Like a Dungeon Crawler (Yakuza/Danmachi, Celestial Grimoire)

[Ebiris]

I'm trying to push myself into writing more, and a Celestial X type story gives a good method for getting off the ground. You've got the dopamine hit of spinning the gacha, and the inevitable complications from new powers and items giving directions to write in even if you're struggling to hold a plot together! Also Danmachi has the whole problem of either having to give your viewpoint character the same kind of accelerated growth as Bell has, or else accept that they're going to be basically static in terms of power while staying in the time-frame of the story. So just having an entirely bullshit progression mechanic sidesteps all of that!

I'm using Celestial Grimoire: A Complete Compendium Second Edition with 100 points being banked per 1000 words, rolling every 1000 words. If a perk requires a prerequisite the prerequisite is taken instead/in addition depending on budget. The first perk rolled is acquired regardless of cost (these two points in fact combine as things play out).

edit: From approximately chapter 4 the grimoire changes to the Yggdrasil v2.5 version.

I reserve the right to re-roll perks if I think they're dumb or unsuitable. For two examples, I rolled an item that gave thousands of tags you can stick to clothes to change their appearance, and I rolled for a flute that controls magitech. The first was just stupid and pointless, the second has no value in the Danmachi setting, so both were ignored and re-rolled.

I'm tempted to re-roll if I keep getting stuff from the same setting coming up in quick succession, just because that always bugs me when I see it, but thus far I've held back from that temptation. It's random, that can happen after all.

Click to shrink...

"I'm sorry Ichi. You have to die for me."​

A single gunshot tore through him and he fell. Was it the impact of the bullet, or the sting of betrayal that hurt the most? And yet despite it all, as his vision faded and he stared back at Masumi Arakawa's eyes, Ichiban Kasuga couldn't see hatred in the old man's gaze even as his own went black. There was something he was missing, a mystery that begged to be solved to make sense of receiving this kind of welcome after spending eighteen years imprisoned for the sake of the Arakawa Family.

But the bullet that just ripped through his chest put its own conclusion on the story, before Ichiban could unravel it.

He didn't expect to see anything again. Every yakuza had heard stories of bodies being buried in shallow graves up in the mountains, even if they hadn't been tasked with that grisly job themselves. Surely that's what awaited Ichiban after being gunned down by his own patriarch.

"Ahhh! Tcch- tcch! That stings!" the words came out of his mouth automatically as he felt a hissing pain in his chest, shocking him to wakefulness, causing him to sit up abruptly and slap a hand to his chest, feeling a wetness over it before a hand grabbed his wrist and pulled it back.

"Hold still, you'll mess up the healing," a soft feminine voice spoke as his eyes managed to focus on a woman standing above him. Light brown hair messily framed a cute but inexpressive face, a strand falling between wide purple eyes that regarded him critically.

The burning sensation in his chest was fading, but he felt a tickling sensation in his throat, a cough burbling up that was impossible to resist. He tried pulling his hand up over his mouth but found the woman's grip on his wrist similarly impossible to resist, and so he simply turned to the side and hacked out a fierce cough, a wad of phlegm-stained spit splattering onto the dusty cobblestones below.

"That's not so bad," another voice spoke up, "No lung damage at least. Are you feeling better, Mister…?"

The voice trailed off and Ichiban turned to look at its owner, seeing a man that if anything might've been prettier than the woman he noticed first, with gentle androgynous features and long purplish black hair. Definitely a bishonen type. Still, an introduction was called for, and finally the woman's grip on his arm abated enough for him to pull it back and push himself upwards against the wall he was seemingly reclining against. "Kasuga," he answered, feeling a faint rasp still in his throat that nonetheless faded as he forced more words out. "Ichiban Kasuga." Now no longer being stopped, he pulled at his shirt, poking through the obvious bullet-hole and pressing his finger against the seemingly whole flesh underneath. It felt tender, enough to impress on him the reality that he had in fact been shot and it wasn't a strange dream.

"Did you… heal me?" he asked, looking up at the pair who were leaning over him, pushing himself up to his feet and seeing them straighten up to match. The man was as tall as Ichiban was, both of them towering over the woman who was about a head shorter. From this vantage he could see over the top of her head, her shoulder length hair oddly styled with two flaps coming out the top of her head that kind of looked like dog ears.

His surroundings too were strange as he began to take note, seeing a shop-front that looked like something out of a fantasy video game, rustic wood-framed windows and displaying beakers and flasks that looked like stereotypical healing potions.

"Well, we couldn't just leave you to bleed out when you'd made it right to our doorstep," the man said in an affable tone. "Consider this one on the house, Ichiban."

The woman's expression twisted unhappily in the most emotion he'd seen from him thus far, and it wasn't hard to see the potential landmine there. As if he could simply let it lie anyway, Ichiban Kasuga was a man who paid his debts! "No, no!" he waved his hands towards them both, "You saved my life! I don't have much cash on me right now," in fact pushing a hand into his pocket confirmed his wallet was missing, though he wasn't sure he had enough yen in it to cover life-saving possibly magical health-care anyway.

Assuming yen was worth anything… wherever he was.

He bowed his head apologetically and continued, "But once I get some cash together I'll definitely pay back what I owe, and in the meantime if there's anything I can do to help you out just let me know!"

The woman sighed and looked at him like he was pond scum, clearly not thinking much of his promise, but the man gave a genial laugh and said, "Well a man has to pay his debts, of course. The healing potion we used on you was worth four-"

"Five," the woman interrupted curtly.

"Five hundred valis," the man finished smoothly, an apologetic grimace on his face.

"Right. Valis," Ichiban said, that putting into focus what he'd had percolating in his mind since he first started understanding his surroundings. "About that, could you tell me where we are? And how I got here?"

"Well, you're in front of our store," the man said, bemused as he indicated the shop-front behind him, the three of them all in an alleyway that wasn't big enough to drive a car down, old-fashioned cobblestones underfoot. "We assumed you must have dragged yourself here from the Dungeon… or maybe you got mugged?" his tone turned more sympathetic at that last possibility, "And passed out. That was quite an injury you had, whatever punctured you went right through your chest, but managed to miss anything vital."

The boss was a good shot. For him to have missed anything vital…

Spoiler: Animal Psychic (Mind Link)

100 - Psychic Abilities - Animal Psychic (Mind Link)
World of Darkness: Sorcery
In the World of Darkness, psychic abilities and mythic sorcery are, at first glance, completely different. However, both manipulate the same powers, albeit in very different ways, and are both considered forms of linear magic. While a sorcerer utilizes numerous tools and ceremonies to harness supernatural powers, a psychic makes do with lots, and lots, of willpower. Furthermore, the majority of psychic powers are innate, and can be improved, but not gained, without outside interference, in stark contrast to sorcery.

Animal psychics have power over "lower" creatures, commanding, controlling, and communicating with various members of the animal kingdom.

[4] Mind Link - the psychic links their mind to a single animal, allowing them to perceive all the animal does, and utilize any lesser power upon them more easily so long as the link persists, which can be indefinitely if the psychic wishes it. However, should the animal be injured, psychic backlash may also injure the psychic.

(CG Note: Requires Psychic Abilities - Animal Psychic (Mass Communication) - World of Darkness: Sorcery)

100 - Psychic Abilities - Animal Psychic (Mass Communication)
World of Darkness: Sorcery
In the World of Darkness, psychic abilities and mythic sorcery are, at first glance, completely different. However, both manipulate the same powers, albeit in very different ways, and are both considered forms of linear magic. While a sorcerer utilizes numerous tools and ceremonies to harness supernatural powers, a psychic makes do with lots, and lots, of willpower. Furthermore, the majority of psychic powers are innate, and can be improved, but not gained, without outside interference, in stark contrast to sorcery.

Animal psychics have power over "lower" creatures, commanding, controlling, and communicating with various members of the animal kingdom.

[3] Mass Communication - all animals of a given species within earshot come under the effects of Communication. Additional species can be added, but doing so is more taxing for the psychic.

(CG Note: Requires Psychic Abilities - Animal Psychic (Command) - World of Darkness: Sorcery)

100 - Psychic Abilities - Animal Psychic (Command)
World of Darkness: Sorcery
In the World of Darkness, psychic abilities and mythic sorcery are, at first glance, completely different. However, both manipulate the same powers, albeit in very different ways, and are both considered forms of linear magic. While a sorcerer utilizes numerous tools and ceremonies to harness supernatural powers, a psychic makes do with lots, and lots, of willpower. Furthermore, the majority of psychic powers are innate, and can be improved, but not gained, without outside interference, in stark contrast to sorcery.

Animal psychics have power over "lower" creatures, commanding, controlling, and communicating with various members of the animal kingdom.

[2] Command - the psychic may now command an animal to perform a single act in their name, but not one that endangers the animal. Especially complex commands, or orders that the animal is adverse to follow, are harder to impose.

(CG Note: Requires Psychic Abilities - Animal Psychic (Communication) - World of Darkness: Sorcery)

100 - Psychic Abilities - Animal Psychic (Communication)
World of Darkness: Sorcery
In the World of Darkness, psychic abilities and mythic sorcery are, at first glance, completely different. However, both manipulate the same powers, albeit in very different ways, and are both considered forms of linear magic. While a sorcerer utilizes numerous tools and ceremonies to harness supernatural powers, a psychic makes do with lots, and lots, of willpower. Furthermore, the majority of psychic powers are innate, and can be improved, but not gained, without outside interference, in stark contrast to sorcery.

Animal psychics have power over "lower" creatures, commanding, controlling, and communicating with various members of the animal kingdom.

[1] Communication - the psychic may create a two-way channel of communication between themselves and one animal of choice. At this level, they cannot forcefully control them, but they can turn whatever fast-talking powers they have upon the bird or beast.

The thought trailed off, Ichiban's expression turning slack as something turned itself over in his brain.

"Ugh, you're drooling," the woman's soft but scornful voice broke through the sudden reverie.

"Maybe there was a head injury I missed," the man said, sounding more worried.

"No, it's not that!" Ichiban blurted out, making sure to nonetheless wipe the back of his hand over his chin, indeed feeling moisture there. "I know how to talk to animals now!"

Two stares met him, one incredibly nonplussed, the other radiating gentle concern. "Perhaps another potion might be best, just to be on the safe side…" the man said, glancing at the woman.

"Argh! Nevermind!" Ichiban couldn't help himself from stamping his feet with nervous energy, putting his head in his hands as he tried to focus his thoughts and prioritise what mattered. "You didn't see anyone drop me off here or anything?" he demanded, starting with how he got here. Take things in order that way.

"No, we were opening our shop for the morning and we saw you collapsed out front right here. So you didn't make your way here yourself?" the man asked, at least willing to indulge Ichiban's questions rather than insisting on the head injury theory.

"Okay, and where's here?" he asked, looking around. In one direction the alley stretched off to a blind corner, an old wooden barrel crammed in against the wall underneath a window with wooden shutters rather than glass. In the other it seemed to open out onto a wider street, sunlight more clearly hitting there compared to the shadows they found themselves in.

"Our shop. The Miach familia?" the man answered, looking concerned at Ichiban's clear lack of recognition. "I'm Miach, and this is my dear captain, Naaza."

The now named Naaza retained her inscrutable expression, looking up at Ichiban with barely concealed disdain, but a flash of movement behind her stood out, a swish of brown contrasting the yellow and blue sweater she had on, the same shade as her hair…

It was a tail. She was wagging her tail. Those flaps on her head weren't weird configurations of hair, they were ears. Like a spaniel dog!

Ichiban swallowed. It was clear he was in some kind of fantasy world. He would've expected elves ahead of dog people. He would've even expected cat people first. But his brain was already acclimatising to the possibility, he wasn't going to make an ass of himself by calling her a dog and probably finding out that was a heinous slur in this world.

Also terms like familia and captain were putting him on a more firm footing. His experience as a yakuza would be just as relevant as those long hours staying up playing Dragon Quest.

"Okay, and so where is here more generally? Like the town, or the… world?" he asked, gesturing vaguely around.

The looks the two were giving him suggested head injury was once more under consideration.

"This is the Dungeon city of Orario, the world is Genkai," Miach explained, his tone gentle like one might use with a small child. "You didn't know that?"

"No, uh. Never heard of either," Ichiban shook his head. "I'm from Tokyo." Looks of polite incomprehension. "Japan," zero reaction, "Earth? The solar system? The Milky Way galaxy?" his voice pitched up a bit desperately at the end, Miach and Naaza both sharing worried looks by the end of it.

"We've never heard of any of those places. Could it be a false memory or delusion?" Naaza spoke up for the pair, her expression showing more interest now as she looked at Ichiban like a puzzle to be solved.

"There are lots of fashions all around Genkai," Miach said more thoughtfully, "But your clothes still stand out for Orario…"

Ichiban braced himself for some sort of crack about his hair, but it never came. He wasn't sure whether to be relieved or disappointed by it.

"That gold necklace would be worth some valis, you can't have been lying out here long without someone grabbing it," Naaza added, her eyes narrowing.

"It's true, many would simply seek what they could acquire rather than concerning themselves with helping someone in need," Miach said, causing Naaza's cheeks to redden and bulge out in a momentary pout. Miach continued undeterred however, asking Ichiban, "What's the last thing you remember before waking up here?"

And wasn't that question a kick in the ass.

"I'm sorry Ichi. You have to die for me."

He replayed the words in his memory, Arakawa's eyes trying to convey something he wasn't smart enough to figure out. A hand went to his chest again, finger catching in the hole in his shirt. "The boss… he shot me," he answered, voice rough and gaze turned to the side, unable to look at his strange benefactors as he tried to make sense of everything. Frustration bubbled up and he kicked at the wall behind him. "Raargh, I've got enough to try and figure out! The boss shooting me after I spent eighteen years in jail for him, betraying the Tojo Clan and signing up with the Omi Alliance, and somehow I've gotten myself lost in another fantasy world! Are there elves and monsters and magic here too?!" he blurted out, rounding back on Miach and Naaza.

"Well yes. Why wouldn't there be?" Naaza asked as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

He couldn't help but laugh at that simple response. Indeed, why wouldn't there be? That stuff was normal for this world, as normal as yakuza and hosts and cars back home.

"Oh I'm so screwed," he concluded, letting out a harsh laugh. If this had happened at any other time in his life he'd have been fine with it. A fun fantasy adventure just like in the video games he loved, he could imagine himself with a sword battling a dragon… it would be great. But right now he kept coming back to Arakawa's face as he fired the gun.

"Lord Miach, Miss Naaza! Good morning!" a fresh sounding cheerful voice interrupted their strange stand-off, all three turning to see someone coming down the alleyway from the street. He looked young, a brown jacket worn over black clothes, white hair on his head that might've made him look like a delinquent pretty-boy if not for the wholesome good-boy energy his earnest smile radiated. "Oh, am I interrupting something?" he asked as he grew near, giving Ichiban a quizzical glance.

"Oh no, nothing like that, young Bell," Miach answered breezily. "Just another patient, are you stocking up for another day in the Dungeon?"

Ichiban simply gave a little nod and a, "Yo," as Bell nodded to the question.

"Lady Hestia and Miss Eina both insisted I never go down there without some potions for emergencies, and I used one yesterday when a goblin managed to knock me over, so I just need one to keep my reserve up," the young man explained.

"You should listen to those women, they know what's best," Miach chuckled fondly, "Naaza, why don't you get Bell sorted out? And Ichiban, would you like to come in as well for some tea? I feel like there's many more mysteries we need to solve here."

"Haha, yeah sure," Ichiban agreed with a ragged chuckle as everyone went into the nearby shop, Naaza leading Bell towards the counter, shelves full of more obvious magical potions behind it. It was hard not to feel cheered up by listening to someone talk about fighting actual goblins like that. "You knock those goblins dead, kid!" he gave Bell a thumbs up.

"I will!" the boy replied with enthusiasm, fiddling with his satchel to pay Naaza for the potion. If that's what they used to heal him at least it meant the five hundred valis he owed probably wasn't an exorbitant sum.

As Bell left the store, Miach and Ichiban got settled in a room behind a beaded curtain, where the fantasy alchemy mood was even stronger with more squiggly looking glasswork and burners, and plenty of herbs both hanging off hooks and filling jars. Miach seemed to be using it for something more mundane however as he heated up a kettle and poured what Ichiban's nose could readily identify as green tea.

"Appreciate it," Ichiban said as the pretty-boy young man served him a cup, pouring one for himself and a third for Naaza who rejoined them with no one else needing her to serve them at the front of the store. A sip sent warmness through his chest and left a sweet grassy flavour on his tongue. "This is nice, thanks," he said approvingly, before pleasantries were put aside and they got to the real questions. "So… goblins, huh?"

"They're weak," Naaza spoke up. "But they still kill their share of beginner adventurers. Numbers can make up for what they lack. You really don't know? About Orario? The Dungeon?" she peered at him intensely, sitting on a stool by the alchemy workbench.

"I mean, I've heard of goblins, but only in stories and games. They're not real where I come from," Ichiban answered, before feeling out the word that described their genre. "They're fantasy."

Fantasy didn't feel right when Naaza had just talked about them killing adventurers though. Fantasy was fun. Fantasy was what scantily clad babes hanging outside of soaplands promised to their potential costumers. Fantasy was an escape from the drab and dreary reality. These two would probably find a ride on the subway to be equally fantastic as he'd find anything here.

"Well, it's quite real here," Miach said, seeming to accept Ichiban's answer without issue, though Naaza's expression twisted in a fashion that suggested she wasn't entirely happy with his answer. "Orario was built on top of the Dungeon from which monsters emerged, goblins being but the least of them. A thousand years ago they threatened to overrun all of Genkai, but with the help of the Gods the people pushed them back here to the Dungeon. A great plug was built on top of it that you can see from anywhere in the city, the Tower of Babel. And to this day adventurers plumb its depths to think the number of monsters and harvest their valuable magic stones and other useful materials."

That sounded important to Ichiban. "This dungeon… what's at the bottom of it?" he asked, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees.

But neither of the two had an answer for him. Naaza looked away, while Miach merely shrugged. "No one knows. The deeper one gets, the more difficult the terrain and the more powerful the monsters. My own familia has never made it past the middle floors."

Naaza visibly tensed up at that, one of her hands clutching at the opposite bicep, and Miach reached over to rest his hand atop her gloved one at the bottom of that arm, causing her to relax slightly while Miach continued in a serious tone, "It's incredibly dangerous that deep, no matter how brave and prepared you are."

Definitely felt like there was a story there, but it wasn't his to ask. Not when he'd just met them and already had the impression Naaza didn't think much of him. But still the setup felt obvious. Down at the bottom of that dungeon no one else had made it to, there'd be some kind of portal or wish-granting device or something that could bring him back to Japan. It made the most sense looking at this like it was a fantasy story or game, the dungeon was the obstacle to overcome, and the prize waited at the bottom.

"And you've really never heard of Japan, or heard of anyone appearing like me who doesn't know all this stuff?" he asked, just to make sure he wasn't missing anything in terms of precedent for his arrival here.

"Never," Miach answered firmly. "Your story is… quite unprecedented, young Ichiban."

That drew a chuckle. Being called young by a guy who probably hadn't cracked twenty five. Though it sounded like he was a patriarch so that kind of attitude wasn't unreasonable. Any further comment was derailed however by the sudden appearance of a round metal bottle suddenly appearing on his lap.

Spoiler: Magical Canteen

200 - Magical Canteen
Danmachi
While people can go on for a few days without food but water is a must to allow your body to operate. This canteen possesses an ability to produce water on its own and the water it produces is some of the tastiest and freshest water out there. The water also has the ability to restore the drinker's stamina and refreshes their tired mind though it won't restore the mind energy that you used for the magic spell but the water can be used to replace food for three days with a diminishing return until you stop substituting real food for it this water.

"What the-" he raised his hands, tea sloshing around the cup he still had in one of them. Miach's eyebrow rose up and Naaza leaned forward intently.

"Where did that come from?" she asked, eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"I don't know, it just did!" Ichiban answered, putting his teacup aside on the shelf to his side and picking up the bottle. Liquid sloshed around inside and he unscrewed the cap, holding it under his nose. "Doesn't smell like anything…"

"Let me check," Naaza insisted, standing up and holding her hand out, this one not wearing a glove. "I'm a pharmacist, I can discern if it's poison or something useful."

Seeing no reason not to, Ichiban handed the mysteriously appearing canteen across to the dog-girl who gave it a sniff herself before turning towards the workbench, pouring a few drops into a clear beaker. The liquid that came out was clear and certainly looked and behaved like water.

"I take it you've never had anything like that happen before?" Miach asked as Naaza muttered to herself, igniting a burner under the beaker and crouching slightly to watch as it began to bubble and steam.

"No. Uh, Miss Naaza, is there a label or marker or anything on the bottle?" he asked, distracting her enough to turn it around a few times in her hands, the flat grey metal catching the light off the burner but not reflecting much, its finish a dull matte. The black cap was attached to the neck with a small cord, and it looked like something you'd take camping rather than anything suspicious.

"It's unlabelled. No residue from boiling either," Naaza reported, turning back to the sample she'd poured out which by now had mostly boiled away. She stirred the remainder with a wooden stick which she then took out and examined closely. Seemingly satisfied, she dabbed it with her finger and licked said finger afterwards.

"Water," she announced under the expectant gazes of the two men. Her tail swished behind her and she poured from the canteen a little more into a cup which she then took a proper drink from, holding it in her mouth with her lips closed, clearly swilling it before she swallowed. It made him think of a sommelier testing a wine batch. Thankfully she didn't spit it out, she indeed swallowed it. "It's good," she said, her disaffected tone saying one thing and the happy motion of her tail saying another as she seemed to be categorising her reaction to it. "Very crisp, very clear. I think it would make for a good potion base."

Despite the wagging of her tail, she gave Ichiban a look that he wasn't too dense to pick up on. "Well you're the pharmacist, why don't you pour it out to keep as much as you need yourself? You'd get more out of it than I would, and you've already given me a drink," he offered jovially, retrieving his by now lukewarm tea for a sip.

Naaza gave him a smile for the first time in their brief acquaintance and proceeded to start pouring out the mysterious canteen enough to fill up the beaker she'd been using, then pausing in confusion as she finished, giving the bottle a shake in her hand. The tone of the sloshing they could all hear didn't quite line up with how much water would be expected to still be in it after pouring out that much, and the dog-girl proceeded to lean over a cauldron that was larger than the bottle, pouring it out… and all three of them watched as the water level rose in the cauldron to reach the brim, no slowing from the bottle before Naaza tilted it back upright.

"It's still full," she reported dully.

"Naaza, may I?" Miach asked, standing up now and reaching out, the dumbfounded captain handing the apparently endless bottle to her patriarch who took a sniff from it himself before pouring some into his teacup and drinking that. "It's more than just water," he said after consuming it, "There's a slight restorative effect. Nothing as strong as a healing potion, but in some ways better at what it does. Alleviating fatigue, easing hunger… you're right this would make a tremendous base for a healing potion, but even by itself it's still quite wondrous." Naaza's eyes tracked the bottle like a hawk as Miach stoppered it and handed it back to Ichiban like he was handling something precious. "That's quite a gift you received, Ichiban."

"Yeah, uh, I guess…" he took it back a bit numbly. It wasn't exactly the sword of the legendary hero, but still every adventurer needed something to drink on their quest. It and the ability to talk to animals that he'd put on the back-burner with everything else going on certainly made for an unconventional hero class, but he could hardly say he was being given nothing here.

"I think this is a sign," he said, marshalling his thoughts. "None of us know how I got here, and none of us know what's at the bottom of this dungeon. An arduous journey into the unknown… and I've got something to keep my energy up on that journey. Whether it's a way home or an answer as to how I got here… it's at the bottom of that dungeon, I just know it."

Miach smiled sadly at that, while Naaza openly grimaced. It was the man who spoke first. "I admire your resolve, Ichiban. It's true there are mysteries begging to be solved here, but I've seen too many children go into the Dungeon and never return. I would advise you to prepare carefully, and if you can find allies to help you on this quest."

"Join a familia," Naaza seconded, her eyes darting towards Miach before refocusing on Ichiban. "That's the first step for any adventurer."

"I've already got one," Ichiban answered, jerking a thumb against his chest – and reminding himself once more of the bullet-hole marking his shirt. There was certainly significance there, but despite everything, Arakawa had never actually expelled him. "I'm an Arakawa Family man, to the end."

Naaza sighed softly at that. "Arakawa's not here though, are they? They're on your other world, in the Milky Way galaxy," she almost seemed to be fighting a smile as she said that, and Ichiban chalked it up as a win that she'd steadily gotten more expressive as they spent time together. "I don't think they'd begrudge you seeking help to get home."

"Maybe not," he admitted, ducking his head briefly before meeting Naaza's eyes, "But I want to be able to look him in the eye when I get back and tell him that I never wavered. Not for eighteen years, not for however long I spent here in Genkai."

"That's a man's resolve, Naaza," Miach said in an approvingly fond tone of voice, "No god nor beast can overrule that. But still Ichiban, I hope you'll accept help on this undertaking even if you won't join a familia formally. I'm sure Orario will seem strange to you, there's a lot to take in and understand even before seeing the Dungeon itself."

"I will," Ichiban nodded, glad Miach seemed to get him. "And I'll pay you back properly for saving my life too, that's a man's resolve too!"

Miach laughed at that while Naaza seemed considerably less amused. She still spoke up with her own advice, "Well if you need money before you explore the Dungeon there's a pawn shop down on the other side of the alley we're in. They'd buy that necklace of yours," her gaze sharpened and she leaned forward, "Whatever they'd offer you for that bottle wouldn't be a fair price. A lot of people would kill you for it. Be careful who you show that kind of thing to."

Even the ever genial Miach wore a serious expression as Naaza delivered her warning. He figured with magic and healing potions around it wouldn't be that big a deal, but that didn't necessarily mean anything. He knew a guy in the joint who'd killed someone for his phone.

"I get you. But no one will know from just looking, right?" he asked, receiving nods from the locals as he fastened the bottle to his belt using the loop connecting the cap to the bottle. It was too big to fit in any of his pockets as it was, but didn't feel bad hanging there.

"If you want to learn about the Dungeon, the Pantheon would be a good place to start," Miach spoke up once Ichiban had finished messing with the magical endless water bottle. "That's the head office of the Guild which regulates Orario. They probably won't take you seriously if you're not in a registered familia, but their information is still available to all. They're also the only lawful broker of magic stones, so you'll see a lot of adventurers there cashing out after a day in the Dungeon."

That sounded interesting and obviously suggested a black market in such things, but Ichiban was already struggling a bit with information overload and chose not to press on it. Besides, Miach seemed like an upstanding kind of guy – he ran a store that sold magic healing potions! He probably wasn't the person to talk to about sketchy stuff like that.

"It's not far from here, if you go out onto the main street outside our pharmacy then follow it north, it's the big building with colourful flags outside after you turn right past the cathedral," Naaza spoke up with directions while Ichiban was considering that.

"Right. That all sounds good. Pawn shop, adventurer's guild, and the dungeon's underneath the big tower you can see from anywhere, right?" Ichiban asked, boiling down the local landmarks he knew that could help him get situated. "Honestly I think I need to walk around a bit and just clear my head some anyway, this has been a hell of a way to start the day, but thank you both for all your kindness, I'll come and see you again soon to pay back what I owe."

Miach started to open his mouth before Naaza's elbow subtly pushed against his side and he instead nodded and started over, "We'll look forward to seeing you again, Ichiban. Please don't be a stranger, and remember what we said about help. The Blue Pharmacy's door is always open to you!"

"Hehe, I won't. You two take care of each other," Ichiban returned with a grin, standing up and bowing deeply to his generous benefactors before he made his way out of the shop and out onto the street just down from the alleyway he'd apparently been dumped into as his arrival point into this mysterious fantasy world.

It was bright now, the rising sun shining down from the same direction as an enormous grey tower soaring so far beyond the height of any other structures it was comical. Past that, the street itself was wide enough to admit horse drawn carriages and carts going both ways, while people went about their business. He saw a woman with big white rabbit ears chatting to a man with pointy elf ears. A boy with cat ears and a tail chasing after another boy with ram's horns in some childish game. Plenty of humans too though, or people who if they weren't human had their non-human traits so well hidden he couldn't tell the difference. It seemed peaceful. The air was fresh and clean, the atmosphere was relaxed. Despite the dungeon underneath, life on the surface seemed good at a glance.

Good enough for people like Miach and Naaza to unquestioningly heal a stranger dumped on their door with a gunshot wound.

But also not so good that they didn't assume he'd been mugged and left for dead. Naaza's warning about what people would do for a bottle of endless water also stuck in mind. Still, it couldn't be any worse than Kamurocho on a Friday night. Ichiban wasn't some wide-eyed kid waiting to be made a victim.

"Woah, that's a fat cat!" he blurted out as he spotted an enormous grey feline lounging on a window-sill beside the alley he'd emerged from.

"Hey, who do you-" an irate voice sounded from the street nearby as an older man with black cat ears sticking out above his shaggy hair started turning towards Ichiban, an arm held protectively around his widening paunch before he spotted where Ichiban was looking and chuckled ruefully. "Haha, yeah that's a well-fed fellow. Excuse me, getting a bit sensitive over the middle-aged spread."

"I getcha," Ichiban nodded understandingly, patting his own stomach which was still boasting rock solid abs from all those prison workouts, "You gotta work harder as the years pile up. Still, this guy looks happy where he is."

"We can't all live a life of leisure like that," the cat man said, though he still cast a jealous look at the relaxed feline before squaring his shoulders and heading off down the street, "Speaking of, gotta get moving. Take care buddy."

Giving him a nod back, Ichiban approached the cat that had initially garnered his interest. He had felt it earlier, the sudden realisation that he could talk to animals. It had been sidelined by everything else going on as he took in his situation with Miach and Naaza. But now he had a chance to test it…

"Hey, do you hear this?"

His face screwed up with effort as he stared at the cat without moving his mouth. And with its tail swishing off the side of the window-sill it had perched on, the cat's head turned to look directly at Ichiban with slitted pupil green eyes.

"Sup old man?"

It… no, he. Definitely a male voice. There'd been no cutesy meow, nothing verbal, just a voice beaming into Ichiban's head. It sounded relaxed but cocky. It gave Ichiban the feeling of talking to a delinquent kid hanging out outside a convenience store.

"Nothing much, just testing out this whole talking to animals business. You mind if I try something else?" he beamed more thoughts back, the cat opening its mouth in reply but only to yawn as he stretched his limbs out.

"Okay, but scratch my belly. Just a bit though. Too much and I'll get mad."

"Haha, that's a cat alright," he chuckled out loud, approaching the cat and reaching out to stroke his fingers into the downy fur hanging around the cat's expansive waistline. Focusing on this strange new power, he further linked his mind to the cat's and…

"Woah."

He could feel his own hand scratching 'his' belly, and adjusted where he was dragging his fingers to where felt better. He could hear up and down the street – it was hard to pick out specific conversations but the overall noise was far more than his human ears were able to pick out. Seeing through the cat's eyes he saw himself in its vision, the colours muted so the red suit he wore seemed more washed out, and his facial features were indistinct, merging together with the explosive punch perm around his head. Cat vision wasn't very good, but smell? He could smell the lingering metallic hint of blood on his clothes, the tea lingering on his breath. Other scents from the street were easily picked up too, a girl's strong floral perfume picked up from the other side of the road, the waft of baking bread from a nearby window…

It was a lot to take in, just the senses of one lazy cat basking in the sun. Which felt really good on his dark fur, he could definitely see the appeal in this sort of life. Though he also felt a building irritation which caused him to stop scratching and pull his hand back before the cat got mad as he promised.

"Thanks. That was a big help," he 'thought' to the cat, retracting the mind-link but not before hearing the casual reply.

"Any time, old man. That was a good scratch."

As magical abilities went it wasn't exactly what he would have picked first in this situation, but just being able to benefit from an animal's senses would surely have tons of uses, and they might be good for gathering information or even fighting on his behalf. He hadn't wanted to disturb the cat's rest to test it, but everything else worked as expected and part of this psychic ability included being able to command animals too, and not just one at a time either. He imagined sending a flock of pigeons to barrage a goblin and smiled to himself and started to head down the street.

There was a big building of white stone and pointed steeples ahead, surrounded by parkland, which was probably the cathedral Naaza had mentioned. Circling around it brought him to an even wider street which seemed to run straight towards that huge tower… just looking at the way it overshadowed everything around it reminded him a bit of the Millennium Tower back in Kamurocho. It had been nice seeing that place finally built when he'd gotten out of prison, but he was pretty sure it wasn't as tall as this Tower of Babel, which really put the fantasy architecture into perspective if it could beat out a modern skyscraper. It made it pretty easy to orient yourself wherever you were in this city too, and he followed the road towards it until he saw the building with the colourful flags outside that Naaza had told him to watch out for.

It wasn't hard to spot, if not the flags he probably would have spotted it just from the number of armed and armoured people coming and going outside it. The crowd wasn't so overbearing it stopped him from going inside though, finding it oddly looking like a bank when he got in, the disparate looks of the adventurers clearly contrasting with the neat black office attire of the clerks serving them behind a row of counters at the far end of the foyer.

But then his eyes caught on something that absolutely screamed 'Adventurer's Guild' to his untrained eye. A noticeboard with flyers pinned up all over it. What was clearly a quest board! Seeing people ambling around it more casually than the organised lines up towards the counters, he decided to go give that a look first to get his bearings.

Unfortunately when he got there, a problem became apparent. These people had a completely different alphabet! He could read the numbers – what were probably payout rewards, or numbers of items requested. But the actual words? They looked a bit like English letters if he squinted, which he wound up doing… at least there were pictures on some of them, showing what looked like various monster. A minotaur, some kind of butterfly, a dog or wolf, an… armadillo? That looked like an armadillo.

He'd gotten fairly distracted looking at the pictures that he didn't notice someone sidle up next to him until she spoke. "Hey old man, you look like you've been around the block a few times, got a tip for a newbie?"

Turning, he saw a dark-skinned girl looking up at him, her black hair in a sporty side-ponytail while she wore a crop top and short skirt that left quite a lot of skin exposed. That skin also happened to show a defined musculature, making clear this girl was no stranger to the gym. She gave a beaming pearly-teethed smile up at him and pointed to one of the flyers as she spoke, "Me and my friends want to go hunt purple moths but they're a pain to find. You know any good spots they like to spawn?"

Her smile. Her expectation. They were blinding! Ichiban felt himself shrinking under the weight of her gaze. "Uh, well, y'see…" he started, wanting to just admit his ignorance but also feeling like he was failing to measure up to the expectations put on him, when mercifully someone else interrupted.

"A good spot to hunt purple moths?" they both turned to see a pointy-eared elf with slicked back blond hair adjusting his round glasses over his nose. "Go down to the seventh floor using the southern-most stairs on the sixth floor. Turn left, then go straight past both intersections – keep straight, then turn right at the T-junction, you come out on a crevasse over a pit down to the ninth floor. The moths like to spawn to attack people crossing over the bridge, but most people just run past because you need ranged weapons to fight them there and even if they drop they fall down the pit. But if you lure them back to the passage on either side you'll be able to fight them there!"

He spoke breathlessly but precisely, drawing impressed looks from both Ichiban and the girl. Her smile widened and she shimmied her hips from side to side, "Heyyy, you know your stuff Glasses!" she said playfully, her hand reaching out to push his chest.

At which point he teetered back, arms wind-milling before he tumbled onto his ass with a startled cry. The girl remained frozen with her arm outstretched before her face morphed into a look of pure disgust, eyes narrowed and lips pinched. "Eww. Never mind," she said curtly, turning away even as Ichiban reached down to try and help the poor guy up.

Face red, the elf's voice cracked as he retorted, "You're not supposed to touch elves! It's rude!" only receiving an even more rude gesture from the girl as she walked away to join several other tittering dark-skinned girls. Meanwhile Ichiban suddenly let go of the guy's arm he'd been using to try and help him up, causing him to drop again. "Not you!" he huffed, pulling himself up and dusting himself off. "Sorry. I don't really mind the touching thing, it's just an old tradition I used to try and save face." Letting out a forlorn sigh, he turned fully towards Ichiban and bowed, "My name is Orin Redleaf. Thank you for helping me just now."

"Hey, no problem. My name's Ichiban Kasuga," Ichiban introduced himself in turn, feeling a bit awkward over the whole situation. "That was kinda rough, huh?"

"Yes. I shouldn't be surprised. Muscle-head amazons like her only understand mindless brute strength," Orin complained, taking off his glasses and wiping them with a handkerchief before putting them back on and folding his arms over the yellow tunic he had on. "The Dungeon devours the foolish. Wisdom and knowledge are the greatest weapons of the wise and I have exercised my formidable mental talents towards becoming a true scholar of the Dungeon. Every adventurer inevitably reaches their physical limit, the wall beyond which no amount of effort and will can break. And those are the lucky ones that don't simply end up as bones in a forgotten cave. But I have cast off those shackles, so that my glorious mind can explore its depths without limitation. Every day I consult maps to see how the Dungeon has changed, I read reports of monster activity, I study journals of expeditions. While a foolish muscle-head will struggle to ever see even the Under-Resort, I have already explored beyond the White Palace using the power of my minds eye. Every day I expand my knowledge, coming closer and closer to the Ultimate Theory of the Dungeon!"

His voice picked up quite a bit as he went on there, his arms waving expansively as he gesticulated to make his points, yet few people paid attention other than to shoot pitying looks towards him, while Ichiban simply listened patiently. "So, uh… have you ever actually been in the dungeon?" he asked the inevitable and obvious question.

"Are you crazy?! I'd die!" Orin immediately answered with a complete lack of shame.

"Right. Yeah. That checks out," Ichiban agreed tiredly. "So what's your goal with this? Why are you aiming towards this Ultimate Theory of the Dungeon?" He was starting to get that it was a proper noun thing and not just one of many dungeons like you'd see in a video-game. Made him wonder how they came up with the name.

"What man wouldn't want to solve the greatest mystery of our time?" Orin answered. "My dream is to have my wisdom recognised by a familia, so I can join them and combine my perfect theoretical knowledge with their adventurers' skills to unravel its every last mystery. But no familia wants to take someone who can't fight. My parents say I should just get a job with the Guild, but it's not the same."

"I get it," Ichiban nodded, at least thinking he did. "Safe government job is the kind of thing parents usually push their kids to, but you want to be part of a family actually getting in on the action, huh?"

"Yes!" Orin nodded briskly. "And if I could join the Loki familia, then maybe Nine Hells would notice me…" his cheeks reddened and he pressed his fingers together.

That didn't exactly sound like a nice name, but every other signal he was putting out… "This Nine Hells a girl?" Ichiban asked knowingly, only for Orin to sputter and his eyes to bug out behind his glasses.

"A guh-guh-girl?! Th-that's Riveria Ljos Alf! Leader of the elite Fairy Force! Master of nine magics! More beautiful than any goddess! She's not just a girl! She's… she's… perfect…" he trailed off with a dreamy smile, eyes staring far away and surely conjuring images of this wondrous being with the minds eye he'd earlier bragged about solving the Dungeon with.

"Okay, buddy. Um… good luck then!" Ichiban gave a smile and nod before edging away from the now day-dreaming elf. On the plus side, it looked like the crowds had thinned out, giving him a clear shot towards the clerks, so he walked down a rope-cordoned path towards a red-haired woman with cat (or maybe dog? They seemed a bit fuller than cat ears he'd seen, more like a shiba inu than Naaza's spaniel) ears. With her neat black vest and white shirt she gave off a strong office lady energy despite any animal traits and gave Ichiban a polite customer service smile at his approach.

"Hey there," he smiled back at her, "Name's Ichiban Kasuga. I'm kind of new around here and I was looking for some help getting started with the Dungeon, Miach and Naaza said this was the place to start?" He figured since they ran a potion store that was nearby to the Guild office they'd be well known enough that name-dropping them wouldn't hurt.

"Good morning Mr. Kasuga," the woman responded, keeping her eyes on him as she reached for a document with more of that not-quite-English lettering on it, "My name is Rose Fannett, am I to understand you're a new member of the Miach familia?"

"Oh!" he shook his head, realising the misunderstanding he'd caused. "No, no. Not like that, we're just friends. I'm not part of any of the local families, I'm basically a freelancer here," he explained, giving her a grin and jabbing his thumb at his chest.

She didn't look impressed. Her eyes scanned him down and up, and there was a barely perceptible sigh before she brushed a lock of crimson hair back from her brow. "How old are you, Mr. Kasuga?"

"Huh? Forty two," he answered automatically, wondering why she'd ask that.

She nodded to that. "Is this some kind of mid-life crisis? Are you feeling like you haven't achieved all you set out to with your life so you've decided to throw everything aside by diving into a place that will almost certainly get you killed?" she asked, still with the same polite customer service voice even as she leaned over the counter towards him. "Have you thought about your family and the people you'll be leaving behind?"

He leaned back a little himself, intimidated by Rose's intensity. "Don't kids go into this Dungeon?" he asked, recalling the guy who'd come by to buy a potion from Naaza earlier. He couldn't have been older than fifteen.

"Yes," Rose nodded, straightening up again. "I see them go in every day, and then I stop seeing them and hope they've gotten some sense and found a better way to live. Sometimes I find out they died down there, but a lot of the time I don't, they just vanish, another forgotten unrecognisable body in its depths. Children lured by promises of wealth and glory get consumed by the Dungeon, and I've learned there's no arguing with the young." Her eyes narrowed and Ichiban definitely got a predatory intent from them that reaffirmed the whole animal features thing she had going on, "I expect better from a man who should actually have some life experience at his age."

In a way it was kind of heartening that she cared so much, that she wasn't just jaded to it all even as the apparent risks of the Dungeon now felt more substantial in his mind. Still, despite what she said earlier it wasn't like he had a family or anyone to leave behind here. The Dungeon was his only lead for actually getting out of here.

"I understand where you're coming for, but I've got my own reasons that I need to go down there," he answered, not really wanting to get into the whole 'have you ever heard of the Milky Way galaxy' thing again as it was clearly a lost cause. "Now I can just walk on over to that big tower and head down, but I'm looking for what support's available before I start, so I can at least stack things up in my favour."

Spoiler: Necromancer Lord

500- Necromancer Lord
Warhammer Fantasy: Dogs of War
All the secrets of necromancy are available to you know, and creatures bleak and terrible answer to your beck and call. Wraiths, mummies, vampires, wights, even with effort a great, rotting zombie dragon can be commanded, though those who retain the ability to think may not respond well to slavery. As well as commanding greater undead you gain access to the most terrible necromantic spells, able to slay entire towns and cities worth of people.

While those with this perk can wear magical and non-magical metal armour such as chainmail or plate mail, such equipment does make it much more difficult and much more tiring to work spells.

That might've come out better if his voice hadn't wavered halfway through, a feeling coursing through his head like earlier when he'd suddenly developed the ability to talk to animals. That one hadn't really felt like a 'hero' ability, but it was still pretty cool. Ichiban Kasuga: Horse Whisperer! That sounded good, right?

Certainly better than Ichiban Kasuga: Dark Lord of the Damned.

Why did he suddenly know how to raise zombies and ghosts? Was it because Rose was talking all morbid about how deadly the Dungeon was? Okay it wasn't all zombies, he actually suddenly knew a ton of magic, but it was all… screaming skulls, and wicked dark bolts of energy, and causing people to age into dust with a touch.

The hero was supposed to be good with a sword and have some magic towards healing and probably light or holy element! Not this!

It must have shown on his face what he was going through because Rose was looking at him with some concern now. "Are you alright, Mr. Kasuga? You seem a bit… distracted, all of a sudden."

"Ugh," he groaned and tried to shove all this evil magic knowledge into a box in the back of his head. "Sorry, last night's maybe catching up with me," he waved her off, just glad apparently he hadn't been drooling this time. "What do I need to know to get started?"

"Well to begin with, if you have problems with sudden distraction that will certainly get you killed down there," Rose answered primly. "The level of support the Guild can offer to anyone not part of a registered familia is limited. While a fit adult with training can handle the goblins and kobolds on the upper floors in ones or pairs, it gets considerably more deadly from there. The benefits of a god's blessing aren't just advantageous, they're mandatory if you hope to survive anything more than a brief exploration of the first floor. For that reason the Guild does not encourage exploration of the Dungeon by non-adventurers."

"Uh, okay," Ichiban digested that, deciding to ignore her point about distractions even though it was probably a very good one. "So a god's blessing, what kind of thing is that? Is that like… magic? Like suddenly knowing how to talk to animals or… stuff?" he asked, getting a hint that this might actually explain the weird powers he'd been receiving. And the cool water bottle. Nothing bad to say about that!

The look Rose gave him made him feel rather foolish for asking. "Yes, it can include magic sometimes, but the main blessing of falna is the improvement of physical abilities and the growth that comes with it. Though I haven't heard of anyone speaking with animals, I wouldn't be surprised if that kind of skill existed for someone out in the countryside somewhere. The Dungeon doesn't have normal animals. Some members of the Ganesha familia specialise in taming monsters, though they don't actually talk to them."

Despite everything else he had a feeling Rose was an absolute font of useful information. If you could just get her talking she'd go off on whatever you needed!

"Okay, I getcha," he said, deciding to endure whatever weird looks she'd give him for asking foolish questions when she was clearly willing to expound on basic information regardless. That's a civil servant for you! "And the gods just hand out these blessings to people what, randomly?"

Oh damn, the expression is starting to get a bit hurtful, compromising Ichiban's resolve to look like an ignoramus if it alleviated his ignorance.

"Did you just fall out of an apple tree or something?" she asked, voice tinged with disbelief. And yet, miraculously, before Ichiban was forced to answer that question, she chose to start expositing to him anyway. If you don't ask you don't get after all! "The gods exercise their own selection criteria for their familias, but none of them dispense their blessing randomly. The god has to manually update the falna to actualise the gains made by an adventurer, increasing their abilities commensurate with effort The vast majority of adventurers in Orario are level one, with basic abilities that still put them above normal fit adults. The ones who break past level one have considerably greater abilities, and often unique skills or magic like you mentioned before."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Ichiban waved his hands at her, feeling like this was going a bit too fast over something important. Levels and stats and magic he could understand, but, "You're saying the gods are connected to the familias?"

Her eye definitely twitched there.

"Yes," she answered after a pause where she seemed to be physically marshalling herself in the face of Ichiban's complete lack of even basic assumed information. "The gods who have come down from Tenkai lead their familias, offering their blessing to those members who act on their behalf. Many of them are thus adventuring familias, but some have other concerns such as the Demeter familia who run many farms outside of Orario and who's members don't actively delve into the Dungeon."

But that would mean… "So you're saying Miach's a god?"

Rose's composure cracked. She looked to the side where the other clerks not having any customers of their own were shamelessly eavesdropping on the whole thing with the sort of glee that came from seeing a co-worker deal with a weird customer while you didn't have to do anything yourself. The wood creaked as she held onto the edge of the counter and refocused on Ichiban. "Yes. Lord Miach is a god, and therefore head of the Miach familia."

What the hell was he meant to do with that information? The guy was nice, hell kinda saintly what with the whole free medicine thing, but a god? Kind of low key about it then.

"Huh," he said at last. "Doesn't that just beat everything?"

"I'm not sure what reaction I was expecting, but I'm still disappointed," Rose muttered under her breath.

"Haha, sorry, I guess I'm just a bit out of the loop," he laughed it off, though thinking about it he did recognise Loki that Orin had talked about earlier. That was one of the Viking gods, right? And Rose had mentioned Ganesh, the elephant god. Which meant… "So, uh, is Amaterasu hanging around anywhere?" he asked, leaning over the counter towards Rose, figuring it'd be interesting to meet a Japanese god in this place.

"That's not one I recognise," Rose answered, and this time she gave her colleagues a more pointed look, implicitly asking any of them to chime in if they knew.

"I think that's a sun goddess from the far east?" a brown-haired elf said, tapping a gloved finger to her lips as she cast her eyes upwards. "I don't know if she's come down from Tenkai though, at least not to Orario that I've heard."

Sounds like there's some kind of equivalent to Japan here if Amaterasu and the far east go together. Probably wouldn't help him get back to his Japan though so Ichiban filed it away as a curiosity.

"Ah, don't worry about it," Ichiban waved her off with a smile, "Was just curious since she's more of a big deal back home. We got a bit sidetracked there anyway."

"Yes, over your appalling lack of basic knowledge regarding the Dungeon," Rose agreed, nodding briskly.

"That's what I'm here to fix though, right?" he answered by giving her a big grin.

She did not appear particularly moved by it, at least at first. But then she sighed, her shoulders slouching and she nodded. "At the very least you're taking steps to learn instead of simply running headlong into the Dungeon without a plan. I can't stop you from going there, but I can arm you with knowledge to at least improve your chances. Let's start by examining the current map of the first floor," she turned from him and went to a rack of rolled up papers behind the counter, coming back and unrolling it to show Ichiban the layout of the Dungeon's first floor and began indicating points of interest and describing the kinds of monsters that could be found there.

Goblins and kobolds he'd already heard of briefly, though Rose also told him of an extremely fast bird that had a valuable drop but liked to lure people into ambushes so he should be wary of it rather than seeing the valis signs and letting greed guide him.

At least it was just looking at a map rather than having to read anything. He didn't want to reveal his illiteracy just when it seemed her impression of him was starting to pick up.

"I think I've got the gist of it, I should be able to handle it," he said when she seemed to run out of material to talk about for the first floor.

"What about equipment?" Rose asked, "You don't look kitted out right now, do you have weapons and armour? Healing potions?"

"Ah, not exactly…" he admitted, rubbing the back of his head and avoiding her judging gaze.

"The Guild can provide starting equipment, but only to adventurers part of a registered familia," Rose said flatly. "We don't want to encourage people to go in and get themselves killed, nor just hand out weapons to anyone who asks. But… you did listen well," she seemed to be chewing something over and then glanced towards her elven colleague who was shuffling papers around given the lack of other customers right now. "My colleague Eina Tulle does advanced certification for adventurers. If you can pass her test on the first floor, I might be able to bend the rules a little to supply you with some beginner items."

The now named Eina looked over at them with a smile blooming on her lips, her glasses catching the light to obscure her eyes.

"Ahh, you know what, I think I've got a handle on things now, so how about we take a rain check?" Ichiban held up his hands and backed away from the counter, to the visible disappointment of both clerks. He'd had enough bureaucracy for the morning and didn't exactly want to broadcast his lack of literacy. "I'll uh, catch you all later, okay?" And then turned to flee from disapproving civil servants, hurrying out onto the street and then orienting himself towards that big tower. There's only so much theory a man can take before he needs action!

 

[RookDeSuit]

I've already got one," Ichiban answered, jerking a thumb against his chest – and reminding himself once more of the bullet-hole marking his shirt. There was certainly significance there, but despite everything, Arakawa had never actually expelled him. "I'm an Arakawa Family man, to the end."

Click to shrink...

I like this response. It's foolish, and in other scenarios, I would advocate not joining a family. However, he's loyal to the end.

Certainly better than Ichiban Kasuga: Dark Lord of the Damned.

Click to shrink...

Silly Ichiban! Instead of looking at the negative, you should see the Potential:

Kasuga: Great Sage of Cycles!

Master of Life and Death!

Wiseman of the Animals of the World, and A Lord of the Undying.

 

[Hephaestus]

This looks really promising lets watch a schizo beat the shit out of an evil hole in the ground and the restrict it into his undead minion

 

[Ebiris]

It wasn't that long a walk to reach the tower. Orario was bigger than Kamurocho sure but it was no Tokyo. The tower itself still stood out as something fantastic. All the other buildings looked familiar – a bit old fashioned maybe, but the kind of thing you'd see in rural parts of Japan or pictures of Europe. But the Tower of Babel just looked straight up otherworldly, being made up of unpainted but even grey stone and marked with carvings that blended together in his vision as he craned his neck upwards to the top soaring so absurdly high overhead.

This was what they built to plug up the Dungeon? It must have some kind of serious magic if it needs to be that big. Thoughts of mystical significance were to be disappointed however as he fell in behind a group of women heading into the tower who were dressed casually rather than in the sort of clothes he'd seen on the adventurers back at the Pantheon. They were talking about shopping for jewellery, and cheerfully got into an elevator manned by a liveried attendant before vanishing upwards.

"Is this place just a big shopping mall?!" he blurted out, getting a weird look from a small boyish looking figure who was holding a spear about three times bigger than he was.

"First time in Orario?" he asked, a world-weary effect in his tone despite the still childishly high pitch of his voice.

Spoiler: Defensive Determinator

150 - Defensive Determinator
Generic MG
Yes, the tank is an important part of party composition. You tank via forcefields, which allows you to tank at a distance and tank even when your enemy is so rudely attacking someone else.

You start with basic forcefields that you and your allies can move and attack through, while those you don't want to have free lines of fire and movement have to break them first. Put in time and practice, get out new forcefields and tricks.

If you want to create defensive barriers to protect an environment, then this is a good start.

"Uhhhh…" Ichiban answered with an embarrassing slur in his voice, momentarily distracted as another set of magical abilities appeared in his head. At least this time it wasn't anything creepy like necromancy, in fact being able to make force-fields was pretty cool no matter how you looked at it!

The small blond-haired figure pushed off the pillar he was leaning against, looking at Ichiban with some measure of concern mixed with suspicion. "You okay, buddy?"

"Yeah, yeah! Sorry, guess I'm a bit surprised is all," Ichiban hurriedly reassured him. "First time, yeah. Was expecting it to be more mystical, you know?"

"Heh, yeah. Living here you quickly learn there's nothing actually sacred. There's all kinds of shops up the tower. Meeting places for the gods and stuff too, but you see enough of them wandering around town on any day you learn not to see it as anything special," he said, seeming to relax with Ichiban's answer. "Name's Rory, I'm Ganesha familia. We keep the peace around here," he thumped a small fist against the metal breastplate he had over his slender chest, which he was pushing out with a bit of pride. "You visiting Orario for long?"

"Well, probably," he answered, given he didn't exactly come here willingly. "I'm Ichiban Kasuga, I was actually heading to the Dungeon. It's under here, right?"

"Like that?" Rory looked Ichiban up and down. Which given the height difference involved a fair bit of neck movement on his part. "No weapon, no armour? What, you just wanted to wrestle a goblin?"

Probably better that than using the spell that made burning blood leap from his hands, but instead Ichiban just flexed and nodded, clapping a hand on his bicep. "I got all the weapons I need right here!"

Rory didn't seem impressed, which given the noodle-like state of his own childish limbs seemed a bit rich, but he shrugged anyway. "Your funeral. I'm heading down myself when my friends get here, if your body's not too far from the stairs we'll bring it back up."

Wow, that was even darker than Rose's lectures. Still, he was starting to think they were laying it on a bit thick. "C'mon, everyone's got to start somewhere, and I've seen kids going in here," he said, getting annoyed by all the constant doom-saying.

Rory did seem to realise that as he nodded. "Well yeah, sure. I was twelve when I fought my first goblin," twelve? How old was he now? "But I had a sword, and friends backing me up. You don't want a goblin coming at you while you're busy grappling another. That's why you want a weapon to kill 'em quick, and someone to watch your back so you don't get blind-sided. It's never just one."

That was actually a pretty good point. He couldn't get a weapon right now, not unless he passed that exam back at the Pantheon or spent ages pawning his necklace and going shopping, but didn't he have a way to get another set of eyes backing him up? Someone with even better senses than his own in fact?

"You know what, that's a good point. Back in a minute," he said, turning around and walking back out of the tower. Getting a whole flock of pigeons to follow him around underground might be a bit much, but he found one pecking crumbs off the ground near the fountain in the plaza surrounding the tower.

"Hey you, can you come with me for a bit? I'll get you some bread or something later."

"Make it nuts and I'll come wherever you want me to, sweet-cheeks!"

He did not expect the pigeon's psychic voice to sound like a flirty old granny, but the white dove actually looked quite nice and cooed happily when settling upon his shoulder. Not quite a colourful parrot, but better than a grey aerial rat.

"I'm going to call you Pearl," he said aloud, the newly named Pearl naturally not understanding but nonetheless being quite happy to assist when he told her he simply needed her to keep a lookout so no one snuck up on him. Thus with a confident stride, Ichiban walked right back into the tower and grinned at Rory as he passed the boy or short man or hobbit, reaching a wide spiral staircase descending around the edges of a circular hole that narrowed in towards the darkness at the bottom. He could see a few people descending ahead of him, though no one seemed to be coming back up. It made him wonder just how crowded the Dungeon would be, but most were probably going to go past the first floor rather than just sticking around.

He never did find out exactly how many floors there were, but he doubted he was going to clear the thing today. This felt like a big quest, not a quick adventure. For today he figured, he could at least see how well he could handle fighting the goblins and kobolds, and get enough magic stones that he could cash in and repay Miach and get a place to sleep tonight.

It was quite a ways down the stairs before they finally emerged out onto a tunnel, unworked stone of a bluish hue… or maybe it just seemed blue because that was the colour of the glowing points intermittently studding the ceiling. Rose had called this Beginner Road, a broad passage that basically ran the length of the first floor, with numerous other branches splitting off and circling around in a maze-like pattern that encompassed an area equivalent to a couple city blocks.

And already he could see violence up ahead. A girl dressed like a Halloween witch right down to the big black conical hat and a boy in a tank top and baggy pants that showed off an unimpressively skinny physique were fighting four little green guys that were even smaller than Rory. Pearl ruffled her feathers at the proximity to violence but for now stayed on his shoulder as Ichiban started jogging closer.

Spoiler: Dwarven Centurion

100- Dwarven Centurion
The Elder Scrolls
One of the deadliest Dwemer Animunculi crafted, it is a brass behemoth that stands equal to Giants, and even more deadly. It's metallic hide repels most mundane weapons, it's axe can cleave through steel easily, and when it has to, it can unleash a blast of boiling steam towards an opponent. You also get a rod, allowing you to control it's actions directly as well as force it into standby mode.

Then, rather suddenly, the space between them was filled with an enormous brass robot. Its head, decorated with a plume like you saw on those old Roman helmets, scraped the ceiling, while arms about as thick as Ichiban's torso ended respectively with a giant mallet and a big-ass axe. Dimly he noticed a hefty rod of the same brass-hued material had appeared in his hand, his fingers feeling buttons studding one end of it while Pearl bless her heart broadcast her psychic warning.

"Do you see that?! It just came out of nowhere! I don't like it!"

She wasn't the only one, as the witch girl let out a girly war cry and beaned a goblin on the head with her staff, sending it to the ground before she glanced over her shoulder and her jaw suddenly dropped. "Aaaah! Ken, look out! There's a giant monster!" she actually started retreating towards the other goblins while the one she'd struck was already recovering.

The now named Ken stabbed his sword into the back of the fallen goblin to cease its recovery, the green monster vanishing in a puff of black smoke while the young man also looked back and then started stumbling away. "How did it get here?! That's the entrance!" he yelled.

Ichiban had a sad feeling this was all his fault, or at least that it was connected to him. It's not like he asked for it to happen! However, it wasn't actually moving, so he decided to try and calm things down for the two adventurers. The goblins unfortunately didn't seem to really care about the distraction and were already lunging at the pair.

"I think it's just a statue, it's not moving!" he shouted, running past the robot which indeed did nothing to impede him. The two were still distracted enough for one goblin to barrel into Ken's legs, sending him stumbling to the ground while the girl shrieked at having the other two pull and claw at her robes. Pearl had flown off his shoulder at the sudden motion, flapping around the ceiling and making clear her displeasure, while Ichiban tightened his fist around the reassuringly solid bar of metal in his hand, coming in for a big swing backed up by his momentum.

Crack!

That was the goblin's skull not the metal which indeed held up just fine, twisting an already misshapen head out of alignment before the goblin faded into black smoke, a small purple shard hitting the floor with a tink while Ken recovered himself enough to stab his sword through one of the goblins menacing the witch girl, who was busy trying to pry them both off of herself with her wooden staff. Despite his lack of muscle, Ken clearly had some strength to him as he ripped his blade through the first goblin enough for it to discorporate with a gurgling cry before carrying on to stab the other one, which received a vindictive staff bashing for good measure before it too died and faded away. Not just a magic stone this time but a single tooth remained behind to drop on the floor as the violence ceased and the three of them looked at each other before looking back to the giant brass robot looming in the darkness.

"Well…" Ken began, not taking his eyes off it, "Normally would complain about you butting in, but under the circumstances think that magic stone's yours."

"It's really not moving," the girl said, staring at it and clutching her staff in a white-knuckled grip.

"It's just standing there… but it looks creepy," Ken began to inch closer, holding his sword at the ready while Ichiban took a moment to properly examine the metal rod that had appeared in his hand at the same time as the robot.

It was made of the same brass coloured metal alright. A bit over a foot long, and heavy. Lines were engraved into it, like a wave pattern except all blocky right angles, and two buttons sat in recesses near one end of it. Weirdly enough, those buttons were marked with pretty recognisable symbols. A vertical line through one side of a broken circle. And three steadily larger curves radiating from a square that broadened out on one side into a larger triangle.

Standby and speaker?

While Ichiban puzzled over that mystery, Ken had gotten up close to the unmoving robot, enough to say, "It can't be a monster. It has a human face, and it looks like something that was built." Hesitantly he raised his sword and lightly smacked it against the thing's leg with a clang of metal on metal. That proved to be a mistake as with a sudden explosive release of steam the robot began to move, its expressionless face radiating merciless apathy as its torso rotated towards the one who'd struck it, raising its axe-bladed limb.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Following a hunch, Ichiban pointed the metal rod towards the robot and pressed the standby button, causing it to immediately freeze in position, metal joints and actuators locking up while Ken scrambled backwards.

The witch girl however stared at the metal object in Ichiban's hand, big brown eyes wide as saucers beneath her floppy-brimmed hat. "You can control it?" she whispered.

Well there's no real hiding it. Not like he could've played dumb and left Ken there to be splattered. Or well maybe a force-field could've helped, but the cat was out of the bag either way.

"Yeah. Uh… let me just…" he tried pressing the speaker button and then said, "Come here."

The hiss of steam was less explosive this time, but the robot resumed its motion either way, arm lowered from its impending strike and then walking with thunderous plodding strides towards Ichiban, causing Ken to have to quickly scoot to the side while Pearl flapped over its head and then landed on the ground safely behind the robot's back. It came to a stop, looming over Ichiban, sculpted face not even looking at him as it simply stood there radiating potential violence.

"Yeah. Uh, I guess I've got a robot," Ichiban said numbly. It certainly looked like it could beat up an unlimited number of goblins. "I'm gonna call you Yankimaru," he decided, since that decoration on its head kind of looked like an old fashioned delinquent pompadour. Impulsively he held down the speaker button and said, "Your name is Yankimaru."

There was a slight release of steam from around its neck that Ichiban decided to take as agreement.

The girl was looking at him, and then the rod, and then back at Ken, and it wasn't hard to see the calculation passing behind her eyes. But then she smiled and the moment passed and Ichiban wondered just how close he'd come to being mugged for the control rod of a giant robot.

"My name's Izzy, and that's Ken. We're in the Ogma familia," she introduced them both as Ken came around, carefully circling past Yankimaru.

"I'm Ichiban. I guess that's Yankimaru, and that's Pearl," a mental command had the pigeon flying over and perching on Yankimaru's head.

"Your shoulder's too bony, sweet-cheeks. This kind of perch suits a girl better."

She seemed to have gotten over her fright at the robot's sudden appearance, and to true pigeon form had decided a statue made for a good perch. He really hoped she wasn't going to crap all over his new robot.

"Quite the crew you've got, Ichiban," Ken said. "You heading down to the deeper floors?"

Maybe he should? It already felt like he was well past the goblin weight class, although he didn't know anything about the floors further down it couldn't be that hard to deal with, right? He decided to keep it vague. He didn't think these were bad kids, but they'd clearly been sizing him up too, and getting too specific with his plans might tempt them to rope in some help from their familia and try something.

"Yeah, something like that. Just taking my boy here out for a test drive, see how things go. Heh, even without him can still crack a few heads," he chuckled and thumped the metal rod into his palm. It certainly was heavy enough to use as a bludgeon, as that goblin earlier had demonstrated.

Ken and Izzy both seemed like they wanted to press more questions but were restraining themselves. It was pretty obvious he'd been as surprised as them about everything to do with Yankimaru just now, he wasn't some kooky mad scientist taking his prototype invention out, but the fact was the robot was following his orders either way. Probably made for a lot more intimidating backup than Pearl did.

"Well, good luck Ichiban," Izzy said, scooping up the magic stones and goblin fang off the floor before she got out of the way. "We'll see you around," she winked and tossed one of the tiny purple shards towards him.

He caught it, his first potential currency in this world that he'd actually earned. A few more of these and he might be able to pay for that healing potion. "You two take care," he said, pocketing it before he pressed the speaker button. "Follow me, Yankimaru," he said, and his steps were followed by the lumbering tread of the giant steam-spewing robot behind him.

Another adventurer got passed on the way, thankfully not interrupting a fight so the young guy in barbarian style spiky leather armour just stared slack-jawed at Ichiban and his robot, getting a grin back as he went to explore the branching paths of the Dungeon's first floor. He probably wouldn't have heard it himself over the noise Yankimaru was making, but Pearl at least was doing as he asked and keeping an eye out.

"Look out, sweet-cheeks! Bad things coming out of the walls, I don't like them!"

He turned just in time to see rock flake and crumble away towards the upper edges of the wall on either side, more dead-eyed goblins appearing, baring mouths full of sharp teeth and hissing before they charged recklessly at him.

"Yankimaru, kill the goblins!"

And oh boy did Yankimaru kill the goblins. A single sweep of his axe-bladed arm bisected three of them without stopping, their bodies puffing away into black smoke while the others leapt and tried to pummel the robot's metal legs to utterly no effect. One unfortunately was still attached to that leg when Yankimaru drove his knee against the wall, causing the goblin's pot-bellied torso to bulge out grotesquely before it mercifully just turned into black smoke rather than gore. The last two got pulverised by the hammer arm, striking straight down like the robot was hammering nails.

Pearl took off and flew around the ceiling, broadcasting her displeasure with all the sudden motion and violence, but it only took a couple seconds for it all to be over and the robot to return to standing in wait with nothing left for it to kill.

"Damn. Not bad, big guy!" Ichiban grinned, going to pick up the glittering little purple shards left on the floor in the wake of that display. This was actually pretty cool – he always thought pet classes were neat, and part of his disappointment with all the necromancy stuff was how it was actually pretty close to that. He just didn't want to be dragging around rotting stiffs or tortured wraiths. Maybe some practice, work out better tactics and commands than just 'kill those things' and he and Yankimaru could be a real team!

Deciding such a display earned a brief break, he opened up his water bottle, taking a swig and feeling the refreshing cool water flow down his throat. He really did feel rejuvenated by it, energy coursing through him better than he'd get from a taurine-boosted caffeine-loaded energy drink that they only sold in pharmacies back home. "Ahhh, good stuff!" he grinned, rubbing his hands together and orienting himself to where he remembered Rose marked the stairs further down on her map.

Not before picking up the magic stones left behind by the goblins of course. That was money in the bank! They jingled like loose change in his pocket as he started navigating through the underground tunnels to progress deeper into the Dungeon

The next challenge in his way however was a lot more modest as he rounded a corner and found a kobold shambling around. It took one look at him, disregarded the gigantic brass robot lumbering behind him, and shot forward with a slavering growl, clawed hands scrabbling at him!

"Woah!" raising the metal rod to block, he held the feral dog-like beast by the neck as jaws snapped in the air and claws ripped against his sleeves. Momentum only carried it so far however, as despite its fierce appearance it was less than half Ichiban's size and so he was able to shove it back and send it skidding back on its ass. His first proper strike in return pulverised the kobold's leg under the impressively solid metal of the robot control rod, leaving it easy prey for a follow-up that caved in its chest.

There was a glass shattering sound and the monster faded away into black smoke, no sign of any magic stone left behind this time. "Huh, must've broken the stone in its chest?" he wondered, looking over the sturdy brass rod in his hands and then looking back at Yankimaru who was waiting behind him, having shown no reaction to the attack on his 'master'.

"Guess you won't do anything without being told, huh?" he asked the robot which regarded him impassively with its severe countenance showing not a flicker of expression on that sculpted face.

Still, that was pretty good practice. A single monster here really wasn't any trouble. Might've been harder to kill it with just his fists, but he was confident he'd have won. A group of them might've been more tricky.

Fortunately he didn't just have his fists. Even without Yankimaru's probably excessive assistance, he had his magic now. Force-fields and creepy necromantic spells. Probably want to rely on the first, but if push came to shove he'd break out everything.

Maybe get himself some spiky armour. Put on some white facial make-up like a heavy metal star. If he's gonna use creepy magic like that it'd be better to own it with some style.

Then again at the rate he was going, maybe he'd get more magic soon? He tried to figure out the timing, but it didn't seem consistent. The animal thing had been maybe a minute after he woke up, then the bottle appeared a couple later. Maybe half an hour before the necromancy, an hour for the force-field, and a couple more minutes for the robot?

The time seemed all random but hell, it wasn't even midday yet!

Still, he decided to actually practice some of it right now. With a though, a glassy plane appeared between himself and Yankimaru. Reaching out, he pushed his hand through it and felt no resistance, it might as well have been an optical illusion. Pulling his hand back, he pressed the speaker button on the rod and said, "Yankimaru, hit the force-field!"

With a hiss of steam, Yankimaru raised up his hammer-arm and swung it down against the force-field, which Ichiban stood well away from. It shattered instantly, although the robot's arm rebounded off it, so at least if he'd been standing behind it he would probably have been saved.

Wouldn't have done much good if Yankimaru had been charging though. Still, that was a big strong robot. Would a goblin be able to do the same?

It's not as if it took much out of him to make it, so he created another force-field as Yankimaru settled back into repose. This time he punched it himself, his fist smacking into the vertical plane which shimmered and his knuckles hurt like he'd hit a wall. "Ahh…! Good enough for that," he winced and shook out his hand. He could choose whether the field would block someone or let them through, which meant it'd be easy to attack from behind while staying protected. No more letting some kobold scratch up his only suit!

Squeezing his hand around the metal rod, he proceeded to swing it at the field. It struck off with a hollow reverb noise, a shimmer of light radiating out from the point of impact and fading. Several more strikes followed, Ichiban laying into the force-field like it owed him money, but it held up throughout.

Wherever the limit on its durability was, it was somewhere between Ichiban's 'pretty buff dude' level, and Yankimaru's 'possibly legendary super robot' level.

Satisfied with this testing, he dismissed the force-field and set off again, Yankimaru continuing to obediently follow him with a pigeon perched atop its head.

There were no monsters or other adventurers between him and the stairs deeper into the Dungeon, although when he reached them he looked down that slope into the darkness and then up at the giant robot that had been shadowing his footsteps thus far and decided to command, "Yankimaru, go down those stairs."

He did not fancy the thought of Yankimaru tripping and falling on him on the way down there. Fortunately the robot proved sure-footed as he obediently stomped down, Ichiban following as they descended to the second floor of the dungeon. Which looked basically identical to the first floor. But this time he didn't have the benefit of having seen a map back at the Pantheon.

Shame he didn't have a pen and paper. Memories of drawing dungeon maps from video games bubbled up and put a nostalgic smile on his face as he set off to explore this fresh terrain, getting Yankimaru to follow him once more.

Spoiler: Light in the Darkness

200 - Light in the Darkness
Warhammer Fantasy: Imperial Colleges of Magic
The light you wield is more than just a sword or shield against the darkness. Your battle is for the souls of mankind as much as it is for their lands. For those tempted towards evil by their own fear, pain, or loss, you may be the last hope of their seeing the light. In your immediate presence, the light of Hysh drives out despair in all those you do not see as enemies. This will not protect them from dark magic on its own, but you can at least drive back the darkness threatening their hearts.

And it was with such warm thoughts in his head that his head was abruptly filled with another magic blessing from whatever mysterious god had decided to mess with him outside of the whole falna system Rose had explained earlier.

It was a spell, of the sort he'd thought of earlier when complaining over his lack of hero-like abilities. Light, called forth similarly to how all those necromantic spells worked, with weird mystical words and gestures. Instead of having a whole library of the damned pumped into his head, it was just one spell however. And, lacking any of the troubling implications of necromancy, he decided to try it out.

He raised a hand, tracing a symbol in the air that manifested in bright sparkles where his finger went, resolving into the appearance of a wheel with an arrow sticking out the top. The words he said weren't words, more like the syllables a new age mystic might intone when meditating.

"Munancho!"

And with the conclusion of his spell, a warm illumination like the afternoon sun spread out from Ichiban, overpowering the wan blue lights in the rocky ceiling and banishing the gloom of the dungeon.

Yankimaru seemed unaffected but Pearl cooed happily.

It wouldn't banish demons. It wouldn't immolate the sinful. But it would embolden the hearts of those Ichiban acknowledged, driving out despair and hopelessness.

"Now that's a hero's light!" he grinned, feeling a faint sense of drain from maintaining the light. It was easy to imagine it ticking down a blue mana bar on the screen, but it was far less than he felt when making those force-fields. He could probably maintain this for a while, and he didn't know if using magic would improve his magical abilities so simply keeping it up for practice like stretching a muscle might be worth doing.

It also made it really easy to see the two brown gecko-like lizards creeping around on the ceiling ahead, even before Pearl could give him a warning.

Yankimaru made as short work of them as he did the goblins before, the ceiling easily in reach for his big axe arm and leaving Ichiban two magic stones richer. They looked a little bigger than the goblin stones, but there wasn't much in it, his pockets still had plenty of room for more.

And more was what he found when Pearl warned of the rocks giving way to allow another pack of goblins to burst out of the walls and attack them. This time he hung back, ordering Yankimaru to kill them while he put a force-field in front of the robot. The goblins hadn't so much as scratched him last time but it was good practice, and indeed all they could do was impotently bounce off the shimmering plane of force while Yankimaru's hammer arm struck through it repetitively to pulverise them one by one.

"Yeah, starting to feel a bit over-levelled for here," Ichiban said at the end of that brief violence, picking up his winnings – including one of those goblin fangs this time. He wondered if there were teleporters or shortcuts to get down to the deeper floors, if you were high levelled for the starting zone it'd be a pain to have to go through it and deal with these basic monsters trying to get to the good stuff.

A little more exploring of the second floor found a set of stairs deeper, and after weighing up whether to clear this one or go deeper, he decided to push himself.

He still made Yankimaru go down the stairs first, just in case.

Floor three didn't seem any different than one or two at a glance however, and indeed exploring around only had them fight more goblins and kobolds, which between Yankimaru and Ichiban's force-fields were a complete non-threat. He didn't even need to smack any himself, the robot was plenty efficient for one-shotting these kinds of foes. Hell, one shot from him could sometimes take out two or three if they lined up right!

After maybe an hour of wandering around and fighting off these kinds of monsters, he finally ran into more actual people.

"What the hell is that?!"

Probably the expected reaction when you run into a glowing dude being shadowed by a giant robot.

"Yo," Ichiban raised his hand in a salute to the group coming down the tunnel in the opposite direction from him. One of his pockets was nearly full of magic stones, and the effort of maintaining his heroic light was starting to feel actually tiring like maintaining a position for too long without moving or stretching, but he figured he'd at least keep it up for the moment.

It was an actual adventuring party by the looks of it. Led by a short older guy maybe around Ichiban's age with thick sideburns and stubby animal ears atop his head. Following him were a lanky guy with a bandana on his head that hid whether he perhaps had animal ears of his own there, though Ichiban could plainly see the expected human ears at the sides of his head anyway, and another guy with some badass facial scars. Rounding out the group at the rear was someone that was either a kid or one of those hobbit folks who was carrying a backpack bigger than she was.

All four of them were staring wide-eyed at him.

Maybe at Yankimaru, but Ichiban figured his whole glowing light thing rated at least some level of attention even next to the scary looking giant robot.

Seeing that he wasn't going to answer the initially blurted out question, the tanuki-looking guy – and seriously, he had a stripy club-like tail now that Ichiban looked with his body already twisting to the side, well that guy spoke while bowing his head respectfully. "Don't mind us, sir! We'll get out of your way!"

That got the rest of the group moving as they scooted to the side of the tunnel, clearing enough space for even a giant robot to pass comfortably.

Spoiler: White Lion Cloak

300 - White Lion Cloak
Warhammer Fantasy: Dogs of War
The pelt of one of the Great White Lions of Chrace, this cloak still bears some of the power and majesty it radiated when the beast was alive, and as a result wearers of such a garment find themselves more charismatic and more agile. That the partially magical hide also turns blows as well as a good quality suit of chainmail doesn't hurt either.

Ichiban just nodded like it was his due and walked along with Yankimaru stomping behind him like a huge metal bodyguard. And the whole thing just got more ridiculous when a showy white-furred cape settled on his shoulders and swished out dramatically right as he passed the group.

All four of them stared, postures submissive and awed. It felt like being one of the big shots walking into Tojo Clan headquarters while the rank and file lined the path and bowed, a position Ichiban had only ever been on the rank and file side of before.

He kept a straight face until they rounded a corner and he stopped, tugging at his new accessory. "What the hell was that?!" he blurted out, mimicking the exact tone of the adventurer from moments ago. It was a fur cloak!

In fact as he tugged at it and looked at his shoulder he saw an actual lion's head looking at him, it was a whole god-damn pelt! An enormous paw rested over his other shoulder like he was being embraced by the king of the jungle, it was the most ridiculously over the top piece of clothing he'd ever seen in his life.

It was kind of badass. He decided he liked it.

And hell, there was probably enough lion still in there he could turn it into a powerful necromantic abomination if he ever felt like going that route.

Also he decided it was time to take a break from the magical light show. It was useful, but by now his magical 'muscle' needed a rest. Taking a breather and a drink from his water bottle, he felt refreshed but the mental ache remained, suggesting to him that while this may have restored a green stamina bar, the blue mana bar remained unmoved. He poured enough water on the ground for Pearl to have a drink too, which she seemed appreciative of before they resumed exploring the dungeon.

Whether by luck or chance they soon found a set of stairs down another floor, the fourth one no different than the ones before it, and the number of goblins, kobolds, and lizards slain proved the same terrain meant the same monsters.

When he came down onto the fifth floor things finally did change however. The rocky cave and tunnel aesthetic remained, but the lights in the ceiling turned green, a hue reflected on the rock itself. He felt like his magical energy had mostly returned, and so he recast the light spell. He didn't know anything about the monsters here, as he'd jumped well past what Rose had prepared for him, but then he did remember Orin telling that fit girl about moths on the seventh floor, so keeping a watch for flying monsters seemed a good idea.

The next monsters he saw weren't in the air however. Emerging from a tunnel into a wider cavern with unevenly spaced ledges around it, he saw those ledges populated with giant one-eyed frogs, said eyes swivelling crazily in their skulls to fixate on him and Yankimaru as they stepped forth.

By now he'd gotten a good system for this though, raising his metal rod (it really needed a proper name at some point) into a ready position and thumbing the speaker button, "Yankimaru, kill the frogs on the left!" he yelled, the robot hissing out steam and lumbering that way while Ichiban charged the ones on the right…

And immediately skidded into a diving slide to avoid the three tongues flicking out over a dozen feet to try punching into his torso. They were kind of unbelievably fast, but his reflexes must have been on point just now because he saw them coming just in time, throwing his body into a dodge and then putting up a force-field while he was on the ground.

The frogs were a bit slower recalling their tongues, starting to hop off their ledges, two going to the sides while the other leapt straight to try and crush him under its bulk. Instead it slapped into the force-field which shimmered but held as the frog slid down with a squeaking noise.

It wasn't any barrier for Ichiban to swing his weapon through however, pushing himself to his feet and surging up in an ascending swing that viciously cracked the frog's jaw. It was the kind of hit that had reliably killed goblins and kobolds so far, and while the frog recoiled and tumbled backwards, its mouth probably ruined enough to prohibit any more tongue attacks, it wasn't dead. And then he had to twist his body, avoiding a tongue strike from one of the flanking frogs but taking another hit in the back that left him feeling like he'd been kidney-punched.

"Ooouuh!" a pained groan tore out of his lips, staggering but staying on his feet. "Yankimaru, kill all the frogs!" he managed to wheeze out, realising that splitting the workload evenly one one side is a giant murder robot and the other is just a regular guy who can make force-fields wasn't the best idea. He simply focused on forming a circular force-field around himself as he struggled to catch his breath while his dependable robot ally stomped over, clearly having already dealt with its side of the room, and indeed having zero trouble eviscerating the remaining frogs, particularly as they were distracted trying to fruitlessly break Ichiban's force-field.

"Ohh man, I should rely on you more, huh?" he gave a ragged grin up at Yankimaru's expressionless face, his brass construction glowing warmly in the light radiating off from Ichiban. Sweeping back his cloak and his jacket, he lifted his shirt and twisted to try and see where he'd been hit in the back. It stung like hell but didn't seem to have broken the skin. Would probably leave a nasty bruise though.

It was clear he was now past the point of monsters that a 'normal fit adult' could safely handle. Without Yankimaru or his force-fields, he'd have been a goner, overwhelmed by this number of ferocious monsters. It was a sobering thought.

"Less lolly-gagging sweet-cheeks, monsters coming in now!"

Pearl's warning probably saved him from getting ganked while recovering from the last one. A force-field interposed itself between him and the three creatures silently gliding in from one of the tunnels branching off this chamber. Spiky black figures with a solitary red glowing dot in their heads, they'd probably be hard to spot in the usual gloom of the dungeon, but under his magical light they stood out like shadows in the summer sun.

They'd been approaching slowly as if to sneak up on him, but the moment he looked their way there was an instant's pause before they rushed forward at speed, large clawed hands stabbing at his force-field, ignoring the robot and the pigeon to get at him. Fortunately however strong they were, they were still falling in the range his force-field could endure.

"Yankimaru, kill those shadow monsters!" he commanded, and one of them was promptly flattened under a giant hammer-blow, black shadow turning into black mist and then nothing at all, a magic stone and one of its bladed fingers falling to the ground. The other two followed in the same way, leaving just their magic stones behind.

"Thanks Pearl, good spot."

He took a moment to tuck his shirt back in before he started to gather up his winnings. The magic stones left behind were now noticeably bigger than the ones left by previous monsters. Similar in length and height but thicker, more rounded shapes rather than flecks or shards. A few more groups like this and his pockets would be full… then again, he'd have to fight stuff on the way back anyway and that could fill his pockets. Maybe time to go back, get a bit more info on the threats and layout down here before going onwards?

A twinge in his lower back solidified his decision. He'd had a pretty active morning for someone who woke up shot. He'd be able to pay back Miach and Naaza with this much at least.

Back up to the blue-hued tunnels of the fourth floor, he found it wasn't too hard to retrace his steps on the way back to the surface, the kobolds and goblins and lizards that wanted to fight him feeling like old friends compared to those nasty frog things. Another pair of adventurers were passed on the third floor, the two acting similarly humble and staring slack-jawed at Ichiban and Yankimaru as they passed, until finally he reached the big spiral staircase winding back up to the surface.

The base of the Tower of Babel had people coming and going, no doubt to the shops upstairs, but they all turned to stare at the glowing man and his giant robot emerging from the dungeon. The effort of maintaining that glow was beginning to wear him down again and given it was better lit out here he cut it off while giving everyone a friendly wave.

"Don't worry, the big guy's with me!" he reassured with a big old smile.

"What is it?" "Is that some kind of tamed monster?" "It looks like a moving statue!" comments of that vein rippled through the dozen or so people hanging around and staring. It wasn't an outright panic, but it was definitely raising more of a reaction than he got down in the Dungeon. Adventurers probably saw weirder stuff.

"He's not a monster, he's a robot!" Ichiban explained to try and put everyone's mind at ease, hopping up to balance his feet on one end of Yankimaru's mallet-hand and holding onto the robot's upper arm, both to get a little height and demonstrate that the brass construct could handle such horseplay without freaking out. Of course 'robot' might not mean much to these people so he tried to explain a little further. "He's like a statue that moves with gears and levers, like how those elevators work!" he pointed towards the bank of elevators that rose up the tower, clearly demonstrating some level of mechanical craft existed in this fantasy world.

"Wow, amazing!" "Is it some invention of the Hephaestus familia?" "I don't understand how it works but that sounds cool!" the tenor of comments in the crowd definitely shifted as people seemed to be reassured by Ichiban's explanation.

Grinning, he hopped back onto the floor and pressed on the speaker button of the control rod as he gave an additional order just to be on the safe side. "Careful you don't bump into anyone, Yankimaru. And mind your head on that door." The entrance to the tower was big enough to admit a crowd of people easily but it wasn't particularly tall. Luckily the ceiling in the foyer here was up a ways, adding to the place's grandeur and making it easier for Yankimaru to move around than he'd find it in most buildings. And indeed the robot seemed to move with more slow and deliberate steps now as he followed Ichiban out into the sunshine.

"Now, about those nuts I was promised, sonny?" a flapping of wings from Yankimaru's head as Pearl adjusted her position reminded him what his lookout was owed.

"Yeah, just wait a little longer, I need to cash in these magic stones then I can buy you something nice," he returned, starting to head back up the street towards the Pantheon. People certainly stared and commented, but as they kept moving no one really held them up until they reached the Guild's office, now less busy than it had been in the morning.

"Okay, I'm gonna head inside, so you two wait here," he said, though Pearl wouldn't understand him. But remembering what had happened when Ken gave Yankimaru a little tap, he held down the speaker button and said seriously, "Hold still and don't hit anyone, no matter what."

Content with that, he walked into the bank hall like office of the Guild, the clerks inside stopping to stare at him like the conquering hero he was. Defying their expectations and returning alive from his first dungeon adventure. Or probably they were just staring at the white lion pelt that was draped over his shoulders. It definitely made an impression.

"Yo," he walked up to the desk where Rose was still working, the severe redhead staring at him with muted surprise but managing to find her voice when he reached her.

"Mr. Kasuga, I'm pleased to see you back. Was the Dungeon everything you expected?"

"Oh yeah. Wound up going a little deeper, but decided to come back after running into these nasty frog things, still a bit sore from that one," he answered with a grin to make clear he wasn't that sore, starting to empty his pockets of magic stones and drop items onto the counter between them, the robot control rod placed down there too so he could free up his hands.

"Please don't joke about that," she began in a nonplussed tone before looking down at the collection of magic stones he was pulling out, dark purple gems glittering amidst three white goblin fangs, one yellowing kobold nail, and one black finger-claw. She picked up that last item carefully in her gloved hands, several fellow clerks obviously rubber-necking from their own spots on either side of Rose's station. "This is a war shadow's finger blade… you went down to the fifth floor, and defeated a war shadow? With no falna?"

"Wow, if that's your baseline you could walk into any familia in the city!" the pink-haired girl working next to Rose interrupted, unable to help herself.

"Well, uh, I had a little help," he picked up the hefty rod of brass metal and thumped it into his other hand, not wanting to ignore the contribution of Yankimaru and Pearl. Hell, the pigeon had spotted the war shadows and the robot had killed them, Ichiban hadn't actually lifted a finger on that one!

"Is that some kind of enchanted weapon? You said this morning you didn't have anything like that," Rose asked, her narrowed eyes looking over the ostentatious cloak on his shoulders.

"Yeah, I had a lot of stuff just basically drop in on me, alright?" he admitted, feeling his face heat up. It felt absurd just thinking about all the items and magics that had manifested in his favour. For sure if not for all that he wouldn't have been able to make anywhere near the same progress today.

Professionalism warred with curiosity across Rose's face before she sighed softly, "I'm starting to feel like this is all some kind of joke," she said, nonetheless separating out his magic stones and placing them into a scale, tallying them all up before announcing, "You've brought in thirty three hundred valis worth of magic stones."

"Is that a lot?" he asked. At the very least it would pay for several healing potions from Miach, so his debt was clear!

"For a level one adventurer who's just starting out it's perhaps average for a full day's work. For a half day like you've done it's impressive," Rose admitted, writing on a piece of paper before tearing off a slip. "Your receipt," she handed it to him, the numbers legible but the rest… yeah, it looked almost like English but not quite, and his English wasn't exactly great. He took her word for it as the stressed yet unflappable clerk went and placed the magic stones in a drawer behind the counter, returning with a stack of coins which she placed before Ichiban.

He gladly put them in his pocket, the feel of metal coins clinking in there pleasantly reassuring him that he now had walking around money, though it did leave some other things. "What about this stuff?" he picked up one of the goblin fangs and rolled it between his fingers.

"Monster drop items are valuable but the Guild doesn't directly trade in them. You can check the quests," she nodded towards the noticeboard he'd looked at this morning, "For specific orders willing to pay a premium, or else just try and sell them directly. All of these are valuable to blacksmiths and should easily double your money."

"Okay, day's still young, I can do that!" he said cheerfully, pocketing his other items as well. "Speaking of, any suggestions where I can sell them?" Since he couldn't read those requests anyway, a verbal recommendation was far better!

Rose shuffled some papers around as she considered his question before answering, "The two main smithing familias are the Hephaestus and Goibinu familias, the former have a shop just across the street from the Pantheon, and if you go up the alleyway beside it and across onto Stheno Street you'll find the Goibinu familia workshop. Also there are a great deal of shops on the upper floors of Babel."

The comprehensive answer made Ichiban smile. Whatever troubles Rose may be having with his whole situation, she could always be counted on to deliver info when asked! Speaking of, "That's great, I'll check them out when I leave. But before I go, got any maps and tips for stuff past the fifth floor? Those frogs really caught me by surprise with their tongues, wasn't expecting that kind of thing!"

"Frog shooters, their tongues are the first ranged threat in the Dungeon and catches many new adventurers off guard," she nodded seriously. "I never expected you'd possibly go so deep on your first visit, there didn't seem any point mentioning them." But there was a point now, and whatever her misgivings she went to collect another map which she rolled out for him to see, Ichiban trying to pick out the room where he'd had his one battle of the fifth floor before he focused on Rose's explanation of the abilities and tactics of fifth floor monsters. Indeed those war shadows were like assassins that liked to sneak up on people while they were distracted or recovering from other monsters.

Spoiler: Magical Detection And Ranging

200 - Magical Detection And Ranging
Generic MG
The ability to detect magical phenomena is certainly useful for someone whose job depends on magic. You have a sense for magic, being able to detect heavy usage (like, say, a fight or a bunch of attacks) of magic at long range (across town, roughly) and being able to tell the magical power levels of others at close range.

Ichiban unfortunately was distracted from her explanation as a whole bunch more magic crammed itself into his head. And not just knowledge, a whole damned new sense that was pretty over-tuned! He could sense the stockpiles of magic stones locked away in the Pantheon like a constant thrum of potential, as well as flashes coming from deep under his feet that he was pretty sure were adventurers in the Dungeon casting spells against monsters.

It was pretty distracting, and he didn't even want to think about the kind of stupid faces he must've been pulling for Rose to trail off her lecture and stare at him with a mixture of concern and impatience on her pretty features.

"Sorry, just got another thing dropped on me," he explained with a wince, trying to filter out the feedback, which was getting easier. Like being aware of the noise of living in the city without focusing on any of it. It would definitely be useful to have another sense like this when he could focus on important things rather than getting overwhelmed trying to make sense of it all.

"What kind of things are you getting dropped on you that make you space out like that?" Rose asked.

"Well you know, like magic?" he answered, waving his hand in the air. "Suddenly getting new abilities?"

"Could you be blessed by a spirit, Mr. Kasuga?" Eina asked, not bothering to hide her own eavesdropping.

"Is that different than being blessed by a god?" he asked in turn, trying to recall all the talk about falna from this morning.

Rose shot her co-worker a seemingly territorial look before straightening a stack of papers on her desk and speaking up, "It's less restricted, as the gods have all agreed to abide by certain rules, limiting their abilities and only using the blessing of falna. Spirits have no such compunctions, but they are also incredibly rare. Such stories are more the thing of legend than… well, the strange man who seems to know very little about the world walking up to your desk one day and insisting he wants to go into the Dungeon."

"Hey, every legend's gotta start somewhere, right?" Ichiban sallied back, feeling a bit bashful both at the label and her accurate summation of the mundaneness of it too. The hero in Dragon Quest didn't spend his time chatting up government clerks, but those games abstracted a lot, if it was real maybe he would have to deal with stuff like this?

"Just what kind of magic abilities do you have, Mr. Kasuga? You mentioned something about talking to animals this morning?" Rose asked, writing something that was probably exactly that on a piece of paper.

"Yeah," he nodded. "And just now I started sensing magic. Before that I got force-fields, and a light spell. Plus there's Yankimaru! And this cloak!" which now he was looking at it, appeared to be magical! He kept quiet about the necromancy stuff, there's no way telling people about that is going to sound good.

Rose wrote all of that down without interrupting or asking questions she was clearly burning with, but after her pen stopped moving she looked at the snowy white lion draped over his shoulders. "You were given this cloak?" she asked.

"Yeah, just appeared on my shoulders while I was down in the Dungeon," he nodded. He remembered Naaza's warning about the water bottle, and so hadn't mentioned it, but by now he was feeling secure enough that he figured he could talk about stuff that was mysteriously appearing like that. It might get him some answers.

"Unbelievable," Rose sighed out. "Spirit blessings are usually singular talents, an elemental affinity or unusual skill. Can you demonstrate any of the other things?" By now most of the other clerks were once more rubbernecking, the interest far more pointed than the amusement they'd shown this morning.

At this point he was getting a feeling there wouldn't be any answers coming from this, she was as mystified as him. But she'd been a big help otherwise so there was no reason not to indulge her some. "Okay, so, force-field?" a glassy pane appeared before himself and Rose, and he tapped his knuckles on it with a shimmer spreading out from the impact.

Her eyes widened and the ears on top of her head folded themselves backwards. "No chant?" a whisper as she reached up and did the same, confirming it was in fact a physical barrier.

"Uh, yeah. My light spell's more complicated but that one basically just works as I want it," Ichiban confirmed, dropping the force-field a moment later while the other clerks muttered among themselves. Rose's expression firmed up and she gave him a serious look.

"I apologise for not taking your abilities seriously at first, Mr. Kasuga. This is a unique situation you've found yourself in. My colleague was right earlier that you could walk into any familia in Orario with your skills, but I think that's understating it. Many familias would be so eager to have you they wouldn't take no for an answer."

Well. Shit. Maybe he should've thought of that? He remembered those kids when he first got Yankimaru, it had felt like jingling the keys to a sports car while walking through a slum. And in the yakuza everyone knew of guys who wanted out but were in too deep, knew too much, or just had such valuable skills that it wasn't an option. It sounded like he was gonna be up to his neck in that kind of bullshit as long as he was in this world.

Rose was still talking. "It's my strong recommendation that you join up with a familia before the decision is taken out of your hands. Of course I can't recommend any myself, but I can help facilitate introductions with any you happen to be interested in."

He'd heard a few names but that was it, other than Miach of course who was a stand-up guy. "Yeah, I'm gonna need to think about that, do some leg-work and get to know who's who before I make any kind of decision like that," he said to put off Rose, while really he just didn't want to join up with a familia. It felt too much like turning his back on Arakawa. Stupid, since he was in a whole other world, and the boss had just shot him, which felt like a pretty clear message. But that was also the fact; he wanted to find what was at the bottom of the Dungeon and return home, so anyone he swore up with here would be getting left behind too, and he didn't like the idea of making that kind of commitment to a group he wasn't invested in sticking with.

"Listen, maybe we should talk more about the fifth floor later?" he tapped the map she'd been showing him before this latest distraction. "I gotta go clear my head, spend some money, think about this familia stuff. I'll see you later, okay?"

With Rose's polite farewell and the intrigued gazes of her colleagues following him, he walked out of the Pantheon onto the street… where Yankimaru had not only drawn a crowd of curious onlookers, there were two kids climbing up on his arms and legs while Pearl was perched up on top of his head decoration.

"Hey you kids, get off my robot!" he yelled, glad Yankimaru had indeed stayed perfectly still. But even if he wasn't throwing out attacks or jetting steam (it got pretty hot standing around him down in the Dungeon at times) it would be easy for a kid to get stuck on the mechanisms or cut by the axe-blade on one arm.

The brats jeered at him and called him stingy, but at least they jumped off safely and scampered away, while Yankimaru's subsequent movement at his command drew a ripple of surprise from the onlookers, and a cry of dismay from Ichiban as he spotted the gross white stain spreading down the robot's head below where Pearl was still perching.

You have no idea how tempted I was for Ichiban to look at the goblins in the dungeon and then have them morph into sujimon, but I guess Miach really did heal his brain damage in addition to that gunshot wound at the start of the story.

Also we now have a thread icon, please appreciate the hour and a half I spent messing around in gimp instead of writing. The Dwarven Centurion coming with a control rod that could substitute for the iconic bat really was a stroke of luck. No telling how long until it gets replaced by literally Excalibur, but it certainly fits Ichiban for the moment.

Click to shrink...

 

[RookDeSuit]

You don't want a goblin coming at you while you're busy grappling another. That's why you want a weapon to kill 'em quick, and someone to watch your back so you don't get blind-sided. It's never just one."

Click to shrink...

I'm going to call you Pearl," he said aloud, the newly named Pearl naturally not understanding but nonetheless being quite happy to assist when he told her he simply needed her to keep a lookout

Click to shrink...

I'm gonna call you Yankimaru," he decided, since that decoration on its head kind of looked like an old fashioned delinquent pompadour. Impulsively he held down the speaker button and said, "Your name is Yankimaru."

Click to shrink...

Honestly, this sounds like the start of a Legendary Family.

And with the conclusion of his spell, a warm illumination like the afternoon sun spread out from Ichiban, overpowering the wan blue lights in the rocky ceiling and banishing the gloom of the dungeon.

Click to shrink...

I'm not saying the Dungeon was intimidated, but like, the between the lack of falna, the Golem, and this, the Dungeon can't help but Acknowledge our Hero.

What the hell was that?!" he blurted out, mimicking the exact tone of the adventurer from moments ago. It was a fur cloak!

In fact as he tugged at it and looked at his shoulder he saw an actual lion's head looking at him, it was a whole god-damn pelt! An enormous paw rested over his other shoulder like he was being embraced by the king of the jungle, it was the most ridiculously over the top piece of clothing he'd ever seen in his life.

It was kind of badass. He decided he liked it.

And hell, there was probably enough lion still in there he could turn it into a powerful necromantic abomination if he ever felt like going that route.

Click to shrink...

Yakuza Kasuga: Ay Yo, what is this?! Am I now a respected senior and all those other Adventurer's Juniors?
Magical Boy Kasuga: Do you suppose we can make a forcefield shaped like a Lion?
Necromancer Kasuga:…..Okay, I know we're not a fan of my Specialization…. But, hear me out:
Inside-Out Council of Ichiban: Council Pivot's to Attention
Necromancer Kasuga: What if, and it's a long shot, but we turn that Cloak….into a Arcane Engine of Mass Necromatic of Mass Destruction? Eh, Eh?
Ichiban: But that's only if we feel like going in that direction, and we, the Council, do not feel the urge to explore this option. Place it in the backlog.

 

[coldpyr0]

Neat story, thanks for the chapter!

 

[CrowesDebt]

I can tell this is gonna be a fun ride. I wonder what Familia Ichiban is going to end up joining?

 

[Ebiris]

The sight of a man frustratedly rinsing bird crap off the head of his giant robot seemed to do a lot to dispel the awe and surprise with which Yankimaru naturally garnered. He wondered if the kid from Giant Robo ever had to deal with this kind of thing.

He still bought Pearl her nuts from a helpful street vendor, and the pigeon along with a dozen more that descended from the rooftops enjoyed the feast, much to the dismay of the guy who'd just sold the snack bag.

Which led him to what was apparently the Hephaestus familia shop just down the road from the Pantheon. The sign out front of crossed hammers in front of an erupting volcano definitely won some points for style, but more pressing was the group of people standing outside who'd been watching him approach with his giant robot. They looked mostly human apart from one guy with tiger ears who Ichiban was sure was looking more at his lion cloak than his giant robot, but their apparent leader was a dark-skinned woman with an eyepatch who's baggy red pants and white vest kind of made him think of a miko in her dress.

"Yo. That's quite the contraption you've got there buddy," said woman called out, her fingers twitching at her sides. "Got my smith's senses itching to figure out how it works."

Speaking of senses, Ichiban's new magical sense seemed to work on all of them. He could sense some kind of aura around each person, although the woman's dwarfed that of the others, further clarifying why she appeared to be the leader if their positioning hadn't already made it kind of obvious.

"Well, I don't mind you taking a look, just don't take him apart," Ichiban returned with a grin. "Name's Ichiban Kasuga, I was looking for a smith to sell some stuff to anyway."

"Tsubaki Collbrande, what you looking to sell?" she returned, rubbing her hands together with a grin of her own forming, the name plus her outfit furthering a sense of familiarity with Japan in Ichiban. Come to think of it, wasn't it convenient everyone was speaking Japanese? Shame they didn't write it, but it could've been a lot worse for him!

Reaching into his pocket he pulled out his small collection of monster drops from the day's adventure, causing Tsubaki's sole eye to narrow in confusion. "What's this garbage? You're walking around with that kind of thing and you're selling level one monster drops? Is it not as strong as it looks?"

"Hey, it's my first day!" Ichiban fired back defensively. "Yankimaru was one-shotting everything we ran into, but I had to come back up myself."

"Yankimaru? Pffft!" her cheeks bulged out with repressed laughter, "Oh, I know a guy with the same kind of naming sense. Alright, I'll buy your crap for ten thousand valis if you let me have a proper look at Yankimaru, how's that sound?"

It sounded fine to Ichiban, and one of her hangers-on took the items and ran into the shop to come back with a nice crisp ten thousand valis banknote for him, before Tsubaki led him around the back of the shop using an alley that was a little bit of a squeeze for Yankimaru but they made it, emerging into a yard with straw dummies and archery targets set up, probably for testing out new weapons.

"So you make Yankimaru yourself, or…?" the one-eyed woman asked as they came to a stop, now stepping in closer to examine the robot's axe-blade.

"Uh, no. Not myself," Ichiban admitted, suddenly feeling a bit embarrassed that anyone would think him capable of that kind of craftsmanship. "He just kind of appeared, the girls at the Guild said it's probably a spirit's blessing or something…?" he trailed off, clearly not sure himself.

"For real?" she turned to look at him with her one eye before turning back to the robot. "So this is a genuine one of a kind spirit crafted object? That kind of makes me even more excited to see what it can do!" Other members of the Hephaestus familia were loitering around the edge of the yard to watch and Tsubaki dragged her thumb against the axe-blade, crimson beading out as it easily sliced her flesh. She seemed to be careful enough to keep it shallow and after she sucked on the digit briefly it didn't appear to be bleeding any more. "Good blade alright, it'll cut into a first class adventurer."

Huh. He considered that, knowing the kind of energy that seemed to be radiating from Tsubaki, and he focused on Yankimaru. It too was a font of power, eclipsing that of the other people nearby easily, pulsing waves seeming to emanate from deep in his chest. It felt different in type, but just based on the intensity it seemed to be less than Tsubaki. That meant she was probably stronger than Yankimaru? Considering the kind of violence he'd seen displayed by the robot down in the Dungeon, that was kind of frightening.

"I want to see it fight," Tsubaki said, stepping away and pointing to one of the straw dummies. "Can you tell it to attack something?"

Pressing down the speaker button on his hefty brass rod, Ichiban pointed towards the same dummy and called out, "Yankimaru, destroy that dummy!"

There was a release of steam that seemed to come out most often when Yankimaru was given a new order or moving from a period of inactivity, and he stomped over, a slash of his axe-hand cutting it in half so the top toppled over, and then a downwards smash with the hammer-arm sent straw flying everywhere, the dummy quite conclusively destroyed.

"Strong, but kind of slow and clumsy. Fights like a troll," Tsubaki reflected as she watched. "You control it with that stick?" When Ichiban nodded she grinned, "Better watch out, someone steals it they might have your toy turn on you."

He remembered how Izzy had looked at him back in the Dungeon when Yankimaru first appeared and nodded, tightening his grip on the rod. Even beyond controlling Yankimaru, it was a really good beating stick and he'd be loathe to lose it.

"What actually makes it move though?" she walked closer to resume studying the robot up close, leaning in to look at the steam-gorging vents on his upper chest. "Can you make it bend over so I can see in here?"

"Sure. Yankimaru, bend over," Ichiban called, which elicited a dirty snicker from one of the guys watching in the peanut gallery.

The robot did so at least, and Tsubaki gave the guy a glare with her one good eye, but Ichiban could see her smiling when she turned away and started poking her fingers into the intakes and studying the robot while muttering to herself. She spent about half an hour going over the robot, bemoaning that she could learn so much more if she cut him open, which naturally Ichiban wasn't going for even when she offered to forge him any kind of weapon he wanted as payment. He was a little more tempted when she asked if she could cut off part of him to properly study the metal he was made of, but even then…

"I don't know if that's decorative, what if it's a stabiliser? What if cutting some off gives him brain damage?!" he insisted when she suggested cutting off part of his pompadour fin on top of his head.

"No way, that's totally a decorative flourish, a smith can tell. This thing's full of little touches like that, look at all the engraving on the panels… there's no way he's smelling anything with that nose, and the beard! Come on, I could give him a little shave and you'd never know the difference!" Tsubaki insisted, grinning as she seemed to enjoy the argument.

She was probably right. Although he was worried it might make him look dumb, the beard had to be decorative. Besides, it was inevitable he'd take damage from tougher monsters as he went deeper, so he may as well get something out of it now while he was homeless and near penniless.

The million valis she offered made all his other earnings seem trivial, and apparently even that was 'chicken-feed' compared to the value of a weapon forged by Cyclops as the other guys hanging around to watch muttered among themselves regarding her earlier offer.

Actually shaving Yankimaru proved to be something of an ordeal, as he had to hold himself still while laying on the ground as Tsubaki took a pickaxe to his chin in a manner like a golfer teeing up a shot. There was a loud metallic sproing and a chunk of brassy metal shot off into a sheet being held up by some of her helpers. It left Yankimaru with an ugly gouge through his previously neat rectangular beard, and a deep sense of guilt in Ichiban.

"Sorry buddy, maybe we can buff that out?" he asked with a wince as he got up while Tsubaki cheerfully collected the chunk of metal she'd broken off.

"Tell you what, I can try tidying up the edges for him if you want to leave him here overnight?" she offered. "Give you time to go spend all that money and he'll be right as rain if you want to take him to the Dungeon tomorrow?"

Honestly, it was pretty tiring dealing with all the looks he was getting walking around everywhere with Yankimaru, and he had a good feeling about Tsubaki, not just because her name and look had comfortable associations with home. She just seemed like someone who really cared about making things and refining her craft, there was comfortable lack of pretension with her despite how rich and powerful she clearly was.

So he agreed, and received one million valis as a fat stack of bills, his short-term financial stability assured!

The trip back to the Blue Pharmacy was a pleasant one, the swagger of a rich man in Ichiban's steps as he returned to the alley he'd been dropped into this world only hours ago with nothing but the clothes on his back and a gunshot wound in his chest. It's easy to turn around from rock bottom when you have a mysterious spirit throwing blessing after blessing your way. He still had no clue how this was happening, but with no way to look into it all he could do was work with what he was given. Maybe another blessing would appear in a minute, maybe this was it, maybe they'd all disappear at midnight. There was no point worrying about hypotheticals, and so Ichiban's head was happily worry free as he entered Miach and Naaza's shop once more!

Inside Miach was over behind the counter writing something, and as soon as he looked at him Ichiban understood the whole god business. The amount of power he had massively eclipsed what even Tsubaki had, but it felt tightly contained rather than flowing freely outwards as it had with the blacksmith girl. Yet despite that he still had the same gentle smile and affable demeanour as he looked towards the door and greeted him. "Ichiban, welcome back. You're looking prosperous."

"Haha, yeah this thing just dropped on me like that bottle did earlier," he answered with a grin, pulling at the big lion paw draped over one of his shoulders. From behind the beaded curtain Naaza emerged and stared at what he was wearing too, her jaw slightly slack.

It really was super showy.

"Anyway, had a good day, went down in the dungeon but I took a nasty hit from one of those frog shooter things, so how about I pay you back for this morning and you hook me up with another healing potion?" he came over and took a ten thousand valis bill from his pocket to place on the counter. The bruise wasn't hard to ignore, but if he had magical healing on offer why wouldn't he take advantage of it?

"It sounds like you've had quite a day," Miach smiled, taking a bottle off the shelf behind him and then opening a drawer to start counting out Ichiban's change, which he hurriedly waved at him to stop.

"Hey don't worry about change, I made a lot of money today so you just keep that!"

Miach's face fell. "This is too much, I couldn't possibly-"

Bang!

The drawer slammed shut, Naaza hip-checking it as she rushed over and smiled at Ichiban. "That's very generous, Ichiban. Blue Pharmacy thanks you for your patronage and support."

"Any time!" he gave her a thumbs up and then offered out the water bottle, "Why don't you fill up as much as you need from this while I'm here? So, do I like drink this, or pour it on the wound, or…?" he picked up the healing potion while Naaza accepted the bottle and ran through the back, the sound of pouring water heard immediately.

"It depends on your injuries," Miach explained, deciding to accept the overpayment after his more financially prudent captain's intervention. "If you have several it's better to drink as the effect spreads through your body. For a single severe wound a topical application centres the magic on that spot, which is better if you need to focus the healing on somewhere critical."

His chest was still a bit tender from this morning, so in addition to the bruise on the back he decided to have a drink, and was rewarded with a soothing sensation that eased the aches he was feeling, handing the empty vial back to Miach once he was done with it. "Yeah, that hit the spot!" he cheered, rolling his shoulders and reaching back to poke at his bruise, now feeling entirely intact once more.

"That was one we made earlier with the water you provided actually, so I'm glad it worked well for you. There are different grades of potions, and the lowest grade ones are effectively watered down versions of the stronger ones. Having a better liquid base to start with means a big improvement to our cheapest potions, which should help all of our customers," Miach said, cheered up enough by talking shop that he seemed to have moved quite past the embarrassment of accepting Ichiban's overpayment just now.

Unfortunately it wasn't to last as they were promptly interrupted by the door slamming open, revealing an older man with white hair wearing a gold-trimmed white robe. Ichiban could immediately tell by the magical power simmering inside of him that he was another god like Miach, and he was followed in by a petite silver-haired girl wearing a rather cute striped uniform that made him think of a candy shop employee. Put him in the mind for peppermint.

"Gehehehe, it's my favourite day of the week: Debt collection day!" the man declared, rubbing hands festooned with jewelled rings together as he walked in with a swagger.

Following him, the woman bowed demurely and said, "Please excuse us, Lord Miach, but today is the day of your payment," in a more apologetic tone.

"Tch," a disgusted sounding tut came from Ichiban's side and he realised Naaza had come back out, giving a dour glare at the newcomers. "The Dian Cecht familia. The ones who take medicine to the level of squeezing blood from stones."

The man laughed at that, seeming more amused than offended, even as the woman flushed indignantly. "Your tongue's as sharp as ever, Miyal Hound. That must be why this place always has so many customers whenever I visit."

"They see you coming and they know to run away so they don't get trapped in debt," Naaza fired back, as Ichiban suddenly felt her grabbing his arms and she sidled even closer to him. "Watch out Ichiban, that girl fools everyone with her doll-like appearance, but before you know it she's threatening to take your organs for payment."

Spoiler: Potion Set

300 - Potion Set
Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
"You got some Red Potion! You got some Green Potion! You got some Blue Potion!"

A trio of glass bottles, each with a useful potion inside of them. The first, a red potion, restores your health. The second, a green potion, restores your magical energy. The third, a blue potion, restores both. Each bottle will refill at the end of the day if you use it, but you won't get any extra if you haven't used it. If one of the bottles breaks, then you get a new one.

There was a faint clink as something shifted in his pocket, and Ichiban had a feeling he'd just received another magic item but it's arrival was a lot less ostentatious than the lion cloak so no one else noticed, caught up in their own drama as they were. "When have I ever threatened to take your organs, Erisuis?" the woman demanded indignantly.

"Three weeks ago, Teasanare" Naaza replied without skipping a beat, "You came here demanding money and when I said I couldn't pay what I don't have and told you to get out of my shop, you said I had too much guts, how else was I meant to take that but a threat to rip them out of my body if I couldn't pay?"

"That's not what I meant at all!" the other girl insisted, shooting a mortified look towards Miach who mercifully was approaching with an envelope.

"Naaza, you always make such a scene when Airmid visits, it's a wonder people can't hear you out on the street," he said in a weary tone, handing the envelope to Dian Cecht. "Here, we're all paid up for the week."

"Ahhh, and I thought I was going to have stew for dinner tonight," Naaza intoned dully, eyes fixed on the money changing hands. "Instead Lord Miach and I will have to survive on weed soup."

Dian Cecht just chuckled as he took the envelope and opened it up to count the money right there. "If you're that hard up you can always come work for me instead. What are we having for dinner tonight, Airmid?"

"I heard Martha was making bouillabaisse, Lord Dian Cecht," Airmid answered, calming down.

"Tch. Even fancier stew," Naaza muttered spitefully. "I'd rather live on crumbs and sunlight than your familia's cooking."

"Suit yourself," Dian Cecht said, tucking away the envelope now he'd apparently verified the payment. "Come along Airmid, my belly's rumbling!" with a self-satisfied cackle, he turned and walked out of the shop, Airmid bowing apologetically to the rest of them before following him.

Miach let out a sigh only after the door closed, saying, "I'm sorry you had to see all of that, Ichiban. Airmid always bring out the worst in Naaza."

The dog-girl just turned her head to the side and clicked her tongue unapologetically.

"Hey, it's no big deal," he hastily assured them both, now reaching into his pocket to fumble around for what he'd felt shifting earlier. A trio of glass vials, similar in fact to the ones lining the shop's shelves appeared, coloured liquid inside. One red, one green, and one blue. "Huh, these just appeared while we were all talking. Like the bottle from this morning. Health, stamina, magic?" he guessed, based on the colours.

"Or maybe one's an antidote?" Naaza suggested as she and Miach leaned over to look. "Are these bottomless too?"

"I don't know, you want to test them?" he offered them out, Naaza accepting them with a smile and going through the back, her mood seeming to recover with this new intrigue and the absence of her loan shark. "So, uh… everything okay with you two?" he then asked Miach more quietly when it was just the two of them.

"It's not as bad as Naaza makes it sound," Miach answered, similarly quiet. "But we are in a bit of a slump. There used to be more members in the familia, but a bad expedition had us going into debt with the Dian Cecht familia for medical treatment. Everyone except Naaza left, which made it harder to earn money. The pharmacy is all we have now, but it's a struggle with just the two of us."

"Hmm… I wonder if I can help?" Ichiban wondered. Just giving them the money he got from Tsubaki would be one thing, but it felt a bit cheap, ironically enough. Letting Naaza study weird potions and water he received might help their stock, but it wasn't really doing anything himself. "I have a bit of experience doing collections and things for the family back home…"

"Well, another perspective or pair of hands couldn't hurt!" Miach brightened up at that. "Why don't I run you through our stock, and you can see if you have any ideas for things we're missing?"

As it turned out, they didn't just make healing potions for adventurers. There were cures for illnesses, treatments for sore joints and dry skin, all sorts of remedies and cosmetics that turned out to be not dissimilar to what a pharmacy back home would sell.

"E-excuse me!" a timid voice sounded as the door opened, revealing a girl with dark hair covering one of her eyes, a lavender yukata-like garment worn that left her legs exposed. After Tsubaki earlier he was starting to think there might be a surprising number of people around here with Japanese fashion sensibilities. And names it turned out as Miach recognised her.

"Chigusa, welcome! What can I do for you today?" he asked with a smile, going over to stand behind the counter as the girl approached, carrying a sack which she placed in front of the god and opened up, revealing several dusty purple sheets or handkerchiefs or…

"W-we managed to collect a lot of purple moth wings today, Lord Miach! Like you put up a quest for?" Chigusa explained breathlessly.

"Oh, these are good, yes," Miach agreed, carefully counting them up. "I can pay you fifteen thousand valis as agreed."

"Thank goodness!" Chigusa sighed in relief, putting a hand over her chest. "We all got poisoned a lot fighting them, and then Mikoto got hurt when a swarm of killer ants appeared in the middle of it."

"Oh dear! Miach frowned, handing over money to Chigusa and then taking a pair of bottles off the shelf and pressing them into the girl's hands as well, "Here, have a spare antidote for next time. And this potion should help Mikoto feel better."

"Ahhh, Lord Miach is so kind! Thank you! Thank you!" Chigusa bowed gratefully, taking her money and free potions before she skipped out of the shop.

"And that's basically how the customer service part of the job goes. Pretty straightforward, right?" Miach turned towards Ichiban with a big guileless smile on his handsome face.

Ichiban stared back at him, jaw slack before he waved his arms and blurted out his reflexive opinion. "What the hell? If your business model is giving away free stuff all the time no wonder you're in the red!" Sure he'd benefitted from it this morning, can't begrudge a guy for healing a penniless bum on the street, but that girl literally just got a ton of money, she could clearly afford those potions if she wanted to buy them!

"Well, it's taking care of my customers, and… did you see her smile? A happy customer is a repeat customer!" Miach rallied after momentarily being thrown by Ichiban's criticism.

"You could've just given her a lollipop! Get a jar of candy you can hand out, that'll make them smile too and you'll save a ton. Instead of just giving her an antidote, you should've tried to sell her a bundle, it sounded like her familia would've needed them," Ichiban listed off as Naaza came back out to join them.

"That candy idea's good, we should do that. Lord Miach will be happy so long as he gets to give away something for free, and it won't cost us much," she said approvingly, prompting her god to give her a betrayed look.

"See. Naaza gets it!" Ichiban nodded, glad at least someone here had business sense. Although he had the uncomfortable feeling that he was stepping into captain Sawashiro's role, the old man who'd always come down hard on Ichiban when he let someone off on their debt payments. But it's not like he was a completely soft touch, he still collected when he knew the guy could pay, he just wasn't an ass about it.

"You're a lot smarter than you look, Ichiban," she took the compliment with an unnecessarily backhanded one in return, holding up the potions she'd borrowed. "You were partially right. One's a healing potion, a good quality one too. The other's a mind potion – or magic potion as you called it. But the last one," she tapped a finger on the blue one, not the green one which must then be magic even though that wasn't the usual colour coding, "Recovers both. It's amazing – you can't just combine two potions like that and expect them to work, it's actually something I'd been researching, so seeing this proves it can be done."

"That is amazing," Miach agreed, seemingly grateful for the distraction away from his customer service technique, "It's a shame we only get the finished product so you can't see how it's made, but there's still something to be learned there. I wonder though – you received them just now in our shop? And the water bottle here too. And you were outside when you gained the ability to speak with animals? Is there some kind of pattern to the blessings you're receiving?" he turned back to the mystery of Ichiban's abilities and items.

"I don't know," he admitted, having been thinking on it himself. "The girls at the Guild thought it might be a blessing from a spirit, since they don't follow the same rules as gods. I picked up, um, some really dark death magic when Rose at the Guild was talking all about how deadly the dungeon is," Naaza and Miach both raised eyebrows at that one, "Then right before I went into the dungeon I picked up an ability to make force-fields. Then just after I went in this giant metal robot appeared," he picked up the ornate brass control rod off the counter where he'd left it earlier, "Along with this which lets me control it." And bash heads with. "Then when I went down to the second floor I got a spell that's like this soothing magical light. This cloak," he tapped the white lion's head with the rod, "Just dropped on my shoulders while I was walking past some other adventurers on the third floor. Then when I got back to the Guild and was talking to Rose again I suddenly started being able to sense magic, and then these potions appeared when I was here with you guys."

Man, listing it all out like that, it was a lot! And each thing kind of overshadowed the last so it was hard to even know where to start.

"I think we'd have noticed if a spirit snuck something into your pocket just now," Miach said, frowning in thought. "And a robot, you said? Where is it?"

"I left it with this girl Tsubaki, she wanted to study it. Paid me a million valis so she could chip off a bit of metal to examine." Naaza made a choking noise at that and looked away, while Miach looked pained himself.

"I suppose we have rather been taking your items for granted ourselves, though I'm not sure what would be a good price for studying mystery potions like that," the god mused, though Ichiban was quick to dissuade him.

"Don't worry about it, seriously! You guys saved me this morning, and you've been nothing but great. I only took that much because Tsubaki had to actually damage Yankimaru to get the metal off him. Seriously don't try and push any free potions on me right now, I can afford them!"

"Very well," Miach accepted that, looking thoughtful. "If we break things down by location, the Pantheon gave you death magic and magic sensing, the Dungeon gave you force-fields, light magic, a lion cloak, and a giant robot, while our store gave you animal speech, the water canteen, and recovery potions?"

Spoiler: Mana Conversion Affinity (Lightning)

100 - Mana Conversion Affinity (Lightning)
Lyrical Nanoha
Mana channeled by a Linker Core is normally something of a 'one size fits all' kind of energy that can be used for most spells. But maybe you had something a little more specific in mind? With this, you may convert this mana into a specific reaction or energy type - changing it to lightning, fire, ice, sound, or light with an intensity proportionate to how much mana you put into it. You choose which energy type this is when you buy this perk. This can be bought multiple times, but only the first purchase is free. Future purchases are 100 each, with 50 each for Belkan.

Ichiban twitched. "And lightning."

"What?" Miach asked.

"Just now," he sighed, "Lightning. I can convert magical energy into lightning. Literally just came into my head while we were talking." To demonstrate he held out the robot control rod, focused, and a crackle of yellow-tinged electricity coursed over it. Wasn't lightning supposed to be white or blue-white? But it was yellow a lot in video games… also looked really badass playing over the gleaming brass metal. This was starting to feel like a hero's weapon.

"You didn't even do a chant…" Naaza muttered, staring as Ichiban cut off the light show.

"Yeah, Rose was surprised by that too. Some of my other stuff needs a chant though. I'll show you," he then proceeded to cast his light spell, one hand gesturing and drawing out the symbol in the air with his finger, while he rattled off meaningless arrangements of syllables. And when he finished, a warm sunny glow spread out from him, filling the shop.

"Oh, I should really sweep over there," Miach said, frowning as the light illuminated some previously hidden dust bunnies.

Naaza however stared, awe-struck by the light. "It feels… warm. And safe…" she sighed and wrapped her arms around herself, basking in it. "Even thinking about that wicked fake saint doesn't get me down now…"

"Yeah, it's pretty great, huh?" Ichiban agreed with a smile. This probably explained why he didn't get bothered much by other adventurers he saw down in the Dungeon with his light going. A hero's light that radiated good vibes! Probably Miach was already so pleasantly disposed and unflappable he didn't need it to banish any despair, but whatever baggage Naaza was carrying it helped her out.

"Ichiban, you're going back to the Dungeon tomorrow, aren't you?" she asked, still staring at him but firming up her stance as he nodded. "I'll come with you."

"Naaza!" Miach stopped where he'd gone to grab a broom, staring at her in shock.

She nodded to him and said, "I know, Lord Miach. But thinking about going into the Dungeon… it doesn't make me tremble, when I look at this light," she held out her bare hand as if to prove her sincerity, fingers splayed out and poise rock solid. "And Ichiban needs someone who can protect him and knows what it's like down there. Even with his blessings he could get tricked or in over his head. Tomorrow you can run the shop, while I go on an adventure." She smiled slyly and added, "I'll make sure to buy some lollipops for you to hand out to customers."

It might have been unilaterally imposed, but Ichiban wasn't about to complain. He could just imagine a triumphant little jingle playing to declare that Naaza has joined the party! "Alright Naaza, welcome to the team!" he cheered. "We'll meet up here tomorrow morning to get started?"

She nodded seriously, clenching her fists. "It's been a while, but I still remember what the upper floors are like. And if I'm with you I might get more ideas for potions. Whatever's going on with your items and abilities, you need to be kept safe so we can see where it's going. Make sure you're prepared."

"You bet," he nodded, ending his light spell and watching carefully as Naaza's face fell a little, but then she gave him a firm nod as if to make clear her resolve hadn't changed despite no longer having the heroic light actively dispelling her doubts. Whatever history she had with the Dungeon, tomorrow they were going to face it together! "Lemme get out of your hair, I'm gonna have a walk around to get to know the town while it's still light out, then find somewhere to bed down. Until tomorrow, yeah?"

She nodded, he gave Miach a smile and turned to head out, only to be stopped by a call of, "Ichiban!" which made him turn, seeing Naaza holding his water bottle. She tossed it over and he caught it with a rueful chuckle and a wave as he headed back out into Orario, feeling good about the day's progress, and it wasn't exactly done.

So far he'd kinda just been going from point to point, but now with free reign to explore Orario for the rest of the afternoon he just wandered aimlessly, always having that huge tower in the middle of town to orient himself by. A walk up onto the walls surrounding the city afforded a nice view of the surrounding plains and hills. Very green and verdant looking, with the sea and a smaller town being visible off to the south. He wondered how long it would take to run all the way around the city on top of these walls, but decided to put off that idea for another time.

Instead he crossed a bridge over a river cutting through this part of town, following that river to a big white boat moored up there which going by the tables he could see on the deck was doing good business as a restaurant. With a million valis burning a hole in his pocket, he climbed aboard where a cute tanuki girl waitress cheerfully seated him and proceeded to serve up a big plate of grilled fish and steamed vegetables for him to enjoy his first proper meal since waking up in a strange new fantasy world.

Maybe some big chunk of meat with a bone sticking out of it would've been more appropriate for how much like a video-game this place was, but after eighteen years on the government's shitty food this kind of fine dining was exactly what he needed! He hoped Naaza and Miach weren't actually eating weed soup while he was living it up, but he enjoyed his meal, and particularly the fruit sorbet he splashed out on for dessert. Something sweet once in a while wasn't so bad! Certainly seemed like the level of cuisine in this world wasn't anything to sniff at.

Spoiler: Hidden Intuition

200 - Hidden Intuition
Cultist Simulator
It's easy to get the title, but it's quite hard to keep the job. To grow old as a detective of the Suppression Bureau one requires more than just everyday skills. Through this ability you may identify hidden knowledge about a clue, an object, a situation, or a person in ways that are easy for you to understand. From your perspective, cursed items shrill ominously, poisons fume with a toxic green color, important items glow visibly, and bad situations make your skin crawl.

What's better is that these experiences are always trustworthy as they cannot be imitated, suppressed or countered, and they always adapt to cover new situations that you experience or new senses that you unlock.

And as he dined and people-watched, he found more about this world just… fitting together. The giant tower he saw in the distance radiated a sense of stability and security, its ancient monolithic construction seeming even more imposing to Ichiban's eyes. The brown-haired tanuki girl coming by his table to ask if everything was okay kept looking at his lion cloak like she wanted to ask about it, because it was familiar to her somehow. The blond elf guy sipping tea a few tables away wasn't just more powerful than even Tsubaki, but he radiated an electrical feeling to his magic, a feeling Ichiban hadn't been able to pick up on a moment ago.

Lot to pick up on here, and it seemed like there'd be more wherever he looked. A newfound intuition sharpening his senses and causing things to fit together more easily. It was probably the most subtle ability he'd picked up today, but perhaps the most far-reaching as well.

"You ever seen a guy like this?" he asked his waitress, lifting up the lion's head off his shoulder, both taking pity on her evident curiosity and seeing if he could verify what he'd intuited from her.

"Oh! Yes!" she said brightly, cheeks reddening. "My favourite book as a child was actually about a white lion, but I didn't think they were real," she explained, reaching over as if to touch it. When Ichiban nodded permissively she drove her fingers into its mane and let out a, "Kyaah! It's so soft! Just like I imagined!"

"Hah, yeah, real warm too," Ichiban grinned, taking more of a look at it himself now he could seemingly tease out more information from his magical sense. It wasn't like a video-game where you'd just have it dropped into your inventory saying something like 'Snow Lion Cloak, fifty percent cold resist, armour twelve'. But what he was picking up was like… well, it was the king of the jungle, even in this form. Majestic and commanding, with the speed and grace of a natural hunter, and tough enough to tangle with anything. Like it bestowed those properties onto him by wearing it.

Yeah it wasn't cut and dry, but he was feeling confident in his intuition, that this magical cloak made him more badass and nimble and tough so long as he wore it. Hadn't he earlier thought his reflexes were on point when he'd dodged that first frog shooter attack? And it must've deadened some of the blow when he actually did take a hit. What a cool piece of gear for a hero to have!

Meanwhile the waitress had reluctantly pulled her hands out of the lion's mane, and her smile had a nostalgic quality to it. "Still, I hope the lion from those books didn't end up like this. I'd like to think he's still having adventures out in the jungle."

"Yeah, I'm sure this guy lived a full life at least," Ichiban said, because really it was kind of morbid if you thought about it like that. He thought of the fish now in his belly and wondered if he'd have been able to talk to that fish like he did Pearl and that cat earlier.

"Don't eat me, Ichiban. I thought we were friends!"

The doleful voice of a sad sea bass sounded in his mind and he imagined seeing the fish on his plate looking up at him and crying.

Oh man, way to bring a downer on what had been a fantastic meal. "Uh, hey, think I'm ready for my check," he said, suddenly looking a bit queasy.

Seeming a little bit surprised, the waitress nonetheless nodded and hurried off, coming back with his bill which he couldn't read apart from the numbers, but really that was all you needed. He overpaid, not waiting for his change and getting off the boat, his meal now guiltily digesting in his belly. "Sorry buddy," he patted his stomach as he went down the ramp off the boat and back to the street, "I promise I'll put your vitamins and nutrients to good use!"

For now that meant more exploring and getting the lay of the land. He did some shopping, picking up a nice leather satchel he could use to carry stuff around, as well as a harness he could secure his robot control rod into, freeing up the hand that was otherwise having to constantly lug the thing around. It was cool alright, but he felt like a thug carrying a steel pipe everywhere. Having it rest in a sheathe on his hip was more dignified, almost like having a sword at the ready. And he saw plenty people with those as the afternoon wore onto evening, probably adventures leaving the Dungeon at the end of their day. Most had a thin aura of magic around them, considerably weaker than Naaza's, which meant she was probably really strong, even if not in Tsubaki's league.

Although the guy coming towards him now actually was comparable to Naaza. He had a thuggish looking scarred face, with fur-lined armour worn over his brawny frame. He wasn't as brawny as the guy on his right who was really showing off the guns with little more than a bunch of leather straps worn, while his other side was flanked by a lanky sunken-faced guy in a poncho. All three of them felt about as strong, though the group was rounded out by two far weaker and familiar figures, Izzy and Ken who he'd seen this morning.

"Yo!" the scarred guy in the lead greeted as he came close, giving Ichiban an appraising look. He smiled but there was a calculation to it, the kind of smile that said 'yeah I might cut you, but I won't feel bad about it'. You saw a lot of that in the yakuza. "Ichiban, right? Heard you helped out my cute juniors this morning, put it there!"

He thrust his gloved hand out and for a moment it looked like a bear trap waiting to snap shut. He could already see how this was going, but what choice did he have?

Two hands met, and macho posturing as old as time commenced. Muscles flexed and Ichiban felt his bones creak as he dimly remembered the way Naaza's casual grip on his arm this morning had been like iron. Still, he kept a grin on his own face as he squeezed back and leaned in, the two eye to eye and staring each other down without flinching until at last the agony ended.

"Heh, not bad!" the other guy pronounced, letting go while Ichiban resisted the urge to shake out his mangled feeling hand. "Name's Mord Latro. Could hardly believe the stories Izzy and Ken were coming out with about you and your giant, whatchamacalit?" he glanced back at the youngest two of the group.

"Yankimaru!" Izzy supplied with a grin.

"Yeah, Yankimaru. So where is the big lug? They weren't just telling stories, were they?" he made a show of looking around, but his eyes definitely lingered on the shiny brass rod hanging off Ichiban's hip.

"Left him overnight with Tsubaki," Ichiban answered, subtly hiding his hand under his cloak so he could flex out his pained fingers. He was half tempted to drink his healing potion just from that! "She was real keen to have a look at him."

"Cyclops? No shit," Mord's interest subsided to a less predatory level. Clearly she was a big deal around town, and tangling with whatever she brought to bear was more trouble than these guys were looking to borrow. "Well hey, me and my crew were gonna get some drinks, you wanna join us? I know a place with some real pretty waitresses, they'd treat a bunch of hard-working adventurers just right."

It was definitely possible they'd get him drunk and then leave him penniless in a ditch somewhere, in fact Ichiban had been reasonably sure an alleyway beating wasn't off the table when they first started talking, but name-dropping Tsubaki seemed to have changed the calculation enough that they were seeing him as someone to get in good with rather than just squeeze dry immediately. Besides, Izzy and Ken hadn't seemed like entirely bad kids this morning, and as for the rest of them? Yeah they were thugs, but who was he to judge? Besides, he was feeling pretty rootless here, making some friends and connections was good for all sorts of reasons.

"Pretty waitresses and drinks? I'm with you," he answered with a grin, prompting a cheer from the members of the Ogma familia.

The other two guys were introduced as Scott and Guile. Weirdly Guile was the half-naked barbarian looking guy and not the skinny rat-like guy, but neither of them talked half as much as Mord, it wasn't hard to see the dynamic at play here. The loud-mouthed lieutenant, his muscle, and the errand boys (or boy and girl in this case) working their way up the ranks.

He hadn't seen anyone smoking around here, but if Mord were to raise a cigarette to his lips, the others would surely be quick to offer a light.

The pretty waitresses at least weren't a lie as they came onto a pretty big three storey building which seemed to attract the adventurer crowd going by the look of the patrons, a cute black-haired cat-girl seating them, which would have been fine enough if not for the fact Ichiban could tell she was way stronger than Mord, in fact she was one of the strongest people in the whole tavern. A distinction she appeared to share with the other waitresses wearing the same green uniform, aside from the one who was clearly a god like Miach. And having seen Miach run his store, somehow it made seeing a goddess waiting tables seem pretty normal, clearly they kept things low-key around here.

Then there was the stocky brunette mama running things behind the bar. She was stronger than Tsubaki!

"Okay, this is definitely a bar for adventurers, huh?" he asked as everyone crowded around a table.

"Haha, you bet!" Mord laughed, seeming pleased at Ichiban's reaction. "The Hostess of Fertility's one of Orario's greatest treasures. Good food, good drink, and great girls!" he leered up at their waitress who rolled her eyes.

"If only we stopped attracting the decrepit middle-aged male clientele," she sassed back. "Where are my cute boys?"

"Hey, what about me?" the indeed boyish but kind of plain-faced Ken spoke up valiantly, causing the waitress to regard him with a critical eye before she turned her nose up.

"Maybe if you'd come here five years ago," she sighed. "What can I get you gentlemen and lady?"

The group all ordered, Ichiban copying Ken's request for fried noodles, and the apparently famous fruit liquor all around. And predictably Mord started fishing for info as they all settled in. "So, this Yankiwhatsit thing, it some kind of Hephaestus familia project? Make metal monsters to fight real monsters?"

"Not exactly, I'm not part of their familia, I was just letting Tsubaki study it. It's some kind of spirit blessing thing, near as we can tell." Not really, Miach at least didn't seem convinced by the idea, and he'd seen more and probably knew more than Rose did, but it was as good an explanation as anyone could come up with for now.

"Huh. Heard there's some other kid in the Hephaestus familia that's got a spirit blessing, except he's hoarding it to himself. Tch, stingy guys like that, they don't understand we're all in it together against the Dungeon," Mord opined with a scowl, earning agreeing murmurs of disapproval from the rest of his group.

That at least was a topic Ichiban was keen to get into, and he leaned forward over the table towards Mord to speak up, "Yeah, that's what I'm aiming for. To get to the bottom of the Dungeon. No one even knows how deep it is, right?"

Spoiler: Auto-Repair

Free - Auto-Repair
Lyrical Nanoha
Devices are of a strange make. Other than the crystalline components that make up the very core of the Device, all of it's parts – the blade, shaft and handles – are made of very simple, replaceable materials that can be regenerated through magic. In fact, a common combat tactic is burning large amounts of power to quickly regenerate damage in what's called a 'Recovery'. If a Device were to be damaged, it can enter an automated repair state once returned to Standby Mode, regenerating any damage to more superficial parts and light damage to the main body. Heavier damage would require taking the Device to a specialized technician – a Device Meister. (CG Note: Requires Device - Lyrical Nanoha first.)

Free- Device (Merged with control rod from Dwarven Centurion)
Lyrical Nanoha
A Device could be seen as a high-tech magic wand. It aids with the complex math involved in manipulating Mana into spells. There are many different levels of power, intelligence and complexity. This grants you a base Device which you can customize with other perks. (CG Note: This is a Celestial Grimoire original perk. The Lyrical Nanoha jumpchain gives you a free Device, though it's not listed as a perk, so I had to make one so the rest of Device related perks made sense.)

"That's right!" it wasn't Mord who answered but the goddess waitress, a girl with light grey hair framing her entirely youthful face, her voice bright and fresh as she started setting out drinks from the tray she was carrying.

"Eh? Syr? What happened to Chloe?" Mord blinked at the change in wait-staff, which prompted an adorable pout from Syr as she held her now empty tray protectively over her chest and batted doe-like lashes at the older man.

"Are you saying I'm not good enough, Mr. Mord?"

For all his tough seeming bluster, that was enough to have him sputtering. "What? No! No! Of course not, happy to be served by you! I was just worried about Chloe is all!"

Syr laughed and pointed across the tavern where Chloe was seen taking an order from a trio of bashful looking young teens that based on how she'd reacted to Ken earlier were considerably more in line with her tastes. "She wanted to trade tables with me," she explained, before shamelessly pulling up a chair to sit next to Ichiban. "You were talking about getting to the bottom of the Dungeon, right? In a thousand years no one's made it that deep, but still there are adventurers who dream of being the one to finally reveal its deepest secrets."

Her smile was pure and innocent, but all the same Ichiban could sense some severely pointed interest directed his way, this wasn't a casual conversation at all!

He took a drink of his fruit liquor to steady his nerves. And hey it was actually pretty good! "That's right. Whatever's down at the bottom, I'm sure it's going to give me a way home," he said, deciding to be straight with them. Explaining it was pretty dispiriting when he'd been met with Miach and Naaza's incomprehension, but all the same he wasn't going to lie and try to pretend like he'd lived here all his life.

"What do you mean a way home?" Mord gave him a weird look. "You some kinda caveman?"

That made him chuckle. It wasn't the first time he'd been called one, but Mord's meaning was clearly different.

"No. See, I'm from a place called Tokyo, Japan. It's kinda like the far east here, except it's a whole different world. Like, people have been all around the world, one side to the next, and no place like Orario exists back there. So last night, I went to confront my boss, he shot me," he tugged at the hole in his shirt, which he should really look into getting fixed or replaced, "And then I woke up in an alley here in Orario, not knowing up from down. Talked to Miach, he didn't know anything about where I come from, and if a god doesn't? The way back's gotta be something even the gods don't know about, and all that matches up with the bottom of the Dungeon."

The members of the Ogma familia clearly looked like they didn't know what to do with his outlandish story, but Syr's eyes were shining as she stared at him. "What an incredible story! You have to tell us more. What's this Tokyo like? What happened between you and your boss? You have to tell us all the details, Ichiban!"

And so he did. With his suspicious new friends and an attentive goddess waitress (Chloe wound up serving their food orders and giving Syr a dirty look while doing so, which was cheerfully ignored), Ichiban got talking about back home. About playing a game called Dragon Quest which was his closest experience to this world. About a punk kid who fell afoul of some yakuza only to be rescued by throwing out a name he'd heard, Masumi Arakawa. A man who didn't know him from a piece of garbage on the sidewalk, but still chopped off his own finger to save face in front of a bunch of thugs and save a dumb kid in over his head. How Ichiban had resolved to follow that man, and worked for months just to get noticed, to be allowed into the Arakawa family. Then having to take the fall for a murder committed by the Arakawa captain. Going to prison for eighteen years with a smile, just to be useful. But then when he got out finding everything had changed. That Arakawa had betrayed the Tojo Clan he was part of, joining up with their long-time rivals the Omi Alliance and helping them take over the Tokyo underworld. And when Ichiban fought to face him, to hear an explanation… he got told he had to die and took a bullet to the chest.

By the end of it Mord had tears in his eyes, although he punched out Scott for saying so. "Shaddap! I'm just so moved! Our friend Ichiban here's showing what loyalty to a familia's all about! I'd do eighteen years hard time for Lord Ogma too, but you can't just toss a guy aside like that! A man deserves an explanation!"

"That's all I want," Ichiban agreed. "If the boss thinks that was the right call, if he did what he had to do… I just want to hear it from his lips. I want him to trust me with at least that much. That's why I need to make it back to Japan, even if it means conquering the Dungeon to do it."

"What a wonderful story!" Syr clapped her hands together in delight. "I'll be rooting for you, Ichiban! Just remember, no one conquers the Dungeon in a day. There are skilled adventurers that have been pushing deeper and deeper with every day for years, and still no one's found the bottom. So make sure you take lots of breaks and come back here to tell us your stories, alright?"

"Speaking of breaks, how long are you going to take on yours, missy?" the mama appeared behind Syr, brawny arms folded over her chest and a deeply unimpressed look on her face.

Spoiler: Weapon Materialisation

Free - Weapon Materialisation
Genshin Impact
One ability that is not talked about much, yet is worth taking note of, is the ability for those with Visions to store their weapons away in a flash of light. With a simple flick of their wrist, they are able to materialise and dematerialise their chosen weapon away in the blink of an eye. This is not something that all Vision users are proficient in though, a certain red ranger occasionally leaving her bow at home. As a wielder of a Vision yourself, this is an ability that you too share. You can summon and de-summon your 'main' weapon away at your leisure. Should you wish, you can change which weapon that you are able to summon.

"Tehe!" Syr stuck out her tongue and donked the side of her head in an adorable gesture that the mama clearly wasn't buying. Ichiban felt himself briefly distracted with a new ability entering his head, one that made buying that harness for the control rod earlier a bit of a waste as he could now dematerialise a weapon to summon on command. It was neat, but simple and not nearly as distracting as other abilities had been when he received them – it was that or he was getting used to it.

Either way he smiled at both women, "Don't worry about it, drinking and eating with a pretty lady hearing about your troubles, it's like being at a hostess club back home."

"Hostess club?" the mama asked, pausing from dragging Syr away by the back of her dress, to the goddess's evident relief.

"Yeah, it's basically like a bar but you're paying for company and conversation as well. Something for lonely men after a hard day's work," Ichiban explained the basic concept, which seemed to be easily understood.

"Well, this girl would probably be a lot better as a hostess than a waitress, but right now I've got a lot more tables that need waiting. Get to it, Syr," the mama said, giving the goddess a little shove that sent her scurrying away with a pout.

"Of course you know what this means," Mord looked grandly around his little gang after Syr and the mama left, receiving expectant looks for his wisdom. "Our boy Ichiban here doesn't know about Orario's real jewels. We gotta show him the sights, hehehe," he rubbed his hands together gleefully, "If you think the Hostess of Fertility's a treat, just wait. Tonight we're hitting the Entertainment District!" he raised his voice and his mug to cheers from everyone except Izzy, the lone girl rolling her eyes disgustedly.

Yeah, wasn't hard to figure out what kind of place that was. Which was exactly the kind of place Kamurocho was to Tokyo, wasn't it? He had a feeling he'd feel right at home in this Entertainment District.

The Nanoha device is kind of finicky, I was tempted to just give Ichiban all the free aspects of it, but I decided to just stick with Auto-Repair and the base item, which I merged with the control rod just to avoid item bloat. Which also helped the conversation with Mord and Syr to flow more naturally without being interrupted. Ichiban might notice the rod's increased functionality when he uses/studies it later, but for the moment that one passed without notice.

Click to shrink...

 

[vggooi]

Yakuza doing reality altering math is just what I wanted to see

 

[CrowesDebt]

Ichi really do be becoming a Magical Boy Hero. The conversations between various characters and Ichi have been fun too.

 

[RookDeSuit]

Author Notes

Click to shrink...

Start play to merge the Items.

 

[Zeromaru2]

Classic Ichi, Making friends and pulling heartstrings.
It's just that now he's building his legend in another world

 

[coldpyr0]

Thanks for the chapter!

 

[Ebiris]

Start play to merge the Items.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, I'm really tickled by the image of Ichiban smacking stuff around with a slab of dwemer metal, so I'll take any opportunity I can to keep that relevant even if it's inevitably he's going to pull some legendary artifact sword at some point.

 

[GymratJomar]

Ahggg all that wasted exceliaaaaaa. Join Miach already!!



I wanna see the buff of falna and the grimoire working together.

 

[Ebiris]

How do perks work?

Very well, thank you.

Joking aside, whenever Ichiban receives a perk that provides him with knowledge or actively used skills, he gains an appropriate understanding of how they work. More passive perks he does not and must figure out through trial and error. As an example, a perk that lets him shoot lasers from his eyes will come with the knowledge that he can do so, and how to turn the lasers on and off. A perk that makes him bullet-proof does not give him any special knowledge and so he may not realise until someone shoots him.

Items do not come with any special knowledge or instruction unless directly specified, although their function tends to be intuitive to Ichiban's knowledge and skills. As an example, the control rod for the Dwarven Centurion has its buttons labelled with modern icons he can puzzle out. Items can be destroyed or lost, unless the item specifies it replaces itself or returns to the owner.

When an item is rolled for, it always appears either on Ichiban's person in an appropriate fashion, like magic jewellery already being worn, in his hands or pockets if it can fit, or adjacent to him otherwise.

Similar items are merged together, and in doing so the proximity rule is relaxed – if one of Ichiban's friends is wearing the base item the merge will apply so long as they're in the same general area. If they're completely out of sight a new item will be generated rather than merged into the existing one.

A note on multipliers

Some perks or items say they double or triple a parameter. When these are combined, multipliers stack additively rather than multiplicatively. Two doublings equals a tripling, and so on.

Spells

Spoiler: Necromancer Lord

500- Necromancer Lord
Warhammer Fantasy: Dogs of War
All the secrets of necromancy are available to you know, and creatures bleak and terrible answer to your beck and call. Wraiths, mummies, vampires, wights, even with effort a great, rotting zombie dragon can be commanded, though those who retain the ability to think may not respond well to slavery. As well as commanding greater undead you gain access to the most terrible necromantic spells, able to slay entire towns and cities worth of people.

While those with this perk can wear magical and non-magical metal armour such as chainmail or plate mail, such equipment does make it much more difficult and much more tiring to work spells.

This is knowledge of basically every necromancy spell that exists in Warhammer Fantasy. I'm using the list here for reference. There's no backlash of turning evil or looking ghoulish just from using these spells, though some do explicitly have appearance modifying aspects. The issue with wearing metal armour only applies to these spells and doesn't impact any other form of magic. Casting them requires chanting and gesturing, the mana cost of these spells is variable depending on the effect.

Spoiler: Ma Fu Ba

200 - Ma Fu Ba
Dragon Ball Super
An old technique originating on the dinky little planet called Earth, yet somehow still scarily effective even at the heady heights of power this place reaches. The Mafuba that you have learned is a mystical technique created to seal away other beings, originally demons but it works on any being. With the incantation, proper movements and expenditure of a great deal of personal energy, you are able to activate the Mafuba and suck away a target being in front of you to seal them inside a prepared container. Any container that can be sealed tightly with a special seal tag, which you are aware of how to make, can work even if you use something like a rice cooker. It can be difficult to aim the technique, especially when using a small container and you are vulnerable to being interrupted or having a different being jump in front of your target, so careful planning can be required to have the technique work. Once sealed, they can only be released by opening or breaking the container the target was placed in.

Listing this under spells because it's basically treated as one rather than a more open-ended ability. It's pretty self-explanatory, once something's in it's not getting out except via external action no matter how powerful the being sealed inside may be. The perk says nothing about it being potentially fatal to use so there's no risk of death from it, although the amount of mana/energy it costs scales based on the power of the target. Worth noting that it's more of a drain on stamina as representing ki-use rather than mana like other spells.

Spoiler: Bender(Earth)

100 – Bender(Earth)
Avatar: The Legend Of Korra
You've been born with the ability to bend the natural element of your nation, and you have a lifetime worth of experience with bending. In order to harness your powers you have to be able to move, most of your bending will be conducted through a unique set of movements and gestures, but some feats can be accomplished with something as simple as waving your hand. All other bending abilities require you to have this.

It's Earthbending! See here for examples of things that can be done with it. He's at a high level of skill but doesn't have the master or avatar levels yet.

Spoiler: Saber Ninpo

600- Saber Ninpo
Fate/Legends - Servant Universe
A lifetime of adventure has taught you only one thing. The victor of any match is the more mysterious Saber. What could be more mysterious than a ninja? However you attained the skills, you're able to conceal your presence from even exceptionally observant Servants and use assassination techniques to greatly enhance your lethality in combat. Even if you're holding a greatsword, it's as swift and precise as a stiletto in your hands. But the true arts of the ninja are the secret jutsu you grasped, magical techniques available only to those of exceptional mystery. The many mythical feats of ninja are turned into real and powerful techniques in your hand, such as splitting yourself into numerous equally powerful clones, walking on water or disappearing into a puff of smoke. Oddly, the ninja arts often guide you to techniques that enhance the most Saber-like actions you can take, jutsu that increase the power of holy sword blasts or make any lance charge ghost through obstacles. What kind of ninja has all this knightly stuff, anyway?

It's basically any over the top and flashy anime ninja technique you could want. Has a great synergy with Knight's Bravery for blending ninja and knightly stuff together. Also works perfectly with chakra – it's not actual Naruto ninjutsu but it's close enough so I'm making them transferable, so any ninja tricks Ichiban pulls out with this is a trick that can be done using chakra and thus can be taught to anyone he's given chakra to.

Abilities

Spoiler: Animal Psychic

100 - Psychic Abilities - Animal Psychic (Mind Link)
World of Darkness: Sorcery
In the World of Darkness, psychic abilities and mythic sorcery are, at first glance, completely different. However, both manipulate the same powers, albeit in very different ways, and are both considered forms of linear magic. While a sorcerer utilizes numerous tools and ceremonies to harness supernatural powers, a psychic makes do with lots, and lots, of willpower. Furthermore, the majority of psychic powers are innate, and can be improved, but not gained, without outside interference, in stark contrast to sorcery.

Animal psychics have power over "lower" creatures, commanding, controlling, and communicating with various members of the animal kingdom.

[4] Mind Link - the psychic links their mind to a single animal, allowing them to perceive all the animal does, and utilize any lesser power upon them more easily so long as the link persists, which can be indefinitely if the psychic wishes it. However, should the animal be injured, psychic backlash may also injure the psychic.

(CG Note: Requires Psychic Abilities - Animal Psychic (Mass Communication) - World of Darkness: Sorcery)

100 - Psychic Abilities - Animal Psychic (Mass Communication)
World of Darkness: Sorcery
In the World of Darkness, psychic abilities and mythic sorcery are, at first glance, completely different. However, both manipulate the same powers, albeit in very different ways, and are both considered forms of linear magic. While a sorcerer utilizes numerous tools and ceremonies to harness supernatural powers, a psychic makes do with lots, and lots, of willpower. Furthermore, the majority of psychic powers are innate, and can be improved, but not gained, without outside interference, in stark contrast to sorcery.

Animal psychics have power over "lower" creatures, commanding, controlling, and communicating with various members of the animal kingdom.

[3] Mass Communication - all animals of a given species within earshot come under the effects of Communication. Additional species can be added, but doing so is more taxing for the psychic.

(CG Note: Requires Psychic Abilities - Animal Psychic (Command) - World of Darkness: Sorcery)

100 - Psychic Abilities - Animal Psychic (Command)
World of Darkness: Sorcery
In the World of Darkness, psychic abilities and mythic sorcery are, at first glance, completely different. However, both manipulate the same powers, albeit in very different ways, and are both considered forms of linear magic. While a sorcerer utilizes numerous tools and ceremonies to harness supernatural powers, a psychic makes do with lots, and lots, of willpower. Furthermore, the majority of psychic powers are innate, and can be improved, but not gained, without outside interference, in stark contrast to sorcery.

Animal psychics have power over "lower" creatures, commanding, controlling, and communicating with various members of the animal kingdom.

[2] Command - the psychic may now command an animal to perform a single act in their name, but not one that endangers the animal. Especially complex commands, or orders that the animal is adverse to follow, are harder to impose.

(CG Note: Requires Psychic Abilities - Animal Psychic (Communication) - World of Darkness: Sorcery)

100 - Psychic Abilities - Animal Psychic (Communication)
World of Darkness: Sorcery
In the World of Darkness, psychic abilities and mythic sorcery are, at first glance, completely different. However, both manipulate the same powers, albeit in very different ways, and are both considered forms of linear magic. While a sorcerer utilizes numerous tools and ceremonies to harness supernatural powers, a psychic makes do with lots, and lots, of willpower. Furthermore, the majority of psychic powers are innate, and can be improved, but not gained, without outside interference, in stark contrast to sorcery.

Animal psychics have power over "lower" creatures, commanding, controlling, and communicating with various members of the animal kingdom.

[1] Communication - the psychic may create a two-way channel of communication between themselves and one animal of choice. At this level, they cannot forcefully control them, but they can turn whatever fast-talking powers they have upon the bird or beast.

This one allows Ichiban to telepathically speak to any animals that he would be able to speak to verbally with a raised voice basically, the range is a little vague. It's basically effortless just to talk, and plenty of animals are happy to do things just by being asked, though the Command function guarantees it.

Spoiler: Defensive Determinator

150 - Defensive Determinator
Generic MG
Yes, the tank is an important part of party composition. You tank via forcefields, which allows you to tank at a distance and tank even when your enemy is so rudely attacking someone else.

You start with basic forcefields that you and your allies can move and attack through, while those you don't want to have free lines of fire and movement have to break them first. Put in time and practice, get out new forcefields and tricks.

If you want to create defensive barriers to protect an environment, then this is a good start.

This allows the creation of force-fields at range, I'm not too fussy on the exact range but the other side of the street is something like the ballpark there. They can appear as flat planes or cylinders or hemispheres and are static once placed. Practice may allow other configurations like form-fitting mobile ones. They're strong enough to take a single hit from a level 3 adventurer, and don't take much mana to generate, though fade on their own within a minute at most, but can be actively maintained and regenerated.

Spoiler: Light in the Darkness

200 - Light in the Darkness
Warhammer Fantasy: Imperial Colleges of Magic
The light you wield is more than just a sword or shield against the darkness. Your battle is for the souls of mankind as much as it is for their lands. For those tempted towards evil by their own fear, pain, or loss, you may be the last hope of their seeing the light. In your immediate presence, the light of Hysh drives out despair in all those you do not see as enemies. This will not protect them from dark magic on its own, but you can at least drive back the darkness threatening their hearts.

This is technically an ability that affects all light themed spells, but since Ichiban didn't start with any of those I gave him a simple spell that generates light and does nothing else before the influence of this perk. It's functionally the Light of Battle spell listed here. The effect is a simple morale boost, preventing things like fear or trauma or sadness from inhibiting those exposed to the light.

Spoiler: Magical Detection and Ranging

200 - Magical Detection And Ranging
Generic MG
The ability to detect magical phenomena is certainly useful for someone whose job depends on magic. You have a sense for magic, being able to detect heavy usage (like, say, a fight or a bunch of attacks) of magic at long range (across town, roughly) and being able to tell the magical power levels of others at close range.

The power level sensing works on anyone Ichiban can see basically, and the magic detection covers all of Orario and an unspecified but deep level of the Dungeon. Since at any given time there are going to be bunches of adventurers down there casting spells, these will be noticed but basically ignored – Orario just generates too much random magic for stuff to stand out the way a magical girl might notice a monster attack in Tokyo with this kind of thing.

Spoiler: Mana Conversion Affinity

100 - Mana Conversion Affinity (Lightning)
Lyrical Nanoha
Mana channeled by a Linker Core is normally something of a 'one size fits all' kind of energy that can be used for most spells. But maybe you had something a little more specific in mind? With this, you may convert this mana into a specific reaction or energy type - changing it to lightning, fire, ice, sound, or light with an intensity proportionate to how much mana you put into it. You choose which energy type this is when you buy this perk. This can be bought multiple times, but only the first purchase is free. Future purchases are 100 each, with 50 each for Belkan.

Lightning was specifically chosen since it's Ichiban's most canonical element. This allows him to simply generate lightning by expending mana, but also allows him to infuse lightning into any other spell he knows at no extra cost.

Spoiler: Hidden Intuition

200 - Hidden Intuition
Cultist Simulator
It's easy to get the title, but it's quite hard to keep the job. To grow old as a detective of the Suppression Bureau one requires more than just everyday skills. Through this ability you may identify hidden knowledge about a clue, an object, a situation, or a person in ways that are easy for you to understand. From your perspective, cursed items shrill ominously, poisons fume with a toxic green color, important items glow visibly, and bad situations make your skin crawl.

What's better is that these experiences are always trustworthy as they cannot be imitated, suppressed or countered, and they always adapt to cover new situations that you experience or new senses that you unlock.

This is primarily a danger sense kind of perk, but helps with figuring out anything that's hidden. The way it manifests is with Ichiban imagining something thematic to what's been hidden, which plays out a lot like his canonical brain damage. It has an incredible synergy with Magical Detection and Ranging because it applies that intuition to that sense and guarantees that what it picks up can't be spoofed. This generally appends to the power level sensing with more clues on elemental affinities.

Spoiler: Weapon Materialisation

Free - Weapon Materialisation
Genshin Impact
One ability that is not talked about much, yet is worth taking note of, is the ability for those with Visions to store their weapons away in a flash of light. With a simple flick of their wrist, they are able to materialise and dematerialise their chosen weapon away in the blink of an eye. This is not something that all Vision users are proficient in though, a certain red ranger occasionally leaving her bow at home. As a wielder of a Vision yourself, this is an ability that you too share. You can summon and de-summon your 'main' weapon away at your leisure. Should you wish, you can change which weapon that you are able to summon.

Pick one weapon, it can be de-materialised and materialised at will. A de-materialised weapon is effectively removed from existence and impossible for anyone else to detect or interact with. It can be done really quickly, and takes no real effort.

Spoiler: Spell Recollection

400 - Spell recollection
Libriomancer
Somehow you have expanded the bounds of magic beyond what should be possible. You are able to perfectly memorize a spell to such a degree that you can reproduce it simply by taking the same actions as the initial caster. While this effect is significantly decreased in power from the original, you may recreate literally any spell you see cast before you with only moderate effort. As this is a reproduction of the prior spell, you do not need to understand the principles behind it, only reproduce it. You will still need to learn the principles behind if you wish to truly cast it or bring it up to its original efficaciousness. Furthermore, you may still purchase and utilize this ability even if you chose the inhuman background.

It's basically free spell copying. If Ichiban sees someone cast a spell, he can do it himself. It needs to be a proper ritualised spell – a dragon's magical fire breath or a goddess's innate charm don't count. The copied spells are cast at half effectiveness compared to the original caster, but practice or tuition can overcome this.

Spoiler: Psychic Invisibility

100 - Psychic Abilities - Psychic Invisibility (Hide)
World of Darkness: Sorcery
In the World of Darkness, psychic abilities and mythic sorcery are, at first glance, completely different. However, both manipulate the same powers, albeit in very different ways, and are both considered forms of linear magic. While a sorcerer utilizes numerous tools and ceremonies to harness supernatural powers, a psychic makes do with lots, and lots, of willpower. Furthermore, the majority of psychic powers are innate, and can be improved, but not gained, without outside interference, in stark contrast to sorcery.

The ability to broadcast a telepathic command not to notice the psychic. This power is not true invisibility, and will merely case the psychic to be ignored. Unless the psychic also possesses the Animal Psychic talent, animals are unaffected by this power.

[1] Hide - the psychic will go ignored by anyone who is not actively searching the area they are in, so long as they do not move, speak, or otherwise betray their position.

It's a psychic somebody else's problem field, basically. It doesn't work if someone's already paying attention to Ichiban, and if someone is actively looking for him it doesn't work either. Considering the limitation on movement and speech, it's pretty weak.

Spoiler: The Traditional Way

600 - The Traditional Way
World of Darkness: Sorcerer
Unlike true mages, sorcerers cannot use their powers effortlessly, or without foci. As a jumper, however, you will - or have - likely acquire means of sidestepping the requirements of sorcery, and other powers as well. With this perk, you may not want to. For every requirement that you can forgo but don't, the power is 10% more effective. This applies to other powers as well.

This one's real self explanatory. I'm ruling that automating spell casting via the Nanoha device counts as sidestepping requirements of chanting/gesturing, so doing those along with the device can pull in a 20% boost.

Spoiler: Play Dead!

100 - Play Dead!
Magi: The Adventure of Sinbad
Sometimes, when faced with an insurmountable foe with no avenues of escape, it can seem like there's nothing you can do but calmly accepting your own impending demise. Strangely enough, though, there's another option open to you – merely pretending to be dead. Indeed, you've developed a technique almost unique to this world where, by opening a tiny hole in your chest, you can drastically weaken your heartbeat to but your body in a death-like state. Though you'll only remain in this state for a few minutes, you'll appear to be dead to all but the most thorough of examinations, perhaps allowing you to deceive your foes and live another day. Unfortunately, you'll be rather helpless while in this state, so it's probably best to only use it as a last resort.

How is the hole in the chest meant to be opened canonically? Do you stick a pin in yourself? It doesn't say and I care so little about this ability I'll just assume Ichiban can reshape his flesh to create the hole when he feels like.

Spoiler: Paid in Blood and Agony

400 - Paid In Blood And Agony
MtG - Shandalar
Many of the most powerful Black magics carry a price beyond mere mana. Contracts with demonic entities or drawing upon the power of undeath can often cost a mage a portion of their life force, and even the mana-fuelled echoes of such acts carry similar prices. Likewise, a Lord Of The Pit will not stay loyal for long if not fed... and if you can't sacrifice other creatures under your command, it's quite happy to take a Wurm-sized bite out of you. But though everything has a price, that doesn't mean you have to pay the toll in such a way. Though you cannot simply ignore such debts, you have the unique ability to pay costs with anything else of equivalent 'value'. Where before you might have been forced to bleed yourself dry for an edge in battle, now you could instead sacrifice a portion of your knowledge, another creature's life, or perhaps even pay the toll through a vast expenditure of mana instead. The 'price' will be based on what your debtor considers valuable or not, but they will not try to cheat you out of more than they are due.

This allows for the payment of any tangible spell costs outside of mana/stamina to be paid via other means. Life drain, backlash, reagents, sacrificial victims… they can be freely interchanged for other components of equivalent value. Sure is a good thing the Dungeon's swimming in those magical stones, huh? It's pretty much the perfect place for this perk.

Spoiler: Work-Life Balance – Mid Tier

100 - Work-Life Balance - Mid Tier
Generic MG
Most magical girls have no ability to mix their transformed and untransformed modes. Once they lose the frilly outfit, they are nothing more than ordinary girls.

You are different.

For 100 CP, you can use your active powers even while not transformed, but they are harder to control and weaker. This also applies to powers that would otherwise be locked to other alt-forms.

If Ichiban ever gets any transformations or alternate modes, this allows their powers to be partially available even when not transformed. Passive abilities don't carry over, so a theoretical vampire Ichiban would be able to use his hypnotic vampire gaze or creepy blood powers, but wouldn't have undead toughness (or the usual vampire weaknesses) when not transformed.

Spoiler: Animal Rider

100 - Animal Rider
Marvel Primal
The people called him the Rider, because they had never seen a man astride a beast before. You are naturally highly skilled in befriending, training and riding animals of all sorts.

Skills with training animals. It synergises with animal communication as they'll be more friendly and willing to help out, and understand his commands more easily. Unlike animal communication this can theoretically carry over to Dungeon Monsters to a limited degree, if he ever tried to tame them the way the Ganesha familia does.

Spoiler: Staying Power

200 - Staying Power
Final Fantasy I
You're the muscle of this party, and that means you need to be able to take hits while the spellcasters do their job - unlocking the secrets of the arcane doesn't leave the much time for jogging, after all. Lazy wizards. Your stamina is much more plentiful, able to run for miles in heavy armor and only breaking a bit of a sweat, and your ability to take physical damage is likewise increased, your pain tolerance being something to be envied. This won't let you survive being vaporized by the strongest magic in this world or being reduced to paste under a giant's foot, but against blade, bow, and even destructive spells, you can keep fighting even under some of the worst of wounds just as effectively as you could before.

It's functionally the stamina/toughness of a level 4 adventurer, along with incredible pain tolerance and the ability to ignore any kind of penalties for being injured.

Spoiler: Chakra

Free - Chakra
Naruto
The basic Chakra system perk, you start with reserves equal to the average jonin. In future jumps, by channelling Chakra into others you can cause a Chakra system to grow inside them. In future Jumps, abilities that function using the target's chakra, such as by disrupting, amplifying, or sensing it, will continue to function as normal, either using the setting's equivalent energy types, or using life force as appropriate.

100 - Chakra (Kage)
Naruto
Upgrade your reserves by an amount equivalent to the likes of Sarutobi Hiruzen at his peak, whose spiritual and physical energies blended to create an exquisuite amount of chakra surpassed only by true monsters. This is an additive upgrade, meaning the chakra will add to your existing pool, even if your existing pool is near infinite.

Requires Chakra to purchase.

200 – Chakra (Bijuu)
Naruto
Upgrade your reserves by an amount equivalent to the likes of Hoshigaki Kisame, whose chakra pool was comparable to that of weaker Tailed Beasts. There are few in history capable of matching your sheer quantity of chakra. This is an additive upgrade, meaning the chakra will add to your existing pool, even if your existing pool is near infinite.

300 – Chakra (Legends)
Naruto
Senju Hashirama and Uzumaki Naruto: shinobi with chakra reserves surpassing even the Tailed Beasts. Like these ninja, you're now peerless when it comes to the quantity of your chakra, capable of boosting even the weakest of jutsu to incredible heights. The amount of chakra you mold in each jutsu dwarves even the Gokage, weaving country-shattering power into every one of your techniques. Only with days-long protracted battles against equal or superior foes while spamming high-level jutsu will you exhaust yourself, and, even then, you might just find that final bit of chakra hidden in that seemingly bottomless pool for that pivotal moment. Unfortunately, you're still no match for the Shinju or Otsutsuki. This is an additive upgrade, meaning the chakra will add to your existing pool, even if your existing pool is near infinite.

This gives access to the Naruto chakra system, and with the Legends upgrade gives Ichiban a personal reserve equivalent to Naturo at his peak. Chakra is effectively a mixture of stamina and mana, and so functionally gives him a huge reserve of both.

Importantly, this doesn't give any form of knowledge or skill with using chakra. To start with all he can really do is inefficiently push chakra into limbs to augment movement/strikes. It'll take a lot of practice or further perks to improve that.

Giving a chakra system to others is done as easily as touching them for a couple seconds. For adventurers it integrates with falna, and gives them reserves commensurate with their endurance and magic statistics.

Spoiler: Landscapist

400 -Landscapist
Endless Legend
There are many anomalies that cover this world, their magic gleaned but not understood. You, you understand it. You have listened to the voices of the Rumbling Stones. You have won a staring contest with a Wizard's Eye. You have eaten the fruit of the Life Tree, and you understand. Whenever you are within an anomaly, your magic is more powerful, growing with the strength of anomaly. Inside a chroma land, your spells would be rainbow hued and blinding. While standing within the whispering confines of the Ice Sculptures your spells would deafen your foes and sound as music to your allies. If you stood upon the Dust Tree, maybe, just maybe, you'd be on par with an Endless. You also have a better understanding of all anomalies, and how to best benefit from them.

Basically it makes magic stronger when in weird magical areas. Guess what the Dungeon is? There may be some 'flavouring' to his magic depending on particular Dungeon biomes, and the effect directly correlates with how potent the weird magical area is – ie. going deeper in the Dungeon makes Ichiban's magic stronger. It also provides some intuitive understanding of the Dungeon, enough to aid in navigation to stairs up or down or points of interest like pantries or magic springs.

Spoiler: Model Student

100 – Model Student
Tsukihime
If you find yourself regularly skipping class to go on nighttime hunts for vampires or just general adventure, then it pays to be a good student on paper if nothing else. You're a model student, soaking up what teachers say like a dry sponge and speed reading your required studies in but an hour. You learn about twice as quickly as other top students, absorbing academic and mundane skills with very little trouble, even on a time crunch. Supernatural teachings or things like complicated science take more time, but you're still an excellent learner as long as you have a good teacher – whether an actual mentor or a very informative book.

This makes you learn twice as fast as top students. Guess what Ichiban is not? So in practice this works out quite a bit better than merely doubling his learning rate. Perhaps he'd actually be able to overcome his tragic illiteracy with this.

Spoiler: Regeneration

100 – Regeneration
Final Fantasy V
Unlike those mortals that deal with the normal elements, your connection with the Void supplies you with a virtually unlimited regeneration. As long as your head is not destroyed (and even then, as long as it is mostly intact) you can regenerate from your wounds, restoring yourself to whole. The more damaged you are, the longer it will take, but it will never take more than a day to restore yourself to full health.

It's pretty close to Wolverine-tier regeneration. A day to come back from a chunk of skull is really impressive!

Spoiler: Hide and Seek

400 – Hide and Seek
Marvel Zombies
Maybe it'd be possible to beat out the zombified superhuman community if you were some godlike voyager traveling through realities, but what are the chances of that? For everybody else, you're better off keeping your head down and trying to keep a low profile. Even then, the odds are against you. After all, the monsters you're hiding have all sorts of ways to find you outside the mundane - freaky sixth senses, telepathy, divination, and all the fancy toys they've got access to. They'll have a real hard time with you, though. Firstly, you're immune to any supernatural means of gaining information on you - for example, the zombies can use that reconfigured version of Cerebro as many times as they want, but they won't be picking up on you. Any way to scry on you just doesn't work, unless you want it to. Secondly, you're just really, really sneaky. Were you part of the Hand or something? You can move while making nary a sound, are capable of all sorts of acrobatics, and everything you'd expect those red-clad ninja to be capable of sans the fighting skills. Or maybe you're one of those rotten robbies and think that being really sneaky is befitting of a monster.

Elite ninja stealth/parkour/acrobatics skills which are great for traversal and hiding, not so much for fighting. Notably this does provide immunity to a God's ability to tell if he's lying, and he can be invisible to stuff like the mirror they use in war games.

Spoiler: Remorseless

Free – Remorseless
Final Fantasy IX
You are the star and for whom the spotlight shines. Your confidence in your role is absolute, and your resolution to put yourself forward is an undeniable force. Concepts of morality are for those who have to consider the feelings and stance of others, insignificant to you. Concepts of morale, even more laughable when nothing can faze you save for your own choices.

Those insignificant masses should pray they do not attempt to subject you to silly mind control spells as they are want to do – or they'll see the attempt bounce right back at them, mentally wounding them.

The fluff here is kinda sociopathic sounding, but I'm just taking it at the base level of being immune to unnatural morale influencing effects and a painful bounce-back for more overt mind control. He can still get scared if he sees Godzilla, but a minotaur's roar won't unnerve him. He can still think Freya's hot, but her full-on charm won't affect him.

Spoiler: Shaped Like a Fortress: Unreadable

100- Shaped Like a Fortress: Unreadable
Avesta of Black and White
There is something about your thought pattern that makes it really hard for others to get a read on you, and even those who could peer into your thoughts cannot get a good grasp of you. It may be how well-ordered your mind is, not allowing any unwanted thought to pass through, or how used you are to lies that you can even lie in your own thoughts to conceal your true intentions deep within yourself.

I'm not sure if mind-reading exists in Danmachi, but hey it's a good immunity to have. Actually it would cover the lie-detecting ability of deities, so there's that.

Spoiler: This is My Power

200 – This is My Power
Rapturous Rhapsody Jump
When Mikael was sent to each new world, his power was stripped away, forcing him to grow and regain his strength repeatedly. Such a situation is unacceptable to you, and you've taken decisive steps to prevent it from happening to you. As a result, your power cannot be stripped away, stolen, or otherwise taken from you. Regardless of the circumstances, your strength remains intact. If you were put through a situation similar to Mikael's, where you are sent to a new world, you would retain all the power you had previously gained. This effect ensures that you remain at your peak no matter where you go, and works on inherently temporary powers, but only if a power has remained active/available for more than one month.

Any 'permanent' power can't be suppressed by environmental conditions, and any temporary power becomes permanent if he manages to maintain it for a month. If he had a falna this would ensure it functions even if the providing deity went back to heaven.

Spoiler: Auto Reflexes

400 – Auto Reflexes
Bleach
Battle is in your bones, your blood, your very soul. Where others plan out their moves or train themselves to react automatically, it was always instinctual for you. These automatic reflexes for battle allow you to instinctively react with offense or defense to an attack, with no delay needed to judge or begin trained movements. Even when it's something you're not actually aware is an enemy or can't even see, your spirit still guides you to fight as an instant response. If you continue to rely on the auto-reflexes during a fight instead of planning things out in advance, you'll find your speed will steadily increase, as does your ability to counter or dodge things you're reacting to. The gains will fade after the battle is over.

It's discount Ultra Instinct. Basically ensures he automatically attacks/defends at a high but not perfect level – in D&D terms think of it like rolling 15 for every check. It doesn't really use anything complicated like spells, but basic punches/dodges/etc are all done at near peak ability taking full advantage of perks and powers even if Ichiban doesn't have full conscious understanding of them.

Spoiler: A Farther Horizon

200 – A Farther Horizon
Godbound
Whether you were once a baker or a beggar, the consequences of a Word of Creation burning in your veins will take you far beyond the life you once knew. With this you can at least be assured you'll be a natural learner for all kinds of new experiences, and always be able to keep an open mind for new vistas and ways of being. Within days of arriving in a new culture you can learn the customs, figure out how to fit in and sniff out who's in charge. This lends itself well to picking up new skills too. You may not be the greatest swordsman or painter ever to live, but you'll find yourself picking up the trade a lot quicker than most.

It's a learning perk. Not much to say, he already had a decent handle on Orario when it dropped, but it'll help smooth out any further issues and provide a boost to learning anything else. I'm interpreting it as allowing very fast progression to competency, but after that it doesn't do as much so it doesn't help with achieving mastery.

Spoiler: Path of the Dragon

400 – Path of the Dragon
Dark Souls: War of the Ancients
Though they were defeated in that most ancient of battles, people of all stripes have dreamed of transforming into a dragon themselves, to wield the power of those stone scaled entities that predated even the gods. But these would typically be just that, dreams. Under you, though, such dreams can be made a reality. You know how to initiate a process in others that will transform them into true dragons, though their strength, as well as the speed of the transformation itself depends entirely on how much power you use to kick start this process.

Touch someone, pour in mana, and they become a Dark Souls dragon. With a full tank Ichiban can turn anyone into a 'named boss' tier dragon, which I'm treating as somewhere around the level 6 adventurer range.

Spoiler: Unforgotten Nemesis

100 - Unforgotten Nemesis
HighSchool DxD
Monster tamers are those that know how to bend the will of lesser monsters and even sentient ones, to make their bidding. Naturally, a powerful being telling a lesser one what to do is not what I'm talking about, but rather being a good hand at training less intelligent ones, such as Lamias, Yuki-onnas, and various other creatures, even when they are stronger than you in a direct fight. Perhaps with enough time and practice you will achieve the level of skill needed to bind powerful and intelligent creatures, such as Dragons, to you, but it will certainly require a lot of practice.

It's a monster taming perk. Synergises with the Rider one from before, so taming anything unintelligent is now pretty easy. Intelligent stuff is gonna be harder, but if there's already a personal connection that can help. Dragons he makes with Path of the Dragon are going to be a lot easier to train than One Eyed Black Dragon or Nidhogg for instance.

Spoiler: Combo

100 – Combo
Worm CYOA v17
Your melee attacks get stronger in a geometric progression the longer you attack the same target without stopping. You have to continue hitting your opponent with pauses no longer than 5 seconds between the strikes or your combo will be broken.

Geometric progression could mean a lot of things, and I'm not gonna put a hard number on it, but basically each successive blow is increased by a multiplier so it can get out of hand very quickly. Ever hear that story of doubling a grain of rice over every square of a chessboard?

Spoiler: Knight's Bravery

200 – Knight's Bravery
Magic The Gathering - Iconics
Paragons of honor and justice, knights are those soldiers who keep the law in check. Their martial skills are nothing to scoff at either, and neither are your own martial skills. You have been trained as a knight and have excelled under the tutelage. This has made you one of the best knights across the planes, through martial skill alone you could hold your own against entire bands of lesser knights and it would take a knight of legendary status to best you just in martial combat alone, your skill is sufficient to easily be knighted in four of the five courts of Eldraine with a good chance at the fifth. In addition to this skill at arms, you also find it effortless to weave spells in the middle of fighting with a weapon, not needing to pause as beat back enemies.

Heroic level skill with knight-coded weapons, which gives carry-over skill to all forms of combat. Though Ichiban's already a really good fighter so this won't truly shine unless he uses a sword. On the other hand, instant mastery of concurrent chanting greatly improves his spellcasting abilities.

Spoiler: Ultimate Ninja Style

50 – Ultimate Ninja Style
Naruto
No, this isn't some overpowered fighting style. What this does is provide a boost in cosmetic flexibility to your techniques. Simply stated, your techniques are much more stylish and cooler-looking than normal, though no more or less powerful than normal. Even if you make it look as though you're punching your opponent into space with five thousand Shadow Clones, they won't actually be launched into space unless your attack would've done that anyways. This effect can be spread to teammates, allowing team attacks to benefit from the same aesthetic boost. This can be toggled on and off freely.

Contagious brain damage! Use of this will be limited in order to make battles actually legible, but any big dramatic attacks will get the 'Essence of' treatment to be jazzed up like you'd see for the Kiwami moves in the games.

Spoiler: Elemental Proficiency

100 – Elemental Proficiency
Final Fantasy XI
All blackmages are specialists in elemental damage from afar and you are no exception to this. You find magic based on the elements is easier to cast, taking slightly less magic to achieve the same result as other mages would need to achieve the same effect.

Spells of the classic Final Fantasy elements are slightly cheaper to cast. Ichiban has a lot of mana now so I'm not sweating the details, but the covered elements are: fire, ice, lightning, air, water.

Spoiler: Kinetic Learner

200 – Kinetic Learner
Honkai Impact 3rd
You learn faster physically and through experiencing stuff than from classroom environments. This does not mean that you learn slower from classroom environments than you did before – it simply means that you're more of a kinesthetic learner than before, and you learn things about ten times faster when you learn it kinesthetically. And, when it comes to combat, you can learn it ten times faster kinesthetically than you can learn normal things kinesthetically, meaning that you can learn combat one hundred times faster than normal.

It's not only a learning booster, it's one specifically fitting for Ichiban's type of learning. To give a concrete example, one casting of a spell in combat now masters it enough to eliminate the reduction he got from copying it with Spell Recollection.

Spoiler: Elemental Resistrance (fire)

200 – Elemental Resistance (Fire)
Generic Dungeon Crawler
You are 50% resistant to a common source of damage like fire, acid or electricity. This only mitigates damage, not environmental effects, so having resistance to gravity does not allow you to jump higher. This trait can be purchased multiple times, but only one purchase may apply per source of damage.

May be Purchased Multiple Times

Totally self-explanatory. I didn't roll for this one, I picked fire since it came up right after Pearl showed off her absurd fire storm spell so it felt right.

Spoiler: The Brave and the Bodolf

400 – The Brave and The Bodolf (knowledge only)
Marvel Magic
For those who seek power beyond their kin, there are methods of achieving their goals. Some strive long and hard, pushing their forms to and beyond their limit. Some turn to study, mastering science or sorcery to bend the world to their wills. And others yet still find other methods, making pacts with dark beings or taking extreme risks to gain power now. You now know of one such method, though whether you choose to utilize it is your own choice to make. This method takes the form of a ritual in which the one seeking power speaks ancient words of power and drinks the still-burning blood of a dragon.

At first, they will notice no change. But then, when adrenaline flows, they undergo a transformation. Gaining several hundred pounds of muscle mass and several feet of height, their skin turns as black as night and their eyes glow red like burning coals. In this form, their strength and durability are massively increased, making them one of the strongest and toughest beings in this world. But they also lose themselves to rage, consumed as a berserker until eventually the rage subsides or they are knocked unconscious, returning them to their original form. they may be able to learn control over these transformations, but it will take time and great effort. If you wish, you may choose to have already undergone this ritual and gained this power.

Ichiban does not have this power, but he knows the ritual to give the power to himself or anyone else. It does not make anyone as strong as the Incredible Hulk – justify it as being based on the wording 'strongest and toughest beings in this world' applying to this world, or the lesser quality of dragon blood than you'd find in Marvel.

Either way, it still pushes someone up to the level 8 range of raw physical ability when they get an adrenaline rush, at the cost of making them a giant insane berserker who can't differentiate friend from foe. The Hulk pants effect will apply, because no one wants to see that.

Spoiler: RADIANCE

600 – RADIANCE
MtG - Ravnica
Unity can be a double edged sword, and you know this only too well. Whenever you either share a common aim with your allies, or attack a group with a strong centre of unity, both strength buffs and damage dealt is shared. When one of your enemies is hurt, the whole group feels their pain. When one of your allies receives a surge of strength, their allies are strengthened too. The ties that bind you and your group together will grow ever stronger because of this.

Magical buffs get shared between allies when they share a strong common purpose – just fighting alongside each other isn't quite enough, it needs to be more of a shared commitment to a goal or something like that.

By the same token, damage being shared among enemies requires them to be working actively in concert. You can't punch a goblin on floor 1 and have a dragon on floor 50 feel it even if all Dungeon monsters are on the same 'side'. It'd apply more to a pack of them attacking together. With more intelligent foes this can impact wider groups that have a similar level of shared commitment even if they're not all in the same place. The shared damage can't ever be lethal to the ones not struck, but can be debilitating.

Spoiler: Blossoming Sun

Free – Blossoming Sun
Fate/Legends – The land of The Rising Sun
You had a fortunate birth, whatever you end up being, and find yourself above average for these lands. Japan is not particularly a bastion of mystical heroes in the way of Greece or Britain. Indeed, many of the legends to be found following are made from incredible skill or the command of many soldiers instead of personal feats of might and magic. But even these skillful heroes do tend to stand above the other poppies.

Your body is naturally on the higher end for human fitness, ably competing in modern athletics without any training required. Magically, you possess a number of high quality circuits, equal to the much later coming Tohsaka heir. A prodigy in those times but still notable even a thousand years prior. You lack training for now but magic is not so hidden as it becomes in the modern day, with the presence of spiritual temples and Onmyouji practitioners.

As a quirk of this land, you also have the ability to summon a wide range of aesthetic effects, even when they make no sense. A flurry of cherry blossoms on the wind as you make an entrance, the sun shining down the red rays of a sunset even mid-morning to dramatise your battles. One might claim you're in some sort of samurai movie, with how many dramatic effects tend to occur around you. As part of this national style, you also have the unique trait of never struggling to draw or sheathe your weapons, no matter how impractically sized they are. The katana and sheath longer than your entire body won't take anymore time to draw than a reasonably sized weapon. Not that you're any better at using the weapons, you just won't look like a tool taking them out.

At this point the physical/magical gains are kind of minor. There's definitely a noticeable boost to strength/agility before chakra comes in though. The aesthetic effects will be used sparingly because it'd just be annoying otherwise, but they're there.

Spoiler: One Source

200 – One Source
Trinity Wonder
Ki, magic. Ultimately, they are just energy. They come from the same source, and can be used to supplement each other. You can use one source to recharge or fuel the other. This won't necessarily be an even 1:1 conversion. Some energies may need a disproportionate amount of less potent energy to be substituted in to create an equal 'volume' due to the difference of energy contained within. Similarly, the techniques of different systems and techniques from other worlds may tax your reserves differently. The techniques of Wuxia world are often much more energy intensive than that of their fantasy world analogs, such that what one mage might consider overflowing amounts of magic, the murim warrior would simply consider adequate enough to recharge.

I've been treating chakra as one half stamina and one half mana, for how it can fuel other stuff. So this basically doubles Ichiban's already enormous mana pool. I'm not even sure what kind of Dark Souls dragon he could make now. Probably one of the ones that's more landscape than monster.

Spoiler: Choir of Hysh

400 – Choir of Hysh
Warhammer Fantasy: Imperial Colleges of Magic
Of all the Orders, it is the Light Order that is most often forced to work en masse to achieve its goals. Many of the protective spells on the vaults beneath the Pyramid of Light require the constant incantations of choirs of acolytes. Now you too may cast beyond your means, with the aid of your fellow Hierophants. By casting together in a choir, you and any nearby allies who know the protective, binding, or purifying spell you are attempting to use may combine your efforts seamlessly, creating an exponentially more powerful effect. In the light of Hysh, you are all one.

Basically allows other people to cast the same spell in tandem with Ichiban to massively boost the power/duration/area of the spell. Only works for defensive spells, binding/purification not really being much of a thing here. It's most relevant for the Final Fantasy II buffs.

Spoiler: Wave Clear

200 – Wave Clear
League of Legends
You're good at hitting a lot of things at once with your magic. Whether through large areas of effect, sweeping lasers, or spreading fires, you have the skills required to take out large amounts of weak enemies at once.

It means any spell can be used to hit multiple targets, and already multiple target ones go even further.

Spoiler: My Kit Don't Quit

200 – My Kit Don't Quit
The Old Republic
Normal soldiers have to worry about running out of bullets. You don't. As long as you packed at least one of any given expendable weapon or weapon-related item, you can always pull another one out of your pocket, given time. Larger, rarer, and more expensive items take longer to replenish, and you have an innate sense of how often you can freely use any valid item in your possession. Regardless, you always have another eventually, so there's no need to worry about using your last thermal detonator. Never run out of cartridges, shells, stripper clips, ammo magazines, weapon power packs, flamer fuel, marbles, grenades, rockets, mines, satchel charges, hornets, sling-stones, throwing knives, darts, javelins, arrows, cannonballs, whetstones, weapon resins, Onmyo talismans, shuriken, bolas, harpoons, or any other type of expendable offensive resource ever again!

Unlimited ammo basically, but with a recharge item for bigger things. Right now it's really just relevant for his mafuba pokeballs.

Do note how it very clearly says offensive resources. A healing dart wouldn't count, and a bullet that you somehow crammed a healing potion into would just get duplicated as a regular bullet, same as if you had a bullet that had some dirt on it would get duplicated as a clean bullet. If it doesn't serve the purpose of causing harm, the perk doesn't touch it.

Spoiler: Elite Wallflower Tactics

200 – Elite Wallflower Tactics
Fate/Stay Night
Somehow everyone seems to forget the basic rule 'Don't Judge a Book by its Cover' when they're dealing with you. You're constantly underestimated and overlooked, even when the opponent really should know better. You just don't look that scary, unless you're actually trying to be. Enemy combatants don't take you seriously or pass you over to focus on other fighters, even if you're an 8 foot mountain of muscle and metal. You can easily pass through all but the most alert of checkpoints without being singled out, even if you were a wanted criminal. Why, if you just wanted to avoid all those annoying friendly people at a party, you could just sit down somewhere and be assured of some uninterrupted peace and quiet. People catch on eventually though, so I wouldn't recommend using it more than a few times on the same guy.

People underestimate Ichiban more, or ignore him if he's just going around trying to avoid notice. It's not fool-proof, most of Orario now has enough experience with him to take him seriously, and Dungeon monsters aren't going to be any less murderous in a fight, but intelligent beings that haven't dealt with him before are just going to see an idiot with dumb hair.

Spoiler: Seismic Sense

100 – Seismic Sense
Avatar: The Legend Of Korra
This skill allows earthbenders to detect vibrations in the ground to perceive objects, people, and other aspects of their environment, essentially acting as sonar through earth and metal.

It's an extremely precise sonar that acts so long as Ichiban and what he's sensing are both in contact with the ground. Has additional applications like sensing heartbeats or picking out magic stones in monsters, it's very detailed and has a pretty good range, like half a block.

Spoiler: Domain of the Jumper

400 – Domain of the Jumper
Solo Leveling
A good leadership not only allows one's subordinates to perform better under a skillful direction, but the presence of a superior figure of authority can also help to raise and maintain the morality of the troops, allowing them a better performance and achieving feats that would otherwise be thought of as impossible as they surpass their previous limits.

Those fighting under you seem to go way beyond that. Similar to the skill that some Monarchs seem to possess, where they release their mana into area through a skill called the 'Domain of the Monarch' that severely increases the stats and morale of their descendant troops, you too can apply your mana to your surrounding area create this field.

After activating this ability, your troops will increase their stats by at least a fifty percent regardless of your power, but this bonus will increase the stronger you are. A National-Rank Hunter would be able to get a one hundred percent increase, and a Monarch could get a two hundred percent increase. The more powerful you are, the larger the area this ability will cover. For someone like the Shadow Monarch or the Monarch of Destruction, it could extend as far as all North America in a single release.

For Ichiban's level of power this basically works out to a 100% boost to everyone he has any kind of positive association with within nearly 500km. The boost is comprehensive since it increases 'stats' which is pretty open-ended. Strength, intelligence, willpower, you name it.

Items

Spoiler: Magical Canteen

200 - Magical Canteen
Danmachi
While people can go on for a few days without food but water is a must to allow your body to operate. This canteen possesses an ability to produce water on its own and the water it produces is some of the tastiest and freshest water out there. The water also has the ability to restore the drinker's stamina and refreshes their tired mind though it won't restore the mind energy that you used for the magic spell but the water can be used to replace food for three days with a diminishing return until you stop substituting real food for it this water.

This one's incredibly self-explanatory, nothing much to add.

Spoiler: Dwarven Centurion

100- Dwarven Centurion
The Elder Scrolls
One of the deadliest Dwemer Animunculi crafted, it is a brass behemoth that stands equal to Giants, and even more deadly. It's metallic hide repels most mundane weapons, it's axe can cleave through steel easily, and when it has to, it can unleash a blast of boiling steam towards an opponent. You also get a rod, allowing you to control it's actions directly as well as force it into standby mode.

It looks like the one from Skyrim for reference, and is functionally equivalent to a level 4 monster. Very strong and tough, able to basically ignore attacks from level 1 adventurers or monsters, but it's kind of slow.

Spoiler: White Lion Cloak

300 - White Lion Cloak
Warhammer Fantasy: Dogs of War
The pelt of one of the Great White Lions of Chrace, this cloak still bears some of the power and majesty it radiated when the beast was alive, and as a result wearers of such a garment find themselves more charismatic and more agile. That the partially magical hide also turns blows as well as a good quality suit of chainmail doesn't hurt either.

Pretty straight-forward, the agility and charisma buffs are on the similar scale as the sort of protective benefit chainmail gives, if that makes any sense. It's not exceptionally powerful, but absolutely noticeable for a normal person. Ichiban's agility is about the same as a mid-range level one adventurer with it.

Spoiler: Potion Set

300 - Potion Set
Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
"You got some Red Potion! You got some Green Potion! You got some Blue Potion!"

A trio of glass bottles, each with a useful potion inside of them. The first, a red potion, restores your health. The second, a green potion, restores your magical energy. The third, a blue potion, restores both. Each bottle will refill at the end of the day if you use it, but you won't get any extra if you haven't used it. If one of the bottles breaks, then you get a new one.

These potions are all effectively 'full restores' for health, magic, and both. Splitting the dose reduces the effectiveness by far more than just division – you need a proper dose for it to work at its actual effectiveness, but there is at least some benefit. It's pure 'hit point' recovery in video-game terms, so doesn't help as much for things like illnesses and status conditions. They refill/replace themselves at midnight.

Spoiler: Device & Auto-Repair

Free - Auto-Repair
Lyrical Nanoha
Devices are of a strange make. Other than the crystalline components that make up the very core of the Device, all of it's parts – the blade, shaft and handles – are made of very simple, replaceable materials that can be regenerated through magic. In fact, a common combat tactic is burning large amounts of power to quickly regenerate damage in what's called a 'Recovery'. If a Device were to be damaged, it can enter an automated repair state once returned to Standby Mode, regenerating any damage to more superficial parts and light damage to the main body. Heavier damage would require taking the Device to a specialized technician – a Device Meister. (CG Note: Requires Device - Lyrical Nanoha first.)

Free- Device (Merged with control rod from Dwarven Centurion)
Lyrical Nanoha
A Device could be seen as a high-tech magic wand. It aids with the complex math involved in manipulating Mana into spells. There are many different levels of power, intelligence and complexity. This grants you a base Device which you can customize with other perks. (CG Note: This is a Celestial Grimoire original perk. The Lyrical Nanoha jumpchain gives you a free Device, though it's not listed as a perk, so I had to make one so the rest of Device related perks made sense.)

The dwemer metal control rod provided by Dwarven Centurion gets these upgrades. Any surface level damage can now be repaired by infusing it with mana, though it requires a large amount and thus is quite draining. The actual device aspect turns it into an automatic spell-casting device – using it, Ichiban can effectively offload most aspects of casting a spell, such as chants and gestures, as the device follows his intent and casts it for him, though it still uses his mana.

Spoiler: Snap

100 – Snap
Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Leave only footprints, take only the sights that you see. It's a natural maxim used to ensure that historical sights are preserved, but memory is a fickle thing...a picture can say it a lot better. This simple camera is capable of printing out vivid photographs with no need or film or development, working on a set of simple runes taken from the Sheikah Slate. These photos can be hung up later as well! If you were to connect this to a Sheikah Slate, you could also easily use it as a 'range booster' for its camera function, allowing you to zoom in from far off onto wherever you wish.

It's a magical polaroid camera that never runs out of film/paper.

Spoiler: Ghoul Stone Velvet Bag

400 - Ghoul Stone Velvet Bag
Kamen Rider Neo-Heisei Part 2
The strange shop you've gotten all your toys from appeared to have this in a hidden section, but, it looks like you finally got it. This small bag, like one used to hold marbles, has a magical seal on the front. When you look inside, you can see a series of ashy stones...By throwing and shattering one against the ground, a loyal Gargoyle-like beast is created! These are "Ghouls", creatures of despair that serve powerful Phantoms...however this bag gives you ownership of the Ghouls created from the stones inside the bag. The Bag itself can convert valuable gems into Ghoul Stones, at the very least they must be a precious stone to be turned. These ghouls are hardy warriors, resistant to small arms fire and explosions with only magic and supernatural energy guaranteeing easy defeat. You start with 30 Ghoul stones in the bag, which should let you repel many threats in this world!

I know nothing about Kamen Rider, but I looked up the wiki here. They're basic sentai mooks, while their strength and speed isn't noteworthy they're about as tough as sturdy level 2 monsters like minotaurs. The magic stone of a level 2 monster similarly counts as a valuable gem for the bag's conversion ability.

Spoiler: Glassteel Magic Foci

100 - Glassteel Magic Foci (Merged with control rod from Dwarven Centurion)
Endless Legend
This featherweight staff allows the caster to channel rapidly without losing focus, and serves as an effective blocking tool. Three spells in the time of two, and parry any incoming attack without being distracted.

Merged into the control rod which is also a Nanoha device, this improves it both as a melee weapon and a casting implement. Spells are cast one third faster, and it can be swung around more quickly by the same margin for quicker attacks and more effective parries.

Spoiler: Tier One Talisman

50 - Tier One Talisman (Iron)
Endless Legend
A magical necklace that provides bonus depending on the material used.

Iron: Increases the speed the wearer covers ground at roughly double the speed. This does not increase overall agility or reflexes, just how quickly they can chew through distance.

Dust: Grants the wearer regeneration. Bruises vanish in hours, not days, broken bones heal in days, not weeks.

Titanium: Fortifies the mind and resolve, helping to resist morale shaking effects and mind control.

Glassteel: Helps the wearer predict flight paths and improves over all accuracy. Go from a fifty cent piece to a quarter.

Iron was rolled randomly. It doubles maximum running speed, regardless of what the base speed is – friction, air resistance, none of those things matter. While overall agility and reflexes aren't boosted, they are boosted specifically in the case of running so Ichiban is no more likely to collide with something than he would do normally.

Spoiler: Orange Charred Ring

200 - Orange Charred Ring
Dark Souls: War of the Ancients
A ring that was enchanted by a witch, meant for the only son of the Witch of Izalith. Since his birth, he was afflicted with sores that were inflamed by lava, leading to his sisters giving him this ring. While wearing it, you will find yourself more resistant to fire and lava, handling their heat as well as any stone in a campfire naturally would.

I don't think the various elemental resist items you see in Souls games are really that good when you compare them to other games where getting elemental immunity is fairly trivial. But going by the wording, this is some really strong resistance to heat. A stone eventually cracks so I'd put it at something like eighty percent.

Spoiler: Talon Bow

300 – Talon Bow
God Of War (2018)
A yew bow, created with the purpose of harming even the gods if the need arises. Something that is interesting about the bow is that it scales with the level of Divine Physiology that you choose earlier in the Jump. Someone with an Unnatural physiology would find their bow being as strong as the one Atreus uses when it is upgraded to the max, with it being able to cause flesh wounds even on a god. Whilst someone with a God physiology would find that they would find their arrows going deep into the hides of dragons and gods alike. So long as the quiver of arrows is never spilled you will find an unlimited number of arrows, and once every 10 minutes you will find ten arrows which will deal lightning damage along with the damage they would normally do. These special arrows restock once they are depleted. Once-per-Jump you will find an arrow which will dissolve the magical defenses of whoever you declare the target, this would work even on divine spells such as the one which grants Baldur his immortality.

I'm interpreting this a bit more loosely, rather than needing to ping off of a Divine Physiology perk from the same jump, it'll just adapt its strength to the wielder by default. It's basically the Hestia Knife but a bow. The special once-per-jump arrow is just once, flat out now. If Naaza still has it in her quiver after they kill the One Eyed Black Dragon she ought to feel very foolish.

Spoiler: Bag of Tomes (reusable)

200 – Bag of Tomes (reusable)
Final Fantasy II
All the standard magical tomes. Once read, it will commit to your memory and the pages will become blank. For another 50CP, the text will remain, allowing multiple people to read them. Contains all the spells aside from Ultima, Revive and Destroy.

It's the full list of spells from Final Fantasy II. Not written in the item description but taken from the game is the limitation that only 16 can be learned at any time, I just think that makes it a bit more interesting. They level up with use, but I'm keeping it vague, these are more for other people to use since Ichiban already has tons of spells to keep track of. Refer to the list here if you want to dig into them.

Spoiler: Chillbite Ring (merged with Orange Charred Ring

50 – Chillbite Ring (merged with Orange Charred Ring)
Dark Souls 3
"One of the bite rings native to Carim. This ring would never grace Friede's hand, for the painting and its frost became her home." Like the other rings produced by the Earl of Carim the Chillbite Ring increases one's resistance to elemental frost when worn, making the biting chill of winter a bit easier to bear. A necessity, for those not used to the painted world's frigid temperatures.

Lets say it's 80% protection against cold to match how the orange charred ring was done, merged into one handy package.

Spoiler: Millwood Battle Axe

200 – Millwood Battle Axe
Dark Souls 3
"Battle axe wielded by Millwood Knights. Its blade is blessed by the symbol of the Ethereal Oak. A hefty axe normally wielded by the mightiest of warriors. " Much lighter than its description would have you believe, this axe is a fantastic weapon for warriors due to its light-weight and easy heft enabling it to be swung quickly. When properly infused and buffed the deadliness of the weapon increases greatly, particularly if its wielder utilizes the running slash used by Millwood Knights.

Not getting into the +X woods of Dark Souls weapon enchants, just assume it's 'good' for what it is. Apparently this one's well regarded in the meta for having high damage, so it's just that, a solid powerful axe, but nothing remarkable.

Spoiler: Megingjörð

100 – Megingjörð
Germanic/Norse Mythology Jump
A simple belt or other garment or accessory which doubles your strength and durability when worn.

Incredibly self-explanatory.

Spoiler: Crystallisation of Power

200 – Crystallization Of Power (Anemo)
Genshin Impact
These are the crystallised teardrops of a great elemental being, one that in days past might very well have fought toe-to-toe with the gods. Contained within these tears are an incredible amount of pure elemental energy, of a type matching that of the spirit it came from. What exactly that type is, is up to you. This would be a rare and incredibly valuable prize for any able to handle the energy within, enough to power an instrument of the Archons.

Anemo is Wind in Genshin-speak, I rolled randomly for it. It's basically a powerful wind magic maguffin with no set abilities but could do all kinds of things if appropriately processed or ritualistically utilised.

Spoiler: Carthrus Milkring (merged with Orange Charred Ring)

100 - "Carthus Milkring" (merged with Orange Charred Ring)
Dark Souls 3
"Ring worn by the warriors of the sand kingdom, Carthus. The sword technique of Carthus allows for fluid movement with a curved sword. Masters of the technique are said to dazzle their opponents by moving as weightlessly as a grain of sand. They live for their High Lord Wolnir, conqueror of most kingdoms known to their people." Simply putting it on makers the wearer feel more nimble. Additionally, when dodging or rolling out of the way of an attack, the wearer's movement becomes hazy, clouded, making it harder to predict your path.

Gives a small bonus to agility/dexterity, and makes dodges look all ethereal like you're turning into smoke.

Spoiler: Mirror Polish (applied to Millwood Battle Axe)

300 – Mirror Polish (applied to Millwood Battle Axe)
Legend of Zelda: Hero of Worlds
Upgrade for one of your weapons or a shield, making them capable of reflecting projectile spells back upon the caster.

Does what it says. Requires a bit of timing to do so isn't automatic.

Spoiler: Bands of Kwang Lao

200 – Bands of Kwang Lao
The Elder Scrolls
These leather bands are said to have belonged to a fierce warrior hailing from Akavir. Wearing them not only increases your skill with unarmed combat, but increases the force behind your strikes and makes your fists as hard as ebony. Who needs a weapon when you have your fists?

It's pretty vague, but it's a big boost to martial arts skill, allows harder blows that hit with more impact because the fists become as hard as ebony which is a high tier Elder Scrolls material. Stronger than the dwemer metal Yankimaru is made out of!

Spoiler: Bottle of Demon's Blood

200 – Bottle of Demon's Blood
DC Occult
A small bottle of demon's blood that replenishes once a week. Demon's blood is a useful ingredient for many potions and rituals, and if someone is giving a transfusion of it, assuming they survive, they will be healed of any existing ailments, their aging process will be retarded, and their strength and stamina will be somewhat augmented.

It's a vague potion ingredient. Naaza will use it off-screen for that, it probably won't be very relevant to the story.

Spoiler: Basic

free – Basic
Lyrical Nanoha
...It's probably only polite to refer to this as 'intelligence'. While it's a bit doubtful as to whether it can even say anything other than the names of you attacks, it's also capable of relaying received electronic messages when telepathy isn't available. Other than that, it might as well be an inert piece of metal. (CG Note: Requires Device - Lyrical Nanoha first.)

Upgrades the Device with a rudimentary AI. Basically it's gone from calculator to desktop computer, and is now capable of speech. Doesn't have any initiative of its own. I'm maybe upselling this a little bit beyond the item description, if only because I'd already had it operating on that kind of basic level to start with. Full intelligence is still an upgrade past this though.

Spoiler: Blaster System

250 – Blaster System
Lyrical Nanoha
Coming from the same roots as the Fulldrive mode on some Devices, the Blaster System is designed to increase the power available to a Mage in combat. However, unlike the Fulldrive mode, the Blaster System does not only disengage the performance limiters on the Device, it also directly sacrifices the user's life for power. When a Blaster System is in use, the Mage receives direct, physical damage to themselves relative to whichever one of the three Blaster levels they are using, along with backlash damage to the Device itself. It is analogous to overclocking the Device with power, rather than simply letting it perform at its maximum specifications, as with Fulldrive.

Blaster One and Two are both relatively safe if only used in short bursts, being able to instantly charge nearly any spell, or push its power to the class above it. The tradeoff is the immediate overheating of the Device, along with burns, cuts and ruptured blood vessels on any flesh in contact with the Device during operation. Blaster Three, on the other hand, causes immediate damage and warping to the Device, along with potentially breaking the operator's bones and causing the same damage from Blaster One and Two all over their body. In exchange, the power of spells are massively multiplied, completely bypassing even the most potent Anti-Magic Fields and still coming out with extra power.

It should be noted that in some cases, the damage caused by a Blaster System can in fact be preferable to the damage potentially caused by Fulldrive. The simple truth of the matter is that it's faster and easier to treat blunt trauma such a broken bones and cuts compared to the internal damage caused by Fulldrive, which has a tendency to 'add up' before it's noticed. (CG Note: Requires Device - Lyrical Nanoha first. )

This is pretty self-explanatory, I've taken 'massively multiplied' to be times ten. It could've been any number but lets go with that.

Spoiler: Auto-Guard

50 – Auto-Guard
Lyrical Nanoha
Generally, while Devices may provide warnings, advice and analysis for their mages, it is unusual for them to cast spells on their own. One common modification is, however, a system that can be set to automatically cast an active protection spell, intended to supplement the existing passive defense of a Barrier Jacket. As the casting is handled entirely by the Device's intelligence, without consulting it's user, it can react far faster than a human, with the caveat that it can only be used for defensive spells. Since Devices are essentially 'always on', an Auto-Guard system can also respond to more mundane attacks, protecting its master from debris or other environmental hazards even outside of combat. (CG Note: Requires Device - Lyrical Nanoha first.)

I'd kind of already had it doing stuff like this when it got Basic intelligence, but I guess now it's better. Kind of redundant with Auto Reflexes in play, but considering they're linked I'll say it can automatically shield Yankimaru as well. Anything to give that robot a bit more relevance.

Spoiler: Titanic Hydra

300 – Titanic Hydra (merged with Millwood Battle Axe)
League of Legends
This heavy, pointed axe is a powerful, crushing weapon. When the Titanic Hydra strikes a foe, it will create a shockwave from the point of impact that spreads out in a cone, damaging foes behind the target. The Titanic's blows become more vicious the more lifeforce the wielder holds, the power of its blows increasing with the lifeblood of its wielder.

Makes the axe more powerful, and scale in power with the wielder's toughness, and deliver an area of effect shock-wave behind the initially struck target.

Spoiler: Tier 1 Tomes

150 – Tier 1 Tomes (Titanium)
Endless Legend
Tomes are some of the most powerful arcane relics on Auriga, costing a small fortune each to make. Within them exist powerful rituals that can reshape the land and people within. Each can affect roughly 50 miles, and project from the tome itself.

Titanium: This focuses the mind to a needle point, allowing for impossible feats of concentration and focus. The overall intelligence of those working under the Tome holder is increased by 50%. A must have in every Vaulter lab.

Glassteel: One of the most valuable tomes, this contains spells that rouse Dust from its slumber, kicking it up into Dust devils. Drawing Dust into a single place makes it far easier to harvest, and it seems to call Dust upon the wind, always bringing enough back to the lands to harvest. No true Broken Lord is without one.

Adamantium: This tome contains powerful geomancy, allowing the holder to call metal up from the depths of the earth. It takes time for the ore to rise to the surface, but it greatly increases mining output.

Palladium: Within this distressingly warm and... breathing... tome are spells that cause vegetation to explode into life, growing rapidly to suit the will of the holder. Farm output is doubled, and no matter where the holder goes, there is always enough native flora and fauna to support them and their troops.

Dust: Within this Dust infused scroll, you find hints of Endless Wisdom. Sadly, it is only about killing others. While under the effects of this Tome, warriors train harder and faster, rapidly turning into an expert fighting force in a matter of months, not years.

Titanium was rolled randomly (Glassteel was excluded from the roll as it wouldn't be any use here). Does basically what it says.

Spoiler: Void Staff

300 – Void Staff (merged with dwemer centurion control rod)
League of Legends
This plain wooden pole inset with blue crystals may seem innocuous, but it's infused with the insidious energy of the Void. This weapon lends the piercing nothingness of the void to its wielder's magic, allowing them to tear through magical defenses as if they were nothing.

Upgrades the device so spells cast with it can ignore any kind of barrier or shield.

 

[Ebiris]

Mord was looking at him like being left for dead in an alley was becoming an option once more. The only good news was at least his ire was shared, as across from him several scantily-clad and dark-skinned girls were fawning all over Guile to go with the set cuddled up to Ichiban.

"I'm used to it with this guy, but I thought Ichiban would at least be on my level!" Mord complained bitterly as he sat with Scott and Ken being mostly ignored by the ladies. And Izzy who was determinedly sticking it out with the men of her familia and getting increasingly drunk with little else to cater to her tastes around here.

"Haha, women love a man who takes care of his body," Guile bragged, flexing with a squeal of delight from the buxom girl measuring her palm against his bicep.

"Not to mention a man with style," said one of the girls hanging off Ichiban, nuzzling his side and burying her face into the furry mane of his lion cloak with a sensually contented noise.

Yeah, they might not have used the name, but it's clear the concept of a hostess club as he'd explained back at the Hostess of Fertility wasn't unknown to Orario.

The hilarious thing was that as far as he could tell going by the magical falna power he was reading, the girl so impressed with Guile's bicep was actually stronger than him. But when your strength comes from a magical godly blessing, doesn't that make cool sculpted muscles even more of a flex? The girls around the Entertainment District certainly seemed to think so. Almost invariably dark-skinned and dark-haired, what he'd taken for a simple human demographic like Indian people back home was apparently a specific fantasy race called amazons who were exclusively female.

They seemed to like guys just fine though.

"Yeah, this thing's badass as hell, ain't it?" he grinned, holding out his cup as another girl refreshed it and he had a drink. Wasn't as sweet as what he had back at the Hostess of Fertility, but had a nice kick and burned good going down.

"I'll say, it's commanding and powerful, yet cute and huggable. Just like you Ichiban!" she cooed, snuggling up against him while Mord, Scott, and Ken all tried to kill him with the power of their eyes.

"Hey, he's not the only one who needs a refill here," Mord scowled, downing his own cup before holding it out expectantly.

"Of course Mord dear," detaching from Ichiban and his cloak, the young amazon picked up the golden decanter they'd been serving drinks from only to have just a drop trickle out. "Ahh, we have been partying pretty hard, huh? I'll get us a fresh jug!" she stood up and sauntered out, at least giving Mord an eyeful in her skimpy harem-girl style outfit. They were all sitting around on cushions around a low table, silk curtains surrounding their booth slash room, giving the whole place the ambience of a sheikh's palace or something like that.

It was a fun style, and even with Mord's belly-aching Ichiban was enjoying himself. This kind of night out with drinking and good food and cute girls was the kind of thing he could only dream of when he was in prison. He'd rather have been celebrating his release with the Arakawa family, but this was a good way to spend his evening on his first night in a whole new world.

Coming back, the amazon – Shazah was her name, bent over to refill Mord's cup and giving him a view he no doubt appreciated. The view wasn't half bad from the backside either, though Ichiban wasn't planning to do more than look. Indeed he made sure to avert his gaze enough to not seem like a leering old man, though the girl still cuddled on his other side seemed to find his discretion amusing.

Spoiler: Spell Recollection

400 - Spell recollection
Libriomancer
Somehow you have expanded the bounds of magic beyond what should be possible. You are able to perfectly memorize a spell to such a degree that you can reproduce it simply by taking the same actions as the initial caster. While this effect is significantly decreased in power from the original, you may recreate literally any spell you see cast before you with only moderate effort. As this is a reproduction of the prior spell, you do not need to understand the principles behind it, only reproduce it. You will still need to learn the principles behind if you wish to truly cast it or bring it up to its original efficaciousness. Furthermore, you may still purchase and utilize this ability even if you chose the inhuman background.

"She's doing it deliberately anyway, you know. It's an insult to an amazon not to look when she shows off her body," she teased, trailing a finger up his chest until her finger caught on the bullet-hole in his shirt, that seeming to catch her attention. "Oh, something went right through here. What got you, Ichiban?" she asked as Shazah returned to his other flank after making sure everyone had a drink.

She probably could've skipped Izzy, the girl was really swaying in place now.

"Oh, that's a great story! You should hear him tell it!" Mord butted in, gesturing over towards Guile and his fangirls, "Reduced Guile to tears, it did!"

"Woah, strong and sensitive? You're just my type!" a girl cooed, throwing herself at Guile even harder before he could get indignant over Mord throwing him under the bus.

"Ahh man, I'm gonna be telling this story a lot, aren't I?" Ichiban griped good-naturedly. He didn't really mind, it felt good to get it off his chest, and these guys had all been good listeners back at the Hostess of Fertility. As for the amazons they were basically paid to be good listeners for this kind of thing, so why not?

So he told his story again. Being taken in by Arakawa. Spending eighteen years in the joint for him. And coming back out only to be met with a bullet, before waking up outside the Blue Pharmacy.

"Oh, I love the Blue Pharmacy! Lord Miach's so handsome, and he always gives you free potions!" one of the girls hanging off Guile said at the end of his tale which everyone had listened to with varying levels of interest and skepticism.

"But wait, if you think there's a portal between worlds at the bottom of the Dungeon, wouldn't you have arrived here in the Dungeon instead of at the Blue Pharmacy?" Shazah struck at the entire logical premise he was using to aim himself towards a way home.

There was a round of thoughtful nods from everyone else as they considered that hey, that actually made sense. He did not like that feeling.

"Ahhh!" he pitched himself forward in frustration, "It can't be like that, if it was I could've just turned around and went back the way I came right at the start. There's got to be a quest, an adventure, the hero's journey!"

Amazingly that poorly thought out but passionate response seemed to sway everyone back to seeing things his way.

"That's right, Ichiban! You've got to earn your happy ending! Overcome the trials of legend and get your answers!" Mord slammed his cup down on the table, getting more excited nods from everyone else.

"Still though, won't it take you years to level up enough to reach the deeper parts of the Dungeon?" the most powerful person in the room, an amazon called Rina asked from where she was clinging to Guile's chiselled bicep.

"There were heroes in the past that didn't level up with falna – like Argonaut!" Shazah pointed out, patting Ichiban's shoulder. Or at least the fluffy mane of his lion cloak on top of it.

"Yeah, and he's got his giant… ro- ro… golden statue man thing!" Izzy interjected, gesticulating wildly. "It was huge and it nearly flattened Ken!"

"No it didn't!" Ken quickly insisted, giving her a betrayed look.

"Did too," Izzy turned her chin up petulantly, "Ichiban stopped it with his magic wand he got from the spirits!"

"Giant robot," Ichiban provided her with the technical term as the amazon hostesses all looked at him with curious expectation. "I left him with Tsubaki overnight 'cause she wanted to study him and it's tiring to lug a giant robot all the way around town."

Izzy's lips turned upwards in a sloppy grin of vindication, and clearly on a roll she kept going. "And! And! He can make the magic wand vanish and reappear, so that means no one can steal it to control the giant robot for herself!"

Yeah that definitely made it sound like she'd been thinking of doing exactly that. He'd been showing off his ability to de-materialise and summon the rod back when they'd left the Hostess of Fertility earlier. Better to just have it out of hand than risk someone trying to grab it after all. He'd also noticed something had changed about it when he wasn't paying attention, there hadn't been time to really study it but best he could figure out it linked up with his magic in some way that would aid in casting spells. Something he'd have to test out when not enjoying a night of drinks and fun with his new friends.

Reaching over, Mord grabbed at Izzy's robes behind her neck, lifting her like a cat as he said, "Alright, I think this little missy's out past her bedtime, we ought to call it a night."

But then Rina was suddenly draping her curvaceous figure against Mord and blowing in his ear as she purred, "So early? When will we ever have a chance to drink with a spirit-blessed hero? Please stay, the drinks are free tonight… and maybe other things too," her tongue flicked against his ear, drawing a pleased shiver from Mord as he let go of Izzy and started to lower back into his seat with a goofy grin spreading on his face.

"Well, I mean… can't argue with that price!" he wrapped an arm around the girl who'd just moved with such startling speed without dropping any of her seductive manner, while another of Guile's fangirls detached herself from him so she could drop in Scott's lap and cuddle up with him.

"We should get more girls in here too, we're going to party all night with you boys!" Shazah cheered, refilling Ichiban's drink.

And Ichiban felt his skin crawl. Despite the cheerfully seductive attitudes on display, the vibe had completely changed thanks to Izzy's words, and he couldn't help but recall Rose's earlier warning back at the Guild.

"Many familias would be so eager to have you they wouldn't take no for an answer."

"So, uh… you girls part of a familia or anything?" he asked, wondering how he was going to extricate himself from this situation with any grace.

"Huh, you didn't know? Well of course you wouldn't. Every girl here's a member of the Ishtar familia, we run the Entertainment District," Shazah answered, still smiling and friendly, but where before it had been professional courtesy with perhaps a bit of actually being charmed by Ichiban's rugged good looks and affable demeanour, there was now a desperate edge to it. "Of course Lady Ishtar welcomes men into her familia too if they impress her, and we all have lots of fun together. Would you be interested in that, Ichiban?" she pressed herself more tightly against him. "There's no stronger familia in Orario, no one who could better help you reach the bottom of the Dungeon."

"Hell with that," the blatant recruitment pitch seemed to at least rouse Mord, "He should join the – mmmnh!" the irate words got muffled by a pleased groan as Rina pressed her lips against his. They were really giving up on subtlety, huh?

"You know there's nothing sexier than the strong silent type," she said breathily after that kiss, clinging onto Mord in a way that was yes sensual but also probably about as rigid as a set of iron bars.

"Listen, that's all real nice, but I'm not looking to join a familia, so can we like, take things back a bit?" Ichiban asked, the other members of the Ogma familia all starting to look a bit uncomfortable and nervous as the mood shifted.

"No, no, no!" Shazah clutched his arm. She didn't feel incredibly strong or anything, based on what he felt of her magic she and the other amazons were closer to Izzy and Ken than Mord's level, though Rina handily dwarfed him. "You're not thinking about it properly, we're all having fun, right? And you'll get to have even more fun if you join up – we can take you to meet Lady Ishtar tonight even, and she can explain everything!"

She was increasingly frantic. And when she mentioned meeting Lady Ishtar, alarm bells rang in Ichiban's head. However low-key the gods might play it here, he didn't doubt they could get serious. And meeting Ishtar right now would be like facing the final boss early.

"Ugh, I'm sorry, I should've kept my mouth shut…" Izzy moaned apologetically, her body swaying woozily and her cheeks bulging. This was turning into a disaster on every front.

"Look, it's been a trip, but we gotta call it a night here," Ichiban managed to pull away from Shazah and the other girl clinging to him, standing up and reaching into his jacket. He didn't want to be accused of dining and dashing, and besides it might make a good distraction. "You girls deserve a tip for excellent service though."

He'd never really been rich enough to do it himself, but tonight Ichiban made it rain. All the money he got from Tsubaki earlier fanned out, flexed, and scattered to rain over the table, catching the eyes of the less attentive amazons who excitedly scrambled for it with cries of, "Money!" on their lips.

"No, you bimbos! He's worth more than that!" Rina yelled, moving to lunge his way before she fell, Mord's arms latched around her waist and the two of them tumbling onto the table with a crash, drinks and their mostly untouched fruit platter going everywhere.

"Run Ichiban! We'll hold them off!" he yelled as things descended into mayhem. Accepting his friend's sacrifice, he pushed free of his pair of amazons to force his way towards the silk curtains separating them from the rest of the establishment.

"Ichiban, I'm sorry!" surging upwards to her feet, Izzy stumbled towards him just as Shazah and another girl reached out to grab him, calling out for reinforcements.

"Stop that-"

"Hwork!"

"Yeeeargh!"

"It's everywhere!"

Two scantily clad amazon harem girls were now wearing most of the pasta that Izzy had eaten earlier, the girl giving him a sloppy grin and a thumbs up from under her floppy witch hat as she tumbled in seeming slow motion into a mess of flailing limbs and steaming vomit.

"Apology accepted, Izzy!" he whispered, almost moved to tears by the act as he rushed onto the foyer of the red light business they'd all entered with such a good mood earlier.

From the silhouettes seen through the curtains into other sections it was clear more than just drinks and conversation were on the menu here, but Ichiban didn't have time for that as a few heads were starting to poke out and look around, drawn by the ruckus.

"Hey!" a shout ahead of him heralded trouble, the sweet looking girl who'd greeted them at the door earlier now spinning around a segmented staff as she glared at him.

"No dining and dashing!" her colleague leapt off the balcony above with an impressive acrobatic flip as she landed to block the doorway herself, unarmed but raising her fists like she knew how to use them.

"Ah hell, I overpaid if anything!" Ichiban didn't see an easy way past them, so resigned himself to having to fight a couple of pretty girls. They certainly looked up for a fight at least, and their magical auras seemed to put them at beginner adventurer level. Charging forward with fist raised, he weaved to the side as that segmented staff snapped out just past his shoulder, an opening for him to deliver a hard right hook to the stomach, his weight driving her down under him in a tackle, a couple of cheap shots that she took like a champ, grinning through her teeth and pulling back her leg to kick him off.

"I love a man who plays rough," she sneered, getting to her feet as a spinning kick arced at Ichiban's head from her friend, fast enough to sound like a whip-crack in the air.

Spoiler

100 – Snap
Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Leave only footprints, take only the sights that you see. It's a natural maxim used to ensure that historical sights are preserved, but memory is a fickle thing...a picture can say it a lot better. This simple camera is capable of printing out vivid photographs with no need or film or development, working on a set of simple runes taken from the Sheikah Slate. These photos can be hung up later as well! If you were to connect this to a Sheikah Slate, you could also easily use it as a 'range booster' for its camera function, allowing you to zoom in from far off onto wherever you wish.

It collided off his force-field, a sound like a gong being struck as it endured. Defensively he was fine with that, though he couldn't stick around. Once Rina got done with Mord's crew he knew her hits were going to be in a whole other league, and these two seemed built to stand up to what his fists could dish out. He felt his hand filled with what appeared to be one of those old polaroid cameras, and he tossed it aside without a second thought. He needed his hands free to fight, and his instincts told him it wasn't going to be any help getting out of his current situation.

It did seem to distract the girls briefly, their eyes tracking the object skidding across the floor while Ichiban flicked his wrist and summoned forth a reliable length of magical bronze. It fit comfortably in his hand, and he felt it synchronising with his magic, eager to respond. He barely even needed to focus for his lightning-charged mana to crackle down its length.

"Take this!" he yelled, raising it high overhead and leaping between the girls, swinging down between them. He wasn't out to bash someone's skull in with this thing, instead the lightning detonated outwards in a crackling wave that surged up both amazon's bodies from their bare feet to their now puffing up hair.

Twitching and stunned, they couldn't stop him racing out the door, heedless of the spreading chaos in his wake as the beautiful workers of the Entertainment District were roused to battle, few even understanding what was going on but simply following their own bloodthirsty instincts and attraction to trouble.

A voluptuous older woman in an abbreviated kimono hanging off a flabby old man. A tight-bodied girl in a corset gyrating by the entrance of another sinful establishment. A classic bunny-girl that had to have gotten inspiration from the Playboy look holding a signboard. They all turned to see the guy scrambling out of a place with sparks of lightning still flickering and sounds of chaos and indignation behind him, their sultry expressions morphing into ones of violent leering intent that guys in the yakuza spent hours practising in front of mirrors even if they didn't admit to it.

They just looked at him and knew his was a face that needed punching.

A thrown stiletto bounced off his force-field, kimono girl shaking her long hair free and holding a set of narrow blades between her fingers that had previously been maintaining her classy updo.

"Get him!" that corset clearly didn't inhibit movement as the short-haired girl wearing it leapt high in the air and came down in a thunderous overhead kick.

Not so thunderous as the lightning-infused upwards swing that knocked her off course and sent her rolling across the street in a twitching electricity-crackling heap. He couldn't stick around though. Not when bunny-girl was revealing that her signboard advertising a nearby casino also concealed a wicked looking naginata.

He turned and ran, weaving instinctively as more thrown stilettos bounced off his cloak, the protectiveness of it better handling light thrown objects than it had the punch of a frog shooter's tongue this morning.

An alley offered cover, getting off the main street where he might be able to lose some of the heat. Feet pounding he ran, only to realise his mistake as the wall ahead of him exploded outwards, a body hurtling through it to impact the other side of the alley and collapse in the rubble. He'd went around the same establishment he'd been fleeing from, and Rina had finally had enough as Mord struggled to get up from the crater he'd landed in, only to collapse bonelessly with even his impressive physique giving out from the beating he'd sustained.

"Ichiban… why are you still here?" he grimaced, blood pouring down his brow and covering one eye, the other looking his way. Through the shattered wall the rest of the Ogma familia could be seen laying about just as bad if not worse, although at least Rina was the only amazon still standing.

And she looked pissed.

"Good," she cracked her bloody knuckles. "Now I don't have to hunt you down. You should have just stayed and enjoyed the party like a good boy, Ichiban. Now though? I'm going to hurt you before I drag you to Lady Ishtar."

His shoes scuffed back and he braced himself as Rina stepped fully over the broken wall and faced him, Mord and the rest of his familia already beaten and beneath the amazon's notice. Even the girls who'd followed him to the alley backed off in the face of the higher levelled warrior's aura of violence. She'd handle this, and their contribution would be as pointless as that of the other groaning amazons scattered around with Guile and the rest, that was the kind of gulf that existed between differently levelled adventurers.

But Ichiban Kasuga wasn't an adventurer. He didn't have a level. There was no number that defined a hero.

"Guys. I could really use some help right now."

"Bring it!" he yelled back, psyching himself up and readying his mysterious nameless weapon.

The force-field spider-webbed with cracks as Rina's fist impacted it, moving with the same speed he'd seen when she'd transitioned from Guile to Mord back inside, but there was none of the sensual grace to her movements now, just pure brutal efficiency. He'd raised the force-field as soon as her eyes narrowed, but even then it was a close thing. And her hit may not have been on Yankimaru's level, but nothing else he'd seen today had otherwise even marked his force-field.

And dimly he realised she might have been holding back. She didn't want to kill him after all.

The cracks were beginning to fill in, but it didn't matter, as Rina struck out again with a palm strike that saw his force-field shatter inwards and break apart into nothingness.

Spoiler: Ghoul Stone Velvet Bag

400 - Ghoul Stone Velvet Bag
Kamen Rider Neo-Heisei Part 2
The strange shop you've gotten all your toys from appeared to have this in a hidden section, but, it looks like you finally got it. This small bag, like one used to hold marbles, has a magical seal on the front. When you look inside, you can see a series of ashy stones...By throwing and shattering one against the ground, a loyal Gargoyle-like beast is created! These are "Ghouls", creatures of despair that serve powerful Phantoms...however this bag gives you ownership of the Ghouls created from the stones inside the bag. The Bag itself can convert valuable gems into Ghoul Stones, at the very least they must be a precious stone to be turned. These ghouls are hardy warriors, resistant to small arms fire and explosions with only magic and supernatural energy guaranteeing easy defeat. You start with 30 Ghoul stones in the bag, which should let you repel many threats in this world!

A bag appeared in his free hand. He really didn't want to deal with another bullshit item right now, there was no time to make sense of it even if it had infinite snacks or something cool like the water bottle, because Rina had gotten past his force-field and she was rearing back for another punch. He just threw it, reflexively flicking it forward only for the amazon's fist to crash through it, a meaningless distraction and insubstantial barrier between Ichiban and her wrath.

It exploded. Fabric bursting apart to release a buckshot-like spray of pebbles which went flying to strike off the walls and ground of the alley, scattering past Ichiban out onto the street. Some hit him too, which stung, but hardly rated compared to what ensued as every stone that struck a hard surface exploded out into a rock-skinned figure with what looked like veins of glowing yellow magma seeping through from underneath. Their heads were mostly featureless, sort of bug-like with lines more suggestive than factual of eyes and mouths, with horns or antennae looking things sticking out from their foreheads.

Rina was staring, her murderous rage stalled by sheer confusion at the couple dozen new creatures appearing in the alley and street and making weird chittering noises.

Ichiban decided to take advantage of it, yelling, "Get her!" and pointing at Rina, trusting that these things would be loyal to him since they appeared from one of his weird spirit blessing items.

"Oh hell no," Rina said before she found herself dog-piled by enthusiastic rock-men. The way they moved and the noises they made kind of made him think of the disposable hench-mooks you'd see in a sentai show, which didn't exactly bode well for their capability. And indeed despite them basically burying her in bodies, he saw her fist burst clear through one of them, which shrivelled away into white dust not entirely dissimilar to the monsters he'd fought in the Dungeon earlier.

The other amazons who'd been content to watch Rina beat down Ichiban leapt into action themselves, but their blows seemed less immediately effective on the rock-men and sheer numbers seemed to be buying a little time which Ichiban spent skirting around the melee and rushing towards Mord while letting his weapon discorporate into thin air, freeing his hands. "Quick, drink this!" he took out the red potion he'd received earlier, uncapping it and holding it to Mord's lips, which he drank down without complaint.

Vitality surged back through him and he rose to his feet, but looked wide-eyed at the brawl encompassing the rest of the alley. "What the hell are those?!"

"No time!" indeed based on the crunching noises and furious feminine growls, Rina was tearing through his distraction with aplomb. "We gotta get your guys up and out of here!"

The blue potion was health and magic right? It wouldn't be a full dose, but Scott and Guile at least seemed to be picking themselves up a bit, so Ichiban went and poured some down Ken and Izzy's mouths, the two groggily recovering as well. "C'mon we gotta get out of here, move, move, move!" he did his best to chivvy them into action while one of the lovely amazon girls he'd earlier had a nice conversation and drink with feebly tried to claw at his ankle.

What a shitty end to the night.

"He's right, we gotta run!" Mord smacked Scott's head when he tried to grab some of the money Ichiban had scattered earlier, the group fleeing out the broken wall in disarray as Rina furiously grabbed at the horns of one of the rock-men and pulled, splitting him apart like a wishbone.

"We could've done this nice Ichiban! We could've had fun!" she roared as Ichiban's face went pale and he started running. The sound of war horns split the air in the distance, echoing and spreading as if to raise an alarm while Rina's voice drifted through the alley after them with the crunching sound of rock being shattered. "Who am I kidding? This is fun!"

They just ran. Six of them, badass adventurers, self-proclaimed heroes, and they ran from the girl who'd earlier been sweetly admiring Guile's muscles and was now showing how little actual muscles mattered next to magical godly blessings.

Oh sure, Ichiban could say they were running from the whole Entertainment District, as if running from hundreds of girls was better for his ego, but no. He knew in his heart he was running away from Rina specifically.

"Holy shit that chick's scary!"

"Yeah, and Ishtar's got a hundred more just like her, so we're dead if we don't get out of here!" Mord grunted as he ran, kicking down some boxes stacked in the alley that were blocking their way, the rest of his bedraggled crew struggling to keep up.

It took them into a junction between alleyways, clothes-lines strung up overhead, this not really being a customer-facing part of the district. There were three paths to follow, one of them gave Ichiban a feeling like falling down a bottomless pit, while the other briefly gave him a flash of something like a fly struggling in a spider-web. "This way!" he pointed to the one path that wasn't giving him bad vibes, glancing upwards and talking to the birds he'd called on earlier, who thankfully he hadn't needed to throw at Rina because those rock guys volunteered instead.

"Knock down stuff along that alley!"

Hopefully it would throw off the trail for when Rina caught up, and as a flurry of flapping wings sounded, the rest of them followed Ichiban's advice on where to flee, navigating the alleys until at last they reached the wall surrounding the district. Ichiban had thought it kitschy when they arrived earlier in the evening, it gave the vibe of being like a cool pleasure fort or something. Now it was a formidable barrier between them and freedom, but also a goal. Get past this and you're home free, right?

"Can we just… go down to the gate? Act casual and walk out?" Ken asked breathlessly.

"No chance, once they started blowing those horns they're gonna lock the place down," Mord shot the idea down, looking up at the wall like it had personally offended him.

"I can blast it down with my spell!" Izzy spoke up, sounding excited at the idea. So was Ichiban actually, he wanted to see some magic!

"The noise'll draw them right to us! Maybe I can boost…" Mord looked to be thinking, but Ichiban interrupted with an idea of his own.

"I got it! Follow me!" he created a force-field in the air, laid out horizontally like a platform. It had supported one of those frog shooters earlier, he was pretty sure it could bear their weight. He pulled himself up onto it and stood up, before creating another force-field higher up and clambering onto that.

"Shit, nice thinking Ichiban! Lets go!" Mord climbed after him, and the rest all followed, the field shimmering with their weight but holding as Ichiban made more, climbing up them in series. Shame he couldn't jump like Mario because this might've made for a cool platforming experience, but mostly it was climbing rather than jumping, the experience drawn-out and nerve wracking because of it.

Still, they made it onto the top of the stone wall, the rest of Orario and its assumed safety waiting beyond. Before they could start descending the other side however, Ken called out in a panicky voice, "She's here!"

"You fuckers aren't going anywhere!" Rina's voice shouted up as she charged out of the alleyway they'd come from themselves. Her black hair and brown skin were both now a chalky grey, the dusty remnants of whatever those monsters had been clinging to her, and she didn't seem at all slowed down by it.

"Stall her!" Izzy hissed out, raising up her hands and beginning to chant. "Behold the shining wisdom of a learned sage…"

Whatever she was doing, Rina wasn't just going to wait for it. Ichiban had already dismissed the force-field platforms, but the height of the wall didn't deter Rina who leapt up, kicking off and vaulting onto a window-ledge one of the adjacent buildings, before soaring up to join them on the precipice.

Or at least that's what she would have done if she hadn't face-planted into a force-field Ichiban placed in her path. Her look of fury was quite something to behold as she slid downwards, whatever friction the barrier had holding her up for just a second before gravity dragged her the rest of the way to the ground.

"My arguments are threefold: Wisdom. Experience. Strength. Let those who fail to recognise be consigned to the darkness of ignorance," Izzy was still chanting, a look of intense focus on her flushed face while Rina landed below with cat-like agility, a ferocious growl ripping out of her before she slammed her fist into the wall.

Ichiban felt it shudder under his feet, but Rina wasn't trying to take it down. No, she buried her hand into the brickwork like it was soft clay and levered herself up, another shuddering impact as her other fist punched a hole in solid stone, dragging herself higher as she began to climb up the sheer surface with her own impromptu handholds.

"When the learned sage speaks, the wise shall bow their heads, for benightedness breeds calamity of which I shall make clear with my multitudinous arguments..."

She was making fast progress, and Mord positioned himself ready to meet her at the top with Scott and Guile flanking him, the three perhaps hoping to do better than they had on round one. But just as Rina's beautiful but enraged face crested the lip, Ken shouted, "Now!" and the three of them scattered.

"Tuiteam an Amadain!" Izzy yelled breathlessly, and an array of glowing golden spheres manifested all around Rina, suddenly slamming inwards with her at the centre and exploding with black sooty clouds. Rina shrieked and fell, plummeting back to the ground, as despite standing up to everything Mord's crew could dish out previously, the magic of their weakest member proved able to bridge the gulf between levels. Looking down Ichiban could see her laying there, one eye still open, glaring hatefully as a quivering hand reached up before she slumped, her inhuman endurance finally giving out.

Dimly he also realised, he could totally copy that spell Izzy had just done. Was it that easy, or was it one of his blessings?

"Nice fucking going Izzy, that's our wonder kid!" Mord cheered, slapping the girl's back. "Now come on, lets get the hell out of here before that draws the rest of the Berbera!"

Ichiban couldn't agree more, and it only took a couple force-field platforms to far more quickly hop down to ground level on the other side before they started running through Orario's night-time streets and alleys, soon putting the Entertainment District behind them.

They were somewhere north of the big tower when they finally came to a stop in a quiet street, no sign of any pursuit by now. Still Ken looked back and asked, "So are we totally dead now?"

"What? Nah," Mord puffed his chest out and waved off the idea, though it wasn't hard to tell it was mostly bluster. "That's a pretty tame night for the Entertainment District! We just… might want to not go back there for a little bit is all. But the Ganesha familia will have our backs if they start shit in the rest of the city."

"It's all my fault. Things were fine until I started talking about Ichiban's robot," Izzy burbled, her face scrunching up. "I should've known that kind of thing would make them freak out."

"Hey, none of that!" Ichiban reached over and patted her shoulder, "Can't exactly keep a big guy like Yankimaru secret, and you totally pulled your weight tonight!"

"Haha, I did, didn't I? I can't believe my spell knocked out a level three! Lord Ogma's going to be so proud!" she recovered, smiling and jutting out her chin with her hands on her hips.

"Yeah, plus when you puked on those girls, that really bought us some time!" Scott gave her a thumbs up, the rest of her familia smiling proudly even as Izzy herself cringed.

"You jerks, we won't tell anyone about that part!" she complained, but she was still smiling. Ichiban would take that as a win.

"But hey, what's your actual plan though? I dunno if the Ishtar familia's gonna give up on you after that, and there are plenty other scummy familias out there that'd try dirty tricks to force you into joining up," Mord spoke up to break the celebratory mood, giving Ichiban a serious look. "I'm not gonna give you the hard sell, but Lord Ogma's a solid guy, and we made a pretty good team tonight."

Ichiban met that look with a serious one of his own and nodded, "We did, and I appreciate it," he stuck out his hand and Mord clasped it, this time without the crushing grip from their first meeting as Ichiban looked into his eyes, "But you heard what I said about Arakawa, right? What he did for me when we first met, what that meant? That's a hard act to follow, and I'm not about to swear up with anyone else just on a whim, especially when I don't know how long I'm even gonna be here."

"You're a stubborn guy, Ichiban. Maybe that's why I like ya," Mord barked out a short laugh as he let go. "But even leaving aside familias, you even got anywhere to stay tonight?"

"I've still got some cash, I'll find an inn I can sleep at, doesn't need to be fancy," Ichiban waved the matter aside, he'd seen a few when exploring town in the afternoon. "Gotta meet up with Naaza in the morning, we're going into the Dungeon together."

"Huh, thought she was retired," Mord said in a surprised tone. "Well, maybe we'll see you down there. Figure you've had a hell of a first day in Orario, huh? We're gonna head off too."

And so they went their separate ways with good wishes, Ichiban finding himself a cosy looking inn to sleep in, the bearded dwarf sleepily hanging out downstairs taking his money and giving him a room with no questions. It was a very cosy and cute room alright, a bed with stuffed sheets and a rustic wooden frame… only problem is it was clearly built for someone shorter than Ichiban, and his feet stuck right out the bottom of the bed. At least the mattress was comfy, and he slept well.

A surprise came the following morning as he got up and prepared for his day, going through his pockets saw that the potions he'd fed to Mord, Ken, and Izzy last night had replenished themselves. Not endless like the water bottle, but refilling once a day? Just another handy little bonus he figured as he made his way to the Blue Pharmacy, seeing he wasn't the first person there.

"These new potions are even better than my usual ones, so you should buy some extra, I don't know how long I'll have access to these high quality ingredients so it's a limited supply that other adventurers are going to snap up," Naaza pushily tried to sell her merch to that white-haired kid he'd seen yesterday, the boy crumbling under her technique and leaving with an armful of potions and a lollipop sticking out of his mouth.

"Yo," Ichiban greeted them both, getting a mumbled greeting from the kid as he left and headed off for his own day of adventuring, while Naaza picked up bow of twisted black wood from behind the counter.

"Ichiban," she smiled, securing a quiver of arrows to her hip and stepping around to join him while Miach poked his head out and gave his own greeting. "I'm all set if you are, Lord Miach should be able to run the shop for today."

"Stay safe out there, both of you. Even if it's only the upper floors, anything can happen in the Dungeon," Miach said seriously, before he smiled and held out a lollipop to Ichiban. "Let me at least give you something to send you on your way?"

Ichiban took the berry tasting hard candy with a smile and the two of them set out, Naaza asking, "So any changes from yesterday?"

"Oh yeah, watch this?" with a grin, Ichiban flicked his wrist and the rod of mysterious brassy metal appeared in his grasp with a flourish. "No one's disarming me. And it helps me with my magic now too. I've decided I'm going to call it the Hero Mage's Staff."

Naaza looked at it, then back at Ichiban with a smirk tugging at her lips. "That's pretty small for a heroic staff, Ichiban."

"Yeah, but rod just makes it sound even dirtier," he laughed off her innuendo, dismissing the weapon with a shower of sparkles, "And it's too classy for me to call it a pipe."

"I still think you should think it over. What about wand? Or sceptre?" she suggested, the two emerging onto the more brightly lit street and following the same path Ichiban had taken yesterday morning.

"Wand might work… I wonder if I should just call it a bat, that's what it feels like when I'm swinging it around," he admitted, the two heading past that church and Ichiban noticing as Naaza abruptly shifted to stand on his other side as if she were shielding something with her body. Naturally he looked over her head at the white marbled building on the other side of the street.

"Don't look!" she hissed, grabbing his arm and hurrying him along. "That's the Dian Cecht familia pharmacy. There's no need to ever go there!"

Naturally that just made him look, it seemed pretty innocuous. Definitely screamed 'high class' compared to the shadowed alleyway front of the Blue Pharmacy. "You've really got it out for that Airmid girl, huh?"

"Don't tell me she's fooled you too?" Naaza asked disgustedly. "She'd swindle you in a heartbeat. A naive single man who doesn't know how the world works, you'd be easy prey to her tricks!"

"Oi, did you have to throw in single like that?" he asked, aggrieved as they nonetheless kept walking down the main street towards the Hephaestus familia workshop. "I was beating girls off with a stick last night!"

"The only way that happened was if you got in a fight with some amazons," Naaza scoffed, loosening her grip on his arm, and then double-taking at his caught-out expression. "Ichiban, what did you do?"

"Hahaha, well lets just say we should probably be careful around anyone from the Ishtar familia?" he laughed awkwardly, causing her to sigh.

"I shouldn't have let you leave the shop alone yesterday, should I?"

"Hey, it's fine!" he waved her off, "I made some friends. And today we'll have Yankimaru with us."

"I still don't understand what Yankimaru actually is," Naaza said, that mystery at least distracting her from the complete disaster of Ichiban's night out in the Entertainment District.

The mystery was solved when they went around the back of the shop to the yard he'd been with Tsubaki yesterday. In fact she was still there, using a forge under an awning up against the workshop wall, though she was joined by a red-haired woman wearing an eyepatch of her own, who was attentively following Tsubaki's work. And going by the intense fiery magic inside of her (compared with Miach who seemed kind of like herbal smelling without it actually being a smell when he'd seen him earlier) was surely another god.

Yankimaru was still flat on the ground where he'd been left, his ragged beard having indeed been tidied up into a kind of triangular cut-out that honestly kind of fit his aesthetic enough one could imagine it had been originally built that way.

"Yo, Ichiban!" Tsubaki looked over her shoulder with a grin. Her hair looked kind of lank and greasy, and he had a feeling she hadn't slept, though she still put plenty of energy into her greeting without actually getting up as she held a piece of glowing metal over an anvil with a set of tongs. "Got your boy Yankimaru looking good as new, don't you think?"

He grinned back at her, summoning the Hero Mage's Wand to his hand and pushing the command button, "Yankimaru, stand up." Naaza jerked back as the huge robot smoothly pushed itself to its feet while Ichiban continued unperturbed, "If blacksmithing doesn't work out you could be a barber, Tsubaki!"

She laughed boisterously at that, joined more demurely by the goddess who walked over towards them. "I had to come out myself to see what had my captain skipping off her other projects," she said, looking up at the now standing robot. "I must say I'm not disappointed, it's a fascinating device."

"Yeah, he's pretty badass, huh?" Ichiban agreed, glad his robot was getting the respect it deserved.

Naaza just bowed in greeting with a respectfully uttered, "Lady Hephaestus."

She was more polite with her than she was with her own god. Which made perfect sense if you thought about it for even a second.

There was a hiss of steam as Tsubaki quenched what she was working on before she got up and came over. She'd swapped her vest she had on yesterday for a set of breast bindings, and between her curvy figure and dark skin it was hard not to be uncomfortably reminded of the girls he'd had such an eventful evening with yesterday. She at least was utterly casual and focused on her particular passion as she said, "Yeah, when you get down to it it's not actually any more complex than that arm of yours, Miyal," she nodded to Naaza, reminding Ichiban of how Dian Cecht had called her Miyal Hound yesterday. It didn't seem to be an insult? Maybe it was a nickname, like Cyclops? Tsubaki kept going while he reflected on that, "It's just over-built to hell and back, and made of this really neat alloy. I haven't quite cracked it," and she shot a one-eyed glare at Hephaestus who was wearing a faintly smug smile, "But I'm gonna, without Lady Hephaestus's help! All the components are there to make a metal that comes close to adamantite out of just common ores."

"It's an ingenious technique, I'd like to meet whoever came up with it," Hephaestus put in, her own single eye looking at Ichiban curiously.

"Hey, me too," he answered with a shrug, "He just appeared. Stuff seems to keep doing that around me now." He wondered if any of the rocks that turned into rock-guys were still around from last night. Or that camera, what the hell had been up with that?

"A mysterious alloy, design pointing to an entirely foreign culture…" Hephaestus mused, looking up at Yankimaru again. "Are you drawing things from other worlds, or other times, Ichiban?"

"Wish I knew," he admitted. "I mean, I'm from another world, but this thing ain't from where I'm from."

Tsubaki and Hepheastus both gave him fresh looks of surprise at that, and oh yeah, it just hadn't come up with them, had it?

Naaza helped him out. "He just appeared in front of our shop yesterday, he tried to tell us about Tokyo and the Milky Way galaxy, but it didn't mean anything to Lord Miach and myself."

"Even the gods only know of Genkai and Tenkai, and there are even things here on Genkai that are mysteries to us," Hephaestus mused, seeming to take it in stride. "Like the Dungeon for instance."

"Yeah!" he nodded, seizing on that as more confirmation of his instincts being right, "And that's what I'm thinking, if there's a way back home for me it's gotta be down the bottom of the Dungeon, and I'm gonna find it!"

"And someone has to keep him out of trouble, so I'm going with him," Naaza put in with a weary smile.

Tsubaki seemed to like hearing that as she grinned and clapped them both on the shoulders, clearly knowing to moderate her strength because she didn't slam him to the ground like she'd absolutely be capable of. "Good for you! Get back on that horse, Miyal! And Ichiban, if you come up with any more neat things like Yankimaru, bring 'em my way. I'll pay good money to check 'em out, maybe even make you something new with what I learn!"

"I'm sure someone else can keep up with our commissions while Tsubaki follows her muse," Hephaestus added wryly.

Bidding a farewell to the legendary and divine smith duo, Ichiban and Naaza headed out onto the street with Yankimaru stomping away behind them. "They were really chill, huh?" he commented to Naaza, ignoring the looks Yankimaru was getting, and Naaza seemed inclined to do the same.

"What do you mean?"

"Well like, like you and Miach, y'know?" he elaborated. "Like I can just deal with you the same as anyone else. When I was out at the Entertainment District yesterday, things were fine at first, but then people started talking about my abilities and items, the tension went way the hell up, like they were desperate to force me into swearing up."

She nodded her understanding to that, "I get it. Lord Miach and Lady Hephaestus are focused on their businesses. Making medicine, or weapons and armour. Obviously the Hephaestus familia is far more prosperous than ours, but it's a comfortable niche either way. But the Ishtar familia is one of the top familias in town, and as famous for her warriors as she is for running the Entertainment District. Except the Loki and Freya familias stand well above her. There's more pressure to catch up and compete, so your blessings could be a short-cut to that."

"That makes sense," he nodded. "The top dogs have to fight hardest for their position. Back in the Tojo Clan the Arakawa family was always down like the, lower-middle. The boss had a rep that no one would mess with, but he kept things humble, didn't get involved with the politics up at the top…" he trailed off, expression twisting as he reconsidered, "Except now he's up at the top of the Omi Alliance. I don't get it."

"All the more reason to make it home and get some answers?" Naaza asked, getting a grin and a nod from Ichiban as they came onto the big plaza surrounding Babel. Again it seemed he was at the tail end of the 'Dungeon day' with most of the adventurers having already gone in ahead of them and the crowd thinning out.

Which made it all the more easy to see the curvaceous dark-haired vixen standing near the entrance to Babel, still wearing the same skimpy harem girl type outfit he'd last seen her in, except nicely cleaned up from all the grey rock dust of fallen soldiers… and a big-ass hammer now resting across her shoulders as she made eye contact with him.

Izzy would make a great poundmate. 50% chance to either inflict stun or cast a big damage spell.

Lot of items being treated as disposable in this chapter, I'm not too mad about it. I almost re-rolled the ghoul bag due to my deep unfamiliarity with Kamen Rider – I couldn't even find any youtube videos showing how these guys emote/fight. But you know, they're basically putties from Power Rangers. I know putties, and they were perfect for a distraction in that situation.

Click to shrink...

 

[coldpyr0]

I'm not bothered that he lost the items, I'm bothered that now everyone will know they can just take his shit and he's got nothing really buffing himself right now. So I can only realistically see this going bad from here. Please tell me you aren't going to have him get kidnapped or any of those other crappy and lazy clichés? Because a hero without agency isn't really an MC in my opinion.

 

[Ebiris]

I'm not bothered that he lost the items, I'm bothered that now everyone will know they can just take his shit and he's got nothing really buffing himself right now. So I can only realistically see this going bad from here. Please tell me you aren't going to have him get kidnapped or any of those other crappy and lazy clichés? Because a hero without agency isn't really an MC in my opinion.

Click to shrink...

I've written one chapter ahead and he hasn't been kidnapped yet.

At some point he might get held captive or end up in a bad situation, I can't promise that won't happen, but he has been going out and making enough friends that there are other people invested in his freedom and survival. Honestly even in this last chapter I gave myself an out if things got really dire for him because Freya would have totally heard his plans to go to the Entertainment District with his new buddies, and she's interested in him enough that I could've had her throw in some interference to aid in the escape. Thankfully it wasn't necessary, and I'm quite happy with how the whole scene played out.

Basically I want to have a tone similar to the Yakuza games themselves. Sure, Ichiban and the gang got caught out by Mabuchi and wound up in chains about to be killed at one point, but then they got bailed out by Han Joon-gi and the adventure continues. If Ichiban had been doing the 'sociopathic ultra-logical MC' routine and keeping his head down but somehow got discovered, yeah Ishtar could slam him in a cage and no one would know. But if she did it now, Miach and Hephaestus and Freya and Ogma would all have questions.

 

[coldpyr0]

Snip

Click to shrink...

I figured but wanted to be sure, kidnapping can be a good story plot as long as it is resolved or hinted at going to be resolved if it's a cliff hanger. But multiple chapter long kidnapping/imprisonment/slavery chapters just kill all interest in an MC for me.

 

[Ebiris]

I figured but wanted to be sure, kidnapping can be a good story plot as long as it is resolved or hinted at going to be resolved if it's a cliff hanger. But multiple chapter long kidnapping/imprisonment/slavery chapters just kill all interest in an MC for me.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, like I'm not keen on it myself, honestly I would see myself going the comedy route of someone kidnapping him and me writing a paragraph of, "Ichiban spent days staring at the same four walls, eating the bland meals his captors provided," and the captors offscreen wondering why the hell he's not producing any more items.

Either that or he happens to get a perk that allows him to break free.

 

[OverReactionGuy]

The most funny thing is the more he blabbs the more protection he has.

The guilds that want him would compete to get him and ruin the plans of others to get him. Making him blissfully unaware.

Like attracting two yanderes by accident and not knowing while they fight it out.

He doesn't need most stuff anyway. He just needs his friend, his robot, and his dick I mean wand.

 

[CrowesDebt]

Gotta say I'm loving the Ogma Familia guys. Glad Ichi has made some more friends. Hope to see them more in the future. As for lost items, well it happens. At very least he was able to keep is own independence, though that remains to be seen with the next upcoming fight.

 

[Zeromaru2]

The escape from the Amazons scene felt like being on the other side of a chase mini-game, lol.
Poor Ichi literally had to beat them off with his big stick

 

[Ebiris]

Ichiban stopped short, Yankimaru halting behind him and Naaza taking a couple steps before she too stopped and looked back at Ichiban and then at the amazon now sauntering towards them. And she was sauntering. This wasn't a furious lightning fast charge nor the implacable stride of a killer robot from the future, this was a sexy hip-rolling strut that wasn't slowed down at all by the big hammer she was carrying.

"Ichiban," her voice came out in the same sort of playful purr she'd used when serving drinks, but he wasn't fooled as he nervously met her dark glittering eyes. "Did you forget what you were told last night?"

"Uhhh…" he let out a slow brainless noise as he replayed some of the dire threats she'd let out during that madly panicked dash for freedom.

Something smacked against his chest and he reflexively caught it, finding a bundled up stack of banknotes in his hand.

"We told you your night was free, remember? You flashy big spender, overpaying like that!" she giggled after having tossed the wad of money at him.

"Right," he coughed, "I remember that. Uh, what about the other stuff?"

"Hmm?" Rina tilted her head to the side and wiggled her hips playfully.

"You know, the stuff about… hurting me," he went on bashfully, feeling Naaza's expressionless yet undoubtedly disgusted gaze on him.

Rina did not help with her answer. "Oh Ichiban, that was just pillow talk! Lots of men come to the Entertainment District for that kind of thing, but we can take it slow if you prefer," she giggled coquettishly.

He was not going to retract his statement from last night. This chick was terrifying!

"What are you playing at, Harmothoe?" Naaza cut herself into the conversation rather than standing on the sidelines any longer.

"Miyal Hound," Rina greeted her curtly, leaving Ichiban wondering if Harmothoe was a nickname or a family name. "Not that it's any of your business, but I needed to clear up some misunderstandings with my dear Ichiban here. Last night he didn't quite get the level of hospitality the Ishtar familia prides itself on, and so I'm here to make amends."

"You started a fight and Lady Ishtar's mad you made her look bad," Naaza summed it up smugly, smiling at the way Rina twitched guiltily.

"Lady Ishtar felt I was overly eager in trying to express our hospitality to Ichiban. She explained it… comprehensively to me, last night," Rina bit out, her eyes gaining a far-away and haunted look which only reaffirmed to Ichiban that a personal meeting with this particular goddess would have gone badly for him. Still, she recovered after a moment, eyes clearing up and smile back in place to declare, "And that's why to make amends, I'm offering myself to you, Ichiban!"

Naaza made a choking noise and Ichiban wasn't far behind, his eyes dipping down over Rina's well formed body before he could help himself. "Uh, I don't think…"

"I meant as an adventurer of course," Rina said, her smug look making clear she'd seen where he was looking, "But even so, anything else is on the table. You're all paid up as far as I'm concerned."

"I don't think he needs a prostitute," well he thought that was really nice of Naaza to say, big step up from the 'single man' cracks earlier! "And as for an adventurer, I was going to take him into the Dungeon today."

"Huh, thought you'd retired," Rina gave Naaza an unimpressed look before shrugging apathetically, "Well, that's fine. We'd need a supporter anyway. Come on Ichiban, what do you say?" she turned her now smiling visage back to him, "I know you were impressed with what you saw last night."

Well. It was certainly true that he'd rather have her fighting with him than against him. And considering what Mord said about Ishtar having a hundred just like her? That wasn't something he could realistically fight if they just decided to spread out in the Dungeon and capture him down there. Gotta keep your friends close and your enemies closer, right?

Besides, he felt bad himself about how things had gotten all twisted. They had been having fun before that, and Rina had been perfectly nice up until she decided to enact a forceful recruitment pitch. Maybe there was potential there, if they could move past that?

"Alright, but no funny business. Yankimaru gets real protective," he said, gesturing to the impassive brass robot looming behind him.

"Yeah, he looks tougher than those other guys from last night, although the level ones had a hard time cleaning all of them up," Rina admitted, looking up past Ichiban herself. "Also that bird looks like it's about to crap on his head."

He quickly turned around and saw that indeed, a familiar white pigeon had perched atop Yankimaru's head crest while they were talking.

"Pearl! You better not crap on him again!"

"No promises, sweet-cheeks, when a girl's gotta go a girl's gotta go!"

Grumbling, he stuffed the banknotes into his pocket and pulled out a smaller denomination coin. "First job for you Rina, go buy some nuts from one of the stalls down that way," he handed the coin to the nonplussed amazon, who looked at Naaza.

"That's a supporter's job."

Naaza frowned and looked at Ichiban, "Traditionally the supporter role is filled by the lowest levelled one in the group."

"Yeah well I'm the one you all want to follow and keep safe here, so at least do what I say," Ichiban huffed out as everyone tried to shirk responsibility. "You were happy enough serving drinks last night, Rina."

"That's totally different," she said in a sulky voice, but nonetheless she wandered off on her job, leaving him alone with Naaza. And Pearl and Yankimaru.

"Are you sure about this, Ichiban?" Naaza asked bluntly after waiting for Rina to get far enough away.

"Way I see it, I'm just going to keep attracting trouble and attention. If Rina's with us we can at least see what she's doing, and if we're a group that makes it harder for anyone else to try something," he explained. "There's no way I can fly under the radar with this guy around," he gestured at Yankimaru.

"I don't know what a radar is, but I take your point," Naaza conceded. "Just don't let her walk all over you."

He shook his head in amusement at that. "You're always warning me about women trying to take advantage of me!"

"Obviously," she nodded seriously. "Women are wonderful, but so dangerous."

"Even you?" he took the obvious opening there, and was rewarded with Naaza showing him the most warm and gentle smile he'd ever seen on her.

"Of course not Ichiban. I'm the only one you can trust completely."

He laughed, and after a moment so did Naaza. Yeah at least she was self aware. And it was to that happy mood that Rina returned with Pearl's future payment, which he tucked away for later and they started heading towards Babel.

"So what's the plan? When you go into the Dungeon you've always got to have a target in mind," the amazon asked.

"Well, yesterday I made it to the fifth floor, so today we can try for the tenth?" Ichiban suggested, figuring that'd represent a pretty solid pace of advancement.

"Taking a level three and a level two only as far as the tenth floor… I guess it's your second day so it's still impressive in a way, but the two of us aren't exactly going to get a workout," Rina blew out a gusty sigh and gestured at Naaza.

"It is his second day," Naaza agreed. "Although his progression isn't the same as someone advancing their falna, it's still good to take it slow and get to know each floor – you never know when you might have to struggle back up through them after something bad catches you at your deepest."

"You'd know all about that, huh?" Rina commented carelessly, causing Naaza's lips to purse up, but she didn't reply.

"Hey, you wanna see something cool?" Ichiban spoke up to defuse the tension that was starting to simmer after such a comment, summoning up the Hero Mage's Wand and focusing his intentions towards it, feeling something latch on in turn as a crude telepathic contact. He didn't have to chant or wave his hand, instead glyphs and sigils formed and rotated around the brass rod for a moment before his Hero's light bloomed forth, illuminating the spiral stairs leading down into the Dungeon with a heartening radiance.

Spoiler: Glassteel Magic Foci

100 - Glassteel Magic Foci (Merged with control rod from Dwarven Centurion)
Endless Legend
This featherweight staff allows the caster to channel rapidly without losing focus, and serves as an effective blocking tool. Three spells in the time of two, and parry any incoming attack without being distracted.

Also it felt a bit lighter in his hand, as if something had changed inside of it. Still seemed to have a good heft, but it'd be easier to lug around. Didn't stop him dismissing it however as both Naaza and Rina looked at the light. Them and the other adventurers further down the stairs who'd stopped to look back up.

"Pretty cool, huh?" Ichiban bragged, enjoying their reactions.

Rina nodded slowly. "Yeah, that's… it feels nice," she smirked and rolled her shoulders, "Like I could fight all day under this kind of light."

"Like you might actually be some kind of hero after all, Ichiban," Naaza said, but she was smiling and her steps were more confident now as they descended into the Dungeon proper. He was content to follow the same route as yesterday, and no one with him seemed of a mind to choose a direction otherwise, so they walked with other adventurers giving way to them.

They didn't even meet any goblins or kobolds before descending the stairs down to the next floor, where as tradition Ichhiban had Yankimaru walk ahead rather than behind. A twang of a bowstring was heard shortly into the second floor and he looked up and ahead to see a ceiling-crawling lizard ahead of them discorporate, a second arrow catching its friend before it could react and leaving two magic stones tinkling to the floor along with the arrows themselves.

"That light of yours really is useful," Naaza said approvingly. "Some parts of the Dungeon are naturally bright, but most of it's gloomy. Seeing it lit up properly makes for a welcome change."

"Yeah, most people don't bother with torches since it's enough to see by, but you can really tell the difference with this. How long can you keep that up, Ichiban?" Rina asked as they kept on, Naaza scooping up both stones and arrows.

"I'm not sure," he admitted, "Like it gets a little bit tiring after a while, and if I have to make force-fields and stuff that'll wear me out faster, but I had it going for a couple hours yesterday before it started to feel like a struggle."

"Let me know if you need a break, I've brought mind potions as well as healing potions," Naaza offered, making Rina smirk.

"Aren't you a natural supporter? You'd be in demand for any expedition if you left your shop more."

"Maybe I will," Naaza said, loftily rising above the bait, "Someone needs to actually be prepared for an expedition."

Yeah, Rina didn't exactly have a lot of room for pockets on her getup. At best there was a little leather pouch strapped to her thigh, although it looked more like the kind of thing he'd seen waitresses keep their notepads in more than a store for potions or monster drops.

Naturally while he was thinking that she caught him looking at her and smiled wider. "You a leg man, Ichiban?"

"No comment," he coughed awkwardly.

Which of course meant that when a couple of goblins burst out of the wall ahead of them, Rina made a point of kicking them to death. "One time, I popped a minotaur's head between my thighs," she trailed her fingers along the luscious brown leg still extended out from where she'd kicked a goblin's head off. It had managed to loudly splat the wall before fading into black smoke along with the rest of its body. It still left a stain.

Naaza looked disgusted and Ichiban had to work to keep his poker face on. Still scary, but… c'mon!

When they next ran into a group of kobolds, both women looked at Ichiban as if to say it was his turn now, and he obliged. "Yankimaru, kill those kobolds."

He certainly did the job, pulverising them one by one, completely ignoring their ineffectual attacks on him. But they were actually able to attack him, in contrast to how neatly Naaza and Rina had handled their monster sets. Powerful and tough as Yankimaru was, he was definitely slow compared to elite adventurers.

"Definitely stronger than the rock monsters," Rina said when he was done. "What was up with them anyway?"

"I dunno, they just appeared at the right time though, huh?" he returned, not really sure himself. He wondered if any of the rocks that didn't transform were still floating around and if anyone might trigger one at some point in the future.

"Mmmn," Rina hummed at that. "And what about the other thing? The, uh, picture taker?"

So someone found that and figured out how it worked? He hoped it was just a camera and didn't steal people's souls or something weird like that. "The camera? I don't really know, it just appeared and I didn't have time to deal with it, was focused on getting past your buddies, y'know?"

"Everyone was going crazy for it. Lady Ishtar had to step in when Phryne tried to claim it for herself, it sounded like there was going to be a riot, but I only really caught the end of it," Rina admitted, shaking her head.

"Excuse me, but what picture taker? Camera?" Naaza interrupted, looking annoyed at only understanding half of the conversation.

"It's this little box, you hold in your hand and push a button, and it spits out a picture of whatever you're pointing it at. Like, a perfect picture, exactly as you'd see with your own eyes. And it doesn't run out of paper, girls were running wild taking pictures of themselves with it before Phryne tried to steal it," the amazon explained, growing more animated and gesturing with her free hand, "Lady Ishtar declared it to be a treasure of the Entertainment District, she says it'll revolutionise how we promote ourselves… kind of calmed her down over what kind of a disaster the night was otherwise," the look she shot Ichiban was at least chagrined enough to show there was some guilt in there.

Maybe something good came of it after all? "Being able to show off pictures of your girls is a good way of pulling people into the club. That's how they did it back in Kamurocho, you'd see signs and billboards advertising their talent," he said, not begrudging the camera finding a home with people who'd appreciate it. It's not like he'd have a great use for it if he'd kept it.

"Yeah!" Rina nodded brightly. "Some girls get paintings done, but they're a pain to sit for, and there's something so real about those pictures this thing makes, even if they're small it just grabs your attention like nothing else!"

"So that's why you're latching onto Ichiban, to get more treasures like that?" Naaza interrupted with a scoffing noise.

"Well yeah, you're doing the same though, aren't you? What else would pull you back into the Dungeon but a once-in-a-lifetime kind of score like this?" Rina fired back shamelessly.

Once again he had to try and play peacemaker between them, lest Naaza end up battered like Mord was last night. "Hey, I don't really mind. Tsubaki's doing the same, even if she's not coming along she's paying for stuff I bring her. It's all just appearing without any real reason, so I'm fine with sharing. I just don't want to get tied down or taken advantage of, y'know?"

Once again he could see a calculation shift behind someone's eyes when he mentioned Tsubaki. She was a real good person to have backing you up, it seemed like everyone in town considered her a big deal. But Rina just smiled and waved it off, "That's fine, but the offer's always open. Just having a falna will make you fitter and stronger even if it takes a long time to level up anywhere meaningful."

"I think I'm doing okay with the magic. In fact let me handle the next monster too, I want to try something," he said, feeling compelled to show off, as well as try something out.

The next monster turned out to be a trio of dungeon lizards, clinging to the ceiling and seeming unaware that their ambush had been spoiled by Ichiban's light. He summoned his wand – he was starting to get used to calling it that, and if he was doing a lot of magic there was no reason not to lean into it.

He thought of Izzy's spell he'd seen last night, and the device latched onto his intentions. He didn't need to spout off the grandiose chant she'd done, it all got automated by the wand which spun up more magical glyphs around it, spinning a bit like hands on a clock, or tumblers in a lock clicking into place. When the last one formed, it quivered in his hand, making clear it was ready and waiting for release.

A swing forward and a cry of, "Give 'em hell!" caused several glowing orbs to manifest amidst the lizards, hovering for an instant before they lanced into the nearest targets and detonated with sooty black clouds, a tinkle of magic stones tumbling to the floor in the aftermath.

"That's that Ogma brat's spell!" Rina blurted out, eyes wide. Of course she'd gotten a very up close and personal view of it last night.

"Hehe, yeah," he grinned proudly, resting the brass rod over his lion-draped shoulder, "I can copy any spell if I've seen it."

Those were definitely impressed looks he was getting from Naaza and Rina!

"That's even more insane than Thousand Elf!" Rina said, staring dumbfounded at him. "Do you know any healing spells? I know some girls that-"

"Dea Saint," Naaza interrupted, causing Rina to jerk in place and nod.

"Yeah, if you're talking healing spells it's gotta be her or Vana Mardoll," the amazon agreed.

"Dea Saint," Naaza repeated firmly, looking up at Ichiban past the stray lock of hair which continually kept falling over her eyes. "You can't trust the woman but you can trust her spell. For this I'll give my permission to visit the Dian Cecht pharmacy."

"Gee thanks," Ichiban muttered, not really liking that she feels it's something he needs permission for, but still having a good healing spell in his arsenal would definitely be a step forward on the path to being a hero.

Naaza just nodded as if his thanks were sincere. "I'll show you my spell later. It's not very good, but you might get some use from it."

Rina shrugged herself after that, "Don't look at me, I never picked up any spells."

"It's not always good when you do. You'll understand when I show you mine," Naaza said in an unhappy tone as the group descended further.

There were more goblins and kobolds and lizards, but Naaza refrained from using her spell on any of them, insisting it wouldn't be worthwhile. It wasn't until they were back on the fifth floor when they spotted some war shadows lurking down a tunnel, Ichiban's light making them stand out rather easily when Naaza told him to watch.

"Broken thing, falter and accept ruin. Darbh daol!" she gestured forward, her chant considerably shorter than Izzy's, and at the conclusion of it a mass of black dots descended over the shadows, clinging to them and causing their loping rush towards the group to slow, their movements turning sluggish and uncoordinated.

Naaza herself slumped, coughing and looking haggard. Still, she drew her bow and nocked an arrow, letting it fly through one of the shadows before two more followed, cleanly killing the monsters. "It weakens what it strikes, but it causes a backlash on me as well," she coughed again, "Be careful how you use it."

"Yeah, I'll just stick with hitting stuff," Rina shook her head. "Although I guess I'm starting to get a little nervous taking Ichiban down here, war shadows kill a lot of level ones. Make sure you don't get snuck up on, okay?"

They waited a moment anyway, Ichiban fretting over Naaza before she insisted she was fine. It was also marked by Ichiban learning another… spell? Mystic technique? It seemed like it'd be pretty good for sealing away demons, but isn't that usually the thing done by people in the past before the hero has to solve things properly when they inevitably break free?

Spoiler: Ma Fu Ba

200 - Ma Fu Ba
Dragon Ball Super
An old technique originating on the dinky little planet called Earth, yet somehow still scarily effective even at the heady heights of power this place reaches. The Mafuba that you have learned is a mystical technique created to seal away other beings, originally demons but it works on any being. With the incantation, proper movements and expenditure of a great deal of personal energy, you are able to activate the Mafuba and suck away a target being in front of you to seal them inside a prepared container. Any container that can be sealed tightly with a special seal tag, which you are aware of how to make, can work even if you use something like a rice cooker. It can be difficult to aim the technique, especially when using a small container and you are vulnerable to being interrupted or having a different being jump in front of your target, so careful planning can be required to have the technique work. Once sealed, they can only be released by opening or breaking the container the target was placed in.

Either way he'd need to actually draw up physical seals for it, it wasn't something he could cast on the fly even with the Hero Mage's Wand to help. Actually, could he seal Yankimaru into a bottle, then just crack it open when he needs him? That's an idea worth considering!

He filed that away as the group proceeded further into the Dungeon. Between his magic light and all the extra sets of eyes, he didn't even need Pearl to act as a scout. Rina and Naaza were plenty enough by themselves to spot any approaching monsters, and either Naaza would snipe them, or Yankimaru would be sent forward to crush them. Nothing down here seemed capable of doing any damage to the robot, and they made good time to another set of stairs descending deeper.

"Feels weird," Rina commented as Ichiban picked up the magic stones from some frog shooters, "Usually you'd want to let the weakest one here do all the fighting and just step in if it's an emergency, make sure they actually gain experience for their falna. But Ichiban doesn't work that way… how does it work, is it a timer? Response to stress?"

"I don't know, I talked to Miach about it yesterday, trying to figure out a pattern, but we couldn't find one," he admitted. "Still though, I don't mind fighting. I need practice even if I'm not levelling up on the same system you use."

The ladies agreed with that, though it still felt a bit embarrassing when they ran into a group of four war shadows and Naaza shot three with arrows before pointedly lowering her bow and allowing Ichiban to have at the last monster still heedlessly charging forward without any care for the deaths of its allies.

Its claws struck the force-field right in front of Ichiban's face, as if it had been attempting to gouge out his eyes. The field rippled but held as the monster pressed down with single-minded focus, not even trying to get around. He didn't want to be stuck beating on it for a while and feeling inadequate next to the one-shot-one-kill efficiency Naaza had displayed, so he twirled his chunky metal wand around to wind it up while charging it with electricity, before his own strike went clean through the force-field and struck the shadow's head with a lightning-charged detonation that saw it topple without a head and fade away into mist.

Naaza nodded approvingly, Rina grinned, Yankimaru radiated his usual impassivity, and Pearl cooed softly.

He'd take it. Although that magical effort had tipped him past the point of comfort, an ache building in his temples from the strain that had slowly been building while keeping up his light spell. He groaned and rubbed at his head, the light fading to return the Dungeon to its usual gloom. "Ahh, sorry, that was actually kind of a strain," he admitted. "Naaza, you got one of-"

He was cut off by a cracking sound from all around them. He felt magic flaring from their surroundings as a veritable swarm of giant red bugs tumbled out of the walls on every side, a tidal wave of chitin and pincers descending on them.

"Shit! Monster party!" Rina yelled, unlimbering her hammer from her shoulder for the first time today and crushing the head of one before she kicked another back with enough force it practically exploded. It hardly made a difference against the swarm, he couldn't even count how many there were, it was no comparison to the groups of at most half a dozen he'd encountered thus far.

Pearl was flapping her wings and staying up near the ceiling, while Naaza's face had turned ashen and she cringed backwards.

"Yankimaru, kill the bugs!" he yelled, pressing down the speaker button on his rod before he swung it forcefully down on the head of an ant coming his way. The shell cracked, but that was all. At best he'd stunned it, and three more were practically crawling over it to get at him.

There was an explosive release of steam. Not like the usual ones Yankimaru puffed out when moving around, but something directed, like the breath of a dragon surging down the tunnel. It passed over ants that shrivelled, flipped on their backs, and puffed away into mist. One of their flanks cleared in a single move from the mighty giant robot, but still three sides of hell bearing down on them.

"Stop fucking spacing out, Miyal!" Rina's voice sounded out furiously as she hammered down on ants, and Ichiban had a mental disconnect of imagining a cute girl like her in the arcade playing one of those whack a mole games, bopping plush heads with a foam hammer.

Yankimaru had turned, sweeping his axe through the ant-swarm, cleaving open more space as nothing was able to stand up to his power. Naaza meanwhile jerked at Rina's rebuke, her expression firming up and she leapt back into the space cleared by Yankimaru's steam blast, landing amidst a field of glittering purple stones and loosing a volley of arrows, each one sinking deep into an ant's carapace and causing it to burst an instant later.

Ichiban was hard pressed just trying to beat them back, each one struck was only slowed, passed by two more before he could get any kind of finishing blow off. Mandibles sunk around his calf and he jerked his leg free, a rip in his pants and a burning sensation of pain that told him blood had definitely been drawn.

The pain at least clarified things. The ache he was feeling from stressing his magic was something he could work through. Something he'd have to work through or he'd be feeling a hell of a lot worse.

Spoiler: Tier One Talisman

50 - Tier One Talisman (Iron)
Endless Legend
A magical necklace that provides bonus depending on the material used.

Iron: Increases the speed the wearer covers ground at roughly double the speed. This does not increase overall agility or reflexes, just how quickly they can chew through distance.

Dust: Grants the wearer regeneration. Bruises vanish in hours, not days, broken bones heal in days, not weeks.

Titanium: Fortifies the mind and resolve, helping to resist morale shaking effects and mind control.

Glassteel: Helps the wearer predict flight paths and improves over all accuracy. Go from a fifty cent piece to a quarter.

He felt something around his neck, a brief coolness of something metal on his skin, but he didn't give it any more attention. A force-field formed between him and the swarming ants. He tried something new with it though, pushing the feeling of his lightning-charged mana into the field.

His vision blurred, but the field crackled and discharged shocks into the ants when they tried to push through it, sending them reeling backwards.

It bought him a little time, pulling his potion bottles out of his pocket, he dropped two back in and kept the blue one, popping off the lid and emptying it down his throat. Instantly he felt refreshed, his vision clearing, the pain in his leg vanishing.

"Alright, lets go!" he yelled, leaving the ones penned in by his force-field alone for now and moving towards Rina with speed that almost had him stumbling in surprise, but he kept his pace and wound up an overhead swing that dropped onto one ant with a thunderous discharge of electricity, annihilating the one he struck and sent the ones around it flying.

"You've got to kill them!" Rina shouted, stomping her foot on a reeling ant and going right through it just as easily as she had those rock-men last night. That sounded pretty obvious to Ichiban, and she probably realised that as she added, "The wounded ones summon more!"

Though as if summoned by her words, he could see now the glowing red eyes of more ants, emerging out of the gloom down the tunnel past where Naaza was still firing.

That lightning field might be doing more harm than good, but he kept it up as he ran back that way, finding that the crackling electricity interfered with him no more than the force-field did as he swung through the barrier, caving in the skull of a twitching ant. That still didn't kill it and he had to strike again to finish the job. Those reinforcement ants were getting close fast.

Naaza was efficiently killing one with every shot. Yankimaru was cutting a swathe through several at a time with his axe and ignoring the ones that vainly tried to nibble on his nigh indestructible heels. Rina was just as much an avatar of carnage now as she'd been last night. And he was struggling to properly exterminate bugs. If there was a weak link in the team, it was definitely him.

It pissed him off.

"Raaagh! Come on, just die you stupid bugs!" he yelled, winding up another lightning-charged overhead swing. The ant he struck exploded, and he felt affirmed as a man. He repeated the technique. Again, and again, disposing of ants stuck behind a shocking force-field they couldn't hope to push past and threaten him.

"Ichiban!" a shout from Naaza and then she was there, a dagger in her hand as she plunged it into the skull of the lead ant skittering towards him. The reinforcements had caught up while he was distracted killing bugs that couldn't even fight back. More were behind that one, the reinforcement swarm not as thick as the initial assault but it seemed just as endless, stretching out into the darkness of the tunnel beyond. He wondered if the other side was similarly beset, but Rina and Yankimaru could surely hold down that flank. In fact the hissing release of another jet of explosive steam seemed like it would probably settle things decisively there, while Ichiban turned to help Naaza hold this front. Her quiver was empty, but she wielded her dagger like a pro, and even put down the odd ant with sharp bare-knuckled jabs, her mouth set in a firm line and her eyes focused.

He felt like an amateur next to her, swinging around a hunk of metal that clearly hadn't been built as a weapon. But still he did his best, infusing lightning into his swings to kill the ants clearly, blocking them with force-fields to limit their movements and make it easier for the two of them, just hitting and hitting and hitting until he heard Yankimaru's stomping footsteps approach, the giant robot lending his deadly hammer-arm to the process and then Rina joined them, her own hammer putting a conclusion on it by crunching the last of the ants.

Ichiban was breathing heavily, sweat plastering his clothes to his skin. It felt like he'd been fighting for hours. The Dungeon floor was littered with glittering purple crystals, a testament to the sheer number of monsters they'd slain here.

A sharp slap rang out and he looked to see Naaza's face turned aside, a red mark blossoming on her cheek. It was the only mark she had on her from the whole thing. Rina appeared similarly untouched as she stood over the dog-girl. "Don't let me ever catch you freezing up like that again down here, Naaza!" she barked like a drill sergeant.

Naaza hung her head and didn't try to defend herself. "I know," she said meekly. "I let my guard down."

"Hey, we all did!" Ichiban spoke up to try and defuse things, getting between them. "I don't think any of us were expecting that, not after how straightforward everything else had been."

"That's how the Dungeon gets you," Naaza said. "It strikes when you're vulnerable, when you've extended yourself too far. If Rina hadn't been here…"

"Yeah, well I was," Rina said, looking around. "Good haul of magic stones for the upper floors though. A monster party's convenient if you're strong enough to handle it. The Dungeon must have forgotten I was here, Ichiban's magic running out was too tempting for it to resist."

"It does that?" Ichiban looked around the rugged stone walls, imagining the malice that must be behind them.

"Oh yeah. The Dungeon's not smart like a person is, but it has a will. And it's an evil one," Rina nodded firmly.

Spoiler: Psychic Invisibility (Hide)

100 - Psychic Abilities - Psychic Invisibility (Hide)
World of Darkness: Sorcery
In the World of Darkness, psychic abilities and mythic sorcery are, at first glance, completely different. However, both manipulate the same powers, albeit in very different ways, and are both considered forms of linear magic. While a sorcerer utilizes numerous tools and ceremonies to harness supernatural powers, a psychic makes do with lots, and lots, of willpower. Furthermore, the majority of psychic powers are innate, and can be improved, but not gained, without outside interference, in stark contrast to sorcery.

The ability to broadcast a telepathic command not to notice the psychic. This power is not true invisibility, and will merely case the psychic to be ignored. Unless the psychic also possesses the Animal Psychic talent, animals are unaffected by this power.

[1] Hide - the psychic will go ignored by anyone who is not actively searching the area they are in, so long as they do not move, speak, or otherwise betray their position.

Corresponding with that, Ichiban felt another power form in his mind, an ability to stay hidden which he's not sure would work on the mysterious intelligence behind the Dungeon. Considering he had to stay still while using it it wasn't of huge use anyway, at least right now. Would've been handy for ducking into an alley and then just waiting when things went south last night.

"Well, I guess we're glad to have you with us," Ichiban gave the amazon who at least probably wasn't actively evil a smile which she returned before he set towards picking up all the magic stones that had fallen.

By the time the floor was swept clean his and Naaza's bags were both pretty full, and she'd retrieved her arrows. Rina, for all the good she was in a fight, didn't help at all with the clean-up. Not that she had anything to really carry stuff with.

"That's what you bring a supporter for," she'd waved it off when Ichiban asked. "If Naaza wasn't here I'd have hired one of the ones that hang around Babel looking for work, although most of the cheap freelance ones probably would've died in this fight if we'd brought one along." She said it so matter of factly, and even Naaza nodded her agreement.

"What about food and water?" Ichiban asked, uncapping his water bottle on that note and taking a long drink from it before offering it to the others. It was damn good, re-hydrating him and chasing away the fatigue in his arms from all that swinging.

"It's just a day in the upper floors, I'll have a big meal when we get out," Rina seemed unbothered, though she still took the water when offered, not making any comment on it as Naaza had a drink after her and returned it to Ichiban.

"I made some sandwiches this morning, there's enough to share but it won't be filling," Naaza said, getting a knowing smile from Rina. The amazon was then sidetracked when Ichiban threw out some nuts for Pearl, pouring some water into a depression in the tunnel to give her a puddle to drink from as well.

"Okay, I never said anything before, but what is up with the pigeon?" she asked, Naaza backing her up with her inquisitive gaze.

"That's Pearl!" he grinned, "She was my lookout when I went down here yesterday, and she must've liked it so much she volunteered again today."

"You did say you can talk to animals…" Naaza admitted, watching the pigeon peck around and enjoy her meal.

"What does a pigeon even say?" Rina asked, similarly staring.

"Not much, she kind of sounds like an old granny, so I guess she's getting on in pigeon years?" Ichiban admitted, "But she's a good lookout. Saved me from some war shadows yesterday."

It seemed neither of his companions were that invested in hearing the secret wisdom of the birds as there were no further questions and the group continued on, though their rest break while picking up all those stones had him feeling comfortable enough to reinstate his magical light, to Naaza's barely disguised relief.

Yeah, she was going through a lot. He wouldn't complain about how she handled herself in the fight earlier even if she'd taken a moment to get started.

They found their rhythm fighting monsters again from there, Ichiban allowing Yankimaru and the girls to take most of the lead so he could preserve his magic. He did test his new psychic ability when they ran into some cute little bunnies with razor sharp horns on their heads. It unfortunately did not work at all and the bunnies came right at him with lethal intent, requiring a force-field to block them at the last second before Naaza shot them.

"I don't know how that was supposed to work, but I don't think it did anything, Ichiban," she commented as she retrieved her arrows and the magic stones.

"Yeah, I think I need to already be out of sight for it to work. Kind of like a boost to hiding rather than a proper disappearing act," he said, glad at least the testing had shown that vulnerability now rather than in a situation where there were actual consequences. He wouldn't complain about another free ability either way!

The big change came when they dropped down to the eighth floor. Previously Yankimaru was just shy of scraping the ceiling with his head, but now it stretched high enough that even if he raised his arms up the robot wouldn't touch the ceiling. Gone too were the gloomy rocks lit by odd luminescent stones, instead the glow of phosphorescent moss clinging to the ceiling mimicked the sun, even washing out Ichiban's light. The walls were covered with more moss that wasn't so radiant, and grass covered the ground.

"You'll see goblins and kobolds again here, but they're a lot stronger than the ones you fought before. Not really much smarter at least," Rina warned as Ichiban looked around. He decided to stop maintaining his magical light – it was plenty bright here. Naaza bit her lip when she noticed it, but she gave him a nod as if to wordlessly communicate that she was okay.

"Still, it's a big change from how it looked up above. Does it do that every few floors?" Ichiban asked, setting off into the large chamber they'd descended into, currently appearing free of any monsters. It was deceptive, he could sense something ahead...

"Yeah. New environments, new monsters. It always keeps things interesting," Rina agreed with a smile, before she suddenly leapt high into the air and well ahead, landing hammer first to crush a needle-rabbit that had been hiding in the grass. "Like using the grass for ambushes!" she called as several more burst out of the foliage, charging the amazon from all directions.

Two fell to Naaza's arrows, and the other two were kicked and hammered into oblivion before they could find out if those horns would even pierce Rina's level three skin.

Spoiler: The Traditional Way

600 - The Traditional Way
World of Darkness: Sorcerer
Unlike true mages, sorcerers cannot use their powers effortlessly, or without foci. As a jumper, however, you will - or have - likely acquire means of sidestepping the requirements of sorcery, and other powers as well. With this perk, you may not want to. For every requirement that you can forgo but don't, the power is 10% more effective. This applies to other powers as well.

"Levelling up doesn't just make you stronger, it sharpens your senses too. Every advantage is necessary in the Dungeon," Rina said, what was surely meant to be a lesson to the inattentive.

He felt it would've been a bit pathetic to say he'd sensed them and had been about to say something. Even if he hadn't spotted them with his eyes, he knew something was there! The magic stones that powered monsters were easy for him to sense, even if the Dungeon could apparently cheat by generating them out of the walls when it felt like making some kind of point.

Ichiban felt like making a point of his own, which saw him start calling out potential monsters ahead whenever he thought he could sense them. Rina quickly caught on and started trying to outdo him by doing the same.

Considering she still managed to call some out before he could, it left Pearl's position in the team looking increasingly dubious.

He also tried his hand at fighting the 'improved' goblins when they showed up. They looked exactly the same, and had no more luck taking down his force-fields. But they definitely moved faster, and took several good hits to actually kill.

Or one hit if he used lightning. That was still proving a solid force-multiplier on his attacks that nothing they'd faced so far was able to endure.

It was easy enough for them to pass all of this through the similarly themed ninth floor before they descended onto the goal he'd impulsively set earlier. The tenth floor of however many this place had – he was betting ninety nine.

He was really hoping it wasn't two hundred and fifty five.

As for the tenth floor however, it was foggy. A mist diffusing the light from above and hazing out vision in the middle distance. The rooms were even bigger, a trend of further spacing out from the predominantly tunnel-based environment of the first few floors, and now the pale grass was further studded with unhealthy looking white leafless trees that poked out of the ground in places.

"Any new monsters to watch out for here?" he asked, looking around and getting his bearings.

"Lots," Naaza answered. "Bad bats fly, and can let out an awful distracting noise. Imps are small but sneaky, they like to do feints and ambushes. If one runs away don't chase it, I'll just shoot it. Then there's orcs, they can be as big as Yankimaru, and like him they're slow but really strong. Even I wouldn't want to be hit by one."

"Yeah, the Dungeon's starting to get serious now, but it's still easing us in. The next two floors look the same, but much stronger monsters appear on eleven, and the mist gets near blinding on twelve," Rina added. "Usually it takes adventurers months of fighting and gaining experience on the upper floors before they come down this far, so explaining this to someone new when we're actually here feels a bit weird."

"I getcha," Ichiban said, "I don't really want to spend years grinding on the early floors though, so… we just gotta keep pushing and hope I pick up enough new magic and stuff to handle what's down here."

"You'd definitely be dead if you didn't have a level two and a level three looking after you," Naaza unfortunately had to step on his admittedly half-assed reasoning.

"Ahh, come on! I think I sense some monsters that way, lets go see how we can handle them!" he gestured ahead and started walking, Yankimaru stomping after him before the ladies followed a moment later.

Imps as it turned out looked really creepy. Between their uniform black skin, spindly elongated arms, glowing red eyes, and habit of shifting between moving upright and skittering erratically on all fours, they triggered instinctive revulsion in a way that even those killer ants hadn't.

They were also the first monsters to actually try getting around his force-fields instead of bashing themselves fruitlessly against them. Not that it helped given who he had backing him up. Towards the end of the fight one turned tail and fled, though just as she promised Naaza put it down with a single arrow through the spine. As for the ones Ichiban tried whacking himself, he found them to be about as tough as the goblins from the more recent floors.

"Okay, yeah. Can see how those guys would be a problem," Ichiban agreed after their first fight on the tenth floor was over.

"Having an archer's handy at times like these," Rina nodded, cocking her head and glancing off into the mist. "Speaking of, good for bad bats too. There's a bunch over that way, but they're already fighting."

He remembered Ken's words about butting in and asked, "Should we check it out?" but regardless his feet were already carrying him that way. Even if they didn't interfere, it'd give him a chance to see those bats while they were distracted.

"Not unless they're in way over their heads," Rina said, but she jogged along with him, Yankimaru and Naaza following.

The noise was subtle at first. His head throbbed like when he was over-using his magic, that pain hitting him even before he started to hear the whining high-pitched shrieks. Naaza grimaced at it and Pearl cooed her displeasure, but Rina and Yankimaru seemed unaffected. It gave them plenty of warning as the mist thinned out enough to see the other adventurers being harried by the bats.

They flew around tauntingly out of reach, one or two diving in to try biting at their victims who were distracted by the noise and trying to keep track of the others flying around. Blood flew from the brow of a bearded dwarf guy who accepted the hit but closed his fist around the bat in turn, dashing it to the ground as he stomped and his human friend stabbed down with a sword to kill it.

"Hey, you need a hand?" Ichiban called over, wondering if it could even be heard over that awful subsonic screeching. It was just on the edge of hearing but still felt loud and deeply unpleasant.

"Piss off, we've got this!" the human guy shouted back, bracing up his shield as the third member of their group, one of those little halfling guys, jumped on and was given a boost to rocket him into the air, twin daggers flashing…

It would've been impressive if he hadn't simply sailed through empty space, missing all of the bats before he tumbled to the ground with an admittedly solid roll into recovery.

Well, if they could do fancy tricks like that they obviously weren't too hard pressed, so Ichiban shrugged at his companions who shrugged back and they picked a different direction into the mist, leaving the frustrating looking battle behind, and thankfully soon leaving the awful bat noises behind too.

"Most adventurers aren't down here to challenge the Dungeon and uncover its mysteries, they're here to make a living from bringing back magic stones," Naaza said as they moved on. "It's a very greedy and selfish profession."

He didn't like the sound of that. Shouldn't everyone be working together, helping out and learning from each other? Besides, he had two exceptions right here. "Well what about you two?" he countered.

"I'm a pharmacist," Naaza retorted proudly.

"I'm a prostitute!" Rina added with equal pride.

The look Naaza gave the amazon suggested she didn't see it as quite so praise-worthy a profession, but Rina was undaunted and Ichiban was forced to bow to their logic himself.

Regardless, they soon came across the last new monster of this floor. Even though Naaza had said they matched Yankimaru in size, Ichiban still couldn't help but imagine orcs as basically just being bigger goblins. Seeing the huge flabby pig-faced monster lumbering out of the mist was actually intimidating. But also it seemed a ripe opportunity to see Yankimaru cut loose against something his own size.

"Go Yankimaru! Cut him in two!" he called out dramatically, holding down the speaker button and gesturing ahead with a flourish. The orc bellowed a war cry of its own as the giant robot stomped forward, raising its axe-arm and bringing it down in a deadly slice that cut right through the orc's blubbery form before it even had a chance to strike.

Of course its two friends weren't so impaired, one rushing Yankimaru headlong while the other actually grabbed one of the trees studded around the ground here and uprooted it with a crunch of breaking rock, using it like a club. Knowing of course that Yankimaru wouldn't do shit unless directly told to, Ichiban had to hurriedly order him, "Kill the other orcs too!"

There was a hiss of steam as Yankimaru re-oriented and caved in another orc's big piggish face with a hammer-arm strike, before the tree club crashed against his arm, actually seeming to make the robot rock in place with the impact. It was the first time Ichiban had seen any hit draw a reaction, though it wasn't enough to stop the robot from retaliating, an axe cut from hip to shoulder ripping the last orc apart until all that was left were a trio of magic stones.

He rushed over and looked up at his robot's shoulder. It wasn't really damaged exactly, but… "That looks scuffed, doesn't it? Aww, they scuffed up my boy!" he moaned, seeing a scratched line defacing the blocky pattern decorating Yankimaru's shoulder-guard.

"I told you orcs were strong," Naaza pointed out as she followed and peered up as well.

"Yeah, and it's just a little scratch, that high up you can barely notice it," Rina reassured him. "If Yankimaru can handle that he should be able to endure most stuff down as far as Rivira. Generally you want to dodge orc hits because they're so slow."

He still didn't like it. Sure that hit probably would've killed him outright, but anything that didn't kill him he could fix up with healing potions. Yankimaru taking damage was permanent, unless Tsubaki could fix him. He resolved to start using his force-fields more to protect Yankimaru in battle as well. There was no reason to let little dings and dents pile up like that if he could avoid it.

"Sorry big guy, we'll be more careful with you," he promised, patting the robot's arm and looking up at its impassive face with its two-pronged beard testifying to a previous chunk he'd lost.

Guiltily, they proceeded onwards, finding more monsters to fight and defeating them without risk to Yankimaru. Ultimately nothing here was really a threat to the group, though Ichiban did figure out a further use for his lightning magic when he was able to project actual lightning bolts from his wand to strike bad bats at range. It was very satisfying to shut them up, and Naaza and Rina both seemed impressed with the new trick. It was certainly a lot easier and faster than copying Izzy's spell, although a single lightning bolt only stunned an orc while Izzy's spell one-shot it when he tried that.

They took a break to eat. Naaza's sandwiches thankfully not made with weeds despite what she'd said yesterday when Dian Cecht and Airmid came by. Though it felt exposed standing in the middle of a misty cavern like that, it was actually safer since their senses could still hear or magically detect stuff from a distance, while they were far off from any walls that monsters might suddenly burst out of as they did in the upper floor tunnels.

"So this floor's a lot bigger than the other floors, isn't it?" Ichiban asked as they wound down their meal and prepared to get moving again.

"Every floor's bigger than the last," Naaza said. "Supposedly the White Palace is bigger than Orario, and it keeps going from there."

"Seriously? How deep's that one?" he asked, remembering Orin name-dropping the place back at the Guild.

"Thirty seven," Rina chimed in. "I've been there as part of a proper expedition. It takes a lot of people to get that deep. The journey alone takes several days, so you need to bring supplies, and the monsters are a completely different class from what's up here."

"Geez, several days just to get down there?" Ichiban asked in disbelief. He remembered wondering about that yesterday too, "Can't you unlock like short-cuts or teleporters to get back down to the lower levels and pick up where you left off?"

They looked at him like he was an idiot. At least Yankimaru had his back!

"If there was something like that the monsters could use it too, it would cause chaos," Naaza pointed out.

Rina nodded and added, "Remember what I said about the Dungeon being evil? It hates us, it wants to kill everyone. There's no way it would put in something convenient like that."

"Ahh man, this is going to take forever!" he moaned and clutched his head, the reality of the journey ahead settling in for him in a way that a long night staring at the TV and clutching a super famicom controller couldn't prepare him for.

Naaza and Rina exchanged looks before the latter asked, "You're just now getting it?"

"This is all new for me!" he tried to defend himself, knowing he probably sounded like a dumbass thinking he could just waltz down the Dungeon that swallowed up everyone else, "Stuff that's common sense for you I'm just figuring out!"

A quiet sigh came from Naaza and she shook her head. "I suppose since it's only your second day it's not so bad. But this is why I suggested joining a familia at the start, it's not the kind of thing you can do alone or just over a couple of days."

"And even if you're thinking you can rely on the two of us, that only goes so far," Rina added to twist the knife. "I couldn't make it to the White Palace by myself. You've seen how much worse the Dungeon's gotten from the first floor down to here? It keeps on going like that."

The bad news kept piling up. He could really use that hero's light pick-me-up himself right about now! "I'll figure something out," he said, though he knew it sounded like vain stubbornness. "There's no telling what other kind of items or abilities I'm going to get that might help me break some of those limits," he'd gotten that amulet earlier that let him run faster, that'd make it quicker to cover ground at least? It felt like a small thing, but he kept going, looking for reasons not to become part of some other familia, "Besides, if I joined a familia they'd want me doing work for them, right? I'd just get tangled up in all their bullshit."

"This is work!" Rina stepped closer, her expression twisting, her voice sounding actually pissed. "You think any familia would complain about you going down into the Dungeon every day trying to get deeper and bringing back tons of magic stones? That's what we're all doing anyway, you idiot!"

It was hard not to cringe back from her, knowing what she was physically capable of, but still he held his ground. "Alright! I get it, those are just excuses. The truth is I don't want to join any other group before I settle things with the boss!"

"Your boss on a completely different world, who sent you to prison for eighteen years, betrayed his clan, and then shot you and left you for dead? That boss?" Rina asked disgustedly.

"The man cut off a finger for me," Ichiban insisted, unmoved by Rina's accurate summation of events. She didn't know the whole context. He didn't know the whole context. That was the whole point of getting home and getting answers. "I know there's more to it, and I'm not giving up on him until I hear the full story."

Rina made a face and stepped back. "Great. No arguing with fools. You got any material, Naaza?" she appealed to the other member of their group.

She only shook her head. "I think it's foolish, but… if I was separated from Lord Miach, I wouldn't want to join another familia even if it was convenient. I understand where he's coming from."

"That sounds great, but I bet Lord Miach would want you to do whatever it took to keep yourself safe, right?" the amazon countered, which caused Naaza to look away without mustering an answer. "Idiots," she scoffed after a moment. "Well fine Ichiban, you hit your goal for today, you made it to the tenth floor. What now?"

That was a good question. And one he'd rather be considering when things weren't so tense between the three of them. Physically they were all in good shape. He felt like his magic was a bit depleted, but he still had a potion to refill it if needed plus Naaza's ones. Going further was definitely a possibility, but doing so when there was this kind of tension in the group made him worry how they might handle an actual crisis.

"Lets go back up. It'll take as long as it did for us to get down here, and our bags are about full anyway. We've done what we set out for, and tomorrow we can try going deeper?" assuming either of them were willing to do this again tomorrow.

Rina nodded and voiced her approval, though. "It's a campaign, not a battle. If you'd insisted on pushing deeper just to rush it I'd know you hadn't paid attention to anything I'd said. Lets go."

"Lord Miach would be worried if I was gone too long today," Naaza added her own support for calling it a day, and so the group started working their way through the fog to find a staircase back up to the ninth floor.

Spoiler: Play Dead!

100 - Play Dead!
Magi: The Adventure of Sinbad
Sometimes, when faced with an insurmountable foe with no avenues of escape, it can seem like there's nothing you can do but calmly accepting your own impending demise. Strangely enough, though, there's another option open to you – merely pretending to be dead. Indeed, you've developed a technique almost unique to this world where, by opening a tiny hole in your chest, you can drastically weaken your heartbeat to but your body in a death-like state. Though you'll only remain in this state for a few minutes, you'll appear to be dead to all but the most thorough of examinations, perhaps allowing you to deceive your foes and live another day. Unfortunately, you'll be rather helpless while in this state, so it's probably best to only use it as a last resort.

As they made that decision, Ichiban felt another ability dropped on him. Playing dead? Was it making fun of him? Sometimes it felt like there was some meaning to the abilities he got based on what he was doing or thinking at the time, and he wondered if this was some kind of commentary on the recent conversation.

They were walking through the mist towards where Rina said the nearest stairs back up were when the amazon suddenly paused and looked back, Ichiban and Naaza following. He couldn't hear anything, but Naaza stiffened after a second.

"Are those…?" she trailed off and readied her bow, which Rina prepared her hammer. He could make them out now, the magic of monsters approaching. Stronger than anything he'd seen so far from this floor. Then he could hear, the pounding of heavy footsteps, and deep bestial grunting and panting noises.

It emerged out of the mist, a furry bull-headed monster, what anyone would instantly recognise as a minotaur. Unbidden a memory of one of Rina's earlier boasts rose up in his mind even as an arrow punched into its chest.

It faltered, the impact enough to stall its headlong rush momentarily, but then it roared a loud bellowing noise of rage… and took another arrow through the roof of its mouth. Even that wasn't enough to put it down though as it resumed charging, two more minotaurs coming out of the fog on its heels.

"Yankimaru, kill the one on the left!" Ichiban ordered, seeing Rina was better positioned to cover the other side. More arrows kept coming from Naaza, perforating the one in the middle as it charged right into an electrified force-field Ichiban threw up to block it. That sent it reeling back before it lowered its head and kicked at the ground, preparing to charge.

That preparation was long enough for one of Naaza's arrows to land square through an eye, the beast seizing up and dropping dead, fading away into mist while Yankimaru met his target, a single stunning hammer-blow making it crumple, skull caved in and the corpse fading away.

The last minotaur was left to tangle with Rina, who knocked it back, stunned and reeling from a blow to the chin before she spun around and kicked into the air, her own descending hammer strike imitating Yankimaru's and splitting its head like a melon.

"Whew, nice going Harmathoe!" it wasn't one of them that spoke, but a stranger. A black-haired cat person emerged out of the mist at a run, sword in hand. She didn't have any armour, though that put her in good company with Naaza and Rina. Was armour just something you wore as a level one? Going by the magic he could feel on her, she was stronger than Rina, but not as much as Tsubaki. "Glad it was you and not some… okay what the hell is that?" whatever she had to say trailed off as she stopped and stared at Yankimaru.

"His name's Yankimaru, Alchat," Rina answered smugly. "I take it you have something to do with these minotaurs showing up on the tenth floor?"

"Ugh, it was Bete and those idiot twins, they played around and let them run off," Alchat growled, her annoyance over that eclipsing her surprise at Yankimaru's appearance. "We're all running around trying to catch them before they cause a bloodbath on the upper floors. You seen any others?"

Rina shook her head. "Just these three, but I'll keep an eye out. We can handle any minotaurs just fine," she said, hoisting her hammer back up over her shoulder.

That was good enough for the newcomer who nodded and said, "Okay, well I'm going to keep hunting. Later!" and then she took off, vanishing into the mist with impressive speed rather than sticking around to satisfy her Yankimaru-related curiosity.

"So monsters can move to unexpected floors, huh?" Ichiban asked, taking in this new development and going to pick up the magic stones dropped by the minotaurs. They were a lot bigger than the ones they'd picked up so far, maybe half the size of his fist. If they kept progressing like that it'd definitely be a pain to bring them back up in numbers.

"Sometimes, it's rare though. And minotaurs are usually too aggressive and dumb to run away, but I guess those three could do it," Rina said. "Definitely a bad look for the Loki familia, most people hanging out here aren't ready to handle monsters like that."

"Well, we can at least. Lets stay here a little longer, do some hunting of our own?" he suggested, cramming the last of the stones into his bag and clasping it shut, casting his eyes around and trying to sense for more powerful monsters like that through the fog.

They were fine with that, though Naaza complained one of her arrows had snapped. He was honestly impressed they'd lasted so well, he'd figured they were a one-use kind of thing, like bullets.

He couldn't sense any minotaurs immediately, though they set off at a brisk pace to cover ground quickly. Yankimaru was the one slowing them down, not Ichiban at least. But he wasn't going to leave the robot behind, especially considering its demonstrated minotaur-slaying prowess.

They wound up fighting a bunch more of the familiar monsters for this floor, but the closest they got to a minotaur was finding a chunky magic stone left on the floor, which Naaza dutifully collected. "The Loki familia must be in too big a rush to collect them, but it's bad practice to leave them around. Sometimes monsters eat stray magic stones like that, it makes them stronger and can create irregulars that far exceed the strength expected for their floor," she explained the rationale for her good deed as if there weren't valis signs behind her eyes.

An hour more of this passed before they called it a day and began their trek back to the surface. It definitely felt underwhelming taking the reverse of their earlier journey, being bothered by progressively weaker monsters as they ascended. That he could describe it as 'being bothered by' rather than fighting said it all.

At last however, they emerged back into the fading sunlight of Orario, his second day in the Dungeon completed, something of a party forming, yet still the true scope of the task he'd set for himself was becoming intimidatingly clear. The only thing he knew for sure was that he couldn't just poke at the Dungeon the same way everyone else had been doing for a thousand years. Not if he hoped to do this before becoming an old man himself.

The tier one talisman was rolled randomly for its result of iron. When a perk offers varying options like that I'll either take the one most thematically appropriate to Ichiban (this was done with the Nanoha mana conversion perk) or roll it randomly. The titanium one to resist mind control would certainly have been more useful in this setting, but at least now he can run at a decent pace.

Click to shrink...

 

[OverReactionGuy]

Murder blender Bell time.

 

[Zeromaru2]

And Ichiban's getting hit with the harsh reality of the Dungeon: It hates you and It's massive.
You can respect Ichiban's dedication, but he's gonna have to hope the grimoire gives him ways to break his limits

 

[CrowesDebt]

So it looks like we've hit the start of Canon. Time to see how crazy things can really get.

And Ichiban's getting hit with the harsh reality of the Dungeon: It hates you and It's massive.
You can respect Ichiban's dedication, but he's gonna have to hope the grimoire gives him ways to break his limits

Click to shrink...

If anything, getting stuff that improves his physical attributes as well as getting more people to join him on his quest might as well be new magic spells for him. Either way, even with the extra help, Ichi's progress is pretty exceptional when you compare it to the average Adventurer.

 

[Araurlis]

You can respect Ichiban's dedication

Click to shrink...

No, really, I actually can't. Being loyal till the end is fiiiine but death is considered the end and the guy whom he gave his loyalty to is the one that ended the contract through betrayal. Going back and finding out why his loyalty was betrayed is almost Ok but not what I'd call a high priority.

 

[Ebiris]

Pearl was given the rest of her nuts when they left Babel, joined by a dozen or so other pigeons that descended for the feast. She didn't seem to mind sharing, but Ichiban hoped she'd make the most of it. He didn't think he'd take her into the Dungeon again, she hadn't provided any useful warning and had been really upset by the noises those bad bats made. It just wasn't a place for an ordinary pigeon, though he still felt grateful for her help on his first trip. Those war shadows probably would've gotten a free shot against him if not for her, and he resolved to feed the pigeons before his subsequent Dungeon dives to show his appreciation even if she wouldn't be a part of the journey below any longer.

"So, we doing a three-way split?" Rina asked casually as the three of them walked up the street to the Pantheon, Yankimaru stomping behind them and attracting plenty of looks as usual.

"That's fair, we all worked hard," Ichiban didn't see any reason not to do it that way, nor did Naaza argue. Even splitting it, it was definitely going to be a ton more than he made yesterday. Once more Yankimaru was ordered to hold very still outside the building while they went inside, finding it a bit busier now as they'd ended their day around the same time as plenty of other adventurers, but things moved briskly enough and they soon found themselves in front of Rose, who was surely pleased to see him behind her professional demeanour.

"Mr. Kasuga, welcome back," she greeted, eyes turning towards Naaza and then Rina, "Have you found yourself a familia?"

Both women clicked their tongues at that, before looking at each other in amused surprise. Ichiban decided to ignore it. "Not really, but we've made a party anyway," he answered, lifting up his satchel and opening it as Naaza put her own bag on the counter, both bulging with magic stones.

Honestly he thought the amount was seriously impressive, but Rose took it in stride better than she had his modest haul yesterday. Maybe it was just normal for adventurers like those two? She weighed up their magic stones, the total haul coming to eighty four thousand valis, over half of which apparently was due to the three minotaur stones. Really put that killer ant swarm in perspective.

"Was Mr. Kasuga a help today?" Rose directed that question at his two companions, clearly trying to figure out if he'd just roped some higher level adventurers into baby-sitting him on a Dungeon trip for his own vanity.

Luckily they both nodded. "Sure, a lot of it was Yankimaru, but he was taking down bad bats with lightning bolts no sweat," Rina said with a shrug.

"I couldn't have gone back into the Dungeon without him, he was a big help," Naaza answered more seriously.

He just grinned in vindication as Rose accepted their word. "I see. Well, regardless of your mysterious circumstances, the Guild is ever ready to assist any who seek to battle the Dungeon. Good work today, Mr. Kasuga."

That felt kind of nice. Like getting a rare bit of praise from a teacher when he was a kid in school. He felt his cheeks heating up and he smiled wider while taking their money to divvy up between the three of them. "Thanks Rose. I'll see you next time," he said, handing over stacks of bills to Naaza and Rina as they walked out of the Pantheon.

At which point Rina leaned towards him with a shit-eating grin to ask, "So you're into the office lady type, huh?" as they passed the door.

"Rose Fannett has many admirers," Naaza added with a knowing nod, her expression bland but clearly hiding her own amusement.

"What? No!" he blurted out in embarrassment, stopping by where Yankimaru was waiting. "It just, you know, it felt really nice to be thanked so seriously."

"Aww, is little Ichiban feeling unappreciated?" Rina cooed mockingly. "You were a very brave boy today!" her hand reached out to pat his head and he swatted it away, uncomfortably aware she was only letting herself be swatted away. When a level three amazon wants you petted, you stay petted.

"Aaargh, gimme a break!" he grumbled in frustration, ordering Yankimaru to follow them across the road to the Hephaestus familia shop so they could offload their other drop items, a collection of goblin fangs and killer ant carapace fragments mostly.

The money they made suggested Tsubaki had overpaid for the drops he sold yesterday, but it still gave a nice bit of extra cash. The captain was nowhere in sight, but the tiger cat-person who bought the items was happy enough to take Ichiban's order for some custom metal-work.

"It needs to be something hinged that'll open up easily with space inside and hold shut when closed, and small enough to easily fit in my hand," he explained, knowing that he was basically asking for a pokeball to be made. "Thick enough it won't dent from being tossed around too."

It was seemingly a simple enough job for them to take on and wouldn't cost him much, and he paid extra to ensure it'd be ready for him tomorrow.

Spoiler: Paid in Blood and Agony

400 - Paid In Blood And Agony
MtG - Shandalar
Many of the most powerful Black magics carry a price beyond mere mana. Contracts with demonic entities or drawing upon the power of undeath can often cost a mage a portion of their life force, and even the mana-fuelled echoes of such acts carry similar prices. Likewise, a Lord Of The Pit will not stay loyal for long if not fed... and if you can't sacrifice other creatures under your command, it's quite happy to take a Wurm-sized bite out of you. But though everything has a price, that doesn't mean you have to pay the toll in such a way. Though you cannot simply ignore such debts, you have the unique ability to pay costs with anything else of equivalent 'value'. Where before you might have been forced to bleed yourself dry for an edge in battle, now you could instead sacrifice a portion of your knowledge, another creature's life, or perhaps even pay the toll through a vast expenditure of mana instead. The 'price' will be based on what your debtor considers valuable or not, but they will not try to cheat you out of more than they are due.

Weirdly while engaging in this transaction, he felt another ability come to him based on a different form of exchange. The ability to pay the costs of some of his spells with variant means. It meant he wouldn't need to find the hearts of five worshippers, a griffon's feather, and a calf born in spring if he wanted to summon forth a rain of blood for miles around. Instead he could pay with his own life force, or the life force of some other unlucky sap he could sacrifice, or even just a huge amount of magical energy.

Okay he didn't think he was ever going to use that spell regardless, but at least it meant if he picked up more weird magic with out there ingredients he could work around it by using up magic stones or something easy like that. Just… please some form of magic that doesn't make him feel like a bad guy?

"So what were those for?" Naaza asked as they left the shop, and Ichiban pushed aside ruminating over his newest ability.

"Way to transport Yankimaru around more conveniently, wait and see," he grinned, patting the robot's knee. "Speaking of, lets take tomorrow off from the Dungeon? I'll want time for that stuff to be made, and there's more shopping I'll want to do – need new clothes for one," he raised his leg, the bottom of his pants barely hanging on from where that killer ant had gone through them earlier, "Plus a place to stay, stuff like that."

"That's fine, we keep telling you, it's not something you can rush," Rina took that in stride.

"It'll give me time to work on our shop's stock," Naaza agreed, similarly at ease with the idea.

He'd suggested they go eat after that, but the girls had an idea they felt was more important, and that brought the group along to the same pleasant white-walled building Naaza had been so suspicious of this morning.

The door opened with a jingle and they walked into a place similar in theme to Naaza and Miach's shop but much brighter and better lit, basically a step up in every way. And there was Airmid behind the counter in her neat striped uniform, greeting them with, "Welcome to- Erisuis!" the shock of seeing Naaza in her shop clearly threw her off her stock greeting. "Is… is there a problem with your arm?" she asked hesitantly.

"No. The arm's fine," Naaza answered sullenly, having trouble looking at her rival slash loan shark slash doctor. Yeah, there was a really complicated relationship between these two.

"We do need you to do some healing though," Rina spoke up with a smile over Naaza's discomfort, drawing Airmid's attention over the rest of them as she stepped around the counter.

"Of course. Who's hurt, and what kind of injury is it?" she asked, demeanour turning brisk and professional.

"Does it matter? Can't the famous Dea Saint cure anything with her miracle spell?" Rina pressed, causing Airmid to look a little flustered in the face of the amazon's pressure.

It made Ichiban feel a bit bad for her and he spoke up, "It's not that anyone's injured," he said, Airmid turning to look at him, "But I've got a skill that lets me copy other spells I've seen, and so everyone was saying I should copy the best healing spell around which belongs to you."

Her mouth formed a neat little 'o' of surprise at that kind of revelation, but before she could process it another figure emerged from the back room, Dian Cecht in his white robes coming around and grabbing hold of Airmid's slender shoulders protectively. "What's this? Copying Airmid's spell? That's intellectual property!" he blustered, glaring at the three of them.

Rina and Naaza both shot him dirty looks as if to say he'd blown their scheme.

"I don't really mind," Airmid spoke up, recovering from her shock. "If more people can use healing magic that's good for everyone."

"No head for business, this girl," Dian Cecht groused. "Think of your image!" The woman everyone kept calling a saint wore a conflicted expression at that appeal to her seeming grandiose reputation while her god continued, "Having some scruffy looking guy going around casting your famous magic, what will people think?" He waved a jewelled finger accusingly at Ichiban, "You should be ashamed of yourself boy, trying to take advantage of a sweet innocent girl like Airmid!"

"Hey, I'm not trying to take advantage!" he insisted defensively. He'd been up-front and honest, he was the good guy here, just trying to get some magic that could help everyone else!

"A likely story. Didn't I see you at the Blue Pharmacy yesterday? Tch, of course they'd put you up to this," Dian Cecht scoffed. "Haven't seen you around before though, and that kind of skill draws notice. What familia are you in?" his gimlet eyes looked between Naaza and Rina as the two representatives of potential familias he'd be scheming with.

"None, I'm a freelancer. I just woke up in town yesterday and Miach helped me out, and Naaza and Rina have been helping me out in the Dungeon," he answered, drawing a quiet gasp from Airmid and a surprised look towards the dog-girl from Dian Cecht.

"You're adventuring again, Miyal Hound?" he asked, staring at Naaza who held her ground and looked back at him.

"Yes. Ichiban had a spell that… helped, made it easier to go back there," she answered.

"Show me," Dian Cecht demanded imperiously, turning his full focus back on Ichiban. "If this spell of yours impresses me, I'll consider your request."

With all the pressure on him to perform, Ichiban refrained from using the Hero Mage's Wand and cast it the old fashioned way so they could see the whole thing, even if he felt a little bit silly with the weird chanting noises he had to make. Izzy's spell had actual words!

Still, the light of a hero filled the shop, and Naaza let out a quiet noise of relief, everyone staring at him.

Spoiler: Work-Life Balance

100 - Work-Life Balance - Mid Tier
Generic MG
Most magical girls have no ability to mix their transformed and untransformed modes. Once they lose the frilly outfit, they are nothing more than ordinary girls.

You are different.

For 100 CP, you can use your active powers even while not transformed, but they are harder to control and weaker. This also applies to powers that would otherwise be locked to other alt-forms.

Whatever Dian Cecht saw in it, it seemed to be enough for him and he nodded gruffly. "You can show him, Airmid."

"Ah, of course Lord Dian Cecht," Airmid nodded herself after a moment, stepping back and closing her eyes. A glowing white diamond appeared around her feet and she began to speak with a melodious cadence. "Healing droplets, tears of light, eternal sanctuary. Compose a medicinal hymn-three hundred, sixty, and five. The melody of the healer's almanac saves all things. Come, destruction of evil. The burial of wounds, interment of disease. Curses be gone in the light of vitality. In the name of all that is holy – I heal you."

At the conclusion of her chant, which was every bit as grandiose as Izzy's one, a glowing wave of light spread out from her to fill the shopfront, drawing a pleased sigh from Rina. Ichiban could feel it too – he wasn't wounded or anything, but the ache in his feet from a day walking around the Dungeon evaporated, vitality surging through him like when he drank from his magic water bottle.

Airmid opened her eyes and looked at him expectantly now, while sparkles of light continued to wink in and out all around, testifying to the lingering effect of her magic. "That's my spell, it's name is Dia Fratel. You can really copy it?"

"He'd better after all this fuss," Dian Cecht growled. "Come on boy, lets see it. You better not embarrass my Airmid."

Well that was some pressure to perform alright. He cleared his throat and started to recite the same words he'd heard from Airmid. It felt like the kind of thing he'd forget and fumble through, like needing your notes to give a speech at a family event. But it seemed like so long as it had to do with magic, his memory was on point.

The same white diamond appeared around his feet, and when he said the last words of the spell, healing light burst forth from him. It overlapped with his own light spell and Airmid's Dia Fratel, but you could tell where it was thicker and then where his spell ended and Airmid's covered the rest of the shop. Given her casting had given everyone as clean a bill of health as could be it was hard to tell precisely how effective it was, but comparing his copy of Izzy's spell with what he'd seen her do he figured it was probably about half as good. Seemed to match the radius it was extending out anyway.

"Hmph. Airmid's was better the very first time she cast it," Dian Cecht said with a frown. "But it's still the real deal. Alright Ichiban, you pass for now, but you use that spell for good. That's not just a trivial piece of magic, that's my Airmid's hopes and dreams."

"Lord Dian Cecht…!" Airmid's cheeks reddened and she huffed out his name with her cheeks childishly puffed out.

That just made him laugh. "Hahaha, you don't make that kind of face often, Airmid, let me enjoy it!" the old god cackled.

She turned away from everyone else in further mortification while Ichiban laughed a little himself. "Well hey, that's gonna be a big help for everyone I meet, but I can't just take it for free. How much would we owe you if you'd cast it normally?" It felt wrong to take something like that for nothing, and he made a mental note to somehow pay back Izzy as well.

"I wouldn't charge for something like this," Airmid turned back around, seemingly having managed to compose herself. "All I ask is that you heal anyone else in need whenever you see them. Knowing that my magic can help others even when I'm not there…" she smiled gently, seeming perfectly at ease, "That feels like I've been given a gift more than anything else."

This girl was so pure! He felt himself being blinded by her smile! "Ahh… no, I can't just leave it like that," he wracked his brain, just throwing money at them when they said no payment was needed felt crass, but then what did Miach and Naaza like? "Here, there's nothing in this cauldron, right?" he went towards a big metal bowl sitting on the counter that indeed had nothing in it. "Miach and Naaza said this water was really good for healing potions, so you can use it too, right?" Uncapping his magic water bottle he poured it in, everyone except Naaza watching in awed surprise at the amount of water coming out clearly not matching the size of the bottle. Naaza just looked like she'd bitten into a lemon.

"Well, aren't you full of surprises," Dian Cecht dipped a finger in the cauldron and stuck it in his mouth afterwards. "Tch! This is as good as Cadmus spring water! Where'd you get that, boy?" he peered avariciously at the bottle while Airmid leaned over to look at the water herself.

"Just appeared when I was talking to Miach yesterday," he admitted. "Stuff keeps doing that around me, same as picking up skills like copying spells," he patted the lion cloak on his shoulders to demonstrate one of those other objects.

"Well… I'd say we're square, but you ever want to offload more like that, we can pay what they're worth unlike that poverty-stricken loser Miach," Dian Cecht said in a way that was equal parts generous and offensive.

Airmid looked painfully embarrassed by it and gave him an apologetic shrug, but despite the help they'd been here Ichiban had to stick up for his guy. "Miach might not have much, but he healed a down and out bum like me that was lying on the street with nothing," he said firmly. Grabbing a startled Naaza and pulling her against his side he finished, "And that's why I'll always go to them first!"

Naaza looked annoyed, but he could tell she appreciated his support deep down! "C'mon, lets get out of here. Thanks for showing me your spell, Airmid!" he gave the still embarrassed girl an appreciative nod before he walked out with Naaza on his arm and an amused Rina trailing behind.

"Ugh, this is why I hate them so much," Naaza grumbled once they were back on the street. "And you!" her fist thumped into his chest hard enough that he felt winded, undoing whatever healing he'd just gotten as the dog-girl rounded on him to glare up into his eyes. "You let her swindle you! Even after all my warnings!"

He didn't feel particularly swindled by any of that but his attempt to say so came out as more of a wheeze.

"Ahhh, that could've been easier but I guess it worked out," Rina said more apathetically. "Why weren't you such a soft touch last night?"

Because the thought of meeting Rina's goddess freaked him out on some unknowable but absolutely certain level.

"Ishtar's scarier than those two," he answered, gesturing back at the pharmacy.

Naaza looked disgruntled but Rina just shrugged and said, "That's a fair point."

Wanting to move past that he suggested, "Why don't we go get ourselves a nice dinner? Celebrate our first day in the Dungeon as a team."

The idea was taken positively. And then when Naaza said she wanted to stop by the pharmacy to let Miach know and check how his day had gone, that was also taken really positively.

The reason why became clear when Rina spent the whole time batting her eyelashes and giggling at everything Miach had to say when he told them about his rather mundane day selling potions and catching up with some of his godly friends who stopped by. Apparently Hephaestus had wanted to compare notes after meeting Ichiban this morning.

Miach wasn't remotely built like Guile was, but it seemed like Rina had varied tastes and when they left she was in a radiant mood. "Ahh, you must have a great time working together with Lord Miach, huh Naaza? Helping each other brew potions, hands bumping as you reach for the same ingredient, your eyes meeting…"

"It's not anything like that!" Naaza huffed, her tone suggesting she wished it was.

Rina cheerfully stuck the lollipop he'd given her in her mouth and went on, "Well, you need to make things more clear for him then. Even a god can be dense."

"Ichiban, where are we eating?" Naaza demanded, clearly eager to move on from the conversation. He knew of two places that served good food, and one was both nearer and clearly more marketed at adventurers, so the four of them soon found themselves outside the Hostess of Fertility, Yankimaru left outside as they entered and were stopped by one of the waitresses, a brown-haired cat-girl who looked past them at the eye-catching brass robot.

"Woah, is that thing yours, Meowster?"

Did she just meow while greeting him? He suddenly wondered why Naaza hadn't made any canine noises in the time he'd known her. Still, he didn't dwell on it and instead answered proudly, "That's right, he's my giant robot, Yankimaru!"

"He's real eye-catching. Say, if you're just going to leave him outside our door like that, do you think you could do me a little favour?" she asked with a mischievous look on her face.

He didn't see any reason to refuse, and soon Yankimaru was repositioned further out on the road where he could hold up a signboard advertising the restaurant. Even without hands, he could hold his arms tightly together and without any movement so that the pole remained wedged firmly in place between them.

"Nyahaha, I'm a genius!" the waitress declared, hands on her hips as she admired the sight which was indeed getting plenty of looks up and down the street, "This is sure to drive up business! Come on in, you're getting the best service tonight, you three!"

The best service in this case appeared to be having Syr join them at the bar while the cat-girl waitress he learned was called Anya shot her dirty looks that were no more effective than Chloe's had been yesterday. It seemed like only the mama was able to reign in the slacker goddess, and for the moment she was letting things slide.

"You made it back, Ichiban!" she'd said cheerfully to greet him. "So did you have an adventure in the Dungeon today?"

Rina looked amusedly impressed and shoved his shoulder, "You've only been here a day and you've already got a girl waiting for you in a bar. You'd have broken so many hearts if you'd stuck around last night!"

Yeah he was more worried about getting his own face broken on Rina's fists, and he gave her a look to try and communicate that but it seemed to wash right over her.

Still, he turned back to Syr to answer her, "Yeah, Naaza and Rina helped me get down to the tenth floor today. We had a monster party with a bunch of killer ants, and then some minotaurs came up from the lower floors, so I guess that counts as an adventure? Honestly it hadn't sunk in yesterday the real scale of the Dungeon, but I'm starting to get why it's such a big deal."

"I told you," Syr nodded smugly. "At least you have a party now, I'd have been worried if you went down that far by yourself."

"Hell, he could probably get people to pay him to take him down to the deep floors now," Rina said, "He managed to copy Dea Saint's famous spell. You can get other people to fight for you if you're bringing along that kind of magic."

"I can see why they call her a saint," Ichiban reflected wryly. "That girl's too pure!"

Naaza growled. Did that count as a dog noise? Either way she glared at him and said, "You let yourself get tricked! I was an idiot to let you visit that pharmacy. We should have gone to Vana Mardoll instead."

"Good luck the way the Freya familia works that girl. Airmid at least has a shop you can walk into, if we went into the Folkvangr they'd kick our asses," Rina scoffed, but Naaza was undeterred.

"He just has to see the spell, we could peek over the wall and catch her healing people when they have their psychotic battle royale."

"Oh yeah, try peeping on Lady Freya's house, that's a great way to get murdered," Rina objected. It was all going pretty well over Ichiban's head, but Syr seemed to be having a great time as she followed the argument with a big smile on her face.

Either way, the argument was ended by the mama putting down their plates of food before them and interjecting her own comment, "They wouldn't kill you, but they might unman Ichiban depending on how generous they were feeling."

"Mama Mia, stop!" Syr broke into outright laughter, slapping her palm on the bar, her reaction seeming amusing enough to Mia that she didn't force the girl back to work right away.

Rina picked up her knife and fork to cut into her steak and slyly added, "It's okay, you could probably reattach it if you had her spell anyway."

This was the problem of hanging out with a bunch of women. The conversation would never have went this way if he was hanging out with Mord's crew! He pressed his knees together and did his best to change the subject, "Say, speaking of Dea Saint, what's with the nicknames? Like Miyal Hound?" he nodded towards Naaza.

"It means Medicine God's Loyal Hound," Naaza answered, "Whenever an adventurer reaches level two, the gods have a big meeting and decide on a nickname for them."

"You've heard mine, Harmothoe," Rina added from his other side. "It's the name of an ancient heroine, a lot of them are like that. Your friend Mord is Ruffian Dog. Don't really know why, he's not even a chienthrope."

That made him a little bit sad that the cool nicknames were gated behind reaching a level with the falna stuff. He wondered what they'd call him. "We had them in the yakuza, but they were kind of rare. There was this one guy everyone was scared of, we called him the Mad Dog of Shimano. 'Cause you never knew what he might do, so best to keep your distance like you would a wild animal. And my boss…" he almost trailed off, kicking himself for bringing it up but it was the first one to come to mind. He should've talked about that guy in the Nishikiyama family that loved older women. "Arakawa the Assassin," he finished, the words heavy on his lips.

"How did he get that nickname, Ichiban?" Syr asked, her earlier mirth thankfully having subsided as she picked up on the mood.

"He was one of the best fighters in the Tojo Clan, but you don't get a name like that just for being good at fighting," Ichiban started. "To me he was always kind, patient… I told you how we first met? A guy that's just a killer wouldn't do that for a punk kid he'd never met. But that reputation came from somewhere…" and so Ichiban told them one of the Tojo Clan's grisly stories that hardened gangsters would whisper about in seedy bars and smoke-filled offices. How Arakawa had been an up-and-comer in a minor family, who so impressed the boss the man offered his daughter to him. But Arakawa already had a woman he loved, with a child on the way. The boss didn't like having his generous offer refused, and sent his men out to kill the other woman and the baby.

What should have been the end of it. A demonstration of the power a patriarch can wield. Except Arakawa fought his way through the entire clan, a massacre that turned him into an underworld legend. And while he wasn't able to find his lover, never knowing if she lived or died that night, his son was saved from the coin locker he'd been hidden in, and Masumi Arakawa became one of the most feared men in Japan's criminal underworld.

"Okay, I know I talked shit about your boss earlier, but now I want to meet him. That's hot!" Rina voiced her strange approval at the end of his story.

Syr sighed herself, her eyes shining with emotion, "It's an incredible story. A man doing all that for love, what woman wouldn't be moved?"

Naaza hung her head. "It would've been easier to just take his boss's daughter, but… I see why you'd care for a man with such loyalty, Ichiban."

Ichiban started on his noodles. They'd cooled a bit while he was talking but they were still good. He was just glad they understood. It was a tough story to tell, it wasn't his own after all, but he was glad his friends understood now there was more to Arakawa than just being the guy who shot him.

"That's the boss," he concluded. "He never bragged about stuff like this, that wasn't him. But he didn't need to, not the way yakuza like to share stories."

"It was a good story. I can see why my good-for-nothing employee here would rather sit and listen to it than do any work," Mia said as she came over to their section of the bar. Given her seeming level and what Rina had shown off herself today, it was little surprise she'd have been able to hear it without joining them.

"Ahaha, Mama Mia's scary!" Syr giggled, hopping off her stool. "I better look busy, but I'll hear more of your stories later, Ichiban!"

"Don't look busy, be busy!" Mia grumbled, shaking her head in dismay.

The exchange made Ichiban smile though. "Heh, it sounds like you've got a harder time with Syr than Naaza has with Miach."

"Huh?" Mia narrowed her eyes at him while Syr froze in place. "What do you mean by that?"

Were they offended at the comparison? Dian Cecht had badmouthed Miach sure, but everyone else seemed to like him just fine – he was friends enough with Hephaestus for her to drop by his store and chat with him after all. "You know, Miach runs the store with Naaza but she's got more of a head for business than he does so she has to cover for him a lot. But he doesn't really slack off or anything, so it feels like you're having to cover for Syr a lot more."

"Right…" Mia drawled slowly, glancing at Syr who still hadn't moved. Rina and Naaza were starting to look a bit curious over the whole exchange while Mia went on, "I wouldn't really compare Lord Miach with Syr, though."

Maybe it was because they didn't like the comparison? But she just spoke more respectfully of Miach than Syr, so it couldn't be that. He looked towards the goddess, and for a moment it looked like her face was obscured with a noh mask while she looked intensely back at him, and understanding dawned.

"Right! Yeah, yeah, totally different, no real comparison between those two," he agreed, not wanting to get in the way of whatever stage play they were doing that had Syr pretending she wasn't a goddess. But really if she wanted to sell that better, "You should probably get waiting on those tables, Syr," he suggested. The very blatant slacking off in comparison to the other waitresses kind of made it obvious she was on a different level.

"That's right, I don't want to get my pay docked again!" Syr winked and flounced off in seeming relief, while Mia still looked a bit ill at ease, offering to get them another round of drinks on the house as thanks for his story.

They accepted of course, and he could feel Mia keeping an eye on them even as she moved down the bar to tend to other customers.

The strange tension hadn't exactly gone unnoticed by his party members. "That was weird, right?" Rina asked.

Naaza nodded. "It didn't feel like Lord Miach was being insulted unjustly, but why did they get so tense when he came up?"

"Beats me!" Ichiban said perhaps a bit too firmly. This felt like the kind of conversational landmine Izzy had stepped on last night, and given all the waitresses and mama were stronger than Rina, he really did not want things to devolve the way they had in the Entertainment District. "So, what are you two gonna do after this?" he asked to move things along from anything that might see Chloe or Anya using him as a scratching post.

"I'm going to help close up the shop and make any potions we'll need for tomorrow," Naaza answered, sounding fairly apathetic about the return to what must be her usual routine.

"Lazy night for me," Rina added, raising up her arms and having a gratuitous stretch, "You don't spend the night working the brothel if you've spent the day working the Dungeon. If I'm lucky I'll get some time with that, what did you call that picture taker again?" He supplied the correct word and she nodded, "The camera, yeah! The way it can take instant pictures of whatever you're doing, you can get stuff that you'd never see in a normal painting, it's the best!"

He smiled at her excitement. Introducing a fantasy world to the concept of photography wasn't anything he would've expected from his journey here, but it was cool to see the enthusiasm she had for it.

They talked a bit more, Ichiban having to explain phones at one point when he'd mentioned how everyone had a camera in their pocket now, and it hadn't been like that before he'd gone to prison. He'd barely had a chance to get acclimatised to the world eighteen years removed from what he knew before he found himself in an entirely different world. It distracted from the earlier weird tension around Syr and Mia at least, and the rest of their post-Dungeon meal passed pleasantly.

Though when he left and the two girls went their separate ways back to their own homes and he went to retrieve Yankimaru, Syr came out to retrieve the sign they'd had the robot holding up to draw in customers. "He certainly is a big robot! Thank you for having him drum up business for us!" she said brightly, carefully taking the signboard that was held down into her reach and then leaning closer with her voice lowered. "I want to talk privately, can you meet me behind the bar in a few minutes?"

He wouldn't mind clarifying things so he didn't get in trouble by running his mouth, so he agreed and with Yankimaru still left on the street he made his way to the darker alley behind the Hostess of Fertility, shade and twilight rendering it in gloom despite the light and noise coming from the busy tavern itself. It would've been nice and private if not for the person he could sense up on the roof of the next building over.

"Haaah, I thought my heart would jump into my mouth earlier, Ichiban," Syr said with a sigh as she stepped out the door at the back, but Ichiban held up a hand, turning to look up at the roof.

"Hold up, someone's watching," he warned, it getting dark enough that it was hard to see, but there was someone up against one of the chimneys that was about as strong as Tsubaki that he could tell.

Syr looked up herself and smiled, "Don't worry, they're here for me. You saw right through me, didn't you?" she asked nonchalantly, walking up to him with a tired smile on her face.

"You mean about you being a goddess?" he asked, just to make it absolutely clear so he wouldn't fumble over any double-speak.

She laughed lightly and nodded, but aloud she said, "Syr's just an ordinary girl!" while winking at him. "Thank you for being discreet back in there, although I think Naaza and Rina are still going to be suspicious. Will you keep it to yourself?"

He wondered what the person on the roof would do if he said no. "It's not any of my business, I honestly didn't even know it was a big deal. I've seen how Miach and Naaza act, that's why I said it like that."

"Hmmm," she hummed at that, rocking on her heels, "Well, things are a little different for Goddess Freya," she tapped a finger against her nose, "So when I want to play around, I do so as Syr."

He felt his knees press together as he remembered what Mia had said earlier, and Syr laughed, reaching out and shoving his chest. It felt like being shoved by a girl. Shocking, but considering the women he'd been dealing with today it actually stood out. "Mia was mostly joking," she playfully reassured him.

It would have been a lot more reassuring without that, "Mostly?"

"They're all very enthusiastic," she said in a fond tone, like a parent looking over a kid's messy finger-painting and not a threat to unman someone. Her hand patted his chest with similar fondness and she went on, "I'd like to have you join them, but then you'll never be able to finish your own story with Arakawa, will you? Still, I can let them know it's okay for you to visit and watch dear Heith's magic at work. It's the least I can do for you keeping my little secret?"

"Hey, none of my business, lets just pretend this all never happened, yeah?" he raised up his hands, happy to draw a line under the whole thing.

"Good!" she nodded brightly. "Now I'd better get back to work. Mama Mia never cuts me any slack!"

As she started to head back inside he couldn't help himself from calling back, "She so does, that's part of what gave you away!"

Her shoulders slumped miserably, and he had a feeling Syr would be doing a lot more waiting tables and a lot less chatting with customers in the next few days.

Leaving the alley himself, he gave a little wave up to the person on the roof, who simply edged back further out of sight while Ichiban rejoined Yankimaru and went to find himself a place to stay for the night. Preferably one that didn't mind having a giant robot standing outside.

This turned out to be not so hard as much like Anya had earlier, many people recognised the inherent allure of a giant robot as something that would draw more potential customers. It was a nice looking place just down the street from the Hostess of Fertility that not only offered a room with an appropriately sized bed, but an actual hot shower – he hadn't expected those to be a thing in a fantasy world, but from what he could tell it worked using magic stones to heat and pump the water. Explained why there was such a market for the things, he hadn't even thought about why the Guild was buying them up.

They also offered a laundry service and clothing repairs that'd hopefully make his suit a bit more presentable. It must have been a high class place, but Ichiban had plenty of money in his pocket and no obligations, so he took full advantage. While working out in his room before bed he also took a proper look at that amulet that had appeared around his neck earlier in the day. It didn't look like anything, just a plain iron rectangle on a leather string. But looking at it gave him the impression of a cheetah in full sprint, and from what he could tell with some testing that matched up with how it had felt since he got it down in the Dungeon. He could run faster with it on. Not punch faster, not jump higher (although jumping longer was a thing with the extra momentum), not touch his toes more easily (the lion cloak actually did help with that one), it simply improved his top speed. By quite a bit.

It wasn't as flashy or miraculous as other stuff he'd gotten, but like the endless water bottle it was solidly convenient and worth having.

He slept well, and come morning was pleased to find his pants and shirt had both been patched up. They were obviously patched and so still a bit scruffy for it, but it was better than going around with holes in your clothes, and he'd buy more today, just to have some spares. Though a few extra changes of underwear were definitely a priority. Just the simple things you have to worry about when transported to a new world.

Yankimaru got left outside the inn, just to save Ichiban the trouble of directing to wait outside stores and keep out of the way, and really just the constant crashing of his footsteps directly behind. He was useful sure, but once he got those pokeballs from the Hephaestus shop it'd be far more convenient to just keep him in storage except when in the Dungeon.

And so Ichiban spent his morning shopping. Like Miach had said when he first got here, fashions were varied. Sure there was nothing with the exact cut of a modern suit, but it wasn't hard to find stuff that was 'close enough'. He also got himself a good pair of boots, as he wasn't sure how well his shoes were going to last through those multi-day Dungeon expeditions Rina had warned about.

This took him up the north end of the city, and amidst the varied and unusual yet mundane denizens of Orario he spotted another goddess doing a normal job, in this case running a fried potato stall.

Spoiler: Animal Rider

100 - Animal Rider
Marvel Primal
The people called him the Rider, because they had never seen a man astride a beast before. You are naturally highly skilled in befriending, training and riding animals of all sorts.

Weirdly when he looked at her he felt more knowledge and skills come into his brain, all kinds of stuff to do with training animals. Given he already could talk to them, he could absolutely run a pretty impressive circus if he wanted to. Unfortunately it didn't really change the fact that any animal he brought into the Dungeon was going to be scared and unhappy and not really able to do much against actual monsters, so he just filed that one away while approaching the stall. May as well get something to eat as the morning was wearing on.

After that whole debacle with Syr he was a little worried this could be another incognito deity, but he needn't have worried as she perked right up on seeing him. "Hey, with that lion cloak, are you the guy Miach helped?"

Her speech was friendly and informal, and with her short height and the little waggly antennae things sticking up from her hairband she definitely wasn't giving off much of a grandiose aura of divinity, but all the same he could sense it the same as any god around here, hers burning with a similar intensity to what he'd felt from Hephaestus.

"Yeah, my name's Ichiban Kasuga," he nodded, smiling down at her and giving a pull on the clearly very distinctive cloak draped over his shoulders. "Miach and Naaza saved my life when I appeared here the other day."

"Hmmhmm!" she nodded and rubbed a finger under her nose in evident pride, "Miach's a great guy, you're lucky it was him you ran into first. My name's Hestia. Are you here to buy jagamarukun, or are you perhaps looking for a familia to join?"

"Uh, the first one," he said, figuring that was the food she was selling and hoping this wasn't going to turn into a forceful recruitment pitch. She wasn't giving him the same bad vibes even thinking about Ishtar did, but all the same…

"Bah, I thought I'd try. Hephy talked you up a bunch, and she's got a really big and impressive familia. It's hard when you've just come down from Tenkai and have to start from scratch," she complained, fiddling with the fryer she had under her stall. "How many do you want?"

He looked at the size of them, and he was feeling kinda hungry. "Four," he answered, her words raising a comparison in his mind. "So when you gods come here from heaven, you just appear with what, just the clothes on your back?"

She nodded while parcelling out his crunchy looking snacks, "That's right, we're not allowed to bring anything special with us, and we seal all of our powers. It's not like you with your giant robots. It feels like someone's cheating," she gave a little huff, offering him some condiments to go with his jagamarukun and charging a paltry sum of valis he easily paid before dousing them with sour cream and having a bite of one.

"Mmmh, these are good," he said over the oddly named croquette snacks, pondering her cheating comment. Rather than a spirit, could there just be some god that's not playing by the same rules as everyone else and using him to shake things up? He still didn't know what the meaning behind it all was, and despite that thought he wasn't anywhere closer. But perhaps there was something else he could help with? "You're having trouble finding people to join your familia, though?"

That got her going alright. "It's just me and Bell right now, and he's the cutest and he's really brave and works hard and even though he makes me worry when he goes into the Dungeon alone I know he's trying his best and I love him for it but I worry he's going to be led astray by other women!" she rambled out breathlessly.

"Um, excuse me?" another woman asked softly from behind him, causing Ichiban to turn, seeing a girl with long blonde hair and a white dress holding a gloved hand up for attention. Despite her demure looks, delicate build, and soft voice, he could immediately tell she was as strong as Tsubaki, and her magic gave off a feeling like being tossed around in a gale.

"Oh, sorry. I'm holding up the line, huh?" he stepped aside, but hung around as the girl purchased twenty jagamarukun, filling a big bag and wandering off. Probably buying for her friends? Though he spotted her already starting to munch through them with mechanical efficiency as he turned back to Hestia who'd calmed down from her rant while serving the last customer, "So you're looking for familia members, but it worries you when they go in the Dungeon, huh?" he asked shrewdly.

She nodded back at him. "Of course I worry, Bell's so sweet and innocent and cute, and I like that he wants to be a hero but when he's down there all I can do is wait and try to support us in my own way like this," she gestured over the stall she was working. Which certainly made clear that Miach and Naaza's money troubles could be far worse.

He was pretty sure Miach would still draw a crowd of thirsty girls if he served fried snacks while wearing a silly head-piece like Hestia had on.

"Well listen, I know a guy that's looking to join a familia, but he's not exactly an adventurer. Big interest in the Dungeon as an academic kind of thing, but since he doesn't fight no one really wants to take him on," he suggested, seeing if he could possibly do a solid for Orin.

"Hmm, that's not really a problem for me," Hestia said with a moment's thought, "And if I had someone who could do research, that would still help Bell from running into trouble blind…"

Damn, sounds like this might work out! "His name's Orin, I saw him hanging out at the Pantheon but if I see him I'll send him your way," he promised, getting a cheerful nod from Hestia as he waved her goodbye.

Back at the Pantheon, Rose in fact proved very happy to guide him towards Orin. "He's smarter than most people who come in here every day," she said which he felt was more of a jab at him than praise towards the elf, who was in a reading room up on the second floor poring over a book which at least seemed to have pictures of monsters in it so it wasn't completely incomprehensible to Ichiban.

Actually that camera would've been good for taking pictures of monsters for people to study, wouldn't it? Probably be better for society than just being used by amazons to take selfies. Oh well, he didn't think he'd be able to get it back now, and at least it was making people happy.

"Yo, Orin. Studying up on the Dungeon?" he asked, giving the elf a wave and walking over.

"Oh, Ichiban. Hello!" he looked up and smiled. "Yes, I'm just brushing myself up on the wonders of the Dense Forest Ravine. Did you know the Loki familia just came back from an expedition to the fifty ninth floor? I'm hoping their reports to the Guild will be made public soon, based on how long it's been since they departed it sounds like they must have ran into trouble and had to return early."

"Oh yeah, I met one of them yesterday, they'd set a bunch of minotaurs loose on the upper floors, it was a big mess apparently," Ichiban nodded, filing away that detail of the fifty ninth floor. If Rina said it took days to reach the thirty seventh, and they kept getting bigger, just how long would it take to get that deep and back?

Orin seemed scandalised by that. "Minotaurs! Those normally only appear starting on the fifteenth floor!"

Dimly it occurred to Ichiban that this guy only knowing stuff from books that he takes as gospel means his information might not be the best for dealing with surprising events like that. Well… had to be better than nothing, right? Just the fact he knew where minotaurs are most likely to be off the top of his head like that was impressive.

"Yeah, they were running around like mad trying to clean them all up. Anyway, that's not really important," he got back to his original reason for coming here, "So I was talking to a goddess earlier, and she was talking about how much trouble she's having getting people to join her familia. It sounded like she could really use a knowledgeable Dungeon expert to help her out, someone who wouldn't make her worry the way she does for her adventurers that do go in the Dungeon…" he trailed off to see of Orin would pick up what he was putting down.

"Hmm. Sounds like everyone's having trouble these days," Orin agreed, clearly only meaning it as a pleasantry as he turned his book towards Ichiban and said, "Look, that's a bloodsaurus! It's supposed to stand five metres tall, just imagine what it would be like to look up at such a beast… spectacular, though surely it would be the last sight for many an adventurer!"

He grunted in annoyance, even if the picture did look kind of cool. Like a tyrannosaurus rex drawn with a big mouth full of fangs roaring at the viewer, which made him wonder if other dinosaurs were down there. "Orin, man, that's great, but didn't you say you were looking for a familia that would take you even though you don't want to go in the Dungeon yourself?" he spelled it out more plainly.

There it was. There's the lighbulb going off over his head. "Oh… oh! Where did you say this goddess was?" he got up, suddenly motivated.

Ichiban was glad to see it, and he told the scholarly elf where to find Hestia, watching him run out of the room and down the stairs like a man on a mission. Hoping things would work out for the two of them, he started heading out himself only to bump into Rose in the hallway.

"That was a good thing you did, Mr. Kasuga," she said mildly, looking over to the staircase. "All of us here worry about Mr. Redleaf, even if not in the same way as we worry about the adventurers who go into the Dungeon."

"Yeah, guy kinda needs a minder, huh? Hope Hestia can handle him," he agreed with a chuckle.

"I'm sure we'll find out. Even if he joins a familia he'll keep coming here to further his research. What about you? Taking a break from your quest?" she asked, yellow eyes looking up at him.

He nodded back at her, "Needed to spend a day getting some things together, plus doing some exploring of the town. I'll be going back down with Rina and Naaza tomorrow. Might try getting to that Rivera place on the eighteenth floor," he explained, figuring it wouldn't hurt to run his tentative plan by an expert.

Luckily it seemed the presence of higher levelled adventurers in his party was enough for Rose to not immediately lambast his plans as she nodded to that. "It's do-able with your party. Sometimes adventurers will be paid to take thrill-seeking tourists down there. I suggest you bring your own supplies, as the settlement there charges a considerable mark-up on its goods."

Being compared with a thrill-seeking tourist wasn't exactly the impression he wanted, but at least she was giving some good advice there. He had what felt like a lot of money from Tsubaki, but clearly it wasn't a lot of money to her so he didn't know how far it'd run in the circles of high levelled adventurers. Speaking of however, he bade farewell to Rose and left the Pantheon, finding that his order had been completed over at the Hephaestus familia workshop.

Spoiler: Staying Power

200 - Staying Power
Final Fantasy I
You're the muscle of this party, and that means you need to be able to take hits while the spellcasters do their job - unlocking the secrets of the arcane doesn't leave the much time for jogging, after all. Lazy wizards. Your stamina is much more plentiful, able to run for miles in heavy armor and only breaking a bit of a sweat, and your ability to take physical damage is likewise increased, your pain tolerance being something to be envied. This won't let you survive being vaporized by the strongest magic in this world or being reduced to paste under a giant's foot, but against blade, bow, and even destructive spells, you can keep fighting even under some of the worst of wounds just as effectively as you could before.

Four shiny steel balls waited for him, with simple clasps to hold them shut when they weren't split open down the middle. Hard to believe something so small could contain Yankimaru, or indeed anything else he might want to seal away. Taking them back to the inn he was staying at, his room rented for the rest of the week, he was pleased to see Yankimaru still intact and waiting for him, this street seemingly nice enough that it didn't have people daubing graffiti on a tempting target like that.

Going inside and using some paint and paper he'd purchased while shopping, he drew out the seal design he now knew how to make. He made a bundle of them, as they'd get torn when releasing Yankimaru, and he might need more for if he used it on a monster or something, and once it was all done he returned to the street, placing one of his balls down by the robot's feet.

It seemed like people had mostly gotten used to his presence so the immobile robot wasn't drawing too many stares, but a few people stopped to watch Ichiban himself as he stood back and took a deep breath. His hands moved about, kind of like a kid playing at being a magic ninja, and then he thrust them towards Yankimaru. "Mafuba!" he called out, and then the light-show kicked off. A big green beam of energy shot out and enveloped the robot, which did not react at all to being stretched out like taffy and whirled around like he was in a washing machine before Ichiban dragged his hands down to the ball and Yankimaru shrank down to near nothingness. Feeling winded, he clicked the ball closed and affixed one of his seals over the join, paper sticking as if it were glued there.

Lots of people were staring now, and he grinned and held the ball up. "I caught a Yankimaru!" he cheered.

A little boy watching cheered and clapped too, and Ichiban gave him a thumbs up, glad for a partially receptive audience. Now able to bring his robot anywhere without a fuss, he went inside for a brief sit down. That technique definitely took a lot out of him, though drinking from his magic water bottle helped. It was more of a physical exhaustion than the ache in his head he got from using spells, and so the restorative water proved a convenient way to handle the cost of using it without having to use up his more limited mana potions.

In fact he felt full of energy after a short rest and drink, and so was soon back out again to explore Orario some more. He'd done all the shopping he wanted and there were still hours left in the day. He steered clear of the Entertainment District, even if he kind of wanted to spend time in the part of Orario that most reminded him of home, he didn't particularly care for a repeat of last night. Rina had assured him it would be fine, and sure enough she hadn't caused any trouble herself today, but he still got a bad feeling whenever he thought of going near that part of town.

In fact he got bad feelings about a few areas around Orario. Alleys that yawned like the mouths of predatory beasts. Unassuming doors that seemed to wink at him with leering eyes. They were mostly concentrated around the eastern part of the city, and while part of him thought to investigate regardless of the dangerous feeling, he knew this wasn't a video-game with appropriately levelled side-quests waiting for him. For all he knew checking out those places might see a level six adventurer waiting to use his face as a punching bag.

He'd have enough to worry about tomorrow with the journey, and so Ichiban spent a trouble-free day steering clear of anything that gave him a bad feeling and finding Orario still had plenty left to explore by the time he turned in. Tomorrow was going to be a big day.

Hidden Intuition is a very useful perk and is saving Ichiban a lot of trouble he might otherwise be blundering into.

Also Dragon Ball does exist in the Yakuza universe, but Ichiban's not that into it that he recognises the Mafuba. If it had been the Kamehameha on the other hand...

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