DanMachi 12
The following day started with me stepping into the Guild exchange and selling all my drops from my last two dives. I've been hoarding them at home, always forgetting to bring them to the guild.
Spotting Eina I wave at her with a smile, she waves back, but she's at another counter so we don't talk.
After a few minutes of wait, I exchange a bag full of magical stones and loot from the first twenty floors and almost 1,500 cores from the thirtieth floor. The full loot netted me around 1,4 million Valis, a huge jump from our last dive, but still not an unusually large sum.
After exiting the guild building, I went to an out-of-sight alley and used [Void Step] to get home. Olive was already waiting for me, fully geared and with food prepared in her inventory. Today we both went with our [Cat Person] race to augment our agility because we will be fighting up close. The way falna worked, was that you needed to use a strength-based attack to gain strength excelia, that's why my magic stat maxed out so fast yesterday, as I was killing monsters left and right, using only mana.
Our plans for today were fighting with weapons, and to be honest, both of our pieces of equipment have seen better days. I can cheat, and use my [Mistilteinn] as a weapon, but I can't give one to Olivia. For safety reasons, I still carry my daggers and katana, but they are rarely used nowadays. So after our dive today, we're going shopping, getting her a new weapon, and better armor for the both of us.
That got me thinking, should I start learning blacksmithing? Incorporating runic magic into the blacksmithing process and then enchanting the finished product should neat me pretty good results. I could cook up some spells for removing impurities, heating up and compressing metals, and Hestia is in a good relationship with Hephaistos, who I could ask for guidance. I'll have to ask our goddess to arrange a meeting with her.
Anyways, back to our dungeon dive, I hated water levels, so we ignored everything from the 25 to the 27th floors and instead went for an earlier floor, floor 24. Olivia could still gain levels here, so I let her go wild. These floors were known as the Large Tree Labyrinth, the walls, ground, and even the ceiling were made out of wood.
Moss, which gave off light, grew on every surface the air felt fresh but a bit misty. The trees around us grew multiple types of fruit, with some of them having uses in alchemy. This floor contained a ton of insect type of monsters and other similar creatures and was a pain in the ass. Mosquitos the size of a pony, cockroaches the size of a cow, and centipedes the size of a bus, you could find anything.
After fighting a few groups of devil mosquitoes, the before-mentioned pony-sized mosquitos, which spawned in groups of at least fifty, we were already a bit tired. So we took a break in by the side of a wall.
Hearing some loud buzzing, I sigh and stand up.
"These fuckers never stop coming."
"Can't you just kill them all, so we can rest a bit more?" she asks with a pleading look.
"I could, but we won't get any Dexterity or Endurance excelia for that, and look, you're leveling again! You're going to be on my level soon!" I say with a smile to which she just sighs and stands up, preparing for another easy, but at the same time, hard fight.
So, you might be wondering, how do you fight fifty pony sizes fuckers that have needles for their mouths? Well, these monsters are quite squishy, they have a carapace, but it cannot stop a sword strike, much less a magic-infused one. So the easiest way to deal with them is to wait till they come at you, move out of the way and strike at their sides, preferably hitting the base of their wings, and when they are grounded, finish it quickly. Keep in mind these fuckers tend to attack in waves of at least 10, so this dance of the bumble mosquitos tends to last for a few minutes. With our true stats, currently, around low level 4, these fuckers were quite easy to deal with.
[Quest: [Slay 2 (R*16)] Completed 20 WP(x8) Received]
"Ugh let's just go to a lower floor, the place where you were when I visited you yesterday."
"Sure, grab on." I say and extend my hand so she can grab on.
A [Celestial Eyes] and a [Void Step] later we find ourselves on the thirtieth floor, I send out a wave of swords to clear us a smaller area, so we won't get ambushed by the few rare ambush dinosaurs, lurking in the bushes.
Not long after a group of around 20, raptor-like creatures, with tiny arms, sharp teeth, and huge claws on their feet, poke their heads out of the bushes not far away from us. They were red and had a flower on their heads. Quite cute if you disregard the fact that they want to eat you.
"Wanna try them first, or should I go in and you watch my back?"
"I'll go. I need to vent, I'll be hearing buzzing noises for a week, fucking mosquitoes!" she yells out and rushes towards the raptors sidestepping, a swipe of one and leaning back from another, she decapitates the third, while dodging another.
I love looking at her fights when she uses a sword. It's like seeing a dancer performing, her choreography always placing the enemies right in the way of her sword, while graceful steps, keep her from harm's way. Her dance concludes with a crescendo, as a larger fire-breathing lizard joins the fray, only to fall victim to her descending blade at the next moment. The song now concluded, the dance finished, and I can only clap my hands and say. "That was beautiful. I always knew you had talent with a sword, but your fight like it was choreographed, and where you force the enemies to dance to your own tune." I say with a smile, while still clapping. With a smile on her face, she gives me a few exaggerated bows and a few "Thank you"s, but our little skit was quickly interrupted by some pterodactyl-like creatures. They were dark green, with a wing span of at least 10 meters, flew in a group of ten, and had a strange protrusion on the back of their heads. The first one to try on snatching Olive got a sword to the head by yours truly, while the second that descended was killed by Olive's overhead strike. Funny how most of these robust creatures have thin necks, one swipe of your swords and they die.
They always struggled with different types of monsters in the anime, and never went for any obvious weak points. Like, oh no, were attacked by a minotaur! My weak-ass knife cannot damage his hide. He is slow and I have time to jump around him, better make a cut in his stomach and put my hand inside of it and blast dozens of fireballs inside of him, to cook him alive. Instead of just sinking my knife into his eyes with enough strength to pierce his brain. I know most of the anime go for the fighting style points and all, but in real life, it's not practical. Why not finish a fight as soon as you can? Oh and let's not talk about monologues. Villain appears and speaks for 20 minutes about his plans to conquer the world only to be defeated by the power of friendship, love, or some other bullshit sudden power-up. I hate all of that...
Oh, yea... I'm in a fight, I return to reality to find a stupid bird-lizard combination, trying to grab me by my shoulders and lift me up into the air. Yea... Like I would allow that, I crouch but leave my sword in the air and the stupid bird just guts itself, while flying into it. Showering me with blood and guts.
"Blech, I'll need to take a bath when I get home."
Our fights with different types of prehistoric animals continue for some time. And after I killed a T-Rex wanna-be, with tiny claws, a huge head, sharp teeth, and a thick tail, probably used as a counterweight. That thing was an obvious weak point, and after removing it, the weight of its head made it fall forward. Enabling me to sink [Mistilteinn] right into his peanut-sized brain. At the conclusion of the fight, I'm greeted by the last notification I was waiting for.
[Endurance excelia reached the maximum for the current level, all future Endurance excelia will be dispersed.]
"Finally," I say aloud with a ragged breath. That was the last stat I needed to reach max before I can go level up. Olivia has already maxed out most of them only her Dexterity and Magic were lagging behind. I'll need to design a new spell for her, so she can increase the speed of her Magic excelia accumulation. After I reached max, I kept playing defense and allowed her to snipe the monsters from behind me. Around an hour and a half, she finally reached it in both of her stats, and I grabbed onto her and used [Void Step] to get us home. By now, it was quite late and Hestia was already at home.
"Hestia!" I call out and the goddess pokes her head out of the kitchen.
"Yes?" she asks looking confused.
"We'll take a bath and after that could you level us up?" I ask
"Already!?" she asks quite surprised and tilting her head to the side.
"Yea, we've been farming floor 30 for six hours straight, and I have a feeling that I can level up." I say with a smile.
"Sure, sure, take a bath then come downstairs. I'll wait for you guys in the living room." She says waving me off.
We took a quick bath together, with me massaging Olivia's sour muscles, in the heated moment we started making out, but quickly stopped, before it could devolve into something else. The first one out was Olive, she got dressed and went down to the loli goddess. Not long after she was the first Level 3 in the Hestia familia and gained a skill that suited her perfectly.
[Sacred Dance LVL: Max]
- All enemies in combat with you, are forced to dance to your tune.
- Allows you to adjust to the rhythm of the dance with ease.
- Gain the ability to predict your dance partner's next move.
- Gain a feeling for an optimal move while dancing.
[Chain Attack LVL:1/120]
- Each consecutive hit on the same target increases damage dealt by 2.5%+(0.1%/Level).
- Not attacking for 2 seconds or receiving any form of damage, cancels the chain.
[Falna Status] (Olivia)
Level: 2 > 3
Strength: 1,500 (SSS) > 0 (I)
Endurance: 1,500 (SSS) > 0 (I)
Dexterity: 1,500 (SSS) > 0 (I)
Agility: 1,500 (SSS) > 0 (I)
Magic: 1,500 (SSS) > 0 (I)
D.A.:
[Swordsman I>D] [Chain Attack I]
Magic:
[Icicles I>E] [Void Step I > F]
Skills:
[Heart's Desire] [Sacred Dance]
She gained a new ability and choose the [Chain Attack] development one. Quite a good choice for her style of fighting. 'She'll have to get a dance-related skill in the Library System, just to boost her new skill' It's been a while since I checked her Library status so I do so.
Olivia Lane
[Global LVL: 51 XP: 116,391/ 128,130]
[Class: Samurai LVL: 49/50 XP: 116,391/ 128,030]
[Titles: None] | Race: [Human] | Tier: 1]
[WP: 12,200] [UC: 16,545.63 UC] [HS: Healthy]
Stamina: 5,555 (555.50/m)
Mana: 3,504 (5.45/s)
STR: 6 > 48
VIT: 14 > 55
DEX: 30 > 101
AGI: 31 > 102
PER: 29 >57
INT: 9
WIS: 28 >56
CHAR: 10
LUCK: 29 >56
P. Res: 0
M. Res: 0
Skills:
Defence:
[Soul Resonance] *[Dodge 1>45] *[Pain Tolerance 1>17] *[Counter 1>20] *[Mental Wall 1>17] *[Acrobatics 1>40] *[Sacred Dance]
Offence:
[Small Blade Mastery 2] [Large Blade Mastery 3>29] *[Bow Mastery 1>11] *[Chain Attack 1] *[Swordsman 1>52]
Magic:
*[Mana Manipulation 1>22] *[Runic Language 1>28] *[Spellcode 1>13] *[Heart's Desire]
Misc.:
*[Cooking 1>10] *[Seduction 1>19] *[Reading 1>19]
Her stats have increased by a large margin, almost closing up on mine. I was happy with her progress and with all her achievements. After she showed me the paper of her status, I gave her a kiss and went into the living room to level up.
"Okay mister, you know the drill, shirt down and onto the sofa." Commands the petite goddess.
Without replying I took off my shirt and presented my upper body to the heavily blushing goddess. Not sure if it's because of all the workouts in the dungeon, or it's the systems or falna's fault but my body went through some changes. My muscle mass increased and you could clearly see them bulging under my skin, I didn't have cheese grater abs, but they were slowly coming along. It was a huge step away from my almost Dad's body, I can't even understand how I scored Olivia back then. 'Probably my natural charm' I think with a smile, while the goddess, straddling my back finishes her update.
"Okay you have another interesting skill" She says.
"What is it?"
"Mana's Blessing gives you increased mana regeneration, and stronger spells, your chants cannot be interrupted and you can use your mind to reinforce your body."
"I'll be taking it." I say with a smile. I'll have to test the limitations of that stat enchantments tomorrow.
"Okay done, what about your development ability? You have quite a few, Hunter, Abnormal Resistance, Magic Resistance, Swordsman, Chain Attack, and Spirit Healing"
"Oh both Resistances sound nice but I'll go with Spirit Healing and after that, I might take the resists."
"Are you sure? Hunter is a rare ability and can only be gained on this level, it will increase the excelia you gain."
"I'm already fighting with one or two levels higher enemies, excelia gain is not really an issue for me."
"As you wish..." She says and finishes the level-up process. I'm greeted by a few system notifications.
[Falna Status Level Up]
[Falna Status] (Andrew)
Level: 2 > 3
Strength: 1,500 (SSS) > 0 (I)
Endurance: 1,500 (SSS) > 0 (I)
Dexterity: 1,500 (SSS) > 0 (I)
Agility: 1,500 (SSS) > 0 (I)
Magic: 1,500 (SSS) > 0 (I)
D.A.:
[Mage I> G] [Spirit Healing I]
Magic:
[Void Step I > G] [Mistilteinn F>E] [Celestial Eyes I>G] [Alter Orb I>H] [Gate I >H]
Skills:
[Sage's Wisdom] [Mana's Blessing]
[Mana's Blessing LVL: Max]
- Gain the ability to temporarily increase your stats by reinforcing them with mana.
- All damage dealt with mana-based attacks doubled.
- Mana regeneration, while in combat, is tripled.
- Chants cannot be interrupted.
[Spirit Healing LVL:1/120]
- Increases mana regeneration by 0.5%/LVL.
Checking them out, I can't help but smile at the true power of this skill. I love how the Falna system always grants you the abilities that help you reach greater heights. Focusing on mana usage, spells, and understanding of magic, allows it to grant me a mana-based skill. I do wonder what kind of other skills will I get later on.
"Thanks Hestia." I say and receive a sincere smile from her.
"No, thank you for working so hard to improve our familia." She says and hugs my back.
"You're welcome." I say with a smile, then add. "If you're okay with it, I'll be getting us a supporter in a few days' time."
"Hmmm... Who?" she asks from atop of my back.
"A Pallum, by the name Lili, she's currently in the Soma familia, and has a huge debt."
"Okay, but I'll make the final decision." She says with a determined nod.
"Oh, by the way, could you get me an audience with Hephaistos? I want to start learning Blacksmithing."
Her eyes go wide and she repeatedly nods. "Yes! I can talk to her tomorrow and we can go over to her place."
"Sure. Thanks" I say with a smile and when she gets off of my back I wish her a good night and head upstairs to lie down and sleep.
My little hug pillow already took her place on the bed, and by the sound of her deep breaths, she was already sound asleep. Using [Muted Steps] I stealthily walk up to the bed and quietly, and carefully, get under the covers. As soon as my head hits the pillow, Olive turns around and snuggles up to me. Even in her sleep, she finds her usual place on my shoulders. Looking at her cute sleeping face I can say without a doubt that I'm happy. I reach up to her head and lightly pat it being careful not to wake her, my arm goes around her waist and I pull her up closer and I place a kiss on her head.
Just before I fall asleep I make an overdue check on my library system. Not much has changed without gaining level-ups, but the falna system did grant me some always-appreciated stats. Some skills did rise in levels more than others, and from them, you could clearly see which skills I use most often. My eyes grow tired and I fall asleep moments later.
Status
[Global LVL: 55 XP: 174,240/188,059]
[Class: Wizard LVL: 34/50 XP: 101,900/ 108,010]
[Titles: [Blessed by Death] | Race: [Human] | Tier: 1]
[WP: 12,200] [UC: 16,545.63 UC] [HS: Healthy]
Stamina: 7,535 (753.50/m)
Mana: 16,455 (53.75/s)
STR: 4 > 49
VIT: 10 > 55
DEX: 92 >137
AGI: 29 > 74
PER: 34
INT: 115
WIS: 117
CHAR: 9
LUCK: 5
P. Res: 0
M. Res: 55 > 0
Skills:
Defence:
[Sneak 17] [Muted Steps 19>20] [Dodge 55>59] [Pain Tolerance 10>17] [Counter 25>27] [Acrobatics 16>28] [Soul Resonance]
Offence:
[Small Blade Mastery 44>48] [Large Blade Mastery 35>59] [Gun Mastery 5] [Dual-wielding 18>23] *[Bow Mastery 1>12]
Magic:
[Mana Manipulation 55>61] [Charms] [Transfiguration] [Alchemy] [Enchanting 89] [Runic Language 78> Max] [Mind Arts 89>91] [Spellcode 43>58] *[Sage's Wisdom] *[Mage 1>37] *[Mana's Blessing] *[Spirit Healing 1]
Misc.:
[Deception 57] [Drawing 4>8] [Writing 22>35] [Seduction 45] [Acting 79] [Reading 76>89] [Cooking 53>54] [Herbology 67] [Teaching 52>55] [Mathematics 35] [Leadership 64]