A great beast loomed before her, exuding cold and calculating hatred. It stood as tall as the gargantuan trees that covered the world, and like those trees it was a creature of stone. A dragon, the firstborn of this world and more simply put; her enemy. The beast reared back and swung a clawed hand at her but she was already moving, sprinting at speeds she never thought possible. The armor she wore weighed nothing, and the spear in her hand was more of an extension of her body than an actual weapon. She slid under the attack before whipping her cross-spear up in a curve, cutting off the dragon's hand. The beast roared in pain and anger before spreading its wings, but as it lifted into the air she leapt farther than she ever had before. Lightning crackled around her spear as she landing on the beast's thigh, and using the stone appendage like a springboard she performed a vertical leap which sent her rocketing towards the dragon's head. At the apex of her jump she swung her spear around, and letting gravity take hold of her once again she brought her weapon down onto the beast's head in an explosion of lightning. Cracks formed as her blade buried itself to the crossguard with thunder echoing her attack. She watched life fade from the beast's eyes and leapt off as gravity took its hold on both of them.

The once great beast fell to the ground in an explosion of debris and dust, and soon after she landed in a crouch. Standing up she walked forward, eyes roaming over the sea of silver-adorned knights before her gaze landed on four individuals in particular. A woman stood a bit shorter than she was, holding two daggers and wearing an ornate set of armor and robes. A man stood around her height , holding a greatsword and shield and wearing a somewhat jagged set of armor with a blue hood. A towering giant with a bow many times her size took aim before felling another beast with a single arrow. And in front of all of them was a man that stood twice her height, wearing a mix of robes and armor with a crown atop his head. As more of the stone dragons flew towards them the man at the front held his hand aloft, forming a massive spear of sunlit lightning. All around them the silver knights formed their own before their lord started the barrage. She watched all of it dispassionately, before finally she readied her spear alongside her fellow knights. The dragons that had not been felled by the lightning bolts were within her range, and the dragonslayer fought once again.

Artoria gasped as she woke up, heart hammering in her chest. It took a significant amount of time to convince her fight-or-flight that she was safe and not in the middle of a war. Thankfully though her heart slowed enough that she was comfortable sitting up, letting her sheets pool around her waist. Somewhat shakily she rubbed the sleep from her eyes before looking around, if only to further convince herself that she was safe. She was in her room at the Twilight Manor, her father's armor proudly gleaming on an armor stand across from her bed. The morning's light wasn't creeping in yet, and looking outside she saw that a small amount of light was coming from the dawn's sky. The sun itself was rising, but it wasn't quite above the walls of Orario. Unfortunately she wouldn't be going back to sleep anytime soon…

Ever since she had joined the Loki Familia and received her skill she had been having periodic dreams, usually once or twice a month but this was the third. If that meant anything she had no idea, but it wouldn't do to dwell too hard on it. These dreams were as clear as her own memories, but she lost the details by the second until it turned into a massive jumble of images that didn't make sense. She knew that the person in the dreams wasn't her, and that it was most likely her father, but she didn't have any context. For as much as she knew about her father there were two more mysteries that he kept close to his chest. Grabbing the notebook underneath her pillow she jotted down everything she remembered with exquisite detail. By the end of her second page the dream was gone, and all that remained of it was the chaos of battle and the tingle of static and lightning. After the third dream she brought it to Riveria's and Loki's attention, but their advice was much of the same. 'Don't dwell on them, but write as much down about them as possible.' Every bit of her dreams was another scrap of paper that put together the tapestry of her father's life. She knew it had something to do with her skill, but what exactly that was hadn't been revealed yet. One possibility was the skills and moves that she saw her father perform, but she didn't have the strength or speed to copy them. Her father was in a league of his own, one far beyond anyone in Orario. Her eyes drifted to her father's armor, still unworn. Soon after she joined the Familia Finn had talked to her about it, and he brought up a point that she unfortunately agreed with. Her father's spear was powerful, and unless they had it examined it was a complete unknown when it came to its traits and material. Her armor was much of the same, and until she hit level three Finn had recommended that she forgo wearing it. Being given something so powerful out of the gate would only stunt her growth. Everything would be too easy, which meant the amount of Excelia she gained per dungeon dive would plummet. Gain without growth would take away from both, so until she hit a certain criteria she was wearing a set of finely crafted leather armor with metal plates on certain areas.

The sole exception to this rule was her father's spear. It was a spear, obviously, but it was also something unique to Orario. It was a hybrid weapon. It came with a unique way of fighting that blended the slashes and thrusts of a sword and spear. And while she could probably pick up the separate weapons easily, Finn had decided that it would be more beneficial to hone and further improve what she was already experienced in. That line of thinking definitely paid off, because both in the dungeon and outside of it Artoria was a dangerous opponent to whoever she fought against. Having trained herself since she could hold a weapon, she was a step above her fellow level one's. Even some level two's were cautious when sparring, but she held no delusions as to why. She was considered a prodigy, but if she were to fight a level two in a fight to the death she would lose wholesale. No, the reason why she gave most of her opponents pause was her fighting style, and the way she utilized her father's spear. There was an unwritten rule of nature when fighting other people: no matter how unique they were, their weapons would dictate the way they fight. No matter how much they set themselves apart, a swordsman couldn't fight like he was using a club. Patterns would always be there.

But a cross-spear? Her weapon caught people off guard. She could switch between swordplay, spearplay, and she could even use it like a staff if she tried hard enough. And because of the way she fought she could switch up her fighting style at will. A thrust could pivot into a slash with a simple change of her hand placement. All of this was made easy by the oversized proportions of her weapon. Hell, if she were to remove the bladed portion of her weapon along with its hilt she could use it as a sword! She had near-unparalleled reach, thrusting power, and slashing ability, but if she was careless her weapon's size would be her downfall. One particular spar with Ais proved that. The blonde had taken all of two or so minutes before she managed to slip inside of Artoria's guard and end the fight. As soon as Ais made it inside of her guard there wasn't anything she could do. Still though, considering who her opponent was, she thought she made a good showing of herself!

Artoria blinked as a sunbeam blinded her. In her musing the sun has breached the city's wall and was starting to shine over the city. With that she pulled some of her hair in front of her face. She bit the inside of her cheek as she rubbed the fiery strands between her fingers. A shower wouldn't be a bad idea, but… Her emerald eyes found her window again. Honestly she was either the first one awake or one of the first, which meant that she could get in some training before hitting the showers. After that? Who knew what the day had in store?

Lefiya hummed to herself as she meandered through the Twilight Manor's halls. It was a wordless tune that she didn't know the origin of, it could've been from her home or just from a tavern. It didn't matter, it was a light and pleasant thing that put a skip in her step. Today was going to be great, so why wouldn't she hum something like that? Her studies under Riveria had been going well, so well in fact that the vice-captain had granted her the day off! She had considered going on a Dungeon dive, but when she went to bed the previous night she had an idea! With how busy she was, and how often Artoria was occupied with something, the two friends had barely said a word to each other for weeks now! Other than passing greetings or brief conversations they just… hadn't done anything! Well, she was changing that today. She was going to find the redheaded spearwoman and they were gonna have a day out on the town!

Resolute in her plan the elf picked up her pace but stopped when she heard… singing? Her ears twitched as she tried to focus, and… she heard it again. It wasn't a song or even a tune, but it had that flow to it that songs tend to have. Following the noise she idly noted that she was heading towards the Twilight Manor's training grounds, but who could be up at this hour? The singing got louder and louder until the elf turned the corner, and when her eyes found the field's sole occupant everything went still. There, in the middle of the field, was Artoria. She wasn't standing still though, she was dancing. It wasn't a ball dance or even a tavern dance though, no, the redheaded was fighting an imaginary battle with her oversized spear. Her eyes were closed, face pulled into a serene expression as she flowed around her invisible opponents. Each move and strike flowed perfectly into some pirouette or twirl before she would pivot and strafe to reposition. There wasn't a single wasted movement, she never overextended or lost her balance, she was perfectly in tune with her weapon. If there was ever a physical representation of a weapon being an extension of someone's body, this was it. Sweat flung off of her bare arms with the more violent motions, illuminated in the morning sun's rays while her ponytail swung behind her like a trail of fire. She noted that it was almost at Artoria's waist now, meaning that it was probably driving the woman crazy. Artoria backpedaled and brought her spear close to her chest, showing her corded muscle before she pivoted into a spin and thrusted her spear forward. Lefiya had only seen her friend completely bare once—on accident of course—and the singular word she would use as a descriptor would be Amazonian. Not the race of course, but rather her build. Artoria's training regime was absolutely hellish, but the results spoke for themselves. She, to the envy of most women regardless of build, probably didn't have an ounce of body fat.

She was broken from her thoughts as the redhead swung her spear in a wide sweep, and her eyes widened in realization. It was the spear! Artoria's spear was singing the tune that the woman danced to. She had always jokingly said that the spear had a personality, but this was the first time that the elf was actually seeing it. Lefiya continued to watch her friend flow around her imaginary fight, seemingly tireless, with only the sun acting as a measure of time. Finally though, after a final thrust of her spear the song came to an end and Artoria let out a deep breath. Spear at her side and back straight she finally opened her eyes, green orbs wincing from the sudden brightness. Almost immediately her gaze found the still spellbound Lefiya and her face lit up in a grin.

"Oh hey! Long time no see, how long have you been standing there?" Artoria flipped her spear and planted the blade into the dirt, leaning against it.

Lefiya blinked before shaking her head out of the illusion. "I just got here," she lied. "Hey are you doing anything today?"

"Hm? No, I don't think so. I woke up early and decided to get some training in. Kinda zoned out there, the sun wasn't nearly this high when I started." Lefiya did a mental leap for joy. This was perfect!

"Then do you want to go out and about with me today?! It's been forever since we've done anything!" She clasped her hands in front of her, barely holding herself back from actually leaping for joy.

"Sure, why not? I just—"

Lefiya cut her off, "this is great! We can go shopping, and then we can go to the one confectionery we went to last tine, and then!—" But before she could continue the redhead gently shook her shoulders, a smile tugging at her lips.

"Slow down there, We can't go anywhere yet."

"Huh? Why not?" Lefiya pouted.

Artoria arched an eyebrow before gesturing to herself. "Look at me. I'm sweaty and gross, at least let me clean up a bit before we go galivanting across half of Orario."

With the reminder Lefiya went crimson from embarrassment. "R-right. That makes sense." Her friend just smiled fondly before giving the elf a brief headpat.

"Don't worry about it, I'm as excited as you are!"

"What about this one?"

"Hm…" The dress Lefiya held up was a pretty dark green piece with golden trim, it wasn't overly showy or gaudy but… "Nope."

"Come on!" Lefiya whined, "that's the fourth one you've turned down!" With a sigh the elf returned it to the wall before following Artoria through the store. They'd been here for about an hour picking out and trying on different things and the results spoke for themselves. Lefiya had snagged a few dresses and other items, and Artoria had choses… "You haven't even picked anything yet."

"Hehe, what can I say? I grew up on a farm, dresses aren't my style." Her parents had drilled 'practicality over fashion' into her since day one. Dresses were ok, but by the end of the day she'd always be covered in dirt and mud. Shirts, tunics, and trousers were always easier to clean. That translated to now as well. Her closet was mostly empty with maybe a few sets of casualwear and her leather armor. She just… didn't see the point. Why buy something she wasn't ever going to wear? When she turned around however…

"Please don't do that…" the redhead begged. Lefiya had apparently had enough, and was employing the deadliest trick she had in her arsenal. Two big baby blue orbs watered as Lefiya's elfin ears drooped. Her face was pulled into a frown as she stared sadly as Artoria. It was fake, of course, but her heart clenched painfully nonetheless. Mentally she wasn't tricked, but biologically she was responding as if she was causing that pain her friend felt. "Lefiya…" she groaned.

That frown only intensified until finally Artoria broke. "Fine! Fine, we'll get that green dress…" Immediately Lefiya's face pulled into an elated grin and she skipped away to grab the dress.

"You're gonna look so good in it!~" Lefiya sang, practically shoving Artoria into the shop's changing room. Before she could even get a word in the door closed in her face. The redhead sighed before holding the green dress up to inspect it. It really was pretty, but she doubted she would look that good in it… With a click of her tongue she pulled her clothes off before folding them and replacing them with the dress. It hugged her body without being too tight and without revealing too much, cutting off a bit below her collarbone and just beneath her shoulder blades. Looking in the mirror she frowned, because there was one outstanding issue. Lifting her arms up she watched the ends of the sleeves dangle a good foot from her hands. Either the person this was meant for had longer arms than she did, or it was designed to be adjusted… Nonetheless… She waved her arms fruitlessly before sighing. What a pain…

Outside Lefiya perked up when she heard the door open. Turning around the words she had prepared died in her throat. Artoria stepped out of the changing room looking decidedly unhappy, but other than that, "you look incredible!" she exclaimed. Her friend filled out the dress perfectly and the deep green color went with her fiery hair perfectly. But most of all her hair was actually down for once. Artoria quirked a brow questioningly before raising her hands.

"I look like a child," she whined, swinging her sleeves uselessly.

"We can get it adjusted! I've made up my mind; we're getting this." Lefiya crossed her arms, causing a small smile to tug at Artoria's lips.

"Isn't this for me? Can I veto it?"

"Absolutely not!' Lefiya crossed her arms in an X shape, resolute in her decision.

Artoria's arms fell to her sides and she pouted. "You're so cruel… At least let me pick something out for you?" After a moment Lefiya nodded and after changing back into her shirt and trousers her friend disappeared behind a rack. Moments later she returned with a piece of dark pink fabric. "Here, hold still."

"What—" Lefiya froze as Artoria stepped right up to her and wrapped the pink article around her shoulders—a cape, she realized—before connecting it with a small broach. The cape went to her biceps and upper back but didn't constrict her movement at all. Being this close, Lefiya's senses were overwhelmed with the scent of… smoke? But not bad smoke, it was like the smell you would get from a campfire or a bonfire on a cozy night. It wasn't good or bad, but it was decidedly 'Artoria'... Lefiya liked it, she decided. Her friend flared up the collar and after inspecting it she stepped back.

'Does it look good' was what Lefiya wanted to say, but "You smell like a campfire," came out instead. Artoria gave her a quizzical and amused smile before Lefiya realized what she just said. "W-Wait that came out wrong, uh- I mean—"

Artoria started laughing, cutting the poor elf off from her prattling. "Nah, don't worry about it. You hit the head on the nail, no matter what I do I always smell like a bonfire," she shrugged. "Dad was the same way, no one knows why. If you're wondering at all, when I showered I used lavender shampoo, but no dice."

"It's not bad," Lefiya muttered aloud. Artoria tilted her head and gave her an odd smile.

"Thanks," she eventually said. "Now I think you said something about sweets?"

The two friends stopped by the Hostess to grab a quick lunch before going to the confectionery Lefiya mentioned. It was a charming little place called 'Journey's End,' that was run by a peppy and upbeat amazon. Everything in the shop was themed to one pantheon or another, with one of Artoria's choices being Celtic knot shaped licorice and mints carved to the shapes of Corinthian columns. They didn't spend nearly as much time there as they did buying clothing, and after buying a little treat for other members of Loki Familia they decided to call it a day there. Lefiya had training later with Riveria and Artoria was hoping to maybe get a Dungeon Dive in before the day's end. All in all it was a very good day, but lady luck was a fickle mistress…

"Well well well, what do we have here? Two snakes caught outside the nest." Someone said from behind them. The two stopped, and when they turned around Artoria noticed the color drain from Lefiya's face. Narrowing her eyes she found two people staring at them, two men in leather and fur armor. Both had cruel smiles on their faces as they approached the two friends. Already Artoria noticed people giving them a wide berth, some whispering tentatively. She took in her surroundings as quickly as she could, something didn't feel right about this. Three alleyways were within sprinting distance, but she didn't know if they were dead ends or not. No Ganesha members were within sight. The two men approaching them were armed, one had a pair of swords and the other had a two-handed axe on his back. Neither Artoria or Lefiya were armed, and she had no idea what level these two were.

Artoria forced an easy smile on her face, "can we help you two gentlemen?" Both of their gaits were lazy and confident, like they had nothing to worry about. Unfortunately they probably didn't… unless she could maybe get her hands on one of their weapons…

"Ha! I dunno, can you help us?" One of them sneered.

"Artoria…" Lefiya whispered tensely. "Let's just leave…" The tone in her voice was nervous, and when she tried dragging her away Lefiya's hand was shaking. There was something she was missing… Wait, both members had a symbol on their collars…

"Right…" She muttered. Giving the two men a smile she let Lefiya tug her away, "sorry but we're in a bit of a hurry."

But before they could get very far one of them yanked Artoria back. "Now hold on a minute, we weren't finished yet~" When her vision stabilized she saw the symbol for what it was, and subsequently felt her heart sink. A hammer flanked by two lightning bolts… Thor Familia…

"I really think you should let go… Before I'm forced to do something we'll both regret…" She muttered lowly. Unfortunately the man only grinned.

"Now where's the fun in that?" He bit back, grip tightening. Bracing herself she noted that his stance wasn't the most stable. She could kick his leg out and snap his arm if he wasn't a level two…

"What's going on here?" A new voice interjected. All four of them tensed up and when Artoria found the newcomer her blood turned to ice. A mountain of a man with long dark hair and a full braided beard stared at all of them coldly. He wore scale and metal armor with completely bare arms covered in Norse tattoos, and a fur cape fell to his knees. But most distressingly was the ornate hammer resting on his hip. Magni, Thor Familia's Captain… Level Six…

"Boss…" The one holding her said before hastily letting go.

"Get your sorry asses out of here… We'll talk later," Magni growled. Both of them gave their frantic affirmatives before beating a hasty retreat. It didn't make her feel better… His cold gaze turned to her and to her credit she didn't flinch. "I hope the two of them didn't accost you ladies?"

"No… You stopped them before anything could happen." Her voice was smaller than she was used to. Magni stared at her for an uncomfortably long time before his arms fell from his chest. One of them rested idly on his hammer, tapping away. He was looking for something, and every second his gaze lingered on her she felt her composure weaken.

"Artoria, Lefiya…" A new and very familiar voice interjected. She almost sagged to her knees in response, Lefiya actually did. Tearing her gaze away from the mountain in front of her she found the amusingly smaller form of her own captain. He was giving Magni a hard look before he fixed the two of them with a smile. "Why don't you head back home?" It wasn't a question, it was an order. But considering the situation she was happy to follow it.

"Come on 'Fiya, let's get out of here…" Wrapping an arm around the terrified elf's shoulders she guided her down the street and away from danger. Each foot they moved way better than the last.

"When you get back, why don't you tell Loki about your day? She'd love to hear about it." Finn called out to them. It was another veiled order: Tell Loki about what just happened. "I'll be along in a bit." With the two girls gone and turned down a separate street The two captains looked coldly at each other.

"They seem like nice girls," Magni noted. "The redhead though? She's a special one."

Finn's fake smile found its way to his face effortlessly, despite the concerning claim. "Both of them are, I'm actually expecting them to level up soon. How's your brother?"

"Well," was the mountain man's simple response. "I'd be careful about them Braver, that redhead is special… Special enough that someone might break the Truce."

"Is that a threat?" Finn asked, his thumb throbbing suddenly.

"It's the truth," Magni stated. Without another word he turned and left, but not before he muttered just loud enough for Finn to hear, "It's a nice spear she has too. Familiar, wouldn't you say?" When he disappeared into the crowd, Finn dropped the smile.

Merry late Christmas and Happy New Year! This took way longer than I would've liked. This one's more for building the story up and the relationship between Lefiya and Artoria. And I know what it looks like, but I promise that it isn't. There is still no pairing decided, and it's up in the air if there's even going to be a pairing. Writing Lefiya is fun, and I was trying to keep as close to her character as possible. It might look like it, but this isn't Yuri Bait. Also we get our introduction to the first major plot point of this story! Thor Familia! I don't much to say about them right now, and a lot of background will be introduced next chapter, so you'll just have to wait and see~

Now for reviews.

Guest: I honestly didn't know that they had a chef. I'll either write her in or keep her out, but I'll do a bit of research to see if she's relevant enough or not.

EdoShadow: So… I am glad that you're enjoying my story so far, and I agree with some of your points. However I cannot guarantee that there won't be some exponential growth, but there is a reason for it. I won't spoil anything, but I have two things to say.

-One: Everything I write is for a reason, and I will not compromise my vision for this story to placate a few people.

-Two, I understand that you don't like Bell. You've made that clear. He isn't my favorite character either, but if every single of your comments is going to be saying how much you hate Bell it's going to get old very quickly.

Artoria may have exponential growth, but it WILL NOT be freely given. She will have to, and already is, working and training her ass off to get stronger. I'm sorry if it looks like I'm being negative towards you, that's not my intention. I just don't want to lead you along without being honest. Thank you for the reviews.

Oxygeninhaler: Looking back you're not wrong. Hope this chapter makes up for it! There'll be more of it in the future.

Moose3333: Not sure if this is bait or genuine. Your opinions are your own, but I'll probably just ignore your comments if they follow a familiar tune.

Lockhardt: I'm glad you're enjoying it! Fight scenes are honestly really hard for me, and there's definitely a lot planned going forward.

Guest: Please do not incite arguments in my reviews : )

His reasons are his own and though I've never had to do it yet I'll deal with problems if they arise. Thank you for reviewing regardless, I hope you're enjoying it!

Xx-Madara-x:

Usando Google Translate, así que perdóname. ¡Me alegro que lo estés disfrutando! Hay mucho más que he planeado y no irá a ninguna parte pronto.

Using Google Translate so forgive me. I'm glad you're enjoying it! There's a lot more that I have planned and it's not going anywhere anytime soon.

Know that regardless of how I come across I am thankful to every review I receive. (Obviously that isn't an invitation to insult me just because I said that) You guys are the reason I keep writing.

Next in the Rotation: Mariana, The Abyssal Hero!

See you guys soon!~