62 First Dungeon Dive.
After the group finally had some money, they explored a bit. Getting a feel for the town and looking for a place to eat. They eventually arrived at a place called the 'hostess of fertility'. It was a well known pub run by a former high-ranking adventurer.
They were greeted by a staff member as they entered, they got some glances for their weird clothing. Most just shrugged it off, some adventurers usually have a quirk or two.
When they sat down and ordered, a cute cat girl didn't even bat an eye when Saber ordered several means for herself.
Ichigo and group had their senses extended, hearing all the conversations around them. They noticed a new arrival, a white hair kid with red eyes. Ichigo got startled, thinking about a certain troll's features. He calmed down a moment later when he sensed that the kid was 'normal' If only an albino or something. He could hear the conversation the kid was having with the lady at the bar, he seemed like a new adventurer and had just come back from the dungeon.
Another group arrived shortly after, they were a bit loud and excited. Ichigo's group could feel some decently strong aura from them. They heard some of the adventurers nearby utter things like 'loki familia' or 'sword princess'.
Apparently this was some high-level familia and even their 'god' was accompanying them to celebrate. Ichigo's senses narrowed in on the redhead female. He could feel a seal inside her and a touch of divinity. Definitely a god.
Ichigo's group just continued with their unexpectedly delicious meal, it wasn't on par with Shirou's cooking but it was a god send compared to the wizard food they had been eating for the past several months.
The 'loki familia' that had come in a few minutes ago started to get rather loud and talkative. They were gloating about exploits from their recent dungeon diving, and how they accidentally forced some higher-level monsters into the low-level zones. Apparently one of their members thought it was funny that their mistake almost killed a newbie and said newbie freaked out after the incident occurred.
"Whats wrong with calling garbage-"Garbage"? The wolf-man said very loudly. As he continued to berate the new adventurer they had encountered in the dungeon.
Ichigo's senses were covering the entire tavern, while this was happening, he could see how the other kid, who came in a few moments before the Loki familia, was reacting. He was tensed up and trying to hold himself together.
Ichigo was able to come to some conclusions as were his group. And he finally got angry.
As those words left the wolf's mouth, a pressure overcame the entire room. It was focused mostly on the arrogant wolf but everyone else could feel its pressure as well.
Everyone had their eyes widen and they looked over to where the pressure was originating.
Bete, the werewolf that was talking so arrogantly, was forced to the ground as his body started to shake. It was his instincts acting up, he was part animal. Death. Death. Death. He felt it flow over him.
The goddess that was joining her family also was reeling in shock. She too felt the cold touch of death brush past her. HER a goddess, felt like she could actually die at any moment.
No one spoke as the pressure finally alleviated. Ichigo and his group got up, leaving a rather generous tip on the table for the inconvenience.
"Sorry, it seems as though a stray mutt had ruined my appetite" Ichigo said as he and his group walked out the door.
As the group left, sound returned to the pub.
"Loki…..what was that?" A girl with a sword at her waist asked hesitantly.
Loki didn't know how to answer. She didn't know what that was either, it was powerful…..it was like death had descended upon him. She felt her soul shutter. Yet, she felt no divinity in any of that group. They were mortals. And if the rest were anything to go by when compared to the one who flared up his power, they were ridiculously strong. But she hadn't heard about any powerful groups coming into the city recently...…..she recalled a certain rumor from earlier that day. Someone had managed to get around the shielding of the city and opened a portal in the middle of the street.
The young woman with the sword was known as the sword princess in Orario, Ais Wallenstein.
It took several minutes for Bete to finally recover. His rational thoughts finally returned and he was angry. He had a look on his face, like he was going to do something stupid.
"You already embarrassed us enough Bete, your not going to go pick a fight" Loki declared to his annoyance. She would rather not lose a member of her highest leveled team.
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Ichigo's group decided to go back home for the evening, it was already turning dark and they would start anew in the morning.
They still had a few things to do before they could go dungeon diving after all.
More rumors on what happened started to circulate throughout the city. Some new people had apparently put a Loki member in his place the previous night.
The night had passed in relative peace. Yoruichi had shown how much she had missed Ichigo that night.
Zelretch pulled through with the kitchen, he arrived that morning to deliver the stuff to Shirou who happily cooked everyone a meal.
Overall, it was just another morning for Ichigo's peerage. A bird on his head, a gryphon on Rukia's shoulder and an enlarged three headed dog whimpering outside the house because it forgot how to shrink down.
While Zelretch put bounded fields around the area, there was nothing stopping people from seeing what was going on at the house, which included a rather large three headed dog playing fetch with saber who was throwing an actual tree.
The gang decided they would split up into groups, one would stay at home and the other would go dungeon diving. They drew lots, and Ichigo's group won. They included; Himself, Yoruichi, Naruto, Orihime, and Jaina.
Ichigo was a bit curious as to how his stats would go up and how they effected him. Usually a person has some amount of stats because the world will track a person's progress even if they don't have a 'status'. But since they had just entered this world, their stats were zero, so they would get the full benefit of a newbie even with their power level.
Luckily, Jaina was smart enough to purchase a map from the guild before they started on their way. The dungeon was often described as a labyrinth and they had months' worth of supplies in their bags.
It was easy enough to enter the dungeon, and the first few floors were populated heavily with monsters. Partly due to how many Adventurers were at level 1, and thus required to 'farm' the first few floors.
As they walked through the odd cave-like area they were in, monsters started to be spawned from the walls. According to the information they received, these were goblins and kobolds.
They were very weak and slow. A recruit out of the Shinigami academy could deal with these with their eye's closed.
That didn't mean the group did not have fun, in fact they were ecstatic. Even Orihime was 'killing' the monsters. From what they heard, the monsters weren't 'real' and just returned to the dungeon when they died. So she didn't have a problem killing them and was treating it like a game.
Ichigo was honestly surprised, he could feel himself getting stronger in small increments. His basic abilities were starting to get enhanced. It was gradual but noticeable when he focused.
"Do you feel It too?" Ichigo asked his group.
Yoruichi was probably the first to notice. "Its like we're taking a part of their essence into us and it increases an aspect of ourselves, be it agility, strength, endurance ect. "Yoruichi answered.
They all had the same thoughts, the old vampire wouldn't do anything to actually harm them, so they just accepted the situation and continued on. It was a bit exhilarating being able to track how much stronger you were becoming. It was almost like a drug for a group like them who had mostly trained their whole lives.
They tried various abilities on the monsters; swordplay, jutsu, kido, cero. They died all the same, it didn't' seem to matter how they killed the monsters. They apparently did not have souls as they dissipated the same way when Ichigo used his Quincy abilities.
The group started to fight over monsters and drops. From what Naruto was explaining to Ichgio as they progressed, Yoruichi was a known kill-stealer and loot-hogger from all the games they played.
Jaina was laughing maniacally when she felt her Magic increase at a higher rate than her other stats. She had been thinking of way to increase her pure throughput power in comparison of her other teammates.
The group got a bit too into the dungeon diving. They flew through the floors, the other adventurers just looked on in shock.
Before they knew it, they were on the 9th floor. IT was still goblins and kobolds, but they were an enhanced version, yet still cannon fodder.
"STOP STEALING MY DROPS" Ichigo yelled at Yoruichi who had been weaving in and out of monsters to take everything that was dropping.
"I told you, she's a loot-whore" Naruto said with a laugh as he threw some more shuriken at the monster's magic cores, shattering them and killing them in the process.
"I don't care about the loot, stop stealing my kills!" Jaina said angrily. She was addicted to her magical power rising.
Orihime didn't have anything to add, she continued to keep up with the others in the group. She was also really getting into it. She could feel her body getting stronger as a result and it was fun. She didn't think she would ever have fun fighting like this.
Another skill steal from Yoruichi and Jaina finally snapped.
"That's it, you asked for this!" She said as she raised her staff.
"BLIZZARD" she cast a wide range area of effect spell. This would not differentiate between ally and enemy. The world turned cold as spears of ice fell from the sky.
"You cheater!" Yoruichi yelled as she took cover. Ichigo quickly grabbed orihime and got out of range from the spell. Naruto was unlucky and got pummeled by several large pieces of ice.
"HAHAHA" Jaina laughed in glee.
"Fear me mortals, the god of magic has descended!" She said as her magic power increased a drastic amount.
"I think we should probably leave now….." Ichigo said to his group as Jaina continued to laugh uncontrollably.
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It was easy enough to find their way back through the levels and leave the dungeon. Jaina had to be tied up as she would go on a killing-spree whenever she saw a monster.
They quickly left the area after leaving the dungeon, apparently some more rumors were going around about them and they were too embarrassed to explain themselves.
Back at the house, they relayed their experience in the dungeon. It was almost addicting to have a noticeable increase in power.
The other group would be going tomorrow while Ichigo's group babysat the hat.
As Ichigo's group had dinner, they were oblivious to the event going on in town.
It was the annual 'Denatus", or meeting of the gods. Basically every few months, the gods would get together and throw a party. They would just partake in the latest gossip and rumors, try to gloat about their familias, and even give 'titles' to certain individuals.
There was something that some of them were rather keen on discussing. The apparent arrival of a new 'familia' and their unusual strength. Some information was rather easy to come by and open to everyone. They were called the 'kaleidoscope familia' and they were all brand new level 1s.
