Chapter 41: Team

Thick boots clunked against rubble and upturned roots as they traipsed through the now peaceful forest. Red eyes scanned every nook and cranny, searching for two cherished items: a notebook and backpack. Hit scowled as he meandered through familiar haunts, desperate to find Mary's gifts. They were the only possessions he cared for in this new world, and the priceless items were seemingly lost, likely torn to pieces during yesterday's cataclysmic war.

Light trickled through the canopy, illuminating Hit's simple lavender clothing. Surprisingly, the muscular Ouka had offered him a few sets of clothes, as a gesture of good faith. Any bad blood had been buried, and Hit would say there was no one he truly despised on this floor. Surprisingly, the grudgeful boy had changed his mind about Rivira, if only slightly. Its denizens were not all useless and, at the end of the day, the ragtag team had stood together, and fought against the impossible foe. They had not given up and were prepared to fight to the bitter end.

Hit had enjoyed the night's festivities, specifically, the free spirits that Bors gave out. Apparently, it was a premium selection the man had been saving for a special day, which it certainly was. The two had set aside their previous bickering and toasted to everyone's success. The elder had also offered Bell a drink; however, the young boy was forced to refuse by Welf; his doting goddess had no such issue and became quite inebriated, dancing merrily all night long.

Adventurers whispered and gazed at Hit in awe, as they sauntered around; however, a stern glance shooed them away. Hit's acquaintances also sent him sparkling gazes, likely desperate to learn how he had performed the day's impossible feats. Ultimately, they had held their tongues, out of respect for his privacy, and courtesy: it was a time to celebrate and relax; a time to forget about their troubles.

Of course, Hit's goodwill excluded Hermes, who did his best to hide from the boy. The deity was not afraid of him; in fact, he was rather reverant of Hit's heroic acts. Instead, Hermes avoided Hit out of petty reasons, still miffed about being forced into the spotlight of one of his many schemes. These measures were only successful, as Hit honestly did not care what the deity did, and had no reason to stalk him, at least not at the moment.

The only news that soured Hit's mood was the prisoner situation, or lack thereof. Soon after the floor's victory against Goliath, Hit had investigated Rivira's detainment facility, only to find that a crystal obelisk had shattered the building. Inside, the alien assassin met a demon's handiwork. Hugo's stiff corpse lay on the ground, a horrified expression permanently fixed on his face. The body was littered in deep slices, the largest of which, raked across the fumbling man's lower abdomen. Ropes of intestines littered the ground, demonstrating that Naga had taken her sweet time to torture him, finalising the procedure with a disembowelment. Sadly, the woman was not as foolish as Hit thought, and left no identifying note; the mangled corpse imparted her message, perfectly.

*Crack*

A twig snapped as Hit's rhythm was disrupted. 'There must be another exit on this floor, otherwise, that vermin would not have enjoyed herself so... How have I missed it?'

Hit shook his head free of such thoughts and carried on. There was no point in lingering on what had happened; he would simply notify Finn, and carry out his own investigation, on the surface. As long as no one found out, there would be no issue; Hit would not allow this case to fall to the bumbling fools at the Ganesha familia.

Hit was not angry at the unfortunate outcome, not even disconcerted. Life would always be filled with setbacks; one merely had to learn and move on. Of course, the payment that Bors had promised him was a major reason for Hit's indifference, rather than depression. Their opponent had been no ordinary level 4 Goliath, whose magic stone would be worth over 20,000,000 valis. No, the monster was an irregular, one enhanced by the dungeon out of pure malice to level 5 strength, leading to its regenerative properties, and unceasing barrage of breath attacks. Bors had guffawed, and jumped up and down, at the estimated 150,000,000 valis value, given out by a resident guild representative, who Hit was utterly certain was not even a smidge corrupt.

This one-of-a-kind crystal was utterly immense, and filled to the brim with energy, expected from a level 5 monster rex. Unfortunately, its apical end was slightly damaged, due to Hit and Bell's finishing move, which knocked off around 50 million valis. Each participating adventurer would receive around 3 million valis, whilst the heroes would be given 10 million valis, a prize that Bors had reluctantly given out, due to Ryuu and Asfi's persuasiveness; when a woman can easily snap you in half, it is quite difficult to go against their demands.

Additionally, the precious drop item, Goliath hide, would be distributed between their two heroes: Hit and Bell. To say Hit was incredibly pleased, was a foregone conclusion; the valis alone was likely five to ten times more valuable than his destroyed crystal cache and Goliath hide was, perhaps, an even greater prize. Hit did not require weapons, making armour his only large expenditure; a level 5 drop item would surely confer ridiculous durability. The grey matched his aesthetic too; what a bonus!

Hit had done his usual snooping and overheard that monster rex stones are like hen's teeth, that is to say, unfathomably rare. Apparently, the structures are nearly always destroyed, in part, due to their large size. Also, the goal for fighting monster rexes is usually to gain excelia, rather than to make money. Everyone had learned firsthand, just how incredibly dangerous they could be, making one's survival the usual reward. Despite level 5 monster rex magic stones potentially reaching 200 million valis in value, they were a massive undertaking, requiring tens of adventurers to defeat the monster itself. Once the travel and supply costs were deducted, payout was taxed, and reward distributed evenly, the reward was not actually that life changing. It would have been far more efficient, and safer, to combat hordes of lower-level monsters. Monster rexes also do not spawn regularly, and have temperamental refractory periods, further confounding efficient farming. To make matters worse, major familia are often barred from defeating a monster rex a certain number of times, within a set time period, and must take turns with other familias.

In some rare cases, the stubborn bosses can even repair their damage and/or continue attacking, as long as their magic stone is active, making its destruction quintessential. In this case, Hit had cut off Goliath's magic stone entirely, in his cage of time, and temporarily removed the monster's natural resistances. The survival of its magic stone was an incredibly rare occurrence, one that would send out shockwaves across the community.

Returning to Hit's search, sunlight grew in intensity, signalling that he was approaching the end of yet another forest. Hit tutted, still unable to find his belongings, and walked into the open. The boy's eyebrows rose as he paced onto an outcrop and stared at the landscape. Most of the larger craters, created during Goliath's rampage, had already healed overnight; It was incredible how resilient the dungeon was, able to repair injuries as a true living creature. Hit wondered how magic stones came to be, in the first place. Perhaps there was an immense energy source, far below. Maybe...

"Hit!"

Hit's purple hair billowed as he turned to an approaching man, interrupting his thoughts. It was Ouka, who was carrying a tan object in his hands.

'That's!' Hit's eyes widened and he marched towards the slightly taller teen.

"I figured this might be yours..." The capable man handed Hit a flattened backpack, one that was immediately recognisable.

Hit took the item, delicately, and looked inside. Mercifully, a notebook was nestled amongst purple crystalline splinters. The backpack itself was slightly ruffled, and cut in places; however, it was easily salvageable. Hit gazed at Ouka, in slight wonderment. "...How?"

Ouka stuck a thumb towards the lower exit to the 19th floor. "I volunteered to clear some of the exit points, and this bag was amongst the rubble. You've been looking for something, so I thought this might be it."

Hit furrowed his brows; he had not been nearly as discreet as usual. With barely any sleep, Hit had searched every nook of the immense forests, becoming more and more depressed, yet could not find any sign of the item. Clear thinking had taken a backseat; of course there was a chance the pack was blown away...

At Hit's silence, Ouka continued. "We all saw you traipsing around the floor, probably before any of us were awake; Your friend was quite worried about you. Anyway, it must have been blown there during the shockwaves..."

Hit nodded his head in respect and extended a hand. "I have not been in the best mood, until now that is. Thank you for this; I owe you."

Ouka smiled and shook the peace offering. "It's a man's duty to support others."

Hit had warmed up to Ouka immensely; the two were actually quite similar: headstrong, and curt.

The two disengaged and Ouka turned towards the opposite entryway, far in the distance.

"My party should be ready to leave soon; however, there are still some final preparations that need to be made. I believe Bell is also joining us, if you want to say goodbye. However, I really should be getting back." The no-nonsense man patted himself down, removing any dust earned during his previous altruistic activities, and marched off. "Until next time."

Hit simply nodded as the man's silhouette disappeared amongst the maze of trees. Now that he was alone, Hit allowed himself to relax, and patted Mary's backpack, reassuringly. "She truly did win me over... I suppose love is a foe that no god or mortal can defeat..."

The boy's footfalls were now completely silent, as he made for the archway to floor 17, feeling completely at peace.

...

A barren scene was Hit's only welcome as he approached the Hestia famila tent; the constructs had likely been folded and stored away in their supporter's pack. Hermes had already ascended, along with Asfi, who acted as his guard, and Ryuu, who was eager to return to the hostess, before Mia dragged her back kicking and screaming.

Hit carried on, hands stuffed away, and finally came across a large gathering of adventurers. The Takemikazuchi familia trio stood at the back, itching to go, whilst the Hestia familia seemed to be arguing amongst each other.

"But I wanted to go on another swim with my Bell!" Goddess Hestia stamped her feet as Lili glared at her. Welf was to the side clutching at his face. The deity halted her whining and did a little hop, sauntering to Bell's side. Her bewitching eyes widened as she sent him a puppy dog eye attack. "Can't we stay, just for another day? Pleeeeease Bell?"

Bell laughed, nervously, and scratched at his hair; Hestia seemed to have enjoyed her little holiday immensely.

Expectedly, Lili lashed out. "You haven't had a single bath with him in the first place!"

Hestia's rage threatened to boil over, yet she seemed to calm herself down, and huffed. The god clutched at her snow-white mini dress, looking ever so small. "I-I just want to be with you guys some more... All I ever do, is stay in the city...It's not like I do much to help..."

Her companions lost their annoyed attitudes and looked at the divine figure more softly; she was the goddess of family and the home, of course she would be lonely. This little trip was so much more thrilling than her relatively solitary days on the surface. Bell bent down and stared into his goddess' sky-blue eyes, which had darkened in her sudden depressive state.

"Goddess, that isn't true, and you know it! I would never have gotten this far, if it weren't for you. I owe you; you saved my life!"

Hestia seemed to pipe up; her sparkly, watery eyes threatened to rain down. Bell beamed at his saviour: his goddess. "Don't ever feel bad about yourself, goddess. You're important to me, and I'll always be here for you. And I'm sure we can all have lots of fun when we get to the surface!"

Hestia's lip trembled, and her dam of tears threatened to overflow; however, she suddenly wiped her eyes and pumped a fist into the air. "Right! I'll be the best goddess I can be!"

'I need to be strong. Not just for Bell, but for everyone. I'll do what I can!'

Lili ruined the lovely scene by supplying her view of a useful goddess. "You can start by staying quiet..."

Hestia growled and walked up to the pallum. "Huh!? You're the loudest one here!"

"Hehe..." Bell chuckled at their antics, pleased that the goddess was back to her jovial self. However, his keen vision spotted someone standing at the sidelines. It was Hit, who had his hands stuffed away, as usual, and was looking a little out of place. Bell ran over to him, hoping he hadn't offended the boy. "S-sorry for ignoring you, Mr Hit!"

Hit huffed and shook his head, relieved that he could finally get this meeting over with. "Leaving soon?"

Bell nodded, doing a mental double check; it was ultimately up to him to give out the final order to exit the floor. "Yeah! We're all packed and ready. Are you coming along too?"

Hit noticed the boy looked quite optimistic, but was not influenced by his cuteness. "Go on ahead; I will ascend at a later time."

Bell's light of hopefulness dimmed down into slight disappointment. "A-Are you sure? It'll be fun to fight together! I-I know you don't really like socialising much, but when's the next time we can all dive together?" The boy fidgeted around, desperately trying not to offend his new friend.

.

..

…

Hit thought for a few moments as Bell sweated nervously at the prolonged silence. "...Fine. But just this once; I'm not in the mood for dungeon dives today anyway." Ultimately, Hit caved, not seeing much point in sitting here, idly.

'I may as well go up now... It's not like I can store any stones, so there's no point in putting it off any longer... These people may be slightly annoying, but they're not as off putting as I first thought.'

Luckily his stash of rare herbs was not destroyed and was safely stored in his jumper pockets. Any fragile potions, stowed away during yesterday's battle, were destroyed, which actually served to heal his mangled legs slightly as the battle reached its climax.

Bell smiled, yet could not ignore Hit's aloof aura. He had to be there for his troubled mentor!

"Great! B-before we go, i-is there any way I can help you, Mr Hit? ...I know! We can get you another backpack!" Hit shook his head and stared down at his little rival. "No. I will simply repair this one. You can help me by getting stronger for our next spar."

"S-sure thing!" Bell gulped, a little hesitant to face Hit's full wrath; however, he would never back down again, and would welcome their next fight. The boy nodded and bounced back to his other colleagues.

As Bell raced to the frontline, Hit removed his notebook from the mangled backpack, and placed it within his pocket for safe keeping. He pushed his arms through the dishevelled loops of the pack, and pulled on them, as he had done on his first ever journey. Part of him marvelled at how far he had come: he had made a stratospheric improvement from the pallid brat he used to be, immediately following transmigration. However, what surprised him the most, were the bonds he was slowly cultivating.

Ahead, Bell stopped beside his goddess and bent down slightly, placing his hands behind him. "I'll carry you, Goddess. Hop on!"

The little deity blushed slightly and obliged his request, acting uncharacteristically gently towards her steed. "O-okay. Be gentle, okay!"

The girl squeaked as Bell supported her thin legs and rose himself up. He turned to face his band of allies, who looked on in determination... apart from Lili, who chewed her cheeks in burning envy. "Everyone ready?"

At their unanimous nods of affirmation, Bell smiled, ready to face their next adventure head on. "Okay! Then lets head back home!"

His companions grinned and marched after him.

*CRASH*

*BAM*

*BOOM*

*BAM*

*BAM*

*SHIIII!*

*CRASH*

Slams and booms echoed throughout the thirteenth floor as Hit darted from wall to wall, almost flying within the confined space. Packs of Almiraj screamed as an adventurer somehow managed to keep up with their teamwork, revelling in the chaos of the bounding furry creatures. It seems that the boy wanted to end his battles as quickly as possible, never ceasing in his attacks. Surrounding colleagues had kept out of his way, thus far, looking on in awe as they disposed of any stragglers.

Hestia's twin tails slapped Bell's face, from side to side, as she twisted her body to keep up with the disappearing boy. "T-this guy's crazy! He keeps zipping everywhere!"

Lili dashed to frantically pick up any magic stones left in Hit's wake, sweating and panting at their remarkable quantity, and quality, despite the monster's complete destruction. "Huff! Huff! H-how are they not broken!?"

Welf gulped at the massacre, narrowing his eyes as purple light flickered at every resounding boom. Bell was slightly more relaxed, yet could not help his shock. He had seen Hit's disappearing fighting style from a distance; however, this was a whole new experience. It was one thing to see Hit's outline, dashing around Goliath, but to see the teleportation up close?

*RIIIII!*

*Squelch*

A particularly unfortunate bad bat had been born in this chaotic hellscape, yet was instantly caught and squeezed into paste, by Hit's S rank strength. The boy threw the slowly vaporising carcass onto the ground, and turned, looking for more victims.

Bell trembled at Hit's deadly fighting style, thanking the stars that he had not endured an unbridled strike from Hit, during their spar, thanks to his own agility and the battle's restraints. Hit's teleporting skill would definitely have made up the difference in speed. Crimson, searching eyes added to Hit's aura of eeriness: his expression was not normal; there was no fear, or trepidation, nor enjoyment; it was as he was an automaton, fulfilling a task.

"Mphh." Bell noticed that his small passenger had snuggled into his back, quivering.

"A-are you okay Goddess?" Bell had taken on the responsibility of keeping Hestia safe, relying on speed alone to evade any monster attacks; her life was their highest priority.

Hestia hugged Bell even harder, rubbing her cheek against his coat. "Y-yeah... Just a little scared. But I know you'll keep me safe, Bell."

Suddenly, Hit's head jerked towards Bell, and his cargo; the boy's fists raised once more, and he bounded towards them. Before Bell became too worried, Hit sent a hand crashing into the dungeon's stone floor and pulled a wriggly white item out.

*RIIII!*

An Almiraj chittered and squirmed within Hit's powerful grip, anxiously swinging a stone axe at its captor. Hit drew his emotionless visage from the rabbit, and onto Bell's albino eyes. "These creatures remind me of you."

To Bell's horror, Hit then flung the monster back onto its birthplace, and stomped it into red paste, creating a puddle of ichor. The bunny boy's face paled, an outwards sign of his queasiness.

Unexpectedly, Lili and Welf laughed at the horrible execution. Welf grinned and crossed his arms. "See Bell, it's not just us who see the resemblance!"

Lili joined in the teasing, and swung a finger at Bell, as if lecturing him. "Yeah! So, get your furry friends under control!"

Bell groaned; his sickly feeling now replaced by annoyance. "Ugh... Not this again... They have nothing to do with me!"

A round of giggles escaped the Takemikazuchi familia girls; however, they were cut short by the trembles of unlife.

*Crack* *Crack* *Crack* *Crack* *Crack*

The ground quaked as tens of apertures unfurled and ejected their violent progeny. A nest of Almiraj plopped down, from fiery rifts within the cavern walls, and snuffled their black noses at the beings who dared trespass onto their mother's sacred ground. An overwhelming sea of white became blanketed by red pinpricks of hate, as the troop of monsters faced their enemies.

"It's a monster party, a big one!" Liliruca readied her crossbow, as an unusually dense sea of monsters materialised. Bell approached the pallum, lowered himself into a sitting position, and readied himself for battle. "Goddess, I need you to stay here for a moment. I'll..."

"There's no need." Hit interrupted Bell's developing strategy, and faced a wary Mikoto, who had already drawn her katana. "You. Ready your gravity magic." The strategist then turned towards Welf, who wielded a simple sword: a leftover from Rivira's battle. "...and you, detonate the Hellhounds."

"Huh? What Hellhoun...wha!?" Welf stared at the chattery battlefield for a few moments, confusion building; however, he was left gobsmacked as ten quadrupedal figures bounded onto the scene. A pack of Hellhounds now growled at the forefront, acting as the frontline of the rabbit army. Unusually, the troop remained in place.

Monsters in this world are highly sensitive to each other's presence, and will gladly join a monster party to bolster its numbers, to an even more dangerous degree. Consequently, this runaway effect has claimed the lives of countless aspiring adventurers, over the ages, sure that they could defeat the monster party that faced them. Unfortunately for them, it was steadily supplemented by surrounding monsters, previously unaware of their presence. Hit had noticed the unusually hesitant Almiraj and had heard the approaching four-legged beasts; using this hastily acquired knowledge, the genius had developed a strategy in only a few heartbeats. Of course, ordinarily, Hit would simply charge the beasts, suicide to anyone else; however, this time, he wanted to see how a party of lower-level adventurers normally fought.

Welf sheathed his weapon, and raised a palm towards the growling Hellhounds, fire licking at their muzzles. "Dammit! I hate it when they team up!"

Behind, Almiraj mimicked their frontliners and descended onto their front legs, preparing to bound ahead, as soon as the Hellhounds charged their flame magic. Padded feet raked the earth, as their tiny bodies shook in anticipation. Magic fire thrummed within the hound's bloodthirsty jaws, as embers grew into flaming orbs, burning with hatred.

"«Will-o-Wisp!»" Welf finally allowed the forbidden spiral of anti-magic to jettison forth, its near instantaneous travel followed by Hit's perceptive eyes.

**BOOOOOOOM**

Explosions detonated, bodies flew, fires blazed. Catastrophic failure erupted across the battlefield, as the Hellhound, targeted by Welf's spell, experienced Ignis Fatuus and burst apart. Microseconds after the initial explosion, whereupon the wolf's eyes bulged and burst from their sockets, the shockwave spread outwardly, and prematurely detonated the nine other flamethrower attacks, in a cataclysmic chain reaction. The orderly nature of the monster's numbers had been their undoing and allowed Ignis Fatuus to spread like a cancer. Behind, the Almiraj fared only slightly better, with the closest, and most determined, rabbits being reduced to smithereens. White balls of fur flew upwards and backwards as the deflagration sent them careening away.

"H-holy..." Welf allowed his arm to fall limp, jaw slack at his handiwork.

Ouka readied himself to charge, yet halted as he recognised the final verses to Mikoto's spell. The maiden's black ponytail danced in the arcane atmosphere, purple flowery specks dancing across her lavender clothing. "...rule over the Earth. «Futsunomitama!»"

The slowly regrouping band of Almiraj became flattened, as a gravitational sword fixed them in place. Mikoto held a black orb of space within her grasp, straining far less than during her previous usage of the technique.

Hit gazed at the spell for a moment, then turned to Chigusa and Lili, wordlessly compelling them to action. The two supporters understood their assignment and fired arrows and crossbow bolts at the paralysed monsters, accurately piercing as many targets as they could. Chigusa's dark fringe parted as each arrow was set loose from her bow, allowing deep blue eyes to peek through, intermittently.

Mikoto finally began to strain and was eventually forced to loosen her grasp on her miniature singularity. "Ghk...T-that's all I have."

The adventurers' morale skyrocketed as the monster party was now reduced to under a quarter of its previous numbers. The snow-white rabbits swayed and twitched amongst piles of their charred brethren, gaining their bearings once more. A particularly brave Almiraj squeaked and picked up its fallen comrades' weapons. Powerful legs beat, and the creature bounced forwards, dual wielding stone axes.

"Hmph." The Almiraj's leap was slowed to a snail's pace as Hit's [Time Lag] took effect, ensnaring it in a time-slowing purple hue. Hit then rocketed forwards, respect for the determined creature burning, and smashed the rabbit to oblivion.

Mikoto gasped, entranced by this new spell, yet pulled herself together. The warrior drew her katana and sliced through the enemy monsters, joining Ouka and Hit, who were already demolishing the remaining creatures. Soon, the monster party was utterly annihilated...

...

Hit gazed across the cratered ground, now devoid of monsters, and reflected on the short battle. 'They have good synergy: various supporters balanced by Ouka and Bell, if he were in my place; I wonder if different familia can enter the dungeon together... The most valuable component of this skirmish would be the red-haired boy's anti magic. However, their style of combat is far less fast paced than mine. Do they tire more quickly?' Thanks to Hit's training, and fine-tuned muscle twitching, his endurance was second to none, and was increasing every day. It was certainly not normal to be able to sprint and dash across the battlefield, at full power, for hours on end.

Bell ran towards Hit, making Hestia a little dizzy as she bounced up and down. The boy was becoming increasingly awed by Hit with every meeting. "That was an amazing strategy, Mr Hit! How did you know about the Hellhounds?" Bell was incredibly grateful for Hit's presence here, without which, he would have to leave Goddess Hestia in Lili's care.

Hit looked down, still keeping an eye on the walls. "Just listen to your surroundings and turn the monsters' strength against them."

Bell nodded, resolutely. He needed to be stronger; his friends were counting on it! 'Mister Hit really is amazing... He's only two years older than me, and yet he fights like a first-class adventurer! ...No, he's even greater than that. Not even Ais' kicks were so p-perfect.'

The boy's awed expression turned contemplative, and he hesitantly asked a personal question of his mentor. "M-mister Hit? How did you learn your martial arts? You already told me about your exercises, but nothing about your teacher..."

"My battle style was born out of necessity. Let your body guide you, as you flow through the arena of life." As usual, Hit's answers conveyed so much, yet possessed such ambiguity. Hit's convoluted path to power was not for the faint of heart, or those unwilling to steep themselves in the dark powers of the world.

Mikoto sheathed her weapon and walked up to Hit. She had barely spoken to the man, only giving a brief introduction the day before, yet was entranced by his foreign martial arts and magic. "You're self-taught? That's incredible... Lord Takemikazuchi taught me every martial art I know. I still cannot beat him, despite reaching level 2."

Hit's eyes widened, and he held his chin in thought. "A deity with such strength? Perhaps I will pay him a beating..."

Mikoto, spluttered, before regaining her composure. "D-do you not mean a visit?"

Hit ignored the correction and asked a question of his own. "Your magic, does it increase gravity in a given area?"

The kunoichi recovered, and readily answered the question, pleased to be diverted to the topic of magic. "Y-Yes, in a way. The spell crushes the space within a cylindrical area. A divine sword descends to confine my enemies, holding them in place. Is your magic similar, Mr Hit?"

Hit's air of curiosity seemed to fade, as if he was displeased with her answer. "No. My magic slows or halts an enemy's movements by altering their frequency. To be specific, does your spell condense magic energy into a singularity, to create a curvature in spacetime? I suppose the initial convergence creates an event horizon..."

Mikoto blinked at the foreign words, mind whirring to understand the unknown concepts. "I... do not know. My apologies, I would not call myself a master of arcane arts. My magic is based more on faith, rather than study." Mikoto ended her apology with a bow, biting her lip in slight shame.

Hit would be lying if he said he was not disappointed; her magic was quite intriguing. Nevertheless, this new information was still useful. Perhaps someone's faith in their abilities played a part in their resultant power. If so, he was overflowing with self-confidence. "No matter. Although, not knowing the intricacies of your abilities will limit your power."

The hesitant girl rose herself up, looking far more determined. "I see. Thank you, Mr Hit. I will be sure to research my abilities further, from now on!"

Hit nodded, seemingly rekindling his interest in speaking to her. "Always question your abilities, and the world around you. You said you were proficient in martial arts?"

The change in conversation seemed to lighten the woman's mood even further. Mikoto nodded, filled with nothing but respect and true love for her deity. "Before meeting you, Lord Takemikazuchi was the most skillful fighter I knew of. He may lack the power of first-class adventurers; however, his martial arts are impeccable."

Hit liked the sound of this god more and more; Eina had also given the man a glowing recommendation, bolstering his notoriety. "Your own skill will always be more important than the falna. Do not neglect your body." Hit was starting to feel like a parrot, repeating the same advice to these people. It wasn't his fault they all suffered from the same impediments.

Bell watched from the sidelines, smiling at his two friends. The boy was exceptionally happy that Hit was actually beginning conversations now.

*/*

Several tremors and quakes brought the adventurers back to reality. Thankfully, they were likely aftershocks, or simply natural earthquakes. The phenomenon was not cause for concern; however, they had been increasing in intensity and frequency lately. Welf, in particular, was itching to leave this wretched pit and return to his cozy workshop. "Come on, guys. We can all chat later; we don't want it getting too late. Besides, I've had enough of the dungeon for a bit..."

Ouka sheathed his spear and took point, before heading towards the 12th floor. "Right. Time waits for no one."

The rest of the company followed suit, with a smirking Hit protecting the rear.

Author's Notes

Despite Hit being relatively emotionless, you can actually use lots of different ways to show changes in emotion. E.g.: his soundless footsteps now making noise.

One complaint is that Hit may be speaking too much; however, I really like writing their interactions. Plus, this is the last time he's going to see these people for a while, and he's been warming up to people for a month.

As for this world's economy, I probably messed it up. However, this story isn't really focusing on it. I believe that as long as I remain consistent with it, it'll be fine. However, it's still confusing…

I have no idea how the economy works in this world. Apparently, Bell's Minotaur stone was worth 50,000 valis. However, it was probably worth more than average, likely due to Ottar's training. Does this mean that Bell managed to beat the equivalent of a full power irregular minotaur as a level 1? Every time I think Hit is op Bell just obliterates everything. I'm just going to count level 2 stones as 50,000 valis.

However, I read somewhere else that 6 high level Loki familia members (Finn, Riveria, Ais, Tiona, Tione, Lefiya) earned only 4 million valis in five days on the deeper floors together. How!?

4,000,000 valis earned/50,000 valis per stone = 80 level 2 stones (deeper floor would be far more valuable, but I'll just use this). That means 80 monsters / 6 adventurers = 13.3 monsters killed per adventurer. 13.3 monsters killed ÷ 5 days = 2.67 monsters per adventurer per day. Did these lazy bums only beat 3 monsters each a day? What were the idiots even doing? Are my calculations wrong?

I'm just going to ignore that. High rank adventurer earning is heavily inflated in my story, whilst prices remain the same. I really think this is fair, as there are very, very few adventurers above level 2, at least compared to the whole adventurer population. Plus repair costs can get to tens of millions of valis, and new items hundreds of millions.