New Skills:

"Maximus,"

Maximus found himself waking up to Aqua having a surprising sultry voice calling out to him. His eyes opened to her mounting his waist with an excited smile and her cheeks upon her face red like a rose. She was pulling the straps on her pajama shirt around her shoulders and began to lower it a little in an effort to tease him.

"It is time for us to bring a worthy 'Hero' to this world." She finished and paused for a moment to lean down towards his face. "Will you do this for the people, for the world, and most importantly above all others, me." Her voice seemed to echo in his ear despite her still being in front of him. Aqua began to pull down on her shirt more, exposing herself further and leaned forward to kiss him.

The next moment Maximus awoke abruptly, moving himself to sit up with all haste. Before he began to move, he felt a warm presence laying against his side. He turned and noticed Aqua wrapped up against him in her new pajamas with her leg cradling his. Her mouth was wide open and drool had seeped out and into his clothing. Her mouth had a semi-smile as though she was enjoying a dream. Her top had slid down to the side exposing a good portion of her chest.

"Please tell me that was just a dream and that it did not happened." He said to himself with fear mounting by the second after discovering her next to him.

He began to slowly sit up as to not bother her slumber. After rising fully her arms were still latching onto his left arm resisting to let go of him. He inspected the two of them and noticed their clothing hadn't been tampered with at all.

Maximus sighed heavily. "Thank goodness it was only just a dream, yet it felt so real. I guess it's true about dreams almost appearing real." He said with a smile forming. He turned to look down at Aqua still latching onto him, not fazed by his earlier movements. "I had thought she would eventually do something like this. I was also wondering why it was so warm." He said to himself with an annoying tone in his head. He kept his eyes on her a little more. "She wouldn't be so bad off if it wasn't for her stupidity overall. The way she is now, it's almost childlike. Is this part of her charm or am I just…"?

The next moment she was starting to awake from her sleep and noticed him sitting up looking down upon her.

"Oh, you're awake," She paused for a moment to yawn and began to stretch her arms out.

Maximus got up from the haystack.

"Uh, hey, where are you going?" She inquired.

He put his coat on and began to walk out of the stable.

"I'm going into town and see about quests and maybe seek out someone who has more skills for me to learn. Unless you have some others, you are holding out on me." He said to her with a stern tone.

"Yeah, but I'm not going to give them to you for free." She said standing up and stretched some more. "You have to do something for me for every skill you want to learn." She said. She had leaned over with her left hand on her hip and right hand in the air pointing her index finger up and a childish grin forming.

"Alright, I'll just go find someone else to learn skills from." Maximus began to turn the corner and Aqua quickly latched onto him.

"Wait, wait, why won't you at least do something else for me instead of falsely praying to me three times a day!" She began to cry with tears flowing down her cheeks.

"Why is she so emotional about this kind of thing?" He wondered to himself.

The next moment a loud knock was echoing from the wall. "Hey, shut up in there or I'll bash your heads in!" A man shouted from the next stall over with anger in his voice.

"Wait here for a moment." Maximus said with annoyance and proceeded to the other stall.

She stood there with her head tilted to the side a little wondering what he was going to do.

"You want run that by me again little man." He stood at the opening of the other stall with a fierce gaze and the man quickly recognized him.

"Uh, s-s-s-sorry Maximus, I won't bother you again." The man said feeling scared after seeing the look on Maximus' face and knowing the reputation about his exploit with the Manticore.

"Thought so, little mongrel." Maximus said to himself.

He returned to Aqua and began their conversation again. "Now then, as I was going to say, I do enough for you as it is. I allow you to sleep next to me, although you took it too far last night by wrapping yourself upon me. Not to mention I saved you from being digested from two frogs. I believe it's time to pay up." He said pointing his right index finger at her.

"Hmmm, okay, fine." She said feeling annoyed and a mere moment of horror shivered down her spine after remembering being swallowed by the toads.

She began to undress and change clothing in front of him and he quickly turned around to look away.

"I wonder if I should see if Kazuma would want to learn some skills. He should have some skill points to spend in order to learn something." He thought to himself.

"I'm still surprised he hasn't made a questionable move on me in a way to dishonor himself. I guess he really is quite the gentleman." She said turning her head to notice his back to her. "Even when I'm changing and completely exposed, he never once looks at me during this time. Not to mention he makes sure no one is watching me." She slightly grinned feeling impressed.

The next moment the two of them heard ruffling in the stall where Kazuma slept and was followed by an odd groaning sound. Maximus had the thought of checking on him but quickly dismissed the idea after hearing heavy breathing.

"Alright, I'm ready to help you learn some new skills." She said with a sense of excitement and annoyance mixed in her voice.

"Let's do this elsewhere, away from the farm." Maximus suggested, his gaze was still towards Kazuma's stall.

"Huh, why not here, and shouldn't we ask if Kazuma would like to join in?" She inquired of him wondering why he would leave out a party member.

"It sounds as though he is not feeling well today, so we'll just leave him be for now. Besides, didn't you say to him yesterday that he was unworthy in your eyes to learn any spells you have already learned?" He said trying to avoid going over to Kazuma and began to walk away.

"Uh, okay, I guess." She said and quickly caught up with him.

The two walked toward town and once at the Guild each of them looked at their cards and he wondered how to cash points in for skills and spells. Before she could instruct him, the Mohawk man approached them to tell him how to do it. He thought the simplicity of learning things in this world were very different from his.

"I guess this world's magic system is far easier than in mine. Usually you have to know what it is, learn to cast it a few times and eventually master it." He said to himself remembering how she taught him about God Blow without using the skills points they had just found out about.

"When using this attack just focus your aura into your fist and let it fly towards your target. The strength will vary upon how much you put into it. The attack will also purify anything it touches as well." Aqua had instructed the day before.

"I decided to use my Angelic Aura then for that attack, considering she said it was able to purify anything. I figured it would be a bad idea to use my Demonic Aura." He paused for a moment to look at his hands. "There is so much about my ancestors powers that were sealed away with the curse Gabriel, the Archangel of Vengeance, placed upon my ancestor which followed every one of us after her."

"Alright, her we go!" Aqua's voice echoed through the Guild Hall and she began to learn all the spells that were available to her. "Ah, I'm finished." She cheered and he gave her a thumbs up and a grin.

"So, which spells do you want to learn?" She asked.

"Which ones have you learned?" He inquired.

"Well I was able to learn some party tricks, one of them is called Nature's Beauty and Create Water. Those are the only ones I will teach you for those toads you saved me from." She said with a smile and a wink.

"Okay fine," He said feeling frustrated knowing it would be a futile effort to squeeze out one more. He looked down at his card and noticed all the skills she showed him. "Huh, why is Explosion on my card already?" He whispered and Aqua barely heard him.

"Wait, what, how is that there?!" She shouted.

"I don't know for sure, maybe since I was watching Megumin yesterday using it I guess it shows up. I do have a lot of points to spend in order to learn it along with upgrading my casting ability, effectiveness of the spell, mana points, and so on. I might as well advance myself in this way since I haven't run into anyone who has a sword ability for me to learn. Not that it wouldn't matter anyway since I still have all my memories from my time with the Academy training in swordplay plus Admiral Jaeger's training." Maximus said and began to motion the points to the skills and skill tree on his card.

The next moment a bright light shined within his mind and he felt as though his entire body was changing within an instant. He could feel a twisting motion down to his very core and once it was over, he stood there filled with the information about the new spells he learned.

"Is that what people of this world experience when learning something new?" He wondered. "I feel as though I am renewed in some way as if someone reshaped me in the slightest yet biggest way possible." He said out loud.

"Well, that's how everything works in this world. We Gods found it easier this way to help people out. It's really effective in a lot of ways." Aqua explained.

Maximus' gaze was upon her with a confused look.

"What, why are you looking at me as though I said something weird?" Aqua inquired and after a few moments she began to feel uncomfortable. His gaze was blank and she began to assume the worst.

"It's just Kazuma was saying how ill-advised you are about this world. He stated something to the effect that you were completely stupid and yet you know enough about this system." He informed her.

Aqua began to be filled with anger for Kazuma. "Just because I watch over dozens of worlds doesn't mean I don't know anything about each of them!" She shouted and began to go on a tantrum.

"Yeah, yeah, you can bash his head in when you see him. Although you will most likely forget about it in five seconds anyway." Maximus said and noticed his card showed he had a few skill points left to spend.

Aqua calmed down and went up to the upper level of the bar and began to perform various party tricks for the patrons. Maximus looked at his card once more when the next moment Kazuma walked in through the doors.

"Oh man, I can't believe I decided to stay at the stables until noon. Then again, how could I face those two after them hearing me or did they? And then they just decided to leave me behind. Those idiots, I can't believe they would leave me like that." He said to himself and turned to see Maximus looking at his card.

"Hey, why didn't you let me know you were going to town today?" Kazuma inquired with anger in his voice.

"I figured you were old enough to do as you please," Maximus paused for a moment to place his card in the coat pocket. "Besides, rest your worries away, if Aqua and I had found a quest we would've returned to pick you up. Plus, you haven't been sounding too well these last few days."

"Uh, so, that actually happened! Does he know about the little hole I found to spy on Aqua when she's changing?" He thought to himself feeling his anxiety mount by the second. "Not to mention he can hear me doing," Kazuma stopped for a moment and hid his embarrassed face. He turned his head up and noticed Maximus hadn't turned his way yet.

"Always ruffling around, moaning, groaning, and grunting as though you were having some kind of stomachache. It appears this world's food and drinks don't agree with you at all." Maximus said and turned to face him.

"Wait, is he that naïve or does he know what I have been doing and is just helping me save face at this moment?" Kazuma wondered to himself.

The next moment a loud roar of cheering echoed from the second floor with Aqua thanking her audience. She turned around and noticed Kazuma and walked toward the railing.

"Oh Kazuma, your finally awake. Are you feeling better from your stomachache this morning? Also, do you like my new skill? It's called Nature's Beauty." She said with a cheerful smile.

"That's just a party trick, dork." He said to himself.

Kazuma turned to head for the bar at the opposite end of the desk where Luna would be usually seen. Maximus had noticed she hadn't appeared yet and wondered if she was going to show up. He wanted to finish their discussion that was interrupted last night. Kazuma was at his side still pacing forward with his head hanging low, avoiding eye contact.

"By the way, I know what it was you were doing these past few days." He said and stopped momentarily.

Kazuma flinched in fear wondering what he was going to say or do to him.

"I will plug up that hole you found to use in watching Aqua changing clothes. This behavior is not becoming of a gentleman. In the future should the need for you to relieve yourself of any tension that arises, go and do that outside far from the stables. That will be all I will say on this matter." Maximus informed him.

Kazuma had paused for a moment and then continued on to the bar.

"I can't believe he knows what I was doing, was I that loud, also how did he find the hole in the wall?" Kazuma said to himself.

After a while Megumin had joined Kazuma at the bar, once she arrived the two began to have a conversation between them.

Maximus still hadn't seen Luna show up at all and began to wonder about her. He was pressed up against the wall next to the stairs that led up to the second floor. The next moment the doors to the Guild opened and Darkness walked through with someone only Maximus could guess as a friend of hers. After walking through the doors, she instantly recognized him standing not far from them.

"Oh no, why did she have to show up at this very moment." Maximus said with the same uncomfortable feeling he had last night with her.

"Maximus," She nearly shouted. "I see that you are here, but where are the rest of your party members?" She inquired and walked up to him.

Kazuma had barely heard Darkness call out to Maximus and he began to remember being told about her. "So, that's the young woman he was going on about? From here she looks like a normal girl, but the way she was acting as described by him was alarming." He said to himself.

He decided to keep watch on Maximus as Darkness continued.

"It appears as though your party isn't here right now, shall we wait for them?" She inquired.

"No, I thought it over during the night and came to the conclusion you would be a big benefit for our party." Maximus said and soon realized what he spurted out.

Kazuma saw the look on his face and feared the worst. "Wait, did he actually just accepted her without thinking it properly?"

Darkness was speechless and beginning to feel confused. "I actually got someone to accept me, this is glorious!" She shouted spinning around with joy that soon turned to disappointment. "But I wish you would have tormented me a little more." She whispered but was loud enough for Maximus and her friend could only hear.

"This kind of behavior is seriously not becoming of a lady, especially one who is a knight. At least I think you are by the way you dress." Maximus said with his hand pressed against his face. "I can't believe I said I'd allow her to join. Although, I did think it best to say that instead of watching her be filled with out of placed excitement." He said to himself.

"Oh, Darkness you shouldn't say such a thing," Her friend stepped forward. "It's that kind of behavior that drives away potential party members. But I guess you can rejoice since he accepted you." She finished and turned to Maximus.

"Oh, by the way, this is my friend Chris." Darkness introduced her to him.

"Hello, I am Maximus, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." He said extending out his hand.

"Likewise." Chris said with a smile and they shook their hands. "By the way, word has it you defeated a Manticore with your bare hands in just three strikes. That's quite an impressive feat."

"Well, I did use a bow and arrow along with a sword, not to mention it was several dozen strikes." Maximus thought about saying but kept it to himself.

"To defeat one of them would take great strength and skill and it's more remarkable you escaped unscathed. What are your stats like?" She inquired and Maximus handed his card to her. "Wow, your strength and the other stats are the highest I have ever seen for a new adventurer." She said and studied his card further. "I see you have a few skill points left to use; would you like to learn a few skills from me?" She inquired. "I decided to step away from my post to see him in person and he doesn't seem to disappoint so far." She said to herself.

Maximus was about to respond when Darkness burst out after failing to contain her excitement at the thought of fighting a Manticore. "Oh, how I wish I were there to join you in battle against the beast, let alone witness it firsthand." Darkness said but thought more about being ravaged by such a creature and began to shiver with excitement from it.

Maximus took notice of her behavior and began to feel more uncomfortable.

"Maximus, I wish to ask you something." Darkness said to get his attention and he turned up towards her wondering what she could be wishing to know and feared what she could ask. "Those two women in your party, why were they covered in such filthy slime yesterday?" Her eyes had the same crazy excited look as before and pressed herself against him.

Maximus was holding his composure with every ounce of strength not to show how uncomfortable he was with her attitude. He dreaded the thought of how she will further act after hearing about what happened to Aqua and Megumin.

"Her behavior is unbearable, is there no concept of boundaries with this woman?" He wondered to himself. "We were attacked by some Giant Toads and they were swallowed whole and the results were what you saw." He responded.

"How can he keep his composure with her being literally right in his face?" Kazuma wondered and thought about how he would have acted in that situation. Kazuma coughed a little and decided to join in after seeing what was transpiring.

Before he could get close Darkness continued with her behavior. She was hunched down with disappointment. "Oh, if only I were there to join in on such humiliation," She stopped herself briefly feeling a little embarrassed from admitting what she wanted. "I-I mean, as a knight I cannot stand idly by and hear about such ill treatment, therefore, when we are to go into the field, please do not hesitate to use me as your shield. You can even abandon me if you wish, I mean if the situation calls for it." She explained to him grabbing his coat with both hands, pressing up against him uncomfortably close.

"Hey, Maximus, can I talk to you for a moment before anything else happens." Kazuma said and Maximus felt slightly relieved.

The two walked over away from them and stood by one of the many tables.

"Are you out of your mind, why did you let someone like her join our party without a second's hesitation?" He inquired.

"Well, for starters, I thought it would have been best to accept her as to avoid seeing her get excited from being rejected. How was I supposed to know she would still act in such a manner after being accepted?" Maximus said feeling annoyed by Darkness' attitude.

Kazuma sighed and walked up to Darkness.

"Look, I know he already said you can join, but I have to decline it right away." Kazuma informed her.

The next moment Darkness was filled with an exhilarating feeling, a quick shot of ecstasy flowed down her spine. She folded her arms across her chest, hugging herself tightly.

"Oh yes, so fast and straightforward with your decision." She gasped out and began to breath rapidly with enjoyment.

"Is she really enjoying this? Ew!" Kazuma said to himself almost shivering.

"And there's that strange behavior of hers I saw last night and moments ago. I believe I have doomed us with a party member who extremely enjoys pain of all sorts by her attitude." Maximus said to himself as he stood there feeling uncomfortable at her reaction.

"Anyway, do you still want me to teach you a few things? You can bring your friend if you want, so long as he has skill points to spend that is." Chris said to change the subject after seeing their faces filled with disgust.

"Uh, yeah, I don't have a lot of points to spend, but I'd love to learn some." Kazuma said with excitement. "Yes, I'm going to learn some adventuring stuff from someone. This will be cool!" He thought to himself.

The four of them left the Guild and went a few blocks away.

"By the way, what kind of adventurer are you?" Kazuma inquired and Maximus had the same thought brewing in the back of his mind.

"Can't you tell, I'm a Thief class or Rogue, depending on one's perspective." Chris informed them. "Now then, I'll teach you three useful skills that someone like me uses a lot. There's Enemy Detection, Lurk, and Steal; they are self-explanatory. Use these three together to catch your target off guard in order to do this. Oh, and you can only target one person at a time." She paused for a moment to hold out her hand. "Steal." She said.

The next moment a bright light shined forth blinding the two. Once it was over, she finished explaining.

"Once you successfully complete this skill any item that is of high value to your target becomes yours. Or in another way of saying the higher the luck you have the greater the value of the item." She said and opened her hand to reveal Maximus' coin pouch.

"Now you can use your skill points to learn what I had taught you two." Chris informed them.

They both pulled out their cards and looked at them. Kazuma saw the three skills and pressed upon to select them. Maximus did the same and once finished they both tapped the icon where their image was and the same light as before shined within the both of them. Once it was over Chris was about to hand over the pouch but decided to hold onto it a little more.

"Before we continue on, how's about making a wager?" She inquired the two.

Maximus tilted his head a little with slight interest and Kazuma had an unsure thought brew within his mind.

"Please tell me you are not going to actually do this to him? Risking his own money?" Darkness protested.

"It's alright, if he doesn't, he can turn away without his pouch or he can win his money back. If you want to see how the skill works for you just step forward." She said with a smirk.

"Oh, I'll get my money back, just you wait and see." Maximus declared to her with newfound determination. "If I don't get it back, I'm going to be broke." He said to himself.

"Wait Maximus, I would like to go first, it's the least I can do to help repay you for everything you have done to help me." Kazuma said stepping in between the two.

Maximus nodded standing by and decided to watch what the results would yield.

"Alright, are you ready?" Kazuma asked.

"I'll say if you are very lucky, you might get my magical dagger which is really good at fighting against Demons. However, if you're unlucky, you'll get these rocks." She said opening her hands to reveal the stones she picked up.

"This isn't going to be easy, it's literally survival of the fittest in this world. If I can pull this off maybe Maximus won't look down on me so much." Kazuma said to himself. "Alright, Steal!" He shouted raising his hand up and a bright light shined towards Chris.

Once the light died down everyone stood still and Maximus wondered if he had stolen anything after seeing nothing was visible.

"Wait, something is wrong here," Chris said feeling a chilling sensation in her lower body.

Kazuma began to hold his hands above his head. "Now, let's see what I got here." He peaked up and opened his hands to discover a sight he never would have thought possible. "Yes! Jackpot!" He maniacally laughed waving his hand around.

"This isn't even funny Kazuma, give them back right now!" She shouted at him pressing her hands against her shorts and crossing her legs.

Darkness stood there with excitement and gasped. "If only that were me instead of Chris, oh the humiliation she is going through. I must experience the same shame right now!" She quickly approached Maximus and stood there with her arms spread to the side. "Maximus, I wish for you to do the same to me this instant." She shouted at him. "To have a rough man such as him to cause me the same humiliation is something I must experience. My only regret is there's no one else to watch this take place." She said to herself.

Maximus stood there annoyed at the idea that she would ask such a thing. "Why can't she be just a normal young woman and not act in such a manner?" He wondered to himself. "Very well, just remember you asked for this." He replied to her. "I can't believe I'm indulging in this for her." He said to himself.

"Steal!" Maximus shouted and the bright light quickly shined and the other two braced themselves.

The next moment Darkness began to wait for the inevitable moment of missing a piece of clothing, but no such feeling occurred. Maximus began to open his hand and soon noticed a medallion with what looked to him as a crest belonging to a family.

"What kind of medallion is this?" Maximus inquired.

Before he knew it, Darkness took the medallion away from him. She turned around and squatted down as if to hide in shame. She did not want him to see it as being evidence she belonged to a prestige family in the kingdom. Her face was turning bright red and Kazuma had wondered what he took from her. The next moment he gave it no more thought as he went back to being immature about stealing Chris' panties.

Maximus walked up behind him and smacked the top of his head with his fist. Kazuma was instantly slammed against the ground and almost buried into it. A small crater formed around where he laid and Chris' panties were gliding down like a feather. Maximus snatched them and approached her. She began to wonder what he could possibly do and feared the worst.

"By the way, I meant to say, 'give the little lady back her article of clothing' but found myself slamming my fist on top of your head instead." He stretched his hand forward with her panties in it. "Please forgive his rudeness, in the future I'll try to instill in him a better way of living." He said to her with a gentle look in his eyes.

Chris was being mesmerized by his compassion and his character. "Oh, thank you." She said feeling unsure of how to proceed and was beginning to find herself thinking about the two of them. "I now know why Aqua is so infatuated with him. He's compassionate, impressively strong, and cares for those around him. Don't think for a second you're going to keep him to yourself. I know he has demonic ancestry, but I can see he is a good man. Aqua, the game is on." She said to herself.