CHAPTER 69(Goals, Not Dreams)

Please read the author's notes. (Examples and explanation of moves and appearance+ Monster Sources)

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pat.treon:/Keanu_Eugene

CHAPTER START---

"We need to talk..."

A tense minute passes as Thalie's words hang in the air.

'Hm, what does she want, maybe it's my magic, it's probably about how I know what I know, I can't tell them the truth can I, maybe I c---'

"HEY!" Thalie shouts, pulling him out of his thought and drawing attention back to her, "No time to be zoning out, I just have some questions that need answering or this team is over, got it?" she asks in a stern tone.

"Yeah, so what's on your mind?" He simply asks, deciding to bite the bullet and get it over with.

"Look, I don't really care what your Falna has on it, that's none of our business. You're weird and too strong for just a regular level 4 but hey, shit happens. What I do NEED, is answers on how the hell you know so much about the new monster, so start talking," She demands, getting straight to the point.

"Uh, I'm not sure I can say h---" His words are immediately cut off by her yelling once more.

"PEOPLE ARE DYING! WE WOULD BE DEAD IF YOU DIDN'T HAVE WHATEVER INFO YOU GAVE US!" Taking a moment, the woman composes herself with a few deep breaths before continuing," You can't be selfish with things like this, even stronger teams would just be turned to stone by the Gorgon, or get caught off guard by Anjanath fire breath, and gods know what that else is down here that nobody BUT YOU has seen, ever day you withhold info people are dying, I will not allow that bullshit to fly, so start talking or this team is done."

Passing her hand through her long purple hair, Thalie tries to calm herself down once more, only for Welf to finally speak up.

"I'm with her on this man, adventurers all battle the dungeon together, even if we're from different familias, it's the same struggle against endless monsters, what you know could save lives..." He lets his much calmer words sink in as they could almost see the thoughts swirling in Yang's head as his face contorts in a chain of expressions before settling with a deep sigh.

"Alright, fine," He relents, with a wave of his hand three bottles of wine are withdrawn from his storage, a tap of his finger on each of them sends a small chill through the bottles before a wave of his hands has them carried on the water, one of each of his teammates as he opens the third.

"If we're doing this, I need a drink," he says taking a swig of the wine.

As the sweet, smooth drink warms up his body, burning his throat a bit, he feels himself relax.

"Hm, didn't know you drank," Thalie says with a raised brow.

"I don't, and I can't tell you everything, but the things that will save lives, you're both right. I can't be selfish like that." He admits, both to himself and his teammates.

"Thank you," Welf says, Thalie gives a curt nod of understanding.

"Alright, the new monsters, weren't monsters originally, they're more like just regular animals that evolve and exist where I'm from. Some---thing, brought me to Orario against my will and I think the dungeon somehow learned about them and began spawning them."

"So you showed up then they began showing up, that's it?" Welf questions, completely drawn in by the idea.

"Basically, I remember waking up in Orario then I just went with the flow, ended up in the Orcus challenge, and when I was almost dead, everything came rushing back, memories included, I'm... really really far from home..." he finishes his statement with the softest voice they'd ever heard from the usually confident young man.

Sinking up to his shoulders into the water, Yang rests his head back to look at the dungeon ceiling, avoiding their eyes as the information sinks in.

"So...why so adamant about the dungeon, feel like you need to save people from these new... creatures?" Welf is the first to break the numbing silence.

After almost a minute, Yang musters a response, "No, I wish I was that heroic, that selfless, but I'm just a guy who wants to go home, to see his family again. And the... being... the angel? That brought me here is trapped down here somewhere, if anyone can take me home it's her."

"Have you tried just hiring a convoy to take you home, I mean, you're not exactly wanting for money. You'd probably have enough to get around the world by now..." Thalie suggests, trying to be helpful.

"That won't work, it has to be her, only her, my home is, let's say protected by magic... she can take me back." He says, raising his bottle and taking another gulp of wine.

"You're willing to fight and die to see your family again, I've said it before and I'll say it again, you've got everything most people want, so they must mean a lot to you, "Thalie states.

"Yeah well... dad was Chinese and mom was black, um, minorities where I'm from, so we started from nothing and they were clawing their way up in the world, then the economy collapsed and we're back to zero, except now I'm 12. So I find a job and do what I can too. Years of that and we finally get back on our feet. Dad's construction company is doing well and mom got a new position as head ecologist, and I've got a little sister, and now, after years of struggling and only having each other," Taking a moment, Yang steadies his breath before continuing.

"I just abandon them like it's nothing, like they don't even matter, so yeah, I'll die before anything keeps me from them," He finishes in a firm voice, raising his head to meet their eyes, his eyes red and filled with tears flowing down his cheek.

For the first time since they've met him, they see past the image of a relentless battlemage, both Thalie and Welf finally see the young man struggling with his circumstances, keeping everything to himself, it all finally comes out.

Barely without breaking away from his gaze, Welf connects some of the pieces in her head,

"Keep moving forward. That's what you said when you killed the Gorgon, you're moving toward them huh," He says, more a statement than questions.

"Yeah, throwing myself into my work is how I do that, and if I stop, the memories just keep flooding back in..." He mutters half-heartedly.

"I can't imagine a better reason for being an adventurer, alright, I'm with you, Yang Shen. We'll get you home." Thalie says with a small smile.

"Hell yeah, we will!" Welf raises his bottle and takes a drink, lowering his bottle, he looks over at Yang before speaking," But, anything that's um, too ridiculous down here, the monster from your home I mean, Earth Elemental thing was already unlike anything down here and the metal bull was even weirder than that..." Welf asks, rubbing the back of his head.

"Mmm, lots of them are around Anjanath, the class 1 species are the problems, some of those guys can even contend with Elder Dragons," Yang says with a wistful look in his eyes, clearly reminiscing, oblivious to the panicked looks his teammates were sporting.

"Did, did he just says Elder DRAGONS, like, PLURAL?" Welf asks, looking as if his soul would leave his body any moment.

"I was hoping I imagined that part," Thalie mutters as she sinks up to her chin into the, cold, water, "Um, not to ruin the moment but..." She says while lifting a hand to point at the water, almost immediately it raises back to the warm temperature.

"Sorry, my mood can affect my magic," Yang mutters out, "But yeah, elder dragons aren't really the kind of dragons you're used to, ehhhh, some are worse but some are weaker."

Noticing their horrified expressions he quickly explains.

"We don't have any magic where I'm from so they aren't the magic dragons you're used to, all the monsters are actually called Wyverns even if they aren't classic Wyverns like the dungeon makes, Elder Dragons are the creatures that dominate and change their environment around them, the alphas basically." He says with a rapid pace, waving his hands around in slight panic.

After a minute of processing, his teammates finally settle down enough to ask questions.

"So, do I wanna know what the strongest Elder Dragon can do or...." Welf cautiously asks.

"Hmm, strongest, if they operate like regular dungeon monsters would have to be... White Fatalis, but I don't have enough in my head about that for the dungeon to steal and copy, so probably Zhora Magdaros, Safi, or Alatreon, one is a big walking volcano the other is a massive red dragon, but I think Alatreon is probably the worse, imagine a massive black dragon with my magic but basically endless," He says, his gaze dropping down to the water as the idea of these creatures being real in this world fully set it.

Quickly trying to lift the negative atmosphere he adds on, "I don't think the dungeon can make anything too big and powerful above at least floor 40, the monsters down there that I read about in the books seem like they aren't as strong as elder dragons, and the worst-case scenario spawns are way further down than that, plus, Ankanath was patrolling its area which is how most of these creatures operate so they shouldn't leave their floors..." He weakly adds at the end.

"Uh-huh, and these things just, walk around in your homeland... how do people live there?" Thalie smartly questions.

"We, avoid them, only hunters can fight them. I was a pretty big fan of hunters, and I was studying ecology like mom so I might have been a bigger fan of the monsters... to the point that one of the hunters' weapons was all I could remember when I came to Orario..." He awkwardly scratches his cheek, embarrassed by admitting that.

"So you asked our goddess to make it because it's the only memory you could latch onto huh, that explains why you chose her," Thalie concludes.

"Yeah ain't nobody better than her when it comes to making things like that, when I became our little teams' smith she showed me the designs, can't wait to get my hands on the materials and make Orarios first switchaxe," Welf says with a genuine smile plastered across his face.

"Ugh, settle down lover boy, but he's right that does explain a lot, gonna need you to get to work writing down every one of those monsters you can remember and how to beat them, our familia has runners at camp, we'll be able to give the info the Hephaestus for the guild to post."

"Won't that raise like, every red flag?" Yang asks, a look of fear on his face.

"I'll talk to her, don't worry. She has way more pull than almost every other god in the city, she just cares more about seeing what crafts mortals can make than playing politics." Thalie says, calming him down a bit.

"Yeah, Orario wouldn't be able to handle those 2 greats quests without her familia, the guild definitely wants to be on her good side lest they lose their best weapons," Welf adds, taking a drink of his wine.

"Well, that's me, so what's got you two down here?" Yang asks with a raised brow.

With no hesitation, Welf immediately confesses.

"I told Hephaestus I'd make something that even she would recognize, then I'd make her mine," He proudly admits.

"Wait, you just came out and said it to her face, to a god?" Yang asks, shocked by his boldness.

"How else is a man supposed to get his point across, god or not she is a lady, so I just decided to be straightforward, besides, after leaving Rakia, she's the only god that I met who didn't pressure me into making magic swords. After my creations were used to destroy so many homes everyone wanted that power. Hephaestus said I'm wasting my potential, but she never pressured me into making any, that's when I really decided that she's the one for me." He admits.

"Yeah him and pretty much every smith in the city, lots of competition, but she does seem to have a soft spot for this idiot," Thalie admits.

"So you're an adventurer for love huh, that's pretty classic," Yang gives the man a nod.

After a long pause, their eyes finally land on Thalie, now up to her chin in the water with long strands of purple har floating around her, she gives the water a long harsh glare before finally speaking up.

"For the sake of team boding or whatever, fine." She takes a big gulp of her wine as she sits up properly.

"I'm from the Adrestria familia originally, born into it, we aren't as warm as other familias. We aren't adventurers, we're warriors. Adventurers learn to fight monsters, we were born to kill people."

The weight of her words causes both men to share a quick glance before leaning forward in interest once more, unsure how they should react to this revelation.

"Our familia moves around sometimes, taking in young kids whenever possible and training warriors to be sold off later. I was deemed too valuable to be sold, we aren't given names until we're bought, I was the exception. In a familia of battle geniuses, I was the best. I was called the eagle; because I would soar higher than anyone who came before me,"

Taking a minute to collect her thoughts, she waiting for questions, and one finally came.

"So, how did you end up with Hephaestus?" Welf asks, unsure if he should even speak right now.

"The SPEARMAN, leader of our familia, he wanted a weapon that was in her vault and sent me to get it, I was good, I could fight better than anyone on my level. But the difference in stats is another story. Tsubaki beat me into the hospital, then Hephaestus told my familia she wanted me, said nobody ever made it as far as I did. Best job I've ever had." Thalie recalls with a smile on her face.

"Your best job was getting beaten?" Yang questions.

"No, all I ever really wanted was freedom, to do whatever I want, my familia, our goddess wanted to build the perfect warrior. Not the highest level but the most skilled, skill that would make Athena's champions of myth pale in comparison, the moment they saw I was gifted I lost any chance at freedom, everyone else was so far gone that they believed in Adrestria's preaching blindly, Hephaestus got me out of there, now I'm gonna get stronger and tear that familia apart,"

"So...revenge?"

"No, I've only got a little over a year left before my contract with Hephaestus is done and I have to go back, she's bound by honor to follow it, but I'm just a mortal. If I go deal with them she's free of any punishment because it won't be her will," Thalie says, earning a harsh glare from Welf.

"You can't go against our goddess's will Thalie!" Welf berates the woman.

"I'LL DIE BEFORE I GO BACK TO THEM!" She yells out, her voice carrying far across the nearby trees.

A pregnable silence filled the atmosphere, nobody could say a word, until Yang spoke up once more.

"Adventuring for freedom, and to save kids from forced deathmatches, sounds heroic," He adds in, giving her an honest smile.

"That's a nice way of putting it, thanks," She weakly replies.

"It's the truth, we've all got our dreams, and I can't image many reasons for going against Hephaestus better than that, even if I really wish you didn't have to," Welf admits.

"Not dreams, goals, dreams are for people who don't have a plan. We WILL accomplish our goals, I can feel it, we'll get further than anyone else and find Welf materials to make something that'll make Hephaestus blush, get strong enough to deal with those child soldier making people in your old familia, and when it's all done, I'll go home," Yang says with a strange unfounded confidence.

Looking up at their teammate, Thalie and Welf can't help the smile that crawls onto their face, his desire for success was truly infectious.

"To the lost boy," Yang raises his bottle.

"Hm, to the free Eagle," Thalie lifts her bottle.

"Haha, to the fool in love," Welf follows their lead and raises his bottle as well.

Taking a moment, they all look at each other before sharking a small chuckle.

"TO THE TRIFECTA!" They all cheer at once.

END CHAPTER---

Chapter 69, Nice. Hot springs episode, what better use for it than some good team bonding and heart-to-heart talks.