Chapter 24 - Hunter

After he had Lili and Hestia talk to each other, Ethan wanted to return to the Dungeon, this because he needed money and SP. Something he had problems to obtain because of the 'training' he should follow everyday to obtain merely a thousand SP. These thoughts actually generated the Optional Quest Ethan felt blessed to see.

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//Optional Quest Triggered//

[Hunter's Job]

Rank: D

Objective: Kill Monsters (0/1.000), Sell Items dropped by monsters to the Shop (0/250) before 12AM

Failure Conditions: Kill Monsters with items of the System Shop, Death.

Penalty: N/A

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Seeing this quest made Ethan's thoughts dissipated as a smile formed on his face.

"Why are you smiling, Ethan?"

Hearing Hestia's words made Ethan feeling he wanted to hug her but, seeing the look Lili was giving him immediately brought a stop to his 'actions'

"I remembered about something good"

Seeing the smile on Ethan's face growing larger, Hestia made a smile on her own.

"I see."

Was all that she said before Lili interrupted their conversation

"Ethan-sama! Are you thinking about a girl?"

With Ethan now looking at her, Lili tried to understand by his reactions if this was the case but, seeing that he didn't even flinch at her question made her understand she made a mistake.

"I'm not".

Was all that Ethan replied to the question before he looked towards the stairs.

"I need to go, Hestia, you need to start the process to make her your first familia member, right?"

Hearing his words made Hestia look towards Lili.

"Yes, come on Lili, we'll do it in my bedroom!"

This reply made Ethan blush a little but, trying not to mind this, he headed towards the stairs before he said

"Lili, I'll help you in the dungeon tomorrow, is it okay?"

She nodded her head without looking at him before she said

"Y-Yes Ethan-sama! I will see you tomorrow".

After he exited the Abandoned Church, Ethan's happy smile didn't fade a bit while he thought in his mind

'Dungeon, I'm coming'

---

After 1 hour, Ethan finally was in the Dungeon again. He decided to take it slow and kill all the monsters he could find. 1000 Monsters wasn't that easy of a target but, for the [Hunter] and 50.000SP, he was determined to do all he could to finish it.

Unfortunately, it wasn't a daily Optional Quest but, this was actually good because he could try to 'generate' new missions about the dungeon, that would make him a potential SP income, something he needed at the moment.

Like This, Ethan went all the way to the 9th floor, killing 354 Monsters in the aftermath.

'If I just go around I won't make it in time.. I need more monsters!'

Another annoying fact was that he couldn't use his own weapon because they were from the shop. Fortunately...or not, Ethan encountered another Monster Party, but this time, Ethan laughed it off while thinking

'Come on, the Dungeon hates me'

Having a wave of Kobolds and Goblins to counter, Ethan felt bored about it while he started to make 3 bubbles. He thought about trying to make a 4th but that would spell death in the Dungeon. The juggernaut wasn't that kind to just let Ethan do what he wants, instead, if he made the 4th ball, Light stated the probability of a Juggernaut to spawn were 98.99%.

After the 3 bubbles wiped out a good chunk of the Monster Party, Ethan finally saw something that 'scared' him a little. He saw that there was a Minotaur in the rear, staring at him with a ferocious expression.

He decided to test himself with the Minotaur and, remembering this event in the anime, he thought

'I see, It's Freya.. What did I do to make her come to me? Maybe my soul? That should be impossible, maybe my Inventory caused this?'

Stopping his thoughts for a moment, Ethan finally cleared the 'Monster Party'. He saw the Minotaur with a large sword in his hand and his horn damaged. With a troubled smile on his face, Ethan thought

'It will be hard..'

Looking at the Minotaur in the eyes, Ethan had in mind his [Enchantment Magic]. Although he hasn't unlocked the ability, he could try to use it again like before and, seeing his own hand being covered in a layer of mana, brought a smile on his face while he started to walk towards the Minotaur.

The Minotaur, seeing the boy walking towards him, roared furiously before running at his full speed towards Ethan.

Seeing this made Ethan sense 'danger' but, he decided to ignore it, trying to punch directly at the Minotaur. This action immediately made the Minotaur defend against the hit with an arm while he tried to slice the sword at Ethan.

Sensing the sword on his neck, he immediately retreated while he thought about the Minotaur's action.

'That wasn't a hit by a Monster. I see..Ottar..must have trained it..'

"Gather, 17 spirits of ice, cut apart my enemy. Magic A--"

Before he could complete the chant, the Minotaur immediately ran towards him with another roar. Ethan couldn't afford to fail this time and, decided it was time to try something different.

Making his mana circle, he 'forced' his body to move at speeds he couldn't manage and, trying to control his body properly, he landed a hit on the Minotaur.

Being punched by Ethan's fist enchanted by magic threw the Minotaur 30 meters from his previous location.

Seeing this made Ethan smile before his legs 'collapsed'. This, with the Minotaur's return made Ethan's sense of 'danger' build up and, forcing his legs to move again, fortunately evaded the sword that tried to slice him in two.

With his legs 'collapsed' the only way for him to move was forcing them with magic and, although it was painful, Ethan thought about his situation. The Minotaur in front of him was a trained one, equipped with a sword..

'I can try to make him lose the sword!'

With these thoughts in mind, Ethan faced the Minotaur again. This time trying to focus on his arm. If he could disarm him, the fight could still be on his advantage.

He re-applied the concept of before, making the mana circle in his body faster and faster before the time seemed to be slower than his body. In this state, Ethan saw the Minotaur starting to run in slow-motion, something rather funny, but he decided to ignore it while he punched against the Minotaur's arm.

Although the action was successful, the Minotaur didn't drop his sword while he sliced towards Ethan. The slice, evaded by him made an open for him to exploit, something he gladly used.

Hitting the Minotaur's wrist, Ethan managed to make it fail to keep the sword in his hand. He wanted to grab it but, before he could do so, a fist arrived from the right.

After he dodged the fist, taking the sword in the aftermath, he looked at it with a conflicted look on his face. Even if moments were passing in the 'real word' Ethan was thinking

'Should I..try using the sword?'

Deciding it was the best option he had, he took the sword with both hands, this time looking at the Minotaur's torso.

Ethan, looking at the Minotaur, remembered Hestia's embrace. This made him feel the warm that was waiting for him upon returning the surface. With this, Ethan thought

'Is this..what Adventurers think? I want..to see Hestia now'

His thoughts were interrupted by the smell of blood and, seeing that the sword wasn't enough to deal significant damage to the Minotaur, brought a new thought in his mind.

Retreating with the sword, he decided to immediately put pressure on the Minotaur, the latter made another opening for him to be exploited.

Seeing this, He impaled the sword in its leg. Sensing the pain made the Minotaur roar again while he tried to separate the sword from its leg.

Before he could do so, Ethan amplified his own speed to the extreme, with a speed 'superior' to the Minotaur's, he went behind him, but when the Minotaur realized what was happening, his head was cut from its neck by Ethan's hand.

Seeing the Minotaur exploding in particles with a core dropping on the floor made Ethan sigh loudly before he felt all the muscles in his body 'broken'. He decided it was for the best to return to the surface.

'It should heal without the need for others to worry about me..'

He thought this but, the moment he released the excessive mana in his body, He immediately fell to the floor.

Trying to stand up, he heard a 'crack' sound. A moment after his fight with the Minotaur ended, he heard the sound of several kobolds spawning. He tried to move again but, hearing the Kobolds approaching him made Ethan use his magic

He tried to chant and, after finishing it, it should have worked, but he found that his chant didn't work.

'W... What..'

He tried to think what he could do to save his life and, before he could buy a potion, a girl with long black hair tied in a ponytail and black eyes sliced towards the Kobolds, killing them in the aftermath.

He recognized, like all the Danmachi girls, the person that saved him, Yamato Mikoto. Deciding to not utter a word, he saw her group, composed of Ouka, Chigusa and Asuka.

Seeing the boy that she saved still on the floor, Mikoto asked

"Are you okay?"

---

(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 like the [Twin's Digimon], but I advise you to read the story further before seeing them otherwise you'll get spoilers!)

(A/N: I don't know if you understood what happened before with the Minotaur's Fight. Basically, his own [Enchantment Magic] is a complete version. Not body enchantment nor mind enchantment, its both. We can call it [Boost Magic] at this point, the decision will be yours if you want)

(Alternate Titles: "The warmth of an embrace is something you should always keep in mind.. Ethan", "Eina.. I will return..said the one that nearly died at f*ck", "Takemikazuchi Familia, we need to talk about a certain fox...")