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: "Normal conversation."
Thoughts: 'Thoughts'
Screaming/Demonic Voice: "Loud, or emotional spirit speech.
Magic: Magic chants. "Foxfire"
Rune Magic: 'Auxiliary Rune. - Core Rune.'
Writing: 'Books/Archive.'
Chapter 34 Not According to Plan
The same night 3 AM – Myles's Quarters, Red Light District - Myles POV
A dark half-fairy sits at a table, tapping a finger on it as he quietly looks at several sheets of paper with different core runes written on them with narrowed eyes. 'It appears that the Chaos sub-attribute is unique even among sub-attributes… Two Core Runes don't look to be enough. Suppose that makes sense considering its make up. We've brute forced this discovery as much as we can. I think… we'll have to settle for making the Core Rune structure three.'
Then the pull from his contract with Sly ceased, but a frown marred Myles's face as he sensed something off. Before, it reacted immediately when he pushed his mana pressure against it, now it remained dormant. "Never had a contract with a spirit do that before… Leanen Sidhe, I've got a problem with a contract I have with my student. Mind offering some advice?"
His partner entered the First Layer in her alluring form and leaned over his shoulder looking at all the papers. "Hmm… I'll need to probe the contract to find details, do you mind?"
"Please. I have a feeling that Sly's gotten himself into a situation where he overextended his mana use while in the Dungeon."
Flexing her mana pressure, a prodding of emotion affinity mana asked for permission to interact with Myles. Without objection, Leanen continued her investigation with a look of calm concentration. Then, her brow twitched and her face took on a deep frown. "Severe weakness from his side, potential problem with his mana."
Myles groans. "So much for not intervening more directly…" Quickly, he goes to a dresser and removes a glass teal sphere embedded in a thick ribbon from a drawer and channels mana to it as it starts to softly glow and make audible "ping" noises every couple seconds.
…Silence
"Wonderful… no answer. Too bad, you can only blame yourself for what comes next…" He then pulls out a green glass sphere embedded in a different ribbon and repeats the process.
After a few seconds the sphere glows brightly and a sleepy feminine voice is audible with a yawn. "Nnnuuugh… My-" Immediately he wraps the sphere in the ribbon, cutting the communication. Unwrapping it again with a smirk, the occulus glows again and pings.
More awake now, "Myles! What-?" He covers it again, his grin growing. The Leanen Sidhe could only level an unimpressed stare at him before looking back at the papers on the table.
Uncovering it again, it glows with but a single ping-! "HEY! CUT THAT OUT!"
"Ohhh! Good morning Acatl! I just found out something reaaaally important!"
A clicking of a tongue is audible from the item as his grin widens into a devious, wide smile and she responds, "What is it?!"
"Sly is in the Dungeon right now, likely without any of his familia, and it seems the contract he made with me to call for mana has gone dormant. A Leanen Sidhe I trust deeply says he is suffering severe weakness and potential problems with his mana. I suspect he mana overdosed and needs rescuing."
Acatl sighs at the explanation. "Figures. His curiosity is getting his tails bit now… He usually does his tours around now doesn't he…?"
One of his brows raises at the information. "Wonderful. Where is he and what trouble he has gotten himself into?"
A light humming is audible over the occulus as Myles casts Foramen and draws out several items; a belt with potions, chest holsters for scrolls which he checks are filled, a wooden quarterstaff with glowing rune inscriptions, a pair of maintained metal greaves that appear to have inscriptions that are glowing, and lastly a pair of similar metal gauntlets that appear to have blood stains on them… which he returns into Foramen.
As he puts on the greaves Acatl's voice pipes up from the occulus. "Interesting. He's in the Cave Labyrinth. Looks like the group is being harried by parties on parties of enhanced monsters. They've caused quite a stir and the Dungeon is rebelling. Oh, and they even killed the Goliath."
Myles pauses mid-equipping his holsters. 'Enhanced monsters? Strange for them to be active this high up… wait a second!' "He did what?! And what do you mean they?! He's a fresh level 2 for crying out loud!"
"Oh, Sanbi-kun's friends. Don't be too surprised and just go along with it!"
"Acatl, do they concern the report I'm making about spirits in Orario?"
"Oh, no! Not in the slightest!" Acatl replied. He could practically hear her smirk from all the way here…
Myles sighs as he finishes fastening his belt and pulls out a paper with the 'Space' core runes and some auxillary runes. "I think that actually makes me more concerned… Okay, I'm gonna portal down to the Cave Labyrinth and save them."
"Wait, a second. I wouldn't connect there."
He frowns as he puts the scroll away and puts the quarterstaff in a holster on his back. "Why not?"
"Something would be quite annoyed if you messed with space around there. Better go a few floors higher, and don't mess with space while you're saving Sanbi. Also! Don't let him use Any mana Myles. If he does… he could burn himself out and never wield mana again. He needs rest! Got it?! Alrighty, bye!"
The occulus went promptly dark and after a pregnant pause the Scribe went to the dresser and put the teal item away while putting the green one in a pouch on his belt.
"…It's going to take three runes for the Core Chaos Rune, isn't it Leanen?"
She gives a brief nod sitting at the table and looks up to him. "From what I can see here, yes. Would you mind if I gave it a try?"
"Please do. Gotta save my student now… See you in a couple hours hopefully."
"I'll be here. Oh! Can you bring back something sweet please?" She requests as she gives him a pleading look.
Myles looks back to her with a faint smile and chuckles. "Yeah, I'll see what I can find."
With a turn and a quick few written runes, the Scribe enters a portal that puts him at the stairs down to the 13th Floor.
Shortly later 3:20 AM - 13th Floor, Through the Tunnel – Sly POV
'My body feels like I'm on fire! I never knew the backlash of the potion would feel like this!'
Panting and running the best he could, Sly continued forward with Ikuchi now leading. He was now in the middle of the party's formation with Fear, though the harpy was keeping whatever distance she could from him while Akiri was beginning to lag, slowing them all down.
'At least the stream of enhanced monsters has finally halted. Though-'
Suddenly a loud howling and growling from down the path they were traveling brought their advance to a stop as he clicked his tongue and tightened his grip on Kogitsune-Maru. 'Damn it… Another ambush?!'
But then an equally loud howling and growling echoed from behind them!
'We're flanked! Circle up!'
The party of spirits and Xenos immediately did so with the sisters and Sly in the middle and Akiri and Ikuchi the vanguard on either side. Either end of the tunnel began to light up with an endless number of glowing red eyes that started to dart to and fro as hordes of almiraj began to charge them from both sides!
A loud snarl from Ikuchi and the loud hissing of lightning dancing across his scales gave away his mood and intentions as he inhaled deeply and roared to unleash a chaotic stream of lightning down his side of the tunnel upon the charging rabbit monsters. On the other end Fear and Ray began to launch feathers sparingly as they were down to their last ones. Akiri…
Akiri let loose a loud snarl as his fur bristled with his swaying tails as purple jagged lines glowed angrily as he snapped his jaws upon the nearest rabbit and spun in a tizzy as his tails slammed into others. 'He's losing control…he can't even maintain Illusio anymore…!'
Then, it happened. Small crystals began to drop from above. Sly's eyes widened as he looked up to see long cracks fissuring the ceiling between even larger crystals. A loud chittering of bad bats announced the culprit for this falling disaster as they spawned in a suicidal attempt to kill them!
"SCATTER!" Sly screamed at the party. Ikuchi, and Akiri immediately started to dodge. The sisters, however, were slower and screams were the only indication that they were alive as crystals and boulders fell upon the party. Some struck glancing blows upon Sly causing him to stumble to one side before being slammed into by suicidal bad bats that bounced off his body only to be crushed by falling stone.
As dust filled the air of the partially collapsed tunnel a loud buzzing and strong sensation of mana washing over Sly caused his tails to go ram-rod straight for a moment before he opened his eyes and saw a white light scanning over the chamber and continuing past down the tunnel they had come from. Suddenly, the white light rushed back over the chamber and returned from where it came.
Panting and pained groans softly echoed out from various places in the chamber as the dust began to subside. Sly struggled to stand again, his body battered and aching even more now as he looked about and could see boulders all about the chamber with Ikuchi and Akiri visibly struggling to stand. Then, they heard a whimper of pain from behind some boulders.
"FEAR!" Ray screamed as she weakly flew down behind those boulders. But that wasn't all Sly heard. The tell-tale noise of numerous paws in pursuit echoed from both tunnel ends! Gritting his teeth Sly stood and started to reach deep for his mana. Immediately it rebelled as it languishly resisted his pull and caused his tails to burn with an intensity he hadn't felt before! "Incoming hellhounds! He screamed in anguish!
'Ikuchi has the cloak! He'll be fine!' But then Akiri dropped to floor with a loud whine as his tails thrashed behind him and the purple marks across his body expanded!
At this, a bright teal glowing border to his sight flared to life as everything…
Stopped.
Sly could see his fellow fox spirit, tails frozen mid thrash of pain.
He could see the red feathers of Fear scattered about a massive boulder that concealing all other details of her from view. Though, there was hope… No blood spray beneath the boulder and only a couple of Ray's feathers to one side of the boulder.
On the other side of the cavern, he could see his… friend. Ikuchi was standing, glaring down a pack of hell hounds coming down his side as his muscles looked to be bulging to escape his hide and scales. But, the Salamander Wool cloak was still strapped to his chest, which he was proudly baring towards the incoming threat… This just left…
Akiri's side had a pack racing forward, mouths already open and flames eagerly gathering to inflict burning harm. He is in no position to counter them.
The choice is made, and Time resumes.
Sly quickly leapt to Akiri's side and all three of his tails whipped forward, covering them from the incoming pack as they unleashed a joint cone of fire. Bright teal mana glows from his tails as they suddenly feel like they are being incinerated. With a scream, Sly focuses on the pain to remain focused on all flames! The flames wash over his three floofed tails and can't consume Akiri and Sly, but gods does it burn! The burnt smell of his fur only compounded the worry!
'…Hold…PLEASE HOLD!' Then a wide, 2m tall dark brown shield slams into the ground before us blocking all flames!
"Forma Terrae!" "Forma Terrae!" A new presence made itself known behind me after two repeated chants and the tunnel before me suddenly collapsed on the offending hell hounds!
My eyes widen as I look back as my tails are burning in pain! Myles is standing there with a basic shirt, shorts, metal greaves, and two burning scrolls in his hands. "Fuck. You used mana." He remarks before walking up to me as the scrolls turn to ash and pulling out a large potion.
Relief fills me… and then my tails go completely limp as they suddenly are just pins and needles of PAIN! I barely suppress the scream as I flop to my side, clench my eyes, and grab my tails to my chest.
"You are experiencing a severe mana overdose that has been exacerbated by resisting those flames with your tails. Drink this now, it will help."
He sits me up and my body screams out at me at the motion as I wince at the pain.
"Tense up your whole body, open your mouth, and swallow what I pour."
I obey as everything just burns, but then as I swallow the sweet liquid I feel waves of…something cold suppressing the searing burning in several waves with each gulp!
"Good… Now, what the fuck Sly?" I look up to him, but see Ikuchi looming over us with a glare on Hakase!
A couple minutes earlier – 13th Floor, Other side of the Boulder – Ray POV
"FEAR!" Ray screamed as she landed by her sister; Fear's right wing is crushed under the boulder with some crystals stabbed into her abdomen and bleeding somewhere from her scalp. 'No! NO!' Frantically Ray starts to shove herself against the boulder to get it to move. "Incoming hellhounds!" the spirit screams! With wide eyes Ray looks over towards the black and purple fox spirit as he flops to the floor with a loud whine. Beyond him, a pack of 6 hounds is visible with flames flickering and swelling within their jowls.
Abject terror. Ray stops shoving the boulder and moves between the hounds and Fear spreading her wings to cover her sister. '…Is this the end…?'
But then the teal fox spirit dashes in front of them all with his tails floofed forward as flames blast forth!
FOOOSHHHHSSSSS!
The flames seem to part against his tails! 'He's holding! But I can see and smell that his tails are burning!'
Then a blur of motion and an earth-shaking impact! A large shield is blocking the flames now! An adventurer lands behind the spirits and declares, "Forma Terrae!" "Forma Terrae!"
Immediately the tunnel with the hell hounds collapses on itself and the flames stop! The adventurer walks towards the spirits and I quickly go back to my sister to start to push the boulder again; it slowly gives and I roll it off Fear!
"Fear! Can you hear me?!" But she wouldn't answer, her eyes are glazed as she groans while I pull her towards a wall of the chamber. Looking up, I can see the adventurer is feeding the teal fox spirit a potion of some sort. However, Ikuchi had pulled himself behind the adventurer despite his burnt and injured state.
"Good… Now, what the fuck Sly?"
"Grrrrrrrummrrrr!" Ikuchi growls, looking down upon the adventurer. "Hands Off!" His yell causes the chamber to shake!
The adventurer looks calmly back and up to Ikuchi with a raised eyebrow. "…Huh?"
Suddenly the teal spirit holds up a hand to Ikuchi. "Wait Ikuchi! This is my-"
But the adventurer lets go of Sly, making Sly grunt in surprise as the adventurer casually gets up and walks away towards a wall of the chamber away from all of us. I could only blink in surprise. 'He…listened to Ikuchi?!'
Ikuchi continued to growl and turned to continue facing the adventurer as he walked away. His tail then dragged across the ground to wrap near Akiri and Sly protectively. Having reached a wall in silence, the adventurer turns and leans back against the wall with his arms crossed. "So… What now?"
Thinking back, I haven't ever seen an adventurer who looks like this one. Longer ears, but curved ends, dark skin, from the scent not a woman, and silver hair that is cut to not touch his shoulders… "Who…" I began, "Who are you?"
"Name's Myles." He began, "A mage from the Quetzalcoatl familia. A familia that isn't a part of the city above." He motions with a finger pointing up. "On temporary teaching duty at a mobile school currently doing repairs in said city."
I glance towards Sly, he seems oddly shocked as well as he is just looking at Myles. The mage continues, "I'm here to rescue Sly and I suppose Akiri too." He then looks at Sly. "Hey, Acatl knows about your nightly outings by the way. She told me your party would be here."
Sly seems to flinch a bit at that information with his tails standing up straight. "Eh?! No way!"
"Hauh?! Are you serious?! She's a goddess and a being whose been studying magic for the better part of a millennia! Not being able to track someone she's taken such an interest in would be more surprising!"
A defeated expression forms on Sly's face as his tails droop. 'He's clearly feeling better after that potion… This adventurer is stronger than our spirits here…' I grip Fear a bit harder, keeping her close.
"Regardless of that… annoying fact, I would say that it is more concerning for you all that Acatl seems to know about your existence." He motions towards us Xenos with a hand. "Though, maybe not. She has kept many a secret over the years…"
Finally, he looks back to Sly as he recrosses his arms. "So, what now Sly? I can open the tunnels again and take you and Akiri home right now, if you want."
…This adventurer… He's playing games! Presenting information this way, relenting to the requests of the physically strongest of us, and then posing such a query before the rest of us! He's testing Sly!
A quick glance in my direction revealed he knew I was watching! This… This! This manipulator! A pregnant pause in the chamber revealed even Sly was sceptical!
"Right then!" The manipulator threw his hands up. "I was testing you all… Well, except the dragon at least."
Ikuchi growled. "What?! Why not me!?"
… The adventurer then chuckled.
"Cuz you value my student, while your two sisters don't."
Ikuchi visibly twitched and his head turned to both of us, accusingly.
"Stop it."
We both immediately looked at Myles as he pointed at Ikuchi. "You're… different than your kin. You-"
Flailing tails immediately drew all of our attention as Sly stood and yelled, "Stop it Hakase!"
Sly was clearly furious from his scowl as he looked at his…Hakase? What does that even mean?
Myles immediately put his hands up again as Sly continued, "You're just playing the crowd again! This isn't the surface! Xenos are an entirely isolated faction with justified wariness of adventurers! It makes no sense to test them now, KNOCK IT OFF!"
Myles's eyes widened at Sly, then closed as he smiled and leaned back with his hands on the Mother's walls. "I'll shut up then."
A couple of deep breaths later, Sly focused on Myles. "Good… You asked me 'What now?' So, I'm telling you to heal all of them!"
Myles just stares at Sly as another pause of silence fills the chamber.
"…Seriously? Aren't they just monsters? Can they not heal on their-"
"I am tired Myles! No more tests!"
"…Okay. Heal them all, you've got it." The adventurer comes off the wall as his gaze focuses upon Fear of all of us! I immediately move between her and this man.
Myles frowns at me and then his brows raise some as he stops walking forward. "So she doesn't trust you…? Okay, I won't then…" He looks towards Ikuchi who narrows his eyes down at him. "…Healing you will take a more…involved process…"
Ikuchi snorts at the adventurer before him. "What are you talking about?"
Myles looks up to the dragon. "You are not like other 'squishy' beings. You have muscles, hide, skin, and then scales. Others normally have only 2 or 3 layers. For you to heal properly none of your scales can pierce the other three layers. I would have to remove those 'bad' scales and mend your hide and skin. Your muscles will heal naturally over time."
Ikuchi narrows his eyes and declares, "I don't need your help. I'll heal fine on my own!"
Myles raises a brow with a narrowed eye. "Ah, I see. You'd rather make yourself weaker in the future for your pride now."
Ikuchi's muzzle curls up in a snarl as he growls at this mage beneath him. "I am not weak!"
The mage defiantly retorts with narrowing eyes, "Then accept help when you actually need it! You're burnt, shedding ash and scales, and exhausted in hostile territory with someone offering to heal you! Why wouldn't you take the offer?!" He stares into the dragon's eyes, waiting.
Ikuchi's eyes then furrow at dark half-elf and give a brief glance at Sly before returning to Myles. "…Fine.." Ikuchi grumbles as he untenses very slightly.
The mage nods. "Sly, come here and hold some stuff while I get to work…"
At that, Ray turned back to her sister and grimaced as she knelt back beside her and gently brushed her forehead. "Fear…can you hear me…?"
Fear's eyes re-focus onto her sister's as she weakly smiles. "Hi… Feeling a little foggy…"
'Not good…' I gently brushed her head again. "Everything will be ok… Don't worry."
Holding a salve by Myles a few minutes later – Sly POV
I am feeling beyond perplexed as I watch Hakase tend to Ikuchi. A chant of a Statute cantrip that creates a mobile and maintained field for cleaning surfaces, warnings to Ikuchi that he had to pull out damaged scales to allow new strong ones to grow without problems, and gently applying this salve to the wounds after cleansing them with the aforementioned cantrip just made more questions come to mind. The biggest of them though…
"Hakase… Why are you so… receptive to helping the Xenos and not freaking out about them?"
He briefly looks at me and says, "Acatl said to 'just go along with it' so I am. I'll deal with the incredulousness of the situation later. Honestly, I am most interested in how in Genkai you came to meet them."
"…On one of my solo delves into the Dungeon, I met Ikuchi. We fought and came to a draw and things just…happened."
Hakase continues to work on Ikuchi in between his growls or mild flinches at Myles's work on his wounds. "…I didn't actually expect you to answer. Hmmm…"
Ikuchi snorts at this. "We hunted together and worked well together."
Hakase hums at this as he continues, but I see that his glance wanders to Ray who had returned to Fear's side and looked very worried as she tried to comfort Fear. "…An unknown People, huh…?"
I blink as I look at Myles. "What?"
He focuses back on Ikuchi as he lightly growls as another broken scale is pulled from his hide. "Just trying to reconcile what this means for Genkai as a whole."
I frown as I focus on him. "In terms of what Hakase?"
"The modern world has been harvesting an isolated and oppressed People for its own benefit. I assume that its possible for all monsters to become Xenos… They seem able to be as rational as any other race I've encountered in Genkai and obviously care for one another judging from them two and then Ikuchi coming to your defence. I'd always considered monsters to be soulless because they seemed so feral and intent on harming others with no regard to themselves. That's obviously not the case. They can be like any other people. Why? How many die due to ignorance of adventurers?"
Then he paused after applying more salve to the last of Ikuchi's wounds on his chest and looked at his hands.
"…. How many souls did I destroy when crafting items or figuring out the Soul affinity….?" He murmurs.
A pregnant silence fills the chamber at his words as I filed this away for later with even Ikuchi quiet at his words… Or maybe Ikuchi was just glad for the short respite from his treatment. Myles then shakes his head and turns to me and takes the salve back but pulls out two potions.
"See if they will take these. I'll use repeated casts of a healing cantrip and a potion to finish up on Ikuchi."
Quietly, I took the potions, walked over to the sisters, and put them on the ground next to Ray before going back to Ikuchi and Myles. I could see that Akiri was unconscious and breathing normally despite the angry purple markings across his body. I'll need to figure out a solution to this corruption too, but aside from my tail bands, there was little I could do. At least he's stable for the moment, though the dungeon's ire certainly doesn't help his health. The last time Akiri was in crisis he hid himself away from us…
But Hakase's words are festering in my mind now as I idly watched him cast the healing cantrip. Its name is Sacrio, its chant is "Seal these breaks upon flesh," and the magic circle from its casting is a vibrant goldenrod colour without it being bright like casting Light magic is.
'Is Myles right? Could any monster I encounter turn into a Xenos? Is it more likely for Enhanced or Irregulars? Have I been culling potential Xenos before they developed intelligence this whole time…? The enhanced infant dragon, wasn't it too intelligent..?'
Looking back at the sisters both potions were empty, and Ray was looking more relieved as Fear had her formerly injured right wing rubbing Ray's side gently.
'…But Ikuchi has been hunting monsters, and so have the sisters from my understanding…I need more information, now isn't the time I need to recover, once I'm back home.'
"Hey!" Myles pipes up. "Have you thought of telling the Xenos how to make potions?"
I blink and focus back on Hakase. "Ah…Not really. I think they would have a lot of trouble making them since I have yet to see any but a select few herbs down here. There's bound to be some missing."
He hums as he finishes a last wound with a casting of Sarcio and a final scan of the Statute cantrip for cleansing.
"The 18th might be suitable grounds to try growing some… But they would need seeds to even begin.."
I tilt my head and then frown with a hand to my chin. "Something we can trade them then…"
Myles lightly smiles at me and nods a bit, but then looks over the others and focuses upon Akiri. "Give me the tail bands Sly."
I look towards Akiri and pull the three bands from my tails. "Alright." Handing over the bands as I walk over to Akiri. 'Is he going to force the bands onto Akiri…? That will help a bit, but that shouldn't be enough. Not in such a bad state.' My tails sway slowly behind me; brushing over the phantom weight of the bands. The tingling was more like an unreachable itch instead of the burning pins and needles.
Myles
* kneels next to Akiri and puts a hand on his side. "Akiri, wake up." The fox spirit growls lightly as his tails twitch. "…Akiri, it's me, Myles. I need you to wake up." Myles runs his hand down Akiri's side to give him a long pet when there is a sudden blur of black and purple. With a snarl Akiri whips his head around as his tails floof out and snare Hakase in an iron hold as his jaws clamp down on Myles's upper arm.
All their eyes widen at Akiri's sudden reaction as blood begins to stain Myles's right arm. Thin, almost feral slitted purple eyes pulse with power as they fix on Sly.
A shudder travels down my erect tails, as the burning gaze meets my eyes. "Myles!" I yell and push past the sudden scare, but Myles's left arm extends to his side, palm to us. We all stop.
A faint silver aura begins to glow around Myles, as purple tendrils of mana crawl from Akiri's fangs. My sense for mana pressure was chaotic with barely any mana but somehow, I still felt… no, saw how Akiri's mana levels rose in this tense situation as Myles left hand goes up to Akiri's head and starts to give him ear scratches. "Akiri," Myles begins, "Sly is safe. That's enough…" He drags his hand down Akiri's back scratching him gently all the way to his tails.
The silvery aura about Myles spreads over Akiri's growing purple, but Akiri's body and tails suddenly tense hard. Then, he relaxes as the purple aura about him fades as some of the purple tendrils in his black fur recede as his eyes turn rounder and the feral edge leaves his piercing gaze. 'Myles-san…' Akiri murmurs.
Akiri's jaws and tails withdraw as he steps back from Myles, but Myles's left hand grips his head as he scratches his ears again. However, I can see that there are now purple tendrils spreading across Myles's right arm all the way down to his hand and up his neck. "Easy Akiri…" Myles softly says to him. "You were almost lost. Take some breaths…" Akiri makes some whining noises as Myles continues to scratch his head. Akiri starts, 'I…'
"No more words for now." Myles looks back at us and I blink as I can see his blue eyes have taken a slight purple hue as the silvery aura fades from him and Akiri. "It's time for everyone to head home. Sly, you're carrying Akiri on your back and you'll be wielding my quarterstaff." He splashes a healing potion onto his right arm and holds up his right hand to the 2m wooden shield which flies to his arm, but mid travel transforms into a quarterstaff of the same size.
Myles focuses on the Xenos. "I'll open the passage deeper into the Dungeon first and clear it with fire. Head home. I'd like to talk to your people more in the future, but for the moment I'm busy teaching, so send word through Sly if you are open to it. Ikuchi, thanks for keeping Sly out of worse danger."
The dragon snorts at Myles as he puffs up his salamander wool wrapped chest. "Of course! He's my spirit after all!"
Ray and Fear on the other hand look to each other and then nod some to Myles. "Maybe Myles Hakase. We'll bring this to the elders." Ray answers.
A flat expression focuses on Ray. "Why are you calling me Hakase?"
"Well, it's your name, isn't it?"
"No! No, it's not!"
I immediately interject, "Of course it is Myles Hakase!"
Ikuchi chimes in, "Hrrmm… Hakase. Myles Hakase," he notes with a nod.
Myles glares at me now as I could only grin widely at him. "See!"
With a grumble Myles just shakes his head and steps towards the cave-in, casts Forma Terrae to open the tunnel again followed by a fire spell called Conus Ignis to engulf the opened tunnel with flames clearing the almiraj that gathered on the other side and been barraged by stone from the tunnel opening.
"Just go on!" Myles exclaims in exasperation.
The Xenos then quickly left with Ikuchi leading the way, but not before giving me a meaningful glance over his shoulder before rushing forward. 'Was that worry I saw? When have you grown so attached to me and why..?'
We started to gather ourselves after their departure with Akiri having the tail bands equipped and tying him to my back with his head and front paws on my shoulders, Myles giving me his quarterstaff, and him taking Kogitsune-maru. Following the same procedure he did for the Xenos's path, the other side of the tunnel was opened and cleared as we began our trip back to the surface from the 13th floor with him as vanguard and me as supporter.
5 AM, The Surface – Myles POV
It took us a whole hour and a half to get from the 13th Floor to the surface with us sprinting the whole way. Not a horrible morning workout, but with Akiri barely clinging to consciousness and fighting off his corruption not the most pleasurable experience. Once outside of the 1st floor of the Dungeon I cast a silent Spatium Canalis and brought the spirit kin to their home, the Martial Dojo.
Now on home property with signs of the sun starting to illuminate the still dark blue skies, I drop Kogitsune-maru, turn, and hug Sly and Akiri to me while ruffling their fox ears. 'Hmm…I guess I do like their ears a lot… Blame your spirit kin for "haunting" me Sly!'
"H-hakase!?" Sly sputters as he pushes against my grip and Akiri gives a mixed whine of indignation and begrudging acceptance. With a grin I let him push away from me as there is a faint dusting of red on his cheeks and his tails are swaying quicker than normal. Akiri, on the other hand, looks defeated and ashamed at the same time.
"A bit of payment for helping you both back." I began. "I'm glad you're both okay. However, don't expect that to be enough to pay me back Sly. You've incurred a decent bit of debt to me now. Your bout of recklessness brought you as close to death as I've seen anyone venturing into the Dungeon as a Third Class Adventurer." Sly tenses as I begin and his tails droop at my last sentence.
"You'll be able to pay me back with valis or by coming completely clean to me." Sly blinks at this. "You don't have to choose which way you want to pay me back now; we'll figure it out later. However, first and foremost, I ban you from casting spells or manipulating mana for your lack of self-control and abusing our contract for the duration of a full week!"
Sly's tails go ramrod straight as one of them glows faintly. "Wh-what?! Hakase, that's not fair!"
"No," I retort, "that is perfectly fair! Recovering from Mana Overdose is a huge deal Sly! You have been using too much mana for at least the past 10 days since our contract was first made! That potion relieved the worst backlash consequences for the condition but did not cure it! The more you try to use mana while recovering from the overdose the longer it will take to fully recover! No arguments on this will be permitted!
In fact," I continue, "By all counts I should end the contract for your own good! However, I don't know how that will affect your recovery given that one of your main tail abilities is related to contracts. You've been warned."
Completely downcast, Sly is quiet as he just listens with his tails and ears drooping aside from the occasional twitch. My gaze shifts to Akiri and he visibly tenses. "…Friend huh?" A strong flinch from the fox spirit makes it clear he understands my disappointment from how he used his friend to help himself. A portable uncorrupted mana battery. "You know where I will be in my spare time. Come talk to me whenever you're well enough and want to clear the air…"
I walk up to both of my fox kin acquaintances and begin to untie Akiri from Sly, neither protesting. "Hold still, both of you. Impose an unabating edict that purges this zone of all unsightly matter under my gaze! – Purgatio Unda!" I finish by writing the 'Statute' core runes on a dark grey magic circle. A floating thin plane of white mana washes over both foxes and me as I sigh.
"Go get rest, both of you. Sly, I'll come get you around 8 for the School District expedition. Try to get at least 2 hours of sleep. Now go on!" I command with crossed arms.
Akiri's head bows down low with three drooping tails as he disappears into the Second Layer. Sly on the other hand turns and heads towards the Martial Dojo tails drooping, but not dragging on the ground.
Turning to leave, I grab Kogitsune-maru and pull out the green occulus by its ribbon and begin walking as it pings.
"Nnnuugh… Myles…?" Acatl groggily answers.
"Sly and Akiri are both safe. Gonna find something sweet for Leanen. Oh, also we think that Chaos is going to take three core runes."
"Mmm…Good job… So, what do you think of 'them?'" Her words cause my eyes to twitch.
"I am no where near ready to have a public opinion on them… But I can tell you I'm a little pissed at you for not telling me. I don't even want to start processing the idea that the Guild knows about them…"
"The guild master does and so do Ouranos and Ganesha."
I immediately wrap the sphere in the ribbon to cut off the connection and stuff it in a pouch. 'She is such a blunt cunt sometimes…'
Channeling mana to my right arm the purple jagged marks start to coalesce into a dark, dark purple bruise that shrinks as it travels down to my right hand. Softly and controlled, I expend the mana causing the bruise to disappear. 'This certainly won't be the last time I have to save a spirit like that… And that warning about using Space mana… So many secrets damn it!'
My fist tingles from forcing the corrupted mana out as I flex it open and closed. 'Leanen had a great idea… sweets for breakfast. Pastries and berries maybe? Ohhh, and some sausage and eggs!'
Somewhere in the Upper Floors – Ikuchi POV
Contrary to what the mage wanted, we headed to a lair on the Upper Floors that Sly told me about. That said… well… a good sleep was a different problem…
Finally safe, Ikuchi's thoughts kept racing. His itching scales didn't help either, which forced him to shift his position countless times as he grumbled. After a good 30 minutes of this, he gave up on sleep for tonight.
Standing up and leaving the secret passage silently, he sat down on a hill watching over the fog of the tenth Floor. 'So many monsters came. Why? Why hunt us with such reckless abandon? What made Akiri panic like that?'
He grumbled on his perch at the oddities in the battle, but then focused on what came after. The Mage named Myles had revealed something. 'What are we? A people oppressed by the Surface? Harvested? It felt like a dirty word. Like I was used against my will or something… …But what is a people…?'
Lost in thought he slowly grew drowsy, but no monster interrupted his rest. At least no feral ones. Fear had at some point sat down beside him and laid against his side offering him her silent support. Another few minutes passed, and another silent companion appeared.
Air moved as someone else landed on one of the trees in front of him. A few moments later the telltale tick of a watch finally captured his attention. '…Noo…. seriously…?' Opening his eyes again, Arles walked towards them.
The elder Almiraj Xenos calmly asked. "Tired child?"
His body screamed 'yes' but he wouldn't dare give the rabbit the satisfaction. "No, not after today. I saw something that won't let me rest…. Never before have such numbers hunted us! It makes no sense! …Unless there was something stirring them on…?"
Feeling a wing pat his head for comfort, Ikuchi sighed deeply. Arles took it as his cue to continue. "I might have been late to the party, but you know what caused this."
Ikuchi narrowed his eyes at the guide, then shook his head imagining her next words. 'It was Sly's fault for existing and daring to work with Xenos.'
Reading Ikuchi, she speaks softer. "You know, I see that I may have been wrong about him. If our history taught me anything, it's that nobody's ever going to be as stubborn as a dragon. I might as well tell you the story. Usually it's reserved for older Xenos, but you've matured quickly… Ray, you've heard parts of it, Fear, this will be your first time, so please pay attention."
Fear blinked. "Is that really alright? Isn't it too early for me?"
Ikuchi pushed his tiredness away with mental effort and asked. "What's a story gonna do now? Hasn't Gryuu told me enough stories and lessons from Xenos long passed already?
Arles chuckled mirthlessly. "Those stories and lessons were made tame fairytales for children; you were barely three months old when you heard them. Now a year old and with a more mature mind, you can finally accept some of our wisdom and understand our history. Fear, you mustn't fret. After today you are more than ready."
With a sad chuckle she begins the story of the oldest Xenos to the melodic tick of her watch.
"You know you aren't all that different from a younger Gryuu. You both are dragons birthed to conflict.
The only difference I see is the time. Gryuu is old, oh so very old at over 400 years, ancient even among your kind. He likes to call himself a fool, proud but oh so foolish.
He saw many Xenos rise and fall, but his would be the greatest of all. At first, he grew on his own on the very floor the Xenos later built their homes.
His life was filled with hardships and rarely had any peace for decades. He grew slowly, his power and control over plants rising ever so slightly. Back then he rarely interacted with other Xenos, most still fought for themselves. Very few are capable of speech on these higher floors.
He had many acquaintances, but none he could rely on. This might surprise you, but Gryuu only found a companion in a fierce warrior when he was almost a century old. An adventurer of all things. How life goes in circles.
The huntress in yellow challenged him, like a proud fool he fought her teeth and claw, and she matched his blows with raw strength and skill.
It was a tie, a humiliation unlike any he'd suffered in decades. The worst part was she congratulated him, 'for being the toughest bastard she had ever fought.' That was the point where everything changed. The point when his rise and consequent fall began.
Her title, for her name was known to few, was The Hand of the People. A fierce amazon brawler who feared none and whose heart accepted all, even an old fossil like Gryuu.
Through her new perspective he learnt of the surface, the eternal dream of the Xenos. Our Mother's blessing of wisdom gave us the desire to be free, but the Warden keeps us caged.
He didn't know at the time, since interactions between Xenos and spirits were sparse, but once he sought the surface, he found a great many foes stood in his path.
Together with the Hand of the People they paved their own way, overcoming all the Mother could throw at him this high up. This was the beginning of our enmity with the Warden. Its duty was unclear; however, one thing was certain. It tries to keep us locked up. From then on, the resistance Xenos faced increased, enhanced monsters and even irregulars following in their wake the farther they ascended from their birthplace…"
Arles stopped her story midway through. Ikuchi had succumbed to sleep, and Fear was draped over him in a similar state. Only Ray maintained her alertness.
"So, this is how the Xenos first came together." She noted.
Arles merely smiled. "Oh, I only know legends the elders taught me. Compared to them, I'm still young. Gryuu is the only relic of that ancient past."
Ray further inquired, "What happened to these elders? How could so many Xenos stronger than you fall? Nothing on these floors can touch you."
Shaking her tiny head, she looked at her watch and closed it with a clack. "The Warden is a terrifying foe. We shall continue this another time and include the fox spirit if he is so inclined."
Author's Note
I hope you all enjoyed another chapter, this time largely contributed by Happa. Perhaps you even spotted a slight difference in style between us? For me it's quite obvious, but that's easy to say. It's always a joy to add more depth to the past, and new legends. Though it's about time we returned to the main plot, this side arc of the last few chapters should have originally only been one or two chapters long. So much for staying on script.
Also, I wish all of you a good Christmas, I waited the extra day to release this chapter as a small present.