Meetings

"..ay-dono. Shay-dono!"

As his eyes adjusted to the midday sun, the first thing to materialize in his vision was the giddy face of his comrade and great friend of the past five years or so, Mikoto. She was wearing her heart on her sleeve as usual, excited as could be at their arrival outside the Labyrinth City, Orario.

"We're almost there!"

Shay returned Mikoto's enthusiasm with a small smile and decided to take a look at their destination. What he saw on the horizon was a great wall, easily tall enough to put his old home's to shame, fitted with a gate having enough clearance for any reasonable carriage to pass through uninhibited. He was currently in one such carriage, arriving in Orario with the rest of Takémikazuchi familia.

In the carriage with him were Ouka, Chigusa, Mikoto, and the rest of the familia, as well as Takémikazuchi himself. Chigusa and Mikoto were equally excited at their arrival, while Ouka and Takémikazuchi were much more subdued.

"How long was I out?"

"Three hours. At least."

Ouka responded somewhat grumbling, seemingly annoyed with Shay's nonchalance about sleeping past his shift. They had decided to stagger their schedules so they could stay prepared to deal with bandits should the need arise. This was necessary because they had elected to travel as cheaply as possible, meaning they had to provide their own protection. Také familia's financial situation had not been the best, as chaos in the Far East had left the region mostly impoverished. Before leaving the Far East, Takémikazuchi familia had been actually part of a shrine that took in children that had been orphaned during the strife. In fact, the primary justification for Také familia's departure to Orario was that it would be a way for them to support their shrine financially.

After Shay was made to apologize for oversleeping, the group made their way into the city, first being inspected by Ganesha familia at the gate and subsequently being let inside and directed to the Pantheon, where they would formally establish Takémikazuchi familia.

They structured the familia with Takémikazuchi, the god of the familia, at the top. Next was Ouka, the dutiful but somewhat muscle headed formal captain of the familia. After him was Shay himself, who was made vice captain, followed by Mikoto, who saw Shay as her rival student, Chigusa, who was very timid, and the rest, who were, to put it kindly, likely to fill in the familia's non-combatant roles.

After finishing the relevant documents, the group was assigned their guild advisors while Také secured them a place to live. Each of them had been sent to a consulting box for the first advisory meeting. It was standard practice for adventurers to ask for an advisor with specific traits or being of a certain race or sex, but after Shay declined to do this the rest of the familia members followed suit not wanting to embarrass themselves.

~

Waiting in his assigned consulting box, Shay thought about his journey over the past six years. After that night in the forest, Shay found that he was still under pursuit from assassins and decided to flee to the Far East. Finishing the journey a year later, he met the orphans of Také familia at the shrine and was offered tutelage from Takémikazuchi himself, who was a god of war and had an incredible mastery of almost every martial arts technique imaginable. In exchange for his training, Shay was tasked with giving the other orphans a decent education, which he was more than qualified for given his learning as a prince. Shay was a few years older than Mikoto and the rest of Také familia, and had been something of a reliable older sibling to them.

This situation continued for a full five years before select members of Také familia were sent to Orario in order to keep the shrine afloat financially. With Shay being quite talented and outperforming even Mikoto, who was Také's best student at the time and had been training under him her whole life, he was a perfect choice for the journey. This also lined up with Shay's quest for strength, even though his ambition had waned significantly after settling into his life at the shrine. As he reflected on his ambitions, there was a timid knock on the door.

"...Yes?"

A studious looking elf timidly made her way through the door. Shay looked up, meeting her nervous eyes with his own from his spot on the couch.

"N-nice to meet you!..."

Shay was stunned as his new visitor expelled her words as if they were on fire, her face beginning to burn as well. Instinctively wanting to give her a break, he barely missed a beat.

"...Nice to meet you too. Is there some issue with my advisor?"

The girl looked terribly embarrassed at her entrance before forcing herself to continue.

"N-no sir. My name is Amelia Illuna, and I've been assigned to be your advisor."

Shay was now at a loss for words. Advisors had to constantly deal with people, and he couldn't imagine someone this timid managing that. It would be insanely difficult for her, especially since the people advisors had to deal with were usually rowdy adventurers. Shay made an attempt to hide his shock, continuing the conversation.

"Oh, I apologize. As I'm sure you already know, I'm Shay Whitlock, member of the newly formed Takémikazuchi familia. I look forward to working with you, Amelia."

Seemingly starting to adjust to her surroundings, Amelia continued.

"Likewise, Shay. I-If there's anything you need, just let me know and I'll do my best to make it happen. I see you've already finished the registration form, do you have any questions?"

Huh, she acclimated quickly.

"Yes, actually. I could use some equipment, so if you could recommend someplace cheap to get decent quality armor and weapons, it would be greatly appreciated."

The conversation continued like this for some time, with Amelia giving Shay all the information he needed to get him on his feet and in the Dungeon. Shay also found out that Amelia was actually supposed to be managing the guild archives, but had to pick up a couple adventurers due to a sudden shortage of advisors, a situation that answered all of Shay's questions about his timid new compatriot.

After meeting up again in the lobby of the Guild building, Také familia headed East to their new home, the Temporary Residence Townhouse. On the way, they decided to make a stop at Babel's eighth floor, which was a Hephaistos familia shop that sold the relatively cheap equipment made by their least experienced smiths. After assessing their remaining finances, Shay set a budget and the familia members ended up with the absolute bare minimum equipment, their pockets a collective 12,000 valis lighter.

~

After getting started in Orario, Také familia began going on expeditions in the Dungeon. In reality, the word 'expedition' was certainly an overstatement, as the familia started how every other did as well, at floor one. Their financial situation was extremely rough with the 7 man party stuck in a cycle of recursive danger, constantly trying to increase their floor count in order to afford enough equipment to guarantee a reasonable degree of safety on previous floors. Their situation started off so dire that Také himself began working at a local Jyaga Maru-kun stand, making a measly 30 valis an hour.

Almost three months into Také familia's journey in Orario, the financial pressure had let up significantly. The seven man party had finally saved up enough money to buy real, proper equipment, and had made it to the 9th floor where they saw another noticeable increase in earning potential. Their finances were now so loose that they could begin to fulfill the initial purpose of their journey to Orario, namely sending back monthly payments to their shrine in the Far East.

During this span of three months, the group had two minor revelations. The first was that Ouka was significantly more reliable than Shay had previously thought. Back in the Far East, Ouka had struck Shay as the kind of man who would only talk a big game, but after seeing his ability to lead the party, he gradually began to develop a genuine respect for the captain of his burgeoning familia. The second was that Chigusa also noticed this. Shay, along with everyone else in the party who paid attention, would regularly catch her stealing glances in Ouka's direction, providing everyone a source of comfort as well as mild amusement.

There was also a major revelation, hints of which first manifested themselves all the way back in the Far East where Také had trained Shay in martial arts. While Mikoto or Ouka would be elated at the thought of improving their statuses even by a small amount after a sparring session, Shay would regularly raise his status by more than the other students combined. This came to a head one peaceful morning at the Temporary Residence Townhouse, when Shay was getting a regular status update after a rare solo trip into the dungeon. Due to already having a decent status before coming to Orario, Shay was now close to a Level up with a couple of stats even in S rank. Také and the rest of the familia were hoping for a Level up soon, as that would loosen their financial constraints even more, but when the deity read the hieroglyphics on Shay's back, he let out an uncharacteristic shout of surprise.

"DOUBLE S!?"

Shay snapped to attention at the shout, being previously unaware that Také could sound so undignified. After turning to face the flabbergasted deity, Shay realized the words' meaning.

…SS!? Isn't the maximum supposed to be just S? But wait, could I really be that special of a case for the whole system to fall apart? I only grow at a few times the normal rate, if the fanla's that malleable–

–Slam!

Seemingly in an effort to interrupt Shay's thoughts, a startled Mikoto burst through the door.

"Is everything okay!?"

After an embarrassed Také and an exasperated Shay turned Mikoto back, Také began discussing Shay's newest status with him, hastily scribbling it on a napkin he had borrowed from his job.

-

Level 1

Str 954 S End 922 S Dex 1048 SS Agl 997 S Mag 0 I

•MAGIC

-[Raijin]

lightning enchantment, Swift chant

•SKILLS

[Greater Will]

Greatly increases the user's potential

-

"...Just what exactly did you do today?"

"...nothing spectacular– ah, well, actually, I did go to the, uh… 11th floor."

Také knew Shay had regained some ambition recently, but the news of his follower's recklessness bothered him quite a bit. Shay had the status to solo most of the Upper Floors, but he definitely didn't have the experience, not to mention the equipment. Také familia members in general were reasonably ambitious, but Shay on the other hand had a tendency to throw himself at any obstacle he could if he deemed it likely to give him strength. This led to Shay disregarding Také's advice to take things slow, and had led him to fighting a horde of orcs and imps simultaneously on the 11th floor, causing his status to jump into the absurd.

"You really don't have any self preservation instinct, do you?"

All Shay could do was laugh awkwardly in an effort to avoid going into detail about his exploits, which would have certainly sent Také off the rails. Looking back at the napkin, Shay's eyes lit up when they made their way to his magic slot.

"Alright Shay, in any case, now the whole familia knows something's up. We'll have to deal with that, too."

"...I got magic?"

"Hey, are you listening?

"I got magic! And its enchantment magic, too! Isn't that the most versatile kind!?"

Realizing Shay was in his own world, Také decided his only course of action was to try and deflate him. Shay's new magic was a fantastic development, but Také did his best to point out a weakness.

"It's got no chant, so it'll probably be weak."

"It's got no chant, so I'll use it constantly and make it stronger! There's no losing here!"

"...You'll definitely have to pay for your own magic potions though… Anyway, everyone in the house definitely heard me say 'double S', so we'll have some explaining to do."

The core members of Také familia already knew about Shay's fast growth, so it really wasn't much of an issue that he was already at the peak of Level 1. The issue was him going past that peak. In all of recorded history, there hadn't been a single reported case of anyone ever reaching past S in a basic ability, meaning Shay was an extreme outlier. Shay knew it was probably due to what he thought could've been a spirit, but that explanation came with its own set of issues. In any case, Shay didn't think he wanted it known.

"...I doubt we can hide much. Let's just be vague and tell them my skill raised the status cap a bit. That's really all there is to say anyway."

"I guess, but are you okay with this? They'll definitely be jealous and want to know more. I don't like lying through my teeth, you know."

"Just blame me. I haven't told even you the whole story anyway, so there's nothing for you to feel guilty about. I don't want people knowing where I am, so there's really no choice but for me to be a little secretive. Plus, we've been over this before, it really is for the good of everyone in the familia."

Také sighed, opening the door and joining Shay in the modest common area, where Mikoto, Chigusa, and Ouka were all waiting for an explanation. About a minute later, Také had done the majority of the necessary explaining. Ouka was flabbergasted, Chigusa was shell shocked, and Mikoto was starry eyed, all three of them realizing that this information would cause one hell of a stir if it got out.