Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Due to exploiting the holes leading downwards, it only took the group around twenty minutes to make their way to the 17th floor. On this floor, the number of monsters spawned was far fewer than the preceding floors, but they were individually quite strong. There were Lygerfangs, giant tiger-like monsters, as well as a few Minotaurs and a few smaller monsters like Hellhounds and Almiraj, rabbit-like creatures that often used small daggers and spears. They typically exploited the low-light of the cavernous structure of the 17th floor, but they weren't able to get the drop on the group with Vahn present.After progressing through the floor for around half an hour, the group came across a pair of Minotaurs and Vahn decided to give the weaker members of the Familia a chance to fight. Even though the Minotaurs were strong enough to pose a threat to even Fenrir and Mikoto, Vahn believed they would be fine if they worked together. Fenrir charged at the closest Minotaur and tried to attack its legs with her claws while Mikoto followed closely behind to cover her in the event anything went wrong. The twins began to pelt the pair of Minotaurs with bolts while Haruhime watched from the backline and was prepared to use her short-chant magic to help out if necessary.As expected, Fenrir's attacks easily broke through the thick hide of the Minotaurs and left huge lacerations on its body. However, the Minotaur didn't falter from the attack and managed to react fast enough to slam its fist into Fenrir's side and send her flying several meters through the air before she landed on her feet with fiercely glowing eyes. Mikoto had exploited the gap in the Minotaur's defenses from attacking Fenrir and stabbed it directly in its magic core with her katana.Though he originally intended to let the girls fight together, Vahn called out, "Everyone back away, let Fenrir fight alone!" Vahn could tell that Fenrir was 'triggered', so he needed to let her vent out a bit or it would be troublesome later. She was actually quite vengeful by nature and wasn't the type that would easily accept someone's help when she was angry. Since she was Level 2, a Minotaur wasn't an opponent she couldn't match on her own and Vahn was standing by if she needed help.Fenrir's hair started to rise with her anger as she leaned low and prepared to destroy the remaining Minotaur. As if it could sense the danger, the Minotaur actually back stepped a bit and looked like it might try to run away. However, it wasn't long before it let out a loud bellow and charged at Fenrir as if to try and crush her with its powerful fists. It was actually faster than she was, in a linear charge, but Fenrir was far more agile than the Minotaur and managed to dive to the side before kicking back with her leg and leaving cuts with her feet-like paws at the back of the Minotaur's leg. Seemingly unaffected, it tried to twist its body and slam its fist down onto Fenrir and left spider-web cracks on the ground as she evaded yet again.Exploiting the moment when it had leaned forward to attack, Fenrir jumped at the head of the Minotaur and grabbed both of its horns as she stabilized herself on its body. The Minotaur tried to reach up and grab her, but Fenrir's eyes glowed scarlet as she opened her mouth far wider than normal and bit down with terrifying sharp teeth. As if there was no resistance at all, Fenrir bit off the entire top of the Minotaur's skull before it turned into dust and dissipated in the air. Unappeased, she picked up the magic core and crushed it with her powerful jaws before absorbing the Minotaur's essence into her body. She turned back to the group and still had scarlet eyes with a slightly crazed expression on her face.Vahn squinted his eyes before using Shundo to approach Fenrir to prevent her from getting near any of the other girls in her current state. He placed his hand on her head and used [Hands of Nirvana] to calm her mind as he said, "You did very well, Fenrir, I'm proud of you..." As she commonly did, Fenrir reached up and placed her paws around Vahn's forearm, but he noticed her claws weren't retracting much and it was very obvious she was restraining herself. She muttered in a somewhat cold sounding voice, "Master...Fenrir hungry..." Vahn nodded his head before looking back and saying, "Ryuu, Aki, take the girls the rest of the way, I'll catch up in a bit." Vahn threw over the [Rallying Whistle] and [Divine Hearth] for emergency use before leading Fenrir along as she chewed away on the link of [Enkidu] trailing from his palm.After they left, Haruhime muttered in a quiet, sad sounding, voice, "Poor Fenrir...it must be very difficult for her when she can't control her urges..." Ryuu, who often took care of Fenrir, nodded her head and stated plainly for the rest of the girls who were a little unnerved, "She tries very hard to fit in with everyone, so make sure you treat her well to make things easier for her. Compared to her original self, she has made great progress and it shouldn't be impossible for her to learn to control herself even better in the future. Just remember, she doesn't have a lot of experience interacting with people so she needs everyone's guidance from now on. Her potential is incredibly high, and she will be a core member of the expedition parties in the future, so make sure to get along well..."Though they were a little worried at first, Maemi and Emiru nodded together and said, "Yes, we'll take care of Fenrir from now on when we're at the Manor." Ryuu nodded her head with a kind smile before saying, "We need to hurry...without Vahn's detection ability there is no telling what might happen if we stall for too long. Aki, you protect the rear...I'll take point and Mikoto will protect the center of the party and use her detection magic to scout for enemies. Try not to draw too much attention to yourselves with the crossbows...and Haruhime, don't be shy about using your mana potions and accessories. There isn't a great distance between here and the 18th floor, and we'll have plenty of time to replenish our reserves when we arrive."After organizing themselves a bit, the group set out at a moderate pace while remaining alert. Fortunately, the number of enemies on the 17th floor wasn't that great and they had four people within the party of six that could see in the dark, had powerful hearing, and a well-developed sense of smell. Most monsters were rather pungent and weren't great at stealth so it wasn't that difficult to push forward if they were careful. Ryuu was able to kill most monsters in a single hit at this Level, so the group's progress wasn't stalled much until the arrived at the Wall of Grief an hour later. Ryuu could tell that the shadow within the wall would appear in the next day or so, which coincided with their intentions of venturing into the dungeon in the first place. She then led the group to the corridor connecting to the 18th floor to wait for Vahn and Fenrir to catch up.Vahn had led Fenrir far away from the group and used his domain and minimap to map large areas of the 17th floor to look for monsters. He noticed that Fenrir had calmed down a bit when it was just the two of them, but she was still very frustrated and needed to vent against monsters so Vahn found small groups for her to fight. Fenrir saw the group of five Hellhounds in the distance and dropped [Enkidu] from her mouth before charging toward the group. Hellhounds could breathe fire and were quite quick, but their defenses were abysmal, not that it mattered since Fenrir's claws could cut through adamantine easily. Vahn supported from behind and briefly stunned any of the monsters that tried to attack Fenrir's flanks while she jumped around and literally tore them apart. They weren't much larger than large dogs so Fenrir's claws could easily cut several centimeters deep into their flesh, which was enough to cut through bones and muscles. They also weren't able to change directions easily, so Fenrir could exploit their non-existent defense easily. She had grown a lot in the last two months and could even fight well when she had lost her senses and entered a blood rage. Her instincts, sense, and reflexes, were all abnormally high and it made her more than a match for most monsters. The only major threat to Fenrir were agile monsters with high offensive power and those that used magic and could fly.Though he had stunned it, one Hellhound managed to break through and try to bite at Fenrir's side, but she turned around and grabbed at its mouth with her paws. The Hellhound bit down on the somewhat fleshy appendage and bit deeply into her paws, but Fenrir closed her claws and squeezed its face until it dissipated into smoke. Vahn could see the wounds left by the Hellhound slowly closing as she completely ignored the damage and continued to fight. Not only did she have powerful regeneration, especially when she was eating things. After the fight ended, she had 'spared' a single Hellhound after cutting through its spine early in the fight. She picked up its body and began to devour the entire thing, fur, bones, and all.Vahn approached while she was eating and waited for her to finish before giving her the link of [Enkidu] in his hand. She reached out in a casual manner and grabbed it in her paws as she started chewing away at the indestructible chain. Vahn noticed that, even though she had suffered a few wounds, Fenrir was still calming down faster than normal. He had long known that she was the least stressed when it was just the two of them because she still struggled to truly open herself up to others after suffering Eva's 'mistreatment' in the past. Vahn felt like she only rationalized getting along with the others because they treated her well based on his orders, not their own volition. The only exception to this was Milan, Tina, and Preasia.After killing a few smaller groups of monsters, they came across a group of four Minotaurs and Fenrir said in a low tone, "Fenrir kill ugly cow monsters...then we go. Fenrir doesn't want to leave the others waiting." Vahn smiled and stroked the little wolf girl's head and said in an encouraging tone, "That is very mature of you Fenrir. You really are a good girl." She nodded her head as if it were an undeniable truth and said, "Fenrir is a good girl so Vahn has to treat Fenrir well. Fenrir doesn't like being icky, so Vahn has to wash Fenrir properly." As if to emphasize her 'distaste', Fenrir tried to dislodge some of the blood from her fur before making a 'disgusted' face. Vahn laughed because he knew that, though she was 'pretending', there was some truth to her claim as well. She had grown accustomed to wearing cute clothing and liked being clean since it made people pamper her more.Vahn gave her an encouraging pat on the back to urge her forward after saying, "Sure, but you'll have to take a proper bath with the girls later. It's better if everyone gets along since we'll all be together for a very long time." Fenrir nodded as a strange 'smile' appeared on her face and she said, "Yes, but Fenrir will be with Vahn forever and ever..." Her words finished, she charged at the group of Minotaurs that had been unaware of their presence due to Vahn's concealment ability preventing sound from reaching them. Since four Minotaurs were a bit much for her, Vahn used his bow and shot a few arrows into the joints of the monsters without killing them or fully disabling them. Fenrir exploited the gaps in their movements and learned that it was much easier to kill the Minotaurs if she attacked them from behind. She could dig into their back with her indefensible claws before yanking out the magic core as the Minotaur struggled to try and reach her. She had a relatively small frame, and the Minotaurs weren't very flexible, so she could easily exploit this fact to take them down unless they attacked each other.Monsters weren't very 'smart', and they acted with strange restrictions in place that usually prevented them from using attacks and magic that affected their 'allies'. If Fenrir was on another Minotaur, the others couldn't easily attack her and just tried to pull her away but were unable to do so because whoever she was attacking usually flailed about due to the pain they were experiencing. Vahn thought the sight was somewhat humorous because it felt like Fenrir was bullying them quite harshly. When there was only one Minotaur remaining, Fenrir got in a reminiscent pose similar to when she first entered the dungeon long ago. She held up both of her paws, claws extended, in something similar to a sumo pose as she faced down the Minotaur completely undaunted by its massive size and incredible power.The Minotaur released a loud roar like it was trying to intimidate her, but Fenrir countered with her own [Freezing Roar] and temporarily stunned the large monster. Since it was obviously afraid of her, it wasn't able to resist the paralyzing effect of the skill. It stalled for several seconds and began to froth from its bull-like mouth before the light eventually faded from its eyes and it fell to the ground. Fenrir took a 'heroic' pose similar to what Vahn had done when he was showing off earlier. She puffed out her nearly non-existent breasts proudly and tilted her head up a bit as she looked down on the unconscious Minotaur with a disapproving glare in her eyes. She sent short glances toward Vahn with her scarlet eyes and he realized what she wanted to he clapped his hands as if he were impressed and said, "Wow, very powerful, very domineering~!" Hearing his words, Fenrir pat her chest with a thump and made the closest thing to a laugh she could manage, "Ehkekekeku, Leave it to Fenrir~!" She stepped forward and reached her hand through the Minotaur's chest and pulled out its magic core before trotting over and delivering it to Vahn with a 'smile' on her face.Vahn praised her a bit more before leading the way towards the rest of the group that had been waiting for them. He had been slowing tracing a path towards the Wall of Grief while Fenrir was on her tirade, so there wasn't that great a distance to traverse before they arrived. Vahn had even suspected that Fenrir picked up their scent earlier, and that was likely why she had brought up regrouping with them. She still 'remembered' Haruhime's scent that he had her memorize in the past, so it was very easy for her to track down the fluffy Renard girl even if they were separated by several kilometers. When they reunited with the group, Fenrir walked forward proudly and proclaimed, "Fenrir killed lots and lots~!" As if she weren't affected by the bits of blood and gore covering Fenrir's body, Haruhime extended out her hand and affectionately stroked Fenrir's head and commented, "Fenrir is as strong as she is cute~!" Fenrir nodded her head before casually walking away from Haruhime's petting and walked over to get spoiled by Ryuu.Vahn cocked his head at the strange display because Fenrir always acted differently towards Haruhime compared to all the other girls. Though she wasn't very 'eloquent' in her speech, she didn't really struggle to say any words. Yet, even though they had been around each other often, Fenrir still called Haruhime as 'Harume' and usually didn't let herself be spoiled by the young Renard unless Vahn let them brush each other for a while. As if she had read his mind, Haruhime laughed before whispering, "She doesn't like me because my tail is fluffier than her's is...fufufufu~." Vahn's eyes widened at the claim and he noticed Fenrir's ears had twitched as well. Even though she had spoken quietly, Fenrir's ears were very sensitive and she gave Haruhime a sidelong glare with slightly glowing eyes as she muttered, "Smelly Harume..."(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Racial Traits OP','Fenrir's Mini-Massacre','Smelly Harume...')If you'd like to support me as a writer so I can write even more stories in the future, please follow the ******* link below (O,...,O)~! Stay beautiful &lt;3. Since it was requested, I also added a Paypal link if that is preferable~!)https://www.*******.com/user?u=14397149paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/Jwa8PKh

After reuniting with the main group, everyone headed towards the stairs leading down to Rivira, the settlement in the safe zone of the 18th floor. Everyone wore cloaks that covered their body and obscured their heads since Vahn was rather 'famous', and not in a great way. There was a high chance they would be denied access to the settlement, so Vahn had made the decision for everyone to camp in the nearby forests. The group followed behind Ryuu, since she knew a clearing near the site of the burial grounds of the Astrea Familia. Along the way, Fenrir cocked her head and said, "Fenrir smells lots of smelly girls."Hearing her words, Vahn looked in the direction she was facing and couldn't sense anything so he asked, "Who is it that you smell?" He had some expectation and his intuition was confirmed when Fenrir waved her arms and said, "Fenrir smells the girls that were with Vahn. They smell like the stinky Loki." Other than Haruhime, Loki was another one of the girls that Fenrir disliked, and Vahn felt like it was almost her 'instinct' to act that way around her. She is very sensitive to people's thoughts and feelings, so someone with a chaotic aura like Loki would naturally stress her out just by being around. It didn't help that Loki was constantly trying to get closer to her and had even tried to brush her in a casual manner without permission.Vahn turned to Ryuu and said, "Take everyone along and set up camp. I'm not sure when I'll be back, so go ahead and wash up before preparing for dinner. I'll make sure to be back before nightfall..." Ryuu nodded her head and said, "I'll protect everyone." Vahn smiled and saw them off before heading over to the likely location of the Loki Familia encampment. He didn't think they were on an expedition so they were probably camping in a small group located within one of the various forests. The Inn prices within the actual settlement were exorbitant, and the furnishings weren't that great, so most people avoided staying there. The Loki Familia had a small lodge in the inner circle of the tree, but they probably didn't let normal Familia members stay there and chose to camp outside. There was also a very real possibility they were camping to avoid wandering eyes since they were planning to meet up with him later.After a few minutes of travel, Vahn was able to detect several presences within the area of his domain, so he picked up Fenrir and used Shundo to close the remaining distance. When they arrived in the small clearing, there were a few small tents that had been set up with a total of eight presences within his detection range. Four of them were off in the forest, and Vahn saw the tell-tale signs of a small stream and assumed it was likely Tiona, Ais, Lefiya, and Tione bathing. He was tempted to re-experience a moment from his past but decided it wouldn't be worth the trouble of dealing with the potential joint attack of the Amazon twins. Instead, he made his way to the slightly larger tent where there were three people staying but was intercepted when the final aura, which belonged to Bete, stepped outside of his personal tent.Vahn realized he had made a bit of a mistake and, before Bete could say something that would cause problems, he grabbed Fenrir and used Shundo to dash away. Bete looked toward the direction he had 'fled' and shouted, "What kind of pansy shit is that!? The fuck did you bother showing up for when you're going to run away like a little bitch!?" Unfortunately for him, Vahn had long retreated into the distance to avoid his snide and condescending act. Even if he understood Bete was just acting out, there was no way Fenrir would have been able to accept hearing someone speak so rudely to him. He just spent the better part of an hour-and-a-half calming her down, and he didn't want her to get incited by the irrational behavior of Bete.Fenrir was always happy to be carried by Vahn, so she didn't have any complaints as she lazed about in his arms while tucking in her hands and feet so that she didn't accidentally scratch him. Vahn set her down after opening up more than three kilometer's distance from the Loki Encampment and told Fenrir, "I want you to go to where Tiona, Ais, Lefiya, and Tione are, okay? Tell me I want them to help you clean up, and I promise I'll wash you again later before bed. I have to go and talk to a few people, and they'll bring you back to me after your bath." Fenrir looked like she was going to 'pout' for a moment before eventually nodding her head and saying, "Fenrir will go. Fenrir is a good girl." After patting her chest confidently, she ran off in the direction of the bathing girls and would hopefully avoid any trouble along the way.After confirming that she joined up with the others, Vahn returned to the Loki Encampment where Bete was complaining to Finn, Gareth, and Riveria about how Vahn had 'run away'. They all noticed his arrival before Bete tried to say something but was shut down by Gareth as Finn walked over and said, "Greetings, Vahn, it's good to see you again." Vahn nodded his head and accepted Finn's handshake as he explained, "I was traveling with Fenrir, and I didn't want her to go berserk listening to Bete. She is with the other girls right now, so I'll probably leave when she gets back to avoid trouble." Finn laughed complacently before saying, "Sorry about that, I hope Bete hasn't caused you any trouble."Hearing Finn's words, Bete shouted out, "He is the one coming into our camp without warning before running off! I didn't do jack shit, so why am I being blamed!?" Since Bete had never met Fenrir before, he didn't know anything about her. Finn had also never met her, but he had probably been filled in by Loki while Riveria, who was somewhat interested in Fenrir from their prior meetings, looked toward Bete and said plainly, "It's your brash and thoughtless nature that is the problem. If you had met that girl, you probably would have said something to upset her. Vahn did the right thing by avoiding the confrontation, so you'd do well to remember that you were irrefutably the cause of the current situation."Bete looked like he wanted to say something, but Gareth smacked him on the back and said, "Just drop it Bete, let's go have a drink. I've got a new brew that I think you'll be fond of..." Gareth looked over to Vahn and made the motion of drinking alcohol with his hand before saying, "You can come along if you want. There is a bit of time till the little ladies return, Grahahahaha~!" Vahn nodded politely and said, "Sure, I'd like to spend more time hanging out with a few guys...I feel like my life is a little oversaturated with women lately." Gareth began laughing heartily while Finn showed an awkward smile since he knew he had probably added to Vahn's problems to an extent. Bete seemed to be triggered by Vahn's words but was pulled along by Gareth who said, "Don't get yer britches in a bunch, don't you have girl troubles of your own these days?"Vahn raised his brows and saw the somewhat blushing, yet pissed off, face of Bete as he said, "Mind your own business you old coot! Fuck, whose goddamn idea was it to let a bunch of prostitutes join our Familia...that little shit is so weak..." Gareth gave Bete a stern look and said, "It is the duty of a strong man to protect the women around him, just do your job and there won't be any issues. Besides, if you've any real complains you don't have to sleep with the lass, do ya?" Bete clicked his tongue but didn't say anything as he put his hands in his pockets and headed toward one of the larger tents near the main tent alongside Gareth.Finn watched them for a while before turning to Vahn with an amiable smile on his face as he asked, "So, you've come for the Goliath subjugation, right? I heard from Riveria and the girls, so I was wondering when you might show up." Vahn nodded his head and explained, "If possible, I wanted to try and solo it again. I brought along my entire Familia to gain experience, and I'd like them to see what it is like to fight against a Monster Rex. I'm willing to give all the drop items and the majority of the magic cores to the Loki Familia." Finn laughed in a casual manner and said, "I thought that might be the case. Very well then, that should be acceptable. It's good to be working with you for the time being, Vahn." They shook hands again before Finn walked off toward the same tent where Gareth and Bete left to.Riveria looked toward the distance for a while before saying, "I'm interested to see what other unique abilities you'll use tomorrow. You can leave the protection of your Familia members to us and focus wholly on the upcoming fight." Vahn smiled and thanked Riveria before the politely separated and went to their own respective tents. Riveria moved to the main tent while Vahn went toward the large tent where the other guys were waiting and enjoying some rather strong alcohol. Vahn still remembered Tsubaki's words of never drinking in the dungeon, but that was retracted when it was discovered he was immune to the effects of alcohol. If anything, it wasn't a bad idea for him to drink since he could use it to get people to lower their guards around him.When he stepped through the tent flap, Vahn saw Bete with a flushed face and Gareth laughing in a jovial manner while nudging his side. Finn had a glass of his own and Vahn could detect the scent of honey in the air as he walked over and sat down. Bete had noticed his entrance and waited for him to sit before asking, "So, can you even drink alcohol!? You look like a bit of a lightweight to me..." Vahn couldn't help but laugh which made Bete shout, "What the fuck are you laughing at!?" Without concerning himself with Bete's outburst, Vahn moved to the small stump next to Finn and pulled out a bottle of translucent brown alcohol he had purchased from the system called [Dwarven Drought]. It went for a total of 8,000OP and had even taken down Loki after just a few shots.Even though he hadn't removed the cap, Vahn saw a sheen in Gareth's eyes as he correctly guessed, "That's the so-called [Dwarven Drought], ain't it? I saw Loki-sama lounging about for an entire morning after sipping on that for a bit the previous night. Grahahahaha, let's see if the rumors are true!" As a pure-blooded Dwarf, Gareth had an incredible tolerance and instinctual love of all forms of alcohol. He even carried a flask on his person at all times that was full of a highly concentrated base liquor that he mixed into other types of drinks. Vahn smiled and opened the cap to allow the nutty aroma to spread through the tent with a powerful aroma that smelled so strongly that you might get drunk just by exposure to the ambient scent. Finn's eyes widened while Gareth has a fervent expression on his face as he poured the current contents of his glass onto the ground below. Bete looked like he wanted to say something, but there was a severe lack of confidence in his expression after getting a whiff of the [Dwarven Drought]. As a werewolf, he had a very powerful nose and Vahn noticed the rudy blush on his face had already started to deepen.As Vahn poured a glass for Gareth, Finn laughed before downing his own flagon and setting it to the side. He stood up from the small stump and dusted himself off before saying, "I know when I'm beat, so I'll excuse myself from this round. Please, feel free to enjoy yourselves in my absence." Bete looked like he wanted to follow Finn's retreat, but he couldn't easily give up when Vahn was the one offering the alcohol. He finished off his glass before slamming it down and saying, "Smells like piss, I wonder if it even has any taste at all!?" Gareth, who had just been admiring the smell with a contemplative look gave Bete a glare and said in a hard tone, "If you've that kind of attitude, this alcohol is beyond you. This is some of the finest whiskey I've ever smelled, don't tarnish it by trying to put on a strong front! Hmph!" Finished with his words, Gareth took a long swing of his flagon before closing his eyes and savoring the experience. After he was done, he released a long sigh and actually breathed out a small cloud of alcoholic fumes as he said, "Damn, that's some good stuff!"Bete's brows furrowed low and he gnashed his teeth for a brief moment until eventually asking, "Hey, can I get a taste of that...?" Vahn nodded and filled Bete's cup to the brim before topping off Gareth's and his own glasses. Raising the glass, Vahn said in a happy tune, "To the Alliance, and our continued friendships." Gareth immediately raised his own glass, but didn't clink them together since he was afraid to spill any of the alcohol onto the ground. He shouted out in a hearty, "Hear, hear, that's the way, Grahahahahahaha!" Bete didn't seem interested in the toast but he still nodded his head in an almost indistinguishable manner before taking a swig of his glass alongside Vahn and Gareth.The moment the rich, flavorful, and fiery alcohol hit his tongue, his eyes widened and he began to cough painfully after breathing in a small amount of the liquid. It tasted delicious, but it was far stronger than anything he had ever tasted before. He couldn't think of how anyone would be able to drink such a thing as, after a single sip, he already felt a little light headed. He looked around and saw Vahn and Gareth easily working away at the contents of their glasses without seeming to pay attention to his somewhat embarrassing performance.Gareth gave him a sidelong glance when Bete looked over and said in a stern tone, "Don't push yourself too hard kid...this is some expensive brew. Savor it as much as you can, there is no rush." Bete frowned as if he wanted to say something, but he saw Vahn refilling his empty glass and swallowed his words down. He had been thinking of challenging Vahn to a drinking competition, but now he realized he had nearly walked face-first into an immovable surface. Even after downing the entire glass, nearly a full pint of the powerful alcohol, Vahn didn't even have a light blush and seemed to be capable of drinking the whiskey like it was water. Even Gareth gave him an approving nod before savoring the contents of his own cup. Bete, unable to make any headway against the two 'seasoned' alcoholics slowly sipped on the burning liquid until he passed out a few minutes later with more than half the glass spilling onto the ground.Seeing the sight, Gareth released a sad sigh and said, "Damn, what a waste..." Vahn laughed before placing down a cloth container onto the ground with a thud. Gareth eyed the package until Vahn gestured toward it. When he opened the large cloth, Gareth's eyes opened wide as he saw a miniature keg that looked like it could hold around 5 gallons of alcohol. He uncorked the side and smelled the contents when an appreciative smile appeared on his face and he began laughing heartily. He raised his own glass, as if making a toast, and said, "Yer a good lad, Grahahahahaha!" Vahn took the initiative to do what Gareth had avoided earlier and clinked his flagon against the middle-aged dwarfs before remarking, "We should do this more often after the regulations from the Guild loosen. I'm trying to put together a group of guys to create a small network...well, if nothing else, just know that I'm good to my friends, hahahaha." Though he couldn't get drunk, Vahn was in a good mood drinking alongside Gareth and the two were in high spirits until the girls eventually returned from their bath.(A/N: 'Fenrir smells smelly smells','Not today, Bete my boi!','Grahahahahahahahahahahahaha!')If you'd like to support me as a writer so I can write even more stories in the future, please follow the ******* link below (O,...,O)~! Stay beautiful &lt;3. Since it was requested, I also added a Paypal link if that is preferable~!)https://www.*******.com/user?u=14397149paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/Jwa8PKh

The Familia progressed through the seventh floor before eventually arriving the relative safety of the corridor and stairs leading down to the eighth floor. As she initially stated, Haruhime had the group rest and recuperate for a bit before progressing further. It had taken them nearly an hour and a half to reach this point after leaving the sixth floor, and it was a sign that their progress was beginning to stall. Though they had put in a lot of effort, it was a simple fact that Haruhime, Emiru, and Maemi, were new Adventurer's and not that far into their parameter development.Haruhime could cast her [Uchide no Kozuchi] around eight times, and the casts only lasted for an hour or so before wearing off. Since she only recouped around 30 mana an hour, it was impossible for her to sustain using the magic, especially if she wanted to support the group with her [Icicle Edge]. She had been making up for her lack of mana by using potions, but it was only delaying the inevitable. Unless for when Mikoto and Fenrir took point, the groups' progress had slowed a fair amount. Since Mikoto and Fenrir were both Level 2, and relatively capable ones, they weren't having much trouble yet, but there were simply too many enemies for them to fend off with the two of them. If not for Fenrir's [Freezing Roar], things would have gotten out of hand with how quickly the enemies spawned compared to how fast they were dealt with.They had discussed it previously, but it was the general consensus that the tenth floor would be where the party fell apart. Mikoto and Fenrir would be able to manage, to an extent, but it would get to the point where Maemi and Emiru wouldn't be able to fight enemies without potentially suffering grievous wounds. They would have to take up their crossbows and support from the backline with Haruhime while Fenrir and Mikoto fended off the approaching waves on their own. By the time they got to the eleventh floor, where the agile Silverbacks lived, it would be next to impossible for them to fight if there were more than a few enemies. At that point, the only one able to fight would probably be Fenrir, as she had experience going down to the twelfth floor and didn't seem to be affected by the fog that would be present.After resting for a half hour, the group pressed on and Vahn noticed that Emiru and Maemi had already switched to their crossbows and Haruhime had activated her bracelets. It wasn't a bad idea, since she could slowly replenish her mana reserves while relying on the bracelets and the twins would be able to conserve their stamina. Fortunately, the most prominent monsters on the 8th and 9th floor were Goblins and Kobolds, so the group was able to make relatively quick progress through the levels. Though the enemies were faster, stronger, and greater in numbers, it didn't change their attack patterns much and the girls were all accustomed to fighting them. Fenrir was a nightmare for such monsters as her agility and reflexes were high enough that she could easily 'bully' them from close proximity unless they had weapons.It took slightly under two hours to progress through the floors so Vahn suspected that their confidence played a heavy role in how fast they dealt with enemies. When there were newer monsters, the girls showed a lot of caution and it slowed the progress of the entire party down. Since the Goblins and Kobolds of the 8th and 9th floor were stronger than the enemies of the 7th floor, they should have progressed even slower. Instead, the party moved along confidently and dispatched a number of enemies with relative ease simply using their teamwork to carve a path of destruction through the two floors.When the party progressed to the outside of the 10th floor, Vahn listened from the side as the group discussed the various dangers ahead. Even Fenrir, who had actual experience on the floor, pitched in with her own views on the monsters. She described, in vague detail, that the Orcs were slow and powerful while the Imps were fast while also being weak and sneaky. The most problematic things were the 'loud' and 'smelly' Bad Bats that would be attacking them from the air. Without excellent marksmanship, it would be difficult to deal with them and they were one of Fenrir's hated nemesis. The only way she could deal with them was to use [Freezing Roar] to paralyze them out of the sky, but there was a major downside to the skill that it required a large amount of mana. Fortunately, Fenrir's mana recovered quickly, especially if she was eating the monsters and magic cores along the way.After the group progressed into the misty 10th floor, their pace was much slower than normal as everyone was paying attention to their surroundings. Visibility was terrible and it was even worse for the various Adventurer's proceeded into the dungeon as it didn't seem to have a great influence on the monsters within the mist. A few minutes after progressing into the floor, there were various red lights shining through the mist coming from shadowy silhouettes nearly three meters tall. Some of the monsters, which were easily identifiable as Orcs, were even carrying trees that they had uprooted from the floor of the Dungeon with their monstrous strength.Emiru and Maemi immediately opened fire on the Orcs before they could close the distance, but their skills with a crossbow left a lot to be desired. Most of the penetrative bolts hit the relatively large bodies of the Orcs, but they were just superficial wounds since you needed to destroy the core a few inches below their neck to actually kill them. Even when a stray bolt slammed into the forehead of an Orc, it kept shambling forward after making a pained roar but was otherwise unaffected by the projectile. Hitting them in the head wasn't a bad idea, but you had to destroy the entire brain if you wanted to turn them into dust using that method. Orcs had incredible vitality and very powerful regeneration to make up for the flaws in their unbalanced parameters.Seeing that the twins' attacks were ineffective, Haruhime began to chant her magic while Fenrir and Mikoto stepped forward to deal with some of the Orcs that had closed in on the group. Unable to effectively use the crossbows on this floor, Emiru and Maemi switched back to their heavy daggers and teamed up to try and take out one of the orcs using their coordinated attacks. Because Orcs were incredibly slow, they were able to outmaneuver the large monster and exploit the huge gaps in its attacks to wound the regenerative flesh of the pig-like monster. Maemi eventually landed a grazing blow on the magic core and turned the Orc into dust particles before releasing a satisfied laugh and retreating alongside Emiru to protect Haruhime.Since she hadn't learned [Concurrent Chanting] yet, Haruhime was defenseless when using her chants and needed to be protected from sneak attacks. It was fortunate that the twins fell back when they did, because Ryuu was preparing to eliminate the two Imps that had been sneaking up from behind if things continued as they were. As they approached, the twins immediately spotted the Imps and closed the gap to try and eliminate them before things spiraled out of control. Unlike the Orcs, however, the Imps were very agile and even used daggers of their own. If they were coordinated, they might have been able to beat the twins in fair combat, but fortunately, they weren't very smart, even though they were sneaky enough to ambush prey.Emiru managed to cut the throat of the Imp she was fighting before moving over and supporting Maemi just as Haruhime's chant completed. An additional three fluffy tails sprouted from her bottom in a magical light before wispy flames appeared on their tips briefly. The moment the wisps vanished, a total of four, meter long, icicles appeared out of thin air in complete defiance of gravity as Haruhime shouted, "Penetrative Chill, Icicle Edge~!" Her targets had been four of the Orcs harassing the group and the spears flew forward at fast speeds before penetrating the chests of their targets. The Orcs immediately turned to dust and Haruhime began chanting her magic anew while Emiru and Maemi protected her.Though it was slow, trudging, progress, the group eventually cleared the 10th floor after more than two hours of intermittent combat. The biggest issue to deal with had been the Bad Bats, but Fenrir's roar was enough to give the party an edge. There was a sticky situation where a large number of Orcs appeared out of the ground, in something similar to a Monster Party, but Mikoto had reacted quickly and used her [Futsunomitama], the gravity magic that affects an area, to crush the large majority of the group. She didn't have enough mana to support using the skill a second time, but it was a very devastating magic, at least on relatively weak monsters. Vahn felt like she was actually more suitable as a mage if she could use attacks like that, but had no intention of forcing her into a role when she obviously preferred swordsmanship. Not to mention, using magic wasn't always reliable as the mana cost and chant of powerful spells could take up to a minute, or longer, depending on the situation.Since it was no longer their turn to take point, Vahn stepped in and helped the girls recover their stamina and mana as they rested. Almost immediately after he offered to help, the atmosphere underwent a shift as the girls, excluding Mikoto, all wanted to receive Vahn's attention first. Vahn gave them a wry smile before putting out a large basin for Fenrir and helped the wolf girl wash her body while also restoring her energy. Fenrir was happy to be the first person tended to by Vahn and actually teased the girls by making a strange laugh that sounded somewhat raspy. After she was clean, the water became murky from all the blood that had soaked her fur so Vahn poured it off in a side room away from the party. The other girls wanted to take baths as well, but Vahn told them to wait until they reached Rivira as he began healing all their small wounds while helping to replenish their stamina and mana.After patting Haruhime and the twins for a bit, Vahn moved over to the quiet Mikoto he gave him a plain stare for a while before turning around. Vahn reached out his palm and placed it on her back as he helped recover her mana as well. Her magic consumed the majority of her mana, so she was actually struggling to stand and had been putting on a strong front for a while. Vahn didn't say anything and just silently helped her recover before removing his palm from her back. She nodded curtly and said in a polite tone, "Thank you, Captain." Vahn laughed dismissively and said, "This is my duty, don't make a big deal out of it Mikoto. I'm happy to help when I can." Mikoto nodded again with a polite smile before sitting with the rest of the group and eating the light lunch that had been set out.The group rested for about a half hour before Vahn led the way into the 11th floor proper while Ryuu and Aki protected the group. When there were smaller bundles of enemies, they would be leading the party in assaulting the enemies for experience. Mikoto and Fenrir were capable of fighting on these floors, as long as there weren't too many enemies, and even the twins would be able to manage if they fought well. Haruhime was an exception since, if she used her magic properly, she could kill monster much stronger than her actual Level. This was one of the reasons mages typically became stronger early on while physical fighters took a while to catch up in Level until eventually exceeding them simply based on efficacy. As long as she hit the target with her magic, unless it had a resistance, Haruhime would be able to kill almost any monster on the current floors.Of course, they would only act if there were small groups of enemies. With their party size, the spawn rate of monsters was quite high and it would be necessary for Vahn, Ryuu, and Aki to take point for the majority of the floors. Vahn himself was getting hyped up, because he didn't often have an audience for his fights. He never realized it before, but 'showing off' in front of the girls made him feel a little prideful and he wanted to do his best to act 'cool' for them. Though he usually fought with his Báihǔ form, Vahn was currently in his Xuánwǔ form because he wanted to acclimate himself to its use. He planned to fight the Goliath in his Xuánwǔ form so he needed to familiarize himself with it before the battle tomorrow. It also had the added effect...a four-meter-tall Silverback jumped down and slammed its fist at Vahn from overhead. Instead of dodging, Vahn held up his palm as a green light shone for a moment before the entire upper body of the Silverback exploded before it turned to dust.Every time he easily dealt with an enemy, there would be a cheerful sound from his back as the girls egged him on and paid him heavy compliments. Vahn had a perpetual smile on his face as he used Shundo to appear under a Silverback before striking its abdomen with a heavy blow that caused a shockwave to pass through its body before it was sent flying back several meters. Vahn had never used his Xuánwǔ form in the dungeon after learning Shundo, so he was ecstatic to be able to circumvent the agility reduction that was imposed on his body. His Power and Endurance had been enhanced by a great deal, and his manipulation of shockwaves made it nearly impossible for monsters that relied on physical attacks to harm him. Vahn felt somewhat tyrannical as he quickly dispatched dozens of monsters while Haruhime, Emiru, Maemi, and Fenrir cheered him on from behind.Because of his 'excitement', Vahn led the way through the 11th floor in a half hour and it would have been even faster if he hadn't let the girls fight a few Hard Armored to gain some experience. As they were relatively slow monsters, it wasn't too hard for the girls to take out the heavily armored monsters. Fenrir herself was their natural enemy, since her claws and teeth cut through the supposedly resilient armor as if it didn't exist at all. The only downside was, all of her combat techniques ensured that she was covered in monster fluids and gore. Vahn even suspected that she was actually making an effort to get dirty so that he would give her another bath later. Given her rather spoiled nature, there was a very high probability that this was the actual case...When they got to the twelfth floor, it was much the same as Vahn was more-or-less unstoppable with his ability to change between his Xuánwǔ and Báihǔ forms freely now. There wasn't a single monster that escaped his awareness within a 450m radius, and his use of Shundo allowed him to almost teleport within the space of his own domain. He was moving around at such speeds that Ryuu and Aki couldn't help but feel shocked at the spectacle. They could still follow his movements a bit, especially Ryuu, but they realized that Vahn was a nightmare opponent for most people. Unless they were much stronger than he was, Vahn would be able to outmaneuver most enemies and, if things got bad, he would most certainly be able to escape without anyone being able to stop him.The other girls didn't really have a strong understanding of how 'abnormal' Vahn was, so they just cheered on happily even after Aki reprimanded them for dropping their guard. Unfortunately, her words didn't have a permanent effect as the girls would cry out again the moment Vahn did something 'cool'. She also felt a bit awed by his figure as he engaged enemies, so there wasn't much she could say to make the girls calm down. Given Vahn's actions, both Aki and Ryuu were very aware that he was putting on a show for the other girls. There was an extra flair to his attacks and he almost always made sure the final blows were slow enough that even the Level 1s in the group could follow his actions. If it were the normal Vahn, he could defeat the enemies efficiently before moving on to the next group without batting an eye.By the time they reached the stairs leading to the 13th floor, Vahn was completely free of any bits of blood and gore and proceeded forward with a confident smile on his face. He could see the 'sparkles' in the girls' eyes and it made him feel accomplished, even when he saw the wry and admonishing looks from Aki and Ryuu. He sent the girls a playful wink before addressing the party, "From here on, we'll be taking a few shortcuts just to expedite matters a bit. There will be holes that appear on the floor, and I'll be carrying everyone down one at a time. Ryuu will guard the lower floor while Aki will protect everyone on the upper levels until I make my way back up. This will save us a lot of time because we can unlock the floors for everyone and backtrack at our leisure."True to his words, not long after they entered the 13th floor, Vahn found a hole leading down and grabbed Haruhime in a princess carry before jumping down the hole with Ryuu. He was using his Xuánwǔ form to invalidate the shockwave from the fall while Ryuu was strong enough to land on the lower floors without any major difficulty at all. When they landed, Ryuu immediately moved to start killing off monsters while Vahn supported her with his bow while protecting Haruhime. It only took a minute or so to clear the room before Vahn turned into his Báihǔ form and scaled the hole leading to the upper floors. He then jumped down with each girl in sequence, including Aki who wanted to tease him a bit for acting 'cool'. She hadn't jumped down with him when he carried down Mikoto, so Vahn eventually climbed up after waiting for a few minutes before jumping down with her in his arms. The words she had used to convince him were, "I don't want to hurt the baby..." as she placed her hands on her stomach and gave Vahn a 'pitiful' look.(A/N: 'Capable Level 1's','Vahn's ego inflates a bit','Aki is sneaky deaky, kappa.')If you'd like to support me as a writer so I can write even more stories in the future, please follow the ******* link below (O,...,O)~! Stay beautiful &lt;3. Since it was requested, I also added a Paypal link if that is preferable~!)https://www.*******.com/user?u=14397149paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/Jwa8PKh

Chapter 335: Imprinting