Dungeon dive Pt: 1

"Hm, looks nice on you."

I looked up at the old blacksmith, who I found out was named Keita, he had his arms crossed and was observing my armour, which was made from the black wyvern scales.

Shrugging, I reach inside the pouch and take out seven hundred thousand, Since I had collected the scales, I didn't need to pay for them, but since they were hard to be worked on, the price was still high.

"Thanks."

I turn towards the exit and walk outside, the old man was nice enough to keep the pieces until I came around.

I start walking towards the exit of the Babel tower.

Since I memorized the path, there was no need for anyone to follow me.

Exiting the tower ten minutes later, I head towards the only other place I go except the twilight manor.

The dungeon.

Today was raining so there were no civilians around but I could still see some adventurers hurrying towards the shelter.

I couldn't relate, I found the rain calming... unless there was a storm.

Walking past the stone houses and some taverns, I head toward the guild hall.

The large building came into view when I turned the corner and entered the main street.

I could see some people with guild uniforms walking inside. My stride was uninterrupted as I entered the guild hall and looked around for my advisor.

Spotting her talking to a werewolf with red hair, two fluffy wolf ears on the top of her head and large... assets.

Shaking the thoughts out of my head, I walk toward the two.

"Hello, Miss Aina."

The half elf turned her head towards me and the werewolf rose a curious eyebrow.

"Ah, Giyu... you're going to be missing for a week again arent you?"

I just stare at her, why was she displeased?

"No... I may be gone anywhere from two weeks to a month this time."

The two stared at me like I was crazy, and here I thought that it was established that I didn't fall into the category of "Normal".

"You aren't bringing any supplies with you?"

I roll my eyes, I didn't bring any last time, why would I bring any now?

"No."

She sighed and started massaging the bridge of her nose while the werewolf just looked at me as if to say "Your funeral".

Turning towards the exit, I start walking out, my only reason for coming here was to inform the guild how long I would be missing, not to listen to someone lecture my ear off for being reckless.

It's time to head towards a giant hole in the floor... right below the babel tower.

"... why can't the guild be near the tower? The walk is just a waste of time."

Tightening the hold on my katana I take a breath and dash off.

Good thing I left that note for the familia.

-With the Loki Familia, Lefiya Pov-

Walking down the hall, I enjoy the rare silence that is in the Twilight manor. The rain outside is a little irritating but nothing that I can't ignore.

Loki wanted me to get the human Giyu from his room to meet Lady Riveria.

Why would she want that Human to meet her? What's so special about him? He may be proficient with a sword that only proves that he's a brute, the only way he can learn any magic is through Grimoires, like everyone else.

Finally reaching the human's room, I knock lightly on the door. Not getting an answer after a while, I knock again.

"...Is he sleeping?"

Slowly opening the door, I walk inside only to see a made bed and an untouched room. The Loki familia had spare rooms for any new members and they had the basic needs, the owners could decorate the rooms to their liking but nothing new is added here.

Looking around the room, I notice a note on the table.

Walking over, I read the few lines that were written on it.

Out for a walk, be back in a month?

Frowning, I pick up the letter and head toward Loki's office. This human had more important things to do than seeing Lady Riveria? And for a month? Ridiculous.

-Giyu POV-

I was on the first floor, walking towards the stairway of the second, ignoring most of the other adventurers who were fighting Goblins and Kobolds. some were shaking in fear, the first timers. Others were working together to easily take on the groups of monsters.

I watched impassively as someone got their first kill and get congratulated by his party members.

Passing the group of four, I sidestep a goblin and launch a kick into its face, caving the skull in.

The floor was any like any typical dungeon, the definition of a stereotype, but that changed on the lower floors. I still can't believe that there is a "Safe Zone" on the eighteenth floor, bet it's used as some sort of battleground for the protagonist to fight a giant monster.

Snorting at the thought, I spot the entrance of the second floor, it wasn't particularly hidden. a giant hole in the wall leading to stairs that went down.

I should have no trouble until floor seven, then the dungeon will send waves of monsters to tire me out, that's why it's recommended to go down there with a party of at least four.

Purple moths, Needle rabbits, Killer ants. A.K.A, pains in the ass, Killer ants are annoying to deal with unless you can kill them soon enough, Needle rabbits are fast, and Purple moths poison you.

Walking into the second floor, I look around for anything, there were no Goblins, no Kobolds, no monsters at all.

Pretty... Sus if you ask me.

Shrugging it off I continue to walk, after all, the monsters wouldn't kill themselves... Probably.

-Twilight Manor, Lefiya POV-

"He went out for a walk..."

I nodded, having nothing else to say.

Loki looked at me for a minute straight before continuing.

"For a month."

Nodding again, I look to the side where Lady Riveria was standing with an amused look.

"Why do you want him to meet Lady Riveria anyway?"

The goddess hummed.

"He managed to raise his magic stat without having any magic, so I thought he had talent, he could learn some magic from her."

I tilted my head in confusion, He could do magic, right? Those flames he used were was a spell learned from a grimoire, right?

"But what about those flames he used with his sword? That was fire magic right?"

She shook her head, confusing me even further.

"That was a skill, he doesn't have a spell."

Ah... well that is an interesting skill, almost like Ais and her tempest.

"Oh..."

-Giyu POV, Sixth floor-

I Brought my sword in a horizontal slash with flames following my movement.

A dark figure with claws for its fingers, a war shadow, got sliced in half in the middle of its charge.

The only flaw of these monsters is that they overextend in their strikes, which means if you can do a basic manoeuvre called "Dodging", you can deal with them easily unless they are in a group.

Picking up the magic stone, I put it in one of my pouches, I didn't particularly need it, but there was a chance that another monster to pick it up and become an abnormal.

Abnormals were... weird. From what Riveria told me in one of our Q&A sessions, a magic stone is a source of power to a monster, If a monster is strong with one magic stone then two would only make it stronger.

The speed, strength and overall behaviour would change. As far as I know, these magic stones were memory chips, if a monster ate one, they would be able to avoid some attacks from the other adventurers, but that's all speculation... and I hope it's not right.

"Hey!"

Looking behind me, I see a party of three walking towards me. What did these people want from me? Usually, im just ignored.

"We're going to the lower floors, one of our teammates couldn't come and we were wondering if you could join us temporarily."

Well, this is random. I don't wanna do it, but then again... I am going to the fifteenth floor and maybe the seventeenth down the line, I would, no doubt, kill a lot of monsters, that means a lot of magic stones. If these people collected at least three fourth of them, it would save me the space.

"Okay, im Giyu."

The tall, muscular man grinned with joy and extended his hand which I took.

"My name is Tenka, this is Ren and Kin, nice to meet you."

He motioned towards his friends, One waved while the other nodded. Ren was a slim man with twin daggers in his hands, Kin was wielding a one-handed short sword and Tenka was supposedly the tank of the team, he had a great sword that he kept on his back while talking to me, the flat of the blade could cover a good part of his torso so it could also be used to shield the user from the attacks.

"Which floor are you heading to?"

After letting go, we both took a hold of our weapons as we started walking, it wasn't a good idea to keep weapons sheathed in a dungeon unless it was necessary. An example was my quick draw.

"We're heading down to the fourteenth floor, for now, im level two and take on the strong opponents, Ren usually assists me while Kin and Ruka cover us."

So I had to cover him. Sounds simple enough.

"Got it."

We walked for a little bit, taking out some War shadows and Frog shooters, frog monsters with one large eye, that was also its weak spot.

When we were picking up the Magic stones, Tenka turned to me, he had an expression as if he just remembered something.

"Oh, we usually split the money equally but since we are from different familia, We can just split the magic stones equally, is that fine with you?"

I nodded, this was a good setup, even though I have yet to see the three in any real action, they were going to the fourteenth floor so Ren and Kin were newly levelled up level twos or veteran level ones.

"So... How were your dungeon crawls so far?"

Oh thank god, I thought I had to start a conversation, I was terrified.

"Well, it's been fine so far... Interesting to say the least, when I came to Orario for the first time, I didn't know what to expect from the dungeon."

Tenka nodded and Ren spoke up next.

"Yeah, Im not from here as well, decided to visit about three years ago and when I joined a familia, I decided to stay. Gotta say, at first I was surprised how strong the monsters were here compared to the surface."

I nod, even though I haven't met any surface monsters, but according to Eina, since the dungeon cant feed them magic outside, they take it from their own magic stones, which makes them a lot weaker than the dungeon.

"I've heard that Familia's outside Orario are rare, honestly, it's impressive that they can level up to level three."

The other three nodded in agreement and silence descended again... Yeah, things can get awkward when a new guy joins the group, it's even worse when that new guy is me.

"You hear that?"

We stopped when Kin asked that question, closing my eyes, I focus on the sounds around me, it also helped that the others got quiet. The sound of metal hitting the ground, probably a missed swing or a dropped weapon... That doesn't bode well, a dropped weapon could mean a dying adventurer.

"Someone in trouble, in front of us, if we heard it, it must mean that the distance isn't far."

Tenka nodded at my observation, tightening his grip on the sword.

"Let's go."

The large man moved forward in a jog, trying to not waste any energy that could be useful in the battle.

I followed together with the other two, keeping pace with the trio. I just hope that this doesn't happen often.