"Bullshit! How is all of that sensical!?" hollered Loki.
Kisuke became quiet for a moment, closed his eyes, and thought of ways to convince her, 'Should I just take a gamble?' He opened his eyes and looked straight into Loki's eyes, 'If I'm going to do that, I should be able to gauge her affiliation... and it would be interesting to see her reaction.'
Loki was mad, but when she saw a grin on Kisuke's face, she became a bit concerned, "W-what? Ya plannin' something else?"
But instead of answering her, Kisuke turned back and suddenly yelled, "Ophis-chan~! Come here for a minute."
Ophis looked towards him for a few seconds before standing up and leaving behind the sandcastle she had been working on. Loki didn't say anything hereafter and just waited for the child that has been giving her a strange feeling to slowly walk over.
Ophis reached Kisuke's side and looked up to him, "...What is it?"
"Could you perhaps hide us?" asked Kisuke.
Loki became confused at his question but Ophis immediately understood what he meant, "...Only for a few seconds, or else, he'll notice."
Kisuke nodded, "That's more than enough."
While Loki was looking confused, Ophis suddenly lifted her right arm over to her head and the surrounding scenery suddenly became distorted until it was instantly dyed in black. While Loki's eyes opened widely in shock, she was more surprised with the aura that the little girl was emitting instead of the sudden change in scenery, "W-What are you!?"
But instead of addressing her concerns, Kisuke explained, "I'm doing this because of the existence known as 'Chaos'."
Loki became frozen at his words, and two seconds later, the darkness engulfing them receded, returning the scenery to normal, as if nothing had happened.
Immediately after, Loki tried her best to return her expression to normal and hide her agitation. But just from this, Kisuke was able to gauge where she was standing and thought that revealing a few things to her was worth it.
As Loki became quiet, Kisuke could see minute changes in her expression and could tell that she was under a lot of stress.
And indeed, Loki was very stressed after what just happened. There were two main points, but Loki couldn't ask for clarification to either of those, 'Because of that black space, we were temporarily separated from 'reality'. Although 'that guy' shouldn't have seen anything, a fluctuation within the laws of the world would surely get his attention and he would investigate it. Although he might not have been looking just now, he should still be eyeing this part of the Lower World right now!'
'Thanks to that, I can't ask what the identity of that little girl is nor how he knew of 'that guy'! Fuck! I want to know, but I can't unless I want to get 'his' attention now!' Hence, the source of her stress.
Meanwhile, Kisuke just waited for her to gather and sort out her thoughts quietly. Ophis, on the other hand, immediately returned to her playtime after fulfilling Kisuke's request.
After a few minutes, Loki sighed heavily and glared at Kisuke, "Teach them and make sure that they'll survive whatever's coming down, then at least I won't be your enemy." She then walked away from Kisuke, not waiting for her reply. She won't take a no for an answer. She'd do anything to keep her beloved children safe from unreasonable forces.
'Everyone thought that the most that could happen in this era would be the subjugation of the Black Dragon. Moreover, I'm sure that no Deity would expect that there are individuals that could potentially unveil the secret of the Dungeon,' Loki then stopped walking for a moment and looked up to the sky, 'If 'it' rises up again, who's side is going to prevail this time? All logic and reasoning goes to 'that guy's' side, but what is this feeling? For the first time ever, instead of just looking forward to the future and the stories of my children, I'm very conflicted.'
Resuming her steps towards her children again, Loki kept asking herself, 'At that time, where should I stand?'
The first one to approach her was Riveria as she asked, "What's wrong?"
Loki shook her head and sighed, "Nothing. He'll teach you that 'trick' now so be sure to study it carefully. It should be useful in the future."
Her uncharacteristic response weirded out Riveria but she could also tell that she didn't want to talk about this further so Riveria instead asked, "What about his 'price'?"
"We've talked it out so you shouldn't worry about it. Though I want it to be between us for now, so I'm sorry, but I can't tell you."
Riveria became even more hesitant after hearing that but Loki reassured her, "Don't think about it. What he wants is on me and he wouldn't ask anything else from you lot. Be at ease."
Only then could Riveria sigh in relief.
'Looks like dealing with Kisuke's 'prices' gave her a bit of trauma,' Loki snickered inwardly.
In the meantime, Yoruichi approached Kisuke, "What happened?"
From her point of view, nothing out of the ordinary happened except for the sudden slight fluctuation of Mana, Ki and Spirit Particles in the surroundings. However, she had been listening to their conversation and felt baffled when their topic shifted into an entirely different direction. Her guess is that Kisuke asked Ophis to do something that she wasn't able to perceive.
But instead of answering her, Kisuke just held her hand. At first, Yoruichi was confused with what he's trying to do, but her expression stiffened slightly when she received a coded message from Kisuke using his Reiatsu. This secret code which meant 'later' was one of the many communication codes that were used within the Onmitsukido or the Stealth Force back in the Seireitei. She was surprised at the extent of Kisuke wanting to keep this a secret.
Figuring out that someone might be watching, it'll look weird if she just stood there saying nothing so she changed the topic, "You're teaching them how to manipulate Ki?"
Kisuke nodded and said, "Yeah. I can't have them as helpless as they are right now in the future. If chaos were to happen in the future, I don't want them retiring to the sidelines. As you know, since we're just a small group, the more chaotic things are, the better."
"I see... And I agree. We can't be the only ones that go to the deeper parts of the Dungeon," Yoruichi knew that Kisuke is referring to something else, but for the sake of saying something back and not drawing suspicion, she replied as such.
Kisuke grinned and said, "Correct~."
Within the void, the eyes that are looking down at the Lower World lost their interest and went back to inactivity, waiting for the 'Tiger' to fulfill his end of the deal and pull 'that being' out from the depths of the Dungeon.
Editors:
28th00: So, who is it? Tiamat? Nuwa? I can’t really think of any other ‘origin of life’ entities off the top of my head. Somebody is (or in) the dungeon that is Phis-chama tier. I can swear I had this discussion multiple times with Goyya, and promptly forgot everything else to do with it every single time afterwards. Sorta like how I forgot Bell exists in this story. Or how Goyya forgot Gasper existed at one point…
Staz Irvine
"Alright, everyone! Gather up!" Kisuke raised his voice.
Soon after, everyone from the Loki Familia had gathered around him in anticipation. Although there are other feelings mixed in like embarrassment, due to Kisuke being a man and seeing them in their swimsuits, they couldn't feel an ounce of the strange stare that most men give them so they were able to relax a bit.
Kisuke didn't immediately address them and contemplated on something, 'Hmm... Just teaching them isn't enough. They also need the motivation to move forward,' deciding on the steps he intended to take, Kisuke finally started, "Before I teach it to everyone, I first have to explain a few things."
"To learn this 'trick', you just have to learn how to manipulate energy, a type of energy that is different from Magic Power?"
Just from this, everyone aside from Riveria, Ais and Line became confused, "A different type of energy outside of Magic Power? Does something like that exist?" asked Lefiya.
"Yes. It's not widely known but there are actually three types of power that reside in everyone, including Magic Power. As for the other two, we'll only discuss one of them as it's almost impossible to manipulate the last one."
Kisuke then saw Tiona raise her hand, "You said that these powers reside within everyone, but my Magic Parameter was zero from the moment I received my Falna. So Magic Power shouldn't exist within me."
"Incorrect. The Magic Power that you can see on your Status is the amount that you can actively use. In your case, all the Magic Power that you have went straight towards passively strengthening your other parameters. You should have marginally more Strength, Endurance and Agility than your twin sister, right? On top of that, those three parameters develop faster than everyone else despite doing the same thing."
"T-that's true... So I really do have Magic Power? It's just that, I can't use it aside from strengthening myself?"
Kisuke nodded in acknowledgment.
Placing her right fist on top of her left palm, Tione thought the right words for her, "Ah, in other words, a power idiot."
"Exactly," Kisuke nodded yet again.
Of course, Tiona immediately protested, "Who're you calling an idiot!?"
Unfortunately for her, everyone else ignored her as they wanted to listen to Kisuke's words more. Even for Riveria, the fact that Tiona actually had Magic Power, but it's used to strengthen her was actually a theory in her mind and she had no way to actually prove it.
"Now then, moving on, the other energy residing within you is very basic. So basic that you're already feeling it the moment you were born, which is why it's so hard to perceive compared to Magic Power. And this is your Life Force."
"There are many ways to describe it. One could say it's the power that your blood carries, but in a broader sense, it's the power of your own physical body."
Immediately after, Tione interrupted him, "Even if you say that it's hard to perceive, someone out there other than you should have made the same discovery, yet it's still unknown to this day. How can you prove that you're telling the truth?"
And looking at the rest's reaction, Kisuke figured out they have the same question in mind.
Kisuke understood her skepticism. In fact, he appreciates it. He doesn't really want to teach people that just accept everything he says. Smiling, he answered, "The fact that there are honorable Goddess present right now and haven't called out any lies is already evidence."
It was only then that they recalled that he couldn't lie in front of a Deity and accepted it. In addition, their intrigue regarding this topic increased along with their anticipation.
However, for Kisuke, this anticipation was far from enough, "Nevertheless, I can still show you two concrete pieces of evidence to prove my words. First is the Status and the second is a demonstration."
"Wait! By Status, you don't mean...," Riveria interrupted him.
"Well, you've already seen it, so you could just ignore it."
Riveria put her palm on her face and sighed, 'That isn't the problem!' She thought and became worried about the girls' perception of the world. Their common sense was just about to be shattered, 'But, maybe this is for the best?'
Confused at Riveria's reaction, everyone became curious as Kisuke suddenly pulled out a piece of paper and gave it to Hestia first, "Please confirm the authenticity of this."
Written on the paper was Koneko's Basic Abilities before she levelled up to 2.
Shirone Toujou
Level 1
Basic Abilities:
STR: SSS-1490
VIT: EX-1500
DEX: SSS-1339
AGI: SSS-1475
MANA: SS-1001
KI: EX-1500
With a blank face and a dry laugh, Hestia nodded and confirmed, "Aha..haha...haha... This is Koneko-kun's Status before she became Level 2."
Artemis also took a peek and was shocked. But thanks to Hestia's warnings last night, she wasn't as surprised. After all, her children will also go in this direction too and she had already hardened her mind.
Unfortunately, the last Goddess wasn't informed of any of this and carelessly approached the two of them, "Whatcha lookin' at? Lemme take a peek too! You're going to show this to my children, right?"
But the moment she laid her eyes on the sheet of paper, her eyes widened and she snatched the paper from Hestia's hand before howling to the sky while looking at it, "What the heck is this!?!?!"
"Koneko-kun's Status before she leveled up," answered Hestia calmly. However, it was also apparent that there was a bit of smugness on her face.
"No no no no! How can someone have a Status like this!? Even compared to my Ais-tan, this is too much!" Loki couldn't accept it.
"I can guarantee that what's written on that is true. Aside from that, there's actually no point in me lying to you, right? Moreover, with something this ridiculous," Hestia added.
Loki stared at her with an unbelieving expression and Hestia continued, "Yes, even for me, this is ridiculous."
"What about the others?" asked Loki.
"Why would I answer that?"
"Is this really true?"
"Should I show you Koneko-kun's Falna?"
Loki then proceeded to scratch her head, 'It's not just speculation anymore. If all of them have similar Status, then without a doubt, they'll reach the deepest part of the Dungeon if given enough time!' She thought.
Riveria approach Loki to try and comfort her, "I know it's shocking to see an additional line below the Basic Abilities in addition to really surprisingly high parameters."
It was Loki's turn to look at Riveria with a blank expression, "Really? Then why don't you take a look?"
Riveria thought that although Koneko has 'Ki' on her Basic Abilities, there's really nothing strange about it. Little did she know that it was extremely outdated information.
The moment she laid her eyes on it, however, she had the same reaction as Loki, but much quieter, "What the heck is this?"
Editors:
28th00: We’ve entered the straight man comedy hour apparently. I await Phis-chama’s reactions to the ‘weirdos’ being weird.
Staz Irvine