Chapter 2

Sitonai sat back, watching as the soft glow of her magic faded from Alfia's wounds.

The bleeding had stopped. The deep gash along her side had mostly closed. It wasn't perfect, but it was enough to keep her from keeling over in the next five minutes.

Not bad.

…And yet, something felt wrong.

She flexed her fingers, staring at the faint traces of lingering mana still clinging to her skin. Normally, she wouldn't have thought much about it—magecraft was magecraft, right? But the more she focused on it, the more off it felt.

It wasn't from Od.

Or at least, it wasn't the power she was supposed to have.

As a Divine Spirit, her abilities were fundamentally tied to Divinity, or rather from Freyja, one of her components—divine energy drawn from the very core of her being. Her connection to the Throne of Heroes was from her other two components, Louhi and Sitonai, to the essence of something greater.

But what she just used?

It wasn't stemming from Divinity at all.

It was something else entirely.

Something… lesser.

What is this?

She hadn't noticed it earlier, when she froze those monsters without a second thought. But now that she was paying attention, it was obvious. Her power still worked—but the source, the feeling of it, was wrong.

Like someone had swapped out the very foundation of her existence and replaced it with something new, something extremely less efficient and less in quantity.

Something more human.

A chill of curiosity crawled up her spine, but not the kind she was used to.

For the first time since she woke up in this place, real unease settled in her chest.

"…Tch."

Alfia's annoyed grunt snapped her out of her thoughts.

The woman was already struggling to push herself to her feet, ignoring the fact that she just got healed. Stubborn. That much was obvious.

Sitonai quickly wiped the frown off her face and replaced it with a teasing smile. "Ara~ You're already standing? I thought you'd take at least a few minutes to recover~"

Alfia shot her a dry look. "I don't have time to waste."

She swayed slightly but managed to steady herself. Even wounded, she carried herself with an air of absolute confidence.

Sitonai hummed, still distracted by her own thoughts.

No divinity. Just mana.

Why?

Was it this world's rules? Some kind of limitation? A curse?

She needed answers.

But first—

Sitonai clapped her hands together with a bright smile. "Sooo~ now that you're not dying, how about you explain what the hell is going on?"

Alfia sighed, clearly deciding she had no choice but to humor her. "…Where do you want me to start?"

"Well, let's see~" Sitonai tapped her chin. "I woke up in a creepy dungeon, some ugly monsters tried to kill me, my magecraft and abilities are less efficient, I can't feel any Divinity, and then a beautiful but grumpy lady fell from the sky. Sooo… how about we start with what this place is?"

Alfia exhaled through her nose. "The Dungeon. More specifically The Deep Floors."

"…Yes, I heard you the first time, but that still means nothing to me." Sitonai crossed her arms. "Explain it like I'm a child who was born knowing nothing."

Alfia's eyes narrowed slightly, as if debating whether to believe her. Then, after a moment, she spoke.

"This is Orario's Dungeon. A massive, living labyrinth filled with monsters. The deeper you go, the stronger they become."

"Aaand the 'Deep Floors' part?"

"The lower section of the known Dungeon," Alfia said flatly. "Far beyond what most adventurers can reach."

Sitonai blinked.

"…Wait."

She squinted at Alfia.

"Are you saying I woke up in the bottom of some super-dangerous dungeon?"

"Yes."

"…Well, that's just great."

Alfia scoffed. "You don't seem too concerned."

"Oh, trust me, I am," Sitonai muttered. "I was just hoping you'd say something less horrible."

The Deep Floors, she said. A place even seasoned adventurers couldn't reach.

And she woke up here?

Her gaze flickered back to her hands.

No divinity. No connection to the gods. Only this strange new power—mana, or whatever it's called.

Sitonai smiled again, this time with a sharper edge. "Well~ since I clearly have no idea what I'm doing here, I guess I'll just have to stick with you for now, won't I~?"

Alfia frowned. "I don't recall agreeing to that."

"But you didn't say no~"

"…Tch."

Even though she looked thoroughly unimpressed, Alfia didn't argue.

Good enough.

Sitonai dusted off her sleeves and stretched. "Alright then! Let's get moving before something else decides to drop in on us. You can walk, right?"

Alfia gave her a dry look. "I can."

"Great~ Then lead the way, Miss Grumpy~"

Alfia exhaled sharply but didn't bother responding. Instead, she turned and began walking, her posture still steady despite her earlier injuries.

Sitonai followed, her usual playful smile hiding the storm of thoughts swirling in her mind.

First, figure out this dungeon. Second, figure out what exactly happened to my powers. Third… find out why I was even brought here in the first place.

She had a bad feeling about all of this.

But for now—

She had a dungeon to survive.

Their footsteps echoed through the cavern, the dim glow of bioluminescent fungi barely lighting their way. The air was thick, damp, and heavy with the faint scent of blood and stone.

Sitonai wasn't exactly thrilled to be wandering a monster-infested dungeon, but hey, she'd take walking over sitting around waiting to get eaten.

She glanced at Alfia, who despite her earlier injuries, moved with the grace of someone completely in control of her body. Even weakened, she carried herself with confidence, her posture never slouching, her steps never faltering.

It was kind of impressive.

Then—

"You said something strange earlier."

Sitonai blinked.

"Oh?" she mused, tilting her head innocently. "Did I?"

Alfia shot her a sharp look. "You mentioned 'Divinity.'"

Ah.

Sitonai let out a hum, already knowing where this was going.

"You're not a Pallum, an Elf, or any other race I know of," Alfia continued. "And if you had 'divinity'… then what are you?" Her violet eyes darkened slightly. "Are you a god?"

A god?

Sitonai burst into giggles.

"Ara~ Do I really look that regal and all powerful?"

Alfia didn't react to the teasing, her expression unreadable. She wasn't the type to make careless assumptions—but she also wasn't the type to ignore strange anomalies.

Sitonai smiled, but this time, it lacked her usual playfulness.

"Nah. I'm not a god." She paused, thinking for a moment before adding, "Or at least, I'm technically not."

Alfia narrowed her eyes. "Then what are you?"

Sitonai exhaled dramatically, stretching her arms over her head. "Well~ if we're being technical, I should be a Heroic Spirit, more specifically a High-Servant."

Alfia's expression didn't change, but the slight shift in her posture told Sitonai that she had no idea what that meant.

"Asking for an explanation?" Sitonai guessed.

Alfia gave a slow nod. "I've never heard of a 'Heroic Spirit' before."

"Of course you haven't~" Sitonai giggled, twirling a lock of her white hair. "Because I doubt this world has any."

Alfia's frown deepened. "What does that mean?"

Sitonai slowed her steps slightly, letting the question settle in her mind.

How much should I even say?

It wasn't like explaining her situation would change anything. But still…

Her gaze flickered down to her hand—the same hand that had wielded magic just moments ago, but without divinity.

This world had changed her.

But it hadn't erased her.

Sitonai let out a breath.

"From what I can tell, I'm not from this world, so I'll just explain it in a way that would probably make sense."

Alfia listened in silence.

"They are beings that had such an effect on the world that they have been memorialized into spirits."

Sitonai glanced at her, then smiled. "In simpler terms~ We're dead people who got turned into summonable warriors."

Alfia's eyebrows furrowed slightly. "You're saying you died?"

Sitonai tilted her head. "Something like that~"

Or at least, that's what should've been the case.

But now?

Now she wasn't sure anymore.

Because Heroic Spirits were not meant to exist as normal people. They were records, echoes of the past, bound to the Throne of Heroes.

Yet here she was. Walking, talking, breathing. Not even as a spirit, but as something fully alive.

Her fingers curled slightly.

And not even with the power I'm supposed to have…

Alfia studied her carefully. "You're being vague."

"You know how I said I'm probably not from this world?"

Alfia didn't answer immediately.

Then—

"…I've seen stranger things."

Sitonai blinked.

"Oh?" She grinned. "No disbelief? No 'that's impossible!?'"

Alfia scoffed. "If I dismissed everything that sounded absurd, I would've died a long time ago."

Hah.

Sitonai kind of liked her.

"Well, in that case~" She twirled on her heel, walking backward as she continued, "I used to be a normal girl, you know~ Just an ordinary, modern-day girl living in a world with no magic, no gods, and definitely no giant dungeons trying to kill people for fun."

Alfia's gaze sharpened slightly at that.

A world with no magic? No gods?

It sounded ridiculous. And yet—

She had no reason to lie.

Sitonai clasped her hands behind her back, rocking on her heels. "And now, here I am! Dropped into the depths of a dungeon, forced to figure out why my, or Sitonai's powers don't work the way they should~"

She giggled.

"But hey, could be worse, right?"

Sitonai nonchalantly shrugged.

Alfia didn't respond right away.

Instead, she turned her gaze forward, lost in thought.

A Heroic Spirit. A being of legend from another world. Someone who died and should have never been here to begin with.

And yet—

Here she was.

Alfia exhaled slowly. "If you're telling the truth, then you are even more of an anomaly than I first thought."

Sitonai simply smiled. "Oh~? Does that mean you're interested in me, Miss Grumpy~?"

Alfia shot her a flat look. "No."

Sitonai giggled.

"But I'm very interested in you~"

But behind that playful facade, her thoughts were still racing.

Her powers weren't the same. Her connection to the divine was gone. And her very existence here was unnatural.

Why?

Well, time would tell, and since there was no Lostbelt or anything related to her original universe, she would just treat it as a vacation.

---

A/N:

This is technically an Isekai? But the original person doesn't know anything about danmachi. But to be honest, even if you knew about the plot, what can you even do?

It's fucking talent gacha for gods sake.

Also, now that I think about it, theres a lot of servants that I originally wanted to put into this world cause the synergy.

Like oda nobunaga. Cause if you have a falna you're taking steps towards divinity so wouldn't her noble phantasm be like broken towards adventurers?

But sitonai's personality is basically illya's and it's easier to write rather than nobunaga, which I have little info of, cause my only knowledge of fate is the (lore heavy) fanfics that are PEAK and me just looking around the wiki.

BUT! I will not have another transmigrator. I personally don't like those types of stories.