[8]: Level 4, Nia and Kurumi

World of Elicia.

Kingdom of Belfast.

In x village - Adventurer's Guild.

[***]

"Here is your reward: 16 silver coins."

"Good work as always, Dragon Slayer-san." Uralia, the guild receptionist, an elf with blue hair, handed a bag of coins to Aiden, flashing a mocking smile.

That nickname, "Dragon Slayer," had been given to him because sometimes he dealt with dragons that caused problems for humanity.

Although in this world, dragons were intelligent beings who rarely caused disturbances, some arrogant ones still attacked villages and cities.

"Please stop calling me that," Aiden sighed, unable to avoid Uralia's teasing.

"Hyahaha~, our husband is already quite famous among adventurers."

Suddenly, a beautiful girl with ash-colored hair and blue eyes appeared behind Aiden, leaning on his shoulder while laughing.

"Oh, Nia-san." Uralia greeted Nia, while her gaze moved to the three girls accompanying Aiden.

"Hello, hello~ Uralia-chin, could you register this girl here? She wants to become an adventurer and will join our group later." Nia placed her hands on the shoulders of a young girl with long black hair and a fringe that covered one of her eyes.

Her right eye was red, and the left one, hidden under her hair, was golden with clock hands inside.

"Oh, a new member," Uralia commented, looking at Aiden with a knowing smile.

"Is she your new girlfriend? Another addition to your harem? You're quite the Casanova, Dragon Slayer-san."

"Hya~ Uralia-chin is right, our 'husband' has already won us all over. Be careful, or he might go after you too~!" Nia teased, pulling one of Aiden's cheeks while he looked at her helplessly.

The other receptionists at the guild blushed when they heard Nia.

Kurumi watched Aiden with a mischievous smile, noticing how his eyes followed Nia, as if saying, "Wait until we get home, and we'll see who 'conquers' who."

"Ara, ara... I didn't know Danna-sama was so mischievous. Will you attack this elf here or that beastwoman over there, hmm?" Kurumi joined in the teasing.

"NOOO! Nushi-sama doesn't need any other unknown women. He only needs us," proclaimed Mukuro, who suddenly appeared and hugged Aiden, pressing her head against his enormous chest.

"Muku-chin is jealous," Nia joked, stopping her teasing of Aiden while helping Kurumi with her registration.

"Kurumi-san will have to start from the lowest rank. After completing some requests, she will reach the rank of Mukuro-san, Nia-san, and Casanova-san," Uralia said with a smile, handing Kurumi a black card with her information and starting rank: D.

"Enough with the jokes..." Aiden sighed.

After accepting some requests, he left with his Divine Authorities.

These girls who teased him were actually his new Divine Authorities, awakened after leveling up.

Nia was the Ego of <Divine 2 Authority No.>, which had manifested a few months after reaching Level 2 in his [Falna].

Kurumi, on the other hand, was the Ego of <Divine 3 Authority No.>, awakened after reaching Level 3.

Currently, Shiki had reached Level 4, and with it, his <Divine 9 Authority No.> had awakened.

However, this new Divine Authority had not yet gained its own consciousness.

"What should we do now?" Nia asked, hugging Aiden's right arm as they walked.

"Hmmm, I was thinking of investigating the ruins where the sleeping Phrases are located, but let's first stop by Zold-san; my weapon order should be ready by now," Aiden replied.

"It's strange that those invaders haven't appeared so far. You've been in this world for over a year, and there are still no signs of invasion. Could it be that Yog-Sothoth reincarnated you into this world at an early stage so you could grow stronger?" Kurumi pondered as she walked behind them.

"That makes sense... maybe it gave Nushi-sama time to strengthen himself," Mukuro commented, hugging Aiden's left arm.

"Every time I consult [Rasiel] about the Phrases, I only find information from the past, so I guess they haven't reappeared in this world yet," added Nia.

"I guess that's the case. I don't see any other explanation, but at least I have time to prepare," Aiden said as they arrived at the blacksmith shop. "Wait here for a moment; I'll talk to Zold-san, and then we'll head to the ruins."

"Yes, Danna-sama," Kurumi replied.

"Muku will wait here, Nushi-sama," Mukuro added, letting go of the arm she had been pressing against her... assets.

"Take all the time you need~" Nia added before starting a conversation with the other girls.

Aiden entered the blacksmith shop and saw Zold, the muscular blacksmith, lazily resting at the counter.

Upon seeing him, Zold barely glanced at him before pointing toward the back of the room.

"Kid, don't bother me too much. Your order is back there in the warehouse. Just store everything in that null magic of yours and leave," he said with disdain.

Despite Aiden always paying generously, Zold couldn't help but treat him harshly; the kid always gave him an enormous amount of work.

Who in their right mind orders over 2,000 weapons of all types in a year?

To Zold, this kid was completely insane.

Aiden sighed, moved his lips as if to say something, but in the end, he did what he was told.

He walked toward the warehouse and stored all the rare-material weapons in his [Gate of Babylon].

Upon returning to the counter, he left a bag full of gold coins as a token of gratitude.

"Kid…" Zold murmured, flashing a smile and letting out a grateful laugh.

Aiden was an (S) rank adventurer, the highest in the guild, and he could earn such a fortune quickly thanks to his exceptional skills.

After leaving the blacksmith shop, he met up with Mukuro, Nia, and Kurumi, and together they headed toward the ruins to investigate the invading crystal creatures.

"[Lataib]" Mukuro uttered, unlocking space with her abilities and opening a portal.

One by one, they all passed through, ready to face whatever awaited them.

[*]

World of Elicia.

Kingdom of Mismede.

East Forest – In x ancient ruins.

[*]

Aiden, Mukuro, Nia, and Kurumi walked through the ruins, which had once been an imposing castle hidden deep within the forest.

At first glance, it was evident that a great battle had reduced the place to scattered rubble and broken walls.

"Ruins of the past…" Nia murmured, holding the [Rasiel] book in her hands, her eyes scanning the pages for information.

"This castle belonged to an ancient civilization, but the Phrases invaded and destroyed everything," added Kurumi, who was reading alongside Nia.

"500 years ago, this was a very populous city… but the Phrases left it in ruins, and the forest eventually reclaimed what little remained."

Aiden, watching curiously over Nia's shoulder, couldn't help but feel a deep interest in the stories of this world, which was now his home.

"!Nushi-sama, there's an entrance to a basement here!" Mukuro called from a distance.

They looked at each other and walked toward Mukuro, who was pointing to a half-buried door in the ground.

"A basement?" Kurumi tilted her head in curiosity.

"It could be where the energy-depleted Phrases are hiding… or maybe it's the refuge of the last survivors of the attack," Aiden speculated as he kicked the basement door open with a strong kick.

—Bang!

The wood gave way under the strike, splintering into pieces.

"I don't think anyone survived if they were hiding down here… [Rasiel] confirms that the energy-depleted Phrases are down there," Nia said, and the book disappeared from her hands.

They descended the stairs in silence, each step echoing in the gloom, until, at the bottom, their eyes met a group of ten sleeping crystal creatures.

Through their transparent bodies, they could see colorless cores, completely drained of energy.

"Phrase…" Aiden whispered, observing the enemies that had brought him to this world for the first time.

"So, these are the invaders of civilizations. I saw them through your memories, but they're even uglier in person~ what kind of animal is this?" Nia commented with disdain, just before kicking a Phrase that looked like a mix of a mantis and a beetle.

—Thud! Bang!

Aiden was speechless as he watched Nia, in her usual mischievous way, kick the Phrase without any caution.

He then approached, conjuring a sphere of light in his hand to get a better look at the crystal creatures.

"Well, I have to admit, I agree… they are pretty disgusting," he said while closely observing their varied and bizarre shapes: creatures that looked like fused insects, even a shark with legs.

On their bodies, intricate lines seemed to be artistic details, though they certainly didn't look pleasant.

"I wonder how much excellia we'd earn if we defeat these ten Phrases," Aiden murmured curiously.

But then he noticed that the light orb in his hand was shrinking.

"Oh… I forgot these things can absorb magical power to start functioning again," he quickly corrected himself, watching as the creatures began to stir.

—Crack… Crackle… Rrrrraaaumble…!

Suddenly, the ground trembled.

The bodies of the ten Phrases began to glow, and the colorless cores in their centers started to turn red.

"It looks like they're waking up…" Nia commented, confirming the obvious.

"Thanks for stating the obvious," Kurumi replied sarcastically.

"What do we do, Nushi-sama? Muku thinks she can easily defeat them… should I destroy them?" Mukuro asked, conjuring a giant key in her hands.

"Let's first leave this basement and see how strong they are… anyway, there are only a few of them and they're low rank," Aiden ordered.

Mukuro and the others nodded and quickly made their way toward the exit.

It wasn't long before the basement exploded behind them.

—Boom! Explosion!

The ten Phrases emerged from the rubble, their inhuman forms illuminated by the red glow of their cores.

Their gazes, now fixed on Aiden and his group, conveyed a single instinctive intention: to kill the humans.

[***]

End of Chapter.

(•_•)

A/N:

And we have two more members for the harem!

By the way, which one do you like more, Nia, Mukuro, or Kurumi? I think my favorite is pretty obvious; I even made sure she woke up first!

In the next chapter, Aiden will test a few things with the Phrases, as he'll need to face millions of them in the future. Basically, he's training for what's to come.

For the curious, here are Aiden's basic stats from his previous levels. In the next chapter, I'll reveal all the details of his complete status.

*

[*]

[Level]: 1

[Basic Skills]:

-Strength: (I) 0→(Ex) 3999

-Endurance: (I) 0→ (Ex) 3999

-Dexterity: (I) 0→ (Ex) 3999

-Agility: (I) 0→ (Ex) 3999

-Magic: (I) 0→ (Ex) 3999

-Reiryoku: (I) 0→ (Ex) 3999

[*]

[Level]: 2

[Basic Skills]:

-Strength: (I) 0→(Ex) 3999

-Endurance: (I) 0→ (Ex) 3999

-Dexterity: (I) 0→ (Ex) 3999

-Agility: (I) 0→ (Ex) 3999

-Magic: (I) 0→ (Ex) 3999

-Reiryoku: (I) 0→ (Ex) 3999

[*]

[Level]: 3

[Basic Skills]:

-Strength: (I) 0→(Ex) 3999

-Endurance: (I) 0→ (Ex) 3999

-Dexterity: (I) 0→ (Ex) 3999

-Agility: (I) 0→ (Ex) 3999

-Magic: (I) 0→ (Ex) 3999

-Reiryoku: (I) 0→ (Ex) 3999

[*]

[Level]: 4

[Basic Skills]:

-Strength: (I) 0→ (SSS) 1503

-Endurance: (I) 0→ (SSS) 1311

-Dexterity: (I) 0→ (SSS) 1898

-Agility: (I) 0→ (SSS) 1366

-Magic: (I) 0→ (SSS) 1980

-Reiryoku: (I) 0→ (SSS) 2365

[*]

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[Image of Nia] ←

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[Image of Kurumi] ←

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Thanks for reading~!