Chapter 9:

SHALLTEAR POV:

Shalltear continued training with Bell in the dungeon, utilizing a Dungeon Lizard she had raised as an Undead Beast. The lizard, a brown quadrupedal creature with sucker discs on its feet, provided a challenging opponent for him to face.

"Humanoids, insects, birds, quadrupeds… Remember to learn the patterns of different types of monsters and how they telegraph attacks…" explained Shalltear.

The lizard adeptly avoided Bell's slash and climbed up the wall, extending its tongue for a tongue poke attack, only for him to dodge it skillfully.

Shalltear encouraged Bell, saying, "You can extrapolate these techniques to other enemies of the same class later on..."

After Bell successfully defeated the lizard, they took a well-deserved break. He sat down and started eating sandwiches, Syr's sandwiches, then he started trembling and crying while forcing the sandwiches down his mouth.

"...You should probably get a better lunch when coming into the dungeon" Shalltear said, recognizing that Syr's sandwiches were strange-tasting dishes that no ordinary person could ever produce.

"I could not refuse…" said Bell, he couldn't refuse after seeing the happy smile of Syr when she took the lunch every time. Fortunately, the lunch came with slices of cheese, normal cheese.

Shalltear sighted and took the opportunity to share more advice. "It is crucial to know the distance and power of enemy attacks when facing stronger opponents or multiple weaker ones," she explained. "This knowledge allows you to strategize and prioritize your attacks."

Bell attentively listened to her words, responding with a determined "Y-Yes!"

She went on to discuss the ideal formation for a three-person cell in the dungeon. She explained that it typically consisted of a vanguard, a middle guard with greater range, and a rearguard. Where the middle guard is the one with a higher range and the others with a shorter range. However, in emergency situations, flexibility and the ability of the members to perform any role could be the key to survival.

Bell continued to listen intently, absorbing the information.

As they trained together, Shalltear couldn't help but find Bell's unwavering admiration for her both foolish and endearing. Despite her upcoming plans to obtain and replicate the enchantment of the Hestia Knife, she couldn't help but feel a twinge of regret at the thought of parting ways with him, at the very least for a while.

o-O-o

A little later, a knocked-out Bell rested on her lap. Shalltear was tracing with her finger the edge of the Hestia Knife looking at the Hieroglyphs characters that made the enchantment, She looked at the first three lines:

The truest of silver and brilliance of mithril, shapes thy body. The true light shall be clouded if touched by others. Take care, as only one who shares your blood, can draw this blade.

So this is the part that binds the knife to Hestia's blood and therefore members of Hestia familia through the Falna, through Hestia's blood

Then Shalltear looked at the edge:

You are the Goddess Hestia's double. The flame of the hearth that splits the shadow, the one who cuts through the path of your master. You are to be the forever companion, protecting your master.

Hmmm, I knew that Hephaistos designed it to 'cut a path forward' for Bell, but not that it also had defensive properties…

Lastly, she looked at the four lines on the back side of the knife:

The master of blacksmithing, Hephaestus being an Olympic ally of Hestia, to smelt this weapon. Marked by the Falna, God's Blade, you are our beloved Familia. Commanded to be equal to the name of Hestia. Share your strength and give glory to the ones who share your blood. The name of your master, Bell Cranel. You become the other half of your master; may you smile together, rage together, cry together, hurt together, travel together, surpass hardships together, grow together. Excelia be your food, sharpen your edge, and reach new heights together.

There it is how it works! The weapon itself is alive and has Hestia's blessing through the Hieroglyphs, it is the same as a child that has a Falna, it will grow stronger using the wielder's Excelia. That is the key part, that uses Excelia as food for growth. If the wielder gets stronger, so will it. As an adventurer gets stronger, they will unlock more and more of the blade's potential.

And the crazy part was that this can be done without any type of blessing or power, Hephaistos was on par with an unblessed child in Gekai after all, just pure skill, knowing the enchantment and a god's hair and ichor involved in the process.

Satisfied with her understanding of the knife's enchantment, Shalltear copied the hieroglyphs onto a sheet of paper. She contemplated her next move, recognizing that it was time to part ways with Bell. However, she realized that she would require Hestia's assistance to accomplish this successfully due to Bell's unwavering obsession with Shalltear. Tomorrow, when Hestia was present, would present a suitable opportunity…

o-O-o

Shalltear found herself wandering through the streets of Orario in the afternoon, determined to learn to read and write in Koine, the common language. She knew that understanding the language would be crucial for her objective of taking over Orario. Koine was essentially English with a different font, so she believed it wouldn't be too difficult to grasp.

Considering her options, she dismissed the idea of going to the Hostess of Fertility, as it was within Freya's territory, and she wanted to avoid any complications. Instead, she decided to start with Daedalus Street, a place she was familiar with because she knew what the boards there said.

She walked north from Hestia's church, passing through NorthWest Main Street, observing the boards on stores and products along the way. Shalltear took notes, describing the items and recording what the boards said for later comparison. Some characters, like A, V, E, and T, were easily identifiable, but she found others quite strange and challenging.

Continuing her journey, she crossed Central Park and made her way to East Main Street, finally arriving at Daedalus Street. The sight that greeted her was a chaotic mess of shabby stone shacks and buildings, stairwells snaking through the block. It seemed as though a jumble of rooms had been mixed together and dumped in that spot. It was a poverty-stricken residential area where nothing seemed to make sense.

Upon seeing the wooden entrance board with the name 'Daedalus Street', Shalltear couldn't contain her frustration any longer. She raised her voice, screaming to the heavens in exasperation, "What the hell?! The S is an 8! Whyyy??!"

It was a maddening prospect. The unconventional font and the mixing of numbers and letters were driving her to the brink of madness.

Who designed this? It is gonna be so confusing to mix numbers as letters. Like instead of 'skills' it is gonna look as '8kills'. Arggghh!

Feeling overwhelmed, Shalltear instinctively brought her hands up to cradle her head, attempting to maintain her sanity amidst the madness. And she hadn't even started practicing writing yet.

o-O-o

After deciding to practice more and realizing she needed additional paper, Shalltear set her mind on selling drops to acquire more funds. She planned to visit the Gnome Trader store for this purpose. Making her way to a back alley, she retrieved a backpack from her inventory and began filling it with drops she had collected.

Carrying the bag nonchalantly with one hand and using her umbrella as a parasol in the other, Shalltear continued her journey. She passed by Babel and proceeded towards the Guild through North West Main Street. As she strolled along, a voice suddenly called out to her.

"Miss, miss. Miss with the silver hair," the voice said, sounding familiar yet foreign to her ears.

"Huh?" Shalltear responded, turning her head to the side to investigate the source of the voice.

There, she spotted a girl with a large backpack strapped to her small shoulders. The girl, dressed in a plain cream-colored robe with a hood covering most of her face, had a few strands of chestnut-colored hair peeking out. It was none other than Liliruca Arde.

It's Lili!

"Pleased to meetcha, miss! If you don't mind me asking, are you looking for a supporter?" Lili asked, pointing a finger toward Shalltear's backpack.

Anyone could guess that an adventurer walking alone and equipped with a backpack was going solo, perhaps thinking If only I had a supporter...

What good luck! There wasn't any chance that I could find Lili on my own since she normally is shapeshifted….

Now I have the opportunity of fulfilling a keystone of my plan to take over Orario—creating my own Familia.

I need agents that can operate on the surface in Orario, not only underground in the Dungeon

And Lili is the perfect candidate for the first official familia member~

"Perhaps~" Shalltear replied, teasingly. "Are you looking to support someone?"

"Really? Then please take Lili with you, miss!" Lili exclaimed, her happiness and innocence radiating through her big, round eyes visible under her hood. Her gaze wandered from Shalltear's decorated dress to her high-grade umbrella.

Shalltear chuckled and slightly bowed. "Sure, my name is Shalltear Bloodfallen, from Cainabel Familia. The pleasure is mine."

"Oh! Names? Sorry, Lili didn't introduce herself," Lili apologized.

Stepping back a few paces, Lili cheerfully smiled. "Lili's name is Liliruca Arde, from Soma Familia."

"Oh!" Shalltear exclaimed, slightly surprised. "Today I already have plans, but we can go together into the dungeon tomorrow afternoon."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!!" Lili expressed her gratitude, her backpack bouncing up and down with her excitement.

"Hmm... we need a place to meet... How about Central Park?" Shalltear suggested after pondering for a moment. "There's a wide-leaf tree growing in a corner, and the brick planter it's in is at the perfect height to sit on."

"Lili knows it! It will be a pleasure to work with Miss Shalltear," Lili replied, her smile practiced many times over.

"Then we'll meet there tomorrow, Liliruca," Shalltear confirmed.

"Miss Shalltear, please call Lili Lili. Other names are okay too, but not by the full name," Lili requested.

"Got it... I'll remember it. I will see you tomorrow, Lili~" Shalltear bid her farewell.

"Goodbye, Miss Shalltear!" Lili energetically waved her arm as Shalltear turned around and continued her walk along NorthWest Main Street.

o-O-o

Gita was sitting in a chair at Cafe Wish, her empty cup resting on the table before her.

"Hello~! How have you been?" Shalltear greeted Gita with a friendly wave and a smile as she entered the room.

I have been... fine..." Gita replied, her eyes narrowing slightly as she looked at Shalltear.

Shalltear took a pouch out of her backpack and placed it on the table before sitting down on the opposite side. "I hear it was crazy during the Monsterphillia, what exactly happened?"

Curious, Gita opened the pouch and peered inside, confirming the presence of Valis. She moved the coins, causing them to make a clinking sound. She then began to explain, "It seems some monsters that Ganesha Familia caught had escaped, and adventurers had to deal with them. And then the plant monsters you warned me about appeared, but Loki Familia took care of them."

"Nice," Shalltear murmured in a low voice, a small smile involuntarily forming on her face.

Nice! Everything happened exactly as canon then. Good~

Gita's ears twitched, sensing Shalltear's reaction, and she grew warier of her. However, before she could say anything, an elf hostess wearing thin-rimmed glasses approached their table and asked if they needed anything.

"A coffee, please~" Shalltear requested with a pleasant tone. She then turned to Gita and continued, "Any other interesting things that happened? Any noteworthy adventurers? Did any of the monsters manage to go far away?"

The hostess bowed and left to fulfill their order.

Gita paused for a moment, recalling recent events. "There was one Silverback that made it until Daedalus Street... but it was taken care of by an adventurer named Bell Cranel," she replied.

Shalltear nodded attentively as she listened to Gita's response. Shortly after, the elf hostess returned with a cup of coffee.

"Ohh~ Fast service..." Shalltear expressed her delight, a hint of excitement in her voice.

"So Bell fought a Silverback..." Shalltear said, taking a sip of her coffee.

Gita looked at Shalltear with a confused expression. "That wasn't a 'fight,' it was a massacre... The Silverback ended up bloodied, with its eyes, nose, ears, fingers, and arms all mangled with cuts. People felt sorry for the monster..."

Shalltear choked on her coffee, coughing uncontrollably. After a moment, she managed to speak, her voice strained. "B-Bell did WHAT? What happened?"

Curiosity sparked within Gita, and she leaned closer to Shalltear, resting her elbows on the table. "Why are you interested in him? What does he mean to you?"

Taken aback by the question, Shalltear replied, "I-I know him, I trained him for a bit."

"You trained the Killer Rabbit?!" Gita exclaimed, surprised, leaning even further towards Shalltear.

Confusion clouded Shalltear's face. "What 'Killer Rabbit'?" she asked, completely baffled.

Gita straightened up, leaning back against the chair's backrest. She let out a sigh before speaking again. "He has caught the attention of the gods because he killed a monster that is close to reaching Level 2. They're already discussing what alias he'll adopt when he levels up."

Crossing her arms, Gita continued, "Killer Rabbit is one of the options being considered, but other aliases have been mentioned as well. The White Beast of Orario and The Foul Pyonkichi... though the latter is already used for an armor."

Shalltear's jaw dropped, her expression dumbfounded. "Who the hell came up with that name?" she blurted out in disbelief.

Gita sighed and spoke, gesturing theatrically with her arms. "One of the gods came up with a rhyme and got stuck: 'It is fluffy~ it is white~ it is the killer rabbit that will take your heart~ I am Ganesha!'"

Ganesha??!!

Dammit Ganesha! Don't go around giving weird names to people.

Meanwhile, Gita observed Shalltear's reaction, wondering if she had any involvement in the recent events. Gita's concern grew, as she had noticed Shalltear's lack of interest in Loki Familia.

Gita looked at Shalltear and said, her voice tinged with unease, "Hey Shall... I don't normally do this, but if you were the one who put those plant monsters there, you might be interested to know that Loki Familia is actively searching for the person responsible..."

"They're even willing to get very rough to obtain the information" she added wincing.

"Hmm..." Shalltear pondered, her mind swirling with thoughts and possibilities.

Is she trying to tell me that Loki is looking for me?

That may be a problem...

I can't exactly remove Loki familia, since the power vacuum will be too big, no way to fill it now. That will be against my objectives.

And... I don't exactly have something against Loki...

Knowing Loki she will try to gather information and will not make a move until his familia came back from the Dungeon... which will happen in 8 days...

I have time to think of a way to make Loki lose interest in me, plus all the Jewel Fetus incident in Rivira and Revis, a feeler of "her", under Dionysus's orders will get her and Ais's attention shortly.

"Thank you for the information, Gita, but I assure you I am not the one who planted those monsters," Shalltear stated firmly.

Gita nodded in understanding. "I see," she replied, accepting Shalltear's statement.

"One last thing, Gita. I will need your help in obtaining maps of the main paths in the Lower Floors and Deep Floors of the dungeon," Shalltear requested.

Gita crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow, a mix of curiosity and wariness in her expression. "Why would you... No, I don't want to know," she shook her head, trying to distance herself from any potential trouble.

"I cannot acquire those maps without receiving the payment in advance. It won't come cheap," Gita informed to her.

Without hesitation, Shalltear produced several pouches filled with Valis and placed them on the table.

Gita's eyes seemed to shine at the sight of the money pouches, but she quickly composed herself and hugged them tightly. "T-This should be enough," Gita stammered, a hint of embarrassment in her voice. "I-I can't carry any more on me today."

Shalltear smirked, crossing her arms confidently.

o-O-o

It was night and Shalltear was back in the dungeon, exploring on the 21st floor. She sighed, she was frustrated since she reached another dead end after an hour of traveling by a path. It was evident that the dungeon was getting much bigger than in the upper levels and was becoming a problem to traverse the labyrinthine paths without a map of the main path between floors.

How big was it getting? Well, the 24th floor was half the size of Orario. Loki familia expedition took one day from the surface to Rivira on the 18th floor, and then six days to reach floor 50th, knowing the main paths and resting on the way. The dungeon floors were getting very big.

Forget exploring without a map or something to go between floors. But.. If I reach the 25th floor I can go to the 27th in one go going down the waterfall…

Shalltear went back and keep going through the passages with walls made of wood, moss covering the floor radiating blue light.

On the 19th to 24th floors, the Large Tree Labyrinth, is both Xenos territory and Enyo & Evilus territory with the infested pantries so I will not be able to take control of the pantries without being discovered by both…

From the 25th the Lower Floors start, the 25th to 27th floors also known as the Water City, is mostly Xenos territory but they can extend their area of operations even to the 30th floor, based on where they retrieved the Fetus Orb originally…

From the 28th to, at least, the 30th floor is Evilus territory again…

From the 31st to the 36th it is unknown if it is or is not used by Evilus. No.. the best place to make a base is after it, on the 37th floor, where the Deep Floors start.

And I know where I can make a base in a place that doesn't spawn monsters: the passage under the colosseum, which is a safe zone, after all the colosseum was an experiment by the Dungeon to be the cradle of the Xenos that ultimately failed.

There I can make a second base for myself and it can also serve as a Xenos hidden village, to further integrate with them, in conjunction with infiltrating them by sending monsters to their other villages…

I can convert a monster into a vampire and appoint it as the village caretaker, which is the requisite, plus being a safe area, to be considered a hidden village by the Xenos.

And then, I just need to wait until Asterios goes down below for training, discovers it, and tells the others.