The Dive: Birth of a Hero Page 17

  Lilith seemed to be thinking for a minute, and nodded. “Typically, the training we do for our demons is incredibly slow by your standards. But for you, I can assign special instructors to teach you the fields you want.”

  “Nice, thanks. Oh.. uh… you said all demons start out as imps. So… what are the odds I could evolve into a hellhound?”

  “Fairly slim. Only those who have little will of their own will change into demon beasts. In your case, I would say it is practically impossible, unless Jin is right and you are able to choose it.”

  “No, that’s fine. I think I’d rather not become a beast.” Kirasami chuckled a bit, shaking his head. “It’ll suck a bit to lose all of the strength I’ve accumulated, but I think I could become an awesome demon.”

  At that point, a thought occurred to me. Levy, make sure that Lilith knows not to share the unique runes with Kirasami. If the information leaks out through a foreigner, then all of the demons using the runes to identify themselves in this world will be in trouble.

  Levy heard my thoughts immediately, and looked alarmed before nodding slightly to me. Good idea. At least, until we can trust him. I’ll also suggest she have the demons of this world hide those runes unless they have business with you. I nodded in response to her thoughts, agreeing that it sounded like a good plan.

  “So.. what do I have to do for this?” Kirasami was watching Lilith, still smiling at the knowledge of what he was about to do.

  “Just… try to relax. I’m told it can hurt a great deal until the change is complete.” Lilith stood from her spot on the ground, walking over to stand in front of Kirasami. “Are you ready?”

  “As I’ll ever be.”

  “Okay… here it goes.” Lilith took a deep breath, closing her eyes momentarily. When they opened, they were shining a bright red. “The one before me has willingly offered himself, and has chosen to join the legion. By my right as queen, I grant this request. Reforge his soul to become his desire.”

  Pitch black flames began rising up around Kirasami, and for a few seconds he screamed as they engulfed him, before even his voice seemed to burn away. After a few minutes of the flames writhing in place, they eventually receded, Kirasami laying in the fetal position. Except, despite his name registering as Kirasami, his body was now that of an imp. “That… that hurt like Hell!”

  I couldn’t help but grin to him. “Literally.”

  Although I joked, Lilith looked incredibly worried. “I’m sorry! I tried to warn you…”

  “No, no, it’s alright. I did ask for this.” Slowly, Kirasami rose to his feet, stumbling a bit while he adjusted to his new balance. “This feels so weird. I have horns… and wings… and a tail!” He glanced back, and sure enough a short tail was swinging back and forth. “Good god I have a tail.”

  “Well, looks like you didn’t retain enough to evolve.” I smirked to him, and he grumbled.

  “No, but I’m close. A day or two and I should be there. Less if I’m lucky.”

  Lilith smiled, nodding at his acceptance. “Okay, I’ll make sure you have access to information on as many of the known evolutions as you can.”

  “Thank you, my Queen.” Kirasami bowed politely to Lilith, making her laugh.

  “Please, Lilith. I try not to let anyone get away with just calling me Queen anymore. So, you ready to check out Hell? I’ll make sure you have access to the gates so you can come back to this world whenever you want, as long as you take the proper precautions.”

  Kirasami let out a little imp grin. “Sure! Sorry to impose on you like this, but I’m really looking forward to being a demon.”

  “You’re a friend of Jin’s, how could you be unwelcome?” While she spoke, a black gate rose up behind Lilith, opening to reveal the throne room of Hell. Cynthia was startled by the sudden appearance of the gate, and jumped back with a squeak.

  In a hurry to get on with this new experience, Kirasami eagerly ran into the gate, followed shortly by Lilith. Levy, meanwhile, just smiled to Cynthia. “I hope we can meet again some other time.”

  “Yeah, sure. I’d like that.” Cynthia smiled shyly to Levy, who nodded and walked through the gate. With all the demons through, the gate closed slowly and sank back into the ground. “Well… that was… wow.”

  “Not nearly as bad as you thought she’d be, was she?” Denise grinned to Cynthia, having remained quiet for most of the encounter.

  “No.. she was… well.. I guess she was pretty normal?”

  “The queen of all demons, and you call her normal. Don’t let the angels hear you say something like that.” Denise gave her a playful wink, packing up the used cooking supplies.

  “Well.. it’s true! After hearing that… I can’t really stay afraid of her, can I..?”

  I smiled to Cynthia, nodding. “That’s right. Thanks to what the angels did, most people never give demons the time to hear the truth. But that’s exactly what you did just now, and now that you have you are able to accept them for what they are.”

  “Thanks.. I uh… guess we should get back to training, huh?”

  “Oh, yeah!” Denise grinned broadly, jumping to her feet and pulling her sword out. “We’ve still got plenty of time left out here, and I want to make sure we use it!”

  With that, their training session had once again commenced, the two exchanging blows while Denise instructed Cynthia on various things such as her stance or the way she used her sword. It wasn’t long before leveling messages appeared in my vision again, but I had my own project I wanted to work on. I retrieved my grimoire from my bracelet, opening up and reading aloud the chant for Create Intermediate Object.

  The item I started with this time was a simple branch, but I was infusing it with mana and purposely altering it throughout the entire process, changing it into Mana Wood. I wasn’t entirely sure it would work until the bark started to turn blue. Okay… now do this the same way I made the Mana Stone…

  Once the spell hit its final stage, I began shaving off the wood and reshaping it. Rather than a square staff like my others, this one I made carved in a spiraling pattern. The twisting wood formed a relatively straight staff, giving it a curious look. When it was done, I set it aside and checked my results. Sure enough, this was a good quality item, though a grade below masterwork since I didn’t add any special options to it.

  Still, this confirmed that I can make better items if I learn the craft skills to make them normally.

  Origin Magic has increased to 12

  Cynthia had increased Swordsmanship to 30, and has achieved the skill of a master swordsman.

  “Cynthia!” I called out as soon as that message appeared. Though they were in the middle of exchanging blows, both combatants pulled back simultaneously. “Congratulations, you’ve mastered the sword. Have you decided what weapon you want to try next?”

  “Uh… hmm.. okay…” She sheathed her sword, unbuckling it from her belt and setting it aside once I told her that her training with that weapon was over. “How about… a hammer? I would like to be a blacksmith eventually… I know that sounds crazy when you can just make whatever you want with magic, and buy whatever you can’t.”

  “Not at all, I think a hammer would be good. And so would being a blacksmith. I learned how to be a carpenter so that I could enhance my abilities, you know. There’s no reason why you can’t do the same.”

  She nodded hesitantly. “Okay… then I’d like a hammer next, please. Something I can use with my shield until I master it, and then a bigger one. Is that fine?”

  I smiled to her, nodding. “Alright. I’ll make your two hammers.” Denise was using this chance to take a quick break. Although she had a large gap in terms of speed, Cynthia was now better than her at wielding her sword, so it was natural that she got a few hits in.

  Flipping through my book again, I found the Create Lesser Object spell. Since I wasn’t doing anything special with this hammer, I decided to only use this level of the spell. “I have discovered the origin, and bring it forth anew. Arise,
and bring your light unto the world.”

  Focusing my mind on the image of a one handed hammer, specifically the type wielded by vikings. I am not sure about Cynthia, but I’d be a little embarrassed if she was running around with a regular hammer from my world as a weapon. The spell did its duty well, taking the image from my mind and reconstructing it with my mana.

  The result was a weapon that looked fit to be wielded by a norse god! Or at least a minor soldier in service of said god. Okay, it looked like your average viking hammer. The entire thing, from the head of the weapon to the handle, was made of iron. The handle of the weapon was a long narrow cylinder about two feet long. The head was about a foot wide, and half as tall and thick. When Cynthia saw the weapon, she gave a satisfied nod.

  “That’ll do great. Thanks, Jin.”

  “No problem. I’ll get started on the bigger one while you get back to training.” I winked towards Denise, cutting her break short. Well, it shouldn’t matter much since Cynthia was now a novice with the weapon she was using. Still, Denise let out a huff as she got back to her feet and the two combatants returned to sparring.

  I watched them for a few minutes while my mana recovered, and just before I got started on it I received a good message.

  Cynthia has unlocked new Talents-- Hammer Mastery and Fortified Health

  Nice, two talents at once. And Fortified Health should be helpful to her as a tank. Though unlocking it means she is probably getting a lot of punishment from Denise. Since my mana had recovered, I went ahead and got started on Cynthia’s next hammer as I had promised. She still had a few levels to go before she was ready to use it, but I had confidence that she would get there by the end of the day.

  This second hammer I made was over twice as big, with a much larger head and thicker handle. It was clearly impossible to wield one handed by anyone of normal size, without being wildly unbalanced. Likewise, after I made it, I couldn’t pick it up to show her because it had a required Strength of over a hundred.

  Her Strength is well beyond that, so once she is ready for it I’ll let her get it. Until then, it would remain embedded in the ground, waiting for someone able to pick it up.

  Denise and Cynthia were quickly setting a new pace for their sparring, now that Cynthia was unable to demonstrate such skill with her weapon. Thanks to her previous training, she kept trying to slash with the hammer as if it were a sword, rather than bringing it down from above. As such, she was repeatedly knocked back by Denise, and instructed on how she should use the weapon.

  Sadly, Denise had no experience with hammers either, so the advice she could give was limited. Fighting with a blunt weapon was an entirely different strategy than fighting with a sword. Thanks to that, her Hammer Mastery leveled up more slowly, while her Shield was used more often.

  Cynthia has increased Shield to 30, and is now a master of shields, able to wield them with no difficulty in battle.

  After receiving that message, I called for Denise and Cynthia to stop their training for now, and looked over her character information again to check her progress.

  Name: Cynthia

  Race: Human

  Title: Hard Worker

  Fame: 40

  Gild: 4119

  Level: 90

  Health: 1425 + 28

  Mana: 0

  Strength: 130+26

  Agility: 60

  Endurance: 275

  Wisdom: 20

  Intelligence: 20

  Luck: 40

  Attack: 10 + 142

  Defense: 10+238.75(+48)

  Talents: Swordsmanship 30, Shield 30, Heavy Armor 22, Hidden Strength 4, Hammer Mastery 2, Fortified Health 2

  Title Bonuses: +10 all stats, +20 Luck

  Equipment Bonus: +20% Defense, +50% Health Recovery

  Very good, her defense was already leagues ahead of my own, and she was still not even halfway to my level.

  Chapter 12

  I decided that was enough training for the day, and we gathered our things to leave. The staff and small hammer I had created were left behind, though we kept the two handed hammer. In my hand I held the Mana Stone that I created to go with Cynthia’s armor.

  “We’ll stop by the blacksmith first. After that, Cynthia, I want you to take the test to become a soldier.”

  “W-what? But… It’s only been two days…” Hearing my decision, Cynthia froze up for a moment.

  “That’s alright. You are already strong enough. After you take your test, you can tell your father about becoming an adventurer.” I smiled back to her, and she nodded quickly.

  “Okay…”

  Denise grinned to Cynthia, slapping her on the back. “Aren’t you looking forward to showing those people just how much you’ve grown?”

  “Y-yeah…” She nodded again, smiling slightly.

  “While you talk to your father, I’m going to get in touch with the Brigade leader. You are strong enough for us to travel already, so I would like to change the date of our duel.”

  “Okay. Where are we going next..?”

  “You want to learn how to be a blacksmith, right? Well, if that’s the case, then obviously we should visit the dwarves.” I chuckled, and the three of us entered the blacksmith’s shop. “Hey there. I’ve got something for you.”

  When I walked in, I saw a rather unusual sight. The powerfully built blacksmith was backed into a corner, a pair of thugs pointing their blades at him. No, most likely those blades came from this store. The third thug, who was behind the counter, grinned to the three of us. “Oh? You’ve got something for us?”

  “Did I say something like that? I was talking to the shopkeeper, not you guys.” I sent a glare to the man, and he laughed.

  “Oh? You’re not going to call the guards on us? Don’t tell me you were planning on robbing this place too?”

  “Don’t confuse me with people like yourself. Denise, they don’t look that strong, but try to leave them alive?” I looked back towards Denise, completely ignoring the three thugs.

  “About time! I was thinking you weren’t going to let me have any fun.” Denise grinned towards the thieves, cracking her knuckles. “You boys think you can entertain me for a bit?”

  “Why, you…” The thug jumped over the counter, brandishing a sword and charging at Denise. If that’s all the speed he had, then there wasn’t any reason for her to even draw a weapon.

  Lowering her body slightly, Denise dashed forward in a blur of motion, her fist connecting cleanly with the man’s face and sending him plummeting into the floor. Seeing how their friend was treated, the other two thugs turned away from the blacksmith. Why do people ever think that’s a good idea?

  The last two thugs didn’t even get the chance to be beaten up by Denise, as their heads were grabbed and bashed together to send them unconscious. “Damn kids, came in here and threatened me with my own weapons.” The blacksmith reached down and removed the three swords from the knocked out thieves. “Sorry you got dragged into that. Though thanks for showing up when you did, these weapons can be quite dangerous.”

  “Aww… I didn’t get to play with them.” Denise let out a huff, crossing her arms below her chest.

  Hearing her, the blacksmith just laughed loudly. “Sorry, sorry. You said you had something for me, though?”

  “Oh, right. I came across a Mana Stone I’d like you to put in the armor we ordered.” I finally remembered why we were here, and passed the man the blue marble.

  “This, is it really a Mana Stone?” He took a close look at it, as the spell diagram wasn’t very visible thanks to the gem’s composition. “Ah, I see. I admit I’ve never seen a stone like this. I can’t guarantee what magic it contains.”

  “It should have a spell to boost physical abilities. I already had it examined.” I smiled to the blacksmith, telling a half-truth.

  “Oh? So it has enchantment magic? Maybe that’s why those stones are so rarely seen, if this is how they look. I understand, a deal is a deal after all. Where did you pick this up, any
ways? Mana Stones aren’t exactly easy to come by. Did you find some unknowing merchant selling it as a typical gem or something?”

  “Ah, no, it was in the forest. I acquired it when we went out to train today.” Hearing me dodge the subject, Cynthia grumbled a bit. I hope it wasn’t a mistake getting her. If she can’t keep our secrets, it’ll be troublesome for us.

  “Is that so? Well, I can put a rush on that armor now, since you brought me this. It should be ready in about three days.” I had been hoping to be on our way out of town by then, but three days was still fairly fast for good quality armor.

  “Thank you. We’ve got other business to attend to, so we’ll take our leave for now and return for the armor later.” I bowed my head politely to him, and we turned to leave. As we were walking out the door, I heard the man telling the unconscious thugs his plans for them… and I did not envy them.