Book Four
Volume 11
Ch. 181 Dungeon
Pov.
-Cana-
"Yeah, Alright!" I pump my fist in the sky
Nearing the last week of our first month back I finally was able to choose a hero agency to start my Work-Study Internship!
Since I didn't do it last year I was technically set back as far as hero work goes.
Luckily I managed to keep up as far as my studies went.
"White Tigers Hero Agency." I jump excitedly at the door
I joined this agency with Mira and Erza. They said it's just like a Guild from back home.
"Hi, Mrs. Ava! I'm so happy to meet you!" I bow my head
"Cana, huh?" She bites her nail. "I was hoping you'd bring him with you, still waiting on his call." She sighs
"He, who?" I tilt my head
"Oh no one, honey." She smiles. "Well, follow me."
I quickly hurry behind, holding my pointy hat to keep it from flying away
She explains to me how this hero agency specialized in venturing caves and dungeons.
They answer distress calls and clear dungeons in order to make use of rare materials.
Some so rare that you may only find them on the other side of Gaia!
"Alright… this is going to be my very first solo venture!"
"B- All Right!" I pump my fist after getting a good ranking to determine what dungeons I can explore
"Huh, that's very good." She nods
"Course it is." I cross my arms
"Mira ranked A+ and Erza was A++"
"Hmm." I frown
"Students are only authorized to explore dungeons freely exactly one tier below their ranking.
Their own tier with a party or one tier above, with supervision of course." She winks
"Sounds awesome!"
"So I can pick between going solo inside a C- dungeon or… going with someone into a scary A- Dungeon."
"Or… I can have a party."
…
"Onward Odin!" I point my staff as I ride his wolfy dog form like a horse
"I know it's your first time, but you shouldn't worry about a silly B+ dungeon like this one." I smirk at the gang of students from Regarden Magical Academy following behind.
It was a high class wizard school
Only three in the entire Continent for super rich quirkless kids that want to learn magic
"What?! You mean you can't use magic?!" I ask Will
"Yup"
"And you're poor, right? How'd you get in?"
"Sheer luck." Simon, a red hair fire magic boy, grumbles
"And pity." Julius, a blue hair ice magic boy, scoffs
"Except that luck and pity bested the both of you." Liana, a lightning mage, adds
"He uses that same brute force of the lamentable dwarves. That's why he's our shield." Lindor says
"Hey! Be nice to Will!" Colette shouts
"Hey, wait!" I jump in front of Lindor and open my arms "you're an elf, a real life elf!" I point at his long pointy ears
"You just noticed, Cana?" Colette sighs
"Indeed." He says with a hint of disgust
"Cool, can I touch them?! Can I?!" I jump and crunch my fingers, dying to see what real life elf ears feel like
He slaps my hands aside with his wand
I stumble back, surprised he'd be so mean
Odin jumps in front of me and barks at him three times
"Stop it, Odin!" I tug on his tail to call him back
"Disgusting, you stained my wand with your filth."
I hop on top of Odin
I talk with Will and Colette in the back as we follow them to find the dungeon boss
"We're finally…" Sion pauses
"What is it, hot head?" Julius asks
"It's already dead…" Liana steps through the two to examine its corpse
"Awe, poor thing." I pat its head
"It's a monster, Cana." Collette crouches down beside me.
"I know." I frown before spotting something above her head
"Up there! On the ceiling!" I jump after spotting a huge flying beast
"What is that thing doing on the tenth?!"
"What is it?!" I dig my staff into the ground as it launches at us.
Everyone braces themselves before the monster smashes his fist into my shield
I focused most of my mana into the point of impact.
Which was a gamble since he would've smashed right through and killed us if I had guessed incorrectly
Colette reinforces my Spherical barrier as it began pounding us into the ground and onto the next floor
We free fall before the shield shatters and we're buried beneath the rubble
Odin who landed on top of me shakes the rubble aside before digging us out
He helps everyone else out as Liana and I turn to the Monster above
"Cover your eyes!" I shout to everyone "Super Duper, Starlight-Light!"
The super bright flash of light blinds the monster
Liana takes the chance to blast it with her lightning magic as I pull my staff back
The tip of my staff glows a bright blue hue
"Eat this," Liana jumps out of the way "Super Nightfrost-Comet!"
I shoot a darkish blue magical comet out of my staff that slams onto his chest and sends him crashing into the ceiling above this floor
It roars before falling out of the sky and landing on the tenth floor
We look up at the open ceiling slowly sealing itself shut.
"This is bad, we aren't authorized to go below the tenth floor."
"It's okay, you guys. A-at least we're all together." I whimper
"Cana's right." Will stands up "we have to find a way out of here
"No-no-no. This won't do…" we hear coming down a hall
"You're not supposed to be here." He writes across the air with some kind of fire magic
"What do you want?!" Collette shouts
"Like we'd tell you…" he writes
"We have things to do, headless." His buddy tugs on his shirts collar
"Yeah-yeah, I know… come forth, Duke."
Oh no… I step back
Hes summoning that monster again
The humongous monster bursts out of the magic circle from the ground
Odin barks and growls as I tug him back
"Stay put, boy."
He quickly sits down
That was easy… I look at the monster
He's so big.
"Hraaa!" I charge
"Cana! Hold on!" Will shouts
I sling two rocks against his shoulder as Will jumps around to slash his face
The monster swings his tail around just as Londor creates a massive tree to block it
Liana races past me to back Will up in the close range as Collete shoots magic stuff
I jump beside Collette
"Terra Magica!" I raise my staff
A magic circle forms around us that will increase our magic spells so long as we stayed inside it
"Cana, Collette, lookout!" Will groans after it knocked him aside
"Hmh-hmh!" I shoot night comets at the monster as Collette blasts it with her light magic
I pull my staff back as it charged closer and closer
Adulas…
"Moonblade!" I slash its chest with a giant magical frosty sword that had it stumbling back
"Hrraahh!" I slash again, sending a frost slash flying out of the moonblade that knocked it on its butt
"Good! You're slowing it down!" Liana jumps in with her lightning bolts along side the fire and ice boys
"You have to put everything into one good shot, Cana." Will lands beside me
"Wh-what? M-me?"
"Yeah, you're the strongest one here, remember? You're a hero."
"I-I don't know." I step back
"It's alright, Cana. You can do it." Collette smiles
It isn't that…
Can I really… kill it?
"O-Okay…" I gulp
"Right on. We'll distract it, c'mon Lindor!"
They both hurry off to help everyone
"I'll back you up, Cana." Collette sets her hands on my back
I plant my wooden staff into the ground. The base grows roots that grip deeper into the ground to keep my attack from blowing us away
I focus the magic energy Collette was pouring into me along with my very own into the tip of my staff
I watch as the giant monster swings and cries desperately
It isn't his fault…
We just want to survive.
As much as he does.
Those… villains brought him here.
Even so… I have to do this.
To protect my friends!
"Azurs… Comet!"
I blast a powerful beam that slams into his chest
I squeeze my eyes shut as tears dribble down my face from the terrible cries it echoed
…
"Cana!" Collette shrieks after I fall on my knees
"I-I couldn't…" the Grand Duke roars with an indomitable rage after I blew giant chunk off his shoulder
I held back at the very last moment
"I-I'm sorry."
"Oh Cana…" she sighs
"Collette!" Will cries as the monster raged through everyone else
Collette and I were too exhausted to do anything. She held my head down as the monster charged over to finish us
I squeeze my eyes shut after seeing its fangs towering around us before they… pause?
Collette and I turn around
There was a tall man with long white spiky hair, two wolf dog ears and a fluffy tail standing between us and the monsters tongue
The Grand Duke gets flung back in an instant before getting dragged into the sky
The man crushes his hand just before it could reach the ceiling
The Duke then implodes, raining meat and blood all over us
But before anything could get on Collette and I, he creates a barrier to shield us
"Mmh." I frown as the skeleton of the giant monster shatters on the ground
It's… dead…
Whether I did it or not…
"I-I'm sorry… I'm sorry, Collette… I-I'm sorry I couldn't protect you…"
"D-don't Cana… we did our best."
I shake my head
"I was too weak… I'm too weak."
I can't do it, I can't protect anyone.
Not even myself.
I'll always need someone stronger. I will always be someone's burden…
"Cana…" she sighs "Th-thank you." Collette whimpers up at the man
"Y-yeah…" I sigh
"Who are you?" She asks as he turns around.
He glares at me for a moment
Those scars…
…
"Woof…"
He… barks?
"O-Odin?" I tilt my head
He wags his tail
"Y-you look scary…" I whimper
He shrivels down to a human child
"Hah! So cute!" I tackle him into the ground
He kicks and giggles before turning into a little pup to get away
I chase him around until he snapped into a Great Dane and tackled me into the ground
"Kyahaha! Hahaha!" I laugh hysterically as he slobbers all over my face
"O-Odin… did that?" Lindor stumbles over
…
"Woof!" Odin barks at him
"Hey! Be nice." I pat his head
This must be why Kara so much insisted I'd bring him…
Kara…
He saved me once again…
"L-Let me help you." I hurry to Lindor
"No! I don't need your filthy hands on-."
I slap him across his face
"You better watch that Pride of yours, Sonny Boy!"
I get enough of that from Kara.
"Gh-." He stares at something above my head
(Odin turning into the grand duke they just defeated to intimidate him)
I get to patching him up before turning back to Odin who reverted back to his original doggy form
"What's wrong?" I ask everyone sprawled on the ground abselutly petrified
After finding the exit we report back to headmaster witch lady
Apparently there were monsters that shouldn't have been there on every floor
It was some sort of attack they'll be investigating now.
"Awesome!" I dig through the chest that was awarded to me as per slaying the Grand Duke
I toss Odin a golden bone I found that smelled tasty
"Look, Odin!" I raise a magical diamond used to multiply your magic output
"Hmm…" I bite my tongue as I twist it onto my staff
"Wow, what's that?!"
I stumble over to the beautiful glowing sword in a giant stone
"The Dark Moon Greatsword. That wasn't part of the deal, but you can have it if can pull it out of the stone"
"Really?!" I jump
"Unfortunately there isn't a single person in the world that can wield it." She says as I give it a go "you have to be absolutely pure of-."
"I did it! I did it!" I jump with the sword above my head
It felt completely weightless even despite being even taller than me.
"I-I…" her jaw drops
…
"Heheh. Bye-Bye!" I wave at everyone as Odin carries my chest on his saddle beside me and I sit on Nimbus, cleaning my awesome sword
…
"And then I went. Whoosh! Whoosh!" I swing my greatsword. And I slayed the mighty dragon!"
"Ba! Ba!" Lia claps
"So cool!" Eri jumps as Kara rolls his eyes, not buying into my story
"Heheheh." I giggle
I follow Kara into our shower.
There he shriveled down to his short self
I always wondered why he hid this form for the public
Besides his pride of course.
I always figured he was hiding from someone
To think it was Himiko all along…
"What is it?" He asks after my hands began trembling at his chest
"N-nothing." I outline the scar around his neck
Deep enough to lacerate his jugular.
Now that I know how something like that feels…
"Why are you crying?" He asks
I shake my head.
He brushes a strand of hair out of my face as I outline another scar nearing his face
The way they gradually disappear the closer they get to his face. Almost as if to protect his beauty
Cause he certainly is.
I turn around and plop onto his lap
Before I could do it myself I felt the shampoo pore onto my head.
His terribly rough hands scratch my head, pulling on my hair with every stroke
I pull my hair over my shoulder to shampoo all the parts he missed as his hands wandered down to my chest
He squeezed my boobs and flicked my nipples. After scrubbing them down he did the same to my waist, traveling further and further down to my thighs
After getting the shampoo out of my hair I lean my head back as his hand scrub-a-dubbed my behind
"Hmh." I smile
It's been a few days since we've last done it. I never thought he could last this long.
Whenever we are alone together I'll ask him random questions
After that we'll talk for hours… well… I'd talk for hours; he'd mostly sit, listen, and nod along.
Or make fun of me…
I can tell he's genuinely trying to get to know me. Even if he might know it himself
It makes me so happy
I snug into his chest and shut my eyes as I sink into his every touch.
After cleaning up I tell Eri to make sure to tuck Lia in since she wanted to stay up a while longer
I lay beside Kara and wrap my arms around his chest and throw my leg over his abdomen as he grips my thigh, holding it in place
I raise my head and watched his poker face get through half the movie
I rest my cheek on his arm, waiting to see… anything…
Even the slightest sign that he… wants this
That he's happy with this…
He finally lowers his gaze from the tv to look at my thighs
He runs his hand up and down, pausing awkwardly whenever his callous latched onto my skin and even outlining my little toes
I fight the urge to giggle at this sudden curiosity before the morbid truth becomes more apparent…
He was looking for scars…
Remnants of the things they did to me…
So far he's respected my wish not to peer. I only know that because he's never once mentioned Lucy.
The things she told me… they were so horrible.
I can't believe there's so much evil in this world…
But that man she described…
He isn't here. At least… not anymore…
His hand ghosted over a scar near my hip… I wanted so badly to say something… to tell him none of this is his fault…
But I'm not sure he'd believe it.
He sits his cheek on my forehead for another portion of the movie only after settling for a handful of my ass
…
Twenty minutes later I sit up, for a quick little stretch once he rolled his head away
I press my lips against his bottom one for maybe half a minute before 'stretching' away
I respond to the little glare he gave me with a suggestive smirk
I arch my back, pressing into him as I wiggle my butt
He squeezes my behind as I toss my arms around his neck
I giggle as he rolls on top of me.
His tongue parts my lips before tangling with my own
We kiss and mingle for whatever was left of the movie and continued as it began to replay
I couldn't help but feel the weight of everything we've endured. The pain, fear, the scars he didn't dare to mention.
Our guilt… with every moment it all seemed to melt away. Turning what we had now into something beautiful…
Something fragile, raw
Amidst the kissing and moaning I quickly found myself struggling to breath with his thrusting hips impaling me with his shaft
Rather than nailing me into the bed he often paused and slows his hips, more focused on our fumbling lips
For the first time I felt that the barrier that stood between us began to crumble.
Whether or not he realized it, I finally felt him reach out and fully embrace me. Fully embrace… us…
It was beautiful.
His way of clearing my baseless doubts. His way to show me just how much he's dying to see what we can become.
What our love… can blossom into…
I whimper and cry. Tears of pain and joy trickled down my cheeks and mix with the pooling sweat between us
And I…
Love it
I couldn't ask him to change a thing.
Nothing, I Love him just the way he is…
…
-to be continued