Disclaimer: I do not own Danmachi or anything created by the author Fujino Omori; all rights go to him. I only own my original characters Sleipnir, Ikuchi, Sylphie, and all the others.

Speech: Acatl cheers. "Myles finally got his shit back together. Sending him to babysit Nibi was the best thing I ever did."

Thoughts: Barachiel thinks. 'I'm glad he has reignited his motivation, but couldn't you have warned him at least?'

Screaming/Demonic Voice: Turning upside down with her wind runes Acatl looks up at her angelic vice-captain. "Whatever would you mean? He loves riddles and I threw him the most tight lipped one I've seen in centuries. And I've had to deal with Dryas."

Magic: Barachiel sighs and imposes a chant. "You know what, fine ignore the consequences for all I care. I'll help Myles-chan however I can, when he inevitably finds out."

Runes: Acatl frowns at her, and shifts one wing to float diagonally, using the other to write her response. 'What's the worst that could happen? It's just a teal affinity, it's not like Nibi had any control over it.' - "Fuin!"

Writing: Barachiel shakes her head. 'I wasn't talking about him, but really.' She makes quotation marks in the air and writes. 'You think the young prophet has no control over his visions whatsoever? I'm certain Dryas would agree with your stance, but you should know better. The moment he figures out this affinity Myles will be in over his head.'

Chapter 30 Curious killed the Cat

Afternoon, 10th Day - Lefiya POV

Once the lesson ended, Lefiya, Genno, and Chigusa left the training hall. On the first day she was unsure how an elf could see a human as a sister figure with their drastically different cultures. How there could be such a bond, in hindsight, was obvious. Genno wasn't an elf and, more importantly, lifespan mattered little to other races. It was why she was fascinated by magic and adventurers. Even without the long lifespan of elves, adventurers could fight for a better life and do so much good. It's why she studies magic… Well and maybe because she was an orphan and adopted by the School District, but just maybe.

Soon after leaving, Chigusa wished them good practice and left a meeting with Myles. Quite a few students had additional lessons, though Lefiya noted that Genno and Chigusa had them particularly often. Since he went for the first time Genno visited Myles every other day while Chigusa had been going every few days since they joined the lessons. At least it gave her a chance to figure out how Genno managed to keep his illusion going. So far nothing she did managed to stop it. His own cantrips caused not even a ripple and since Myles's display he took particular care to avoid any light magic cantrips.

"So, are you going to tell me how you keep that illusion going Genno?"

The elf-looking renard in question shrugs his shoulders. "Lefiya, we've already gone over this. There really is no secret to it. It's one of my falna spells, and maintaining it needs nothing more than a little mana control and concentration."

She smiles triumphantly. "Aha, if that's the case how can you cast cantrips so easily? With your concentration focused on an illusion it should be almost impossible to control another spell!"

Genno laughs at her declaration. "No, it really isn't. The person who introduced me to rune magic kept a wind spell active at all times to float at will and constantly cast other spells on top of it. Even higher tier rune spells."

They had already left the confines of the School District, but Lefiya couldn't let him go. She'd find no rest without knowing how her new friend did the impossible. Just thinking about the strain of keeping two spells active at once hurt her head. "But how do you manage it? Is it an improved version of concurrent casting? Or do you have a skill that allows it? Is it due to your high mana control?"

Sly looks over at her. "You know what Lefiya? If you promise to keep it to yourself and leave me alone after I tell you I can explain the principle behind it to you."

She finally had him. "Yes, I won't bother you for the rest of the day if you tell me."

Sly shakes his head. "Very well. It's rather simple my illusion magic takes a lot of concentration to create and change, however, once I have an image in mind the mental strain it takes to keep it up gets far smaller. I have used illusions for so long that just maintaining them is something I can do subconsciously, only big changes need me to focus."

She still wasn't convinced, so he added. "Fine, on top of that, my mana control is very high, though Myles has shown me that I still lack control over vast swaths of mana. With so much control I have learnt how to prevent Ignis Fatuus and even perform concurrent chanting. Are you happy now?"

With this explanation they found themselves walking through a small grove of trees. "So, if I want to do the same, I'd need to improve my mana control and learn concurrent casting…"

Genno suddenly shifts his stance and looks around. "I feel somebody hiding in front of us behind a tree. I'll be there should you need me." With that the illusion domain shifts slightly, and Genno disappears from her sight. Immediately she straightens her posture, takes out her wooden staff, and puts her hand into a pocket, where she kept a few copies of the cantrips she mastered. 'In times like these I wish I had as many pockets as Genno. I'll need to ask him where he gets his robes… Maybe I'll order one today?'

Around a hundred steps, a voice laced with superficial kindness meets her ears. "Oh? It seems you've noticed me." Emerging from the shadows of the grove, he approached. Hyakinthos continued towards her nonchalantly with a wry grin.

Lefiya suppressed a shiver. She had met this sorry excuse for an adventurer trice already and she was not impressed. He was always pushing poor Cassandra around. He even spoke to many of the girls after their lessons and she was no exception to that behavior. If her voice quaked when she answered, only she would know. "Phoebus Apollo, please leave me be. I am more than capable taking care of myself."

Her words do nothing to dissuade Hyakinthos as he steps uncomfortably close to her. "Oh no, I absolutely can't leave a woman on their own; what might others think? You must be on your way to Orario? Maybe you'd like something before accompanying me to the Solis Manor? I am certain Cassandra would be delighted to study with you. And maybe we could talk more over tea?"

She takes three careful steps away from him. 'This creep! I am glad I'm not alone... Though Genno is a bastard for leaving me to deal with him!' "I am not interested."

Lefiya takes a step around him, but Hyakinthos doesn't intend to let her go that easily. "I wouldn't be so quick to turn down the offer. There is a great deal that we, the Apollo Familia, can offer you." With a much longer step, he is about to grab her arm.

'He dares!?'

With righteous fury, she takes out one of her scrolls and calls. "Condense the air and rebuff the invaders! - Ventus Falcem!"

Hyakinthos widened his eyes and tried jumping back. Bad choice. Mid-jump her cantrip hit him and threw him back against a tree. A shift in ambient mana pressure from behind her announced Genno stepping from behind another tree with an almost finished black magic circle. 'Creeping shadows, heed my call and arrest! – Darkness' - "Cape Umbra!"

The shadows of the tree sprung up around his legs and arms, pulling with far more power than a cantrip should have. 'Genno must have overloaded it.' Her thought was interrupted by a call from him. "Let's get going, he is too strong to hold for long."

With a pop, she heard Hyakinthos shoulder dislocate. "You damn elves, I won't forget this! Once I am free, I swear there will be no more games! If you want to play hard to get, then I'll have to use force! And you, orange maiden, I know you aren't part of the Fairy Force! Don't think you'll be able to intimidate me!"

Their steps are swift and after 50 meters Genno looks around them. "Good we are alone. I'll turn us invisible, follow the small fox symbol over my head and we'll get to Orario."

She wanted to ask more but thought better of it. Genno gave her a small smile and apparently without any difficulty changed his illusion, while still keeping the previous cantrip active. With a shift in perspective, he disappeared from her eyes. Even her own staff and arms disappeared. 'How amazing.' She even saw the small fox image. A cute blue fox with nine tails.

His voice startled her out of her reverie. "Follow me." She looked around them and asked. "How do you avoid hiding other things besides the two of us?"

She hears tails swishing. 'Wait, I never heard them before? Did he also hide sound with his illusion?' As Sly answers. "It all comes down to my imagination and picturing the two of us hiding is easier than creating a different reality altogether."

She couldn't keep quiet for long and asked him many more questions. His illusion magic was just so strange. It followed all the rules she knew of magic and invented countless more to stay stable, all the way to being completely fluid and dependent on him.

They only stopped inside the walls of Orario. Not even the guards noticed them, when Genno dropped their illusion. Even showing her his renard form. "Here we are. You wanted to buy something, and I have a training session waiting for me at home. Until tomorrow Lefiya."

She shuffles on her feet for a moment, before bowing to him awkwardly. "Wait, before you go Genno-san, thank you for your help. That creep has been harassing many other students. He can't keep his hands to himself! I don't know what he'd have tried if I'd been on my own."

Genno shows a toothy grin, somehow suiting his renard form but vastly different from his elven smiles. "Oh, I have a grudge against Hyakinthos. He is the primary reason we have to fight a war game against his familia. I'd have tricked him even without you around. But I'm glad you are safe." He returned a very light bow to her, before taking a few steps to leave and stopping. Shifting one ear to her. "You should practice your bowing form, in the Far East stumbling during a bow could be taken as an offence. But I recognise the gesture for what it meant. Also, you may call me Sly when we're on our own."

Leaving her behind in confusion at his strange parting words. 'Practice bowing? And why Sly; Is that his real name? Ha, I finally have it! Wait, what's that about a War Game?!' As she prepared to pursue him and get answers, she noticed that he already hid again. Annoyed, she stomps her feet on the ground. 'Curses! Stupid permanently active illusion!'

Evening 11th day - Mikoto POV

The tension about the familia had lessened and brought a new calm. With the revelation of some secrets between the familia a large weight was lifted from her shoulders and mind. She hated secrets; they made her uncomfortable and she was bad at keeping them. If she kept her mouth shut, she could avoid lying. But when questioned directly about something secret, she would fumble her words. Even she recognized how bad she was at it.

With the familia preparing and all working together with Sleipnir's new spirits she could fully focus on training. Every day she, Ouka, Asuka, Welf and sometimes even Sylphie went into the dungeon with a copy of Sleipnir's maps. They hunted down monsters in the morning and returned in the afternoon.

Upon returning each of them focused on personal goals. Ouka split up to plan with Take before training with all of them once their mages returned. Asuka would lock herself in her laboratory or help the Blue Pharmacy. Welf, on the other hand, would check in with each of them to see if their gear needed some maintenance and then head back to his workshop. Mikoto, however, would focus on her personal training. She was Take's sword, the most skilled fighter in their familia. If things took a turn for the worse, she would hold the line if all plans and tricks failed with pure strength; she was the first level 2 of the Take familia.

Her training had grown harder than ever, she kept her focus even during battle. With the threat of a War Game on the horizon she could not allow herself to lose her edge and be distracted. She countered this by keeping track of monsters during each of their delves, expanding her senses so that neither the party nor her could be caught off guard in their quest to kill more monsters. However, her technique needed to improve. The end goal was the sweet technique Take had promised her, and she felt she wasn't ready yet.

To do so, she honed the control over her body to the utmost she by interconnecting her katas in various forms. Switching from an aggressive style to a defensive style and doing it from the very slowest she could before slowly accelerating allowed her to iron out flaws in her transitions. Well, at least the ones that she could sense. She had sped up until even her level 2 senses could barely follow anymore. She usually did this in the dojo, but she had done the same in the forests outside Orario, and even the winding roofs of Deadalus Street, where every wrong step could mess up her technique. The variety of environments would help cover any surprises she could encounter.

But in the evening she always returned to the techniques she knew. She had to perfect them even more. Sometimes it felt as if her falna nudged her gently towards better, stronger positions. She rarely noticed it immediately, but here in the dojo her technique was refined. What she did not see was that behind her two tengus on the Second Layer were constantly arguing about her stance and what would be better. One appeared as a younger swordsman, one born during The Great Feud, and had a lot of unresolved emotions buried in him causing him to be a corrupt tengu. The older had come back in the day when they were around Amaterasu and loved the adventurer city and its constant conflict. Unlike the younger one, its white mask makes guessing its emotions almost impossible.

After classes, 12th day - Lefiya POV

Lefiya rushed to Myle's office, ready to continue her work on the Null cantrip they had been preparing. As she got to his wooden door, she found it shut. With nothing else to do she took out her notes on the hieroglyph lesson of the day and waited.

A creak got her attention a few minutes later, when she saw the door slightly ajar. Her good hearing even catching snippets of conversation. 'I shouldn't listen in, the last time Myles-hakase seemed very annoyed.' With a firm heart she stepped further away from the door and focused on her work. Another minute passed and the door slid open a bit more teasingly.

Lefiya picked up a few words from Myles. "I have something for you." Then the deeper voice of the masked person attending their lessons followed, but just barely too quiet for her to make out the words. 'Wait, if it's them maybe I can find out who they are and tell Chigusa-san. She might tell me more about Sly's training!'

She takes a step closer, but blinks as she realizes she needs to be a bit more discreet. She quickly looks back and forth down the corridor and only once she is certain that nobody is watching her, she rushes to the door and peeks inside. She sees Myles-hakase and the two cloaked individuals, but neither of them is wearing their masks!

Myles takes out a silver amulet and hands it to the smaller girl, whose golden tail and fox ears perk up. 'Another renard!' "Please wear this small magic amulet. Your magic affinities are rather difficult to control, and it should provide you some measure of safety. I'd keep it on you whenever you can."

"Am I really worthy of such a gift Myles-hakase? Wouldn't it be better in the hands of Chigusa?" Tamamo asks, as her tail shifts back and forth with her ears lowered.

Myles answers by closing her hands over the amulet. "No, not really. It's been tailored specifically for you and your affinities. Just keep it around and it will help you when you are in dire need." He turns his gaze to Antianeria. "Of course, only if Ishtar permits it…"

The amazon who is the bigger cloaked individual, even standing a bit higher than Myles shrugs over-dramatically. Doing her very best to let her cleavage show all the way through the cloak. Which draws both Lefiya's and Myles gaze, to the elf's mortification. "I see no problem. Her magic was the reason we came, if she could learn more, that's even better."

Finally, Tamamo accepts the gift, and bows deeply to Myles. Her posture perfect and screaming of endless practice. 'Was that why Sly commented on my bow? Are renards just born with respect edged into their bones? Why can't I have such grace!?'

In her envy Lefiya didn't pay attention to the following words and the next thing she knew they were coming towards her and fast. Thinking quickly, she shuffled away from her position, but something soft and fluffy broke her stride and before she knew it, she fell to the floor.

"Ouch!" In the time it took her to get up she found Myles as well as the two cloaked and masked figures before her. The smaller figure offers a hand to help her up, while the larger one pushes her great sword from her back and leans against a wall. "Are… are you alright?"

Cursing inwardly, Lefiya answered. "Yes, thank you miss..?"

"How rude of me. My name is Usanjo Tamamo. Glad to make your acquaintance." The girl with the white fox mask gives a small bow. Which urges her to return it, though with much more effort.

"Thank you miss Tamamo. My name is Lefiya Viridis, maybe we can work together another day, I have something to discuss with Hakase." She answers with a worried look at Myles who is sporting an unamused expression.

"Lefiya, come in. Looks like we'll have to have a repeat of our first discussion."

She shivers at the thought but looks to the girls again. "I will be along right away Myles-hakase. I'll see you tomorrow miss Tamamo." Before she rushes after Myles, noticing how the renard girl watched the door until it closed.

Once she turned to Myles he was rubbing his brow. "What did you promise on the first day?"

Lefiya looks at the ground in and mutters. "To not tell anyone what I saw unless you or Genno permit it."

Myles frowns as one of his eyes twitches. "Right…and you interpreted that as making other times you peeped as being okay?"

Lefiya mutters something and looks away.

"What?"

"I said no, but I was curious!"

Myles groans and puts a hand to his forehead. "Look, Lefiya, people have their reasons for keeping secrets or hiding themselves. If you continue to pry like this, you may find the consequences for your peeping to far outweigh any worth of doing so in the first place."

Myles then looks to Lefiya with a raised eyebrow and a wry grin. "Hmmm… Maybe you are far more prolifically inclined than I thought… Maybe you have eyes not just for your mentor but for your fellow peers… Indeed, who am I to judge your curiosity-"

Her eyes immediately widen as her ears go pure red from base to tip. "HAKASE! STOP IT! I AM NOT LIKE THAT! PLEEEEASE STOP!" She screams. Myles could practically see steam billowing from her ears as he laughed.

"Oh, but how can I?!" Myles leans back with the back of his hand to his forehead. "My dear student's curiosity has led her to spy upon some secrets of Orario! Should such eavesdropping come to light, surely a rift will appear between the School District and Orario!..."

Myles then levels a cold and neutral stare upon Lefiya. "The Ishtar Familia has been… guarded. Understandable under normal circumstances…. But consider this: They have gathered a great deal of influence through their industry. Their monetary power and familial influence provides for one of the most essential sectors of Orario, Entertainment.

Through this they have procured a vast peerage in the city. What if the School District lost support of Orario from your offense? The humanitarian missions they normally hosted would come to an end; this would be for your curiosity. What did you discover? An amazon and a renard with rare affinities. What purpose does that information serve for you? For us? For Genkai?

The short and immediate answer is none. Finding out these things by itself is fine and tame, but if you are caught it can proliferate into the scenario I just illustrated. If you want to be nosy, be more sneaky in your methods Lefiya… I would advise that you keep their identities a secret to prevent any possible consequences."

A pregnant pause follows at his words as Lefiya looks to the floor of the office. "…I need more Hakase."

Myles's eyes twitch at these words as he focuses on his student. "I need to know more. To learn more. To… be more capable. It is my curiosity that has opened many routes to me. I can't abandon it." Gleaming dark blue eyes meet the gaze of bright blue at these words.

…

A wide grin spreads across his face. "Well, well… Alright then. Curb your curiosity towards others in the School District then." His grin curls up deviously. "And focus upon magic itself. I can tell that the current curriculum isn't challenging you as much as you want… after all, both you and Sly are working on Foramen of all things rather than the things I've recommended. For the moment I am going to forbid you from practicing other cantrips until you finish one for the Null affinity."

Lefiya looks up in shock. "What?! But Sly and I are getting close to getting Foramen to work!"

Myles looks at her with a wry grin. "Indeed. That is the problem. There is a method to my teaching. Each day you gain excelia towards advancing your magic. Creation of a spell is the most potent method for gaining the Fuin spell slot. It also can mirror as a way to feed growth for some development abilities. At the same time, mastering other cantrips can give you excelia for other things such as the Archmage or Magic Student development abilities.

Spreading your focus can make the excelia you gain redundant and you lose the possibility of that excelia feeding the emergence of something else. So, focus on making a Null cantrip. Given how free spirited both you and Sly are I assume I'll have to talk to him about this… Again."

Lefiya groans in frustration. "Oh, kami. Fine! Let's continue with my cantrip!"

Myles smiles and shifts to the blackboard. "Yes, let's. Oh, and please stop peeping into my office. Such perverted behavior is quite telling on your nature Lefiya…"

"I AM NOT A PERVERT! YOU ARE!"

After classes, 12th day - Myles POV

Null was a fascinating attribute. Its colour was either invisible or a very faint blue, not all that different in appearance from the affinity Sly had. 'What is it with this class and rare affinities? Even our familia doesn't have this many unique affinities in a single class. At least I can be happy during the quiet after classes. It feels good to research again…' Myles had his eyes closed and leaned back on his chair.

Unfortunately, this day wasn't one for quiet; a high pitched, "Yip, yip!" reminded him of that reality. "Yip!" His eyes opened at once as his focus returned to the current cause of his ire. His promise to Sly meant he couldn't just get rid of his messenger spirit, even if it was occupying his frickin lap. First a stupid renard with another stupid spirit in toe, now Lefiya with Sly's spirit in tow!

And now his quiet was shattered with the noise of not one, not two, but THREE fox spirits! One yellow, another a golden orange, and the other black with a white stomach. One, four, and three tailed respectively, and oh so distracting! Most of all the happy yipping 4 tailed one was playing with his quill and threatened to spill his personal spell ink!

This didn't even consider Akiri's waving tails which invaded his personal space and threatened to make him sneeze with how much they brushed against his face! Oh, he knew these spirits were pranking him on purpose and talking about something but come on! What are the chances that both the renards he had met in Orario and looks after are guarded by freaking spirits!?

His own youngest companion wasn't helping his impression of fox spirits either, as it somehow managed to get universal ink on its paws and was currently drawing runes on his floor. Ignoring his growing headache Myles called out, "Kiko, I'd advise against completing that rune unless you want to blast yourself with null mana!"

Akiri and the four tailed messengers also looked over, as the small fox gave them a big grin and ignored his warning. 'So be it, but I won't let ink get on all of my projects.'

With his free hand, not currently assailed by Akiri's tails, Myles summoned a golden rune. Drawing 3 runes for an extended statute cantrip was second nature to him, and finishing in 1 second, he declares, 'Arrest total momentum! -Minor Prasesidium!' - "Fuin."

Kiko ignored him and the translucent barrier now surrounding him to complete the last rune, before pushing a good chunk of mana into it. To no one but the kogitsune's surprise, the runes quickly exploded in a burst of mana.

To Myles's and Akiri's amusement, Kiko now laid on the floor in a heap with a lot of ink sticking everywhere on his fur. While they would leave the prankster fox spirit to his fate, the four tailed spirit differed. She bounded from his desk and with a faint telepathic presence he heard her chant.

'In the name of the queen of foxes, I offer a drop of mana to the flame of my devotion. May fortune favour this kit and release them from their earthly burdens. I offer myself as thy holy conduit to help the less fortunate. - Yokotawaru Ashi!'

Myles watched her with interest, his mana pressure keenly feeling her statute and healing affinities as she healed the kit and removed all the stains from his fur. With a gentle smile she booped him on the head with one of her tails as the kogitsune looked up to her. 'Thanks!'

Then all the fox spirits returned to their places on his desk or him to converse. At least they finally let him continue his work. 'Hm…and that spell is interesting, but it would take quite some time to reverse engineer it for personal or universal use.'

Night, 13th day - Dungeon - Ikuchi POV

Ikuchi was excited! Today they would push deeper into the 17th Floor. So far, they had mapped out and discovered every secret passage on the 16th and, to be honest, the monsters they fought lost the thrill they had in the beginning. Fighting the same monsters over and over again as he grew stronger was quickly getting old. Even more so when greater challenges waited beneath their paws on the deeper floors.

He tried going deeper on his own, but going down without support quickly overwhelmed him. Well, at least it did before he started using his water affinity while training the new hydro mana control exercises. 'Even going as far as to practice his hydrophilcibity. No that wasn't it.. hydrodensity..? No, that isn't it either. Forget it, it makes water pass around me and attracting it to me. Even if it is cumbersome, it is useful.' He pictured how he must have looked the first few times he tried urging the water to come around him.

He expected the water to resist him with how much effort it took to control small spheres. However, once he called upon it with his mana and as much intent as he could almost half of his pond rushed him. In the time it took him to register it a giant bubble of water had formed all around him with only his tail and paws barely poking out. 'The most embarrassing part was that I overdid it and used up all my mana. To hit mind down from that! Sylphie wouldn't stop teasing me for turning myself into a huge sleeping water sphere.'

His pride wouldn't allow the slight against him to stand, so he kept at it. Since Sly spent most of his time in lessons Ikuchi had explored more of floor 16 and even 17 with water cloaking him for as long as he could manage. The best that came from it, was its effectiveness. His scales were constantly wet and cold enough to be very hard. Short of slow minotaurs not even ligefangs managed to crack them under this cloak.

It also brought along many disadvantages, as at its smallest he managed to get the cloak was 10 cm deep all over his body including his head! However, it also slowed him down. 'At least I can breathe underwater, but it's annoying how any monster will hear me and rush at me. And climbing is almost impossible.'

He also lost quite a bit of water the further he went, only managing at most half a floor until he lost too much to keep it stable. The constant concentration also gave him a headache, but the startled reactions from hellhounds and the happy swath of praise Sly and Akiri would give him every time they saw his progress kept him going. Even his mana vision got used to it, which allowed him to see everything in a blue tint.

The only real problem was that he couldn't use any lightning magic with the cloak on, like at all. He knew how well his lightning followed his water magic, even when it wasn't created by him, he refused to stun himself again!

Losing track of time on floor 16 and after finishing a short rest, he heads out once again covered in his water cloak. He began layering 10 cm over his scales, when he felt faint vibrations caused by something light sneaking up on him. With water flowing over his head, he'd be hard-pressed to hear anything, so he pressed his paws firmly to the ground to feel what was approaching from behind.

Ikuchi moved out of the central path and behind one of the crystals, only keeping his head out to see if it was an adventurer. 'Maybe I should try taking some magic stones again? Then again, I'm too slow with my cloak, better to let them pass… Now that I think about it, since meeting Sly I barely ever went out of my way to take magic stones from them. Compared to his enhanced stones theirs are barely worth anything.'

What Ikuchi forgot was that maybe hiding behind a less than 1 m high crystal wasn't the smartest choice, considering that Ikuchi was almost 3 meters long after his latest growth spurt, not to even mention the obvious bulk the water around gave his otherwise lithe form.

Luckily, the approaching group were none other than Sly and Akiri. Who walked towards him without delay. Sly opened his mouth saying something, before stopping and pointing at his head. With a mental heave, Ikuchi pulled the water from his head, and neck to speak, while keeping his eyes peeled on it. He wouldn't want to lose it after just making his cloak.

"What took you so long? I started without you two!"

Sly shakes his head. "What were you expecting Ikuchi? You left the established meeting point on your own. Without using the puddles your cloak left behind, finding you would have taken ages."

"Ah, that. Hmm, my scales got itchy from all the waiting. So, I went ahead and practised some more." He replied innocently.

Sly sighed. "Refrain from straying too far, please. I might worry if you leave without informing us… I might actually need to teach you writing or establish a system so you can leave a message next time."

Ikuchi ignored the strain in his mind from the idea of more learning. "I didn't think of that. But can we start our hunt now? Your tails must have tied themselves into a knot from all the studying you do!"

Akiri laughs transmitting his voice to both of them. 'He isn't wrong Shin, better not get lost in rune magic practice. With your newest oath, you have been using an unhealthy amount of mana.'

Sly faces Akiri, also turning Ikuchi's focus to his black tails adorned with sparkling tailbands. Forgetting about the water he kept levitating as it splashed to the ground. The gems were making him itch to get his paws on them, with all the purple magic he saw flowing from them, as Sly countered. "That's not fair! I still have as much mana left over as usual! Well over 2 thirds of my mana!"

'Shin it isn't about how much you have left, but how much you've used.' Akiri chuckles.

Ikuchi blinks, reminded of a question he had since meeting Akiri, but never got to ask. "Sly, why does Akiri always call you Shin?"

Sly stills, even his tails stopping. "That's not something I like to speak about…" Ikuchi was disappointed, and it must have shown, as Sly looked at him for a long moment. "But I can tell you, I kept my old name quiet even with my familia as I didn't want to drag them into my problems. Only my god knows about it."

"Why would you do that? A name can't hurt you, can it?" Ikuchi asks confused.

Akiri looks at Sly in concern with his tails shifting uncomfortably as Sly continues. Looking into one of the dark caverns. "You are right, but it isn't the name that could hurt me but the clan it belongs to. Shin is my original name. I used my new name Sleipnir to find my familia and have used it ever since."

Ikuchi looks at his distant eyes closely. "You once spoke of family names. What's yours?"

Sly sighs and closes his eyes, his tails slumping to the ground. "I have one family name I still recognise. Shimizu. But I am not ready to carry it. Not without knowing the fate of my mentor."

Ikuchi sees that Sly is distracted and decides to free him from it. With a little concentration a bit of the puddle on the ground rises and splatters over Sly's head. "Ikuchi! What was that for!?"

He smiles in satisfaction. "You weren't paying attention. But if it is so important to you I'll continue calling you Sly, until you are ready to use your mentor's name. Now shall we get going?"

Sly glares at him for a few more seconds, before muttering foxfire and drying his cloak in a matter of seconds. "Very, well. Let's see how your cloak helps you fight."

Floor 19 Riveria - Ray POV

"Stupid cloaks! Sister, why can't we just fly overhead!?" Fear asks with annoyance, shuffling her wings inside to make them less cramped.

Ray can't quite fight the urge to shift her own wings when she answers. "Bad idea. The Lelantus guards get jumpy when you use shortcuts. They pay little attention to normal routes but get out of bounds in their territory and you're certain to get their attention."

Fears voice gets a little higher, as she shifts her hood a little, revealing her long red hair. "Won't the guards notice anything strange? We are just walking in the open! Anybody could attack us!"

She stops for a moment to look her sister in the eyes. "You don't have to be so anxious. Arles guided me around here a few times. Unless you act out the guards won't bother you. The few that are awake are looking for feral monsters. Looking like this, they won't give us a second look."

"Still, I can't help but worry..." Ray shushed Fear with her wing, still concealed below her robe. "We are close to the exit, be quiet."

A few tense minutes followed, where they saw 3 guards stationed around the tunnels leading to the 18th floor. However, besides the last one, they didn't catch their eyes.

The spearman spotted them, and quickly approached causing Fear to stiffen. Ray stepped in front of her and listened to the spearman. "You two, better be careful if you want to go up. The Goliath should spawn tonight."

Ray looked him in the eyes and answered in her melodious voice with a smile. "Thank you for the warning, but we our familia must be worried. We've been stuck on the lower Middle Floors. We can get around it if it has respawned."

The guard nods at them. "Then good luck to you two." Before leaving he looks back at her once more, his gaze staying on her "hair" for another moment. 'Phew, luckily the feathers on my head can be easily mistaken for hair.' They walked into one of the tunnels and a little ways in she stopped. With a low hum she used her echolocation to sense around them. "We're alone."

"Thank the mother! My senses were screaming at me when the adventurer came to us!"

Ray smiled lightly at the younger harpies words. "Well, the real challenge will come now. The guards weren't wrong; the Goliath has spawned. Once we get past it, we can find Ikuchi."

Fear shivered, and asked timidly. "Do you think the Warden will think that we are escaping? Or could the spirit Ikuchi met be allied to it? Oh no… I really hope we can avoid him!"

Ray took out two lighter cloaks better suited for flight, and gave one to her sister. As she gave the possibility some thought. "He might be present. But from what Arles told us he is different from the Warden. But we'd better be careful even if he is. Spirit magic is fickle and versatile even for the youngest, so don't let your guard down. As for the Warden, unless we enter the Upper Floors it shouldn't pay us more attention than usual."

Author's Note

A change of pace from the last 3 chapters, and also a day to celebrate. It has been 1 year since Happa became my Beta Reader. By now the scope of the story has grown far past its initial ideas. It feels great looking back and just seeing all the progress I made, and how the last year shaped my life.

But enough of my ramblings. There are still many secrets to be discovered in this world and in the next chapters some that have been hinted at since the very beginning will be unveiled.

Hapa Note: Happy Anniversary lol.