31 Reliable

{REALM: THE DICASTERY}

{DEPTH 8}

"Well, that went better than I thought," Nyx casually remarked as she rematerialized before them. "Honestly, I thought we'd get our first fight there."

Riku simply shrugged before dusting himself off and taking in their new surroundings. Beside him, Shizu did the same, smoothening out her skirt before instinctively moving to dry her hair before remembering that she was still dry. Funny enough, it was one thing that he didn't understand about the portals. Despite it being a literal pillar of descending water, they always came out as dry as they came in. It felt weird not having water on him after being in it for minutes on end, but he supposed that it was simply one of the many fantastical things that came with being in the literal home of the gods.

"I'm kind of glad we didn't have to fight," Shizu sighed in relief as she placed a palm on her chest. "Seriously, I thought my heart was gonna stop back there."

"I'm sure you two would've been fine, to be honest," their resident goddess shrugged, her hands diving into her self-made bucket for the food Riku made her, only for her fingers to come out short as she realize that her supply had just run out. "Oh... Riku, can you make me more sashimi?"

The assassin-turned-chef shook his head at his patron goddess's request. Not that he should be surprised that Nyx would ask such a thing. The woman was constantly eating something whenever she was able, and it had become a habit for her to always request at least one lion prepared for her to snack on before they went on to find the exit. Not that he didn't mind it, to be honest. He liked cooking for people. Why else did he open a sushi restaurant, after all? But still... that didn't mean that he liked doing it while in the middle of a potential combat situation.

Well, that, and preparing the same thing over and over could get rather stale for him after a while.

"I'll do it when we come across a lion then," he shrugged in resignation. "I'd like something in exchange for it, however."

"Huh? Why though?" Nyx pouted. "I'm already doing more than what most of my siblings are giving to their Champions."

To his faint surprise, Shizu frowned ever so slightly at Nyx's words before letting out a sigh of her own. Something about her god being hands-off, he guessed. After all, Tyche was supposed to be the one guiding her, and yet here she was partnering up with someone that she was supposed to be fighting.

"I just want information about the Champion we just encountered," he blandly explained. "Brahma's Champion, if I recall correctly."

"Oh, if that's all, then sure," the goddess shrugged. "I was going to tell you about him later anyway once you asked."

Riku couldn't help but raise a brow at her words. She was learning to be proactive, at least. Her base competency was improving.

"You just thought about something unflattering about me, didn't you," Nyx pouted.

"To be fair, you make it easy to tease you," Riku smirked back.

The goddess's pout deepened further, and he let out a soft chuckle at how adorably cute she was being with how much of a child she looked during that time. A well-endowed child that almost came up to his shoulders, of course, but a child nonetheless.

"So... I guess we just keep moving then?" Shizu suddenly asked, her face seemingly strained as if she was hiding something. "Onto the portal?"

"So it would seem," Riku shrugged as he sheathed his knife. "It doesn't look like anything's happening in this Depth, but it's best if we kept our guard up."

It was the only thing they could do. Taking the lead once more, Riku went through the motions of assessing the entire Depth, plotting out a course that felt right, and moving forward with Nyx occasionally acting as their radar to detect enemy packs and potential Champions. All the while, he began questioning his goddess about the other Champions they just encountered among other things. Namely, actually telling Shizu what he could do. Well... some of it, at least.

"Wait, so you're telling me that you're actually just a chef?" Shizu incredulously asked. "And you just know how to fight like a badass?"

"That's exactly what I am," Riku coolly replied, conveniently forgetting to tell her that he was formerly a career killer-for-hire. "I'm just that good with knives."

"Tell me about it," his fellow Champion chuckled. "Still, damn... You're just as mundane as me, and yet you know how to fight."

"It's a more along I taught myself how to do it, to be honest," he truthfully explained. "The rest just came in time."

He wasn't even lying. Growing up an orphan, he had to learn how to fight to keep himself from getting jumped on the streets by the bigger guys. One thing led to another, and he just found himself getting scouted by a shady government official that trained him to become the professional killer that he was today. He could still remember it happening like it was yesterday... It wasn't an honorable life to lead, but honor never fed him anyway.

"I guess I have a lot to learn then," she weakly chuckled. "And your [Boons of Chaos] just gives you random powers every few Depths or so, right?"

"That's correct. It's far from reliable, but it gives me the opportunity to adapt if need be," he lied. "I'll get stronger the deeper we go, and we'll stop sulking about the moment I get enough power for me to be a reliable combatant."

Shizu hummed at his answer, not knowing that he was exaggerating the scope of his power. In truth, he didn't even know if the [Boons of Chaos] and the [Chaotic System] that came with it would allow him to do such things. He hadn't seen it do anything even after going through the few Depths they've gone through, and if he was being honest, he was starting to get alarmed at his current lack of power. Sure, he his Trump in the form of a [Chaotic Reroll], but he hadn't had the opportunity to test it out yet, and he had no intentions of testing it out any time soon.