Chapter 36 - The Grinning Poet

The Dungeon, Seventeenth FloorTiona HiryuteTiona burst out into stunned laughter as the Goliath hit the floor. “He actually let himself get swallowed!”Bete meanwhile was trying to be as grumpy as always, but even he seemed surprised. “That ain’t a level two, there’s no way.” But that didn’t last long though, as anger replaced that surprise and a whole big mess of emotions welled up in his eyes. Which probably wasn’t good. Bete could act like a real dummy whenever he got insecure, or when he messed up in front of Ais… or a lot of things really. He was kind of a mess.Speaking of Aisu though, her best friend was showing a lot of emotion. Her mouth was even open a little as she stared at the scene!‘Big’ sis meanwhile just seemed surprised with maybe a touch of something more. Though whatever that something was would probably be buried soon enough. She loved her sis -she really did- but Tione had caught the obsession of their race hard, and she couldn’t have been stuck with a worse target for it. She just had to fall in love with someone who had his own obsession specifically for his own race and… yeah. Finn’d probably never entertain a romance between them unless Tione suddenly turned into a Pallum. Meanwhile she’d probably never stop loving him. Her sis was kinda tragic like that. All that to say the interest Tiona could see in her eye likely wouldn’t mean much in the long run.The oldies though were more shocked than she would’ve expected if she was being honest. They normally tried real hard to hide their feelings, but despite that Riveria looked downright puzzled, which probably meant Tiona had missed something. Meanwhile the surprise had actually managed to lift Gareth’s enormous brows, and as for the Cap, well her sis’ crush looked more stumped than she’d seen him in a while.“Finn, we should…” Gareth trailed off as -from out of the Giant’s mouth- the weird level two hopped out looking almost entirely unphased, his cape having even repaired itself somehow. At the sight the Captain’s eye twitched violently and Tiona burst out laughing again.Ais sure knew how to pick ‘em.Despite the show he’d just put on, he seemed like a chill guy as he met up with his friends and casually started joking with them right in front of the corpse of the giant he’d slain. Most Adventurers she knew would be pounding their chests, roaring in victory or so exhausted they’d have already passed out. But this guy seemed content to just let his accomplishments speak for him. Which was weirdly understated for someone wearing a cape, but that kinda made it more fun. And the fact that it was unintentionally getting under the Captain’s skin only made it funnier.Frustrated by them ignoring his earlier words, Bete tried again. “There ain’t no way that’s a level two’s speed, let alone a fresh one.” He said, almost gnashing his teeth in anger. “They musta lied about how long he’s been an Adventurer.”But Finn just shook his head. “Bete, we went through this-”“-Fuck the reports, you think anyone could beat Ais’ record by that much?” Bete snarled, cutting him off. “You think someone who’s been at this for a month could move like that!? It ain’t natural!”“It isn’t.” Riveria surprisingly agreed, causing Tiona to blink, she didn’t think she’d ever see the High Elf agree with Bete. “He was using the magic we saw in the arena for movement.” Ah, see, there it is.“Hah?” Bete ground to a halt.Their Captain hummed, looking thoughtful. “You said his spell was mass manipulation right?”“Indeed, and evidently it goes both ways.” Riveria said.“So he was lightening himself to take off…” “And increasing his mass in midair, cycling the spell.” She finished.“Cycling, not maintaining it.” He noted clinically. “You mentioned something about his casting speed last time, but what’s your assessment?”“I… do not know.” The High Elf admitted again to Tiona’s surprise, Riveria admitting that she didn’t know something about magic was just perhaps even more bizarre than her agreeing with Wolfy. “Frankly, I’ve never seen anyone use magic in quite that manner before. Chantless spells are rare enough as it is.”“So what, he did a little magic and that’s enough?” Bete cut in, looking all kinds of frustrated. “To do that?” He gestured aggressively at the giant corpse. “To wield a sword like that? Even Raul can’t fuckin’ do the shit he was doing yet!” “Um, what exactly was he doing?” Lefiya timidly spoke up, which was a little surprising since she’d been so quiet Tiona hadn’t even noticed her join them.Bete rounded on her aggressively enough that Tiona stepped forward a little, but he just scowled and grouched like the sourpuss he was. “He was cuttin’ the magic itself, which should be damn impossible for someone at his level.” He explained, before jutting his chin her way. “Even the big sword brat over there can’t do it properly yet.”“Huh!?” Tiona demanded. “Of course I do it properly you dumb mutt!” Her Urga was the best at cutting stuff!“Say that when you can actually hit only what you’re aiming at you damn muscle for brains!” He retorted, stepping up to her angrily, so she did the obvious thing:She kicked him, repeatedly. “I hit what I aim at, furball!” She shouted as he fended off her blows and lashed out in turn.“And everything around it you weapon obsessed pigeon-brain!” “You wanna see just what I can hit, you stupid dog!?” She hissed as she unslung Urga, her beautiful double bladed, double edged greatsword.“Bring it you flat-chested bim-” Bete’s words died as Ais’ fist -cutely- came down atop his head.“…Stop.” She demanded softly, and the second Tiona saw the girl’s face scrunching up trying to look serious, all the fight left the Amazon. Not that she was all that serious to begin with, but her friend was way too cute for Tiona to stay mad around! “Tch, whatever.” Bete tutted, trying to look cool, so she stuck her tongue out at him and grinned as he got mad all over again.“…So he can cut magic?” Lefiya said quietly, trying to get the conversation back on track. “Pretty much.” Tione said. “Though you’d normally need a lot more strength behind you to pull off something like that.” Her sis’ eyes tracked over to Ais and Finn, the most finesse orientated fighters they had. Her sis was also on that list, but like any Amazon, when push came to shove they all kinda defaulted back to hitting things really, really hard. Fighting was only complicated if you made it complicated after all.“But if that’s the case… then how is he managing it?”The group lapsed into silence at that, because in all honesty, they didn’t exactly know. Ais’ interest was breaking all kinds of rules, like stumping Riveria when it came to magic; in that regard, this was just one more exception for the pile. Ais shifted in that silence, looking contemplative. “…I was once taught that anything you can understand, you can cut.”“Taught?” Tiona tilted her head. “By who?”“The strongest swordsman I’ve known.” Ais stated seriously, her eyes kinda distant and maybe a little sad?Tiona obviously wanted to ask more but the oldies suddenly looked serious at Ais’ words, like they knew who she was talking about and whoever that was, was enough that they were taking the words pretty seriously.Hmm~hm, she smelt a conspiracy afoot! She’d have to keep an eye on it, and badger Aisu about it when they had a spare minute.Bete scoffed. “That’s exactly it, we’re talking about some kid who apparently just got his start and we’re having to compare him to the strongest people around justa make sense of his bullshit. None of this makes sense.”“You’re right, it doesn’t.” Their Captain acknowledged. “Frankly, a lot of things about him don’t make sense. His talents in potion-making and blacksmithing; his levelling speed… his status as a mage and obviously his combat skills.” He listed clinically, frown deepening. “We’ve confirmed every one of these talents and looked into how they’ve developed over time. Despite the absurd growth rates, it all seems to be true.”“So he’s just that fuckin’ talented and we’re supposed to accept that?” Bete snarled, and Tiona got ready to tune out the impending argument. Or she did, right up until she had a sudden brainwave! She turned on Aiz, studying her for a sec before suddenly glomping the stoic girl.“Ai-zu~! You’ve been around him the longest right; what d’you reckon?” She enthused from atop her friend’s back, loudly enough for the others to get the message and stop bickering.Ais paused as the attention shifted to her. “…I’ve seen him fight, watched him get stronger. His growth is genuine.”Wolfy looked pretty damn uncertain at that, but then he was always afraid of contradicting his crush, which is exactly why Tiona brought her into this. She could be smart too!“I’m inclined to agree, given all the observations we have on him.” Riveria stated thoughtfully. “There isn’t a way to fake all of this, especially not his use of magic. Not with how far he’s pushed that mass spell of his, nor anything else he displayed here.”“The shield and those swords.” Finn nodded, still looking a little surprised by it. Not that Tiona could blame him, when that guy pulled that slab of metal out of thin air her eyebrows nearly left her face!“Summoning spells have been recorded before, but that felt… different.” The High Elf admitted, frowning. “There was also that edge enhancement he was runnin’.” Gareth rumbled. “Looked like some sort of flame.”“Either another spell or possibly a skill effect, give that we can hardly ignore the spell he was using to stand on air.” “Four spells?” Lefiya chimed in with wide eyes.“One or more of them has to be a skill effect, the limits of the Falna are clear outside of obvious exceptions.” Finn shook his head, not stating the obvious fact that two of those exceptions were standing right there with them: ‘Nine Hells’ Riveria and ‘Thousand Elf’ Lefiya.“That still makes what? three spells in a single month?” Bete tried.“Potentially three.” Finn corrected absently. “And like I said before, this is far beyond just quick progress. His rate across the board is… well, it reminds me of her.”Tiona blinked in confusion as Gareth rumbled gravely. “Don’t remind me of that witch.”“Alfia, the Monster of Calamitous Talent, huh?” Riveria casually dropped a name that sent a shiver down all their spines. It was the name of a former level seven of the Hera Familia who went mad after the Familia’s failed attempt to slay the Black Dragon. Who, alongside an executive of the Zeus Familia, joined up with Evilus and kicked off Orario’s Dark Age.Some of the city was still in ruins thanks to her.“Just had to say it, didn’t ‘cha?” The old dwarf cursed, crossing his arms.“Hey, hey, you don’t think he’ll wind up like that right?” Tiona spoke up.“No, Alfia was always…” Finn trailed off, as the oldies all grimaced. “But it’s also true that too much talent can be the ruin of its bearer." “We’ll need to keep a closer eye on him.” Riveria nodded, though to Tiona her interest seemed to come from a different direction.“And forge closer ties.” The Captain nodded. “I did originally demand the rights for the drops in the off-chance he actually managed to take down the Rex, but I think we’re better off giving them back to him. Getting him onside is a priority from here on out, with the end goal of an alliance.”“Not bringing him on board?” Gareth questioned.“He’s shown no signs of wanting to change Familias, and he’s valuable enough that if not us, then someone else will make him the same offer.” The Pallum shook his head.“The Goddess Freya would snatch him up, she’s done it plenty enough.”“But does he understand that?” Finn smiled warily. “With all his skills, he won’t have much need for resources soon enough, pushing for anything more won’t work. So we need to play on the one thing we have over everyone else: convenience.”“The relationship is already in place, we just need to maintain it and keep him happy.” He went on. “Pressuring him will just drive him off and if we play this right, we can count on another first-class Adventurer for expeditions in a few years time.” Most of them nodded at that. It hadn’t really happened before because upcoming Adventurers tended to get snatched up by either their Familia or Freya’s… mainly Freya’s if she was being honest. But an independent high level would still need to join some kind of expedition to level up, and the stronger their group was the more they could accomplish down there together.So it was a win for everyone, even if it would be a bit weird.“Y’still think he’ll take that long?” Gareth rumbled, his eyes off looking at where the Giant slayer was surrounded by members of their Familia, chatting away happily.“The distances will slow him down regardless of whatever method he used to level up that quickly in the first place.” Finn stated confidently.“Loki-sama said that we shouldn’t be so confident about that.” Riveria reminded him.“We’ll just have to see.” He left it at that, letting things trail off into silence as they all just kinda took in the scene. The Goliath wasn’t something that had ever been taken down by a sole level two, and with all the boring stuff out of the way, they all -like Tiona- seemed to want to take a moment to appreciate it.The fight hadn’t been some desperate scrap to come out on top, but an Adventurer who clearly understood the challenge; one who’d prepared and approached things with strategy instead of just grit in hand. It left a different kind of feeling than the other solo level up attempts she’d seen, definitely less passionate but… it also left her feeling like she was witnessing something important.Like she was witnessing the birth of an Adventurer who’d go on to become pretty damn important.It was strange, and she kept trying to compare it to the old stories but there just wasn’t really one that fit. It was new and different, and she found that she didn’t mind that.And that kinda decided it for her; she just had to go bother him for a bit!-Tiona happily skipped up to the crowd of Adventurers on bare feet, grinning as the sight of them eagerly gathered around the giant body. Most of her Familia were just chatting or listening to that Elric guy, but some of them were poking the corpse with their weapons, ‘subtly’ testing if they could get through its hide too. It wasn’t the first time they'd been around a dead Goliath, obviously. But since someone on their level had brought it down they’d clearly had a fire lit under them, and now they all wanted to see if they could pull it off too.They didn’t look like they were having too much luck, but if it were that easy, then every level two would be fighting for the chance to level up with the beastie. Still, it was just nice to see the two groups getting along. After that whole confrontation thing on the fifth floor, she’d seen the looks being thrown at the group and heard way too many comments about favouritism. The animosity was kinda painfully clear there.The good thing about Adventurers though is that they're kinda simple when you get down to it. They -like Amazons actually- only really care about strength deep down, so impress them enough and you'll win them over. It’s that simple! And killing the Goliath was definitely impressive.The only tricky part was the girl who’d left the Familia. Her being tied to him helped for now, but that kind of anger comes back up eventually. What she really needed to do was fight her own battle and earn the begrudging respect of the idiots who were looking down on her. It was kinda unfair to her, yeah, but that’s just the way the world works sometimes.“-was awesome brother!” Ricardo enthused, the buff level one looking especially revved up if his bulging muscles had anything to say about it. “I had no idea you could step on air like that! Is that like some kind of technique? Or do I just need more muscles?”“Uh, sorry but that was actually magic.” The blonde at the centre of it all chuckled, before just outright showing it to the audience; the silent spell humming to life in the form of that familiar blue ring beneath his suspended foot. “See?”The spell actually lasted, letting him stand on air for as long as the ring remained.“Ah…” Despite everyone else’s interest, the muscular level one only looked heartbroken. “I thought that maybe I could have learned it, alas! I will just have to keep dreaming!” “Apologies man, but who knows, maybe you do just need more muscle.” Tiona blinked at the giant slayer’s response, clearly missing something from this conversation.“I knew it!” Ricardo suddenly flipped moods again, pumping his fist. “Wait for me oh beautiful skies!” She felt about as confused as Elric looked before the next question was shouted his way, quickly followed by half a dozen more. And well, Tiona wasn’t exactly known for her patience.“Alright you guys, give him a break and I dunno, go do something!” She put her hands on her hips with a grin, abusing her all-mighty authority as an executive for her own wicked ends. “Go, go!” They grumbled, but ultimately got ready to leave. “We’re still celebrating though right?” “Of course!” She shouted back, flashing them a peace sign and a grin.That perked things right up and the group left in excited chatter. Some headed over to get the convoy ready -which she probably should’ve told them to do- while some lingered and tried to look busy around the corpse. Staying in snooping range.“Here to deliver the verdict of the council of Loki?” The man of the hour quirked his brow at her, as the pair of Adventurers he brought on the expedition wandered over to his side.“I am!” She agreed enthusiastically, despite that not being the case at all, but it sounded more important that way. “Let’s see… it was something about giving you the Goliath drops and some talk about offering an alliance?” “An alliance?” He asked and suddenly she remembered how the Captain talked about that whole thing.Oops?“Ah wait, I think that was future talk! Forget I said anything?” She asked sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head.“Sure, consider it forgotten.” He laughed it off without any fuss, what a nice guy.“Nice!”“Was the drops also ‘future talk’ or?”“Nope! That’s right now, though I probably shouldn’t have sent the others away, getting crystals that size out is a real pain.” She lamented. Sometimes abusing her awesome power came with unexpected downsides.“No worries, I can handle it.” He said and she nodded. “It’s fine I’ll call back the others and… huh?” She rambled until his words caught up with her. “You mean like you… alone?” He just hummed, turning to take in the corpse that still loomed over him even while laid out on its back.“It’s like the size of you, y’know.” She went on as he looked like he was genuinely considering prying the thing out himself. “We normally get a whole team of pretty experienced guys to pull it out.” He chuckled. “You guys saw what happened with the shield right?” “Eh? I mean yeah, we saw you pull it out of nowhere, it was kinda crazy.” She nodded. “But I didn’t think you’d want to talk about it…” Weirdly, he just shook his head with a smile as he laid a hand on the giant. “Wanna see something cool?” “Cool?” Did he even need to ask? “Absolutely!” But then he did something that she really wasn’t expecting. He exploded the entire giant, somehow.The giant ashed almost instantly, its entire body turned into a wave of black dust that blew out over them, swallowing them in a sea of fading bits of monster gunk. In the corners of her vision, she could see the still lingering members of her Familia panic and dive away from the rapidly expanding cloud before she too was swallowed.Gradually the cloud began to fade, revealing the armoured form of the slightly smug level two. His friends looking a whole lot less unbothered and a whole lot more annoyed at him.“What… the hell was that?” She tried with a cough as the air finally cleared.“That was me stealing the crystal.” He smiled and followed the display up by magicing up the full, giant crystal to his side. The roughly diamond shaped rock almost as tall as him as it appeared in a golden shimmer, propped up by his outstretched hand. “See?” “You can do that!?” The redhead who’d left the Familia cut in, looking shocked, which Tiona definitely related to.“Well, yeah.” He nodded, making the crystal disappear again.“And you couldn’t have done it for those stupid bags?”“I could have, but it was a secret back then.” “And now it’s suddenly fine?”“Well it was either keep it under wraps, or face tank one of those blasts, that -even diminished- still shattered my entire arm.” He grinned, miming floppiness with his bloodstained arm. “What would you have picked?” The redhead grumbled, but didn’t disagree, her eyes turning to where the Giant had been only moments ago with a look of… envy maybe?Which was kind of understandable, Tiona’s only skills just kinda made her hit things harder in a punch, getting something like this seemed a lot more fun. If she could make things disappear and reappear like that, there would be no end to the amount of pranks she could pull off.Oh! And think of all the money she could have made in the Dungeon; depending on how much could fit in there, she could skip the need for supporters entirely.Wait…“That was incredible!” Tiona enthused, swaggering into the man’s personal space as an impish smile crossed her lips. “Any chance you wanna be my supporter? I’ll treat you super well…?” She thought she’d nailed it with the seductive lean in, but he was a tougher opponent than she thought and kept his cool.“Might take you up on that treatment someday, but I have no plans on being anything other than a frontliner.” He dodged, which was a real shame, she could have teased Ais so hard with him at her side.Still, she just waved it off with a laugh, you can’t win all the time.“Well since that’s taken care of, you guys wanna head to the eighteenth floor?” She asked, getting enough agreement to head off in that direction. She also saw some sparks of excitement in their eyes that could only mean one thing. “Oh, is it your first time?” Judith, the level one, shook her head a little hesitantly as if embarrassed. But really that was expected, fresh level ones really shouldn’t come this deep down outside of an Expedition.“I’ve been a few times, it is quite beautiful.” Elric’s quiet Renard friend chimed in.“My first time too.” The man admitted, bumping shoulders with his subordinate. “I’ve been lingering on the seventeenth floor for a while.”Tiona blinked at that. “Huh, most people normally rush for Rivira soon as they can.”“Ironically enough the reason I stopped there was because of the Goliath.” He laughed. “I didn’t know its schedule, and I really didn’t want to risk getting splattered. Plus, Minotaurs were still good enough for my needs.” She snorted; the idea of this guy of all people being cautious was oddly funny. “The guild could’ve given you its schedule, we’re required to report when we kill it.” He could’ve also just made a run for it, it’s not the best, but she’d seen her share of level twos make the run.“Ah… I don’t really have the best relationship with the guild.” He said with a sheepish smile. “Oh? They slime you or something?” She leaned in as they kept walking, shuffling awkwardly to make it work.He shook his head. “Just a bit too impatient for the lectures-”“-Oh me too!” She raised a hand like she was in class, as they shared a grin.“…And if I’d let them know how fast I was progressing from the start, what do you think would’ve happened?” He asked.She hummed, trying to recall all the dry lectures Riveria had given on the state of the city. “A report would’ve been filed, then someone would’ve sold it, and you’d have been scooped up by some shady Familia?”“That was my guess as well.”“See, you should have come to us then, we could’ve kept you safe!” She grinned, only to pause as she saw the amusement on his face.“Sorry, but that wouldn’t have worked.”“Ah?” She pouted. “Why not?” “Because your Captain was the first person to threaten to ‘scoop me up’.” He laughed.Ah…“Well, that’s…” She laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of her head. “Sorry?”“Not your fault, well, not directly.” He shook his head, his smile still not slipping. Which, damn, absolutely nothing rattles this guy huh?“If you’re here, then did the Cap at least patch things up?” She asked hopefully.“A bit yeah, but this is more a business relationship than anything.” She winced at that, her mind flashing back to her Captain’s words about a potential alliance, he hadn’t mentioned this part. Finn usually did what he thought was best for the Familia, but he really did stab them in the foot here.She wanted to say more, but they’d almost reached the end of the tunnel, and you absolutely have to respect first times as an Adventurer. Light pooled at their feet as they walked down the last slope, and slowly dragged upwards until they were blinking into what felt like an evening sun.The first timers predictably stilled at the sight and she grinned at the naked emotions she could see in their eyes.The eighteenth floor was always a treat, after seventeen floors of kinda boring tunnels, this one suddenly opened up to this huge, lush forest half the size of Orario, with all these crystal clear rivers and lakes. It was honestly beautiful and even after all the times she’d seen it, it hadn’t lost its charm. The thing that truly caught the eye though was the ceiling. Hundreds of meders up in the air, an inverted forest of iridescent crystals shone like little personal suns, their colours and warmth making it look like an evening sky.Oh! And through the trees around them you could just make out this giant tree in the middle of the floor with a little Adventurer settlement at its feet: Rivira, the town that had been rebuilt too many times to keep track. It was built originally because this whole floor was technically a safe zone, but that just means monsters don't spawn on the floor itself while still being able to migrate up here. And sometimes they come up in real big hordes from the floors below to demolish the settlement. Thankfully that means there’s normally enough time for the Adventurers to evacuate, before coming back to pick up the pieces later. The town was probably too profitable not to. “Damn…” Judith whispered, stepping out fully into the false sunlight and taking in the view. “If you like this, I’ll show you something even better!” Tiona smiled, grabbing the girl’s arm and pulling her forward.“Hey, wai- oh…” The redhead’s voice softened with awe as they broached past the small forested area and came to the edge of the cliff. The entrance to this floor opened up not far from where Tiona’s Familia usually camped, atop a plateau that loomed over the rest of the floor and provided some truly spectacular views. “As ever, beautiful.” The Renard nodded in satisfaction as she joined them at the edge, while Elric hummed in agreement.They stood there for a while, taking it all in, until the trundle of wheels and the world caught up with them. Because, as much as Adventuring was about killing giants and doing the impossible, it was also about enjoying what came afterwards. The sights few would ever see, the life, the glory… all those little things that made the stories of old so special.Tiona folded her hands behind her head and grinned. “I get to be the first to say it! Congrats on making it here guys!”-Sorry this took a while, the heat/lack of sleep made it feel like I was writing with half a brain. I was built for frozen landscapes and like maybe hunting whooly mammoths, not this global warming shit xD