Bastet Familia Premise Chapter 8 (Patreon)

MY FRIENDS, I'M SO SORRY THAT THIS TOOK AN EXTRA DAY!!! THE CHAPTER JUST KEPT GETTING LONGER AND MY MUSE WAS BEING A FINICKY BITCH HALF THE TIME I WAS TRYING TO WRITE THIS CHAPTER!!!

Hello friends and fans, Kairomaru is bringing you another chapter! Bell and the Bastet Familia continue to go about their days as normal. Dungeon crawling, shopping, days off, all of the normal things for any Familia within Orario. As Bell continues to delve deeper into the Dungeon with his Party, his growth climbs ever higher, his dedication to his family so powerful that it surpasses normal limits. A day off to enjoy the yearly Monsterphilia Festival can only be good for Bell and the ones he loves. But the sudden removal of Ishtar and the work that she was doing with the Evilus remnants may have unexpected consequences.

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So, without further delay, please enjoy.

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Chapter 8 – Breaking Limits, Monsterphilia

On the Tenth Floor of the Dungeon. The Party of Bell, Ikumi, Matora, and Chacha had just finished off a group of Monsters and were dragging the corpses over to Ikumi so that she could harvest the Magic Stones. The mist in the area was still heavy, but had noticeably thinned out a bit from the fighting that had just taken place.

“Is Orc any good?” Chacha asked Ikumi as she dumped one of the large Monsters onto the ground close to her friend.

Ikumi shook her head once. “Not really. Despite having a pig-like head, they’re meat is tough and tasteless.” She used her black cleaver to slice the Orc’s chest open and plucked out its Magic Stone easily, adding it to her large backpack with the others. “I’ve thought about stewing it for a long time to make it tender, but the lack of flavor would have to be made up for entirely by the herbs and spices used on it.” Even as she worked, Ikumi still thought about how best to cook and prepare certain Monsters that had given her trouble in the past.

“Incoming!” Matora called out as a rumbling sound rapidly approached the Party.

Four rolling wheels of spikes came at the Adventurers with significant speed. The grass that was rolled over by the wheels was completely shredded and the ground flattened out, showing the weight of the Monster and the sharpness of the spikes.

“Hard Armoreds!” Bell knew about these Monsters thanks to his lessons with Anna and his Familia telling him about them. Matora hated when they rolled up like this because it made it harder to beat the somewhat large Monsters to death. “Sunburst!” He threw his left hand forward and the brilliant radiant magic was launched straight at one of the rolling Hard Armoreds.

“Raawwrrkk!” The Hard Armored that was engulfed by Bell’s spell screeched in agony as it rolled along for another moment before its body unrolled as it died from the heat, its tough outsides nearly charred black as it tumbled along the grass and came to a stop.

The other three Hard Armoreds rolled through the area where the Party had been a second ago, but they’d all easily dodged the blind attack. When the Hard Armoreds stopped rolling and untucked themselves to try and find their targets, Ikumi, Chacha, and Matora struck swiftly.

“Rahk!” The Hard Armored on the left hacked out a mouthful of blood as the hook-like serrations of Ikumi’s huge sword buried into its soft underside.

“Got you.” Ikumi smirked as she jerked her sword backwards and gutted the Hard Armored, painting the grass with it blood and entrails.

Matora had a wild smirk on her face as her leg slammed into the stomach of the Hard Armored on the right. “Hah!” Her kick lifted the armadillo-like Monster off the ground with a sickening crack. The Hard Armored landed on the ground with a thumb and twitched, letting out wheezing breaths before Matora stomped on its head to finish it off. “Not so tough when you’re not all balled up!”

Chacha grinned as she grabbed the right arm of the middle Hard Armored before it could roll up again. “Hup!” She shoulder threw the large Monster with her far greater strength and slammed the Hard Armored head first into the ground, crushing its head and the ground beneath it. “These things are always slow when they’re not rolling around!” She laughed at easily taking out the highly defensive Monster.

“That was great.” Bell smiled at his girlfriends and how quickly they’d taken down the Hard Armoreds. Chacha, Matora, and Ikumi all grinned happily at Bell’s compliment, even if killing Hard Armoreds wasn’t really difficult for Level 2’s.

“These don’t look appetizing either though.” Matora commented as she dragged the Hard Armored she killed over to Ikumi.

Ikumi had already taken the Magic Stone out of the Hard Armored that she’d killed, the body disintegrating into white ashes. “There’s not much meat on a Hard Armored. They’re mostly their tough outer carapace and spike-like scales.” She sliced open the Hard Armored that Matora had brought over with her black cleaver and easily removed its Magic Stone.

“What do we have for food right now?” Chacha asked as she brought Ikumi the hard Armored that she’d killed. “I’m getting hungry.”

Bell dropped the scorched Hard Armored that he’d taken out with his magic next to Chacha’s. “Whatever Ikumi’s prepared will be delicious.” He smiled at Ikumi warmly, getting a soft smile back from her. “We’ll need to find a cleared out area to eat though.”

The Tenth Floor had Monster spawn times that were fast enough that eating had to be done in areas that had been cleared out and had other Adventurers actively hunting the Monsters that roamed through the mist. Without walls to damage in order to prevent new Monsters being spawned, the Tenth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Floors posed a unique problem for the Upper Floors in terms of getting time for a break.

-Later-

“BWAAARRRGGGHHH!!!” A loud roaring bellow rang through the air from a huge group of Orcs as they charged towards the Party of four with their large landform clubs raised high.

“That’s a lot of them.” Bell readied his Khopesh Treasure Sword as the horde charged straight at them.

Matora punched her right fist into her left palm. “This should be fun!” She had a wild smirk on her face at the upcoming battle.

Ikumi readied her huge sword, the hook-like serrations would’ve shone in the light, if the light of the Tenth Floor was brighter. “It’s gonna take a while to harvest this many when we’re done!”

“Let’s have some fun!” Chacha laughed brightly as she took up a stance, ready to leap into the fray.

Just as the charging Orcs reached the distance within the range of the three Level 2’s, Chacha, Matora, and Ikumi nearly blurred forward as they easily cleared the distance in a single leap. Blood sprayed through the air and splattered the ground. Ikumi’s large sword hacked through three Orcs in a single swing, tearing through their flesh easily. Mator’s foot crushed one Orc’s skull with an axe kick before she spun in the air and a roundhouse kick shattered the skull of the next Orc closest to her, as she landed on the ground, she bent her legs and then launched herself upward into a devastating uppercut that shattered the jaw and broke the neck of the Orc it hit. Chacha’s fist smashed in the face of one of the lead Orcs, snatched its landform club from the air as it collapsed, then proceeded to bash two more Orcs to death with the large club with a bright laugh as her Skills boosted her substantially and her Amazon blood sang in her veins.

“Sunburst!” Bell cast his spell into the Bast Sword and made a horizontal slash to unleash the arc of radiant magic and cleanly slice through three of the Orcs closing in on him. Kicking off the collapsing, bisected bodies, Bell brought his Khopesh down on the next Orc’s head and split it in two easily. Landing on the ground, he leapt to the side to avoid a club slamming down where he’d just been, sliced through the leg of the Orc that swung the club to rob it of its balance. As the Orc collapsed onto the ground, Bell finished it off by burying his sword into the back of the Orc’s head.

“Hyah!” Chacha came flying in with her stolen landform club and splattered an Orc’s head like a melon before it could close the distance on Bell. “This is fun, huh?” She beamed at Bell before dropping into a crouch as Bell raised his left hand towards her, palm out.

“Sunburst!” Bell unleashed the bolt of radiant magic and charred the chest and head of the next charging Orc black, killing it almost instantly.

Chacha popped back up and kissed Bell’s cheek with a bright smile and a giggle. “Thanks, Bell!” She leapt back into the fray, clashing club against club with another Orc, before knocking the club from the Orc’s hands and then cracking it upside the head with her own club.

“Come on! There’s so many of you, but you still can’t touch me?!” Ikumi roared out, clearly having gotten into the battle as she carved through two more Orcs with her huge sword, then buried the topmost hook-like point into the head of another Orc, killing it instantly, while using the handle of her sword to kick off and leap high into the air. “The flames of passion become food for the spirit. Alev!” Flames erupted from her hands and Ikumi unleashed two intense blasts of fire down onto five more Orcs, torching them as they squealed and shrieked in pain. A sixth Orc found itself gutted by Ikumi’s black cleaver blade as she smirked widely before moving over to yank her large sword out of the head of the dead Orc.

Matora had the wildest grin on her face as she crushed an orc’s face with her elbow, kicked off its chest to send it falling backwards, flipped in the air to drop a kick onto the top of another Orc’s head, crushing its skull, and dropped into a crouch as she landed on the ground. An Orc roared as it brought its club down on Matora, only for her pivot to the side, leaving the club to indent the ground. Now in the Orc’s guard, she slammed a punch straight into its gut, doubling the large Monster over as it hacked out a mouthful of blood. Matora threw the dead orc aside, grabbed its fallen club, and threw it with all of her strength to smash into the back of the head of an Orc heading for Bell. The orc’s head nearly exploded into blood and gore from the impact before it hit the ground with a thud.

The large horde of Orcs, which most Adventurer Parties on the Tenth Floor would’ve run from because of the numbers, was rapidly dwindling down to nothing as Bell, Ikumi, Chacha, and Matora slaughtered the large Monsters without much trouble.

It was a good workout and the Party knew they were close to the stairs to the Eleventh Floor by the time they finished for the day.

-Sixteenth Floor-

At the same time that Bell’s Party was ending their day and preparing to head back to the surface, so to was Aisha’s Party after another good day in the Dungeon. However, they were currently being held up by a group of Monsters.

“Sssshhaaa!” A Lamia Mormos, a smaller and weaker version of the well-known Lamia Monster that normally appeared on the Twenty-Seventh Floor, hissed and barred its fangs and clawed hands at the Amazons before it.

Samira easily dodged around the Lamia Mormos’s clawing strikes and took the Monster’s back. With a smirk, she grabbed the back of the Lamia Mormos’s head with her left hand and took hold of its jaw with her right, her Grapple Skill boosted her Strength and Endurance when she fought in close combat and increased her grip strength. The Monster had no time to try and fight back as Samira twisted its head in a swift, rough jerking motion with an audible crack. The Lamia Mormos dropped to the ground, dead, its neck snapped and its head nearly facing backwards. “Too weak.” Samira said to the dead Monster.

The charge of a Minotaur was instantly stopped as its head went flying in a flash of silver. As the body crashed to the floor, Aisha snatched the falling head from the air and held it up to show her fellow Amazons with a smirk. Her Great Podao Zaga had been nothing more than a blur to most and was already resting over her right shoulder again. “Think we’ll get the horns for the Drop Item?” Aisha asked Samira with a small laugh.

Sharay dodged around the wild punches of another Minotaur, easily following its telegraphed attacks. Pivoting to the right, letting another powerful punch fly wide, Sharay brought her hips around to build up torque as she raised her right leg, her foot blurred through the air until it struck the side of the Minotaur’s head. A crack was heard as the Minotaur’s head whipped around, teeth and blood flying from its shattered jaw as both of its eyes bled heavily, it’s skull clearly fractured judging by the indent in the side of its head. “That was easy.” Sharay was almost bored at how easily the Minotaur had fallen as she placed her foot back on the ground at the same time the Minotaur crashed to the ground, dead.

The Hellhounds charging towards the Party were quickly dropped from a distance by Retha’s throwing knives. The survivors barely had time to bark or snarl, much less use their infamous flame breath, as Nari’s spear impaled three hellhounds, making a kebob out of the Monsters. Yanking her spear free, Nari decapitated the lone remaining Hellhound with a backwards swing of her spear, the sharp spearhead slicing cleanly through the wolf-like Monster’s neck as it lunged for her.

“Can these things stop getting in the way?” Retha tsked in annoyance at the weak Monsters slowing their progress of getting back home. “I want to get home, soak in the bath, have dinner, and then relax for the rest of the night.”

Nari grinned as she helped Retha collect her throwing knives. “Only a few more Floors and then we’ll breeze through the Upper Floors without a problem.”

As the Magic Stones of the Monsters were collected, only a Hellhound Fang was left behind as the lone Drop Item.

“Well, damn.” Aisha sighed as Retha hefted the large backpack onto her back, filled with their loot for the day. “No Minotaur Horns.”

“Too bad. They sell for a nice amount of Valis to the Goibniu or Hephaestus Familias.” Samira shrugged, even though she knew why Aisha wanted the horns, as they were a good material, sharing properties with Lower Floor Adamantite.

Aisha matched Samira’s shrug, both were experienced Adventurers and knew that Drop Items were rarely ever a sure thing that could be counted on to appear. After years of either getting the Drop Items they wanted or not, neither Amazon woman was going to stress about the lack of any Minotaur Horns this time around. “Let’s try and avoid any unnecessary fights from now on. We all want to get home and relax, right?” She asked rhetorically with a grin as the Party picked up the pace a bit, heading down the familiar paths that would lead to the stairs leading up to the Fifteenth Floor.

-Bubastis ~ Evening-

“Hmm~” Samira hummed out in enjoyment as Bell’s hands massaged her shoulders and began to work their way down her back as she lay on a few of the large cushions around the large communal area. “Where did you learn to give massages, Bell?” She asked as she turned her head and opened one eye to look at her lover.

Bell smiled at Samira as he continued to massage her back. “Sore shoulders and backs were common in the village I grew up in because of the farming. So, I learned a bit to help my grandpa’s soreness after a day in the fields.”

Samira let out a sigh of contentment as Bell’s hands worked over her back. “Lucky us~” She knew Bell’s other lovers were waiting to get their own massages, but she had absolutely no intention of cutting her own time short.

“We should all go out together again.” Bell said as he continued to massage Samira’s back while looking at Aisha, Chacha, Ikumi, Matora, and Bastet with a warm smile.

“The day after tomorrow is Monsterphilia.” Aisha said with a little grin. “We could enjoy the festival together.”

Chacha nodded happily at that idea. “Yeah! Let’s do it! Monsterphilia is always fun!”

Ikumi agreed with a bright grin. “There’s tons of food from all over the world to sample too. Trying everything available is fun and gives me more ideas for my own cooking.”

“I prefer the fights in the colosseum!” Matora said with a smirk, her silver eyes alight with memories of the last Monsterphilia she’d gone to. “The Xenos mock battles are awesome!”

Bastet’s cat ears drooped a bit. “Tomorrow? I have to go to the Guild to fill out paperwork in the morning.” Seeing everyone looking at her confused, Bastet explained. “Because of our Familia’s unusual situation with taking in so many new members of Level 2 and Level 3 so shortly after I started it, the Guild has been compiling how much our Familia makes by recording what they pay for our Adventurer Parties’ Magic Stones as a way to assess our tax liabilities.” It was clear that the Guild didn’t want to take a chance of taxing too much or too little given the odd situation that the new Bastet Familia found itself in. “So, I have to go in tomorrow morning to go over what they’ve compiled and how taxes are going to be handled for the first time and everything.”

“Can you meet up with us in the afternoon, maybe?” Bell asked Bastet with a hopeful smile, wanting to spend time with his Goddess lover.

“Sure!” Bastet beamed at Bell brightly. “We can meet up at the Amphitheatron since it’s the biggest landmark on East Main Street!” Her ears were perked up again and her cat tail was swaying happily. “I should be done by noon or just after…and to get across the city from the Guild building might take a bit, even with a taxi wagon… so between one or two in the afternoon?”

“It’s a date.” Bell, Aisha, Matora, Samira, Ikumi, and Chacha all said at the same time. Everyone blinked and looked at each other before warm laughter broke out and filled the large common area.

Bastet was laughing brightly, joy and love filling her. “A date! Nya~” She hugged Aisha, who was closest to her, with a grin. “How about I give you all Status Updates while we wait for our turn for massages from Bell?”

Chacha raised her hand into the air. “Yes, please! I was gonna ask later, but now is fine too!”

Bastet giggled at Chacha’s enthusiasm, only for Aisha to pull off her purple breast wrap and let it fall into her lap, her large breasts bouncing into everyone’s view.

“Since I’m right beside you, Goddess, I’ll go first.” Aisha said simply, the small, smug little grin on her lips as she looked at the others got her a cute pout from Chacha, an eye roll from Samira, and simple shrugs from Matora and Ikumi.

“Heh!” Bastet let out a short chuckle at Aisha’s little prank. “Alright!” As Aisha turned her back to face Bastet, she pulled her long black hair over her shoulder to keep it out of the way. With a simple prick of her finger with a needle, Bastet let a drop of her blood fall onto Aisha’s back, and as her Falna appeared on her back the familiar white-blue glow followed.

Aisha sat quietly, a little smile on her lips, as she felt Bastet’s finger moving softly across her back for a short time.

“You had some fun today, didn’t you, Aisha?” Bastet said with a warm and soft laugh as she placed a blank paper onto her Vice Captain’s back and copied the numbers over with a twirl of her finger.

“You could say that, Goddess.” Aisha agreed with a playful smile as she took the paper when Bastet handed it to her. “Since joining your Familia, we’ve all been able to enjoy going into the Dungeon regularly, which has been very nice.” The fact that they could also get Status Updates daily, if they wanted, was also a major improvement from their time in Ishtar Familia where Status Updates were by Ishtar’s whim.

-Status-

Aisha Belka

Level 3

Strength – A 810 > A 835

Endurance – A 863 > A 882

Dexterity – A 860 > A 886

Agility – A 807 > A 828

Magic – A 862 > A 875

-Magic-

Hell Kaios– Incantation: “Come, champion of the savages. Manly warrior, strong hero, greedy and unjust hero. Show your worth if you desire the girdle of the empress. Satisfy my body, penetrate my body, kill my body and prove your worth. My starving blade is Hippolyta.” Slashing Magic that releases a red shockwave slash that cuts anything it passes through.

-Skills-

Battle High – Raises the user’s Strength, Dexterity, and Endurance while fighting. Allows the user to ignore a large amount of pain. Passive.

Gururlu Koruyucu (Proud Protector) – Raises all stats by a large amount when fighting to defend others. Passive.

Pressure – Creates shockwaves from the user’s attacks, allowing force to travel across open distance. Damage is greatly increased if the strike physically connects. Active Trigger.

-Developmental Abilities-

Hunter – H (Improves abilities against Monsters that the user has fought before and gained Excelia from.)

Fist Strike – I (Massively raises attack power when punching or striking with bare hands.)

-Status-

Aisha looked up from the paper and gave Bell a look of warmth and affection that shifted to one of desire as her lovely, half-lidded purple eyes smoldered while they looked into his rubellite gaze. “I’m close to reaching ‘S’ Rank in three of my Basic Abilities. I should show you my appreciation again, Bell~”

“It’s your hard work that’s making you grow, Aisha.” Bell told her with a smile. “My Skill just let’s you get the most out of all the effort that you put in.”

“So modest.” Aisha stood up after feeling Bastet lock up her Falna and walked over to Bell to capture his lips with hers in a soft, loving kiss. Bell kissed her back, until Samira spoke up from below.

“You’re interrupting my massage time, Aisha.” Samira commented with an annoyed little grumble.

Bell chuckled as he resumed massaging Samira’s lower back, getting a soft moan from her as she relaxed back onto the large pillow she was lying on.

“Line up, girls! I’ll get all of you updated in time for your turn with Bell’s magic hands~” Bastet teased the others, only for Chacha to swiftly plop herself down on the couch in front of Bastet and pull her top off without a care, letting her girls bounce free with a bright giggle.

“Me next!” Chacha laughed before shooting a wink at Bell as she saw his eyes looking at her tits.

Bastet laughed warmly as she let a drop of her blood fall onto Chacha’s back.

-Status-

Chacha Akaza

Level 2

Strength – S 965 > S 993

Endurance – S 946 > S 973

Dexterity – B 791 > A 812

Agility – A 843 > A 860

Magic – B 783 > A 802

-Magic-

Scale – Incantation: “Warp creation and tip the balance.” Changes the size and density of inanimate objects temporarily.

-Skills-

Kuvvet (Power) – Heavily increases the user’s Strength stat. Passive.

Çetin Savaş (Heavy Combat) – Raises Endurance by a large amount and regenerates stamina at an accelerated rate while fighting. Passive.

Amazon Spirit – Boosts the effectiveness of Skills and Magic while fighting. Effect increases based on the number of Amazons nearby. Passive.

-Developmental Ability-

Abnormal Resistance – I (Negates the effect of abnormalities such as poison and paralysis.)

-Status-

“So close!” Chacha cheered at how close her Strength stat was to hitting the ‘S 999’ cap. Once her Falna was securely locked up again, she burned her Status Update with a candle on the coffee table and then moved over to Bell to wait for her turn for a massage.

Bastet smiled as Matora sat down next. “Ready, Matora?”

“Whenever you are, Goddess.” Matora moved her hair over her shoulder to show Bastet her bare back, her shirt having been removed for a while already.

-Status-

Matora Mikogami

Level 2

Strength – S 950 > S 981

Endurance – S 944 > S 974

Dexterity – F 338 > F 350

Agility – S 926 > S 954

Magic – A 832 > A 843

-Magic-

Spirit Armor – Incantation: “Warrior seeking battle, the wild desire of a beast. Clothe me in fighting spirit, to run wild on the battlefield.” Enchantment Magic that covers the user’s body in cloth formed from magic energy that protects the user from physical and magical attacks. Prevents status afflictions while the armor is intact. Mind is continuously used to maintain the armor. Effect rises based on the Magic and Endurance stats.

-Skills-

Battle Aura – Heavily increases the user’s Strength, Endurance, and Agility at the cost of Mind. Active Trigger.

Yilan Saç (Serpent Hair) – Allows the user to control their long hair as if it were a serpent. Can physically stop objects and bite others. Active Trigger.

Vahşi Kan (Wild Blood) – Increases the effects of the user’s Skills when fighting in close combat and increases the effects of their Magic when in use. Passive.

-Developmental Ability-

Abnormal Resistance – I (Negates the effect of abnormalities such as poison and paralysis.)

-Status-

Matora grinned brightly at seeing how close her Strength and Endurance stats were getting to the cap. “I’m almost there, Goddess.” She looked over her shoulder at Bastet.

“You’ll get there soon, Matora.” Bastet agreed with a smile of her own. “Just keep working hard like you’ve been doing so far.” She hugged Matora warmly from behind for a moment before leaving a gentle kiss on Matora’s bare shoulder. “Now, go get in line for a massage from Bell~”

“Yes, Goddess.” Matora said, as if she’d do anything else. Samira had gotten up, completely topless, and was stretching out her loosened muscles with soft, pleased little groans.

“Mmm~” Aisha moaned softly as she’d already taken Samira’s place and Bell started massaging her shoulders.

Ikumi sat down in front of Bastet, just as topless as the other women, a rather common occurrence when they were home. “Ready, Bastet.”

Bastet let a drop of her blood touch Ikumi’s bare back. “Let’s see…” She watched Ikumi’s Excelia for a bit and smiled as she saw the day in the Dungeon once more, this time through Ikumi’s eyes. When nothing new manifested, Bastet moved the Excelia into the Basic Abilities and watched them rise. Once they stopped, Bastet placed the blank paper onto Ikumi’s back and copied the numbers over before handing it to Ikumi with a smile. “Here you go, Ikumi. Nya~”

“Thank you, Goddess.” Ikumi took the paper and looked it over with a smile.

-Status-

Ikumi Mito

Level 2

Strength – A 880 > S 912

Endurance – A 837 > A 870

Dexterity – A 868 > S 901

Agility – B 772 > A 803

Magic – A 815 > A 846

-Magic-

Alev – Incantation: “The flames of passion become food for the spirit.” Fire Magic that’s size and temperature can be controlled by the amount of Mind used.

Akan Su – Incantation: “Flow and fill the vessel.” Water Magic that’s volume and speed can be controlled by the amount of Mind used.

-Skills-

Disassembly – Allows the user to preserve the meat of any Monster they kill and make it edible while butchering it, negates all toxins and acids within the blood and flesh.

Carve – Increases the user’s Strength and Dexterity by a large amount when wielding a blade. Passive.

Larder – Compensates for a large percentage of weight carried when hauling ingredients. Preserves ingredients while carrying them. Passive.

-Developmental Ability-

Hunter – I (Improves abilities against Monsters that the user has fought before and gained Excelia from.)

-Status-

“Both Dexterity and Strength are ‘S’ Rank!” Ikumi cheered, her green eyes bright and a beaming smile on her face.

“Congratulations, Ikumi!” Chacha and Bell congratulated her at the same time, both smiling warmly at Ikumi.

Samira smiled at Ikumi from her seat on the couch close to where Bastet and Ikumi were sitting, since she was next in line for a Status Update. “Good work, Ikumi.”

“You’ve done well.” Aisha said with a soft smile, still being turned into a relaxed puddle of bliss beneath Bell’s massaging hands as they worked on her back.

Matora grinned at Ikumi, a little challenge in her silver eyes. “Now, you just have to catch up to me and Chacha.”

“I will.” Ikumi rose to the challenge easily, her green eyes sharp as she stared Matora down.

“Good.” Matora shot back with a smirk.

Ikumi moved over to pull Matora into a one-armed hug, playfully tousling her friend’s long silver-white hair as the two had a childish little ‘fight’ on the cushions near where Bell was giving Aisha a massage. Said fight ending with some teasing groping of each other’s tits and bodies and a few kisses.

Samira sat in front of Bastet next and grinned at the Cat Goddess over her shoulder. “Let’s see if I reached ‘S’ Rank in a couple of my stats as well, Goddess.”

“Sure thing, Samira.” Bastet giggled, having been watching Matora and Ikumi’s rather sexy little ‘fight’ with each other. She placed a drop of blood onto Samira’s back and watched her Falna appear in the blue-white glow.

Only a minute or so later and Bastet handed Samira her new Status Update while locking up her Falna. A knowing little smile on the Goddess’s face as Samira had gotten what she wanted.

-Status-

Samira Nabi

Level 3

Strength – A 880 > S 902

Endurance – A 874 > S 900

Dexterity – C 615 > C 624

Agility – B 767 > B 788

Magic – B 726 > B 737

-Magic-

Withering Bite – Incantation: “Weaken the prey.” Anti-Status Magic that allows the user to drastically weaken the Status of anyone they bite and draw blood from, for a certain amount of time.

-Skills-

Grapple – Raises the user’s Strength and Endurance stats while fighting in close combat. Increases grip strength. Passive.

Süratli (Swift) – Increases the user’s Agility. Effect rises based on the user’s Level. Passive.

-Developmental Abilities-

Hunter – H (Improves abilities against Monsters that the user has fought before and gained Excelia from.)

Abnormal Resistance – I (Negates the effect of abnormalities such as poison and paralysis.)

-Status-

“Nice.” Samira smiled at seeing both Strength and Endurance had reached ‘S’ Rank. “Pushing harder today really helped my Endurance.”

“Hard work pays off.” Bastet agreed with a warm smile as she hugged Samira from behind. “You did great, Samira.”

Samira turned in Bastet’s arms and kissed the Cat Goddess’s lips softly for a long moment, getting a pleased hum from her Goddess. “Thank you~”

Bastet giggled and licked her lips. “Nya… Thank you, Samira~” The two held each other, occasionally sharing a short and sweet little kiss, while watching Aisha stand up from the soft pillows and give Bell and grateful kiss before Chacha quickly took her place to get the next massage from Bell.

A while later, after Bell had given all of his girlfriends their massages, Bastet pulled him away from the roaming hands of the other women and pulled his shirt off, getting appreciative noises from Aisha, Matora, Ikumi, Chacha, and Samira, before sitting him down in front of her and letting a drop of her blood touch his back.

“Let’s see how much you grew today, Bell.” Bastet said to him with a smile as she began to watch his Excelia for the day.

“Thank you, Bastet.” Bell smiled, even as he felt the eyes of his lovers roaming over his bare torso with desire. It sent a primal, instinctive thrill through him to have the love of so many women.

Bastet smiled as she saw Bell’s progress through his Excelia, seeing how well he dealt with the Monsters in the Dungeon and how his skills with the Bast Sword had improved since she’d given it to him. As she moved his Excelia into his Basic Abilities, looking forward to seeing his stats start hitting the ‘S 999’ cap, her eyes widened when the number snot only reached the cap…but blew right past it! “N-Nya?”

“Bastet?” Bell looked over his shoulder at his Goddess, wondering why she seemed confused.

“J-Just a sec…” Bastet stumbled over her words, getting he attention of the other women.

Aisha moved over, both from her concern for Bell and whatever Bastet had seen in his Falna and in her position as Vice-Captain of the Familia. “Is something wrong?”

Bastet copied the new numbers over to a blank paper with a twirl of her fingertip and handed it to Bell slowly, still not quite able to believe what she’d seen.

-Status-

Bell Cranel

Level 1

Strength – S 959 > SS 1,104

Endurance – S 957 > SS 1,102

Dexterity – S 963 > SS 1,113

Agility – S 950 > SS 1,100

Magic – S 965 > SS 1,124

-Magic-

Treasure Light – Incantation: “Light of heaven, the song of life, the dance of the guardian. Protect my treasure, restore my treasure, and strengthen my treasure.” Abjuration Magic that heals a target while also boosting their stats and providing protection for a limited time.

Sunburst – Radiant Swift-Strike Magic

-Skills-

Tafani Al Usra (Dedication to Family) – Fast growth as long as feelings last. More desire results in faster growth. More effort results in stronger growth. Those the user sees as ‘family’ have accelerated growth in proportion to their efforts. As a side-effect it makes the user immune to Charms and Magics that affect the mind.

Sacred Sword – Adds an Anti-Monster wavelength to a weapon, greatly increasing damage done to Monsters. Bypasses protections granted by Magic or Skills. Passive.

-Status-

“EH?!” Bell cried out in shock as soon as he saw the ‘SS’ Rank on his Status Update. “B-But… The cap… How?” He looked at Bastet in confusion, and now Samira, Ikumi, Chacha, and Matora were all moving closer, trying to figure out what was going on.

All of the Amazons went silent in surprise and shock once they saw Bell’s Status Update. Even though the numbers were right in front of them, none of them could believe it. The Basic Abilities of the Falna were capped at ‘S 999’ the Deities all said so and since they’d created it that had to be true. What they were seeing now, however, clearly proved that wrong.

Bastet wrapped Bell into a warm and loving hug, nuzzling his soft white hair, both to comfort and calm him…as well as herself. “You broke the limits, Bell.” She whispered to him softly, gently nuzzling him to try and keep Bell calm at what should be an impossibility.

“It has to be his Skill.” Aisha said, after finally managing to overcome her shock. “It increases growth in relation to both feelings and effort…and we all know how much Bell loves us and our Familia…”

“Not to mention how hard he works.” Samira nodded, trying to control her own emotions as a senior Adventurer and help her lover through this.

Bell took a deep breath, held it for a few seconds, and then exhaled long and slow to calm himself down. “This is still a good thing, right?” He tried to look on the bright side of this unexpected situation.

“I mean, you’re now the strongest Level 1 Adventurer…ever. So, that has to be a good thing.” Matora said as she gave Bell a gentle smile. “We all certainly like it.” She motioned to the other women, all of them nodding and grinning at Bell.

Strength in a man was always appreciated by Amazons. Even more so when it was the strength of the man they loved.

Chacha sat in Bell’s lap with a warm smile. “Nobody else has to know about this. It’ll be our secret.” She made the easiest choice for the situation, the one that was the simplest solution to this impossibility. “Right, Bastet?” She smiled at their Goddess brightly.

“R-Right.” Bastet said before shaking her head and squeezing Bell a little tighter. “Right! No one should know about Bell’s Status except me and the top members of the Familia anyway! We’ll just enforce that and keep anyone else from finding out!” She nodded firmly, looking at the other women seriously.

“Right, no one else needs to know.” Ikumi agreed with a firm nod. “If anyone tries to poke their nose into our Familia’s business, we punch the nosy bastards right in the face!”

“Hell yeah!” Matora agreed fully, cracking her knuckles with a sharp look in her silver eyes.

Bell smiled as he leaned back into Bastet’s arms and wrapped his own around Chacha, pulling her into him and leaving a soft kiss on her cheek. “You’re all too good to me.”

Samira shook her head with a warm smile. “You’re too good to us, Bell.”

“We’ll keep this secret and no one outside will ever find out.” Aisha said as she gently cupped Bell’s cheek with one hand and leaning down to kiss his lips for a long moment. “Let’s take tomorrow off, just like we planned, and only worry about this if it actually causes a problem.”

That was quickly agreed upon and Bell swiftly carried Bastet upstairs to the master bedroom, leading his lovers as well, before they all disappeared behind the door for the night. While many in the Familia would expect quite a lot of ‘fun’ to be had that night, it was actually much more tame. While soft kisses had been shared for a long while, and hands did roam, the seven had simply enjoyed a cuddle pile as they all processed the impossibility of Bell’s stats and offered comfort and support to one another.

-Next Morning – East Main Street ~ Monsterphilia-

“So this is Monsterphilia, huh?” Bell marveled at all of the crowded streets lined with stalls for the day of the festival.

There were many different scents in the air as food from all over the world was present for the annual event. Which Ikumi was enjoying as she kept looking over what every food stall was selling. Colorful cloth and clothes in more styles than any one person could identify were seen, both being sold and being worn by visitors from outside of Orario. The entire city was seemingly out in force to celebrate the massive festival hosted by the Ganesha Familia.

Even the group of six were merely a small dot among the massive, ever moving crowds.

“Don’t miss the Xenos Mock Battles!” A member of Ganesha Familia stood on a small platform and hollered out over the crowd. “See the pinnacle of the Ganesha Familia’s rare Taming Skill! The intelligent Monsters that we call companions! The first mock battle happens this afternoon!” The man handed papers with the schedule of Xenos-related events at the Amphitheatron out to everyone that was gathered around his small platform.

“I wonder what the schedule is like?” Bell quickly went to get one of the papers. “Battles between Xenos…” He looked over the schedule and noticed a match between a Fomoire (named Four) and a Lizardman (named Lyd) would be happening at one in the afternoon. There was also an aerial battle after that between a Gargoyle (named Gros) and a Siren (named Ray). “I definitely want to see this!” Bell smiled at the paper. “Huh, they have regular taming of new Monsters taken from the Dungeon in the morning…and the Siren and a Harpy are going to sing after the mock battles?!” Bell was aware that Sirens were supposed to use sound as a weapon in the Dungeon, thanks to Aisha and the others that had been down to the Lower Floors of the Dungeon before, but if they sang… “Huh, it might actually be nice.” Even though Bell had only been in Orario for a while, his Familia had told him plenty of stories about some of the mysteries within the Dungeon. There were some Adventurers that swore they heard angelic singing coming from deeper within the Dungeon, unsure if it was a person singing, a Monster, or perhaps the Dungeon itself. “We’ve still got plenty of time.” He checked the time on a clock that was set up on a building not too far away from him and compared it to when the Mock Battles would start.

“Let’s get some food first!” Ikumi encouraged with a bright smile as she eagerly pulled on Bell’s arm, leading him to a stall that was selling grilled meat skewers.

“I could eat!” Chacha agreed with a smile as she followed after them.

Samira looked at Aisha with a grin. “I think most of our money is going to be spent on food today.”

“I brought extra.” Aisha smirked as she patted the pouch on her hip. “We’ll probably get some discounts from a few of the men running stalls anyway.” Both Amazon women were used to such behavior from men hoping to curry some favor in hopes of getting something in return.

Matora scoffed at that while following after Chacha, Ikumi, and Bell. “Like we’d give any of them the time of day when we have Bell.”

Aisha and Samira both laughed at that while following after the others. They both shared a look with each other, silently agreeing that Matora was right. When they had a lover like Bell, they had no interest in other men.

-Noon-

“Man, we wandered kinda far from the colosseum, huh?” Chacha grinned with her hands resting behind her head as the group walked towards the largest structure near East Main Street.

“Blame Ikumi for following her nose to every food stall on this side of the city.” Matora said with a teasing grin directed at her friend.

Ikumi waved off the comment with a roll of her eyes. “You enjoyed trying all of the food. You can’t fool me.”

“It’s been fun checking out everything while letting Ikumi lead us along.” Aisha commented with a little smile. “We even got to buy a few outfits from those stalls run by Amazons from outside of Orario.” The package holding said purchases was being carried by Bell, who had insisted on carrying it for them.

“Yeah, those outfits looked nice.” Bell nodded, recalling how his girlfriends had held up the thin, sheer material to their bodies while asking Bell if he’d like to see them wearing it. If their choices were anything to go by, he was in for quite the enjoyable ‘show’ later tonight.

Samira smirked as she leaned into Bell. “I know Bell enjoyed doing a little shopping with us. Right?”

Bell nodded with a grin on his face, still imagining seeing the women in the sheer, skimpy outfits that they’d picked out. “Absolutely.”

“Did the ground just shake a little.” Ikumi questioned as she came to a stop, looking down at the street they were walking on.

“It is…but not like an earthquake.” Aisha confirmed, feeling the slight rumbling of the ground beneath her bare feet.

It quickly became obvious that the ground actually was shaking…and why.

“What the…?” Bell and the Amazons called out as the shaking got stronger and the street cracked

Crack

BOOM

Dust was thrown into the air as the street broke apart. A long sinuous body moved around as people yelled in panic and fear. The green skin of the creature looked scaly, like a snake, but the ‘head’ was weird, with no visible mouth, eyes, or features of any kind.

“A Monster?!” Bell yelled in surprise at the sudden appearance.

“Is that another new species?!” Tiona questioned loudly from a rooftop above the street, making Bell, Aisha, and Samira crane their necks to look upward and see the other Amazon above them.

“But the other new species were all the way down on the Fiftieth Floor!” Lefiya, a cute Elf that was a Level 3 of the Loki Familia and known throughout Orario by her Title of ‘Thousand Elf’, exclaimed, getting Ikumi, Matora, and Chacha’s attention.

“Ais, use your speed and get the civilians away from that thing!” Tione started giving out orders, having some training in leadership thanks to Finn making her a leader of small squads from time-to-time, her strong voice easily heard by the group below.

“Yes.” Ais Wallenstein, the famous ‘Kenki’ of Loki Familia, nearly vanished as she blurred towards the people closest to the strange Monster. She grabbed the two people that were within the snake-like beast’s range and dashed away with them quickly.

“Lefiya, look for an opening and start casting!” Tione instructed the Mage quickly as she assessed the situation as swiftly as possible.

Lefiya nodded quickly. “Y-Yes!”

Bell looked up at the four from Loki Familia as they immediately jumped into the fray against the strange-looking Monster. “Tione, Tiona… Loki Familia?”

“Gaaaahhh!” A Cat Man cried out as the ‘head’ of the Monster rushed towards him.

Tiona and Tione launched themselves off the nearby roof so hard that some of the tiles cracked. Both of the Amazons’ eyes almost seemed to glow as they blurred towards the Monster; such was the intensity of their focus. As they rocketed towards the strange new species, Tiona cocked back her left fist, while Tione cocked back her right.

Wham

The ‘head’ of the Monster shattered the street as the twin punches knocked it down. The Cat Man was grabbed by the swift form of Ais and removed from the area a second later.

“Nnnngh.” Tione hissed, raising her right arm above her head, gripping it with her left as her hand throbbed with pain.

Tiona was hopping in place, cradling her hand which was noticeably bruised. “It’s so hard?!”

“Punches aren’t going to get us anywhere!” Tione took up a stance anyway. “This thing is made to withstand blunt force!”

“Gahh! Why didn’t we bring weapons?!” Tiona questioned, only to remember that she and her friends had been having a nice day at Monsterphilia before this; so weapons shouldn’t have been needed.

Bell looked at his girlfriends and saw all five of them already about to jump into the battle to assist. It made him happy that they were all thinking the same thing as him.

“Unleashed pillar of light, limbs of the holy tree. You are the master archer. Loose your arrows, fairy archers. Pierce, arrow of accuracy.” Lefiya was nearly finished with her chant and the strange Monster hadn’t noticed her yet. She was sure that she could take it out before it caused any further damage or hurt anyone.

The Monster’s head snapped around and locked directly onto Lefiya.

Crack

The ground next to Lefiya’s feet broke and a green tentacle, or limb, perhaps a tail, slammed into the Elf’s side with a snapping sound. The limb shot up high into the air, sending Lefiya flying into an abandoned stall, collapsing the canvas and wood.

“That thing had a tail?!” Tione nearly cracked a tooth in anger at not having considered that before, trying to get to Lefiya’s side.

Tiona rushed towards their injured friend. “Lefiya!”

The ‘head’ of the weird Monster shuddered, almost vibrating, for a second before it split and then burst open to reveal a flower with jaws similar to a humans. “ROOOOAAARRRR!!!” The weird Flower Monster roared, briefly revealing that its Magic Stone was attached to the roof of its mouth, while more vine-like limbs burst through the street and whipped around wildly.

“It…bloomed?” Tione looked confused by this new species now that it had revealed its true form.

“It’s not a snake…it’s a flower?!” Tiona exclaimed, dodging the rapidly flailing vines that were rising from the ground.

Aisha and Samira held out their arms, blocking Chach, Matora, Ikumi, and Bell from leaping forward, seeing that the Monster was changing…something that usually only happened when an irregular strengthened species consumed enough Magic Stones and began to mutate. A dangerous phenomenon that they’d each only seen twice before in their time as Adventurers.

The flower Monster disregarded the Amazon sisters, and everyone else still around, turning its attention to the downed Lefiya. It slithered towards her, mouth opening, clearly intending to eat the Elf.

“Lefiya! Get up!” Tione called out a warning, trying to force her way through the wriggling vines.

“These damn things are in the way!” Tiona punched one of the vines, but even as it was knocked aside, she could tell that it hadn’t really been damaged.

Lefiya seemed to come to, trying to sit up proved to be the wrong move, however. “AAAAHHHH!!!” She cried out in agony, her hand going towards her injured side, clearly something was very wrong to make a Level 3 be nearly unable to move. But even through the pain, Lefiya tried to get away from the Monster. As it came closer, even as the Elf continued to cry out from the searing pain of her injury, she never stopped trying to get away from it.

Aisha and Samira kicked off the ground to charge the Monster in order to protect the injured Elf…but were beaten to the punch by a blur of swift, light green wind.

The Flower Monster’s head went flying through the air. A clean slice had separated the head from the long, sinuous body in a single strike. Lefiya felt a tear fall from her eye in shame at having to be saved by the one she looked up to, again.

‘Made it.’ Ais let out a breath that she didn’t know she was holding. ‘Pushed a little too hard though.’ She felt her body twinge in pain from blasting all the way back to the battlefield in one burst of her magic. “Lefiya?” She turned to check on her friend.

Crack

As if reacting to her presence, three more Flower Monsters burst from the ground, shrieking at Ais. Revealing that the other vines belonged to them and not the first Monster.

“There’s more?!” Chacha exclaimed, about to charge in to the fight, even without a weapon.

Matora was in full agreement with Chacha as she balled her hands into fist and stepped forward. “Let’s fight!”

Crack

Crack

Crack

Bell, Ikumi, Matora, and Chacha all turned around as fast as they could, their eyes widening as they heard the sound. In a fraction of a second, the four of them looked down the wide side street they’d walked down previously as another four of the strange Flower Monsters broke through the ground, shrieking and roaring loudly.

“Why does that thing sound sort of…familiar?” Samira questioned herself, feeling like she’d definitely heard something similar not too long ago.

“Let’s go!” Aisha shouted as she rushed towards Bell and the other girls. Samira was right behind her, her eyes sharpening as she focused on the upcoming fight.

The four Flower Monsters lunged towards the Adventurers in front of them, their human-like mouths wide open as they shrieked loudly and prepared to devour their prey.

“Like hell!” Matora’s body faintly glowed as she activated her Battle Aura Skill and kicked upwards as soon as one of the oddly-colored Monsters was close enough. With a thud, the Flower Monster’s plant-like jaws slammed closed from the force of the kick, the Monster reeled backward before it opened its jaws again and roared loudly.

Ikumi and Chacha both kicked upwards as well, knocking the Flower Monsters up and back. Grimacing from how hard the weird Monsters’ bodies were, before throwing their strongest punches right after to knock their sinuous bodies backwards further.

Bell pivoted to the side to dodge the strange Flower Monster that lunged towards him. Placing his hand almost on the plant-like head as it past him, Bell unleashed his Swift-Strike Magic. “Sunburst!” The burning light engulfed the Monster’s head, making it shriek and rear back in pain while shaking its head.

The other three Flower Monsters, however, all locked onto Bell instantly and shrieked as they went after him.

“Die!” Aisha roared out as she nearly blurred past Bell, her Battle High and Gururlu Koruyucu Skills both increasing her stats while she activated her Pressure Skill as her foot slammed into the head of one of the Flower Monsters. The impact nearly rattled Aisha’s entire leg from how durable the Monster was, but as the shockwave from her Skill hit the Monster it was launched backwards strongly, taking the other strange Monster closest to it with it as their snake-like bodies slammed into each other and crashed into the street, shattering it from the force.

“Rah!” Samira grabbed onto the lunging Flower Monster that Aisha hadn’t been able to get to. Her agility boosted by her Süratli Skill let her get between the Monster and Bell in time, while her Grapple Skill boosted her Strength and Endurance, allowing her to stop the Monster’s charge…even if it still hurt. ‘Fuck! This thing’s stronger than it looks!’ Using her increased grip strength from her Skill, she dug her fingers into the plant-like jaws of the Monster and twisted her arms, sending it spiraling off to the side to crash into the building on one side of the street.

“Fuck!” Ikumi swore loudly as she flexed her hands. “These things are so durable!” She now understood why Tiona and Tione had reacted like they had after punching the first weird Flower Monster.

“Even with my stats boosted by my Skills… I can’t punch these things to death?!” Chacha questioned as she looked at her hands and shook out the foot that she’d kicked the weird Monster with.

Bell, recalling that Ais had been able to easily decapitate the first Flower Monster with her sword, came to the obvious conclusion. “We need edged weapons!”

Matora, still lightly glowing with her Skill, shook her head. “We don’t have any! We didn’t think we’d need them at Monsterphilia!”

“KREEEE!!!” The Flower Monsters shrieked loudly as all four slithered into upright positions, like striking snakes, and focused their attention on the six Adventurers in front of them.

“Sunburst!” Bell held out his right hand, palm out, and unleashed a burning bolt of light straight towards the Flower Monster on the far left. Before the spell finished leaving his hand, he poured more Mind into it and fired again, and then again, and again, feeling the heat of his own spell starting to sting his hand. The radiant magic hit its target each time, mostly because the Flower Monsters seemed to actively lunge for it.

Aisha observed this strange behavior and the actions of the weird Monsters clicked. “Magic energy! They’re attracted to magic!” She cursed not having a sword right now. While her magic could be cast without one, it was more effective when cast through a bladed weapon.

“Light of heaven, the song of life, the dance of the guardian. Protect my treasure, restore my treasure, and strengthen my treasure. Treasure Light!” Bell dumped a large amount of Mind into his spell as the four Flower Monsters freaked out and locked onto him again.

But then all four of the oddly-colored Monsters seemed to become confused as magical energy surrounded the six Adventurers.

“This feels…nice.” Samira hummed as she felt her stats increase while her bruising from stopping the Flower Monster’s previous charge healed up.

“It’ll help!” Aisha agreed as she made a knifehand with her right hand and focused her own Mind.

Matora, seeing how the Flower Monsters were confused by all of the magical energy suddenly around them smirked and began to chant. “Warrior seeking battle, the wild desire of a beast. Clothe me in fighting spirit, to run wild on the battlefield. Spirit Armor!” A dark black cloth covered Matora’s body beneath her clothing, looking like a skintight black body stocking. Feeling her Enchantment Magic take hold, Matora’s wild grin increased as she launched herself at the closest Flower Monster. “Let’s go!”

“SHRREEEEE!!!” The shriek of the Flower Monsters intensified as more magical energy appeared in their senses.

Bam

Matora’s leg slammed into the snake-like body in a powerful kick, making the Monster’s body sway as it struggled to retain its balance.

“Hyah!” Chacha roared out as her Skills boosted her stats even more as they were all amped up by her Amazon Spirit Skill and the presence of Aisha, Samira, Matora, and Ikumi. Her punch slammed into another of the Flower Monsters and she grit her teeth and still feeling some pain, even with her boosted Endurance and the protection aspect of Bell’s magic.

“REEAAHH!!!” The Flower Monster she hit shrieked and lashed its vine-like limbs at her, though with her boosted stats, she managed to dodge, leaving the limbs to shatter whatever part of the street they hit.

“The flames of passion become food for the spirit. Alev!” Ikumi chanted before rushing forward with her hands filled with fire. As soon as the Flower Monster she was charging lunged towards her, she threw her hands forward and dumped a large amount of her Mind reserves into her spell.

FWOOSH

The flames burst forward in a conflagration that filled the Flower Monster’s jaws and engulfed its head.

“ReEeAaGh!!!” The Flower Monster’s pained wailing was garbled as it snapped on the flames filling its jaws while swinging its head about to try and escape the flames, lashing out wildly with its vine-like limbs, forcing Ikumi backwards with a painful hit that sent her skidding backwards.

“Damn it!” Ikumi bit out at the sharp pain in her left arm. “You’re going to pay for that!”

Bell rushed forward, taking advantage of the flailing of the Flower Monster that had been set on fire. “Sunburst!” He aimed at the base of the sinuous body and unleashed the burning light.

“REEAAAHHH!!!” The injured Flower Monster screeched in pain as the amplified spell torched its green scales, nearly melting them to its body. It lashed out at Bell, but he was pulled aside by Chacha as the limb shattered the ground where he’d been standing a fraction of a second ago.

“Watch out, Bell!” Chacha told him, only to blink as Bell held up his left hand, showing a few broken fragments of the street.

Bell smiled at her. “Think these things can handle being hit by boulders?”

Chacha broke out into a wide grin as she took hold of the rubble and cocked back her right arm, gripping the stone fragments tightly. “Warp creation and tip the balance. Scale!” She cast her spell at the same moment she threw the rocks. The small stones rapidly increased in size and smashed into the head of the Flower Monster that Matora was fighting, sending it crashing into the building on the right side of the street.

“KREEEE!!!” The Flower Monster screeched as it slid down the side of the building and hit the ground.

Samira charged into the lashing vine-like limbs of the Flower Monsters that she was fighting, a few glanced off her body as she swiftly ran, ducked, and even flipped around the whip-like strikes. When the Flower Monster lunged at her, its jaws wide open to consume her, Samira did something that many would consider crazy…and jumped into its jaws.

“Stronger than you look…bastard!” Samira grunted as she took advantage of her boosted stats and the protection that Bell’s spell afforded her as she prevented the plant-like jaws from closing on her, even as the human-ish mouth and teeth snapped at her. With a strong shove upwards forcing the jaws wider, preventing the teeth from meeting each other, Samira shoved her arm into the mouth and grabbed something at the same instant that the mouth managed to snap down and bite into her arm, the golden glow of Bell’s magic and how short the distance of the bite, prevented Samira from gaining a grievous injury. “That hurts, you fucker…” Samira snarled at the Monster, her arm bleeding freely s the two teeth, one on top and the other on the bottom, tried to bite through her limb. With a wild grin on her face, Samira squeezed what she’d grabbed within the Monster’s mouth with her boosted grip strength. “Die!”

Crack

The Magic Stone in Samira’s hand shattered into tiny fragments.

Bam

The Flower Monster exploded into black ashes and Samira fell nearly seven meters before landing on her feet with a hiss, her wild grin still on her face as her Amazons blood sang loudly from the life-and-death battle.

“SKREEEE!!!” The Flower Monster chasing Aisha was locked onto her to the exclusion of all else. Her rising magical energy a beacon the oddly-colored Monster tracked relentlessly.

“Come, champion of the savages. Manly warrior, strong hero, greedy and unjust hero.” Aisha chanted while focusing on her mind, dodging the lashing vine-like limbs of the Monster, demonstrating her mastery of concurrent chanting, a high-level casting skill that many Mages weren’t even capable of. “Show your worth if you desire the girdle of the empress. Satisfy my body, penetrate my body, kill my body and prove your worth.” She kicked off the side of the building and soared over the head of the Flower Monster as it crashed headlong into the building, shattering the wall and windows. “My starving blade is Hippolyta.” She landed behind the Monster as it pulled its head from the building in a shower of rubble and lunged straight at her like a striking snake. “Hell Kaios!” Aisha’s forearm and hand were encased in a dark red magical energy as she slashed it upwards and unleashed an arc of the same magic energy straight towards the Flower Monster.

Shing

The Flower Monster’s head split in two and each side crashed to the ground on both sides of Aisha.

“Heh!” Aisha chuckled, a battle high filling the Amazon, even if the fight had only been difficult because of her lack of a weapon.

Bam

The Flower Monster exploded into black ashes.

“Are they okay?” Aisha turned to check on the younger members of the group, only to see the battle finishing up.

“TAKE THIS!!!” Chacha roared as she hefted a boulder above her head and drove it into the head of a Flower Monster, wedging its jaws open, ignoring how its vine-like limbs beat her and sent blood flying as it struggled to get the heavy weight off itself.

Matora roared out as she dropped from the roof of the nearby building and spun twice to build up speed before dropping a devastating axe kick onto the boulder with all of her boosted stats coursing through her. “DIE!!!”

BOOM

The boulder exploded into shrapnel and dust as Matora’s foot didn’t even slow down. The street shattered beneath the Flower Monster’s head as Matora stood in it nearly splattered remains.

Bam

The third Flower Monster burst into black ashes.

“ReEaAgGhH!!!” The last Flower Monster wailed as it lashed its vine-like limbs wildly, knocking Ikumi and Bell backwards as its body had multiple blackened spots along its length, the scales looking to have melted from intense heat. Meanwhile, its head was on fire from Ikumi’s magic making it thrash widely in pain.

“Will you just die!” Ikumi roared, her Amazon blood was howling for the Monster’s life as she saw Bell take another hit and get knocked backwards, hitting the ground harshly and bouncing twice before rolling to a stop. She shot forward grabbed one of the lashing vines, ignoring the pain it caused as it hit her. “Get down here!” She jerked on the limb as powerfully as she could, nearly tearing it off, as the Flower Monster shrieked as it was slammed into the shattered street.

“Sunburst!” Bell hacked out, spitting out blood as he aimed his hand straight at the head of the Flower Monster. If he was in his right mind at the moment, he’d have been in agony. As it was, his own magic, along with a fuck ton of adrenaline in his veins, was currently blocking out the pain and his rapidly depleting Mind reserves. His spell hit the burned jaws of the Flower Monster and burned them open, the first half of the plant-like jaws finally reduced to ashes by the combination of his radiant magic and Ikumi’s fire magic.

“ReeAaGGhH!!!” The warbled shriek of pain from the Flower Monster was ignored as Ikumi put both of her hands into the gaping hole of its jaws.

“The flames of passion become food for the spirit! ALEV!!!” Ikumi dumped most of her remaining Mind into the spell.

FWOOSH

The conflagration had nowhere else to go as it burned straight down the jaws and throat of the Flower Monster, the flames so intense they glowed from in between the scales of the long snake-like body. The massive damage alone would’ve been too much for the Monster to survive normally, but with its oddly-colored Magic Stone being on the roof of its mouth, it was torched to nothing.

Bam

The Flower Monster exploded into black ashes that were scattered by the eruption of flames that finally had space to expand.

Ikumi cut off her spell and wobbled on her feet. She shook her head once, noticing some blood dripping down her face, and stumbled over to Bell where he was barely holding himself up, his body oddly still, even as his breathing was ragged.

“Bell!” Chacha limped over, her body a mess of welts and some lacerations from the whip-like vines of the strange Monsters.

Matora wasn’t too much better, her spell having faded and blood dripping from her right legs and foot, along with her right arm hanging slightly crooked at her side. “Is Bell okay?” She got out between heavy breaths.

Aisha gently took hold of Bell’s shoulders and helped him lay down, letting him use her lap as a pillow. “You all did well.” She smiled down at Bell as his rubellite eyes were clearly hazy from loss of Mind and his injuries.

“These weird things were at least Level 3…” Samira nodded, holding her injured, bleeding arm, multiple parts of her body also bruised from the lashing vines of the Flower Monster she’d killed. ‘Probably not a good idea to tell them that the ones that Aisha and I killed were at least Level 4.’ It was why she and Aisha had targeted the two that they’d gone after. The noticeable difference in size and an experienced Adventurer’s ability to assess the threat level of a new Monster they’d never seen before had both made it obvious which of the nearly identical Monsters was the strongest.

“We’re…” Bell spoke slowly, clearly suffering from Mind Down. “…gonna be…late…to meet…Bastet.” He managed to get out as his eyes started to droop closed.

Aisha gently ran her fingers through Bell’s sweaty, and slightly bloody hair, both soothing him and checking for any head injuries. “I’m sure she’ll understand, Bell.” She assured him with a quiet voice as Ikumi, Chacha, and Matora all slowly, gingerly sat down beside Bell. Their injuries hurt, but they wanted to be close to their injured boyfriend. Even Samira kneeled down to sit next to Bell with a smile, ignoring the pain of her arm with the help of experience.

Bell looked up at his girlfriends for a moment, unable to smile as his world went black, but looking relieved all the same as his eyes closed.

It was only a few seconds later that Tione and Tiona came around the corner, leading fully armed and armored members of the Ganesha Familia behind them, with Guild employees bringing up the rear.

“I heard fighting over here…” Tione was telling the Ganesha Familia members before she trailed off, seeing the damaged street and building, the piles of black ashes, and the injured Amazons sitting on the ground with…

“BELL!!!” Tiona and Tione both yelled out as they rushed down the street towards their injured and unconscious boyfriend. They’d both completely forgotten about the people they’d just been leading in their haste to get to Bell.

“Is he okay?!” Tiona was on her knees next to Samira and Bell as she looked him over. “Did you guys fight those weird Flower Monsters too?!”

Tione was looking over Bell, fretting over all the injuries that she saw. “Of course they did, idiot Tiona!” She snapped at her sister, too frantic to control her emotions at the moment. “POTIONS!!!” She shouted at the approaching Ganesha Familia members.

“What happened here, exactly?” One of the Guild employees asked as all of the injured Bastet Familia members were being treated with the potions that the Ganesha Familia members had brought with them.

“We’d like to know that too.” Aisha said as she looked up at the Guild employee that looked like he was ‘in-charge’ at the moment.

“How did Level 3 Monsters get to the surface like this?” Samira questioned, her eyes sharp as she drank down a High Potion.

The following hours would be spent in questioning, cutting short the Bastet Familia’s plans to enjoy Monsterphilia for the rest of the day. Though Bastet couldn’t care less as she met her Familia members at the Guild’s treatment area and after checking everyone over, planted herself at Bell’s bedside until he woke up.

-End Chapter-

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Well…damn.

Monsterphilia was cut short for the Bastet Familia.

Why were there so many Flower Monsters?

Perhaps because deliveries couldn’t be made to a certain place with the sudden loss of the Ishtar Familia as collaborators? If they were left down in the sewers instead of being shipped out…then there would naturally be more of them.

It was a hard fight for Bell, Matora, Chacha, and Ikumi, even with their Skills boosting their stats, on top of Bell’s magic both boosting and protecting them.

It’s almost as if these oddly-colored Monsters are purposefully made to be hard for Adventurers to kill without specific methods.

Samira took on one of the two that was about Level 4 in strength! She nearly had to sacrifice an arm, but she grabbed that fucker’s Magic Stone and CRUSHED it with her bare hand!

Aisha’s only real trouble was fighting the damn Flower Monster without her sword! Once she used her Magic, she cut it in two, nice and clean! Her Skills and Bell’s magic boosting her certainly helped, of course! A Proud Protector she is, and she’ll fucking END anyone or anything threatening her family!

What will be the results of this sudden life-and-death battle?

Keep reading to find out!

Let me know what you thought!

Until next time, later!