"I have to admit, I didn't really believe you when you said you broke the Balors magic stone."
"Well, things happened."
Yuji stood next to Finn, who couldn't help but look at the sliced pieces of the magic stone that belonged to the Balor, the floor boss of Floor 49.
After their introductions, the Loki Famalia along with Yuji spent the next few hours coming back up and finding very little resistance in the monsters that came after.
They did see the traces of magic stones left behind by Yuji on the ground, as well as the Kaenseki item the Flame Rocks dropped.
Finn had proposed a deal to Yuji beforehand, agreeing to carry the excess magic stones from the prolonged fight before and the others that were found left by Yuji along the way down.
They would be taking a cut of the profits made from the magic stones and items in return for collecting and carrying it for him. Not seeing any reason to refuse, Yuji allowed them to do so, there was no point in haggling right now when he didn't even know what kind of world he was in.
The support members of the Loki Familia stepped forward and began picking up the pile of magic stones left by the Balor and Fomoire Yuji had killed hours prior.
"Wind Magic?" Riveria asked outloud, not directly looking at Yuji but merely staring at the sliced magic stones. She also glanced at the far wall that had signs of gashes carved into the rockface.
"...Sure." Yuji cryptically answered before turning to walk away.
Riviera frowned at his parting back, with Finn merely sighing.
"Look, you can't just keep staring daggers at his back. Aiz is already about to bare a hole through him with how intense her gaze has been." He tilted his head to glance behind Riveria.
Aiz stood off to the side, her hand on her sheathed sword as she kept staring at Yuji with a blank look on her face. The entire time they had been walking together, she had kept silent, staying near the back of the party and staring at the party's newest addition.
"You saw the same thing as I did." Riveria merely stated, glancing at Aiz before looking down at Finn. "Not once in my entire life have I ever seen or heard of magic as what we witnessed during the fight with the Flame Rocks. Then there was that flash of black lightning as well when he struck Bete."
The pair turned back towards the two random frontline party members that were carrying Bete on a stretcher, a large bruise having formed on his midsection. They had decided not to waste any elixirs on him, his own healing should be enough.
Lefiya, who had been listening in, meekly stepped forward, standing next to Riveria, whispering out.
"There was no chant… Unless what he said counted as one…" Her head hung low, but she kept glancing towards Aiz from the corner of her eyes.
Riveria nodded, but Finn shrugged it off. "He has his secret, it's not our job to pry into him and find out who or what he is. We can find out later when we leave the dungeon and ask the Guild. For now, our focus is the party's expedition and our quest."
Riveria stood silent for before nodding, walking away as Lefiya tiptoed back towards Aiz, trying to strike up a conversation with the silent but brooding girl.
Finn shook his head and ordered the rest of the party to ready up once more, before making their way towards Floor 50. He took one last look at the spot where the Balor had supposedly been killed by Yuji, before turning to leave with the rest of his party.
---------------------------
As the expedition made its way towards the final steps leading down to Floor 50, Yuji noticed the light creeping onto the bottom steps.
"We're outside?"
Walking besides him and hearing his words, Gareth laughed slightly but not in a mocking tone.
"Haha! You really are lost if you can't tell we're coming up on a safety point."
"Safety point… so a safe zone checkpoint? That's… pretty generous of the dungeon."
Gareth shrugged, "We don't know why these points exist, but monsters don't spawn on these floors at all."
By this point of their short time spent travelling together, most members of the Loki Familia figured out that Yuji had an extremely lacking knowledge of the dungeon, its layout and the danger it presents.
They didn't outright say so or accuse him, but a silent understanding passed between the Familia.
"I bet you'll be wide-eyed with surprise when you see what this floor looks like." Tiona said as she creeped in from the side, crouching down and peering up to try and catch a better glimpse of Yuji's face.
A tiny, imperceptible corner of his lips curved upwards as he turned his body slightly, blocking the curious Amazoness's gaze.
"I've had enough surprises for one lifetime."
Tiona pouted and turned back, seeing Aiz now staring at her. She gave her a wink and stuck her tongue out before bouncing away towards her sister.
Yuji hung back for a moment, letting the rest of the Loki Familia pass by him first as they stepped into the light leading into Floor 50.
"So, any reason you're standing here?"
Yuji turned and glanced down at Aiz, standing next to him with her hand still resting on her sheathed sword, staring at him from the corner of her eyes.
"..."
"... Alright. We're the last ones, let's head inside." Yuji just wrote her off as being socially awkward with how she carried herself, walking forward into the safety point.
Aiz hesitated, her hand lifting off her sword for a moment towards him, but stopping, shaking her head and following behind.
Stepping onto the new floor, Yuji covered his eyes as the light assaulted him. The shift from dark/dimly lit into bright and sunny threw his eyesight off.
Getting used to the change, he looked around and was left stunned.
They were on a large plateau that rose above the ground below, with grass, trees and flora littering every corner of the Floor.
There were two more plateau's ahead of them, with the one further away from them having what he assumed to be, the entrance to the deeper Floors below.
Walking to the edge of the plateau, he peered down the large cliff face to the ground below. A large pine tree forest stretched every corner of the Floor, with veins of rivers running endlessly through the trees.
Finn had been watching Yuji's reaction very closely the moment he stepped onto the floor. Although he couldn't tell with the hood blocking his face, Yuji's body language and actions gave away enough.
'He really doesn't know much about the Dungeon. If he passed by through the safety point on Floor 18, he should've been used to sights like these. He's either completely new to the dungeon… or knows a secret path that bypasses the safety points.'
Finn schooled his expressions, knowing he'll need to have a more in depth conversation with Yuji at some point when they set up their camp.
"We'll move down and set up our base camp at the opposite plateau, near the entrance to the deeper Floors!" Finn gave out his orders and the Loki Familia silently complied, marching down the path that led down the side of the plateau.
---------------------------
"And… There! Phew, finally! I hate setting up camp so much~" Tiona complained as she set down the final bag of supplies near her tent, plopping down onto the ground and onto her back.
*THUD*
"Wah! Hey, watch it!"
A large bag dropped right next to Tiona's head, kicking up some dust and sending it sprawling onto the side of her face and hair.
"Maybe you shouldn't be so lazy and get out of the way then." Tione scoffed at her before scampering off towards Finn.
Tiona was going to shout back but saw the swinging of a certain pair of balloons swaying side to side as her sister ran off. She paused then looked down at her body, clicking her tongue.
"Cow goes moo…"
Yuji shook his head with a wry smile on his face watching this all go down. He missed this sort of lively ruckus when he wasn't burdened by the pedestal he was put on.
Looking around the camp, numerous tents were now erected by the entrance to the deeper floors. Smoke plumes from various campfires started slowly ascending as people began cooking their meals.
He turned towards the direction that Finn and Riveria were standing at, the largest tent having finally been set up and dedicated as a meeting point for the higher executives of the Loki Familia.
Finn noticed Yuji's gaze and with a smile on his face, walked towards him together with Riveria.
"It's always refreshing to finally set up camp at a safety point. For a brief moment, it helps put your mind off of the dangers the dungeon likes to throw at you."
"And yet, we can never truly lay our guard down for a moment."
Finn and Riveria spoke, glancing towards the entrance that leads down from Floor 50 and the guards they had stationed there as a look out.
"How far down does it go?" Yuji looked beyond the entrance, noting the curve of the cave that led to the steps going down.
Riveria turned back to Yuji, "Its exact depth is undetermined. The deepest floor anyone has explored is the 71st Floor, an honor achieved by the Zeus and Hera Familia."
------------------
Authors Note:
Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
A bit of a slower paced one, but hopefully the dialogue isn't too boring for you guys. It is a bit of a challenge to track each of the characters and have them play some part in the story rather than be sidelined. Let me know if theres any areas of improvement I should work on or if theres any character in particular you guys feel could use more focus with interactions.
Leave some stones and a review or imma throw daddy raga at you