Next on the Menu

Claire and Tanis got tired first after roaming around the first 10 floors of the lobby, and since it was supposed to be nighttime for them, Kisuke immediately brought them back to their room to rest. Ophis, on the other hand, was still furiously memorizing everything the tower had to offer and might have been planning to add the same or similar things to her 'Demon Lord Castle' that she's planning to build opposite of his tower.

Since she could fend for herself and Kisuke didn't care if she did damage to the Mercenaries that harassed her, he left her alone for the time being.

Returning to where everyone is, Kisuke came into Yoruichi and Kuroka briefing everyone else regarding the Dizara Region and the system in place for the Mercenaries. At the end of it, everyone finally understood why they could stop holding back.

"If the Adventurers of Orario give more priority to honor and glory, Mercenaries of the Dizara Region put more importance to wealth and power," muttered Sona.

"This kind of system is unforgiving for the smaller and weaker Familias," added Serafall.

Nodding, Kuroka confirmed Serafall's words, "That's right, nyaa. But it isn't really as bad for them as you've probably imagined. Thanks to the different situation this entrance to the Dungeon has compared to the one in Orario, nyaa, the smaller Familias just have to affiliate themselves to one of the four big factions in the region."

From here, Yoruichi supplemented, "Most of these Familias choose to ally themselves to Pandemonium, since it has the least restrictions and greatest benefit for them out of the four. Only for a good reason, would they choose to affiliate themselves to the other three."

"Of course, there are those who choose not to affiliate themselves and this is a perfectly normal situation since that would give them the greatest freedom. However, they generally couldn't enter the Dungeon and if they have to, they would be competing with larger and stronger alliances. Compared to Adventurers, there are a lot more Mercenaries, which makes the first few floors of the Dungeon feel very small."

Artemis creased her brow because she already experienced what is like to have a small and weak Familia, "Wouldn't that hamper the Familia's growth and income?"

Kisuke sat down beside her and answered her question, "As Kuroka has said, the situation with this entrance is a bit different. Since it's underwater and its structure is akin to that of an ant colony, it's impossible to put a lid on it like the Tower of Babel in Orario. Because of that, hundreds if not thousands of monsters escape from the Dungeon and reach the shore every day."

"Just those smaller monsters are enough to keep everyone busy and they could even get commissions from the villages throughout the region. On top of that, it's much safer to fight monsters on the surface because you won't suddenly get greeted by a monster house that usually occurs inside the Dungeon. So without a good reason, they wouldn't even want to dive into the Dungeon unless they were strong enough to tackle the lower floors where the profit is much higher. And if they are strong, they could hardly be considered a small Familia anymore."

Kisuke then turned to Yoruichi and asked, "By the way, is the situation on the surface what I think it is?"

"If you think that Astarte Familia is being pressured, then you're correct. However, the situation is much more complex than that for them.", Yoruichi then passed some documents to him.

Looking through it, Kisuke creased his brows, "Offers to transfer the management of the Teleportation Circle to the Aruna Familia?"

If it's just that, it wouldn't be strange, however, the documents include the Alliance and the Poseidon Familia's insignia. Kisuke thought that the four groups would be fighting each other for control but he didn't expect that Aruna Familia would come out on top with the other two at its back.

But although the situation is really strange, Kisuke wouldn't care how much they offer him nor how much they dogpile on him since he wouldn't take back his words that easily.

"We tried figuring out what's really going on, nyaa, but we couldn't find anything. We could only guess that this is a personal agreement between the Deities instead of their Familias."

"What should we do?", asked Yoruichi, "Since you came down earlier, I'm sure that the executives of the Astarte Familia will make their way here to meet you."

Kisuke thought for a while and muttered, "We could meet the Deities in question, but I doubt they'll tell us anything concrete. And since taking back my words doesn't bode well with me, I'll let the Astarte Familia keep the circle if they want to keep it. For the request for transfer, ignore it. They'll actually reveal their motives easier if things don't go as they want."

Yoruichi became concerned, "Although a bit of danger is fine with Sona-chan and the rest, I don't think we should put Hestia-sama and Artemis-sama at risk."

Kisuke shook his head and said, "That won't be a problem. I've already planned to make something for their security and I'll be sure to do my best on it. But just to be safe, you or Sera-chan have to be around when Hestia-sama and Artemis-sama go outside. At least, until this situation resolves itself."

Yoruichi sighed and agreed, "Fine. It's going to be too annoying to outsmart those Gods so them tripping themselves up is much easier. However, I'll still try to look into what they're planning. Something just doesn't feel right with the Aruna Familia."

Kuroka then raised her hand with a smile, "I'll help out too, nyaa~!"

However, Kisuke immediately disagreed with her words, "No. You won't."

Kuroka was shocked, but he immediately followed up an explanation, "It's about time that you all move to the next part of your training, and this is where your potential will be truly tested."

With a serious expression, Kisuke looked towards Kuroka, "You and Koneko-chan will have to learn how to fully fuse your Ki's innate abilities to your own bodies instead of wielding it."

"Wait!" Serafall exclaimed when she understood what Kisuke meant by fusing with their innate abilities as Nekoshou which are the black and white flames, "Wouldn't that mean..."

Nodding, Kisuke confirmed what was on her mind, "Their next part of training is to learn how to achieve a Release Form. And they will need to learn it before all hell breaks loose in this world."

"But even with my decades of training, I still can't do that yet!" To become a Super Devil, Serafall took Sirzechs' ability as her reference. She thought that by becoming the 'Magic' itself, she'd step into the ranks of the Super Devils. However, she still couldn't find the final piece despite doing everything she thought would promote her.

Kisuke knew what's on her mind and said, "Sirzechs-san has that kind of ability because he could do it naturally. To do the same, you have to do everything he's doing, including those that he's unaware of and more."

Serafall knew that and it's the cause of her frustration all these years. Despite doing their best, Sirzechs and even Ajuka couldn't explain how the former could have a Release Form and just attributed it to the Power of Destruction's special properties.

But then, Serafall suddenly realized that Kisuke wanted Kuroka and Koneko to do the same and exclaimed yet again, "Wait! You know what's needed!?"

"I have my theories, but I'm pretty confident with it. Want to try it first?" Since Kuroka and Koneko would be using Ki to attain a Release Form, Kisuke already planned for Sona and Serafall to do the Magic side of it.

Serafall didn't even ask the dangers behind it and hurriedly nodded, "I'll do it!"