DanMachi Universe, Lower World, Dungeon, 4th Floor.
At the tunnel leading to the Dungeon's Fifth Floor, a group of Adventurers, after completing a request posted by the Guild, were making their way back to the surface. Had anyone from the Aislynn Familia been present, they would have recognized them immediately.
These Adventurers, led by a famous trio consisting of a Pallum, a High Elf, and a Dwarf, were the executives of the Loki Familia: Finn, Riveria, Gareth, Ais, Tione, Tiona, and Bete. However, before they could get too far into the Fourth Floor, they stopped after hearing constant sounds of battle.
"What is all that noise?" Bete asked in an irritated tone. "Why are the small fries making such a ruckus?"
"Why do you have to be so annoying?" Tiona asked while looking at Bete with a funny face.
"Shut the hell up, you brainless Amazon!" Bete barked back.
"Why don't you make me, you barking mutt?" Tiona asked back angrily.
"Even though Bete did not say it very nicely, it is unusual for there to be so much noise on this floor," Riveria said in a thoughtful tone. Then, she turned to Finn and continued, "Should we go check it out? There might have been an Irregular Situation, and some new Adventurers might have been caught in it."
"Hmph!" Bete snorted. "Why should we waste our time helping a bunch of weaklings?"
*Swoosh!*
Yet, before Finn could answer Riveria or Riveria could scold Bete for his attitude, Ais, with a cold expression on her face, dashed forward, clearly intending to help. Though, it was more likely that she simply wanted to wipe out the monsters.
"*Sigh* I expected this to happen," Riveria said while rubbing her temples.
"Hahahaha!" Gareth laughed loudly. "Didn't we all? So don't worry, Riveria, this is the Fourth Floor. There's nothing on this floor that could possibly hurt her."
"You think I don't know that?" Riveria asked in an exhausted tone. "I'm not worried about her getting hurt at all. Rather, I just wish she could learn to be less impulsive."
"We can talk about that later," Finn said while smiling wryly. "For now, let's follow Ais and see what's going on."
With that, Finn was the first to start chasing after Ais. Not long later, the rest of the members of the Loki Familia were running alongside him, as well. However, they were surprised to see members of several other Familias—Ganesha, Ishtar, Apollo, and Miach—running towards the commotion, as well.
"For so many people to be going in the same direction, this must be a much bigger deal than we thought," Tiona said while looking at the faces running beside them. "Look, there's Paluza, Ilta Farna, from the Ganesha Familia. And that's Antianeira, Aisha Belka, of the Ishtar Familia. Ooh! And that's Phoebus Apollo, Hyakinthos Clio, from the Apollo Familia. And Miyal Hound, Naaza Erisuis fro the Miach Familia, is over there."
"Strange, I can understand why the Ganesha and Miach Familias are going," Tione said in a confused tone. "But why would Ishtar's and Apollo's people go? It's not like they ever do anything to help anyone, right?"
"They're probably just going to see those weaklings get killed," Bete said disdainfully.
"Do you ever wonder why you don't have any friends, Mutt?" Tiona asked while giving Bete the stink eye.
"What would an idiot like you know?" Bete shot back. "And why would I ever want a bunch of weaklings as friends?"
The two continued to bicker while the members of the Loki Familia continued to run towards the sound of battle. Not long afterward, they finally caught up to Ais. The members of the other Familias also arrived. Yet, they were all wondering why Ais was just standing there instead of rushing into the battle to help those fighting.
"Ais, what's the matter?" Finn asked curiously.
Instead of answering, Ais, with bewilderment flashing in her eyes, only pointed at the scene of battle.
When the others saw that, they all looked in the direction the Sword Princess pointed. And when they did, similar signs of bewilderment appeared on their faces.
The scene the Adventurers of the established Familias ran into was that of Tatsuo, Elicia, Akatsuki, and Zelretch fighting the horde of Goblins and Kobolds. And from what they could see, no one in the party was higher than Level 1. Yet, they seemed to be dealing with the monster swarm rather easily.
"Who... Who are those Adventurers?" Ilta, an Amazoness with short crimson red hair and brown eyes, wearing revealing clothing like most of the members of her race seem to be fond of, asked in a disbelieving tone with her eyes wide open.
"Tch!" Bete clicked his tongue in displeasure. "Of course it would be that group of weaklings."
"You know them, Vanargand?" Aisha, another Amazoness standing 5'9" with long black hair that covers the right side of her face, purple eyes, and a well-endowed figure, wearing clothing reminiscent of a dancer that is so revealing that it could also be mistaken as underwear, asked.
"Hmph!" Bete's response was to snort disdainfully.
"We do," Finn cut in before Bete's attitude caused a confrontation.
"Who are they?" Ilta asked. "Most of them have very unusual fighting styles. The only one who looks anything like what I've seen before is the small girl with the daggers."
"On top of that, I've never seen a Beast-Person with features like that," Aisha added while pointing at Tatsuo. She then turned to look at Finn and continued. "What Familia are they from? We should have heard of someone like that already."
Naaza, a young Chienthrope woman standing 5'2" with long brown hair and purple eyes, only looked on as the others talked. As a Level 2, she knew it was not her place to get involved in a conversation between such high-Level Adventurers, even if she was a Familia Captain like Finn and Hyakinthos.
As for Hyakinthos, a young human man who most would describe as beautiful, with long, well-groomed brown hair, greyish-blue eyes, and a lanky physique, he also stayed silent. However, he did not have the same considerations as Naaza. Instead, he was too busy glaring at Tatsuo, whose level of attractiveness eclipsed his.
'Damn that boy.' Hyakinthos muttered internally. 'With a look like his, Lord Apollo will definitely be smitten if he were ever to see him. And if that happens, Lord Apollo will do anything to heap his love on that undeserving bastard. I need to find a chance to kill him before Lord Apollo ever meets him.'
"It doesn't surprise me that you haven't heard of them," Finn said with a chuckle. "They only became Adventurers ten or so days ago, after all."
"What?" x 2
Hearing Finn's explanation, both Ilta and Aisha yelped in surprise while snapping their heads in Finn's direction. At the same time, both Naaza and Hyakinthos also turned to look at the Loki Familia's Captain with disbelief.
"Only ten days?" Naaza muttered. "And they're not only fighting but dominating a horde of monsters on the Fourth Floor..."
At the same time, Hyakinthos gritted his teeth and clenched his fists in anger. If his beloved god, Apollo, were to hear about this, he would definitely do everything in his power to get that boy into his Familia in order to shower him with all his love. And the thought of an outcome like that caused Hyakinthos' killing intent to soar.
"Hmm?" Tatsuo hummed as he paused for an instant.
After pausing, Tatsuo was forced to dodge an attack from a Goblin with an awkward movement. His senses allowed him to detect the spike of killing intent that was aimed at him, causing his momentary inattentiveness.
A moment later, after shredding the Goblin's head with the spell, [Void Dragon's Tearing Claw], Tatsuo glanced in the direction where the other Familias were watching from. And when he saw Hyakinthos glaring at him with murder in his eyes, his own gaze turned cold and murderous, as well. Unfortunately, he could also tell that he was not strong enough to face off against the somewhat effeminate young man who wanted to kill him right now. Otherwise, he would have [Blinked] next to him, thrust a hand through the man's chest, and ripped his heart out before [Blinking] back into the fight.
"Tatsuo, what's wrong?" Elicia asked as she threw a handful of needles at a Kobold trying to sneak up on Tatsuo.
"Nothing," Tatsuo replied while returning his attention to the fight. "Just someone who has found the path to death."
"Oh, God..." Elicia muttered. "He's turning into Tang San. I need to tell Fonzie about this so he can beat that right out of him."
Overhearing Elicia's muttering, Tatsuo could not help snorting in laughter. Apparently, Elicia had also read Douluo Dalu, or at least some of the fan fictions that bash Tang San, the protagonist, every chance they get.
Meanwhile, back in the passage leading to the area where the members of the Aislynn Familia were fighting, everyone noticed Tatsuo's momentary loss of focus. They also noticed the killing intent coming from Hyakinthos. And thanks to the rumors floating around Orario, they knew exactly why he was so bloodthirsty.
"I'd calm down if I were you," Gareth said in an amused tone. "If you or your god were to lay a hand on that boy, the Apollo Familia would not be able to handle the backlash."
"I'm not sure all of Orario would be able to handle the backlash," Riveria said while shaking her head. "According to Loki, their goddess is even more protective of her treasures, which includes the members of her Familia, than any other god or goddess in Orario."
"Oh, now I'm curious," Aisha said while leaning forward towards Finn, putting her rather ample assets on nearly full display and making Tione bristle with anger. "Just what Familia do those four belong to?"
"The Aislynn Familia," Finn replied casually.
Immediately, Aisha's flirtatious posture faltered, and she straightened up with a look of shock on her face. However, she was not the only one who showed shock in their expressions, as Ilta and Naaza also wore shocked expressions. Hyakinthos, on the other hand, continued to glare at Tatsuo, Aislynn's name not deterring him in the slightest.
"You mean the Dragon God of Dreams?" Aisha asked. "Phryne once suggested going to teach her a lesson by disrupting her business when a lot of the men who frequented the Entertainment District started going to her instead of coming to our establishments. *Gulp* And Lady Ishtar, in the most serious tone I've ever heard from her, said Phryne had better never bring that kind of idea to her again. Otherwise, she would kick her out of the Familia without a second thought."
While the members of the Ganesha and Miach Familias were taken aback by Aisha's words, the members of the Freya Familia took the news in stride. As for the Apollo Familia's members, they were looking at Hyakinthos with worry because, despite hearing what Aisha said about Aislynn, his killing intent had not diminished in the slightest.
"Oh, looks like they're almost done." Tiona, who had not been paying much attention to the conversation taking place around her, said excitedly as the monster horde had dwindled to only a handful of monsters.
Hearing Tiona, everyone turned their attention back to the battle. And just as Tiona said, the battle ended shortly afterwards, with Tatsuo, Elicia, Akatsuki, and Zelretch tearing through the remaining monsters without issue. They did, however, see just how exhausted the four were after the last monster turned to ash.
"Hmph!" Hyakinthos snorted before turning around and walking away.
Seeing their captain leaving, the members of the Apollo Familia quickly followed without saying a word of farewell to the other Adventurers. Meanwhile, Tiona bounced forward to greet Tatsuo's group without hesitation, curious to know all about the magic Tatsuo had been using during the fight.
Tione, on the other hand, was looking at Tatsuo with anger.
'That bastard!' Tione screamed internally. 'He actually held back while he was fighting me! I'll make him pay for looking down on me! Just wait! I'll show you exactly what a Level 5 is capable of next time we fight!'
"Well, well, well," Aisha said while licking her lips seductively. Then, she turned to address the rest of the members of her Familia and continued, "I think I'd like to get to know these new Adventurers. So, girls, why don't we go and introduce ourselves?"
Then, before waiting for a response, Aisha started walking towards the members of the Aislynn Familia, her hips swaying with every step. A moment later, the other members of the Ishtar Familia followed her, leaving the rest of the Loki Familia, the members of the Ganesha Familia, and the members of the Miach Familia standing in the corridor.
"What's wrong, Ais?" Riveria asked while looking at the Sword Princess. "I thought you would have gone over to talk to them even before Tiona."
In response, Ais only shook her head. Though Riveria was correct, she did want to talk to Tatsuo, Elicia, Akatsuki, and Zelretch. She wanted to ask them how they could be so strong, and if they could teach her how to get stronger. But when she remembered James' rejection of the same request, she hesitated.
"Braver, what do you know about them?" Ilta asked quietly. "Will they be a threat to Orario?"
"I seriously doubt it," Finn said with a chuckle. "And even if they were, I don't think anyone who knows anything about their goddess will do anything about it. But if you want to know more about them, you should talk to them yourself."
With that, Finn started walking towards the four Adventurers from the Aislynn Familia to greet them, and the remaining members of the Loki Familia followed him. Though, Tione did snort in displeasure while Bete clicked his tongue to show his own displeasure.
When Naaza saw the Loki Familia approaching the members of the Aislynn Familia, she led the members of her own Familia to follow along. Meanwhile, Ilta stopped to think about what Finn said. A few moments later, she agreed that if she wanted to know about the Aislynn Familia, she should get to know them firsthand. But at the same time, she decided that she would have to talk with her Familia's Captain, Shakti, and its god, Ganesha, about what Finn and Aisha said about Aislynn when she got back to I Am Ganesha, the Familia's home.