Chapter four: Tiny little steps.

When Pyrrha decided to work some frustration out in the dungeon, she had expected to just fight her way down to the 18th floor and enjoy whatever was down there. According to the guide book there was a small town called Rivira down there that had an amazing view of the very unique floor.

Now however she was lost, she had no were she was between the 13th and 17th floors. And for some reason a Minotaur that she had managed to not destroy in a battle earlier was following her around.

Normally she would have just killed the beast thing, but it somehow looked so, she wasn't sure if pathetic could be used for a two and a half meter tall humanoid bull monster, but it certainly had looked like it.

Even now it trailed after her, as she wandered aimlessly, looking like a lost puppy. ''You wouldn't happen to know how to get down would you?'' She asked it.

''Moooouuuhhhhh.'' It cautiously kept a few meters of distance.

''Down.'' Pyrrha tried again, pointing to the floor this time.

The Minotaur got down on its knees.

''No you- argh!'' She gave up trying. She should have known better than to expect a monster to understand what she was asking it.

''I suppose this is what I get for not studying the maps thoroughly enough.'' Shaking her head she continued walking. Sooner or later she would come across something, a hole to the next floor if she was further up than she thought she was. Or maybe an adventurer who could show her the way.

Though the thought of asking for directions this far down struck her as a bit embarrassing. The wast majority of adventurers never got down this far, and those who did were certainly prepared for it. She would look like a complete fool.

''Ouuuuhhhh.'' The Minotaur interrupted her thoughts with it's loud mooing, she looked back to see it hesitating, looking from her to another hallway.

''Is something there?'' She walked back to see what had caught it's attention, and to her great relief it was a hole in the floor. ''Oh! Exactly, a hole to go down!'' She clapped her hands and smiled up at the beast. ''Great work!''

She wasted no time and jumped into the abyss, grabbing onto the walls to halt her fall every few seconds. The hole continued down, longer and longer, in her decent she realized she must have been somewhere between the 13th and 15th for the drop to just continue like this.

By the time the hole ended her arms and legs were starting to feel tired from all the exercise. She stretched a bit while taking in her surroundings. It was much darker than the floors she had been on, no problem for her highly enhanced senses, and the terrain was more uneven. Like a proper mountain cave, completely unlike the first few floors that had smooth walls and square rooms.

As she was about to set off again she was interrupted by the sound of Minotaur roars coming from the hole in the ceiling that she had just exited.

''Really?''

Moments later the monster tumbled down onto the rocky floor.

Pyrrha decided to just keep going, there was no use in helping the thing out since she would eventually have to kill it. It didn't take long for it to be trailing after her again though.

She continued to wander aimlessly through the rocky pathways for some time. The Minotaur, even if a bit annoying, was a welcome source of amusement in the darkness.

Eventually she came to a sudden halt, spooking her monster companion. She could hear something echo, just the faintest sound of voices carried through the caverns. Other adventurers, finally!

She picked up speed, unhindered by the uneven terrain, and turned corners and passed by several monster corpses on the way. Someone hadn't retrieved the magic stones.

Before long she could make out a few voices, male and female.

''Can't believe our shitty luck!''

''Might as well turn back and farm this floor..''

''OH COME ON! We are all high level two here! We can take it on with just the five of us!''

''No we can't Jara. We would need at least five more people just to keep it distracted and more importantly-''

''Shush! You hear that!?''

Pyrrha slowed down as she neared, she could see the group of adventurers and it wouldn't do to make them think she was hostile. When she was sure that they could see her she put on her winning smile and waved jovially. ''Hello there!''

''I seem to have come unprepared and lost my way. You ladies and gentlemen wouldn't happen to know the way to the 18th floor?''

She was met by hard looks and weapons bared at her.

''MOOOOOOHH!'' Or rather at the Minotaur that was following her.

When she realized their apprehension she turned and glared at the monster until it stopped roaring and acting aggressive. ''I am sorry about this one, it has gotten a little attached to me.''

The group of adventurers started loudly whispering among themselves, weapons still drawn, for a moment before one of them lowered his weapon. A Dwarf man took a step forward, keeping a wary eye on the Minotaur as he addressed Pyrrha.

''You may be strong enough to subdue a Minotaur, Tamer, but I don't think any of us will make it to the 18th.'' Pyrrhas Minotaur growled, and the man gripped the handle of his axe hard enough for Pyrrha to hear the metal handle groan under the stress. ''The Goliath has spawned and we don't have the manpower to take it down.''

After giving the monster a quick slap to make it quiet down she offered a smile to the group ''I hope you will believe me when I say that I am actually level 4. And my advi-''

''Yer level four and got lost down here?!'' She was interrupted by a human male who stood further back. His face looked is if he had been on the losing end of bar fights a few times to many. Missing teeth, flattened nose and scars around his mouth and eyes. He received an elbow to the ribs from a tiger Faunus woman to shut him up.

Pyrrha blushed, just as she expected it was really embarrassing, at least it was dark enough for them not to see it. ''This is actually my first time down here. But as I was saying, my adviser assured me I should be able to handle the Goliath alone, should I have to.''

The group of adventurers whispered among themselves, and Pyrrha could hear them talking about whether to let her join them to take it on.

''Actually-'' Pyrrha said to get their attention. ''-If you would be willing to work with me, you could have it's magic stone, and eventual drop items if you are lucky.''

She was met by five pairs of very doubt filled eyes. ''Y-you see, I came down here for a vacation of sorts, so I wouldn't want to carry things I don't need for a long time.''

After a beat of silence the tiger woman was the first to speak up. ''You promise?''

The dwarf glanced back at the tiger woman before addressing Pyrrha. ''If you truly swear on it then I will not oppose.'' He finally let go of his weapon and held a meaty hand out for her to shake. ''I am Ragwald.''

She took his hand in her own and gave a firm shake. ''Pyrrha Nikos.''

''Gooooohh!'' Minotaur seemed displeased that she was getting along with the others.

''Hey. You think we can send that one in first as a distraction?'' The human male asked everyone, pointing at the Minotaur.

There were some laughs at the proposition, not from Pyrrha however. She gave a thoughtful look to the monster, doing as suggested might actually be the easiest way for her to be rid of it.

''I think that might actually be a good idea.'' She said finally to their shock. They gave her wide berth as she led the Minotaur past them to the large opening that led into the Goliath's room. Even standing outside she could hear incredibly heavy and loud footsteps.

She pointed into the room and pushed the monster forward. ''Your time to battle has come Minotaur!'' She used the most inspiring tone she could muster.

''Oooooh?'' It didn't seem to understand.

''Goliath. Fight!'' She made some aggressive gestures in the general direction of the giant.

After a few more shouts and gestures it seemed to understand. It tore a large chunk of rock out of the closest wall before rushing in with a loud roar.

And the six adventurers outside watched as the monster king swatted the bull monster like a fly.

They were all stunned for a moment, before a few of them let out nervous chuckles.

Pyrrha cleared her throat, trying to disregard the pang of guilt at having sent the beast to die like that. ''I suppose it is our turn now.'' She glanced at the others, who seemed much less composed after the show of strength inside the room. ''I'll take point then.''

The others followed her as she confidently walked in towards the great monster.

Jaune did his best to keep his sanity in check as his goddess updated his status.

Things had been fine for the first minute or so, she had talked about things as usual while starting the process of rewriting his Falna. But then she just gone silent.

He, as subtly as he could, glanced over his shoulder to look at the Goddess. Her eyes were as sharp as ever, but her mouth was slightly open and her eyebrows were raised ever so slightly.

He had never seen her make an expression like that so his panic only increased.

Why was she being quiet? Why did she look so surprised? What did she see in his soul that made her pause like that? Why was her butt so soft?

He had to ask her what was up. It was the only way to find out what was going on.

He took some deep breaths to steady himself, waited a few more seconds, took a glance back to see her expression hadn't changed, and then he went for it.

''J-Jaune Arc, short, sweet, rolls of the fffffff-''

Glynda startled and looked up to his now red face. ''I apologize Jaune I was not listening, did you say something?''

If she hadn't heard him be stupid then he could happily ignore his own mistake. ''uh- I mean yeah, just wondering why you went silent back there?''

She silently went back to working on his status, inadvertently leaving Jaune to freak out even more. After a minute she was done and jotted his new status down on a piece of paper.

''I believe we have something to both talk about and celebrate tonight.'' She said while handing it to him.

''What?'' Was all he could say as he looked at the writing.

''Also if you are willing, I would like Ren and Nora to see your new status so they can help us discuss the changes.''

Jaune noted her words somewhere in his mind as he took in the writing. And then promptly started yelling. ''WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTT!?''

The paper slipped from his limp fingers and floated down to the floor, it's text now exposed to the world.

Jaune Arc

Level one

Strength: I-16 I-65

Defense: I-15 H-122

Dexterity: I-14 I-53

Agility: I-21 I-74

Magic: I-0

Magic ()

Skills ([Giant slayer])

-Status growth is increased when facing enemies of greater strength.

He took another small sip of his mug filled with wine, trying to get used to to the taste, before looking at the three others in the room.

Nora was chugging what was left in the wine bottle, Ren was studying the paper that Jaunes status was written on and Glynda was trying, and failing, to open another bottle of wine.

''So,'' He started, getting their attention. ''How is this possible. I mean I've only been going into the dungeon for like.. a week? No 8 days right? So how?'' He pointed at the paper in Rens hands.

Glynda set the bottle down for a moment to answer ''It is quite rare to awaken skills other than when one levels up. However it varies from person to person, some may never gain any, others may gain a dozen.''

She tried to tug the cork out of the bottle once more before leaving it to Nora who opened the bottle with ease.

''Cases like yours are extremely rare Jaune. You awakened a rare, personal, skill after such a short time. But in this room there are already two other even more rare cases.''

''What do you mean?'' Jaune asked, not noticing that Nora was filling up his mug with more wine.

The goddess looked over at both Ren and Nora and after they nodded their approval she answered.

''Nora already had a skill when I first gave her my blessing.'' She somehow managed to not pay any attention to Jaune who had just sprayed a mouthful of wine across the room and gestured to the other boy. '' And Ren gained a magic spell after only three weeks.''

Ren decided to speak up while Jaune was still too occupied trying to breath. ''Nora had [Abnormal condition resistance] since she started. And I believe I gained my spell [Dragon lord's blessing] so quickly thanks to my being raised by spiritual people when I was young. I learned early on how to meditate and manipulate the power within me.''

''I got my second skill after two months!'' Nora supplied, only making Jaune more stupefied.

Glynda thanked Nora who had reached over to top of her mug with more wine as well. ''But I think we need to talk about your skill Jaune. Or rather the application of it.''

''Ability growth is increased when facing enemies of greater strength.'' Ren read out loud. ''Meaning your status would increase more in proportion to how much stronger your enemy, compared to you. If I understand this right of course.''

Glynda nodded and hummed. ''I would like it if you could try out the growth correction when you go to the dungeon next Jaune. If you view the upper floors in how the monsters compare to status ranks then the third and fourth floor would be around 'H' rank. Most of your status is still in 'I' rank so it should allow us to see how much of a difference there is.''

Jaune having finally had a chance to calm down gazed at his companions. ''Just asking, but.. wouldn't it be better for me to just go with Nora and Ren down to the 12th floor?''

''Denied.'' Glynda said with finality.

''What goddess means-'' Ren interjected. ''Is that even though we are both level two, protecting you would be difficult, and also detrimental to your growth. Both in your status, and as an adventurer.''

Nora burped loudly as she set the second empty bottle of wine down and continued after Ren. ''Yeah Jauney! The upper floors are like a daycare for adventurers.'' She paused to let some more air out of her stomach. ''s'like, you need to learn stuff on each of the floors to survive the ones further down.''

''Exactly. Jaune, you have only just started out, this skill may give you more power in a short time, but true skill trumps status.''

''So then what should I do? Just keep going on my own in the upper floors until you think I'm good enough?'' Jaune honestly felt a little angry over their refusal for him to join them. But the rational part of his mind reminded him that they were right, he wasn't nearly strong enough to go down there, skill or not.''

''Yes.'' Glynda kept it simple. Truly a goddess of keeping it simple.

Ren cut in again ''Actually Jaune, there is something you could do to progress to lower floors while still keeping relatively safe. I think you should find someone to make a party with.''

This was the first time Jaune could look at Ren as if the boy was stupid. He should not have forgotten how Jaunes first experience with a party ended. Instead of responding he simply waved his now mostly healed right arm, still wrapped in black bandages, in front of Ren.

Maybe it was the wine or the poor lighting, but Jaune could swear Ren actually blushed a little as he answered. ''Of course not with dangerous individuals Jaune. You could ask the guild to set you up for meetings with people who want to form a party themselves. Or actively look for someone on your own.''

Jaune nodded at the advice, before asking the most important question, in his opinion. ''I don't have to request for meeting's with my adviser do I?'' He would really rather avoid talking to Cinder if he could help it.

''Of course, I am sure you can ask any guild employee about it-''

''We're out of wine! Jaune, go buy some!'' Nora suddenly cut in, holding Jaunes empty mug in her hand. He hadn't even noticed her take it from him.

Glynda frowned at the girl ''Nora, Jaune is still not fully recovered.''

Nora sighed dramatically before correcting herself. ''Jaune, we're out of wine! LET'S go buy some!''

She dragged him out of the house, quickly followed by Ren who wanted to make sure they didn't get themselves into trouble.

Glynda chuckled even though she was suddenly left alone in the house. She finished her mug of wine before she got up and retrieved some Lien from the bedroom. Just as she came back into the common room the door opened and Nora poked her head in.

''We forgot to bring cash.''

Glynda handed the bunch of money over. ''Do get a bottle of Shade reserve for me.''

''You got it Glynnie!'' And the door slammed shut as fast as it had been opened.

She couldn't help but laugh some more at that. One way or another she had really managed to gather a few really interesting children into her Familia.

AN: Now I'm sure people will ask about [Giant slayer] so lets try to answer right away.

Giantslayer will NOT be a bullshit ability like Bell's Realis phase. It only increases his growth rate when facing enemies in actual combat, meaning training against Ren, Nora or other stronger characters will not activate the skill. Meaning he would be gaining status points at a normal rate.

As to why I am giving him this ability, it's mostly so I wont have to put big time skips in. In the LN it is said that the fastest person to get from level one to two (Other than Bell) is Ais, who needed A WHOLE YEAR for it.

''And so Jaune grinded for seven months in the upper floors before shit happened.'' Is what it would be like without Giant slayer.

TL:DR praise Giant slayer.

Also I remembered that I can put actual lines in instead of -Linebreak- so have fun with that.