Danmachi - Card Wizard

"I AM GANESHA! Welcome to the MonsterFilia!" Shouted the masked man from the commenter seat. "Today, you will all have the chance to see the deadly monster of the dungeon and witness them being tamed! I welcome the first participant and the Silverback to be tamed! Once again, I AM GANESHA, and I wish you a great day!" He continued the god as he showed countless poses to the audience.

"Yeahhhhhh!!!" Shouted the audience as they all started to get hyped by the god of the masses.

---

"I really can't wait to see the show. Maybe a monster will rampage, and the adventurers will have to kill it off again." Said Ais as she showed more enthusiasm for the killing of a monster than the process of taming one.

"You know the show is about taming monsters, right?" Commented Aidan as he gave a funny look at Ais's wish.

"I know, but it would be entertaining to watch, and a good monster is a dead monster anyway." She said as she crossed her arms and turned her head away in a mock pout while she closed the distance between their bodies.

"You know, this show just gave me a good idea. What if I were to create a card to capture or tame monsters?" Asked Aidan as he showed a thoughtful look on his face.

"What's the point? With the amount of mana you would have to spend on that card, you might as well kill it to receive the excelia. Besides, a good monster is a dead monster." She emphasized once again as she loathed the monsters as one captured her mother.

"Yeah, you're right. Those monsters wouldn't be very useful. Besides, I don't think I'm that interested in taming monsters. My cards can probably do the same job, if not better. Well, I'll try to create it, and if it's too hard, I'll give it to Loki. I'm sure she can find a use for it anyway." Finished Aidan as he gave it no extra thought and turned back towards the show as the Silverback hit the ground with his fist, creating a pit in the floor with the exclamation of the crowd.

"Hum, the tamer almost died there." She noticed as she looked closely at the tamer, who had sweat trickle down his face due to nervousness.

"Yeah, maybe the adventurers will fulfill your wish and kill the monster. However, we're pretty lucky to gain seats this close to the stage, or we wouldn't see much." Commented back Aidan as he saw the adventurers nearby tense up, ready to go and kill the monster at the slightest sign of danger for the tamer.

"Yeah, we're lucky." Nodded Ais as she took a look at the monster. "Look, the Silverback seems to be slowing down. It seems that he somehow managed to tame it through the whipping." She continued as the monster slowed down even more and eventually stopped moving as the tamer came closer and rode on its shoulder.

"Hum, the process seems weird. One moment the monster wanted to kill the tamer; the next, he stopped moving and allows him to ride it. Well, whatever, I'm not that interested in taming anyway." Said Aidan as he looked at the next tamer who appeared on the stage with an orc.

---

"It was pretty entertaining. However, I still prefer to kill the monsters." Said Ais as Aidan agreed with her opinion wholeheartedly.

"We should be able to go back to the dungeon either tomorrow or in two days. This time, we should make our goal to reach at least 'A' in all of our parameters even if it takes us a couple of months." Said the boy as he brought the girl towards their last destination of the day, the city's defensive wall that wasn't very far from the stadium.

On the city walls, they sat together on the chairs that Aidan brought with his card. The sun started setting as an orange glow appeared on the horizon, and the noise in the city gradually disappeared. "Hey Aidan, you won't regret it, right?" She asked as she stared directly into his eyes.

With a small laugh, he stared back at her and with a smile, he answered her: "I'm sure. Now whether you want to or not, you're stuck with me. As for that dragon, we can't become the strongest if we can't kill it. So, don't worry about a thing; we'll become the strongest, kill that dragon and rescue your mother." He said out loud as he pulled Ais into a tight hug.

"From now on, don't question me again about this, alright?" Asked Aidan as he looked directly into Ais's eyes as he loosened his hug to see her face.

"Hum." She nodded as she came closer and put her head on his shoulder with a smile. 'I was right. He is perfect.' She thought for a moment before Aidan pulled back from the hug.

"Let's have supper." He said with a grin as he took out a table and the sandwiches to eat together as they sat next to each other, looking at the sunset from the top of the defensive walls.

---

"Aidan." Said Riveria as she walked out of the mansion's gate. "I was looking for you. Loki summoned you."

"Hum, alright, let's go." He answered as Ais separated and went back to the room in advance.

"So, how was your day?" Asked the elf as they were walking to the third floor of the manor.

"It was pretty fun. We went to the stalls this morning, and we went to the defensive walls after the spectacle." Explained to the boy as he looked up to the elf before noticing her ears and remembering his previous question.

"Hey, Riveria, can you crouch down a little?" Asked the silver-haired boy as he looked straight at her ears.

"Hum? Sure, why?" She distractedly asked as she crouched down a bit next to Aidan.

"I wanted to know how your ears are different from mine." He answered with a serious face as he brought his hands up to her ears and started to feel the pointed tip of her long ears.

"Hum, apart from being a bit longer and their pointed tip, there isn't much difference, huh." Exclaimed Aidan as he nodded to himself.

"Ummm." Moaned the elf as her face went bright red while glaring at the young boy next to her. As she wanted to start criticizing him, however, a concerned voice peered through.

"Hum, Riveria? Are you alright? Your face is completely red, and that sound you made, could it be you are sick? You should go back to sleep." He said in concern as he saw her turning even redder. "Let's go see Loki-sama. I'm sure she can help you!" He added as he pulled the elf towards the goddess's room.

"No, I'm alright. You go alone to see Loki. I'll go back to sleep first." Answered the tall green-haired elf as she didn't give a chance for Aidan to answer as she immediately left with her highest speed.

"Ah, okay." He whispered as he shook his shoulders and continued walking towards the room of the goddess.

With a knock, Aidan pushed the door open and entered after he heard a "Yes." From the other side of the door.

"Hello, Loki-sama, I heard from Riveria that you wanted to see me?" He asked politely.

"Yes, come sit here, Aidan." She said as he went to sit on the sofa he usually sat on. "Today, we started the sales of the various cards you produced. I can say that you made an extravagant amount. Most of the adventurers bought the map card, and due to having to pay to unlock each floor they could explore, you made an exceptionally high amount of money.

For example, level two adventurers all hope to be able to go down to the eighteenth floor, and due to this, they mostly unlocked the card to the 18th. It means that they had to spend 153,000 Valis to unlock from floor 1 to floor 17 since 18 is a safe zone. And that is only concerning level two adventurers.

Moreover, along with the other cards you put to sale, after taking the 10% cut out of the total profit, you made a total of a bit more than two hundred million." She finished with a smile.

"Hum, isn't two hundred million a bit too much?" He asked with a frown as he felt there was a problem.

"No, there are easily around ten thousand levels two adventurers without mentioning higher levels. You would only have to sell 1308 map cards to the seventeenth floor to make that amount. However, you didn't only sell the map card but also the storage along with the insurance along with a few weak defensive and support cards. So, no, it isn't much at all, and on the contrary, it is pretty low for the moment since most adventurers haven't been made aware of the cards or don't believe it yet." She explained with a happy smile on her face.

"I've had members deposit your money in the bank since I doubt you want to keep all that money in your storage card. Here's your bank card." She explained as she gave him his bank card. "Other than this, the goddess of smithing, Hephaestus, wanted to take a look at your sword. She heard from the captain of her familia that your sword had different forging methods and was interested in studying your sword. So, I arranged a meeting with her tomorrow morning if it is okay with you. Don't worry. I'll get as many benefits from her as possible." She finished with a laugh as she offered her help to Aidan.

"I see. At what time is the meeting?" He asked his tomboyish goddess.

"It will be tomorrow morning at 9." She grinned as she already started to think about what to extort from her fellow goddess.