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.
Speech: "What value does a lesson have if you have not discovered it yourself?"
Thoughts: 'Enough is enough. I hate nobles.'
Magic: "Arcs Ray. (Lefiya)"
Screaming/Demonic Voice: "I can feel your determination girl, fight and show me your prowess."
Chapter 11 The Hunt, The Recovery, and The Looming Threat
Dungeon Middle Floors - Ikuchi POV
It had been a few light cycles since the time Ikuchi hunted hellhounds. However, he already learnt something new. The weaker adventurers he usually avoided in the past, horded magic stones and not just a few, but troves of them. They are kept in monster hide satchels and usually carried by the weakest member of the group.
They couldn't have made it much easier for him if they tried. He spent the last light cycle going after the weakest adventurers and guided them with glimpses of his scales or noises towards large monster hordes. Once there they usually fought or fled, but for him, it mattered little, as he could use the chaos to take one of their magic stone satchels, but he never took more than one of them, as Arles warning rang in his head to not provoke adventurers if there was another way.
In just one cycle he had grown another 10 centimeters in length already, just by hunting for magic stones this way. He still had to fight sometimes but avoided most monsters in lieu of this better tactic.
Nonetheless, no strategy could work forever. Today he made a mistake and chose a slightly stronger group. They saw him and managed to cut one of his legs and followed him with violent intent. At least he got one of their monster stone satchels.
Ikuchi had to think quickly. With his injury they could follow his blood even if he escaped their line of sight, so he would need to deal with them directly, otherwise they would catch up to him sooner or later. They were close to one of his hideouts, if the adventurers weren't careful, he might be able to trap them there and lead them into a trap to take their remaining magic stones. However, he would need to be fast. Two of the five were faster than him and only his knowledge of the layout of this floor kept him ahead of them while climbing one of the walls.
With his knowledge of the floor, Ikuchi took paths that were hard to traverse on foot over large pits and terrain full of stalagmites. The group managed to follow him, but they were quickly depleting their stamina by running after him on his home-turf.
Taking a few more turns, Ikuchi went towards one of his hideouts with a large distance between him and the adventurers together with a few hellhounds that hadn't noticed him on the ceiling. He would need that time to activate the entrance to his hideout.
Ikuchi had noticed early on that some of the purple crystals in the middle floor had some colour missing at their tip. They had a strange deep purple hue at their top other crystals hadn't had with their uniform magenta hue.
Observing a large group of adventurers, he noted that they ignored it completely. He then decided to experiment, but no physical force or even magical attacks worked. It was only by accident that Ikuchi speared an Almiraj over one of these special crystals. The monster died within seconds and its magic stone stuck at the tip of the crystal. The wrong colour at the tip of the crystal abated and it was once again a uniform magenta hue.
Following this success he did the same with the two other crystals that had the same problem. Once he corrected the colours of all the crystals around him, a rumble came from one of the dungeon walls and another passage opened for him. Now, he did exactly the same but waited just long enough for the passage to remain open for the group hunting him.
He would make them regret following him.
While Ikuchi prepared the secret passage, the adventurers fought the hellhounds in a rush hoping to catch the irregular monster who had stolen one of their magic stone bags. It took them 2 hours to fill that bag and they would not let a damn monster get away with it. Even more so if it was too cowardly to fight them.
Once inside the passage, Ikuchi used the first bend of the secret passage to climb the ceiling. The adventurers following him had to slow down because the passage was far darker, and they were all human; none of them had dark vision. But they came prepared and used a torch to light the way.
The passage itself was riddled with disproportional square stones like the lower parts of the middle floors. The ceiling was full of magenta crystal stalactites, whose tips were barely visible in the darkness, at least for the adventurers. For Ikuchi they glowed a faint purple almost blending in with the darkness, nonetheless still distinct from the floor.
Ikuchi finally reached his destination a river filled with fish monsters eerily similar to the water city. But for Ikuchi who still clung to the ceiling they were no threat. However, he decided this was the perfect position for his ambush.
It didn't take long for the adventurers to catch up to him, but his spot above the river was out of the light their torch gave off and the bright light had blinded the adventurers to anything outside of it. Unfortunately, the adventurers were cautiously approaching now. Wary of a potential trap, which the dungeon used regularly in the middle floors. Ikuchi knew that there was no trap, but why tell them? He had time for his aggressors to find their way across the river, and once they did, they would pay.
After all, the adventurers did not know that they entered a secret passage and that the door leading there had already sealed itself once more. To open it once more, the group would need to find the correct crystal on the ceiling and feed it with a magic stone. It was clear to Ikuchi that this group was far too stupid to figure that out.
It took the group almost an entire hour to find the shallowest part of the river in the darkness surrounding them, only lit up by a single torch and start fighting against the raider fishes that were barely even a meter long, compared to the almost two meter long ones on floor 25.
Ikuchi waited for exactly that time when they were distracted and released his water breath. Releasing a large swath of water right above the adventurer with the torch. They did not expect it and was pushed into the river along with their only source of light.
The rest was a one-sided massacre, where the raider fishes swarmed them in seconds. Meanwhile, Ikuchi snuck into the water and killed the few raider fishes in his way before swimming even faster than them with another three satchels full of monster crystals.
9 PM - Martial Dojo - Sleipnir POV
Dinner was a quiet affair. The mood was very low after Ouka narrated the misadventure they had. Mikoto's near death caused all of them to pause. Sly remembered how they returned under the protection of his illusio to blend with the crows of returning adventurers.
They all had sustained injuries of varying severity. Welf took the most damage and most of their potions were used to heal all his arrow wounds. Chigusa took the rest to heal the many slashing wounds she took in the melee. Sly himself only used one to seal the cut on his head to see before using his own health and stamina potions to get the others on their feet.
The last potions Sly allowed himself to consume were two magic potions, as his mana was almost at mind down from his large scale illusio and whatever he did with the fireball.
Back at the dojo Sly took charge of treating all their remaining injuries, including his own wounds and cuts he sustained against Hyakinthos, with Asuka's herbal medicine. He might be the strongest from his party, but he was wary of his open wounds nonetheless; they might get infected. That would be costly to heal even with potions.
When they finished and went inside, they noticed Ouka who was almost comatose in his room and had a very pale complexion. No one else was in the dojo. Chigusa quickly brought their attention to the chores that still needed tending to around the dojo, and they began working on them anticipating and fearing what happened to get their captain into such a state.
Take came back an hour later and looked exhausted. That might not seem strange at first glance, but he was Takemikazuchi, the god of warriors. He never showed any indication of his own constitution even after training for hours on end, and even during hard times the most he did was frown.
For Sly, seeing Take look tired was another strong blow to his beliefs. Whatever Take saw was enough to crumble his mask of calm he usually maintained without flaw. That truly hit home how bad the adventure of Ouka went; Sly even feared the worst.
However, their questions went unanswered until Ouka stood up shortly before dinner and told them what happened. He reiterated their own adventure with all seriousness and periodically shot assessing glances towards Sly.
Sly didn't know how to respond to the events. He even began reassessing his own strength, he would never admit it out loud, but he knew that Mikoto was stronger than him since her level-up, and for her to be reduced to such a state was almost inconceivable to Sly.
Asuka remained at Mikoto's side and the diner passed without her in heavy silence. At the end, Sly decided to explain their own encounter to Take. He regained his focus and listened carefully to a few questions about the equipment and appearance of their opponents.
The news was very concerning for Take. With their strength significantly weakened they would need to avoid conflict until Mikoto was back on her feet. While most gods avoided direct conflict with him, there was no small chance that Apollo could escalate the conflict between their familia if he knew about their condition.
A little later in his room, Sly began pacing back and forth thinking about the actions of his own team against Hyakinthos. Welf had been recognized, he and Chigusa wore the symbol of the Takemikazuchi familia, and Chigusa even wore their familia colours, red and purple. She even gave away their familia name.
It would take a lot of preparation to protect their familia. At least he has some experience in outmaneuvering types like Hyakinthos. From their getup, Sly can easily assume Apollo to be a very rich familia. Probably not more than one adventuring rank above them, but nonetheless larger with possible multiple level twos. With so many of his familia out of commission and a familia trying to recruit Chigusa, he would need to investigate.
'Why are the strong nobles always looking down on all the hard work others spend to improve themselves. Why can't they just leave me alone. I just want to master magic in peace without having to fight for my survival all the time. But it appears even in Orario there are those who abuse their power.
If I want to survive and protect the few I consider family, I will have to grow stronger! I must go forward and make my magic more dangerous. Illusions are effective, but I have postponed working on the combat-oriented versions like my illusory arms long enough. I have almost no experience with them since I used them as a magic control exercise instead of using them for battle.
The same goes for my foxfire! I have only used it to distract opponents and defeat weaker monsters. Besides improving my control, I haven't pushed its boundaries to the point where it could harm someone of my level without wasting a third of my mana capacity.
No more! If the gods won't let me live in peace without strength, then I will have to work harder and grow strong enough to defeat anyone. I don't care about a fair fight! With my illusions, stealth, and sufficient strength, I will find a way around any obstacle that may stand in my path.
I will need to get my level up soon. We need to push deeper into the dungeon once everyone is back on their feet. It will be dangerous, but at least the risk is calculable in comparison to fighting an unknown familia.'
Quickly gathering some water Sly watered his verbena. His new conviction clear to him; mastering magic and growing so strong that nobody can disturb his peace. The first step towards this new goal was to understand and experiment with his magic to gain mastery.
'How did I repel the fireball with my tails? Was it the magic resistance of my tails or something else? Is it even a good thing it happened in front of Hyakinthos? Previously they were only interested in Chigusa, but now they might even plan revenge for injuring them or, even worse, try to recruit me as well!'
That was not even the worst. 'It will take Mikoto multiple days to get back on her feet and Ouka will be bedridden for at least two days from pushing himself past his physical limits. Mikoto most likely won't even regain her peak strength but stay weakened until she regains all her lost muscle mass.
Then there is Take, who believes that our training must be increased. He wants us to be prepared for further skirmishes against Apollo familia, should they pursue us. For that reason, he forbid us from entering the dungeon. He took a step back to assess our situation and decided we needed to disappear from public view until the situation cools down and we regain and surpass our previous strength.
As for me, I have a special mission. Take knows the basics of the Apollo familia, but that isn't sufficient. We need concrete information, and I am going to collect it.'
Next Morning - Blue Pharmacy Infirmary - Mikoto POV
Mikoto awoke slowly due to severe itching in her right arm and leg. Unsure of where she was, she looked around the tidy bed before remembering her shameful loss.
She tried sitting up, but a sharp pain in her thigh convinced her otherwise. She decided to lie a moment longer and remember how she got here. She remembered being supported by Asuka; she would need to thank her later.
Mikoto looked around the room. She was resting in a small room filled with herbs and potions on shelves, all neatly labeled. Beside her bed next to a small wooden desk, somebody was sleeping. 'Who is it? Asuka? Wonderful, I will thank her once she wakes up. It seems they brought me to an alchemy familia, and from Asuka being here they probably brought me to the Blue Pharmacy.'
At a closer look, Asuka was still in her adventuring gear with cut ingredients beside her. She had stayed the night to watch over her.
After looking at her surroundings and seeing she was safe, Mikoto thought about the battle. 'I underestimated the infant dragon. How shameful of me! I only wanted to fight it to show Takemikazuchi we were ready to challenge the middle floors, but now I will need to recover. From the pain I feel in my right side, it will probably take quite a few days to regain my strength.
That is if I can even accelerate the recovery of my stronger side! Otherwise, I might even create a handicap to the other. What would Take think of me? And Ouka! He did everything by himself and brought us back to the surface against all odds. His determination to protect me was incredible. Perhaps I really need to think about my actions before he lifts my dungeon ban…'
Mikoto thought on and noticed a canteen of water next to the bed and drank two gulps before stopping to not upset her stomach. Her body still required a lot of time for her to recover, so she slowly forced herself back to sleep. While sleep, due to her adventurer status, couldn't heal her severe injuries on its own, the diluted regeneration potion healed her worst injuries and her level 2 constitution could slowly heal the remaining injuries.
Another hour passed before Asuka awoke and noticed Mikoto had moved. She then prepared another potion to treat the remaining burns Mikoto had. Naaza joined Asuka in her preparation before they woke Mikoto up and then began explaining her injuries to Mikoto and that her body needed to rest for the next few days. She was very lucky that Naaza was the one treating her because without her Invigorate spell it would have taken at least two weeks for her to regain mobility in her arm. The use of a diluted regeneration potion would have been too dangerous without Naaza stabilizing it. She might not even have regained her full range of movement. However, with the help of the regeneration potion, Mikoto should be able to stand up and start retraining as soon as her muscles have fully healed.
Mikoto listened carefully and waited till Asuka ended her tirade. "I understand Asuka-san. Please know that I am truly grateful to you and thank you for helping me. I would bow to show my respect, but that would not be the best right now. If you need help with something in the future, please bring it to my attention and I will complete it to the best of my abilities."
Turning her head to face Naaza Mikoto continues. "The same counts towards you Naaza-sama. I can't thank you enough that you went out of your way to treat me and guarantee my recovery. I owe you a life debt and will help you however I can. Without you and Miach-sama's help, I would have had to stop being an adventurer. Fighting and growing stronger for my familia is my purpose and honor. Takemikazuchi-sama taught me the honor code of the samurai and I will repay you however I can."
Naaza was very surprised at Mikoto's words and looked at her in a daze. She regains her bearing and after glancing at Asuka, who nods to her, thinks for a moment more before replying. "For now, Mikoto-san, please rest and do not try standing up until I tell you to try otherwise, you might worsen your condition. It should only be a few days so please bear with it. As for the debt you owe me, I will think about it in greater detail later, but the first step will be for you to pay for the potions we had to use. As a high-level regeneration potion was diluted, you first need to repay us 100'000 valis. Takemikazuchi decided you would have to bear half the cost on your own, to learn wisdom and think before acting."
Mikoto looks at Naaza with the highest respect and nods at her demand. "I will work to repay you once I am cleared to enter the dungeon again. If you have further requests, please notify Asuka and I will visit."
6 AM Martial Dojo - Takemikazuchi POV
After the previous day, Take was prepared to push his students to their absolute limit before sending them along on their day. He was stunned when he found Sleipnir was already up and training his illusory arms before breakfast alongside Chigusa. She was fighting him with her training bow in melee.
He did not impede them since it was one of the few times he saw Sleipnir take the initiative and Take didn't want to affect his determination. Even more so when he noticed that not only Sly, but the lesser spirits that settled in their home after the ritual bath were stirred.
'Sly always had many spirits following him, but today he breaks his records. Usually, he has around 5 spirits with at least one Fox Spirit around him. Today he has around 15 in addition to a total of three Fox Spirits. I see two curious Nekomata and even a silly Beto Beto is following him. I am surprised they are focused enough to ignore the trampling of the Beto Beto. A pair of boots stomping after him should be loud enough for them to notice even if they are invisible to them. At least none of the spirits are malignant.
It is truly admirable that so many spirits are following Sleipnir. Most mortals barely attract any spirits since they stopped performing rituals in their honour. Even those that still carry out a few usually only have one or two. Chigusa for example is followed by, at most, three spirits. One even is a benevolent Tsuru Nyōbō following her in the guise of a crane. Ouka usually has around two earth-based spirits and Welf has around five fire-based spirits and only those.
Mikoto is my only child who likes to attract troublesome Spirits. She usually has at least one Tengu around her. They are born when an overly arrogant swordsman dies an early death and loves nothing more than battling. They aren't usually associated with malignant spirits, but I wouldn't call them neutral or benign like those following Sleipnir.
I hope Mikoto will be able to get another spirit to follow her. It would greatly reduce the effect a Tengu spirit could have on her emotions. Of course, the Tengu isn't the real cause of these emotions, but empowering what's already there. To truly overcome it Mikoto would need to overcome one of her flaws.'
After watching them a little longer Take made his presence known. "I see you have already started training. Very good Sleipnir, Chigusa. May I invite you for a spar? Sleipnir please use your illusions and Chigusa try striking me with your training arrows."
Both Chigusa and Sly jump back before quickly nodding to each other. Sly immediately starts chanting Illusio to recreate his illusory arms he dismissed and even Chigusa starts chanting her Jian Yajirushi to overwhelm him.
Well, he liked challenging battles. Fighting Sly who actively used his illusory arms to hide his regular arms and Chigusa and her archery at the same time was quite challenging with the physical strength and speed of a normal human. However, Takemikazuchi would make do with what he had.
Sly's attacks would be impossible to see with his illusions active, so Take would need to watch Chigusa and use his hearing and the shifts in the air to fight Sly. Not easy, but certainly possible for the god of warriors.
His greater concern was Chigusa with her Jian Birds that could strike at him from his blind spots and maneuver around his line of sight. With Chigusa's training during the previous weeks, she managed to maintain her control of one single Jian Bird, even while shooting more arrows. So, Take would need to always watch both her and a possible arrow from behind.
His battle against Sly went well considering that he wasn't looking at Sly directly and dodging countless quick arrows from Chigusa. The minuscule shifts in the air were enough for him to block Sly's dagger strikes with his katana. Sleipnir was by no means fighting without finesse, but feints were only so effective against an opponent that does not rely on sight.
Take continued blocking each and every one of Sly's attacks until Sly overextended one of his attacks and superimposed his arms with its illusion. At that point Take struck at his real arm and used the following lapse of concentration to knock Sly to the ground before dodging over from an arrow from his right, fired by Chigusa while his focus shifted. As for the Jian arrow, it flited at him from behind Sly, forcing him to catch it mid-jump with the hand he used to slow Sly down.
Unfortunately for Take, it split into two at that exact moment and one of the resulting arrows hit him in the shoulder.
Take turns around to face Chigusa. "Well prepared surprise attack Chigusa-chan, but as our sparing rules state. With Sleipnir-kun on the ground you now must defend yourself on your own."
He then continued fighting Chigusa, who changed her bow to a lighter short bow. She had learnt from their battle against the Apollo familia and now carried a shortbow to fight at closer ranges without resorting to fencing with arrows. She could carry a shortsword, but with her goal of becoming the greatest archer of their time she saw using another weapon as a last resort.
By avoiding attacks or by blocking with her sturdy bow and striking back either with arrow in hand or shooting if she got the time, Chigusa managed to resist him for another minute before he got past her guard and quickly flipped her to the ground.
Straightening the single bent sleeve of his garments Take congratulated his students. "Wonderful. Both of you fought with great determination and managed to resist me very well. Sleipnir-kun, it's great to see you actively fight with your illusions after practising with it for more than two weeks. I purposefully did not use my eyes to resist your attacks to show you one of the flaws your technique has. Visual illusions are very powerful, but against experienced fighters that can complement their sight with their other senses their use will be significantly reduced. However, against level 2 adventurers it should work wonders, unless they are very experienced that is."
Turning his gaze a little sharp, he then continues, "However, I have one question for you. Why did you hold back and not use your foxfire as well, Sleipnir?"
Sly takes a moment to think about his question and answers with a little hesitance, chancing a quick glance at Chigusa. "I did not use my foxfire, because I wanted to actively use my illusory arms, but I could still have done so. The main reason I did not use my foxfire was, because I usually only train it against Welf-san. His Veritas Burns skill allows me to use more mana without causing him serious burn wounds. He can also counter my spells, so training them against him is more efficient.
Take waits to see if Sly would continue, but nodded nonetheless. "Sleipnir-kun please consider using all your abilities for our next spar. Otherwise, your lack of experience might affect your performance when it matters most. Holding back during spars is nothing bad in itself. However, when you can safely use your abilities, for example, by using less mana or using your control over foxfire to conjure colder flames, you should do so to get more proficient at using multiple spells at once.
He turns his focus towards Chigusa. "As for you Chigusa-chan, your constant barrage of arrows was very difficult to defend against as always, but what truly surprised me was your strategy in close combat. Fighting with a shortbow in close quarters is certainly unorthodox, but with a little more training I believe that we can make it work. You were certainly more effective than with your shortsword."
With a faint smile Take ordered them to stand back up and continue sparring. Afterwards they ate breakfast and Take continued training Welf and Chigusa, while Sly went to visit Misha and Acatl.
7.30 AM - Martial Dojo
Sly continued training with Take and Chigusa until breakfast and then quickly left for his other mission. Leaving Chigusa, Asuka and Welf to train with Takemikazuchi.
He donned a small illusion to change his appearance into that of a chienthrope with a single short black tail and round ears before casually walking towards the guild. Misha-san would not be happy with them, but when it came to information about other familia she would most certainly be very knowledgeable.
While walking into the guild building, Sly took a glance at the library and thought of the time he spent during their first few days just reading in the evening and memorizing all the accessible knowledge about the dungeon.
Now that he thinks about it, since he finished with his readings in the guild and started studying with Acatl-hakase he only ever visited the guild with an illusion. It made him chuckle in slight amusement.
As he was chuckling, he arrived in front of Misha-sans desk and waited until the one in front of him finished their business. There was a lot of noise around the guild today with many footsteps moving back and forth. "Misha-san, could I please speak with you in private about familia business?"
Misha glances at him with suspicion before glancing at his ears and retorting, "Of course, please follow me."
Once inside the conference room she then turns around and looks at Sly in annoyance. "If you insist on always coming with another appearance, at least use a code phrase, otherwise you will drive me insane, Sly!
Besides your first visit, I have never seen you approach me with your actual appearance. I know you dislike being known, but at least be less consistent. Every time you visited me you took the guise of another unknown male adventurer and my reputation with my friends has taken a hit because I have been helping you by covering it up."
Sly blinks and drops his illusion. "So, what do you want me to do? I didn't visit you with illusions on purpose Misha-san. On the contrary, I visit you only then in disguise when I have something important to ask and do not want to drag my familia into it.
As for the code phrase. It can be arranged if it is subtle and has nothing to do with my familia." Sly paces back and forth around the conference room while swaying both his tails in tandem to his steps.
Misha followed his pacing with an annoyed huff, before looking at his tails and getting the perfect idea. "Something that doesn't implicate the Takemikazuchi familia. Well then Nibi-san, what better cover than something unrelated like your number of tails?"
Sly turns on his heels to face her with a groan, "No, not you too! Acatl-hakase is bad enough I don't need another vixen calling me by my tails!"
Misha blinks. "Acatl? You are studying under somebody?"
"My magic teacher. Quetzalcoatl-hakase has the sa…"
Taking a step towards Sly's face Misha interrupts him. "Wait a moment! Quetzalcoatl-sama is in Orario? Shouldn't she be in Altena? Why does the guild not know about that!? And how did you become the apprentice of the goddess of magic!?"
Taking a slow step back Sly answers, "She was asked by Ganesha-sama to translate some of his old magic tomes. As for me studying with her, Takemikazuchi-sama introduced us and I believe that she noticed that I had an unusually strong magic stat, which piqued her interest. Making her interested in seeing what I could achieve under her guidance..."
Misha listens attentively. "That makes a lot of sense actually… It also explains your magical growth. But we have digressed from the primary subject Nibi-san. Why did you visit me this time?"
Sly then explains to Misha their encounter with the Apollo familia while they sit down on the couch.
"I see. Unfortunately, I can't give you any private knowledge about the Apollo familia, as the guild needs to remain neutral. I can at least tell you what's known publicly about the Apollo familia. To begin with, they have multiple young level 2 adventurers, and around 80 adventurers total. They even managed to beat the Goliath Monster Rex once. Making them a strong D rank familia. One rank higher than your own."
Sly then questions, "Can't the guild punish them for attacking us without provocation?"
Misha looks at Sly with pity. "How do you have proof of their attack?" Sly wants to argue about their injuries, but Misha continues. "Otherwise, it will be your word against theirs and the Apollo familia has a perfect record with the guild. You would not find many allies in such a case as the Apollo familia is larger than the Takemikazuchi familia. I have heard rumors that they do some shady things, but your case is the first one I believe. That's why they could possibly use such a slight against their familia as the reason to start a war game against you. That would be the last thing you want."
Sly looks confused. "What would be so bad about a wargame? Aren't they randomly chosen to give both familia an equal chance. The reward the winner gets also depends on the transgressions, so it should at most be a fine for the losing familia."
Misha shakes her head. "Unfortunately, no. Against a stronger familia that already made an offer to recruit one of you, they could possibly ask for Chigusa to join them should you lose."
Sly looks taken aback. "But that's unfair! How can the gods allow a mortal to be taken from their familia against their will!?"
"The gods are the ones that made that rule. They seek entertainment and, unfortunately for us, familia drama is one of the easiest ways for them to get it. If I were you, I wouldn't count on the gods to help you if you ever got into a wargame."
Sly grumbled slightly at the gods and their stupid games. "What else can you tell me about Apollo?"
"About Apollo himself. Not much besides his eccentric need to recruit beautiful adventurers of either sex. You should probably ask one of the gods to learn more about him. But there is one last snippet of information I can give you."
Leaning forward Sly waits in anticipation. "What is it?"
Misha also leans forward and quietly speaks. "It is public knowledge that the Solis Manor is located to the west of Orario and because Apollo regularly holds balls it should be easy for you to figure out where exactly it is. *Ahem* Of course, I wouldn't advise you to take any action against them or to personally get close to the Solis Manor, or possibly gather information on them. Of course, this is only a hypothetical warning."
Eyes twinkling in understanding Sly continues for her, "Of course, I will obviously not pay a friendly visit to the Solis Manor and not observe them for myself. Oh no, absolutely not! Nonetheless, thank you very much Misha-san for your advice."
Smiling lightly before composing herself Misha leans back. "Of course, Nibi-san. The next time you visit perhaps disguise yourself as a woman or actually come in person if it isn't as pressing. After all, you don't want to get predictable do you?"
7.50 AM - I AM GANESHA - Sleipnir POV
After visiting the guild, Sly once again donned his chienthrope illusion and walked towards I am Ganesha to consult Acatl-hakase.
In the library, he undid his illusion behind one of the many reading holes and then asked the librarian to visit Acatl. By now Sly was known to most of the librarians as the student of Quetzalcoatl. They let him through after a quick show of his blue foxfire, as proof of his identity.
Inside Sleipnir found Acatl resting on a green couch she most likely conjured, while watching a complex map of Orario's surface. With a slight gesture and a surge of mana, she changed the focus from the entirety of Orario to a single large mansion, surrounded by many dots in different colors.
Sly bows towards Acatl while greeting her. "Good morning Acatl-hakase. I see you took out another of your runic projects. For what reason have you brought it this time? Hopefully, it's not another training implement. Your enchanted blindfold is already more than enough."
Acatl turned her sharp gaze towards him. "Nothing that simple Nibi-kun. This time I brought out an old trinket dating back over 800 years ago. An acquaintance of mine I had a friendly rivalry with gifted me this trinket after winning one of our duels. He later got the moniker of sage, but that's beside the point. He specialized in runic magic and the mystery development ability.
This map was the gift he presented to me the last time I saw him. It can oversee all Orario, showing the layout of buildings as they are at any time. You can't see inside the building, but everything outside or on top of the buildings is shown. As for the differing colours, they are useful marks for the ranks of the people walking around. Gods are shown in a golden colour and any civilians in white. Adventurers start as a red at level 1 and slowly change into a yellow at level two, before proceeding along the colors of the rainbow."
Sly follows her explanation and looks at the map. "I assume you already know about what happened yesterday, correct Acatl-hakase?"
The lizard goddess smiles sharply while showing her teeth while laughing melodiously. "Quick on the uptake. Good, that saves us some time. What you see before you is the Solis Manor. Young Apollo never knew who to challenge."
Sly watches closely. 'There must be some history between them. Why does she call Apollo young? Aren't all gods the same age? I will need to ask another time.'
"In that case, Acatl-hakase please advise me on what would be a good way to deal with Apollo-sama. His familia outnumbers ours almost twenty to one and besides knowing where his mansion is, I know very little about him."
Draping herself over her couch, Acatl glances up at him. "You won't learn anything if I tell you Nibi-kun. I already gave you access to an interactive map of Orario. What more can you ask for. Find your own way to gather intel. If you absolutely need to look for a strategy, then you can search for it in one of the books. We are in the restricted section of Ganesha's library. You will find retellings of almost any war since we descended somewhere here."
Bowing again, Sly accepts his teacher's words and takes them seriously. "In that case, I will start gathering intel on Apollo on my own."
Sly then spent the remaining morning watching the map of Orario closely and marking down some of the hotspots adventurers went to, during the day like the taverns close to the Solis Manor.
After he gathered the best spots to start his investigation, Sly began going through some of the recorded battles and even wars that had happened while the Hera and Zeus familia stood at the top of the adventuring world.
Most often Ares challenged other deities and countries for territory and achieved quite a few victories in the beginning because of smart tactics and territorial advantage. However, after Ares started challenging Orario, he quickly fell back and lost territory after the Zeus familia took offense to his attack.
Ares began avoiding Orario and gave the order for all his troops to retreat whenever they faced either the Hera or Zeus familia and instead started a siege against the forests of the royal elven family Alf. They did not have any god who resided with them but managed to repel Ares in countless wars with their ritual magic. Although most of them only had the strength of a level 1 adventurer, the elves used their superior magical knowledge to create large-scale rituals to empower their royal line, who wielded unique skills together with their ancient magics to repel attack after attack.
This continued for centuries until a Crozzo made the first magic swords and allowed Apollo to claim large swath of the elven forest. This caused the next magic ritual to be a curse upon the line of Crozzo, preventing the Crozzo from crafting magic swords as long as they remained an enemy of the royal line of Alf.
Sly needed to read the last section twice to be certain of what he read. 'So that's the reason Welf escaped Rakia. They would have forced him to craft magic swords for them, and Welf's conscious would never have allowed him to permit his weapons being abused like that; to be discarded once they were used.'
Sly went over a few more strategies Ares and his many enemies used over the years before walking towards Acatl for another question. "Acatl-hakase may I ask you a question that does not concern the Apollo familia?"
Floating again Acatl listens closely. "You already did but go ahead, as you are my disciple I will answer to the best of my ability."
Taking a deep breath Sly asks a question that hasn't left him since the previous evening. "Acatl-hakase why do familia fight one another in wars?"
Breathing deeply, Acatl answers slowly, "A difficult question for a mortal to answer. There are many philosophical theories about that, but for us gods it's quite simple. It's against the nature of adventurers to stop striving forward. Adventurers are blessed by a god with limitless potential. Why should they stay still if they have the world to gain and nothing to lose?"
"But why fight between each other when there are monsters that require their focus far more? If adventurers worked together to control the dungeon, they could live their lives on the surface in peace. With the enhanced lifespan of adventurers, there could be hundreds of high-level adventurers if they stopped fighting each other."
Acatl smirks. "And what if the dungeon, the reason for their union, were to disappear? Or what if the source of their power incites conflict? Gods are not infallible and most of the time even the cause for conflicts between familia are childish. What then Sleipnir-kun?"
Sly looks resentful at the notion. "It just doesn't make any sense to me. Why this endless conflict? The gods I can somewhat relate to. Ares-sama for example is the personification of war and obviously has not learned the same lessons Takemikazuchi-sama has taken as his core principles. However, gods without the aspect of war should not incite it. Which means the adventurers leading them cause conflict. Just like the nobles in the far east, they only ever want to take more and more until there is nothing left to give. Then, they turn on their own people and the other noble families, all because of greed." Sly's face twists into a scowl.
Acatl listens in concern, as her student continues rambling. "Sleipnir-kun." Sly turns, his furiously sparkling teal blue eyes on her. "What?"
"You need to breathe and calm down Sleipnir-kun. Your magic is getting out of control." Acatl informs him with a wave of her hand, causing him to look around and see how his magic manifested itself by creating uncontrolled illusions and foxfire all around him, only being limited by her small barrier of wind.
Noticing this Sly closes his eyes and centers himself. He forces his thoughts of the nobles in the far east to ease and returns his focus on the here and now. 'I need to prepare for Apollo and his familia. They share traits with the nobles from my home, but they work for their goals just like me. They might be my enemy, but they haven't destroyed the east.'
After maintaining her barrier for 5 more minutes the uncontrolled magic calms. And Sly opens his once more calm eyes to her and bows almost to the ground. "Thank you Acatl-hakase. I let my anger get the best of me. It shall not happen again. I will start gathering intel on the Apollo familia right away."
Sly bows quickly before retreating. Not ready to speak about his outburst, but regrets his loss of control already. Hopefully, Acatl-hakase won't change her opinion of him because of it.
1 PM - Orario's Western Districts - Sleipnir POV
Sly disguises himself once, but this time in the form of a beautiful elf, before going close to the Solis Manor. He would take on the identity of a longtime adventurer of a very minor familia by the name of Genno, wanting to reach level two by joining a stronger familia.
His first goal was to speak to some of the adventurers that had taken the day off in the local taverns and help out a group that was carrying materials for a new mansion.
He tells them that he is interested in potentially joining the Apollo familia, as his god's familia has difficulties helping him get to level two, and he hopes for better chances by joining Apollo.
They are quite receptive to the idea after learning his god encourages him in his actions and ask why he does not just ask them directly. Sly replies that he would like to know more about the Apollo familia before asking for an audience with Apollo-sama.
After hearing his reasons some of the older adventurers and even a level 2 take an interest in him and speak of their own relation to the Apollo familia. They tell him that it would be a good choice to join Apollo, however, it would be difficult to do the same again. Apollo dislikes letting go of his familia members, but with Lydia, their familia captain, and Xander, the sword genius their vice captain, it was very likely that Apollo's familia would grow in the next few years. His appearance was passable as well and would fit Apollo's tastes, so that wouldn't be a problem for him.
Sly focuses the conversation on the executives of Apollo familia, as they would be his superiors once he joined. The adventurers are happy to entertain him with a few tales of the three-level 2's Apollo had.
Their youngest member was Hyakinthos, he only achieved level two during their raid against the Goliath Monster Rex around a month ago. He was a swordsman but had not specialised in anything special. He had the tendency to use magic items if things got dicey in the dungeon and severely wounded the Goliath with a magic sword he got his hands on.
The adventurer above him was Xander a cat person by the alias of Felis Ferrum. He has been a level two for around half a year and had the rare swordsman development ability. He focused on a heavy two-handed blade and was incredibly skilled with it.
Above him was their captain, the amazon Lydia. Her alias was Saggitos. She was an experienced level two and very skilled in archery. Her signature attack was to use special bone arrows. The adventurers that knew her only ever saw her use these arrows. Even before she reached level 2, she always used bone arrows. She carries at least two dozen and even once defeated the Goliath with her minotaur bone arrows.
Sly was shocked that there was someone who has reached at least the middle if not late stage of level two in the Apollo familia. As an archer they might even be perceptive enough to see through his disguise. He would need to avoid her sight at any cost.
Sly spends another two hours with them until they tell him that Apollo usually holds a large scale sparring match in the late afternoon and that he could still make it to watch from the sidelines if he went now. He would need to tell of his intention to join and they would most surely even let him participate.
Sly tells them he isn't ready for that step yet but will observe from afar for today.
Sly leaves and invisibly watches the sparring matches between Xander and Hyakinthos in front of the Solis Mansion hidden in the crown of a tree outside their gate. Lydia observes all the fighters, a total of almost fifty that aren't in the dungeon. Most are around middle level 1s.
However there are two girls that stand out to Sly. One a red head using a short sword and the other a bluenette wielding a staff casting healing magic for the injuries from the matches. The performance in the red head's spar and the repeated use of healing magic places both of them in the peak of level 1
After a while Apollo himself appears. Two of their weaker members carry him in a gaudy golden palanquin. With his signature red cape billowing behind, Apollo steps out of it in his fine yellow clothing.
He walks towards Lydia and puts his arm around her, Sly focuses intently on his hearing and manages to catch most of their conversation. "Lydia you look absolutely mesmerizing today. How are the others coming along? Progressing wonderfully, I hope."
Lydia leans into his touch. "They are progressing. It is slow going for some, but Hyakinthos is determined to catch up with Xander since his defeat on the Summer Solstice."
"Perfect. I will have to reward him myself. Any news on the lowly warrior familia that did this to him?"
With a slight shake of her head, Lydia denies it. "None so far milord. They are too new in the city to have a specific home. I will let Hyakinthos handle reconnaissance, but it might prove too challenging for him."
Apollo smiles brightly before glancing over his finely dressed familia and his entire front yard. "It will be a good experience for him! He needs a real challenge to grow." His glance fixates on the trees in front of his yard, where Sly is hiding. "Hmm, that's strange…"
Lydia follows his gaze and sees the trees outside their yard. "I see nothing unusual milord, shall I investigate?"
Apollo shakes his head. "No, let Hyakinthos handle it, he just finished his sparring match."
She then calls Hyakinthos over while Sly prepares to leave having heard their last sentence. He climbs down the side of the tree facing away from the Solis Manor and begins sneaking away, still invisible.
Hyakinthos, who isn't far away now, notices a slight ripple in the air and the shifting of leaves against the wind but doesn't spot anything else. He looks around the tree and notices a few small scratch marks from an animal. Before returning to Apollo stating that there is nothing there anymore.
Sly on the other hand is very nervous. He really doesn't want to be seen by Lydia; she is far out of his league! Sly quickly leaves through many back alleys and loses his way once or twice but notices that he isn't being followed before deciding to visit the Hostess of Fertility on his way before returning to their home.
He would need to investigate how Apollo noticed his presence and improve his hiding place the following days. At least he saw the combat power of Hyakinthos and Xander in action today and got an idea of how many adventurers are members of the Apollo familia.
He would need to spend another day watching Acatl-hakase's map to get their exact numbers and strength, but at least Sly now had a general idea.
Authors Note
Being sick sucks when you want to write. At least now I have a lot of ideas. I also found a great application to write and organise my writing. (Scrivener) Sly actually doing his kitsune stuff and all the others getting themselves up again to face a new challenge. And oh boy Apollo familia is far more dangerous in my rendition. Even more so considering that we are around 3 years before Bell even enters Orario. At least I had a lot of fun writing Sly during his research scene and his spying scene on Apollo.
By now I think we are officially in the thick of the plot and no longer introducing the main adventurer cast, so I hope you are ready because in one of the next few chapters, there will be a lot of excitement. Now that Sly has found his resolve, I can't wait to write the next few chapters.