Chapter 22: Hail Weaver!
"You've really kicked the hornet's nest this time, Taylor," Hestia said with a sigh as she watched her tallest child take off her shirt in preparation for the Level Up ceremony.
It had only been yesterday that the 18th Floor had been assaulted by the Black Goliath and a monster Stampede, and the Hestia Familia (and friends) had only gotten back to Orario a couple hours ago, but already rumors about what had happened down below had reached the surface and spread to every corner of the city thanks to other adventuring parties who'd gone back sooner.
Ryuu, Lili, Welf, and the members of the Takemikazuchi Familia had all gone their separate ways after returning to Orario, and were likely contributing to the spread of information as well. Still, rumors seemed to be going around rather fast, considering the lack of mass media in the world. Everything had to be passed on by word of mouth.
"It shouldn't be that odd," Taylor protested. "There were a lot of other adventurers who contributed to the battle and our victory. And I wasn't the only one who gained a level up from that battle. Lili and Welf should be able to do so as well."
"Leaving aside the revelation that you can apparently gauge the levels of adventurers with scary accuracy and can tell when somebody has the potential to Level Up for a later freak out, I don't think you fully understand the sheer magnitude of what happened down on the 18th Floor," Hestia sternly informed her child. "Don't forget, you just beat Bell's record, and you've gone and helped defeat a monster that the Guild has estimated as being as strong as a Level Five. Probably more, given the regeneration it displayed and the shockwave attacks. Both of which a normal Goliath cannot do."
"People are going to be paying even more attention to me and the rest of us, aren't they?" Taylor asked with a sigh.
"Yes," Hestia said simply. "Now lie down and let me update your status."
Taylor complied, and felt the curious sensation of Hestia's blood falling upon her bare skin, followed by the sensation of her passenger metaphorically sitting up and taking notice of the change.
And there was a change, as the moment Taylor Leveled Up she felt the range of her swarm control ability outright double. Upon arriving in Orario and receiving her Falna, her power had let her detect and control insect life in a two-thousand-foot radius, more than a third of a mile. It had slowly crept up as time passed, increasing by a foot with every point in her Magic stat she gained.
At that very moment, she could now feel the minds of every insect within a 1.4 mile radius from her. She could feel the interior of the Blue Pharmacy, and sense that Naaza was sleeping on the job again after a hard night of potion brewing. She could detect the waitresses of the Hostess of Fertility preparing for the lunch rush, getting their ingredients ready. Oh, and the catgirl Anya had just dropped a plate and was trying to hide the pieces from Mama Mia.
'That will take some getting used to,' Taylor thought to herself with a grimace. On her back, Hestia stiffened before sighing heavily and rolling off of her.
"I'm finished," she said, sounding completely done with everything. When she handed Taylor her updated status, the parahuman could understand why.
TAYLOR HEBERT
LEVEL 1 2
POWER – A 888 I 0
ENDURANCE – SS 1055 I 0
DEXTERITY – S 996 I 0
AGILITY – A 844 I 0
MAGIC – SSS 1300 I 0
SKILLS
Queen of Escalation: Grants dominion over all invertebrates. Gain Excelia through dominated beings. Immunity to foreign mental effects, charms, and illusions. Limit Breaker.
God Slayer: wHaT iS A gOd To A nOnBeLieVeR? Consume the Essence of a god and usurp their Arcanum. Surpass all mortal limits. Bestow Shards onto the worthy.
Kheiron Excelsior: Boost the rate of growth for all who fall under your aegis.The results of training show sooner. Impart knowledge easier.
Giantslayer: Boost the damage to and Excelia from opponents larger than yourself.
SPELLS
Geas Immulatio: By sacrificing a part of yourself, seal away the corresponding aspect of another being. Costs Mind to maintain.
Incantation: I love you. I hate you. I will kill for you. I will die for you. Let my madness bind the world. Curse of Sacrifice!
DEVELOPMENTAL ABILITY
Abnormal Resistance (?)
Hunter (?)
Mage (?)
Mystery (?)
Tamer (?)
Weaver (?)
Taylor blinked as she looked at her stats. "They rose quite a bit," she noted. Last time she'd checked, her stats were only in the C range, save her Magic which had been A. And that new Skill… the implications were interesting. And worrying.
"You killed a lot of monsters with a bunch of other monsters," Hestia reminded her, and Taylor nodded, conceding the point.
Being able to gain Excelia from her swarm had always allowed the parahuman to grow stronger faster than a regular adventurer, but this was startling, and revealed just how much more powerful the monsters from the Lower Floors were, if they could grant this much Excelia from a relatively short fight. True, there'd been hundreds of them during the Stampede, but still.
"Any idea what Development Ability you want?" Hestia asked as Taylor continued to stare at the sheet of paper.
"Hunter," Taylor said instantly, and Hestia blinked.
"That was fast."
"I've been thinking about it since Bell's leveled up," Taylor admitted. "And while Mystery does intrigue me, and Weaver is an interesting one that synergizes well with my silk production, at least based on the records from the Guild I was able to see, Hunter simply synergizes more with my swarm. And since I can only obtain it at Level 2, well, I can wait till I level up again to get the others."
"Being able to gain more Excelia from monsters does seem like a good way to take advantage of your power," Hestia nodded slowly. "And the increased rate for Drop Items is good as well. Though I admit, I thought you might go for Tamer."
"I don't need it," Taylor said. "I already control monsters better than any Tamer possibly can. And…"
She trailed off, glancing at Hestia.
"It's okay, you're safe here," the tiny goddess promised her.
"I'm… I'm worried that if I take Tamer, my power will let me take over… other things," Taylor admitted.
Hestia winced, knowing exactly what she meant. Even after all this time, Hestia couldn't forget the blurry impressions of the battle against Scion she'd gleaned from her child's mind, and the way Taylor had been forced to achieve victory: by upgrading her own brain and usurping the free will of thousands of people to fight for her.
"That probably wouldn't happen," Hestia tried to assure her, but Taylor shook her head.
"I don't want to take that risk."
Hestia just nodded in understanding, and motioned for Taylor to lay back down on the bed. "Let's get your Development Ability sorted out, then."
A second round of blood-letting later, and Taylor had received an upgrade to her fighting style. She was curious to find out if Hunter had any other benefits for her swarm.
"Can you send Bell in?" Hestia asked, and Taylor nodded, snapping out of her thoughts. Taylor had been the first of the Familia to get her stats updated, and after the Goliath fight, the parahuman had a feeling the others would see their own stats rising significantly.
"Bell, you're up," Taylor said, walking out of the bedroom, and he nodded eagerly. Iris and Lucia also looked excited for their own turn, and Taylor could tell they were excited to try out their Shard-based Skills as well.
Leaving them to their own devices for now, the parahuman left the church, walking up to check on her swarm. They'd been doing well so far, and were glad to relax a bit after the frantic expedition down to the 18th Floor.
Taylor had done as she'd promised to herself, and brought Debbie the Dungeon Worm up to the surface with her. A yet unnamed Gun Libellula had also been added to her above ground swarm, the dragonfly monster easier for the Guild to accept and it added some much needed range to her combat options.
Eina had sighed darkly upon spotting the two new monsters Taylor had brought back with her, but Taylor had filled out the forms and paid the fees and after that there wasn't anything that could be done about her two newest additions.
'Admittedly, Debbie is quite a bit larger than the city is used to,' Taylor thought as she could feel the enormous monster resting underground. The city's sewers were quite expansive and spiderwebbed beneath the streets but there was still plenty of room for a Dungeon Worm to rest safely without being bothered.
In some places below the city, it was almost as if somebody had tried to create entire underground districts. And there were some rather deep cellars connected to numerous buildings. Taylor was already thinking up plans to use Debbie to excavate new dens and tunnels for her spider silk operations and to house the rest of her swarm.
A clicking sound drew Taylor's attention, distracting her, and she headed into Anne's den.
"Feeling alright, Anne?" Taylor asked, looking at her Killer Ant. She had been acting odd, becoming more irritable and digging deeper into her den, expanding it until it was five times larger than it'd previously been.
'In fact, she's been acting weird ever since she ate those blackened Magic Stones the Floor Boss left behind,' Taylor mused to herself. Like Chris, Anne's carapace had turned pitch black afterwards, a sign they had both mutated into a rare variant herself, but the Killer Ant's moodiness was something new and unique to her, and Taylor didn't understand it.
'Thankfully, my power still works and can keep her from lashing out,' Taylor thought as she watched Anne act like a dog. She would stand up, wander, circle in place for a bit, and then lie back down, only to do it all over again a few minutes later.
It was odd, being able to sense the Killer Ant's mind. Compared to her lesser kin in the Dungeon, Anne had burgeoning instincts that didn't revolve around butchering mortals. What said instincts were, Taylor wasn't sure, as they were brand-new to both Anne and herself, but comparing them to the regular ants she had control over…
'I better start preparing more food for Anne, and clearing out extra space around the place,' she thought.
Once she was certain Anne wouldn't cause problems, Taylor moved on to the expanding cave where her silk producing spiders were set up. They'd been working hard, and several new garments as well as a couple bolts of raw silk were in the process of being spun and woven. There was easily a million valis worth of silk here.
"Silk Dye Experiment 18… another failure," Taylor sighed as she examined a section of the cave being used to test whether it was possible to create colored silk by feeding the spiders different kinds of food.
The current experiment was seeing if sugar water laced with food coloring could produce colored silk. Right now, the spiders couldn't do that, though perhaps the problem was the kind of coloring she was incorporating.
'I should see about finding different kinds of plants that are naturally used for dyes, see if I can mix them in that way,' Taylor mused. 'Perhaps Naaza would have suggestions. She knows quite a bit about plants thanks to her alchemist training.'
Thinking about the Captain of the Miach Familia reminded Taylor she had scheduled a meeting with Shakti a few days ago, but the descent into the Dungeon had put that on hold. She commanded a few bugs inside the church to get ink, quill, and paper out to write a letter of apology and to reschedule.
"Miss Taylor!" Iris called out, her voice distant but still echoing through her insect-filled den.
"Yes?" she asked, forming a Bug Clone to speak with her. Iris jumped in shock and reacted by punching her fist through the 'head' before wincing.
"Oops," Iris muttered.
"No, don't apologize, you reacted quickly and with the proper response to somebody appearing suddenly behind you," Taylor replied. Through the eyes of her swarm, she could 'see' Lucia standing next to her friend, and both were holding sheets of paper.
"We'd like to show you our new stats," Lucia requested.
"I'll be there in a minute," Taylor promised, before dispersing her clone.
She'd already been walking out of the cave when she sent her clone, and got there quickly, giving a nod at the two Familia members.
"Where's Bell?" she asked. She'd sensed him leave earlier, and could detect him at the Guild, but she wanted to make sure.
"Lady Hestia sent him to Guild to cash in the Magic Stones and Drop Items we came back with," Iris informed Taylor. "Also, I believe Bell was planning on visiting Welf to drop off the Black Goliath Skin for processing into armor."
"And Hestia herself?"
"Um, she had her face buried in a pillow and was screaming into it last we checked," Lucia said with an awkward laugh.
"Sounds about right," Taylor said with a chuckle, taking a moment to check in on her with her bugs. Yup, she was definitely busy screaming to herself. She then looked at Level 1 adventurers. "Alright, show me what you've got."
"Here's my stats and new Skill!" Iris said, handing over her stat sheet for Taylor to examine.
IRIS BENNETT
LEVEL 1
POWER – I 39 I 82
ENDURANCE – I 44 I 99
DEXTERITY – I 20 I 35
AGILITY – I 16 I 30
MAGIC – I 0 I 0
SKILLS
Bronze Bull – Creates a bronze-colored aura around the body that doubles Power and Endurance for a while and emits heat. Drains stamina and Mind while active.
Taylor nodded, impressed. Iris' stats had jumped up significantly after surviving the Stampede, and from what the parahuman now knew, these numbers were quite respectable for a brand-new adventurer with less than a month under their belt.
'Bell and I are just anomalies when it comes to gaining Excelia,' Taylor thought to herself.
As for Iris' Skill, it was an interesting one. Seemingly a basic Brute package, that enhanced the user's strength and durability in exchange for growing tired faster, both physically and mentally.
However, this Bronze Bull Skill had hidden depths, for an adventurer could grow stronger in a way that was separate from that of the Shard, and so what would normally be a minor Parahuman ability had the potential to be a genuine threat in time.
'If Iris were to use her Skill right now, her Power stat would go up a whole rank, from I to H,' Taylor noted. 'And if Power and Endurance ever reaches D, C, or higher ranks, then when she uses her Skill she'd have stats comparable to a Level 2 while still being a Level 1.'
"Here's mine, Miss Taylor," Lucia said, shyly handing her stat sheet over next.
LUCIA RAMIREZ
LEVEL 1
POWER – I 22 I 47
ENDURANCE – I 15 I 39
DEXTERITY – I 40 I 88
AGILITY – I 47 I 96
MAGIC – I 0 I 0
SKILLS
Blitz Blink – Teleport short distances. When teleporting, inertia and momentum can be redirected as a burst of kinetic energy centered on the user. Costs Mind to use.
'Another impressive power,' Taylor noted. Teleportation was always a pain to fight, recalling the terror of Oni Lee. And it had some similarities to the Butcher's explosive teleportation ability, but in Lucia's case, her Skill worked by turning the energy of her own movement into power.
For instance, if she was standing completely still, when she teleported, nothing would happen. She'd appear at her target without fanfare. But if Lucia was running or falling when she activated her Skill, the teen would appear in an explosion of converted kinetic energy. She herself would come to an abrupt stop, which would likely be jarring, and create a localized blast centered on herself. The faster she'd be going, the bigger and more powerful the explosion around her.
'Now we have to see if her teleportation relies on line of sight, or if she can go anywhere without having to see where she's going,' Taylor thought to herself. She turned to the duo, and the smile on her face caused them to recoil.
"Please, no training!" Lucia begged.
"I just want to check and make sure you both can handle your new powers," Taylor said. "It won't take long."
Both of them groaned a little but complied as they moved to the training yard.
Iris' Skill was not, as Taylor first thought, a Brute power, but closer to a Breaker state. When she activated her Skill, her body was wreathed in bronze-colored flames that moved fluidly and did not harm Iris or her equipment. The amount of heat the fire produced was much lower than what even a candle was capable of, but Taylor had a feeling Iris could adjust the temperature at will with some training.
As for the enhanced Power and Endurance stats her aura granted her, Iris showed off her improved strength and stamina, lifting weights and doing some light exercises. First without the aura, then with the Skill active. It was indeed a solid doubling of raw strength, though her stamina was halved as Bronze Bulldrained her faster in that mode.
Iris could also only keep her Skill active for a minute before running out of Mind, but could flick it on and off at will, allowing her to wield it in short bursts to provide devastating single strikes and tank hits her normal I ranked Endurance couldn't handle.
Testing Lucia's Skill revealed that her teleportation was not affected by line of sight, but did have a hard limit of a hundred feet. Regarding the kinetic energy redistribution aspect, it did not generate a noticeable amount of force while standing still, though the bugs on her body could tell there was a minor amount being generated. A slow, measured walking pace also didn't do much more than a puff of air that ruffled clothes and hair.
It was when Lucia sped up to a brisk walk or job that it began to be noticeable, creating a blast strong enough to bowl Iris over. And when she used her Falna enhanced speed and went all out? It could break wood and stone with the force created. Lucia was also limited to ten teleports a day before running out of Mind.
'Hmm, it's interesting that their powers seem to be using up Mind, where Bell and I don't,' Taylor noted as she went over everything she'd seen, that one tidbit standing out the most. 'Did granting the Skills in the Dungeon cause this, or has my passenger decided to change their power requirements for some reason?'
There was also the slim chance hers and Bell's Skills did in fact drain Mind, but they replenished it faster than what was actually used at a time. In fact, now that she thought about it, these Skills seemed more like Spells.
'Skills are generally passive abilities, while Spells are active,' Taylor thought to herself. 'There are some differences but I think that's safe to assume our Skills will draw even more attention.'
"I'm impressed," Taylor said when they were done. She let the two girls recover, from Mind Down, which was an interesting thing to see. They basically passed out where they stood if they tried to use their Skills, which was incredibly dangerous in the Dungeon.
"So, we did good?" Lucia asked.
"Of course," Taylor nodded. "Drink a Mind potion before you go home."
"That's it for the day, then?" Iris queried.
"We will distribute the spoils from our expedition tomorrow," Taylor assured her. "We'll also discuss new equipment from Welf."
"Can't wait," the cowgirl said with a smile, shooting a thumbs up.
The two girls then limped away, off to return home and no doubt assure their families and friends they'd returned safely.
Taylor felt a pang at that thought, and after a moment of simply standing in the field she walked back into the church.
"Hestia?" she called out.
"Yes, Taylor?" the twin-tailed girl asked, looking up from her spot on the couch. She'd stopped screaming and was now going over the tax paperwork that inevitably came with a Level Up.
"Do you… would you like to cook dinner with me?" Taylor asked, and Hestia blinked but then beamed happily.
"I'd love to!" she declared, jumping up happily.
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'When are they going to call me in?' Hestia wondered, tapping her foot impatiently. She was currently alone as she waited for the doors to the Denatus chamber to open, and the sound of her tapping echoed loudly.
Just yesterday she'd been celebrating the safe return of her beloved Familia monthly, but now she was forced deal with the bane of all existence: divine politics. The Denatus had been moved up by a whole two weeks. Oh, the other gods could claim that it was to fit their schedules better, or some other excuse, but Hestia knew it was because of Taylor's ridiculously fast Level Up and the utterly bizarre Stampede that'd occurred down on the 18th Floor. The deities of Orario wanted to make a spectacle of the naming ceremony, and there was nothing the Goddess of the Hearth could do about it.
'The fact I only received the letter this morning informing me of the change also tells me that Hermes is in on it as well,' Hestia thought to herself with a grumble. The shifty Messenger God had been acting weird ever since everyone had returned from the 18th Floor. 'If I didn't know better, I'd assume he'd been down there when Taylor, Bell, and the others fought the Monster Rex!'
But that was ridiculous! Right? Sure, Taylor claimed that Asfi, the Captain of Hermes' Familia, had been down there, and had been following them since they'd begun their descent into the Dungeon on the rescue expedition, and that one the items they'd claimed as spoils from a fight with another bunch of adventurers had been a magical item only somebody with the Mystery Development Ability like which Asfi had could use… actually, laid out like that, Hermes was incredibly suspicious!
Her thoughts were interrupted when the torches ignited and the doors swung open, allowing Hestia to perform the 'walk of shame' as some gods had dubbed it. She held her held high as she entered, and ignored the looks sent her way as she took her seat.
The meeting went by as normal, until it was time for the Naming Ceremony.
"Well, I think we've just about wrapped up everything that needs to be wrapped up, right?" Aphrodite said, smiling at the other gods and goddess, acting as the speaker for the Denatus that month. "All that's left is the fun stuff!"
"Here comes the part we've all been waiting for!" Loki said cheerfully, slapping the table as she smiled at Hestia. It was not a friendly smile, and was full of teeth.
Hestia swallowed nervously as she looked around at the other gods and goddesses of Orario, and took note of which ones seemed the most excited. That was always a good indicator for seeing how crazy and silly the aliases could get. And to her horror, they all had that look. Even the deities who usually tended towards calm and reasonable or just didn't care. When even Ganesha and Miach looked eager for the naming ceremony to begin, you knew it was going to be bad!
"That's right! It's time to give our newest Level 2 an alias!" the short and blonde Goddess of Love cheered
"Let's start off with something… simple," Hephestus began. "I nominate the name 'Bug Girl' for our new record holder!"
Hestia winced in betrayal as her friend threw her under the bus. 'Is she still holding a grudge over Welf being in danger against the Black Goliath?!'
But she couldn't really blame the Goddess of Smiths. Taylor had just beaten Bell's record for fastest Level Up in history by a whole two weeks! It was hard to believe that Taylor had only been in Orario for one and a half months! And she'd been practically comatose for almost a week due to her injuries!
"Creepy Crawly Killer!" Dionysus suggested.
"Wild Haired Seamstress!" Dian Cecht offered with a sneer.
"Stickbug! Because of how tall she is!" Goibniu called out.
"Ooo, that's a good one! But what about Ebony Idol?" Ishtar purred.
"The Skittering Maiden has my vote," Miach said calmly, ignoring the way Hestia shot him a glare.
"Swarm of War," Takemikazuchi offered plainly, also deftly ignoring it when Hestia switched her glare to him.
"Hiruko," Freya said, throwing her idea out there.
Hermes coughed loudly to get everyone's attention, and they all turned to him.
"Do you have a name to suggest, Hermes?" Loki asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Ah, that's not it," Hermes said, giving an awkward smile. "Thing is… Miss Hebert's alias has already been decided."
"What?! By who?!" Apollo demanded, his incredulity echoed by the rest of the assembles gods and goddesses.
"Ouranos," Hermes said bluntly, causing everyone to shut up and stare at him.
It was not often that the Dungeon's Anchor ever spoke up about naming an adventurer. In fact, most couldn't remember the last time he'd done so. Hermes did. It'd been two hundred years ago, and despite everything, the Messenger God dearly hoped this heroine would have a far better fate than the previous soul Ouranos had taken a personal interest in.
"What has Ouranos named Taylor Hebert?" Ganesha asked, stunning everyone by how solemn he sounded. And by the fact he didn't mention his name even once!
"The Level 2 adventurer Taylor Hebert is hence forth known as 'Weaver,'" Hermes revealed. "The paperwork for this has already been filed by the Guild, and will be publicly known when the Denatus officially ends."
That made more than a few individuals scowl. Not just because Ouranos had gone over their heads to do this, but because he'd done so in a way none of them could contest or oppose. He rarely flexed his powers over the Guild, and to do so now? It made a lot of deities angry. And curious.
Hestia was relieved that her beloved child wouldn't get called something too ridiculous, but at the same time she wished Ouranos hadn't done so.
'She's already going to get a lot of attention from other Familias, but Ouranos just had to set everyone's expectations ablaze by revealing he was paying attention to her!' Hestia thought to herself, barely resisting the urge to whine.
"Why Weaver?" the goddess Hebe asked, which was a question the rest of them wanted to know.
"It came to Ouranos in a dream," Hermes said with a shrug. That was the excuse the Sky God had given him, at least.
Eventually the Denatus ended, and Hestia couldn't be happier. It was time to get back home so she could run damage control!
"Hestia, tell Weaver I want to have a talk with her as soon as possible," Hephestus said in a low voice as she passed by the Goddess of the Hearth, who winced a little at the foreboding tone of voice she'd used.
Still, she nodded at her friend's request. Hephestus wouldn't bully Taylor, and probably just wanted to discuss her mysterious knife and equipment.
'I hope things calm down soon,' Hestia thought to herself with a sigh as she made her way out. This was way too much excitement for her poor heart!
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Author's Note: Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays! Thank you for reading!