Speaking with the Xenos was actually a lot more fun than I thought it would be. Each and every one of them were extremely friendly save Gros and his group. Veneficus was passionate about learning and was actually not that scary when you got to speaking with him. After speaking with the Xenos for a little longer than an hour, Lyd, Fels, Ray and I agreed that Ray would visit the surface under the protection of the Ganesha familia while Fels and I would start scouting out potential candidates to introduce to the Xenos. With our decisions made, I bid farewell to the Xenos and made my way back to the surface. The journey back was just as unpleasant as the journey to, but having a new student brought my mood up
The return trip was just as eerie as the descent. Magic was pooling at the walls, yet nothing came. Other than a few lone monsters, my trip to the surface was unobstructed. Once I got back to the top, I made my way to the Freya familia mansion in order to find someone who could escort me to the top of Babel. A cat person named Allen was the one who guided me.
Once inside Freya's room, I saw quite a few people. Freya in all of her beautify, Ottar standing off to the side, a dark elf sitting on one of the couches, and a quartet of near identical pallum. Quite the party, huh?
"Freya, would you care to go on a flight?" I asked. Freya stood and gestured for me to follow her as she made her way to the window. Following the goddess of beauty, I looked over the window and saw the evening sun bathing the city beneath it. It be a wonderful sight while flying.
"Fly!" I said, channeling the spell over Freya and myself. Freya didn't sit by and wait. As soon as the spell was cast she walked out of the window and began to float over the city elegantly. Before I could take off after her, I felt a hand grab my shoulder rather tightly.
Looking back I saw Allen was the one who grabbed me and he looked furious. "Don't think Freya cares about you just because she's doing this. And so help me if even a single hair on her head is out of place, I will skin you."
I was absolutely not expecting that response. He seemed cool on our walk over. Or rather it didn't seem like he was so openly antagonistic against me. "I have no ill will against Freya. I will return her unharmed."
Apparently that was good enough for him to get off my case and let go of my shoulder. Putting that unpleasant interaction behind me I flew out of the window after Freya. The two of us floated over the city hundreds of feet in the air. While the city was beautiful at night, it was even more breath taking in the evening glow.
"Matthew, there's something I wanted to speak to you about." Freya said suddenly as we flew across Orario. "What do you know about souls?"
Souls? That's a rather strange thing to ask a mortal. Even If she knew my magical profession had to do with souls, there wasn't anything I could say that she, as a goddess, wouldn't already know. "Souls are what we are. We as in mortals at least."
"That's not entirely wrong. A soul is the culmination of multiple mortal lifetimes. Once a mortal dies, their soul is sent to the higher realms to be cleansed before being sent back to the lower realm. You are who you are because of your memories and circumstance, the soul acts more like a guide than a strict set of rules." She explained. As interesting as it was to learn that about souls, I was confused about why Freya would bother to tell me. Unsure of how to respond I idlily floated over the city by her side.
"If the soul is just a guide, what happens if we live a radically different life than the last?" I asked. I don't know why that question popped up into my head. I had just wondered what would happen if a hero was reborn into the life of a destitute person. Would they remain a hero or would they become a street thug? I suppose that line of questioning was irrelevant to me. Unless I die young, I should eventually become immortal. I could potentially even extend my immortality to my familia. If memory served correctly, Clone wasn't something I could only use on myself.
"That is a very interesting question. Believe it or not that's the reason I wanted to speak to you about in the first place." She said. That was concerning. Could she see my soul? Did that have to do with how my brother said I was 'made'?
"You think I'm deviating from my soul's guideline?" I asked as we stared at the city below.
"Not so much that you're deviating from the guidelines, but rather you have two very different guidelines." She said looking at me with a disarming smile causing me to blush. This goddess of beauty was dangerous. Without Pride by my side I was at a very real risk of being charmed with an innocent smile while we floated above the city. It was even difficult to focus on the conversation at hand with her here.
"Two guidelines huh? Is that what happens when your past life was very different than the one you lead in the current?" I asked. I had a feeling that wasn't the case and it had something to do with the fact that a very powerful necromancer 'made' me.
"Not quite, at least not that I have seen before." She said. I called it. "Even if a soul changes over multiple lifetimes, it retains one solid color."
"Color?"
"It is something the gods can see once a soul returns to the divine realms." She explained. That was interesting to learn. Maybe I would be able to see a soul's color once I've learned Soul Jar.
"So if the soul's color is related to its guidelines, does that mean my soul has two colors?" I asked slightly concerned. I was starting to worry that father made me into some kind of soul Frankenstein. Did I have some other guy's soul in me? No, I'm still me. Even if I did have two souls, the culmination of those two would still culminate to make me. I think? That's a a really fucked up line of thinking actually. Hopefully there's some other explanation for that.
"You could say so. Your soul is odd. Its core is muddied and grey with gleaming shards of silver shining within as if it were trying to escape. Surrounding the core is a strange color. It is almost like a gold, but it it is darkened and rusted." She explained. I don't know what souls normally look like, but that doesn't sound good.
"Is it something I should worry about?" I asked causing Freya to giggle. Dangerously cute. I looked away from the goddess before I could be enraptured. If that had offended her, she gave no indication of it.
"It is your soul, a fundamental piece of who you are. It is nothing more to worry about than the color of your eyes." She explained. That did help calm me down. No need to worry about it if it was just part of who I am I suppose.
"Why tell me all of this?" I asked.
"I was curious. I wanted to see if you knew the reason behind your unique soul." She said truthfully. Well, even if she was so helpful by unveiling that information, I wasn't about to tell her that there was a good chance I was some sort of science experiment by my father.
"Sorry, but I can't give you much in that regard." I said truthfully. It wasn't a lie as I really didn't have a clue what 'father made you' could really mean. So cryptic. For all I knew 'He made you' just meant he had sex with my mom, even if that was a weird way of putting it.
"I was prepared for an answer like that, though it is disappointing none the less." She said with a cute pout.
"Was there anything else you wanted to speak about, or shall we enjoy the rest of our flight?" I asked.
"I like to think I've soaked in the view. It's starting to get chilly, so let's go back." She suggested. With that said the two of us flew back to the tower of Babel where Freya's familia was waiting in anticipation. I know that Allen didn't trust me, but with the exception of Ottar, the rest looked as if they hadn't seen Freya in weeks. Kind of like dogs.
"Well I think it would be best for me to head home for the night. Farewell Freya." I said before recasting Fly and simply making my way back home via air. When I had arrived home I heard cheering and general revelry.
"Matthew, glad to see you made it back safe." Bell said with a smile as I walked into the dining room.
"Hey Bell, what's with the merriment?" I asked as Gunther chanted a spell and I felt a wave of intoxication hit me. Man, he was feeling that too? Dwarves really are able to put down their booze.
"One of the groups was able to pin down and capture a jack bird. They earned themselves a million valis at the guild and wanted to use it for a celebration." He laughed. I remember Eina telling me about jack birds. A very rare monster that spawned on the upper levels and had a crazy speed stat. That they were able to coordinate and pin one down was quite impressive.
"That's great. I just went for a quick flight after I returned from the dungeon. Freya wanted to speak with me about something." I told him.
"What would Freya want to talk with you about?" Hestia asked, waltzing up behind me.
"Soul stuff. Apparently my soul is weird and she wanted to know if I knew why." I explained.
"Do you?"
"No I don't. Like I said earlier, soul stuff is advanced necromancy." I explained. "Anyways, I was hoping I could get my falna updated, it's been a while."
More than anything I was really just hoping I had unlocked the ability to cast sixth tier magic. Sixth tier was wen I would start to be able to learn the really fun stuff. If I was able to learn Soul Jar soon, I would be able to punch way above my weight class. Possession is a busted ability. I waited with eager anticipation as Hestia took me into one of the side rooms and sat upon my back. After a few minutes of her drawing on my back she handed me a piece of paper. My status update was slightly disappointing as my stats had hardly gone up at all given how long it had been, but I did have access to tier six spells and that's what I would spend the next few days studying now.
"Thanks Hestia." I said practically bounding out of the room and making way for my own. This was exciting. even if I wasn't able to decipher Soul Jar on the first try, the rest of the tier six spells should be quite fun. For once I found myself thankful that I had forgotten what spells could be learned at the higher levels. That would make it more exciting to learn what I now had access to.
Mathew M Mathers Lv 2
Strength I 24 - H 110
Defense I 67 - H 121
Dexterity I 23 - I 76
Agility I 10 - I 51
Magic H 132 - E 401
Skills
Arcane Spellcaster VIII - Rather than drawing from a pool of mind to cast spells, user expends spell slots. Ritual spells do not expend spell slots. Chants do not expend spell slots, functions as if Arcane Spellcaster is not in use
Available spell slots - I (5) II (4) III (3) IV (3) V (2) VI (1)
Spell slots recovered via long rest or study of spellbook.
Arcane Student VI - Ability to learn new spells up to tier VI through study of spellbook
Arcane Tradition Necromancy I - Necromancy comes naturally. Study of spellbook reveals necromancy spells quicker, ability to cast necromancy spells as if they were one tier lower.
Magic Sense - Ability to detect nearby sources of magic passively
Spells
Firebolt (cantrip), Light (cantrip), Mending (cantrip), Message (cantrip), Minor Illusion (cantrip), Toll the Dead (cantrip), Cause Fear (I), Crumbling Dead (I, ritual), Expeditious Retreat (I), False Life (I), Find Familiar (I, ritual), Ice Knife (I), Identify (I, ritual), Protection from Good and Evil (I), Shield (I), Sleep (I), Tasha's Hideous Laughter (I), Alter Self (II), Arcane Lock (II), Binding Ice (II), Continual Flame (II), Crown of Madness (II), Invisibility (II), Life Transference (II), Sightless/Soundless (II), Wither and Bloom (II), Animate Dead (III), Bestow Curse (III), Counterspell (III), Fireball (III), Fly (III), Glyph of Warding (III), Life Transference (III), Remove Curse (III), Spirit Shroud (III), Blight (IV), Ice Storm (IV), Secret Chest (IV), Cloudkill (V)
Command Hatred (V, chant, incomplete) "Old rivalries, bad blood, hated enemy, destined foe. Let rage flow through your veins, an endless sea of fire. You are mine, my wrath yours"
Bell Cranel Lv 3
Strength I 57 - H 143
Defense I 40 - H 101
Dexterity H 131 - G 287
Agility H 168 - F 312
Magic I 69 - H 154
Skills
Ultima Speranza: Greater growth as long as feelings persist
Spells
Booming Blade - "Let lightning strike my foe, true as blade"
Lightningbolt - "From darkened clouds, a flash of light. Blinding bolt a star at night. My heart beats as a drumming thunder. Dancing lights command the sky as rain and tears fall. Light of the gods burn the unworthy. Wrath of the gods Lightningbolt.
Hey, sorry for the shorter chapter this time. I'm bad at writing and had no idea how to transition to the next part of the story lmao.
JensenDaniels32: That's quite a few comments. Glad you've enjoyed the story so far. For your first two comments I want to say that I've heavily borrowed from the DnD magic system with some liberties taken and yeah, DnD spells get busted at the later levels. As for the relatively underdeveloped stats, I don't really like stories where MC is just Bell, but better. Not to say the stories are bad, but I wanted my MC and Bell to both be strong, but in different ways.
As for what's at the end of the dungeon, that's for the end of the story. The epilogue most likely.
Also Hestia wasn't really upset at Matthew for getting trapped on floor 18. She was just distressed from the news, not angry.
For the sake of my story I have decided that a persons falna isn't a magic Matthew can destroy. Think of it as if the falna is the magic of a god and Matthew is nowhere near strong enough to combat a gods magic. And the reason he couldn't use Soul Jar to take out the Ishtar familia was simply because he didn't know the spell at that time and he had a limited time to save Haruhime. Matthews spellbook is encrypted and it takes him time to decode the spells in his book. And even if I had given him the spell earlier, there would still be a problem using it against the Ishtar familia. Of course he could possess Phryne and beat every other member of the familia, but at some point he would have to return to his original body meaning that Phryne is now capable of attacking them again. So there would always be at least one member left after the spell was used.