Chapter 29 - Determination

Waking up, Ethan felt a soft sensation on his right arm and c.h.e.s.t. Remembering he was still in the Abandoned Church, he checked the time on his System.

'Oh, it's already 8 PM, I have to go...'

With a smile on his face, he looked at Hestia's sleeping face, saying in a low voice

"Hestia.. I need to return.."

His words made Hestia wake up. Looking at him with her deep blue eyes, she nodded her head before returning in her earlier position.

Seeing this, Ethan placed his hand on her head, stroking her hair. He tried to repeat his previous words with a gentle tone

"I need to go... Remember, we will have other times like this so behave for now.."

Yawning cutely, she turned her head towards him another time before replying

"I know.."

With this, Ethan saw Hestia 'releasing' his c.h.e.s.t as she removed Lili from his right arm. Waking up, Lili started to shout

"W-What are you doing!?"

Hestia, replied

"Ethan needs to go, so I was helping him get out of the bed"

"Couldn't you just wake me up!?"

"It was better to take you like this"

Their interactions made Ethan laugh before he said

"I will go, I will see you in the next few days, Hestia, Lili"

Without adding anything more, the two looked at each other before saying at the same time

"Good night, Ethan!"

"Good night, Ethan-sama!"

Exiting the Abandoned Church, Ethan made his way to the Twilight Manor.

At the entrance, a guard saw him and, with a smile, he let him in. This because it was the same guard that saw him with the Sword Princess last time and, knowing he was a member of the familia, he couldn't say anything to Ethan.

He went to Loki's room, knocking before saying

"I'm home, Loki"

"Can I ask you a question?"

He thought she wanted to know something about the dungeon but her question surprised him

"Where do you always go?"

With a smile on his face, he entered the room and closed the door like the previous time, replying

"I will tell you another time. By the way, did Ais and Bete inform you about the situation?"

With an annoyed sigh, Loki sat on her bed.

"The Takemikazuchi familia came here to apologize for their behavior, so I know about the situation but I prefer to hear your version of the story"

Hearing this, Ethan replied

"It's true that Ouka decided it was better to save himself instead of Bete but, they actually 'saved' me in the Dungeon previously."

"You should be more careful... Being rescued by that people.."

Nodding his head, he added

"I wasn't really in a death situation, but the fact they helped me is irrefutable, you shouldn't ask too much for compensation.."

After this, Ethan told Loki the whole story and, with the serious expression on her face that didn't dissipate from earlier, she tried to make the pieces together but, knowing there was a fact missing in the story, she asked

"Are you sure it's all? There is something that feels wrong.."

With a confused expression, he replied

"You should know if I'm lying, right? I told you the whole story.."

Knowing Ethan said the truth through the conversation, she said

"Yes yes I know you aren't lying but it feels like we miss a piece from the puzzle, maybe an expedition can solve the mystery"

'If a God entered the Dungeon, why would he do something like this and, the Dungeon would do this much for a God? Although when Hestia and Hermes entered the Dungeon a Dark Goliath spawned, that was all... To make the Dungeon move this much...'

"The.. One-Eyed.. Black Dragon?"

Hearing his words, Loki had a shocked expression on her face and, although she didn't think before about it, she understood it could be one of the possibilities. She replied

"If it was the One-Eyed Black Dragon, the situation would be troublesome."

He looked towards her, nodding his head.

"I think it can be one of the reasons."

With a nod of her own, she replied.

"I will think about it alone, it's better if you go to sleep"

Ethan, looked towards the door before he said

"Where is Ais? I need to talk to her"

Surprised by his words, she replied

"She is in her room.."

He thanked her before leaving the room. He went towards Ais' room and, with a relaxed expression, he knocked on the door a few times, saying in a low voice

"Ais.. Are you awake? I need to talk with you"

After a moment, the door opened. He saw her wearing only a night dress but, trying to not think about it, he said

"I came to ask if tomorrow instead of going in the Dungeon we could train"

Hearing his words, Ais said

"We can talk...in my room"

Knowing that it would be difficult not to think about her current state, he thought

'She is so cute...but her common sense is nonexistent...'

Nodding his head, Ethan entered the room while Ais closed the door behind her. He felt slightly anxious about the situation but, without minding it, he sat on the bed, saying

"As I said, can we--"

He couldn't finish his words because Ais went towards him. Seeing her too close, he wanted to say something but, looking directly in her golden eyes, he momentarily lost himself in her irises

Seeing her getting closer and closer, he felt his heart beat faster but, he decided to place his hands on her shoulders, saying

"Wait for a moment, Ais, why are you doing this?"

She didn't look away from him even for a moment, replying

"Riveria..told me..if I want to know my feelings.. I should do something like this.."

Hearing this, Ethan thought about her words

'Riveria... What did you teach her!?.. What should I do now... '

The thing he didn't know was that Riveria had said many things to Ais and what she was doing right now was just the beginning.

---

After Bete and Ais arrived in the Twilight Manor, There was a reunion of all the core members of the Familia.

Entering the main room, Tiona looked towards the entrance, searching for Ethan.

"Where is he?"

The first to reply was Bete

"That weakling had other things to take care of"

Hearing this, Loki said

"He could at least come to update us on the situation.."

Ais, actually added

"He said he would return in the evening.."

Nodding her head, Loki asked

"So? Can the two of you tell us the whole story?"

Bete, made a 'tch' before saying

"I was fighting against some Minotaurs before some shitty party threw a whole Monster Party at me. When I was fighting, that weakling and Ais came and together we wiped out the group. That weakling said the monsters were all Variants."

She was surprised at Bete's words because the matter was more serious than what she previously thought.

"Ais, can you tell me your version of the story?"

Ais, looked at her goddess before saying

"I fought against a Dragon..on the 15th floor, Ethan fought against a group of Hobgoblins on the 9th... we decided to explore the dungeon further..in the 16th floor, we encountered that group and..after that..we found the Monster Party.."

She thought about her words and, feeling shocked, she thought

'A Dragon..in the 15th floor?'

"Was it a Green Dragon? Or a Normal Dragon? Maybe it was from the middle floors.."

Hearing these questions, Ais replied

"Ethan..said it was a Dragon..spawned just before I came in the floor.."

With a sigh, she didn't feel the shock could affect her anymore. Deciding to ask the whole story to Ethan, she said

"I understand, the situation is worse than I thought.."

Hearing this, The captain of the Familia, Finn, asked Ais

"How did he manage to kill 5 Hobgoblins? Isn't he a level 1 that just joined the familia..?"

With a smile on her face, Ais didn't answer the question. It was Loki who replied with a troubled smile

"Actually..."

Feeling shocked by her answer, Finn said

"To reach level 2..in not even a week..."

Everyone else in the room had a shocked expression while Ais was surprised.

"Woo! I knew it, he is so cool!"

Hearing Tiona's words, Bete made a 'tch' saying

"He reached Level 2. So what? He is still a weakling compared to us"

Riveria, decided to interrupt

"If you want to view things in that perspective...but how many months did it take you to reach level 2?"

With another 'tch' Bete didn't reply her words

"I'm going to the Hostess of Fertility."

Was all that he said before exiting the room.

Tione, seeing the scene, sighed.

"He is so stupid".

Their conversation went like this for some minutes before Tiona went towards Ais with a smile on her face.

"So, did you understand how do you feel about Ethan?"

Hearing the question made Ais think about it another time before she shook her head. She wanted to understand her own feelings and, having Riveria in the room, she asked

"Riveria..can you teach me..how to understand my feelings.."

She didn't want to tell her how to understand her feelings because, knowing her, she would do everything she could to understand them. the fact that she was so exploitable made her think what was the right thing to do.

Hearing this, Lefiya wanted to cry but, understanding Ais' feelings had the priority right now, she said

"Riveria..you should t-t-teach her! I had time to talk with Ethan..he won't exploit her... Although I can't say I know him, He said he wanted to do everything he could do to make Ais happy."

Deciding to trust Lefiya's judgment, Riveria replied

"come with me, Ais"

Seeing Ais and Riveria heading towards the exit, Lefiya added with a blush on her face

"I w-want to come with you!"

Nodding her head, Riveria brought the two in her room. Closing the door behind her, she said

"You two, sit on the bed, I will explain some methods to understand your feelings"

After sitting on the bed, Ais looked at Riveria.

"I will talk about love for today"

Seeing the blush of Lefiya and the focused expression of Ais, she continued

"Love..is a feeling you can 'feel' for someone, when you feel love, you always think about that person, always having the thought about his/her safety, but it's not just that. In your case, try to think Ethan is in danger. What would you do?"

Hearing her question, Ais had the same determined expression while replying

"I would go save him"

With a smile, Riveria added

"Because he's in your familia?"

Furrowing her brows, Ais thought about it.

"No..."

Deciding to try and make Ais understand on her own, she added

"What is the reason that make you say 'I will go and save him'"

"I..think..there isn't a reason..."

Failing to understand her heart, Ais had a confused expression while Riveria made a sigh

"You can understand better with specific actions..."

Hearing this, Ais asked

"These actions..can make me..understand my feelings..?"

Nodding her head, Riveria added

"You can do something as simple as approaching him and looking at him closely. You should feel something. Or you can--"

Hearing this, Lefiya had a face so red you could mistake her for a tomato.

"If she d-d-does something like this...I don't know if Ethan..."

Covering her face with her hands, she started to think about the 'event' in her mind.

Seeing Ais doing such things with Ethan, she felt her head spinning before her consciouness faded away.

With a sigh, Riveria said

"For now, don't rush such things...you should try with what I said before. It isn't that important if the action is a little different. You need to think about your 'heart' and, if you feel he is the one you want to try new things with, come to me again"

Looking towards Lefiya, Ais made a nod before saying

"I will do.. as you say..."

Riveria, smiled while thinking

'Such a troublesome situation...I hope you will be the right person for her..Ethan'

---

(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!)

(Alternate Titles: "'Riveria-sensei, teach me the way..' said Ais", "When People talk about love. Riveria : Hold my beer", "'Don't rush such things' Ais, are you sure you understood these words?", "Ethan is f*cked")