Chapter 2: Unforgettable Party Members
"Satou Kazuma-san, welcome to the afterlife. Unfortunately, you've met your demise. It might've been short, but your life is now over."
Upon hearing the voice, Kazuma opened his eyes.
He found Aqua in front of her sitting on a fancy chair and eating snacks that are on top of the side table. Of course, he didn't know her yet.
He looked around, only to find himself in a room with a floor checkered with white and gray tiles, and black mist surrounded them after a kilometer.
That's when he realized it was not a room, it was endless...
He recalled how he died.
「It was nighttime. He was walking to his apartment after finishing his part-time job.
That's when he heard a girl screaming for help.
When he followed the source of the voice, he found 3 men forcing themselves on a high school girl in an alleyway.
He ran to the guy closest to him and hooked him in the face with full strength.
That started the other two.
He could have taken them all out, but the problem arrived when he knocked out the second guy near him with a full power roundhouse kick.
The third guy had a pistol strapped.
He quickly unstrapped the pistol, but hesitated to shoot at first.
The man saw Kazuma approaching him in a panic to disarm him.
Kazuma grabbed the muzzle of his pistol, but the man pulled the trigger, the bullet pierced through Kazuma's hand, then head.」
"Is the girl safe?"
"Yes, she is. She would have been safe despite your interference."
Kazuma wrinkled his brows.
"And how's that?"
"She was gonna run away, and they wouldn't have followed her because they were about to be called by their boss."
Kazuma took a deep breath in and then out.
There is a probability for that situation to happen again or to someone else, she's quite dumb to not know that.
He just hoped that the girl ran away and called police or something.
Though as much as it pains him to not be able to beat that last guy too.
He still accepted the fact that he was dead now. He didn't care about his life much.
His parents died when he was 2 years old, and he was raised by his relatives until he started living alone not too long ago.
"Tell me where I am right now."
"Quite cocky for a mortal, aren't you? We are in the dimension between God's Realm and your world, in other words, purgatory. Also, I am a goddess, so show some respect."
She said while eating her chips.
Eating chips? That's a goddess?
Kazuma had admired her beauty a little and thought he was goddess as first, but alas, she's a dumb goddess.'
Is this how you treat a dead person, first of all?
"Now, let me explain this situation to you. I am the goddess of water, Aqua. This place is where your fate will be decided. You have 3 choices."
She explained that the first option is to reincarnate in the same world with no current memories.
The second option is ascending to heaven, this option was worse than the first one. Because there you have no physical form, so you can't do anything instead of basking in the sun and talking to other souls.
The third and final option,
"Do you like games? Wait, of course, you do, you are an otaku, haha. Pathetic."
She insulted and laughed.
Kazuma didn't care about others insults, instead he insults them in return.
Right now, Kazuma kept himself in control.
She may be dumb and rude, but he had accepted the fact that she was more powerful than him right now.
And yes, he was a part-timer, a student, and also loved games and anime.
He learned martial arts in middle school, so that he could beat the crap out of bullies.
"Anyways, the third option... reincarnate into a world of sword and magic, but unfortunately this world is filled with life-threatening dangers. The Demon King and his army seek to dominate this world. They massacre anyone in their path. People who died in this world are too afraid to be reborn there again, which is a problem. You will be sent into that world with a powerful ability or a legendary weapon. You will fight the demon king and his army to free the world from crisis. Now, choose your fate."
This seems worse, yet good.
He'd keep his memories and not start from scratch, but monsters and demon king's army seem a real problem.
Despite all that, this choice seems better than the other two.
He will have a physical body, as well as his current memories and body.
"Third one."
"All that's left now is to choose a powerful ability or a legendary weapon."
Once she finished speaking, lots of catalogs formed a wall in front of him.
On them were written names and descriptions of those specific abilities and weapons.
"Abnormal Strength", "Greater Mana Pool", and "Sacred Sword Arondight" such names were on some of the catalogs.
"Demonic Blade Murasame" caught Kazuma's curiosity.
It was a blade that could be summoned only once a day. There was no way to un-summon it.
Being able to summon it was a useful ability.
It also gave passive stat buff when wielded by the person who chose the relic.
The passive buffs were fairly higher, speed, and strength stats.
The real special skill of the sword was quite terrifying.
Once the true wielder cuts himself deep with Murasame. The sword's curse will activate and keep him alive for 1 minute and give him incredibly high strength, vitality, magic, agility and speed stats.
After 1 minute has passed, the wielder will inevitably die.
The values to which they buffed those stats should really be amazing, because the sacrifice is too much.
Kazuma grabbed the Murasame catalog, and other catalogs disappeared immediately.
"Are you stupid? You are seriously choosing that stupid demonic sword. It probably has the worst special ability. Enibras-sama doesn't show mercy."
She exhaled deeply before the last of the sentence.
"I am only after that passive stat buff and the summonable trait. I have no intention to use the cursed ability in my whole life there, and who is this Enibras guy?"
Kazuma has no intetion of dying again.
He already died once, in somewhat vain.
"He's one of the gods. God, Enibras, Personification of Darkness. Gods usually work at God's realm itself. They are more powerful than goddesses. But, there are goddesses more powerful than gods and have a higher hierarchy. Fufu, I myself am more powerful than many gods and goddesses."
She said proudly at the end.
Like she explained, there is a specific realm for gods.
It's like a different world filled with gods, they have hierarchy and such.
"Hm, you are powerful, huh. Then, let me choose another relic."
"Not possible, those are the rules."
"Powerful my ass, heh, pathetic goddess!"
Aqua clenched her fist and gritted her teeth at Kazuma's insult.
She couldn't find a come back, fortunately.
"Now that you have chosen your legendary weapon, you will now be teleported to the fantasy world. Once you get there, you will automatically learn their language as a blessing of gods. If you are unlucky, your brain might wipe blank."
She had started explaining in a loud voice, but slowly lowered her voice at the last sentence.
"What was the last sentence? Don't hide important details, stupid."
Kazuma spoke with furrowed brows.
Her personality was getting annoying for Kazuma now.
"Huh?! That's your punishment, now, get out of here already! I hope your brain wipes blank!"
A big bright vertical beam of light enveloped Kazuma.
As the light engulfed Kazuma an angel appeared.
"Satou Kazuma-san, you'll now be heading to another world and will become one of the hero candidates to defeat the Demon King. You'll receive a gift from the gods the moment you defeat the Demon King. May you be victorious!"
The angle spoke gently.
. . .
He opened his eyes again, but now he found himself in an alleyway surrounded by 2 brick walls on both sides.
He was able to hear the chirping of birds, the footsteps of people walking, the chattering of people, and the creaking sounds of a carriage driving on a paved path.
It was a new world, a new beginning...
His expressions were deadpan, but inside he was filled with excitement.
Aqua and Kazuma were standing in front of the counter inside Adventurer's Guild.
"Kazuma-san, who might she be?"
Luna questioned.
"Oye, introduce yourself."
"Why are you ordering me? Anyways, I am the goddess of water, Aqua. Yes, the goddess axis order worship. I am here to become an adventurer to support this man in defeating the Demon King."
Aqua introduced herself haughtily, expecting to be treated like a goddess.
"Uh-huh, goddess... right..."
Luna didn't believe her even a bit.
"Jeez, let me explain. She is a pitiful woman who claims to be goddess. She was dumped alone and begged me to help her, so I am letting her become an adventurer to see if she's useful."
"Ah, I-I see. Maybe her problem can be cured by priests or something?"
"If it was curable, I would have done that the moment I found her."
"What are you saying?! And I am a real goddess, can't you see a holy aura around me?!"
Aqua said on the verge of crying.
"It is really sad."
Luna looked at Aqua with sympathetic eyes.
"She ignored me!"
After this, Aqua zipped her mouth and stood there with a dejected atmosphere around her.
Luna came with the detail form to fill in the blanks, and the same procedure repeated.
Aqua touched the card to reveal her stats.
Kazuma wasn't expecting much, if she was useless in combat, he was just gonna let her choose her profession and leave her to earn herself.
He has no intention of opening an orphanage.
But, fortunately, her stats weren't so bad, or should I say they were amazing, yet not really.
"T-this is supernatural! With exception to below-average intelligence, all other stats are exceptionally high above average!"
Luna spoke amazed by her stats.
Her intelligence was below average, it was extraordinary, heh.
Kazuma had a bad feeling about her intelligence being so low.
"Really?! Am I really that amazing?"
"This is beyond amazing, many classes are available for you, except for arch-wizards that requires high intelligence. The occupations available are Berserker, Assassin, Arch-Priest and more!"
"It's quite sad that there's no "Goddess" class... well, just make me arch-priest then."
"Arch-Priest! They are a support class with all kinds of recovery and buff spells. I will register you as Arch-Priest right away!"
Luna said with a pleasant smile.
"Look, look, this is the power of a goddess!"
Aqua said and laughed haughtily after receiving her adventurer's card.
"Let's take a quest right now and..."
Aqua started only to be interrupted by Kazuma.
"No."
"I will show y- what, why?!"
She asked.
"I doubt that you will even be able to cast the right spell without instructions, and I want to get more members first."
Kazuma knew what her intelligence stat was.
He also knew her personality, arrogant and such.
She would probably try a stunt and get herself killed or something.
He wanted companions who wouldn't drag him back, but she has an advanced and rare class, so kicking her out of party will be a waste.
On top of that, she has high stats, she probably has no need to level to get stronger.
"Why you... I will show you the power of a goddess when we take a quest!"
She spoke.
As expected, she just wants to show her stupid power.
Now, she was playing with her adventurers card.
They bought the paper from the guild to paste it on the recruitment board.
Aqua begged to let her write the information on it, but Kazuma just smacked her head, and she sat on a chair ever since.
Kazuma thinks smacking is the only way to get her to not cause problems.
"Hitting a goddess. You will face divine retribution, cocky rude otaku!"
She kept her mouth shut since then.
-30 minutes passed.
In those 30 minutes, Aqua ordered 4 glasses of beer and loads of snacks, and gobbled them as time passed.
Kazuma had already seen this approaching the moment he decided to recruit party members.
He won't have to give her his money once they start doing quest, and she actually helps in earning eris.
"You will earn your money yourself, or I won't give you a single eris if you keep wasting my money on alcohol."
So Kazuma said.
"Hmph, you want my goddess powers, but you won't even let me eat however I want?"
"You can leave my party if you want to, I will find a better Arch-priest with above average intelligence. I am saving my money for my equipment, food and place to stay. I don't have money to waste on the goddess of alcohol who drinks in the daytime."
Aqua didn't have a comeback from Kazuma's speech.
Kazuma had thought she would literally be useless at first, but considering her status now, her class can be really useful if used right.
Arch-priests can heal, buff, and purify undead.
All he needed to do was to force strategies into her tiny peanut size brain.
-3 more minutes in.
"No one's coming... How long are we gonna wait? This is getting really boring. Let's just go on a quest, I will show you my goddess powers. Me alone, my self is good enough, you know. Maybe we should remove the "advanced job only" requirement from it. Kazuma say something! Ka-zu-ma!"
"Shut up, you are so annoying. I am not going to remove the requirement. I don't want people who will drag me behind in quests or severe situations."
While they chattered, footsteps closed in.
"I noticed your recruitment poster."
A girl spoke from behind Kazuma.
Kazuma looked behind to find a young 5'5 tall girl with elbow-long brown hair and crimson-colored eyes. She has fair skin and isn't busty or flat, the medium you can say. She is wearing red witch-like clothes with a brown waist long cloak, the cloak partially covered her shoulders. Black choker on the neck and black thigh tights with brown leather boots. Leather boots were near knees' length. Red eyepatch on the left eye. A wooden staff wizard staff with red crystal floating. She has a red witch-like hat too. [1]
"Who are you?"
Kazuma questioned the crimson-eyed wizard girl.
She flicked her cloak and covered half her face with her left hand.
"My name is Megumin! My calling is advanced class, Arch-Wizard! I control one of the strongest spells, "Explosion"!
She said in a fancy manner.
A chuunibyou in a real fantasy world, how interesting.
She was quite old to do such embarrassing things.
"Crimson eyes…? Are you from the Crimson Demon clan?"
Aqua spoke in curiosity.
"That's right! I am an elite from Crimson Demons! My magic's powerful enough to bring an earthquake! I saw your recruitment poster, I am an Arch-Wizard, an advanced mage class! This might be a fated encounter for us!"
"Hmph, a mage would be useful too, but in the end, it depends on how you use your power or what spells you have."
Kazuma spoke in a thinking pose as Megumin sat down on a chair with them.
"That's right! Have no fear, I have a vast arsenal of spells, and I am very skilled in using my mountain-shattering magic!"
"Why are you wearing an eyepatch? I am an Arch-Priest, I can heal your eye."
"It's a powerful magic item that controls my true power. If I remove it, a catastrophe would surely strike this town!"
"So, it's a seal! Amazing!"
Aqua spoke in amazement, her eyes sparkling. Kazuma started pulling her eyepatch.
"Ah! S-stop. Please... Stop... I am sorry, it's a normal eyepatch!"
"She's a delusional chuunibyou. How old are you?"
Kazuma released the eyepatch, and it hit Megumin's eye. She regained her composure.
"I am 16."
She spoke with a frown. Megumin removed her eyepatch and put it in her pocket. Teardrops could be seen in her eye because of getting hit by the eyepatch in the eye.
"I will have to see your abilities and skills first. Show me your adventurer's card. Also, we'll head out for a quest after we get one more, the final member."
"What another!? How long are you gonna make me wait? I learned all my arch-priest and even party tricks, now, let's just test them out."
Kazuma ignored Aqua. Megumin took out her adventurer's card and handed it over to Kazuma.
Kazuma took the card and thoroughly examined it.
"Can fake cards be forged?"
"No, it's not possible. Also, the eye color and weird name is proof of her being Crimson Demon clan, so she must be very skilled and powerful in magic."
Aqua replied.
"Why are you doubting my class, and it's rude to call our names strange!"
Kazuma handed her card back.
"By the way… uh, can we eat while we wait?"
"Who will pay?"
"Well… I have some money left, I didn't do any quest at all today. I was just searching for a party, and I have to pay rent at an inn too, so..."
Megumin requested.
Kazuma exhaled deeply.
It wasn't gonna be a billion eris dinner, so he didn't give it much heed and let them order and ate some meat himself too.
In one week in this world, Kazuma had completed quite a lot of quests alone and earned himself a small fortune.
If you are thinking if he learned any skills since day 1, yes, he did.
Wind Slash, you have already seen it, he saw an adventurer use it and then learned it.
Others can remain a mystery for now.
No, he didn't learn 14 skills from 14 skill points used.
The skills he learns from other classes cost him a few more skill points than usual, that's the reason for spending 14 skill points and gaining only a few skills.
He decided not to waste more until another powerful or useful skill or spell appears before him.
4 skill points were used in: Wind Slash, which is 3 points, and one-handed wielding, which is 1 point, leaving 10 skill points a mystery for now.
He still has 46 skill points left from 60 total.
His current level is just 10. Why does he have 60 points despite being only level 10? That's because people start out with skill points when they choose class. The amount depends on their potential.
Also, every level gives 1 skill point. 10 points from getting level 10 and another 50 because of potential making 60 total.
A whole hour has passed since the appearance of Megumin.
Not a single person approached them regarding recruitment.
They have had enough now.
Aqua and Megumin, who were feeling sleepy, had reached their patience.
"This is enough now. I am not waiting anymore."
"Yeah! It's been an hour since I came. You are still waiting for another member, Kazuma!"
Hearing their complaint, Kazuma stood up from his seat and started walking towards the quest board.
"Finally!"
Aqua exclaimed.
Megumin and Aqua also followed Kazuma.
They stood before the quest board filled with papers.
"Kazuma! Kazuma! Look, Griffin and Matiacore kill quest!"
"Stupid, I don't even have a slight clue how you both can perform.
It will be a hassle for me if you get into trouble.
We'll just take the giant toad quest, for now, just to test and observe your abilities."
They whined about him taking an easy quest and looking down on them.
Kazuma simply ignored them and started moving to where toads are found to kill them.
Wind blowing in the open field, the winds are neither cold nor hot.
The sun is hot as ever, shining brightly in the azure sky.
White clouds are slowly floating. Wonderful weather to just lay on the grass under a tree and sleep.
Kazuma, Aqua, and Megumin stood next to each other, with Kazuma in the middle.
They were standing on a small hill.
They watched 3 toads in different directions, jumping around shaking the ground below them as they landed.
"Megumin, you take the further left one, I will take care of the other 2."
"Wait, why am I the only one not doing anything?!"
"You can't fight. Just cast a buff on Megumin."
"Huh?! Don't you dare look down on a goddess! I will show you my true heavenly powers!"
She said and started charging towards the right toad. She was ready to punch it. Her right hand was enveloped by golden light.
"Goddess…?"
Megumin questioned with titled head.
"She's a self-proclaimed goddess."
Kazuma stated.
Kazuma ignored Aqua for now and ran down the hill towards the toad in front of him.
He slowly unsheathed Murasame with his right hand from his left-side waist while running towards the toad.
The toad was facing the opposite direction, so Kazuma jumped and climbed its back.
The skin wasn't so slippery to make him trip.
He stabbed the toad's head with Murasame, and the toad dropped on the ground, dead.
Kazuma looked towards Aqua.
"God Blow!"
She shouted and punched the toad, only for the toad to swallow her.
Little did she know, it was a toad filled with muscles.
It could be hacked, slashed, or burned with magic, but raw strength has no effect.
"Helph me…"
Aqua cried from inside toad's mouth, on the other hand,
Megumin was chanting her magic.
A red magic circle appeared on the ground below her.
Sparkling dark waves danced as she chanted.
Even from that distance, Kazuma could still perceive her eyes shining brightly red like a demon.
"Darkness blacker than black and darker than dark, I beseech thee, combined with my deep crimson. The time of awakening cometh. Justice, fallen upon the infallible boundary, appears now as an intangible distortion! Dance, Dance, Dance! Return all creation to ashes, and come from the abyss! This is one of the mightiest means of attack known to man, the ultimate magic! Explosion!"
A nuclear blast engulfed the toad she was targeting.
Shockwave blew the winds at a high speed, flowing Megumin and Kazuma's hair.
When the smoke from the blast disappeared, the toad was nowhere to be found, it disintegrated.
The explosion was amazing, but Kazuma's expressions remained deadpan.
Unfortunately, a toad that was burrowed in the ground, unburrowed itself, and headed towards unable to move Megumin.
Yes, she was unable to move.
"Why did you drop on the ground?"
"Tremendous power of explosion requires all my mana."
She got swallowed by a toad too.
Kazuma facepalmed and sighed in displeasure.
He took down the toad that swallowed Aqua, then the toad that swallowed Megumin.
Both the girls were covered in toad saliva.
Aqua was crying.
"Waaah! I thought I was gonna get swallowed. Why didn't you save me sooner!"
"Can you carry me back?"
Megumin was still on the ground asking Kazuma.
"No, you are disgusting right now. I won't even touch you."
"Huh?! Then, who will carry me back to the town? Are you just gonna leave me here?"
"Hm, that seems like a good idea."
"Beast, Kazuma you are a beast!"
"Aqua will carry you, or I can just drag you with your leg if you don't mind that."
Aqua started complaining again.
He ignored them both, and Aqua was forced to carry Megumin on piggyback.
Back in Axel. Kazuma was going towards Guildhall, while Aqua and Megumin were gonna split in the middle to go to the bathhouse.
"Do you know any other spell?"
Started Kazuma.
"I do."
"Then why didn't you use them?"
"I wanted to show you both the power of explosion magic!"
"If you wanna join the party, then explosion magic is banned unless I tell you to use it."
"I will die if I don't use explosion magic at least once per day!"
"That's quite sad, but I will still not allow it."
"You are truly a monster!"
Megumin stated.
"Right? Kazuma, is a rude, cocky and arrogant brute."
Kazuma's face twitched at Aqua's insult.
"What other spells do you know?"
"I know advanced magic spells…"
"You will mostly use them. If you use explosion without command or in unnecessary situations, be ready to face consequences. You are free to not join the party, by the way."
Kazuma declared. Megumin kept silent with a smirk that Kazuma didn't notice as he was walking in front.
The quest was to kill 5 toads in 3 days.
They received 10k each killed toad.
5k was the transport fee of the guild to move dead toads from field to town.
If they killed all 5 toads in 3 days, they'd receive 50k extra as a bounty for the quest.
If you are wondering, yes, Kazuma had killed another toad before returning back to town.
After taking a reward of 95,000 eris for completing the quest.
Kazuma once again sat on a wooden chair of a dining table set in the guildhall, waiting for the last member.
He was getting bored every second.
Megumin and Aqua haven't returned from the bath yet.
Thinking about the party, Megumin said she'll join.
Megumin seemed reliable, as her intelligence stats were quite high, and she was kinda the firepower of the party with advanced magic and explosion magic.
Aqua's only job was to support them, she would heal, and buff. She was actually more useful against the undead.
Kazuma thought of learning a few useful skills from them like, magic spell to protect himself against undead, maybe recovery magic, and advanced magic spells from Megumin.
What he still had to observe was how they would perform in a life or death situation, or if they can perform well themselves without his leadership, which he heavily doubted they could.
Having Arch-Priest as support, Arch-Wizard as a ranged and powerful magic caster, himself as a leader and front-liner magic-swordsman.
All he needed now was another swordsman or…
"Excuse me, did you put up this recruitment poster? Are you still looking for people?"
Kazuma looked to his right side, the direction from where the voice came from.
She was as tall as Kazuma, about 5'7 foot, a beautiful young woman who rivaled Kazuma's cool face. She was well-endowed with fair skin, long blond hair kept in a ponytail, and blue eyes. She gave off the aura of an aristocrat. She is wearing black, yellow, and white-colored heavy armor. She was simply a female noble knight.
Kazuma looked her in the eyes.
"Who are you?"
"I am Darkness, a crusader. If I can still join, t-then, please let me join your party! I even meet the requirements for an advanced job! I am confident in my strength, but my defense is the best!"
Kazuma thought why she was stuttering in between, then he noticed her bright red blush.
"T-those 2 girls were in your party, right? Why were they covered in s-slime, oh my, I can't imagine what happened to them. As a holy knight, I can't let such things happen to girls at a tender age! S-so please let me join your party too!"
Darkness grabbed Kazuma's hand.
"You are creepy as hell. What are you a Masochist?"
"W-without hesitation, how cruel!"
Her face turned bright red, and she hugged herself, breathing heavily.
"Well, defense and swordsmanship. They are literally what I need now."
Kazuma said with right hand on his chin and right hand's elbow on palm of left hand.
"Then, let me join your party! I will be your meat shield!"
"Hmph, alright. We'll talk about this tomorrow. I will observe your skills and capability in a quest. Also, they were swallowed by toads, don't get the wrong idea."
"That's exactly what I want!"
Kazuma made an irritated face. (The one on my profile pic or story's thumbnail. Just wanted to point this out, so that whenever he makes it again, you will know what to imagine.)
The next day.
Last night, when 2 girls returned from the bath, Kazuma divided 95k Eris equally and gave them to Aqua and Megumin 47.5k each and 50k extra for their needs.
Darkness was gone by the time they arrived.
Aqua rented inn somewhere.
Currently, Kazuma is entering the guildhall only to find people cheering on Aqua as she performs her party tricks.
"Look, look, Kazuma, Kazuma! My new skill, nature's beauty!"
"Aqua, I admire you for being able to waste skill points on useless skills."
"Ugh, at least appreciate something I do once."
"I do admire your intelligence for being extraordinarily low, isn't that enough?"
Kazuma sat down on a bar stool chair beside Megumin and ordered meat with salad and neroid drink.
If you are what a neroid is? It's a monster, but a lot of drinks and juices are made from the neroid.
It's a white cloud-like small monster that has the ears and face of a cat.
Kazuma took out his card and examined it.
"I need more utility skills, expanding my raw power only doesn't seem right for some reason."
Kazuma mumbled. Megumin noticed his adventurer's card and took a look. Much to her surprise, Kazuma had quite a lot of skill points. Megumin snatched his adventurer's card and examined it thoroughly with sparkling eyes.
"K-kazuma, you are "Champion" class, you can learn any skill or spell! You also have so many skill points, forget other skills, walk the path of explosion with me!"
Kazuma snatched his adventurer's card back, leaving Megumin disappointed and in dismay - sulking.
"I refuse to learn pathetic explosion. I don't need a spell that will leave me immobilized to die after one use."
"Here you are."
Darkness called and sat on a barstool chair on Kazuma's left side.
"Let's continue from where we left off yesterday. Let me join your party."
"Hmph, I told you, we'll go on a quest to observe your capabilities, so get ready."
"I am ready for any c-challenge you tell me to face, may it be t-toads or t-tentacle monster!"
"I heard you wanted to learn useful skills."
Kazuma, who had nearly finished eating his meat, looked behind.
She was a teen girl with short silver hair, purple eyes, and a scar on her cheek. She was wearing a light blue scarf, a short green cape about elbow length, a pair of black gloves, short blue jeans, and a black bikini-like top.
"Oh my, darkness, you chose a party with such a handsome guy, huh. Hehe."
"Despite his appearance, he's actually a rude beast."
Darkness's whole face was bright red now, and she was fidgeting.
"I am not a beast, you are thick headed masochist."
"Hilarious! Your party will be fun. With someone who bluntly talks to others and a masochist who likes insults, it's best combination!"
"Who are you?"
Kazuma questioned the teenage girl, who seemed to be Darkness's friend.
"Me? I am Chris, Darkness's friend. My calling is "Thief"! I can show you thief skills, they are very useful and don't cost many skill points!"
"Thief? I don't wanna go around pick-pocketing my enemies..."
"No, there are good skills like, Enemy Detection, Faster Reflexes, Steal and much more."
The second last skill caught Kazuma's attention, he had already finished eating when she started to explain skills.
"Hm, you got my attention. I will learn all of them and show me other thief skills too."
"Alright, but it will cost you. You will treat me to a glass of crimson beer and high-quality meat."
"Order them, I will pay."
Chris ordered the beer and they all decided to sit on a dining table.
"Did she wanted to join our party, Kazuma?"
Aqua asked.
"Yes."
"Nice to you meet you, I am Darkness, a crusader!"
And they continued to chatter and getting along with each other.
Despite her masochistic trait, Darkness seemed mature and really reliable to Kazuma.
Megumin was a loud, delusional girl who loved explosion magic, yet was quite powerful if pressured to use other spells.
Aqua is a stupid, arrogant girl who claimed to be a goddess to Kazuma, but all he needed to do was instruct her.
Kazuma and Chris had gone outside to show the skills, and Darkness followed them to just spectate.
There were standing in a small street, not many people were around here.
"Alright, I will show you "Steal" now. It can be used to disarm your opponent or steal their wallet secured inside their pockets. Its success rate depends on luck stat, though. Here we go!"
Disarming sounded useful to Kazuma. There was no problem in playing under-handed if needed to.
Chris raised her arm towards Kazuma with a clenched fist.
"Steal!"
Chris shouted, and after a second opened her hand to find Kazuma's wallet on her palm.
"Nice! A jackpot, it has so much money! I will give it back but…"
Chris smiled deviously.
"Now, try learning the skills I showed you. I will let you steal just one item from me. I don't care if you steal my weapon that sells for at least 400k Eris, my wallet, or your own wallet. It's a win-win. Want to try?"
"Being over smart, huh. It doesn't matter, if I don't steal my possession back, I will just force you to give it."
"You are really a brute, haha."
Chris said with a smile and laugh.
"I am not a brute for taking my wallet back."
Kazuma took out his adventurer's card.
He highlighted Disarm Traps - 2 points, Enemy and Trap Detection - 1 point each, Lurk - 1 point, Faster Reflexes - 2 points, Steal - 1 point, by swiping his finger over their name.
He then touched "Learn" on the adventurer's card.
46 minus 8 skill points used right now leaves him with 38 skill points. His level is still 10.
He put the adventurer's card back in the right trouser pocket and raised his arm towards Chris with a clenched fist too.
"Steal."
Kazuma chanted.
What appeared in his hand was his own wallet.
"Wow, your luck isn't half bad!"
Chris complimented with a smile.
"Alright, I have learned all the skills you showed me. Let's go back to the guildhall."
Kazuma with Darkness and Chris entered the so-called guildhall and found it lively as always.
"Aqua-san, please one more time, show me nature's beauty! I will pay for it!"
People who crowded Aqua made such comments.
Kazuma didn't have a hint of what was so interesting in that stupid waste of skill point.
As a reply, Aqua was being arrogant and saying it wasn't something that can be requested anytime, and blah blah.
"Oh, Kazuma. Did you learn the thief skills?"
Megumin, who was now standing in front of Kazuma spoke.
"Of course, why even doubt?"
"Then, I will take my leave. Thanks for the treat. You can ask for more skills whenever you want to. I will show them to you if I learn them myself."
Chris spoke and left while waving us goodbye.
"Kazuma, now. Let me join your party."
Darkness spoke, and Megumin and Aqua noticed her.
"Is that the person who wanted to join our party?"
Before Kazuma or Darkness could speak, an announcement interrupted.
"Emergency Quest! Emergency Quest! All adventurers in the town, please gather at the main gate of the town! I repeat, all adventurers in the town, please gather at the main gate!"
A loud emergency broadcast echoed throughout the town.
"Could it be…"
One of the adventurer said with a serious face.
Kazuma narrowed his eyes.
"They're coming!"
Citizens made such comments as Kazuma, his party, and other adventurers marched to the front door
Kazuma, his party, and many other adventurers stood in front of the large gate of the town of Axel.
The sky is covered with black clouds. Cold wind blowing with a soothing smell of vegetation.
Kazuma saw a big green cloud approaching them all from far away.
"I will show you my power now, Kazuma."
Darkness spoke proudly.
"It's gonna be rough this year, huh…"
Said, Ruffia. Kazuma didn't remember who he was, but felt familiar.
"The storm approaches"
Said Megumin, covering half her face with her left arm.
The cloud approached. Closer, closer, closer… they're… cabbage!
Kazuma narrowed his eyes and face-palmed thinking: seriously, what's wrong with this world.
The cabbages constantly shouted "Cabbage". Cabbages were alive in this world. They traveled to not be eaten by humans.
"Everyone. The reward for each cabbage is 10,000 eris. Please put them in these cages here after you capture them!"
Luna shouted.
Melee adventurers with sword, spear, hammer, dagger, rapier, and etc charged in front and cut, and pierce the cabbages.
Archer's shot down cabbages from distance, and mages didn't use any magic that would burn or disintegrate them instead, they used non-lethal magic to knocked or cut the cabbages down.
Darkness charged like a crusader and cut down cabbages in half with her shiny great sword. [2]
"Oye, delusional girl, don't you dare use Explosion magic, we don't want to turn them to ashes."
Kazuma commanded Megumin.
"Uh, y-yeah, sure, no p-problem!"
She said while sweating and stuttering.
Kazuma had a bad feeling about this, but he ignored it for now.
Kazuma unsheathed Murasame and ran into a horde of cabbages.
With the help of Advanced one-handed that he upgraded from one-handed by spending more skill points in it, he swiftly and smoothly moved his blade to cut down cabbages, it was like flowing water.
He learned Advanced one-handed by spending 5 skill points in his original one-handed, which leaves him with 33 skill points now.
Murasame being Katana made it fast, swift, and sharp. It was really easy to use.
With the help of faster reflexes, he dodged the cabbages swiftly, like the wind. [3]
The cabbages seemed harmless, but they weren't.
They traveled at such speed that if they hit you, it felt like a full power punch from a buffed man.
Kazuma cut down and captured a load of cabbages.
"Someone! Help me!"
Kazuma looked towards the source of the voice.
A horde of cabbages was about to hit a man who couldn't move because of another heavy man lying unconscious on his legs.
Kazuma was about to dash in between them to cut down those cabbages, but… Darkness was the first to respond.
But instead of cutting them down with her great sword, she just stood there vulnerable, but protected her head with her hands.
The cabbages were constantly hitting Darkness, breaking her armor and ripping her clothes. That's how powerful these cabbages were.
Darkness was still standing, protecting the person behind her like a chivalric noble knight.
"Don't! Save yourself first!"
"Never! I could never leave a fallen comrade behind!"
Kazuma instantly understood what was going on.
Her face is bright red, and she is breathing heavily.
She spread her arms, now completely vulnerable, protecting not even her head.
The crowd of adventurers behind was also cheering on Darkness's chivalry.
Kazuma cut down all the cabbages that were targeting Darkness then...
"It's my time to shine and take the spotlight!"
Megumin has started now.
Kazuma facepalmed and gave her a deathly glare.
"You little…"
Megumin was sweating hard at his glare, but mustered the courage to cast an explosion.
"Witness power of explosion magic people of Axel! I can't control myself if such a massive army of monsters is approaching."
She stated to all the adventurers present.
"Oh, blackness shrouded in light… Frenzied blaze clad at night… In the name of the Crimson Demons, let the collapse of thine origin manifest. Summon before me the root of thy power hidden within the lands of the kingdom of demise! EXPLOSION!"
The explosion was targeted towards a huge horde of cabbages that were still approaching from quite far, and monsters are chasing those cabbages too, for some reason.
The explosion wiped them all out.
Waste of money, they needed to provide cabbage that can be used in cooking, not ashes of them.
Despite being 16 with high intelligence, she's stupid as hell. Curse her love for the explosion magic.
Half of the horde of cabbages from the total that approached were wiped from the explosion.
The remaining were captured by adventurers, including Kazuma and Darkness, of course.
The adventurers went back in town to earn their reward for capturing the cabbages. Kazuma and his party went last.
"Kazuma who's gonna carry me."
"Noone."
"W-what, you are just gonna leave a lady alone outside? Do you not have any shame?!"
Megumin shouted with teardrops in her eyes.
"Don't worry, I will carry you. Aqua can carry my armor."
Darkness reassured Megumin and picked her up in piggyback.
"T-thank you, Darkness. Kazuma, she's in the party now right? Right?!"
His party now is a Arch-Priest, a Arch-Wizard, and a Crusader.
His squad is filled with a bunch of fools, yet it felt like they could accomplish anything together.
Their combination was perfect, with him as their leader, who actually used his intelligence stat, they were a powerful party.
It's like Megumin said, fated encounter. A fated assembly of a powerful team.
Kazuma was walking in front of them all with a smile on his face, a smile that his party unfortunately didn't see. [4]
After Word:
[1] Imagine Megumin to have medium breasts and little longer hair. She actually does know advanced magic, don't get the wrong idea from her using explosions only. Also, appearance changed to less delusional-like, removed bandage on the leg, and imagine Victorian witch-like clothes with a knee-length skirt.
[2] Yes, darkness can actually hit and only hit but use something amazing that you will find out later.
[3] Imagine literal Ultra Instinct here, dodging swiftly like the wind. He doesn't literally have Ultra Instinct, it's just him dodging the cabbages easily because of new skills for now.
[4] For those who have watched Cautious Hero, imagine the smile Seiya had when he remembered who Ristarte/Lista was, in the last episode(12) after using Gate of Valhalla again.
Alright so, thanks to, Axkalaba and Guest(xmanz) who reviewed chapter 1 before this chapter's release.
To Axkalaba, "Thank you for your review and I am really happy you agree with my opinion on Seiya. Also, I am not going to stop this story halfway through.
To Guest, "Thank you."
Alright, first of all, I have made quite a lot of changes to chapter 1. They aren't major at all, just a few changes. The sheath is actually on the left-side waist now, like it is for Seiya and Cloak has straight collars like it has for Seiya's jacket. I changed pants from "Jeans" to "Trousers" and that's probably about it. There were few line changes between Bandit and Kazuma and Luna and Kazuma.
I constantly updated chapter 1, so, to not do the same for chapter 2. I took my time to revise it then publish it. It will probably be the same for new chapters. It will take me time to publish new chapters, so, please holdfast.
I know my dialogues aren't so good. They aren't how they would feel from real characters, and I apologize for that. I can't make Kazuma and his dialogues badass but I can make his actions badass.
Thanks to those who favorited my fiction and followed me!
I will probably keep updating this after-word as I can't remember everything that I wanted to write. This is a hella long chapter so it took me a lot of time to revise it.