Cuteness at the bottom of the dungeon!

I fired my laser pistol into the narrow hallway, sending out volley after volley, emptying the clip until all the lightning wolves were dead.

I was on the 100th floor of the Orcus dungeon in the world of Tortus, a land of dungeons, demons and monsters, a sword and magic fantasy world that was the primary setting of Arifureta, a novel, manga and unfortunately, also an anime series.

It followed the journey of Hajime Nagumo, a typical loser otaku with a heart of gold and his adventures in generic isekai land number 404.

No, there's no truck-kun.

Instead the setting is a bit more old school with Hajime and his entire class getting summoned to another world under the pretense of saving the world from demons.

Yes, pretense because the real reason was something far more stupid.

It was so the supposed god of that world, Ehit could get a new body to possess.

Yeah. Really.

Now about that class of his.

It's a typical class of 16 year olds, i.e., a bunch of dickheads high on puberty.

There's obviously the popular clique, with the heroic, self righteous asshole Amanogawa Kouki, who's handsome, strong, get's all the bitches.

The ideal sucker.

Then there's the cool beauty. You don't need to know her name. That's her whole character. Well not really but it's what it felt like reading about her.

Yaegashi Shizuku. A kendo ace who's the cool, athletic and sassy character that's generally the best friend of the love interest.

It happened in Toradora and it happens here as well.

Then there was Kouki's best friend, the dumb brute, Ryutaro. He's got the usual brute archetypes. He's slow, dumb and does judo, which is the japanese codeword for 'this guy buff and stronk'.

Finally, there's the love interest, Kaori Shirasaki. Kind, nice and the hottest chick in town, loved by all and the childhood friend of Kouki.

So the question arises, where does Hajime fit in this?

Well, that's where the weird part comes in.

Kaori is actually in love with him.

Why, you ask?

Why is the most beautiful girl in school in love with a loser otaku beanstalk?

For one, this is anime.

And two, she saw Hajime have a 'pet the kitten' moment to show his soft or good side. He helped out an old woman from a group of thugs.

No, not by being a badass. This isn't that kind of a story.

He just prostrated himself on the old lady's behalf and got beaten black and blue like a bitch. But apparently Kaori found that attractive so hey, lucky him, right?

Wrong!

The attention she paid him attracted undue attention, jealousy and bullying from his other classmates towards him, especially one idiot called Hiyama and his group of punks.

Now once they were summoned to Tortus, he obviously got the worst stats because this time, the magaka actually did something original.

And so, having the lowest stats, he was bullied again, even ignored by the summoners, the king of Heiligh kingdom and the church of Ehit.

But Kaori still doted on him which pissed off Hiyama.

So when they went the Orcus dungeon, and fell into a trap, he used the opportunity to push hajime into the Abyss, a huge cliff face running down from floor 65 to the 100th floor.

Hajime however survived and underwent a hellish ordeal, a crucible that forged him into a survivor.

I had sneaked into the dungeon with my invisibility and made my way down to the twentieth floor.

Then, I got to finding the same trap as the people in the story.

In Arifureta, the trap was activated by touching a glowing crystal on the walls.

The problem was that it didn't mention which one.

And so, I got to work, finding and tugging at every glowing stone in the labyrinth until I triggered the trap.

From there it was simple as jumping off the cliff and into the Abyss where I floated down to the 100th floor.

Or as it was later found out, the first true floor of the Orcus dungeon.

Before, the dungeon monsters were weak and low level with few skills and magical abilities, if any at all.

But from here on, they'd get real powerful and tricky. Or so it was for others. But for me, with my laser pistol and forcefield, it was a cakewalk.

I looked at the wolf blood pooled on the floor and grinned.

It's great being overpowered.

There were another 100 floors to go till the true end of the labyrinth from here on out.

And at the end, was a grand prize.

The Ancient Magic, Creation!

The ability to craft any magical artifact you could imagine with any effect and enchantments, even conceptual ones at higher levels of mastery.

But that was far away. For now, I'll be happy to return with the vampire girl sealed in the dungeon. The lab assistant I had come here for.

I don't have all day after all!

With a pop the cartridge flew out and I replaced it with another as I put down another seismic sensor.

With a thought it let out an earthshaking pulse across the natural, rocky hallway, and finally after nearly eight hours of searching, I found it.

The God Crystal.

The source of the secret sauce that made Hajime, the original protagonist of Arifureta, the most powerful, godslaying, badass in the world. On multiple worlds actually.

Why? Because it dripped a potent healing elixir that allowed him to consume and assimilate monster flesh into himself, gaining their powerful magical abilities and stats for himself.

It also allowed him to directly manipulate mana from the atmosphere to cast magic.

Otherwise known as the Divinity Stone, it's a crystal that emits a pale blue light and drips with a natural and potent healing elixir made of condensed, saturated mana. It coukd heal wounds, nullify toxins and cure most ailments, even halting aging so long as you continued to drink it.

In the story, it brought Hajime back from the brink of death and kept him alive for days with only drops of it beings consumed by him. It was overpowered, to say the least.

Of course it still had it's weaknesses. It couldn't regrow lost limbs or revive someone. It also couldn't provide any nutrients to the body or dull pain.

The stone itself is created when clumps of mana pool over thousands of years and crystallize. It was basically the final boss of mana crystals.

It was one of four things I had come here for, the other three being the fantastical metal found in the Orcus dungeon, the flesh of magical beasts that I plan to use to enhance myself, and finally, a cute, immortal vampire assistant who had been sealed at the bottom of the dungeon.

I took out excavator gloves from my bag and tore into the wall to the side, carving out a small cave as I dig deeper and deeper until I saw the wall glowing fainty blue.

With another scrape, the crystal revealed itself. It was thrice the size of a basketball and hefty. It's surface was smooth, glistening from the elixir forming on the surface.

I carved out a small divot below to collect the elixir that was already forming a shallow puddle, while I worked to delicately extract the crystal itself, placing it into a large tank before storing it away.

Once all of the elixir in the divot had been collected, I checked around for any more stones.

Unfortunately, there weren't any more.

With that done, I retreated back out, patting my clothes clean.

Time to hunt my way down to the vampire waifu!

.

I arrived before an ornate door some eighty floors down, after going through killer owls, six legged cats, giant insects, assassin sharks that swam in tar and basilisks that could petrify with a look.

I shudder to think how many times I would have died if it hadn't been for the forcefield.

It only made me respect the original protagonist for running this gauntlet alone and without this level of protection. He survived this shit and made a life for himself with his own sweat and blood.

That's admirable.

Unfortunately for him, I'm stealing his waifu and his cheat item. Shame he'll die this time.

Or maybe I can consume the god of this world later so he's not summoned at all?

There is still like a solid year before they are summoned so....

I'll see.

For now, I returned my gaze to the huge ornate door in the middle of the room. On it's sides stood two statues of muscular, chiseled cyclopses. From the story, I knew they were monsters hiding in plain sight and immediately turned their heads into donuts before pushing the doors open.

Inside, was a vast chamber with a tall, vaulted ceiling and ornately carved walls. Though in the dark I had to use night vision on my glasses to see them.

I also knew that there was supposed to be a scorpion monster up there so I was insoecting the ceiling but surprisingly, there was no monster up there.

The maker really went extra on this, didn't he?

I smiled appreciating the work before my gaze fell upon the 3 meter high cube in the center of the room and on it's sole occupant, sealed within the cube.

A young, naked girl, buried halfway into the crmison black cube as if she had been melded with it.

The cube was a sealstone, a magical material that absorbed and blocked magic, made specifically to trap this little girl. By her own uncle, another dungeon conqueror.

Naturally, this girl was the one I had come for.

Aletia Galdea Vesperitio Avatarl, the former, immortal queen of vampires and first wife of Hajime Nagumo, the protagonist of Arifureta.

She was an atavist vampire with the ability of 'Regeneration'.

So long as she has mana, she is unkillable and immortal.

As a side effect of this ability, she is also stuck in the form of a twelve year old since this ability of hers awakened when she was twelve.

But that's not all. She was also a genius magic user and had a natural affinity for all elements.

And most importantly, she was loyal. And I needed loyalty. That's something money can't buy.

"Is... is someone t-there?" She asked, her voice hoarse and torn.

"Yeah. What about it?" I asked.

"I-i... please save me!" She begged.

"Sorry. I made a wrong turn somewhere. See ya!" I said, turning around to leave.

Of course I was just teasing her. I wasn't actually going to leave her here.

Besides, if she's desperate, I can get a better deal from her.

Gotta make sure she knows exactly what she stands to gain and what she stands to lose.

"Wha- wait!" She cried out, "Please! Please let me out of here..."

"I'll do anything!" She added.

Aha! Now that's what I like to hear!

"Why?" I asked.

Now I just need to make her remember why she was here. To hammer in the fact that loyalty was front and center for the both of us.

"Why? I-i-i.... I was betrayed."

I stopped and walked back to her.

From up close, now that I look at her, she's really beautiful.

An enchanting beauty.

Not like sexy, but rather like a sculpture, a work of art. And that after she's been here for what, 300 years?

Man that's some nice genetics!

Or was it a feature of vamiprism?

She didn't even smell that bad, but then again this place is a bit chilly so maybe she didn't sweat as much?

There were vents up top that my glasses could detect, so fresh or at least new air vented in and out.

"Say something.... please." She cried, tears forming in her eyes.

I reached out, and wiped her tears, caressing her cheek.

"I know. That you were betrayed that is. Aletia Avatarl." I said, "I came here for you, in fact."

Her eyes went wide as she looked up at me, trying to get a good look at my face.

"Don't worry, I'm not from your uncle's kingdom." I assured her.

"Then why?" She asked, confounded.

"Why did I act like I was going to leave? To tease you!" I grinned, pinching her soft cheeks, exposing her sharp canine teeth.

"Just a bit of fun!"

"It's not!" She tsukkomi'd, pouting, "I.. I was so scared...." She began to shake and whimper.

I felt bad for her, seeing her like this.

I reached out and patted her head, comforting her.

"Sorry. It was a bit mean. But I didn't want to cause you pain!" I said.

"It's okay." She sniffled, as I wiped her tears again.

Once she calmed down she looked at me with the same expression as before and I continued.

"As for why I came here, in this monster infested dungeon. It was for you. I want you, Aletia Avatarl. I'm looking to kill some gods and I need an assistant. Someone who knows what it means to be loyal. Who knows how painful it is to be betrayed. Someone who won't betray me. A partner in crime who's true.

And I chose you." I said.

She was silent for a moment, looking at me with incredulity and curiosity.

She went to say something but I put a finger to her lips and continued.

"But, I want real loyalty. It's why I was truthful from the start. About what I know. That I know about you and your story. A good relationship is built on trust, after all. And I want this to be one. So let me extend you an offer. I will free you either way. Then it will be your choice."

"I don't know what to say.... " She blushed embarrassedly.

How cute!

"Oh it's simple. Do you think you'll survive if I bisect you by the waist? And which half do you think will regenerate? The top half or the bottom half?

"What?!" She exclaimed.

"I need to free you somehow." I shrugged, "And if I remember right you have some form of regeneration, don't you?"

"...yes." She answered, looking at me with accusing eyes, "Not gentlemanly at all."

"Well manners won't free you and I don't have all day." I explained.

It was true. it had taken nearly 14 hours getting here and after all that fighting my forcefield was running low.

I don't think it will crack under one more monster but I don't want to find out.

"So which half?" I asked feeding her a small bit of the elixir to recover her magic power.

This way she can revive before the sealstone absorbs her mana again.

"Top half." She gulped it down and replied.

"Alright then." I created a spectral blade with my magic, raising it high as Aletia looked on in slight fear, bracing herself.

And with one smooth slash, I bisected her, splitting her body in two, freeing her from the cube.

Sure, I could have transmuted her out but the sealstone is an anti-magic artifact so I would have to waste a lot of magic.

Why do that when she's immortal?

So I went with the easiest way out.

Her cut body slid down the cube and fell onto the floor as she shrieked in pain.

But almost instantly, her body started to regenerate, and soon she was whole again.

I made a circle with my fingers and breathed out a crimson flame, turning her lower half to ash, just in case she regenerates into two separate bodies.

Magic is bullshit after all!

"So how are you feeling?" I asked, feeding her another capful of elixir, just in case she need more to regenerate internal organs.

"Brutal." She said, looking at me with piercing eyes, pouting, "No hesitation! Even in front of a pure, little girl."

I scoffed.

"Aren't you like 300 years old?"

At that she pinched me in retribution.

"Ow!"

"... rude." She said, "Pointing out a lady's age."

"Weren't you a pure little girl just now?" I teased.

"Both." She said, pinching me again.

After that a moment passed in silence as we sat there before she asked.

"Your name?"

"Jay. Jay Walker."

She nodded, repeating my name over and over softly.

I pinched her super soft cheeks, bringing her back to reality.

"Aletia-"

"No." She interrupted, her eyes going into a distant gaze, dull and sad, "Don't.. call me that."

"Then what do I call you?" I asked.

"I don't want my old name. I'd rather use a name you give me." She said.

"A new name huh?" I thought.

In Arifureta, she was given a new name by Hajime.

Yue, for the moonlight blond hair of hers and those big red eyes.

Maybe I should do the same?

I mean, if she wants to go be with Hajime after this mission, maybe it's better she have a japanese name?

I'll just let her choose. It's best she learns to own her decisions. Starting with her name.

"I'll give you two choices. You choose which one you want.

The first is Amber because of your big and clear red eyes.

And the second is Yue, which means 'Moon', for your moonlit blond hair and vampiric heritage."

She thought for a moment, blushing as she touched her hair and nodded.

"Yue!" She chose, "It rhymes with Jay! Short and sweet."

I watched her smile as she said her name over and over again.

Her smile is so sweet. Makes me want to hug her!

She reminds me of Riley with the blond hair but she's old enough to be my great grandmother!

"Jay. You're thinking something weird." She said, eyeing me suspiciously.

"What frightening instincts you have." I patted her head as it bobbed cutely under my hand.

Just then a magic circle stealthily formed above us and I realised what was happening.

The reason the monster scorpion wasn't there already. It was summoned!

___________________

3000 words! Phew! That's a loooong chapter!

You guys better appreciate it! XD

MC saves Yue and gets a vampire waifu.

Of course he doesn't know it yet!

Next time, battle against the scorpion, and a chat at the bottom of the dungeon.

Next extra chapter at 200 powerstones!

So donate ma dudes and dudettes!

Till then, thanks for reading and see ya!