Danmachi – Card Wizard - Chapter 44

“Are the two of you alright?” Asked Loki the moment they entered the room on the top floor.

“Yes, but Ais is still unconscious.” Answered Aidan as he gave his greetings to Gareth, who was guarding the familia’s goddess.

“Well, as long as the two of you are alright, everything is fine.” Nodded Loki as she looked at Ais, who was now sleeping on the couch of the room. “I’ve sent the members of the familia to destroy the organization. Once we’re done, we’ll be able to continue having our beach holiday, and I’ll be able to continue enjoying the view.” Commented Loki after a moment of silence as a lecherous grin crept on her face.

Aidan, who was on the side, didn’t answer and merely listened since he knew that it wasn’t his place to comment on this. However, now that he heard the end of her sentence, he remembered Riveria’s comment of their goddess and could confirm that Loki’s aim all along was to enjoy the view.

—-

Half an hour later, Ais awoke, and after understanding everything that had happened, she was both happy and sad. She was glad that Finn was able to save them. However, she was sorry and angry since the two of them couldn’t take care of the enemy by themselves.

“When we go back, we’re going directly in the dungeon.” Said Ais as she gave a determined look at Aidan.

“Yeah. Finn promised to take us in the dungeon to fight level two monsters when we come back.” Nodded Aidan as he was ready to spend more time in the dungeon and level up as soon as he maxed his stats.

—-

In this way, the rest of the day and the following day passed in a flash. After the members found the hideouts of the kidnappers, they followed the trails and captured every single one of them. Of course, it was easy. They had over a thousand members searching for the criminals in a small city.

After finding all of them, Loki found the name of their sponsors, and according to Riveria’s, that person didn’t have a great day.

Finally, everyone was making their way back to Orario as the trip had been enjoyable. They had the chance to relax at the beach and do some sport of catching criminals and rescuing abducted people.

They all enjoyed the time spent in Melen and were all ready to go back the following year. As for the two previously captured members of the familia, they were more than prepared to spend a few months in the dungeon once again.

—-

In Orario, Ais and Aidan spent two days in the mansion to relax and train themselves by fighting against each other since Finn had some business to attend to before bringing them into the dungeon.

“Alright, you two, are you ready for the dungeon? Did you bring the necessary supplies?” Asked Finn as he would bring them to the 18th floor where they would live for two weeks, and he would accompany them to fight on the 13th to the 17th floor of the dungeon.

“Yes, we brought everything we needed.” Nodded Aidan as he stood in front of Finn at the gate of the manor.

“Perfect, let’s go.” Said the pallum as he led the way towards the dungeon. “I heard how Riveria trained you when you entered the dungeon. We will do the same, and I will only intervene when either of you is in danger.” Continued the small man as he brought them to the tower of Babel.

With a nod from the two partners of the party, they took the lead as the pallum walked behind them.

Entering the dungeon, the three of them ran towards the next floor. There was no point in wasting time-fighting against those weak monsters as it would only slow them down.

“Now that I think about it, three-four months ago, we had to be careful on this floor since the monsters were strong for us.” Pondered Aidan loudly as they ran to the next floor.

Looking to his right, he saw Ais with the same face full of wonder. It was at this point that they had noticed how much they had worked and how strong they had become after killing monsters endlessly.

“Reaching the second floor, they didn’t slow down and instead continued to sprint until they reached the twelfth floor, which was the last floor for level one adventurers to explore safely.

“Alright, from this point on, be careful and always take the fastest road to climb down a floor. We’ll stay on the 18th floor today and start your training tomorrow.” Said Finn as he was satisfied with their descending speed.

With a nod of their heads, Aidan and Ais started to get more severe as they walked down to the thirteenth floor to meet with a group of seven hellhounds.

Not wasting time, they all stuck an anti-fire card on them, which could block fire to a certain extent by having it side off to their side before both youngsters rushed to the enemies.

Levitating throwing knives forged by Hephaestus held near his calves, he used his newly awakened magic to attack the monsters. The blades forged by the goddess of forging were extremely sharp and could quickly kill a level two monster. As such, with the knives, Aidan and Ais attacking them, they couldn’t resist for a long time, and all died in an explosion of ashes as their magic stones fell from their bodies.

“Well, it is easier than expected?” Commented Aidan as Ais nodded with a doubtful look.

“Yes, the two of you can easily kill the weaker level two monsters which are present on the thirteenth and fourteenth floors..” Agreed Finn as he saw how quickly they dispatched the seven hellhounds. “However, the strength of the monsters is only one thing on these floors. The thing which makes the middle-floors so dangerous is the rate of the monsters spawning and their grouping. You will start to have a real challenge when we reach the fifteenth floor.” Continued the pallum as he pointed forwards to prove his point.

“Eum? What? There are already other monsters coming!” Exclaimed Aidan as he didn’t understand how big the spawning rate was in the middle floors.

“Yes, so start fighting and moving.” Grinned the pallum as he stayed behind them and let them do all the work.

With a nod of their heads, they started to rush towards the weird horned-rabbit monsters, which they knew as almiraj. Those monsters were generally categorized as level one by the guild, but as a group, they were considered level two due to their speed and colossal number.

“Let’s get moving.” Said Aidan as he killed the last rabbit, taking his map card out and selecting the fastest route towards the next floor.

“This way.” Said Aidan as he rushed towards the left side of the moist tunnel.

“The middle floors are known as the cave labyrinth due to the complex layout, darker light, moist air and random holes on the floors and ceiling.” Explained the captain of the familia as the two youngsters rushed in front.

With a nod to show that they listened, Aidan led the team to the closest hole to the next floor.

Taking out three circular thin and light metal plates, he jumped on top of one as Ais copied him due to knowing what he wanted to do as the captain did the same with some confusion.

Taking control of the metal plates with his telekinesis, he levitated the three plates down the hole leading to the fourteenth floor quickly before taking out the card and locating the closest spot leading down again.

—-

Five minutes later, they were down once again, facing a minotaur and a Ligerfang.

This trip down the dungeon was quite different from the past, as, during their last descent, Riveria had been the one leading the team in the middle floors and killing all the level two monsters. However, this time, they were strong enough to kill them and survive by themselves, albeit with difficulty since the monsters were indeed level two.

“Which one do you want?” Asked Aidan as he gave a quick look at his partner.

“I’ll take the Ligerfang.” She answered as she rushed towards the monsters while Aidan gave all his attention to the muscular and tall bull.

Speeding at full speed towards the minotaur, he easily evaded the slam of its large hand, which hit the floor, sending debris in the air as he directly cut both of its legs down, causing it to fall.

Retreating a few steps as the monster trashed, he quickly circled it to its back and cut off its head.

“Hey, it’s fun.” Grinned Aidan as he saw Ais finish her enemy at the same time.

“After the two weeks, let’s stay in the dungeon for a few months, we’ll be used to them, and I want to level up when I go back to the surface.” Said Ais in a small voice to Aidan as she stood next to him.

With a nod that showed his agreement, the two of them continued on their way to eventually reach the 18th floor.