"huh?" a bulky man looked ahead to see a familiar face from afar
"what is it, Gabby?" a woman with seductive temperament asked while walking, the party they in now returning from the 10 floor after a fruitful loot, they had some bad luck provoking a huge crowd of monsters couple of days ago, but luck was on their side this time
"do you believe in ghosts, Kosy?" Gabby asks scratch his head
"what the hell you talking about, you muscles but no brain boulder?" he didn't hear a reply from the woman but a from a man with cold snort
"tch! I did not ask your opinion, Tez!" Gabby someone who would lose his nerves quickly snaps as well
"wanna go? cockhead?" Tez sneered back
"now,now you two.., Gabby, tell us what you mean." Kosy tried to be the big sister here and defuse the situation
"look at that direction, then you would know!" Gabby point out to certain way
the two others looked the way the big point out to see a surprising view! even the small hooded girl that's was with them looked that direction
"isn't that...?" Kosy said with shocked even
"impossible... how did he survive that herd of monsters!" Tez said in disbelief looked at a young teen holding a weapon and surrounding by huge ants
"but never mind that! look at his gear and weapon!" Kosy eyes shone with lust and greed, "we only saw him couple of times and all of them he was wearing like a bagger, but seeing him like that wearing such fine gear makes my crouch tingle ~ " Kosy licking her lips
"slut!! x2 both men said but Kosy only shurgged, it it only a small voice came to them thar woke them up, "umm...Tez-sama....can Lili know who is that?"
the three snapped out of it, and looked at the small but developed girl holding a huge bag like it's nothing,. Gabby laughed, "hehe, he basically your senpai, liliruca, hahahaha!"
"no you idiot, she is his senpai, she has been supporter for years! but at that time , the senior group were having her." Tez said with a snort
Lilicura eyes glinted a bit after hearing this statement, but said timidly, "really? does that I have a kohai?"
"hmm? I guess? we left for dead last time, we don't think he would survive and kicking, even having a good gear, maybe he joined a good familia..." Kosy assumed
Lili heart become cold after hearing they left him for dead,'tch! as expected from those scum adventurers! I bet they used him as a bait...I know since I did it many times!' she thought but her pitful expression stayed the same
Tez eyes fell on Ikukei and exclaimed in shock, "that's a growth weapon!" he had the chance to witness something like that from top adventures, "how did a mere brat manage to get something that costy!" the worst thing that he couldn't steal it as growth weapons are alive and must acknowledge the user to wield to the full potential
"do you think he hold a grudge on us since we left him behind?" Gabby asked
"I would have one if I was him." Kosy pointed out
"with that weapon...he might take his revenge on us..." Tez muttered and his eyes shined a cold glint, "we must get rid of him while we have the chance!"
"but did not he survive the herd before? then we ain't his match at all!" Kosy nervously said
"look! the purple powder entered his system! he must feel dizzy, and health potion can't heal poison only an antidote can! we can wait and strike the moment he feels tired!" Tez told them
"but didn't he notice us since we saw him?" Gabby asks
"it won't make a difference since he must focus on the ants!" Tez explained
"ah~ even thought he looked so good with that armor~ what a shame~" Kosy held her body in her arms in sadness
"thot!" x2 the two said in union
Lili didn't voice her opinion but she silently nodded, she can only feel sorry for this newbie for meeting those scum, but she would rather leave him for dead if that's ensure her survive and take the money
Lili then focused on his form looked at the monster ants with fearless smile, even though the poison power entered his system, he doesn't concerned at all
'how confident...' Lil thought with slight envy, something tells her that the trio won't have it as easy as they think it will be..
Hohenheim already noticed the party secretly approach him, but couldn't be bothered to focus on them, he observed the surroundings monsters with vigilance, the trick for making the ground frictionless won't work on ants since they can stuck to the ground the same way they stuck on walls
left to use another options to attack, kicked the ground in high momentum to nearest excelia punching bag, and swing his blade towards it!
πΎππΌππ πΎππΌππ πΎππΌππ
the sound the blade and body colliding rang in the air, the extreme tough shell of the aunt proved they tough enough to handle the sharp edge of the katana, being slammed over and over, without much results, Hohenheim decided to change his strategy, he jumped in the air but instead of normal slashing, he went with a stab this time
ππΎππππΎπππ!!!!!
the giant ant screamed in agony feeling it's head being penetrated by such pointy thing, it didn't have much time to regret as from the inside of it head , the tip of the sword run electric spark
πππΌππ πππΎππππ!
from the point of the sword like a singularity, exploded in hundreds upon thousands of very tiny needles! this tiny needles traveled through the defenseless inside of the killer aunt and leaving from inside utterly destroyed!
the tiny needles returned from it's birth place leaving the ant with thousands of tiny holes that's poured it's guts like a waterfall, this all happened in matter of few seconds, and without skipping a beat, Hohenheim kicked the ant corpse away and continued his butchering through the crowd, he noticed also that a mist in the air being released, he looked up and his eyes twitched, "blue Papilio...this butterfly is sure is helpful to you, ain't it?"
he looks around to see that the superficial wounds on that ain't start to heal slowly, "rule number one in war...kill the healers first!" he smirked and with a wave of his sword, sparks flew and in the air, an air blade where created and in no time lunched toward the blue giant butterfly!
quickly the air blade reached it and cut it half!, "this trick quite costy, and not much affective against strong defense but works on flies like you!" he conclude as he felt 10% of his mana and stamina reserve finish like that
he did the same swing to the moths, because he constantly fighting these pests , he has to keep up using Alkahestry to defend against the poison the moth keep spreading in air which is quite demanding on his stamina, so he decided to kill this flying creatures and focus on the rest of ant
the spark on his hands flared with energy and the air around the flying bugs starts to thicken, Hohenheim smirked, "I promised I wouldn't use your alchemy until my death, Hawkeye! I fulfilled it so let me do it in this life!' and with smooth movement.. he snapped!
π¨π£ππ₯!
the oxygen around the bugs exploded causing the monster to scatter like fireworks!
"dirty fireworks." he grinned and spat a joke, he also made sure this wasn't seen by the rats moving around, which was the case since they won't dare get near him when poison is around him
after getting rid of the flying monsters, killing the ants become easier and the occasional Horn being lunched at him decreased too, and in matter of few minutes he managed to kill all of them utilizing his alchemy and agility..
he cleaned himself from the blood and dirt and looked forward to see the group approaching, he made sure he looked tired enough to not raise their gurads
"well, well, well...who would thought you survived?" Tez coldly smiled at the teen
"fufufu, I love hardworking man... would you be interested in spending a night with this big sister trying to know each other better?" Kosy smiled making her intentions clear
"boy you sure like a cockroach!" Gabby said laughing, "but you should have come to us since you survived, we would take care of you good."
Hohenheim grinned, "I appreciate the gesture, but I'm fine with my current familia." he said
"hoh? you joined one this quickly? it must be rich considering the good gear you have now." Tez said , "then for the sake of old friendship, how about sharing your loot with us huh?"
"old friendship?" Hohenheim sneered remember the last thing he considered friend betrayed him,"you three seems good test for this ability..." Hohenheim said and focused his mind on the second magic he has
"what ability could you possibly ha-" his word stuck in his throat as he eyes become wide, his breathing become quicker, and his heartbeat become faster, for his it's as if an imaginary hand clutch his neck trying to squeeze it, he tried to resist thus feeling but no use
in matter of seconds the three received a spiritual pressure resulting in losing their consciousness, ironically the only one who didn't fall is Liliruca, Hohenheim didn't target her intentionally, but his control on the magic is still improving, but the Pallum's willpower was enough to resist the unintentional attack, this proved her tendency to survive on her on since childhood and being orphan
"hoh? you didn't get knocked out?" Hohenheim said in surprise, removed the nosebleed he got from using the magic
Lili who was breathing heavily said in fake pity, "umm, mister! please spare Lili! Lili promises mister that's she will be your supporter for free!" she managed to survive until now, no way she would clinge to life no matter what
"hmm.." Hohenheim looked amusing if anything, since he can tell her mask of pity right away, he asked then, "what we should do with those guys then?" he point at the knockout group
Lili who was slightly not in control of her emotions unlike usual made a genuine expression, she said in anger and frustration, "those scum can be monsters' dinner for Lili cares!" she hissed in fury, people didn't know but Tez was secretly a lolicon, so everytime he looked at her, he would give her a lustful feeling, which made her utterly disgusted, she isn't even a Loli!
Kosy bullied her out of jealousy and envy for attracting Tez lust, and Gabbi mocked her a lot for having zero talent in adventuring, so she loathed the trio a lot
Hohenheim noticed that bunching of balls was around Lili, he conclude that those are her true emotions, they weren't direct at him as they didn't rush to him like before
"I guess I need someone to pick the loot for me." he does not really need one, but he got impressed by the girl's willpower, with some current guiding, she might be a good ally
Lili eyes brighten upon hearing him, "but..." she immediately darken hearing that might be something else, " I can't make you working for free." as a former slave, he despises every form of slavery that's exist, free labor is one of them, "what is your usual rate?" he asked
"...it's 10%" she lied, it's 5%, but since has is offering, she won't hold back at all
"hmm...that's quite..." Lili sweated a bit thinking she might bite more than she can chew
"... that's quite low...I'll give you 25%." Hohenheim said with a smile
"25%?!" Lili gaped , "that's a lot! are mister absolutely sure?!"
"you think so? than it's settled." he smiled, he doesn't know she lied, but her emotions said she is happy for this deal, even if he did, he won't care, "nice to meet you...my name is Van Hohenheim." he extended his hand
"Lili! my name is Lili! pleasure to meet you, Hohenheim-sama!" she bowed and shook his hand, "what we should do with their loot?" she pointed at the trio and almost drooled thinking about the money she could have, seeing her expression he smiled, "you can have it yourself."
"A-Are you sure, Hohenheim-sama?" she said nervously, she never met adventure as gullible as him, she might have the dream right now, "sure why not, let it be my sincerity to you." he laughed and said, "enough for today. wanna go with me, Lili-chan~" he looked back only to see the girl hurriedly putting everything on the three people in his big bag leaving them in their underwear
"yes, Hohenheim-sama!" Lili said with joy and the pair together left the dungeon to the guild...