Danmachi – Card Wizard

Walking on the street of the world's most influential and protected city, Aidan looked around to take in the surroundings. He wanted to remember where each shop was as it would be helpful in the future. During their walk, Aidan, from time to time, would strengthen his cards when he recovered his magic power, as enhancing his cards would make him stronger.

Loki and Finn, of course, discovered his repetitive use of magic. However, as both of them had a particular understanding of his card magic, they didn't bother him. Instead, they were more curious about the uses of such magic.​​

As Aidan took the surroundings and improved himself with his magic cards, Ais walked next to him. With her constant absence of expression, the others couldn't understand what she was thinking. However, for Aidan, he could tell that she was happy. It didn't come from her face or her way of walking. It was merely the air she gave.

After walking for about a dozen minutes, the three Loki familia members and her goddess arrived in front of the pub. The Hostess of Fertility was made entirely of pale brown wood. The door was on the left side of the establishment, and countless windows faced the road, allowing the diners to see the exterior.

The interior of the pub had a warm atmosphere and gave the customers the feeling of being welcomed. As the four of them entered the magically illuminated establishment, Loki and Finn habitually made their way towards a table in the middle of the dining area.

At the table sat Gareth, the other examiner of the recruitment process, along with a jade-coloured-haired elf he did not know. At the table were precisely six chairs, allowing the four new members to sit down. However, Aidan and Ais didn't immediately sit down as the other recruits were seated at the other tables all around this one. Because of this, they couldn't easily sit down with the captain and goddess of the familia since there were still places to sit with the recruits.

This thinking didn't stay long as the trickster goddess immediately pointed at the two chairs left at the table, which Aidan understood as he and Ais went to sit at the remaining chairs.

"Anya-chan~! Bring us the menu!" Shouted Loki in a childish voice.

"Yes, Loki-sama. Please give me a moment, nya~." She answered as she finished giving the food to her customers before moving to the goddess's table.

"Here is the menu, Loki-sama. Are those two new members of your familia, nya~?" Asked the brown-haired cat-girl as she readied herself to take the orders of the group.

"Yes! Aren't they cute?" Answered the goddess as she already started to drink from a mug, which Aidan never saw appearing.

The cat person decidedly ignored her question as she smiled at the two new familia members before taking their orders. "We'll take your specialty as always, along with pasta for everyone. As for the drinks, it'll be ale for both Finn and Gareth and juice for the two children and Riveria-chan." Said Loki as she gave a glance at the menu before ordering for everyone. "As for the other recruits, they can order whatever they want; it's on my tab today." Added Loki as she turned back to her drink while the recruits shouted in happiness in response.

Turning back to the two children, the flat-chested goddess started talking. "You already know Finn and Gareth. As for the elf over there, she is Riveria Ljos Alf, another executive of the familia. She is also known as the sage of Orario due to her knowledge of magic and her strength." Taking a small sip of her mug, she turned back her attention to the two children who seemed out of place in a pub full of grown-ups.

"So, you two." Said the goddess while she was waiting for the food. "How did your first day in the dungeon go?" She asked as she was curious about their impression of the dungeon. She had received a report from the level three adventurer who had protected the two of them when exploring the first floor. However, the news couldn't tell how they felt about it.

"It went well." Answered Ais first, upon which Aidan nodded.

"And how did you like staying in the dungeon?" Asked the flat-chested goddess.

"It wasn't hard, and it almost felt like we were tourists, visiting the dungeon. The monsters were easy to kill after we understood the best way to kill them, and we would've continued had it not been for your instructions." Answered Aidan as he explained their first dungeon dive.

"I see. Did you two kill a lot of monsters?" Asked the pallum as he entered the conversation while drinking from his newly brought mug.

"Not many. We have only killed sixty-three goblins. There wasn't a lot of them, and most of our time was exploring the first floor." Answered Aidan as he shook his head in regret.

Nodding at Aidan's answer, the pallum continued to ask. "You've been in the dungeon for a bit more than six hours. Weren't you tired at some point?"

"I created a barrier so that we could rest." Answered Aidan as he didn't bother to hide his magic. Other people would know about his magic in the future, and hiding it from his familia members didn't seem necessary. "With this, we could create a dome around us which would block a few goblin's attacks before breaking it. Thanks to this, as long as we stay a minimum vigilant, there's no problem taking a safe rest in the dungeon." He continued with a smile.

"You can create a sustainable barrier with your card magic?" Asked the beautiful elf.

"Yeah. As long as I put magic in the card beforehand, the barrier will stay in effect as long as there is magic in the card or decide to stop it. There is always a small amount of magic released throughout the barrier. Whenever an attack is coming to the barrier, the card's magic will increase its release automatically and block the attack. However, just like any barrier magic, if the attack is too strong and it takes all the magic in the card, then it will weaken the attack, but it will still pass through." Explained Aidan as he tried to be clear of the barrier's card magic use and limitation.

Nodding, she asked another question. "If you were to release your barrier magic right now, how long would it be able to hold without breaking or which level of attack would break it?" Asked the elf once again.

"Well, I started to put magic in it two hours before we left the dungeon, so approximately three hours ago. Currently, it can block a level one attack with its stats in the F category (1.3 in strength) or sustain itself for an hour if there's no damage." Answered Aidan. He had started to release his magic in his barrier card, mostly since it was helpful in the dungeon. Of course, he was planning on increasing the other card before going back.

"I see. I hope you can show me in the next few days if you don't mind." Asked the jade-haired elf as she eyed Aidan thoughtfully despite holding a mug of fruit juice in her hand.

"Yes, yes, no problem." Answered Aidan as he looked at her deep eyes.

As the group continued to talk about their day in the dungeon, the food soon arrived. Their specialty looked like some poultry. However, the colour was red, and it had a hint of spiciness. Smelling the food, Aidan lifted an eyebrow as he couldn't wait to taste it as some saliva started to appear in his mouth in anticipation of the food.

Next to the poultry on the plate was some pasta. It was pretty standard compared to the poultry, but considering the smell from the sauce, he could tell that it would be delicious as well. Finally, the waitress left two mugs of juice in front of them as everyone started to eat. She slightly bowed to the goddess present, and she turned back to the kitchen to serve the other customers.

Aidan looked at everyone who started to eat and joined them as the food was delicious. Tasting the poultry first, he was greatly surprised by the spiciness, which perfectly enhanced the taste. Taking a sip from his fruit juice from time to time, he slowly devoured his food. By the time he finished his food, the others had ended as well. However, for the two, Finn and Gareth, it was only the beginning as they took some alcohol along with their goddess, who was surprisingly a heavy drinker. She didn't seem to get drunk quickly, and after taking a few drinks, she appeared to have no limitations as she started to flirt with Riveria, the high-elf of the familia.

"Can we go to the dungeon again tomorrow? And to deeper floors?" Asked Ais as the atmosphere was getting weirder with the high-elf trying to hit her goddess on her head while the other party wanted to grope her.

Ais's question seemed to make the beautiful elf think as Loki took this chance to get closer and grope her executive, only to be blocked by her staff before she achieved her goal. "Who are you going to go with?" Asked the goddess as she nursed her head by rubbing her forehead.

Pointing towards Aidan, she didn't answer as she merely looked at the goddess.

As the boyish goddess looked at Ais and Aidan, she nodded. "You can go to the dungeon. However, before going down a floor, I want you two to have completely mapped out the floor you are on first and have killed at least fifty monsters each on that floor." 'By having them map out the floor, they will have a better chance to escape if something happens, and by having them map it out completely, it will slow them down a bit, allowing them to get used to each floor and the increased difficulty. Anyway, this will only hold them back for a few days at most, but it will allow them to get used to the dungeon and killing monsters.' The goddess thought as she drank from her mug once again.

Nodding their heads to the goddess, Ais didn't show any emotions on her face. However, Aidan could see her closing her fist in delight.