Hot Spring Paradise Part 1
I own nothing.
"Talking."
'Thinking.'
[Hit's technique]
*sound/monster*
«Magic»
NOTE: If you're seeing this and have not read the main story, please consider checking it out 😊
This story here is separate and revolves around an equally likely scenario, where our fighters ascend straight away after defeating Goliath. Here, the journey back is a little… stranger. The hijinks won't vary much from the source, but I doubt that many of you can remember the OVA; I know I didn't. This isn't canon, so I can be sillier.
Also, if you do not like fan service, please do not read this; I am simply following the context of the ova.
Blue light shimmered across obsidian clusters on the walls of the 11th floor, reflecting the passage of a relatively large group of adventurers. These weary individuals were returning to the surface after their momentous battle on the 18th floor and were still basking in the gravity of their achievement. The god Hermes and his familia captain, Asfi Al Andromeda, led the group through the dimly lit earthen corridor. Hermes had an aloof aura, as always, and chuckled as he traipsed along. "Man, that battle was fierce! But… I wish we could have relaxed a bit while we were still there…"
His tired companions agreed with him for once, and instead appreciated the soothing company of those around them. Bell and Hestia strode along, hand in hand, whilst Lili carried an enormous pack, grumbling at them. Welf walked behind her, followed by the Takemikazuchi familia members. Ouka and Chigasa walked side by side, with the short girl hugging Ouka's trunk-like arm to provide support. The action did not provide much physical support to Ouka's tired body; however, the cute girl's proximity gave him more than enough energy to keep marching on.
Ryuu was at the rear, her green cloak open to expose a wooden sword and twin katanas, either for lethal or non-lethal purposes. The elf held an emotionless façade, yet her eyes drifted to the side from time to time towards an intimidating boy, his fierce exterior lessened greatly by bright lavender clothing. This warrior, displaced from an entirely separate universe, was Hit. He walked silently, as always; however, his face had twisted into a frown of annoyance.
At the front, Hermes continued to chat aimlessly, ceaselessly rambling on about anything that popped into his overinflated head. "Us gods hardly ever get to do anything this fun, am I right Hestia? I'll have to tell all my buddies! Oh, wait, this is supposed to be a secret… damn. How about a souvenir! Ooooo, what's that over there, Asfi?"
'This bastard just won't shut up.' Hit grimaced and huffed as he strode alongside Ryuu, feeling incredibly regretful that he decided to join these pests. He had been feeling ecstatic following Goliath's defeat and had not really considered any downsides to joining the group. Bell's sudden and honest offer had also managed to sway him while his guard was down. Had he had a proper rest, Hit would have considered how annoying it would be to become stuck in a confined space with Hermes.
Ahead, Lili had enough of Hestia and Bell's alone time, and butted in; the pallum grasped Bell's other arm, pulling him towards her slightly. "Honestly, if stupid Goddess Hestia hadn't tagged along, master Bell and I could have taken our sweet time making our way home together!"
Hestia hugged Bell even more firmly, pressing herself against him. "What!? Of course, Bell wants to rush back! He wants to keep me safe and spend time with me at home!" The Goddess hauled Bell towards her.
The rabbit boy became a wishbone, as Hestia and Lili played a tug of war with him. Lili growled as the trio stopped in place. "He won't relax if you're there! Only I can give him the gratitude he deserves!"
"Are you insane!? Bell would much rather spend time cuddling with me than be anywhere near a spoilsport like you!" The jealous God tugged Bell's arm towards her, forcing the bunny boy to sweat, nervously.
*/* *Crack* */*
Bell lost his awkward smile and went on full alert. The chittering scratching sounds that graced his ears, and sense of apprehension that gripped his heart, could only mean one thing: monsters. He disengaged from his cute prisoners and ran to the head of the group.
A lavender blur had already sailed ahead of him and stood a short distance in front of the assembly. Hit had run from the group's rear and gently ensured the meddlesome Hermes was out of harm's way, by kicking him to the back. The befuddled God huffed in Asfi's arms, twitching at the excessive force.
Bell zipped to stand at Hit's side and drew his twin daggers, getting into his battle stance. "Get back everyone! We'll handle this!"
*Grrrrrrrr!*
A line of hellhounds extended in front of the two warriors, blocking their path to salvation. Bell roared and sailed ahead, quickly bisecting every mutt in their way. "HRAA!"
Lili beamed as her saviour stopped ahead of a multitude of smoky corpses. "He got them all in one shot!"
Asfi righted her God, worried expression marring her royal face. "Not yet…"
*Crack* *Crack* *Crack* *Crack* *Crack*
Vertical crevices ruptured in the dirt walls ahead of them, expanding into a myriad of fiery apertures. Snuffling snouts emerged from the openings, as scaly creatures tore their way out, hungrily. Red eyes shone as tens of hard armoureds chittered at the strange sounds and smells that greeted them. Bell took a step back; these creatures were quite problematic for him, at least en-masse. He was an agile attacker and relied more heavily on his speed and legendary armaments than brute strength.
On the other hand, Hit smirked at the identity of these newcomers. 'This is where the fun begins.' The wayward warrior entered his iconic stance and blurred towards the gigantic armadillos, only slight merriment apparent on his face.
**BAM**
*SHiiIIiiiII*
**Crash**
*RiiIIIiii!*
*BOOM*
Hit raced through the corridor, sending boulder breaking smashes into the creatures, each punch rupturing their durable exteriors. Blood and viscera detonated outwards in cascades of crimson ribbons as he pulverised the startled beasts into paste.
Surprisingly, the monsters now reflected fear in their eyes, rather than hate, and began to stampede away.
*Shing*
Hit ran to one's side and grasped its bulbous tail, before deactivating his skill.
*GRRIIIIIIII!*
The trailing hard armoured bellowed as it was pulled to a stop, unable to pry itself from the adventurer's grasp. Hit struggled for a moment, carving a path into the ground, but managed to halt the creature's escape.
Next, the daredevil sprung ahead, cratering the ground in his wake; Hit's detainee screamed as it was pulled along with him. As Hit approached his fleeing foes, the warrior flexed his arms and swung the weaponised hard armoured around, becoming a spinning top of destruction.
**BOOOM**
The surrounding armadillos bleated as their brother hurtled round and round, smashing into dungeon walls and monsters alike. Hit became obscured by black smoke as he spun around the battlefield, appearing as a pitch-black tornado of doom.
"HRAAAAAA!" Finally, Hit roared and flung his catastrophically wounded prey forwards, into the final runaway. The two monsters collided, and joined their brethren in oblivion…
Hit dusted his hands, stuffed them away, and returned to the group. The adventurers were agape at the demolition that Hit had just enacted. Bell was the only one who smiled and raced towards him. "That was amazing, Mr Hit! Your strength's perfect for those kinds of monsters!"
Lili shivered as she gazed into Hit's blood-red eyes. "Yeah… I sort of feel sorry for them…"
"You're a little scary sometimes, big buy… Brilliant, but scary…" Welf smiled, crookedly, at his newest acquaintance, feeling grateful that Hit was on their side.
Hit frowned at the smith. "Fear is a weapon deadlier than any blade."
Welf guffawed, partly to hide his fright. "Y-You got that right! Who the hell would want to fight you, after watching that!? They'd have to be insane!"
…
Far above, at the Loki familia mansion, Ais Wallenstein sat in a lovely warm bath. Ivory-white bubbles surrounded her like puffy pillows, comforting her elegant body.
*Achee*
The girl blinked as a sneeze somehow escaped her. Blonde locks fell from her bun, forcing the sniffly girl to mend her hair. 'How odd…'
…
Below, Hermes freed himself from Asfi's clutches and dusted himself down. "Your bedside manner needs some work though, my man! People don't just go around kicking Gods!"
"Is that so? I think I'll make a habit of it." Hit's murderous gaze bore into the now incredibly nervous god, who gulped in worry.
"Well done, Mr Hit, Mr Cranel". Ryuu approached Hit and Bell and smiled at the pair; no matter how many times Bell reminded her, she would always fall back to addressing the boy formally. Ryuu was followed by Ouka, Chigusa, and Mikoto, who gazed at Hit in awe.
Lili jumped into Bell's arms, smiling gleefully. "You're amazing, Bell!"
"Yep! That's our little rookie!" Welf patted Bell on the back, causing the bunny boy to stammer in embarrassment.
Hestia growled and stomped her dainty feet at being ignored by her only child. "Oh, come on! You're supposed to dote over me, Bell! …Huh?" The deity blinked as Hit walked past her, towards an inconspicuous wall. The strange boy pressed an ear against the structure and tapped against it lightly with an enclosed fist.
"…Watcha' doing, weirdo?" Hestia jabbed Hit on the side, trying to take her mind off Bell's unwillingness to devote himself to her.
Sounds of commotion stopped as the rest of the group approached Hit, looking at one another in puzzlement.
Hit pulled his fist back… and sent it crashing into the wall.
***BOOOOM***
The stony surface collapsed catastrophically, sending out billows of sand roaring all around the enclosed space. The adventurers braced themselves and rushed to protect each other. Once the dust settled, the group finally relaxed.
*Cough* *Cough* *ACHEW* "H-HEY! What the hell do you think you're doing!" Liliruca spluttered and sneezed angrily at Hit's inconsiderate action and marched up to him.
Hit did not bother turning around, and instead set about scanning the damage he inflicted. "That wall was hollow."
"Huh!? W-Wooooow…" Lili gasped as her little eyes spied a dark tunnel, leading into unknown lands.
Ryuu approached Hit, staring ahead warily. "Unexplored territory… How did you know?"
Hit took a step into the corridor, eyes narrowing at the strange vegetation within. "After I released the hard armoured, I felt that the vibrations differed in this direction. My experiments confirmed that this wall is not natural."
Asfi pushed up her glasses, peering in next to Ryuu. "You're right. I don't recall seeing such topography on this level… Its structure differs from the surrounding area's."
"So, it's a completely new discovery… Imagine what we could find within…" Ouka crossed his arms, looking forward to being the vanguard of humanity.
Bell bounced behind Hit, sending him a look filled with admiration. "Amazing, Mr Hit! So, this is what you meant by studying the environment!"
Behind the group, Mikoto developed an oddly wondrous expression. Her nose twitched as she sniffed at the air that rolled in from the newly created cavern.
*GASP!* Mikoto's eyes shoot wide open in astonishment; she raced to the tunnel's opening and threw herself onto the ground. The girl was like a bloodhound, snuffling at the earth on her hands and knees.
Her companions glanced at one another, shrugging in confusion. Hit became extremely disappointed, surprised that someone he thought was relatively normal, was instead just as insane as the rest of these nuisances.
"N-NO WAY!" Suddenly, the ordinarily serious Mikoto blushed fiercely, almost lustfully, and her eyes shimmered in glee. The woman cast caution to the wind, and ran into the darkness, salivating at the treasure that lay within.
"Hang on! It could be dangerous in there!" Bell chose to run after her, followed by the rest of his companions.
Hit clutched at his face. 'I'm going to regret this, aren't I…' He hastily buried his doubts under fragile hopefulness and traipsed after the idiots.
…
As Hit trudged down the tunnel, he sensed that the air was becoming increasingly humid; a pleasant warmth emanated from the end of the burrow and soothed his aching body. Hit was still feeling a number of phantom aches from his battle against Goliath and was doing his best to ignore them. Ryuu's magic had healed his four broken limbs; however, only strong alcohol could take his mind off the dull throbbing that remained. Of course, he could have consumed his stash of healing herbs; however, these were being reserved for sale at the Blue Pharmacy. As Hit finally stepped into an immense open space, he was momentarily blinded, before his keen vision could scan the strange environment.
Darkness enshrouded most of the plain, which was dotted with large rocky outcrops; however, a hazy welcoming glow emanated from the region's true treasure. Like an oasis, glistening green streams of water flowed throughout the area, forming a multitude of individual pools and rivers. Certain rocky formations were dotted in bluish crystals, which added to the pools' aura of safety. Unusually, the only vegetation that grew here were bamboo plants, which sprouted out of the water and offered shrouded areas of protection for potentially spawning monsters. However, no such beasts roamed the region.
Hit felt a little unnerved. 'This feels off… these structures do not look natural in their formation. There is no subsurface magma here to heat the water, nor was the water on the 18th floor so minerally enriched. The surrounding walls match our previous setting; however, the rest of it appears to have been dumped here…' Hit's nose crinkled at the familiar scent that wafted from the Aventurine coloured waters. 'Sodium bicarbonate, sulphur, and sulphate. Good times…'
Hit smiled to himself, remembering the diverse planets that he had visited during his contracts, with geothermally active worlds ranking quite highly in his list of favourites. Many of the billionaires and trillionaires in Hit's universe purchased entire planets for themselves, favouring those with the most beautiful sights and entertaining phenomena. Geothermal planets were particularly sought after due to the thousands of hot springs one could turn into holiday spots for intergalactic travellers, or their equally rich companions. They were also useful as hideaways from law enforcement; however, such strategies were useless against Hit.
Mikoto felt absolutely no apprehension at the strangely familiar setting and danced around, feeling quite at home in this alien cave. "This is definitely a hot spring! If there's anything on Earth that I'm an expert on, it's HOT SPRINGS!" The maiden blushed and held her cheeks, staring into the greenish water, almost lovingly.
Ryuu and Asfi stood to the side, debating over their group's safety. The wary elf twitched her ears, glancing over the sublime sights with slight concern. "There doesn't seem to be any other activity here… How can that be?" She glanced at her blue-haired companion.
"I don't sense any monsters nearby either… This must be a place of rest, a natural creation of the dungeon!" Asfi was far less cautious and smiled at the new discovery with awe-filled eyes. This is what an explorer like her lived for!
Ouka grinned, fully trusting in his fanatical friend's judgement. "I guess it's safe to rest here then… Finally…" The rest of the entourage followed suit and joined in his relaxation, dumping their belongings near the entrance.
Hit slowly made his way through the open space, scanning the horizon for approaching aerial threats, and the ground for any traps.
*Splash*
He gazed ahead to see that Mikoto was the perpetrator. The woman had now dunked her head under the water, for some godforsaken reason.
Lili, Chigusa, and Hestia watched the girl as she made loud gulping sounds. "Fuahhhhhh!" Finished with her drink, the maiden drew herself back and slumped, overwhelmed. Chigusa was about to check on her condition, when Mikoto sprung back to life, pupils now dilated and hazy. "The temperature! The salt ratio! Absolutely pure and excellent! It is our sworn duty to enjoy this offering from the gods!"
Lili smiled in anticipation; this would be her first ever visit to a hot spring. "Well, I guess we are still pretty tired!"
Hestia jumped around, pumping her fists in the air. 'I can finally swim with my darling Bell again!' She squealed in joy and bounced in front of her newest friends. "Okay ladies! I think it's high time we…!"
The four women raised their fists in glee and spoke in unison. "…TREAT OURSELVES TO SOME HOT SPRINGS RESORT FUN!"
However, they had an unexpected guest. Hermes had slinked up the women and joined them in their jolly cheering. The damsels scuttled away and left a now lonely Hermes behind. The God scratched at his cheek awkwardly. "…Was it something I said?"
Asfi marched up to Hermes, tick mark throbbing on her head. "You cannot be serious, Lord Hermes! You're not forgetting about what happened below, are you?" She raised a hand and pulled back on her leather gloves. The princess' beautiful face shifted into one of a terrifying demon: she was just about done with picking up after the man.
Silvery spectacles gleamed as they reflected Hermes' terrified face. "N-no! Of course not! I was merely celebrating with you lovely ladies! Besides, it was merely Bell's first journey into manhood!"
The women blushed at the memory of Bell's dive into paradise and furrowed their brows. Hestia clutched at her mini dress in annoyance. "There's no way we're swimming with Hermes running about!"
"What an utter waste of a hot spring…" Lili slumped her hands on her hips in disappointment.
Tears streamed down poor Mikoto's face as she trembled in fear and terror. "No, please! I cannot abandon this paradise!"
Hit huffed as he watched these people argue over meaningless drivel; he decided to march up the sombre gathering. "Why don't you tie him up as before? Or better yet…" He turned to face Hermes and cracked his knuckles. ゴゴゴゴ "…beat him into unconsciousness." ゴゴゴゴ
Hermes trembled slightly and attempted to think of a way to escape. Unfortunately, his slight fear of the boy prevented any of Hermes' usual excuses from spewing forth.
Unexpectedly, Ryuu came to the god's rescue with a simple solution. "I think a less violent resolution might be more fruitful. Why not simply wear swimsuits? If you wear suits, there is no issue."
"Oh, what a splendid idea!" Mikoto straightened herself and brought her palms together, as if praying to the elf.
Sadly, the adventurers had obviously not packed with the intention to bathe. Moreso, they had never planned on this excursion in the first place. Hestia desperately sought out a solution, yet could think of nothing. "…But… where are we going to find any swimsuits down in this pit?"
"Knew something like this might happen!" Hermes' voice thundered from behind the gathering as he somehow raced away. The god fluttered Asfi's cape wide open to reveal that she had neglected to wear anything other than stripy blue underwear below her long coat. The girl screamed and pulled her top down to shield herself. As if by divine providence, a multitude of swimsuits wafted in the air, strapped to the lining of Asfi's snow-white cloak.
"HERMES!" Asfi screeched and pulled her cover back into place, before running towards the now fleeing God with a vengeance. Unfortunately, for him, he became a punching bag for the furious woman.
A moment of savagery later, and Hermes was let free, black eye and fingernail scratches now marring his godly visage. "T-these were hand selected by yours truly!" *Cough* "Y-you should each find one for your shape."
The adventurers each picked up their respective swimsuit with immense distrust. However, just as Hermes had said, the suits somehow marched their bodies perfectly… all except one.
Hit pulled on a pair of extremely baggy purple swimming trunks, right eye twitching. 'This is not my size… And what fabric are these made from? It's far too intricate to be handmade…'
Chigusa seemed to come to a different conclusion. "H-How did he find out our measurements…? They're perfect…"
Strangely, Mikoto did not pick the remaining suit up, and grinned at her friend. "Does it really matter? Just put it on and get in the water!"
The adventurers huffed and simply chalked it up to the perverted deity's divine power.
The women of the group then formed a line and waltzed to the left of the region, making sure to keep an eye on the men. On the way, Asfi spoke gruffly to Ryuu, who stood staring at Hermes. "Could you keep an eye on that pervert?"
Ryuu nodded; eyes boring into the deity. "I was going to regardless. I'm not swimming."
Asfi marched up to Hermes, pulling at his collar. "You hear that, you sick little man!? We're having a long, hard… talk… when we get back to the inn."
Hermes sweated and held his hands up in surrender. "T-take it easy, Asfi! I promise, no, swear on my hat to not spy on you!" This was quite a strange object to swear upon; however, the deity truly loved his hat, crafted by his favourite human. The woman pouted and set him free before trudging to join her colleagues.
Ahead, Goddess Hestia grinned and marched along in glee. She pulled at a skimpy looking blue bikini, dotted in scintillating sequins; oddly it looked a tad small. 'Now's my chance to show Bell how much better I am than that Wallen floozy!'
…
*Achee!*
*Splish*
A white towel fell into a pool of warm water as Ais Wallenstein was forced to sneeze, yet again. Her nose scrunched up as she sniffled in confusion. 'Again…?'
Author's Notes
It's been a while, hasn't it? Apologies for not releasing any updates thus far; I am still writing season 2 of my story. However, I am getting towards the halfway point (after the war game), so will hopefully put the first half up relatively soon.
This is a little side story I made that I'll upload as before over the next few days. Only five chapters to cover the OVA. I hope you enhoy!
I also uploaded a rough spanish translation of my main story.
