Playing With Other Supernaturals

Yoruichi and Serafall were already waiting in a secluded area where they could teleport to the surface, but before Riveria could leave the camp, Lefiya and Ais, with Lysa on her head, came running towards her, "Riveria!" "Please wait, Riveria-sama!"

Riveria stopped walking but didn't immediately turn towards them. With her sour mood, she didn't want to say her farewells with a frown, so she had to calm herself first.

The two girls felt the strong mood around Riveria and didn't want to bother her. In any case, she had already stopped walking so they gave her the space she needed for a moment.

After a few minutes, Riveria turned around with a wry smile plastered on her face, "I'm sorry you had to see that."

Instead of addressing the earlier exchange, Ais asked, "Are you really going to discard your Falna?"

A real smile then appeared on Riveria's face as she patted Ais' head, "From the start, what I sought wasn't strength, but knowledge and wisdom. I may have already lost my reason for it a long time ago, but it's still something I want to achieve. And since strength is just secondary for me, wouldn't discarding it temporarily be a good deal for my goal?"

"But..."

"I know. For you who have sought strength more than anyone else, it must be an incomprehensible decision. If so, think of it like this. In your case, you'll be perfectly fine to sacrifice a bit of knowledge and wisdom in exchange for strength, am I right?"

Ais looked down but eventually nodded.

"See? Everyone has their own desires and one's trash may be another's treasure." Riveria took back her hand, "However, you can only appreciate and find your own 'treasure' if you respect the 'trash'. That's how the Loki Familia is. We've always lived for our desires and respected our comrades' wishes. It's what makes us strong. Never forget that."

Ais, as simple as she was, only understood that her comrades were important and that was something she'd already understood long ago. But, what it meant to respect the 'trash', she had no idea, and she would have to explore that on her own in the future.

Lefiya, on the other hand, clenched her fist. Although she didn't want Riveria to go through a level reset, she understood where she was coming from. Out of all the Familia members, Riveria was the most enthusiastic and had the most fun while learning Magic, and she could easily tell that it wasn't for the contest of strength like it was for everyone else. Riveria simply enjoyed the process of learning about this mysterious power, "Riveria-sama... I wish you the best. Please return to us as soon as possible."

Riveria patted Lefiya's head, "Thank you." Though she thought that the situation was really strange, 'I'm not going to be gone for long... right?'

At that moment, the girls heard a crashing sound inside the Loki Familia tent and Gareth's angry voice.

Lefiya became concerned as she didn't think it'd reach the point that the usually calm Gareth would burst into anger, "A-are they going to be alright?"

"Don't worry about it. He's just giving an earful to our leader who was about to lose sight of things."

Riveria, Ais, Lefiya, and Lysa could see that the executives not far from the tent also had worried expressions. This was the first time they'd seen Gareth erupt into a rage at Finn.

A few minutes later, Gareth came out of the tent after the last crashing sound and made his way straight to Riveria, "Don't take what he said to heart. His stress has been piling up lately, especially now that nothing's ever going the way he wants it to. Though that's still a poor excuse."

Riveria shook her head, "His words may have some merits. I may just be going to do this just to follow that man."

Not just Ais and Lefiya, but even Gareth's eyes widened, though in a different sense than the two girls, "So you're fine with admitting it now?"

"There's no use escaping from it. Nevertheless, it's just a budding and fleeting feeling that will disappear with the passage of time."

In response to this, Gareth just snorted at her, "You and your pride. This is the first time you're experiencing something like this, yet you still act like you know all about it? As expected of a stuck-up Elf."

Riveria snorted back, "There's a prime example of it right in front of me happening multiple times. Why shouldn't I expect the same thing?"

"Haah! You know nothing about the Dwarf ways! Finding a wife this way is normal! You, on the other hand, even for an Elf, are already too old for the first time so you should take advantage of it or you might not find another one!"

A vein popped in Riveria's forehead as she readied her staff, "Hoo? Sounds like you'd like a few holes opened before I leave. Let me grant you that wish!"

"Hoho? It seems like you'd like to use your powers for the last time. Come. I'll show you our differences."

As sparks clashed, Lefiya hurriedly went in between them, "S-Stop! Stop! Why did the two of you want to duke it out all of sudden!? What's wrong with you!?"

Riveria and Gareth sighed before chuckling while taking their weapons away. The sudden shift in mood left both Lefiya and Ais speechless and confused. But ignoring these two, Gareth turned away while saying, "I'll pick up your slack here, so go with peace of mind. Grab that opportunity and never let it go."

Riveria did the same and resumed walking, "Then be sure not to be left behind."

Thus, the exchange between the 'rivals' ended on a relatively good note.

Lefiya and Ais didn't follow and just wave their goodbyes to them.

After half an hour of walking, Riveria finally reached the place where they were supposed to meet and saw that Yoruichi and Serafall were already done setting up the Teleportation Magic that they were going to use.

"Ready?"

Riveria silently nodded and stepped into the circle. A flash of light enveloped the three of them before they were ejected out of the Dungeon.

Riveria never expected that this trip wouldn't just be the chance of her life, but something that would influence the future of this world. Sadly, she'd be leaving her rival behind.