Please read the author's notes. (Examples and explanation of moves and appearance+ Monster Sources)
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CHAPTER START------
---City of Orario, Loki familia HQ, Loki's Office...
Within this finely decorated room, a few individuals could be seen around a 5ft square granite coffee table. One individual being the goddess Loki who at the moment had her feet on the table as her eyes were fixed on AIs.
Loki: "You know I'm always for spending more time with my Ais but why are you guys back so early. You all look fine so, what happened?"
Finn: "A new monster showed up, nothing we couldn't handle but it broke part of the dungeon, and lava blocked it, washed the monster away too."
Loki: "Hmm, did you already report this?"
Finn: "Of course."
Loki: "Alright, anything else or was it just business as usual?"
Finn: "Well, it seems like the Hephaestus familia will be asking us to have a joint expedition, no, it honestly seemed more like an escort quest if I'm being honest."
Bete: "Ha, yeah babysitting duty is the honest way to say it."
Loki: "Why would they need us?"
Riveria: "It's regarding the recent record-breaker."
Loki: "Ugh the skill monkey."
Lefiya: "Skill Monkey?"
Riveria: "It's because his stat sheen is full of skills already. Many of which compliment each other."
Loki: "Yeah he's a little skill monkey."
Lefiya: "Oh, yeah that makes sense I guess."
Loki: "What does he have to do with it."
Finn: "Apparently his magic is self-destructive. It attacks himself and his gear, his skills protect him but his gear gets no protection. The 27th-floor monster rex can make good armor for him according to Hephaestus."
Loki: "Well if anyone would know it would be her, what was the request."
Finn: "Unofficially he asked if we'd just be his backup. He wants to try beating it alone and we would only step in if he is in real danger. He doesn't seem overconfident and clearly, he understands the danger but his attitude was a bit... ignorant. He's a new adventurer after all even though he is already level 3."
Bete: "He's gonna get himself killed if he keeps pulling stunts like this, especially without a party."
Loki: "No party?"
Lefiya: "He prefers not to have allies around his magic"
Riveria: "Considering the way he fought goliath, as much as I hate to say it I do see his point. I had to put a shield on us because of his area of attack. I don't imagine a support-focused familia like Hephaestus's has many people that can stand next to him on a battlefield."
Loki: "He's level 3, can't be that strong, right?"
Finn: "I've never seen magic used like that before."
Riveria: "His magic is powerful, and the entire time he fought goliath he was just smiling."
Tione: "Hey Lefiya, did he tell you how his magic works, maybe you can copy it huh 'Thousand Elf'."
Lefiya: "No I actually can't copy any of his magic."
Gareth: "None?"
Finn: "Oh hey Gareth come in."
Gareth: "Sorry I'm late, had to deal with something for a new team. What's this about magic Lefiya can't copy now."
Lefiya: "None of his magic needs chants."
Riveria: "What? I had just assumed his chants were short or perhaps quiet. No chanting, are you sure?"
Lefiya: "That's what he said and we've never seen him use any. He told me his magic lets him use elements freely but they don't have chants so it's harder to control. It doesn't have any guidelines so his emotions can affect it."
Finn: "That explains how he was able to use elements interchangeably immediately like that, not to mention simultaneously. He was flying and throwing lightning whilst merging wind and fire for 'That' attack."
Bete: "Ugh I wish I could have smashed his face for that."
Riveria: "Settle down, my shield worked so no need to fret."
Loki: "THAT attack?"
Riveria: "He called it "Pressure Damage", it tore up the Goliath room and even hit us all the way in the tunnel to the safe zone. He described it as wind and fire creating pressure zones that constantly combust. It's a bit absurd for a level 3 to have that."
Gareth: "How powerful would you say it was?"
At the thought of this question, both Riveria and Lefiya go silent as they both ponder the answer. They have had reason to consider him and his type of magic before but never before had Riveria decided to consider exactly how powerful he really was at least compared to herself. It had already been silently agreed that he is above most if not all level 3 mages. But now she had to make a full evaluation. Slowly Riveria looked at Loki and spoke.
Riveria: "I suspect that, considering he has only been an adventurer for less than 2 months and has only had one expedition with his magic as well as the fact that he instacasted all of his attacks. His "Pressure Damage" attack can overtake Rea Laevateinn if he is given time to focus more magic into the attack. I'm not sure how much stronger he will get past level 3 but his magic is extremely powerful and is completely instacast. He is only a level 3 on paper at this point."
As she finished her statement many different looks can be seen blatantly on the faces of everyone in the room. Tione, Tiona, and Gareth had wide eyes as their faces showed the shock that has overtaken them, Finn only gave a glance at the others as he had already come to this conclusion. Ais kept her natural expression but her hand tightened around the hilt of her weapon as she internally compared herself to Yang. Loki had a slight scowl on her face but did not show anything past that.
The most obvious reaction however way Lefiya, the young elf looked heartbroken. Ais and Riveria were the women she looked up to and wanted to be like and now someone had so quickly surpassed her and even now was acknowledged by one of her idols. How else would she react but to bite her bottom lip and hang her head in shame?
Noticing her teammate's look of dismay Riveria quickly decided to say something to lift her spirits.
Riveria: "If his magic wasn't so wild he might have actually been able to join a team, doubt that can happen with the way he fights right now. Who would trade the people around them for power after all?"
Finn: "Agreed."
Lefiya: "Yeah, you're right. Doesn't matter how strong you are if you're alone."
Riveria: "Exactly Lefiya. What do you think Loki?"
Loki: "Well, the Freya familia got to the 34th floor safe zone already so I don't think we can afford to babysit Hephaestus new child now. Well I guess taking him to the 27th floor should be fine but having him fight the boss alone seems risky. Finn?"
Finn: "Well, we need to catch up to the Freya familia, if we give him a day to deal with the boss that should be fine, I'd rather stay there than leave him behind to fight it alone so personally if he's as strong as we think and the records show, losing some ground to Freya should be more than worth him being our ally in the future."
Loki: "Hmmm, agreed. He is supposedly a prodigy after all. And I don't like the idea of him trying to solo the boss with nobody there."
Bete: "I don't see why this is our problem, if the brat wants to go get himself killed then that's on him."
Tione: "I hate to say it, but, Bete kinda has a point, we're gonna let Freya get ahead of us to help him, that doesn't seem smart."
Loki: "It's not about that, it's about them owing us."
Finn: "Exactly, didn't you hear Riveria, if he's gonna be that strong then we want him on our side."
Loki: "And knowing Freya she probably has her eyes on him, not to mention annoying people like Apollo taking notice. Quite frankly It'd be a brawl to get him by destroying his familia, if it wasn't Hephaestus. Nobody can afford to not have Hephaestus's wares in their hands so all of us have to stay our hands. Getting favors is the next best thing and this is an easy one."
Bete: "He can't be that big a deal, can he?"
Loki: "He is, levels 1 to 3 in a month and magic that can maybe rival Riveria's, a level 6. He's worth it. The only thing stopping a fight is Hephaestus. I doubt that SHE will take much longer to get around that. I however got lucky that cute little Lefiya caught his eyes."
Lefiya: "Uhh, I don't know how I feel about this."
Finn: "We aren't asking you to seduce him or anything like that, him liking you just gives us a way to speak to him, we won't meddle in your affairs. Well, I won't."
Tione: "Yeah I can't make that promise hehe."
Loki: "This is the best we can do without having him join our familia without pissing off Hephaestus somehow, she already threatened us with not receiving any items from her familia if anyone tries something dumb to make a move for him. I guess she saw all of this coming. How long are you willing to give for this quest Finn?"
Finn: "When we get to the boss, 2 days. If he can't beat it in that time we leave. He heads back to the surface and we resume our previous expedition to clear as far as possible. Did Ottar enter the dungeon?"
Loki: "As if he would ever leave Freya's side."
Finn: "Then we can catch up. Alright, that covers pretty much everything, anything else Loki?"
Loki: "Mm, nope, you're all free to go get your gear checked out, Finna and Riveria need to stay to deal with some new applications, oh and Ais, come see me before you go to bed if you want your status checked. ALRIGHT, SOMA TIME!!"
As Loki began to pour herself a drink, Finn and Riveria took the stack of papers from the table and proceeded to Finn's office whilst everyone else exited and to deal with their own affairs.
---The City Of Orario, Tower of Babel, Hephaestus's Office...
Within a bright office overlooking the city of Orario 2 people can be seen sitting across from each other. One being a fair-skinned short-haired redhead whilst the other is a caramel-skinned young man. These individuals are in the midst of a small debriefing.
Yang: "How long will she be gone?"
Hephaestus: "Tsubaki should be back within 2 weeks, she can handle herself."
Yang: "Alright, did anything new happen while I was training?"
Hephaestus: "No actually the city has been a bit too quiet, but that's not a bad thing I suppose. How did your training go?"
Yang: "Training at the lake in the safe zone was a good choice. I can't create much water so the lake was pretty much mandatory for the mater magic training."
Hephaestus: "What of the other elements?"
Yang: "Well I burnt a bit of forest but I put it out before it got much attention, overall my control is better than it was before. A lot of my training was focused on fighting inside and on top of water since well, the water boss is my target."
Hephaestus: "Smart move, have you done any research on it?"
Yang: "I actually met the Loki familia team and spoke to them a bit about it. It sounds tough but nothing I can't handle as long as the terrain doesn't get the better of me."
Hephaestus: "The fact that it moves and shapes water in the environment overwhelms even the most seasoned teams. You just might be the only person with the skillset to fight it on even footing, but do remember it does resist elemental magic and the monster is graded at level 6, that's what makes it so tough, using physical attacks in water is difficult and it can resist elemental spells or just dive and use the water as a shield. You're only level 3 right now so no need to rush."
Yang: "Yeah, I asked Finn's team to help me out, I think I'd rather try to fight it alone first thought. But having a backup is good too in case it's too much for me to handle."
Hephaestus: "You're making a habit of fighting alone Yang, you need a team."
Yang: "I'd rather not be responsible for anyone."
Hephaestus: "Is that how you view it?"
Yang: "Remember what happened to my last team?"
Hephaestus: "That was, unfortunate, and it wasn't your fault. You know that."
Yang: "Well unfortunate things happen, I know if something like that happens I can get out but I can't get everyone out. Besides my magic is dangerous and doesn't discriminate. I'd just put them in danger."
Hephaestus: "Hmm, you can't be solo forever, eventually you're gonna need a team, hopefully, you'll realize before it's too late. Your mail has been flooded with party invitations at the guild and you haven't even looked at them."
Yang: "I'll keep an eye out for people I can work with, how about that?"
Hephaestus: Sigh, "Fine have it your way. You're lucky I know you aren't dumb enough to stand and fight instead of running."
Yang: "Yeah well dying isn't on my to-do list."
Hephaestus: "I guess this is one more reason for you to have this." Hephaestus opens a draw in her desk and hands Yang a ring.
Yang: "What's this supposed to be?"
Hephaestus: "A message ring. They come in pairs and will allow us to speak no matter where we are. Keep it on at all times alright. Well don't fight with it on, your magic might be a bit much for it."
Yang: "Yeah got it, so you have the other side?"
Hephaestus: "Yeah you and Tsubaki have a connection to my rings. Don't go around showing it off. Keep this to yourself. It's not normal for a new member to get one of these, hell most familia don't have any because of the crafting difficulty and cost. But it's no problem for me."
Yang: "Alright I'll take care of this. Finn said you need to contact Loki about a joint expedition to the 27th floor by the way."
Hephaestus: "Yeah I'll get to it don't worry. Just don't go running off into the dungeon yet alright. Your new gear is in your new room by the way, did you even check it out?"
Yang: "Oh right, the renovations, yeah I haven't checked it out."
Hephaestus: "I think you should be very pleased with the gear and the room, even though the gear you get from Amphisbaena should be much better."
Yang: "Yeah well I can't go fighting naked so this will do fine haha."
Hephaestus: "Agreed. I'll contact Loki and get a meeting in order," sigh, "If we had a stronger main team this wouldn't even be necessary."
Yang: "Sorry for the trouble I'm causing you."
Hephaestus: "I feel like you'll be worth it, just, don't do anything to make me regret it."
Yang: "Of course goddess."
Hephaestus: "I told you to call me Hephaestus."
Yang: "My bad Hephaestus, I need to go make reservations and check out my gear now so is there anything else you need?"
Hephaestus: "Reservations?"
Yang: "Date with Lefiya." he nervously scratches his cheek.
Hephaestus: "Being charmed by another familia huh" She locks her gaze on Yang.
Yang: "Uh, nononon I just, uh..."
Hephaestus: "Hahahaha, I'm kidding. Enjoy your date, as long as your personal life doesn't conflict with your duties to the familia I really don't care. Have fun on your date."
Yang: "Thanks Hephaestus. I'll see you around alright."
Hephaestus: "Ofcourse Yang, take care."
With their short meeting done, Yang proceeds to prepare for this date, as well as going to check out his new room.
END CHAPTER----