Chapter 8: Stampede

The Loki familia was having quite a bad day.

Unexpectedly, they had encountered a new form of monster at the entrance to the 50th floor. Kaleidoscopic caterpillars ambushed them and melted the flesh of a few unfortunate members, using their purple acidic secretions to scatter them. The brutes of the company had been demoted to mere diversions, as even the viscera of the slithering maggots caused immense damage to living flesh. They could not risk crippling themselves, nor the destruction of their supplies.

An elven mage held a white mithril staff upwards; inhuman beauty reflected from the nine magic stones embedded within it.

«Rea Laevateinn!»

Branching red lines sprouted from a complex magic circle below her and encircled the insidious monsters before the company. Biblical fire-filled tornadoes ensued and shredded everything in their path.

Jade green hair whipped about in the gale force winds, generated by the annihilation magic. This was Riveria Ljos Alf, the most powerful mage in the world. Thanks to her magic, there were no casualties today. It had been a harrowing experience, nonetheless.

Their trials were not over; however, as their immense strength and numbers backfired later on. Grey stone walls towered around the Loki familia members as they made their ascent through the barren landscape of the 17th floor.

*Crack* *Crack* *Crack* ...

A multitude of minotaurs erupted from their fiery birthplace and surrounded the shocked adventurers.

*Graaaaaaggh!*

"It's a monster party!" Less experienced members, like the level 4 adventurer Raul Nord, were at their wit's end. His short black hair ruffled as he looked at the creatures surrounding them.

"They're all minotaurs..." The level 5 'sword princess', Ais Wallenstein, remarked impassively as if they were a harmless herd of cattle. She wore a light set of silver coloured armour over a white dress; long blue boots came up to her thighs.

"What should we do, captain? There's kinda a lot of them". Tione Hiryute was also unimpressed by the entourage. Her long black hair and sky-blue earrings glistened in the light. Her red outfit was quite revealing, showcasing a voluptuous figure that was typical for an amazoness. It was a wonder how she wasn't cold.

"Right, just get rid of them quickly." Finn Deimne recognised the potential danger of a monster party to others. Despite their individual weakness, it would be difficult to dispose of all of them. He was far more well dressed than the dark-skinned girl beside him, wearing a purple shirt and bronze-coloured light armour. A long black and golden staff went beyond his short blond hair and surpassed even his own height. He stood at only 119 cm, a pallum, but was not to be underestimated, as he was one of the strongest level 6 in existence.

"Now you're talking!" The other Hiryte sister, Tiona Hiryute, cried out in glee and skipped to the closest beast to her. Her short messy black hair, and orange skirt, swayed as she went. She was a little shorter than her sister and... not at all well-endowed.

The Minotaur looked down, red eyes gleaming. It huffed in confusion at the bug that approached it. Tiona held her hands behind her back as she leaned forwards and spoke in a sing song voice.

"~Are you ready?~"

Quicker than the eye could see, she launched a roundhouse kick into the monster's jaw, dislocating it. The bull disappeared into black smoke before her foot even returned to the ground.

*Crack*

A crack sounded out as the other twin grasped at the horns of another Minotaur and broke its neck, killing it instantly. The cattle stepped back, mortified. Such a quick disposal sent the rest of the large herd stampeding to the upper floors above, causing shockwaves to reverberate across the floor.

"You monsters aren't supposed ta be such pansies!" Bete Loga scoffed at the rare behaviour. His grey wolf ears twitched as hundreds of hooves thundered upwards. A purple thunderbolt tattoo stood out on his handsome face.

"That leads to the upper floors." A golden-yellow haired elf stood in thought. Coming to a horrifying conclusion, Lefiya Viridis gasped, her backpack rattling as she moved. "There could be other adventurers up there!"

Raul also recognised the danger. "And they'd only be level 1s!".

Finn's thumb ached. "Go! Don't let them get away!"

They had very little time. If they did not track down every single Minotaur, many adventurers would certainly die. The high-level adventurers systematically eliminated their foes; however, were left with two stubborn stragglers. Once on the fifth floor, they were met with a crossroads. Ais Wallenstein ran to the left, whilst Bete and Tiona made for the right, for a Minotaur they injured, two floors below.

**Smash**

A mighty fow was felled.

*Thrum*

Purple rays hummed.

Two adventurers walked in on an unexpected sight.

"Woooooww..." Tiona was entranced by the scene that greeted her. A lone adventurer dealt a finishing blow to his titanic foe. Well defined muscles peeked under torn clothes, wringing with blood. She had always loved heroes; all she needed was to find one stronger than her, a very tall order.

Bete Loga was also somewhat impressed. A newbie adventurer had somehow cleaned up their mess. He did not recognise the man so he must be a new level 2, one with a skill or magic, based on the strange purple rays around him. Not to mention the odd feeling that made his teeth hurt and ears ring.

The bloodied man straightened back up and looked at the sizeable magic stone below. "You have my thanks... Your greatness has fuelled my own."

This statement pushed Tiona over the edge, and she squealed, hands held in the air. "SO COOL!"

"Hhng?" Hit whirled round, almost blacking out. 'People? How long have they been watching?'

Hit chided his inattentiveness. 'I was far too focused on ending the battle; if they had attacked me, I would have been completely defenceless...'

Hit had attempted to use the same tactic to defeat Jiren, to no avail. An opponent is most vulnerable after finishing off their prey, in Jiren's case an overheated Goku. Just how was that grey alien's battle awareness so infallible?

Hit put on a strong front and placed his hands in his pockets to hide their quaking. "What do you want?" He betrayed his nervousness by speaking first.

Tiona walked closer and held her palms together in apology. "We're super sorry, mister! That Minotaur was our fault, we let it escape from the lower floors... Good job beating it though!"

"I-I see..." Hit had some difficulty hearing her; he was in bad shape. 'L-lower floors? That must mean deeper in the dungeon. Are these high-class adventurers?'

Hit gathered himself to speak once more, swaying a little. "Tell me, would that... creature have been a challenge for you?"

"Huh?" Tiona was confused, surely, he recognised her. The girl scratched her cheek; she wasn't used to bragging. "Haha... Not really? They're pretty weak for a level 5 like me."

Hit closed his eyes and chuckled inwardly. 'Weak? I put everything I had into that. I guess I can't avoid the gods any longer.' He turned around and put one foot in front of the other.

Tiona almost fell over in confusion. "Wha...Hey, wait up! Let us heal you at least!"

The odd stranger continued marching.

Bete narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Just who was this guy? "Hold it." He spoke in a cold deep voice that demanded respect. "What's your familia? I've never seen ya before." Werewolves were extremely territorial beings, making a strong stranger quite the eyesore.

Hit stopped. His body ached. His ears rung. His lungs burned. Why couldn't these nuisances just piss off already? "I'm from the Nunya familia." Hit continued walking.

Bete's nose scrunched up at the alien word. "Nunya? The hell's that?" He knew the name of every familia in Orario, it was impossible his search had missed one.

"Nunya damned business..." Hit smiled to himself and kept trudging on.

"Hah?" The werewolf made a funny sound and stood confused for a moment, tail flopping loosely. Realisation came over him and he took on a look of rage as fur bristled all over him.

"Hey! Get back here ya bastard!" His sharp canines glistened in the darkness as he stepped forwards, menacingly.

The boy did not react and exited the room, presumably to make his way to the surface.

Bete clicked his tongue and folded his arms "Tch. Prick."

Tiona was giggling beside him. "He got you Bete... Fufufu". She held a finger to her mouth. "Buuut... Shouldn't we go after him?"

Bete waved a hand, dismissively, and spoke cruelly. "Nah... The moron doesn't want any help, so he won't get any."

Tiona held a hand to her ear to listen for any other scuffles. Satisfied, she walked back the way they came. "Okay, but if Riveria gets mad it's all on you."

Bete shoved his hands in his pockets and walked lazily after the bubbly girl. "Who cares what that hag thinks."

A corpse walked out of the dungeon that day. Blood dripped onto the ground as it walked, leaking from scars that littered its body.

"H-Hey... you alright?"

"Holy..."

"I think I'm gonna hurl..."

"What the hell happened to that kid?"

Whispers surrounded Hit as he marched down the road leading to his current lodgings. 'I forgot how good that feels.' Strangely, he was feeling quite happy and ignored the terrible agony that crawled over every inch of him.

The only reason Hit wasn't actually a corpse was his newly awakened time skip. Even with his lethargic body, the ability to view snapshots of reality, and the resultant instinctual combat, had been enough to make it back out. He looked like he had been to hell and back again. Unfortunately, his severe expression and air of confidence prevented any do-gooders from actually approaching to help, not that Hit could even recognise anyone's presence, nor any high level stimuli. One such provocation was a concerned stare from his high-born stalker.

...

Goddess Freya's eyes widened into saucers as she looked down from her perch. Her newest fascination was there again, but his soul had changed immensely.

"Your beauty grows ever higher..."

A prismatic purple snake coiled around the globular spheroid that made up Hit's soul. The fabric constituting the construct had shifted into a mosaic of shattered crystals, adding yet another layer to its complexity. The creature looked proud to finally be free from its prison and gazed at Freya, haughtily. It stuck out a forked tongue to taste the air between them. She licked her lips in response, yet her eyes quaked in worry.

...

The doors to the Hostess of fertility burst open as a silver blur ran to the injured boy. Syr stopped in front of Hit and gasped, a horrified expression on her face. "Mr Hit! Whatever happened to you!? Please, you need to come in right now!"

It seems someone finally got through to Hit as he crossed his arms spasmodically. His pupils were hazy, and blood drenched his face; a red sheen covered his body. Blood vessels bulged under his left eye. "N-Nothing happened...!"

Blood spluttered from the former assassin's mouth as he spoke, breathlessly. His body tilted back slowly, before it fell towards the stone paving below. The last thing Hit saw was the silver haired maid racing to catch him.

"Where am I?" Hit woke up with a start, before cringing due to the stiffness of his body.

Hit grumbled. 'Not this again...'

He looked around the small bedroom he was currently resting in. A window opened up the end of the room, wood shutters allowing sunlight to filter in. A familiar backpack sat next to some chairs and a table to his left. "Hmmm... I'm back". Hit sighed in relief, he was sure he had died back there... again.

"That you are... boy." Floorboards groaned as the towering form of Mia Grand entered through the open door.

"This is a private room" Hit receded into the covers a little.

"Shut it. We were pretty sure it was going to be yer death bed." Mia looked at him ruefully. "Do you have any idea how lucky y'are? If Syr hadn't rushed out; if Ryuu hadn't been here; if it wasn't our break. Any a' those scenarios and there's no way we could have saved y'in time." She narrowed her eyes. "I was hoping you were just a figment of our imagination, until I saw ya. How the hell did you sneak out so early?"

Hit looked at his body. Only faint scars remained, although he was still bloodied. "Who healed me?" Hit looked at her more seriously, ignoring the second question.

"Ryuu. You owe her your life, ya know. You'll have to take a proper shower yerself though. You smell like shit." The woman got a particularly angry look, and her voice boomed in rage. "WHY DIDN'T YOU USE THE BATHS AVAILABLE TO ALL REGISTERED ADVENTURERS!? WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU GO TO THE GUILD FOR HELP, LIKE ANY ADVENTURER WOULD? HUH!?"

Hit looked away from her. "I don't have to validate my actions to you."

Mia was flabbergasted. This moron had no sense of survival whatsoever. "You're the biggest damned suicidal idiot I've ever seen. And a terrible liar." She looked at him as if she had seen this many times before. "Soon enough, you'll die."

"Heh... Wouldn't be the first time..." Hit chuckled.

Mia quirked a brow at this. Was he off the deep end? "Alright, I don't know what the hell's wrong with ya, but if you don't decide to join a familia or give up on becoming an adventurer right now, you're out of here."

Hit looked up in surprise. "How?" 'Didn't my bluffs work?'

Mia smirked, baring her teeth. "Like I said, you're a terrible liar, at least ta experts like me. Only an empty-headed moron would make the mistakes you have." She leaned down, predatory grin looming over Hit. "I'm also very used to dealing with dirtbags and liars. So, which one are ya?"

Hit coughed, supressing a chuckle. "Both, I suppose..." His serious look then returned. "Look, you can halt this interrogation. I have made up my mind to join one of these 'familia'. I've reached my peak without the assistance of a divine boon."

Mia relaxed a little. "Good. I guess I don't get to throw you outta the window then." She cringed at the memory of his haggard state from before. "What the hell even did that to ya? You were half ...no... three quarters dead when I saw you…"

"It was a giant cow. Seven feet tall", Hit supplied emotionlessly.

Mia's eyes widened and she gasped.

Hit looked at his fist, remembering just how tough the creature's skin was. "A bipedal bull. Rather powerful."

Mia clutched her face and walked out. "The luckiest fool I've ever come across".

Author's notes

I have not read the LN so do not know the depths of Freya's character too much; however, she seems to truly wish to find true love, whatever the cost. She also seems to use the persona of Syr to radiate her more kind and caring nature, and to become more vulnerable, which conflicts with her status as Freya, the head of the strongest familia in the world.

Hit's 'Nunya' reply may be a bit cringe, but it's a reference to my favourite fanfiction by Anco (Is it wrong to crawl my way back home one dungeon floor at a time). I also like pissing Bete off.

Sadly, the author of the story has deleted their account. I miss reading about John; The author made the characters feel so real…