DanMachi Universe, Lower World, Orario.
The morning after Tatsuo's and Sakura's night of passion, Violet, who was sleeping in the same bed, was the first to wake up. Raising her head slightly, she looked at Tatsuo and Sakura, who were sleeping soundly. A moment later, however, she frowned slightly as she felt the wet feeling on her thighs.
"I can't believe they actually made me watch all night," Violet said as she rubbed her thighs together. "Now, I'm still all riled up, even after sleeping."
Reaching that point, Violet let her gaze slip downward until she saw a tent in the covers.
"Well, I guess it's not too late to get some compensation," Violet muttered before licking her lips and slipping under the covers.
About half an hour later, Alfonzo was making his way downstairs. However, when he reached the bottom of the stairs, he subconsciously looked back.
"Weird, where's T?" Alfonzo asked himself. "He usually gets down here at about the same time as I do."
A moment later, Alfonzo shook his head.
"No, it's normal that he's still asleep," Alfonzo said as he turned towards the kitchen and started walking. "He sparred with Jormungand, forged several weapons, and had to do all that paperwork. If he was up this early, I'd be more than a little impressed."
Since he did not know that Tatsuo spent the night with Violet and Sakura last night, that was the best conclusion Alfonzo could come up with. So, he decided to just make breakfast alone today, letting Tatsuo sleep in.
"Besides, if I cook breakfast alone today, T will probably suggest cooking dinner alone tonight," Alfonzo said with a smile. "So, it's a win-win for everyone. ♪Good morning. Here's breakfast. Lost track of time but… We had a ball.♪"
With some added pep in his step, Alfonzo hurried to the kitchen to get breakfast started while singing Anthony Hamilton's "Best of Me."
About forty-five minutes after Alfonzo came downstairs, James, Aletia, Akatsuki, Zelretch, Momo, and Aislynn also made their way downstairs and headed to the dining room. Elicia, on the other hand, still had no intention of getting up until breakfast was ready, and Tatsuo, Violet, and Sakura were too busy getting the right start to the day to be bothered.
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"Are Sakura-Chan and Violet-San sleeping in today?" Akatsuki asked after taking her seat at the table and finally noticing that Violet and Sakura were not present.
"That's quite unusual," Zelretch said while stroking his beard. "Perhaps running around the city all day tired them out?"
"Heh! I bet they snuck into Tatsuo's bed for some early morning exercise," James said while chuckling.
As soon as Aletia and Momo heard that, they both reacted immediately. Though, their reactions could not have been more different.
*Bang!*
Aletia's first reaction was to slam her hands on the dining room table and stand up, intending to storm up to Tatsuo's bedroom to either scold Violet and Sakura for leaving her out or, if they were still going, join them.
Momo, on the other hand, lowered her head while blushing from the tips of her ears to the base of her neck. As sheltered as she was, just the thought of what those three could be getting up to made her so embarrassed that she could not meet the eyes of anyone at the table.
"Pervert." Akatsuki said while looking at James disdainfully.
"Oh, come on, you know it's possible," James replied with a shrug. "I mean, Tatsuo is a dragon, and dragons are lustful by nature. On top of that, Violet and Sakura are both His girlfriends. So, it's not unusual, is it?"
"I wasn't talking about Tatsuo," Akatsuki shot back. "I was talking about you, always bringing up stuff like that."
"Well, can you blame me?" James asked while spreading his arms helplessly. "I'm a creature of sin, too. There's nothing I can do about it; it's in my nature."
"I'm going to find them," Aletia said while turning away from the table.
"Calm down, Aletia," Aislynn said in an amused tone. "They'll be coming down soon. They're already done."
Naturally, Aislynn's statement did not calm the vampire down at all. Instead, it only caused her to burn with even more jealousy. However, it did have the effect of stopping her from charging upstairs. So, Aislynn considered it a win.
Not long later, Tatsuo, with His arms wrapped around Violet's and Sakura's waists, entered the dining room. And it was obvious what the three were doing, as Violet and Sakura looked as though they were glowing while they hugged Tatsuo as they walked.
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"Good morning, everyone," Tatsuo said happily as he approached the table. "Is everyone looking forward to today's Dungeon dive?"
"Nah, don't give us that," James said playfully. "Instead, why don't you tell us why you're in such a good mood this morning?"
Immediately, both Violet and Sakura lowered their heads, burying them in Tatsuo's embrace to hide their embarrassment. Meanwhile, Tatsuo smiled at James smugly.
"Those who know, know," Tatsuo said smugly. "And those who don't will just have to find out on their own."
"Stop trying to sound so mysterious," Aislynn said bluntly. "You're just happy because you mated with the two in your arms."
Tatsuo's smug smile did not fade in the slightest. However, he did notice a sour note in Aislynn's tone.
'Is Aislynn jealous?' Tatsuo asked himself. 'Well, it's not my fault I'm so much---'
As if she could hear his thoughts, Aislynn's dry gaze turned hostile, stopping Tatsuo's thoughts in their tracks.
"*Cough* Anyway, let's just wait for breakfast," Tatsuo said sheepishly. "When Alfonzo and Lici get here, we'll talk about the teams for this week."
"I get the feeling Young Tatsuo just made a decision that might have saved his own life," Zelretch said in a sagely tone.
"What do you mean?" Momo asked curiously, the blush from Aislynn's earlier comment still faintly visible on her face.
"Those who know, know," Zelretch said while still using that sagely tone.
Meanwhile, Tatsuo walked around the table. As he did, he patted Aletia on her head in an attempt to soothe her jealousy. And it seems to have worked, as Aletia melted into the head pat with a happy smile on her face. At the same time, she reached out her little hand and grabbed Tatsuo's clothes, making it clear that she wanted him to sit next to her.
Seeing that, Violet and Sakura let go of Tatsuo, considerately taking seats on the other side of the table. Then, the group chatted casually until Alfonzo came out with breakfast. However, even when Alfonzo placed everyone's breakfast in front of them, they did not start eating immediately, as Alfonzo needed to go upstairs and wake up Elicia.
About twenty minutes later, Alfonzo and Elicia came downstairs and joined everyone, and the conversation about today's Dungeon dive began.
"Before we leave, all the melee fighters need to go to the forge and pick up their new weapons," Tatsuo said while cutting into his breakfast.
"Does that mean there's nothing for Aletia-San and I?" Sakura asked curiously.
"Unfortunately, that's how it is," Alfonzo said. "But you forgot someone. There's nothing new for Lici, either. Making all those damn needles is just too much work. We'll need to make molds to speed up the process."
"It's fine," Lici said after chewing and swallowing a bite of her food. "I still have thousands of needles. So, I won't need new ones until we move to the next section of the Upper Floors."
"Hold on," James said while counting on his fingers. "Does that mean you made six daggers for Akatsuki, two katanas for me, Zelretch's sword, a sword and shield for Momo, a spear and shield for Violet, two swords for Alfonzo, and a spear and two daggers for Tatsuo all in one day?"
After James spoke, everyone realized just how much work Tatsuo and Alfonzo had done while they were out having fun yesterday, and they all turned to look at the two blacksmiths in the Familia.
"No, don't be silly," Alfonzo said with a smile. "That would be too much work."
"Alfonzo's right," Tatsuo said with a nod. "We only made four daggers for Akatsuki, two katanas for James, Zelretch's sword, a sword and shield for Momo, a spear and a shield for Violet, and a pair of tonfas for Alfonzo."
"Hold on, it sounds like someone is missing," Violet said with a light frown.
"Tatsuo-Kun, didn't you make anything for yourself?" Sakura asked.
"Don't tell me you're going to keep using your old weapons," Akatsuki said.
"Nope," Tatsuo replied with a smile. "I'll be trying something different this time around."
"Are you planning to fight barehanded?" Momo asked curiously.
"Wrong again," Tatsuo replied.
"It's your [Magic Circle Creation Skill], right?" Elicia asked with a smile. "You're gonna max out your Magic Stat first, right?"
"You're half right," Tatsuo said.
After all those guesses, the room, other than Alfonzo, who was there and discussed with Tatsuo when they decided who to make weapons for first, looked at Tatsuo with confusion.
"You don't plan to go the full Magic route, and you plan on using your [Magic Circle Creation Skill]…" Aislynn said while lowering her head as if she were thinking hard. "Then, does that mean you plan to recreate your [Void Dragon Slayer Magic] with the [Magic Circle Creation Skill]?"
While everyone other than Alfonzo showed astonished expressions after hearing Aislynn's guess, Tatsuo wore a sour expression as he glared at her.
"It doesn't count if you're the one who says it," Tatsuo pouted. "With that dream walker ability of yours, you already knew exactly what I was planning to do. Why do you always have to ruin my fun, Aislynn?"
"Because your pouting face is really cute," Aislynn said while smiling brightly.
Violet, Aletia, Sakura, and Momo all nodded in agreement with that statement. Meanwhile, the others did their best to stifle their laughter.
"I hate all of you," Tatsuo said in a dry tone, causing everyone to laugh uproariously in response.
"Anyway, what are the teams this time?" James asked curiously after he got his laughter under control.
"This week, it will be me, Akatsuki, Lici, and Zelretch in the first team," Tatsuo replied while still pouting. "The second team will be James, Momo, and Aletia. And the third team will be Alfonzo, Violet, and Sakura."
"Why aren't I on your team, Tatsuo?" Aletia asked in a huff while looking up at Tatsuo.
"That's just the way it turned out when Aislynn and I talked about it last night," Tatsuo replied with a shrug. "Honestly, Aislynn had more input in the team formations than I did."
In fact, last night, when Tatsuo went to Aislynn's room, he was actually surprised that she had serious business to talk about. When she sent Akatsuki to interrupt his and Sakura's fun, he was expecting her to tease him about it. However, when he arrived, Aislynn did not even bring it up, which left Tatsuo thoroughly confused.
In actuality, Aislynn had not even been monitoring Tatsuo last night. Instead, while she was on her way up to her room after dinner, she just happened to ask Akatsuki to ask Tatsuo to come see her later when he was done with his duties as the Captain of the Familia. However, when she saw Tatsuo's dreams after everyone went to sleep, she could not help laughing hysterically when she found out that she accidentally interrupted his good time.
The group continued to eat while chatting, and before long, breakfast was finished. Then, once they were done eating, the whole group headed to the forge in the back of the Dragon's Nest to pick up their new weapons. And once they were all equipped, they set out to start their six days of grinding in the Dungeon.
DanMachi Universe, Lower World, Dungeon, 4th Floor.
"I still think you should keep a weapon on you, Tatsuo," Elicia said as she threw a handful of needles at a Kobold. "I mean, what if you need to protect yourself when you're almost out of Mind?"
"Honestly, I wanted to," Tatsuo said while shrugging his shoulders. "But I didn't have enough time yesterday. And after facing all those Irregulars, my old weapons are too damaged to even be helpful at this point. Luckily, I have a pretty strong mind. So, I shouldn't be in trouble while we're on the Upper Floors."
"You're not blaming me for that, are you?" Elicia asked with a pout. "No matter what you say, it's not my fault."
"Yeah, it's only half your fault," Akatsuki said after returning from scouting the path ahead. "Tatsuo-Kun's Protagonist Syndrome is just as much to blame as your flag raising."
"I have to agree with Young Akatsuki," Zelretch said while rolling a pair of gemstones in his free hand.
"No, this is NOT my fault at all," Elicia said indignantly. "And to prove it, I bet we won't have a single Irregular Situation for the whole week."
*Smack!* x 3
*Crack!* *Crack!* *Crack!* *Crack!* *Crack!* *Crack!*
And just as Tatsuo, Akatsuki, and Zelretch face-palmed in unison, the walls and ceiling of the corridor were covered in cracks with glowing red eyes looking through them.
"Why does it feel like the Dungeon just said: 'Oh, yeah? I'll take that bet.'?" Tatsuo muttered as he looked at the nearly two dozen monsters that climbed out of the walls and ceiling.
"Seriously, this isn't my fault," Elicia said, her tone a lot less sure than before.
"We can talk about whose fault it is later," Akatsuki said while dropping into a fighting stance. "For now, let's worry about surviving this."
"*Sigh* Let me take care of it," Tatsuo said. "This is a good chance to finally test out my magic. I mean, I haven't really done anything since we came into the Dungeon, after all."
With that said, Tatsuo stepped towards the dozen or so monsters that spawned in front of the group. Then, he raised his hands, forming them into a trumpet shape in front of his mouth as a Magic Circle formed.
"[Void Dragon's Roar]." Tatsuo chanted as he took a deep breath.
A moment later, Tatsuo expelled the breath through the space between his hands and the magic circle at the end of the trumpet. And from the magic circle, a beam of midnight purple energy was fired at the monsters directly in front of him.
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The [Void Dragon's Roar] rushed forward, striking the heads of several Goblins and Kobolds in a line. However, instead of their heads exploding into chunks, the spots hit by the spell seemed to shatter like panes of glass, just like the space they were occupying, before falling to the floor.
"What the…?" Akatsuki exclaimed in surprise.
Unfortunately, neither Zelretch nor Elicia could answer Akatsuki's question, as they were seeing an attack like that for the first time, as well.
Tatsuo did not intend to explain his spell, either. At least not for now. Instead, he took advantage of the monster's momentary pause to [Blink] into the space that was freed up by the monsters he just turned to ash. Then, he swept his tail at a nearby Kobold while throwing a side kick at a Goblin on the other side.
"[Void Dragon's Tail Sweep]." Tatsuo chanted. Then, he chanted a second spell right on the heels of the first. "[Void Dragon's Talon]."
With the two chants, Magic Circles appeared in front of Tatsuo's tail and foot. And when the two appendages passed through the Magic Circles, they were both coated with a layer of his midnight purple [Spatial Magic]. Then, they slammed into the two monsters he was targeting. And just like the monsters who were hit with the [Void Dragon's Roar], the two monsters found the spots that were hit shattering into pieces before they burst into clouds of black ash.
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After Tatsuo killed those several monsters, Elicia, Akatsuki, and Zelretch snapped out of it and started attacking, as well. And when they did, Akatsuki and Zelretch were pleasantly surprised to see just how much easier dealing with the monsters was with better weapons. Meanwhile, Elicia threw her needles and manipulated her magic threads the same way as she always did while grumbling about how unfair it was that she did not have her own new weapons.
Either way, before long, the quartet finished off all the monsters in the horde. However, before they could continue exploring the Dungeon's Fourth Floor, or even pick up the drops from the horde, a group of Adventurers appeared from a corridor leading to the area where they had been fighting.