Orario, Outside the Twilight Manor
Miyabi Hoshimi
"…it wasn't always like this. In the age before Orario, before the Gods' descent, the Dungeon was nothing short of an apocalypse."
Miyabi wasn't unfamiliar with speeches. They were hard to avoid with her responsibilities, no matter how ill-suited she felt towards them. It was why she was glad her subordinates were oft content with but a few soft words of encouragement alone.
"The monsters that spewed endlessly from its depths drove every mortal race to the brink of destruction."
But, listening to the speech of the Loki Captain, she couldn't help but feel like she could do with some training in that area. It was a point that she was noticeably lacking on after all, and improvement was its own reward.
"What saved us from that fate were the Heroes, those willing to drive back the darkness, and the Gods that descended to support them."
Then again, Finn Deimne seemed content to speak enough for her and all the other soft-spoken Captains combined. The crowd surrounding her noticeably engaged as he pushed his message with commendable enthusiasm and charisma.
"WIth the monsters driven back, the Dungeon was sealed, becoming what it is today. Yet the need for those who drive back the monsters remains."
And within those words his intent was clear; he wished to repaint the oft maligned image of adventurers in the colours of old. To portray our kind as guardians and heroes once more, instead of the more mercenary appearance we'd taken on in recent times.
"Without Adventurers to cull the hordes, the seal will be overwhelmed… but this expedition -and all like it- is to prevent just that!"
It likely wouldn't change the minds of many -and it was almost certainly motivated by the Captain's own wants- but it was still a pursuit she could agree with. Reputation was a dangerous thing after all. If you paint an entire group as warriors for whom their sole drive is money, then some will naturally begin to see themselves that way.
And this world would not be able to handle her kind should they become any greedier than they already are.
Adventurers were immensely powerful and uniquely concentrated, the rest of the world simply did not have the ability to meaningfully resist one of the larger Familias going rogue, save Telskyura perhaps. And as it stood, the system only held together due to the influence of the Gods and the obsession the stronger Adventurers have with the Dungeon.
But Gods do not call those under them children for no reason, as much as they influence their Familias, they are influenced in turn. And if a strong enough Familia got it into their minds that they deserved more than holding a small place in this city…
The maps would have to be redrawn once more.
Before her grim thoughts could develop further however, a familiar aura focused on her, the rest of Deimne's speech fading into the background as she focused on him.
Elric Carne.
An ally of her Familia's, the fastest leveller in history, and also one of the few Adventurers alive to surpass a full level's gap; as a low level at that. The divide between levels was steep at any level, but in the lower levels it was known to be especially harsh. Even just the divide between her own stats and his should have been insurmountable, yet she had only been able to draw between them in their spars.
He was a… strange figure -a friend certainly- but also an outlier that she couldn't help but consider as she began walking towards him.
In a city of mostly known factors and drawn out rivalries, he had come out of nowhere, leaving the majority of Familias she was familiar with understandably spooked. Had he been the latest star of Loki or Freya, things wouldn't be this pronounced, but to achieve this while representing a practically unknown Goddess was something else entirely.
It had led to an air of uncertainty around him; uncertainty over what he could achieve alone, about who was backing him, and who would step in should one group attempt anything. She'd even heard whispers speculating upon her own Familia's and the Loki Familia's involvement in all this.
That uncertainty made him strangely untouchable, at least on the surface.
She suspected that with their options limited in this strange stalemate, there were Familias contemplating more covert actions. From under the table offers or threats to straight up assassination attempts from the more petulant Gods. Those who were willing to lash out and destroy what they could not have as long as it meant denying it to their peers.
Yet, Miyabi oddly found herself doubting that they could actually move him. The man's sword did not waver for even a second in front of the malice contained within her own blade after all; she struggled to believe that he would waver to mere offers or threats, or even blades in the dark.
Annoyingly, the spirit in her blade stirred the second she even thought of that comparison. The constant insidious press of its mind against hers swelling as its anger built, forcing her to grip its sheath tightly as she prepared to fend off its advance once more, and then… It turned away from her, its fury directed not at her, but at the man approaching through the crowd.
A man who just smiled into the face of it, infuriating the blade further.
Her grip loosened as she smiled back.
"You made it." He greeted casually.
"Of course, thank you for having me." She bowed politely, in the way her mother had taught her.
"Hey." His subordinate spoke up curtly from his side, looking uneasy. Miyabi bowed to her as well, and humoured her as she awkwardly tried to respond in kind.
"It's not a problem, even if that lot might pretend to not see it that way." He chuckled.
"Should we speak to someone about that before things get underway?" She asked.
"Nah, we're going to have to talk to the big man after this speech anyway." His lips twitched as he nodded towards where the Loki Captain was still on his stage.
"Oh, any particular reason?" She asked.
"I'm hoping to get a chance at Goliath."
Miyabi stilled at that, testing the possibility in her mind.
She'd seen the Goliath slain before, on a rare occasion when the Loki and Freya Familias weren't interested and the Ganesha Familia instead had to handle it. While its speed and skill weren't insurmountable for someone used to level three, anyone attempting to take it down first had to overcome its endurance.
Steel-like skin almost a third of a meter thick, so tough that most blades couldn't even pierce the surface. And even those that did would grind to a halt in that sheer thickness. To make matters worse it was also a regenerator, with most of its wounds healing in less than a minute.
Even those dealt to its eyes.
Were it anyone else, she would have told them it was a fool's errand, but given his clear confidence and history, she couldn't help but believe that he had something up his sleeve once more.
"I see… then you're familiar with the problems you'll face?" She tried.
He smiled confidently. "I've got it covered, don't worry."
She nodded, deciding to leave it at that. If he understood what was facing him, then far be it for her to stand in the way of such an opportunity.
Every Adventurer understood that want after all.
And amidst small talk, as attention slowly drifted back to the Loki Captain's speech, an impatient energy filled her as well. Every Adventurer was looking for that chance to test themselves, and this entire expedition was just that.
One big chance.
She had no doubt that of all the Adventurers here, that was the thing they were focusing on the most…
-
I wasn't exactly great at standing still and paying attention.
So I spent the time I should have spent listening, messing around with the Soul Sight spell instead.
The reason? Souls are actually really fucking interesting and speeches just aren't.
I couldn't see everything obviously, but there was a depth and complexity to each person that showed details about them that I could barely parse. Something that was made even more complicated in the case of Adventurers. Their souls were just larger, they burned brighter and if the average person could be regarded as washed out, then they were simply more saturated.
If I looked at the man of the hour, Finn, there were depths of blue in his soul, streaked through with darker hues and buried pockets of other colours. There was heroism there, or at the very least an aspiration towards it, but it was one that leaned into the manipulative; the cold, the calculating.
Many were much the same as him, like the High Elf Princess herself, Riveria, standing just behind him. Her soul predominately a colour that rang with natural nobility, but -like Finn- it was streaked through with darker, more manipulative hues as if aged. Shades of green portraying an entire person.
It was a trend of time if I was seeing things right, mortals naturally becoming more jaded as the years passed, with the opposite being true the younger the Adventurer was. Their colours were simpler, lacking in depth perhaps, yet also notably purer.
Which was an observation that felt almost dirty to consider, given the shit the Goddess Freya would say in the show about the main character's own soul, and how 'pure' it was. That woman was cuckoo for cocopuffs and so obsessed with purity and clarity of soul that she went past the point of being a pedophile and straight into something else entirely.
And I still needed to develop countermeasures for her.
Interestingly, there were a handful of exceptions to this aged concept when it came to the Adventurers gathered. Almost all of the Loki executives, despite half of them being pretty young themselves, had some measure of complexity or darkness to them, with only one of the Amazon twins standing out.
Tiona, I think?
The others were… well, I think edgy is the correct term.
Bete, the dickhead who looked ready to start a fight with me from the second I first met him, was just a mess of darkened colours and self-hatred. An unstable mass that looked ready to implode at any second, with the only bright spots being in what looked like almost territorial instincts. Like he genuinely wanted to protect those around him, which was somewhat of a surprise given his personality.
One look though was all it took to reinforce my decision to just stay out of his way until I could handle him one-on-one. He was just that unstable.
But once that point was reached, then I'd let the chips fall where they may.
Ais was surprisingly both simple and not.
One side of her was a rather lovely shade of kind blue, the other however was downright dark, without much complexity or mixing of colour going on. It was like someone just spilled that darkness straight onto her soul and it had barely shifted in the time since. If I had to guess, it was some kind of sudden trauma that drove this change and her apparent seething hatred for monsters.
Tione, the other Amazon twin, was shot through with shades of red and rage. Anger at herself, the world, her own sister and everything in between was represented there. The biggest bright spot was an obsessive pink that didn't really give me the greatest feeling.
Everyone I saw had these shades, and all of them likely had some insane story behind them, but for me, the insight alone was enough. Knowing what to avoid and what buttons I could press to motivate them, it was a tool that was almost tailor made for me.
"Why the fuck are your eyes glowing?"
I blinked, looking down at where my trainee was staring at me. Jealousy, insecurity and a defiant will looked back, and suddenly I felt like I was intruding just a bit too much.
"Don't worry about it." I let the spell fade away as I ruffled her hair and she got distracted by that.
I'd need to be careful about prying into the souls of people I considered friends.
I could be overly intrusive by nature, but I'd promised myself to dial that back with friends. The problem however was that on top of just doing it on instinct, the spell -which had once been so costly- had become almost easy thanks to me hitting one hundred in Alteration.
Mastering Alteration didn't quite master the field so to speak, even in game hitting one hundred didn't automatically give you every spell or every perk. What it did do however, was complete the steady accumulation of magical background knowledge I was being gifted with.
To put it bluntly, I now understood far too much about magical symbology, as well several different languages I have zero context for. Well, aside from the fact that one of them grates the ears of everyone that hears it and also absolutely fucks my vocal chord just by speaking it.
Probably some form of Daedric given that. Or in other words, the language of weird space demons.
Regardless, it wasn't a magical total understanding of every spell in the branch, but instead a magical nearly-total understanding of the background of every spell in the branch. That knowledge was the bedrock of Alteration magic itself, every spell relying on some mixture of those languages and associated symbology to fuck with the world.
Just understanding it meant that I wasn't really memorising spells by rote anymore, instead I could understand what the spell itself was trying to do, and understanding is quite literally everything when it comes to magic. Or at least Skyrim magic.
So while I didn't learn every Alteration spell, learning and customising said spells was easier than ever, and it also made maintaining them almost natural. So natural that I had been getting a little careless with it, hence the turning of invasive spells on friends.
…Probably shouldn't have done it to Ais either now that I think about it.
I'd have to do something nice for her and Judith.
I'd figure it out later, for now the speech was ending and I needed to join the well wishers who were trying to make an impression as they saw the Loki Captain off.
-
"That was quite the speech." I offered the compliment with a believably sunny smile, my appearance having deterred a few well wishers from approaching, letting me cut in line so to speak.
"Thank you." Finn accepted with a smile of his own, though his eyes looked as shrewd as ever. "And who's this?" He turned, gaze immediately fixing on the person I'd invited on a whim.
Given that I'd brought her without permission from the host, that would normally be cause for some measure of stress, but this was inevitable. You can't hide someone from this many high level Adventurers, nor did I want to.
No, for this situation, fortune favours the bold.
"Miyabi Hoshimi, Captain of the Skadi Familia." She introduced herself with a bow.
"I wound up needing one more person to help me carry the supplies needed." I then explained, despite it being a total lie. Miyabi had just turned up with a supporter pack and I had no idea what was in it, save that she seemed oddly cautious about it being damaged. "She was kind enough to offer."
Besides me, she twitched.
"I see…" Finn's smile dimmed a little, leading to us eying each other up.
He definitely didn't buy what I was saying on the surface, but the subtext here was what mattered. I was telling him that bringing her along was essential for me, betting that my value was enough that he wouldn't be able to make a fuss about it, despite me being the one who asked to come.
It was arrogant, certainly.
But it was also right.
"Then it's a pleasure to meet you." His smile returned as he turned to her, nodding with faux amusement as my sparring partner greeted him in turn, before he turned back to me. "Did you come over just to introduce us?"
Translation: 'is this all you want?'
I laughed. "Not at all, I was hoping to ask you for a favour actually."
"Oh?" His smile turned a little strained.
"The Goliath, you mind if I have the first crack at it?" I asked, smiling brightly.
"That's… a little difficult. The opportunity for one of our own to level up isn't something I can just hand out."
"I'm flattered. To think you'd believe I have such a strong chance against a level four Rex." I joked, as his smile turned wary at being caught out on that. "Honestly, I just thought you'd be interested in seeing the attempt."
"But if it's too much of a bother, I'll just give up." I smiled innocently, knowing full well that he wouldn't be able to give up a shot to get a better read on me. His curiosity wouldn't allow it, nevermind the chance to get intel on a potential future rival.
Really, the only downside for him would be propelling my growth in the advent of me actually succeeding, which most shouldn't even consider possible if I had my read on the situation right.
After a long moment he glanced around at the busy street with countless eyes on us, and finally sighed. "…Walk with me."
So we did, walking away from the crowd eager to make at least some impression with the Captain of one of the strongest Familias in the city, moving instead towards their manor.
As we passed the gates, he turned to Judith. "How are you finding your new Familia?"
"Hard." She blinked off her surprise and admitted. "But also satisfying. I feel like I can really push myself here."
Finn eyed her for a long moment, before ultimately smiling genuinely. "That's good." He nodded and turned back up to me. "I'll grant you the first attempt, but the drops are ours."
I nodded easily at that as we continued to walk up to where the convoy was prepared and ready to roll out. It was one of the outcomes I'd been hoping for, even if it wasn't the most ideal. What I wanted most was simply the kill, both for the exp and also the reputation.
"I doubt that'll be relevant." I played off modestly.
It would, but I obviously didn't want him getting cold feet.
"Perhaps not." He agreed oddly, reaching out to one of the carts as we approached and drumming his thumb onto the wood.
A sight which made my brow twitch.
For whatever reason, in the show Finn had a sort of danger sense tied to his thumb twitching. It could have just been an expression of him piecing things together in his mind or something more supernatural, but either way it was clear that he was feeling it here and it was making him cautious.
Or in other words, I just lost my drops to a fucking thumb.
Again, it was a fairly ideal outcome so I didn't mind that much. However, the sheer insult of losing resources to a thumb of all things was more than a little grating.
Maybe this was karma for me pulling a Freya…
"But I like to check my boxes all the same." He finished with a smile. "Now, is that everything?"
"It is, and thanks for the chance, I really appreciate it." I said, burying my annoyance and offering the man a handshake.
"You're quite welcome." He accepted, enclosing my hand in a firm grip. As we finished shaking, he glanced over to where one of his subordinates was standing by, looking ready to report. "I'm afraid I have to go, you know the schedule and your positioning right?"
"Yeah I got your message, don't worry and good luck."
"You too, and to you, Judith." His eyes shifted over to the redhead at my side. "Be careful."
She nodded cautiously, as I think we both got the sense he was hinting at something. Something that wasn't helped by the amount of Loki attention we were attracting by talking to their Captain, and with it, the angry stares directed Judith's way.
Parsing their intent wasn't hard given how blatant they were being, notions of betrayal and the anger around that idea were being brandied about in their gazes, as well as jealousy over perceived special treatment. It was to be expected and Judith didn't really feel the nuances, even if she certainly saw the glares.
And subsequently tried to return the glare of anyone that met her gaze.
With that warning Finn left, leaving us standing by in the open with a dozen people glaring holes into one of us. Stares that were clearly having an affect on Judith's mental before the expedition even kicked off, which meant we should break line of sight.
I glanced at Miyabi's giant rucksack. Right, first things first. "You can leave your luggage on the carts if you want."
Oddly she shook her head. "I'm more comfortable with it on."
"Did he give you one of those packs as well?" Judith spoke up, tearing her gaze away to look at the bulging bag.
"No." Miyabi shook her head, smiling softly. "I simply needed something of this scale to secure my supply."
"Your supply?" The redhead questioned with confusion that mirrored my own.
"Of melons." The foxgirl nodded happily.
"Melons…?"
"Of course, they are the greatest of fruits after all." My sparring partner said becoming oddly enthused, actually, she sounded more enthusiastic than I'd ever heard her. "Its sweetness hits you like lightning, while its aftertaste can never not be refreshing."
Seeing the confused expression on both our faces, Miyabi continued to try and explain. "It's similar to a master of the sword's final cut, where the withdrawal is oft more impressive than the strike itself."
The analogy was bizarre to say the least, but it felt weirdly fitting for the strange girl and her obsession with all things training related.
And apparently melons.
Judith was stunned by this sudden melon speech, so I decided to take over. "Right, well, we'll have to keep an eye out for any melons."
I didn't know what I was saying, but Miyabi looked notably excited by the idea, and began speculating on whether or not they'd have any on the Eighteenth floor as we moved away from the carts and the glares.
Maybe I should keep a supply of melons for her in my inventory?
-
The expedition set out not long after that, through the crowd that had gathered earlier, and under the flags of the Familias that had joined the march. Which was kind of unfortunate, as no one told me I could bring a Hestia flag. Still, my appearance was apparently notable enough as I saw a fair amount of attention thrown my way by the enthusiastic crowd.
Being an arena champion, even for a lesser event, seemed to really resonate with people.
It made it clear that I'd have to repeat my showing at a level three event.
The march from there made its way down one of the eight main streets of Orario that led to its center, Babel, the tower that stood above the dungeon and served as its seal. The crowd not really abating in any way as we made our way through the city, not because they were following us, but it was more like the entire city seemed to have come out to see off the expedition.
In a way it reminded me of Monsterphilia from the show, an event put on by the Ganesha Familia once a year in the same arena I fought in. A kind of spectator sport where the crowd gathered to watch not-quite celebrities make a show of taming monsters. The crowds here were similar and their enthusiasm was nigh identical.
As if Adventurers were actually celebrities instead of walking calamities.
It was strange, but it served well with my goals so I put it out of my mind and waved back to the crowd as we made our way into the city square that surrounded Babel. And as the group stopped before Babel to begin the final round of checks and preparations, I felt something behind the crowd watching us.
A Godly and familiar presence.
I considered it briefly, before letting the others know I'd be right back. A brief cast of Feather as I took off and another as I landed, combined with my current speed was enough to make me a blur to the onlookers, letting me clear the distance with only the Adventurers around me any the wiser. Slipping through the crowd was a bit more difficult on account of my stature and armour, but ultimately I still found myself standing before one of the benches arranged around Babel's 'park'
"Finally decided to stop hiding under that cloak, Athena?" I asked dryly, taking a seat beside the small blonde.
"Indeed, thanks to you." The Goddess smiled. "With the situation resolved, I can walk the streets openly once more."
"I'm sure." I said flatly, my knowing stare drawing a flush of embarrassment from the Goddess. As if that were the only reason she went around in that thing. "Wanna talk about where you disappeared off to that night?"
"It may shock you to know, but I have emotions too." She stated. "Put simply, I left to mourn."
I hummed noncommittally at that.
"I lost many children that night, saw them twisted into entities I barely recognised. That bright spark in their eyes that drew me to them in the first place, marred and forgotten." She went on slowly, as if the memory was painful for her. "So I mourned and still mourn for the children I lost, as opposed to the people they became."
"And their victims?"
Her face twisted with regret. "I regret their passing as well, of course."
"And that's it?" I pressed.
She glanced at me and swallowed as she recognised what I was conveying with my gaze. "I will visit Hestia's home and apologise to those kids of yours. I believed it would not be prudent to do so prior, given their trauma."
"They're strong kids." I claimed, though honestly I didn't truly know how they'd take it.
Between the Hostess of Fertility looking after the kids for the most part, and both my training and Judith's, I didn't wind up seeing them until several days had past following the incident with Athena's Vice-Captain. By that point Hestia had already explained everything and I only got a second hand account from her.
Well that, and the kids screaming their thanks and dive bombing me the second we did meet.
Honestly, with how excited they were to find out I'd killed her child and beat the fuck out of the others, they might just start outright resorting to outright violence against Athena.
I am perhaps not the best role model.
But well, Athena would probably deserve whatever justice their tiny fists could manage to dole out on her.
"I see…" She trailed off, before catching herself and smiling. "Then I'll go see them, explain and let them vent their anger. It's the least I can do."
I nodded at that, but I couldn't tell if those were her genuine feelings or if she was just saying what she needed to appease me. She'd promised to recruit me after all, so her motive was always going to be in question.
At least in regards to me.
We sat in silence following that, watching the proceedings through the crowd as the Loki executives worked to get the expedition force in order.
"…Did you know that I sent my Familia's best to spy on you?" Athena suddenly admitted, though it was an admission that didn't particularly surprise me. I'd been followed quite a bit in the last week, to the point that it was actually helping my Stealth training. "They couldn't keep track of you. At first I thought it was because they were simply lacking, but that isn't it, is it?"
"No, they failed because you're spending nearly all your time in the dungeon, aren't you?" She tried.
I shook my head. "Losing them wasn't much of a challenge to be honest." I denied, trying to skirt around her lie detector by not addressing the main accusation.
Her eyes however flashed with satisfaction as she picked up on the misdirect. Which… wasn't the worst thing, she notably wasn't prying into my sleep, so she hadn't guessed that particular ability of mine. Likely she simply thought I was another Dungeon junky.
"I can't see through your motivation yet, but all your actions -even your blatant showboating- all point in one direction: Strength." She went on as if I hadn't denied it. "You're desperately seeking strength, and I can help you with that."
"Oh, and how's that?" I asked, genuinely curious as to what she was offering here. It would probably come at the cost of joining her Familia -and therefore be a no-go from the jump- but just knowing what it was could be valuable.
"You won't be able to master it at your current level, but I can at least begin to teach you it… the Sword of the Gods." She offered, her tone shifting almost reverently as she leaned in; but my mind was already spinning off, searching for an alternate route.
"I can see where your thoughts are heading, but this is not something Hestia can teach you." She shut down one particular train of thought, but I had more possibilities than that. Notably, the Sword God Takemikazuchi, who just so happened to be friends with Hestia.
Anything Athena could teach me about the sword, he could likely either teach the same, or something parallel.
Though that would mean working out how to bribe him for something that seemed like a borderline taboo given the way Athena was talking about it. Not to mention her confidence, despite almost certainly knowing about Takemikazuchi and Hestia's friendship.
"Well?" Athena pried. "Are you interested, Elric Carne?"
"Before that, can you tell me what you're even offering?" I dug for a bit more information. "Is this some technique or?"
"Nothing so trivial." She smiled, smugly. "It is more of a state of being than any mere technique or style. A realm of perfection where one's skill with the sword opens the way into something… more."
"…So it's based on skill?" I sighed in relief much to her surprise. "In that case, I'm not interested."
"Ah- Huh…?" She uttered, seeming genuinely dumbfounded. "Did you… Do you not understand what I'm offering here?"
"No, I understand just fine." I countered with a confident smile. Qahnaarin hadn't failed me yet, so I had a strong suspicion that it would guide me into this 'state' that Athena was talking about. And if it didn't? Well, I could always start shopping around for a teacher after. "I'm just confident that I'll get there on my own eventually."
Athena looked speechless. "That isn't possible…"
I chuckled. "If it really turns out to not be, then I can just take you up on your offer when I'm stronger and have more room to negotiate."
"…And if I say that this offer is only a one time thing?" She pressed.
"Then I'd say you're not the only one with that Domain."
"Takemikazuchi…" She acknowledged. "Teaching this is not something just any God would do, we are not supposed to interfere with mortals to this extent."
"And yet, here you are."
"Here I am, offering this only because I've seen your talent, your character and have fallen into your debt." She clarified. "Do you have such a relationship with the Sword God?"
"Not yet." I smiled. "But I have no interest in leaving Hestia's Familia, and there's always tomorrow."
"To give up such a guarantee for mere chances…" She sighed, looking oddly like Hestia in that moment as she not quite sulked. "Very well. I shall not bother you further today, and… despite my offers, I'm glad Hestia has someone like you by her side."
"If you're glad, maybe lay off?"
She smiled. "I can't, I'm afraid, it's not in my nature."
I sighed at that, not enjoying the parallels I could see between her statement and my own habits.
"Your expedition is leaving." The Goddess pointed out.
"I know, and thanks for the offer." I sighed as I pulled myself to my feet. "Oh, and while I can't offer my condolences, I do hope your mourning goes well."
She smiled surprisingly brittlely at that. "Good luck Captain Carne."
-
Let's gooo! Another fast chapter, hope you enjoyed and as always, the next three chapters are up onhttps://www.patreon.com/c/OneFallLeaf, have a great day bois and grils.