*Narration*

-at the 16th floor of the dungeon, 2 days later.

"Denki, as usual, take the lead, I'll watch your back." August ordered, he watched Denki slash multiple monsters with his katana. 

'Denki is adapting well, at first he was struggling against multiple enemies.' August's assessment of Denki in the past two days was positive for the most part. But he still feels like he can be improved. He can see minor flaws in his fights as he is over complicating his movements and following the teaching of his martial arts to the tee. He views it as impractical and a waste of movement. 

*Sclack* 

August did a quick stab with his spear as he covered Denki's blind spot, with swift movement he killed the monster without any issues and fuzz. "You're slipping Denki, make sure to watch your surroundings. Monsters will take advantage of any opening they see."

"Yes sir!" The young samurai answered as he tried to control his breathing. This past couple of days was tiring for him, August made him fight monsters nonstop as he drew multiple hordes in their direction. He can feel his skills improving but at the same time the stress of constantly fighting monsters is getting to him.

""roar!!!"" multiple monsters can be heard heading in their direction, at this moment Denki was really getting exhausted. Still he didn't let his exhaustion show, with gritted teeth he gripped his katana firmly as he dug his feet on the ground.

"look alive, multiple minotaurs are heading this way." August warned, his eyes scanning the dungeon for any hidden threat. His eyes landed on Denki who by at this point was clearly gassed. He sighed and thought. 'He's about to reach his limit soon, guess he deserves a rest after all I've put him through.' "Yo Denki, I'll take point from now on, stay at the back and watch out for possible traps or ambush." August ordered as he twirled his spear and moved forward.

"What no! I can still go." Denki tried to argue but one quick burst of mana from August shut him right up.

"This is an order. Now try to watch how I fight, learn as much as you can from it, the way you're fighting right now is a liability inside the dungeon." August's cold words dug deep inside Denki. Being called a liability by someone he looked up to stings. 

"Understood." he answered meekly.

"Denki this is not a jab at your strength, it's just that your fighting style is more suitable for anti personnel combat and dueling." August spoke as he looked at the incoming monsters drooling for some human flesh.

August stood his ground waiting for them. "You fight by the book which is ok but not good enough here." he took a step to the side dodging the minotaur charging horn. "Fighting inside the dungeon and fighting outside are two very different things. You need to adapt inside here." He said as he pulled his spear up slashing the monster's neck in the process. "Every move needs to count, to be connected to the next." August then spun and slammed his weapon to the other minotaur cutting it in half from the head down. "You are fighting them like they are mortals, you're making them move into spots where you can perform textbook techniques. That is impractical and you are wasting time and energy in doing so." Multiple hellhounds jumped towards August with the intent of tearing him apart with their jaws, With his spear imbedded to the ground he jumped and used his spear as a pole as he balanced himself above it using his hands. "Instead of making them move into your desired position you must learn to strike at any possible angle you have. It will make your attack more diverse." He pulled his spear out of the ground and performed multiple stabs like a rain of blades killing all of the hellhounds. "Moved with the flow of battle and make it one with your tempo." with his last words August landed on his feet and with a quick burst he spun as he decapitated all the monsters surrounding him.

Denki was in awe, he was absorbed by what he is witnessing, so fast, so precise, and every move transferred flawlessly into the next in a smooth display of dance that slaughtered everything around August. The monsters were like statues for him, as he effortlessly killed them with one strike after the next. Then it clicked. Everything August is doing is something out of the far eastern philosophy in martial arts. "Amazing." he can only applaud what his captain was showing him right now.

"And the most important thing inside the dungeon is knowing what your limit is." August looked at Denki straight in the eye. This made Denki swallow some saliva from the look August gave him. "I almost died inside here because I failed to do so in the past. I was lucky to survive but luck isn't always by our side." He shrugs and continues moving deeper on the 16th floor. 

Denki watched the back of his captain, he felt that he is so reliable inside here. He is learning more and more from him and he is thankful for it.

"Let's go."

"Coming!!!" Denki ran after his captain's back as they both continued on with their adventures.

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-At the room of prayer in the adventurers guild.

Both Hermes and Ganesha are standing in front of Ouranus as they made final adjustments for the incoming tournament that Hades had proposed. 

"Lord Ouranus, the preparations for the event are going without any issues, every gods and mortals inside the city have been anticipating restlessly for such a spectacle. There is no doubt in my mind that this would be a success." Hermes said with pride. He was proud of himself for pulling this off with very little time.

"And the security of the city has gone through a major overhaul, I've personally made the adjustment myself so the spectators as well as the gods can watch without any worries." Ganesha said with utmost confidence. He firmly believes that no one would be able to pass his familia handling the security of the city in the incoming tournament.

"Hmmm..." Ournaus nodded at the two. At first he was perplexed by Hades and why he suggested such an event, but seeing as how the public has been clamoring for it and how the gods can't stop talking about it, he allowed for it to happen. And when he knew that all of this was because of the words of Heracles, he began to mobilize the adventurers guild to help with the preparations. "So everything is going smoothly. Then I would have the adventurers guild officially announce this tournament and it will happen two weeks from now. That should give every familia who wish to enter their children ample time to prepare."

"Then at the event I would like to ask permission to use Arcanum to project the fight city wide." Hermes asked.

"I'll allow it, but your use is only limited to projecting the fights. Any more and you know what will happen." Ouranus answered firmly.

"Then it's official, the tournament to determine the strongest level 5 in the city will commence two weeks from now." Ganesha said, excitement fills his voice. Yet there's a tinge of worry that the two gods caught in his tone.

"Hmmm..." Ouranus nodded. "Then with that being said then this meeting has come to a close. Hermes you may leave, I would like to have a word with Ganesha." 

Hermes was intrigue on what the old fox wanted to talk about with Ganesha, still he exited the room nonetheless. His curiosity was not enough for him to cross such an old being. He was smart enough to know when to pick his battles and he knew that Ouranus is way above his hitting range. "As you wish." he said as he made a quick bow, he then headed towards the exit.

Ouranus watched as Hermes exited the room of prayers, he took a quick glance towards his aide who suddenly appeared from the shadows to confirm that the god had fully left. 

Fels gave him a nod and vanished back in the shadows of the room as if they weren't even there to begin with.

He turned his eyes to Ganesha, he cannot read what he is thinking because of that elephant mask he is wearing. "Ganesha, I heard that you invited Heracles into your home."

'Straight to the point.' Ganesha thought as he slowly opened his mouth to answer. "Yes, I did invite Heracles for a chat and some tea." he answered, his voice firm showing Ouranus that he has nothing to hide.

"May I ask what the two of you talked about?" Ouranus asked, his voice filled with authority.

Ganesha is under the oath as well as Heracles, he cannot break it as well, not because he will lose his power, he did not swear secrecy after all. No he was fearful because the moment he speaks of it Heracles will know because of the oath. And to be frank he is more scared of what Heracles may do to him than what Ouranus would do. But at the same time Ouranus is the god who has the most authority in Orarion.

"We talked about his child, August." he decided to tell the truth but not the whole story. "How my captain wants him to join my familia instead, and how she may force my hand in challenging him for his child in a war game." He answered, making sure not to show any waver in his voice.

"Oh is that it? Well if you want I can make the war game happen as soon as possible." There was a hint of excitement in the old god's voice. He knew that Heracles was in a vulnerable spot with only one child in his familia. And he would love to see him lose it.

"As you know Lord Ouranus, I value free will, I believe mortals should have a say in their life, my captain already gave August this choice 9 years ago and he has chosen Heracles to be his god. So no. I won't be challenging him for a war game anytime soon." 

Ganesha's answer ruined the old god's mood, still he respected Ganesha because of his belief but he would have liked it if Heracles lost his child. "Is that so? And what did your captain say about your stance in this matter?"

"Shakti and I came to a compromise, something Heracles himself agreed to."

"And may I know of this compromise you speak of?" 

"This is a private matter Lord Ouranus. I'm afraid that I cannot disclose this information to you with the agreement of the other party which in this case is Heracles." It was no secret for the gods that Ouranus hates Heracles, and Ganesha knows that if the old god knew of their conversation, he would tip the board heavily in Ganesha's favor and frankly Ganesha didn't want that.

As much as he hates to admit it he wanted all of his children to lose to August, he didn't want anything to do with a Theïkó óplo ever again. 

"Very well then. You may take your leave." Ouranus sighed. He knew that Ganesha was one of those gods that had a very high morality so he knew he couldn't convince him to screw Heracles over. He was frustrated by this but still he did not let his emotions show in front of the god. 

"I bid you farewell then lord Ouranus." Ganesha gave a quick bow as he made his way to the exit.

As the door closes, silence emanates inside the room as Ouranus sits on top of his throne. "Fels." he called on his aide as a figure materialized beside him. "I have something for you to do." 

"It shall be done my lord." 

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-At the 17th floor of the dungeon.

The duo of August and Denki made quick work of the monsters inhabiting the 17th floor, now that August decided to stretch his body a little bit. 

Denki is slowly adapting to August's teachings about how to fight monsters in the dungeon, his movement had become more practical as more monsters fell because of his sword. 

With a final slash of his spear all the monsters surrounding them vanished and turned to dust as only the core remained. Denki hurriedly picked up their loots as August made a quick look around. He felt like someone was watching them.

Denki was busy filling up their bags but stopped as they've reached maximum occupancy for it. "Hey August the bags are all full, should we con-" 

"Shut up for a sec." August shushed Denki as he was speaking cutting him off. "Can you hear it?" he asked.

"Hear what? There is absolutely nothing." Denki was confused by the sudden shift in his captain's attitude.

"Exactly. It's too quiet." August was new to the dungeon but even he knew that this was unnatural. Not a sound could be heard from any monsters in the area. 

He slowly crouched as he picked up a monster core. 

"What are you doing?" Denki asked, not sure on why his captain is doing.

With a whip August threw a core in the corner turn. This action perplexed the young samurai. "Whoever you guys are come out!" 

With those words Denki suddenly realized that they were not alone. 

"Oho this brat actually sensed us. Hahaha." a slimy voice entered the duo ear as a person showed himself out of hiding.

"Right, I thought we would have easy pickings today." another one appeared and showed himself.

Slowly multiple individuals crept in to surround the two of them as they were laughing to themselves. All in all there were 12 people surrounding the two of them.

A large man with bulging muscles steps in front of all of them. He was wielding a large war hammer as he chuckled to himself.

"You boys look lost, how about you give us your loot and we would guide you out of this place." The large man spoke smugly as he waved his war hammer back and forth.

"Yeah... why don't you guys fuck off." August replied with as much politeness as he can muster with a matching bright smile on his face.

"Hoho. The brat has a tongue." The large man said gaining the laughter of everyone of his lackeys. Well everyone except one. 

'Doesn't that kid look familiar?' Belo, one of the adventurers thought to himself as he glued his eyes towards August.

"Boss let's just kill them and be done with it." a pallum with crooked teeth says as he smiled creepily at the two.

Denki was a bit confused by what was happening, not by the fact that the two of them were ambushed by other adventurers wanting their loots, those stuff were common especially for rookies. What he was confused about was that it seems like no one here recognized August. He knew that if these idiots stayed their course, they'll likely die here. 

"You boys should just give your loot to us. You see my friend here has quite an appetite for killing younglings such as yourselves. If you give us what we want I might stop this madman from doing what he wants." The boss aka the large man smiled as he said those words. 

"Idiots." Denki could only sigh and mutter at their stupidity. Which angered the large man.

"HAHAHA!!! Idiots they call us? Looks like they have a death wish." 

August was still smiling at them, even when they threatened to kill the two of them, he already had an idea of what their strength is. The large man was a level 3 while everyone else was a mix of level 3 and 2. 

Belo was creeped out because of August's smile, he was still trying to remember where he saw this kid before. Then his eyes landed on the spear. 'Dark amber brown hair, sharp eyes, black obsidian spear. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!!!' he hurriedly moved to his boss's side. "B-Boss!"

"What is it?!" his boss said angrily.

"We should go now." He said as his voice was shaky with fear.

"Huh?! Idiot we just hit a jackpot and you want us to leave?" 

"You should probably listen to him." August joined in the conversation with the same smile plastered on his face.

"STAY OUT OF THIS BRAT!!!" the boss screamed but then paused. 'He heard that? He was a few feet away and he heard that?' He thought as he slowly creaked his neck towards the smiling boy.

"B-Boss we should really go now."

The large man never saw Belo this scared before. He was literally sweating all over as he begged him to leave. He was contemplating it now, he too was starting to get nervous.

All of them were listening closely to Belo, they too never saw him this way.

Then Belo finally said it. As he did everyone there felt that they should run as fast as possible. "T-that guy is the Gáe Bulg!" he said shakily as his hands pointed towards August.

Those words filled the rookie slayers with dread, they have been targeting rookies for a long time now, and frankly it was much easier than dealing with monsters, when they spotted the two they all drool at the amount of loot they have. What they thought of was an easy prey was really Death himself.

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Chapter 35 is out, 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.