4

There's something innately satisfying about fighting something that's stronger than you, something that's faster than you. Something that'll take you head on, whose blows will throw you back and whose speed and killing instincts will drive them into every opening that appears in your guard, tearing into you with bestial ruthlessness.

It's satisfying because despite all those advantages, despite all the blood and the pain, you're still standing, you're still fighting back and most of all: you're still winning.

One over-extension and it's already over, the inky darkness of the first War Shadow collapses at my feet and my shield is already raising to deflect the follow up strike of the second. The blow staggered me, but I was ready for it, a hundred other similarly strong blows having taught me to move with it.

It jukes right, trying desperately to abuse its speed advantage and disembowel me before I can recover; my blade meets its claw and cuts through, drawing a rattling scream from the apparition as I step in and strike its chest with the rim of my shield. Its scream chokes into a horrific note that itches my brain, but I press through and end things with a vicious thrust to the neck.

Panting for breath, I luxuriated in the feeling of a hard-won fight. I was stinging all over from a dozen minor cuts -from this battle and others- and my muscles burned from where I'd pushed myself to keep up, to put my shield up just that little bit faster, to meet their blows just that little bit faster. It was a hard, worthy challenge that I was quickly beginning to find intoxicating.

This really is so much better than any video game.

I wanted to laugh, to grin, to shout, to be that socially clueless guy in voice chat who gets way too into the game and starts full on larping right there in the vc while the rest of us just awkwardly humour them. But no, there's people around, I have to maintain my act, to be the unphased hero.

"Elric!" Judith's voice called out, turning I barely had time to realise her intentions before she kicked her War Shadow towards me and dove to avoid the spearing tongue of a Frog Shooter. As I cut off the staggered shade's head, she clambers to her feet and engages the massive frog with a roar, her bastard sword coming down on the creature in an executioner's strike.

Truly, a girl after my own heart.

When we arrived at the stairs to the fifth floor, she was the only one other than me who was immediately down to continue. The red-headed battle junkie was almost ecstatic to chalk up another floor on her tally and push herself just that much further.

Standing over the corpse of her fallen foe she somehow looked even happier, like a kid on Christmas day. A wide grin on her face as the crimson blood of her opponents dripped from her equally red hair.

"Ilya, you alright over there?" She called out, watching as the silver haired swordsman danced around her War Shadow, outpacing the apparition as she surgically whittled it down with quick strikes from her rapier. At Judith's question she looked over, rolled her eyes and re-engaged without missing a beat. "Oi! I'm trying to be nice over here you-!"

I patted her on the shoulder before she could finish that sentence, nodding her over to where Raul was taking care of a knocked out Filian. I'd heard his shout earlier, but in the heat of the combat I couldn't afford to look away, expecting Raul to take care of it. Given the way the man was kneeling beside him with a worried frown on his face however, things probably weren't looking too hot.

Judith ran off before I could say anything and I followed, trusting Ilya to finish up. Filian didn't look great up close, the sleeve of his outdoorsman jacket was torn open to reveal bruised, swollen and lacerated skin, a trait shared with his cheek and temple. The kind of wound you got from the barbed tongue of a Frog Shooter.

"Frog snuck up on him from behind." Raul informed us, looking at me. "Got a potion for him?"

I silently nodded, fetching another Mc'ds potion from my thigh pouch, using it to hide the minor light show. Honestly, the lacerations weren't that bad -I was probably in worse shape myself- but anytime you get knocked out like this there's a high chance of a concussion, and that can get nasty.

So I passed the pot to Raul and watched how he coaxed it down the elf boy's throat, propping up his body to let it flow down into his stomach. This definitely wouldn't be the last time I'd come across someone down like this, so learning how to apply potions to the unconscious was definitely a good idea.

Judith hovered over us anxiously, watching her comrade with a surprising amount of care as his wounds swiftly closed up. She put up a rough front, but when it came to her teammates, she was surprisingly soft. Ilya wandered up behind us with a stoic expression, her hand on her sheathed blade as she cast a wary eye about the cave.

"Alright, he should be good to move." Raul informed us. "Get those monsters carved and then we'll head back to the surface."

A frown appeared on Judith's face and I could almost see her loyalty for her friend and her desire to progress and fight warring with each other. The frown passed quickly and she nodded with resolution, heading off to carve with a meaningful glance towards me.

I wasn't sure what the glance was about, but I could understand her conflict; I was honestly tempted to stay myself and keep moving onwards, to engage in that heart pounding dance again, but I could barely handle two War Shadows as it is. Running into a party like the one we just encountered would probably be the end of me given how much faster than me they were.

Which now that I thought about it, would probably become a theme of my dungeon delving.

To push myself I'd need to face monsters that can avoid or otherwise tank the almost one hit kill potential of my sword, which will almost certainly mean facing monsters that are significantly faster than me. In that scenario running away just isn't an option, not like it was for Bell. I'll have to start carrying around some trump cards to handle situations when they spiral beyond my ability to deal with them. Things like the bucket oddly enough, or something like that Hermes' chick's bombs.

For now though, I could hopefully stick with this team and use them as a safety net while I find my rhythm in the dungeon and prepare said trump cards.

"You should probably take a potion yourself." Raul commented, looking over my various cuts.

That would probably be a good idea, but I knew I was already stretching the limits of credibility for how many potions I could conceivably be carrying with the few pouches I had. Something Raul seemed to be testing given how he kept pushing me to use more.

That could come down to him having seen the light of my inventory opening at some point and assuming anything from an enchanted bag to a carry skill, or it could just be him testing how many potions I was willing to expend for free. I couldn't be certain, but it was best to play it off.

"Used my last one on him I'm afraid." I flash him a self deprecating grin.

"Figured as much." He nodded in tired understanding. "You didn't need to go that far to ingratiate yourself with them you know?"

"If you mean the potions, they're cheap enough." I play off modestly. "I just need to carry more next time."

"Something that works that well is never cheap." Raul shook his head. "And I meant everything, pushing yourself to take on more monsters than the others, even going along with Judith's half-cocked idea of coming down here… Kids who've only been in the dungeon for two weeks shouldn't be on the fifth floor, never mind a first timer."

Ah, he was misunderstanding me on that level. On one hand the idea that I was willing to go that far for my new teammates spoke well of my loyalty, but on the other it implied that I was kind of weak willed, just going where Judith led me and doing dumb shit to show off.

"It's not that." I denied. "The potions sure, I'm hoping you guys will invite me back tomorrow, but I want to push myself in combat, I know what it takes to grow as an adventurer."

It was dark in this part of the dungeon, the dim lighting added to the challenge of fighting literal shadows; but it was just bright enough for me to see the absolutely haunted look that passed through Raul's eyes. I couldn't begin to guess what was going on behind those eyes, I only recognised the guy from that spin off anime where he was mostly just a background character, whatever was going on in those dark eyes I have zero background knowledge of.

He reached out, gripping my shoulder with strength that belied his somewhat goofy demeanour. "Be careful on that path kid, pushing yourself like that…" He said seriously, his eyes struggling to convey something utterly grim. "I've seen too many get swallowed up like that."

I nodded seriously, trying to convey my understanding.

"Don't say I didn't try." He sighed. "C'mon, the others are waiting… and here." He offered up one of his own potions from what I guessed was his emergency stash, I opened my mouth to deny it, but the earnestness of his gaze had me accepting it anyway.

"Thanks." I said sincerely, before downing the thing under his watchful gaze. It tasted thin and watery and seemed to take longer to kick in than my own potions, but sure enough I could feel it getting to work on my cuts. Oddly though it didn't seem to do anything for my muscle fatigue, nor the tiredness buzzing at the back of my mind, a natural consequence of being this focused and alert for this long.

"It would've gone to Fil otherwise." Raul shook his head, picking up the elf, I followed him up and we wandered towards where Judith and Ilya had gathered.

"Here." Judith said in lieu of a greeting, passing me two small crystals and a shadowy finger blade -a drop item from the War Shadow.

I thanked her as I packed away my spoils and mentally prepared myself to leave. It felt like leaving a dungeon run half complete, knowing that when you returned all the monsters will have respawned. Not a great feeling, but this wasn't a dungeon that could be cleared in a century, never mind a single day, my gamer brain would just have to deal with it.

"Alright team, it's long past time we headed back, Judith and Elric here pushed us well past our allotted time." Raul claimed and I found myself blinking; I had no idea how long I'd been down here.

"We made progress didn't we?" Judith snarked back, a hint of a smile on her face. Ilya nodded with a satisfied look on her face.

"Well, since you made so much progress, I'm sure you won't mind carrying our man down." Raul grinned as he officially handed off the duty to the now moping redhead. "C'mon, let's get topside, I want a drink."

"Mind if I join you?" I offer, testing the waters a little. You miss all the shots you don't take and all that, and this was a chance at getting in with the Loki familia. I want those sweet, sweet narrative buffs.

"Sure, need to stop off at the manor first though." He accepted with a cheesy smile. "Drinking with others always makes the ale sweeter."

"That isn't what you said last time." Judith grumbled as she finished tying Filian to her back. With him secured we started making our way back the way we came.

"That's because you kept starting fights with everyone that looked at you." Raul commented with a deadpan stare.

"They were staring at my ass!" She shouted, a fierce blush on her cheeks.

"It is a great ass." I comment with a smile, deciding to play along. She glared, but ended up looking away in embarrassment.

Raul laughed. "Hopefully this place will be better, old man Gareth recommended it to me." Judith straightened at the name, a touch of awe crossing her features. I'd noticed anytime the upper crust of the familia came up she immediately responded with respect.

It was kinda cute.

"What about you Ilya, wanna come?" I ask the rather stoic girl, she'd spent most of the trip in silence outside of asking me one or two questions, but it never hurts to be polite.

She paused at the question, before shaking her head. "Sorry, drinking isn't for me."

"Oh c'mon, live a little!" Judith exclaimed. Ah peer pressure, thou art universal.

Ilya turned away, returning to silence.

"Oi, don't turn your nose up at me!"

"Judith." Raul said reprovingly.

"It's a free world." I chime in absent-mindedly, the comment got me an odd look from Raul, but Judith seemed to understand if her chastised nod was anything to go by. "Now c'mon, let's get paid."

Judith seemed to perk up at the thought, but Raul and oddly Ilya didn't seem that interested. Given that Raul barely killed anything, that he's a level four and thus likely a millionaire, that makes a great deal of sense. But what Ilya's deal is however I have no idea, the withdrawn girl didn't exactly talk much.

Personally I couldn't wait, money for me meant materials and soon time at the forge; it meant another step on my journey to abusing this Skyrim skill for all its worth. Hell, maybe I could even buy some higher tier magic stones and work out what's going on there with enchanting. Plus alcohol, it's been a hot minute since the last time I got drunk.

-

Raul and Ilya split off the moment we broke the surface, with the level four going deathly pale when he saw the darkened night sky. He ran off muttering to himself about how Riveria was going to kill him with Ilya hot on his tail, leaving just me and Judith to handle the processing of our loot.

The guild building was just coming into view as Judith finished up a story about Filian. "-and then Filian squawked like a bird and ran off." She laughed. "Apparently the girl was some ex of his that he stood up a bunch of times, she was pissed."

"He ghosted her?" I shook my head.

"Ghosted? There's a word for that?" She blinked. I winced, my modern vernacular is probably going to get me in trouble at some point.

"Where I come from yeah." I deflect. "It was surprisingly common."

"Sounds like a shit place." Judith commented with the bluntness of a wrecking ball, I laughed.

"I think it was like any place really, some good, some-"

"-ELRIC!" I blink, looking up for who screamed my name, right before a small torpedo shaped Goddess slammed into my side. I grunted as she forced me back a step, staring down in confusion as Hestia tried to bury herself into the gap in my armour.

"Hestia?" I ask.

"Your Goddess?" Judith asks with a gobsmacked look on her face.

"UuuuuUU!" Hestia lets out a weird sound into my side as her little arms cling to me like a koala. After a moment of stunned silence her teary face pops up, clearly trying to make me feel some kind of way, only problem? She was doing this in public and as much as I wanted her to like me, this was over the top enough to make me feel uncomfortable, and damn if that isn't a high bar to clear.

"ELRIC! You meanie~! How could you make me worry like this!? Baka!" She cried in that weird mix of Japanese and English the Gods seem to prefer.

"Hestia, we're in public." I remind her calmly, feeling like a parent calming their hyperactive child.

"I DON'T CA-HMNH!" I muffle her scream by hugging her back into my side.

"Sorry about this." I apologise to Judith who's just been staring at us in shock along with several other onlookers.

"Huh, you really weren't shitting me before…" She responded faintly, presumably referring to my warnings about Gods being like children.

"You get used to it." I commented, as Hestia started pounding at me with her little fists. In all honesty? That was a lie, I'm not used to this and if I ever become used to it, I want someone to shoot me. I might have some weird plans that involve larping as a hero for power, but not one of those plans involves being climbed like a tree by a virgin Goddess as she puts on a show of crying hysterically.

"Carne-san?" A wild Eina appears, coming from the same direction as my Goddess looking noticeably flustered. Suddenly I was reminded of all the paperwork I was forced to do this afternoon, and how much of it was specifically these two's fault.

"Miss Tulle." I greet stiffly, something that causes her brow to furrow. "Did my Goddess give you a hard time?"

"I didn't!" Hestia exclaims as she frees her head from my side. Tulle looks surprisingly awkward at that.

"She was quite concerned with your safety." The guild employee says diplomatically.

"You have my sympathies." I offer sarcastically.

"Mou~!" Hestia pouts.

"Hestia…" I give my Goddess the disappointed dad routine and she almost immediately folds in on herself... for a grand total of two seconds.

"Wait no!" Hestia rallies, glaring up at me "You're the one that's late! Atone Elric-kun!"

"I'm not doing the kneeling thing." I immediately deny.

"Elric-kun doesn't love me…" Hestia immediately tears up.

Rolling my eyes at the immortal being I've known for all of a day, I pull her back into a hug. "Hestia, I'm an adventurer, you can't panic the very second something goes a little wrong. Just trust me a little will you?"

She nods against my side, but stays attached like a limpet. Worst part about all this? I can't even tell how much of this is an act. I know Hestia acted like this around Bell in the anime in order to emotionally manipulate him and/or grope him -which considering he was fourteen was definitely weird- but Hestia had made no such moves towards me, so I couldn't really tell what she was aiming for with all this.

"Sorry about this guys." I apologise to the two for the rather awkward situation they were kinda forced to watch.

Judith rubbed the back of her neck, looking away awkwardly, while Tulle looked at me with a profoundly understanding look in her eyes.

"It's quite alright, I just came over to make sure Hestia-sama had no further need of our services?" My Goddess just nods into my side again, leaving Tulle without much room to respond. "Right. Carne-san." She nods to me in farewell.

"Tulle." I return politely as she flees back to the guild. If part of her job was dealing with the manipulative children known as Gods, then I can at least sympathise with her a little more. If she unleashes any more paperwork on me however…

"Right." I sighed looking down at Hestia. "Hestia, this is Judith, she's one of the adventurers I teamed up with in the dungeon today."

Hestia looked up with a suspicious look in her eyes, taking in the awkward redhead.

"H-Hey Hest- I mean Lady Hestia." Smooth Judith, real smooth.

"A teammate of yours?" Hestia questioned, suddenly unlatching from my side and walking forward to stare Judith in the eye, all at once abandoning her aura of childishness for something entirely more fitting for a Goddess. "And what are your intentions for Elric-kun?"

"W-What?" Judith's face went blank, her eyes glancing at me while I could only shrug. I guess I didn't mention that Gods can sometimes switch personalities on a dime just to fuck with you. "I- uh… I want to keep adventuring with him?"

"Ugh, truth…" Hestia pouted, before she flipped again and suddenly gained a devious look on her face. "Well what about romantical-!?" I covered my Goddess' mouth before she could shove her foot any further into it.

"Sorry Judith." I apologised again to the furiously blushing young woman.

"I-It's okay." She managed, suddenly finding the floor very interesting.

"For the record, I'd also be interested in continuing to dive with you guys." I offered to make things a little less awkward. "Today was a lot of fun."

"A-Ah, yeah…" Annnd she's still blushing.

For a brief moment I wondered if Raul had to deal with this shit from his Goddess.

-

Orario, Twilight Manor

Raul Nord

"YOU'RE LATE!" A certain flat, red-headed Goddess shouted as she pulled off a textbook flying drop kick on her returning children. Raul expected as much and thankfully managed to get Ilya and Filian out of the way before her landing.

"Sorry." He apologised quickly, not reacting as his Goddess slammed into the floor and rolled down the hallway in an almost comically flailing ball of limbs. Ilya's stoic demeanour meanwhile broke slightly as she stared incredulously after her Goddess.

"Is she…?"

"I'M ALIVE!" Loki sprung back up with forced cheer, bleeding from a cut on her head.

"She's fine." Raul sighed. "We've returned Loki-sama."

"So you did!" But her slightly opened eyes were taking in the injured team member resting in his arms. "Something happen?"

Raul knew exactly what she was asking and shook his head. "Not an adventurer, just a Frog Shooter. He's already had a pretty good potion but I was hoping to get him to medical."

Loki hummed. "Concussions are nasty." Raul nodded despite his lack of knowledge on the subject; Gods rarely explained the knowledge they imparted upon mortals, it was always best to just nod along.

"I'll come with, and maybe..." She wiggled her fingers as she stared towards the medical wing.

"Your funeral." Raul laughed, leading the way as Ilya trailed after him, keeping a respectful distance. He had taught the girl enough to know she wouldn't leave their side until her comrade was given the green light.

"Mah, Riveria's been giving me the cold shoulder since last week, she deserves a little… ufufu." Loki trailed off into an echoing, lewd giggle and he could feel Ilya stiffen beside him. Honestly he was as surprised at Ilya not knowing about Loki's habits as he had been about Elric's surprising knowledge. Loki didn't exactly hide her preferences, even from the girls she didn't outright go for.

Suddenly Raul gained a devious look of his own. "If you distract her well enough, there's a bottle of Soma with your name on it."

Loki's red eyes turned his way and a vulpine smile spread across her face. "I'm taking that bottle whether I succeed or not gaki." She chortled at the pained expression that spread across his face. "Speaking of, Ilya!" The girl started at the sudden call. "Tell me what happened down there, chop-chop."

The girl seemed to fall into herself a little before recovering admirably, her back straightening as she stared at their Goddess. "While we distracted on the frontlines, a Frog Shoo-"

"-Mah! From the beginning, from the beginning. You kiddies don't appreciate a good story!" Loki demanded, as Ilya looked at him with something approaching pleading. "Oi no looking at Raul, I wanna hear it from you."

Raul shook his head, Loki seemed to have made it her mission to make the withdrawn girl come out of her shell a little. Ilya wasn't anywhere near as bad as Ais had been back then, but their familia was a little sensitive to emotionally withdrawn girls who hyper fixated on hitting things with swords.

Still, he doubted anything would come of pushing the girl like this.

"I… I guess it started when I ate some fruit for breakfast?" Ilya informed them cluelessly, and Loki immediately turned around and slammed her head into a wall. Amazingly enough Raul actually sympathised with his Goddess for once.

"Gah! The beginning of the adventure!" Loki cried.

"We met at Babel?" Ilya tried.

"Hey look, we've arrived!" Raul announced cheerfully, apparently Loki's mission would have to wait. "Ilya, can you?" The girl took off immediately, taking Filian from his arms and heading inside.

"That girl…" Loki shook her head.

"She's not that bad." Raul commented. "You just caught her off guard and she still…"

"Has some respect for me?" His Goddess commented mirthfully.

"We all respect you Loki-sama." He responded, before wincing. "We just don't respect some of your tendencies."

Loki hummed, before completely switching the subject. "The Frog Shooter, did they make it to the fifth floor or?"

"You can always wait until you update their Falna…" Raul teased, knowing how much his Goddess both loved and hated not knowing, she gave him a flat enough look that he immediately caved. "They made it to the fifth with a stray they picked up on the way."

"A stray?" She asked, interest in her tone.

"Some hotshot rookie from Hestia-sam-"

"HAH~? Itty Bitties!?" She exclaimed, her annoyance conveyed by every inch of her face. "That useless Goddess doesn't even have a familia!"

"Apparently it was his first day." Raul added with an amused smirk.

"First… on the fifth floor?" Loki made a show of her confusion, twisting in place with her head in her hands, but he could see the analytical glint in her eyes. "What kind of skill did this kid luck into?"

"Damage, didn't seem to have a specific type; he was using some cheap sword that was cutting through bone like butter."

"Her first kid… Ugh, that stupid woman was always stupidly lucky." Loki grumbled. "And he was just demonstrating this in front of you lot? He know ya one of mine?"

"Yeah, he recognised me right away." Raul responded, thinking back on that curious moment, there was something in the man's eyes when he spotted Raul, something that went beyond simple recognition. "He thinks we wouldn't snatch him for the sake of our reputation."

Loki outright laughed at that. "A little naive, but sounds like an interesting enough brat…"

Raul hummed. "He even introduced himself as an alchemist and offered us free potions; I honestly thought he was trying to get himself recruited for a minute there."

"You offer?" She asked with no judgement in her tone, if anything she seemed excited.

"Yeah, he said he'd convey the offer to his Goddess." Loki cackled at that, thoughts of stealing Hestia's first child from her clearly playing out on her features. Raul didn't really know what the rivalry between the two Goddesses was about, but the side he had to support was pretty clear. "I'm meeting him for drinks in a bit, if you want to get his measure."

"Hoh?" His Goddess looked up with an expression to foretold mischief. "That sounds pretty interesting, but for now, I have an elf to lewd, ufufu!" She whispered the last part, stalking into the infirmary with a death wish.

As Raul listened to the violent crashing within, he let out a faint prayer of thanks for the actions of his noble Goddess. With her valiant sacrifice maybe, just maybe, he'd make it out of this without facing Riveria's wrath.

Or at least that's what he thought, right up until the door slammed open and the high elven princess stood before him with an unreadable expression on her dignified face.

He almost whimpered.

"Ilya told me what she could." Riveria began, her serious gaze boring into him. He gulped, already not knowing where this conversation was going. "What did you notice about the potion you gave Fil?"

"Eh?"