C3: Trifecta Falna
Word count = 1765 on 12/19/2023
The wounds on Axel's body heal before the eyes of the guard and guild member Illya (illya), Illya speaks up to try steer the conversation to a better module while the guard cleans up the blood again.
"Alright, please follow me and I shall be your designated advisor for the dungeon. But first I'll try to help you get yourself a Falna." Axel nods and goes behind the counter to follow the young-looking white hair girl to an office room in the back of the guild building. It's a slightly more isolated room but once there Illya gets a sizable binder and flips through a few pages before setting the binder on the coffee table that Axel was told to sit next to.
"Alright, here are the most available choices for various true gods. Most of these are on the lower end of the rug if I have to be honest. Unless of course you wish to go for a Trifecta Falna." She tries to explain the book while Axel looks at a few names on the list which amongst them is Hestia, Miach, Baldr, Takemikazuchi, Dia, and many others from various mythos. The book also contains the names of various larger factions like Loki, Freya, Goibniu, Hephaestus, Dian Cecht or Ganesha. There are more gods but they are either completely outside the city of Orario or not accepting.
"What is a Trifecta Falna?" Axel asks in confusion as the strange name has the word 'Falna' in it.
"You see, gods aren't the only ones who can grant a Falna. Long ago there were various races who were able to use a special method to synergize with the world and that elongated their lifespan. Then when Ouranos and the first gods descended, the energy gained a divine property, so when these folk absorbed this energy, they became demi-gods or quasi gods. Others just call them immortals for simplicity's sake. But if you gather up 3 of them, you can get a Falna. As compared to regular gods, there are hundreds of these immortals who struggle to survive in this world as they are truly living beings like this, and unlike gods, don't return to heaven[1]. They truly die. I can try to introduce a few of them to you or would you rather see a list of them?" Illya answers his question and responds with her own.
"I'll trust you on this Ms. Illya." Axel responds with a seemingly firm decision which Illya found a bit cute, at least cute enough to head pat him before leaving the room with him following along. She explains the situation to her supervisor, Eina Tulle who asks her to finish quickly as the next rush will be starting soon enough. Illya nods in affirmation and the duo leave the guild building before heading a bit north eastward. Just south of the red light district but north of the Ganesha Familia's headquarters. This region which is dubbed the immortal isle is the nesting grounds for those who fall under the label of demi-god, quasi god, or immortal. Such segregation has ensured that a parse few have joined the land in the form of familia but in turn, all immortals themselves have grown relatively close that if they target one of them, then they target all of them. It doesnt help that the guild and specifically Ouranos are more sticklers to conventional gods since it's easier but the might of immortals is not to be questioned.
Illya explains to Axel that Immortals retain 1/3rd of their original strength under the rules of no arcanum usage. Due to their original mortal nature, immortals don't have a regular arcanum unless they are a spell caster, even then they all seem to have some sort of super move that they willingly seal away which saps them of more than half their strength, so at the very least, most immortals have level 3 adventurer strength.
Axel is shocked the more he learns about them and is confused about why few adventurers join them. It seems to all come down to the Trifecta Falna itself. Its very concept is to have 3 immortals be designated as the god or goddess of an adventurer. So if even one of them dies, the falna is broken. In dangerous times such as a few years ago with the Evilus event where multiple low ranking gods died and returned to heaven. If such an event happened with the immortals then the adventurers would be powerless. Since that is protecting 3 'headstrong' individuals as compared to protecting a single god or goddess. On the other hand, it's related to benefits. Most if not all gods have some sort of divine domain that is related to their specialization. The most obvious would be hephaestus who is the goddess of smiths. Her entire family, with the exception of specialized adventurers subsection, is all focused on smithing. She can provide active help to nurture more blacksmiths while immortals can only help in physical training as most 'quasi gods' are martial arts practitioners. Since there are a few gods who do this as well then with intersecting interests, there are bound to be conflicts of interest.
Axel is spellbound by such concepts as Arcanum is explained to him amongst other things which are seemingly common sense to others. Illya quickly realizes that Axel might have amnesia as he is quite soft spoken for one his age, the occasional mystical cut that appears on his body doesnt help her mindset but she relents in helping him.
They quickly arrive at an antique 'Far Eastern'[2] looking store but when it's opened up, it's actually a dojo. A group of roughly 8 people wield wooden swords. They are simply striking up and down but both Illya and Axel can tell that they aren't doing these moves with concentration. In fact their gaze seems to heavily linger around their teacher.
A plentiful busty woman in a simple Black Gi that does little to hide her abundant 'personalities' that is the core focus of most disciples. In truth, all the students here only show an interest in "hitting "that" ' which is a constant source of annoyance for the swordswoman teacher until Illya comes into view and she has all her students take some rest while she brings the duo to her office.
"Ah Illya, how wonderful to see you. Thank you for giving me some rest, this past week has been so busy that i haven't had any time to rest in between my classes. The gawking doesnt help either."
"Goodness Minamoto-san, just kick these perverts out if they are so annoying." Illya rubs her forehead in annoyance.
"Hehe, I cant since i'm not allowed to go dungeoneering to make money. A lady needs to eat" The swordswoman who has been revealed to be called Minamoto explains her benign reason for such a bad group of students in her school.
"Well then, I have partially good news for you. There is a candidate for a Trifecta Falna. His name is Axel, now you…"Illya begins to explain the situation when Minamoto no Raikou[3] quickly grabs Axel and smothers him within her Melons. Axel struggles at first due to surprise but quickly relents due to the fact of knowing that he is quite clearly no match for the pseudo level 3 immortal hugging him deeply.
"Heeheehee" Raikou begins to giggle like a little schoolgirl at getting her first familia member. Illya drags Axel out of the bounds of nirvana as she tries to explain. "You still need to find the other 2 members of the trifecta. Do you have any other candidates to share this burden with?"
"I'm friends with pretty much everyone here so whoever is closest." Raikou simply proposes and with a firm understanding, the trio are about to head out when Axel gets his next bloody event. Raikou is quite startled by this as 5 cuts appear on his body and seep into his clothes before healing. Illya has a worried expression as she quickly explains her theory that Axel might be under the effect of a curse skill[4] and that the user was not very strong as Axel keep saying just getting a Falna. Raikou quickly understands and upon leaving the dojo, they stumble upon one of their fellow Immortals walking home from work.
"I call upon thee to join us in a majestic event" Raikou proposes to the random immortal which at first startles them but upon seeing Raikou and a guild member nearby, they quickly get their energy back as they respond with.
"Wah Wah Wah, what is the event? Are we fighting someone? Ill have to get my sword first if we are.I'll be as fast as a bunny to get it" The cute looking pink haired maid answers in response and is about to rush off..
Raikou shakes her head and grabs the maid before they do, "we are initiating a trifecta falna.", The maid stops trying to leave and gets their eyes glowing as they spin around on the spot, Because of the sudden spin, the maid outfit was almost ripped, the maid panics at the wrinkles, complaining that they will have to fix it up again or they won't be cute ever again.
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[1]: I get the two confused, is Genkai the earth or Tenkai the heavens? I tried looking it up but nobody has any terminology for it at all since it's not actually important to the story . Even the Orario wiki page, it shows the gods who died are 'in Heaven' which does not answer my question.
[2] Far east is the danmachi equivalent of Asia and probably more likely Japan b/c I haven't seen much of anything that is related to China here.
[3] Yes I know that Raikou technically has the blood of gods as part of her fate backstory but since gods cant technically be preggoed in danmachi, that means I have to change her backstory a bit to fit the danmachi balance.
[4] For those that don't know, curse skills are special skills that have strong effects but come at the cost of weakening or injuring the user as well. I think this first shows up in season 3 of danmachi
If yall have an alternative name for immortals, quasi gods or demigods to use for this group that isn't 'Servants' then i might use it. Ill curse you with brain rot if you comment servants.