo and then placing the new furniture.

Sly also bought a few bookcases for one of the empty rooms to create a small library and study room. It still needed books, but the few martial scrolls Take took with him from the east now occupied the top row next to a wooden desk.

Mikoto took the chance to redecorate the bathroom and even added a few oils for the bath.

During the afternoon, Mikoto and Chigusa cleaned the lawn and pond on their large field. Chigusa also added a few targets for ranged practice. All are distributed evenly around and in the branches of the singular large tree on the outer edge of the field, far from the wall.

Takemikazuchi meanwhile worked on the dojo. He cleaned the training and meditation rooms and then practiced a few forms to test the rooms. 'These rooms are ready. I will still give it a few personal touches and need to bring my training stick for tomorrow. Sly mentioned Welf joining our training. I will need to be extra harsh to see where he stands. Let's hope he at least uses some technique.'

Ouka bought ingredients for dinner and visited a multitude of shops to stock up on their supplies and find the best shops to use. He also bought a simple magic stone cooler for their cellar to keep their perishable fresh for longer. In the end, he made a simple plan for what they would buy every week.

Sly and Asuka used the evening to finally do good on a promise Sly made on their second day. They were visiting the blue pharmacy.

The little alchemy shop hadn't changed much since Sly last visited. There were still potions bubbling in the glass beakers and a large distiller. The herbs and plants were still neatly stacked and labeled on a shelf, but there were noticeably fewer now.

Another change from the last time Sly visited was the obvious addition of another person brewing potions. He had long, dark blue hair and eyes. He also wore a black robe and a tan-brown stole over his shoulders.

Naaza once again focused only on her work and did not notice their entrance, but the man did. He looked up from his own set of potions at them and nodded, slowly removing the heat from his beaker. "It seems we have customers, Naaza."

Sly and Asuka fully entered the shop. "Indeed. I already met Erisuis-san and bought my health potions from her. But today I have come with Asuka-san to introduce her as a fellow alchemist."

Asuka takes this moment to introduce herself. "That is correct. My full name is Hayashi Asuka from the Takemikazuchi familia."

The man then introduced himself as well. "It's nice to meet you two. I am Miach the god of our small familia. What can I do for you two?"

Asuka silently steps in front of Sly. "Sleipnir-kun here told me of your little shop and, as a fellow alchemist, I would love to work with you. As I grew up in the far east, I know a lot about most alchemical plants and how to use their properties, but without magic stones my education in potioneering is lacking. I hope to work with you Miach-sama to learn the basics and perhaps if we get along, continue helping out in the Blue Pharmacy."

Miach rubs his chin in thought. "Very well. We will need to talk business in that case. You see, me and Naaza are in a very tight financial situation. We I can't just accept another worker that further strains our finances. The only option I can offer you right now is to work with us to learn the potion recipes. Even in that case, I could teach you the ones that aren't our familia property."

Asuka takes a moment to think before asking. "And other familia wouldn't even offer this without joining their familia, correct?" Miach nods at her assumption.

"In that case, I will gladly work with you. Do you have any other questions, Miach-sama?"

Miach takes out a papyrus to make notes. "I would like to know which recipes you already know. We can then work from there as long as you continue helping out."

Asuka accepts. "As you should know, all herbal effects that are made without magic stones do not have immediate results. But I know the recipes for simple scar removing, burn and infection slaves. I can also make antidotes against poisons if I have a sample of the poison and the correct herbs. Plant pellets that boost the body's mana absorption rate slightly and along the same line, a salve that cleanses mana. Our mage behind me mostly used it to recover a little after going through Ignis Fatuus with his spells."

Asuka looks at the annoyed Sly, whose tail is swaying dangerously. "It's not my fault Takemikazuchi-sama insisted on causing Ignis Fatuus more than 50 times during the last week to train my magic control."

Miach looks at her. "Good. I do not know a few of the recipe you know. But I will gladly accept you as a fellow alchemist into our shop. I am certain you will learn much with us."

Asuka briefly smiles. "Thank you very much Miach-sama." She then turns to Naaza. "And of course you as well, Erisuis-san. I hope we can learn much from one another."

Naaza accepts Asuka with quicker wags of her tail. "As a fellow alchemist you may call me Naaza and Sly-san. You may as well."

Asuka nods. "Very well Naaza-san."

Sly notices his queue and thanks her as well. "Well. Now that Asuka-san finished her introduction speech, and you accepted her Miach-sama. May ask about the few ideas I have that your shop might be able to produce?"

"Go ahead Sleipnir-san. I always like of hearing of new applications for alchemy."

Sly's eyes sparkle for just the briefest of moments. "Well then, how about introducing different types of explosives into your selection? The most useful ones would be debilitating grenades. I am thinking of flash grenades that emit bright light, sound grenades that create loud noises and perhaps a knockout grenade utilising an ingredient with a very strong scent."

'After I get my new helmet, my greatest weakness will become one of my major strengths if I get my hand on a few sound grenades. The flash ones will be just as useful against monsters that rely on sight.'

Miach thinks for a moment. "Your ideas seem interesting, but unfortunately I do not know how to brew any solution with the desired effect. The only one I know is expensive and achieves the effect of the flash grenade you described. Asuka-san, do you have any leads for such explosives?"

Asuka also shakes her head. "Unfortunately not. Takemikazuchi-sama introduced Sleipnir-kun to those ideas, as some old cultures used them to great effect, but he never got the recipe. The closest recipe I know would be a herbal mixture that hides the scent of a person while it is applied. It's downside is the very short duration."

"Oh, that seems promising as well. Perhaps adding magic stones at the right time might increase the effect or duration of the recipe. If you are up to it Asuka-san, I would love to experiment with you on this subject later."

"Of course Miach-sama."

Sly accepted their words, although his tail lowered in dismay. At least they did not deny his idea and merely stated that they would be on the lookout for similar effects and tell him should they find any. Before Sly left for the dojo, he at least bought some of the herbs usually used in teas. He even bought a dungeon-specific verbena plant he planned to grow himself.

5 PM Martial Dojo - Sleipnir's POV

When Asuka and Sly returned, the others had already finished most of the work outside and Ouka had begun cooking. They decided to go back to their rooms and set them up some more, as they only moved a little furniture there till now.

Sly went through the illusion of a wall into his room and to the small bookcase he already moved there. It only contained two books about the battle between the top familia and the Leviathan and Behemoth. There was also a dictionary that Acatl had given him after noticing his lack of formal Kione. It translated formal Kione into Eastern. 'Oh no, I still need to study Kione today. It's annoying how it seems like most formal terms are just there to replace more mundane words and make my life more difficult. At least after a week of studying, my formal Kione improved quite a bit. Just a few more days and I might even read the book about the age of heroes, especially the section about the far east that might contain clues to kitsune.'

Sly then opened his cupboard to set his futon for the day before placing his tea herbs inside one of the drawers of his wooden desk. His chair was a simple wood for now, but at least he already had his papyrus and his quill ready once he started studying. Together with a small magic stone lamp, he bought alongside the furniture to give him sufficient light.

Lastly, he placed down the verbena plant he bought beside his window. As a dungeon plant, it required a mana-rich environment to grow. If he gave it the right environment, it would grow and bloom once a year with small blue flowers that are potent potion ingredients. The verbena leaves are pointy, hairy and grow in large numbers perfect for tea. Sly looked out of the window behind his verbena and to the herb and the illusion outside of his window. He liked his privacy and let it appear as if he shut his curtains while still being able to see outside.

With a final nod at his room, Sly then left through his sliding doors and joined the others at dinner. As it was Ouka's day, they ate the dwarven specialty pasta with supplementary mushrooms.

This was also their first warm dinner in the Martial dojo.

Next day - Sleipnir's POV

The next morning, all did their usual self-care routines. Including Sly, who now had to brush not one, but two tails. He also started collecting it, after getting his second tail, because he noticed faint traces of his magic inside. He only needed a use for it, but he would find one in time, of which he was certain. Sly fed the verbena a little of his mana and met with the others to eat breakfast and start their training.

After breakfast, they all assembled outside for their morning training. Welf also appeared at their gate, loudly knocking for them. Sly went and got him while all the others watched in interest, as it was the first time they saw Sly's new party member.

"I see you found the Martial Dojo in time Welf-san. I hope you had a successful two days?"

Grinning widely and obviously in a good mood, Welf said. "Of course. I not only finished your armor and all my other orders, I even managed to squeeze in one of the daggers I planned for you. It's made with the normal war shadow drop, but nonetheless came out very well. I shall call it the Shadoudansā."

Sly accepts the black dagger that's a little longer than his training daggers and looks wickedly sharp. "Interesting name, but isn't the edge a little too thin? The balance seems good, and it is heavier than I expected. Does it weigh a kilo?"

Welf takes back the dagger for a moment. "Yes, it weighs a little more than a kilo, but as a result, it's far denser than your previous dagger. That's also what allowed me to thin out the edge. It will hold against anything below armored level two monsters or against armor of the same calibre. And considering that you only use your daggers to strike at weak points, that shouldn't be a problem."

Wagging both his tails in content, Sly accepts the dagger back. "Thank you very much Welf-san. How shall I repay you for it?"

Welf shrugs it off. "You can pay once you have all the pieces I'm making for you. We agreed upon 20'000 valis, haven't we?"

Sly smile as well. "In that case, I have to thank you again, Welf-san. Now shall I introduce you to my familia members?"

They walk over to the others and line up in front of Takemikazuchi. "I am Takemikazuchi, the god of our small familia. I hope you are prepared to show me all you can do, Crozzo-san."

Welf blinks in surprise. "It seems Sly already told you about me. Nonetheless, my name is Welf Crozzo. I am a blacksmith from the Hephaestus familia and work in a party with Sly."

Surprisingly, Chigusa speaks up next. "I am happy to meet you, Welf-san. I hope we will get along. My name is Hitachi Chigusa."

The others offered similar greetings before Take set them up in pairs to train while he tested how well Welf could wield his greatsword. He had to admit that this new student picked his interest with how unwieldy Welf's heavy greatsword appeared.

Take began with a quick spar to see how Welf fought. And he found the way the greatsword clashed with his katana very straightforward. Take was obviously at a disadvantage strength-wise, but Welf used very little technique besides well-executed slashes. Take took his time to deflect attacks from all 8 directions before he began deflecting more aggressively and pushing Welf further and faster.

Welf began sweating from having to block all of Take's blows with his far heavier weapon. After holding on for a minute of relentless attacks, Welf slowly realized that he could step out of the way of many of Take's quick strikes instead of blocking them. He then began dodging and blocking alternatingly until Take took a more aggressive step forwards and pointed his blade at Welf's throat. Welf looked startled before conceding, completely out of breath.

"Not bad. Your technique is simple Crozzo-san, but for your weapon, it's effective. What you need to master is the art of striking at the right time. I let you attack at the start to see all your attack habits before I tested your defense. Your attacks lack precision and your defense relies too heavily on blocking, thus reducing the time you can fight. To improve, you will need more experience or the dungeon will have a few nasty surprises for you."

Welf breathes heavily while listening. "Thank you Takemikazuchi-sama. All I learnt about combat is from my grandfather. He was a strict man and wanted me to defend myself. I am ready to learn and spar with the others to improve."

Take accepts Welf's words with a tiny smile. "In that case, I shall accept you as a regular during our training sessions. Sleipnir-kun told me you also wanted to practice your magic, correct?" Welf nods.

"Then I will leave you with him to practice. I know my way around magic, but he should be able to help you better with his inane understanding of it." Take then nods his head at Welf before supervising a spar between Mikoto and Ouka.

Sly remained close by to watch and also began practising his dagger katas with his new dagger. He focused on slow, deliberate movements to get an accurate feel for his new weapon. After the first kata, he then incorporated additional movements Take showed him for his illusory arms. He had been training his coordination with his normal and illusory arms for a week now and could finally complete his kata without any large missteps.

He also prepared a nasty surprise for the next opponent that got too close to him.

After he was through with it, Welf was already beside him and grinning. "Takemikazuchi-sama is a very good teacher, Sly. We only spared for around 20 minutes and he could see through my every move. He even gave me a direction to improve further."

Sly smiles while shaking his four arms and two tails. "Takemikazuchi-sama is one of the greatest martial artists on Genkai. Of course he can help. And your Shadoudansā is incredible. Its balance is incredible, and I even tested it ability to cut and oh boy can it. I managed to cut through a solid wooden beam with one strong slash. In comparison, my normal dagger only gets through wood if I slash repeatedly and with all my strength."

Welf smiles in appreciation. "I know. I can't wait to make the irregular one. It will be a real challenge to make something that durable, but I think it will be worth it. Shall we start our magic training, Sly?"

"Of course. Let's begin by testing if you can interrupt my already prepared magic. As you see, I have an illusion to create duplicates of my arms. I want to know if I have to move my illusions out of your spell's range when you cast it."

Welf began chanting. "Burn, dark magics - Will-o-Wisp." From his hand shot out a small fiery red flame in a straight line towards Sly's illusion.

The two magics connected and one of Sly's illusory arms stilled for a moment before the small wisp went out without affecting the illusion.

Sly stands there perplexed before slowly testing how his illusion held up. "That answers my first question. While your Will-o-Wisp can cancel spells that are chanted. Against already cast spells, it does not have an effect. Let's test it while I cast Illusio."

Sly then began his cast, while Welf chanted his counterspell. Will-o-Wisp is faster and after connected while Sly is still chanting Illusio. Once again a fire red flame appears and rushes towards Sly. This time it touches his body and Sly can feel his magic slipping. It feels as if something punched a giant hole into the middle of his spell. His magic force was nowhere near strong enough to stop the foreign mana from entering his Illusio. Then the mana he already invested into the spell cascaded into the hole in huge quantities, and even with Sly's mana control there was no way he could stop an Ignis Fatuus from happening.

Sly had to use his trick from training with Take and expel as much mana as he could from his spell before it imploded and hurt him from the backlash. Both of his tails wince from the backlash and Sly has to grit his teeth. "Okay, that worked more or less like I expected. How did it feel Welf-san? Did you have any control after casting the spell or sense what it did?"

Welf awkwardly scratches his head while trying not to direct at Sly. "Not really. I can cast the spell and chose the direction my flame flies in, but can do nothing after it leaves my hand. Are you sure you aren't hurt, Sly? Ignis Fatuus isn't something you should just shrug off."

Sly twitches his ear in irritation. "Of course, it hurt. I am only still ready to continue because I trained to reduce the damage Ignis Fatuus causes to me with Takemikazuchi-sama and know that I can use Asuka-san's mana cleansing salve to take away most of the pain from Ignis Fatuus. Shall we continue? I'm not stopping unless you have no more mana or I have figured out a way to prevent Ignis Fatuus against your Will-o-Wisp."

Taking a few steps back, Welf looks back at Sly and the fierce determination he can see in his eyes and the way both his tails wave fiercely. Welf debates silently if he should stop this now or continue training, even with a slightly masochistic partner. "Okay. I will use my chant again. But I need to warn you Sly. I can cast this spell around ten times."

Sly nods with a face of utmost focus. "Good, try another Will-o-Wisp against my Illusio, then you can try countering my foxfire."

This continued for another hour, during which Sly let Welf shoot his spell at him repeatedly and every single time he lost control. In the end, Sly had the idea to use a small net of his mana to close the gaping hole in his spell before it can collapse. It failed due to bad execution on Sly's part and was ripped apart by his mana, leading to a stronger Ignis Fatuus, but it was at least progress.

After Welf spent most of his mana on casting Will-o-Wisp Sly, then thought him how to stick a leave from their tree to any part of his body using mana. Welf had a hard time using it correctly and Sly advised him to practice his mana control. He might even change how much mana he uses in his Will-o-Wisp to cast it more often. Perhaps a weaker version would also allow Sly to find a way to counter it, before coming back to the full power one Welf used today. They entered a physical spar to loosen up their bodies from concentrating on magic for so long.

The last of the group trained their archery. But it wasn't simple training. No, this was serious. The loser would be the one that needed to cook with Take when it was his turn to cook. They began with challenging shots that used the wind to his targets that should be out of their line of fire. Before beginning to spar. There, Chigusa and Asuka both used mock arrows and could block with their melee weapons or dodge. It was a difficult battle, but thanks to her higher finesse and trickery, Chigusa managed to win the spar with a trick shot.

Chigusa forced Asuka to retreat towards the outer wall with deliberate off-mark shots while dodging the counterstrikes. Once Asuka was close enough to the wall, she pressed her attack and forced Asuka to defend herself with a shortsword. But at that moment it was already too late as one of Chigusa's arrows flew towards the wall at the perfect angle to ricochet off and hit Asuka in the back.

After their training finished, Asuka began rebuilding the old garden at the edge of their field to create a new herb garden. Sly even added a few herbs he especially liked for tea.

After giving Asuka his herbs Sly and Welf then took to the kitchen. Welf looked at Sly in interest. "So what are we cooking?"

Sly hides his smile behind his hand before saying. "Nothing special. Just my spicy curry with some camille tea. How spicy should I make it?"

Welf grins back. "How about how you usually make it? Rakia hasn't as much spicy food as I would like, but I love hot food. I doubt it will be too much for me."

The tea finished first and already served for Welf and the Take familia in their dining room. Take nodded in appreciation. Chigusa smiled in thanks and even Mikoto nodded at Sly. Asuka took a sip and congratulated Sly for another success. Welf looked a little dubious but still tried it. His eyes lit up, and he asked for another cup.

Then came the meal. The take familia prepared already. Take and Mikoto made no special preparations. Ouka and Chigusa prepared bread to counter the spicy and Asuka consumed a herbal powder before Sly returned with the curry.

To say Welf liked it was an understatement. But at the same time, he had to drink a lot of milk and bread to counter the extreme spices.

Dungeon Middle Floors

It was another normal day for Ikuchi. He continued following Arles advice and avoided most adventurers with a simple trick. Hanging from the ceiling. His sharp claws had more than enough strength to grip the dice-like dungeon walls of the middle floors.

To his aggravation, even after consuming countless magic stones on his daily monster-hunting trips, Ikuchi still did not gain the ability to fly. 'Why am I still not strong enough to fly? Arles told me I would get the ability to fly during my teen stage, but I can only grow by consuming enough magic stones or waiting for ages.'

He made himself a few temporary safe zones all over the middle floors, well out of reach of any adventure and all but the wyverns. He was currently hunting on one of the side passages of one of the upper middle floors.

All went well until Ikuchi notices a faint red glow ahead. After looking closer, he spotted a group of five hellhounds blocking the passage he wanted to take. Ikuchi grinned evilly and decided to fight them, even if he had a disadvantage against their long-ranged fire breaths. After all, there were only five of them.

He slowly sneaked along the ceiling, to be well out of range of their fire breath, till he was right above the group of five. All of them were at least two meters long, only a little smaller than Ikuchi, both in height and length.

Ikuchi dropped right onto the alpha hellhound. He immediately bit its vulnerable neck with all his strength and killing intent, he got some of the awful-tasting monster blood in his mouth before spitting it out and quickly jumping 5 meters into towards the closest wall to dodge most of the fire breaths the other 4 hellhounds shot at him.

Ikuchi felt the scales on his tail dry quickly as he was just a tad too slow, but ignored it in favor of jumping from the wall back towards another hellhound. This time, the dog did not have time for a fire blast and had to claw and bite at him instead.

Ikuchi used this to his advantage and goaded the hellhound in front of him to block the view the other 3 dogs had of him. He then quickly retreated a few steps to dodge the dog's barrage of bites. After the dog overextended one of its paws, Ikuchi struck immediately with his own set of far sharper claws and went for its head. It only took a single swipe at him to tear through the hellhound's nose and render it almost completely blind without its sense of smell.

He then goaded another fire breath from the other three dogs, before using his breath attack to change the arena. He used his water breath to splash water at all remaining dogs and, more importantly, create a puddle on the ground.

He then jumped back towards the closest wall, out of easy reach of the hellhounds, and prepared his far more uncontrollable element. The wet hellhounds didn't take that standing down and jumped towards Ikuchi multiple times to drag him to the ground, but aside from a losing few scales and getting hit with a short burst of their fire breath, they did not deal any significant damage.

Ikuchi continued charging his attack'Please there must be no water on me.' He then released his second breath and used around a fourth of his mana to create a nice bolt of lightning, infinitely weaker than its namesake but still sufficient to stun the already-wet hellhounds standing in his puddle.

The rest was an easy cleanup of paralysed monsters, for Ikuchi and he finished by eating all but two of the magic stones they dropped. "Finally, I didn't zap myself. I need to control my lightning better. Still, it's very good how effective it is at beating groups of enemies. I still need to continue hunting, but I shouldn't go any deeper or I will need to avoid Minotaurs. They are still too dangerous without wasting all my mana. Arles should also return soon."

Before continuing his hunt, Ikuchi sent a quick glance at his reflection in the pond. He noticed that he had grown even further since coming to the middle floors. He grew by at least a meter and almost doubled in size.

'Even with my quicker growth from eating magic stones, it will still take years of hunting on this floor before I can fly. To get to the surface, it will take even longer than I need to grow strong enough. At least the other Xenos can no longer force me to stay behind while they hunt the feral monsters.'

Authors Note

Now I can actually talk about Ikuchi and assume you know who it is. He is the second important OC I will be using, besides Sly. The other Xenos are mostly the same as in the original, but their characters might change as I haven't read the entire Danmachi novel. I plan to read them soon, but at least Arles will be semi-OC as I made his personality almost from scratch.

For those interested in it, I added a very short scene at the end of chapter 1 to at least give an inkling about the Xenos. Ikuchi is finally introduced. He is my second OC. Most other Xenos already exist in the original but have more minor roles. I will take the liberty of adapting their personalities, as I have not read the light novels.

Also, I really stumbled upon my first real writer's block in this chapter. I just had far too much to do in real life and am now finally through a very difficult situation, so hopefully, chapters will appear more regularly again.