Chapter 20 - Loki Familia(3/4)

After Gareth and Ais came back, The tensions in the room immediately dissipated while Loki looked at her familia members before saying

"Can we go now? Tiona, Tione and Bete?"

At her words, Ais said

"They will come"

Loki, nodding her head, directed her gaze to Gareth

Gareth, seeing his goddess, nodded immediately with a smile on his face. This obviously claimed that Bete will come, something that made Loki smile.

After Bete, Tiona and Tione entered the room, Loki indicated the exit of the room before stating

"OK! Now that you're all here, we can go"

Her words made Tiona smile while she said

"Yoosh! Let's go!"

At this display, Bete simply made a 'tch' sound before heading to the Twilight Manor exit.

Seeing that Bete was heading towards the exit on his own, Tiona made an annoyed sigh while saying

"Kora ! You shouldn't go on your own!"

Tiona's words pissed off Bete who, with the classic 'tch', replied

"You should continue your stupid attempts to welcome the weakling instead of worrying about me!"

His words made Ethan close his eyes while he thought

'Please, Qienta-sama, give me the strength not to try to kill him…please!'

Tiona, now had an angry expression on her face and was ready to punch him but decided to restrain herself for the moment, with a 'smile' on her face, she said

"You should stop…otherwise I'll punch you so hard on the face that from now on you will know your place"

Bete, didn't want to face Tiona, so he made another 'tch' before 'parting ways' with Tiona and the other members.

Tione, seeing this display, said

"He is acting like always, How stupid…"

---

With this, the group made their way to the Hostess of Fertility, even if everyone had their eyes on the 'new member' between their ranks, because Tiona was clinging happily on his arm while Tione made an exasperated smile.

"Welcome to the Hostess of Fertility, Loki Familia... Wait… Ethan…san?"

Her words made all the members of the Loki Familia look at Ethan with intrigue, something Ethan knew, but he simply said

"It's a p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e to meet you again, Syr-san, I'm a member of the Loki Familia now"

Syr Immediately composed herself with a smile on her face before saying

"So you made it, congratulations Ethan-san"

He smiled at her words while Loki decided to interrupt their conversation

"We want to eat! Can the two of you talk later?"

Her words made Syr resume her formal attitude.

"Yes, It's a p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e to have you here, Loki-Sama, please sit on the table on the right"

"Alright!"

While the other members of the Familia sat on the chairs, waiting for him, Ethan sent a quick smile to Syr while he said

"Well, now I have to go to them, I would have liked to talk a little with you…"

Syr, seeing his smile, replied with a smile on her own, Quickly reducing the distance between them before she said

"Maybe…next time?.."

Syr, had her arms behind her back as she arched towards Ethan, looking at his face in the aftermath.

"…dame…kana?" (A/N: The meaning is "I wonder if it's reasonable?")

Her cute face made Ethan blush a little before he said

"Yes... There will be a next time"

His words made Syr smile like a sun that could light up planets at ease.

"Ok ! I'm counting on it, Ethan-san"

Said this, Syr immediately ran towards the kitchen while Ethan directed his eyes on Ais, she was watching him from the start without uttering a word while others were talking about their next expedition.

He had a place between Ais and Tiona, because they were the ones he had more confidence with. Sitting next to her, Ais immediately asked

"You like her…?"

At her words, Ethan looked at the table while saying

"I can't say I don't like her..."

Feeling warmth in his own words, Ethan thought

'Was it always so easy to feel love for someone?'

He felt the girls of Danmachi were so easy to love, because their personality matched to what he loved in the anime, something he couldn't do anything about.

Ais, seeing the perplexed expression on his face, replied

"It's ok.."

Reporting him to reality, Ethan looked at Ais' face while he said

"I can't say I don't like you either.."

At his words, Ais made a confused expression without actually saying anything, but, Ethan felt he could come to love her dearly one day. This thought made Ethan's smile way more passionate, something picked up by Lefiya and Bete.

The first to act was Lefiya, the latter immediately looked at Ais and Ethan's interactions way more focused than before, muttering in a low voice

'He is courting her..my Ais...'

Bete, instead, immediately punched the table with his fist, shouting

"He is trying to get with Ais.. Oi! You weakling, do you think Ais can be with a weak man like you? She obviously needs a stronger man by her side!"

This time, Ethan wanted to go all the way to the 10th bubble, although it would destroy the city in the aftermath. He could do this because on the way to the Hostess of Fertility, Ethan was still pissed off by Bete's behavior, so, he asked Light about something that could help him 'destroy his existence' just in case.

---

["You can do something like this?!? Why didn't you said it earlier!!"]

[Because it would destroy the city and yourself. If you wanted to ask why I didn't help you training, that is a stupid question. A power that comes directly by me isn't yours. Do you really want this type of power?]

Her words made Ethan think..and she was right, he didn't want something with her help, he wanted to reach mastery with Mana on his own..

But his question about an easy way to kill Bete remained unanswered...

---

Bete's words, directly hit Ethan's pride, he felt that he wasn't that weak but confronting himself with Bete would cause his instant annihilation. So, the only thing he could do was wait that someone could 'help' him..and that would repeat, again, and again..

He felt sad, He felt so angry that the cup he had on his hand 'exploded' in particles like a monster with his core destroyed.

Riveria immediately felt the 'change' of Ethan's mana and her instincts were screaming at her to not touch that energy, or she would be killed.

The situation wasn't that different in the perspective of every member present. They all felt the 'danger' in that energy, even Bete. But he decided to completely ignore his own instincts.

Before he tried to speak again, Loki decided to stop the situation

"Bete, Ethan, Stop"

Ethan, immediately released the strange energy on his palm before saying

"I will excuse myself now"

He didn't look at anyone directly, instead, he headed towards the exit without a care in the world, but, Bete hadn't the same plan, he tried to follow him but was stopped by Riveria

"You should stop saying such things. You felt that 'danger', right?"

Her words made Bete's fur raise while he said

"From that weakling? I didn't feel anything"

With this, Bete sat on the chair while resuming his careless behavior, saying

"Now that he is gone, we can finally talk, right?"

Ais, locked her eyes with him, saying

"I don't think..he is weak".

At her words, Bete made an 'Haaah!?' before saying

"Ais, why you are so attached with him? He is a weakling at level 1..come on. If you had to stay with someone, would you prefer me or that weakling?"

His words made Ais 'smile' before she said

"I would never choose you"

Stating this, she stared at the door where Ethan exited, something picked up by all the members present.

Riveria, seeing the 'state' Ais was in, decided to help her a little. With a smile on her face, she said

"You want to follow him?"

Her words made Ais turn her head towards her.

"I.."

She looked at her Captain, clearly asking permission to follow him.

Finn, seeing this scene, sighed and thought

'I knew he wasn't that simple..'

He decided it was for the best if Ais helped Ethan reason a bit, he saw the look Ethan had the moment before Bete started to argue, the 'love', a feeling he can't understand..

"You can follow him"

Loki, obviously didn't want to send Ais to Ethan but, he will be an important source of income for her.

Before she could say something, Ais had already left the Hostess of Fertility.

The fact that 'Ais Wallenstein' acted in such a way surprised all the members of the Loki Familia but, instead of actually saying something about her, Tiona interrupted the atmosphere like always, saying

"This meal is so good!!"

At her words, Riveria made an exasperated sigh. Lefiya, instead, had her own problems

'Why... Why Ais... You really love him..?'

She was in the verge of crying but, repressing them, she started to eat her meal without uttering another word.

Finn, made an awkward laugh before saying

"Kids..these days..."

---

'I need to surpass Bete..'

With his emotions on the rampage, Ethan was directed at the Dungeon. Ready to make the monsters have a taste of his explosions. He wanted to try the 4th bubble mastery while killing monsters.

[Ethan, seriously stop, you won't be able to get your revenge if you get yourself killed first, right?]

Hearing her words, Ethan decided to stop his crazy thoughts and looked directly at the sky.

["Light.. Why am I so weak? I want to make Bete pay for his actions, but I'm not powerful enough..."]

His words made Light feel an 'oppression' in her inexistent heart, she wanted to help him but nothing in the shop could make him powerful enough to battle Bete and win, 30.000 SP weren't enough.

Ethan realized this too, in fact, he wanted to do 10x his training right now..--

"Wait!"

He immediately realized that Ais followed him, so, he turned his head towards her, seeing the monotone expression on her face.

"Wait..? What?"

Ais, immediately replied

"You ran away..because you feel weak?"

Her words caused Ethan to make a sad smile, before he said

"Yes, because I realized I'm too weak to fight with Bete, I don't want to be defended by others, I want to defend on my own..I don't like this feeling"

"You aren't..weak, You are..strong"

Ethan, knowing her personality, replied

"I am, now I need to go trainin--"

Before he finished his words, a sword tried to slice him in two.

He subconsciounsly distorced the Mana behind him, increasing slightly his speed of retreat. This action caused the sword to slice the air, missing his clothes by an inch.

"Oi! Why did you attack me.."

Ais, with a 'smile' on her face, replied

"You dodged a hit..from a level 5. You are..strong"

Ethan, wanted to argue that without his Magic he would have died by that hit but, instead of saying this, he replied with a smile on his face

"You didn't use [Ariel]. You should try with it next time."

Ais wanted to ask why he knew about her magic but, she thought that he was a core member now and probably Loki told him about it.

"The next time..I will use it"

With her words, Ais actived [Ariel] before infusing it on her sword

'I was joking..You want me dead!?'

Was what Ethan wanted to say while all his instincts screamed he was doomed.

---

(I have a discord server. discord.gg/cpVr5X8 If you enter it, you can choose one of Ethan's future powers from the pool I created, but that's not all! On the server, you can see the reference on some things that will be present in the story! Right now you can freely see some things but I advise you to read the story further before seeing them otherwise you'll get spoilers!)

(A/N: Bete will die soon, I am not at fault.)

(Another A/N: I'm joking, He will die next chapter)

(Third A/N: He won't die..so soon..)

(Alternate Titles: "Ais, casually attacking a level 1 with [Ariel]", "'Kids..these days..' says the old man who looks like a 10-year-old boy", "Riveria 'don't underestimate him', surprised she underestimated him again")