CHAPTER 3 WHITE RABBIT
The Dungeon layout changed dramatically on certain floors.
The standard design started on level one and then became steadily more complex with new topography including forests, ponds, deserts, and many other areas. It was hard for anyone to believe that such landscapes existed so far underground as they traveled farther and wider. The environments became more remarkable in the Dungeon’s Deep Levels.
The terrain that Loki Familia was currently making their way through was a cave-like tunnel. Rocks jutted from the walls that were filled with large holes leading to other passageways. What’s more, there were holes in the ground to watch out for. If a person had just woken up in here, they would think they were trapped in a cave rather than in the Dungeon. Their only clue would be the small lights flickering like candles on the distant ceiling. The lights were just strong enough to illuminate the edges of the walls, casting everything else in shadow.
They had traveled from the Deep Levels all the way to the middle levels, the seventeenth floor.
“We could have pressed on. There was still so much fun to be had.”
“Enough already. You’re testing my patience.”
“But to call it quits at floor fifty—”
Loki Familia decided to give up their expedition’s original goal and return to the surface after the battle on the fiftieth floor. To put it simply, their mission had ended in failure.
Tione scolded her sister for the repetitive complaints. Tiona hadn’t stopped voicing her opinion the entire way up.
“How many times did the general explain it to you? Those monsters destroyed almost all of our weapons and food. There wasn’t enough to continue.”
“But there’s food everywhere down here. We could’ve figured it out…”
“Without weapons or items? They don’t grow down here. Especially weapons—all we have left are pieces of junk.”
Tione continued her small rant, adding that Tiona didn’t have anything left at all.
Everyone was forced to wear badly damaged armor and carry weapons that could break at any moment. The edges had become dull without any smiths or artisans around to sharpen them—their armor had holes or large gashes in the plating, drastically reducing their Defense; one big hit and everything could fall apart. With the exception of a few Superiors, all equipment, no matter how well made, was doomed to this fate during long missions like this one.
An adventurer’s individual strengths made no difference if their equipment couldn’t hold up against monsters in battle.
“Uwahhh! This sucks. Just getting to floor fifty was so hard…”
Six days had already passed since Finn gave the order to return to the surface.
Tiona walked with her arms crossed behind her head. No matter how many times she heard the explanation, it didn’t sit well with her. Indeed, she had no weapons or armor on her body at all. She glanced over at Aiz with a hint of jealousy in her eyes.
Even the sheath of her sword glinted in the dim light. The blond girl noticed Tiona’s gaze and tilted her head in confusion.
“All because of that monster…So what was it, exactly?”
A few moments passed before an annoyed Tione answered with, “How should I know?”
“All we can say is it was an undiscovered species…But it was strange.”
Tione brought her hand up to her chest as she spoke. Wedging her fingers between her shapely bosom, she pulled out a monster’s magic stone.
Tiona looked down at her own flat chest before looking back at her sister, mouth twitching with envy.
“Hang on, is that one of their magic stones? Tione, how did you get one of those?”
“I ripped it out of one of them with my hands.”
All of the caterpillar monsters spewed the purple acid out of their wounds, causing their own bodies to dissolve or explode. No magic stones had survived. Despite fighting against more of those creatures than they could count, the rest of Loki Familia hadn’t found a single magic stone.
Only Tione had been reckless enough to not care about the acid, and had managed to retrieve one with her barbaric methods.
“Wait, what’s with that color?”
“Yeah…It’s a little different from the usual ones.”
The magic stones hidden within monsters came in many different shapes and sizes, but if they all had one thing in common, it was their dark purple color.
The stone in Tione’s hand, however, had a brilliantly colored core surrounded by a dark purple layer and an extremely unusual shiny covering.
Tione held it up to the light, with her sister peering over her shoulder. The two of them squinted as it reflected the light like a glinting jewel back into their faces.
Their group arrived at a wide room.
The passageways up here were much narrower than in the Deep Levels, so Loki Familia had split into two groups before arriving on level seventeen. It was much more difficult to coordinate a large group in close quarters should they get swarmed by monsters. Riveria was at the helm of the forward group. Including the Amazonian twins and Aiz, there were almost twenty adventurers traveling together. Finn and Gareth were with the second group.
They were on their way home and everyone was tired, but none more so than the lower-level supporters who had been tasked with carrying the surviving baggage.
“…Linne, want some help?”
“Huh? N-no no. I’m fine?!”
Aiz approached another human girl and offered her assistance. The supporter rejected the offer immediately. She couldn’t allow a top-class adventurer to do something as mundane as carrying the bags.
Aiz’s strength and reputation were very well known already—not to mention her detached mannerisms—so many members of the familia were at a loss as to how to interact with her.
“Don’t bother with ’em, Aiz. The runts ain’t worth it.”
An animal person, the werewolf Bete, had witnessed their brief conversation.
Standing over 180 celch tall, Bete had long, muscular legs and a blue lightning-bolt tattoo on the left side of his face. A wild aura emanated from him, making his very presence intimidating.
He kicked the supporter lightly on the side of her hip as a way to shoo her away before coming up next to Aiz.
“Even as strong as ya are, ya don’t know squat, yeah? Just talkin’ with weaklings is a waste’a time, much less helpin’ them out.”
“…”
“Look down on ’em. It’s yer right as someone who’s strong.”
Aiz listened quietly as Bete cocked his head back and laughed drily through his nose.
Bete Loga.
One of Loki Familia’s top-class adventurers, he was just as strong as would be expected —perhaps even more—for someone with that title. That being said, he did acknowledge the female knight Aiz to be slightly superior to himself.
He was not a bad person…or at least Aiz seemed to think so.
Riveria, who often had a difference of opinion with the werewolf, had described him ironically as a “man who wanted to be misunderstood.”
His arguments with Tiona were almost a daily occurrence. A lone wolf by nature, perhaps his instincts interfered with his social skills.
“No, Aiz, don’t listen to a word Bete says. That’s the real waste of time!”
“Go to hell, woman. You should be helpin’ the runts! Yet there ya are, empty-handed! Move yer ass!”
“Shut up already!”
Throwing even more verbal jabs, the werewolf and the Amazon glared at each other. A heartbeat later…
Their argument didn’t matter.
“—UoOOoo!”
An anxious air filled the room as far-off howls started to echo. It wasn’t long before the unmistakable grunts of heavy breathing joined them.
This particular room might have had many exits, but monsters were being born just outside each one of them.
“UUOooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”
Roars that were strong enough to shake the rock under their feet.
There was enough power behind the howls to make the average adventurer run out of their boots in fright. The monsters started to appear. First, their incredibly thick arms and meaty shoulders were illuminated by the lights far above. Then, sturdy, hoofed feet emerged from under their own shadows, cracking the ground as they came closer.
Rusty brown fur–covered bodies built like brick walls.
It was a herd of Minotaurs: massive man-shaped beasts with bull-like heads that embodied the term monster.
“See, Bete! These Minotaurs came here to shut you up!”
“Yeah, right, dimwit! Tsk, sure are a lot of ’em, though…”
More Minotaurs kept coming into the room from each of the exits every second and formed a ring around the group of adventurers.
Their bloodshot eyes flicked from person to person, chests heaving with excitement as they chose their targets.
“Riveria, there’s a lot of them, so can we join in?”
“Yes, that’s fine. Raul, take command for this battle. Finn believes you are ready to gain some experience.”
“Y-yes, ma’am!”
These monsters were rated by the Guild as the strongest and most dangerous of the Dungeon’s middle levels. However, Loki Familia’s top-class adventurers didn’t bat an eye. They had been fighting monsters from more than thirty floors lower only a few days ago. There was a tremendous gap in power between Minotaurs and the fearsome beasts the adventurers had slain.
Therefore, these relatively shallow floors were reserved for the lower-level adventurers to gain excelia. People like Aiz normally just sat and watched. The other members of their group might have been weaker than the top class, but they were still members of the strongest Dungeon-crawling familia. Monsters from the Middle-Level floors weren’t as serious a threat to them as they were to members of other familias.
This time, though, the numbers were overwhelmingly against them.
The top-class adventurers grabbed their weapons at Tione’s suggestion.
“UooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
Then, the flow of battle turned in a direction that no one could have predicted.
“UooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO?!”
It happened when almost half the Minotaur herd lay dead on the floor.
One Minotaur must have noticed the unfathomable difference in power between themselves and their supposedly “prey” and turned its back to the battle.
That caused a chain reaction as every other beast turned away from the adventurers and took off in all directions at the same time.
The great escape had begun.
“Huh?!”
“Heey! Ya call yerselves monsters?!”
The thunderous retreat caught Tiona and Bete off guard.
More and more of the beasts were disappearing from the room, running for their lives.
Aiz’s golden eyes widened as she watched in disbelief.
“After them, all of you!”
Riveria’s shrill voice cut through the chaos.
Top-class adventurers were frozen in place for only a moment before launching themselves in pursuit of the Minotaurs.
“And we were almost home…!”
“Um, I’m not good with hand-to-hand combat!”
“Whack ’em really hard with that stick ya got! Do it!”
“S-sure…!”
Tione clenched her fist as she took off. Bete snapped at Lefiya. There wasn’t a calm face among them.
It went without saying that there were other adventurers in the Dungeon. Most crawling the Middle Levels were nowhere near as strong as Loki Familia’s top-class adventurers. Seeing a stampede of Minotaurs would be their worst nightmare. Should even one adventurer be unable to return home due to the Minotaurs that they let escape, the Guild and other familias would be quick to find out and levy the penalties against them. At the very least, they would lose a lot of sleep from the guilt.
“Wait, that’s…?”
A large group of Minotaurs hurtled down the passageway leading up to the sixteenth floor. By the time Tiona noticed, they were disappearing up the stairwell.
“This is gonna be one hell of a pain in the ass!”
Following the chorus of footsteps and howls, the top-class adventurers bounded their way to the next floor.
Aiz led the charge as they caught up to the panicked Minotaurs.
One floor up, another floor up, and another floor up.
The giant bull monsters broke down any obstacle standing in the way of their panicked stampede. The pack ran to the closest corner, turning right and left randomly in a desperate attempt to elude their pursuers. Individuals would occasionally peel away from the other Minotaurs in a desperate attempt to save themselves. Whenever that happened, one of Loki Familia’s adventurers had to chase it. What was extremely unlucky for the pursuers was that the monsters kept finding the passageways that connected to upper floors. Bete had hit the nail right on the head.
The herd steadily got smaller the higher they went, but also the group of pursuers had to split up to finish off the ones that broke away. Out of the Middle Levels and into the Upper Levels—the name given to the first twelve Dungeon floors. What was left of the herd arrived on the sixth floor. Aiz and Bete were hot on their tails, but the rest of their allies were gone.
“Holy shit!”
“Outta the way!”
A Minotaur was one second away from smashing its fist into an unlucky adventurer when Bete slammed his bladed foot into the creature’s head, bringing it down in one blow.
The Upper Levels were the closest floors to the surface. The monsters in this area were low level and physically weak. Therefore, these floors were filled with lower-level adventurers learning how to fight and gaining excelia. Should any one of them come face-to-face with the Minotaur, they wouldn’t stand a chance.
Casualties could start piling up at any moment.
It’s gone…!
Aiz had been pursuing the last two beasts and managed to take one down. However, the other one disappeared from her line of sight in the process.
Unfortunately, they were in a hallway that split into many different paths. Her gaze shot from opening to opening. Her face still wore the same aloof expression; only a bead of sweat rolling down her cheek revealed the dread that was overtaking her. Someone would surely die if she went the wrong way.
“Over here, Aiz!”
Bete followed his nose with no hesitation. Animal people were known for having a stronger sense of smell than humans. There was no doubt that a werewolf could follow the trail of a beast as large as the Minotaur.
Racing forward at full speed, at last they saw the beast’s muscular rusty-brown shoulders come into view. The last survivor of the herd, of course it was the fastest. What’s more, it disappeared up a set of stairs.
“…!”
The fifth floor.
The staircase opened into a wide room. The walls looked light green in the light coming down from above. However, the Dungeon was silent as the calm before a storm. Each wall of the square room had an exit, four in all. The Minotaur was gone.
The two of them spun around, listening for any trace of the beast.
“UuuOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”
“AaaIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE?!”
They heard something.
A roar and a human scream.
“!”
They took off at once.
Aiz was closer to the sound and was running toward it a second before Bete could react.
She found the Minotaur and a human almost immediately.
His hair was as white as a snowcapped mountain, and his ruby-red eyes were filled with tears. At first glance, this male teenager looked more like a rabbit than an adventurer.
The massive bull was chasing him down the passageway, swatting at him like a cat chasing a mouse.
“What’s a greenhorn doin’ down here?!”
One look at his pathetic armor was enough to know it had been issued by the Guild. The boy’s running style was erratic, wasting so much movement that it was obvious he had next to no experience.
The newest of newbies.
From the Minotaur’s perspective, this adventurer wasn’t prey, more like an afternoon snack.
The two top-class adventurers focused more power into their legs, desperately trying to close the distance.
Aiz sped after the rabbit.
“Uughunnnnnn!!”
“Daaahhh?!”
The Minotaur slammed down its hoof.
All the boy could do was brace his thin body for impact—no, he barely dodged it at the last moment but lost his footing when the ground shook.
Tumbling forward, the boy rolled all the way up to the Dungeon wall.
“—”
Aiz became a blur.
Leaving Bete behind, she shot forward like a silent arrow toward the massacre that was about to unfold.
The Minotaur had the boy cornered at the back of the room. The creature’s lips turned upward, baring its teeth in a hideous smile.
White hair filled with dirt, tears rolling down from his red eyes, all that was left for this little rabbit to do was to wait for the jaws of the beast to come crashing down.
Filled with a strong feeling of déjà vu, Aiz launched herself at the beast, a silver streak leading the way.
“Huh?”
“Uoohhhh?”
The boy sounded just as surprised as the Minotaur.
The first slash reverberating in her ears, Aiz didn’t hold anything back as a silver streak cut through the Minotaur over and over.
The sword gleamed after one last cut through its chest.
“Guu…?! Gu, uoOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO—?!”
The Minotaur stood there completely intact for a moment before falling apart as if its body suddenly realized what had just happened. The creature roared out in pain for a moment before collapsing to the ground in pieces.
The creature’s blood shot out in all directions, like a fountain breaking apart from too much water pressure.
Then, their eyes met.
Ruby-red eyes in shock. Sparkling yet distant golden eyes.
The boy emerged from the other side of the monster’s remains, a chance meeting.
He was just sitting there as if frozen in time. Aiz decided to break the silence.
“Are you…okay?”
The girl leaned down over him, but the boy didn’t even flinch.
He just looked up at her as if he’d forgotten how to speak.
Aiz didn’t know how to react. So she tried asking again.
“Umm…Are you sure you’re okay?”
No reaction.
Once again, the girl’s emotionless expression hid inner turmoil. She could only blink a few times and make eye contact with him.
The boy had been caught in the explosion of Minotaur blood and was currently soaked in it. She felt pity for him. Tears started flooding his eyes once again. All of his exposed skin blushed pink, like he was running a fever, as he looked directly at Aiz.
Aiz was starting to feel genuinely concerned for the boy. Wiping the remaining blood off her sword, she returned it to its sheath and extended her hand to him.
“Can you stand?”
The boy was about to say something, but the blond girl accidentally interrupted him. His lips were still frozen in the middle of the word.
His line of sight fell to her outstretched hand before jumping back up to her face.
His ears, neck, and everything else were turning redder by the second.
“Da—”
“Da?”
She didn’t even have time to tilt her head as the boy suddenly woke up from his trance.
Without warning.
“DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
He ran away from Aiz as fast as his legs could carry him.
She was stunned. Her eyes flew open as she watched him disappear into the distance.
The echoes of his screams dying off, Aiz’s face morphed into an expression no one had seen before: at a loss for words.
“…kh…hh…kahah!”
She turned around to see Bete, his whole body shaking as he tried to stifle the laughter trying to escape his mouth.
Bending over and clutching his ribs—“Haaah, haaah!”—he took deep, ragged breaths.
“…”
Aiz’s face turned pink, blushing like that of a girl her age.
The werewolf could only stare at her.
It hadn’t been an easy journey.
Loki Familia’s long expedition had finally come to an end.
The Labyrinth City, Orario.
The large city was surrounded by a sturdy, circular wall.
Judging by its appearance, the looming structure would have been able to repel enemy attacks from the outside. However, its true purpose was to contain the monsters that emerged from a giant breach in the ground. Built in the Ancient Times, it was proof of how hard people fought to keep contained the monsters that emerged from it. It remained a solid reminder to the present day.
The stone barrier enclosed buildings of all shapes and sizes. Standing at the center of it all was an enormous white structure.
It was built directly over the entrance and served as a lid: Babel Tower.
With Babel as its symbol, the city built above the Dungeon had become a thriving metropolis.
A great deal of the city’s population was made up of adventurers, people who made their living inside the Dungeon. It went without saying that many restaurants and bars were built to help them celebrate their successes and let off some steam. Humans and demi-humans gathered at their favorite watering holes, drinking and living it up side by side. Occasionally, some deities would get carried away and join them with jugs of liquor or ale in their hands. These were places where divisions of races and allegiances did not exist, where people laughed and enjoyed one another’s company. Just one little pocket of the city—of this world.
Many lights illuminated the city night. These magic-stone lamps kept the city alive with activity at all times, day or night.
“Finally home…”
In the city’s northern district, just off the main road…
One long, tall building stood above the rest.
It was composed of a line of dark red towers that stood like spears above the city. The structure looked like flames when the sunlight hit it just right. The flag of the Trickster flew majestically from the top of the highest tower, its red color matching the towers.
Loki Familia’s home, Twilight Manor.
“Ahhh, so tired. Forget a steak, I’ll take the entire cow.”
“I want a shower. As soon as possible.”
“Ah-ha-ha…”
Lefiya laughed awkwardly at the Amazonian twins’ conversation.
The expedition party had emerged from the Dungeon and returned to their home. Most of the thirty adventurers were carrying large bags, or dragging them, all the way up to the front gate.
Two guards, a man and a woman, saluted them as they approached.
“We’re home. Please open the gate.”
They nodded at Finn and pulled open the iron fence–like doors.
The plot of land available for their home was long but very thin when construction started. The solution: build up instead of out. This also meant that the front lawn was rather narrow. Members of the familia used the space as efficiently as possible to grow a wide array of flowers and plants. A light breeze passed through, making the flowers appear to bow to the arriving adventurers.
Finn led his allies through the gate.
When suddenly…
“—Welcome hoooome!” A figure rushed out of the building to greet the adventurers as if it had been waiting for them.
Short vermilion hair shaking from side to side, a slightly masculine-looking woman charged headlong toward the spot where Aiz and the other girls were chatting.
“Y’all make it back okay? Gaah—was too quiet here without ya!”
She practically threw herself at them with her arms open wide. Step, step, step, Aiz, Tiona, and Tione easily dodged the oncoming hug.
Lefiya didn’t realize what was happening until, “Huh, wha? Eeeek!” She was trapped in the embrace and fell to the ground.
“Loki, we suffered no casualties on this expedition. But we didn’t explore any lower floors. I’d like to sit down and explain the details.”
“Nnnn…Okay, then. Welcome back, Finn.”
“Thank you, Loki.”
The woman pulled her head away from the elf girl beneath her and flashed a smile at the prum.
Her vermilion hair resembled the evening sky at dusk. Her eyes were clever, narrow lines in the middle of her head. But at this moment, her perfectly symmetrical face was grinning. Those narrow eyes opening slightly, this tomboyish woman was, in fact, a being—a goddess—who enjoyed listening to the trials and tribulations of the lower world from people like Finn.
She was one of the deities who had descended from Tenkai out of boredom and come to live with the children for pure entertainment.
Completely different from humans or monsters, a deusdea.
She was, in fact, the leader of the group that bound together Aiz and the others: Loki.
“Loki, could you get off Lefiya? She’s exhausted, and you’re giving her a heart attack.”
“Oh, my, my. My bad, Lefiya. Kinda got caught up in the moment.”
“I-it’s okay…”
“Oh, and by the way…Geh-heh-heh, didn’t your boobs get a lil’ bigger?”
“N-no! Not at all!”
Lefiya’s face turned beet red as she looked at the perverted smile on her goddess’s lips.
The aura that surrounded the deity, making her seem like a trustworthy parent figure, instantly disappeared. It was at times like this that a being who looked perfect by default became ugly enough that humans had to avert their eyes.
Loki might have been a goddess, but she had a rather particular taste in women.
She had personally scouted every member of her familia, so every single one of them met her approval. Ignoring the male members, every female had the same kind of cute elegance about her that their goddess was very fond of.
“Hold on a sec, Tione, what’s that wrapped around your…That’s Finn’s waistcloth! Say it ain’t so! Don’t tell me you exposed yourself for the whole Dungeon to see! How do ya plead?”
“Stop embarrassing yourself. And keep your distance; it’s too hot out.”
Tione held out her hand to keep the whimpering deity from hugging her. The rest of the adventurers walked around them to go inside. Loki might be respected, but she wasn’t worshipped with absolute reverence and esteem.
Despite her all-powerful, all-knowing abilities being sealed, Loki never aged no matter how long she stayed on Earth. Rather than being treated like a supreme entity, she was more like the head of a family who treated all her children well and received their love in return.
The last of the tension finally left the adventurers’ shoulders as they were finally back inside the familiar walls of home.
“Aiz! Welcome home!”
“I’m back, Loki…”
The eyes of the goddess fell on Aiz, who responded to her greeting right away.
Loki seemed really happy to see her—at first. Then the goddess’s narrow eyes opened a little bit wider. “Ah, you’re in quite a bit of pain there. Gotta get your rest, don’t ya know?”
“…”
The blond girl’s magic had taken its toll on her body. Her joints groaned with every step. Even Loki could see that it was best for Aiz to take it slow.
The goddess’s eyes, the same color as her hair, regarded the girl as though they could see right through her. Loki smiled at Aiz without saying another word, turned away from her, and went to go greet the other members.
“Aiz, what’s wrong? Loki try to feel you up again?”
“No…It’s nothing.”
The blond girl responded to Tiona, but she was watching a very irritated Riveria trying her best to tolerate Loki just in front of the gate. Then she turned to go inside.
Members of Loki Familia who hadn’t joined the expedition came out of the manor to help bring inside the bags. “Welcome home.” “Good to see you.” They said their hellos to their returning comrades as they passed by.
There was no entrance hall, but some of the tower walls had been removed to create an open common space. Indeed, it was very welcoming. On the other hand, rooms and passageways within the towers were quite narrow. As for Aiz, she had no complaints.
Anyone using the shower room was ordered to finish before Aiz, Tiona, and the others finished unpacking. The returnees took priority. There were others waiting, but it was common sense to give up their place in line. The girls felt a little bad jumping to the front, but they weren’t about to turn down a hot shower.
Dropping their remaining weapons and armor in their personal rooms, they made their way to the shower room at the top of the tower.
“…You wear some real flashy clothes, Aiz.”
“Loki said she’d bite off my tongue if I didn’t.”
Aiz started to disrobe as she responded to Tiona’s comment, eyebrows sinking.
Her undershirt was completely open in the back, revealing all the curves from her shoulders to her lower back and even the base of her breasts. There was nothing to conceal the girl’s smooth skin. Tiona thought it was strange for someone with Aiz’s personality to wear something that revealing. “…Oh, that makes sense.” But all her questions disappeared upon hearing Aiz’s explanation.
Every member of a familia had to put up with their god’s or goddess’s more interesting personality traits.
“Lefiya, strip already. The others are waiting.”
“Ah, yes…”
Compared to the already naked Tiona, Lefiya was much more reserved when it came to her body. The Amazon had thrown her clothing to the floor the moment she came in, but the elf took her time, slowly disrobing at her own pace.
This showed a major difference between the two different races. Amazons had absolutely no reservations when it came to showing skin, while elves were very reluctant to bare any of it. With many different races living under the same roof, these differences were a daily occurrence.
Aiz quickly slipped her panties down her legs while she listened to the two of them. Placing her clothes neatly in a basket, she went inside the shower room.
A row of ten showerheads jutted out from one side of the wall. There was a small tub at the end of the line in the corner of the room, but it could fit only two or three people at most.
“Aiz, is something bothering you?”
“…?”
“It’s just…after the Minotaur roundup, you seemed a bit…I don’t know…dark?”
Aiz was genuinely surprised by Tiona’s observation. Was it that obvious?
…Because, actually, she was a little depressed.
Sure, the incident had ended with Bete laughing up a storm, but this was the first time that anyone she had saved from a monster ran away from her in terror. On the other hand, she could count the number of times that a defeated opponent had done the same thing…
Was the sight of her turning a Minotaur into cold cuts that frightening?—A piece of her, a very small piece, was sad.
She saw that rabbit-like boy—more specifically, the look of horror on his face moments before he ran—every time she closed her eyes.
Aiz sighed under her breath, quietly enough not to be overheard by the other girls. Standing in front of a showerhead, her skin turned a light shade of pink as the powerful jet of hot water ran down her body. Streams of water worked their way around her curves, tracing the hourglass shape of her hips and dripping down her thighs.
No one said anything for a while. The room started to fog up with four showerheads on full blast.
“…Grrrr.”
“What are you growling at?”
Tiona ignored her older sister’s voice as she looked down the line, specifically at their chests.
Big, average, and small.
She clenched her fists as her eyes jumped from Tione on the far right and Aiz standing next to her. An unmistakably irritated groan worked its way out from between her clenched teeth. Swish. Glancing to the left, she watched the form of Lefiya’s sizable breasts shift as the elf washed her arms and face.
“Lefiya, you traitor…”
“Whaa?!”
“Ignore her, Lefiya.”
The tone of Tiona’s groan turned to jealousy, eyes jumping between her own flat figure and Lefiya’s feminine form.
Gashaaa! The door to the shower room slid open, revealing a beastly silhouette on the other side.
“Oh, ho-ho…Don’cha worry ’bout a thing, Tiona! I’ll massage ’em until they’re nice an’ plump!”
“I wonder what’s for dinner tonight…”
Tiona very casually dodged the “attack” from behind and tripped her would-be assailant on the way past.
The attacker fell to the floor faster than the other girls could see, crashing headfirst onto the tile floor.
“Ugaaah…Y-ya gotten pretty good, Tiona.”
“Loki, you’re in the way.”
“Kuuuuh! So harsh—Lefiya, comfort meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!”
“Huh, wha—KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”
Aiz and the Amazons left the shower room behind as if this sort of thing had happened many times before.
They could sense the danger from the moment they realized their goddess hadn’t taken the time to remove her own clothes, and they offered their ally as a sacrifice to make a clean escape.
Ignoring the high-pitched pleas for help coming from the other side of the shower room door, the three girls put on their clothes and left her behind.
“That was so cruel…”
“Sorry, sorry. We just weren’t in the mood to put up with Loki.”
The group had arrived at the dining room of their home. Several long tables were lined up inside.
Visiting their own rooms after their shower, they came down to enjoy dinner with the entire familia.
“We live together, we eat together.” Loki had always encouraged them to eat as a group. Now that the expedition was over, only the lookouts on patrol were absent from the feast unfolding inside Twilight Manor. It went without saying that the narrow hall was very crowded. Even Aiz had difficulty squeezing between chair and wall on her way to an open seat.
While the returnees didn’t have enough energy to be the life of the party, they were more than happy to recount the events of their expedition over burgeoning plates of food and glasses of delicious wine. Those who stayed behind were eager to hear stories about the courageous acts and incredible bravery of their allies.
At long last, the exhausted adventurers felt the last of the tension leave their shoulders.
“Tione, is there a meeting after dinner?”
“The general said to take it easy tonight. We’ll take care of it in the morning.”
“That’s our Finn!”
Members of the familia who’d finished eating cleaned up their plates and started disappearing from the dining hall one by one.
Loki was halfway through another glass of wine when she suddenly jumped to her feet as though she’d remembered something important.
“Almost forgot. Anyone wantin’ a Status update today should come ta my room. Doin’ everybody one after another tomorrow would take a lot out of me. So how ’bout ten of ya tonight?”
Just like a whimsical deity, Loki didn’t have much of a plan. However, her followers were used to this and didn’t complain.
“What are everyone’s intentions?”
“I’m calling it a night. My bed’s calling out to me…”
“Good question. There’s nothing in particular for me to do, but I don’t think I got enough excelia for my Status to change all that much…Huh. I’ll go if I feel like it. What about you, Lefiya?”
“Today’s a little…”
“Aiz…do I even have to ask?”
“I’m going.”
Tione glanced across the table at the blond-haired girl. She gave a quick nod.
Leaving the others seated at the table, Aiz stood up. Seeing that Loki had disappeared, she left the dining hall.
Loki Familia’s home was made from a row of towers. They were all connected at the base and by several stone bridges higher up. There was no difficulty traveling from tower to tower.
Aiz traveled across one of these bridges, looking down at the gardens as she went. She raised her gaze. The sun had completely set, making the night sky a dark blue blanket filled with thousands of twinkling stars and a golden moon high above. As for the city, it was filled with just as many twinkling lights coming from each of the buildings. At the same time, she could hear the lively melodies of stringed instruments accompanied by joyful voices rising from the streets below. She stopped for a moment to take in the view before continuing on her way.
Loki’s quarters were located on the highest floor of the middle tower. Aiz walked up the spiral staircase, all the way to the top, and knocked on the wooden door.
“Come on in.”
She opened it and stepped inside.
Loki was in the middle of cleaning up. “Sorry ’bout this. Hang on a sec,” she said with a stool in her arms and a smile on her face.
Her quarters were more like an assemblage of random items rather than a living space. Bottles of many types of wine and liquor were all over the place. The bottles themselves came in many sizes and shapes, as well as colors. It was impossible not to see five or six of them in each corner of the room, some of which were open.
An expensive-looking pen and the crystal reflecting seven colors of light sat on top of her desk. A bizarre assortment of old shoes and hats decorated her walls. Spots and shelves not occupied by wine bottles held thick books or small blades like daggers and knives. Loki must’ve been in the middle of reorganizing because her bed was absently covered with pieces of literature and weapons. It wouldn’t be surprising if one or two extremely rare items were lurking in the pile.
“That’s good enough. Let’s do this.” Just as she’d promised, Loki put everything down and turned to face Aiz.
The girl had found a place to sit at the corner of her bed. Loki patted the stool a few times to indicate Aiz should have a seat.
“Aiz, you’re such a go-getter. No one wants ta cut in front of ya in line.”
“I wonder if that’s true.”
“Ask ’round if you’re curious. Ya know, communication and all that. Now, off with the shirt.”
Aiz turned her back to Loki and did what she was told.
Pulling her shirt off over her head, she gathered her long blond hair and guided it over her shoulder. She bore no scars; only smooth white skin covered her delicate frame.
“Heh-heh-heh. Took quite a nip from that last bottle. I’m feelin’ a bit tipsy. My hands might slip once or twice…!”
The goddess’s fingers reached forward, twitching excitedly as her eyes traced Aiz’s body line.
Sensing the imminent threat, Aiz drew a small dagger in her boot halfway from its sheath, making sure that Loki could hear the sharp blade sliding against the steel case.
“Ah, totally sober. No problem.”
“Please get on with it.”
“Ah, right away.”
The pupils of Loki’s eyes were nothing more than needle points as she broke out in a cold sweat. The deity set to work.
Taking one of the weapons off her bed, Loki pricked her pointer finger on the tip of the blade.
Then the goddess placed her finger just below Aiz’s neck as soon as the first few drops of blood came out.
Then she traced a series of movements on the girl’s back with a steady hand, almost as if she were writing her signature. Her blood flowed out, forming straight lines and intricate patterns before: “Hoi!”
The key had been turned.
There had been nothing on Aiz’s back a moment ago. But now a series of letters and characters that looked like an epitaph appeared right between her shoulders.
“I’m pretty good at keepin’ it locked up, but it sounds like there are other ways to pick it than usin’ god’s blood. So don’t go showin’ yer back to no one. I know I’ve said it too many times already, but it’s important.”
“Yes.”
“Then again, probably worried ’bout nothin’ with you.”
The characters ran in horizontal lines across the girl’s back.
The intricate lines looked like something that would’ve been carved into a stone monument. But in fact, this was the thing that bound this “family” together—Loki’s Blessing, a Status.
Gods and goddesses wrote these hieroglyphs in their own blood, allowing the “ichor” within it to unlock the limitless possibilities of their mortal followers. Every person who had received a Blessing had their Status engraved on their back. Since this was the livelihood of a familia, the deities liked to keep their children’s Statuses a secret.
“Some of us who just came to Gekai don’t know how ta lock. Poor kids, their secrets out in the open like that. Aizuu, be grateful I found ya first!”
“I don’t think many people can read hieroglyphs…”
“Ah, good point there.”
Loki started a conversation so that Aiz wouldn’t get bored as she continued with the Status update.
The ichor rippled through the epitaph, creating a wave that expanded from Aiz’s back—her Status was exposed. Loki looked through the series of hieroglyphs to find any faded characters or numbers and wrote new ones over them.
Adventurers like Aiz gained excelia through experience. Then their god or goddess would bring it to life with their own hands. The hieroglyphs recorded their deeds and accomplishments, forming the foundation on which their Status was based.
Adventurers went to their deity for a Status update, adding new excelia to the existing foundation. However, this could be done only one at a time. Large groups like Loki Familia had to find a way to create a pecking order, allowing adventurers at all levels to receive Status updates, while still giving more motivated members the ability to grow as fast as possible.
“’Kay, all done. Sit tight while I jot this down.”
Loki reversed the process, the red light fading before she locked the Status again, hiding it from view. Then she grabbed her feather pen from the desk and a spare sheet of paper. It took only a moment to write down the important details of Aiz’s Status.
It was almost impossible for a person to read their Status looking over their shoulder into a mirror. What’s more, only a handful of people on Gekai could read hieroglyphs, so the gods used a universal language called Koine to convey the information.
Aiz slipped her shirt on over her head and turned around. Loki was standing there, holding out the sheet of paper and smiling.
“Here.”
Aiz took the paper from her and had a look.
Aiz Wallenstein
LEVEL 5
Strength: D 549->555 Defense: D540-> 547
Dexterity: A 823 -> 825 Agility: A 821-> 822 Magic: A 899
Hunter: G Immunity: G Knight:I
Each Ability’s level was expressed using ten letters: S, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, and I.
For Basic Abilities, 0–99 was an I rank, 100–199 was H, and so on. The higher the number, the more powerful the ability. Excelia was directly expressed in these numbers. For example, an adventurer received Defense Excelia every time they survived a hit. For Magic, their spells would increase in power and range the more they used them in battle.
However, every fight didn’t necessarily result in excelia. Should their opponent be at their level or stronger, excelia came in bunches and said adventurer would grow quickly. However, defeating thousands of weaker monsters would have no effect on their Status.
Additionally, adventurers could learn Advanced Abilities—in Aiz’s case, Hunter, Immunity, and Knight—along with Skills and Magic when they raised their Level.
“…”
Aiz fought back disappointment as she looked at her new Status.
This was far too low.
She had slain hundreds of the strong monsters that lurked in the Deep Levels of the Dungeon over the last two weeks. And yet, her Status went up only a few points in each area.
At this rate, she could kill thousands of the things and barely see a difference.
Have I hit a wall…?
The limit for each Basic capability was 999. It became more difficult to gain excelia the closer each Ability got to S, but she had encountered another barrier judging by these results.
Aiz couldn’t grow anymore as she was now.
Her Status had grown as much as it could. It didn’t matter how strong or fast she was, this was her limit.
Three years had passed since she became Level 5.
An invisible barrier loomed before her, preventing her advance.
“…”
Aiz was stuck.
Level up. Improving the excelia “container.” That was her way through the barrier, overcoming this limit.
Stronger. Even stronger. She craved strength almost to the point of greed.
More power, more speed. To reach a new level, to travel to new heights.
To make her wish a reality.
Her expressionless, doll-like face concealed the desire burning within her.
“Aiz…”
Loki watched her from the side, seeing her face in profile. Cautiously, she opened her mouth to speak.
The blond girl turned to face her goddess, and the deity quietly advised her follower.
“Those who push while runnin’ full-out will always trip. I’ve told ya before, an’ I’ll say it as many times as it takes. So don’t forget.”
“…”
“You can go. Nighty-night.”
Aiz broke off eye contact with the grinning goddess and turned toward the door.
She paused for a moment in front of the giant block of wood and said, “Good night,” before exiting the room.
Loki waved at her, the same grin on her face.
“…”
The human girl descended the spiral staircase.
Light and noises from the city outside passed by every time she stepped in front of a window. Aiz walked through the dim hallways alone. Walking past all other doors, she arrived at her own room and went inside.
It was very simple. The only things inside her room were a desk, a bed, and a curtain over the window. With only a few personal possessions, Aiz’s room was the exact opposite of Loki’s personal quarters. The moonlight that managed to come in between the curtains cast the room in a dark blue hue.
She walked directly to her bed and collapsed into the sheets. Feeling their warmth around her, she looked sideways at her sword, propped up against the wall beneath her window.
The weapon seemed to have a cool aura emanating from its sheath in a moonlit spotlight.
“…”
Aiz silently closed her eyelids.
Consciousness fading, her mind fell into darkness.
A young girl.
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