Story 6 : Chapter 1: That time I was…. (Patreon)

Story 6: To be a Hero. 

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 1: That time I was….

__________________________________________________________________________

- ??? -

I watched as my cute younger brother ran across the field playing with the other children of the Orphanage.

It’s been fourteen years already since I reincarnated into this world.

My time here has been full of ups and downs.

On one hand, I was born to a very good couple. My new parents loved me more than their lives.

I inherited the blonde hair of my mother and blue eyes from my father along with his lady killer looks.

Four years later, I got a cute little brother. I never had any siblings in my last life and always wanted a cute younger sibling to have fun with. My younger brother was adorable. I will fight anyone who says otherwise.

But things changed.

At the age of six, eight years ago, both my parents suddenly passed away and I was left with a two year old brother and nowhere to go.

Thankfully, I was taken in by the orphanage and it has been our home for the last eight years.

Thanks to my previous knowledge, I was much more advanced than other people of my own age and did well in school and the training provided by the church for self defence.

I was offered a chance to train under the church but I rejected it because I was more interested in sciences. The matron was disappointed but didn’t force me to join. She did insist on it for a while but later saw that my heart was not in it and let me be.

Our relationship had become a bit colder since then.

Well, I was a full grown adult in a child’s body. My thought process was already more or less set. It’s not like I didn’t believe in God or was an atheist. I was a reincarnator. If there was ever a miracle, this was one. I believed. I just didn’t think it was the place for me.

My heart was not in it so I didn’t pursue it. I did help around though.

I saw my brother come running towards me. A girl slightly older than him followed him.

“Brother, this is Big Sis Tressa. I met her in the Church choir. She is also going to join us in the Church’s training.” he jumped in excitement as he introduced her to me.

I gave the girl my best smile which I may or may not have practised in front of the mirror for years. “Thank you for taking care of my little brother, Miss Tressa. You are a very kind girl.”

The girl gained a hue of red on her cheeks as she looked at me. "Th-thank you. I-I was only h-helping."

It works every time.

We talked for a while and then Tressa left.

"Brother!"

"Hmm?"

"Do you not like it when I train in the church?" 

He asked, a bit hesitant.

"Why won't I like it?"

"I mean you didn't go to church for training…"

"So I wouldn't like it if you went there?"

He nodded a bit nervously at my question.

I laughed and hugged him to my side while I squeezed his cheeks.

"I don't mind it. I didn't join the church training because my heart was not in it. Hmm, how do I explain it? Yes. Let's try this. Imagine this for once. I don't like broccoli but you do, don't you?"

He nodded. 

"So, does it mean I should hate you for that?"

He shook his head cutely and I pinched his nose.

"So then why would I hate you for doing something you like as long as it doesn't harm anyone?"

He pouted. "B-but that's not the same."

"Of course it is. I don't like something and so I am not doing it. You like something and so you are doing it. If we start disliking others for not having the same tastes as us, we will be hating everyone. That's not how things work. You like the church's training and reading the Bible verses in front of everyone. Do it. Follow your heart. I am proud of you that you are doing it already. No matter what happens, big bro will always support you."

He returned my hug tightly. "Thank you, Sal."

Yes. Sal. That's my name. Sal… or rather Salvatore.

_____________________________________x_____________________________________

A week had passed since the talk with my brother.

Today, I was getting back from my classes to the orphanage.

My classes went late and it was already night and the rain was coming down hard. I forgot to bring my umbrella.

Fuck, my shoes are going to get all soggy.

And then it happened.

I suddenly heard a loud rumbling sound behind me as if thunder had crashed. The whole area lit up and everything turned black..

The surroundings were completely black. It was as if I was floating in space.

I don’t know if I was breathing.

I couldn’t even hear my heartbeat.

My thoughts were very clear.

Did I die?

Did I get struck by thunder?

What the fuck, dude?

Wasn’t I a reincarnator?

That was a pretty pathetic way for one to die?

Aren’t reincarnators supposed to be chosen ones?

But a chosen one wouldn’t die like this.

So I guess I am not one of them.

….

I really wish I was favoured too.

Request Accepted.

Processing…

Extra Skill: Favoured One granted.

Hmm?

And I want to become stronger. Grow, break through all the limits and evolve.

What’s a Chosen One without strength? Only a fool waiting to be slaughtered.

Request Processing….

Unique Skill: Evolver granted.

My consciousness started fading with it.

I hope my brother remains safe.

Sorry, I left you alone.

Goodbye… Isaiah.

….

….

Additional Soul detected within the host.

Processing.

Soul Incomplete, dormant and sealed. Processing the Soul.

Extra Skill: Delete Field obtained.

Extra Skill: Incomplete Dragonic Core obtained.

Wish Granted.

Summoning Complete.

______________________________________x_____________________________________

I slowly opened my eyes and looked around the room.

My whole body was in pain. Looking around the room, I saw people dressed in what looked to be mediaeval costumes.

On my side were three other beds with what looked to be Japanese people around 17 or so. Two boys and a girl. The boys had black and white hair and the girl was a brunette.

They were talking in a language I didn’t know.

One of them noticed me waking and hurried outside.

Maybe she went to inform someone.

While this happened, I tried to get my thoughts together.

Just what the fuck was happening?

A few moments later, another person came on following the woman.

He spoke to me but I couldn't understand the words.

On realising this, he brought his fingers to his neck and it flashed with a grey colour.

"Welcome summoned Otherworlders. My name is Ibam Razen, the Court Mage from the Great Nation of Falmuth…."

At this point I could only think of one thing.

'Oh fuck.'

– Two Years Later –

I fell on my back heaving for breath. The area in front of me was filled with cuts and scorch marks.

I looked at the sword in my hand and winced as I picked it up once more.

I was not struck by lightning.

I didn't die either.

I was fucking summoned to another world.

I mean, what are the chances of this?

A Reincarnator like me getting summoned as an Isekai Hero.

That said, not everything was as cool as it sounded.

I remembered the name Falmuth Kingdom and Razen.

But that was only a doubt at the start.

It only became clear when I found out the names of the other summoned people.

Kirara Mizutani, Kyoya Tachibana and Shogo Taguchi.

I was in the kingdom who attacked Rimuru Motherfucking Tempest and got pincushioned by solar rays.

Now, I will not lie, it was one of the best scenes from the anime I could remember. But… when I think of the fact that I would be on the other end of that, it is not as cool anymore.

In this place, we were prisoners of the nation, basically slaves.

Each of us had a Lock Spell cast on us which forced us to obey them.

We were used to doing their dirty jobs.

These people were not the only ones either. Every human nation in this world did this.

Thankfully, the ritual can only be used once every eighty years or so and forcing the ritual causes children to appear who do not have any power or else these people would have entire armies full of otherworldly slaves.

Running away was nigh impossible because the armies and other mages kept a watch over us at all times.

Not to mention that bastard Razen.

I remember him stealing the bodies of the otherworlders to regain his youth and Skills.

Fortunately, my own Skill, at least the one they knew about, was an auxiliary one which he wasn’t really interested in.

Delete Field.

The ability to nullify magic in a certain area. It was a good ability but the area covered by the spell depended directly on my strength. Moreover, there was already a spell which could replicate the same result and thus my ability was not considered much. But since I did have a skill, I was not considered a failure. They still used me as a soldier because Otherworlders had greater amounts of Magicules and were in general stronger.

Not to mention, those that didn’t inherit the Unique Skills generally died soon after.

My Skill was not a Unique Skill.

They were not wrong either.

Now, if only that were so. I thought to myself as I got up once more.

My other Skills are not ones that can be seen from outside or even felt.

The Unique Skill Evolver and the Extra Skill Favoured One.

The contents of the Skills can be felt instinctively. We need to experiment and learn more about them. After all, not everyone has an all knowing Cheat like Rimuru.

From my experience, I found out a few things about my Skills.

Unique Skill: Evolver

Increases the speed of the user's growth.

The speed of growth increases the more the user desires for growth.

The best thing about this Skill is that it even gives slight resistances to things I have been exposed to and which have been harmful to me. The resistance depends on the amount I have survived.

I have since then gotten a few resistances.

Lesser Pain Resistance from the training and attacks, Moderate Miasma Resistance from being forced to hunt in infected areas, Lesser Mental Resistance, etc.

These Skills were added to the Common Skills.

The Ranking of the Skills are Common Skills, Extra Skills, Unique Skills and Ultimate Skills.

So the fact about me dying a year or so later is merely a hoax as well as a good cover.

These people send us to fight their battles or clear monsters and enemies that normally cause too many casualties among their people.

For this very reason, the Evolver Skill is continuously stimulated due to the constant danger I am in.

This caused the amount of Magicules I could manipulate to increase. Normal humans cannot have magicules in their body but I was an exception as I had an incomplete Dragon’s Core inside my body by some chance. Maybe something to do with the summoning and wishes. This caused my body to get an ability to retain magicules without becoming a Majin.

This obviously cannot be felt by anyone because any attempt was just negated by me with my Delete Field inside my body.

This caused people to believe that my magicules were increasing very quickly and I barely had a year left.

I didn’t mind it either.

My aim is to become stronger and be able to overpower Razen’s Lock Spell on me to get out of his control and then disappear.

In fact, my Delete Field could probably also affect the Lock Spell if I were to reach a certain level of strength once.

I might even try to visit the Monster Nation Tempest if it was even created.

Shaking my head, I got up from my seat and picked up my sword.

We were their living weapons.

Weapons needed to be strong and while I was at best, a defective piece, I still possessed an insane amount of magicules and they wanted to use it for every last bit.

I was taught the Arts and Magic of the Human Race in this world.

Monsters use Skills and their natural ability to manipulate Magicules to cast spells. Humans on the other hand had to learn Arts.

To understand it in simpler terms, Skills are automatic and Arts are manual. The users have to put effort into learning and using them. The user can directly use a specific magic by using an associated Skill, without even knowing its details while for Arts, they need to know how to create a Magic Circle and the process involved in the working for the spell. The former’s effects are stronger as Skills are essentially rewarded by the world itself. So they are in a way permitted by the world itself while the latter is forced by the use of magicules.

“Salvatore.”

I suddenly heard a voice behind me and saw Razen coming towards me being followed by Folgen, the Vice Commander of the forces.

I quickly hid my scowl.

It was probably another massacre or something.

“How is your training going?”

“My progress has been steady, Lord Razen.”

He nodded before using a spell to check my body.

He frowned a little. “The level of magicules has again risen. Keep up the good work.”

“Yes, Lord Razen.”

“We have a job for you. In the eastern part of the kingdom, a town has not been contacting the kingdom for months now. It has been isolated and we think that the town was probably attacked by a pack of C Ranked Dire Wolves headed by a B Ranked one in the nearby forest. You are to go there and exterminate them. A group of mages and a squadron of soldiers will be following you in this task as well. Get ready, you are leaving in an hour.”

I just nodded my head and took my leave. The less I spoke with him the better.

- Razen -

He watched the boy walk away towards the quarters and let out a sigh

“Something bothering you, Razen?”

“Such a waste… for such a talent to not inherit a Unique Skill and die early. If he had lived for a few more years, we could have another one rivalling Hinata Sakaguchi and Falmuth would have cut its way through the west.”

“Yes. He does work tirelessly. Perhaps trying to defy the fate that has already been decided for him. Still, he is much better than those three. They are…”

“All talk, no talent. If only his Delete Field was a scale higher. It would have been a perfect Skill for anyone. I don’t need it because I can just make an antimagic area but such a skill can still be useful in battle. See that you witness his death, Folgen. Even if it is not a Unique Skill, it is still useful for someone like you. And if those wastes show incompetence, sacrifice them at his hands. Their behaviour must already have gotten them at each other’s throat by the end of the first month.”

“Yes. Those three seem to enjoy bullying him. They are probably laying out their own frustrations on someone they can. But I have never seen him retaliate.”

“That’s because he can’t. Even if he puts out a good fight, he will lose at the end of it. In terms of sheer skill, he could have killed the three of them alone if only they were at equal levels of strength but… that’s not the case. The boy is smart and keeps his anger hidden. If he does get the opportunity, he will retaliate. If he awakens a Unique Skill by the end of it, we will still be the ones profiting.”

They watched the boy leave and left for their own jobs too.

- Salvatore -

The town of Larkinge is on the eastern part of the Falmuth Kingdom. It is one of the towns nearing the border of Jura Forest.

The main occupation of the people of this town is hunting and collecting herbs in the forest outskirts.

The capital hasn’t received any news or, more importantly, tribute from these people for a while. They sent messengers but they never returned.

There was said to be a pack of Dire wolves nearby and the locals had complained about it several times but they were not rich enough to pay adventurers or worth much for the Kingdom to pay attention to the whining as they said in the capital.

But a few months of revenue builds up.

There were guesses that one of the wolves might have evolved into a higher rank and must have taken over the town.

They wanted me to help slay the wolf pack.

The soldiers were mostly average run of the mill. The only ones of any value were the mages.

Upon reaching the area, the head mage of the group took charge and sent search parties through the town to find any survivors.

The town looked like a ghost town with no sign of life.

I too moved along the borders of the town to find any people.

We didn’t find anything after hours of searching and decided to set up camp.

I went a distance away from the camp to practise my arts once again.

I needed to become stronger. To break past the first barrier and Evolve.

Humans in this world evolve differently.

First is the easiest way, by becoming part monster. They are called Majin or Demonoid. There people are generally looked down upon and may even be hunted down by the church.

Majin can then grow in the Monster tree as a Demon Lord Seed and an Awakened Demon Lord from that.

For Pure Humans to evolve, they need to train their skills to the limits and push themselves to break their limits. The first Evolution of the Human kind is called a Sage or Enlightened One.

They are extremely strong and are a half spiritual sort of creature.

Upon reaching this stage, a human’s lifespan increases greatly as well as the amount of Magicules they can control.

Enlightened Ones can be as strong as a Demon Lord Seed.

Then comes the Saint Rank but I have no idea how to reach that level.

I had a good memory but even I couldn’t remember everything from my previous life, especially when it has been sixteen years since then.

I remembered only the bits and pieces of things from the webnovels I had read. It was only finding out the information and piecing it with my own knowledge helped me remember things more.

Another evolution for Humans is to become a Hero but I have no idea how to go about it.

I know there was something about Elementals involved in it but I didn’t know exactly what it was.

But it didn’t matter. I knew that becoming an Enlightened is already enough for me to leave this cage.

Until now, I have been working hard to push my limits but training can only push me so much.

I need an opportunity.

Sometimes I wonder if my other Extra Skill, The Favoured One is just for show.

It basically gives me good Luck and some kind of Charisma. Or at least that’s what the Skill says. I don’t know exactly what it does though.

My Charisma didn’t keep others from bullying me.

My Luck has seen me enslaved upon being summoned.

If this is my Luck and Charisma after having the Skill, I wonder what it was before it.

My attention was drawn by a large explosion in the area where the camp was set up.

I quickly ran towards the area and the scene I witnessed in front of me chilled my spine.

Blood and fire all around the place. Shouts of the soldiers and mages sounded and in the middle of all this chaos was that… that thing.

Black skin, sharp teeth, violet eyes and a thick miasma that made one sick just looking at it.

“D-demon! It’s a Greater Demon! Run! We are not prepared to deal with these things!” One of the mages ran or rather tried to do so only to have its head blown away.

The Head Mage spotted me and quickly ordered. “Stop it! Hold it back! Kill it, quick!”

The bastard was trying to escape and was just throwing fodders at it to be able to delay it. And me being bound by the curse had to follow.

The good thing was that soon after the order, he also got a fire to his back and died.

I was free, but… there was nowhere to run.

I knew I couldn’t outrun a Greater Demon,

These fucking things were A- Ranked. Outrunning it would be a fool’s dream.

I drew my sword and prepared to resist.

I am not going to just bend over my back and die.

I rushed at it with a Quick Step. Putting some aura under my foot, I pushed the ground, my sword drawn over my head as I let out a slash.

The demon made several magical barriers in front of itself.

“Delete Field.”

A blackish field spread around me as the Barriers collapsed as quickly as they had formed.

The demon was surprised and it let me get a hit. I took out one of its eyes as it growled in anger.

The sound hit my eardrums disorienting me for a moment and gave it some time to get away.

It took to the skies quickly making distance between us.

And then things turned for the worse. It started blasting the area.

I dodged.

The problem with my Delete Field Skill is that it doesn’t stop the spells that are already invoked. It just stops the invocation of the spell.

That’s the reason why they could even use the Lock Spell on me.

The battle reached an impossible situation for me.

I couldn’t fly and the demon was using this fact as he wanted. My ranged attacks were not good enough against a demon who is a being of magic itself.

Suddenly I felt dizzy and was slow by a step, getting caught up in the shockwaves of a blast.

The shockwave forced all the air out of my lungs and I fell to the ground.

Cough cough

I covered my mouth and saw blood.

Poison?

That bastard was using poison mixed with its blasts.

“Gwahahahaha what a fool. Did you think you could use such a silly trick to fight me?”

The demon slowly came down, now confident of its win.

I shakily tried to get up, only to be kicked in the stomach and flew aside towards the burning walls of a building and crashed into it.

The world blacked out for a moment.

Shit.

Am I going to die?

I will not accept this.

“Your soul will be delicious. I will savour it slowly.”

The footsteps of the demon sounded louder as it walked towards me.

The scenes of both my lives flashed before my eyes.

My first life and my parents.

My second life, my new parents, my little brother Ishiah.

I wonder how he is?

Does he even know I was summoned to another world or does he think that I left him alone?

Shit.

I don’t want it to end like this.

Tears dripped down my face and a deep indignation rose from my heart.

I never hurt anyone. Never did anything bad to anyone, so why is this happening to me?

Dragged away from my home, made into a slave and now…

I don’t accept it!.

I will not accept it!.

I clenched my teeth and picked up the sword.

“Oh, trying to resist even now. You cannot win against me. You are an inferior species. Don’t you learn, fool?” It mocked.

“The wise learn from the mistakes of others and fools learn from their own. So… I guess I am a fool. That said, how would I know… if I don’t even try. If I have to become a fool to have this chance, then I am fine with being a fool. But once, even if I cannot kill you, I want to punch that ugly face of yours. Just once. Dammit, JUST ONCE.”

Balance Breaker

“What!”

I felt a surge of power from inside me and had the urge to roar.

The blackish field spread out from inside me but this time it was much more potent and the range was huge. The name came to my mind and I shouted it out.

“Negation Zone.”

Demons or Daemons are spiritual creatures, made entirely of magic. They don’t generally have a specific shape or body and can change their shape as they will. They can occupy other bodies but that’s quite rare.

This however makes it so that when magic is disabled, they are generally powerless. There were exceptions though but a greater demon like this… not really.

And as expected the Demon fell to his knees.

I pushed a quarter of my aura on my leg and smashed the ground. The rest of my aura was concentrated on the tip of my sword. The recoil shattered a bone on my leg but the adrenaline kept driving me forward.

The Demon looked up but didn’t have any time to dodge as I directly pierced its head with my sword.

It turned to ashes and dispersed into the air.

I fell down. The power surge leaving my body.

The poison finally overcoming the adrenaline rush.

Several thoughts went through my mind as my head was blacking out.

I defeated it.

Balance Breaker. I had a vague memory of this word.

Wasn’t it from that dumb anime with boobs and stuff?

How the fuck did I have one of those?

Was my previous work… oh crap!

And then I blacked out.

Requirements have been met. Initiating the evolution process.

The Host has completed a trial of great ardour.

Surpassed his limits and defeated a foe beyond their power.

Host’s requirements of Magicules met.

Evolution beginning.

The Evolver Skill has begun the process of Evolution.

Extra Skill: The Fortunate One Skill has evolved into the Unique Skill: The Blessed One.

The Blessed One has heard the Host’s inner wish.

Unique Skill: The Fool has now been granted.

The extra soul inside the host has been granted a blessing due to being connected to the host.

The excess magicules have been used to repair a part of the soul.

New Skill discovered.

Unique Skill: Shadow Prison gained.

Unique Skill: Evolver is working.

Unique Skill” Evolver has requested permission to Evolve Skills.

Permission Granted.

Skill: Lesser Pain Resistance has evolved into Skill: Moderate Pain Resistance.

Skill: Moderate Miasma Resistance has evolved into Skill: Greater Miasma Resistance.

Skill: Lesser Mental Resistance has evolved into Skill: Moderate Mental Resistance.

Extra Skill: Delete Field has evolved into the Unique Skill: Negation Zone.

Unique Skill: Evolver is stimulating the body.

Skil: Poison Resistance was granted.

Race changed to Half Spirit- Human Enlightened.

- ??? -

She looked down at the boy lying down as he lost consciousness and the only thought running through her head was, he did it.

He broke through the limit.

She had been hunting this Demon for a while and had lost track of it for sometime.

Her search led her to this town but unfortunately she was too late.

The sounds of battle had given her hope that there might be survivors but when she arrived, she found only one person alive and fighting.

The boy possessed an unnaturally high amount of magicules and the language he used sometimes in the fight didn’t seem to be of someone from his world.

Another Otherworlder.

And one who didn’t inherit a Unique Skill.

This is what made her wait.

He would have died sooner or later either way except… if he evolved.

She would have saved him should he get in any danger and maybe offer him her own Spirit. It was a curse for her but it just might become someone’s source of life. That said, she wanted to see if he could do it… and he did.

He broke through the limit.

She raced to him and checked his condition.

He was poisoned.

Quickly bringing out a potion from her bag, she fed him and watched as he slept.

Upon watching closer, she saw that there was a mark of a Lock Spell on him that was fading away now.

This made her confirm that he was indeed another person from a different world.

Another person summoned against their will, snatched away from their home and just left to die.

He looked young. Around sixteen.

When was he summoned?

She carried him to an intact part of the town and found a house with a bed to lay him down to rest.

Several thoughts ran through her head as she caressed the child’s hair and waited for him to awaken.

- Salvatore -

I woke up.

Once more after blacking out.

I got flashes of the last time this had happened.

“Did you wake up?” A voice sounded from beside me. “I gave you a potion and an antidote for the demon’s poison.”

I looked around to see a black haired woman or rather girl standing by the door.

She looked to be Japanese.

My body was feeling a lot better so I tried to get up and get into a defensive position.

“You should take some rest. Although the potion helped, your body was still injured. Your evolution has fixed most of the wounds but it can be a bit taxing to push yourself for now.”

I looked at her while at the same time my mind thought about her words.

Evolution?

Did I evolve?

I was feeling a lot stronger.

In fact, just by clenching my fists, I could feel a lot of power surging in my body. Magicules were moving a lot faster and smoother.

“Who are you?” I asked cautiously.

She raised her hands as a sign of peace. “I mean no harm. My name is Shizue Izawa. I am an otherworlder like you.”

Shizue Izawa?

“The Conqueror of Flames, Shizue?” I asked, surprised.

She nodded. Although I noticed her wince at the name.

I however was still suspicious. “Pardon me. I know I am being rude but I have come to learn that trusting someone easily can lead to bad things. Can you do something to prove your identity?”

“How do I do so?” She asked, not being offended by my request.

“Can you summon any of your spirits? I know that Shizue Izawa has a contract with a Greater Spirit called Ifrit, or you can show me your mask. I also have heard a lot about these two.”

She looked at me for a moment and then nodded as she brought out a mask from her cloak. White coloured with slits for eyes and two designs on the sides.

She put it on and her magical presence became constrained.

Just as I had heard about the famed mask of the Conqueror of Flames.

“Thank you.” I relaxed my posture a bit. “Can you tell me how you found me? I didn’t think there were other people around. We checked and didn’t find anyone in the entire village.”

“I was chasing the demon but he escaped from me. I was tracking it down but reached this place a bit later. I… witnessed you battling. Your magicules… you were summoned without a Unique Skill, weren’t you?”

I became quiet.

“No need to fear. I was once in the same situation.” She sat down on the floor in front of the door. “Even now, I sometimes cannot control the Spirit inside me. It is painful. It is terrifying. You are not wrong to feel what you are feeling. Being dragged away from your home and enslaved, being forced to fight wars for others against your will.Trusting others is difficult.”

I stiffened. “How do you know…”

“I saw the Lock Curse when I was checking your body for injuries. The curse faded when you evolved. You are free now. Congratulations.”

I snapped back to reality at this revelation and checked my body. The curse was indeed gone.

Strength left my feet as relief washed over me. I fell to my knees and cried. I sobbed like a child.

I was free.

I was free once more.

I felt a warmth envelop me.

Shizue was now hugging me. I… wrapped my hands around her and cried even more.

I remembered everything I had done since being summoned.

My position was already made clear to me.

I was a slave.

I felt repulsed.

To fight against my will for the selfishness of others.

I remembered the first life I was forced to take. The look of horror on the face of the man whom I was to execute.

The feeling of my blade piercing the man’s chest and the blood splattering all over my face. The memory had haunted me for months. And then… I just got used to it.

I took so many lives that I became numb to the feeling.

At that point, the only thought that remained inside me was escaping the prison no matter how.

I had become a monster who didn’t care about the lives of people just like the ones who had summoned me.

And that knowledge disgusted me.

That was one of the reasons I didn’t reply or retaliate to any bullying. It was because somehow I felt that I deserved it.

The other three who were summoned put all the blame on this world, the people of this world and thus they didn’t hesitate about killing.

To vent out their frustrations.

But I knew. I already knew a bit about this world. The common people… how were they to blame.

It was the fault of the ones at the top. It was their greed and ambition that caused this situation to befall on me.

But now… it is all over. 

Today… I was free again.

I don’t know how long I cried and she comforted me.

My body was far stronger than before but I was still mentally exhausted and fell asleep.

____________________________________________________________________

I woke up after a few hours.

Shizue was still there, waiting.

I got up and apologised to her about yesterday.

At this point there was no doubt that she was the real one, or at least that she didn't mean me any harm. She already had plenty of time for that.

"Are you alright now?"

I nodded my head.

"What do you want to do now?" She asked and I paused for a moment.

What did I want to do?

The first thought that came to my mind along with the memory of a face made my reply. "I want to go back home."

Her face took on a pained look. "I am afraid that there aren't…"

"There is a way. I know there is a way. Don't ask me how I know of it but I just do."

She took a deep breath and then continued. "So, how will you go around doing that?"

"I… I want to become stronger. Can… Can you teach me?"

She looked at me for a moment and nodded.

And this started my journey with Shizue Izawa in this new world.

– Razen –

"A demon." He sighed at the massacre in front of his eyes and sighed.

The miasma and demonic energy in the area were a dead giveaway.

"Did you find any survivors?"

"No Sir. Only pieces of corpses."

"Did you find the body of the otherworlder?"

"N.. No Sir. We only found pieces of his armour and sword."

As he thought. His Lock Curse had been broken too.

"Che, what a waste. He couldn't even handle a simple demon. Then again he was a failure to start with. Fucking pussy." He heard Shogo's mockery from the side and felt a twinge of anger.

Mocking a demon, which was probably a Greater Demon from the destruction of the area. A Greater Demon would have crushed him easily and yet he bragged. A newborn calf fears no tiger. It was really bad luck that he got the Unique Skill instead of Salvatore.

"Gather the mages and seal the miasma in the area. Collect the corpses of the deceased and burn them to prevent them from turning into undead."

What he didn’t know was that the one he thought was dead, was already travelling away from the kingdom with a new teacher.

- Salvatore -

Travelling with Shizue was a whole new experience.

She, despite her young looks, was in her nineties and had travelled the world for decades.

She didn’t hesitate in teaching me anything I asked for. Starting with magic.

The Magic of this world was interesting and as an Enlightened, I had a very easy time learning magic.

In this time, I even tried and got familiar with my new Skills.

I was not really familiar with the Highschool DxD world. I had at best read two volumes of the Light Novels and the protagonist of the story was just too cringy for me.

I did read a few fanfictions and my knowledge about the world was shoddy at best.

That said, I did know what Sacred Gears and Balance Breakers were.

I was apparently born with a Dragon Type Sacred Gear which was attached to my soul and its power was changed into my own Skill.

The Sacred Gear was also the reason why I had almost double the amount of Skills compared to the other Otherworlders.

The Balance Breaker gave me a boost which increased my power by a lot.

According to Shizue, I could reach higher levels of Enlightened strength while using it. She likened it to how an Elemental would merge with a Human and give them powers but much weaker and temporary.

I could even match Shizue in terms of power when in the Balance Breaker but that’s where the  difference in our experience and the affinity between her and Ifirit showed.

She didn’t need any energy to use Ifrit and it even provided her with energy of her own, while I needed to expend energy to maintain the Balance Breaker.

The Delete Field and the Draconic Core were not my own power.

Evolver was probably a Skill of the Sacred Gear’s bullshit of evolving according to the user’s will. I remember there being something like that. So only the Fortunate One was my own Skills.

Although it became my own power after I received the Skills.

On my evolution, the Sacred Gear seemed to have unlocked some more of its powers and I got another Skill, Shadow Prison.

But all those were probably nothing compared to my newest Skill.

Unique Skill: The Fool.

A fool learns from his own mistakes.

This Skill was the embodiment of this saying.

It was a passive Skill which copies any Skill used during a fight which I lose.

For example, if I sparred with Shizue and lost and she used her own Skills during the fight, I would get all the skills she used in the duration of the fight. Obviously, I couldn’t copy Ultimate Skills because only Ultimate Skills can face other Ultimate Skills while my ‘The Fool’ was only Unique.

It was in a way broken if used wisely.

I laughed so hard when I realised what this Skill did.

With this, I got into the business of Skill collection.

The first Skills I copied were from Shizue… unknowingly.

I copied her Unique Skill: Degenerate and a couple of Extra Skills.

The Unique Skill: Degenerate was a jackpot for me.

It had two functions. Separation and Synthesis.

Separation can separate anything, even Skills except those bound to someone’s soul from them while Synthesis can combine any two things, including Skills.

The utter cheat ability of this Skill was only bound by the fact that Shizue was not a murderhobo intending to destroy the world or she could have easily become a Demon Lord by now.

My experiments did help me realise the ability of my own Skill, The Fool.

I did confess to her but her reply was quite unexpected… or should I say, rather expected for her.

She was not angry with me either. For her, she just taught her student a Skill which would help him live in this world safely.

She also tutored me in Swordsmanship.

Shizue had learned Swordsmanship from one of the Subordinates of the Demon Lord Leon Cromwell and the Masked Hero Chronoa and honed it against monsters and demons for decades.

She was undoubtedly one of the best sword users in this world and many compared her to the Dwarven King, Gazel Dwargo in terms of her skills.

She was also the teacher of two of the most prominent figures in this world.

Hinata Sakaguchi and Yuuki Kagurazaka and a less known but probably the strongest, Chloe Aubert.

Now, my memory about this world was hazy at best but even I knew that Yuuki Kagurazaka was one of the villains. Obviously there could be changes in this world but it was better to err on the side of caution.

For her, I was one of her best students and she did everything she could to make me stronger and assist in my goal of finding a way back home.

She told me about a lot of Skills which I could copy and which would help me balance out my arsenal.

We also talked about a lot of things. She was from Japan from the World War era. She was caught in a bomb blast when she was summoned.

When she arrived in this world, she was burned and dying. Demon Lord Leon Cromwell was the one who summoned her and she was only four years old back then.

He took pity on her and summoned a Spirit, the very same one which gave her the title of ‘The Conqueror of Flames’ and bound her with it.

She survived and soon healed.

But that was not all. She couldn’t control her powers and Ifrit killed one of her close ones.

She started resenting this power and using all her might to control it instead of merging with it. And now, as a result, she is dying.

Yes. Over the past few months I noticed that she was slipping in her control.

I wanted to help her and also asked her to merge with Ifrit but she denied.

She wanted to die a human. It was her final wish.

And somehow I couldn’t say anything to her.

I remembered that she was Rimuru’s Fated One and he devoured her body after her death on her request.

It set up a series of events which saved this world.

Am I too selfish in trying to prevent those events because of my attachment to my teacher?

To let a person who has lived a full life die according to their wishes or force them to live a life they don’t wish for my own wishes? The answer to this question is not something I would know.

I on the other hand shared with her my secret of being a reincarnator who was summoned to this world. I told her about my cute little brother and the reason I wanted to get back.

I didn’t tell her about this world being a novel in my first life though. Telling someone on the verge of death that their entire life was a novel and used as entertainment… seemed very cruel to me.

We travelled through several countries together and in doing so met several people.

And today is another such visit.

“So, this is the Dwarven Capital. The place does look grand.” I looked at the magnificent walls of the kingdom. It was nothing like the Falmuth Kingdom and was radiating power even when one looked at it straight.

“Dwarves remain neutral and they are the best craftsmen among the races of this world. You need a good weapon for yourself. We can get it here.”

Shizue’s fame was quite well established even among the Dwarven Nation as was shown when we didn’t need to wait in line like the others and were directly given a pass.

The city was grand like the mediaeval european cities from earth.

“Kajin of the dwarves is one of the best sword makers in the world. He is an old acquaintance of mine and owes me a few favours.”

“The Dwarven Nation is quite peaceful.” I commented as I looked around the place. Several races roamed around and yet no one caused any trouble.

“It’s because of Gazel Dwargo. He is a man who can rival Demon Lords in terms of strength. He is a saint.”

“A Saint!” I asked, shocked internally.

A Saint was the human equivalent to an Awakened Demon Lord.

During my stay with Shizue, I learned a lot about the evolution system.

Still to think Gazel Dwargo would be that strong.

We reached the shop quickly and found the place in a mess.

Dwarves running around the place.

One of them saw us or rather saw Shizue and stopped.

“Miss Izawa, how rare of you to pay us a visit.”

“Garm. It’s nice to see you in good health. You people look lively. Is there a big order?”

“Hahahaha yeah. We brothers got a big order and we partied but all of us got drunk and now we are late.” He scratched his head goofily when he said that.

Shizue giggled at the good natured dwarves.

“Please come in. And, who is this young man?”

“He is my new apprentice, Salvatore.”

“Oho, the Conqueror of Flames has taken a new apprentice. That’s big news. Especially after the last two became such bigshots.”

“It was their own hard work and talent. I merely taught them some skills.” Shizue answered politely.

“You are as humble as always, Miss Izawa. So, what can we do for you today?” A brown bearded dwarf came forward and asked as he greeted Shizue.

“I wish to commission a sword for my apprentice. Something which might be more suited to his current strength.”

“Hmm, what level are we talking about?”

“Sal is an Enlightened.” She answered quite casually.

The dwarves looked a bit shocked at the reveal and took another look at me.

“How’d ya make one so young? The brat doesn’t look a day over eighteen. How old are ya brat?” The dwarf went back to his accent due to the shock.

“Umm, I am sixteen, Sir.” I answered, amused.

“By my grandfather’s beard, what’d they feed you to get you to that level? Ah, don’t bother, none of my business. So, what kind of swords do you want?”

“Something that can resist the elemental attacks and bear magicules. I want the durability of the sword as the main priority.”

“Hmm, I think I know just the kind you want. Now, choose the shape of the sword.”

Shizue used an european style sword rather than a Japanese style one due to being taught by the Black Knight Claude, one of Leon Cromwell’s subordinates. Even Chorona used a similar sword. I was taught the same style and thus used the same.

I asked for the specifications to be made similar to Shizue’s sword, only with more weight and slightly bigger size for my physique.

“It will take a while, Miss Shizue. I just got consigned with making ingots for the Kingdom. A mighty big project. Tons of raw materials to be processed. I would like to start the work as soon as possible but it is a contract and I am bound. Moreover, the materials for the sword you want for the brat would take a long time to be refined as well.”

We unfortunately didn’t have that much time.

So I thought of something.

“Mr. Kajin, if I am not being rude, can I offer a suggestion?”

“Hmhh.”

“I can help you separate the materials from the ores. It would greatly speed up your work, right?”

He raised an eyebrow, looking quite amused. “Fancy yourself a blacksmith, do ya?”

“No no. How can I even think of such a thing? That would be insulting to the profession.” He looked pacified and nodded.

“Then?”

“I happen to possess a Skill which allows me to separate things. I am pretty sure I can separate the metal in the ores from the rock.”

Now that changed the man’s thoughts entirely. “A Skill, ya say? Show me.” He pointed me to the ores. The ores were stacked up in a big pile.

“Can I see what kind of metal is extracted from this ore?” I asked to know the feel of the metal before trying anything first.

The metal was a crimson coloured slab and was slightly hot to touch. According to Kajin, this is the quality of the metal and it can withstand extremely high temperatures which makes melting it nigh impossible and separating it even more.

I was thankful about having the Degenerate Skill at this moment,

The Skill worked as I designated the Metal to be separated from the rest of the ore. The Skill took a decent amount of power but I had more than enough for myself. The Degenerate Skill took care of the rest.

The ore and metal were completely separated. I did have to pay attention to not mix the things. I envy Rimuru so much right now for having Raphael.

Kajin took the metal dust and checked it closely. Then he ran several tests on it.

“One hundred percent. This metal is one hundred percent pure.”

The rest of the dwarves paused and then rushed towards him and began using their own methods to test it.

A full hour later, I was on the floor with Kajin shaking my shoulders. “How much do you want to refine metals for us?

“Mr. Kajin, calm yourself. I am not a blacksmith.”

“You can become one. I will teach you.”

“Mr. Kajin, it’s not that I don’t respect Blacksmiths but this is not the job for me. I want something with my life and for that I need to travel and become stronger. I cannot achieve that as a Blacksmith. I apologise to you but I cannot accept your offer.” The man deflated so I added something. “I can however work temporarily for you and get all these metals separated or even mixed. You can pay me by making a sword for me. Just consider it a deal of sorts.”

“Deal.” he grabbed my hands and shook it.

“By the way, why are you so excited about this? I am sure the metal ingots you refiled are almost the same purity.”

“They are not. The best metal I have refiled is of 98.5% purity. The metal that even the Royal Palace has refined till now, has never surpassed 99% purity. This….is a 100% pure metal. This type of thing has only been theorised before but never been seen. The last metal piece which was purified at 99.1% was made into a Legend Rank sword which is still wielded by the Royal Family. You see, the impurities make fault lines when magic flows in the metal because of the different magic carrying capacity of the different metals. And for this very reason, for every percent beyond 90, the price increases several times. Now, do you understand the importance of the purity of a metal?”

“Kinda. So, can you make me the sword we came here for?”

“Obviously we will make you one. As long as you help us out with this metal, I will even throw in my best material to get you the finest sword we have ever crafted.”

“Then we have a deal.”

We shook hands in confirmation.

What came afterwards was relentless work on my part. I worked for a whole day to get every metal, starting from the ores to the scrap metal separated.

Kajin also kept his side of the bargain and brought me to see the material.

“My grandfather and his brothers have gone out travelling the world several times and this is one of the things he had discovered. It was actually excavated with the help of a Spirit. One of those snort nosed Elf bastards was with them and lent them a hand while they cleared the physical obstacles. It is there that they discovered this beauty. It is a Titan’s bone. They were the predecessors of the Giants and were known in myths to rival even True Dragons’ powers.”

He opened a box and inside it was a while piece of bone. It looked normal.

Kajin seemed to have guessed my thought and said, “Touch it.”

I did and understood what he meant by the word beauty.

“It….”

“Still has insane amounts of energy. To be honest, we have tried to make a weapon out of this several times but the holy power inside the bones would flow in the metal and any fault would be exploited as the metal would be torn apart instantly. Now though, we can use the metal you purified to make a weapon out of this. You said something about being able to mix them too.”

“Hmm.”

“Then get to work. Show me how you do it first. We only get one chance at this one masterpiece.”

“Are you sure you want to give this to me? Isn’t this too….”

“Expensive? It is. Prolly would buy me half a small country but would have been impossible to make without your help. Moreover, you have no idea how much you have given me with those purified metal. I got a giant fortune for myself already. This is just me repaying a debt now. Now get to work. I won’t let ya waste this beauty of mine.”

He made me practise it on several metals till I got a hang of it and finally after a week of hard work and effort on all our parts, the masterpiece was created.

My sword was a simple looking one which didn’t radiate any power or anything. It’s just that when I used my magicules in it, the real magic was revealed. While flames of Holy Magic appeared blazing on the blade of the Sword.

“What will you name it?” Kajin asked me.

I thought of a sword with a similar background from my previous world and the name came out of my mouth automatically. “Lævateinn. In the world where I was summoned from, it is the name of the blade of the Fire Giant who could destroy the world. Flames which could burn the world.”

“Hmm umm. Good name. Then Lævateinn it is.”

And thus I got my first personal weapon.

I got two other swords as well as a cover.

According to Kajin, the crafting of the Sword itself had given him an Extra Skill. It went to show how strong the sword was.

We took our leave soon after.

The Dwarven Capital was a good place but we had a journey to complete.

Shizue and I travelled for a while together and she taught and helped me wield my new sword.

And just like that, it was time for us to separate.

“Can’t I accompany you, Sensei?” I asked once more.

She got on her toes and patted my head. I grew a lot in the last few months due to my body becoming its peak from my evolution.

She shook her head. “This is something I need to take care of myself. But… I do have something to ask of you, will you do me a favour?”

“Anything.” I said.

She placed her hand on my cheek and smiled. “Can you meet my students in the Freedom Academy and find a way to help them? I was researching for a way to help them all and all I could find was having them make a contract with a spirit. This is a map for the Dwelling of Spirits where the Elemental Queen, Ramiris lives. If you can convince her and have them form contracts, I would be at peace. Can you do this for me, Sal?”

“I promise.”

“And I need a promise from you too.”

“Hmm.”

“Live and take care of yourself, my foolish student.”

“Umm.” I felt a lump in my throat.

And that was the last time I saw my teacher.

- Kajin -

Kajin used his new Extra Skill: Craftsman.

The job of beating the metal into shape had become an instinct to him and the metal itself bent to his will.

His Skill had increased his overall productivity and Skill level to a whole new level.

“Why did you lie to the brat, Kajin?”

He looked at Garm who drank from his mug. “The brat wouldn’t have taken the sword if he knew.”

“Still….he now thinks that the sword was only a Legend Ranked one. That one gave me chills when I picked it up. Dare I say even the King’s sword wouldn’t be near that level.”

“It wasn’t. The sword was almost a God Ranked one. I used Magic Steel to bind the whole bone to the sword. I don’t think the sword would have been made without the boy’s power to mix the metal with the bone to form the core of the sword. I couldn’t have done it by myself. The brat worked alongside us, offering his blood and sweat in this workshop. He’s a brother to us and would I, Kajin, ever cheat a brother or harm him? The brat’s talent would give the sword its name. It’s not the sword that makes the wielder’s name but the wielder which makes the sword’s name. I talked to Shizue and she told me that the brat was summoned by one of those human nations….a slave. You and I know how that fate is.”

“Him?”

“Hmm. People like those begin to hate the world but he didn’t show the slightest resentment towards us and was polite. He fought through his fate of perishing and became an Enlightened in just two years. This is a gift from me to show him that our world is not all bad. I have no doubt that one day, he will surpass even the senior students under Shizue. Hero Hinata and Guildmaster Yuuki and become a Saint or even a Hero of the legends. And when he does so, I want a sword made by me by his side. The Lævateinn.”

“That’s a good dream.”

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Beta Reader: LuluViBritania(FF.N, SB, WN and QQ)/-LuluViB|99th Britannian Emperor(Discord)

Author’s Note: So, many people asked me if I had a Patreon. I made an account. I don’t post anything there. You will get all the chapters here directly. It’s just for those who wish to support me.

https://www.patreon.com/crossedge

Thank you for your support.

I wanted to write a Tensura story combined with DxD and this is the one I came up with.

I mean waking up as Rimuru was already done several times so I wanted to try something new.

Also, let Kiba get an OP Big Bro too.

The poor guy with all the shounen hero characteristics became a sidekick bitch for an idiot.

Feels bad for the guy.

The Tensura world is pretty bonkers and my first try at writing anything about this world.

I will try to keep the lore intact as much as possible and merge it with DxD later on.

It will basically be Sal becoming OP in this world and then returning back.

This chapter had a lot of time skips because I wanted Sal to become at least relevant in terms of strength.

The plot will start very soon and the story will become more detailed.

Anyways, look forward to the story.

I will return to the ‘Deal with the Devil’ after this.

Enjoy the new chapter.

Good Day, Peace Out.