A Town, Three Gates, Three Snakes and a Tower

I was not fully sure what it was I was expecting to awaken to, but… This was not really it. With no memory of how exactly I had ended up here, or where here was exactly, I was… In a building of some sort, the lack of a proper door further making me pretty sure it was fine.

My surroundings were worn down, very gray, barely illuminated in this night and very, very sandy. But there were no enemies to be heard or seen, which brought some comfort, even as I reminded myself of the supposed brothel. There did not seem to be any life in general either and for the first few moments, I just tried to focus on something, anything, to see if there would be some shift to imply this being an illusion, yet none came.

It was just Melusine, from who I could still feel some sort of excitement, and myself… At least until something appeared, its presence more or less only announced by the pushing of the air out of the spot he now occupied. I reacted as fast as I could, getting ready to fight if need be, yet no attack came.

It was a shadowy figure that seemed to be covered in ink so deeply it was part of his body, yet nearly countless yellow gems, amber perhaps, glowed across his body wherever his equally inky clothes did not cover. There was a dagger at his side, but I doubted he would use it as I further calmed down. Almost comically, due to the general silhouette-like appearance, he seemed to be bald, but that was likely due to the simple lack of boundary between hair and forehead.

"So, you really are here." Well, at least the inky man knew where I was if I did not… "…Given your look, I assume you do not know who I am. My name is Orkos, and I want to help you… But I fear that my Mothers are close, so there is no time for a proper conversation right now. I will draw them away and you… Need to seek the Oracle of Delphi. Perhaps then things will become more clear." He vanished with that and I was left a bit confused.

Maybe he wasn't actually even there and just sent some super advanced hologram slash prerecorded message… I would not be surprised if the situation was something like that, come to think of it… Either way, after processing his words and coming to terms that this was probably not another illusion, I started shaking a little in post-battle excitement. You know that feeling of wanting to suddenly break out into a victory dance and scream in joy and all that? Somehow I ended up feeling like that after defeating the Fury, an intense emotion I could not truly recall how long it had been since the last time I felt anything remotely like this. Victory felt good. Very good.

It was only after that that I continued thinking on my present instead of past situation. I had no idea where Delphi was, but if I follow the probably linear path set out for me, I was more or less bound to reach the goal, wasn't I? Doing my best to recall the situation beyond that… I was in the past, wasn't I? I couldn't have just escaped like that and appeared here… So then my success in finding the Oracle was certain? And so was my capture?

Can I change the future? Maybe. Just maybe, I can change the path ahead, but to do that, I would either need to actually find the Sisters of Fate already and slay them, or I need more skill and strength and the best place to start with that is… "Melusine… Can you teach me how to fly?"

o.O.o.O.o

We started with simply hovering, which itself took some time. Orkos must have been quite efficient in drawing the Furies away if I was able to waste time like this…

I felt ridiculous, but it worked. Visualization was still an important part of it all and the position I ended up with was one that would have normally been better for floating upright in water, including having my arms wide. It looked like I was doing some poor imitation of a martial arts pose, one leg lower than the other and my arms wide… But I was floating a centimeter or two off the ground.

Carefully, yet again, I tried to move forward and felt myself tilting too much and my focus slipping, leaning back as a result and staying still like that. I fell on my face as well as my ass more than a few times already while doing such things and I had no intention of doing it even more times if I could avoid it.

I probably could have bought a skill for this… But it was better to save LP where I could and have an actual sense of achievement when it's not that dangerous a situation.

{Lower your other leg.}

It was a mix of feelings, all things considered. While floating itself sparked images of floating on the surface of water, trying to move forward or back felt like standing on the perfect balance point of a loose plank, the ground as a result moving away and leaning me too far to either side. Having my other leg down as well on the other hand felt like standing on a ball or sphere in general, one that was very slippery. The images were formed due to the feelings, not due to me visualizing them before even moving to begin with. Not even [Furthest Earth] helped…

I focused on staying as balanced as I could none the less as I followed Melusine's words. She was the expert on this topic after all, so it would be foolish not to. {Hm… You could try fire. It won't actually keep you up, but it will be a start in the right direction.}

The floor under me quickly ignited as I continued my attempts to learn how to hover properly.

o.O.o.O.o

"…Okay, moving on." The house was on fire. There wasn't really anything in the house itself that should have been flammable, but the house was on fire, so I decided to stop for the time being and escape the unintentional arson, going further into the village beyond the dead end I set ablaze, hoping that someone manages to put the fires out.

There were a few more houses up ahead, three of them having a Red Chest each but lacking any further loot than that to steal for myself, no one else really being around to complain or try to stop me. Reaching the end of the street however did have two chests, glowing with a white light. They were not the type to be opened, but rather with crystals on top of them to destroy, which I did with just a little caution.

[Gorgon's Eye Acquired

Collect five to increase Max HP]

[Phoenix Feather Acquired

Collect five to increase Max MP]

Rather than a physical eye and feather, I had just gotten notifications. This was… Promising. If I manage to find all of the eyes and feathers like this, I could definitely only improve further. They would likely be out of the way going forward though… Ah, no matter, I would manage, somehow.

I ignored the continued lights and smoke from the house on fire, even if I was pretty sure stone was not supposed to burn like this and met the next living thing! …It wasn't a person however, but a massive bipedal elephant that strangely did fit with the surrounding area. It was not quite a cross between an elephant and a man, yet with human-like hands and the fact it stood on two legs, it was human-like in certain definitions, I supposed. There were also the facts that it had some bits and pieces of armor on its lower body along with the spiked ball of a Morningstar on its tusk which probably could have been considerably deadly.

Just looking at it in confusion gave it enough time to try and run me down with animalistic fury, though I managed to jump out of the way soon enough and prepared the Blades to try and face it legitimately first. The first few swings only further confirmed that it had considerably tough skin, barely taking any damage as far as I could tell, feeling as if the Blades were uselessly 'sliding' along thick hide.

It charged again and I noted that we were no longer alone, some pack of dogs with glowing red eyes appearing as well, forcing me to get more serious, arming myself with Slicer once more to properly take on the challenge with everything I had. Maybe the Blades will reach the same level eventually, or even surpass it, but right now, Slicer was still my absolute best weapon. Yet even with it, I was only whittling away at the massive enemy, barely shifting my attention between it and the dogs around us.

Another appeared, the ground shaking under its weight as it had apparently jumped down to fight. The momentary distraction caused me to be unable to react as a dog jumped on my back, stunning me for long enough for the elephant in front of me to smack me back with the back of its hand, lifting me off of the ground and launching me to the nearby building, the dog softening the impact to my back somewhat, but not enough.

[-350 HP

+53 HP]

I was not fully sure what was the worst part. The impact itself, feeling the dog more or less turn to mush behind me and against my back, or the fact that my skills meant that I actually kind of liked the way it ended up hurting.

I was given a moment to catch my breath, the elephants not actually dumb enough to charge straight into a building, though there were still half a dozen dogs that could have easily had a different opinion. I held a hand forward, having been disarmed by the flight, if it could even be called that.

[Dimension Slicer (NEXT) new Power Discovered!

[Loyalty] – Through some strange means, the weapon itself knows to come to you when called]

Slicer returned to me, handle first, landing neatly in my grasp, my other hand coming to hold the handle in challenge and preparation, [Calamity of Flame] further called on as I breathed in and reengaged the sadism boost. It was more of a jerking motion or a spasm than anything else, the blade itself moving just barely a few inches, yet a burst of flames further left the blade to try and consume the enemies in front of me. The elephants simply raised their arms to protect their eyes, taking the flames head on without obvious fear while the dogs recoiled in self-preservation.

I was not entirely sure if I should have the sadism active all of the time around here. Some of the fights would probably require more than just heading straight into the problem with murderous fury after all, but feeling the strange… Edge that further formed in the corner of my awareness, the bite and call for battle, I was not quite as uncertain in using it for this. Even if the burst was mostly ineffective, it was enough to get me a few 'stacks', increasing the damage but also making taking further hits even more dangerous, unwilling as I already was to get hit for free anyway.

For a moment, I floated before I launched myself off of the floor, somehow the lack of ground only further intensifying my increase in velocity instead of making it harder due to a lack of solid ground. The first dog did not seem to be aware of what even pierced through it as it was skewered.

With the corpse, I struck at the next closest dog, the blunt impact further letting the edge of Slicer to move through the corpse, severing both it and the still living one, further increasing my damage even if it was only by a small amount.

[Skill Level Up!

Sadistic Constitution: 2 -> 3]

At this point, it was a zero point six percent increase to damage for every attack made, barely really noticeable but it could build up pretty quickly with no real upper limit being obvious beyond the amount of attacks I could actually make to kill the enemies in front of me, or how much I could stack it up before being oneshot by the other side of the skill. Besides, it was almost hilariously effective with many enemies to hit against as it applied individually for every enemy rather than simply every attack. Well, in the first place the personality adjustment was greater than the damage increase.

With some effectively free hits obtained from the dogs, I focused back on the elephants once more… When an idea struck me almost out of nowhere, even in my current mental state and as one prepared to charge for me.

[Skill Purchased!

[Nine Lives – Increasing Blades Lv.1/?] – A technique based on the combat technique devised by Alcides himself. A nearly all purpose Skill capable of adapting and changing depending on the weapon being used as well as the type of intended attack, possessing and aiming toward exterminating an enemy no matter how many times they resurrect or heal. While increasing levels of mastery allow for the ultimate performance to be drawn out of any weapon, at the starting levels it lacks this trait, or the extreme speed of attack which makes dozens of them appear as if overlapping. At the current level, two attacks are made faster than they normally would be and no additional effects are applied

2.400 LP Spent]

[Skill Generated

[First Form: Shooting Calamitous Breath] – An automatic composite skill that simultaneously applies [Nine Lives – Increasing Blades], [Draconic Total Concentration Breath] and [Mana Burst – Calamity of Flame]]

It was an expensive thing that dropped me all the way down to fifteen LP, only really able to be purchased due to the recent rewards from fighting, but it had immense potential. With the new Form, I stood my ground and with a short grunt of effort raised Slicer to the skies and cut, the blade coated in fire without worry about cauterizing the wounds as it cut into the charging enemy and, faster than my body should have been capable of moving, went from the vertical slash to a diagonal one at a sharp angle, coming out from the hip and making a small further cut in the ground.

A wave of wind passed by, the sound barrier temporarily broken or it being simple pressure born from the fact that the attack had come with enough force to counter and entirely stop the charge, the massive form of my enemy stopped in its tracks, momentum negated. A few moments later, blood burst at quite a pressure, at least temporarily covering me in blood before the foe simply collapsed, dead.

[+200 LP

+60 LP]

I could not deny having a grin on my face at seeing such a physically impressive enemy fall at my hands. The other one either did not have the survival instinct not to charge in as well, or it was enraged at losing a comrade. Either way, I breathed in once more in preparation. "First Form…" Simply saying that much somehow felt more natural, as if the attack would become even more powerful by being called out. "Shooting Calamitous Breath." Thus, I finished.

This time, the attack went vertical, but my left hand let go of the sword before I realized it, the second one slash coming at a different angle, not coming out of the hip and down, but near the ribs, severing the arm with surprising ease, especially considering the blade had to somehow rotate inside the enemy for the attack to work properly

[+100 LP

+30 LP]

For how little effort it took over all, it was still a pretty good gain. With the enemies dead however, I was coming down from the battle high, as it might as well be called, gently reminding me to keep going instead of being focused on these sorts of things.

I would need to use Nine Lives a lot. In theory, I could have probably found a way to buy the whole Noble Phantasm with enough LP, but a version that scales with time and whatnot was considerably cheaper. It would probably end up being the same anyway, eventually, and this way I would get some immediate use out of it, even if it was just two quick attacks at speeds even I found to be supernatural in spite of having already been using Bursts to change directions and speed up attacks…

While thinking about these sorts of things, another chest was found, containing a second Phoenix Feather and close to it was… A vial?

[Circe's Vial

Type: Vial

Quality: C

A vial of deadly poison used to threaten the town of Kirra's water supply. While small and seemingly unassuming, it is said to be capable of holding death itself. Any form of harmful liquid placed inside will persevere until poured out and all harmful liquids, be they true poisons, venom, acid or even alcohol will mix together perfectly to create an even greater concoction]

That is… Actually a pretty nice bonus. Not something I had planned on actually obtaining or something that I can use right now, but eventually I would probably find a use for it. Poison was useful for many things, after all, no matter the setting as long as there is at least some fighting required to be done.

Putting thoughts of what poisons were ahead of me, aside for the Random Boxes possibly assisting the goal, I continued on the proper path, storing another health chest and found the second Gorgon Eye. Not long after that however, I had further confirmation that I was in the past, scarabs showing up again to try and fight me, yet still failing to do so properly, probably because they were trying to slam me from the front while the infected had them on the back of their heads…

"For those who seek the truth—" I jumped a little when a sudden voice showed up in my head, very distinctly different than Tamamo, Melusine or Osakabehime, yet too short to actually manage to make proper observations about, or assume who it could actually be. It was female too, so it certainly wasn't Orkos. "—the heat of Ares' Fire has no burn." The voice concluded while I was thinking such things.

Turning a corner, I found… A massive and strange door with a burning pot in front of it. The door itself had the visage of Ares, alight with fire that did not seem to actually further heat up the area around us, lacking any actual burn marks in spite of having what was rather obviously a very active flame, maybe even some sort of two dimensional lava? Giving the door, the gate, a rather nice appearance. What was it doing in this… Town? The Vial's description, if it referred to this place, meant that this was a town rather than a village…

Game logic, probably… Well, either way, I took up the Blades again just in case and… Stuck them into the flames, unsure what else to do in this situation. I was more or less certain that fire would not burn us either way, finding that the flames did not really seem to have an effect on me in spite of not actually being my own… And then the pot exploded, somehow still not actually damaging me.

[Skill Acquired!

[Fire of Ares Lv.1/10] – Unleash your fury and stun surrounding enemies with Ares' Fire]

I expected that it would upgrade the flames I already had, but that did not seem to be the case. Weird…

Either way, the blades were now on fire passively and goat people showed up. They were mostly humanlike, wearing armor and wielding a sword, a dozen or so of them showing up out of nowhere and each one having the head of a goat. With a further bit of will, sadism activating, the [Calamitous of Flame] sparked up, adding a slightly different shade of flame to the blades which also seemed to be burning at a different… Rate, I suppose the word was. Momentum? Pace?

In spite of the Blades still simply being on fire, they were two distinctly different flames, set ablaze twice. Maybe that was not why it hadn't upgraded the skill… Either way, the enemies did not wait for me to finish musing, coming straight for me as I stepped back, moving one blade to block the swing while stepping forward and doing my damn best to stab the attacker. The battle logic was still applied though and instead of being stabbed through properly, he simply took damage.

The Slicer had a greater chance to finish things in one strike, mostly because of the fact that my Magic stat was much higher than my Strength stat, plus the additional speed of use, but the Blades doubtlessly had the advantage when it came to rage combat, which itself was fitting; though it was mostly because they simply did not have the same level of damage, meaning more attacks were needed, which itself meant that the sadism reached a deeper level.

Somehow, exploding did not actually seem to kill the goat men. The stun mentioned in the skill was apparently a gradual building made by attacking an enemy repeatedly which causes a fiery explosion that further stuns them after enough hits. They did not last long after that either way and the fight ended sooner rather than later, the gate's flames vanishing, leading it to opening itself and letting me continue on the journey.

The flames on the Blades also vanished as I was no longer in combat. I could call on them though, but it seemed to be situational and I couldn't keep myself in the mindset to keep them on for long. I was, however, able to confirm some further things. Such as the fact that the Blades were not the only ones that benefited from the skill. I could ignite my hands if I was not holding anything, or Slicer if I was wielding it. The Arondight could also be ignited.

Yet another Health chest was not long after that and I started wondering if I would need to open it myself, or if I could somehow break it, or have an enemy break it… But if they open it, one way or another, would they be the one to get healed? Better not risk it as long as possible…

More enemies showed up, but testing the theory, fresh as it was, was not exactly on my mind. There was another goat individual, this one considerably larger, being taller and wider than myself, a different sort of powerhouse than the elephants, wielding a sort of wavy sword I almost thought to be serrated. As if that was not enough, there was also a pair of ranged attackers to be concerned about.

As soon as I tried to focus on taking those two down first however, a dozen of the normal sized goat men jumped out of the ground in that same shadowy way as before, further increasing the challenge… Though I was pretty sure they would prove to be quite the useful practice dummies to hit with the First Form… As such, I swapped back to Slicer to see how it would further be affected by the new Flames.

There was a certain lack of thought required in actually using it. The first attack did not have to be a downwards slash, but the additional momentum gained from bringing the blade down was superior to moving it from some other angle, while the second attack happened automatically and without my direct input. As such, breathing in, willing the skill to activate rather than my body to move, resulted in my arms going up and two powerful attacks being made without having to actually think about the attacks themselves.

There wasn't an actual cooldown to the skill, just a physical limit, such as how fast and often could I pretty much breathe in fully without overstraining myself. As my breath grew too short to apply the skill again, I found out that the answer was not often enough, still being faced with the largest of the enemies. Ah, and the [Fire of Ares] did not really make much of a difference in the greater scale of fighting like this.

The wavy sword was raised up I changed my stance, putting one leg as far as I could behind myself, raising Slicer to the air, holding it sideways, edge up to the air and bracing myself as the weapon came down with considerable force, slamming against Slicer and being blocked, though I was forced to my knees by the remaining impact, as expected and planned for. Instead of further pressing down, the opposing sword was lifted up and I rotated my whole body, enhancing Slicer further as much as I could, a trail of flames following it as I swung it through the enemy.

It was enough to end the life, one half sliding off of the other, leaving me in the position of the finished swing to actually catch my breath properly. Having fought the Fury and the Chonker, I was more or less certain that normal enemies would not pose as much of a challenge or threat. I was wrong. Maybe it was simply the way this world functioned, but simply throwing bodies, so to say, at me was also an effective method to bring me close to defeat.

With no one else showing up however, once my breath was caught, I turned to the chests that were within range, three with Red Orbs and the other with a third Gorgon Eye. With a bit of focus, to delay going into further battles, I even managed to flow the Red Orbs into the Fire of Ares, curious to see if the skill itself would upgrade or not.

[Skill Upgraded!

[Fires of Ares] -> [Fires of Ares (II)]]

Oh is that how it's going to be? They certainly felt different in some way I could not quite describe… Deeper, maybe. But the skill was still at level one regardless and I continued moving…. Even if I was swiftly but momentarily distracted not a few moments later by turning a corner and seeing the upper half of an absolutely massive statue of some sort of man with the head of a bull in a stance with a sword in front of it.

[-50 HP

+8 HP]

Which caused another of the range enemies to nail me with a rock, a ranged attacker once more. Another one was nearby, but his attack missed, the two further assisted by a pair of what I assumed to be harpies… Which more or less meant that I absolutely had to use the Blades as Slicer just did not have that kind of range. If nothing else, I could throw, Burst forward, the Blades rather well, simply needing to do it in the right direction and the innate magic of the weapons guiding them the rest of the way to slay my enemies… Eventually.

With most enemies, I appreciated that they did not immediately die and sort of posed an actual challenge, but failing to kill something as minor looking as a harpy in a single hit just felt wrong and potentially annoying…

{You've changed.}

"Huh?"

{You're already more used to combat even without using that skill. It's good. You're removing doubt.}

"Th-Thanks…" While she was right and I could just barely feel the changes myself, I was also rather certain that once I return to DxD proper or the Moon Cell, I would crumble and fail to continue with this sort of momentum.

For the time being however, I ran into an alternating chest as it moved between a green and blue glow, memories telling me that opening it on green would restore my health while on blue would restore my mana. Putting it in my inventory kept the alternating state, though I wondered what sort of event exactly would be required for me to lose all of my MP.

Well, so far, everything I cast had low enough costs that I regained the amount spent after a few seconds at most, but I did not have that many things that cost MP in the first place, especially not high cost high rank spells. Eventually, that was likely to change wasn't it? Melusine was not much of a Caster herself, but who knows what the future would hold…

I knew however that the present held a wall. Well, more like the side of a cliff… With particular outlines every here and there that at least vaguely looked like they could be held on to. There were gaps, not small ones but ones that were rather obviously several times my height at the widest and still large even at the narrowest, between holds and a considerable drop below… Which implied that I would have to jump between the ledges and risk falling a considerable distance if I failed to make the jump. I… Was not going to do that.

Instead, I walked back a distance and prepared to take a running start, charging straight for the wall, not even fully sure if how I imagined I was going to pull it off would work. When I got close enough, I put my foot to an angled position, leaning back on my heel in an uncomfortable position before bursting, lifting me off the ground at an angle, another burst sending me back against the wall, from where I focused on [Furthest Earth] to stabilize myself somewhat and run up the wall as best as I could, my toes actually making contact with the wall, the skill keeping me balanced enough, even as I used Bursts to get all the way up the cliff.

[-50 HP

+8 HP]

I was hit by a rock again before I managed to celebrate my victory and achievement.

[-100 HP

+15 HP]

…followed by two more rocks from enemies that did not miss and almost caused me to fall over and back down from where I came were it not for the skill still being active and keeping me stable enough.

I probably should have had the Blades ready to stab into the cliff just in case, but I didn't, doing it unarmed. Thus, I charged forward, unarmed even if my fists were still ignited. "First Form, Shooting Calamitous Breath!" I called out the attack before I could doubt myself, sadism already at the ready as my fist burst forward and struck the first one in the ribs, followed swiftly by my other fist striking just next to my first one before the enemy was even thrown back by the force of the Burst.

I was pretty sure that normally, the ribs would have caved in, but he stayed alive and the battle lust was ignited in me, calling on me to continue seeking vengeance for ruining my moment of success. It was only after having attacked the enemy like that that I realized I still had the sheathed Arondight on my hands… But maybe training in unarmed combat would be better… Oh, who am I kidding, I was bound to use them anyway.

That itself however did not mean that I had to do it the normal way. The second enemy was close by, the first still recovering. "First Form…" My body moved as well on some skill based automatic nature to put me in range, my fist cocked back. "Shooting Calamitous Breath!" As my fist impacted the second enemy, instead of my other hand moving forward, Arondight shot forward like the spike of a pile bunker, doing what felt like considerably more damage and retreating back.

{Oh good, you found that out on your own.}

"Wait, you do it too? I thought it would be disrespectful or something?"

{No, it's quite effective. But I usually Burst harder when I do it. Or in general…}

…She did make a good point, short as her words were. Maybe I should up my burst strength… I certainly had both the MP and MP Regeneration for it and if I was already trying to kill the enemies… No, maybe for serious fights, but doing it to grunts just feels desperate somehow. Even if the damage done this way, with my fists, was lower than using an actual weapon, even with the Arondight follow-up. This however meant I needed to hit even more, which built up sadism and only further drove me towards a berserker rage.

I even reached it while punching away at the second enemy, meaning that, for a few moments, I had simply lost myself and awareness of my surroundings, regaining full awareness only when the last of the three enemies was a beaten and burnt, though only in some places, corpse. It probably would have been scarier to think about if not for most of my mental capacity currently being occupied by the notification in front of me.

[Skill Acquired!

[Nine Lives – Roma Lv.1/?] – A form of unarmed combat devised by Romulus after having the Nine Lives as devised by Alcides transmitted to him by Mars. The battering of fist flashes resembling spears of light exterminates even lifeless monsters, and makes them gush out as a sparkle in the starry sky. Doubles as an [Unarmed Combat Proficiency] skill]

That… Was not really the intended result, but if it works it works. I had little expectation to really fight that often without weapons as they did more damage… But I did have to further consider DxD's setting and the fact that less damage meant it was less likely to accidentally kill someone who was not supposed to die. Both Issei and Vali in canon fought with hands as well rather than using a weapon, Ascalon aside, but Issei did need every benefit and bonus he could get his hands on.

I was not quite sure if I was in the same boat. The Ray Horizon was already not quite compliant to canon, mostly manifesting in the [Calamity of Flames]… Though some part of me in the back of my mind was telling me that Ddraig did have some sort of super flames that were sealed away originally. Issei also had the Boosted Gear by canon, which was used and abused quite a lot to Boost him to points where he could keep up in damage and speed.

I had to be fast and strong enough on my own to be able to get into a situation I could actually Divide an enemy. I had to be stronger than the canon Issei, by a considerable amount. And wasn't this entire trip more or less further based on getting every benefit and bonus I could get my hands on? We both needed them, then. Especially for when we encounter Vali. He was probably going to be even more dangerous than in canon, after all…

For the time being however… Next was… Up? There was a big water wheel that was broken, one that I remembered very strongly… Because it had taken me nearly an hour to get past it when I first played Ascension. I almost wanted to burn the whole thing down here and now out of spite for wasted time, but decided against it. I had to have limits, even if Melusine seems to be all in support for destruction.

{I'm not.} Oh… {It's in my nature to burn the world down however. Even… If I am Melusine, it seems that after… That… My nature as one of the Calamities is still shining through. Flare as you wish with the world-burning flames, but that alone does not mean I would not rather see things flourish.}

"…I'm sorry. I shouldn't have assumed." I did my best to simply breathe to calm myself down. I couldn't be aggressive about everything, after all. "Want to talk about things?"

{Things?}

"Yeah… Your home… Your wants, likes… Aurora? Chaldea? Anything, really. We don't have to keep fighting right now, we can just get to know each other a little better, if you want." Aurora was… Melusine's effective mother, having found her in Albion's remains, naming her and raising her. It was probably a pretty sore topic though, considering that… I was at least pretty sure that Melusine was the one who ultimately ended up killing her, before turning into the Calamity, returning to simply being Albion, losing her senses.

Whatever the reason and topic however, the armor dispelled as Melusine appeared in front of me instead of behind. "Yeah… I guess that sound nice." I think she had a bit of a smile already, but I was not quite certain.

o.O.o.O.o

Time seemed to stay still. No matter how long we talked, no hours truly seemed to pass around us. This place was actually quite nice without enemies showing up every few dozen steps. Quiet, lacking that usual sound of busy places. Well, it wasn't like I had lived in the middle of a busy city before. Now and then, I was living in a fairly peaceful part of town, away from the center itself, where the most noise was an occasional car going by, or a bus, or passing students…

Melusine did most of the talking. She knew I knew most of the things about the downfall of Morgan's Fae Britain, about Chaldea, but… She also knew I only knew about the busy times. She told stories of the peaceful times, the one out of sight, out of focus of the plot.

The sounds of birds and life which does not exist in Panhuman history, some of which she claims has no true equivalent, only comparisons which fail to match the true variation. The cities, the villages, the untamed nature and the constructions of the Fae which joined together with nature in perfect harmony. More or less, by rule, there was no true industrialization present, yet they were doubtlessly developed.

The sounds of Chaldea were also apparently nice. The artist and performer Heroic Spirits playing their instruments, practicing their songs, the further pieces of art made by DaVinchi, Hokusai and Van Gogh among others which would have been too grand not to hang up somewhere, thus ending up decorating the halls of Chaldea to give them further life. The results of Heroic Spirits simply existing adding color and variation to the previously perfect halls.

She truly painted a vivid image of the various marks left by various Heroic Spirits simply existing, too large for the halls and refusing to admit it, too violent for the peace of the organization, left over by various fights in the hallways, though some of the marks, the scars of existing, Melusine did not even know the origin of herself. Eventually however, we ended up in a comfortable silence, itself lasting for an unknown amount of time before she simply faded away again and the armor formed around my body.

[Perk Reward for reaching 50 Affection with Melusine!

[Gaze upon the Horizon] – A hopeful look yet one stretching for a million miles. A presence in the eyes exists, not looking at the current situation, but somewhere beyond, somewhere hopeful. Though a strange one, which should not spawn such a reaction, it seems to further motivate those around you, making them want to see what you are gazing upon as well… Or to try and kill that hope held deep in your eyes]

Huh… Neat.

With the feeling of her further support, even if it was not really a physical feeling, and the full capability of movement, continuing on the path was fairly easy, two more red chests obtained from behind the wheel and a third not long after. With a feeling of it being enough, I added the resulting orbs to the Flames, the Blades themselves not being the primary weapon even if I keep trying to make them so…

[Skill Upgraded!

[Fires of Ares (II)] -> [Fires of Ares (III)]]

Though the fires deepened and grew stronger, they were still different and distinct. The next batch of enemies was not long after, truly making me feel like they show up every hundred steps or so.

[Level Up!

HP, MP and Fatigue restored

+100 HP and 10,000 MP

+1 to All Stats]

While leveling up to fourteen, finally, was pretty much a reward in and of itself, they were arguably guarding, since the enemies seemed to be showing up without proper rhyme or reasons but to stand in my way anyway, yet another red chest, followed by a green one and a fourth Gorgon Eye… Or at least I assumed as such. A distance away was a building. Not a particularly inviting one, especially with the sound of some sort of mechanism coming from it.

It was nice in that ancient civilization sort of way, before everything became minimalist and… Boring. The mechanism however confused me as it was a large rolling… Roller seemingly endlessly spinning around a circular room for no actual reason that could be discerned, or an obvious power source. It was just rolling endlessly… Well, at least it had a pair of red chests to guard, so it wasn't completely unnecessary… Just ninety-nine point however many nines percent unnecessary.

This, of course, did not mean it was easy to deal with either. After some thought and watching it spin, I waited for it to move past me before stepping out on the path, Slicer held high and running after it. "First Form! Shooting Calamitous Breath!" It probably looked a bit silly from an outside perspective, but the carried me forward for a few dozen more steps before I jumped up and swung the blade down at the point between the roller itself and the handle it was attached to and further making sure it kept moving.

Having lost its apparent source of momentum, the roller moved for a short distance further, losing what momentum it still had and stopping completely while the rest of the mechanism just continued moving along. My reward were two Red Chests, a third Phoenix Feather and the Fifth Gorgon Eye. With a set of five obtained, they actually manifested physically, appearing in a ring practically out of nowhere and spinning rather violently into each other until they collided, turning into a green sort of… Gas? Plasma? Which flowed into me.

[Health Upgraded!

+1.000 Max HP]

Oh wow that was a lot more than I expected. With how low my level was, I only had fourteen hundred health now, and that itself was only fairly recent, so jumping up to twenty-four hundred almost felt like my HP doubled.

Well, there was no path further other than back, so I went out of the room, wondering if the mechanism was ever actually going to stop or if this place would just sort of generate infinite power until the end of time, going back on the proper path and finding… A snake with arms. I was not quite sure what type of snake that head belonged to, but it had a serpentine head with more, smaller, snakes growing out of it like hair. It also had a green yet feminine chest, nipples on her breasts even if I was pretty sure there was something wrong with that biologically speaking, as well as a pair of arms.

It wasn't a demi-human like a lamia or gorgon or whatever, but more like a massive snake that somehow mutated into human features, lacking that half-half trait I would have expected. It did, however, have eye beams that made me feel sluggish when she actually activated them, making me realize that she was going to petrify me if I did not start moving.

The Blades appeared in my hands, a length of chain let out to be swung across the distance between us, making her attempt stop in order to be able to dodge the attack, the feeling gradually vanishing as a result. I did not let her get a second chance at it, chasing her down to strike her down as soon as possible.

She put up quite a fight, screaming like a true woman instead of a snake when struck, but I powered through. She was trying to kill me, I could not show weakness or be this distracted by the boobs. Damn it! …Damn my distraction, not the boobs themselves. They were simply mistimed.

[+75 LP]

…No comment. {Your denial doesn't really do you any favors, you know?} No comment.

…I was not even sure if the fact that, once she was successfully slain and I could move forward, there as a green chest. There was also a blue one, but the green chest just felt like some unintentional joke that only further made me want to slam my head against it in embarrassment. For what was the first time to actually think that, thankfully, scarabs showed up and had to be slain. Yay~

I did my best to push all of that out of mind and just went on with it before Melusine could think of even more ways to actually mock me. Or I start further mocking myself… A new set of Gorgon eyes was started with a sixth being found alongside another pair of red chests.

Moving on forward, the ground started crumbling behind me in a few places, eventually even reaching a full on downward slope that was caused by some unknown destruction and proved to be a bit of a challenge to overcome the gap. At least I was getting better, slowly, at crossing sizable gaps, though I still could not fly or even hover properly.

Instead, I ran into another gate, this one having strange blue-ish white flowing along it with a visage of— "Take the Ice of Poseidon and you will find your path." There the voice was again, completing my thought before even I could do so…

Come to think of it, the Games had their own narrators, sort of, didn't they? Athena and Gaia, maybe? I couldn't quite recall, but it was unlikely that that was what was happening right now. It did, however, leave me wondering if I would be hearing their voices going forward, further narrating my journey…

The area around me had actually changed pretty quickly, now that I look at it to distract myself from the possible implied voyeurism and spying of the previous line of thought. There was water and life here, actual green, instead of the decayed and sandy town I was just in. Looking back… The path was indeed broken and water was flowing down. With the Vial's description, I had pretty much assumed that it was some sort of desert town and Circe had ended up killing everyone, intentionally or not, but… How long would it have had to been without water to have ended up like that?

I sighed, knowing no answer would come and instead just stabbing the Blades into the pot, ice starting to run up them and my arms, infusing itself into them and still exploding.

[Skill Acquired!

[Ice of Poseidon Lv.1/10] – Summon the Ice of Poseidon to break blocks. Freezing enemies yields large amounts of Red Orbs. Also allows breathing underwater]

Also allows what!? How can you just gloss over that part?! It feels like more important than the first part!

Ah… Enemies showed up, goat people once again, as should have been predictable. They did not care about my internal complaints, as is predictable. The Blades glowed with an icy blue aura, which was then joined by the Calamity of Flame, but I could not use both Ares' Fire and Poseidon's Ice at the same time. Well, the chance for more Red Orbs exceeded the usefulness of an explosive stun anyway so it was not all that difficult to choose which to use, even if I was not fully sure that this combination of ice and fire could actually freeze my enemies. Magic, however, was weird in the first place.

Hitting more was swiftly becoming more important than ending a fight in the least amount of hits, even if some of the resulting power I felt from bringing my foes down in only a few hits was going to be lost this way. The Goats took several dozen hits each, between the actual power of the blades and the lesser power of the ice, but at least that let me confirm that they really would be frozen regardless of the current elemental situation.

Following the gate opening, all enemies having been slain, the seventh Gorgon eye was obtained alongside another Green and Blue chest, though after that, I racked my brain in confusion. The way forward put me on top of a massive statue of a snake, or at least what appeared to be one. Logically, at least with normal logic, this, removing the immediate binding shackle, should not have taken me anywhere… But then I remembered where I was. Logic was… Not always going to help me around here…

In spite of the clearly artificial and inorganic nature of the construction, it creaked as if rusty hinges started moving once more, and with no obvious source it began to move forward, snaking along a set path with the entirety of the potential pun being intended. In spite of being made of solid material, looking as if a mechanical construct, which should have meant hard, rigid, metal, it moved and bent perfectly, as if it really was made of flesh instead of metal which should not have been able to bend like that. Magic was… Weird. Especially divine magic. I should probably try to get used to that…

It moved through caverns and strange hoops, snaking its way up a mountain until deciding to go nearly perfectly vertical, nearly causing me to fall off and hold on for dear life to prevent such a thing. In a matter of minutes, it took me from the lush greenery of the area with water, which was preceded by a desert-like environment… To a snowy area high in the mountains and low in temperature.

There was a tower, three handles sticking out from its lowest point, the snake simply, almost naturally were it not for its obviously constructed nature, fitting right against one of the handles which ended up held in its mouth, a perfect fit, pushing it somewhat up the length of the tower before stopping, unable or unwilling to continue forward.

There was nothing as convenient as an arrival platform waiting for me though, so I had to jump to the side of the tower and find my own way in. When I did so, I was just about greeted with another Phoenix Feather, as well as one of the three pillars inside the building, running up the side of the slight incline of the path up. Considering the mountains around us were covered in snow and the general temperature of this place, it was not hard to imagine some part of the path being frozen over, in which case the overwhelming smoothness of the floor would have probably made some unlucky people slide all the way down to the bottom… How annoying that would be.

[Furthest Earth] really was a smart purchase which let me move along pretty safely, reaching the outside when the path was actually broken and preventing me from progressing along it. This place was a death trap, not by design but by lack of maintenance and sheer effects of age. The outside had another pair of red chests, as well as a green one and a dozen large… Eggs. The last one of the group hatched into some almost dragon-like thing that chose violence immediately after being born.

I responded with violence of my own after avoiding its starting strike, a dive attack of sorts, its wings probably not yet enough for a sustained flight. In spite of my own situation, I kicked it unsympathetically and attacked it with the Blades until it was dead and I could make sure the other eggs don't hatch. The area was already dangerous enough, if one of these hatch and find me in a position where I can't retaliate, who knows how far down they could throw me over a ledge… At the end of the path of eggs, there was even a Gorgon Eye! How nice. I did however decide to just stop counting the Red Chests that I found. My Inventory was doing it for me and they just felt so much more abundant in number than I expected.

Going up a nearby ladder, I found myself in viewing distance of a very serpent motif temple, two more massive snakes, which I assumed corresponded to the remaining two levers, 'chained' just in front of it. I was unable to look at it for long however before a new beast climbed up.

Its tail was a serpent, its body was somehow both reptilian and like that of a lion, having the head of a lion with yet a third head, one of a goat with three horns, just above that one, all roars of challenge coming out of all three mouths even if it did not quite make sense how this chimera even functioned as a living being looking like that, or how a snake can roar. The snake however did not care for my inner complaints and instead spat out a massive amount of some sort of liquid I strongly assumed was very poisonous.

As I dodged, the beast charged at me and I charged at it right back, the snake apparently being the first one to fight while the other two heads just threateningly growled, the body moving around to position itself properly for the snake to move with surprising agility, spitting out its venom and generally flailing its weight around to try and hit me in spite of repeatedly slamming against the flat of a blade instead.

It did not seem like it would actually get frozen, or that it was really affected by the magic, but it was effected when I threw a Blade forward, holding the chain and willing it to wrap around as it tried to go for another bite, nearly feeling like I could choke it out pretty easily. I let go of the other Blade and took the Vial, sticking it into the mouth as it tried to spit out more poison, clogging its airway before pulling the Blade back and simply severing the serpentine body slash neck.

The rest of the body thrashed, throwing me off and getting up on two legs instead of the four it had been on until now. The lion's turn was now, apparently. With its claws, it tried to rip me apart even as I was getting up. The first slash missed me, but the second one was followed by some sort of ice projectile that nearly hit me in spite of the small distance between us, a full body lean letting it spit out another ice projectile.

Okay… It had ice powers. That was strange, but not something I can't handle, hopefully. With the possibility of freezing it solid not being on the table, I swapped back to the Fire and Flames. "First Form!" I did not get to say the whole skill and this time, instead of two separate attacks it was a single movement, bringing both blades down in an X against the chimera's chest in what still felt like good damage.

There was still another head, so I still had to be careful not to overexert myself, pretty sure that not even the green chests could restore fatigue or shortness of breath. The Chimera, obviously, did not make that easy. Without the ability to just aim for vitals or try to cripple it the normal way, the only method was simply attacking it repeatedly until the lethal point arrived. A health bar would have been useful, but I did not even have that sort of privilege as I simply struck in blind faith that I would eventually whittle it down.

[Skill Acquired!

[Eye of the Mind (True) Lv.1/10] – A heightened capacity for observation, refined through training, discipline and experience. A danger-avoidance ability that utilizes the intelligence collected up to the current time as the basis in order to predict the opponent's activity and change the current situation. This is not a result of talent, but an overwhelming amount of combat experience. A weapon wielded by none other than a mortal, gained through tenacious training. So long there is even a one chance of a comeback, this ability greatly improves the chances of winning]

[-154 HP

+23 HP]

[Skill Level Up!

Masochistic Constitution: 3 -> 4]

I was doing pretty fine, fine enough that I unlocked the skill which called my combat experience 'an overwhelming amount', but when the notification appeared I lost focus and got hit by an upward swing. That was just unfair, not Masochistic! It also caused blood to rush up to my mouth in true anime fashion.

I just barely had time to wipe my mouth before it was on me again. It was enough to further abandon caution, [Sadistic Constitution] activating before I rushed back into the fight, lifting a blade to stop a follow up swing with surprising accuracy, pretty much forcing it to move its claw against the edge of the blade in what would have likely cost it half of its hand in a normal situation but here it only caused further damage.

Well, it also caused it to scream out and proved to be enough to further let me stab forward with the blade reversed to have its edge pointing up to the sky, hitting just under its neck before Bursting and severing the lion head in half. Two down, the goat head could hardly be said to take charge. Almost curiously, the wound did not actually close and it was still bleeding from the wound being inflicted.

This did not stop it from unleashing an ice breath that froze the ground and caused sharp spikes of ice to try and hit me as they grew out. This was obviously the final round however, so I went all out, aside for calling out my attack. In spite of being rather connected, the attacks were still individually counted, meaning each time I used the First Form, it caused two 'stacks' of the effect to manifest.

The main problem however was that I was sharply taking in cold air. {On it.} …I probably should have acknowledged that before, Melusine apparently somehow activating and controlling her flames to stay within my throat, making it feel very warm, but more importantly warming up the air as it was breathed in. Very useful! {You're welcome.}

The chimera was back on four legs, jumping around either to slam into me or make distance to unleash its breath again, which was enough to pose a challenge, but the sheer nature of the skill meant that my body moved on its own to be in range time and time again. The final strike was an X on the head, between the three horns, followed by a thrust I hadn't expected my body to do, snuffing the life out of the chimera.

[Skill Level Up!

Nine Lives– Increasing Blades: 1 -> 2

Three attacks are now made instead of two]

The rush of battle and the joy of victory passed me not long after, leaving me kneeling for a few moments to catch my breath again; even if it wasn't icy, it was still a lot of face passed breathing, nearly hyperventilating. But it was effective.

Picking up the snake head, I retrieved the vial and realized that I could probably do something with the corpse of the Chimera, unlike the enemies from before… Aside maybe for the Chonker. I could use the horns of this beast for… Something? Eventually? Probably. I carved out the head anyway, just in case. Maybe someone more skilled or smarter than I can figure out what to do with these…

Now then… I wish I knew how to fly. The path to the temple would have likely been a lot easier that way… All there was as a hint was a strange sort of mechanism with a bit sticking out, to which I applied the same sort of logic as Kratos would. Throw a Blade at it! Which was actually the solution to quite a lot of problems, including this one apparently.

In spite of having no actual obvious connection to anything beyond the Tower, the temple itself began to move, to be drawn closer to here… Only to be stopped by something or another. Well, not all of the snakes were in place, so it did make sense that I couldn't progress further yet. What it did however successfully do apparently was bring a portion, with a convenient hole in its side, of one of the snakes closer to the platform I was standing on, letting me get inside… After which it moved away from the platform again.

The snakes were hollow, entirely powered by magic and I was not completely sure how to feel about that. Maybe I was trying to be too scientific about everything for no reason and not enjoying the sheer cool and badass factors. Not only was it hollow, but it was frozen and expecting me to slide down! …of course, I did, as there was no way to progress, but it was still ridiculous and ultimately led to more eggs as well as a pair of goat men with shields. A few eggs hatched as I realized that there was probably a better use for the eggs than simply breaking them.

Once the immediate enemies were slain, I started storing the unhatched eggs into my inventory, surprised that it actually worked… Maybe they were not actually considered living beings yet? Could I actually store living beings normally? I don't even know where the inventory leads to, so it's probably best not to test it on living, sentient and aware, beings for the time being…

The other snake had apparently also moved somewhat, leading to… A gap which could only be passed because of the broken and decayed nature of the snake at that point. Perhaps worse yet, the way to pass it was by throwing the Blades and swinging along, only further motivating me to just learn how to fly. Unlike when I was on solid ground however, falling down here would have serious consequences and if I had to learn to fly by falling, I would rather it be a last resort!

o.O.o.O.o

Due to her current situation with Issei, she was able to hear him think even if it was not his intention to allow for such. It was not constant and she was not privy to some of the normal trains of thought he had, But there were moments when his mind loudly wondered, usually being during quiet enough moments while moving, or simply when he stands, or sits, and stares, thinking about various things. Sometimes, she could hear his voice during fights as well, but that was hardly anything useful, just an occasional thought she could help with among the regular thoughts that belong in a combat situation.

She was capable of hearing him internally panic at the gap between his destination and current position, in this very conveniently setup situation, hear his various justifications and complaints about being unable to just fly along. She was also pretty sure that he hadn't actually realized the obvious solution. She was not even fully sure if she should point out the fact that he could just let her manifest and carry him along, or if she should continue enjoying his state.

As he finally worked up the courage to start the necessary swings, screaming at the top of his lungs, she let out a laugh that simply refused to be held back. He would learn how to fly eventually, but for now, she supposed that she could just enjoy his antics for a while longer.

o.O.o.O.o

I was pretty sure I heard Melusine laugh at me, but I crossed the gap! I will count that, as well as the Gorgon Eye I found nearby, as an absolute win. "For those who have eyes to see—" I hadn't even noticed the next gate, the voice making me jump. "I offer the Lightning of Zeus."

It was the least… Extravagant of the gates. It was simply a visage of Zeus with a golden eagle on each side. None the less, the process was repeated, the pot stabbed and exploding.

[Skill Acquired!

[Lightning of Zeus Lv.1/10] – Electrify your enemies with the blinding quick attacks of Zeus. Electrocuting enemies restores MP]

The Blades sparked with electricity and actually started moving fast enough to be comparable to Slicer's attack speed, which was pretty neat even if the whole result was lesser than the possible rewards that the Ice provided. Just to test it, the Lightning of Zeus was used on Slicer… And it started moving faster than I could actually perceive, the blade becoming a true blur. Oh that was going to be fun in the future, wasn't it…

The enemies that showed up to give me an immediate taste of the power now gifted to me were swiftly taken care of, after which the fifth Phoenix Feather was found, causing a reaction much the same as when the eyes were gathered except for being blue instead of green.

[MP Upgraded!

+100.000 Max MP]

[Dragon Heart] increased all MP by a hundred times, making it an even more ridiculously powerful boost to my reserves. Not only that, but it was quickly followed by the tenth Gorgon Eye, adding another thousand HP. "Status."

[Name: Issei Hyoudou

Level: 14

Job: None

Title: Enemy of All Women

HP: 3.400/3.400

MP: 250.000/250.000

Fatigue: 31

Strength: 86

Vitality: 75

Dexterity: 83

Quickness: 80

Intelligence: 39

Wisdom: 26

Charisma: 45

Magic: 101

Luck: 38]

Well… My physical stats were doing nicely at least, even if, aside for Magic, the others are falling behind by comparison… And I should probably find a way to get a new title sooner or later. I was not even sure if the current one really still applied… Though I am probably still known as that… Maybe if I debut as the supposed White Dragon Emperor, I can get an actual new title. Or I will get one after I've slain the Furies? Hm…

Ah, I should probably keep moving instead of thinking about that.

o.O.o.O.o

…I did not have a fear of heights, but between this place and the Arenas, I was pretty sure I was developing one and the only thing that keeps me going is the sheer fact that it is almost entertaining how aligned everything is to actually allow for passage. When I wasn't making grudges about being tangled above massive heights, at least.

But, after a lot of climbing that I did not actually know that I had the body strength to do, I gathered enough Orbs to upgrade the blades again. They changed appearance again, gaining a sort of red path along a purely stylistic crack on their side, becoming even more savage looking in the process as well as becoming wider at the flat part. I was pretty sure they turned a few shades darker as well, but I hadn't been paying that much attention to the prior state.

[Skill Acquired!

[Spartan's Revenge Lv.1/10] – A blocking stance that, if used just before being hit, the original damage of the attack is 'stored' and a counterattack is performed with the additional force of the blocked attack]

That could also be pretty useful, but getting the timing right might get tricky, especially if I end up having to actually move into the stance which would prevent it from being an immediate response… Actually, blocking in general might be a good idea. So far I had only taken hits or moved out of the way with one or two exceptions. Maybe I should block more often…

More importantly, by finding the latch on one of the chains holding one of the two snakes back, I was able to make it start moving again, even if it nearly immediately threw me off for my effort. Which was also when a large flying creature, vaguely looking like the smaller ones that have been hatching from eggs, except large enough for me to note that it had an almost lion-like build aside for the wings, something I hadn't really been paying much attention to with the hatchlings. Wait, the item has a name, doesn't it…

[Manticore Egg x42]

Wow, I hadn't even noticed I had forty-two of them already… It probably knew what I had been doing to the eggs too, or maybe assumed that I was destroying them instead, considering it immediately started spitting balls of fire at me and generally trying to kill me, going as far as to tackle me, throw me off the snake and through an already damaged part of what I assumed was the other one, nearly making me fall all the way down the chasm. Thankfully, it had flown away before actually seeing if the job was done, simply leaving me to fall.

And fall I would have if not for just barely managing to hook a blade to the snake I was thrust through. The snake had, regardless, made it to the other lever, pushing it a short distance before stopping. Only one more to go, hopefully without nearly dying to a very upset probable parent and without so much damn climbing!

The remaining snake, I realized, was already moving a little as if excited in an animated expression of an inanimate object. What the fuck is divine magic? Further in spite of the wiggling, it was even more filled with holes than the previous one! I looked in desperation for any other way across, one that didn't require me to jump across a distance that only Olympic Gold contestants would even have a shot at crossing, catching a snow covered ledge, pushing myself up and then still climbing and moving across what might be centuries old metal and wood.

I found nothing other than the sheer will to try any other method. Perhaps that was what possessed me to do the thing I decided on, breathing in deeply … And stepped forward, a fire igniting under my foot as it stayed over the drop. My arms were on either side of me as I focused forward, only forward, not down. It was difficult to do as my foot had ended up angled, clearly dangling toward the fall, but I was forcing myself along… To take the second step.

There was no going back now as I floated just next to the place I had been standing on a few moments ago. Very, very, slowly, even if I wanted to just get it over with, I leaned my body forward and moved at a pace that was practically like crawling, my body stuck somewhere beyond being tense and shivering, both in fear. I did not particularly care if I would need an hour to cross the distance like this, yet I wanted to be done with it as soon as possible at the same time.

It was then that I realized, by the presence of a pair of chests, that where I was supposed to be going was not fully further into the snake, but a bit further and then swing across three hoops and land on a small platform. I did not even know how to turn and I was not planning on swinging off of anything, the inability in conflict with the refusal until the refusal won over and I very carefully started tilting my body to try and turn.

…one of the flying young showed up as if to spite me, soon followed by another, both choosing to fly straight at me at a high speed, making me lose concentration and end up swinging anyway as one of the Blades shot forward, failing to truly kill the hatchling in one hit for which I was thankful for for the first time! The swing had managed to propel me to the platform properly as well and I was pretty sure I nearly dropped to my knees and kissed the ground in thankfulness for existing.

I held myself back however and chose to take my frustrations out on the twins, who ended up being hit enough by my effective flailing that they froze mid-air and fell themselves. Serves the fuckers right!

Turning, I was faced with another small climb, one I could not avoid, to unlatch the final snake. I really did not want to do it, but no matter what I tried, there would just be no other way to do it. At least it was a somewhat less threatening endeavor than the previous stretch…

The snake quite literally fell into place, slamming me against itself when it came to a sudden stop, starting to move before I even properly regained my footing! As if that was not enough, as soon as it got into the cavern that was carved out for its trajectory, enemies started spawning on top of it to try and kill me. Already troubled enough as I was, I simply took the Slicer and coated it with the Lightning, trying to actually start perceiving its movements while the snake took us on a ride.

It wasn't quite enough, the snake reaching the final handle before any new skills were obtained. The three snakes successfully pushed the wheel all the way, even if I was not quite sure what it was for. I had to get back inside after that, which also lead to the discovery of something on the floor.

[Oracle Seeker's Offering

Type: Item

Quality: C

A heavy payment demanded by the Oracle's new steward, the Prophet Castor. All EXP gains are doubled]

I just stared at the description. Double the experience? That's pretty powerful… And I had obtained it relatively soon on my journey, so it would be quite useful. How nice.

After that however, it was a climb back up to where I fought the Chimera. The temple was in reach, probably… And there was someone else there. An older man, not quite old but certainly not young, a basket on his back and heavy looking stick being used as a cane. "The offerings will please the Oracle this time. I know it." He sounded desperate. I did not quite want to call him pathetic, or using my efforts to his own benefits, but… Both were sort of true, even as he slipped and fell, apples falling out of his basket. "No, no, no! My gifts! She must have them all."

As if he hadn't been through enough misfortune, the Manticore had appeared in a disturbingly quiet flight I hadn't thought a creature that large would have been capable of, descending on him right next to me as he screamed, being eaten to death by the monster. I couldn't simply let that be, throwing a Blade at the wing of the beast, surprisingly piercing through it and managing to cut through the wing entirely, separating it from the rest of the beast's body, when I was close enough for a swing.

The man was dead, but I would avenge him as best as I could. Even if I only met him like thirty seconds ago. Such was his pathetic nature. The monster only had four limbs, three now with a missing wing, as well as a tail with a moving end, opening and closing as if some sort of pincer. It immediately retaliated, breathing fire with a roar, which I managed to sidestep out of the range of, to which it continued by… Spitting out a pair of the hatchlings.

It… Gave live birth… By spitting… What the fuck are the eggs then!? Damn it, I had three enemies to split my focus between, I couldn't focus on that right now! I was not sure if I was just finding excuses for it, but this did feel like a proper moment for [Sadistic Constitution]. The enemy was too feral to really cause a situation where I had to overthink, or so I justified it to myself before building up momentum on its offspring to kill the main foe as quickly as possible when my focus would return to it.

Once more, once I actually engaged in the full, nearing Berserker-like, combat, the enemy died in short order, the Blades piercing through the sides of its neck as I did my best not to be moved around by its dying thrashes, unable to even let out a final breath of fire in its situation. I hadn't even realized that I put myself right into the range of such an attack until the 'rush' started fading away from me…. That really could have ended badly…

[Level Up!

HP, MP and Fatigue restored

+100 HP and 10,000 MP

+1 to All Stats]

But I was now level fifteen and able to progress, hopefully.

The mechanism this time, once engaged, caused the entire temple to be moved toward me, to the tower, only a short bridge between the actual temple and me, yet one I crossed with caution just in case it crumbles away or something… I was not sure if I could trust it to be safe to walk on, considering it too had been exposed to the cold elements and was thus liable to be slippery; or trust that enemies would not simply show up.

Nothing happened however, aside for the doors closing on their own behind me. I hadn't realized how used to the cold I had gotten while outside until I was inside again and felt the warmth which shouldn't have been there. I doubted proper heating existed in this time period, after all… But then again, giant statue snakes that could wiggle in excitement and move with full flexibility even while filled with holes shouldn't have existed in the modern time period but I just finished riding at least two of them!