Danmachi- Hell’s Forge

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Shapeshifting came with some serious downsides however in the form of "settling". What i am referring to is the fact that if I remained in a different form for too long that form starts to get set as my default state which for obvious reasons wasn't good at all. From my tests this process started after about three hours and progressively got worse the longer I remained transformed. I was glad that I caught onto this as fast as I did or it would have been a very rude discovery later.-

I didn't tell Hestia or anyone about my ability to shapeshift after I learned about it as it fell in the "the less know about it the better it works" category of tricks. To be honest I didn't even plan to use this trick all that much since I didn't have much use for it at the moment. Like it's nice to have and all but I don't plan to become a criminal who needs to remain hidden and my equipment identifies me even with a different face. To be fair i could have technically shapeshifted even at level one but it was only now that I leveled up to three that it was cost effective to do.-

"Finally done tinkering huh?" Hestia asked in the morning i had decided to head into the dungeon for the first time since I leveled up.

"Now that i have the other parts of my skills understood it's time for battle." I said with a shrug.

"Only the great tree labyrinth right?" she asked suspicious.

"Of course, I haven't finished juicing the place yet after all." I said with a grin.

"I don't think anything there could threaten your life but please be careful." she said seriously.

"I have no plan on dying so no need to worry your pretty little head over that." I said confidently.

I genuinely wasn't concerned about survival on those floors because as she said nothing that was known to be there was a real threat to my life. The highest leveled thing known to be there was a mere mid level four and at my current power I could just barely go toe to toe with that on equal footing. Mind you this was despite not having gained a single point in any of my stats after leveling up.-

I couldn't say definitively but I assume that by the time I hit mid level three I'll be about as strong as a level five and by level four I'll be about as strong as a level six. Then again I could be very wrong as the power scaling of each level up was not a joking matter and that meant jumping levels wasn't so easy anymore. Despite that I was already rapidly gaining power to achieve these feats thanks to reaching the true limit of stats every level so far which was something that no one had done to my knowledge.-

I stopped by the hostess on the way to the dungeon and was greeted by Ryuu cleaning up outside with a broom. She was a green eyed blonde elf with a serious expression most of the time but was actually quite friendly if she knew you. 

"Good morning Alex. Here to see Syr I assume?" she asked calmly and I shrugged.

"Not much choice when she tends to punish me if I don't." 

"She doesn't mean anything by it." she said and I nodded.

"If she did why in hells name would I keep coming back?" I joked with a grin.

"That's an unusual phrase, in hells name, most say in heavens name instead." she said confused.

"And that's all well and good but why should I choose the lesser of the two goods? Heaven as I understand it is the place all good souls go to but hell? Hells a place of punishment for the wicked, a deterrent to keep us on the right path and by comparison much more important in my opinion." I said honestly.

She looked thoughtful "I hadn't thought of it like that but what you say has logic. Thank you for explaining." she said sincerely but i just waved it off.

"No need to thank me, I simply felt like you might understand it from my point of view is all." i said honestly.

I meant it too as her soul was colored in loss, revenge and regret. It wasn't hard to understand that she had likely suffered some tragedy in the past at the hands of another and took vengeance into her hands. Someone like this could understand the way I see hell as a concept and perhaps even appreciate it. Most others merely see it as an evil place of fire and pain but they all seem to overlook that it was only the wicked who went there and only so they could be punished for their sins.-

"Good morning Alex, finally heading back to the dungeon?" Syr brought me out of my thoughts as she walked up with a smile.

"That's the plan, I was going to do some mapping of the great tree labyrinth to see if I could find anything interesting." I said with a smile.

"That's a rather dangerous place for a new level three to go, are you sure that is wise?" Ryuu asked concerned.

"I spent a month down there without issue before I leveled up so I don't see why that would change after." I said casually but both Ryuu and Syr looked shocked.

"How did you stay so long? Even the Loki familia needs to have many porters with only food just for their expeditions and you delve alone." Ryuu asked curiously.

"Ah well I set up camp on the eighteenth floor before spending most of the day on the lower floors where I gathered food from plants and monsters. Fun fact by the way Battle boar meat is addictively good. If you ask nicely i might even bring some back for you." I said with a grin.

"Doesn't the meat vanish after you harvest the stones though?" Syr asked confused.

"Normally but theres a trick to getting it to stay after you harvest the stone, familia secret though so I can't say what it is." I teased causing her to pout.

I headed out after that since Mama mia was starting to glare at us. The dungeon square was bustling like normal at this time of day when I got there and no one paid me any attention when I put on my mask/helm and walked through the entrance to the dungeon. It was fucking hilarious but some people had started wearing stylized helms that made them look monstrous after I leveled up to three. It was mostly just a fashion thing but if the form was right had some actual utility in combat as well.

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