Kuroka eyed the newcomers and concluded that they wouldn't be making any moves. After becoming sure of this, she came to Yoruichi's side while taking back her flames and sword.
She then carefully checked Yoruichi's condition, who was currently sitting on the ground with a slightly hurried breath. "Are you okay?", asked Kuroka after seeing her mangled right arm.
"Yeah... I just severely underestimated the damage I could do and the consumption it would take.", answered Yoruichi while looking at the deep and wide cut that she made on the wall and floor with her first cut.
"I never thought you could do something like that, nyaa... But considering the aftereffects, I can understand why you never showed something like that.", Kuroka then took out an Elixir and poured it on Yoruichi's right arm before helping her stand up, "Can you walk on your own?"
"Yeah... I'll be fine after a bit of rest. You should first take care of our loot and our guests.", told Yoruichi and sat down crossed-legged and closed her eyes to meditate. Although she could support the consumption of using her Bankai with her enormous capacity, that didn't mean that her pathways supported it. Her energy pathways became so strained that another use of her Bankai may break them and she might not be able to fight for quite some time in such a case.
Using her Kidou, Yoruichi slowly nursed her body and soul as first aid and planned to ask Kisuke for a full treatment later.
After making sure that Yoruichi was doing fine, Kuroka first lifted the two horns and the split Magic Stone with her magic before approaching the people of the Astarte Familia. But despite approaching with a smile, Carys, Tenestra, Fenia and Dulran couldn't help but take their weapons out.
Kuroka stopped not far from them, "Please be at ease, nyaa. I have no hostile intentions."
Carys stared at Kuroka for a short while before turning her sights at the floating horns. She then sighed and put down her weapon and those around her followed her actions, "We didn't mean to point our weapons to you. Excuse us with our actions."
Kuroka's smile grew lighter and replied, "It's fine, nyaa. This is the Dungeon and your actions to defend your safety are very understandable. Though I could only say that your trip down here might have been for naught, nyaa. But since we're not part of your agreement, we don't really have to follow your cycle."
Carys only smiled wryly and shook her head, "We can't really complain as you're indeed not part of our agreement. We didn't think about the possibility that someone other than the four Factions could defeat Surtr. And even if I do complain, I'll just be putting my comrades in danger by unnecessarily and unreasonably confronting the two people who could not just defeat the Surtr head-on but also cut its horns off, an achievement never seen before."
Kuroka didn't comment on it and instead asked, "Where's the rest of you? I presumed you're not the only ones that are not going to face the Surtr, nyaa."
"I asked them to retreat due to... uhmm... abnormalities way beyond our understanding."
Kuroka thought for a short moment before realizing, "Oh! The pressure! It's way worse than killing intent and it's really hard to get used to it. But don't worry about it, nyaa. The source of that was Yoruichi over there, nyaa. It comes whenever she releases most of her power."
"I-It's just a side-effect!?", stuttered Carys in clear disarray, but immediately cleared her throat and didn't inquire about it further, "Ehem... But what about the unusually low number of monsters?"
"That? Prior to the Surtr's respawn, we've been hunting them almost nonstop so you should have encountered less monsters than usual, nyaa."
The four of them thought about her words but they still couldn't understand how the two of them managed to hunt monsters to the point of a noticeable decrease. However, Carys didn't really have the guts to ask their methods and just said, "I suppose we can only complete the small quests that we took from the Guild."
Carys then faced the Dark Elf and said, "Dulran, meet the others and ask them to proceed to the 48th floor. It's already safe here."
Dulran nodded at her and immediately ran towards the path leading to the 46th floor. As she left, Carys carefully observed any changes from Kuroka's reaction and sighed in relief when it seemed that she didn't particularly mind it.
She wanted to ask if they could proceed to the 48th floor, but then recalled that even if Kuroka and Yoruichi were way stronger than them, the Dungeon was not theirs and they had no right to bar someone from exploring it further.
On top of that, they also had their own pride and dignity. It wouldn't be right to just take a step back on everything whenever they were threatened by a stronger force.
Kuroka knew what she was thinking and was glad that she didn't back down, "Since you want to go down to the 48th floor, Would you mind waiting for us here until Yoruichi recovered some of her strength, nyaa? If you do, then we have an offer that you might like. Consider that as the exchange for 'stealing' your prey, nyaa."
Carys immediately became intrigued at her potential offer and after thinking for a short while, she nodded, "Understood. We'll also wait for the others to arrive here first."
Since the tension had already disappeared, the first one to 'confront' Kuroka was Tenestra as she immediately went in front of her with shining eyes. "Kuroka-san! How are you doing that!?", asked the enthusiastic magic researcher while pointing towards the floating horns and Magic Stones.
Kuroka started walking towards Yoruichi and answered her, "It's an application of Flight Magic."
Tenestra immediately followed her while eyeing the objects that were silently following Kuroka's footsteps, "Flight Magic? But I can't feel any wind that is used to propel them. How are you doing this?"
"It's true that you can fly using Wind Magic. In fact, you can also fly using various Elemental Magic. However, doing so just to lift yourself up is incredibly inefficient when you could just manipulate your momentum with Magic Power directly, nyaa."
Tenestra's eyes widened and shone brighter, "Directly manipulating momentum!? But how!? Without manifesting the Magic Power into something, I don't have any idea how you could influence anything physically!"
Carys and Fenia were gobsmacked on how Tenestra was able to barrage Kuroka with questions as if nothing special had just happened. Carys looked towards Fenia but before she could say anything, Fenia beat her to it, "I still don't like people calling my little sister an oddball no matter how true it is... So please save it."
"Well, thanks to your sister's strangeness, all the tension has disappeared."
"Calling her strange isn't any better!"
Editors:
28th00: Hah, the minion is here to spread the glorious gospel of SCIENCE! I’m kinda amazed they have a word and understanding of momentum with their relative tech level.
Alexander: Well, unlike most people, she puts her head to actual use.
On a side note, I didn’t edit the past chapters, because I was planning and cooking a full course meal and a cake for Mother’s Day. The actual cooking took me half of Saturday and Sunday morning. Mothers are seriously awesome, especially when you consider the fact that they do this all year around. Cherish them to the best of your abilities, they are superheroes.
Goyya: This is late, but Happy Mothers’ Day to everyone!
It didn't take too long for the rest of the Expedition Team to arrive on the 47th floor, albeit, still very high strung due to the series of abnormal events. The moment they stepped on said floor, they immediately looked around, and only when they saw the executives of the Astarte Familia safe and seemingly relaxed could they breathe a sigh of relief, except for one person.
Urdor, the Captain of the most prominent blacksmithing Familia within the Dizara region had his eyes only on two things since the very first moment his sight landed on them. Running towards the horns without regard to anything else, Urdor was captivated by the sights of the legendary items. He even ignored the fact that they were floating mid-air.
But just as he was about to touch them, they suddenly flew out of his reach before a massive killing intent descended on him, making him shudder and freeze on his spot, "Hey old man, before you touch other people's belongings, make sure to ask for permission first. I might mistake you for stealing it and retaliating. I assure you that in this case you won't even have the time to complain when I detach your head from your neck."
Urdor immediately looked towards the source of the voice and met with golden cat pupils staring at him coldly. It was then that he finally realized how rude he was and how this could easily be mistaken as a hostile action.
Urdor swallowed a mouthful of saliva before he cleared his throat and apologized, "I'm very sorry. I don't have any ill intent. I was just so captivated with those horns that I forgot my manners."
"I also apologize on his behalf. Please understand that he just got too excited as an artisan. If he did steal from someone or unreasonably demand something, I can assure you that his life as an artisan would instantly end."Carys backed the overly enthusiastic Dwarf.
Kuroka immediately took back her killing intent and started chuckling, "Relax. I'm not angry. I just wanted you to take this as a warning, especially when we're inside the Dungeon where anything could happen and a single lapse of judgment could claim your life and those around you, nyaa~!"
Shocked at how easily she could manipulate her killing intent, Urdor could only reply after having a sigh of relief, "T-that's true. Thanks for the reminder."
A moment later, Chris approached Kuroka and greeted her, "It has been a while, Toujou-san. We didn't think that we would be seeing you and Yoruichi here.", she then pointed towards the horns and asked, "Are those Surtr's horns?"
"It's nice to see you again, Chris, nyaa~. And yep, those are Surtr's horns."
"I see... so you did not just defeat it with just the two of you, but also managed to achieve something that no one has ever done before.", said Chris while looking at the deep cut on the wall, still trying to figure out what kind of attack could have caused this, "But why is one of the horns colored blue?"
"Oh, that's right! I also wanted to ask about that!", added Urdor.
But Kuroka just smiled at them and didn't give them an answer.
Carys then explained to the rest of the Expedition team that they decided to wait for Yoruichi to rest for a bit. Although Carys didn't explain why they had to wait, they trusted the decision of their leader.
Meanwhile, Tenestra and Udor continued to bother Kuroka about Magic and the horns.
.
.
.
Half an hour later, Yoruichi opened her eyes and stood up, "That's a lot better."
She then faced everyone and said, "Sorry for making you all wait. Let's proceed to the 48th floor. And by the way, you don't have to set up your camp 'cus Kisuke prepared something too big for the three of us."
Carys tilted her head and asked, "We don't need to set our own camp?"
"You'll understand once you follow us. This is also the reason why we asked you to wait for us here.", replied Kuroka, 'It's also to make sure that you won't do anything unbecoming toward it, giving that guy a reason to retaliate just for the heck of it.'
While the rest of them became confused, Tenestra's attention was caught by something else, "Kisuke? Isn't that the name of the guy that was with you? He's also here?"
"Oh right. You came across him on the surface, right? You're looking for him?", asked Yoruichi as she and Kuroka started walking towards the 48th floor.
Tenestra hopped beside them and answered with gleaming eyes, "Yes! I tried looking for him after a few days but I couldn't find him anywhere!"
Fenia, with a very concerned expression, immediately went beside her sister after hearing what she said and asked, "Y-you're looking for him? W-why?"
Tenestra looked at her with a puzzled expression before a light bulb went off inside her head, "Oh, I forgot to tell everyone something important. Remember the spell that I was able to successfully recreate as a standalone?"
Yeena then stated, "You mean how you drew the Magic Circle of my 'Vine Trap' and allowed others to use it? You do know that those from Altena kept pestering our Familia to meet you because of that and you still managed to sneak out? And judging from how Fenia asked you, she also helped you with it?"
"Guh... There's a good reason for that!", Tenestra cleared her throat, "Ahem. You see, I couldn't have done that without Kisuke-san's help. He's the one who pointed out the flaws of my work and pointed me in the correct direction! He's technically my teacher!"
The executives of the three Familias all looked at each other in surprise. It turned out that it wasn't even her achievement that caught all those Magic maniacs and Deities' attention, but someone else's. Those from Altena who were temporarily staying within the Dizara region even thought that this achievement would revolutionize the use of Magic.
Yoruichi chuckled and said, "So he already taught you a few things. As expected of the guy who can't keep his mouth shut."
"Yes! Those few things actually helped me refine my current theories and I was able to advance my understanding with my other research subjects! I'd like to thank him. And if possible, I would like it if he accepts me as his student! I'll even use my life savings as tuition fees!"
Kuroka then suddenly grabbed her shoulders and turned Tenestra's face in her direction. With a serious expression, she said, "Even as a joke, don't ever say you'll give your life savings. Even though he doesn't need money, he won't hesitate to take what he can and shamelessly at that. Just say that you want to be his student and wait for him to tell you the conditions, nyaa."
Stunned at her sudden seriousness, Tenestra asked, "I-is it fine to tell me all of these? F-from what I recall, he seems to be your husband. Shouldn't you make it easier for him?"
Patting her head, Yoruichi interjected, "Because we have a favorable impression of you, we're warning you. If it's other people, we wouldn't care if that guy managed to scam everything under their name."
Although they were simple words, strangely enough, everyone other than Tenestra felt a sudden chill down their spine. Looking at each other, they figured out that they were all feeling this strange sensation even though they didn't have to. But within their mind, they all decided, 'When talking to him, we should be very careful.'
Ignoring their reactions, Kuroka continued, "If you really want to learn Magic, he's actually the best guy you could ask. I can assure you that there is no better person in the Lower World when it comes to Magic compared to Kisuke, nyaa."
"That's some grand claim. I'm sure anyone from Altena would disagree with you.", replied Tenestra.
Kuroka grinned at her and said, "You'll understand once we reach the 48th floor."
Confused, Tenestra could only wait and once they reached the 48th floor, they all stopped at the entrance while looking at the gigantic strange thing in the distance. "...What is that?", Carys asked Kuroka and Yoruichi.
"Our camp.", replied Yoruichi and continued walking.
"C-camp?"
Editors:
28th00: Ah, the worldview shattering part has come? I like these parts, but mostly when it’s Phis-chama doing it.
Alexander: I wonder, does the hotel come with a full blown luxury spa and, more importantly, a candy shop branch?
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