43

In the Middle floors of the Dungeon Ottar has been fighting a herd of Minotaurs non-stop for the past six days in order to increase their battle prowess, he even had them eat Magic Crystals to futher empowered the monsters and make them stronger faster, the Level 7 adventurer had done everything he could to make this herd of Minotaurs into real powerhouses and that included giving them weapons to fight with.

Ottar had utterly broken the balance of the Middle Floors as the Minotaurs moved as a unit to hunt other monsters and eat their Magic Crystals in order to get even more power as well, something Ottar approves of as he watched over the Minotaur herd "they're ready... I hope your ready as well little adventurer...".

He had fulfilled his Goddess's wishes and all he had to do now is wait for Bell to come to the Dungeon and see if he's worthy of his Goddess's attention and affection.

(A few days before Ottar finished training the Minotaurs).

Its been a few days since Ais, Tione, Tiona and Lefiya began to come over every morning to train with Bell and I got to admit that they've gotten stronger in stats and skill wise, they were all doing their best because the day for the Loki Familia's expedition to the lower floors was soon approaching.

I myself have been grinding my Blacksmithing skill while also making new weapons for them, for Ais I made a one handed sword out of Mithril that I bought in the in-game shop and enchanted with Indestructible and self sharpening enchantments plus I also enchanted the Pokemon move Air Cutter to give her a long range attack, I named it Zephyr Gale .

For Lefiya I had to get creative, Lefiya uses a staff not only for bashing her opponents but as a focus for her magic spells but I've never made a staff before and my Blacksmithing doesn't give me the knowledge for making staffs, apparently that knowledge is part of the Crafting Skill.

Thankfully Wiz and YunYun had made staffs and wands before so they helped make one for Lefiya, first we went together to My Pokehome and looked for a good tree to pick wood from, My Pokehome dimension is saturated with Mana which means that anything that grows there is extremely Mana conductive.

In the end we picked one of the of Leppa Berry trees we had planted there and I used Senjutsu to make the tree create a big block of wood and then bought the Crafting Skill from my in-game shop.

I practiced under a time dilation ward to make sure I wouldn't waste the Leppa Tree wood until I was sure I had enough practice and my skill was high enough level for me to succeed in making the staff, it took two weeks inside the wards and one day outside to finish carving the staff but I was feeling rather proud of my work.

Afterwards I used my Blacksmithing skill to make a head accessory for the staff, one made out of Mithril and a big Emerald I had gotten from killing the Goblin King Boss in the Goblin Dungeon.

This granted the staff the same perk as an Emerald Ring, this staff reduces Mana consumption by thirty-three percent which is perfect for mages and if YunYun and Wiz didn't have perks that did the same thing for them already they would have asked me to make them a staff like this one too.

For good measure I also enchanted it with the Mana Breath Enchantment and I also added the Vitality Strike Enchantment, this Enchantment is a new one and what it does is when you strike your target with this staff, it will absorb some of the targets life force to heal the user, making it a very useful weapon for mages, I named it the Fairy staff.

For Tione I made a Persian Scimitar out of Meteoric Iron, A jet black metal with magical properties I gave it the Indestructible and self Sharpening Enchantments as well and gave it the Pokemon move Lava Plume.

This Pokemon move gave her a wide area of effect attack which is useful for crow control, I named this blade the Ignare Nocturno, it's jet black blade and the red hot fire it summons when it uses Lava Plume inspired its name.

For Tiona I made a Honshu Naginata made out of Mithril, since it was the most similar weapon I could make that closely resembles her favorite weapon Durga in terms of use and fighting style, like the rest of the weapons I also gave it the Indestructible and self sharpening enchantments.

However this time I opted to use a different elemental move for enchanting rather than the one I used on the spear I lent her during the Monster Feria, when I asked her what she thought about the spear she had told me that it was the most amazing weapon she had ever wielded but that the Blizzard attack I enchanted on the spear sort of didn't match her close and personal fighting style.

So I asked her what sort of element and type of attack she would have preferred, she immediately answered with lightning and something that could help her when she gets surrounded since she tends to just rush ahead, according to her an electric attack was far much cooler and effective in battle, I couldn't help but chuckle at that response but if that's what she like I was going to make sure to giver her something cool for her weapon.

So I enchanted the Naginata with Pokemon move Discharge an area of effect Pokemon move that will help her get some space whenever she gets surrounded I named it Inazuma Hōkō, these weapons were the very best I can make with my Master rank Blacksmithing Skill.

It took me around five days to make these weapons and about two months inside the time dilation wards but it was worth it, not only did I make them for the Loki girls to make sure they were safe but it also helped me get tons of experience points for my Blacksmithing skill which allow me to finally reach the Legendary Rank.

I'm quite proud of my progress and I had a lot of fun learning about all the materials I used for the weapons, but right now it was time to give them to the Loki girls, tomorrow they leave for their long expedition and I want them to take their new weapons with them.

After getting the weapons ready I put them into my inventory and immediately headed outside, it didn't take me long to reach the time dilation wards and as soon as I stepped inside I heard the sounds of battle and explosions echo throughout the area.

I shook my head as I heard very colorful cursing from Tione, it was a surprise when I first heard her explode and a curse out like that, she was mighty embarrassed about it too but I shrugged and told her that it was fine, I certainly didn't mind that she cursed out even Kunou who knows better than to repeat what she heard laughed finding it refreshing and funny for someone to curse like that in front of her.

The girls found it amusing and accepted it right away, YunYun even tried to cursed like that a few times but she always ends up apologizing right after, she's too nice and kind to ever be able to curse like Tione but she really gave it her all.

Eventually I reached the clearing and sweatdropped as I watched Nidoking use Thrash right on top of Tione and Bell while Tiona was trying to choke him out, Nidoking was also holding a screaming Lefiya and wildly whipping her around in the air.

"..." I honestly did not what to say at the scene I just walked into, I looked around and then saw Ais standing a fair distance away with a very dry deadpan on her face.

Suddenly Nidoking froze when he saw me and looked at me like a deer caught in headlights Tiona who was still holding onto Nidoking's neck owlishly stared at me while both Bell and Tione groaned in pain underneath Nidoking.

The Drill Pokemon dropped Lefiya into the ground and the poor girl could only whine in pain when her body hit the ground, Nidoking then shook his entire body throwing off Tiona who yelped in surprise when she landed on her butt "hey! get back here Nidoking! we're not done with you!".

But Nidoking ignored her and walked up to me and softly growled "and good morning to you Nidoking, mind telling me why your beating the daylights out my friends?".

Nidoking growled at then pointed at him, a few seconds later he pointed a Ais who sweatdropped and then at both Bell and Tione who were shakely trying to get up "okay?... so Ais wanted to fight you but you were eating a Pokepuffin so you weren't in the mood to fight and then, Tione decided it was a good idea to take your Pokepuffin and eat it? ... wow how mean of her".

Nidoking nodded and then growled "okay so you got rightfully mad and gave Tione a taste of your Poison Jab and things got of control afterwards when all of them jumped and you attacked back?".

Nidoking nodded and I chuckled while taking another Pokepuffin out of my inventory and gave it to him "such horrible bastards~ here eat this one and go rest buddy".

Nidoking smiled and then quietly walked away while nibbling his Pokepuffin, I walked up to my bruised up friends and chuckled at them "and what have we learned?".

They all groaned at me but Bell answered anyways "do not protect Tione when she takes a Pokemon's food, let her get what she deserves...".

Tione gaped in betrayal towards Bell, while Tiona giggled "maybe not steal a Pokemon's food anyways? they don't seem to like it!".

Tione looked devastated that Tiona also took a jab at her while Lefiya groaned and walked up to us "...and don't just stand there because a Pokemon will grab you and use you as a club to beat up said food snatcher...".

Tione actually slumped from Lefiya's glare, I smiled and patted Tione's head to cheer her up while Ais walked up to Bell and did the same to him making him blush.

I shook my head in amusement and Tione looked up at me "how do you make the Pokemon listen to you Rean? they're so powerful and pretty stubborn when they want to be".

I smiled at Tione "to me my Pokemon are my family, I know I can always count on them to be there anytime I need them and that bond is something that connects us on a spiritual level, they listen to me because I treat them as partners".

Tione nodded and smiled while Tiona excitedly jumped on my back and hung there like a Koala "Rean let's play~ tomorrow the girls and I will be leaving for a long time to the Dungeon! so let's hang out today!".

I chuckled as held Tiona's by her legs as she held on to my neck, I turned my head to the side and gazed at her from the corner of my eyes "sure, Hestia took the girls to the baths and took Kunou with them so I was planning to hang out with you guys anyways but first I got you guys gifts".

Tione and Tiona cheered in excitement while Lefiya softly smiled and Ais just nodded while still giving a blushing Bell headpats, meanwhile I took out the weapons I made and made them float with Psychic towards them.

The girls stared at the weapons in awe while Bell grinned "the Naginata is for Tiona, the Scimitar for Tione, the One Handed Sword for Ais and the staff for Lefiya".

The girls nervously reached out to the weapons and then held them in front of their eyes admiring them, Lefiya looked up at me "Rean? are you sure? these weapons are of very high-quality... you could make a lot of money with this staff alone you know?".

I smiled and shook my head "nah, I made them for you guys and I made sure to enchant them with a special moves and make them Indestructible as well plus the self Sharpening enchantment will make it so you guys do have to pay for maintenance".

Lefiya, Tione and Tiona tear up a bit while Ais gave me a smile, the twins then gave me a big hug which I returned, Lefiya looked on for a little bit and seemed to be having an internal debate but in the end she nodded to herself and gave me a hug as well.

It caught me by surprise but I hugged her back nonetheless, Bell walked to to me and gave me a grin "so this is what you've been doing in the forge? I've been curious about it but seeing what you made, I can only say that it's was well time spent".

I nodded at Bell and smiled "yeah, this way I'll help them be safe in the Dungeon and come back to us right?".

Bell turned to look at Ais who gave him a smile, he then nodded to me with a soft smile on his face "yeah... thanks for making sure they are well equipped Rean".

I grinned at Bell and nodded, honestly this isn't something to thank me for, I will always take care of what I consider important to me, I am a dragon after all and dragons jealously protect their hoard.

The rest of the day we all spent it playing around with the Pokemon while explaining how the weapons work and what they can do, I also asked the girls to keep the fact that I made them a secret.

I was only going to ever make weapons like these for the people I care about and I didn't want to be constantly bothered by other adventurers, the twins, Lefiya and Ais vowed to never reveal who made them their awesome weapons.

Its been almost a week since the Loki Familia left for their long expedition, the mansion seemed very quiet now that the Loki girls weren't visiting and the girls and Kunou were beginning to miss them.

Bella and Hestia missed Ais since they had already gotten used to her quiet and calm presence and both of them really wanted to see her.

Even I missed the twins and Lefiya since they made the mansion a very lively place but we all knew that they were doing their best and that they will eventually comeback.

However during breakfast Hestia suddenly told us some very disturbing news "so I heard from Hephaestaus that there's something going on in the Middle Floors of the Dungeon, a few adventurers have gone missing and no one has heard of them again".

Serafall sipped some coffee and happily sighed "how curious, I guess because all of us use Teleport to reach the floors beyond the Eighteenth floor we haven't noticed anything weird, I wonder what's going on?".

Asia frowned "a new type of monster? or perhaps a Familia like Soma's?".

YunYun stopped easing and hummed "maybe the Dungeon is acting up again?".

Everyone turned to look at me but I shook my head "I don't think so, if it was the Dungeon then I would have been notified by the Gamer System but I haven't gotten nothing of the sort".

Yasaka took a bite of her Sunnyside eggs and spoke after swallowing "do you think it would affect the twins, Lefiya and Ais? the Loki Familia are in the Dungeon no?".

Sakuya who was serving Kunou and glass of milk shook her head "no, I don't think so by this time they should already be on the twentieth floor or beyond, if something had have happened word should already have reached the Guild or Loki".

Everyone looked down towards our breakfast, we were all worried but we have to trust them besides our friends can take care of themselves, still I feel like I'm forgetting something but since I've been so busy in the forge I can't think of anything.

YunYun brought me out of my thoughts when she suddenly spoke "so Bell! what are you going to do today? if I remember correctly you and Lili have the day off today right?".

Bell smiled and nodded "well Hestia's friend lord Miach asked me to gather some ingredients for him in the upper floors so me and Lili are going there to collect as much as we can".

Hestia smiled at Bell while Lili spoke up next "Lili thinks that lord Miach is trying to make something new but Lili isn't sure, the list of ingredients that lord Miach gave us is quite large".

Hestia nodded and proceeded to explain "it seems like Miach in trying to come up with a potion that can both heal and restore mana, I wonder how he would react about Rean who's been able to create Gels that can do the same?".

I sweatdropped, I think Miach would be pretty devastated to find out that some one out there can make healing items far more powerful and effective than him, well three people because both Asia and Wiz know how to make Gels as well "Hestia lets try and not break the spirit of other people okay?".

Hestia and the girls giggled while me and Bell sweatdropped, the girls in our lives are very scary sometimes.

After breakfast well all stood up and head to do our own things, Kunou and Asia left to take care of the Pokemon, Serafall, Yasaka and Hestia went to go visit Mama Mia and the Maids to get the latest gossip and to spend time with Ryuu to try convincing her to move in with us, Sakuya stayed behind to take care of the mansion while Wiz and YunYun went shopping for groceries.

Lili and Bell got ready and left to take care of Miach's favor while I went to my forge to keep messing around with all the metals I had bought and see what sort of things I can make next but deep down in my heart I had a feeling that something was going to happen today and I wasn't going to like it.

Bell and Lili were quietly hunting for some monsters known as Blue Papilio, a blue butterfly monster with four set of see through wings, this monster can't attack but by flapping its wings and releasing a soft powder it can heal fellow monsters.

It is a rare monster but it wings are an important ingredient for potion making and what Miach had asked for, so both Bell and Lili had been hunting them down none stop until they couldn't find anymore, Bell sighed and then turned towards Lili who was busy cutting the wings off a few Blue Papilios "Lili do you think that what we found is enough?".

Lili finished cutting the wings off and put them away on her bag "Lili thinks so, we did hunt down every Blue Papilio in the seventh floor".

Bell nodded and hummed for a bit "want to head down futher down and hunt some more monsters? having some extra money always help plus we could find more materials for Rean to forge with".

Lili stood up and nodded with a small smile "sure! Lili thinks that Master Rean will like some of the metals we can find further down, lord Miach didn't give us a deadline so Lili thinks I'll be fine is we spent some time in the middle floors".

Bell grinned and together with Lili they began to travel down the Dungeon while talking and having some fun hunting monsters, Lili had been getting a bit clingy with Bell lately and he has noticed it as well but he's waiting to see what Lili decides to do, so for now he'll spend more time with her and get to know her better.

If she wants something more of their current friendly relationship then he was going to speak with Hestia about first though he was sure that Hestia has also noticed how attached Lili is with him.

But as both of them descended lower and lower into the Dungeon it was obvious to them that something was wrong with the Dungeon, there weren't any monsters around and the floor was too silent, this alerted them.

Bell and Lili suddenly stopped walking and looked around sensing something staring at them "Lili... do you feel that too?".

Lili nodded and took out her Crossbow "yes Lili can sense that something staring at us... do you thing it's what lady Hestia was talking about during breakfast?".

Bell frowned and took out about both of his Knives, he tense up when he heard loud and heavy foot steps heading towards them, as soon as whatever was approaching them got close enough to be seen both Lili and Bell took a step back upon seeing the red Minotaurs holding a big broadsword walking up to them.

Bell and Lili gaped upon seeing this monster, sure there were plenty of Minotaurs in the middle floors but this is the first time they've seen a red one, Bell narrowed his eyes "a red Minotaur?".

Lili who is more experienced and knew a lot more about the monsters found in the Dungeon knew exactly what was in front of them "master Bell... that's an enhanced monster, Minotaurs are usually high Level 2 but red monsters are usually two to three levels above the norm...".

Bell growled "great... so it's at least a level four monster and has a weapon to boot as well".

Suddenly more and more red Minotaurs began to step out of the darkness of the Dungeon causing Bell's and Lili's eyes to widen in shock and horror, Bell gritted his teeth "this is bad... Lili I'll cover for you! get out here and go look for help!".

Lili turned her gaze towards Bell in disbelieve "master Bell! you can't take them all on! Lili thinks we should both run away!".

But Bell shook his head "this is a whole herd Lili! it's more than thirty Minotaurs and they seem to be heading up! if they aren't stopped they'll reach the surface and many will die! I can at least try to slow them down but I'm going to need help, please run and get help!".

Lili frowned, she knew she was still weak, she was still a level one while Bell is a level 2 with all S stats but she didn't want to run, she didn't want to abandoned Bell again, however Bell turned his head to the side and gave her a soft smile "I trust you Lili! I know you I'll comeback with help but you have to go now!".

Lili hesitated but then she shook her head and then turned around to run "Lili will be back master Bell! I will bring help so hang in there!".

Bell watched as Lili ran and left the Dungeon chamber they were standing in, Bell then turned towards the Minotaurs and grinned "alright! none of you are getting past me!".

With a roar Bell threw himself towards the Minotaurs at high-speed while the Minotaurs responded to his challenge with a roar as well, both of Bell's weapons glowed as he got ready to fight for his life and to take down as many Minotaurs as he can.

Meanwhile Lili was running as fast as she could looking for anyone to help her and Bell, luckly for her she would find some friends soon enough.

As I was hammering a new Dagger I was making for Bell since I think it's time for him to get an upgrade to his Pixie Knife, the red hot dagger suddenly cracked and I stared at it with some anxiety.

For some reason I got a very bad feeling again and I couldn't help but feel anxious suddenly I received a Quest notification that let me know that I was right about something having happened, I narrowed my eyes and mentally opened the notification to find out what was going.

[Ding! Ding!.

Bell and Lili had fallen into the trap of Freya! the obsessed Goddess has decided to test Bell once again, this time however she intends for him to have a magnificent adventure in order to grow even stronger.

She ordered her Level 7 adventurer Ottar to train a whole herd of Minotaurs turning them into red monsters and above Level 4 of power, go and save Bell!".

Objective 1: Help Bell with the herd of red Minotaurs.

Objective 2: Ottar will attack your friends of the Loki Familia! help them!.

Secret Objective: ?.

Reward 1: Four Common Pokemon Tokens.

Reward 2: Mystical Pokemon Token.

Secret Reward: ?.]

I stood up in a panic *a herd of red Minotaurs? that didn't happen in the anime! goddammit! what is that stupid Goddess thinking? Astraea how did this happen?*.

[It seems that since Freya saw how much stronger Bell is, she decided to stop pulling her punches, she's been known to be very unhinged when it comes to the people she's after which is the reason no one want to deal with her when she's after someone but because of this she has caused a lot of trouble for Orario and the Guild.]

*You have to be kidding me!? she was playing around in the anime!? Bell almost died multiple times because of her bullshit! tch!... looks like letting her live came back to bite me in the ass... but not anymore!*.

I immediately teleported to the first floor of the Dungeon and took off running at godspeed, I summoned Excalibur into my hand and cut down any monster in my way without even slowing down *wait for me guys I'm on my way and I'll make that Goddess and her Level 7 brute pay for ever messing with my friends!*.

Ouranos frowned and shook his head "stupid child... you just had to provoke Rean didn't you?... nothing nor anyone will save you from his wrath, you might have have the strongest Familia in Orario Freya but... you don't know the sort of beast you just poked".

Ouranos turned his head towards Fels who was also watching as Rean became a flash of purple light that traverse throughout the Dungeon at a speed he had never seen before while cutting down any monsters in his way, Ouranos then called out to him "Fels go and let Royman know that the Freya Familia might be taken down and that once again we will support Rean if it comes to that".

Fels turned his head towards Ouranos "are you sure lord Ouranos? the Soma Familia was one thing but Freya and her Familia are well renowned".

Ouranos shook his head "they reap what they sow Fels and besides this isn't the first time Freya has done this... there's plenty of Familias who were harrased until she got what she wanted and many more lost a lot of their Familia member... many want revenge and justice but because Freya's Familia is the strongest she's been able to get away with it... not this time, this time she made Rean her enemy and he will sweep her away like a storm".

Fels turned to look at Rean who was already on the ninth floor and approaching the ten floor, he wondered why he didn't teleport straight to Bell but more thann like he doesn't know which floor he is exactly "very well lord Ouranos, I shall inform Royman right away".

With that said Fels walked out of Ouranos's chamber, the old and tired God turned to look at the projection created by his power that allows him to see whats happening into the Dungeon "go Rean, go a help your friend! show the Dungeon.. no Gaea, why your worthy of her attention".

Lili ran as fast as she could, she was ever so thankful that Rean had enchanted her Supporter bag so it wouldn't weight at all because that allowed her to run faster and reached the twelfth floor.

She looked everywhere for someone to help her but she hasn't found anyone yet however, she was so focused on finding someone that she wasn't paying attention in front of her and end up crashing against someone who let out a loud and quite colorful curse.

Both of them rolled on the ground and once they stopped Lili immediately sat up, she recognized the voice of the person who she just crashed into and the way it cursed her out "Tione! I need your help!".

Tione who was the one Lili crashed into sighed and looked up at Lili, the little prum had crashed into the back of her knees so fast and hard that she was caught off guard and sent rolling on the ground, she was about to yell at Lili but she noticed how distressed she is "Lili? what's wrong?".

Soon enough Lefiya, Tiona, Ais, Finn, Riveria and even Bete walked up to see what was the commotion about while Lili began to explain " master Bell and Lili were suddenly ambushed by herd of Red Minotaurs! Master Bell stayed behind to hold them back since they were heading to the surface but there's too many! he needs help!".

Ais's eyes narrowed in worry while Lefiya gasped and Tiona frowned, Ais walked up to Lili "in what floor is the Bunny fighting the Minotaurs?...".

Lili turned towards Ais and spoke up "he's on the fifteenth floor! we need to hurry! please help master Bell!".

Ais nodded and immediately took off running along Tiona and Lefiya who were worried about their friend, Tione quickly stood up and picked up Lili under her arm and ran after the others, Riveria suddenly yelled at them "wha-! wait! don't just run into trouble!".

She took off running while Finn sighed and began to walked towards the direction the girls left, while Bete frowned but quietly followed them, he honestly thought all of this was a waste of time but no one was willing to listen to anything he had to say lately so he just shrugged and went along.

Ais ran at full speed trying to get to Bell as fast as she could, she was so worried about him that she almost didn't noticed someone walked out of the darkness of the Dungeon, but she did notice and immediately stopped.

Right in front of her stood Ottar the Level 7 adventurer, however his presence in the Middle floors confused Ais to no end but she had no time to ponder about why such powerful adventurer was here.

She tried to walk forward but Ottar blocked her way which surprised her and made her looked up at him "Sword Princess... fight me".

Ais frowned and was sbout to respond when everyone else caught up to her, Ottar just stared at everyone in silence and was about to speak when he suddenly felt the presence of something terrifyingly powerful heading towards their direction.

He wasn't the only that sensed something powerful approaching, Riveria, Finn and Bete both panicked and began to sweat profusely but Ais, Tione, Tiona, Lefiya and Lili smiled knowing who was coming.

I wasn't sure where everyone was so I couldn't directly Teleport to them but I used my Aura Sense to scan every floor as I ran through the Dungeon at Godspeed until I reached the Twelfth floor and I Sense the Loki girls and Lili inside this floor.

I also saw three other adventurers with them but the one I was paying the most attention to, was the massive man that was blocking the way from Ais and the girls and that pissed me off.

So I teleported right in front of Ottar whose eyes widen in surprise while the rest of the girls smiled and cheered, Ais didn't waste anytime to explain what was going "Rean!... Bell needed help but he won't let me pass!...".

I turned my gaze towards Ais and nodded, from the corner of my eyes I saw Riveria, Finn and Bete gaping at me but right now I didn't care about them, I turned my head towards Ottar and glared at him.

Ottar just stare at me with a frown on his face, I pointed Excalibur towards him in her Tachi form "I don't know what that stupid woman of yours is trying to accomplish here! but I will only tell you this one time! get out of my way or die!".

Ottar actually took a step back but growled at me in anger, my Stardust energy flared around me and danced wildly around my body, I could feel my body getting more and more dragonic as my anger continues to grow, purple scales began to grow and glow on my body as my canine fangs began to grow and look shaper, my purple eyes glowed in the dark as they too changed to their reptilian form.

The girls grinned and awed at my power, especially the twins who intently stared at me, while Riveria and Finn frowned and stepped back wondering what's going on, Bete however had one thing to say "what the hell!?".