"What the hell did we just witness?" Tione muttered as they watched the Goliath crumble and turn to ashes.
Although they're confident that each of them, except for Lefiya, could still easily defeat them, the way that they killed the Goliath unnerves them. For most of the battle's duration, they weren't able to predict what was going to happen next, a new and entirely different system they didn't know of.
"And what was that speed?! Most Level 5's won't be able to catch up to that!" Tiona also added.
"...That magic... She cast it without even muttering a keyword... That's abnormal." Lefiya also commented.
While Ais could only stare at the three girls blankly, Finn and Riveria were frowning but didn't say anything.
Sona, Aika, and Koneko returned to everyone else after calming themselves down, "Thank you for waiting."
"Well, that was easier than I thought," Aika said what's on her mind.
And Koneko nodded at it, "...I was expecting a few broken bones."
The three then noticed their speechless expressions so Sona spoke up before they could ask all the questions they couldn't answer, "If you're wondering, I was able to cast those magics without any incantation because I directly controlled the Mind inside me and constructed the magic circle myself. With enough practice, anyone could do it faster than just chanting and gathering Mind."
Aika understood Sona's intentions so she also explained "In my case, what I used is two techniques. First is the Flash Step. Its basic idea is focusing your energy under the soles of your feet and using the same energy to connect it at the location of your choosing. The second one is Nadegiri (Clean Sweep). It's a sword art technique that focuses all the energy gathered on the blade of the sword which allows the user to have a precise and extremely fast slash and cutting power."
Following the other two's example, Koneko continued, "Mine is a technique under Senjutsu (Sage Arts) called Sage Mode. By melding my own inner Ki with the outer Ki, I'm granted with boosted physical abilities and an almost inexhaustible amount of energy." She gave in the most unhelpful of words.
Ending their explanation, Sona made the closing remark, "We won't be answering any other questions as we already told all that we can tell you."
And as expected, instead of being satisfied, everyone from the Loki Familia became more hungry for answers after those 'explanations'. Finn, on the other hand, could only sigh and thought, 'Is it really a good idea to bring them with us?' He's already starting to regret agreeing to Riveria's request and giving in to curiosity. Because of that, their world view is starting to crumble.
Finn then started walking towards the stairs leading to the 18th Floor, "Let's go. Since you defeated the Goliath, you can take the magic stones."
"But..." Ais wanted to say something but Finn interrupted her, "There's no point. You heard them, they won't say anything beyond what they just said, unless you're trying to force them?"
Ais immediately shook her head and apologized.
Finn smiled at Ais and said, "It's fine." He then faced Sona and the others, "However, it's fine to watch you closely, right?"
"If it's about battling, you can do so without reserve." Sona immediately agreed.
Sona then led the three to pick up the scattered and broken magic stones before following Finn and the girls towards the 18th Floor.
Once they stepped into the 18th Floor they noticed that it's very bright, as if it's daytime. If they were to compute the current time outside of the Dungeon, it would be around 5 PM in the afternoon. However, the current 18th Floor is in its 'morning' state.
Despite being deep underground, this floor has a 'sky'. A massive formation covers the ceiling. A large white crystal in its center produces varying amounts of light which creates a 'morning', 'day', and 'night' cycle different from the surface.
The floor's other defining characteristic is a rest stop two called 'Rivira' run completely by upper-class Adventurers.
After getting back their bearings, the girls of the Loki Familia already started to act normally, "It feels like ages since I've been here~." Tiona muttered after reaching the entrance of Rivira.
"Um... I have been curious about this for a while, but... That number on the sign, could it mean..." Lefiya asked after reading the banner on the entrance arc, 'Fellow Adventurers, Welcome to Rivira 334.'
"Oh, that? It means this is the 334th Rivira. In other words, it's been wiped out 333 times before." Finn answered her. That answer also gave a mild shock to the trio as they didn't expect that it would be that dangerous in what they deemed a safe zone.
This floor may be a safe point, but anything can happen in the Dungeon. Adventurers have always abandoned the town immediately when an irregular appears, escaping to the surface. Then, they return when the dust settles to rebuild it.
It's the adventurers' very stubbornness and avarice that led this town to be called by many 'The most beautiful rogue town in the world.' And just according to that statement, Sona, Aika, and Koneko could see the basic supplies being priced 10-50 times of their normal price on the surface. However, they also understood this kind of price as it's a life-saving supply once you've run out of it deep in the Dungeon. Even if it's priced at 100 times their actual cost, one would have no choice but to buy it just to have some insurance to at least reach the surface and continue living.
The group intended to get some rest before they dive deep inside the Dungeon and wanted to go to a certain inn. However, as they walked through the streets, Riveria muttered, "...Bizarre. Something feels a bit off."
Tiona looked around and said, "Now that you mentioned it, there's almost nobody around..."
From a distance, they saw some Adventurers running towards the direction they intended to take while talking to each other, "Is it true that someone was killed?!"
"Yeah. Everyone's gathering up at Willy's!"
"A murder in town? That's unusual." Riveria commented.
"...What should we do, Captain?" Tione asked Finn.
After contemplating for a few seconds, Finn answered, "We were planning on getting a room here. So we can't just pretend it's not our problem. Let's go have a look." Everyone nodded at his decision and followed him.
A few minutes later, they spotted a building which is the inn they intended to stay and rest with crowded Adventurers around and approached it.
"Yeesh~ There's no getting through here..." Tiona looked around and commented.
While jumping up and down, Lefiya asked, "Think we!... Can get!... Inside the inn!?"
Finn, on the other hand, isn't afraid to use his small stature to get through the crowd, "I'll go on ahead. Wait here with Riveria."
"Captain!? Wait!!!" Tione tried to follow him, but he immediately slipped through the crowd. Tione also tried to slip through but nobody would let her pass as they are also curious at what's happening, "Hey, out of my way...!!! I can't let the Captain go alone! It's dangerous... I said please! I know all of you can hear me...!"
"The Captain is... Hey!!!" Being stopped to follow her beloved Captain, Tione immediately loses her calm and took a deep breath and stomps the ground below her, creating a small earthquake and a crater below her, "GET OUTTA MY WAY!!! OR I'LL BUST SOME SKULLS!!!"
The Adventurers immediately scrambled away from her due to fear and as if some parting sea, a straight path was opened up, revealing Finn in the middle of it, "Captain~♡! I'll come with you~♡!" Tione happily ran towards Finn.
"Ahh... Please don't overdo it." Finn could only smile wryly in resignation.
While the girls of Loki Familia could only shake their heads in resignation, Sona, Aika, and Koneko, on the other hand, clapped their hands and expressed their admiration, "Such an admirable method." Sona commented.
"That's some efficiency. I like it!" Aika added.
"...I want to try that too sometimes." Koneko also added.
The girls only looked at them with a twitching mouth, "They're weird..." Lefiya muttered.
And Riveria could only reply with, "They are from his group... Maybe this is to be expected?"
Editors:
28th00: Am I the only one left?
Alexander: Nope, you are simply way too fast.
Garan: Nope can't edit while on my phone