First Dungeon Dive <Final>

Zephyr decided to press on. With alarming speeds he managed to wipe out the monster population of Floors 1-9, being close to his goal, Zephyr heaved a sigh of relief.

Briefly delivering a roundhouse kick to the last monster which was a Horned Rabbit. Zephyr picked up the dropped Magic Stone.

"Alright, one more floor left." Zephyr descended to the tenth floor, the difference was evident, the ceiling looked to be 10 times higher than the previous floors, the Floor had more rooms than usual, but on the upside the hallways were shorter.

But what changed about the floors the most was the from floor 10 to 12, the floors were filled with fog. So If you to go in here without any prior preparation you would get lost easily.

Zephyr looked around the fog reminiscent to an early morning mist, he hummed to himself. "Since I've reached my goal I should go back for now."

He drank another potion and dashed back to the surface, he didn't want to miss dinner. After all, food was important.

—————

As he exited the underground floor of Babel, Zephyr took a deep breath, relishing in the fresh air.

"It's already dusk, I should hurry." Zephyr hurried to the guild, planning to sell his batch of Magic Stones.

—————

Zephyr arrived at the guild and went to the Exchange center. There he dumped his bag full of Magic Stones, the one overseeing the Exchange Center was slightly surprised at the haul Zephyr brought back.

The cashier went through his loot before stopping at a particular magic stone.

"Sir, where did you get this Magic Stone?" The cashier asked Zephyr, the Cashier was talking about the stone from the Strengthened Goblin.

"That? I encountered a Strengthened Species when I was on the Beginner's Road." Zephyr explained.

Needless to say the Cashier was shocked at his words. "A strengthened species at the lower floors..? This is unheard of.." The Cashier mumbled, but Zephyr was still able to hear what he was saying.

"Can you just cash them in? I'm in a hurry." Zephyr really wanted to take a bath.

"Ah! Right, I apologize." The Cashier hurriedly cashed in his loot, giving him a solid 150,000 Valis. It was a good amount for Zephyr, it was after all, his first day in the dungeon.

And with that, Zephyr didn't waste anymore time and went back to the Twilight Manor.

—————

Warm water trickled down Zephyr's hair to his skin. After a day of hunting, a warm bath felt reinvigorating for Zephyr.

On his back, Loki's Symbol was etched.

After the bath was over, Zephyr immediately went to the dining room where the members of the Loki Familia dined as a whole.

"Oh, Zephyr!" The first to noticed his presence was Tiona, "Come sit with us!" She invited him to their table, to which Zephyr accepted.

As he sat on his seat the dining room began to get more lively as more members joined them, the crowd getting larger as the Executive members also joined in.

It was a great dinner, filled with lively chatter and an aura of camaraderie. It was different from the dinners Zephyr went through from the Village, but this would suffice. The Loki Familia has cemented themselves into Zephyr's mind as a second family.

—————

Zephyr was currently waiting outside Loki's office, waiting for his turn to update his status.

The door opened as a young girl with bright golden hair stepped foot outside, their eyes met eachother for a brief moment before the Young Girl walked away.

Zephyr had seen her several times before when he attended dinner, apparently she was held many extravagant titles, she was described as a stoic girl with a violent past. Atleast that's what the majority knew of her, and she holds the record of the fastest level up in history.

The Sword Princess, Ais Wallenstein.

"Oh, Zephyr! You're the second one huh." Loki called out as Zephyr entered the room.

"Yup, I want to update my status."

"I already know that, now come here. Remove your shirt and face your back towards me." She gestured with her hands for Zephyr to come closer.

He removed his shirt and sat down on a chair besides Loki's bed.

"Now that I take a good look at it, your skin is practically perfect. No dirt, no blemishes, it's the definition of pure." Loki pricked her finger with a needle, a small crimson orb formed on the pricked surface.

"Must be because I take care of my body often." Zephyr lightly scoffed.

Loki traced a cross across Zephyr's back. The Symbol of Loki briefly appearing before a bright glow replaced it.

Letters and numbers suddenly appeared from the glow as Loki interacted with it.

"And that's that." Loki finished updating his status and put a piece of paper on the surface of Zephyr's back.

"Hmm let's see." Loki read the status sheet carefully.

"What the hell is this?!" She shrieked. "I know you have that [Honoured One] skill but this speed is ridiculous!" Loki handed Zephyr the paper.

[Name: Zephyr Bladehart

Level: 1

Stats

STR: I0 n' D556

END: I0 n' D524

DEX: I0 n' E446

AGI: I0 n' C692

MAG: I0 n'D512]

Zephyr whistled seeing the great increase in his stats. "Now we're talking!" He said excitedly. Zephyr loved seeing those numbers go up, I mean who wouldn't?

Loki sighed, "Of course you would react like that." But she quickly reverted back into her default expression, a naturally mischievous smile on her face.

"Well, now we know just how much potential you have to grow. It truly is a blessing to have you in our Familia." Loki's words were warm, a stark contrast to her usual tone.

"Yeah, I'll work hard and make our Familia reach greater heights." Zephyr spoke to her with a slight smile.

"Now let's move on the important stuff." Loki said with a serious tone.

"What's more important than this? Did something happen?" Zephyr asked her, everything was just fine earlier, so what's the matter that required seriousness?

Loki formed a certain symbol on her hand, it was a sign for money. "How much money did you make today? My dear Zephyr~" Loki was drooling, her crimson eyes were laced with greed.

Zephyr deadpanned at the Goddess, wondering how she was so graceful earlier and now she turned into this.

Zephyr sighed, it seemed his life was about to get more hectic from now on. "Ah, I miss the village..." His voice a mere whisper in the wind.

———[Chapter End]———

A/N: At this point of time, Bete is still hunting for the ones who slaughtered his village, or was it his Familia? My memory is fuzzy when it comes to that event.