Danmachi: Magic Meister

Good Gods

.

I sighed as I began sorting through the loot we'd gotten from taking down that group of would-be assassins. As I was checking over the gear, hoping to find any clue to where they might have gotten it, I noticed that they were made by alchemy. Seeing as they were made of steel, it wasn't surprising.

While I was checking the gear, Hecate was doing her part and trying to teach Aria how to read.

It was an uphill battle.

Sighing again, I went about dismantling the gear, as nothing was better than what I could make or easily get. As I did so, I thought about how Aria managed to get so talented as an assassin. Her upbringing was a mystery until I found her. After that, it had been just a few days since she joined the Familia. 

As soon as my thoughts began to spiral, I felt a hand on my back. Turning around, I found Aria and Hecate standing there with odd looks on their faces. Before I could ask why or what the problem was, Hecate spoke.

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"Lost in your thoughts again?" She asked as he placed a hand on her hip.

"Yeah," I answered as I scratched my face.

"That explains why there is a mass of steel on the floor," She said and then pointed in front of me.

.

As I looked at what I was doing, I had made a decent-sized cube of steel. I didn't realize that I had finished dismantling the gear we had gotten. I sighed again and stood as I realized I might have gone too far with the dismantling. Turning around, I just shrugged my shoulders in defeat.

Hecate sighed and let it go. As for Aria, she looked at me expectantly. Wondering why she was, I then noticed that she had a book in her hands. I knelt and asked her what was up; she then asked me to read her a bedtime story. Looking out at a nearby window, I saw it was dark. Nodding, I saw I would as long as she did her daily necessities. She did, then ran off to go do them, leaving Hecate and me alone.

.

"Did you update her states?" I asked.

"I did; they're all C or B rank now," Hecate said, worried

"I'm surprised that she hasn't leveled up yet," I replied.

"I'm surprised as well," Hecate said. "According to you, she took down two level threes."

"That she did," I said, feeling like hell for saying it. "I didn't even give her a hand."

"But?" She asked, knowing what I was going to say.

"I was scared at how well she did. It looked like she had done it before." I whispered. "She's too good at it; I'm worried about her."

"I don't know what to say, but I can tell that she has no reason to turn against the Familia," Hecate said, trying to reassure me.

"At least, for now."

...

..

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[One Week Later]

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"Aria, get the right, I got left," I whispered to Aria.

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Aria nodded and disappeared into the shadows as I began to creep towards the wandering orcs. Before they could even sense either Aria or me, Aria descended from a nearby pillar and slammed her dagger into the orc's eye. I appeared a second later after Aria jumped from the orc as I unleashed a fireball and a stone bullet. The stone shot out faster than the fireball and impacted the second orc's head, and the fireball detonated as it hit the first, blowing its head off. As the second orc gripped its head in pain, Aria came in from the left and slit its throat.