*I do not own DanMachi or You-Zitsu
Ayanokōji Kiyotaka
LV 1
Strength: I 92
Endurance: I 92
Dexterity: I 92
Agility: I 92
Magic: I0
Blank State
-The embodiment of physical touch, feeling, and usage will be extinguished and whisked to the void of white.
Skills: I PALMARIUS
-Mastery results in reward
-The more difficult the task, the greater the reward
"So you unlocked a magic spell this time. Blank State? The description is vague. How do you suppose it functions, Kiyotaka?" Freya questioned the magic I had awakened, most surely by the use of Ruthven. However, I'd have to think sideline my thoughts on this matter for now. 'Palmarius' is of more importance.
"It's safe to say that the skill adds stat points unconditionally."
Freya's expression distorted when she realized I had no intention of answering her remarks on my magic. However, she quickly regained her sense of thought and added to my statement.
"Each stat, whether it's strength or agility, is at the same level. I don't think it's possible that you're exerting the same amount of strength to each stat. Are you?" Freya needed validity on my experience in the Dungeon in order to see whether my actions are affecting my stats or if it's solely focused on the skill itself.
"No. Depending on the situation, I may exert more strength into my legs to escape critical situations, or more focus on my mind to dodge stealthy attacks. However, not have I once consciously made sure that I used more strength on one stat than the other. My choices were simply random when faced with a specific situation."
"If that's the case..." Freya gently took the status parchment out of my hands to take a closer look. "Then based on your 'mastery' your stat points are allocated equally."
"Something along that line of thought. Theoretically, the skill is only based on mastery correct? Previously, when I had gone solo, I gained a total of 80 points upon 8 floors. Once I partnered with Heith, I only gained 12 points across two floors. If we follow my theory of a stat point limit for a set of floors, then this means that I gained fewer points than I might have if I had journeyed alone for floors 9 and 10." Freya took in the information I had relayed based on observations and inference I had mustered. "As we can see, my stats are all equal, no matter if I trained one stat more than the other. This means the skill doesn't test my stats, but rather what I do with the strength I have in them."
I continued with my explanation.
"In other words, the skill tests how I 'conquer', for a lack of a better word, a floor, individually. As long as I can display skill and strength over the floor's inhabitants, the skill will allocate an equal amount of points to each stat, no matter which one was used more or less," I stated the rest of my theory.
Essentially, this skill is based on the principle of communism. No matter how much I train one stat over the other, in the end, that stat category will receive an equal amount of points as the other. This could be beneficial and disadvantageous.
"If what you are saying is true, then your status simply doesn't follow the basic structure of a regular Adventurer. Adventurers gain stat points based on their effort and success in a challenge. And are able to level up due to an extraordinary feat. You however are bound by your skill. As long as the challenge you face is normal on that floor, you won't receive a boost of points. Only the amount of points that floor correlates to you as the limit." Freya's expression turned grim after realizing how unfortunate my skill can be. I agreed with her to an extent but it depends on how that skill is being used. If one demonstrates complete control over it, it can prove to be a deadly weapon.
"It's best if I provide an example," Freya said as she grabbed utensils from her desk. She came over and laid them on a nearby table. As she began to draw, I looked over her shoulder.
"Irregulars are common in a Dungeon. Or at least normal. If you encounter an irregular on let's say Floor 10, then as long as you beat that monster, you will still only gain 10 points at the maximum. That's because an irregular would b stronger than any monster on that floor. Killing it would prove that nothing on the floor is a challenge to you, then conquering it. However, if someone else were to fight an irregular in the same conditions, they'd most likely gain over 20 points or more." As she depicted a drawing on the sheet, I looked back down at my status.
"That's certainly true. While this skill can be useful for me, it can have an equal amount of drawbacks. That's something I'll have to accept if I have to move forward." I left the remainder of my thoughts at that and concluded this subject on 'Palmarius'.
"This spell, however, 'Blank State' is something you'll have to experiment on if you want a proper explanation on its usage."
"Well, I have a few theories as of now. From what it directly states, the spell is based on physical matter. In which it will then be sent to a 'void' of sorts," I said.
"Would it mean that you can send objects to a different space?" Freya asked. I can see how she can think that. However, the spell doesn't state objects in particular. I have doubts whether that is what the spell is really for.
"Is that alright? While I don't think using this spell can damage the room, it's still a risk. I don't have the chant memorized so it may take a while."
"...Fu fu fu, I have all day Kiyotaka. Please demonstrate your prowess for me."
After gaining her approval, I took notice of the words on the status sheet. After taking the time to ingrain them into my head, I recited it word from word.
In a silently low voice, I muttered.
"Unavoidable, indescribable, unfortunate. Feeling of one may be such, but not none. It is though, something of faint reminiscence. With the wish of a sovereign, it will be gone. Take the time to harness and sow, for it will be like great white snow."
With the structure of a poem, the words flowed off my tongue with a soft touch. However, an indescribable feeling began to gather in my head. What is it I wonder?
Perhaps...a feeling of nihility?
Directing my gaze- my will- to the mirror placed on the desk to my right, my mind began churning, as if steamrollers began to pave my mind with a new brand of energy. This is...mind. The power of magic begins with the mind, the tool that is used to form magic spells in the physical world.
I've never felt anything like it.
I shut my eyes as the white light enveloped my body.
...
Truly a magnificent thing.
"Blank State."
The white light ceased, the air still in a trace of stillness.
The mirror laid gently on the wooden material.
The spell had failed.
Just like I thought it would.
"A failure huh?"
Freya picked up the glass object and...kept it close to her chest. She gently placed her eyelids down, covering her line of sight. This image would be something that would be illustrated out of a storybook. This however was reality.
And the reality is...
"You failed."
Freya opened her mouth to state the result of my endeavor.
"That I have."
Just a few days before the war game between the notorious Apollo Familia and the rising, one man, Hestia Familia, had an event occurred that would shock even the strongest of individuals.
This event wasn't the birth of a Hero, nor the death of a God.
No, this event was simply the disturbance of a who wishes nothing but to live his measly human life in peace.
The scale on which this man will go, however, is something that not even Finn Deimne, with an intuition that surpasses the Gods, could predict.
"Ayanokōji...Kiyotaka."
A short man, a Prum, muttered these words as he listened to the words of his tattered subordinate, his friend.
"I'M SORRY SIR! I TAKE FULL RESPONSIBILITY!"
With his dirt-riddled jet black hair and cracked armor, Raul Nord laid on one knee as he yelled out his plight to the captain of Orario's elite Familia.
With a grim expression on her face, Riveria Ljos Alf stepped toward the Adventurer whose was on the verge of tearing up. He repressed his emotions as much as he can but it was of no use. No one would complain if he had. Not a single soul in this emotionally crushed Familia.
She placed a hand on his shoulder and with the strength of a level 6, she pulled him up. Raul faced her, avoiding her gaze.
"Look at me."
He did not.
"Look at me."
He did not.
"Look at me."
Raul mustered up the little pride he had left and met eye contact with the Elf.
"YES MA'AM!"
He swallowed the tears away and shut his eyes to dispel the tears. As he straightened his back to stand tall, he noticed her expression. It wasn't of grief, nor was it anger.
Raul did not know what she was feeling.
Regret.
That was the only thing on her mind as she stared at her injured companion. Not once had she let go of that piercing gaze.
Raul would be uncomfortable in moments like these, this time, however, Raul embraced it. To Raul, any gaze is better than that one.
The gaze of the man who single-handedly caused the deaths of the cities #2 Familia as if he was simply strolling through a park. Fooling anyone and everyone of what his intentions really were.
He had not known the truth of Ayanokōji, if he had, would the outcome have been different? This was what he was forced to think of. Did he like it? No. But it was inevitable that he would think of such impossible probabilities. That is such the nature of human beings.
There was, however, another man who was thinking the same.
It was the man currently sitting at his desk, observing this interaction between Riveria and Raul.
Finn Deimne.
"Take a seat, Raul"
That was all he had said when faced with this ridiculous situation that Raul had explained to him.
Following his captain's orders, Raul took a seat on one of many chairs placed inside the office.
"I want you to explain everything again once Aiz and the other arrive. They need to know of this. They need to know everything."
"Finn..." Riveria muttered, realizing what Finn had meant. He intends to reveal the truth about Ayanokōji, the truth about what and whom they've been investigating these past few weeks.
"For now, treat your injuries. Come back here when I ask of you," Finn stated, looking directly at Raul.
Raul swiftly left the vicinity without uttering a single word. The door shut before being opened once again.
Tera had entered the room.
"I assume you heard?" Riveria stated.
"Yeah, I listened through the doors."
Raul had stated everything. From the moment Ayanokōji entered the same room as them, to the first Monster Party, and to the second in which several of his companions had perished. This explanation included Raul's encounter with a man whose appearance had looked exactly like a man the two of them knew.
Finn and Riveria had concluded that Ayanokōji was present during this incident. This incident however is something much more than just their simple hide and seek like before. People died because of him.
However, they had no way of knowing whether this incident was accidental and just one of the Dungeon's irregularities, or if it was planned by someone, by Ayanokōji.
"You have something you wanted to share? Please explain what it is," Finn stated, his voice monotone, void of any emotion.
"Yes well, I'll make this quick. As I traversed the Dungeon, I coincidentally happened to be present after the first Monster Party was killed and the second had moved up to Floor 9. Unfortunately, I didn't know these events had actually happened until now. Anyways, in the spot where the Monsters were slaughtered, there was a liquid soaked into the ground." Tera shared her observations while Finn and Riveria took in the information, attempting to connect the dots. "As someone who specializes in espionage, traps are common. The most common of traps being the use of monsters. Now, the liquid on the floor happened to be a particularly potent potion. A Monster Stimulant."
Tera has discovered the same Stimulant that Ayanokōji had dropped on his way to the room Raul had initially inhabited.
"This stimulant attracts monsters, mainly those on the stronger end. So, it would follow that monsters spawned in deeper floors would make their way to the floor in which the stimulant is dropped. And that they did. The only thing I cannot make sense of is why the monsters left that spot during the second Monster Party's creation," Tera slowly cut off her explanation as her observations ran to an end.
"That's enough for now. At the very least, we now know our Familia members didn't die in a freak accident," Finn said as he reassured a doubting Tera.
"...Is it true? Did...did he really do all this?" Tera let her emotions slip out as she muttered these words, full of hurt and sadness. "Forget I sai-" Tera tried to deny her words but was cut off by her colleagues.
"No, Ayanokōji Kiyotaka surely caused this incident. Remember that well." Finn left no room for denial as he stated the name of this incident's benefactor.
Tera gulped as she heard the intense voice of her captain. The monotone voice he once had was gone. His true emotions leaking out bit by bit.
'Bang, Bang'
A loud knock was heard as a voice came from the other side of the door.
"I suppose it's time I leave," Tera said as she disappeared through the back door.
"Come in," Riviera said.
With her approval, a particularly noisy Amazon came barging in through the door.
"So. Whaddya need us for, Captain?"
Tiona Hiryute took a seat on the couch as Raul Nord and Aiz Wallenstein followed behind her. As the executives of Loki Familia came inside one by one, Raul's expression became grim as he faced the reality of having to explain what had happened the day before.
As Gareth Landrock entered the room, he immediately noticed the look in his friend's eye. Noticing that the situation was serious, he immediately took his seat without uttering a word.
Tione Hiryute, a woman obsessed with Finn Deimne, noticed the irregular air surrounding the one she loves. Accordingly, she avoided acting up and obediently sat on a seat nearest to her Captain.
The last of which, Bete Loga, was unable to read the room, and thus expressed his disinterest in the matter that Finn wished to share.
"Is this about those plants again? I already told you what I know." The werewolf glared at Finn as he waited for an answer. When he got none, he simply grunted before leaning on the wooden wall.
"Where's Loki? She needs to be here as well." Finn asked for the whereabouts of his patron Goddess.
"I'll get her," Bete said before taking off to retrieve his drunken Goddess.
A heavy silence enveloped the room soon after. That was until one girl spoke up.
"Is something the matter, Finn?"
The blonde swordsman, Aiz Wallenstein, relayed her question as she observed Finn's physical state. Due to arriving here immediately after training with Bell Cranel, she was currently dressed in her breastplate with her blade, Desperate, still at her side.
"...I made a mistake."
Finn broke his silence as she uttered the words that he so desperately wished to never say.
The apathetic Aiz had quickly scrunched her eyebrows after hearing his answer. Finn Deimne, regarded as one of the most intellectually brightest mortal on Genkai...made a mistake?
Her lips spread apart as her mouth began to open. Unfortunately, she was interrupted by the arrival of Bete Loga and Loki.
"Sorry for being late. This wolf was so adamant about not giving me a ride that I had to slap him silly."
Loki, who was currently being carried on Bete's back, gave off her trademark grin, contrary to what Bete's facial expressions displayed.
That grin, however, was quickly wiped off her face as she immersed herself in the atmosphere of Finn's office.
"What's up?" Her tone much more serious than before, Loki got off Bete's back and walked up to Finn. With her arms crossed, she now stood directly in front of his figure, the desk being the only thing separating them at the moment.
"I'll expla-" Raul was cut off as Finn got up from his chair and walked in front of Loki, facing each executive. Loki eyed him as she directed her gaze to Finn's new location.
"Saransh, Fogel, Caargt, Mesita, Raju, Walker, Asfar, Nefgr, Cofinner, Dist, Laura, Mare and Cynthia." A line of silence was kept as Finn stated these 13 names. Each executive patiently waited for their Captain to follow up his statement. "They are now deceased."
...
...
...
"Is this true?"
The eyes of the trickster God slowly opened as she glared at the Prum. A moment of disbelief and denial coursed through the minds of everyone present; all but two.
"What's this now? Cynthia and the others are dead?" The eccentric Tiona exclaimed, not fully believing this sudden revelation.
"Are you doubting the Captain?" Her sister, Tione refuted. "Though...is this actually true?" She muttered quietly, to ensure no one could hear.
"Umm I think I should explain," Raul spoke. As if he were just a child in a crowd of adults, his meek voice was ignored. Well, by everyone besides Finn.
"No need." Finn; his tone now displaying the characteristics of a leader, the seriousness of a man in charge, and the responsibility of a man at fault.
The following few minutes was a simple but detailed explanation of the events that took place. Everything but Ayanokōji's involvement in the incident was conveyed.
The first to speak up to this truth was Bete.
"Hah! And so what? Accidents happen all the time. It's the Dungeon, not some kiddy ground."
His harsh words shook some and triggered some however the first to display their reaction to them was Aiz. She turned her head towards the wolfman. However, that was where her reaction ended.
"Shut up! So what if accidents happen!"
Tiona displayed her rage at the grating words Bete had said. While it was common for the two to argue, moments such as this were times where it was nearly impossible to keep them apart as they attempted to rip each other's throats.
"They were all mages, weren't they?" Aiz stated her observation as she listened to Finn's explanation, ignoring the argument between the Wolf and Amazon.
"Raul, if you would?" Finn passed on the matter to the level 4 who had been overshadowed by the presence of the elite Adventurers.
"You see. Normally monsters from Floor 1 and below should be simple to deal with for me and the others. But once we entered that room where the fighting took place, it was as if my movements were restricted. Like my basic senses were numbed. Add this to the overwhelming amount of monsters and it was horrifyingly difficult to hold them back while the mages started casting." Raul took a moment to catch his breath before continuing. "The mages, however, were a vital part of our formation. They were supposed to take out the majority of monsters. But, they all passed out. It was mind down even though each mage had taken a mind potion just a few minutes before."
Riviera cut off Raul as she stated her thoughts on the matter.
"We have theories in this incident, however this matter of mind down is simply unfathomable."
It could not be explained, if the mages were not fed potions beforehand, it would have been believable, but they were. And that is why this topic is more mysterious than any surface-level thoughts can display.
"And so because the mages were unconscious and the combatant's mobility was handicapped...it was merely a matter of time before they were killed. We barely escaped. Arcs lost an arm in the battle." Raul finished retelling the events that took place in the room where the second Monster Party began their slaughter.
This incident would later be labeled 'The Party Slaughter.'
"There's something else that we excluded from the explanation," Finn said. Not even Raul and the other victims knew of what was about to be said next. "The one responsible, the 'mastermind' to say, is Ayanokōji Kiyotaka."
At this revelation, Aiz's eyes widened, Bete's eyes narrowed and Tiona's face had distorted.
"You're joking right. The waiter?" Bete said. "You're telling me those losers died to a waiter!"
Bete yelled at Raul as he quickly approached him. Upon racing distance, Bete jabbed his index finger straight into his chest.
"Your pathetic ass lost to him. How can you stand tall with this embarassssament on your back?"
"Sit down Bete." The Dwarf, Gareth, ordered.
"N-"
"Sit down boy." The pressure in his voice left no room for discussion. The authority that he displayed truly showed why he was Orario's physically strongest level 6.
Almost immediately, Gareth asked for Finn to continue.
"What's this about this Ayanokōji? Explain Finn."
Upon his request, Finn relayed everything to his subordinates. Starting from the very beginning. To their encounter at the Hostess of Fertility, to their meeting in the Dungeon, to the investigation with 'S' and inevitably, Ayanokōji's involvement in the incident.
On the contrary to what many would expect, Aiz Wallenstein was the one who listened the closest. Taking in every single detail about the waiter.
She felt betrayed.
While not knowing him well, she would never have taken him as a cruel, ruthless man. A man that would 'kill' her Familia members.
As she continued to think about it, she pieced together her observations to come to a single inference.
'He really is...the one who did it,' she thought.
He was one who would be able to go unnoticed to even her senses, one who was able to swiftly take care of level 3 using minimal strength, and one who would enter the Dungeon without armor or weapons.
However, the thing she focused on the most. The most mysterious thing about him that she just recently discovered.
"Finn," she said.
"Yes?"
"Ayanokōji...he had 'mind' in his bag."
"What?"
"It wasn't magic, so I know there wasn't a magic item in there. It was mind...in its purest form," she said. "I think maybe he stole their mind from them."
?
This revelation, while making sense to none, was still something worth considering.
"Ya saying, that he took it. Causing Cynthia and the others to die?" It was Loki who spoke up, for the first time tonight.
"Yes. And I think...Bell might have sensed it too. It was yesterday when we saw him walking in the street, shirtless."
"Bell Cranel? Why would he be with you? Wait, you're saying you saw him after he came out of the Dungeon?"
Finn's surprise at this reveal came to no surprise.
As Aiz began to explain, while leaving out the parts about training Bell, Finn came to a conclusion.
"But, really. Ayanokōji is a bad guy? I can't believe it. He didn't act like one," Tiona said.
"Doesn't matter. No one hurts my Familia and is allowed to walk free." Loki's voice writhing in anger as her eyes nearly popped out of her skull, contrary to how she normally appeared.
"No."
Every head turned to the short man.
"We will not pursue this matter any further. Without proper evidence, we cannot blame him. And if this is all true, then he's much too dangerous. To acquire a Monster Stimulant with that potency means he has a backer on his side. Someone strong. And frankly, the fault lies on me."
This was his mistake. Everyone had realized that at this very moment.
Frustrations grew from everyone but the one who was angered and frustrated the most was none other than him.
For Finn Deimne had lost this battle.
In the coming days, a storm had begun to brew in Loki Familia.
With the topic of Ayanokōji being ordered to be kept secret to the public by Finn, every member had learned of the truth.
'Ayanokōji made an enemy with the wrong people.' Is what they thought.
However, the ignorant masses had not known of one thing.
In this world, in this city, Ayanokōji had no wish to be playing the games of Gods and their followers. But, if it were to come to that, then there is one thing that one was to be sure of.
Ayanokōji Kiyotaka will be the one to win in the end.
END