"Hah...it feels really nice. I never felt this relaxed before when going to the dungeon."

"Ahm, Ms. Cassandra, could you leave a bit more room for Lily to walk?"

Cassandra smiled and refused to move away from Lily. "It´s fine."

"No it´s not!"

Ever since they entered the dungeon, Cassandra refused to leave Lily´s side. Not because she moved in the middle of the group, not because of Lily´s magic.

The reason was Lily´s skill.

Just before the Expedition started, Miach had upgraded the status of all of his followers, Takemikazuchi did the same and Hephaistos updated Welf´s status too.

Lily had actually cried from happiness when she saw her new status.

.

.

Liliruca Arde

Belongs to: Miach Familia

Level: 1

Strength: F 380 - E 493 (*+10*)

Endurance: E 400 - D 587 (*+10*)

Dexterity: F 399 - D 513 (*+10*)

Agility: D 520 - C 601 (*+10*)

Magic: E 480 - D 503 (*+10*)

.

-
(Magic):

Cinder Ella: Shape shifting magic

Radians lux Pallum: Shield magic, creates a shield sphere around user that absorbs damage

(Skill):

Artel Assist: Supporter skill

Brave One: Second crew member of the Argo, the "Brave One". When close to Captain, slightly increased Excelia gain and status. The "Brave One" grants immunity to fear and despair for crew members of the Argo.
Area increases when in close combat.

L***** S****?

.

.

The reason why Cassandra felt so good next to Lily, was her skill "Brave One". Cassandra was often nervous by nature and never felt well in the dungeon. When Daphne was by her side it was a bit better, but Cassandra often had bad feelings due to her prophetic dreams.
But now that Lily basically radiated bravery, Cassandra felt really good.

Which made a certain someone in the group not really happy.

Lily of course noticed how Daphne looked at her.

"Hehe~~~" Cassandra was completely oblivious.

"Ms. Cassandra, you really need to give Lily some room!"

"But I feel safe when I´m close to you."

"You have Ms. Daphne to watch over you."

Daphne snorted. "Oh don´t mind me. It´s nice to see that Cassandra finds new friends so fast and doesn´t need me anymore..."

"Lily doesn´t intend to take Ms. Cassandra away from you!"

"No, no. I can understand. Cassandra doesn´t need me anymore."

Daphne moved to the front line and started to slay the monsters alongside the others.

Acting angry and pouty lasted for only a few seconds. Even when Lily´s skill made Cassandra and the others less afraid, the black haired healer still startled when a monster ran into her direction.

"Eek!"

Before Lily could react, Daphne was already there and pierced the hellhound with her sword.

"Daphneeee!"

Cassandra immediatelly clung to her best friend and cried.

"Shank youuu!"

"Oy, let me go! Geez, Cassandra, I still have to look out for you. Wah! Stop crying on my shirt!"

Lily´s skill helped, she was happy to have it, but real protection was still needed. She just seriously wondered what the other skill was.

L***** S****

Miach told her that the runes just looked like that and there was no further explanation, maybe it would become clear in the future. He said it felt like something that was deeply engraved in her soul showed itself.

Lily would do her best, all that got her really excited.

While they moved further down, it took them just two and a half hours to get down to the 13th floor, Lily thought about something else, while she looked at the back of Bell.

Their "Captain."

Bell was the centerpiece of the "Ship of Heroes" skill. It was his skill, he was the "Captain" of the Argo. And so far he had three crew members, Lily was the second one. The first one wasn´t a surprise, it was Haruhime. But the third was a surprise, it was Cassandra. Miach had guessed that Bell´s skil would probably influence those that were close to him or that strong feelings were important. Maybe others would develop a sub skill too and become a crew member.
But why was Cassandra chosen and not Welf for the next? Maybe because he was in a different familia?

The future would show it.

Miach also spoke about strong feelings. Haruhime and Bell were in love, so it was obvious. For Lily, Haruhime and Bell were her first friends. And since Bell and Haruhime had romantic feelings from the start, Lily was also his first true friend, so their feelings were also strong. But what about Cassandra? Did she maybe have a crush on Bell? Did she think he should take responsibility for ripping her clothes, baring a bit of her skin and marry her?

No, Cassandra didn´t have romantic feelings for Bell. Her reason was simpler, Bell believed Cassandra. Whenever Cassandra had a vision, no one would believe what she said. But Bell did, when Cassandra told him about a vision, he was really concerned what it meant. Cassandra had looked baffled when Bell reacted this way, asking him why he believed her.

For Bell it was simple, why should Cassandra lie to him or have fantasies?

Bell startled when Cassandra started to cry big crocodile tears.

Daphne had really good ears when it came to Cassandra crying, she came into the room, raising an eyebrow when she saw that apparently Bell made her cry again.

It didn´t help that Cassandra cried and said she finally had her first time. The look in Daphne's eyes said...she had murder on her mind.

"Daphneeee! The first time that someone believed meeee!"

"Oh..."

Thankfully Daphne looked less disgusted after hearing that.

Due to Bell believing Cassandra´s prophecies, she had strong feelings on her own towards him, but she wasn´t in love with Bell.

So when Miach updated her status too, something appeared.

.

.
Cassandra Ilion

Belongs to: Miach Familia

Level: 2

Strength: H 101 - H 103 (*+10*)

Endurance: H 189 - G 201 (*+10*)

Dexterity: G 248 - G 251 (*+10*)

Agility: F 341 - F 350 (*+10*)

Magic: D 588 - C 620 (*+10*)

.

-
(Magic):

Soullight: Magic that heals wounds and restores stamina in an area

Cure Ephialtes: Magic that cures status ailments in an area .

(Skill):

Five Dimension Troia: ?

Gentle One:Third crew member of the Argo, the "Gentle One". When close to Captain, slightly increased Excelia gain and status. The "Gentle One" increases mind restoration for nearby crew members of the Argo.
Effect increases slightly when no enemies are nearby .

.

.

Her magic and the "Gentle One" skill made Cassandra one of the most valuable members of the party. Miach couldn´t give her an explanation what "Five Dimension Troia" did, even the name was just how he read the runes.
When Miach told Cassandra she could one day become a healer as strong as "Dea Saint" Amid Teassanare, she looked really happy. Everyone was cheering for Cassandra, the normally glum girl became really happy in her new familia.

.

.
When Lily heard a soft ringing, she looked to her side. The sight of Haruhime was really something else these days. It looked like her tails and hair were glowing slightly sometimes. Together with her finished battle garments, Haruhime looked almost...divine.

Instead of a kimono, Haruhime wore a new hakama and the wide sleeved jacket on top. The jacket was a bit tighter at the front compared to her kimono. With Mikoto´s help, Haruhime bind down her chest with a bandage, before putting on the jacket. Since she intende to use her bows, Haruhime wouldn´t risk her chest getting in the way. Right now she wasn´t carrying one of her bows or the arrows, Lily had them on and in her enormous backpack. As long as they traveled downwards, Lily was in her supporter role. Instead of the bows, Haruhime held a long staff in her right hand. The head of the staff was a metal ring with four smaller rings that hang on it and a few, small, paper fans. Whenever Haruhime made a step and set the staff down, the four small rings clinged against each other, the sound wasn´t unpleasant.

According to Mikoto, Chigusa and Ouka, Haruhime looked like a Gūji now. They couldn´t translate the far eastern term completely, but it was a kind of priestess. Haruhime had decided for herself what kind of adventurer she wanted to become.

A mixture of Miko and Sōhei.

Which meant partly like a priestess and partly like a battle monk. Haruhime wanted to do more than just wait for her time to use her magic. Using bow and arrows was a start, but at times like these, when she shouldn´t use both, Haruhime wanted to be able to protect herself. The staff was a way to do it and she intended to change it more later. Just like Lefiya and Cassandra had rods that helped them casting their magic, Haruhime would try to get something like that too.
All that while keeping the far eastern touch. It meant a lot to her that Takemikazuchi and his familia asked her to lead them during some traditional days of the far east.

Even when she was unhappy as a child because of the strict traditions and rules of her family, these things now just came naturally to Haruhime. But she swore to herself, when the day came and she had one or more children on her own, she wouldn´t treat them like her father treated her.

But even when Haruhime trained to use her staff in close combat to defend herself, she would never become a real close combat adventurer like Mikoto.

And her last status update made Haruhime really happy, her love for Bell and Lefiya only rose.

.

.
Haruhime Sanjouno

Belongs to: Miach Familia

Level: 1

Strength: E 401 - E 457 (*+10*)

Endurance: E 404 - D 501 (*+10*)

Dexterity: F 399 - D 512 (*+10*)

Agility: F 350 - E 465 (*+10*)

Magic: S 980 - S 999 (+50) (*+10*)

.

-
(Magic):

Uchido no Kozuchi

Taiyo no Hono:Fire enchantment and attack magic, will cleanse people that received fire enchant from curse ailment.

.

.
(Skill):

The Fox, the Rabbit and the Fairy: Increased growth when close to "mates", rabbit and fairy. Can locate "mates" positions when close enough. Will remain active as long as feelings of affection remain. Grants immunity to charm by any other person than the "Rabbit" and the "Fairy".
Smaller bonus when only close to one "mate".

Pure One: First crew member of the Argo, the "Pure One". When close to Captain, slightly increased Excelia gain and status. The "Pure One" reduces mind cost for crew members of the Argo when nearby.
Grants immunity to Curse status ailment. Natural enemy of undead and demonic enemies, due to purity atribute.

.

.
Haruhime´s skill had changed, it now included Lefiya too. And that she was Bell´s first crew member let her heart jump in joy. At first she was a bit confused about the purity atribute of her new skill, but it got obvious when they encountered the first imps after arriving on the 10th floor. Those that came close to Haruhime suddenly started to hiss and covered their eyes with their claws. When Haruhime opened her five tails like a peacock would do, all the imps backed away from her as if they were in pain. The Orcs on the other side focussed their eyes on Haruhime, according to Bell´s knowledge of the past, Orcs were the natural enemies of pure women, female knights, female priests and such. At least his grandfather told him that.

Even the hell hounds in the middle levels whimpered and growled when they came too close to Haruhime.

What amazed all of them especially, due to the bonus for magic coming from her tails and Bell´s skill, Haruhime´s magic status was actually 1059 when she was close to Bell. Unlike Lily, whose status went up so much due to the wargame and her training with Alfia, Haruhime´s status grew so much because she was always close to Bell. Haruhime decided that when she did something worthy of leveling up, she would do it. Her goal wasn´t to stand behind Bell, Lefiya and the others, but to be able to stand next to them.

Lena said it was really cute and adorable that even Haruhime´s skill showed how much she loved Bell and Lefiya. At first Haruhime was a bit flustered, but then she was happy about the fact.

They took a short break to give the supporters time to retrieve the magic stones and dropp items. Lily and Luan were a good team when it came to that work, Ouka helped them to move the monsters or held them up. Chigusa moved around with Mikoto at her side, she picked up dropp items that fell to the floor while Mikoto had an eye on the area.

"Hmmm...Hmmmmmmmmm..."

Haruhime turned her face to the side when she heard Lena making noises. The amazon looked down at her own body, then she moved her hips from one side to the other, swinging them slightly while moving her stomach.

"Are you hurt, Lena?"

"No, Haru-Haru. Just thinking about my belly battle dance."

"Belly battle dance?"

"Yes, Belli told me about an ancient kind of female warriors."

"Oh, you mean the wardancer?"

"What?! You know about them too?!"

"Yes, I read a story in one of my books. I think most of them were amazons."

"Why didn´t you tell me about that?"

"I didn´t know it would interest you."

"Meh...and it took me so long to find my own style."

"You want to become a wardancer?"

"Yes, I think it fits me quite well."

"True, you already start to dance when you fight."

"Belli even told me he has an ancient book about the war dance techniques."

"Huh? Why?"

Haruhime looked perplexed at Bell.

He shrugged his shoulders. "A gift from my grandfather, I don´t know why he gave it to me. He said something about understanding the true beauty of women."

"Hah..."

Lena´s eyes sparkled. "I soooo have to read that book! You will lend it to me, right? Right?!"

Bell smiled wryly and backed a bit away when Lena leaned closer. "You can keep it when we return."

"Yippieh! Thank you so much! Haru-Haru, give him a kiss as my thanks!"

"Eh?"

Lena raised her scimitar. "Hm...do you think it is too big for such a technique?"

"I read that some of them used "Mirror Blades", a pair of swords that were exactly alike and balanced in a special way. But using two swords at the same time would need a lot of work."

"So you´re saying with this technique, Bete Loga will definetely notice me and fall for the humble and beautiful me?"

"Uhm..."

"Uuuuh...I could add ribbons to the pommels...I bet Bete Loga will be impressed."

"You really love him, do you?"

"Absolutely. As much as you love Haru-Haru and Lefi."

Lena had a thing for nicknames.

"Weeeelfyyyy!"

"It´s Welf, Ms. Lena!"

"Can you forge me a pair for perfectly balanced swords?"

"All my works are unique, making the same thing twice is out of question."

"But Belli said it is basically one weapon that is split in two!"

"That changes everything, an interesting challenge. Earn enough money during the Expedition and it won´t be a problem."

"Alright! I will earn so much money!"

While Lena ran ahead to look for valuable things, Haruhime glanced shyly at Bell.

"Bell?"

"Yes?"

"Did you...read that book? About exotic dances?"

"Ahm yeah, once, because it was a gift from my grandfather."

"Is that so..."

"Haruhime?"

"Do you...like these kind of...belly dances?"

"Huh?"

He noticed that her cheeks were pink, she glanced to him and then at Lena, who was swinging her hips and practiced her belly dance again.

"I ah...never thought about that. I don´t really know."

She noticed how he looked at her, then his eyes wandered down to her belly, that was covered by her jacket.

"Bell, stay focussed, no flirting in the dungeon."

Bell and Haruhime startled by Welf´s words.

"S-Sorry."

"Meep..."

Now that she mentioned it, Bell couldn´t help but imagine Haruhime and Lefiya in exotic outfits, doing a belly dance. That...would be nice.

After the supporters finished their work and everyone was ready again, they continued to move.

Things got a bit more intersting when six minotaurs charged towards them from the front. Even with multiple level two´s in their party, they would be careful. .

.

.
While the group moved further down, a certain elf up in the city was pretty worried.

"Mmmh..."

"Checkmate."

"Oh..."

"You´re not focussed, Lefiya."

"I´m sorry, Filvis."

"There is no need to be worried about them, they move in a big group and only down to the 18th Floor."

"Filvi, give Lefi a break. She is deeply in love, of course she is worried."

"Don´t call me Filvi, captain! And don´t give Lefiya a nickname too!"

"I always use this nickname."

"Still!"

"Lady Astrea, is it good like that? Or too hard?"

"No, Lefiya, thank you."

"Ms. Ryu, I can only say that the light spectacle in our home forest is so beautiful, you should see it some day too."

"Hm, Lefiya also raves about it, I probably really should, Filvis."

Kaguya and Lyra sat on a couch for two people next to each other.

"Hey Kaguya..."

"Yes?..."

"This scene sure looks bizarre."

"I can only agree."

The people currently present in the living room were Astrea, Filvis, Ryu, Lefiya, Alise, Filvis, Kaguya, Lefiya and Lyra.

For some reason, there were two Lefiyas and two Filvis´.

One of the Lefiyas gave Astrea a gentle shoulder massage, while one of the Filvis´ was chatting with Ryu. The other two were playing chess. It wasn´t the first time that the Astrea familia saw both elves twice and the reason for that weren´t alcohol or drugs.

Lefiya and Filvis both had quite unique magic. With her "Elf Ring", Lefiya was a magical genius. She could copy the magic spells of other elves, when she knew the chant and the effect of that magic. Lefiya was able to use all the magic spells of the elves in her familia like that, with one exception. Ryu had three magic spells and the third one was too hard for Lefiya to use, since it was of the same nature as Elf Ring. Ryu had a magic spell that allowed her to copy attacks or magic of her familia members, but to copy the copy spell with Elf Ring gave Lefiya a headache.

Filvis owned the other very unique magic spell, called "Einsel". With this magic, Filvis was able to produce a copy of herself, creating another Filvis. When the spell was active, both halves had only half of her status, which made it a bit dangerous to use in the dungeon. But like this, Filvis was able to keep night watch on her own, even when two people were needed. Or she could keep night watch with someone else, while her other half slept. It really was a weird sight.

Lefiya tried to copy Einsel with Elf Ring, the magic wasn´t the hard part, but being two beings at once could be confusing. Filvis had enough control over her magic to move both halves away from each other, which was a big help when she did the laundry or something else in the house. Lefiya still got distracted often, normally she was able to beat Filvis in chess without breaking a sweat. And sometimes it happened that she moved her hand on Astrea´s shoulders wrong, one time she wanted to grab the piece she wanted to move and accidentally hit the back of her goddess´ head. She apologized many times, but Astrea told her it didn´t hurt.
The young elf tried her best to master this magic as well, she never knew when it might come in handy.

Alise grinned while she watched the "show" from her armchair.

"Heh, when you master this magic, you could go on a solo date with both of your lovers at once."

""Huh?""

Both Lefiya´s looked up in confusion.

"Or you could spend some times with one of them, but having you there twice."

Alise winked.

Both Filvis´ shot up to their feet.

""Don´t give Lefiya any lewd and filthy ideas!""

Alise just grinned. "Oh man, you elves really have a naughty mind. I didn´t mean anything lewd or adult stuff, that is just your own imagination talking."

Both black haired elves got red and sat down again.

Kaguya took a sip from her drink, while the four double elves started their activities again. "Surely a strange sight."

Lyra sipped on her drink too. "Absolutely, but entertaining."

"I wonder how Bell and Haruhime would react when they saw two Lefiyas."

"Maybe both taking one for themself?"

Kaguya grinned. "Lefi, is there a difference between you two?"

""No.""

Hearing the answer twice at the same time was really weird.

"Do you know which one of you is the original?"

The Lefiya at the chess board pointed at the one massaging Astrea´s shoulders, that one nodded.

"And what happens when the magic stops or runs out?"

The one playing chess looked at Kaguya. "I disappear and return when the magic is used again."

"Do you have a mind on your own?"

"I..."

"am me."

Both answered one after the other.

"That´s confusing."

""It´s magic.""

"True."

Lyra leaned curious forward. "What about your experiences and exhaustion? Do you know what the other did when the magic ends?"

""Yes.""

"What about pain? When one of you for example bumps a toe against something?"

"If it is still fresh, I feel it. But the magic usually doesn´t last very long."

"And you remember everything that happened?"

"Yes."

Lyra and Kaguya glanced at each other, then both started to grin.

Astrea sighed comfortably, not one member of her familia gave shoulder rubs as good as Lefiya. "Kaguya, Lyra...I´m sure you two don´t intend to make a naughty comment now, right?"

""Of course not, Lady Astrea.""

"Good."

Both young women stopped to grin when they saw that both Filvis´ looked at them with a frightening, murderous glare.

Alise smirked. "But I bet Bell would love it to wake up in the morning, holding a Lefiya in each of his arms."

""Huh?""

Both Lefiyas blushed when they heard that.

"I mean it was obvious from the start that Bell really has a thing for elves. He even admitted it when I asked him."

""It´s too early for sleeping together!""

"Just think about it, Lefi. Both love you very much and you´re quite pretty. When you have one of something nice, two is even better. I bet even Haruhime would be overjoyed to see two of you sitting together."

""Hm...""

Astrea giggled. "Alise, you´re making things more complicated for Lefiya."

Alise grinned. "Yeah, but without thinking about it, she gives you a perfect shoulder massage and just put Filvi into checkmate."

""Huh?!""

The familia´s captain winked, when she distracted Lefiya from being distracted, she let both halves act normal.

"Hehe, to be expected of me! I just solved Lefi´s problem." Alise smirked, pleased with herself.

Astrea chuckled. "Very good, Alise. To be expected of you indeed."

"Hah...this really is something...Oh! Oh! Oh! Oooooh!"

The others looked at Alise when she sat straight up in her armchair.

"Alise?"

"Lion!"

"Yes?"

"Say, with your magic skill, what magic from Filvis do you can use?"

"Ahm...Dio Thyrsos..."

"Noooooo!"

Alise knelt defeated on the carpet.

"Alise?!"

"I sooo wanted to see a double Lion! *Sniff*"

"Alise, magic isn´t something to use for fun!"

"Mouh..."

Astrea giggled. "Ehe, I can understand Alise a bit, it surely would be a sight to see two of each of you."

Lyra grinned. "But Dio Thyrsos...captain, imagine Lion, Filvis and Lefiya using that spell all together."

Kaguya laughed. "Our three elves shooting rays of light all together? Now that would be a sight for sure."

Lyra joined Kaguya´s laughter. "They could stand next to each other and yell out something like "Brazing Light of Justiiiiiiice!", we can give them special costumes. How do the gods call it again? Magical girls?"

"""""That´s embarrassing!"""""

Ryu, the two Lefiyas and the two Filvis´ shouted out in unison.

Even when she felt a bit bad about it, Astrea joined Alise, Kaguya and Lyra when they started to laugh.

Alise was just a tiny bit sad, now she would never be able to walk around, holding a Ryu in each of her arms...but she would dream about that and that was nice in its own way.

When silent steps were heard and Alfia passed the entrance to the living room, she looked shortly inside and continued her way. Then she froze, turned around and looked inside again.

""Ah, Ms. Alfia, good morning.""

The expression on Alfia´s face when she saw two Lefiyas, let everyone except for the elves laugh again. Even Ryu and Filvis couldn´t help but smiled slightly when they saw her. In case Lefiya used this magic, it would be as if Bell had three lovers...

That was too much for Alfia´s heart.

.

.

After seven hours, the party managed to arrive on the 18th floor. They could´ve moved down faster, but they killed a few more monsters than necessary, in order to make money.

"Hah...finally. After seeing all these dark tunnels, the 18th floor really is a feast for the eyes."

Bell noticed smiling how Haruhime´s tails rose to bath in the light that came from the crystals above. All of them were glad to arrive at their destination.

"Let us move first to our camp place, then we will shortly take a break."

As the party´s leader, Bell also had to give orders, he wasn´t used to it, but he grew into his role. Slacking off now wouldn´t be good, but they could walk slowly.

Lily, Luan and Chigusa handed out water bottles, now that they were on the 18th floor, they could drink without holding back.

Bell thanked Lily when she gave him the bottle and drank a bit, then he gave the bottle to Haruhime. He never understood the concept of an indirect kiss, but Haruhime was for some reason really happy about it. Mikoto and Chigusa saw how Haruhime put the bottle onto her lips and drank slowly. Her tails moved happily back and forth, her friends were amazed how bold and daring Haruhime got.

And in her mind, Haruhime felt a bit like a lewd fox and bad girl...kissing was forbidden during work time, except when they would be in the camp. But Lily didn´t know about indirect kisses either and Haruhime decided to take advantage of this fact. Ever since her fifth tail grew, Haruhime got more cuddly and longed to be together with her two lovers...her mates.

They moved towards an area that the Astrea familia marked for them, where they always camped. The spot was just perfect, with small lakes nearby and adventurers normally didn´t go there.

"Hah, the "Under Resort" is really nice and refreshing..."

"Absolutely..."

"Mmmh~~~ The gras feels so good on my feet." Lena really enjoyed it that she never used shoes.

Now that they were on the 18th floor, Lily took off her special helmet, moving her fingers through her hair. "Mh, it is quite nice."

It took them about the quarter of an hour to arrive at their camp place. Before they built their camp, they sat down for now, most of them took their shoes and boots off, as well as the socks, enjoying to wriggle their toes in the gras.

They sat in a wide circle, after taking a break for half an hour, Lily started to speak. While Bell was the leader, Lily was the head of logistics.

"We will split up the group now, to start with our work. Since we´re eleven people, we have enough for each job. Welf, you´re necessary to mine the water crystals, so you will go with Lena, Mr. Ouka and Ms. Chigusa. Close to the falls where you find the water crystals, there is a small cave in which mushrooms grow, collect some of them for dinner."

The four nodded.

"Bell, Haruhime and Ms. Mikoto will go to look for the special water. Lily will give you a small map, the spot for the water is marked there as well as a few dungeon gift spots that no one normally finds, use one of the middle sized bagpacks."

The three nodded, Lily knew it would be hard to separate Bell and Haruhime.

"The rest of us will build the camp and afterwards pick some dungeon gifts."

Lily took a deep breath to continue.

"We have five tents, each has enough room for three people. Which means one women and one men has to share a tent, since we´re using one for our stuff."

All eyes immediatelly wandered to Bell and Haruhime, they were the obvious choice. Haruhime blushed when she heard that, but her tails betrayed her, they waved happily up and down. Bell also smiled a bit embarrassed, but it was only for sleeping anyway.

The pallum clapped her hands. "Alright, we´re all tired and want to take a bath, so let´s go and do our jobs. We should all be finished in about two hours."

Welf grinned to Bell when the group split up.

"Keep the ladies safe, Bell."

"Nothing will stop me from doing that."

.

.

"Ms. Mikoto?"

"Yes?"

"Did you forgot to put your shoes back on?"

"No, Sir Bell, this is training. A ninja has to be careful even when she has no shoes or boots. And there is a chance that I will get surprised in my sleep, so I have to be able to fight like this too."

While she spoke, Bell noticed that Mikoto evaded all the small stones in the gras without even looking.

"Also, it helps with the blood circulation after so many hours using shoes and fighting."

Haruhime smiled. "Lord Takemikazuchi told me that too, it is part of his far eastern techniques."

"Hm, should I take my boots of too?"

Mikoto shook her head. "You´re not used to walk are barefoot."

"Hm, okay."

Haruhime looked up. "No matter how often I see this place, it is fascinating every single time."

Both agreed with her.

"To think that even the monsters on this floor are peaceful most of the time. I wonder if there is any chance that somewhere out in the world there are monsters that don´t mind and bother people, that live on their own just like animals."

"The world is big, maybe somewhere."

The 18th Floor was not completely safe, normally the monster didn´t chase adventurers, but when they came too close to them, they could attack...they were monsters after all. So maybe somewhere were peaceful monsters, but the dungeon wasn´t the place to test that.

They continued their way to look for the spring, but the floor was pretty big. Seeing the mark on a map was one thing, finding the place another. But all of them had to agree, that Alfia´s maps had an incredible degree of details.

Alfia also wrote that there was actually a change in the light of the crystals during some times of the year or a month. Apparently, the light got a bit more dim and the crystals looked grey, as if the dungeon copied a sky with rain clouds.

I wonder...is someone else there?

Bell had a feeling as if someone was following them...or maybe close by. He noticed that Haruhime´s ears twitched sometimes, but in various directions. Mikoto sensed something too, not with her magic, but with her warrior skills, she listened to noises in the forest that shouldn´t be there, yet they saw no one. Bell had the same feeling sometimes in the past...as if someone was watching them, like monsters lurking in the shadows of the dungeon...but it didn´t feel like a threat.

Haruhime pointed to their right. "We shouldn´t go into that direction. I hear water running and the voice of two women."

So it were probably adventurers, most likely taking a bath. It was good that Haruhime warned them, Bell would feel bad to stumble into bathing women.

What they couldn´t know, it were indeed two women...two women with a lot of feathers on their bodies. Both of them weren´t in a good mood, they cried for their deceased friends while they cleaned their bodies from dirt.

While Bell, Haruhime and Mikoto continued moving, a small figure hid behind a tree, only daring to glimpse at them. The figure had amber colored eyes, that looked like the one of a lizard...or dragon.

.
There were fewer monsters in this part of the floorthan they thought...as if they had vanished or something like that. Haruhime hummed lightly while she walked at Bell´s side, one of her tails sneaked to his side and gently touched the back of his right hand.

Even with Mikoto around, Haruhime wasn´t ashamed to secretely hold Bell´s hand. She really became daring these days... Haruhime seemed to be in a really good mood since they had left the camp place. She was really looking forward to share a tent with Bell. And since there was room for one more person, Lefiya could sleep with them on the last day, that would be nice.

Bell had never before seen her smile so often...it made her only more beautiful in his eyes. A part of his mind enjoyed the fantasy that this here was his small paradise he had with Haruhime...to live forever with her and Lefiya down here.

But Bell had much fantasies about Lefiya and Haruhime...like holding hands...or...kiss, he got red every time he had those lewd thoughts. And he would be very ashamed if he knew what he did to Lefiya in his sleep that one day...that he nibbled on her ear.

Bell noticed something about his two beloved. While Haruhime had a more shy and reserved personality, she was more forward when it came to kissing, cuddling and these things. Even when she was ashamed of that afterwards and a part of her always held back, but only when it came to Bell. She loved him, she really did, but deep down in her subconcious, Haruhime was afraid of men. Being close to one, have one touch her, only her love for Bell made it possible to be close to him like this.

And Lefiya, she had the stronger personality compared to Haruhime. She was always forward, ready to fight for what was right and stand her ground, no matter against whom. But when it came to showing affection, holding hands, kissing and cuddling, she was the shy and reserved one. In Bell´s eyes it was as if their personalities switched places when they got romantic.

Which made both of them even more precious in his eyes. A strong and forward Haruhime, a shy and flustered Lefiya...both were wonderful.

.

.

The small figure followed them in a safe distance, making sure that her pendant was always there. Wiene got this pendant as a gift from Ray a few days ago. Apparently it was a small magic item that Fels gave them, it muffled the noises she made.

Wiene got really curious when she saw Haruhime, in her eyes she was closer to one of her kin than a human, because of the five tails. But she didn´t follow them out of curiousity, Wiene had an important job to do.

Her eyes were mostly fixated on the hip of the human male, looking at the pouch he was carrying there.

.

.
They followed the path through the forest, it looked a bit different here compared to the rest of the floor.

"I have never before seen this part of the Floor."

"Me neither...it is beautiful here...and so quiet."

The forest got denser and denser as they walked ... it felt like they were slowly going uphill. The further they came, the darker the forest became, the crowns were so that hardly a ray of light found the ground.
But the path continued...it looked like it wasn´t used very much.

Haruhime was fully aware about how close Bell walked to her since the path got narrow...her heart raced and she blushed again. It was only thanks to her staff that she didn´t stumble over roots, since most of the time she looked at Bell out of the corner of her eye.

If both were alone in a dark forest...it would be the perfect place to kiss him.

Haaaa...Bell...I..

"Sir Bell, Haruhime, over there!"

"H-Huh?"

Right now Haruhime was probably the worst partner one could have on a search quest, she felt a bit bad that she was so focussed on Bell, instead of their quest and Mikoto. All her thoughts circled around love, kissing and how nice it would be to cuddle this night with Bell...how she intended to cuddle with him...
This part of puberty hit her like nothing beforet...her body...her entire being screamed at her to do something her heart yearned for.

Bell...

Haruhime couldn´t...she didn´t wanted to wait any longer...it was the perfect moment. Mikoto was going ahead...so she could...

"Bell...I..."

She held out her hand to his just as he ran off.

"I think I´m hearing something, hurry!"

"Mmmmh!..."

With a bright red face, she followed them...pouting. Right when she had mustered all of her courage to steal a secret kiss...

It was a part of 18th Floor thad the most adventurers had never seen or would never see, because there was no reason to come here. Bell was right with his thoughts, they were going up a hill...or rather a small mountain. It looked similar to the one he went up when he was on this floor for the first time, not much plants or green, but a few crystals here and there. It was the beginning of a big rock plateau and from here they could see nearly everything of the Floor since they were surprisingly high up.

The big forest they went through lay beneath their feet and they could see the white stone walls that were the boundary of the Floor. When she looked down the path, Mikoto stopped for a moment.

"Hm?"

"Ms. Mikoto?"

"I just..I thought there was a movement there..."

"Maybe a stray monster?"

"Probably."

All three looked around, there was only a path upwards so they had no other choice. Bell saw from the corner of his eyes that Haruhime had red cheeks...maybe she wasn´t very good at climbing?
Lena had joked it had something to do with Bell´s appearance and how he fought in the dungeon, that this got Haruhime´s blood running. Haruhime´s fox ears twitched...she could swear he heard a slight splashing sound, as if water was running nearby. Being a gentleman, Bell walked up the path first, Mikoto used her usual short kimono, so it wouldn´t be a good choice to let her walk in front of them.

"Do you hear that?"

"Yes...there is...something."

"I hear it too."

Haruhime knew that Bell and Mikoto were better at searching something than she was, so she kept on looking for monsters. Again she heard a low noise from behind, strangely muffled. Mikoto and Bell heard nothing, only Haruhime with her very sharp ears. When she looked over her shoulder, she caught a glimpse of...dark blue hair.

Looking up the path it was clear that monsters could only approach them from behind, so Haruhime kept glancing over her shoulder from time to time. But they were lucky and not one monster followed them...as least it looked like that From time to time Bell also glanced over his shoulder with a strange expression on his face.

"Bell?"

"Hm...no...nothing."

Haruhime tilted her head and followed them when Bell walked over the edge on the top of the path.

"Haruhime, Ms. Mikoto! Hurry, you have to see that!"

Hm?

Haruhime fastened her pace to catch up to them. At the end of the path was another, smaller rock plateu but this time with a few bushes. And right in the middle of the bushes was a small spring, the source of the splashing sounds. It looked really lovely so hidden up here.

The water sparkled lightly and was crystal clear, even the splashing sounded nice.

"So do you think this is it? It truly is a beautiful spring." He looked at them.

Mikoto crouched down and put her hands on her knees while looking at the small spring. "I think so...it looks nice."

Bell searched in his backpack and took out the mug that was used by Haruhime while they camped. "Do you want to taste test it? Or Ms. Mikoto?"

Mikoto shook her head.

Haruhime looked at Bell. "You don´t want to take the first sip?"

He smiled shyly. "No..If it is really such a special water...I want you to taste it first."

"Bell...you are so kind." She smiled openly to him.

Mikoto turned her face away and covered her mouth with her hand, a few tears ran down her cheeks.

They are so cute together!

Haruhime lowered her mug a little and caught a bit of the water, it smelled like ordinary water. Carefully she took a small sip...then her eyes widened in surprise.

"Mmmh Hhmmm mmmh!" She waved her free hand and looked at Bell with a surprised look.

"Haruhime?"

He saw her swallowing and she beamed all over her face. "That is the best water I have ever tasted!"

"Really?"

"Yes, here try it too. You too Mikoto."

She held her mug to him, Bell took it carefully and took a small sip.

"Delicious!"

He offered the mug to Mikoto, but she declined.

"I can´t and won´t put my mouth on this mug."

"Huh?"

Mikoto´s ears were a bit red when she looked at Bell, then at Haruhime, then at the mug again.

"O...Oh...S-Sorry..." Bell understood what Mikoto implied, that about an indirect kiss again.

"It´s okay."

"It looks like this is the spring, no wonder no one found it so far, it isn´t very big. And you would´ve to know that something is up here or you would never take it onto you to come here."

Mikoto nodded. "Yes, if you are unlucky and someone was here before you, you may not be able to get any."

"A good thing that it is full, it looks like we can fill all of our bottles. We can fill them and then return to the camp."

"It is getting late we should return soon to the camp, it will take a while to get there."

"You´re right, let us fill the bottles."

Bell took all the bottles out of the backpack and put it down close to the path, near the trees, together with his pouch. They managed to fill a dozen bottles. When there was not enough in the spring to fill another bottle, Mikoto scooped some with her hand and tasted the water, she was delighted.

.

.

"Huh?"

"Bell?"

"Sir Bell?"

"Have you seen my pouch?"

"Pouch?"

"Where I kept a few healing potions."

"No, where did you put it?"

"On top of the backpack...hm...did it fell down?"

Mikoto followed Bell to the backpack, she noticed something that he didn´t. "Here are tracks that aren't ours, they're too small...looks like someone went barefoot...and I see fine claw marks."

Haruhime went to them. "Maybe a monster stole it?"

"Aw man...the pouch was expensive...and the healing potions...Nahza did a part of her work for nothing."

"At least we didn´t get attacked."

"Well we can´t change it now and the forest is too big to search for it, let us return to the camp."

.

.
"Hah-Hah-Hah-Hah-Hah!"

Wiene ran as fast as she dared, holding the pouch she stole in her hands. She felt really bad that she had to steal something, but her friends were in pain and needed help. Wiene learned from Fels that these red potions made pain go away.

"I´m sorr-Hiiii!"

Wiene came to a sudden stop when something appeared in front of her. It was a mountain of a man, extremely muscular...with two boar ears. This man was way more muscular than Lido or Gros.

"Hmmmm...a Vouivre on the 18th floor? And so small."

Wiene´s mouth opened and closed, tears were in the corners of her eyes...she started to sob.

Ottar looked at her for a moment, then he walked around her and continued his way, a Vouivre that didn´t attack him wasn´t worth of his attention or to be killed.

The young dragon girl couldn´t believe she got spared, but she wouldn´t challenge her luck and continued to run. Soon she arrived at the hidden lake, holding the potion for Ray and Fia, the content was enough for them to heal Ray´s hip and Fia´s leg. Lido and Gros both needed two potions each to seal their wounds and numb the pain.

But why was the captain of the Freya familia on the 18th floor? He was on a holy mission to get the best water possible for his beloved goddess. .

.

.
Bell, Haruhime and Mikoto froze when Ottar came out of the forest.

"Ho? So someone else found this place too?"

They were in shock to see this bulky, muscular man, especially Haruhime was intimidated.

Mikoto gulped. "The Warlord?"

Ottar eyed them. "You´re the ones that fought in the wargame, Miach and Takemikazuchi familias."

The three nodded.

He looked at the empty spring, then at their backpack.

"You took the water?"

Bell nodded while he gulped. "Yes, were you looking for it too?"

"I come down here every week at this day, to get water for my goddess."

Haruhime´s five tails got pressed against her legs, she shivered. "Your familia...destroyed the Pleasure Quarter, right?"

She shrunk down more when Ottar´s eyes fell on her, he didn´t react further.

Bell opened the backpack. "We have twelf bottles, how many do you need?"

"Five would be enough."

He nodded and took out five bottles.

"You´re giving them to me just like that?"

"We only took everything since we assumed no one else is coming here. But since this is the case, it would be rude to take everything."

Ottar took the five bottles from Bell and put them in a small bag. "You have my thanks."

"Not for that."

Ottar handed Bell a few Vals coins, enough to pay for the bottles.

"Then I will take my leave."

"We will start to collect the water here too, but three days after you came, that should give the spring enough time to refill."

Ottar nodded and left.

After he was out of sight, all three slumped to their knees and exhaled.

"That was scary..."

"He is so huge..."

"My heart almost stopped..."

Bell had given him the bottles because he really thought it was only fair. Other people would have done it out of fear that Ottar would simply take them. When they managed to gather enough strength to get up, they noticed a plume of dust in the distance. They couldn't tell exactly, but Ottar sprinted back to the surface with all the speed he could muster, his goddess waiting for him and her water. Mentally he thanked the three of them, they saved him valuable minutes that he would have needed to fill his bottles.

You fight like a true warrior and helped me not make her wait too long.

Ottar's respect for Bell grew a little.

.

.

"What?! The Warlord?! He was the one causing such a ruckus?!"

"Yes."

Bell put the seven bottles they had down in front of Lily, who put them safely away into her backpack.

"Mh...so we can´t harvest it all alone, well so be it."

While they talked, Haruhime and Mikoto put down the vegetable-like dungeon gifts that they found with help of Alfia´s map. Some resembled carrots, others potatoes, and some radishes and kohlrabi. Most dungeon gifts that people knew looked like fruits and were really sweet. At least too sweet for Bell´s taste.

When they were about to finish their work, Welf, Chigusa, Ouka and Lena returned. For some reason, Lena and Welf were drenched. The amazon had no problem walking around like that, since she didn´t wear much clothes, they already started to dry.

"What happened?"

Welf sighed. "Mining water crystals isn´t like mining ores."

Lena grinned and patted Welf´s shoulder. "He hit the rock and a part of a water crystal, it exploded and shot water everywhere."

Lily raised an eyebrow. "But you were able to collect some?"

Welf nodded. "Yeah, a big one, two medium sized and four small ones."

"Good, we will use the big one to pay the Astrea Familia back for their help, since we almost emptied their big crystal during the wargame when we showered."

Chigusa smiled while she put her big backpack down. "It is really a fascinating sight how water can come out of a crystal. They surely will make Expeditions more pleasant."

Lily agreed. "But we will sell the first ones when we get back to the surface. Everyone remember! Not one word where we found them! Especially not you, Bell!"

"Huh? Me?"

"Yes, Lily knows you well enough. Your guild advisor will surely get curious and others will want to know it too."

Bell smiled wryly. "Understood."

Chigusa opened her backpack and showed them what they found. Just like Lily said, mushrooms, a few cucumbers and...something that looked like..."

"Strawberries?"

Chigusa beamed. "Yes! Lady Alfia had marked a special spot on the map, these strawberries are as delicious as she described them."

Bell smiled by himself, he knew that Alfia went into the dungeon many times just to get dungeon fruits for Meteria.

The women of the group were really happy to have fruits like these for dessert.

Lily grinned devilishly. "We can make a lot of money with these."

Haruhime tilted her head slightly. "What do you mean?"

"We can collect them when the season for strawberries is over on the surface. Not even Lady Demeter is able to grow them during winter and she is said to have a green thumb. Just imagine how much a shop or restaurant or even the pub can make with these when they´re out of season!"

Lily´s eyes flashed and looked a bit like Vals coins for a moment. It wasn´t greed that drove her forward, but they needed money.

Bell tapped his chin. "Hmm..."

"Bell?"

"I heard a rumor that the Dea Saint, Amid Teassanare apparently really likes sweet and fresh fruits, Nahza told me that."

Lily´s eyes shone even more. "Wonderful! So we can use them in winter to bribe the Dian Cecht Familia to lower the debts, so that their precious saint can have what she craves for!"

Lily didn´t look like a saint at all at this moment.

.

.

While the party was storing up their "harvest," one particular werewolf lay on one of the sofas in his familia's living room, gazing out the window, both hands clasped behind his head.

Ais sipped on her tea and looked at Bete, there were a few people in the living room, but he didn´t seem to notice them.

"What is with Bete?"

Tione grinned. "He is like that since Lena´s party went onto their Expedition."

"Lena?"

"The amazon that Riveria saved when she got cursed."

"Oh. The one that shocked Bete when he thought she...you know."

"Jup, that one. Looks like he is reeeaaaally worried about her."

Tiona was as amazed as her sister. "To think we would see Bete like that...worried about a girl."

Gareth took a deep gulp from his tankard and moved a chess piece across the board he was sitting at. "Was ´bout time the young lad found a girl."

Riveria shook her head. "We shouldn´t stick our noses into that matter."

She moved a piece too, but she was distracted.

"Just because you´re too old now to be interested in love, doesn´t mean the others aren´t."

"Nah! How dare you?!"

Gareth grinned and moved a piece. "Checkmate."

"Grml..."

Some members of the Loki familia were worried because they would soon move towards Knossos. But Bete Loga was actually only worried about Lena´s safety, no one knew what the dungeon might do when they attacked Knossos. Not that he would admit his worries towards the others.

.

.

"Haaaaah~~~~ The water feels wonderful!"

Lena was the first of the women that went into the small lake, since she had to take off the least amount of clothing. The other women followed her one by one, the men swore to guard the lake from afar. While Ouka and Welf would probably dare to take a peek, Bell and Luan were against it. The pallum said he would do anything to guard Lily´s bare body and Bell wasn´t the type to do it.

But Bell was troubled, he heard words from his grandfather from the past. Words that he told her to never mention to Alfia.

.

.

Listen Bell, peeking is part of a man´s romance.

Grandfather?

Rrrrrrrromance!

Grandfather?!

Heh...good old times.

.

.

Lena watched curious when Haruhime got into the water, she whistled slightly. "Phew~ You´re grown, Haru-Haru."

"Huh?"

"Your body looks really mature, I bet Bell will faint when he sees this one day."

"Mouh...Lena..."

When Haruhime´s tails came into contact with the water, they didn´t look fluffy at all anymore.

"Huh, now they look quite weird when they´re wet."

"Weird?!"

"Yeah I mean, we´re used to see them all fluffy and now they´re so different. I bet it takes a lot of time to clean and dry them all, or do you just shake your body until you´re dry?"

"I´m not a real fox!"

"But you sure share a few characteristics with foxes, you can be really cunning."

"Cunning?!"

"I mean you snuck into your boyfriend´s bed as soon as his mother was out of the house."

"Th-That was a misunderstanding."

"No it wasn´t. I know what you´re going through."

"Hm?"

Haruhime sat down next to Lena.

"I have seen enough beast girls to recognize your behaviour. It got stronger when your fourth tail grew, but now with the fifth, you´re acting out of instinct."

"What do you mean?"

"You´re all cuddly, snuggly, lovey dovey with Bell and Lefiya lately. It isn´t just the affection that you show openly, but what you do subconsciously."

"I can´t follow you."

Lena explained a bit about all the small things that she saw Haruhime doing.

"You´re growing up, you´re in love. You have an interest in Bell´s body, even when you´re clearly scared by most men and a certain body part of Bell or you wouldn´t freak out sometimes."

"You mean I´m scared of Bell?"

"No, you´re in heat."

"What?!"

"Yeah, I saw enough beast girls going through that. It´s your first heat so it is quite different from the ones you will have in the future. Judging by all that happened it´s because you´re stressed."

"Stressed?"

"Because of all that happened recently, about the current situation and what might come in the future. You three didn´t have time to do much together lately. But it isn´t only that, you need to relief your stress, Bell does it too."

"And how?"

Lena shrugged her shoulders. "The obvious and easiest way would be to do it. But you´re not at this point. So I would advice you to make out."

"M-Making out?"

"What you two did when you attacked him in his sleep that day."

"Please don´t mention it!"

Lena shook her head. "You misunderstand me, Haru-Haru. I don´t say that to tease you, make fun of you or because I´m a pervert."

"But you are a pervert..."

"Thaaaat might be true, still. By the way I´m impressed that you learned to talk back. No, what I mean isn´t going all the way. Just cuddle with Bell during the night, he needs it too, trust me."

"Huh?"

"Men that go into the dungeon as often as he does and have so much to worry about in life, need a partner at their side. To relief some stress. When you cuddle with him while you two sleep, it will work wonders, trust me."

"Are you sure?..."

"Yep, I don´t joke about love."

"Hm."

"Trust me, you two need it. I would say you three, your elven lover will be very worried about her familia, distract her a bit."

"If you say so..."

Lena leaned a bit closer and whispered. "Also, at some point you have to take it slowly and carefully get over your trauma. These two, especially Lefiya will be the help you need for that."

"Hm?"

Lena winked. "We will talk about that later, when your relationship with both progressed. If you´re worried about something, feel free to ask me any time, okay?"

"I will, thank you, Lena."

What Lena told her wasn´t a joke at all. She would do her best to help Haruhime to become happy. The amazon knew, when the day came that Haruhime saw Bell naked or at least his junk, she would become scared...a trauma like she had wasn´t a small thing. But having a female and a male lover would be a big help.

"Shall I help you wash your tails?"

"Please do, it´s a lot of work."

"Hehe, then turn around."

"Thank you."

"Woah! Your hips are godlike! Damn, what a butt!"

"Lenaaaa!"

.

.

The evening was still young, Haruhime thought about Lena´s words when they returned to the camp, so that the men could go and wash.

Haruhime followed Bell with her eyes, she didn´t see any sign that he was stressed.

But he was most likely worried too, so she would do her best.

Haruhime started to prepare her heart, cuddling with Bell while sleeping out of her free will was entirely different from being half drunk when her fifth tail grew.

.