Chapter 15: Growing the Familia
Today promised to be a fairly easy-going day for Taylor. Bell, Lili, and Welf had gone to hunt in the Dungeon, the former wanting to test out his new-found strength. That meant Bell would be running around the 10th or 11th Floor having fun cutting up Orcs to test his recently acquired power. Taylor hadn't been interested in joining them, wanting to let Bell have his fun. Meanwhile, Hestia was at the Denatus, which promised to last the whole day, or at least well into the afternoon.
This left Taylor with some free time. She was currently wandering around one of the many store-filled streets on her own. Chris had been left behind at the church. Like she had predicted, several people had been spotted by her swarm lurking around the place. They tried to stay out of sight, but her bugs could easily find them. They didn't seem to know what the range of her control was, either.
Hence why Chris and Anne were on guard duty, to make sure nobody tried to break into the church or do something else stupid and ill-advised.
After window shopping a bit, Taylor made her way to a store with a red roof and several articles of clothing on display. Handicraft supplies were being sold as well, from scissors and sewing needles to thread and bolts of cloth.
"Miss Taylor! Welcome!" a cheerful young girl with long brown hair waved at Taylor as she entered the store. She wore a green and white outfit that was decorated with large flowers along the hem of her skirt.
"Lucia, how are you?" Taylor said in greeting.
"I'm great! Thank you for asking!" Lucia replied.
Lucia Ramirez was a teenager who lived in Orario. Her parents ran the handicraft store, and the teen knew a lot of people in a bunch of different parts of the city, from seamstresses to actresses.
She was also extremely talented when it came to creating clothing, and was partnering with Taylor to turn the raw spider silk the parahuman was producing into usable products.
It had been Lucia herself who had approached Taylor shortly after the rumors of silken products not made or sold by the Far Eastern merchants began to circulate through the marketplace in the wake of presenting Ganesha with his cape. The girl had accurately guessed that Taylor was the source of these rumors.
"You control insects and bugs and other creepy crawlies, right? So why not spiders as well?" Lucia had said, and Taylor had to admit, it was rather obvious when given some critical thought.
The former Warlord had been impressed by Lucia's bravery to just walk up to her in the street with Chris at her side, and then the girl's skill at handling silk and creating things out of it sealed the deal, so to speak. Ever since, the two of them had been working together to create articles of clothing with the spider silk.
"So! What do you think? Cute, right?" Lucia asked as she held up a new product. They were a pair of white silk stockings with cute little flower designs on them.
"They look good," Taylor nodded.
"Great! I'll start working on making more of them! I've had a lot of people interested in the new underwear line, too. Even got a few preorders. Oh! And I sold all of the gloves! Mostly to elves, but valis are valis."
"Sounds like I'll have to step up silk production at this rate," Taylor mused aloud to herself.
"Yes, please!" Lucia urged. "I can barely keep up with the orders I have now, if more people get interested, I'll need a lot more silk to weave everything!"
Taylor nodded, already mentally calculating what spiders she'd need to begin breeding programs for as well as figuring out where to expand the weaving caves.
'Seems like I'll be busy for a while,' she mused to herself.
"Miss Lucia! I finished – EEP!" a tall young woman with cow horns and long brown hair walked out from the backroom with a crate of supplies in her arms, but upon spotting Taylor, let out a shriek of surprise and dropped everything before toppling over.
"Ugh, Iris!" Lucia sighed. "Please be a bit more careful!"
"And this young lady is?" Taylor asked, raising an eyebrow at the newcomer. She was a cowgirl, if Taylor wasn't mistaken. And wasn't that something the parahuman never thought she'd say about somebody and have it be so literal. She'd already known the girl was in the building thanks to her swarm, but hadn't mentioned it. People tended to find it unsettling when Taylor knew who was where with her bugs.
"This is Iris Bennett, a friend of mine," Lucia said, smiling with a bit of embarrassment as the cowgirl scrambled back to her feet. "She needed a job, so I hired her. She's been stocking shelves and doing odd jobs around the shop. Since I've been so busy making clothes I haven't been able to do my chores, Iris has helped me out."
"I see," Taylor nodded slowly.
"Y-you're Taylor Hebert!" Iris exclaimed, staring at the parahuman. To Taylor's carefully disguised confusion and surprise, the look Iris was giving her was one of adoration rather than the fear she was used to.
"I'm a big fan!" the cow-horned woman exclaimed breathily. "There aren't very many famous women in the adventuring profession, so whenever one shows up I always keep an eye and ear out!"
Iris grinned at Taylor, stars sparkling in her eyes. "Not to mention you're a real inspiration for quite a few people in Orario! Especially among those who, uh, have issues that make certain things hard to do."
The cow-girl trailed off awkwardly at the end there, shooting a glance at Taylor's missing arm as she did so. The parahuman quickly cottoned on to what Iris was implying.
"I've become an icon to the handicapped community?" Taylor asked for clarification.
"That's right!" Iris nodded. "A lot of people in Orario are former adventurers who retired from the lifestyle for one reason or another. One of the big causes is injury in the Dungeon that results in missing limbs."
Taylor nodded her head, understanding what was happening. However, the revelation left Taylor confused, and reeling a little in disbelief. She was inspiring people? Her? Taylor Hebert, the girl bullied in high school, and who'd then gone on to rule a part of Brockton Bay briefly?
Shoving all of the emotions she was feeling into her swarm, Taylor calmly proceeded to ignore this discovery for now. She could worry about it later.
"I see. It's a pleasure to meet you as well," Taylor said politely, sticking her hand out for Iris to shake. The bovine-human hybrid gasped and took the hand, shaking it eagerly.
"So, why are you here? Gonna get Lucia to design you some clothes?" Iris wondered.
"Iris, did you not hear me when I was telling you I was working with somebody to make new clothes out of spider silk?" Lucia asked, a touch exasperated.
"Uh, yeah, of course I did. It's why you hired me, after all," Iris said, tilting her head to the side.
"And where did you think I'd be getting so much spider silk?" Lucia inquired. Iris stared at her for a bit before it clicked and Iris gasped loudly.
"OH! MY! GOSH!" Iris exclaimed. "How come you didn't tell me you were working with Miss Hebert?!"
"Because I knew you'd do this," Lucia drawled with a knowing smirk, and the cowgirl coughed awkwardly.
"Ah. Yeah, okay, fair," Iris muttered.
"Can I have my hand back?" Taylor asked, raising an eyebrow as all this time, Iris hadn't released her handshake.
"Gah!" Iris exclaimed, letting go.
"You have quite the grip," Taylor praised, which made the other girl blush red. "And those callouses on your hand… you have some experience with a sword, don't you?"
"I do!" Iris gasped, surprised. "Wow! You're really able to tell that with just a handshake?"
Taylor just nodded, before looking at Iris curiously. "You don't have a Falna, though." Her swarm had confirmed that. Neither Lucia nor Iris had the hum of power other adventurers did.
"That's true. But we've been training so we can impress a Familia and become adventurers ourselves someday!" Iris said, flexing an arm and showing off her muscles.
Taylor knew that the beast-folk of this world were physically stronger than a baseline human, and the cow-people easily surpassed humanity and even dwarves and werewolves in raw power and durability. From what Taylor could tell, Iris had been training for a while, making her already natural strength even greater.
"You both want to become adventurers?" Taylor asked intrigued, looking between the two.
"We do!" Iris said excitedly.
"It's more Iris' dream than mine, but she's my friend, and I don't want her to go into this alone. Somebody has to watch her back," Lucia admitted.
"I see," Taylor said slowly, coming to a decision in her head. "Very well, then. Grab your weapons and follow me. Oh, and be sure to lock up the store."
"Are you-?" Iris asked excitedly, hope and disbelief in her voice.
"Yes, I am going to test you," Taylor confirmed. "And if you do well, I'll consider speaking to Hestia on your behalf. If you'd be willing to join our Familia, that is."
"Yes, yes, yes!" Iris squealed excitedly, and even Lucia was grinning widely at the offer.
The two rushed off and grabbed their weapons before closing up the shop for the day. Taylor then led the two prospective Familia members off to test their fighting skills.
She took the duo to the same place Ais had trained Bell not too long ago. That section of wall was fairly isolated, and had a nice view of the surroundings.
"Come at me with the intent to kill," Taylor ordered the two. "The monsters in the Dungeon won't hesitate to do the same, so you cannot hold back."
"Alright," Iris said, while Lucia nodded. That was good, neither of them were hesitant. Nor did they assume they could even hurt her, even with the intent to kill in a two-on-one match.
The two of them drew their weapons. Lucia had an oversized sewing needle she was using as a rapier, while Iris wielded a European style straight sword. Taylor nodded as she drew her new dagger.
It was inferior to the Nano-thorn dagger, but to be fair, most things were. Still, this was a good blade. Welf had done a great job. He'd had to melt down dozens of Killer Ant carapaces to extract the Adamantite necessary to make that single weapon, but it had been worth it.
The blade was shaped like a combat knife from Earth, with a single razor-sharp edge on one side, and a row of serrated blade-breaker tines on the back. Taylor was used to this style of weapon, and it felt good in her grip.
Taylor also didn't bother using her bugs for this fight, save for using them to observe and track her opponents. Bringing forth the swarm would have been overkill.
"Begin," she ordered, and the pair of friends charged forward.
Lucia and Iris seemed to move sluggishly to Taylor's eyes. Their attacks were heavily telegraphed, and the parahuman could dodge them even without relying on the bugs she'd placed on their bodies.
Taylor caught Iris's sword in the tines of her combat knife as she swung it at her. Despite being big and strong, Iris' blade stopped dead in its tracks, Taylor's strength more than enough to hold her back.
Sensing Lucia coming at her from the side, Taylor twisted out of the way of the rapier, evading it easily before disengaging from Iris and kicking the cowgirl in the stomach. She held back, but the blow was still strong enough to cause Iris to double over with a gasp of pain.
Lucia blitzed towards Taylor as she was mid-kick, and tried to stab the parahuman in the knee. However, Taylor jumped up above the attack, then landed behind Lucia and elbowed her in the back of the head.
The blow sent the seamstress stumbling forward, which caused her to nearly bump into Iris, who'd recovered and had been about to attack. She cut off her assault, narrowly managing to avoid chopping into Lucia's spine, and then helped her friend recover her balance.
"We gotta hit her hard and fast," Iris whispered to Lucia, unaware that Taylor could hear them thanks to the bugs hidden on their bodies. "You try to force her towards me and cut off her paths of retreat. When she's close enough I'll slash her!"
Lucia nodded, and then spun around, lunging at Taylor, tip of the rapier aimed at her throat. Taylor easily parried the attack, and pretended not to notice Iris rushing around behind her, trying to get into her blind spots as she did so.
Unfortunately for Iris, Taylor had no blind spots. However, she let Lucia push her back, blocking every stab sent her way, all while lining up her own plan for the two.
When Iris tried to slash her sword downwards into Taylor's left shoulder, thinking she had the parahuman pinned, the former Warlord nimbly side-stepped the attack before kicking upwards, her knee slamming into Iris' elbow, striking the funny bone which caused the sword to drop from her fingers with a clatter and a surprised yelp.
She then swept Iris' legs out from underneath her with a low kick, knocking the cowgirl onto her ass. Taylor then quickly spun around, tilting her head to the side to avoid the rapier giving her an unwanted piercing, before grabbing Lucia's wrist and squeezing, forcing her to drop the weapon.
Taylor then threw Lucia onto the ground using a bastardized Judo throw and dropped her right knee on the human teen's stomach, pinning her down. Then, without looking, threw her combat knife at Iris, the Adamantite dagger piercing through Iris's straight sword, nailing it to the ground before the cowgirl could pick it up again.
"I win," she declared, not even breaking so much as a sweat in schooling the two.
The two girls were decently trained, and would have been considered skilled combatants on Earth Bet. Iris was physically strong, though her sword swings were a bit too wild and she overextended at times. Meanwhile, Lucia was quick on her feet and had a good eye, doing her best to try and pierce Taylor in weak spots to slow her down so Iris could strike. However, she was too cautious, and didn't capitalize on some openings.
They worked well together, and probably could have been given Brute 1 and Mover 1 designations respectively by the PRT even without parahuman powers which showcased just how different the people of this world were to the average civilian from Earth Bet. Yet despite that, they were no match for her.
Taylor finally understood how far the gap was between normal people and adventurers, even those at Level 1 like herself.
"Yeah, you do," Lucia winced, before letting out a sigh of relief as Taylor got off of her and removed the pointy knee from her gut.
"Awww, my sword," Iris whimpered, staring sadly at her ruined weapon.
"Sorry. I'll get you a new one," Taylor promised. One of Welf's custom-made sword would probably be leagues better than the mass-produced model Iris had been using anyways.
That cheered her up, and Iris stood up and helped her friend to her feet as well before standing in front of Taylor.
"So, how did we do?" Iris asked eagerly.
"Before I answer that, I'd like to ask you both a question of my own," Taylor said, and Iris and Lucia nodded in agreement.
"Why do you want to become adventurers?" Taylor asked as she stared down at the defeated duo.
"I-I want to make a living as an adventurer," Iris replied.
"Make a living? Not to become famous, or a hero? You want to be rich?" Taylor inquired, intrigued.
"Rich? Maybe. That'd be nice. But no," Iris said, shaking her head. "I have debts to repay, Miss Taylor. And do you know how much more an adventurer makes compared to a regular citizen?"
"No," Taylor admitted. "I know a Level 1 adventurer can make around five thousand valis a day, though."
"A clerk at the Guild makes about a thousand valis a day, possibly more depending on rank and seniority, and they have very strict hiring requirements," Iris informed Taylor. "And they are some of the best paid non-adventurers in the city. An unskilled day laborer like myself is lucky to make two hundred valis a day. If you can read and write you can probably earn three to four hundred valis a day. Basic arithmetic can bump that up to five hundred valis, easy."
"I'm starting to see the issue," Taylor said slowly, running the numbers in her head. For a regular person to afford the weakest of healing potions, it would cost five hundred valis. That was a full day's wages for a skilled and educated person.
Meanwhile, the average adventurer made ten times as much in a single day. They risked their lives venturing into the Dungeon, sure, but in exchange, they came away with more money.
For Iris, this sort of financial security was worth the risk. She'd brave the Dungeon for five thousand valis a day. And Taylor was absolutely certain many other people would do the same. Many other people already did.
Taylor nodded, accepting Iris' reason, and then turned to Lucia. "And what is your reason for wanting to become an adventurer?"
"I-I don't really have one," Lucia admitted. "I love fashion. I could say that I want to become able to spread my clothing to other adventurers, but I could do that anyways just by working with you. I could say that the extra money would help my family… but we're comfortably secure when it comes to that. And while I said I wanted to help Iris because she's my friend, that's not the whole truth."
Lucia sighed. "I think, in the end, I want to be an adventurer because it'd mean I'd have power. More control over my life. I don't… I dislike being weak. That's it."
"And there is no shame in wanting to be stronger. To exert a measure of control beyond what you currently have," Taylor assured her.
"So? How'd we do?" Iris asked, eager for feedback.
"Both of you were rather green. It was clear to me you both are self-taught with your weapons of choice. Not that that's a bad thing, but you'll need to improve a bit more in order to become stronger," Taylor informed them. "Iris, you were too reckless in your attacks. Don't swing too hard or else you'll over extend and become open to retaliation. However, you were able to assess the situation and come up with a battle plan after seeing me fight for only a short while. Good spatial awareness as well."
She then turned to the other girl. "Lucia, you were quick on your feet and quite nimble. I was impressed by how you kept your cool throughout the fight as well. Unfortunately, you lacked the strength to back your strikes up."
"Also, Lucia, I'm not sure a giant needle-rapier is the best weapon for you to use," Taylor added. "You were quite fast and more skilled with handling your weapon, but it limited you."
"Really?" Lucia uttered with a frown.
"Your rapier is too thin and narrow. Not to mention it can only be used for piercing attacks. Against an opponent who lacks a Falna, a rapier is a decent weapon as it can disable them. But against a monster, it won't be enough," Taylor stated. "Unless you can get them with a single, well-placed hit to a vital point that will instantly kill them, even a goblin would be able to survive being pierced by a rapier and keep going. Monsters don't care if they're bleeding and their limbs are disabled. They'll constantly try to kill you."
"Ah," Lucia winced. "I see. I was using one because it was lighter and less cumbersome than some of the other weapons I tried. But I see your point. What do you suggest I use, then?"
"I recommend a long sword if you still want to go with a one-handed weapon. Something that will let you do more than just stab and pierce an opponent," Taylor said.
"So, did we pass?" Iris asked hopefully.
Taylor stayed silent for a bit as she summoned her swarm, using it to retrieve her knife from where it'd gotten lodged in the stone of the wall. The girls had expressions that were an equal mix of awe and revulsion as she commanded the bugs and insects with inhuman precision.
"Very well. You two, come with me. I will introduce you to Hestia. It will be up to her to decide if you'll join the Familia or not. But if you want my advice? Just be honest with her, and you'll succeed," Taylor finally said, dismissing the swarm.
The two girls smiled widely in genuine joy, ignoring the pain that was no doubt shooting through their bodies at the moment, and followed Taylor back into Orario and towards the church.
'If they join, we'll finally have to start looking into a bigger home. Or renovating our current one,' Taylor thought to herself.
The Familia had a decent nest-egg from the silk and Dungeon diving, but they hadn't moved out yet for a few reasons. One of which was they'd already invested quite a bit into their current place. Moving all the spiders would take a lot of work, and unless they had a new spot ready to go, it wouldn't be worth it to try.
Upon arriving at the Hestia Familia's base of operations, the parahuman noticed there was a person already inside, sitting on the couch.
"You're back early, Hestia," Taylor said in greeting as she entered the living space.
"The Denatus wasn't very long," the twin-tailed 'goddess' replied, sighing a little as she leaned back against the couch, eyes closed. "Got Bell's new alias out of it. Not much else happened beyond that."
"Hmm. I'm sure Bell will be eager to hear what his nickname is going to be," Taylor said with a tiny smirk. Hestia just groaned and looked over at her only official female member of the Familia, only to pause and stare like a deer in the headlights when she saw the two girls standing behind Taylor.
"Gah!" she exclaimed, jumping to her feet. "Why didn't you tell me we had guests?!"
"Hestia, we have company," Taylor said, voice completely deadpan, and the Goddess of the Hearth groaned before rushing over to the kitchenette.
"Gotta make some tea!" Hestia said, hastily putting a kettle onto a hotpad and fetching a few tea bags from the cupboard.
"Hello!" Hestia said loudly as she put four tea cups down onto the table. "And welcome!"
"G-good day, Lady Hestia," Lucia said, speaking up. Iris was too tongue-tied to do so, and so the young seamstress took over. "My name is Lucia Ramirez. My friend here is Iris Bennett."
"Oh! You're the girl who's been helping Taylor make stuff out of the spider silk!" Hestia realized, recognizing her name.
"Y-yes, that's me," Lucia nodded. "And we, uh, we'd both like to join your Familia!"
"That's right!" Iris agreed, voice a bit louder than normal.
"R-really?!" Hestia gasped, looking over at Taylor for confirmation.
"They do indeed wish to join us," Taylor said. "I tested their skills and their resolve, and I believe they'd fit in well with the Familia."
Hestia grinned, even as she felt a little bad for the two girls. Looking at their disheveled clothes, the goddess could tell that Taylor had maybe been a little rougher than necessary. Still! Two new children for the Familia!
"Yes! Of course they can join!" Hestia declared happily. Iris whooped in joy while Lucia smiled giddily.
"Come on, let's give you your Falna!" Hestia said, but Taylor held up her hand.
"Actually, before you do that, I'd like to run the girls through a few tests," Taylor requested. "I want to get an idea of their baseline physical abilities before they obtain a Falna."
"Um, I guess, if they're okay with it," Hestia said, blinking a bit at the odd request. "But why?"
"Curiosity, mostly," Taylor admitted. "The Falna is fascinating but it's hard to tell exactly how much it improves a person. It's at least a base two-fold increase in strength, but the numbers… well, I've made no secret as to how little I understand the way Stats work and what they actually represent. So I'm hoping to get a better understanding of the Falna by doing a before and after comparison of our new recruits."
"That… actually sounds kinda interesting," Hestia muttered, Lucia nodding in agreement. Iris didn't seem to care much about the scientific process, but was willing to help out all the same.
First, Taylor gave them healing potions, letting the two recover a bit from their test, before leading them up into the yard next to the church.
"Okay, I'm going to test you with a few simple exercises," Taylor said as Chris and Anne set up the field. "First up is the Long Jump. Then we'll see how fast you can run a hundred meters."
"Seems easy enough," Lucia noted.
"That's the point," Taylor confirmed. "There will be others. How much weight can you dead-lift? What's your grip strength? How many pull-ups and sit-ups can you do in five minutes? I want to know a simple baseline of what you two can do."
"Got it!" Iris said, stepping up to the line in the dirt Chris had made.
"Good. Alright now… jump!"
Iris leapt forward, and Taylor noted how far the cowgirl had managed to go. "Okay. Next, Lucia!"
The two newcomers were put through a battery of simple tests that Taylor had done herself back in Middle and High School. Iris and Lucia did well, performing the exercises with relative ease. Throughout it all, Taylor watched everything closely, her swarm recording the outcomes for her.
"Thank you for your help, you two," Taylor said once they were done, leading the pair of friends back down into the basement. Both were tired and sweaty from all the exertions, but excited for what was about to come next. "They're all yours now, Hestia."
"Finally!" Hestia exclaimed before escorting the two into the bedroom.
As she did so, Taylor got out some paperwork for the teens to fill out. The Guild had forms new adventurers had to complete upon joining a Familia, and Taylor had taken a few home a while back, just in case.
Through her swarm, Taylor soon felt several flashes of energy. Hestia's hum spiked before being joined by two new ones. Lucia's hum was the rustle of cloth while Iris's was the clanking of a cowbell.
"Done!" Hestia called out as she returned to the living room with the two friends. Both were marveling at the newfound power coursing through their bodies.
"I did it… I'm finally an adventurer!" Iris said excitedly.
"This rush of energy is incredible," Lucia murmured.
"Welcome to the Hestia Familia. Now, here, fill these out," Taylor requested, placing the forms onto the table along with something to write with. She was so glad the Guild had invented fountain pens. A little messy but so much easier to use than quills!
"What's next?" Iris wondered as she grabbed the pen.
"Tomorrow, we're going to get you girls kitted out with equipment," Taylor announced. "Then, we'll do some training with the others to get you two used to fighting alongside us."
"Gotcha!" the cowgirl nodded in understanding.
"Now, I'm going to take Chris and go shopping for ingredients," Taylor informed them. "Lucia, Iris, are you two able to stay for dinner?"
"Our first meal as a Familia!" Iris said, stars in her eyes, while Lucia nodded.
"Yes, that's fine. I'll let my parents know not to expect me home until late tonight," the seamstress said, before wrinkling her nose. "Err, we should probably clean up first, though."
"Ugh, you're right," Iris winced.
"Two new Familia members! Two!" Hestia said giddily when they left, plopping down onto the couch and kicking her legs excitedly. "Thank you so much, Taylor!"
"We need new people," Taylor said with a shrug. "And having the person who is helping me with the silk sales as part of the Familia makes things easier for us. The paperwork for selling through an intermediary is ridiculous. Easier to just sell the silk as a Familia-exclusive product."
"The Guild does love its paperwork," Hestia nodded with a grimace. "I left Tenkai to get away from all of that, but it seems even down here amongst the mortals it is ever present. I'm so glad I have you to help me out, Taylor."
"No problem, I'm happy to do so," Taylor said, smiling fondly at the young-looking girl. "Can you look after the place while I'm gone?"
"I'm not a child!" Hestia huffed, folding her arms under her impressive bust. Taylor just rolled her eyes and left, taking Chris with her to carry her bags.
Walking around the market place near the church, Taylor browsed the goods and greeted a few of the merchants, who responded to her with smiles and greetings of their own.
"Afternoon, miss! You need any prime cuts of beef? I've got some, nice and cheap!"
"Miss Taylor! These veggies are fresh from Demeter's farms! You definitely want to try these tomatoes, too!"
"Little lady! We got some nice, creamy mozzarella in stock!"
"Thank you," she said, looking over the stalls and buying what she needed to make enough lasagna for everyone tonight.
Taylor was once more impressed by how quickly the citizens of Orario had adapted to seeing Chris walking about. It might have been the iron collar around his neck, or perhaps it was the fact she was always with him, but it was quite surprising all the same. Almost Brocktonian in nature. It felt homely, at times.
She was also surprised by how restrained most adventurers were around the regular folk of the city. Taylor kept expecting to see adventurers parkouring across the roof tops in order to get around, or perhaps abusing their power to get free stuff. But no, that didn't happen. And if it did, other adventurers were quick to step in and stop it. The Ganesha Familia in particular acted like the city's police force, keeping the peace amongst the disparate factions.
Still, as much as it reminded Taylor of life back in Brockton Bay, it wasn't time to sink into memories of the past. She had things to do today, and needed to get them done before Bell and the rest returned from the Dungeon.
"Hello, Taylor, dearie," the kind old pallum woman who ran the noodle stall said in greeting when she approached.
"Hello, Mrs. Valstone," Taylor said back. "I need a double order for tonight. Got some guests staying over for dinner."
"Of course, coming right up!" she replied, getting the order ready as requested.
She and her husband made and sold pre-made noodles for cooking. It was mostly long and thin types, like spaghetti, fettuccini, or linguini, as well as noodles for eastern style dishes like soba and ramen, but recently they'd started making wider and flatter noodles, like the kind used for lasagna.
Taylor had shared the recipe she used for the dish with them when they'd wondered what she was using them for, and it had apparently been a hit with the couple's family, so they'd begun making more of it and happily gave Taylor a discount whenever she stopped by for some.
"Here you go, that will be forty valis," Mrs. Valstone said as she passed over a paper-wrapped bundle.
"Thank you," Taylor said as she paid the stall owner before taking the package.
"Is your monster doing alright?" she asked curiously as Taylor packed the noodles away into one of the baskets hanging from Chris' claws. "He'll looking a little under the weather."
"He's just going through some changes," Taylor assured her.
Indeed, Chris had begun changing color, recently. His crystals were bleaching, turning milky and opaque. Meanwhile, his carapace was darkening along the edges, turning from navy blue to black.
This was not a bad thing. In fact, it was a sign Chris had been eating a lot of high-quality Magic Stones recently and was slowly turning into a Rare Variant. According to Shakti when Taylor had questioned her about what was happening, she said it was quite unusual for a monster to undergo this. Especially in such a short amount of time. Even properly Tamed monsters took years before they underwent the change, and many got more unruly in the process.
Taylor suspected Chris's rapid mutation was due to Queen Administrator, somehow. Anne hadn't shown any signs of changes yet, though she had gotten a lot bigger. She didn't fit in her old cave anymore and had to dig out a new home for herself in the yard.
Walking home after her shopping was done, Taylor kept her eyes looking straight ahead, even as her swarm picked up several individuals following her. And from the strength of their humming, they were all Level 1.
"Come on, move it!"
"Calm yer tits, she'll be coming up to the intersection soon. She won't get away when we jump her with the boys."
"Shush, you two! She still has ears ya idiot!"
"Ah, don't worry! We're too far away to be heard, and in a crowd to boot! It's fine!"
Taylor snorted to herself in a mixture of frustration and amusement. These were not the first Level 1's to stalk her after Bell's Level Up announcement. But these were the first who were planning to attack her.
'Let's see… three trailing behind me, and three more up ahead. Two are in an alleyway, the third is on the roof of building,' Taylor noted, her swarm picking out the group easily. 'And what's this?'
The adventurer on the roof was familiar to her. It'd been a while since she'd seen him, but he was one of Canoe Belway's minions.
'Hmm, I see. He's spying on me for his boss. Or perhaps Zanis? Possibly both,' Taylor guessed, figuring out why the rooftop watcher was there. He was going to use the five idiots to test and observe what she could do. That was not going to go the way he thought it would, though.
Taylor discretely sent a tendril of her swarm to the roof, which included hundred of termites. She unleashed the wood-eating insects upon the roof the adventurer was squatting on, and in seconds the wood had been weakened, causing him to suddenly drop through with a surprised yelp.
Meanwhile, she seized control of every roach, fly, centipede and spider in the alleyway the two ambushers were waiting in, and set them onto the adventurers. Suddenly having thousands of creepy-crawlies climbing over you and into your clothes was not pleasant, and they spilled out of the alleyway, screaming and crying and trying to get the swarm off of them.
Behind her, the three Level 1 who'd been tailing her stiffened as they saw their companions writhing in the street, weeping as insects crawled all over them. One of them, who'd shushed his companions earlier, immediately started running away, while the other two stood and stared dumbly as a swarm-cluster flew up to them.
"YOU SHOULD ALSO RUN," her bug-clone ordered, and they screamed and ran like there was a monster after them.
Meanwhile, she sent a bug-clone into the building that Canoe's minion had fallen into, and buzzed angrily in face.
"WhY aRe YoU fOllOwINg ME?" Taylor demanded, her swarm surrounding him and cutting of any avenues of escape.
"I-I-!" he stammered. "C-Canoe… L-Lili…"
"TeLl CAnoE tHAt LiLi Is OFF LIMITS!" Taylor roared, and he wet himself before passing out in terror.
In the street, the parahuman huffed. Chris clicked his mandibles in curiosity, wondering if he should finish off the wailing duo in front of them, and Taylor reached up to pet his thorax comfortingly.
"Not today," she replied, walking over them without a care in the world. Chris clicked again, this time in acceptance.
Chris had been emoting a lot more recently. The more Magic Stones he ate, and the closer he got to becoming a Rare Variant, the more his mind developed, becoming less empty and more like a regular – albeit advanced – insect.
'I wonder if he will ever develop sapience?' she wondered. She didn't think it was likely, but anything was possible when magic (and Queen Administrator) were involved.
'Though I think I know why even Tamed monsters go berserk when they become a Rare Variant,' Taylor mused to herself. 'They're developing emotions beyond the urge to kill that the Dungeon birthed them with, and have no idea how to handle it. Not to mention, I doubt many Tamers treat their monsters well. If I examined the cases where a Tamed Rare Variant broke free of their Tamer, I bet I'd find that the Tamers were not very kind to their monsters.'
Sure, they were blood-thirsty creatures that wanted to destroy all living things, but treating them like animals instead of abominations about to snap at any moment could probably go a long way towards making them more mentally stable and obedient.
'Then again, I'm probably in a unique position no other Tamer can claim to have,' Taylor mused. 'After all, I understand what monsters like Chris and Anne are actually thinking, and can treat them properly in response. And my 'Skill' completely erases the influence of the Dungeon over them. That likely helps a lot as well.'
And none of that was something ordinary adventurers or Tamers could do. She'd bring her hypotheses up with Shaki the next time she met.
For now, though, it was time to prepare for dinner.
Once she was back at the church, Taylor began to cook. She'd bought a larger magi-tech oven to cook with a week ago, and some better pots and pans that could also self-heat thanks to the fascinating magi-tech Orario possessed.
"We're back!" Bell called out a few hours later as he, Lili, and Welf descended into the basement.
"Smells good," Welf complimented.
"That's a lot food," Lili noticed.
"We're having guests today," Taylor informed them. "Set the table for two more people, Bell."
"Roger, Captain!" Bell called out, saluting the parahuman as he got to work. A new table and some chairs had been bought as well, replacing the rickety old ones from before.
"Not the captain," Taylor muttered in response to Bell's comment, but everyone ignored her protests, as usual.
"Who's coming over?" Lili wondered as she set her bags down in a corner.
"We have new Familia members!" Hestia exclaimed happily as she bounced out of the bedroom. "Can you believe it?!"
"Really?!" Bell asked, surprised and eager.
"Yup! Two of them!" Hestia giggled happily.
"That's great!" Welf complimented. "Good for you!"
"We'll need your help equipping them," Taylor told him. "Are you free tomorrow?"
"I am," Welf nodded. "Need to do some work of my own, but if you bring 'em by early I can get their measurements and hear what they want."
"Got it," Taylor nodded.
"H-hello!" a nervous voice called out, soon accompanied by a louder and more confident "Hey there!"
"Lucia, Iris, welcome back," Taylor said, nodding at them. "Come in, you're right on time, and we're all here."
"Hi there," Lucia said, getting a bit of her confidence back as she looked around the living room. "I'm Lucia Ramirez. Nice to meet you all."
"I'm Iris Bennett! Looking forward to working with everyone!" Iris said. Her eyes then began to shine when they landed on Bell.
"Hello! My name is…" Bell began, but was cut off by Iris who rushed over to his side.
"You're so cute!" the cowgirl exclaimed. "I can't believe the Record Holder is so small and cute!"
"I'm not cute!" Bell pouted. "Or small!"
"Buddy, you are small," Welf laughed.
"You're barely taller than me, Mister Bell," Lili added with a smirk.
"Enough teasing the poor, short boy," Taylor suggested. "After all, it's time to eat."
Everyone quickly rushed to the chairs at that, with Bell and Welf helping the parahuman bring over all the dishes to the table.
"Ooo! What is this?" Iris wondered. "Mmm! Smells good! And look at all that gooey, melted cheese!"
"It's a family recipe," Taylor said proudly as she sat down. "There's also baked potatoes, diced and steamed carrots, and some cider to drink. No need to wait or stand on ceremony. Dig in."
"So, did anything interesting happen today?" Hestia asked as everyone dug in and enjoyed the lasagna.
"We ran into an Infant Dragon on the 12th Floor!" Bell said cheerful. If Hestia had been drinking anything, she'd have done a spit-take. As it was, she coughed on the mouthful of potato she'd been eating.
"A DRAGON?!" she exclaimed. She wasn't the only one to shout in surprise. Iris and Lucia were also shocked as well.
"Yeah. And Bell killed it dead," Welf chuckled. "Didn't even need us. Him and his clones ripped it apart."
"The new knife you made out of the Minotaur horn really helped," Bell told Welf. "And that rubber grip worked wonders. My clone was able to wield it just fine!"
"Lili was very impressed," the supporter claimed. "So were the other adventurers that were watching."
"Ugh," Hestia groaned. "I suppose your new alias is fitting, then."
"Oh? Oh! That's right, that was today!" Bell said, bouncing excitedly in his seat. "What is it? What is it?!"
"Congratulations, Bell. You are now known throughout Orario as the 'Lucky Rabbit,'" Hestia said, her tone conveying a complete lack of enthusiasm. That didn't stop Bell from giggling giddily, and the rest of the table given their own praise and congratulations.
"You've done it, Bell! You've done what so many others can only dream of!" Welf said, slapping the newly minted Level 2 on the back. The fact Bell didn't budge an inch, even from a friendly tap, really drove the fact he'd Leveled Up home. Even as a Level 1 with absurd Stats Bell had been able to be knocked around a bit whenever Welf patted him on the back or shoulder. Now? He was like an immovable stone.
"Don't let it go to your head, though," Taylor warned. "Just because you're stronger now doesn't mean you're unbeatable. There are still plenty of adventurers who can handle you."
"Way to bring the mood down," Lili muttered, but Bell just nodded.
"Yes! Understood!" he replied. Taylor flashed him a smile, and he grinned back.
"So, bit of a change of topic, but where will they be staying?" Lili asked, raising her hand as she looked over at the two new Familia members. "Because Lili doesn't think there's enough room down here for them."
"We can stay at our own homes for now," Lucia assured the pallum.
"Yeah, I still have a deposit on my apartment," Iris nodded. "Got another month on it before I have to renew. Plenty of time to work this out."
"That's good. It's already getting kinda cramped down here," Lili commented.
"We'll also have to practice our teamwork together now that we have two newcomers," Taylor added. "After we get Lucia and Iris new equipment, we'll have a special group training session to help us get used to fighting with each other. The weekend is coming up soon, isn't it? We'll hold it then."
Bell, Lili, and Welf shivered a bit in horror when Taylor said that. Bell might get his ass kicked by Ais during training, but that was a paradise compared to what Taylor had put the party through in the past. It'd only been for a few days, but the 'Crash Course on Teamwork' had scarred the three. They'd never be the same.
Although they did work much better as a group in the Dungeon. Which was nice. And very useful! But it'd have been nice if Taylor could have laid off with the biting and stinging to motivate them!
Lucia and Iris shared confused looks with each. But they would learn to fear the swarm soon enough. Oh, they would learn!