Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

In the blink of an eye, it had been more than two months since Vahn captured Enyo and secured the 60th Floor. He was now sitting within the viewing stands of the gods with his son, Macht, sleeping in his arms. Today was the first day of the 'Alliance Faire', the event that that had now come to replace the Monster Feria from the past. Instead of a focus on simply taming and demonstrating monsters to the public, the first event of the Faire was an exhibition match between the top-ranked teams from the School's Adventurer Course. They were split into teams of five and, even without belonging to a Familia, the average strength of these students was actually around that of a Level 2.To ensure there were no injuries during such events, Vahn had coordinate with the Ganesha Familia to build a powerful spatial magic formation into the rebuilt Coliseum. It had been destroyed in his battle against Ottar in the past and, out of consideration for both the crowd and the contenders, a more suitable battlefield had been created. Now, contestants would 'enter' the field through a special teleportation ward. Though it did teleport them, the actual location was a Space-Time orb while their main bodies were put into stasis.Within the Space-Time orb, there was no threat of death, allowing the contestants to fight to their absolute limit without fear of serious repercussions. This had led to an era of significantly more 'extreme' sports, as the crowd got riled up even more when there was increased competition and violence. At the same time, the contestants themselves could cut loose and push themselves beyond their limits, increasing their willpower and honing their intent for further growth in the future. As for the 'spatial barrier' itself, it was just a three-dimensional projection of the events taking place within the Space-Time orb. It was explained that the arena had been 'isolated' to protect the crowd and, as for why people couldn't die within, the Alliance simply stated that it was a type of Magic created by Vahn, further increasing his prestige...Though he knew everyone battling against each other on the field, Vahn's focus was on the rather petite and diminutive Roux, serving as the 'Mage' on a team that also contained Rye and Fina. The two were acting as Vanguard and Forward Assault, with Fina wielding a thin rapier while Rye stood unhesitantly at the front with a shield and hammer. They had great teamwork and, as a result of Vahn's slight bias, had been excelling within the School's environment. Even so, Roux stood out amongst them as her magic wand revolved in front of her hand as she chanted, "Three Spirits of Wind, Make Shackles and Capture my Enemy! Magic Arrows, Capturing Wind~!"With the completion of her magic, three bands of wind snaked forward, restraining the enemy team's 'tank', allowing Rye to step in and break his target's stance. At the same time, Fina dashed in like a bullet, accurately piercing through the metallic plates of the opponent's armor and directly hitting a vital spot. As a result, the opposing tank burst into blue light and was gone from the battlefield, shifting the momentum towards Rye's team. He served as the 'Captain' of their party, named 'Hammer of Justice', and had become relatively popular within the School because of his outgoing and kind nature.Though the opposing team fought hard, even managing to take out Fina with a well-placed arrow to the knee, the victory was clinched by Roux's magic. Even though the classes had just begun recently, Roux was truly a prodigy when it came to magical studies, especially with the 'new' system of Magic. She could only use basic spells thus far, but considering the fact that she was already outshining even the High Elves in her class, all while being a Half-Elf that shouldn't be able to use Magic, Roux had every reason to be proud of her accomplishments. Instead, she acted very humble and never let her power get to her head, constantly striving for greater heights...Vahn felt nearly as much pride watching the team of former orphans win as he would watching his own children succeed in their pursuits. Since Roux was also setting a powerful example that 'anyone' can use Magic, Vahn felt even more gratified by their victory. If not for the fact he was holding his sleeping son, wrapped in a soundproof barrier to allow him to sleep peacefully, Vahn would have risen to his feet to clap with the rest of the crowd. Rye had lifted his hammer after their team had won, getting a large number of the crowd to rise and cheer as a result. The boy now stood at 143cm tall and, though he still had a very youthful appearance, he was beginning to look like a kind young man as the days passed...As if to emphasize Rye's growth, Vahn watched the rather eye-opening scene of a slightly blushing Fina walk over to the smiling boy's side and give him a kiss on the cheek. This made his smile turn goofy as the crowd began cheering even louder, much to the chagrin of the fiercely blush Fina. It was possible the two had genuine affections for each other now but, based on what he was able to discern from the system, Vahn felt that it was more likely that she and Rye had made a bet. This was pretty much confirmed as, likely after saying a few teasing words, Fina ended up giving Rye a rather fierce punch before storming out of the arena. Now, the crowd began to laugh boisterously while Rye nursed a rather large bump on his head while shaking the opposing teams' hands.From his right, opposite of Hephaestus, Ganesha had also been laughing rather loudly, shouting, "Ah, it's good to be young, graaaaaaaaaaahahahahahaha~!" Hephaestus tilted away from Ganesha, slightly perturbed by the loud outburst as she gave him a wry look and remarked, "Ganesha, be considerate of the children..." This caused Ganesha to place both hands over his mouth in an instant before he worriedly looked over at the sleeping Macht and the small crib containing Rose, Iris, and Daisy. Fortunately, Vahn had placed a barrier around them as well while Lili was watching over them from the side. Even so, Hephaestus' comment was enough to get Ganesha to sit down as he commented, "I'll have to learn to restrain myself better out of consideration for Shakti...!"As she was standing behind him, Shakti reached out and bonked Ganesha on the head in a manner reminiscent of Fina's action towards Rye. She was constantly being pestered by the rambunctious god ever since returning to the surface with, as Loki liked to refer to it, a 'bun in the oven'. It was only recently that she started showing any signs of her pregnancy, though she still continued serving in the capacity of a Captain. Rufina was helping her out with various matters but, even after giving birth, Shakti still planned to continue her duties for a few more years. When she 'retired', Rufina would become the Captain of the Ganesha Familia until someone from the next generation was ready to carry the mantle.Shakti hitting Ganesha caused a round of laughter among the gods gathered in the stands, totaling more than a hundred individuals. Though the Monster Feria had always been popular, the number of gods that attended were generally very few. This was because, even before descending into the Mortal World, the gods had seen countless battles between the surface races and the monsters. Watching something as simple as a 'taming' demonstration wasn't particularly interesting to them so they rarely ever showed up personally. Now that there were things like sports, plays, concerts, and active battles between Adventurers, the number of gods who attended the events had greatly increased. This was especially so for the gods of the Alliance, now totaling 209 individuals and further cementing the Alliance as the greatest organization in the world...Within the arena, the field slowly distorted, changing from the battleground used by the students into a massive arena for Soccer. Of the sports he had introduced, Soccer became the most popular and, as they were intended to be a form of competition for students, the second event of the Alliance Faire would be a match between the student teams. It wouldn't be nearly as intense as the matches between the 'professional' teams, but it was clear to see the amount of effort that these young children put into mastering the sport. This was enough to get the crowd riled up a great deal as seeing children perform such amazing feats, all while lacking the blessing of a god, was amazing in its own right. There were very few people who would look at the efforts of children and outright scorn them, especially in this kind of setting...From a little ways 'off' of the balcony, Vana was wriggling around in the air as she shouted, "Papa, I want to play sports too~!" Even though she, Ina, and Erika, now looked old enough to be considered adults, Vana still had her carefree and vibrant personality. She originally came to watch the Ganesha Familia put on a rehearsed performance with tamed monsters but, seeing how excited the crowd was getting during the Soccer game, Vana was getting riled up a great deal. In response to her outburst, Vahn just laughed in a lighthearted manner before saying, "There will be a championship match played on the third day; if you still want to become a Soccer player, you'll have to train very seriously in order to keep up~."Vana was at a phase where she took an interest in pretty much anything and everything, so long as it seemed fun. Since being an athlete was much safer than some of the other things she had taken an interest in, Vahn didn't think it was a bad idea. He certainly had inhibitions about the 'uniforms' that most athletes wore but, fortunately, there were already rules in place that prevented anyone under the age of fourteen from playing professionally. In the 'youth' bracket, the uniforms they wore were padded and covered a lot more skin than normal, making it 'slightly' more acceptable if any of his daughters wanted to get into Sports.Hearing her Papa give his consent, Vana happily pumped her fists before staring, starry-eyed, at the match being played below. Though it was very fun playing with everyone back at the Manor, Vana really liked seeing large crowds cheering for those 'playing' below. The Coliseum was filled with more than 200,000 spectators and, from Vana's perspective, it was very possible that they would be cheering for her one day. Every time she saw the crowds cheer and follow her Papa's words, Vana always felt very inspired and her desire to get the same reaction out of people had been increasing by the day...Unaware that his daughter was simply trying to emulate him, to an extent, Vahn showed a complacent smile as he watched the match play out below. At the same time, he was down on the 60th Floor, finishing up a few final touches to the defenses that would bar accidental access to the area containing Enyo. After two months, the safe region of the 60th Floor had been converted into a highly secure area using the building materials that Enyo's forces had used to construct the maze of tunnels that Vahn spent more than a month breaking down. Now, the section of the 60th Floor containing Enyo had been completely separated from the rest of the Dungeon proper.Without access to the teleportation ward, or being a Xenos, it was impossible to enter into the area through normal means. Since he knew what some of these means could be, such as Hermes entering into the area with his movement ability, Vahn had set up several countermeasures. He had managed to subordinate several Mimic Slimes from the 61st Floor and had them surround the area outside of the Xenos' patrols. Since it was almost impossible to sense their presence in normal circumstances, anyone without foreknowledge of their existence would fall victim to their surprise attack. Since it was a heavily cordoned off and protected area, anyone entering without permission would almost exclusively be doing so with intentions conflicting his own...Vahn wanted to make sure Enyo was completely secured before he began trying to probe deeper in the Dungeon. Right now, they were experiencing a bit of a 'lull', even though the power of the Alliance was rapidly increasing. There was a large focus on infrastructure, both in Orario and in Haven, while Vahn's focus had been split between family time, training, and his responsibilities as the Supreme Commander of the Alliance. Things were pretty easy to deal with, especially with Aki and Milan both acting as his Secretaries, so Vahn had plenty of time to focus on his efforts on the 60th Floor. Now, the only thing preventing him from making a concerted effort to probe into the depths of the Dungeon was the ongoing issues between the Alliance and other countries...The 'Elder Council' of the Iron Hills had sent a representative to try and broker peace and establish trade relations with the Alliance but Vahn had immediately rejected their offer. Instead, he sent their representative, Brogi Axl Steelforge, back with an ultimatum stating a list of issues they needed to address in order to avoid a military response by the Alliance. This had come as a great surprise to many people as, even though a 'war' between the Alliance and the Iron Hills was expected, nobody had expected Vahn to be so frank about things. He had essentially told the Dwarves, 'You will comply, or you will face my wrath'. If such words were issued by others, it could be taken as a sign of extreme hubris...in Vahn's case, however, there were far too many instances where people had sought their own end by refusing to show the 'Emperor of Orario' his due respect...Included in his ultimatum to the Iron Hills, Vahn had given a very long list of 'criminals' that they would have to offer up for judgment. This list included many cruel slave owners, two of which were members of the Elder Council themselves. As a result, he wasn't surprised when the Iron Hills made a public declaration of war, not against the Alliance, but Orario itself. Their issuance stated that Orario had already fallen under the influence of Vahn and the Alliance ever since he had illegally deposed the Noble Houses that ruled the City. At the same time, their alliance with the Rakia Kingdom was made very apparent as they had started pressuring the northern and western fronts of the Western Forests, clearly pulling the Elven Kingdom into the mix. Vahn's response, at the time, was simply to do a strafing of the two fronts with Fafnir before granting them an opportunity to reconsider their actions before further escalation...(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'The Era of Prosperity and Entertainment','They grow up so fast...','You know what they say, play stupid games, win stupid prizes...')https://bit.ly/2XBzAYu &lt;-(p.atreon link)paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/mn5xMbE

Being one of the backers for the Alliance Faire, Vahn was expected to make an appearance on each day of the event. He had noticed that, as his prestige and authority rose, the number of things he was 'expected' to do had increased. Though it was a little troublesome, there were now more than 600,000 'moving parts' making up the complex structure that was the Alliance. Responsibilities needed to be delegated to the appropriate people and, being the Supreme Commander and Head of the Alliance, Vahn knew his place involved public representation. His presence alone could increase the tension in the entire Coliseum and, when he clapped or gave out commendations, the reaction of the public and participants was, for lack of a better word, 'extreme'.The unfortunate downside to things was that it gave Vahn a 'predictable' nature, as it was very easy to know where and when he would be located in specific places. This made it possible to set traps in preparation of his arrival or, in the more troublesome cases, his enemies had the option of attacking his location or prioritizing targets away from his location. In this instance, as Vahn firmly seated the rambunctious Meinya in his lap, it seemed they had decided to take the bold approach.Though they were far outside of his detection range, Vahn had seen the small beyond the dense cumulonimbus clouds overhead. His eyesight, though not as extreme as Naaza'z [Eagle Eye], allowed him to spot small targets at an extreme range of over 10km with clarity. Because of this, and the fact the skies were supposed to be 'cleared' during events, Vahn had immediately taken notice of the more than two-hundred Drakes flying high above the Coliseum. Though it was difficult to make out what they were dropping, Vahn quickly deduced that the riders had decided to drop explosive ordinance over the Coliseum, indiscriminately...Given the height they were dropping the bombs, Vahn knew they were intending to release their payload and simply try to fly away before anyone knew what was happening. It would take several minutes for the bombs to impact the City, during which time they would have covered a great distance. At the same time, it was nearly impossible to counterattack because they were simply too far away for even skilled Adventurers to attack. Vahn found this display to be extremely cowardly but, at the same time, he understood that the people riding the Drakes simply wanted to preserve their lives. It was similar to how he would have Fafnir attack from outside the range of enemies, the key difference being that he didn't just attack innocents and 'flee'...Interrupting the battle taking place in the Coliseum, Vahn rose to his feet and began exerting pressure through his domain, his voice silencing the entire crowd as he kept his focus on the sky and said, "The Iron Hills is attacking the City. The Coliseum is a safe area where you can seek shelter. All members of the Alliance, report to your respective Familia and do your duty..." Though his voice was calm, the void around Vahn trembled slightly as everyone listened in absolute silence. He had used his domain to amplify the sound of his voice so that it reached everyone without him having to scream out like Ganesha.There was a stir in the crowded Coliseum but the calm in Vahn's voice, combined with the subtle pressure they were feeling, kept people from panicking. Those belonging to the Alliance moved in an orderly fashion while Vahn passed Meinya over to Maemi, saying, "Be a good girl and go with Maemi back to the Manor for me, okay...?" She was a troublemaker in most instances but, when her Papa got 'serious', Meinya knew when to be a good girl. Without arguing, she nodded her head and hugged Maemi close as the latter sprouted wings and immediately took towards the sky. Emiru took along Anise, who was almost inseparable from Meinya, while Vahn turned to Hephaestus, the only goddess to come with him on the third day, asking, "Do you want me to send you back with Fafnir? I need to deal with the bombs..."Hephaestus shook her head casually, a smile affixed to her face as she confidently said, "I'll wait here to help pacify the crowd if things become chaotic." Vahn returned a smile to Hephaestus before turning his eyes skyward and 'vanishing' from the viewing platform. He had still called Fafnir to Hephaestus' side, as there was always a chance she could be one of their targets, while sending telepathic messages to the girls back at the Manor to alert them. It could be that the Iron Hills was simply attacking the Coliseum to disrupt the Alliance Faire, likely to hurt their prestige among the public, but there was a good chance they had targetted other areas as well.If Vahn later found that they had dropped bombs on the Hearth Manor...well, they had already sealed their fates with this attack. That would just speed up their demise as the Hearth Manor and its residents were well-known to be something of a 'reverse-scale' for Vahn. You could antagonize him directly without too many issues but, the moment you targetted the people he cared about, it was the same as throwing any chance for reconciliation out the window...Much faster than the bombs were falling, Vahn ascended into the sky with a monstrous momentum. The moment he detected the bombs within his domain, Vahn condensed a dense membrane of air that smashed into the bombs and caused them to explode far above their intended targets. Then, amidst a veritable cloud of explosions, Vahn burst through as the plumes of flame coiled around his body. He was using Fire Elemental manipulation to prevent the flames from dispersing, feeing them with excess oxygen through his domain. This caused the cloud of Drakes to disperse outward but they were nowhere near as fast as Vahn himself was. He sent waves of flames barreling towards the larger clumps while pulling out his [Khryselakatos] and accurately sniping the Drake-riders without harming their mounts.Vahn wanted to avoid having the bodies of Drakes smashing down on buildings and pedestrians so he was primarily targetting their riders. They were strapped onto the Drakes and, because of their homing instinct, Vahn would be able to follow them back to wherever they had taken off from. This became even more important as, during the time he was picking off the riders, Vahn got a telepathic message from Syr, stating, ("Vahn, some explosive rained down against Terra's barrier. Everyone is safe; Fafnir and Khaos have given chase.") Now, after a momentary pause, Vahn attacks had become even more fierce as he began loosing arrows with enough force to 'evaporate' his targets, destroying both the rider and the Drake.Since it was possible that they were just trying to pull him away from the City, Vahn left the 60th Floor by teleporting to Spero, the destination point for the 60th Floor's ward. He immediately noticed a thin membrane above the village where small fragments of metal were bouncing against the barrier. They were dancing around against the magical membrane like grease on a hotplate as the Xenos sought shelter within their abodes. The village now extended several hundred meters below the surface so there were plenty of places of them to retreat to during this kind of attack. Even so, Ray and the other bird-type Xenos were flying around to make sure nothing was amiss after the bombs had been dropped.They had noticed him very quickly but, after Vahn shook his head slightly, none of them came down to greet him. Moments later, as if he had been an illusion, Vahn was already outside the perimeter of the Xenos' territory, arriving at the Hearth Manor in less than ten seconds. At the same time, he was giving chase to the few remaining Drakes after dawning a [Shadow Visor Mk. 2], the more advanced model that Asfi had recently developed. Its function was the same as the original but the materials comprising it were both lighter and more durable, being almost entirely comprised of Mithril. Vahn's stock of the rare metal had reached an almost ridiculous amount of the last two months, to the point that Ina was using it as template material in her prototypes...Vahn followed the retreating Drakes as they slowly began to converge together into a flock, even with their riders dead. He noticed that some maimed strays had come in from other areas and had to send Fafnir and Khaos away since they would massacre the flock in an instant if he left them to their own devices. Instead, the two flew high into the sky, far outside the perception of any detection magic or ocular device, as Vahn continued to give chase. He was a little surprised that they had flown for nearly an hour before descending towards the 'shadow' between two of the large pillar mountains making up the Alv Mountain Range to the East of Orario...The Iron Hills were located far to the North-West of Orario so it was a little unexpected for the Drakes to have fled to the East. Vahn realized the Iron Hills had probably made bases in the surrounding mountains for an inevitable war with Orario, as it would take years to build fortifications without the Guild taking notice of the site. From this, Vahn knew that the Iron Hills had likely been planning to seize control of Orario for much longer than he had been in the record. This wasn't too surprising though, considering that almost every country that surrounded Orario had been eyeing its resources for nearly a thousand years.Because of the [Shadow Visor Mk. 2], not even a single Sentry sounded the alarm as Vahn landed in the staging area where several stout men, adorned in Damascus Steel armor, came out to wrangle the Drakes. Their average height was around 145-160cm tall, but their muscle density was more than triple that of a normal human being. Each looked like a part of the mountains they resided in, possessing sturdy and defined bodies, hardened facial expressions, and ornately braided beards. Some of these beards extended halfway down the torso of these men who, without exception, belonged to the Dwarven people of the Iron Hills...One of the Dwarves that was wrangling the Drakes, noticing every rider was dead, showed a grim expression as he shouted to the others, "Move yer asses and get some more hands out here to deal with these overgrown lizards!" He then pointed towards one of the younger looking Dwarves, shouting, "You! Go tell the Medics to get out here and do their damn jobs...!" The 'boy', who looked like a middle-aged man with a full beard, gave a quick salute by pounding against his metallic breastplate before running down a set of hard stone stairs.Vahn, choosing to investigate the interior without drawing attention to himself, followed soundlessly from behind. Even without the [Shadow Visor Mk. 2], his [Stealth] as SS-Rank while he could even completely conceal his presence from most detection formations and magic barriers. So long as there wasn't someone with an Innate that was suited for detection, Vahn could stand between two people who were conversing without drawing the attention of either. He had tested this by getting 'revenge' against Tiona for all of her pranks using the [Helm of Darkness] in the past...As Vahn was thinking about the best course of action to take, he noticed a large number of presences located deeper within the hidden fortress. Using his [Eyes of Truth], Vahn saw that the vast majority of these auras belonged to Pallum and Cat People slaves, two races with great vision in the low light of places like mines. The Dwarves were excavating the mountain for minerals to shore up their defenses and manufacture siege weapons that were hidden within the mountain. Based on how much progress they had made in their mining operation, Vahn estimated that this particular fortress had been in operation for around 6-8 years. It took a long time to reinforce the structure of the mountain as mines were dug and, the deeper you went, the harder the stones and minerals became as a result of exposure to Earth Elemental energy.Though he hadn't intended to really spare these Dwarves, who were illegally occupying territory outside of their borders, seeing hundreds of malnourished and emaciated slaves only served to cement their fate. As a result, Vahn moved into an unoccupied area of the fortress and began to locate and mentally 'mark' each of the enemies within the range of his minimap. Though physical barriers could influence his domain a bit, Vahn could 'tune' it to match the composition of his surroundings and slowly probe nearly 2km into the earth below. Over the last two months, his domain's radius had reached 1,982 meters, nearly twice what it had been only a year ago...Once he had identified all of the enemies, Vahn took a deep breath before pulling out a nondescript black dagger that he had named [Mercy]. Though it wasn't named through the [Keeper of the Akashic Tome], it was still an S-Rank weapon with a very unique effect. Using it, Vahn was able to inflict wounds that didn't leave an injury, targetting the Mana and Spirit Bodies of the target instead of their physical body. If he moved undetected, the enemy wouldn't even know how they died before their body was able to hit the ground. It was originally made to cut the mana circuits of his target but, after considering other uses for the weapon, Vahn named it [Mercy] for purposes like this...Starting from one of the rooms further down the adjoining corridor, Vahn walked forward with absolute silence before slicing [Mercy] across the neck of a sleeping Dwarf. With the flow of mana completely severed, the stout soldier drifted into darkness without even waking from his slumber. Vahn performed the same deed on the others present in the room before throwing their bodies into his Inventory. Vahn intended to give them a proper burial later as the Slaves they had tormented watched. Though he could let the Slaves deal with the corpses, Vahn wasn't fond of the idea of mutilating the dead and, years from now, anyone he allowed to participate in such acts would likely regret it dearly...Because there were no signs of struggle at all, Vahn had killed nearly half the Dwarves occupying the fortress, nearly two-hundred people, before anyone realized the abnormality. Alarms began to ring, resonating through the stone caverns with a very high pitched chime. These were similar tools to the bells used by the Freya Familia and were very common when operating in mines and other underground structures. Vahn followed the flow of Dwarves as they were assembling, taking out the stragglers along the way as they began to congregate in a large chamber that served as an assembly and sleeping area for the slaves.Vahn would never know why so many cruel-hearted individuals thought it was a viable option to take hostages in such circumstances. Though he would certainly do what he could to help them, it wasn't as if he would allow the Dwarves to kill him in exchange for some arbitrary promise. Other than earning his ire, such actions served absolutely no purpose, as there was no logic involved with the idea...(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Vahn is slowly becoming a true Emperor...','You done fucked up now~!','If you want these slaves you've never met to live, you'll kill yourself without fighting back~! We promise, like for-realsies, we won't go back on our word...!')https://bit.ly/2XBzAYu &lt;-(p.atreon link)paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/mn5xMbE

While managing things, and generally enjoying his time back at the Manor, Vahn spent much of his focus on what was going on inside the Dungeon. Though the tensions in Haven were a bit strange between the HDF and those who had returned to continue the construction efforts, Vahn had the assistance of several Captains within the Alliance to manage the administrative and logistical duties on his behalf. In exchange for allowing them to build branches for their Familia within Haven, Vahn was able to borrow their expertise while his primary focus was on the 60th Floor and, very soon, beyond.Presently, Vahn was helping to clear away the artificial constructs within the 60th Floor while Ais, Tiona, and Tione, wanting to test their skills, fought off any monsters that spawned. Thus far, other than the standard Berserkers, there were the occasional Berserker Chieftan and, even rarer, a miniature Berserker with blue fur that Tiona had named Cobalt Terror after being the first to encounter it. Though only around 130-150cm in height, these minotaur-like creatures were exceptionally fast compared to their larger counterparts. Also, instead of wearing the heavier armor of their kin, the Cobalt Terrors would wear a cloak to conceal their figure while assaulting with a pair of pitch black shortswords, comprised almost entirely of Mithril.One of the largest boons thus far was the fact that, other than standard Drop Items like horns and hide, the Berserkers, more specifically their variants, had a high chance of dropping natural Mithril weapons and armor. Mithril was a relatively rare resource on the surface so, having monsters drop it at a somewhat reliable rate, was an extremely important discovery. The 60th Floor would likely become a place that is heavily farmed by skilled Adventurers in the future, as obtaining even a single mace or armor drop could earn you upwards of a billion Valis with the current market. This was also a godsend for blacksmiths as well, being that the prices would inevitably begin to lower while the availability of the rare resource would continue to increase...Currently, Vahn was tearing away a piece of the artificial construct and stowing it into his inventory as he casually remarked, "Five more are about to spawn while a Cobalt Terror is sneaking up from the corridor to the south..." Upon hearing this, Tione flexed her left arm while placing her hand against her bicep, shouting, "Yosh! Leave this batch to me!" Tiona, having already prepared for battle, made a pouting expression as she remarked, "Come on, Tione, you just fought the last group five minutes ago...!" As for Ais, she was using her [Gram] to break parts of the artificial dungeon so that Vahn could stow them away, only fighting if there was a monster party or an interesting enemy.Hearing Tiona's words, Tione snorted before asking, "And how many enemies, exactly, have you killed so far...? Besides, I need the chance to improve myself against enemies like this..." Presently, Tiona was far stronger than she was so Tione wanted to fight against tough monsters in order to close the distance, even a little. Though they weren't particularly strong, at least compared to how strong she had become, the Berserkers were surprisingly skilled. They worked well together and, even though their strength was only around Level 4-5, their 'berserk' state could even endanger a Level 6 when they were grouped up.Instead of arguing, Tiona just plopped down onto the Dungeon's floor, finding a cushion beneath her before her rump had impacted the hard bedrock. This caused her pouting expression to turn into a smile as she kicked her feet out and said, "Thank you, Vahn~!" in a sing-song voice. Though he had continued to almost mechanically dispose of the artificial parts of the Dungeon, Vahn was still paying attention to everything happening around them. He gave a small nod towards Tiona before turning his eyes to Tione and saying, "You can do it, Tione..." in a calm tone of voice.Tione brandished the large bladed ring she often used to fight, a confident smile on her face as she said, "Obviously~!" In the next moment, Tione arched her back while spinning around, creating a large momentum as she threw her artifact toward where the Dungeon wall had cracked. The ring immediately began heating up along its edges, cutting through two of the spawned Berserkers in an instant. This caused the other three to release loud howls, their bodies inflating as their fur began shimmering with a vibrant red hue. From the side corridor, the hidden Cobalt Terror launched itself towards Tione's back with enough momentum to cause the Dungeon to tremble when it kicked against the floor.Tione's body was shrouded in a yellow aura from her use of [Cantus Bellax], allowing her to almost completely ignore the two swift blades cutting towards her. She had leaned forward at a low angle, palms against the ground, as she kicked into the chest of the Cobalt Terror before launching herself towards the other three enemies. Her strike had left a dent in the monster's chest but, after a bluish mist escaped the wound, it had already completely healed. However, even in this small span of time, Tione had already closed the distance with one of the Berserkers. She had jumped directly towards its face, planting her feet against its collar bones, before yanking the two fierce horns protruding from the sides of its head. As a result, the monster's head and spine were pulled free from its body as Tione jumped away, extending her hand to catch her artifact that had just bisected another one of the Berserkers on its return vector.As she caught the circular blade out of the air, Tione used the momentum of its return to twist her body around, intercepting a lunge from the Cobalt Terror in the process. This attack had enough momentum to launch her back but this had been intentional on Tione's part as she extended her hand and shouted, "Magic Arrow, Penetrating Stone~!" Though her skill with Magic was much higher than her sister's, Tione's foundation in the arts was still shallow, At most, she could only use [Sagitta Magicka] up to three arrows, with her go-to spell being a single enhanced shot that relied on her own physical strength for increased momentum.Appearing as though it was shot from her hand, a 20cm long bolt of stone, comprised of Earth Elemental energy, impacted into the chest of the Cobalt Terror. Like most monsters, it had no real resistance to magical attacks and had been defenseless against the sudden attack that tore a gaping hole in its chest. She hadn't hit its magic core, but the damage was severe enough to make the monster drop to the ground before turning to dust a few moments later. In that time, Tione had sent out her artifact once again, cutting off the head of the surviving Berserker who hadn't even had enough time to finish its full transformation. After all, from the very start of the fight, only eleven seconds had passed...Even so, Tione released a heavy sigh before retrieving her artifact and rolling her shoulders, feeling slightly fatigued from the short fight. Though there weren't many enemies that spawned on this Floor, their strength wasn't anything to scoff at. If they didn't go all-out from the start, it wasn't impossible for them to sustain heavy injuries in a very short period of time. This was because, on average, the instantaneous acceleration of a berserker could easily reach between 800-900 meters per second. If you were caught unprepared, it wasn't impossible that you would end up as meat paste that was plastered against the hard walls of the Dungeon. This wasn't a Floor most people could safely navigate and, without the 'standard' strength of a Level 7, most people would be killed by a group of Berserkers in their first engagement.From the moment an Adventurer descended past the 59th Floor, the danger level increased exponentially. Vahn had probed down into the 61st Floor after failing to find the One-Eyed Black Dragon's avatar anywhere on the 60th. It was here that he encountered something wholly unexpected...though the 61st Floor shared the crystalline structure of the 60th, the type of monsters that emerged there were far more dangerous than the Berserkers. Though they would only appear in groups of 1-3, every enemy on the 61st Floor that Vahn had encountered was a type of Slime...The 60th Floor was a test of physical strength, speed, and awareness, but the 61st Floor was a place where these things were almost useless. Unless you had Magic Items or a means to counter the specific type of Slime you encountered, it was impossible for most Adventurers to proceed any further. This was because Slimes were almost completely immune to physical attacks unless you had indestructible weapons and could destroy their 'invisible' core in a single blow. The reason for this was simple, as the basic makeup of a Slime's body consisted of an acidic substance that could melt down almost any material in a very short period of time...Vahn speculated that it was research into Slimes that had been the catalyst for the acidic blood possessed by the plant-like creatures in the past. However, even that paled in comparison to the original and, unless you were fully prepared to deal with them, becoming a victim to a Slime was a terrifying ordeal. Though they melted equipment almost instantly, the process of destroying organic material was completely different for a slime. For metals, they broke them down as waste while the purpose of breaking down organics was for consumption. This process was 'much' slower than the former, meaning a person would have to suffer having their bodies slowly dissolved if they were unfortunately captured by a Slime...The most troubling part was that, barring the ability to kill them instantly, the only reliable means to deal with Slimes was by using Magic. Even that wasn't entirely reliable, however, as some Slimes would be completely immune to specific Magic. Since most Mages were limited to only three spell slots, their versatility was severely lacking. At the same time, Magic using the pre-existing system was horribly inefficient, making it very difficult to continue fighting for long periods of time. Though the spawn rate of Slimes seemed very slow, making them relatively easy to deal with, this was only the case in 'normal' circumstances...Like all monsters, Slimes also had Variant and Rare species, excluding the basic Elemental Slimes that would appear. During his limited exploration, Vahn had encountered what he named as a 'Mimic Slime' and a 'Slime Colony', two terrifying enemies that would be the bane of any unprepared party. The Mimic Slime was a 'trap' monster that would take on an appearance that matched the crystalline floor and ceiling of the Dungeon. If you tried to pass over this type of Slime, you would immediately become entrapped in its body while, passing under it, would result in a similar outcome. As for the Slime Colony, they were much easier to locate but significantly more dangerous than even the Mimic Slime. This was because a Slime Colony consisted of dozens of Slimes that had fused together, making them several times larger than normal. Not only did this make them more resistant to magic attacks but any physical attack against them would cause the Slime Colony to 'explode', separating the Slimes into their individual parts as they swarmed you...Because of the dangers of the 61st Floor, Vahn had prevented the girls from venturing any lower than the 60th, at least for the time being. Though he intended to venture deeper for his training, during which time they would likely accompany him, Vahn didn't want them to become the victim of some unexpected horror. It was obvious that the type and nature of monsters would vary greatly as they descended further and, with how dangerous just these two Floors were, Vahn knew they would need to exercise caution before probing too deep. After all, even in the Divination, the Frontier Party led by Bell had only made it down to the 73rd Floor.Considering that a 'god-tier' monster like Typhon had been present on the 60th Floor, it was highly likely that there would even be monsters that could rival the gods in the depths of the Dungeon. Without training in a higher-tiered system of Magic, or breaking through the limits of the Falna, it was almost impossible to conquer the Dungeon. Vahn, however, was confident that they would be able to do so by working together. In the future, it was even likely that people would venture into the Floors beyond the 60th with similar confidence, finding monsters like Beserkers and Slimes as small annoyances instead of dangerous enemies. This would heavily depend on the success of the School, the Academy, and the propagation of Magic Items and Equipment as Haven continued to flourish...In a few decades, the average strength of Adventurers would likely reach Level 5-6, instead of being around Level 2-3. Instead of one man being crowned 'King', even though he was only Level 7, there would be numerous individuals that were able to breach that 'peak' in their twenties. On the other end of the spectrum, it was possible that Mages and Scholars may have just as much power and influence as 'Leveled' individuals. After all, the blessing of a god wasn't required to become strong, it just helped promote the potential of the recipient. Even without joining a Familia, it was possible that the world would one day have several powerful individuals that were beyond the system of Levels entirely...While thinking such thoughts, Vahn felt a large amalgamation of mana converging on their location, causing him to plainly state, "Monster Party." This time, he turned his attention away from his work and pulled out his bow, feeling a little bored with the monotonous task. As he nocked an arrow and fired it towards the first enemy, Vahn knew the future didn't solely belong to Mages. He intended to make the 'Knight' and 'Magic Knight' classification popular in the future as well, similar to those that existed in Eva's record. From observing the school children, Vahn knew that people had different natures and personalities that dictated whether or not they were suited to specific types of magic. There may even be some, like himself, who had a natural disposition towards the bow.With a stoic expression on his face, Vahn was loosing groups of five arrows between 5-7 times a second. His attacks liked like rain that was tearing sideways through the air, accurately piercing the magic core of any enemy unfortunate enough to fall under his gaze. It hadn't been his intention, but Vahn's proficiency with the bow had always been leaps and bounds above his other weapons. Now, he was beginning to fully embrace this fact and, instead of trying to force his skill with the bow and spear to develop further, he accepted that his talents lay in hand-to-hand combat and the mastery of the bow. He simply lacked the dedication and focus required to truly master other weapons while, ever since he had arrived in this world, his skill with the bow had always increased very naturally...Because it had helped him survive, Vahn's appreciation and mastery of the bow had, in a way, become his means for securing his life. This held true when he first entered the Dungeon, still lacking the strength to fight head-on, and during emergencies like his first encounter with the Juggernaut. If not for the effort he had put into mastering the bow in the past, Vahn knew he wouldn't have even been able to leave the forest. Even his first major quest would have ended in failure, as there were no practical means for him to deal with the Goblin Chief and his horde. Now, with the benefits of both Artemis' and Freya's blessings, Vahn was determined to push his mastery with this most faithful weapon of his to the extreme...----------------------------------------------------------------------[[Stats]]Name: [Vahn Mason]Age: 16Race: Progenitus, *sealed*Parameter: [Danmachi: 1-4]-Level: 6(+)-Power: 4001+(D564)-&gt;(C606)-Endurance: 5713+(C629)-&gt;(A889)-Dexterity: 5156+(C699)-&gt;(SSS1292)-Agility: 4492+(D545)-&gt;(SSS1108-Magic: 11611+(SSS1208)-&gt;(SSS2411)Total: 30,973+(3645)-&gt;(6306)Soul Tier: 3 (Lord Soul)[Karma]: 439,202,192-&gt;439,293,231[OP]: 239,633,417-&gt;251,941,664[Valis]: 7,998,400,002-&gt;9,494,405,480Skills: [Will of the Emperor:SSS], [Rakshasa Body:C], [Keeper of the Akashic Tome:B], [Eyes of Truth: B], [Archery Goddess' Blessing:SSS], [Stealth:S-&gt;SS], [Chainbreaker:S], [Heart of the Eternal Flame:SS], [Prometheus:A], [Call of the Reaper:A], [Yggdrasil's Champion:SSS], [Yggdrasil's Favor:S], [Veil of the Traveler: S], [Featherfoot:S], [Hands of Nirvana:SSS], [Metallurgy:B], [Fist Strike:S], [Friend of Spirits:A], [Void Ward:A], [Temptation:I]Magic: [Thria*Mimos:S], [Shundo:SS], [Koku Shundo:B], [Cantus Bellax:S], [Mellodia Bellax:B], [Vis Maxima:B], [Sagitta Magica:S], [Pactio:S], [Magia Erebea:SS], [Dios Tukos:C]Development Skills: [Blessing of Freya:SS](new), [Wound Transfer:S], [Well of Spirit:A], [Swordsman:A], [Master Smith:H-&gt;G], [Mixing:C], [Mentor:A], [Lapidary:B], [Grooming:A], [Arch Mage:F], [Allure:D], [Leadership:D][Blessing of Freya]Rank: SSUse:(Passive): Greatly increases the learning speed of all combat arts, including skills, magic, and abilities. Enhances the efficacy of all charm related skills and improves the users appeal to the opposite sex. Moderate boost to sexual stamina.[Yggdrasil's Champion]Rank: (SSS)Use: Allows the user to draw upon the energy of [Yggdrasil's Heir], giving them nigh-inexhaustibleenergy and endless vitality. So long as this skill persists, the user will possess eternal life and the ability to purify all negative energies.[Leadership]Rank: DUse: Allows the user's voice to carry over great distances, making it easily discernable by allies. Increase the impact and believability of the user's words, allowing them to motivate and inspire others. Provides a small increase to the mental resistance and natural recovery of allies.----------------------------------------------------------------------(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Hard Work, Boring Work','Slimes imba, please nerf...','*pew pewing intensifies*')https://bit.ly/2XBzAYu &lt;-(p.atreon link)paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/mn5xMbE

Chapter 890: Tensions