Archon of Danmachi

Early in the morning, the sun was about to rise and mist blanketed most Orario. The main force of the Loki Familia, namely all Level 5 and above adventurers along with Nox were entering the Dungeon for an expedition. Truth be told, it was not a "real" expedition, more like a practice run.

True expeditions, had multiple goals other that exploration of the deep floors, they also served to train the younger members of the Familia in floor they would not normally be able to reach, with the supervision of their powerful seniors.

This expedition however, had other purposes. First, was to introduce Nox to the deeper floors and let him get the feel for those levels of the Dungeon before a true full scale expedition took place.

Secondly, with no members other than Nox to take care of, the high level core members of the Familia could take the chance to look around the floors more deeply than usual and become more aware of the environment.

As powerful as they were, even Level 6 adventurers need special supplies and careful consideration before delving into the true depths of the Dungeon.

With Nox around, they could feasibly carry a great amount of supplies without their mobility and ability to protect said supplies being hampered.

In turn, this would allow them to more comprehensively explore the various floors to more thoroughly plan full scale expeditions in the future. Nox's Spirit Pulse was yet another boon for this very purpose.

For this particular Dungeon Dive, They would go down to the safe zone in the 50th floor. If the team was still in prime condition, Nox would wait there while the high leveled party members delved a bit deeper, returning for supplies whenever they need to.

As they stood there, waiting for the signal to enter from Finn, Nox and the Amazoness sisters began chatting.

"Ready for your first dive into the true deep Nox?" Tiona asked in her usual upbeat tone, slapping the boy on his back.

"Ready as I'll ever be. But I'm not too worried." Nox responded.

"Oh?" Tione interjected from the side.

"And why is that?" She asked in that teasing tone of hers.

"I'm great at running and hiding 'sides, I can always cower behind your backs." Nox said without the slightest hint of shame.

"When someone is shameless to that point, it actually becomes a bit refreshing." Tione said with a wry smile as her sister giggled from the side.

"All right everyone, let's get moving!" Finn ordered, breaking up the conversation.

"Yes captain!" Everyone responded and so, they set off into the Dungeon.

The group advanced at a very fast pace through the upper, middle and lower floors. There seemed to be a overwhelming lack of interest from everyone in the party for those floors so they just flashed through them.

Nox left one of his teleporters in each of the safe floors they passed as they took breaks and, after a while, the group finally reached the first of the Deep Floors, the 37th Floor, otherwise known as the White Palace.

This floor was Nox's main point of interest for this expedition, though no one but himself was aware of it.

The White Palace was called as such due to the fact that the walls, ground, and ceiling were colored white with the entire floor being a giant labyrinth.

It was on a different scale than the floors above it as the space between hallways, rooms, and walls was huge, the whole floor being larger than Orario itself. The entrance to the 38th Floor was located at the center of the floor, along with the Monster Rex Udaeus.

Five huge concentric circular walls surrounded the central room and adventurers had to navigate through the labyrinth between them to reach the center.

The walls were numbered 1-5 starting from the innermost wall, and the area between two walls was referred to as different rooms.

The Udaeus' area inside the 1st wall is the Throne Room, and from there were, the Knight's Room, the Warrior's Room, the Soldier's Room, and the Beast's Room. The area between walls gets smaller as one gets closer to the Throne Room but the labyrinth also becomes more complicated.

Nox's main point of interest however, was a particular spot in one of the rooms. In the eastern area of the Warrior's Room there was a place known as the Colosseum. It was the single the largest room on the entire 37th floor.

In it, monsters constantly fought each other with more spawning non-stop until a certain amount is reached, with the process restarting when the amount of monsters drop, the room being an unlimited supply of monsters.

This meant is was a virtually endless supply of Excelia and drop items so long as one could survive inside, something which excited Nox to no end.

There were two problems with this plan however, first, was reaching the floor which could be done with the teleporting device, the second problem, a safe spot to retreat to once he got tired. But this one, had a solution as well.

The Colosseum was surrounded by an abyss 50 meters deep with four gates located in the north, south, east and west, each with a bridge that allows access to the arena. below the arena, at the bottom of the abyss, there was actually a safe room.

This was something Bell and Ryuu, if Nox's memory served him right, discovered in the Light Novel and so, when the rest of the party showed him to the Colosseum to awe him, Nox unceremoniously tossed a teleportation device into the abyss.

As his familia seniors took him around the deep floors, Nox contemplated on his experience so far in the expedition.

'This is a bit boring . . .' He thought to himself.

Truth be told, the sights were indeed amazing but he had nothing to do.

When passing through the lower floors, even the ones he had yet to visit, Nox had felt he could deal with the challenges there without to much trouble so long as he kept his head in the game.

However, as soon as he entered the very first of the deep floors, he immediately realized that, for all of his talent and achievements that he was quite proud of, he would not last more than a little on this floor if alone.

The most he could do was abuse his magic to stay hidden and try to skirt around threats without provoking them or alerting them to his existence.

That was already quite impressive considering Nox was, for all intents and purposes, a mere Level 3 adventurer.

How inadequate his power was, how he still fell short when compared to the elites of this world was a true wake up call for him.

The difference between levels only got bigger and bigger and, for all of his talent, covering this gap became harder and harder.

And when he thought of the mighty figures of the Zeus and Hera familias and how much more powerful they were when compared to the current powerhouses of Orario, it only helped Nox understand how insignificant he still was.

'I wonder . . . If that was why Loki asked me to come on this trial run. If that's why she organized it in the first place . . .' Nox pondered.

It did seem like a Loki move and it did further ignite his drive to become stronger . . . Maybe it truly was a spark of brilliance from his mischievous goddess after all.

'Regardless of whether that was your intention or not . . . Thank you Loki.'

And, as Nox sincerely thanked Loki in his mind, the red haired goddess, in the comfort of the Twilight Manor suddenly sneezed.

"Someone must be praisin' my genius!" She narcissistically though. The worst part was that she was not wrong at all.

Back to Nox though, having once again reaffirmed his will to grow stronger, he was raring to go back to a place where he could actually work on himself rather than just play spectator.

Still, it was not like the expedition did not have other purposes other than showing him what was what so he didn't dare to neglect his assigned duties and just took it reconnaissance of what was to come once he got more powerful.

Eventually, having finished showing Nox the 37th floor, the party moved forward onto the Throne Room where the Udaeus could be found.

It was time for a real battle at last and Nox felt some excitement rising.

Until now, the Loki Familia seemed at ease when dealing with the monsters, rarely making use of cooperation but now, Nox would get the chance to see them in action together against a single powerful Monster Rex.

And as they entered the room, right in its center, the Udaeus woke up to meet his challengers . . .

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

P.a.t.r.e.o.n is officially up!

The link is: https://www.p.a.t.r.e.o.n.com/lusoba  without the extra dots of course.

You'll get to read up to FOUR week ahead, a full month, but I'll still post here.

There's also my other novel Kage of Kages, do check it out!

I would greatly appreciate any support since this is going to be my breadwinner.