Chronos' message of, "find party members, make sure you trust them," rang freshly in Sora's ears as Levi dropped the bomb that he possessed a deception skill that thwarted his inspect.
Sora was thankful Brie bailed him out by using her inspect skill. 'Was this fate? How else do you describe not only Brie, but Sasha and now Levi just dropping into my life, right away?' Sora couldn't help but think.
Sora whispered to Brie, "Thank you, it showed human for me as well," and she smiled back.
"Well, after all this is said and done, maybe we will offer you a party invite. Then you'll be able to know our real identities, if you accept." Sora said to Levi.
"I must prove my worth!" Levi eagerly said, as he charged through the next few floors with ease and precision, unleashing all the Uthra power he hid before.
His fire magic's power pulverized the magically embedded enemies on each of the floors, and if there was a floor where they were resistant to fire, he'd simply take out his long, ornate, longsword, entwined with beautiful Sapphire gems throughout the otherwise pristine blade and slash through the enemies like they were nothing.
"He certainly is impressive," Sasha admitted.
"No question about that. This man is talented. What's with the whole 'holier than thou' attitude though?" Brie asked Sora with a shrug.
"Maybe that's just the way he was raised. I'm sure if anyone can get him to lighten up, it's us. I just hope he doesn't fanboy out on me too hard," Sora said with a sigh.
"Fan boy over who?!" Levi asked.
"Shit, I forgot you had supersonic hearing. We were just talking about how much you like Sora. We're all curious as to what he's like, so maybe later you can tell us," Brie shouted back. "You know, you could let us help you…"
"On the next boss floor, for certain! We shall work as a team and of course I love Sora the Great! He's our Savior after all." Levi cheered.
"Is that why you named our party Savior, be honest," Brie whispered into Sora's ear.
"Yes…" Sora could feel his red cheeks through my mask, and he knew Brie could sense it too.
"Well, I like it, it's cute." She admitted, while giving Sora a hug from the side.
"Uh, Levi, there's only one more floor. You annihilated the S rank boss on that floor with your fire magic maybe 30 minutes ago," Sora said with a shrug. "You also kind of torched through the remaining floors. All that's left is the final floor."
"Apologies, I get over-eager sometimes! Shall we take a slight break?" Levi suggested.
"Sure, and here, take a potion or two. Also, I brought a mana potion as well. Drink up, you're doing great." Sora said, while handing over the potions.
****
"Why are you all so… gracious? I've met travelers before but never has anyone treated me with such respect. Most just mock me, call me a weirdo or run off." Levi admitted, as he finally took off his giant helmet.
His dirty blonde hair was neatly kept, but his kind grayish-green eyes told a completely different story than the fierce Uthra he proved to be.
"You're handsome. Are all Uthra this handsome?" Sasha asked.
"A vampire thinks I'm handsome! What an awesome day!" Levi said.
"Finally, you're speaking like a normal person now, can we keep that going?" Sora asked.
"Yeah, sure. I do get carried away sometimes. But it does help me judge people's character. If they see me as this weird guy who only speaks like I'm blinded by prophecies of the gods, it's easy to dismiss them from wanting to party up with or work with." Levi laughed.
"So, you're not a total nutjob, good to know," Sasha joked, which made Levi laugh.
"Well, I wouldn't say that!" Levi joked.
"I think we can let him in on our little secret now, don't you?" Brie whispered subtly into Sora's ear.
"Hey Levi, any way you can turn your supersonic hearing off for a second?" Sora asked.
"Sure. Be my guest." Levi said. He gave us a giant thumbs up once they were free to talk.
"Should we make the seal now, and reveal who we are, I'd imagine he'd be extra motivated and who knows how hard this boss floor is," Sora asked Sasha and Brie.
"Your analyze doesn't work either, Sora? Shit. Yeah. I think it would be a good idea. Especially because we know he's 100% on your side and doesn't know who we are." Brie said.
"Let me use my hypnotize and charm skills on him to see if he's actually telling the truth?" Sasha asked.
They nodded in agreement, and before Levi knew it, he was under Sasha's trance.
"Levi, do you know our true identities?" Sasha asked.
"I do not," Levi responded robotically.
"Up until this point, you have no knowledge of who any of the three of us are or any of our goals and ambitions, despite having the deception ability?"
"I do not," Levi responded robotically.
"Release," Sasha said. "I'm so sorry Levi. I didn't mean to take you off guard like that. Here, let C explain."
"And to think I trusted you…" Levi started to trail off.
"System, initiate the seal with the same conditions as Brie and Sasha with Levi Steele."
Before Levi could finish his angry speech, his face filled with joy.
"YES I ACCEPT!!! SORA THE GREAT IS IT REALLY YOU?!" Levi shouted, unable to contain his excitement.
The group removed their masks, and Levi ran in and gave Sora a giant hug and lifted him off the ground.
"And now I'm in a party with you! This is all too good to be true!" Levi said, while giving each of the girls a big hug as well.
Even Sasha smiled when Levi hugged her, which is something no one expected.
"Now, about floor 20. You know how powerful Sora is. He can't analyze and detect what's behind that door." Brie said somberly.
"It doesn't matter what's behind that door, because I trust in Sora and his friends! I'm just glad to be a part of the group. We shall work together and thwart whatever enemy lies ahead, in this dungeon or the next!" Levi cheered.
Thanks to the system, Levi laid out his skills already when he accepted the seal. The Chrono system never ceased to amaze Sora.
"Did you add a list of our abilities after they accept my invitation?"
Yes, and you'll be happy to know Levi is quite the Uthra. Supersonic hearing. SS level fire magic. SS level deception skills, although I'm still not sure how he managed to thwart your SSS level inspect. He is also over a quarter of the way to SS rank adventurer, which is very, very rare.
"Excellent," Sora muttered underneath his breath.
****
"System, create and equip our cloak on Levi."
Levi smiled as he put his helmet back on. "Now I feel like I'm really part of this Savior party."
Sasha stepped up next to Levi, ready to push into the final room.
Brie stayed back and gave Sora a hug. "Promise me you won't do anything stupid. We're with you, you're not alone anymore and unlike what I said when I met you, I don't expect you to do everything by yourself."
Sora returned the hug, with a big smile, "I promise. I promise I won't ever do anything to put myself in harm's way, unless it involves protecting you."
She leaned her head into Sora's chest, whispered, "Thank you."
Sasha said, "Any day now lovebirds."
Levi chucked as Sora and Brie both instantly broke away from each other as their faces went beat red.
"Ha! Sora's greatest weakness… a party member?" Levi laughed.
"I'm beginning to like you a lot more, Levi," Sasha said with a playful nudge.
"Well, alright, the time for fun and games is over. Everyone prepare yourselves, whatever is behind that door isn't going to be easy!" Sora shouted, while pushing the door open.