Pizza and challenge

I got accepted into the university I wanted to get into!

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(General POV)

[Dungeon 17th Floor}

"I can't believe it took us an entire day to reach this floor." moaned Garth as he slapped a minotaur into the wall.

"Well I did say that moving in a group like this tends to take a bit longer than normal to move downwards." said Finn.

"Yeah I get that. But it's gotten to the point where even music has gotten boring. And there hasn't even really been any really powerful monsters to fight the whole time we've been down here."

"Well I suppose you're in luck." Tiona said as she kicked a minotaur's head hard enough for its neck to snap and it disappeared into smoke. "This floor happens to be home to a monster rex, which should spawn about this time if I'm correct."

"Aye but we don't engage monster rexes when we're escorting parties." Grunted Gareth as he just walked past the minotaur horde, not even bothering to deal with them as they were being handled by everybody else.

"Well that sounds interesting to say the least, might even cure a bit more of the boredom. Which monster rex is it?" asked Garth.

"Monster Rex Goliath. Level 4 monster although not at all difficult to deal with for first class adventurers. Does take a but of time though due to its size." Commented Riveria as the vanguard drew closer to the Wall of Grief.

"Yep, and if we wait for a bit, it should come out of this wall right here." pointed Tione to the wall.

"I don't advise luring it out here. It's not part of the plan." Warned Finn. Tione immediately lowered her hand and blushed before stammering out an apology.

Garth looked behind them in disdain as he saw the blacksmith and supporter groups dragging their feet.

"At this rate, Goliath would have spawned well before this lot can make it past to the 18th floor." Garth said tiredly. "Hey, I know. Let it come out here and I'll take it out with one punch!"

"You sure you can do that?" asked Gareth.

"Did you not see what he did to the meteor the other day Gareth?" huffed Tiona as she leaned forward with her hands clenched at her hips.

"This is a monster rex we're talking about. Not even we could just take it out in one blow." Bete said in his usual annoyed tone.

The large corridor began shaking as rocks fell from the ceiling and a large crack opened in the giant wall. Before long, it was being forced open by giant limbs as the Goliath pushed itself through.

"Well here it comes. This will be over quick, so you lot can just stand back." said Garth as he stuck his giant cleaver into the ground and cracked his knuckles as he walked closer to the colossal menace.

His friends watched as Goliath fell from the wall onto its knees, its eyes locked onto Garth as he approached it. It roared slightly as it lifted a giant fist, prepared to smash it down on him.

"Be careful Garth! It's about to hit you!"

"Don't worry about me. I'm fine." Said Garth as a huge shadow was cast over him as the Goliath slammed its fist down.

There was a great explosion of dust as the fist connected. For a moment the Loki Familia were concerned, not sure if even the great saviour had managed to survive such a violent attack.

Their worries were abated however and replaced by shock as the dust cleared to show Garth perfectly fine with his right fist punched in an upwards motion. Looking over to where the beast was, all that remained was the bottom half of its body.

The entire upper half was gone, seemingly obliterated as if the body parts had just vanished considering there was no blood or organs to be seen any where. The giant legs held for a moment before they collapsed to the ground and disappeared leaving the large core behind as well as the giant tooth.

Garth sighed and walked over to them. Merely touching them sent them into his inventory after which he turned around to face the group once again. Seeing their dropped jaws he raised his arms questioningly.

"What? After all that you've seen of me, you still find this shocking?"

"W-well yeah. I mean...just one attack to kill the Goliath so easily...who wouldn't be shocked?" said Finn. Bete just scoffed and looked away, not wanting to meet his eyes.

"That was amazing." Ais smiled as she approached him. "You really are more hands-on when it comes to fighting."

"Yeah, I did say that when we first fought on the upper floors didn't I?" Garth said as he picked up his giant cleaver again.

"You do remember your promise to fight us next don't you?" Tione said as she bumped her fists together. "I've been waiting a long time for a tussle in the dirt with you."

"Yeah, yeah. Just be ready for some serious ass-whooping when the time comes alright. Because when I start fighting properly, you won't even see me move." Garth smirked as he taunted her.

"Huh." Tione scoffed as she returned his smirk. " Just because your Falna has such a bull**** number on it, doesn't mean I'm not ready to take you on. I will show you that I'm not some weakling!"

"Sure you aren't. You just don't have much of a chance against me. I'd say it's practically zero."

"We'll see about that pretty boy."

"Alright, that's enough. You can trade blows later. For now, let's focus on getting this lot to Rivira." Finn said as he gestured to their charges who were gawking at the place Goliath had occupied previously.

In their eyes, the world just kept getting bigger and bigger as this overpowered individual demonstrated more and more absurd feats of strength.

Lili in particular was gobsmacked at how much of a punch her partner packed. But by this point she was not surprised by his power or his brutality. Ever since he popped her Familia member's skull open right in front of her, she'd come to realize that cruel and not at all subtle was his way of dealing with opponents.

"Let's get the ball rolling. We still have to reach the safe zone before night completely falls." Said Finn as the light became dimmer in the dungeon.

"Yes Captain." came the collective response.

---

Later hours found the entire expedition group seated at a campsite eating or tucking into the sacks for the night. Those that remained awake were either chatting and drinking with comrades or playing games on candlelit surfaces to pass time as the kept watch on the entrance to the upper floor to make sure no monster came through.

At Garth's insistence, the Loki Familia executives held back on preparing their usual bread and broth or picking out fruit from the nearby vegetation and greenery. Instead they sat around a campfire as they watched their friend poke around in a stone oven he'd conjured up with earth magic using some sort of shovel.

Earlier he'd invited some members of their group, including the twins and Lefiya to help him whip up something that was supposed to be 'heavenly' according to him.

The girls didn't understand much as all the did was stretch out very soft pre-prepared dough into circular shapes and lather the top in some sort of red sauce with vegetables and meat and cheese.

After being satisfied with their works, he'd had them place the completed assembly on these rough stones that were cut into circular shapes and smoothed out. He'd then placed them into the hot oven and had been poking around with the shovel for the past twenty minutes or so.

"So you called it 'peetzah'?" Finn asked confusedly.

"Yes, pizza. It was very popular where I came from. I'm surprised you haven't heard of it here." Garth said without taking his eyes of the delicious goodness baking inside the oven.

"It's a strange name to start with. And I can't imagine anybody here in Orario would have attempted something so strange looking." said Gareth as he focused particularly on the meaty smell permeating the air.

"Well I think you'll find that strange can be change and that change is delicious." Garth said as he finally took one out and placed it onto a tree stump they'd pulled from the forest. Taking a large knife, he sliced it into equal pieces and admired his work.

Proper ingredients were hard to come by in this world but he imagined that as people developed, they'd learn in time how to make pepperoni and stuff like that. For now he had to use shredded pieces of salted meat and his own homemade mozzarella.

Each member took a slice each and after a bit of hesitation, bit down into the delicious goodness that was Garth's famous pizza. Well famous back home at least.

"What is this madness?! The flavours, the different textures. It all comes together perfectly!" Riveria gasped in delight while huffing a little as it was still very hot. Normal people would not have dared eaten it straight out of the oven as that was just asking for a burnt mouth but the resilience of a first class adventurer was not something to be taken lightly.

"Shooo goooom!" Tiona moaned as she stuffed an entire slice in her mouth.

Ais took a more lady like approach and took small bites out of her piece. But it was clear from her expression that she also enjoyed it.

"I have to say, this is one of the most delicious things I've ever had. It rivals Mama Mia's cooking." Finn said as he chewed on the stringy cheese with a bit of sauce around his lips. Tione immediately noticed this and tried to wipe it off for him only for Finn to politely push her away, leaving her to pout sadly.

"This home of yours must really be something special if they can come up with something like this. Where are you from again?" Asked Gareth as he seemingly inhaled three pieces at once.

"Britain." answered Garth simply as he took the others out and sat down with a plate of his own.

Finn rubbed his chin in thought. "I haven't heard of such a place before."

"You probably wouldn't have. It's very far away after all." Said Garth. To avoid further questioning, he spoke up to Finn. "Hey Finn, I wanted to ask you something."

"Sure, What's up?"

"Once the smiths are in Rivira, you don't necessarily have to be there too right?"

"No not really. It'll be up to Bors to take care of them although we would want to stay there. Why?"

"Because I want you all to meet me by the East wall at noon tomorrow."

"Why? Are we gonna fight?" Tione asked excitedly.

"No. I mean yes, just that you will not be fighting me."

"Oh? So who will we be fighting?" asked Riveria

"Just you wait and see." smirked Garth as he bit down into his slice, moaning inwardly at the familiar taste of home.

---

As agreed, the Loki executives met with Garth the next day at noon by the East wall after dropping the smiths off at Rivira. They found him leaning against the stone face with his hands on his cleaver. He looked up at them and smiled.

"Hey guys. You actually came."

"Well not like we had anything better to do." said Bete. "This had better be something worth it. I could be sleeping right about now."

Garth's face dropped as he gave the wolf man a death stare. Bete shrank back, suddenly realizing who he was talking to and resolving to keep quiet.

"So why did you call us here?" asked Riveria.

"I imagine you would be the most interested in this particular subject Riveria, although I don't want you fighting just yet."

"And why would that be?"

"Because I'm going to show you something else that my unique magic can do."

"Really?" Riveria said having suddenly perked up full of energy all of a sudden.

"Yes." Garth chuckled.

"But I thought you said we wouldn't be fighting you?" Ais said confusedly.

"And I told true. It won't be me that you'll fight...but monsters."

"Monsters?" questioned Finn.

"Yep, you heard me."

"But we're in the safe zone. There are no monsters here." said Tione.

"Not yet. Because I'll be making them." smiled Garth. The Loki Familia were suddenly put on edge.

"Explain." said Finn.

"I can create monsters using magic." said Garth. "However, these monsters are completely different to the ones you've heard of or seen."

"And you want us to fight these monsters of yours?" asked Riveria.

"Precisely."

"Why? I've never even heard of magic being able to do such a thing."

"Well, I've never really had a chance of testing my monsters against other adventurers before. I also want to see if you lot gain any good Excelia from the experience as well. And of course for one other reason."

"And that would be?" said Gareth as he hefted his axe over his shoulder.

"Most of the monsters you face don't really have much combat sense. Yeah, some spawn with weapons in hand and they swing them around but there is not style, no technique. The only advantage they have is their superior strength which obviously falls short against a seasoned first class adventurer, hence why they're so easily slaughtered."

"And the monsters you create do?" Tione raised an eyebrow.

"Yep. I'm not going to force you lot to do something you don't want to do. If you want no part in this, I understand."

Everyone looked to Finn for an answer. He contemplated for a moment before shrugging.

"Meh, why not? I'll be honest, I'm very curious. We might as well see how this plays out."

The Loki Familia turned back to Garth and nodded as he gave them a bright smile.

"Excellent! So who will be the first volunteer?"

Ais's hand immediately shot up as she walked forwards.

"I'd like to be the first." She said.

"Oh come on Ais, no fair." pouted Tiona.

"First come, first serve." stated Garth and Tiona slumped in depression. "Now Ais, you ready?"

"Yes."

"Good. I have thought about what monster I'd like for you to face, and I decided that a simple one would do for you. I'd advise getting ready with weapon in hand."

Ais nodded before settling into her stance and drawing out the Winged Rapier that Garth had gifted to her nearly a week ago. She'd not yet had proper chance to fight with it.

While she most certainly had been practising and found to her great pleasure that she just clicked with the weapon, she'd yet to fight anyone or anything with it.

"Ready Ais?"

"Ready."

"Ready everyone else?"

They nodded in response. Garth smiled as his heart pumped in excitement. This was something he'd been dying to do for a long time now.

"[SUMMON MAGIC: DEATH KNIGHT]"

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P@treon/ Vulkizaro_Zoromi