Don't Own Dxd or Terraria, Only The Oc
'thought'
"Speech"
System
"Tvs, Radios, and Text via book or newspaper... when those are around..."
(Mid Chapter Authors Notes)
I roll my shoulders as I tightly grip a copper sword in one hand, a smirk crosses my face as I take the slightly unwieldy- for my size- sword and prop it on my shoulders.
The weight isn't an issue for myself. Sigurd's are several times stronger than a normal human due to some diluted dragon blood.
Plus, I like extra reach it gives me over a 'regular' sword made for my size...
Those are called daggers.
Sand crunches beneath my feet as I continue walking forwards.
I calmly walk past numerous cacti as I continue my slow trek onwards.
A massive pillar of brownish rock sits in the distance. My target.
I continue my silent walking with a grin on my face.
Ohoho I hope I'm ready for this!
I've come decked out in whatever I could bring.
A short sword in one hand, nothing in the other, a cross necklace around my neck and a grappling hook gauntlet on each arm. A belt full of potions and a bone to pick with anything in my way.
I'm ready to take this beast on.
The hairs atop my head stand on end as I hear a crash of thunder.
I look up to see several large orbs of electricity crashing down towards me.
I dive out of the way with a surprised shout, the sound of explosions echoing out behind me.
An ear-piercing shriek echoes out across the desert.
My eyes snap to the sky to see an absolutely massive bird, I could easily ride upon its back at my size.
Its body alone is taller than a regular human, if you count its long powerful legs it could probably stand twice as tall as a man by extending its neck, its wingspan is easily over twenty feet wide.
It lets out another shriek as a small screen makes itself known in the corner of my vision.
The Grand Thunderbird has Awakened.
"Oh joy"
The bird in question swoops down at high speeds, it looks like... a massive vulture.
It has a feather-less head with greyish skin, its torso and most of its wings are a tan-ish color, what is most striking, however, is the teal light blue feathers at the tip of its wings and as its tail feathers.
I slide under its grasping talons, slashing my blade across its leg, earning a small cry of pain for my efforts.
It pauses briefly in the air as it flaps its wings, giving me enough time to charge my next attack.
Three ghostly daggers appear floating around me and are shot at the bird's open back with a flick of my wrist.
They impact the bird's flesh at high speed, earning a shriek of pain from it
A small screen in the bottom corner of my vision pops up.
The Grand Thunderbird: 93.9%
Oh good. That did some damage. If I can keep this pace up, I should be able to take it down in about forty-five more shots like that... which is a shame considering those three magic daggers took literally all of my mana to conjure...
At least I have other ranged options.
I point a finger up at the bird as it rapidly regains height.
"Bang."
A thin beam explodes from my fingertip and crashes into the crook of the bird's wing, causing it to let out a shriek as four more follow, striking all over the massive vulture.
Each does about half of the damage of one of the daggers.
A smile crosses my lips as a large white aura explodes around me, shunting sand away from my body as I raise a hand, steadily drawing Ki into it.
I watch the bird circle overhead, my eyes tracking it as I remain motionless.
It lets out a shriek as lightning sparks off its body, shooting down towards me in numerous bolts.
They are easily avoided by rushing towards the side.
The vulture lets out a shriek as the sky is darkened, four vultures the size of men, each sharing the color of the large one in the sky, flies into the battle.
"COME ON THEN!" I cackle with a grin.
I duck the first as it swoops down, slashing it across the wing and causing it to spiral out of control and slam into the ground somewhere behind me.
The next has its head cut off and the third gains a deep gash across its body.
My eyes track the larger bird as the next swooping vulture is cut in half, it seems to be lining up for another divebomb.
I glance to the large orb of Ki covering my hand, a feral grin on my face.
'Well now. Why don't you come on down here, then.'
The bird lets out a shriek as it swoops downwards, hovering just above the ground, causing the sand beneath its body to shift and churn as it rapidly approaches me.
I swing my offhand forwards. "HAAAAAAAAAAH!"
A beam about as wide as my torso shoots from my hand and smashes into the bird as it lets out a squawk of surprise.
Its charge is utterly halted as it flails in the sand.
Two daggers appear above me and shoot off towards the flailing bird as it lets out shrieks of pain.
My energy begins to drain rapidly as I continue to fire the beam, but I am so close, it must die now.
Another dagger appears beside me and is shot towards the giant bird.
Eventually my energy runs dry as I let out a tired pant, my mana is out, my ki is empty, but at the end of the day? I've done it.
A charred blackened vulture-like creature lays in the sand unmoving.
With a dull flash it disappears leaving behind nothing more than a bag.
The Grand Thunder Bird has been defeated!
New items have been unlocked in the shop!
New Enemies have Appeared in the World!
Congratulations on defeating your first boss! Special Rewards have been generated back at the Crucible of the Cosmos
Congratulations! New parts of your sacred gear shall be unlocked for you!
1: You are now able to remember what happens within this realm
2: You are now able to communicate to the spirit guide residing within your sacred gear.
Forming connection!
There's a ripple in my vision, causing me to wince as a purple wispy screen appears before me, upon the screen is a purple haired girl with her hair tied up in a pony tail, she has purple iris, the same shade as her hair, and has milky white pupils. She wears a grey dress that looks almost like stars in a dark sky, and has a choker around her neck with a blue glowing gemstone.
"I- t- w-ki-g?" A quiet hiss comes through the screen as she speaks, sounding similar to static.
"hel-o?" She tries again, her voice sounding muffled and distant
"-Rt-r?" The static returns for a moment before clearing up. "Partner?"
"Hello? Can you hear me?"
I blink owlishly and nod slowly. 'what the hell?'
A bright smile crosses her lips as she closes her eyes and gives me a small fist pump. "ALRIGHT!"
She looks over me slowly. "It's nice to meet you! My name is Eridani, and I guess I'm the spirit sleeping inside your... sacred gear... was it? I'm going to be honest, I'm just as new at this as you are."
The screen floats around me slowly, the girl seemingly taking in my appearance. "Hn. You're pretty young... how'd you even manage to kill that big bird anyways at your age? That's seriously impressive."
"I'm the clone of an ancient hero that was trained to kill things since the day I could walk." I boredly explain.
"W-What?" The girl blinks.
"Oh yeah, it sucks. They didn't even give me a name. They just call me 'Four Zero Four'."
"That's horrible!" The girl gasps.
"But you, my friend, may call me Dante." I smirk.
"Alright... Dante... I do not know your circumstances as of right now... I was confined to this world the same as you are every time you rest. But that seems to have changed now that you managed to defeat the first boss of this realm. Allow me to tell you a little about what I can help you with, Partner!"
"Okay?" I question as I wander over and grab the sack of loot that had dropped from the large bird.
"First and foremost, I can grant you powers after you defeat powerful foes! Not for this enemy, though, your power for this one was merely unlocking this power."
"I see." I mutter as the screen drifts alongside me.
"I can help you figure out crafting recipes and where to find items!" The galaxy woman chirps.
"Really?! That's actually extremely helpful. I've been going in blind here." I note with a small smile.
"I can also condense essence down into a physical object which can be used to create powerful weapons for you to command! Er... well, that's actually about it, really, that's the limit to what I can do as of right now... who knows what I'll be able to do in the future!"
"Oh wait! I forgot! I can do this!" The girl exclaims.
There's a slight warm feeling that passes through my body, I pause my walking and look down at my hands, slowly clenching and unclenching my fist.
"I just increased your mana capacity by quite a bit!" The girl exclaims.
I hold up a hand conjuring six magic daggers that float around me.
She didn't just increase my mana by 'quite a bit' she doubled it.
"Can... we please get out of the desert now?" The girl questions. "I hate the heat, and the next boss you have to beat isn't a desert boss!"
"Alright, alright." I nod slowly.
'so... what's all this junk?'
I look to a tan and blue bag that sits on the table in front of me.
"So are you going to open it?" The apparent sacred gear spirit questions slowly.
Thunderbird Bag of Holding:
This bag, when emptied of boss loot, functions as a supernatural storage space, allowing you to hold up to 2 different items within, materials, such as wood, ore, or types of stone stack into the same 'slot', allowing you to potentially carry far more than two instances of the item in question. Weapons, armor, and accessories on the other hand, cannot be stacked and take up a space all on their own. This bag can hold up to 500 Lbs of material, and treats the items within as being weightless for the duration they remain inside.
"OH! That's REALLY good!" I gasp.
I reach over to the bag and open it, gazing inside.
The inside is so much bigger than the outside.
With some serious effort I free an egg about the size of my torso from the bag.
"Huh?" I mutter as I cautiously sit the egg on the floor.
"Oh! A Grand Thunder Bird Egg! If you hatch this, you'll be able to have your very own as a pet!"
"Neat... that bird was pretty weak, though." I point out with a small frown.
"Don't say that! Once it gets to be larger you can fly it anywhere! It'll cut your travel times in half or more!"
"True, true." I relent with a small frown. "Do you know how long it'll take for it to hatch and be fully grown?"
"Fully... grown?" The girl questions slowly. "These never stop growing... the one you beat, however, was probably... ten years old or so? You could probably ride yours within five, at least."
"Hn, so a little useless right now." I sigh as I shake my head, pulling out another object.
"A bow?" I mutter to myself.
It has a large yellow spike on the front, arching over a wrapped section of the bow behind it the bow itself is a deep tan color with blue arms sprouting off the outside, a yellow bowstring of what looks like lightning connects all of the arms of the bow into a single line.
Talon Bow:
A magic bow which is capable of transforming normal wooden arrows into 'Storm Bolts' which take the appearance of feathers, these feathers sometimes are charged with electricity, allowing the bolts to do 2 times damage.
I don't really want to use a bow, I'm more of a gun, sword, and magic guy.
I sit the bow aside and reach into the bag, pulling out a bar of... stone?
Sandstone Ingot:
Devoid of all moisture and warm to the touch.
"What am I supposed to do with these?!" I question the Sacred Gear spirit's screen right next to me.
"Uh... make tools... out of? Maybe some armor" the purple haired girl supplies.
"Out of sandstone?! I can crumble that stuff with my bare hands!"
"it's magical sandstone, about as tough as iron."
"Oh. I see." I mutter with a slight frown, scratching my chin as I look over the tan-ish material, thinking about what I could do with it.
A sword seems worthless as it'll be outclassed by iron... I'll probably make use of it later.
"Oh! There's actually something you can do!"
"Hn?"
"In this world, there are these things called 'Enchantments' by converting certain items into an enchantment, you can typically unlock the full power of the items while not having to carry it all, say for instance, with a full set of sandstone armor, you would get the ability to manipulate desert wind to grant you propulsion through the air, sort of like a double jump, but with the enchantment, you wouldn't even need to wear the armor!"
"Armors have set bonuses?!" I mutter, my eyes widening as I cup my chin.
"Yes they do! And you can even create this enchantment right now! Just take this cool bow of yours, craft a set of sandstone armor, go buy that new yoyo you got in the shop, and go grab some wood and stone for the big forge to craft a set of stone throwing spears!"
"That's it?" I mutter in confusion.
"For this enchantment, yes, but keep in mind, all armors can be transformed into enchantments... and what's even better is that these enchantments can be further combined into something called 'Forces'!"
"Oh? Can I craft the force that includes Sandstone?"
"Er... no... not yet. You'll need to defeat quite a few enemies... in fact, there's a certain boss that all Forces are locked behind- wait... there is a singular force you are able to make. It requires you to complete the Copper, Obsidian, Tin, Lead, Tungsten, Silver and Iron enchantments. Once you do that, you'll be able to make the 'Terra Force'. And forces don't just combine all the effects into a smaller form, it also significantly increases the power!"
"I see... I suppose I should work on this, then." I mutter under my breath as I scratch my chin and slowly rise to my feet. "Eridani. Make a note of all the requirements for the force, then pick out the easiest to nab."
"But first! Double jump!"
"Before we move on, do you want to check your special rewards?" The purple haired girl questions.
"Hn?" I hum.
"It said you got special rewards for defeating the boss."
"Oh yeah!" I gasp.
I remember.
I duck a slash of a wooden sword, my own blade coming up and nearly smacking into the chin of my sparring partner, but he steps back.
I can remember what happens when I go to sleep...
The older boy's hand slightly shakes under the force of my blows, with a sudden attack, I sweep a leg out from under him and send him flipping through the air with a second kick.
My sacred gear.
Finally. Those long sleepless nights where I dreaded everything in this world until I went to sleep...
I finally feel... relatively safe.
The boy lands with a slight roll a short distance away, eventually landing on his back, taking a few quiet breaths to steady his heartbeat.
He looks to his wooden sword which has numerous large cracks traveling down the length. "huh?"
"For Zero Four wins." The teacher informs from the side.
I want to go back to bed!
I want to sleep!
I want to make more progress! Ohohoh I legitimately CANNOT wait until I kill a few more bosses and unlock more aspects of my sacred gear. I'll surely be able to pull items out of that world, plus, a full twenty four hours passes inside that place whenever I go to sleep! My sacred gear seems to dilate my perception of time when I go to sleep!
Provided I don't die, of course. At which point any time I sleep it becomes 'normal' sleep for about a full twenty four out of sacred gear hours which is a total shame.
"This should be enough today. Dinner will be finished in about thirty minutes. Then enter the main hall for prayer."
After Prayer. We are given about an hour to do what we want, then we are ordered to go to bed... I, on the other hand... plan to skip my free time and just head straight into the dream!
"Alriiiight." I grin. "Let's give this a test! I didn't get much opportunity to before I woke up."
A little tan mote of light floats around my body, my eye tracking it as I crouch slightly.
A little circle of sand seems to spiral around my feet... then I leap, sailing through the air at tremendous speed.
"WOOOOAAAAH!" I cheer as I am carried forwards slightly, flipping forwards as i begin to fall.
I land with a loud thud and a wheeze, but overall, what would have likely have broken bones... noticeably doesn't do so.
My body is stronger.
Faster.
Far more durable.
And it was all a result of touching that strange red heart shaped crystal that appeared by the 'Crucible of the Cosmos'.
That was my reward. A large heart shaped crystal and a crystal star which improved my total magic capacity by about fifty percent. Considering Eridani had already doubled it, that means I tripled my mana capacity in just one singular day.
A screen appears beside me. "Are you alright?"
"Fine." I sigh as I wriggle around in the dirt a little bit, a pain seeping into my body as I let out a long groan.
After a minute of laying there i sit up slowly, then turn towards the house on the hill slowly limping my way up. "Well, Eridani... what now?"
"You said that you wanted the Terra Force, Right? I spent most of today- while you were training- figuring out which of the basic enchantments would be the easiest for us to achieve!"
"Yeah?" I ask as I approach the door. "And which one is it?"
"Iron." She simply states as I step inside.
"Iron? Seriously? Isn't Copper and Tin on the list as well?"
Copper requires you to have a wand of sparks and a special lightning staff deep under the desert within the maze-like antlion pits... and those are basically just like... well, I mean Antlions are a legitimate species of insect back in your own world, these ones just are roughly the size of lions."
"I'm going to say 'no' on the desert for now. I JUST managed to get all the sand out of my shoes. I'm not too keen on going back yet." I sigh.
"My thoughts exactly! Also. We aren't going for Tin because it needs a magical rod like your copper rod, but this one needs Topaz instead of Amethyst. Plus, it needs a revolver. Which is an item that has a low chance to appear in the shop AFTER you meet a quality which you haven't yet."
"So no luck, eh." I hum mutely. "What about Iron, then, what do we need for it?"
"A full set of iron armor." The purple haired girl begins.
"Okay..." I nod slowly.
"Iron Hammer."
"Sounds simple enough." I continue as I take a seat in the only chair sitting in the room, letting out a small groan as I rub my back.
"Anvil."
"I can buy one from the vending machine for like fifty silver coins." I hum.
"Apricot."
"..."
She doesn't say anything for a while, but eventually breaks her silence. "That's it."
"That's it?!" I gasp. "Holy fuck that's inexpensive! What does it give me?"
"It grants you roughly a thirty three percent chance to... not use resources when crafting? Huh? Is... is that correct?" She mutters, looking deep in thought for a moment.
My jaw falls open.
Not... use resources when crafting?!
What.
The.
Fuck.
"I NEED TO GRAB THIS SHIT NOW!" I exclaim as I rocket to my feet, only to let out a small hiss of pain.
I turn, walking towards a miniature shelf i have in the corner, grabbing a bottle of red liquid and drinking the entire thing.
A sigh of relief leaves my lips as the aches leave my body.
I sit the empty bottle on top of the table, planning on re-using it at a later date.
I grab my copper pick axe that hasn't seen much work, then the mining helmet I bought ages ago.
It looks a bit big for me, but shrinks to the size of my head like magic.
"This little seven-year-old orphan's going to get black lung in the mines!" I cheer as I give Eridani a salute.
"Be careful... the caverns grow more and more dangerous the deeper you go... bring a weapon."
"I've got magic and Ki. Just the pick will be fine." I wave off.
"Alright. Just don't say I didn't warn you~" the woman hums menacingly.
I trudge out of the cave, a near-dead expression on my face as I drag a large chest filled with items behind me.
The little bag of holding I got is mostly filled with one thing... stone.
Five hundred pounds worth.
Plus, I was able to get about fifty pounds of iron ore.
I can already tell it's not enough for what i need.
The other loot is probably the most important stuff I've gotten from this little mission.
Radar. Boomerang. Climbing claws... and fucking grenades.
I was given EXPLOSIVES.
A grin appears on my face as i glance back to the box.
After grabbing explosives... it appears explosives was unlocked in the vending machine!
Oh, I also got some potions, but those are a bit less important. I got one that teleports me back to 'spawn', but I'd leave behind that chest full of treasure, so I didn't use it.
I also found ten lead bars and four copper.
Speaking on the items- besides the explosives- I found while underground, the Climbing Claws are interesting to say the least, they let me climb a mostly flat cave wall really easily, then the boomerang is...
Honestly, it seems a little worthless to me.
The radar on the other hand?! Top. Tier.
It's basically a minimap!
It pings a bunch of red dots on said minimap to show me where enemies are.
The only downside is that it is top down. I can sort of use it to find caves as long as there's an enemy in the caves, but with it, I can't tell if something is above me or below me. Just where they are relatively compared to my location.
"Well, let me go buy an entire anvil and smelt these bars down."
"I don't think you have enough for everything." Eridani frowns.
"Oh, I'm aware." I casually shrug. "However, it's a good start."
"True." The spirit shrugs. "Also, you should be aware that you can craft things with the items you have grabbed."
"Really?!" I mutter. "Like what?"
"Oh, nothing yet, mind you, I'm just saying that the boomerang, Radar and Climbing Claws can be improved in the future. So maybe don't sell or lose them."
"Oh." I mutter. "Alright. Sooo another question, but, like... what boss to I fight next?"
"Don't you want to gather more enchantments?"
"I mean, yeah, that'd be nice, but at the same time, the more bosses I beat, the more of my sacred gear I'm able to use outside, right? And while I WILL be relatively safe for at least a few more years- god forbid the church sends a seven year old out into a seriously dangerous situation- I'd still like to at the VERY LEAST be able to call upon my magical spells from here."
"hn... well, the first thing that synchronizes, would be your body. Your magical capacity and physical capabilities would sync up... but for that, you'd need to defeat the King Slime." Eridani informs.
"Oh? That sounds easy-"
"You have several bosses to beat before you should even consider that." She continues.
"Oh..." I mutter, sounding a little dejected.
"As for the next boss? How do you feel about collecting some wood and a squirrel?"
"..."
"Huh?" I blink owlishly.
And thus, we finally diverge from where the FFN snippet was. Instead of skipping ahead, we get a closer look at Dante's struggles.