Chapter 5

With the things that happened last night—that shit stain of a party not included—it was understandable how someone might not want to get out of bed.

I wasn't that someone.

When I came down, a few looks came my way with weak greetings, and no one's voice rose above the rest. The messy and noisy breakfast time was instead all quiet and awkward and the few murmurs that wafted about just as quickly died out. People couldn't look each other in the eye, and more than a few shuddered every now and then. More surprising was how for once, Bete didn't look at all out of place.

Loki broke the silence.

"It sure is amazing to be a god!" she screamed. Everyone else clutched their heads, some covering their ears, and one really jacked up Rakta ran for the toilets. "You all suck!" She started laughing—then her eyes met mine. She scoffed. "Tsk, you and your weak ass taste buds."

Everyone there looked at me. This time with more energy than before. "Not my fault I don't like the taste of beer."

I was suddenly face to face with a red-eyed Tiona. She'd taken the liberty to grab me by the cheeks. "You're sober," she said matter-of-factly.

"I am."

Her grip tightened as she pulled me in even closer. "How much do you remember?"

I smiled. "Everything."

The scene after that was like an image of hell as the rest wailed and beat at the tables, some going so far as to scream in silent horror. It was a lie though because I was pretty sure I got a few kilograms of dwarf fly at me with a speed that would never be safe in an indoor area. At least until then, everything was crystal clear.

"You saw nothing," Tione said with a smile. "Right?" Her grip tightened some more, her fingers brushing against my teeth through my cheeks.

As much as I enjoyed beating a dead horse, and it was more fun to insult a half-dead one that couldn't fight back. She was neither. "Yes ma'am."

"Ah," Loki said, "spoil my fun."

"You don't get a say in this!" Tione said. She glared at the others. "No one saw anything, right?" A bunch of nods came her way. "Good," she said with a smile. She still looked like shit though. Tione grabbed a plate of food, dragging Tiona behind her who was curled up in a ball and writhing on the ground.

"I guess a Falna doesn't guarantee immunity to hangovers?"

"Nope," Loki said, "a Falna doesn't make you invincible against illnesses either. But it does make you harder to kill, so go figure."

"Healing factor?"

"Try conceptually instead."

"Nasty." I couldn't even begin to fathom how horrible it was to be kept alive by the simple virtue of being.

Loki clapped me on the shoulder. "Come by the executive room first before you go killing stuff again."

"Sure," I said. It's not like things could get any worse than they already were right? And yes, tempting fate like this usually made it step up to the plate most times, but I figured whatever bad thing was gonna happen would happen anyway, might as well try triggering it now while the stakes still weren't as high. "Do I need anything?"

"An open mind." Loki shifted from foot to foot. "And maybe some snacks, we might take a while."

I shrugged. "Alright then." I stretched an arm out. "Breakfast then, m'lady?"

She hooked her arm around mine. "Did anyone tell you you're not much fun when you're freaking out?"

I tilted my head at her. "Bruh."

Loki pinched my nose. "Food time."

We all ate in silence. And it was to no surprise that Lefiya came down without a peep and without so much as anyone commenting on the debaucheries that occurred—or followed after. Aiz came after her, and, it was only prudent to state that a blank wall was pure simply by virtue of a lack of blemish as opposed to a conscious conviction against the lesser humors.

Really, how often did these things happen anyway?

Gareth came down with Finn and Riveria, the three of them looking fresh as a trio of daisies. A few grumbles and glares went their way, but they took it all in stride and sat as if last night wasn't something everyone else didn't want to remember. Finn and Riveria sat with the more somber members near the end of the long table, at the same end as Aiz—who was as far as she possibly could from Lefiya.

And Lefiya, well, she was face down on her porridge.

The dwarf sat next to me. "Sorry about last night Tom," he said with a boisterous laugh. "Mia's bar stools come extra spinny, always a blast to get on it while buzzed."

"I don't mind, I guess." I mean sure I blacked out, but no blood no foul right? At least I didn't see anything incriminating on my booze covered body this morning. There was a small heart attack when I found myself shirtless, but at least my ass didn't hurt. That was already a win right there.

"Good sport, eh?" He clapped me on the back.

"What did I tell ya?" Loki slung an arm over Gareth.

"That he could've been some demon from beyond the veil?" Gareth winked at me. "Or so he's been chanting."

Loki looked at me. "Eh, what can I say? I'm only mortal right now."

"And you were the one coming onto said demon."

"I've humped worse."

"Yeah, I've read."

Gareth looked at the two of us with undisguised displeasure. "It's too early for this."

He was about to move his food but Loki wouldn't let him. "Shh, just let it happen Gareth."

Revulsion would've been the only word to describe the dwarf's face.

"We'll behave." I raised my hand and crossed my heart. "On a god and her minion's honor."

He gave us a lopsided frown. I shrugged and pointed at the elf with a nod. "Gareth, uhh, shouldn't we, I don't know, cheer the pervert up?"

Lefiya sank further into her food.

"You just delivered the final blow!" Tione said from the other table.

"Heh, I know."

Gareth shook his head.

We finished up at more or less the same time and I brought up some pastries from the kitchen like Loki suggested. After everything they'd revealed so far, what else was there to expect? Oh, hey Thomas did you know you actually had demon blood in you? Whoop-de-doo. Yeah, I doubt anything's still going to surprise me by this point. I entered the room to see the same scene as last night but without the pressure of the three level sixes bearing down on me.

"You wanted to see me?" I set down the bagels and Danish toasts.

Riveria picked the one with the strawberries I was saving for myself.

"Yeah," Loki said. "Finn, just give him the bare details, he'll ask for more if he needs it."

She tossed something over and I caught it. It was a large magic crystal that was about a third of the infant dragon's and was hefty in my fist. It was a lustrous orange versus the subtle sheen of purple I usually got. "Lemme guess, it's not supposed to look like this?"

"Yes," Finn said, producing another one. "That stone came from the new type of monsters we fought in the fiftieth floor. They were large green caterpillar like things that spat acid that could melt through adamantite." He held up the stone. "And this, we got from the monsters Bete destroyed in the sewers yesterday during the Monster Feria."

Something big enough to concern Finn just passed me by. "Funny I didn't hear about that last night."

"What do you think the party was for?" Loki asked.

"To distract everyone from me possibly being a demon?"

"The world doesn't revolve around you Tom," Loki said, "it was to distract the others."

"Right." I turned the stone over and looked into it. It was opaque just like the other stones I got but there was a sort of sheen from within that I couldn't quite put a finger on. Like there was a something there and not there. But in terms of simple relation, two different monsters found with similar stoned from two very different locations, it couldn't have been coincidence. "It doesn't take a genius to know those two events are connected, but remind me again how many times there've been new species before in the dungeon?"

"Never," Riveria said. "The monsters we've been vanquishing in the dungeon have not changed over the millennia, and they've never changed shape either." She met my eyes.

"But?"

"But there have been deviants before," Gareth added. "Something akin to the likes of larger variants or differently colored ones who turn out stronger."

"And these deviants come from the same floor?"

Riveria nodded.

"And now you think those caterpillars came from a much deeper floor?"

"Yes," Finn said.

"How many times have you been to the fiftieth floor before? Are there any written accounts of the monsters that can be found there? Actually, has anyone else reached the fiftieth before besides you?"

"We've been there countless times already," Finn said. "Give or take about thirty or so times already." He took out a small book from his drawer. "This is a copy of the Zeus Familia memoirs. It details the sights and monsters that can be found from the first floor to the sixty-seventh floors. Other familias that have reached that place include the Hera and Freya familias."

"Oh, is there no Poseidon or Hades familia? Odin? Thor? Uhh, there was a Ganesha I think, so Vishnu? Brahma?"

Finn hummed. "I see you have some knowledge of the gods."

"I've read up on a few of them before."

"The Poseidon familia is also gone now," Finn said, "they were one of the familias who helped end the age of monsters. About the others, Loki?"

"Thor hasn't come down yet, he was too busy twiddling his thumbs so now he's stuck back in heaven. Vishnu and Brahma, they didn't have any plans of leaving either." She gave me a pat on the head. "And there are more gods than you think, Tom. I can't account for all of them."

"Right, so the memoirs stop there because they already died out?"

"Bingo," Loki said.

Gareth's brow twitched.

"I've also noticed the monsters don't have reproductive organs. I don't think they're able to reproduce and produce new monsters different from them."

"Evolution you mean?" Loki said. I nodded. "No, if anything, the memoirs of before prove as much, and even if there was a possibility of evolution, then we should've already seen evidence of it."

Gareth shook his head. "At least all that butchering you've been doing had a purpose to it."

"Of course. I wasn't just disemboweling everything for the heck of it."

"Really?" Finn asked with a frown. He passed Gareth a few large coins.

Gareth smiled rightly at him. "Told you so."

Finn sighed. "For once, I swear, I'll win betting on you doing something stupid just for the heck of it."

I pointed at Loki.

"That doesn't count," Finn said.

"Rude," Loki said. She pinched my ass.

Riveria cleared her throat. "The monsters Bete fought were these large carnivorous plants that reacted to magic."

"Yeah, that's so not suspicious at all."

"The day after we fought the caterpillars was also the day we found you, Thomas," Finn said.

"That explains a lot." It really did. So much. Heck, I'm amazed they didn't lock me up somewhere to interrogate me. I was thankful they didn't though. "Thanks for not dissecting me."

"Loki wanted to," Finn said.

"Color me surprised?" Loki said with a wink.

"Our current theory is there's a tamer controlling these monsters." Finn laid the magic stone against his desk. "What's more concerning is those plant monsters Bete swore were on par with a level four adventurer."

"Taming makes sense. Who are your suspects?"

"The Ganesha familia is the easiest, but that idiot loves the lower world's children, so I doubt he'd condone something like this." Loki took the stone from my hand and let the sun shine on it. "Another would be the Guild."

"Nah, that doesn't make sense one bit."

"You barely know anything about them," Gareth said.

"True, but I trust enough in them to want to keep their business model alive. The Guild regulates the magic stone industry and maintains their monopoly, killing adventurers by bringing up over levelled monsters from the deep floors would necessitate: one, they harmed their own productivity; two, them having the means to do so either via magic or some really powerful adventurers; and three, that they opened themselves to retribution in case they were found out. The second point may be possible assuming teleportation magic exists." I looked at Loki. "Has there been a precedent for an adventurer before gaining such a powerful magic?"

"None that I know of," Loki said. "Riveria? Could you try having the mages check that angle?"

Riveria nodded. "I'll have them look." She smiled at me.

"I got transported here is already a pretty good precedent." I looked at Gareth. "The Guild is already making a killing with their monopoly, and shaking that up after how many centuries of serving faithfully is too out of character. Unless there's been a recent change in management?"

"No," Loki said, "Ouranos has been keeping the guild running for as long as it stood. I think we can rule the Guild out now."

"Reasonable," Finn said.

"There's also the familia with the only level seven." I shuddered just thinking about Freya and Ottar again. "I'm not willing to bet my ass on it, but if anyone had the capability to man handle those monsters, then it'd be that crazy lady and the king."

Loki shook her head. "Freya's knocked in the head, but she won't murder indiscriminately. She'd murder someone for crossing her or even just mildly insulting her, but she won't do it on a whim just to see people suffer."

"Is that your sisterly instincts?" I raised a brow at her.

"Eons of dealing with heaven's number one spoiled brat."

"Fair enough." I scratched my chin, the stubble catching against my nails. "What about powers outside Orario? Countries? Companies? Anyone else with a bad enough interest in the Dungeon and whoever has the means to raise a level five."

The four of them looked among each other.

"Rakia?" Gareth asked.

They all laughed before Finn said a flat, "No."

"There's Kali and her extreme methods?" Riveria said.

"People don't level up as much fighting other people. The Dungeon is still the most efficient way to level up," Finn said. He bit his right thumb.

"If you ask me, a familia or other entity bringing up level four monsters to the surface to terrorize is not efficient at all. From what you've told me about the sewer flowers, whoever planted that probably wanted to slowly build up their numbers over time then unleash them on the populace. At least, that's the best I can think of to really drive the point home. A visible massacre people would be helpless of stopping from occurring would break the back of any city."

Riveria frowned. "You're not wrong."

Finn raised an eyebrow at Loki. "You think the Eviluz might be involved again?"

"You actually had a terrorist group?"

Loki nodded. "As close to one yeah, they pulled off a massacre six years ago in the Dungeon. Straight up killed a lot of people and left a nasty memory in Orario's long history." She gestured at Finn. "And you're looking at the guy who stopped them."

"Did it add to your stats?"

Finn didn't hide his disappointment. "People are not just numbers."

"I didn't mean that." I raised a brow at him. "Did you?"

"I don't want to answer that question."

"Alright but think it over later after I've left. I don't plan on killing people, but if a tamed monster who kills an adventurer is able to remotely farm exilia, then there might be some merit to a familia setting these monsters up somewhere to farm kills somewhere hidden."

Riveria answered for the two of them. "Alright."

"Anything else you might wanna tell me?"

Loki looked the three of them in the eyes before nodding at Finn.

"There was one more new species of monster we fought at the fiftieth floor," Finn said. It was this humanoid thing that released explosive powder from its body. It was what forced us to come back to the surface."

That wasn't much to go by. "Sorry, that's too little information to draw anything from, if any, we can at least assume there's a connection between that large monster, the caterpillars, and the plants." I breathed in. "If anything, I bet there's something or someone deep down in the Dungeon below that's begun to act. My coming here might be part of why I was Fated or something, so I can't help but fixate on how timely it all is."

"Reasonable," Loki said. "Finn, make sure to have everyone in the familia on the lookout."

"Also, has it ever occurred to anyone that the Dungeon might have an actual intelligent consciousness?"

"The Dungeon spawns monsters accordingly to the mood," Loki said. "Everyone knows its intelligent."

"But as a person?"

"It's not impossible."

"You're a god."

"Just gods. We're not fully omniscient."

"Dang, that would've been useful." A moment of silence passed. "Also, Loki, I remember you saying gods can't use your godly powers here. Are there any exceptions to that?"

Loki rubbed her chin. "What are you getting at?"

"That there's also the possibility of a god or some demon interfering within the Dungeon. If there was some way for them to use their powers then it could probably explain a few things. I doubt that terrorist group you spoke of earlier didn't have a god behind them."

"That's reasonable," Loki said. "But us gods can feel it when others use their Arcanum."

"Is that everywhere? Like, even if they used it inside the Dungeon then all you gods would know who used it?"

"That's right."

"But is that for a fact, or is that just what you believe to be true so far?"

"Divinity is not hampered by any physical or magical means, Tom. Divinity simply is."

I frowned. "And what of beings other than gods?"

"No such thing," Loki said.

"I see, then maybe at least we could pay some attention to the Freya familia regardless? Having those guys ready for an attack would be nice if at least to help reinforce us. And if the king's on the lookout—assuming they meant us no harm—then the strongest man in Orario would be a really nice boost to our forces."

"Already considering the worst, Tom?" She smiled. "That's fine. I was planning on meeting up with her later anyway. She might be able to shed some more light on who else she suspects might be behind this."

I looked around. "We good then?"

Finn looked to Riveria, she nodded at Gareth, who stroked his beard. "Yes," Loki said, "we good."

"Good." I placed my hands on my hips. "Yep, still not surprised."

#

Gareth and I planned to head to the Dungeon first thing after the meeting, but we had a small errand to run before that together with Finn.

We walked with Aiz, Tiona, Tione, and Lefiya a bit of the way out. They were on their way to the Goibniu familia workshop, since Aiz and Tiona were getting their weapons back from repair, while Tione was to claim her newly remade ones. Aiz was only too happy to get her flimsy ass sword back—which was apparently unbreakable because of that Durandal thing. It was also nice how the four had somehow already bounced back from the shit they got themselves into last night and were now talking normally, though Aiz and Tiona weren't looking forward to their coming debts.

"Ah, they're all going to scream at me again," Tiona said without gusto.

"Aren't you used to it by now?" Her sister asked.

"I broke the sword they lent me," Aiz said.

"How much did that cost?"

"I'm afraid to ask," Aiz said.

"It's alright Aiz, we'll pay it back in no time," Lefiya said.

"That just means we'll need to do a quick raid for some money," Finn said.

"Can I come?"

"You're asking to come with a group of level fives to go to some floor Loki knows how deep," Gareth said, shaking his head.

"It's gonna happen sooner or later anyway, right?"

"Umm," Lefiya said, "that's err…" She looked to the twins. "Help?"

"Thomas," Tiona said. She had a look to her that made me stand on attention. "You'll just get in the way, we'll need to constantly watch out for you down there. And we can't afford to do that and also do what we plan to."

She had a very good point. "I understand."

"That's right Thomas, we should… did you just agree?"

"What she said made a lot of sense."

"And the things I say don't?!"

"There's a difference of wanting to listen to a pretty lady and having to with a grumpy old man."

"Oh you." Tiona had on a bashful smile. She punched me on the shoulder—and I was thrown off the paved street.

I crashed into a little girl holding up a huge ass bag, and Finn was the first one there to help her up. The huge thing behind her barely made him tilt, but her little legs seemed to wobble before standing firm when her feet touched the ground. He held her hand gently while I was left to nurse my possibly broken arm still seated on the ground.

"I'm really sorry about my friends," Finn said to the girl with an angelic smile.

She was a young thing that couldn't have been older than twelve—but that chest of hers, suffice to say, made me feel really awkward after I noticed. I stood up with some help from an apologetic Tiona.

"Oh, a parrum," Lefiya said from behind a seething Tione.

That explained the too mature look then. "Is she alright?" I was the one who got hit though, but I was also the one wearing the deep floor armor.

The girl brushed her hooded self off, before bowing over and over again once she got a good look at Finn. "It was Lili's fault for hitting the great adventurer, please forgive her."

Finn's smile disappeared.

"Who's Lili and why are you apologizing for her?" I asked the girl.

The girl jolted, before bowing my way another few times for good measure. "Lili was the one who hit the great adventurer."

Oh. Weird, to speak in the third, but everyone has their kink. "I was the one who ended up hitting you though."

"Ah." She shook her head and bowed again. "Lili is very sorry to have dirtied your garbs." She bowed another, her bag bobbing up and down behind her. "Please great adventurers, please forgive Lili since she can't compensate you for your losses."

There was something in the way her eyes buzzed, as if she couldn't focus on looking at me as we spoke. It was an unnatural feeling to talk to someone who wasn't looking at you even though her expression said so. "It's really alright, if any, I and that brute there are the ones who should apologize." I pointed at Tiona, she stuck out her tongue.

Finn laid a hand on her shoulder. "Raise your head," he said with a commanding tone.

The girl, Lili, did as told as if lightning struck her back. "S-sorry!"

"Don't apologize," Finn said. His eyes lost their mirth, replaced instead with something deeper.

People were starting to look at us, but a timely glare from Tione had them all scurrying back to their daily lives.

"Uh, Finn, please don't trouble her any—"

"Shut it."

"Yessir."

"You," he said to Lili. "What's your name?"

"Please mister advent—"

"I asked you a question."

"L-liliruca Arde, sir." Her shoulders were starting to heave, her breath catching in short puffs. Her comically large bag transmitted all of the motions of her tiny frame against the absurd load. It looked a lot like panic.

"Lili," he said, "which familia do you belong to?"

"S-soma, s-sir."

"Ah," Finn said, "them." He shook his head.

I guess that meant bad blood.

"You there." Finn pointed at the man in the red jacket and a pony tail, he'd been hanging around our group since I ran into Lili and hadn't left since. He also kept glancing our way, but I guess I wasn't the only one who noticed. He had a sword strapped to his back and nothing else on his person. His coat also hung loose against his body. Yeah, those were death flags right there. You shouldn't mount a one-handed sword on your back just to look cool, and clothes that could catch somewhere were just accidents waiting to happen.

Granted I too had a sword behind my back, but that was a great sword I could take liberty with taking off since I had easier to unhook weapons at my sides.

"Was she your supporter?" Finn asked.

"Yes," pony tail said. He wasn't as good at hiding his surprise as he figured. "We were on our way down to the dungeon."

"We'll be borrowing her for a while," Finn said. His tone wouldn't take no for an answer. "We'll compensate you for your losses." He turned to me. "I know you're keeping some coins on your belt, give it all to him."

Take my emergency stash why don't cha, but fine, if Finn was asking for something, then he'd get it. It's not like I was spending much anyway. "Is thirty-thousand Varis enough?"

"D-don't insult me!" pony tail said.

"You want more?" Finn said. He produced a small bag himself. "Here's another fifty."

Pony tail's indignation I could hear through his teeth, and the poor girl Lili was like a shaken leaf in the middle of a hurricane. Finn took my pouch and poured it into his, he then tossed this to pony tail.

The guy's smile was unmistakable despite the supposed insult he took. He went away richer by like two days' worth of honest to goodness harv—I mean hunting.

"P-please don't hurt Lili."

"You're coming with us," Finn said. "Gareth, change of plans, I'm coming down with you and Thomas later with our new friend. Tione, I entrust you with letting Riveria know later."

"Yes captain!"

"Thomas," he said.

"Yeah?"

"She'll be your supporter later, Gareth and I will be standing guard. We'll be heading to the seventeenth floor."

"You sure?" Gareth asked him.

"We'll take you to see what you've been asking for all this time."

"Please," Lili said, a tear rolling down her cheek. "Please don't kill Lili."

"You can return Thomas's money to him first." He glared at her.

"Eh?"

Lili produced the purse I kept in my jacket pocket and passed it to me. I checked my person for it and didn't find the piece. "Please take it back. Lili won't do it anymore, she promises."

"Yes," Finn said, "Lili won't be doing this from now on. Now then, you'll be coming with us to earn your own money."

"P-please just let me go…"

"No. We're going there so you can buy your freedom." Finn smiled at her. "We're also going down there to send a message, and if it doesn't catch, then we'll just abduct you for ourselves."

"Err, Finn, that's kinda sinister."

He shrugged. "I know what I'm doing."

I looked at the girl and she looked like a cornered coyote ready to bite its leg off. "She doesn't look too well."

"Please don't say such cruel jokes to Lili. Lili is only weak, and not worth your time, Lili will work hard to pay back the money she tried to steal so just please let Lili go already." She cowered back as if trying to hide inside the folds of her gigantic bag.

"Rejoice, Lili," Finn said, "we'll earn you your freedom yet."

"That's not funny," Lili said with tears in her eyes.

"Gareth," Finn said, "you mind indulging me?"

"I've stuck with you through worse," Gareth said.

Lili sank to her knees. Aiz and the others were now keeping the curious crowds from staying too long, their very presence there preventing anyone from speaking out. It was a stereotypical show of power and the people were helpless to stop it.

"Thomas, I need you to talk to Loki for me." The light in Finn's eyes said nothing of guilt or hesitation.

What we were doing felt wrong, but despite that I felt like I had to help him anyway. Charisma? "Ok."

Hey Loki, Finn wanted something.

I figured as much. Congratulations Thomas, looks like you're a more positive influence than you thought.

I caused this strange fit of violence?

It's not necessarily violent—not yet at least.

What the hell is Finn planning?

Weren't you supposed to be the one to tell me?

"She's listening, Finn. I'll relay your words as you speak, and I'll speak for her."

Finn nodded. "I want to get her away from Soma."

"Why?"

"I've been twiddling my thumbs for too long, it's time to make a difference myself."

"Oh, pray tell what caused the change of heart?"

"A certain idiot who's just trying to get home."

"I'm right here you know?"

"Weren't you supposed to be an oracle right now?" Gareth said.

"Focus, Thomas," Finn said. He pinched his nose.

"Umm, shouldn't Lili get a say with what happens to herself?"

"Yeah," Finn said, "you're supposed to say, thank you Finn."

#

We separated from Aiz and the others half-way down the street to Babel, and after that it was onward to Tsubaki's place. The crowds earlier broke up as soon as we left though a few murmurs remained. It was a strange feeling to be walking with a compliant… abductee?

Finn, Gareth, Lili, and I walked in a line.

"Thomas," Finn said, "you better prepare yourself, we're not leaving until we get a hundred thousand, and if we're lucky, the infant dragon might be there again."

"I don't know how you got Gareth and Loki to go with your suggestion, but okay, I'll play ball."

"Why would you play with…"

"Just don't mind that last thing I said. I'll cooperate."

There there, Tom.

"So Lili," I asked the girl.

She looked back at me, then the ground. Shook her head. Looked at Finn, and for a moment looked more lost than I was when I first ended up here. "Lili is still not sure what's happening."

"Finn here apparently wants you to buy your freedom from your god and wants you to join our familia instead."

"T-the Loki familia?! B-but Lili is just a—"

"Stop that," Finn said. "You are not just. You are a parrum, and you will from now on be a part of Loki's familia one way or another."

She kept mum after that.

We reached Tsubaki's place. I knocked on the door. Something exploded. Out the door came Tsubaki. One eye met two.

"How are you already walking?" she said.

"I wasn't armed to the teeth for nothing."

She looked at me real close. "Something changed."

"I leveled up."

She flicked me on the forehead. "Nice try, Tom."

I rubbed at the sore spot. Damn she hit hard. "You could try holding back a bit you know."

"A level two wouldn't have complained."

"Pretty sure three levels above is still substantial."

She waived a hand dismissively. "If you came for your new great sword, though I don't know if I could still call it that, you're in luck."

"That's nice." I gestured at Finn. "But we actually came for something else."

"Aye," Gareth said. "We speak today for the familia."

"Hoh-hoh!" Tsubaki slapped her knee. "Now I'm fired up!" Her excitement was short-lived. She looked at me. "Please tell me this isn't for him."

Gareth scratched his head. "It isn't for him. Our new order is one for all the executives."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Good." Tsubaki looked over my shoulder. "New member?"

"De facto member."

"What's that?"

"I meant Finn went and decided on his own, and Loki approved."

"Which familia is she from?"

"Soma," Finn said.

"Ah, good. About time someone did something about them."

"That bad?"

Tsubaki nodded. "That bad."

"We need a weapon for all executives with the Durandal property," Finn said.

Lesser smiths might've asked what the hell that meant, but I knew that was what made Aiz's toothpick of a baselard-rapier thing able to withstand the abuse Gareth's told me all about. She was basically using that thing to slice golems of solid rock in two to name a few, as well as bisect a few tons of muscle and bone with each fomoire she took down back in the fiftieth. Her sword was the only thing to survive that encounter with those corrosive caterpillars. But still, there were better things to use when fighting monsters.

"What are you planning on fighting?" Tsubaki had a fierce grin.

"Monsters who can melt through adamantite with their stomach acids," Gareth said.

Tsubaki looked at me before turning to Gareth and Finn. "This guy's also fighting against those?"

"No, but that's what the communication magic is for," he said. "We'll have some measure of safety should things go wrong." He knocked on the wooden table.

"Loki will still get in touch with Hephaistos to finalize the contract," Finn said. "I thought I'd better commission the weapons before we even start discussing the terms of the next expedition to give us more time. I can already tell you now, we'll be asking for a group of blacksmiths to accompany us."

"And we can get part of the loot first hand," Tsubaki said with a nod. "Not bad. I'll be waiting for that then." She clapped her hands. "So, what weapons do the executives use?"

Gareth listed the orders down: a spear for Finn, a pair of short swords for Bete, a halberd for Tione, a great sword for Tiona, and an axe for himself. Of course, it had to be an axe. The prices though were simply obscene, reaching upwards of a hundred million Varis for each piece. As for how the Durandal came about, it apparently took a smith with the Blacksmith development ability at least, and then a solid effort to craft the piece with the image of strength. It was a vague explanation to a not very clear question delivered by someone who understood their craft more by feel than by rigid and precise measurement.

After they discussed their exorbitant toys came my order for the specially shaped great sword. This one I remembered from a video I watched a while ago about armor breaking swords and came from a game if I remembered right. It was a thick sword with pick-like projections at the tip so it could hack through armor, while the main blade had enough heft in it to hit hard enough to chop deep. It was a weapon for fighting heavily armored enemies just like my pick except this had the intention to cleave compared to the crushing and piercing of my war hammer.

"Here," Tsubaki said. She passed me the blade.

I held it in front with both hands. I had Tsubaki make the sword into a true two-hander so I could better wield and leverage its weight. It was a lot heavier than the great sword I was using right now, and this was even after the use of mithril in its body to lighten it. The metal was also intended to better accept my magic since I had an enchant type, which really jacked up the price.

Gareth inched closer to the sword, eyeing it close. "It's a strange shape, but I can see how it could be useful."

"I had some fun trying these out last night," she said. Tsubaki brought out a leather vest. "It works as intended."

"It's a weapon for fighting monsters, not people."

Finn held his hand out to me and I gave him the blade. He took it in his hands and was didn't even look like he felt its weight. That was a level six for you, alright. He gave it a slow deliberate swing. "Tsubaki, if you were to make these with a cheaper mix of steel and adamantite, how many can you make for us by the month's end?"

"With the change of materials, our smiths should be able to make thirty within the time."

"We'll also need to restock with the usual numbers."

"Make that fifteen then."

"You can move it down to ten."

"That's for the best," Tsubaki said. She scratched her head. "Your familia goes through second and third class weapons like Aiz does jagamarukun."

Finn couldn't even laugh. "Earn more, spend more."

"Must be tough," Tsubaki said.

Finn and Tsubaki got into a more numbers heavy discussion on delivery times, material availability, and pricing when they started on the restock order. Gareth chimed in with comments while I chipped in my two cents on the idea of fullers to maybe help lessen the need for material. It took an extensive discussion on material integrity, toughness, and a bit on metal microstructure formation that got me reliving my college days.

When they finished, the numbers were simply astronomical compared to the measly chump change my custom weapons took, and I guessed the familia simply made that much with these expeditions. Lili though couldn't even believe her eyes when she found out Tsubaki was the captain of the Hephaestus familia and my and Gareth's contracted smith.

Her cluelessness was probably what I looked like when Loki had Finn abduct me… and now here I was helping him abduct another person.

Life was funny that way, I guess.

All this talk of huge ass prices and the just as absurd value that went into deep floor materials made me think of how horrible inflation was in Orario.

If such high value items could be harvested and exchanged for currency, then the prices of more mundane goods would quickly fluctuate. This could be solved if the money moving around in Orario were all fixed, but then that'd instead lead to a fluctuating and very volatile value to the Varis depending on who came from what expedition and how much they brought back.

It was a very strange system to be talking with such phenomenal amounts of money.

Well, not my problem. I could probably figure out some way to leverage that to the familia's advantage, but not right now. That would be a project for later. Today, was a time to test out my new toy. "It's straight to the seventh floor with this, and if the infant dragon's down below, then it's time for a rematch."

Tsubaki sighed. "It's a good thing that monster is a rare one."

I frowned at her.

"Others would usually be happy hearing that." She ran a hand through her hair. "Did you think a monster rex is so easy to defeat? Don't even think about trying to take one on yourself. Not now at least, maybe not even until you reach level three at least if you really want to."

"If I'm lucky," Gareth said, "the expedition won't run into too many by the time we do go."

"I'm not about to swear to a dwarf's luck," Finn said with a straight face. "But if we're betting…"

I clapped him on the shoulder. "Finn, you have a problem."

"What did Lili get herself into…"

#

Gareth had Lili on his shoulders while Finn stood guard with my old great sword—rather, Gareth's old great sword.

Lili was screaming all the way from the horde of ants we pulled in, but I barely spent any effort cleaning up. When the pile of corpses started to crowd the way behind us, that's when Finn had Lili start collecting the stones.

"This is crazy!" Lili said.

I was killing ants left and right without breaking too much of a sweat. The short sword and pick were doing fine today, and the boost to my stats helped make each swing that much faster and deadlier and less tiring. It was such a strange experience to feel the substantial changes to my body.

I kicked an ant that had its jaws around my shin and ended up caving its head in, before hammering a needle rabbit into the ground and slicing a poison moth in two.

Keeping still wasn't the smartest when dealing with the dungeon, and I'd been here enough times to know I ought to keep defending an area instead of a spot.

I was keeping the horde in line using a narrow hallway to funnel them into more manageable waves. At most eight ants could fit side to side and it was already an improvement to getting encircled. Danger and death were always lurking around the corner in the Dungeon, and not feeding them any flags was in everyone's best interest.

Lili was filling the sacks she had. Her hands were skillful and efficient, moving with a grace and expertise that bellied a ton of experience. It was concerning how cowed and subservient she was earlier, but if she was this good at what did, then why did she need to steal? There was more to this story than a sappy montage for sure.

"Come on Tom, is this everything you've got?" Finn said with a laugh.

He was really getting into it today. "I can go deeper."

"Then let's go."

The horde died out, and Lili finished nearly at the same time as I did thanks to Finn cutting them up for her. It was an efficient collection method that got us working through the eighth through tenth floors like clockwork. We would pull all the monsters we could until we reached the stairs then I'd kill them all off before going to the next floor.

Lili was still complaining by the eighth floor, but once the monsters started ganging up on the ninth, grumbling was all that was left of her so she couldn't get buried by all the monster carcasses Finn was passing her.

Hunting in the eighth and ninth floors didn't give the best returns, but it was still experience and cash.

On the tenth floor, the orcs were good for their gold efficiency. They net me on average around two hundred Varis a piece, while ants were the next best at a hundred and fifty each, but their spawn rates could easily ramp up the more I left half dead, and it was always a balance between how many to bait and how much I could take. Gareth and Finn were there, but the moment I asked for help would mean I'd hit my limit then.

The orcs and hard armoreds let up, and I had a moment to breathe.

"You people are working Lili to the bone, but all you really want is her services. Don't bother with the lies, Lili knows her place." Her hands were quick as ever, the last monster crumbling to dust as the last I'd killed fell to the ground. Finn passed it to her after processing and it crumbled too.

"I saw my fellow kin and decided I wanted to do something," Finn said.

"So you take Lili and make her work just so you could take all the money for yourselves?!" She finished up but stood by obediently. She was a non-combatant if it wasn't any more obvious, and the weapon she had on herself was nothing more than a cheap dagger, perhaps for cutting into those larger beasts to get to the juicy center.

"All the stones you're collecting are yours," Finn said. "Isn't that right, Tom?"

"Sure," I said. "I'm really just doing this for the stats." Cutting the stones out wasn't really necessary for me since Loki was letting me freeload off her familia. And using Saudade to clean up was a waste of perfectly good cash. Once we went on the expedition, a few pieces of deep floor loot would be enough to pay for my debts anyway, I just enjoyed counting the money.

"Why would you tell Lili such a cruel joke?"

"You heard our talks earlier right? A million or two is just a drop in the bucket for these oligarchs."

"Oli-what?"

God I was really starting to hate this place.

I know right.

"The Loki familia is obscenely rich, is what I meant to say."

"Lili has noticed." She shook her head. "None of what's happening makes sense to Lili. But, if you'll just leave Lili to die—"

"Just try and believe in me for now, Lili," Finn said. "Things will change for us from now on." He had on a bright smile without pretense or blemish, a pure one with a wish that seemed so simple.

"Finn," I said, "what is it that bothers you so much?"

Finn chuckled. "I keep forgetting you weren't from around here."

"Is that a compliment?"

"I'd say so," Gareth chimed in.

Finn let out a long breath. He looked at Lili, she looked away. Gareth gave his friend a clap on the back. "Our people, the parrum race, once believed in the goddess Fiona."

"And I take it she didn't come down with the rest?"

"Because she never existed in the first place." The smile Finn had on a was a sad and nostalgic one. "Our people fell to its knees when that truth was made known, and we haven't been the same since."

"I take it you were a deeply religious people?"

"For such a weak and small race? All we had was our faith and the hope it gave us of a better tomorrow. Losing that rallying point broke us." He sighed. "Suddenly, we were a people who worshipped nothing but a mess of lies."

"Even if it weren't true, the devotion you placed in your faith was still real."

"I know," Finn said, "but I'd grown up too fast and lost sight of what I wanted to do." He clenched his fist. "I was too caught up with wanting to be a hero and serving as a symbol that I forgot I had these hands of mine." He shook his head. "I've been barking orders for so long I lost touch with my own dream." He looked at me. "Watching you struggle was the reminder I needed."

"I'm glad to hear my suffering did you some good." Though I wasn't too sure what he was getting at.

"I'd learned to be more selfish," he said with a smile. "That's why"—he looked at Lili–"I'm going to help you."

"Lili is powerless and weak, if the Braver wishes for it, Lili can only nod and say yes."

Gareth stroked his beard. "A few days with Thomas will beat that defeatist attitude from her."

"Why are you talking about me like I'm some conditioning treatment?"

"What's conditioning?"

I wasn't even gonna bite onto that. "So how often does the infant dragon show up anyway?"

"Not very often," Gareth said.

"Silverbacks then!" Finn said.

For all the good my status did me, it still didn't give me any extraordinary sensory capabilities, so here I was a howling mass of black tendrils of mist and trying to fight those fast as hell pieces of shit practically blind.

Use the force, Tom!

Not helping!

I hooked my pick onto the next body and latched on, stabbing into its back over and over with my short sword. The monkey struggled and rolled over, winding me but I kept on, burning through its strength with Despair.

Before I got started, I gave Gareth my great sword and buckler sword since I knew I wasn't getting out of this without wrangling anything. The punches and kicks I received were battering my sides, but the armor softened the blow regardless.

"I hate this floor so much!"

"Then learn!" Finn shouted.

Ugh. I hated these genius types. The silverback I was on eventually succumbed to its wounds and fell and was quickly replaced by a fresh monkey that kicked me in the gut.

I lost my lunch.

But I hooked onto its knee and cut off its other leg, before brutalizing its guts with my blades. Even now I was still maintaining that state of magic within, and every now and then a surge of strength would let me do like I just did. Little bursts of strength that did just enough to hit harder and faster, critical strikes, it seemed. But whether it was just a lucky hit or some shenanigans from my falna I wasn't sure.

I saw the next silverback's face in the mist—and I slapped it into the ground with the blunt of my pick. I stomped its head in before flying back into the thicket with a sore back and an even more sore face.

"Pay attention Thomas!" Finn said.

"Lili is not sure whether this familia is enjoying that person's pain."

"These moments are worth it," Gareth said.

"Don't teach her weird shit!"

I got punched in the face and ate dirt, but I quickly got up and latched on to the last bitch who did it and stabbed it over and over like my life depended on it.

"What level is he?!"

"Look well, Lili, soon enough, we'll also have you able to do that and fighting on the front lines," Finn said.

"That's not funny to Lili!"

A silverback got too close and had its face opened with my short sword. I wasn't even bothering with whether the bodies were getting cleaned up. What mattered right now was that all these damned monkeys died.

"Good!" Gareth said. "You have to hit them before they hit you!"

"How is he fighting for so long?"

"Because he has something he desperately needs to do," Finn said.

Their voices faded into the heat of battle.

And I fought on alone in the mists.

I took and gave so much more, each paid back threefold with my hammer and sword. I lost count of how many times I fell, of how many I killed, of how much my limbs burned, and with each step closer and closer to the brink, my magic brought me back to fight one monster more, over and over.

The weapons in my hands felt like they'd been welded into my bones, the thuds and scrapes against the beasts keeping in time with the rhythm of my breathing.

Catharsis, others might have called it. But here in the Dungeon I could just forget for once that I was somewhere I didn't belong and just let my actions tell my story.

Here was Thomas the lost, crying out against the silent Dungeon. It was a perverted companionship where the threat of death kept me from truly losing myself in the trance of each swing. The scent of blood filled my senses, and the endless white was like the blanket of sleep that beckoned me to a warm bed home.

The monsters fell.

I kept on.

I was beaten.

I stood back up.

Here there was no Thomas of Earth, no memories of what it was like to just enjoy an afternoon with a good book while basking under the air-conditioning. There was no peace here in the mundane, only the peace after the beasts lay dead at my feet. It was like trudging through the endless rain in the metro without a single awning to lean on. Like a familiar place that could've been home, yet also so alien that simply being here was already a pain.

And yet it was up to me to make the best of it.

Happiness was a choice, but it wasn't easy. However, that didn't mean the next best thing wasn't—couldn't be enough. If the rain wasn't going to end, then it was on me now to do something about it within my power. So, for the first time in days, I simply let go and took it as is.

I wanted to fight, so I fought.

I wanted to relax, so I relaxed.

I wanted to keep going, so I did.

My life wasn't going to stop just because of what happened, and I had to keep going regardless. Instead of wallowing in my sorrows, I chose to fill my heart with the things that went right. I had a place to come back to, friends that at least seemed like they sincerely cared, and a really weird goddess whom I still couldn't put a finger on.

There were so many things that could have gone wrong, and yet here I was doing better than I did back home. For now was what I tried to get on with, but that was a mistake. Because for now held the promise of a passing moment, and whatever was going on now was going on for long enough. What mattered then, was regardless of what was real or not, the ones in front of me were enough as they were.

If the storm wouldn't stop, then I just had to learn to dance in the rain.

Exhaustion finally caught up and I couldn't go any further. I fell on my back trying to catch my breath.

Three faces loomed over me.

"Is it finally over?" Lili said. "Mind down?"

"No," Gareth said. "That's not even close to how much magic Tom can pull out. His endurance is just low."

"That was low?"

Finn gave her a look.

"Lili sees," she said. "And he stood against so many silverbacks alone and for so long." She shook her head. "What is he?"

Finn's lopsided smile annoyed me. "A friend, and a part of my familia."

Gareth knelt down beside my panting self and produced a glowing green potion. He brought it up to my lips and the herby infusion doused my body burning from exhaustion. I finally breathed a proper breath.

"And I want you to be a part of that," he said, facing her.

She stepped away, her face a mess of quickly changing expressions: confusion, sorrow, fear. "Why Lili?" she asked weakly. "There are just as many parrums as pitiful as Lili, so why Lili?" It was a desperate sort of sigh that had one foot in the grave. What was it that she'd gone through to let a sound like that escape those still so young lips?

"Because you will be the first of many," Finn said, matter-of-factly.

"So Lili was just lucky? Was that it?"

I took a deep breath and said, "So what if you were just lucky?"

"What?" Lili said. "Luck? It was just luck that suddenly Lili was going to have her life turned over for her by some knight in shining armor?"

"Yes, and what's so wrong with that?"

"W-wha?! Are you even listening to what you're saying? You're asking Lili if she can't just accept that everything will just magically be solved?"

"Sure," I said. "You never chose to be born to a hard life, right? The very day you were born and the people you were born to was pure dumb luck. Why couldn't you accept your life getting better just like that?"

"Because that would mean that all Lili had been doing all these years was for nothing!"

I frowned. "Haven't you been listening to a thing I've been saying since earlier?"

Finn put a hand up. I held back my tongue. "I believe what Thomas here meant to say is that accepting the help we're offering—"

"You forced her into accepting."

"Shut it!" Finn massaged the bridge of his nose and Lili shot me a dirty look. "As I was saying," he said with a sigh. "Accepting the help I want to give you doesn't make your efforts meaningless. The effort you put in has already run their course, and now, you happened upon the grace of someone like you wanting to make a difference."

"So how come you didn't do it before?" Lili asked with disgust.

"Because I was stupid," Finn said. "And because I've found someone even more stupid—"

"Hey!"

"—I realized now what I should've done a long time ago."

#

We went out of the Dungeon with Lili's absurdly large bag filled to bursting with stones. Of course, I was exaggerating because it was really only a medium sized sack that fetched a total purse of eighty-thousand in stones. The drop loot we left at Tsubaki's and we all went home to the manor with a slightly livelier Lili in tow.

To describe how she was after Finn's constant badgering was something between confusion and that too good to be true skepticism. She was holding onto the small sack filled with coins.

"T-this is unbelievable, to think Lili would ever get to hold this much Varis in her hands…"

"It's good to see at least someone has a healthy sense of value."

"Spare me, Thomas," Finn said, "you may say you're normal and yet here you are going on regular massacres in the dungeon."

"Thomas has earned in the upper floors an amount a five-man party wouldn't normally even dream of… and to think he did so by, what was he even doing?" she asked Finn.

"If anything, its like he was pass parading himself."

Lili nodded. "His weapons and armor must be of very high quality?"

"You already know he has communication magic, yes?"

"Lili doesn't understand the value, but for the Loki familia to invest so much in Thomas must mean he is worth the trouble."

"Hey, you're already making jabs?"

"Lili blames you for what's happened to her so far, but Lili is still deciding whether to be angry or thankful." She sighed. "Lili is afraid to trust the honeyed words of the Braver, but at the same time Lili also has no power to resist."

"Wow, that's a very familiar train of thought."

"Misery loves company," Gareth said. "It's something Loki would always say."

"Wait, so you got me a companion to wallow in sorrow with?"

Finn was taken aback. "That's a horrible thing to say Thomas. I got Lili a companion to wallow in sorrow with."

"I swear you can be just as bad as Loki."

Hey!

We arrived home to a Loki that came out of nowhere, flying through the air and about to land on Lili. The parrum girl shrieked on seeing the flying perv and I was nice enough to step in and catch the idiot.

"Hey Loki."

"Oh, you're conscious today, that's good."

"I learn fast."

"You and your absurd status," Gareth said, shaking his head.

Finn presented Lili. "Here's the lady I wanted to join us."

Loki looked her up and down and Lili covered herself up even though she was fully clothed. This pervert's gaze had a tendency to do that, and I was thankful Orario didn't have any sexual harassment laws else the familia would've already crumbled under all the fines and levies. Satisfied, Loki stood up and looked Lili in the eyes nose to nose.

She grabbed the girl's chest.

I lifted Loki off her feet to get her away.

Lili fell on her butt with tears in her eyes.

"Thomas isn't the only one who needs to learn to read the mood," Gareth said.

"They both know how to," Finn said with a flat expression. "They just choose not to."

"He's not wrong," I said.

"I approve of your taste, Finn," Loki said with a thumbs-up. "A meek loli would make a fine addition to my harem."

"I think you meant a dedicated parrum would make a fine addition to the familia," Finn supplied.

"No, I'm pretty sure of what I said." Loki shrugged. "Whether they're a beastkin, elf, parrum, or dwarf, as long as they're my type, they can join the harem."

Finn held Lili by the shoulders. "You can ignore her whenever she goes into one of those, understood?"

Lili shook her stupor away. "W-why is the goddess so strange?"

"That's because Soma doesn't give two shits about anything," Loki said. "You can put me down now Thomas."

"Do you promise not to molest her without consent?"

"Urk, please don't trap me with that…"

I narrowed my eyes at her. "Loki."

"Hrrk, f-fine, I-I'll behave from now on."

"A goddess… is like that?"

"No, that's just Loki," Finn said. He turned to face our goddess. "I understand we might get fined for what I did, but it was about time I got off my cushy seat and set my feet back on the ground."

"That's a good look you have in your eyes," Loki said. "Seriously, can you put me down now, Thomas?" She laced her fingers behind my neck and brought her lips close to mine. "Please?"

I lowered her enough for her feet to touch the ground.

Loki smirked. "Does that mean I can expect an increase in parrums joining?"

Finn tilted his head left and right. "Perhaps, perhaps not. For now, I'll start where I can and see how much I can do."

"Good," Loki said. "I already asked for Freya's support in case we set a war game. It was a little creepy when she asked me earlier what I was doing when I spaced out. I told her about Thomas's magic and then your situation and she offered to help. Though she did ask me for a small favor in return, most likely involving Thomas." She stuck her tongue out.

I shrugged. Loki was the leader of the familia anyway, and if it came from her that she was looking out for the best for me, then I'll bet on her to make good on that. "Anything for you, Loki."

"Does that include helping me get Aiz to wear a bikini?"

"I'm a level one, Loki, not a miracle worker."

"But eventually, yes?"

"Is there an age of consent in Orario?"

"Don't sweat the details."

"Finn," Lili said, "are they always like this?"

"It helps to learn early how to tune them out."

Loki stood with both hands on her hips, and smiled a big one. "Anyway, it's about time, Finn."

"It's good to be back, Loki." He bowed low to her. "I have a good feeling today."

"But Lili does not," Lili said.

"Ah, well, first impressions are important after all."

"Hush, Thomas. We have to maintain a respectable air." Loki preened as she presented herself to her would be new child.

"That only works before you let your true colors come out."

"Bah, stingy humbug." She turned to Finn. "Leave dealing with Soma to me."

One thing led to another, and we found out Loki had more than prepared for the—future—entry of our new member.

The somber breakfast was ran over by a loud and lively dinner that undid the earlier awkwardness. Loki apparently prepared a feast to welcome the new member as well as Finn's resolve and we all ate well. People left and right hounded Lili with encouragements and apologies, the former for having Finn reach out to her and take her away, saying she didn't make a mistake in choosing—they didn't need to know—to join with us, and the latter about Loki's shenanigans and the troubles she'll end up facing with the pervert.

There were a lot of tips such as delaying having her status updated until the expedition came so Loki couldn't take her time running her hands all over her body, and the fact that such tips were being passed around meant that the offender wasn't in the least bit reflecting on her actions. There was also a very extensive discussion on when the best times to shower were and to stay away from the quiche specials on Tuesdays. What's surprising for me was that this world used a comparable calendar to back home when they could've had something that made much better sense like that one calendar with thirteen months and twenty-eight days for all.

Whatever, this place had magic.

Finn sat next to Lili, and Tione sat to his left. The amazoness was fixing the poor girl with intense looks while Tiona softened the blows by distracting her sister. Tiona however fell into a rut when Loki slapped Lili in the back and caused the latter to stick her chest out—something the former was so sensitive about not having much of. Tione eventually got fed up with her groaning sister and a table went flying.

Seeing her like that, it made sense now what Loki said about one's falna reflecting their personality. Tione's skill that made her stronger the angrier she got told me she had deep seated anger management issues, but she was stronger for it and it hasn't killed her yet so there was merit to falnas not leading their bearer to ruin.

What then gave me this magic called Despair? Even just having magic was already strange, and to also feel what it was like to move said magic within my body only added to the questions. The Enabler one… well, that was self-explanatory. How annoying.

I joined in with the dwarves in their toneless singing and danced with the beastkins around the fire in the courtyard. The elves were all being neat and tidy with their fancy eating and dainty habits, and the humans, there wasn't anything special to say about them. Raul was doing a one-man comedy show in the main hall's table though so that was something. But, Bete threw in enough insults that Gareth had to tie the guy up again and hang him by the castle's gates.

It was a full-on party when we just had one last night, and it looks like these people really partied where it counted. Once the drunks started climbing the walls though, that's when I decided to call it quits. I knocked back my mango juice and found Rakta tap dancing on one of the tables.

I threw my tankard out the window.

"Yep, that's enough shit for one night."

#

The following morning, it was the same painting of hell yesterday.

I sat somewhere tame, and was joined by Aiz, Tiona, and Lefiya.

"Glad to see you three didn't meet too much of a disaster."

"It was almost a repeat of the last night," Tiona said. "But it was a good thing I had to keep my sister from going on a rampage. She's still in our room too sick to come down.

"How often do these parties happen anyway?"

Aiz bit on a pancake. Whole. On her fork. I guess it was in line with the ditzy personality. "Loki would find any excuse to get people drunk."

The two others nodded.

"That does sound like her."

The next person to come down from the stairs I immediately recognized. Loki, however, went ahead and changed the parrum's wardrobe overnight. The cowed Lili in the hooded cloak was replaced by a still cowed Lili but this one now in a simple white halterneck that dangerously curved against the sides of Lili's chest, and a short skirt the same color as her hair. Really, who else could it have been? Either way, the girl was no longer wearing her ratty clothes and the beat-up old backpack was replaced with a leather harness similar to mine.

That was new.

"Lili!" I said, and saw the others on the nearby tables sink into their seats. "Over here."

Lili looked around and tip-toed about the groaning bodies. Rakta's ears were splayed against their table next to an Anakity with deeper bags than a travel suitcase. Cruz's spiky hair had seen better days and a lock was sticking out here and there, and Riine wasn't wearing her glasses. And if I were a betting man I would've risked at least a thousand on those forever getting lost.

The small girl joined our table without a tray on hand.

"Sorry," I said. "Come on, the breakfasts are buffet style and you can get whatever you want. I'll show you how."

I excused the both of us real quick, with Tiona the only one to act up when Lili's… assets swayed when she turned. The trip to the spreads didn't take long since Lili only wanted a bowl of porridge. I encouraged her to get more but she said she wasn't used to eating too much in the morning. Tione, literally crawled down from the stairs and I grabbed her some soup and a slice of soft bread.

"Tsk," Tione said.

The three of us took our seats and I wanted only to get out of there as fast as I could.

Lili ate slowly, taking tiny sips of her food after blowing on them for a while first. Tiona watched her go and Aiz and Lefiya seemed to take a liking to the girl's soft manners. It was interesting to see the small Lili beset on both sides by the elf and the ditz. Tiona, was catatonic. And Tione was too busy eating and powering through the pain to bother.

Riveria, Gareth, a newly bald Raul—when the hell did that happen?! Then came Lloyd, Arcs, and Anju, the inseparable trio all without eyebrows. Lloyd was a runarl, Arcs was a dwarf, and Anju was a dog-person. They were one of the cliques in the familia and were respectively a level four, and two level threes. Remilia and Kalos followed and thankfully didn't look that much worse for wear. Remi was an elf and Kalos was an amazoness, and both were level threes. Agata and Tina were also doing just dandy, and it was a relief to see they were alright.

Then came a brightly smiling Loki with a dumbstruck Finn.

"Guess what you people!" Loki screamed, and more than a few snarled her way—Tione included. "Finn here just reached level seven!"