649 Tanis
On their way home, on the 19th floor, it was Koneko who noticed it first. With her ears suddenly perking up and tails swaying, she muttered, "...Someone ahead... a monster?"
Sona, Aika, and Medusa immediately caught the strangeness in Koneko's words and tone, "Let's go check it out," Sona commanded.
But after a few seconds, Koneko suddenly said with urgency, "Not good... It's being attacked by a Firebird."
Immediately, Sona gave out instructions, "Aika, Koneko, go ahead first and secure the area."
In an instant, Aika and Koneko disappeared from their spots and reappeared ten meters away before disappearing again out of sight.
The moment Aika and Koneko arrived at the scene, the Firebird was just about to peck a strange little girl to death with its beak. But with her long reach, Aika was able to decapitate the monster, turning it into ash and leaving a magic stone.
With the monster out of the way, Aika and Koneko first searched the surroundings and noted several monsters and Adventurers in the area but none of them seemed to be coming over to this spot as of now.
Finally, they were able to take a closer look at the strange naked little girl.
"A Vouivre, isn't it?" Aika commented.
"But she doesn't have a tail nor wings," Koneko added.
The two of them then became quiet and stared at the injured and crying monster with obvious fear within her eyes, "Koneko-chan... For starters, lend her your robe. You might already know this, but although she looks like a monster, she isn't one," Aika uttered.
Koneko nodded and took her robe before placing it over her while Aika took out some potions from her pouch, intending to use it on the 'monster's' injuries.
At that point, Sona and the rest arrived. As they heard the situation from Aika and Koneko a group of Adventurers suddenly turned in their direction towards them and hurriedly closed their distance, "Save the potion for later and cover her up tightly," Sona directed.
Soon enough, they heard the aforementioned Adventurers shouting at each other, "Where did it go!? That Vouivre!"
At their voices, the strange little girl visibly flinched and made her body look smaller.
Not long after, the Adventurers arrived at their spot and started questioning them rudely, "Did you lot see a Vouivre around here?"
Sona, while fixing her glasses, answered unceremoniously, "If we did, we would have hunted it ourselves. Such a rare monster, why did you think we would let it go?"
The bald leader immediately snapped at her and yelled, "That's our prey!!!"
On the other hand, Sona remained calm and collected, "Then you should hurry along. We're not the only ones with such sentiment within the Dungeon."
Clicking his tongue, the leader turned in another direction while saying, "Let's go!"
The bald Adventurer wanted to attack them, but securing the Vouivre is at the top of their priorities so he left quietly after taking note of their identities.
After they left, Sona approached the little girl. Crouching down, Sona reached out to her hood but momentarily stopped when she flinched at her arms again. Continuing her action, Sona unraveled her face. Staring at her most prominent feature, which is the red gem on her forehead, for a moment, Sona proceeded to look straight into her terror-filled watery eyes.
Seeing her eyes clear from any madness that took over the usual monsters and intelligence and will that wasn't present in any of them, Sona smiled gently as she offered her hand, "Do you want to come with us? We'll keep you safe."
As far as they're concerned, this little girl was a person, just with an unusual form.
Hesitation then filled the girl's eyes, but with a moment of courage, she took Sona's hand.
After helping her stand up, Sona continued, "Good. Let's go home. And by the way, my name is Sona."
"...Sona..." The little girl suddenly repeated her words which shocked all of them.
"I see. So you can speak. Yes, I'm Sona."
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"And that's how we met our little friend here," Sona finished her story.
Kisuke then faced the little girl who's hugging Sona's arm and said, "My~ Isn't that wonderful~! Mind telling us your name, little miss?"
The little girl hid further behind Sona's back while Ophis was still poking her side, "Sona..."
Sona chuckled and patted her head, "That's my name."
"As expected... She doesn't have a name, huh." Hestia muttered as she curiously looked around her. Even for Deities like her and Artemis, this is the first time they'd ever heard of a talking monster.
All of a sudden, Ophis suddenly spoke, "Tanis."
Everyone looked at her with confusion, but Ophis didn't mind their stares and added, "...You shall be known as Tanis."
The little girl looked at her and tilted her head while repeating, "Ta...nis?"
"Umu..." Ophis nodded her head and reiterated, "You shall be named Tanis."
"My own... name? Tanis?" The little girl first stared at Ophis for a few seconds before smiling happily, "Tanis!"
Everyone smiled at this exchange and decided to go with Ophis's name. Unexpectedly, however, a black magic circle, bearing the symbol of infinity and brimming with unknown power, suddenly emerged in front of Tanis before shrinking and melding into the red gem on her forehead.
From Kisuke's perspective, the moment this transpired, the indistinct connection between and the Dungeon Tanis was suddenly cut off, followed by an earthquake.
"W-What's happening!?" Hestia immediately grabbed onto something to maintain her balance, but this didn't alleviate her concerns.
Meanwhile, Kisuke continued watching with great interest as Ophis let out a satisfied grunt and Tanis went through some small changes. The blue scales around her body became pitch black and the red gem on her forehead turned bright purple with an additional design as if a constellation of stars was trapped within it.
'By accepting the name granted by the Dragon God, this little Dragon girl has irreversibly severed her connection from her origin and changed her fate forever... Tanis... meaning 'serpent lady'. It seems like Ophis wanted to train and watch this Dragon grow... A Dragon of a different world,' Kisuke thought with an amused expression.
Although he understood what had just happened, he has no intention of telling it to everyone. After all, this will be one of their challenges, 'But it looks like I have to give new reminders to Ophis since she'll probably want to get involved one way or another if another incident were to occur.'
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A few minutes before the earthquake, Ouranos on his pedestal was facing his right-hand man, Fels.
"A monster endowed with intelligence has made contact with a group of Adventurers, and has left Babel, " Fels reported while looking through his surveillance orb.
"And who are these Adventurers, Fels?" Asked Ouranos.
"The Hestia and Artemis Familia," answered Fels before adding, "For better or for worse, both of these Familias has gained too much attention in town with all sorts of strange rumors circulating around."
Ouranos didn't say anything in return for a few seconds before closing his eyes and muttering, "I want to determine whether they'll become their hope or not."
Fels wanted to say something when the ground started shaking, "T-this is!?"
Ouranos was also shocked and focused his attention and power on the Dungeon, "My prayers haven't been broken... But what's this? The Dungeon is remorseful... but also glad?"
