"Come out young man. We don't have all day." Said Saphos
"!"
'Knowing that his cover had been blown, Silver entered the kitchen.'
'He noticed the cat-ears on his grandma's head and couldn't help but to be confused for a while before looking back at the ground like a child would.'
(N1)
"It's bad to spy on others, Silver." Said Grandma in a sweet tone
"..."
Now she speaks sweetly huh… The only time she ever spoke with me like that was when we first met... when I proposed to her, the day we married… And when Marcus was born?
'Saphos was in deep thought.'
"Yes…" Said Silver while looking towards the ground
Act naturally…
'Ullia saw that and for a moment she couldn't hold herself.'
"Arg! I can't do this!" She rushed to Silver and picked him up.
'She hugged him strongly...'
"You are suffocating him, Lia!" Said Grandfather
'After a few more seconds of hugging, she let him go and said:'
"You are a curious boy aren't you? Just like when Marcus was little… But it's time for you to sleep, okay?" She said as she touched Silver's little nose
"Okay…" Said Silver as he turned around and went up the stairs
'This time he truly went all the way to his room.'
'What was he supposed to do? Stay and receive a beating from two high-level adventurers?'
"He is so similar to you that it's scary." Said Saphos with a surprised expression.
'She on the other hand had a downcast expression with her two cat ears down.'
"That's what I am afraid of. That he will eventually commit the same mistakes as me." She replied.
"What do we do now? They know where we are." Asked Saphos
It's been over 20 years already…
"We can't leave and leave our family behind, else they bring them harm." She said
"I can call some friends back in the city, this should give us some time. We can also talk with those other two." Said Saphos
"Not those people…" Said Ullia in a tired tone
"Come on, we had this conversation dozens of times already. Otherwise, we wouldn't have allowed Marcus to marry Ruby. They are also aware of our situation, you know them better than even me."
"Unfortunately... Fine." Said Ullia
"But there is something we need to do first." He said
"We need to find a way to deal with them. Else by the time we are older and weaker, they are certainly going to come after us again."
"... What do you propose?"
"We can't protect them forever… As long as they exist they will be a threat to our family, Marcus and Rubia are well past the age to start learning these things… So let's train little Silver…"
"NO! He is just a child, Saphos!"
"Yes he is, but that won't be the case forever. I am not saying we should train him with the expectation of him becoming an adventurer, but give him the bare minimum to protect himself and his parents. The other two are certainly going to agree with me on this."
Although… Knowing his personality, he will definitely desire to turn into one…
"... You say you don't want to train him into an adventurer, but you know better than me that's inevitable." She said, as if she had read his mind
'Saphos smiled awkwardly.'
"He has the talent, the determination, and the resources to become strong Lia! Don't tell me you didn't realize from watching him over the years?"
"..."
"The "Demon Cat" of the past would've accepted." He said with a sly smile
"I abandoned that name decades ago… "Fading sword"." She said as she looked towards a long sword hanging above the fireplace
"I feel old now…" He said as he remembered his younger times
/HAHAHA/ X2
…
'A day later, somewhere far away, close to a big city, there was a Village'
'But this wasn't a wealthy village, many of the houses were broken or almost falling into pieces, yet, people lived here.'
'Somewhere in the outskirts of this place, there is an abandoned Inn.'
'Below it was a massive underground complex, spanning several thousand square meters.'
'In one of the rooms, an office to be precise. A man clad in darkness waited.'
/Swish/
'The wind cut through the window as the door was opened.'
"Report." Said the hidden man
/Step.../
'A man wearing a dark robe suddenly came from the shadows.'
"We found them. Just North of Orario, in a medium-sized village." He said
"Are they in the territory of the Cronus Familia?"
"Yes sir. But we lost contact with our agents, they seemed to have been killed in action. Their bodies were not found."
"So they didn't lose their touch yet? No matter, I can wait. In 15… No 10 years, they won't even be able to fight an elite Level 3, much less a Level 4. Did you find anything more?"
They should be around 50?...
"Not yet sir. I deployed some agents, but they were all repelled by the patrols of the Cronus Familia.
"It's okay. They aren't going anywhere. Be sure to leave some agents in there, we never know when a chance to recover the item will emerge."
"Sir. I would also like to point out that several of the patrols around the village suddenly changed overnight, I imagine that they…"
'The man extended his hand forward and motioned him to stop. He seemed upset'
"First, it was only those two. Now the others also want to interfere?... Continue monitoring them, if you find the target, see if you can take it, otherwise don't act."
"Don't forget your training, you will soon reach Level 5, leave the monitoring to the "third tiers".
"Yes, sir."
"You may go now."
'He nodded and his body melted into the shadows as he disappeared.'
'The room returned to silence.'
"Sigh… What will a man do to seek one's dreams?..."
'He picked up a pendant with an image of a large group of people.'
'They seemed happy and decently armored, showing this was probably a well-off Familia.'
"If you had only left, then I could've let you both go to live a peaceful life, but you refused my advice and betrayed me regardless. For what? Curiosity?"
You two were never righteous people, to begin with.
"Now I can't let you go, even if I have to use your family."
'He used his hands to remove the pendant from his neck. For a moment, the light reflected from the pendant shined on his face revealing his ears.'
'It was a pair of Elf ears.'
"Let's see who can wait the longest…"
'He placed the pendant inside a small ornate box and opened the door of his office, going to somewhere unknown...'
...
/Back at the village/
'From that day onwards, Silver started to receive lessons in all areas from his grandparents, even the ones from his mother's side, Lington and Misty.'
'There was one thing important to note just after he started training, and that was the news of the battle against the One-eyed black dragon.'
'Meaning 15 years from now, Bell will go to Orario and start his adventure. And that he will be born a year from now.'
"..."
'Silver was now sitting in front of a small notebook. It was filled with a lot of information. It was everything he remembered about this world.'
In my first life, I didn't have the memory boost, so as time went on my second life, I start to forget a lot of things.
By writing them all on diaries, I retained a lot of memories bits, however, Some still escaped.
I wonder how accurate this is?
"..."
'He flipped the page, it was a long timeline.'
If I assume Bell is going to be born this year or the next one...
This makes me 20 years old by the time the plot starts. That is if it even happens like the novel.
This also signifies the start of Orario's dark age and the rise of Evilus. 8 years from now there will be the "Great feud" and one year later should be the massacre of the 27th floor.
This era will only end when Ryuu attacks the Rudra Familia and the rest of Evilus forces, killing everyone in the process as part of her revenge.
(N2)
Thankfully I wasn't there, so I didn't care.
But this reaffirmed my mind that Orario wasn't a place to have fun, it is a bloody place filled with hidden machinations that go over a thousand years. Since Gods have a lot of time to plan, they are immortal after all.
'In order to survive such a place, Silver trained in everything in order to get stronger.'
'Swordsmanship, Spearmanship, geography, language, blacksmithing… He absorbed everything really fast.'
'His grandparents rarely praised him saying his progress had been "satisfactory".
'However, Silver decided to stop holding back. So he let himself loose!'
'But, he failed to consider that they could've been purposely undermining his efforts to make him more humble.'
'Other things happened during those years.'
'Over the years of training, more and more memories started to come back to him.'
'Making him slowly recover some of the experiences from his past life, but as he said before, it didn't really feel like him.'
'It felt like a movie. So his personality returned to a more juvenile one rather than an old man.'
'It could've been the years living and being treated like a child...'
'There was one problem though... Magic.'
'His grandmother from his mother's side is a magician, but even after training and training, Silver couldn't even cast the most basic firebolt. Falling into an immense "mind down".'
(N3)
'Of course, this magic required over a dozen verses to cast, and it was severely weaker than its counterparts that use Falna.'
'Silver recalled his grandma's teachings...'
/Small flashback./
"...There are two types of magic, one based on your species and ability, called congenital magic. And one acquired from the gods and goddesses Falna, called acquired magic." Said Misty
"Most magic as we know it today was developed by Elves in ancient times. However, it has been long abandoned and it's only practiced by those who truly wish to delve into magic research."
"So in essence, magic without Falna is impractical for combat, requiring dozen's of lines to be said before casting, and still being weaker than the ones that use Falna."
"Don't misunderstand, Magic that has Falna in it still takes several lines of chanting to be cast, but the power gained with each line of chanting is progressive bigger and harder to control."
"However, this is still much stabler and stronger than classic Elven magic."
"I understand." Said Silver
With the exception of no chant magic. Like Firebolt from Bell. He just points his hand forward and says "Firebolt". Although, I know that no chant magic is relatively weaker than chant magic.
However, that' isn't always the case, it depends on the type of magic we are talking about here.
This type of thing was never properly explained in the show. Or it was, and I just forgot…
'Silver placed his hands on his chin.'
From what I understood, people have between one and three slots for learning magic with Falna. But they can cast many more as long as they pass through rigorous training and rituals in more traditional magic.
This type of magic is much weaker than those that have Falna in it.
So even after chanting 12 lines to cast a simple firebolt with traditional magic, you could do the same with 3 lines if you had that specific magic as a slot.
(I am open to questions and suggestions from the Lore lords.)
/BONK!/
"Are you paying attention Silver?" Said Misty as she retracted her cane
"Yes..." Said Silver as he massaged his head
/End of flashback/
"... My grandmother said my talent for magic was great, I could easily learn the spells and cast them in a single go. But every time I use it, my body goes haywire, causing me to suffer from Mind down."
So using magic for me is a no-go until I find a way to cure this ailment… Great.
This will have to wait until I go to Orario… Or a miracle.
But my training in combat arts was a completely different story...
I easily mastered all sorts of combat techniques they imparted onto me, the only thing holding me back was my own physical body, being smaller and weaker severely impacts the strength of my moves, to the point I might not even be able to do them.
Finally, we came into "secondary" jobs, each of my grandparents was proficient in something due to their long years of retirement.
I learned Blacksmithing, Potioncraft, Item making, and… Tailoring.
What? My grandfather greatly disagrees with your current opinion!
Of course, I also read many books, gaining vast amounts of knowledge in the process.
I was particularly attracted to blacksmithing in general since I knew that Items were incredibly important to adventures. So much so that every single adventure has one. It's even more important for High-class adventures. (Level 5+)
But my focus was nevertheless, in combat.
And today, 7 years later, is the day of my first combat test!
…
'In front of Silver was a goblin, yes. A normal, weak-ass goblin.'
'He was in the middle of a dirt arena with wooden fences on the sides. Everyone else was watching from the sidelines. There was a large metal crate on the other side of the arena.'
'Okay, for a 12-year-old child, this may be too much.'
'But a surface goblin…'
'There are "two" types of monsters. Surface monsters and Dungeons monsters.'
'All monsters have a core inside of them called Magic stones. When the stone is removed the monster's body turns into smoke, the same happens if the stone in their bodies is damaged and broken. Dropping the Magic stone on the ground and a drop item if you are lucky.'
'As an example, if you kill a monster by slashing its neck, it isn't going to immediately turn into smoke, the stone needs to be removed first. Which may turn to be a daunting task when the monster is poisonous or something of the like.'
'It's possible to eat their meat if they drop it or if you take a bite out of a monster, perhaps some actions might make a part of a monster remain, like removing their fangs and tusks, but I don't know much about that.'
'However, sometimes, causing high amounts of damage to a monster's body may turn him into smoke immediately, even if his stone wasn't damaged.'
'The explanation for this involves Magical power, but that is rather long...'
'Monsters on the surface are weaker than their respective species on the dungeon due to the fact they need to use the Magical power in their stones to multiply, while the ones in the dungeon don't care about reproducing, since the dungeon does that job for them.'
'Of course, they still do it, but it's a fact that monsters on the Dungeon have much more chances to grow stronger.'
'There are many variations of monsters, but that's for later. Now, let's see Silver kill this goblin.'
'Silver's parents watched him from the side. His mom was very tense. Come on, it's just a goblin…'
"Stop shaking Ruby! It's just a goblin!" Said Lington, her father.
"How can I?! My son is going to…" She seemed to be hyperventilating.
'Her mother gave her a small potion, she drank it and passed out.'
"..." X Everyone
"Okay let's leave this for later before the child loses focus." Said Saphos
"Remember to not underestimate your opponent!" he said out loud
"The moment I open this cage, the goblin will attack you, so be ready!"
'The goblin was just like the goblin in fantasy. The only difference was it wasn't hideous.'
'It even looked scared.'
/Clunk!/
'The metal cage was opened, so Silver grabbed his sword extra hard.'
'Goblins are stronger than the average adult. Monsters are usually stronger than adventurers of the same level. But they can easily be surpassed by techniques and training. The only exception being those elite monsters. More on that later.'
/Swush!/
'Before the goblin had the chance to move and process the situation Silver threw a stone directly into his eye.'
/Splurge!/
/KYYYY!/
'It penetrated right into his fragile eye, making the goblin panic and succumb to its instincts.'
'He ran towards Silver, jumping before slashing his claws down.'
'He obviously wasn't going to stay put, so he prepared his sword and slashed right into its arm, the difference in reach and timing was shown easily here.'
/THUD!/
'The goblin fell on the ground bleeding, but he didn't have the chance to attack before Silver sliced his head off.'
"..." X Everyone minus his mother
"Sigh… I knew this would happen, a goblin wasn't enough to test him." Said Misty from far away.
"He fought really well, but we can't just go and say that to him. Any ideas?" Asked Saphos
"Leave it to me." Said Lington
'He went towards Silver and said:'
"Good work, but watch your movements! You could've finished it off in one move, but you used three. The rock, the slash, and the finisher. This wasted precious energy that could've been used in other situations…"
'He started to speak about the importance of preserving energy. But from Silver's view and the others, this was a very good first test.'
'He had several other tests in the following months, from bigger groups of goblins to even Kobolds.'
'Eventually, they led Silver to a small village of goblins where he fought against several goblins at once including one slightly stronger goblins.'
'On his first goblin village, he did everything stealthily, but after getting used to them, he started to take the faster approach.'
'There was no such thing as goblin shamans or the like, this type of monster is rare to find on the surface.'
'But the number of goblins was limited on the surface, so they had to switch to other monster types.'
'Large birds, large boars, large lizards, anything that could be considered a monster was killed by Silver and he took all of their materials.'
'Of course, they kept their distance from more powerful monsters. It's not that they were scared, but that Silver doesn't have any way to fight one. His body is still that of a normal human until he receives Falna.'
'He can only defeat monsters through technique and traps, not by powerful flying slashes or more superhuman feats.'
'Although he was deeply interested in them. But if he truly wants to fight one, then he needs a powerful weapon to compensate for the lack of strength.'
'It needs to be capable of piercing through the monster's skin on its own since Silver is not strong enough to do it himself. Really, he is not.'
'Go pick a sharp kitchen knife and pierce a metal sheet. See if you can do it .'
'Technique and strength can only lead you up to a point, eventually, no matter how strong you are or how precise your technique is, it isn't going to pierce the metal sheet.'
'But he needed to challenge himself in order to grow and get even better skills.'
'So he spent the final years of his training improving his handcraft skills. In order to create something capable of carrying him at least until he finds the right Goddesses/God willing to accept him.'
'So when he turned 16, he thought he was finally ready to take on a stronger monster...'
...
"..."
'Silver looked calm, but he was excited.'
After talking with my family, they decided it was time for me to take on a harder challenge and accompanied me in my hunt…
To hunt an Orc.
Don't let your conception of an Orc fool you, these pig-headed monsters are greater than your standard fantasy Orcs. Their average size is 3 Meters tall, being usually fat. They are hulking masses of flesh with immense physical strength.
It's normally a monster that can match a Level one adventurer with C in his Stats.
(N4)
So taking one down as a 16-year-old teenager without Falna is a little bit of a stretch. But with these new weapons, I should be able to do it. Remember, this is a surface Orc, it's weaker than the ones in the Dungeon.
That's why jumping a level is so incredible in Danmachi, much less 2 or more. It's like an Ant trying to shake a tree.
It's possible but rather situational.
Having an insane skill is necessary. Perhaps if you stack Stats until they reach S rank multiple times, you will have a chance to do such a thing.
But monsters start to catch up as you level up. Normal fighting techniques become less and less meaningful in a fight.
Otherwise the Zeus and Hera family wouldn't have failed against the Black dragon when they had a Level 9 and 8 on their team.
Or it could just be that the Black Dragon was such an insane monster.
…
'The forest was gloomy and silent with some mist around the place.'
"From here on out is the territory of the Orc, we will accompany you from a certain distance, so remember to scream in case something happens." Said Ullia
"Okay. Are there any other monsters in the area?" Asked Silver
"Good of you for asking, but no. The Orc killed everything that is considered a threat." Said Ullia as she seriously gazed at Silver
"I see... So I will be going." Said Silver as he finished checking his backpack
'There was no need to wish him Goodluck since he couldn't be more prepared.'
'Everything there was to be asked and researched had already been done on the way.'
/Step step step.../
'After walking several dozen steps, Silver looked back and realized everyone had disappeared.'
'He took his spear and shield and started to slowly look for the Orc.'
"... Breath in and out, keep yourself calm..."
'Silver looked at his gear.'
I made these, alone. Well, the magic in it was made by a joint effort of me and my grandma. Since I can't really use magic, I need a mage in order to apply magic to some objects.
At least using what I currently know, there is no way for me to enchant something on my own. I should try to see if it's possible to apply magic to an object using outside sources...
This isn't the attributes normal blacksmiths can apply, but something temporary like an enchantment.
Blacksmiths Attributes are something more complex and deep...
For the shield, it's a basic impact dispersion magic, allowing me to tank stronger blows without getting hurt. For the spear, it's a simple sharpness buff.
(In comparison, some of the top equipment in Orario are given the "attribute" Durandal. Making them almost indestructible. I particularly don't remember them breaking on normal circumstances.)
…
'Silver continued to look around, eventually finding what he was looking for.'
'It wasn't difficult to find it. The Orc caused immense destruction everywhere. He just followed the trail.'
'The Orc was sleeping in a clearing, one that was probably made by himself.'
'He could see a large tree trunk that it probably uses as a club.'
"..."
This is it. I should probably arm some traps around the place before engaging in it. Securing an escape route is also necessary.
So the first thing is... Investigate.
'Many plans passed through Silver's mind as he started to move silently around the place.'
'After investigating this place he thought:'
This is strange.
The nest is clearly new, so there aren't that many tracks in it, however, they are signs of heavy hunting due to the small pile of bones on the side.
Considering the age of this nest, this is too much food for a single Orc.
And Orcs are lazy by nature, they will only move to hunt if they are hungry...
So how is there such a large pile?
'Silver went around the place and investigated some more, only to find a few traces of footsteps going out of the nest, however, he was quite distant so he couldn't confirm their size in relation to the other Orc.'
... There is several possibilities, but the most likely one is...
There are 2 Orcs...
If this is the male... Then the female left.
I need to plan my next moves with this possibility in mind.
But why didn't those old guys tell me about this?
'It took him half an hour to plant traps all around the place.'
"... Done..." Whispered Silver
Normally I would lure it into a poison trap, but I was prohibited from using it.
The poisons I made were strong enough to kill even large monsters like the Orc really fast, due to me playing around since I was small with the knowledge I acquired from this life.
Years of reading books and experimenting with small things had some results...
Although from the perspective of my grandma, it's nothing but playing around.
But this ends up making every fight really easy, so I was tasked with defeating it without using poison, only normal mechanical traps.
This removes all sorts of debuffs such as sleep powder, drugs to cause confusion, and etc.
Although, I still brought the poison in case I needed it. It's right there on that tree together with some other stuff.
In case things go south, I can use it to take it down. I can always try it again with another Orc, however, I can only do it if I am alive.
My escape route is right behind that tree as well, I can pass by a narrow passage between some trees that should be enough for me to escape from the Orcs in case I need it.
Time for action!
/FWUSH!/
'He grabbed a rock and threw it at its balls.'
/Crack!/
/Crunch!/
/ROARRRRR!/
'The Orc let out a painful roar, getting up in the process.'
'He looked around the place for his assailant before picking up on the scent of blood. He picked his wooden club and made its way towards the source of the smell.'
'Limping...'
/SNIFF/
'The Orc smelled the place, but it didn't detect Silver.'
'It didn't smell him because of a special lotion he applied on his body that removes the odor.'
'Quite sticky, but he prefers being uncomfortable to being in pain.'
"Quiii!!" Screamed an animal
"Gu?!" Said the Orc as he turned around and followed the smell of blood
'And he found it...'
'It was a hurt boar, right there, on his home's door! What a blessing…'
'It lifted its massive trunk and…'
/SQUISH!/
/CATHENG!/
'The boar was turned into mush but the impact activated a trap, making several ropes bound to his legs and even neck.'
'This wasn't a problem for the Orc, it could easily get out of the ropes. The problem was the next trap, a sharp wooden spear that hit his face!'
/ROARRRR!/
'The beast screamed once more, this time with his eyeball destroyed…'
'But it wasn't enough to kill it, even its eyeball was resistant enough to stop the spear from making all the way to its brain.'
/Swush!/
'Silver took this chance while it was distracted to pierce its chest with his spear, right on the spot where the Magic stone is located!'
/Gug… Gurrrg.../
/Buwong!/
'It made some strange sounds before falling on the ground and exploding into dark smoke. Leaving behind a large piece of green hide and a broken magic cristal.'
"How lucky! A hide…" Said Silver as he smiled
'But...'
/ROARRR!/
/SWUSH!/
'He let his guard down for a moment. It was right at the small frame of time that another Orc jumped from the bushes and swung its massive fists in his direction!'
'Was the Orc too smart or was he too unlucky?!'
.
.
.
Notes
N1
Yes, this does make his father a half-cat man. Although his human features are more distinct. What I want to say is, even though he looks exactly like a human, if he was to have a God inspect his Status, he would be labeled as a Human-Cat-person hybrid. A half-Human
The protagonist is a full human since when a half-species mates with a Human or an Amazoness the only result is either another half or the other.
N2
Ryuu is an Elf assassin whose family was obliterated in an ambush by Evilus.
N3
Magic uses "mind" to cast, and overuse can cause an individual to faint, a condition known as "mind down". Wiki
N4
Remember that grades start in "I". 0"99>I 100"199>H 200"299>G … Becoming progressive harder as you increase your levels.
DISCLAIMER FOR NEW READERS!
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You must've noticed that I dont use the standard writing style of "" for speech '' for thoughts and blank for narration, that's because by the time I started this I didn't know much about the traditional so i ended up keeping my style as to not mess with my pace by having to redo all of these chapters.
Its not really that hard to get used to but I also understand that as a reader, you are not forced to keep up with some author's strange writing style just because he says so.
Sorry my friends.
Also, if you see any sort of grammar mistake, make sure to mark it with some sort of comment so I can fix it soon!