Chapter 6: The Fist Saint Damrada!

Snippet 1: Graviton

Disclaimer: I do not own the original setting.

Chapter 6: The Fist Saint Damrada!

There are 15 chapters ahead of my update schedule on p@treon.com/theogbasilisk

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- Altair -

Shizu continued with her lesson, with me paying partial attention and Yuuki eagerly asking questions. I'm sure he is quite interested in the Primordials, they will likely be in the way of his goal after all.

Though he likely already has some information on them, thanks to Kazalim being inside of him right now, he is likely just playing up the act of an innocent academic.

Fucking Yuuki.

I sighed, I had firmed up my resolve enough that I wasn't as afraid of ruining the future as I was when I first got to this world, but still, I knew the sheer difficulty of the task I had undertaken.

In the grand scheme of things I was weak, weaker than the fodder of the future Tenma War, I had a seriously long way to go if I wanted to make sure that Rimuru became a True Demon Lord.

Once Rimuru became a True Demon Lord, I could breath a sigh of relief. 

One thought that was always present in the back of my mind was that worst case worst, I could always trigger Chloe's Time Leap sending her back in time. So even if I fail and this version of me dies, it won't be the end of all of existence. I do know the condition of its activation after all, though that's only if the condition remains the same, I seriously hope it will remain the same.

But that brings me back to my original problem, strength. If I want to be able to do anything I want to accomplish, whether it is ensuring Demon Lord Rimuru is properly born, or even saving Shizu from her fate, I need strength.

Strength of will, mind, and body, each of them will be incredibly important.

There are many paths to gaining strength for Humans in this world, becoming an Enlightened is the only "proper" path however as becoming a Majin is heavily frowned upon.

The Majin Razen is only so well-respected due to his sheer history and repeatedly proving that his loyalty lies to Humanity.

Becoming a Majin would make things a bit more difficult for me so I'd rather not do that if possible, but it can always stay open as a last resort.

That leaves becoming an Enlightened, however the series never went in detail about how one becomes an Enlightened other than that it is through breaking a mental barrier and learning to think with one's Astral Body.

I had no idea how to even begin that process. The first step would probably be meditation as to think with my Astral Body I would need to be able to actually feel my Astral Body which is something I'm not really capable of.

Humans had it hard when it came to growing powerful.

But I still think that my first step should be getting powerful. Things will become drastically easier for me if I'm strong enough, this world works based on strength after all.

I could also try and make my way to the Dwelling of the Spirits to contract an Elemental.

Elementals could be very useful, Greater Elementals were Special-A Class on their own, Ifrit which was inside of Shizu was a Greater Elemental.

If I get contracted to a Greater Elemental of Light or Darkness and acquire Ramiris' Blessing then I would also meet the qualifications to be granted a Hero's Egg.

But the thing is it was never precisely specified where exactly the Dwelling of the Spirits is, not to mention that I doubt that I'd get contracted to either a Greater Elemental of Light or Darkness.

Millions, maybe trillions have tried, there's an entire Kingdom centered around contracting with an Elemental after all, and yet there were only every seven beings to acquire a Hero's Egg.

Rudra, the Hero of the Beginning, Granbell Rosso the Ruler of the Council of the West, Leon Cromwell, the Platinum Saber, Sarion Grimwald, the Elven Hero, and Hinata Sakaguchi, my future fellow student of Shizu.

Becoming a True Hero wasn't something on my mind, it was a very very long shot so it was best to focus on the things I was actually capable of doing.

I'd have to begin taking my training even more seriously, Shizu had said she would begin to teach me more finesse so that instead of throwing my sheer raw power at any of my opponents, I could gain similar results through expertly manipulating my raw power.

Back when I was facing the Medium Dragon, despite Wise Grimoire's sheer computational power, I still wasn't able to penetrate through its scales to land a decisive blow which was why I had to resort to Strategic Class Magic.

I had plenty of raw power, but the quality of my power was lesser than that of the Dragons.

In this world quality matters more than quantity, and the Dragon was a qualitatively higher being than I am.

I may be an Otherworlder and additionally I may be blessed to be a Demi-Material Lifeform granting me my own Magicule Capacity, but the Dragon was just… more.

It was a mythical creature for a reason. My Fighting Spirit just wasn't potent enough to pierce through its shell, no matter how much of it I poured into an attack.

I would need to work on improving the quality of my being.

Actually.

'Wise Grimoire, could you also come up with a way for me to get stronger?'

[Affirmative. Beginning analysis.]

I had of course asked Wise Grimoire something similar before, but it had said that it needed some more time to analyze the Cardinal World and the laws it functioned on, something All of Creation which allowed Wise Grimoire to comprehend anything as long as it had a basic understanding of it and it was perceivable.

It can be easy to forget, but Rimuru was stuck in Veldora's Cave for over 6 months, just eating and analyzing stuff.

During that time Great Sage likely gathered a font of information and was able to properly assist Rimuru after he left Veldora's Cave.

It seems that Wise Grimoire made some sort of breakthrough after my fight with the Medium Dragon. It can finally assist me in figuring out the most optimal training methods while optimizing my power usage even further.

With Wise Grimoire and Shizu's efforts hopefully I'll be able to get a little stronger soon enough.

I knew my so-called burden was something I chose, and perhaps I was being overly self-righteous, but I really felt I didn't have many options unless I wanted to just kill myself to get rid of any and all variables I may cause in the future.

But I wouldn't do that, I wanted to live after all.

So at the very least I should do my part in making sure my existence isn't the cause of a bad end, it's the least I can do.

"Altair, is my lesson that boring to you?" Asked an annoyed voice.

I snapped back to awareness and looked to Shizu. "Uhh, no no Shizu-sensei!"

She raised a brow at me. "Really? Then could you tell me what the Primordial of White, Blanc was recorded to look like?" Shizu asked.

Yuuki was looking at me with a teasing smirk, as if he didn't expect me to get the answer right.

Heh, luckily for me, I have canon knowledge on my side!

"She had white hair and red eyes." I responded instantly.

Shizu blinked. "Huh, I suppose you were paying attention then, well done Altair." Shizu praised as she went back to explaining more about each Primordial.

Now that I had a vague plan in mind I was eager to get to training, but first I had to defeat my nemesis… school.

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Shizu stood across from me, her rapier sheathed in its scabbard by her side.

"No swordsmanship today right?"

Shizu nodded. "Yes, if I wish to teach you finesse it is best to start with pure martial arts, once you are more capable, then we can begin working on adding more finesse to your swordsmanship."

I nodded. "Sounds good, so what do I do?"

"First watch me." Shizu said as she held out her fist in front of her.

A moment later Fighting Spirit blazed around her and coalesced on Shizu's fist, which was a sublime way of showing me just how far her control over her own power stretched.

Shizu firmly placed her right foot behind her and punched forward releasing all of the condensed Fighting Spirit in a single moment.

The air practically shattered under Shizu's Fighting Spirit. I looked to the other side of the training field where a wall isolated us from the public and noticed the wall had a small indent in it.

"Huh, I would have thought that would do more damage."

The walls surrounding the training field were tough, but not that tough.

"Fufu, why don't you go look at the other side?" Shizu said.

I tilted my head but followed what she said nonetheless.

I bent my knees and jumped forward, expelling some Fighting Spirit from the soles of my feet to get an extra boost and appeared on the other side of the wall where Shizu's attack had struck.

My eyes widened as I saw the other side of the wall had a gaping hole in it, yet the other side barely looked damaged at all.

Did Shizu really control her Fighting Spirit to that extent when it wasn't even inside of her body anymore?

This kinda reminds me of when Sasuke and Naruto used Chidori and Rasengan, and Sasuke saw that Naruto's Rasengan was able to do much more damage.

The amount of control Shizu must have had to do this is honestly impressive.

She's been around for decades though so I guess it does make sense.

'Wise Grimoire, can I do something similar?' 

[Affirmative. With Wise Grimoire's assistance it is possible.]

Huh, neat.

I gently floated myself upwards with Graviton and landed in front of Shizu. "I see what you mean now."

Shizu's lips curled upwards. "Good, having enough control over your power, even once it has already left your body can be more valuable than raw power alone. I had heard of a Champion in the Eastern Empire that could inject his Fighting Spirit into his enemies through his punches. The Fighting Spirit would then rampage within his opponent's body swiftly killing them."

"That's possible?!" If you can inject your power into someone's body and still maintain some control over it then you have a very deadly weapon in your hands.

Shizu nodded. "It is. The Masked Hero Chronoa was also capable of such extraordinary feats." Shizu said with a fond smile. 

Shizu shook her head. "Now I will teach you as my teacher taught me, the first step is to learn how to inject your intent into your Fighting Spirit so that even after your Fighting Spirit has left your body it still follows the will you instilled into it."

That was relatively simple to understand, but I had a feeling that doing it in practice is a lot more difficult than it sounds.

Thankfully I could cheat with Wise Grimoire, it may have been a Skill specialized in controlling Magic, but it did have All of Creation as a sub-skill as well which I could draw upon.

With All of Creation I was able to understand things far better than I could have ever dreamed of, though I doubted that All of Creation would be able to assist me in understanding the Laws of the World, something of the Ultimate level.

"Here, I will show you what I mean." Shizu held one of her fingers forward and gathered some Fighting Spirit before releasing it in a straight line, however just before it was about to hit the border of the training area it turned 90° to the right, grazing past the wall.

"I had imbued my intent for it to avoid the wall and turn just before it would hit the wall." Shizu explained.

I nodded. "I see, I think I get it."

Now that I was actively using All of Creation I saw just how Shizu did what she did.

I closed my eyes and focused on gathering some Fighting Spirit in my now extended finger.

Moments later I released it in a straight line, and much to my happiness it turned 90° to the left before hitting the wall.

"Nice!"

When I turned to look at Shizu she was looking at me wide eyed. "Th-That was extraordinary Altair. It took me weeks to do what you just had and I had the Masked Hero teaching me."

Ah, was that supposed to be super hard?

"Ah, well I have an ability that allows me to comprehend things quickly." I told a quick white lie.

I didn't want many people knowing about Wise Grimoire, it was basically my cheat code for this world, as long as it had time to develop it would grow incredibly powerful.

While I trusted Shizu I had no idea if someone was monitoring this training ground, or even when we were in private I didn't know if we were being monitored.

Perhaps I was being too paranoid, but in this world that much is necessary to survive in my opinion.

Shizu squinted her eyes at me. "I see, I will not ask why you had not shared this with me before, I am sure you had your reasons, but now that I know this perhaps I will be able to accelerate your training." Shizu said as a what I would call demonic smirk appeared on her face.

For some reason I shivered.

Shizu's smile slowly returned to normal as she sighed in fond remembrance. "This does remind me of something the Masked Hero once said."

"Hmm? What did she say?"

I couldn't hide my curiosity, I knew just who the Masked Hero was, two legends who would become unstoppable forces of nature, even if one would clearly surpass the other, why wouldn't I want to know more about them?

"She had once mentioned that she had a very close friend that was just like you, picking things up in an instant, putting even the Masked Hero to shame in her own words." 

Huh, maybe she was speaking about Rimuru? He would pick stuff up very quickly, I remember he ate Hinata's Melt Slash with Beelzebuth and was immediately able to recreate Melt Slash. Honestly the abilities he had synergized so well together that it was unfair.

Shizu then leaned forwards and began whispering. "Don't tell anyone but from the way Chronoa spoke about her friend I'm fairly certain that this friend was far special to her. Chronoa was always pretty serious and detached, but when she spoke about that friend she would show a smile unlike any I have ever seen. It makes me wonder just what kind of person could get so close to her."

Yeah, definitely Rimuru then.

Shizu sighed. "Now that I look back on it, I feel like we were bound to separate no matter what, Chronoa was always so cold and detached with the world around us back then, even though I could tell she cared she would stop herself from getting too attached to anything, even me." Shizu smiled sadly.

"I'm sure she had her reasons, besides she may have looked like a stone cold killer but I'm sure she cared for you, why else would she pass on her mask to you? That's practically her legacy and she hasn't been seen since then." 

Only I knew just how true my words were at this point in time.

Shizu's lips curled upwards. "You really are a good boy Altair."

I could feel the blood rush to my face, Shizu is an attractive woman and while I had some experience even I had a debuff against older woman, probably.

"Fufu, how cute." 

"Chronoa also confided in me that her friend seemed to have a great burden on his shoulders, and that he was always hesitant to ask for help, always thinking he had to do everything on his own." I froze as I took that in.

That seemed way too specific.

I'm likely just thinking too much into things, that description fits Rimuru quite well now that I think about it. Rimuru had a great burden on his shoulders, he had a whole Kingdom he had to govern over, I'm sure that's stressful as hell, having all those lives you're responsible for.

I know I wouldn't want that burden.

"Part of what she said reminds me of you Altair." Shizu continued. "Just know if you ever need someone to lean on, I will always be there." Shizu said with an almost… loving smile on her face.

Did she really already care for me that much? I wasn't sure what to think with that information.

Shizu tilted her head. "But it seems I'm getting a bit too off track, come we have more training to do my young apprentice."

I sighed. "Alright."

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I grunted as I continued practicing my katas in the training grounds available to me. I was pretty good at swordsmanship but if I wanted to improve I needed to train, I couldn't rely on Wise Grimoire's efforts for everything, I had to put some effort in too.

I kept swinging my sword for 30 or so more minutes before I was interrupted.

"Hey Altair!" I sighed as I turned to the voice.

"Yuuki." I nodded.

"Aww, why so cold Altair? We've known each other for so long now!" I rolled my eyes at Yuuki's words.

This man's shamelessness knew no bounds.

I sighed once again. "What do you need, Yuuki, I'm training."

Yuuki laughed. "Yeah, sorry to interrupt you, it looks like I caught you in a grumpy mood, but one of my friends wanted to meet you after I told him a bit of your tale." Yuuki said with a teasing smirk.

"My tale?" I had no tale to speak of.

"Oh don't be like that, you're probably the youngest dragon slayer to exist and you've only gotten stronger since then. You may not know it but rumors have already been spreading despite the Mutual Aid Association covering for the environmental terrorism you did." Yuuki said.

I winced at the reminder of the damage I did, but what's done is done.

Now just who could Yuuki want me to meet? If they are a friend of his then I'm sure they are bad news.

It's probably best if I just reject him.

"I don't have the time right now, Yuuki."

Yuuki sighed. "Fine fine, I won't push you, but are you sure? You may gain something out of this, the guy who wants to meet you has quite a lot of resources at his disposal, being on his good side could help you out, I'm only trying to look out for you."

I held myself back from laughing when Yuuki said he was looking out for me.

"Fine, who is it you want me to meet?" I asked out of curiosity.

"He's a friend of mine and a merchant." My heart practically froze hearing Yuuki.

"His name is Damrada." Yuuki continued. 

Fuck, and Yuuki said that Damrada, number 002 of the Single Digits is interested in me?! 

I have no idea if that is good or bad, I'm leaning towards bad. The man won't be malicious towards me from what I know of him, however he is loyal to Yuuki, if Yuuki wants me offed then Damrada would try to arrange my death. Thankfully I'm pretty sure he wouldn't act himself since he is keeping his true power concealed.

Now how should I deal with this? I feel like this issue would not go away if I just reject Yuuki, it would just make Yuuki annoyed which would probably cause me issues later down the line, and if Yuuki's words about Damrada being interested with me are true, then I doubt he would accept rejection just like that.

Damrada's goal is to scout powerful people so that Emperor Rudra can be killed if he loses himself to his Ultimate Skill: Michael, Lord of Justice, though little does Damrada know that Rudra is already on the verge of losing himself.

I think I should at least meet Damrada, once he figures out that I probably won't be useful in his quest to find someone powerful enough to slay Rudra he'll probably leave me alone, though I'll let Shizu know as a form of insurance.

Hopefully if Yuuki knows I told Shizu about my whereabouts he would be a bit more careful about allowing something to happen to me, though this is a very weak measure in the end.

If Yuuki tells Shizu that we were attacked and that I died, with his acting ability Shizu would probably buy it, she just wanted to see the best in her students.

"Alright fine, I'll come with you, though let me let Shizu know about where I'm heading."

Yuuki smiled. "Great! I'll wait for you at the main gate."

I nodded. "Got it."

As I made my way over to where Shizu should have been I considered what sort of stance I should take in this upcoming meeting.

I already expected Yuuki to have told Damrada everything he knew about me, but honestly Damrada was a valuable resource if I could navigate my interactions with him right, he should have plenty information, some minor advice from him could be groundbreaking for others, the man was a Complete Saint and was one of the oldest Saints alive.

If I played things right perhaps I could learn a few tips and tricks from him, of course there are risks in this as well.

Attracting the attention of the Fist Saint had mostly ups, for one if he was interested in me in a good way he would have some interest in making sure I was safe and grew stronger which was an extra layer of protection.

As long as he believed that I could have a part to play in defeating Emperor Rudra if he lost himself to Michael it would be in Damrada's best interest that I grow, however the downside is that he may thrust me into dangerous situations leaving me to either sink or swim.

If I can thrive with his machinations then good for me, if not well then… that's the risk. Of course all this is under the assumption that he doesn't brush me off.

In the end I already made my choice, it might be right, it might be wrong, I know I'm not being as cautious as I usually am but what I need most right now is to get stronger, that isn't going to happen without some risk to myself.

I knocked on the door to Shizu's office. "Come in Altair."

I opened the door and walked in, Shizu seemed to be going over our lesson plans, she didn't teach us the basic things like history, math, and all the other less combat useful subjects, but she did teach us the things that would be useful in the life of an Adventurer, for example telling us about the Primordials and that they are not to be fucked with.

"Did you need anything?" Shizu asked as she looked up from her desk at me.

"Yeah, I was just letting you know that I'm going out with Yuuki to meet a merchant friend of his."

Shizu raised a brow. "I see? I do not see how you needed to inform me of this however, this is your free time and you are free to do what you wish."

I shrugged my shoulders. "Better safe than sorry, it's best if someone knows where I am in case something happens."

Shizu sighed. "You are such a paranoid boy, but very well, have fun."

I nodded. As I was leaving I spoke up. "If you aren't paranoid enough in this world then you're doing something wrong."

As I closed the door behind me I heard Shizu mutter, "Too true."

It didn't take me long to reach the main gate of the academy. "Over here Altair!" I heard Yuuki shout from my left.

Once I approached him Yuuki smiled. "Come on, Damrada is already waiting."

I nodded and followed Yuuki from behind.

Yuuki slowed down to match pace with me. "So what's been going on with you Altair? You've become a training maniac lately."

I tilted my head, I already had an excuse ready for Yuuki. "My encounter with the Medium Dragon has shown me that I'm not strong enough."

"Pfft! If you're not strong enough then most of Humanity isn't strong enough." Yuuki laughed.

"Perhaps we can talk more about that with Damrada, he may not be a fighter but he's a smart man who has a vast understanding of this world." Yuuki said.

"I bet."

It was rather amusing to think that Damrada and Yuuki should have known each other for a long time at this point, before coming to the Western Nations it was mentioned that Yuuki established a criminal organization in the Eastern Empire with Damrada's help, and yet even after so long Yuuki did not know of Damrada's true strength, or his intentions.

Yuuki really wasn't as smart as he thought he was.

It didn't take us long to arrive at a small cafe, as Yuuki and I walked in I immediately spotted Damrada in the corner of the cafe.

I focused my senses on him and wasn't surprised when he simply seemed to be a normal Human, a weak Human.

He could seriously conceal his power to masterful levels, to the point that I couldn't even tell he was a Saint when Saints are practically entirely different beings from normal Humans.

"That's Damrada." Yuuki stated.

I nodded. Yuuki led us to the table Yuuki sat next to me, placing the both of us across from Damrada.

Damrada smiled at me, but I couldn't help but think of it as a smile full of deception. Why were there so many manipulators around me?

"You must be Altair." Damrada began.

I nodded as a waitress came and served us tea. 

"I took the initiative to order everyone tea, feel free to order something else if you wish, it's on me." Damrada said.

"Haha I won't say no to free food." Yuuki responded.

"I won't either." I added.

I took a look at the menu and gave the waitress my order before looking back at Damrada.

"I've heard quite a bit about you from Yuuki, Altair." Damrada said.

I held back a groan as I gave Yuuki a look. I expected it but that didn't mean I wasn't annoyed.

Yuuki shrugged his shoulders. "What? I can't not brag that I know the famous Altair." Yuuki said with a flare of his arms.

I raised a brow. "I'm not that famous."

Sure slaying a Dragon was pretty impressive to the Humans in the West, but I didn't think I made that much noise.

"On the contrary, people are already talking about you being a future Champion, and Hero." Damrada added.

My lips twitched as I took in what Damrada said. Being known as a Hero really wasn't a good thing for those too weak for it.

Masayuki could get by due to his Chosen One bullshit that just made the world work in his favor, but I didn't have his plot armor, and Destined Guide was being silent as usual right now.

Being known as a Hero is nothing but bad news for those who are too weak. There is an inherent… status to being known as a Hero, even by the public as the Voice of the World will recognize the public's opinion similar to mass namings where Non Humans can be named due to the public giving them a name like Orthos and to some extent Guy Crimson though his situation was a bit different.

Guy heard the screams of the people he was massacring, "Gii" and thought their screams were pleasant so he made that his name which the Voice of the World recognized.

Being recognized as a Hero by the public will put causality into effect, all Heroes are fated to have a fated Demon Lord as well.

Guy Crimson and Rudra, Luminous and Granbell, Leon and Kazalim, Hinata and Rimuru or Chloe and Rimuru, or Chloe and Milim since I recall in another timeline Chloe and Milim were close. Those are all the pairings I'm aware of.

It's not like the other Demon Lords couldn't have already killed their fated counterparts, or perhaps their fated counterparts just haven't been born yet.

Fate always acts mysteriously around Heroes and Demon Lords which can get a Hero or Demon Lord killed like in Kazalim's case.

"I don't think I'm fit to be a Hero." I laughed out.

Damrada raised a brow. "No one does until they have already become one."

"Oh? You sound like you know one?"

Damrada steeled his expression. "Hoho, how could a simple merchant such as I know such distinguished figures."

I shrugged my shoulders. "I suppose that's true."

Yuuki took a bite of the pastry that he was served before looking at me. "So back to the earlier question I asked you Altair, why is it that you want to be strong? Everyone has a reason for what they do, so you must also have a reason."

I debated on whether I should answer honestly.

In the end I decided to mostly tell the truth, just not tell the entire truth and perhaps mix some falsehoods in as well. I didn't think I'd be able to lie completely to a man of Damrada's calibur.

"Why shouldn't I want to be strong in this dog eat dog world? Only by becoming strong can I really matter, we live in a world where a Demon Lord can do whatever they wish and most Kingdoms will have trouble protesting depending on which Demon Lord, we live in a world where strength reigns supreme, wanting to be weak in this world is basically suicide."

Those were my honest thoughts.

Any sufficiently strong being could quite literally do whatever they want as long as they don't step on the toes of anyone stronger than them.

Who's going to protest when a man like Guy Crimson personally appears in a Kingdom and demands their princess or something, he wouldn't do anything as pointless as that but the point still stands, the strong can do whatever they want, something that is the same in many other worlds where strength and power is tangible.

Even discounting someone as powerful as Guy Crimson, even if only a Saint wants something in the Western Nations, they'll get it.

There are barely any people able to fight off a Saint at this point in time, and even fewer who will actually fight them as long as the Saint doesn't cause too much trouble.

What can a politician do when their Kingdom is wiped off the map by some transcendent overpowered being?

"For one who has not resided in this world long, you truly have grasped the truth of this world rather quickly." Damrada said with an approving nod.

Yuuki nodded. "That is true, this world that we live in is truly… unjust. There is no fairness, there is no justice, those who are too weak are merely left behind by everyone else." Yuuki said as he clenched his fists.

I'm sure that resonated a lot with Yuuki, if I remember his backstory right in his original world his parents were killed by an overworked truck driver. The company of the truck driver was making the man go overboard so he wasn't able to properly navigate the truck, and so Yuuki's parents became casualties, mere statistics.

Yuuki didn't blame the truck driver, no he wanted justice to be served to the company that overworked the truck driver, yet he wouldn't get what he wanted, the company was let go with some minor fines. In that moment something changed in Yuuki, he wanted to make sure something like that never happened to anyone else. He wanted to create a world where people could truly live and rely on justice to serve those who are in the right, he wanted a world where he and his friends could laugh happily.

Even after Yuuki was summoned to this world by a desperate Kazalim, that goal of his never changed.

On paper Yuuki's goal really does sound good, a world where there is no injustice, where as long as everyone is a decent person they can live happily sounds great. However in practice that is practically impossible to accomplish, at least in this world, and most others as well.

Still I didn't voice my opinion. "Yeah, this world isn't the best, but it's the one we got, we have to do the best with what we have, right?"

Damrada nodded with an approving smile on his face. "Right you are Altair. Only those of supreme willpower can stand a chance to brave the tides of this world, it may be an unfair one, but it is the one we have."

I'm sure Damrada knows that better than anyone. He was part of the Eastern Empire back when it was conquering their neighboring Kingdoms left and right, through sheer tyranny the Eastern Empire grew into the superpower it is today.

I smiled at the server who placed my plate in front of me, though for some reason she blushed when she looked at me.

I looked down at the food. "Oh wow, this looks good."

Damrada nodded. "This is a very highly reviewed cafe, dig in."

"But what if it was possible to change that?" Yuuki asked as I took a bite of my food.

"Change what?" I asked.

"To change the world, to make it something… better."

Ah, is he going to give his shonen speech about his dream and everything?

"I don't know if it is possible to change that Yuuki." I responded as I finished chewing.

"But what if it was, what if someone managed to take over the world and create true justice, a world where everything was fair, a world where people didn't have to worry about being unlucky or dying to a random Monster attack." Yuuki said with conviction.

If I could say one positive thing about Yuuki, it was that he truly believed in his dream, he may resort to shady measures for it, but his dream itself was admirable if not idealistic.

I gave Damrada a side eye, that did sound like the goals of a certain man that Damrada served.

I sighed, perhaps I was going to say too much. "I don't think something like that is possible Yuuki, that sounds like what the Eastern Empire is doing, they clearly want to gain as much territory as possible for their own ends."

"If it's for a good reason then don't the means justify the ends?" Yuuki stated.

I shrugged my shoulders. "I guess it depends on the person, some would say yes, others would say no, personally I don't mind resorting to certain less than moral methods as long as I don't feel disgusted with myself afterwards."

Yuuki nodded. "That's fair enough."

"It sounds like you truly wish for a world of justice, Yuuki." Damrada said as a fond reminiscing smile grew on his face. "Many have tried, and many have failed."

They were likely putting on a show for me since by this point Damrada should already know of Yuuki's goals, though that didn't mean the emotion behind their words was false.

Yuuki grimaced. "I don't know if something like that is possible but…" Yuuki turned to look at me. "That is my dream Altair, to create a world where everything is fair."

I raised a brow. "So you want a world of justice then? A world where everything is fair and justice is served to everyone."

I wasn't quite sure why Yuuki was sharing his dream with me, but I don't think it's a big deal. Everyone has dreams, he probably doesn't expect me to think much into it, and it's not like he is recruiting me or anything, he likely just wants the input of someone else, someone who can offer an outside perspective.

Yuuki nodded firmly. "That's right."

"Your goal… it would require you to have some form of control over the world and some way to distribute justice to everyone equally, something like that won't come easy, not to mention the moral implications, who are you to decide what is and isn't wrong in the first place?"

Yuuki shook his head. "I may be wrong, I may be right, but in the end I know something is broken in this world, I want to fix it, even if it's only a small village, I want to create a place where people can be truly happy."

I sighed. "In the end you would be forcing your justice onto everyone else. In the end what is absolute justice, is it not as bad as tyranny and injustice?"

Damrada gasped as he heard me. I looked at him weirdly before looking back at Yuuki.

Yuuki looked thoughtful. "Perhaps, but in the end that is my dream." 

I shrugged my shoulders as I finished my tea and food.

Once that was done I stood up. "It was nice to meet you Damrada, and thanks for bringing me here Yuuki, but I'm off now."

Damrada stood up and offered me his hand. Once I shook his hand he smiled. "It is nice meeting you as well Altiar. I have a feeling we may see more of each other in the future."

Now that's off putting.

"See you Altair." Yuuki said as he took a bite of his food.

I nodded. "Right… see ya."

- Damrada -

He watched as Altair left the cafe with a growing smile on his face. "What is absolute justice? Is it not as bad as tyranny and injustice?" Damrada repeated the words of the young man who he was beginning to see as someone with tremendous potential. "Pfft! Hahahaha!" He couldn't hold back his laughter.

Yuuki looked at him weirdly. "Is something the matter Damrada?"

He shook his head. "It's nothing, his words just reminded me of something a friend of mine once said."

He remembered the words of Rudra from that day so long ago well.

"Perhaps my ideals were wrong from the start? What is absolute justice? Is it not as evil as tyranny and injustice?" Rudra sighed.

He shook his head, now wasn't the time for reminiscing. "He's quite an interesting young man, Yuuki." Damrada said to the man he pledged his loyalty to, something he had only done twice in this life.

Yuuki nodded. "Yeah, I was able to figure out his Skill has something to do with manipulating gravity, something with tremendous potential, even Kazalim agrees."

One of the General's right hand men in the Eastern Empire had a similar Skill, one that allowed him to exert force upon another being, which could somewhat mimic the effects of gravitational manipulation, through that Skill alone he would be the equivalent of a Special-A, or Disaster Class individual in the Western Nations.

"That is quite impressive." He said. The ability to manipulate a force like gravity was truly powerful if it was trained properly. In Damrada's opinion Altair had enough potential to eventually reach the level of a Single Digit, and one of the higher level ones too.

Each Single Digit was a Saint at minimum and were the personal guards of Emperor Rudra, he himself was Number 002, formerly Number 001 before Lieutenant Kondou rose through the ranks.

Each Single Digit was also rewarded with Alternative, an ability at the Ultimate level which increased one's combat power drastically.

"What are your plans for him Yuuki?" Damrada asked, he knew Yuuki well enough that he brought Altair here for a reason.

"First, what is your measure of him?" Yuuki asked.

Damrada raised a brow but answered nonetheless. "He seems to be a young man with potential. He is aware of how this world works and seeks to push himself to the top."

It was a fairly lackluster analysis but it was still true. Altair was able to learn more about this world than most did in their entire lifetimes, and he had decided to take advantage of how skewed the world was in favor of the strong to one day become one of the "strong" himself.

Damrada couldn't fault the boy for it, who did not want to be respected and revered. The strong got what they wanted in this world, life was easy and satisfying for those at the top.

Even poser Demon Lords like Clayman, Frey, and Carrion lived in absolute luxury, and they were incredibly weak, lesser ranks of the Imperial Guard could defeat them let alone the fact that those three would lose to all the Single Digits in an instant.

Yuuki nodded to his assessment. "I think that's true. I was able to find out that Shizu-sensei just happened upon him once Altair appeared in this world, since then she has shown a clear fondness for him that surpasses her care for her other students according to my research."

"The Conqueror of Flames hmm?" He muttered.

He was able to find out quite a bit about Shizu, he knew that she was once taken in by the Masked Hero Chronoa, and he knew she was an otherworlder summoned by Leon Cromwell.

She was quite powerful as well, stronger than the poser Demon Lords at the very least.

"Altair would be a useful ally to have, he has grown quite strong fairly quickly, his martial arts are a match for my own and he is able to use his gravitational abilities in efficient ways in the midst of combat to provide him a subtle advantage."

Damrada raised a brow. "He is able to rival your martial arts? That is impressive."

Yuuki was not as good as he was when it came to combat, however Yuuki was stronger than most of the Imperial Guardians, his martial arts alone would take him quite far in the military of the Eastern Empire, and Altair can match that?

"I'm not quite sure what direction to go in with Altair just yet, I will be watching him for some time then come to a decision."

Damrada nodded. "Very well."

He had taken an interest of his own in Altair. Yuuki's Anti-Skill still had the largest chance of catching Emperor Rudra off guard and dispatching him should Michael corrupt him, however splitting his eggs into multiple baskets was only logical.

Altair was only at the beginning of his journey, Damrada was eager to see where he would go in this treacherous world of theirs.

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Author's Note:

Hello everyone, another chapter of Graviton. This chapter is more about showing what kind of efforts Altair has put forth now that he has steeled his resolve.

Yuuki is of course interested in Altair, Altair has shown a clear willingness to grow stronger and sees what is wrong with the world, that's someone Yuuki could see as an ally and even a friend. Damrada is also quite interested, that guy needs all the allies he can get if he wants to jump Rudra.

Anyways, thanks for reading, peace.

Thanks to @Salante and @Flowerman for beta'ing this chapter.

Also, you guys should check out @BonVoyage Tensura fic, it's pretty damn good.