Guild.

As agreed, Loki and Shichika came to the Pantheon by invitation. Right now they were walking along a long dark corridor decorated with incomprehensible writing. They were sent here by the manager of the Guild headquarters, Royman Mardeel, an extremely old elf of short stature. For his love of money, disgusting character and unpleasant appearance, he was nicknamed the guild pig by other elves.

A little later, both approached a vertical door, which began to open as soon as they approached. Beyond the passage was a large hall all over the surface of which all the same symbols were carved. Lit only by a few torches, in the center of the room stood a large throne on which sat an elderly man with gray hair. A little over 2 meters tall, his head was covered with a hood, and his body was hidden under a black robe; a mask hung around his neck, capable of hiding the lower half of his face.

Ouranos, one of the strongest gods in Tenkai, and also the first of them to give the falna to humanity. Once upon a time, it was under his supervision that Orario appeared; for a long time, his family was a leader in most industries. Later, he realized that the world needed an independent organization that would set the rules and enforce them. This is how the Guild, the most influential organization, appeared. Surprisingly, none of the "living" workers of the Ouranos family have falnas, which means they are equal in strength to ordinary mortals.

- Onryo, no, Yasuri Shichika, the letter did not indicate the time and conditions of arrival, but still I thought that you would come earlier and alone.

- Did you think that I would let my child go to meet you without my accompaniment? - Loki stepped forward, covering the teenager with her body.

- To be honest, I hoped so, but your presence was expected.

- Then don't waste time and tell me why you need Shichika.

- The fact is that we wanted to offer him a deal. We know that his presence is detrimental to others. His strength and knowledge of the dungeon are unmatched among adventurers of the same level.

- So what? I'm sure among the high-level adventurers there will be someone better for your purposes, Hedin for example.

- For now Hildrsleif may be stronger, but he serves only Freya and is ready to sacrifice moral principles for her sake. Shichika showed himself to be a compassionate person who values the life of living beings, at least those who do not do evil. Let's get down to details: Yasuri Shichika will be assigned as the commander and sole member of the cleanup squad. In the event of an emergency, we will send him quests. These may include: the destruction of strengthened species, investigations, the fight against the remnants of Evilus, and more. In return, we undertake to provide a good monetary reward, as well as support for your family if something happens. Of course you can refuse.

- Become your errand boy? We refuse! - I agree.

- What? - Loki could not find a reason why the teenager could agree.

- Wonderful. Then you can go.

- Shichika, what are you thinking about? None of the gods deal with Ouranos, with the exception of Ganesha. And believe me, there are reasons for this, - on the way back to Loki she tried to convince her child to refuse the deal.

- He is a good person, I see that. And if I'm not mistaken, he is ready to sacrifice anyone for the common good. This makes him even more dangerous than the Evilus gods.

- If you understand why you agreed?

- Money, help in conflicts, plus most likely he will give me the opportunity to be in missions completely alone. It's a good deal.

- Now it's clear... But if you become his target?

- Then he doesn't have much time. Until then, I have you, Finn, Gareth and Riveria.

- You chose to trust us. Apparently I really created a "family"

- A real one.

While the goddess and her beloved were returning home, silver and golden silhouettes sparred in the area in front of the house. During the morning warm-up, the werewolf noticed a girl who was preparing for today's training with her new teacher. The decision was made not to waste time. The sword collided with metal gloves and boots 2-3 times per second, after which the duelists dispersed, catching their breath and preparing for a new clash.

*Sounds of heavy breathing*

Throughout the battle, the fighters maintained the same Ais due to her higher stats, Bete due to his extensive combat experience. Only in the last skirmishes winner was decided. It was the golden-eyed girl. It is worth saying that both did not use magic in battle, although they received spells that could give them strength to resist an enemy of a higher level. Each of them had their own reasons for this decision.

- You are strong! Especially for your age, I don't think there is anyone younger than me who can beat you, - the teenager known as "Fenris" recognized his opponent and was generous with his compliments. 

- No. There is one. And I don't even know what he's capable of, - the will to fight gave the girl a second wind, she straightened up and raised her weapon up.

- Really? - not wanting to lose to a man who is 6 years younger than himself, Bete also took a stand.

Metallic clangs were heard again across the yard.

As a result, both lay on the grass, gasping for air.

- Can you tell me about your opponent? How strong is he?

- I don't know.

- What do you mean?

- He never hits back. And I can`t land a strike.

- And who is it?

- You met before, his name is Shichika.

- This weakling? It's probably because he just can't. And you are not able to hit him because of some cowardly ability.

- No.

- No? And why is that?

- Loki said that he doesn't fight those he doesn't want to kill.

- I understand. Maybe.

- Kids, why are you lying down? Okay Bete, but for you, Ais. We walked straight from the Guild, becouse of you. Although we could have walked around the city.

- Sorry.

- *Argh...* Never mind, I need to talk to Finn, you'll figure it out for yourself, - Loki, who arrived, immediately left, leaving three members of her family in the front yard.

- I think I'll go too.

- Stop! What about training?

- You are very tired, there is no point in this now.

- Who do you think you are? Do you think she's incapable of fighting in this state?

- Yes.

- Then what if there are two of us? Won't you chicken out?

- If you want it, attack.

Both fighters, exhausted from training, rose from the ground. Glancing at each other and receiving a nod, they ran forward. The blows were thrown from different sides and at interesting angles, and all this at the maximum speed for them. In this storm, Shichika was like a leaf moving from side to side, as if blown away by their attacks. From the outside it seemed that he was dancing too sharply.

It is clear that such a battle cannot last long; after a minute and a half, the girl and the werewolf collapsed without strength, without hitting their target. This time they did not even have the strength to move. Having made an internal decision, Shichika put each person on his shoulders and carried them inside the building.

- What are you doing! Let me go!

This time, the werewolf's objections were not taken into account.

After a good dinner at the Hostess of Fertility, which cost the teenager a staggering sum of 2,300 valis, he decided to take a walk around the area. Soon his trips to the dungeon will resume. Therefore, on the long-standing advice of his goddess, he went in search of entertainment. However, they found it themselves. In one of the dark passages a figure appeared completely covered with a black robe; his hands were wearing large gloves with claws.

- Yasuri Shichika, please don't be scared, I wish you no harm. Ouranos sent me, we want to talk to you about what happened on the 22nd floor. Without extra eyes, - for the adventurer, the creature in front of him had a dying flame, and a white silhouette outlined only a skeleton.

....................................................

-*AHAHAHHA* Venera, look! This world also has its own Jack. But here at least the bones remain besides the soul. I bet on the influence of magic, - somewhere far away a very short girl found something funny, which she immediately told her friend about

- Really? Where? Why don't they ever think about the cost of immortality? Bet accepted, I think she used some kind of magic item.

...................................................

Through the secret passages, the duo returned to the room from which the Guild's patron god sends prayers to keep the monsters within the dungeon at bay.

- On the middle floors you met... a woman. She was very different from the surface inhabitants.

- Do you mean siren? Then the slave traders were chasing her. Something happened?

- Are you asking if something happened? *Hah* Funny. That girl was a monster born from the dungeon. Anyone else would have killed her without hesitation, why didn't you? Surface inhabitants have been dying from monster attacks for thousands of years. Literally everyone during this time lost their relatives from their fangs and claws. Everyone hates them.

- So what? They kill us - we kill them. Everything is simple and I don't think that this will ever change; usually the creatures of the dungeon simply have no other desires. That siren was different, she has dreams, emotions, the bloodlust had no control over her. Why should I kill her?

- She's a monster. Enemy of humanity.

- That's all? You are a god, there is a walking skeleton to your left, is this a reason for hatred? There are no bad or good species, only individual representatives of them, the elf you appointed is a prime example of this.

- Very good. We call creatures like her "Xenos", they are a race of intelligent monsters, not all of them are able to speak, but their intelligence is comparable to that of a human. We first discovered them about 10 years ago, and since then we have kept in touch and kept them out of the public eye in every possible way. Besides those present here, only Ganesha and the remnants of Evilus know about them. Given the circumstances, I want to personally ask you for help.

- Were the words about personal tasks a lie?

- No, they are true, we just didn't want to talk about such a sensitive topic in front of Loki.

- Then I don't mind helping you.

- Great. I have my first task for you. Xenos feed on magical stones, and in addition they become stronger. Rumor has it that you're good at collecting amazing numbers of them during raids. Could you take a couple of bags to their hideout on the 20th floor? We will pay double their cost plus 500 thousand for the mission itself. Fels will mark the exact location on the map.

- Shelter? I'm sure I know every floor up to the 25th. And nowhere have I seen a group of intelligent monsters.

- Of course, they do not stand still, periodically dividing into groups they change their place of residence, it so happened that we were lucky that you did not meet them at such moments.