[Tanya von Degurechaff]
The victory celebration at the Hostess of Fertility was a wonderful thing, and Tanya very much enjoyed her food and drink while everyone else partied as hard as they possibly could. Everyone except Erickitty Autumn, as he had been kidnapped by his wife the moment they returned to the city- his wife's merchant caravan had just returned from Telskyura the morning of, and when she arrived at the Loki familia to see her husband the War Game had started and Analisa Autumn watched the entirety of the battle with the Loki familia. A quick prayer to Hermes had seen to it that she had a smaller window to watch Erickitty's first fight back as an Adventurer.
Needless to say, everyone was in an uproarious mood seeing the man get hauled off by the scruff of his War Gear, and seeing someone who had practically lost everything reunite with their loved one as a man restored really made Tanya's eyes burn.
However, seeing as she was the familia Captain she turned in early and returned to the Church so that she could get some sleep- there was going to be a lot of paperwork in the morning, along with setting up various meetings and seeing to it that the valis she handed out was returned to her along with the agreed-upon winnings. The moment she touched down inside the church she was immediately beset upon with the sounds of soft moans coming from Erickitty's Tiny Home and she felt her ears catch on fire as she quietly made her way into her own home and took a shower before she set about cleaning her equipment and storing it away.
Thankfully the noises ceased by the time Tanya slipped beneath her covers and she was able to experience a wonderful sleep; her mind unburdened by the stress of the War Game.
The next morning she put on her business suit and flew around to the residences of over two dozen familias and construction companies within the city and sat down with them to set up a date and a time where they could all meet. From there she sent a message to the Wise Guy to start putting feelers out for Daedalus citizens that would be looking for good, honest work with meals provided and decent pay. The revitalization of the Hestia district would take far more than just a few hundred Adventurer craftsmen, they were going to need a very large unskilled labor pool to draw from as well, and Daedalus had plenty of poor looking for honest, well-paying work.
The day after that saw the inclusion of the 43 Apollo familia members that she and her other familia members had potential. At the urging of her members, she also asked each member of the Apollo familia if they had been forced to join or would like to join another familia, and of the 90 familia members she had been allotted to take from the God, only 75 members wished to leave. So the 32 Adventurers left the Apollo familia and sought out opportunities elsewhere or returned to their old familias.
However, as space was a premium at the Hestia Church, Tanya worked out a deal to have the 43 members put up in her establishment for 300 valis a night per person, coming to roughly 13,000 valis per day, which while it would be expensive in the long run, Tanya felt that such a price for accommodations was a fair and very reasonable expenditure. One that could be easily paid for with the amount of valis they were already bringing in from their dives.
Tanya took Hestia down to the Guild to finalize the winnings of the War Game and put the Sunfire Estate up for auction with a starting price of 1.7 Billion valis; while there was a possibility of not earning the full 2.15 Billion valis, the likelihood of earning even more with a bidding war was a lot higher in Tanya's opinion. Apollo had made a lot of enemies, and the possibility of owning the man's house was just too good to pass up.
While at the Guild Tanya and Hestia finalized the purchase of the entirety of the Hestia District for the paltry sum of 100 Million valis, which considering the District accounted for 10% of the City's total landmass was outstanding! Tanya managed to needle out additional concessions from the Guild, with the primary one being that the property tax rates would be frozen at the 10 Million per year for the next 50 years. While the fat elf wasn't so enthusiastic about that, it was Ouranos' booming voice that had him roll over and relent.
It was 10 Million additional valis the Guild was earning that it wasn't getting before, and considering the horrid state of the area, it was not doing anyone any good at all. This was further compounded by the fact that it was the Hestia familia who would be doing the Guild and the City a massive favor by rebuilding the district. Such a thing would cost in the tens of Billions of valis and would be a massive boon to Orario as a whole if Tanya and the Hestia familia accomplished even a tenth of what they had planned.
So with the Hestia District officially purchased and the Apollo estate put up for auction, Tanya extended her contract with Freya to utilize their training facilities and spent the next two weeks training her newest familia members and getting them introduced to the Hestia familia and how it functioned. Most of that was paperwork, but there was some one-on-one counseling with some of the Level 2s that had opted to join.
Most of them had mediocre stats as Level 1s when they took the Rank Ups, and after showing off the progression and Status Updates of the members who had their ranks zeroed out, they eventually consented to be zeroed out by Hestia so that they could start anew.
When they could make back years of progress in just a few months under her training and then progress even further than they had before, it really was the best play for them.
Tanya also set up Career Counseling sessions for everyone with presentations given at the church for all 62 members of the familia about the best ways they could maximize their progress going forward. She went over Skills, Developmental Abilities, and Magic- everything that Tanya learned in her time at the Loki familia was brought to bear; no longer would Adventurers stumble around in the dark wondering what they should pick, or how they could best apply their skills and magic.
She also introduced what she called the "Complete Adventurer" concept- just as the American Marines believed that every Marine was a Rifleman first, Tanya believed that there were three 'Core Competencies' that all Adventurers in the Hestia familia should be proficient in: the 'Three P's'.
"Martial Proficiency": Every familia member will become proficient with the melee weapons that are chosen by the familia; the bow, the spear, the sword, the ax, and the knife. Those weapons will be provided by the familia and have the best abilities to combat multiple types of monsters in the Dungeon and will be invaluable as the familia grows and begins delving deeper into the Dungeon in organized expeditions.
"Magical Proficiency": Every mortal has the ability to utilize Magic with the falna, it is only a matter of teaching and personal dedication that separates those who can't and those who can. The falna is the great equalizer, and the familia will see to it that every member not only learns basic and useful spells but will require competency in it.
"Administrative Proficiency": Not every Administrator in the familia will be an Adventurer, but every Adventurer will be an Administrator. They should be able to read, write, and understand the streamlined filing systems that the familia has already created and will add on to in the future. The higher one ascends in the ranks of the familia the more responsibilities they will have, and that was non-negotiable.
She used the Loki familia as an example: Finn Deimne used to spend 12 hours a day in the office handling the familia's paperwork, and with just a few additional helpers it cut his load in half, which allowed him to increase his own training and actually take leisure time, or take time to teach his spearmanship to others.
The more the paperwork load was spread around, the more time everyone would have for themselves to further their own training or leisure time.
Tanya also took the time to introduce the Branches of the familia as well as the Grade and Rank system, along with the Code of Conduct and a fairly loose Dress Code for Out-of-Dungeon and a more strict Dungeon Dress Code that included a standardized Dungeon uniform; the lone Amazon of the familia lamented not being able to wear a bikini into the Dungeon anymore, but upon seeing the form-fitting options of the "Fight Suit" she relented; as long as she could display her fantastic figure to the men of the world she was more than happy to settle for the curve-hugging leather.
It was then she introduced the concept of Standardized Equipment- the Fight Suit, Chainmail, Cuirass, forearm and leg guards, as well as a possible helmet that would be enchanted for high-risk Dungeon dives or familia operations. They liked the level of protection they would be getting without sacrificing too much of their mobility, however, Tanya believed that to be because they had their asses handed to them by fellow Level 1s wearing the armor; their opponents were able to move freely and easily while shrugging off strikes that would have seriously injured them had they merely been wearing clothing as most Adventurers were wont to do.
Seriously, the standard uniform for the Apollo familia had been bright white clothes and a hip pouch for crying out loud!
The Hestia familia had a flat 10% tax on Dungeon earnings, which shocked all of those present, as most familia's charged anywhere from 20-40% of the earnings. Tanya merely replied that she believed that everyone should be entitled to keep the fruit of their labors- the more money they were able to keep, the more money they were able to invest in their equipment, the more they were able to dive deeper and acquire more loot, which then, in turn, brought more profit to the familia.
She established a daily schedule that ran six days a week, giving everyone a day off, and established a vacation system that offered 30 days of vacation every year; more than enough time for familia members who hailed from far off lands such as the Far East to run out and visit their families back home. They could opt not to take a vacation and stack it up to a maximum of three months, after that it would be paid out at a starting rate of 20,000 valis per month; those that didn't feel like using their vacation could still profit from it, but it really incentivized people to create a proper work/home balance.
While the majority of them might not be married now, the option of being able to take a vacation to Melen to spend time with their significant other, or a hunting trip with their future children would be invaluable.
The entirety of the familia left that meeting in a haze, but they had the packets of information in hand, and Tanya felt an immense sense of fulfillment. Bringing modernity to a medieval world surely was amazing! Her stocks would rise just from this alone!
[Three Weeks after the War Game]
The meetings had gone swimmingly, with the Gods, Goddesses, and Construction companies all more than willing to take the Hestia' familia's valis.
After the War Game, Tanya took home 4.6 Billion valis, including her seed money. The Sunfire Estate sold for 2.91 Billion valis after a massive betting war between two other Top 20 familias that were looking to expand into a larger estate so that their members weren't sleeping 4 to a room anymore; if there was one thing that the estate had it was room. There were only 130 members in the Apollo familia, but it had 400 bedrooms, 200 half-bathrooms, 4 kitchens, two large dining rooms, two ballrooms, among many, many others.
With the 280 Million in valis, 2.91 Billion from the estate, the familia earned 2.871 Billion valis after taxes, and Tanya threw all of the winnings into the familia coffers because she already had gotten her seed money back, and pushing the reconstruction was far more important right now. So all in all, the Hestia familia was sitting at a very healthy 7.5 Billion valis. If earnings alone were what determined ranking, the Hestia familia would already be Top 10 in the city.
Hestia hummed happily as she and Tanya looked down over the workers below- they had opted to get the Hestia Church completely updated and renovated; while it wouldn't be a large manse for Hestia to reside in, it would be homey and well adorned; no golden toilets, but the upstairs church area would be turned into a familia lounge with the first Administrative section. The interior stones were all repaired along with the roof, all exterior surfaces would be wet sanded and then painted white and blue to prevent corrosion and match Hestia's preferred color scheme.
The upstairs worship area had incredibly high ceilings, and Tanya opted to make use of that space and the vaulted stain glass windows by having four floors built; the first floor would contain a lavish sitting area as well as the General Administration, with a special sitting area for the Gods and Goddesses who would be visiting Hestia in the future. The second, third, and fourth floors would contain corner offices and open desks for the other Administrative branches. The basement area, Hestia's first home, was completely renovated and contained Hestia's Office, Tanya's office, and the offices of future Executive members.
There were already plans for a small manse that would have Hestia's apartments, as well as high-ranking members of the familia that didn't wish to live elsewhere.
This would all change with time, but for now, it was best to focus on getting everything up and running; they could worry about having a nice, large administration building later.
"It's coming along so nicely!" Hestia chuckled, her eyes roaming over the workers down below as they carefully pulled around the dilapidated buildings around the Hestia church brick by brick, stone by stone. There were hundreds of day laborers down there working under the careful eyes of the Asa Ye, Geb, Goibnu, Hephaestus, Amenhotep, Oya, Kagu-tsuchi, and Akka familia foremen. There were magic items down there that assessed everything that could be used for future construction- those that passed the tests were neatly stacked onto carts and transported to a large clearing down the street where they were offloaded and organized.
Tanya wasn't going to just demolish everything and have the rubble carted out! Especially not when the costs for having building materials transported into the city from outside were astronomical! No, there were millions upon millions of tons of building material right here that can be used- just tossing it aside would be a supreme waste. Not to mention the cost of having to find someplace to dump all of the destroyed materials. No thanks!
"Indeed it is, Hestia-sama," Tanya smiled as she sat down next to Hestia and rested her back against the wall of the leaning tower they were sitting on, "I think that the future is already looking very bright; once the buildings surrounding the church are gone, we can use that space for something green. Having a little touch of nature is important for people, especially when their daily environment is going to be an office."
The blonde took the opportunity to project an illusion in front of her Goddess and displayed what she and the Architect Divines had come up with- the Church would be at the very front of the street, and from the front, a one-meter high stone wall would surround the compound with a four-meter tall fence bolted on top of that. There would be about forty meters worth of space between the sides of the church and the wall on the left, right, and rear which would have lush grass, a pair of burbling fountains, paved pathways, along with picnic tables, grilling pits, and plenty of bushes, trees, and small flower gardens interspersed.
The Church would host up to one hundred clerks, so having plenty of space for them to walk around outside, enjoy the sun, smell the flowers, rest in the shade of the trees, and enjoy their meals with their co-workers at the picnic tables was a must in Tanya's opinion. Having variety in one's environment would only make them happier and more productive!
"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee~!" Hestia squealed and began wriggling and squirming as she buried her face into her hands, "I can't wait to see it completed!"
[One Month after the War Game]
Tanya had to hand it to them, they worked quickly, and it was damn fine work as well!
The area was just as Tanya had envisioned it, with the trees being pulled from the other areas of the district that were healthy and would be beneficial to the soil- the Captain of the Hestia familia made a note to write a 'Thank You' letter to Goddess Demeter for her input on the plants and trees. With three smithing familias working together, the High-Steel fence, imbued with Killer Ant Chiton, was completed in record time, and the soft amber coloring of the steel contrasted very well with the greens and browns of the trees and the whites and blues of the Church.
All they would have to do is wait for the grass to grow in and it would be perfect!
Tanya had already moved her Tiny Home in and settled it on one of the stone-paved pathways. The next order of business was the clearing and construction of the training fields that the familia would be using for the foreseeable future, and after that would be the building of the first Dormitory. It wouldn't be very nice, just "liveable" as Tanya had plans to turn it into a schoolhouse where trainees of the familia would live as they did their probationary year and learned to work within the familia- she had plans to build another Dormitory just a little bit further down the street right next to the training field so that they wouldn't have to move too far away.
Apartments for High-Class Adventurers or married Adventurers would be set up later, along with Town-Houses and possibly even a gated community for the rich to just fork over hundreds of thousands of valis every month to the Hestia familia. Shopping centers and markets were already planned, as were the more industrial parts of the district.
It was going to be amazing, and while all of it was being built, the citizens of Orario would have decades of stable income in the form of unskilled work, with the opportunity to get picked up by the various crafting familia that were helping the Hestia make this all possible.
300 valis per day along with three filling meals was all that was needed to bring in hundreds upon hundreds of workers; a wagon train consisting of twenty wagons ran six times per day from Daedalus, and Hestia familia members not in the Dungeon or Training escorted home those workers who lived in more dangerous areas of Daedalus.
The word had been spread via the Wise Guy to all of the underworld elements: "Fuck with anyone wearing a Hestia familia worker's badge and die."
Tanya only had to annihilate three street gangs for this message to sink in.
Beat up her workers and steal their wages? After she had already warned them? She had a reputation to maintain, and she kept her promises; both to the underworld and her workers. They worked very hard for their valis, and they deserved to keep it.
Of course, she had to sit down with Shakti Varma, the Captain of the Ganesha familia, and receive a lecture about taking the law into her own hands, but a simple rebuttal of "then you do it" combined with "its the only justice the streets believe in" pretty much shut down that whole argument. However, in order to not have Tanya slaughter another hundred gangers again, the Ganesha familia placed a dozen of their Adventurers on patrols in the most heavily populated areas of Daedalus during the end of the day when her workers left with their pay.
This meant that Tanya's familia only had to cover the areas less populated, which meant that one of her Adventurers was only escorting a small handful of workers right to their doors each day.
Which gave her a huge, sparkling reputation in Daedalus amongst the working poor. The workers were happy, the Wise Guy was happy to see some legal funds flowing into the pockets of Daedalus citizens, and Tanya got a highly motivated and fairly cheap workforce.
The power of capitalism!
Still, Tanya was running herself ragged making sure that everything went to plan, although Hestia told her no uncertain terms that she wasn't needed anymore to oversee the deconstruction and rebuilding because the First Phase had been planned out. If anything, it was the most thorough planning most of the construction familias had ever seen thanks to Tanya's illusions and her ability to manipulate them in real-time- need a property staked quickly? Instead of fiddling with a surveying tripod and using string and stakes to get everything lined up, Tanya's illusions were accurate down to the millimeter.
Need a large stone cut-up? Tanya's Mage Blade could handle it easily- if anything, many a massive stone wall in the area had been rendered down into much smaller stone blocks that she was able to notch and groove so that they could be slipped together easily in the future.
Tanya spent the morning training, the afternoon working with the construction crews (because Tanya was always going to be visible when possible- it was PR 101!), the evening either conducting paperwork or holding classes on how to properly fill out and file paperwork, and at night? She was in the Dungeon, doing whatever Floors she could reasonably do by herself while scraping together every last monster drop and core she could to keep the cash flow positive- she was setting up a bonus fund to give the workers and construction crews a fairly healthy 10,000 valis bonus once the First Phase of construction was complete; making sure that the help was adequately compensated and rewarded for their efforts makes sure that they will come back to work again after the crews take a long holiday.
The holiday was because the Phases needed to be planned for and then approved by the city, and everything passed the 1st Phase of construction was fairly fluid because a lot of familias were waiting to see how well everything turned out before they pledged their support to the Hestia district.
Fletchers, Tanners, the blacksmiths from the Hephaestus, Goibnu, Kagu-tsuchi familias, Demeter was already planning to build a half-dozen warehouses as the District developed so that local grocery businesses and stands had supply to draw from and sell. There was a lot of other crafting familias who were looking to make the move or expand over, but they were taking the 'wait and see' approach.
Which irked the shit out of Tanya because she'd gotten all of this managed already! She was the fastest Level 2, took the second poorest Goddess in Orario (that title belonged to Penya, the literal Goddess of the Poor) and moved her to the top of the charts in a single swoop, and was now solo-funding the deconstruction and subsequent reconstruction of 1/10th of Orario! By herself!
Of course, she wouldn't discount the hard work of everyone involved, but they were mainly carrying out simple tasks that Tanya outlined- the bulk of the heavy lifting was done by Tanya and Erickitty. She wasn't arrogant, just realistic- Welf worked with his fellow blacksmiths to help make the iron rods that were reinforcing the stone, Liliruca ran messages, Mikoto helped deliver meals to the workers who were in more difficult to reach areas, Bell helped with manual labor where he could, as did the Wild Roses. The Royal Rats blended in easily with the denizens of Daedalus working with them and kept things calm between the various factions- the 30th Street Sharks didn't like being near the 31st Street Vipers, and they kept Daedalus conflicts from causing problems for the construction crews; a quick knock to the side of the head and a knife held against the throat did wonders for keeping the trouble-makers civil.
Those that continued to misbehave were given their day's pay and put back on the first wagon back to Daedalus. If they continued to cause problems then a little corporal punishment was in order, and they were given some nice bruises; hopefully the week of experiencing pain when they breathed or pissed would help them remember that working at the Hestia district was a privilege, not a right. Just like the Taverns didn't tolerate bullshit in their bars, neither did the construction crews.
Tanya disliked having to take such methods, but with the majority of the crews being Daedalus, she made sure that it was run off of Daedalus rules, much to the consternation of the foremen who weren't used to seeing such violence. She had to reassure Asa Ye's Captain that this was normal, and the vast, vast, vast majority of people working shouldn't be a problem; the ones that were probably on the fence about letting Daedalus business interfere with the work being done here should have gotten the message. It took a lot of smooth-talking, and more importantly someone on one, on-the-spot interviews with random workers to get the dwarf to relent.
"Aye, they knew not to fuck around here. They found out. Don't let it bother you, Hefmir-sama. Just the rules."
"Good riddance. This is the best paying job I've had in four years, I won't let my grievances with the 38th Street Bowlers get in the way of my work."
"Nobody here wants to cause problems; if this ends up being canceled or we get replaced then everyone loses. You, Us, and the District."
After that, quiet rumors spread across the site that one of the building familias was threatening to pull their support if problems kept cropping up, and magically it was as if the problem children found their manners in their back pockets or they stopped showing up entirely. Tanya didn't know where the rumor originated from, but she had half a mind to think that Tabbitha had started whispering into some ears. While she didn't try to pin the blame on anyone, she openly declared to the familia that such propaganda, while clever, should not be tolerated; she didn't need a panic arising from the workers and people getting killed for misbehaving on the job site.
The Daedalus workers didn't fuck around when it came to their money.
So she made an official statement to all of the workers before the day began that allayed their fears, and work continued smoothly afterward.
In other news, the treated Orc hide "Battle Kits", the name that Tanya had settled on for the initial issue of standard familia gear, had finally arrived and the healers were getting a good workout healing the sores of the Level 1s as they got their Fight Suits and other armored pieces broke in. After a few days they were all smiles now that they weren't chaffing anymore, and Tanya understood their pain, but it needed to be done!
The Orc Hide, once treated, had a nice slate grey appearance that Tanya found every agreeable, and when infused with Killer Ant Chitin gave it an interesting dark umber orange color that Hestia was really enthusiastic about as it reminded her of the coals in her hearth. Once everyone heard her enthusiastic outburst everyone took a second look and realized that the dark, burnt orange wasn't that bad looking on the armor. If anything, relating the colors on the armor back to their new Goddess had everyone pretty pumped up about it.
All except Bell, who like his black and red aesthetic on his Goliath Hide kit; not that Tanya would deny anyone who wanted to customize their armor once they earned the right to do so; she added that little stipulation into an update on the Battle Dress Code- the higher in Grade one was, the more they could customize their Battle Kits. Just the appearance would soon be synonymous with the Hestia familia alone; the full leather Fight Suits, the chainmail, Orc Hide cuirass, the Mark III Tactical Vest over the top of that... it was a supremely tacti-cool look that Tanya liked.
Best of all, the armor was comfortable, practical, and let everyone carry all of the crap they would ever need to survive in the Dungeon on their person; and that just wasn't the Salarayman's Inner-Military Otaku coming out!
The Shadow Steel weapons arrived a few days after the armor, all custom made for the familia utilizing a proprietary blade shape and profile for the short and longswords; the black marbled steel with the Hestia familia crest emblazoned on the crossguard would make these blades ubiquitous with the Hestia familia. It would also prevent someone from looting the corpses of her familia and trying to sell them on the markets. True to Tanya's military sensibilities, every single weapon was serialized and then issued, and monthly inspections would be held at different dates and times for different parties.
After weeks of fiddling around, Tanya felt comfortable with taking a simple Fireteam format for each party:
15 Adventurers per Party, with six Vanguard, four Mid-Guard, three Rear-Guard with the Party Leader and two healers, and two Supporters. This 15-man party could be split up into two teams, an Alpha and a Bravo Team, with half of the numbers, where the Party Leader can flex to one team or the other.
With 62 Adventuring Members in the familia, this allowed Tanya to create 4 complete parties of 60 Adventurers, which formed the very first Hestia Familia Platoon, of which she gave Command of to Calliope Durma and promoted her to G-7 with the Rank of Explorer 1st Class in honor of her experience, contributions, and skill in handling a party.
Of course, she didn't want the position, but Tanya thrust it upon her and told her she could keep her Wild Roses with her for a little while longer, but ultimately when they started recruiting again, they were going to need the experienced Adventurers to lead and guide the new generation.
Hestia wasn't happy that her Bell-kun didn't automatically become the new Lieutenant, but she relented when Tanya explained that Bell was going to begin as a team leader under Calliope, where he would gain valuable leadership experience; Tanya didn't start as a Colonel, no, she started at the ground level as a Lieutenant before working her way up the ladder.
The other Party Leader positions, at G-4 and G-5, were given to those Apollo familia members that were competent, confident, and had a bevy of experience handling the lower floors; these were mostly the former Level 2s of the Apollo familia like Daphne Lauros and Seymour Vils. Tanya had been impressed with the Pallum man's abilities, and his recognition of his limits should hopefully translate into learning the limits of his subordinates. Daphne was a solid fighter that was- according to her fellow Apollo members- quite capable in a leadership role, and more importantly, they trusted her judgment and felt comfortable following her commands.
Tanya had several planning sessions with the new Party Leaders to get them into the right frame of mind for their roles- they weren't just combat leaders, they were also their points of contact with the Administration, and were responsible for making sure that their paperwork was correct. Adventurer Profiles that were aped from the Loki familia were created and so were checklists for the Party Leaders to help them settle into the new workflows. While physical training was a familia activity each morning, it was up to them to ensure that they would have a good training program for archery and their other weapons, and establish with Tanya times that she can begin teaching everyone magic.
On that front, she sat down with Lenoa and purchased a dozen spellbooks, and created what would be the familia's Magical Resource Center. She refused to call it a 'Spell Library' like Hestia wanted because it would be inaccurate as it would also contain papers on magical theory, Mind training exercises, among many other things.
Healing spells were handled with Soothing Touch for learning and minor wounds, while Spring Vitality was the primary healing spell for serious wounds, and Breath of Life covered Area of Effect healing. Purifying Touch was great for a variety of uses, from poisons to diseases and infections to cleansing wounds of shrapnel and debris!
The Combat Support Spells were handled with Dwarven Might, Faerie Grace, and Total Body- they greatly enhanced the stats of Adventurers by multiple letter grades, which would be a huge boon in a tense combat situation provided the Mage could be protected well enough to cast them.
Magician's Wonder and Warlock's Might were Magical Support Spells that handled general spell enhancement and offensive spell enhancements; both were incredible force multipliers, and Tanya would try and find some time to dedicate to learning them both.
The final General Support spells were Earthen Shape, a spell that allowed one to manipulate the earth, including the ground found in the Dungeon, Formar's Shield, a simple barrier spell that could be strengthened depending on the amount of Mind supplied to it, and Spirit Familiar, a unique spell that allowed the Mage to control a small but agile body; it would be perfect for sending messages across floors without needing to leave in person- the fact that monsters ignored these constructs only added to the utility.
The offensive spells were the standard Fireball spell, which was considered a must-have for any Mage, the spell Hail Storm, which was a medium-sized area destruction magic that rained razor-sharp icicles down on an area. Cloud Omen, a persistent medium-sized area of effect spell that generated a cloud that shot lightning at all targets within its range, and lastly Terra Lancea, a powerful single-target spell that shot a sturdy earthen spear into a target before sprouting further spikes into the target like the branches of a tree.
In her opinion, it would provide the members of a party with an excellent array of tools to handle most situations they would encounter in the Dungeon. She would of course acquire as many Spell Books as Lenoa would part with to build up the Magical Resource Center, but as far as 'must-have spells' go she felt that this many would be practical.
Of course, she wasn't going to expect everyone to learn all of these spells, but every member should be proficient in at least three of them to ensure their Spell Slots were utilized and to spread the Mind expenditures across the entire party instead of just having one or two Mages handle all of the heavy lifting; Spring Vitality would probably be the one spell that was mandatory- being able to heal yourself or others from grievous injuries was far, far too valuable to not have.
However, this would likely be the work of years before everyone reached the levels of proficiency she required, but the spectacular part about it all was that once her subordinates were proficient then she could step back have them teach! Delegation was truly a wonderful thing!
She idly wondered if Hecate would be amenable to teaching in exchange for knowledge or coin?
Also, she would have to aid them in purchasing staves; while Tanya was rich enough to have her spear-staff, the others would require staves for training with and staves for diving with. A short Songwood stave that could be affixed to their harness on their weak side would be the best placement; they could still wield their weapon in their strong hand and just reach back and grasp the staves with their weak hand.
Yes, Tanya thought that would be for the best.
"Ah, um, Tanya-sama..." A timid voice spoke out, startling Tanya from her musings.
The blonde familia Captain looked up from her desk in the basement and she saw Mishi Fields, the all-too adorable Humme Bunny healer of Bravo Party under Daphne's command. The straw-haired rabbit's tawny ears twitched as Tanya's gaze settled onto her. "Yes, Mishi?"
A soft blush crept up her cheeks as she gripped her Songwood staff firmly in her hands. "Ah, Daphne-sama sent me to tell you that Party 1-1 has completed their Pre-Dungeon checklists and are going down to the 5th floor for Party Training."
Tanya nodded and shuffled some papers around on her desk before she found the Dungeon schedule and saw that Party 1-1 was indeed going down for four hours under the watchful eye of Tabbitha. The Pallum Leader of 1-2 knew exactly how Tanya wanted these groups to be run and had taken up the task of handling the in-Dungeon training in Tanya's stead. "Excellent. You all should be fine, but please, do be careful. If you aren't back in 8 hours I will come running, so don't make me worry."
The young woman's blush deepened, but a beautiful smile came across her face. "Yes! We might be Level 1s again, but that won't be a problem! We'll stay safe for sure, and I'll keep everyone healed, so don't worry about us!"
Tanya herself smiled back and nodded, "I'm grateful that you're here, Mishi. Now, go on, don't keep your Leader waiting."
The blonde's eyes couldn't help but track the woman's vibrating tail as she strode out the door; even if she hadn't decided to get her Fight Suit form-fitted, the Humme Bunny's bottom was just as eye-catching as ever.
A small snort drew her eyes away from the woman and onto Calliope's form, the woman sitting behind a desk on the opposite end of the room with a small smirk on her face. Tanya arched an eyebrow. "What?"
The werewolf's smirk blossomed into a fang-laden grin as she closed one of the personnel binders and grabbed another one off of the stack. "You need to get laid, soon, or else no girl here will be safe from your piercing gaze."
Tanya sighed, "But where would I find a beautiful woman who would be willing to sleep with me?"
The woman's smile faded away as an incredulous expression took its place. "The same place where everyone else goes?"
"Hmmm..." Neither Tanya nor the Salaryman had much experience with sex, much less paid for sex. However, it was an economically pure exchange- coin for services rendered, and she could appreciate it on that level. Some of her co-workers had experience with 'Compensated Dating' but she had never entertained the thought of it herself, what use did Salaryman have for a woman when he could take care of himself until he found an attractive, competent Office Lady who was looking to settle down and could be trusted to manage the home?
Truth be told, however, Tanya was really feeling it. Between the hormones brought on by puberty, of which were being enhanced by the falna if what Miach and Riveria said was true, and the stresses of her life now... she had to admit that she was getting pretty wound up. It didn't help that she was still within earshot of Erickitty's Tiny Home, and his wife was supernaturally beautiful.
Yes, she was a teenager in a high-stress line of work surrounded by supernaturally beautiful women on all sides.
If she didn't get herself taken care of soon then... she would probably explode or something.
Tanya nodded to herself. That seemed highly likely. She should do something about that.
Eventually.
[2 Months Later]
"Tanya-sama. Go. Now. Get out of here." Calliope muttered as she all but dragged Tanya out of the office, through the Ground Floor offices, and out towards the front door of the Hestia Church. The werewolf woman had regained Level 2 with S in all of her abilities, just like the rest of the Wild Roses, and the Level 2s from the Apollo familia were on track to regain Level 2 in another few weeks at Tanya's best estimate. Because of this, she was able to overpower her Captain, as Tanya had yet to get her Status Updated.
The front door was opened and Tanya placed on her feet. "Go to your home, take a shower, change into your fancy suit, and don't come back until tomorrow morning. Preferably freshly fucked. If I have to spend another day in there with you while you're stewing in your own juices I just might scream."
Tanya felt a blush creep up her neck and she found herself staring at the ground. Had it really gotten that bad?
"Thank goodness you had some small windows installed down there or this would be unbear-" Tanya didn't catch the rest of the werewolf's mutterings as the door to the church closed shut and she found herself standing on the entry-way just as the sun was beginning to set.
As she walked around the front of the church and back towards her Tiny Home the young teen could feel just how wet she was; it was that damnable Amazon's fault!
The representative from the Ganesha familia had come by to revisit the patrol schedule for the Hestia workers in Daedalus, and she was wearing practically nothing at all! A string microkini and a thong that did nothing to except conceal her painfully erect nipples and her pussy; every time she shifted her legs in the chair in front of Tanya's desk all the young teen could see was the wonderfully plush swell of her asscheeks and the wisps of a thick and hearty bush.
Idly, she made a mental note to tell Shakti to not send her again- if she did she better be wearing proper business attire! Or at least a decent dress!
As she walked up to her trailer she spotted someone that she hadn't seen in a long time standing in front of Mikoto's Tiny Home; it was... Chigusa, the Supporter of the Takemikazuchi familia. She was wearing a full spring yukata that had a red flower pattern on it and it went all of the way down to her ankles. Well, at least she wasn't showing off the curve of her bottom to the world anymore!
As Tanya stepped into her home and began disrobing to take a shower, she looked at her suit hanging up in the corner and asked herself if she was really going to do this. The thick string of arousal that clung to her briefs as she pulled them down told her yes, as did the throbbing of her sex. She swallowed and ran her fingers along the outside of her lips and a shiver shot through her entire body.
Tanya inhaled before sighing. Yes, she was incredibly pent up, this needed to be done. It couldn't be helped.
When the Captain of the Hestia familia stepped out she was sharply dressed in her suit. She adjusted her tie, checked her cufflinks, and ran her hands over her hair and the loose ponytail hanging down to the middle of her back.
"Okay, Tanya. This is it. You can do this. It's only sex. Don't think, just do."
With a firm nod and a quick check of her coin pouch and knife, she took off into the air and towards the Pleasure Quarter.
Special thanks to Artillery, Dinero1121, Xodarap4, LMC 9389, DrkShadow, AuraofCalm, Markus, Zerak, R.Bulut, Chair Connoisseur, Omar, Zath, Splended, D. Wongsonegoro, AjiTae, Darkarma, Pope Yoda I, Acrimonious, R. Randall, T. Balewood, Dominyx Black, Cybercrisis, Blue for being Patrons!
You guys rock!
A/N: A little bit shorter chapter today, have a DnD sesh tonight that I got to prepare for, and this seemed like a good stopping point as the Ishtar arc starts next chapter! Also, finally, Tanya is going to go out and hopefully get laid! Maybe.