Is It Wrong To Skitter In A Dungeon? Chapter 60: Preparing for Operation Theseus (Patreon)

Chapter 60: Preparing for Operation Theseus

“This is a large order,” Naaza commented, looking at the long list of potions Taylor had handed her moments earlier.

“It is. Can you fill it in the next two weeks?” Taylor inquired.

It was the day after the Hestia and Loki Familia had returned from their expedition, and already the parahuman was preparing for the next fight. After reading the requests over the alchemist nodded.

“You’ll need to bring me some of the ingredients yourself,” Naaza said, tapping a few items on the paper. “Bloodsaurus eggs for the Double Potions and Spirit Blossoms for the higher quality Mind potions you’re asking for.”

“Don’t need me to fetch any Blue Papillion powder?” Taylor asked.

“I’ve got a good amount of it from the Ganesha Familia. They haven’t found a way to make them breed yet, but apparently if you keep injured monsters nearby Blue Papillions will start to make more healing powder, so they moved some of the holding cells for the hurt Tamed monsters near their habitat,” Naaza revealed.

“Glad to hear our experiment is going well,” Taylor hummed, pleased by that.

“Yeah, it’s pretty good,” Naaza agreed. “Seeing the look on Dian Cecht’s face when we get priority on orders over him… pure bliss!”

“Well, you seem content,” Taylor chuckled. “Now, how are things with the rest of the Familia?”

“Cassandra has taken to potion making like a duck to water, and Daphne has a talent for poisons and antidotes, though her abilities rest more with combat, and she helps with gathering what we need from the Dungeon,” Naaza replied as she rolled up the list and tucked it away underneath the counter.

That was good to hear. The duo hadn’t hung around the Hestia Familia that much since the mess with Rakia, though Taylor knew both women had helped Emma and the other Level 1s while the rest of the Familia was deeper in the Dungeon.

“Do you need any special ingredients?” Taylor inquired after a moment, wanting to do something nice for Miach and his Familia after all their help.

“I’ve been trying to do something new,” Naaza admitted. “Trying to recreate those ‘pills’ you’ve spoken of before. But I can’t figure out a way to remove the water without losing most of the potion’s effectiveness at the same time. It seems like the liquid component is key to the suspension of magical energy that provides the healing effect.”

“There were gel capsules back home,” Taylor mused thoughtfully. “What exactly do you think you’d need?”

“Honey,” Naaza said after a moment. “I think the best way to develop pills would be to infuse the potions into honey and then congeal and harden the mixture.”

“Like candy?” Taylor asked.

“Exactly,” the chienthrope nodded. “That was one thing I thought up that might work.”

“I have been interested in getting into beekeeping,” the parahuman hummed. “Though it’s not easy, seeing as there needs to be a certain amount of space to do so.”

Most of the apiaries around Orario were well outside the walls because of the lack of greenery and flowers within the city, and while there was space within the manor’s yards to make some flower gardens, it’d be a limited amount.

“Gotta start somewhere. And if you start small, you can figure out what flowers work best for your hives. Speaking of which…” Naaza squinted at Taylor. “I’ve been hearing some rumors recently. Are you… are you a Faller?”

Taylor froze, before looking at her friend carefully. “What do you know about Fallers?”

“They’re strange people that seem to appear every couple of decades with odd ideas, odd powers, and sometimes odd appearances,” the alchemist replied. “No one knows for sure, but… there’s always talk about how they’re not from around here, if you get what I’m saying.”

“And? What do you think?”

Naaza tilted her head. “I think that if you were, hypothetically, a Faller, then it would explain some things. And honestly? Wouldn’t be the weirdest person I’ve been friends with?”

“Oh? And who exactly is weirder than me?” Taylor wondered, now a little curious.

“I know somebody who married their pet rock,” Naaza drawled, and the parahuman blinked in disbelief.

“Alright, fair enough, that definitely trumps me being a Faller,” Taylor said.

“Heh, knew it would,” she drawled. She then set her elbows on the table. “So… a Faller, huh?”

“Yes. Does it change anything?” the former warlord wondered.

“Nope,” Naaza replied. “Are we still on for Girl’s Night this week?”

“Yes, I’ve been looking forward to seeing Eina and the others,” Taylor said. “Though I have to meet up with Shakti later.”

“Gotcha,” the chienthrope said. “Just remember to grab the ingredients. The sooner the better!”

“I will remember that,” Taylor promised. She did not leave, however. “There’s something else, however…”

“What is it?”

“Keep an ear out for anything regarding the Soma or Aeshma Familias,” she requested, and her fellow captain’s eyes narrowed.

“I see. Yeah, I can do that. I’ll pass anything I hear on to Gita.”

Taylor nodded back gratefully. The Hestia Familia’s circle of informants and spies were growing, and the Miach Familia was part of that web. Naaza and her companions benefitted from it by trading information from loose-lipped customers, and it tied the two Familias closer together.

‘And speaking of informants,’ Taylor mused to herself as she walked out of the Blue Pharmacy. ‘Seems somebody left me something.’

Scattered throughout the city were a couple of dead drops for Gita and the Hestia Familia’s burgeoning spy ring. And among these were a pair that were only for a single purpose: delivering her information directly.

One was located within the Guildhall. So many people came and went from there that it was a good location to drop off anything without being noticed. Blending into the crowd was easier with a large crowd to work with, after all. The second spot was in the Colosseum.

Right now, somebody had left a letter for her in the Guildhall drop-off spot, which Taylor could sense through the elements of her swarm hidden within the building. It wasn’t much: a single tiny piece of paper, folded once.

The word ‘Success,’ along with the Koine numeral for the number three were all that was written on the scrap of paper. The parahuman recognized the handwriting as Asfi’s, and the news it contained brought a slight upward quirk to her lips as she walked through the streets towards the Ganesha Familia’s base.

‘That was quick,’ Taylor thought as she ordered her swarm to destroy the evidence after reading it.

She’d assumed Asfi would take longer to recreate the key to Knossos, but in two weeks she managed to fashion a trio of copies. That would teach the parahuman to underestimate the equivalent of a magical Tinker.

‘I wonder if Asfi would count as Orario’s version of Defiant,' Taylor mused idly.

The hero formerly known as Armsmaster of Brockton Bay had been a taciturn man obsessed with Tinkering. Asfi wasn’t as bad as he’d been – or still was, Taylor had no idea if he’d survived Gold Morning – but she still had the stern and stoic expression down pat.

A little bit later, Taylor reached the ridiculous elephant-themed estate, and walked up to the front entrance.

“Morning, Lady Hebert,” one of the guards at the front of the compound said, nodding politely to the parahuman.

“Morning, Elbert. Is Shakti in?” Taylor asked, recognizing the guard.

“She’s in the training grounds,” he replied as he stepped aside to let her through. Taylor had already known that – her swarm was present everywhere she desired it to be, after all – but it was polite to ask and act like you didn’t know where every single person was in a two-and-half-mile radius.

The Ganesha Familia’s training grounds were impressive, and Taylor felt a bit of envy as she observed them. They were as much above ground as they were below, with open-air arenas for training with Tamed monsters alongside enclosed, reinforced dojos for fighting between adventurers.

Shakti was sweating, her spear held in a loose grip as she faced a red-headed Amazon who was her opponent. The woman was Level 5, same as the captain, and Taylor recognized her as Ilta Farna, the Ganesha Familia’s vice-captain.

Ilta wielded a massive Adamantite axe that put the one Gita wielded to shame, and she sported a massive grin as she clashed against her captain.

Of course, it wasn’t just the two of them out there. Thrasher, Shakti’s Tamed Bloodsaurus, and a Sword Stag with horns that had turned silver and streaks of black marking its fur, were fighting off to the side, the two showing just how devastating how a clash between beasts could be as the earth cracked with every step they took.

Taylor watched as she waited, observing the way Shakti fought. She was quite skilled with the spear, keeping Ilta at a distance with it. the captain could also twirl the polearm around, using the weighted cap on the end as a bludgeon instrument that could break the bones of a Level 3 adventurer based on how hard it was hitting.

Ilta just laughed them off, not even getting bruised from the blows, and pressed on, swinging madly at her opponent. Shakti didn’t hesitate to thrust her spear forward, and cut a red line across Ilta’s torso.

“Damn, ya got me!” the Amazon commented as she jumped back, narrowly avoiding being disemboweled.

“First blood, I win,” Shakti said with a smirk, resting her spear against her shoulder.

“Yup! Good fight, captain!” Ilta declared boisterously. She then glanced at Taylor. “I see your guest has arrived. I’ll leave ya to the boring stuff, now. Come on, Talavaar! Let’s get you some tasty oats!”

The Sword Stag looked excited at that and pranced over to the vice-captain’s side as she led the monster off, and soon it was just Taylor and Shakti. And Thrasher, but he was busy drinking from a trough and didn’t really care about the girl who smelled of bugs.

“Taylor, how are you?” Shakti asked. “Did your expedition go well?”

“We achieved our goals in the Dungeon,” Taylor confirmed. “Plenty of Magic Stones and Drop Items were acquired, and we gained a lot of Excelia.”

“And what about the problem in the basement?” the blue-haired woman inquired, speaking cryptically.

“Asfi has finished the keys. It won’t be long, now,” Taylor informed her fellow captain.

“Sooner than I expected,” Shakti said.

“Yes. That’ll teach us to underestimate her again,” Taylor replied, and the Tamer chuckled.

“Agreed, anyone who can make magical artifacts is a force to be reckoned with. And speaking of which, I figured out what the whip you gave me does,” Shakti revealed. She removed the crimson tool from her belt, and then cracked it. Suddenly, her Tamed Bloodsaurus appeared in a flash of light at her side, and Taylor raised an eyebrow while Thrasher let out a happy roar.

“I saw the Evilus Tamer do something similar… so it was tied to the whip itself,” she mused.

“Yes. Only a Tamer can use it, since the whip has an enchantment that uses their bond with monsters. Essentially, it lets a Tamer teleport their partner to their side,” Shakti explained. “It can also force a bond onto a monster, effectively brainwashing them into becoming compliant. Though only one at a time.”

“Both effects sound useful,” Taylor commented.

“Yes, I’ve been having fun with it,” the Ganesha Familia’s captain said with a grin. “It’s been a while since I’ve trained this hard. Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For getting me back into the proper mindset,” Shakti replied, tucking her whip under her arm while she fondly scratched Thrasher’s chin. “I haven’t had the time to do much training in the last couple of years. Too busy with the Familia, and my strength stagnated as a result. Ilta managed to catch up to me while I was stuck dealing with bureaucracy. But then, after seeing the way you took care of your own paperwork with a legion of spiders and other bugs, I remembered: I can delegate. And I’ve had more chances to improve myself ever since.”

“I bet the rest of your Familia has been loving that,” Taylor drawled.

“What’s the point of having a bunch of minions if they aren’t going to do my job for me?” Shakti said pompously before snorting. “Anyways, what brings you by?”

“A couple things,” Taylor admitted. “First…”

She handed over a package, and Shakti took it. The contents were silken night clothes, since the blue-haired captain had very much liked the undergarments that’d been made for her.

“You work fast,” Shakti murmured.

“Lucia is very skilled,” Taylor praised.

“What’re the other reasons?” Shakti inquired. A captain didn’t act as a courier unless it was important.

“The second matter is to not trust the drunk," Taylor warned.

Shakti narrowed her eyes but nodded, understanding what Taylor was hinting at. “Damn. Kinda hoped it wasn't true.”

“I thought the same thing,” Taylor chuckled bitterly. “Anyways, the next topic is lighter, and has a question: do you know anything about beekeeping?”

“No, we leave that to the Beyla and Aristaeus Familias,” Shakti replied. “And I guess the Demeter Familia has some experience with that as well.”

“Well, I’ve considered setting up apiaries on the 18th Floor as part of the Rivira Improvement Project I’ve been working with the Guild on,” Taylor said. “And I think I should try to create something new with the Bloody Hive I obtained. Make some Deadly Hornets that aren’t as… deadly.”

“Risky,” Shakti said with a frown. “Can you even do that?”

“I have complete control over the Bloody Hive, and can alter the Deadly Hornets it produces at will,” Taylor claimed. It was a lot like Bio-Tinkering, but she didn’t plan on letting it get out of hand.

“Well, I agree that Rivira should definitely be improved, but making entirely new species of insectoid monsters just for that seems like… well, it seems like a step too far in the wrong direction,” Shakti said. “Perhaps you should approach Lady Beyla or Lord Aristaeus about this before you do anything? See what they think?”

“Suppose that would work. They would know more than I do about raising bees in the first place,” Taylor said with a nod. It was something to look into more when the business with Knossos was finished.

“Care for some tea?” Shakti offered after putting Thrasher back into his pen, and Taylor nodded. There were other matters to discuss with the Ganesha Familia that didn’t relate to Evilus, so something nice to drink while they did so would be welcome.

Her work was not yet done for the day, but she had time for a cup of tea, and so Taylor followed Shakti back towards her office.

111 &&& 111

“Did it work?” Taylor asked curiously.

“Healing potion infused dye looks stable,” Lucia said as she examined the vat of deep burgundy liquid that was set up in the center of the shed.

The weaving shed had not been large enough, and keeping so many toxic chemicals around was bad for the health of the spiders, so a new shed had been built to contain the dye vats.

“Yes, looks like it,” a woman with curled sheep’s horns in her light brown hair commented, adjusting her glasses as she peered into the vat as well. This was Daisy Kelly, a Level 2 lamb-kin who’d joined the Miach Familia during the expedition.

She was… Taylor didn’t want to be rude, but the lamb-kin reminded her of the more ‘driven’ Tinkers of Earth Bet. Outwardly, she was calm and collected, never speaking loudly or quickly, but Daisy was obsessed with alchemy. She loved potions, chemicals, and experimenting with new drugs and medicines. She’d been kicked out of her old Familia because of one too many failure leading to ruined labs.

Daisy had been recruited by Naaza because of this dedication and curiosity. The lamb-kin wanted to experiment, and her former Familia, the Hebe Familia, wasn’t nearly as interested. Since the Hestia Familia was working with the Miach Familia to create new things, the idea of making magical silk had intrigued Daisy, and she’d agreed on the spot after seeing the experiments already being conducted.

She’d been responsible for creating this potion-infused dye, and was looking forward to seeing the results.

At the moment, all of them were wearing masks to keep from inhaling the fumes, and had white smocks and coats to avoid getting their clothes dirty.

It was two days after Taylor had visited Naaza and Shakti, and the captain of the Hestia Familia was working hard to get things ready for the next fight. That included experimenting on her spiders to see if their silk could become more useful.

To Taylor’s pleasure, most of the experiments worked. Feeding spiders powdered Magic Stones made their silk smoother and softer, yet also increased the tensile strength ten-fold. Mixing in Carbon Grass alongside the Magic Stones bumped that up to a forty-fold boost in strength thanks to the high carbon content! The silk was practically like organic carbon nanotubes, and could not turn aside most weapons Welf tested it on.

Then, the spiders who’d been fed healing potions along with a steady diet of powdered Magic Stones produced a pink-hued silk that was able to be made into bandages. Unfortunately, the healing effect was not very strong, and needed a spider to be feed medium-grade potions in order to produce silk that mimicked the effect of low-grade potions. Not the most cost-effective set-up.

The spiders who were fed antidotes and Mind potions produced higher quality silk with better effects, but it didn’t exactly work that well. After all, Mind potions had to be ingested to work, and while a bandana made of Mind Silk could slowly regenerate a little bit of Mind over time by soaking in through the sweat on the wearer’s brow, it was not better than sipping a Mind potion.

Antidote Silk was a bit better, but not nearly what they’d hoped for. It was able cure rashes and contact poisons, like those of the Poison Moth, but ingested, inhaled, or injected toxins weren’t able to be affected by antidote-infused silk. Taylor, Lucia, and Welf had hopes that maybe it could be used as some sort of mask or air filter to block out airborne poisons, but they needed more tests with that.

Now, that brought Taylor back to the current issue. What do with the Healing Silk? It was decently effective and could heal a minor wound in a few hours, but it could be better. It could be faster.

That was where the Healing Dye came in. It would be used to try and boost the weak healing effect of the pink silk, as well as to see if it could be used on regular silk. The process itself was simple: just soak the silk in the dye until it was thoroughly stained, then remove and check to see what the result was.

“First test,” Lucia began. “Miss Taylor?”

“Extracting first test subject,” Taylor replied, and the fourth occupant of the shed moved up. One of the two Arachne that Taylor had brought back to the surface with her was working in the dying shed while the other one oversaw the spider shed. Their dexterous hands made it so much easier to do certain things.

Case in point, Dye-rachne (Taylor’s naming sense was bad, but she was not going to let Wiene pick any more names) used a wooden pole to remove a strip of silk from the vat. It had been soaking for twelve hours, and the color had gone from pale pink to a darker, almost bloody, red.

“Coloration looks good. Saturation also appears fine,” Daisy said as the dyed cloth was placed on a rack to dry.

“Extracting second test subject,” Taylor announced as Dye-rachne removed the next object from the vat with the rod.

The second test subject was removed, this time being silk dyed in the vat for a full twenty-four hours. This silk was now burgundy red, the same color as the liquid it’d been soaking in.

More silk was removed, being ordinary pieces from spiders that hadn’t been fed any potions or Magic Stones. These would act as the control group. A fan was used to dry the dyed silk, and when that was done, Daisy looked towards the parahuman.

“Bring in the test subjects, please, Lady Taylor.”

Taylor nodded, and order Dye-rachne to bring over a cage that contained a dozen rats. They’d been grabbed from the streets and were in a variety of conditions. Some were sick, some had missing fur, others had cuts, sores, and broken bones. Thanks to one of Daisy’s drugs, they were nice and calm.

“Test one for the Pink Silk suffused in Healing Dye solution Alpha for twelve hours,” Lucia said as she wrapped strips of the material around four of the rats. She then put twenty-four hour Healing Dye Pink Silk onto four more, while the remaining eight had some regular silk that had been dyed for various times.

After that, the trio just had to wait. There were other things to do. Daisy did some work on her own projects in a corner while Lucia and Taylor worked on finishing up a few orders that’d come in recently. Now that they could dye the silk, they were able to charge even more for colored threads. Elves loved the color green, so they had a lot of that dye color. Chienthropes and pallum liked black, Amazons preferred red, and humans enjoyed all of them.

Every hour, they checked the lab rats, making sure to record the results as they did so. Eventually, the day started to come to an end, and the data was interesting.

“As expected, none of them are able to fix broken bones, but bruises and cuts are more than capable of being healed,” Daisy noted as she jotted the results down in a notebook. “Further testing needed to see if they can do anything to infected wounds.”

“However, the rate of healing is easily triple what the old, un-dyed Pink Silk could do,” Lucia pointed out.

“Yes! Sores and lesions can be healed almost fully in just five hours with just twelve-hour dyed silk, and even the fur looks healthier!” Daisy said excitedly. “Cuts heal faster as well, with papercuts healed in under an hour, and if we use dyed silk stitches, the larger wounds’ recovery is sped up by a factor of twelve!”

“It’s clear that the dyed silk is magnitudes better than the potion-fed spider silk, even when just using silk from ordinary, non-Magic Stone spiders,” Taylor said, looking over the numbers. “My hypothesis for this is the spider itself is absorbing too much of the magic within the healing potion, making any magic in the silk less effective.”

“Hm. That makes senses,” Daisy agreed. “Living creatures all have some amount of magical energy, and animals, even those kept safe in captivity, can still accumulate small amounts of wear and tear that the healing potion would prioritize over being incorporated into any sort of secretions, like silk, in this case.”

“Which means the magic within the dye is able to seep into the silk and anchor itself far more easily than if we tried to make the spiders themselves produce magical silk,” Lucia mused. “And it appears that the silk from spiders who’ve been fed Magic Stones is more conductive for the dye.”

She was correct, Taylor knew. The data they’d gathered supported this statement.

“Does this mean that the Mind and Antidote Silk could also be made better if we used modified potion dye as well?” Lucia wondered.

“Hm, perhaps. Spiders can’t use Mind at all, and I’m unsure what constantly drinking antidotes would do to a spider that possess venom glands. Something to check, I suppose,” the Lamb-kin alchemist said. “Making new magical dyes sounds like a fun experiment, as well!”

“In that case, should we switch over to primarily using the Healing Dye rather than feeding spiders healing potions?” the Familia captain asked.

“Yes,” Daisy suggested. “It will be cheaper overall since the dye can be used for multiple batches of silk at once. Although some Pink Silk, Antidote Silk, and Mind Silk should still be produced as luxury products. After all, even if the effect is weaker without the Healing Dye, it’s still magical, healing silk. The elves alone would pay a premium for it.”

“They do love their silks,” Lucia muttered, and Taylor nodded at that. Even Ryuu, one of the least elf-y elves she knew, adored the silk products the Hestia Familia made.

“Sometimes I think she joined the Familia just for free stuff,’ Taylor thought to herself with a tiny amused smirk dancing across her lips for a brief moment.

This was good. Magical healing bandages and silk that was stronger than steel would be extremely useful in their upcoming quest. She almost couldn’t wait to tear Knossos down, one stone at a time.

111 &&& 111

“Have you figured out what that silver-white ore is?” Taylor asked Welf, standing with him in the Familia’s forge. After finishing up in the dye shed for the day, she made her way over to Welf’s workshop to check in on him.

“I have no idea,” Welf admitted, though he looked excited by that fact. It wasn’t every day somebody discovered a new material in the Dungeon, after all, and he got to be the first adventurer in Orario to work with it!

“Well, what can you tell me about the ore?” the parahuman inquired.

“It cannot be affected by magic,” he said. “Anything magical just doesn’t work.”

“So, it has anti-magic properties?” Taylor wondered.

“Kinda? When I say that, it’s not like the Magic Resistance of a Crystal Mantis or Obsidian Soldier, nor is it Magic Reflection, but it’s like anything magic-based doesn’t affect it. Like…”

“Nullification,” Taylor whispered, and he nodded, but then shook his head.

“Not really. Watch.”

He picked up a piece of the white material and started to manipulate fire from the forge with his Skill Vulcan Drive. The ore did not melt.

“Touch it,” he urged after dismissing the flames a few seconds later. Curious, she did so, trusting Welf. And to her surprise, the shard was cool!

“Now, when I don’t use my Skill…” Welf said, picking it up with tongs and sticking it into the forge. Then, when he removed it, Taylor could tell from the cherry red glow it had been heated up!

“See, if I use any magic, nothing affects it. I have to use regular flames. Can’t even add Magic Stones to increase the forge’s heat!” Welf explained. “And that’s not all!”

He created a Magic Circle for Will-o-Wisp in the air, then tossed the piece of ore through. Normally, when a solid object interacted with a Magic Circle it would damage it. Typically disrupting the Magic Circle, even potentially causing it to explode and create an Ignis Fatuus. Yet when the white ore moved through, absolutely nothing happened.

“It’s not nullification, the ore outright ignores magic,” Taylor realized, going over what she’d just seen.

“Yup. I bet if you threw this at a magical barrier or spell, it would pass through without being affected at all. It wouldn’t provoke an Ignis Fatuus, but it’s still a way to bypass magical defenses,” Welf suggested.

“I have so many ideas,” she said softly.

“Same!” Welf laughed. “On its own, it’s just about as strong as steel, but it can be alloyed with Adamantite and other metals easily enough without losing any of its unique properties.”

“Have you thought up a name?” Taylor asked him.

“Geisteel. Portmanteau of ‘Geist,’ a rare type of ghost-like monster that phases through stuff found in the Deep Floors kinda like a War Shadow, and ‘steel,’ because of the color,” Welf replied.

“Good choice,” the captain said, nodding. It was better than she’d feared it would be. Like Wiene, Welf was not known for his naming sense.

“Thanks. I’m gonna use the ore we have to make a few things. A few arrow and quarrel heads, maybe something else. Any requests?”

“I need a new knife,” Taylor requested, and a magic ignoring blade sounded right up her alley.

“Got it,” Welf said. “Same style as before?”

“Actually, get me something new,” she said after a moment to think it over. “Longer, for one… curved a bit so it can also slash as well as stab…”

“Short sword?” he wondered.

“Yes, something similar,” Taylor replied. She’d told Bell he needed a longer weapon, so getting something like that for herself would be a good idea.

“Can do!” he assured her. She nodded, eager to see what her new weapon would look like.

111 &&& 111

An enormous amount of magical energy detonated violently, and several poor souls went tumbling across the dirt, coming to a stop after a bit.

“Ooowww…” one of the dirt-covered adventurers groaned.

“Is that the best you can do?” Taylor asked idly, tossing a knife into the air and then catching it without looking. Around the field, bugs buzzed ominously.

“Monster… she’s a monster…” somebody whimpered.

“You do this every day?” another person coughed out, glancing over at one of the other downed fighters.

“No,” Emma groaned, pushing herself back to her feet. “Sometimes it’s worse.”

“Yeah, she hasn’t even gotten the monsters involved,” Leo commented.

That caused looks of disbelief and horror to cross over the faces of the newbies, and a few harsh snickers from the others.

“Yeah. You guys wanted to know how I got so strong so fast? This. This is how,” Gina chuckled weakly as she stood up.

“I regret everything,” somebody whimpered, causing Taylor to just roll her eyes at their overly dramatic antics.

Right now, Taylor was training up some of the Hermes Familia members as a favor for Asfi and Gina, the latter of whom having wanted her friends in her former Familia to get stronger for the inevitable fighting within Knossos.

There weren’t that many Level 1s currently being tossed around like sacks of bricks by the Hestia Familia captain, just seventeen, but they all looked like they’d been through some crazy fights.

Of course, it wasn’t just them. Others were being trained elsewhere. Today was a day for training. The Hestia Familia members were trying to get used to their new Skills while the Hermes Familia were getting conditioned for the grueling conditions of the Dungeon and Knossos to make sure they could handle themselves as a team down below.

The Level 2s and 3s of the two Familias were practicing against each other nearby while Aisha, Tammuz, and Ryuu had ventured into the Dungeon with Asfi in order to get some of their own training in, as none of them wanted to wreck the backyard too badly.

‘We may need to tear some of the lawn to replace it with a proper training field soon,’ Taylor mused to herself. The current set-up had worked so far, but it was barebones and couldn’t hold up to the full force unleashed by a Level 4, let alone two of them.

It made sense, given that the Apollo Familia had only had a single Level 3, but now that the place belonged to the Hestia Familia, they needed better accommodations.

‘I should ask where the Loki Familia gets their training equipment,’ she thought as she began to kick the asses of her trainees once more.

111 &&& 111

“This is it, everyone,” Hermes said, his usually laid-back demeanor gone as he looked over the other gods and their captains. “Tomorrow, we take the fight to Evilus and drive them from the city once and for all.”

The assembled deities and adventurers all nodded. Aside from Hermes and Asfi, Loki and Finn, Dionysos and Filvis, Hestia and Taylor, and Ganesha and Shakti had gathered in secret in a room within Babel.

“The plan is to assault Knossos in a three-pronged attack,” he continued. “The Hermes Familia will enter from the sewers entrance. The Loki Familia will take the entrance under the Entertainment District. And the Hestia Familia will go in through the 18th Floor entrance.”

“As for the Ganesha and Dionysus Familia, the former will patrol the city while keeping an eye on the other known locations to Knossos, while the latter will be divided up between the three Familias entering the labyrinth. Are there any questions?”

“Do we have a way in that doesn’t involve trying to smash the doors down?” Dionysus wondered.

“We do. Here,” the God of Messengers said, passing out red orbs to Loki and Hestia. “Asfi made three, so you two get one each, while I keep the last one.”

“I am Ganesha, and I am impressed by your captain’s talents!” Ganesha declared loudly, causing the others to wince at the volume.

“Yeah, yeah, tone it down, big guy,” Loki grumbled. “I wanna know who Dionysus will be joining?”

“If you’ll have me, I will venture in alongside your Familia, Loki,” Dionysus said. “I know Filvis would prefer to be near Leyfia as well.”

“Lord Dionysus!” the black-haired elf whined, embarrassed. He just grinned unrepentantly.

“What are our orders regarding Thanatos and Ikelos?” Taylor asked.

“Capture them,” Hermes said. “Ouranos wants to punishment them publicly.”

“Understood,” Taylor nodded.

Two weeks. Two weeks since they’d returned from the Dungeon expedition. Two weeks of training and preparing. And finally, it was time to wipe out Evilus once and for all.

When Hestia and Taylor returned to the Hearth Manor, everyone else was already there, geared up and ready to deploy. Just as planned. From the crowd of adventurers our cuddly mascot girl walked up to us, and the captain gave her a head pat.

“Take care of Hestia for us while we’re gone. And don’t forget to feed Annette and to let her walk around a little,” Taylor requested, and Wiene saluted with a giggle.

“I will make sure Lady Hestia is safe and doesn’t eat all the cookies!” the Xenos declared. “And I will give Annette walkies and make sure she doesn’t get into trouble!”

Taylor smiled at that while the tiny goddess huffed. Hestia then turned to the others and hugged her Familia members one by one.

“I will be waiting for you all to come home,” she said, her words laced with confidence that they would do so, and Taylor smiled.

“And we will return,” she promised, before glancing at the adventurers standing in the foyer. “Hestia Familia… move out!”

The Hestia Familia did not plan on spending the night in Orario. Instead, the ventured down into the Dungeon, heading towards the 18th Floor. This was expected, and the Dionysus Familia members who’d be joining them would meet them in Rivira in the morning.

However, what nobody else knew, was that Taylor and the rest of the Familia weren’t staying there. Instead, they kept going, descending all the way down to the 27th Floor.

“It’s time,” Taylor informed the Xenos as the Hestia Familia entered the hidden grotto of the Xenos. They, alongside Fels, had assembled in force, all of them wearing the Familia’s Tamer Tags to identify them as monsters that were off limits.

“Finally!” Gros rumbled.

“We are ready,” Fels assured her. Beside the cloaked mage was a massive golem made of Adamantite, which Welf was admiring.

“Is everyone here?” Taylor inquired as she looked around the intelligent monsters who’d gathered for war.

“There’s one more coming,” Lyd said. “He’s… difficult, but probably the strongest Xenos amongst us, even if he’s also the newest.”

“Where is he?” Bell asked.

“Asterios was down below in the Colosseum, but he should be back soon. Hopefully. Certainly before we have to leave,” Ray promised.

“Well, until then, let’s do what needs to be done,” Taylor said ominously, before nodding at Lili. She grinned, and just like the last time the Familia had gathered with the Xenos, a bunch of grills and cooking stations were brought out of her hammer-space while Karen and Emma grabbed the boxes containing the food.

Fresh chicken and eggs from Rivira was included alongside prime cuts of beef, pork, and fresh fish – shelled and regular – bought straight from Melen. There was fruit, vegetables, bread, and pastries galore. It was a feast with plenty of different varieties of food for the Xenos to sample. And when Marius and Tammuz fetched the barrels full of wine, beer, and plenty of other drinks? Well, that was when it became a real party.

“You guys can keep the cooking stuff afterwards,” Taylor informed them, causing the Xenos to look at her in shock.

“A-all of it?” a Harpy asked, surprised, and the parahuman nodded.

“Yes. The portable stoves and ovens, the grills, the hotplates, cutlery, pots and pans… it’s all yours.”

“That is… generous,” one of the Xenos, this one clad in full plate armor, said, their voice oddly feminine.

“If you want, consider it a payment for your services, and not a gift or debt to repay,” Bell suggested, understanding that the Xenos were probably wary about accepting anything without some sort of strings attached.

Bell’s comment did soothe some worries, Taylor spotted a few Xenos relaxing minutely at that, and the rest all gathered together to enjoy themselves.

The food was enjoyed by everyone, and it turned out that Xenos could also get drunk. It was hilarious to see a tipsy Goblin and Almiraj chase an equally sloshed Hellhound around, while a Unicorn giggled in the corner. Very surreal.

Yet there were also scenes that made Taylor hopeful for integration with the surface. Fear, the Harpy, and Rachne the Arachne, were talking with Lucia about clothing and fashion in Orario. Lili, Haruhime, and Emma spoke with a Lamia and Mermaid about cooking and showed them a few tricks, Lyd and a Fomoire were having a drinking contest with Welf and Leo, while Silva giddily pet a Carbuncle that was curled up in her lap.

“Everyone is having fun,” Taylor said, pleased.

“It is good to let off steam before a big mission,” Ryuu agreed.

“And it increases the comradery between different groups,” Marius added.

“Yes. If we can fight together, we can live together,” Fels declared. “Though I wish those members of the Dionysus Familia weren’t joining us.”

“I couldn’t exactly turn them down. This was decided by the three main members,” Taylor replied. “Hestia and I barged our way into their little group, and it’s better to let them stay close.”

“Not to mention it lets us keep an eye on them,” Tammuz commented.

“You still think Dionysus is up to something?” Aisha asked. “The guy’s a drunk and a playboy but he doesn’t strike me as one of the Evilus types.”

“Hestia told me that when he was in Heaven… he was one of the few people that scared her,” Taylor revealed.

“A wine god? Scaring the guardian of the Divine Flame?” Marius uttered in disbelief.

“Dionysus is not just a God of Wine. His domains include Fertility and Festivity as well,” Taylor replied. “And, perhaps most worrying… Madness.”

“Madness?” Ryuu asked, taken aback, and she wasn’t the only one.

“That… is not one of the Authorities I am aware of,” Fels said slowly.

“Where I come from, the word ‘Orgy’ originated from the word ‘Orgia.’ The divine festival of intoxication and reckless revelry that Dionysus was the patron of,” Taylor replied, keeping her otherworldly origins secret for now. “And Hestia confirmed that Dionysus’ first domain that he claimed as a god… was Madness.”

This caused the rest to grow worried, sharing concerned looks with each other.

“Is there any other reason for this suspicion?” Aisha inquired after a moment, playing Devil’s Advocate.

“Yes. Filvis, his captain? The hum of her aura is identical to that of the Revis,” Taylor informed them.

“The Monster-Mortal hybrid?” Fels asked sharply.

“Yes,” she replied. That revelation caused fear to flicker in the faces of everyone. Was the Dionysus Familia really involved with Evilus?

Before anyone could say anything, though, the parahuman stiffened, eyes going wide.

“Something is coming,” Taylor suddenly said, standing up. Her swarm she’d kept outside the hidden area had detected something approaching… and it was strong. Much, much stronger than anyone here, Xenos or adventurer.

“Is it a Minotaur?” Lyd asked, looking up from his mug, and when she nodded, he relaxed. “Ah, in that case, that’s Asterios. He’s finally back.”

That made some of the other Xenos excited, while the adventurers senses Taylor’s tension.

“Everything alright?” Marius asked, and the glasses wearing parahuman frowned.

“I don’t know,” she replied. “This Minotaur is bigger than usual. Stronger. We need to be careful.”

“Something else must have twigged ya,” Aisha commented, the Amazon draping an arm over Taylor’s shoulders in order to get closer. Nearby, Tammuz and Ryuu shifted, discreetly listening in.

“I get a bad feeling from it,” Taylor admitted. “Keep an eye open. He’s here.”

Soon, everyone got a good look of the newcomer as he pushed aside the boulder blocking the entrance with a single hand, and entered, having to stoop slightly while doing so.

Asterios the Minotaur was huge. His fur and horns were black as ink, causing him to almost meld with the shadows of the chamber. However, his eyes were blood red and glowed, making it seem as if they lacked pupils. He also wore mismatched armor made out of the scraped remains of other adventurers’ gear, and carried a massive golden axe that looked to be made of crystal. A Magic Sword, if the hum of power emanating from it was any clue.

As he stepped inside, his gaze swept over the room, looking at everyone slowly, judging and assessing them as threats. His gaze lingered the longest on Ryuu, with Tammuz and Aisha next. The Tamed monsters under Taylor’s control got a scrutinizing look, and Chris scraped his scythe blades threateningly, causing the bull-head creature to snort. Finally, though, his gaze landed on Bell, and he went still.

“You…” the black Minotaur growled out as he locked eyes with Bell. The white-haired adventurer shook, as did the others. Even Taylor felt weak in the knees as waves of pressure radiated off of the Xenos.

“I have dreamed of you,” Asterios uttered as he stomped towards Bell. “I have seen you… you kill me. Every time I close my eyes, your lightning is there. Burning me. Your knife… piercing me.”

He loomed over Bell, and the Level 3 struggled to stay standing under the intensity of Minotaur’s blood-red gaze.

“You killed me… and now, I can face you once more!”

He raised his axe, about to strike, and that caused Taylor to muster up the will to act.

“ENOUGH!” Taylor shouted, breaking herself out of the paralysis through pure force of will, and she stomped over, interposing herself between Asterios and Bell.

“You would stand in my way?” the Xenos demanded furiously.

“We are on the eve of a major battle that will drive out a threat to both the city and you Xenos once and for all,” Taylor retorted, glaring up into Asterios’ eyes without fear. “I will not have two of our best fighters incapacitated beforehand!”

“You think he could hurt me?” Asterios asked, a low growl escaping him. Taylor held back a scoff. She’d stared down a ramped-up Lung, this overgrown cow did not scare her!

“I think he would surprise you,” she replied archly. “Now, you can either wait until the fight against Evilus is over to have your duel with Bell, or you can turn around and leave, because we do not need liabilities on this mission!”

Utter silence filled the cavern as the Minotaur whose presence reminded her of Ottar’s stared down at her for what seemed like an eternity. Then, he inclined his head and lowered his weapon.

“Fine.”

“Good. Glad to see you can put your familial feud aside for the moment,” Taylor huffed, causing Asterios, Bell, and the rest of the onlooker to blink in bewilderment.

“Uh, what do you mean by that, Miss Taylor?” Emma asked in confusion.

Hm? Oh, it’s obvious that Asterios here has daddy issues, and is trying to take his frustration out on his deadbeat dad,” Taylor replied flippantly, causing Bell and Asterios to splutter in disbelief at that, and a few others to choke.

“W-what?! TAYLOR!” Bell screamed. “What do you mean by that?!”

“Asterios remembers being killed by you, Bell,” she said as if it was obvious. “He was the Minotaur you killed to Level Up.”

“Wh- but how does that make him my son?!” Bell demanded in a shriek.

“You killed him, which caused him to be born,” she replied dryly. “That makes you his father.”

“You… you’re teasing me!” Bell uttered, pointing at his half-sister accusingly.

“But am I wrong?” Taylor asked, finally letting a smirk slip onto her face. “You brought him into this world, that makes you responsible for him.”

She then turned to a still shellshocked Asterios and, to everyone’s disbelief, gave him a hug, even though she only came up to his waist.

“There, there, Asterios. Your Aunty Taylor is here for you. I’ll even help you kick some sense into your father so he pays child support on time.”

Asterios spluttered, unable to properly format words, before stomping off to go and sulk in the back of the cave away from everyone else, his big bad entrance and imposing aura ruined by his ‘aunt’.

“You are evil,” Ryuu said, a tiny grin of her own on her face while everyone else was still trying to recover from the sudden tonal whiplash they’d just suffered.

“I know,” Taylor replied, her smirk turning evil. The elf snorted.

‘Try to cause a scene right before an important mission? Not on my watch!’ the parahuman thought to herself smugly. That would teach them!