Chapter 6

At first, silence.

Then everyone went wild.

But not too wild since there were too many still writhing in pain.

Aiz was on him faster than I could blink, and Finn looked like a total idiot just grinning there and all wobbly-like. The next to come was a steeled Tione, then a very happy Gareth and a refined but just as excited Riveria. Everyone cheered, then writhed in pain, but kept cheering anyway, and I guess there was gonna be another party later. People were clapping him on the back or shaking his hands and there were a few women who threw themselves at him—Tione included. It was a scene that made me feel something itchy in the chest and smile without meaning to. It was too much of a scene not to feel anything.

What followed was a closed-door meeting with the executives and Loki—me and Lili included.

"H-how is Lili at an executive meeting?!" she said. Looking the part of the lost little lamb.

"I'm just as clueless as you are, Lili."

Bete, Tione, Tiona, Aiz, Gareth, Riveria, and Finn. They were the strongest members of the familia, and I guess now we were that bit higher now on the food chain with our very own level seven. I just hoped Freya didn't get any ideas with this, but well, we'd get through it somehow. Hopefully.

"Alright," Loki said, "we all know why we're here. Finn just reached level seven and the taxes will be increased on our asses."

"What?!" Even here audit comes to bite my ass?! "We need to pay taxes based on how strong we are?!"

"Get with the program, Tom," Loki said, "the only permanent things in life are death and taxes."

I sank to my knees.

"What are taxes?" Gareth said.

"Tsk," Loki said.

"You lied to me?! This is an outrage!"

Finn raised his hand. "That's a lot of rage there Thomas, care to share where it's coming from?"

"Taxes are these fees you pay just because you're alive," Loki said. "And Tom's world makes everyone pay it."

"Like paying for food?" Gareth said.

"No," I said. "Worse." He gave me a weird look. "Taxes are the evil that permeates my world. It's basically this thing our governments make us calculate for using these stupidly complicated forms that you would also get fined on if you made a mistake. And these taxes come with everything. Your food, your clothes, your use of water. Everything. You want to travel to somewhere far? Travel tax. You want to drink booze? Excise tax. You want to buy food? Value added tax. Everything is taxed."

"That's horrible," Finn said with a frown.

Loki clapped her hands. "Back on topic people!"

"You started it?!" Tione said.

Finn tried placating her, but his stupid grin was yet to leave his face, and I guess that worked well enough to diffuse the amazoness. Tiona lifted me off the ground enough so I could set my feet gingerly on the floor. I was suddenly thankful she didn't do so to me yesterday in public. She was cool that way. Probably.

Aiz raised her hand. "I want to go with Thomas from now on."

"Absolutely not!" Gareth said. "No, no. No. That is a horrible horrible idea and I am against it with all my authority as an executive…" Gareth cleared his throat, but the damage was already dealt. "Finn here would be a more reasonable person to talk to."

Finn still had that stupid grin. "Sure Aiz, go with Thomas."

"That's right Ai—" Gareth glared at Finn. "I trusted you."

Finn cupped his hear and leaned over at Gareth. "Who's the level seven again?"

Gareth grumbled before turning to Riveria. "He gets one"—he stuck a finger out—"level and now he lords it over us! Damnable pest of a parrum!"

Finn didn't even bat an eye at Gareth's barb and Riveria was snickering like a teenager. Yeah, that was pretty creepy.

"Please spare Lili…"

Lili met Aiz's eyes. She turned back to Finn. "I want her with me too." She took Finn's hands in hers. "Lend them to me."

"We're not objects, Aiz."

She wasn't listening.

"Calm down for now," Loki said. "Or else I'm stopping the cooks from serving pancakes." Aiz went back to her spot after that. Loki cleared her throat. "You all should be the ones rubbing off on Thomas not the other way around."

"He annoys you," Finn said. "That's enough for me."

"Me too," Gareth added.

"You're all crazy!" Bete said clutching his ears. "You people used to be noisy but now you're all just yammering non-stop."

Everyone there looked at Bete.

"Geez, edgy much?"

"What does that even mean?!" Bete held me off the ground by my shoulders and shook me about.

But Aiz stopped him from mixing the contents of my breakfast further, and to good reason too, else I might've covered him with a mix of scrambled eggs, bacon, and bile.

"Oh boy," Loki said. She was pinching the bridge of her nose. "I did this to myself didn't I?"

"Don't look at me, I'm not even sure what happened."

Loki face palmed, then brought her hands up. "Okay everyone, just calm down and let me say my piece?"

They all stopped the small bickering that popped up here and there and went back to their places in the semi-circle. "Thank you," Loki said with a graceful smile and curtsy.

I was about to say something when.

"Shut it!" Loki snapped her fingers at me and pointed. "Not a peep." But I just had to— "Nope. Shut it."

I pouted.

"Okay, so let me just say that Finn here levelled up this morning. He came to me saying he felt pretty good and so we updated, and lo and behold." She presented him with jazz hands. "Level seven."

"That lacked so many important details."

Everyone and Lili nodded, but Bete didn't, Finn notwithstanding.

Loki punched the air and side kicked some unseen shadow twice before settling into a prayer position with closed eyes. She opened them a second later and steepled her fingers. "Finn decided on something big last night, and that, is what finally pushed him over the edge."

Finn scratched his head and smiled Lili's way—then the floor boards beneath Tione gave out. Poor guy.

"This is what I've been telling you all before," Loki said, "it's not about how much you kill or get brought to the brink of death—"

"But it helps someti—"

Loki grabbed my face in one hand.

"It's about staying true to yourselves and finding that thing that means something and gives whatever it is you're doing some meaning. How else do you think blacksmiths and medicine makers are able to gain exilia?"

"I see," Tiona said.

I broke away from Loki's grip. "You're the level fi—"

She grabbed my face again.

"A level up is what brings you closer to your goal, so what then is your goal? Finn here became a level six four years ago and hasn't moved since. And yet now he finally broke through. How do you think you should go about reaching that goal? Or better yet, what is the most important thing to you as a person? A falna is the accumulation of your life experiences and from it arises a certain something that makes you distinctly you. What is it that separates you from everyone else?

"Whenever you do something or kill a monster or rescue someone or decide anything, consider first how this adds to you as a person. And if you ask me, the best way to level up is to not give a damn about the numbers or the effort, but to just do as you would. There's no one rule to levelling up. There's only those who can reach that enlightenment and rise above their former selves, and those who can't."

"Aiz, to become strong is not enough. What is it that you want? Desire is good to have, but a consuming conviction is more likely to stifle you as a person. Don't fall into your impatience. And believe. Believe harder than everyone else that you can reach that place. And you can."

Loki opened her arms. "Nothing gives me more joy than seeing my children spread their wings. I just hope what I said to you today helps you later."

We all nodded as one.

"You can all leave now," Loki said. "The top executives and Lili, please stay behind. We'll discuss what our next steps will be. Aiz, you can take Thomas with you, but listen to me three times and listen well, no harm shall befall him. Alright?"

Aiz nodded, and I guess that meant my ass was hers for the day.

"Ah," Loki said, "let me update his status first. You've all seen him topless already anyway, come over here."

A few groans sounded out, but everyone else there took advantage of Loki updating my status to also have theirs done. When the results came out—as expected, no one else levelled up.

"What were you all thinking? That a speech could change your lives right here and now?" Loki laughed. "I'm a god but even I can't pull that many miracles out of my ass."

Each one of us—the top executives and Lili not included—came out with sheets of paper in our hands.

#

Level 1

Strength = G 228 -> F 312

Endurance = G 264 -> F 347

Dexterity = F 364 -> E 482

Agility = H 181 -> G 237

Magic = E 445 -> D 589

Madness Spectrum = I

Tranquil Intervention = I

World Walker = I

Fated Actor = I

Magic

Answered Prayer = Allows two-way communication with one's patron god or goddess with Mind consumption based on distance. Chantless Magic.

Despair = An enchant magic that steeps the user's attacks with the chaos of the World Boundary and enfeebles targets when attacked. Has a chance to inflict madness, fear, or confusion. Chant: "Madness"

Saudade = An area of effect drain spell that takes the magic and life force contained in all within range and transfers it to the user. Targets stronger than the user are able to resist having their magic and life stolen. Has a five-meter radius, and a chance to inflict madness, fear, or confusion. Chant: "Taken from the peace of home / I now stand beyond the veil / The aberrant demands reparation"

Skill

Babel Jack = Allows automatic translation of written and verbal information to some understandable form to the user.

Enabler = Increases magic by an exceptional amount in a pinch and causes magic damage to siphon life force.

Mania = Increases endurance the longer one stays in battle and gradually wears off after.

#

We were just outside of Loki's room in the hallway.

"What is up with that bullshit status?!" Tione said, grabbing my sheet from my hands. "You got your falna six days ago!"

Tiona stuck her face next to her sister's and read through the paper that showed bared my person to them. Well, no not really. Those magic and skill names were too edgy, totally not me at all. Which was even more concerning. Yeah, I'm probably pretty fucked.

"Thomas," Aiz said, "why do you want to go home so badly?"

That was a strange question to ask, but it was honest and sincere. Wasn't it obvious though? "Because I want to see my friends and family again, and also because that's the place I call my home. I hope I'm not hurting anyone's feelings when I say I really really just want to get back. Just my status already shows how much I don't belong here, I'm different. That's all it is."

"You don't like it here?" Aiz tilted her head at me.

"To want to go back home doesn't mean I have to hate where I am right now. It pains me to be here, but at the same time I can't deny the fact that magic is pretty darn freakin' awesome! I mean dude, I can cover myself in shadows! That's pretty badass—though not exactly cool and is really kinda cringey because of how chuuni it is…"

"What's chuuni?" Tiona asked.

"Just get on with the answer already!" Bete said.

We all looked at him. I shrugged. "I am enjoying my time here, but I can't wholeheartedly pray that I can stay forever. I hope I can leave sooner, but it means paying the price of leaving you all. I don't know how you all feel about me—except maybe Bete."

"Hey!"

"But let me say that it won't be as easy as I hoped to leave." I looked each of them in the eyes. "Right now, we're not really friends just yet." Tiona smiled something sad. "Not at that level at least. I mean hey, you don't know my favorite color, right?"

"I thought it was red like the blood of your enemies?" Tione said with a smirk.

"It's actually green," I said, "and the same shade as killer ant blood."

"Killer ants don't have green blood," Tiona said. "It's black."

"Well, uhh, forest green is my favorite color. There, a freebie. But I hope that got the idea through?"

Aiz brought a finger to her lips. "I think so."

"Nice." I stretched my back and twisted against the sun. "So, Dungeon time?"

"You lot do what you want," Bete said. He turned his back on us and went down the stairs.

"See you around, Bete." He didn't even wave back, and now he just came off as strangely insincere. Was it just how he was?

We watched him leave and kudos to him for not looking back.

"We need to pay off some debts," Aiz said. She looked down, fingers twiddling idly. "I need forty million."

I wanted to say something but knew better than to give that absurd value the time of day. This economy was bullshit. "That's a lot of money."

Tiona beamed. "And I need one hundred and twenty." She stuck what little chest she had forward.

"That's not something to be proud of," Tione said.

"With that said, you're coming with us, Thomas." Tiona nodded to herself.

Tione crossed her arms. "Are we sure we want to do that?" She rubbed her chin. "We need to go deeper to make our returns worth the effort, so we'll need to hunt on the thirtieth floor and lower at least." She raised a brow at me. "The deep floors are nothing like where you've been all this while, Thomas."

I shrugged. "It's still a chance to finish off a high-level monster."

"I'm not so sure about this," Tione said. She turned to her sister. "Didn't it come from you that he'd only get in the way?"

Tiona scratched her cheek. "Uhh, umm. Then how about we take a few more people with us and if Thomas is in too much danger then we can return to the eighteenth floor with the others, then us executives will keep going and Thomas can come up to a higher floor with them?"

"I think we can do that," Tione said.

Loki stuck her head out the door. "Gareth will be going with you to be sure. This is a good chance for Thomas to learn more about the Dungeon before going on the real thing. Just give us a few more minutes and we'll finish up."

We went down to the living room and checked for who else might want to go. Riine, Rakta, and Raul were thinking of going down themselves, and they already got Alicia, Narvi, and Cruz to come with them. However, they wanted to take their time around the twentieth floor. It was too high up for Tiona and Aiz's needs, though arguably, it would've been better for me to go with them. That is, if any of them were willing to take the risk of hauling my weak ass.

I was strong for a level one, they gave me that. But they weren't too sure how I'd do against the monsters in the middle floors down. The lowest I'd gone on my own was the twelfth. Riine, the closest one to me in that group, a level two, had already gone as deep as the fiftieth floor. She was a healer though, so her excuse was necessity like mine. But even then, she could still hand my ass to me three ways with one hand tied behind her.

The change in level was just that, to be greater than what we were like Loki said.

Eventually, our group was finally composed of a fair number: Aiz, Tione, Tiona, Lefiya, Elfy, Anakity, and then Gareth and me. The gender ratio was obviously skewed towards the women, and that was the same trend in the familia as a whole. It was Loki, and that was enough of an explanation. Freya's familia was skewed more towards the men so I guess the two strongest familias at least balanced out somewhat.

When the executives finished up their game plan for dealing with the Soma familia, Gareth met up with our group with a not so pleasant surprise.

"We'll be making the declaration of our intent with Soma familia today," he said. He turned to me. "Thomas, we'll hold off on going down into the dungeon for now so I can guard the manor."

Tione nodded. "It's for the best, I can't make the same promise to always be able to save his ass no matter what." She grimaced my way. "Not that I don't like you, Thomas. I mean you know I don't, but you're still a member of the familia."

"Gee, that was uplifting." I turned to Gareth. One day was still one day, and one could say it wouldn't make a difference in the long run but to me, it would. And that was what mattered. "I understand."

"But?" he asked with a skeptical look.

"If it's possible can I go down solo? I promise I won't go lower than the twelfth floor."

Gareth frowned. "You tend to go overboard, Thomas."

"You mean I strive to try and exceed my limits."

"I know what I said." He gave me the stink eye. "I've been the one hauling your ass back to the manor every time."

Aiz nodded. "He just needs to get home."

The weight of the years bore down on how hard Gareth rolled his eyes at that. He gave Aiz the same look he gave me.

Aiz frowned. "N-no?"

The dwarf narrowed his eyes. "Good guess."

The blonde dejectedly hung her head, and Lefiya was only too happy to give her a comforting back rub. I met Tiona's eyes. She nudged her head at the spectacle and huffed, and I replied with a shrug.

Okay, maybe it wasn't too bad to take a day off. After all, Gareth's been my safety line all this while. However, the burning need to make a difference continued to lap at my patience. I couldn't—wouldn't stop me from wanting to get stronger… but it came from Loki herself. To mindlessly grind away wasn't what I needed but to instead grow past who I currently was.

That didn't mean I couldn't get stronger as I thought it through though.

"I'm not sure I can sit still long enough for that."

"Then think of this as a mission," Gareth said. "We aren't going to go down into the Dungeon to wait, but we're not going down because we have else something to do here." He met my gaze. "Something you helped move. Don't you think that also merits something to you as a person?"

Ugh. I hated it when people turned the same blade of reason against me. "I don't want to accept… but Loki trusts you to look out for what's best for me."

And besides Tom, this way we can finally get some proper use out of that magic of yours.

What do you mean?

"It means," Loki said. She was standing by the stairs together with Finn and Lili. "We'll use it for a little something less adventurer-like."

Gareth narrowed his eyes at her, then looked at Finn. After the level, Finn now had a sort of quality to him that wasn't quite the same as Ottar's. The King had this sort of solid and immovable feeling, like the rest of Orario could come crashing down his head and he'd still be fine. Finn though, he felt more like the sea lapping against the shore. He was there, and yet at the same time there was so much more beneath.

"I'm not even gonna grace that with a guess."

#

In hindsight, I really should have seen this coming.

I was currently on the lookout from the rooftop overlooking the Soma familia home together with a troop of mages and our vanguard. The Ironhand brothers, three dwarves of particularly fiery personalities and even shittier alcohol tolerances guarded the rear: Daffyd, Cadoc, and Brynmor, all didn't look the part of the rogue, but they were the ones to bring my sorry ass up here without so much as a shingle out of place. They were armed with short swords to favor speed and handling over power, and their bucklers were steady in their hands.

Behind us were Claire, Cynthia, Arcs, and Lloyd with their scepters and wands ready to cast at a moment's notice. They were reserved usually for the mage barrage squad and regularly chanted together with Riveria during their salvos. Claire and Cynthia were elves, while Arcs was a runarl, and Lloyd was a human like me.

We took the backstreets here to get to where we were perched, and as the only level one in this party of eight, I was severely outmatched in terms of sheer firepower. I was really just the trigger.

We're in, Tom. Over.

Copy that, keep us posted. Over.

I looked back at the others and gave them a thumb up. We were here to serve as a contingency in case Loki's threats fell on deaf ears. Particularly because Soma was a total scrub who didn't give two shits about anything besides moonshining. Granted the guy made good enough shit to get Loki to seriously reconsider making such a bold move in case he held a grudge and stopped selling her her fix.

Without surprise, the lady had her issues.

Or maybe it was all the gods? The only normal god I'd ever met had been Hephaestus, and that barely counted as interaction since we only talked about a few rumors. Hestia, well, she was obviously someone with a grudge against Aiz for some reason. And, Freya was a can of worms I didn't even wanna come near within ten feet of.

Loki came to the Soma familia base with Finn, Riveria, Bete, and Lili, while Gareth stayed at home to castle-sit. One could never be too sure with whom Soma might have under his thumb with such a valued commodity, and there were enough gods simply out to get a laugh that they could just as easily join in for the shits and giggles.

The plan was simple: come in, get Soma to release Lili, pay off the scrub so he shut his mouth, and pray the Guild didn't fine our asses to oblivion. That last part of the plan was the absolute worst that could happen since we were the ones instigating the aggression, regardless of how good a reason ours was for making the ruckus. In anticipation then of that, Loki had everyone else in the familia non-essential to the protection of the manor dive into at least the twentieth floor to focus on making as much cash as we could. At worst, we'd have some funds to fall back on. And at best, we'd have a much nicer cushion once the expenses raked in for the expedition.

We also made sure to debrief Lili on what she'd suffered as a member, and well, it wasn't pretty. Suffice to say, I was already quite amazed at how the dinghy house that'd seen better days wasn't on fire yet.

Warm sunlight graced us waiting by the roof, and our light leathers blended in with the stone fired tiles. It helped that buildings besides Babel didn't reach as high, and it was a common fault of us humanoid species that we barely looked up. A plus though was how it wasn't as horrible as a day out in the city under the sun. Here, it was a like a walk in the park as opposed to an asphalt griddle gauntlet.

It was a familiar feeling to be out in the field like this, but I never really got to be part of any major operations back home.

Heads up Tom, we just met with the captain of the familia.

I signed to the others to get ready, and our casters very slowly dragged out their beginning verses one at a time. The reason being we'd ensure some level of overlap between the chants, so they could release magic one after the other as opposed to one big hit. Bete, Riveria, and Finn were there to protect the two, but we didn't want to take any chances. Our magic barrage was only to serve as a distraction should things go awry.

The Ironhand trio inched closer to the mages, ready to defend. Unfortunately, magic here gave off these tell-tale signs of mind—better called mana, usage. Essentially, it was this tingling sensation of something moving towards the direction of the caster currently chanting. It was a feeling Riveria made sure all us casters in the familia were familiar with because in the event of a magic versus magic scenario, learning the general direction of where someone was chanting from was a much better advantage as opposed to getting lost in the heat of battle.

We're in a meeting with their captain, Zanis something, but Soma's not showing up.

Claire was the first to chant and also the first to stop it on her last verse. All of us in the squad had a number of mind restoration potions so we could keep up this waiting and wasting game.

Finn just demanded to see their god.

A great wave crashed against the shore.

The others with me flinched at that—something, and our mages all lost their focus and broke their chants at the same time. Likewise, the people below also all stopped in their tracks and looked around for something, and a lot of clueless shakes of the head propagated through the crowd.

Holy crap that was awesome!

Dude, we felt that all the way from over here. Did Finn just flip off?

You should see this Zanis guy! He just pissed his pants.

Do you think Freya and Ottar also felt that?

Don't ruin the moment.

Dude.

Bruh.

Fine.

Soma just came out. And the guy's seen some better days. He's practically dressed in rags!

Focus.

The Ironhands checked in with everyone and okay hand signals came their way.

"That was Finn," I risked whispering.

The others nodded, and the mages restarted their cascading chants to restart our covering barrage preparations.

We ended up stopping the chants, give us thirty seconds to restart coverage. Over.

No problem. Soma's just being a little bitch. He wants Finn to have a drink of his Soma to prove he has the strength or some bullshit. Standby, I'm starting to get pissed off. If I give the order, smoke the place.

Understood.

I raised my hand to signal the mages to increase their speed. We were keeping well hidden away from the public's eye to avoid getting reported to the guild, though our masks ought to be enough to give us some leeway with hiding our identities. Magic more or less blended into the same general elements and a person shooting out ice flowers was nearly indistinguishable from someone shooting ice spears given enough chaos. Avoiding talking, however, was a precaution against any nearby first-class adventurers who might have keen enough senses to hear us.

Not to mention any mages curious enough to check out a group of spell casters congregated somewhere.

Another wave crashed against the shore, this one stronger than before. People yelped below, but we were prepared this time.

Finn took the drink and is alright. I wanted to stop him, but he wanted to prove a point.

Burn their place down?

Not yet, Soma's listening now. He just asked Lili why she wanted to leave. This might take a while.

Copy that, we'll continue with the coverage.

Four rounds of sickeningly bitter potions each for the casters later, and Loki and her retinue finally came out of the house without a hair out of place, and one locked status lighter. There was nothing burning in the house, and neither was Bete covered in blood nor was Finn dismembering people left and right. This was a success.

Mission complete, Tom. Scatter and meet back at the manor.

Copy that, we'll see you all back home.

I signaled to the others that it was a success and the mages stopped their chanting before taking one last long drink of potion. Our masked faces nodded to one another as we skulked towards the window sills we climbed to get here. Brynmor kept watch of any suspicious movements towards us, but no warnings came even after we cleared the roof.

Daffyd was the first on the ground, landing with a quiet thud uncharacteristic of a clumsy dwarf. It was reassuring having two level fours with us, Daffyd and Claire, because it meant we had respectable enough fire power in case something went really bad. On that note, I was pretty sure with Ottar and Finn being the only level sevens meant level six was rare enough to be isolated to a few large familias. After all, we only had three. Well, two now. This meant that a majority of the real powers in Orario besides were composed of the level fives and fours. The Loki familia had four level fives under its belt, and fourteen level fours, and the rest of the familia was made up of the level threes and twos. An exception then was us level ones, since there were only three of us. Four, if Lili was already counted.

The mages went first, Claire, Cynthia, Lloyd, and Arcs all took turns at going down the roof and landing in Daffyd's arms.

I went next, dropping from the roof for a brief while before coming to a gentle stop. He set me on the ground and Claire passed a tunic and robe we set aside earlier before coming up. Cadoc and Brynmor followed with slightly louder thuds, and Claire passed them handfuls of clothes as well.

We all changed there and then without giving a single shit who saw what. And split up into four, with me together with Daffyd, Claire, and Arcs. The other group would make their way West and us North, and we'd all meet back up in the Hostess of Fertility first before changing into another set of clothes another group from the familia was waiting with.

It was a convoluted plan, but it was a necessary precaution given people like Bete who could sniff out us no goods, and anyone good enough to find our group might've had good reason to intercept. Granted, this really could've been done a bit more openly, but I didn't want to risk anyone's identity in case we had to pull something. Because the guild sanctions would've bled us dry.

Our group started walking and entered the streets, blending into the bustling crowd.

With so many people walking to and from without any attention to what direction they were all walking to or which side they were on. Disappearing into the masses was a lot easier than I thought. Orario just didn't give a shit it seemed, be it with what its people did or how they went about their daily lives. It was nice how uneventful the trip was, and since Daffyd didn't notify us of anyone following, I was willing to call it a success this early on.

Loki and company were heading straight home, but I didn't know anything about Brynmor's group. With hope, they also didn't run into any snags. Things were going well, and we were already halfway to the Hostess of Fertility.

"Thomas," Daffyd said. He was scratching his bearded chin. "Remind me to never get on your bad side."

"Eh? What brought that out?"

Claire shook her head, blonde pigtails swaying in the air. "How long did it take you to think of something like that?"

"Of what?"

"Of what we just did," Arcs said with an uneasy smile.

"Cascading chants?" Claire said. "That was a very new experience than what we were used to, and to think magic could be used that way."

"As a cover?"

"Yes," Arcs said. "Magic is the trump card we use to end battles, not the chaff to ease the fight."

"And all this skulking around," Daffyd said with a frown. "It's so strange how nothing happened."

That last one wasn't too hard to accept. Sure, magic could be detected as it was being chanted, but that relied on two very important things: first, was if we were the only ones trying to cast magic in the middle of the city; and second, if anyone actually gave enough of a crap. For the first point, I was banking on there being so many magic appliances in Orario that people would just blame the tingling on some appliance of higher than normal potency. And the second, how likely was it that someone was chanting magic outside of the dungeon? And on that note, how many would have the balls to speak out?

If we got home without a hitch, then I was willing to bet Orario had a pretty high tolerance for unnatural shenanigans. What I'd give for a tool to turn invisible though. We already had magical appliances and unbreakable swords after all, how hard could it be to make an invisibility cloak? Though it'd be nice if said cloak could also mask scents and sounds and heat too. Even better if even magic signatures could be masked.

That'd be a total game changer though, but not really for the best of reasons.

Daffyd caught something from the air. He showed it to us: a crumpled piece of paper. I felt my bowels sink to my toes. Somebody found us.

We looked at each other and he nodded before starting to open it.

"No sudden movements," I said with a smile. "Just keep walking."

Arcs shrugged with a sigh, and Claire frowned before saying something about there not being enough good places for clothes. Our steps kept on with a grim determination.

Daffyd unfurled the sheet and read out not too loud, "Congratulations on a job well done, Loki familia. If you'd be so kind, I'd like to offer my own congratulations."

We looked around, and lo and behold, there was a terribly suspicious person all in black waving to us from a ways away by another side street. It didn't take any telepathy for all of us to agree on the next course of action.

Heads up Loki, someone followed my group.

Where are you?

Halfway to the Hostess from Babel along Adventurer's Way.

I'll send Finn.

That'd be appreciated. The target is a guy in all black robes. We'll meet up with him by the right side of the main street by the side alleys.

Take care, Tom.

Cold sweat trailed down my back and soaked my feet as we walked closer to the beckoning figure. What we were doing may not have been the best idea, but it was what we did I guess that was the real crux of the issue. It was the price we paid for insuring the negotiations, but making trouble here made no sense whatsoever. Blackmail perhaps? If so, then this guy probably had backup nearby.

We arrived to where the guy called us to, and a wave of their hand beckoned us further into the alley. Daffyd took point followed by Arcs, then me, then Claire. The alley opened to a small space just large enough for us all to see eye to eye—or in this case, see the black robe's masked face.

"I apologize for calling out to you like this," robes said with a smooth and deep voice. "But you must understand how difficult it is to appear in such"—he gestured at himself—"drab clothes."

I nodded. "I understand, not a lot of people go for the tall, dark, and lanky."

"Unfortunately," robes said. "I take it you are wondering why you're here?"

"And I take it you'll be telling us soon?"

"A fair assessment," robes said.

Claire shifted from foot to foot, and slowly, Daffyd's hand inched for his blade.

"I would appreciate it if we could avoid a fight?" He brought his gloved hands up to indicate he had nothing on him, but it was suspicious how his loose sleeves didn't roll down.

"Please understand it's not easy for us to bring ourselves to trust any of your words."

"I understand," he said with a bow. "Now then, first, congratulations are in order." He clapped without any sounds. "If I weren't who I was, it would've been terribly difficult to follow you after that interesting performance."

"I'm sorry but I don't know what you're talking about."

"Please," robes said, "let's not mince words here, Thomas."

Dude knows my name.

Well, shit.

Well if that didn't want to make me shit my pants. The others tensed, and I took a deep breath to try and shake off the surprise. "Please don't tell me something cliché like: Tom, I am your father."

Robes crossed his arms. "Perhaps I should have gone with the other group…"

Daffyd gave me the stink eye.

I cleared my throat. "Err, please continue."

"Thank you," robes said. "If you'd be so kind as to send this message to your captain, I would highly appreciate it."

"It's fine," a familiar tenor said.

Robes looked up.

"You can tell me yourself," Finn said.

If robes freaked out, then he made a good show of not giving a shit.

Holy crap, Loki, he made it!

I want that bastard tied up and presented to me on a silver platter.

Noted.

"A pleasure to meet the Braver." He bowed.

"And to whom do I owe the pleasure?" Finn asked with an angelic smile.

"You may call me Fels," he said.

Finn didn't come down from his vantage, forcing Fels to look up to him—and to take his eyes off us. Daffyd already had his hand on his dagger, and I was ready to bust out Despair in the hopes of disabling the guy before he got away. Regardless of whether the mental statuses took hold, the weakening effect was still something to behold.

"Nice to meet you Fels," Finn said. His eyes lost their light. "Now talk."

The pressure that reached my toes was enough to make me want to vomit, and finally, Fels's unshakeable visage twitched. "I was to offer a quest in need of your services, and the payout will more than help with your coming expedition."

"Am I to assume you're from the guild?" Finn said.

"If it makes you feel better," Fels said with a chuckle. He produced a folded piece of paper from his robes and held it out.

Careful and cautious, I stepped out to take it, my magic ready to burst at a moment's notice.

"I mean you no harm, Thomas," he said.

I took the paper from him.

Fels turned to Finn. "Please read it in the company of your goddess, she would want to see the contents of that. I will arrange for the payment to be made once the mission is accomplished. Please hurry, time is of the essence."

And just like that, he disappeared in a cloud of shadows.

Finn dropped from the roof to where Fels stood and swept the spot with a kick. He frowned. "I can't sense him anymore." He looked at me. "Shadows?"

I shook my head. "That looked like teleportation magic to me, and sorry, I couldn't feel much from it." What went without saying was that the guy could be the link to what I needed to implicate the guild. But then again, if we had a teleporter then that could also just as easily mean anyone. At best though, it meant teleportation was possible. And I wanted it.

Finn bit his thumb. "Let's get the others quickly and head home."

We didn't even bother anymore with the precautions and had everyone run for the manor, with Daffyd breaking off to get the others waiting at the Hostess. Finn carried me on his back. Indignation aside, we had something huge in our hands. As Finn ran, I opened the letter.

Loki, heads up, here's the message.

"We have an urgent matter in Rivira. We suspect that someone who has killed a level four without contest is currently there and in pursuit of a package that was in the victim's possession. The reward is five hundred million Varis, and we will consider the quest accepted once you retrieve the yellow flag near the keystone of the Dungeon entrance archway. We will arrange for the payment in exchange for the package at a later date. The package is a large pearl wrapped in cloth."

Got all that?

"Loki," I said. It was a simple system we devised to indicate who was talking through me at the time. "What you read fits what Riine and Narvi just told us."

"What's that?" Finn said.

"Loki. There was a murder in Rivira and the place is in chaos right now. Bors is shaking down everyone in the town to find the culprit."

"Thomas. That's not gonna work, he just ended up giving the killer a time limit."

"I agree," Finn said, "I'll need Riveria and Bete at least to come with me. Anyone else in the eighteenth floor?"

"Loki. None from us. Aiz and the others went ahead, Riine and Narvi volunteered to relay the message so we'd know."

"Thomas. You guys think this could be related to that terrorist attack?"

We arrived at the manor with Bete, Riveria, Riine, and Narvi waiting with our gear. Loki was also there with Gareth and Riine. I received my equipment and got changed into the sturdier armor and secured everything into place with my harness and weapons. Gareth didn't bother with my great sword for now in favor of a proper shield.

"I'm deciding against my better judgement to let you go with them," Loki said.

"I know, but I need to anyway. Who else would keep their sorry asses safe from the horrors of the Dungeon?"

Loki cuffed me on the head before saying, "Finn, you make sure this little shit comes back alive, alright?"

He nodded, and said, "Understood, we'll head there as fast as we could. Narvi will guard Thomas, and Riveria, Bete, and I will move to engage. We'll relay whatever we find to Thomas."

"I still don't like this," Gareth said.

"Neither do I." But that wasn't the whole truth. However, now wasn't the time to screw around. We had to do the bidding of some stranger who knew my name and identified my group from our time near the Soma familia. That was either the work of a powerful information network or a dedicated mark on me. There were other possibilities however, but right now, those were the two most feasible explanations. And neither were any good.

Not to mention I was gonna go down to some floor I clearly wasn't strong enough for and had no prior experience with without a proper plan for any back up.

"We'll form up reinforcements as people come back," Loki said. "I'll tell you when we can send Daffyd and the rest at our soonest." Loki sighed. "The earlier we get this over with the better."

Our group of five nodded.

#

We entered the Dungeon with dust clouds behind our backs.

Bete was the one carrying me this time while Finn took point. We were in a linear formation with Finn in front, followed by Bete and me, then Riveria, and finally Narvi at the very back. Our vanguard batted away any monsters that got in our path with his spear as the ground blurred beneath me.

Wind whipped against my face and Bete didn't care much for making the ride any easier.

"We're heading straight for the eighteenth," Finn said. "Bete, try not to kill Thomas on the way."

"Tsk," my untrustworthy steed said.

"The plan is to retrieve the package but expect trouble. That Fels character knew exactly what he was asking for when he went to us, and I'm not too happy learning they needed my help specifically."

"Clear," everyone said.

"Thomas, no shenanigans alright?" Finn said.

"I swear."

We passed by the occasional party of adventurers down the entrance but soon enough broke away as we went deeper in. The familiar twists and turns of the first floor melted away under the four's blinding pace. We easily reached the stairs in a minute or so and together they vaulted for the length of the descent, landing with practiced ease down the second floor and tearing the ground up some more. The second floor became the third, and that became the fourth.

Each level above only took a couple or so minutes and a few sweeps of Finn's spear to bat away the monster that got in our way.

The fifth floor was taking longer, but only because of sheer size. There were a few parties fighting valiantly along the side paths, and a gathering of monsters from a nearby room, but all of that we simply ran from faster and faster away. Bete easily kept up with Finn and Riveria despite the load he carried, and thankfully Narvi wasn't left behind.

Thomas, I sent Daffyd and others to you, they'll get to the eighteenth in a bit. Wait with Narvi at the mouth of the entrance.

Copy that. Reporting it to the others now.

Thank you.

"I received a message from Loki, Daffyd and the others are coming from behind. They should arrive a couple more minutes behind us."

"Good," Finn said. He kicked a stray stalagmite into a group of war shadows and blew them all away, allowing us to pass through the crowd without an issue.

The fifth gave way to the sixth, the best sign being the change in hue of the floors. Frog shooters were thrown around, killer ants bit the dust, and needle rabbits weren't even a concern. The monsters tried their best to give Finn even a moment's delay but all they got were their lives—or non-lives taken from them. Finn's spear was a blur in his hands, and the few flashes I managed to see in his flurries all led to a number of monsters dead in one sweep.

The seventh floor didn't even get to create a monster parade like I usually did, and even with the faster spawning of killer ants did everything still die against the storm of blades that was Finn. Riveria also occasionally contributed to our point man, stabbing monsters in the face with her trusted and ornate staff.

Next was the eighth floor, then the ninth as soon as we finished that. The smarter goblins and kobolds weren't even a match for our group, and again everything that didn't die got a face full of ground or wall, which eve surface was more convenient at the time.

"Finn?" I said. "Are you sure you can keep killing everything in front of you?"

"It's alright," he said. "They aren't tiring me out. And think me doing this to get used to my body—things have changed, it seems." At that he punched a goblin that literally exploded. And so did the next kobold and goblin.

"It happens sometimes after a level up," Riveria said. "It takes some time to get your bearings again after spending a lot of time on that level. And a level up brings out not just another number but, but also a certain increase in quality to the adventurer."

Finn kept his one-man massacre up, and the ninth floor came into view. It was a simple place with nothing special to it and besides its size, the faster spawning of the smarter goblins and kobolds still didn't mean they were smart enough to turn tail and run like hell. The tenth floor came not a moment too soon.

Orcs died as they rose, and hard armoreds barely twitched before they all died to Finn's spear. The mists surrounding us seemed to stay away from our level seven, or was it that he was simply moving so fast the condensation literally couldn't touch him?

Thomas, where are you guys now?

Tenth floor, almost to the eleventh. Sup?

That Fels character, you said he teleported?

I think so, he just up and disappeared. And Finn couldn't feel him anymore.

I see. That's all then.

We reached the eleventh floor shortly. The infant dragon was nowhere to be seen. And so it was that we simply tore through the open fields.

The twelfth floor was still the same gloomy area with shit visibility but all that didn't even faze the group I was with. We crossed the mists with reckless abandon, and apes died left and right as Finn didn't even let a single one get near our group. The reach of his spear was just that extensive, and his handling even more so.

Soon enough, I saw the stairs I had yet to reach.

The thirteenth floor.

We jumped down and landed at a run.

Where the first through ninth floors were the stereotypical cave networks and semi-structured walls, and the tenth through twelfth were the domed open field floors, the thirteenth was instead this sprawling mess of stairs, halls, and stone formations. There were ledges along the walls that served like floors within the floors, and no doubt there weren't just open areas.

On the floor above, Finn just swatted the monsters away when he could and killed only whatever got in our way.

A large rabbit hopping on two legs was split in two together with the large dog with it, then another dog, then another. This went on for all the other monsters we met, and it took only a second to figure out. A plume of flames came our way, breathed out by one of the dogs but it died after eating a stalactite.

He was really enjoying breaking stuff off in the Dungeon.

The rabbits held these one-handed stone axes and Finn would grab the opportunity to take some for himself after each wave he killed—so he could throw them back around to the monsters still blocking our path.

We pushed straight through the halls for what felt like a solid effort of at least twenty minutes of dedicated running. We then made a few dizzying turns before reaching a large staircase, this one for the fourteenth even if I didn't know better. And good lord, even without my phone, all that went on from the first to now was still not even an hour long. Whereas I would've needed at least a solid three or four hours just to get through.

The fourteenth floor was an even messier jumble of stone and jagged edges.

A new monster also showed up, this one a large worm with rows of teeth. It was easily large enough to swallow a person whole, and what's worse was how they effortlessly buried into and out of the ground without warning. Together with the rabbits and dogs though, it was a nightmare to think of just having to guard between the axe wielding rabbits, the fire breath, and the surprise worms.

We reached the stairs to the fifteenth in fifteen or so minutes.

They jumped down again and first thing I saw was a buff as hell minotaur wielding a stone halberd—but it was also easily bisected by Finn's spear. And quickly replaced by another five behind. They were absolutely relentless with how fast they spawned though, and the occasional dog was an unwelcome sight since they appeared safe and well behind the brutes. The minotaur's thick hides powered through the doggy flame breath, and more than once were we caught in the after wash of fire.

Rather, I was caught in the wash of fire. The people I were with were high levelled enough to just shrug off the attacks. I had to put out my burning hair each time. That fire was gonna be a problem in the future, and those minotaurs came at a rate way faster than even the goblins from the eighth and ninth floors.

The sixteenth floor came without warning, the gradual slope barely registering the change from the previous floor.

Here, minotaurs spawned even faster, coming in droves and easily forming a crowd—or was it a herd? They easily formed a monster party within a minute or so of uncontested spawning, but the dogs all but stopped spawning though so that was a small mercy.

However, winged tigers took their place. And they were the size of horses and were just as tall as the bipedal minotaurs on all fours.

These took a bit more oomph from Finn's spear, but even then, they still fell like flies against his strength. Here though, Narvi started to have to contribute to the fighting since Bete was more concerned with making sure I didn't hit the ground at speeds mortal legs normally didn't have any right of keeping pace with.

Lygerfangs, Riveria called them. But I called them nightmares. Once I reached back here though, I'd make sure to ride of those flying things just for the heck of it.

Then, then came the seventeenth floor, and gone were the mazes of stone, and replaced with a wide expanse of a whole lot of nothing and rocks. The ground was uneven and jagged, and just walking already looked like a chore. Off in the distance was a large arched hole against a pearlescent wall of light and ranks upon ranks of winged tigers and minotaurs spawned to block the way, and still they all fell like meat to the grinder.

All this killing of monsters well beyond the floors I frequented easily meant an income of a few hundred thousand each run, but how much did it really take to make a killing? Was a party of four or so an efficient size? Did Loki and my estimation of efficient hunting parties really pan out? And was everyone okay even with this sudden fuck up with Fels and the eighteenth floor's town?

There were too many questions that would only birth even more questions.

We easily passed through the arch—and after a while of dimmed brilliance, saw a lush forest illuminated by a chandelier of colossal glowing crystals that shone like the sun. And, in the middle of it all was an enormous tree that reached for the sky. I mean, ceiling.

And all that, however, was currently being overrun with gigantic plant monsters in vibrant colors that stood out against the normal vegetation.

The party stopped in its tracks.

"These are those same monsters from the sewers," Bete said. He spat.

"Narvi, Thomas," Finn said. "Prepare to fall back in case things get serious."

I got off Bete's back and settled my feet on this floor I haven't earned the right to stand on yet. The grass beneath our feet was soft, and the ground was loose soil underneath. All around was the fresh smell of spring time and save for the titanic rampaging monsters off in the distance, this place would've been a feast for the eyes.

"Thomas," Finn said. "Wait here for the others before coming nearer. None of you are to engage in close combat, instead focus on letting the mages get their spells in. The plants react to magic, so you'll have to dance around for a bit before the pay-off."

"We understand," Narvi answered for us. She met my eyes and gave me a nod, and I took off the shield on my back and equipped my short sword. I knew full well how these things were equivalent in strength to a level four, and even then their bodies made it even more difficult to defeat them with how hard they were. With luck though, the caterpillars wouldn't be here, but just the sight of them easily confirmed this incident was related to the earlier ones.

And that Fels too had some hand in this.

Riveria and Bete nodded as prepared themselves.

"We'll be going on ahead then," Finn said with a smile and a salute. "You mind keeping shop?"

"I just hope I don't end up shitting my pants."

Narvi stepped away from me.

"Then it's a good thing you've got brown ones on," Finn said.

Then as one, the three leapt towards the distance, easily clearing the short expanse of forest between us and the shanty town in shambles.

Okay, that was pretty darn cool. I turned to Narvi. "Should we hide?"

"We should be far away enough," she said. "Right now I'm more worried about what might come down that hole." She pointed at the eighteenth floor's entrance. "I also don't know if the others are fine, or if these things are also present in the lower floors."

Ah, right. I really should've thought of that.

Loki, the plant monsters are here. Fels has some connection to whatever's causing this, maybe in cahoots, maybe not. Either way, we have three related incidents so far.

That's not really what I wanted to hear. But not like we weren't expecting it, right?

A plant fell from a distance, followed by a few more dropping like writhing slithering logs. Those things towered over the already large trees in the forest, and where I stood I could barely make out the flashes of light from Bete and Finn's weapons, but the real crux was the magic circle darting around the place—and then came the pillars of fire.

I think its time to tell Freya about this?

Way ahead of ya. I'm heading to her place as we speak. To take Rivira like that out of the blue and with such huge numbers, this can't escape the notice of the other gods anymore. And this is also getting way larger than it has any right to be.

The pillars of fire came roaring further, cutting a deep swath of destruction against the ranks of the plant monsters. More of the plants came toppling down from the other side, together with a few trees taking to the air as collateral. Bete and Finn were nigh literally tearing up the place, and it made my knees weak just thinking I was teasing that idiot of a wolf.

I really needed to rethink some of my life choices.

Ya think?

Not that I'd had a chance to, no.

Fair enough.

"Thomas," Narvi said. She had her sword and shield out. "Please stay behind me."

I turned back to look and saw this huge bear thing with a head too big for its body. Yeah, I wasn't even gonna try and throw myself at it. I didn't see anything of that kind from the earlier floors so it didn't take much thinking to figure out it came from here or a deeper floor.

"I'll stay out of your way."

"Thank you," she said with a smile—before bisecting the creature from the face down.

Lo and behold, Thomas, this was the girl who saw you half-naked that one time in Loki's room: rumormonger, probably a really bad liar, and can cut monsters in two while looking cute doing it.

Man, this place was bullshit.