Welcome back, everyone, to the second chapter of this project of mine. I am glad to know there are some readers, and a bit saddened that as of writing this, the majority of my reviews are bots. But oh well, can't have it all.

Disclaimer: All rights to go their respective creators, I own none and nothing in this story!

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It had been a few weeks since the loss of my home. Processing my grief had been no simple matter, because I hardly ever had to grieve nearly as much as I did in this short time. No matter how much time I take to sort out my emotions and thoughts, it never feels enough. It became somewhat bearable, but that did not do anything to ease the pain. I will heal with time, the rational part tells me that much, but the emotional part... that one is quite a lot harder to soothe, maybe even impossible. That's what I am afraid of, that I won't get better no matter how much time passes. Loss like this was a first for me, after all.

In those weeks since the death of my home, I had continued my training, except this time with Frostmourne rather than a wooden stand in. The sword was quite a bit heavier than a wooden counterpart, and its large shape made swinging it a chore at first. Practice was much more difficult in all aspects with the newly added weight and size, but I welcomed the added challenges. It was a nice distraction from everything, and to be completely honest, I have grown fond of the feeling of needing to surpass myself. Sometimes, I jokingly think that maybe I was made for the life of a workout junkie with how much I enjoy it. But then I realize that it is only a means to the ends. The build up before the actual adventure, and that adventure was what I was craving.

My wandering took me across fields, forests and even past a large hill, but no civilization in sight. I was about to give up when, there in the distant horizon, I spotted something familiar. Humanoid shapes. I thought at first it would be people whom I could open communication with, but I was sorely mistaken.

Soon as those shades spotted me, they suddenly increased in numbers and, while closing the distance between me and them, they surrounded me. My situation dawned upon me rather quickly with realization due to their expressions and how they have their weapons drawn, ready to use them:

Bandits.

Just my luck, my first human contact since losing my home had to be a bandit gang.

I drew Frostmourne and took a defensive stance, steeling myself. The first of the would-be robbers took a swing at me that I dodged before I swung back at him and, with one swift motion, decapitated him.

I will admit, killing monsters is one thing, but killing another person was a different topic altogether. I damn near vomited at my own action, keeping myself together purely through dread and panic, focusing on my survival.

As soon as their first comrade fell, the others jumped onto me like a pack of rats and I had to make a wide arc with my blade to deflect the many attacks and put distance between me and them. It was hard, but it worked, and about 3 swings in they stepped back enough to give me breathing room. I decided I had to single them out somehow.

With a wild feint, I faked an offense towards the right side, only to then swing my blade in a jab forward, impaling one of the bandits through his chest. Another instant kill. I pulled my sword out and parried an overhead slash from my left side, practically slapping aside the assailant's weapon before slashing their chest in a wide arc upwards, causing the bandit to quickly die of blood loss from the massive wound he sustained.

That was 3 down, and my survival looked good so far. My adrenaline was at such a high that my heart was pounding with deafening pulses, ringing in my ears with each beat, my eyes were so hyperfocused that I could swear I could see each singular strand of hair on a person that stood before me. It was intense, it was disgusting and vile, and yet... a part of me couldn't help but feel thrilled at the sheer amount of adrenaline coursing through me. I felt sick with myself, like I was awakening a psychopathic side within me and consciously aware of it. But I couldn't help it, i loved the thrill of danger and the action.

Two bandits attacked me simultaneously and I acted as fast as I could, swinging Frostmourne in a wide arc from left to right with an upward swing, parrying both attacks at the same time before swinging it the same way backwards, slashing through one bandits' throat and injuring the other's arm. I followed up with another jab with the tip of the sword and impaled the wounded bandit with my sword before pulling out. The last bandit of what I only now realized were 6 in total dropped his weapon and decided to run away in panic...

With the danger subsided, my emotions immediately got to me and I fell to my knees, vomiting out what little I had to eat yesterday. I felt sick to my stomach with myself. How could I so casually kill 5 people? My morals and my rationale were at an all out war with each others. I knew it was me or them, but still...

"You should obey your rationale this time, boy" Frostmourne sounded within my head, giving me its advice. "You did what you had to do without being given a choice in the matter. That is the great essence of life. To make do with what you have, and not regret what you wish you had. Now get up, you are kneeling in your own lunch"

I couldn't exactly admit a fondness for Frostmourne given its blunt brutality and holier than thou tone of voice it had, but I couldn't lie to myself and say that it was wrong. I wanted to survive... no, I had a right to survive, and these people did not have a right to wish to take my life for spare coin.

With my resolve collected and my rationale victorious, I got up from my position and strapped Frostmourne onto my back once again. However, only now, that I focused on this motion, did I feel it.

"Hey... did I get stronger mid-fight? Or is that your Ability?" I asked the sword out loud, drawing it again and observing its edge carefully.

"Part of my ability. I am the great thief, the bringer of endless mourning. Whatever life you slay with me will have part of its essence drained. A far cry from my glory when I could steal whole souls, but whoever you kill with me will have a portion of its strength robbed and given to you. And if you and I grow strong enough, I may once again take souls from people and imprison them to feed you their full power."

"That is... seriously messed up" I argued, finding it repulsive that my efforts were based on such an evil type of power. To steal the essence of my victims' souls... would they ever know rest? Considering what I learned about this world and its mechanisms, souls go back to Tenkai whenever the body dies, so will a damaged, siphoned soul be noticed by the gods? Was I making an enemy out of the very heavens themselves?

The thought shot great dread up my spine and into my very being, causing me to begin shaking and having thoughts of eternal damnation.

"I doubt so, boy" Frostmourne interjected, humming with a peace that I would never know. "The Gods would not notice a soul slightly drained of parts of its essence. Unless a soul was actually fractured, wounded by me, they won't know. And even if they did, they cannot do much about it. Remember, the gods seal their powers when they descend to the lower world with a vow not to use them lest they return to the heavens."

Frostmourne was right... of course it was right. Frostmourne was clearly the one with the brains between the two of us, and I found myself leaning on its words for this one, believing it and strapping it onto my back once more. "Alright, if you say so" I responded before I began to get a move on once again, going towards the direction the bandits came from, hoping that I'd find some civilization on that way...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was another set of weeks spent traveling by foot aimlessly before I could finally claim to have laid eyes on some proper civilization at last. The founding I made was a road. It wasn't people, not was it a city or village, but it was a start. A road, paved, clearly used by all the marks of horse shoes on it. The question was which direction of the road do I follow?

I decided to consult Frostmourne, drawing my trusted blade and aiming it at the road for proper visualization, its slight blue hue emboldening the imprints on the road, if only ever so slightly.

"I suggest following the road south from here" Frostmourne spoke within my mind, and I simply nodded and strapped it back onto my back.

"Alright" I stated, turning towards the southern direction the road took and started walking... only to suddenly stop and draw Frostmourne once again. "But why south?"

"Do I really have to waste my time answering this question, boy?" It spoke with irritation in its tone, which told me that whatever the reason, it was rather arbitrary. Could it be... "For the record I did NOT randomly choose. The hoof marks multiply significantly towards the south rather than the north, suggesting that traffic towards the south is much higher, therefore whatever lies south of here is important."

That was... honestly pretty sound I must say, and something I would never have seen really. What do I know of tracking, after all? I am literally just a buff country bumpkin who hasn't hunted the first thing in his life OR the previous one.

Speaking of which... I told Frostmourne about my reincarnation. The blade simply responded that it already knew and that it doesn't matter, which was very anticlimactic. I had prepared multiple responses and a whole speech about how it shouldn't be a big deal... only to receive exactly what I asked for, but in a way that felt not even slightly satisfying to me. I admit, I kind of wanted to have the little drama with my trusted blade, but I suppose it wasn't meant to be. Frostmourne was too smart to indulge me, I guess.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Another 2 days... 2 days of what felt like a more tiring part of the journey than the entire previous section combined. I was restless, nervous and still in the deep of processing every experience I had these last few weeks when I finally, FINALLY stumbled upon some proper civilization.

And what was it I stumbled upon?

There, far in the distance, I could see a gigantic tower rising up into the sky, piercing through the clouds and reaching up into the very heavens themselves. A construction so mighty, so impressive that it left me speechless.

"Ah, the mighty Babel tower. Still as pompous and massive as I remember it" Frostmourne dejectedly told me, as if not looking forward to the sight. However, my eyes were trailed somewhere else. Where there was Babel, there was Orario, the city dubbed 'center of the world'. And Orario means an actual life. No more wandering hobo with a talking sword! "HEY!" Frostmourne interjected with an insulted tone, but I couldn't care less over my excitement.

I began to jog the rest of the way, following the road while making sure I was clearly growing closer and closer towards Babel. Eventually, my destination took me to a rather long row of carriages and people which were lined up for what seemed to be the entrance into the city.

The wait was long because so was the line. We are talking HUNDREDS of people wanting in, and the largest encounter was a small group of a trader caravan that was about 8 or 9 people, which meant given each entry was individually checked in, this took up to an hour of wait.

When it finally came to be my turn, I stepped forward, my arms relaxed to my sides while I waited for the guards to speak.

"Welcome to Orario. What is your name and purpose for visit?" One of the two guards asked, a tall and burly man with a weird elephant mask on his face. A mask I must admit made me struggle not to laugh, it was just that weird and funny in a way.

"The name is Oscar Ignatio Moebius. Purpose for arrival in Orario is permanent residency and to become an adventurer"

The guards eyed me from head to toe and upon noticing my build and, probably the main attraction to them, my weapon on my back, they seemed to take it seriously enough not to make any snide remarks about my ambition. "Very well. Then just pay the entrance fee and be on your way."

I took the small satchel to my left side that had some leftover coin in it and handed it over to the guard. Where I got the coin from was from back when those bandits attacked me. I may or may not have pillaged their corpses for salvageable material and came upon a bit of money I knew I might need.

"On your way, then. NEXT!" The guard prompted and stepped aside so I could enter the city.

I barely took a few steps in before the sight and sheer liveliness overwhelmed me. People were all over the place, talking, cheering, laughing and interacting with each others. I saw all manner of folk, just like my mother told me about when I was a little kid. Dwarves, Werewolves, Chienthropes, Elves... the list goes on, but it was just such an amazing view to me that I could not hold back a single tear running down my left cheek. I quickly wiped it away and stepped aside as the people who were behind me walked past me, entering the city themselves.

It was beautiful. Not aesthetically really, but it had this lively charm to itself, this vivid life that made me want to protect it and watch it every day. It reminded me of home in a way... it was so peaceful.

I decided that first things first, I had to inform myself, so I approached one of the stalls, manned by a kind looking older gentleman, and gave a small bow of respect to the man, a gesture he seemed to appreciate. "Excuse me, sir. I was wondering if you could help me out a bit" I asked, reminding myself to adhere a polite and formal tone.

"Of course, young lad" The elderly man spoke while grabbing a single apple from his stand and playfully tossed it up and down a bit. "What can I help you with?"

"Thank you, sir" I spoke first before moving my hands to my hips and adorning more of a smile. "I just arrived here and wish to become an adventurer, where do I have to go to get started?"

"Oh, ambitious young folk, huh?" The old man spoke before laughing lightly, then tossed me the apple he played with before speaking. "The Pantheon is your goal. It is the Guild Headquarters where they manage all registration and other paperwork. And this one is on the house, welcome to Orario, youngster!"

"Thank you most kindly, sir" I responded both for his helpfulness and for the apple, smiling more genuinely at him before I took my departure from the stand. I took a bite out of the apple and walked towards the center of the city, following the large road, only to suddenly stop because something vital just hit me...

"You didn't ask for directions, boy" Frostmourne voiced in my mind the exact thought I had. I knew where to go, but not WHERE as in the exact location.

As such, I saw myself forced to retrace my steps back to the aged vendor with a sheepish smile on my face. The elderly man seemingly awaited me with a small and amused look on his face. "Follow the main road all the way to Babel, then corner yourself towards the south side of the large tower, head down the main road a little and then go to the massive staircase on the left, can't miss it."

I nodded my head in appreciation. "Thank you once again, kind sir" I spoke, bowing before the man once more before I headed down the pathway described to me, which took a while because the city was gigantic. I was on my feet for a good 25 minutes before I finally arrived at the staircase that lead up towards the Pantheon, and it sure was a Pantheon aesthetically. A small pang of memory came to me from my old life about how old greek Pantheons looked and the Guild had this pretty overlapping design.

I walked towards the entrance after climbing the many stairs, approaching the counter where I was met with a surreal view of a beautiful redheaded werewolf woman in formal guild uniform who in turn gave me a halfway bored, halfway tired look before speaking with rehearsed monotony. "Welcome to the Guild, my name is Rose Fannett, what may I help you with today?" The woman spoke.

"Hi, excuse me for intruding. I want to become an Adventurer and need to know how to start out?"

The eyes on the redhead immediately turned to annoyed slits, clearly having a distaste for some reason I could not make out since I did not know her. She sighed out loudly before she started looking for the paperwork. "Name, age and current Familia status?"

I thought about her question for some time and shrugged. "Oscar Ignatio Moebius, 17 years old and currently not in a familia"

"Then you should find one first" She shot out of her mouth like a pistol in terms of speed before showing me the official guild form for registering as an adventurer. "It is currently outlawed to set foot into the dungeon without a Falna because the casuality rates are way too high, so if you want to enter the Dungeon you have to have yourself a familia. Come back when you found one, then I can register you"

I decided to not my head slowly and let the information sink in. "Then, is it possible that the guild has a list of familias available for dungeon raiding?" I questioned in turn, which got the redhead to perk her head up slightly in thought.

"We should have a list, give me a moment" She spoke before turning away and walking to the back, likely digging up some files to find me that list. After a few minutes, miss Fannett came back with a few sheets of paper in hand. "These are copies of all current dungeon raiding familias in the city" She spoke and handed me the sheets, which I thankingly took to me before she continued. "See to it that you find yourself a familia that fits you, no two familias are ever the same and it is imperative to find the right one."

Despite the earnest choice of words, her tone of voice was utterly devoid of any earnest, it was so practiced, so monotone that I felt like I was talking to a machine rather than a person. This Rose person was quite strict and cold, either to me or in general, but it was not my station to question her so I left it at that. "Thank you most kindly, miss" I spoke with a small bow of politeness before I exited the guild, reading through the sheet of paper in my hand to go through each and every name.

This was going to take me a while to get through, because the list was massive. I'm talking over 100 different Familia names with location of residency, assuming it is known where they reside, and their general size in terms of membership. At the very top of the list were Freya and Loki familia, which given their sheer size compared to others I had to assume were the top dogs of this city. I immediately decided I did not want to join up with them because I don't like large crowds and pompous surroundings they more than likely had. I wanted something fairer, something more modest for myself, so I ran down the list quite a bit further down for the smaller familias.

One name in particular stuck out to me. Hestia. Currently only has 1 member registered and the familia itself registered only about 2 weeks ago. Which meant it was an incredibly new and down to earth familia. It sounded just like the place for me and I decided that this was going to be the one I would apply to.

So I checked the sheet again for their known residency and all it said was 'run down church' which simultaneously gave me a good hint but also left me wanting for more, because with a city this massive, how many run down churches would there be? A dozen at least. Finding out which one belonged to her was going to be a chore and a half.

However, it had to be done that way, so I sighed to myself and put the sheets away, folding them and storing them into my back pocket before I began my walk, asking people for directions regarding where I can find a run down church with vain hopes of finding my destination...