The Grimmlands of Menagerie (I)

Pre-Chapter Note

The Gamer System prompts at the start of this chapter are pretty ridiculous. Sorry, in advance...

The Grimmlands of Menagerie (I)

[Main Quest Updated!]

[Perks & Curses Updated!]

[ETA to the "The Grimmlands of Menagerie:" 2:59 Minutes]

[Main Quest Updated!

Broken World Progression: The planet of Remnant is full of strife and conflict at every turn. The monsters of Grimm hunt down Humanity and Faunuskind with their soulless inborn hate from the outside, while the Humans and Fanus continue to wage wars against each other from within the walls of their four great kingdoms. Join the battle and do everything in your power to banish the Grimm and unite the two intelligent races of the planet, or aim for the destruction of all as an agent of chaos. Either way, you're bound to come into contact with a fragment of the Gamer System by becoming influential on either side of the spectrum.]

[Status

Title: The Gamer

Level: 105 (Gamer System) | Wizard Class (Broken World) | 5/10 (Absolute Scale for this World)

Name: Izuku Midoriya

Stats

Health: 100%

Stamina: 31,100/31,100

Excelia: 0

Argent Energy: 100%

Magic: 100%

Magic Skill Slots: 2/3

Strength: 185 (Gamer System) | Maiden Class (Broken World) | 4/10 (Absolute Scale for this World)

Constitution: 138 (Gamer System) | Grandmaster Class (Broken World) | 3/10 (Absolute Scale)

Endurance: 311 (Gamer System) | Arch Wizard Class (Broken World) | 5/10 (Absolute Scale)

Dexterity: 105

Agility: 171

Intelligence: 128

Wisdom: 157

Will: 72 (Gamer System) | Master Class (Broken World) | 2/10 (Absolute Scale)

Charisma: 94

Talent: All Weapons (F), Healing (D), Alteration (B), Fire (S), Light (SS), Sabotage (SSS)]

[Abilities

MAXED: Walking (+10 Endurance), Running (+25 Endurance), Calisthenics (+50 Endurance), Weight Lifting (+25 Endurance), Resolution, Sprinting (+75 Endurance),

Draconification (Level MAX)

Cost: 150 units of Stamina to sustain the full extent of this Ability (Transformation of the Skin, Muscle, Bones, and Organs) every hour.

Modifier

(Amaterasu's Blessing) Divine Light: You passively emit a permanent aura of Holy Light at no additional cost. The more developed your Falna, the greater the empowering effects of the Holy Light; this includes heightened Health regeneration, adding the aspects of "Fire" and "Burning" to your attacks, and becoming resistant against the aforementioned aspects.

Primary School Academics (Level 95)

High School Academics (Level 36)

Analysis (Level 51): This Ability can be increased with the use of Excelia. You will need approximately 5 times 1.2 raised to the power of this Abilities' Level (units of Excelia) to increase its Level by one.

Writing (Level 10): This Ability can be increased with the use of Excelia. You will need approximately 2 times 1.2 raised to the power of this Abilities' Level (units of Excelia) to increase its Level by one.

Drawing (Level 21): This Ability can be increased with the use of Excelia. You will need approximately 2 times 1.2 raised to the power of this Abilities' Level (units of Excelia) to increase its Level by one.

Cooking (Level 2): This Ability can be increased with the use of Excelia. You will need approximately 2 times 1.2 raised to the power of this Abilities' Level (units of Excelia) to increase its Level by one.

Observe (Level 30)

Martial Arts (Level 75 → 91 | Styleless): Grants +1 Endurance every Level. This Ability can be increased with the use of Excelia. You will need approximately 3 times 1.2 raised to the power of this Abilities' Level (units of Excelia) to increase its Level by one.

Argent Energy Core (Level 30)

Modifiers

(Main World Effect) Outside Hell's Domain

(Secondary World Effect) Dusk Core: Remnants of the God of Darkness' presence are drawn to your Demonic Powers. The trace quantities of the God of Darkness' Pure Magic reduce the effects of "Outside Hell's Domain" by 20%.

Argent Energy Manipulation (Level 44)

Modifiers

(World Effect) Absolute Ownership

Argent Energy Resistance (Level 55)

Rune Smithing (Level 27)

Demon Dragon Transformation (Level 23)

(World Effect) Dark Soul: Remnants of the God of Darkness' presence are drawn to this Form. The cost to recast this Ability is halved. This Form also grows increasingly stronger as it subsumes leftover traces of the God of Darkness' Pure Magic.

Demon Blood (Level 17): Grants +3 Endurance every 2 Levels.

Argent Bullet (Level 25)

Argent Blast (Level 22)

Argent Construct ( Level 1 | Rod)

Demonic Inhuman Training (Level 5): Grants +2 Endurance every Level.

Open Mind (Level 30): This Ability can be increased with the use of Excelia. You will need approximately 100 times 1.3 raised to the power of this Abilities' Level (units of Excelia) to increase its Level by one.

Modifiers

(World Effect) Dawn Core: Remnants of the God of Light's presence are drawn to your Magic Signature. The trace quantities of the God of Light's Pure Magic supplement the growth of this Ability and improve your regeneration of Magic by 20%.

(Amaterasu's Blessing) Solar Powered: You can now absorb sunshine to increase the rate you regenerate your Magic. During perfect conditions, when there are cloudless skies, you can double the rate you recover Magic.

Magic Energy Manipulation (Level 33): This Ability can be increased with the use of Excelia. You will need approximately 100 times 1.3 raised to the power of this Abilities' Level (units of Excelia) to increase its Level by one.

Alteration Magic: Presence Concealment (Level 40): This Ability can be increased with the use of Excelia. You will need approximately 7 times 1.3 raised to the power of this Abilities' Level (units of Excelia) to increase its Level by one.

Sabotage Magic: Invoke Calamity (Level 1): This Ability can be increased with the use of Excelia. You will need approximately 25 times 1.3 raised to the power of this Abilities' Level (units of Excelia) to increase its Level by one.

Mystical Inhuman Training (Level 1): Grants +2 Endurance every Level. This Ability can be increased with the use of Excelia. You will need approximately 10 times 1.3 raised to the power of this Abilities' Level (units of Excelia) to increase its Level by one.

Mystic Dragon Transformation (Level 1)

Modifiers

(World Effect) Bright Soul: Remnants of the God of Light's presence are drawn to this Form. The cost to recast this Ability is halved. The cost of using Magical Abilities while assuming this Form also grows increasingly smaller as it subsumes leftover traces of the God of Darkness' Pure Magic.

New Abilities!

Adventurer (Level 1): Demarks your Adventurer Level as it is registered by the amount of Excelia used to develop your Falna. This ability can only be improved through the collection and absorption of Excelia. Given the overwhelming amount of power you possessed before gaining a Falna, you will need approximately 100 times 2.5 raised to the power of this Abilities' Level (units of Excelia) to increase its Level by one. Every 3 Levels your Falna physically develops and grants you +10 to all Stats. This Ability is guaranteed to Max out and Evolve at Level 30.

Aiming (Level 1): A previously unattainable Ability due to the lacking power of the Gamer System. This Ability Grants you +1 Dexterity ever Level, and +1 Wisdom every 2 Levels

Dodging (Level 1): A previously unattainable Ability… This Ability Grants you +1 Agility every Level.

Sneaking (Level 1): A previously unattainable Ability… This Ability Grants you +3 Dexterity every 2 Levels and +1 Agility every 2 Levels.

Blocking (Level 1): A previously unattainable Ability… This Ability Grants you +1 Consitution every Level.

Countering (Level 1): A previously unattainable Ability… This Ability Grants +3 Strength every 2 Levels you and +1 Consitution every Level.]

[Perks

Regalvanized

Intent (Determination)

Cognizant

Brazo Del Diablo

Sonic Acceleration

Intent (Anti-Demon Aura)

Form Fitting

Inhuman Training

Force Regulator

Healing Factor

Speed of Though

Eidetic

Collected

New Perks!

Metabolic Supremacy: For surpassing 150 Endurance, you have gained the Unique Ability of possessing a body that essentially does not expend calories — units of Endurance by proxy — to fuel your movements. The negative aspects of this ability that would develop as a Curse are canceled by the Gamer System stimulating your metabolic rate for you, at your discretion. The amount of food required to sustain your continued physical growth has been lowered to its absolute minimum.

Need Not Necessary: For surpassing 300 Endurance, you have gained the Unique Ability of being able to ignore all signs of physical or mental exhaustion until you are at the brink of collapsing. After being awake for 24 hours, you lose 1 unit of Endurance per minute. Unless you check your Status, you will not notice a difference in physical or cognitive ability until your total Endurance dips below 10%.

Amaterasu's Blessing: For receiving the Falna of the Goddess Amaterasu, you have gained… a lot. Regression of all Physical and Magical Abilities is no longer possible. The act of training, fighting and killing rewards you with Excelia that gradually increases your Stats. The drop of your Goddess' blood which now rests at the core of your body, has also changed your ambiguous race of a Half-Human Half-Demon into that of a Nascent Divine Demon. Lastly, applicable Abilities and Perks are augmented by Amaterasu's personal abilities as your predecessor Goddess.

Collector & Controller: Gained as a result of entering the Broken World for the first time… Half the Excelia you collect automatically goes to your Falna while the other half is stored in a new numerical Stat that you can freely use as you see fit.]

[Curses

Weapons' Blight

Hairpin Trigger Disciple

Exposed Nature

Remembered As Divine

Limited Magic

New Curses!

Hormonal: Gained as a result of entering the Broken World for the first time… Despite being nearly nineteen years old and having developed a physique beyond the pinnacle of normal human understanding, the hormonal state of your body has regressed to that awkward period of puberty that every man dreads. This Curse Synergizes with your Hairpin Trigger Disciple to amplify its effects and guarantee you'll be in for a miserable time if you find yourself wanting to resist the urge to fulfill your every hedonistic desire.]

"Just how are these Curses getting worse and worse with every new World I visit?! This is bullshit. Pure and utter Bullshit!" Izuku nearly screeched as he pull against his hair in total distress.

He couldn't find it in him to be even the slightest bit happy to see such a massive "net positive" effect across the totality of his Status as the one new Curse caused him to believe wholeheartedly that he had suffered a terrible loss.

'How much more antisocial does this damn Gamer System want to make me?' He wondered. He didn't know if he'd be able to function in a civilized society if he was struck with any more Curses from the category that the Gamer System has thus far always picked for him; three goddamn times in a row. He didn't know if he'd be able to function in a civilized society when he came out the other side of the Void…

'At this point, I'd almost be willing to think I'd take anything over another life-ruining Curse. Of course, with my luck… That kind of wishful thinking would sooner give me a Permanently Doomed Curse…'

Izuku wistfully sighed as he took in deep breaths to calm his turbulent emotions. He was trying his absolute hardest to tempt fate with thoughts of his situation not being able to get any worse than it already was. His great effort was rewarded, when instead of finding himself dropped say… In the nudist beach, or something marginally less stimulating like another death world like the First Circle of Hell… He found himself in the middle of nowhere after coming out of the Void.

[Observed Status

Level: 42 | Apprentice Class

Name: Alpha Beowolf

Stats

Health: ~100%

Stamina: ~100%

Strength: ~50

Constitution: ~30

Dexterity: ~40

Agility: ~60

Intelligence: ~25

Wisdom: ~20

Will: ~0

Charisma: ~40

Description: An Evolved version of the weakest Lupine-type Grimm. It is the leader of a pack that is 28-strong. The development of its exoskeletal plates suggests its age is between ten and fifteen years old. As it can sense your soul, you are its mortal enemy.]

"Well that didn't take long at all," Izuku said as he shook his head regrettably. He hadn't even been given a minute to properly look over his surroundings before a group of ignorant pitiful monsters decided to take a suicide charge in his direction.

Half a minute later, he was left surrounded by the mutilated bodies of the monsters he'd found himself capable of utterly obliterating with just his bare hands.

[You have gained +2,564 spendable Excelia.]

Consequently, the other half that automatically went to his Adventurer Ability caused him to Level it up twice and officially become a Level 2 Adventurer in the eyes of the Gods back in Orario. In just a single halfhearted massacre Izuku accomplished what 60% of all Adventurers would never get to experience.

It was way past underwhelming, but Izuku understood the insidious nature of his Adventurer Ability. Already the exponential growth had gone from requiring ~2,500 Excelia to Level Up twice to now requiring about ~4,000 to Level Up again. By the time he managed to get it to Level 10, he'd have spent over 1.5 Million Excelia. To Max the Skill out at 30… Izuku couldn't calculate the number in his head, but he was pretty sure it was around the ballpark of tens or hundreds of trillions.

He knew it would be a long, long time before he got anywhere even close to Maxing out his Adventurer Ability, so he moved on with little pretense.

The terrain reminded him a little of rockier parts of the First Circle of Hell. Only, instead of it being an endless desert, Izuku found himself surrounded by dead trees and ashen cracked soil. Having his sight impaired by the countless dead trees around him, Izuku practiced a few experimental squats to warm up his legs before he propelled himself dozens of meters into the air with a jump to see if he could find a worthwhile direction to go off exploring.

[Observed Status

Name: Grimm Pool (Maiden Class)

Durability: 100/100

Description: The manifestation of hundreds of years worth of the God of Darkness' leftover energies coalescing and condensing into a pit that bears endless amounts of Grimm. Galvanized by the negative emotions of any living being, including plants and animals, the negative emotions of humans and Faunus best supplement the development of this object. Destroying it will unleash a Maiden Class threat from its depths and attract all the Grimm in a ten-kilometer radius.]

When Izuku returned to the ground, his face scrunched up in annoyance before he rolled his eyes, Draconified, and jumped once more to easily clear the threshold for a hundred meters this time. At the peak of his ascent, he stood momentarily at the height of some of the tallest skyscrapers back in his Original World. There, with nothing to obstruct his view for dozens of kilometers in all directions, he saw what looked like the outline of a human settlement a little west from where the bleak and ashen terrain promptly changed to that of a normal forest.

[Observed Status

Name: Easternmost Vanguard Settlement

Durability: ?/?

Description: A settlement post for Huntsmen and the military forces of Menagerie. It was originally set up as one of the easternmost settlements, but the forces of Grimm have encroached over the decades and swallowed all the settlements further eastward. Tension within this settlement is at an all-time high as most of the staff are plagued with doubts as to how long it will be before their post falls and becomes part of the Grimmlands.]

"...I guess it couldn't hurt to help these people a little before I try to go knocking on the doors of one of their military bases," Izuku muttered as he started walking out of the crater he had formed from landing.

He was still starved for human contact, but he couldn't just ignore someone else's problem if he had the power to help them. Besides, even if he ended up embroiled in another war-like battle against a swarm of thousands of Grimms, it wasn't like he hadn't already grown used to it.

Practically speaking, now that he had the ability to improve many of his Abilities with Excelia, a small part of him was actually excited to see how much he'd get if he beat a monster with at least around 150 Base Stats — an estimation he had arrived at by looking at his own "Maiden Class" Stats.

He didn't think too deeply about why a "Maiden" was considered to be a powerful enough entity to rank above an inherently powerful title such as "Grandmaster." Eventually, he was sure that with enough exposure to the powerhouses of the world he'd come to a reasonable answer.

For now, he just did as was customary for him. He carved a bloody path through the monsters that grew more and more in strength and number as he approached his destination until it was within his grasp. Unfortunately, he couldn't exactly punch or kick a small pond of what appeared to be a viscous black sanguine liquid.

So, instead, he tried an Argent Blast…

…And the Grimm Pool erupted.

Izuku confirmed the use of his Argent Blast destroyed it as its Durability had dropped to zero. But, as it was in the process of dissipating, it shot a beacon of darkness thousands of meters into the sky and after a couple of seconds, the ground started shaking violently. Soon enough, once all the centuries-worth of energy within the Grimm Pool stopped fueling the beacon of darkness, the quaking earth split, and out of it came a monstrous ten-meter-tall bear-like construct of armored darkness.

[Observed Status

Level: 91 | Maiden Class

Name: Ancient Alpha Ursa

Stats

Health: ~100%

Stamina: ~100%

Strength: ~180

Constitution: ~200

Dexterity: ~110

Agility: ~130

Intelligence: ~100

Wisdom: ~85

Will: ~0

Charisma: ~150

Description: The guardian of the Grimm Pool you just destroyed and a monster that has managed to reach the penultimate state of the Ursai line of Grimm. It's capable of using the darkness within itself to manipulate the Earth. Now that it has been awakened prematurely, it will seek to destroy every last trace of humanity from the face of the Earth.]

Right off the bat, Izuku suffered from a surprise attack courtesy of the Ancient Ursa's Darkness and Earth Manipulation. An earthen spike jutted out of the ground from below him so quickly that he only managed to avoid getting his chest impaled, but suffered a gaping wound that went cleanly through his right thigh.

Less than a second into the battle, and already his health had dipped to the lower 70s.

He ignored the pain and the fact that he was now bleeding out as he retaliated with a Shotgun Argent Bullet attack. The attack merely cracked the Ursa's dense armor, but it did take its attention for the moment Izuku needed to dash up close and deliver a devastating kick.

Boom! Ch-chhh!

His draconic strength having been augmented by the Empowering and Hastening Runes he had immediately cast on himself right after being sneak attacked went against all logic as it allowed him to send a monster over five times taller than him that had to weigh dozens, if not hundreds, of times more than him flying through several dead trees.

Roar!

The Ancient Ursa looked hardly any worse for wear as it came charging at Izuku before the dust had even settled. It sent tendrils of darkness through the air and summoned more pikes from the earth all the while as the armor Izuku had broken was slowly mended back together.

Of course, Izuku didn't just sit still and wait for the Ursa's attacks. He met it with an equally ferocious charge of his own as he used Argent Blasts and Bullets when he couldn't find an opportunity to dodge.

When minutes later, he realized that the fight wasn't going to be ending any time soon as the Ancient Ursa was capable of actively regenerating it's Health by the second and the fight had devolved once again into one of his usual endeavors against an army of monsters, Izuku's eyes narrowed as he considered assuming his Demon Dragon Form.

He wouldn't be running out of Stamina any time soon, but the constant use of his Argent Energy based Abilities would probably drain him dry before he managed to kill the Ancient Ursa while also fighting off all of the Grimm that had been drawn by the Grimm Pool's beacon of darkness.

As he was going over his potential options for ending the battle as soon as possible, Izuku recalled one of his newly created Abilities granted to him by gaining the Root of the Spirit System.

Sneaking…

He initially considered the idea he had formed a foolhardy endeavor given it was probably impossible to even attempt to make use of the stealth required in the middle of an active engagement against thousands of alerted enemies. But, he also had Level 40 Presence Concealment.

So… The next time he clashed with the Ancient Ursa, his use of another Shockwave Argent Blast kicked up a cloud of dirt and dust which he used to "hide in" and activate his First Magic. Or, rather, activate it again as he'd already gotten used to keeping it permanently active, but this time, with the purpose of concealing his physical presence and not the murderous demonic aura that served to terrify everyone Level 10 and above.

Immediately, the nature of Izuku's battle changed as all the "Lesser Grimm" that had been called forth from the Grimm Pool's summons instantly cowered to the sheer Evil Izuku started projecting. To their senses, it was like the second coming of the God of Darkness, their wrathful creator, and he couldn't even be seen.

The Ancient Ursa remained unaffected by Izuku's Aura, but Izuku did manage to escape from its senses as he leveraged his Agility to escape through the cloud of kicked-up dirt and dust. It didn't matter that the Ancient Ursa detected him mere fractions of a second later, as by then Izuku had delivered upon it another devastating punch that sent it flying.

By the time it had recovered, Izuku's form had escaped its sense again with another use of Presence Concealment for just long enough to attack it from its blind spot. Again, and again, and again… And, again until it eventually died, Izuku continued to land sneak attacks as he didn't have to deal with any other Grimm and could focus on killing the Ancient Ursa.

When he finally succeeded in vanquishing the undying beast, he let loose a calamity in the form of thousands of Argent Bullets against the sea of cowering monsters that surrendered to him willingly.

[You have gained +25,772,308 spendable Excelia.]

And just like that, Izuku became a "Level 5" Adventurer. All it had taken was for him to solo what the Dungeon World would consider a High Dungeon Outbreak. He had also gained enough spendable Excelia to power level some of his least costly Abilities by a decent margin. All in all, Izuku felt he had been more than rewarded for doing this good deed for the people of the Easternmost Vanguard Settlement.

He did not expect the reception he got when he noticed the group of four people that were looking in his direction about thirty meters away from where he'd gunned down the last of the Grimm.

'Ah, yes. What better way for me to introduce myself than to stand here before the corpses of thousands of dissipating monsters and the full extent of my Exposed Nature out for all to see? Maybe if Lady Luck wishes to spare me from total abandonment, I'll be able to convince these people that my unsettling aura was just a consequence of being Draconified. If I time the undoing of my Transformation right, there's got to be a chance… right?'

Wrong.

…

When I saw the darkness of the Grimm Poole exploding off in the distance, I accepted the fact that I would likely not live to see past this day. I can still remember the last time I saw one, back when I was six and my family had to flee the third iteration of our Easternmost Settlement.

I remember finding out days later that none of the Huntsmen that fought back against the Grimm Tide to cover our escape managed to survive. Even the few that managed to return to the current Easternmost Settlement of Kikuo, did so with such debilitating injuries that they died mere days afterward.

Their courage and sacrifice inspired me to become a Huntsman. But, even after decades of training myself to be the strongest of our group, I knew there was little if any chance that we'd be able to repel the hundreds or thousands of Grimm that soon show at our borders.

I ignored my fear and forced down the creep of hesitation that spurred at my heart. I needed to be the one to lead the Huntsmen that were currently stationed on our Settlement out to battle. I would welcome my death if it meant most of the people in Kikuo managed to escape further into our territory.

So, when we took off less than a minute after the alarm had gone off, I ran right behind our team's scout and recon specialist; James, a man with a Semblance that bore down on him with pressure the closer he was to anything that produced feelings of negativity. We began to grow nervous when our scouter had us stop and beads of sweat started cascading down his face.

James said, "I… I've never felt this much pressure before. There's… There's got to be thousands of them, tens of thousands even. And, and… They aren't even coming towards us! The pressure's only getting strong even as we just stand here and the Grimm are rushing left of us!"

"What? That doesn't make—" I stopped in shock at the look of utter terror that had appeared on our scouter's face before he promptly fainted.

'Impossible… I've been in fights against a horde of Alpha Beringels with him and even then he's barely strained by his Semblance with the support of his Aura. For him to have outright fainted without even entering combat…'

I grit my teeth and said, "Archie, you're the youngest of us here. Go and take him back. Ghira needs to know how bad the situation might be from him directly. The rest of us will try to investigate what's happening for a Grimm Tide to turn away from Kikuo."

"But—"

"No buts! Get your ass out of here already, kid." I turned to the rest of our group, my brothers and sisters who'd been through hell and back with me, and I said, "Everybody, move out."

After they all nodded solemnly, he continued towards the source of the Grimm Tide's attention. Within seconds, we found Grimms of all types, but they didn't so much as spare us a second look as they continued to rush to their destination.

'This is inconceivable,' I didn't doubt the rest of the group felt any different as it was unheard of for a Grimm to not attack their kind — Huntsmen — on sight.

And then, we found it.

The Dragon.

It fought against the army of Grimm that rushed him endlessly while fighting against a giant Ursa that dwarfed the second-largest I'd ever seen many times over. Its every punch and kick annihilated even the Alpha Grimm that refused to understand how futile their efforts were. It also fought with what seemed to be the Highest Grade Dust, to be shooting and blasting against its enemies, but I couldn't see the dragonoid holding any weapons.

This "battle" continued for many minutes as my team and I just watched gobsmacked from afar. I almost considered joining in on the side of the dragon if only to cut down against the endless swarm of Grimm that ensured this battle of attrition would continue so long as the massive Ursa continued to take the bulk of the dragon's attention.

But then, the Dragon revealed what I could at best describe was the whole of its killing intent projected by Aura and that instantly stop all the lesser Grimm. A minute later, after striking down the Ursa over and over, seemingly from nowhere each time, it finally killed the massive Grimm. And… A moment later, it had stopped, raised a finger, and atop that dreadful finger, bullet-like projectiles of dense orange-red light began to wipe out all of the cowering Grimm that awaited to be slaughtered.

In less than a minute, it killed them all.

A moment later, it looked in our direction, and with the full weight of its killing intent pressed down upon me, I understood that the end was nigh.

Another moment passed and saw a miracle.

The dragon… transformed into a Human. No, he turned into Faunus as no one would believe that anything but a Faunus could take on such intense nonhuman and draconic traits.

We weren't doomed. We'd been saved!

"Uh… Sorry about that. I kind of had to go all out there for a second to kill these monsters," our savior said, only further cementing his status in my mind as he'd deigned to speak to us.

"Y-you… Who are you?" Arnold asked. "I-I mean, I've heard of there being impossibly strong Huntsmen from outside of Menagerie, but… I've never heard of a dragon warrior like you, sir."

"A Huntsman? Are you blind? He's… He's clearly one of the Gods of legend!" Delia argued as her eyes sparkled with wonder and hope.

Her words cause most of us to pause. They had merit…

The man before us was impossibly strong. He could also shapeshift like the God of Animals and the Brother Gods were said to be capable of. And, he'd chosen to take on the form of a dragon, which was said to be the same form that the God of Darkness assumed before smiting down the first line of Humanity.

'Could he really—'

"What? I'm not a God," the man said. He then tilted his head as if to reconsider his words, before he shook his head and said, "I'm just man. Maybe a bit more powerful than most, but I'm still just a man."

"Yeah? Well, whatever you are, thank you for saving us from the Grimm Tide." Desmond said as he offered the man a bow. "If not for you, we would have lost both our lives and the settlement of Kikuo."

"Eh, don't mention it," the man shrugged as if to say that it was no bother. He smiled and asked, "Anyway, I'm kind of lost my way wandering around these Grimmlands, so could you guys take me back to wherever you came from?"

"Of course," I said.

"I just hope you stay long enough for us to welcome you as a Hero of Kikuo."