Dungeon Menagerie 21

Commissioned by InfiniteChaosRei

Dungeon Menagerie

Chapter 21

-VB-

“What do you mean I need to train more?” 

Athena’s words had sparked something deeply ingrained into her. Even as her mind screamed and screeched about the hellish training regiment ahead of her, her body moved to pick up her trusty old spear. And even her new sword. 

Edged or not, neither of those were touching her goddess if her goddess didn’t want them to. Or even care enough. 

Despite the fact that Athena was small even compared to Vanessa’s own height, the lithe goddess still overpowered, outskilled, and outmaneuvered anything Vanessa could do against her when it came to combat. 

Not so much in accounting, because Athena was never a goddess of money and finance and that was apparently good enough of a reason to be awful with money, but Vanessa digressed.

Her body obeyed her goddess’s words because in the previous training regimens Athena forced on her, obedience was drilled into her in a manner that would leave most drill sergeants around the world weeping in awe and worship.

But as the woman on the receiving end of it, Vanessa only felt apprehension. 

She could only feel her entire body quivering in anticipation. 

“You leveled up.”

“Y-Yes?” she asked as Athena led her out of the house and to the backyard. She dutifully followed but spared a glance to Mori.

Mori stared back through his eye wraps before shrugging and relaxing, leaving her to her fate. 

‘Traitor!’ 

She turned to look at Chrysalismon, who looked at her, shrugged, and dove back into the giant death machine he somehow changed with his evolution. 

She looked at Chauky, and her utterly clueless friend just crooned at the attention he was getting. 

Good boy. 

Wait, no. She needed saving! 

Her body ignored her mental pleas. It knew better than she did that there was no running away from her goddess when she got into the “training mood.”

Athena stopped next to a rack of meticulously maintained wooden training weapons and effortlessly picked up a warhammer that was as big as her. Considering the fact that she barely reached Vanessa’s neck, it was a comical sight. But it was a comical sight that quickly chilled her blood as soon as she realized that the wooden warhammer was going to be used against her. 

Her goddess turned around and smiled. It wasn’t a soft smile. It wasn’t a gentle smile. It wasn’t a good smile. It was a selfish smile. It was a maniac smile. It was a bloodthirsty smile. 

‘A Bloodletter would be proud of that smile,’ Vanessa thought with a near hysterical mental laugh. 

“Come,” Athena ordered as she swung the warhammer around once in a circle before she grabbed its shaft with both of her hands. “You know how poorly I do with a warhammer. It should serve as your warm-up.”

Vanessa quivered as she set her real weapons aside and picked up a spear.

Athena jumped.

Vanessa shrieked. 

-VB-

“Oh, hi, Mori! Hi, Chauky!” 

Mori lifted his head up (having napped with his neck upright as per usual) and looked around for the owner of that familiar voice. 

“W-What’s that?!” 

That voice was new. 

“That’s Mori, Vanessa’s partner.”

“When you said he was the silent, feathery type, I thought you meant a new humanoid race or something!” 

Mori turned towards the three voices, and though his normal sight had been lost, he could see the souls. 

And he saw two mortals and a divine.

He crooned, shook his head, and stood up.

He saw the divine … not quite quivering but definitely on high alert, much like Athena had been when she first met him. Oh, the secretly bloodthirsty gremlin hadn’t been fearful or even wary of him at all, unlike the one in front of him. 

How should he approach this…?

“KYAH!” 

Mori sighed as Vanessa’s scream echoed around and reached the front of the house. 

The three visitors immediately tensed but Mori stopped them from doing anything rash by doing something simple.

He let out a genuine bemoaning crow of a disappointed teacher, and began walking around the house toward the backyard. It seemed to catch their attention, and they began to follow him. The metal murder that Chrysalismon took over watched silently without moving, but its smooth-ended appendages were doing … something. Mori ignored it and continued on. 

He found Chauky laying down flat next to the house while watching Vanessa and Athena fight. While he couldn’t see the details, he could feel the winds around the two violently buffeting and then slowing down to lightly ruffle his feathers. 

“Caw.”

The two of them paused and turned to look.

“Oh, visitors,” Athena drawled. “Just when things were getting interesting.”

“What do you mean just getting interesting?! You hit me flat on the back with that thing!” 

“I know. I was going to pick a sword next to point out just how wide open you leave yourself. All of that improvement physically but not much gained skillfully. You use your stats and friends as a clutch and it is a stain on my honor as a goddess of war to just let you go about your day like this. From now on, we will be training for three hours a day before you go to the dungeon.”

“T-Three hours?!” Vanessa shrieked. 

Mori sniffed. “Caw!”

You two are being rude to the guests! 

“Ah. Sorry, Mori. Sorry, guys,” Vanessa grumbled as she walked over to them. She gave Mori a scratch, and he stoically took it. “What brings you guys here?” 

“Well…” the pure soul began to speak. “I-I just wanted to ask if you want to be in our party!” 

“No.”

Well, that was fast. But then again, Vanessa did express a desire to not get caught up in all of the pure soul’s future shenanigans. 

He still found the idea that the future of a world was already pre-written by some higher version of humanity, but he didn’t care. All he cared about was what his partner wants, though he did find the situation philosophically intriguing. 

“So quickly?!” the divine one squawked. “Do you find something wrong with my Bell, huh?!” Aggressive, too. 

As the humans descended into bickering, he noted that Athena sneakily set her weapon down and rushed into the house.

No doubt to cause Vanessa more headache, but he was content to let it be.

It’ll teach his partner to be more vigilant of her surroundings.