The Clock Begins to Tick

It had been two days since Eoghan and Keeva joined the Hestia Familia. The previous day was... not so nice to remember.

*Flashback*

Adalwulf: Uuugh... my head is killing me...

Iman: Darling, I don't feel so good...

Natsuki was in the bathroom by herself, and the only thing anyone could hear was...

Natsuki: *blergh* I will *blergh* never drink so much again.

Eoghan: I want to sleep some more...

Keeva: We went at it... too hard in the bar.

Hestia: Hm? You've been like this for the entire day. Couldn't Iman have used her Magic to heal everyone?

Everyone's eyes shot at Hestia as if they were staring at their prey. Adalwulf was the first one to react, as he was the one closest to the Goddess.

Adalwulf: Hestia-sama... couldn't you have said so earlier...?

Hestia knew that it would've been good for her to run, but where would she run to? Hephaestus wouldn't allow her to stay in her house because she was running from her Familia, so she had no choice but to take what was about to happen head on.

After a long session of torture, which mean tickling, the Goddess begged them to stop and promised to speak earlier the next time.

*End*

The current day, the party was going to the Dungeon. This time, they were going straight to the tenth floor. They thought that they were more than ready with their current capabilities and members.

In such a fashion, they walked towards the Babel Tower, and went to the stairs leading to fame, wealth, glory and... death.

They made quick work out of a few groups of Goblins that stood in their way, without bothering to pick up their Magic Stones. In such a fashion, they sprinted throught the first nine floors, advancing at a quick pace. In less than an hour, they had reached their objective.

The mist that was known to cover the last few of the Upper Floors appeared as soon as they arrived. They could barely distinguish what was in front but, luckily, their senses made up for that. Eoghan and Ad were walking at the front, whith Natsuki in the middle, and Iman and Keeva at the back. They had decided to use said formation to stop anything coming from the front upong their arrival. And thankfully, it worked.

A hit from an Orc came towards Eoghan, but it was quickly parried by his spear. Ad quickly slashed at the monster, making a deep wound in it's abdomen. Natsuki, who barely saw it, quickly fired an arrow aimed at its head. More due to luck than skill, it hit the Orc's eye. The monster was dead.

In such a fashion, the group carefully made their way through the tenth floor. The biggest group of Orcs they had found was composed of three of them, and they didn't have many hardships slaying them. Since the monster would mostly focus on Eoghan, thanks to his skills, the group could focus on attacking. Ad and Natsuki provided a lot of the damage done, thanks to how he would first strike an enemy and then tell Natsuki were to shoot.

Keeva's Water Whip also killed a few monster. She made a perfect combination with her husban, as they had a tacit understanding of each other.

Iman only had to heal either Ad of Eoghan whenever one of them receive an injury, and that amounted to almost never.

They decided to cut their exploits short since, after three hours, they had already killed around a hundred Orcs. When they were going up towards the Upper Floors, Ad had a weird feeling. As if something was supposed to happen. And something did happen.

Eoghan: This was a realy good haul. Orc's Magic stones, even if not the most expensive, are very good for a Level 1. Even more so with this many of the... agh!

Eoghan had been hit hard. Ad wasn't particularly worried as he knew that the man wasn't in danger because of that one strike, but what made him feel chills running down his spine was the monster in front of him.

Adalwulf: 'How could I forget about you... so today is when it all begins...'

The monster that greeted them was none other than the Minotaur Bell would've been saved from by Ais, but Ad was a totally different person, and he wasn't alone. Rapidly, he began giving orders.

Adalwulf: Iman, heal Eoghan now. Keeva and Natsuki stay at least eighty feet away from me. Eoghan, once you're back up, come back here and get this fucker's attention.

As soon as he finished giving everyone their instructions, Ad dodged a hit from the Minotaur. He couldn't help but think about a certain perverted Goddess. Jumping back while slashing with his sword, Ad made some distance between himself and the Minotaur. He then began his chant.

Adalwulf: "Shadow, thou whom swallows all of cration when it falls under the blanket of Nott. Answer mine call, and aid me in mine quest." Skuggaþrjótur!

The usual getup in which his Shadow Trigger appeared covered Ad. His sword, now changed by the one his skill provided, had an easier time slashing the Minotaur, just like he could follow it's movements more easily. Still, he couldn't simply attack it.

Natsuki sent an arrow towards the monsters eye, having repositioned herself in front of it. Keeva attacked it with her whip from behind. Eoghan, who had already been healed, was dashing towards the monster with his spear in a piercing position. Ad simply chose to attack it from its shadow.

The Minotaur, not knowing better, tried to ram Eoghan. This only provoked him to be pierced by Ad on its right back leg. Natsuki's arrow barely missed the monsters eye, piercing its cheek. Keeva's whip managed to grasp the monsters other feet, cutting it in the ankle. The Minotaur now had a hard time moving, and the party had an easier time defending against it.

In the end, it amounted to nothing but a big piece of flesh that tried to hit them with its horns. Upon its death, the Minotaur dropped a very big Magic Stone, and left behind not one, but two horns. Ad already had an idea of what to do with them.

The surprises for the day weren't over though.

???: What the fuck is a Minotaur doing in this floor?!