Kenshi: Grasp the Heavens (RE-UPLOAD)

by Seereni

A young boy joins the Loki Familia through a display of his skills. His past unknown, his reasons unsaid, there is only one desire that drives him into the dangers of the Dungeon and the world's: "With this sword...I will grasp the Heavens..." But...how will he fare...? Fic is Rated M by me, the author, and for good reasons. OC-Centric, slighly AU and certainly not for everyone.

61. Chapter 54, New Challenges, Part 1

Chapter 54

Admit it: as the long months passed by, you thought about it.

"That bastard Seer totally abandoned this story!"

"He's a slimy little liar!"

"Just like the rest of them: useless authors, all of them!"

Well mate...I'm here to tell you that Papa Seer is Papa Seer for a reason.

The reason?

This Chapter, which is 40.000 words long (rounded up, of course. More like 39k actually)

Now, you might think to yourself: why would any sane fucker write a single Chapter which is 40k words long?

Because praise the Emperor, that's why! (Warhammer 40k reference, if you know you know -_-)

But nah.

Two reasons actually:

1) If it wasn't painfully obvious by now, I'm not completely sane -_-

2) because screw it, that's why

I did write in the AN's of the last mini-Arc that, until we reach the 1 year where my boi Fuzen will do something "incredible", I will break the passage of that one year into mini-Arcs which will be kind of like short-term time-skips by themselves.

And I also said that each of those mini-Arcs will have "3" parts. All of them.

Well, I couldn't keep that promise if I were to shorten this Chapter into the normal 9k-12k words length, so I thought "fuck it" and left it as it is.

So yeah, here is the first part of the second mini-Arc: "New Challenges".

I hope you enjoy it, and as always, do leave a review. I mentioned this before but there is this one friend of mine who also writes a Danmachi fic and he started uploading much later than me, but he almost reached the same numbers on his fic as mine.

So yeah, though it is just for my useless pride, a review (whatever good or bad) would help. As would a Follow and a Fav.

It would be neat if I could reach twice the numbers he has on his fic, then Batman-slap him and tell him to go suck a fat one -_-

PS: If you were wondering about my absence, it is both because of IRL stuff as well as new hobbies I picked up.

I won't bore you with the IRL stuff, but I did start playing Dungeons and Dragons with some friends (roll20) where I am also helping the DM with the lore-building aspect, and I also reached Mythic rank in Mobile Legends for the first time ever.

So yeh.

Dunno how important that is to anyone, but there you have it.

Anyway, I'll stop here and let you go on to read the damn thing you have been (probably) waiting for.

Kay bye.

XXX

One month later…

It had been too quiet, there was no doubt about that.

Though a month had already passed since the incident with Ishtar Familia, nothing worth of mention had happened anymore. No signs of activity, instigations or accusations.

For all intents and purposes, it was quiet.

Too quiet, too peaceful.

Fuzen Katsumi was aware that the punishment of Ishtar Familia at his hands might have been enough to keep them from trying to take revenge on him. Even so, he could not help but be paranoid.

Most nights for the past weeks he had been sitting atop of Raiju as they flew in circles above their part of town, keeping watch for any movement on the streets, any sounds, any screams. Luckily, nothing out of ordinary has happened just yet.

He reached out a hand and rubbed his eyes, almost feeling the sleep bags under his eyes. Obviously, he had been required to tap into his his Ki reserves to fight back against the fatigue that had been slowly accumulating within his body.

Proper rest would be required soon.

But...not yet.

'I'll sleep enough when my time comes.'

Fuzen opened his eyes and looked ahead: noticing the various worried looks his confidants gave him. Some of them even had traces of guilt and pity in their eyes as they looked at him.

He hated guilt and pity.

"...What are other options we have, then?" He finally asked as he straightened his back and exhaled. The conversation started well over an hour ago, endless back and forth that has been going on for weeks now.

All the business owners present at his home have been entrusting their businesses to their wives and children to attend those almost bi-daily meetings. It was only during the last seven days that they held off the meetings, as Fuzen was added to a small expedition into the Lower and Deep Floors, which lasted for the entire week.

Even so, he had left Raiju on the surface and kept a close eye through their shared eyes on what was going on.

In retrospect, he should have used that time to get some rest, as much as was possible within the walls of the Dungeon...

Yamamoto sighed and lowered his shaking head. "There are...no other options left, Young Master."

"...I see."

Indeed, following that incident with the harlots of the Pleasure District, a very real problem showed itself to Fuzen and his confidants: the fact that their District had no pull.

No worth.

Obvious enough, his reputation was not enough to keep would-be attackers from simply walking in his District and harming or kidnapping people.

They needed more, at least for the time being.

They needed power and standing.

No one would ever mess with the Guild, for the Guild was the beating heart of the Adventurer City.

No one would ever mess with Demeter Familia, for they provided most of the food consumed by Orario.

No one would ever mess with the Industrial District, for doing so would put one at odds with every Smithing Familia of renown.

That was the kind of pull, of stability, that they too required.

However, there was no denying the first, and most difficulty, problem:

"As you are aware by now, Young Master...all markets are already dominated by those we could never hope to catch up to."

Indeed.

Orario was a city with a history spanning almost a thousand years. No matter what market they would try to build a reputation into, all of them were already dominated by those who had years upon years to build up their own reputation.

Be it medicine, smithing, crafting or any other market of high importance, they could never hope to outshine the veterans.

Even fishing, one of the first ideas that was presented, quickly fell apart.

After all, Njord Familia was already dominating that market. The most they could hope do achieve would be to start a business with the blessing of Njord Familia, and even then it was almost impossible for them not to depend on those fishers and their God.

Which brought them to the next problem: Deities.

Almost every successful business had a Deity to back them up. Which was understandable: be it agriculture, smithing, crafting or even the arts, a Deity's blessing could exponentially improve an individual's talents and productivity.

Whatever it was adding more properties to Healing Potions, improving one's dexterity to such levels they would be able to craft at many times a normal human's level or even just improving the overall stamina of people working out on the fields, tending to crops, a Falna proved invaluable in any one market.

The East District had no Deities to call upon for help.

Fuzen knew for certain Loki would not just haphazardly bless people, even more so thanks to the rules and terms they agreed on when she allowed Fuzen to affiliate himself with the District, and anyone else would no doubt ask for compensation in return for granting their Falna, something they could not afford, most of all because Fuzen hated being in debt to anyone.

There was of course the option of asking the Deity who agreed to bless the people of his Genyutai, but...he would rather not involve that specific Deity even more in their business.

"...Right. What about the housing complex, then?" He turned to look at Yamamoto, the one he asked to oversee this project.

The old man, however, lowered his head once more. "The City Council is...stubborn, to say the least, Young Master. They will not easily hand over the building, even more so since they own the property. They will give us ownership eventually, I will make sure of that, but..."

"...Is there anything you can do to speed up the process?"

The man sighed, obviously not comfortable with what he was about to say. "...If I had more money to use…"

"Right. How much?"

"I think I could speed up the process if I had another million...No, even seven hundred thousand would be enough."

"Right…" Fuzen nodded for the third consecutive time, almost sighing himself. While he didn't personally think much of money, visualizing such amounts simply...slipping through his fingers was unsettling, to say the least.

Their combined finances were slowly approaching the red zone, even after receiving the payment from Ishtar Familia, as most of that compensation was used for the civilians and those directly kidnapped.

Luckily, he was an Adventurer, a strong one at that, and with the help of Raiju he could quickly earn money for their...organization. However, while making money was not hard in of itself, making good money was another discussion, entirely.

"...Do it." He gave his approval, knowing that the investment would prove valuable in the long term. "I need that housing complex if I am to strengthen our security, if only by a little. It's worth it."

"Understood, Young Master. I shall withdraw the established amount from our coffers, then."

'The joy...While I did buy off the businesses of everyone present here, they only own restaurants, general stores and others such establishments. La Muse is quickly bringing in profit as well, surprisingly enough. No doubt thanks to the connections of that creepy Elf woman. But even with that said, the one who adds the most to the pile is me...I need to go on another solo-expedition of my own and raise the money. My swords also need maintenance...Sigh. Maybe I can pull a trick or two to get at least the maintenance cost down? Should be...possible.'

Fuzen looked over to his side, at the stack of papers on his table. It was roughly twenty centimetres high, containing all the reports his confidants have gathered on all major businesses in Orario, from their way of conduct to their speciality, income and even the partners each business had, in addition to their histories.

They had all gone over the reports twice over by now, yet not a single loop or advantage was in sight.

"...If that is all, you are all dismissed. Keep gathering whatever information you can on your assigned targets...is what I would say, but considering all that we have so far…" He nodded over to the stack of paper. "I'd say there's little else to gather. Go rest. We will hold another meeting in two days."

Though he noticed that they were reluctant to do so, no doubt thanks to the little progress they had made, they stood up one by one and bowed to him before leaving the room, Yamamoto being the last one out.

"Young Master, please try to get some rest, as well."

"Mhm." He waved to the old man, waiting a couple more moments before placing his elbows on the table and leaning his face into his hands. "Haaaaaa...Someone my age should not be this mentally tired, I have no doubts about that. I'm a warrior, damn it. I shouldn't have to...think so much."

The thought of blaming the others for his headache soon took place in his mind, but he shook it away before it could take root.

They were not to blame: it had been his decision.

And even if, for reasons still unknown to him, he no longer had it in him to sacrifice them all for his goals, performing his duty as a Tsuwamono would still benefit his school, if nothing else.

'...Right. Because it's honourable. But how can I proceed when there is no visible path in sight?'

He felt that just about now, Captain Finn's wisdom would be immensely beneficial. However, asking him for help was absolutely out of the question.

The moment he would present either the problem or the question to Finn, it would no longer be an East District problem: it would turn into a Loki Familia problem.

And that was not acceptable. He had vowed to not involve his Familia in matters of the District and vice-versa.

Once again he was left to figure something out on his own. Not exactly something new, but disheartening nonetheless. He had been raised to deal with problems in a single, rather efficient way: killing those at the centre of the problem at hand. All this management stuff was a domain he sorely lacked tutelage or experience in.

The door to his right side slid open ever so slightly, the person behind it peeking their head inside before stepping inside once making sure the meeting was fully over. "Young Master, would you care for a cup of tea?"

"...That would be welcomed, Yua."

The woman nodded with a smile and drew closer to him, a tray with a kettle of hot tea in her hands. Taking a seat by his side she refilled his empty cup, the whole action being nothing short of uncomfortable to Fuzen.

He didn't like it.

This whole...being served thing.

He could fill his own damn cup.

Wash his own dishes.

Prepare his own food.

Clean his own house...although the sheer size of it would be time-consuming, if nothing else.

But...he understood all too well.

The importance of purpose.

He would have gone mad himself ten times over by now if not for the purpose of achieving his duty.

And Yua's purpose at the moment was to be grateful to him. As was the case for the others, as well.

Awkward, to say the least. Uncomfortable even. But he would not deny them their desires. They deserved this much, especially given what his intentions for them were...or had been.

'Soft...I vowed to let rivers of blood drench the surface of this world if it meant achieving my duty, my goal. No matter the cost, no matter if innocent or guilty. And yet, this decision, however soft, does justice to the original duty of the Lightning Sword Style. I am...no longer as ashamed of my own reflection. But...as a warrior alone in my duty, am I even allowed this sense of self-acknowledgment, I wonder…?'

As the question slowly took root in his mind, it happened again: the headache, followed by the sense of what he could only describe as splitting apart. His vision quickly blurred while at the same time doubling, his own hand holding the tea cup turning into two hands.

The side-effects of using [Rupture] in his fight with Sakda were still present, showing themselves in his times of weakness and self-reflection.

Ki as an energy was such a double-edged power, after all.

Both just a source of power and sentient at the same time, a parasite that could only flourish within the deepest core of individuals, trying to guide them so that it could flourish, more and more, again and again.

Acting not out of reason but out of instinct, that of wanting to continue to exist by forcing it's users to be truthful to themselves, to let their most powerful emotions and desires take over so that it's survival would be assured.

With that in mind, if Ki was a person then Fuzen would have no doubt been the most hated individual by it.

He closed his eyes shut and let out a grunt, forcing his mind to focus on anything else but his questions of himself.

His duty...no, that would not do. Focusing on his duty would also make him think of the strength he would need to fulfil it, a desire the parasite would no doubt try to exploit.

Something else.

Something else…

'You're hella amazing!'

The words were faint, but powerful, managing to echo through the threatened state of his mind and reach him.

The words of the short-haired Amazon girl, uttered when he was at his lowest.

The first words of that kind that had been directed at him.

For him.

'That's right. I'm...hella amazing.'

With that revelation as his focus he managed to push the grip of the parasite back and opening his eyes he noticed his vision normal once again, the headache subsiding by the moment.

"...Young Master?" The woman to his side voiced. "Is everything all right?"

...Peachy. Just a headache. Nothing to worry about." Nothing short of a lie, of course. He saw little need to trouble those unaware of the circumstances with the truth, however.

Nor did he want to reveal anything.

He was amazing enough to deal with it by himself, after all.

That didn't mean he couldn't do with a useful distraction. "You...look good. Better." He voiced after a moment of silence as his eyes met Yua's, the woman obviously surprised for a moment before a warm smile took over her features.

"It is all thanks to the Young Master."

An answer along the lines of what he expected from her, or anyone else within the house right now, for that matter. An answer he expected, but one which annoyed him all the same.

"...You can say that even after you learned of what I think about your kind?"

It had been quite some time ago, but he doubted Yua had forgotten the day when they were alone, and he told her everything regarding what he thought of people like her, and their weakness.

That day when he told her just how much he hated her, and all the others, as well.

Yet her expression remained unchanged, even upon the reminder of that rather displeasing day. "Of course. My opinion of the Young Master will never change, no matter what."

"You are quite a...displeasing woman." He stated, openly, before taking another sip. His words hardly seemed to affect the woman. Perhaps she was far more broken than he initially thought.

Placing the cup down he decided to bring up a matter he had talked with Yua and the others about, shortly after the Ishtar Familia mess. "Have you thought about what I said before? What about the others?"

Now being aware that his name alone did not mean that the people associated with him would be safe, Fuzen had gathered all the women living at his home and asked them if they could or had anywhere else to go.

Obviously, it was a rather silly question: those like Yua were the ones who had no family or friends they could turn to, thus why he had them live with him in the first place. Still, he believed it would be better if they were as far away from him as possible. Less chances to get dragged into danger that way.

However, if the expression on her face was any indication, they had probably made up their minds already. "We don't want to go anywhere else, Young Master." A moment later her eyes trailed down. "Of course, we know that taking care of us is costing you money, Young Master, so you only need to say the word and we will be gone."

'...Go where? On the streets?'

This is why he didn't like people like her. Grateful ones. Spewing nonsense without thinking about their words, about the implications.

Right, the same as before.

When they heard that the meetings were not going well and Fuzen was having a hard time coming with a solution, they had talked among themselves and then requested a meeting, suggesting that they could do their part, for once.

By whoring themselves out for him.

The simple thought of that almost made him puke.

In truth, they did not suggest a brothel per se, but rather something slightly different: a cabaret. A place where liquor was being sold, but which also provided entertainment in the form of singers and dancers.

He knew there would be no sexual activities going on, but even so…

That had been the first time he ever threatened any of the housekeepers, saying he would cut off their tongues if they ever wasted his time on stupid suggestions again.

Harsh...but he meant every word of it.

'I'd rather eat a sword and die than have anyone whore themselves in any shape or form for my sake.'

Not to mention one such establishment would hardly be what they needed. A cabaret would not give them as a District the kind of power and standing he needed.

"...Once you are back on the streets, I'd give you three weeks before you'd find your way back to some nasty Familia who will use you for your body, willing or unwilling." He stated, matter of fact, before looking her in the eye. "You may be seventeen years older than me, but you are disappointingly stupid if you said that to me even after figuring that one out."

Shaking his head he took another sip of his tea, holding back a sigh. "...This sure is a big house. Didn't think it was this big when I bought it. I'd need about twenty-three...No." He thought of Riko, Yamamoto's former waitress and his only legally hired housekeeper. "I'd need just about twenty-four housekeepers just to keep this place cleaned up, wouldn't I…?"

A moment of silence, followed shortly by a soft giggle.

He had read that this kind of tactic of changing topics worked well when you wished to get away from an awkward situation or conversation...At the very least, he just found out it worked.

"...I don't know what goes on in your mind, but the money you all cost me on a monthly basis is insignificant. Pocket money, nothing more. As long as you work, you can stay here for as long as you want. All of you." Drinking the last of his tea he stood up and made for the door. "Though I do think that as grown women, you should all start to think about your own lives, as well."

"...Understood, Young Master."

"Mhm. I'm going out."

Giving her a nod he slid the door open and walked outside, taking a couple of steps and out of Yua's sight before coming to a sudden stop.

'She brought up the matter of money...Does she, mayhaps, think that the work they put in is not enough? Do they all think the same?'

Indeed, he had not thought of it that way.

For Fuzen, their gratitude itself was a mystery, after all.

He may have saved them physically, but he could not heal them. He could not take away the years in forced slavery they had experienced. He could not give them back their lost dignity as women. And he could not revive the three children Yua had miscarried.

Their gratitude felt...wrong.

Misplaced.

And so he thought that simply giving them some simple housework to do would be enough for them to feel like they were paying him back, even though he thought of it as unnecessary to begin with.

But perhaps, that was not the reality of things.

'...Not enough, huh?'

The significance of a purpose in one's life…

Indeed, he above all understood it's importance.

'Haaa...I feel even more tired all of a sudden…'

Shaking his head at his own decision, Fuzen turned around and peeked inside the large meeting room again, noticing Yua just about to start cleaning the room. "Hey."

"Young Master, have you forgotten something?"

"…I have a couple of things to take care of in town."

"…?"

"...Do you want to come with me or not?"

Yua seemed to finally understand what he meant, a bright smile taking over her features, far brighter than the ones Fuzen had seen her wear until now. "Of course." She nodded, then looked down at the house clothes she was wearing. "Give me just one moment to change into something more appropriate, Young Master."

Without wasting any time she bowed her head ever so slightly and walked out of the room at a brisk pace.

Fuzen, for his part, simply raised an eyebrow before shrugging.

'Women.'

XXX

Whatever his decision to allow Yua a deeper look into his lifestyle and dealings had been a good idea or not, Fuzen did not know.

However, he had made sure to inform her about all the bad stuff that could possibly happen to her if they were to be seen walking side by side, like being kidnapped and used for ransom, or killed in order for her death to get to him.

Those warnings did not seem to scare her away, however, and so they proceeded on.

He had done his duty of informing her of the risks.

Besides, as much as he would have loved to think otherwise, he was aware deep down that anyone he knew was now at risk of being targeted, warnings or not. Even if they were to never again see or speak to him, those wishing him harm would eventually find them.

They would kidnap them. Probe them for information. For any small hint of weakness they could get out of them, regarding him.

It was always the same story.

Honourless dogs would be honourless dogs, no matter the era.

He was aware of this now.

However, he lacked the wits and manpower to predict such plots. All he could do was to react to them once they were set into motion.

'That is...an infuriating fact.'

Trying to get that out of his mind Fuzen led Yua through the streets of the East District, the nearest location of multiple tasks around the city he had to take care of: checking on his people.

Luckily Yua was already to some degree aware of which vendors, shops and establishments belonged to him, though she did not know them all. His first mission, as such, was to introduce her to all of them.

Yet that was only the secondary objective. The first one was to check on their status.

"Status, you say?" She asked, standing besides Fuzen at the corner of a street, both of them watching a certain vendor of his from a distance.

"Mhm. At the meetings, my confidants always say that things are going well. Yet despite that, here I am. Why do you think I am doing this?"

She took a moment to ponder on the question, not wishing to give a premature, wrong answer. "...They are lying?"

"...Half-true. They are not lying in a malicious way. They do not wish to inflict harm upon me or the operation. However…" It was his time to take a moment, trying to think on the right words to describe their motive. "...People, quite often, tend to hold back on less well-received news in order not to trouble those above their station. Yet it is that very same act of withholding information that turns what could be bad into something worse."

Obviously, within a Familia this would have never been accepted. It was the duty of the Executives and the Captain to know everything, no matter how bad, in order to avoid the worst-case scenario from befalling the Familia as a whole.

Your own opinion on the matters at hand had little value on their own: only when information was shared, whatever good or bad, could the best decision be made. Even one who made a grave mistake could redeem themselves by being honest.

Within the ranks of the merchants and business owners, however, Fuzen had come to understand that their pride in their own competence of handling matters by themselves took precedence. It would almost be a miracle if any of his confidants were to be honest about their needs.

"Young Master, so if I understand this correctly...Some of the Masters lie about the status of their businesses when it is not going well, in order to cause less troubles for you?"

"Correct. I have already spoken to them about this, however I like to take things into my own hands and make sure everything is in fact, going well."

"I understand, Young Master."

"Mhm. Good. Because after today this will be your duty as my Assistant."

"...Waitwhat?"

"It was you all who came to me begging to work as cabaret girls for me. You obviously want to work in order to feel less indebted. So work, then."

His words were cold and detached, Yua going silent for a couple of moments as she processed his request of her. "Young Master, I have no talent in...management."

Fuzen sighed, having heard such words before. The words of those with annoyingly low self-confidence. "Haaa...If you are without talented, at least be smart. If you are both without talent and dumb, at least work hard."

Such words coming from someone his age and addressed at a woman seventeen years his senior might have seem like simple raw rudeness and the signs of an unsupervised childhood in the eyes of many.

However, she was the servant and he was the Tsuwamono. They had bent the knee to him, not the other way around.

"I don't care about your experience so far or your strengths and weaknesses." He stated, looking her in the eye. "You have two choices: are you going to do it? Or are you not going to do it? Which one is it?"

Standing there, to his side, the woman realized something as she stared at the cross-armed boy in front of her. Sure, he was young. Had she not been forced to miscarry by the Rati Familia, her oldest would have been only two or three years younger than him.

And sure, he did not inspire hope within her. His eyes were too unnaturally cold to instil any such emotions within anyone.

But she felt something else.

A future, and the courage to walk towards it.

Was it a future for Orario as a whole?

Or for the East District?

Or was it simply a future for her, and her alone?

Yua did not know.

But having bent the knee to him all those months ago, and having carefully watched him from a distance during this time she now felt that a future was out there.

For someone.

Somewhere.

Sometime.

"...I'll do it."

He did not respond verbally, instead option to acknowledge her words with a simple nod. "You begin immediately. With that said, it's not like I will throw you into the fire unprepared. You will work closely with old man Yamamoto. He will teach you what you need to know to properly take care of all this."

"I understand, Young Master."

"Mhm. I'll make preparations regarding that. As for today, simply focus on what I show and tell you, and commit it all to memory."

"Of course. I'm ready."

"Mhm." He nodded and made a sign for her to follow. "Next we will inspect the goods."

"...Uhm…"

"Speak. Ask. This is all worthless if you are still confused by the time we are done."

"...Would the goods not be inspected by the merchants already?"

"Yes." Fuzen nodded. "However, it has not even been a whole year since they bent the knee to me. They do not yet fully understand that things are no longer the same. Our goods come from various Familia, most of the time, be they food or materials. The people here would not dare to speak against the suppliers even if the goods are damaged or not of the established quality in the contracts that have been signed. They would be scared to do so: they are simple civilians. No one in their right mind wants to become the enemy of a Familia."

"...So we are inspecting them again, to make sure?"

"Only until I am completely sure they are feeling safe enough to report to me on their own."

"And if the goods are not up to quality?"

"Then I will personally take it up to the suppliers. They will pay us back."

"…"

"...Speak."

"And if...they don't pay us back?"

"I will warn then. If they do not take the warning seriously, then I will wipe them out."

"...How?"

"I will kill them and destroy their whole operation. Then we will take their goods and money as compensation."

The ease with which he uttered those words managed to send a chill down Yua's spine. She was, of course, aware what her Young Master had done in order to free her and the others. Much blood was spilled, drawn

"Is that...necessary?"

Her words reached his ears and Fuzen stopped, turning to face her. "Elaborate."

"Those people...have families too, right? If you kill them…"

"...You disappoint me." He voiced in a calm tone, making the woman even more comfortable. "However, you are right. They do probably have people to take care off, as well. But so do we."

He made a head sign towards the man working the vendor they were just about to inspect. "That man has two sons. One's eight years old, the other five. His wife works in a cloth store also owned by...well, us. Their salary is decent, but nothing to write home about. In order for the family to prosper, in order for the sons to have a chance to grow up until they can support their family, they need at least another eight or ten years of financial stability. If business goes downhill for either him or his wife, their oldest might feel the need to help out earlier than needed. Most probably, he'll try to become an Adventurer. Most probably, he will die. Unless you are part of a large, well-established Familia like mine, death-rates among newbies is sky high. Or maybe he will try to get into shadier businesses. Sell drugs. More often than not, those people also end up becoming addicts, themselves."

She remained silent for a moment, taking in all the information. Deep down it was nothing new: after all, she had seen such things growing up, before the Rati Familia got their hands on her.

"...You can take that story and multiply it by a couple thousand times. After all, it fits for mostly everyone here." He let out a tired sigh, turning his head to look in her direction. "How well-off do you think this District is?"

"...I'd think...not to well, compared to others."

"You would be correct. We are the second poorest District in Orario, right after Daedalus. It's only normal: this was meant to be only a quarantine zone for refugees. Nobody would have expected that over the long years, it would become a District in of itself…" He sighed again, this tell of his already worrying Yua by now. "At least I took care of the crime...is what I would like to say, but that would be foolish to claim."

"But those Familia that plagued our streets...are they not gone?"

"Of course they are. However, cockroaches are nothing if not persistent…" With yet another sigh he shook his head, not wanting to continue the conversation in such a public space any longer. With a hand sign he had her follow him. "Let's just focus on the task at hand for now. We still have over a dozen places to inspect."

It would be another three hours before they were to be done and could move on, Yua already feeling overwhelmed from all the names and prices she was told to memorize, but keeping up nonetheless.

After months of simply living off his goodwill, her Young Master had finally decided to give her a task she would be responsible for. She finally had the chance to ease the burden of the youth who took their troubles and wishes on his shoulders.

There was no way in hell she would throw dirt on his trust.

Not now.

Not ever.

XXX

"...Ngghh?"

It did not take her long after opening her eyes to realize she had messed up and slept in. While there were no windows to speak of in her room, she only needed to turn her head to the left and notice the brightness outside her sliding door to figure this out.

"Nnngh."

With a groan she pushed the blanket to the side and sat up on the side of the bed, feeling something both wet and sticky on her cheek. Wiping the drool away with one hand she hopped to her feet and made for the door, eyes still half-closed.

Sliding the door open she took a step outside on the hallway, the gentle yet somewhat chilly breeze kissing her skin helping her shake off the sleepiness. Turning right she took a couple more steps until reaching the room at the end of the hallway, sliding the door open in a single motion.

"Fuzen, I'm hungry."

She took a quick look around and realized it was empty, no sign of him anywhere in sight.

"...Oh."

In truth she should not have been surprised: it was almost a daily occurrence for him to be missing when she woke up. Even so, day by day, she continued to hope he would be there to say Good Morning back to her.

'He's probably downstairs…'

The smell of somewhat fresh paint reached her nose and Alya's head turned to the right side of the room, where the work corner was situated. Making her way there she walked around the easel and avoiding the paint-stained papers on the floor while scratching her belly, her sleepy eyes doing their best to take in the half-finished work he had painted on the canvas.

The bird-eye view of an incredibly colourful forest, with mushrooms the size of trees and natural stone bridges leading in and out of caves…Of course, she did not know it was a painting of the 21th Floor of the Dungeon, the Large Tree Labyrinth.

'That's so pretty…'

She gazed blankly at the painting for a couple more seconds before her stomach growled and she remembered she was still hungry. Closing the door behind her she made for her own room again, not wasting any time in throwing the pyjamas she wore on the ground and grabbing a one piece dress, far more comfortable for everyday activities.

As soon as she changed she absent-mindedly walked out of her room, yet the cold shiver that ran down her spine kept her from taking another step forward.

Turning her head she looked over her shoulder, back to her room: the pyjamas on the floor, the untidy bed…

It wasn't a big deal. Even if she left it as it was, the ladies in the house would take care of it. They had done so in the past.

But she remembered how Fuzen reacted the last time he had seen the state of her room.

He wasn't angry. He was never angry. Not with her, anyway.

But the look in his eyes showed pure disappointment.

And that, for her, was far scarier.

Shaking the disappointed look in his eyes away from her mind, she quickly turned around and got to cleaning her room to the best of her abilities, folding the discarded clothes and putting them away then tidying the bed and neatly stacking the messy pile of books on her desk atop each other.

Pleased with her work and hoping that Fuzen would now give her a head pat instead of looking at her with those eyes again, Alya made her way to the second floor bathroom and washed her face, but did not even try to brush her hair.

'Fuzen's better at that than me…He will do it for me.'

Her sleepiness now mostly gone the girl eagerly made her way to the ground floor with a skip to her steps, excited to get her day going.

She also made sure to mind her manners, something Fuzen had often called her out on. "Good morning!" Alya greeted every woman she met on her way down, being greeted warmly by all of them, in return.

Little did she know just how much an innocent, bright little girl like herself helped those women just by being around them.

Arriving on the ground floor she hummed ever so slightly and made her way to the kitchen, where she knew she would find the person in charge of the house, and everyone in it. "Riko! Good morning!" She wasted no time and shamelessly rushed towards the short-haired woman, hugging her from the side.

Out of everyone living at the house, she liked Riko the most.

Well, she liked everyone, of course!

But she spent the most time with her, and she didn't have that gloom that most of the others had, even while smiling.

"Oh, Little Miss. Good morning." A head pat followed, one which Alya enjoyed as usual. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yup!" Alya nodded, breaking away from the hug. "Where's Fuzen?"

"Ahh...The Young Master left a short while ago with Yua."

"...Oh."

While she did try to not let it show, Alya was by no means an expert in hiding her feelings. It took Riko a single glance to notice her downhearted state. "Ahh...But I'm sure they will be back soon!"

The girl nodded, though Riko could see on her face that she did not really believe that. It was understandable: not even Riko, the appointed housekeeper herself, ever knew how long he would be gone or when he would come back.

"Uhh…"

"Hmm? What is it, Little Miss?"

"I'm hungry."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that! An appetite in the morning is a good, healthy sign!" The woman nodded with a smile, happy to change the topic. "How about I make you something really quick, then? Does an omelette sound good?"

"Yup!"

With her motivation newly-found the young girl quickly took a seat by the kitchen table, waving her feet back and forth as she waited for the woman to cook.

"It is still going to take a short while, however." Riko voiced as she got the ingredients out, happy to see her Little Miss in a good mood now.

"I can wait!...a little…"

"Mhm. I'll be as quick as I can."

Alya hummed as she watched the woman put the frying pan on the oven before cracking the eggs open and beating them together with the condiments and greens. She was silent for a long while, but the curiosity got the better of her. "Riko."

"Hmm?"

"What's the Dungeon like?"

A sudden question, and an unexpected one as well. Riko knew for sure that Alya had already went over the Dungeon with her history tutor Fuzen had hired for her. But no, this was different.

She wasn't asking what the Dungeon was.

She was asking what the Dungeon was like.

"Little Miss, I am not an Adventurer. I can hardly answer that question...Would it not be best to ask the Young Master?"

Alya raised her voice a little. "I tried! But he said he 'does not feel qualified to answer that question…'" She then shrugged. "Fuzen's weird."

That did indeed sound like something he would say. "Hmm...Well, I can at least tell you what others have said about it…" She looked over her shoulder, noticing the young girl nodding vigorously. "...Alright then. You see, Little Miss, people say that entering the Dungeon is like entering a whole new world."

"New world?"

"Yes. It's all underground, so there is no sunlight. There are no animals like on the surface, and the paths are never-changing. Even if you try to break through a wall to create a new path, the Dungeon will regenerate the damage over time. There is little you can find to eat there, and even the vegetation can try to hurt you. They say that some Floors are even bigger than Orario itself and that the Dungeon goes on forever, seemingly without end…"

A short silence followed as the woman finished, looking over her shoulder again to notice a frown starting to form on the young girl's brows. "That doesn't sound fun. Why do people go there?"

A cute question, just as one would expect from someone so young. Of course, there were multiple reasons Riko could think of. Firstly, the modern day was reliant on the Magic Crystals, which could only be farmed in the Dungeon. Secondly, without Adventurers cutting down the number of Monsters, they would eventually multiply and, most probably, overrun the surface world again.

But, such answers were probably a bit over Alya's capability to understand. "Well, because they want to go on an adventure."

"Hmmm…? Is Fuzen going on an adventure, as well?"

"That is...I don't know, Little Miss." Riko answered truthfully. After all, Fuzen was all but a normal person, let alone a normal kid. She could not hope to understand his motives or thoughts, despite being the live-in housekeeper and having spent a good amount of time with him. "The Young Master is...his own person."

Two little fists slamming on the table shook the woman out of her thoughts.

"Well, that's no fair! I wanna go on an adventure, as well!"

Taking a moment to process what the girl had just said, Riko started laughing. "Is that so, Little Miss?" And of course, she knew the trauma her next words would bring the young girl. "Then I think it would be best for you to say that to the Young Master."

Alya froze in place at the sound of those words.

She could not help but imagine herself before Fuzen, having told him her desire only for the older boy to stare her down with narrowed eyes, the silence alone crushing her confidence.

"...Maybe…" She voiced, looking to the side. "Maybe later…"

"Hmhm...Well, the food is ready, Little Miss." She voiced as she placed the steaming, finished omelette on a plate and brought it over to Alya, the girl's face beaming a bright smile at the sight of the food, forgetting everything else they had just discussed.

"Thanks for the food!"

"It's still hot, so maybe blow on it, Little Miss. It won't run away." Obviously, her words fell on deaf ears.

With a small shake of her head Riko went to wash the dishes, humming ever so often.

It was another peaceful day. Disregarding the...event which happened a while ago, it had been peaceful day after peaceful day in the East District.

Back when she was a waitress at the restaurant old man Yamamoto owned, the unease was tangible. She was scared to leave her apartment for work, the thought of being snatched away by those who plagued their streets with malicious intent ever present in her mind.

A thought that she no longer had now.

You could now walk down the District's streets without fear, you could own a shop knowing no one would try to extort you.

Riko herself saw herself as very lucky: out of everyone, she had been extended the position of housekeeper for the residence of the same person who was responsible for those changes, and now worked for him only. Though she did enjoy her former work as waitress, this work was far more suited to her.

Not to mention, the pay was amazing, and she got to live at her workplace, as well. If that was not enough, she was even tasked with taking care of Alya, a child.

This was a good opportunity to learn skills linked to motherhood, for when she would eventually start a family of her own.

Of course, that was not all Alya was to her. There was not a soul who lived at his residence who didn't love the little girl and her bottomless well of joy and energy.

'Finally, life is good…'

Finishing her dishes the woman turned to Alya, the girl halfway finished with her food. She was about to ask the girl if she needed anything else, but her housekeeper senses kicked in, the woman getting a feeling that someone had just entered the Katsumi premise.

"...I'll be right back, Little Miss."

Wiping her hands off a towel the woman quickly made her way out of the kitchen, taking a right down the corridor then a left to reach the entrance. Wasting no time she grabbed the door and slid it open, the face of another mere inches away from her.

"...Oh. I didn't expect to see you…Can I help you?"

XXX

"The...Traveller's Inn, you say…?" The woman asked as she looked at the stone building from afar, having expected something a little...more grand, especially as it was supposed to be a Familia Home.

However, the building looked just like it's name implied: a two-story inn made of stone. With that said, the building was well-maintained, and even from afar Yua could not see any damages to the building.

"That is correct." Fuzen nodded, stopping and turning to look at her. "That is Hermes' Familia Home."

"And what are we doing here, Young Master?"

He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Unfortunately, I had to get in contact in them, and I am now something of a...customer of their Familia. Mind you, this was not my idea."

Deep down, the woman felt like she should simply nod and not ask anymore on the matter. However, now that her Young Master had spontaneously decided to give her the role of his Assistant, she felt it would be far more insulting not to take her task seriously. "...Why are we here, Young Master?"

"Well…" He looked around, the street around them mostly empty with the exception of a couple civilians scattered around. Even so he made a sign with his head for her to follow him to an alley between two buildings. "While the Hermes Familia is registered as an exploration-type Familia, in reality they do all kinds of jobs for profit. Spying, information gathering, moving cargo...There is little they will not do. They are unique in this aspect, and as such are useful to us, a District with no recognition."

"You have made use of their services, Young Master?"

"Of course." He nodded. "Yamamoto and I reached out to them on multiple occasions, all in order to gain information which would keep the District safe."

"...What exactly, Young Master?"

He raised his eyes to stare at her, a faint nod of his head following. "You are asking questions. That is good. As for an answer...Well, Familia with ill-intent are hardly the only threats our District has to deal with. There are businesses that desire to take over our shops now that order has been restored to the streets, not to mention influential individuals who would see our District changed. There was even one man who wished to tear down some of the houses on our periphery in order to build a spa of sorts there, all because he had some ancient claims to the land preceding the first wave of refugees to arrive in Orario from the Far East…" He sighed and shook his head. "I swear, all those people and their desires make fighting to the death look easy with how troublesome they are to deal with."

A fact she did not know, no doubt just like much more she was unaware of. "...And how do we deal with them?"

"Once we are made aware of such people, we use intimidation to keep them away. If that does not work, then I kill them."

The ease with which he uttered those words managed to send a chill down her spine. "...Did it come to that so far, Young Master?"

"Yes, twice." He nodded once more. "They were too stubborn to take the threats seriously…" Fuzen shook his head before a sigh escaped his lips. "It was dishonourable, but duty demanded I do it. Had I not cut them down, many more of our people would have become homeless by now. Then again, they were hardly virtuous people. While it is dishonourable that I had to use my blades on non-combatants, the world is probably better off because of it."

By now Yua was starting to understand what exactly Fuzen was doing on those days he was gone without notifying anyone at all as to his plans, a heavy knot starting to form in her stomach. "...I see."

"Mhm."

"You...told me what you think of all the people you introduce me to so far. What about Hermes Familia, Young Master?"

The question hung in the air for a short while, Fuzen crossing his arms across his chest while his index finger tapped on his arm rhythmically. After a couple of moments, he nodded. "I don't trust them." The woman seemed confused as to why and he decided to clarify. "After our people got kidnapped last month, I actually came to them and requested they look into the matter, try to figure out if anyone else had something to do with it."

"...Did they find anything?"

"No. After a couple of days they contacted me again and said they came up empty."

"Perhaps there truly was nothing more to it, besides a Deity's arrogance?"

She did make a good point, but Fuzen shook his head nonetheless. "Perhaps. What I don't trust is how they contacted me. Usually they would send a letter to inform me of their findings, but this time one of their members came out to me in person...despite the fact I specifically told them I don't want my involvement with them to be made public, as it could affect Loki Familia. I'm not a people's person, but it wasn't that hard to figure out something was wrong from just how they decided to deal with my request."

It wasn't just that, of course. As someone whose senses were enhanced beyond human limits, Fuzen could look deeper into a person. He couldn't read minds, or read people like open books.

However, he could feel when someone was scared, as that emotion changed the vibrations in a living being's Ki.

And at the time, the one who informed him had been scared. Either scared of him personally, or scared that he might sniff their lies.

"...So, why are we still working with them, then?"

"As I said, they have their uses." He shrugged. "And also, I have a man on the inside."

"In Hermes Familia?"

"Yes. It was not my idea, mind you. However, Yamamoto and the man himself convinced me as to the usefulness of such an arrangement." She was unaware that he was talking about Kato, the man who was trained to live in the shadows.

It was best for her not to know that.

"It's a mutually beneficial trade. They get someone who actually has the skills for their endeavours without having to register him to the guild, and we get all the information our man gets while being a member of the Hermes Familia for free, not to mention a discount for their services. It's a contract, as well: after the time we agreed upon passes, he will be allowed to leave the Familia. Then he will be able to join the others full-time again."

"The others?"

"...You didn't really think I'm the only combatant the East District has, did you? I made sure to look out for those with the will to fight. They are but Level 1 at the moment...but speaking from experience, given enough time, they too will shed their weakness away and come out stronger. Ahh...unlike the one we were just talking about, they are not blessed by Hermes. There is another...Deity, who has agreed to help us in that regard. It's best for you not to know who that is, however."

The more the day went on, the more Yua understood just how much was going on behind the scenes. She had thought that her Young Master simply protected the East District when a threat appeared, like Ishtar Familia.

But now she understood that all of this went much, much further.

Deals with Gods, felling of possible outside threats, training soldiers…

'A Tsuwamono is...incredible.'

Having lived with him for quite some time now, Yua was well aware that ever her Young Master had his childish side to him. He was, after all, just a child no matter how much the look in his eyes would like to differ.

Even so, however, he seemed to know what he was doing. He was meticulous, in a scary way.

Yua could not help but wonder how much more he could do given enough time.

In five or ten years from now, when he would be a young adult, how would he manage all these matters, then?

She found herself wishing to live long enough to see for herself.

"I understand, Young Master."

"Good." He gave a small nod and walked past her, back onto the main street. "Let's go. We are only here to get some information I requested before my departure on the expedition. Even so, I thought I'd introduce you to them now."

"If that is what the Young Master wishes."

"Mhm. Once you take up your position for good, I'll have you run errands for me. No doubt that will require you to come here, as well."

She nodded and they continued on, approaching the stone building and climbing up the couple of steps leading to the door, Fuzen knocking four times before taking a step back.

It took a moment before the door opened, revealing a petite Chienthrope girl, looking at them with big brown eyes.

"Ahh...It's you." She seemed somewhat displeased to see Fuzen and Yua couldn't help but feel somewhat offended by this herself.

Her Young Master's traits were refined and symmetric, if only a bit cold. Yet even with that said there was no reason for anyone to look at him as if he was some sort of monstrous hunchback.

"Muddle. I requested information from your Familia a while ago. I have come to collect it."

The young girl waved her hand, as if to indicate she already knew what he was talking about. "Yeah, I was part of the group tasked with that." She answered before her eyes fell on Yua. "And she is…?"

"My Assistant. She will come to you from now on when I have need of your services. I thought it best to introduce her to Perseus."

The girl took a moment longer to eye Yua from head to toe before giving a nod, opening the door wide and allowing the two of them to step inside.

As soon as the door behind them closed, Yua picked off the smell of ale in the air, taking a moment to look around the main hall. There was a fireplace to the far right, with a table and a couple of seats around it near to the fire.

Straight ahead there was a counter with as many as ten stools for people to sit, behind which was a back bar with a respectable assortment of alcoholic beverages to be served by whoever felt like playing bartender. A couple of people were seated at the bar top, all of them turning their heads over their shoulders to look at them before returning to their drinks.

Further to the left was what Yua would describe as the common room, yet still part of the main hall. Half a dozen round tables were laid around and closer to the left wall was a couch, a table and a couple of armchairs, where some people were playing cards at the moment.

She could also smell stew from a room to the left of the bar, no doubt where their kitchen was located, right near a set of stairs leading further up to the first floor.

Overall, just as the name implied any who set foot inside would be overwhelmed by the inn-vibes the building gave off.

"Follow me." The girl voiced and Fuzen followed her, Yua just a step behind him. As they walked past the bar a short-haired Pallum sitting there turned halfway towards them, a mug in his hand.

"If it isn't Kenshi." A smirk formed on his lips. "Close to hitting Level 3 yet?"

Her Young Master stopped and turned to look at him. "That is confidential."

"Heh. I bet you already reached it, haven't you? Keeping a Level Up from the Guild is punishable, you know?"

Fuzen ignored the comment and turned to follow the Chienthrope again.

"Ahh...What has it come to, when hard-working Adventurers are overtaken by literal children…?"

Just like before, Yua had expected Fuzen to simply ignore the comment, but that was not to be the case. Instead, she would for the first time be witness to a sight she had not seen until now.

"...Says the guy who is a whole half a foot shorter than me."

Her Young Master, sassing someone.

A fist slammed into the counter, the Pallum absolutely livid if his expression was any indication. "Well I can't change my race, now can I?!"

Fuzen, for his part, simply shrugged as he continued to follow the Chienthrope girl up the stairs onto the first Floor and to the office of the Hermes Familia's Captain, Asfi Al Andromeda.

He just hoped that Hermes would be out of the house. While he wasn't emotionally unstable at the moment, Fuzen had a rather hard time to be cordial with the God.

After all, he had understood one thing from the very first moment he met the God: it was one of those cases where a person's face was enough for Fuzen to dislike them.

XXX

'...This is not what I planned on.'

The girl thought to herself as a deadpan expression was visible on her face, walking at a slower than normal place behind the woman and the child.

When Ais left the Twilight Manor this morning, her plan was to visit Fuzen and talk to him again, maybe even spar a little.

While they had spent quite a lot of time together recently as he helped her tap into her Magic without the use of a Chant alongside Alya, Ais still had questions. About that Ki power he told her about, about Alya herself...

Still, he had just been on a week-long expedition with Tione and Bete and as soon as he was back, he quickly disappeared from their Familia Home. Yet even Ais was not dense enough to bother him the first day after an expedition, so she had held off until today.

She had also hoped he would be at his second home.

Unfortunately, luck was not on her side, as he had left yet again just a short while before she arrived at his door.

Just then she made to leave, but the housekeeper who informed her of Fuzen's absence invited her inside. Not wishing to be rude, she accepted and was soon served snacks and tea after greeting the girl, Alya.

Then she helped the young girl brush her hair and get rid of the tangles.

After that, the housekeeper told Ais they were going shopping.

They as in, all three of them.

She neither asked nor demanded: she simply stated it.

'We're going shopping, come on!'

And so before she knew it, Ais was forced, though not in the literal sense of the word, to go shopping for supplies with the woman and the little girl.

To her surprise Riko had been quite persistent that Alya wear a black wig, which took no small amount of effort to put on the young girl who tried to resist to her absolute best. Upon inquiring as to why the wig was necessary, Riko simply shrugged.

'The Young Master has made it clear that if the Little Miss were to ever go out with you by her side, she would need to try and at least hide her identity.'

That had been her answer to Ais's question, showing the swordswoman once more just how devoted these people were to her fellow Familia member. Without questions and without inquiries, they simply did as he asked. She doubted he had even told them what the relationship between her and Alya was, despite their uncanny resemblance to each other.

Had he always been like that?

Ais knew that besides their sparing matches, she had spent little time with the boy. Yet from what she could tell as someone who watched him from the sidelines, he was quiet and withdrawn.

He wasn't shy, quite the opposite in fact: he never hesitated to speak his mind. However she could not think of him as someone who would inspire...loyalty. Qualities like those Finn and Riveria possessed, he had none of them.

Yet even with that said, she couldn't completely dismiss him either. After all, she had asked herself one certain question multiple times by now, and each time her answer had been the same: if she were to be stuck in the Dungeon with one person of her choosing, she would choose Fuzen.

He was reliable in a way she was not and his strength was the real deal, as well. He wasn't the commander Finn was, far from it, and he wasn't even close to being a calm mentor like Riveria either, but his sheer tenacity would see him win over all odds.

In a way...while it wasn't loyalty, she fully trusted him as a fellow Adventurer despite how shaky their relationship had been.

'This is not what I planned on...'

Thinking about this was not what she planned when she walked out of the house with the housekeeper and her little clone.

The values of people...this was not something she had earnestly thought about until now. Her life had been filled with training and dungeon diving, both important for her quest of vengeance. Of course, thanks to the help of Loki Familia she had gradually changed over the years, understanding that some things like camaraderie and both understanding and appreciation of others was precious.

Their top three pillars and the twins, as well as Lefiya, were examples of such people she appreciated.

However it was not usual for her to ponder on thoughts of values and humanity. Yet more often than not, whenever she got another peek into the life of Fuzen, that would change.

He wasn't even that good of a person, however cruel it was to say that about a fellow Familia member. In fact, they were quite similar in that regard.

'I just wanted to talk to him more about Alya and that Ki power of his...Why am I thinking about this, instead…?'

With a sigh she let her shoulders drop: everything about that boy was complicated.

"Ais, are you tired?"

The question took her by surprise and she lifted her eyes up, noticing the pair of golden eyes looking up at her, the black bangs from the wig doing little to hide them: if anything, it brought out the little girl's eyes out even more. To this day she couldn't get over over how similar they were.

"No. Sorry."

Alya raised an eyebrow at the words. "...Why are you apologising?"

"...Nothing."

"Riko, Ais's weird!" She called out laughingly.

The housekeeper, however, was not pleased. "Little Miss, that is inappropriate to say."

"But she is!"

"That may be, but you shouldn't point fingers. If the Young Master heard about this, he would scold you."

The words seemed to almost send a shiver down the little girl's spine, her former smile slowly fading away. It was clear even to someone as dense as Ais that his approval meant a lot to the girl.

"I'm sorry about that." The woman apologised, her eyes trailing downwards at the many bags of ingredients Ais was carrying. "Are the bags heavy?"

Of course, for a high-end Level 5 like Ais, that weight was something she did not even feel. "No, I'm alright."

"I see." Riko nodded and slowed down her pace a little, just enough for Alya to be slightly ahead as she walked side by side with the Sword Princess. "Thank you for coming with us, by the way. It's my task and I do it daily, so I could have done it by myself, but...I wanted the Little Miss to get out of the house, as well."

Ais saw little reason as to why she could not have taken the girl out without her presence. "Is there...a problem?"

"...The streets of the East District are peaceful thanks to the Young Master. But...taking Alya out by myself would have been risky. As a Loki Familia member, you...probably heard."

It wasn't long before Ais realized what Riko meant. Fuzen had given Loki and the others, herself included, a short rundown of what had happened, and why he had assaulted Ishtar Familia.

She guessed the housekeeper was concerned that some Ishtar members might have infiltrated the District and didn't want to put the young girl at risk.

"...Yes. It's no problem."

"Thank you-" The woman barely spoke the words before her head turned up ahead, noticing Alya running forward with a speed nigh impossible for someone her size and age. "Hey, come back here!"

Her words fell on deaf ears however and the woman started chasing after Alya with Ais close behind. She could have caught up to the girl with no problem, but she felt that using her true speed would have been unnecessary, even more so on a street so tightly packed with people.

Slowly but surely, following the young girl as she rushed on ahead then took a sharp right, the two finally caught up to her. To their surprise it wasn't a person or a thing that had caught her attention to begin with, but rather a location.

A stand, to be precise.

As soon as she stepped onto the street Ais picked up on the smell, surprised the little girl had sniffed out the smell from two whole streets away.

"Riko!" Alya shouted excitedly as she waved one hand and jumped up and down in front of the stand with complete disregard for the bag full of condiments she was holding. "Jagamarukun! Jagamarukun!"

"...You ran away just because of this…?"

"Riko! Buy! Buy! Jagamarukun!"

Ais noticed how the woman sighed under her breath before walking towards the stand and made the order, obviously knowing from experience there was no backing away from this request.

'...I forgot my wallet.' As for Ais herself, she simply shook her head at her own mistake of leaving the Twilight Manor without any money on her. 'I need more pockets…'

Once the purchase was over Riko had them sit down on a bench further up the street, with Ais sitting on one end and Riko on the other, with Alya in the middle. "Be careful now, Little Miss. It is still hot."

Alya nodded but immediately started blowing on the snack by taking in deep breaths, an almost scary focus visible in her eyes. She wanted to eat it, and she wanted to eat it soon.

"Here you go, Miss Wallenstein."

To Ais's surprise, Riko extended a hot Jagamarukun to her as well, the Sword Princess already tasting the snack from it's smell alone. "...I don't...have any money…"

"Ahh, it's alright. We couldn't possibly eat and leave you out, could we? Please, take it."

"Is it...really alright?" Ais asked once more, her hand reaching for the snack but pulling back at the last moment, over and over again.

"Of course."

Not wasting any more time Ais finally grabbed the snack with a nod of gratitude and started blowing on it just like Alya besides her. She also understood that Riko was a good person, there was no more doubt in her heart anymore.

No one who shared a Jagamarukun could be bad in any way.

And so the three of them stood there, eating Jagamarukuns as they watched the busy street in front of them go on with it's flow, people walking past them while vendor owners shouted discounts to draw in customers.

It was...nice.

A change of pace, Ais realized.

Going out into the city without a Familia-related matter to resolve was rare for her. She had done it with the Amazon twins and Lefiya a couple of times in the past, but very rarely. She had done it even less with people she barely knew.

'...People I barely know…'

Taking a bite out of her snack Ais looked over to Alya with the corner of her eye, the young girl so very similar to her despite the black wig she wore. Her eyes, her face, her demeanour, even the way she ate…

So very similar to her.

To the Ais from a past which was now murky to the Sword Princess.

Yet, he had reconnected her to it through this girl.

Her clone...No, that wasn't right.

Her...little sister?

Even now, she wasn't sure. But there was no mistake as to the bond they shared, however new it was to the both of them. They were still little more than strangers, Alya just recently started calling her Ais, but the bond was there.

She could feel it.

After such a long time, she felt it again.

The feeling which she believed to have lost forever when she lost her family.

'This is...really nice. All thanks to him...'

It wasn't what she planned on doing today at all, but all things considered, this wasn't a bad alternative.

"Hey, Ais!" The chirpy girl drew her attention. "When we get home, let's play!"

"...Play?"

"Mhm! Fuzen's gone and I don't have any tutors coming to teach me today, so you have to play with me, instead!"

Ais took a moment to process the faulty line of thought, as it made no sense how she got to that conclusion to her. Looking up at Riko she noticed the woman shrugging with a smile: this sort of thinking was probably normal for the girl.

"...Okay."

It wasn't like she had anything better to do for the day, nor was it a requirement of her Familia to be on stand-by every waking moment.

'Yes. This is...not bad…'

XXX

Though they had left the Traveller's Inn a good while ago, the two were silent as they walked on towards their next destination.

Looking back on the explanation Fuzen had given her previously, Yua could somewhat understand why her Young Master had seemed so uncomfortable entering that building now.

While she could not fully speak for the members themselves, fifteen minutes of being face to face with their Patron Deity was all she needed to figure him out.

"...Is it wise to trust that one, Young Master?"

Fuzen, quite unexpectedly, sneered at the words. "Obviously not. Anyone who trusts a God like that must be out of their mind."

"…"

"As I said before, they are useful to us. Using someone like that would usually leave a bad taste in my mouth, but they are likewise using us, or more specifically, using my man on the inside, so I can agree to this...I guess."

Yua was surprised to hear this.

Though she couldn't say confidently that she understood the intricate code of honour her Young Master was living by, she at least knew that he hated underhanded tactics. For him to agree meant that either the benefits of this agreement were simply that good, or that he cared enough for the District to make a decision he disliked.

While not exactly street-smart herself, Yua understood that either understanding the first or accepting the second were signs of growth, which she was happy to see in her Young Master.

"Don't worry to much about it. There are other people who have been tasked with keeping both an eye and an ear open to possible changes. You simply need to do the tasks I give you."

"Understood, Young Master."

"Mhm. Also, you have my permission to defend yourself if something like that happens again, while I am not accompanying you."

He was referring to the fact that the Patron God of the Hermes Familia had shamelessly tried to flirt with Yua instead of focusing on the matter at hand, advances which had only been brought under control with a drawn sword and a threat of pain by a very unimpressed youth. "...I will keep that in mind, Young Master."

"Good."

With a nod from him the conversation ended and she followed his lead through the city, this time going north-west. Between the time they spend going around their District and the walk to the Traveller's Inn, a couple of hours had already passed.

Far longer than she thought when they first set off from their home.

With a steady pace they eventually reached what Yua remembered to be the Industrial District where many crafting-type Familia set up their shops, the streets filled with Adventurers and carts hauling raw or processed materials to be used by the smiths and craftsmen.

Not a part of town Yua would usually find herself in, that much was for sure.

"This next person we will meet is safe, so you should not worry." Fuzen told her as they moved to the left side of the street, trying to keep close to the buildings and avoid the bulk of the mass of people. "Just in case you were worried this would turn like Hermes Familia."

"I see, Young Master. Is this person someone you trust, then?"

A long silence followed as the boy simply led her further down the street. "...It is more of a situation where trust is necessary, instead of optional."

That helped little to answer her question, but Yua kept silent as she did not wish to bother him any more, option for a simple nod as her response, instead.

It wasn't long before he took a corner and walked into a side street and made a head gesture. "We're here."

Following his line of sight Yua noticed a stone building in the distance which stood out from the rest, being one story high and thus bigger than any other house near it.

Well...house was not really the best way to describe it. It's size was closer to a mansion, yet the architecture was so simple it could have passed for a warehouse instead. It was, quite obviously, not built with the thought of being a permanent residence for whoever owned it.

Her Young Master made a sign and they walked past the open front gate, walking the couple of meters to the front door and simply stepping inside.

Following Fuzen's lead they made their through the hallway, taking a left and soon after standing before a door, the sound of grinding metal coming from the other side. Not wasting time the boy in front of her opened the door and walked inside, Yua following suit.

It was the first time ever the woman had laid eyes upon a forge this close up, taking a long moment to look around. It didn't take long for her eyes to fall on the woman in the distance however, sharpening what looked to be a brand new sword at the grinding wheel.

To say she was surprised would have been an understatement: the sword was as long as she was tall, yet the tanned woman with the eyepatch seemed to handle it's weight just fine in only one hand.

Yua found herself wondering if she could ever lift someone as heavy as that. She could probably drag it around if Fuzen asked her to with great difficulty, but lifting it…

No chance.

It just went to show how truly different Adventurers were from normal people like herself.

To her surprise Fuzen neared the wall to the right of the door they had just walked through and allowed his back to lean against it, making a sign for her to do the same. Not a single word was uttered, and Yua did not wish to be the first to break that silence.

Minutes passed by as they simply watched the woman sharpen the blade, the focus in her own eye managing to make Yua feel a shiver down her spine despite the high temperature in the forge.

"...That should do it." The woman finally spoke as she got up for her seat and held the blade before her face, inspecting it's edge. A moment later she looked towards them, a smile of sorts visible on her face. "Hey, give it a try for me!"

She voiced and barely a moment later threw the sword in Fuzen's direction, the boy reaching out and grabbing it by the handle faster than his newly appointed Assistant could react to. Indeed, living with him in the same house made her forget sometimes, but the way he handled the enormous sword reminded her that he, too, was one of those Adventurers, one who was no longer comparable to a normal man.

Or in his case, child.

"...This type of greatsword does not work well with my sword style, Collbrande-sama."

"It cuts all the same, stop being a wuss." The tanned woman replied, her smile growing bigger.

Her Young Master sighed before taking a couple of steps forward, making a sign for her to stand back. Luckily the forge was huge and there was enough room to swing even such a giant sword.

Taking a low stance, Fuzen brought the sword to his left side, his left palm held above the width of the sword. It was a normal drawing stance...were the sword the size of his usual katana.

Yet despite the large size he seemed to know what he was doing, and a moment later he performed a slash of impeccable form, a clean movement from his lower left to his upper right.

At least in the eye of the blacksmith in the room. Yua herself had only seen his blade disappearing and re-appearing faster than she could keep react, a gust of wind hitting her face a moment later.

"...Good weight distribution. Blade can cut through air with little resistance. A solid centre of gravity is required by the user to handle this sword with efficiency...Then again, if we are talking about Adventurers then raw power should allowed them to wield it just fine enough." He voiced as he inspected the sword, then looking back at the woman. "A Second-Class Weapon, is it?"

"Yep."

"The handle is too thin, however." Fuzen added a moment later, throwing the blade back at the blacksmith. "You simply need a thicker handle wrap, in my opinion."

Hearing the critique the woman impaled the sword into the floor, her eye scanning the handle with the same intense focus from before. "...You don't say? It should be just about fine."

"It is a good fit for me." Fuzen nodded, lifting his palm up. "But I am a child. My hands are smaller by about a quarter, if not half that of an adult. Someone like Gareth could experience troubles wielding this sword, since his hands would not be able to fully grasp the handle with his full power. When swinging the handle could rotate in his hands, misaligning the blade mid-air and taking away the chance of a finishing strike. Or while blocking, a powerful enough blow near the tip could also rotate the handle in his hands. Both situations you would not wish to find yourself in."

The woman listened calmly to his words with a narrowed eye, nodding along halfway through and the smirking by the time he was done. Finally, she raised both of her hands. "Overthinking it as always, I see. Not one sane blacksmith would ever think of something as ridiculous as that. But I'll take your advice to heart." She laughed and placed the sword on a nearby table, then turned around to face them again.

This time, her eyes fell on Yua. "And who might this cutie be?"

That managed to get a faint blush from the woman. "As of today, my new Assistant." He made a sign for her to introduce herself.

Taking a couple of steps forward and bowing her head, she did just that. "Yua Kojima, pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Yo. I'm Tsubaki!"

"...Also better known as Tsubaki Collbrande, Captain of the Hephaestus Familia and a Level 5 Adventurer, not to mention the best mortal blacksmith in this city, or the world for that matter. Also, the blacksmith I signed a contract with." Fuzen jumped in, finishing Tsubaki's half-arsed introduction for her, himself.

"Hahaha! Are you trying to make me blush, you little twerp? Come 'ere!"

What followed was an attempt by Tsubaki to grab Fuzen in a choke-hold and ruffle his hair, an attempt which had been very successful indeed.

And as far as Yua could tell, Fuzen was familiar with this type of behaviour by the woman, if his unamused expression was anything to go by. Yet that hardly meant he was okay with it, the boy's hand already on his sword's handle and slowly pulling it out of it's sheath.

Naturally, Tsubaki noticed this and with a last ruffle pulled away. "So, you've grown important enough to have a personal Assistant now, is that it?"

"She desired work. I required trustworthy people." He explained plainly. "I have a busy schedule, unfortunately. I've been taking Yua around town today, introducing her to all the important associates I have."

"Hey, hey, buy me dinner first." The blacksmith joked, something Fuzen simply sighed at.

"Seeing how you are my blacksmith, you are obviously on that list. From now on, if I need something from you I will send Yua on my behalf. It is why I wished to introduce you two."

"I look forward to working together with you, Collbrande-sama." Yua voiced, gaining another laugh from Tsubaki.

"Oh, come on. None of that. Just call me Tsubaki. I've had enough of honorifics from this ball of joy over here."

"I remind you, Collbrande-sama, that you are the Captain of a Familia. It would hardly be professional if I were to address you casually, something Captain Finn would no doubt agree with me."

Tsubaki, in response, simply shrugged. "Well you're both boring, so I have no doubt of that. Anyway, should I make some tea? I got some time if you wanna chat."

"The offer is appreciated, but we shall be on our way soon. Before that, however…" He quickly took out his two swords and handed them over to the blacksmith. "Maintenance."

It was then that Yua first noticed a look of worry on the woman's face. "Hey, you didn't thrash our masterpieces, did you?" She asked, pulling the longer katana out and inspecting the blade.

"Obviously not."

"...Mhm. Benikesa seems to be in good shape."

The name took Yua by surprise, as she had never Fuzen call them that. "...Young Master, is Benikesa a type of special sword?"

"Haa...No. It's just the sword's name." The way he said that was less that enthusiastic, to say the least.

Benikesa, which translated to Crimson Stillness.

Not a sword he had named himself, of course.

"Hahaha, why so embarrassed, Kenshi? I'd say it's a mighty fine name for this beauty!" Tsubaki exclaimed loudly, walking up to Yua and shoving the blade in her face. "Just look at this blade, is it not extraordinary?!"

Naturally, Yua had already caught glimpses of the blade every now and then from a distance, it's naturally crimson hue catching her attention each and every time. And now with the sword more or less right up in her face, she had to agree with Tsubaki: it was an extraordinary blade.

She had no clue about swords or forging, but one close look at it told her that the sword was in a class of it's own.

Tsubaki seemed to understand what she was thinking, a smirk taking shape on her lips. "Obviously, it is a First-Class Weapon. This beauty's price on the market would be in the hundred of millions. As would Amaya's, of course!" She pulled out the chisa-katana as well and like before, shoved it in Yua's face. Amaya, which translated to Night Rain. Again, not a name he chose himself. "Dare I say, those are the best pieces I have forged so far!"

Her excitement was barely contained, Yua could say that much. However just as quick as it appeared it disappeared, the woman's gaze turning steely upon glancing at the blades.

"...Well, that is what I would say, had I forged them by myself." She turned around, her eye meeting Fuzen's. "But that would be a lie."

"...It would be, yes."

In all honesty, Yua was already lost. Going by context alone, she would have guessed Tsubaki meant that her Young Master had helped her in forging those blades. But that couldn't possibly be. Her Young Master was a swordsman, not a blacksmith.

"I've even had Hephaestus take a look at Benikesa the last time you dropped it off for maintenance, but even she couldn't take the process completely apart. She obviously got the part I worked on right down to the minute detail, but what exactly gave those blades their quality eluded even her."

It was no surprise to Fuzen: Deities were individuals who lacked Ki, and as such the existence and usage of his power eluded them, not unlike someone trying to explain a colour they had never actually knew existed in the first place, let alone seen it themselves.

But it was not his responsibility to educate either Tsubaki or her Goddess on such matters.

Instead, he simply crossed his arms over his chest and shrugged. "At the risk of sounding arrogant...That sounds like a you problem."

The blacksmith's smirk turned sinister as their eyes locked once again, all the while she sheathed the swords and placing them on the table. "You sure guard your secrets well, don't you, Kenshi?"

"What secrets, Cyclops? Have I not used those so-called secrets right besides you? Can it still be called a secret if I used it before your ever curious, watchful eye?"

"...You know what I mean."

"I know. But in my eyes, all it boils down to is you not trying hard enough."

He was by no means trying to antagonize the woman, nor pick a fight with her. She was too valuable to him for any of that. However, it was a thorn in his side the way she tried to make him loosen his tongue and tell her the secret behind what he did to make Benikesa and Amaya jump to First-Class Weapons despite the materials they used for them only being worth Second-Class quality.

And indeed, it was not his responsibility to either teach or tell her. But, he had used the ritual right before her eyes. He would have hardly done that if he was not fine with her stealing the process for herself.

Just like how Eisatsu and Utegiri shattered when he faced Sakda for the first time, Benikesa and Amaya would no doubt meet their end as swords as well whenever he would encounter his next wall.

It would be beneficial to him, then, if his blacksmith was able to forge Ki-touched weapons by herself when that time came.

If that ever came to happen, he would gladly teach her the basics of Ki manipulation as that branch of skills was not something he was prohibited from teaching others, as long as their heart was in the right place. But getting to that point was up to her, and her alone.

After all, he wanted to see for himself. If she was as passionate about her work as she said, and whatever that passion would be enough to awaken the latent Ki she possessed.

"...I have performed my part during the forging in front of you. Whatever you wish to learn something from that memory or not is up to you, and you alone."

"...Well, aren't you just the cherry on top of the pie?"

"I do not understand that analogy."

"I bet you don't." She shook her head with a smile and turned back to the swords he had entrusted her. "Well, both of them are in pretty good condition. I see you handled them well during your recent expedition. In all honesty you could go for a couple more weeks without maintenance."

"While I do not believe in naive notions of weapons having souls, as a swordsman I still understand that weapons can be...picky. I'd rather they not fail me when I most need them."

"That's one way of saying weapons can be bitches."

"...A couple of days, then?"

"Yeah. I got a contract I have to work on, but I'll get to work on them after that."

Fuzen nodded and made a head sign towards Yua. "She will collect them for me. I take it your last-minute request for materials last time will make up for the payment?"

"Well, those materials don't come close to First-Class Weapons-"

To both Tsubaki and Yua's surprise, Fuzen cut her off mid-sentence, head tilted to a side ever so slightly. "I had to break off from my party while they rested and rush down thirteen Floors from our position, not to mention the number of Monsters I had to slay to get the number of Drop Items you requested." Finally, he crossed his arms. "Your request and the fact I completed it more than makes up for the payment."

What followed next were a couple of moments of awkward silence as blacksmith and swordsman stared at each other, a contest broken only by the former's laugh.

"So, learned to strike a hard bargain, have we?"

"Yes."

That was mostly Yamamoto's influence at play, in truth. He had been pestering Fuzen with talks about the importance of finances from day one, after all.

"All right, all right." Tsubaki gave in with a shrug, more amused than anything else. "It's not like it's gonna take too much work, anyway. You win."

"When should I come to pick them up then?" The Assistant asked.

"Three days, I'd say. Come before noon."

Yua nodded and with that out of the way, Fuzen decided to bring up the next topic, stretching his palm out at her.

"...What do you want?"

"Sword. I'm going to the Dungeon later. I need a replacement."

To his surprise, Tsubaki began to laugh. "Hehe, I don't dislike it. How you became more demanding, I mean. But don't push your luck: I obviously knew you'd need a replacement, so don't make demands in my forge." It was not malicious, but he felt her presence as a Captain and a Level 5 behind those words.

"...I am still short one sword."

"Hahaha, you are short more than just that." She laughed again, waving her hand around her mid-torso as she turned around and walked towards a weapon rack, having just insulted his height.

'...I'm eleven. I am still growing, you damn hag-'

"Hey, don't make me grab the soap for that dirty mind of yours." Tsubaki voiced as she turned to look at him with a smirk on her lips. She had presumed he would silently swear back at her.

She had presumed correctly.

"...Tsk."

In the next moment he saw a sheathed katana flying at him, reacting just fast enough to grab it before it could slap into his face. Shaking his head he drew the blade and gave it a quick inspection: it was a good, sharp blade, if only a bit mediocre compared to his actual katana.

It would do for the next couple of days however, and so he quickly fastened it at his hip. "What about the thing I told you about before I went on the Expedition?"

At the sound of that Tsubaki's face lit up and she raised a finger as she made her way out of the room, coming back some moments later with a long rolled up strap of leather in her hand. "All done, obviously."

"Mhm." He nodded and accepted the strap, letting it unwrap only to reveal a couple dozen needles stuck symmetrically inside the leather. Taking one out Fuzen closely inspected it: longer than a finger but shorter than a hand, and also roughly three times thicker than a normal sewing needle.

Just as he instructed.

As if noticing his thoughts Tsubaki drew closer. "I took your request into consideration and decided on a mix of Mithril and Oricalchum. The body is made out of Mithril, which makes it magically conductive, and the tips are made of Oricalchum, so it should have sharpness and durability to boost."

"Mhm. They will do."

"Still, I gotta ask…" Tsubaki crossed her arms, a confused look in her eye. "What do you need them for? You don't strike me as the type to use tricks like these in combat."

"I am not. However…"

How would he even go about explaining it to the blacksmith?

He had, after all, no intention of changing his fighting style to incorporate extra tools. However, the needles were something he planned on mastering for the sake of another:

Mikoto.

She was his to guide, as unlike as that sounded if one were to take their individual age into consideration. And she still had much to learn.

Much of which she would need to figure out on her own.

However...his fight with the Were-Jaguar has revealed to him the fact that he had only ever been taught the bare minimum. He was a swordsman of the Lightning Sword Style. As such, he was taught sword fighting.

And once he had mastered that to a high enough degree, his God and his trainer told him he was ready for the world.

He too had been of the same opinion.

And yet, when he came face to face with one whose mastery of Ki and experience was enough to negate his own skills, he cracked. He broke. Hell, he almost gave up.

Mikoto would not be thrown to the wolves unprepared like he had been. Not as long as he had something to say about it.

No, he would prepare her.

His swordsmanship was already greater than most others. With the help of Tiona and Tione, his hand to hand combat was improving week by week. Every time he got the chance and Alicia was free, he practiced archery with her, as well. They had just moved to moving targets a short while ago.

At every opportunity he also tried to improve his use of Magic, trying to minimize the Mind needed for a quick discharge of electricity while not compromising on the power behind the attack.

And of course, the needles.

"...Just in case." He half-muttered under his breath, lifting his gaze at the blacksmith. "Do you have anything I could use as target?"

"Hmmm...Gimme a second." Tsubaki replied and walked to the other room, coming back a minute later with what looked to be a cheap full-plate helmet, placing it on the table opposite of Fuzen and walking back to his side, arms crossed across her chest.

With a nod he took a needle out and, holding it by one end between his thumb and index finger tried to throw it at the target. Unfortunately, it started to rotate in mid-air and hit the helmet with it's width, bouncing off and falling to the ground.

For the second attempt, he tried to hold it in a closed fist, with the needle placed in-between his fingers near the knuckles and tried throwing it with a motion that resembled a slap with the back of his hand.

However, not only did the other end poke his palm, the needle got stuck in the wall...about one meter above the helmet, and to the right.

At least it flew straight, but he doubted he would ever hit what he intended with that technique.

For the third try he held the needle in-between his index and middle finger, between the first segments of the finger and drew his arm back, then performed a throwing motion. Halfway through he flicked his wrist and let the needle fly.

And fly it did, not only straight but through the metal nose guard of the helmet, piercing the back and finally getting stuck in the wall behind it.

Just to make sure it was not just a lucky hit he threw two more needles in that same fashion and both hit their target. It seemed like that way of throwing was best suited for him.

"Damn. You're a fast learner, aren't you?" Tsubaki chipped in from his side.

A sigh was his first response. "...Yes. But unfortunately, only in the skills not related to sword fighting." He went and collected the projectiles he had thrown. "Was the payment I offered before enough to cover the cost?"

"Well, they are just needles, so yeah."

"Understood. Then please have another batch prepared. It is not a priority, however. I doubt I'll run through those ones too quickly. I'll have Yua bring you the payment when she comes to collect my swords."

"I'm fine with that. Still...If you only plan to use them as throwing projectiles, why did you want them to be magically conductive?"

Fuzen gave the woman a long look, pondering on whatever he should reveal his plans for them to her. In the end, he concluded that she was his blacksmith, and if she were to forge more swords and other weapons for him in the future, it was best for her to know what he was capable of.

Besides that, he could at least trust her not to be a blabbermouth.

With that in mind he gave a nod and took another needle out, placing it on his open left palm before placing his right over it, a moment later slowly pulling his palms to the sides as the needle hovered in place without falling to the ground.

Immediately intrigued by what she was seeing, Tsubaki drew closer and leaned in, as did Yua who had remained silent until now.

"What kind of trick-?" Tsubaki uttered before cutting herself off, noticing miniscule sparks of electricity flickering to life between his palms. "...Magic without incantation? Are you some kind of mad genius?"

"No." Fuzen replied, though his focus was solely on the needle. "Effects and properties are two different aspects."

"...What do you mean?" The blacksmith inquired.

"A mage who has a Spell which allows them to shoot out fireballs, for example. The Spell itself is the effect: the ability to generate destructive fire blasts. The properties of the Magic itself, on the other side, also allows the Mage to generate heat. Go further down the rabbit hole and they are also capable of generating illumination, however limited."

Tsubaki and Yua exchanged a look of confusion, not really understanding where he was getting at. "Sooo…"

"Magic is multi-layered. What seems to be the ability to do only one thing can be branched down to multiple things, all somewhat connected to the first thing."

"Ahh, so that is what you were saying."

"Sigh…"

That was of course also the case for his Magic.

At first glance, the effect itself of his Spell was the discharge of lightning and electricity from his body, with Raiju acting as the middleman of the whole process. Fuzen was the Mage, Raiju was the Spell, yet the Magic itself was also Raiju.

It was the lizard who stood at the centre of it all.

However, while the effect of the Spell was only lightning generation, the properties of the Magic were also the properties of the element itself.

Which...he wasn't actually sure what they were.

Fuzen had of course searched the many libraries of Orario for exactly that kind of knowledge. And luckily enough, he had found a couple of books explaining the phenomena of lightning and electricity to him...to some degree.

Yet this was a world of Magic they lived in. From everyday objects like fireplaces and bathrooms to weapons and more, their society was dominated by technology which functioned by using the unexplained.

Magic Stones.

Men and women of science who tried to explain those phenomena in scrutinized detail were far and few between, frowned upon by those who were simply contempt with being able to control the unknown through Magic.

But that didn't mean those people of science did not exist.

And Fuzen had already, quite a while ago, sent letters to them.

He was still waiting for replies.

'They live all over the other continents...Makes sense that it takes time to get a reply.'

He hoped those people would be able to help him uncover more details about the properties of his Magic. Until that time, however, he would have to experiment on his own. Through sheer luck he found out he could to some degree influence metal object that came in contact with his body.

But that was about how far he had gotten on his own.

And right now he was having a damn hard time making that needle do as he wanted.

Whenever he tried to make it move forward, it would go left at an angle. When he tried to make it go back to the centre, it hovered backwards with one end floating up towards his face.

"...Damn it…"

"So...what exactly should your properties allow you to do with this needle?" Asked the blacksmith.

"...In theory? It should...allow me to make it fly straight in a line at incredible speeds, piercing through anything in it's path."

Tsubaki raised an eyebrow at the sound of that. "How's that possible?"

"Because my Magic's properties...allow me to influence metals, to some degree."

It was in that moment that Tsubaki's one eye shot wide open as a smile took over her lips. Ideas in countless numbers began to swarm her mind as those words sank in, realizing in that moment that she needed to have the boy.

Her very mouth almost watered at the prospect of someone being able to control metals.

He was making a needle float right now.

So then, what else could he do?

She needed to find out!

"Well…" She voiced, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Why didn't you tell me that-?"

Her sentence was cut short as she noticed his expression changing as he eyed the needle now charging with electricity to the point the zapping sound grew louder. It charged and charged, growing brighter by the moment until-

"Shi-"

What happened next managed to surprise even Tsubaki.

The needle, obviously supercharge with electricity let out a loud boom as it shot forward at an incredible speed towards what it was currently facing: Fuzen.

And it was fast.

Fast enough that Tsubaki could see it, but not react to it. Worst of all, it's trajectory was such that it would have burrowed it's way through the boy's face and exit through his skull, no doubt killing him in the process.

The thought of a customer dying in her forge left a bad taste in her mouth.

It also made Tsubaki realize how messed up she was, carrying more about how this would reflect on her reputation than the boy himself dying.

But, he did not die.

Unlike her, somehow, he did not only see the needle but had been able to react to it...by throwing his head back.

And so the needle instead pierced directly through his upper lip, scratching his teeth as it continued on through his cheek, existing the first time just below his lower eyelashes, piercing through the underside of his brow and exiting for the second time through his upper brow and into the ceiling above them.

For a moment, all three individuals remained dead silent with mouths agape at what had just happened.

Yua, of course, was the first to break that silence. "Young Master, you are wounded!"

She was silenced with a raise from his right hand, Fuzen still standing with his torso leaning backwards and eyes staring at the coin sized hole now present in the ceiling above them, going further through the roof and...further than that.

He could quite literally see the blue sky outside through that small hole.

"...H-Hey. Kenshi. You still alive?"

Slowly he closed his mouth and moved his jaw left and right a couple of times, then spit out a mix of saliva of blood to his side.

He inhaled.

Then exhaled.

Finally, while still leaning backwards, he slowly reached out a hand towards Tsubaki and slipped his index finger under the bandages that covered her bosom, hooking the finger and pulling her closer to him.

"...Don't...touch me."

"...Mhm."

"Good. I don't want to be forced to teach you how to swim with the fishes."

"...What?"

"Get me a Healing Potion. Now. And pray to your Goddess it restores the sight, or else..."

"Your what?"

"...I can't see from my left eye, you daft cunt."

XXX

In recent years, most of her days were anything but casual.

Both she and her friends could attest to that claim.

However, today was one such rare and casual day for Tiona Hiryute. There wasn't anything planned for the day: Tione was taking it easy for a day or two after her recent Expedition, Fuzen was out of the house and so training was out of the question and she had to hold down the fort with Riveria as Finn and Gareth were out on behalf of the Familia.

Her sister had, quite obviously, followed the Captain, and Bete was out in the Dungeon by himself, having spontaneously left earlier in the morning.

So to say, she was not encouraged to leave the Twilight Manor right now, as Finn wanted at least some Executives to be available, just in case. Tiona for her part thought that Riveria could handle all of that herself, but...orders were orders, as indirect as they might be.

Ais had been faster than her, saying that she needed to go out all of a sudden earlier, just a short while after Bete left. She had appeared quite focused however, and Tiona did not push the matter any further.

'So here I am…'

In truth there were some tasks that she could take up, if only to be productive. She and Riveria would embark on a small-scale Expedition in just a couple of days, alongside a fraction of their Familia members.

The whole of Orario usually only gathered to wish them well when Loki Familia was about to go on a dangerous large-scale Expedition to conquer new Floors, but the reality of the matter was that they launched Expeditions all the time, though far less known to the public.

They were required to by the Guild, after all.

But those tasks she could have done were already being taken care of by members of the Second Group that would accompany her and Riveria. She couldn't leave the Familia Home, nor was there anything for her to do.

So Tiona decided on doing something she had not indulged in for quite some time now, which was reading. The genre was of course a no-brainer for her: heroic tales. Grabbing a book she had not read before from their Familia's large library Tiona made her way back to her room, throwing herself on her bed and opening the book.

The Emissary of Nations.

A story about a world where only one God existed, and that God imbued a single sword with his power to be used against the evil, demonic Lord threatening to destroy the world once the prophecy would take root.

As that time had started in the current era, the sword was being transported from the temple it was being held at to the capital where a contest would be held among the paladins to decide who was worthy to wield it against the evil Lord.

No one but the Chosen could pull the sword out of it's hilt, after all.

Just then the group transporting the sword were suddenly attacked by followers of the evil Lord waiting in ambush, only a couple of the paladins getting away from the ensuing fight with the sword.

This led to them meeting the Hero of the story, a teenage boy who travelled with his merchant father from town to town on their carriage, selling goods and trying to make as good a living as possible together.

It wasn't long however until the evil Lord's followers reached the surviving Paladins and the father and son were caught in the middle of the fight. During the chaos that followed the holy sword landed at the boy's feet and it was then he reached for it and drew the blade, ready to protect his father's life with it.

Power unlike anything he could comprehend swelled within his body and with the sword in hand he helped the surviving Paladins defeat the large group of enemies, later escorted to the capital where he met the King.

Surprised at the boy's ability to draw the sword yet sceptical of his ability, the King still held a contest where the fledgling Hero had to battle the Kingdom's most renowned Paladins in order to test his worthiness. And despite a lack of experience, with the sword in hand and the power from it swelling throughout his body, he slowly defeated them all and was accepted as the Chosen.

From there he was entrusted with the mission of visiting the rulers of the neighbouring kingdoms and get them to help in the final push against the evil Lord's domain, a task that proved to be far more difficult than he originally believed.

However, no one said any Adventure was ever going to be easy.

Sword at his hip and the knowledge of his father being safe back at the capital, he set forth ready to do his part. He saved people along the way, met those that would eventually form his group, suffered lows like losing people he could have saved or being betrayed by those he least expected to betray him, but the stakes and the hopes of the people kept him going.

One by one, he convinced the other rulers to help and the time for the final push came. Armies from different kingdoms came together against the evil Lord's army of fanatics and creatures, with the Hero at the front, the holy sword raised high above his head.

He would see the prophecy completed, the land liberated from evil.

He would-

Thud

The book closed with a dull noise of paper against paper, Tiona placing it by her side as her hands went behind her head, laying silently on the bed.

It wasn't that the book wasn't good: she was already halfway through it.

No, it was a good heroic tale as far as she was concerned.

And yet...it didn't feel the same as the ones she read when she was younger.

It didn't make her feel the same way as those books she read back then.

The main character, she quite liked him. He was kind-hearted, he did his best to help and save others. He was always positive and smiling whenever the situation allowed for it, always trying to uplift the spirits of those around him. He never judged others and gave everyone an equal opportunity to show the best side of themselves.

He was, indeed, a good Hero figure.

And yet...his hands lacked any sort of calluses.

He had soft hands, like those of a person who had never went through any actual hardships.

The hands of a merchant's son, who for the longest part of his life had only helped sell goods.

He never trained, never fought tooth and nail.

He was just someone who was Chosen, someone whose power was granted to them by others instead of earned by themselves.

Sure, the same could be said about her and other Adventurers. They received a Falna from the Gods, which instantly made them far stronger than any ordinary mortal.

Yet even they needed to trail for their power. Even they needed to fight, day after day, to increase their strength.

That Hero, on the other hand, always won his fights simply because the sword granted him the power to win. But in reality he wasn't actually stronger, faster or smarter than anyone he had fought and defeated.

No, he only had faith.

Faith in the sword blessed by God and faith in the prophecy that said the bearer of the sword would defeat the evil Lord.

But he had no faith, nor confidence, in himself.

'That's...not right.'

It only made sense, however. He was not a fighter or a warrior. Not someone who ever tried to improve themselves. No, he was someone in whose hands power had been forcefully pressed and then told 'Go and do it, you cannot lose because the prophecy does not mention your defeat'.

'That's not right at all...'

That thought kept repeating itself in her mind as she stared at the ceiling, over and over again. The story was good, no doubts about that, but something simply did not click with her.

It did not take her all too long to realize what: she had simply spent too much time around a certain someone to digest ideals like that as quickly anymore.

She still liked Heroes and what they represented.

Heroes were great.

That would never change for her.

But greatness was not something you were granted by someone, nor something you were given by an item. It was not something you were given, nor an ability which stemmed from an outside force.

No.

Real greatness was...achieved.

It was...to be weak, and yet strong enough to build yourself up no matter the odds, no matter the adversary.

To achieve what would be considered impossible with your own two hands, to set an example for others so that they, too, might strive for the same thing. To grasp for the best version of themselves, just like you did.

The Emissary of Nations had none of that. It was a good book, well written and with a positive vibe which Tiona was always up for, but...it lacked growth. The main character was simply given extraordinary power, something he never did anything for in order to actually earn said power.

A trait she started to realize was common with most of the heroic tales she had read so far.

"...Goddess…" She muttered with a sigh, covering her face up with her hand. "I spent way too much time around that guy."

A face with a blank expression plastered on it popped in her mind and she felt her cheeks getting hotter, if only by a little bit.

It was quite surprising how someone with a strong presence could influence others.

Indeed, just like a couple of weeks ago, before the incident with Ishtar Familia took place…

…

…

…

As of late his requests had gotten far more regular, always asking her for the same thing: training. Not that she complained, of course. He was hard to get a hold of, so a chance to both get a hold of him and smack him around as she pleased was welcomed. Very much so.

Why exactly he was so focused on training in unarmed combat was a mystery to her. Any attempt to ask for a reason usually resulted in him giving a cryptic answer, if any at all.

That was fine, though.

As long as she got to smack him around, she did not complain.

Even more so when Tione was busy and instead of a two versus one it was just him and her.

Nonetheless, she could not deny his progress.

When they first started he could barely throw a solid punch. You'd think someone who can throw hands with a Monster Rex would be able of at least that much, but his strength lay solely within his sword and his willpower, not his fist fighting.

But he improved enough to put up a fight against her now, or at least against her when taking it easy on him.

He still lacked some of that focused aggression needed when fighting in close combat, but his form grew ever more solid with each session.

Even Tiona could tell why this was: his body was well trained. Fuzen may have been a beginner when it came to fist fighting, but his body was well trained and his reflexes were sharp, too.

Not as sharp as when he held a sword and his Ability kicked in, but he became good enough to sometimes instinctively block or dodge a punch or kick from her despite noticing the attack only when she was halfway through the motion.

Strong, and only growing stronger.

Strong indeed…

"...What's your secret?"

The question left her mouth before she realized it, taking her by surprise just as much as it did Fuzen who was in the process of cleaning his mouth full of open wounds with water.

Not like she had no wounds on her, of course.

He had landed quite a couple of punches on her, as well, each of them feeling like a hammer hit.

Must have been because of that weird thing he did to harden his whole body he recently began to use.

Taking a moment to spit the water out, he turned and looked at her. "What do you mean?"

"...Ahh...You know? This."

"...You will need to be more specific than that."

A moment of silence followed by a sigh. "You know...Training so much. Striving for things so much. Most people would be intimidated at the thought of asking a Level 5 to train them, you know?"

"What would I get from having someone equal to or weaker than me train me?"

"That right there!" She exclaimed, pointing at him. "That's what I mean!"

A sigh was his response, Tiona noticing how his eyebrow rose up by the tinniest bit. "Discipline."

"...Oh. Really?"

"...Why do you act so surprised?"

"Nothing, nothing! I just thought...it would be something else, that's all."

The sigh that escaped his lips next was even heavier, making her think she said something wrong. Which she probably did. "Tiona. What do you think discipline is?"

An unexpected question, one which took her a moment to really ponder. "Well...hard work? And showing obedience and respect?"

Going by his expression, she had been quite wrong once again. Throwing a thumb over his shoulder, Fuzen replied. "Raul is hard-working. I'm not." That quite confused her. "And I wasn't aware your impression of me was that I was a mindless slave who bows to everyone and obeys everything others say. Guess you do learn something new every day."

"Nonono! That's not what I meant…" By now she could not deny that she was feeling bad.

"Haaa...Tiona, discipline is not mindless obedience. It's to set your mind to do something and see it through, no matter what. Whatever you are ill, or feeling bad, or hurting, none of that matters. You have your goal set, and you work towards it. Through good or bad, through health or sickness, through happiness or...the opposite. Walk the walk, whatever you feel like you can do it or not. That is discipline."

She listened to each word carefully, leaning back on the bench they were sitting and looking up at the sky for a couple of seconds. Finally, she gave a slow nod. "That...makes sense, actually."

"Obviously."

"Smart ass."

"Don't blame your naivety on me." She couldn't help but snicker at that response. It was exactly what she had expected from him. "...Say. I train every day, you know that, right?"

"Hmm? Yeah."

"Do you think I enjoy it?"

"…? I mean, yeah. You do it every day, after all."

His response, however, had been quite the opposite of what she had expected. "I fricking hate it, actually."

…

…

…

She had no idea why exactly she thought back on that memory. It wasn't like it had anything to do with her current situation.

"Haaa...This isn't like me…"

From the corner of her eye she saw the book laying by her side on the bed.

Heroic tales.

It was not wrong to say that without being exposed to them back on Telskyura when she was a child, the Tiona everyone knew today would have probably never existed in the first place.

They had been her anchor back then, the one thing that kept her afloat and kept all the darkness around her at bay, not allowing it to get a grasp on her heart.

They had, in a sense, saved her life.

As a child.

Back when she was a...child.

"…Haaa...Damn it…"

Sighing one last time she jumped up from the bed and made for the door, leaving the book on the bed. She would bring it back later.

For now, however, she started making her way upstairs to the towers where she knew she would find the one she was looking for.

In all honesty, all that stuff about goals and disciplines still somewhat flew right over her head. It was not like she didn't understand it now...but she could not relate.

She had no such goals or aspirations.

She simply wanted to have fun.

To live every day to it's fullest and always smile, no matter what.

To make others smile.

That was the promise she made to herself all those years back, after all.

But, just that...How acceptable was it?

"...Ah. There you are!" Opening the fourth door on the floor, Tiona finally found the one she was looking for. "Aki! Are you still working?"

The Cat-Person gave her a short nod but not lifting her eyes from the paper she was writing. "Hey, Tiona. Yeah, just got to finish some paper work for tomorrow's expedition."

"Mhm, mhm…" The Amazon girl hummed as she drew closer, taking a look at the stack of papers on the desk. "So, like…"

"Hmm?"

"Like...do you need help, or something?"

At the sound of that question Aki's hand froze mid-way through a letter, slowly turning her head to look at Tiona with what could only be described as bafflement on her face.

Putting the pen down Aki stood up and without saying a word, put a hand on Tiona's forehead. "...Hmmm. No, you don't have a fever..."

"Hey, why do I need to be sick in order to offer my help?!"

"A-Ahh...No, it's just...No, it's nothing…Help, right? Uhhh...Yeah, I could use some help...right?"

"Why are you asking me?"

"...Hmm. Right, right...Uhhh...I still need to run inventory. You want to do that for me, then?" Aki asked half-unsure as she grabbed a sheet of paper and gave it to Tiona.

The Amazon took the sheet of paper and quickly glanced at it, a determined look on her face. Finally, she gave a solid nod. "Mhm. I can do it, no problem."

"...Good, good. Mhh."

"But before I start, Aki…"

"Yes, what is it?"

It was then that Tiona dropped the serious act and flashed a smile, scratching the back of her head. "What exactly do I need to do?"

"...Oh boy…"

XXX

Luckily enough, a Potion and five minutes worth of rest later, his sight returned in the left eye. It had mostly been the speed at which the nail travelled so close to his eye that made him blind, if he had to guess.

With that said having a sharp piece of metal vertically pierce his face from the inside of his lip to his eyebrow had been hardly a pleasant experience. Not that he fully blamed Tsubaki, of course: some of the fault lay with him and with his idea of experimenting with new applications of his Magic in a place far from ideal.

Nonetheless, after the chaotic visit to to the forge of the excited Blacksmith Fuzen led Yua across town once again, this time towards an establishment Yua was actually familiar with.

"The Dian Cecht Pharmacy, you say?"

"Mhm:" Fuzen nodded, both of them still walking towards the building. "You have already met Teasanare-sama, but you have not yet visited their establishment, have you?"

"No, not yet."

"Well, just like Collbrande-sama and that obnoxious God you had the displeasure of meeting, Amid-...Teasanare-sama is also a person of importance to me. It is best you know where she is located."

"Understood, Young Master."

"Mhm." He gave another nod, the rest of the walk spent in silence. Once they had reached the entrance to the pharmacy the boy stopped in his tracks, Yua doing the same as she walked a couple of steps behind him, as was customary of a servant.

A couple of moments passed by, Fuzen not moving as he looked up at the sky before yet another sigh escaped his lips. By now the woman grew worried: for one of barely twelve winters old, he sounded more and more like an old man.

Shaking his head he turned around and faced her, a resolute yet unfamiliar emotion visible in his eyes. "I am in love with her."

"...Pardon me, Young Master?"

"Amid Teasanare. I believe I am in what people would call love with her."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"...Just thought you ought to know. If you are to be my Assistant, you should probably be aware of my relationship or thoughts of those I work with."

"...O-Oh! I-I see!" She needed a moment longer to truly process the words. "S-So the Young Master is-!"

"Halt right there. Those feelings are one-way. Unrequited. I am in love with her, not the other way around. Don't jump to any sort of conclusions."

"...Y-Yes."

"Mhm." Fuzen gave another nod before stepping forward. "Let's enter."

To his surprise the face behind the counter at the far end of the room was not Amid's as he was used, but that of one of her comrades, whose name he never caught.

This slightly made him less thrilled about being there, for whatever reason.

"Good day. Is Teasanare-sama here?" He asked.

"Yes. Do you need her specifically, Kenshi? Should I get her?"

"...Ahh. No. No need, then." He replied, a somewhat long and awkward pause following. "Well...Yes."

"...Which one is it?"

"...Yes."

Though she was obviously confused as to his answers, the Dian Cecht member nodded in the end and made her way out of the room.

While they were alone, Yua had to consciously hold a smile back: her Young Master had been flustered! Obviously, his facial expression had not changed one bit, but going by his tone and his failure in giving a direct answer just moments ago, she could tell he was flustered.

A rare showcase of emotion from his side.

She couldn't wait to share this with the others back at the mansion.

"...Why is your mouth twitching?"

But naturally, he had also noticed her attempt at restraint, observant as he was. "I-It's nothing, Young Master. Nothing at all."

Luckily she was spared further interrogation by the timely arrival of the person they had come to see in the first place, Amid Teasanare. It wasn't the first time Yua had seen the girl, she was the one who took care of her treatment as well as the treatment of the others.

One of the reasons she could now walk despite years spent as a sex slave was Amid. Whatever normalcy she and the others gained back in their life was thanks to Fuzen, that went without saying, but it was also the girl's treatment that saw them all back on their feet.

Yet even so, she could not help but still be in awe at Amid's beauty.

Slender body, long luscious hair, a face that was the definition of a doll's beauty...Add to that the fact that she was one of the best Healers in Orario, intelligent, well-spoken and eloquent...

'...Wait. She's the definition of a high-class girl, isn't she? Even if not born as one, then at least a self-made one. Does that mean...this is the Young Master's type…?'

It made sense to Yua: their Young Master would also be a noble in their homeland, even if that title was achieved not through blood but through the simple strength of his sword. Tsuwamono, the least owned noble title by virtue that usually no one was crazy enough to try and become one.

'Hmm, I'll need to discuss this with the others once I get back home. Amid is older than him...does that mean he likes older girls? This is quite important: if this ship doesn't sail in the future, we all need to be wary of future high-class women who come close to the Young Master. I'm a woman myself, I know that most are not as kind as Amid. Chances that some whores might try to get under our Young Master's skin are high.'

This was their duty as his servants, after all. To look out for him in matters he might not have experience with.

Top priority among them was, of course, women.

And if some bitch were to try to hurt her Young Master in the future?

If some woman tried to throw dirt on his peculiar yet undeniable type of kindness, if they tried to use him only for his money or influence within the East District, if their only goal was to hurt him in any shape or form, then…

'If a woman like that appears, I'll rip her tits off and feed her corpse to the dogs, even if I get killed by the Young Master afterwards.'

"Hey...Hey!" The shout finally reached her ears and Yua snapped out of it, looking quite confused at Fuzen and Amid. "...Any reason why you are staring daggers at Teasanare-sama?"

"...O-Oh." It was then Yua realized she had been projecting all those negative thoughts at Amid. "I apologize, I was...lost in thought."

"...Don't embarrass me again. Apologize."

"I apologize for the rudeness, Teasanare-sama."

The silver-haired girl simply waved the concern away, however. "Please, there is no need for that. How are you, Miss Kojima?"

"I am feeling well, and your treatment has greatly aided me. Oh, and please...call me Yua."

Amid nodded and with the pleasantries out of the way, Fuzen took the lead again. "Amid, there is something I wished you to be informed about."

"What is it?"

"I have decided to take Yua as my personal Assistant, and as such I wished to let you know that from now on, I may send her to you on my behalf…" It was then he turned to look at her for a second, as if contemplating something. "...No, on behalf of the whole East District."

'...Wait what?'

Confused as she was, Yua did not let it show. "M-Mhm."

"Oh, I see. You are saying she can make deals with our Familia on your behalf?" Amid inquired, already getting the gist of it.

"That is correct. If at any point anyone at my house or anyone in the East District needs the help of your Familia's doctors, Yua will request your help. Any deals she makes with you if and when I am unavailable, I will pay for it."

'...No pressure with the Young Master, huh…?'

"I will also try to create a fund to cover such expenses in case of untimely death on my part, however...that may take time. For now, all I can give you as guarantee is my word. Is that acceptable?"

And there was something she did not even want to try and imagine. Her Young Master's death. Such an event would be...too much.

Yet Amid did not seem to share her concern, the Doctor instead throwing a faint smile his way. "And pray tell, is there something that can actually kill you at this point?"

Fuzen shrugged, as if somehow expecting that question. "Carelessness."

"Then you better not be careless." She replied. "And yes, your word is enough. I'll take care of everything if it ever comes down to it."

"Thanks, Amid."

"It's not worth mentioning. Both you and your Familia have helped us many times in the past, it's the least I could do. Is there something else I can help you with?"

Not wasting time Fuzen reached for his right hip and unstrapped a rectangular shaped leather pouch from his belt, placing it on the counter. "A refill."

Few people actually knew about it seeing how it was hidden by his jacket, but he did have a magically enhanced pouch for carrying Potions with him, one which kept the vials intact even upon impact...as long as the impact was not too hard, that is.

Besides that he had pockets for rations, which mostly consisted of dried jerky, a waterskin, a folded Dungeon map and inside pockets for money.

Most people would think he was entering the Dungeon with only his swords equipped, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Though how exactly he kept all of that on him while also hiding it, nobody knew.

"Oh, you are on your last two Potions. Was the last Expedition tough?" The Doctor asked as she took out the empty vials and replaced them with new ones.

"No, I did not use them on myself. There was a cave-in because of Tione-sama's rampage as we got ambushed by a hoard of Monsters and I got separated from the main group with five others. Level 1's and 2's. They needed the Potions more than me. Not exactly a surprise, in all honesty."

"Sounds like quite the experience." Amid nodded. "A regular refill, right?"

"Mhm, please. And yes, but we all got out alive in the end. I'd say it was a normal Expedition, actually."

"That is what's important in the end."

"Yes. By the way, I'm going to the Dungeon later today. You need something from there? Item Drops or the likes?"

Yua in the meantime tried to remember any instance back at the house where her Young Master had been this...casual with anyone, but no such instance came to mind.

No...it wasn't exactly that he was casual with her.

To her, it felt more like...his guard was down around the Doctor? His guard was always up, either back at home or while out in the city, but now he didn't give Yua that impression anymore.

'I guess I took his words before we walked in only somewhat half-seriously, given the Young Master's age, but I guess...he really likes this person?'

"No, our Familia is well-supplied for now."

"...I wasn't asking if the Dian Cecht Familia needed something. I was asking if you need something."

The girl took a moment before nodding, as if reminding herself of something she had forgotten. "Right...Well, there is a formula for skin ailments I've been trying to figure out for a while now…"

"Understood. What do you need specifically?"

"Well, I don't know exactly yet. I haven't finished the formula yet. But...once I figure it out, may I ask for your help then?"

"Coming up with something new would help you get closer to Level 2, would it not? In that case, I'd love to help." What followed next was a shrug, something Yua hardly ever saw him do. "If you want the help of the guy who attacked a Familia on his own, that is."

A short-lived silence followed, one which was not tense but awkward nonetheless. "I'm still not entirely sure about what happened exactly back there, but...you did that in order to help someone, did you not?" Amid asked.

"That...was one of the reasons, yes."

The smile that the girl flashed next was bright enough that even the newly-appointed Assistant needed to squint ever so slightly upon seeing it. "Then what, exactly, would the problem be?"

"...I imagine even just being associated with me would be bad for someone's image nowadays. Word travels fast in Orario, after all…" He replied with a sigh before grabbing his leather pouch and strapping it back on. "Reach out whenever you figure out what Drop Items you need." He placed the money on the counter and turned around, making a sign for Yua to follow him. "Have a good day, Amid."

"Mhm. Be safe out there, Fuzen."

XXX

As soon as he left the pharmacy Fuzen was already on his way to his next destination, his Assistant just a couple of steps behind him.

However, that was it for her for today. Reaching into his pocket he took out the letter they had collected from Hermes Familia and extended it to Yua. "We are done for today, so here. Take this to the old man."

"Yes...But if I may ask, what exactly is this?"

"You shouldn't ask too many questions, you know?" He replied without looking her way. "But if you need to know, that is information that will...well, I think the saying 'put a spoke in someone's wheel' would apply in this instance."

She didn't exactly understood what he was trying to say, but she understood it was important. "Understood. I shall bring this to Yamamoto-sama."

"Mhm. And tell him about your new work as my Assistant, and that he should teach you everything you need to know. The old man will know what that means." Hopefully, at least. "I need to go to the Dungeon, so go back on your own."

He said and waved her off, ready to go on. It was then that she stopped him, however. "Young Master, please wait."

"Hmm? Do you still have questions about something?"

"No...I wanted to thank you." Those words managed to confuse him. "For giving me this opportunity to pay off my debt to you...I am truly grateful."

"...You are grateful that I put a big, red bullseye on your back? Or do you not realize that being my Assistant will make you a target for others?"

"...N-No, I understand that much…"

"Then don't thank me. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Whatever you choose to leave this work after a week or a month, the fact that you are now my Assistant will never disappear from the minds of those who have met you today. And it will never leave the minds of those who they will share that information with." His eyes now fully meeting hers, he continued. "Even if, in five years from now, you move to a new city and start a new life there, anyone who is after my head could and will still go after you, if only for the chance at getting some sort of leverage over me. So don't...thank me. I hate baseless gratitude."

"...Even so...Thank you, Young Master."

Throwing one last stare her way, Fuzen turned on his heels and walked away. "Haa...That is why people like you piss me off. Your body may be functioning again, but you should go and get your head checked, as well."

He might have grown a little since he first stepped foot in Orario, but he doubted he would ever fully understand the nature of a normal human's mind.

Did she simply choose to ignore the danger he had decided to put her in? Or perhaps, despite understanding the danger, she was still indifferent to it?

Both options were similarly moronic to him.

'...Whatever. I informed her of the danger. As for now, I should go to the Dungeon...after informing the Captain about it. He's been on my case ever since that Ishtar incident...Tsk.'

Immediately after the incident with Ishtar Familia his Captain had called for him and told Fuzen he would need to know where he was at all times from that moment onwards.

His first thought was to tell the Pallum that he would not agree to any such thing...however, seeing how things had turned out last time, with him being Charmed and all, Fuzen could see little fault in his Captain's demand.

And it wasn't really a big change, either: he already made it a habit to tell one of the Executives when he would be in the East District or out on a prolonged dive in the Dungeon even before.

'Doesn't make this less of a pain in the ass...Haaa...Then again, I can't know when the next enemy might appear or in what form. Best to be cautious.'

By now he had already slipped into his thinking mode, avoiding the people on the street in front of him by instinct and nothing else. His eyes looked forward, but his mind drifted all over the place now that he was alone once again.

First a threat from the outside in the form of Altena, then a threat from the inside in the form of Ishtar Familia. As people in the west liked to say...third time was the Charm.

'...It would be best if the next threat that comes would be in the form of a single individual, like Sakda. Big groups require me to do this all this...thinking, all this jumping around hoops because that group or that Familia has that connection or provides that service or generates that income for Orario...Haa...Damn politics. I'm too young to have to worry about that cluster-frick...'

Remembering the troubles that dealing with Ishtar had caused for him, he unconsciously slipped into his default setting, calm and uncaring.

"Next time I'll just butcher them all…"

Whispering the words out loud he took a moment to reconsider, shaking his head with a sigh.

'...No. I can only do that if the enemy is hidden and unknown or generally hated. Now that Mikoto is my Disciple, she will have to deal with the consequences of my actions for the rest of her life, whatever she wants to or not...Haaaaaaaa...Being someone's Master is tough…Someone could have bothered to tell me this beforehand.'

Lost in thought as he was he had already walked most of the way to his Familia Home, being just a couple of streets away from it.

'Hey. Raiju. Pick up.' He opened his mind and reached out to the Dragon, who likewise opened his mind to allow the link to connect them. 'How is she?'

To her own surprise, Mikoto had successfully finished the task he had last made her do, going through the whole week of being just a neck's length above water without drowning.

Obviously enough, her skin had been soggy beyond words by the time she was done, and she immediately fell unconscious from the fatigue as he helped her out of the watery hell home, but she had gone through it.

Slimmed down considerately, malnourished and looking worse for wear than a stray dog from the streets, but she had done it.

To his own surprise, she had reacted well to the small injections of Ki Fuzen sent her way every now and then, suffering no bad side-effects from the exposure. The dose was small each time, of course, but her resistance to the Ki of others had nonetheless surprised him.

Which was good: without it she would have probably failed. But because he gave her that little spark she could tap into whenever her own strength left her, she persevered.

Ki was, after all, a power that was most useful when it's user was weak, tired and on their last legs.

'My Master, nice to see you still care! The girl is...well…'

'What's wrong?'

'Ahh...Share my sight.'

Fuzen felt the Dragon opening up to him and he tapped into his senses, Raiju's view coming into his own view.

By now enough time had passed that Fuzen could effortlessly deal with the double-sight that took place whenever they shared senses, the mental strain of seeing both his surroundings as well as whatever surroundings were around Raiju overlapping with each other before his eyes no longer a strain but just an inconvenience, at most.

Same applied to the sense of hearing they shared...though that one still caused Fuzen to be late in his own responses to people before him if the noises around wherever Raiju was became too loud.

'...The hell are you doing?'

'My Master, can you blame her?'

Fuzen sighed as he saw Mikoto sitting in front of Raiju, her back straight as she tried to pay attention but her eyes in a constant battle between shutting close and remaining open.

Well...like Raiju had said, he could not blame her.

Not fully.

Her new schedule consisted of sixteen hours of physical training, from dawn to dusk, immediately followed by four hours of lessons with Raiju on the history of the Lightning Sword Style and the technical knowledge behind it's applications.

This worked as Raiju shared Fuzen's memories and as such was on the same level of knowledge as his Master, something Fuzen was grateful for. At least he could use him for something productive now.

After all of that, she was allowed to sleep for three hours.

However, she was likewise only allowed to eat and bathe during those three hours. This was not done out of malice, of course: Fuzen was simply trying to teach her an important lesson.

That even when you want to simply relax, you still need to do what must be done. Whatever it was eating, bathing or any other essential thing in life, your current disposition matter little. You were still required to do them.

This had been a lesson Mikoto did not learn from the get-go, and on the first day of her new training regime she had decided to ignore the things she was allowed to do in favour of more sleep, thinking that she would be allowed to eat once she woke up.

She had not been allowed any such thing, instead being punished for the next three days.

On the fourth day, despite how tired she was and how much she craved sleep, Mikoto had instead wolfed down the food she had been offered and took the bath she had been denied for three days.

And the unaccounted last hour of the day?

That one hour she was only allowed to use either after physical training, the lessons or before sleep, and all she could use it for was to practice whatever she thought had been her worst performance of the day, be it an exercise or a lesson she did not fully commit to memory.

And if she was arrogant enough to think she did good enough not to use that one hour on any one day?

Then she would be punished in the form of electrocution, the one punishment Fuzen had set as the golden standard to be used whenever she failed or got too arrogant. She would be allowed to scream, gasp and fall unconscious for no longer than thirty seconds at a time, but she was not allowed to complain or insult anything or anyone, otherwise her punishment would continue, indefinitely if he thought it was needed.

At the same time, if he ever asked her what he was doing to her, Mikoto was only allowed to reply that he was helping her build resistance to pain and electricity.

Yet...no matter how horrible this treatment might have sounded to any one person who had lived a civilian's life, the truth was that he was simply using a washed-down and far less stressful copy of the training he had done.

Back then, he and the others had been allowed to sleep only a couple hours every two days if they did good on their training, or every three days if they failed. They were likewise only allowed to sleep outside, no matter the weather.

The, rounded up, three hours Mikoto was allowed to sleep per day was more than what he slept back then in six days, as he had been singled out for being the least talented among his peers and forced to do far more training during the hours his friends slept.

Mikoto was always served a humble yet sufficiently filling meal per day, cooked by the many housemaids he had.

In contrast, he and his friends had to find their own food themselves and were allowed to do so only during the hours they could use to sleep, while sharing food was also not allowed.

Telling kids no older than seven or eight winters old to find their own food while most of them already hallucinated from the pain and fatigue went just about as well as one could imagine.

With the exception of the few fruits and berries they found while training in forested areas or along the way, it was quite normal for Fuzen to eat raw radishes, mushrooms or potatoes if there were any available, as no one in their right mind would have wasted time to cook them when they could have slept instead.

Most of the time he was not so lucky to have edible stuff around him, so Fuzen made do with grass or tree leaves, which went just about as well as one could imagine. His excuses of being sick had not helped him, the old geezer responsible for training the former batch of Lightning Sword Style Initiatives instead deciding to make his training even harder, in hopes of curing Fuzen's stupidity.

That had all happened while he was half her age.

The countless times he had fallen face-first into his own vomit from exhaustion and fever while the geezer kicked him in the ribs for being a talentless failure were less than pleasant memories.

Despite all that, his training had made his strong.

Incredibly strong.

But...he did not want that for Mikoto. He was fine with her hating him the same way he had hated the old geezer, but...she did not lose all of her in the process.

They didn't need another Fuzen.

One was enough.

One was...too much to begin with.

No, she did not need to become like him. She did not need to live through his own training and sacrifice parts of herself for it.

This was good as it was, even if her end results would not equal his own.

However, with all that said…

'She is falling asleep when she should be paying attention. Zap her.'

'She'll hate us, you know? You more so than me, my Master, even if she doesn't know about our link.'

Zap. Her. Now.'

Without further complaint Raiju lifted his foot and slammed it on the floor, a wave of electricity washing along the floor until it hit Mikoto.

The girl's eyes bulged out as she fell down to the floor, writhing around as her screams filled the room they were in.

Those were good screams, indeed. Screams that a person was able to produce only when weakness left their body.

'...Okay, I think she had enough. Remember, she is only allowed to be unconscious for thirty seconds. If she doesn't wake up by then, zap her again-'

Thud

Focused as he was on Mikoto, Fuzen failed to realize that he had already reached the Twilight Manor, entered the building, climbed the stairs and was on his way to Finn's office on the upper towers.

He had also failed to realize that someone had opened a door in his path and that person walked out, which led to him bumping into her at a walking speed, not fast enough to throw any of them down but enough for the impact to be felt.

'...Ah.'

'Hehehe, guess you can't escape her forever, now can you my Master? I'm gonna leave you to it now. Bye~' he half heard the lizard thinking inside his own mind, but barely paid him any mind as his eyes slowly looked up, jade meeting hazel.

"...Alf-sama." He voiced after a second with a nod of his head, trying to show that he acknowledged her presence. "...My apologies."

He offered another nod of his head then turned on his heels and traced back the way he came from.

At least that had been the plan but a hand grabbing his hair, his hair, stopped him from walking away.

"A moment, if you will?" The High Elf asked, calmly.

Too calmly for his liking.

"I...have a...rendezvous...in the Dungeon. I really should…" He voiced as he tried to break free, but the woman's hold on his mane of hair was too strong.

She also looked highly unamused. "I am certain you can spare a couple of minutes."

He shook his head vigorously as he grabbed his hair with both hands and tried to pull it free, though he was just as unsuccessful as before. But to his surprise, Riveria let go just then...which made him fall backwards as he was still hard at pulling.

His reflexes quickly kicked in and he was able to push himself back to his feet with the use of one hand, but by the time he was upright again the High Elf was already just half a meter in front of him.

"...You have been avoiding me." She stated, her eyes squinting ever so slightly at her next words. "More than usual, I mean. For an entire month since that incident."

"…"

"I have asked before and I know you will not give me an answer as to why you are avoiding me. However, we are part of the same Familia: you cannot avoid me all the time, just like I can't avoid you."

"…"

"...Is it because you have punched me while you were Charmed? You already apologized, and I already said it was water under the bridge."

She was not wrong: he had been avoiding her exactly because of that incident where he had punched her eye blue and purple while under the Charm of Ishtar.

However...he had not been avoiding her because of the reasons she might have thought of. Shame or guild, none of that had any part to play in it.

Riveria Ljos Alf.

A person he had met for the first time when he came to Orario, and not once before in his life. A person he had not known existed before he first came to Loki Familia looking to join them.

And yet also a person that was very important to him, something she would never know because he would never tell her.

Not because of insignificant reasons like love or attachment like some people might have thought upon hearing she was important to him.

No, none of that played any part in it.

She was important to him because of the promise her existence signified to him.

A pipe dream, nothing more.

He knew that much already.

Yet still...mortals were weak creatures, indeed. They clung to dreams and promises even when they knew they would never come true, even when they knew it was all just fantasy inside their mind.

Unfortunately, he too was one such mortal.

Fuzen was not immune to that stupidity, either.

Even more, unlike Riveria or anyone else he knew, he was twisted in a way he could not even describe himself. From his twisted blood and his twisted mind all the way to his twisted soul, nothing about him would make sense to anyone else.

That is why Riveria would never understand how the memory of punching someone so important to him would…

...beyond words…

...beyond sense…

...beyond the understanding of anyone else…

...bring such a twisted smile to his lips.

"...I'm sorry. I do not want to talk about it."

Short and direct, the best way he could think of in order to put an end to this excruciating conversation.

Luckily, Riveria seemed to understand and simply sighed. "...So can I put my thoughts about you hating me to rest, then?"

"Of course. I don't hate you, quite the contrary in fact. However, I must apologize. Just like before, I will probably try to avoid you at every opportunity from now on, as well."

"For how long?"

"Forever." A moment of silence passed between them after he replied with a shrug, only the chatter of some other members in the distance breaking that silence. "I was on my way to tell Captain Finn that I would be going to the Dungeon...Might you relay the message along, Vice-Captain?"

"Sure, it's no bother."

"You have my thanks." Fuzen voiced with a respectful nod before turning around and making his way out of the Twilight Manor.

He was glad to finally be away from that situation. Though he indeed understood that there was no avoiding Riveria, any moment not spent around her was a good moment.

'Haa...That Expedition I was on barely ended two days ago and I am already glad to be going into the Dungeon again...I envy social people with how easy they have it around other people. No matter, time to put all that to the side now.'

Having reached the Babel Fuzen wasted no time in climbing down the long row of stairs down into the 1st Floor and exhaled once the noise of people was but a distant memory now, the chilly silence of the Dungeon taking over instead.

'Right, I told those guys I'd meet them today, so I wasn't even lying to Alf-sama about my rendezvous. I guess I will check ...the Cave Labyrinth first. Maybe they will be on the 16th Floor…'

Just then a Goblin he had heard some while ago dashed at him, ready to plunge his dirty teeth into his flesh. That proved an impossible task a moment later as a hand ripped it's head off it's shoulders.

'I have my blindfold with me. I could use this opportunity to train some mnemonic exercises again.'

For quite some months now, he had made it a habit to try and mentally map the Dungeon whenever he was diving alone while blindfolded, relying only on the memory of his legs and how many steps it took, either walking or running steps, to reach a certain Floor or point of interest.

At first this had gone about as well as he had imagined: bumping into walls and falling on his face one too many times. But memory, just like anything else, could be trained. And he had trained it hard, indeed.

Though the complex layout of the Lower and Deep Floors was still beyond his capability to mentally map, he had achieved satisfactory results on the Upper and Middle Floors.

'...No, I'll do that on my way back. I always start from the surface down, changing it should make it more difficult. For now…'

Another Goblin tried to attack him while Fuzen was reaching into his clothes, it's shouts turning into groans of pain as a back-fist slammed into into face and sent it's teeth flying to the floor.

Having pulled out one of his new needles Fuzen concentrated for a short while before he managed to make it float above his left palm in a stable position.

Funnily enough, he had this sense of deja vu that he had already used this application of his Magic before. This feeling of being in an alley surrounded by people that wanted his head arose within him, but he didn't know why.

He had no vivid memory of such a thing ever taking place.

'...No matter. I'll just focus on the task at hand: keeping this needle floating until I reach the 16th Floor.'

And with that he took off running, knowing that he had to return to the surface until the next day at noon.

No matter where, no matter how little or insignificant, training never stopped for a Disciple of the Lightning Sword Style.

XXX

"Hey, Mister, I think I'm done over here, come take a look! Hahaha!" His loud voice echoed throughout the street, drawing far more attention to himself than it should have.

But he cared little for such things, no matter the time of day.

Hearing him the middle-aged man on the other side of the wall got up and walked over, a surprised look taking place on his face as he eyed the work Seiji had done.

"Hey, hey...Is this really your first time fixing a wall, Seiji?"

"You bet! So, what do you say?"

"I'd say it looks bloody good."

Seiji's neighbour stated with crossed arms as he gave a nod at Seiji's work.

Just the day before the young Adventurer had noticed the neighbour living next to the Blue Pharmacy bringing materials and as his curiosity had gotten the better of him, Seiji went on to ask him what he was doing.

It turned out that his neighbour was thinking of fixing his wall, which showed signs of tear and wear. Knowing that today would be his day off, or better said the day he was prohibited from going into the Dungeon by his Familia, Seiji had extended his help, which his neighbour graciously accepted.

Of course, a day off did not mean Seiji didn't have to help around the Pharmacy and so he could join his neighbour only a little before noon. Some two hours later, he was done with his part.

It hadn't been that hard, in all honesty. Though he had never done it before, all he needed to do was follow his neighbour's instructions and take the cracked stones out or chip away at any part that was only half-stuck to the wall, apply some mortar and fix the new stones into place.

He was a moron but he wasn't stupid: even he could do that much.

"Hahaha, glad to hear that! Do you need help on your side, Mister?"

"No, no. I'll be done in a couple of minutes myself. Thanks again for offering to help, Seiji. How much will that be?"

Unfortunately for his neighbour, Seiji was a Child of Miach. As such, he declined outright. "Hahaha, I ain't accepting no payment."

"Come on, you know that sort of answer only makes the one offering feel bad."

"I know, yeah. Hahaha!"

"At least let me offer you and your Familia to come over for dinner."

This tactic had, of course, gained Seiji's immediate interest as he raised one thumb up. "Hahahaha! Only if your wife cooks meat! The way she prepares it is so juicy it melts in your mouth~"

"Wait." His neighbour raised an eyebrow at the sound of those words. "Why do you know what my wife's cooking is like?"

"Hahahahaha! Are you kidding me? I can't leave the house without her offering me some kind of snack whenever she sees me. Look at those guns!" Seiji replied while lifting off his sleeve, flexing whatever muscles he had. In truth, he was actually quite lean but muscular, lacking the mass an adult would possess but making up for it with definition. "Your wife is half the reason I'm jacked like this!"

"Pffff...You call that jacked? This here…" It was the neighbour's turn to lift up his sleeve, flexing his bulging muscles only obtainable through years of hard labour. "Is what we in Orario call jacked."

"Hahahaha, competing with a teenager, are we now, Mister?" Seiji threw some more fuel to the fire before lifting up his second sleeve. "Now that is a sad sight. Hahahahaha!"

"Please, I am only doing my duty as an adult…" The middle-aged man said as he also lifted his second sleeve, leaning his upper body closer to Seiji and tensing both arms as much as he could. "...which is to teach the young ones what a man actually looks like."

"Oh…?" Seiji smirked before proceeding to take off his shirt altogether, placing his palms behind his head and flexing his entire upper body. "You are approaching me? Quite bold..."

"I can't give you a good sample of this fine specimen that is me…" His neighbour likewise took off his sweaty shirt, pressing both hands together and forcing his chest and arms to bulge out as much as possible. "...without getting closer."

Unfortunately for both the neighbour and anyone else who was acquainted with Seiji, the young boy's stupidity was, in fact, highly contagious.

So much so that people out on the street stopped in their tracks at the sight of a half-naked old man flexing his muscles at a half-naked kid, though neither seemed to care about the spectators immersed as they were in showing off.

"Dinner at eight, then?"

"For sure. I'll bring my lovely Captain and God Miach, too."

"Of course, we'll have a feast."

"I'll pitch in."

"No you won't you scrawny fledgling."

"There is nothing you can do to stop me, old man. Hahahaha!"

"Heh, I guess I'll let you bring desert, then. If you actually think you'll be able to take another bite after the full course my wife will prepare."

"Heh, I'll be still eating by the time you are under the table, old man."

"Heh, is that a challenge coming from the needle arms, himself?"

"Heh, so what will you do about it?"

"Heh, challenge accepted."

"Heh, I expected nothing else."

"Heh, of course. After all…"

By now they both stopped flexing and picked up their shits, putting them on and walking away from each other with a pleased expression on their faces.

"A man's stomach exists…"

"To topple other men."

And so they both went inside their respective houses, leaving the crowd outside on the street speechless.

"Honey, are you done with the wall?"

"Ahh...I forgot…"

"Then get your ass out there and finish it or you get no lunch!"

It was a moment later that a man on the street broke the silence. "...Man, Orario is full of freaks."

"You can say that again…" His friend nodded before they decided to go on, having seen enough naked and sweaty male skin for the rest of the week.

Or month.

…

…

…

"Hey Boss, I finished helping the Mister next door!"

"Good work, Seiji." His God was quick to praise him. "But you know he has a name, right?"

"Nah, he's just Mister. Or old man, depending on circumstances. Oh, he invited us over for dinner, by the way. Be ready by eight. Hahahaha!"

"Oh, okay then. We should pitch in-"

"Nah, he's fine with us only bringing the desert. I'll buy something while I'm out."

"Please do, then."

Though he was not allowed into the Dungeon today as his Familia said he was too reckless and needed days off, he still had things to do.

Waking up he helped set up the shop, helped with brewing the new batch of potions, cleaned the place up and then went out to the base of the Babel to be salesman Seiji once again, using his naturally loud voice to draw in customers to buy potions.

Once that was taken care he had helped his neighbour, also something that was now taken care of.

The rest of the day was his to use, and he had already planned for it in advance.

Not being able to earn money in the Dungeon was of course a pain in the ass, but he wasn't blind to the reason behind it.

Now that he recently awakened a Skill, Seiji had become stronger and as such, he was allowed to dive deeper and make more money. By now he was earning about the same amount of money on a dive as the pharmacy earned in a day's worth.

Thanks to him they could now pay off the debt they owned and still have enough left to live fairy well, as long as they didn't go wild with spending money.

Giving him one day off from Dungeon diving per week was Miach and Naaza's way of showing their appreciation towards him. And he was grateful for it, of course, but he was also aware that he wasn't the only one who needed a break every now and then.

And so…

"Boss, where is the Captain?"

"In the back, cleaning the shelves."

"...You did remind her that today is the day, right?"

"Of course, but...she started acting strangely when I mentioned it…"

Seiji had a hunch as to why this was, and so simply pat his God on the shoulder as he walked by. "I'll take over, then."

He had a good idea what exactly Naaza was up to, the long months he had been part of the Miach Familia helping him get a good grasp on the girl's thoughts. Taking the time it took him to get there to think of how to convince Naaza, Seiji nodded to himself and opened the door.

The first sight he saw was that of his Captain tensing and her tail shooting upwards as she heard him walk inside the room. That was pretty cute in of itself.

"Captain, what are you doing?" He asked.

The girl quickly looked away and began scrubbing the shelves once again. "Just...cleaning."

"We both know that is my job when I'm not Dungeon diving."

"Yes...Well, you've been slacking!"

"Have not. You are scrubbing already cleaned shelves. And you knew in advance that we are going out today."

"...I-I'm the Captain, I should make sure everything is-"

"And I'm the Vice-Captain, and I said we are going out." Walking closer he grabbed the hand she held the cloth in and then her other, mechanical hand, gently pulling her towards him as he walked backwards.

By now he had already noticed the change in how Naaza was treating him, and he would make the most out of it.

Of course, he didn't mean that she had treated him badly in any shape or form until recently. Most certainly not.

However, when he first joined, Naaza had been...unsure about him. And Seiji could not fault her for it. For the longest time Miach Familia had been only Naaza and Miach, slaving away and working day in and day out for every single Valis they could earn in order to pay off their debt.

And then, he came along.

Some obnoxious kid from the Far East stating he will join their Familia because he aspired to be someone 'whose name will make the history books' and getting them out of debt would be a fine first act for that.

Just like Miach, he could see that she was grateful they had extra help for the Familia, but at the same time her guard was up against him. Unsure how to feel about him or about the changes that his joining would bring along.

Or perhaps...she was unsure how to feel about no longer being alone with Miach. Perhaps she had liked the status quo of the Familia being made up only of two, despite the hardships to their livelihood.

And yet as of late, he felt she had been opening up to him. From her mannerism around him to that one extra glance she threw his way during breakfast, the changes were noticeable even to someone like Seiji.

He was no longer that new guy who might just leave after a year in her eyes: he was Seiji, of Miach Familia.

But what did he know?

Seiji could barely understand his best friend at times, let alone a woman.

But that didn't matter.

He liked her a lot. He knew that. She probably knew that too now, as he had been hardly subtle about it.

That is why he decided it was time to shoot his shot. Everything after that was up to her.

"Naaza…" He spoke her name in a tone she was not used to, soft and warm, then a smile she could only describe as genuine took form on his lips. "Lets go."

A moment of silence followed as his eyes stared into hers before she managed to give a small nod in return. "Ok."

"Mhm. I'll go wash up really quick."

Seiji took one more step backwards as his eyes did not look away from hers, still holding on to her hands but letting them slowly fall out of his grasp, turning to the door and making his way upstairs to the bathroom to wash off his face and sweat.

It had taken a bit of time and hard work, as this day would not have been possible if he hadn't earned enough money in the Dungeon, but it was finally happening.

As to the difficulty of the task at hand...well, it would not be easy.

Naaza was generally the type to feel uncomfortable in public and seeing how for a long time now she had been only working for the Pharmacy and nothing else, she would not feel very comfortable.

Sure, they had been out a couple of times now, with either Miach or Misha, but never just the two of them, alone.

'Guess I'll just have to do my best, then. Hahahahaha!'

Now clean and fresh Seiji went over to his room to change out of his clothes in favour of something a bit more normal. Not his usual eastern attire but instead a pair of black pants and a brown long-sleeve top.

Strapping on his shoes and double-checking for his wallet, he was as ready as he could be.

"Okay, let's do this then!"

Excited for the day ahead he quickly made his way down the stairs and waited by the counter for Naaza, which Miach said had gone upstairs while he was in the bathroom.

A minute passed.

Then two.

A bit later, five minutes passed.

And then ten.

'...Did she get scared or something? Should I go and check-?'

Just as those thoughts went on in his mind he heard footsteps coming down and looked towards the stairs, his head tilting to the side and a smile creeping it's way on his face as he saw his Captain.

The reason for the wait had been Naaza likewise changing her clothes: a white long sleeves blouse and a pale pink, high-waisted pleated skirt coming up to below her knees. Lastly, she also wore gloves for reasons well-known to Seiji.

It was nothing fancy, nothing expensive.

And yet, to Seiji she just looked…

'so damn beautiful…'

"S-Sorry for the wait. I didn't know what to wear. Do I...Do I look weird?"

"Hahahaha! Beautiful, more like! You are killing it, Captain!"

"Seiji's right, Naaza. You look lovely."

The compliments from both of them were too much however, and the girl found it impossible to lift her gaze from the floor. Noticing this Seiji pushed himself away from the counter he had been waiting at and turned to his God. "Well, we are going now, Boss. Don't sell potions for free while we are gone! Hahahaha!"

"I-I won't, I won't...Have fun, you two."

"For sure! Naaza, are you ready?"

"...Yeah."

With a nod to her reply he walked on ahead and opened the door, letting her exit first before closing it and making his way to her side, the two heading off for the centre of Orario.

"I have some things planned out for us already, but...is there anything you wanna do, Captain?" He asked just in case. While he had a solid plan in mind for what they would do, it would be much easier if she could name a thing or a place she would enjoy, instead.

"...We could drop by the marketplace, see if they have any discounts available...Or drop by other Pharmacies, keep an eye out on the competition…"

But of course, Seiji would have no such luck. His Captain was a workaholic after all.

'And still...she is so adorable…'

"Naaza."

"Hmm?"

"No more work. It's just us."

Her eyes widened at the sound of those words, a reaction Seiji loved quite a lot, before she quickly turned her head to the side facing away from him.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Sorry." He voiced before reaching down and grabbing her mechanical hand, an action which made the Chienthrope girl immediately turn her head back at him, her shocked reaction even more lovely than the one before. "There we go."

"W-What are you doing?"

"Hmm? Ohh, just a safety precaution. I get easily distracted, you see. So you will have to hold on a little tighter than that, make sure I don't run off on us, you know?"

He knew exactly what those words implied and Naaza did too, if her blushing was anything to go by. Seiji didn't think he was cruel for saying that. He was a teenager, sure, but he knew what he wanted.

His feelings for her were real, and he was willing to wait for her to say either Yes or No.

However, he saw no reason to continue a fight if the chance for a Yes was not even an option. At the very least he needed to know it was a prospect, a possibility.

Naaza's change in her treatment of him was not enough.

As they continued walking on in silence with no reaction from the girl whatsoever, he began to think that maybe a Yes was truly not an option from her side.

But then he felt it.

Her hand, squeezing his just a bit tighter. "...Just for today."

"Hehehe... If you say so."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, nothing...Hey, Naaza."

"Hm?"

"Are you uncomfortable right now?"

"I...don't think I am, no."

"That's great, then."

It was great, indeed.

XXX

Sparks flew all around as he moved his sword to block or parry the flurry of attacks coming his way, the enemy not giving an inch but Fuzen himself not taking a single step back.

The attacks were powerful, carrying heavy weight behind each strike, but…

'Too feral, too direct. He's not following up on any of his attacks: he is simply attacking. That…' Deciding to step up his own game, Fuzen dashed forward and with a quick one-two attack parried both of his enemy's swords to the side, making the red Lizardman lose his footing in the process and followed up by puling his sword to his side, ending with an upwards thrust at his enemy's neck. '...will not do.'

The red Lizardman was able, just barely, to throw his head back and to the side, avoiding the thrust attack. By pure instinct more than anything he used his position to perform a side slash with his right sword, an attack which Fuzen was able to easily duck under, but to the swordsman mild surprise, his enemy followed-up on his first attack by using the momentum of his swing to turn his body and attempt to smash his tail into Fuzen.

'Hoo...That's more like it. But...too exposed.'

Switching his sword to a reverse grip Fuzen threw himself down on his left hand, letting the tail swing above him then pushed himself up again, spinning his body and with an upwards slash cut the tail of his enemy.

It wasn't a deep cut, but it was still a cut. Enough to draw blood and cause pain, enough to make his enemy understand the mistake he had made.

After all, if he so wanted, he could have cut his tail clean off right then and there.

Jumping to his feet and being the first to regain his footing Fuzen dashed towards the Lizardman, pulling his left arm back as he closed his fist and concentrated his Ki in that hand. In a split second he converted the vibrations of his Ki to that of the Were-Jaguar who had once bested him and the fallen warrior's Reflection took shape. "[Bulwark]."

Though his enemy saw the attack coming he had no time to block or dodge. Fuzen's fist slammed into his stomach, the punch taking away his breath for a second as [Bulwark] enhanced the swordsman's toughness beyond anything imaginable.

It did not feel like a small punch, but like a hit with a mallet. No surprise then that he gasped in pain before being lifted off his feet and sent flying.

That was hardly the end, however.

Hearing the whooshing sound of projectiles coming in fast from behind him Fuzen changed the grip on his sword again and turned on his heels, swiping his sword in front of him and catching all the Feathers that would have hit him on the edge, bringing the motion to an end by reflecting them into the second wave of Feathers shot by the Harpy floating a couple of meters above him.

With a second swiping motion he caught a single Feather that would have passed him by and with a flick of his wrist sent the attack back at the Harpy. She used her wings to quickly fly to the side, but the attack still grazed one of her thighs.

Trying not to give him any time, the Fomoire, Lamia and Goblin attacked him next, up to now having been too stunned by his speed which only Lyd could somehow match to move.

It looked like a solid formation, one charging at him from each side while the last one charged him from behind. Had they been aware of the fact that the Lightning Sword Style was highly effective in one-on-group fights, they would have known how wrong it was to think such a thing.

The closest to him was the small Goblin coming in from the right, his large axe raised high as he charged in fast, letting the blade fall down on the young swordsman.

A slash in the form of an arc was all it took for Fuzen to parry and redirect the large axe to the side, making the Goblin lose his footing and stumble forward. Placing a foot in front of him he made the small green humanoid almost trip, but used his free hand to grab his enemy by the red scarf.

Turning on his heel and twisting his body, Fuzen used the momentum to throw the Goblin at the Harpy diving in for him between the Fomoire and Lamia, having flew around in a half circle to try and get him from a blind-spot.

Not a bad idea, but too naive.

Fuzen noticed her flapping her wings in an attempt to stop her flight, but it was too late: the Goblin smashed into her with full force, both of them falling down to the ground a moment later.

He noticed the Lamia flinch ever so slightly as her eyes trailed to the Goblin and the Harpy on the ground for but a moment.

A fatal mistake: flinching even for just the blink of an eye was a sign of fear. Of hesitation. Of uncertainty in your own chances at victory.

A mistake any fighter worth his title would exploit to the absolute.

The large mace of the Fomoire came in for him next from the left side, a strong and powerful attack. If it hit, Fuzen doubted even [Bulwark] would help him get out unscathed. But it was too linear, too direct.

Too easy to read.

Waiting until the club was close enough, Fuzen jumped backwards a step and allowed the metal weapon to pass by his face before immediately jumping forward again without a running start, left foot landing on the arm of the Fomoire and using it as a platform, he slammed his right leg into the giant's temple, a faint gasp escaping the Fomoire's mouth just before he began to fall down to the ground.

A kick which Tione made sure to drill into him through the tested method of trial and error...and live training, on him.

'That woman probably scrambled my brain with how many kicks to the head she performed on me...Haaa...'

Not losing his momentum he jumped down and made a dash for the Lamia who had watched in shock as the Fomoire fell down, yet her expression become resolute the next moment. Now no longer waiting for him to attack first, she rushed forward and met him, a clawed hand ready to smash him into the ground.

Breaking his dash Fuzen jumped backwards a single step, the ground where he just stood turned to rubble as the hand fell down, the Lamia's eyes still on him as she moved in for another attack.

However, try as she might, she was just too slow, Fuzen dodging out of the way of each clawed hand that came for him.

It was then, while he jumped backwards to dodge another attack that he saw one of her comrades trying to help her: the Hellhound. It's mouth wide open, he saw the fire building up in her mouth before it shot towards him a moment later.

Honestly, he could just take the hit. Even without [Bulwark], channelling his Ki outside his skin would mitigate most of the damage, and he would lose at most some arm hairs.

But...that was not the goal behind this 'fight'.

Calling forth a bit of the Wind Magic he now possessed he coated his sword's edge with it and with a single-handed downwards slash, cut the fire blast in two, each side of the fiery attack flying by his sides.

Thinking the Lamia had enough time by now to understand where her weakness was, he dashed forward when he saw the next attack coming in from his left side. Having moved faster than the serpentine girl, he blocked her hand by the wrist with his forearm, then changing his sword in a reverse grip he pressed the blunt side of his sword on the inside of her elbow, pushing it down as he twisted his body and pulled her by the wrist.

Her much larger body simply followed his movement unable to fight it and he threw her away from him like someone would do with a sack of potatoes.

Hearing the rushed paws moving in on him from behind he changed his grip on his sword again and turned around, placing the sword horizontally in front of him and forcing the Hellhound to bite on the metal instead of him.

Though her bite was quite powerful, she did not intimidate him in the least. Placing his left palm on the blunt end of the sword he exhaled and then performed a no-hands cartwheel to the left, forcing the Hellhound's body to turn in the same direction before slamming her back into the ground.

"I'm not done yet!" Sighing at the biggest pain in the butt out of the bunch Fuzen placed his sword above his head and stabilized it with his left forearm, blocking both of the swords that would have fell down on him. "Grrrhh…!"

The red Lizardmen struggled, but he couldn't push any further no matter how much he tried. Sensing this Fuzen stood up to his full height in one movement, pushing the Lizardman back.

He took a few steps back to regain his footing, but quickly jumped into action again with both swords raised to his left side.

'It's about time to end this. I wouldn't usually use this as my arms are still now long enough for a perfect execution, but...It should be okay right now.'

"Quick-draw Lightning Style:" Sheathing his sword Fuzen took a deep stance and waited, noticing the Lizardman's flinching conviction as he refused to move away. A moment, two moments…

The next thing the spectators heard was the clanking of metal, then they noticed two swords flying in the air and their leader held at sword-point, the tip of the katana just a breath's away from his throat.

"...[Flash Counter.]"

Not a perfect execution, much to his dismay.

The katana was still too long for his body and he couldn't draw it out as quickly as he should have, not to mention the need to pull the scabbard back much more than usual. Had he been in the possession of his chisa-katana, that would not have been a problem. To anyone watching, it would have looked like a perfect execution of a quick-draw parry, but it was anything but.

It is why he still had to carry two different sized katana on him, and why he would need to continue doing so for at least another year or two.

Even so, despite his dislike for his own form, the quick-draw had done it's job.

"It's our loss." The Lizardman, Lyd, voiced as he held his hands up, his lips twitching upwards and revealing his rows of sharp teeth in an attempt at a smile.

Accepting the surrender Fuzen drew his sword back and sheathed it, looking around at the other Xenos who were standing up.

He had grown stronger: a year ago taking on this many powerful opponents at once would have been a pipe dream at most. Maybe he could have injured some of them or killed one or two, but they would have got him in the end.

But now he could stand in the middle of one such powerful group and take them all at once. All that training, sparring with Familia members, taking on Altena and then killing Sakda and defeating Ishtar Familia had helped him grow.

'Not enough, however. Not by a long shot.'

"I felt like someone threw a hammer at me when you threw that punch. That was something else, Kenshi!" Lyd's voice shook him out of his thoughts, a hand placing itself on his back and leading him to the others who had been watching the fight unfold.

"A splendid display of prowess, Sir Kenshi." The Siren Xenos, Ray, stated as she extended a drink to him, which he accepted with a nod.

"I'm too young to be called 'Sir'. Kenshi will do, Ray-sama, as I've told you before."

"Due respect must be shown to those capable of great feats." Was her reply, which no doubt had her defeat at his hands as one of the reasons for those exact words. This was hardly the first time he trained them, after all. It was the fourth time to be precise, and he had won all sessions so far.

Somehow he knew she would not budge on calling him anything else, so he dropped the topic for now. "...You've improved." He voiced as the others he had fought had also taken seats all around the him, the hidden village providing enough space for everyone.

"Did we?" The Goblin, Lett, asked with a sigh, no doubt discouraged at having lost yet again. "We lost all the same, Mister Kenshi."

"...You put up a fight. You continued fighting." The first time he proposed a training session where he would fight a number of their group, the Xenos had been too shocked at his speed and skill, unable to move or think what to do until he was in their faces. Compared to that time, they did a lot better this time around.

"Training is not meant to allow you to win from one day to the other. It's meant to highlight one's weaknesses and improve upon them. Sweat today, so you don't bleed tomorrow. Bleed tomorrow, so you don't die the day after."

His words seemed to do the trick, the Goblin's eyes widening in what Fuzen could only describe as awe. Well, it wasn't like he had lied or anything. In his opinion that is what training was about.

Even now, after years of intense training, Fuzen doubted he had any real chance against his Mistress, for example. That was simply how mind-bogglingly strong she was.

"Hey, hey!" A pair of wings rested on his shoulders without his approval, belonging to the Harpy girl, Fear. "You said that if I join the training, you'll have more of that for me. Where's my treat, Fuzen?"

Out of the bunch of Xenos, she was the only one who called him Fuzen, despite his request to be called Kenshi. As for the reason behind the request, it was because they were still strangers to him. He didn't care about the fact that they were sentient Monsters: he didn't care about anything that didn't directly or indirectly connected to his goal of Grasping the Heavens.

They had all said they didn't desire to be strongest or possessed any other multitude of similar desires, and as such he did not need to cut them down. But they were still Monsters, and he had been slaughtering their kind for a little under two years now.

It felt right to keep a certain distance between them.

Not that the Harpy seemed to care, however.

"Yes, I have your so-called treats." He sighed and reached for the inside of his robes, from where he pulled out a small wooden box, something he made sure to buy while showing Yua around the East District. "Which are called Mochi, by the way. I got you the premium ones."

"Thank you~! Ahhh~"

"...What the hell are you doing?" He asked with a raised eyebrow as he turned his head to see the Harpy girl's wide-open mouth, as if waiting for something.

"Waiting for you to feed me, what else?" She stated matter of fact as if that by some strange logic the normal thing to expect.

"...You're a grown ass woman, not my pet. And you have arms-...wings. Feed yourself."

"Come on~ I can hold larger, more solid things by myself but not soft sweets. Pretty please?"

'Just have one of the others help you, then. It seems that no matter the race, females are similarly weird...Haaa…'

With a shake of his head Fuzen opened the box to reveal the twelve, differently coloured Mochi inside, picking one up with two fingers and holding it over his right shoulder, the soft sweet being devoured in a single bite by the Harpy girl.

"Mmmhhh~ So soft and fluffy~" Fuzen was sure that had it not been for the Xenos sitting to her left and right, Fear would have taken off flying then and there.

She really liked her sweets. "Another, please! Aaahhh~!"

Instead of feeding her another Mochi, however, Fuzen closed the box and handed it over to Ray. "Don't let a one-time thing go to your head, Fear." It didn't even take a second for Ray, Laura, Helga and Arles to jump at the opportunity of sweets presented to them.

Seeing how the Mochi which were meant for her dwindling in number, the Harpy quickly jumped away from Fuzen and joined the others, picking up a Mochi with her feathers. "So you can pick them up yourself after all?"

Realizing she had just busted herself, the girl turned to him with a smile on her lips. "Ehh...Hehe~?"

Her attempt at being cute about it did not work on him, however. "Urgh..."

Just then he noticed Lyd reaching out for him with a bottle of the juice the Xenos made out of Dungeon fruits, lifting his cup up and thanking the Lizardman with a silent nod. "I appreciate you taking the time to do all this for us, Kenshi. It means a lot."

"Don't mention it. I am learning a lot, myself. It is good practice."

Lyd nodded. "Mhm. But that's not all I meant. This here, A Xenos and a Human sharing a drink…" He pointed between the two of them with a toothy smile. "It was only a dream until recently. I hope we can...meet more open-minded people like you."

Fuzen did understand where Lyd was coming from. He had heard their story and had a good understanding of their struggles and aspirations.

However…

"You are mistaken, Lyd." Fuzen replied back, his eyes meeting the Lizardman's. "I am not open-minded. I simply do not care. I asked you back when we first met whatever you as a group or individually desire to be the strongest. You said No. However, had any of you answered differently, I would have drawn my sword on you. There is nothing open-minded about that."

He had told them the same thing back when they first met, by accident no less, but reminding them that he was someone who would cut down anyone grasping for the top was not a bad thing, in his opinion.

Misunderstandings could be avoided that way.

"Even so...thanks."

'Haaa...Why does everyone keep saying that today? It almost feels like an omen of something bad which is going to happen at this point…'

"...Mhm, sure. Why not? Anyway, as for the training: Lyd, your swordsmanship is too easy to read. Too feral, too simple." At the sound of the critique thrown his way, the Lizardman flinched ever so slightly. "You are naturally strong, so defeating Adventurers of Level 3 or 4 should be easy enough for you, by virtue of your inborn strength alone. However, if that Level 4 you would fight has trained in the art of his weapon for a considerable amount of time, he or she would be able to fend off your attacks for long enough to find the weaknesses in your form and exploit them. In that case, you will get injured. Against a Level 5, you would have no chance."

"M-Mhm…"

"Question: why do you think that I was able to defeat you in our duel?"

Lyd took a moment to ponder, able to come up with a single answer. "Experience."

"Wrong. I am barely twelve years old, you are twenty. And while I have trained for a good portion of my short life, unlike you I have not been born in the Dungeon and I have not fought every single day against all those that would see me dead. By all accounts, you have more experience in fighting than me. But…"

"But?"

"When two swordsmen met, they do not simply fight: they duel. They pit their training, skill, technique, experience, morals, ideals, instincts and their very essence against each other. The reason I won and you lost is because I can read you like an open book, while you are still struggling to deal even with the attack I perform in the moment, let alone be able to think what I will do five moves later."

"M-Mhm…"

"Guess I could have told you this sooner…" Putting his cup to the side Fuzen stood up and walked a couple of steps away, hand on his hilt as he faced Lyd. "When I attack like this…" He drew his sword too fast for most to see his movement, performing a flawless horizontal slash, sword frozen in place to his side. "I can continue with an upwards thrust." He put his left foot forward and drawing the blade to his side, he thrust it forward a moment later. "Or, if you dodged my slash and are now attacking me, I can fall back and target your legs." Resuming his former stance with his sword to the side, Fuzen jumped back and spun his body around, landing in a low position and performing a slash at what would have been his enemy's legs.

By now, Lyd understood what he was talking about: following up on your own attacks, never ending your current attack but instead making it a part of your next one while forcing your enemy to dance according to your rhythm.

Constant flow of movement, all meant to reach your opponent and cut them down.

"Or I can use the tip of my boot to kick a pebble at your face in order to obscure your sight, forcing you to focus on something else for just a split second…" He did just that, kicking a small stone by his foot in the direction of what would have been Lyd's face while dashing forward at the same time, his sword already up and cutting the small stone sideways into two pieces. "In order to target your neck while you are distracted and cut your head off."

His demonstration now done, Fuzen sheathed his sword and resumed his seat. "Well, from that position alone I have over two dozen options to attack, and I will choose whichever one is the most efficient in the spur of the moment. That is sword-fighting." He shrugged a moment later. "Well, one aspect of it."

"I see now...Funny how I did not realize this until now. I was relying on my sheer strength too much, wasn't I?"

"You were. Now you know. I expect improvement by the time we train next."

Lyd threw one thumb up in response and with a nod, Fuzen continued to tell all the ones who had trained with him for the day where their weaknesses lay.

How Lett had a lot of strength, but lacked speed because he simply threw his axe at enemies instead of wielding it, and how he could improve by using his centre of gravity more, something which would see him spending less energy while also increasing the speed of his attacks.

How Laura exposed herself too much while attacking, and how she could improve by using her serpentine body to get both close and away from enemies without moving from her spot.

How Helga, because of her canine body was too easy to read for any experienced Adventurer despite her speed and agility, and how she could instead become more deadly by observing the fight from mid-range and support her comrades with her flames or work together with the humanoid ones to avoid having her one-use bite attack become a liability.

How Four, similarly to Lyd, was relying too much on his sheer strength and how he could instead improve by drawing attention to himself and then use his long range defensively while opening up opportunities for his comrades to attack while all eyes were on him.

And how Fear was not making good use of her biggest advantage, her flight, because she was too linear and her pattern was too predictable, and how she could improve by going to areas with lots of obstacles, like the jungles and woods of the Large Tree Labyrinth and fly around at her top speed, practicing sharp turns as well as her skill to stop her momentum at a moment's notice.

With his opinions shared and his cup of juice empties, Fuzen stood up and got ready to leave. It had been hours since he entered the Dungeon, as the Xenos were not on the 16th Floor as he had hoped they would be, and he still had to get back before the next noon.

'The expedition headed by Riveria and Tiona is being launched tomorrow, after all. I should...see her off.'

Useless pleasantries, nothing more.

He knew full well that nothing serious like death could befall those two while they were together. There was no reason to see them off when he knew they would be coming back alive.

And yet…he just felt that was the right thing to do.

To say it pissed him off that he felt that way would have been an understatement.

'...Waste of time. Nothing else.'

Just then the face of the short-haired Amazon girl popped up in his mind and he let out a Tsk loud enough to be heard by the nearby Xenos.

"So you are leaving, then?"

"Yeah. I still got more than enough matters to attend to on the surface, unfortunately."

"Good luck with that, then. Though…" Lyd lifted up his index finger, scratching his scaly cheek as if in hesitation. "I don't mean to be pushy, Kenshi, but about that thing you mentioned before…"

"About transporting a couple of you to the surface and allowing you to meet with civilians? Yes, I'll keep my promise. However, it will take a bit more time as the situation up there is not optimal. Had that bitch not attacked my people, it would have been possible sooner, but as things stand, we have our hands full with keeping an eye out on her movements. Not to mention my people are on edge, as well."

"Ahh, I see. Then we'll wait until-"

"Oi, Lyd!" The deep voice from across the room cut the Lizardman off, both him and Fuzen looking to the side. "When will you finally get it? That is not gonna happen." Gros, the Gargoyle Xenos, stated from his seat on the opposite side of the large room.

Strange as that was to imagine given their small numbers, even the Xenos were somewhat separated into two groups.

The group that were friendly, and the group that were not so friendly.

Gros obviously belonged to the latter group, as did the couple of Xenos who were by his side and shared his view.

"Hey, Gros. Don't insult Kenshi: he's already doing more than enough for us."

"What exactly, beating us to a pulp? We can do that ourselves."

To everyone's surprise, it was Fear who spoke up next. "You're just salty he beat your ass the first time we met him."

She was of course talking about the first time Fuzen stumbled upon the Xenos by accident as he tightly made his way through a crevice in a wall, having felt Ki Signature's from behind it and believing it was trapped Adventurers. Upon seeing the partying Xenos and being spotted, he simply turned around and tried to crawl his way through the crevice again.

Gros, as one being capable of flight, was the first to jump up and try to stop him in fear that he was going to get his comrades or something.

Suffice to say, it came as a surprise to both him and the other Xenos when Fuzen had grabbed his head and slammed him jaw-first into the ground just as he descended and tried to grab the swordsman.

On the first training session, Gros had been part of the group that fought against Fuzen, and just like before he had lost quite fast, not unlike Lyd this time around.

"Grrrhh...That's not here nor there! Say, Lyd: What would the kid have to gain from such a thing? The moment he brings even just one of us to the surface, all the surface dwellers will turn against him. Plainly speaking, he is not capable of pulling something like this."

Before Lyd could speak, Fuzen replied instead. "I have nothing to gain."

"Haah! See, I told you-!"

"And I don't care about what anyone has to say about my actions. I'm the guy who will eventually grasp the Heavens. I'm not helping you because I want to: I'm helping you because I can. And if anyone tells me I can't because they feel threatened by my actions, they will feel the cold sharp tip of my sword pressing down on their throats."

A short silence fell over the room as those words seeped their way into everyone's minds.

Of course, by now they were all aware of the fact that Kenshi was not trying to help them out of the goodness of his hear: in his own words, he was trying to help them because he could.

Likewise, he was not visiting them from time to time because he felt safe around them, he did so because he knew full-well that he could take them out if they tried anything funny.

Most of the Xenos had long wondered what the first Adventurer to accept them would be like. Someone kind, some of them thought. Someone open-minded, others thought.

And yet, Fuzen was anything but any such thing.

He had not met a single Xenos's expectations.

But even with that said, it was...not a bad thing.

Though he had not met a single one's expectations, his strength was unlike anything they had ever seen or thought possible. To those among the Xenos who had a fighter's spirit burning in their chest, like Lyd, that alone was worthy of respect.

On the other hand, his confidence in his own capability was so great, it wasn't even arrogance anymore. It surpassed such a silly notion and was instead just that: raw confidence, so pure it was downright contagious. That aspect was worthy of respect for the others.

"Question my reasons if you must, but don't question my capabilities ever again. I will not stand for that a second time, Gros." The swordsman voiced towards the Gargoyle, making his way out of the hidden village a moment later. "Stay safe, and until next time."

With a wave he left them and made his way back to the surface, effortlessly taking care of the hoards of Monsters on the way.

One might have questioned why he was even going through the trouble of associating himself with sentient Monsters in the first place.

It would be a good question, indeed.

He already had the East District as his bait, and so he didn't need the Xenos for that purpose. After all, his retaliation would be far less justified if it was done in defense of Monsters instead of humans.

Secondly, he was already part of one of the top two Familia in Orario. The Xenos did not have an ounce of the influence Loki Familia had, and they as a group were also weaker compared to his Familia. There was nothing on that front that he could use them for, either.

It was truly just as he had said before: he had nothing to gain from helping them, from associating himself with them.

In truth he only had thing to lose by doing any of the two.

But...he could understand it.

Though he was not too empathic in nature and could not relate to the feelings of others generally speaking, he could relate to the Xenos to some limited degree.

Their feelings of being rejected, of being outcasts.

Their feelings of being hated for what they were, instead of who they were.

Their feelings of being undesirable, of being rejected, of being hated, of being feared, of being unworthy in the eyes of those who mattered most to you...

Those, he could understand.

Those, he could relate to.

Fuzen was not big on pack mentality, having little respect for it in general.

But, in their case…

'Undesirables should stick together...right?'

Whatever that was the right approach or not, he did not know. He yet lacked the worldly wisdom someone many times older than him might have possessed.

And so, lacking that wisdom, he decided to do the next best thing: trust his gut instead.

'...Ah, well. Whatever happens, happens. I'll deal with it when the time comes.'

Letting that line of thought end there, Fuzen focused once more on his way back. Once he passed the 18th Floor and stepped foot on the 17th Floor, he took out his blindfold and wrapped it over his eyes.

It was time to train, his memory this time around.

Taking off running he strained his mind and tried his best to remember the correct path to take back to the surface, not taking the blindfold off even while being attacked by the groups of Monsters in his path.

That wasn't a big deal, he was fast enough to cut them down even without sight, and they couldn't really dream of hitting him even with that handicap.

However…

Thud!

'God…'

CRASH!

'...damn…'

THUD!

'...it!'

Though the Monsters were not a problem, running into walls every half a minute was. It was more than a problem: it was infuriating!

He had been blind enough, no pun intended, to only ever do this kind of mnemonic training staring from the surface and never doing it the other way around, starting from a lower Floor and going up.

'...I should be using the numbers of running steps required to reach points in reverse, since I'm going the other way around. That is harder said than done. More importantly…'

"Where the hell am I?"

Having run into walls at full speed for the last who knows how many Floors, he had somehow last track of where he was, the collisions no doubt playing a part in his loss of direction as well.

'Let's see...16th Floor...14th...10th...8th...7th…? I'm on the 7th Floor? That should be accurate. Hmm…' He reached out and started to feel his surroundings, realizing he had hit a wall near a corner.

Not that it was all that helpful: every single Floor in the Dungeon had a million corners.

Pulling his sword out he kept his right hand on the wall next to him, then reached for the opposite side with his sword. Using the amount of stretch he needed to perform with his sword arm in order for the tip of the sword to make contact with the wall, he determined the hallway was about three meters in width.

'A narrow passage...One of the corners of the Floors? Those are dead ends...The hell am I doing here? The way up is in the northern side of the centre of the Floor. This is nothing if not a big failure...Haaa.'

Shaking his head at his own failure, Fuzen started walking forward as he kept his hand on the wall. If this was still a hallway and not a large room, he would still reach the stairway to the upper Levels eventually, if memory served him right.

Minutes passed by in eerie silence before he started to notice something: a Ki signature, coming off from somewhere further ahead to his right. From what he could tell, it was a weak signature, the sign of a life that was about to be lost.

'...I guess I should go and help, being part of Loki Familia and all that.'

Taking off his blindfold he dashed forward following the Ki and taking a right further ahead. He knew this area: the dead end on the north-western side of the Floor. Had someone been ambushed while taking a break?

Then again, if an Adventurer was dumb enough to take a break in a dead-end with only one way in or out, maybe they deserved just that.

The indistinguishable smell of blood and ash reaching his nose, Fuzen sped up and reached the person he had felt before.

"...Ahh." As soon as his eyes scanned the person still breathing in the distance, he felt like turning around and forgetting he ever sensed their dying breaths in the first place. But he did not do that...after some deliberation. Instead he approached the Pallum girl he had met a little under a year ago, the time feeling so much longer since he had completely forgotten about her.

No longer feeling any sense of urgency, Fuzen started scanning the scene before him: the Pallum girl from Soma Familia, and two male adults. The males were dead, while the girl was still alive but her life slipping away by the second.

'No Magic Stones on the ground...A fight broke out between them? No…' He approached the black spot on the ground he noticed a while ago and ran his finger along it, giving it a sniff. 'Smoke bomb. The ash I smelled before. A surprise attack.'

He stood up and inspected the two male Adventurers. The first one had a crossbow bolt stuck in his left eye, the second bolt in his chest. A surprised look was frozen on his dead face. 'She attacked them? Enemies?' Crouching down he turned the man around ,hearing the squishing sound the bolt in his eye made as it's blunt end hit the ground and buried deeper into his skull, but paid it no importance.

Lifting his shirt up he noticed the symbol of the Soma Familia on his back. 'No, not enemies. Familia members. Mutiny? Likely. Didn't she say something about hating her Familia? Don't remember, not important.'

Leaving the man as he was he stood up and moved to the second one, who was much closer to the Pallum girl. He wore a cheap chestplate and arm-guards, but no protection for his legs. The Pallum girl made good use of this weakness: a bolt was stuck in his left thigh.

'Making up for her weakness as a small Pallum by weakening her targets. Predator-like mindset: deserves some respect, if nothing else.' His eyes scanned the man's armour for a moment, noticing the two small dents around the chest area. She had tried to pierce his armour. Rookie mistake: even if the armour was cheap, there was no way a bolt fired by a crossbow meant for Pallums would ever penetrate it, even less so on the curvature meant to deflect sword slashes.

Next he looked at the man's arm-guards: the thin metal on the left one had been cut through, some blood leaking out of the flesh wound behind the protection.

'An attempt at blocking? Why? Pallums are much shorter than adult males of other races, why not use his reach advantage-...Ahhh.' Understanding what had happened he grabbed the man's limp arm and turned it around until the closed fist was around his temple. 'She did not reload after targeting his chest: she drew her blade and jumped for his neck.'

At the thought of that he could not help but feel a headache setting in. 'Haaaaaa...Why does everyone hop around so much? Do those people not understand that mortals are most vulnerable in the air? Unless you are someone experienced like me who knows what the hell he is doing, your feet should be always firmly planted on the ground. This is so dumb...'

Shaking his head in disappointment he looked at the right side of the man's neck and the stab wound still leaking blood in it.

Had she used her off hand to stab him while he blocked the first attack with his arm-guard?

'No…' Fuzen shook his head and looked over at the girl and at the wound in her gut. '...She jumped up, he blocked the attack with his arm, used his sword-arm to plunge his straight sword into her gut, she fell down, he limped over on top of her, tried to hit her with an overhead strike, she dodged and then...probably used her feet to make him fall on top of her and used her left hand to plunge that blood dagger over there in his neck. In shock, he stood up, stumbled backwards and then fell dead on his ass. Literally.'

He was pretty confident that is what had happened, going by the hints all around. While he was no detective and could hardly help to solve a real mystery, if the mystery involved a fight he could solve at least that part.

Satisfied with his findings he walked over to the unconscious girl and crouched down besides her, eyes trailing on her gashing wound before turning to inspect her face.

The face of a stranger.

He didn't even remember her name.

And it wasn't because he was going senile or anything like that.

He was well-aware that they had, in the past, spent some time together as a group of two. And yet her face and her name were not something he remember at all.

It was the same while trying to remember that prostitute from the Far East who had used him for her own gain. Fuzen had spend the better part of half a year living together with her, seeing her face every day.

And yet, if he tried to remember her appearance or her name, it was all a blank.

At most, her face appeared crossed out by means of a hundred pencil strokes in his memories, and every time he tried to recall a moment where he called her name out, a short-lived yet intense headache set in.

This Pallum girl was the same: though he was looking directly at her face, his mind was not able to register it.

Instead, in her case it was like a thousand tiny bugs crawled all over her face, a rough resemblance of her features still noticeable but the boy unable to make out any clear characteristics about her features, like the shape of her nose, her lips or even her eyebrows.

That is how his mind registered her face, while he was directly looking at it.

Twitch…

Twitch...

Not even registering the twitch in his eye that had started to take place, he sat down besides her, knees pulled close to his chest. "...I hate people like you who mess me up even more than I already am, you know…? Fakers. Back stabbers. Traitors. Traitors..."

Head tilting to the side, he continue to simply watch her as he listened to her breathing as it got weaker and weaker.

Inhale…

Exhale…

Inhale…

Exhale…

Weaker and weaker.

She was dying.

Maybe he should have felt happy that the traitor was dying. Or maybe he should have tried to be human and feel sadness at her passing.

Fuzen felt neither.

Just like when you heard that a mere acquaintance's friend who you only knew by name but never actually met face-to-face had passed away, he felt nothing at that realization.

"I wonder…" He whispered as he reached out with his right hand, extending his index finger towards her wound and touching the ruptured skin with the tip of the finger, but not putting any pressure on it. "Do you still feel pain, even while unconscious…?"

Slowly, very slowly, he dragged the finger along the line of the rupture caused by the sword to the gut she received, putting just a little more pressure on the wound as he dragged it along.

"...Nnghh..."

Finally, he had his answer in the form of a low groan. "...So you still feel pain, then?" Not expecting any real reply, Fuzen slowly pushed his index finger inside her wound, at first just the tip, then the first digit, then the second. The Pallum's breath become more ragged as he went on, her groans of pain intensifying as he twisted the finger left and right, left and right. "Good. Good…"

The deeper he went, the more he felt what would have turned the stomach of any normal person: the sticky and slime sensation of her raw flesh, the wet sensation of her lukewarm blood…

Options, so many options.

Too many options, and too little time.

He could put his whole hand inside and pull out her innards, then go to her organs. She was a Pallum: he would hardly need to go deeper than the middle of the forearm to find her heart and rip it out.

Likewise, he could simply gut her with his sword, ending the job that Soma Adventurer had started by himself.

He could also wait for her to draw her last breath, then drag her lifeless body to a place teeming with Monsters and watch from a distance as the mindless beasts would rip her corpse apart, limb by limb.

This was the Dungeon after all. Anything could happen in here.

'Haaa...Guess I shouldn't be wasting time.'

Letting the sigh leave his lips he pulled his finger out of her flesh and stood up, drawing his sword as he placed a foot on her chest and brought the sharp edge to her neck.

In his mind, what he was doing was not a matter of morals or ideals.

They were in the Dungeon, after all. Every Adventurer who set foot inside knew the risk which was that they might not walk out alive, or even walk out dead if they were truly unlucky.

The fight that had took place had nothing to do with him: the Soma Adventurers were strangers, he had no connection to their Familia whatsoever and the girl was of no significance to him.

He was just a third party.

However, even if he was just that, right then and there he had the power to decide what to do. And he had decided that, because she was a traitor, she did not deserve to be saved.

She was not deserving of the hassle that would be trying to save her, even if he had the means to do so.

With a nod to himself, Fuzen started to slowly drag the blade across her neck, droplets of blood escaping the skin in the wake of the cut from his sword.

Oh, and what a beautiful colour it was…

'...No. I am...being biased.' He stopped his sword two seconds into the movement, looking over his shoulder at the two dead Adventurers behind him. '...Even if she is a traitor, I cannot overlook the fact that she took on two people probably stronger than her and won, even if it was by means of underhanded means. She...might become someone worthy of being cut down by me in fair combat in the future. One more corpse thrown into the stair that I built to grasp the Heavens. And even if she will not become worthy of that, she might become someone capable enough to provide Mikoto with a challenge in the future. Her actions here today, unfortunately, are worthy of some degree of respect...Haaaa...'

"...Just how lucky can a traitor get…?"

Fuzen muttered as he sheathed his sword and pulled out a healing Potion, throwing half of the vial's content onto the Pallum girl and watching as her wound, to some degree, kneed itself back together.

He did not want to use a whole vial, as that brought with it the risk of the girl waking up altogether. If she did so and uttered even a single word to him, no matter what it was, Fuzen had no doubts he would actually cut her down.

She would have to make do with the help he offered and fight for her life herself.

'I have to...touch her, don't I? I don't wanna, though...Haaa…'

Shaking his head at the trials life itself was throwing his way, Fuzen grabbed the Pallum by the back of her collar and began dragging her along, her large Supporter bag included. As for the two dead Adventurers, Monsters would eat them before long.

He didn't have to worry about that.

And so he made his way up, dragging the still unconscious girl along with him. Not exactly the end to his day that he expected, but...it was what it was.

It was then, in the silence of the Dungeon, that Fuzen began to replay a remake of the fight that took place between the Pallum and the two Adventurers in his mind.

And slowly, he started to catch on to something.

Level 1's…

High mortality rate…

Inexperience…

Lack of funds…

Unreliable equipment…

A dog eat dog world…

Unaware of the dangers...

Lack of connections…

Connections...

'Connections…'

"...Ahh. I got it." He muttered under his breath as the realization hit him on the 1st Floor, throwing a look at the girl he was dragging. His dislike for her increased just then by about two times the previous amount.

But that didn't matter.

As soon as he reached the stairs leading to the surface he placed the Pallum girl leaning against a wall at the foot of the stairs and took out one of the bank-printed plaques which could be exchanged for one hundred thousand Valis, placing it in the girl's pocket.

It left a bad taste in his mouth to show gratitude towards someone who stabbed him in the back, however...it was because of her that he managed to come up with the solution to the East District's problems.

"I won't thank you." He voiced despite the girl's unconscious state, pulling out another healing Potion and lifting her head up and forcing her to swallow the whole vial. "Because I'll consider us even with this."

And with that he left her behind and climbed up the stairs.

For now, he had to find one of the Ears he had hired and have them send a Runner to the others. A meeting needed to be held regarding the East District as soon as possible. Not in two days, but tonight.

Before the meeting, however, he needed to go to the Guild and get all the information needed to set the plan into motion.

If his gut feeling was anything to go by, they would have a lot of work ahead of them for the foreseeable future.

'Haaaa...Screw my fricking life…'

XXX

A couple of hours ago…

"Bored, so bored…"

The red-headed woman exhaled as she walked through the streets of Orario, the whole world seemingly uncaring for the great anguish that was her boredom.

So bored was she that the Goddess Loki didn't even take the time to take a bodyguard with her, instead choosing to walk the streets of Orario by her lonesome self.

She had kept her eyes open for any sort of entertainment that would have been the answer to her boredom, but walk as she might have, no such thing appeared before her.

'It's so damn peaceful lately...I'm not saying we need everyone to go bonkers in the streets, but isn't there anything, anything, going on at all? Haaa…'

It was as if the world didn't understand that she was a being of eternal life and that she needed some stimulation from time to time least she would dry up completely. How cruel life could be at times.

Even more so since as of late, for about a month now, she could not even sleep anymore as nightmares haunted her every night.

Indeed, all of that because of a certain situation which had involved a certain small and cute swordsman.

Every night she would wake up drenched in sweat from the pain and agony which her mind forced her to relive over and over again, pain and agony which did not even belong to her to begin with. Each night she would wake up with an unexplainable high desire to end it all with her own two hands, and each night she was forced to fight that desire.

The only solace she had was that the bitch Ishtar, who was the reason behind this clusterfuck probably suffered the same as her, if not even more so since her connection to the little swordsman had been stronger thanks to her Charm.

"...Hey. Hey!"

She...needed something.

Entertainment.

"Hey, Goddess!"

Something fun and silly that would take her mind off things for a while.

Either until the nightmares would go away or she learned to cope with them, no doubt the same way her precious little swordsman had.

"Goddess Loki!"

Just then a hand grabbed her shoulder and she turned around, being met with the face of someone she had not expected to run into. "Ohh, is that you, 'lil Seiji?"

"Hahahaha! You bet! I've been calling out to you for a while now, you know?"

"Really? Ahh, sorry. Was lost in thought."

"Hahahaha, I could tell! Everything good with you, Goddess?"

"Yeah, yeah...Nothing to worry about. What about you? No Dungeon diving?"

"I'm kinda prohibited from that every now and then, if you know what I mean. Hahahaha! Not that I am complaining right now, though." He voiced as he threw a thumb over his shoulder, Loki looking in that direction and noticing the Captain of his Familia, Naaza, sitting down at a nearby café, bowing her head as their eyes met.

"Hoho~...Shooting your shot, are you?"

"You bet! By the way, I called out to you to ask if you wanna join us. It's on me."

"Hmm? You sure I wouldn't be disturbing? Or, could it be...Ahh!" She gasped in shock as she threw her arms around herself in what looked to be an attempt to protect herself from him. "Are you a double player?!"

"Hahaha, sorry, but you're totally not my type!" The boy bluntly said to her complete dismay, though of course she had expected that. "And I think my Captain would be far more disappointed with me if I didn't offer. I still own you, after all."

"What do you mean?"

"You know...A month ago, when that stone-faced shorty kicked my butt black and blue. It was one of your Familia members who tended to my sorry ass! Hahahaha!"

She remembered: when Riveria brought Fuzen back to the Twilight Mansion Seiji had also been there, having been thrashed around by her little swordsman before he knocked himself out. It was Line who tended to Seiji, and she guessed that is what he meant by him still owning her.

"Well...Okay then."

With a nod she followed the boy back to their table, greeting Naaza which she knew by name but only actually met in person about two times until now. When the waiter came around she absent-mindedly ordered some cake and drink at random, engaging the talkative boy in some silly banter.

It wasn't long, however, until he dropped a bomb on her.

"By the way, I wanted to ask you if there's any plans you have for the upcoming birthday at your place. If not, you think I could borrow that shorty?"

"...Pardon me, what?"

"You know, Fuzen's birthday!" He replied with a wide smile, but upon seeing the Goddess's wide-open eyes, the smile started to get smaller. "which is coming up soon…" And smaller. "...and which you know nothing about…" And smaller. "...because he didn't tell you anything about it...Damn it…"

And as his smile got smaller, Loki's smile got bigger.

"Seiji."

"…"

"Tell me more. The date, specifically."

And there it was: her entertainment, presented to her by no other than Seiji.

Who could have guessed that the bitches who remained in Heaven would still humour her every now and then?

XXX

Ayo.

So you read all that, did you?

Pretty boring, wasn't it? And I'm the guy who wrote the whole damn thing saying that.

But, there is no helping it. If I want to be consisted in my writing and not leave behind loose end, such Chapters are required from time to time.

Chapters that highlight more than just the OC (Yua in this instance, as well as Ais and Tiona), as well as Chapters that will bind together future events.

So yeah, I can't help it. I would like to write sick fight scenes more often too, but you don't progress a story with just cool fights scenes (unless it's Dragon Ball, lol).

As always, I have also tried to thrown in some subtle nuggets of information about Fuzen in there, as I choose the approach where I did not reveal who my OC was from the very first Chapter.

You might also think to yourself: "Huh, no way that runt could beat down all those Xenos, you are trippin' bro."

But...I really don't think it was an unrealistic fight.

Though I have not watched anything beyond Season 2 of Danmachi and I only read the Sword Oratoria novel but dropped the main light novel (yes, that is how big my dislike of Danmachi is right now and has been for a long time), I did watch clips and stuff of the more important events on Youtube or had people who watched/read it summarize the events to me.

If Ranye lost to some nameless Level 4 Ikelos Familia nobody and Four, Aude and Cliff lost to likewise Level 3 or 4 nobodies, there is literally no chance for them to ever defeat Fuzen, no matter how much stronger they are than normal Monsters.

As for Lyd, Ray and Gros, maybe they could heavily injure my boi if they all attacked at once, but from what I've seen in clips of them losing to Loki Familia, those guys rely too much on their natural strength as Monsters.

Even Lyd, the one who uses swords, seemed to me to be really simple-minded in his fighting style.

So yeah, even if they are the equivalent of Level 5 Adventurers in durability, strength and speed, they lack the necessary experience of fighting experienced martial artists like my boy.

Chances of winning are just way too low for them.

Besides that, I do not think I wrote anything in a way that would be confusing.

The reason as to why Fuzen decided to take Yua as his personal assistant should have been pretty obvious, as should have been the reason behind taking her to all those different people and having her meet them.

More than that, I can't think of anything that could have been confusing to anyone.

HOWEVER…

If you do have a question or anything, let me know in a review or a PM. I think most people who have left reviews more than three-four times can attest to the fact that I actually do try to respond to all the reviews, even if it's just a "Thanks for the review, have a nice day!"

So yeah, if you have a question or anything is unclear to you, do hit me up. I'll clear everything up for you, without dropping any spoilers of course.

That's about it, I think.

I hope you had a good read, that you enjoyed it and I that I will see ya all around when the next Chapter drops.

Have a good one, ya all.

Kay bye.