Chapter 2: Return By Death And Status Screen

After having walked to a nearby alleyway, Subaru and Nilcaris stood face to face.

At that time, Subaru while holding a white plastic bag from earth with a few things in it on his left hand, before he struck a pose, having his body torso leaning forward to the right and his right arched, while his left hand was clenched and his right arm lifted straight up, letting his index finger point to the sky.

"My name is Natsuki Subaru! Pleased to meet ya!" A bright smile was found on his face as he did so.

The amethyst eyed young men simply watched the black haired young man do it, brushing his blue hair slowly as he sighed.

"Nice introduction, but you can tone down. As I said before, I'm Nilcaris and just like you, I'm an otherworld, and I'm even from earth as well, though probably not the same version of earth as you." Nilcaris says bluntly with no worries.

"Another person from Earth?! Like me?! Wow!" Subaru smiled at the prospect. "That's unexpected and this soon into my journey… Though I got to ask, what's with this version of earth talk?"

"It's what I mean, if another world like this one exists why not a multiverse with many versions of the earth?" Nilcaris poses as he tilts his head to the left.

"Ah! Of course! That makes all the sense… So we could come from different earths? How cool… Oh, I'm Japonese by the way." The black haired young man nodded with an understanding look.

"I'm Afro-American, anyway, I want to propose we work together to get through this world. What do you say?" Nilcaris offers with his hand out to him.

"Wait… Just, how did you know my name… For a second there I thought you were the one who summoned me here, but it looks like you also got summoned." Subaru asked with a bit of an awkward look for even doing so.

"Oh, I got 4 abilities after getting here. One of them allows me to know information about some things and people, that's how I know who you are." Nilcaris casually lied as naturally as he breathed.

To him there was no point in telling these people he used to see their worlds as fiction, as there was nothing to gain from it for either side from Nilcaris' prestetive.

In response Subaru took his hand and they shook hands.

"You are very lucky to get 4 cheats!… Do you know if I have any?!… Also… You didn't look at my personal information, did you?" Subaru covered his body as he spoke clearly joking.

"Yes, you have a pretty scary ability, even though it's just one, it's quite overpowered, and no, I didn't look at your personal information and don't want to." Nilcaris rolled his eyes.

"Hehe! Overpowered? you say?! Come on, spill the beans." The black haired young man put on a smile and give Nil a thumbs up as he asked.

"Return By Death, if you die, you'll return to a checkpoint in time, unfortunately you can't control the checkpoint at all, but it makes you essentially immortal in a way." The amethyst eyed young man had a serious expression as he spoke with his arms crossed.

"Hahaha, T-That's very funny, but really tell me…" Subaru looked at him with fear and distaste in his face, trying to mask it with laughter.

In the silence of the alley way, Nilcaris shook his head and said. "I'm not joking that's your power."

Not another word was spoken for a few moments as the idea settled in Subaru's mind and he began giving back and forth in the alleyway, mumbling some unknown words to himself.

"That's really a scary power… Are you sure that's it? It won't be funny if you're lying." No matter how much he thought about it, Subaru found the idea hard to believe.

"It's not like I can prove it to you just like t-." As Nilcaris was complaining, he stopped as a reaction in Subaru.

"Aaaagghh! Huff, Huff, Huff…" Subaru with his eyes wide open began touching his stomach multiple times in a frantic manner, before looking down trying to find it until he pulled up his tracksuit, and back T-shirt under to expose his completely fine abdomen.

"I guess it happened… I wasn't expecting it to happen so fast. I guess this is your checkpoint." Nilcaris' eyes widened for a second as he was surprised by the instantaneous nature of the ability.

On the other hand, Subaru was panicking with deep breathing before saying. "Three of them! Those ruffians stabbed me, we have to get out of here!"

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it." Nilcaris replied casually.

Just as the amethyst eyed young man said, three figures walked up to them.

"Hey! Hey! Look at what we got here! Some fresh meat with weird styles!" A grayish blue haired young man with a collar that has a broken chain hanging off it on his neck said with a cocky expression as he licked his lips.

A knife could be found on each of his hands.

"Yeah! Get to giving us all you got!" A brown haired short young man added with a crooked smile.

"Ya better hand out everything or else." A tall young man with purple hair and a rough face punched his hand as he spoke, carrying a smirk on.

(So it's these losers, it should be very easy to handle. Subaru probably tried to handle them himself but ended up getting stabbed like in the anime, that's probably how he died.) Nilcaris concluded as he looked at them.

In the meantime Subaru hid behind him, and said. "You really have this, right? You did say you have 4 abilities so you must be a total cheat."

"In a way, I guess you could say that." The amethyst eyed young man nodded.

"Hey! Who do you think you're ignoring?!? I'll stab you to death!" The grayish blue haired young man complained as he showed off the knives and walked towards his 'victims'.

"Show them! They're being too cocky!" The brown haired young man began shadowing boxing as he spoke.

"Don't be stupid! If you really don't want to die, give up and stop playing hero!" The tall young man with purple hair seemed especially annoyed by Nilcaris' attitude and words.

In response, the amethyst eyed young man just moved his right arm in a circular motion then closed his right hand.

At the same time a circle of physical energy appeared around the ruffians and quickly closed on them, tying them together in place.

"Weak people shouldn't talk too much smack, it will look bad afterwards." Nilcaris pointed out as he looked at the tied together trio.

"Wow! What is this?!… some sort of magic lasso? It got them completely tied. I wish i could something cool like that instead of-" Subaru came out of his hiding to obverse the captured trio, only to open his eyes wide the moment he tried to say something.

Then "Huff, Huff, Huff…." He started breathing heavily with cold sweat all over his face.

(It seems he tried to talk about return by death… it's sad to see.) The amethyst eyed young man walked up to the black haired young man and tapped his back before smiling.

"Hey! Stop playing with us! If you don't let us go you'll regret it!" The grayish blue haired young man yelled.

"That! Let us go! We don't want any problems!" The brown haired young man immediately folded.

"… We understand our mistakes, I think it's best for everyone if you just let us go." The tall man forced a smile as he tried to break out of the 'rope' restraining them to no avail.

"These guys are pretty shameless, probably not as much as me, but still…" Nilcaris raised his eyebrow looking at them.

After taking a deep breath and finally calming down, Subaru smiled then got up as if nothing happened before saying. "Natsuki Subaru is back!… Huh… So what did you do to these guys?"

"Well one of my abilities is to create portals and my portals are made of a physical energy.

"So instead of opening an entry and exit portal like you should normally do, I only opened an entry portal which would basically just be a physical energy disk, then I removed the center of the portal and left only the circular edge.

"Only after which did I use that same circular edge as rope to tie these guys, so it's basically a portal energy rope. It also means my portals can be destroyed by physical attack, but it works well enough." Nilcaris explained in detail with a casual tone.

"Oh… that sounds complicated…" Subaru chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head.

"He totally didn't understand." The grayish blue haired young man commented.

"Yeah, he has a stupid face right now." The brown haired young man joined in.

"Even I could understand half of it, how- Ehfh!" As the tall young man was also going with the other two's flow, Nilcaris tightened the 'rope' tying them.

"Behave, you three are lucky enough to still be alive." Nilcaris frowned at them.

"Please! Forgiveness! I'll do anything!" The grayish blue haired young man begged with an awkward smile as he trembled.

"Yeah! Yeah! We'll do whatever!" The brown haired young man nodded in conjunction with tears building in his eyes.

"Totally! We're very cooperative!" The tall young man added with a forced smile which looked shady on his rough face.

"Hahaha, calm down guys, Nil was just joking, he has a tough to approach look, but he's a nice person." Subaru spoke with a wide smile as he rested his arm on Nilcaris' shoulders.

The amethyst eyed young man said nothing, simply sighing.

(I would not call myself a nice person and I was planning on killing them, but it's not like they are important or dangerous.) Nilcaris thought to himself his arms crossed, as Subaru pulled him in.

"Ah! You look super stiff if you have your arms crossed like that all the time." Subaru pointed out how unnatural it looked when he had his arm over Nilcaris' shoulder, while the person in question had their arms crossed.

[Done! Process completed!] Genive announced cheerfully.

"It's a habit of mine, I don't think it would be easy to change. Now, could you talk some sense into these guys? I have something to do." Nilcaris asked.

"I see, okay got it, you can leave it to this certified HE-RO!" Subaru widely and posed slightly after letting go of the amethyst eyed young man.

"Thanks, I'll be here if you need help." Nilcaris said as he walked off to the side and sat on a small stare case there in the alleyway.

While Subaru began talking to the ruffians, Nilcaris decided to check on Genive.

(So, how's your knowledge now?) Nilcaris asked.

[I know as much as you do, up until the end of season 2. Subaru goes through a lot in the anime, poor guy.] Genive replied with clear pity toward the guy.

(Yeah, but I'm here so things will be different… Anyway, tell me about my status screen and inventory.) He said having been curious about them.

[Of course, they are the standard. The status screen is a window with your capabilities listed and put into numbers like a video game and in a similar fashion the inventory is a space-time storage with unlimited slots.

[You also can't store living things, and only sentient objects can be stored any other sentient thing won't be allowed.] Genive explained.

(That's good enough, could you show me my status screen and if my inventory is empty?) Nilcaris tilts his head as he communicates with his thoughts.

[Yeah, there's nothing in the inventory right now. As for the status screen, I'd like to point out that it's coming right up.] Genive gets to work immediately.

In an instant, a floating screen full of information appears right in front of the amethyst-eyed young man.

[Status Screen]

[Name: Nilcaris Kwiv Love

Age: 16 years old

Sex: Male

Species: Humanoid | Sub-Species: Human

Affinity: Neutral, Life, Death, Yin, Yang, Fire, Water, Earth, Wind

Bloodline: Love Lineage

Physique: True Deathless Human Body; Excess Mana Circulation Constitution

Soul rank: Mortal(Rank I)

Level: 1

Titles: None

Job: None

Class: None

Attributes:

HP: 100/100 | MP: 150 | Sta: 50/50

Strength: 11

Dexterity: 10

Willpower: 20

Agility: 11

Undistributed attribute points: 0

Stats:

-Accessible

Charisma: I+

Luck: I+

Mortal Energy Core/s(2): Od(I+); Gate(I)

-Inaccessible

Chi(Od): I+

Mental: I+

Spiritual(Soul): I

Angelic: 0

Demonic: 0

Essence: I-

Magic(Mana/Gate): I

Reality: I-

Particularity/s(Authority/s): Portal Creation; True Deathless; System

Innate ability/s(Racial skills): None

Active skills: None

Passive skills: None

Resistances: Deathless,

Magic: None

Unique Magic: None

Extras: Divine Protection Of The God; Blessing Of The Great Spirit, Genive;

Inventory: Empty]

(It seems to be adapted to this world. Genive is even being categorized as a great spirit... I have an affinity to all the six elements and something called the Excess Mana Circulation Constitution, what's that?...

(It looks like I have a good enough body, though. Anyway, Genive, what do my attributes represent, and why are my stats all I?) Nilcaris asked with a pensive look.

[In terms of attributes, 20 is the peak for a normal human without any supernatural forces at play, while 7 is the average for an adult human.

[As for the stats, rank I is the lowest rank and represents the normal human range of ability. No human on earth is higher level than 5, or has 20 in attributes or more than rank I in anything.] Genive explains.

(Gotcha, then I'm doing pretty good, though I'll need so much more if I want go up against the dangerous people. For now I'll have to rely on my particularities.) Nilcaris concluded with a wide smile, fully aware of his capabilities.

Just as he was done dealing with that, a golden haired teenage girl dressed in a skimpy outfit came running and glanced at the situation for a few moments. "Out of the way! I repeat out of my way!… Well, there's something you don't see everyday. Anyway, live, laugh, love, see ya!"

Right after making her comment without waiting for any answer she wall ran off before jumping building to building into the distance.

"To make such a comment before doing something unreasonable… Are the people here all like this!?" Subaru shook his head as he watched the girl go.

(It's time… I wonder if I'll even join the Emilia camp… Unlike Subaru I don't care for the white haired elf, she's pretty and all, but that's it.) The amethyst eyed young man sighed.

"We'll really behave! Never doing crime again!" The brown haired young man said.

"Like he's saying, we'll be changed people from now on." The tall young man agreed with continuous nodding.

"Yeah! We never even killed a person, we're just muggers." The grayish blue haired young man looked stressed.

"Hey, Nil, are you going to let them go now?" Subaru asked seemingly unbothered by the idea they supposedly killed him at least once.

"I don't know if I can let them go like that before letting them taste a bit of real pain." Nilcaris smiled as he shamelessly decided to use them as an outlet to release his frustrations.

This caused Subaru to make a fake smile unsure if the amethyst eyed young man was being serious

Soon enough, a silver haired young woman with purple eyes came walking fully clad in white and purple. Floating around her, there was a gray cat-like furry little creature.

"Did any of you perhaps see a golden haired girl pass by?" She asked.

At that moment, Subaru was stuck looking at her for a few seconds, while the trio didn't say anything in fear of angering Nilcaris any further.

While the amethyst eyed young man himself was more focused on the floating creature looking directly at him with a small smile.

(I don't like that look… Did Puck see something?) Nilcaris had a bit of cold sweat as he thought of the possibility.

"… Hum… Will anyone answer me? She stole something very important from me…" The silver haired young woman insisted as she slowly got ready seeming to believe these people could be involved in the robbery.

"Of course! She want that way! Jumping off like a ninja!" Subaru sprung out of his daze as full of energy as ever as he replied while doing gestures.

There was silence for an instant but she soon responded as she ran off to catch the thief. "Thank you… But… actually, what's going on here? If you are in the wrong, it's not something I can ignore." At the last moment she stopped to ask pointing one hand at Nilcaris and another at Subaru.

(Oh yeah, it probably looks like we are the thugs… How annoying, even though I know I won't die, I don't think I can beat this girl as I am right now, especially not with that Spirit Cat here…) The Amethyst eyed young man thought as he sighed again seemingly annoyed.

"Oh! You're misunderstanding! These guys tried to mug us, so my friend here tied them up…" Subaru pointed at Nilcaris as he explained.

This turned the long eared silver haired young woman's attention solely on him.

"Even then, I heard what you said about torturing them, I am sure you can let them be handled by the knights if it really was a simple mugging attempt. Please do the right thing instead of letting your anger speak." She was clearly not fully convinced the two were being honest with her due to how helpless the supposed muggers looked.

"Fine, they can go." Nilcaris snapped his finger freeing the trio of muggers finally, though his face betrayed his reluctance.

"We'll never forget this lesson!" The tall young man spoke.

"Our ways have forever changed." The brown haired young man added.

"Yes. Thank you." The grayish forced a fake smile.

In no time the trio ran off.

"It looks like you lost some time, so you better get going or you're never catching up to a thief like that girl." The one to speak was the cat spirit following the young woman around.

"You say that, but you don't sound concerned at all. At least get a little serious here, Puck." The silver haired young woman replied with a bit of a pout.

Meanwhile, Subaru came up to Nilcaris.

"I think we-" Just as the black haired young man was about to make a suggestion.

"Help her? Fine why not." Nilcaris sighed.

(Meeting Reinhard and Felt should be useful regardless of the path I choose, plus the mansion would not be a bad place to live in while I decide.) Nilcaris convinced himself.

"I think me and my friend here might be able to help!" With a smile full on Subaru offered to help her.

While Nilcaris was deciding what to do fully, he too would not mind going with this.