Chapter 165

CHAPTER 7 A New Type of Training Even after our departure from the Shrine of the Six Realms, people of the underworld are still coming and going down the stone path under the crimson sky. I was really distracted by their bizarre appearances on the way here, but when I actually pay attention to my surroundings, I notice there are houses here and there. Some are brick while others are stone. There doesn’t seem to be any sense of unity with how they were built. There’s even a store with a sign out front, but it looks like whatever it says was written in hieroglyphics, so I can’t read it. “Are we seriously going to be living here from now on? I have a bad feeling about this… I just want to go home…” Seiya shoots Cerceus a chilling gaze the moment he complains. “You’re free to go off on your own if you want.” “Wh-what?!” “But Seiya…! We won’t be able to go to Galvaoth without Cerceus!” “Come on, don’t leave me here all alone! This place is scary!” “How pathetic can you be?” Seiya’s right. I feel secondhand embarrassment just looking at Cerceus. Regardless, we need to save the warped world of Galvaoth, where Cerceus once lived as a human, after we deal with Gaeabrande and Ixphoria. I guess we’re not going to have to worry about that for a while, though… “We talked about it a little before, but I have to wonder what kind of idiot Cerceus was in his past life.” “Who says I was an idiot?! Besides, did you already forget that Hathies said Galvaoth was a high-ranked world?!” “And…?” “And I survived in that harsh environment! I must have been a famous military general in my past life! I just know it!” “What do you think, Seiya?” “Even if he was a general, he probably took an arrow to the ass and died.” “Yeah, I would believe that.” “Hey! Why does that have to be how I died?!” Cerceus yells, but Seiya shakes his head. “Anyway, we don’t have time to talk about ridiculous what-ifs right now.” “So you’re going to start training, huh?” “No. First, we need to secure food and shelter.” Oh yeah! We don’t know a thing about this place, after all! We definitely need to do something about food, clothing, and shelter! “Um…” I hear a woman’s voice behind me and turn around. Unoporta must have been listening to our conversation this entire time. She timidly says: “You can stay at my house if you want.” “What?! Really?!” “Of course. Please, come this way.” “Thanks, Uno!” She was acting kind of weird in the Shrine, but…she’s at least halfway decent compared to the other underworld denizens! Perhaps feeling the same way, Seiya follows her without prying further. The eerie life-forms of the underworld mutter to themselves as we walk down the path following Uno. There are creatures with no heads, giants over ten meters tall, and even humanoid slimes that move like slugs. The blood-vomiting Unoporta seems completely normal compared to them. “Bweh-heh-heh… Deities…” “Ohhh! I can feel the divine auraaaaaa!” A few of the creatures try to get our attention, but when Unoporta raises her hand, they immediately cower away. When we first met her, she said Hathies had ordered her to come get us, so he must really trust her. The other creatures probably respect her as well. Around ten or so minutes after leaving Hathies’s shrine, we find ourselves outside of town in the suburbs. It’s a very rural area with hardly anyone around. It’s somewhat relaxing, despite my still not being used to the blood-colored sky and there being countless plants I’ve never seen before. “Do you see that over there? That’s my house.” Unoporta points to a building standing tall in the distance. Vines crawl up its walls just like an old Western-style residence. L-looks like a house a vampire would love to live in. “What a creepy house.” “S-Seiya?!” You shouldn’t say things like that even if it’s true! But right as I’m about to scold him for being so outspoken, I notice that Unoporta doesn’t seem to really care. She smiles, in fact. “I live here with my brother.” “You have a brother?” “I do. Oh! He’s right over there, actually…” After strolling through the rusted gateway, Unoporta points to the garden, where a man is watering the flowers. “Hey, Uno.” He flashes a refreshing smile the moment he sees us. His hair is short, but it’s the same violet color as Unoporta’s, and he has a jewel-like ornament embedded in his forehead. If he were a human, I’d guess he was in his late twenties. “You must be Seiya, Ristarte, and Cerceus. I am Unoporta’s older brother, Dueporta. Call me Due.” Due extends his hand toward us with a smile like a friend. Seiya exercises caution and doesn’t take his hand, so I shake Due’s hand in his place. “N-nice to meet you! I’m looking forward getting to know each other!” “Ristarte…” Due quietly gazes into my eyes, and my heart skips a beat. Huh?! Wait! What?! What’s going on?! He suddenly lets go of my hand as he notices my inner panic. “Oh, my apologies. I was just a little touched to meet you all after everything you’ve done for us.” “About that. I was wondering—” Curious, I attempt to ask Uno what exactly they mean by that when… “Blaaargh!” “What the—?! She’s throwing up blood again!” Despite becoming a fresh-blood fountain once more, Uno calmly wipes the corners of her mouth with her hand. “Please excuse me. I would be grateful if you treated these occurrences as simple sneezes.” “B-but it’s nothing like sneezing! You’re puking blood!” Ignoring my outburst, Uno casually says to her brother: “Due, Ristarte and the others plan on staying in the underworld for a while, so I thought we could let them use the guest rooms…” “That’s fine. Usually, we’d have to make a deal, but…” “Huh? A ‘deal’?” Due closes his eyes and ponders for a few moments until he casts a gaze at me and cheerfully smiles. “All right. We’ll lend each of you a room to use as you please.” Hm? What happened to the “deal”? Am I just so attractive that he simply gave in? He has been passionately staring at me, or at least it feels that way. Maybe I’m just overthinking it, but he seems like a cheerful, handsome guy, so it doesn’t bother me. At any rate, I feel like these siblings are, if nothing else, the most trustworthy people in the underworld… Or so I thought. But out of nowhere… “Blehhh!” Fresh blood spurts from the handsome young man’s mouth. “Ahhh! It runs in the family!” While Cerceus and I tremble, Due wipes the blood from the corners of his mouth with a nonchalant air. “Oops. My apologies. Oh, what’s the matter with me? I’ve gone and coughed up blood in the middle of our conversation, ha-ha-ha!” He’s acting as if nothing happened—as if it was a harmless burp, but…he threw up blood!! I’m starting to think there’s something wrong with these two, too! But after cleaning his face, Due has already regained the appearance of a handsome young man. “Anyway, how about some supper? I’m not exactly sure what deities and humans like to eat, but you’re welcome at our table.” “O-oh, um… Dinner…” “Come. The dining room is this way.” The siblings end up taking us to a long, gorgeous table with candles lit on top. In the middle is a large pot of soup and loaves of bread on a plate. “Eat to your heart’s content.” It looks like you’re supposed to dip the bread in the soup and eat it. I was worried that it’d be something grotesque and inedible, seeing as we’re in the underworld, but I think I can handle this. “Seiya, look! Bread! And it actually looks pretty good!” But Seiya pokes Cerceus, who’s by his side, on the shoulder. “You first, Cerceus. Eat.” “Seriously…?!” I whisper to the frightened god: “Don’t worry! I used Appraise on it! It’s completely safe to eat!” “I-I can trust you, right? A-all right, I’ll dig in first.” Cerceus dips a piece of bread into the pot of soup, then slowly brings it to his mouth when… “Wow! You were right! This is edible! In fact, it’s delicious!” With that, he begins stuffing his face with bread. I try some as well, and he wasn’t lying. It’s good. The soup is kind of like cheese fondue. Despite most likely using Appraise on it as well, Seiya sniffs the bread before tearing off the tiniest piece possible to taste for poison. By the time we clear our plates, Seiya is finally starting to eat as well. After filling up, he suddenly says: “Good. While I have some reservations about the safety and hygiene standards of this place, we were able to secure the bare necessities: food and shelter.” “S-Seiya?! Due’s still here, you know!” But Due cheerfully grins, and Seiya, being Seiya, shows no signs of concern, either. He suddenly rises from his chair. “It’s time to train. I have to make sure I can at least crush a dragonewt with a single hand.” “Huh?! A-already?!” Cerceus is obviously not excited. He’s probably expecting Seiya to ask him to spar. Just then, Uno comes back with another pitcher of water and suggests: “How about resting in your new rooms tonight? You can start training tomorrow.” “No. I want to level up quickly, and if possible, reach max level within the next few days.” M-max level?! Well…I guess there’s no time limit this round, and this is an S+ ranked world, so it makes sense. I’m not really excited about staying in the underworld that long, but Seiya should probably take his time to prepare. Seiya looks at Cerceus, who seems very uncomfortable, and mutters: “Cerceus would make an inefficient training partner. I need someone more useful.” Cerceus’s expression makes him seem relieved yet depressed at the same time. Seiya asks Uno: “Is there anyone strong in the underworld?” “There isn’t really anyone here who’s physically strong, but there are plenty of people who can perform mystic skills.” “Oh?” Something twinkles in Seiya’s eye. “S-Seiya, come here! We need to talk!” After calling him over, I whisper into his ear so that Uno and Due can’t hear. “Don’t tell me you’re going to get someone from the underworld to teach you new moves! These aren’t deities from the spirit world! Don’t you think this is a little dangerous?!” “Going to a warped world unprepared is more dangerous. Besides, you heard what I told Hathies, right? I need to find some way to defeat Mersais and her Hero, whenever that happens, while we’re in the underworld.” “I-I get that, but…!” Seiya looks away from me and focuses on Uno and Due. “Do you two not know any skills?” The siblings thereupon exchange glances, then mirthfully smile. After lowering her head, Uno looks up at Seiya with a gentle gaze. “Our skills would not be of any use to you anymore, Seiya.” “Okay.” Neither of them mentioned what skills those are, but Seiya doesn’t press them for answers. If they say they’re useless to Seiya, then they’re probably not combat skills. “Seiya, may I suggest you first have Cerceus and Ristarte learn some skills from the underworld?” ““What?!”” Cerceus and I shudder at the unexpected proposal because the conversation suddenly became about us! Seiya nods, then says: “Yes… I suppose I should use these immortal deities and see what happens, first…” “What are we, your guinea pigs?!” In spite of our astonishment, Uno and Due continue the conversation like nothing happened. “Due, how about Xul Luxu on Third Avenue?” “Yeah, I’m sure Xul Luxu could increase their divine powers.” “H-hold up. Do you mean something similar to Order?” Cerceus timidly poses this question to Due. We’ve lost our ability to use Order now that the spirit world is gone. Despite this being an emergency, I can’t awaken my healing power to its full potential, and I can’t summon my wings, either. Cerceus is in the same boat, obviously. “You are talking about lifting the restrictions that limit your divine powers, correct? Xul Luxu’s skills are slightly different from that. ‘Tapping into your latent potential’ would perhaps be a more appropriate way of putting it.” “‘Tapping into our latent potential’…?” “Yes. Once you learn Xul Luxu’s special move and realize your potential, your current attributes will most certainly multiply many times over.” “S-seriously?!” Cerceus looks kind of happy, and I’m feeling somewhat excited as well. “So it’s like going into Berserk Mode but for gods, huh! I-is it dangerous?” Raising Berserk Mode’s phase too high would spiritually destroy a human, so I can’t help but worry about the price I would have to pay to increase my stats. However… “Your appearance will change slightly, but there won’t be any detrimental effects upon your mind and body. At least in the underworld.” “Wh-what do you mean ‘at least in the underworld’?” “Our Lord’s special powers affect all of those in the underworld, but once you descend into a lower realm, you risk losing control of your newfound powers, so I do not recommend using them anywhere but here.” “Huh…? In other words, we’re only going to be stronger in the underworld?” “Yes. While it may seem to be a roundabout way of doing things, you should be more than qualified to be Seiya’s training partners if both of you raise your attributes this way. This should shorten how long Seiya has to train as well.” Seiya ponders for a few moments before pointing at Cerceus and me. “I understand where you’re coming from, but you’re grossly overestimating their skills. Multiplying zero by anything is still zero.” “‘Z-zero’?!” I want to cry, but Uno gently smiles at Seiya. “Even the weakest people still have attributes greater than zero. Even if Cerceus and Rista had all ones for attributes, Xul Luxu’s special move would increase those ones to tens.” “A-are you saying our stats would multiply by ten?!” That’s insane! That’s even better than Berserk Mode! But Seiya shakes his head. “You’re being too generous. Their stats are more like 0.1 across the board.” “That would still increase their attributes to 1 if they learned Xul Luxu’s special move.” “What if they’re 0.01?” “Then they would become 0.1.” “Hey?! Enough with the decimals!” I shout. You don’t use decimals when comparing stats! Cerceus and I may not be the strongest, but even our stats aren’t that low! “All right, let’s go see this Xul-person.” “Very well. Right this way, please.” After bowing to her brother, Uno takes the lead and walks outside. I promptly thank Due for the meal, then follow her and Seiya as well. When we head outside, the once-crimson sky is now gray. While I can’t see any stars or the moon, there’s just barely enough light outside that I can see what’s in front of me. I guess this is what night’s like in the underworld. Uno heads in the complete opposite direction of the Shrine of the Six Realms for a while until she crosses a log bridge. Once across the bridge, I immediately notice a settlement up ahead. Tiled-roofed houses are illuminated by the lanterns sporadically hanging around the village. The doors, walls, and pillars painted red and yellow could be compared to Chinese architecture in Seiya’s world. We look around, taking in the sights, while walking deeper into the settlement. Since it’s the middle of the night, I’d probably scream if some creepy underworld inhabitant suddenly appeared, but luckily, there’s no one in sight. “We have arrived. This is Xul Luxu’s residence.” Uno stops before a tile-roofed house that looks just like the others, the only difference being that this one is far more run-down than the rest. It looks like an abandoned haunted house from the outside. The door creaks open, revealing only a pitch-black abyss. “Xul Luxu, are you home? It’s me, Unoporta.” But there is no reply. I wonder if there’s nobody home until I hear a sudden rattle. Tap. Tap. Tap. A strange noise echoes all around when suddenly someone emerges from the darkness! What’s this person’s problem?! I almost had a heart attack! It’s a woman walking on her hands as her long hair dangles onto the floor. She looks over at us and grins before swiftly walking over to us like a spider. “Eek?!” “Ah?!” Cerceus and I naturally scream! She looks up at us with her eyes goggling. “This is Xul Luxu.” Uno may be smiling, but I almost wet myself! Wh-wh-why is she walking around on her hands?! “Xul Luxu, I was hoping you could teach your special move to the deities Cerceus and Ristarte.” “Eeeeee! I could never turn down a request from you, Unoporta.” she says with a twang. She then takes the bottle of sake dangling at her hips, tilts her head to the side, and dexterously takes a sip. I instinctively ask: “H-hey, uh… Why are you doing a handstand?” Xul Luxu thereupon lets out a shrill, booze-soaked chuckle. “Hya-ha-ha-ha! All is one, yet all have two sides! Standing on your hands is truth! Eeeeee! Being two sides of the same coin is the essence of the underworld itself!” “Oh! Okay! That makes sense!” That made absolutely no sense, but she frightens me, so I just went with it. Seiya suddenly pushes me out of the way and walks over to her. “So what exactly is this special move of yours?” “Eeeeee. It temporarily reverses the possessor’s disposition. If a god becomes a demon god, their stats will increase as well.” ““A d-d-demon god?!”” Cerceus and I shout. H-hold on! This is the first we’ve heard anything about that! Xul Luxu brings her sake bottle to her lips, takes another sip, then smirks. “Eeeeee. But if you want me to teach you, we need to make a deal. I want all your HP.”