Kenshi: Grasp the Heavens

by Seereni

Begins 2 years before the main story. A young boy joins the rising Loki Familia through a display of his skills. His goal? Grasping the Heavens. RATED M for topics in later chapters. IT'S A VERY DARK FIC, OKAY? EDIT: No, there is no concrete backstory on the MC from the beginning, only fragments of it throughout the story.

30. Unchained, Part 2

And back with part 2 of this extra Chapter.

Unlike the previous one, this Chapter is actually on the longer end, with an even higher word count than my usual Chapters.

Why? I dunno, I couldn't stop writing. Went fully wild and threw everything I had at it.

Obviously, those extra Chapters are mostly meant to be comedic in nature, and not everyone has the same opinion on what counts as funny.

I'm also going to put this up here, because not everyone reads the end AN.

So, this extra Chapter?

I can make it both "canon" and "not-canon". That means I can both bring up the stuff that happened here in future Chapters, as a sort of comedic relief, or I can just make it something that never truly happened with a good, solid excuse I came up with.

Give me your thoughts on this. Which one do you think it's better of the two options?

Obviously, if only 1-2 people respond to this question, then I'm going to do my own thing, but if enough people say "Hey, I really liked this!", I can make it canon. If enough people say "That was thrash!", then maybe I won't make it canon. Maybe.

With that behind us, be prepared for the worst. This part 2 does contain some stuff some people might see as "offensive". If you didn't like part 1, this part 2 is even worse.

So yeah. Saw a couple drop the fic after part 1, I'm guessing part 2 is gonna turn off even more people, lol.

After this, I'm gonna focus on the real story again, and I don't intend to have any further extra Chapters until much later.

PS: Fuzen has a savage moment, and it's with no other than poor Seiji.

XXX

The people passing by on the main street besides the alley he was on were throwing him looks of disgust, but he cared little for them. If anything, they irritated him for the gall they had to look down upon him.

"The hell...are you asswipes looking-…! Ghhh! Oh crap-!" The boy hunched over and emptied whatever he had last eaten on the ground, the nausea making the world around him spin.

Indeed, Fuzen was now vomiting in a back alley, mere minutes after he rained down two lightning bolts on a long-haired Amazon girl who tried to attack him, leaving her alive but unconscious a couple of blocks away.

It was thanks to this straining action and the fact that the boy dashed away from the Twilight Manor that the side effects of his time spent together with Loki surfaced, resulting to the pitiful sight that was the present him.

Slowly he straightened his back and closed his eyes, then opened them again. "...Think that was the last one…" Feeling just the slightest bit better, the boy wiped his mouth on his sleeve and left the back alley, once again walking down the wide and lively street with vendors and shops and both sides.

Wobbly but steadfast, Fuzen walked on without bumping into anyone or anything, no easy task considering the activity on the street and the fact he was currently experiencing double vision thanks to the amounts of alcohol he had previously consumed.

But he had little need for his sight, anyway. His ability to sense and read the flow of Ki was far more useful, not to mention the vibrations of the air as people moved and talked. Evading any obstacle in his way was child's play.

Before long, he had arrived at a vendor selling fruits and vegetables and stopped in front of it.

The owner of the little vendor stood up from his chair behind the products on display and looked down at Fuzen. "You interested in some fruits, young man? They're all fresh, from Demeter Familia. Won't find any fruit or vegetable any fresher than from me!"

Fuzen paid the man no mind, and simply looked at the different sorts of fruits, all of them moving slightly in his eyes. Then he nodded, grabbed two apples, one in each hand, and held them above his head. Then he opened his mouth and crushed the apples in his hands, the juice dripping down in his mouth.

"What the-?! You little brat, what do you think you're doing?!" The owner shouted angrily as he began to move around the vendor, ready to whoop some ass.

Fuzen for his part simply threw the crushed apples to the sides, and held his palm upwards to the owner, sparks of electricity springing to life around his fingers. Before he could move to grab a hold of Fuzen the owner stepped back, fear visible on his face.

He moved the liquid around in his mouth to wash the disgusting taste of the barf away, and once he was done, Fuzen spit it on the ground, then moved towards the vendor owner, wiping his hands clean on the man's shirt, patting him twice on the shoulder afterwards. "You should...feel honoured. Your products...Hic...did not insult me. Resume your work with pride."

Then he turned around and moved on, leaving behind him a vendor owner now short the payment for two apples.

XXX

"How bad is it?" The blonde Pallum asked, his arms crossed around his chest.

"...Not that bad." The black-haired girl replied as she cast her Spell on the fallen Amazon. "She got hit, yes, but the damage is...minimal. If anything, it looks like the attack was meant o paralyse and nothing more."

"I still can't move." Tione replied with a frown. "That fucking brat and his lightning…!"

Right now, a group of Loki Familia led by Finn stopped in the middle of the street while Line was healing their Amazon Executive, creating a circle to keep the civilians away. Upon questioning those who were nearby when Tione fell down, struck by two bolts of lightning, Finn learned that no one had seen exactly what had happened.

They explained that they noticed the angered girl running around before the lightning struck, but no one saw Fuzen in the vicinity.

"...Tione, did you see Fuzen before getting attacked?" Finn asked after a long moment of silence.

"...No, Captain."

So then, even while intoxicated, he felt Tione's animosity and struck her from afar, without injuring anyone else in the vicinity…? What incredible precision…

"...Nonetheless, he must have been nearby if he attacked you. All of you, spread out and ask around if anyone saw Fuzen. Report back to me if you find out which direction he went."

The couple members he took with him nodded and spread on all nearby streets. This was for the best. They could cover more ground, and they would not intimidate the civilians. After all, having so many Loki members gathered in one point could lead to the civilians becoming unsettled, thinking something was wrong.

...It's better if no one finds out a highly powerful child is running around and acting carelessly with his powers...Gareth, Ais and Bete are leading other groups and covering the large majority of the area near Twilight Manor. We should find him shortly. Gosh, I wish nothing bad happens until then…

Helping the now healed, and double as angry as before Tione to her feet, Finn rushed on ahead. This was going to be a long day, indeed…

XXX

*Stare*

…

*Stare…*

…

*Stare…..*

…

Fuzen continued to stare at the oblong shaped pastry behind the glass, so close yet so far from him. Following his unpaid shopping at the vendor from before, the boy walked around, mostly following the flow of the people, changing streets a couple of times.

In truth, he had no idea where he was.

Neither did he know who he was.

They had called him by a name before, the short blonde kid did, but he couldn't remember what it was. He didn't know if that was right, however.

He wasn't sure.

All he remembered was a woman.

...No, not a woman.

A woman's figure, her silhouette. But there was no head.

While walking, he tried to remember more. To remember a face, or a name, or anything really, that he could associate with that figure, that silhouette which plagued his mind.

Alas, he could not figure it out.

It also didn't matter. Not any longer.

Because right now, thanks to my excellent olfactory sense no doubt, I arrived.

Indeed, while following the flow of people, a certain smell reached Fuzen, and he turned around to look around for the source of the divinely tempting smell. Before long, he stood before a patisserie, ogling the sweets on display from outside while salivating at his mouth.

He remembered the oblong shaped pastry, from a cloudy memory in the back of his mind. Yet, that memory was accompanied with a wall of restraint. Why, he could not say.

But right now, it was different.

"...I want it. Thus...Hic...I will have it."

And so Fuzen extended his hand forward, grasping for the perfectly shaped eclair…

Clink!

...only for his fingertips to stop in the glass that was all but invisible to him.

It had been mere hours since his drinking contest with Loki, a contest that left him as he was. Undeniably, he was indeed a Level 2 individual. However, he lacked the Abnormal Resistance ability so many others possessed, having reached Level 2 outside of Orario and it's Dungeon. Lastly and even more importantly however, was the one fact he would never admit himself, but was still very much true: he was a child.

The alcohol he had consumed affected him greatly, and now even the simple concepts of windows and doors, barriers that obstructed the way, his way, were all but lost on him.

"...What the…?" Fuzen muttered as he pulled back his arm and tried again.

Clink!

...Twitch.

Clink!

Twitch. Twitch.

...Clin-!

SMASH!

"Insolence!" Having reached the limit of his patience, Fuzen pulled his arm back, closed his fist and punched the window, the glass shattering and flying in all directing. But that was not the end.

With the same arm, he opened his fist after smashing the window away and reached for his prize.

Thus, he grabbed the eclair, and ate it!

"Munch...Insolent crap...Munch…"

"What is going on here?!" From within the patisserie, the owner rushed outside only to find a kid eating the pastry he had put on display. The man's eyes went wide for a moment before his face turned bright red, jumping forward with his arms extended, ready to grab the boy and whoop some ass.

Smack!

In a single second, however, a palm met the patissier's face and the man was sent flying back into his shop through the mostly broken display window, only the man's feet hanging off and visible from outside.

"...Munch, munch...The hell was...Hic...his problem?...Munch…" Fuzen questioned as he grabbed his third eclair and ate it, all the while uncaring of the mass of civilians who stopped to look at what was going on behind him. Once done with the oblong pastry, he looked to the side and saw a batch of colourful macarons.

Thus, he grabbed a macaron, and ate it!

Then the second, and then the third. One after another, as if it was a free of charge buffet, not one sort of sweets was safe from Fuzen's incredible craving for sweets. Be they his favourite eclairs, or macarons, le glands, fondant au chocolat or even gaufres, one after another all of them found their way to his mouth.

"Just look at the way he eats…"

"Is that even...considered eating anymore…?"

"I'm going to get sick from watching…"

Behind him, Fuzen could hear the murmurs of the passer-by regarding him, but he cared little, if at all, for what their opinions were. He had found paradise, and no amount of trash talk would take his focus away.

"...This is...Munch...delish…"

Carefree as he was, Fuzen did hear them slowly approaching him. Though his back was turned to them, the clinking sounds of their armour and swords inside their scabbards were easy to pick from among the group of civilians.

Their weight and height, their pace and even their exact breathing rhythm, he figured it all out before the duo took as much as four steps towards him. How exactly, he could not tell. Not in his drunk state, anyway. But if he had to summarize how he figured it all out, the wind would have been his answer.

"Hey there kiddo." One of the two Adventurers called out to him as he moved slightly to the right behind Fuzen while his companion moved slightly to the left, no doubt planning to cut off any possible escape route. "This is pretty bad, what you're doing here. You need to pay for those things, you know?"

"Munch…"

"...Hey. Kid. I'm talking to you."

"Munch, munch…"

But Fuzen did not reply, instead simply going on about his business of grabbing the sweets before him and showing them in his mouth.

The Adventurer had just about enough, and approached Fuzen, a gauntleted hand reaching for the boy. "...That's enough of your crap-!"

Then pain erupted from the left side of his head as Fuzen grabbed his ear and twisted it in such a way that the grown man let out a loud cry of pain. Following that, he was pulled downwards until his temple hit the edge of the window, the man passing out from the fast and unexpected hit.

"Don't interrupt-"

"You shitty brat!" The second Adventurer jumped forward, his fist clenched and ready to meet Fuzen's face. Before the action could be brought to an end, pain erupted from his groin as Fuzen lifted his leg and hit him in the family jewels. Once he fell down to his knees and a mighty slap later, the man was out.

"...Don't...interrupt me. Tsk, shitty noobs taking away my appetite…Munch, munch..."

Though he was annoyed, Fuzen shook the negative emotions out of his mind. After all, now that the pests had been dealt with, he could once again focus on the buffet that was laid before him-

"You there!"

Jesus fucking Christ…

As luck would have it, another group of men, numbering five in total and all of them wearing a sash and a white mask covering their eyes, made their way towards him. Fuzen had little idea who they were, but he just about had it with the interruptions.

"Yet again, someone stands between me...and my ambrosia…" With a sigh, he turned around to face the new arrivals, electricity yet again crackling between his fingers.

XXX

"Then, here's the list of ingredients." The droopy-eyed Chienthrope stated as she extended the piece of paper.

The boy nodded with a smile, and placed the list in his pocket. "Ok, I'll go fetch them really quick, then!"

"You have the money, right?"

"Sure do!" Seiji nodded, patting the bag of coins attached to his belt, money from both the potions they sold as well as from his exploration. This knowledge brought a smile to his lips.

"Good. Then, make sure you familiarize yourself with the shops I mentioned."

"For better discounts in the future, right? Don't worry, Cap: I'll make buddies with all those merchants! Hahaha!"

Naaza nodded at the words. Having known Seiji for so long now, she didn't doubt he would do just that, the boy's enthusiasm and liveliness making it hard for any one person to hate him. He was sometimes suffocating, yes, but not in a bad way, either. "Mhm. Then go and do that. I'm counting on you." She added with a gentle smile.

For a split second, Seiji froze akin to a statue as the words she said to him echoed in his mind over and over again, her smile forever etched into his mind. Feeling his face starting to heat up, Seiji simply nodded hastily before making his way out of their Familia's shop, heading out to complete his task.

Too cute! Way too cute! Hahaha! I love every little gesture of yours so much, it almost hurts, Captain! Hahaha!

And that was the reason for why the young boy so eagerly volunteered to take care of buying crafting materials their shop needed. After all, neither Miach nor Naaza knew about the second pouch of money Seiji had on himself, which was the little he stashed away after going deeper into the Dungeon than he was allowed.

XXX

The two girls sighed mentally as they now regretted their choice of going for a walk, despite having experienced such turn of events previously. Indeed, they could not even blame the individual before them, for the fault lay with them, alone.

"Like we said…" The older looking of the two spoke, once again prepared to repeat the same thing. "We are not interested, sir."

"Come on, my two beauties, nothing bad will happen, yes? I'm a God, after all." The blonde-haired man replied, his smile never faltering. Like many others who tried their luck, this man was a God. Judging from his clothes, the sisters could tell his Familia was doing pretty good, and he wasn't bad-looking, either, but…

He's so fricking persistent!

Indeed, the God had tried for the better part of ten minutes to talk the two stunning beauties into going on a date with him. Not only that, but he also flaunted his money and looks in their faces so many times, the two had lost the exact count. He went on and on, talking about how his Familia would one day become the number one, and how he wished to share the view from the top with the two girls.

Over and over again, he kept on talking, never allowing the two girls any opportunity to slip away. They could not simply insult him, either: Gods were persistent, indeed, and if they were to anger this God, he could use his Familia to get back at them in more ways than the girls could think of.

This was the sad fate of one who was marked by a Deity.

"Like I said earlier…" The God continued on, but just as the sisters were trying to hold back the desire to roll their eyes, they noticed something heading towards the Deity, both of them seeing the world as if in slow motion. "I can show you both a good time-!" The object the sisters both identified as a foot made contact with the God's ribs, and his body curved and twisted around the area of impact, arms flinging to the side from where the hit came from.

Once the leg was fully stretched, the God was sent flying in the distance, his body akin to a stone skipped across the surface of water, hitting the ground and jumping up before hitting the ground again. Finally, after five or six skips, the God stopped after meeting the wall of a house.

"...Don't stand in my way, asshole." Fuzen said a moment later before he grabbed another macaron and threw it high in the air, then catching it in his mouth. "Tsk. The gall...Munch, munch…"

The two sisters watched with mouths agape at the boy who had just attacked a Deity, his face showing no remorse or care for his actions. Instead, from his shirt-turned-basket, filled with pastries of all kinds, he simply grabbed a cinnamon roll and began eating it.

"...Y-Young boy, while I'm grateful for your help-"

"Huh? What you babbling about, lady?"Fuzen replied as he threw the older of the sisters a confused look.

"You see, that God was pestering us, so driving him away was very helpful of you, but-"

"He was an asshole who...Munch…. stood in my way. I don't take...Munch...kindly to assholes who stand in my way."

"T-That's good and all, but he was a Deity! What if he sends his Familia after you?!"

Fuzen finished eating with a loud gulp, then slowly looked over to the fallen Deity, his own sight too hazy to make the God out clearly, then turning back to look at the younger sister. A smirk lifted the right corner of his mouth. "Lambs to the slaughter…"

A cold shiver ran down the sisters spine simultaneously, both of them getting an incredible feeling of something being very wrong. Before that feeling could strengthen in them however, Fuzen wiped his sugary hand on his pants, then approached the older sister.

Then he pinched her belly.

"What the hell?!"

"You're fat." Fuzen stated bluntly.

"How dare you say that to my sis-?!"

"Both." He interrupted the second girl mid-sentence. "Both of you are fat."

Neither of the sisters could reply: Fuzen's bluntness was sharper than any blade imaginable, cutting through their self-esteem like a hot knife through butter.

"Get on the ground." He ordered a second later, his lax and care-free expression all of a sudden replaced with one of pure sternness.

"W-What-?"

"Get on the stupid ground, now." He repeated, electricity snapping to life all around his body, crackling and frizzling as it's intensity increased by the second. Before they knew it, the two girls were already following his words. "...You were getting pushed around like that by assholes because...Munch, munch...you lack strength."

The hell is this boy going on about?! The sister's thought in unison.

Fuzen for his part simply grabbed another eclair from his shirt-turned-basket..."And by strength, I mean core strength."...and then took a joyful bite out of it. "...Delicious...Now: sit-ups. Do them."

"What is wrong with today?!" The two sisters cried at the same time, no longer able to understand how the decision to go out for a walk managed to escalate into something like this.

"Dew. Them. Now."

XXX

Whatever he should laugh or despair, the blonde Pallum could not say.

Having arrived at the scene just a minute ago, he was still waiting for the reports of the members he tasked with gathering information from the civilians who were present at the time of the attack.

No matter what the end results would be, however, Loki Familia would need to explain a lot to the Guild.

A shop robbed, the owner knocked unconscious. Repairs would need to be paid.

Two Adventurers assaulted and likewise knocked unconscious. Apologies would have to be sent to their Familia.

Five members of the Ganesha Familia scattered around, all in various states of unconsciousness.

One such member was on his knees, temple touching the ground while both his hands held his privates. No doubt his family jewels had been Fuzen's targets.

Another was planted head first into a barrel near a vendor just a couple meters away from the targeted pastry shop. Only his feet were hanging outside the barrel.

The third one had been thrown into a cabbage cart after being KO punched. The cabbage merchant was on his knees besides the destroyed cart and cabbages, all the while crying softly Not my cabbages...Not again…

The fourth Ganesha member, interesting enough, had been pushed head-first into a wall. Finn's group was still trying to pull him out.

And the fifth member, well...he was hanging around. Somehow, Fuzen managed to throw or punch or kick the man hard and high enough that he landed onto the shop signboard, some three meters above the ground, arms and legs hanging on either side of the sign.

Upon closer look, Finn recognized the man, having seen him a couple of times in the presence of his Captain, Shakti.

What was his name again…? Momonga…? Nantoka…? Something like that.

His name was not important enough for Finn to try and remember. Instead, the Pallum was more concerned with trying to think how he would explain this aggression caused by one of his own members to Shakti, who would no doubt arrive soon enough at the scene. Her instincts were nothing short of baffling after all, even to Finn himself.

But I can't stay here for that long. I need to follow Fuzen's traces and find him before he does something even more stupid…

"...Tione." Finn called out to the Amazon, who was able to move again.

"Yes, Captain."

"Stay here and look over the victims until Shakti appears. Explain the situation to her, then come find us." Indeed, instead of having Tione rush Fuzen again once they located him, it was better to have her be far away from the boy. "Are you guys done with the interrogations? Do we know which way Fuzen went?"

"Yes, he went up the street, Captain Finn."

"Mhm. Tione, stay here. Raul, Elfy, Alicia, go find the other groups and update them on our findings. Everyone else, with me." His Familia nodded and moved as per his instructions.

Finn was...unsettled, to say the least. Granted, no one had been killed so far, but he was uncertain on how their little swordsman would react if he were to encounter a less than ideal situation. Vandalism and hurting other Adventurers, that much was within Finn's capabilities to cover. But if Fuzen were to kill anyone, well…

That would be the limit of how much I can cover for him...Sigh...I should have never left him alone when I knew Loki was bored…

XXX

"Alright, task finished! Hahaha!" The boy stated loudly as he walked through the busy market of the Labyrinth City, his backpack filled with all the crafting materials Naaza had entrusted him to buy. "And not only finished, but also…" He looked to the pouch attached to his belt: it still held a small amount of Valis.

True to his word, Seiji went above and beyond to befriend the various merchants Naaza had him visit for the materials they needed. He talked with them, first small talk, then full-on conversations about life, listening to their problems and giving some words of encouragement from his own experience.

Having spent a majority of his life to far confined to the four walls that previously made up his world, Seiji had far less experience in the art of conversation than most people, but his hardships allowed him to give certain tips, especially to those in difficult times.

With that said, all merchants opened up to him rather quickly, building up a bond with him not based on the amount of time they had known him, but rather, on something far more complex: humanity.

"...Man, I really am lucky, to find so many nice people since moving to Orario…" Seiji stated to himself as he looked at the pouch of money. The only reason it was not empty yet despite him having procured all the needed crafting materials was because of the discounts he got from every shop. "Every coin counts, right? Hahaha, really, I'm way too lucky!"

He knew for sure the money he managed to save would make his Captain happy, and that in turn made him happy. But, besides that, there was something else he hoped would make her happy.

A while ago, an Adventurer came by their shop, overly grateful to Miach. Apparently, the potions his God gave that woman for free saved her life in the Dungeon, an act of kindness she did not forget. Thus, she came by their shop to buy some Potions and offer a sizeable bag of Valis as thanks. Lastly, she brought a box of fine sweets, some kind of nuts covered in chocolate. Suffice to say, before Seiji and Miach could have two pieces each, Naaza had emptied the box of sweets.

Seiji was not smart. He was the first to admit so, however, to make up for that he was very assertive. Noticing this change in his beloved Captain, the young boy fought even harder during his Dungeon exploration, going past the Floors he was allowed on to earn even more Valis, some of which he saved without telling his God or Captain about it.

And now?

Now, he finally had enough saved up to go and spend it on what he believed would bring a smile to his Captain's lips, one which he hoped to burn into his memory. The carefully enclosed box in his hands was his way of doing that.

The Captain's smile...I can't wait to see it! Will it be like this? Or maybe, like this?! Oh my God, what if it is like this…?! Hahaha, cute! Too cute!

As he went over various images of his Captain smiling differently in his head, Seiji began to blush as a laugh escaped his lips. He wanted to rush back home and see the scenario happen already, but he knew he couldn't. Running could mess up the inside of the box, and that was something he could not allow to happen.

Yeah, gotta be careful. Patience, Seiji, patience. Just a bit more. Keep the box stable, and everything will pay off-...Huh?

From among the crowd of people, Seiji noticed a familiar figure through the corner of his eye, stopping in his tracks and looking in that direction. Sure enough, there he was: black eastern clothes and a turquoise haori, long black hair dancing gently in the wind, a pissed look on his face-

"Wait what?" Seiji asked no one in particular as he squinted his eyes. Sure enough, that was Fuzen in the distance, a frown way too intense for his age plastered on his face as he rubbed his belly angrily.

...Huh? That stone-faced shorty, frowning? Am I dreaming or something…?

Fuzen looked around from vendor to vendor, his frown intensifying with each passing second. Then he stopped moving as his eyes glued themselves on a vendor to his left. It was an older-looking female selling Trdelník: a kind of rolled dough wrapped around a stick. Seiji has yet to try that specific pastry, but it sure as hell smelled delicious.

Seiji continued to observe his long-time friend from afar, confused at the younger boy's mimics and frown. Then, he barely contained a laughter from escaping his lungs by biting his lips: Fuzen began to droll as he stared at sweets on display.

He's drooling! He's fricking drooling! Buhahaha! I can't! I just can't! Hahahaha! He felt the desire to laugh his butt off, but he knew he couldn't. Laughing could result in the box falling to the ground, something he could not allow to happen.

In the distance, Seiji noticed Fuzen slowly moving towards the vendor selling the sweets he was drooling for. He walked slowly, but determined, like a man who knew exactly what he desired and was walking the path to get it.

Then, just before he could reach the vendor, a man stepped between him and the seller, a young man of a strong build. He had no armour or weapons to classify him as an Adventurer from a first glance, but Seiji could tell he was one from the way he moved.

...Wait, what's that…?

From the distance, Seiji noticed the look on his friend's face: pure, unadulterated shock. With wide, open eyes and parted lips, Fuzen stared in confusion and shock at the man's back, taken aback by what had happened just in front of him. Seiji could feel something was wrong, and he began to walk towards Fuzen, his earlier jolliness replaced with a feeling of uneasiness.

Then, the unexpected happened.

Fuzen walked up to the man, kicking him in the back of his knee, and once the man fell behind far enough, the boy grabbed him by the collar and tossed him over his shoulder as if the grown man weighted nothing. The man flew in a perfect arc over the couple of meters that made up the wide market street, then he landed straight through vendor on the opposite side of Fuzen, through the roof, shattering the wooden construction under his weight.

As luck would have it, that vendor also prepared food. Thus, once the man's body slammed into through it, the oil contained within the large frying pans flew all over the wood and curtains, soaking them. The fire from the open flames soon reached those areas, the flames quickly engulfing the whole vendor. Thanks to the open area where the market was located, the wind currents were quite strong, and seeing how the vendors were tightly packed close to each other to save on available space, the flames wasted on time in spreading to the vendors left and right.

Thus, within seconds of Fuzen throwing the man, a ring of fire was starting to take shape behind the young, intoxicated boy.

"You. I am in need of your services. I require those...rolls." Fuzen stated as he pointed at the rolled dough grilling before him.

Bruh...The hell? This is like...Seiji thought as he looked to his side at the spreading flames, the merchants and customers both running away from the scene before the fire could reach them. By now, only Fuzen, the Trdelník seller and Seiji remained at the scene. That is, until the older woman looked at Fuzen and noticed his stare.

In truth, Fuzen's anger was not directed at the woman herself, but rather, at the man who had the audacity to step in front of him, who had the gall to cut him off. In his current state, however, the boy did not realize he was still wearing a stare that could kill, and that he was directing said stare at the poor woman.

A couple of moments later, she ran away, in fear of both the boy before her as well as of the flames spreading on the opposite side of the street. "...The hell…?" Fuzen voiced as he traced the fleeing woman with his eyes. Then he shrugged, leaned over the vendor and grabbed a couple of the sweet rolls.

"...Yo, bro." Seiji had reached Fuzen, standing behind his long-time friend with a worried look on his face. Nonetheless, he was ignored.

"...Munch, munch...Mhm, this is...pretty good…"

"...Bro? Heyo?"

"...Mmmm...Cinnamon…"

...This truly is...not good… Seiji thought as he listened in on Fuzen munching on the food he took without paying for.

"...Bro, Fuzen!"

"...Huh?" Finally, Fuzen turned around and looked at Seiji with a raised eyebrow as he continued to munch on the food he just grabbed. "...Who the hell….Munch...are you?"

"…? Yo, I haven't changed my race, you know…?" Seiji replied, confused by the over the top casual attitude of his friend, something he was not accustomed to.

"...Don't make me...Munch...repeat myself, asswipe."

...Ooookkkayyyy….? I did not expect that…

While Seiji was contemplating whatever he should laugh or be concerned, the a gentle breeze came his way from Fuzen's direction, and his enhanced sense of smell attributed to the Falna on his back picked on a most peculiar smell. "...Bruh. You drunk?"

"...Munch, munch…"

The hell happened here? I mean, this stone-faced asshole would never touch alcohol on his own. So then, why does he smell like booze? God, so many questions…

"...Be that as it may be, taking food without paying for it...That's a big nope, Fuzen. Don't your thoughts dwell on your mother when you do something like that? Wouldn't she be sad knowing you stole something?"

Fuzen stared at him blankly as he munched on the Trdelník. Then he gulped it down, and parted his lips. What came next, not even Seiji could have been prepared for."...No. My thoughts dwell on your mother, instead."

Seiji took a moment to process what his stone-faced, disciplined, I'm-gonna-grasp-the-Heavens obsessed friend just said. It was unthinkable of him to ever say that, but he just did. There was no denying that. "...Bro. Not cool. Not cool at all…"

"Wait."

"What?"

"...You...what did you...just say?" Fuzen inquired.

"Huh?"

"...You...did you just…?"

"…? Bro, what's up?"

"...Bro…? Bro, you say?"

"...Uhhh...I've been saying that for years…?"

Right then, in that moment, Fuzen's eyes went wide for a second before being overtaken by an intense frown of disgust and scorn. "Brother, was it…?You. You believe yourself...to be my equal?" And then, he reached for the handle of his sword. "This arrogance...cannot be allowed."

It was not unusual for Fuzen to throw death threats at Seiji. Quite on the contrary. Because of their opposing personalities, Seiji was used and amused by said threats.

But now, he knew Fuzen was not his usual self. He had no idea how far he would go this time around. With that in mind, as soon as he saw his friend reaching for his sword, Seiji jumped back, creating as much distance as possible between the two of them.

A futile attempt. He knew the shorter boy before him was leagues above him in sheer skill and fighting prowess. The distance he created was no obstacle in Fuzen's way. If he so desired, he could have cut Seiji down before he could even attempt to jump.

But he didn't.

And that, at least, gave Seiji a bit of hope.

Bloody hell, whoever got Fuzen drunk deserves a good spanking...Seiji thought as he put the box he held in his hands on the ground, then threw the backpack with the crafting materials aside. As part of his training, Seiji was still hauling his greatsword around even when not exploring the Dungeon, as to get used to the weight of the weapon. Right now, he was very happy he decided to strap the blade to his back before heading out to fulfil Naaza's task to him. "Bro, calm down. We both know you don't wanna actually kill me. Well...I mean, maybe you do-...No, you certainly want to, but look at us! Where's the honour in fighting right now, for no reason?" Seiji asked as he grabbed his sword and held it pointing downwards, not yet raised as that would imply he was ready to fight.

"...The hell do I care about honour?" Came the unexpected reply.

That was the moment Seiji realized: he was screwed.

...Oh….Shiet….Looks like that alcohol messed up his morals and values. There's no way I can get within striking distance without losing my head, especially if he's not bound by anything right now, so yeah…

Seiji understood the situation he was in, and so he simply smiled and shrugged. "Guess I'm dying today." There was no denying that. If Fuzen was not concerned with honour while intoxicated, Seiji would lose his head. Still, he had no plans to go down without a fight. For so long, he was forced to simply watch as Fuzen's shadow grew ever larger while he was trapped beneath it's might. At the very least, he hoped he would survive just long enough to be felled in two strikes instead of one.

Having made up his mind, Seiji lifted his blade and pointed it at Fuzen. How the hell a simple walk to grab materials needed by his Familia turned into a situation where he was put at odds with the strongest person he ever knew, Seiji could not say. He certainly didn't wake up in the morning with the intention to die today. But, little could be done now. Fuzen was already glaring at him with murderous intent. And anyway, if he was to die, dying at his hands didn't sound so bad.

The two boys stared at each other, in what some would call describe as the calm before the storm. Seiji knew Fuzen could have already moved first without him being able to even react to it, but the boy did not.

Instead, he began to sniff around.

The hell…?

Fuzen inhaled through his nose, and following the scent he picked up on, turned his head...towards the box Seiji left on the ground. Seiji himself didn't know how, but in an instant, he jumped between the box and Fuzen, grasping the hilt of his sword even tighter than before. "Don't. Touch. My. Box."

Naturally, his words were not headed, as Fuzen simply sheathed his sword and began to walk towards Seiji, his true destination the box behind him. Could he do anything at all? Seiji didn't knew. But even so, feeling slightly annoyed at how insignificant he was in the other boy's eyes, he raised his sword and lunged forward.

"I said: stay the hell back!"

Once within striking distance, Seiji mustered all the strength he had, and slashed downwards. In truth, he knew this would achieve little, but he had to try, anyway. That is what being a man was all about, in his opinion.

But Fuzen cared little for his mindset.

Just as he sword was about to fall down on his head, he just...flicked it.

He flicked a finger on the side of the greatsword with enough force that it was pushed aside. Instead of falling on him, the blade struck the ground to Fuzen's side, leaving Seiji in a very disadvantageous position. Then a palm struck his face, and the older boy was sent flying into the nearest wall.

...Hehehe...You're too god-damn strong, shorty...Hell, my jaw is killing me…

Unaware of the compliment thrown his way, Fuzen arrived at the box and picked it up after a moment. Then, he began to slowly open it.

"Bro, don't!" Seiji shouted as he tried to stand up, but was unable to do so. His face hurt even more than the bites he received from the Monsters, and the powerful impact made him feel dizzy. "Everything but that!"

But his pleas were nor heard, and Fuzen opened the box. He stared at the cake inside for a long moment, a river of drool escaping the corner of his mouth. Then, he reached for it.

"That...That cake is meant for the woman I love! I want to see her smile, damn it!" Seiji voiced as he slammed his fist on the ground he was laying on, furious at his own weakness.

But then, he realized something.

He could hear no munching sounds.

He slowly opened his eyes, having expected to see Fuzen devouring the cake that cost him a fortune. But, he was not. He looked at Seiji for a moment, then back at the cake.

Finally, he closed the box and placed it back on the ground.

"Consider yourself lucky, asswipe." The long-haired boy stated as he began to walk away, then stopping and turning around to look at Seiji again. "I am...not interested in cheesecakes."

…

…

…

"...Bruh. You're literally drooling."

A moment later, Fuzen raised one finger high into the air, and lightning struck just a couple of meters away from Seiji.

"Yo, that could have killed me!"

"...Figured that out on your own? Hmpf…"

Turning his back to Seiji once again, Fuzen wiped the corner of his mouth and made to leave the marketplace. A couple moments later, he noticed the fire he had started to the side, staring at it for a couple of moments. ...Is there some festival going on…? Then he shrugged, and walked away.

XXX

"Bruh. What the hell just happened…? I'm confused..." Seiji voiced as he finally managed to stand up, Fuzen by now long gone from the scene. "...Who the hell is coming up with this crap…?"

XXX

"Sigh...This is getting out of control…" The blonde Pallum whispered to no one in particular as he stood in the middle of the marketplace, a part of which had burned down until some Adventurers saw the smoke from the distance and rushed to the scene. By the time Finn and the others arrived, it had been mostly taken care off.

Even so, going by the lightning bolt that struck the ground in the vicinity, Finn knew before he arrived here that Fuzen was responsible for all of this. Finding Seiji at the scene with a red palm-shaped wound on his cheek only confirmed this.

First at the Manor, then the shop he vandalized, then the two women Finn found on the street, both crying faintly while repeating the words No more sit-ups, please…, and now the marketplace.

Thinking about the position of each location, Finn could not find any pattern that he could use to follow and track down Fuzen. It was all erratic, and that made it hard to track the boy, even for someone as smart as Finn. After all, drunkenness is synonymous with unpredictability.

According to Seiji, Finn and the other groups arrived roughly seven to eight minutes after Fuzen left. Normally, this would not be such a great timespan, but when dealing with Fuzen, it was as if they arrived half a day after his last sighting. The boy could, after all, dash great distances in mere moments, and run fast enough to keep up with Bete. With that in mind, in the couple of minutes they passed him by, he could have arrived on the other side of Orario.

Luckily, so far damage had been mostly only collateral, with the bruised Ganesha members and a couple Adventurers being the exception.

However, there were two things that concerned Finn more than anything.

Firstly, the location of Raiju. After Fuzen escaped from the Manor, Finn sent a group to the East District to search for the living Dragon. However, what they reported back to Finn was most mysterious. Going by the words of the locals, Raiju simply vanished before their eyes as he was patrolling the streets as always. Just like that, in the blink of an eye. One moment, he was walking down the street, stuffing his face with food as always, the next, he...dematerialized.

Secondly, Fuzen's ability to control his immense power. Despite being a Level 2, even Riveria herself stated during one of their meetings that Fuzen's Magic was on par with her own Spells, as far as destructive power was concerned. The only domains she was superior to the boy were her vastly larger pool of Mind, and experience with using Magic.

How exactly his Magic worked, Finn could not say, and neither could Riveria. After all, it was unique: the first Magic that manifested itself as a living being, as a familiar to it's user. But making use of simple logic, Finn could say one thing for certain: control was paramount to his Magic, perhaps even more so than for any other mage.

With Raiju disappearing into thin air, and Fuzen himself intoxicated and not thinking straight...what was the chance that his Magic would run amok if he used it too much? How far away were they from experiencing the very same fate the boy unleashed upon the capital of Altena?

Finn looked up to the sky.

It was a sunny day with little to no clouds in sight.

He hoped it would remain that way.

...We already have a lot of explaining to do. Shops vandalized and a good portion of the market burned down. Not to mention aggression against the policing force of Orario, as well as Adventurers from other Familia...At the very least, things can't get much worse than this…

"...Right?"

XXX

"...The hell you all looking at?" The mean-eyed boy asked rudely as he stood before the couple dozen women, only a towel wrapped around his waist to hide his privates.

Obviously, unsure how to react to this...unexpected turn of events, the many Goddesses within the large, closed area simply stared at him without uttering anything in response.

Indeed, Fuzen had entered the bath-house of the Goddesses, a place men dared only to fantasise about.

It was said that not even the God of Peeping himself, Hermes, dared to come close to this legendary bath-house. After all, who in their right minds would want to incur the wrath of all the known Goddesses?

"Never seen a human before or sumthing?"

Having left the burning marketplace, Fuzen strolled around the town with no goal in mind. He ate, so he was full. He drank, so he was not thirsty. With his bodily needs fulfilled, there was little for him to do, for anything was within his grasp.

Why?

…

…

…

He could not say. But he knew it to be true.

So he simply walked.

However, along the way, he realized that he emanated a smell of smoke. Using what little he could of his hazy mind, he guessed it must have been thanks to his proximity to the festival going on earlier.

As luck would have it, he heard a group of Goddesses talk about a bath house, and how this bath house was the best in Orario. Hearing those words, something clicked inside his mind.

If it was the best the city had to offer, then he was entitled to it.

Why?

…

…

…

He could not remember. But he knew it to be true.

It had to be true.

So, with that in mind, he did the only logical thing left: he followed the Goddesses from a distance as they headed towards the bath house, and once they guided him there, he made his way to enter, as well.

Guards had stood in his way, all of them female.

This, he applauded.

If this place was indeed the best, then security had to be placed to guard it. What he did not applaud was said guards trying to stop him from walking inside. It could not be allowed.

He did not remember why, but he knew his path was not to be blocked.

If he did, something bad would happen.

Something which was outside of his ability to control.

That is why he could not allow anything or anyone to do so.

Fuzen gave the guards one single chance to step aside.

They did not listen.

Thus, he planted all of them head-deep into the nearby walls, before proceeding onwards. They had been strong...or better said, stronger than Fuzen initially anticipated, but not nearly strong enough. In truth, felt slightly insulted, for how was he supposed to relax without a care when the guards proved unable to deal with any significant threat?

With that said, he didn't ponder on it too much. Any real threat to him could cut a path through any amount of guards, and overall, he guessed the security at the bath house were capable to at least deal with annoyances he could not be troubled with.

Once inside, Fuzen could not spot any manager or owner to welcome him, but truthfully, he was grateful for it. A headache was beginning to take shape, and any unnecessary social interactions would no doubt intensify it's pain. Thus he simply walked forward, until the changing room was within sight.

For whatever reasons, he was taken aback once he opened, meaning kicked, the door. From dresses to skirts, and from robes to strings that barely classified as clothing, not to mention lingerie of all colours and mysterious designs, the changing room was a chaotic mess, with the exception of a couple locked closets.

He took a moment to take the chaos, then shrugged and walked inside, getting out of his clothes and grabbing a neatly folded towel and wrapped it around his waist. As for the clothes which smelled of smoke, he threw them in one of the empty machines which washed clothes via Magic Stones and magic. In truth, he could not remember how they worked, but he pressed a couple buttons and after seeing the clothes beginning to swirl inside, he nodded and made for the bathing area after storing his swords away.

That is how Fuzen came to be standing before the Goddesses of Orario, in the bath built specifically for them.

"...Hmpf…" Receiving no answer to his previous question, Fuzen turned his back on the Goddesses staring at him in disbelief and made his way to the area meant for washing one's body before entering the bath.

In truth, he saw little reason as to why he should play along with such customs that he somehow remembered, but he guessed he could be troubled to go along with it, as the Goddesses who entered before him had done so, too, and thus kept the bath water clean for his usage. At the very least, he could do the same.

With that in mind, Fuzen grabbed a bucket of lukewarm water and emptied it by holding it atop his head, repeating the step two more times until his hair and body were fully soaked. Then he put the bucket away...only to realize he had no shampoo on him.

With an audible Tsk, he began to look around, and that is when he saw the woman before seeing the countless bottles of shampoo laying around. He kicked a nearby stool towards her, the object stopping just half a meter away from the woman, then made his way towards her. "You." Fuzen addressed the silver-haired woman before turning his back to her and sitting down on the stool. "I allow you to wash my hair."

He ordered casually as he crossed his arms across his chest, waiting for the Goddess to begin her work. "...I am waiting."

The woman stared at his small, petite back for a couple of long moments. She realized he must not understand who she was, or what it meant for him to enter a bath house meant only for the female Deities. Not to mention, if her Familia caught wind of his rudeness directed at her…

But all those things aside, the silver-haired woman was amused. More amused than she had been in many, many years. Nowadays, no one dared to talk to her like that anymore, neither God nor mortal.

But this boy dared.

And that was amusing and exciting both.

Thus, she smiled at the interesting turn of events.

"...Pardon me." She voiced before emptying some of her shampoo in her hand, and then distributed it evenly across the boy's long, dark hair. The request was very sudden."

"...As long as you're doing as I said."

"...Fufu...Indeed."

Gently and carefully only as a woman could, she washed the boy's hair section by section, applying as much shampoo as necessary. His hair was about the same length as her own, though it appeared longer as his body was still small and growing. "Do tell me if I am too rough."

"...Do I look like I'm made of glass? Proceed as you are."

"Understood...Fufufu…"

Besides the conversation between the two, the room was otherwise dead silent, the many other occupants simply staring in disbelief at what was unfolding before them. Deities were beings which little could truly excite or surprise. Their divine essence allowed them timeless existences, and through this unending cycle of living, each of them observed and experienced mostly everything the known worlds had to offer.

It was thus understandable that the young mortal's actions of walking in on them while they bathed necessitated time for the women to completely grasp and process. Not to mention that the woman the boy was so casually addressing was no other than the person none of the Goddesses ever wished to anger...

"...It's done." She stated as she finished the last section of the boy's hair, which were his tips.

"No."

"Oh?"

"Either bring something to completion or don't start it at all. Do you wish me to enter the bath with this foam?"

"My mistake. Allow me a second…"

"Mhm…"

The woman got up and grabbed a nearby bucket, filling it with pleasantly warm water which she then used to slowly wash away Fuzen's foam. Giving a nod of acknowledgment, Fuzen stood up and made for the bath, the woman of no further interest to him.

He found a spot where no other occupants were present, in the corner on the far right of the large bath, where he decided he would sit. By now, the other Goddesses had been awakened from their initial confusion and surprise, and they began to whisper among themselves, not aware that distance made little difference, as Fuzen heard each and every one of their words.

He decided to let them do that while he leaned back and enjoyed the hot bath, though it helped little with his ever growing headache.

"...This spot's mine. Go somewhere else." He voiced as the woman's presence grew closer, the wet sounds of her feet on the bath's floors enough to alert him to her approach.

"Now, no need to be strangers, is there…?"

"That is for me to decide." Fuzen stated, his eyes still closed.

"Is there nothing I could say to convince you otherwise…?"

Slowly but surely, his anger began to boil inside of him, and Fuzen opened his eyes and looked up at the women, over his shoulder. Hazel eyes met purple, and they simply stared at each other for a long, long moment, Fuzen's face showing but the earliest hints of a frown, while the woman smirked faintly as she kept her towel close to her skin, covering her torso.

"...Keep your distance. I don't want you within arm's reach of me." He voiced after their staring content came to an end before closing his eyes and leaning back on the bath's rim once again.

"Fufu~...Very well…"

Not waiting for a second confirmation, the silver-haired woman walked just a couple of steps away from Fuzen before entering the bath herself, still close enough to him but respecting his desire to not be within arm's reach.

His arm's reach, that is.

"I must say: I am impressed."

"…You that easy to win over?" Fuzen asked in return, just as rudely as when he first made himself known to the bath's occupants.

"...I wonder how many men have dreamed of walking through the doors you just came through? And yet, all of these big, strong men have been bested...by none other than you."

"Obviously." He replied in return, barely containing a laugh from escaping his lips. "The obvious is nothing to be impressed about. Are you impressed that rain falls down instead of falling from the ground into the skies?"

"...No."The silver-haired woman answered with a smirk.

Fuzen straightened his head and opened his eyes, turning around to look at the woman close to him. "Then why are you impressed by the obvious fact that I am the strongest?"

"…? Oh my. I was not questioning your strength. I was merely impressed by your bold decision to stride past those doors."

"Why?"

"...How adorable~…"

"Call me adorable again and see what happens." He snapped at the woman, his tone shooting up just the slightest bit. "Whatever you're a man or woman, all are equal before my judgement."

"I did not meant for my words to come of as insults. Instead, they were meant to express my...awe." The woman answered with a faint shrug, the mischievous smile still plastered on her face. "After all, you are not even aware of the implications of walking inside a bath meant for women. That...innocence is rare, even for someone of your age."

Fuzen made no attempts to hide his confusion, which began to be visible on his face. "...the hell you going on about? Why should I care that your lot is here?"

"Fufu~...Think about it. A man, entering a bath house meant for women. Where women peel away their clothes, left with but a towel to cover their bodies…" The woman stated as she grabbed the upper part of her towel, lifting it up slowly to cover more of the cleavage she originally exposed. "I wonder, what is the true reason behind your appearance here? Was it arrogance...or curiosity?"

All the while, Fuzen watched her intently as she went through the motion, and slowly the gears clicked inside his mind, finally making sense of what the woman was implying.

His expression immediately shifted into pure disgust as he lifted his eyes to stare into the woman's purple ones. "...You're…"

"Hm? What was that?"

"...You're...a bit old to play that card, aren't you, auntie?"

Spontaneously, the temperature within the room dropped down by a few degrees just as the silver-haired woman's face froze in place like a statue's, unmoving and unblinking.

Fuzen did not mind the change in temperature, though.

The steam was starting to get to him, anyway.

XXX

He didn't like it.

By now, roughly forty minutes passed since the boy's last sighting at the marketplace. Naturally, Finn was not naive enough to believe that Fuzen's out of control act was finished just yet.

If there was no trance of him yet, it simply meant something bigger, something more dangerous was either happening, or it was brewing up until the explosion happened.

Either way, though he kept his Familia on the move ever since Fuzen escaped the Manor, he entrusted certain tasks to a selected few, and just recently everything had been prepared. They were ready to apprehend the boy and bring him back until he became sober again. He took no joy in the tactics he came up with, but Finn knew it had to be done.

"...Still no sign of him...The other groups haven't contacted us, either...Damn it Fuzen. Where are you-?"

As if reacting to his words, a bolt of lightning fell from the skies onto the ground, just a distance away from Finn. At his full speed, he could arrive there in twenty, at most thirty seconds. He could not allow Fuzen to escape again. "I'm going on ahead. Follow me! Raul, Alicia, take to the high ground! Remember the items!"

Finn shouted his orders and rushed forward before his subordinates could even utter a single word in return. He ran like the wind, with the speed which his Level granted him: for a civilians, it would have been impossible to notice him with the bare eye or to react to him rushing past them, that is how fast Finn was.

As he expected, he reached the sight where the bolt of lightning struck, a wider alley a distance away from the main street, within twenty seconds. The street was filled with marks of battles, from holes in the ground produced by bludgeoning weapons, to large cuts on the walls and even burn marks from countless lightning strikes on a smaller scale than the strike which guided Finn here, it appeared as if the fight had dragged on along the full length of the street.

He continued on, and noticed the fighting going on all those hundred of meters ahead of him: Fuzen fighting against four individuals, all of them the size of Human children.

The Braver quickly understood what was going on, and reached for the spear on his back. Though he was aware what his involvement in that fight would result in, he cared little for it at the moment.

The life of his member was more important than their relation with that Familia.

Let me make it-! In...time…?

Initially, Finn believed Fuzen to be in danger, but as he observed the fight unfold, his sprint began to slow down, in order to allow him to observe more of the fight. Not exactly commendable behaviour given the circumstances, but this was one instance where his curiosity was simply too great.

"So? What was that again?" Fuzen inquired bluntly, his grip tightening ever more, until…

Creak!

The helmet of the individual whose head Fuzen grabbed began to creak and squeak, the metal finding itself not durable enough to withstand the pressure of his grip.

"Gahh-!" The individual Fuzen grabbed, a Pallum no taller than Finn himself, let out a hiss of pain as he tried to break free of Fuzen's grip, but alas to no avail.

"You're gonna do...what again? Why don't you repeat that for me?"

In an instant, the remaining three Pallums charged Fuzen all at once, from three different positions. A giant axe fell down upon him from his side, while a greatsword was used in an attempt to cleave him in half from the front. Lastly, a spear was thrust at him back from behind, all three attacks meant to kill him.

That is, until their weapons froze in mid-air just before they could make contact with Fuzen.

Suffice to say, the four aggressors and Finn alike were left surprised and with mouths agape.

"...What is wrong?" Fuzen asked with the faintest trace of arrogance in his tone, turning around to look at the spearman behind him. "Can't push any further?" A smirk began to take shape on his lips, electricity flickering to life all around him. "You can't kill me like this. Here, let me help you…"

Whatever he did next, none of the Pallums observing him could say, but for a single moment the three weapons directed at him moved yet again before freezing mid-air once more, their advance barely in the millimetres. "...So close...yet so far...Frustrating, isn't it…?"

Shatter!

Finally, Fuzen managed to crush the helmet of the fourth Pallum in his grip, the metal shards flying wildly in all direction. But he did not stop there: he reached his hand further, until he had a firm grip of the Pallum's face, one which he could not escape.

Then he unleashed the power of his Magic, electrocuting his hostage with immense levels of volts, the man's smaller body convulsing violently in response to the attack, unable even to scream. Mere moments later, he released the fourth, his body falling limply to the ground.

"Dvalinn!" The others shouted, unsure of their comrade's well-being. It was a moment of weakness on their side, one which Fuzen didn't waste any second to use to his advantage. Using the handle of the axe halted in mid-swing to his side, the boy pulled himself up, jumping from the left to the right wall to rise ever higher into the air.

Positioning his body towards the ground, Fuzen looked at the four Pallums with a cold stare and brought his arm back. It took a moment, electricity simply flickering in and out of existence at first, but it didn't take long and soon enough, what appeared to be a spear of lightning formed itself in his hand.

Fuzen brought his arm back as far as possible, then threw the spear down at the Pallum, prepared to kill all of them for the gall of attacking him from the shadows after leaving the bath house.

What happened next, however, would leave Fuzen himself surprised for a change: the Pallum wielding the spear rushed forward to his fallen comrade, grabbed his massive hammer and threw it into the air, in the path of the lightning coming down on them.

The lightning spear made contact with the metal hammer, a blinding flash of light produced in the process. A flash of light the Pallums used as a distraction to grab their fallen comrade and run away.

"...Ohh?" Fuzen landed on the ground once, near the hammer left behind. He glanced at the weapon for a long second, appearing amused. "Stopping my attack, huh…?" Then his eye began to twitch uncontrollably. "You...little pricks!"

Grabbing the hammer, Fuzen dashed forward, tracing the Pallums down by their Ki signatures all the way to the main street ahead. He stopped in the middle of the busy street, looking around with a wild, uncontrollable anger in his eyes, searching for the ones who had the gall to stop his attack.

Then he spotted them, on the edge of a roof in the distance. Maybe it was because they simply decided to look back in that moment, or maybe it was because they felt his animosity directed at them.

Whatever the case, the three Pallums and Fuzen stared at each other for a moment, the world appearing as if frozen for them. It didn't last long, however, and Fuzen pulled the hammer back, ready to throw it at the Pallums. With his power and a weapon as massive as the hammer, he could easy smash the wall and roof of the house to smithereens.

"Fuzen, stop!"

He didn't hear the voice calling out to him, he was too angry to do so. But, just before he could throw the hammer, he noticed movement beyond the window below the roof of the house where the Pallums stood, and stopped his attempts to throw the weapon at the Pallums.

Thus, they escaped him a second later.

"...Tsk."

He was not pleased at the turn of events, but...there was always next time. And next time, they would die, especially the spear-wielding prick.

"Boy, am I glad you held back back there…" Finn said half-jokingly as he approached Fuzen from behind, his weapon resting on his shoulder.

"...You here to contain me again?" Fuzen replied as he looked at Finn over his shoulder, the faintest hints of an amused smile on his lips.

"I was thinking I'd ask first. You've been going around causing a lot of troubles. How about we head back to the Manor and you can calm down there?"

"...I have no business with you, nor do I need to follow your instruction." He shrugged and threw the hammer he held to the side, then began walking away from Finn.

What he was about to do next, Finn took no joy in.

As the Captain of his Familia, it felt wrong to make the call. But it was exactly because he was the Captain, that he needed to make the call. After all, just now, Fuzen had been fighting Freya Familia's Gulliver Brothers.

How would this affect the relation between Loki Familia and Freya Familia in the future? They were the top two strongest Familia in Orario: an all-out war between them could bring unimaginable destruction. Many would be wounded or killed on both sides.

Finn didn't blame Fuzen.

If anything, he blamed himself for his lack of insight. He knew their Goddess could be a pain to deal with, but he never thought she would actually have their newest member consume alcohol. That proved to be a grave mistake, one he did not intend to repeat ever again.

But even so, the boy had to be contained. There was no telling what other situations he would walk into, and how that would reflect on the Loki Familia as a whole.

Thus, Finn raised his arm, and gave the signal.

Arrows rained down on the boy a moment later, arrows shot by the members Finn entrusted with bows and arrows, and which he ordered to take the high ground. They did not fire normal arrows, however. The goal was not to turn Fuzen into a honeycomb. Instead, they fired special arrows like the ones used by the Tamers of Ganesha Familia to capture Monsters.

These arrows had a sharp, thin tip, not unlike that of a syringe, and once it penetrated the skin of it's target, it delivered a powerful sleeping substance into the bloodstream, meant for capturing Monsters which the Tamers then chained and began taming once they woke up. After Fuzen escaped Finn first attempt as apprehension, the blonde Pallum tasked a couple members to run and buy the arrows and the sleeping substances for them to use.

Taking in consideration they had no time to alternate the dosage of the sleeping substance, what they fired still contained the dosage meant to bring down Monster-sized enemies, not eleven years old boy. If even a single arrow managed past Fuzen's defense, then the boy should have, theoretically, been put to sleep on the spot.

Unfortunately, that did not happen.

As Finn witnessed just seconds ago with the Gulliver brothers, the arrows froze in mid-air as they approached Fuzen, sparks of electricity crackling between the boy and the many projectiles.

"...Bad boy." Fuzen replied as he turned to face Finn. "Punishment and reward, they should be handed out accordingly..."

Guess that couldn't realistically be this easy...Finn thought to himself as he readied his spear, then gave the second signal. From the many alleyways, his members poured out and quickly taking care of crowd-control, guiding the many civilians present on the street to a safe distance as a handful of them surrounded Fuzen, weapons at the ready. Only Level 2's and above had been allowed by Finn to come close to Fuzen in this attempt to capture him, for Level 1's would prove...lacking, against someone like the boy.

Fuzen for his part simply stood still, allowing the others to direct the civilians away, grabbing one of the projectiles shot at him and examining it without saying anything.

"...I really don't want to do this." Finn stated once only their Familia was left on the street. "It is unnecessary."

"...You are blocking my path." Fuzen replied, drawing the chisa katana at his hip in his left hand. "You bring the suffering that is to come upon yourself through your own actions."

Talking would prove futile, Finn understood this much already. Right now, Fuzen was living somewhere in his own world, reality no longer having any effect on him. With that in mind, the Pallum decided to change the direction of the conversation. "...Seems like you don't even need Raiju anymore, do you? Did you absorb him within you? Ordered him away with a command?"

"...the hell's a Raiju?"

Finn had not expected that answer. Granted, he knew from experience that an intoxicated state could mess up with one's memories, but to not even remember the name of his own familiar, the one he named himself? It was...strange, for a lack of better words.

But strange or not, it gave Finn an idea, and so he proceeded to ask the next question. "Then, do you remember your own name?"

"Finally interested in the important matters, are you? Very well…" Fuzen replied, tilting his own head back in a slightly arrogant manner. "I am…"

And then he froze.

"...I am…?"

The arrogance disappeared from his face, replaced by a confused frown. His eyes fell down to the ground as he searched for the answer within his hazy memory.

This was the opportunity Finn waited for.

In a single step, the Level 6 dashed forward, closing the couple dozen meters between him and Fuzen in a flash. He lunged forward with the blunt end of his spear, his target the boy's solar plexus. If he could land one hit while Fuzen was unfocused, he could knock him out.

Sorry, Fuzen.

Clink!

In a single strike nigh as fast as the Pallum's own attack, the spear was deflected to the side, marking the end of Finn's hope of dealing with Fuzen in a single move. "I am strong." Came his delayed reply, accompanied by a smirk the Pallum was not used to seeing from the boy. "That is all that matters…"

Then he threw the arrow he held in his right hand at the Pallum, Finn barely having enough time to draw his head away to avoid the projectile. Nonetheless, him dodging simply meant one of the members surrounding Fuzen was impaled with the arrow instead, the Demi Human falling down to the ground in an instant.

Two more members stepped forward, both of them holding shield which they hoped to use to pin Fuzen down to the ground with. They came in from both sides, but Fuzen showed little worry about their tactic.

Once they were within sword reach, Fuzen slashed at the one to his left, cutting the shield in half, while the one on the right, he closed his fist, and…"Eightfold Path"...punched it. The metal shield did not bend from the impact: instead, it shattered into multiple, large metal shards.

Granted, they were not first tier shields made of adamantite or any other high-grade materials, but nonetheless those shields were third-tier equipment, which not even the Monsters up to the Middle Floors could scratch or bend. And yet, he shattered one with his bare fist.

The remaining members who made up the circle around him stepped forward slowly, focused as if they were within the Dungeon and at risk of peril. Suffice to say, within moments they were all down as they took yet another step forward.

Be it by ways of a punch to the gut or a sword chop with the blunt side to the neck, no one saw the attacks coming their way, and once again only Fuzen and Finn remained standing.

The Pallum ordered the archers positioned atop the roofs to not shot any more arrows at Fuzen, for doing so was useless at the moment. Taking in consideration how he, somehow, stopped all the projectiles in mid-air, they would need a great distraction indeed for any arrow to make it past his senses and defense.

Finn had many questions regarding that.

Had his Magic somehow changed properties?

Was it because Raiju was no longer around?

Was it simply because of his intoxicated state of mind?

He knew for certain that his Magic, though very peculiar, still needed chants to produce effects. However, those effects were only affecting Raiju's form and size, or the amount of power the dragon could release.

Finn guessed that since Raiju was no longer manifested, the core of Fuzen's Magic also changed, thus allowing the boy to tap into this no-chant dangerous lightning Magic.

...Still, stopping weapons and arrows in place all around him...Where have I read about this before…?

"..Heh. I see…" Fuzen's words shook Finn from his line of thought.

"What is it? Remembered something?"

"Indeed. This little…" The boy swirled a finger in the air, looking around at the passed-out members of his Familia around him. "...whatever this was, allowed me to remember the truth."

"Oh? And what is that?"

"Of course, it's-"

"Go to sleep, you stupid brat!" An angry Werewolf shouted from behind as he jumped towards the boy, launching a kick at his head. Fuzen felt his approach long before Bete made himself known, and simply ducked low, avoiding the kick as the Werewolf flew past him. "In all of Heaven…"

From his side came the next attack, a scabbard heading for his neck. With a quick block from his sword, he directed the scabbard up ahead, pushing Ais with his leg and making the girl head towards Finn. "...and Earth…"

"Die, you little shit!" Tione yelled as she ran towards Fuzen from behind just like Bete, ready to throw a punch and break the boy's spine forever.

In response to the attack, Fuzen threw his sword in the air, and jumped backwards before Tione could fully extend her arm. Tilting his head to the side, he allowed her arm to pass by his head, then grabbed it with both hands and making use of his legs and hips, threw the Amazon in front of him. "...I alone…"

"Haaaa!" Gareth let out a roar as he jumped down on Fuzen from the roof of a nearby building, ready to pin the boy down. His tactic was not a bad one. After all, there was no way Fuzen could escape the grip of the Loki Familia's powerhouse, and even if he were to unleash electricity upon him, Gareth could endure it long enough for Finn or the others to grab an arrow and put the boy to sleep.

"What the…?!" Indeed, it was a good tactic...that is, until Gareth realized he was floating in mid-air, just above Fuzen. His legs and his arms, he had no control over them as they were forced to stay stiffly still.

Fuzen then made a throwing motion, and Gareth was sent flying towards his comrades. "...am unequalled…That...is the one truth."

...Well...talk about arrogance…

"...It is time that the truth be spread…"

He lifted one finger up, pointing at the Heavens, and with an unnatural speed clouds began to take shape on the skies above Orario. Ever growing in sheer size, the clouds covered the sun from the skies, a swirling motion beginning to take form just above where Fuzen stood.

Then, three quick bolts of lightning fell down upon the very street they were on, at various locations but not near Finn nor Fuzen.

Was he still trying to get a grip on his control, or did he deliberately directed the bolts to strike at such random points?

Neither Finn nor the others could tell.

"All day long, so many things and people blocked my bath…" Fuzen voiced as his eye began to twitch ever so slightly. "Know your place." Then, he lifted one foot off the ground.

"…! JUMP!"

Finn shouted the order, which everyone managed to execute just in the nick of time, a wave of electricity unleashed upon the location they stood at just a moment ago. Luckily, everyone managed to jump to the roof of a house and avoid the attack that would have proven highly dangerous.

"...This is bad…" The blonde Pallum whispered as he looked over the scene unfolding before him: in the distance, he could hear the civilians run away in fear at the sudden bolts of lightning, his Third and Second Class members, swapped away like flies, and now a thunderstorm brewing above Orario, the thick cotton-like crackling with electricity, the swirling motion now large enough to cover all of them beneath it.

In the centre of it all, a mean-eyed boy stood, the cause of all that was happening. "Yo…" Fuzen whispered just loud enough for the group to make out his words before he directed his finger to point at them. "All you assholes up there...Who the hell do you think...you're looking down upon? Huh?!"

"...This is really bad…" Finn stated as he gripped the handle of his spear and looked at his comrades. They all nodded, and then so did he. They needed to get back down there and subdue him at any and all costs.

Damn it, Loki…

"What is going on here?!"

A stern voice cut through the tension building up between Finn's group and Fuzen, and all heads turned towards it's direction.

Coming up from the street behind Fuzen was Riveria, and she didn't look happy at all. The traumatized Ais aside, even Bete and Tione felt a shiver down their spines at the expression the High Elf was wearing on her face.

"Huh? We playing catch Fuzen again?" Tiona inquired as she popped up from behind Riveria, looking at the scene ahead of her with mixed confusion and excitement.

These two had been away in the Dungeon on Familia business, and from what Finn could tell, they must have come back just a couple dozen minutes ago. They probably saw the unnatural thunderclouds building up above the city, and followed it's centre to catch up to them.

"Riveria, Tiona, stand back!" Finn quickly warned them. "Fuzen, he's not-!"

"It's you." The boy in question whispered under his breath as he looked upon Riveria, his mouth hanging open in shock and surprise. Slowly, he took a step forward towards the High Elf, then another. His behaviour was confusing, for both Finn and the others who just battled him as well as for Riveria and Tiona, who yet lacked the knowledge of what had happened.

One step at a time, each one slower than the last, he drew closer to Riveria, his eyes never looking away from her face. "It's...you."

"…?"

"For so long…" He continued as he was just a step away from the High Elf, his hazel eyes staring into her jade-coloured ones. "For so long…"

"...Fuzen? Is something wrong?"

Then he took the last step towards her, and rested his forehead on her torso. "I've been searching for you...for so long…"

"...Eh? What...do you mean?"

"…"

"...Fuzen, you can talk to me. What's wrong?"

"...I searched, and searched, and searched, for so long...For you…"

"…?"

"...Truly, for so long...So then...why?"

"Hm?"

Riveria noticed how Fuzen's shoulders began to tremble, as did the hands he curled into fists. "...Why…?"

"...Fuzen?"

"Why the hell…" The boy lifted his head from the High Elf's torso, and a hand grabbed her by the collar before Fuzen turned his back to her. Then he lifted her up, and slammed her butt first into the ground by throwing her over his shoulder. "...are you this weak?! You damned hag!"

Time froze for everyone but Fuzen as the High Elf simply lay unmoving on her back, her long bangs covering her eyes from the sight of the boy who was responsible for her current position.

Then, after a couple of long seconds, it began.

"[...The flame will soon be released. Creeping war, unavoidable destruction. The horn of battle sounds aloud, the cruelty of conflict will envelop all…]"

Oh boy...Finn thought to himself as he heard Riveria's chant and shook his head. He had hoped the calm High Elf would prove to be the greatest asset in trying to catch Fuzen, but from the looks of it...he wondered who would cause more damage to the city in the end.

Then he gave the signal, and everyone jumped off to engage Fuzen once again.

What followed next was a lengthy battle of might unseen even in the depth of the Dungeon. It had been a battle of Magic and iron, of Skill and talent, of ferocity and willpower. The exact details shall forever remain with the Loki Familia alone, but what can be said is that it ended when the younger of the Amazon twins managed to impale the head of an arrow inside Fuzen left ass-cheek, finally rendering the young boy motionless.

The day had been won, but not yet ended.

Finn was no stranger to eastern customs, and he was more than certain that their swordsman would cut his own belly open if he were to ever find out about what he had done. Thus, after the battle had ended, Finn gathered his troops and gave each one a task, to be completed as soon as possible.

It had been a long day, indeed…

XXX

...Why the hell is my head feeling like it's going to explode? A young boy asked himself as he walked through the hallways of his Familia's Home. I can't remember anything that happened yesterday...And why the hell does everyone look so tired and beaten…?

"...Wallenstein-sama." He addressed Ais as he saw the girl at the other end of the hallway.

"…"

"Pardon me, but have I missed out on something? Our members look tired and beaten, have we come under attack or something along those lines…?"

Ais stared at him for a long, long moment.

Then she sighed, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder before moving on, not giving the boy any sort of answer.

"...The hell…?"

XXX

And with that, we ended part 2.

I really went full Gintama-mode on this chapter, but believe it or not, I actually threw a whole bunch of "hints" in it. Now, which one is just drunk Fuzen being drunk, and which one is an actual hint...well, who knows, am I right?

Some might be asking: but why throw in hints in the extra Chapter if you don't even know if it's canon or not?

Because I can always bring up those hints again, under other circumstances.

Some might be also asking: wait a bit, you just went full retard mode with Fuzen, he can't control his Magic like that! What did he even do right now?!

Well...I mean, I did show hints of "this" Magic being used before. Go check out Chapter 17, roughly mid-way through. There is one line there, (yes, just one line), where this sort of no-chant/ no command Magic is performed by Fuzen...kind of.

As for what he did against the Pallum brothers and Loki Familia, exactly...well, I don't think it's that hard to figure out.

So yeah. Guess that's it for the extra Chapter.

Not much else for me to add, unless you want me to summarize everything you just read again.

Give me your thoughts or sumthing, and see you in the next Chapter.

Kay bye.