*Narration*

Denki was walking down the road with his head hung down. He lost all his money and was humiliated inside a pub. 

'Master, the city is so scary.' he thought to himself. But not everything was bad. His bill which he can never pay right now was paid for by a good samaritan, he doesn't know who it was but he was thankful nonetheless. 

'Hmmm... But that bloodlust earlier. Was it just my imagination? I could have sworn that I was targeted earlier. It felt like a hand was grasping my heart.' he felt chills remembering the events in the pub. He faced his fair share of monsters and mortals before but that was the first time he ever felt such a dense bloodlust. 

He shook his head rapidly to get the memory out of his mind. What he needs right now is to find a familia for him to join and right now he has no prospect of what he is looking for.

'Honestly I'll join any familia who'll take me in. But I do wish there is someone strong in it. Oh well I'll worry about it in the future.' he slaps his face to pump himself up and with a determined face takes a step towards his dream of becoming an adventurer.

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-Inside the dungeon 21st floor.

August was out dungeon diving, killing monsters and training with Heracles was the new normal for him right now. 

He was confused though. Heracles was training him harder than usual, and at every spar they have right now his god always uses that aura that seems to push him down to the ground.

He does not mind it, all those work is making him strong so he can't really complain about any of it. 

*Schlap* 

He twirls his spear and slashes the incoming monster Vouivre cutting it in half and the monster can do nothing but shriek at the pain and turn to dust as it dies on the spot.

"Floor 21 is becoming boring now, but I did promise the old man that I won't be diving deeper than the 24th."

The ground shook as a couple of mammoth fools charged at him.

"He did say that I'm only allowed deeper in the dungeon if I could find a party to go with." he said as he jumped high up dodging the one mammoth fool and bringing down his spear at the other piercing its skull and killing it in one blow. "if I'm not mistaking the majority of the 25th floor is heavily consist of multiple bodies of water so going alone is problematic even for a high class adventurer." as the monster turned to dust he twirled his spear so fast that it looked like a blur and he cut the trunk off another mammoth fool. 

It howls in anger as it flails at August with the aim of maiming him with its tusk. August was having none of that, he calmly stopped the giant monster on its track with his spear and with his bare hands delivered a devastating uppercut straight to its face sending the monster flying in the air. 

He then took aim and charged mana on his spear as he threw his weapon towards the beast. The spear passed through it like a hot knife through butter killing it, turning it to dust as only its core remained.

He calmly walked and picked his weapon up along with the loot that he got from his daily hunt. 

"This is getting repetitive. When will that old man find another member? I want to dive deeper." he said to himself as he made his way down the dungeon.

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He made his way down towards the 24th floor killing everything in his path. 

He stopped at the entrance of the 25th floor or was better known as the second line. He sighs, he really wanted to dive deeper but he knows that going there unprepared would be stupid on his part. He doesn't want another repeat of what happened on his first day inside the dungeon. 

"The old man won't know though. Maybe a steep inside won't be as bad as they said it is." he made up his mind. What Heracles wouldn't know won't kill him. He was about to take a step inside but stopped as he heard a couple of voices coming his way.

He can see a silhouette far at the distance. He squints his eyes trying to see who they were.

"Finn?" he can see the pallum hero at the front, and behind him are his party, they were making their way back at the surface at the call of their god Loki.

Finn spotted August at the distance standing there at the entrance way. And he can see that he's alone.

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They met each other and August greeted them with a smile on his face, the adventures of Loki's familia recognized August immediately. How could they forget? He was the center of such a malicious mana, such dark magic.

"Hello August." Finn greeted August and offered his hand for a shake which he politely received. "so you made it all the way down here. Piece of advice, don't go deeper if you're alone. The 25th floor and beyond is dangerous to those who are diving solo." 

"I know..." August answered solemnly, patience wasn't his strong suit, and right now he was so impatient in going deeper in the dungeon. "So y'all done with your expedition?" he asked them.

"Not really... Our god has called for our return, something about a tournament taking place." Finn answered him while sighing. He really wanted to reach the 60th floor so them returning early bummed him out.

'so there's a level 5 in their party. I wonder who it is.' August scanned everyone in Finn's party. 'They all look so strong. I can't wait to see who I get to fight in the tournament.' 

"I'm guessing by your reaction that you're taking part in it." Finn said smiling at August. 

'Sharp as ever.' August just nodded his head, he could see Finn smiling at him, it was the same smile he saw Heracles was giving him when he is plotting something.

"Why don't we travel back to the 18th floor, we could talk much more peacefully there." Riveria suggested which everyone agreed to, they all made their way up the dungeon as August asked them unending questions about the deeper floor.

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-18th floor 

They arrived at the 18th floor quickly as all of them are high ranking adventures, the monsters really never posed a threat to any of them. The adventurers of Loki familia set up a temporary camp for them to relax as they continued their talk.

August got to know more about the adventurers as he was able to talk to them on their journey. He had gotten quite close with Tiona as she was quite a bubbly character to hang out with. Tione also joined in on their conversation but Bete and Ais were taking a more distant approach towards August. 

Bete because he doesn't like the boy because of the magic that he saw when he was battling Goliath, and Ais because she was reserved and was not the socializing type.

But August doesn't mind at all. Right now they are sitting and relaxing in front of a campfire as Finn, Gareth, and Riveria talk with each other. Leaving August in the company of the twins.

"He really did that?!" Tiona was listening to August as he tells them how his god always beat him up every time they spar with each other.

"Yes, the old man never really knows the concept of holding back. He even sent me flying through a forest when he punched me that one time." 

"Ouch..." Tiona wince just imagining it. She shudders at the thought of sparring against someone like that on a daily basis. 

"So you learned to fight because of him? You must be quite strong now, training directly under your god." Tione joined in their conversation. August story caught her interest as well. He imagined his god to be quite a monstrous warrior if he could unleash strength like that in the lower world.

"Yeah, everything I learned when it comes to fighting is because of the old man. But still is it too much to ask for him to tone it down just a little?"

""Hahahaha!"" the twins laughed as they watched August sighing because of the beating he was receiving. They couldn't help but find him a bit cute. 

"Speaking of fighting. I really wish that I could spar with any of you." August suddenly became serious as he looked at the twins. "I've never fought anyone close or even above me in strength except for the old man. And I can feel that the two of you are super strong."

"well as much as we want to fight you." -Tiona 

"we can't really make a decision without asking Finn for permission." -Tione 

the twins answered August. 

"Then maybe we could ask Finn? I'm sure he'll have no problem with it since it's just a friendly spar." 

"I'll spar with you." suddenly a voice joined in, August followed the voice to see the werewolf Bete Loga looking at him with a cocky smirk on his face. "You're cool with that right?"

August didn't really like this man, and he can tell that he doesn't like him either. And that cocky smile is really pissing him off. 

"Sure, I've got no problem with that." August answered him returning a cocky smile of his own which annoyed the werewolf. "But aren't you gonna ask for permission first?"

"Oh I'm sure he wouldn't mind... Won't you Finn?" 

August looked behind him only to find the trio of Finn, Gareth, and Riveria standing there, watching them. "Well I see no problem if it's just a friendly spar."

"So there you have it boy. Or are you perhaps backing out?" Bete smiled became even more cockier, looking at August with an amused expression on his face.

'This man is really pissing me off.' August eyes were twitching, but the smile on his face was still there. But slowly his smile turned into a feral grin as the prospect of beating the shit out of him entered his mind. "backing out? HAHAHA!!! You must be joking." his face suddenly became serious as he looked at Bete like he was his prey. "Let's have a friendly spar then."

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The adventurers formed a huge circle with both August and Bete at the middle. Somehow their spar became a spectacle for everyone on the 18th floor as multiple adventurers came to watch the two fight.

"Holy shit isn't that Bete Loga the Vanargand of Loki familia?" a random adventurer exclaimed as he saw Bete standing in the middle.

"Yeah it is... Who is he fighting against?" another adventurer chimes in.

"Th-that's August Kaiser... Gáe Bulg August Kaiser!!!" an adventurer who recognized August exclaimed. 

"Who now?" 

"You haven't been up to the surface yet but that guy is a level 5 adventurer who has beaten Goliath solo." 

"Killing a monster rex solo?!"

"A level 5?!"

"Damn he looks young!"

"Is he single by any chance?"

"Holy shit we're getting a heavy weight matchup aren't we."

The adventurers were getting noisy as they watched the two of them glared at one another. August with his beloved spear Beowulf and Bete holding his two swords Dual Rolan. The atmosphere was so tense you could cut it with a knife.

"Who knows August was this popular already?" Tiona said as she watches the back of August. They were gone for a couple of weeks yet August had garnered this much recognition.

"Well he is the full package... Strong, good-looking, and young. Him gaining popularity was only a matter of time if you ask me." Tione answered her sister.

"So who do you think will win?" Riveria asked Finn and Gareth for their opinions on the fight.

"Base on level... Bete has this in the bag, he is level 6 after all and from what we are hearing young August is only a level 5." Gareth answered her as he put he finger in his chin.

"But it isn't a guarantee, we don't know much about August, how he fights against another person is still a mystery for us. But I'm leaning on Bete on this one." Finn chimed in his thought watching closely. "Either way we will see how strong the boy from 9 years has grown."

Farther away from the crowd Ais was watching the two of them. Her eyes are glued to the young man who is the same age and the same level as her. 

Bete looked around and opened his mouth. "Looks like we gathered quite a crowd, you can still back off if you want. Losing in front of this many people would be embarrassing don't you think?" He is riling up August and he knows it.

August smirked at the attempt and answered back. "You seem to have forgotten, you're level 6, if I lose no one will bat an eye to it. But if you lose no one will ever forget." 

The words of August made Bete angry at it. He knows the words rings true, clinching his swords hard he took his stance and glared at him. August followed suit, twirling his spear to a blur he aimed the tip at Bete, his full concentration now in the fight.

Finn walked in the middle of the two and looked at them, seeing that they were ready, he raised his hand up in the air.

"Begin!"

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*** 

Hey guys. Chapter 27 is done, how do you guys like the story so far?

Please leave a comment, a review and feedback so I can improve on writing this fanfic. every little thing helps as it allows me to see your preference on things and would help me write a better fanfic for you all to enjoy.

thanks for picking up this fanfic. hope you guys like it.

good day, love y'all. 

P.S 

The Man Candy would really appreciate it if you guys can leave a review of this fanfic.