27 Going Deeper

After Natsuki explained to everyone what had happened to her and her friends before she reached Orario, it wasn't just Ad who wanted to bring punishment to those who deserved it. Even the air-headed Iman had a frown deeple encarved in her face, emphasizing how serious the situation was to everyone else.

They all agreed in one thing. They needed to get stronger. With determination deeply seated in their minds, they all went to sleep, knowing full-well that the next day was going to be long,

*

The next morning, Ad woke up before everyone else. He left the Hearth Manor and went to buy different supplies. He went to Dian Cecht's shop, where he bought reinvigorating potions, in case anyone got too tired.

Once he was back, everyone was already up and ready to go. Eoghan had his spear in hand and was currently cleaning it. Natsuki was tightening her bow's string while checking her arrow supply, and Keeva was checking if her staff was in top conditions. Iman, who just entered the Main Hall, began checking Ad to see if everything was ok. She only needed him, after all.

They said their goodbyes to Hestia and, after she gave Ad a short kiss, left the Manor.

In their way to the Dungeon, everyone seemed to be looking at them and speaking in murmurs about them. They had given many surprises to Orario in the little time they had been active. Ad's ramapage was first, the Minotaur was second, then the Variant Killer Ant and lastly the Monster Feria.

Everyone wondered if they would show them something new this time.

*

Once they reached the Dungeon, under Ad's command, they rushed straight to the twelfth floor. Once inside, they began exploring slowly and organizedly. Ad had come up with a good formation with Keeva's help... though it was mostly Keeva.

He stayed in the back. As the fastest and the one with the sharpest senses, he could protect the read and rush forward if needed. Iman was right in front of him, as the healer, she wouldn't get the chance to fight much. Keeva and Natsuki were in the middle, ready to attack anything they had to. Lastly, Eoghan protected them from the front, as he would be able to take most hits without suffering much damage.

It didn't take long for them to find a Silverback, which happened to also spot them. In a show of pure instict, no brains, the ape-ish monster rushed at them, intending to attack. It was blocked by Eoghan's spear, though, and the attack was rendered useless.

Adalwulf jumped above Eoghan aand fell behind the creature, repeating his previous feat, he cut behind it's knee. His other leg was maimed by Keeva's Water Whip and the last hit was taken by Natsuki, who pierced it's eye with an arrow.

*

For the next six hours, they kept going at the same pace. They took a short break after the fourth Hard Armored. Those weren't particularly dangerous for them, but they were annoying to kill, and they took a longer time than Silverbacks in a fight. A few times Iman had to jump in a heal Ad or Eoghan who had taken a hit, though it didn't do much damage.

Having decided that it was more than enough for them to Level Up, Ad chose to go back for the day.

They were so lucky that, when they reached the first floor, they spotted a Jack Bird. Knowing full well that finding one was a rare thing, Ad simply used his Shadow Trigger to catch and kill it. Getting the Golden Egg, he simply kept walking, pretending that nothing had happened.

If anyone were to ever hear that he had gotten a Golden Egg twice in the same month, a lot of people would want to kill him.

(A/N= Witness the true might of LUCK! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHHA *cough* *cough*. Ok, I'll calm down. Things like this one will happen from time to time. Like bumping into a rare monster or finding unexplored areas and blablabla. This is how Ad's Luck manifests, unlike Bell's which was tuned towards girls. Ad doesn't need help with that.)

*

After they sold everything in the Guild, Misha asked Ad if he was free during the weekend or the following day at night. He simply said that they wanted to get stronger quickly so they would be going to the Dungeon more often. In the end, he promised to take her on Saturday, which he had "declared" as a sacred resting day in the Hestia Familia.

They wanted justice, but they didn't have to turn themselves into machines to impart it.

The haul of that day alone, with the amount of Hard Armored's and Silverbacks they had killed, eclipsed their previous hunts. They went from the twelfth to the eleventh a few times getting a good amount of loot.

They sold fifty Hard Armored's Magic Stone's, seventy Silverback's Magic Stones and ten of each monster's drops. They had gotten more drops, but Hephaestus had requested Ad to keep a few of the drops he got for her, to clear away more of his debt.

In the end, the Hestia Familia got 1,425,000 Valis, with Ad clearing away a meager 0,085% of his debt towards Hephaestus. Still, less Valis on his debt were better than nothing.

Once they were back at the Hearth Manor, Ad decided to go pick Ryuu up at the Hostess of Fertility.

After a bath and a warm meal, they began talking about their plans for the near future.

Ad proposed to them that first thing in the morning, they updated their stats and leveled up, as they would be more than ready to, with how many monsters they had slain today.

Ryuu asked what was going on and why they all were so serious as she, of course, knew nothing about Natsuki's past.

After a long explanation, an anger that they, minus Ad, thought impossible of her, showed in Ryuu's face. She had lost her friends once. She knew how painful it was, how guilty one felt afterwards.

She got taken out of her dark place when Ad put a hand on her ear and rubbed it. With a blush on her face, she looked at him and saw him shaking his head from side to side.

Adalwulf: We will serve justice, but I don't want any of you to have revenge as the motive. This is justice, and a helping hand to one of us... of our family.

Adalwulf had decided on one thing. If he wanted to erase the Laverna Familia, he would do it not with revenge on his mind, but with the objective of clearing away Natsuki's fears, doubts and guilt.

To do that, though, he would have to go deeper. And deeper he would go, together with everyone else.