The Labyrinth City (VI)

[Update!

Abilities

Open Mind (Level Calculating… → 25)]

It took a few hours, but eventually, Izuku felt the mind-expanding process of his Open Mind Ability stabilize after it had left him with a deep pool of calming energy in his head. By then, he had already returned to the 18th Floor of the Dungeon to train his Presence Suppression Ability away from the people on the Surface. He didn't want to be a potential nuisance to Ouranos for any longer than was strictly necessary.

So, he remained on the 18th Floor and practiced using Presence Suppression over and over again until his reserves were almost completely empty. When they were restored in full after about an hour, the cycle would repeat. Again and again and again… Until many weeks passed and one day, he approached a lone Adventurer on the 15th Floor and they didn't break down into hysterics.

Izuku checked his Status and smiled.

[Status

Title: The Gamer

Level: 105

Name: Izuku Midoriya

Stats

Health: 100%

Stamina: 100%

Argent Energy: 100%

Magic: 100%

Magic Skill Slots: 2/3

Strength: 185

Constitution: 136

Dexterity: 104

Agility: 170

Intelligence: 127

Wisdom: 157

Will: 73

Charisma: 95]

[Abilities

MAXED: Walking, Running, Calisthenics, Weight Lifting, Resolution, Sprinting, Draconification

Primary School Academics (Level 95)

High School Academics (Level 36)

Analysis (Level 51)

Writing (Level 10)

Drawing (Level 21)

Cooking (Level 2)

Observe (Level 30)

Martial Arts (Level 75 → 91 | Styleless)

Argent Energy Core (Level 30)

Argent Energy Manipulation (Level 42 → 44)

Argent Energy Resistance (Level 55)

Rune Smithing (Level 24 → 27)

Castable Runes

Rune Casting (Seal): 33% Total Argent Energy Reserves is sacrificed to apply Sealing Runes that are capable of sealing off aspects about its target at your discretion. Against a living target "Seal off" aspects of their Abilities to reduce their baseline levels after any abilities they might possess augments their overall power by 10% for 3 minutes; this effect exponentially decreases against enemies that are more than fifty Levels above the total between your personal Level and that of this Ability against that of your enemy. Against an object or your surrounding environment, you can seal them off temporarily against the effects of time for a period of ten seconds.

Demon Dragon Transformation (Level 23)

Demon Blood (Level 17)

Argent Bullet (Level 20 → 25)

Argent Blast (Level 15 → 22)

Argent Construct ( Level 1 | Rod)

Demonic Inhuman Training (Level 1 → 5)

Open Mind (Level 25 → 30)

Magic Energy Manipulation (Level 1 → 33)

Alteration Magic: Presence Suppression (Level 1 → 40): Actively, the use of this Ability expends 1% of your Magic Reserves to quadruple the effects of your passive concealment for ten-minute increments.

Sabotage Magic: Invoke Calamity (Level 1)

New Abilities!

Mystical Inhuman Training (Level 1): Uses a negligible amount of Magic to recover from extreme forms of training and further transform the body into that of a mystical entity. Grants +2 Intelligence per Level, +1 Constitution per Level, +1 Agility per 2 Levels, and +1 Will and Charisma per 3 Levels

Mystic Dragon Transformation (Level 1 | This Skill can not regress further and be lost): Activates an energy source — Magic works best — to transform the body into that of a Mystic Dragon.

Effective Cost 1: 80% of total Magic Reserves per minute to sustain this transformation.

Effective Cost 2: 50% of total Stamina Reserves per ten minutes to sustain this transformation.

Modifiers

(World Effect) Variable/Pending: You have not met the requirements for this Ability to be effected by this World's many potential World Effects.]

[New Perks!

Speed of Thought: For surpassing 100 Dexterity, you have gained the Unique Ability to react as quickly as you can think and process information. This Ability scales directly with your overall Physical Stats and Intelligence.

Eidetic: For surpassing 100 Intelligence, you have gained the Unique Ability of being able to remember anything you have seen and comprehended once. Non-Physical Abilities no longer regress at all. Knowledge-dependant Abilities improve many times faster; the specific rate depends on your potential talent for each possible Ability.

Collected: For surpassing 100 Wisdom, you have gained the Unique Ability to almost maintain a base level of unconscious calm. The rate at which you restore all most forms of Energy — Stamina notwithstanding — is permanently doubled.]

[New Curses!

Limited Magic: Because you unlocked Magic through the systems of power used in the Dungeon World, you yourself are now limited by those very same systems. You will only be capable of possessing a limited number of Magical Abilities. Additionally, you will also only be capable of creating new Magical Abilities by using Grimoires or experiencing a "Level Up" through the Falna of a God or Goddess.]

'Finally… I can return to civilization,' Izuku thought as he raced up the Dungeon. He might have felt better if it was his civilization that he would be returning to, but after weeks without any meaningful human contact, he'd take anything at this point.

Izuku would need to constantly be recasting his Presence Suppression Ability to maintain his desired effect, but that was not an issue when he regenerated Magic faster than the permanent active use of the Ability required. He was glad he had Eidetic as one of his news Perks as it would probably keep him from forgetting the issue.

So… About seven or so weeks after he'd been dropped in Orario. After nearly a year since he could last remember… Izuku found himself once more walking alongside dozens of people as they went about their everyday lives.

Sure, every other person he passed was geared for battle and the overwhelming majority of the people around him probably couldn't even tell he was there if they didn't look at him directly. But, at least he could now openly seek to join a Familia and be one step closer to finding the next Gamer System Fragment.

Gurgle, Mooaaannnn…

But first, he'd treat himself to a restaurant meal.

'Now that I think about it, it makes absolutely no sense that I managed to improve my Physical Stats and max out my normal Physical Abilities when my diet has only consisted of Dungeon Fruits and Berries the entire time I've been here. You know what… I can live with believing it was due to magical nonsense or something along the same lines. I'm too hungry for a well-cooked meal to care…'

…

I entered an establishment that Observe had described to be one of the best places to eat in the entire city. I was apparently "a bit on the more expensive side of the spectrum," but I was a billionaire; in other words, it shouldn't really matter.

"Welcome to the Hostess of Fertility, nya!" A cat girl greeted me within seconds. She led me to a stall before the bar and left me with a menu.

"Hoho, It's always nice to see a new face!" A massive mountain of a woman said as she approached me from the other side of the bar. "Most of the time it's just the same Adventurers, you know?"

"Really? Well, I'd be more than happy to become one of your regulars if the food here is as good as I've heard," Izuku said. He then paused in mild shock at the fact that he'd managed to respond without the usual air of awkwardness that followed him.

'Could it be because of the development of my Charisma, from all the Magic Manipulation training I did? Probably not…' He knew it was likely just a fluke.

"You hear that, girls?" The bartender grinned as she yelled to the cooks in the back, "We've got a nice young man to impress!" She then asked Izuku, "So what will you be having?"

"I'm starving so… Give me the two best dishes of the house."

"One Pasta Deluxe, one Surf & Turf Fried Rice, coming right up," the bartender called out.

As Izuku waited for his food to be prepared, he killed the time by admiring the interior of the restaurant. While he was going about that, he inadvertently overheard something that drew in his attention.

"—Lady Amaterasu. We're not even sure if we have enough money to fully establish ourselves within Orario, so I cannot in good faith waste our tight funds on such a frivolous luxury."

"Oh, come on now, brother. It's just one meal." When the man she spoke to just leveled a flat stare at the Celestial Sun Goddess of Shintoism, she pouted. "I refuse to believe it will make any significant difference, Susanoo…"

"Believe what you want, I won't spend a single coin on a restaurant meal until I've at least managed to induct a person into my Familia. I recommend you do the same," said the God of Storms.

"Pleeease?" Amaterasu begged.

"No." Susanoo denied.

"But I'm hungry!" Amaterasu threw up her hands in exasperation.

"You're a Goddess. You won't die from a bit of hunger." Susanoo coldly said.

And it was at that point, where Amaterasu looked like she was about to cry that Izuku's nature compelled him to finally act. He stood up from his stall and approached the entrance, earning him a guarded look from the bartender and all the waiters.

He ignored their suspicion and stopped before crossing outside the restaurant, and called out to the two Shinto Gods. "I can pay for you both," he said as he rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Where I'm from, it'd be a neat story to tell that I paid for two Shinto Gods' meals." He had already confirmed with Observe that they were the real deal.

"Really?! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Amaterasu said as she literally jumped and hugged him. The juxtaposition between her behavior, her Status, and her appearance as that of a beautiful black-haired red-eyed woman only served to confuse Izuku.

"Are you serious? Why waste your money on us? You do know that we're not going to repay you, right?" Susanoo said.

"I'm pretty sure I have more money than I could ever hope to spend on myself," Izuku admitted. He'd never admitted it, but the fact that they were Japanese Gods, or at least gods that originated from Japan in his home world, played a part in getting him to listen in on their conversation.

"You're rich?!" Amaterasu said as her eyes sparkled. "Oh, what I wouldn't give to have a rich man in my Familia!" She then lost her enthusiasm as her eyes bore into Izuku and she further said, "It's too bad someone as strong as you is probably already taken…"

"I'm actually not a part of any Familia," Izuku said, causing the eyes of most to shift toward him.

The Gods were in shock at the fact that they knew he was telling the truth. Most of the Adventures were either surprised by his apparent stupidity for loudly claiming to be both rich and not an Adventurer — weak and vulnerable. While the others made up the unscrupulous bunch that were already scheming plans for how they'd get him to cough up his wealth.

"Why?" Susanoo asked. "Why are you not part of a Familia?" He specified.

"Would you believe me if I said it's because I haven't had the time to ask? I was actually planning on asking to meet Loki and ask her to explain the process to me, but…" Izuku grew nervous as he said, "Since I'm going to be paying for your meals, could I get you to tell me how the whole thing works?"

The Gods were staggered for they could not detect even a hint of misdirection…

They followed Izuku into the restaurant, took a seat to either side of him, and ordered before he Susanoo explained "the process" to him. Namely, there was no "process;" A God or Goddess was free to give their Falna to whoever they wanted, whenever they wanted. And, since both Gods wanted him for obvious reasons… Izuku went from wondering when he'd be able to join a Familia and gain a Falna to having two options open to him.

Actually… With Susanoo being as candid and blunt as he was, he directly told Izuku that he would probably be accepted into any Familia if only by virtue of the unearthly strength his Presence Suppression couldn't hide from the Gods. In his words, "Any God who hasn't lost their mind, would give anything to have you lead their Familia. You're just that strong and I'm saying that without knowing what kind of Magic and Special Abilities you might have."

Needless to say, Izuku had a lot on his mind once he finally received his food and started eating. Apparently, power was all you needed to join any Familia. Susanoo explained that while there were some Familia that specialized outside of creating the strongest Adventurers, any Familia would want a strong mortal to be there and defend them from the competition.

Moreover, seeing as the purpose of Falna remained the same no matter which God blessed you, there shouldn't be a difference in which Familia he chose to join. However… Izuku heavily suspected that the choice would end up mattering and probably manifest in the World Effect that was currently was still pending on some "requirement" that had yet to be met.

If it did end up mattering, Izuku thought about which God's Familia he would want to join which could potentially end up impacting the yet-to-be-decided World Effect for the Dungeon World.

He looked between the Shinto Gods and gave them an odd look. One was the God of Storms and Destruction, and the other was Supreme Heavenly Goddess of the Sun and Illumination. Both were Shinto Gods, which endeared them to him by virtue of the culture he'd grown up in, and…

They both were currently newly descended deities from Heaven, neither with even a single person in their Familias; relatively speaking, of course. In truth, they'd been in the Mortal World for years living out in the Eastern Continent before they decided to make the journey to Orario to try to establish their Familias.

They were both equally enticing picks. But, although Susanoo's earnest, if harsh, personality better appealed to Izuku, he ended up siding more with Amaterasu, simply because he thought the World Effect her Blessing might bestow him would end up less likely to blow up in his face with his terrible luck. The fact that Amaterasu was also a more prominent figure in Japanese folklore and Shintoism in general only cemented his choice of her.

When he asked, Amaterasu started bawling her eyes as she jumped him once more and made a scene about how lucky she was, and while Izuku tried his best to calm her, Susanoo explained in great detail why joining his older sister's Familia was a terrible idea and how in all likelihood she would end up just wasting all his money.

Izuku didn't really care. Any challenging trip he took within the Dungeon was bound to see him return with tens of billions in earnings.

When he and the Gods finished their meals, they led Izuku around various places within Orario to pick out a base of operations; A home for their Familias. There was a lot of walking, appraising, and paperwork involved, but at the end of the day, the Gods and Izuku decided to rest at an Inn. Susanoo booked a room for himself and Amaterasu forced Izuku to share her room with him…

"Now then… Take off your shirt and get on the bed," Izuku nearly did a spit take as he had been drinking from a bottle of water as he entered the room with the Sun Goddess.

"W-what?" He refused to believe anything about her demand could be sexual in nature. It was too abrupt and… Wait. Now, that he thought about it, he didn't know if the Shinto Gods were anywhere near as promiscuous as some of the Greek and Roman Gods.

"Oh, come on! Don't be such a baby. I need you to lie on your stomach to place my Falna on your back," Amaterasu teased.

"Right. Of course. Of course…" Izuku said as he took off the top part of his UAC uniform. As he went about taking off his undershirt he asked, "Can this wait for a second? Let me run to a clothing store and pick out something to change into. I want to take a shower before having you touch my back… If that's what you're going to do."

"It isn't," Amaterasu smiled, "But, I can wait."

So, Izuku left and returned about five minutes later. He took ten more to shower as he wanted to savor it after having spent over a year without one and then lied on his bed as Amaterasu instructed.

He felt his heart rate quicken as he felt the Goddess climb onto the bed and straddle him by the waist, but just as quickly… His building excitement died a swift and merciless death.

[Congratulations! Integration with the Falna of the Goddess "Amaterasu" granted you access to the Root of the Spirit System!

-The Gamer System as a whole has been overhauled to adapt to the different Worlds you may find yourself in.

-Your Status and the Observed Status of living beings now includes in-world power scaling comparisons that match up to that of the Gamer Systems'.

-The extent to what can be considered an Ability has expanded. You have gained several new Abilities as a result.

-Your Stats Page has now changed in the following manner: You have gained a new Stat for Endurance. It now is used to recalculate your Stamina from percent form to numerical form. You can now also see your discovered Talents, and have a Stat to account for the amount of Excelia you have stored up.]

"NOOOOO!" Izuku smashed his fists into the solid of the white void he'd been sent back into. It had been less than a day since he'd returned to experience civilization once more. It was too soon, he lamented. Too soon to be whisked away once again.

"God, fucking, damn it!" Izuku screamed. "Damn it, damn it, damn it! I should have been more careful! I should have considered this as a possibility! Fuck!" He exploded so hard that the Gamer System didn't even bother with trying to bring his attention to the many updates he had pending.

After he'd cooled off for a bit, however…

[Main Quest Updated!

Progress: 3/28 Fragments Collected

Dungeon World Progression: You have already found the location of another fragment of the Spirit System. Work hard to improve your Observe Ability or do research on the strength behind Calamities and Juggernauts if you don't want to potentially die before you know what killed you. Once you're ready, go back to the 55th Floor of the Dungeon and destroy the Orb of Origin there. Just, don't forget that the full might of a Calamity Outbreak will descend upon Orario if you take too long while you're in the Dungeon World.]

[Please Choose your next course of action:

-Search for the next Perk System Fragment in your Original World

-Search for the next Inventory System Fragment in the Doom World

-Search for the root of the Spirit System Fragment in the Dungeon World

-Search for the root of the ? System Fragment in the ? world]

"Damn it… Can you at least tell me if I'm ready to head back to my Original World? There are still nine months of my final year of high schooling before I can even enter a University of Heroics…"

[Answer: Your desire does not match the System's optimal course of action. Your return to your Original World now would better be saved for after you managed to experience each of the worlds you'll be exploring. The nine months you speak of would best be spent training as many Abilities as possible, and there are many potential Abilities you have yet to acquire by visiting all the different worlds beforehand. Still, the choice is yours to make. The Gamer System merely advises you while you remained within the Void.]

"...Why do I even need to aim for growing as strong as possible, as quickly as possible? Don't have the rest of my life to search for the fragments?" Izuku asked.

[Answer: You have as long as you are alive to complete the Main Quest. The only problem is the fact that your lifespan will be severely reduced if you do not spend most of your time training. The fact of the matter is that to gather all of the Fragments you're going to need to be countless times stronger than you currently are. The very height of power within any of the Worlds you'll need to stand on top of to collect all the fragments is still out of your reach; this includes your Original World.]

[Continued: The Gamer System advises that you at least collect all the Root Fragments of all the missing aspects of your power before you decide to independently return to any of the worlds. The nature of The Game, even after being reduced to its current state, can ensure that the task of collecting the Root Fragments will be the easiest in any of the infinite worlds they might manifest on.]

"..." Izuku let out a long exhale through his nose as he considered the Gamer System's input. "Wait… Have I always had the ability to ask questions of the Gamer System?"

[Answer: The Gamer may only prompt inquiries within the Void.]

'Whatever… I still really want to go home. Even returning to the Dungeon World now would be better than probably getting dumped in another death world or ending up with a life-ruining Curse. Knowing my luck, it'd probably be both!' Izuku darkly thought.

'Although… If the Gamer System is being honest, which I can't see why it wouldn't outside of it being "programmed" to maliciously deceive its users, I really should keep going to new worlds to see what kind of trouble I'm fated to go against.'

'The Doom World has at least four more Circles of Hell for me to overcome, and in the Dungeon World, there is the Orb of Origin and the Dungeon itself — that nobody can even tell how deep it goes. Not to mention the fact that with there being literal Gods walking around, there's a chance that I'll one day have to fight one. No… I'll definitely have to be strong enough to beat or even kill one to "stand on top of the world" like the Gamer System stated.'

'And then there's the issue of a potential time limit…' Izuku grimaced, 'There is no telling how many more Orbs of Origin, or equivalent disasters, are just bidding for time; waiting, and accumulating power to unleash a powerful calamity.'

'Even back home… There could be a world-class supervillain quietly pulling some strings behind the scenes of the relatively peaceful hero society. And, with Quirks being as broad as they are… Even for as strong as I currently am, there could be countless powers that could potentially exist that would instantly beat me before I can do anything about it.'

"...Can you at least tell me if the next "optimal" course of action would take me to a world with people?"

[Answer: No. Until travel to an unknown world is jumpstarted, The Gamer System will not be able to tell what the composition of that world may be. Furthermore, The Gamer System will not be able to provide further guidance as you make your way through the Multiverse as it will be diverting all its power to ensure that you maneuver through the Void, to your destination, without spontaneously being erased from reality.]

Izuku sighed, "Fine. Take me to another new world. I'll just have to hope that the time it takes to keep finding the Roots continues decreasing as it has…"

[Acknowledged!]

[Now Travelling To "The Grimmlands of Menagerie"]