"S-so this is the Dungeon?" Iris gulped. "It's a bit... overwhelming."
Sasuke shrugged. "You get used to it." He was leading the way, looking for a spacious area for Iris to fight.
It was the following day, and the two adventurers were on the first floor looking for monsters. Iris woke up bright and early today due to a mixture of nervousness and excitement. She was already prepped to go when Miach came down to prepare breakfast and Sasuke had returned from training Bell.
Naaza was still asleep in her room and would take a while for her to wake up. So after finishing their breakfast, Sasuke and Iris headed straight for the Dungeon. On the way, Sasuke was giving her the rundown on how the Dungeon works as well as the unwritten rules in place.
Stay away from other parties in the Dungeon.
Don't plunder the dead.
Don't steal someone else's prey.
Once they made their way inside, Sasuke began leading her to an open spot where she could safely fight monsters without anyone else interfering. The first floor is always littered with newbies along with other adventurers who can no longer go further down.
"This area should do," Sasuke said, seeing an empty space no one was using. It is also a fair distance from where other adventurers are, so there's no chance of someone bothering them. "Iris, step forward and draw your weapons."
Iris jolted into action at Sasuke's commanding voice. She tentatively took a couple of steps forward as she took out her sword and shield and then waited. Perhaps it was due to her inexperience as a fresh adventurer, but she was slightly doubting her Vice-Captain's orders because there weren't any monsters in the area.
But as soon as she finished that though she heard the sound of something cracking from the nearby walls. Nervous, she turned back to look at Sasuke for reassurance. She saw her Vice-Captain staring at the wall with the crack, but she noticed that his onyx eye was now red.
Before she could ask about that, Sasuke spoke up, "Eyes up front, Iris. Never take your eyes off the enemy."
Her head snapped back to face the cracks. She could see something coming out of it.
It was monsters.
The Dungeon. An unknown existence that has existed for as long as the history books kept record of it. It was the source of many tragedies in the past before the Gods descended. It was also the mother of all the monsters that currently roam the surface.
Even the One-Eyed Black Dragon.
And right now, Iris is witnessing for the first time how a monster is born into this world.
She felt her heart beating as she saw the glowing red eyes of the goblin looking straight at her. Her body began to shake as fear began settling in. Her mind going through the motions of what ifs. Like, what if the monster attacked her, or what if she was killed by it?
A firm hand grasps her should.
"Calm down, Iris," Sasuke whispered into her ear. "There's no need to be afraid. With the blessing of the God Miach engraved on your back, you are given the ability to fight that monster. You don't need to fear it. You must only believe."
Suddenly, Iris' fears began disappearing once she heard her Vice-Captain's words. So much so that it was enough for her to focus again. Seeing this, Sasuke nodded his head and took a step back, giving Iris room to fight the goblin. "Be brave, Iris. Don't forget what I told you yesterday."
Iris took a deep breath, remembering the brutal lessons her Vice-Captain imparted to her. A firm grasp on her weapon. The shield raised covering her chest, and her blade poised to strike down her enemies.
The goblin who was watching the proceedings seemingly had enough of waiting and charged straight ahead. It ran straight for Iris with reckless abandon with the intention of taking her life. But the girl was not afraid. The words of her Vice-Captain gave her the strength to fight.
She blocked the goblin's charge with her shield, the impact made her knees buckle, pushing her back slightly, but she powered through and pushed the goblin back sending it crashing back into the ground.
The goblin screeched in pain as it tried getting back up, but Iris' sword put a stop to that. She saw an opportunity and attacked the goblin with her sword. She slashed her sword on its stomach before finishing it off by stabbing the head.
Iris breathed heavily as she pulled out the sword from the goblin's body, which turned into black smoke, leaving nothing behind. She had done it. She killed her first monster. A smile spread across her face as she turned and ran to Sasuke.
"Sasuke! Look! Look! I did it!" Iris excitedly exclaimed, momentarily forgetting that she called him by his name.
Sasuke chuckled, not minding it at all. "I did. Congratulations, Iris."
Iris beamed, delighted that she was praised. After that, the two began looking for more monsters on the first floor. Iris still listened to Sasuke's orders whenever he would give them, but was left to deal with all the monsters they encountered.
With every monster she slayed, her confidence grew bit by bit. To the point that she was no longer hesitating when facing against them. She only had trouble when she was dealing with groups of monsters, but that was quickly dealt with by Sasuke cutting down their numbers to make it easier for Iris to fight.
Sasuke watched as the girl's movements turned from hesitatingly stiff to confidently fluid over the course of a few hours. Though it seemed normal at first glance for her to gain this much confidence in such a short amount of time, the truth is that Sasuke actually implanted a hypnotic suggestion in her mind when he first placed his hand on her shoulder.
It was genjutsu based on Itachi's Ephemeral, his famous finger-pointing genjutsu. He copied it and then modified it turning it into an auditory genjutsu instead. He implanted the suggestion of 'be courageous' in her mind which helped her get over her panicked state. The genjutsu is still active and he'll probably just leave for the entire day seeing Iris is still fighting.
"Hyah! Hah! Hyah!"
And judging from the sound Iris was making she seemed to be handling her newfound courage well. Sasuke watched as Iris was now taking down small groups of goblins with ease. His training had worked wonders on the girl. She may come to hate him later on, but like he said yesterday, it was for her own good.
"HAH!" Iris finished off the last of the goblins. She was feeling pretty winded from fighting monsters nonstop now. The moment she took down her first goblin it was as if she was possessed by something. A high she couldn't shake off. The next thing she knew she was fighting goblins left and right, only stopping when Sasuke called out to her telling her to take a quick break.
Wiping off the sweat that accumulated on her face she looked back to see Sasuke was calling out to her. "What is it, Vice-Captain?"
"I think it's time for us to head back."
"What? Already?" She whined, disappointed. Akin to like a child being told to go home after playing around for too long.
Sasuke raised a brow, "You saw already but it's already noon, Iris."
They left for the Dungeon at seven in the morning, just after breakfast, they've been down here for almost eight hours now and she hadn't noticed.
"Wait, really?!" Iris was surprised, she didn't feel like much time had passed.
"Yes, really," Sasuke said, motioning for her to follow him.
As the two began making their way to the surface, Sasuke decided to make some small talk. "So, how was it? Having a taste of what it's like being an adventurer for the first time?"
"Um, it was a lot different than what I first expected it to be," Iris confessed, a slightly embarrassed look on her face. "I thought it would have been a lot easier if I'm being honest. And I wasn't expecting harsh training on the first day."
"Well, you can't say it didn't help you today."
Iris nodded, smiling at him. "Yes. It's true, if it wasn't for those lessons you gave me I probably would have a much more difficult time adjusting and fighting monsters." She then looked at her sword. "It didn't occur to me that I didn't really know how to fight after today. I guess that was really shortsighted of me, huh?"
"So long as you realize and learn from it then all is fine," Sasuke said before he let out a hum. "So, how are you feeling right now? After all that fighting do you think you can still fight monsters if I wasn't here?"
"U-Um, truth be told. I'd prefer it if you were here with me," Iris blushed, scratching her cheek before mumbling. "Since your presence makes me feel safe."
Sasuke pretended to not hear the last part. "I see. Well, to be honest, I don't like babysitting people, since I feel like there's much more better things I could be doing with my time." Sasuke said, causing Iris' ears to droop down and her shoulders to sag. "I'm also the one who's responsible for gathering large amounts of funds and high-level Drop Items from the lower floors so I don't really have the time to accompany you even if I wanted to."
"Eh? The lower floors?!" Iris exclaimed in shock. "But aren't you a Level 1 like me, Vice-Captain?"
Sasuke sighed, "While I may be a Level 1, my abilities are more than enough for me to handle the lower floors. Trust me, that's all you need to know." Sasuke said before chuckling at Iris' pouting face.
"Mou~ The Vice-Captain is keeping secrets from me."
"Obviously. You just joined after all. Even if we are a Familia now we all have a secret or two." Iris wasn't pleased with his answer and continued to pout. "Well enough of that, how about we head home now? It's a little late but Miach probably cooked us some lunch."
The two made it back home to see Miach re-stocking the shelves with potions and other products.
"Ah. Sasuke. Iris. Welcome back," Miach smiled and greeted the two before focusing on Iris. "How was your trip down in the Dungeon, Iris?"
"It went great, Lord Miach," Iris politely said. "I managed to fight off the monsters all my own now. The Vice-Captain didn't even need to help."
'Such utter lies,' Sasuke rolled his eyes.
"That's great, Iris," Miach praised her. "I'm proud of you."
"Thank you!"
The two continued to chat while Sasuke decided to go upstairs to change out of his clothes. He liked his poncho but it tends to get in the way most of the time. He should probably consider buying a proper cloak if he doesn't plan on regenerating his arm anytime soon.
"Ah, Sasuke! Do you mind waking up Naaza? She hasn't woken up yet." Miach called out to Sasuke as he was going up the stairs.
"Okay!" Sasuke replied, continuing his ascent to his room.
After changing into a much more comfortable set of clothes he went up to Naaza's room. Knocking on her door he called out to her but got no reply, this continued four more times until he decided to just enter her room.
"Captain, I'm coming in," Sasuke said as he entered her room. It was a mess. A majority of the Drop Items he collected for her were littered all over the floor. Looking around he spotted Naaza slouched down on her desk, still asleep. He approached her, making sure to avoid stepping on the Drop Items on the way. "Captain, wake up." Nothing. "Captain, it's time for lunch." Still nothing.
Quickly getting tired of this he grabbed her shoulder and started gently shaking her. "Captain, wake up. You missed breakfast and lunch. You need to wake up and eat something!"
That seemed to do the trick as Naaza let out an annoyed groan. A frown etched on her face as her she glared at the person who woke her up. "...Sasuke?" She groggily asked, her voice deep from just having woken up.
"Yes, it's me." Sasuke sighed in relief. He then helped her sit upright. "Miach is calling for you. Let's head downstairs."
Seeing what he was doing Naaza quickly called out to him. "W-Wait."
Naaza's protest where too late. Since she just woke she was too tired and thus unable to stop Sasuke. At first, he didn't understand why Naaza would protest but a second later revealed why.
Nazaa was in her underwear.
"..."
"..."
"...I can explain."
Sasuke carefully took a step with his hand raised looking like he committed an atrocious crime. A bead of sweat slid down his face, worried that he might have done an act of sexual harassment on his Captain. Never in his life, had he thought of ever encountering a scenario such as this.
'This is something you'd see straight out of anime!' Sasuke grimaced before realizing that he was indeed in an anime world. 'Oh. That's right. I forgor.'
Silence permeated the room as a heavy feeling of awkwardness could be felt between the two. Sasuke decided to speak up. "Can you please explain why you are in your underwear? No, actually, you slept in your underwear. Are you feeling alright? Did you catch a cold?" Sasuke's worries overrode his feeling of embarrassment and approached Naaza again, this time checking her temperature by placing a hand on her forehead. "You seem fine, but it's best to cover yourself up first." Sasuke grabbed a nearby blanket and draped it over her.
"...thanks." Naaza accepted the blanket, quickly covering herself. She was embarrassed that she was seen like this, by a guy no less.
"So why are you in your underwear, Captain?" Sasuke asked, now that she's mostly covered.
"I was actually planning on going to sleep right after taking a bath, but then," Naaza flushed, embarrassment flooded her voice. "But then I suddenly had an idea that I couldn't shake off when I was bathing." Her head hanging low. "I got out of the bath and I just put on my underwear and started working again."
'Shower thoughts?' Sasuke thought. 'Well, I guess it would be bath thoughts instead. I guess that happens here too, huh?'
While Naaza was wallowing in her embarrassment, Sasuke took note of the many notes that littered her desk. He activated his Sharingan and quickly skimmed through them all, and he was surprised by what he saw.
Most, if not all of them were recipes for brand new potions. Ranging from being able to heal wounds faster, increasing the effect of mending bones, granting poison resistance for a short period of time, to even helping recover blood loss. All off these were like straight out of an RPG.
"This is amazing, Naaza," Sasuke complimented as he looked at all of her notes. She's even taking a look at the Pills he gave her and was working on making a slightly weaker version of it. "You're amazing, I've never seen this much variety before. I don't think Dian Cecht has half of what you've come up with in their shop."
Seriously, she could give Sakura a run for her money with all of these potions.
Naaza blushed at Sasuke's genuine compliment. "Thanks. It's really all thanks to you though." Sasuke looked at her with a raised brow before explaining, "It's because you've been gathering all of those Drop Items that would be impossible for me to get my hands on." She pointed to the ones in her room. "Along with bringing in money for the Familia, I feel a lot less stressed than I used to, giving me more time to do things that I want again." She looked at Sasuke, her eyes gleaming with gratitude as a small yet gentle smile formed on her face.
"I'm glad you're here, Sasuke."
Wow.
Sasuke quickly turned away, hiding the blush that was creeping on his face. He won't lie, Naaza looked beautiful just now. Despite his cool-headed nature, Sasuke was still a man. He wasn't that immune to the charms of a beautiful woman. It was difficult to maintain one's composure in the face of such genuine feelings.
Naaza watched as Sasuke turned her back towards her. "If you're awake now, then get dressed and join us downstairs," He then quickly exited her room.
However, once he was gone, Naaza slammed her face down on her desk. Her usual stoic face was steaming red as the embarrassment from the entire situation finally caught up to her. From Sasuke seeing her messy room, to seeing her practically naked. Then saying all those things to his face.
"I can't believe I said that," Naaza groaned, cringing her own words towards Sasuke. Unknown to the Vice-Captain, she actually spotted the blush on his face just as he turned away, which made her feel super self-conscious.
She didn't have any feelings for the guy. That much she can say with absolute confidence, but it was still embarrassing having a heart-to-heart with him in her undies.
She groaned as she got up to get dressed, desperately trying to ignore the rapid beating of her heart.
Once everyone was present in the dining room they proceeded to have lunch. A meek Naaza would occasionally sneak glances at Sasuke who appeared to be back to his normal self again. Iris was gushing to Naaza about her time in the Dungeon which helped distract her from what happened earlier. When everyone was finished, Miach notified everyone that he'd be attending a party held by Ganesha tomorrow night.
"How long will you be gone?" Sasuke asked, drinking his tomato juice. "Will one of us have to wait for you or pick you up?"
Miach waved his hand, "That won't be necessary. The party will most likely be held until late at night. None of you need to wait up for me."
"Well, just be careful, okay," Naaza said as she took everyone's dishes. It was her turn to wash them, and also as a punishment for sleeping in again.
"Now before I forget, Iris, how about I update your status?" Miach said getting up. Iris enthusiastically agreed, excited to see her progress. They both left, heading to Miach's office leaving Sasuke and Naaza alone together.
They said nothing as Naaza continued to wash the dishes while Sasuke was drinking his tomato juice while reading a book he previously bought. The two said nothing as the only sound to permeate the kitchen was the sound of running water from the sink.
'He's... not saying anything,' Naaza nervously thought, peeking behind her to see Sasuke calmly reading his book. 'Why isn't he saying anything?'
"You don't need to worry."
Naaza jumped when Sasuke suddenly spoke, she turned her head to see that he was now looking right at her.
"W-What do you mean?" Naaza asked, nervousness palpable.
"I mean about earlier today," Sasuke clarified, much to her rising embarrassment. "I'll forget everything I saw. So don't worry."
"O-Oh... so that's what you meant..."
Sasuke raised a brow when he noticed the tone of her voice. A mischievous smirk appeared on his face. "Are you disappointed, Captain?"
"What? No! That's not what I meant!" Naaza said, fighting off the blush on her face. Sighing, she finished washing the dishes and came back to sit next to him. "I was just thinking that I guess I was the only one who was embarrassed in that situation." She sighed. She didn't even know why she felt that way.
"Ah, well, I think I understand," Sasuke said, his smirk disappearing. He instead returned his attention back to his book. "You were hoping I could relate to the situation but was surprised by how fast I recovered and got over it, making you feel immature for still dwelling on the matter. Correct?
"That is... scarily accurate, Sasuke," Naaza sweat dropped, a little freaked out at his accurate analysis.
Sasuke just shrugged, "It comes with being a Shinobi."
Naaza just stared at him for a while before she started giggling then turning into a full-blown laugh. Sasuke was also smiling behind his book. The atmosphere turns lighter by the second.
"Hahaha. Now I feel so stupid for worrying." Naaza wiped a tear from her eye.
"It is what it is."
"Yeah, I guess it is. I'll be using that phrase from now on," Naaza smiled, her mood brighter now. She looked down at her hands as she recalled a time long before, when she and the Miach Familia was still whole. "Sasuke, I have a favor to ask."
Sensing the seriousness in her voice, he put down his book and gave her his full attention. "What is it, Captain?"
She swallowed, balling her fist as she tried to get the words out. Sasuke noticed and simply waited. She took a deep breath and looked him in the eye, "Can you... help me get o-"
"KYAAH!"
Naaza was interrupted when a squeal of joy could be heard from upstairs followed by rapid footsteps getting closer and closer. Suddenly, Iris came dashing into the dining room holding out her Status Sheet.
"Captain! Sasuke! Look! I got a Skill! I got a Skill!" Iris was jumping for joy as she showed off her Status to both of them. Miach had followed Iris at a sedated pace with a smile on his face.
"A Skill just after your first day?" Naaza was the first to approach her, taking the Status Sheet from her hands and giving it a look.
"I've heard the acquisition of a Skill is exceedingly rare," Sasuke commented, standing beside Naaza to see as well. "You seem to be quite lucky Iris-!"
Sasuke's eyes widened along with a surprised look on his face when he saw her Skill.
0-0-0
Iris Bennett
Level 1
Strength: I13
Vitality: I16
Dexterity: I10
Agility: I19
Magic: I0
Magic:
Skill:
Light of the Courageous: Increases Parameters the more courageous the user becomes. Resistance against Negative Mental Effects.
0-0-0
'Wait a minute. Isn't this the effect of the genjutsu I placed on her?'
Sasuke quickly looked at Iris, who was wearing a proud smile on her face, and noticed that he indeed forgot to cancel the effects of the genjutsu he placed on her earlier in the Dungeon.
"Wow. Iris, this Skill looks strong," Naaza commented, looking at her junior with an astonished look.
"Hehe~ I know right?"
'Shit, no wondering she wasn't acting like her usual shy self, I thought something was up.' Sasuke discreetly made a hand sign, releasing the effects of the genjutsu. "Kai!"
Iris then stumbled in place, touching her head as if all the energy she had suddenly disappeared. "Woah, I guess the excitement got to me. I'm feeling a little tired."
"If that's the case then you head up to your room and rest," Sasuke placed a hand on her shoulder and directed her towards the stairs. "You may have pushed yourself a bit too much in the Dungeon without knowing it."
"A-Ah. Yes!" Iris stuttered, a little embarrassed. Seeing this Sasuke quietly let out a sigh of relief. His act of helping Iris get over her fears had given him an unexpected result. He didn't even know that was a thing. With how subtle the genjutsu was he didn't expect the Falna to translate the effects into a Skill.
But this was by no means a bad thing. In fact, this is great information to have, the ability to produce Skill by subtly influencing the mind is invaluable to have. He'll have to conduct more research on this in the future though to see how this affects people or if this was just a one-time fluke.
"To think that she's gotten a Skill on her first day," Miach walked up to them with a smile on his face. "This calls for a celebration!" His eyes twinkled in delight as he stared at his two children.
"Another celebration?" Naaza asked, exasperated. They just had a small feast celebrating Iris joining last night, and now Miach wants to have another one?
"Of course, this is a monumental achievement after all," Miach turned to Naaza with a soft smile. "We also celebrated when you reached Level 2 remember?"
Naaza blushed. She did remember that. Back then when the Miach Familia still had members she reached Level 2 after six years. She remembered Miach making a big deal about it as she along with a massive amount of members celebrated that day.
She didn't have feelings for her God back then, but she couldn't help but recall the feeling of pride she had at that moment.
"...alright. What do you have in mind?"
Naaza relented, embarrassed having to be convinced by remembering the past. She and Sasuke watched as Miach thought about what to do for Iris' celebration.
Seeing as Miach is taking his sweet time, Sasuke decided to offer a suggestion. "How about eating at the Hostess again?" Miach and Naaza looked at Sasuke with a surprised look, they didn't expect him to want to go back to that place with the nosy waitress.
"Are you sure, Sasuke?" Naaza asked, wondering if he was truly alright with it.
Sasuke just shrugged, "The food is good."
Miach and Naaza looked at each other and then shrugged their shoulders. If Sasuke was okay with it then there's no need to hesitate. Miach left to inform Iris that they'll be eating out for dinner. Sasuke was about to leave too when he remembered that Naaza was about to ask him something.
"Captain, what was it you were going to ask me?"
Naaza stopped in her step, hesitating for a moment before shaking her head. "It's nothing. We can talk about it some other time." She said before she headed upstairs.
Sasuke wanted to argue but now wasn't the time. What Naaza was going to ask was without a doubt a touchy subject, it'd be best not to force it and just let it happen.
The quartet left for the Hostess and as they approached they noticed a familiar stoic elf setting up a sign outside. The elf noticed their approach and greeted them with a professional bow.
"Welcome to the Hostess of Fertility, will you all be dining in tonight?"
Miach nodded, "Yes. Do you have room for a group of four?"
"Of course," The elf bowed once more before leading them inside. "Now serving a party of four!" She yelled out, alerting the staff of the arrival of new customers before leading them to their table.
The group was served some refreshments before placing their orders. Miach and Sasuke glanced at each other before glancing at Naaza, who was taking her time picking her meal again. With a subtle nod, they ordered a slightly larger portion once again.
"The meals here are delicious Iris so don't be afraid and pick anything you like," Miach said, noticing that Iris was being hesitant as she looked at the menu and their prices.
"O-Okay! Then may I please have the vegetable salad?"
As everyone placed their orders they all began to chat amongst themselves. Except for Sasuke, the raven-haired man was silently drinking a cup of water, barely participating in the conversation. Then again this was simply his normal behavior.
But that wasn't the reason why he's staying silent.
'The gaze is getting more intense by the second,' Sasuke thought as he used the reflection of his glass cup to see the person who had their eyes on him. 'That silver-haired waitress, Syr Flova, was it? She seems to be excited about seeing me,' He recalled how she introduced herself to him and him only. He didn't think too much of it at first, reasoning that she was just like all the other girls who would fawn over him, thus resulting in him willfully ignoring her existence for the time being.
'But why does she feel different from before?' Sasuke recalled the details of the day he first met her. 'Much like all the people I meet I unconsciously memorized her Chakra pattern, it was perfectly solid. Resolute. Not something you would expect from a civilian.' Sasuke noted that the gaze on him disappeared as he felt a familiar at the entrance of the tavern. He noticed that the girl suddenly made her way there, probably to greet the customer. 'So why? Why does her Chakra feel so... hazy? It wasn't like that the last time he was here.'
It feels like an illusion. The once solid Chakra in her body felt fake, like it was some sort of mockery of the real deal. How is that possible? Is Syr perhaps an artificial creation? A homunculus? No, even artificail creation would feel like real people and his gut is telling him that wasn't the case. Is it a Skill? He knows that some of the waitresses here were former adventurers from the tiny amount of Arcanum he's feeling from their Falna. He also detectec faint traces of Arcanum on her. Maybe she has a Skill that's causing this? He wouldn't be surprised. From what he gathered, Skills are rather plain and simple in their effects.
Distracted with these thoughts Sasuke didn't notice a familiar head of white hair entered the tavern until they called out to him.
"Sensei?"
Sasuke blinked, only one person had been consistently calling him that. He looked up to see a surprised Bell staring at him with Syr standing right next to him looking very pleased with this situation.
"You don't have to call me that when we're not training, Bell," Sasuke said, sighing. Bell covered his mouth, abashed that it slipped out.
"Bell? Is that you?" Miach was next to notice him. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, Lord Miach! Um, I was invited by Syr," Bell gestured to the waitress.
"I see! Well, let's not keep you any further. Enjoy yourself, Bell!" Miach bid Bell farewell. Bell bowed before Syr led him to one of the spots in front of the counter.
But Sasuke didn't miss the little twinkle in Syr's eyes when Bell recognized him.
"So that boy was Bell?" Iris asked as she watched the boy leave.
Naaza nodded. "Yep. He's a regular like I said before, though he only comes by every now and then." Naaza then smiled as she leaned over to Iris. "He's also pretty weak to girls. So if he comes by to our store be sure to... flatter him with words. Maybe then he'll buy more potions."
"Please don't take advantage of the poor boy's weakness to women, Captain," Sasuke deadpanned. Naaza simply rolled her eyes in amusement, laughing lightly.
Soon after the stoic elf came back carrying their orders. Skillfully balancing them in her arms.
"Here are your orders." She placed them down one by one before standing back up. "Is there anything else that you need?"
Sasuke noticed a rowdy bunch of adventurers seated next to them being loud and pushing each other.
"No, I think that's enough. Thank you." Miach shook his head. The waitress bowed her head, but at the same time, those rowdy adventurers managed to shove one of their friends on the way to the waitress's back.
Without even thinking, Sasuke grabbed the elf waitress's hand, greatly surprising her, and pulled her close to him before the adventurer could collide with her. He then raised his foot and stopped the man from crashing onto their table before kicking him back to his table where his friends watched as he crashed onto their table instead.
The group was shocked to see their friend on the ground along with their food. The adventurer and his two other friends looked up in anger towards Sasuke's direction but that anger soon turned into trepidation as the raven-haired man glared at them.
"Behave or get lost." He let out a tiny bit of killing intent. That seemed to do the trick as the group scrambled, picking up their fallen friend before leaving the tavern.
Sasuke huffed. They were complete pushovers. Didn't even try to fight back. He only let out the tiniest killing intent and they ran with their tails between their legs.
"Um, excuse me," Sasuke looked when the waitress he saved called out to him. He looked to see that the elven waitress was looking at him in surprise before glancing at her hand that he was still holding.
Sasuke immediately let go of her. "Sorry, about that. They were about to crash into you," His explanation was met with silence as the elf waitress was looking at her hand. The one he just grabbed. He was confused for a moment before remembering one fact about the elves in this world.
They hated being touched by non-elves.
Elves were like, Mega Racist... or something.
Sasuke lightly bowed his head, "Apologies for suddenly touching you without your permission, as I said earlier they were about the crash into you and my body moved on its own before my mind could catch up."
The elf was brought out of her thoughts when she saw Sasuke bowing, "It's alright, I understand." She saw him peeking at her. She took this time to observe him, the man who managed to touch her without eliciting a feeling of disgust. "Please don't mind it."
"I see, that's good to hear," Sasuke let out a quiet sigh of relief. "Sorry again, Miss..."
"Ryuu. Ryuu Lion." The elven waitress, Ryuu, introduced herself with a polite bow.
"Sasuke Uchiha," Sasuke returned the gesture with a nod of his head.
With one last bow Ryuu left only shooting one last glance towards Sasuke before helping out her fellow waitresses clean up the mess... he technically made.
Sasuke quietly grimaced as he watched to poor girls pick up the food off the floor along with cleaning the table and chairs that got messy during the whole process.
"Wow. You're a natural playboy aren't you, Sasuke?" Naaza drawled out, making Sasuke turn to her with a raised brow.
"How did that one interaction with her make me look like a playboy?"
"You didn't see it like we did, Sasuke, but the waitress had this look in her eye when you grabbed her hand," Naaza said, making a grasping motion with her hand.
"A look of disgust?" Sasuke asked, already fearing to hear the answer.
Naaza gave him a sly as she leaned on the table, a hand placed on her cheek, "A look of pure interest~" She giggled at the pale look Sasuke had. He sighed, rubbing his face.
"Not again," Sasuke groaned. "I swear I'm not doing this on purpose."
Seeing Sasuke like this Naaza continued to giggle, savoring this moment. Call it payback for making her the only one to feel embarrassed earlier today.
Seeing the situation Miach decided to change the topic, "Still, it was surprising that she wasn't mad that you touched her, Sasuke.
Iris, seeing the opportunity to save her Vice-Captain from further embarrassment, jumped in, "That's right! I heard that elves were particularly picky about who can touch them."
Naaza joined in before anyone else could comment, "But she was really okay with you, Sasuke. I think she even liked it."
"Uwah! Captain, please stop teasing the Vice-Captain!" Iris pleased.
"It's fine. Let her have her fun," Sasuke said, having fully recovered. "She needs it after what happened earlier today."
Naaza was confused by what he meant at first before she remembered making her face flush with embarrassment as Sasuke sent her a challenging smirk.
Miach looked between his children, confused, "Earlier today? Oh! Do you mean when you went to wake up Naaza, Sasuke?" He looked to his second child, Sasuke nodded his head as he sent his smirk Naaza's way.
"She was doing some research again and fell asleep on her desk. So she's really tired today," Sasuke's smirk turned a tad more vicious. "Although, I wouldn't mind seeing her like that again."
Naaza's face went nuclear red as an embarrassed glare fierce enough to burn anything if it was possible was directed towards Sasuke. She was steaming with both anger and embarrassment and started kicking his legs underneath the table.
Sasuke was unperturbed and simply reinforced his legs with more Chakra, "Playing footsies now, Captain? Unfortunately, I'm not in the mood, maybe later when we get back home?"
The kicking got harder.
Miach sighed, seeing that his two children quarreling like actual children was not something he expected he'd ever see. Especially since he knew that his children weren't the type to do these kinds of things. Naaza was mostly apathetic towards most things so seeing her react with such emotion like this was a novel experience that reminded him of the good old days. Sasuke on the other hand was similar to Naaza but unlike her, he was more proactive but extremely reserved.
He decided to step in and stop them when he saw Iris panicking, trying to calm the two down.
"Okay that's enough now," Miach calmly said and the two immediately stopped. Naaza still looked pissed but still behaved. Sasuke looked satisfied, leaning back on his chair. "We're here to celebrate Iris' new Skill, so both of you behave."
Naaza looked away, "Right, sorry, Lord Miach."
Sasuke returned back to his resting face, "Hn. Right, I forgot."
"Alright, now everyone raise your glasses," Miach raised his glass with everyone following suit. "CHEERS FOR IRIS!"
""Cheers!""
Naaza and Sasuke's monotone cheers were met with Iris' embarrassed one, but nonetheless cheered for herself.
"We've been doing this a lot lately," Sasuke commented as he took a bit from his meal.
Naaza just hummed, "This only happened because Iris managed to get a new Skill right after her first time in the Dungeon." She took a bite before looking at Iris. "Try not to let it get to your head, Iris. The last thing we want is for our newest member to get a big head over it."
"I-I won't. Vice-Captain already warned me already," Iris stuttered out looking at Sasuke. He noticed her gaze and sent a questioning look. "You told me that 'hubris and arrogance will lead to my downfall' when you first started training me yesterday."
"It's true," He wiped his mouth clean just as he heard one of the waitresses announce the arrival of some special guest.
He glanced at the front doors, in walked in a lanky redhead followed by a blonde pallum, a dwarf, a pair of elves and amazons, a rough-looking werewolf, and finally a lone blonde human were being led to a table close to theirs.
The others followed his gaze and from their reactions were rightfully surprised.
"That's..." Iris trailed off, even a newbie like her who's new to Orario would recognize the group.
"Loki Familia." Naaza finished as she couldn't help but feel a little intimidated by their presence.
Miach's smile went a little rigid at the sight of his fellow deity, a look Sasuke recognized as 'this is someone who I don't want to deal with' look that his predecessor usually makes.
"Now that is an example of hubris if I've ever seen one," Sasuke said getting everyone's attention again.
"What do you mean, Vice-Captain?" Iris curiously asked as the other two were curious as well.
Sasuke simply smirked, taking hold of his glass, gazing at the reflection the water makes, noting that the green-haired elf that looked his way was subtly listening just as her Familia was taking their seats. "Hubris is an invisible poison that can't be detected that hooks on to you without you even realizing that it was warping your very being."
The green-haired elf that was quietly listening sat at the closest seat to Sasuke, tucking her hair behind her ear to disguise her eavesdropping, curious about what he had to say.
"This invisible hand guides their minds, limiting humility and raising their arrogance. Just wait a little moment, you'll see soon enough by what I mean."
Sasuke remained silent the rest just continued eating, waiting for what he meant by seeing soon enough.
Meanwhile, Riveria Ljos Alf remained curious about what the strange raven-haired boy meant. She was confident she was not arrogant as he had pointed out. Perhaps Bete, with how he always talks down to people, but that was how he usually is ever since joining Loki Familia. Perhaps there might be other members that were like but she would outright call them arrogant.
So deep in thought Riveria was that she almost missed the conversation happening at her own table. Bete was rather tipsy from drinking and began laughing loudly drunkenly talking about something that happened yesterday.
"Ais! Tell everyone all about what happened yesterday!"
"This is it. Now, listen carefully," Sasuke suddenly said grabbing his companion's attention. Riveria as well as she paid attention to the conversation happening in front of her.
"What do you mean?" The blonde human, Ais Wallenstein, asked stoically.
"You know the one! About the Minotaur that got away! Remember when you finished off the last one on the Fifth Floor?! You know, Tomato Boy!"
A shot of worry entered the High-Elf Princess when Bete mentioned that event that happened yesterday. She felt guilty about involving someone in their mistake, had there been more adventurers on the upper floors there would have been no doubt some causalities. Luckily there had been none, but one unfortunate adventurer managed to get caught up in their mistake.
"Are you talking about the group of Minotaurs that we scarred up on the Seventeenth Floor?"
"Yeah, that one! The Minotaurs ran to the upper floor, then we tore them after! And there was that one 'adventurer', the damn newbie!" Bete put emphasis on the newbie, clearly highlighting it in a derisive manner. Got himself cornered like a lil' bunny. Shaking like one, too. Hahaha!"
"No hesitation in making fun of someone that almost died. Who was caught up in their mistake," Sasuke took a small bite from his meal as the others listened carefully. Naaza was openly frowning, Iris felt sorry for whoever Bete was talking about, and Miach shook his head, silently expressing his disappointment.
Riveria, who was getting worried by what she was seeing turned to Ais, "What happened to the boy? Was he okay?"
"Ais here carved up the Minotaur at the last second, ain't that right?" Bete regaled.
"..."
"Hahaha! The kid was soaked head to toe with monster blood! So, Tomato Boy! Gyahahaha!" Bete laughed hysterically. Riveria began looking worried when she heard chuckles coming not only from her own table but from the other patrons as well.
"A poison that spread it seems," Sasuke said, gesturing to the rest of the people began laughing at the poor boy. "Not a hint of remorse. The only reason that they can laugh about this is because the victim lived. Uncaring if they were traumatized, or suffered an undocumented injury."
Every word Sasuke said, was hammering on Riveria's conscience. Ais wasn't amused and started glaring at Bete.
Bete was unperturbed, "Oooh, don't make such scary eyes, Ais. It ruins your cute face," Bete words began to slur with each second. "But really, it's been so long since I've seen something so pathetic! So disgusting I could cry! Hahaha!"
CLATTER
The sound of a chair falling to the ground was followed by the sound of rushing footsteps making their way out of the Hostess.
"Bell!" Syr cried out to the boy as he ran outside.
"Wait! Was that who I think it is?" Bete eyes widened in mirth as he continued to laugh even as Ais got up from her table to chase after the boy. "It is! It's Tomato Boy! Gyahahaha!"
At this point Riveria was fuming, she had had enough of Bete's behavior. She was about to speak up, but before she could utter a word she heard the raven-haired boy's words.
"No one tried stopping his yapping until it was too late. Even the Captain of that Familia just watched and laughed along with him." Sasuke said, his words making Riveria freeze in place. "Like I said before, hubris is an invisible poison that's difficult to detect. Not once had anyone from their table tried to stop him and were simply satisfied with just letting him continue talking down to Bell."
Sasuke shrugged before continuing, "And what's worse is that it seems that this isn't the first time this happened, meaning that they've just let him continue on with this attitude with no repercussion it seems." Sasuke then quietly stood up, pulling out a bag of valis from his pouch.
"Are you going to after him, Sasuke?" Miach asked, clearly worried for Bell as well. He didn't like Bete bad-mouthing him as much as any of them.
"Hn. He went to the direction of the Dungeon, no doubt going there to vent out his frustrations."
"W-Will he be okay, Vice-Captain?" Iris asked, despite not knowing him, she was kind enough to worry about his well-being.
"Yes, at his current top speed, I have about five minutes until he reaches the Dungeon's entrance."
"Are you going to stop him?" Naaza asked, glancing at the Loki Familia. It seems the Nine Hells has had enough of Bete's drunken slandering and has hog-tied him then dangled the irate werewolf from the ceiling.
Sasuke shook his head much to everyone's surprise, "No. Stopping him now when he's this emotional would be detrimental. He needs to vent out his emotions less he keeps them bottled up inside just waiting for them to explode."
Everyone nodded, accepting his reasoning. He nodded before flagging down a waitress. Unfortunately for Sasuke, it was Ryuu Lion who came to his call. He kinda expected it, since she's been gazing at him from time to time ever since he accidentally touched her hand.
"Here. I'm paying for the kid who dined and dashed," Sasuke held out the bag of valis he pulled out and handed it to her.
She looked at the bag for a moment before accepting. She took the back with both of her hands. Both hands might he add. That was touching his fingers! This apparently surprised his companions that an elf would willingly touch another race.
"I have received the payment," Ryuu took the valis and then took a step back before bowing politely. She then turned around and left to hand over the cash to the irate matron.
There was a collective silence at the Miach Familia table, though it was clear that everyone had something to say about the situation.
"Not one word from any of you."
No one said a thing, just as he asked... with the sole exception of one Chienthrope.
"I guess no one could resist your irresistible charms, Casanova," Naaza savored the win she got that the irritated glare Sasuke was giving her didn't even faze her.
Sasuke closed his eyes and let out a breath, "I saw you naked," he then left without another word, leaving an agape Miach and Iris, but most of all a highly embarrassed Naaza to deal with the aftermath.
Naaza's face was beet red, completely taken by surprise by how Sasuke unhesitatingly revealed that. Miach and Iris turned their gazes to her for answers. Miach was surprised, and with his divine ability to detect lies, what Sasuke said was true. Iris on the other hand had an embarrassed look that was enough for the both of them. Her mind was coming up with absurd scenarios from what Sasuke had said.
"U-Um, Captain? Were you... perhaps in a... secret relationship with-"
"NO!"
Naaza immediately denied whatever Iris was thinking. She then slumped down on her seat and covered her face, letting out a groan.
She was so going to get him back for this.
Sasuke watched from the shadows Bell taking on monster after monster nonstop all the while yelling out his frustrations.
He remembered only seeing this scene in the anime and it had very little impact on him. It was just a quick scene, that only showed Bell's insecurities and lashing out his anger about his weakness on the monsters before the scene changed to Hestia waiting for him at dawn.
He was like, what? thirteen? Fourteen? Fifteen? He was really young at the time and he didn't really care about Bell's feelings and just wanted to see him being a badass which stimulated my prepubescent brain.
So seeing a boy fighting and screaming all because he was made fun of and mercilessly ridiculed made him feel... empathetic for the kid? It was different watching a kid kill monsters, being all badass over watching a kid who was clearly going through something lash out in a dangerous area.
"Hraaagh!"
Bell seemed to finish the monsters in the area. He had incurred a plethora of injuries but still had enough energy to continue fighting seeing as he limped his way to where more monsters were.
Sasuke decided that he'd seen enough and left his hiding spot and approached him. "Bell," He called out to him but it seemed that he didn't hear him. "Bell!" Still nothing, he didn't know if he couldn't hear him or was just ignoring him.
"BELL CRANEL!"
He finally got fed up and yelled out to him, which worked as Bell tripped and fell. He looked back in shock to see Sasuke just standing behind him.
"S-Sensei?! How long have you been there?" Bell tried to stand up but failed due to his injuries. Sasuke approached him and offered him a potion. "Uh, thanks..."
Bell drank the potion and his wounds began to mend allowing him to stand up. As he did, Bell couldn't look Sasuke in the eye. The shame from seeing his pathetic state was overriding his respect for him as a friend and a teacher.
"Sit."
"Huh?"
Bell was caught by surprise when Sasuke told him to sit down. Sasuke sat on the ground and waited for Bell to do the same. He did so and waited for what Sasuke wanted to do next.
"I heard everything," Sasuke began and Bell could feel an icy grip on his heart. For some reason, he didn't really want Sasuke to hear his embarrassing encounter with the Minotaur. Something about that made him feel like disappointing a family member, a feeling he couldn't help but compare it to disappointing his grandpa when he was still alive.
"But don't worry, I'm not here to reprimand you or anything. Rather, I'm quite glad to hear you're okay after you encountered that Minotaur."
"But I ran away..." Bell said to which Sasuke disregarded, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
"You were a Level 1, so it's expected for you to run away," Sasuke said. "If you had actually tried to fight it I would've been angry with you instead."
Sasuke grip on his shoulder became firm, "You only have one life, Bell, that's not something you disregard. It is very valuable, much more than pride or honor because there will be at least one person who would cry for you if you were to die."
Those words struck him like a lightning bolt, the image of his goddess crying because he didn't come home came to mind. Suddenly he felt awful, like he going to throw up. he lurched forward but was straightened up by Sasuke.
"Do you understand what I'm saying, Bell?"
Bell nodded, this time ashamed that he had forgotten about what his goddess might feel. He then remembered what Sasuke said about consequences.
'If I died yesterday, then I would've left the Goddess all alone.'
The thought alone brought a newfound guilt, but that guilt came with resolve. Resolve to not let anyone she cared about cry for him like he did with his grandfather. Bell let out a breath as he looked Sasuke in the eye.
"That look in your eyes suits you better." He smiled, patting his shoulder.
"Thank you for your kind words, Sensei," Bell wiped his eyes. "I'm feeling a bit better now."
Sasuke nodded, smiling lightly. "Good, now let's get out of here, Bell."
"Right! Let's... get... out..." Bell began to rail off as his eyes lost focus.
"Yes, let's get out of here," Sasuke said, his Sharingan active, spinning ominously. "But before we do let me take a look in your mind. Don't worry, I won't do anything to you, just let me copy the memories of the moment you got saved by Ais Wallenstein."
"And how you obtained that cheat Skill you have, Mr. Protagonist."
Author's Note
Well, well, well. It seems that Sasuke has accidentally figured out how to manipulate the creation of Skills. And now he's putting this knowledge to good use. For the sake of his Familia of course.
Next up is Ryuu being interested? I was like, nah. Let's not change that, and leave her to suffer Bell's rejection in the future. At first, I wasn't going to potentially pair him with Ryuu but then I remembered that their kinda similar. Both are avengers, hunting the people responsible for harming their loved ones and eventually killing their targets. And I was like let's see where this goes.
Also! In season one of the anime when Bell grabbed Ryuu's hand. Did any of you think that she developed an iterest in him. I only learned that shit from the Wiki!
Addressing some concerns.
Firstly about my OC Sasuke and his missing limb and why he hasn't regenerated it yet. It will be explained in a future chapter.
Secondly. No one aside from Sasuke will have Chakra. This decision was made when I first started this fic. Will also be explained in future chapters.
Thirdly. About what Sasuke meant when the plot could go screw itself. I feel like I need to explain this one a bit. When Sasuke said the plot could go screw itself. It doesn't mean he'll purposely derail the story. He just means that if the plot does derail or goes astray he won't act like any other OC out there that will try and fix it or make a big fuss about it. He just doesn't care. If there was a problem that involved him and his Familia he'll deal with it swiftly like he did with the Aeshma incident. But that doesn't mean he'll interfere with Bell's adventure. My guy has enough problems to deal with. Just think of this fic as like Sword Oratoria where the Loki Familia are doing their thing completely separate from the Bell and the others.
(Minor Spoiler Warning!)
Fourthly, the second Level 7. I don't actually know people knew that there is another Level 7, by that I mean if it was public info. I know the storay siad there was another Level 7 but it's another thing if anyone knows that. Although Leon from the School District where Lefiya came from may have been stated to control Ottar but it hasn't been confirmed that if he was a Level 7 or not. Remember, there are those who can punch well above their weight class. Examples being Alfia and Zard. Both were stated to be stronger than what their Levels are. So it's a possibility that Leon is just a Level 6 with strength comparable to a Level 7.
...though if ya'll have any knowledge about that please just straight up PM me I'd love to know.
(Spoiler End!)
Anyways that's all from me. This fic was spell checked by Grammarly!
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Little Honkai Star Rail Update! I lost the Fifth-Fifty... But I got her at my next pity! MEI-SENPAI! I have you! Also, I'm sorry Aventurine! I have misjudged you!
