Tiona didn’t know whether she should charge at her sister to give her a well-deserved beating or to be embarrassed because of the situation she found herself in. Either way, her cheeks were turning progressively more red the more time passed.
To avoid any more potential embarrassment, Isaac quickly let go of Tiona’s finger and smiled awkwardly. Saying anything to try to explain himself would only make everything more troublesome, no matter what, so there was really no point in doing so. The wisest decision would be to ignore what just happened and to move on with what they came here for.
By clearing his throat, he got the twins’ attention.
“So, when are we gonna start the tour?”
This question was a lifesaver for Tiona, who still hadn’t been able to decide on what to do. Now, she finally had a way out of her predicament. As if nothing had happened, she turned around and led the way into the distance, waiting for the others to catch up to her.
While clicking her tongue unhappily, Tione followed along. But she wasn’t the only one not entirely happy with this result. Because she hadn’t gotten an answer, Tiona’s curiosity had been ignited. What exactly did Isaac think about flat chests like hers? One day, she would try to find out…
It didn’t take long for her to start to point at specific places they were passing and recounting tales about them. Well, they weren’t heroic tales or anything along those lines, though.
“Do you see that tree over there? When we first came here, Tione and I had a race with it as the finish line. The loser had to do everything the winner wanted for a day!”
Most of her descriptions were like that, which made Tione blush a little, as it felt a bit weird to have their past childish behaviour getting exposed without shame.
Although it started out with harmless stories like the previous one, there was a weird glimmer in Tiona’s eyes, and soon she finally found a chance to get her revenge for the embarrassment she had felt moments prior.
“Ah, that hill! I remember Tione REALLY had to go to the bathroom that one time, and-”
“YOU!!!”
As per tradition, Tiona got chased around by a furious Tione yet again for a few minutes. Meanwhile, Isaac had just been nodding, smiling and asking miscellaneous questions all the time, as if the situation wasn’t weird at all. But even though the twins didn’t notice it, his back was already drenched in cold sweat. He really didn’t want to know all of this.
‘There is such a thing as too much information, you two…’
While he was being lead by the Amazoness sisters, they came across quite a few smaller paths leading off into different directions, branching off from the main dirt road. Tiona pointed one of them out, stating that it lead to the campsite their familia always used when they stopped here on the way to and back from an expedition. As for the other paths, when Isaac asked about them, Tione explained that they all lead to a few other strong familias’ usual camping sites on this floor, which really wasn’t much of a surprise.
Because they didn’t want to stray too far from the path, they decided to not take a look at the Loki Familia campsite today. Isaac could always take a look at it himself later, when he was busy exploring the rest of this floor.
After about 30 minutes, a town could finally be made out beneath the mind-bogglingly huge tree ahead. From this distance, it still looked extremely small, kind of like a weirdly-shaped anthill.
“Let’s have a race! And Isaac. Try to keep up!”
Giving the other two no chance to voice any possible disapproval, Tiona shot forward like a bullet, leaving behind Tione and Isaac in a cloud of dust. Of course, the competitive Tione would not just let her sister beat her without a fight, so as Isaac was getting ready to start running himself, Tione soon caught up to her sister and the two were egging each other on, getting faster and faster in the process.
A heavy sigh escaped Isaac’s mouth, then a vague smile played across his lips. He knew he had no chance whatsoever of catching up to the twins, as they had many multiple more stats than he did. Nevertheless, it would not be too bad to go full speed when sprinting with this body, every now and then. So after taking a deep breath, Isaac slowly accelerated and put his entire focus into running as fast as he could.
Even though he gave his absolute best, it still took him ten minutes to arrive in front of Rivira’s gate, right next to the waiting Amazonesses. He was sweating quite heavily, but not enough to make his partially drenched clothes seem like he had just jumped head-first into a lake. It took him a few moments to catch his breath, during which both Tiona and Tione gave him a thumbs up, as they hadn’t expected him to arrive that quickly.
There were quite a few adventurers passing by, entering and leaving the town while the three of them stood off to the side, waiting for Isaac to recover a little first. Most of the passersby just cast them a curious glance or two but then minded their own business. They clearly had more important things to do than to ogle at two scantily clad Amazonesses, which weren’t too rare of a sight in the dungeon anyway.
When she thought he had perked up enough, Tiona grabbed Isaac and Tione and dragged them to the large wooden gate, fastened above which was an ancient-looking wooden plaque with the words ‘Rivira’ carved into it. On the sides of the gate, just observing everyone who entered the town, were two adventurers reclining on chairs. They were the ones who were stuck with guard duty for now.
Seeing his questioning look, Tiona explained that because Rivira was a town built solely by adventurers, it didn’t have a real policing system. Still, everyone who wanted to be a resident here would be entered in a guard duty rotation, so they had to do their part when the time came. After all, it was always important to keep some semblance of order.
The vast majority of the buildings in the town were made out of wood from the abundant forests covering the vast majority of this floor. There were also a few stone houses every here and there, whereas another huge number of buildings were just dressed up caves in the cliffs and hillsides the wooden town wall enclosed.
From where Isaac stood, the town looked a lot bigger and flourishing than he expected. There were many shops and inns at the sides of the main road, bustling with activity. Admittedly, though, some of the establishments here looked a little bit shady.
Taking his prolonged silence while observing the town in detail as an opportunity, Tione chimed in from the side and explained that Rivira had been razed by monsters spewing forth from the lower floors more than 300 times already. Every time, though, the inhabitants had gathered together again and rebuilt their precious homes. Maybe because of that, they didn’t really go out of their way to build the most extravagant of buildings and mostly settled for wooden ones, seeing how it was very likely that they would have to rebuild them at some point in the relatively near future.
When Isaac asked about why they would want to rebuild it that many times, Tione continued her explanation. Down here, the Guild and other political powers had no influence whatsoever. Sure, they had most likely stationed their own people down here as well, but they didn’t have enough strength to pose a problem. Therefore, things that were illegal on the surface could be traded down here without a care in the world. Additionally, living here gave the people a sense of freedom, as they didn’t have to conform to the whims of everyone on the surface. Gods also practically never entered the dungeon, so the residents here wouldn’t have to worry about potentially offending an immortal entity by accident.
Because of all of this, lots of people who ran into problems on the surface escaped down here and were still able to live fulfilling, albeit often a bit dangerous, lives. Well, if what awaited them outside of the dungeon was even more perilous a situation, then this town would seem like a safe haven for them.
If lots of mostly non-law abiding people gathered in one place, lots of bad things were bound to happen if there were no rules whatsoever. Therefore, the residents of this town had decided to collectively punish everyone who went out of their way to stir up significant trouble down here, if it could inconvenience everyone’s lives. No-one wanted to lose this place, after all. These were the reasons why even though many criminals regularly assembled down here, it was a far, far safer place than huge parts of Orario itself.
“So, I assume there is someone in charge of all of this, some kind of leader?”
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Upon hearing Isaac’s question, Tiona nodded and led the group to one of the few stores on the main street that were built on a stone foundation - a clear sign of wealth. It seemed to be a weapon, armour and general goods store, from what Isaac could gather from the various products on display. The inside of the building felt quite cozy and homely, nothing like the rushed work Isaac had originally expected.
When they entered, Isaac noticed a tough-looking muscular man sitting behind the counter. He had very short black hair and green-blue eyes, the left one of which was covered in a black eyepatch. A nasty scar could be made out beneath it, reaching all the way down to slightly above his mouth. He wore a grey, open jacket that showed off his abs, whose sleeves looked like they had been torn off, followed by black, leather gloves covering all the way up to his elbows with small metallic plates located above his knuckles, non-restrictive matte blue pants, standard, brown-black leather boots and a belt, whose buckle looked like a red monster’s head, whose species Isaac wasn’t able to conclusively determine for now. Above that, he wore some brown monster fur around his waist, which looked a bit like a skirt… truly an odd choice to round out his outfit.
“Ah, you lassies came around again?”
Although the man’s voice was a little bit higher pitched than he had expected, it only took Isaac a few seconds to adapt to it and feel like it fit the buff man surprisingly well.
In response to his question, Tiona just laughed heartily and nodded, then turned around to Isaac and introduced the new face.
“That’s Bors Elder. He’s the City Representative of Rivira and also the strongest person living here: a Level 3.”
Apparently it wasn’t anything unusual for people to introduce him to others, so Bors didn’t even show any notable change in his expression. Instead, he was carefully sizing up Isaac. He was very well aware of how strong the twins in front of him were. Anyone introduced by them wouldn’t be someone simple. Most likely, at least.
While Bors was sizing him up, Isaac was doing the same to him. Overall, Bors gave off a slightly threatening, but friendly aura. It was obvious he often had to put up an intimidating front to deal with the various rabble arriving at town. Still, hidden beneath that were the shrewd senses of a businessman, trying to gauge how much money a customer would be able to leave in his store, while also wanting to visit it again.
“Well, nice to meet you! So, who are you, lad?”
After the basic introductions and a strong handshake were out of the way, Isaac decided to use this opportunity to buy himself a ranged weapon. For a while now, he had feared the dungeon floors’ ceilings, which were continually increasing in height, would give rise to some truly hard to deal with flying monsters at some point. If he was just on the ground, with no way to deal damage to them, he wouldn’t be able to retaliate most of the time, which would prolong his encounters and be a real nuisance.
Thankfully, Bors’ shop did indeed have a few bows and crossbows in stock, so Isaac was able to find one that suited him pretty well. In the end, he decided on buying a 1.5 meter long shortbow made from this dungeon floor’s wood by one of the few bowyers living in Rivira. The wood here was a lot tougher, more resistant to the elements and extremely malleable compared to most kinds of wood from the surface, thanks to the vast amounts of ambient mana it absorbed during its life cycle. It was a premium material for bows, only a bit inferior to the best wood from the elven forests. Because of that, the bow had a very expensive price tag: 700.000 valis.
Still, that wasn’t even close to the massive sum Isaac was able to easily afford, therefore he didn’t even blink when exchanging the money with Bors, whose businessman senses were tingling when he saw with what disregard Isaac treated his valis. He would definitely have to try to incite the young man into visiting his shop more often in the future, just like he had originally planned.
With a hearty smile on his face, Rivira’s leader bade farewell to the group of three, who then continued their tour around town. As for why Isaac hadn’t stocked up on arrows in Bors’ shop… that was because their prices were extremely high. He would be able to buy the same quality of arrow for one fifth of the price back on the surface. Because he didn’t need to use his bow anytime soon, there was no need to waste his money senselessly. The reason as to why goods were generally more expensive down here was that they had to be brought down here by adventurers, which was a dangerous and costly endeavour. Nobody would put their life on the line without a hefty reward, after all.
It only took them around two hours to walk along all the major roads and check out a few interesting places. One of those was one the various caves that led to the deeper floors. After a cursory glance, Isaac mentally noted down that they were entirely natural caves with wooden walls, ceiling and ground, until suddenly, one of the dungeon’s stereotypical staircases appeared 50 meters in, leading downwards. Still, he didn’t want to continue further into the dungeon today, as his research would just arouse Tiona again, which he really didn’t want to happen. Therefore, a closer inspection of the following floors had to wait
When they were finished with their tour, Isaac concluded that the entire town had about 5.000 permanent residents with many more adventurers passing through every single day. All of them were above or at Level 2, as they had to be at least that strong and organized in parties to even make it here.
As it was around 10:30 a.m. right now and they still had some time until they had to make their way back to the surface, the group of three found themselves a seat at one of the few outdoor restaurants in Rivira. While they were wolfing down numerous noodle dishes and a few hefty portions of various kinds of meat, which were also many times more expensive than they would have been on the surface, they were absentmindedly watching the many adventurers passing by.
The newly bought bow was leaning against the table because Isaac hadn’t been able to put it into his inventory yet. In fact, he wouldn’t be able to do so until he returned home today, as its sudden disappearance would definitely confuse his Amazoness companions.
When Isaac randomly looked up to check out the enormous tree’s canopy, as he had nothing better to do at the moment, it was so expansive that he could only barely make out the blue light from the ceiling’s crystals somewhere at the very edge of his field of view. It was truly an impressive sight.
“Come to think of it, is there a reason this town is called ‘Rivira’?”
In response to Isaac’s question, Tiona just shrugged, obviously having no idea. When she saw that, a smug smile appeared on Tione’s face, and she proudly explained this bit of curious trivia, while the rest continued their meal.
“It’s meant to honour the one who founded the first settlement down here, an adventurer by the name of ‘Rivira Santilini’.”
When their early lunch was about to come to an end, Isaac suddenly remembered something important he had put off all this time, as he didn’t really feel like doing it before.
“Now that I think about it, I should probably tell the Guild that I’m a Level 2 already.”
After garnering the agreement of the twins, they made their way up to the surface to take care of that and meet Isaac’s students, to inform them of the change of plan. They were strolling quite leisurely, though, as they had more than enough time.
At around 12 p.m., they finally arrived in front of the Pantheon. As they still had about ten minutes until his students would usually make their way here, they could easily finish their business before then. Of course, the group didn’t attract less attention than they did early in the morning, but there was no-one coming up to them to make trouble, so everything was well and good.
When the three came up to Yolanda’s counter, the youthful Amazoness stood up with excitement written all over her face. At first, Isaac had thought she simply was that happy to see him, which weirded him out a little, but after he had exchanged a greeting with her, he soon noticed that his initial worries had been for naught.
“Well, if it isn’t the Hiryute sisters. Nice to meet ya! I’m Yolanda Filura, Isaac’s dungeon advisor. What brings you here today?”
Seeing the fervent gaze of her fellow Amazoness, Tione showed a wry smile. The twins were somewhat of a legend back in their home country, Telskyura. By the tender age of seven, the two of them had already surpassed the vast majority of Amazonesses in strength and skill and were allowed to roam the world freely by their goddess Kali. Many other Amazonesses craved for such an opportunity, such strength and being let go from the Kali Familia, as they simply had aspirations they couldn’t work towards there. Even Yolanda, who was in her early twenties now, thought of the two living legends in front of her as heroes. It was a little bit awkward because the twins were a lot younger than her, only being 16 years old right now.
“We were just returning from the dungeon with Isaac and he said he had to stop by here, so we accompanied him.”
After successfully directing Yolanda’s attention away from them, Tione breathed a sigh of relief when she was sure no-one was watching her. She found it quite awkward to interact with most of her fellow Amazonesses, as she couldn’t deal with this fangirl-like behaviour at all.
“So, what are you here for today? Need some advice?”
As familias weren’t allowed to hide the Levels of their members from the Guild, Isaac didn’t intend to do so at all. He was sure it would cause quite a stir, but with the Loki Familia at his back, there was almost no-one that would dare kick up too much of a fuss. Most likely, the vast majority of people wouldn’t even believe him, as his rank up speed was simply unheard of. Looking forward to what kind of expression Yolanda would make, Isaac dropped the bombshell.
“Nothing much. I just wanted to inform the Guild that I ranked up to Level 2 yesterday evening.”
For a few seconds, Yolanda didn’t really process what she had just heard and simply jotted down the information dutifully. When she read it again, however, the hand holding her feather began to shake uncontrollably, before her eyes widened to a scary degree, as her face turned into a mask of utter disbelief. Even though she had only just sat down again, she hastily stood up and slammed her counter heavily, causing the wood to creak in pain. She stared at Isaac, who upon further inspection really didn’t look like he was joking at all, with bloodshot eyes as if he was a terrifying monstrosity and screamed in disbelief.
“What?! You’re already Level 2?”
Honestly, Isaac hadn’t expected things to get this out of hand. No-one that he had told about his rank up speed before had reacted in such an almost scary way. He could only stare back at the rabid clerk girl with an apologetic smile on his face and nod, while thinking to himself.
‘What the hell? Such an overreaction...’