Danmachi: Magic Meister

Expedition Unknown

.

I breathed a sigh of relief as I stepped into the safe zone of the eighteenth floor. Tsubaki took the lead to show where the expedition would be set up. On our way there, we were in an uncomfortable silence. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore.

.

"Tsubaki, look for what happened, I'm sorry," I sighed and told her. "If it wasn't for me, this wouldn't have happened. I-"

"Stop," She said with a sigh, "What happened, happened. There's nothing we can do about it now. So don't apologize, okay?" She then turned her head towards me and smiled.

"Sure," I spoke up happy that she wasn't mad at me. "So, about what happened..." I said, trying to break the ice about us having sex. "You were damn good."

"Yeah, I know I am!" Tsubaki laughed.

.

We then came to a clearing with numerous tents set up. I recognized several people who were sitting around campfires. But there was a commotion around one of the tents with several people looking in and rushing out. Tsubaki ignored them as did I and walked over to where the Hephaestus family was setting up. I followed her since I was here on Hecate's and Hephaestus's orders. So the least I could do was help with my alchemy where I could.

With the Magic stone under one arm, Tsubaki passed me the Goliath's tooth and walked on ahead. I followed behind her as she made herself known to her Familia. They all stopped what they were doing to listen to what needed to be done. She then told them to get the camp organized and make sure they had enough resources to keep up with the demands of the expedition. She then turned to me, ordering me to make myself useful and set up the tents while passing me her tent bag.

I complied as I wasn't going to say no to her when she was in her 'Captain' mode. I took her bag from her and found a spot to set up the tent. As I was hammering the spikes into the ground, I got a helping hand from a Dwarf I didn't recognize. With the two of us, Tsubaki's tent was set up within minutes. I nodded to the Dwarf and he nodded back. From then on I set up my tent a bit away from Tsubaki's and started to go over my belongings and gear.

I had my book and pen safely in my soul, extra clothes, food, and water rations, my carving tools, and blank notebooks in my backpack. As for my gear, I notice some changes to them. My greaves were now sporting a Damascus pattern to them. For my gauntlets, they had been reinforced by some material I couldn't place but it had the same Damascus patterns. For my saber, the handle was wrapped with high-quality leather it didn't have before, and the knuckle guard was now made of layered bones and steel that were twisted. As for the blade, the spine was covered with a white/silvery material that I could only guess was mithril. The only exception was that my dagger seemed to have no change to it that I could see, but it felt several times stronger when I put a tiny amount of mana into it.

As I wondered what happened to them, Tsubaki came over and I gave her my undivided attention.

.

"Good news and bad news," She sighed and started. "The expedition has been started already and was heading down to the deeper floors. However, due to the sudden appearance of variants in multiple packs, they're on the way back."

"And the good news?" I asked.

"That was the good news," She sighed, "The bad news is that you're the talk of the entire expedition due to our exploits on the surface. Your Alchemy and Enchanting are being begged for by the higher members of the expedition."

"Well, shit," I bemoaned in despair.

"Just remember," Tsubaki spoke as she rested a hand on my shoulder, "It could always be worse."