Chapter 9

"On my mark then," Finn said, biting his thumb.

Rakta carried Lili, and Brynmor carried me. I held fast to his shoulders. He nodded. Sweat trailed down my cheek. The place was damp, and the low light of the flowers gave everything an eerie glow. I couldn't see much further than a few meters ahead, and only with enough effort was I able to see the Violas. Finn and the others though, I guess they could see more, which then called to attention how the status buffed up the senses or whatever.

But that was a story for another day.

"One…"

Narvi and Daffyd readied their swords and shields. These two were in front of my and Lili's chaperones and in hindsight, it would've been safer to meet up with Bete and the reinforcements first and to leave us two weaklings behind. But we didn't know whether we had a time limit or not after already finding the wall or if this lead would just disappear or something. We failed the mission Fels gave us earlier, and it nagged at the back of my mind whether things would've been better or not if we succeeded.

This felt like a chance at redemption more than anything. Caution was the better part of valor, but we still had a level seven even after everything. And if he couldn't take it… well, any hopes of going home after that would be, not as easy.

"Two…"

I slowed the rush of breath, stilling the hammering in my chest as time ground to a snail's pace.

Tione brought out a pair of kukri shaped short swords, and Tiona flourished her stupidly large double-bladed slab thing. If she were compensating for something, then it wasn't working too well because swords were intended as flattened implements and that just didn't help the cause. Really. She should've gone for a hammer or maybe a pair of flails if she didn't feel like being subtle.

Shush you, let her do her thing.

"Mark!"

Time lurched forward as a wall of wind crashed against my face and Aiz became a blur of silver and steel burning towards the Violas.

Tione and Tiona didn't lose in speed behind her, the three's blades glinting against the pale glow as our group shadowed their thundering charge. I'd already figured my weapons secured but at the frantic pace we tore at, my three pieces threatened to come loose at any moment. I tightened the straps by my thighs and kept one hand on the great sword's hilt.

"Brace!" Finn said. He pointed up and forward with his spear.

Countless mouths burst from the walls and ceiling with a rhymeless rhythm of cracking stone, each one crowned by a dark mane of purple and decked out with a nightmare of teeth. Their thick trunks twisted and converged towards the vanguard in senseless arcs as the fleshy cover tore where they sprouted from.

The blonde jumped first, her rapier wrapped in wind.

After wielding magic myself, I found there was only so much it could do. My magic moved with a predetermined freedom relative to my will, in that I could move it however I wanted as long as it was capable of it. I could control how dense the mist was and in how much of me was covered, and from what I'd seen of Lefiya's Fusillade Fallarica, the bolts could bend to some extent, but it was still a spray and pray kind of deal.

Aiz's, however, was just plain bullshit.

She could use it to reduce wind resistance, create shields of fast moving wind, extend the reach of her blade, even make a tornado to funnel crap into pelting me. That sort of flexibility was bordering—no, was actually overpowered for a non-mage. Yes, I could drive monsters—and maybe people—insane if they touched my mist-flame thing, but I couldn't use it like a shield or for transportation or fuck all whatever I thought of. It was too free and flexible for the power it outputted, and no amount of grinding was ever gonna turn a fira spell into a super Saiyan mode barring a few very special instances.

Aiz slashed.

The wall of Violas was cleaved in two and a long gash etched out on the ceiling. What few monsters survived her opening act were diverted to the twins from the wake, Tione and Tiona both unleashing a flurry of attacks that destroyed the monsters where they passed. Tiona somehow kept swinging the goddamn thing around expertly enough as she spun and slashed, and seriously, how was she not hitting herself with that?!

Thomas, focus.

Spoil my fun, why don't cha.

I need to know what's happening. As accurately as possible.

Ugh. Fine.

Aiz and her unbreakable blade separated the monster's heads from their bodies with quick and short strokes, not a single millimeter out of place.

There weren't a lot of monsters a sharp and tough enough blade swung fast enough couldn't cleave through, and it showed with how well Aiz and the twins were chopping up the Violas. Narvi had a lot of trouble just fighting these things, but the jump in status between her and them showed through the ease at which the blonde sliced through the tough stems.

A Viola broke away from the initial mess and was promptly split by Finn's spear.

And still they kept coming, the should've been short journey to the crystal was marred by the horde that grew around us.

I chanced a look back, and where we'd passed, the flopping bodies left behind were pushed out by new Violas. Whether there were just that many or they regenerated was a question we'd find out later.

I'll get Freya's help.

Please and thank you, and please also give us an estimate once you get them.

Over and out. Good luck.

"Loki's gonna call for help to get Bete to come for us," I shouted over the mess of shrieks and death throes. "I'll get a time estimate later."

"Good!" Brynmor said.

"Don't get too complacent!" Finn said.

We outran the Violas behind us by a good few seconds, enough for them to stay just behind. But that was it, they were just behind us and we effectively pulled them all into the eventual dead end we all knew would come only too soon. These weren't a bunch of ants I could just throw myself at, these things had the potential about a level four, and not even all of us here could reliably destroy these things.

Riveria saw me look back. She did too. "My turn."

Riveria raised her staff as we ran.

Finn hopped over to just behind her and Narvi and Daffyd closed-up in front of her. Brynmor and Rakta moved to the space between Riveria and Finn, and Lefiya and Cadoc opened their rank to give her space.

"Go," Finn said.

A more intricate circle of light came to life beneath Riveria's feet, as the entire space filled with the presence of mana. "The flame will soon be released. Creeping war, unavoidable destruction."

My hairs stood on end just being so close to her.

The Violas behind shot forward in desperation but couldn't quite catch up, and the ones in front came harder at Aiz and the twins.

More fell from the ceiling.

Aiz and the twins renewed their assault, a frantic energy coming to life as they kept back the relentless horde coming from the front.

When one plant fell, two more took its place. A seemingly unending conga line of vibrant death marched to their deaths in the hopes of causing ours. Chunks of monster fell in droves, some bursting to ash, some not. We couldn't really tell which ones had already died besides what stopped moving.

"This is madness!" Brynmor said.

"Lili really wishes she just stayed in bed today!"

Our laments were just murmurs against the majesty of Riveria's might.

"The horn of battle sounds aloud, the cruelty of conflict will envelop all."

Finn jumped into a spiral of Violas, their bodies intertwining into a twisted congregation that mirrored their forms. A hundred mouths came together, each one like a tooth to a great maw.

But he was equally just as absurd.

His spear twirled into a blur, and the mock of a monster was ground away into a shower of dust.

"Come, crimson flames, the ruthless inferno. You are the avatar of hellfire."

The circle changed from a pristine white to a sinister red.

Trembles transmitted all throughout the cavern even as Brynmor expertly ran without stumbling or hesitation. Richly colored magic stones fell from the sky and littered the ground like the first hours of dew in the morning.

"Hang on," he said.

I clutched tight against him.

Riveria's voice echoed louder than the shrieking plants. "Sweep completely, bring a close to the great war. Burn them through, Sword of Surtr - my name is Alf."

She breezed through the last verses of her chant with a fluid grace that smoothed over the harsh terrain we trod over, not a single syllable or line unbroken as the magic swelled and swelled, the weight of it bordering nausea.

Riveria pointed her staff at the creatures behind us.

With a whisper of hell fire, she said, "Rae Leavateinn."

The space between us and the monsters behind exploded with bright fire near blindingly white and howled as it tore through the passage we passed and continued off to glass the rest of the way back. This was the spell she fired off how many times back in Rivira, the same one that caused pillars of fire to erupt so high up.

And seeing it up close, hell, Lefiya wasn't even near that.

Blackened husks, mere former shells that crumbled from the tremors were left behind, and the fleshy covering was all just carbon in the wake of Riveria's magic.

They weren't growing back.

"I think we're clear for escape!"

Nods came from those around me.

Finn took back the helm of the formation.

It took a minute or so of more Violas, until we reached the end of the cave system and the cavern opened into a dome-like room. The ceiling was so high up that only shadows could be seen. Inside, the crystal we sought was covered by a large plant that overshadowed the monumental structure that reached all the way up to the covered sky. The parallax between the target in question and the walls behind felt enough to give it a horizon like feeling.

I'd already heard the Dungeon grew the deeper one went, but this just plain didn't make any sense. Were we in another dimension or something? I didn't have that good of a mental map nor a sense for space but this much volume underground didn't translate at all to the sense of depth I'd had coming down here.

Did the Dungeon even have proper real-world geometry? Magic?

"That's not right," Cadoc said.

The creature was easily large enough to wrap itself around the gigantic crystal five times and its vines snaked about and traced lines along the air, their ends alight with some pink glow. Its stem was so thick that even from where we stood at about a couple hundred meters away, I could still make out the scales that made its body up.

The rest of it seemed to dissolve into the ground.

"I guess we know now what we'd been standing on all this time."

And it wasn't a comforting thought.

If the sight wasn't enough, what hit harder was the stench of some indescribable odor that pierced through the senses, like rotting flesh and literal shit.

But then the Violas stopped attacking.

"Lili's got a bad feeling about this."

The countless ones still by the ceilings, walls, and floor all converged where the gigantic plant was, a thousand mouths or more hissing in unison as they skittered and crawled over each other. They put their bodies up against its thick stem, covering it with layers of monster, the vibrant flowers contrasting against the lighter color.

Aiz and the twins fell back into formation.

The monsters stood their ground, as one pointed at our direction.

"They're protecting it," Finn said.

"Should we bombard them with magic?" Narvi said.

Lefiya readied her staff.

The spectacle of the horde coiled around the large one… like workers ready to lay their life down for the queen. It was a foreboding that had no clear outcomes, all chances just as ominous as the next.

Finn was biting his thumb again.

"A colony?" Rakta said.

"It seems like it," Brynmor said.

"This couldn't have been coincidence," Riveria said.

The ground shook.

"Lili did not like the sound of that."

Echoes rumbled from all around, the passage we came from, the pantry, the ceilings and the ground all the same. Dust came loose from the ceiling and yet the monsters stayed their course.

"They're… not protecting it," Aiz said.

"What?" Tiona brandished her weapon.

I swallowed hard. "I… think they were waiting."

"Well, that can't be good," Tione said.

The rumbling came louder—and like a bunch of idiots, we all looked back at the same time.

A glowing red orb was flying at us with a speed too fast.

"Jump!" someone said.

We all dove and slid down to the pantry proper.

And found the eye connected to a large body that took up the entire space of the passage we came from.

Its hulking humanoid form looked like a suit of armor covered in jagged green scales, its one glowing eye moved about in a dark slit. It looked like an organic zaku minus a gun and shield that even the size was just right for it.

It jumped up into the air.

"Lili was so much happier back when she was only in the first few floors!"

The zaku came hurtling down from above and landed faster than all of us could dodge.

It raised its fists up high.

"Look out!" Finn swept his staff and pushed the group to the side, the shock of it rocking my head inside my helmet.

Hammers the size of boulders crashed down.

The Dungeon floor collapsed in one go and we fell through open air with the rush of wind in my ears and an entourage of boulders and dust. Brynmor kept a firm hold on my person, and I could just make out some movements in the dust.

"Hang on, Tom!"

We broke through the cloud of debris, and through the tears and shock, I saw a gigantic waterfall hurtling white bubbling water down from some hole that should've connected to the twenty-fourth floor but made no sense where or how it even fell.

Finn had Lili in tow and they caught up with our falling forms.

"We fell through the twenty-fifth floor!" Finn said.

He threw out a rope at Rakta and Daffyd and pulled them in, Narvi, Lefiya, and Cadoc followed after.

Aiz and the twins and Riveria pushed off from the rocks falling with us, clearing our path of descent of debris as well as regrouping with the rest.

"Everyone accounted for," Tione said.

None of us were too badly hurt save for the gash along Cadoc's arm. He downed the contents of a potion and spat it at the wound.

It closed like—it closed with fucking magic. Right, I keep forgetting.

Three distinct layers of thick rock separated the space we were falling through, the first one littered with round pools filled with greenery at the sides, the second a swirl of rapids that twisted and turned and led up or down in a senseless flow, and the bottommost layer was a lake that the great waterfall fed into. Each layer was so far separated from each other that I could have placed Hubert and Hubert's forty storeys on each floor without their roofs touching the ceilings.

"At this rate we'll end up hitting the bottom of the waterfall and die!"

"That's the least of our concerns Tom!" Tione said. "It's been a month since I last heard the floor boss vanquished!"

"Ah, I hate the Amphisbaena the most!" Tiona said.

"That thing's back!" Daffyd pointed at the ceiling.

The zaku widened the hole we came from and dropped down together with a coating of Violas.

"More new species!" Lefiya said.

The humanoid fell through the air and tore off its arm.

"Well that's just dumb…"

No blood spurted out, and where the stump stretched out and came off, a new arm grew into place and the one it held in its hand shifted in mass and grew vines into a distinct axe-like shape.

We were still falling but seeing the damn thing do that just really took the cake.

"You were saying?" Rakta said with a flat stare.

Lili was just plain screaming.

"It just gets better and better!" Narvi said.

The Zaku reared back.

"Get ready!" Brynmor said.

And threw its axe at us.

"Dodge!" Finn swept his spear.

The sweep drove our group apart in time to dodge the gigantic weapon that flew straight into a just as gigantic pillar and cleaved through it like a carrot snapped in half.

Stone and dust exploded, the rest of it falling together with the portion of ceiling we fell with and hit the bottom of the basin. A sizeable plume of water shot upwards.

"We have no choice but to land at the twenty-seventh!" Riveria said.

"Aiz!" Finn said.

On cue, the blonde wrapped herself in wind and collected our scattered party, her gentle magic kept us together and the smaller debris away.

Another axe flew in, but she easily diverted us into a harmless arc.

Tiona passed her a bright blue potion. She downed it in an instant.

We neared the water.

Aiz raised her hands and directed it down with a mighty thrust, disturbing the surface with a jet pillar of wind that churned the clear waters into a boil.

We crashed into a cushion of bubbles and cold.

A rush of breathless milliseconds passed, and I soon found myself getting dragged by my collar over jagged and wet stones, coughing up whatever else I breathed in or swallowed as the distant rumbling and crashing played accompaniment to my doom.

I threw up the rest of what I'd swallowed until a big hand pulled me away and I found myself soaring through the air, the sky and ground upending one another before I crashed against the ground.

"Get up!" someone said.

"Run!"

I shakily got to my feet and was swept away before glass clinked against my teeth and a bitter liquid burned down my gut.

I opened my eyes to a scene of destruction, the zaku was standing atop the water shin deep and just a few tantalizing meters away but still very much gigantic against everything else. It towered over me like a titan, and good fucking god this must've been what it felt like to be Eren.

Tiona and Finn's weapons sparked against its jagged body, and its movements were unfettered by the depth nor the rocks that crashed against it.

It swung its axe much faster than its frame suggested.

Tiona and Finn kept it at bay while Riveria wove in and out with her magic circle following.

And just by the waterfall, Aiz was fighting against this just as gigantic Lagiarcus thing with another head for a tail while Lefiya stood on a rock with her circle out. It kept spitting out jets of pressurized water from both ends that tore through rock and air alike.

"Stupid Thomas." Tione threw away the discarded potion bottle.

"What?"

Then she threw me away—before she received a flying axe way larger than it had any right to be and diverted its course with her short swords into the wall behind her.

I flew with a lazy arc as my nuts receded so damn high up in my sack, my stomach probably met them along the way and that uneasy irritation like sensation tore a scream out from within.

"Ahhhhhhh!"

Finn deflected the axe with his spear, the monster's fist about as large as his entirety and yet he was fighting it all the same. Tione jumped into the air and diverted the axe strike meant for the captain with a kick to the side before running up its shaft and up the arm of the zaku to punch it in the face.

I rolled along the ground and stood up on shaking legs.

They're coming Tom! Gareth and the rest are on their way! Just hold out for thirty minutes!

Near the lake was the rest of the party surrounded by an encirclement of fishmen, giant crabs, and these floating crystals that shot out lasers. Narvi broke away from the group and tore a path towards me against through the falling Violas. Brynmor quickly closed the ranks with Cadoc and Daffyd covering for a downed Rakta whom Lili was feeding the contents of a potion to.

Fuck.

A merman came running from the water, it towered over me and I tried to get my great sword, but it wasn't there anymore. I took out my pick to hit it away.

But it was too massive that my weapon bounced, and its spear thrust out.

The tip shot into my gut.

But the jacket stopped it dead, yet I emptied out whatever else was left of my stomach as I fell to my knees, all the air leaving me.

It raised its spear high.

Thomas!

The merman's weapon crashed down and hit the arm I stretched out in time. The vambrace took most of the shock but all the way up to my shoulders rattled like a fork in a blender.

Narvi beheaded it. "Come on you idiot, now's not the time."

She pulled me up and carried me as I struggled to get some air into my lungs. There was pain, but not as much as I expected, I guessed the adrenaline was pumping too high for me to feel any right now.

The Violas were closing in on Daffyd and the others.

Riveria's magic circle reached a fever pitch before she flew towards the zaku's face and froze it on the spot into a popsicle worthy of sinking a ship.

Tione shot towards Daffyd's group and made short work of the Violas while the level fours dealt with the small fry.

Finn dashed into the zaku with his spear and slashed at it.

The ice cracked in chunks, the scales coming undone where the shell broke.

Its one big eye burned a fiery red.

Until more boulders crashed down from the ceiling bringing with it even more Violas.

I looked up and saw the giant plant from the twenty-fourth floor still wrapped around the crystal and falling together with a network of still more Violas.

The Lagiarcus thing spun in place and its body threw Aiz away.

But Lefiya's magic completed just in time as streaks of starlight pierced into and through the beast and filled it with smoking holes.

Narvi stopped running and waved the rest over to us instead. "Look out!"

Brynmor and the others looked up too. Daffyd took both Lili and Rakta into his arms and the three brothers ran together. Tiona shot back to the thick of the fight, beating back boulders as Aiz flew like an arrow through the Lagiarcus's chest.

The zaku broke free of the ice a few armor scales lighter, its chest exposing a gigantic magic stone core.

But the wound closed just as fast.

The giant plant landed in the water with a thick wad of Violas protecting it and they spread out with the force of the impact to scatter to the lake. On one hand, the Violas started eating the rest of the monsters on the twenty-seventh floor. And on the other hand, they were eating the monsters on the twenty-seventh floor which meant they were taking in the magic of the lesser creatures.

It didn't take a genius to know that was bad.

From the giant plant, its scales grew buds along the length of its body—that later bloomed into unmistakable crowns of purple. It was birthing more Violas even so far removed from the pantry—then again, it did bring the crystal together with it.

The zaku was again armed with an axe.

Really, a pun? Now?

There's no such thing as a good time for a pun.

Exactly!

And that's why a pun anytime is just as acceptable.

That's not how it works.

"Jeebus we're so fucked right now."

"Language!" Finn said with a smile. He swooped in together with Tione and the rest, Brynmor and his brothers also finally caught up.

"Aiz and Lefiya took out the lizard thing!" Tiona said with glee. "I really don't like it."

"Bad memories?"

"We don't talk about that anymore," Tione said.

The Violas started marching—slithering towards us together with the zaku.

"It's a battle of attrition then." Finn raised his spear high. "Rejoice, everyone, looks like it's time for an adventure!"

"I'm not too fond of our odds."

"Where the hell is Bete anyway?" Narvi downed a green potion.

Daffyd and Brynmor passed their blue potions to Lefiya who took the bottles down one after the other with deathly resolve, her face turning bluer with each gulp.

She topped them off. "Why can't they make better tasting potions?!"

Riveria drank a potion herself. "I can't agree more."

The giant plant stood or erected itself or whatever, the pantry crystal crumbled in its grasp. More Violas were being birthed by the second and the zaku started to quicken its pace.

"It's running," Cadoc said.

A groan sounded out, it was Rakta waking up. "What did I miss?" Her eyes trailed over to the sprinting giant. "Why couldn't it have been a dream?!"

"Hah!" Finn laughed. "Can't you all see now's the perfect time to exceed your limits?" He raised his thumb to his forehead. "Magic spear, penetrate my forehead offering blood!"

He was bathed in a blood red light that settled into a piercing red crest between his brows.

"Finn got magic?"

"Nah, he's had that for a while now," Tiona said.

"I… can still fight," Aiz said.

"I guess even as old as I am," Riveria said with a chuckle, "my blood can still boil."

"I can't lose to the lady!" Tione said.

"For my brothers!" the Ironhands roared.

"Stop raising death flags you idiots!"

"Oh, get off it, Tom," Narvi said. "Just say something heroic already."

"Lili is repenting for all the sins she has committed in this life and the last!"

"Wait no, that's not what I meant." Narvi groaned.

"Gareth would be so jealous of us right now!" Finn said with a feral smile so unlike the calm and collected guy I'd come to know. His eyes glowed red. "Look alive everyone, we've got an adventure on our hands!"

The clash opened with a flying axe that Finn caught with his bare hands.

"What?!"

"Adventure!" he said, as the not even five-foot hobbit—parrum, whatever, borne the weapon on his tiny shoulders.

And threw it into the lake, the handle landing by his feet.

"Is it just me or did it get so hot all of a sudden?" Tione fanned herself but her eyes were firmly glued to Finn's ass.

Tiona groaned.

Finn picked up the axe again.

"Ready everyone?" He reared one leg back as the gigantic weapon took to the air.

"To finally telling Raul I like him!" Rakta shouted out.

"Rakta liked Raul?!" Tiona said.

"Focus!" Riveria snapped.

"…adventure." Aiz said with a small smile.

I wasn't about to fall here. Not like this. I let my magic swell to as much as I could, all pretense of caution and staying out of the way gone with the wind as only these guys were left. There wasn't any point to keeping my magic hidden away anymore, not with all the other monsters here already getting eaten. The weight of my weapons in my hands was reassuring. They anchored me into the now that was unfolding before my eyes.

I, Thomas, a man of the modern age of safety and no more unknown corners, was about to embark on something I never even dreamed of doing, to venture into the unknown with my life on the line.

Finn opened the fight with his giant axe going sideways and took out a great swathe of Violas with the move. While our two mages began their chants.

The plan—if it was even one—was to keep the horde and the zaku back until they finished their chants. It was a tactic as old as time and it stayed true even today: protect the artillery.

Aiz shot towards the horde like a bullet and cut through their ranks on her own.

Tione and Tiona hung back to let the Sword Princess do what she did best. The level fives and up took the front most position while I and Lili stood just in front of the mages. Should things come to it, Riveria was to run to the left and continue her chant while I was to run to the right with my magic saturated to as high as I could to confuse the Violas.

Just one spell.

Just one grand spell was what we needed.

Lili held onto her small sword and shield with shaking hands and a smile just like Finn's. As crazy as he sounded then, it still had the intended effect.

I felt brave enough to face whatever came.

Aiz rejoined the front once the tide of Violas arrived, and as one they cut down the monsters. Aiz, Tione, and Tiona maintained the front supported by Narvi and the others while Finn engaged the zaku by himself.

Cadoc was together with Lili and I, and I was to distract any monsters from the floor—besides the Violas—for him to take out in case there were too many.

The space between our ranks sometimes cracked to reveal a giant crab, merman, snake, there was even a mosquito that one time, and more of those floating crystals. All of them I set on fire with my black flames before Cadoc would split them in half with his sword.

Urchin things, turtles, harpies also eventually joined the ranks of those I'd burned and slowly but surely the bodies piled up. Lili was a dear enough to move them away where Cadoc and I prevented anything from reaching the mages.

The drone of battle went on for what felt like hours if not days.

Until our two cannons announced their preparations.

Riveria unleashed a great tornado that was as tall as the zaku which Aiz rode with her own wind and steered through the monsters ranks. Lefiya, on the other hand, unleashed Riveria's own fire magic and blasted the way forwards and towards the giant plant with fire. The tornado caught the blast and became a firestorm after Aiz left it to keep churning towards the large target.

The ranks of Violas thinned with the pass of the extreme display of magic and the firestorm eventually reached the giant plant.

Fire and wind churned for how many seconds until the mana sustaining them was fully consumed revealing a blackened silhouette, that shook off the shell of carbon and renewed its advance. It didn't die, but it stopped the mother plant thing from birthing more monsters.

Lefiya and Riveria began chanting again.

Finn's spear eventually broke.

Tiona threw her weapon to him.

Tione shared one of hers with her sister.

Aiz's wind blew less and less.

The battle line shrunk with each passing minute.

The ground of the twenty-seventh floor glittered like a jeweled road.

I couldn't feel my arms and legs anymore.

Rocks fell.

I chanced a look up and saw nothing—until the zaku thing was thrown off its feet from the hip.

The giant plant turned back, before it twitched and jerked one side to another.

Violas were torn from their legs—or was it roots in a line that quickly approached our group.

The vanguard tightened the line.

Then the zaku lost a leg and fell to its knees as it regenerated the lost limb fast enough to catch itself.

And for the first time, the giant plant screamed a horrible wail.

Lili covered her ears.

The tornado reappeared, followed by Lefiya's fire. It was the second coming of the conflagration.

And from it shot plumes of flame in different directions.

"Finally!" Narvi said.

A portion of the Violas turned tail and retreated to converge on the giant plant, while the zaku kept losing arm and leg one after the other in alternating fashion, until its back finally sank to the water.

A giant of a man towered over Finn and pierced through the thing's chest with a sword.

The zaku exploded into dust.

#

We lived to fight another day.

The brutal melee ended with the arrival of Gareth and the rest of our reinforcements, Ottar and the Gulliver brothers included. With their help, the zaku, Violas, and giant plant monsters were taken down shortly after with no one too deeply hurt.

After the danger had passed, we gave three large bags of the richly colored stones to Ottar as a cut of the loot while we stayed with the rest of the Loki familia reinforcements to collect everything we could. It was a festival of magic stones and the drops we obtained from the monsters of the twenty-seventh floor down, and thankfully the Freya familia wasn't feeling too greedy.

By the end of it all, we filled five large bags with the fist sized stones. Regardless of what purpose they might have, the guild was sure to pay a hefty sum for them.

Not to mention the report we'd be giving about the zaku and the giant plant. That was a conversation I was thankfully not gonna be part of.

Lili and I walked the way back to the manor on our own legs just like everyone else. I was part of the familia, and finally I'd done something I could say truly embodied what it meant to be part of the team.

I fought and bled just as they did, though less of the latter.

Loki herself escorted us to the Dian Cecht familia home to get our wounds checked out. The turnover of the stones could wait later. Besides some minor dehydration, a few cracked bones here and there, and some minor internal bleeding, I'd gotten off relatively scot free.

Rakta had lost quite a bit of blood and Brynmor was running on fumes and a compound arm fracture. Cadoc had a wound to the gut that was hastily sealed with a high potion that had to be reopened so Airmid could properly suture the wounds. Daffyd almost lost a leg to a Viola but kept on fighting with sheer grit. Riveria and Lefiya were both force fed potions just to keep them going, and thankfully they weren't too badly hurt thanks to our efforts.

Tiona and Tione fought at the helm of the battle, and they were pretty alright as well. Aiz was suffering from a deficiency of mana just like the two mages, but besides that, she was practically unharmed.

Finn though took a bit more work to properly heal the muscles and ligaments he tore after lifting that axe multiple times. During the fight with the zaku—which Loki had taken to calling the Vizored because of its armor-like structures, Finn's catching and throwing of the giant axes had him push himself too hard multiple times just to protect us. By the fight's end, our courageous captain was bleeding through his skin and places and covered everywhere in bruises from the internal hemorrhaging.

Good thing we got him here in time, was what Dian Cecht said. After our hospital run, and everyone was deemed fit enough not to kill themselves just walking back to the home, the elderly god finally released us with a hefty bill.

"Just another notch on the tab," Loki said.

But the number of zeros on it didn't lose to one of the durandals Finn commissioned for the coming expedition.

Back at the house, Gareth came back with a not so conventional haul of goodies. He had five books with him, grimoires he called them, along with a very substantial five hundred million in cash, a unicorn horn, some black fang, and some rings I figured just had to be magical in nature.

Gareth explained Fels offered the reward in exchange for the stones, and since the money was so good, he couldn't say no. Though it did come with another letter that asked for an investigation of the pantries of each floor all the way down to the thirtieth. That one, we knew better than to make a pass at with a casual party.

Our interests seemed to be aligned for the time being and he wasn't about to look a gift box under the lid, according to him.

We had a party that night to celebrate our triumphant return, and the drinking lasted well until the sun came up with me in the thick of it. Rakta finally came clean with her feelings and Raul was left a stuttering mess after the bunny lady's heartfelt confession. The rest of the familia though ended up exchanging coins on the spot as bets and winnings were revealed on who would say what and what would happen.

Anger was a very understandable response, but Rakta only got pissed at the ones who bet against the fulfillment of her love. Raul though, was only too dazed to react. Bete was strung up again like a piñata for calling Lili a pathetic excuse for coming down so deep when she was so weak, but the feisty little lady wasn't gonna take that lying down, so she stomped on his foot for all the good it did. Finn made sure the gesture stuck to memory.

As the sun rose on my half-naked form atop a picnic table and covered in fruit slices, I guess today was the first time I properly took a look at the people around me. Tione was hugging Lili so tight the girl seemed to be having nightmares in her sleep while Lefiya was slung over one of the potted plants. Tiona was sprawled on the floor along with Claire, Alicia, Cruz, and Narvi, and the Ironhand brothers were all asleep hugging each other.

It was a scene of chaos and stupidity, and as loathe as I was to call it what I felt it before, I was a bit more inured to the fact now.

I was home.

#

Level 1

Strength = F 374 -> D 598

Endurance = E 470 -> B 710

Dexterity = D 561 -> B 785

Agility = F 347 -> D 577

Magic = B 780 -> SS 1030

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.

Lævateinn = Adds a fire element to all attack magics.

Vindicta = Momentarily increases strength when retaliating against an attacker, the higher the damage received, the stronger the effect.

#

Just like Finn said, we went on an adventure, and the results showed for it. Rakta, Narvi, Daffyd, Cadoc and Lefiya levelled up, three new level fives and two new level fours.

Which meant another party later tonight—which was received with mixed feelings. There was the hardcore faction that included Riine of all people who were all gung ho for it, and the more conservative faction, read as the ones who go through shitty hangovers, who weren't too happy with the prospect of spending two days in a row suffering through hell. They already did it once in the few days I'd been here, so it wasn't that compelling of an argument.

I was of neither, since I didn't and don't drink enough to pass out. Okay, so the fruit slices I didn't know how they got on me, but at least I wasn't the one stripped down by the garden. That was Tiona. Though I only found out from secondhand sources.

Loki made the announcement during lunch time after we all got some proper rest and had our statuses updated. I didn't level up though, but the jump in my basic abilities was enough to make Bete laugh like an idiot and Finn to sigh in exasperation.

We stood in a semi-circle just like the last time in Finn's study with three new joiners.

Lefiya just stared at the number on the lowest part of my back. "H-how?!" she said. "I didn't even know stats could exceed S?!"

"The more you know, eh?"

"No, Tom, you're just bullshit." Finn nodded.

"I'm just amazed I'm a high executive now." Rakta was blushing up to her ears.

"You earned it." Gareth sighed. "Must've been an interesting ride, no?"

"It was," Narvi said with a blank look. She looked at the paper in her hands. "Does this mean I'm forced to spend more time with Thomas?"

Gareth put on an angelic smile. "I can finally pass that responsibility over to you."

Aiz though was pouting as she looked at the three new additions to their—our ranks.

"The lizard… wasn't enough," she said with a determined expression. She looked at Finn. "Udaeus."

Finn pursed his lips. "Well, you can… probably."

"Alone," Aiz said.

All eyes went to the captain.

"Really should've seen that one coming."

"Shush you," Narvi said.

"But that's my line!" Loki added.

"So noisy," Bete said.

"Lili has a skill now!" The tiny girl buzzed on her feet.

Daffyd shook Gareth's hand with a firm shake. "Nice to finally have a kinsman here," Gareth said. He shot a sly look at Finn who grinned back.

"Lefiya won't take long now," Riveria said with a raised brow. "Perhaps I should have her come with Thomas more."

"Don't you think that would only traumatize her?" Narvi said.

"She'll get used to it," Rakta said. "Eventually."

Loki clapped her hands. Everyone went silent. "Wow, this is just gonna keep on getting more and more hard to facilitate…"

"But it's a good problem!"

"Aye," the two dwarves said. They looked at each other before laughing.

"Okay people," Loki said. "Settle down. Alright, first order of business, Fels."

"I think he's connected to the guild!"

"I agree," Finn said.

"I just think he's creepy," Daffyd added.

"Thomas?" Loki gestured to me.

"That guy offered us cold hard cash and a few more in reward, which means they have a significant backing in terms of capital wealth. Here in Orario, we only have a few familias capable of that much excess, our familia included, we'd still need a butt ton of time to accumulate that wealth much less commission the crafting of these grimoire things you told me about."

"Could still be an independent party?" Tione said.

"I don't think so," Riveria said. "I agree with Thomas on this. This Fels person gave us three hundred for a failed mission, and now this. And we've yet to receive any missives from the Guild too…"

"Which means they're most likely aware we're currently dealing with something ourselves… aye, I see now," Gareth said.

"Missions?"

"I keep forgetting you've been here just a week and change," Loki said. "The guild gives out missions to familias for certain items or to do investigations and whatnot, sometimes subjugations for strong monsters or even to resolve some… international conflicts."

"This is that Ares character, right?"

"Did he just take a god's name in vain?" Narvi had a frown on.

"Thomas seems unaffected by the gods," Finn said. "It's rather unnerving."

"He flirts with Loki," Tione said. "What gets weirder than that?"

Nods came all around while Loki massaged her temples.

I shrugged. "Actually, I suspected the guild purely because of how people keep track of finances here in Orario. That much money changing hands is one thing, but for it to suddenly appear in someone's reports without the guild flagging it is the biggest admittance I can think of."

"Huh," Rakta said, "that… made a lot of sense." She turned to Narvi. "Do I have a fever or something?"

Loki waved her arms. "Is everyone in agreement with that conclusion?" No one spoke out. "No takers?"

"I agree," Riveria said, followed by some more affirmatives from the others.

"Next order of business then, the preparations for the expedition." She pointed at Finn. "Go."

"We're in a much better position now with the new level fives, and with this unexpected inflow, we've at least secured some funds now for after the expedition. We won't pay off the commissions yet with this and instead wait for the income from the expedition to see how we'll fare," Finn said.

"Aye," Gareth added. "Tsubaki's coming along nicely with our orders and the stocks for the backups are also slowly getting up to par, by the time the expedition starts, we should be back in working order."

"Good, good," Loki said. "Anyone else want to add?"

I raised my hand. "Is it smart to raise an expedition when we've seen these new types of monsters come along? Those Vizoreds and that giant plant—"

"Viscum," Loki supplied.

"How'd you even come up with that?"

"It's my thing."

"Do they do this a lot?" Narvi said.

"Too much," Tione said.

"Right, whatever. We'd be getting into too many unknowns and be so deep, it doesn't seem like a smart move to stick to the schedule."

"You're not wrong," Gareth said. "But that doesn't mean that we should stop everything just because of the risk."

"We're already in the business of it anyway," Riveria said. "What's a new monster or two going to change?"

"Fair enough, but we've had four new species discovered already in a span of a few days."

"And I bet we'll find more on our way down," Finn said. "Rather exciting, isn't it?"

The level sixes smiled.

"That's not very comforting."

"Adventure!" Tiona said.

"Okay!" Loki pumped her fist in the air. "Last one on the agenda, Thomas already brought it up, its about the new monsters. I'm already aware of what Thomas has been sharing—minus the commentary—but I still want to hear it from you. Gareth, the Viscum, and Finn, the Vizored."

Finn went first. "Fighting the Vizored was like fighting a stronger goliath covered in armor, it could regenerate its limbs at an alarming rate, and it could tear its arms off to create an axe. The armor was hard enough to make my weapon bounce against it, and it took Ottar and his absurd strength just to pierce through its chest. His sword broke right after."

Loki steepled her fingers. "Any plans on taking it down?"

"Magic was the most effective," Riveria added. "A quick barrage of spells would be the best way to take care of it."

"Assuming there was only one."

Everyone nodded at that.

Loki pointed at Gareth. "And the Viscum?"

"Aye, it was tough as adamantium that," the dwarf said. "I couldn't cut through it with my axe deep enough to go through, but I figure I got lucky and hit it hard enough to shatter its stone somehow."

"It could also spread out its roots or whatever and creep over the Dungeon stone to expand its birthing area."

"Was that what we were standing on in the passage?" Narvi said.

"Seemed to be," Tiona added.

"The Violas grow along its surface, but I think the Viscum needed a source of energy or whatever to fuel the process since it was attached to the pantry crystal. That probably means we could at worst expect one of those in every pantry."

"Unlikely," Finn said. "The amount we saw in the twenty-fourth floor exceeded the population we defeated in Rivira by a whole lot. Rivira would've been the amount in the passage alone, not including the ones we fought in the cavern and the new ones birthed by the Viscum in the twenty-seventh. I think this solidifies my theory that there's a tamer involved."

"It makes sense to me," Loki said. "The ones in the sewer Bete and I found was about five of those?"

Bete nodded.

"And then there was only one during the Feria," Tiona said.

"These numbers on how we encountered them," Finn said, "I think we're dealing with multiple tamers at least. One group responsible for the sewers, and another for Rivira and connected with the mission Fels originally wanted done."

That made a lot of sense.

"Anyone?"

"Any news from Freya?"

Loki shook her head. "I received a letter earlier saying they'd already checked some of the pantries from the upper levels, but none like the ones you guy found. We'll probably need to look into the others."

Which meant deeper. "Perhaps there was a minimum size for the Viscum to properly birth monsters?"

"It seems likely," Finn said.

No one else raised anything after that.

"Orders on going out of the manor don't change," Loki said, "everyone is to always have some level fours at least with them, capisce?"

We all nodded.

"Alright, run along now kiddies!"

#

Once everyone had left, I stayed behind to get Loki all alone.

Call it jealousy or whatever, but I just couldn't quite swallow it. I knew I'd earned that level yesterday, and yet nothing. I'd almost died, yet I fought just as much as Cadoc did. And my stats even grew so much! I didn't do anything wrong at all.

"Hey."

"Hey yourself." She went out of her room and sat by the balcony. "Something on your mind?"

I sat beside her and watched the courtyard brimming with life. People were playing by the grass—if playing meant crawling in agony or just lying face up with blank stares. Three things surfaced, my magic, my level, and what to do about it. The easiest one seemed the best place to start. "Yeah, how did Aiz get such powerful magic?"

"She's special," she said with a smile. "A bit like you."

"But she's not from another world, right?" Not with how… strange she was.

She tilted her head. "What brought this line of questioning up?"

That was a fair question. "You know everything about me, Loki. This shouldn't come as a surprise."

"Actually, it is."

I narrowed my eyes at her but that cute smile kinda made it harder to stay… unnerved. I'd lost steam. "Her magic is too free."

"And?"

"And she doesn't tire from using it."

"Heh, that's true." She raised a brow. "Why does it bother you?"

"I want to know how she got it, because maybe I could too. A higher magic stat would make it more likely for me to develop stronger magic, right?" She nodded. "And a better spell would allow me to grind it faster."

"You're already plenty strong Tom," Loki said. "Your skills and abilities alone, not to mention your magic. It's only been a few days."

I sighed. "It doesn't feel like a few days."

"I know, it shows on your face," she said.

"What's up with my face?"

"You look like shit."

"If any, that's an insult to your tastes."

She narrowed her eyes at me. "I'll bite you."

"Err, what's the safe word?"

Loki chuckled. "You know you don't have to rush too much Tom."

"One part of me gets that, but another wants to keep going anyway."

"You sound exactly like Aiz, you know that?" She looked to the side. "Except her I don't share part of my mind with, really, for all the time we spend in each other's heads, you still surprise me."

"In a good way?"

A blank stare was all the reply I got. "You have a lot of talent with confusing yourself, and its to the point I can't really tell what's driving you anymore. I can see what appears on the surface, that you fear not being albe to come back, or that you enjoy your time here, or that even if you do come back it might be too late, or that Freya freaks you out, or how much you wanna maybe try doing… something…"

"Yeah, no need to mention that part."

"What I mean is, what exactly is it that you want?"

"Home?"

"You're not too sure yourself." She pursed her lips. "You're confused with what to prioritize and the guilt you feel at enjoying your time here's getting more in the way than you think."

"Is that why I didn't level up?"

"I don't know, but I feel you'd be the better one to answer that question." Loki held my cheek. "Maybe you just need to stop and take a good long look before you go down the dungeon again?" She gestured at the rest of the familia. "Get to know the others, see who they are, see what they want. Maybe that'd help you settle?"

"Perhaps…"

"Try."

"I'm not exactly the most social person."

"If you can talk to Freya with a straight face, you can talk to anyone." She stared off into the distance. "Trust me on that."

"Or you know, maybe I could take some time meditating?"

"Do you want to get stuck babysitting Bete?" Loki tsked. "Because this is how you get stuck babysitting Bete."

"I heard that!" said someone from the first floor.

"Come on Tom," Loki said. "How bad could it be?"

"It always goes bad when someone says that."

"Ah," Loki said. "Why don't you go shopping for a new weapon?"

"Dude, retail therapy? Really?"

"The only people who say money can't buy happiness clearly don't know where to shop."

"Wow, this from a god…"

"Also, Freya wants to call in a favor," Loki said with a shrug.

"Oh god, what do we need to do?"

Loki took out a pale green book, it read Modern Magic even a Goblin Could Understand on the cover. "We were supposed to drop this off at the Hostess for someone to pick up later."

"Why go through all the trouble? Surely she could just have her people do it for her, right?"

"Are you seriously saying no to owing Freya one less with a simple task like this?"

"Hmm, good point." I took the book and was a tad curious on the contents.

Loki slammed the book closed in my hands. "Don't read it."

"Dude, the worst I could end up reading is some crack fic about Ganesha and… I don't know, Ottar?"

Loki cringed. "Don't ever say that again. Ever. And no, this is a grimoire, so no reading else we'll end up owing my sister like I don't know, upwards of a hundred or two million."

"Dude. They want me to leave this in a goddamn bar? Who the hell am I leaving it for anyway?"

Loki raised an eyebrow.

"Seriously, I'm drawing a blank here."

"Anyone ever tell you you ask too many questions?"

"There was that one time when Laura and I were still dating and—"

Loki held a hand up to my lips all red. "Oookay, no need to go there."

#

Really, this had bad idea written all over it. And I was compelled by honor and fear of crazy homicidal—though unproven on Laura's case—women. Okay, I had this. Just walk in, look like I had every goddamn right to be there. And leave this shit forsaken book for Freya's god knows what scheme. Really, how could anything go wrong.

"Lili didn't know Thomas's inner monologues were so… colorful."

"Thomas… language."

"Remind me again why I'm here?" Bete said. Unfortunately, Loki sicced him on my ass anyway.

"Could we get any more suspicious?" Narvi said.

"It would be prudent to just get it over with, Thomas," Lili said.

The book in my hand felt like a wad of cash dipped in gasoline and could go off any second in a grand freak accident of spontaneous combustion.

"Lili would also like to point out that talking out loud like this is only making us more conspicuous."

Bete kicked me into the bar.

I ended up crashing into this catgirl—but she handed my butt to me with a quick flourish instead. "Dear customer, nya, we're not that kind of establishment, nya."

"Err, sorry, I thought I entered an art gallery."

She looked me up and down before smirking. "Nya, nice try."

The rest of the group walked in.

"Really? Art gallery?" Lili said. She took a seat at a free table for four.

"That was horrible, Tom." Narvi gave me a pat on the back. "Too high standards only end up hurting you in the end."

One of the waitresses ooh'ed.

Bete took his seat and ordered a round of ales.

"We were just drinking last night?" Lili said.

"What's your point?" Bete said.

It was too early for a proper dinner so we only had some appetizers and snacks. I set the grimoire by my feet and we basically just made merry talking crap about that last disaster of a trip down the dungeon. Sure, we were sorta on a mission right now, but it didn't mean we'd be wasting time. We were here to control what information entered the populace as well as maybe monitor what got added to the grape vine eventually.

There were grains of truth mixed in to the crap we spouted, and if the rumors came back to us with them edited out then we at the very least knew someone was monitoring the situation in Orario. Which was either Fels, and by speculation the guild, or some other party we were yet to rat out.

We left a big tip behind and I made sure to kick the grimoire under the table a bit further in to drive the point home.

I also passed by Tsubaki's place with Narvi to commission another great sword like the one I'd lost, and she didn't mind squeezing another one in.

The day ended with another party that didn't lose out in intensity to the one just last night and again Bete got drunk.

I was beginning to think he enjoyed getting strung up like that… maybe a sub or something.

There was singing and dancing and then Loki and the other girls egged Rakta on to make out with Raul but the latter passed out drunk before anything proper could happen. Aiz, for once, had taken some fruit punch, and Lili one way or another ended up chugging tankards together with Lefiya.

Tione, as usual, was still trying to get into Finn's pants.

And thankfully Tiona hadn't lost her clothes yet, though the Ironhand brothers and Gareth and the rest of the dwarves were really singing up a storm.

I knew better than to fall for the same damned trick.

Loki passed me a drink.

I rolled my eyes.

#

I woke up buried up to my neck in the garden the following day.