Disclaimer: I do now own Kingdom Hearts or Danmachi. Both belong to their respective owners.
Hello to all, I'm back with a new chapter. Sorry it took a while to update. School has gotten a lot more busy, which means less time for me to write. Honestly, I wanted to put in more, but that proved to be highly difficult without another update. So please bear with me with the some of the chapters being a bit short.
Now onto other things.
Has anyone else watched Kingdom Hearts Dark Road Climax & Ending? Because WOW, Nomura really decided to put the "Dark" in Dark Roads.
Speaking of dark, I recently picked up this Dark Fantasy Shonen manga called Gachiakuta. It's really good, and I ended up binging the entire manga in a single day. Highly recommended.
Let's start the chapter.
Chapter 10: A Link's Effects
Ais arrived at her Familia's Twilight Manor, all the while feeling rather exhausted and sore after going through the training session with Sora and Bell. The gravity magic was truly something else, as even someone of her status was struggling to fight its effects.
But her mind was thinking of something else.
Sora and Bell.
Those two are mysterious yet interesting people that she has encountered, with each of them possessing something that caught her attention.
Sora is strong. So strong that he's able to keep up with her and walk out unscathed. No normal Level 1 Adventurer should be able to do that, as Bell was a clear testament to. But Sora has proven to be an exception. She wanted to learn how Sora got so much strength at an early Level, but she cannot figure it out easily.
Bell, on the other hand, has more of her attention.
Bell has shown immense growth in a short period of time recently. Meaning that Bell is currently using some kind of method that allows him to grow exponentially fast. This means that there is something she can learn from Bell and grow stronger.
Not to mention, there was something about Bell that reminded her of her past, one where it was more pure and innocent. A clean slate, if you can describe it.
Sora is similar to Bell in a sense, but there was something about Sora that made him distinct from Bell. Sora felt a lot like Tiona, always the bubbly and optimistic individual who been through some tribulations in their life. Despite what they witnessed, they chose to move forward with a smile on their face.
Ais softly frowned when she thought about Bell and Sora's traits, and a bit of guilt began gnaw its way into her Heart. The two are kind individuals, and yet she's using them to further her own selfish goals.
"Ah, Ais, you're back." Ais heard a voice greet her, and looked up to see Riveria walking down the stairs to approach her.
"Ah, yes, I'm back..." Ais greeted.
"Yes, though you look rather...exhausted..." Riveria noted, seeing the the fatigued state of the girl before her.
"The training sessions was a lot more...intense, than I imagined." Ais answered, thinking of the best way to describe what she partook in.
"Is that so? They're not giving you any trouble, are they?" Riveria asked, making Ais shake her head at this.
"No. It was...fulfilling." Ais told her, making Riveria blink upon what she heard.
It wasn't too often that Ais enjoys time outside of the Dungeon. Most of the time, it was her delving into the Dungeon for training, or sword practice in the Familia's training grounds. For Ais to find it fulfilling with Sora and Bell was something of a surprise for the high elf.
"Is that so? If that's the case, then keep continuing on what you're doing then. Though, Ais..." Riveria started, making Ais more attentive to what she's about to say.
"If you want to continue your time with Sora and Bell, then continue to do so. Don't let this debt stop you from spending time with them." Riveria told her, making Ais blink in surprise upon hearing this.
"Ah...of course." Ais simply responded while nodding.
Riveria hoped that is the case. Sora and Bell have proven to be integral for Ais to enjoy life outside of the Dungeon.
~ Break ~
Up high in the towel of Babel was a certain Love Goddess, observing the entire city of Orario. She was giving a hum in thought, all the while twirling around the wine around in her glass cup.
These passing days have been rather interesting for Freya. The boy of her desire was continuously shining in all of its transparent splendor. Not once has it changed into a different color. It just continued to shine brightly like a star you see in the night sky.
And it's all thanks to Sora's soul that's making it shine bright.
When she thought of Sora's soul, she could only be befuddled and confused with the unique soul before her.
As she observed before, Sora's soul is able to reach out and connect with other souls, allowing them to shine bright. As time continued to pass on, she's starting to observe more and more souls being connected to Sora, all of them shining brightly. Just seeing this phenomenon fascinated Freya. It just lead to so many questions that she wants answered.
Why is it that Sora's soul alone is able to do this kind of thing, and no one else?
What's causing his soul to connect to others?
How many connections can the soul make?
What are the prerequisites for Sora's soul to connect to others?
Just so many questions just kept popping up every time she's observing Sora's soul. But even with that swarm of questions, she felt that there is one question that stood above all.
Why is it that the souls are shining brightly around Sora, while Sora's own soul remained a bit cloudy? It's still the same blue sky that's covered with a bit of clouds. There's something that clouding his soul a bit.
She wanted to see what a clear blue sky would look like, but she doesn't know the first thing about how it works in the first place.
"Honestly, you're quite the difficult puzzle to figure out, Sora..." Freya muttered, before she gave a small giggle. "Then again...it wouldn't be so fun if it was easy. Perhaps a little experiment is in order..."
When she gazed towards the edge of the city, she could see the two souls of her interest meeting up with the Sword Princess. It's a rather unexpected development for those three to meet up. Already, she can already see Sora's soul forming a connection with the Sword Princess. And through Sora's connections, Bell and Ais's souls are shining quite brightly compared to other times.
The Love Goddess softly frowned at the sight. She certainly didn't like the sight of Bell getting too close to other women, and the Sword Princess is a rather beautiful individual. Any person in Orario would be entranced by her beauty.
"Hm...ah yes, I believe a little test and scare is in order..." Freya mused to herself, already forming a plan in her head.
A plan that will kill two birds with one stone, as they proverb goes.
~ Break ~
"Unbelievable...just what does it take to find that guy..." Tsubaki grumbled in annoyance as she was hauling around a crate full of forging materials around in the smithing area.
The moment she found Sora was also the last time she found him. Ever since Sora left, she can't the boy anywhere. She could only figure that he goes into the Dungeon, and she can go into them if she wanted to. However, her responsibilities as Captain has held her back from moving around too much. So she can only rely on finding him on the surface.
"Perhaps I should ask Lady Hephastois ask Hestia to have him come here..." Tsubaki mused to herself.
"I would prefer if you didn't." a familiar voice spoke up.
Tsubaki blinked and turned around to see Hephastois at the entrance of their workshop.
"Oh, Lady Hephastois. What brings you here?" Tsubaki asked.
"I was simply passing by until I heard you talking to yourself." Hephastois answered with a straight face, before she gave a small sigh. "That aside, you wish to see Sora again?"
"Of course! Honestly, he's a thick headed adventurer if I ever saw one! Honestly, that stubbornness is almost as bad as Welf!" Tsubaki sighed with exasperation. "I mean, who enters the Dungeon without any armor on? Amazons are an exception. Wait, don't tell me..." Tsubaki said in realization.
"Sora is not a cross dressing Amazon." Hephastois flatly shot down.
"Oh. Well then, my argument still stands: walking into the Dungeon as a Level 1 without any armor is asking yourself to get killed. And why the heck is he so secretive about his weapon? Don't tell me that he's the sentimental type to get attached to his weapon, despite the poor quality of it..." Tsubaki said with exasperation.
"I wouldn't exactly say that." Hephastois responded while sighing at the thought of Sora's weapon.
The Keyblade.
It was such an absurd yet powerful weapon the likes she's never seen or forge.
Sora actually manifested his Keyblade and allowed her to see it with her own eyes. When she examined the strange key shaped sword, she couldn't recognize any of the material at all. It was completely alien to her. Even Sora doesn't know what material is forged to make the Keyblade. Though, Sora did mention that he did use materials like mythril, adamantite, and even orichalcum to forge his equipment and Keyblades. The last detail completely threw the Goddess off, seeing how Sora somehow managed to get his hands on that kind of material.
The only thing he does know is that it comes from his Heart, which is another unbelievable aspect for the Smith Goddess. A weapon manifesting from your very own essence. A weapon deeply interconnected to the user. Sure, she forged the Hestia Knife, a weapon that is connected to the user and grows alongside them, but it's nothing like Sora's Keyblade.
And the weapon that comes from Sora's own Heart is able to do all kinds of things that would make any blacksmith seethe with envy at what it could do. It can use all types of magic and even transform into other weapons, like hammers, claws, arrow guns, etc.
And it's even more absurd by the fact that theoretically, Sora could continue to make more Keyblades capable of putting any weapon in Orario to shame to no end. He basically has a Magic Sword Creation Skill that allows him to simply conjure up an unbreakable Magic Swords with a flick of the wrist.
That's the ultimate definition of cheating right there.
Whatever Tsubaki could make for Sora would absolutely pale in comparison to his Keyblades.
"Oh, you know something about Sora's weapon Lady Hephastois?" Tsubaki curiously asked.
Hephastois frowned when she heard this question, and knew what Tsubaki's intentions are. Her Captain intends on trying to gain insight on Sora's weapon and possibly gain an upper hand on it. Hephastois already promised Sora to not let any information about him spread out, and she intends on doing so.
"You could say that. And allow me to be frank with you Tsubaki. You should give up on trying to form a contract with Sora." Hephastois bluntly told her.
This only made Tsubaki owlishly blink upon hearing this.
"Give up...? You're telling me to give up on trying form a contract with Sora?" Tsubaki incredulously asked, making the Forge Goddess nod at her.
"Yes. Normally, my blacksmiths should be more than free to form a contract with whoever they want, nor would I restrict them from forming it with others. However, Sora has proven to be an...exception." Hephastois said while her eyebrow twitched a bit at thought of the Keyblade.
"Just know this. I'm not looking down or doubting your abilities as a blacksmith Tsubaki. It's just that whatever creations you're offering to Sora pale in comparison to the weapon that he possesses. Even I will concede that his weapon surpasses any weapon that I create by my hand." Hephastois admitted, even though it stung her pride as blacksmith.
"For you to even admit this..." Tsubaki muttered in shock, as she never seen her Goddess readily admit defeat to a weapon of mortal creation.
However, the shock was soon replaced with newfound curiosity and determination. It just made her more curious about the weapon that Sora is wielding. Even if her weapons pale in comparison to Sora's weapon, who's to say that she can up her game and forge a weapon comparable to Sora's weapon? She's constantly working hard to forge a weapon that will match up with Hephastois's works, so what's stopping her from reaching a higher tier?
"Well now, that certainly makes me curious on what makes Sora's weapon so special. Going to have to take a good look at it. Who knows? Maybe I could learn a thing or two from it." Tsubaki declared with determination, fully intending on examine Sora's weapon to see what makes it so special.
Hephastois's eyebrow twitched. Her attempts at dissuading Tsubaki from looking too deeply into Sora's Keyblade just made the half-dwarf more motivated into looking into Sora. And Hephastois knew how determined Tsubaki would be once she sets her mind to it. That determination is needed to reach the top, but in this situation, it's nothing but a hindrance.
'I'm sorry Sora...I could only wish you luck from here on...' Hephastois thought while inwardly groaning.
~ Break ~
Ganesha gave a hum in thought while looking through the reports. Not a single sighting of the Heartless found, nor are there any sights of more strange doors to be found. The Heartless are hiding quite well within the city, but it matters not to Ganesha. He'll work tirelessly to track them down and eliminate them in order to keep the masses safe.
"Lord Ganesha, here are the latest of reports." Shakti reported as she came into his office while carrying a stack of papers in her hands.
"Ah yes, thank you Shakti! I, Ganesha, will go through them post haste!" Ganesha declared as he begun to look through the reports as well.
Before he could continue, Shakti cleared her throat a bit.
"Before you go into that Lord Ganesha..." Shakti started, making Ganesha blink underneath his mask.
This is something new. Normally, Shakti was straight onto the point and isn't the type to interrupt his work; which made him curious as to what she wants.
"Is there something that needs my attention, Shakti?" Ganesha curiously asked, making Shakti nod at him.
"Yes. I wish for you to update my status." Shakti requested.
Now hearing this further befuddled Ganesha.
It's been a while since he last updated her status, namely because Shakti was beginning to reach a plateau in her growth as a Level 5, as well as the fact that she's mainly working in the city and not in the Dungeon. As such, updating her status wasn't at all needed in Shakti's opinion.
For her to request this made Ganesha curious.
"Update your status? It has been a while since I, Ganesha, have done so. I, Ganesha, am curious though. What brought this on?" Ganesha curiously asked.
Shakti softly frowned.
"I've been...reflecting on my fight with the Behemoth Heartless for quite some time, and that fight has shown how limited I am in strength. Yes, I'm a Level 5, but even that wasn't enough to take down the Heartless. As such, I need as much strength that I could possibly have in order to increase my chances of fending off the Heartless. We can't afford to burden Sora with all of this." Shakti explained while a determined glint appeared in her eyes.
Hearing this made Ganesha blink once more upon hearing this, befuddled to see Shakti being so motivated all of a sudden. She's much more level headed and calm in most situations, but for her to have this much drive to grow stronger is a strange sight for the God of Masses.
'Why is that...?' Ganesha thought in wonder, before his mind fell onto a certain individual.
Could it be Sora?
The Heartless are a dangerous threat, yes, but that last sentence Shakti stated is starting to make Ganesha realize that Sora is a part of that motivation.
'I wonder what Sora did to motivate her so...' Ganesha thought, thinking back on the young man, before his mind clicked on certain aspects of Sora.
Sora's own optimistic attitude and sense of justice has reminded him of a precious member that he and his Familia cherished alongside Shakti. It was a devastating and painful loss that day, and he has wept a waterfall on behalf of Shakti to show how much they're going miss her.
Perhaps it's because of that resemblance that it's motivating Shakti to grow stronger, so she can prevent such a tragedy from ever happening again.
'To think Sora has already made a place in your Heart already...' Ganesha thought with surprise, before he gave his usual bombastic grin towards Shakti.
"If that's the case, then I, Ganesha, will respect your reasons! Very well, I Ganesha, will update your status this very instant!" Ganesha declared as he stood up from his chair.
Seeing the decision of her patron God, Shakti simply nodded as she turned around and lifted her shirt, exposing her back. Ganesha made his way towards her and proceeded to perform the ritual of updating her Falna.
As a light emerged from Shakti's back, Ganesha observed the status before him. He saw the numbers change on Shakti's parameters as they increased...and increased...and...!
Ganesha could only gape at the stats before him.
'This jump...it's far more larger than any jump I've ever seen!' Ganesha thought in shock.
Just what on Gekai is this increase in stats!? It's far larger than any increase in status than he has seen in his entire life on Gekai. This jump in growth has blown out any high record of growth within his Familia!
'How could this be...!? Could it be that fighting the Heartless gives that much of an excelia gain, even though she was fighting alongside others?' Ganesha pondered.
It's possible, given how difficult the fight was with the Behemoth Heartless. The harder the challenge, the bigger the gain, but not to this extent.
"...Lord Ganesha?" Shakti asked, wondering what's taking her patron God so long to update it. This broke Ganesha out of his train of thought as he focused back on updating and writing down her status update on a parchment of paper.
As soon as he finished, Ganesha gave a look at the paper, before he presented it to Shakti.
"...Shakti, take a look at this." Ganesha told her with a serious tone, something that caught Shakti's attention. Her patron God doesn't usually go into such a serious mood, and could only wonder what made him like this.
Nonetheless, she took the paper from him and examined her status. Her eyes widened in shock upon seeing the jump in her status.
"M-My lord, is this really-!?"
"It would seem so. I, Ganesha, am quite surprised to see this as well, but the Falna doesn't lie. I, Ganesha, even triple checked to make sure that I was reading it right!"
"But how is this possible...? I..." Shakti muttered in utter confusion.
"Perhaps it has to do with the Heartless you fought. The Heartless are abnormal creatures, so maybe when it comes to defeating them that they gave you a great amount of Excelia." Ganesha theorized.
"...It...could be possible..." Shakti muttered while looking at the paper before her, nonetheless flabbergasted to see such a jump in her status.
Ganesha gave a hum in thought.
"I'm not sure why there was such a huge jump, but let's not ponder too much about this! Rejoice Shakti, as your efforts has earned you a huge jump in your status!" Ganesha praised, before he cleared his throat. "Nonetheless, I, Ganesha, encourage you to keep striving to grow stronger! This jump in your status already makes you legible for a Level Up! All you need to do is perform an achievement that would astound even the Gods!" Ganesha told her.
Shakti owlishly blinked when she heard this, and looked back to her status. Her patron God wasn't wrong when he said that she's very close to a Level Up. All she needs to do is perform an achievement to finally cement a Level Up.
"I'll...keep that in mind." Shakti quietly responded, her mind running through a lot of things.
Perhaps she should ask for Sora's assistance for a Level Up.
~ Break ~
"Honestly Bete, demanding me to update your status at this time. Why couldn't it be Ais~?" Loki whined.
"Shut up and update my status."
Loki simply chuckled to herself as she was in the process of updating Bete's Falna. It was quite the surprise for the Goddess to have the werewolf come to her room and ask her to update his status. Normally, he would ask for this kind of thing after a good period of time, or perhaps before going into an expedition.
As she was doing the last touches on the status, the trickster Goddess gave a hum of interest.
"Well would you look at that? You stats went up a lot!" Loki declared with mirth, making the werewolf blink upon hearing this and turned to her in a bit of surprise.
"How much?"
"10 points overall." Loki simply answered.
"That's not a lot at all!" Bete responded with comical annoyance.
"Oh don't be like that. I honestly though you would get a 3 point overall increase, but to receive an additional 7 points is impressive in itself, considering that you're a Level 5 who constantly trains. Perhaps that fight with that dark creature helped with that as well." Loki pointed out.
Bete's eyes narrowed when Loki mentioned the dark creature that he fought in the sewers. The fight with the dark monster is still fresh on his mind.
Even though he took part in that fight, he felt that he didn't do enough. He wasn't necessarily deadweight to the fight. He handled himself well all things considered. But even so, he felt he could've done more. He should've dealt enough damage to that giant dark monsters, to the point where it couldn't fight on anymore. But that damn monster was persistent as hell.
Even so, Sora has shown to be a major contributor to the fight. And despite the three of them working together to finally finish it off, Bete wasn't that prideful and vain to see that Sora was a key player in all of it.
'That kid...' Bete thought while he clenched his fist in frustration.
That kid is a walking contradiction.
It's well known to practically everyone that he looks down on weaklings. He especially hates weaklings that act arrogant and think that they're plenty strong, when in reality, they're far from it. Even further when said weaklings cry out for help the moment they're met with a danger far above their level.
He's never heard of Sora. And if he's never heard of Sora, then that means he's a Level 1. Typically, word of mouth or some announcement of an adventurer leveling up reaches his ears. And if that person doesn't reach his ears of a Level Up? A Level 1.
And despite being a Level 1, Sora has proven to be a capable ally to fight alongside with.
A Level 1, being strong enough to fight alongside Level 5s. The idea of that is practically absurd.
And yet Sora is living proof of that.
It made the werewolf feel a mixture of emotions.
A part of him felt rather satisfied. To see how the kid isn't all talk despite being a Level 1. To show that he's not a weakling that he has to constantly look after, if you were to force him into such a position. Not a bumbling idiot crying out to be saved.
A highly competent Level 1. Someone who isn't a weakling. It's an idea that's not unwelcome if Bete was being completely honest.
And yet, there's a part of him that felt frustration and insulted.
He honestly doesn't know how a Level 1 like Sora got so much strength, but quite frankly, he doesn't care too much on those details. The one thing that remains clear is that a Level 1 is able to keep up with him.
Then what does that honestly make him, someone who has been fighting tooth and nail to get to where he's at today? He refuses to have everything he went through to be treated as a joke.
He's not going to let a Level 1 show him up and make him look like he's the deadweight.
"...Still not enough." Bete quietly growled as he stood up and walked out of the room.
Loki gave a short hum as she watched Bete leave the room, before she gave a short huff.
"Honestly, not even a thanks for what I did for him." Loki muttered, though not at all annoyed at this. She then gave an exasperated sigh as she leaned back a bit.
"It's clear that you're still thinking back on that fight in the sewers. Not that I blame ya..." Loki mused to herself.
Those dark monsters are a completely mystery. They came completely out of nowhere.
And for some particular reason, Sora seems to be well familiar with them. He claims that he doesn't know why they're here, but that answer alone told the Trickster Goddess that he has knowledge on them. There's also the fact that Ganesha's Familia Captain is working alongside Sora.
So that obviously means Ganesha has some form of knowledge on this matter too. But Shakti is quite clear in not wanting to share the details with her.
"They're obviously hiding something..." Loki muttered to herself while knitting her eyebrows.
She should suspect Ganesha somehow being responsible for those dark monsters, but that doesn't make a complete lick of sense. That particular God is all about the masses and protecting Orario from threats, especially during their clash against Evilus during Orario's darkest days. Why on Gekai would a God like him suddenly wish for widespread havoc and destruction?
The fact that they're hiding information relating to these dark monsters must be for a good reason. Well, even if they're hiding it, Loki would still like to know what exactly those dark creatures are.
Loki decided to file that away later, seeing how there needs to be some more investigation regarding those dark monsters and whatever Ganesha knows.
For now, her mind fell onto Sora once more.
"Just a second meeting with the guy, and I find out that he's more capable than anyone could imagine..." Loki muttered to herself.
He has the physical status to fight alongside Level 5s. He possesses a quick chant healing spell. He has special access to these weird yet powerful magic swords. And most important of all, he has a Skill that allows him to bring out some kind of attack when working alongside others.
This guy is practically a walking lottery!
"What I would give to have him in my Familia..." Loki groaned.
If he were to join her Familia, he would be the ultimate Supporter that would greatly strengthen her Familia. And no, she's not degrading him to a mere Supporter that a majority of Adventurers look down upon. The kid has proven to be more than capable of fighting alongside Level 5s, especially when one of them is a Captain. It's just that his Skill and Magic work best with a group of people, which in turn supports them.
"And yet he's with shorty. Seriously, what a missed opportunity…" Loki muttered to herself.
He would be a massive asset to her Familia's future expedition. What she would give to have him in it.
The moment her mind fell onto the future expedition, something just came to the Goddess's mind.
"...Wait, hold up for a moment..." Loki muttered to herself when she began to realize something.
Considering how her Familia is going on an expedition, she already formed a deal with Hephastois that she will lend twenty smiths, including her Familia Captain, to come aid the Loki Familia.
Sora isn't exempt from being hired as outside help. She can hire him as a Supporter to the group and offer proper rewards in doing so. And if Sora were to come alongside her Familia during the expedition, he can witness the capabilities of what her Familia is capable of doing. And in turn, be amazed at how competent they are and hope to join them in the future!
Such an ingenious plan!
"Seems like not all hope is lost..." Loki said to herself with satisfaction, before she suddenly stopped her when a realization suddenly came to her once more.
"But wait...if in order to do that...I would have to ask..." Loki muttered to herself in realization, before she gave a massive groan while covering her palms with her hands.
"I have to ask Shorty of all people for Sora's help!"
~ Break ~
Miach gave a slight hum to himself as he was running inventory in his store.
It's been a while since he has seen Bell. He hasn't run into the young boy lately, and Hestia seems to have her hands full with a lot of things. So chance encounters with Bell has been rather slim. He couldn't help but worry, seeing how Bell is barely coming around for potions. It's imperative to carry around health potions in order to survive in the Dungeon.
'I do hope he's alright...' Miach thought to himself.
Perhaps he should give a potion free of charge to help the poor boy.
His ears soon picked up the bell ringing, signifying the door to their store was being opened. When he turned around, he was met with the sight of Bell, along with another boy has hasn't seen before.
"Oh, Bell! I haven't seen you in a while!" Miach greeted with a smile.
"Hello Lord Miach. And yes, it has been a while..." Bell greeted while giving a small sheepish smile.
"Yes, I was beginning to worry after not seeing you for a while, but seeing you is reassuring. And is this a friend of yours...?" Miach asked while curiously looking at the boy besides Bell.
"Hey there! The name's Sora, a fellow Familia member alongside Bell! Nice to meet you Lord Miach!" Sora introduced himself with his signature friendly grin.
"Ah, so you have a new member to join your Familia. I suppose congrats are in order." Miach congratulated as he reached down and took out a few potions and held it out to them. "As celebration, why won't you take these potions and-"
"They'll be 500 valis each." Naaza, Miach's sole child, interrupted as she took the potions from his hand while giving a small annoyed look towards her patron God.
Bell and Sora blinked at the interruption, while Miach could only give a small sigh.
"Naaza, please don't be like that. What's wrong with wanting to celebrate-"
"That is their achievement Lord Miach, not ours. We can't afford to give away any more free potions, considering our finances." Naaza told him.
"Finances...?" Sora muttered with a raised eyebrow.
Before Miach could wave off his rather shaky financial situation, the door to their store suddenly opened, and everyone turned around to see middle aged man waltz into the store. Based on the atmosphere around the man, everyone could tell that it was a God. The God in question had gray hair while wearing some white robe with gold embroidary.
"Ha ha ha ha! I'm coming in!" the man declared, despite already entering the store.
"Dian..." Miach quietly said in recognition, his expression falling into a small bitter frown at the sight of the man.
"I had to drag myself all the way out to this shabby place you know!? You should be grateful that I made the effort to see you, you beggar! Ha ha ha ha!" Dian Cecht laughed out once more.
Just seeing the God's attitude immediately set off Sora as he glared at the God.
"Who the heck does he think he is-!?" Sora started, before Bell had to hold Sora back a bit. This made Sora turn to Bell in surprise, and Bell silently told Sora not to barge in, as it's a bad idea to butt into business between two Gods, as well as gaining attention of another God. Something they don't need.
"Honestly, your store is dusty and shabby as always! Just being here makes me want to sneeze, so I'll make this quick!" Dian Cecht said, before he glanced to the side to see Bell and Sora. He gave an unimpressed snort. "Honestly, the best you could do is attract a couple of kids to help support you. How sad is that?"
This caused Sora's eyebrow to heavily twitch at the insult, and quite frankly, decided that he's not exactly going to stand around doing nothing.
As Dian Cecht took his eyes off of Sora and Bell, Sora subtly raised his hand while pointing it towards the God.
"Just what do you-" Miach started, but the God before him cut him off again.
"I'm here for money you beggar. Where is it?" Dian Cecht immediately questioned, causing Miach to grimace.
"It's-" Miach started, before he was once against cut off once more.
"Judging from your looks, not much, even after the extension I gave you!" Dian Cecht loudly declared. "Too bad! I've used up all the charity I have for you! Have the money by tomorrow, or I'll...I'll...!"
The God before them trailed off a bit, trying to finish what he's trying to say, but keeps slurring off a bit. Almost everyone in the room blinked when they saw this, and their eyes widened when Dian Cecht suddenly collapsed onto the floor.
"What the-!?" Naaza yelled in alarm.
"Dian!?" Miach shouted in alarm as well as he stepped around the counter and knelt down to him.
As soon as Miach turned the God before him face up, he examined the God's facial expression. As soon as he got a good look at the man's expression, Miach soon blinked owlishly at the sight.
"*Snore*..."
Dian Cecht was fast asleep, snoring away like he's in a deep slumber.
"He's...asleep...?" Miach said aloud in confusion.
This made almost everyone in the store blink in confusion.
"Asleep? How and why did he...?" Naaza said in confusion.
"Oh, that would be me."
Everyone blinked when they heard a familiar voice speak up, and turned their heads towards Sora, who was simply standing there while pointing his finger at Dian Cecht. If one looked closely, you could see a faint trace of magic from Sora's fingertip, evident of the fact that he used a Sleep spell.
"W-Wait, you did this Sora!?" Bell yelped in shock.
"Well yeah, how else can we get that guy to clam up?" Sora replied with a raised eyebrow.
Everyone stared at Sora with shocked looks for a short moment, before Bell looked very panicked upon hearing this.
"Sora, you can't do that to a God! You just can't!" Bell yelped in panic.
It's practically taboo for any mortal to lay their hand on a God and deal grievous harm, lest they risk their souls for retribution when said God is dealing with their soul in the afterlife.
"Oh relax, I didn't hurt him. I just put him in a quick nap, that's all." Sora said while shrugging, before he gave an annoyed look at the God in question. "Besides, he yells too much. This guy seriously needs to learn how to use an indoor voice."
"That's still not..." Bell trailed off, even though he kind of agreed that the God in question does indeed yell a lot.
"Well, I'll leave you to finish business from here. I'm just going to place this guy somewhere else..." Sora said as he knelt down do the God in question, grabbed him by the collar, and began dragging him outside to who knows where.
Everyone just stared at Sora leaving the store in dumbfounded silence.
"...Well...that happened." Naaza commented. Miach gave a tired sigh while rubbing his forehead.
"While I understand Sora's intentions to help, I didn't want him to get dragged into our problem or have Dian get mad at Sora..." Miach muttered with a worried look.
"Um...what was that about? That was Lord Dian Cecht, right?" Bell couldn't help but ask, and wanting to change the subject.
Miach simply gave a small and exhausted sigh once more.
"Yes, the God before you was indeed him. He and I didn't exactly get along, even back in Tenkai. Our relationship worsened when we both descended here and set up businesses that were rivals to each other." Miach explained.
"It was then I ended up ruining everything..." Naaza jumped in, all the while looking rather bitter and depressed as she clutched onto her silver arm. "I used to go into the Dungeon like you, but...I made a grave mistake along the way, and lost my arm to a monster."
When Bell examined Naaza's arm, it was indeed a silver prosthetic to replace the arm that she lost.
"That arm..." Bell muttered, making the Chienthrope nod at him.
"Yes. I received this arm from Lord Miach...after making a deal with Dian Cecht. Dian Cecht doesn't only deal with potions, but also special custom items. This arm being the example."
"So that's why he showed up..." Bell muttered in recognition.
"Yes. Unfortunately, due to the price to replace Naaza's arm, we ended up in a rather large debt. It's because of that debt that everyone in our Familia left. Naaza is the only one who stayed." Miach solemnly recalled.
Bell gave a rather troubled look upon hearing this. A Familia is supposed to stick by and support each other. Even if his Familia ended up in debt, he wouldn't leave it. His Goddess gave him the chance to become an Adventurer and become a hero, so he wouldn't abandon her when things get tough.
When Miach saw Bell's troubled look, he could only give a small chuckle.
"While I certainly appreciate how much you care about the situation, please don't get so troubled on my behalf. Everyone had the right to leave, since I didn't tell them about the arm beforehand. What's done is done, and I'll simply do my best to move on." Miach reassured Bell.
Bell stayed silent for a bit, before they heard the door open. Everyone turned their heads to see Sora walking in while dusting off his hands.
"Hey everyone, I'm back!" Sora greeted everyone with a grin.
"Sora, where exactly did you put Dian?" Miach couldn't help but ask. He really hoped that Sora didn't do anything drastic.
Sora simply gave a grin as he crossed his arms behind his head.
"Oh, that guy? I simply placed him on a bench in a nearby park. He won't be waking up in a while, not unless someone were to give him a good smack on the head." Sora told everyone.
Miach gave a sigh of relief, before he blinked a bit.
Park? But there are no parks in the area he is in. The nearby park could only be found a dozen blocks away. And Sora just did that in a short time frame? And what's even more boggling is that Sora wasn't even lying.
"I-I see. Though Sora, you shouldn't have done that. I wouldn't want Dian to direct his anger towards you." Miach told Sora with a worried look. Sora simply shrugged.
"Eh, I've dealt with worse. Besides, I only put him to sleep, no harm done." Sora answered as he crossed his arms behind his head.
After all, he's managed to anger Hades into turning red so many times. And each and every time he's done so, Sora managed to come out relatively unscathed. Dian Cecht is practically a harmless Shadow compared to the likes of Hades, so Sora wouldn't really worry from all of this.
Miach saw that Sora truly wasn't stressing about this at all, and gave a small sigh.
"Really now..." Miach muttered with exasperation.
"So what exactly did I miss?" Sora asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Well..." Bell started as he gave Sora a summarized version of their earlier conversation.
"I see...even if that's the case, that guy shouldn't be such a jerk about it!" Sora said with a scowl, making Miach give a wry chuckle.
"While I certainly agree about his attitude, I wouldn't want you to get so worked up on my behalf, Sora." Miach told the boy.
Bell glanced at Sora, seeing Sora's displeasure, and he certainly shared that sentiment. But he still wanted to calm down Sora from his anger.
"If that's the case...Lord Miach, since you've helped me out lot during my start as an Adventurer, I don't mind helping you out as well." Bell offered, making Miach blink at this.
"Yeah! You've helped out Bell, so it's our turn to help you out as well! And get the chance to make that jerk eat his own words!" Sora jumped in.
"You two..." Miach muttered in surprise.
"Yes, we could actually use the help..." Naaza immediately jumped in. She cannot afford to let this Familia go down due to her mistakes, and would do whatever it takes to help keep it afloat.
"What can we do to help?" Sora asked.
Naaza gave a contemplative look. "I was about to issue out 2 Quests to the guild. One is to collect Blue Papillon Wings, drops from a rare monster on the Seventh Floor. And the second being..." Naaza trailed off a bit, looking a bit hesitant on sharing this.
"Second being...?" Sora curiously continued.
"...Eggs of a Bloodsaurus." Naaza finished. Hearing this caused Bell to pale a bit upon hearing this.
"W-Wait, aren't Bloodsaurus from the 13th floor!? But we're currently working on the 9th floor...!" Bell said in shock.
"I wouldn't worry too much about that. Bloodsaurus can actually be found on the surface as well. And surface Monsters are weaker compared to your usual Dungeon Monster. I believe an Orc from the 11th floor can contend with it." Naaza explained.
Sora could only blink upon hearing this.
"So why are those two items needed?" Sora curiously asked.
"Those two particular items are needed to make some high quality potions and other healing items. They're rather valuable amongst pharmaceutical and medicine stores like us." Miach clarified.
Sora blinked upon hearing this.
"Wait, so all you need is some high quality potions and other healing items? Then there's no need to go for those Quests then..." Sora remarked as he dug into his pockets.
"Sora...?" Miach responded with confusion, wondering why Sora is saying something like that.
It was then the God of Medicine and his sole child's jaw dropped at the sight of what was before them.
What Sora took out of his pockets were a copious amount of high quality potions and items the likes he has never seen before, and placed it on the counter before them.
"Let's see...Potions, High Potions, Mega Potions, Pancea, a few Elixers..." Sora counted.
Miach's legs buckled a bit when he heard this. Especially the last part. Even Naaza looked like she was struck by something hard as she took a step back at the sight and what she heard.
"W-Wait, hold on a moment Sora!" Miach stuttered in shock. "A-All of these items...and did you just call this...!?" Miach took hold of the elixer before him.
"An elixer. Why do you ask?" Sora asked with a raised eyebrow, like he was being asked the most obvious question in the world.
"An...an elixer!? You mean the very same item that can restore all wounds and status effects in an instant!?" Naaza questioned while examining the other elixer in shock.
"The very same." Sora answered with a straight face.
Miach and his Familia could only be stunned into silence upon hearing this. Miach slowly looked at the elixer before him.
"H-Hold on a moment. Sora, how did you get this!? This is a rather valuable and expensive item for anyone to get their hands on!" Miach pointed out.
Sora blinked at the question, and gained a rather nervous expression as he glanced sideways.
"O-Oh, that? Well...um...Let's just say I got rather lucky and found them lying around in a few places, and had someone make them when I found the ingridients for it." Sora recalled.
During his travels throughout the Worlds, he managed to find some items in the most unexpected places. And any spare synthesis materials he found and got from the Heartless were forged into healing items that he needed in his journey. So naturally, Sora has some elixers sitting within his magical pockets.
Miach didn't see any lies from that statement, which made it all the more jarring to learn that Sora was able to get his hands on these. However, he broke out of that stupor out of realizing something.
"Sora, you can't possibly hand over such precious items to us! You can certainly-!" Miach tried to turn down, seeing how such materials are wasted on him, and more useful for Bell and Sora, who are Adventurers.
"I don't mind, really. I actually know a healing spell, so I don't really use healing items that often. Honestly, I have so many healing potions that they're just sitting around in my pocket most of the time, so it would be kind of a waste for them to just sit there all the time." Sora told Miach.
It was true. The only times he ever held potions and other healing items was due to the fact that whenever he lost his strength, relearning the Cure spell series takes some time. So he has to rely on Donald's healing magic or Potions to recover from injuries. As soon as he relearns the Cure spell, he uses his potions in less frequency.
Sometimes he uses a Potion whenever he runs out of magic, but he rarely uses up his magic most of the time.
There's also the fact that he overstocked on healing items.
Before the big battle with Xehanort at the Keyblade Graveyard, Sora has decided that it was all or nothing, and spent most of his munny and synthesis materials to make healing items. Because Sora knew that he was going to use a lot of magic to fight Organization 13, having healing items to recover from his battles is greatly needed.
Now with the Second Keyblade War over...Sora found himself still stocked up on a lot of healing items. So he doesn't mind giving away some of his healing items to help out Miach.
Hearing this caused Naaza to narrow her eyes at Sora.
"Hold on a moment...if you have this many healing items, then why did you come to our store then? You claim that you're holding a surplus amount of healing items, so why did you bother coming here?" Naaza questioned.
It didn't make sense to her. Why is Sora coming here if he claims that he's overstocked on healing items? It just made her confused and suspicious on Sora's motivation.
"Naaza, please don't say it like that..." Miach chided at his child's choice of words towards Sora. But he also felt confused as to why Sora is here if he's well stocked on healing items.
"Oh, that? I came here in hopes of buying some magic restoring potions." Sora told them, making Miach and Naaza blink upon hearing this.
"Magic restoration? You need those?" Miach asked in surprise, making Sora nod.
It's true. During his fight against Organization 13 during the Second Keyblade War, he had to expend a LOT of magic to fight all Organization 13 members. As such, he used up a lot of Ether, Hi Ether, and Mega Ether so he can bombard his enemies with his magic and heal himself and others with magic on the fly.
"Yeah. I tend to use a lot of magic, which drains my magic restoration stash. Since you specialize in making potions, I'm hoping to buy some from you." Sora explained to the God.
Miach blinked upon hearing this.
"I see...well, I can certainly make some magic restoration potions. But Sora..." Miach said while gazing at the plethora of high quality healing items before him. "You're giving me far more than necessary for the debt I have to pay. I couldn't possibly take this much from you. You certainly can use these, especially the elixer, just in case of emergencies..."
Sora could see the hesitant look on Miach's face, and felt perplexed why Miach doesn't seem so keen on accepting it. Perhaps the God is not used to receiving so much kindness from others, and prefers being kind and more charitable to others instead.
'He's different compared to the other Gods...' Sora thought to himself. There's another altruistic God here in Orario alongside Ganesha.
Well, perhaps he should offer a reason to accept.
"Like I said, it's no sweat off my back. And if you really feel that bad about receiving all of this from me, then consider this an investment." Sora simply told the God.
Both Miach and his sole child blinked upon hearing this.
"Come again?" Miach asked with confusion.
"Consider this an investment." Sora clarified once more. "I remember Uncle Scrooge talking about investments and his talk about business. He never wastes an opportunity to give me lectures about business. I can honestly never forget those, even if I wanted to..." Sora groaned while scratching the back of his head,.
Uncle Scrooge is, at heart, a businessman. As such, more often than not he often goes into detail of how he succeeded with his business whenever Sora and his friends come by and visit Twilight Town. And because he's been helping out at Le Grand Bistrot, Scrooge decided to give him a few lectures about business just in case Sora decided to pursue business in the future.
Sora honestly couldn't forget it, considering how Scrooge made the three listen to his lectures in great detail and ask them questions along the way to make sure they learned. Sora could only rub his forehead, feeling the phantom pain on his forehead, for it was punishment for falling asleep to Scrooge's lectures as Scrooge smacked him on the head with his cane.
"Well, I'm not particularly sure if I'm using this term correctly, but it doesn't matter. In return for my investment, I expect to have high quality magic potion from you guys! And a discount here and there wouldn't hurt as well." Sora told them with a sly grin.
Miach and Naaza could only stare at Sora with dumbfounded looks. That's all Sora wanted from them? No greater demand in return, nor holding a debt over their head?
It was simply just providing magic restoration potions to Sora, with a few discounts thrown in.
Miach couldn't help but break out into a good-hearted chuckle.
"Honestly, and I thought I was too generous with the items I give away..." Miach remarked, before giving a thankful smile towards Sora. "Very well then. I'll accept these items from you Sora, and I'll do my best to provide you the best mind restoration potions at the best price." Miach promised.
"That's great to hear!" Sora responded with a grin.
And with that, everyone has managed to conclude their business with each other, and Miach and his child looking forward to a more brighter future.
As Sora and Bell left the store, Miach could only give a small smile of fondness and amusement.
"...Honestly Hestia, where did you find such a child...?" Miach quietly whispered.
And that's a wrap to this chapter.
So it's shorter than last chapter, I get that. But honestly, like I said, trying to do 20k words per chapter is hard. Reason why I had 20k words last chapter was because I was literally struck with an intense writing drive. It doesn't happen that often. So like I said, around 10k words per chapter at most really.
So we finally shine some light on Freya and hew views on Sora. As I described earlier, Freya sees Sora's soul as a puzzle that she wants to figure out. So this will lead to Freya doing a bit of experimentation here and there. Something that won't look good for Sora, that's for sure.
Leave it to Sora to resolve a side quest, or Miach's problem, in an instant. Like I said before, Sora is quite the story-breaker character when he wants to be.
And finally, some insight onto Bete and his thoughts. Typically, in a lot of stories and crossovers, Bete tends to be one-upped by (insert character), which leads to him being severely angered and his pride being severely hurt, which will amplify his anger and jerkass attitude. However, because he fought alongside Sora, and Sora being a massive team player and nice guy, Bete isn't really antagonized outside of snark. So we get a more calmer perspective and less antagonizing relationship between them.
He hates weak people, but not for shallow reasons. And Sora, despite being a Level 1, has defied the normal conventions and has proven himself to be strong and capable. Sora is someone who he approves in his ideals.
But even with that, Bete can't help but feel insulted in a certain sense that a Level 1 is capable on fighting on the same grounds as him; like what he's doing falls flat to Sora, which in turn invalidates all the effort he went through. Like he's not trying hard enough to get strong. So he's driven to prove that isn't the case, and is training himself harder as a result. As a lot of people point out, a sense of rivalry (albeit one-sided) has been formed.
(How Link to All affects others)
I also wanted to use this chapter to establish how Sora's Link to All affects the people around him to a varying degree.
For Shakti's case, she and Sora are already forming a bond with each other. Sora being Sora, and Shakti has some instilled sense of older sibling protection, considering how Sora reminds her of her younger sister. So Shakti would receive a substantial boost from said bond.
Also, about Shakti. I honestly don't know what her stats currently are, considering the story never gave her one. However, assuming that Shakti was a Level 5 during Orario's Dark Era, that means she had plenty of time to raise her stats to a decent level. However, given that she mostly works in the city, her status must be average for a Level 5. Keep in mind that you don't need an S rank to Level Up. A majority of Adventurers have their status parameters somewhere between D and B. To Ganesha, seeing Shakti's parameters jump above the average is enough sign for a Level Up. The jump isn't as dramatic as you think compared to Bell, but still impressive all the same.
And now onto Bete.
The bond between Sora and Bete is quite literally miniscule. Even if Bete does respect Sora to some degree, respect doesn't necessarily mean he feels a connection to Sora. Even Sora, being All-loving-hero that he is, doesn't set up connections with everyone. Hades, Xehanort, Davy Jones, and Seifer are perfect examples of Sora disliking people. Even if Sora is thankful towards Bete for fighting alongside him, his perception of Bete is that of a rude jerk. So the growth is completely small, and that's just me being generous.
Fun Fact of the Day
A world based on Pleasure Island from Pinocchio with a "What Measure Is a Non-Human?" centered plot was planned for Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, but was scrapped due to space limitations. Some Pinocchio character sprites are tucked away in the game files, and aspects of this idea were later used in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance.
