Hey there guys, hope you're having a good day. This is the first chapter of Akihide's story, which I will be calling the 'New Life Arc'. Read to find out how our little fox is going to be making waves in the world of Danmachi. But for now, onto the story.

Akihide Okami did not open eyes for two days and a night, finally awakening from Riveria's bed just before dinner time in the Loki Familia household. Despite the fact he had slept for more than 35 hours straight, Akihide woke up exhausted and with no energy. When he tried to leave the bed that he had occupied for his whole time in the Familia household, he fell immediately forward and landed on his face.

The thump was heard in a few of the ajacent rooms, so as soon as she could, Riveria entered her room, finding the poor boy still on the floor, seemingly kissing the wooden floor. The boy moaned in pain, before he began to sob as many young children would.

Not knowing how she knew what to do, Riveria stepped forward and took the boy, Akihide Okami, in her arms. She lifted him up so his chin rested on her shoulder and held him against her chest, wrapping her arms around him in a hug. Maternal instincts were kicking in, just like her mother had promised would happen when she was a young elf.

'It just clicks in place like magic.' her mother had said long ago. 'Trust me, my daughter, when I say that when the time comes, you'll know what to do.'

And damn it, she was right. As usual.

Once the young boy had calmed down enough, Riveria took him away from her chest and placed him back on the bed, before sitting next to him, keeping a supportive arm on his shoulder. "You've been asleep for 2 days now. Are you feeling any better?" she asked the boy. Shyly, he nodded his head, cheeks tinted red and eyes slightly puffy.

Riveria pondered her next move. She wanted to grill the boy for information, as Loki had adamently refused to relinquish any information she got about the boy from giving him a Falna. She only told them his name and his age. Akihide Okami, age 7. Riveria and the others did do some research on the Okami Clan, seeing as Loki made it a point to stress his last name and that he was the Clan's sole survivor.

The Okami Clan were nobles of a province out in the Far East, where their main duty was that of shrine priests and mikos. They had a magic that was passed down in their clan, called Kaizen no Mon. Their research only concluded a few details on it, and only that it was supposedly support magic of the highest tier when used by an experienced practitioner. What exactly that meant, neither Riveria, Finn nor Gareth had the slightest clue. It was either a form of enhancement, or some sort of healing and mind recovery magic. Given the translation of 'Gates of Improvement', Riveria was placing her money on the former option.

Other than a rough idea of what the Okami Clan was, Riveria had no information on the boy. Why he was here, how he even got here from all the way in the Far East, when he arrived or any aspect of his journey, such as companions that they should be looking for. Riveria wanted the information so bad it was killing her. But that would be bad for the boy.

Despite the fact she held him in her arms, which most would consider affection. He had only just met her and there was no real bond there. He was most likely latching onto her because whilst there wasn't a bond there, she may very well have been the closest thing he had to a maternal figure, which was a scary thought. The thought of a young boy living like that, all alone for so many years, was terrifying to think about.

Riveria put that aside for now. She could get the full story another time. For now, she had to focus on his health. And that meant food. "Dinner's almost ready. Would you like to eat it with us?" she asked the boy, once more only recieving a nod. She simply sat up and walked over to the door, looking back to check that the young boy was following her. He had managed to stand and walk over to her, desipte being slow. She sighed as she knelt down, picking the boy up once more before opening the door and making her way to the dining hall.

Since dinner was almost ready to be served, they were alone in their little trip down to the dining hall. Riveria eventually reached the dining hall, young boy still in her arms, and opened the doors to the Loki Familia's dining hall. A collection of wooden benches that stretched from one side of the room to the other, making for a large communal space to eat and drink. Heads turned to the elf as she walked down the centre aisle, towards a table reserved only for the top executives of the Loki Familia. In other words, Loki, Finn, Gareth, Noir, Dain and Bara, as well as herself.

The group of six went quiet as they noticed the shaking little bundle in Riveria's arms, nervously looking at the member of the Familia. They were quite scary to him, each looking remarkably strong compared to the young child, who was still recovering from a long trip with limited provisions. Saying the young Renard was weak at the moment would be an understatement. Even with the fact that he had magic that he could apparently already use, and that his troubles had resulted in him gaining Excilia with no Falna to convert it into strength, he was remarkably weak compared to literally everyone else in the Familia.

The obvious fear in the boy's eyes did not, however, stop a certain Goddess to make the situation for the boy uncomfortable as she called out for him. "There's my new child! Sleeping on the job on the first day! Naughty naughty~" she sang out. Akihide looked at the Goddess in wonder, before something seemed to click and he turned around, expecting to find something on his back.

"If you're looking for your Falna, you have one brat." called out Dain, startling the child. "Just a brat with a bit of magic, with no experience fighting monsters or humans... we'll need to train him up from the ground."

Loki had a condescending smirk on her face, one saying she knew something that the others did not. It wasn't hard to put it together, after Dain's comment and the fact she saw his entire life's story when she gave him the Falna. The 'brat' as Dain called him, wasn't as inexperienced as he believed.

"Whatever~" sang Loki as she stood up and walked over to the two, taking the boy from Riveria and placing him down on the ground. "Akihide Okami, I am the Goddess Loki. And from this day forward, you are my child. I have claimed you and placed you in my Familia. Do you still want to be an adventurer?"

The scary thing about the exchange is that when the boy nodded, he didn't hesitate for a second or seem to have any second thoughts. "Make me strong." he said to the Goddess. "Strong enough to protect what I call precious and to kill that monster."

"A Lambton." replied Loki, shocking the rest of the Familia. "That monster is called a Lambton. Probably an enhanced species from what I saw when I gave you your Falna. As your Goddess, I make certain rules that you have to follow. And I'm making one right now."

"You are not going after that monster until you hit level 5."

Most children would throw a tantrum being given a command like that. Scream that it's unfair or that he would do it anyway. Riveria expected all that, and was ready to scold the child.

"How do I get to level 5 quickly?"

Riveria was taken aback. Sure, he was being immature and asking for the impossible, but it was a far better reaction than what she thought was going to happen. She regained her composure as she looked down at the boy. "It has taken me 11 years to reach level 5." said Riveria. "The record is currently held by Ottar of the Freya Familia, who reached level 5 in 7 years."

Akihide looked at the elf before nodding. "7 years..." he muttered, a look of pure determination across his face. "I'll be level 5 in 6 years or less! I'll break his record!"

For a single moment, there was silence. The face of the child, not one to be worn by someone his age, showed rage, a flaming wrath used to light a fire in his heart to reach his goal. Level 5 was that goal. "Make me strong enough that I can kill that Lambton with my bare hands!"

Loki threw her head back and laughed. It was not a laugh that made fun of the poor boy for his dream, or one that tormented his soul. It was one of pure entertainment. She looked down at the boy. "I like that fire, brat. If anyone can make level 5 here, it's gonna be you! Don't you slack off now, train like your life depends on it! Train past the point of your body breaking and come back even stronger than before!"

The room was silent. It was hard to blame the occupants. No one had ever seen Loki this riled up before, this excited. It was almost scary to witness.

Riveria coughed into her hand. "Well, before all that, we need to register him at the guild and get him equipped with gear suitable for an adventurer." And as the Familia's leading expert on these things, it was Riveria's job to see them done. "We'll take care of it first thing in the morning. Let's just eat."

With that, Riveria led the young boy to their table, where the others began to chat about their upcoming expedition to the Lower Floors of the Dungeon. They were quick to tell Akihide he was not allowed to come. With 5 days before their expedition, which was expected to take about a month, Akihide would be left with no real trainer for the dungeon. That had placed the boy in a bad mood immediately.

Of course, Loki had an idea.

"You want Kaguya to train the boy?" asked Astraea, the brown haired Goddess staring across from Loki. "Why would you ask that of my Familia? There are plenty of accomplished adventurers that can train him in short swords, so why Kaguya specifically?"

Loki looked down for a moment to her desk, where the status of Akihide was laid out on a piece of paper. She then looked the other Goddess directly in the eyes and said something that Astraea would cherish forever.

"He needs your influence."

Never in a million years did Astraea expect Loki of all Goddesses to admit that a child of hers needed the guidance of another God. "He's bloodthirsty for revenge against that monster, and I set a bar for him to leap over, but he seems determined to not only leap the bar, but pass it entirely. That and..."

Loki shook her head. It was better if Astraea didn't know that last detail. Even Akihide himself didn't know to the fullest extent about the lady in the woods who found him all those months ago and it was best to keep it that way.

"I can feel that he's going to do something stupid in the Dungeon to get stronger faster. I just can't stand the thought of losing him to that Dungeon as well, not after everything he's been through." said Loki, still looking at the growing indigo eyes of her fellow Goddess. "He needs a proper teacher to show him the way. And for short swords, I think Gojouno Kaguya is the best bet."

Loki knew that Astraea wouldn't turn her down. It went against her nature to. Astraea was a kind and benevolent diety who cared about everybody, civilian, adventurer or otherwise. Especially children, Astraea had a soft spot for the innocent nature of a child.

"Just... please think it over... for the good of Akihide." she said, handing the status sheet over to her. Loki saw herself out of the office, having plans to discuss with Finn, Gareth and Riveria that night.

Astraea looked down at the paper, furrowing her eyes at the magic at the bottom. "Kaizen no Mon... hmm..." she pondered as she stared at the paper for a while longer. Astraea then took the paper, leaving the room, and showing herself to the door of the Loki Familia's Twilight Manor. 'If nothing else...' she thought to herself, '... I should at least ask Kaguya myself if she would.'

If Riveria learnt one thing about Akihide Okami, is that whilst he was mature for his age, he was not a patient child. The Guild was open for paperwork and business at 8am every day.

The little shit got her up at 5am to wait by the Guild HQ to get him registered as an adventurer.

Years and years of patience training was the only thing keeping Riveria from smacking the boy upside the head and sending him back to dreamland. Instead, she told him that this was his first lesson in being an adventurer, patience. Like an inexperienced child, Akihide bought it tooth and nail, and waited rather impatiently beside her bed, if that was even possible. Riveria managed to squeeze in enough sleep to wake up at 6:30 and decide it wasn't worth the effort to try to go back to sleep.

So, she took the young, determined boy to the main streets of Orario at 7:30. With half an hour until the Guild, and another hour after that for the weapon stores to be open if they needed to utilise them, she decided that it would be best for them to grab breakfast somewhere along the way. Akihide probably would have objected if it weren't for the growling of his stomach.

And so, the two of them sat down in Amor Square, feasting on a pair of breakfast sandwiches. It was there that Riveria learnt what may very well have been the most important piece of information about Akihide that she could learn.

Good food shut him up and it shut him up well.

Not once during his meal did he try to talk, savouring every bite of his sandwich. He smiled with an expression of pleasure across is face, mouth full of bread, bacon, egg and tomato. Riveria couldn't help but smile at the boy, finishing her food first before watching him lick the remaining crumbs off his fingers like a cat.

Riveria wondered if it was fate that Akihide acted like a cat, as the two made their way to the Guild Headquarters, catching a glimpse of the only other people there.

The Fromel Siblings.

Riveria sighed. Allen and Anya Fromel were a pair of siblings under the banner of the Freya Familia, Allen being the Vice Captain of his Familia much like Riveria was with hers. Allen was a high-ranking level 5, much like herself, where Anya was a level 3 on the verge of becoming a level 4.

Anya Fromel took notice of them, waving at the pair, which caught Allen's attention. The fellow Vice Captain sneered at the pair, turning away with a huff. Riveria knew not to expect a warm greeting from Allen, but was a small nod too much to ask? Riveria simply put on a smile for Anya and turned to Akihide, who was staring at Allen.

"He's strong..." he muttered, looking at the cat man. "I can feel it from here."

And if anyone was to ask, Allen Fromel most certainly did not smirk at the praise he recieved from an unknown child.

Come closer to 8, there began to be more and more people lining up to get in and do their business with the Guild. Mostly, it was the low ranking adventurers looking for permission to go deeper into the Dungeon. Riveria remembered when she, too, had to go through the painful process of getting allowed entry into the upper floors back 19 or so years ago when she first started out and Loki wasn't all that well-known.

Come 8am, the doors opened and the two Vice-Captains made it in first. Allen took his sister to the blonde human male that served as the floor supervisor, who mainly handled paperwork on levelling up. So it seemed Anya Fromel was now level 4. Riveria nodded to Rose as she brought the boy over. "Rose." she greeted.

With a dull and lifeless expression, the red haired werewolf responded to her. "Welcome, Loki Familia Vice Captain Riveria Ljos Alf. What brings you here today?"

"No need for the formal greeting Rose, it's not like you mean it." muttered the high elf.

"The manual says to do this for high level Familias. If I don't follow the manual, I get a pay cut." responded the lifeless Guild employee. Riveria would have made more small talk with Rose, if it wasn't for Akihide tugging lightly at the helm of her dress, trying to hurry her along.

"I'm here to register an adventurer. Could you start processing him?" asked Riveria, nodding down to Akihide, standing patiently beside her, with only his ears poking out from under the desk they were at. Rose leant over the table and looked down at the kid, who looked back at the Guild employee with a neutral face.

"This little brat?" asked Rose, before turning back to Riveria. "You can't be serious... a little kid?"

"He already has experience killing monsters." defended Riveria, before looking down at the brat. "Besides, he'd just go into the dungeon anyway. Might as well make it official."

Rose sighed. "I knew the moment you walked in here..." she moaned, before looking at the kid once more. "Fine, brat, I'll register you as an adventurer, but I don't think this is a good idea. I don't want your death on my hands either, so you better not die in there."

Akihide only nodded. That wasn't going to be a problem.

When Rose bought the paperwork over to them, they encountered a problem. Akihide couldn't read or write in Koine. He only knew how to write in Kanji, so Riveria had to translate for him and fill out his paperwork, adding reading and writing to the lesson plans she had for him when she returned from the upcoming expedition.

With the paperwork finally sorted, Rose took it with a sigh. "Welcome to Labyrinth City Orario. From today onwards, you're an adventurer. I'm sure the Loki Familia doesn't need us to issue you an advisor. And will you be using our stock for your equipment?"

"Yes please." replied Riveria, looking down at Akihide. "This is equipment perfect for an adventurer with no experience."

"Kote... dou... kusazuri..." muttered Akihide, listing off some armor from the Far East.

"We have some in stock, but not much..." muttered Rose, taking the two Loki Familia members through the halls of the guild before finding the storeroom for armor and weapons. "Find what you need in there, and come back out when you're comfortable in it." said Rose, before turning around to engage in a coversation with Riveria.

Akihide entered the room, finding it full of weapons and armor that seemed to be made with a sub-par quality of materials as well as inexperience. Not good weapons by any weans, but not the worst either. He searched high and low, but wasn't able to find anything that really stuck out to him, or anything related to the Far East at all.

That was until he had given up hope, and went to ask Riveria to take him somewhere else to get his equipment, that he noticed a wooden box that was left in one of the corners of the shelf. He reached down and pulled it off the shelf, looking inside. What he found was a pair of short swords that originated in the Far East, Tantō. He reached inside and lifted the blades up in his hand, before lowering one and drawing the other, letting the sound of steel revealing itself resonate in the room.

What he found was that they were a rare type of tantō, known as a Kanmuri-Otoshi, where they had a double edged point, with the back of the tantō being sharpened until about halfway down the spine of the blade. Akihide unsheathed the other one, and held them in both hands. They had a lot more weight to them than he imagined, but it wasn't a bad thing, and they felt natural in his hands.

He then noticed a little mark on the side of the handle, looking down at Kanji that showed it was made in the Far East. What he saw shocked him.

"Hinokagutsuchi..." muttered Akihide, remembering the stories of the Far East God of the forge. He had made the equipment for Amaterasu and her Familia back in his homeland, and was widely recognised as one of the most successful Gods in the Far East. He had blacksmiths in his Familia at level 3, which was also the highest level one could reach in the Far East, only the adventurers in Orario and certain other Familias having as much success, but not many.

These tantō were forged by a member of the Hinokagutsuchi Familia, and as such, one could expect some of the best quality out of them for a Far Eastern weapon, even if it was only forged by a level 1.

Now that he looked closer, he also noticed some fabric underneath. He pulled it out to discover something he had seen a lot of in his travels through the Far East, a samue kimono made completely white, and accompanied by a pair of black pants and sandals.

It was fate that Akihide found this equipment, as he went back outside to see Riveria and Rose still talking, continuing for a few seconds before they noticed him. "This... I want this please..."

Riveria looked down at the boy and nodded. "We can add some extra armor later. Now then, let's return to the Twilight Manor and begin your training."

Akihide nodded at the elf and followed her out of the Pantheon, waving politely to Rose as they left. He looked down at his weapons and armor, before turning to face the giant tower over the dungeon.

'For my family, and to be the hero Miss Basileia wants me to be, I will conquer you!'

Hope you guys enjoyed, next chapter will begin going over the training of Akihide as well as some more in-depth explanations of his magic. Following that will be a continuation of exploring Orario and all it has to offer, probably for another 5 or so chapters before beginning Arc 2, the introduction of his journey into the Dungeon. But enough about that, you'll just have to wait and read. But for now, this is Striker777, over and out.