10th of November note: Story has been updated and all the dialogue tweaked with proper quotations. Enjoy the read.

From the north you will meet your end and your Familia will suffer a similar fate.

The morning was almost over, the clear skies over Orario were looming over the busy streets.

The merchants were already in their stalls, the inns preparing for a long day and the troves of people in fancy armor and big weapons heading for the giant tower at the center to fulfill their role as adventurers.

It could be just another day for any of the citizens but for one individual that would not be the case.

A young boy with golden hair was limping his way through the northern gate, muttering to himself. His entire outfit was mostly ragged, with red stains in many places; the backpack he was carrying had some holes and was somewhat empty with no visible provisions. What stood out about him was that not only injuries but his clothing was perfect for a cold climate and not something fitting for the Labyrinth City.

From the side of the backpack there was a hatchet with golden details strapped and around the traveler's neck was a chain with something barely visible hanging from it that was hidden underneath the shirt.

"Halt!" A commanding voice stopped him in his tracks, his tired eyes went for the armored guard standing next to the gate. "State your business, traveler."

"Needy Ale Inn. Where is it?"

"State your business."

The blond sighed after not getting an immediate answer. "I need to go to the Needy Ale Inn to deliver this amulet." He slowly pulled the item that was hiding underneath the shirt and presented it to the guard. "Please, I need to get in the city."

The armored individual leaned forward to see the amulet. It was dark blue almost black with a texture that could be described as ice. The outer circle had many engravings of symbols that the guard could not identify but the center one was far more familiar: A snowflake.

Only a sigh was heard coming from inside of the helmet. "Very well, the inn is on the southern part of the city, " he pointed at one of the streets. "Keep going down that path until you reach Babel, then when you see a tall building with green stalls go in that direction."

"Babel… thank you." A nod was more than enough to finish the conversation. He then continued his march while putting the amulet back inside. He knew that his trip would finally come to an end and he would meet the person behind the item that he was carrying.

The sun was still shining and the traveler earned the glances of many people in the city. The whispers he couldn't understand and the rumors that were starting to form around his mysterious figure he didn't care about; he still wanted to complete his mission.

Even if this was his first visit to Orario, the giant tower that touched the sky itself was a hard thing to miss, as even before arriving he could see it in the distance. A giant structure in the middle of a legendary city sounded like one of the tales that he was told: too hard to believe. Seeing it with his own eyes was a completely different thing.

Following the tower he eventually arrived at the central square and noticed the flock of people going into Babel.

Hordes of adventurers, some alone and others working together in a party wearing cumbersome armor and giant weapons. Many races were congregating and working together to fight the dangers of the Dungeon that lurked below the surface.

He wanted to join them but in that weak state of his he couldn't fight; as such he focused on the different buildings around him until the one with green stalls stood out. It didn't look any different from the rest of the city but at that point he didn't have any other leads to follow.

Similar to the street he already travelled he noticed more and more adventurers going towards the tower and the whispers of those around him felt louder.

"Look at him, think he is a bandit?"

"Must be from the north, no other way to explain those clothes."

"Maybe he's a merchant or an adventurer? Never seen him around."

Voices that he couldn't respond to; he needed to save the energy for his mission. The many stalls, shops and few inns that he found were not the correct ones and he started to believe that his instructions were wrong. Was he supposed to be in Orario? Was the so-called `Needy Ale Inn´ in that city? Does it even exist? Those doubts started to cloud his mind making this trip and all the pain he suffered pointless.

He was ready to turn around and ask for directions or some help from the people who were whispering about him but his eyes saw something. Near the corner of a street there was a wooden sign painted in black and with white letters and two seemingly full tankards.

Needy Ale Inn.

The arrow pointed to the street around the corner to which the blond followed blindly as he increased his pace, still earning the glances of the bystanders who were nearby.

The strut continued and he kept looking at the different buildings that were around him until one old structure greeted him on the side of the street. Compared to the others this one was bigger with two stories and open doors although from the outside the boy could see that it wasn't that busy at the current time of the day.

After wiping some of the dust on his clothes and attempting to clean one of the blood stains on his shirt to no avail, he climbed up the set of stone steps and entered the inn.

Even if he had a first glance of the place before entering, the inside was not too different. The wooden interior mixed with the stone pillars gave the inn an old atmosphere that reminded him of his home. The first floor was a tavern, with the keeper behind the counter and the many tables laid all over the place with only a handful occupied by nearby merchants, adventurers and various patrons.

Taking a deep breath the newcomer approached the counter that was being cleaned by an old man, probably the owner.

"Welcome, lad, to the Needy Ale Inn." The man greeted the blond and looked down at all the injuries and the ragged state of his new client. "What can I get you, traveler?"

"Traveler?" He repeated at the question, almost surprised. He was still fazed from reaching the place he was searching for. "Traveler… r-right. I am looking for someone, I was told I would find them here."

"Well I see plenty of people coming and leaving every day, you will have to be more specific about it."

"Uhm… the thing is I don't know who I'm looking for." The boy was embarrassed, being sent from far away, to a city he barely knew anything about, to find an inn that may or may not exist, and to find someone whose identity was a mystery. His voice and breathing became ragged, getting nervous by the minute.

"Well lad, if you don't know who you are looking for then how am I supposed to know the answer?" The innkeeper chuckled and grabbed an empty mug. "Here, you look worse for wear, at least let me get you some water."

"Wait," He pulled the amulet from inside of his shirt. "This thing, I'm supposed to find someone with this. Do you recognize it?"

The innkeeper placed the empty mug on the counter and grabbed the amulet out of his hands. "Where did you find this?"

"Please, I need…" But the traveler's vision became blurry, his legs started to shake and any strength he could muster at the moment faded away. "I need to find..." Those were the last words he could utter before his consciousness failed him. The man behind the counter tried to catch him but a loud thud attracted the attention of the many patrons. He could hear many voices in the distance, faint ones until there was nothing but silence. He knew it was his end.

When he opened his eyes he saw a ceiling that wasn't his home, he turned his head to the window and saw that it was dark already but most importantly he wasn't dead. He tried to get up but his body felt heavy, a quick glance revealed that he was stripped off his clothes and was covered in bandages.

An artificial light was hanging from the wall that barely illuminated the room he was in, but in that darkness he saw a tall figure covered in a cloak and with a hood over their head looking at the amulet the traveler had in his possession.

"H-hey… that's mine," The blond tried to sit on the bed but once again it was impossible.

"Where did you get this?" The person under the cloak was a woman with a soft voice.

"I'm to find someone with that amulet. Who are you?"

The woman hummed, her fingers caressing the texture of the object. "I am the one who paid for this room and the healer to take care of your injuries. Needless to say, but you need to rest."

"Right… thanks I suppose," He huffed, laying his head on the pillow and looking at the ceiling again "Still, that doesn't answer my question."

"I am the person you were looking for." After that answer he immediately raised his head, his eyes were full of surprise. "But I am afraid you are not the person I was expecting when you delivered this amulet. Regardless, I thank you for coming here."

The stranger stood up and walked towards the door, turning the doorknob and almost walking outside before stopping and turning the hood towards the traveler "If you want answers, please come see me when you are healed."

"No… please… who are you… give the amulet back…" The traveler raised his hand as if trying to stop her but immediately fell. His vision became blurry once again as a cold wind put him to sleep.

He opened his eyes again but unlike last time his body didn't feel heavy, his bandages looked new but the outside was still dark.

"How long have I've been here?" He put a hand to his forehead "That woman…" The memories of the hooded individual still lingered, but most importantly, the one thing she took. "The amulet…" He sat on the bed and tried to stand up. His body still felt weak, but it had enough strength to dress himself and carry the almost empty backpack.

He took one last glance at the room, peeking for anything that he missed and then left. The sounds of the patrons were louder than he remembered and as he was climbing down the stairs he found out why. Unlike the few visitors that the inn had that day this time it was full. There were some odd clients and merchants but mostly there were adventurers celebrating their victories from the Dungeon.

"Hey, lad!" The innkeeper called the blond who approached in curiosity. "Glad to know that you are alive, you looked like a corpse when you first arrived. You should be happy that you found who you were looking for."

"Wait a moment, I'm still confused." He placed his hands on the counter. "Who was she? I didn't get any answers and she took my amulet."

"Well it belonged to her, so I don't see the problem. Oh! And don't worry about paying for the room, it's all settled already." The innkeeper was ready to pick up another order, but the traveler grabbed his wrist.

"Please, where can I find her?" His eyes pleaded for help and the innkeeper sighed in response.

"Fine, you can find her home not too far from here, if she is still there that is. Go back to the main street and head towards the southern gate, when you see a small garden with a statue in the middle make sure to go to the east. You will find it easily, not hard to miss such a place. Now if you excuse me lad," The innkeeper pulled his arm and kept working.

"Main street. Statue. East… got it." The traveler nodded and turned around towards the entrance, following instructions once again.

As he stepped outside he saw that Orario changed completely, the city felt different at night with more `normal´ people walking rather than adventurers, it made sense that after storming the dungeon people would spend their free time at night. That was a notion for later.

Unlike the last time when he was injured he decided to step up and run. Holding his backpack close he returned to the main street, on side he could see Babel while on the other he couldn't see anything but the wall in the distance and that's where he needed to go.

He continued the dash towards the statue, apologizing to anybody he accidentally crashed even if he tried to avoid them.

"Excuse me! Sorry! Coming through!"

He heard many complaints from the people he was pushing away, but didn't care; there was a bigger goal right now and that was to recover that amulet.

Eventually he stopped at the small garden with the statue. The flowerbeds were surrounding the statue of a giant that had a big sword raised in victory and was standing on top of the skull of what he guessed was a monster he never saw before.

"Statue, and now to the east." He looked to his left and saw a road that wasn't as busy as the main one but he had no time to lose.

The traveler continued down the side street seeing many more stores already closed and many houses. He started to think about what type of place it would be, if it was something easy to find then it should be pretty distinct or even noticeable.

It didn't take long before his questions were finally answered. His eyes widened after he saw the second most impressive place in the city other than the tower itself. It was a big plot surrounded by a wooden palisade and the gates were open.

There was a stone path that led to the many parts of this plot, the grass was not taken care in a long while and all of the buildings didn't have any kind of maintenance for a long while, with moss, broken windows and many walls that lost their color.

He stepped inside and was greeted by a cold breeze, similar to the one he experienced in the room at the inn. There was no one waiting for him, no lights or sounds other than the cold.

To the left there was a structure that was quite large and with three stories, many windows were missing and the door was on the floor right next to the path which made the traveler think how the state of the inside was.

To the right there was a smaller and more open-ended structure but it was quite ruined. There was a table outside an anvil and what looked to some kind of furnace which easily gave away that it was some sort of forge, although it was far from usable.

Near the forge there were other buildings that were beyond repair, whatever use they had escaped the thoughts of the blond; there was also a stone platform with something missing on top. To the back there was also an open field which the boy immediately thought for herding.

As he kept walking he got closer to what looked to be the main building, something that he could recognize from back home. A mead hall, or rather that was the intent. Part of the roof was destroyed, the front was ruined and even a quick look from the outside revealed that the interior did have a similar, if not worse, fate.

While the place felt like a graveyard with how quiet, cold and empty it was, there was something that caught his attention. From within the mead hall there was a light, perhaps it was the woman he was looking for.

"Okay, I'll go in, take the amulet and ask for answers," He muttered to himself as his hand went for the backpack. His fingers grazed the axe that was hanging but he hesitated; the person showed kindness to him and he would repay by taking what was given to him and a violent action? "Right…"

He walked in and his suspicions were right. On the one hand the mead hall was a mess, with the ceiling having collapsed over one side of the hall, the tables being destroyed or missing. On the other hand there was the cloaked figure with a candle next to her, writing something over a parchment. The air that was surrounding her was cold to the point that it made the candle flicker.

"I am glad that you chose to approach my home, " The soft voice of the woman was serene, calm, as if expecting the boy to follow her.

"I came back for the amulet," He took a step forward, "and for some answers."

The figure stopped writing and left the quill on top of the table. Then she stood up and turned around to face the boy "I am afraid the amulet belongs to me, young mortal. Your quest is over."

"I understand that and I appreciate what you did for me earlier but you still haven't answered anything. I don't know who you are, I don't know why you want the amulet but above all else I do have a question: Ca-…" He was interrupted when the figure raised her hand.

"Before anything let me explain a few things. First: Assuming you got out of the inn recently then you fell unconscious a mere two days ago, which means you must be hungry. Second: Despite your quest being over you still came here out of your own volition, you could have denied my invitation. And third…"

The woman gently pulled the hood back, revealing the face of the mysterious individual. A woman that was probably older than him but still looked young, her auburn hair was free as it flowed down the cloak and to the front. Her reddish eyes were like bright rubies that reflected the boy himself. A beauty he thought, yet mysterious at the same time.

"My name is Skadi and I'm a Goddess." Her soft voice was accompanied by a cold wind, almost like winter.

"A… a God-…" The blond took a step back "I've been told that the gods descended from high above but I didn't-…" His face showed surprise, his mouth opened and the expression that his eyes presented was something akin to fear.

"You don't need to be afraid, after all I did help you and you returned my amulet" Skadi gave a gentle smile as she pulled the dark blue object from one of the pockets of the tunic "There is much I can talk about this but that would be a tale for another day. But you did have a request, did you not?"

"Ah… y-yes" He stuttered as he nodded "The one who gave me the amulet told me to find someone and that person would be able to help me get stronger." His eyes went down to his bandaged hands, clenching the fists but ultimately not showing much power in that grasp. "I always heard stories of Orario and its adventurers, never thought they would be true but here I am. I… I want to be strong, to be able to fight. To be useful."

"I see…" She whispered "The dreams of an adventurer, no, a hero. You came from far away and delivered my amulet so I can offer you something." The blond looked up as Skadi spoke "You call yourself weak, but I can give you my blessing, it will not be much at first but it will be a first step in getting stronger, like a drop of snow that can grow and become a snowball, capable of running down everything. Is that what you want?"

"Yes…"

"Will you fight against the terrors that dwell in the Dungeon?"

"Yes."

"Will you fight with my blessing and in my name to honor the Skadi Familia? Hunting monsters and attaining more power?"

"Yes!" The boy's excitement if not determination were noticeable, he took a step forward but when he noticed his outburst he coughed, as if trying to hide that demonstration just a second ago. "I don't know much about all of this nor have I've been told, but I am willing to learn in this path. If it helps me to get stronger I will do it, no matter how difficult. I wandered for a long time to get there."

The goddess sighed. "Very well, then the deal is sealed. You shall be the new captain of the Skadi Familia." But she paused. "Although you have not told me your name, unless you prefer to be called traveler?"

"No, I've been called that many times but I do have a name." He smiled "Ragnar… Ragnar Strand."

The woman was surprised after hearing that but then smiled, much like a mother would smile to their child. "Then, Ragnar, captain of the Skadi Familia, rise above and honor your goddess," Another cold wind hit the boy as she said that.

"Great…" He looked around with a smile, waiting for something to happen but nothing changed. If he was expecting power he didn't notice any changes. "I don't feel any different. What now?"

"Now, captain Ragnar we must perform the ritual," She took a step towards the traveler and placed her hands on his shoulders. "Please remove your shirt."

"Remove what?!"

Alright, it's kinda weird getting back into writing after so many years. I lost my interest in writing fics for a long time coupled with life getting busy. For those who are still following this account and are very confused as to how am I still alive or how am I still writing: Hi and welcome back! To those who just stumbled upon this story I used to be a fic writer focused on League of Legends until I completely lost interest in the game and moved on.

But somewhat recently I got that kick again for writing and after rewatching all of the season and seeing the new one, I wanted to make a story about Danmachi. Unfortunately my knowledge is only limited to the anime, spin off and the movie because the Light Novels are not available in my country so I have to make do with google and the wikia so I apologize in advance to those who read everything and notice that my story may have lots of holes in terms of the world building.

With that being said, hope you enjoy this new story to whoever is interested; I may not come back to the other stories that are still open and I'm not sure how long will I continue this one but I?ll try to keep going as long as the creativity and ideas flow.

I want to thank Jester of Nihil who helped as a beta-reader for the chapter.

With that I bid farewell and hope all of you have a great week!