shomei suru

Chapter Thirty-Four: Shōmei Suru

The whole mass of the allied force had gathered in Hearthfire Manor after their three days of rest, though many would have preferred more. True to their orders, they had arrived with their status sheets, as well as all involved gods and goddesses, save Freya herself. An issue did present itself, though.

"I'm not having this shit, anymore. I'll still fight the dragon, or whatever, but I ain't takin' orders from you any more" Bete sniffed, glaring directly at the old adventurer, "You're keepin' too much shit close to your chest; I'd rather Finn take charge of things. I mean, it's not always the best for the strongest to be the leader, too; not to mention that out of all of us, your Familia has the weakest captain, to boot!"

Aedan took a steadying breath that quieted the bickering that had kicked up around the sentiment summed up by the were-wolf, "Shut your jabbering mouth, you weakling; the slop coming out of your mouth is souring my hearing. You even contradicted yourself in your stupidity"

"The hell did you say to me!? You think just because you have a few levels~"

"Enough" the man released his control over his presence, stifling the inside of the mansion with a feeling nearing that of when a god releases their divinity; instinctively, Ottar, Bete, and Allen pinned their ears back in response, "I'm making this clear now; I'm not your leader, I'm simply training everyone here up to a sufficient level for you to be led against our enemy. Is that simplicity enough for you, pup?"

His only answer with his power coursing through the building was the man gritting his teeth, "As for your second issue… Captain"

"Yes, Mr. Aedan?" Bell, out of the entire group- even those among Hestia Familia- was the only one unaffected by Haroeris' show of force.

"Before we do anything else today, you and Bete will have a serious spar; no weapons, but magic and skills allowed. You will only be restricted by not killing each other, understand? I will intervene myself to prevent that or any crippling damage"

"Hold on, we didn't agree to~" Finn, able to reply steadily, was unable to continue when the man's attention was forced to him.

"Let me make this clear as well, Finn, everyone…" Aedan cracked the knuckles of his hands by separately squeezing them into fists, "Your training is my responsibility, and I will see to it as I deem fit; if that means that I will gather you all up and beat you daily to raise your endurance, that is precisely what I will do. None of you will have any say in the matter, though if you can resist me, feel free to try" not even Ottar could attempt to defy the man's statement as his presence seemed to fill the front of each person's vision, before finally things returned to normal, the man having reigned in his power as he normally did, "Bell, Bete, prepare yourselves for the spar, but think of it as a battle, everyone else will observe"

Some short time later, the two were facing off.

"Don't think that just because you have that fancy skill that you can stand up to me, bunny brat. Nothin' personal, but I'm gonna end this quick" Bete grunted; Bell did earn a small measure of respect from him for his time in Orario, but he simply didn't compare to the elites of Loki and Freya familia. Just because some fossil joined them didn't mean they were going to run the show for this mission with him at the head of things.

"Whatever you say, Bete, but it will end quickly" Bell was determined. Not unafraid, knowing he was still facing Vanargand, but he would be lying if he said that he didn't have unresolved frustration related to Bete; this was not eased by the man's continued disparaging of his familia and lower level members of seemingly everyone's familia, only to leave Ryu, Alfia, and Aedan out of his comments, and now Bell, too. Still, he well remembered the fire that Bete had helped light in him, so he respected him as an adventurer, almost as much as the rest of Loki Familia's elites; as a man, though? He was more reserved in the respect he gave him.

"Ready?" he nodded at Mr. Aedan's asking as Bete did the same, "Begin!"

Both flew into motion, having fairly similar foundations as fighters: speed and power; but there were a few things on Bell's side.

"Rage, wrath of heaven!" he boosted himself with his magic, speeding up even more as he peppered the were-wolf with Firebolts, hampering his movement and keeping him from using his own magic. Closing the distance quickly, he started in on hit-and-run attacks, giving more than he got out of the more experienced man, though Bete put up a considerable resistance. Only the most perceptive of those watching were able to see everything going on, and it gave them pause for thought, as Bell steadily began to overpower a man with much greater experience and power than he should be able to overcome. Still, it wasn't simple and easy; Bete managed to get Bell tripped up and quickly entered a mount position, weathering the defense of his Caelum Veil, but…

"Distel!" he wasn't ready for the impact of the magic being dispersed into him, launching him away and allowing Bell to recover, and he immediately began to dual charge his Argonaut. Bete also recovered, and didn't give the boy much time for his skill, but he didn't need it. After a short time of tenuous evasion, Bell released the short-charged skill once from his foot to close in on Bete with speed that shocked even Allen, before the second charge smashed through the boy's fist into Bete's chin.

He landed dozens of meders away, knocked out cold; Aedan checked him over for a minute before throwing a hand at his direction, "Bete is unable to continue, Bell is the winner" the announcement was followed by some impressed applause, but the most experienced of those present were more shocked. They had all learned of the boy's skill, but fighting monsters was different from people. Not just in power, but in skill, he should have been outclassed. However, the boy was undeniably victorious, and except being a bit battered, he was completely fine on top of that.

Not long after, Bete was awakened and healed, and acknowledged his loss to Bell, still clearly sour at having been beaten so plainly in front of everyone.

"Don't worry, Bete" Aedan said seriously, "Before too long, I'll see to it that our captain will lose to nobody in the entire world in single combat. Losing to the best makes the taste less bitter, yeah?" the man simply snorted at the remark, but didn't argue, "Ah, seems we have visitors" Aedan looked to the side where the final group from Vinland was being brought to them by Alfia, along with goddess Frigg, who upon catching sight of someone, began running full tilt toward them, shouting with a wide smile as she ran.

"Loooookkkkiiiiiiii!!!!!!!"

The goddess in question flinched as she saw who was coming, "Crap, why didn't you mention she was comin', blockhead!?" she shouted at Haroeris, who simply shrugged.

"I didn't know; I left there pretty quickly"

After a while, everyone had regrouped and been introduced in Hearthfire Manor, and Aedan was going over status sheets at a furious pace while the others swapped stories from the past months, as well as asked about abilities of those that they had not seen for themselves. Aedan put an ear to this talk, as well, while he worked. There was really just one thing he wanted to see for himself: who could level up and join them on the expedition to the depths, and who would need to stay.

Ultimately, it was better than he had hoped.

Welf, Mikoto, Haruhime, and Lili were growing nicely into level 3, boosted by Bell's skill beyond most of the others, but were not where he would want them to be to level up yet; all of the other girls had maxed their level 2 stats, though- all the way to the peak of S rank- and at last they all advanced to level 3 as well. While this made Hestia Familia formidable even without the aid he had gotten from abroad, they would not be coming with them to the bowels of the Dungeon.

Nor would Anya Fromel and Mia Grande; both had grown to the point that they could level up, and he would ask them to when they left for the quest, but it had already been decided that they would be among those who would remain behind; there was no need for them to join the expedition below. The final member not going was Hermes Familia's Laurier, who could level up to 3, though her stats were not ideal to do so. Even if she did, he would not allow her with them, so she would continue working with Hestia Familia, unless her god Hermes had another task for her.

Thankfully, all the others would be able to join them. Every level 4 had raised their stats enough to be satisfactory to level to 5, with nobody having a stat less than a high B, and most being A. Most of those at level 5 were in a similar situation, barring Ryu, who was the freshest first-class member of the group, though even she had grown one of her stats to the required D rank. Of those at level 6, Freya, Loki, and Kali familia were sufficiently grown to level, though for Aiz, Bete, Tiona, and Tione it was less than ideal given that their stats ran a range from E to A, at a low C average. Among the level 7's, it was only Musashi that was in an ideal position to do so, though Nobunaga was able to try, his stats were only just high enough to allow him to.

It was a lot to wrap his mind around at once; he had never been in charge of so many at one time, and with the stakes so high.

"I believe I have come to a plan for how to advance. It does pain me to say this, but nobody under level 5 will go with us to the depths, nor will Mia. The issue that remains is to find suitable means for those at level 4 to level to 5, and for everyone else who should to level, too. There are plenty of us to consider for this, so I'll hammer out the details; please wait a bit longer. For the time being though, I would like to lay out my thoughts on what the others should do. First, it goes without saying, but girls, you are ready to level up; congratulations" the Hestia Familia sent up a cheer joined by the others before he continued.

"I know it is hard to wait until you optimize your status, but you did well, especially for training below the 28th floor as level 2's. Once you have levelled, I want you to continue working through the Great Tree Labyrinth through the 37th floor, get used to your new power and push your stats as high as possible; target the green dragons, trap hives, and any irregulars, especially the dark-boned Spartoi. Miss Laurier can also join you, as well" he let his plan set in, getting confirmation from everyone before he went on, "This will push you even more than the mapping work, as the experienced second class members will no longer be there to take the brunt of the fighting, but at your level, you should be capable enough to work down so low now that you have experienced it. Take one to two week trips at a time, and split your focus between getting a variety of training in the field, and earning as much vallis as possible. Lili, you will have command of the group, now that the mapping is done; feel free to coordinate with other familia as you see fit"

"Yes Master Aedan!"

"Alright, I'll need to iron out formations and challenges for everyone that is prepared to level now, if anybody has something they want to try, let me know; for now, I need to go meet with Ouranos. Captain?"

"Yes?"

"Could you burn these for us? I've memorized them all now; ah, if anyone wants to see them, including mine, they can look first though. I think that's only fair"

"Alright, I'll take care of it"

"Thank you; I'll be back soon"

He left for the main Guild building while some of the others milled around for a moment, and out of curiosity, Bell picked up the man's own status sheet.

"Wow, most of his stats went up by nearly a hundred points each! I'm guessing he wasn't expecting… huh?"

"What is it Bell, something interesting?" Haruhime asked.

"Yeah, it's a new skill!" his words garnered the attention of those around him as he continued, "This should help everyone even more; Paragon: those under direct or indirect instruction have increased growth and improvement!"

"You think that will work?"

"If the Xenos are of enough number and power, they should be enough to remain in Orario, along with Mia, Anya, and any others that are currently level 1, 2, and 3, and those that grow to level 4 between now and our departure. This will keep our full strength as free to move as possible while keeping the city as defended as it can be. Bell said that he even talked to this Asterius about it. When that time comes, the Guild is within their power to ban any trips below, say, the 39th floor, and the Xenos can be marshalled to a fortified area on the 18th or 28th to keep close in reserve"

"It still troubles me, though I know that it is a sound argument"

"I know you can't close the way to the Dungeon totally, and with no first-class adventurers aside from Mia, it would be precarious. Anya can advance to level 5 with a feat, but its best left alone for now"

"It's better, but still lean on our defenses…"

"I know; also, though it is no guarantee, it is likely that the Dungeon will be aggravated by our upcoming expedition. Perhaps we might exhaust it from any trickery such that there will be a reprieve from irregulars and other such things for a short time"

"I just hope that the danger doesn't exceed what your group will be able to handle"

"If it does, then the Dragon will have been out of the question in the first place"

At that, a moment of silence reigned before Fels broke it, "What of Silence; you haven't mentioned her?"

"Ah, Alfia. You didn't expect she would remain behind while Bell went to face the Beast that she and the others couldn't kill the first time? No, she will go if only to keep him alive at all costs; it's the reason why I have collected everything which may be used to create a cure for her ailment"

"If she goes, too, then…" the Sage quieted, also perturbed by just how lacking their power would be; it would be similar to the days before Zeus and Hera raised the first adventurers to grow to the first-class level.

"We will have an ace that may remain, I think" Aedan admitted, "given that we will only take those at level 5 or above, it is possible that most of Hestia Familia will remain behind, including Haruhime Sanjouno"

"What part does she play in your plan?"

"Well, her magic would honestly be very beneficial to the main group, as it is capable of providing a level boost"

Shock appeared on the face of the god while Fels' mouth fell open as he continued, "As well, with one of her other magics, she can create multiple of these boosts at once and apply them. Still, if she were to manage to reach level 5 in four years, I would take her with us as well; if not, then my own magic can emulate hers, though to a reduced effect"

"Your mimicry could copy even that?" Fels asked.

"Yes, though it would likely be a status boost rather than a level boost; still, at my level, it would be one hell of a status boost"

"That is relieving, and her getting to that level does seem possible, but not probable" Ouranos intoned.

"We can't know what will happen; with their motivation, I doubt they would want stay while the rest of us go. It would be nice if- by then- the Xenos alone were enough to hold the line, but I would still leave Anya and Mia here"

"Despite their strength?"

"I believe it is not their own will to come, but that they are either being forced to by their goddess, or influenced by members of their Familia; I will take the help, but as we need some strength left here in Orario at any rate, they can serve that purpose well enough"

"Hm… let us adjourn this for now; more Xenos may yet join the flock, and those already there can grow stronger if they mean to; when the time comes, we can hope that it will be enough"