God's Blessing on this Wonderful Dungeon
By Icura and Special FX
~o~
Chapter 19: Loki Expedition
~o~
The first light of dawn painted the sky in hues of pink and gold as various members of Loki Familia waited in the park outside of the tower of Babel. The massive tower loomed overhead, casting a long shadow over the entrance of the tower. Various Loki Familia members stood around speaking with one another while checking the supply caravan or fiddling with their equipment to pass the time. There was a buzz of excitement in the air among all the adventurers and spectators in the park that came with the start of any new expedition.
It wasn't all excitement, however. For the ones whom this would be their first expedition, their temperament could be better described as nervous or anxious.
Among the rookies who would be accompanying them in this expedition, there were a few that Finn Diemne would be keeping a close eye on. That wasn't to say he wasn't going to keep an eye on all of the rookies, but there were some who he saw great potential in. Anakitty Autumn and Raul Nord were among that group, a pair of rookies who had joined up around the same time. Anakitty displayed a keen sense for combat that would carry her far in the future.
As for Raul…
Everything about him was average at best, and he had confidence issues that were concerning. There should have been nothing noteworthy about him; he seemed like he would just be another one of the many adventurers who eventually plateaued at level two. And yet, there was something about him that was intriguing, even if he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was. Perhaps, it was simply his intuition at work, but that had not failed him yet.
And then there was Ais Wallenstein.
Where could he even begin when it came to their resident problem child? She was talented, a prodigy even, but she was also downright suicidal in her pursuit of power. If she didn't have someone like Riveria to rein her in, there was no doubt in his mind that she would have died by now. Ais fought with reckless abandon, paying no heed to her injuries nor the opponents she faced.
While most adventurers possessed a healthy dose of fear to stop them from taking on far more than they could chew, Ais possessed no such thing. Her intense and irrational hatred of monsters only made it worse.
If he were being honest, he was reluctant to bring her along on this expedition. While her talent was unquestionable, she was still only a child and one with a tendency to disregard orders. Undoubtedly, if he were to leave her behind while all of them were away on an expedition, she would probably find a way to sneak into the dungeon on her own and there would be no one around to save her.
It was, unfortunately, the best choice he could make between two lousy options.
At the very least, she seemed to have calmed down recently. Finn had a sneaking suspicion that it was because of the influence of a certain 'Hero of Justice', but that was simply his speculation on the matter. Regardless, he had left the management of Ais to Riveria so that was more her domain than his.
"It's about time to get started," Gareth mentioned as he glanced at the sun shining down on them. "Everyone's ready."
"Yes, I suppose it is," Finn agreed as he took a look at everyone in the park and still not seeing the members of Eris Familia. "Although…"
"They're late," Riveria finished with a frown on her face.
"You don't think they decided to back out, do you?" Gareth asked with some slight concern on his face.
"I don't think so," Finn replied. "Kazuma seemed quite intent on getting our assistance with his hunt for Evilus."
"I still don't know how in the world you managed to swindle that deal out of him," Riveria dryly remarked.
Finn just smiled in response. "It wasn't too difficult."
"Hmm? I think I see them," Gareth pointed out into the distance.
Finn looked over toward the direction Gareth was pointing at and saw the Eris Familia making their way to the park. For only being a familia of level twos, they were all extremely well-equipped. He could tell that the armor that Kazuma and Darkness were wearing were definitely of high quality, most likely from Hephaestus Familia or Goibniu Familia.
Finn raised an eyebrow and glanced over at Riveria just before he saw Ais separate from her caretaker and run straight toward Kazuma.
Riveria just sighed in response.
"It seems she has taken a liken to him."
Finn's lips twitched into a smile.
"Are you jealous?"
"Hardly," Riveria dryly replied as she watched Ais greeting Kazuma. "Did you forget that you two basically forced her into my hands?"
Finn and Gareth glanced at each other for a brief moment before they both just chuckled in response.
"The lass needed a mother's touch."
"Gareth and I wouldn't know how to raise a young girl."
"And you think I do?" Riveria questioned with an annoyed look on her face. "Since when did I become a 'mother'?"
"You've done a good job so far," Finn pointed out.
"Aye," Gareth agreed. "If it were Finn or me, she might have ended up dead by now."
"I highly doubt that," Riveria dryly replied. "It just sounds like you two are pushing more work onto me."
Finn gave a sheepish smile in response before he hopped up on top of a nearby caravan. Now that the Eris Familia was here, it was time to announce the start of the expedition.
"Attention, everyone!" Finn shouted, catching everyone in the park's attention. "We will now begin our expedition!"
~o~
"Wah! Why do we have to travel by ourselves down to the tenth floor?!"
"Aqua, weren't you listening at all?" Kazuma asked in exasperation.
"When you reach a cutscene, wouldn't you want to skip it?"
"That's…" Kazuma paused for a moment, mulling over it. However, just as quickly, he shook his head to banish the thought. "That's beside the point. This isn't a video game!"
"I know that! If it was, I would have already pressed x to skip!"
"What is a cutscene…?" Ais quietly asked while holding Kazuma's hand, though her voice was practically drowned out in Kazuma and Aqua's argument.
While walking behind the three of them, Megumin was examining Ais closely with a hard stare. As for Darkness, she merely maintained her dignified nonchalance that would have fooled anyone into saying that she was worthy of being a veteran knight. That was, if they didn't already know about her predilection.
The five of them were currently traveling through the eighth floor.
They deferred to Ais' directions since they hadn't bothered farming on these floors in a while now and he couldn't be bothered to memorize all the routes when he could just teleport. In fact, they hadn't even been here for months now. However, wanting the full adventurer experience, he decided not to use [Teleport] and opted to travel like everyone else. Still, the reason that they were traveling through here with only their small group was because there was no way the entire expedition would be able to move through these cramped tunnels on the beginning floors together.
The first ten floors were too small, and it was often crowded with adventurers working the job like paid salary workers. That meant that if they were to form a long line, it would take too long to snake their way through the floors, and it would obstruct the farmers (adventurers) from harvesting the fruits (magic stones) from the plants (monsters). That would be bad since the economy relied on low-income manual slave laborers to create benefits for the wealthy elites (the Guild).
Of course, there was an obvious lack of labor laws due to the nature of the work. There weren't even any healthcare benefits or hazard pay, but that was the life of an independent contractor.
"I bet you just skip the tutorial and then complain and whine when you don't understand anything!" Kazuma shot her a disgusted look.
"That's normal! Why are you looking at me like it isn't?!"
"Who do you think people come to when they get stuck? Me!"
"A NEET like you probably has all the free time in the world! When you're not playing video games, you're probably looking up all those forums and boards for strategies all day just so you can make your numbers go up a tiny bit. Why can't you help out? Why not make a strategy guide? It's not like you don't have the time!"
"You damn useless goddess!"
"See! You resort to that when you're losing!" Aqua smugly replied. "As expected of a NEET who only knows how to leech."
"That's you!"
"How can you possibly say that about me? Don't you know the difference?" Aqua asked chidingly with a shake of her head, as if she was teaching a young child. "But I am a benevolent and merciful goddess. Just pray to me four times a day, and I'll forgive you."
"You can pay off your own debt next time too then."
"Wah! Please don't abandon me, Kazuma!" With tears in her eyes, Aqua grabbed Kazuma's hand. Ais, who was holding his other hand, frowned unhappily.
In the midst of all of this, they headed down to the ninth floor, ignoring a party of male adventurers who glared enviously at Kazuma. The situation on the ninth floor was more or less the same; any monsters that got close were killed by Kazuma, Ais, or Aqua. Those that got past them were blocked by Darkness until one of the other three managed to get to them. As for Megumin…
"It's too small here in these cavern tunnels. An explosion wouldn't feel good."
"You shouldn't be doing it at all yet," Kazuma dryly said. "Just wait until I tell you to."
"I know, I know."
A group of three purple kobolds leaped out from the shadows where they were hiding to ambush them. Ais, releasing her grip on Kazuma's hand, ran straight to them and slashed them apart in two cuts each. It seemed that his new little sister was just as terrifying as his other little sister was on the battlefield. Well, without the laser beams anyway. It seemed she hadn't unlocked a beam saber of her own yet.
Kazuma glanced annoyedly over to Darkness who was standing leisurely, almost boredly.
"Darkness, pay attention! That's how you're supposed to use a sword."
"I…I have been training lately. I killed a couple…" Contrasting that was the droopy smile on her face. "Still, berate me more!"
"Good job."
Darkness pouted unhappily.
Kazuma had to admit that it was true. She actually did manage to do that, but the sample size was way too small to determine how much of it was from her training and how much of it was from luck. He knew that she had started training with Bete lately, but honestly, he still thought that it would take a miracle worker for someone to actually help her. Still, as long as she was trying to improve, there wasn't much he could say about it. More than that, if he did shout at her more about it, it was possible—no, likely—that she would like it so much that she would lose her resolution and stop training entirely.
After all, what was Darkness but a bundle of masochistic eroticism hidden under very thin layers of noble knightly dignity.
To further prove his point, that useless knight didn't manage to kill any more monsters by the time they reached the tenth floor. The stretched out foggy floor of white dead woods was the same as ever, though there was a group standing by the entrance, containing five Loki Familia members.
Upon noticing them, one of the members, a petite dwarven girl said, "Looks like we just need to wait for two more groups before we can go."
Kazuma nodded before leading his party over to the side to wait. While it was possible to gather the entire expedition on this floor, the constant spawning of monsters would make that difficult, especially since there were no good enclosed locations to gather around at. That was why when a few groups arrived at this floor, they would then go together to the 18th floor.
That meant that, for now, they had to wait.
~o~
It didn't take long for more groups to arrive, and the journey downward didn't really have anything notable happening. With the Goliath still dead on the 17th floor, not having had enough time pass by for it to respawn, the trip to the 18th floor could be said to be just as leisurely as the first nine floors, especially with their enlarged group composition.
Outside the town of Rivira, those from the expedition who had already arrived were setting up camp. Spending the night on the 18th floor of the dungeon was pretty much a standard occurrence for most expeditions, considering that it was a safe zone where monsters could not spawn. The only time a party wouldn't take the time to rest would be if they were in a rush. Otherwise, it was always a wise decision to take a break on a safe floor whenever possible to maintain morale and not burn out too early in the expedition. Not to mention that they still had to wait for several more groups, including the ones containing the supply wagons that were relatively slow and needed to be escorted.
Kazuma wasn't going to complain about having the chance to laze around, though.
Still, he couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy. That was because, for some strange reason, every single elf in the Loki Familia was looking at him like they wanted to stab him. A lot. After what happened with Riveria and Ryuu, he thought that he might have been excreting some kind of elf pheromones or something, but now, he realized that wasn't it. Otherwise, all the elves in Loki Familia wouldn't be looking like they hated his guts.
Well, it wasn't like it mattered all that much since it didn't seem like they were going to do anything besides glare. Kazuma was used to girls looking at him with disdain anyway. He should probably give Finn his thanks whenever he had a chance since the pallum seemed to have noticed the glares that all the elves had been giving him and moved his party's camp to the opposite side of where Riveria and the elves had their camp.
"Big bro," Ais's voice shook him out of his thoughts. "Is it ready yet?"
The little girl standing by his side was practically vibrating in place.
"Almost," Kazuma replied as he swiftly shifted the frying pan, causing the hashbrowns to flip over. Despite the sharp movement and the wave of hot oil that splashed up in the air, his chef skill made it so that only tiny sprinkles of oil actually fell out and into the campfire below, sending the flames roaring up in a show.
The smell of the deep frying was tantalizing, causing a bunch of Loki Familia members to crowd around. That was actually why he was now handling five different frying pans on racks over the expanded campfire, managing them one by one with impressive finesse that could only come from his chef skill.
Of course, one hashbrown from each batch was being allocated to his little sister for free. Despite her having eaten over a dozen already, she was still craving more. Noticing the oil on Ais' lips and cheek, Kazuma reached a cloth over and wiped her mouth. Her face wrinkled in dismay, though she didn't avoid it.
The only ones who weren't joining the growing crowd were the elves. They were almost still universally glaring at him, but Kazuma supposed that was reasonable after what Finn told him. After all, if someone told him that Iris, the princess of Belzerg, fell in love with someone, he would probably try to beat him up too. That was actually part of the reason why he was cooking; they couldn't get to him while he was the center of attention.
More than that, Kazuma could see that the elves were distracting Riveria on purpose, crowding around her while chatting with her. There were a couple of times it looked like she was coming over here for Ais, but she didn't for one reason or another because of the surrounding elves. Not that he would even know what to do if she did come over here. She was an elven princess, and they had only met a few times. The impression that he had always gotten from her was that she was too serious and that she didn't even like him.
She had even threatened him!
Then again, after experiencing the distorted love of Ryuu Lion, he wasn't quite sure what to think anymore. Maybe elves had a different mating ritual? Riveria seemed like a kuudere—someone who acted cold to the person she likes—but that could just as easily hide yandere tendencies underneath. If that was the case, then she would be more like Ryuu Lion than he had first thought. Still, trying to find that out would be a harrowing experience, especially since her fanclub looked more than willing to murder him and hide his body.
"Hey, Finn," Kazuma said as he flipped the hashbrowns on two pans, one in each hand. "Thanks for the help, but can you do something about those elves?"
"That's…" Finn, who was standing at the front of the crowd, visibly hesitated. Then he helplessly said, "That's beyond my abilities, but I can talk with Riveria about it later. I already told them to keep away from you."
"That's it?"
"I made them aware of the consequences," Finn said with a hardened look. "Trust me. They won't do anything."
"If you say so." Kazuma shrugged, turning his attention back to cooking and letting his worries float away. It wasn't like he took the Loki Familia leader's words at face value, but he could probably handle it even if the situation got out of hand.
He glanced over to where the elves were. Some of them, noticing his gaze, glared back at him. Since he had a yandere and a kuudere, all he needed was a tsundere elf to complete the collection. Not that he actually would since he would die if he tried that.
Kazuma idly started to take the completed hashbrowns out of the frying pan, expertly wrapping them and handing them out. Now that he thought about it, he probably should do something about the yandere. He didn't know how extreme Ryuu Lion was, but the worst case would be her trying to take out her love rival violently. His selection of love interests was already super limited; he didn't want to make that extremely small pool even tinier. Not to mention that he didn't want any of them to actually get hurt.
Kazuma sighed, even as he dropped a hashbrown into Ais' waiting maw. He would probably have to go find her at Astrea Familia's manor after the expedition and have a talk with her. Preferably in a public place with lots of witnesses in case he gets stabbed. After all, adventurers were allowed to freely carry around weapons far more dangerous than just kitchen knives.
By this time, Ais' cheeks were fully puffed up with five hashbrowns in her mouth, trying her best to mash them all with the entirety of her mouth, not just her teeth. The effort was yielding faint results, but she didn't give up, valiantly giving it her all. When a little bit seemed like it would slip past her lips, she used her fingers to stuff it back in. If Riveria was here instead of being distracted by her fellow elves, it was possible that she would get angry enough to beat him up for spoiling her charge so much. Either that or try to force him to become a responsible father instead of an indulging older brother.
Kazuma shivered. He was still too young for that!
"Kazuma, Kazuma, where's mine!?" Aqua cried out as she held out her open hands.
He grabbed a hashbrown from one of the pans and dropped it into the useless goddess's hands.
"Why do I only get one!?"
"Everyone here only got one."
"That's a lie!" Aqua indignantly yelled as she pointed at Ais. "You gave her a bunch!"
Ais bristled at the blue-haired goddess before wrapping her arms around her plate of hash browns and pulling them close to her nonexistent chest.
"A little sister is always an exception."
"...lolicon," Megumin said with narrowed eyes.
"I'm not a lolicon, damn it!"
~o~
The expedition promptly resumed the very next morning since the last groups had arrived during the night. The campsite was quickly taken down and a formation was set up similar to a trade caravan line. Kazuma and his party were slotted in the middle of the line, along with most of the supporters and lower-level members. The middle was the most protected part of any formation, so it only made logical sense for newbies to be there. Though, Kazuma wasn't going to complain if the Loki Familia wanted to do all the work and clear the path for him.
The vanguard would let the occasional group of monsters through so that all the lower levels could have a chance to gain some experience. That way, the newbies could still fight but do so in a more controlled environment, not having to worry about monster ambushes. It was a sound strategy all around, and Kazuma couldn't help but be impressed by Finn's leadership of such a large group of adventurers. It would probably be a good idea to steal some of his tactics while he was here and had front row seats.
The march through the Large Tree Labyrinth was a lot slower than last time. Though, that was mainly because of how large their group was compared to just the four of them plus the four members from Vidar Familia. Once they reached the 21st floor, he couldn't help but notice a sudden shift in demeanor from the members of his party. The typical chatter that went on between the girls was practically non-existent as soon as they stepped foot into the 21st floor.
Honestly, he couldn't blame them.
Even he found it hard knowing what had happened here only a few months ago. Kazuma wasn't sure if it was the same for them, but seeing Vani and Jiruna's deaths had been a first for him. It was one thing if they were strangers, but he knew Vani and Jiruna.
Kazuma felt a tug on his cloak. Glancing down, he saw Ais looking up at him.
"...what's wrong, big bro?"
Kazuma plastered on his usual smirk before he put his hand on top of her head and ruffled her hair.
"Nothing. Just some bad memories."
After clapping his hands together into a quick prayer for the deceased, Kazuma continued on with his party. The fact of the matter was that he didn't really know Vani and Jiruna all that well, having only met them for a short time. At best, they could be considered acquaintances or friends, in the way that people who only met over a weeklong vacation could become.
After all, he didn't know much about them, apart from what was shown during that short-lived expedition. The ones who would be truly affected would be Vani and Jiruna's close friends and family, particularly from Vidar Familia. In time, for Kazuma and his party, the memory would fade. Even now, he could barely remember what their voices sounded like. However, he would remember the lesson learned from that tragic event.
The rest of the trip through the Large Tree Labyrinth was a slow one.
That was because it consisted of paths through jungles and tunnels that were narrow and dense with trees. That allowed for a lot of places where ambushes could come from, especially above from the tree branches or even the sky. Visibility was an issue, and it wasn't like it was easy for those at the front of the line to reach the back so positioning of strong adventurers was necessary to ward off attacks. The attacks consisted of everything from insect monsters to plant monsters, and many of them were even poisonous.
All in all, the five floors of the Large Tree Labyrinth would usually be a trial and a half for adventurers to get through. However, this time, there was one key difference.
"Heal," Aqua intoned as she held a glowing hand toward a dwarven adventurer. The cut on his face visibly closed up. "Alright, who else needs healing?!"
"I need some."
"Got poisoned here."
"I got some blood loss."
"Have a scratch on my pinky."
The presence of Aqua who could heal wounds and cure poison allowed the expedition to be more reckless. Whereas before, they would have had to be careful to make sure to not be wounded by the more poisonous species. Now though? They could freely fight without worries, increasing the overall speed of the caravan.
It should have taken a couple of days at least to reach the end of the Large Tree Labyrinth. However, at the speed that they went, they were able to go all the way down to the 25th floor within the same day.
Instead of endless jungles, the 25th floor marked the return of caverns. The sound of running water was audible even from the stairway, and the sight that greeted them was a grand one.
That was the first impression that Kazuma had as he walked through the blue-tinted walls and flooring. It was a short walk before he was greeted by a cliff that overlooked a massive gap in the center. Rivers of water were flowing out from various tunnels and cracks in the walls, forming their own waterfalls of various sizes that fell down into an abyss that was deep enough to remind him of the time he looked down from Tokyo Tower. Out of these streams of water, there was one that stood out as a massive waterfall that was as majestic as it was picturesque: the Great Fall.
"So this is the Water City. It's just like what Rose said." Or rather, what his advisor had forced him to learn. He had read the description of the Great Fall, but it really didn't do it justice. Back in Japan, when he had seen pictures or videos of natural waterfalls on the internet, he had never once had an interest in actually going out and seeing them in person. After looking at this though, maybe he should have.
Then again, the expenses required to travel wouldn't allow him much left over to buy games and merchandise, and the time that it would take for tourism was time better spent playing those games instead. Why take a month to travel to Niagara Falls when he could beat more than a dozen single player games in that same amount of time? After some quick calculations in his head, he concluded that he still came out on top with his previous lifestyle.
Therefore, there was no need for any regret.
Nodding his head in affirmation, Kazuma—from the cliff's edge—looked down into the abyss. Except it couldn't be considered an abyss since he could clearly see the bottom, and the giant monster down there too. Sitting in a pool of water was a two-headed hydra that was huge even from this distance which meant that it was probably massive up close.
"What is that?!" Darkness asked passionately from besides him, her eyes gleaming with excitement. Megumin, Aqua, and Ais were next to him as well, looking at the sight in wonder.
"Amphisbaena, the Monster Rex of the 27th floor." A gruff voice came from behind them, and soon, the dwarven warrior—Gareth—came up to their side. "Careful there; there's no surviving a fall from this high, and even if you somehow did, that monster would rip you apart."
Just when Kazuma was about to respond, there was the sound of loud, echoing claps, catching everyone's attention. Near the staircase, the leader of the expedition, Finn, was the source with Riveria standing next to him.
"Okay, we're camping here tonight!" At those words from the pallum, some of the members began slicing up the walls near them, ripping out chunks of blue-tinted stone. This prevented the dungeon from spawning monsters since it would focus on repairing the damage instead of producing monsters.
However, Finn wasn't finished talking yet.
"Get well rested since we have a few quests we'll need to do tomorrow. I don't want anybody being too sleepy when we head down the cliffside path and accidentally fall off the side. After that, we should be able to reach the tunnel in the wall and the regular labyrinth where most of our quests will be. When we reach the 27th floor, we'll need to defeat the Monster Rex, but we'll worry about that later. For now, that's it. Have a good night's rest!"
There were a bunch of scattered cheers, but many of them were getting their tents ready or creating campfires to start cooking. Despite what laid ahead of them, the atmosphere was jovial. The thing that stuck out to Kazuma most was the talk of quests.
This was actually the floor when quests started to get very profitable. Before, there was a safety net such as the Large Tree Labyrinth being near the town of Rivira. However, this deep in, it was much harder for the average adventurer to reach. That meant that the materials here were significantly more valuable due to simple supply and demand. Quests were for when people and merchants weren't willing to wait patiently for adventurers to naturally gather and sell materials; therefore, they often paid higher than premium prices in order to expedite the gathering of the materials needed.
It was a fact that expeditions were expensive so it was necessary to take on multiple quests to recuperate the cost. Even better would be churning out a profit. Naturally, in this relatively safe area, Kazuma set it as one of his teleport save points. It wasn't like he was going to say no to free money in the future.
"Alright." Kazuma turned back to his party. "Let's start making camp and—"
"Explosion!"
Leaning over the edge, Megumin was pointing her staff downward. The magic circle in front of the tip of the staff fired out a beam of pure destruction. It raced across the abyss, striking Amphisbaena just as its two heads looked up. A massive explosion equivalent to warheads erupted out, covering the entire bottom of the Great Fall in fire and flames. Massive plumes of smoke rose, even as the shockwave spread throughout the Water City, shaking even the cliff that they were standing on.
Kazuma quickly reached out his hand and grabbed the back collar of Megumin's shirt, preventing her from tipping over. Even Gareth, one of the top adventurers in Loki Familia, looked surprised and unsteady on his feet. By the time the shaking receded, Kazuma was beyond annoyed.
"You idiot!" Kazuma, with his hand still on Megumin's back collar, used his other hand to smack the back of her head. "What the heck was that!?"
"Ow!" Megumin rubbed her head. She looked scathingly at him. "You can let go. I can still walk by myself."
Before Kazuma could reply, Gareth whistled from where he was looking over the edge. "Hey, Finn, Riveria! Come see this."
"What happened?" Finn quickly made his way over with Riveria and looked down at the massive cloud of smoke.
"The little mage took a shot at Amphisbaena."
By this time, the cloud of smoke had cleared up enough to see the devastation. What had been a pool of water was now a giant crater of water. However, there was no sign of the Monster Rex. Considering the size of Amphisbaena, there was no place it could hide in.
"Oh!" Gareth exclaimed, still looking over the edge. "There's a monster drop!"
In the center of the crater, floating on the water, was the bleached skull of Amphisbaena.
"So she really did kill it…" Finn blankly stared. "Think it'll be there by the time we reach it tomorrow?"
"Who knows? Though, wish the lass had waited to do that until we were all looking," the dwarf said with a shake of his head. "Would have been a sight to see."
"...I didn't sense any great gathering of mana," Riveria murmured as she looked down the waterfall before glancing at Megumin. "How were you able to chant like that?"
"Huh? Oh, I skipped out on the chant," Megumin sheepishly replied as she dangled from Kazuma's outstretched hand. "It's disappointing, I know, but I had to skip out on the chant, otherwise Kazuma would have stopped me."
"Don't just go firing off Explosions on your own, damn it!" Kazuma shook her by the collar.
"...you 'skipped out' on the chant?" Riveria repeated in complete disbelief. "What do you mean you skipped out on the chant?"
"I meant exactly what I said," Megumin replied as she pulled herself free from Kazuma's hand and glared at him. "I didn't use a chant."
"You speak as if you don't need to chant for your magic…"
"I don't."
"That can't be true," Riveria adamantly shook her head. "You used a chant during our competition, even if it was eerily similar to mine."
"Oh, that. I just wanted my Explosion to sound cooler."
"Chants are not optional!"
"Why not? You just need to level up and invest points into chant shortening." Megumin paused. "Oh wait, you can't. Never mind."
"..."
"Oi, Riveria, lass, put down the staff. You don't want to do anything you might regret!"
~o~
Authors' Notes:
Icura: Another chapter done!
SFX: That sure ended with a bang… ba dum tss.