“Also, a big group like this can’t move well in the Cadmus Springs. While it hurts to split our forces, it’s for the best…Any other questions? If not, let’s figure out party members.” Finn looked around again as he asked his question. Since no one responded, he started issuing orders.
Without fail, Tiona had her hand wiggling high in the air a moment later. “Oh! Oh! Me—I’ll go! Come with me, Aiz!”
“Sure.”
“I mean, if we didn’t get to go, then who would? Small groups, top-class adventurers only, you understand?”
“That settles it, Tione’s with us!” Tiona was quick to snatch her sister’s wrist and pull her into their battle party.
“Huh? Wait, I should be with the general…!”
Finn ordered the familia’s strongest magic user to stay behind. “Riveria, please stay with the camp. I want your Mind rested and ready to go once this quest is over. Of course, protect the camp if need be.”
“…I suppose it cannot be helped.”
Magic used mental energy—Mind—as a power source. Riveria had already expended a large amount, so she didn’t try to argue with the general’s decision.
Looking outside the circle, Riveria’s eyes fell on one girl.
“Lefiya, take my place alongside Aiz and the Amazons.”
“All right…Wait, me?!”
“There’s no problem with that, is there, Finn?”
“Sounds good to me. We’re counting on her to be your successor, so now’s as good a time as any to get some experience.”
“G-General?! Lady Riveria?! I-I’m not—!”
“Lefiya, over here!” The young elf’s objections were quickly silenced as Tiona grabbed her, too, and brought her into the group.
“That bein’ the case, the other top fighters’ll form the second team: Finn, Bete, myself…and…”
“Hey, Raul! We need a supporter over here.”
“Y-you talking to me?!”
“Yeah, who else?”
The two parties for the quest had been set. They were as follows:
Team One: Aiz, Tiona, Tione, and Lefiya.
Team Two: Finn, Bete, Gareth, and Raul.
“…Hey. Will the ladies be all right?”
“Hmmm…” Finn considered as Bete pointed out the imbalance of the other battle party’s composition.
Being an Amazon, Tiona was a pure berserker in combat. Additionally, Aiz’s ferocity in combat was such that she had been given the title “Battle Princess” by the people who knew her best.
While Tione appeared cool and collected on the surface, she could be much more destructive than her younger sister and Aiz together. Moreover, Team One’s magic user, Lefiya, was at a lower level than the other fighters. There was no way she could keep up.
Finn raised his head after a heavy silence.
“Tione, I’m counting on you. I hope my trust isn’t misplaced.”
“—Leave it to me!!” The elder Amazon, who was secretly quite taken with their baby-faced leader, couldn’t have been happier to hear those words.
Tiona knew immediately what her sister’s suddenly pink cheeks meant. “So simple,” she mumbled with a cocked eyebrow.
The battle parties decided, the adventurers managed to get a few hours of restless sleep.
Leaving Riveria in charge of camp, the eight of them set out for the fifty-first floor.
CHAPTER 2
DUNGEON CONFUSION
“Here I gooo!” Tiona gleefully charged into battle.
The double-bladed sword in her grasp was large enough to make anyone look twice.
Both of her hands were on the handle that connected the two blades. The oncoming monsters suddenly fell silent as the Amazon whipped her weapon around like a children’s toy.
“That’s five!” In one great slice, she put all of her weight into a jumping attack and sent the monsters flying.
Completely ignoring the corpses piling up around her, the warrior let her instincts kick in. Finding her next target in the blink of an eye, Tiona took off in that direction.
“Aiz, cover that moron! Don’t let her get out too far ahead!”
“Understood.”
A silver streak followed Tiona into the next wave of monsters, tearing asunder everything in its path.
The streak came to a stop as Aiz withdrew her saber from the head of a monster, her golden locks flowing as she turned to face the next enemy.
Dungeon floor fifty-one.
Despite being tasked with completing a quest, Aiz’s party had been drawn into battle.
Part of the Deep Levels, the fifty-first floor’s layout was nothing short of bizarre.
The walls, floor, and ceiling were completely smooth and flat. Every corner was a perfect right angle, as if carved by some master architect. Intersections were common, making the entire floor into an insane square beehive. Those brave enough, or crazy enough, to step into this realm lost their way in no time. The Dungeon walls were made of a black substance somewhere between stone and soil in texture.
Lights overhead illuminated the relatively wide passageways as Aiz’s battle party confronted a horde of robust monsters.
“Black rhinos.”
Rhinoceros monsters that walked on two legs. Standing at just over two meders tall, they barely qualified as large-category monsters. What really set them apart, however, were their two horns, one long and one short, jutting from the front of their faces.
Their hide was as strong and thick as high-quality armor. These beasts were walking fortresses compared to the Fomoire on floor forty-nine.
But.
“—?!”
“Yah-ha!!”
Pieces of them were flying through the air.
A double-bladed sword being swung with playfully reckless abandon was cutting through their horde with deadly ease.
Two large swords fused together at the hilt—while many large weapons were known for their destructive power, this particular piece surpassed all of them. The thick, solid blades tore through the monsters’ bodies like they were nothing more than tissue paper. Massive limbs went airborne with each swing.
The wheat-skinned girl might as well have been a kid on the playground, dancing with her friends. The sheer force she wielded far exceeded what her small frame should allow.
Tiona loved her bespoke weapon, dubbed Urga, and knew exactly how to use it.
“—!”
As Tiona and Urga danced their way to a killing spree, Aiz was busy protecting her blind spot from a continuous stream of would-be attackers.
She was equipped with only a saber. It looked like nothing more than a toothpick when compared to Tiona’s weapon of choice, but the enemy monsters couldn’t keep up with the sleek weapon in Aiz’s skilled grasp. The blond girl stood even with Tiona as the two of them slaughtered their enemies.
No matter how many bodies it pierced, no matter how much blood flew through the air, the silver saber never lost its luster.
Forged by smiths who carried the Blessing of a god, Aiz’s weapon had been endowed with a superior characteristic: Durandal, the Unbreaking.
Already a top-class weapon, it was physically impossible for the blade to snap during combat.
A Superior weapon made by the High Smiths of Goibniu Familia, it was called “Desperate.”
Aiz chose to wield her beloved sword because it allowed her to always fight that one extra second without holding back.
“Aiz, I call the right!”
“Okay.”
Tiona collided with the enemy ranks with the ferocity of a raging typhoon. Meanwhile, Aiz slew monster after monster with sharp, precise strikes. Their battle looked like total chaos from afar. However, neither one allowed the other to be attacked from behind. Time seemed to slow down as they kept just enough distance to stay out of each other’s way, yet remained close enough to cover each other’s blind side by switching places at the last second.
Through their trust and teamwork, small mountains of monster corpses
formed around the battlefield.
“Four more coming in from the right! Reinforcements arriving from the back! Lefiya, signal us when you’re ready!”
Aiz and Tiona engaged the horde of black rhinos directly while Tione supported them from the middle of the formation with throwing knives while shouting orders.
In the face of the oncoming onslaught, Lefiya raised her staff at the back of their formation and began to recite her spell.
“—Take up your bows to face the marauders. Answer the call of your kin and nock your arrows.”
Monsters residing in the Deep Levels were far more powerful and savage than their brethren on higher floors. Visibly shaken by the horror before her eyes, Lefiya struggled to keep her voice steady as she summoned her Magic.
Thunderous footsteps shook the ground beneath her feet. Lefiya couldn’t see straight.
“—OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”
“?!”
Suddenly, the wall right beside Lefiya broke open.
Shielding herself from debris, the elf peeked around her arms to see an absolutely terrifying red and purple spider, with eight hairy legs and many menacing eyes—a deformis spider.
The monster, born directly from the Dungeon wall, jumped straight toward the vulnerable mage.
A perfect ambush. Time seemed to stand still for Lefiya, watching the creature’s jaws wide open, fangs glinting in the dim light.
At that moment, a blade flashed before her eyes and sliced the beast’s head in half.
“Eeeek!”
“Keep casting, Lefiya.”
“R-right!”
Tione had jumped to Lefiya’s aid, long black hair flowing in her wake.
She grabbed the handle of her Kukri throwing knife, still embedded in the beast’s neck, and gave it a sharp twist before yanking it out. The still-twitching deformis spider split in two pieces as it collapsed to the ground.
“Ah, err, um…!”
Lefiya had regained her footing, but there was too much adrenaline pulsing through her veins. Try as she might, she couldn’t focus.
Taking a few moments to concentrate, she inhaled all the way down to the bottom of her lungs and opened her mouth to start the spell over from the beginning. It was at that moment that Aiz and Tiona took down the last of the black rhino horde.
The halls were filled with an eerie silence, with all the monsters’ lifeless bodies lying at their feet.
“I-I’m so sorry…I…”
“Nothing to worry about, Lefiya. These things happen to everyone.”
The blood-streaked Urga over her shoulder, Tiona walked up to the elf with Aiz not far behind. The blond girl sheathed her saber as Lefiya continued to apologize. Tione joined them after a quick sweep of the area.
The elf had completely missed her window to attack, missing the opportunity that Aiz and Tiona had created for her. She had never felt so useless.
“I shouldn’t have come after all. At Level Three, I’m only holding you back…”
“Calm down, Lefiya.”
Tione placed her hand on Lefiya’s trembling shoulder.
Slowly, cautiously, the elf raised her face to meet the Amazon’s gaze. Tiona jumped up behind her sister and added her own encouragement.
“Your Level might be a little low, but your Magic is strong enough to roast anything down here. Riveria chose you herself, yes? Have some confidence.”
“What was that Magic power ability of yours again—that thing Loki said a while back…? Oh yeah! The big ka-boom! With a Skill like that, you could wipe out any monster in one hit!”
“You see, that’s…”
Lefiya lost the ability to argue the moment her Skill was brought up.
Her golden hair flowed to the side as she looked over her shoulder and down her back.
Every person, human or demi-human, who had received a god’s Blessing had hieroglyphs—the writing system used by the gods—engraved on their back, without exception. The jumble of characters was the Blessing itself.
“Falna”—known to the people of earth as Status.
A Status was built on the excelia gained from any kind of experience from any part of a person’s life. A deity used the excelia contained within a person’s spirit in order to increase their individual skills and abilities, based on the information therein. It was a god’s grace in every sense of the word.
For the children of Gekai, Falna was the key to becoming stronger, reaching new heights and nothing more. Adventurers killed monsters in battle to gain excelia, had their god or goddess add it to their Status to become stronger, and repeated the cycle. For them, a god’s Blessing opened the door to limitless possibilities.
A Status was made up of five basic abilities: Strength, Defense, Dexterity, Agility, and Magic power. Additionally, Statuses included brackets for magic spells and skills that differed from person to person, based on the strength of the spiritual “container” they possessed. The Level was the most important part of the Status. A “level up” occurred when an adventurer acquired more excelia than their spiritual container could hold. Not only did leveling up dramatically increase all of their abilities, but it brought them one step closer to divinity.
Lefiya’s Status was Level 3. Her Skill increased her Magic power, making her a perfect fit for the rear of the formation as a mage.
As Tiona had said, having this Skill meant that, out of this party of four, Lefiya was capable of inflicting the most damage.
“B-but I can’t even defend myself. If Tione hadn’t been there to protect me, I would’ve died a pointless death…”
However, the rest of the party was Level 5.
They were some of the very few adventurers in Orario who were allowed to be called “top class.” They were the cream of the crop. In terms of pure strength and skill, Lefiya didn’t even come close.
In truth, she wouldn’t stand a chance if she were to face any of the monsters on this floor on her own.
The elf desperately tried to deny everything her allies said to encourage her.
“…Mages do different things than we do.” This time, it was Aiz who spoke up.
Lefiya couldn’t hide her surprise when the stoic blond girl joined the conversation.
“Riveria taught me so. We protect mages from monsters, and mages like you protect us…So, um…”
Aiz’s words began to slow.
Not used to being the center of attention, having three pairs of eyes on her at once made her feel so out of place she couldn’t string words together.
Growing redder by the moment, the girl desperately tried to say what was on her mind, until her gaze drifted away and she said these words:
“We will protect you, always…So save us if we get in trouble, okay?”
Aiz’s golden eyes met Lefiya’s. The elf’s dark blue eyes opened wide as she felt a sense of friendship and trust embedded in the girl’s tone. Her lips trembled for a moment, tears welling up in her eyes before the golden-haired elf responded with a deep nod.
She took a moment to collect herself and control her breathing.
The dark clouds that threatened to dampen the mood of their party broke apart, replaced by a kinder aura.
Tiona broke out into a toothy grin and playfully smacked Aiz on the shoulder.
The human girl stepped away, and Tiona laughed as Aiz massaged the point of impact.
“Shall we collect these magic stones? We can’t expect Lefiya to get all of them by herself.”
Seeing the situation had been resolved, Tione brought their focus back to the job at hand. Splitting into teams of two, they set to work.
They had to cut deep into the chests of the monster corpses to remove the magic stones embedded inside.
Dark purple in color, the stones served as a power source for monsters. With their “hearts” gone, their bodies instantly lost color before dissolving into piles of ash then disappearing alt
ogether as if they had never been there.
“Tione, you’re leaving behind the drop items? Sure we can let them go to waste?”
“All those big horns and pieces of hide would just weigh us down. The spring water takes priority.” Tione sounded a little annoyed by her sister’s question, as if the answer should have been obvious. The four adventurers left the battlefield, despite the monster parts littering the floor.
Occasionally, after a monster’s magic stone had been removed, a piece of it would be left behind. Adventurers called these pieces “drop items.”
Magic stones and drop items could be exchanged for money at the Guild or sold directly to merchants on the surface. This was how Dungeon-crawling familias made a living.
“Lefiya, are your shoulders okay? I can carry more, y’know.”
Lefiya politely declined Tione’s offer. “Th-thank you for the offer, but I am okay. Please, let me do this much.” In addition to her staff, the elf was carrying several bags over her shoulders, as well as the water container in a backpack that hung down to her waist.
In addition to adventurers, there was another type of Dungeon job: the supporters.
Normally kept out of combat, their main role was to collect the magic stones and drop items after the battle and return them safely to the surface. On top of that, supporters carried spare items and weapons for the adventurers in the battle party. To put it bluntly, they carried the bags. They were porters.
However, they were vital to the success and efficiency of adventurers trying to make a living in the Dungeon. Therefore, familias would assign their weakest members to this role, when a professional supporter wasn’t available.
Since Lefiya couldn’t do much more than support her party members from a distance, she had volunteered for this job.
“…Incoming.”
“From where, Aiz?”
“Ahead…and behind.”
It happened when they were in the middle of a long hallway.
Aiz’s eyes narrowed, and her ears perked up as she heard the sound of distant cracking coming from farther down the hallway and from where they had just been.
A heartbeat later, just like the deformis spider that had attacked Lefiya earlier, monsters burst forth from the Dungeon wall. Several of them.
Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? On the Side: Sword Oratoria, Vol. 1 Page 3