Disclaimer: I do not own Danmachi or anything created by the author Fujino Omori; all rights go to him. I only own my original character Sleipnir.
Speech: "I can finally introduce Welf."

Thoughts: ''Why did I enter the story only now?'

Magic: "Wil-o-Wisp"

Screaming/Demonic Voice: "Ahh, the pain makes the sounds stop! Wait wasn't that in the last chapter?"

Chapter 6 A fiery Blacksmith

Blacksmithing stand 12.30 AM - Sleipnir's POV

Sly did as Riveria advised him and looked at the sigil of his throwing knives. They sustained some damages, but remained sharp with a little whetting and flew as he wanted them to.

The sigil on their handle was a hammer in a flame. Sly then asked the shopkeeper where he could find the blacksmith that made his knives. "That should be the sigil of the Crozzo boy. He is still very much green behind his ears and only level one but makes stuff durable. Ask for somethin' sturdy and he will accept."

He then tells Sly in which of the blacksmithing quarter he could find him.

"Thank you very much, blacksmith-san."

A ten-minute walk later and Sly was in the blacksmith quarter, where both young smiths from Goibniu and Hephaestus worked. There he found a small brick smithy with the sigil of his knives. In front of the small smithy were some of the wares the blacksmith made, just like all the other smithies along the path. Sly was somewhat apprehensive as he approached because the constant hammering reminded him of the bad bats. He also looked at the weapons on display and they were all crafted for durability and without additional flair.

'Hopefully, he will agree to help me. Otherwise, I will have to search for a more experienced blacksmith, but that would be expensive. I hope he has nothing against being interrupted...'

Sly knocked at the door but after a minute of getting no answer knocked again, but this time louder. The hammering continued for another 30 seconds before it stopped and an adolescent called. "Come in."

Once Sly opened the door and looked inside, he saw a small forge with an anvil next to it and a blacksmith around his age who had just doused a sword he had been working on into a water basin. He had spiky, fiery, red hair and a height of 165 cm. He pulls off his blacksmithing apron to cool himself and reveals his attire below was a dark blue long-sleeve shirt with a brown belt around his waist, along with white pants and brown boots. He also wore blacksmithing gloves and a blue bandana. Then he turns around and looks at Sly, who looked around the shop with a fast-swishing tail.

"What's up? Do you need something made? To be clear, I will not make a magic sword, no matter how much you offer for it." Welf said while crossing his arms.

Sly quickly bowed, took a deep breath and stilled his tail, and answered. "I have not come for a magic sword. I bought some of your throwing knives and they held up very well for me…"

Welf interrupted him with curiosity in his eyes. "Can you show them to me?" Sly gave them to him. "Yeah, they don't look fancy but are light and durable for level-one adventurers and have good balance. Seems like ya have an eye for good gear, I like you. My name is Welf Crozzo, but call me Welf. What do you want?"

His words surprised Sly. "Well, Welf-san, my name is Sleipnir from the Takemikazuchi familia. Just Sly will do. I have a problem. Have you been to the tenth floor of the dungeon before?"

Welf looked at him with interest. "No, I am only in the middle of level 1. The furthest I've gone is to floor 7."

Sly tail droops slightly, before refocusing. "Well, on the tenth floor, there are monsters called bad bats. They use very loud sounds to distract normal adventurers, but as a renard, I have incredibly sensitive hearing and was almost knocked out by their cries." His ears twitch still feeling the phantom pain from the previous day. "I desperately need a helmet that can protect my ears from sound-based attacks."

Welf looked interested. "I haven't crafted such gear before, but I should be able to find a blueprint easily enough. Sly, I will need your measurements and ... Just how sensitive is your hearing in comparison with other demi-humans? We don't have many renards in Orario and I will have to adapt the plans from another demi-human."

Sly looked relieved, before turning contemplative. "I am not certain. As far as I know, my hearing is better than most demi-humans. I think hume bunnies should be at around the same level. If you need an example."

Sly's ears twitch with every sound outside of the shop, facing Welf but twisting back towards the door. "If I focus, I can hear your breathing and even faint traces of the conversations outside your shop." Sly slightly grimaces while he listens from straining his injured ears.

Welf whistles, "Wow, that's some fine hearing you have there. I can certainly help you with your problem, but it will take a few days. It will also cost you a good amount for level 1, but I might reduce the price if you sign a contract with me as your only blacksmith."

"Already? Shouldn't you first, I don't know, test me if I'm worthy of your equipment?" Sly asked him while looking at all the simple armour and the few weapons on the walls.

Welf just laughs at him. "No, certainly not. If you accept, I will be happy to be your personal blacksmith. You know I am working for Hephaestus for half a year and not once did anyone come in here to ask for a piece of armour or tell me that the simple but durable weapons I made were good. They always only spoke about magic swords. I hate it. Anyone that asks for a magic sword just looks for a shortcut and even worse is that they break and leave the wielder with nothing. A weapon should be an equal partner you can always rely on in this world full of untrustworthy adventurers and backstabbing scoundrels.

…

So anyway, if you sign a contract with me I'll forge ya quality weapons and armor that will be durable and not break in the middle of the dungeon. Well, so long as you take good care of them.

One requirement I will need of you is to bring me the drop items you get and help me in the dungeon sometimes. I want to reach level two in the next years to get the blacksmith development ability and make even better equipment."

Sly looks at him for a moment to follow his heated speech. "If not asking for a magic sword is your primary condition, then I accept. I don't really need them anyway as I am a mage with access to spells that will eventually be even more powerful than a one-time-use weapon."

At this moment, Sly's visible tail tip gives off a brief, faint teal glow that fades just as quickly as it came.

Welf raises an eyebrow, giving a wide grin and takes his arm, causing Sly to jerk back and his tail to straighten, before calming at Welf's brimming eyes. "It is a deal! I'll craft your equipment at a reduced price. If you bring me your drop items, I'll also make equipment out of them! I'd be more than happy to also dive into the dungeon with you when we both have the time."

They spoke some more about the specific terms. Then Welf continued about the specifics of his helmet. "It will take me a few days to get my hands on the schematics for your helmet and then we will need to test it to find the correct amount of padding to block sounds. It will probably be a helmet going down to your neck with two triangular protrusions at the top for your ears. It will be lower than your usual calm ear position, but better padded. I will only need to find a way for you to switch between reducing sounds and letting them through. Probably allowing you to fold the front of the triangle away should do the trick. Do you need anything else?"

Sly looked at Welf intensely for a moment before smiling brightly. Causing a chill to go down Welf's back. "Naturally. The helmet is only the first step. I would also like to commission light armour. I primarily fight with speed and precision while retaining my ability to cast spells."

Taking Sly's measurements. "Light armour you say? I would rather recommend a balance between medium and light armour. Monster leather with plated pieces of dungeon iron to protect and better distribute force over your body should work. A breastplate protecting your shoulders and down to your stomach shouldn't restrict your movement too much. Then plated pieces for your elbows and light vambraces to protect your lower arm and the top of your hands, while still maintaining mobility and spellcasting.

For your lower body, I would recommend boots reinforced with dungeon iron and monster parts to allow you to kick monsters without hurting yourself. Another small plate over your knees and then we come to your waist and hip. To be honest I do not know how to protect your tail. How much mobility does it need for you to keep your balance?"

"My tail? It needs at least some freedom below my robes. It is also closely tied to my improved senses, as I feel fast movement in the air with the hairs on it. I even cast my foxfire spell from it, but up to now I always cast it around my feet from below my robe. It is also very resistant to magic. Believe me, we tested it."

Welf grinned and walked around Sly to look at his tail. "There must be a story to that. Care to tell me?"

'Welf will work with me so telling him about my abilities should not be too dangerous.' Sly brushed some iron dust from his tail and gathered a few blue hairs. "Why not? It covers some of my powers so a little story should be helpful, but please keep it to yourself I dislike my abilities being known."

First training session with Takemikazuchi - Sleipnir's POV

Sleipnir still wasn't used to the presence of the other familia members. Aside from Chigusa, most of them were either too young to be interested in him or the others were all very loud and made him uncomfortable.

Takemikazuchi gave him a week to rest and regain his strength by eating 3 meals a day after saving him since he was severely underweight before. Today was his first lesson alone with Takemikazuchi. They were in the field of his orphanage next to the small dojo for older members, and a small lake.

"Sleipnir-kun today we will test your physical and magical abilities to then proceed with your training. We will begin by testing your strength, speed, and endurance."

"Takemikazuchi-sensei. H-how will we do that? Will it hurt?"

"No, of course not. For strength you will need to lift a weight with both hands and each of your hands separately. When were at it we should also test the maneuverability and strength of your tail."

The tests began with simple weight tests where Sly, with a minimum stat of 10, had to show how much he could lift. He began with stones around 1 kg and then continued until he held 5 kg per hand, with a slightly retracted hand. With both hands together he could hold around 10 kg for a couple of minutes.

Next up was his tail, which was never truly tested for such a task as most tail injuries are debilitating for renards. Fortunately, adventurers heal far faster and can even heal broken bones in a few days. Together with the potions Take had on hand, there wasn't any real danger for Sly.

After a slow start, Sly noticed that with his beginner adventurer stats, he could hold about 1 kg with his tail. It was very strange and messed with his balance, but after gripping it with his tail he managed to hold even slippery objects with his tail. He could move the objects freely if he held his balance but could not move a weapon with any real precision without making wide swishing arcs with his tail. 'So, holding weapons while in theory is possible, it is impossible without some sort of counterweight. If only I could hold my balance! Then I could even throw something with my tail!'

Sly's running speed was very high at around 10 m/s thanks to the natural agility and grace of renard. His endurance on the other hand was lower than those of normal humans. He took more damage from poisons and physical attacks but was more resistant to magic

During those tests Take even had Mikoto use her magic against him at low power.

Take in his usual monk garb took position next to Sly. "Mikoto please use your gravity magic on me and Sly. After the previous experiment I noticed some inconsistencies with his magic resistance I would like to compare with a mortal body. So please hold back to not harm either of us."

Mikoto smiled at Take and nodded vigorously. "Of course! Nothing is more important than helping our new member with training. Be prepared!" She then began chanting her spell, in honour of Takemikazuchi, which made his eyebrow twitch almost imperceptibly.

"I pray to you, my god, who destroys all things. Lead me to the highest heavens. Descend from heaven and rule over the earth. War God's Strike - FUTSUNOMITAMA."

During her chant, a purple magic circle began to appear below Take's and Sly's feet and grew until it encompassed the area about them with one meter to spare. Then, a magical sword descended from the sky and, upon contact with the magic circle, it buried its hilt into the ground. At this point, both Take and Sly noticed that the gravity around them increased to around 2 times the normal amount, also called 2G. Take and Sly maintained their feet but had to work to keep their balance and posture. The only exception was Sly's tail which was swishing around calmly behind him. Sly could also move around 10 percent faster than Take under the effect of the spell.

The effect ended and Take turned to Sly. "Surprising. You have a weak resistance to magic, but your tail seems to resist magic weaker than your own entirely."

Sly standing in front of Take and Mikoto had his tail swish uneasily. "Oh that. Yes, I knew that fact." 'Unfortunately.' "My tail is far more resistant to magic than most, which for renards directly represents our magic strength. Many were very envious of that fact but I still feel it's more like a curse."

Take nodded slightly. "I see. Yes, what happened to you is unfortunate, but now that you are with us your magic will be a great asset for you, so please accept it instead of blaming it for that night."

Sly focused his ears on Take and embraced his tail. "I know, but it is still hard to accept the magic that caused me so much misery. At least it saved me many times afterwards... So, I take it I should demonstrate the capability of my illusio?"

"Yes, if you could. We will also see if it works on adventurers like Mikoto, who is about halfway to level two. Just begin with your invisibility and we will go from there."

"Alright. Here goes. Hiding trickster, oh cunning fox spirit, refracting prism, by the father of the eight-legged horse, I command thee to affect the judgement of reality - ILLUSIO"

Sly then distorted the light around him and turned invisible. Take himself could not see him, but still noticed slight distortions in the light. Mikoto on the other hand noticed several distortions in the light where Sly should be.

Mikoto then explained her finding. "It would seem that your illusion is strong enough for adventurers at your level, but I notice some distortions in the light. Perhaps your limit is your own perception. You can't fully hide what you cannot perceive."

Take nodded. "That seems to be the case. I can only see small disruptions in the light that would be subtle enough to be imperceivable unless someone is directly searching for it."

"I see. I can maintain my invisibility around me for about 5 minutes before my mana runs out. Another use of my illusions is to create one small stationary illusion up to 5 meters in front of me that can be 1 meter wide. It uses more mana the farther away it is from me and continues to drain it at a rate depending on the distance from me. If I had more mana, I could potentially cast it farther away from me. At 5 meters I can maintain it for around 1 minute with my mana capacity."

Take once again thinks about it. "I see... That's nonetheless a very useful ability. We will train your illusions until you can do more than make yourself invisible and change a 1-meter area in front of you. I think this session should end for now until you recover fully. Thank you for your time Sleipnir-kun."

Back in Welfs Workshop - Sleipnir's POV

"Interesting. I'm assuming your illusions are far stronger by now. How high is the level you can deceive with them now?"

"It should be most new level 2 adventurers, as for monsters probably up to mid-level two as they are far more easily deceived. I can also maintain it around me and my allies for extended periods now. I also got another ability to create fireballs I can manipulate at will."

Welf slightly furrowed his brow with a tilt of his head. "What do you mean you can manipulate fireballs at will?"

"Well, the fireballs are known as Foxfire, but I can alter the size and temperature of fire using my mana pressure as well."

Welf's eyes widened. "That second ability of yours is very useful! I might ask for your help sometimes since it sounds like ya can bring the temperature of your magical fire... Who knows, maybe you'll find a liking for the forge yourself! As for your tail that is resistant to magic? Well, maybe we can use it to design your armour. While I can't craft any direct armour for your tail, we can at least make a stronger robe out of monster leather which can hide it from physical harm. Perhaps add an incision to the back of your robe to move it in and out..? You could even surprise monsters by throwing fireballs behind you or block a stray magic attack with it before just as quickly hiding it away again!"

"I will also need many more throwing knives. If you are interested, I have a design from my homeland that you could use called kunai. I want to have around 20 of them at all times."

"Hmm. If you bring me the designs, I should be able to make such weapons. The only problem is that I will have to experiment with the new design, and it will probably take a few iterations before I get the weight distribution and aerodynamics right."

"That's no problem. I will need more over time as I will use them as throwing knives and I will lose many to either the dungeon or the damage they take from hitting armour. So, I can test your kunai until you perfect the design.

The next thing would be a scabbard for my naginata. As you can see, carrying a naginata is bothersome, since you can't attach it using conventional sheaths. This is problematic as I am a mage, and I can't cast spells from one of my hands because of it. If you find a way to add something to a backpack where you can attach it without it stabbing people that would be perfect."

Welf puts a hand to his chin, looking at the weapon with interest. "For that, I will need to ask someone who works with spears. That should do just fine for a naginata. Although possibly adding a rope to it should allow you to at least throw it over your shoulder. Bring me a good rope when we meet next time and I can attach it for you. Any more ideas?"

Under Welf's expectant gaze, Sly had to shake his head. "No, those are all the most pressing improvements I will need." 'I still have an irregular drop of a war shadow, but creating a better weapon can wait till later.'

"Good, if you have any drop items, you can give them to me for your armour and I will be generous and demand 20'000 valis for the armour once it is finished. I can't go any lower than that as I need the valis for the materials. But you can pay once I finish it.

The knives will be probably around 1'000 valis a piece once I get the hang of it. The first few will be half the price. As for the scabbard idea, that can vary. The rope thing is a temporary solution and I will do it for free, but once I find a more permanent solution, the price will vary."

Sly winces slightly at the price. "Thank you very much Welf-san. Concerning the drop items, I have a few as I was the only one interested in them from my familia. I will bring them to you the next time we meet."

Welf's smile turns slightly strained. "Very good. You know Sly, there is no need to use honorifics. We will be teammates in the future. Anyway, I will spend my time today researching and creating the first prototype kunai after you give me the design. If you have time, we can go to the dungeon together tomorrow, as we are both limited to the top 9 floors."

Sly nods. "That sounds perfect. I will need to ask my magic instructor for a shorter lesson then. How about we meet here at your workshop at 10 AM? I will bring you my drop items and a rope for my naginata then."

"Sounds good until then, Sly."

Sly then returned to the inn and asked to Take for the kunai design they used in the Far East before giving it to Welf promptly.

4 PM Dungeon - Sleipnir's POV

Sleipnir took his second dungeon study notebook with him. He made a copy of all the maps for Chigusa and now had his own set. He also bought 30 meters of hemp rope, now stored in his backpack. He needed it for Welf and also for use in traps. It was at least strong enough to hold the strength of a level 1 monster.

'My main problem of getting ear protection is now solved. Now I have to find a way to earn enough money to pay Welf-san. Ah, I mean Welf. Calling him without honorifics will take some getting used to. I can also experiment with my magic as Acatl-hakase directed me to and start training my foxfire.

I will only attack with my foxfire until I run out of mana while going back through the first 4 floors solo. I also added a temporary cut at the base of my robe to allow my tail to move behind me as Welf planned for my dungeon robe. My goal is to find some secret passage or some rare monster. I heard there are some secrets on the lower floors of the dungeon, so there should be some up here as well. Sounds like a plan, so I should stop dilly-dallying and start working.'

He walked forward with his tail and one hand at the ready and his ears alert. His second hand still held his naginata in case of emergencies. He slowly moved through the first floor of the dungeon, closely inspecting every wall of the dungeon.

The goblins were little trouble for his foxfire, but Sly tried to use as little mana as possible. He even managed to beat a goblin with a concentrated 5 cm fireball that only required 1/100 of his mana capacity. When he concentrated the fireballs more, they turned from a deep blue to a slightly lighter colour. As for the mana cost, 1/100 was the lowest he could manage right now, but with practice, Sly should learn to utilize even less mana.

He did not find any secret passages in the walls or the ceiling on the first floor, so he entered the second floor. There he continued with the same strategy but made the fireballs as big as possible with the same mana input.

The monsters were still easy, but now there also were dungeon lizards. He had to battle them by using pyrokinesis on his foxfire to strike at their vulnerable stomachs or feet if they stuck to the ceiling. One single foxfire blast was still enough even for them. He noticed the mana cost for controlling his fireballs after they left his hand was higher the farther away they moved. Sly even cast two fireballs with the same chant, from both his hand and tail, while still controlling them with pyrokinesis. However, any more than three required a lot of focus, as he had only ever trained with one fireball per limb.

The walls on the second floor were the same as on the previous floor, but sometimes there were rough spots of blue on the ceiling that weren't on the first floor. The single pit trap on the second floor was still the same.

'Let's see how deep this pit is and what is at the bottom.' Foxfire. 'The blue walls appear an even deeper blue with my foxfire lighting them. They are also even rougher than the ceiling and the hole is 7 meters deep.' There was also a half-finger-long oval indentation on the flat surface.

'Wow, I can only see this indentation because of the light of my fire and my night vision. I wonder if that could be something... I will use my rope and tie it to one of my knives, after sticking it into the dungeon wall above to climb down.'

Once he reached the bottom, Sly put his finger into the indentation. It felt like a half-circle indentation in the ground but in an oval shape. It was the size of his finger. After pressing his finger into it, Sly noticed that mana began leaving his body. It wasn't particularly fast, but a constant flow.

'This must be a secret, but what does it mean? It drains mana, but nothing else happens. I also can't hear any mechanical noises from it... Then what does it do with my mana and why does it need my mana in the first place?

...

...

…

Wait. Who says I have to use my mana? I could also use a magic stone and the indentation has the size of a dungeon lizard magic stone.' He then added the magic stone and heard an incredibly faint clicking sound. The magic stone stuck and could not be moved anymore.

'The magic stone is stuck but otherwise nothing happened. That means there must be more of these indentations. I will go further to find the remaining indentations.'

Sly continued with his pyromantic streak while looking at every wall, ceiling, and trap. On the second floor, however, there were no further indentations. Before entering the next floor Sly also sat down on the stairs in light meditation while keeping his ears open, to regain his spent mana, as he already spent around a quarter of it on each floor.

On the third floor, it went the same until he noticed an indentation in the ceiling at a 3-way intersection. Sly cross-referenced the location with his map to the previous floor. He noticed that the indentation was below the indentation of the previous floor. Then he used his rope with a hook to climb up and place another dungeon lizard stone into the indentation. He heard the same click before the dungeon started rumbling as a wall folded inwards to reveal a secret door.

Sly then slowly went towards the secret passage, after looking at the magic stone on the ceiling that was now noticeably losing its shine. He then quickly went inside. Only a minute later, the door closed once again, and he saw two more indentations on this side of the door.

Certain that he could return later, Sly cautiously made his way forward. He saw a big room opening before him and he was not alone. There he saw 8 gray needle rabbits nibbling on the grass, the walls had around 5 black dungeon lizards on the ceiling, and in the center of the room was a stalactite where a few of the lizards were eating. From the stalactite dropped a fluid that created a small pond on the ground where the needle rabbits were feeding. This wasn't just a secret room, but a secret pantry.

'Wow, a hidden pantry! These monsters must be ancient. From their colour, it's obvious that they are enhanced species. Enhanced species are around 50 percent stronger than their regular counterparts. They are still weak compared to irregulars that can be entire levels above their relatives and are more intelligent to boot, but even enhanced monsters are not to be underestimated.

Enhanced monsters are always tougher, faster and much stronger. There might be other changes in their tactics, but the guild did not mention anything different aside from the strength and the possibility of special drops. They are a very dangerous encounter for me, but could possibly push me to reach level 2.'

Sly observes the group of monsters for a while longer until he notices a golden glint. 'Wait a moment, is that monster what I think it is? It looks like a meter-high rooster with golden feathers, but this jack bird is yellow... Is it enhanced as well?

I will probably regret this decision, but I have to find a way to kill that bird monster. This might be my only chance to get an enhanced jack bird drop. The drop of a normal one is already worth 1 million valis and they always run away, but it won't be able to run in this closed room.

Sly closed his eyes and clapped his cheeks quietly.

Okay Sly, time to start overpreparing. With enough time, I've been able to surprise Takemikazuchi-sama with some of my strategies... So, what's the best strategy to defeat all these monsters? I can disregard the rooster as a threat, since it cannot escape this secret room. The dungeon lizards are dangerous, but they are 15 meters above me on the ceiling. They are unpredictable and could jump me from anywhere. Once they are on the ground, I should be able to outmaneuver them even if they are enhanced. The question is how to get them on the ground...? I could attack their feet and drop them to the ground to avoid their height advantage.

As for the rabbits, they are usually frail but fast, and the enhanced versions will probably be around my speed. My naginata is too cumbersome to fight such small monsters. I need my daggers for them, and my daggers won't be long enough to pierce through the lizards. I need to reduce the number of rabbits first, or they will overrun me.

As I am alone, there is no reason to hold anything back. I still have 3 flasks of purple and one of the blue powder. I could poison the pond to weaken all the enhanced monsters with one of my flasks of purple powder. I will also apply it to my weapons to poison any monster I hit.

A small smirk started to grow on Sly's face.

Then I can use my invisibility to tie rope traps to the ceiling and goad the bunnies into the traps. Where I can pull the robe tight and kill the bunnies without losing my invisibility. The monsters might notice the blood from their brethren, so I will have to strike their magic stones with every strike or lose the element of surprise.'

Sly then began following his plan. He sneaked towards the pond while invisible and added one flask of purple powder to it. He then returned towards the hidden passage and created multiple rope traps that he fixed to the ceiling with hooks. He simply needed to push them into the ceiling with his high strength. The dungeon would push them out after a while, as it regenerated, but they would hold for at least a few minutes.

After making sure his traps worked and he could draw the ropes on the ground without losing his invisibility, Sly began using his weaker magic stones to create a path for the closest bunny into one of his traps. It worked. After a few minutes, the bunny slowly nibbled on the first stone before going to the next and continued until the last one inside the rope.

''Interesting. When dungeon monsters do not sense any intruder, they behave similarly to animals on the surface and can even be tricked with food.'

The rabbit didn't seem suspicious and started to nibble on the stone. Sly then deftly drew back the rope, and the bunny was choked and dangling in the air. He then used his second hand and defeated the first rabbit with a direct naginata strike at its exposed stomach, hitting its stone.

After the first successful kill, Sly continued with the same strategy for the next three bunnies without any trouble. The fifth bunny was different. With widening eyes, Sly observed it following the trail of magic stones. Instead of walking from one stone to the other it teleported directly on top of them.

'What?! Teleportation wasn't an ability listed for Needle Rabbits! The traps won't work for this one... I also can't strike it now or else I will risk revealing myself to the others... I have to move on to part two of my plan. I need to strike the lizards and let the bunnies drink more from the poisoned pond.'

Sly then used his invisibility to sneak below one of the dungeon lizards and used a whispered foxfirewith his pyrokinesis to strike at the legs of the lizard with four fireballs at once. The lizard lost its grip and fell before him onto its back. Then, before the lizard could regain its bearing, Sly used his naginata to strike its stomach, before grabbing the stone and moving away with his invisibility.

The bunnies noticed the death of another monster and were now agitated. Even the lizards on the ceiling noticed something was wrong. Sly quickly continued and dispatch another lizard, which lead the other lizards to descend to the ground and search for the origin of the attack. Their sense of smell was far better than the bunnies' and Sly had to retreat quickly and begin his attack. He quickly drank one of his magic potions to regain his lost mana from maintaining his illusion for such a long time, and then he drank a weak antidote to protect him from the needle rabbits.

Now he went towards the still-eating irregular teleporting rabbit. He took his daggers and stabbed his naginata into the ground to be easily accessible once he battles the lizards. He looked at the other rabbits and saw that they were far slower after ingesting the poison but were still moving faster than the needle rabbits on the tenth floor. Finally, he struck at the exposed back of the teleporter rabbit.

Unfortunately, as soon as the blade began cutting into the rabbit's flesh, it teleported and Sly felt pain from his arm holding the dagger. The rabbit teleported right above his hand and pierced his hand with its poisoned horn. Sly hissed in pain but powered through it. He knew that if he did not focus on his Illusion, he would suffer Ignis Fatuus. He expelled as much of his illusion mana outside of him to reduce the damage Ignis Fatuus would cause and then put all his focus into casting foxfire at the rabbit before it could teleport away again.

He was fast enough, causing the fireball to hit the rabbit. The now burning rabbit then teleports away but stays on fire. However, the backlash of Ignis Fatuus hit him causing Sly to grunt in pain. 'Arg, that hurts! It feels like I have some internal injuries and a headache. Luckily, I drank the antidote against weak poisons, but the pain will hinder my concentration all the same. I will just need to fight without illusions and aim my fireballs without too many pyrokinetic corrections.'

Sly turns around and sees that the three lizards all spotted him and are rushing towards him, while the rabbits also converge from every direction towards him. He quickly grabs his naginata and retreats to keep all monsters inside his vision.

The bunnies reach him the fastest as they are almost as quick as him and Sly has to use both his daggers to block one before using his tail to cast foxfire on the second and using the rabbit he blocked with his dagger as a shield against the last one. With two quick stabs from his daggers, he defeats the bunny that was hit by its friend. He then jumps back and uses two of his throwing knives to attack the burning bunny. The last unharmed bunny waits for a moment and then it rushes forward with the three dungeon lizards.

'Dungeon lizards are too tough for my daggers. I must fight them with my naginata. I still need one dagger though; I can throw the other at the last bunny.'

Sly then threw one dagger with his unharmed hand, before sheathing his second one and pulling his naginata from the ground. He quickly retreated towards the hidden corridor that only was 1 meter wide and 3 meters high to force the 2 meters long lizards into a 1 on 1 fight.

That was the plan until two of the dungeon lizards climbed the wall and make it a 3-on-1. 'That's concerning. I have an around 40 meters long corridor to retreat into and 3 lizards that will bite me if they get the chance. At least they are slower than me. I also still have around 2/3 of my mana. As they are all almost on top of each other, I can burn all of them, but will probably also be hit.

I don't have more time. Okay, here goes! Foxfire!' Sly then ran as fast as he could while looking backwards casting a giant 0.3 m fireball from his tail and blitzing towards the lizard. It exploded at a scorching temperature and blasted air in every direction.

The lizards suffered severe burns on their hides but kept moving in a frenzy. Sly sprinted back but was still hit. His tail took no damage, but his back got burned and he was sent flying 10 meters further along the now-only 20 meters long corridor. Swiftly regaining his bearing, he quickly drank one of his two health potions that survived the explosions and faced the wounded lizards in a defensive battle. It took a few moments for his internal wounds and burns to begin healing, but it was all the time he got before he had to deal with three enraged dungeon lizards once again.

Sly lashed out disabled the legs of the first lizard, before focusing on the two on the walls. After another 10 meters of retreating, he performed the same maneuver to disable the second lizard and the last remaining one jumped at him in a desperate attempt to stop him. It timed its jump to be exactly when Sly disabled its ally and jumped past Sly's naginata. Sly had to drop it to duck below the lizard, take his last dagger, and viciously strike its exposed stomach to carve through its guts. It then fell to the ground behind him and dissolved revealing the last magic stone. Sly looked about as a grin grew on his face.

'I did it! I beat a group of 13 enhanced level 1 monsters! Luckily, I played it safe. Fighting all five of these lizards would have been impossible. The poison also slowed down all the needle rabbits enough for me to track their movements. I should collect the magic stones and then search for the golden Jack Bird.'

A breathless and still exhausted Sly went back into the room while collecting all the remaining magic stones. He also collected 5 black scales and 2 needle rabbit horns. One of them was completely black from the ash of the burnt irregular teleporter. Lastly, he found a few plants growing next to the mana pond and took them as well. Then he returned towards the entrance. And there he found the scared golden Jack Bird looking around frantically for a way out.

Luckily it couldn't escape, as the hidden passage was very small and Sly blocked its only escape route. Sly slowly advanced with his naginata facing the bird. It began to panic and screech before trying to dart around him, but even with its speed being only a golden blur, its disadvantage was too great, and it met its end at the blade of the naginata.

The golden Jack bird let out one last cry with all its feathers, before disappearing in golden dust, leaving behind 9 golden feathers and a 30 cm high golden egg. Sly carefully put everything into his bag, before using an illusion to hide the contents of his pack and even change his appearance. This would tax him even further and provoke a severe migraine, but that was preferable to the consequences as many ruthless adventurers would kill him if they knew what he carried.

Finally, having collected everything, Sly used two normal dungeon lizard stones to return to get his due rest. On the way back, Sly updated his personal notes, but decided not to show them to the rest of the Familia. The hurt was still raw. With an exhausted body and tingling tail, he continued his trek back to the surface under his illusion.

Sly's Dungeon Study

Upper Floors: 2-3 Secret Passage

Structure: The trap on floor two and the ceiling on floor three have two indentations for dungeon lizard magic stones, which lead to a secret pantry filled with enhanced monsters.

Monsters:

Enhanced Dungeon Lizard: Stronger variation of a Dungeon Lizard. Have far tougher scales.

Item Drops: Black scales

Enhanced Needle Rabbit: Stronger variation of a Needle Rabbit. Stronger poison.

Irregular Mutation Observed: Ability to teleport. Observation before engagement of Enhanced Needle Rabbits preferable.

Item Drops: Needle Rabbit Horn

Enhanced Jack Bird: One-meter-high yellow rooster. With incredible speed, that is almost unperceivable for level 1 adventurers. Leads foolish adventurers into traps or monster hordes. The enhanced version is even faster and has a golden colour.

Weak points: Very low endurance. An area-of-effect spell is the only way to beat it without a level 3 or higher. Alternatively guiding it into a dead end can work as well.

Item Drops: Golden Egg, 9 Golden Feathers

8.20 PM - Hostess of Fertility - Takemikazuchi POV

Take was eating dinner with his familia. Ouka returned successfully with his party and they collected a lot of magic stones from the dungeon. Though happy Ouka and the party had returned, Take was restless; he felt that Sly was still in the dungeon. 'Around the third floor and growing more exhausted over the last hour. I wish I had my original body even if only to see what is happening to him.'

Take only half listened to their tales of defeating many orcs and the numerous imps. He knew they were only trying to distract him from his worries and loved them for it. Unfortunately, he knew that even if he sent them to help Sly, they would not be fast enough to help him.

The dinner continued until 10 more minutes passed, during which Take fidgeted even more, but then he began to calm down with a deep sigh. "He is returning." That was all Take had to say.

Chigusa who had been worried sick took a moment to accept his words before slowly breathing out and letting her worries fade away.

Ouka took a deep breath. "He needs to be scolded for worrying us and losing track of time. I at least hope he got something out of it."

Chigusa smiled in relief. 'I am just glad that he is returning. I didn't to want to leave him on his own and now my fears have been proven correct. Why can't Mikoto see Sly's value? I tried to convince her to train on the ninth floor, but all she responded with was how she needed to grow stronger. Ouka had to follow her lead, or he would have caused further friction in our group. I will tell Sly-kun that I will go with him if he needs a party member. I can't let my brother jump into danger without support.'

20 minutes later - Sleipnir POV

A very tired and droopy-eared Sly entered the Hostess of Fertility. He dragged himself over to their table, roughly sat down, and glanced over his familia. They were all wide-eyed and seemed speechless. Take, however, also noticed that his pack was nearly bursting at the seams. He then took a deep breath. In a forced calm tone, he asked.

"Sleipnir-kun, would you tell me which floor you went to that caused you to return to us in such a state?" 'And why did you disguise yourself?' But he gave the others a look to signify waiting before asking questions.

Sly's brow twitched. "The third floor." At their questioning looks, he added. "Enhanced monsters. That's all I will say until I have eaten something. Mia, may I still order dinner?"

Mia looked at him for a moment at the audacity to call her across the room instead of her girls. "Fine. I see you had a hard day and we still have some warm food, but return earlier the next time and it will cost you the normal price."

"Thank you very much Mia-san." Sly smiled tiredly before eating with fervor.

Takemikazuchi Room - Sleipnir's POV

Take took Sly with him to their room to speak with him in private. "So what really happened on floor three?"

Sly looks annoyed. "I technically told you the truth. You taught me how to speak to gods while keeping secrets after all. To tell you the whole truth, I found a secret passage in the dungeon that led me into a secret room filled with enhanced species. I wanted to leave, but then I noticed an enhanced Jack Bird in the enclosed secret room and created a strategy to beat all the enhanced monsters as safely as possible.

Unfortunately, it took quite a while to prepare multiple traps and lead the monsters into them. The problems started when I found an irregular rabbit among the enhanced rabits with the ability to teleport over short distances. I then weakened the remaining monsters as much as possible before challenging the teleporter and losing my illusion. The rest was a draining fight against superior numbers, where I constantly retreated and slowly reduced the number of opponents. In the end, I was close to mind down and drank my second to last healing potion, before looting everything. I also changed my appearance with an illusion together with the golden egg of the jack bird."

Take took a moment to contemplate all the events a second time. "That is... A lot. So, you defeated an entire party of enhanced monsters, before catching one of the rarest monsters in an enhanced state and decided to disguise yourself with your illusion before returning. Anything else?"

Sly looks before taking in his words and noticing that he still had his illusions up. He then released them and for the first time in his life saw Takemikazuchi be surprised. "Why do you have two tails? That should be impossible..." Take continued muttering, but Sly suddenly blinked and looked back having been too tired to notice the second tail.

"Wha..? Interesting..." Sly then sighed before looking at Take and continuing in a tired voice. "Take. Hide my pack and do not let anyone open it until we go through it together tomorrow morning. We will take out the problematic drops. Also, can you please wake me when you get up? Early the morning will be the best time to go through the loot and decide how to proceed."

With that, Sly dropped like a stone onto his bed and was fast asleep within moments. Take just looked at him before sighing, taking the pack, and hiding it below his bed. Then he went back to the others and told them that Sly was resting and would answer their questions in the morning. He also told them that Sly now had a second tail. He also had to tell them what kitsune were, and that Sly was likely the holder of a bloodline.

Author's Note

I decided to write about Chigusa and Sly as siblings. At first, I had the loose thought of making them a couple, but it just seemed more natural for them to act like siblings after writing the scene where Sly referred to Take as his father figure.

On another note, Sly will always call out foxfire, when he uses the spell, but I noticed that I often wrote foxfire in the descriptions and not during speech. He still needs to chant the spell even if it is not written as such.