TROUBLED IN RIVIRA TOWN

-(3rd POV)-

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=LOCATION: Dungeon=

An underground complex labyrinth located under Babel of Orario. The place where adventurers with different backgrounds explore the Dungeon.

The 18th floor is shaped like a big dome with steep cliffs forming the edges. A Colossal tree called the Central Tree found on the center of the floor, standing in the vast blue-green plain fields. Some of it's roots are tunnels leading to the 19th floor below.

The most distinctive feature of the floor were the different shapes and sizes of crystals that's sprouted and scattered on the ground, moss, forest, trees, lakes, and the ceiling.

Millions of white crystals of different shapes & sizes covered every inch of the ceiling shinning just like a sky and emit different shades of light akin to the passage of time.

The bright-white& yellow hues shines currently in the ceiling or so called 'sky' and the floor, displaying the "afternoon" time.

The intervals of passage of time sometimes match the surface intervals and sometimes won't.

It was a mystery created by the dungeon that adventurers are mesmerized everytime.

The floor is so captivating that it's often called "Under Resort."

On the floor's eastern side,

A town built on an Island located on the middle of midnight-blue lake is a town made of from wooden structures and leather tents. Most prominent are adventurers settling.

It is called the RIVIRA TOWN. A town for adventurers with different races(beast humans, humans, amazoness, pallums, dwarves & elves) to resupply, to rest, and to transports goods, operated by upper-class adventurers who were strong enough to reach this floor whenever they wanted.

It is one of the safe point adventurers came across in the Dungeon.

There's a slight commotion happening on afternoon.

Multiple adventurers, mostly women, kept glancing at one individual besides his handcart.

Women have amazement plastered to their faces mixed with curiosity to the smiling guy they saw for the first time.

He's a 6'5 ft tall(196cm) man or 196-celch. He made everyone raise their heads. Almost of adventurers are too stunned seeing his handsome face.

Extremely Handsome!

Most female adventurers praised in unison about the guy's face whose having a conversation with a group of women.

His black slightly wavy hair fits well to his strong, sharp & well-defined face. He has a visible black laurel wreath tattoo around his left eye that compliments his grey eyes along with his thin double eyelids and thick eyebrows.

His tan skin tone with healthy clear skin is admirable to adventurers practicing beauty and personal hygiene.

Also, he's clearly muscular, broad shoulders, well-toned biceps and thighs behind his armor. He received nods filled with admiration from every muscular adventurers he met.

His smile, stance and tone radiates relaxed, power, wild, confidence and welcoming aura.

All of those qualities made him attractive to most women. While a handful of females and males have their guard up and don't like him already, thus labelled him as 'promiscuous boy'.

The individual is aware to people's reactions near him but he didn't care much and proceeded talking to another group of women.

Women who aren't only humans.

That individual was amaed while his approaching every groups of adventurers he sees.

Human adventurers, tanned amazonesses wearing almost to nothing, female archers & mages of elves, female dwarves wearing armors, suporters & mages of prums, cat-people carrying weapons, armed werewolves, armed weretigers, chienthropes & bulls. Adventurers who are of multirace included too.

This Individual hasn't interacted to other races beside humans before arriving the Rivira town.

He didn't display to the adventurers his first time talking to different races. Instead, he kept socializing with them without prejudice nor hate towards other races, acting as if he's an experienced man dealing with different races ever since.

That individual is none other than Alex, that's been talking to different women for many minutes ever since he arrived in Rivira town. While many women talked to him, few men adventurers talk with him, some denied him having their guard up against strangers.

The women he talked enjoyed their time with. They started with food, drinks, gossip and then it ends with jokes, humor and teasing.

Some women are interested in him. They asked questions about him, which Alex answered some in a playful manner.

Alex then discreetly led them to talk regarding the town, Orario, restaurants, entertainments, inns, famous familia, other nations and recent news that he didn't know as his knowledge about this world are limited from the anime and the dead adventurer's memories.

Minutes passed by, Alex don his helmet and said his goodbye to women.

Talking to women is easy yet time consuming but I learned many things, especially the foods this world offers. Let's eat them all! I should start on finding the famous foods in this town.

Alex happily thought while walking away with his hand cart.

From their conversation, he learned new things regarding Danmachi's world, he didn't know earlier even with the dead guy's memories.

I wanna eat but let's rent a room to place my stuff first. I remember from the anime these adventurers were civilians who speak casual to informal language. The adventurers address themselves by aliases not their names. I need to speak normally and direct.

He thought again while heading to the inn girls recommended.

Minutes afterwards, He finally arrived at the recommended inn and brought his backpack but left the handcart. The inn is simple yet protected that girls praised. It have iron bars in each window and the main door for protections. Also, this inn is owned by a Second Class old dwarf from the Ganesha familia that he learned from the girls.

He saw the old dwarf that's currently sitting on the counter table cleaning a wooden cup while having a stern expression with a battle axe by his side.

Alex saw the room's expensive prices written on the wall. He then spoke

"Landlord, these rooms are expensive as f**k. It'll spend almost half of my earnings(lie) just for one rest?! How about making it lower." Alex said in a joking manner to the inn's owner.

*spit*

The owner of the inn spit at the wooden cup and stopped his cleaning. The dwarf held his axe with one hand and looked at Alex with a different expression than before. The dwarf mood's turn sour.

"The rooms are always clean by me. If you don' have money, then scram! ge' lost your ruinin' my damn busines' with your dir' and cheapnes'!" The Dwarven owner replied with an annoyed face guessing Alex is a cheap adventurer too.

Just like the girls said, this old man is grumpy but they prefer here as this inn is more trustworthy and cleaned than other inns. No visible dirt nor dust in his beard, his clothes, counter table the iron bars. The old man is a clean freak. I'll take it!

Alex finished examining the inn and deciding to rent one room.

Alex then apologizes for the joke and requested to rent one room tonight. The dwarf's sour mood disappeared. The old dwarf then let go of his axe to continue cleaning his cup.

*spit*

The dwarf forgives Alex and accepts the request but he suddenly adds extra charge for Alex's terrible joke and muddy shoes.

The extra fee is doable, it's only for tonight. I'll have to exit this dungeon tomorrow. I can't wait to see the sun again.

Alex thought before paying the dwarven owner with 5 lizardman's nails & 4 magic stones(including the extra charge) since paying with magic stones or loots are acceptable inside the dungeon.

The dwarf received the fee and told Alex where the available room is and his stay time, until tomorrow afternoon. The owner then gave Alex the metal key with numbers of the said room.

After walking, Alex arrives at the room and opens the door. Every furnitures are made from wood. It's a simple medium-sized room with stone floors & windows with iron bars. A simple bed next to a magic-stone lamp on top of a table and chair.

There's a cabinet in his right that's next to a mirror made of metal.

It fits the fantasy common-themed room.

He's amazed seeing his room is spotless without dust nor dirt present, which he confirmed with his enhanced eyesight.

He stored his big backpack into his thigh pockets and sat down to the straw bed, which he's slightly uncomfortable because the mattress is filled with dried grass. He didn't regret renting the room besides the bed.

For the first time since his reincarnation,

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He got free time and can now rest after the crazy things happened earlier.

Alex lay down on the bed and glanced at his Smartwatch to know the

Time

{PM}, afternoon

and

{Anti-Monsters Barrier Remaining Time; 11 Months : 30 Days : 10 Hours : 01 Minutes}

There's plenty of time before supper. Let's rest for now.

Alex decided before fixing his body to a relaxing/sleeping position.

*Inhale*

Alex took deep breath shortly while closing his eyes too.

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*Exhale*

He then exhaled a big relief sigh and made him relaxed even more.

He's trying to sleep until dinnertime but multiple thoughts invade his mind, keeping him awake. They're about the events earlier.

He decided to reflect on the time he fought Evilus instead of sleeping.

Devil Fruits are really OP especially the devastating attack power the Magma-Magma Fruit displayed earlier. I remember how Akainu Vs. Aokiji's battle indirectly changed the climate of Punk Hazard permanently, turning half of the island into scorching hell. I could train this fruit, including other devils, to be like the one piece's level or more powerful. Eating Magma-Magma fruit will give my flames from 'Ignite' the incredible magma's consistency and intensity, another great benefit.

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but I made the worst choice back in the cave.----

---I used the Magma-Magma Fruit on the 20th floor, wherein the fire from the lava could spread quickly since that floor is covered in plantation if I didn't stop it. I'll use that DF on other floors besides the Large Tree Labyrinth next time. I need to reconsider the usage of devil fruits.

He reflected before moving into the next topic, his body capabilities.

I gained strong body capable of fighting but it's dangerous that I still don't know its full strength and weaknesses despite my battles earlier along with my devil fruits properly. I gained fighting knowledge from the anime, Minks' Dna, Martial Art's book and back when I was in the military. I have to learn more about fighting and my devil fruits soon. Let's test my body limits after I find a great temporary shelter in Orario.---

---I gained a lot of useful knowledge today thanks to my books and devil fruits. The things I learned from the Grithra's & dead guy's memories and from women are enough for me to blend in with Orario. Still, It's not a bad idea to learn more about this world and this dungeon.

He thought before another topic surfaced, His murders.

Most importantly, I need to accept the fact that just like my past life(deployments and wars), I killed people and monsters earlier, there's a possibility of killing more in the future since Orario have increased crime rate. Murder is a crime even if it's justified. It means that soon I'll face the consequences of murder, it might be my death, maybe becoming broken or corrupted like them. I don't want that, I'll need to prepare to not die, be broken nor be corrupted. If it's any consolation, I manage to lessen the evil people's population, swiftly killing them instead of torturing them, something Evilus does. I could have potentially saved the people who'll die by their hands in the future.---

---I'm not saying that I'm prepared now but I'm not gonna run away from the consequences either. Just remember the psychiatrist said that don't think about deaths but always prioritize health or survival.

Alex thought mixed with sadness, pain, cold truth.

There's a lot of things I need to prepare for the future, especially the Dungeon Mania. Man! f*** that r.o.b. mf and f*** that trial too!---

---I'm glad I realized my mistakes and flaws sooner to prepare or else I'll be doomed in future, good job me!

He encouraged himself once more to prepare himself for the future instead of lamenting in the past.

Another thought passed by his mind.

I noticed there's many people in Rivira town than the anime had shown. I didn't expect that most of them are old people/veterans.---

---Having strong and wise old veterans that passes on a technique to younger generations is one of the charming parts of every fantasy novels. The Danmachi is no exception too because from the dead's young adventurer's memories---

---Orario is currently brimming with strong and wise old veteran adventurers, from 60 years old and above with strengths ranging from level 2-4 when you considering nearly half of adventurers are level 1-2. The Loki familia have Noir, Bara and Dain, the famous veteran party mentoring Riveria, Finn, Gareth and Loki familia's rookies. I guess it's their Falna that's keeping these old adventurers in their best strengths.---

---Based from the dead young adventurer's knowledge and the anime, Falna is a magical blessing from the gods, that unlock their potential and makes adventurers stronger until the old age. Having falna will make you live longer and age slower than normal citizens----

---But all adventurers I saw in the anime are young, ranging from 10 to 40 years old, with only 1 old guy I saw playing cards.---

---The old veterans didn't take actions to multiple life-threatening plots when they're needed. They should've been mobilized when Xenos roamed to Daedalus street, when Black Goliath spawned on 18th floor and when the red light district is in flames).---

---Did something happen to these veterans? If so, what happened that made these many veterans wouldn't exist during canon time or the time when Bell arrives?---

---Why does the Evilus doesn't exist too during the canon time? Is Evilus involve too?---

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---maybe I'm just overthinking things. Maybe the anime intentionally excluded the senior adventurers, maybe all of veterans died altogether or maybe they'll retire after being tired of adventuring the dungeon, becoming more focused on family and other matters?

Alex thoughts filled with stress before another topic appeared.

Apart from senior adventurers, I've noticed most adventurers are vigilant towards unfamiliar people, like most women I'd converse earlier, they're anticipating my moves. Gods and adventures can roam around Orario, unlike the powerless merchants and civilians who confined themselves fearing Evilus.---

---Orario's population is affected too. The population of adventurers and merchants outnumbers civilians in Orario excluding Evilus'. I guess it's the Evilus fault and the effect of increased crime rates on Orario. Evilus a troublesome mfs. Thank goodness I gained information and knowledge about them to keep my guard towards their actions and other related stuff.---

---Why didn't that r.o.b. mf choose a peaceful place and timeline in my reincarnation?---

---There's too many questions and uncertain things from Evilus existence, Orario's situation to veterans' massive decline before Bell arrives. Is this really the Danmachi I watched?

Alex's mind formed another stressful questions before

*Inhale*

Alex closed his eyes shortly and breathed in heavily.

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*Exhale*

He opened his eyes and breathed out, which successfully calm him down

The questions will answers themselves in time but not today. It's more important to remember that this is my second life, I shouldn't waste it by thinking and not doing the stuff I like. Let's stop these questions for now and do something enjoyable.

He thought so before he heard

*Growl*

*Stomach growling sound effects*

All of that thinking made me hungry. I heard there's a good pub near here. Let's check this town first, then I eat.

Alex stood up after deciding.

Alex left the key to the dwarf owner to respect the inn's rules. He then went to the pub with his cart.

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=TIMESKIP: 4 HOURS=

It's nighttime,

Many adventurers are eating and resting in Rivira town after their tedious explorations while most return to Orario.

Many pubs in Rivira town are now ready to serve foods and alcoholic beverages.

On the Feline fang pub, the highly praised pub that's owned by a family of strong adventurers, a weretiger old guy (father), weretiger old woman(mother) and their weretiger daughters. They belong to a medium-sized Familia.

Inside the pub, there's many customers from different familia eating, drinking and minding their own business but most customers are entertained by one person that's been eating for 2 hours now.

What a Glutton!

The adventurers thought in unison as they kept watching that one person while the center of focus himself didn't pay attention to their stares and kept eating.

F*** I'm still hungry! One piece characters have massive appetites. I could never eat this much in my past life.

That individual, named Alex, thought so while his table is filled with different foods (ranging from fried, soup, grilled) and different beverages.

The table next to him has multiple empty plates and cups.

Alex requested for another meal to the server, female Weretiger with an alias 'Dugr Vättar', and then continued eating.

"Got it! but you have to wait for a while again. There are other customers too." The war tiger server replied before going to the kitchen and telling the cooks, her father and mother, his orders.

The cooks cursed before cooking their whole menu for the 8th time now. Another server grabbed the empty plates and cups to clean.

*CLAPS* *CLAPS* *CHEERS* *GRUNTS*

"I WON!"

"HOW CAN HE EAT MORE THAN GROUPS?!!"

"NO! I LOST!!!"

"HA-HA-HA-HA!"

"CHEERS!"

"THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!!"

While he's eating and waiting for another food,

there's different sounds from other customers. Some are having fun celebrating while others are defeated.

It's not just one group, almost all groups gambled/bet that Alex won't finish his food, others bet on him stopping in his 3rd meal and others bet on him eating more than 4.

"It's the 8th time! I won! Ha-ha! Hand over my money." An old man said to his companions after winning their bet of Alex's meals. The companions handed their money to him.

*bang*

"Here's 500 valis on the next meal being his last." The elf said while placing another bet on their table.

*bang*

"Deal! 2000 valis for the 10th meal." The old man said arrogantly, placing his money too. The others made different bets too.

While they're entertained by Alex. Another group of customers began discussing other matters when a girl from the Far east arrived.

"Oh our tally counter has arrived. Come drink with us! Ha-Ha!" A bald man happily offered but the girl rejected it and

*Bang*

"Logen! We should stop hunting for now. Amphisbaena could spawn tomorrow. Also, Why did you guys spend your monthly food allowance already?!" A black-haired female adventurer sternly warned while slamming her hand on their table and gave them a mean look.

"Hey! We retreated immediately when we heard a scream and saw 40 and above strong people wearing robes chasing a small group back on 20th floor." The bald man said but became silent and looked down before their tally counter could stared at him.

Most evaded her angry gaze, fearing her anger and lengthy scolding but 1 person didn't evade.

*burp!*

"Nonsense! The guild reported it spawning tomorrow to 2 weeks, meaning a leeway for drinks. We need to prepare against Amphisbaena by hunting other monsters. Besides, you know I need this to increase our chances against Amphisbaena." Middle-aged bearded man named Logen, their group leader, replied after burping.

He's relaxing along with others.

"But hunting monsters these past days, exhausted our supplies, especially the potions. Our cheap god, Regnvad, only gave us enough valis for 3 weeks, that's including our necessities to stay in this town for a month. Stop drinking for now and buy food." Hina , their female group member, retorted.

"That deity is selfish not cheap, always spending most of our earned valis for himself rather than giving it to us, who needs it more to explore this deadly labyrinth every time. He's nice at first but after a week of joining the familia, he doesn't even treat us as his children anymore. We can't even convert to other familias cause we need that damn deity's approval, He doesn't want to lose his money makers. I wish someone would batter his face. Hina, don't mention him again! even thinking about him makes this sweet mead turn sour." Another woman in the group complained.

"Rue's right, Hina. That deity is selfish. If we're lacking on valis, go to the surface tomorrow, exchange our hunt with valis and then return back. Bring that pallum with you. We'll postpone our hunt tomorrow and wait for your return." Logen supported Rue, a fellow adventurer statement.

"Do you want us to die? Kiell and I are only Level 2s and we can't survive the Goliath that's estimated to respawn tomorrow. Guys, come join us. Why don't we hunt that Monster Rex instead of Amphisbaena?" Hina asked everyone.

"Hunting Goliath won't give me high-quality excelia anymore. I'm this close to becoming a First Class adventurer after decade being stuck in level 4, I won't suspend it any longer. We're hunting Amphisbaena and all of us need to be at full strength. Me and others won't come with you. I'm sure the Ganesha Familia will be sent to hunt Goliath tomorrow. Just wait for them." Logen replied while drinking but his eyes now expressing impatience.

Others agree to Logen, saying the different things like they need to rest and prepare for hunting.

Hina's anger rises more because she knows most of them are lying and they're more likely to spend their money on alcohol and gambling.

Before Hina would start her scolding. Someone asked another question.

"Speaking of kiell! Where's that pallum bait again? We need that brat's skill to lure Amphisbaena." Another male asked, preventing her friend to start scolding. He's got a menacing face with black hair.

"Kiell is sleeping after you guys tire him. All of you! Stop treating him as bait, He's our teammate." Hina defends her pallum friend.

"Get over it Hina! That's his job, don't worry about him. The pallum is level 2, he can fit in tiny spaces, fast enough, have an 'escape' skill and a skill to lure monsters into us. He's the perfect bait HA-HA-HA!" Logen mocks before drinking his mead again.

"HA-HA-HA-HA!"

His group then followed their leader. All laughed except Hina, who's infuriated at their discriminate insults to Kiell.

Before Hina could start scolding her teammates,

*Bang!*

"Here's 25 strong alcohol. Pay before you leave or else. You Far eastern girl, no fighting here. You can stay and order food or leave quietly." The server, Dugr Vättar, warned as she placed down their drinks with her gigantic wooden tray and left.

Hina heard the rumours of Dugr Vättar's strength, boasting a level 3 power and her family full of Weretigers.

She left the pub silently to return to their lodgings and fix their money & supplies shortages.

After Hina left the pub, they resumed drinking and talking.

After many minutes, they became stupidly drunk and someone randomly said.

"Screw Hina! We only need drinks, we don't need to buy food tonight. We could ask others for food, especially to that guy who was eating for hours. Look! some of his 8th meal arrived." The drunk bald man suggested while his hands were twitching.

"Farb asking nicely? more like you stealing his food Ha-Ha." An old drunk woman mocking Farb, the bald guy.

"I'm not sure about this Farb. The guy looks intimidating yet handsome." Rue said while gazing the man.

"Nonsense! The guy doesn't have a familia emblem and the aura of a familia member, Just look at his green supporter bag. He's an idiot coming here alone." Logen denied Rue's statement while pointing the man's bag.

"How sure are you he doesn't belong to any familia?" Rue curiosly asked Logen.

"If you survive in his hell hole long enough, You can identify who's in familia or not. Go ahead Farb." Logen ordered and made Rue silent but still look at Alex.

The veterans guarantees Logen statement

The others now more confident that Farb can steal the man's food with some cheering him.

"I'll tag along Farb. Give us some too." A drunk raccoon man said while standing.

Both Farb and his friend stood up and discussed their plans while they walk towards Alex's table.

Moments passed by, and they're now in front of Alex. Farb introduces himself to Alex to make Alex focus on Farb while his friend sneakily grab food.

"Are you two with the table-smacking girl earlier?" Alex asked.

"Yes, she's our accomplice." Farb replied.

I'm not gonna fall for their trick.

Alex thought while grabbing a steak and

Before the raccoon man could even touch the food.

*WHOOSH!*

Alex used soru to the duo's backs and simultaneously used their shoulders as arm rests without them noticing.

*Munch* *munch*

The raccoon man and Farb turn silent and froze in their place when they realized Alex was suddendly behind them.

He's fast

I didn't see him move.

I must be drunk

Was that magic?

These are the thoughts of servers, the duo's group and whole customers before they went deathly silent.

They're all adventurers with many experiences in fighting strong and fast monsters. Most adventurers take pride in their abilities

Yet

they couldn't even see Alex stand up and move.

They all have different reactions.

Some become sober, some hold their weapons and some continue watching with curiosity

The pub's bright atmosphere instantly changed into a quiet atmosphere. No noises are present except Alex's munching and chefs' cooking.

"I heard the plan you guys prepared while you're approached me. I'll tell you something. You guys shouldn't steal a man's treasures, especially what's mine." Alex whispered behind them and intentionally made his voice deeper to intimidate and scare them.

It worked as Farb and his friend unconsciously reach for their hidden knives while sweat forms in their forehead.

To be continued

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{Anti-Monsters Barrier Remaining Time; 11 Months : 30 Days : 05 Hours : 41 Minutes}