Hey guys, Striker777 and the finale are here! Arc 2 is about to come to an end, and I am super excited for this. This is one of the major turning points in Akihide's journey, and will impact the story going forward. But anyway, I'm excited to write this and for you all to read it, so on with the story!

Akihide looked upon the desolate area of Floor 12. This was the furthest he'd ever come down alone. There were times over the last few months that the others had allowed him to take small quests from the guild by himself to Floor 5 at an absolute minute, and Riveria had prepared him for every situation, even loaning him a small magic sword every time he went down alone in case of emergencies. Akihide found it slightly annoying, but still went with it since he knew about the horrors the Dungeon could throw at him. His first experience with Airmid and Ardee was proof enough of that.

But now, he stood at his absolute maximum, alone. He always had the safety of Ryuu, Ardee and Airmid watching his back in these places, but he didn't have that anymore. No more of Airmid's or Ryuu's cover magic to distract the enemy, and neither Ryuu nor Ardee were going to charge with him into battle. Here, with just his weapons and a pair of healing potions, he was all alone. He would have to do the entire job of Kiddy Party all on his own.

There was a certain rush that came with that. An excitement that he hadn't felt before. The felt like he was truly on an adventure of his own. He knew where he was and what he was doing, but this feeling of finally striking out on his own and going on an adventure was sending a feeling through his body that he never experienced before. It was like a state of pure excitement and adrenaline was coursing through his veins. He was on top of the world and the Dungeon was his playground, ready to spew out the monster he needed it to to achieve his goal of a Rank Up.

He looked around, at the collection of monster corpses he had left behind. He was in a hurry to find an Infant Dragon, so much so that he left the majority of the monsters he killed alone. He knew that even in the late afternoon that bridged into the evening, there would be adventurers on all Floors of the Dungeon looking for monsters to kill and money to make. He wasn't concerned with the money at the moment, only with the Excilia, so he left the corpses behind for other adventurers to harvest, since most monsters in the Dungeon's Upper Floors didn't have a way to get the magic stones they needed to become stronger. It would take too much time for them to get to them, more than enough for an adventurer to come along and kill them before they did anything.

Of course, in his narrow minded vision, Akihide didn't consider the possible danger of leaving monster corpses everywhere. He was solely focused on getting the Excilia he needed to Rank Up that he hadn't thought about the dangers of leaving the monster corpses around for other adventurers. Due to his action, another incident like when he and Kiddy Party first entered the Dungeon could happen again, but Akihide didn't have the maturity or the focus to understand that. All that was going through his mind was that the others were leaving him behind, and Akihide couldn't have that. He needed to catch up, and the only way to do that was to Rank Up.

He was too weak once before, but he swore to himself he never would be again.

So, the young, reckless and woefully underexperienced boy made his way around Floor 12, searching for his prey, another Infant Dragon. If he could take one or two of them down by himself, that might give him enough Excilia to Rank Up. He could only hope, as he began making his way randomly across the Dungeon Floor, hoping to find the tracks or any other form of evidence that Infant Dragons had spawned since he had come down. It was rare, but the Dungeon was known for spitting out up to five Infant Dragons at a time, and the current known record was producing 14 Infant Dragons in one day. A lot of adventurers died during those circumstances, but many of them Ranked Up as well. Akihide simply had to hold out hope that the Dungeon would throw him a bone and try to kill him.

Akihide continued his search, looking around the middle areas of the Dungeon for some semblance of hope that an Infant Dragon had spawned. Tracks, claw marks, anything that indicated that the dragon had spawned. But unfortunately, it seemed all in vein as no sign of an Infant Dragon could be found. Akihide did not give up hope however, knowing that if he could find a way to get to an Infant Dragon and kill it, he would Rank Up like the rest of his party. He could keep moving forward with them.

A thought crossed his mind for a mere moment. 'Does it have to be an Infant Dragon?' he thought, looking down in the direction of the stairs. 'If I head down to Floor 13, I would find stronger monsters to kill. It would give me much more Excilia. I wouldn't have to hunt around like this.' he thought, before shaking those thoughts out of his head. He knew from Riveria and Ryuu how terrifying Floor 13 could be. It became more of an overwhelming numbers game, where he would surely get surrounded and killed by a bunch of monsters. He was better of sticking to Floor 12 and hunting for Infant Dragons.

A scream pierced through the air of the Dungeon, alerting Akihide to the presence of other adventurers. A roar soon followed, unlike any Akihide had heard before. He felt a tremor go through his core as he stood up, another scream coming from his left, further across the Floor of the Dungeon. Whatever was over there, Akihide knew it was strong. It was probably an Infant Dragon, given how strong and devastating they could be, and raced towards it. His first thought was in saving those people if he could, but a small part of his mind hoped the monster would still be there.

'If I kill that thing, I know I'll Rank Up!' he thought to himself. 'I'll kill that monster and get stronger!'

The party was a complete disaster. Ganesha was forced into a corner, sitting on his hands and knees as Shakti had shamelessly started yelling at him about familia secrets and ruining the first proper birthday of a boy who lost everything. Ganesha was extremely apologetic, not because he was in trouble and trying to get out of it like many gods would have been, but he felt genuine sorrow for ruining the boy's birthday. He was Ganesha, the god of the people, and he had ruined the birthday of a small boy, one who was close friends with a member of his own familia.

Ardee had lost her earlier cheery smile, her face now downcast and full of guilt, blaming herself for ruining her friend's birthday. Airmid and Ryuu were right along with her, knowing if they kept their composure that Akihide might've had a good birthday still. Alise was quick to tell them it wasn't their fault and they had no need to feel down about what happened. She told them how Akihide was a strong kid who could cope with this. He just needed a little time to himself to recollect his thoughts and get motivated to move on and Rank Up. It didn't help much, and the three young girls continued looking miserable.

The party was essentially ruined. Everyone had basically left after the awkward atmosphere was left, many had decided to call it a night. Most of the Loki Familia were gone, Finn encouraging everyone to take some food with them as to not waste it all as he and some others began cleaning up. Riveria was busy helping Finn, knowing Akihide needed some space right now and that it would be better to distract herself from the whole situation and just let Akihide have his time alone. She would check up on him later, when he had the time to come to grips with what happened.

"What a way to end the day..." muttered Gareth, moving a table back to it's usual position. "Sun hasn't even gone down yet and we're here dealing with this... I'm too sober for this..." he muttered, looking at the leftover food that would have to be eaten tomorrow if they didn't want it to go to waste. "Seriously... today was meant to be a celebration, but now we have a birthday boy missing out on his one wish without anything we can do about it."

"We need to give him some time to cool off..." said Finn, collecting some food to put back in the kitchen. "We all saw how he looked when it all came out. He held it together well for his age, but he was so jealous he was basically turning green. It'll do him some good to let the matter settle for a moment before doing anything about it." he said, looking at the spot Akihide sat at for his birthday before sighing. "I'll take him down to Floor 12 tomorrow. Hopefully we can encounter another Infant Dragon and he can get the needed Excilia to Rank Up on his own. If he does so, maybe he'll be better off. He is ready in terms of his stats. He can't go much higher than he is."

"The question is if he's mentally ready." but in Riveria, gathering empty booze bottles. "Akihide still lacks the experience of many adventurers before they Rank Up. Even Alfia was a level 1 for 14 months, it's barely been 12 for him, less if you consider how long he's been in the Dungeon." she said, thinking on how long it took her to reach level 2, and the other levels after that. The invaluable experiences she had when she went on her adventures that helped her become a better adventurer. "It might be best to hold off for a while with his Rank Up. Let him get more experience before throwing him into the fire."

"No... I think a Rank Up will be good for him..." countered Finn, looking at his old friend. "We need as many able hands to fight against Evilus, and Akihide hitting level 2 in just over a year will put Loki Familia on a whole other level. The fastest Rank Up in recorded history? That could take us places and give us a much better chance in the fight against Evilus. I think Akihide needs to hit level 2 as soon as he possibly can." decided the Loki Familia Captain.

Neither Riveria nor Gareth challenged his judgement. They knew he was right, as much as they didn't want to admit it. Akihide, as a level 1, was already a strong adventurer who actually had a shot at taking down new level 2s with his skill, so if he was an actual level 2, he could reach a level of power that they hadn't seen before for a level 2, much less what could be possible if he ever reached level 5 or higher. Instinctively, they knew that in terms of natural talent, Akihide had the three of them beat. None of them had an insane skill like Mico Grandus when they were level 1s, or even level 2s. If Akihide matured to be like them and reached their level, there wasn't a shadow of a doubt in the minds of the three top executives that Akihide would surpass them all in terms of pure power.

"Let's forget about that for now." said Gareth, turning to his friends and smiling. "Akihide is a kid after all, and his youth won't last forever. Let him enjoy being a kid while he still can." he said, moving another table back to where it belonged. Riveria and Finn smiled as they continued cleaning up.

Let Akihide be a kid for a little bit longer. It was only fair.

Akihide looked down at the smoking corpses with a look of horror. The marks on the bodies and the scars weren't from a fire like an Infant Dragon Variant, but rather looked like a lightning bolt had gone and burnt them. He counted six bodies, from varying ages, races and positions, all baring rear guards. Akihide looked around, seeing a bunch of marks across the floor, including more lightning shaped burns along the grassy area as well as a chilling cold as frost and ice could be seen dashing the field. Whatever attacked these guys seemed to have a lightning based attack, whilst whoever was here had someone who could cast ice magic, or wielded a magic sword.

The monster was nowhere to be seen, which made things worse for Akihide, as he saw a small brown bag that had been ripped open with a set of jaws. He had seen adventurers use this type of bag to carry around their collected magic stones, meaning the monster had gotten into this party's magic stones and eaten them. Whatever had killed these adventurers was an enhanced species, which spelt nothing but trouble for Akihide, but also the perfect opportunity to do what he came down here to do. If he could kill this monster, there was no way he wouldn't Rank Up.

Akihide knew that leaving the corpses of these adventurers would most likely get them eaten by monsters, but at the same time, he didn't know what else to do. It was disrespectful to leave them behind, but he didn't have the manpower nor the ability to take more than one adventurer up with him, leaving the other five to the same fate no matter what he decided to do. Akihide contemplated for a moment, before a rustling drew his attention. He unsheathed his katana, before pointing it at the noise, getting a pair of startled cries as two people fell over themselves, collapsing to the floor.

Akihide noted as he lowered his katana slightly that he wasn't dealing with a pair of monsters, but rather a pair of people, mages if their staves and light clothes were anything to go off of. One was a Hume Bunny, with black hair and brown eyes, looking as though he was about to pass out from fright. He had a small staff, one with a blue crystal, and wore a purple mage robe that many of the newer adventurers seemed to wear, similar to a ritualistic one he had seen in Riveria's wardrobe. The other was a Bull demi human, with brown hair and eyes, ready to cry, sporting similar robes to her Hume Bunny friend, with a large staff with a brownish-yellow crystal.

"Who are you?" asked Akihide, looking at the two with a small glare he learnt off Riveria. To those who knew him or the Loki Familia personally, it came off as cute, out of place and quite funny, but to someone who didn't know him or Riveria, his pale imitation of Riveria's glare was more than enough for him to force something out of someone, and this instance was no exception.

"W-we're the... party... of them..." muttered the Hume Bunny, pointing to the corpses with a shaky hand, letting out some tears as the other one started crying. "I-I'm Trix, Vice-Ca... Captain, I guess, of the Hathor Familia... this is Coco... we're mages..." said the older guy, probably in his late teens or early twenties. "We were exploring around, like we usually do... but then that... thing... appeared... and killed them."

Akihide looked down at the bodies and scorch marks, before sighing in defeat and turning to the two. "What did this?" he asked, getting a shaky sob from Coco, but a blank and empty look from Trix.

"We're pretty sure it was a Hellhound, or an enhanced species anyway... maybe a variant too since it was white and not black." said the bunny boy, looking at the corpses of his friends. "It powered through Charlie, our tank, like it was nothing, and then cut down all our other close range fighters. It shoots lightning out of it's mouth instead of fire, no one could dodge it, so we ran... and left them to die..." he said, crying out along with Coco as the two huddled over the bodies of the fallen. Akihide sighed as he looked out at the area, noticing how the white grass might be perfect cover for the monster. The beast could have been watching him right now and Akihide doubted that he'd know. This was getting dangerous, even more so than he originally thought it was going to be facing off against Infant Dragons.

"It might come back to feed on the bodies..." said Akihide, remembering how Riveria spoke of monsters in the Deep Floors used the corpses of fallen adventurers as bait to lure out other adventurers and feast upon them. He knew that telling them that at this moment would do no one any good, so he kept that information for himself, looking at the two as they sent him horrified looks at the thought. "The best bet we have is to get a message out to the Guild and get another adventurer team to come and take care of it. If you two can make it back up to the surface, then you can get someone stronger to come and take this thing out. I'll hold it off for as long as I can and get you two enough time to escape and get word out."

The two looked at Akihide like he was crazy, but Akihide needed this. He remembered the words of Hermes, that to Rank Up, he needed to strike out on his own and prove his worth by himself, rather than rely on others. He needed these two out of the picture, and the lie was convincing enough that even he had to admit it was a good idea. The other two looked ready to question him on the idea, before their faces turned white and they looked at him with pure horror.

No...

They were looking past him.

Akihide turned around, looking out as in the distance, a pair of pure red eyes were staring at him. They looked hungry, angry and full of bloodlust at the same time, making a truly terrifying look. Akihide smirked, looking at the monster and getting up, drawing his wakizashi and holding it in position. "You two need to get out of here, now. I'll hold him off long enough for you guys to get to Floor 11 at least and get help. Go." he ordered the two of them, looking back as they both made to respond. "Now!" he yelled out, startling the two, before they looked at each other and turned away, running back to the stairs to Floor 11. The Hellhound watched them leave, but did not move to go after them, rather turning it's attention back on Akihide. The young boy felt fear coursing through his veins, but at the same time, adrenaline began to course through them as well, making the young boy smirk as he looked at the monster. "I'll be killing you now. I need your Excilia to Rank Up." he said, getting nothing from the Hellhound.

Akihide watched on as the Hellhound began to slowly make it's way towards him. It was larger than the average wolf. Akihide stood at 1.24 meters tall, which was on the lower average for his age, and the wolf stood eye to eye with the kid, it's fur white as snow, or as the grass in the surrounding area, making Floor 12 the perfect spot for it to ambush prey and wait for other adventurers and monsters to feast on. Now, it appeared to have set it's sights on the young boy before him, standing confidently at the monster with his weapon drawn. Neither made a move as the two stared at each other, daring the other to make the first strike and allow the other to counterattack.

The Hellhound roared at the boy, as sparks of lightning began to dance around his mouth. Akihide's eyes narrowed as he focused on a spot just behind the monster and used his skill to teleport right behind it. The monster didn't see that the boy was gone as it unleashed a plethora of lightning where Akihide was just standing. When there was no cry of pain, the Hellhound knew something was up, but didn't react quick enough as the young boy sliced the tendons of one of the back ankles of the Hellhound, causing it to roar in pain as it turned back to where Akihide was, only for the boy to teleport right next to the monster, and slam his wakizashi into it's face, narrowly missing the eye. The creature roared once more, and it's tail slammed into the boy, sending him flying back and into a tree.

Akihide got up, just as the Hellhound came after him and jumped at the boy, only for Akihide to use his power to put some distance between them, teleporting around 20 meters behind the monster, allowing it to land face first into the tree he was just in. 'It's slower now that I cut it's ankle. I must've cut the tendon or some muscle.' he thought as the Hellhound turned back to him, readying another round of lightning. Akihide teleported to the side, still around 20 meters away from the monster, who turned around, expecting to find the boy right behind him. When he was not, the Hellhound became confused before Akihide teleported in once more beside the wolf, driving his wakizashi into it's side and cutting it, only for the Hellhound to turn to him and bite his blade.

Utsukushī-me shattered into pieces before his eyes, as the Hellhound opened it's mouth from the blade and charged it's lightning attack once more. Although distraught at the loss of his weapon, Akihide teleported once more away from the monster. He landed next to the bodies, looking at the broken handle of Utsukushī-me in dismay. It was a precious gift that had seen him through some of the toughest times over the last half a year, and the monster just broke it like it was nothing. Akihide was so caught up in it, he didn't notice that the Hellhound had jumped at him once more, and only had enough time to realise what was happening as the Hellhound scratched Akihide's chest with it's claws. Akihide cried out in pain as blood started to trickle down from the cut in his chest as he fell to the ground. He quickly teleported away once more, on top of a rock, quickly pulling out a healing potion and splashing it on his chest, healing the cut.

Akihide turned to the monster, as it growled at him, challenging the boy. Akihide dropped the hilt of Utsukushī-me and drew Megami no Hana. He looked down at the Hellhound, wondering how he could pull off a win, when he noticed something on the ground near the monster. Akihide teleported to the tree he got sent through the first time, and the Hellhound came after him, swiping his claws at the boy again, only for him to teleport once more, leaving the Hellhound to crash into the same tree once more. The monster shook it's head, collecting it's bearings as it turned to the boy. It growled at him, more than done with this game of cat and mouse. It charged at him once more, but unexpectantly, the boy did not run, nor disappear. The Hellhound roared in victory as it lunged at the boy, who turned around and swung his blade down.

The ground between them erupted in ice, striking the Hellhound with it's freezing cold mass and sending it skidding back, hurt and barely standing. It looked at the ice, remembering the prey it feasted on before having done the same thing. He saw the boy step out from behind the ice, twirling in his hand a small blade, light blue in colour and with several cracks running along it, on the verge of breaking.

A magic sword.

Akihide looked down at the blade and smiled. "A magic sword... this is my first time holding one..." he mutters looking down at the blade. Even he knew this thing only had one shot left in it. One shot... that would make all the difference in this fight. "My blood is pumping... and I feel like I can take on the world..." he continues, looking up at the Hellhound and smiling, in a way that conveys his pure confidence that he has this monster beat. "Come on! Let's finish this!" he yelled at the beast, as the Hellhound roars, charging and shooting it's lightning just as Akihide swings the magic sword one last time. As the blade broke, a torrent of lightning clashed with the giant mass of ice, as a cold mist flooded the battlefield, blinding both of the combatants.

The Hellhound looked around in the mist, searching for a sign of it's prey, but it had trouble seeing more than a meter in front of itself. But it's prey must've been the same, if not worse off than it. All it had to do was either wait for the boy to appear from the mist, or wait for the mist to dissipate and return the battlefield to how it was before. Either way, it would be a win for the Hellhound. Akihide didn't have the capacity to deal with it, he would be the prey, and the Hellhound was the hunter.

Akihide, however, had other plans.

Appearing to the side of the beast's head, Akihide swung his katana, completely horizontally, looking to end the Hellhound by slicing it's face. The Hellhound was caught off guard, and by the time it reacted, it didn't have many options to stop the attack. However, on pure instinct, it opened it's mouth and bit down on the blade, breaking it clean in half and sending the blade metal flying in all directions, one part even slicing Akihide's cheek. The Hellhound had emerged victorious against the blade, and began to turn to face the young boy.

Akihide, wielding the small fraction of blade left on the hilt of Megami no Hana, stepped into a follow up attack and slammed the remaining blade into the Hellhound's left eye, blinding it's left side.

The Hellhound roared in agony, and turned to face the boy, only for the sly fox to slide under it's mouth, grabbing one of his tantō and slamming it into the other eye, permanently taking away the Hellhound's ability to see. As the creature sent it's powerful jaws at Akihide once more, the boy ducked under it's mouth once more, grabbing his final blade, his original tantō, and driving it up the throat of the Hellhound.

All became still as blood leaked out from the wound of the Hellhound. It tried in a final, futile effort, to snap it's jaws over the boy's head and kill him, only to fail to reach him, before rolling over, collapsing on the floor, completely dead.

Akihide withdrew his blade from the neck of the beast, before grabbing his other tantō from the eye of the monster. He looked at the shattered remnants of Utsukushī-me and Megami no Hana, making a small mental note that he would have to apologise to Freya for destroying her gifts to him, especially after only around half a year. But at the same time, everything else seemed insignificant to him, as he felt the high of being able to pull off such a feat and live to tell the tale. Truly, he felt like a god in that moment.

"Rank Up..." he muttered, looking down at the corpse and the steadily increasing puddle of blood forming under it. "That was... my Rank Up... I know it is..." he mumbled under his breath, sighing as he leans back, collapsing on his ass in front of a rock, using it as a small, makeshift chair. "Need... to stay... awake..." he muttered, knowing that if he went to sleep now, the corpses of the adventurers left behind by Trix and Coco, as well as himself, would be devoured by the surrounding monsters. He had to hold out, until those two came back at least.

It was fortunate that he didn't have to wait long, as after only five minutes passing, the two mages returned with a party of 9 adventurers. They looked at the scene in shock, as Akihide stood up and made his way to the beast's corpse. "I killed it..." he said, in a voice void of emotion or energy, placing a hand over the body. "It's... mine..." he wheezed out, before Trix and Coco rushed to either side of him helping to hold him up.

The leader of the party, a tall human shielder, turned to his group. "Collect the corpses of the adventurers. They don't deserve to get eaten in a place like this." he said, as his party began to gather the corpses to get rid of them. The leader came over to the boy smiling. "Well done kid, that could've been a whole lot worse if you didn't take it out when you did. " he praised the boy, before turning to the monster corpse. "You killed it, so you get the drop items as well as the stone. I'll get our supporter to take care of it for you." he said, calling over a Pallum to take care of the corpse.

Akihide was gifted a magic stone the size of both his fists, as well as not only four lots of Hellhound Fangs, but a white Hellhound Coat, the fur of the beast, as a reward for defeating it. Akihide smiled as the party, not of 12, made their way back up to the tower of Babel, to return their fellow fallen adventurers to the surface, where they deserved to be buried.

"I think I'll go check on him." said Riveria, getting up from the chair she had been sitting on, relaxing with a small cup of Far Eastern Green Tea. "He should have definitely cooled down by now."

"I agree." concurred Finn, looking over at the three members of Kiddy Party, who had decided to stay until they knew Akihide was alright. "He's a strong kid, so he should be fine now. If anything, he'll use this as motivation to Rank Up quickly, and catch up to you three." he said, trying to comfort them. The girls looked at the Captain, politely, but their mood was still down, as anyone could see.

The group of Kiddy Party, Loki Familia's Top Executives, and a still drunk but somehow awake Loki, turned to the sound of the door opening. At the entrance to the mess hall, Akihide Okami stood, dirty, exhausted, and holding onto a magic crystal in one hand and several drop items in another. The group looked at him as his eyes met with Loki's and he began walking towards her. Ardee went to stand and greet him, but Ryuu stopped her, placing a hand in front of her and shaking her head, knowing Akihide had to do whatever it was he was doing alone.

Akihide walked past Finn, Riveria and Gareth without so much as batting an eye at them, his eyes full of determination as he went over to Loki, staring at the drunk Goddess as she leant over him, looking down at him with flushed cheeks. Akihide took his shirt off and turned his back to her, sitting down and leaning forward, uttering only a single sentence. "Update my status." he told his Goddess, his eyes full of determination.

Loki, being drunk and with no filter, looked down at the boy with a playful smirk. "Aki-chan~ You can't have improved that much in just a few hours, even if you went into the Dungeon. You'll only hurt your heart if you do this~" she sang in a drunken stupor. "I'm sorry, but there isn't a thi-"

"I killed a Hellhound Variant and Enhanced Species." said Akihide, shocking the mortals in the room and sobering up Loki. "With fur as white as the grass on Floor 12, where it hid in wait to kill me, I killed it. It shot lightning instead of fire, and killed six adventurers, but I killed it before it killed me." he began saying, calmly and collectively, before his voice became erratic. "I did it... all on my own... like Lord Hermes said... to prove I can... move forward alone! It had to be Rank Up worthy!" he yelled, putting everyone on edge. "I have to be strong enough! I have to Rank Up! I CAN'T BE LEFT ALONE AGAIN!" he cried out, before the tears in his eyes finally gave way. Riveria was quick to get up and go to him, kneeling down in front of him as he threw his arms around her and cried.

"P-please..." he muttered, clinging to his mother. "Don't... leave me... all... alone..."

It was a heart breaking sight as he collapsed into Riveria's arms, exhausted and with no more adrenaline to keep his body going. Riveria simply held him, not even finding it in her to be angry at him. All she could feel was pity and love. She held onto him like her chambermaid did so long ago when she was a child, holding him tight and protecting him from his thoughts. She ran her fingers through his hair, dirty and scruffy from his adventures in the dungeon, and was simply there, holding him as he slept.

Loki sat on her knees behind him, holding out a finger to his back as she let a drop of her divine blood drop onto his back. She looked at Riveria, who was glaring at her, and shrugged. She was curious and this was her nature, so she returned her attention back to his Falna as she updated, Finn, Gareth, Ardee, Airmid and Ryuu all crowding around her as she worked. The lighting from the update eventually died down and Gareth handed her some paper that was used for the party decorations. The Goddess turned back to them after placing the info on the paper with a smirk as she handed the page to Finn.

"Say hello to our new level 2."

Status:-
Level: 1→2
Strength: 943(S)→0(I)
Endurance: 932(S)→0(I)
Dexterity: 999(S)→0(I)
Agility: 999(S)→0(I)
Magic: 999(S)→0(I)
Magic: Kaizen no Mon
Skills: Mico Grandus
Reiður Styrkur Tamamo
Development Abilities: Hunter (I)

Hope you guys enjoyed that, and I have another little omake today. This one is just a little extra side story type thing, one that didn't really feel like it fit into either this chapter ending the arc or the next chapter introducing the next one. So here it is.

Airmid looked up at her God from the sheet of the bed she laid on, unsure if she heard him right. Dian Cecht smiled as he reiterated. "Level 2 has been reached, and in under a year of active adventuring! My little Airmid is so amazing!" he yelled, like a proud father, before celebrating and dancing around her room. "She's too good for this world! A saint! Yes! Airmid the Saint!" he yelled and exclaimed excitedly, before Airmid got up from her bed and slammed her fist into his face.

"Knock it off!" she yelled at the god, before the realisation hit her. Level 2. She was able to do it now. She achieved her goal and was able to get the Development Ability she wanted, Mixing.

It was all over now.

So why did she feel so empty?

Dian Cecht got up from the punch and looked at his surrogate daughter. "Now, before we go any further, there's a selfish request I would like to make of you." he said to her before guiding her back to the bed. "It's about your Development Ability. You have a few to choose from." he said, getting the attention of the girl. "One is Mage, a fairly standard one, which increases the effect of your magic, which will go well with your new spell, Dia Fratel." said the God, getting a nod from Airmid. "The second is Mixing, like you wanted." he continued, which got another nod from the girl. "But... there's one more, an exceptionally rare one that I haven't seen on a follower's back in the 800 years I've been on Genkai. I've only heard stories of it's possibilities."

Airmid turned to Dian Cecht, asking with her eyes what it was.

Akihide, Ardee and Ryuu were waiting in the Twilight Manor, as Airmid had asked to meet them there in their usual theory lesson room. Ardee and Akihide had no idea what it was about, but Ryuu had a fairly good idea.

"She's leaving the party." said the elf, catching the two others off guard. "She just wanted to hit level 2 and get the Mixing Development Ability. Now that she has that, she'll be in the pharmacy and not go with us into the Dungeon anymore." explained the elf to the group. "Just prepare yourselves for it. This is her choice, and her life after all."

Akihide really felt bad after that. Airmid was essentially the first friend he made outside of the Loki Familia. He knew Ryuu for longer, but they weren't really friends until after she joined Kiddy Party. She was one of the original members, essentially either the first member since she was the one who pitched the idea to Akihide about forming a party and going into the Dungeon. And now she was leaving? It didn't sit right with him. Airmid was a member of their party, the rear guard. She watched their backs in the Dungeon and kept monsters at bay with her magic.

Akihide really didn't want to lose her.

None of them did.

Airmid arrived soon after, being escorted by Riveria, who left them to have their private chat. Airmid was dressed in her Dungeon gear, minus her signature staff. "Sorry to call you all here for this..." she muttered, looking down. "I just... needed to talk to you all. About my position as a member of Kiddy Party."

She sighed as she sat down. "Our deal was that I would continue on with you all until I hit level 2 and got the Mixing Development Ability. Then I go back to making potions at the pharmacy and helping out Lord Dian Cecht by making potions of a higher calibre." she said, knowing the trio already knew all this. "Well, I hit level 2, and Mixing was one of my options for my Development Ability."

The group of three looked down, knowing what was coming, but not wanting to accept it. They knew they had to, Airmid was her own person with her own goals and aspirations, so they couldn't selfishly keep her all to themselves. Besides, they could always see her whenever they dropped by the pharmacy for potions.

That didn't make them feel better.

"I didn't pick it." said Airmid quickly, causing the three of them to look up in shock at her. "I chose another Development Ability that appeared, Mystery. It lets me perform miracles, and is to date the rarest Development Ability in the world. Less then 30 people have had it in the 1000 years of recorded history." she explained to her party. "That said... I really want Mixing still, and I know it's selfish of me to ask, but..."

"Could I... stay around a bit more, at least until I hit level 3?" she asked them, looking up at them with flushed cheeks and a quivering lip.

Ardee couldn't contain herself any longer and launched herself at the girl, grabbing her in a tight hold and clinging to her. "Stay! Until you hit level 100! Please don't go!" she cried out through tears. Before Airmid could ask her to get off, Akihide grabbed her from behind and held on, conveying the same message as his friend. Ryuu even joined in, placing a hand on Airmid's head.

'This...' thought Airmid as she allowed herself to envelope the warmth of her party, 'is nice...'

Placing on her hat, she looked over herself once more. Staff crystal freshly prepped and free of cracks? Check. Outfit still fitting perfectly? Check. Armour in place? Check. Bag of potions and other items needed for the dungeon? Check. She was ready.

As she opened the door to her room, she looked at the picture hanging on the other wall, right over her bed. One of her most sacred and treasured memories, when she was just a small girl. It was a picture of her party back when it first formed, to celebrate their founding under Ardee's insistence. It was annoying to the girl at first, but now? She wouldn't change it for the world.

Airmid Teasanare, level 6 Captain of the Dian Cecht Familia, smiled and turned around once more, ready to conquer the Dungeon once more with her party.

So yeah, Airmid is here to stay. I never wanted her to leave the party, and it kinda always bugged me about how Airmid never really pushed herself to get to a higher level and increase her Development Ability, or at least also try to get Mixing as well as Mystery. I can only imagine the powerful potions she could have made if her Development Ability was of a higher rank or if she complemented it with others, let alone how much more broken her magic could have become. Imagine Dia Fratel covering an entire battlefield instead of just a 5 meter radius.

I truly believe that if Airmid tried hard enough, she alone could be a complete powerhouse in the geopolitical landscape of Orario, or even be a force that could seriously improve the chances that the cast has of going up against the OEBD. I get that she's a doctor with responsibilities to her patients and Dian Cecht, but I feel like Airmid could have been so much more if given the opportunity and the drive to grow. And so, I am giving her both in the form of Kiddy Party, a frequent and reliable party that she has a direct interest in never leaving because of how much she values them. So I added this omake just as an 'this is going to happen every level, she makes an excuse to stay and they accept her and I kinda don't feel like writing this scenario 4 more times' sort of thing.

Anyway, enough about that. I'll leave Akihide's new skill to be explained in the next arc about how it works and what it does, as well as the introduction of Ais and how the two get along. Following that Akihide will explore deeper into the Dungeon and go on his first Expedition with the Familia. Anyway, have a great day everyone, and this is Striker777, over and out.