Sarutahiko Familia Premise Chapter 11 (Patreon)

Hello friends and fans, Kairomaru is bringing you another chapter! Bell’s Party start making their way through the Twelfth Floor together! On the last Floor of the Upper Levels, many Monsters spawn and even the ‘pseudo Floor Boss’ Infant Dragons, the only Level 2 Monsters born on the Upper Floors, appear. While Bell, Lili, and Welf are going about their own dungeon crawling; the group of Hermes Familia, plus Ais, and the three sent to chase after them, continue on their path to figuring out the irregularity on the Twenty-Fourth Floor.

If you’d like to become a patron and get access to these chapters earlier, just head on over to Pat re on and add a /Kairomaru after the com.

Make sure to thank the patrons that make these stories possible by checking out the Patron Plaque on my profile!

So, without further delay, please enjoy.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Chapter 11 – Changes Wrought from Calamitous Talent

On the Twelfth Floor of the Dungeon, a battle was taking place. Much as they often did every day, but this one was slightly different in the speed and efficiency of one of the members of the three-man Party.

“BUHAA-” The bellow of an Orc was silenced as Bell’s chokuto nearly decapitated the Monster.

Bell never stopped moving the second his feet touched the ground from his previous leap. He dashed forward to cut down an Imp, pivoted to the side to avoid a second of the small winged Monsters, killed it with his blade, and then rushed a Silverback that had just jumped down from one of the many dead trees in the area. The ape Monster didn’t even have time to bellow or screech at Bell before its head went flying.

“RAAAHHH!!!” Three Hard Armoreds roared before rolling into balls and slapping the ground with their powerful tails, sending themselves rocketing forward as balls of spinning, sharp spikes.

“Earthly God’s mastery, Gogyō…Do!” Bell made seven quick hand signs and stomped his foot on the ground. The grassy ground shook and rumbled for a second before shooting upwards into a thick and wide wall.

THUD

THUD

THUD

The wall held firm, only cracks forming along the stone, but as Bell hopped on top of the damaged wall, he looked down and saw the three Hard Armoreds smashed against the rock. Their tough scales and speed didn’t save their soft inner parts from being crushed when they slammed into the wall.

“BUUHHIII!!!” More Orcs bellow and squealed as they came at Bell in a group.

“Back to work.” Bell said to himself and he used the height of the wall to leap at the new group of Monsters. His chokuto cut the first one from shoulder to hip, sending a large spray of blood through the air. By the time the red liquid hit the ground, Bell had already gutted the second Orc, taken off the leg of the third Orc, making it collapse with a pained squeal, and then stabbed the fourth Orc through the eye and out the back of its head. The flailing third Orc was ended as Bell stomped on its fat head with his full strength.

“Hyah!” Welf swung his greatsword through another Imp, bisecting the small Monster. Like Bell had shown him, he pivoted on the ball of his foot to face the next Monster and hacked the Silverback nearly in half, vertically. “There sure are a lot of them today!” He kicked an Imp away that had tried to sneak up on him, the Monster’s head making an audible cracking sound when it was hit by Welf’s boot.

Lili threw three senbon into an Orc’s face, blinding it and introducing her self-made poison into its body. “Worry about taking them out rather than how many of them there are, Mr. Welf!” She distanced herself from the flailing, blind Orc and readied her bowgun.

Wsh

Wsh

Wsh

Wsh

Four Imps instantly died from headshots and hit the ground.

“I know, I know!” Welf called back as he deflected the swing of an Orc’s club and then took its head off with a strong swing of his greatsword.

The blacksmith wasn’t wrong though. The Party had been fighting frequently since they’d gotten into the Dungeon early this morning, and it still wasn’t even lunchtime yet.

-Dungeon ~ Floor Eighteen-

“Oi, moron! We still don’t have a clue where Ais went! We’re heading for Rivira first!” Bete said to Filvis while reaching out for the Elf woman’s shoulder to change her course.

“Don’t you dare touch me!” Filvis lashed out. Much like the vast majority of Elves that were very particular about who they allowed to touch them; Filvis immediately rejected Bete’s touch. However, she took it much further than simply slapping the Werewolf’s hand away.

Bete caught the blade of her shortsword with his hand, his black gloves made to be resistant to slashing weapons (like Monster claws). “Ah?” His eye’s sharpened into a harsh glare at the Elf. “You must wanna die, drawing a blade on me.”

Lefiya took this instant to intervene before the situation could escalate. “Bete! Please, wait!” She held out her hand frantically. “Elvish custom forbids physical contact with the skin of other Races! That was a reflex!”

“Bit much for a reflex, yeah?” Bete looked at Lefiya while Filvis pulled back her shortsword. “I’d say there’s something wrong with her.” He walked off toward Rivira without looking back at either Elf.

Lefiya looked between Bete and Filvis with concern, feeling like the already strained Party was fraying even more. ‘Yes, that reaction was severe, even for Elves. Miss Filvis…?’

Filvis only followed after Bete in silence, much like the black-haired Elf had done the entire time they’d been in the Dungeon. It made Lefiya’s heart ache to see one of her kin so isolated and closed off.

Bete and Lefiya would ask around Rivira for information about Ais and when she’d passed through the town. It took a while, but they did finally get confirmation that Ais’s sudden and mysterious Quest had to do with the Monster horde on the Twenty-Fourth Floor. But after getting the information that they wanted from the de facto leader of Rivira, Bors Elder, the man also gave them some information on Filvis.

That was how both Bete and Lefiya learned that Filvis Challia had an unofficial nickname among Adventurers. The solo, Party-killing Elf…Banshee. For the simple fact that not only had she been the only survivor of the Twenty-Seventh Floor Nightmare, an incident set up by the Evilus back during the Great Feud that saw the massacre of dozens of Orario’s top Adventurers, but that every Party that she’d joined since had all died, leaving her as the sole survivor each time.

It now made sense to Lefiya why Filvis was so isolated and closed off. But the younger Elf wouldn’t let such a thing stand and resolved herself to reach out to Filvis and become friends. Not that Filvis would make that easy after everything that she’d been through.

-Dungeon ~ Floor Twenty-Four-

“Asfi! Take a look at this!” Lulune called out to her Captain as the Party stopped in front of a massive wall.

Asfi examined the strange wall with narrowed eyes. “It almost looks like a plant…” She turned to Ais. “Kenki, have you ever seen anything like this in the Lower Floors?”

Ais shook her head once. “No. I’ve never seen anything like this before.” She touched the wall and felt the barest of a pulse through it. ‘It’s alive…’

“This doesn’t show up on the map at all.” Lulune looked between the map they were following and the area that they were in. “I took us on the most direct route to the Pantry. This thing shouldn’t be here.”

“Falgar, Thane… Take the others and split into two squads. Check the other entryways to this Pantry.” Asfi ordered after a moment to think. “You’re forbidden from going too deep. If anything seems amiss, pull back immediately and return.”

The Weretiger and the Elf both nodded as the majority of the Hermes Familia split into two groups and headed off to check the other paths.

“I’ll go too.” Ais offered, only to be stopped by Pock.

The male Prum looked up at Ais with some annoyance. “Hold it right there. I know you’re strong, but would you stop trying to show us up? We have our own way of doing things, got it?”

“Hey, hey! You don’t need to be so harsh!” Lulune said to the Prum with a sigh.

“She’s right, Pock. You shouldn’t talk like that.” Pott said to her brother. She looked up at Ais with a smile. “You’ve been so nice to spearhead the group for us, so you should take this chance to get some rest, even if it’s only a little.” Pott’s smile turned a little less warm as she closed her eyes. “Plus, we wouldn’t want to argue later over who gets all the loot, right?”

“All of you need to be quiet!” Asfi raised her voice a bit, making Pott and Pock flinch just slightly.

It was only a short time later that the rest of Hermes Familia returned with news of the other pathways.

Asfi grimaced as her theory was proven correct. “All the other paths are blocked too. So it wasn’t an irregular causing all this trouble on the Twenty-Fourth Floor, but a mass migration of Monsters heading for the other two Pantries.”

“But if that’s the case, what’s this thing that’s blocked off access to the Pantry?” Lulune asked her Captain while looking up at the living wall in front of the Party.

“We’ll find out when we go inside.” Asfi pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

“Mhm…” Falgar agreed as the Vice-Captain, even though he clearly wasn’t looking forward to it.

Asfi pointed at a section of the living wall that looked different from the rest. “That appears to be an entryway, but I doubt that it’ll open for us.”

“Shall I cut it?” Ais asked, her hand on Desperate and a sharp glint in her eye.

“You’re all brawn, huh, Kenki?” Lulune grinned at her new friend.

Pock had his hands behind his helmeted head. “Asfi, why not have Meryl do it?”

“Very well, I’d like to see how it holds up against fire.” Asfi nodded before looking at the Prum Mage riding on Dodon’s shoulders. “Meryl, use your Magic, please.”

“Should I make it a big one?” Meryl asked with a cute tilt of her head.

Asfi looked seriously at the Prum. “Yes. With a long chant.”

Ais wondered about the way Asfi had said that. Chant lengths were dictated by the incantation of an individual spell. When it came to spells, generally, the longer the chant, the more powerful the Magic unleashed. For Asfi to tell Meryl to use a long chant meant that the Prum Mage either had multiple spells, or had some kind of unique talent or Skill that allowed her to alter the length of her chants, much like Riveria’s unique talent, Chant Connection.

As Meryl hopped down from Dodon’s shoulders and pointed her staff at the living wall. She began to chant, and as she did a glowing Magic Circle appeared beneath her feet while Magic power began to build up.

“Meryl has the Mage Developmental Ability.” Pock said to Ais as he stood next to her near the back of the group. “Don’t see that every day, do you? A Prum that’s an upper-class Magic user. She’d guaranteed to have a bright future. Talented, unlike us.” He looked up at Ais with a knowing smirk. “I’m sure you’ve already noticed that Pott and I are the only Level 2’s in the vanguard.”

“Eh…uh…” Ais didn’t know what to say to Pock’s words.

“You’re an open book.” Pock’s smirk got a little wider. “Trying to be careful around us for no good reason.” He looked at Meryl, who was still chanting. “But from now on, if you’re going to look after anyone, make it Meryl. Unlike us, she’s a precious Prum that can’t be replaced. Though she ain’t as big as that Captain of yours.”

Ais looked at Pock curiously. “You know Finn?”

Pock looked off to the side. “There isn’t a Prum who doesn’t.” He kicked the head of his mace with the side of his foot, swinging the weapon up onto his shoulder easily from the force. “I don’t know what kind of talent he was born with, but he just goes and appoints himself Prum Hero? Nobody asked for one.” Pock let out a frustrated sigh. “Making others think that Prums can do anything if they try… Doesn’t that make it seem like the rest of us haven’t tried at all?”

“…do you hate Finn?” Ais couldn’t help but ask after hearing Pock’s words.

Just as Pock was about to answer, he was cut off by a fiery explosion from the wall.

Meryl’s spell had turned the entry point into ashes, revealing that the strange plant-like wall was indeed susceptible to fire.

One by one, the Party entered through the hole and into the unknown that lay beyond it.

“Well, this is new.” Jose commented as the inside of the living wall was lit up by large flowers that glowed with a soft light. “Never seen anything like it.”

“This fleshy wall…it’s as if it’s coating the Dungeon walls, not part of them.” Tabitha mentioned as she pinched part of the plant-like material.

A strange sound from behind got the Party’s attention, but it was Golmeth that alerted everyone to the cause.

“Hey! The wall!” The fully armored man called out as the blasted open entryway healed over in seconds and sealed tightly shut, becoming a solid mass.

“It’s not like we’ve lost our way out. We just need to blast another hole through it.” Pott pointed out to ease everyone’s nerves.

Lulune nudge the fleshy walls with the toe of her boots before speaking. “Hey, mind if I say something creepy? What if these wiggly, twitchy, gross walls are really part of some Monster…and we’re walking further and further into its stomach?”

“Hey!” Keaks called out sharply, a line of sweat falling down the side of his face.

“Cut that out!” Nelly demanded with closed eyes and a shake of her head to rid herself of the image.

“That’s no joke.” Thane agreed with the other two as he adjusted his hat with a blank expression.

“Quiet!” Asfi snapped out sharply to get everyone to focus again. They needed to continue on and complete this Quest.

As the Party walked along the path of fleshy walls, the corridor eventually split into two pathways. Looking at each path, neither of them giving any hint of what lay deeper within, the group looked at Lulune.

The Chienthrope shook her head once. “It’s not on the map either. This whole area seems to have changed.”

“If existing maps aren’t useful, then we’ll need to make our own.” Asfi said simply. “Lulune, start mapping. You can include our way here so far and continue from there, right?”

Lulune reached into her waist pouch and pulled out a semi-thick stack of bound paper. “Sure thing. Got ya covered.” She pulled out a feather pen and quickly started sketching the area they’d already gone through all the way up to their current location.

Ais watched her work with amazement. “You can draw maps…amazing.”

“Hm? You think so?” Lulune smiled at Ais. “Though a compliment from the Kenki is a big honor, I am a thief, you know?” She continued mapping as the Party took one path and ventured deeper into the altered part of the Dungeon.

“But how do you know…which way is which? Compasses don’t work in the Dungeon.” Ais asked curiously.

Keaks was the one to answer as he put his hand atop Lulune’s head. “This one here has got a neat little trick! She’s a living compass! Knows which way is which no matter where she goes!”

“You’re in the way…” Lulune deadpanned at Keaks for interrupting her mapping.

“Watch!” Keaks suddenly spun Lulune around, making the Chienthrope do multiple full revolutions before she came to a stop.

“North!” Lulune pointed out instantly. She turned and moved her arms. “South! East!”

“Wow!” Ais clapped for the display of innate directional sense.

Asfi wasn’t amused and lightly slapped both Keaks and Lulune upside the head. “Stop slacking off!”

As the Party continued on, Lulune picked the conversation back up with Ais. “I keep north in mind whenever we travel and make a map in my head. As long as I’m not sailed out to sea on a dark and cloudy day or blindfolded and taken somewhere by force, I’ll never get lost.” She tapped the side of her head with her index finger. “It’s not all that hard. Anyone could do it with a little practice.”

“I can’t…” Falgar denied her words.

“Me neither.” Asfi said simply.

Keaks chuckled at Lulune. “That skill’s pretty much useless in the regular parts of the Dungeon though.”

Lulune barked back. “I go into scary old ruins outside of Orario with Lord Hermes all the time!” With Keaks told off, Lulune turned back to Ais. “Anyway, my maps are just improvised sketches. The ones that the Guild offers have a lot more information and are more accurate.”

Of course, left unsaid was the fact that the data for those accurate maps came from literal centuries of Adventurers dungeon crawling and surveying the Floors as they were reached, one by one. Nowadays, only the strongest of the Exploration Familias truly faced the ‘unknown’ in the Dungeon as they pushed into new and untouched Floors.

‘But in this situation…we’re facing that very same unknown here on the Twenty-Fourth Floor.’ Ais thought to herself, as none of them knew what awaited ahead, whether it be the Pantry itself, or a sudden and unavoidable death by something unexpected or unseen.

“Formation, halt!” Asfi called out as she raised her hand into the air to signal a stop. “Falgar, Keaks, with me. Everyone else, standby.” The thee approached what had caught Asfi’s attention.

“Monster ashes?” Falgar looked at the pile of white ash that was considerably large.

Asfi looked over the ashes with a critical eye. “Most likely Monsters that pushed past the ‘wall’ back there and made it this far…before being slain by something. But Monster bodies don’t turn to ashes until their Magic Stones are removed or a part has been separated from the main body for a while.” Her eyes widened a little at confirming her suspicion. “The Magic Stones are missing…”

“ABOVE!!!” Ais yelled out a warning just as a group of the strange Flower Monsters dropped down from the ceiling.

“KREEEEE!!!” The Flower Monsters screeched loudly as they descended, looking to devour the Adventurers.

“Everyone, attack!” Asfi ordered and the Hermes Familia sprang into action.

-Deeper Within the Altered Pantry-

“Revis, intruders.” A man with no shirt and a goat skull mask covering his face said as he watched an orb embedded into the fleshy wall.

“Monsters?” Revis, the red-haired Tamer woman asked, uninterested.

She had short, blood red hair and cold green eyes, wearing a red battle outfit that she’d stolen off a female Adventurer that she killed, a ragged black waist cape finished off the outfit and the top was only just big enough to secure her large breasts, a consequence of the woman she killed not being the same size as Revis.

The man shook his head once. “No, Adventurers. A mid-sized Party, all appear formidable.”

Revis walked over to the orb and saw the Adventurers fighting the Violas. “That’s Aria.” Her eyes locked onto Ais reflected in the orb.

“Aria? The Kenki? Don’t be absurd.” The goat-masked man nearly scoffed.

“There’s no mistake.” Revis turned and began walking away. “I’ll go myself. Draw Aria away from the rest.”

-Party-

“What are these things?!” Elilly yelled out as she used her double shields to block the whip-like vines lashing out from the Flower Monsters.

“Don’t use Magic! Blunt force won’t work! Attack with blades!” Ais quickly gave the Hermes Familia all the information that she could about the Flower Monsters.

“Gragh!” Pock was knocked to the ground by one of the lashing vines.

“Pock!” Pott called out as she smashed the vine into the ground with her hammer.

Ais was heading in their direction already.

“Stay back!” Pock nearly glared at Ais, his gaze reminding her of what he’d said before they came into this altered part of the Dungeon.

Ais changed course, respecting the Prum’s wishes, and head straight for Dodon and Meryl who were being attacked as well. Dodon was already shielding Meryl with his body as the vines came at the two Adventurers.

Shing

Ais slashed the vines into tiny pieces before they could touch either of them. “Are you…okay?” She asked the two of them.

“Y-Yeah…” Meryl nodded as she took her hands off her head and readied her staff.

“Lulune! Can you confirm that the Magic Stones are in their mouths?!” Asfi asked as the two were running from a group of the Flower Monsters.

“Yes! Yes they are! Now do something!” Lulune was sprinting away from the huge jaws of the Monsters behind them. “I hate these things!”

Asfi pulled a scarlet red glass orb from one of her pouches. “That’s what I’m doing!” She tossed the orb directly into one of the Monsters’ mouths a split-second later.

BOOM

The entire head exploded into a fireball as parts scattered across the area.

Asfi threw three more into the gaping jaws of the other Flower Monsters.

BOOM

BOOM

BOOM

The result was the same each time, a large explosion and chunks of dead Monsters hitting the ground before the bodies burst into black ashes from having their Magic Stones destroyed.

Burst Oil was a unique item made by Asfi herself. Using the Obia Flare flower and a liquid concoction of her own invention, the instant the cases broke and exposed the mixture to air, they detonated with enough force to kill Middle Floor Monsters. They were basically hand grenades without the shrapnel.

“Their weak points are the Magic Stones in the back of their mouths! Form teams of three and engage!” Asfi called out as the commander once she’d verified the information provided by Lulune.

“You got it!” Keaks smiled at her brightly as he, Falgar, and Lulune formed a team.

Falgar took up his shield and greatsword. “I’ll stop the main body! Lulune, deal with the vines! Keaks, hit the Magic Stone!”

“KREEEEE!!!” The Flower Monster screeched and slammed straight into Falgar’s shield, the Weretiger’s strength being put to the test as his feet dug through the ground trying to stop the force.

“Hah!” Lulune’s dagger flashed as she cut one vine after another as they tried to lash at Falgar. She narrowed her eyes as she jumped to cut one vine, only to duck low as a second one tried to take her head off. She sliced that one too, only to rush to the opposite side to take out the next.

Falgar wedged his shield into the Monster’s mouth, prying it open to expose the Magic Stone. “Now, Keaks!”

Crack

A rock shattered the Magic Stone like glass and embedded into the flesh of the Monster from the force it was thrown with. “Hah! How’s that for control and stone throwing skills?!” Keaks cheered as the Flower Monster exploded into black ash.

“One left to go.” Elilly was breathing heavy, having already dealt with one of the Flower Monsters with Pock and Pott. “Both of you, fall back!” The Dwarf woman readied herself for a charge against the Monster.

Pock ground his teeth before dashing forward first, charging straight at the Flower Monster. As he ran, a thought resounded in his head. ‘Why the hell did I charge?’ He leapt straight at the Monster’s gaping jaws with his mace cocked back for a swing. ‘Why? Why? Oh… It’s because of her…’ He recalled Ais asking if he hated Finn as a memory of Pott telling him about Finn being over forty despite his young looks. It was the realization that Finn was almost twice his age that rekindled Pock’s hope of reaching the same level someday in the future. Realizing that he’d only been an Adventurer for less than half the time that Finn had made the Captain of Loki Familia’s Level make more sense.

The Flower Monster snapped the Prum up and then nearly barreled through Pott and Elilly, barely missing the two women.

‘Ha! Braver my ass…’ Pock thought to himself as he used his mace’s length to keep the Flower Monster from closing its jaws on him. ‘Yeah, it’s all his fault. Time after time…’ He pulled out the large knife from the back of his belt. ‘…he keeps lighting a fire in my heart!’ Pock stabbed the large knife straight into the Flower Monsters brightly-colored Magic Stone. “So how can I just sit back and watch?!” He roared out as the Magic Stone shattered under the force of his stab.

The Flower Monster flailed once and fell to the ground. Pock tucked and rolled, his mace in one hand and the large knife in the other, as he escaped the Monster’s slack jaws. A second later and the body exploded into black ash.

“Pock!” Pott called out to her brother.

“Are you okay?!” Elilly was right behind the Prum as she rushed over.

The entire Party was heading over to check on Pock now that the Monsters had all been slain. Asfi was next to Ais and explained the situation with the Prum siblings.

“Pock and Pott are part of the vanguard at their own request.” Asfi said plainly, to let Ais know that the Prums had chosen the most dangerous position of their own volition.

Ais blinked at hearing that. It was rare for Prum Adventurers to fight on the frontlines; but to know that Pott and Pock had chosen to do so made them all the more deserving of praise in Ais’s opinion. It was this kind of courage and determination that Finn was trying to encourage in all the Prums of the world.

“Are you hurt? Anything broken? That was way too reckless.” Pott fretted over her brother’s condition.

“I was prepared to die if it meant that I could grow even a bit faster.” Pock said to his sister before seeing everyone gathering around him. “Damn it! Why the hell is everyone rushing over here?! This is embarrassing…”

Ais looked at the dagger in Pock’s hand with a sense of familiarity. “That dagger…”

Pott closed her eyes with a smile. “It’s a replica. My little brother got it as a memento when I Leveled Up.”

“Hah…drives me crazy.” Pock sighed as he looked at the replica dagger made to the same dimensions and looks as Finn’s. “Nobody asked him…but at some point, he became a Hero to Prums everywhere.”

“Um… Would you like to meet Finn sometime?” Ais offered the siblings.

Both Pott and Pock perked up. Pott was visibly excited by the idea, her eye nearly sparkling. Pock looked flustered more than anything at the idea of meeting his hero.

“…no. N-Not yet…” Pock denied. “I’m not even half his Level yet… I’ve got nothing to show him.” He looked to the side. “But… Maybe… His autograph…would be…nice.”

All of the Hermes Familia members, barring Asfi and Falgar, smiled wickedly at hearing that, it was perfect teasing material!

Pock must’ve felt the grins, because he started yelling at the others. “You bastards! Stop staring! I’ll give you something to smile about!” He raised his dagger into the air. The other Hermes Familia members scattered away, all of them smirking.

“There’s a strong possibility that our battle will draw more of them here. We should keep moving.” Asfi said as the group got back into formation and continued onwards. “Kenki, you seem to know a lot about this New Species of Monster. I’d like it if you could tell us everything you know.”

Ais nodded in acceptance and began to tell the Hermes Familia everything that she knew about the Monsters that possessed brightly-colored Magic Stones. From their abilities, durability, their attraction to Magic energy, and even their cannibalistic nature of devouring the Magic Stones of other Monsters.

“So, that’s why their strength seemed all over the place back there.” Lulune remarked on the differing strength of each of the Flower Monsters they’d just fought.

Asfi quickly put the picture together from all the information that Ais had given them. “Monsters that grow a taste for Magic Stones cannibalize other Monsters and grow stronger from eating those Magic Stones, much like an Adventurer gets stronger through a Status Update. These Flower Monsters seem to instinctively try to become ‘strengthened species’ as soon as they’re born. That’s a terrifying thought, given that it was only a few years ago that the ‘Blood-stained Troll’ terrorized the Lower Floors of the Dungeon.”

Everyone nodded in agreement to that. The ‘Blood-stained Troll’ was the most famous of the strengthened species irregulars. That was both from killing around fifty upper class Adventurers and because of how recent it was. In the end, the Guild had made a special request and the Freya Familia had hunted the irregular Troll down and killed it.

The Party eventually came to another fork in the path.

“Which way this time, Asfi?” Lulune asked as she paused in her mapping.

“No,” Asfi puled out her dagger quickly. “They’re here!”

From both passageways multiple of the Flowers Monsters emerged, all screeching and lashing out with their vine-like limbs.

Lulune put away her map and drew her own dagger. “Great, two sides at once…”

“Not quite…” Jose said, his round ears twitching a little. “They’re behind us too.”

Indeed, coming from behind the Party were many more of the Flower Monsters, catching the group of Adventurers in a pincer trap.

“Kenki, I will leave one side to you.” Asfi said as the Party prepared to engage in battle.

“Understood.” Ais agreed as she drew her sword.

“Let’s go!” Asfi called out and the Hermes Familia split into two groups to cover two sides while Ais covered the third side singlehandedly.

Not even ten seconds into the fighting and large pillars made of the same hardened substance coating the Dungeon walls grew from the ceiling at high-speed and tried to crush Ais. All of the Flower Monsters that Ais had been dealing with ended up crushed by the pillars as she dodged around them until she realized what had happened.

“I’ve been singled out.” Ais said before turning around as she heard footsteps behind her.

“I never thought you’d come to me.” Revis said as she walked towards Ais.

Ais didn’t change her expression at all. ‘I knew it. She’s here.’

“We meet again, Aria.” Revis greeted coldly.

“…what are you doing here?” Ais questioned the other woman.

Revis’s green eyes were cold. “Guess.”

“This… What is this Dungeon? Did you make it?” Ais asked Revis the biggest question on her mind.

“You don’t need to know.” Revis cracked her neck as she continued to walk towards Ais. “There’s someone that wants to meet you. You’re coming with me, Aria.”

Ais narrowed her eyes at the redhead. “I’m not Aria. That is my mother’s name. How do you know it?” She aimed her sword at Revis, demanding an answer.

“Cut the crap. There’s no way Aria has children.” Revis ignored Ais’s question entirely. “Even so…whether you are Aria or not makes no difference.” She raised her hand into the air. “Aria… That name is all I’ve heard. Over and over, ‘I want to see Aria’… Doing everything that annoying voice told me to lead me straight to you.” Revis slammed her hand onto the flesh-like ground. “So I’m taking you there!” She pulled her hand up and a large greatsword spawned from the flesh. It was a twisted thing, a single sharp edge, but with jagged spikes along the spine and the sides almost looked like they had four large eyes on either side.

‘A landform?’ Ais visually examined the odd weapon.

“Here I come.” Revis said before nearly blurring straight at Ais, the large greatsword already in motion for a swing.

Ais leapt upwards and back, letting the powerful swing score the strange wall that cut her off from the Hermes Familia. She kicked off the wall and came at Revis with a flurry of stabs and slashes. Revis showed her impressive strength and dexterity as her larger blade managed to keep up with and counter all of Ais’s attacks. When the two backed away from their clash, they both turned and swung powerfully, their blades clashing for an instant before a shockwave blasted from the point where their swords met.

Revis’s hand reached through the dust in the air to try and grab Ais’s face. Desperate came upwards and knocked the reaching hand away in a perfect deflection. Ais swung her sword back down, straight at Revis’s head. The redhead jerked her head to the side to dodge, some of her short hair being cut in the process. Revis lashed out with a kick from the side, but Ais hopped over it, using her vambrace to hit the leg as it passed under her. The force of the hit allowed Ais to reposition herself in midair and unleash a devastating slash at Revis.

Clang

The landform greatsword vibrated from the blow, Revis braced the back of the blade with her forearm to hold her defense. Her green eyes noticeably widening as she revaluated Ais.

Clang

Clang

Clang

Clang

Clang

Clang

The barrage of strikes continued from Ais, forcing Revis backwards.

‘She’s faster than before… Stronger!’ Revis thought before a powerful swing from Ais sent her rocketing backwards and into the wall with a crash. “You… No way.” Revis said with a cold look. “You raised your Status.”

Ais retook her stance. “I didn’t want to lose to you…that’s all.”

“Tch! Such a pain.” Revis pushed off the wall and took the greatsword into both hands over her head. “It won’t matter if you’re missing a few limbs. As long as you’re alive.

‘She’s…stopped defending?’ Ais noticed the stance had no defense at all.

Revis’s feet cracked the ground as she leapt upwards, coming down on Ais with a full-bodied strike. “You can have a hit or two.”

Ais saw the attack for what it was, a finishing move relying on high-level Endurance to deal with any counterattack. ‘Unblockable… Unavoidable…’ Ais didn’t move, even as the blade came down on her.

‘She’s not moving?’ Revis wondered as the blade was nearly on top of Ais already.

Ais’s response was to align the tip of her sword with the descending blade. Using the full length of her blade, she altered the greatswords trajectory. A move so precise that the slightest mistake would result in the loss of an arm at best.

“What?!” Revis’s expression finally changed as the tip of Desperate nearly stabbed her eye. She jerked her head to the side as she completed her swing.

BOOM

The greatsword destroyed everything behind Ais, tearing up the fleshy floor and all.

In comparison, Ais’s thrust had only made a thin shockwave through the air in the direction of her piercing strike.

While Ais was unharmed from the clash; the side of Revis’s face had a deep cut going from her cheekbone all the way to just past her ear. The injury was bleeding quite badly and painting everything below it with Revis’s blood.

“Why…aren’t you using your wind?” Revis asked Ais, staring into the other woman’s golden eyes.

“I don’t need it.” Ais said plainly. It was simply the truth too, she didn’t. Ais had grown stronger than before as a Level 5, thanks to sparring with Bell. It hadn’t been a massive amount, but at the top of Level 5, stats increasing by even five or six points were significant to overall strength, even more so when said stats were in the ‘A’ and ‘S’ rank. After Leveling Up, those higher stats had produced a stronger foundation for her new Level 6 stats to begin growing from. The Ais that Revis had fought back in Rivira couldn’t be compared to the Ais that stood before her now.

Revis jerked her greatsword upwards, but Ais pivoted and spun out of range, launching a second slash as she did so. Revis leaned back and avoided this one, but that allowed Ais to make distance and retake her stance with Desperate aimed straight at Revis once more.

“Don’t get cocky.” Revis nearly growled at Ais, real emotion showing on her face for the first time.

On the other side of the wall, Lulune was pounding her fist against the strange material. “Kenki! Come on, can’t you hear me?! What’s going on over there?!”

“Lulune!” Falgar roared as he cut off the head of a Flower Monster that had been going after Lulune’s exposed back. “Pay attention! There’s way too many of these things!”

“The odds aren’t in our favor.” Asfi said as more and more of the Flower Monsters continued to come at the Party. “We need to push ahead as fast as possible. Everyone! We move out as soon as a route is secured!”

Lulune looked at Asfi like she was crazy. “You just want to leave her behind?!”

“You saw her.” Elilly said as she crushed a Flower Monster’s Magic Stone by practically punching the inside of its mouth with one of her shields. “It hurts to say this, but the Kenki isn’t someone that we’re strong enough to worry about. You saw her before, she’ll be fine.”

“All I can do is believe in her…” Lulune hated that she had to come to such a realization as she punched the strange wall one last time.

“Lulune! How much farther to the Pantry?” Asfi asked as she kept her eyes on the entire battle all at once.

Lulune only took a second to bring up the memory of the map of the Twenty-Fourth Floor in her head. “About five-hundred meters, give or take!”

“More Monsters from behind! I count five!” Jose warned everyone.

Tabitha called out next. “More coming from the front too!”

“All units! Scatter Magic Stones!” Asfi ordered and everyone through one of the small bags that they’d collected the Magic Stones in, from the horde decimated by Ais earlier.

Just as Asfi hoped based on Ais’s information, the Flower Monsters immediately changed course and began to swarm and slither around each other in a frantic rush of snapping jaws and screeches. They were practically tying themselves up in their desperation to eat the small bags of Magic Stones.

“Nelly, use the Magic Knife!” Asfi threw four Burst Oil grenades at the mass of Monsters.

Nelly pulled the special knife form the sheath on her hip and swung it quickly. A fast-moving fireball leapt from the blade and blasted the airborne bombs right as they reached the Flower Monsters.

KABOOM

The shockwave nearly took those closest to it off their feet, but Asfi ran while calling out orders. “Let’s go! Forward!” The rest of the Hermes Familia quickly followed after her in a sprint straight for the Pantry that should be just a bit further away.

“More coming from the front!” Falgar warned loudly, taking his role as leader of the vanguard.

“All units! Push through! Don’t stop until we get to the Pantry!” Asfi ordered as the group adjusted their formation for a mobile battle. ‘I just hope that I’m not force to make a grim decision at the end of this tunnel.’

-Bell’s Party ~ Floor Twelve-

“ROOOAAAARRR!!!”

Welf blinked at the Monster that had appeared. “Uh… Is it just me, or does that Hard Armored look…bigger…than normal?”

“Lili thinks so too.” Lili compared the Hard Armored to the ones that they’d killed already today and there was a notable increase in size.

Bell examined the Hard Armored and even used his Kanchi Skill to sense it. “I think it’s from the Middle Floors.”

“So it came up from the Thirteen Floor?” Welf readied his greatsword.

“Probably, I heard the difference in strength between the Upper Floors and Middle Floors was visible if you compared the same species from them.” Bell said as he recalled his new lessons with Sophie; the Elf Advisor insisting on them now that he was getting closer to taking on the Middle Floors.

“RAAARRRHHH!!!” The Hard Armored from the Middle Floors slapped its tail against the ground as it curled into a ball and tore up the grassy ground as it barreled towards the three-man Party.

“Scatter!” Lili took off to the left.

Welf took off to the right.

Bell leapt straight up, putting his ridiculous Level 1 stats and the boost from becoming Level 2 into his leap. He cleared the rolling Monster and as he was falling he used his Magic. “Earthly God’s mastery, Gogyō…Do!” He made four hand signs before he landed on the ground and activated the spell.

The Hard Armored had turned while still rolling and was coming towards Bell at speed. The ground rumbled before spikes of rocks erupted from the floor and in the path of the Monster. The first few spikes were completely destroyed. The next dozen or so were broken while reducing the rolling ball of spikes’ speed. The last few stopped the Hard Armored completely. More spikes erupted around the Hard Armored, trapping it in place as it uncurled and started thrashing around.

“ROOAARRHH!!!” The Hard Armored roared and struggled, breaking a few of the rock spikes with its claws.

Wsh

Wsh

Wsh

Lili fired her bowgun at the thrashing Hard Armored, but the bolts bounced off its armored body. “Damn it, it’s moving so much that Lili can’t get a shot at its softer parts!”

“Yah!” Welf came in from behind and brought his greatsword down on the Monster’s back leg, trying to hit the unarmored joint.

Clang

His blade hit the armor, and while it broke a good chunk off, it didn’t do any real damage to the Hard Armored.

“ROAAAHHHRRR!!!” The Middle Floor Hard Armored lashed its thick and powerful tail at Welf.

“Gah!” Welf barely managed to get his greatsword in front of him in time to act as a pseudo shield. He went sprawling onto the grass with a grunt and rolled to try and get back to his feet quickly.

Bell slashed the Hard Armored with his chokuto, drawing a large amount of blood form the Monster as his talent showed itself once again, allowing Bell to pick out the weak spots in the Monster’s armor. “You’re not too different from the Hard Armoreds up here. Just bigger and bit tougher!”

Pomf

“RAUGH!!!” The Hard Armored tried to roar in pain, but Lili had been waiting for an opening. Her Purple Moth Poison Grenade had landed perfectly in the large Hard Armored’s mouth. The refined poison went to work quickly as it was swallowed by the Monster. Its, now panicked, struggles became frantic as it tried to hack up the substance that felt like fire in its body.

“No you don’t!” Welf slammed his greatsword down on the tail of the Hard Armored, pinning it in place. “You stay right there!”

“Rglgle…” The Hard Armored was hacking up a bloody foam from its mouth as its struggles slowed down considerably.

Shing

Bell easily cut the Monster’s throat now that its thrashing had stopped. Blood sprayed out of the massive wound and in seconds the Hard Armored collapsed.

“That took a bit of effort.” Welf said with a chuckle as he accepted a Low Potion from Lili. “Hurt too.” He drank down the medicine and let out a sigh of relief as the pain in his arms and back faded away.

“Lili didn’t think the difference between Floro Twelve and Floor Thirteen would be this much.” Lili commented as she had Bell help her roll the dead Hard Armored over to get at its soft underbelly. It would be much easier to get the Magic Stone with the Monster on its side.

Bell looked over the large Hard Armored carefully. “I didn’t think so either. Maybe there’s something different about this one?”

Lili didn’t much care now that the Monster was dead. “Well, bigger Monsters usually have bigger Magic Stones!” She took out her knife with a grin and started to cut into the soft underbelly.

“So, how about we take lunch a little early after this?” Welf suggested, given that they’d managed to take out a wandering Middle Floor Monster.

“Sounds good to me.” Bell agreed with a quick nod. “We brought a bento for you today, Mr. Welf.”

Welf put his hand over his chest. “For me? I’m touched.” He joked with a smile. “Thanks, those lunches you had yesterday looked way better than what I had.” He gratefully accepted the soon-to-be offered meal.

None of the three knew that this particular Hard Armored was the beginning of a strengthened species, having only eaten a few Magic Stones from other Monsters on the Thirteenth Floor before coming up to the Twelfth to hunt easier prey. Now it would never get the chance to grow stronger and potentially mutate to develop new abilities. What could’ve been a disaster for the Upper Floors had been unknowingly averted by a new Party that had only a few days of experience working together.

-End Chapter-

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Bell’s Party has an unexpected encounter! What they believe to just be a Monster that wandered up from the Middle Levels turns out to be the beginning of a potential disaster. Good thing they nipped that in the bud so soon, huh? Kek!

Deeper in the Dungeon, Bete, Lefiya, and Filvis figure out where Ais was going and rush towards the Twenty-Fourth Floor Pantry at full speed! Will they make it in time to help?

Hermes Familia is being besieged on all sides by Violas! They keep rushing for their target as fast as possible, but what awaits them there?

Ais has been separated from the others! Revis comes after her with single-minded intensity and is more than willing to hack off Ais’s limbs to get what she wants! Too bad for her, but Ais has a boyfriend with a reciprocal Growth Hack Skill! Hah! A stronger Ais BEFORE Level Up means an even stronger Ais AFTER Level Up! Revis is finding that out the hard way!

As the Quest to the Twenty-Fourth Floor heads for the end (seriously, its amazing they did all of this in just around a day in Canon) what will happen when the two POVs collide as Ais’s Party and Bell’s Party both head towards the surface at the same time?

Keep reading to find out!

Let me know what you thought!

Until next time, later!