Chapter 24: Large Tree Labyrinth

"So? You want to commission the whole Hephaestus familia? And you're paying with goods?" The red haired goddess asked Lars.

"Umu, that's the case." Lars nodded at her and Demeter who he asked for a favor to set up a meeting with Hephaestus shrugged.

"Well, if Demeter thinks you can pay for it, why not?" Hephaestus accepted.

"But what are you going to pay with, Lars?" She was a bit strict and Hephaestus squinted her eyes.

"Heh, don't he doubting me too much, goddess." Lars put down a bar of adamantite in front of her.

'Take that, my loyal minions have been mining that for me!' He cackled inside of his mind.

"Adamantite!? How in the world did you get your hands on this?" Hephaestus didn't exactly know him.

And that means he was just a new adventurer. "Trade secret, but Demeter here knows why." Lars winked at his goddess.

Demeter thought about how he could get adamantite for a quick second.

'Ahhh, they must have found a vein while expanding their farm or something...' Demeter nodded and Hephaestus sighed.

"Okay, you got me. What do you want made?" Hephaestus asked.

"I want your familia, even the newbie smiths to make these." Lars gave her a piece of paper.

And it was a 308, along with 50 bmg's. "What is this weird metal thingy?" Hephaestus looked at it with squinted eyes.

"It's new arrowtips that we will use. For home defense." Lars said seriously. And surprisingly, Demeter didn't sense a lie.

"Weird arrow tips..." Hephaestus thought it would definitely be worse than current ones.

But hey, she won't judge. It will be great practice for the new smiths.

And it's pretty difficult to make too. Because everything needs to be consistent.

"Please check the dimensions of every arrowhead. Our bows are extremely special, it's a matter of life and death." Lars squinted his eyes.

And once again, the two goddesses felt that was completely true. Surprising them a bit.

"Okay?" Hephaestus nodded and Lars added a clause to their contract that nothing will get out of their smithies without being perfect.

"Glad to do business with you ma'am." Lars smiled as he shook her hand.

"Thanks, are you really sure you want to pay with adamantite?" Hephaestus was thankful.

But he could definitely do it with valis instead.

"Yes, you're my goddess' friend after all." Lars gave her a thumbs up.

Demeter chuckled at him and she stood up. "Then, it's time for us to go Hephaestus, it was nice to see you."

The red haired goddess nodded as they were both as busy as a bee.

"I'll have it delivered to the wheat manor, thank you for the metal, Lars." Hephaestus gave him a small smile.

While they were walking back towards the wheat manor, Demeter couldn't help, but ask.

"Is it really for a defense system? What kind of arrow uses that arrowhead?" Demeter tilted her head.

"Well, it's a weird crossbow you can say. And Airmid is making it for us. I'll even give you a few so the farmers can get rid of pests that roam around." Lars smiled at her.

'And I'd have no worries of it being taken. Just let Demeter bestow it a falna.' Lars found another exploit.

And that is, objects can be given a god's blessing.

Meaning, every gun blessed by Demeter will only be accessible by the familia.

'A gun blessed by a goddess, gun nuts would go crazy over that crap.' Lars thought he could sell that for billions back on earth.

"Really? You'll make something that precious with Airmid? Come here you." Demeter hugged him and he was again in bliss.

As the twin mountains of Demeter tried to drown him in their voluptousness.

"Hngh! Hmph! Pwah, I'm starting to think that you're doing this on purpose, Demeter." Lars deadpanned at her.

"Ara? Is it not okay for a goddess to show her child her love?" Demeter went fufufu and he feared for his chastity.

At least, his new body's chastity. "You better prepare yourself when I'm like 14 or 15. You're lucky I don't have a libido yet."

He huffed at her and Demeter laughed. They then returned after Lars gave the familia the new shipment of dungeon veggies.

Which was super popular to the gourmands of Orario.

"Hey~ are we going to the dungeon again?" Tiona called out to Lars.

And he saw a surprising scene, the twins were wearing straw hats and their hands had dirt on them.

They were farming. "As I expected, you girls are perfect." He gave them a thumbs up and the two were confused.

"Mah, they've been very good help Lars." Demeter smiled at the level 3's.

"Demeter-sama, where should I put these?" A blonde woman was carrying a crate.

"Lunoire?" Lars was surprised at the sight of her.

"Lars? You're a part of my familia?" Lunoire blinked.

"Ahh, so you two have met? Lunoire here helps from time to time." Demeter explained.

"You haven't been to the hostess for some time now." Lunoire smiled at him.

"Well, been busy. You know? Getting new friends and leveling up Airmid." Lars shrugged.

"So you're the reason for the silver princess' level up." Airmid blinked in surprise.

"Well, it was also thanks to her perseverance mind you." Lars thought that she was a hard worker.

"Then at least go to the hostess to eat sometimes. Chloe would like to apologize to you." Lunoire had a wry expression.

"Sure, but if she touches me. She'll be behind bars." He huffed and Lunoire chuckled.

"Demeter, who is she?" Tione asked as Lunoire walked away with her crate.

"She's our strongest member, a level 4." Demeter shrugged.

"Ohh! Then we'll quickly catch up to her then!" Tiona had a wide smile on her face.

"Well, she doesn't do dungeon dives anymore. So you probably will." Demeter chortled at the amazons.

They were really lively. "Then, let's go! We'll be going to the lower floors today!" Lars now knows how they cooperate.

And the twins were definitely going to be good at the lower floors.

Besides, the deeper they go. The better the exp.

"Be careful you three." Demeter put a hand on her cheek as she worried about them.

They sounded like newbies, even though they would be fine. And that worried her.

"Don't worry goddess, we'll kick the monsters!" Tiona grinned.

__19th floor__

"Ahhh! You shitty ass bear!" Tiona wrestled with a bugbear.

A monster that was pretty much on par with a minotaur, but faster.

And she was currently wearing a skin-tight suit that was lined with lead. Making her weight essentially triple.

"Lars! Is this really necessary!?" Tione was sweating bullets.

She was poisoned, not accidentally. But purposefully, Tiona was too.

It was the poison of a spider monster called dream spider. Its effects are pretty obvious.

There's also a weak paralysis poison in their system that Lars diluted.

And that means, their bodies were sluggish. Their minds were drifting. And they were weighed down by their training clothes.

"I'm wearing adamantite lined clothes, want to use that instead?" Lars was having a fistfight against a troll.

And being the instigator of this, he of course was poisoned to the maximum.

Panting heavily while sweating bullets, Lars is being poisoned to oblivion.

"You won't need to worry about poison if you're already poisoned!" Lars ripped off the troll's arm and whacked its head with it.

He then tapped on his temple, his idea was truly a big brain moment.

"Just because there are a lot of poisonous plants here! Doesn't mean we should poison ourselves beforehand!" Tiona complained as she suplexed the bugbear.

A boar then charged at Tione and she stopped it through its tusk.

"Raaah!" She held onto its tusks and kicked it right on the face, caving in its face in.

"Hah, hah, good job ladies!" Lars was panting heavily. But he had a smile on his face.

It seems that he would be gaining a lot of exp in the lower floors. And that made him ecstatic.

"You... You're crazy!" Tiona gave him an exasperated look.

"I-if this is what it takes to be a budding hero's companion... Then so be it." Tione had fire in her eyes.

"Urgh, this place is relentless." Airmid who came with them was practically spotless.

They don't know how, but even without the mage DA. She could use a diamond shaped magic circle that boosts her magic.

And her wounds were practically nonexistent after using it. Though her armor took a beating.

Lars then gave them another set of armor to get rid of their ruined ones.

Airmid who was of course, a masochist now. Fighting monsters alone in the lower floors.

She used her magic on them to top them all off.

"Phew, good as new." Lars smiled and Airmid sighed at him.

"I didn't know that you can make things more intense. What's next? You take off our limbs and reattach it later with mermaid's blood?" Airmid snorted.

"Hey... That's a pretty good idea." Lars rubbed his chin and the trio paled.

"Please don't!" They immediately prostrated and he laughed.

"Just kidding, I won't do that to you beautiful, budding ladies." He smiled at them.

"Or would I?" He suddenly turned serious and they thought that they were done for.

"Seriously though, why would I take off your limbs or something? Just incapacitate it with cuffs or ball weights, that will do fine." Lars shrugged.

He then thought about it and when they reach the second line. The water city.

He'll shackle their legs with adamantite weights and make them swim.

The three girls in his team shuddered as they saw his twisted grin. But that's a story for another time.

"I told you, Airmid here is my lucky star." Lars put an arm on her shoulder and she huffed at him.

"Your training booster, you mean?" Airmid rolled her eyes.

"Well, we didn't believe you at first. After all, who would? You said that with Airmid around, we'll be able to dive for days on end." Tione explained.

"Yeah, we're just a small group. We don't even have a supporter." Tiona added.

"Praise me then! Guhahaha!" Lars took out some burgers and the twins drooled.

"Yeah, yeah, you're the ultimate supporter." Airmid snorted.

She tried to take a plate of food, but he was offended.

"You don't appreciate me, Airmid. Tell everyone I'm the greatest supporter ever first." He huffed at her.

"Can I have seconds? Oh almighty Lars-sama, the best supporter ever?" Tiona begged.

"Guhahaha! Very well, mongrel." He gave her another burger and fries set.

"Geh, Lars-sama. Please forgive this lowly one." Airmid frowned.

He had their supply of food and drinks. Why would she bring any if he was there?

She could also purify any poison. Anything in the dungeon could be eaten safely by her.

"Good, here you go." They messed around and were having a great time in the dungeon.

Something that is practically suicide for other adventurers.

Not to mention, they were still young. With Airmid being the eldest among them.

"Hey boss, did you just see what I saw?" Someone asked a cat eared man.

"Yeah, Airmid Teasanare can use wide range healing magic. And it's so strong that she could practically ignore moderate wounds." The cat man grinned.

"And the Rudra familia can use someone like that really well. That accursed Astraea familia." He gritted his teeth.

"Jura-sama, with that girl on our side. We'll be able to destroy the Astraea familia." His lackey was sure about it.

"The amazons and that kid are level 2 as well. A perfect group indeed, thank you very much for the offering." Jura thought they were easy pickings.

"Kill the others with firestones. They're not necessary for us." The cat man ordered and they started setting up a trap.

And the merry party of four didn't know that they were about to step into a field of landmines.

__

Thanks for reading everyone, ciao.