Campfire Thoughts

(A Few Days Later)

Lyze stuck Excalibur deep into the head of the Flame Rock and lit the inside of its head with his Flame, siphoning its soul right out and turning it into sustenance for his own ever craving soul. The redness of its big headlight in its face faded as it stopped groaning and its arms which were reaching for its head to rip him off stilled as there was now no thought propelling them.

The giant stone arms flopped down helplessly to the monster's sides before it began to lean forward. Lyze bent his knees and kept his footing firm as he watched the ground come closer. The Flame Rock collapsed with a giant thud that shook the ground around them, and he used the force to pull out Excalibur and jump off, sliding across the rocky ground on his soles as he made a flashy show of sheathing Excalibur and let the dust settle behind.

His Familia whom had been waiting for him to deal with the last beast standing between them and the 49th Floor clapped their hands at his obvious show of drama, if only to humour him a little. They knew by now just how little these monsters really meant to him now that his magical powers had grown stronger. In the weeks that had gone by with his time in the Dungeon, Lyze had become exponentially more powerful. His physical capabilities and improvements aside, his magic had increased tenfold in power as his control over his magical energy became more immaculate.

Riveria had taken the time to probe his Mind reserves by having him let her examine his raw output with all his defences down and his skills de-activated. A difficult task for most but when you were a magical prodigy and scholar like Riveria, the task could be done. And by the gods did she make a discovery.

His Mind Pool was so deep and so vast, it made her own look more like a drop in his ocean. It explained why he was able to fire off spell after spell at varying degrees of power, both long and short range. Because his powers were so inexhaustible, and his magic conservation was maintained even more so because he used spells that were for precise killing blows. For example, he would create an icicle that was small, but compact and sharp enough only to fire into the eye of a Barbarian and pierce the brain for an instant kill.

Spells like that saved both time and magical energy. And even if he did run out of magical energy, his Flame would provide an electric shock to keep him awake, whereby he would use his physical gifts to defend himself and not fall into Mind Zero. And he was proving to be quite good in that area too. He'd proven that just because his magic was growing, it did not mean his strength and his skill was the sword was dwindling.

Yesterday when they had cleared out the monsters in their area and decided to set up camp, Noir had challenged Lyze to a duel...the first they'd had in a good minute. By now the executives had realized that Lyze had maxed out his stats and was more than ready for the next level up. Noir wanted to fight him at this peak of his now before the boost of the level up truly took Lyze into a realm of strength Noir knew he would not be following into anytime soon.

He drew his sword as did Lyze before their Familia, bowed to show each other respect before immediately exchanging warrior love...and for the first time ever, Lyze had outstripped Noir in both raw power and skill. The Flame was such a cheat power that it spread consumed Excelia over all attributes and Lyze's Dexterity had become more than Noir's had ever been. The duel ended with Noir having a broken wrist, an eye bruised purple and both swords crossed at his neck.

Then Bara had come along and challenged Lyze to another fisticuff as she'd not been able to have one with him due to all the hectic events they'd been put through. Nekros had after left quite an impact on the Familia and though nobody wanted to speak about him, especially around the boy, there could be no doubt the kind of effect Lyze's master had had on them. That beatdown had motivated them to descend deeper into the belly of the beast faster than ever and they'd made it this far down an entire week ahead of schedule thanks to the fear that Nekros inspired...and the time that Lyze had bought them.

Bara had been dispatched from the fight with a single full powered blow to the face, and even now she was still uncertain if her nose was crooked or not, despite having been healed completely. Safe to say not even Gareth, solid and stocky as he was, would want to be on the receiving end of Lyze's punches. Their prodigy had already entered the ranks of the first class adventurers, and that was without putting his powerups on top. Perhaps that was the gift of a limit breaker...the power of someone who broke the stat cap in every attribute he had.

...

"We'll make camp here." Finn decided as he stuck his spear in the ground. "We're all quite tired from fighting in this heat and against the monsters we've been faced with. We need to rest and rejuvenate...we're going to need every last bit of strength in the next floor tomorrow."

"Balor." Raul gulped as he pulled a bundle of firewood from a wagon. "We're fighting the monster rex." He said, more of a statement than a question.

"That we are." Gareth said. "And we'd best save up our energy as best we can. If you think Udaeus was a sadistic son of a bitch, then you've got another thing coming with the next guy."

"Udaeus didn't amount to crap in the end." Tsubaki laughed as she slapped the dwarf on the back before she cast a pointed look at Lyze. "After all, my apprentice there decided to rip out his soul and eat it before it could fight for very long."

"Had to be done." Lyze said. "If we'd gone about it the normal way, we'd probably have only entered the 44th floor today. But thanks to my work, we're in the 48th floor. Before you know it, Balor's leathery ass will be ours, and we'll be home again, before two weeks go by."

"I would advise extreme caution with this one Lyze, truly." Riveria said. "I know you have overcome all the odds lately...but this next monster rex is in a league of its own. Only one person has even remotely brought it close to death on their lonesome...as amazing as you are now, are you sure you could fight against them?"

"...No, definitely not." Lyze muttered.

It was true. His powers had grown for sure, but at this stage, Ottar was still far stronger, strong enough to still kill Lyze easily, if only he had to put in a little more effort than before. And the Boaz had nearly died trying to kill Balor. And in that near death state, Ottar had fought back through the 48 floors to the surface before he got treated.

Thankfully, before Lyze had departed for this expedition, Ottar had regaled him with the experience and though Lyze already knew about Balor's powers from source material in his past life, hearing a first account testimony from someone who had personally engaged it was a different thing altogether.

Even now, the mood in the Loki Familia was sombre. Although they were laying out their bedding and getting the fires ready to cook hot meals, a silence hung over them in anticipation of the next battle. Unlike the other monster rexes, they could not make it to the safe-zone before the vanguard engaged it. To get to the safe zone on the 50th floor, they had to fight past Balor while also being flanked by the little minions that would spawn in the 49th floor alongside it.

It was a nightmarish prospect to the Familia, whom at no point in their history had faced a situation quite like it before. It was now more than ever, that the chances of someone amongst them dying was highest. It was a wonder that none hadn't at this point, not even the little supporters that the Hephaestus Familia had brought with them. Though most of the smiths had been left back in Melen along with those supporters, at least one of the level ones in the Loki Familia should have lost their life by now. And yet they hadn't even though the monsters had been far more viscous and bloodthirsty this time around.

Lyze stood atop a small boulder, tapping a finger on Excalibur's hilt as he stared at the stairwell that led down to the 49th floor. What lay ahead of them was the objective of why they'd come this far down in the first place. To slay the monster rex currently known as the strongest and finally become a real S rank Familia, just as Zeus and Hera did, and just as the Freya Familia had done not so long ago.

Something felt wrong though...

Ever since Lyze had taken Freya's warning to heart, that ominous foreboding seemed to just get stronger. It was understandable given the identity of who they were about to fight next...but Lyze couldn't figure out if it was just that or if there was something more to all of this. The Dungeon according to every witness account had been sending stronger monsters than was normal of it. The monster rexes had also been stronger...which made sense as Lyze had been the one who'd had to deliver the killing blows.

Goliath had been easy enough, Amphisbaena difficult but manageable, and Udaeus a cakewalk only because Lyze had used forbidden powers he himself didn't like to use. But they had all been stronger than what was normal of them. And if the trend was to continue, Balor was bound to be stronger as well. It could be that that possibility was the entire reason Lyze was feeling more uneasiness than was reasonable but still...why had the Dungeon been trying so hard? What did it seek? What did it want?

He had directly challenged it before, he knew that. It had even responded to his taunts once by spawning a Goliath prematurely for him. But why would it expend so much energy, so much resource to strengthen all of these monsters just for that challenge he made. Did it not cost the Dungeon anything? Was there not a price for all of these stronger monsters?

Lyze remembered Hermes once saying that the Dungeon had been much more difficult once in the past for adventurers and monsters that were now designated to spawn in certain floors use to appear much earlier.

On a side not, as Lyze remembered a certain skill of his, and a certain name he'd now taken for himself...just imagining the foxy god's sly face and lecherous behaviour suddenly filled him with the urge to rip the information broker's legs off...just a little bit.

Lyze was broken out of his apocalyptic thoughts by a hand on his back and and he looked to see Tsubaki gesturing towards the little seating area made for the vanguard around an unlit pile of firewood. His superiors were looking at him expectantly, particularly Gareth who had a frying pan of raw sausages in a hand with an impatiently tapping foot.

"We're going to eat soon." The Hephaestus Familia captain said to him. "And we need you to light the fires."

"Can't you just use your tinderboxes like you used to?" Lyze asked rhetorically.

The reason why he was made to light fires now was because the ones he lit would instantly burn bright and fierce and they would not have to wait to begin cooking their meals. Tsubaki then glanced over to the chestplate she'd made for him and tutted as she saw the scratches on it. Without even asking his permission, she reached for the straps and unclasped it from him, leaving his top half in only a tunic and his cloak hanging a little lower now.

"I'm going to have to polish this up for you." Tsubaki said more to herself than to him. "I thought making it from the horn of that Barbarian would make it durable enough to survive the lower floors...but I guess the monsters are just that stronger."

"It's good armour." Lyze said as he patted her shoulder before stepping down from the boulder. "The wearer is just a bit too daring than it can cope with."

"We'll see about that." Tsubaki said.

---

As the fires crackled and the sausages sizzled, Lyze held his cup of ale and swirled it around as he simmered his brain in his thoughts. His mind was forever occupied, so much so that he didn't even dream. When he slept, he would either sleep in the darkness of his mind or he would think about his predicaments and his situations even as he slept.

He watched his teammates laugh and joke together as drink sloshed around in their tankards while they feasted over meat on the fire, and told each other stories from their past or made a crack at one another here or there. It was a step up from the mood from earlier...the drink had lightened things up a bit. Lyze sighed though as he took the last sip from his cup and tossed it aside somewhere, wishing for the umpteenth time that he could feel the buzz.

Absolute poison immunity meant complete detoxification of intoxicants such as alcohol or even drugs...which probably also meant a resistance to anaesthetics as well if he ever did end up in one of Dian Cecht's wards. But without the ability to get drunk and let his mind wander, he was forced to bear with the notions in his head and be constantly aware of who he was and why he was doing all that he did.

Perhaps it was in some small way a blessing that he couldn't get his mind to wander like that, since containing Chaos depended a large part on his mental fortitude and with that down, there was no telling what could happen. At the very worst, the entity could consume everyone and everything, and where Genkai and Tenkai would have once been, there would be nothing but the void. All would be returned to Chaos.

"Lyze. I've been wanting to ask something." Finn said as bit into a piece of bread. "The little girl you brought home from the tavern...you know, the time you fried three men alive with that weird lightning of yours?"

Lyze widened his eyes as he recalled that. It had been a bit of time since he'd used Force Lighting, though he didn't need it anymore. Perhaps that was also in list to be fed to the Flame.

"You mean Lili?" He said. The conversation also seemed to perk up Ais's ears. "What about her?"

"What exactly are your plans regarding her?" Finn asked. "Is she going to forever stay your supporter or something? She seemed to want to follow you down here but of course that would have been nothing but a perilous decision."

"She was to stay my supporter so long as she was not a part of the Familia." Lyze said. "I was to take care of her with my own money as long as that was the case. But now that Loki has made her a part of us and now that the Soma Familia is no more than a dismantled wreck with its members either imprisoned or on the run, I suppose I'm going to take charge of her a little more, and teach her how to fight...that is, if you don't do that yourself Finn."

"What do you mean?" Finn raised his brow.

"You're very patriotic Finn." Lyze smiled. "I doubt you'd not want to personally train the only other Pallum in the Familia, especially at such a young and ripe age. As a matter of fact Finn, I'd wager you would take her as your protégé as some point in the future."

"What makes you say that?"

"She's quite intelligent." Lyze said as he folded his arms. "Something tells me she would have a good mind for strategy and direction...just a feeling really. But if you must know, I was considering teaching her how to use the spear."

"Why the spear?" Bara asked as she leaned over to him. "A spear's a bit of an odd weapon for a twitchy little thing like her."

"She'll grow into it." Lyze said. "Much like Finn did as I'm sure."

"It wasn't easy." Finn admitted. "But if you know how to handle one, there's perks to wielding a spear."

"Lyze." Noir injected. "If it would not bother you so much...what was life like in Daedalus?"

"What spurred this question on?" The boy raised a brow.

"Just that you two came from the same place is all." The old man said. "We tried to help you in the mental and psychological faculties since we thought that perhaps you'd been scarred in that area...but fortunately you seem to have got that covered. If you're still this sane despite having the master that you had, then it's a wonderous achievement on your end."

"Your words are kind." Lyze smiled. "But please...I would rather not speak about that place. The only reason I go there is when I go to spend time with the orphans...nothing more, nothing less."

"That is perfectly reasonable." Noir said. "My apologies."

"Nothing to be sorry for." Lyze sighed. "And besides, Lili has her own experiences so you cannot deal with her the same way you tried with me."

"Noted." Finn said before he smiled suggestively. "You know, I find it strange that just after you took in that little girl, they somehow managed to find so much dirt on the Soma Familia and it was almost immediately disbanded. Strange isn't it? Especially when for some reason, their captain whom I believe you hated quite a lot is still nowhere to be found as far as my knowledge goes."

"Yes, it is quite strange." Lyze said casually as if Finn had not levied an implicit accusation against him at all. That tone however, told the Pallum all he needed to know. Meanwhile, Lyze just began to quietly sing a little song that had just come to him from the deepest part of his memories.

~Lily was a little girl~

~Afraid of the big wide world~

~She grew up, within her castle walls...~

Not the most pleasant of songs when you considered the full contents of it and the important message behind it, or the story that inspired the song in particular. Nor was Lili really any sort of princess...but he would flay anyone alive if they ever dared to come near her and harm her again. He'd sworn to protect her...and he would do it with the most ready and forceful vigour. So caught up in the lyrics of the song he was singing to himself, he only barely registered the small hand that slipped into his, and Ais looking up at him with a small smile.

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