Cliche Chapter 314-315: Expedition (Patreon)

Twilight Manor.

Loki took Asahi into the yard where the ten-man party gathered around the supplies. Asahi only remembered eight of them.

Ais, the blonde loli.

Riveria, the high elf.

Gareth, the mighty dwarf.

Finn, the eternal shota.

Tione and Tiona, the Hiryute sisters.

Bete, the annoying wolf.

Lefiya, the rookie mage elf.

The other two were new faces. A young woman with long black hair and a rather slim figure, which was further accentuated by her sleeveless black and white outfit, a small white skirt, and black stockings. It was the black cat ears on her head that stole most of his attention.

The last member was a mature elf woman with honey blonde hair. She reminded Asahi of Goddess Demeter to an extent.

“You must be Asahi Marikawa?” The catgirl asked as she stretched her hand with a friendly smile. “I’m Anakitty Autumn.”

Alise stepped forward to shake her hand. “Aki, you’re cute as ever~. Just a level below me.”

“And you’re still so proud,” Aki replied.

“Perfection calls for acceptance.”

“Captain…” Ryuu muttered with a hand on Alise’s shoulder. “We’re guests here.”

Finn looked around for the scary lady that usually accompanied Asahi. Out of all the people he met so far, Aimi’s glare just frightened him. She might become his first archenemy in his path to hero.

‘I might befriend him without her around.’

Being friends with a Demigod would be both risky and profitable.

With a smile, he approached the group. “No need to be like that. We will be comrades on this expedition.”

“Finn is right,” Riveria said, staring at Asahi with almost emotionless eyes. She hadn’t forgotten his last prank, but now wasn’t the time to address it.

Loki nodded as she pointed at the pile of rations and the other supplies. “Kiddo, show your magic.”

The anticipation of everyone was sky-high. Tiona was especially perked up when she heard the word ‘magic.’ She looked at Asahi with a strange hope in her eyes, wondering if he could live up to the hype he created around the city with his recent deeds. She could sense a threat from him. Her instincts were always on point, never letting her down. Without her, she wouldn’t have survived the brutal battles in Telskyura—a country solely inhabited by amazonesses and ruled by Kali.

‘Demigod, they must be stronger than the heroes of old tales.’

Asahi felt an intense gaze on his back and turned around. A tanned girl with disheveled black hair stared at him. Like all amazoness he had met so far, she wore revealing clothes. A strip of cloth around her chest and a pareo around her waist.

“Ya,” she waved with a grin.

‘Tiona?’

She looked different from the first time he met her. Before she seemed like an unsociable kid. Her current self was quite different. A lot more cheerful.

Asahi returned a nod before focusing on the supplies. He bought a new ring from Klyscha and tossed everything in it.

Riveria’s mouth parted with a gasp. She had seen this skill with her eyes before. The scene of over two hundred kilos worth of supply vanishing still left her shocked. She became even more curious about the limits of this skill.

“Asahi Onii-san.” Ais shuffled toward Asahi and tugged at his shirt. “We should go.”

The desire to face stronger monsters was so obvious in her eyes. She couldn’t wait to slay them and gain their excelia.

He softly patted her head. “Revenge isn’t everything.”

Ais’s eyes widened, although her face remained neutral. She couldn’t believe Asahi knew about her revenge. Riveria only had a vague idea, and Loki had known everything. She remained silent, letting him soothe her flames of revenge.

“She is too cute and small for a level 4,” Alise said, looking at Ais. “Lion doesn’t lose in terms of cuteness.”

Ryuu reddened from the compliment. Shaking her head, she glared at Alise. The redhead cheekily grinned in response.

Asahi noticed a certain werewolf was overly quiet today. He was being ‘tame’ since Loki had ordered him. The last thing Loki wanted was to let someone blow their expedition.

Asahi gave a smile to Finn. “Ready?”

“All good here,” Finn said. “Let’s talk about our strategy—”

“No need for that,” Asahi interrupted the pallum. “We’ll only stop at the 50th floor. Until then, I’ll be the guide and the frontline fighter. No interfering unless I say, okay?”

“As you wish,” Finn readily agreed, though he intended to step in whenever things get out of hand.

‘It’s near impossible for one person to fight such overwhelming odds.’

Asahi’s arrogant words got on Bete’s nerves. Looking at Alise’s smile, he felt like she was laughing at him. Every smile seemed to be directed at him, sneering at him for calling Asahi newbie when he was the weakest member right now,

Loki fixed her glare on him. “Loga.”

Bete swallowed down the emotions and gave a nod to Loki.

“Everyone, come close,” Loki said. “Asahi, I’m leavin’ these kids to ya. Come back if things go south.”

She didn’t wish to lose her Familia even if it meant losing a chance to break the record.

“Noted.”

(I’m bringing her over!)

Klyscha said and teleported Grayfia before Asahi. Without wasting any time, the maid spread a magic circle under her feet and teleported everyone to the promised 45th floor.

Riveria and Finn were all too familiar with the sweltering heat in the air and the burning red ceiling as if they were inside a volcano.

“This is it, hmm,” Riveria murmured. The teleportation happened in an instant. She imagined the process to be more complicated.

“Looks like… We’re here,” Finn said.

“My Lord, I’ll leave for the Underworld.”

She was going to spend some time with her father and get some more classified information if possible.

“Sure.”

Blushing, Grayfia glanced around. With a determined expression, she perked up and pecked his lips.

“Take care,” Grayfia said and vanished with her magic.

‘How bold.’

Asahi smirked a little. After he helped her in making up with her father, Grayfia became more affectionate.

*Roar!*

As though ruining his good mood, a group of hellhounds appeared around the corner.

Alise pulled out her rapier and stepped forward. “Perfect timing.”

Asahi placed a hand on her shoulder. “Let me.”

“What? I wanna fight!”

Asahi slid his hand down her back before stopping on her butt. “Crybabies shouldn’t act strong.”

Alise gritted her teeth. He made her cry, now he was rubbing salt on her wounds. A pinch on her butt squashed her rebellious thoughts.

‘This man won’t stop with my butt!’

She silently cursed him, despite an obvious smirk playing on her face. Her butt was a part of her, meaning he was attracted to her!

Ryuu shook her head. Asahi casually harassing Alise had become a familiar sight in the Familia at this point.

Ais pulled out her swords and charged into the hellhounds. Asahi stopped wasting time and rushed behind Ais. Overtaking the loli, he blew a hellhound’s head with a kick and punched another. The shockwave behind the attack splattered all of them into the wall.

Finn shuddered at the display of brute strength. On top of that, he saw Asahi’s agility being higher than Ais’s.

‘He can’t be made into an enemy.’

Riveria had the same thought. If Asahi had any intention to harm her, she wouldn’t be able to react in time, much less cast a barrier for protection.

Meanwhile, Bete saw hellhounds spawn behind and pounced on them. With bare hands, he grabbed a hellhound’s jaws and ripped it apart. Trying to defy Asahi’s orders, he became too reckless and let a pair of hounds snuck on him.

Aki came just in time and slashed the hounds with her sword. “Don’t be wild, Bete.”

Bete didn’t listen to her and dove into another fight. Aki only fought the monsters in her way while the others hadn’t

Asahi finished the hellhounds and spread his Life Sense skill. The flame golems camouflaged as scarlet rocks didn’t escape his C-Rank Life Sense skill.

Tiona couldn’t take her eyes off of his figure as he fended numerous monsters. Every step and attack was precise to the point Tiona questioned if he was a man or a machine.

After hoarding all the magic stones in his ring, Asahi returned to the group. Finn greeted him with a cheeky smile.

“We’re adventurers, not props. Seeing a man tear through monsters like that makes me want to fight more.”

“I’ll let you engage with the goat demons,” Asahi said with a shrug.

“Goat demons? You mean Fomoire?”

“Yup. Until then let me do the work.”

Even though he wanted the XP, fighting the fomoire horde alone would consume a fair share of his time. He could destroy them with his magic, which will also destroy the dungeon and summon a juggernaut. The adventurers would lose their sanity if they saw a beast like a juggernaut.

Riveria couldn’t understand Asahi’s reason. Was he that hungry for excelia that he’d fight hundreds of monsters alone?

‘Is that the reason Ais calls him Onii-san?’

Both had an unmatched thirst for strength. Riveria had an inkling of Ais's motive, but Asahi’s motives were up in the air.

“Let’s go,” Asahi said and led the path.

Alise and Ryuu were ready to follow him, but Tiona cheerily walked up to them.

“He is strong. What level do you think he is?”

Alise puffed her chest. As her senior, she was extremely proud of him. “His strength can’t be measured in our levels.”

She had seen him traveling dimensions. Even the deities of this world couldn’t achieve this feat. Using levels to measure his strength was a waste of time.

“Aren’t levels here to help us ascend into immortals?” Tiona asked.

Kali, who was her previous goddess, had described leveling up as akin to shedding mortal shells. A demigod should be closer to deity than a human, which meant they could still be measured in levels.

“When you’re near Asahi, you need to shove that common sense up your…” Alise covered her mouth for a moment. “I almost tainted my innocent tongue with a curse. It’s all Lyra’s fault.”

“We should follow Asahi,” Ryuu said with a sigh.

Ais looked over to Riveria. “Go…?”

The high elf released an exasperated sigh before giving a nod. “It is our familia expedition. What are we waiting around for?”

The adventurers felt their cheeks burn. Finn was no exception. Asahi had already sprinted into the next room, and they were here discussing.

The group trailed the corpses left behind by Asahi. By the time they found him, he was standing near the tunnel leading down to the next floor.

“Kinda late, don’t you think?” Asahi asked with a grin. “Be quick on your feet or you’ll lose your way.”

Asahi’s words hung in the air as he descended into the 46th floor.

Something similar happened on the next floor. Asahi cleaned up everything while Loki Familia followed. Usually, they would take nearly a day to clear one floor as they had to protect the supporters carrying the supplies as well as making sure they suffered minimum injuries. Each healing potion was precious in the dungeon. This methodical approach was universal across Orario.

But Asahi’s fists changed everything. He plummeted everything, whether it was a hellhound, a wyvern, or a giant golem.

Doubts about his real identity rose in Riveria’s mind.

***

After five hours of constant battles, Asahi’s Wild Martial Arts leveled up to C-Rank. A few minutes later, he arrived at the path leading into the 49th floor.

“You guys want a break?” Asahi asked.

“Yes,” Finn said with a smile. He wasn’t tired at all. A timeout was needed for clarifying his strategy to Riveria and Gareth.

“Alright.”

They all gathered in a nearby room. The smell of blood was overwhelming. It wasn’t that unbearable during fights. Sitting idly, the smell tortured his sharp senses. He put on his mask and sat down in a corner, giving Finn space to go over the strategy again.

Finn wanted to invite Asahi but chose to not bother his rest.

Ryuu and Alise sat on Asahi’s sides.

Ryuu pointed at his mask. “Is that for smell?”

“Yes. Want one?”

“Give one to me!” Alise shook him. “This smell is violating my nose.”

She acted like the incident in the morning never happened. She was a little too enthusiastic sometimes.

“Okay,” he said and shoved a mask on her face. He handed one to Ryuu as well. “Try it.”

[—Ryuu Lion: Affection +4]

[—Alise Lovell: Affection +2]

He chuckled, making the elf blush. “You’re cute.”

Ryuu put on the mask with a serious face. She had to try her best to not pay any attention to his attractive face. Sitting so close, she could feel an odd warmth radiating from him. It made her relax as if she was sitting at home instead of a dungeon room reeking of blood.

Alise pouted when the two of them neglected her. Knowing the mask would hide her face, she puffed her cheeks even more.

Asahi pinched Alise’s cheeks. “Stop pouting, Captain. A smile suits you more.”

“Liar.”

“...”