Chapter Four – Paradox of Secrets
Arifureta – Rising of the Irregular Hero has new chapter!
Wow I cannot believe that this story has become extremely popular with favorites, followers, and views. To tell everyone the truth is that I have seen Arifureta seven times, and I love this kind of anime. However, it is time to get back to the story and let me tell you something that is going to leave everyone surprise about the news. We are not even close to been done with the first arc since I put a lot of thoughts and details inside of the first arc.
Special thank you and shout out goes to Xyaqom who beta-read my stories so far and I have been hearing about his new and reboot story for Drogons – Rebirth. Please check his story when you get the chance to!
I have something to tell everyone a special announcement which I am making another O/C story, but it is quite different anime from Arifureta and To Love Ru. However, I am still working out the touches for it, so please be patient with me.
Enjoy Chapter Four!
(At The Floor Eighty-One)
"I believe you deserve a name," Hajime told the revolver inside his right hand, and he began to think about a good name. "I got it. Your name is Donner." Hajime names the revolver then he begins to look for the creature that took his arm a few days ago.
After killing three White Demon Rabbits and Crimson Wolves with his new revolver, which Hajime was traveling forward with, his mind was focused on one target. He heard the same roar with his thoughts, "I finally found you, and now it's time for payback." Hajime went forward to see the white bear with dark crimson stripes as it felt someone was watching it then turning its head to see the same human boy again, but Hajime was more aggressive and different than before.
"It's been a while, and you never to told me how my arm tasted," Hajime responds the question with a firm tone, and his expression shows vengeance inside of it since he was going to get his revenge from the bear since he eats his arm before. The bear roars at Hajime, whose right paw glows with the bright yellow of trying to strike Hajime down with his body. He was still trying to get used to new skills inside his body, but he spoke again, "Quickstep!" Hajime transports himself backward with his mind was telling him about the excellent job, but the battle is not done with the bear.
Hajime points his 'Donner' towards the White Demon Bear, and the bear uses its left paw to create another glowing yellow strike which Hajime goes underneath the attack. He slides 'Donner' to shots a bullet upwards, but it misses the bear's head by a millimeter as it leaves a furious expression on its face. The bear uses its strength to grab Hajime with its right paw then tosses him as it sends him flying onto the solid wall, which Hajime coughs out dark crimson been his blood onto the solid floor.
The bear roars at Hajime as it was starting to walk forward and it was going to finish the job that it started a few days ago, but Hajime's hair was covering his eyes as the bear did not that Hajime was going to do something that would leave it surprised and dead in moments. Hajime gets up onto his feet, and his aura begins to appear around his presence been crimson with a black outline as Hajime screams top of his lungs as his right-hand throws 'Donner' into the air as the bear's eyes become surprised as the revolver was swung inside of the air than its head looks down to sees Hajime threw a grenade in front of him.
The grenade explodes with a blinding light as Hajime catches his revolver inside of his right-hand then shoots a bullet to take the bear's left arm and paw off from it. Yellow blood drips onto the solid ground and lands in front of Hajime, and the final words to ending the deathmatch between Hajime and White Demon Bear is, "You're done." His right-hand puts 'Donner' up into the black leather holster and sends the dark crimson lightning to electrify the bear as Hajime takes his revolver out again to shots another bullet which enters the bear's forehead as everything went black as it was killed by the same young man who was weak at first, but he came back as person aiming to become the strongest in the world.
Hajime falls onto his knees, trying to catch his breath. His sweat drips from his forehead since he has defeated the White Demon Bear, yet his vision felt fazed because he just battled monster after monster. His right hand was placed onto the solid ground to summons a large rock tent to protect him, but Hajime made sure to take the dead bear and its left arm and paw inside the stone tent.
"I… I… I am going to shut my eyes… Just for a little bit." Hajime was telling himself as he lays down on the solid ground but for unknown reasons is that he found the ground as soft and warm as the clouds from his world.
(At The Heiligh Kingdom)
It has been three days since the Orcus Labyrinth incident, leaving everybody in shock or depressed feeling inside themselves since Hajime Nagumo was killed. Still, he was only trying to do the right thing by helping them. Shizuka walks towards the throne with Kouki, and Ryutarou sees Commander Melds. Yet, Shizuka turns her head to see the same nun that Hajime used to hang around with, which she was sitting down on the light brown wooden bench outside as Shizuka thinks she was praying or thinking about something. Commander Melds was waiting for them at the center of the throne room to give his report, but the three heroes wanted to know what they would do about Hajime since they could not just leave him in the labyrinth to dead or mark his death as an incident.
They entered the throne room to see King Eliheid S. B. Heiligh. Those who had never seen what King Eliheid looked like have long dark blonde hair down to his shoulders and beard matching to down to his collar bone with his eyes are bright blue. His outfit is crimson robes with white fur surrounding the top of it.
"Welcome, and I wish to hear the developments of Orcus Labyrinth." King Eliheid spoke with a smooth voice, and his expression was serious since he was ready to hear the news as Pope Leader Ishtar had dark thoughts about how he sent an entire team down to Floor Sixty-Five to get rid of that young man who was getting closer to discovering the truth behind his God Erit's plans.
"Your Highness, we have grieving news on exploring Orcus Labyrinth." Commander Melds stands his ground and begins to speak towards King Eliheid and Pope Leader Ishtar with a respectful voice, and his expression shows great concern about how Floor 65 just appeared out of nowhere. "My reports start as we explored the first couple floors of the great labyrinth, but Glanz Crystal was used to transporting everyone to Floor 65." King Eliheid and Pope Leader begin to listen in to the tales of the reports for Orcus Labyrinth. However, it came to the mysterious but accidental death of the chosen heroes from God Erit. Commander Melds finishes the report, "I'm afraid we have lost Hajime Nagumo, the Synthesist Hero." King Eliheid and Pope Leader Ishtar were looking at one another to produce the best answer since they could not allow any news to leak out since that young man's death.
"You will speak no more about this matter." King Eliheid speaks towards Commander Melds and the other hero, with his voice is firm about the solution, which Shizuka could not believe, but the matter was not important to the kingdom.
The meeting is done with King Eliheid and Pope Leader Ishtar. They were leaving the room as Shizuka began to leave Kouki and Ryutarou were a little surprised since Shizuka would go to see how Kaori was doing since she had been knocked out for four days now. She gets out of Heiligh Kingdom, and she stops inside of her tracks of hearing someone was practicing the magic spells at the training grounds with her thoughts of wondering who is practicing in the middle of the night.
(At The Training Grounds)
Only one person was trying her best to work hard on her abilities to control her magic spells: Eri Nakamura. She was breathing in then out with her outfit in midnight blue robes down to her waist with black pants down to her black boots as her appearances are age been seventeen years old with her bright brown eyes were looking tired with her hair is black down to her neck. Still, she did not want to give up since Eri wanted to go back to the labyrinth and find Hajime. "Why am I so weak for?" Her thoughts were asking herself questions because she wanted to save Hajime as he did for her.
(Five Months Before Transportation)
It was eight at night, Eri was wearing a dark blue shirt down to her waist, and purple pants down to her black shoes which she was looking down at the river with her thoughts brought the idea of jumping from the bridge to end her life because she was tired of her mother's abusive side towards her. Her hands were hanging onto the dark blue rail of the bridge, and she began to think about letting it go, but Eri stopped herself from jumping when she heard someone was approaching her. Then her head turned to see it was unexpecting.
Hajime sighs as he is taking a little walk around town since he wants to clear his mind about things surrounding his parents, but he sees a girl hanging onto the bridge's rails. "Whoa… Wait! Do not do it!" He told her with a soft tone, and his expression showed great concern for her, which left Eri wondering why he was trying to help her out?
Eri shakes her head towards the right than left because she will attempt to jump off the bridge, then Eri would let her hands go from the bridge's rails. There was no reason for her to respond to Hajime since there was no way that he would understand what she had been through the inside of her life.
Her mother has been abusing and telling her that she was better off with nothing than her father was dead when she was born before it. Eri's stepfather would touch her in sexual ways, which brought him to get arrested then her mother's wrath was awakened again.
"Listen, I don't know what you're going through, but just don't do it," Hajime told her with a comfortable tone, and he stepped closer to her slowly, and she stopped herself. However, Eri stays silent for a couple of minutes as she is looking towards the river for, she was ready to end her life right here and right now.
"How do you know what I'm going through?" Eri snaps at Hajime because he is an annoying person, but she can tell that something is different about him as she turns her head to see Hajime places his hands in front of him with his expression showing calm and soft.
"Because my name is Hajime Nagumo and I… I lost both of my parents two years ago." Hajime tells her with a soft tone, and he reaches a safe place to talk with her. Eri would snap him out of knowing his name, but she stopped herself when he spoke again. "I wanted to end it all, but my parents told me that strength is found when people push forward to make a difference in their lives." He continues to tell her with the same tone, which Eri begins to remember about the news of how Hajime was all alone with nobody there to support him.
(May 2, 2015)
Eri was sitting down inside her bedroom, and she was flipping through the channels, but she stopped changing the channels to see the news was talking about Shuu and Sumire Nagumo were the best detective and partner in the force. Her expression becomes shocked about the news since Hajime Nagumo was one of her classmates, and she was becoming more understanding that someone else was going through something inside of their life.
(Present – At Bridge)
"You... You Lost your parents too?" Asked Eri, her tone is tender because she remembers that Hajime missed four weeks of school since he was depressed, or he did not want anything to do with school now.
"Yes, I did… My dad was a detective, and my mom was his partner. I spend every day and night wishing they would come back through the front door and tell me everything is good now." Hajime tells her with a soft tone, and Eri felt something like she wanted someone like that, but her mother was abusive around her since she could barely walk on her own.
Hajime stops inside his tracks with his expression showing concern for her because he did not want to make any sudden movements that might make Eri think about her decision to jump from the bridge. Eri turned her head to see Hajime was dealing with his demons, but he was trying his best not to let them get the best of him since he was trying to help her out.
"I… I see," Eri cried as she allowed the tears of sadness because she always wished for her parents or mother to change into a different person.
"What's wrong?" Hajime asks her with a comfortable voice, and he is hoping that Eri was thinking about jumping after speaking her final words about her tears.
"I wish… I wish my parents were like yours." Eri tells him tenderly because she felt nothing but pain and suffering from her mother. However, this moment felt real for Eri because someone cared and worried about her well-being. Then, she speaks about her mother and the treatment she went through inside her life. "My mother told me that I was better off dead than staying alive." She was crying more because her mother did not want anything to deal with her, and Eri thought about ending her life tonight, but someone came to save her.
"Well, I'll be your hero, and you can stay at my place whenever you want to because I live alone," Hajime tells her with confidence inside of his voice, and she becomes deep red because Hajime makes it sound like they are going to be roommates or lovers in the same house. His right hand reaches out for Eri to take it with her hand, and she looks down at his right hand like offering to help her out of this solution.
"Are you sure!?" Eri asks him with a shocked voice, and her expression becomes more confused about these new feelings that she was developing for the otaku loser, but Eri was starting to see him more as her hero who wanted to see her smile again. She begins to take his right hand with her left hand. However, she screams fright when her feet slip from the edge of the bridge, yet Hajime grabs her left hand with his right hand.
"Woah… I got you!" Hajime responds to her with his right hand was holding her left hand, and he takes his left hand to grab her right hand. Her right-hand grabs onto Hajime's hands, and he begins pulling her upwards to help her back onto the bridge. His words are, "Do not worry… I am not going to allow you drop." He was pulling her onto the bridge as Hajime showed a bright smile towards Eri because he saved her life from taking it.
"My name is Eri Nakamura," Eri responds to Hajime with a tender voice, and Hajime nods at her for going to remember her name. Then he felt her hands wrapping around his body being warm embracement. His eyes extended in shock because this was the first time someone hugged him, and Eri was happy that she met someone who would care about her. Hajime was going to pull away from her, but Eri did not want to let Hajime go since she wanted to stay at his side for now, and his lips formed a warm smile, then he helped her up onto her feet. "You… You saved my life, and I will not forget this. Thank you, Hajime." Eri continues to speak towards Hajime with the same tone, and she is happy that she made a new friend tonight.
"It's not a problem," Hajime responds to Eri with a friendly and smooth voice as his expression shows comfortable and warmth towards her.
This night marked that Eri developed a new feeling for Hajime and a new outlook on life, meaning she would not hide her true self from others. He gave her a new promise that Eri would repay Hajime for saving her life tonight, but the promise would not be fulfilled since she could not bring herself to repay him for anything.
(At Orcus Labyrinth)
Floor Sixty-Five was a terrible floor filled with fear and despair as Hajime was saving everyone from the behemoth as he has built a stone wall by using his Transmute skill of trying to hold the beast back from hurting or killing the others. Eri was getting her magic ready to strike the beast because this time she wanted to be the one to save Hajime from dangers, but after the magic fire blast went towards Hajime then hit him.
Eri could only watch and hear Hajime's scream as he fell from the destroyed bridge with her eyes extended of frightening and shock because she never got to thank him the proper way or save his life, meaning it was like everything she was working for was all gone in mere moments.
"Hajime… I am so sorry." Eri was telling herself with a tender voice, and she fell onto her knees as she thought that her spell was the one that hit Hajime, her hero. She had to live with the faults that caused Hajime to lose his life, yet she did not know that someone else caused the incident that made Hajime fall into the abyss of despair and darkness.
(Present – Heiligh Kingdom)
Eri was training herself with her magic control which she was trying her best to hit two targets at once as she was breathing in then out because she was slowly tiring herself out from the intense training that she was doing to herself. "I know that Hajime is alive because I can feel it inside my heart." Eri's thoughts were telling herself smoothly, and she was thinking about traveling down to Floor Sixty-Five to investigate the incident again because something was not adding up. Still, she could tell that magic spell was not an accident.
"Are you worried about him too?" Eri hears a soft voice from the hallway of the training ground as the hallway is the only way in and out of the training grounds. Eri gets up onto her feet to see it was the same nun that Hajime had become friends with since they were transported here.
"Yes, I am, and I… I wish I were strong enough to protect and save him as he did for me." Eri responds to Noint with a tender voice because she wanted to be Hajime's hero, yet she failed to save his life as he did for her.
Noint begins to think about the solution as she was thinking about joining the Hero's Party, and she was going to resist her cover being a nun. Still, she was beginning to not care about being Apostle or false nun since Hajime gave the one thing, she was leaking inside her life… A choice.
(In Orcus Labyrinth)
On Floor Eight-One, Hajime begins to wake up with his eyes-only seeing darkness, but his right-hand glows slightly thanks to using his mark as a flashlight and then puts the wood together to make a fire. He begins to cook the White Demon Bear's flesh to eat it to gain new skills and abilities to learn from it which his thoughts brought back of how he saved Eri's life, yet he begins to remember how she was spending time together with him when she got the chance to.
White Demon Bear's meat was ready to eat as Hajime drew the White Demon Bear onto the stone plate with its different abilities. He turns his head, takes the meat, and then eats it as he is getting done with eating the White Demon Bear. He took out his status plate to see the Level went up to Level 17, meaning he leveled up again with incredible speed.
Hajime Nagumo:
Strength: 300
Vitality: 400
Defense: 300
Agility: 450
Magic: 400
Magic Defense: 400
Skills: Transmute (+Mineral Appraisal) (+Precise Transmute) (+Mineral Probe) (+Mineral Isolation) (+Mineral Fusion), Mana Manipulation, Iron Stomach, Lightning Field, Air Walk (+Aerodynamics) (+Quick Step), Spirit Claw, Language Comprehension.
"It seems that my level only went up by five levels." Hajime was telling himself with a firm voice, and his expression is not impressed, but he was happy to learn the new skills which his right-hand takes 'Donner' then point the front of him be ready to use it again to fight for his freedom out of the labyrinth. "It would be more helpful if I learned what level of the labyrinth I am on, but I do not care since I will find a way out of this." Hajime was telling himself with confidence inside of his ability.
Hajime turns his head to see the White Demon Bear furry could be useful for items and begins to make a large backpack with a large white furry jacket going down to his waist. It covers his left arm and hand. He was beginning to work on new inventions as he took a stone and placed little lightning for it, so it could function as a lantern for Hajime to see in front of him or around him. He begins to see 'Donner' might get new upgrades as Hajime begins to make new bullets from the blasted rock, which he would call explosion bullets.
"There's a good chance that I can use Transmute in horizontal and vertical style to explore inside of this labyrinth with his mind brought the innovative ideas about what he was going to find at this floor Eighty-One with his right-hand held his revolver into the front of him.
Hajime went forward as he could see darkness, and his right hand took the lantern out to reveal a small light to see something was moving inside of the darkness. He turns his lantern towards the creature been dark green lizard with bright yellow eyes, making the stone inside of the lantern destroyed then. Hajime jumps away from the lizard then summons a large rock in front of him. His head turns to see his left arm was getting stoned by the effects of the dark green lizard and takes a container out to spray the Holy Water onto it to stop its effects.
The stream appears from the other side of the large rock, and the dark green lizard roars, but it is not ready for the grenade to be a bright light to blind it. Hajime shoots the bullet to hit the lizard, which he begins to draw the design onto the stone plate, then throws onto the stone floor and writes the abilities on it. Hajime's Level up to Level 18.
After waiting for a couple of moments inside of the stone tent, Hajime begins to journey through the stone village as he turns his head to see a poisonous dark green toad with dark purple balls on its backside and an illusionary moth with its wings are dark blue with a purple outline inside of its wings. He shots one bullet of his explosion bullets as destroys the inners of toad and moth, which the stone plate lands in front of the ground to shows the designs of Illusionary Moth and Poisonous Toad with Hajime's Level went up to Level 21.
The next target is the midnight blue shark which Hajime defeats with easiness as he uses the White Demon Bear's strikes made by his 'Donner' as he finds the dried land then throws another stone plate onto the floor to show the abilities of the shark. Hajime's Level went up to Level 22
Hajime's explosion bullets hit the giant grasshoppers as they killed two of them while other drawings for them were dropped on top of the shark's stone plate. Hajime's Level went up to Level 23.
(At Heiligh Kingdom)
Shizuka was trying with her wooden sword as she was trying her best to understand why they got so strong in the first place, but something inside of her mind was not letting it go. She closes her eyes to remember the incident that destroyed the bridge holding the behemoth, but Hajime tried his best to get back to safety.
"Someone must have hit him with a fire spell, but the question is who?" Shizuka's thoughts were telling herself gently, and she began to wonder about the solution. She turns her head to see Daisuke was acting a little nervous and speaking to himself about something he did, and nobody would find out.
"Yaegashi, what are you doing out here for?" Daisuke speaks with a nervous voice, and he becomes a little frightened about seeing Shizuka was holding a silver blade.
"I'm just out here and trying to get some training. besides, I don't want to get rusty at all." Shizuka responds to him with her right-hand slices through the air, and she begins to see that Daisuke is more nervous about something. Then she continues to speak, "Daisuke, do you know something about the incident surrounding Nagumo?" Her voice is serious because Daisuke was trying to cover up something, but he was terrible at lying about everything.
"Um… No, I know that one of our spells messed up." Daisuke told a simple lie to Shizuka, and he began to leave her alone with her thoughts, bringing more questions than answers on what happened that day since nobody could remember hitting Hajime. Shizuka's cheek turns bright red because she is starting to get worried about Hajime, but she shakes her head with her voice speaks again, "I should… I should see how Kaori was doing right now." Shizuka placed her sword back into the leather holder with her heart was beating slightly because she always found Hajime a nice and honest gentleman. "I should not develop anything for him beside Hajime is not here with us anymore." Shizuka's final words brought a tear from her eyes as she felt guilty for having hidden feelings for Hajime Nagumo because she could tell that Eri, and Kaori had feelings for him first.
To Be Continued!
