Hands Full, Start of Volume 5

Hey, my dudes, we're back, this time, it's another double chapter.

This Volume has quite a bit of them, the side chapters are all Double chapters too.

Tough for now, we should be in the clear.

As you saw by the Title, this is the official start of Volume 5.

Yay.

Well then, let's not push this any further, its time to jump in.

Enjoy.

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/Step step.../

"Mnn..."

"You okay back there?" Silver asked Loiju as he carried the man on his back

"Mnmh?..."

/Incomprehensible mumbling.../

'Loiju said something, or tried to, but he was past the crossing point and thus, too drunk to register or say anything that made sense.'

'One half of his brain was awake, the other was sleeping...'

"I'll take that as a yes."

He drank a lot today, even after he told me he would never drink again...

He'll likely say the same thing tomorrow, sigh.

I wonder... He did bet everything he had on me... Making a lot in return.

Hopefully... This doesn't change him.

If it does, then for the better.

Money can bring out the worst in each person, the question is how long it takes for someone to get numb to it.

An orphan that spent each quarter carefully could become a gambler...

Thats actually more common then it should be, now that I think about it.

"Well... He already is one though..."

'Shaking his head, Silver carried the drunken elf, stopping only to let him... Well, do his drunken things on the side of the road inside an alley.'

'Better on the ground than on him.'

'And once he placed him on bed, making sure to put him on his side so he wouldn't choke, he left.'

'After all, he also deserved some rest...'

"ZZZzzz..."

...

/Later.../

/Shuaa shuaa…/

'A strange yet soothing noise echoed in his ears… It was the sound of water falling into a pool.'

'Faint mist rose into the air, lingering slightly before vanishing…'

'Waterfalls that fell from the ceiling above, falling atop a cascading series of polls adorned with the finest craft of stone and metal…'

'It was a mystical place straight out of fairy tales.'

"As I thought…"

I'm here yet again.

'The same pools, the same walls and ceilings painted with strange creatures and girls looking at him with weird glances…'

Even that dog is here...

'Like before, some waved at him, greeting him, while others barely cared… Or so it seemed.'

'Silver was once again in the dream… The Spiritual Land of the Great Spirit of earth, Terra.'

"..."

'He looked around, seeing the very same paintings as before, staring down at him with their inquisitive gazes.'

'Some curious, some not, a few even frightened.'

"Sigh…"

Last time I came here, I caused a bit of a fuss… So their reactions aren't nonsensical.

Though now, I'm not really that concerned anymore, if I were to say what changed…

"Then it would be that I'm now at peace… That may be too deep for me." He said with a slight chuckle

To move forward without carrying about the consequences, I can't say I'm there yet, but I've decided to be more of myself rather than taking everything into account.

I feel as if a lot of time has passed since I last came here and enjoyed this bath, but it's been only a few months.

In my search for the truth, I asked both Hestia and Artemis, yet they can't tell me why I'm coming here, much less Terra herself.

The Gods can't answer me… Or at least those 2 can't.

Gods affirm to be omnipotent, yet whenever they're tested about it, they often brush it aside…

Some argue that they are, however, if that's their own ego or the truth, I can't be certain.

We can only wonder where their truths end and their lies begin...

"For me, it's obvious that there is reincarnation and a cycle we follow, but for most, they don't even know if that's true or not."

Gods are unpredictable, and so are the things they say and do.

People can only pray and believe that there is an afterlife, but in the first place, what good will come from doubting them?

"Though… Letting yourself be carried by their words is beyond foolish."

'Silver stretched his arms and rubbed his eyes, albeit his real body was crippled, this one wasn't, it made him relax a little.'

'It had been barely a day, but he already missed them…'

"This place is truly beautiful, no matter how many times I look at it." He said as he took another glance around, focusing on the fine details

"It should've been impossible, I never made a contract with a Spirit, much less met one…"

The Heroes of the past that trained without anyone's help, and those that made contracts with Spirits to achieve greatness…

To break further they challenged things deemed impossible.

And the Spirits aided them, guided them...

Yet, I never met one before arriving at Orario, and if I had a contract, wouldn't any of the Gods have mentioned it?

"As she said, the questions I made ended up only tormenting me further rather than helping me ease my worries."

'Silver turned his gaze to look at the big doors leading outside.'

'He had a certain urge to go meet Terra, yet, he felt nothing would change.'

'She answered everything he wanted to know, apart from some pretty sketchy questions… Such as, what is a Spirit?'

'That isn't really the kind of thing you ask, and he felt that were he to ask, it would just end up with the same question as when you ask a God what is one.'

'They merely brush the subject aside after saying some deep things, as if that helped.'

"One of the biggest pleasures a God can have is seeing a mortal squirm around as they try to seek answers for their problems… Because it's the unpredictability of mortals that they find exciting."

A God may see themselves as perfect and create the most elaborate of plans…

Wouldn't it be boring to see it go perfectly?

However, in times of need, mortals will come with the most absurd of answers and actions beyond a God's wildest imagination…

For survival, for love, or for something completely mundane.

It's in that slight impossibility that Gods derive their pleasure from.

"I have many questions for the Gods… Some serious, other childish…" He said with a slightly silly smile as he sat down on the edge of one of the pools

Would it be a mockery to ask a God why they can't have children? Perhaps there is one out there that would give me a perfect, in-depth answer, as to why that isn't possible…

Would they answer me if I were to ask why can't Spirits have children?

"Maybe they would just tell me to go and figure it out on my own, haha…"

'As he chuckled slightly, the paintings on the walls and ceiling stared, trying to figure out what was going on with this very strange… Guest.'

…

/Shaaa…/

'The smooth warm water continued to fall down seemingly infinite, its echoing sounds were oddly silent for him, and in the end, Silver decided to just enjoy it.'

'He took off his clothes, putting them neatly beside the highest pool before getting inside.'

/Splash…/

'The water was the definition of perfect, it went everywhere it needed to go, warming up everything it had to at the perfect temperature…'

"Wasn't it hotter before?..." He mumbled as he splashed the water with his feet

When I first came here it was actually pretty stuffy… But that didn't last long as I was knocked out.

The second time I came here, the water was hot, and the third time I came here, the water was warm… Now it's just perfect.

Hot enough for me to relax, the perfect temperature for me to not call it lacking.

'Perhaps something had changed since the last time he came here, his Level ups might've strengthened his Soul… As that is the only thing in here.'

'In fact, this was a question he had buried deep within him.'

"Soul… In the end, just what is it?"

"Why do we all have it, and why does it go up back to the domain of the Gods when someone dies, what form does it take, what do the Gods see in them that we can't?"

What is the relation between the Soul, Consciousness, and individuality?

The Xenos are the best example of this, all monsters have Souls, but not sapience per se.

Through many lives of constant learning, death, and rebirth, they attained individuality and awakened anew… Why?

What triggers this change? Emotions, and so, why them?

"Hum..."

"Emotions can trigger a lot of things, and in a sense, those are the very things that attracted the Gods to the mortal plane."

The unending spice that is emotions and the many flavors mortals can give to the palate of the Gods…

I've researched on and on, but even then, I can't influence the Soul, much less prove its existence… All of my progress was based on the fact something has to exist in order for my conscience to linger on…

If it weren't for the people of this world treating the Soul as something commonplace, then I wouldn't have gone anywhere.

"..."

Are my Plasmids truly incapable of affecting such metaphysical constructs?

It seems so cheap…

'A small ring of smoke rose from his index finger, it flew to the air before transforming into the head of a dragon that opened its jaws, letting a small spark of fire burn in the air before dissipating into nothingness.'

'Some of the paintings on the ceiling clapped, very much amused, they seemed to be asking for more…'

'But Silver ignored them, much to their disappointment.'

"I can use them here, and if everything's to be believed, then I'm using my Soul to do so…"

Why can't I just do the contrary? Manipulate my Plasmids to affect the Soul?

… As for the question of the 'why'...That is something else completely.

Right now, I'm more interested in the result, not entirely in the process.

I spent… A very long time trying to make a process, perhaps it's time to discard it all away and simply try to seek results, and once I do, figure out the "why".

"What is the Soul?..."

"What is the meaning of all of this?" He asked with a tired expression

/Silence…/

'The living paintings could do nothing but stare.'

"It's not like I was expecting an answer anyway."

The Soul is here, it carries one's everything up, then it's cleaned before being sent back down.

The theory is there… I just have to find it.

And if I can't make sense of what's happening, then I'm lacking, that's all.

"I'm not the most talented, neither did I ever see myself as such."

If I can't do it, I'll keep trying until I can, or until the day I find out a truth that satisfies me, that's all.

"I should read a bit more…"

Orario has many libraries scattered throughout its territory.

Most are private, being owned by particular Familias inside their own homes such as the small library Apollo left in his Manor before we kicked him out.

But the books there are far from ideal towards my ends…

I could try talking with Loki, she might allow me to check hers, though it would be bad to owe her anything, or give her a reason to repay a debt…

Just kidding.

Though it's always good to have one of the top Gods owe you something, especially Loki.

"Nevertheless, I can't abuse her 'kindness'..."

When I have the time, I'll go check the Grand Library of the Gnomes, perhaps I'll find something of use there.

Their library is one of the best in all of Orario, as Gnomes put a lot of emphasis on the value of knowledge, as such, getting inside is extremely costly…

But at least it is open for those that have the money.

/Blub blub blub…/

'In the end, he let his head sink in the warm water, relaxing his chaotic mind in the pool, letting the waters wash his soul clean as his body floated around…'

…

/The morning of the next day…/

"Urg… Huh?!"

"Oh…"

'Silver slowly woke up, and at first, he almost had a sudden panic attack as he realize everything was dark, only for him to remember that the day before… He had lost both of his eyes.'

It'll take a while for me to get used to this…

And then I'll have to get used to having eyes again…

'Feeling uncomfortable, he started to inspect his surroundings.'

"ZZZzzz…"

'As expected, right next to him as a single girl sleeping in a small set of girly pajamas…'

'It was of course…'

"No more potatoes… Demeter… I can't..."

'Hestia's tone was wavy, as if full of fear and unwillingness...'

"At least she's having some good sleep."

'Due to how impacted and stressed she had been thanks to the series of events involving Ishtar, Hestia had lots of difficulties sleeping recently.'

'So this time, she choose respite by tightly hugging him.'

'He already expected it as even before he left to meet his friends, Hestia warned him he would be sleeping with her, and she wouldn't take a no for an answer.'

'Even if he refused, Hestia would've just sneaked in during the night, why not just say yes and farm some brownie points?'

"Sigh."

'And as always, albeit the feeling of having her this close was good and warm, his and hers day had barely just begun.'

"I'll let you rest for a little while longer… You deserve it." He whispered as he brushed her long black hair slightly

She'll have to attend the Denatus and collect her due rewards from Ishtar while also fighting the other Gods for an Alias.

Unless they all agree with keeping my current one, which I'm sure won't be the case.

As for me… I'll visit some more people in the meantime, say hello, and all of that.

And then… I guess I could say this matter would've been resolved, and everyone will finally have some time to rest.

At least for now.

Without anything to stop them, they'll all be able to grow, we still have some Level 1's that are close to leveling up, and I also need to hike up everyone's training.

By next year, I want at least one Level 3 haha… This is if we don't recruit one already.

And in the year after, a Level 4.

With that, then our Familia will finally be able to protect themselves... If Haruhime is around.

"Although there'll be some things to look out for regarding her... I don't have to worry about Ishtar anymore."

How will Evilus react to her loss? Especially when I already dealt a blow to them?

'With a grin and pensive look, Silver opened his hollow eyes.'

"Will they move against me?"

"Mnnn..."

'Perhaps feeling his twisting emotions, Hestia reacted a little, only to calm down once he patted her head.'

"I'll leave that to later."

'Thinking of the future, Silver used his Plasmids to push Hestia aside without having her wake up as he went to the side…'

"Mnmn…"

'The moment she felt the emptiness in the bed she started to get restless…'

"Really? Alright, plan b."

/Poof!/

'A large pillow materialized on the bed, and Hestia immediately clung onto it like a Koala, it seemed to do the trick.'

"I would like to get a rest like that too…"

But there are too many things to worry about… As always.

Although now I have more people to share my burdens with, there are still some things I need to start and oversee as the Captain of this Familia.

I'm sure we'll have to do another recruiting soon, it would be a waste not to.

With this change, it would be the perfect time to gather more people and raise our numbers from 40 to 100, perhaps even 200.

Gather people from all areas, such as alchemists, smiths, and item makers...

We don't need the best of every category, just those that can fulfill our internal needs, the rest we can acquire from the outside.

"It would be great to get some healers and mages, but that would be asking for much."

After recruiting 40 people, we only got 3 or so people that had some sort of Magic from the get-go, the rest were already adventurers.

There are many girls that wish to become mages, they study and train every day for that, but it's up to chance if they'll awaken magic or not.

And a bit of money, of course, money can solve most problems...

Normally it's hard to become a mage if you don't have something from the start already, those that follow this path need to accept reality and move on most of the time.

That's the case because they need to get the Mage development Ability to acquire a Magic circle.

I'm sure this will change over time.

While healers are even rarer... And those that possess Unique and Irregular magic like Haruhime are... Well, one-of-a-kind occurrence.

In both cases, their magic may not even be that strong, a good example of the extremes of magic is the Saint, the strongest healer.

She's not as famous as I once believed, she is actually pretty low-key, and most don't even know of her existence... Though there are more than enough records to prove why she is the best.

Even though she's a Level 2, her magic works in a 5-meter radius around her, it is Mind efficient, ultra-strong healing magic that can heal better and faster than Elixirs.

It also purges curses, detoxifies, and restores stamina.

It remains behind and heals continually for some time as well.

While Cassandra's only recovers stamina and heals wounds, being better than most potions at most.

Even then that's pretty strong.

What Cassandra doesn't know is that her other magic can detoxify and also remove curses.

Even then, it's clear as day the difference between both healers.

"Though, Airmid is a pure backline, likely having little combat experience apart from terrain understanding in order to heal properly and stay out of trouble."

"While Cassandra often participates with her bow."

Regardless, I'm pretty sure the Guild is going to raise our Familia rank to D, be it with or without the recruiting.

And this would mean we would be forced to go on periodic Expeditions… Although not for now.

We ranked up too fast, and the Guild isn't completely heartless, they'll give us more than a year to settle as that would be more in line with the minimal time a Familia takes to get that rank, even then it's too fast.

/Clack/

'Closing the door behind him as he got inside the bathroom, Silver took off his shirt and "stared" at the mirror.'

"No arms and no eyes…"

Keeping my Plasmids activated doesn't take much, but it's still a pain.

It's not like this is new to me, in the Dungeon, I often use them in this way to inspect my surroundings, albeit on a larger scale and while also using more applications stacked on top of each other...

Seeing the world with a wider range of colors for example... Not really useful, but there are some applications for things like night vision and infrared.

Now, I'm using them to see in place of my eyes... Another way to put it is that I'm using my Plasmids to do the same as my eyes, it's not really that complicated.

Keeping that together with my arms will surely act as training for Magic, though not a very efficient one.

Maybe I't'll get somewhere after using it like this for a year or two, but I don't have the time for that.

"On a scale of priorities…"

My sight definitely comes first, then my right arm.

There's no need for me to regenerate one eye at a time, I can do both, although the same can't be said for my arms.

If I fully focus on my eyes, doing nothing apart from that, drinking potions to continuously recover… A full week?

Though that isn't completely feasible, I should try to be more flexible. I can't stay in my room for one entire week doing nothing but healing my eyes...

So... Umm... If I were to add my side activities, 2 and a half weeks at most for both, and if I just decide to focus entirely on a single eye... Perhaps a week.

If I don't get any more injured in the process that is…

As for my arms… I can't emulate the true extent of my physical ability with my Plasmids, in fact, it just becomes a shore and a waste of potential.

My arms are... An illusion, and even if I give them more 'substance', it won't be that meaningful unless I use a lot of Minds constantly.

However, if I could have one arm, things change.

The eye is a complex organ, but so is an arm in its entirety, so it'll take 1 and a half months, and that isn't counting the eyes.

So in total, a conservative estimation says that it'll take me between 2 to 3 months to fully heal from this, if something goes wrong, the time could greatly increase… But so is the contrary.

"Looks like taking a break is for the best." He mumbled as he entered the bathtub

I'll use these few months to further my knowledge, get things going in the Familia, commission more stuff from all of my contacts, and… Perhaps finish some contracts.

There is a lot to discuss with Miach regarding potions, alchemy, and medicine.

There is a lot to discuss with Fels and even Asfi regarding Magic items, on this note, I might have to talk with Hermes...

Now that I reached this point, there is no need to hide my wield anymore.

I'll just start selling every single one of the drop items that I stored ever since I started adventuring.

It should amount to quite a bit, it'll clean some space while also giving us more funds to work with as I'm sure we'll need it...

Tough... We're already getting a lot of money from Ishtar, so I don't know if that'll be necessary or not.

Well, more money doesn't hurt.

Hephaestus gave me some ideas regarding my Magic Sword project and she also has to fix my Halberd, and I have to pay for my Gloves, that'll cost some money.

She may even decide to fully support our Familia... Though I wonder how that'll go.

I was even thinking of using the money I made betting to commission something else after paying for the Gloves… Perhaps a pair of boots?

Would it be strange to have only boots and gloves? People might call me a pervert.

/Chuckle/

'Silver laughed drily.'

"Yeah… I should take some time now, let time flow… I did a lot already."

'He then smiled.'

It's not like I'll lose much, because, at my current pace, I might still be able to reach Level 5 by the end of this year, and I would still have a lot of time before...

/Silence.../

"Yeah... Level 6, 7, and beyond..."

Enemies are the least of my problems, they are literally everywhere.

Besides, I can still hunt if I want to, what I mean by resting is resuming my normal training program in the Dungeon.

I could even help the others hunt and grow stronger too.

"..."

'He went silent once more.'

I wonder… Will these news reach my family?...

I should… Go search for them.

'Silver was already planning on leaving Orario for quite some time, there was a lot to accomplish outside.'

'His family… The ruins… And also…'

"I'll seek that village." He said deeply

'Near Orario deep in the mountains resided a secluded village… One that somehow still stood despite being surrounded by monsters.'

'It held a very very deep secret, one he had no intentions of revealing to the world, much less interfering with the poor common folk that lived there…'

'He merely wanted to interact with it, and see for himself how impossible of a task awaited him.'

...

/Splash splash…/

'Playing with the water with his foot, Silver finally got up after a few minutes.'

'With his extreme senses, he could feel the continuous sounds of snores and faint chatter echoing through the Manor.'

"Looks like they're waking up... Some didn't even sleep I bet."

Like those 3 kids... They need to take it easy... Training all night...

Albeit... I'm not exactly someone to say that.

"Either way, time to start my day."

Hestia needs to wake up and get ready, practice her lines…

She'll be dealing with likely, a very angry Ishtar, and many excited Gods.

Also… She has a very important job.

Make sure Ishtar doesn't open her mouth.

"I expect information about Haruhime to spread, if not through her, then through the Amazons."

However, I just need time.

Not only me, she too.

Time to grow.

"Taking how most of the Gods act, they'll surely enjoy this situation."

Though, who will be the clown of the show?

/Splash…/

'Silver got out of the bathtub and scrubbed his ass.'

…

/A few hours later…/

"... I'll make sure to give you an incredible alias!" Hestia jumped eagerly as she approached the Central Plaza

"I'm sure you will."

She did quite well last time, and I'm 100... 80% sure it'll go well again.

However, I can still see that she's hiding something... Is it the fire?

I was afraid of asking her about it and ended up losing my chance to ask about it.

And speaking of such mysteries... It may be time to seek out the truth about my Status.

Ouranos... He's the only one that might know the answer.

And now, even if there's something wrong with me, he won't be able to push me aside anymore.

I'll have to leave that to after the Denatus though, it would be better if I went with Hestia.

'To his words, Hestia replied:'

"Why do you sound unconvinced?"

"You're imagining it." He brushed her aside lightly

"Am I?..."

'Before she had the chance to retort, someone interrupted her.'

"Hestia? Come here..."

""Hm?""

'Both he and Hestia turned, one confused, the other smiling.'

'Yet, immediately after turning, he soon noticed one very glaring issue…'

/BOING!/

Bountiful…

'Two large melons... Plot!'

'Indeed the most fertile of lands...'

"Demeter! It's been a while." Hestia replied with a smile

(Image?)

'She then sharply turned to Silver, feeling something wrong…'

'But he looked at her confused.'

"Something's wrong?"

She is oddly sharp in these situations...

"No…" She replied, embarrassed

For a moment I felt...

'Demeter stared at the sight with a small smile.'

…

'After exchanging some greetings, they each went on their ways.'

"Good luck." Silver whispered as he left the central plaza

Now then… I should look for some merchants.

Everyone will recognize my appearance, so I doubt they'll try to pull my leg.

We'll see.

/Step step…/

'Silver left the Plaza, seeking even more money…'

…

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Notes

There is a lot to cover before we start this Volume for real.

Many POVs to go through, to say a few...

There is the Denatus.

There is Ottar and the others going to the Dungeon.

There is Ais and the others coming back from the Dungeon.

Several other characters' reactions, one of them being Hephaestus, you could even say its a possible romance starter...

There are also at least 2 to 3 plot events that I need to introduce first, one of them involves Ishtar's fate, and another one will involve the Soma Familia.

Despite it all, Soma is a very important character that needs to be explored at least once, he was the biggest reason why the identity of the final boss was unmasked.

And a few more other things...

Then, after all of this is done, I can kind of make a time skip like the one I did before and with that resolved, we would start the Arc outside of Orario to resolve all sorts of problems.

And perhaps... Push Artemis' romance to the maximum?

This Volume's start is a bit messy, and due to the schedule of chapter releases, people may feel lost, and that's okay.

We'll be jumping from past to future a few times as well.

Hopefully, it doesn't get too complicated.

Anyway, I have other things to do, thank you for reading, until later.

Peace!