Craiku and the Astrea Familia walked through the city of Oriaro together and Craiku stubbornly carries the now cuffed man, "I can carry it, you don't have to do it" "Are you kidding me, he's so light I forgot I was even carrying him" he said grunting as they walked, "Finally there you are, we've been looking all over for you" Her azure hair was cut rough and short, and her battle clothes had a deep slit cut into the side. She was taller than most of the adventures with her height was greater than his, sharp features that paired well with her wise leadership.
This was Shakti Varma, the captain of Ganesha Familia, "Hi Ms Shakti, uh I brought you a fresh bad guy" he said offering him like he was a piece offering to her. "What was the only thing I asked you not to do?" she said, leaning towards him with an annoyed look, "Not to fight with the Evilus by myself."
"And what did you do?" she asked like an angry parent.
"Fought with the Evilus by myself" he said avoiding eye contact with her out of guilt and fear, "Craiku you seriously could have died today, I felt multiple forces of magic in the air and I saw collateral damage that I suspect that you caused, did you caused all of this" she points at the wall.
"The cracks were me but the burn marks definitely not me," he tells her, "I'm really sorry Shakti I didn't mean to cause trouble for you"
he said with genuine remorse on his face. He was on the verge of tears feeling deeply ashamed at the thought of disappointing his leader,
"Ok ok calm down I'm not angry, I just don't want you to die is all, I was the one who arranged the formation like that so I am partially responsible for you getting separated." She said, crossing her arms. "But I'm glad you're ok," she pats his head and he hugs her tightly.
"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm so sorry" "Hey hey, I'm not mad at you I mean it no need to cry" she rubbed his back. She spoke with him like an older sister would, letting out the tears he's been building up. He was finally able to let out the stress he's been trying to suppress. "Hey kid you dropped me, I would kill you, I can tell that this dumb..." Ryuu gave him a not-very-strong kick to the criminal leader as if it were kicking garbage "Can't you see they're having a moment" Ryuu said.
"Ok I'm better now" he said backing away, "My what am I gonna do with you" "Make me an executive member" she flicked his forehead, "Uh no" he pouts. "Oh Alise, I didn't see you there" "Hi ho my friend, how's my fellow captain doing" "You know dealt with a bunch of burning buildings and caught a bunch of Evilus members again today, seriously with a city like this who needs the middle floors" she commented, Ryuu hid behind Alise and looked around cautiously, "Eh why are you hiding Ms Leon," the young mage asked her. "Is that girl with you, I'm afraid she might try to hug me again"
said Ryuu, "Girl? Oh yeah Adree, no I left her in charge of assisting the people who were caught in the crossfire while I looked for our missing one here" Shakti said patting his head "Oh, I don't mean to offend you but, Adree can be a little-" she struggled finding the right words, "I know how she is, she is my sister after all, she tends to have very bad listening problems, she has a good heart but doesn't know when to quit, should have been there when Craiku joined us two weeks ago, she went on about how fun it would be to have a little brother, yet I've been dealing with two young ones in the meantime"
"Sounds rough, I like that one but I will never forget the time I was hugged like a damn plushie, the humiliation" "I seem to like her quite a bit" Kaguya said. "Ok, I will not lecture you until I hear the full story, what happened to simply evacuating"? Craiku twiddled his fingers, "It all started with a cry for help" he went on to explain the events of the last hour, "And that's what happened, the difference between level 1 and 2 is absolutely terrifying" he said, "I warned you about higher ups but I can see that you learned your lesson" he nodded his head vigorously. "If you're gonna fight a level 2, bring two level 1s because one plus one equals level 2 going down" he said with a peace sign.
She rolled her eyes, "Ugh," "Seriously you should have seen it, Kaguya and Lyra were working perfectly in sync with each other, if Adree Clover and I could fight like them," "Craiku I told you my little sister is not a fighter like you" "Tell that to the guy she bashed into a wall" he said, "She becomes, dangerous when children are involved, but although I don't approve of what you did, I can't say that you didn't do something good today, I will let it slide just this once" she said reluctantly.
"So just these three, I think we can take it from here, care to help me get them locked up" Shakti said, taking two men into each arm like a sack of potatoes and after Craiku drank an elixir that she had given him he picked up the guy we were carrying. "But since there was a child involved, maybe Adree would have been effective against them, remember what she did to that slave trader last week" "I rather not, I think I became a little afraid of her after that day, until she cried thinking that I didn't like her anymore" he said awkwardly.
"She didn't cry she sulked", "Welp time to go home now," he said,
"Aw already, can't you stay with us for the rest of the day? I feel like we have so much more to talk about, don't leave us curious. You don't want this beautiful and pure maiden to be sad right?" Ryuu stopped Alise who was making a puppy eyed look. "It's not good for us to meddle in people's business Alise." She hit her to make her stop. "I'm sorry about my friend. Craiku, she may be curious, but she assures you that she means well."
Ryuu bowed apologetically. Kaguya sighed, shaking her head in loving exasperation "That's our captain for you." "Don't be sad Alise I live in Orairo now and my goal is to wipe out every last member of Evilus and I won't stop until I defeat them all, so we'll be working together very very soon" he said eagerly. "Well okay, but I still want that hug" "No never" she giggled, "I shall give you a handshake though and one for you and you" he shook hands with all three girls. "Last but not least Lion"
"Craiku no don't touch-" he shakes her hand stunning everyone including Ryuu herself. "Don't touch what, I already put the bad guys weapons in this bag, but the sword was hard to carry so I threw it away" Ryuu looked at her own hand as if something was off. "What did something happen"
"Uh no, I just realized that despite knowing you for such a short time you've already earned my respect" "And I know nothing about you but I respect you a lot, bye bye" he said marching off with Shakti. "Woah he touched Leon's hand and didn't get attacked," Alise said.
Craiku's POV: We finally arrived at Genesha Familia home. I was a little sad about upsetting Shakti but I feel proud of myself for catching a bad guy, I had help but I beat two of them on my own at least. "I'm sorry" "You don't have to keep apologizing to me, I know I'm strict about certain things and I can be a little harsh sometimes" I gave her a look. "Ok a lot of time, but you know I don't do it out of maliciousness, I know you have had experiences with yelling given your background but I will only yell if it's for a good reason"
"Yeah, but I was upset because I don't want to let you down, you mean a lot to me and I wanna make you proud" I told her. "You made sure a child and his mother were reunited, I say despite my grievances you didn't act too irrationally" she said with a smile as we walked up stairs. Our home looks just like a giant statue of our god Lord Genesha. "So that's the Astrea Familia I've been hearing so much about" "Yup that's them, so what do you think, because those are our partners in crime, well crime fighting actually." She looked at me with anticipation, "They're…really something else, especially their captain, she's a lot to handle, but I like them so far." "Me too, I say that those girls have as much potential as you have, and now they have another one" she said, "What do you mean as much potential as me" "Well you have a lot in common with them, for example you both know how to cause people headaches"
"I said I was sorry"! Yelled stomping my left foot. "Just kidding, I can't describe it but I get a different vibe from you and those girls then I do with most people in Orairo. Well if you ever meet someone who has great potential later down the road you'll know what I mean" I don't understand what she said at all but I'll roll with it we go down to the basement and throw them in a cell, "Jail before you pay your debt to society"! I yelled.
"Really?" said my annoyed captain, "What I read that line in a crime novel so I thought I'd try it out" we went upstairs after locking the cage door. "Adree are you home yet, we're both home now" we heard increasing footsteps upstairs and they grew louder and louder as I saw a familiar face on the staircase, "Ah ha there you are, I was so worried about you" Adi had short slate blue hair and cerulean eyes. She wore a pure blue top over a kind of short dress that was black in the center and dark gray on the sides of it, as well as a pair of black gloves that reached above the elbow. She wore two light blue straps around her waist and a smaller one with which she held a pure blue piece of cloth that she carried on her side.
She also wore a pair of metal and leather shoes, with the right one reaching higher than the other, and a pair of black stockings that reached above the knee. Her face cute, "Hi Adree sorry I vanished like tha-" she pulled me in for a hug, "Oh I forgive you, I'm sorry it was my fault you got lost, you poor poor thing I'm sure you were frightened all alone in this scary place but I will make your fears go away with my welcome home hug" my face was pressing against her ample chest. 'Boobies' I said in my mind. I'm a horrible horrible person, I blame grandpa "Adree let him go, he needs to breathe you know" she put me down and she started analyzing me and had a grim look on her face.
"Tokun, why are you covered in blood even though you were on evacuation" she asked suspiciously, I whistled suspiciously looking away from her and she gave me a mad face, but it was too cute to be scary but I confessed anyway. "Ok but please try to understand that I would never ever do anything to intentionally scare either of you" she nodded.
"I may or may not have gotten involved with the Evilus today and I might've almost gotten killed by a level 2 kidnapper today, but we've all been there at least once right," she had a grim expression. "Tokun-"
"I already lectured him Adree"
"I have no patience for you putting your life in danger, so you know you must be punished harshly" I began trembling with anxiety and fear as she raised both of her hands. "No please not that anything but that I'll do the dishes for a week no a month no two months, I'll feed the monsters every morning and night I'll swear to the Bible"
"Nope the only way to teach naughty boys who don't listen" she snuck up behind me, "Is by being eaten by a monster more dangerous than the Black Dragon itself, the tickle monster" she tickled me and I fell on the ground laughing.
Her fingers are torturing me in such a humiliating yet amusing way. "I'm sorry Hahahaha I'm sorry please hahahaha please no more no more you know I'm highly ticklish Adree this isn't fair hahahahaha"
"Coochie coochie coo, I'm not going to let you go until you admit that you learned your lesson" "Yes yes I learn I learned please no more no more"
Finally, she released me from my tickle torture. "Adree wasn't that a little overkill" Shakti asked, "Yes but I was never mad, I just wanted an excuse to tickle him" I puff my cheeks at her and I was assisted to my feet,
"Leave him alone Adi, he had a rough day, the last thing he needs is you tickling him"
"Clover I told you not to call me that, it's Adree"
He is a human adolescent of fair complexion and short brown hair. He wears a brown hat with a scarf on his neck. He joined the Genesha Familia around the same time as me, "Aww your so cute when you're mad" "Stop making fun of me it's mean" she pouts. "Sorry but you don't just tickle my good buddy and walk away" he winks at me. "He's my friend too you know" Clover, I met him on the way here, I was passed out and unconscious. But his friend restored me to full strength. She was a healer that ended up joining Dian Client Familia but Clover followed me and we ended up here, he ended up getting rejected by every Familia because he was all about justice. "And for the record I'm still mad at you for that stunt you pulled" I looked at him baffled,
"Yes I am very upset with your actions as well Clover" I shutter nervously,
"Ms Shakti and Ardee, let's be reasonable, we have to make risky decisions sometimes and I'm sure whatever he did couldn't have been that bad right"? Clover whistles suspicious tilting back and forth. "Right"? "Clover mind telling him what you did" he laughs awkwardly, "Funny story Craiku, but I did do something boneheaded today but it was for a good cause and that's the only part that matters" he goes on to explain how he ran into a burning building by himself when he only had one arrow left to save three hostages.
"And did you pull it off"
"Of course I did, I had one arrow left and I shot that cursed weapon out of the captors hand and kicked him out of the window, and in the end three people were saved by my awesomeness" "That is so amazing-"
"That was unbelievably stupid. You are a rookie adventurer Clover, you can't run around acting like you're a level 2, you could have died in that building" Shakti yelled, cutting me off.
"But I didn't, how many people could have pulled that off, it ain't always about status, sometimes all you need is a cross bow, an arrow and the determination to seek justice for the world." He said as he stood in a pose, "Uh such a thick headed boy, I don't have the energy to deal with you right now, I'll leave Lord Genesha to tackle you" I looked around, "And where is Lord Genesha" "I am here, for I am Genesha"!! I heard his voice from the ceiling and saw him hanging on to the lantern,
"Lord Genesha, have you been up there this entire time" "But of course my younglings, I have to make an entrance at least once a week to show you how exceptional I am for I am Genesha"! He said, yup, that clown is actually a divine being, and unfortunately he's my divine being, the one and only Lord Genesha. Ganesha is a muscular man that wears a red and yellow elephant mask over his face. He wears an orange sash that goes over his right shoulder and wraps around his waist. A gold rimmed leather plate sits on his stomach, holding the garb together.
He also sports white pants with dark brown under the knee boots - also with gold accents. Ganesha has Gold jewelry to further cement the image of "show boat". His jewelry can be seen as a thick gold necklace and arm bands. He also wears gold rimmed gauntlets. The God of the Masses has long, shaggy, ash-brown hair.
"Hi Lord Ganesha" "My children returning from protecting the city another day, I was worried that some of you didn't come back safely when you didn't come back all at once" he said, "When I was evacuating the civilians and taking them to the guild hall, a boy was about to be kidnapped, so I pursued the people who were trying to take them, but their leader was a level 2 and I was only able to put up a fight because of my magic, I would have been creamed otherwise."
I explained to him, "I admire your sense of justice and dedication to protecting the people of Orairo, but you won't be able to protect anyone if you're dead," he lectured, "I understand Lord Genesha, I have no interest in dying anytime soon. I'm just getting started on my journey" I told him, despite being a total goofball Lord Genesha can be serious when he needs to be.
We all gathered in the dinning hall and everyone talked about their day and they were either tired or depressed. In this city I can't entirely blame them, Shakti aside everyone in our Familia is level 1 aside from Shakti's level 2 status so we need all the help we can get. "Hey guys sorry about my whole flaming building stunt, didn't mean to stress you out" Clover said casually, "Clover, it wasn't about you stressing us out it's about you learning how to work with others and coming back to us safe and sound. This Familia isn't exactly the strongest one around and with the Evilus running around we'll need all the set of hands we can get. Besides, none of us wanna see you die". Adree explained,
"Ah I see, I'll remember that" he said with a nonchalant tone, both of us are new to this job but I've been a falna user much longer than Clover had been. Despite that he kicks way more butt than me. "Say why is Shakti the only level 2 in our Familia, not saying everyone here is weak or anything, in fact I'm not one to talk since I'm technically the weakest of all, even Craiku himself is stronger than me" he claimed, but he only thinks that because I beat him in a fight once, but he wasn't exactly easy to beat. "Clover the reason why is because the Familia doesn't normally have time to go to the dungeon, Orairo allows its adventurers to get stronger by exploring the Dungeon, like Craiku's father for example."
She pointed out, and it's as she said, the Genesha Familia isn't a Familia that normally works in the dungeon like most Familias are. Those are exploration Familia's like the one my father is currently in, "Speaking of which how come your dad is in a completely different Familia then Craiku, shouldn't he be with him or he with Craiku,"
"That's what he was hoping for, but when Craiku tried to join the Loki Familia they rejected him due to already having a kid with falna to deal with and she's a much bigger trouble maker" Adree said. "Oh yeah that Aiz Wallenstein girl, I saw her once"
Clover commented, "Speaking of girls I met a couple of amazing adventurers today, I was totally cornered by that one thug on main Street today and thought I was toast, but a Far East woman named Kaguya and a prum girl named Lyra saved me from that guy. They are level 1 just like me but they were able to work together to take him down, I of course helped by making him drop his sword, but they deserve most of the credit for beating him, although Kaguya sorta scared me a little" I said, "Oh you must be talking about the Astrea Familia, so you finally met them," Adree said enthusiastically,
"Uh huh I sure did, their captain is…really something else, I'm surprised that she's not in our clan with how similar she is to Lord Genesha"
"That's what I'm saying," another woman said. "Eh I think it's best she was with Lady Astrea, she seems better at giving orders than following them so I wouldn't be able to handle having her around all day long, besides one noisy one is more than enough for me," Shakti said, "I wanna be strong like them one day, they're nowhere near you or dad but they were so cool, not to mention pretty" I said all giddy.
"I know right, their newest member is adorable, especially her pointy ears, and just wanna hug her and hug her, but I don't think she likes me much" Adree said, "Adree I think she's just feeling shy, remember how shy I was two weeks ago," "But she's been in Orairo as long as you have" she pointed out.
"Still, you can't go around hugging random people like that Adree, and you know that you shouldn't touch an elf randomly like that. They only touch people they truly respect" she said, but that line doesn't make sense to me. I touched Leon's hand just fine and Auntie is an elf and I saw her shake hands with a dwarf.
"Ok I'll apologize next time I see her, I just want to be friends with her, she is new here and the city is in a very bad place after the two titans fell. She might be scared with how much chaos and destruction is going on. Knowing you're not alone in this crazy place is comforting, at least it is to me" Adree said with an anxious look. "Adree are you okay, did something happen to you today," I asked her, but she immediately perked up with a huge smile on her face. "Oh yeah I'm sorry for worrying about you, Tokun. I'm just a little tired after all the running around I did today. We used to guard the city walls and patrol the city regularly, but so much happens day after day that we can hardly sit still" she told me. "I know what you mean, it's been hard since…" she paused,
"Let's not be sad sis I'm sure they wouldn't want us to be sad all day long. Although I don't approve of it Tokun caught a bad guy today and we saved a bunch of people who would have lost their lives, so we are making a difference even if it's just a little bit" she said optimistically, she's not like Alise but her cheerful and bright personality always brightens up my heart.
"Then what do you say about updating everyone's status after dinner for the future"!
Our god asked us, "Sounds good to me," after dinner I volunteered to wash the dishes, and Clover had to since he had gotten himself into trouble today.
"Craiku, Evil's forces are crazy strong aren't they," he asked as he washed a plate,
"Yeah they are pretty strong, the city has people who are level 5, but even a level 2 seems monstrous compared to us" I said as he handed me a plate to dry. I am very small so I'm dish drying and he's mainly washing because he's taller than me.
"My main mission is to wipe out the Evil's until there's not a member left in the organization. Of course I'm not the only one who wants to get rid of them. Everyone is doing their best to keep, reminds me of my village before it was burned down" I said remembering the flames engulfing everything, "I'm sorry your home is gone.
""It's ok, I would have left either way" I commented.
"I just hope my grandpa and cousin got to another village safely, he said he was getting an escort in the letter he sent me but the paper was partially burnt so I'm a bit anxious about him" "I'm sure he's fine, but you can't give in to despair, and you should realize that you're already on your way to growing stronger, think about it" he said as he turned off the sink. "That guy was level 2 and logically he should have killed you instantly, Shakti said each of us has our limits but I think your potential is limitless. Just keep working hard, don't give up and soon they'll be the ones who are running."
He held his fist out and I gave him a fist bump. "Thanks Clover, I'm not gonna give up, I will become a hero that saves everyone even if it takes years to get there" he nods. Everyone else had finished updating their status and after our leaders were done it was Clover's turn, "Ok Lord Genesha let's show you how much stronger I've become" he removed his shirt revealing his petite yet muscular figure. It's safe to say that I'm a little jealous of Clover's muscles, "Don't worry, once you're a little older you'll have muscles like mine" he said with a grin, "Get out of my head" I yelled as Lord Genesha poked his finger and drop some blood on his back revealing his status, our Familia emblem along with some hieroglyphics. "Don't be disappointed if you don't get a huge increase," Lord Genesha warned,
"Don't worry I'm not in a rush" he placed his hands on his back and I saw the hieroglyphics turning on his back and it was absolutely cool. "It's always cool seeing how you update our status". Grandpa said it's called "Falna," and it's the mark of a blessing from a god or goddess. Lord Genesha finished and placed a piece of paper on his back and copied the hieroglyphics onto a piece of paper. This was Clover's status Clover:(LV1:•Strength:H106H123
•Endurance:H189G213
•Dexterity:H198G224
•Agility:168HH189
•Magic:I0) "You've grown quite a bit for someone who's barely been in the dungeon and just starting out, but for an archer your durability is pretty high" our god comments. "Yeah, I only got this far because Craiku had been helping me train to catch up with everyone else. And I probably got messed up a lot more than I care to admit." I finally took my shirt off and got in a chair and he began to update my status. This is the Falna on my back, my status.
There are five basic abilities: strength, defense, utility, agility, and magic. Each ability has one of ten ranks—S, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, and I—within each level. S is the strongest. And I am the weakest… The number next to the rank shows our exact ability level: 0 to 99 is the I range, 100 to 199 is H, and so on. 999 is the absolute maximum. It gets harder to get points as we get stronger, or so I am told. Level is the most important statistic in a status. Every one of the basic
abilities gets a major boost when the level goes up. It wouldn't be that much of a stretch to say a person evolves when they level up. There is a huge difference
between Level One and Level Two. Level Two is much, much stronger. The goddess calls it ranking up. "Craiku this is quite a bit to take in" he said, "What's quite a bit" "I mean I know you said you were dealing with a level 2 today but-" "Did I level up" I asked enthusiastically, "Uh no" I pout, "But I'm amazed, this is quite a leap Craiku:(LV1: •Strength:F321F356
•Endurance:E423D501
•Dexterity:F323F357
•Agility:E416E489
•Magic:E489D517), seems like my magic is in the D rank which is not totally strange since I use my magic a lot, and I got the crap beaten out of me so it's no wonder my endurance went up so much, my agility also got a huge jump, but my strength is really low which makes sense since I was mainly relying on my magic to stay alive. "Ever since I came here my status has been growing a ridiculous amount each time I update it, I haven't been to the dungeon in a while, guess fighting that level 2 even though I lost was enough to push my limits" he nodded slowly. "With a status like this you can head even deeper into the dungeon now, but don't get any ideas"
"I got an idea," I said as I stared at my status sheet. "I got this strong because I was fighting with a level 2, and Shakti's level 2" Genesha shook his head,
"Come on please pretty pretty please, at least let me ask her if she wants to train me"
"Craiku I know you're eager to get stronger faster but you're only two weeks in and your status is out of sync with your experience level and I think you should cool down on progressing" he said, "Lord Genesha I almost died today, I thought you wanted me to stay alive and wouldn't being stronger ensure my survival"
I asked him. He strokes his chin, "I suppose it would, but-" "Lighten up Lord Genesha, he'll be fine, as long as he stays out of trouble and keeps going it might turn out better for all of us, but how about you get washed up and head to our room, so you can look nice when I whoop you at go fish" he said with a cocky smile.
"You big fat jerk, you are poking a bug bear, once I'm squeaky clean you'll eat those words" "Thanks but I already had dinner" if we weren't inside I'd throw a stone cannon ball at him. But I'm already hitting the D rank which is a good thing, but my strength is still in the F, I should really hit the dungeon more often. Raising a specific attribute takes repetitive experience.
For example my magic is my highest attribute because I always depended on it and because I don't need Incantations I can use it pretty often in a single moment. And I got the crap beaten out of me today and back home my bully who is a falna user always beat me up so I got a higher defense than most mages would. My agility is also very high because since I got here I started learning how to dodge my opponents attacks and I'm always running around and running away from certain people. My dexterity used to be my second highest attribute but recently I had to do whatever I could to survive so I haven't had time to work on it as much as I used to. And I don't use my physical abilities in battle against the Evilus compared to the dungeon.
If I stayed too close I'd be turned into sliced butter. So if you want better endurance you'd have to get hit a lot which is usually not worth it. If you train with someone stronger than you, then you can raise your durability in a safe setting. But when dealing with Evilus, it's best not to get hurt while on the job. And you need to hit someone to raise your strength, and I consider myself a pretty brutal guy. But my karate oath has me showing restraint constantly and trying to avoid killing anyone.
But in the dungeon I can go all out in terms of hitting people. But I really wanna become a hero like those girls, so I might have to go to the dungeon more often and skip a few patrols, besides every time something happens to me involving the Evilus my dad restricts me to dungeon diving. Ahhh hot hot so hot I whack my back, "You okay kid," Clover asked, "Yeah my back is just a little hot right now, I think I'm a little more sore than I realized, can a nine year old get muscle soreness"
"Muscle soreness is a burden for people of all ages" my god said enthusiastically as he posed. 'Great, I get to feel like a grandpa, wait my grandpa is an exception to the rules'. He thought Leaving the room with the image of those four girls in my head, I only saw two of them in action but they were incredibly strong. A level 1 can actually physically keep up with a level 2, at least with a little help. So perhaps I can become as strong as her and maybe even greater than that. That'll be my goal, aim to be a hero that can be stronger than a level 2!
Neutral Narrator Genesha sat down in his room with Clover, "Ok what's really going on here, you never discouraged any of us, I haven't known you for long but I think two weeks with you is enough for me to understand that telling one of us to slow down on progressing is a little strange especially since we could use all the strength we can get" he looked at his follower and he tilted his hat up to show his serious expression. "Clover, I have my reasons for being concerned, but I understand that despite my actions, discouraging any of my children is the last thing I'd ever want to do" he said in a serious way. "Ok then, so could I possibly take Craiku to the dungeon tomorrow morning, best to keep a low profile after potentially pissing off our enemies" "I'll check with Shakti, but if she approves just stay together" he nods.
And as soon as Clover leaves the room Genesha ponders with a serious expression. Ging, I am Genesha, but I'm not the guy who's right for this kind of child. Genesha didn't want to admit it, but Craiku had two skills this whole time. It was only pure luck that he never asked about having a skill, he was contemptuous with his strange magic and he assumed he was like everybody else otherwise but that's far from the case.
"Guess in hindsight I shouldn't be surprised, but he wasn't even around during his reign and he would fit right in" he moved his hand and an extra encryption appears at the bottom of his status sheet. Craiku:(LV1: •Strength:F321F356
•Endurance:E423D501
•Dexterity:F323F357
•Agility:E416E489
•Magic:E489D517, Skill: Heroic Desire: Increased growth as long as desire to become a hero remains strong), "A blessing but a curse all at once." he said.
Since Fuji Omori gives his thoughts on his creative process at the end of every novel I think I'll do the same at least every once in awhile.
Ok so I know what you're probably thinking right now, "But Mystic Otaku, didn't you just say in your post you didn't want to make your character ridiculously overpowered, why give him a skill that's just like Bell's"?
Yes, I'm aware of what I said and I stand by that, however, the skill Heroic Desire, at least in this story isn't as powerful as Bell's Skill rapid growth skill, he'll still grow faster than most adventurers, but although I don't want things to be too easy for Craiku, he's still a nine year old boy who is in a city full of terrorists. And at a certain point in the story the skill Heroic Desire will not work as effectively as before for reasons you'll find out in future chapters.
But I bet you wonder why give him Heroic Desire and not just make him a high level 1 at the start?
To that I say…I'm just a sucker for characters who start from square one and work their way up.
But this is the dark age, so if you think Heroic Desire, will prevent him from experiencing hardship, don't hold your breath.