Chapter 8-

Lefiya watched as a mob of Minotaurs in front of her was burnt to a crisp.

She had heard from her mentor that Minato was capable of casting without a chant, but truly seeing it in person was another experience entirely. Seeing a human wield magic in a way that not even elves could accomplish filled the pit of her stomach with an ugly feeling, one that her mentor would chide as unbefitting for someone of her status. And yet, as someone that was as passionate about magic as she was, she couldn't help but feel a tinge of jealousy at his uncanny ability to bend the rules of magic to his whim.

The next group of monsters was reduced to nothing but frozen chunks of ice. Roaring winds ripped a pack of Hellhounds into shreds. A great streak of lightning cut through another horde of Bugbears while a barrier held them at bay from advancing any further. Spell after spell, one after another, even going as far as to casting two at once. She was the one that had asked if she could see his magic, but what he was displaying...

It was unbelievable, unthinkable even.

How was it possible that someone like Minato Arisato could exist and go unnoticed for so long? Most people only had a couple of spells that they possessed, but he had displayed a multitude of spells, weaving them in one after the other like a conductor at a symphony. How had he not run out of Mind yet, from casting so many spells in succession?

It… It just wasn't fair.

How was it that somebody could be so gifted, so blessed by the Gods that they could ignore some of the very laws of magic as she knew it? Lefiya had wanted to accompany him because she had thought that she would be able to learn something, to improve her own abilities so that she could stand on the same level as the person she admired the most. But how could she ever hope to learn anything from someone that disregarded the very laws of magic?

Her shoulders slumped.

"Are you feeling alright, Viridis-san?" Minato questioned.

"Ah… I'm fine." She mumbled in response. "Don't worry about me, we can keep going."

It wasn't as if she just had everything she knew about magic ripped apart and tossed aside into the wind or anything like that.

No, nothing like that.

His gaze lingered on her for only a moment longer before he turned his attention back towards harvesting the crystals from the recently slain monsters. Lefiya could only sigh as she began harvesting her own crystals from the large pile of monsters corpses that littered the ground. Why was it that everyone she knew seemed to be standing atop these unreachable summits?

It wasn't fair!

Another group of monsters that he believed were Bugbears stood in their way.

Minato decided that he would use a darkness based spell this time since he had already gone through all of the basic elements for Lefiya. Mudoon wasn't always successful, but when it was, the darkness easily choked the life out of his enemies. The Bugbears charged, but they didn't make it very far before a shroud of darkness covered over them like a thick blanket.

Mudoon was a fickle spell, as were the Persona's that possessed it, but it seemed that luck was on his side today as the darkness made quick work of the monsters.

He could hear Lefiya mumble something incoherently to herself again, but he simply shrugged it off. She had started acting a bit strange since she had asked him to demonstrate some of his spells, but then again, it was probably an elf thing.

"Arisato-san, just exactly how many spells do you have?" Lefiya eventually asked with a strained smile on her face.

That was a good question since he had never exactly counted. He never really saw a need to, if he was being honest.

"I've never actually bothered to count. I'm guessing around twenty or so?"

"Twenty or so…?" Lefiya repeated as she struggled to keep the smile on her face. "I... I see. That's quite a lot."

Minato simply shrugged in response before he crouched down next to another monster's corpse and got to work harvesting more monster crystals. He hadn't planned on doing too much today aside from farming up some crystals for money.

The magically enhanced gear that he had purchased recently was a lot more useful than he had originally thought. They offered a lot more protection than his old kevlar school uniform provided and could also add resistances to various different elements. He had a feeling that he would need all the extra protection he could get if his first day here had been anything like what he could experience on the lower floors.

The backpack that he had brought along started to fill up rather quickly as crystals after crystals were tossed inside.

Another group of monsters or so would probably be enough loot and he'd call it a day. As he cut open another monster corpse for its crystal, he felt a strange tingle in the air. It was a familiar feeling, one that he couldn't exactly put his finger on, but he definitely recognized it from somewhere. He looked around and saw a bunch of unlooted monsters corpses still filled up most of the area, while Lefiya was still mumbling to herself as she collected her own magic stones. He was about to brush off the feeling before his eyes landed on a familiar blue door floating at the end of the hallway.

Minato blinked at the sight. He blinked a few more times and the door was still there floating in the air. Why was the door to the Velvet room here? It wasn't here the last time he ventured past this floor, so what changed? What was the catalyst for the Velvet room's appearance?

A dozen or so questions of similar nature popped up in his head.

And before he knew it, he had already gotten up and broken into a run. Lefiya might have said something, but he wasn't really paying any attention to her. A shaky hand touched the door and a very familiar feeling of nostalgia washed over him as he soon found himself sitting inside of the Velvet room.

Igor sat across from him with the same grin that he always wore while Elizabeth stood at his side.

"Ah, there you are." Igor said with a glint in his eye, "Welcome back to the Velvet Room."

"How do I get back to Tartarus, Igor?" He instantly found himself asking, the words leaving his mouth before he could even think about what to say. "How do I go back home?"

"Never have we had a guest that took a… Detour in the middle of their journey such as yourself." Igor replied, his grin growing wider. "You truly are the most interesting of guests. But as for your question, I do not have the answer to that."

"You don't know…?" Minato found himself asking.

"I am not all-knowing, no matter how it may seem. Forces beyond your world brought you here, so perhaps those very same forces hold the key to bringing you back?" The long-nosed man cryptically replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "But rest assured that we of the Velvet Room," He fanned his arms out in a rather dramatic fashion. "Will assist our guest in any way we can."

Igor had said that something from beyond his world had brought him to Orario. So did that mean another God had been the one that had kidnapped him from Tartarus? It was the only plausible explanation that he had with the information given to him. Unfortunately, that meant that Loki's offer was still the only option he had left to make it back home.

At the very least, he still had at least one way back.

And while the Velvet room wasn't exactly home, it was nice to be able to see some familiar faces. He glanced over towards Elizabeth who gave him a smile in return.

He couldn't help but smile back before he turned his attention back towards Igor.

"Why did the door to the Velvet room suddenly appear, Igor?" Minato soon found himself asking. "I've been through this floor of the Dungeon multiple times already, so why did it appear only now?"

"It took us a good deal of effort and time to locate you." Igor simply replied. "But now that we've found you, the door to the Velvet room will always remain open to you."

"... And just like before, I will have access to the compendium?" Minato continued to question.

"Why of course, you are a guest after all," Igor replied. "Elizabeth, if you would."

"Of course." She answered, taking out the compendium and placing it on the desk in front of him. "Here you are."

Minato flipped through the pages, checking through all of the Personas that he had managed to obtain on his journey so far. Everything seemed to look as it should, so he took the time to swap out a few of his Personas for some of the stronger ones that he had kept stashed away in the compendium while he was at it.

As he continued to look through the pages, he couldn't help but freeze at the sight of a new entry that definitely hadn't been there before. The picture that stared back at him was the grinning face of a very familiar-looking red-head.

What the hell was Loki doing inside of his compendium?

He glanced over towards Igor who only gave him a very-knowing grin in return.

…

…

…

"Arisato-san? Arisato-san…?"

Minato blinked at the voice. "Viridis-san? What is it?"

"You spaced out for a while." She pointed out with a frown. "Are you alright?"

He couldn't help but feel a sense of deja vu.

Someone in SEES would always point out the very same thing every time he used the Velvet room. He could still remember the strange looks he got when he tried to tell them about the floating door before he realized that nobody else could see it. Different worlds or not, it seemed that some things never change.

"It's nothing." He simply brushed off. "Let's finish gathering up the magic crystals and head back to the city."

He had something that he needed to test out, away from any prying eyes.

The new Persona residing in his soul only cackled with laughter the entire time.

Author's Notes- This has been sitting in my hard drive for probably around 6 months. I haven't been able to find the motivation to finish writing this chapter for a while now. It just hasn't been enjoyable for me and I just haven't been in the mood for it. I figured that I might as well upload what I have written so far, instead of just leaving it there, maybe someone will enjoy it.