13 Chapter 13 -> Yuuki Kagurazaka
<< Notice. Good job. >> -> [Wisdom King: Raphael] or "Voice of the World" if specified.
<<< Hello master! How can I help you? >>> -> [Voice of Wisdom: Sophie]
' What?! ' -> used to symbolise thinking (used in convoluted sentences to help in understanding)
" Hello! " -> Speech.
<< Notice. Good job. >> -> [Wisdom King: Raphael]
<|< REDACTED >|> "Voice of the World".
<<< Hello master! How can I help you? >>> -> [Voice of Wisdom: Sophie]
' What?! ' -> used to symbolise thinking (used in convoluted sentences to help in understanding)
" Hello! " -> Speech.
* moments prior* -> Narrative use
< Greetings > -> TELEPATHY
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Jiren POV
I enter the gates following the guards. The sight that greeted me was an improvement compared to the overall architecture I've seen in this world. The architecture in this city seemed more modern, not on the level of having skyscrapers yet, but had five-story stone buildings all over the place, a sturdy pavement and a massive white castle in the background that had 4 bridges stretching outwards to 4 sectors - commercial, tourist, industrial and residential quarters. The castle was smaller than the one we had as a Pride Trooper base, but it fulfills its purpose, clearly superior to any other building here and probably reserved for nobles.
The guards relayed the information to this knight on duty who raised his eyebrows multiple times throughout, had a distressed expression on some parts, but nevertheless nodded.
"In that case, sir, may you follow me to the Free Guild HQ?", said the knight, whose armor shined with sunlight bouncing over it, his full attention on me.
I nod.
He acknowledged my response and started to move.
Free Guild HQ was supposedly found in the dead center of all 4 sectors. In both my lives I have seen much grander structures and sights, so as you would expect this sight wouldn't have been attractive enough to warrant dilly-dallying around, and seeing the distance needed to reach the center, I command:
"Wait."
The knight stops in place, wrinkles his face in confusion and questions: "What's the matter?"
"Where is this 'Free Guild HQ' you speak of exactly?", I ask.
"Oh. It's there, just below the castle.", he replies as he points towards a specific spot.
"I see.", I say as I start to float.
The knight's eyes instantly widened out of surprise, but he quickly brushed it off; he was trained to maintain his composure after all.
I move towards him and pick him up by his scruff. The knight was definitely about to complain, but
the moment I picked him up, I burst into the air at Mach 5.
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There were random passersby on the street who were minding their business, but suddenly..
*BOOM*
A few of them jumped in place out of shock dropping items they were carrying, a few of them just froze like deer meeting headlights; but if truth be told, most just moved their attention to the source after shaking the slight pain they had in their ears.
What they saw was a heavily muscular man in a red & black spandex, most likely an adventurer, carrying a knight like a sack of potatoes with one hand whilst floating in the air.
The man descended onto the ground, dropping the knight, who was still slack from the trip even if he was protected by a barrier. He was utterly not prepared for a sudden flight at mind boggling speeds that he couldn't even begin to fathom.
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JIREN POV
I stare at the building that was way beyond the medieval period unlike the other buildings previously seen, and one that seemed to have an obsession with glass as if wanting to appear as unique as possible compared to the church it was built next to.
"W..hat? But.. we were?", the knight was sweating in the background. Flight by itself was rare, almost unheard of, but flight without any sort of wings, especially at THAT speed?! What is this SORCERY?!
"I presume this is the building I was supposed to enter?", I ask the knight.
"Yes, sir.", replies the knight with his back upright like a rod, temporarily getting back to his senses.
I turn my attention to the glass door and move within its range.
As expected, it opened after scanning my credentials.
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The hall was much more acceptable compared to the shack I've gone through in Blumund, comparable to the hall we've used to report our status reports as Pride Troopers.
The adventurers here seemed relatively more refined combat wise, but...
LV 10. LV 13. LV 8. LV 15. LV 11.
LV 2.
"Welcome! How can I help you today?", said a woman stationed by the door.
The knight who was still in slight daze after seeing the performance snapped to attention and pulled the lady over to explain the situation.
While he was explaining the situation to him, I inspected the adventurers here. All seemed to be above B rank as this was an area reserved for such people, making it more luxurious and separating the genuine strongmen and casual adventurers.
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While Jiren was inspecting them, they were inspecting back. His arrival was something unexpected to them as they never met this man in their life, but everyone felt that he was someone not to be trifled with. If his physical appearance didn't show enough which was ludicrous even to them who spent their life training and battling monsters, beasts and humans alike, the feeling that he gave off was of a sleeping lion who needed one tick to turn from a harmless creature with enough grace and control to avoid hurting a fly into a ferocious monster with the ability to send everyone living 6 feet underground. It took no time at all for them to regard him as a potential ally to have in a quest, and he received their recognition as a fellow adventurer.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Most 'evaluation staredowns' as adventurers would put it were the first step any competent adventurer would take in order to understand what he's dealing with, whether ally or foe, known to last for at most 30 seconds.
However, while the rest of the adventurers had ended their inspection, Jiren still kept staring them down like a hawk.
"…"
"…"
"…"
Contrary to typical stereotypes, most adventurers in fact had their emotions in check, so they just assumed this was this dude's annoying quirk. Most strong adventurers had them, as they were essentially a few weird aspects or parts of them and their behavior that simply developed due to their 'strong' status and job. It is difficult to stay normal when you can rip monsters into two, personally check their guts and do that frequently as well.
But one dude in particular who just returned back to the lobby, and also had a bad day today - to him this staredown felt like he was being mocked because of his earlier failure.
"What are you staring at?!", shouted a man in his prime with wild long hair who had two scars across his face. One curved line across his left eye. And one X on his right cheek.
'Peculiar…', thought Jiren.
LV 18.
"Pathetic.", announced Jiren on the spot without a second thought or any shred of compassion.
A vein immediately throbbed on the man's face.
"Haaa. Massive balls you have to taunt the great old me, but lucky you, I'm feeling generous today!
I will let this transgression slide on one and only one condition: lick the boot and apologize, FREAK.", said the man arrogantly after he got into Jiren's face and had a standoff.
"Your inability to handle truth and your inflated ego is meaningless. Move out of my way, weakling.", responded Jiren coldly.
The adventurers in the background were instantly amused by the situation, wanting to see how this guy would fare against Yamcha, the Wolf Fang.
The knight turns around to see this scuffle and is immediately frightened, not wanting to hear about another dead adventurer.
"Stop!", shouted the knight just before Yamcha was about to pull a punch into Jiren's face, with authority in his voice, clearly having none of whatever was going to occur.
"It's forbidden to have a fight between adventurers in this place! Respect the guidelines or you'll be out!", he continued with equal fervor.
"Tch.", Yamcha irritatedly said as he pulled his arm back. But an idea sprung in his mind so he continued:
"Then, I, Yamcha, challenge this freak to a duel, right now! There's a designated place for it nearby, and I will gladly rip his bowel apart! Do you accept, freak?", said Yamcha with a loud volume for everyone to hear, before turning his full attention to Jiren, awaiting his response.
Jiren, now confirming the name and identity of the man, was contemplating the chances of the same person or an uncannily similar person existing in two alternate realities, and completely ignored the part where he got challenged. He has yet to understand the intricacies of how reality in general functions, and in the end, it was indeed pointless to know with his previous scope of powers. Now with the introduction of abilities that delved into the core of reality itself, it was perhaps time for him to comprehend its inner workings. To be exact, this 'Yamcha' looked like Yamcha from the Dragon Ball reality, but it felt like he got tainted by this adventurer's work, a job not too dissimilar in nature to the desert bandit he once was. Although, it stands to reason that the original Yamcha even with his bandit spiel had very low potential of succumbing to high lv, so this was most likely just a very similar individual, almost the exact same, but not yet there.
Jiren also contemplated the fact that the frequency of battles he had in the past few days was rather high, as if everyone was particularly eager to receive a beating. He thought nothing about it. Using an insignificant fraction of strength was something that he was used to, but to this degree, it truly felt disappointing. If he was anything like he perceived Son Goku to be, he would've gotten beyond bored by now, but luckily he was not. Finding pleasure in this is akin to a human with fully equipped hypersonic missiles finding pleasure in killing one single ant. He's starting to relate more to a particular individual whose appearance mirrored his very own… The same person who upon recall, Jiren's body radiated slight anticipation.
*tremble*
To others in the room, however, it didn't feel as positive and exciting with their gut feeling blaring with full force to get the fuck out of that place immediately. They could've sworn they saw Jiren's figure magnify for a second, the entire room distorting from the black and red battle lust coming out of him. But it faded away as quick as it came.
Yamcha's instincts were higher than most, and while he felt the heavy presence, he also noticed it wasn't aimed at him, which infuriated him.
"What, you chick-", Yamcha started, about to give Jiren another piece of his mind…
But all the light that existed in the area disappeared. Complete darkness.
Yamcha was completely still. His Wolf Fang nickname was derived from him executing attacks akin to a wolf pouncing on his prey and his sharp wolf-like senses, but right now, his features were completely nullified. Unfortunately for Yamcha, except one. His instincts now went completely haywire, clearly understanding the shithole he was in more than the man himself. He saw absolutely nothing, except two glowing ominous fiery eyes that now truly stared at him like an ant.
"Get out of my sight, mongrel.", commanded a rumbling deep and cold voice that was much like God himself issuing a decree that allowed no disobedience.
Before Yamcha can even comprehend what just happened and what his instincts meant, he got 'lightly' flicked on the head.
Yamcha's eyeballs went white.
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In everyone's perception, Yamcha suddenly went uncontrollably flying towards a wall, immediately smashing through it. Jiren, whose fingers were extended in a flicking motion, returned his hand to its initial position, and moved his gaze towards a specific spot in the room, narrowing his eyes slightly.
Rest of the people in the room were stunned. They did not even see Jiren move, yet Yamcha was sent flying through a heavily reinforced wall that was not by any means easy to break, clearly made to hold against any attack on their level. If they didn't see Jiren's fingers placed in a some sort of flicking position, they would've assumed Yamcha himself did some stunt.
Some more quick on the uptake went in to check his pulse. They sighed in relief when they realized he still had a pulse, just unconscious. If Jiren cared enough to check, he would've had a deja vu moment about Yamcha's current pose, but alas he was too focused on something else to care. As for the adventurers, they held no animosity towards Jiren, this is what happens in this line of work, but their fear towards him went skyrocketing through the roof. If he can take someone on their level, and higher, without us even being able to see what happened, and with only a flick? That's a man I don't want to antagonize, thanks for letting us know, Yamcha, your sacrifice was not in vain!
One voice in particular wasn't so pleased about it however:
"Sir, do you know what you just did?!", shouted the knight who came with Jiren, hiding behind a banner of the behemoth that is the Free Guild and its clear and definitive rules, even if he was a little shaken up about what just happened.
However, before the ruckus could continue, a clapping sound was heard, precisely at the spot where Jiren was staring at.
*clap* *clap* *clap*
Everyone moved their sights towards the noise.
A familiar face appeared beyond the wall, with a amused facial expression and his hands in a clapping motion, making everyone gasp in surprise.
"THE GRANDMASTER?!".
The Grandmaster of not just the branch office, but the entire Free Guild; the pioneer behind its rapid and vast expansion; and with a secret identity most people were not aware of - a Japanese Otherworlder.
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The black haired boy moved with quiet elegance as he approached Jiren, making everyone move out of his way out of sheer respect. How could they not respect him when this same boy revolutionized how adventurers did their job all by himself. With only his ranking system in mind, he culled the failure rate astronomically and made the whole process much safer, more efficient and overall just much much better. The Free Guild was his personal creation, and without him - even the concept would not have been born in many years to come. And it only took him less than 10 years to reach this global influence and power. A frightening genius.
"Jiren-san, was it?", inquired the boy with a grin.
"Correct.", responded Jiren with the exact same cold undertone he used for practically everyone he conversed with.
"Welcome to the Free Guild HQ", the boy began, his charisma overflowing the room. "I am grandmaster Yuuki Kagurazaka. It's nice to meet you, Jiren-san. Your display right now was quite impressive! Feel free to call me Yuuki."
"..."
"Oh, right, how forgetful of me. The knight was instructed to bring you to me, how about we move down for a chat?", said Yuuki, his smile still present on his face, alluding to his innocent and happy nature.
"Go ahead.", replies Jiren and follows Yuuki to an "elevator" that was more akin to a teleporter than a classical physical elevator.
They both disappeared in a flash.
The adventurers there were stunned, when was the last time the grandmaster had an audience with any of them, yet this guy got it and based on the grandmaster's speech, he was invited?
The grandmaster must have seen more about this guy than meets the eye, as strength surely can't be the only requirement to have an audience. Sasuga, Grand Master Yuuki-sama!
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The two went into a regular room, in fact, the same room Yuuki and Rimuru first met in. The air was chilly for some reason, a rather stark difference to the jolly atmosphere that was transmitted in the lobby upon Yuuki's entrance.
Jiren's illusion faded, restoring his original appearance. Yuuki's expression was that of confusion. Yes, he knew who this guy was, but how was he here? Wasn't he a character from the Dragon Ball Super manga that Rimuru showed him the other day? Also why was his human face from another anime character? Could be a coincidence, he had to confirm whether he's some cheap knock-off or the real deal.
"That's interesting, are you a monster? But if that was the case, how did you breach the barrier we have over the building?", asked Yuuki with his hand on his chin, seemingly thinking. Rimuru said he used a shapeshifting ability, and an anti-magic mask. Then what about this guy? Hmmm, could use some improvements on the barrier.
"Monsters are made out of magicules, I am not.", replies Jiren.
"Haa? So that's how it is. Well, anyway, I just called you since I was told you dismantled some raging maniac over our entry tolls, yes?", Yuuki shrugs then gets to the point.
"An individual who was completely corrupted with irreversible consequences. It was of utmost importance to purge the individual before additional collateral damage was caused", critically informs Jiren.
"Corrupted, you say? That's an interesting take on the matter, but do you perhaps know what would cause such a phenomenon? It seems odd to me that they just randomly start going crazy. I haven't had much luck in finding the cause of it, what about yourself?", elaborates Yuuki, already enlightened by this conversation, his mental gears rapidly churning to come up with a hypothesis with this new information he got on the matter.
Jiren paused, his eyes gleaming for a little bit.
"Unknown. However there is an external factor involved, and the phenomenon is present across the entire world", he replies after a few moments.
"I see… That's very helpful, thank you Jiren-san.", politely says Yuuki whilst curtly bowing.
"Is this all you had to ask, Grandmaster?", says Jiren with his hands across his chest.
"Ha-ha. Don't be so stiff and formal, Jiren-san, call me Yuuki.", laughs Yuuki and cheerfully requests.
"..."
"But, hmm. Was it really necessary to blow up the adventurer? If I did my calculations correctly, based on your strength… you should have had the ability to restrain him without killing him.", comments Yuuki on a particular inconsistency he noticed in the whole situation that would've been overlooked otherwise.
"Pointless. Vermin with such karma should not be allowed to live.", coldly says Jiren, without an ounce of hesitation.
Yuuki's eyes imperceptibly gleamed in delight.
"Welp. Makes sense to me, you did say it was irreversible, and that checks out with my findings as well", shrugs Yuuki, then continues, "but I think I have a quest with you in mind now that I have gotten to know you a little better. Would you like to hear it?"
"Speak.", requests Jiren.
"Have you met this monster leader called Rimuru Tempest by any chance?", asks Yuuki.
Jiren paused for a few moments, seemingly pondering on the question, but ultimately answered with:
"I have not."
"Well you see, he seemingly founded a monster country and is rapidly developing. While this wouldn't be much of a problem by itself, he seems to be doing some shady business whilst pretending to be a pacifist human lover, or as he would put it "not a bad slime". Not that I will tell you to do anything to him about it, but like.. can you just keep an eye on him and see whether the rumors are true and how shady we are speaking if they are true? After all, I do want to ensure there is peace all around, and a country full of big bad monsters sounds like a big no-no.", explains and proposes Yuuki now with a more business-oriented tone in his voice and expressions.
"Why are you giving me this national level task on the first meeting? Your naivety will cost you in the future if this is your approach to things.", bluntly comments Jiren, pointing out the clear elephant in the conversation.
"Nonono, it's fine, I have a gut feeling this will work out just fine and my gut was not wrong yet in my entire lifespan, so that's that. I also believe this task is perfect for you, and I trust that you will execute it splendingly.", presses Yuuki with a charming smile. "I'll update your adventurer rank to A to better accommodate your abilities, that flick was marvelous by the way. So, what do you think?"
Jiren paused for a few moments, furrowing his eyes in the process, but ultimately closed his eyes and merely said:
"Consider it done."
Yuuki's expression for lack of a better word was ecstatic.
"That's great! Your card will be updated in a moment!", said Yuuki with a massive grin on his face as he hit a button.
A few seconds later an attendant arrived.
"How may I assist you, sir?", she said with clear professionalism and fluency after she bowed.
"Right, I want you to update this gentleman's card to A, can you do that for me?", requested Yuuki.
"Of course, sir. May I have your current card, please?", curtly bowed the attendant to Yuuki and moved her attention to Jiren, who upon the request, just glanced and took his current card and gave it to her.
The attendant left the room.
"She'll be back soon. But, that's about it that I had to say today, anything else you want to touch on, Jiren-san?", asked Yuuki.
"Peace?", questioned Jiren with a skeptical expression.
"Exactly. I wish to make this world more fair and just, where a regular person does not have to fear for his life because one powerful person had his mood soured that particular day; a world where everyone is free and not burdened by things out of their control; a world where a normal person can finally have peace, and ultimately… a world where there is an utopia with everyone living happily ever after, something far more profound than this disgusting law of the jungle that it currently is. Do you catch my drift?", announced Yuuki with practically visible passion and dedication, his expression and voice being completely solemn.
And while Yuuki was not aware of it, Jiren's interest peaked, because…
<<<
The target information:
Name: Yuuki Kagurazaka
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Age: 23
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Karma value: LV 1̸̡̠̀͋͆͝
Disaster Rank: Continental (Maoh)
Current Existence Points: 50,000
Maximum Existence Points: 799,999
Notable abilities:
Unique skill: Creator
Special: Anti-Skill Constitution
>>>
LV value is indecipherable? Has a limitation appeared in the skill itself or is he the sole cause of it?
<<<Report. The individual "Yuuki Kagurazaka" LV value is impossible to discern.
Possibility. He holds two incongruent values at the same time, at the extreme ends. This seems to be the inherent limitation of the ability - its inability to handle multiple correct values.>>>
Is that so? Interesting scenario. There are a lot of paths he can take, realizing his potential in all of them. This world is unforgiving and merciless. We'll see how you'll fit into it, Yuuki.
"I see.", replies Jiren, "Do as you see fit, Yuuki Kagurazaka. However… he who fights with monsters should be careful lest he thereby become a monster. And if thou gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will also gaze into thee."
Yuuki was stunned on the spot.
The attendant just came back, noticed the uncomfortable silence, gave the card, and just went on her merry way, not bothering to disturb either of them.
Jiren took the card, strapped it on his chest, and just followed, leaving the room with steady steps.
'Did.. he just see through me in one single conversation?', thought Yuuki with sweat on his brow.
'No. It's unlikely. A scary coincidence, but a coincidence nevertheless. '
A mental image of a queen appeared on his chess board as he added a new piece.
'I did not want to get too obvious about it just yet, so I didn't get to truly figure out whether he's Jiren in his full capacity.. but from what I've seen.. his power is sufficient for my purposes. Although, if he truly is… he is the same guy who can blow up this galaxy to hell by just his glare abilities alone… something I do not want to provoke nor be at the receiving end of. But, I managed it, and now… he's just where I want him to be. Based on his justice-driven motivation, he's going prove quite an unshakable obstacle for Rimuru, if not outright remove him from the equation, eliminating a serious threat for my goals. Even if he doesn't, it's unlikely he will have any positive relationship with the slime, if this conversation was of any indication of how he thinks and operates. How cold.
I've also received a lot of information on those weird aggressive humans who suddenly transformed and received a massive power-up, requiring higher level adventurers to clean up. That is a much greater success in information gathering, as they are the complete antithesis to my plans and need to be dealt with as soon as possible… is the Empire behind this? I will need to send spies. Cerberus needs to be fully mobilized.
Soon… I will rule this world and reforge it. There will be peace, no matter what it takes.
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