Dungeon Oratoria Online

Chapter 9

Author's note:

Hello again.

First of all, because I keep forgetting, I'd like to thank and recommend the YouTube video SAO she is still sleeping with rain and thunder by Eric Johnson for being an excellent song to write to.

Secondly, thanks again for everyone who actually reads my crazed ramblings. All the follows, favorites, and reviews mean a lot :)

Moving on, I'm a little surprised everyone asks where Bell is, but no one has actually put up a theory on where he is.

Anyway, this is kind of two short chapters, each composing half of it. The second, the more important, is a little forced and awkward in my opinion, but hopefully you enjoy it. Also thanks to Ancient for the idea that created the first half of this chapter.

enjoy,

-asdf

Chapter 8 – My Beloved Child

On the Roofs of Orario:

"How long do you think it will take them?"

"Hmm… Want to bet on that too?"

"Not a chance," the first laughs. I've been losing to you too often nowadays."

"I'm sure you'll make your comeback soon," the second answers amicably.

Standing atop the roof of the building as close to the entrance of Babel as possible, the pair of deities chat like old friends. Like really, really old friends. Giving each other a knowing smile, the unscrupulous pair wait for the result of their most recent bet.

Magni and Modi had thousands to millions of years of history of getting in trouble together. After descending to the lower world over a hundred years ago, they'd briefly parted ways. Somehow, both had ended up in Orario with their own adventuring familias. Reunited, the gods now did little else except bet their familias hard earned money and predict the outcomes of their pranks.

The most recent victims were their newly joined recruits. They told their respective members a true story, with just one tiny mistake slipped in. So small it could be considered innocuous. A slip of the tongue. An oversight. All of the best lies and pranks were predicated on this principle. Just enough truth to hook them, hiding the rotten core.

The lie was a simple one. That today, on Friday March 31, 2023, at 6 pm, a rare monster will spawn on the first floor. A monster whose guaranteed drop is worth a whopping one million valis. A paltry sum to top-tier adventurers, it was life-changing for their new recruits. This of course, is mostly true. There is such a monster, but it wouldn't spawn today, it would spawn this time next year. After all, the chicken creature spawns only once every seven years. Next year there will be an entire festival dedicated to it, where they let the new adventurers try to capture the insanely fast chicken.

Already its been more than two hours since the two parties set foot in the dungeon. No doubt doing laps of the first floor, attempting uselessly to locate the absent fowl.

Licking their chops, the gods waited patiently for the loser to emerge, for such was the bet. Each god believed that their newest recruits were the more head strong ones and would stay in the dungeon longer looking for the monster. A foolish game, but each god had put 50,000 valis on this wager.

As the sun dipped below the western wall of Orario, the gods continued their eternal vigil. After all, nothing will deter an entertainment starved deity from receiving their fill of the children's' insanity.

Asuna:

"We're staying here for the night?" Posing the question to Astrid, I stand beside her as she gives orders to the familia.