Danmachi: Goliath

"Ok," Amal took a very deep breath, calming herself. "Okokokok." She repeated like some kind of mantra as she adjusted her deep purples midriff blouse that had golden accents across it. "You just have to go out there and fuck him up." She hyped herself up.

For the past four days, all the 'high' pieces have been training with 'queen' Noah. By training, it means going up against him in a one vs one and get brutally fucked up then he will give you healing potion on par with the hundread million Exlixier and say 'rest up, we will go again.' Then he will go on to challenge someone else without even resting.

The first day of the training, she was the one who volunteered to fight him first. She knew he was strong—based on how Ishtar and Elred speak of him—but she thought she would be able to match him. Not beat him, they made it clear she wouldn't win, but at least match him like she did to that toad.

And boy was she wrong.

His physical ability was horrible. Very much worse than even the level 3 Julius. It wasn't hard for her to figure that out, so it was obvious that Ishtar and Elred were lying about his level, but she soon understood why they considered him a level 4. 

"Sword Art: Waterfowl Dance."

Just the thought of the brutal beating she got that day still made her shivered. Hits upon hits upon hits, all over her body. If he wasn't using a training sword, she would have been dead a hundred times over. The battle ended only after a few seconds after it started. 

It was humiliating.

She cried and touched herself to sleep that night.

She was so confident. So cocky. And she got beaten like a dog in front of her sisters. 

If it was anyone else, they would have killed themselves from that humiliation.

But she had to admit. It was a beautiful sword technique. No, beautiful wasn't a good enough word to describe Waterfowl Dance. It would only stain that technique.

Majestic wasn't even majestic enough fitting. It was the perfect blend of elegance and lethality, a dance in the purest sense, one that used every fiber of the body to unleash destruction. Watching him perform it was like witnessing a storm take form, yet within the chaos, there was a sense of controlled grace.

Each movement was precise, flowing from one motion to the next without hesitation or waste like water. His footing was impeccable—balanced on the tips of his toes, moving from one step to the next in a series of rapid, one-footed leaps that mimicked the delicate glide of a waterfowl across a lake. Each leap had a purpose, each strike perfectly timed, the slashes following the momentum of his body as he twisted and spun through the air.

Even a titan like him looked beautiful performing such technique.

That's why she touched herself to sleep while crying out of humiliation.

Not from Noah. God, no. The sword technique was so perfect and beautiful that the thought of herself using it would always make her 'horny.' Even now, while preparing herself, she couldn't wait to see it once more.

"Today is the day." Today, she will finally ask him if he would teach it to her. She is talented in sword wielding, but that isn't something she can learn just by watching it.

No one can.

"Yes, let's go." She fixed the deep purple veil of her bedlah that only exposed her gray eyes, long lashes and eyebrows. "Ok." She smiled under her veil and picked up her dual sickles, then walked out of the main facade of the basilica and into the massive piazza.

The first person her eyes landed on was Felix leaning on one of the columns of the colonnade surrounding the piazza, a man who had been naked for the past few days. However, this time, his dick was soft. 

Soft as hell that it looked like it shrunk into his body, unlike the 'sword' it normally was.

Makes sense seeing as he was going to be beaten after her. Oberon tried to look casual with a yawn as he sat against a column was an obvious giveaway that he was dreading his turn. On the first day, he had decided to go after her despite seeing her getting beaten while smirking arrogantly smirking at her.

He had received the same beating, and he was in a much worse state than she was due to his mage status.

Tammuz showed no emotion as usual while pacing around, unable to stand still. Phryne has not been seen for the past four days because she has been forced to clean the entire basilica while being a 'level 0' so she can lose weight.

As for Elred. He was watching the 'pawns,' making sure they don't come and watch their 'masters' get humiliated. He never had to fight Noah, but they never had the gut to complain. Despite his look, he was much older than all of them minus the still sleeping Ishtar, and even Noah seemed to show him some kind of respect, even if he never called the 'boy' by his real name.

Then her eyes turned to the giant lying lazily in front of the center obelisk, dressed in his all black attire that she never saw him change out of, but it is somehow always clean. 

'Probably one of his numerous magic items.' She had rationalized. 

A few meters in front of him was a very long katana that was longer than he was tall at 255 cm. It wasn't his main sword—the cursed bloody sword known as Rob—but a 'normal' first class katana he had temporarily lengthened with his magic. And in front of the sword was a helm he called 'Pantheon Helmet,' with his eyes closed.

Gripping her sickle, she took a deep breath and walked. 'I hope I don't die today.' Yeah, they started using real weapons today because Ishtar said it wasn't brutal enough when she watched the training yesterday, so... 'Haah.'

She walked forward, the distance slowly closing between them, and then 55 meters. He moved;

"I dreamt for so long."

He slowly walked towards his sword, "My flesh was dull gold...and my blood, rotted." He got on one knee and reached for the sword, "Corpse after corpse, left in my wake..." He gripped the katana's hilt. "As I awaited... his return."

Reaching forward, he picked up his helm and as he slowly stood, he raised the helm towards his head. Standing straight, he placed it on his head as his visage darkened, his crimson eyes being the only color on his face and a golden trail of light appeared on the back helm like some kind of mohawk and then he spoke.

"... Heed my words." And as he turned to face her, "I am Atreus. Blade of Miquella." 

He held the katana vertically in front of him, the tip facing the sky, and then he swung it to the side. Just from the swing alone, a massive gust of wind rushed towards her, picking up the dust and debris as they rushed past her. The long katana now outreached to his right gained the visage of a wing, and he finished;

"And I have never known defeat."

Why didn't she attack when he was speaking? Tammuz had tried it on the first day, and the giant whipped out a humongous hammer that was basically a massive rectangular stone stuck onto a metal rod and started beating the poor boy with it.

Hammered him into the ground—literally—breaking his limbs, then went back to his position, brought out his sword, and restarted his 'intro.' Even with Tammuz still bleeding on the ground, he still performed Waterfowl Dance on the man, before healing all his injuries back with his 'elixir.'

"Cheer up, son." He had patted Tammuz's head like some kind of affectionate father, with Tammuz simply nodding while crying silently.

They never tried to attack him while in his intro anymore.

'Now, which mode will I be fighting today.' He has two modes. Pantheon or Malenia. Though they both give you a brutal beating, how the beating is done depends on who he decides to fight as. With Malenia, you are elegantly beaten but with Pantheon, 

'You are beaten like a wife whose drunk husband just came home from working 22 hours in the factory and there is no warm food on the table.' Noah's words.

And the mode you are fighting depends on his first word—

"I fight until the blood takes the sword from my grasp, until I can only crawl." His voice changed from the soft yet deep one it was before to a deep and brutal tone, bringing out his accent similar to the natives of the Warusa country in the Kaios Desert. "And even then, you will not defeat me, even then, I will SPIT in your face!" He always emphasized the spit.

'Ah, shit.' She would rather she was beaten by elegance than by a drunk father. 'Here We Go Again.'

"A legion of one!" He roared and then dashed forward.

Seven minutes and twenty-seven seconds.

That's how long it took before she found herself in a position that continuing will lead to her absolute death. The attack known as 'Comet Spear'—a forward thrust attack with his sword or a spear that moves so fast it almost breaks the sound barrier—had ended the battle. She didn't need to surrender, the sword stopped the moment it touched the skin in between her eyes, drawing a small trail of blood but nothing more. 

'His control over his body and strength is outstanding.' It always amazes her, no matter how many times she sees it. The thrust of that spear was so fast, so powerful, that even Finn wouldn't be able to stop it. 

'At least,' she thought. She had only seen him fight twice during the Great Feud, and he might have improved since then, but her point still stands. The thrust had moved so fast that the air had compressed in front of it to form a 'cone' trailing it.

Yet, when it stopped, there was only a gust.

Only a gust!?

At least a powerful blast of air should have continued forward due to the momentum, but only a fucking gust? What kind of skill do you need to do that shit!?

'If he claims to be second, no one dares say they are first.'

'Yeah, I will admit…' She drank the entire elixir, watched as Oberon stood just out of his fifty-five-meter range as he started chanting and soon, seven mirrors the size of his head appeared around him. 'Mirror light.' It was his magic name.

Elred, who seemed to know all the details of their status—likely thanks to Ishtar—explained that this magic came with a curse. One of the mage's eyes sees the world normally, while the other sees it inverted, and all his spoken and heard words are reversed. From his perspective, he speaks normally, but to others, his words are reversed, and vice versa. 

He could speak normally by reversing his speech, but he never bothers. Currently, only Elred and Noah understand him fully, though she and the others are adjusting.

His magic allows him to summon and move mirrors of various shapes and sizes, which can shoot blasts of pure energy-based elements like ice, fire, light, or lightning—but never solid materials like rock or metal. 

The strength and speed of these blasts depend on how much mind he uses to charge each mirror, with larger mirrors able to store more mind. Typically, he creates five head-sized mirrors, as keeping them active also drains his mind. Anymore would be inefficient.

It is a powerful magic, but his skill was the particular reason he was part of the Loki Familia main strikers. 

Disciple of Disaster: Healing or support magic works one level below the user's actual level. Shield magic is at the user's level. Attack magic is one level above, and AOE destruction magic is two levels above. This ability can be temporarily shared with another elf, but the user loses its effect while shared.

That was his skill, and he definitely shared it with 'Nine Hell.' How Loki didn't strip all his levels and how he transferred to Ishtar's Familia remains a mystery. No god would let that skill fall into another Familia's hands.

"And I have never known defeat."

A brief pause, then, "I fight until the blood takes the spear from my grasp, until I can only crawl. And even then, you will not defeat me, even then, I will SPIT in your face!"

"Haah," she sighed audibly. 'Another win for that guy.'

There was an unspoken daily competition on who could last the longest against Noah. She always ranked first or second when he was in Malenia mode, with Felix as her only rival and Oberon dead last. But against Pantheon, Oberon was the undisputed winner, thanks to his battle style.

Oberon fights by keeping opponents at bay—freezing the ground with ice blasts, forcing movement with light bullets, using fire to make them retreat, and wind blasts for mobility. His whole strategy revolves around controlling the battlefield and preventing close combat.

In Pantheon mode, Noah's attacks are more brutal, but his 'reduced' agility lets Oberon keep him at a distance until he runs out of mind. However, Malenia mode directly counters Oberon, as Noah's agility and skill set overwhelm him in under two minutes.

"I call upon the stars… to bake my bountiful breads!"

"Haah," Felix sitting on the ground beside her sighed, "Fuck, I'm next." He mumbled under his breath, watching as Noah deflected a bullet of light with his sword that flew into the sky.

"You only need to last until you can't." She cheered. Why can't they give up? Because he would tell the others to jump you until you can't breathe, give you healing potion then fight you again. "Look, I am all good now." She didn't like getting cut on her ribs, but it's gone now.

She glanced down at Felix's green eyes, who starred up up at her before tapping his forehead. Furthermore, she blinked then realized. Quickly turning away, she used her scarf to clean her forehead then turned back to Felix tapped another part of his forehead. Turning away to clean it, she turned back, and he stuck up his thumb.

Noah literally spit on your face after he had won. 

It enraged her the first day, and she clocked him right on the jaw, hard enough to send one of his teeth flying. He didn't show any reaction to the punch, but this caused him to pick Pantheon seven more times just to spit on her face, and he never gave her potion after beating her up. 

She had to rely on Felix who wouldn't finish his entire bottle and shear with her, and since then she and the other just lent to clean it off. It's still annoying, but whatever. It's not like his spit was foul-smelling or yellow.

He never brushed, but his breath never smelt. It has ZERO odor. Better than her, who brushed three times a day.

'Another magic item?' Ain't no way it is his normal breath.

"I just want him to actually teach us something instead of spitting in our face." Felix sighed once more, "Yes, we are growing at an astonishing rate, but I want to learn some spear technique."

"True." She agreed.

On day one she lasted only a few seconds because she was caught off guard, but on the second day she lasted less than one minute against Malenia. On the same day, when she went for another round, she lasted a minute and a half. 

The growth speed for all of them was astonishing. Even Oberon and Tammuz. Well, Tammuz is in his own league of 'run in, get hit and hit them harder.' He had tried fighting against Noah with the techniques he used against Julius on the first day, but it didn't work so he literally, and audible said;

"Fuck it."

And his new fighting style was born.

"I want to learn a new technique, not just get battle experience." Felix nodded at this.

 "Stand up! Face me again." Noah shouted while lightly stomping the exhausted Oberon face first onto the ground. "Keep fighting."

"Yeah, he's not." The duo mumbled.

Finally, Noah stopped, then used his legs to turn the bloodied elf on his back. *Hrrrk* he drew spit from the back of the throat. *Tua!* He spat down on the elf's face. 

"I will remember your name, and shout it to the heavens." He brought out an elixir from his 'subspace' magic and dropped it to the ground, with the elf instinctively moving his hand to catch it.

While Noah returned his sword and helm to their spot and sat next to the obelisk, the elf drank it, his body visibly healing at an accelerated rate before standing. Though he still looked drained from his low mind, he still had the strength to turn to the two of them and smirk.

Fourteen minutes and nineteen seconds.

Almost double her time. 

She stuck up her middle finger to the elf, who then licked the middle of his index and middle finger. '…' Whenever he did that, it meant that sometime in the day he will attempt to knock her out to rape her.

He had managed to freeze her once and pull down her harem pants, but she was thankfully saved by a passing Tammuz. She had reported this, but Ishtar encouraged the behavior, saying it will train her to keep her guard up while also training him to be more 'stealth.'

Noah just shrugged and looked the other way.

Crazy goddess.

"Welp!" Felix slapped his thighs as he stood up, "My turn." The naked man walked towards his spot with his spear. Not his magic spear but his normal spear. 

'...'

"I fight until the blood takes the spear from my grasp, until I can only crawl. And even then, you will not defeat me, even then, I will SPIT in your face!"

"Again?" Amal blinked. Is he in the mode for spitting on faces? Three times in a row? He says he flipped a coin in his head, but it's literally impossible to do that, so it's obviously an excuse to pick whatever he felt like.

Against Pantheon, Felix surpasses her. Why? Speed. 

Once his skill maxed out, his thrusting speed became so fast that he could keep the drunk dad at bay. Even while being a level above him, Amal had a hard time winning against him when his back was to a wall, and he just kept thrusting forward at her. The last time they dueled, and he did that, she almost kicked him on the balls after she had won.

The duel lasted longer than it should have, and he acted like a coward in front of her sisters. His students even. Samira has now started picking up his behavior and has kicked sand on Aisha's eyes to win. Yes, it was a win, but what a cowardly win.

Then she suddenly felt an arm wrap around her shoulder, and then she felt the warmth of his touch through her blouse's fabric as his hand cupped her left breast. The slight pressure immediate, the firmness of her chest providing resistance under his grasp.

'!!!' She hadn't noticed the elf. "Let go." She smiled.

She hadn't let her guard down, but he had snuck up to her? Her instinct and hearing were definitely better now, so how the fuck? That's when she noticed the mirror below his feet. 

'Little burst of air to push him up to glide.' Like he just did in his battle against Noah. 'He made no sound that way.' 

"I can freeze you and have my way," He was slightly taller than she was, so his words sounded right in her ears, causing a shiver. 

'Disgusting,' She watched as two mirrors floated in front of her. "And did you notice what's on your stomach?" The tip of her sickle. 

"My thought or your hands," he whispered as he gripped slightly while she pressed her sickle onto his abdomen. "Which faster."

The material of the blouse did little to mask the feeling of his fingers pressing against her flesh. The perky roundness of her breast made the sensation more focused, the firmness making the grasp feel more direct, with her nipples brushing against the fabric of her blouse. 

The slight friction sent a ripple of awareness through her body, and she could feel the subtle pressure on her nipples, firm yet still delicate, as they responded naturally to the touch. 

"You lucky I not feeling it right now." His finger pressed more deeply, grazing against her nipples, causing a tingling sensation through her body. "Lol." He released her and walked to stand directly in front of her, blocking her view from the fight.

'…' Amal fixed her blouse as she moved to his side. 

The fact he had touched her didn't bother her much. After all, she had been touched by both men and women while dancing for Ishtar back in the pleasure quarter. However, for those people, she had already mentally given them consent, but not this man.

She wanted to just cut his neck open, but that would anger Ishtar and who knows what would happen. She might even force her to lose her virginity to that Goliath.

 "I have found my limit a thousand times, and still I press further."

She is going to save her body for her future husband, not some random person. Good thing the people who came to watch her dance liked that she was pure, so Ishtar never forced her to have sex, since she was racking in more money while staying pure.

"By the way, why did Loki let you leave?" She decided to use this chance to ask the elf.

"Blackmail," He replied, "Had proof of tax evasion. Someone outside going to spread it if she didn't allow switch. She knew I wasn't lying, so she let me go, and I burn proof."

Though he still spoke in reverse, her mind almost automatically reversed it for her to understand, though it still sounded like a caveman speak. But that wasn't the point.

'Are ever big familia evading tax!?' She blinked. 'How much is the tax for them that they need to do that?'

"After switching Ishtar, who didn't bother looking at status till now, I went Loki and she asked me if I destroy all evidence." He continued, "Said yes and then she ask if I got any more blackmail. Said no and I go."

"Do you?" She asked and he shook his head. 

He started speaking more, and he is a normal guy, except for his rapey tendency. Good thing he isn't going after the girl, only herself, Julius, and, oddly enough, Tammuz.

If he dared lay a single finger on those little girls, she would make him wish he never breathed life. 'I guess he knew that,' so apart from just staring at them, he never makes a move.

Noah held up Felix by his neck with his free hand after nine minutes and four seconds. "How you die is who you are." He said to the man's face, then spat on it, "I will remember your name, and shout it to the heavens." He tossed the man to the side, his beaten body hitting the ground beside his spear, and then tossed an elixir.

The titian returned to his place and drank a bit of his potion, and the restless Tammuz immediately went into range while wearing his metal gauntlet. He didn't attack and waited for the intro to be done.

"I fight until the blood takes the spear from my grasp, until I can only crawl. And even then, you will not defeat me, even then, I will SPIT in your face!"

Tammuz immediately charged in.

"Yeah, something definitely happened." Felix said as he walked towards the two of them while tossing the flask to Oberon, who caught it and put it in his pocket.

He keeps them because he was forced to start learning how to make potions and magic items by Ishtar in hope he unlocks the Mixing or Mystery development ability by his next rank up.

"I just hope he doesn't pick Pantheon again next round." Amal sighed. After Tammuz loses, she will have to fight him again and this circle will continue for hours on end before they are sent to train their pawns. "I just want to get beaten elegantly." Felix nodded while cleaning the spit off his face with her pants.

The battle ended in four minutes with Tammuz bloodied all over, but he still had his fist raised in a guard. But Noah's extended sword had managed to go in between his raised guard and was now inches away from his right eyeball.

"Glory fades into bloodstains." Noah spoke as Tammuz lowered his hands and allowed a spit to the face. "I will remember your name, and shout it to the heavens." Noah tossed the man to the side, his beaten body hitting the ground hard, and then the giant tossed him an elixir.

While cleaning his face, instead of Noah returning to his seat, he turned to them. "Now, I will start teaching you about weapon technique."

"Why the sudden change?" Felix asked, as with Amal suddenly feeling something 'touch' her, causing her to flinch.

"I just know you're ready." Noah simply replied and said, "First, what do you want to learn?"

"A spear technique." Felix quickly said, causing Amal to click her tongue.

"Alright," The katana Noah held shrunk. He sent it back into his subspace, then he brought out a wooden spear. He stared down at it for like a minute, and then it enlarged to fit his size.

"Now, the first spear technique I will show you is what I call Spear Art: Back-Fly." Noah said as he held the spear up like a juvenile and then threw it towards Felix.

The man reacted quickly and ducked down out of its path, however the spear suddenly stopped midair and flew back, which Noah caught in his palm. "A simple technique that will reverse the direction of the spear is flying while keeping its velocity."

"Yeah, you used your gravity magic for that." Amal shook her head. That was literally impossible to do.

"Nuh uh." He denied.

"Yuh huh." She countered.

The spear was sent flying to her face and she dodged, but it flew backwards, returning to his hand. He then tossed it to another direction, and without looking, he caught it after it returned.

Noah continued throwing it while explaining, "When you roll a ball forward with a specific backward spin, the friction between the ball and the surface causes it to slow down, stop, and then reverse direction, rolling back toward you." He tossed it at Tammuz who raised his hand to catch it out of the air, but it slipped out of his hand and returned to Noah. "That's a similar logic I am using for this."

"That makes ZERO logical sense." Felix didn't buy that shit. 

"But it does…" Noah blinked, as if realizing something, and then nodded, "Ok, I will tone it down a bit."

"Please." Felix nodded.

He thought for a while, then nodded. He shifted, standing with feet shoulder-width apart, front foot slightly forward for balance, with knees slightly bent while his torso remained upright while facing slightly to his right. The spear is held to his right side, both hands equal distance from the middle of the shaft.

"I call this Spear Art: Half Spin." The spear remained the same, however to their sharp eyes they noticed it was spinning.

'...'

"I am manipulating the spear using fine, rapid back-and-forth wrist motions, creating the illusion of a continuous spin." Noah stood straight, still holding the spear to his right while it spun with. "Due to this back and forth spin." He thrust the spear forward, and it almost instantly slashed to the side after fully extending. "You can change direction almost instantaneously."

He thrust again, and it slashed down after extending halfway. Another thrust, and it didn't even thrust fully before it slashed to the side and then down.

'...'

"Neat trick," He nodded, looking down at his wrist. "The key lies in the wrist." He then paused, "Oh, this one is called 'Drill.'"

The spear started spinning like a drill. Not back and forth anymore, a continuous spin, with the motion becoming so fast that it appears as if the weapon is spinning purely by some unseen force.

"This one is harder because you also need to use your finger." he thrust forward with the spear then he thrust once more, and once more, each one faster than the last with the sound like a bee following them.

"This method would be more lethal than the subtle back-and-forth version." He explained while slashing to the side. "Though it doesn't have the same incredibility, the spear spinning at such a high velocity would gain added cutting power, allowing it to slice through armor or defenses like a spinning blade."

He paused, "Oh, how about this," 

He just started showing them bullshits that shouldn't be in the realm of possibility.

Then after an hour, after showing Tammuz a punch known as the 'One Inch Punch,' he sent the gloves with rusty saw blade tips back to his inventory and said;

"You all should meditate on it and decide which technique you want to learn first, and tomorrow I will try to dumb it down to teach you." They all just stared at him as he turned to leave, "Now, I will go check on Ishtar."

Ishtar had gotten a cold yesterday while watching their training and instead of getting herself healed using one of Noah's overpowered elixir, she decided to stay sick. Her reason?

She liked the vulnerability that came with the cold.

Even back in Belit Babili, she never let herself get treated while having the cold—the only sickness gods seems to get.

With that, he left them in stunned silence.

The elf groaned. "I have to learn staff…" Yeah, Oberon had to learn to use a staff because he was too weak at close combat, which he didn't seem to like. At all.

"Shit!" Amal suddenly remembered. "I didn't ask him about Waterfowl Dance." Those stupid techniques he was showing them had made it slip her mind.

She quickly rushed to follow him, not wanting to speak to him in the presence of a sick Ishtar. But the guy was either ran or she spaced out longer than she had expected because she found herself walking through the 'Maderno's nave.'

This path had been cleared of debris, stones, and dirt by Phryne but, its emptiness made it even more vast, with its towering columns on either side. The footsteps, no matter how light, echoed through the entire hall, but it still had an eerie stillness to it, with the sunlight filtering through the high windows, casting long, pale beams across the cracked marble floor. The air feels cool, with only the faintest sound of wind brushing against the massive stone walls.

She then entered the basilica's main altar area before going behind the altar and opening a door to access Ishtar's room. It was large, and though sparsely, it was decorated strongly. Weapons hung on the wall, Jewries and armor were arranged surrounding the main bed, all which looked expensive enough that when sold they could afford an actual mansion.

No, they will have enough wealth that surpassed what they had back in Belit Babili. After all, these were all second class and above weapons, with 25% of them being unbreakable magic weapons.

and one wall was a rather large bow that even Goliath from floor 17 will find it very hard to wield.

"Come on, Ishtar." Noah sighed while trying to remove the bad shit from around her to feed her the food he always pulls out from his subspace. It sat on the only long table, and it was numerous, chicken, rice, pork, stew, noodles, soups, and three different kinds of alcohols that looked rather expensive.

"I want to have sex!" Ishtar shouted, punching him on the face, to which the man rolled with so not to hurt her hand. "Why won't you fuck me!?"

He didn't care and continued trying to remove the bedsheet from the goddess, who kept struggling. "Leave me alone, barbarian!" The eons old woman pushed away at his hands, "Fuck me or leave me!"

'…' It was embarrassing seeing her act like this. 

The large man sighed before letting Ishtar go and turning to her. Without saying a word, she back stepped out of the room, and he followed her out, closing the door behind him but not shutting it.

"What?" He simply asked. It might have been rude a few days earlier, but not anymore.

"Just wanted to ask where you learned your techniques from." She will dance around the bush. Asking him directly was embarrassing, especially with the way she has been treating him. "Who was your master."

"Masters." He corrected, "I had multiple. Pantheon, Malenia, Muhammad Ali, Batman, are just to name a few."

'Ah, so that's why he calls those modes that.' She understood now. "Soo… where are they now?"

"Not in this world?" He answered but it sounded more like a question.

'…DEAD!?' Her eyes widened. 'Don't tell me…' She asked, "Do your people have a culture of killing your master?"

"Yes," He nodded, "You train under them and to show you surpassed them, you kill them with their own techniques. An honorable way for a master to go." He smiled and she shivered.

His face was scary enough, but his words… "Those people you were impersonating are… dead?" She asked.

"I am their legacy, so they leave on with me." Even more scary.

"Can you teach me Waterfowl Dance!" She didn't want to beat around the bush anymore and learn more about Warusa country. No wonder he reached level 4 outside the city!

"You…" His eyes widened in horror and shock. "You want to kill me? After I've been nice?"

"No!" She quickly cleared her throat, "I just want to learn it. Can't you teach me without being my master?" The word master sounded strange coming from her mouth.

"I can," He nodded, "But you wouldn't be able to learn it."

Amal nodded. "Trust me, I can." Who does he think she is? Some kind of untalented bum?

"So you will drop your dual sickle fighting style to learn how to wild Great Katanas?" He asked, and she finally understood, "Waterfowl Dance is made for great katana. Or a katana that's longer than the wilder is tall." He paused, "And you also have to be two meters or more, but your height should do. However, will you want to abandon your fighting style to learn how to use great katanas?"

She would. 

She would do it all for Waterfowl Dance, but it would take too long. Years, for her to reach a good enough level to learn that sword technique. 

"Can't you... change it to fit me?" She felt pathetic asking her, and thankfully, if he thought so, he didn't show it on his mildly and almost always emotionless face.

"Yeah, I can." Noah nodded causing her eyes brighten, "But why would I desecrate the technique of my master to fit your need?" His tone caused her to gulp. 

"Oh..." She could only mumble, preparing to leave out of embarrassment. "I need to go train Aisha." She smiled, and as she turned, he spoke;

"I can teach you something else." She quickly turned back to face him after hearing those words. "It's called 'unending dance' and though you will have to switch to dual Curved Sword, it shouldn't be so different from your sickles."

"I will accept it." She didn't want to sound more desperate than she already was. All his sword technique were great, so this shouldn't any different. Especially one with 'dance' and 'unending' in its name. "Can you show me—"

"Noah..." Ishtar's voice came from behind the half closed door, cutting her off. "NOAH!" She roared, but he just kept staring at Amal, but he was now looking 'past' her.

"No, don't leave me…" Her voice cracked, barely a whisper, trembling with desperation.

"Okay, I'll eat, please—" A shaky breath, a sob breaking through, "—don't leave me and go to that bitch Freya."

"Come back, Noah!" she choked, her words coming out in gasps, her chest tightening as her voice grew more frantic. "Why aren't you answering...?" She fully started crying. "Come and feed me."

Noah kept staring ahead, tears flowing down the side of his eyes as they refocused on the younger woman in front of him. "Why am I her father?" 

"..." She smiled and took a step back as the massive man kept crying silently, with Ishtar bawling her eyes out inside the room. 

"I... I will catch you later." Amal turned and sped walked out of there. She was not going to be part of whatever the fuck that was.

When she returned to the main altar, she noticed Alice sitting on the front bench and just staring at her. "Alice." She smiled as she moved towards the emotionless girl, "Don't worry, you will lave from here soon."

She wasn't going to let such a young girl stay around a crazy goddess and captain, an always naked man, a rapist, and even herself. They were all bad influences to this girl she found in the slum a day before the destruction of the pleasure quarter.

"I asked Noah, and he said he will take you to the Loki Familia tomorrow." She picked the girl up. He had said they are nice people and as long as he gave them a 'rank 8 common weapons,' they should take her. 

'I guess he is a nice guy.' He is crazy and treats children badly. Like the time he had literally tossed Alice to her because she kept following him. But can still be pleasant.

"NOAH!" Ishtar scream came.

~~~~~~Author's Note~~~~~~~~

Another 6k word chapter. I feel like I should start splitting them into 2 chapters so I will have back ups for the days I can't type or something. 

Also, this chapter was more of a 'filler.' I didn't want to immediately jump to the next plot point thanks to the review given to me by one of my readers (about the sudden Evilus attack on Ishtar) and decided to use this chapter to explore more on the characters, to give them more dimensions. I picked Amal because the other three guys are not fit for a chapter like this. One is constantly naked, the other one is a PDF and a rapist, and the last is a quiet former slave. She felt more fitting and I used it as a chance to learn how to write from a female perspective.

Hope it was a good and none tedious chapter. Thanks for reading!