Familia Myth: Journey to Hero Chapter 23 (Patreon)

Hey friends and fans, Kairomaru is bringing you another chapter of Familia Myth: Journey to Hero! After enough time has passed and enough growing has been done, it’s time for Bell’s party to enter the Middle Levels for the first time! Floor Thirteen shouldn’t be too much of a problem compared to Floor Twelve, right? At least there are no Infant Dragons here! But things don’t always go according to plan in the Dungeon, and sometimes it’s not just the Dungeon that’s putting you in a bad situation.

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So, without further delay, please enjoy.

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Chapter 23 – Middle Levels, Pass Parade

“Takemikazuchi-sama, we shall return.” A young woman spoke to her God with a smile full of confidence, despite the early hour of the morning. She had purple eyes and long black hair tied into a ponytail. As an Adventurer she wore a purple kimono with a sarashi underneath, along with a dark red sash and thigh-length boots. For armor she had a red shoulder guard on her non-weapon arm, arm guards, and she kept her katana in the sash at her waist.

“Yes. But don’t push yourself too hard, Mikoto.” Takemikazuchi smiled at her and his Familia as a whole. “I’ve told you many times, but leveling up is no excuse to let your guard down.” His dark eyes looked at each of his ‘children’ individually. “That goes for all of you.”

“Yes, sir!” The six members of the Takemikazuchi Familia gave a short bow to their God.

“We’ll be on our way, Takemikazuchi-sama.” Ouka, the Captain of the Familia, nodded.  He was a tall, lightly tanned male with a tough build. He had black hair and eyes, wore a lavender, red, gold and black kamishimo top along with brown pants tucked underneath long white bandages in black boots. His armor consisted of matching colored lower arm guards. His weapon of choice today was a doubled ended spear.

“Yes. Best of luck to you.” Takemikazuchi sent them off with a smile. “…don’t come back without everyone.” He muttered quietly once his ‘children’ were out of earshot. Takemikazuchi knew that the Dungeon often wasn’t so kind, and that sometimes Familia members couldn’t be saved, so he never said such a thing to his Familia directly. It was simply his most fervent wish. “Now then…” He sighed and rubbed the back of his head. “Time to get to work.” His Familia was small, and even with two Level Two Adventurers now, the majority of their earnings went to weapon and armor maintenance, the money they sent back to Tsukuyomi and the orphans, and then their own living expenses. Because of this, Takemikazuchi had to work as well.

“Heeey! Takemikazuchi!” A male voice called out to the War God.

“I know that voice…” Takemikazuchi turned to face the speaker. “Hermes…”

“Hey, Takemikazuchi!” Hermes smiled and waved to the other deity. Tipping his feathered hat to the Far East God. “It’s been a bit, hasn’t it?”

“You…what’re you doing here?” Takemikazuchi asked, his face a mixture of annoyance and exasperation.

“Aw, what’s with that look on your face?” Hermes grinned at Takemikazuchi. “And I came all this way just to say hello!”

“Don’t say such horrifying things! Even as a joke!” Takemikazuchi yelled at the Messenger God. “You’re one of the Deities that goes out of their way to make my life miserable!”

“Hahaha! Sorry, sorry!” Hermes chuckled at the glare that Takemikazuchi was shooting him. “I just got back from a trip, you see?” Takemikazuchi only looked at Hermes suspiciously. “I only wanted to congratulate you on little Mikoto’s level up.” He laughed, patting the other God on the shoulder in a friendly manner. “Your Familia is on the up and up, so I look forward to doing business with you in the future.”

“Hermes…why have you already returned?” Takemikazuchi asked flatly. Hermes had been at the last Denatus, so he’d already known about Mikoto’s level up for a while now. There was no need to come and offer any congratulations now; and that just made the Messenger God’s sudden presence more suspicious. “You, who consistently ignores your Familia to travel the world, came back in less than a month? Don’t your trips usually last well over a month at least?”

“Heh heh…easy now.” Hermes waved off the other God’s suspicions. “It’s the rookies. With so many interesting new faces taking center stage at the last Denatus, there’s so much I want to see! You can’t blame me for cutting my trip a little short.” A large smile crossed Hermes’ face. “Especially Hestia’s little ‘Rabbit Foot’! I’m just as curious about him as everyone else!”

The look of distrust didn’t fade from Takemikazuchi’s face in the slightest.

“You see Hestia fairly often, right Takemikazuchi? Know anything interesting?” Hermes prodded for any juicy tidbits of info.

“I do not.” Takemikazuchi denied Hermes anything. “I certainly wouldn’t tell you if I did.”

“Ha ha! So cold!” Hermes chuckled at the complete shutdown from the Far East God. “Bell Cranel…I can’t wait to meet him!”

‘I’ll have to let Hestia know that Hermes is poking around her business.’ Takemikazuchi made a mental note as Hermes walked away. For now though, he had work to get to.

-Dungeon ~ Floor Twelve ~ Entrance to the Middle Levels-

The three-man Party of Bell, Lili, and Welf stood before the entrance to Floor Thirteen, the first floor of the Middle Levels. They had just finished clearing out all of the nearby Monsters and harvesting their Magic Stones, Drop Items, and materials. The trip down here had taken a few hours since they’d dealt with any Monsters they encountered on the way down. But now it was time to take their first steps into the next section of the Dungeon.

“Now that all of the Monsters in this area have been taken care of, let’s go over the plan one more time.” Lili suggested as she pulled out three dark red cloaks from her huge pack. She handed one to Bell, one to Welf, and then put the last one on over her normal gear. “Are you both prepared?” Bell and Welf both put on their own cloaks over their normal armor as well before nodding at Lili with smiles. “Salamander Wool, cloth infused with ‘spiritual protection’ by a Flame Spirit. Lili is grateful that there is enough for everyone. It is essential gear for traveling into the Middle Floors.”

“Eina said the same thing.” Bell chuckled at the fretting his Half-Elf girlfriend had done over his small Party preparing to enter the Middle Levels. “Although, she didn’t like the idea of us heading deeper into the Dungeon. But with my Level Up…adding Welf to our Party…and Lili’s support…she eventually conceded that we should be fine on the Thirteen Floor.” It had been a reluctant agreement, but Eina was just worried for them, and Bell appreciated her caring and concern.

“So, how’re we going to travel through the Thirteenth Floor?” Welf asked, knowing that they needed a formation to watch each other’s backs on the more dangerous Floor.

“We’ll stick with a basic line formation as we enter the Middle Levels.” Lili began to lay out the formation. “Mister Welf, you’ll take the front.”

“You sure I’m cut out for that?” Welf questioned with a raised eyebrow, knowing that he’d more than likely be staged in the middle if their Party was larger.

“On the contrary, it’s the only pace for Mister Welf. Lili isn’t really paying you a compliment though.” Lili shook her head. “Master Bell, take the middle. You’ll be responsible for attack and defense.”

“Sure, that’s fine.” Bell agreed easily with his role.

“Lili thinks you both know this, but our party is very unbalanced. Lili will do her best, but she doesn’t have a ton of power to help support from the back. Trying to regroup in dire straights would be meaningless.” Lili laid out the situation bluntly.

“So, one wrong turn and we’re toast…that’s rough.” Welf remarked with a grin.

“Going to turn tail and run home?” Lili jibed teasingly at the Smith. “It’s not too late.”

“Don’t be stupid. I’m going to be a High Smith! Like hell I’d turn back when I’m this close!” Welf smirked at Lili’s words.

“Mm…” Bell smiled at the back and forth between the two.

“Hey, Bell, what’s the smile for?” Welf asked, curious about the look.

“Master Bell’s smile is making Lili concerned that he doesn’t understand the dangers that lie ahead.” Lili leaned close, looking up into Bell’s rubellite eyes.

“N-No, it’s not like that.” Bell waved his hands in front of him. “But this is exciting, isn’t it? The three of us about to challenge a new area of the Dungeon together as a Party…it makes me happy.” He smiled at Welf and Lili. “It’s kind of exhilarating. All of us working together and going on an adventure.”

“Hahahahaha!” Welf clapped Bell on the shoulder with a hearty laugh. “You’re right! This is one hell of a thrill! I couldn’t call myself a man if I didn’t get excited about this!”

“Lili can’t exactly agree…” Lili smiled at Bell warmly. “But she understands Master Bell’s feelings.” She readjusted the straps of her large pack on her shoulders. “Shall we?”

“Yeah.” Welf nodded with a grin.

“Yes.” Bell beamed at them both.

“Let’s go to the Middle Levels!” The three of them chorused as they took the last few steps towards the entrance to a part of the Dungeon that was much harsher than the Upper Levels.

-Orario ~ West Market District-

“So, Asfi, what can you tell me about him?” Hermes asked the woman walking beside him through the streets.

She was a lovely young woman with cyan hair and blue eyes behind white, square-framed glasses. She had on a light brown dress with white lines as accents along the front that stopped mid-thigh and had long sleeves. Around her waist was a leather corset that was attached to a thick leather belt. Said belt had nine good-sized pouches stitched to it that carried all of the various materials and items that she had made and used to fight. On her right hip was a long knife in a golden-colored sheath, and her hands were covered by brown leather gloves. Covering all of this was a white cloak that went down to her ankles and hid everything from view. On her feet were gladiator sandals with wings on them, two on each sandal.

This was the Captain of the Hermes Familia, Asfi Al Andromeda, known in Orario by her Title of ‘Perseus’ and as one of the most brilliant Item Makers alive.

“According to the public information at the Guild, he has reached the Twelfth Floor, Lord Hermes.” Asfi informed her God as they continued walking. “There are also reports that he bought enough Salamander Wool to equip a small Party.”

“Did he now?” Hermes mused with a small grin. “Perhaps he’s heading for the Middle Levels? I’d expect nothing less from the Record Holder. Very fast.”

“I have also confirmed that he possesses powerful Magic. Strong enough to defeat an Infant Dragon in one shot.” Asfi looked at Hermes out of the corner of her eye. “But that’s not the only thing…”

“Hmm?” Hermes looked at his Captain with open curiosity.

“There are many rumors going around that he used said Magic to kill the Minotaur that he slayed, and that said Minotaur was already injured by Loki Familia, meaning that Bell Cranel simply stole the kill.” Asfi spoke without any opinion on said rumors.

“He only beat it because of his Magic? He only landed the finishing blow and stole the kill?” Hermes gave a scoff before chuckling. “A Deity’s Blessing is not so easily fooled by such cheap judgments.”

“I believe these rumors reflect disbelief pertaining to his incredibly fast level up.” Asfi could understand the disbelief, she was an Adventurer herself after all. Two months shouldn’t have been enough time for a new Adventurer to level up.

“Ah, that’s makes sense.” Hermes nodded with a grin. “Adventurers are always so hard on each other.”

“Are you planning something for ‘Rabbit Foot’?” Asfi asked Hermes flat out, knowing that her God rarely responded to more subtle inquiries.

“What’s this, Asfi? Feeling jealous because I haven’t been around?” Hermes asked, his hand cupping his chin while giving her a suave smile.

“Hardly.” Asfi’s flat tone and glare nearly made Hermes smile drop. “I’m saying that I’ve had enough of dealing with your messes!” She got into his face, her blue eyes glaring daggers into Hermes.

“The whole Familia is grateful to you!” Hermes spread his arms wide with a bright smile. “As their leader, it’s thanks to you that they have it so easy! Even I count on you a lot! Trusted by your friends and your God, this must be what they call ‘The Perks of the Job’, hahaha!” He patted her head as if she were a small child.

“I hate this…” Asfi sighed heavily before lightly smacking Hermes’ hand away from her head. She coughed into her fist once before looking at Hermes again. “Have you made contact with Hestia Familia?”

“No, not yet.” Hermes shook his head. “Before that, I need to have a talk with a certain someone.” He stopped in front of a familiar pub, the sign reading ‘The Hostess of Fertility’ above the door. Asfi could only raise an eyebrow in confusion as Hermes opened the door and entered the establishment.

“Welcome!” Chloe, carrying a stack of used plates towards the kitchen, greeted the new customers. “Nya? Lord Hermes?”

“Oh! It’s been too long, Chole!” Hermes greeted the Cat Girl with a bright smile. “Sorry, but could you get Mia for me?”

“Yes, sir, nya!” Chloe gave a cute salute to the God. “Just a moment!”

“Hold it!” Mia strode towards the three of them with heavy steps. A simple look sent Chloe on her way to the kitchen to deliver the used plates for washing. “What’s a God doin’ barging in here in the middle of the day?”

“No need to get angry, Mia.” Hermes winked at the Dwarf woman. “It’s ruining your pretty face.”

“Any more jokin’ and I’ll rip off yer head!” Mia was in no mood to put up with Hermes’ antics. “I’m busy. If you’ve got business, then out with it!”

“Okay then, getting to the point…” Hermes leaned in and lowered his voice. “I’d like to make an appointment with Lady Freya.”

Mia cocked an eyebrow before turning her back on Hermes. “Hmph! I’m no messenger for foolish Gods.” Hermes flinched at her dismissal, his eyes widening in shock. “You’ve got feet. Use them if you want to speak to her that bad.”

“Well…that didn’t work.” Hermes looked at Asfi with a dull laugh.

“Don’t look at me.” Asfi shrugged at his failure to get a meeting with Freya.

“Lord Hermes?” Syr blinked at seeing the Messenger God right as she came out from the back of the pub.

“Oh! If it isn’t little Syr!” Hermes beamed at the waitress. “It’s been so long! How’ve you been?”

“It has been a while. I’m glad to see that you’re well.” Syr replied politely with a smile.

“Ahh, well-mannered city girls really are the best!” Hermes sighed happily before putting his right hand over his chest, his left hand extended off to his side, and bowed slightly to the girl. “How about it, Syr? Care for a date with yours truly?”

Hermes didn’t notice the agitation on Asfi’s face at his flirting.

“My heart is in need of consoling…OW! Ow, ow, ow! Stop that, Asfi! My ear can’t take it!” Hermes cried out as the blue-haired woman dragged him backwards from Syr by his left ear.

“Hee hee. I must respectfully decline the invitation.” Syr giggled at the scene before motioning the two of them towards a free table. “Now, would you care to have a seat?” Hermes surprised the waitress by walking by the offered table after Asfi let go of his ear. “Lord Hermes?”

Hermes plopped down in a seat on the side of the bar. “Syr…mind if I ask you something?”

“Sure, what is it?” Syr’s smile changed slightly, becoming a little less genuine at the shift in Hermes’ tone. ‘That’s Bell’s usual seat.’ She thought, which was telling to how much information Hermes and his Familia had already gathered on Bell.

“Know anything about Bell Cranel?” Hermes questioned the waitress, looking at her from beneath the brim of his feathered hat. “I’d like to hear anything and everything you’ve got.”

“Why would you ask me a question like that?” Syr had barely twitched at Hermes’ inquiry, but those proficient in reading body language would’ve noticed it.

“Well, I heard he’s a regular here.” Hermes and Asfi shared a quick glance at each other, both having caught Syr’s reaction. “And, like most of the Deities in Orario, I’m rather interested in the new Record Holder.” Seeing the smile on Syr’s face, and the subtle sense of fakeness to the otherwise cute look, made Hermes try to reassure the girl. “What? I’m not gonna do anything strange. So, how about it?”

“There’s nothing that I wish to tell you at this time, Lord Hermes.” Syr replied, wording her response such that it would ring ‘true’ to the Messenger God’s ability to see through lies. After all, she really didn’t want to tell him anything about Bell, and that made her statement truthful.

“You don’t trust me?” Hermes spread his arms wide, showing he had nothing to hide.

“Nope. Not even a little bit.” Syr’s smile was bright and genuine again.

Hermes’ stunned face at the blunt response would’ve gotten a snort of laughter out of Mia if she’d seen it.

‘Very wise.’ Asfi nodded to herself in regards to Syr’s distrust of Hermes. She was very loyal to her God, even when he annoyed her to no end, but trusting him was something that not many should do. Hermes was a God that loved to collect information, especially information that others would prefer not to get out. Collecting secrets was one of Hermes’ hobbies and he was not above twisting his words or using half-truths to find out what he desired.

Syr kept smiling, even as her thoughts turned towards protecting her new fun as a matchmaker.

-Dungeon ~ Floor Thirteen ~ Takemikazuchi Familia-

“Almiraj!”

“Everyone, stay alert!”

The six person Party were fending off a large group of the white rabbits. The Monsters looked cute enough, the two horns on their head and their larger size than a normal rabbit the only thing that gave away their Monster nature. That and the fact that they could easily walk bipedally and loved to fight with landform weapons in the shape of hatchets. Their red eyes almost seemed to glow in the Dungeon as well, giving them a more menacing appearance when they were obscured in shadows waiting to attack.

“Kyui!” An Almiraj cocked back its arm and threw its hatchet landform at one of them humans. The semi-intelligent Monsters could make excellent use of pack tactics to take advantage of blind spots.

Thud

Splat

Hitachi Chigusa was a cute girl from the Takemikazuchi Familia with black medium length hair that usually covered her face and dark green eyes. She wore bandages around her neck and left upper leg as well as a lavender kimono with a red cloth wrapped around her waist. Her only pieces of armor were two red thigh pieces that hung down from her hips as overlapping plates.

And the lack of protection had cost her.

The landform weapon’s blade had landed squarely on her unprotected chest, cutting deep into her and spraying blood everywhere. Her tanto fell from her grip as she reeled backwards from the blow and hit the stone ground. The pain radiating from her injury robbed her of her voice. The weapon still lodged into her was the only reason that she wasn’t bleeding out already.

“Chigusa-dono!” Mikoto cried out at seeing her friend struck down. She cut down the Almiraj in front of her quickly, any thoughts of harvesting its Magic Stone as normal never crossed her mind.

“Remain clam, Mikoto!” Ouka called out quickly as he assessed the situation. “Asuka, see to her wound!” He instructed the third girl in their party that had some medical knowledge. “Someone from the center, forward! Cover Chigusa’s spot!”

Asuka rushed to Chigusa’s side quickly. She had brown eyes, moderately short brown hair under a white cloth head wrap, and loose yellow clothes, with a belt that went around her waist. The girl was apparently not wearing much of anything under the garment given how much of her skin one could see, even in passing. “The wound is deep…” Asuka muttered as her brown eyes looked at the large injury. Their Low Potions couldn’t heal something like this…they’d have to remove the weapon from the wound and Chigusa would bleed out before the healing effects could save her. “This is…” The girl made the call immediately after seeing Chigusa’s state. “Ouka! Keep the Almiraj back! I need time to secure the injury! We have to retreat as fast as possible and get back to the surface!”

“On it! I’m heading to the front! Mikoto, with me!” Ouka had to do what was best for the party. So, he left Chigusa in Asuka’s hands and readied his spear to wipe out the Almiraj pack that was trying to surround them.

“Sir!” Mikoto nodded, her katana held at the ready.

“Grrr!”

“Raaah!”

“Kyui!”

“Rrrrrr!”

A multitude of Monsters began to enter the cavern all at once, likely drawn to the sounds of battle. Hellhounds, Hard Armoreds, and even more Almiraj.

“Not good…a Monster Party!” Ouka ground his teeth at the horde of Monsters they were now faced with.

“Ouka! We need to retreat!” Shin, the Supporter of their Party called out, throwing shuriken into the heads of the Almiraj still around as fast as he could. The rabbit Monsters dropped dead with the flying blades lodged into their skulls, but the weapons wouldn’t do much against Hellhounds or Hard Armoreds.

“There’s too many!” Koda, a young man with a topknot and a traditional Yumi bow from the Far East, let an arrow fly into the head of one of the many Hellhounds before it could unleash its fire breath.

“I’ve got the wound secured!” Asuka called out, even as Ouka had to swipe his spear to decapitate a lunging Hellhound. The landform hatchet was now tied in place on Chigusa, preventing the girl from bleeding out…for now. “Ouka, we need you to carry Chigusa!”

“Retreat!” Ouka spun his spear and struck down three Monsters, two Almiraj and one Hellhound, to give the group some breathing room. He was quick to toss his spear to Shin and gently pick up the injured Chigusa. “Head for the stairs! Shin, guide us through the clearest path!”

“Follow me!” Shin took off with his Familia behind him. He knew the way back, they’d even cleared it as they progressed through the Dungeon, it should still be almost completely devoid of Monsters! All he had to do was lead them back along the paths that had been cleared out by passing Adventurers and they’d be back on the surface without having to fight! As long as they weren’t held up, they could get to the Guild and get Chigusa medical attention before she died.

All the while the various roars and attacks of the Monster horde followed behind them, threatening to swallow them all up if they made a single mistake in their flight towards the surface.

-Dungeon ~ Floor Eighteen Safe Zone-

The Loki Familia, along with many of the best Smiths of the Hephaestus Familia, practically dragged themselves onto the Eighteenth Floor. The Executives were nearly carrying the entire expedition at this point, their load only lightened by a few other Familia members that were still in good enough shape to help out.

After everything that had happened on the Fiftieth to Fiftieth-Ninth Floors…even the Executives were about done. Having to climb all the way back up to Floor Eighteen had been hard enough, but the Dungeon was apparently being extra spiteful this day! A Monster Party of Poison Vermis had practically ambushed the worn out expedition. The venomous Monsters had poisoned nearly every member of the expedition with Abnormal Resistance below Rank H. Given how many had the Developmental Ability below that Rank, the weight on the leaders, aka the Loki Familia Executives and the Hephaestus Familia Captain, Tsubaki, had further increased.

“Öff... Bu keşif tam bir rezaletti. Argonaut'u görmek istiyorum. (Ugh…this entire expedition has been hell. I want to see Argonaut again.)” Tiona groaned in her native tongue of Amazonian.

Why was she speaking Amazonian? Because after the hell the expedition had gone through, everyone was on edge. Bete especially so, and with his sharp ears, any mention of Bell Cranel would probably set him off right now. Everyone’s nerves were already frayed and wound too tight, so at Tione’s suggestion they’d started speaking in a language that Bete wouldn’t understand.

“Önce bir yüzeye çıkalım, sonra bizim tavşanı buluruz. (We’ll need to get back to the surface first, then we can track down the bunny.)” Tione replied, running her left hand through her long hair. It still had blood on it from having to fight through dozens and dozens of Monsters bare-handed. She wanted a bath.

“Ben de... tekrar Bell'i görmek istiyorum. (I…want to see Bell again too.)” Ais spoke up as the expedition finally reached the area where they’d set up camp and start tending to their injured and poisoned. The airhead was tired, but her thoughts had been filled with Bell after the battle with the Demi-Spirit on the Fifty-Ninth Floor.

As Tiona and Tione basically considered Ais their third sister, and an honorary Amazon, they’d taught her a bit of Amazonian over the years they’d known her. Sometimes her grammar wasn’t great…but she’d learned well enough to hold a conversation, like now.

“Belki bir snu-snu ayarlayabiliriz. (Maybe give him some snu-snu.)” Tiona mused as the three of them helped set up the large tent that would be used as a medical ward for their poisoned and injured Familia members. Honestly, she just really wanted to hold her Argonaut close and relax. She hadn’t been able to see him for weeks while on expedition, much less hug him like she wanted to. To her Amazonian sensibilities, snu-snu was more than acceptable when she saw him next.

“Biraz fazla hızlı ilerlemiyor musun?! (Moving a little fast, aren’t you?!)” Tione exclaimed at her younger twin.

“Sanki senin aklından aynı şey geçmiyor! (Not like you don’t want to do the same!)” Tiona declared, staring her sister down with a knowing look on her face.

“Sus be! (Shut up!)” Tione shot back, her cheeks a little darker now at having been called out on her desires.

“Snu-snu…?” Ais blinked at the term. She tried to recall what it meant from the language Tione and Tiona had taught her. “…mm!” Ais’s eyes widened and her cheeks turned a dark red as she recalled what snu-snu was in Amazonian.

“Oh…” Tiona and Tione looked at the blushing Ais as they realized what they’d just said in front of their practically adopted sister.

“Less talking, more setting up camp!” Riveria called out as she saw the three having stopped setting up the large tent that they needed for their poisoned and injured members.

“Yes!” Tiona and Tione called back, hurrying to finish up their task. They both felt Ais’s golden gaze on them the whole time though.

There would definitely be some ‘sister talk’ had tonight in the shared tent of the Amazon Twins. Their ‘third sister’ would undoubtedly make sure of it.

-Floor Thirteen ~ Bell’s Party-

“Master Bell, Mister Welf! Hellhounds!” Lili called out in warning as the steps of the running canines caught her attention. They’d made their way through the Thirteenth Floor mostly un-accosted up to this point, making good time and covering a good amount of distance by riding the trail that other Parties had cleared out already.

“Grrrr!”

“Awooo!”

The two black wolf-like Monsters rushed towards the three-man Party with snarls.

“The Monster nicknamed Baskerville…right off the bat!” Bell readied his spear as Welf drew his large sword.

“Regular armor doesn’t stand a chance against a Hellhound’s fire breath!” Lili warned as she shifted her position to be behind Bell and Welf. They had to maintain their formation if they wanted to succeed in the Middle Levels. She readied her bowgun and took aim once she was in position.

“Slay the Hellhounds first!” Bell called out as he and Welf rushed forward to intercept the Monsters. Bell thrust forward with his spear, succeeding in impaling the Hellhound that leapt at him.

“Hyah!” Welf came in and sliced the impaled Hellhound in half, killing their first Middle Floor Monster in a show of teamwork.

“Rowr!” The second Hellhound aborted its charge, instead opening its jaws and unleashing a blast of flames at both Adventurers from a distance.

“Nrrrgh!” Bell and Welf ground their teeth as the flames washed over them.

“Master Bell!” Lili fired her bowgun, the bolt striking the fire-breathing Hellhound straight in the eye.

“Yipe!” The wolf Monster staggered back, shaking its head in pain as blood fell from it ruined eye.

“Yah!” Bell emerged from the dispersing flames and stabbed straight through the injured Hellhound. The Monster stopped thrashing and went limp as Bell pulled his spear from the canine.

“Are you alright, Master Bell?!” Lili was rushing over to her boyfriend’s side immediately.

“We’re fine, Lili.” Bell smiled at her, patting down the Salamander Wool cloak. “Salamander Wool is amazing.”

“I’m okay too, Little Lili.” Welf smirked at the Prum with a chuckle.

“Lili was more concerned with Master Bell.” Lili declared, a little smirk on her lips as all three of them were okay. “Still, she’s glad you’re both okay.”

“Yeah, hard to believe this little cloth can beat out High Smiths…but seeing is believing.” Welf looked over the Salamander Wool cloak, noticing that it wasn’t even singed by the Hellhound’s breath. “At my current level, I just can’t compete. Spirits sure are something else.” He shook his head at the effectiveness of the item he was wearing.

“Lili wouldn’t expect anything less from ‘spiritual protection’.” Lili smiled at the cloak she was wearing. “Never thought there would be a day when I wore such an amazing cloak. Master Bell, Lili will take good care of it!” She smiled at her boyfriend.

“Ahahaha… I got lucky and was able to get them at a discount.” Bell laughed it off, just glad that he’d been able to buy enough for all three of them.

“Yeah, but it is still cloth imbued with Spirit Magic. It had to cost you an arm and a leg. How much for three?” Welf asked while resting his greatsword on his shoulder.

“Um…let’s just say there were five zeroes…” Bell’s face was shadowed by just the memory of the price.

“Mister Welf, be sure to pay him back in full.” Lili remarked, her face flat in shock at the idea of five zeroes per item. Even if they were only 100,000 Valis each…that was still 300,000 Valis for all three of them! That was more than all of her and Bell’s normal equipment put together!

“I will, I will…aren’t you a breath of fresh air when it comes to money.” Welf deadpanned at Lili.

“Still, I’m glad that we have them.” Bell put the price behind him. “Our chances of being wiped out are much lower with them.”

“True.” Welf agreed as they let Lili set her large pack down so that she could harvest the two dead Hellhounds. “We’re off to a great start.” No injuries at all after their first encounter was a good sign.

“We would be in much more trouble if our teamwork wasn’t starting to take shape.” Lili agreed as she got to work yanking out the first Hellhound’s fangs. The Hellhound Fang was the normal Drop Item of the Monster, so Lili wanted to try her luck at getting multiples.

“We have you to thank for helping us coordinate, Lili.” Bell praised her with a smile. “Even our formation was your idea.”

“Lili will do her best to keep Supporting you, Master Bell!” Lili promised with a grin. “And you too, Mister Welf.” She added, as if it was an afterthought.

“Yeah, yeah, Little Lili.” Welf snorted out a laugh as he and Bell continued to watch her back.

Lili worked quickly, especially for never having harvested a Hellhound before. All in all, she managed to get four Hellhound Fangs out of the eight between the two Monsters, the smaller teeth and fangs not being viable for harvesting since they were so small. Her brief attempts at skinning the wolf Monsters had failed as the pelts disintegrated shortly after being removed though. Not seeing anything else to try and take, Lili quickly removed the Magic Stones and stashed them away as the Hellhound corpses turned to ash.

Just as the group left the area they’d had their first battle, something caught Welf’s eye from the side. “The next Monster is…?”

Three white rabbits, each with a pair of short, straight horns on their heads, appeared from behind some stalagmites. The new Monsters were roughly a meter tall when standing on their hind legs, maybe less.

“White rabbits…they kinda remind me of Master Bell.” Lili eyed the cute-looking rabbits warily.

“No they don’t…” Bell sighed, even as he readied Kokutogenishiki.

“If they fight like Bell, then we don’t have time to joke around.” Welf readied his greatsword, and almost managed to keep a straight face while doing so.

“Ha…ha…ha…” Bell fake laughed with as much sarcasm as he could muster.

The battle began when two of the Almiraj reached down and pulled up small stalagmites, revealing them to actually be landform weapons in the shape of roughly-hewn hatchets!

“Kyui!”

“Kyuu!”

“Kyu!”

The three Almiraj attacked as a group, one going left, the other right, and the middle one charging at the group head on.

“Gotcha!” Lili fired her bowgun directly into the head of the Almiraj charging directly at them. The rabbit Monster crashed to the stone floor dead, the bolt having pierced into its brain.

“Hup!” Bell easily used his advantage in range to knock the landform weapon out of the Almiraj’s hand. The Monster didn’t give up, leaping at Bell with a screech. Bell swung his spear and bisected the Almiraj in midair, letting the two halves fall to the ground with a wet splat.

“Huah!” Welf went the brute force method, blocking the thrown hatchet landform with the broad side of his greatsword, and then swinging it in a wide arc to decapitate the Almiraj attacking him. The rabbit’s head rolled along the ground as its body collapsed, leaking blood all over the stones.

The three didn’t know that they were being rapidly approached.

“What’s Chigusa-dono’s condition?” Mikoto asked as the Takemikazuchi Familia ran from the horde of Monsters on their trail. The horde kept getting bigger as more Monsters were attracted by the sound of the chase.

“Not good.” Ouka panted as they continued to run. “If we can get to the Twelfth Floor, we might be able to give her a potion to buy us some more time.”

“Look out!” Koda warned as a few of the hatchet landforms were tossed at the fleeing Familia by the Almiraj among the growing horde. Thankfully, the weapons didn’t get close as they were running as fast as they could with an injured member.

“Damn it! There’s more and more of them! The Hellhounds are going to catch up at this rate!” Asuka cursed as they all followed Shin. They’d not run into any Monsters thanks to him, but the pack behind them wasn’t shrinking.

“Hurry!” Ouka called out as they raced down the wide corridor towards a large cavern.

As the Takemikazuchi Familia ran into the wide space, Mikoto noticed the three-man Party standing over the corpses of three Almiraj. “Are they a new Familia to this Floor?”

“…We’re charging right through.” Ouka ordered the Party, even as his face showed the revulsion he felt from the act.

“Ouka-dono! Please wait! If we do that, those people will!” Mikoto tried to talk her Captain out of performing one of the most detestable acts within the Dungeon, short of murdering fellow Adventurers directly.

“I value your lives far more than those of people that I don’t know.” Ouka bit out through clenched teeth. Looking around, Mikoto saw the same looks of regret and shame on the faces of the rest of her Familia, all of them matched what she saw on Ouka’s. “If it leaves a bad taste in your mouth, you can scold and shame me to your heart’s content once we’re out of this.”

Seeing the shallow breaths from Chigusa, Mikoto knew they didn’t have a choice, no matter how much she hated it.

‘I’m so sorry…’ Mikoto apologized in her mind as she rushed by the white-haired young man with the black spear. Her purple eyes briefly met his rubellite gaze as the Takemikazuchi Familia ran as fast as they could.

“Huh?” Bell had only seen the female Adventurer’s eyes for a single instant, but the look was one of shameful apology.

“GRRR!!!” A Hellhound leapt at Bell from behind just as the thunderous footsteps of the horde of Monster emerged into the cavern and spread out to surround the three-man Party.

“Whoa?!” Bell didn’t think, he just reacted, ducking under the Hellhound’s bite, he drew the Hestia Knife and slashed open the wolf Monster’s throat. The dying canine hit the ground, bounced once, and then twitched as its lifeblood covered the floor. “That was…too close.” He looked around, only to see a massive horde of Monsters surrounding them.

“This is bad! It’s a Pass Parade! They’ve used us as decoys!” Lili shouted to Bell and Welf.

“Shit!” Welf swung his greatsword, killing an Almiraj, and then having to use the weapon as a makeshift shield to block the charge of a Hellhound.

Lili fired bolt after bolt at the rushing Monsters, some dropped dead, others were only staggered by the projectiles. She was pushing her agility and footwork to the limit as she tried to keep ahead of the Monsters. When a barrage of the hatchet-like landforms were thrown at her, Lili pivoted and used her large pack as an impromptu shield, the weapons sticking into the material.

“Hyah!” Bell swiped and thrust with Kokutogenishiki over and over again. An Almiraj’s head went flying, a Hellhound’s fire breath guttered out as the blade stabbed into its jaws and down its throat, dousing the flames in a fountain of fresh blood. “Firebolt!” He cast the spell into his spear and swung the now burning blade through three Monsters and then impaled a Hard Armored before it could curl up into a ball and start a rolling attack.

“Yah!” Welf swung his greatsword, slicing through two more Monsters, a Hellhound and an Almiraj. He staggered backwards to avoid a landform flying at his head. Barely blocked the jaws of a Hellhound, and kicked it into the path of the incoming weapons from the multitude of Almiraj that were throwing them. The Hellhound died as five of the hatchets buried themselves into its body, but Welf didn’t even have a second of respite.

“Aaaahhh!” Lili staggered as a Hellhound leapt onto her pack and upset her balance. She still managed to get a shot off, killing the second wolf Monster that had been coming at her with a well-placed shot right between the eyes.

“Lili!” Bell rushed to her side and impaled the Hellhound on top of her pack, throwing the flailing form of the dying Monster into the horde to slow them down. “Are you alright?!”

“Lili is fine, Master Bell.” Lili quickly stood up, pulled out a pouch of refined Purple Moth poison and chucked it into the horde. “Purple Moth poison grenade! How do you like that?!” The cloud of powder sent a small group of the horde into further chaos as the Monsters all tried to get away from the poison.

“Firebolt!” Bell cast with his left hand, blasting a few Monsters back from Welf to give his friend some breathing room. “We need to retreat!”

“We’re already surrounded!” Welf hacked into a Hard Armored’s soft insides before it could try to curl up and defend itself.

“So we pick a side and force our way through!” Bell aimed his free hand at the area of the horde that was more Almiraj than Hellhounds or Hard Armoreds. “FIREBOLT!!!” He poured more Mind into the spell this time, the flames rocketing from his hand and exploding into a wave that killed at least a dozen of the rabbit Monsters and opened up a small path.

“Let’s go!” Lili called out as the three of them rushed through the opening. She fired more bolts at any Monster that tried to come at them, but it was more stalling than actually killing any of them and she knew it.

In the panic and confusion of the horde, Bell had picked the easiest route to getting out of the encirclement. Unfortunately, that was not the route the three of them had come from, nor the route that the fleeing Takemikazuchi Familia had taken. The path the three of them were running down led to a notorious Dungeon gimmick.

“Run! Even if we can’t lose them, some distance will…!” Lili’s yelled instructions were interrupted as the ceiling above them shattered, releasing a swarm of Bad Bats.

The bat Monsters all let loose their howls, staggering the Party as their bodies locked up and their vision doubled. The large rocks from the ceiling rained down upon them. As the stone from the roof hit the ground, it too shattered beneath their feet, sending the three of them screaming into a shaft that had been hidden below the rocky ground.

As the three pushed the rocks off of themselves after hitting the bottom of the shaft, they were all injured, but just glad to still be alive. Their relief was short-lived, however, as three Hellhounds stood on top of some of the larger rocks that had fallen down the shaft with them. Flames ignited in the three black wolf Monsters jaws as they prepared to unleash their fire breath.

“So, this is the ‘Shattered Shaft’…” Bell breathed out the name of this specific Dungeon gimmick that they’d fallen into, having learned about it from Eina in preparation to enter the Middle Levels.

The Hellhounds blasted their flames down upon the trapped Adventurers without mercy, just as all Monsters would do.

“Ignite, heretic spell!” Welf roared out as the flames rushed towards them.

BOOM

The explosion was the last sound that Bell, Lili, or even Welf heard as they lost consciousness.

-End Chapter-

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Well…fuck.

Things were going pretty good for the Party on their first day in the Middle Levels.

And then they weren’t.

Takemikazuchi Familia is left with no choice but to perform a Pass Parade. Leaving Bell’s Party in a VERY bad situation.

They’re going to need teamwork, perseverance, and a metric fuck ton of luck to escape with their lives.

Hermes is asking questions about Bell. Is he just curious about the Record Holder, or is something else afoot?

We see the Loki Familia dragging themselves into the Eighteenth Floor too. The Amazon Sisters are plotting on Bell! Hehehe~

If you want to know, the language of the Amazon’s is Turkish! Both from an IRL historical perspective, and because the very few times that we see the Amazon language written, it can be translated from Turkish into English! I have my good buddy Salante to thank for the translations, which I know are correct because he’s a Native Speaker! Thanks again, Sal!

What will happen now that this incident has befallen Bell’s Party?

Keep reading to find out!

Let me know what you think with a review!

Until next time, later!