D.E.H Chapter 11: Into the core

I was now in a deadly hug.

No. It wasn’t the Kaiser Blood Bear.

It was a soft robed woman that came out of nowhere saying that I am some sort of Messiah and hugged me.

I wanted to get away from her, but that proved impossible. My wounds were severe, my [Limit Break] already ran out of juice. That I didn’t cry out of pain was already a miracle in itself, don’t ask me to move in this kind of state.

Anyways, I was already prepared for a third party to come anytime. I thought that the Mystic Fencer would be the one that would come out, however, the woman hugging me was definitely not him.

[???? <Class: Archbishop> <Level: ???>]

Because I could see her information. Well, barely any info, but her class was Archbishop, what an overbearing class. And it told me a lot of things about her.

“I-It hurts”

I reflexively said these words. The pain was killing me, and her jumping was worsening my wounds. If she called me her Messiah and she is not here to eliminate me, then I will try asking her to stop. I am not in a state where I can move at all.

“Oh, that’s right”

Releasing me from that bear hug, my body collapsed on the ground.

Ouch!

At least be a bit gentler!

I feel like my consciousness will be blown away any… time…

“Oops, teehee”

…………

“Hah!”

I wake up abruptly.

It seems that I passed out after all that damage.

I check out my surroundings to see where I have ended up in.

“Huh? I’m in the same place?”

I voiced my confusion. I was still in the chamber and I even saw the robed girl patting the Kaiser Blood Bear.

What a bizarre sight.

Are mana beasts tamable? No, when I see it closely… The Kaiser Blood Bear is trembling. He is being overwhelmed by her. That pride filled Kaiser is…

“Ara, have you woken up already?”

The robed girl stops petting the Kaiser and turns my way.

“How are you feeling? Is there anywhere that hurts?”

She asks me with complete confidence. It wasn’t a question to confirm if I felt anything wrong, from her tone of voice, she is totally sure that there is nothing wrong.

“… My head hurts”

“EH?! No way!”

I decided to mess with her.

“A wa wa, what happened… I was sure I did it right. No way, did I mess up somewhere? Me?!”

She was totally flustered. And she quickly lifted both of her hands and casted a healing spell on my head. A green light wafted out of her hands, gently reaching my head. That light was warm and was actually making my head feel better. Maybe the situation really did give me a headache.

I just tried to unnerve her a bit, but for it to have such an effect on her. Archbishops are quite something.

… For now it seems that she isn’t aiming for my life.

She even healed me back to shape.

Regarding my body, there were no abnormalities. Actually, I feel even healthier than before, stronger in fact. It may be the effects of that harsh fight I went through though. Life threatening fights are always the best way to temper the mind and body after all.

The girl seems to be patting my body to check for abnormalities. I couldn’t see her face well, but her movements told me that she was truly concerned.

I look back at the Kaiser Blood Bear and see that he is actually just sitting there. Watching us closely, watching ME closely, no wait, he is totally glaring at me. I feel like he is telling me ‘I would have cut that head of yours if I had more time’. When I see closely, I noticed that his two arms were already back in place.

Was she the one that healed the Kaiser’s arms?

“Who… are you?”

“Oh, I am sorry for not introducing myself yet. My name is Leila Fritz Izara Lunaris”

“… Youma”

W-What a long name.

I read that in this world, the longer the name the higher the status that person has. If having 2 makes you a noble, 4 must be some sort of God. In fact, she has the name Izara in between. Must have something to do with her being an Archbishop.

“Hehe, no need to be so shocked. At this moment it’s just you and me, no need to worry about status here”

With a small giggle, she takes off the hood that was covering her head and long golden hair flowed out of it. Her face had no imperfections, being totally pristine to the point that her presence in here felt out of place. Her light blue eyes that seemed to be reflecting the clear sky that was not present and the long eyelashes and thin eyebrows. Though her face was childish, it added a sense of pureness. It took my breath away for a second.

Her pink lips curved, her face turning impish.

“Did you get mesmerized? You know, it’s an honor to be able to see my face. Only a few people have seen Leila Fritz Izara Lunaris directly”

“I see. So Leila, why is it that such a great person has come to a lowly person like me?”

She tried to stir me up, but I could only see it as childish. Aside from her looks I couldn’t feel anything else that I can call outstanding. I felt like she was an ordinary girl, well, aside from the fact that the Kaiser Blood Bear cowered in fear.

“Wah! A lowly person?! Why are you saying such a thing about yourself?! That our Messiah refers to himself as lowly is unacceptable”

“Oh? So I am that important of a person? Then, which one would be more honorable, me being in the presence of you, or you being in the presence of me?”

“Ah, t-that, that is… unununu”

The girl, Leila, gets confused by my words and begins seriously pondering about it. Kneading her index fingers on her temples.

It seems that she is not used to being teased. She is easily swayed by words. Maybe she doesn’t have much contact with people?

“And what did you mean by a test? Did something here show you that I was the ‘Messiah’?”

Really, the only thing I did was escape from robbers, get lured to a cave and kill Blood Bears.

If the tittle of Messiah is something that can be achieved by doing that, there should be a lot of qualifiers.

“Heheh, you don’t need to hide it, I already know everything about you and you know that you are special. Even though you were in such a state, you would have won the fight against the Kaiser Blood Bear. I couldn’t let the Kaiser die yet so I stepped in. I have a good pair of eyes after all. Since the time you came into this world, I have been paying close attention to you, Youma Hiromi”

After she said that, I could see the Kaiser Blood Bear showing an unsightly expression. Noticing that I was looking at him and grinning, he spit out and showed me his fangs.

How humanlike. I feel like I can get along with that fellow.

Hmph, so she noticed that I still had some cards left, and she already knows that I came from another world. She even knows my full name.

“Are you related to Melroc?”

“Ahaha, that old man? No, I am not related to someone as unsightly as that. He has his own method to do things while I have mine. I hope that Youma doesn’t think so badly of me”

Not related. Then how did she know about me? Spies?

It seems that Leila understood the questions I had. She got up playfully and made a turn, saying.

“I have a trusty fellow in the adventurer guild, his eyes are the best around. I had him on the lookout for any potential Messiah candidates”

With a giggle, she appeared right in my face, and placed her hands on my cheeks pulling it closer to her face. Her big sky blue eyes looking straight into mine.

“You were the ONLY level 1 adventurer and on top of that, an adult. Do you know how impossible that is?”

“Uhh, actually… no. And could you please stop squishing my cheeks and tell me normally? I have something called personal space”

“No sorry, this is the closest I have been to a man, I want to thoroughly enjoy this moment”

Her breathing was getting rough. How can you get so excited just by being close to a man? Are you the type that was never able to touch a man in her life?

“Anyways, since the time a person is born, they will get exposed to mana which will slowly nurture their body. No matter if you do nothing, by the time you reach 15 years old, a person should be over level 10. In fact, at that time you are officially allowed outside the gates of your hometown and considered an adult”

Is this Pokemon? A game where the tutorial takes 15 years to complete?

Well, no wonder everyone was giving me weird looks when they knew my level. But then, it’s still strange. If what she says is true, their reactions were too weak. After all, this was the confirmation she needed to notice that I was from another world. Were the people that I met…?

“But that isn’t all…”

She places a hand in my chest and whispers.

“Though the adventurers we employed were completely useless. Those fights with the Blood Bears and the Kaiser Blood Bear were magnificent. It made my body shiver, I am not versed in the ways of a man but, I could feel that it was a manly fight”

She jumps back and punches the air, saying “A clash between warriors”.

After that, she jumps to the front again and stretches out her hand with a big smile.

“Anyways, let’s go. I will show you the reason you have been brought here”

I didn’t have much of a choice so I took the hand that was stretched out.

—- At the outsides of the cave —–

“Is it okay to just wait here?”

“… Concentrate on guarding”

“Y-Yes!”

Two people were guarding outside the cave where Youma had entered. The Mystic Fencer, Tsuiras, and his ‘lackey’ Limbey.

After cleaning up all the bodies, the place was as if nothing had happened.

The people that were blocking the outsides of the forest were also gone.

Only these two remained.

“Can’t we just seal the cave though? There is no need to have us guard…”

“IDIOT! Do you know who is in there?! Leila Fritz Izara Lunaris!”

Tsuiras clearly heard what Limbey said dissatisfied, and shouted at him, of course, the name of Leila was whispered in a tone where only Limbey could hear.

Both of them didn’t have the rights to enter the cave, in fact, the only reason that Tsuiras was able to enter the Forest of Beginnings was because he was given that special permission just this time. Which proved the importance of this mission and how important of a person is in this cave that even the higher ups would bend the rules to have a guard stationed.

Tsuiras was not briefed of much. He was just told to gather those adventurers and after eliminating them if there is a need to do so, he would stand guard on the outside of the cave. By no means can he let anyone enter, and that included him.

That he was able to get the name of the person inside was because of his internal connections.

But it only served on increasing his own pressure. Right now he is regretting the fact that he investigated it.

Tsuiras continued whispering to Limbey who was confused by that name. He has never heard of a person with 4 names before. He may not know the person, but just by hearing it, it left him with his mouth wide open.

“Listen well Limbey, Lunaris is a priestess of the Holy Radiance Church. I couldn’t get her clear position… but just by hearing her name and that I couldn’t get any more information is terrifying in itself. She may even be able to behead us with just a word of her. By no means can we mess up here”

The Holy Radiance Church is the main church of the Goddess Izara and carries an influence only second to the Congress of the Enlightened. Having many branches around the world, it could be called a Kingdom in itself.

“A person that even Lord Tsuiras can’t investigate?! Just who in the world is she? W-Why did you get such an important mission?”

“Shut the beak up… I don’t know either”

That he was the one being assigned this mission was a cause of concern for Tsuiras as well. Normally, a mission of this degree is an honor. But Tsuiras knew how it worked, the more important a mission is, the most dangerous it is to your life. Not because guarding was difficult, it was the fact that he doesn’t know what will happen later.

Will he be killed to keep the information from leaking out? Was he assigned in order to single him out?

Was there a deeper meaning behind him getting assigned?

Tsuiras would prefer a hundred times to go out there and kill Emperor Class monsters than to be assigned this job.

“But… if that’s true. Then the man that was lured inside this cave. Just what in the world is he?”

“Only thing I could get from him was that his name is Youma, age 21. And that a month ago, he was level 1”

“Eh, 1?! Is that information… No, it is true huh”

“Yeah, it seems they are trying to keep the information from leaking out, but that only ascertained the credibility of the information”

Hearing this, Limbey made an audible gulp and asked Tsuiras once more.

“A-And what else did you get?”

“Hmph, I stopped there. I am not sticking my head into the guillotine”

Tsuiras is experienced in this area. He is able to gather information, but he knows until when to stop. Gathering too much information would only warrant his head chopped off.

Tsuiras opens his mouth and stays silent for a second. After breathing for a bit, with serious eyes he warns Limbey,

“In the future, avoid getting in contact with anyone named Youma. Don’t even think about it, don’t ask about it”

“Y-Yes sir”

Both of them stood straight once again, and without even trying to look at the cave behind them, they continued to keep a careful watch on their surroundings.

***

“Hum~ Hoh hum~♪”

Leila was leading me by the hand and has been humming happily for a while.

We were now walking a secret passage that was in the chamber. Well, with a boss character guarding a room that had nothing in it, even I would think there is a secret room somewhere in there.

But it wasn’t just a secret passage. We have been passing numerous barriers that could only be opened when Leila placed a card on top of it and chanted some sort of spell.

I don’t know if I should call that fantasy-like or very high-tech. It resembled the security in our world, in a way. Maybe this was influenced by the heroes? I tried asking a number of things to Leila, but she has been perfectly ignoring me.

Only thing that she said was, “How fun~, I have always wanted to walk in here with someone”.

This place is most likely completely sealed off from normal people and only very limited individuals are allowed inside. The ruins inside should be classified information so, the guys outside didn’t chase me, not because they didn’t want to, but because they couldn’t.

Just thinking like this makes my stomach churn.

Ugh, I knew that travelling to another world wouldn’t be without troubles. But couldn’t you give me more time before bringing it?!

“We have arrived~♪”

With that said, Leila places her glowing red hands on a door and opens it. Must be some sort of special magic.

What was at the other side of the door was, a dazzling room. There was nothing in it, only a single spherical object floating in the middle of it. And yet, that one thing was emanating such an amount of light… no, it was mana. The room was filled with the mana that this green spherical object was emitting. The mana was so dense that it warped the surroundings around it, shining a beautiful blue light that meshed with the green of the sphere.

Entering the room felt like I was in the middle of the ocean. That was the feeling the dense mana created.

“This is, beautiful”

I was mesmerized by this single object. This one thing changed this whole room that had nothing, into a dream-like room.

‘Can I… eat it?’, this dangerous thought ran through my mind.

No good, must be the after effects of eating the mana beast core. It tasted so good that I associated it with this one.

“It is indeed beautiful. This room is the secret of secrets, that you are in it is something you should be proud of. This one room, this one sphere, is the core of all this forest, the core of all life produced in it”

Leila steps forward and makes a grandiose speech with both of her hands lifted up. Her eyes closed as if showering in the majesty of it.

The, core? This thing is the core of this whole forest?!

“Wait a moment, I don’t understand too well what you are trying to tell me”

“Eh? You don’t? I thought you were fast on the uptake though”

“Stop with the ambiguous praises. You already know that I am not from this world, my thought process is different from the people in here. I can’t pinpoint the extend of something fantasy-like like magic”

“Oh! Right, you do have a point. Hmm… how do you explain it? Well, in short. This sphere thingy here creates life. A mass of mana that has taken a crystallized form. The heart of this forest”

… So it really makes life? Are you telling me the mana beasts in this forest… are being produced by this?

The image of the Kaiser Blood Bear appears in my mind. That beast that had so much intelligence was created by this one sphere?

“Heheh, you are amazed right? Actually, no one should be allowed in this room, not even me. But there are special occasions like this one, where I, Leila Fritz Izara Lunaris, am to enter this room. In this occasion it is with you, Youma Hiromi.

I have received an oracle directly from World to bring you to this room. To have received a message from World itself… Ah~”

Leila was talking with pride, but when she reached the part about God, her face filled with happiness.

World? So it’s a direct invitation from the God of this world itself. What an honor.

Yeah right!

“Then, what was that test before?! Are you telling me that World asked you to do that as well?”

“Indeed, World did”

“…”

“’He’ ordered me to proof your caliber. He let me choose how though”

“And, what if I died?”

“Dead. You weren’t qualified. But aren’t you glad that you passed? And with flying colors!”

Flying colors my ass! If I didn’t train like hell in this forest I would have definitely died. I began training since the time I got here you know? And I was barely able to survive! Not win, survive! What kind of Spartan test is that? Are you really a cleric, are these your God’s teachings?!

“So, what did he want me here for?”

“Good good. It seems you understand the importance of this. Here, put on this bracelet. And after that, place your hand on top of the crystal”

What importance? Don’t go misunderstanding. I just want to finish this and go back already.

I take the bracelet from Leila’s hand. It was a silver bracelet that had nothing special to it. The only characteristic that stood out was its size. It’s small, about 3cm, and had a number of black orbs embedded in it. A total of 5.

When I put it on.

“Wow!”

The bracelet wraps around my arm. And it turned into a tattoo!

“I can’t take it off?!”

I scratch my wrist to try and get it off, but, as expected, it proved futile.

“Ahaha, how funny of you. Of course you can’t take it off, it’s a God’s item”

A God’s item? Aren’t you mistaking it for a cursed one? Where can I purify this item?!

You say it as if it’s an obvious thing.

…

I give up.

I’m just going to touch this sphere and end this charade. My mind is already worn out, I have been through way too much in one day.

The moment I touch the green sphere in the middle of the room, a strong wave of mana surged out from it, going directly into my body. The massive amount of mana that was entering was so much that I felt like my veins would burst at any moment. Every single part of my body felt like it was swelling!

And then, it all flowed in a single direction. My wrist. The left wrist where the ‘bracelet’ was.

All that surge of mana was gathered into my wrist, but for some reason, it didn’t burst my arm. It was all being absorbed by that tattoo. And when the mana began to calm down, one of the black spheres in the tattoo changed color. A green colored circle.

[You have absorbed a dungeon core.

You have unlocked the skill [Map Record] and have obtained the map data of the <Forest of Beginnings> and the <World Shrine>]

After that, a notification popped up. It seems I have gotten the map of this place from absorbing its core. When I try to check the map for a bit, I noticed that it took my whole vision. How dangerous! How do you even use this safely?!

I close it and decide to use it at a later time. It doesn’t change the fact that it’s a useful skill.

“So, are we done?”

I turn around and ask Leila.

“Huh?”

But what I see when I turn around is, a completely blank scenery. Absolutely nothing, no ground, no ceiling, no sky. A complete white.

“Oh? You came already. That girl really works fast”

A voice comes out from my back. I turn once again and what I see in front of me, is a shape. I had no way to describe it. He had no characteristic traits, no face, no hair, nothing. It was just a fuzzy image of what seemed to be a human shape.

“Are you God? World?”

“Oh? What a nice deduction. Indeed I am. Nice to meet you, Youma Hiromi”

A deep voice, not male, nor female. It felt like a weird voice changing device. His voice echoed through the place that had a size I couldn’t measure.

So he appeared after all. ‘God’.

Well, this is a basic I suppose. After being transferred to another world, a godly being isn’t a surprise anymore.

“Well, Youma, sit here. Don’t be shy and come over. I will prepare some nice tea. Once you taste it you will feel like you have tasted heaven”

Before I noticed, two chairs had appeared, and a table with a set of cups and teapot as well. The fuzzy shape takes a sit in one of the chairs and waving his hand, he invites me to come.

“I am all ears”

Without any other words, I sit in the offered chair and look at ‘it’.

I don’t know about this ‘God’ business. But he better have a damn good reason to have me go through all this.

“No, seriously. You are way too early. I don’t even know from where to start now”

The ‘God’ says while resting his chin on his hand. I can totally imagine him furrowing his eyebrows.

Really, get your act together ‘God’!

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