Chapter II

Hello! I am back with another chapter of Kazuto's Magical Adventure. I hope everyone enjoyed the previous chapter, and many of you did, which I love to see. I equally hope you enjoy this one as well. So be sure to leave a review if you do. At any rate, I would like to thank my coauthor Bakuto Masaki for all of his help with the story as usual. That said, let us move on to the reviewer responses!

Alex DarkFire: Yes, I assure you it's Aqua I'm talking about. And I shall do just that.

Tama Saga: Well strap in, because there's more to come later. Though I mean much, much later.

gera2306: Well aren't we a smart cookie? That I did.

GDIMartok: Kirito has pretty much always been a solo player, yes, but you're forgetting one thing. He didn't become almost religiously solo until after Sachi died. Up until that point he was fine with partying up and joining other players. He asked Klein to join him, he readily partied up with Asuna, and joined the Midnight Black Cats almost immediately. As for how he died, I did that mainly for comedy's sake but there is a reason that he died like that which will become apparent later. And I couldn't wait until the Fairy Dance or Phantom Bullet Arcs for him to die either as you will learn quite soon. It had to be before SAO was officially launched. And he didn't die of shock from pushing a girl, he died from shock thinking he'd been hit by a truck. As for the anime, you've named them all. Thus far into the story I haven't introduced any others. Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo, Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon, Overlord, and Sword Art Online are the only ones involved at the moment.

Well that wraps that up. Not a huge glut of reviews, but quite a few. I love it, so keep it up guys! With that out of the way, on to the main event!

"Oh… here!" Megumin grumbled as she handed a copper plate to Kazuto.

"Of course she's a Copper…" Wolbach groaned.

Kazuto turned the plate over and saw the list of Megumin's Stats printed on the back. "What's this?" Kazuto murmured.

"Dunno," Aqua answered with a shrug.

At that same moment, Eina walked over to the noisy trio in concern. "Um… is everything okay over here?"

Kazuto nodded without addressing her as he looked at the badge. "Yeah, just fine. This girl's just weird."

"Hey!" Megumin argued.

"Hm? What's that?" Eina asked, seeing the Copper Plate in Kazuto's grasp.

"Megumin's Adventurer badge, apparently," he explained. "Do they all show Stats like this?" he wondered as he flipped his over, seeing nothing.

Eina shook her head in response. "No, only those not in a Familia."

Megumin looked at Kazuto in surprise. "You have a Goddess?"

Kazuto nodded in agreement. "Yes. Aqua and I are in the Hestia Familia."

Megumin bowed deeply to Kazuto. "Can I please join your Familia!?"

"Umm… Sure but you'd need to ask Lady Hestia."

"O – Oh my…" Eina muttered in surprise.

"Hm?"

"This girl's magic is extremely high."

"I know," Wolbach commented.

Eina looked around in confusion. "H – Huh? Who said that?"

"… Behind you."

Eina looked up and saw Kazuto's sword glowing slightly. "Wait… an Enchanted sword?"

"Bing, half-elf."

"How… unusual. I've seen many, but never one that can talk."

"So you'll let me join!?" Megumin asked in excitement.

"I want to see what you're capable of first. We've got a kill quest to take out five giant toads, mind giving us a hand?"

"Sure!"

The duo then left the walls of Orario and returned to the plains outside to continue the hunt for toads, with Megumin now in tow.

Kazuto looked around in thought before seeing a lone giant sitting in the distance. "Right, there's another toad, do your thing, Megumin."

Megumin nodded before raising her staff. "Explosion magic is the strongest magic, but that means it also takes time to prepare. So can you please keep it busy while I prepare?"

Kazuto flattened his brow in response. 'Strongest my foot.'

'It is Sixth Tier at best for humans, Lord Momonga. I can make it even better,' Wolbach gloated.

'I'm sure you can, I just don't like her boasting like that. Damn… if I could just use some of my own magic we wouldn't have to rely on a Chuunibyo.' "Sure…" he answered uneasily as he drew Excalibur.

Megumin continued, "Now, you will need to hold them off while I chant. Explosion may be powerful, but it takes time to cast."

'I told her that so she doesn't blow up a lot,' Wolbach noted.

'Ah. Wait, you did?' Kazuto questioned.

'I met her when I was whole.'

'I… see…'

"Ah!" Aqua suddenly shrieked before pointing nearby. "Kazuto, there's another one coming!"

At that moment, a second toad made its way towards the group, hopping on its back legs.

"Oh great… Okay Megumin, the one in the distance over there seems complacent to just sit there. Aqua, you and I will get the other one."

"EEHH!?" Aqua shrieked.

"Is that a problem?"

"N – No…"

"Do you know any offensive magic?"

"Um… I know Aqua Spiral…"

Kazuto sighed and readied his sword. "Guess we can see. Okay, let's go!" Both he and Aqua charged at the creature.

The beast lashed its tongue out at Aqua, whom paled in horror and raised her hand in front of her. "KYA! A - Aqua Protection!" A barrier of water surrounded her and knocked its tongue aside.

"Good work!" Kazuto cheered.

Aqua blinked in surprise. 'He… praised me…?' A large smile then formed on her face.

Kazuto turned on his heel and charged at the monster and dodged its tongue, leaping up, landing on its foot as it swung it him before jumping up, putting Excalibur in a reverse grip and slamming the sword down, impaling the monster's head, killing it. He sighed in relief as he sat down next to the body. "One down…"

Megumin raised her staff and took a deep breath as a large, bright orange magic circle appeared at her feet. "Darkness blacker than black, darker than dark, I beseech thee, combine with my deep crimson. Explosion!"

Another magic circle formed around the toad before releasing an immense blast that lit the sky in orange and sent dust and debris flying in all directions, rumbles shooting through the ground.

"Wh – Whoa!" Kazuto gasped as he stabbed Excalibur into the ground to hold himself in place.

"Kkyyaa!" Aqua shrieked as the blast sent her flying, Kazuto catching her as she did, holding her next to him.

It took several moments for the blast to die down and the dust to clear, leaving nothing but a smoldering crater.

Wolbach hummed in vindication. "Yep. Low Sixth Tier."

Kazuto sighed before standing and then saw another toad start to approach. "Crap. Megumin! We need you to –" he suddenly stopped as he saw Megumin collapsed on the ground. "Megumin!"

Megumin groaned and muttered weakly, "My apologies… even though Explosion is the ultimate of magics, it takes tremendous magical power," as the monster approached her.

'Only with a chant,' Wolbach commented, though only Kazuto could hear her.

"In short, I used magic exceeding my physical limits, so now I can't move a muscle. I didn't expect another toad to appear so close by, so if you could help me ou –"

"No, Megumin!" Kazuto bellowed as he ran towards the beast.

"Gut it," the sealed woman urged.

Kazuto snarled and rushed forward, plunging his sword into the toad's stomach and slicing, cutting it open.

The beast stood up tall, stiffened, and then collapsed forward.

A wave of terror spread over Kazuto suddenly as it fell forward. '… Uh-oh…' he muttered before it landed on top of him.

Aqua stood in disbelief as Kazuto crawled out of the dead beast's mouth with Megumin hoisted on his back.

"You… had better… thank me… for this…"

"I will…" the girl groaned on his shoulders.

"Now to cut up the corpses," Wolbach urged.

Kazuto rebutted, "Let's worry about that later. Megumin and Aqua need our help more."

"She's fine, my Lord. She only exhausted her mana. Simply a case of Mind Down."

"Okay, okay. Fine."

The trio made their way back into Orario, Megumin covered in toad slime, Aqua staying far behind.

Megumin groaned as she was carried by Kazuto, who urged, "We'll get washed up when we get back. So, can I join your party?"

"Do you know any other magic?"

"Humph. Of course not. Explosion Magic is the ultimate, purest form of magic!"

Kazuto pointed his gaze at Excalibur with a deadpan.

'I… I may have been a little… overzealous when I demonstrated it…' Wolbach uttered in Kazuto's mind.

'A little?' Kazuto sighed in frustration before positing, "Then… how about metering how much power you put in it?"

"She probably doesn't know how."

'And who's fault is that?' "Haa… Okay, you can join but under one condition."

"Oh…?" Megumin muttered in apprehension.

"That, if you won't learn other magic, learn to reel back how much power you put into each explosion so it has more use."

"… Fine."

Kazuto nodded in acceptance. "Good. This way you can cast more than one explosion at a time."

Wolbach hummed in thought. 'I see. So, you want her to do that. If I'd known that would have been your decision I'd have taught her properly so her explosions would create chaos and destruction across the land, my Lord.'

'Um… right…'

The trio, after Aqua and Megumin washed themselves, made their way back to the old church and told Hestia of Megumin's desire to join.

"Really?!" Hestia asked with excitement.

Megumin nodded in affirmation. "I'd like to join your Familia."

Hestia jumped happily. "Yippee! A third child!"

"Child?" the trio asked in bewilderment.

Wolbach explained, "It's what Deities refer to members of their Familia as."

Hestia then raised both eyebrows in thought. "Oh, Kazuto, Aqua, should I check your Falnas first?"

"Sure," Kazuto replied before pulling off his shirt before laying on his stomach.

Hestia sighed before sitting on his back and dripping a bead of blood to the mark on his back. She watched as it glowed and many symbols floated in the air, her eyes widening. "Wow…"

"What?" Kazuto asked in mild confusion.

"W – Well, I'll write it down for you."

"Thanks." Kazuto sat up and put his shirt on as she wrote on a thick piece of paper and then looked it over. "Huh… my Stats went up quite a bit. Wait, what's this?" He looked down at the Skills section and saw two options listed, Explosion and Aqua Protection. "… Heh…?"

"What's wrong?"

"It says here I've got, or I guess can learn, two Skills. But no one ever taught them to me."

Hestia was surprised as well, as it was rather unusual for someone to be able to Master a Skill without being taught it first.

'Wait, I did see Aqua and Megumin use those Skills… but did I learn them just from seeing that? Interesting…'

'More than likely, my Lord,' Wolbach added.

Hestia looked at him in thought. "So, do you want either of them?"

Kazuto shook his head. "Nah, I'm good. I wouldn't mind reading up on some magic though to start learning it."

"Sure!" She hopped up and went over to the tall bookshelves and grabbed a couple books down. "Here, these should include everything to get you started."

"And you just have these laying around because…?"

"Well Hephaestus pointed me to this place. Most of these books were already here. I added a few I bought on my own but that's all."

"Ah…"

"My magic's better…" Wolbach muttered.

"You're a sword though…" Aqua wondered.

"Wasn't always, genius."

Aqua twitched an eyebrow in irritation.

Hestia sighed and then turned to Megumin. "Um… so shall I inscribe your Falna?"

Kazuto left the room as Hestia began.

Megumin smiled happily as she looked at her back in the open-backed dress. "I'm really part of a Familia…!"

Kazuto smiled warmly as she laughed giddily.

Megumin raised a hand to interrupt the festivities. "Is it okay if I posit an inquiry?"

"Eh?" Aqua muttered in confusion.

"It means question. She's trying to sound smart. Unlike you who couldn't even try."

Megumin sputtered and blushed. "I am smart, you talking stick! A – Anyway, where are we going to sleep? There's only a bed and two couches."

Kazuto stood up, Hestia still hanging off him, and put a hand on his chin in thought. "Hmm… You and Hestia can share the bed. You're both smaller than Aqua and me so you both should have enough room."

Hestia frowned and shook her head. "No, no, no! I have a much better idea!"

"No." He answered her bluntly.

Hestia puffed her cheeks in disappointment. Kazuto found the display rather cute. "Aaww, you didn't even let me finish!"

"You were going to ask if I would be in the bed with you."

Hestia stiffened and laughed unconvincingly in defeat.

Kazuto put a hand up in denial. "Sorry, I'll pass."

Hestia frowned in disappointment.

"Dumbass."

Kazuto grumbled and shoved the sword back into its sheath roughly. "If it's that much of a problem I'll sleep upstairs."

Hestia sighed and shook her head. "No, it's fine."

"Good."

Several hours later, Hestia slept soundly in the bed with Megumin when she noticed a faint sound that roused her from her sleep and sat up to see Kazuto reading in weak light. "Kazuto…?" she muttered sleepily, her hair pooling behind her as she looked at him.

Kazuto turned to her in surprise. "Oh, Hestia-Sama, did I wake you?"

Hestia shook her head before getting out and walking over to him. "Why are you still awake?"

He continued reading as he answered, "Trying to learn as much as I can about this world."

Hestia looked at him slightly confused. "This… world?"

He internally hit himself at his oversight. "Oh, right… well I guess since you're a goddess it's okay to tell you. You see, I'm not from here. I'm from Earth."

"Y – You're from Earth?" she gasped, careful to keep her voice down as not to wake the others. "How'd you get here?"

Kazuto's expression fell sharply before he pointed to Aqua. "I… died, back on Earth. I'd rather not get into how it happened. Okay?"

Hestia nodded with an understanding smile. "I'm just happy you're telling me that much."

He nodded with a smile. "Sure. So… mind if I ask you a question?"

"Of course!" Hestia answered with a wide, adorable grin.

"Do you… know anything… about the Demon King?"

Hestia put a finger on her chin in consideration. "Hm… I don't know of any Demon King."

Kazuto flattened his brow in exasperation. "… What?"

"Yeah. The biggest continent on this planet is Arc Strada, and out of all of them I can't think of a single one that has something resembling this Demon King."

"I see."

'She just need ask and I'm sure she'll hear much,' Wolbach commented inside Kazuto's mind.

"Any idea why they'd be targeted then?"

Hestia shrugged in nescience. "It was probably an order from Brother."

"Brother? Which one?"

"Zeus, the chief of the gods. He's the one who decided the majority of the rules, alongside Maxwell, when we came down to this world."

Wolbach suddenly piped up, incensed. "You let that psycho make the rules, are you stupid? I mean seriously, why not Hera or even Palutena? At least they are sane! Or even Freya!"

Hestia, in mild agreement, argued, "He was still alive at the time and the king."

"King of rape maybe. He even sent one of his rape babies to kill one of Poseidon's rape victims!"

Hestia blinked in confusion. "Huh?

Kazuto sighed in frustration. "So that still leaves the issue of how I get home…"

"Find a portal…?"

Kazuto merely stared in silence.

"Sorry…"

"It's okay."

The next morning, Kazuto informed Aqua and the others of what he had learned from Hestia.

"WWWHHHAAATTT!?" Aqua shrieked.

"Loud…" Kazuto grumbled.

"Wish Red knew Silence…" Wolbach groaned.

"You mean we can't kill the Demon King!? Then how do we get home you dummy?!" Aqua accused.

"We find a way back to Earth," Kazuto added.

"I want to get back to Valhalla, not Midgard!"

"But… won't you regain your powers if you can just get off this planet?"

"… Oh."

"You forget, she's an idiot on par with a golem," Wolbach chided.

"Shut up!"

Kazuto chuckled lightly. "Come on, come on, calm down. I say we start going into the Dungeon, how about you?"

"Guess so. Red needs to learn how to use less mana after all." 'And Aqua's gonna have fun in there.'

Kazuto frowned slightly. 'Care to explain that?'

'Not really, my Lord.'

'Right…'

Megumin suddenly tugged on his coat.

"Something wrong, Megumin?"

"I want to practice."

"Ah. Okay. Then we need to find a suitable target for you. Something large, sturdy, and abandoned."

Megumin thought for a moment. "I saw a mausoleum on my way to Orario."

"That might work."

"There it is," Megumin pointed out to a large, stone castle with several walls around it, Kazuto frowning in confusion as he looked at it.

'I don't know why, but that looks familiar…' "Okay, Megumin, let's try something."

"Okay!"

"Try it without the chant."

"Eh!?"

"Just trust me."

Megumin frowned in worry. "Okay…" She raised her staff and opened her mouth preparing to chant but stiffened. "E – Explosion!" she called out immediately, a large explosion blasting the mausoleum. "It's smaller…" Megumin pouted.

"Yeah, but you're still standing."

Megumin blinked and looked down before squealing in excitement. "Uwah! You're right!"

Kazuto chuckled lightly. "Alright, see if you can cast another one."

"Right! Explosion!" she howled, sending out another shot that rocked the castle before she collapsed.

"Well… that happened. Guess two full power, non-chant Explosions is your limit. We'll need to work on that. One possibility is you work to decrease the amount of energy you put into an attack."

"Okay… Now… can you carry me back to the city…?"

"Sure."

"How are we supposed to go into the Dungeon if Megumin can't move!?" Aqua bellowed.

"… Recruit a new member?"

Aqua twitched an eyebrow. "… Fine. But you do it yourself this time. It's your fault."

"… Fine."

Kazuto sighed as he sat in the Guild's large hall, alone. "Guess now I wait…"

He was brought from his thoughts when a voice called out. "Excuse me."

Kazuto turned in thought and saw a tall, well-built woman with long, hip-length blonde hair tied in a high ponytail and dark blue eyes wearing an orange and white robe with a black skirt underneath, and tight, white and gold armor over top, a sword on her hip. "Whoa… Beautiful…"

The woman trembled slightly as his words registered. "M – My name is Darkness. I'd like to join your p – p – party."

'Ah great. A knight,' Wolbach groaned.

"Um… okay…?" Kazuto muttered.

"Are you still recruiting members?"

"Y – Yeah…"

"May I join?"

"Um, yeah, you can… but I wouldn't recommend it."

"Why? Regardless, I'm glad. I've anxiously awaited the arrival of someone such as yourself."

"Eh? Really?"

The woman began breathing heavily, her face turning red. "Those two slimy ladies the other day were allies of yours, no?"

"… Y – Yes… They got swallowed by frogs a –"

"It's worse than I imagined…"

'… What's with her…?'

"As a knight, I cannot overlook such horrors befalling two girls of such a tender age!" she exclaimed, breathing heavily and flushed deeply.

Wolbach groaned in frustration. 'Oh dear you… she's an M.'

'Her eyes are scaring me…' Kazuto moaned in his head. "N – No, I'd advise against it. We've only got three members, a mage who can barely control her magic, a goddess who can't do much, and myself who only has a rusty sword. So you should look elsewhe – ow, ow, ow!"

His words were interrupted as she gripped his wrist tightly with her hands. "That's even better!"

'Me thinks you should let her.'

Kazuto gaped slightly. 'Hah!? Why?!'

'Why not?'

The blonde stood straight with a light blush. "You see… this is a little embarrassing, but the truth is… while I have confidence in my strength and stamina, I am clumsy… So, um… none of my attacks hit their mark…"

'Meat shield.'

She then leaned close to Kazuto once more. "As such, I'll charge to the front line!" She leaned even closer, their faces almost touching. "So please use me as a shield!"

Wolbach snickered. 'Super Tier masochist. She will be so useful.'

'That's really ominous…' Kazuto groaned.

"So…?"

"… No. I can't use a woman as a shield."

"It would be my pleasure!" she exclaimed, still panting and flushed.

"W – Well we get hit by monsters in almost every battle…"

"That would be even more my pleasure!"

"Uuhh… we are planning to… one day… fight… the Demon King!"

She stiffened before releasing a heavy sigh.

Kazuto sighed in relief. 'Okay… I think that got through to her.'

"I understand. It has always been the fate of female knights to suffer an erotic fate to the Demon King."

Kazuto slammed his head against the wall.

"So I, Darkness, the Crusader, will join you on your quest to sedu – I mean, defeat the Demon King!"

Wolbach snickered silently. 'She's certainly well on her way to doing that.'

'Please shut up…' Kazuto groaned.

"So, may I join your party?" Darkness reiterated.

"My head hurts…"

"Oh. Did you drink too much?"

"No… Wh – Why don't you… come back tomorrow… and let me think about it…?"

"Certainly!"

Aqua gaped at Kazuto. "You turned down a Crusader!? Are you insane!?"

"It's not me who's the insane one, trust me."

"She's a mega masochist," Wolbach added.

Aqua gaped slightly before Kazuto urged, "Let's just go straight to the Dungeon tomorrow."

"What about your promise to meet with Darkness tomorrow?"

"It was a lie to get her off my back."

"How cruel of you to play with a girl's heart like that."

Kazuto could not respond.

The next day, Kazuto, Aqua, and Megumin made their way to Babel, through the large doors at its base, through the large room made of marble, down the spiral staircase at the center, and into the Dungeon itself, the initial Floor being a long, stony cavern with walls of dark red.

"Let's stay on the First Floor today in order to get our bearings. Understood?" Kazuto urged.

"Fine…" Aqua pouted.

"Alright," Megumin agreed.

Kazuto then turned to Megumin directly. "Oh, one more thing. Megumin, try charging your Explosion only partway while we're here today. Based on my understanding of magic, a spell will still fire if you don't charge it all the way, it just won't be as strong."

Wolbach added, "It also won't take such a long time casting."

"Right!" Megumin cheered.

The teen chuckled lightly before drawing Excalibur and looking ahead. "Okay, I'll stay in front directly handling the monsters. Aqua, you stay in the back, casting healing spells and water spells when needed, Megumin, you stay in the center and provide support for me and protection for Aqua."

"Right."

Aqua gaped slightly. 'W – Wow… Does he actually know what he's doing?'

Kazuto suddenly had an image of Wolbach grinning in his mind. He ignored the thought as they proceeded into the Dungeon before they saw a small Goblin, with green skin and a pointed nose, holding a sharpened bone as a weapon. The Monster also saw them and screeched before charging.

Kazuto charged as well and blocked its club with his sword, knocked its legs out from under it, and then stabbed it in the chest. "Okay, that wasn't too bad." After a couple seconds it dissolved into ash, leaving a small crystal behind. "Let's spend at least eight hours in here before calling it a day."

"Right," Megumin agreed.

As the group continued through the tunnels, Kazuto was eventually surrounded by a group of four Goblins, though he had little trouble against them when one broke off from the rest and towards Aqua and Megumin. "Megumin!"

Megumin gulped and gripped her staff tightly. 'Okay, I can do this. Just gotta use a little mana…' "E – Explosion!" she called out, trying to limit the energy inside the attack, an explosion blast right as the Goblin approached, blowing it to pieces. "Wh – Whoa… That actually worked… and, and I can still stand!"

Kazuto kicked one of the Goblins away before stabbing another in the head, killing it. "Great, now give me a hand please!"

"Explosion!" she called out, the Goblins scattering.

"Perfect!" He slashed at the first Goblin, knocking it to the ground before stomping on its chest, its body quickly dissolving, and then turned and charged at the final Goblin, impaling it against the wall and killing it.

After the beasts dissolved, Kazuto heard Wolbach humming to herself. "Val for your thoughts?"

'You should have easily handled those cretins on your own, my Lord,' she noted. 'That, and I think Megumin is nearing her limit.'

'I know, but the best way to strengthen a muscle is to exercise it. I'm not going to have her use her Explosion much more, but pushing her just to exhaustion should help increase her mana reserves. Plus, neither of them are going to get any stronger if I don't let them fight a little.'

Wolbach groaned slightly. 'You want the goddess who's after your head to get stronger? Albedo is gonna lose it…'

'Look, I'll sort that nonsense out when we get to it. I'm still trying to wrap my head around it.' He then glanced back at the two girls as they spoke blithely. 'Besides, they don't seem like genuinely bad people.' "Great work. And you're really getting the hang of this."

Megumin grinned confidently with a thumbs-up. "But of course. It's a simple matter for Crimson Demon such as myself."

"Ego of the Red."

"Oh shut up!"

"Nya! Can't make me!"

Kazuto chuckled lightly in amusement as their squabble continued. "Let's keep moving."

"Right," Aqua agreed.

The trio spent several more hours in the Dungeon, slaying Goblins and Kobolds as they encountered them.

As their time came to an end, Kazuto sighed after killing yet another Kobold. "Phew. Okay, that should be enough for today. So, let's go back and turn in the loot for money."

"'Kay…" Aqua pouted.

"Right…" Megumin muttered, lying on the ground exhausted.

Kazuto looked at Aqua in mild concern. "Something wrong, Aqua?"

"I didn't get to do anything!"

Wolbach chided, "Okay, next time you fight all the Monsters."

Kazuto sighed and interjected, "That's the nature of a Healer, they stay back out of danger casting healing spells. So, the fact you didn't do much is a good sign. Got it? Besides, I don't know any magic and Megumin doesn't know any support spells."

"I don't need any!" the red-eyed girl protested.

Wolbach argued, "Some can boost your Explosion."

Megumin flinched back slightly. "Evil sword tempting me with such forbidden secrets…"

The trio made their way back to the Guild, where Kazuto handed the bag of Stones they had collected to Eina. "Okay, here's our loot for the day."

Eina nodded as she looked at the bag. "Nice. Wait here while I convert everything."

Kazuto sat with Aqua and Megumin as Eina headed into the back.

After a moment of silence, Wolbach noted, in Kazuto's mind, 'You do realize that if it ever gets out who you are that the entire Guild will be on your hide, right?'

'They won't. I plan to sort all this crap out before it comes to that.'

'I don't mean to doubt you, my Lord, but I worry that you're letting your human side rule your thoughts.'

Kazuto sighed in exasperation. 'There is no human "side" of me, I am human.'

'You're acting like an in denial undead, like Wiz did when she first became a Lich. It's unbecoming for the leader of the Supreme Beings. But very well. If it helps you come to grips with your existence I'll play along with you being human for the time being. Though I suggest you get that matter sorted before we encounter any of the Guardians.'

Kazuto twitched an eyebrow in annoyance.

'Other than Wiz, that is, given that her brains are in her tits.'

"Here you are," Eina greeted as she approached the trio, holding a tray with numerous gold, silver, and copper coins on it, adding up to roughly five hundred Vals.

Aqua twitched an eyebrow. "That's it…?"

Kazuto turned to her and chided, "What do you mean? This should be at least worth a day's pay for each of us once it's divided up. I'd say we either stay longer next time or try the Second Floor for larger Crystals."

"Right…"

Eina looked at him in mild surprise. "You want to go that far already?"

He nodded in reply. "Well, yeah. We have a standard party. And we need to make it stronger."

"Should be easy," Wolbach added.

"I see…" Eina noted, unconvinced.

"Ah! Kazuto!" a familiar, unwanted voice called out.

'Your future bitch has found you, my Lord,' Wolbach commented.

'So I noticed…' Kazuto groaned before turning to see Darkness approaching, and then noticed a second person with her.

A girl with short, messy, silver hair and lavender eyes, wearing a skimpy, black top with one strap on her shoulder, a green mantle, a light blue muffler, low, short-cut shorts with black leggings underneath, thigh-high white stockings, and tall, brown boots.

Wolbach groaned deeply at the girl. 'Oh great…'

"This is my friend, Chris," Darkness explained.

"Yo," the girl greeted.

Kazuto gave her a deadpan look before turning to Darkness. "Okay, so why'd you bring her along?"

"Huh?" Darkness wondered in confusion.

Chris added, "Darkness told me she was joining a Familia with a cool guy so I wanted to check it out."

Kazuto merely stared at Darkness.

'She has no idea how cool you are,' Wolbach snickered.

After a moment of silence, Darkness asked, "So, I waited a day like you said, so may I join your party?"

"Yep!"

"Oy! I didn't say yes!" Kazuto argued.

Darkness frowned in disappointment.

'Do you want her sad?' Wolbach questioned.

"… Fine. But I want to see what you can do first."

Darkness nodded with a bright smile.

After a moment, Kazuto narrowed his eyes in thought.

His gaze kept on her for several seconds, Darkness began fidgeting uncomfortably. "Wh – What…?"

Kazuto then looked directly at her. "I have a test for you. We'll be going into the Dungeon again tomorrow, and you'll join us. However, if you get hit once by any of the Monsters my answer is no."

After a moment, Wolbach urged, "Red, shock collar."

Megumin almost immediately slapped a black collar with a red jewel on Darkness' neck.

"E – Eh…?" the blonde muttered.

"M – Megumin!" Kazuto sputtered.

Wolbach then addressed Darkness directly. "Listen, blondie, do as your told and you'll get shocked."

"Are you crazy?!"

"Really?!" Darkness asked with excitement.

"And Kazuto here will do it, so long as you do what he tells you."

"The hell I will!"

"Truly!?"

Wolbach, in Kazuto's thoughts, urged, 'Trust me, this girl could be useful if we can just keep her under control.'

'But…' he argued weakly.

'To her, pain is good.'

'Ah… that doesn't make sense.'

'It's true.' "Red, pinch Darkness."

Megumin did as Wolbach told her and pinched Darkness' arm, causing her to moan with pleasure.

Kazuto gaped in shock.

"Give her a titty twister."

"Her armor's in the way," Kazuto retorted, to which Darkness began undoing her armor. "STOP!"

The others all looked at him.

"… Wh – What…?"

Wolbach sighed heavily.

"What!?" With a sigh he turned to Darkness. "Anyway, we've done our dive into the Dungeon, so come back here tomorrow."

Darkness nodded excitedly. "Right! I will!" She and Chris then left the Guild building.

Aqua groaned in exasperation. "Well that was…"

"Weird," Kazuto grumbled.

Wolbach then asked, "Think she knows how to use the collar, Red?"

Megumin held up a small ring and explained, "It won't activate unless this ring is pointed at it within a certain distance."

Kazuto frowned in concern. "How long's the distance?"

Megumin aimed the ring towards where Darkness and Chris had left before a loud moan floated through the air. "… Farther than that."

"Right…"

"Whoa…" Hestia gasped as she looked over the money Kazuto handed her after dividing up the earnings.

Kazuto chuckled lightly. "There. That should be enough for food for a few days."

Wolbach huffed in annoyance. "We should have stopped at a tavern on the way back."

"Why?"

"You're a sword, you can't even drink," Aqua chided.

"Red. Reasoning."

Megumin explained succinctly, "Taverns are a source of information of goings on outside the city and deeper parts of the Dungeon."

Kazuto gaped slightly. "… You've trained her fast… Anyway, I hadn't thought of that. Then again, we can't just go into any random tavern, it needs to be the right one."

Megumin explained, "Benevolent Mistress serves Adventurers. It's where I heard you were looking for new members to aid in venturing the lands."

"That so? I'll have to check it out. For now, let's focus on trying to get enough money to actually spend there first."

'Seriously?' Wolbach challenged.

'What?'

'You could have me ask Wiz for a few thousand Vals.'

'I can't play my hand on that front just yet. Besides, Wiz worked hard for the money she's earned, I don't want to take it from her just because I'm lazy.'

'… I meant have her go and grab some funds from the one of the vaults in Nazarick.'

'That's too risky. It might tip off the others to who I am.'

Wolbach sighed in exasperation before Hestia spoke up.

"I should check each of your Falnas now."

"Right."

Hestia sighed in relief after updating the Stats of each of the trio. "And status update, done. Most of your Stats went up about ten points. Kazuto, yours went up an average of twenty points, except for your Agility, it went up thirty points."

"Good to know. Thanks, Lady Hestia."

Aqua pouted in disappointment.

Kazuto then blinked in thought. "Oh… um, Lady Hestia, we're probably going to have someone new joining the Familia."

"Really?!" she asked with elation.

"She's a knight with an… unusual quirk."

"Super masochist," Wolbach stated bluntly.

Hestia remained silent in disbelief. "W – Wow…"

Wolbach added, "Red put a collar on her too."

"It's supposed to be for Kazuto to use but he won't take it," Megumin commented.

Kazuto paled and snarled, "Don't put it like that!"

"Like what?"

"It makes it sound like I'm trying to turn her into a pet or something!"

"Pretty sure that'd make her day."

"Your input is not needed!"

"I think it is. I'm one of the smartest people in the room."

Kazuto flopped onto his sofa in exhaustion. "I wanna go back to Japan… There things made sense with the only dangers being the Nova and Savages…"

"Well unfortunately you're stuck here for the time being."

"Don't remind me… I just wonder how my sisters are doing… and if that girl is okay…"

Hestia twitched an eyebrow slightly. "… Sisters…?"

"Yeah."

"I see… Oh, hey, Kazuto, can I ask you something?"

"Sure," he answered plainly.

"On my way back from work, I saw something weird in the sky."

"Oh? How weird?" he asked, reaching for a glass of water.

"A castle floating in the sky."

He sat up instantly in shock. "Where?!"

Hestia shrank back in surprise at his reaction. "Eep! U – Um, to the west I think."

He immediately rushed up out of the room and out of the church.

Aqua gasped in shock. "H – Hey! Kazuto! What's gotten into you!?"

"We should probably follow," Megumin noted.

"Y – Yeah!" Hestia agreed before the three followed after him.

Outside, Kazuto looked around frantically. "West… west… if it was west in the morning… then it would be east now." He turned to face the east of the city and his jaw dropped, his face going white.

"Huh? Kazuto? What's wrong?" Aqua asked as she and the others approached him.

Wolbach whistled in awe. "… Well… That thing has a lot of magic in it."

Aqua blinked in confusion and looked up, seeing, on the horizon, a gigantic, conical castle floating high in the sky on the horizon. "Wow. It's so big."

"What is that?" Megumin wondered.

Wolbach hummed in thought. "I've never seen anything like it. Though the magic in it is powerful. Very powerful."

Kazuto stumbled back in disbelief. "H – How is this… possible? I thought… it was just a game…"

"Hm? Care to elaborate?"

Kazuto shook his head clear and turned to the rest. "U – Uh, right. In my world, there was this game called Sword Art Online, or SAO. It was based inside of a floating castle called Aincrad where the goal was to clear the one hundred floors within it. And… there's no mistaking it. That castle there in the distance is Aincrad."

"Ah. Probably, whoever made that SAO is skilled in Dimensional and Mind Transferal Magic."

"The person who made it was named Akihiko Kayaba. I know he invented the NerveGear, but I didn't think he could do something like that."

"And what is this NerveGear?"

"It's a virtual reality helmet that transfers all of your senses into an avatar that you control by it intercepting the signals of your brain. Do you… understand any of that?"

"I get the basics. So basically, it takes control of your mind away from your body and puts it into a 'fake' body within an environment that supposedly isn't real?"

"I… suppose… put simply."

"That's called Mind Transfer Magic."

"I see… I don't know how Kayaba got it, but maybe you're right." Kazuto's fists clenched tightly. "But… what does that mean for the players? Will any of them realize this is all real?"

"Unless they're forced to do so I doubt it. And the only way to do that is if some God did it." 'But, I do wonder, why do you care, my Lord? They are but mere humans.'

'They are from my world.'

'Hm… I still don't get it. Humans are human no matter where you go. Do you know any of them? Oh, I get it, this is part of your denial. You think saving them will somehow preserve your humanity.'

Kazuto sighed in frustration before the group's attention was pulled away by the sound of stones crumbling nearby.

They turned and saw a girl with long, flowing, knee-length, chestnut brown hair, tied back into a small ponytail by two braids, her fringe parted just above her forehead, ending just over her hazel eyes, wearing a basic red vest over a white tunic that tightly hugged her modest figure, a red, pleated skirt, white tights, and tall, brown, leather boots.

"Ouch…" she muttered as she stepped forward. She then looked ahead and saw Kazuto and the others. "Hey… you're… that boy…"

"Uh…" Kazuto muttered as Aqua laughed. "Hold on, why are you even here? I pushed you out of the way of that tractor…"

She stiffened and laughed weakly. "Yeah… I was so shocked when you died right there, I… didn't see the truck…"

Kazuto paled and collapsed in defeat, Aqua roaring with laughter, though it immediately stopped when the duo glared at her.

"Eek!" she shrieked before hiding behind Megumin, causing the girl to shiver in fear.

Kazuto stood and groaned in frustration. "Great… so what I did was not just pointless but actually caused more harm…"

The brunette stiffened and urged, "H – Hey…! Don't look at it like that…"

"But… You wouldn't have gotten ran over and put in this situation."

"Maybe, but we can't change anything."

"Yeah… Only thing we can do is find a way back home. Anyway, my name's Kazuto Kirigaya, guess it's nice to meet properly."

She nodded in return. "Asuna Yuuki. About getting home, Eris told me the only way is –"

"Kill the Demon King?"

"Yeah…?"

"Yeah… about that…"

Megumin blinked in confusion. "We're going up against the Demon King?"

"No."

"Why?" Aqua asked, irritated.

Kazuto twitched an eyebrow in frustration.

"What?"

"Well… Hestia said she's never heard of one."

"But there is one," Megumin and Wolbach remarked in unison.

"… Not… helping…"

Asuna tilted her head in mild confusion. "This is… odd."

"You have no idea… especially with Aincrad floating in the sky."

"… Hah?"

Kazuto pointed nearby to the castle floating in the horizon.

"Wh – What the…?"

"Yeah. Anyway, there's a reason we're not going after the Demon King."

"Huh?"

"The order to kill the Demon King was given by Aqua and Eris' boss, Zeus. And if you know anything about the Greek mythology, where we know the most of Zeus from, then underhanded tactics and lies are his game. So, to be honest, if it's an order from him I'd rather not follow it. So instead, to get back to Earth I'm going to aim for trying to find a portal of some kind."

Asuna sighed in frustration. "… Ah. Eris did seem a little… out of it. Nice girl though. Still want to beat her for dropping me in such a barren place."

"At least yours didn't laugh at your death…"

"You had a different one?"

Kazuto wordlessly pointed to Aqua.

Asuna gave him a flat look. "Lemme guess, you picked her to come with you?"

"Yeah. Why didn't you pick Eris?"

"Because when Eris mentioned the name of the town I'd be dropped in I remembered it from the SAO lore."

Kazuto remained silent before walking over to a wall and smacking his head against it.

Asuna gaped in disbelief. "You seriously didn't read the SAO lore book!?"

"I was too busy playing the game…"

"It mentioned in the book itself that Aincrad flew above Orario, a town where gods live as men."

Kazuto continued slamming his head against the wall. "If I did, I would have chosen something useful…"

Aqua pouted.

Asuna frowned in worry. "Um… I should probably stop talking now, huh?"

"That'd probable be helpful," Wolbach remarked.

She then looked at Megumin and Aqua. "So… who are they?"

Megumin smirked proudly and began, "I am –"

"No intro," Wolbach interrupted.

"Megumin."

"I prefer to call them Red and Blue."

"I'm Hestia!" the black-haired goddess greeted cheerfully.

Asuna remained silent for a moment. "Um… I know this is a little bit late, but why is that sword talking?"

"Because I'm awesome."

She sighed heavily. "… This world gets dumber and dumber. So, where am I exactly? I just sort of appeared in that pile of rocks over there and have been trying to get my bearings since."

"I said it's Orario," Kazuto reiterated, resulting in Asuna turning her attention to Hestia.

"This is a church between West Main and Northwest Main."

Asuna nodded in appreciation. "And where would I find a guild of some kind?"

"West Main."

Kazuto chimed in, "There's a fee to join if you're not in a Familia. If you want you can join ours."

Asuna shook her head with a smile. "No, that's okay. I think it'd be best if I join a different one. It'd be easier for us to find a way home too."

"Ah… right."

"I'll see you around."

"Right, Asuna."

Shortly after she left, Megumin approached Kazuto. "Kazuto, before we head for the Dungeon, I want to practice my Explosion again."

The teen put a hand on his chin in thought. "Okay, just try not to overdo it this time. Personally it'd probably be best to wait until after our dive into the Dungeon."

Megumin pouted in disappointment.

"Do you really want to run the risk of Mind Down in the Dungeon?"

"… Fine."

"Good to hear."

Kazuto sat in the Guild's waiting hall silently as Megumin and Aqua got the latest report on the Dungeon from the representatives.

"Good, you're here," Darkness alerted as she and Chris walked up to him.

"Ah, hey, Darkness." Kazuto frowned in thought as he looked at the duo. 'I could use a stealing skill…' "Hey, mind if I ask you something, Chris?"

Chris smirked and retorted, "Want to learn one of my Skills?"

Kazuto was silently surprised.

Chris snickered in mild amusement. "I saw it on your face. And I don't mind, they're easy to use and don't take much Aura to learn."

"Thanks."

"Right, I'll do it for the cost of a drink."

"I can do that."

Shortly later, the trio walked to an alleyway outside the Guild.

Chris explained, "Okay, there are three main Skills a thief uses. Enemy Detection, Lurk, and Steal."

'Don't you already know all of that, my Lord?' Wolbach questioned.

'Obviously,' Kazuto retorted. 'But I don't know those abilities in this world.'

'All you need to do is find Nazarick.'

'That's assuming it exists here.'

"You ready?" Chris interjected.

"Yes."

Chris nodded in acceptance. "To do Enemy Detection, focus your mana around yourself and surge it out, waiting for it to bounce back."

"Right… How do I do that?"

Wolbach remained silent in confusion. 'Don't you –?'

'I don't know how to access my mana using a real body, only within Yggdrasil, and the character in the game has mana access by default.'

'Right…'

Chris sighed in exasperation. "… Oh boy. You don't know how to use your mana at all?"

Kazuto nodded. "I grew up in a place where we didn't think mana even existed. Until a few days ago I didn't even think gods existed."

"… Oh dear…"

"Yeah…" Wolbach noted.

Chris sighed in frustration. "I see… well I guess back to basics then." She then reached into one of her pockets and pulled out a translucent blue crystal. "I'll give you this free of charge."

"What is it?" Kazuto wondered.

"It's a special gem, made from Magic Stones. It responds to mana. If you focus on it, it'll draw your mana out. Basically, it'll help you access it, but that's all. If you want to do any more than that you'll need to find someone who actually knows some magic."

"Yo," Wolbach piped up.

"An enchanted sword? That should do. Think you can teach this kid to do a little magic?"

The sword grumbled silently. 'If only you knew.' "It would be my pleasure, Little Goddess."

Chris stiffened in shock.

"Something the matter, Little Goddess?"

"I – I don't know what you're talking about…" Chris sputtered.

"Rriigghhtt, no-name Goddess."

Darkness looked at Chris in confusion. "Huh?"

"N – Nothing! Ignore her!"

"Okay?"

Chris sighed and then turned back to Kazuto. "Guess I'll have to stick around for a little bit until you've got enough mana control to learn these Skills."

"Thanks," Kazuto added.

"I won't be joining your Familia, but I will join your party for the time being."

"Subtle…" Wolbach remarked.

"Huh?" Kazuto questioned.

"You don't realize –" Wolbach started before Chris flicked a pebble at her. "Oy!"

Chris then turned her attention to Kazuto. "So, where are ya staying? And I assume Darkness here is in?"

"A ratty, crumbling church that belonged to Aqua, the two-bit goddess."

Chris stiffened and Kazuto noticed what seemed to be a strong desire to shout, though she ended up just sighing heavily.

Wolbach merely snickered in amusement.

Kazuto sighed and then turned to Chris directly. "Want us to show you to it first or go to the Dungeon first?"

Chris shrugged nonchalantly. "The Dungeon's not going anywhere, so why don't you show us to your place first?"

"Right."

The group, now including Megumin and Aqua, returned to the church.

Wolbach proudly declared, "Behold! The crumbling ruin of Aqua!"

"Shut up you stupid sword!" Aqua shrieked.

Chris gaped slightly in shock. "Wow… just… wow…"

Wolbach snickered in amusement. "Try and make me. I wanna see how bad you flop."

Darkness gulped as she looked at the crumbling structure. "This is so dark and worn down… it makes me wonder if any monsters will jump out and –"

"Boo!" Megumin shouted, startling the blonde.

"Kya!" she shrieked before drawing her sword and swinging it at Megumin, who was mere centimeters from her, her blade missing entirely.

Everyone remained silent in shock.

"… You suck!"

Chris gaped slightly. "I – I knew she was… I just didn't know it was this bad…"

"… Then you need to get out more than the blue NEET."

Aqua snarled and griped, "Hey! I am not a NEET!" She then pointed at Kazuto. "He is!"

"I go to school," Kazuto retorted. "What's your excuse?"

Everyone simply remained silent before Wolbach groaned in annoyance. "Okay, bored now. Red."

Megumin pointed the ring at Darkness, causing electricity to burst through her body, making her moan.

Kazuto swiftly took the ring from the girl. "That's enough of that."

Wolbach hummed in approval. "Good. Now you will do her," she stated, to which Kazuto slammed her into her sheath roughly. "Ouch! Jeez! Treat a woman better!"

Kazuto sighed in annoyance. "Come on, let's just go inside."

After the entered the church and went to the hidden back room, Chris did her best to hide behind Darkness.

Hestia noticed her hiding behind the blonde but couldn't see her. "Hm? Why's there someone hiding behind her?"

Kazuto shrugged before changing the subject. "Dunno. Anyway, this is Darkness, she wants to join our Familia."

Hestia widened her eyes with excitement. "Great!"

Chris slinked away slowly and noted, "I – I'll go wait outside."

Kazuto nodded in agreement. "Me too."

Outside the church, after several moments of silence, Kazuto turned to Chris. "So, why are you here?"

"H – Huh?" she wondered in confusion.

Kazuto smirked slightly. "You think I wouldn't recognize you from when Aqua and I were sent here?"

"You know this no-name goddess?" Wolbach wondered.

He put a hand on his chin. "What was your name? Oh, right, Eris."

"Hm… must be a small-time deity. Good. Means you haven't committed any atrocities."

The girl sighed in exasperation. "How'd you know?"

"Your face. You're too cute to forget."

Chris' face turned red as she looked away slightly.

"So, why are you here?"

"I just wanted to check on how Aqua-Senpai is doing," she explained simply.

Kazuto sighed in exasperation. "As you can see, poorly."

Chris frowned in bewilderment. "Which is rather confusing, she always seemed so powerful while we were in Valhalla."

He remained silent for a moment, waiting for the punchline. "… Seriously? Comparing that with the useless girl I'm stuck with… Does not make any sense."

"I see…"

Wolbach remarked, "She's not completely useless. She makes good bait."

Chris pouted in frustration. "… You're mean…"

"And you're too nice for your own good. You're standing up and getting angry for useless, two-bit goddess that'd probably betray you if it meant she could get her job back."

Chris gasped in disbelief. "Th – That's not true!"

"Oh? And why do you say that?"

"I – I mean… I know Aqua-Senpai isn't the nicest person. But she's not a bad person."

"If someone told her Kazuto's the Demon King she'd stab him in his sleep."

Chris paled in disbelief. "… N – No… that's not Aqua-Senpai…"

Kazuto sighed and stowed Excalibur before turning back to Chris. "Okay, let's start from here. When's the last time you actually saw her?"

"Before she was stuck in Purgatory."

"Which was when?"

"Eleven thousand years ago."

"… Meaning you know nothing about how she is now."

"I… I guess so…" she noted with a deep frown.

And thus concludes the second chapter of the story. I hope you all enjoyed it, be sure to leave it a review if you did. If you were confused, unsure, or had questions about anything be sure to leave those as reviews as well and I will do what I can within certain limits; just understand that I cannot give out spoilers within (i.e. future events, revealing surprises, and things like that) a reviewer response, so if those are your question a PM will get you better results. If you did not enjoy the chapter, review if you must, I welcome criticism, but do try to keep it civil and cogent. Anyway, I do not have anything else to add here, so, until the next chapter, bye-bye!