Butcher of Bleeding Faithful 3
[ I ]
"HHMMMMMFFFHH!" A muffled voice was heard from behind him.
He turned slowly, cautious not to make sudden movements. Could never be too careful when dealing with unknowns.
"You okay Lefiya? Oh right, I forgot." He heard the distinct sound of Tiona having her cheeks pulled by her older sister.
It was the two he'd noted early, each with pointed ears. The one covering her mouth and looking at him a pale face had exotic looking orange hair and dark blue eyes. She was maybe 5 feet tall, and wore a white and pink blouse and skirt with a white buttoned shirt and purple ribbon beneath an odd looking red cloak that stopped at her upper arms, not reaching her elbows.
To the right of her was a taller women, with jade green eyes that matched her hair. Her attire was more practical, being a green overcoat under a white yellow cloak and brown long boots. It also looked rather well made compared to the other clothes he'd seen, or more accurately more aesthetic. As if it had been made to look more professional.
Tiona scratched her head, "Ah sorry Captain, we forgot to mention he was injured."
The bearded man spoke sarcastically, "Well that certainly doesn't look like a wound from a Minotaur Tom-san. What the hell did you fight? Some kind of irregular?"
Six cringed at the name, as he turned to look at the short and portly, but well built man. "Just call me Six please."
"Why? You not like the name or something?" He responded gruffly.
[ I ]
The older Spartan Commando matched his gaze, there was a sense of pride in those eyes, and loss too.
“I’m not gonna lie to you Lieutenant, you’re stepping into some shoes the rest of the squad would rather leave unfilled.”
He nodded, he had read the files after all, seen the footage. Thom-A293 would be remembered, one way or the other.
[ I ]
"It's not that I don't like it, so much as what it means. Think of it as a gesture of respect to the fallen." He spoke softly, the words struggling to come out of his mouth.
Recognition lit up in the short mans eyes. "I understand." He raised a gloved hand. "Gareth Landrock, nice to meet you Six."
They shook. He had a surprisingly firm grip.
"You mind telling me the story of that later?" Tiona asked, looking at him, almost nervously?
"I'd be proud to."
"So you're Six right?" The jade haired women asked. He nodded once.
"That wound looks bad, normally I wouldn't act on charity like this, but if you don't take something you'll lose that arm." She offered a vial of orange fluid.
He looked at it suspiciously. "No offense, but I'm new here. I'm not entirely sure what's normal for you, but I've been taught not to accept unknown substances from strangers."
Suddenly many gazes, especially among the wagons being loaded onto cables went sharp. It was an odd feeling, a sort of pressure he had felt before, but never like this. It reminded him of how ODSTs used to look at him.
"You sure you'll be fine as you are? No point in explaining what happened later if you die from shock before that." The now named Finn asked. There was an odd sense of professionalism in his demeanour, it reminded him of Carter. He liked that.
"I'll be fine, Spartans are tough. I've known people that took worse and kept fighting."
The sight before him was an odd one. A young looking man that didn't even hit 4 feet in a purple, yellow and black patterned ensemble that looked like an artists take on military camouflage. Yet somehow, he exerted a pressure and sense of leadership that matched many of the most experienced veterans he had met. To add to it, instead of questioning him, the man went right back to issuing orders to the 'adventurers' surrounding them.
"Orba, I want whatever's left of those weapons recovered stat. Have the scraps sold if you have to. Lox, don't waste any of the empty vials, no point spending more on glass. Glass that can survive High-class adventurers being nearby doesn't come cheap. Arcs, that wagon isn't secured properly, move it."
He was more certain now. Finn Deime, and the other short people he'd seen were part of some ethnicity or race that didn't grow as tall as the average human. Perhaps Lefiya and the green haired women were also a different race?
Tione and Tiona approached him. The older sister spoke first. "Six, are you sure you'll be fine like that, I don't mean to be rude but your left shoulder looks like charcoal. Riveria's being pretty generous too, elixirs don't come cheap."
His forehead creased and his eyes narrowed in consternation. "Left shoulder?" He looked, and it was true. He remembered his right shoulder being pierced through. He was trained to be ambidextrous even if he preferred his right side, Kurt had made sure they were prepared for everything, so it made little difference in his combat effectiveness, but how could such a thing even happen?
"Is something wrong?" Tione asked.
"Nevermind for now, we'll discuss it later." He concluded. They seemed to think it was better to keep his situation private for now. He'd trust that, they'd show him courtesy so far and he'd repay that much.
"Why are you so damn paranoid anyway?" Tiona whined.
He considered it for a moment.
"I'll drink it on one condition." The now named Riveria raised an eyebrow at that.
"I'll scan the contents first. Even if I trust you not to poison me, it's quite clear you people have a... shall we say unique physiology?" That drew some confused glances.
"You want to just look at it?" He simply nodded.
He picked up his helmet off his waist, then put it back on, sealing it tight with a sound of gas being released. His HUD lit up, and behind his cracked visor was an array of curious and confused faces.
Perhaps they didn't have strong transparent materials here? It was moments like this he wished he'd been taught the same history lessons the Spartan IIs had. Jorge's expanded education came in handy, particularly when dealing with non-Spartans.
He reached out for the stoppered glass vial, and Riveria handed it over tentatively.
Then he ran every scan he could think of. IR lasers confirmed the molecular structure. He ran a few simulations, but it just seemed like a normal concoction of herbs to promote healing. Nothing special. The herbs were quite interesting though. The molecules they had produced didn't match anything in his database.
Safe to drink then. He put the vial which was shaped a bit like a test tube in one of his open pockets, then removed his helmet.
He nodded at the group before him. Then he bit off the cork, and swallowed it whole. Warmth flooded his body, and his arm went hot.
Suddenly he had feeling in his left arm again. There was no pain, no delay. Just a drink and it instantly healed him.
Even though by all laws of physics, it should have at the very least needed to pass through his digestive system before having any effect.
He raised his once broken limb, looking in awe and a slight dose of disbelief as he flexed his fingers with ease. Not noticing the confused stares from the bewildered adventurers.
It was absurd. First the Minotaurs, then Tiona and Tione's incredible speed. Their claim of magic being real. The bizarre features on the people everywhere in this underground Dungeon.
Now this. It was all a bit too much to explain. Overwhelmed, the supersoldier finally let his confusion show, and Tiona laughed saying she'd "told him there was nothing to be afraid of". But he wasn't listening.
Memories, old memories were starting to reach his mind, uncovered after over a decade of neglect.
All of this, it sounded like something out of a fantasy book.
What did that mean for him?
[ I ]
Eventually, once all the wagons had been attached to the cables and elevated to the surface, a couple more people joined them.
Two more adventurers, and from the speed at which they moved, presumably strong ones. They were even faster than Tiona and Tione, if not by a huge amount.
The first individual was moving slightly faster, though they slowed down rapidly as they approached.
From the blurred figure he could make out the details of long golden hair, and steel armour covering their upper body, with blue garments on their legs of some sort.
Behind them, a grey and black figure with shorter hair followed.
They stopped in front of the small army of adventurers and their appearance shot into focus just like that.
A golden haired, golden eyed women, adorned in apparently decorative steel armour that was mostly covering her arms and chest. Two pair of plates also protecting the sides of her waist and her knees. Along with a steel headband.
Beneath the armour was a white blouse, and a pair of turquoise blue boots reached up to the tops of thighs.
The grey figure was an odd looking man. Short grey hair and amber eyes with a blue lightning tattoo on his left cheek, but atop his head were what appeared to be the ears of grey wolf, while a grey furred tail hung from behind him. It was a disconcerting oddity, but it matched the previous examples he'd seen among adventurers, so he dismissed it.
He was shirtless with a grey jacket and black undercoat both wide open and revealing his muscled figure. White gauntlets and greaves were worn on his arms and legs, his leg armaments possessing a spherical red gem inlaid in each.
The male youth was seemingly chuckling about something, while the young women held a blank stare.
Finn nodded at both.
Tiona leaped at the girl, arms outstretched. "Ais what took so long?"
The girl turned her head to the side, cheeks flushing slightly and the boy laughed even harder.
"Eh? Did something happen Bete?"
[ I ]
They finally climbed to the surface, scaling the spiralling staircase leisurely.
When they surfaced, Six saw a whole new world.
A large field surrounded the entrance, with it's edges surrounded by trees and bushes and plants he didn't recognise.
Adventurers everywhere, carrying their supplies and weapons. Some civilians enjoying the sunlight. The place was beautiful, with stone buildings stretching out as far as he could see.
As they left for the exit, wagons following behind them, many cheered at the sight.
Chanting 'Loki-Familia is back' or 'The strongest adventurers have returned!'. It was fascinating to see.
Eventually, they reached the main pavement. The roads were neat and tidy. With building lining the streets in an ordered manner akin to those he was used to back home. It seemed a bit advanced... to advanced almost, at least for people that seemed lack any sign of advanced technology. They didn't act primitive at least.
Then he glanced behind him, to get one last look at the Dungeon entrance.
A white pearl tower of radiant stone spiralled high into the sky, touching the clouds and beyond.
It was awe-inspiring to look at. He had seen space elevators before, and skyscrapers that stretched kilometres high, but nothing quite like this.
"That.. is that a Space Elevator!?"
Finn shook his head. "No, that's Babel Tower. Its highest floors are above the clouds, but it doesn't reach the Heavens."
"Eh really? I always thought it did?" A brown haired man he had heard Finn call Raul marvelled.
Finn gestured. "Before Freya Familia bought the top floors, Zeus and Hera Familia used to allow other gods to visit them for a price. Loki has actually been there a few times. I think at least one Denatus was even held on the highest floor."
"How was such a thing built?" Six inquired.
"The gods." Was Finns non-answer.
"The gods?"
"When they descended, they created it just like that."
"You're saying gods descended, from the heavens?" He wasn't sure he could believe what his ears were hearing.
It would be another thing if the man was lying, but Six had been trained in body language and war by the very best the UNSC had to offer. If someone could lie to him, that was one thing, but not a single of the several dozen people surrounding them even flinched at the words.
As if they were obvious, a mere fact of life.
Either these people were crazy, he was crazy, or maybe... just maybe... something else was going on entirely.
[ I ]
They finally reached Twilight Manor. It was an impressive looking place. Very old fashioned, almost ancient in style.
Steel gates surrounded the exterior, while a building that resembled a castle was fashioned out of white stone. It was a simple structure with a convex roof covered in rust red tiles. Each corner had a spire covered in a similar red tiles.
Several guards were before the gates, and small number of adventurers could be seen waiting within. Preparing to greet the returning expedition.
They opened the gates, and Finn was back to giving out orders. Not for long though.
"So you have a story to tell?" The blonde asked seriously.
They were in a large room with a long table taking up most of its space, accompanying them was a few of the more important looking people he noted earlier.
Tiona and Tione shared glances. "You're not going to believe this one Captain."
He raised an eyebrow as if taunting them.
"Six doesn't have the Blessing." Tiona blurted out.
Several gasps rang out in sequence.
The blue eyed blonde's expression shifted, from shocked to pensive, to accepting, to shocked again.
"Yeah, fair enough that's pretty hard to believe." He finally nodded.
The wolf-eared man, apparently curious at the unfamiliar figure with his companions, interjected.
"Why was some kid without a Familia in the dungeon again?"
Finn raised a finger. "I think that ones easy to answer Bete, if you can kill a Minotaur without the blessing, I can see why would you brave the upper floors of the dungeon, even if just briefly."
The man's face seemed to freeze at the explanation.
Tiona's smile wavered, and Tione behind seemed even more exasperated that before.
"Yeah, unfortunately that's not the case Captain. He said he fell through a hole." That seemed to draw even more attention. Eyes being drawn to him like plasma fire.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
"A hole in a the Dungeon?" Finn looked at him questioningly.
"Yes and no. I wasn't on this planet before I fell through it, nevermind the Dungeon." He explained simply.
"Planet? Do you mean... you weren't on Gekai?" Gareth breathed out, disbelievingly.
He looked to Riveria, a silent question on his lips.
"It's possible. The gods descended from Tenkai after all, and we know they had searched for entertainment in other worlds."
"Reach wasn't the only planet the UNSC has explored. Rather it's the very first colony, and one of six in the Epsilon Eridanus system." This much was fine to tell civilians he was certain. Or rather, what was the point of OPSEC if he didn't even know if they were still in the Milky Way galaxy? Operation security didn't really matter once you died of all old age in his opinion.
"Your people have explored different worlds?" Finn asked inquisitively.
He nodded. "We've travelled to many stars using Slipspace. The portal I fell through, it matched some descriptions of Slipspace portals. There may be a connection."
"Hold on a minute! This is crazy! Are we really going to believe some no-name, I mean even if he killed a Minotaur without the Falna..."
"Actually it was 5 Minotaurs, and something else with white armour." Tione remarked.
Ais, seemed to show interest at the statement. Her head tilted in thought as she studied him with an intense gaze.
"Yeah, but still-"
He cut off the argument with a raised hand.
Then placed his helmet on the table, and pulled out a UNSC datapad from his suits storage compartment.
[ I ]
After showing them the footage from the tail end of his fight with the Sangheili Shipmaster, then skipping through the 7 hours he spent asleep in the Dungeon right to the battle with the Minotaur.
"You fight very smart." Finn praised.
"Yeah, not bad for a human." Gareth nodded.
Bete fingered his chin, seemingly deep in thought. Behind him, his tail drooped, and his ears laid flat atop his head. "What does this all mean? That definitely wasn't Orario, and the skies..."
Riveria spoke up, "We have to tell Loki this, other worlds dumping random people into the Dungeon. That could cause issues with our next expedition. No, this could pose a threat to all of Orario."
Silence took hold of the room for several moments.
"Hey Six?" A concerned voice rang out, breaking him out of his funk.
"Yes?"
"I think you forgot to remove the magic stones from those Minotaurs."
Tione's face paled.
Finn sighed. "You fools, if a Monster eats those we could get an irregular."
"An irregular?" Six's voice lights up in curiosity.
"Monsters stronger than others of their species. Often smarter and more cunning too. Very dangerous."
Six nods. "I'll destroy all Magic stones in the future then."
Tiona waves her hands in alarm - "What but you're supposed to sell them! I mean, I we don't since small ones like from a Minotaur don't sell for much, but you should be... wait you killed a Minotaur, so would you start at Level 1 or Level 2?" She started counting off her fingers, deep in thought.
Gareth laughed. "I guess we'll find out if the kid joins the Familia." He looked at Six meaningfully. "So how about it then? You're certainly stronger than a Dwarf if you killed a damn Minotaur. No Level One has done that before, and you don't even have the blessing."
Six shook his head. "It's a function of my armour." He tapped his shoulder plate.
They all turned to him at that, listening to his every word.
"Piezoelectric layer charged with massive amounts of electricity amplifies all force using a newly discovered quantum phenomena that manipulates momentum. It's a little beyond my paygrade, but the simple answer is that it increases my strength by a factor of 40 times or so. A special gel underlayer absorbs physical force, and the armour is the strongest composite the UNSC can yet make. Without it all, I probably would have died."
"Impressive." Gareth gave in approval, thumbing his chin.
Finn nodded in agreement. "Can anyone use this armour?"
Six considered it. "That's classified information." Was his non-answer.
"Classified to you? Or to us?" The Captain pointed out observantly.
"Lets just say I probably already told you far more than I should." That seemed to mollify him.
"Wait a minute?" Tiona pointed at him, from the contorted expression she had remembered something.
"Where's your sword? Those Minotaurs were all decapitated, apart from the one you dusted." She accused.
He reached down to the purple hilt on his waste, pulled it from the magnetic holster, and with a flick.
"BRRRSSSSSTTTTTT"
A glowing translucent blade of aquamarine blue 'cracked' into existence, emanating a faint hum and a noticeable amount of heat.
"I used this." He explained curtly, hiding a smile at their expressions.
"That's awesome!" Tiona breathed in delight.
"Is this classified too?" Finn asked exasperatedly.
"No actually, it's Covenant technology. We barely have a clue how it works."
The door was flung open. Behind it emerged a women with narrowed eyes, red hair in a ponytail and a blue and black hoodie. "What's this I heard about you guys finding a lovely new recruit for me!"
She smiled, but it was not a thing of joy. Instead he got the sense of greed and desire from that pristine face.
Yet, he barely noticed any of that.
Too busy was he dealing with something new.
His mind screamed at him.
GOD! GOD! GOD!
GOD! GOD! GOD!
dIvINe! DiVInE! dIVinE!
It screamed through his mind like plasma searing through his flesh.
He stamped down on it with all the force of his will that he could bring to bare.
It didn't stop, but it's volume receded, pushed to the very depths of his mind. He breathed out, taking in air hungrily.
Before him, everyone was staring. Startled.
Loki was frozen, mid-wrestle with Ais?
"I've never seen a mortal react to the Divine like that? You okay kid?"
He nodded. "I'm fine, just need a breather." He glanced at Finn meaningfully.
"I think I need some fresh air. I'll just take a quick walk around the place, you mind looking after my weapons? I wouldn't want to get in trouble carrying weapons brazenly around."
The red haired goddess's eyebrow raised at that, but Finn just smiled. "Yeah sure, just don't be gone too long, we have a celebration later on this evening. Feel free to ask around, you may not have realised it but Loki Familia is the best in all of Orario."
Somehow, that was a relief. He nodded, then left the room. Leaving his helmet and weapons behind.
Leaving Loki Familia to explain the mystery they'd uncovered to their confused goddess.
[ I ]
He explored Orario.
Outside the central streets, things were less neat and tidy.
Less organised. Houses sprawled almost randomly. Alleyways were covered with dirt, and several distinct areas were straight out filled with the wreckage of abandoned and collapsed buildings.
Markets were filled with people selling goods.
Residential areas filled with children playing.
At one point he even found what appeared to be a red-light district of some sort. The strong smells and perfumes warding him away with some distaste.
He eventually found himself climbing one of the walls, and looking at the views from the top.
It was beautiful. Grass fields stretched miles out, and the backdrop of vast mountains and rivers on horizon only accented it with an air of familiarity.
It was just like Reach. The realisation stung. He turned around, looking over Orario. An odd street caught his gaze. He'd heard some mother warn her kids not to stray near Daedalus street or they might get lost.
He decided to explore it. He faintly remembered something he'd heard from Commander Kurt. The story of the Minotaur. The Minotaur trapped within Daedalus's labyrinth. He smiled at the odd coincidence.
[ I ]
"So you really don't know anything, huh kid?"
Six scanned the mans expression once again. There was a familiar tiredness, an exhaustion he could to relate to after so many years of being ground down, spat on, broken and crushed by life.
He was covered in dirt, his torn, cheap- no, no person in the UNSC had clothes so poorly made. They looked more like a couple of sacks than anything that could be called 'protection from elements'.
They'd met in the labyrinthian structure of Daedalus street. The homeless man had happily given him a font of information about Orario while he scrambled for a plan of action.
He still remembered those days back on Alfheimr, the frozen planet orbiting Trappist, a star a mere 40 light years from Earth.
He was but 4 years old, and the Covenant had finally broken through the Outer Colonies, and had laid siege on the far away system of Gliese 667 Cc.
He had barely comprehended it all back then. That at any moment, he could lose everything.
Then he did, and he'd had no choice but to.
They came in the night. It was after a long day spent playing with his family. Him, his big brother, his sisters and his parents.
Screams from that night still haunted him. His father, a former Marine, had grabbed him and his siblings and shoved them in the car with their mother.
Then was the crash. Afterwards... what to this day he could only described as monsters had descended on the vehicle and the crippled and dead bodies within...
To this very day, he held an irrational hatred, a soul born loathing for Brutes, for the Jiralhanae.
At the darkening of his expression, Jacob Lee raised a hand to the 20 year old soldiers shoulder and gave him a light shake.
It was a futile attempt, being that the same shoulder was clad in 600 kilograms of composite armour, but it released the young man from his memories nonetheless. "Thanks." He nodded.
"You okay there fella? You look like you've seen hell?" The concern on his face was clear to see.
He nodded. "I'm fine, just old memories. You were saying? The Blessing?"
Jacob frowned. Then sighed. "Yeah, you need the Blessing if you want to make it in Orario, but if you don't have the Blessing how are wearing this armour? It bloody weighs like a boulder?"
"That's classified information, UNSC technology."
"Well whatever, but if this you-enaseee isn't a god, then you can get yourself a Falna. The Blessing improves everything, even your lifespan."
He thought about that. It explained what he'd seen. "...and the catch?"
Jacob laughed a that, right from his gut. "Haha, yeah you're smart kid, I like ya. The catch, is you have to listen to a god, they can be quite the pain, trust me. It's worth it though."
He'd have to put his trust in someone, that wasn't quite human. It reminded him of Smart AIs in a way. They could do amazing things, but they could just as easily do horrible things.
"So, I just ask them for a Blessing in return for doing what they ask?"
"Not quite, you can probably make a contract since you seem pretty tough. They'd do a lot for a talented adventurer. Negotiate well and you could even retire. However, everyone starts at Level 1. It doesn't matter who you are or what you've done. You start there. However...."
Level 1? So a baseline then. "However?"
He continued. "Some people, if they are particularly talented, or even determined, or just hardworking. They can start with a skill. Skills are the bread and butter of High class adventurers, they can mean more than Levels sometimes. Level 1 will make you stronger than the strongest mortals in the world. It can make even a child able to lift small boulders, and outrun a marathon runner. But... the monsters in the Dungeon are just as strong, and they get stronger the deeper you go."
That made sense with what he'd seen. "So how do I Level up?"
"Hahaha, kid you don't beat around the bush do ya?"
He shook his head.
"Well... let me put it like this. You have to go on an adventure, do something genuinely amazing, something even the gods can't deny." He paused for a few seconds, then turned and spoke with emphasis.
"Like something right out of a story, right out of books of Myth and Legend." Jacobs eyes closed.
He mulled over that for a moment. It sounded, intriguing?
"Sounds doable."
The man doubletaked at that. "Kid, adventurers die every day. It doesn't matter how strong you are, to qualify for a Level up, at least from a fight, you have to genuinely be at risk of death."
He shook his head in response, and picked up his helmet, getting up. Then he turned his eye, staring straight into the older mans dark brown eyes with a gaze of purest steel.
Behind his gaze, the lifetime of training, the unending loss of his two most beloved families, the recent and yet unhealed wound of losing all of Noble Team, it all burned in a fire that together fuelled his spirit to further heights.
"For a Spartan, cheating death is just another Tuesday." He spoke without emotion or volume, as if it were a statement of the obvious.
He took in a deep breath, puffing his chest up.
"Afterall, Spartans Never Die, we're just Missing In Action." There was a force behind these words.
In the end, wasn't he too missing in action now? He'd survived the Fall of Reach hadn't he? Even if nobody else had. Or rather, especially because no-one else had.
What was one more adventure? One more impossible task, so that he could eventually claw his way back home, and then once again, to finally stop the Covenant in it's tracks, and turn the whole war on it's head.
He'd do it. For those who were fallen, and for those who were not.
[ I ]
"I accept."
The red haired goddess seemed taken aback.
"Just like that?" She frowned, as if put off by his eagerness.
"Problem?"
"You aren't going to give me any terms or conditions? Afterall that build about you killing 5 Minotaurs at once?" She seemed disappointed at the lack of a negotiation.
"Are you saying you have any?" He smirked.
"Of course I do." She smiled back, without missing a beat.
It didn't throw her off as he'd expected, but he'd planned for that too.
"That's going to be a problem for me. I'm still a member of the UNSC afterall. Warrant Officer Spartan Tom-B312 at your service." He gave a dashing smile, and a very small bow of his head. Just enough to be polite.
"UNSC? Isn't this UNSC stuck on a galaxy a long way away?" Odd choice of words that?
"Wouldn't know. Haven't had a chance to take a scan of the night sky yet. We could be next door, or in another dimension entirely... I'm not putting my money on the first one though." She nodded at that.
Behind her were sitting Finn, Riveria and Gareth. The 'big three' it seemed, of Loki Familia.
"So then, you fine with helping me get back?" He questioned casually.
"Of course, but in turn I do expect you to help my Familia. My darling kids have their problems you know?"
"That's fair. What sort of problems?"
Finn scratched his head.
"You're already tough and skilled enough to take on multiple Minotaurs. Combined with the Blessing, you should be comparable to any Level 2, if not most Level 3s. We lost a lot of money in the last expedition. See, we found new monsters, with acid for blood." He explained candidly. There was clearly a routine here, and an angle they'd planned.
"Acid blood?" He inquired, mind racing.
"Yeah, they ruined most of our weapons and even destroyed the spares. We had to cancel the expedition." Finn explained.
Finn looked down at his armour meaningfully.
"You have weapons and armour completely different to ours, can you produce more?"
He thought on it. Nevermind classified intel, helping them reverse engineer Covenant technology wasn't technically against regulation, but only technically. It was probably possible. Orario already had basic industry, using magic stones from the Dungeon. Apparently Hephaestus, interestingly enough was the goddess of the Familia with the city's best smiths. Wasn't Hephaestus a god of smithing in Greek mythology?
Even then, from what Jacob had said about gods, they were hardly a trustworthy lot. If they somehow attained Nuclear weapons, it probably wouldn't be pretty.
He finally shook his head. "I can't help you there, but I can offer something else. My suit has a radio and state of the art scanners. It should allow both direct communication with the surface, recording of events seen through my helmet, and finally a real time map of the Dungeon. I remember it detecting as much as 20 floors down when I was checking my location earlier." 20 floors doesn't sound like much, but his suit's gravity and motion sensors have a range of 10 kilometres. Those were not small floors. This Dungeon was truly vast.
Riveria's eye sparkled. "That would be very useful, but..." She glared a glance with the others and Finn continued her unfinished sentence. "...will you be able to run your suit off of magic stones?"
"No problem. It uses deuterium."
"Say again?" Loki mouthed. Clearly not one of them understood.
"It runs off of the same processes as the sun. It just needs water. As long as I can maintain it, and I still have a few tools on me, then it should last years."
"That solves one issue, but the fact remains that you won't be starting off very strong as an adventurer. You have experience, so Leveling up should be feasible with a couple of years, maybe five years at most. You'll be starting off as a supporter. That means you'll be helping carry supplies, and getting experience with the higher floors while our elites go deeper. Is that fine with you?" Finn explained, seemingly trying not to upset him.
It didn't sound too different from what he was used to. Carrying supplies? What soldier didn't? Not being good enough to go deep with their best?
Well sure, he was one of the best Spartans left. But, Spartans were deadliest in teams, and he was alone. That was hardly new either. Especially after a few weeks of being Noble Teams rookie. He felt a pang of pain at their memory. He ignored it. He wanted them to be remembered fondly, as something he was proud of, not hurt by.
"That's acceptable." He finally answered.
Finn eyed him with a searching gaze. "My thumb says good things about you. I know you won't disappoint." He nodded at Loki, who was rubbing her hands together with a gaze of excitement.
"I like this kid. I want him." She raised her fist with a gleam in her eye.
Finn smiled, then turned back to him. "Well there you have it. Welcome to Loki Familia Six, we look forward to working with you." He held out a hand and they shook. "Likewise." He responded.
Gareth laughed. "Well this is certainly the oddest recruitment I can remember! What you say Riveria?"
She folded her arms. "I don't know, Lefiya certainly raised the bar for that one, didn't she?"
Finn noticed his confused gaze. "Lefiya Viridis is one of our mages, she was recruited after she managed to Level up in Orario's school district."
She managed to level up from... School?
"Enough of that!" Loki demanded. "Now it's time to see what we've got to work with. Come on RNGesus, give me a nice juicy skill..." She was outright salivating now, and who exactly was arenjesus?
Half a hour later, after both Gareth and Finn had lost their patience with watching him remove his armour, and helped out, he was lying on a bed with his back naked.
Behind him, Loki was dead silent. He hadn't learned much about her, but from what little he had picked up, this was out of character.
Riveria too was silent.
"Is something wrong?" Finn asked.
"What's up with the lot of you? You look like ya seen a ghost Loki?" Gareth demanded, sounding concerned.
Eventually, Loki sighed and pressed a sheet of paper to his back.
Then, she pulled him up and shoved it in his hands.
He looked over it. The letters were unfamiliar, but distinctly based on English, just like all the other writings he'd seen. He'd been told their language was Koine, and he wasn't the only one perturbed by its similarity to English.
But, as he read through it, he couldn't help but be confused.
He'd been told to expect maybe one skill if he got lucky. Maybe even magic if he was really lucky.
This was not 'just one skill'.
"What is all of... this?" B312 inquired inquisitively.
He looked up at Loki, a bewildered expression marking his face.
"These kid, are your skills." She intoned, smirking. Yet there was something hidden beneath that expression.
The Category-2 Spartan III cocked his head and raised his right eyebrow slightly at the red haired women.
"But I don't see fishing anywhere?"
The androgynous women's face lost it's smug countenance.
"Fishing? Why would you have fishing!?" She chastised angrily.
"Jorge taught me. He said it was important for a Spartan to be able to live off the land, never got to use it though." The mans appearance turned wistful and solemn.
A blood vessel popped on Loki's forehead. "You imbecile. These aren't mundane Skills! Do you even understand what any of this means?"
"Not a clue to be honest."
The goddess sighed in combined exasperation and frustration.
"Let me enlighten you Mr. I killed a few Minotaurs. You have 12 Skills. Not 12 mundane skills, but 12 Skills granted by the Falna. Skills granted by the Falna all must come from excelia, your experiences. Maybe the strongest person in my Familia, our Captain Finn, has only five Skills, and started with just 2. Nobody ever forgets the event that gave them a Skill, because they are literally etched into your soul. Do you understand?" She breathed out, exhaling heavily and eyes almost bloodshot.
Noble Six thought for a moment on what this must mean. Countless trains of thought rushed through his head. Threat assessments, debates on the rationality of what was happening, plans for the future and finally a philosophical argument on what it meant for entire parts of his life to be written out like a book.
He summarised this internal monologue succinctly.
"But I don't remember getting any of these?"
The goddess literally groaned, then to top it all off, she pouted at him. He had to fight not to smile at the sight.
"Well look, even if you don't know which came from what, I do since I got a look at each. So let me explain.
She pointed at the document on the table before them. "Demon
He could see the frustration growing in every word, he felt a slight chill down his spine. From the moment he first saw her, his instincts claimed incessantly "God". It was unnerving, as if she was somehow reaching into his very head. He was still uncertain if this was all just a dream, but maybe he shouldn't upset the being that appeared to be something 'inhuman'.
"It's even structured differently to normal skills and there's this weird poem at the start. It increases the number of enemy combatants? How does that even work? It inflicts fear on enemies and raises parameters? What does it mean by parameters? I've seen Skills that raise all abilities by a large amount or something similar, but this terminology is bizarre!"
Her voice grew curious, slowly overshadowing the frustration with a layer of subdued excitement.
"It also reduces the chance of frightened enemies running away. Considering what just happened this last expedition, I'm sure you can see how that would be useful."
Noble Six nodded at that, afterall, he'd dealt with fleeing enemies many times before. Sometimes, the results were messy.
"Then there's a weird symbol I've never seen before, and the next four are all... I think based on your childhood. Spirit of Vengeance and Survivor of Dying Worlds are from watching... w..wa..watching your..." Her voice trailed off, stuttering.
"Watching your home die..." Her gaze stared off into the distance.
Finn, the ever reliable leader, reached out for her arm.
"Are you okay Loki?" His eyes showed concern.
Across from him, Gareth and Riveria shared a look, before meeting his own gaze. The look in their eyes hurt to see.
He averted his gaze.
To this very day, those scars stung like anti-septic on an open wound.
Loki breathed out a gasp, then breathed again deeply. "I'm fine, just a bit... I've never seen something like that. Never expected to see anything like that."
Finns face showed confusion.
"What do you mean, haven't the gods seen countless countries fall, from before you descended?" He questioned.
Noble Six truly realised then, that the pity they showed lacked understanding. They knew not what he had gone through. He had only been four years of age, barely having learnt to walk.
"No, this wasn't just a country. Or even a continent. His whole world, the entire planet. Millions of innocents, all gone in an instant. Turned to glass..."
She looked at him, and the sheer pain in her gaze shattered his heart.
She hadn't just seen what had happened. She had experienced everything. The pain of a child losing his treasured loved ones, his family, his friends, his teachers, his people, his nation, his home, his entire world all gone in but a single day.
"I... How did you deal with it? How did you keep fighting after all of that? I.. I have to know." Her gaze grew strong, piercing almost through him.
It felt like she was staring into his soul, and if they were telling the truth about the Falna, then she actually had.
He didn't notice the looks of sheer horror colouring the faces of Loki Familias three leaders beside them.
He was too captured, too trapped by his own memories. Memories he would never, ever forget.
"It's because of something my grandpa told me."
She nodded.
"If we don't do it, if we don't solve problems while we still can, then someone else will have to. If I didn't become a Spartan and stop the Covenant then and there... more worlds would be glassed, more children would end up like me. It would continue, until nothing was left."
"Until... all of humanity... was extinguished."
[ I ]