New Shadows

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Tatsumi Port Island. 

June 20, x788. 

After defeating the Ruthless Ice Raven, Alfonzo, Elicia, Alzack, and Bisca first checked the room where he treasure chests were for any changes. However, the room had not changed. There was still one open chest and one that needed Twilight Fragments to unlock. So, they quickly made their way up to the sixth Floor. 

After reaching the sixth floor, the group explored a brisk place just like they had before. However, they slowed down a bit when they came across a new Shadow. 

After coming across a large crawling Shadow, the group was experienced enough to know that it would divide into a group of five. And it did just that. However, they were only familiar with three of the five shadows they saw. They were a pair of Merciless Maya and a Muttering Tiara. 

The other two Shadows were the ones they were unfamiliar with. And they were the same type. They had small, black, humanoid bodies with equally black feathered wings and a red mask covering their faces. ON top of that, they held a suitably-sized short bow in their right hands. 

"They kinda look like the cupids in fairy tales." Bisca said as she [Requipped] her magic rifle. 

"Yeah, just a lot uglier." Elicia added. 

Seeming as if they could understand what Elicia said, the two cupid-looking Shadows raised their bows, materialized an arrow in their left hands, knocked and drew the arrows, and aimed at Elicia. 

"Tch! They're so sensitive." Elicia grumbled as threads began growing from her fingertips. 

"Well, you did just call them ugly." Alfonzo said with a smile. "You wouldn't be happy either if someone called you ugly, would you?" 

"Hmph!" Elicia snorted in reply. "As if someone would call me ugly. Have you seen me?" 

"Wow! And you used to call me arrogant." Alfonzo said as he flashed away from the group and cut the Muttering Tiara with a short sword he made with his [Metal Magic]. 

To Alfonzo's surprise, although he used just as much strength as he usually did when dealing with the Muttering Tiaras from before, it was not killed in a single blow. 

In the next instant, one of the cupid-like Shadows turned towards the Muttering Tiara. Then, it's bow glowed in a soothing, white light. A moment later, the white light was transferred to the Muttering Tiara. And at a speed visible to the naked eye, the wound from Alfonzo's sword fully healed. 

"Oh, great… They got stronger." Alzack muttered as he aimed his pistols at the Merciless Maya." They have healers now, too. [Guns Magic: Icicle Shot]." 

*Bang!* *Bang!* 

With his chant, Alzack pulled the triggers to his pistols and fired a volley of icicles at the two Merciless Maya, killing them instantly. 

"At least they're still weak to the same stuff." Alzack muttered as he pointed his pistols at the cupid-like creatures. 

{"I just finished analyzing the new Shadows."} Mitsuru's voice sounded over the comms. {"They're called Obsessed Cupids. I'll need you to experiment to see their weaknesses, though."} 

"Yeah, we expected that." Elicia replied as she lashed her threads towards the Obsessed Cupids. 

However, Elicia was not trying to attack when she swung her threads. Instead, she used them to entangle the arrows the Obsessed Cupids fired at her. Apparently, they had not yet forgotten about the insult they received from her. 

Unfortunately, just before the threads could entangle the arrows, the Obsessed Cupid's bows glowed again. Then, they released several [Wind Blade Curses] that cut through Elicia's threads. 

"So, they can heal and use wind, huh?" Elicia muttered as she ejected more threats before using them to avoid the [Wind Curse]. 

*Bang!* 

"I think I can tell what they're weaknesses are before testing everything." Bisca said as she fired a magic bullet. "I'm pretty sure it has something to do with their masks. I mean, so far, all the ones with red masks are weak against ice." 

And just as Bisca surmised, as soon as the magic bullet, which was an [Icicle Shot] hit the Obsessed Cupid she was aiming at, it started to fall out of the sky. However, before it hit the floor, it dispersed into a cloud of black smoke. 

"I think Bisca's on to something." Alfonzo said as he appeared behind the second Obsessed Cupid with the same short sword. "We'll have to put that theory to the test on any new Shadows we find." 

With that said, Alfonzo cleaved upwards, putting more strength into it this time, bisecting the Obsessed Cupid from crotch to head. At the same time, Elicia shredded the Muttering Tiara with her threads while vibrating them at high-speed. 

"They really are stronger than before." Elicia said. "But I guess that will continue the further we go up." 

"But they didn't get any stronger until after we got past the Guardian.' Alzack pointed out. 

"We can think about that later." Bisca said. "For now, we need to hurry. We only have so much time to climb." 

"Bisca's right, let's go.' Alfonzo said with a nod. "Miss Kirijo, which way?" 

{"Take the corridor on your left."} Mitsuru replied. {"The one on your right leads back to a room you've already explored."} 

Following Mitsuru's instructions, the group dashed off, clearing room after room. They eventually ran into a second new Shadow when they reached the last room before the staircase. However, something about this one was different. 

Though it was a huge crawling Shadow until they got close. When they finally did, it only turned into a single Shadow, a large, three-foot tall, black insect with a sturdy looking carapace. 

"Is that… a big… cockroach? Bisca asked in a shaken tone. "I hate cockroaches! Die! Die! Die!" 

*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* 

With her shout, Bisca squeezed the trigger of her magic rifle. As a result, a stream of normal magic bullets bombarded the big insect. And all though its carapace was strong, cracks began to appear after a short time. 

In pain, the insect opened its carapace and flapped the wings hidden underneath. However, it did not start flying. Instead, it rushed forward at high-speed. Or at least, that's what should have happened. Instead, because of Bisca's bullet storm, it was pushed backwards once its legs left the floor. 

"Die! Die! Die! Die! Die!" Bisca continued to scream as she held the trigger. 

"*Sigh* This is bringing back some bad memories." Alzack muttered. "At least we won't have to pay to patch up a bunch of holes in the walls this time, though." 

"Bisca actually found a roach in your house once?" Elicia asked with a grossed out expression on her face. 

"No." Alzack replied while shaking her head. "It was only a really big watermelon seed that fell on the floor unnoticed. But Bisca freaked out without even seeing if it was moving." 

Hearing that, Alfonzo, Elicia, and even Mitsuru, back on the first floor, wore dumbfounded expressions. 

"Mitsuru, did something happen?" Akihiko, who was shadow boxing to kill time, asked after seeing Mitsuru's expression. 

Akihiko's question quickly brought Mitsuru back to her senses. 

"Everything is fine, Akihiko." Mitsuru replied while trying to suppress a smile. "I was just surprised by what they were talking about up there." 

"Oh, okay." Akihiko replied. Though, he was curious to know what Mitsuru heard to make her put on a face like that. 

Meanwhile, back on the sixth floor, the large insect had just dispersed into a puff of black smoke. 

"*Pant* *Pant* *Pant* It's finally dead." Bisca said through ragged breaths. "Now, we just need to look for the other thirty that are definitely nearby. Then, we can kill those, too." 

That only caused the other three to look at her strangely. 

{"Um… That Shadow was call… Grave Beetle."} Mitsuru cut in over the comms in an awkward tone. 

This time, Bisca was the one with the strange expression on her face. 

"Well, people often mistake beetles for roaches." Alfonzo said in a consoling tone that was ruined by the laughter he was trying to hold back. "So… Pfft… Don't worry about it. Hahahaha!" 

At the end of his sentence, Alfonzo could not hold it in any more. So, he started laughing uproariously. And that led to Elicia and Alzack laughing, too. Bisca, on the other hand, turned beet red in embarrassment. Then, she glared at Alzack. And her glare said… no screamed: "Keep laughing and you'll be sleeping on the couch for a long, long time." 

"*Cough* Hey, we should get moving." Alzack said while cold sweat dripped down his back. "We don't have the time for this." 

With that, Alzack started walking towards the stairs quickly. And when Bisca saw that, she snorted victoriously before following him. Meanwhile, Alfonzo and Elicia smiled at each other before doing the same. 

Reaching the seventh floor, things continued at a similar pace. However, they did encounter a new Shadow on this floor, as well. Except, the encounter was strange. 

First, the Shadow was already formed into a type of Shadow instead of crawling around as a dark slime. Second, as soon as it caught sight of the party, it turned around and ran as fast as it could. And third, it was as fast as any C-Class wizard. So, it was pretty fast. 

Luckily, no one in the party was slow enough for it to lose them. So, the Shadow, Wealth Hand, which took the form of a golden hand with a green head where the wrist should be, was quicky surrounded. But when the team tried using elemental attacks on it, they had little to no effect. So, they just beat it up the old fashioned way. And when it eventually died, it dropped a coin made of a gold-colored metal that Alfonzo did not recognize. 

"What is this?" Alfonzo asked as he approached the coin. 

"What's wrong, Fonzie?" Elicia asked curiously. "is that a metal you've never seen before?" 

"Yeah." Alfonzo replied as he crouched down to pick up the coin. 

However, as soon as Alfonzo's fingertips came in contact with the metal, he froze completely. Naturally, upon touching the metal, he had injected his magic power into it to see its structure. However, this metal was so dense that he did not know what to do with it. In fact, he was unsure if he would even be able to lift it. 

Despite his doubts, Alfonzo braced himself to pick it up. And when he finally put some force into lifting it, he toppled backwards onto the floor. 

"Fonzie! Are you okay?" Elicia asked in a worried tone as she rushed to help Alfonzo up. 

"It's so… light…" Alfonzo said in a dumbfounded tone. "but how?" 

Seeing the expression on Alfonzo's face while he looked at the coin in his hand, Elicia stood up and sighed. 

"Alright, let's find the teleporter." Elicia said in an exasperated tone. "Fonzie's not gonna be able to concentrate on anything now that he's like that." 

Hearing Elicia's words and seeing Alfonzo's current state, Alzack and Bisca could only smile. They knew that this couple was very alike in certain ways. For example, when they were involved in the things that interested them, almost nothing could pull them away. 

"No, I can study this during the day." Alfonzo said, shaking himself out of his trance. "We've got a job to do. And I'm not going to be distracted from it." 

Although what Alzack and Bisca thought was undoubtedly true, they had forgotten one thing. 

Alfonzo takes great pride in being a Fairy Tail wizard. And he takes even greater pride in the fact that he's never failed a quest. Though, he takes even greater pride in the fact that he's never caused any excessive property damage while on a quest. Something that even Elicia can't claim. 

With Alfonzo's declaration, he put the coin in the bag he carried on his hip while on quests. Then, he led the rest of the party to continue their exploration. And along the way, until they reached the eleventh floor, they did not find any new Shadows. 

However, the eleventh floor was different. Not different in the fact that they finally found a new Shadow, though. Instead, it was similar to the fifth floor, with a long flight of stairs in front of them. On top of that, there was a two-way teleporter platform to the right of the stairs. 

"Miss Kirijo, how much time do we have left?" Alfonzo asked over the comms. 

{"Approximately six minutes."} Mitsuru replied. 

"Then, I guess we should call it a night, huh?" Alzack said. 

"Yeah." Bisca replied with a nod. "There's no guarantee that we can beat the Guardian and come back to the teleporter before the time is up." 

"I'm tired, anyway.' Elicia said while stretching her arms over her head. "I wanna go to bed." 

"Yeah, I'm kinda tired, too." Alfonzo said as he glanced at Elicia and they briefly made eye contact. "So, let's go." 

During that brief eye contact, the two had a quick conversation. 

Elicia: Wasn't the second Guardian supposed to be on the tenth floor? 

Alfonzo: Yeah, that's what I remember, too. But we're on the eleventh now. So, I don't' know what's going on. 

Elicia: I guess real life really is different than games. 

Alfonzo: I told you that yesterday. 

After that short conversation, the group stood on the teleporter and headed back down to the first floor. Then, along with Mitsuru and Akihiko, they left Tartarus and headed back to their hotel and dorm, respectively.