(General POV)
Lyze woke and sat up straight in his bed. The sun was shining through his window onto his face and grew annoyed as nobody closed his curtains. As per his habit, his eyes were closed and he was using Chaos to see.
Reaching up a hand to his face, he felt skin around his eyes instead of the blindfold. He had become too used to it that he'd instantly realized its absence.
'One of those two must have taken it off of me last night.' He thought as he flopped on his back. 'I wonder what they probably think of me now.'
His mind ran through the events of last night and the dream he'd just had. For the first time in his life, he was starting to feel conflicted about his motives. All his life he'd only wanted to become powerful enough, so he could open a doorway back home to Earth and return to his mother's side.
Before it all seemed so simple. He didn't owe this world anything, nor did he even belong here. This world was a place he would visit on a phone's screen just for entertainment for God's sake!
In fact, the people weren't even gods apparently! Being around a Transcendental had taught him a few things in life as the man revealed knowledge to him that mortals were not supposed to know.
---
(Flashback)
"Hold up. I thought you said you were a god?"
Nekros had shaken his head.
"I just simply went along with your understanding as you were having a bit of a mental crisis at the time."
"Well thank you for being so considerate." Lyze had said very sarcastically. "So, what is a God then?"
"Nothing that any of us can comprehend." Nekros said. "Listen Lyze, the more powerful a person becomes, the more they come to realize exactly how the power ladder works. These beings that walk around amongst weaker creatures think of themselves as gods because they are simply more powerful. The truth is they are just creations that were given more power than other beings."
Nekros sat back in his chair and sighed.
"We are not gods Lyze, and that is the fact of the matter. 'God' is eternal, infinite. He is not created, nor can he be destroyed. He is above everything that any of us can conceive."
"So God does exist?"
"Of course. And all of us work in the palm of his hand. Everything happens only because he allows it. Not one of us is spared from the 'Plan'." Nekros put a hand to his chest. "Not even me. All who have stood before me have fallen and despite the level of power I have attained...even I am nothing before Him. And it's only those who realize that reality that become powerful. Its just the way things are."
"But did you not once say that you were Omnipotent?"
"To your understanding because that's what you can comprehend. But Omnipotence cannot be comprehended. But True Comprehension of True Omnipotence belongs to the Supreme One alone. If even I defied his will...I would become powerless. My point is, don't make the mistake so many others have made. Do not think yourself a god...because there is only One. Let the mortals think what they want but you yourself must not forget your place."
"I can't imagine many would be happy to hear that."
"Then they have chosen doom. Do NOT fall in the trap yourself. That's all I'm telling you."
---
They'd shared many similar and ominous conversations in the time that they had been together. Lyze truly did resent Nekros but there was one thing he knew for a fact about him...Nekros never lied. He hid things but he wouldn't lie. And he gained nothing from such a lie. So it had to be truth.
On top of his own existential crisis, Lyze had to cope with the sharp reality of things that no matter how powerful he became, he could never truly be the master of his own destiny. Because he was a part of Creation, just like Nekros and everyone else.
And now his morals were being questioned by none other than himself.
Could he leave this world to ruin if he knew that that was how things were meant to go? But this reality had it's own protagonist, so they were secured correct?
But then Lyze himself was an unknown element, something that did not belong here. Did his presence change things? He definitely had no idea how things would end in this world since the story had still not been finished in his world when he'd died.
Lyze liked to believe that he was perfectly content leaving this world to its own devices even if it was geared towards destruction. But as the words of the Transcendental sank in, he began to realize something.
His heart did not agree.
Lyze smothered his place with a pillow and screamed into it.
"Why does everything have to be so confusing!? Why did I have to even be in this situation in the first place? Could I not have just died peacefully and gone to the afterlife?"
Heroes were not everything they turned out to be. Heroes were only heroes if people believed them to be. That could easily flip around at any moment. Heroes were a defence against powerful and maniacal beings. But once the enemy was vanquished, who was left?
Humanity always feared anything that was stronger than it and could pose a threat.
Take the cliché of a hero and a demon king. Lyze had read instances where once the demon king would be defeated, the people would begin to fear the hero and why? Because now the hero was the only one left who could potentially turn against them and they could not defend against him because he had obtained a similar level of power.
And yes, those pieces were fictional but he was in a fictional world right now! It could easily become a reality.
And then there was just the concept of heroes. Dragons are the usual villains in fantasy stories that terrorise people and then somebody comes along and kills it and then that person becomes a hero to the people.
What half those stories don't emphasise is that it was the people's fault in the first place. Everyone knows how dragons love hoarding gold. But then a bunch of morons decide to take the risks, sneak into the dragon's den and then nick some.
So what is the thing going to do? Just let them continue stealing? Or is it going to return the favour, go to those morons' own dwelling places and take something that belongs to them?
You don't grab the dragon's tail and not expect consequences. Literally!
So what was this world's view of a hero? Someone that defended against the monsters of the dungeon? If he remembered correctly, it was the 'gods' fault that the dungeon stirred in the first place. They were just using the mortals to clean up their messes as entertainment.
So why should he be a hero for a cause that was their own doing? In a world that was not his own?
Lyze caught sight of Libur leaning in a corner. Calling out to it, it flew to his hands. He sat back and observed it for a while, for the first time thinking about the true value and meaning of this sword.
"He who is chosen by Excalibur, is destined to become a hero huh?" He said aloud.
---
Lyze walked into the breakfast hall. It was a little bit later in the day and it seemed that not many people were left at the dinner table. All the lower level adventurer had gone by now for their dungeon runs and those who were left were just the executives and other higher levelled adventurers.
They didn't go to the dungeon as frequently because at this point in time, they made little money to maintain their equipment or progress in their stats because they were only able to do so in the Deep Floors.
And to reach those levels in the dungeon, one had to be down their for several weeks in order to find worthy challenges and expensive items before they could come up again. Hence the regular expeditions.
So just as Lyze expected, Gareth was in the mess hall finishing the last of his breakfast along with the other two executives. Lyze briskly approached them and they looked up to greet him.
"There you are lad." Gareth said. "Had a good bit of sleep did we?"
"Yes. I'm fine." Lyze said, sporting his usual blindfold. "Good morning Captain, Riveria." He said as he greeted those two who returned his greetings.
"Good morning Lyze." Riveria said. "Are you feeling better this morning?"
"...I'm fully healed up and ready to go back into the dungeon."
Riveria stared at him as he remained standing. Silence prevailed between the two before she understood and nodded.
"I'm glad to hear it."
"Thank you. I actually came to speak with you about something."
"You have?" Asked Finn. "About what exactly."
"I'd like a secondary weapon from the storehouse please."
The three older people exchanged confused looks between them.
"What's wrong with your sword lad?" asked Gareth. "I'm not sure many of the things we have in there could match the quality of that blade."
"And that's precisely why. I feel that things have been too easy for me because I have such a sharp weapon. I think my combat skills would improve faster if I knew I had a weapon that is not unbreakable."
Gareth looked at the other two for confirmation. Finn nodded at him and the dwarf sighed.
"Okay, Lyze. Come with me." The dwarf picked himself up and directed Lyze to follow him.
Riveria watched the two as they walked off, focusing on the boy. She shook her head sadly. Finn saw this and consoled her.
"He hasn't been here long Riveria. He'll open up in time. We just need to wait."
She nodded in reply.
Lyze and Gareth reached the door of the storehouse and the dwarf pulled out a set of keys. Inserting a rather big key into the lock, he swung the heavy door open and a stuffy smell escaped from the room.
"Here you go. Have a look around and see what you'd like."
Lyze thanked him and entered the room. Looking around he noticed several crates of armour and weapons laying about with some hanging on the wall. There were also barrels covered with cloths and stuff and he noticed a few shelves holding wine bottles in them.
Scanning the crates, he looked for one that carried the newest looking weapons and made a beeline for the one furthest from him. In it were mostly a bunch of swords with a few daggers and axes. He sifted through the swords, inspecting them one by one.
As he suspected, they appeared won and used with some having chips in their blades and rust at the place where they met the cross guards. He didn't imagine there was complete guard against moisture here. He carried on looking through until he found something right at the bottom.
A longsword that was a tad bit longer than Libur and seemed a bit awkward on a small boy like him. But his boosted strength cancelled out any kinks that could appear in hid fighting style with this blade as it felt light to him, little more heavy than a toothpick.
It also looked to be in perfect condition as well as the blade didn't seem to be weathered. It looked a bit dull but Lyze could just give it a small polish and put it to a whetting stone in order to get it back into fighting shape.
Settling on this weapon, he placed all the others back and exited the storehouse. Gareth eyed the sword as he exited and whistled in approval.
"Aye, that's a good one. Haven't seen that in a long while now."
"Have you seen this before Gareth?" asked Lyze.
"It used to belong to Noir. he'd use it to train us back in the day when he wasn't using a spear. Good times, good times." Gareth said wistfully.
"Huh. That's a little surprising." Lyze said as he held it. "There was something else I wanted to ask you Gareth. I kind of want to apprentice under a blacksmith sometime soon."
Gareth gave him a puzzled look.
"Why would you want to do that?"
"I have something I want to do in the future, a certain objective to accomplish that I can only reach under the guidance of a skilled blacksmith."
"And that would be?"
"I want to make a weapon, one that nobody in Orario has ever seen."
Gareth looked at him confused before rubbing his head and sighing.
"Well in all honesty it isn't that abnormal for someone to do that even though we are an exploration type Familia. Still though, anybody I know that's good would minimally require you to have the basic knowledge of blacksmithing before they even consider taking you on."
"I do have some experience."
"You do?"
"Yes. I received some direction before I came here. I even have my works with me to prove it."
Gareth shrugged his shoulders as he closed the door to the storehouse.
"Well that's fine I suppose. What kind of weapon are you aiming to make anyway?"
Lyze thought for a moment.
"Think of it like a magic sword...but a little different."
"Different as in how?"
"It doesn't use magic as people normally know it. It also has a number of other uses as well."
"Well anything to do with magic weapons, you'd have to go and apprentice under someone pretty skilled, even in the Hephaestus Familia. Luckily I do know someone, but no guarantees that she will take you on. She is very busy after all. I'll write to her and see what she says."
"Could you please tell her that I have some pieces I've created which I would like to show her to prove my experience?"
Lyze did indeed receive guidance in smithing while in Valaron. He'd been taught a bit of everything so that he could choose something that would occupy his time when he wasn't in the dungeon. He couldn't be expected to fight in there all the time. Adventurers still had lives outside of it.
"Sure. I'll do that. Run along now kid if you want to go to the dungeon. You're already late for breakfast."
"Thank you Gareth." Lyze said as he took his leave.
A half hour later found him in the first floor of the dungeon, watching as the walls let out a few goblins. Lyze breathed in deeply as he loosened his body and gripped the new sword tightly, already gleaming brand new. It was not as radiant as Libur but that particular sword was the last thing Lyze wanted to think about now.
Lyze narrowed his eyes as the sword was writhed in the flames of his elemental magic. He needed to let off a bit of steam with all that had been on his mind lately, and a few unfortunate monsters would find themselves as the venting point of his frustrations.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Comment and review!
Read 7+ chapters ahead on my Patreon:
Patreon/ Vulkizaro_Zoromi
For commissions:
Ko-Fi/ vulkizarozoromi