Gaia was lost in her thoughts on the way to the camp. Her thoughts were centered around what had happened and how it was all her fault. She blamed herself for what happened. While she had initially blamed the Amalgamation due to the quest, she could have just decided to fail the quest instead of trying to complete it. The punishment for failing was unknown, though so it could have been magnitudes worse than what occurred. For all she knew, she could have died or been possessed by the Amalgamation.

  It was with these thoughts, an angry visage, and regretful heart that she reached the camp. She didn’t notice her friends were waiting until she was nearly tackled by all three and held in a group hug on Malachite’s shell. This was when she realized they were saying something.

  “Rry. We’re sorry! We should have immediately run after you!” Her friends were crying while hugging her.

  She was stunned for a bit since she wasn’t sure how they would react to her return. She had hoped that something like this would happen, or they would at least welcome her back, but she had worried they wouldn’t. She couldn’t keep her mind from going through all the possibilities and the worst one kept nagging at her. She had been scared they would shun her or refuse to let her in from fear since, she could probably gruesomely kill everyone around her. The Amalgamation’s quest had also caused her to do something inconceivable, leading her to blame herself and think she might have actually been the type of being they should be afraid of.

  Her friends’ reaction to seeing her again caused these thoughts that nagged her in the back of her head to completely disappear. They didn’t believe her to be someone who should be feared, they trusted her. They knew she wouldn’t be someone to abuse such a power which alleviated her own insecurities. If she couldn’t believe in herself or believed herself to be someone to be evil, she would believe in her friends faith in her.

  As she was being hugged and thoughts continuously sped through her mind she cried with her friends. Her biggest worry was unfounded, and her friends were beside her again. They cried together for a while before heading to the inn to talk in private. They all met in the girls room to talk.

  “Are you okay? You were gone for a couple days.” Stephanie asked worriedly.

  “I was gone for days? I thought it was only hours not days. As for if I’m okay?" She stopped momentarily before continuing. "Both yes and no.” Gaia replied and told them about what she did while in the ruins. She didn’t omit or gloss over anything.

  “Really? You had to complete a quest alone, and the monster turned into the item?” Griff asked.

  “Sadly yes. I still regret having to do what I did, though.” Gaia said after wincing at Griff’s question.

  “Sorry. Had we come after you, you likely wouldn’t have had to deal with all of that. And even if you did, you wouldn’t have had to do so alone.” Fergus replied with audible regret.

  “Yeah. We’re all sorry for how we reacted. We should have waited or at least run after you.” Stephanie added.

  “No, I understand why. I’d have probably done the same. I won’t deny it hurt to sense, though, but we’re back together now and we can’t change the past. We just need to look forward and continue onwards.” Gaia replied.

  “Still sorry.” Griff stated.

  “Don’t dwell on it. I understand why." She started before deciding to change the topic. "Also, do you lot know what a Niehoggr is? In my world is was a creature from a myth. The item is made from the body of a baby version of one. Also, I don’t know how oaths work here and, to be honest, I wasn’t completely clear on how they work there either.” She asked.

  “A Niehoggr? No, I don’t. I’ve heard of Oaths though. It’s a tradition many don’t do anymore. Mainly one would swear to a god and follow through. I know if one broke their oath bad things would happen. I don’t know anything past that though, why?” Griff replied.

  “It also requires I make an oath. Beyond that it just says the effects depend on the oath.” Gaia stated.

  “Interesting. I’ve never heard of an item like that. It might be a first, honestly, but I highly doubt I know of every kind of item. Do you know what oath you want to take?” Griff asked.

  “I think I have an idea, but I don’t want to rush it.” Gaia replied.

  “Fair enough.” He stated.

  After this the group slowly drifted off to sleep. They all stayed in the girls room and Fergus was cuddled up with Gaia since he pretty much refused to let her go for the time being. He felt guilty and regretful for what happened and didn’t want to let her go, thinking she might disappear again.

  The next morning the party awoke late and groggily. They didn’t get to sleep until late the night before, and after the relief of Gaia returning, they were all exhausted. The stress and worry had taken its toll on them all. They stayed in for the day and talked while Gaia napped. She was still exhausted from everything that happened in the ruins and going without sleep for a few days. Griff went and checked on her garden for her while Stephanie went to get their food. Fergus stayed and kept an eye on her in case she wasn’t completely alright, like she claimed.

  He knew she wasn’t completely fine, but he couldn’t blame her. It wasn’t until the next morning that Gaia felt completely rested. She had woken up to eat a couple times the day before, but otherwise slept through the day. Now that everyone was back to normal, for the most part, they all went about their day and trained. Gaia worked on controlling her aura. She was confident she could increase the range back to a hundred feet in around a weeks time. She didn’t want to go back to the fifth floor until her aura was back to that size.

  The week passed quickly with Fauna practicing their skills and only delving into the ruins up to the fourth floor. While the guardians of the floors were dead, the monsters still spawned. This allowed the explorers to train and level up using the continuously spawning monsters. While the party was strong and could kill monsters stronger than themselves, they were still under level fifty. Most of them being around level forty-five. Griff and Fergus were level forty-six themselves. Their levels were taking longer and longer to raise.

  They weren’t entirely sure why. For Gaia, she knew her unknown title increased her level limit for each rank but didn’t know if that affected her leveling speed. For the others, they didn’t have any such title, so the reason was unknown. They ended up asking Titania if she possibly knew why and she just smiled before telling them they’d find out soon. They also asked the Guild Master, and she said something similar, but also asked if they’d cleared a dungeon.

  They explained that they had and told her the title they’d gotten. They trusted her enough to tell her some of the more important details of the title. She was surprised that they’d killed a dungeon boss that had leveled up while inside the dungeon but relayed that the title made it harder for them to gain souls from weaker enemies. Basically, they needed to fight monsters and enemies that would challenge them, and since they’d killed monsters much stronger than them, they would need to fight stronger and stronger monsters to level up. This was a problem since all of the monsters they were fighting on the fourth floor were around ten levels higher than them. They would get diminishing returns for fighting the Wraiths, even though they were a higher level than them.

  Some of their fears were alleviated when the Guild Master finally explained that they were close to a bottleneck and after reaching level fifty the number of souls would decrease significantly. This was due to them getting an ability at level fifty and they realized that reaching level twenty-five had taken more souls than the levels directly before and after it. Their best guess was that the significant increase in souls was required to power the skill and ability creation. This also meant that abilities required significantly more souls to create than skills, likely due to their effects. Most abilities were passive and always active without needing conscious use of mana, while skills usually required conscious use to activate.

  They could only guess that the reason the levels leading up to fifty took more was that the souls were either stored for the ability’s creation or used to start the process. Therefore, the ability was slowly created over the course of multiple levels and was finally complete after reaching level fifty. This meant the ability was likely different for everyone and their actions or choices had an impact on what the ability did.

  This was, of course, all speculation on Fauna’s part. They didn’t have any clue if that was all true or if they were even close. They thought about everything for a little while longer before realizing there wasn’t much they could do. Aside from killing more monsters until they leveled up. They just had to keep fighting the monsters on the first four floors until they couldn’t get anymore souls. Then, they could worry about what to do. Gaia had explained what level the Oni was and none of them were confident about killing it unless they were a much higher level.

  The only thing they really knew about its weaknesses was that it could be hurt by blades. From what the myth said, only blades could hurt it as any other form of attack didn’t do anything to it. This meant that Fergus and possibly Stephanie were their only way of dealing damage. While Stephanie didn’t have any blades weapons, she could easily forge one and was skilled in the use of almost any weapon. This was from her belief that a good weapon couldn’t be forged without the knowledge of their use. She just preferred her hammer and gun.

  Their first order of business was for Stephanie to make herself a blade. It didn’t matter what kind as long she was able to use it. While she did that, the others would help Fergus get more comfortable with his close combat and his use of the Arrow Dagger. All of Gaia’s bonds would be helpful in this since they were all quick or could attack in different ways. They always made sure not to hurt him too much, though.

  This helped Fergus get used to close quarters combat and to dodge attacks. Before they’d started, his attacks were all straightforward and easily blocked, but now he was able to get a few hits in. It was good progress since he usually stayed in the back and only used his dagger in case something got close. The plan was for him to be the rearguard still and for Stephanie to be the frontline.

  Her bound item, the Colossal Buckler, allowed her to be a defender and she could create gaps for her weapons to pass through. This allowed her to guard and attack at the same time, making her the person best suited to guard and attack the Oni. It also allowed for Fergus to fire arrows from a distance or go in for hit and run attacks while the Oni was occupied.

  Gaia and Griff’s role was to either distract the Oni or heal their companions during this endeavor. Gaia’s bonds would have the same roles with Malachite focused on helping Stephanie and Shadow focused on defending Fergus. Liv would be with Gaia and trying to distract the Oni with her skills and abilities, while Antonio would be focused on healing.

  Gaia was worried about her ability to heal since she hadn’t come across any monsters on the fifth floor aside from the Oni and Niehoggr. Her title caused healing to be significantly less effective than usual, unless conditions were being or had been inflicted. She was worried since she wasn’t sure if she could inflict any conditions on the Oni. It seemed to have been unaffected by her aura and thus she figured she couldn’t inflict any conditions. There was also the fact that the myth said only blades could harm it, so she wasn’t sure if her mana could cause the conditions to effect it. There was just too much that wasn’t known and with healing being less effective she worried that it might cause something to happen. She didn’t want anyone to be injured and not be able to be healed because of her aura.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  These were issues they couldn’t solve until it was time to try and deal with the fifth floor though. Instead, Gaia tried to focus on what she could do and decided to try and come up with an oath for the Niehoggr’s Oath. She still didn’t fully understand what constituted an oath but figured if whatever she vowed or swore to do was considered one, the item’s description would change or the effects would show up in its description. She had a few ideas and eventually decided on one she thought might work. She took out the item and dropped a bit of blood on it, with Fergus’ help, and spoke her thought aloud.

  “I swear to be the protector of my kin and friends and protect those unable to protect themselves.” She vowed.

  At this moment, the item slithered up her left arm and bit into her flesh. It was most of the way up her arm and wrapped around when it bit. She also felt its arms pierce her skin before it healed around them. When she pulled up the item’s screen again, it had changed slightly. Its description had changed and now included a line stating that an oath had been created and the consequences of breaking the oath.

  Oath has been made.

  Niehoggr’s Oath's effects have changed.

  Niehoggr’s Oath – Bonding Item. Is created from the body of a baby Niehoggr. Requires a drop of blood to bind. When bound, it moves to the upper arm and bites into the skin before wrapping around. Once bound it requires the holder to make an oath. As the holder enforces their oath, Niehoggr’s Oath will grow in power. More effects will be unlocked as the item grows. If the Oath is broken, all abilities will be lost and the item will slowly consume the holder.

  Effect 1: The holder gains the ability to create a magical shield that will block a singular attack before shattering. Once the shield shatters, the user can choose to teleport to its position to block any further attacks. The Shield’s durability will increase with the number of times the user protects others and those weaker than them.

  As she read the item’s changes, and the effects it gave, she smiled. While the punishment for breaking the oath was extremely harsh, the effect was exactly what she wanted. She always wanted to protect her friends and felt like she couldn’t. The ability the item gave was exactly what she wanted. She could protect them with a magical shield and, if needed, swap places with the shattered shield. She could protect them from a hit that could kill them and block an attack that followed since she had the highest resistance of everyone.

  She was excited to try it out. She didn’t want to put anyone in danger, but they needed to know if there was a limit to what the shield could block. They weren’t sure if it could block the attack of a bronze rank completely or if it could only block something similar to their level. It was something new to test and figure out. She was ready to test it, but they still needed to focus on leveling up a bit more. They knew they wouldn’t get much higher than fifty no matter what they did due to the title. They just hoped they could get to level fifty and that their abilities would help them deal with the Oni.

  They focused on training and leveling up until they got their abilities. They also pulled John and Titania into their training since Titania was faster than the Oni, and John was likely stronger as well. They also trained with them as helpers in case they wanted them to come help. These two were specifically chosen since they used daggers and a great sword. They also invited Jeff and Ava, but they both declined since Ava would be a wildcard and Jeff felt like he’d get in the way if there was another attacker.

  They trained and fought the wraiths on the fourth floor along with the monsters on the first and second floors to get used to fighting together. This was relatively easy since they’d fought together before, but without Francois and Jess it took a bit before they were confident. John worked as a frontline beside Stephanie to lessen the burden on her and Titania was a mobile striker attacking anything that got passed or assisting the others when needed. A few times she threw some daggers at enemies to weaken them so the others could quickly finish them off.

  This was also when everyone got to see Stephanie’s new weapon. It was a modified guisarme that seemed to be a mix between a Glaive and an axe. It had two blades, each about three feet long with one being an axe head and the other a Glaive. The weapon had a hook that was backwards facing on the Glaive blade. The pole was enchanted so its length could change from a regular axe shaft to a polearm. It seemed like it could be used as a hand axe, sword, glaive, or bardiche. Everyone took to calling it her enchanted Multi-Weapon since it could be used as many different ones depending on what she wanted.

  Throughout the training, Gaia got to use the shield effect from her item and train with it. It came in handy a few times when monsters got passed Stephanie or John and she used it to protect Fergus. She figured out that the shield will block a singular attack from an enemy and even blocked an attack from John when they tested it. They also discovered that it had a cooldown between uses on the same person. She couldn’t use it twice on the same person within the span of ten seconds. She also took a few attacks for the others while trying the teleport feature after discovering this. With the item’s abilities confirmed, she was confident in its durability.

  All in all, they were ready to fight together for the Oni confrontation. Now they just needed to get a few more levels. It had taken them around two weeks of nonstop fighting, from dawn till dusk, to reach level forty-nine. They were all close to leveling up and just needed a few more battles to reach their goal. The only one that was unlikely to reach level fifty before the fight was Antonio, just because they wanted to deal with the Oni as quickly as possible. They also figured he’d reach level fifty after the fight. Once they had done that, they planned to train with the new abilities for another couple days before going to the fifth floor.

  They reached their goal of level fifty a few days later. Each of their new abilities were different and were based on what they’d been working on recently. Gaia analyzed everyone so they all had a concise idea of what the abilities did. Gaia checked hers first then went through the others. Malachite was after Gaia, followed by Liv, Shadow, Fergus, Griff, and finishing with Stephanie’s ability.

  Immovable Object – Holder’s protective nature has created a physical effect. The user can choose to enter an Immovable Object form in which the user is melded with the ground. When in this form, the holder imbues their allies with their resistance, creating a defensive bubble around each of them. All attacks damage the bubble before any allies within, and any charging or bashing attacks are nullified. Bubbles last for thirty seconds unless broken. Can be used once every five minutes.

  Unstoppable Force – Holder’s speed has surpassed that of most things. While the holder is moving, their speed will continuously increase until their normal max speed has doubled. Speed can be adjusted consciously or used to increase the damage of a charging or bashing attack.

  Silk’s Integration – Holder can completely merge with Living Silk and imbue it with its venom. While, integrated, the Living Silk Armor gains the ability to poison enemies that strike it and absorb blood to recover. Increases the the armor’s strength and creates two appendages that can be used to attack or block, which are controlled by the holder. Holder can still use skills while integrated.

  Shade’s Protection – Holder can designate up to six allies that will gain a dark haze surrounding them. All allies within the haze are slightly obscured from enemies making attacks less likely to hit. Effect increases based on amount of light in the vicinity.

  Cyclone’s Embrace – Holder’s control over wind has become integrated into their combat creating a martial arts style. The holder’s movements and attacks are augmented by wind mana making them swifter, quieter and stronger. This is a passive effect that does not affect skill use.

  Tactician’s Insight – Holder has become skilled in leading a group. Allows for a telepathic link to be created allowing near instant communication between members of a designated group. While leading a group, the holder gains an instinctive sense of the situation during battles.

  Bulwark’s Might – Holder has become a bastion for their comrades and gains strength from those they defend. Holder gains an increase to Resistance while using a shield and an increase to Strength based on the number of allies behind them. While wielding a shield, weapons that usually require two hands to use can be used with one hand.

  Each of the abilities were based off how they had been training and their recent activity. Stephanie’s, Gaia’s, and Shadow’s were all defensive in nature making them perfect for the planned encounter with the Oni. They were expecting to be attacked hard, and the defensive abilities would be extremely useful. Griff’s would help him better understand the situation and relay commands or information through telepathy nearly instantly.

  Fergus’ would be great for the fight since it would let him deal some swifter and stronger attacks. It also dealt wind damage which may increase the damage to the Oni or at least increase the damage of all of his attacks. Liv’s would be useful since if Gaia used her new ability, she couldn’t move. If Liv integrated into the armor, she could command the two appendages to block any attacks. Malachite’s would be extremely useful for his shell bash. While it might not be able to deal damage to the Oni, it could possibly knock it back or get it off balance allowing for other attacks to hit.

  Their abilities were all pretty well suited for the upcoming fight. They were planning to practice with them for a day or two and then head down to the fifth floor for the battle. They all celebrated for the night since it was already late and went to sleep around midnight. They awoke the next morning and immediately moved to the ruins first floor to train and practice their new abilities. This didn’t take too long since they were all easy to activate or use. Most didn’t need them to change much from what they had already been doing.

  The only odd one was Liv’s. It let her completely merge with the Living Silk Armor and caused two spider-like legs to be created on Gaia's back by her shoulders. They were each around three feet long and elastic so they could stretch a bit or move in any direction. They could both attack and block making them a versatile tool. It also didn’t count as Gaia moving for her ability, but if she got pushed or her body moved at all during the ability’s activation, it broke. This made the skill hard to use when surrounded by monsters, but the armor’s new arms could block most attacks.

  They decided to test the limits of the abilities by having Titania and John act as enemies. Gaia didn’t use any of her conditions since she didn’t want to take a chance on hurting them, and since they weren’t sure if her conditions would affect the Oni. They discovered that each of the defensive abilities compounded, but none could withstand an attack from a bronze rank. John did say he needed to use most of his strength to break through, so it could block a low level bronze attack, but nothing stronger. This was great news since it meant they could likely block the Oni’s attacks without them breaking after a single strike.

  Now that they’d determined the extent of their abilities they prepared to go to the fifth floor the next morning. They could technically go now, but decided to wait and sleep so they were in their best condition. The night passed by slowly as everyone was anticipating the confrontation the next day. Gaia didn’t get much sleep due to her memory of what happened to the Niehoggr. It played through her mind all night and she figured if she needed to, she could probably show the item to enrage the Oni and hopefully make it focus on her. This was only if things went bad, and she had no other choice. She wanted to protect her friends, and if that’s what it took, she’d do it without hesitation. She awoke the next morning unsure of when she fell asleep, but was grateful she had since the fight later that day would be daunting.

  They went and got breakfast where they met with Flora. They talked to the party for a while before asking John and Titania if they could join them for the fight. They readily agreed and the other two assured them they could handle the wall until they were done. With their party mostly complete, they moved towards the Guild Master’s house to inform her if their plan. When they arrived, they found her outside waiting for them.

  “Going to try and kill the Oni today?” Delilah asked.

  “Yep. Were borrowing Titania and John just in case though. They’re strong enough they could probably kill it themselves, but they agreed to help us so we don’t mess up and get injured.” Griff replied.

  “Sounds like a good idea. Do you mind if I join you guys? I’m just planning on watching and interfering only in case of an emergency. You can pretty much ignore me if you want to while we’re inside.” Delilah asked.

  “Sounds fine to me. Let me finish setting up the party and I’ll invite you so you can also give any advice if need be.” Griff stated.

  “Thanks.” She replied.

  As she did, Griff finished setting up the party and invited the Guild Master. She was startled when she heard Griff’s voice in her head but quickly recovered. He moved to explain the overall plan and the contingencies they had discussed in case of an emergency. They had Titania, John and now the Guild Master so they weren’t overly afraid of dying, but were expecting a couple injuries since the Oni was strong. It was thirty levels higher than them so it was going to be a difficult fight.

  Even with Titania and John’s help they expected the fight to be dangerous. They knew the three joining them could probably kill the Oni in seconds if they wanted. Titania and John were just support for the party and helping attack since they didn’t have many people that used blades. They also had someone that might not be able to even damage the Oni due to its characteristics.

  They moved towards the ruins, with the Guild Master following close behind, listening to the plans as Griff went over them. He was prepared for most situations, but knew he couldn’t prepare for every possible scenario. He just had to hope it would align with one of the prepared plans and then he could improvise from there. The party moved into the ruins and after about and hour or two they were in the tunnel looking at the entrance to the fifth floor. For the members that hadn’t seen it, they were surprised since the Oni was standing directly in front of the entrance staring at them. Most other monsters couldn’t detect them let alone see them through the entrance making the sight just that much more disturbing. They all got into formation and took a deep calming breath before advancing towards the Oni. It was time for the battle for the Fifth Floor.