Volume 2 - Chapter 5: Cabbages....

6 hours before the clash between Rain and the unknown magician.

Back at the forest where the villagers worked diligently, the girls were making their present for Souma’s return. They were happily working together making a present but they were interrupted by one of the Kathern guards. The guard, named Alreed, alerted everyone about the forest beings that lived near their settlement. The beings that emerged from the forest were distant relatives to the druids from the Kathern village. They made contact and Alreed was sent to call the elders and the females that were related to Souma as per instruction of the beings that appeared. The beings were humanoid beings with plant features and were akin to the dryads but their features were more similar to treants.

Souma, before his disappearance, made contact with the forest treants. He made sure that the demonic beings were eliminated before they even sat food on the forest which the treants thanked him. By doing so, they promised to allow the villages to settle near their homeland, however they had a different reason for their sudden appearance.

The elders from their respective villages, along with the females, followed Alreed into the forest towards the meeting spot where the forest treants were waiting there. Two hours of walking, they finally came to a secluded area within the forest where the spot had an open view in the sky. The place had several rock chairs that were magically formed from the treant’s affinity with nature and a rock table formed in the middle. The treants immediately sensed the group of people and greeted them as they entered the area. After everyone exchanged greetings, the largest treant began to speak..

“Welcome to our forest, Silvaheim...We knew of your settlement since your villager, Souma helped us defeat the prowling demonic beasts from the south. Normally I would’ve called for Souma himself but from the words of this guard, I believe he is not available? It seems he is missing…” The treant spoke with a commander’s voice that echoed throughout the area. While speaking about Souma, the girls frowned a bit in response but they continued to listen…

“However, to welcome you is not the only thing on my agenda...My name is Delduro the Ancient and I have but a request from you villagers...There is a dungeon that requires people who have an aptitude for the arcane arts...being magic...We cannot enter as our people cannot wield nothing but nature itself, making the dungeon highly inadequate and dangerous for our people. The dungeon has been reacting to some people nearby who have been using magic constantly…”

As Delduro spoke about the dungeon reacting to magic, the girls began to lament on their decision on using magic constantly ever since they arrived to the forest. The elders knew of the girls and their little project, but seeing as the treants are heavily disrupted by the dungeon they knew they had to responsible. The girls were lamenting as the situation grew grim until Akane spoke…

“Nyaah, why don’t we just go girls? I mean it is the least we could do for taking wood from these tree people.” Akane spoke with a bright expression to counter the grim pressure that lurked in the area.

The treants were offended that a mere cat woman called them ‘Tree people’ but their chieftain, Delduro waved them to stop and finally he spoke…

“This cat woman...are you willing to help us…?” Delduro asked in a questioning manner towards Akane that finished speaking.

“Nyuh huh” Akane nodded in agreement as she spoke and the girls nodded together in response.

The elders looked at the girls with puzzled expressions and Alveani’s father spoke…

“Alveani….are you sure...I don’t want you to be in danger...No, you cannot do this! I forbid it!” Alveani’s father lamented on her decisions to go in an unknown dungeon without any prior experience in fighting until Delduro spoke…

“Elder...do not fret...our people can teach these girls defensive spells to protect them...all they need is to reach the final floor of the dungeon and cast a ice crystallization spell on the orb that governs the dungeon...if you do that before engaging the boss on the main floor, you can complete the dungeon without actually fighting the main boss...do not worry…” Delduro spoke to ease the worries from the Elder and somehow Delduro knew the girls were special in their own way.

The girls whispered amongst themselves and finally decided on a course of action. This time, Alveani spoke to the chieftain…

“Delduro-san, we will accept your offer on clearing the dungeon, however we must learn those defensive skills since most of the girls are new to magic. We will be practicing for 15 days...5 of them being the days where we learn the defensive skills. On the 16th day, we will head into the dungeon to clear it however we don’t know what the level the dungeon is….” Alveani spoke with a stern expression regarding the details of their action and when they will leave.

Delduro, noticing the girls wondering about the dungeon, finally initiated his quest…

“I will bestow up this group, a class D+ quest on conquering one of Silvaheim’s guardian dungeons.”

*T-tring!

Quest Details

The group will fully scour the Dungeon of Silvaheim since the dungeon is causing distruption. Due to the nature of the dungeon, only people that are proficient in magic can enter the dungeon. The dungeon is a sacred dungeon that has protected the Silvaheim forest, however due to Demonic beings infiltrating the forest, it has caused a disruption within the Dungeon Core that protects the forest.

Quest Requirements

People of the villages - *Souma or people that are proficient enough to enter the dungeon*

Quest Level: D+

Time requirement:

One month after training.

The girls looked upon the details of the quest and continued to talk between themselves. Tamago-chan ruffled inside her cracked egg shell to express her worry but Akane calmed her down. The girls were pretty efficient in magic, especially Alveani considering how her mother taught her most of what she knew. The girls felt they would complete this quest with ease but one should be cautious at the events that may occur during the dungeon raid.

Quest Accepted!

Having accepted the quest, Delduro and the rest of the treants smiled with contempt and Delduro spoke…

“I see...this is the people whom Souma called family...I will make sure you learn the spells properly or Souma might destroy us...I only felt a fraction of his power but already that fraction was enough to decimate the entire forest….” Delduro shivered as he spoke of Souma’s power and the girls smiled in response.

After an hour of talking, the elders finally dismissed themselves and went ahead of the group along with Alfreed while Alveani’s father stayed with the girls.

Alveani’s father was freaking out until Alveani, herself knocked him out with a rock she found on the ground. They dismissed themselves by saying goodbye to the treants and dragged the Elder back to their settlement.

After three hours of dragging the Elder, they noticed something was a bit odd. The group walked towards their settlement and noticed a ominous change in the clouds. They saw thunder clouds forming with a large concentration of dark, noctilucent clouds appearing in the east from the settlement. Lightning struck rapidly and vibrantly around the eastern area where the City of Evercliff was located at and the girls wondered what was going on…

* * * * * *

….

“...Finally...I found you...”

….

The magician spoke while creating an advanced barrier to prevent anyone from entering or exiting the platform. As the magician smiled, the sky darkened, enveloping the city in

sparks of lightning. The mercenaries that tried to enter the platform were pushed away by the barrier and lightning nearly struck them. It was as if the platform was protected by the lightning itself and the magician shrouded the entire barrier in shadows.

Rain was enveloped in the darkness and didn’t know what to do. Even the voice that had helped him was nowhere to be heard but suddenly he felt the cold blade of the magician slice at his body. Rain shrieked as the blade sliced upon him and he finally got ahold of his broadsword and attempted to retaliate.

The darkness clouded his vision so he had no choice but to at least defend himself with no sight but he could hear, just barely, a maniacal laugh resound in the darkness. Everytime the magician struck, a slight laughter could be heard as Rain bled in the darkness. Eventually, Rain focused on that point as the magician struck once more and a clash between an unknown and a broadsword was seen. Ordinarily, the broadsword would win in terms of strength however the blade that the magician used had the upper hand since Rain lunged out of desperation. Due to the clash of the two blades, their weapons had disappeared into the darkness and the magician was shocked. Rain’s desperation made the magician stumble for a second and the magician disappeared once more.

The magician began to talk from a distance…

“...You...why are you so weak...Am I mistaken...O, descendant of Kami-sama. The harbinger of the god’s end….The death to all worlds….you...why aren’t you the one...I finally found you...the power of Kami-sama reeks from your soul...I have come for you...to end you…” The magician spoke in a dark, scantily tone which exemplified his notorious aura of death…

Rain looked confused at how the magician spoke and wondered who he was. Even mentioning Kami-sama, which he heard the name before, confused him even more….

“How am I the descendant of a god...clearly I cannot be that important...why…Why are you attacking me...I did nothing...” Rain spoke out towards the voice in the darkness to receive a response but there was none.

The magician laughed wholeheartedly at Rain’s plea and continued his assault. This time however, the magician began using dark magic, the same magic that nearly depleted Klain’s lifeforce….

Rain felt his entire body losing its pristine color and he began to feel the darkness rise upon his body. He took off running around the platform in attempt to dodge the magician’s attacks but even with his ‘appropriated’ speed from the voice, it was futile. The magician kept unleashing deadly strikes at Rain as he ran then finally Rain collapsed on the ground.

The magician gawked at his appearance as he laid on the floor, panting for air and laughed at Rain’s current state…

“Ha...ha...you...look at you now...I never felt more joy...Stand up...we will play some more...I would hate to kill you so easily...Come! Fight more...O, Kami-sama...You better save your little puppet or I will end him...I seek vengeance for those times...Those bitter times when you reaped everything from me...I will end you...and your little puppet now…”

* * * * * *

Back in the void, Kami-sama was stroking his imaginary beard and wondered who this dark magician was and how he knew him.

“I wonder who this guy is...He seems familiar…”

As Kami-sama spoke, a mirrored portal appeared in front of Kami-sama and the face of the magician was revealed along with Rain/Souma.

“Haaa...why does he seem so familiar…This guy...I wonder why is he attacking my apostle...’Rain’ has yet to unleash his latent abilities from Ryouma...but how did he find my descendant...There is only a few artifacts in that world that can detect a God’s spirit...but how…”

Kami-sama began to lament on Rain’s situation and suddenly he remembered an artifact he gave to some a long time ago...

“I did give an item to a lady once before...A magificient lady in bed to boot...One day I was on Oryon…..”

Brief images of Kami-sama’s memories flashed by…

Kami-sama was at the Kingdom of Klorim, a western kingdom governed by a peaceful king several years before Souma’s entrance to this world. Kami-sama was a self-righteous person who was handsome in every way and had the power to back up himself. In the kingdom, he was a Knight commander that held the position of a Saint Knight that governed several thousand troops but that was simply his side job, as he is and always will be a god first. He often went into the world as a powerful person and Kami-sama usually died on purpose if he felt bored of his “new” life. Just like any normal day, Kami-sama was just another human that held great powers beyond any person however no one knew his true might. One day, he simply wanted to try making food rather than conjuring the food with his powers, so he simply set out towards the Market. Like every marketplace, the people were bustling as they shouting with sale prices here and there and Kami-sama noticed a cabbage merchant. He was selling cabbages like any normal person but suddenly Kami-sama had the urge to do some cunning tactics. The cabbage merchant looked so happy as he sold a cabbage here and there but Kami-sama wanted to play some pranks on the fellow. As Kami-sama lifted his hand, he swung in an arc motion and a wind blade struck the cabbage cartel. The cabbage merchant was distraught and he suddenly screamed…

“MY CABBAGES!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!” The cabbage merchant bawled in terror as all his cabbages were destroyed!

Kami-sama snickered at the bawling merchant and walked up to him…

“Sir...If I may..can I help you…” Kami-sama, trying to hold in his laugh after watching the cabbage merchant shriek in a funny manner, held out his hand to offer some help…

“AHH!! My cabbages….ohhh….ahhh….Sir Knight...thank you...but...my cabbages…” The merchant sobbing left and right finally spoke to Kami-sama…

“Oh...fear not young merchant...I have but a few gold pieces to help recover your loss…” Kami-sama put on a Knightly facade to disguise his evil smirk since he was the proprietor of that sudden gust of wind.

“BUT...MY CABBBBBAGES!!! *sobs* *waaaaaah*” The merchant bawled once again and Kami-sama simply patted his back to comfort him…

“It is okay...How about we go to your home and we can talk it out…” Kami-sama simply knew where this was going and simply followed the path that was already laid out for him.

The cabbage merchant finally agreed and they left the cabbage cartel that was destroyed from the sudden gust of wind.

After arriving to his home, the cabbage merchant finally introduced his wife to Kami-sama. Kami-sama smirked within and quickly donned one of his fangs towards the cabbage merchant’s wife and hid the fang quickly. Kami-sama knew exactly who the woman was and how she had a fetish towards beastmen. The cabbage merchant simply smiled as Kami-sama introduced himself as Zeon the Knight and the night passed quickly. Kami-sama spent a night at the cabbage merchant’s house in return for giving him 15 gold pieces which was more than enough for his losses.

During the night, the wife snuck into Kami-sama’s bed and they began their nightly escapade. The cabbage merchant slept peacefully without any notice of his wife’s disappearance from the bedroom.

Several days passed and this affair continued and the cabbage merchant began to suspect the two. The first thing was that his wife, who was very beautiful, never went into the city but once Kami-sama said he was going to gather some goods for him, she insisted to join. Secondly, the two have been hanging out more often and the cabbage merchant began to worry but Kami-sama simply said that nothing was going on.

This angered the cabbage merchant and he decided that today is the day Kami-sama must leave. He has been staying there for a week already and the wife had been acting strangely towards Kami-sama. She had a glare in her eyes, that glare which the cabbage merchant hasn’t seen in a long time since they got married. That night, the cabbage merchant left to get some supplies and Kami-sama and the wife stayed at the house. As usual, they initiated their nightly duties and the wife was in ecstasy.

“OHHHH~ ZEON moreee~ Moreeee! Harder~~! Push it deeeeper~”

She screamed louder and harder than before since it was Kami-sama’s last night and after their escapade, they laid in bed together. Kami-sama, who wasn’t tired but the wife clearly was, handed her a emerald artifact. She kissed Kami-sama and said that he was clearly better than her husband and Kami-sama told her what the emerald was…

“If you want to find me...use that...It will guide you to me…”

Kami-sama beared his fangs once more to entice the woman again for Round 7 of their escapade when suddenly the door opened and the cabbage merchant screamed…

“MY CABBAGES!!!! I MEAN NOOO MY WIFEE!! HOW DARE YOU” The cabbage merchant screamed in horror similar to the event that occurred with his cabbages and Kami-sama sighed…

“Haaa...Well, I guess it’s time to leave…” Kami-sama smirked at the cabbage merchant and simply created a gust of wind to lift his clothes to dress himself.

The cabbages merchant, recognizing the similar gust of wind was shocked at Zeon(Kami-sama) and yelled once more…

“YOUUU!!! MY CABBAGESSSS NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!” The cabbage merchant cried once more and the wife was hiding under the covers.

Kami-sama got dressed using the wind to support himself and simply walked passed the merchant…

“I will see you later...and oku-san under the sheets...if you need me...use that…By the way...I am Kami-sama...”

Kami-sama spoke his few last words and abruptly disappeared using his god powers. The house was silent since all that remained was a now ‘divorced’ woman and a mentally distraught cabbage merchant…..Kami-sama’s memories finally ended…

* * * * * *

“I knew he looked familiar...that cabbage merchant...Who knew that he had an aptitude for the dark arts...However this might be bad for ‘Rain’...”

Kami-sama stroked his imaginary beard while he contemplated on Rain’s predicament once more…

“How do I help him from a crazed cabbage merchant...I can’t even help him since I am already busy here...The only way is to indirectly influence someone but no one can approach the two since the cabbage merchant used an advanced barrier skill….hmmm…”

Kami-sama lamented on his choices but eventually he stopped…

“Ehh...oh well...good luck ‘Rain’...”

* * * * * *

Returning back to the battlefield, Rain was on the floor as the darkness surrounded the entire area and nobody knew what was going on. The magician slowly crept towards Rain and holstered his at Rain’s neck. He began to speak….

“My cabbages…….MY CABBAGES….NOT ONLY THAT…..YOU!.....KISAMA!!! KONO YAROU!!!!” The magician/cabbage merchant began to thrash Rain in the air and Rain didn’t know what was going on…

“After all this time...I finally found you...even if you aren’t Kami-sama, I finally found you...I will take my time….After working so hard….I sold my cabbages that I grew….I became a prominent figure in the cabbage society….Then I became an apostle….I risked everything...I divorced my wife because of you….I FOUND POWER….AND NOW...I SEEK VENGEANCE!!!!...”

‘Cabbages….WHAT!? I AM DYING BECAUSE OF CABBAGES!?! WHY IS HE TELLING ME HIS STORY AHHHH!!!!! THE CABBAGES!!!’

Rain began to lament on his situation until he exploded in rage as the magician thrashed him about…

“STOP MESSING AROUND I KNOW NOTHING!!! AHHH!!” Rain yelled as the magician continued to thrash him about.

Rain grabbed the magician’s hand and focused intently at his grip until the magician finally released his hand. Without knowing, Rain had crushed the man’s hand and he screamed in pain…

“MY HANNNDD…..ARGG!! YOU’LL PAY!!! DAMN YOU KAMI-SAMA!!!” The magician screamed in rage and dashed towards Rain.

Rain couldn’t take the abuse and began to fight back. He ran faster than before and suddenly came across his broadsword that was hidden in the darkness. Rain holstered the sword in his hand and began to swipe in the darkness. Nothing appeared until the magician struck at Rain’s abdomen and the magician lifted Rain into the air. Using the momentum, the magician flew towards the top of the arena and reached the edge of the barrier he had formed.

The magician smashed Rain onto the top portion of the barrier and cracks appeared on the barrier. After repeatedly smashing Rain into the barrier, the magician indirectly broke his own barrier and the top of the barrier bursted with dark miasma leaking from the inside. The two were continuing to fly into the sky and Rain had lost conscience….

‘...why...what are cabbages doing here….Why me...WHAT!!! did I even do...I did nothing….’

‘Why me….Who is this guy anyways...why cabbages….’

‘......why!!!….’

….

Several moments passed as Rain drifted in his conscience looking for an answer until one word spoke to him…

...

…

…

“...Raijin…”

…

…

…

Rain unconsciously spoke the word as he was being thrashed into the air and the lightning enveloped the two until the magician broke apart from the clash and floated in mid air….

“W-what the hell is going on…” The magician/cabbage merchant spoke as he watched the lightning strikes clashed upon Rain’s body.

Kami-sama from his void space began to speak…

…

Raijin...huh….that's your choice...Let’s see how that cabbage merchant does against Ryouma’s descendant….

Well...I think I am responsible for this...but let’s just keep quiet when Souma returns...I don’t want to risk anything...Knowing myself, I’d probably kill myself in the process…

…

The lightning strikes dawned upon Rain and he was still unconscious however brief memories were summoned in Rain’s mind. His previous memories resurfaced and he had recalled his memories of being a 4 year old boy in a prominent Japanese family that lead the world’s largest innovative company.

Rain had surfed through his memories and learned the name of Souma. As Souma/Rain re-lived his peaceful childhood as the son of Koujiro Kurogane, he found out that he was a smart boy. After reading his Father’s ‘collection’ of books, he memorized every detail within his brain and he could instantly recall anything he has seen. Rain was amazed at seeing his own memories resurging brightly as he drifted in silence. Although he didn’t know what was going on as he was unconscious, he was happy that some of his memories were returning. As His memories were resounding loudly, he could recall everything from the point where he was a little baby to when he heard the ‘cat noises’ that occurred “that” night.

As Souma/Rain drifted in silence, he continued to lament on his situation on being attacked and his sudden burst of memories….

* * * * * *

The magician that floated in the air using his ‘borrowed’ power watched as a body was formed from the lightning clashes and a man was floating in mid-air with brightly golden hair stretching over his back. Lightning sparks intertwined with his entire body, create a cloak of lightning that surrounded him. The clothes were tattered from his transformation and from the holes, a muscular body was seen. The magician had his mouth open and then suddenly the man cloaked in lightning began to attack…

Rain was moving unconsciously and began to attack. He struck the jaw of the magician and sent him flying a few meters backwards. As he struck, a lightning strike followed suit causing double the damage, leaving the magician paralyzed in mid-air. Rain subconsciously moved through the air using lightning steps. The skill allowed Rain to move effortlessly through anything. He bursted through the air and immediately caught up to the paralyzed magician. Rain grabbed hold of the magician by the neck and surged the lightning cloak onto the magician causing electricity to generate. He was generating 600 million volts onto the magician, causing third degree burns to appear at his neck, completely destroying his nerve cells in the magician’s body.

Rain, with the magician in his hand, flew towards the outskirts of the city where he was floating above the fog and dropped the magician into the mist. As soon as the magician’s body landed on the ground, Rain immediately dashed towards the body with his fist in front. Rain was subconsciously going for an overkill and struck the magician on the ground. The full frontal force of Rain’s punch as it impacted with the body and the ground, created a mile-wide crater. The magician’s body was destroyed and beyond identifiable from the impact. Even then, Rain continuously slammed his fist into the ground, deepening the crater in size….

As he slammed his fist, words began to form Rain’s lips.…

‘Why me….WHY CABBAGES….I HATE THIS!!...’

‘....My memories….and now cabbages…!?! WHY!....’

‘What did I do!?....’

….

….

….

After hours of slamming the ground with lightning punches, Rain had finally ended his his assault and the body was gone after the lightning strikes had consumed everything. Rain finally tired himself out and fell asleep on the crater underneath the fog…

….

One hour passed…

….

….

Five hours passed…

….

….

Ten hours passed…

….

….

Thirteen hours passed…

….

Rain mumbled and moved around a bit as he began to slowly awaken from his unconscious state….

“...what….where am I….” Rain woke up in a daze as he was in a different place rather than dying from the magician’s attack….

Rain looked around his surroundings and found patches of dark clothings and it was incredibly dark. He didn’t know where he was or what had happened. He felt across his body and noticed that his clothes were torn and he gradually stood up. He didn’t know where the magician was or where he was either but it wouldn’t do him any good as he felt the ground was arched downwards as if he was in a crater. Rain slowly moved and gradually ascended above the deformed ground while carrying several cloths that were next to him. As he looked around, he noticed that the sky had no stars but a shroud of mist was formed to block any light. He looked around and he faintly saw similar tree sizes around and Rain finally noticed that he was in a dense forest. He suddenly found a large hollowed tree and crept into the hollowed entrance. He gradually waited until any sign of light would be seen. Hours on end, he gradually fell asleep once more….

* * * * * *

….

Once he woke up…He found himself amidst of a predicament...

Fangs appeared directly in his face and began to gnaw deeply into his hands….Behind was a pack of demonic wolves that Souma had fought before, but for Rain, it was his first time….

And then….

Author's Note:

Sorry took awhile...I split the chapter into two sections and the next one will be coming either later today or tomorrow depending on when I get home...

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