Prytaneum
Stove
Our second trip to the eleventh was less eventful then out first—which was to say that no Minotaurs attacked us that time. Instead, we just had to deal with the usual inhabitants of those floors, which meant all the monsters we were used to dealing with on the tenth, plus Silverbacks and Hard Armoreds. The two additions changed the dynamics on the floors a fair bit, with the Silverbacks being both stronger and far faster than the Orcs, while the Hard Armoreds had by far the greatest defense on the Upper Floors. In addition, we encountered a couple of Infant Dragons as we moved through the floor, generally surrounded by an entourage of other monsters. With creatures like Batpats and Imps harrying us on top of that, the eleventh floor was challenging in its own way.
But…maybe it was because of my Status update or because of my experience fighting the Minotaurs the day before, but it just wasn't the same. I'd already believed I could handle things on the eleventh and my new improvements just made things easier; added to the fact that neither the Infant Dragons nor the Hard Armoreds were able to stand up to Riptide's blade and the experience was only tiring because it was long. I let Welf take the lead as we went along, stepping in only to keep him from being swarmed or cornered by monsters, and otherwise played defense to his offense and Lili's support. With Lili carrying the magic stones and our own supplies, we didn't have any problems continuing even with the constant battles, and Lili had also memorized the layout of the eleventh floor.
Following her lead, we cleared most of the eleventh easily enough, though I refrained from making Welf and Lili follow me to any of the Pantries. Instead, I had Lili show me the locations for later and decided to explore them on my own when I got the chance. I was a bit sad to leave any stones unturned, but given that the trips out to any of the Pantries and back tended to add a couple of hours to the trip, even without counting the major fight that inevitably resulted…well, I decided to stay patient to make things easier on all of us.
As is, we could probably go to the twelfth floor as early as tomorrow, though I had to wonder if the pace I was setting was reasonable for Welf and Lili. I think we could manage, especially with Mrs. O'Leary as backup, but before meeting me, the deepest floors they'd ever been to were the tenth and eleventh respectively. The twelfth would be a new experience for all of us, but, more than that, I had to think about what was beyond it. Starting with the thirteenth, Level 2 monsters would begin to appear and we would enter the Middle Floors. Personally, I was actually kind of looking forward to it—not so much for what was there as what wasn't; once I'd entered the Middle Floors of the Dungeon, I could finally say goodbye to several of the more annoying monsters I'd encountered, though I was sure they'd be replaced in short order.
Given my luck, though…
"Is something bothering you, Percy?" Welf asked, glancing at my face as we walked through the streets. We'd just finished up at the Exchange and now we were off to the Hostess of Fertility for a hopefully pleasant evening.
"Just thinking about tomorrow," I said after a moment, deciding that there really wasn't any need to hide it. "Given how quickly we're moving through the eleventh, we could probably move onto the twelfth tomorrow or the day after, but I'm wondering if that might be a little quick. I don't want to drag you guys into trouble."
"I'm fine with it if Lili is," Welf replied, seeming more excited about the prospect then concerned. "I was stuck on the tenth for so long I'd been dying for the chance to go further—and with you and Mrs. O'Leary there, we're about as safe as we could probably get in the Dungeon, even if things do tend to get a bit messy. What do you think, Lili?"
"Lili thinks…" Lili began before hesitating and giving us a smile. "Lili will follow Mr. Percy and Mr. Welf's decision. While Lili hasn't been past the eleventh up to this point, she will do her best to prepare for whatever happens."
"Don't be like that, Lili," I said, sighing slightly. "Out of all of us, you've been adventuring into the Dungeon the longest, right? I'd like to hear whatever it is you think."
Lili seemed to pause for a long moment to consider that, probably trying to decide if this was a trap or not and if she should lie to escape it. After a minute, though, she ducked her head slightly.
"Lili thinks Mr. Percy can probably face whatever we might encounter, but she is concerned for Mr. Welf. Up until recently, the deepest floor Mr. Welf has reached was the tenth, correct?"
"Yeah," He admitted. "That was when I was fighting alone, though. I couldn't go any further or make a party with other members of my Familia due to certain issues, but Percy here can handle anything on the upper floors, I think."
"Lili agrees, but if Mr. Welf wishes to fight as well…" She shook her head slightly. "While conventional wisdom states that adventurers should have a Status between B and S if they want to take on the eleventh and twelfth floors, there is a major difference between having stats at B on the eleventh and having stats at B on the twelfth. Lili doesn't wish to pry or make assumptions about Mr. Welf's Status, but if as someone who only entered the eleventh floor yesterday…"
"Ah, that's a good point," Welf acknowledged with a heavy sigh. "But Lili…I guess I haven't told you, but the reason I partied up with Percy in the first place was to reach Level 2."
"…To obtain Blacksmith?" Lili guessed after a moment.
"Exactly," He answered. "I'm a bit embarrassed to admit it, but…I can't advance much further as a smith without it. There's something I wish to accomplish but it requires that I improve as much as possible and I need to start by Leveling Up. The twelfth floor might be dangerous, but at the same time, if I simply remain on comfortable floors without any risk, I'll never be able to go any further. If possible, I'd like to go to the twelfth, but I'll understand if you're worried, Lili."
Lili seemed to consider that silently for a few minutes before nodding slowly.
"Lili understands, Mr. Welf," She said. "Truthfully, Lili doesn't expect things to go wrong, either—Lili was simply concerned about Mr. Welf. With Mr. Percy and Mrs. O'Leary present, it should be okay?"
"You okay with it, Percy?" Welf asked, turning towards me with a gaze that was only a little pleading.
"Yeah, if you're both ready, I'm fine with that," I answered slowly, considering my words carefully. "But in that case, I guess I should probably bring up my bigger concerns—what about the thirteenth?"
"The thirteenth…?" Lili asked, expression dropping a bit.
"Even if we move slow, clearing out the twelfth shouldn't take too long," I said. "Resistance will probably be heavier than on the eleventh, but still, it should only take a few days at most. After that, what do you think we should do?"
"What did you have in mind?" Welf asked.
I blew out a slow breath, thinking about it.
"I'm not sure; that's why I wanted to ask you," I replied. "I…guess it depends on how much difficulty we have on the twelfth. If we have problems, we can just stay on the twelfth for a while, but I might need to adjust our schedule some."
"To give you time to go to deeper floors, you mean?" Welf guessed, looking at me askance as he spoke.
"Yeah," I said. "But I know that you want to Level Up, Welf, so I figured you'd like to go to the thirteenth as well—I'm just not sure if it'd be safe at this point. I tend to get into trouble pretty easily and once we start adding more and more Level 2 monsters to the picture, things could get kind of dicey."
"True," He mused. "But on the other hand, dealing with stuff like that seems like a pretty good way to Level Up."
"Assuming you don't die," I said.
"Assuming that," He agreed. "You think the thirteenth would be too much?"
"I…" I sighed slightly, shaking my head. "I don't know. I'll have to see, but…I was worried, so I figured we should probably talk about it. Lili, what do you think?"
Lili's head was bowed slightly and she'd remained mostly silent since the topic had been raised. At the sound of my voice, however, she looked up abruptly; it seems I'd startled her out of her thoughts. She took a moment to recover herself before speaking.
"Lili…thinks it would be best to be careful," She answered slowly. "Anything can happen in the Dungeon, after all. While Lili doesn't question Mr. Welf and Mr. Percy's strength, she also doesn't wish for anything horrible to happen, so…Lili would recommend they take their time on the twelfth before deciding to push forward."
"Taking some time to think about it is probably a good idea either way," I mused. "I mean, before we even think of going, I definitely want to prepare enough supplies. You said my new armor would be done by tomorrow, Welf?"
"Yeah," Welf answered with a nod. "I splurged on the materials for it, so…it should be able to hold up a little bit better. With you, I honestly have no idea though."
"Then I'll ask Miach to start working on a big order," I said, making a mental checklist. "I should probably go hunting for drop items a bit, too…yeah, waiting a day or two is probably for the best. Is that okay?"
"Lili questions Mr. Percy's idea of taking his time…" Lili muttered.
"Well, even if we do get in trouble, we're not completely unprepared," Welf said, adjusting the pack he'd had strapped across his back all day. "I still have Kazuki here, after all."
"Still have…oh," I said, blinking as I understood. "I thought you'd return it to Hephaestus."
"I tried to, but…well, she refused and made a pretty good point," He said, looking embarrassed and uncomfortable. "If anything happens again, at least with this I'll be able to do something about it."
"Really?" I asked.
"Yeah," He replied, nodding. "If it's just a herd of Minotaurs or something, it won't be a problem."
"The magic swords of the Crozzo family are very famous, Mr. Percy," Lili said quietly. "It's been said that they are so powerful that they could dry up the sea."
"Why would you want to dry up the sea?" I asked, abruptly concerned as I looked towards Welf. "Your family didn't actually do that, did they?"
"No," He assured, probably understanding that I was actually worried. "The sea's fine—or rather, it's just a saying. It's nothing on that level or everything would have been burnt down. My family made a lot of magic swords."
"How many?" I asked, making him shrug.
"Hundreds of thousands?" He guessed before pausing to think about it. "No, if you count every generation, it might be over a million. It was really a recklessly large number…"
"Wow," I said before looking at the pack on his back in concern. "It sounds kind of dangerous, though. Magic swords, I mean. What happens if you drop it or swing it wrong? It would blow up in your face or something, would it? I'd be worried if I was carrying one."
"…Well," Welf seemed to consider that. "That probably won't happen. I'd rather not use it, though, because I'm honestly not sure about what would happen if I use it in close quarters and underground. It's just in case of an emergency, anyway—but with it, you, and Mrs. O'Leary, even the thirteenth floor might be possible? Well, we'll see in a few days, I guess."
"Yeah," I replied, glancing down the street. "We're here, anyway. You've never been to the Hostess of Fertility, have you Lili?"
"No," Lili replied, shaking her head. If nothing else, he mood seemed to have improved somewhat.
Leading the way, I opened the door and stepped inside.