Danmachi – Infinite Mana System

[Chapter Size: 2585 Words.]
Lucius POV
Babel Tower, Guild.

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Passing through the gates, people had already received the news of what happened in Rivira by the looks they gave us as we entered their fields of vision in the Guild halls...
It could also be said that seeing three gods leaving with a bunch of dungeon adventurers was not something very common...
"What a drag..." I grumbled, looking around.
"Hey, Riekling. You're going to answer any questions they ask us!" I ordered casually.
"HEEEEE!!" He protested, which made many in our group laugh loudly at that.
"I wonder how you manage to communicate with him..." Hestia couldn't help but wonder, looking at the Goblin...
"Riekling and I have a connection; we're partners, and partners understand each other," I simply said to avoid explaining the magical bond between a summoner and his summon. That's too much of a hassle. Fortunately, she accepted my explanation, looking at me as if I were an idiot, and we continued walking without speaking much.

Entering the guild hall, people and staff noticed us as soon as we walked in.
"BELL-KUN!" The voice of a half-elf broke the silence as people noticed us.
"You're okay! By the gods, I'm so happy!" Said a genuinely happy Eina to Bell for being well and safe at the moment.
Seeing her going to Bell, I ignored it and went straight to my mentor.
"Yo, how's it going, Rose?" I said with a friendly smile.
"Hello Lucius, you made quite a commotion down there, didn't you?" She said expressionlessly, and when she did that, it meant she was in a bad mood with me.
"Huh? How do you know?" I asked curiously, even though I already figured out why.
"Well..." She began sarcastically.
"The adventurers who have been arriving in the last few days are talking about two variants of the Monster Rex Goliath appearing on the Rivira floor. But the strangest thing was hearing that a blond-haired man with a star on his forehead, belonging to the Hestia family, simply decided to change the floor's structure, breaking some of the ceiling crystals and embedding them in the floor, making a permanent change to the place..." Then she looked at me seriously.
"Do you know the paperwork I have to fill out because of this, since this adventurer has been with me for over 2 years, Mr. Lucius?" She said without expression on her face, making me feel bad about it.
"That's complicated... Can I help with anything?" I said awkwardly while scratching my head.
She looked at me for a while and sighed.
"No need, anyway, I'm glad you're alive. They told me you attracted one of the Black Goliaths and fought alone with them. You were clever in breaking those crystals since it's a monster classified as level 5 and hasn't been seen in centuries. Doing that at level 1 was quite risky, Lucius..." She scolded me in the end, but I cut her off.
"Level 2, Miss Rose," I interrupted.
"Huh?" She asked without understanding.
"I am now at level 2," I repeated, showing a proud smile.

"How? I saw your statistics at Rank I a month ago..." She asked, genuinely surprised and stunned. Unlike Hestia, she didn't keep up with my growth. Seeing how I changed in a month after 2 years as a level one adventurer must have shocked her.

But I just shrugged, leaving the stunned red fox-woman as I returned to the group of my friends, friends if we exclude Hermes, of course.

"It's him, isn't it?" I heard some voices in the hall as I was returning to our group.

"Yes, I heard he looks like that," said another voice.

"Are you saying he's the one who fought a variant Monster Rex alone and broke the crystals on the eighteenth floor with a fire shower, as I heard yesterday at the bar?"

"I heard his magic energy is inexhaustible; can you believe he cast 1000 spells, some adventurers were talking about it!"

"That's absurd; they're surely making all of this up!"

"But no one can deny it if the guild confirms that the Rivira floor has really changed..."

"He doesn't seem all that, I heard he might be level 5, but I've never heard of him, since everyone at that level is famous in the city."

"Let's wait for the guild to confirm all this nonsense; I'm sure it will end up just being rumors or someone trying to promote their family with great deeds and fame."

I just ignored these guys; my life wouldn't be as calm as I was used to in this city anymore. Perhaps my fame has surpassed that of Bell now.

I hope this doesn't attract unwanted attention to Hestia... or that damn god won't come looking for me if he hears all this nonsense.

After that, I regrouped with the others and started a conversation with Welf; this lasted until a guild employee called us. In the end, Hestia, Aphrodite, and Hermes went to have a conversation with Ouranos.

The rest of us were dismissed, of course, except for me, who was called to talk to the damn fat elf who manages the guild.

After being escorted to a private room, I found the elf, a character I never liked, looking out the window without bothering to look at me when I entered the room, clearly disdainful of my presence.

I didn't care about that and sat down, ignoring this man. I never liked him and just hoped to leave this place to rest at home again.

"I've heard a lot about you, Mr. Drakenar." He began without taking his eyes off the window, he must have been annoyed since I sat down without caring about him.

"Good things, I assume..." I said sarcastically, knowing it should be the opposite.

"Well, I admit you caught my attention when you attacked Aiz in front of the guild, after she attacked your goblin, by the way, is he still alive?" He asked me calmly.

"Of course, he's alive. He's a summon, not a dungeon monster," I scoffed.

"A summon, never heard of magic like that..." He said.

"I would bring him here if I could; I'm sure he would answer all your questions. But your staff wouldn't allow it, so I was forced to send him along with the rest of my family," I mocked.

"I see that Mr. Drakenar likes to see all this as a joke," he began.

"You were an adventurer from a family two years ago, without attracting much attention. But after being expelled and joining the Hestia family, you stood out as a first-class adventurer in just a month. I admit I am surprised by your actions, fights, troubles, peculiar spells, and great magical power..."

"Mr. fat elf, can you tell me exactly where you're going with this? I'm fed up with your rambling," I said coldly to Royman Mardeel, not caring how stunned he was that I called him that.

"If it weren't for a direct request from Ouranos, I swear I would expel you with a fine, Mr. Drakenar," he said angrily, but I was also angry with all this rambling.

"So spit it out already; I have things to do," I said simply.

"What I mean is that the guild has learned of a certain family looking for its eldest son. They have offered a great reward for years for their missing loved one, let's say your last name matches that family's when we reverse your last name," he said these words, and the room fell silent.

"So they're after me? What a joke," I said out loud, not hiding anything since I was discovered.

"Tell me, Mr. Elf, what is the guild's stance on that family?" I said without using "My family."

"I admit I'm quite interested in the large amount of platinum offered, but I follow Ouranos-Sama's will, so I will follow his orders and remain silent about it," he said shamelessly. I was a bit surprised that that family was offering platinum.

Platinum is the most expensive currency in the world, equivalent to 1 Platinum = 18,000 Valis.

"I understand, Mr. Royman, although you should thank your god for this as well, since if I had to leave Orario by the guild's order..." I said those words with my eyes closed, and when I finished, my eyes opened in a bright amethyst glow.

"I wouldn't let him live if that happened," I simply said as magical power exploded from my body, causing the arrogant elf to fall backward.

"What do you think you're doing?" He shouted, but the magic surge drowned out his voice.

The entire room turned into chaos; all the furniture and papers were in complete disarray as Royman, the head of the guild, was being pressed against the wall at that moment.

"What is this?!"
"What the hell is happening?"
"Who is releasing this magical surge?"
"Are you feeling this magical power?"
"Whose power is this, down there?"

In the Tower of Babel, many adventurers who were more sensitive to magic were feeling the magical explosion.

"Stop this!" A distorted, almost robotic voice suddenly said as I held Royman.

Behind me, a hooded figure appeared with a teleportation that I couldn't even sense.

"Why should I do that? I was just threatened by a guild employee," I said coldly.

"I ask that you stop releasing your magic, Mr. Lucius, or I will have to take drastic measures here," said the man with the strange voice.

I ended up giving in to this demand; there was no way I could continue with this without retaliation from the guild, and it wouldn't be worth it either.

"Well, anyway, let me make one thing clear, Mr. Royman. Try to threaten me again, even though I have nothing against the guild and respect the laws of Orario, I won't stand still if I hear something like that from your mouth again. Try to threaten me or my people, and I will act, even if I become a criminal and an enemy of the guild!" I said without caring if there was a man who could kill me right behind me. Fels, the first time we met, though I didn't think it would be so fast...

Royman Mardeel was now stunned in a corner of the room, trembling a bit with fear. He may not have suffered damage, but the magical pressure could mess with the elf's psyche.

'I hope this makes him stop bothering, as I am evolving. I don't want to be forced to leave Orario because my biological family has been after me for years. I was only discovered now because I stood out so much in the last month.' I though.

"Anyway, my message has been delivered. I don't think I came here to answer anything about what happened on the Rivira floor, right? I had no choice but to knock down those crystals to kill that second variant. I can't apologize for that," I simply said, as there was an uncomfortable silence in the room after I canceled the magic, Fels behind me silent and a gasping elf on the floor in front of me.

"Anyway, if you only called me to threaten me, I'll be going, as we have nothing more to talk about." I said without caring about anything else as I turned to leave.

"Wait!" The hooded figure spoke. I'm starting to find his voice annoying.

"What is it?" I said without caring to hide my bad mood.

"Mr. Royman Mardeel may have overstated his approach," he began.

"But Ouranos-Sama instructed to say that your secret will be kept, and no one will bother you, but Ouranos-Sama expects you to pay for it with a favor since Ouranos-Sama saw great potential in you." He concluded.

I scoffed; I could have expected something like that.

"If you never bother me with this again, I see no reason why I wouldn't help your god for a moment or two. But I hope this issue never resurfaces."

"Yes, this is the will of Ouranos-Sama." He concluded.

"Man, I never imagined that the name of a god could be so irritating with Fels repeating that name several times," I thought.

"Anyway, I'm leaving, so until next time."

I said as I opened the door to leave, leaving Fels standing in place and Royman still on the floor gasping. Despite having a falna, he wasn't an active adventurer, so the level three magical pressure had a certain effect on him.

I had things to reflect on now because it seemed that the shadow of my past was starting to haunt me.

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