How to Survive in a Chat Group - Part 1

『System Notice』「User 'Versemonger of the Darkest Alleys' has pulled an <SSR> rank item. They acquired the Abolisher of Reason, the demon founder's sword of absolute destruction, <Venuzdonoa>!」

"Oi..." Sigma was too stunned to speak. "Are you serious?"

If he still had lingering doubts on the benefits mentioned by the group chat before, then this was certainly more than enough proof to convince him. There were a lot of things he could say about that one word:

Venuzdonoa.

In the world of "Maou Gakuin," there are Orders which makes up the world's laws, as well as the same number of embodied gods who preside over its authority.

One such example---Abernyu, a goddess who preside over destruction, was killed by the Demon Founder in an effort to tip the scales of the universe in favor of life by overthrowing the order of destruction. From her corpse, the Demon King Castle Delsgade and then subsequently the demonic sword Venuzdonoa were thus created.

In reality, it wasn't so much of a sword but a magical spell. It transforms the Sun of Destruction in the form a weapon, giving its signature appearance of a sword that destroys reason.

Naturally, it was capable of multitude of feats owing to its namesake.

On one hand, it abolished the reason that rewinding time would revert the damage done to zero, therefore negating his enemy from regenerating. On the other hand, it can also do amazing things such as cutting an enemy without actually cutting them or twisting the logic of physics so that they would still be hit even if they dodged.

"The question is... will it work without the demon king's castle?"

Sigma pondered as he leaned on the cistern, his hand on his chin, grounding up all the knowledge he knew from the anime.

As an effect of sealing the Sun of Destruction inside Delsgade, the sword was limited in usage outside the perimeter of the demon king's castle.

However, there was one known way to bypass that restriction. The workaround to this caveat was to summon the castle physically through origin magic, an invocation which borrows power from an older existence. One would have to call on the name of the Demon Founder, Anos Voldigoad, for the sword to unlock its potential. However, none of the chat group members would know about this.

Although he wasn't certain whether the sword would possess its original power without the castle, or if ever, function at all, there has to be a reason why the item was still considered an SSR.

When he imagined what could be the reason were, he couldn't help but shudder, one thing he could derive from it was that the sword were potentially catastrophic on the wrong hands. Hence, even if he had faith in Hu Tao that she wasn't the type of person to be swayed by power, being "responsible" was a different story.

'Although I would be lying if I said I'm not feeling envious...'

Right. That was actually the true motive behind his concern.

Taking a time off to think of something else, he glanced at the group chat once more to watch how the other members reacts.

「Sage-King: Oho.」

「The Mage of Flowers: A sword of absolute destruction...?」

「Sage-King: This chat group never ceases with its tomfooleries. I have many an article in my treasury that claims such feat, but it would be foolish to take those for granted. For starters, the world wouldn't allow a weapon truly capable of such power to exist. As long as the Counter Force and its enforcers are extant, only ones that hail themselves as "ultimate" or the "evils of men" can proclaim such.」

「The Mage of Flowers: But Gilgamesh-kun, might I ask. Is that your honest opinion? Or are you perhaps feeling bitter? 」

「Sage-King: ...」

Sigma winced on his behalf. Even if this version Gilgamesh seemed more magnanimous and welcoming somehow, Merlin shouldn't have stepped on an obvious landmine. The last thing you'd want to bring in a conversation with the King of Heroes were the things he lacks!

「Sage-King: Shut up, mongrel! I didn't ask to state your opinion!」

「Sage-King: The Sword of Rupture is without a doubt the pinnacle of Noble Phantasms, beyond that of wildest dreams one can fathom, and yet even that has its limits! A sword that can wrought absolute destruction? That would be a bad joke, if I've ever seen one!」

「Sage-King: Why not make better use of your common sense and tell me something believable for once!」

「Sage-King: The...」

『System Notice』「User 'Sage-King' has been muted for 00D: 00H, 5M, 10S. Reason: Flaming.」

「The Mage of Flowers: Well, there goes the King of Heroes.」

「File NO.00000000001: Uh, I'm not following. Is that thing powerful or something?」

「The Mage of Flowers: It's not about whether it's powerful or not, you know? It claims to abolish reason, which is one thing if it's actually true, but that fact goes beyond the feat of strength, and rather enforcing effects that extend to bending or rewriting natural laws. Although as Gilgamesh-kun hinted earlier, the world employs stringent countermeasures to curb any threat that may endanger the survival of the planet. Take it as a defense mechanism of sorts.」

「The Mage of Flowers: Even the Sword of Rapture, Gilgamesh-kun's prized possession, can only render its effects before the world reverts its damage done.」

Sigma looked at the explanation and found himself in agreement, for the most part at least.

「True Lancer (Admin): She's right.」

He dropped everything he was going to say before and jumped into the conversation as if he was waiting for this moment all along. While the nickname assigned to him seemed perturbing, he had yet no clue how "true" it would actually turn out.

More than anything, he felt compelled to correct their misunderstanding regarding the situation as a whole. They seemed to have forgotten their recent discovery about the different realities, so it felt to him that it had to be emphasized.

「True Lancer (Admin): But the Abolisher of Reason is different, it scales higher than Ea on a multiversal scale.」

「True Lancer (Admin): It's a demonic sword that does exactly what it sets out to do. It denies all reason and logic, or no, since that, too, is 'reason', the sword could technically abolish that as well, so it's quite difficult concept to grasp in its entirety. Because the sword operates in a different dimension than our level of understanding, there's simply no use in thinking what it can or what cannot do.」

「True Lancer (Admin): Besides, common sense in this case would be relative. This chat group's members come from different "realities", remember?」

New messages stopped appearing following his message, making him pause for a minute.

'I just felt like putting a reminder, but did I actually scare them that bad?'

He thought that it must have been a shocking revelation. After all, not every world was the same, there was bound to be discrepancies and gaps that otherwise they would normally take for granted.

Even though there may be a lot of likeness that are shared between worlds, the fact remains the same. Everyone should understand by now that the worlds they live in are different from one another, and that there are always bigger and better things than them. Understanding this concept was a necessary step if they wanted to have a meaningful collaboration in the future.

Sigma waited for the other members to respond for a while. But no matter how long he waited, the chat room remained the same, unmoving.

'They still must be processing the situation, so I guess it can't be helped. But... if their reaction are this bad already, I wonder how well they'd take the truth if I said they are characters from an anime?'

Staring at the silent chat room, he decided to continue looking through the rewards he received from the beginner package.

He quickly found himself in deep thought as his eyes narrowed down on the last two rewards.

______________________________________________

『C』「Mana Circuit Quality (Rank B-)」

『C』「Mana Circuit Quantity (Rank B+)」

______________________________________________

'This chat group sure is wild... To think the quality of a top-ranking magi in Fate is treated like garbage, they would bawl their eyes out.'

The rarity was only common but these were nothing to scoff at. What were merely throwaways in the gacha pool are unironically treated as an impenetrable wall in a magi's career that not even money can solve.

It's an "item" that many would die for the chance to acquire even more than the ability to use clairvoyance. Because for them, it was an opportunity.

For a magus, the quality and quantity of their mana circuit dictates how far they can reach into the abyss of magic before they're doomed from going any deeper. If the quality is low, the level of spells they can conjure would be limited; and if the amount is low, the number of spells they can use would be restricted.

A lot of prospective practitioners despaired when they realized these limitations. Some even resorted to heinous means to surpass this barrier, going so far as to discard their humanity and using their own blood as test subjects.

They were so nefarious that he would rather not think about it. That's how detestable they were.

'Come to think of it, the experimentation I went through feels a lot similar...'

In that moment, a familiar voice spoke in his head.

「Notice.」

「The rewards <Mana Circuit Quality> and <Mana Circuit Quantity> are found to be the same nature of magical energy inherent to the individual.」

"Eh?"

The voice in his head was very succinct and straightforward that it left none for the imagination. Still, he was very confused to say the least.

"You're joking, right...?"

Although the Great Sage did not respond to his inquiry, it was simply because there was nothing left to answer.

"Hah!" Sigma sneered at himself. "To think that all these years the magic I'm using is the same from an anime..."

Now that he think about it, his magic in question felt empowered when he opened the package. But he was too busy looking through the other rewards that he received for him to realize it sooner.

He had to admit. It was stupid in hindsight, though he could only blame himself for getting carried away. But then, something else occurred to him as he delved deeper into it.

'Wait... If the magic power I acquired through those experimentations are the same with the Mana Circuits from Fate... Then, that means...'

"My world is also from the anime."

His eyes wandered to the ceiling absentmindedly as he began a trip en route to an existential crisis...

'No, I am me. I am my own person, no one else. It doesn't matter whether my world came from an anime, everything I know until now was definitely real.'

A small smile suddenly formed on his lips as quickly as he came into a slump.

It seemed ridiculous for him to harbor those doubts even for a moment. He didn't need anything to validate his existence to begin with, his happiness can be found right here. And that's all that matters, nothing else should.

The Sayjou family welcomed him out of the kindness of their hearts when he found himself wandering the streets of Tokyo, alone, and without anything under his name. For giving him a place to call home and people to call family, everything he has now was owed to their goodwill, and he wanted to repay the gesture back in kind.

If the world they inhabit was actually filled with strife and danger, it should be more of a reason for him to get stronger.

"It doesn't make any sense though... How come it took me this long for me to realize?"

Now that he was aware of being inside the world of an anime, he couldn't help but ask the question.

Ever since he initially became aware of his surrounding, those familiar blank walls were everything he knew. At such a young age, he quickly came to realize that it ran on system of survival of the fittest where the weak had to bow down to the strong.

In order to survive those harsh conditions, he had to rely on instincts. Everyday was filled with danger that he didn't have the luxury to become so idle as to learn about his own world. It was no wonder why he didn't realize it beforehand.

He really found himself lucky that he was able to escape from that organization because of that incident...

"I see... It turns out there was always a hole in my own worldview. In that case, I should be able use reinforcement on my eye and improve my clairvoyance even further... But, why didn't the Great Sage inform me?"

「!」

Sigma felt a minute disturbance from its voice before his thoughts carried onto something else.

"Forget it, I shouldn't rely on it for everything."

Moreover, he had a theory to confirm.

He was always concerned how he would defend himself once the chat group started issuing missions. Unlike the rest of the members, he only knew how to execute several martials arts and the bare minimum understanding he was taught about magic. As embarrassed he was to admit, he was indeed the weakest.

Even if they went easy on him, he would still lose as long as they exert the least amount of effort. Until now, that is...

Well, that statement stands true, but he was no longer the weakest because he had no power, he was the weakest because everyone was just stronger. There was now a difference in semantics this time!

"Well then, let's start with the basics."

He took a roll of toilet paper and laid it down on his lap, pressing his hand gently on top of its surface.

Memories of his childhood was starting to fade and it has been some time since he practiced his magecraft, but the experience he received under that grueling training were still ingrained in his body. It didn't take long for him to map out the general structure of the toilet paper.

However, that was to be expected. Even if he never actually tried reinforcement firsthand, he had a general understanding of how magecraft work in addition to the scenes he borrowed from the anime. He only needed to try in order to make it work.

The process took so quickly that it didn't seem like it was his first attempt. All that's left now is to strengthen it by pouring his magical energy.

"Harden."

As his mind submerged into the magic, the inner map of the toilet paper flowed freely in his head, quickly losing sight of the world around him.

「Confirmed.」「Skill 'Reinforcement' acquisition successful.」

Sigma abruptly came back to his senses and looked closely at the toilet paper as if prompted by the voice, turning it around to confirm whether the magic applied successfully.

Upon closer inspection, he can see a bluish pattern of a circuit board coursing the sheet of toilet paper along its length. When he ran his finger across its surface, it felt more uniform and more rigid than before. From his estimate, it should compare to a thin piece of metal and no one would know any better if he put them side by side.

A look of relief washed over his face. In all honesty, he wasn't entirely confident in himself that it would work. Regardless, the attempt was successful and everything was looking up exactly how he wanted it. His joy was naturally through the roof.

===Page Break=== A/N: I forgot to write the part where he decided to compound his ocular skills. I'll write this part later.

"Alright, the moment of truth... Do your thing, Great Sage."

「Calculating the result of compounding multiple skills.」

「Confirmed.」「The individual can temporarily utilize Rank A++ <Clairvoyance> through the combination of the following skills: <Extremes of a Inch>, <Thought Acceleration>, and <Reinforcement>. At this rank, limited future sight of 30 minutes maximum into the future and remote viewing of up to 500 kilometers away are possible.」

"Ahahaha... haha... Honestly, these constant powerups are starting to make me anxious... Is it supposed to be this easy? Well, thinking about it won't give me an answer to that right now. I suppose this is the part where I do a test run."

The moment he activated the skill, a whole new world expanded before him. In one instance, he was looking at an underground subway as people came back and forth the train. Next was a swathe of rice crops that expanded across the horizon, encompassing everything as far as eye could see. Then a pink-hued establishment in an alleyway. And then the cold environment of the arctic... And then... And then...

As he began to see everything, the deluge of information came in waves, proving itself to be too overwhelming for his feeble senses.

"Ack! Arghhh!"

To put the situation to perspective, everything he witnessed occurred within a zeptosecond. In that short time frame, his mind had to process a constant stream of information that was equivalent to a trillionth of a billionth of a second. Meanwhile, the human brain has only been proven to be capable of processing certain information within milliseconds.

The rest of what would happen afterwards should be quite obvious.

Sigma quickly fell from the toilet seat from the sheer amount of pain, leaving him writhing and twisting on the floor.

Despite having been accustomed to getting himself injured, it wasn't like anything he experienced before; not the grueling training, not those detestable experimentations, and not even the emotional damage he accrued in all those years came close to how much he was suffering right now.

It felt as if thousands of needles were poking around his eyes, and he broke down in cold sweat as he endured the acute prickling sensation.

He tried to scream, but the words seemed to get stuck in his throat, making him gasp for air.

「Warning.」「The damage has exceeded the individual's acceptable pain threshold, commencing to turn off the skill <Clairvoyance>.」

In the same instant he heard the mechanical voice in his head, the pain gradually began to subside, earning him some time to reorganize his thoughts.

Before he knew it, his mind felt as if it became clearer, making him confused about what was happening. Yet it didn't take long for him to realize that he was subconsciously using his skills thanks to same voice that kept ringing in his head to mitigate the damage.

「Skill 'Pain Resistance' acquisition successful.」

「Skill 'Pain Resilience' acquisition successful.」

「Skill 'Pain Tolerance' acquisition...」

「Skill...」

「Confirmed.」「Assimilating several skills successful. Skill 'Enhanced Pain Resistance' acquisition successful.」

"Haah... Haaah... Haah... T-thanks Great Sage..."

He crouched down as he panted heavily, blood dripping through every orifices on his eyes.

Although the pain were mostly gone, the whole experience was taxing on his mind. Fortunately, he was able get the best out of a sensory overload. The worse of what could happen may have sent him to a vegetative state or an instant death. Once again, he had a newfound appreciation of all the handy work that the Great Sage provides to him.

Before long, he leaned his back onto the bathroom wall to support his body after he regained a bit of his strength. He began to think of what to do next as he realized the limits of his body.

"If there's only a way to reinforce my senses..."

Just as the words flew out of his mouth, a thought suddenly occurred to him, sparking an incredible idea.

"Wait a minute."

He muttered while crutching his head in apparent realization.

The solution may actually turn out to be so simple. If he was unable to handle the unadulterated effects of his clairvoyance, he could reinforce his entire body continuously using basic magecraft, particularly his nervous system, to a point where he could weather the constant load of information without blacking out.

Initially, it seemed like it would be a long shot, though he seriously began to believe in it the more he thought about it. If the Great Sage is able to calculate in his place, it should therefore be able to process the activation sequence of a magecraft autonomously.

Perhaps it would have been impossible during the Age of Gods where its civilization lived side-by-side with the truth, and that magecraft was closer to a miracle than a mystical recreation of phenomena, but these factors were no longer relevant in the current age. Since magic evolved to become possible with science, then it follows that weaving spells should be calculable just like answering mathematical formulas.

As if to concur with his hypothesis, a mechanical voice rang in his head.

「Confirmed.」「Skill 'High Speed Thought Incantation' acquisition successful.」

"It's not 'High Speed Incantation' but 'Thought'?"

The result surprised him, but his excitement quickly waned when he thought more about it. After all, he had the Great Sage at his beck and call. Aside from issuing the commands, it was the skill doing all the legwork and heavy lifting behind the scene.

Moreover, the ability to chant at high speed was a basic skill that even half-decent caster servants would have, just as how clairvoyance was the bread and butter of the archer class, or the skill presence concealment for every assassins. For an average magus, it may seem impressive at first glance, but it was nothing to write home about in the grand scheme of things.

"I would still be obliterated if I come get blown by a nuke."

And if that wasn't enough, there are yet far worse he had to be wary of in this world.

Amidst the throngs of servants in the throne of heroes, there exist beings who sits at the pinnacle of their field, marked by the profound mark they left in history. They alone are the ones who could qualify for the seat of a "Grand".

Befitting these exclusive servants summoned by the world itself, the skills they possess are polished to the highest degree, either by natural talent or strenuous effort in dedication to their craft. Unbeknownst to him, it just so happens that two members in the chat group possess the quality to become one, but chose not to assume the position for varying reasons and personal quirks.

But if there's one thing that these two had in common, it is said that their "eyes" were extraordinary, even with regards to the status of a servant. One can see far into the future while the other can see everything in the present, a feat only they can boast about.

Yet these existences are still within the realm acceptability, for servants are closer to the otherworldly than they are human to begin with.

The truest and most single frightening beings are monsters born among humans.

'One of them is...'

Aoko Aozaki, the user of the Fifth Magic, a savant who wasn't born talented unlike her sister but was able to master high speed incantation to the point of being able to cast an array of magic within a fraction of a second.

Using her as a point of reference, Sigma wanted to emulate her technique and incorporate it as his own. By having a plethora of reinforcement spells at his beck and call, he can augment his entire body to withstand the feedback from his clairvoyance, essentially removing all of its deficacies.

The problem was that he didn't know exactly where to start. Or rather, he has no clue how the technique works in detail. He couldn't even begin to describe what it does beyond his surface level of understanding besides that it allows her to cast magic spells faster than anyone else.

Sigma sat there for a while as he kept thinking and thinking, and yet it didn't manage to yield him the answer he was looking for.

"Hmm... Maybe I'm approaching this too deeply. She's described as an average magus compared to her sister who was a true genius, so it should be simple enough that untalented people could understand." He pondered with a frown on his face. "Maybe, just maybe, it's just that? An infinite rotation of spells?"

'Hah, that can't be it. It's too simple, almost barbaric... barbaric... Wait, that's it!'

Aoko was described to be free-spirited, headstrong, but most importantly irresponsible. She doesn't regard the consequences when she uses her magic, so such an absurd, simple, and barbaric approach should be the right way to go about it.

He quickly tried to test the theory and sunk his mind into his subconscious, feeling that he finally found the last piece in the puzzle.

First, he started by imagining a singular circle. Once that's done, he began to make preparations for the next step.

From there, he magnified the image where infinitesimally-thin strands can be seen, rotating at a speed where everything becomes a blur, and going further where there are limitless number of it to fill even his entire mind, consuming most of his mental strength. Alas, he persevered.

Then, he tried to engrave each one of them with the reinforcement spell in an attempt to complete the rotation...

And click!

「Confirmed.」「Composite Skill 'Unlimited Thought Rotation' acquisition successful.」

He paused for a while as he snapped back from reality. He couldn't believe it despite being his own effort.

Then, a wide grin outlined his lips. The excitement he was feeling was even more palpable than before.

He was able to reach the pinnacle of magi within a single breath, a feat that would normally take a lifetime to achieve for someone else or that of a genius found within a millennia.

With the skills he has now, he can cast multiple magecrafts at once with nigh-instantaneous speeds by merely commanding it using his thought. By combining his abilities further and using them in tandem with one another, he can activate his Clairvoyance around the clock whilst reinforcing his own body at the same time.

Although he would still be no match for top-ranking servants, there were only a handful of magi that could go toe to toe with him now on an equal footing, he was also confident that he could hold his own for a while against an average servant.

The implication was now even bigger, and he quickly come to realize that he has to face a lot of problems that he would rather not tackle in his present state.

"At least until I can be sure that no one can pose a threat against me, I should try to lay low for a while... There's no benefit in it if I announce my power to the whole world willy-nilly. Right now, I can't afford to let his "eyes" gaze upon me."

That person was Zelretch, the Kaleidoscope, one of the Twenty-Seven Dead Apostle Ancestors.

He knew little about him from the side materials, but it was in no doubt that he was a formidable man. In his prime, he pitted against the strongest being on the moon and repelled a mirror image of the satellite using a limitless Ether Cannon he invented himself.

No matter what, the Wizard Marshal was someone he couldn't take on as an enemy. As it stands, he's not even powerful enough to reach his foot. Even if it was very tempting, gaining power too fast would quickly become a detriment as it would reveal his existence, so he has no choice but to take it easy.

But of course, his goal remains the same. It was a given that he'd want to become stronger, more so than anyone else. He didn't want to continue living whilst afraid of someone's shadow forever if he could help it.

His hand grasped the air, reaffirming his resolve. He once knew what it was like to be toyed around by someone on a whim, he didn't want to experience a repeat of that life.

"Let's try it again." Sigma then closed his eyes. "Sharingan!"

Once he opened his eyes again, he was able to "perceive" the world around him, the time, object and events came as separate images within his vision.

He was no longer viewing the world by seeing things, instead he was spectating it from a different angle, as if he was detached from everything that was happening.

The feeling felt jarring and it seemed like he could be overwhelmed at a moment's notice if his focus lapsed, but in time he was getting the gist on how to acclimate with his newfound power. Beside the mild headache, it was also far more bearable.

"The physical strain is mostly gone, but I don't think I can handle leaving it activated for an extended period," Sigma muttered while closing his eyes. "I stumbled upon another bottleneck it seems."

Just as he started hatching a way to solve the problem, he noticed that the chat group was brimming with activity in the time he spent struggling inside the bathroom.

「File NO.00000000001: Ah, sorry, I was out. Someone came into my lobby and informed me that the first match of Ragnarok has ended.」

「The Mage of Flowers: It's fine, it's fine. I was hiding from someone else I know anyway... Geez, why are they so pushy? Yes, I can pull some strings here and there when the situation calls for it. But as a guide to humanity, I'm not fitted to take on the role of a frontliner. That's simply asking for too much!」

「File NO.00000000001: Sounds bothersome from the way you phrased it.」

「The Mage of Flowers: You can say that again! If only I were a king...」

「Sage-King: Mongrel, if you think I'd fall for your obvious provocation twice, then it'd be best for you to forget about it. As a king who governs the masses, I have my own duty and responsibilities to fulfill to make sure the kingdom flourish. Don't take me for an idle body like you, a freeloader in Avalon.」

「The Mage of Flowers: Ouch. You didn't have to be so mean about it...」

「The Mage of Flowers: Aaaanyway, I really don't know what to do! He's been bugging me constantly in the past few days, going on about the whereabouts of the beast over and over.」

「Sage-King: Hoh, a reckless fool. Playing with malice never bears a good fortune.」

「The Mage of Flowes: I know right!? She was such a lovely-looking little maiden too! If it weren't for her twisted notion of love, the beast wouldn't have been unleashed from the grail! Hmm... What was her name again? I believe her name was...」

「Sage-King: 'She'? A little girl unleashed a beast? Are we talking about the same man? Enough with your jests, mongrel!」

「The Mage of Flowes: I'm not joking though... Oh, now I remember! Her name was...」

Sigma was stunned when his eyes fell on the next line, finding a familiar name he wasn't expecting to crop up on the chat group---

「The Mage of Flowers: Manaka Sayjou.」

"...Excuse me?"

A/N: Sigma's feelings sure is one hell of a rollercoaster. Man must be bipolar.

Also, I think we'll have details regarding the first mission in the next chapter, so you better cast your votes now or else! Hmpf!

Although it's important to note that the first mission will actually start later somewhere in chapter 6 or 7.

P.S. I'll reveal which items the other members got from the beginner package in the next chapter.

P.P.S. Sorry if the editing of this chapter took so long. I was burned out on writing after pulling several days of all-nighters trying to finish my research papers on time for my final defense, just had to take a break.

ALSO, HU TAO RAPPING! Give me a better reason why I shouldn't be happy right now.