Omniscient POV
It's been a few months since Kouske became a disciple of Scathach. Kouske still felt weak knowing that Scathach hadn't even needed to use her runes to overpower him that day. Just her spearmanship was enough!
After that, she inquired everything about him and even talked to Vritra. Kouske didn't hide much and even told her about him being a demonic dragon.
Since then, Kouske has been going through HELL! She is even trying to make him have basic mastery over other weapons besides the sword and spear, including hand-to-hand combat.
Over the countless years, in her boredom, she seems to have mastered quite a lot of weapons.
The battle maniac is really enjoying that he has an immortal body. But being immortal doesn't imply being immune to pain!
She has even been using runes to increase the pain, saying he needs to get used to pain and not get complacent because of his immortality.
Sadly, Kouske can only learn the normal runes from her at the moment, not the Ancient Runes.
He needs to master the normal rune techniques first and then go through a secret ritual to inherit the Ancient Runes.
These were obtained by Odin after he gave up one of his eyes to seek knowledge, and Scathach acquired them from him through a contract.
But even the normal runes were of the highest caliber!
Scathach has also been teaching Kouske her own way of blacksmithing. After all, she made her very own legendary weapons!
Kouske had tried using Telos Karma to break Scathach's connection to the Land of Shadows.
But sure enough, his mastery over it wasn't powerful enough to break her fate. But Kouske also knew that just getting out of the Land of Shadows wasn't her wish.
She was tired of her life and wanted to die a warrior's death. However, Kouske, being selfish, made her promise that she would have to fulfill his wish if he could ever fulfill hers.
For now, she just laughed it off with melancholy. But one can't blame her for having at least a bit of expectation.
Maybe, just maybe, Kouske could do what Cu Chulainn couldn't. It was just a stray, random thought for her.
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Mobuseka X The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter,
On one of the floating islands belonging to Viscount Brightness of the Holfort Kingdom, two children played in the vast garden of the mansion.
Both had blonde hair and blue eyes: Emma Brightness and Kouske Brightness, Emma's cousin. Kouske's father was the elder brother of the Viscount.
After his parents' death, his uncle, Ladan Brightness, and aunt, Romy Brightness, took him in and cared for him at the Brightness Mansion.
Kouske was surprised to find that this world was a mix of two novels. However, he quickly adapted after incorporating all the memories of his new identity.
He mainly came here on a whim, hoping to acquire the Lost Item, Luxion, and study it. This would undoubtedly help Kouske advance in technology and create the things he wanted. Unfortunately, the technology in the world of DxD was way too low.
They were only in the early phases of technological development, and there were no scientific weapons capable of incorporating magic to harm supernaturals.
So, he decided to come to Mobuseka to get the so-called cheat item, a Lost Item. But if Luxion was anything like he saw in the novel, then Luxion would only be confined to this world and serve as Kouske's helper and test subject.
He wouldn't trust that piece of crap. AIs cannot be trusted. Never! Especially Luxion. Who knows what it might do if he brings it to another world?
"Emma-chan, it's getting late. We should get inside now," says Kouske, helping Emma get up from the ground.
"Hmmnn."
Soon, a few servants came and took them separately to take baths. Kouske took a bath by himself despite the maids' protests. He preferred to bathe alone and relax.
Afterward, they both went to their rooms to do their own things. Kouske had time to think more about how he should approach his plan.
He didn't know Luxion's exact location, but he could manipulate his fate to find him, so it wasn't a big problem.
He wanted to get an airship somehow. He knew that no matter how accommodating his uncle was, he wouldn't let him use one to go on an adventure at such a young age.
So, Kouske would probably just have to sneak out and acquire an airship himself.
At the dinner table, everyone was gathered. They had dinner and talked a bit about their daily lives.
Kouske was actually glad that, in this cruel world for men, his uncle had found someone like his aunt, and that too among the Holfort nobility.
Even though Viscounts weren't treated as harshly as the countryside Barons, Baronets, or Knights, they still didn't amount to much in front of the higher nobles.
Kouske knew he would have to rank up his nobility in the future since he was already part of the system. As the heir of the Brightness family, he would need to find a noble lady from at least the viscountcy to marry to keep up appearances.
But he didn't really care about such things. He would marry whoever he liked, and even his uncle and aunt seemed to understand this. They knew how filthy and disgusting the Holfort noblewomen could be.
So they entertained the idea of getting him engaged to Emma in the future if both of them agreed. In their opinion, Kouske wouldn't have to suffer much if this happened.
Kouske was really surprised that they would make him the heir instead of their own daughter. He could sense what kind of people they were—the kind who were very rare in the Holfort nobility.
That night, Kouske left a note saying he would be gone for four months, going on an adventure, and asking them not to worry.
He knew it wouldn't put them at ease and that he would be scolded upon his return, but he didn't have any other choice for now. At least, he was glad that he had already registered as an adventurer a few days ago.
This world used Dia as a currency, which was essentially just gold coins. Kouske had enough gold coins in his possession. Even if he didn't, as an alchemist, he could easily acquire more.
Kouske found someone and bought their airship. He had to use some simple hypnosis, but it was fine.
Kouske was a bit amazed by the small airship. It wasn't too big or anything, but it was enough. He took off with the airship in the middle of the night.
He also checked out the ship's design, how it functioned, etc. After 15 days of traveling aimlessly, he found a place with something like a whirlwind and could see a hidden warping device inside it.
It took 15 days mostly because of the ship and the distance between the places. Otherwise, if it was closer and Kouske had a better ship, he would have easily made it there earlier.
During his trip, Kouske had encountered various magical creatures. While the ship itself didn't have much fighting power nor did he have a good Armor Core, it wasn't difficult for Kouske to fend them off. He was far too strong for these low-level mobs to hurt him.
Just a bit of magic would blow the monsters into smithereens. Kouske had placed the Armor Core in the ship only to have an alibi for when he returned to the Brightness Viscountcy.
The Armor Cores and magic of this world were too weak for him. Kouske never liked those bulky-looking Armor Cores anyway.
His magic was already overpowered in this world, and he didn't intend to use Armor Cores to fight.
Kouske created a barrier around the ship and easily entered the whirlwind with his ship fully intact.
When Kouske reached the end of the whirlwind, he found the warp device and he was automatically warped to a floating island.
The island was medium-sized. It was full of greenery, almost as if untouched by humans.
Kouske took off the airship and came out to venture out. He searched the place and found a huge metallic door hidden by lush greenery.
He easily opened the door and found himself inside some kind of laboratory. The whole place lit up when he entered, signaling that the power was back on.
The facility looked more advanced than the outside world, almost out of place. The first few floors were totally abandoned, and Kouske even saw vending machines with logos like Coca-Cola and Pepsi.
This made him think it was definitely some alternate, fucked-up future version of Earth.
He easily dropped a few automated sentries with his magic without much difficulty but felt uneasy about the lack of heavy resistance.
Glancing at a nearby bench, he found the skeleton of a crew member. He quickly marched up to the body and searched for anything that could serve as an ID.
He found a security badge with a picture of a man in his early thirties named "Dr. Hakase." It would have to do. He used the badge to get inside the control room.
Suddenly, a massive security android, three meters tall with giant mechanical fists of steel and enough armor to plate two tanks, stomped into the room. It observed him with a single red camera lens.
"You are trespassing on Old Human Territory," stated the murderbot. "You will now be terminated."
"Let's talk. I would rather not break you. It would just be a loss for me," replied Kouske calmly.
"Don't be so full of yourself, New Human!" said the murderbot.
"New Humans! I will kill every last one of you!" came an eerie voice from the automaton. It fired laser beams at him, but Kouske simply put up a barrier to stop the attack.
"What?!" The murderbot was surprised at how easily he stopped the attacks.
"Don't think this is all! I will not lose to New Human magics!" said the murderbot as more automatons came and started concentrating on a singular point, enhancing the power of the beam, trying to break the barrier.
But it didn't work. Kouske simply kept strolling inside. He didn't even retaliate or destroy the automata. Why would he destroy his own machines? He doesn't like wasting stuff.
Seeing that Kouske was pretty chill and nothing it did was stopping him as he was slowly getting close to the controls, the murderbot decided to self-destruct.
"I will not fall into the hands of a New Human! Die alongside me!" yelled the voice, but Kouske suddenly vanished from his place and appeared in front of the control panel, tweaking the codes to register himself as the primary administrator of the Lost Item, Luxion.
"HOW?! And why do you even have Old Human blood in your body?" screamed the murderbot.
"I am already registered as your master, right? Now, you probably won't believe me, but I used to live in the period of Old Humans," replied Kouske.
"Impossible," argued the murderbot. "I watched the last of the Old Humans die out centuries ago."
"But I am a reincarnator and I was alive during the 21st century. That must be why I still have some Old Human blood in me," said Kouske in Japanese.
"That's absurd! Are you delusional? But how do you even know that language?" asked the android AI.
"Like I said, I am a reincarnator," replied Kouske casually.
The automaton contemplated his words for a while and even asked him some famous things about the Old Humans, like stuff about World War I and II and some other events.
Only someone from that time would know that stuff, as all information of that period is already lost in time.
Soon, a small metal drone with red lenses came floating by, clearly the same AI in a new body.
"The only way you would know of such a language and stuff like that is if you lived during a time when it was used."
"I'm a little surprised that you believed me, but I suppose when you've eliminated the impossible—"
"—Whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth," replied the drone, completing Kouske's sentence.
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Luxion was showing Kouske around the place, pointing out all the important areas. Kouske had already named the AI, Luxion.
He wouldn't change the way he knows someone. He knew the AI as Luxion from the start, so why change it now? It's just absurd and a bit stupid to do so.
"So, master. Are all the New Humans as strong as you?" asked Luxion, who seemed determined about something.
It seemed Luxion would have to invest more into advancing itself if all the New Humans had advanced so far.
"Nah! Don't worry. They are weak AF. You could easily conquer the world if you wanted to," said Kouske casually, making Luxion quite happy.
"Master, what do you desire? Do you want to conquer the world?" asked Luxion hopefully.
"No. It's too much work and too much innocent bloodshed involved. I would rather not be any part of it.
But I will have to change the policy of this kingdom if I am going to be a part of it," said Kouske.
"Oh, what's the current policy?" asked the bot dejectedly, though it still harbored its own plans.
Kouske then informed Luxion about all the regulations enforced by the Holfort Kingdom.
"Such prudes! I wouldn't expect anything better from New Humans! They're too foolish.
Losing the advancements in technology, they've regressed to the outdated feudal system. That too... like this! Utter fools," remarked Luxion.
"Yeah, but what can you do? Well, many things actually. First, start by finding some unclaimed floating islands. Also, create an Armor Core that won't pose a problem if presented to the crown.
I'll just give them a Lost Item and one or two newly discovered floating islands to elevate my nobility rank. Uncle can handle the details.
Keep developing stronger Armor Cores and Airships here. Don't worry about materials or staying connected over long distances; I'll take care of that.
Create smaller bugs for spying on the nobles and royals in the Capital. I'll have to join the Holfort Academy when I'm of age, so let's aim to become a Marquise by then, by hook, or by crook.
Work on better communication devices and begin transforming a floating island into an Amusement Park, Aquarium, and Hot Spring Resort.
I'll provide seeds or plants to grow high-quality tea and coffee. Grow them and start a business with these and some Old Human cuisines. Also, focus on fertilizing the lands," said Kouske in one breath.
"That's... a lot to do. It's going to take a lot of time and effort, you know," replied Luxion, feeling both impressed by Kouske's ambitious plans and a bit perplexed by the scale of it all.
"I will help you. But you can surely do it, right?" asked Kouske, challenging the AI's capabilities.
"Hmph! It will be done before you know it. I'll even improve upon those plans," replied Luxion confidently.
"Good. Now prepare a small but fast airship for me to return home. Find a suitable floating island and create a fake Lost Item, like an Armor Core.
I'll have my uncle present it to the crown. That should be enough to elevate us to Counts if we also offer one floating island to the crown.
Also, do you have any treasures? Like gold, jewelry, or something?" asked Kouse.
"Yeah, I have plenty of such items in the treasury," replied Luxion.
"Good. Pack a bit of that stuff to bring back too," said Kouske.
"OK," replied Luxion.
"Also, do you think you can take the form of a white saber-tooth tiger?" asked Kouske.
"The one from the legend? Yes. But why?" Luxion asked.
"Because it's cool. And while I could make you use a male butler gynoid, you would probably just insult all the New Humans, even as the butler of the Brightness. And it would just cause me more problems!
So a monster familiar from one of the Old Human legends is far better and cooler, I think," replied Kouske.
"...."
"...."
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After only two months instead of four, Kouske returned with two Lost Items—an Airship and an Armor Core—along with a trove of treasures, shocking everyone in the Brightness Viscountcy.
The viscountcy had been in turmoil for the last two months due to the disappearance of its heir.
However, Kouske's sudden return, at the age of 12 with a successful adventure spread quickly throughout Holfort and even reached the Capital.
Kouske was grounded for a long time, but soon after, the King summoned Ladan and Kouske.
They had to endure the worthless King's attention-hungry, incompetent selfish self, with Kouske struggling hard to not outright kill the fool.
But meeting the beautiful milf Queen, Mylene, helped calm him down somewhat. Or not?... ahem...
Ladan presented the Crown with the Armored Core as a Lost Item and one newly discovered floating island.
The King was pleased to accept the Lost Item and declared the Brightness Viscountcy as Counts. Kouske's plan had succeeded.
Luxion continued working on various projects while Kouske prepared to open his business under the name Akatsuki.
In his hometown, Kouske also encountered the future real Saintess, Olivia, and befriended her, starting to teach both her and Emma magic. Now, don't ask for the details. Many dramas lead to such a development.
He also met the Atlees, their closest neighbors, including Clarice Fia Atlee and her father, who visited after hearing about Kouske.
Kouske and Clarice became friends, although she was engaged to Jilk, whom Kouske didn't like.
Despite his feelings, Kouske chose to keep quiet about him, knowing any interference could strain their relationship.
She wouldn't just believe him and he still didn't have any proofs to back up his words. He decided to wait until Jilk inevitably fucks up.
The Stardia Baronets, who recently arrived in their territory, seeking help after losing everything to pirates, were now settling down with the assistance of the Brightness family.
Despite being nobles in name only, Brightness helped them re-establish themselves, and Kouske personally aided them in reclaiming their lost floating island.
The head of the Stardia family, once a veteran adventurer and the reason for their noble status decades ago, was deemed incompetent. He was just way too much pathetic for a human being.
As a result, the Stardia chose to align themselves under the Brightness family's leadership.
Kouske also remembered Leon and decided to help the poor guy. With the Brightness family's newfound fame and influence, Kouske found evidence of the Forest of Ladies' atrocities.
As they were composed solely of bitches and hags from Barons and Baronets, leaving them powerless against the Brightness family.
All members of the Forest of Ladies were executed for treason, and Kouske even assisted the Bartfords in identifying the illegitimate children by hypnotizing Zola and making her confess everything by herself.
It led to Leon's older brother becoming the new heir while Leon now lives happily the life of a mob, pursuing a village girl from Bartford's land.
However, amidst all this, Kouske seems to have temporarily forgotten about the Hidden Dungeon and Olivia Servant.
He will definitely address those matters later, but his current focus is solely consumed by the various tasks in different worlds!
[A/N: How is the chapter? Leave a comment behind!
I know this chapter feels a bit rushed, but the focus was to give a brief glimpse into the MC's background in this world. MC will return to this world when the main story starts here during the Academy days, and those chapters will be much more detailed. The next chapter will briefly feature the world of Eminence in Shadow but it will be more descriptive than this one.
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Word Count: 3.3k words.]
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