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: "So how will we be pranking Acatl?"

Thoughts: 'I have a great plan. She will be expecting magic, but what she won't expect…'

Magic: "Paint in her Shampoo!"

Screaming/Demonic Voice: "Why are my scales blue! And what have you done to my wings my beautiful wings. Now you've done it I'm getting Take for a joint lesson!"

Chapter 16 Light Descending the Dark

Martial Dojo - Sleipnir POV

After their first delve into the Middle Floors they returned successfully, bringing larger magic stones, and gaining more valis than Asuka had to spend for their potions. Their equipment was slightly damaged, but Welf quickly agreed to look it over and mend the dents and holes they might have gotten.

For Sly, the evening was used to go over his notes on the rules that apply to spirits and consult with Sylphie till late in the night. Sly even prepared a bed for the small fairy to rest in. With her size and her preference for being close to nature and natural wind, Sylphie got a small bed beside the dungeon vervain, on the windowsill. To call it a bed would be a little farfetched though; finding a bed for a 0.1 meter tall fairy is difficult.

They had to improvise a little using a cushion as a mattress and a bamboo basket Sly took from their kitchen while nobody was looking. They added on with a thin cotton fabric as a blanket and the fairy had all she needed.

Sly also discovered a few interesting snippets about spirits during their hunt for a bed. For one, Sylphie had a far lower temperature than humans; her body temperature was at most around 20 degrees. Perfect for a spirit residing and manipulating winds and weather.

As for nourishment, she only needed little in the form of food. Most of her energy came from nature and as long as she guided weather, her energy would remain high. However, this did not stop her from bugging Sly for more.

"Hey Sly, can you make another vervaine tea? Please?"

Sly can only shake his head in exasperation as they just drank an entire teapot, which was not uncommon for him during his calm evenings, but Sylphie had drank as much as him! "How can you even drink so much Sylphie? It should be physically impossible!"

Sylphie who is sitting in the middle of his dungeon vervaine just shrugs. "My body metabolizes pretty fast and this tea has a very high mana density. I already restored my mana reserve by as much as resting for an entire evening from drinking a few cups. So can you make another tea with your fire thingy?"

Sly sighs. "Unfortunately, no. I can only use so much of my vervain for tea every day. We already hit the limit. If we take more there will be nothing left for Asuka to use, and we will have to wait a few days before we can drink more."

Sylphie looks at the leaves in sadness. "That awful… Can't we add a few more spiritual herbs to your room Sly?"

"I can't say for certain, but we would need to find one in the dungeon. It's unlikely my familia will just accept me coming home with an expensive plant after I gave them the salamander wool cloaks earlier. Take knows about me selling the golden egg, but the others do not. Besides, we will probably need the 500'000 valis leftover from the egg to serve as an emergency fund and for more gear, so I can't use that."

Sylphie looks at him in earnest, trying to follow his words. "So, we need to explore the pit full of spirits of death and dangerous mana to get more… If that's the case count me in! I shall do it for the tea!"

Sly laughs lightly at her words with a bright smile. 'I've only had her around for a day and she's already past my walls. She knows I'm a half-spirit so there is little I really need to hide from her. She can't even tell other adventurers about my abilities because she is a spirit. Sylphie is also quite energetic and childish for a spirit, but her earnest nature makes her very likeable. Let's see what prank she wants to pull on Acatl. She might even try one on Take that will be amusing to watch.'

Now a frown mars his face. "Take already saw you at dinner… We will likely need to tell him about you tomorrow… And about me…" Quickly changing the subject Sly says. "Let's go to bed. Its already late enough and we have plans to make tomorrow."

'How will my new status affect my position in the Takemikazuchi familia? How will Take react? He can't be as bad as my family, right? …'

With such thoughts plaguing his mind, Sly falls asleep only to be greeted with nightmares of his first family and his treatment at the hands of the head of his old family.

Midnight - Martial Dojo – Mikoto POV

With silent steps, darting from shadow to shadow, a figure of 157 cm height descends the 2nd floor of the Martial Dojo residence and exits out onto the wooden flooring of the outside porch. Mikoto looks over her shoulder, back into the Martial Dojo; seeing no one following she closes the door quietly and takes a deep breath.

She opens her eyes and examines the small pond as some koi scales reflect the glowing moon above; Sly's winds provided the scene's only noise. Her gaze rises and fixates on the smaller dojo across the pond from her position. She silently leaps from the porch, rushes around the pond towards the dojo with muted footfalls, and quickly enters the dojo closing the door behind her.

Letting out a sigh and closing her eyes, Mikoto's face furrows into a deep frown. 'Why...? Why can't our party descend even further!? We defeated that Enhanced infant dragon! Ouka and Sly both have leveled up and the others are close to doing so too! SO WHY!?' Mikoto's eyes flash open with a purple-glint and she takes three quick steps forward before taking the stance for Zekka and slashing out an empty-handed arm. A slight gust of wind whips about her from the speed and strength behind the draw as she takes a breath in through her gritted teeth.

Mikoto's gaze scans the dojo and rests upon some of their practice weapons, a great axe, katanas, short swords, and kunai made from wood in barrels or on stands. She takes a katana and walks into the center of the dojo taking a breath to try and center herself. 'I must maintain control….least a repeat of our first encounter with the Enhanced infant dragon occurs….' Mikoto opens her eyes and imagines a pack of 5 war shadows and 3 frog shooters approaching.

Quickly, she rushes forward and uses Zekka to slice through two of the war shadows before rolling away from the claws of the other three. She narrows her eyes at the tongues of the three frog shooters that slowly rush her before leaping in a backflip whilst lashing out with her katana-less hand to throw three imaginary kunai that find their marks and kill the frogs.

Three pairs of claws rush forward to meet where Mikoto will land; in response she braces her katana with her free hand to block all 6 claws that bear upon her. Taking a breath, she yells out forcing the 6 claws back and pivoting in a spin that sends the katana through the torsos of the 3 remaining war shadows that disperse.

"Why?" Mikoto murmurs.

Mikoto looks to the side and sees a small swarm of 6 killer ants and 4 needle rabbits who turn to her in turn. Quickly, she charges forward while throwing 3 imaginary kunai with her free hand at the charging ants. All three kunai hit their marks, killing them, while the remaining three rush her; the rabbits start to weave between the ants.

'Remain wary of the rabbits. Don't let them into your guard…like you did in the pantry.'

Suddenly Mikoto narrows her eyes and stops her charge to throw imaginary kunai that more accurately strike where the weaving needle rabbits would attack her from between the killer ants. Three pairs of jaws now bear upon her as she slashes up one, splitting the head in half, before leaping back out of the reach of the remaining 2 jaws. Four horns suddenly race towards her, but the disruption of the kunai before makes their attacks come too slowly.

Landing on her feet, a well-practiced Zekka blurs forward slicing through all four horned heads. The remaining two ants are quickly dispatched with a kunai and a final slash as Mikoto takes in a deep breath, but she is not tired.

Mikoto frowns as she whispers, "Is it because I leveled up faster…? Maybe the Dungeon's Ire affects me less because I have been level 2 longer…?"

Mikoto then closes her eyes and reflects on her recent status update.

Level 2

Strength: I 31 - 45

Endurance: I 65 - I 72

Dexterity: I 33 - I 54

Agility: I 22 - I 48

Magic: I 10 - I 40

None of her skills, development abilities, nor magic had changed or improved, and this had been the reward for slaying the Enhanced infant dragon. What would she have to do to improve without risking such an opponent…? Is it even possible? 'I know that Take said that I should look at Skill over Status….but…'

Her brow furrowed again as she stood in the middle of the dojo.

'Or is it a requirement….? The risk…' Mikoto's mind then drifted to the pantry battle with Ouka and Asuka. She slowly began mimicking her movements, down to a small smirk and the motion of clicking her wooden katana against an imaginary sheath. This shadow battle played out again, but this time the speed she employed was beyond what she capable of at the time. She imagined herself cleaving through all of the orcs and needle rabbits, but ignored the bad bats; they were beneath her after all. A wide, joyous grin is planted on her face at the battle she was imagining.

Suddenly, a hand gripped her shoulder tightly to stop her mid swing. Her eyes widened and looked to it only to find that it was in her mind.

….

"…Look to skill…over status…" Mikoto quietly whispered and took a deep breath. 'What will it take…to get stronger…and for Take to acknowledge my feelings..?'

But, the damage was done. As Mikoto returned the wooden katana to its stand and stealthily made her way back to the residence, a new pair of eyes now followed her steps. Its attention was drawn to her display, but it was not fully convinced; ending her shadow battle abruptly gave it reservations. It would take another passionate display for it to fully commit to following her.

Morning the next Day - Martial Dojo – Sly POV

The next morning Sly has trouble getting up at his usual time; he finds himself fatigued from nightmares. However, he pushes through it and joins the others during training. During the exercises and spars, Sly notices Take watching the wind fairy around him. After his last spar with Mikoto Sly is approached by Take.

"Sleipnir-kun, could you please have a word with me and your friend?" Take asks while pointedly looking at the fairy on his head.

Sly had seen Take's eyes straying to his new companion during the morning already, so he already went over what he needed to tell Take. He was still uncertain about explaining how he became a half-spirit and if it would change how Take treats him.

'The day my previous family noticed the inconsistencies around me as my magic started manifesting, I had a prophecy. Shortly thereafter they performed the magic aptitude tests with me, which was one of the last days I ever spent with my parents. Once again, I am excited and happy to explore a new world… But now I just hope that my familia will be more accepting…'

Sylphie did notice Sly's tails standing on end and a slight shiver coming from him. She was however uncertain how to help him. His familia god seemed bright and honest compared to the secretive and manipulative wind deity that caught her.

Take also noticed Sly shivering, possibly in fright of him. He watches Sly even more closely, most of all his eyes and how they tried looking anywhere but at him with obvious sadness. 'Does he fear punishment from me? No, I am a strict teacher but never without reason. It must be something deeper. My reaction? Just what did that noble family do to you..?' To ease his child, he relaxed his posture slightly and let his serious mask fade from his face. Whatever his child feared he would let him explain and only react after hearing the full story.

The two entered the dojo calmly and both took a seat in the lotus position. Sly breaths deeply. 'It will not be the same. This prophecy is about the dungeon and not my family!' Sly opens his eyes and they are steeled with determination. "Takemikazuchi-sama. Yesterday Acatl-hakase explained to me what spirits were."

Take nods while maintaining his relaxed position. Giving Sly the will to continue speaking.

"At the end of her explanation she …"

Take waits for a few seconds.

"Told me that I am a half-spirit." Take listens closely, while Sly continues at a frantic pace. "I do not know how or why, only that I am now bound to the same rules. Some apply to me the same, but others do not at all and please tell me I am still one of your children Takemikazuchi-sama! Acatl told me the strongest contracts I hold are with you and her and I do not want to lose everything again! I do not know what to do if I lose my family again!"

Sly breathes heavily and Take takes in Sly's outburst. Closing his eyes, Take mulls over this information. 'He finally told me. He trusts me enough to mention his family. Now only a little longer and he will tell me what those noble schmucks did to make him fear connecting with his own familia.'

While Take is celebrating internally a few seconds pass and Sly begins panicking assuming the worst from Take not reacting. Take sees this and panics his eyes widening slightly. 'My celebration can wait. I need to reassure him!'

Take forces his tone to remain completely calm against his uncertainty. "Thank you for telling me Sleipnir-kun. Nothing changes between us. You are still my child. My sweet smart kitsune child." Before he can continue Take is tackled by Sly who hugs him with both arms and tails, leaving behind a disgruntled and awkwardly fluttering fairy.

Take takes a deep breath having almost been knocked over by the weeping kitsune. "I will aid you however I can. Be it about combat, monsters, spirits or even something as impossible as relationships."

Sly holds on to his god, no, his father figure letting out a fear he didn't know he still carried with him, infinitely relieved that Take still accepts him.

At the end Take pulls Sly to his side and focuses on the spirit. "Now Sleipnir-kun could you please introduce your friend?"

Sly nods while still sniffling slightly. "This is a spirit Acatl-hakase introduced to me. She is a wind fairy by the name of Sylphie. I made a small contract with her to learn more about spirits, while helping her prank Acatl, to get revenge for her capture."

Take continues scrutinizing every millimeter of the small fairy with a slightly raised brow at the last bit of information. "Very well. Sylphie-san, you may stay with Sleipnir if you act as any proper guest should and respect our home. You may play your tricks on my familia but do keep the chaos down to a minimum. And no playing tricks on them in the dungeon!"

Sylphie nods her head quickly, not daring to speak up against the stern god. Take then smiles at her, while Sly remains at his side while holding onto one of his tails.

"Now then, Sly…." Sly looks up to Take cocking his head slightly but blinks as one of Take's hands is holding a brush of Sly's. 'When did Take..?'

"When was the last time you brushed your tails?" Take removes his other hand from around Sly, takes the free tail a bit firmly and starts to brush it. Sly goes slightly rigid, his back straightening and his hands twitching at the minor pain as the brush catches a couple of knots.

"Guh! Uh…it's been more than a week…"

Take sighs, shaking his head with a slight smile. "You really should start brushing your tails more regularly. Usually, it is difficult to spot, but with how your fur stood on end I clearly saw that you haven't taken the correct care of them. Did you not know that unbrushed fur can slow down the flow of mana when you cast foxfire?"

Sly's ears curl back as he looks lightly to the side. "Maybe..?"

Sylphie gives a bit of a smirk and lands on his head while gripping his hair a bit and leaning over to look him in the eyes. "Haauh?! Only maybe?! I told you that before!" Sly's eyes then dart to the other side while narrowing slightly. Sylphie then sighs heavily in exasperation and leans back fully sitting on Sly's head. "You're so stubborn!"

Take's slight smile could only grow at both their actions. 'Sly is slowly, but surely finding comfort among us… Everyone is growing and finding their rhythm.'

"Ouch! Take! Please be more gentle."

Take's hands continued to hold Sly's tail firmly with the brush continuing its path through to break up knots while the kitsune and the fairy continued to bicker with the occasional cry from Sly; Take's eyes, however, glanced away from the two spirit-kin towards a closed dojo door at the sound of Mikoto practicing.

'But Mikoto is still having problems; despite her working better in a party now… Her frustration is feeding the Tengu, and I think I saw another one starting to shadow her… I don't want to intervene, but I might have to for her sake…'

Next Morning - Sleipnir POV

With a slight groan, Sly stirs. He might have overslept a little, but after the acceptance Take showed him the previous day Sly rode the emotional high and allowed himself to play with magic and illusions while exchanging pointers with Sylphie.

She had a lot of instinctual knowledge of magic, but her control wasn't as refined as his, a point she was quite annoyed about. It was an interesting discussion for Sly and explained why magic came as easily to him, even back when he was a renard.

He finally stands up with a sigh, goes through his daily morning routine, only to stumble a little over the ground. His eyes widen as he senses the magic all around him. Trying to pivot, he steps onto a magical wire made of wind, stumbles, and hits his toe on the corner of his table slipping with a loud yelp and landing on one of his tails.

"By the spirits what the kami, what?!" It was an interesting morning, only highlighted by the quiet giggling from his spirit vervain.

Now awake and on the ground Sly turns his sight on the perpetrator of his misery. As if his tails weren't dusty enough with him constantly neglecting them! The cause of his misery then winks innocently at him, causing him to sigh before laughing with her, he can enjoy a good prank, even when it is against him.

Getting up, he leaves his room only to suddenly feel another wind wire in front of him. He to looks at Sylphie in annoyance, before stepping over it. Only to step on another and almost lose his balance if it weren't for his tails grabbing hold of his door to stop his descent.

Which is when he senses the thin mana strings all around the hallway. 'Oh no!'

Looking the other direction, Sly is right in time to see Mikoto walking out of her room with spring in her steps, only to run right into another windwire. With a loud Thump, Mikoto Faceplants on the ground lacking her usual grace from being caught unaware.

…

'Nevermind, this is great!'

Ouka has also already left his room, but not stepped outside yet. He turns to a smirking Sly with a raised eyebrow. "Really? Pranking again? You haven't found the time for it since we left the Far East and now, you're starting again... Has Acatl given you an exercise for creating solid illusions?"

Which is when Take walked up from the first floor with a smile and a cup of tea in his hands, made from one of Sly's blends.

Mikoto who just stood up calls to him. "Take watch out! Sly is at it again! He trapped the entire manor!"

Take ignores Mikoto and casually ducks and dodges every single windwire, pointedly looks at Sylphie, and enters the room in the back, where Acatl is staying right now.

This spelled the beginning of a few very chaotic days for the Takemikazuchi familia all thanks to a fairy wanting some payback. 'This is what you get for taking me into this awful pit of negative mana every day! Worse yet, exposing me to not just one tier of Dungeon Ire, but two without time to acclimate!'

On the fourth day Sly had slowly gotten the hang of dodging the dangerous wind wires and asked Sylphie to reduce the number of traps she set, as his entire familia was getting increasingly annoyed at him for setting all the traps. However, secretly he was happy with his progress. 'To think my perception of spirits and their magic has improved enough to actually see Sylphie's spells even without using my magic pressure. Incredible.'

He asks her. "Why go so far to make my familia actively complain about me? Is this about not getting you enough tea or that we haven't found a way to prank Acatl?"

Sylphie just buzzes around his head. "No this is about taking me to the dungeon every day. Do you never take a break? Do you know how terrible that place is for spirits and how infuriating it is to see you act as if this was the perfect way to train my resistance against the Dungeon Ire!"

Sly thinks calmly. "I may have pushed you a little hard. If you want a break, you may spend a few days on the surface. I will have to continue dungeon-delving with my familia. The Apollo familia won't wait for us if we are unprepared so we need to train."

With a wide smile, Sylphie does a victory dance around Sly with her loud buzzing wings, making Sly's ears twitch wildly. "Perfect! I can finally relax and find a good way to pay back the evil wind goddess."

Sylphie is just about to flit away again when Sly catches her with his tail. "Wait just a moment my friend. Could I ask you for a favour on the surface while I'm gone? I will even show you the perfect targets for your pranks. Those noble pricks will never see it coming."

Sylphie looks at him in glee with a smirk. "Finally going to join me Sly?"

Sly smiles back evilly showing the edges of his fangs. "We need to practice if we want to catch Acatl-hakase, don't we?"

1 day later - Sleipnir POV

Sly also continues his training with Acatl to learn more about spirits and hone his magic control. He is still practicing to create a perfect magic circle and studying old familia, but, more often than not, they are doing so in the Martial Dojo in the room Sly prepared for studying. Acatl only has a little time left before she needs to leave and is still being pestered by adventurers and gods in I AM GANESHA. The next step of Sly's tutelage involves having his control be high enough for him to start learning hieroglyphs, which are needed as the basis for practicing rune magic.

When Sly asked why he should learn runic magic in particular Acatl only laughed and told him. "Thank me later Nibi-kun! Runic magic is by far the most versatile magic and you'll want it to be a magic supported by the falna."

Any further questions were always deflected, forcing him to give in with narrowed eyes and curled back ears. After all, with his new status as a half-spirit, it would be foolish to press the goddess of magic to teach him another magic when she already made up her mind about the second magic he should learn. After all, versatility was its own kind of strength for somebody who liked to plan ahead as much as he did.

The time they spend in I AM GANESHA is split between examining magical items and collecting more books for their research. Sly also had to use his illusion to appear as a Ganesha guard instead of his real persona. Acatl even added a few runes to strengthen his illusion to trick the first-class adventurers who sought her out.

As for what Acatl sold, there was a wide variety. Robes for mages that are enhanced with spells to be as sturdy as normal armor and increase concentration. Another highly sought-after items were the Quetzalcoatl familia's special staffs, which stored a certain spell with runes and only required enough mana to cast them. Although they had severe drawbacks of significantly increased mana cost and were by their very nature fragile.

The spells they could cast varied depending on their price, but the most common were elemental barriers, as they required low mana control and any mage could gather the mana necessary to use them. They created a fixed magic barrier, capable of withstanding blows of the same level, as long as they received enough mana.

Another very famous set of items were enchanted adamantine weapons, Acatl enhanced in conjunction with Hephaestus. They were crafted by Hephaestus before then being enchanted by Acatl's mages to increase their mass and make them more durable. They weren't at the level of Durandal, but most level 4 adventurers dreamed of getting one.

However, the most sought-after items she had in her merchandise were the bags of holding; pouches, bags, rings, and even backpacks that used spatial magic to increase the space inside and weight-reducing runes. Unfortunately, Acatl only ever sold a very limited number of these, as they were one of the reasons her familia had as much financial power as they had. They kept all but the basic bags of holding for themselves, which gave them an enormous advantage when it came to the collection of resources.

However, only the Loki and Freya familia knew of the items even beyond the bags of holding. These items are termed by Acatl as artifacts. Those were the kind of assets the Zeus and Hera familia used to push past the 70th floor. This made them incredibly expensive, but there were a few that were a must-have. For example, the Hourglass of Ire. It could absorb the dungeon mana around it and dilute it when the white sand was falling down, thus enabling adventurers to use more of their power. When it is turned upside down and the black sand is falling on the other hand the dungeon mana is released, but instead of weakening the adventurers, it weakens the monsters.

This item was something Sly did not even conceive possible and Acatl let him hold it while she explained its effects to Freya and Loki and their respective executives, only to reveal that buying it or trading items for it would cost them 2 billion valis. Just as it did the Zeus familia at the height of their power.

Sly could not even imagine such numbers and even Freya looked as If she had bitten into a lemon at the price. Loki on the other hand was laughing. "Finding these artifacts was one of the reasons why we attacked the Zeus and Hera familia and you are telling me you just took them back? Thats a good one Quetzalcoatl-sama! How did you do it? Add an enchantment to teleport it to you if the bearer falls?"

She only smiled back wryly.

Safe to say, even the strongest familia in Orario could not afford the Hourglass of Ire without collecting funds ahead of time.

However, besides helping Acatl and searching for ways to trick her with Sylphie, Sly also tried sensing and observing spirits. He spent 2 hours in the field of their home every day. Sylphie guided him and with his magical pressure he sometimes saw the outline of a canine spirit, but only ever saw black glimpses of it. The most progress he made was with her wind wires, but that was due to her pranks.

Sylphie also wouldn't reveal which spirits were following him and when only that they were. At least he had a hunch about the black spirit. The only question remaining was why he saw it before.

Another question he asked the little fairy was how spirits usually grew in power. Sylphie looked at him in confusion for a moment, before she realized that as an adventurer he never had to follow the normal route.

"That's actually a good question. Spirits usually grow in tier the older they get. There are a few exceptions, but every spirit needs to grow its mana pool. Once they have enough mana they can then condense their mana, raising their tier. However, it only gets more difficult the higher your tier is."

Sylphie flits around Sly's head. "Spirits live in harmony with the world and its rules. By following those rules and helping others follow the same rules, we can refine some of the natural mana in the world and use it to enhance our own mana pool. The technique a spirit uses varies greatly to the next and there are many different ways, but every single one is about refining natural mana and then growing our own."

Wonder filled Sly's eyes at those words. "So in theory I could grow my mana indefinitely with such a technique. How does one learn these techniques?"

Sylphie just shrugs. "I got one from a greater wind spirit. It is fine for advancing to tier 3, but higher tiers will need a better technique. For you on the other hand, you'd need to find one of the reclusive kitsune or ancient fox spirits. Both of whom are very rare and do not commonly appear in the first layer of Genkai. Besides, your mana teas increase your mana capacity slightly. We could even call it a technique; you only need to find out how to rise to tier 3 once you have enough mana."

Tapping his tails together Sly considers. 'Only ancient spirits know techniques for kitsune… Strange that there are so few half-spirits in the first layer, but every stronger fox spirit resides in the second layer. Perhaps I will find something in my research, but it's unlikely. At least I now have another reason to drink tea besides tea being the drink of the gods.'

The Next Day - The Dungeon – Sleipnir POV

As for his familia, they hadn't been idle either. Diving down to the Middle Floors and exploring more of the 13th floor, it was clear that everyone had been working on something; whether it be Chigusa's aim improving with the new arrows from Welf, Mikoto remaining in tight formation with Ouka or Welf, Asuka quicker transitions from longbow or short sword depending on the encounter, or Welf's greatsword strikes and footwork.

By now they had mapped around half of the floor. Unfortunately, the secret passages had better hideouts on these bigger floors and Sly only spotted a few indentations, without opening an entire door.

The excelia their weaker members received daily was a great boon for them. Their growth was incredible, perhaps in part due to their spirit-touched ability. It wouldn't take much longer for Chigusa to take her level-up, as she was already eligible for it since their infant dragon encounter, and Welf and Asuka weren't lacking far behind.

Now they were in the Middle Floors continuing where they left off. Steadily getting closer to the staircase to the 14th floor. As Sylphie wasn't with him his full attention was on the dungeon. The guild-made basic map he bought gave a broad path forward, while the map he drew took in details and small things like ore veins for Welf, or the indentations they have been observing.

This is why it surprised Sly when they found the normal route blocked by a deep vertical hole. It covered the entire passage and on the other side Sly saw a solid wall filled with the square bedrock he would expect from the Middle Floors, however, they seemed to be larger than what he observed on the 13th floor this far. Such phenomena are to be expected in the cave labyrinth, but nonetheless Sly finds himself bugged as they needed to seek another passage.

However, Sly can't help but marvel at this vertical hole, while glancing down. It went down at least 2 floors before even his night vision was unable to pierce the darkness any further. No one had found the cause before, many assuming the dungeon created them as special traps for inexperienced adventurers and shortcuts for the more experienced to reach deeper floors. From the looks of it now, Sly believes it's just as likely that a powerful monster, possibly a pseudo monster rex or something from much deeper is the cause. Why else would it seem as if stones were carried from a deeper floor?

Sly shakes his head and calls the others to head towards the next unexplored passage. While they retreat Sly hears a barely audible scratching of scales on stone from above. Unfortunately, he is too late and a 5-meter-long purple wyvern barrels right towards him in the middle of their formation.

He is pushed to the ground held down by one of the beast's claws, while the rest are pushed back by its wings. Sly is glad for his armor, as it took the brunt of the damage and distributed the damage evenly over his torso. His tails have already wormed their way free.

The others see his position and the wyvern pushes his advantage, by charging his breath attack. Welf sees this and acts instantly. After his training with Sly his reaction speed multiplied manyfold and the speed at which he finishes his chant was impressive. Burn, dark magics - Will-o-Wisp!

The others were not idle while Welf chanted and Mikoto was already rushing at one of the wyverns wings, while Sly chanted foxfire to attack the foot holding him.

The wyvern had only been inhaling for a second, when Welf finishes his chant and small purple flame covers the twenty-meter distance between him and the monster in another second. It enters the monster's mouth, and they see an explosion of lightning rushing out. It rushes towards the easiest way down the ground, which In this case is through the wyvern.

'Oh great!' Sly grimaces as he grits his teeth.

He sees the lightning jump into the wyvern and down towards him, and from him through his arm into his Shadoudansā and then into the ground. While he observes the flow of lightning he realizes this. 'It follows the path of least resistance into the earth. Earth magic is the opposite of lightning magic!'

The charge passing through his body paralyzes him and interrupts his attempt at burning free and enrages the wyvern. Instead of standing still and letting the others attack it, the wyvern jumps into the air while carrying Sly with it and rushes towards Welf, who is standing before the hole.

He jumps aside at the last second, while a burning arrow hits one of the beast's eyes. The beast turns around in anger, now hovering above the hole. It watches the adventurers in front of it and searches for the one that hurt it. It spots Chigusa at the very back on one of the square bedrocks.

It charges another breath attack, but this time keeps moving above the hole. Meanwhile Sly starts twitching, from the paralysis wearing off.

A few seconds later a large lightning bolt hits the bedrock Chigusa had been standing on, but she assumes cover hidden behind another. The wyvern screeches loudly and charges back towards Welf when Sly hears the completion of Ouka's fortify.

A smile crosses his face, as he chants foxfire in an instant, creating a spinning ball of fire above both his tails and ramming it into the flesh above the claw that is holding him in place.

The wyvern screams at the unexpected attack from the opponent it though defeated and lets go. Sly falls down and finds a rock shield below his feet, however, his joy is quickly replaced by fear, as he is knocked off a second later by one of the wyvern's wings.

Chigusa can only watch in horror as Sly falls down the hole.

Sly only has a single thought with widening eyes. 'Light descending the dark! Damned prophecy!'

Author's Note

Can't wait for chapter 18. But I have a lot to do IRL so we will see when it is finished. Finally, I can play around with even more OCs. The wind fairy is already a lot of fun but her backstory was mostly handled by LazyHapa, while the Xenos are almost entirely of my own design.

Also important to mention is that Hapa started writing a few scenes besides just correcting mine. There were a handful before but in this and the next chapter, he added enough to force me to split it into two parts. The word count just exploded to 12'000, when both of us discussed a few ideas and both added another scene, which is way above the length I aspire in my chapters. At least it gave me the time to upload this chapter a week ahead of schedule.