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, Ikuchi & Sylphie.

Speech: "I love you Blue."

Thoughts: 'Blue is such a lame nickname...'

Magic: " BY THE GODS SAY SAVE ME BLUE!"

Screaming/Demonic Voice: "BLUE IS A RESPECTABLE NAME! DATTEBAYO!" Take turns towards Sly with annoyance. "Could you please refrain from screaming without any indication Sleipnir-kun. It is interrupting my meditation!"

Chapter 15 Spirits

?

A determined shattered light leads others into the exponentially growing dark. Curiosity. Potential.

Fallen lights all around. Sadness.

They meet.

A clash between the brightest fallen and the shattered light. Reverberations.

Light descending the dark. Mystery.

The Labyrinth greets eagerly; a rebellious fallen.

The eye watches in anticipation. Surprise. Wrath!

Panting, Sly jumps from his bed. Both his tails stand erect and the fur covering them are straight. Quickly, he glances around his room, filled to the brim with illusios and…. a small black fox?.. It sits quietly sitting on his windowsill.

In his confusion Sly asks. "How did you get in here little one? Wait, I can discover that later, I need to focus on the dream."

Sly quickly puts on his kimono, while murmuring. "Another dream..? This time about lights..? Some bright white, one splintered and white and many a fallen gray shade of white. Then, they meet and a fight ensues. Something important happens during the clash and then one falls into the depths of darkness."

Looking at the innocent little fox Sly continues, "This was the second time I had these dreams in Orario... I only remember one other time I had such a dream before…

Yells; Screams…. Hate

Hate

HATE! Before everything crumbled back home.

Unfortunately, I can no longer ignore these dreams or prophecies. Miss it once, it's an outlier. Miss it twice, it's a rule. Miss it trice, and you're the fool."

As if the fox understood Sly's murmurs, it bobs its head. "So, what do I do now..? My first prophecy, I don't remember it clearly… I wrote down my second and mentioned to Take… Now, my third is even more solemn than the second and… a reminder."

Still sitting quietly, the black fox watches Sly curiously with a slightly tilted head. "From what I remember, the first prophecy was almost completely based on feelings. Happiness to anxiety, to terror and then wraith, until only blissful quiet remains, but from this quiet a sound of cracking glass resounds and then terrible pain as if my head was split in two, causing me to wake up…"

Sly gestures with his still erect tails. "I don't clearly remember the events that followed and any images I once saw in the prophecy are lost to me now. The second featured a cracked stone tumbling and catching others, but I do not think that one is completed. Now, this third featuring a falling splintered light… I need to prepare!"

Sly stands up and grabs his equipment. "I can count on him…' Welf would be visited to prepare double his usual items for the dungeon delve today; Asuka and Naaza as well, and then he would visit Acatl. By the time Sly had fully geared himself up, the red sun was just rising on the horizon behind his one-way illusion covering his window.

However, the black fox was gone.

I AM GANESHA - Sleipnir POV

After the shock of having another prophecy passed Sly spent his morning preparing. He visited Asuka, whom he gave some of the potent alchemy plants he collected for her the previous day, and spent the remaining evening with Chigusa. During that time, they practiced both their magic control and drank a little of his dungeon vervaine tea to regain enough mana to keep practicing.

Now he visited Welf, after a quick breakfast as he liked to sleep a little longer. As for Acatl, she invited him three days ago to finally speak about spirits. This is a subject with few accurate works in Genkai. Unfortunately, the only good sources of information are the whimsical gods, who rarely showed interest in educating the mortals. The very few snippets of information Sly already had were from his research into kitsune, which made his heart beat in excitement to learn more about his race.

The head librarian Antiphon greeted Sleipnir respectfully before asking how his magical pressure evolved after his level-up. "You see, I took the Mage development ability and only learned about the value of magical pressure after I hit level 3. Through a few tips from Quetzalcoatl-sama, my magic control improved and, now that I am level 4, all my spells cover at least an area of ten meters."

Bowing slightly to the senior mage, Sly explains his findings, "I see. As Acatl-hakas's disciple, I managed to get the development ability Magical Student. I still have trouble controlling most of my mana when I start using large spells, but when I focus my spells in a small area my magic control is almost flawless through the boost I got. I can make my spells as small as I wish, given that I can still see them, and I use enough mana to create their effects."

Looking at him with slight interest Antiphon continues. "I wish I had gotten a chance earlier to learn magic control. However, it delights me that you hit level 2. It is fascinating to see how your magic develops Sleipnir-san. You should now hurry along. You know how much Quetzalcoatl-sama dislikes waiting, there is no telling what surprise she could prepare while we speak!"

"Your words ring all too true Anthiphon-san, I will seek your aid again once I need to gather books from the public library for our research." With another bow, Sly quickly heads towards his sensei.

A quick stroll past countless dusty bookshelves later, he reaches Acatl who, for once, is standing in one of the newer sections of the restricted library surrounded by a few floating lights.

When Sleipnir sees her, he quickly bows. "Greetings Acatl-hakase. I hope the Denatus went according to your plans?"

She turns around while holding onto a sphere of whirling winds acting like a small barrier that is barely a few centimeters in diameter. "It was interesting to say the least Nibi-kun. Unfortunately, my alias for you did not win over enough gods. Blank Slate would have been far better than The Sly Blue."

Acatl grumbles quietly, likely not intending Sly to hear her words, about stupid young gods and their boring serious behavior. "Ahh! Those foolish youngsters are so unimaginative and vindictive! And so inflexible! Things would be more fun if they would relax!"

After her rant Sly coughs to get her back on track. "Anyway, now that all the other gods know that I'm in Orario, my time here is limited. That's why I invited you to finally teach you about spirits."

Before Acatl can start however Sly quickly interjects, "Acatl-hakase if I may be so bold as to ask something first?"

Acatl looks at him in confusion. "You have waited for weeks to learn about spirits, and now that I want to tell you, you want to ask something unrelated?!"

Sly hears the start of anger in her voice. Bowing quickly, he adds. "Acatl-hakase I am very sorry but this morning I had another prophecy!"

Acatl had already prepared to use one of her runes to punish him for his impudence, stopped however at his words. "Another prophecy? The first isn't even finished yet! Alright let's hear it, but there better be no more distractions afterwards!"

Sly reveals all he can about the prophecy together with what he remembers of first one he had in Orario. Acatl listens with rapt attention, even asking him to create an illusion of all he can remember. "I see. The splintered light resembles you, or, to be more accurate, your soul. It has been splintered since I first met you. However, as the condition hasn't worsened, I did not deem it a relevant topic."

Swishing both his tails behind him Sly asks, "My soul is splintered?"

Acatl waves it off. "I'm uncertain what caused it, but, either way, messing with souls is far above your expertise and unless your condition worsens, I will not interact with your soul. Doing so would be dangerous as only with the aid of Arcanum can souls be manipulated with certainty. Any other way will lead to unpredictable and oftentimes dangerous results.

As for your prophecy, from what I can gather, you will be separated from your party in the dungeon. I do not know when or how, but when it happens, you'd better be prepared and have contingency plans."

Sly droops his tails. "Is there nothing else you can tell me?"

Acatl rolls her slitted eyes. "Unfortunately, no. Prophecies are finicky at the best of times, but I can help prepare you by teaching you about spirits. The fallen lights might even be spirits, so are you ready for my lesson about spirits now?"

Straightening up, Sly quickly nods.

Acatl smiles widely at him, showing far too many of her pointed teeth. "Wonderful! Now that you have condensed your mana and have two tails, all the conditions are met for you to be classified as a half-spirit my student."

Sly looks at Acatl with obvious confusion in his voice and one tail in each hand. "A half-spirit? Is that even possible? How can I be a half-spirit!? And why did you tell me this before explaining what spirits are?"

Nodding along Acatl continues, "Yes. That might have been the better order." Acatl quickly waves her arm in the air and writes down a runic symbol on a green magic circle. "I should be serious for this. Sleipnir-kun please sit down." Once the symbol finishes it flashes brightly and two chairs of marble grow out of the ground.

Once seated, Sly takes out his magic journal and Acatl begins her lecture. "Let's start with a short lecture. Please keep your questions to yourself, until I have covered the basics. Let's start with the Spirit Theorem. A spirit is a semi-immortal entity that primarily resides in the second realm of Genkai. A simple conjecture that follows from this theorem is that spirits from the higher realm within Genkai are capable of observing residents of the first plane, such as mortals, but not the other way around. This also infers that they are capable of affecting the mortal realm of Genkai, however, there are regulations and limits."

Sly quickly notes down the definitions as Acatl continues. "These rules are called the Spiritual Axioms and affect any spiritual being, even half-spirits. The only difference being the degree they are bound to them. The higher the tier a spirit is, the more severe the adherence to these axioms must be! Four of these rules apply to every spirit, but every type of spirit exhibits certain unique axioms on top of these.

Let's cover the spiritual rules.

First, the strength of spirits is counted in tiers. They are counted like adventurer levels but begin at tier 1 for the weakest spirits. The tier of a spirit increases if they successfully condense their mana. After condensing their mana to tier 5 a spirit is considered a greater spirit.

Second, every spirit can observe mortals as they exist almost in parallel to them. Those below tier 2 will only be able to affect objects in the first layer of Genkai, but those of tier 2 or higher can affect mortals and even manifest in the first layer of Genkai under the condition that they can only exhibit power equal to their current tier, n-1.

Third, spirits are morally neutral. Every spirit follows their innate nature and almost never interacts with mortals beyond the scope of their duties.

Fourth, spirits are bound by promises and oaths. They cannot be broken, unless the being the contract was forged with violates the contract or annuls it themselves.

Acatl then gives Sly a few moments to complete his notes before giving him the go ahead to ask his questions give how impatient his swishing and twitching tails made him seem.

"What does that mean for me? I mean, you said I was a half-spirit. To what degree do the axioms apply to me and which ones are specific to kitsune?"

Acatl smiles at him with a nod. "Good; you're asking the most important question first. The spirit tier works in conjunction to your adventurer level and will elevate your magic slightly beyond what other mages at your level would be capable of. As a tier 2 spirit you have slightly denser mana than other mages, which will make your spells slightly stronger and every spell you cast more stable in comparison to other mages. This reduces the chance of Ignis Fatuus once your control is high enough.

However, the second rule does not apply to you since you already are a resident of this layer of Genkai!"

Sly swishes his tails in excitement, while quickly asking, "So I will have all my power in both realms! Incredible, but what is the drawback?"

Acatl ruffles her wings into a more comfortable position. "You are also bound by the rules of both worlds. Unlike other spirits you can be perceived by mortals. Your falna can potentially be disabled, robbing your strength as an adventurer. The most important change, however, is that you are now bound by your word. Not during normal conversations or your daily life, but once you promise something or even swear an oath, it will be binding.

How much a broken vow will affect you will depend on the oath and the recipient. A promise with a mortal child neither side was aware of might just weaken you slightly for a few hours. The highest contracts are those made with gods. Please never break a contract made with a god. The cost will almost never be worth it. Be it becoming a slave of the god, or even losing all your strength or even death. All are possible costs."

The last words cause Sly to observe Acatl warily and curl his ears back. "Are there any contracts I should be aware of?"

These words cause Acatl to laugh loudly answering. "Of course there are. You have made two. One with Takemikazuchi, as one of his children and another as my student." Seeing the worry in Sly's face Acatl laughs even more. "It's nothing to fret about my student. Do not betray either of us and you will be fine. The contract goes both ways and guarantees that you can always come to me for aid. However, never try messing with your falna without Take's consent, nor teach others what I have shown you without mine. Those are the only two conditions that effect you."

With that scare out of the way Sly asked, "What are the rules unique to kitsune?"

Tossing around the sphere of wind from one hand to the other, Acatl answers slowly, "Kitsune usually act as guardian spirits and stem most of their magic from the thing they protect and their will to protect it. As such, from what I remember about the last kitsune who were alive, they had 3 additional axioms.

First, kitsune feel emotions to a heightened degree. This makes any bond they have willingly formed with another being last eternally and causes some to go to incredible lengths for their family.

Following from the first axiom I have an observation that happened in the past. One of my mages observed it around 600 years ago in the Far East. A renard by the name of Yōko rose to the rank of a kitsune and had a total of three tails, before something tragic happened to her familia.

While Yōko was out helping in her territory, an Evilus familia targeted her familia. They were tortured and the women abused, and upon her return she broke. She fought against all the remaining Evilus members in her familia home, even after her deity was killed she did not stop, as she had risen in the spiritual tiers and did not rely solely on falna.

Without regard for her health, she took many blows to defeat her enemies. The further she pushed herself the more demonic her features became, and, in the end, she only stopped upon strangling Keres the deity behind the attack with the goddess's own hands.

Her transition from a benign spirit to a spirit of malice happened fast, far too fast for her to think clearly. She broke her spiritual duties as a guardian spirit and I assume she broke some of her promises when she killed the Keres familia. Without falna and only her spiritual nature to back on, the cost of breaking the spiritual tenets was too high. The moment the Keres familia was no more, Yoko stopped dead in her tracks and with tears in her eyes, her body was lit alight in her own foxfire; a purging for the sin of breaking her oaths and nature."

Acatl directs a glare at him. "What happened to her should be a warning for you. Never lose yourself to your rage, or you might suffer a similar fate. This leads me to one of my conclusions concerning kitsune. They can be corrupted by their own emotions, if all they feel is hatred and wrath, they slowly transform into malicious spirits. If the condition isn't fought with rituals or by the spirit itself, they may even become demonic. They lose all normal reason, with their only remaining drive being revenge."

At these ominous words and the tragic fate that befell Yōko Sly can't help a cold shiver beginning from his spine to the very tips of his tails. 'I must watch my emotions in that case. Hatred and wrath... I have lived with them lingering in the back of my mind for years be it in response to bullies, nobles or even my family! The one time I gave in to them made me so lost in my actions that even today it is little more than a blur and lost me my home…'

"If Yōko started as a renard like me, are there other half-spirits in the form of kitsune?"

Acatl has to think for a few moments as she manipulates the wind sphere. "There should not be many, even in the timeframe we gods look at. From what I remember, there were very few cases of mortal kitsune… At most, 3 or 4 since we gods descended. The greater spirit kitsune are even rarer and I haven't seen one for at least a thousand years since the first greater spirit fell to the claws of a monster."

While disappointed with the answer Sly quickly moves back to the other axioms.

"On to the second and third axiom. I know less about them as I never closely interacted with kitsune and I rarely interacted with the Japanese pantheon before my descension.

The second axiom is as follows. As guardian spirits, kitsune can connect to a place and make it their holy ground. This gives them a closer connection to the mana and ley lines within, but also making their strength dependent on it.

The third is that kitsune cannot hide all of their traits. Kitsune which manifested in the first layer always had to carry some trait that distinguishes them from mortals. Like your tails you hide with illusions."

With his tails waving in excitement Sly exclaims, "Kitsune are guardian spirits, incredible! I can't wait to meet one! Are they the reason some old temples in the Far East have fox statues as guardians?"

Acatl shakes her head, but only answers his second question. "Yes, some were, others were more akin to forces of nature.

"What will be my role now that I am a half-spirit?"

Acatl tosses the sphere of wind and keeps it there with her magic control. "Thats for you to decide Nibi-kun. As a descendant of two noble renard, you are a child of the first layer of Genkai, but as a half-spirit you may explore the second layer in time. Now, that should be more than enough to satisfy your curiosity. You may take your first step into understanding spirits now."

Smiling brightly, Sly cannot hide his excitement. 'I can't wait to learn everything about spirits! There is an entirely different world I can explore more worthy of my exploration than this layer filled with nobles at every corner.' Acatl had just finished her words when suddenly the sphere of wind she has been throwing around implodes and out bursts a small wind fairy with an angry buzz.

Its appearance was reminiscent of a 10 centimeters tall young girl with blond hair dressed in faint green cloth and surrounded by wind reminiscent of Ais's Tempest. On her back she was carried by four translucent wings. They had a light green shade and the wind surrounding the fairy was the strongest around her wings.

Acatl laughs when she sees the fairy. "I used some runes to make this spirit visible to you Nibi-kun. I present to you a genuine spirit! A wind fairy who is a tier 2 spirit!"

Looking at the fairy with excitement, Sly exclaims, "A real spirit! Nice to meet you, my name is Sleipnir! What is your connection to Acatl-hakase?"

However, the fairy ignores Sly and focuses all her fury at the goddess. "How dare you!? You are a kami of wind, why would you abuse your power to bully a poor spirit!?"

Acatl just giggles and in one swift movement stands behind Sly and gives a wink at the spirit. "Now that would be telling! Nibi-kun, your first lesson with spirits is about calming this angry fairy. Have fun!"

The wind fairy used her explanation as time to prepare and began throwing out nets of wind, after murmuring a spell. The only word Sly got was Fujin before he had to jump out of the way of a large net made of wind and more importantly, before he can ask how to go about calming a spirit.

By the time Sly was back on his feet with both his tails prepared to shift his center of balance and dodge, Acatl had already teleported away. Staring slack-jawed at the place Acatl had been, Sly muttered a curse towards the mischievous deity before Sly refocused on the fairy.

'Well, this is off to a great start! WHY DO I HAVE TO LEARN LIKE THIS HAKASE!?' Sly immediately puts up his hands towards the fairy and exclaims, "Wait! Please calm down wind fairy! I mean you no harm!"

"You think I would believe your words when the evil goddess uses you to continue her games?! Take this! And that! And THIS!" The fairy called on while releasing multiple nets of wind and almost catching Sly with the last one.

Sly grimaced; this was not how he wanted his first interaction with a spirit to go! 'Just talking my way out doesn't appear to be an option!' Sly began blocking her spells with his foxfire, managing to cut through a few of the otherwise surprisingly sturdy nets of wind.

"Ha, you actually have some skill mortal! But it is not enough! You believe a weak fire spell can stand against my wind?! Stupid mortal, step back and let me show you real magic!"

The fairy increased the ferocity behind her attacks and began chaining multiple nets together to form larger nets with far fewer weak points; all the while, books flew from where they laid, and shelves toppled to the floor. Sly at one point even called out, "Wind fairy-san, as a half-spirit myself wouldn't it be more beneficial to talk calmly instead of fighting!?"

However, the tiny fairy just laughed at him. "That was your worst attempt at lying yet! Half-spirits are a myth and nothing more! I think you need more punishment puny mortal!"

Sly continued to try talking down the spirit for another ten minutes, until his patience ran out from being caught in one of the nets.

"I caught you, now you must look up to me silly mortal! Look up to me the great spirit Sylphie! Now tell me where did that goddess go!?"

While the small fairy continued taunting him Sly took a breath and with a slight glare warned, "Little fairy. I would advise you to stop, before I get serious."

Not getting how much trouble she is getting into, she smirks and retorts, "What do I have to fear mortal? You are caught!"

Sly in turn sighs before using all his mana control to coat himself completely in his fire and burn the wind net within moments. "You should have listened! Now it's MY turn little lightbulb! I'm a half-spirit and, with you being in the first layer, my mana is far denser than yours and WILL eclipse the power of your spell by a large margin!

Hiding trickster, oh cunning fox spirit, super aligning sounds, by the father of the eight-legged horse, I command thee to affect the judgement of reality - ILLUSIO!"

As soon as Sly finished his spell a radius of 10 meters around him became quiet. "Now little Lightbulb, how about you try casting your spells now?"

The fairy in question tried just that, but just blinks in surprise as her mouth opens with no words. After a few attempts she managed to conjure a small net of wind, but its strings were so thin that Sly could break through them with ease.

Smiling to himself, Sly debates what he should do now. One of his tails answers, whipping forward and catching the fairy in its grip. "Now, seeing as you are within my illusion domain and physically much weaker than even my tails, here's how this is gonna go.

I am going to release you from the effect of my illusion and allow you to speak. However, should you try chanting a spell I will silence you once more. Understood?" The fairy quickly nods, eyes wide.

"Very well lightbulb. Acatl, the evil goddess who captured you, also tricked me. Instead of acting responsibly like a deity should, she threw you, a powerful wind spirit, at me without teaching me how to interact with spirits. That's simply too rude, don't you agree?"

Sylphie warily observes Sly while wiggling against the tail holding her still. "Of course, Sleipnir-san! The evil deity has been very rude to us! Could you please let me out of your grip now?.." Sylphie asks while making puppy eyes at Sly.

However, Sly shakes his head. "Not yet. I thought this would be the perfect chance to make a simple contract. I will help you prank Acatl and in return you will follow me, helping me sense or see spirits, until we do so."

The fairy looks at Sly in contemplation. "Add that neither of us can betray the other for the duration of the contract."

The two of them look at one another intently for a few more seconds before nodding and Sly releases her. "In that case I agree to this contract." As soon as the words leave his mouth Sly sees the tail that held the fairy shining blue for a moment, before fading back.

The fairy also looks at the tail for a moment before turning back at him. "You actually are a half-spirit! Wow you guys are so rare, why didn't you tell me earlier?! Hehe! This will be lots of fun!"

Sly can only shake his head at the excitable fairy he now had as a companion. Walking out of I AM GANESHA, Sly turned his thoughts to the planning and preparation he needed to finish before heading into the dungeon to explore.

…

Acatl watches as Sly rushes out with a spring in his step and an energetic spirit in tow. 'Interesting. Instead of showing concern he is happy to be a half-spirit. Not even the restriction that comes with such a title seems to dim his enthusiasm, he even already used it to gain a spirit companion. Now that I think about it, even his soul seems to be slightly more stable.'

Near Valka's Crimson Chamber, Welf's Workshop – Welf POV

The pounding of metal echoes throughout the workshop as sweltering heat beats upon Welf. Fortunately, with his skill Veritas Burn, the heat barely registered on his mind as he continued to try and work a piece of Nosteel, a mineral from the Lower Floors, that one of his familia members discarded as scrap. He frowns slightly as the hot, white-orange mineral continues to sit there, resistant to his efforts to pound it into a flat billet for experimenting.

With a sudden scowl and grit teeth, Welf grips his hammer tightly and slams it upon the Nosteel with all his might causing a discordant ringing noise to echo throughout the chamber and his hand to go numb. The Nosteel isn't affected and sweat escapes from his bandana into his eyes. With a sigh Welf wipes his face with his sleeve and releases the Nosteel from his tongs.

'Even with the last status update I still can't mold Nosteel even a celch… Does this mean I'm stuck having to level up to make any more progress?'

Welf grabs the cooling Nosteel from the anvil with a slight wince and places it to the side along with a few other scraps of metal he has lying in a pile. He walks over to his workbench and eyes something while using his bandana to wipe more sweat from his face and neck; on the workbench is a copy of his latest update.

Welf Crozzo Alias: ? Race: Human

Level 1 (+)

Strength: A 840 – A 878

Endurance: B 718 – B 766

Dexterity: A 859 – S 901

Agility: C 678 – C 691

Magic: H 158 – G 211

Development Abilities:

Magic:

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

Burn, dark magics - Will-o-Wisp

Skills:

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

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

3. Spirit Touched: The bearer of this skill has garnered the respect or attention of spirits. Excelia gain is increased based upon the spirits gravitating to them, but may also be hindered should the bearer fall out of grace with spirits or attract malicious spirits.

'I can kinda understand why Hephaestus-sama is worried. This rate of growth and gaining of skills is very strange… But I assured her that neither the Take Familia nor Take-sama himself are doing anything suspect or illegal! They aren't like that. Still, these skills have me worried…'

Welf runs a finger across the two lines with Veritas Burn and Spirit Touched; he narrows his eyes looking to the line before them.

'It's almost like it is inescapable… I left so I could become a blacksmith without creating another magic sword. And yet, away from Rakia and the Crozzos for 4 years, my ability to create more has only grown…'

Welf takes a seat and lets his head roll back, looking at the ceiling as a memory of a tall woman with black hair that reached her waist crosses his mind. 'Phobos…. I'm starting to wonder if these skills are remnants of your Falna. Enhancing my abilities, making the fallout of any mistakes so much worse with all the added potential.' Welf then puts an arm over his eyes and grimaces. 'They feel like distractions, keeping me from focusing on making truly dependable weapons.'

He pulls his arm away and looks to a corner where 9 golden feathers and one last irregular lizard scale are hidden beneath some scraps of orc leather and some other drop items. 'Even though Sly and the others are the reason for those skills, they bring focus. They don't ask for magic swords and they didn't even ask after my family name; they only asked me to make the best weapons and armor I can. Soon we'll be heading into the heart of the Middle Floors and we'll need better weapons and armor… Can I deliver?'

He then frowns, reflecting on Sly's words earlier. 'And what's going on with Sly? A prophecy about falling? He seemed pretty shaken by it…' Shaking his head, Welf put his bandana back on and picked up his hammer. 'Oh well, I better get back to work so I can bring him everything he asked for.'

Martial Dojo - Chigusa POV

Today was the day they would take their first descent into the Middle Floors. Chigusa had prepared extensively and now had two quivers on her back, both filled to the brim with 100 arrows each. Welf was gracious enough to make them heavier and much sturdier. He mentioned using the carapace of hard armored to create a new alloy for her arrows, as they were the hardest drops items they found till now.

The second quiver was filled with fire arrows for her use. She still required a flame to light them, but with Sly in their party that was no problem. Chigusa even prepared a few flasks of oil, for fighting retreats.

Sly returned around 10 AM and Chigusa saw how he rushed home with his simple illusion and seeming lost in thought, carrying a few red cloaks with him. "Welcome back Sly. What have you brought with you?"

He only offered a small smile before explaining. "Salamander wool cloaks for all of us. Misha told me to return to her before our first descent into the Middle Floors. They are a safety requirement of the guild every adventurer should carry in the Middle Floors since they are flame resistant."

Chigusa smiles and quickly takes one of the cloaks and cloaks herself within, while seeing Sly already wear one of the red cloaks above his normal cloak. It even already had the small hole he always used to let his tails slip out of his robe mid-battle. "How do I look?"

She even checked her own outfit in their pond. Her orc leather armor combined with the metal plates she wore that Welf made for her were now hidden beneath the red cloak. On her right side both quivers were sitting ready for a quick draw and the only missing piece was her Yoru Yumi and shortbow.

Sly looked her over with twitching ears, before glancing up towards the sun. "You look as well prepared as always sister. Let's collect the rest of our familia, I visited Welf and he should be on his way any minute. He is excited to mine the high silver that begins appearing in the middle floors and the new drops."

Chigusa walks beside Sly back into their Dojo, where Ouka is busy perfecting his shield stance. While Mikoto is practicing with two katanas, intent on learning a technique Take had shared with her since she gained the Ambidextrous skill.

She then called. "Sly is back. Ouka-san is everything ready?"

Ouka finishes the kata he was in and then answered. "Yes, I already prepared everything. The only thing left is Asuka; she has been stuck in her room since morning training finished. Another potion no doubt."

Ouka turns to Sly and blinks seeing all the cloaks in his arms. "Hey… Sly what are those cloaks?"

Sly's tails swish behind him as he smiles to Ouka. "These are salamander wool cloaks. We'll need them for the Middle Floors for their fire resistance properties."

Ouka blinks. "Uhhh….Sly-kun those are very expensive. As in, tens of thousands of valis a piece. How did you get them?"

Sly's tails suddenly still. "Oh! Uhhh….I got them from Flott-san! She told me to return to her before our first descent into the Middle Floors and gave them to me!" 'Ahh…I didn't account for Ouka knowing the price… but I can't tell them about the golden egg.'

Ouka's eyebrow raises at this. "Hooo? That's quite the gift our advisor gave you then Sly!" A grin grows across Ouka's face. "So? What exactly did you have to do for her Sly hmmmm?"

Sly blinks. "Eh? I just helped her in her office for a couple hours." He cocks his head while his tails sway behind him. "Why do you ask Ouka-san?"

Ouka puts a hand to his chin, his grin growing. "Well, it's quite the gift ya know? And you're still being so formal calling her san after working soooo long with her and in private too! Come on, that's no way to treat someone who treats you so well and who you work so well with in private!"

At his words Mikoto's eyes widen some and then frowns focusing on Sly whilst Chigusa looks between Sly and Ouka before her eyes widen in realization.

Sly then sighs and shakes his head at Ouka as his tails flail in annoyance. "Ouka-san, you are always so laid back and informal! Flott-san is an advisor of the Guild and doing her due diligence by helping us out it is only right that I maintain formality with her!"

…

'Ah…he doesn't get it…' Both Mikoto and Chigusa think at the same time.

As Sly walks over to and gives cloaks to Ouka and Mikoto, Chigusa sees just a tiny frown marring his face when he looks at Ouka. She quickly glances at his tails and sees they are restless as well. 'Brother is bothered by something again… Hopefully Acatl hasn't forced him to practice Concurrent Chanting while being hit with her spells again to keep him on his toes and prevent Ignis Fatuus. That exercise sounds evil! Let's cheer him up a little.'

"Sly can you explain to me what we should expect in the Middle Floors again? I want to be as prepared as I can be."

Getting out of his concerns about his prophecy and status as a half-spirit Sly smiles when he glances at her while gesturing grandly with his hand and tails. "Of course, we need to be as prepared as we can get! The Middle Floors are much more dangerous than the Upper Floors."

Thus, they continued their preparation until Welf joined them, they dragged Asuka out of her room, and then entered the dungeon.

Dungeon Entrance to Floor 13 - Sleipnir POV

A few hours after learning of his new status Sly stands beside his family in front of the entrance of the 13th floor. The battles down to this floor were shockingly easy! Even a single small fireball of his could defeat orcs if he hit one of their weak spots. He really felt the increased potency of his magic since he raised his spirit tier. Speaking of spirits, the small wind fairy Sylphie had followed him into the dungeon.

Her spells weren't particularly powerful, but she made up for it with pure mana. She could cast her Fujin spell at least 50 times on the surface. However, the moment she entered the dungeon, she began feeling sick and her magic became far more exhausting for her. The dense dungeon mana around them was wearing her out by just remaining inside.

She quickly decided to sit upon Sly's head and only cast spells when absolutely necessary. She even remained quiet for most of the time since she sensed the wrongness all around them and saw the lingering spirits of death wandering the halls! This combined with ghosts that were slowly being disassembled by the corrosive dungeon mana made for a very disturbing environment to say the least. 'I hate this! Can't the half-spirit sense how wrong this place is!? And the ghosts! Ugh! Even though I hate them they don't deserve what's happening to them here… Hopefully the fox finishes his business here quickly and we can get back to the fun stuff!'

Besides Sly and the disgruntled fairy, both Ouka and Mikoto also contributed massively and allowed for quick progress. The party's level 1 members took down as many as they could, while they faced the brunt of the attacks.

Now, things would change. The Middle Floors were an entirely different beast compared to the Upper Floors. Here, the monsters are far more numerous and use group tactics more effectively. In addition, the traps the dungeon creates are more deadly and the stronger monsters were at least as tough as normal infant dragons. As the party leader Sly stepped forward to address his party.

"We have made it! In front of us are the Middle Floors. This section in front of us is called the Cave Labyrinth and encompasses the 13th to 17th floors. Monsters will be more numerous from here on out and the traps will be far more lethal. We need to be vigilant constantly and take it slow until we get a feeling for how strong the monsters are." During these words Sly looks at Mikoto, who returns his look with determination.

"The first layer of the middle floors is called the Cave Labyrinth, because there intertwining paths from the lower and higher floors. Chigusa and I both carry a guild made map of the Cave Labyrinth and I will be making my own map whenever we are out of combat to supplement the guild sponsored map. Stick together, protect our level 1 fighters, and we will return alive; this is all that matters at the end of the day!"

With his speech finished Sly took his position in the middle of the formation, where Welf congratulated him for his speech. He half listened to him, while trying to ignore the wind fairy on his head.

'I still need to decide who shall know my secret.' "Hey." 'I am half-spirit now. Who should I tell? "Hey!" 'Take, Chigusa, Welf and Asuka will learn about it once I catch them alone, but Ouka and Mikoto I am uncertain about. "Hey Sly!" 'Ouka might learn it when he makes it up to me for leaving me without a party. But Mikoto, as long as she carries her heart upon her sleeve and does not think about keeping things secret, she will be left in the dark. At least I have time, I'd rather think this through before telling them.'

"HEY SLY!" Sly's eyes twitched as he looked up to the blond-haired fairy pulling on his hair and looking down at him from his head. "Why are you continuing deeper!? Can't you feel it?! It sucks down here!"

Sly could only quietly murmur, trying to avoid the party's attention, "Because it's what's next." 'I really need to figure out a good way to communicate with her without tipping others off…'

"Ehhhh?! What do you mean it's what's next?! If you can just keep making decent money on higher floors why bother risking more deeper?!"

Sly just rolled his eyes and looked to the side examining the walls as they descended.

"HEY! ANSWER ME SLY!" Sylphie pouted while hitting her fists on his head. Asuka frowned with narrowed eyes. She sees his ears twitching strangely and decides to observe Sly more intently, something is distracting him in the dungeon.

The walls slowly changed while they descended down to the 13th floor. The air became humid, and the walls slowly turned into bluish and sometimes even black bedrock. Another change Sly almost forgot about was the natural mana within the dungeon. It became far denser, pushing against his very being just a tiny bit more and silencing Sylphie. 'The Dungeons Ire. So, this is what stops adventurers from getting to lower floors quickly. If they haven't built up a high enough resistance they will be weakened, at least we have been on the last floors long enough that it isn't overtly debilitating.'

Once on the 13th floor they then began exploring. They chose the first path where the walls pathed the way to quadratic stone blocks ranging from up to 10 meter high quaders to tiny quadratic cubes.

It took less than a minute for the first battle to begin. The monsters Sly noticed were small bipedal rabbits, Almiraj. Instead of only a small group they quickly saw that there were at least twenty of the small rabbits, all carrying small stone knifes or axes.

Sly quickly ordered Chigusa and Asuka to take position on one of the higher quaders, before Sly gave Chigusa the signal to start the battle. She began with a precise arrow that quickly pierced the skull of one of the rabbits, triggering the remainder to descend upon the party with speed akin to a high level 1.

Sly stepped beside Welf to help him as he was the only level 1 in direct range of the monsters. Meanwhile, both Ouka and Mikoto took the brunt of the attacks. Ouka used his shield and spear to whittle away at the monsters while Mikoto dodged between them, constantly taking down one after another to keep confusing them.

Welf managed to keep up with two rabbits until a third landed a strike on him, but before more could gang up on him Sly stepped beside him and started pushing the rabbits back with his daggers; this gave Welf the time to counter and defeat a few of the monsters as well.

All the while arrows and crossbow bolts rained from above. Some missed their mark as the rabbits were fast on their feet, but most hit.

After a minute the first battle was over, and they collected the magic stones. However, the next wave interrupted them. This time there was a group of 8 hellhounds. The black hounds capable of breathing fire were split into two groups. One group of 4 came from behind and the other from the front.

Hearing their advance, Sly sent Welf to back up Ouka and Mikoto while he rushed towards the back, to protect Chigusa and Asuka.

The first fire blast targeted the two archers, and they had to jump from their high ground. Chigusa countered with an arrow, but the thick hide of the hellhounds blocked most of the damage and forced her to back up behind Sly.

He stepped forward and had both his daggers at the ready, while flaring both his tails to block magical fire. The hellhounds saw his approach and 3 swarmed around him, while one headed for Chigusa and Asuka.

Sly had to let it pass, as two of the hellhounds to his front spewed forth their flames. With a little mana and his pyrokinesis, he quickly took control of the blasts and redirected them at the 3rd monster, crouching behind him.

The monster was not prepared for such an attack and was doused in the flames of his brethren. It took little damage, but while it was blinded, Sly used the chance to approach it, cross both his daggers, and behead the monster.

Turning back, he prepared to fight the other two while he heard Welf chant his spell, causing one of the monsters after Ouka to implode. On his side he also saw Asuka take out a new sword of hers and fight the monster, giving Chigusa the time to overdraw her bow and use her Pierce technique to land another killing blow.

One of his own opponents was forced to stumble, after Sylphie threw out her own wind magic, before slumping down on his head in exhaustion. "Take that you stupid mutt!"

Thus, the battles on the middle floor continued a little longer despite the fact that they remained in close proximity to the entrance. The main difference between the Middle Floor and Upper Floor Sly notices is that instead of meeting monsters as they advanced, the Middle Floor monsters came when you least expected it and were relentless.

This caused their level 1 members to exhaust themselves quickly. After only an hour Asuka began to lag behind and after another half hour Chigusa and Welf both lost their stamina. Even when drinking stamina potions, they could only help for a short while in these skirmishes.

They were all determined to continue, however after the second hour Sly called for a stop. They had already spent at least 6 hours in the dungeon, even the light crystals on the ceiling began to dim. Not to mention even he and Ouka were slowly running out of stamina. Mikoto appeared to be the only one who could keep going.

After the latest battle Sly is breathing heavily but called out to the party, "Ouka-san I believe this is enough for today. We entered the Middle Floors and have gained some experience against the monsters on the 13th floor. Tomorrow we can try to push further."

Ouka is also panting and leaning on his shield. "You're right Sleipnir. Asuka! How many more potions do we have?"

Asuka had been sitting out the last battle and was observing their surroundings. "A few more health potions, for Sly I still have 5 mana potions after the 2 he has taken today and only two more stamina potions."

Sly looks around the party and at the heavily panting Welf and Chigusa. "With all the magic stones we collected we can easily buy more potions Asuka. Miach-sama will be happy. Welf and Chigusa, both of you should drink the last stamina potions, then we can return."

Mikoto speaks up. "Can't we go a little further Sleipnir? I believe we can handle a few more battles."

He shakes his head in disagreement. "That would be dangerous. With all the monsters that have been harassing us it is likely that we would face more monsters than we can handle upon our return even with my illusions since the hellhounds use our scent to track us. That isn't even considering that there are more monsters in this section of the Middle Floors we haven't faced yet. We have yet to face the Dungeon's full strength."

Mikoto frowns, but takes the time to hear his reason. She grits her teeth and then gives a quick nod, before stepping to the front of their formation.

Seeing her agreeing, both Ouka and Sly breathe a sigh of relief. During their return they encounter a few more groups of monsters, but as they remained close to the entrance, got back without any major injury.

Sly's Dungeon Journal

Middle Floor: 13-15

Structure: From small passages to large rooms everything is possible. Square block of bedrock cover the borders to the walls and make good vantage points and hiding spots. The caverns in the Cave Labyrinth are interwoven and can sometimes lead to adjacent floors, without passing a staircase and there are vertical holes leading into deeper layers. Monster spawn rate increases drastically and continuous waves of monsters are to be expected.

Monsters:

Almiraj: A 1 foot high bipedal rabbit monster. They are the weakest monster on the middle floors, but appear in swarms. All of them carry weapons made from the dungeon, rarely even made out of dungeon ore and are withe furred with red eyes. They have a striking resemblance to my white haired human disguise.

Weak points: Head

Drop Items: Rarely drop their dungeon ore weapons

Value: 650 Valis

Hellhound: A black furred dog monster that can fire magic flames from its mouth. They hunt in packs, by following the scent of adventurers and can easily overwhelm unprotected level two adventurers with their fire breath. Fighting them smartly might result in friendly fire.

Weak points: Physical damage, slight resistance to magic

Drop Items: Crimson Bone

Value: 1000 Valis

Bad Bat: A dark-furred bat monster with sharp fangs and claws. Its most dangerous weapon is the sound waves emitted from its mouth. They are loud enough to disrupt the concentration of adventurers, but demi-humans beware! These beasts can incapacitate even the wariest unless they carry protection.

Weak points: Not durable but fast

Value: 200 valis

Author's Note

A chapter after only 2 weeks I must be spoiling you. Well, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and are ready for a few new characters to play with. Sylphie isn't the only one who is long overdue for an introduction.