Side Chapter 5: New members!Time to train in secret whilst the heroes gloat about their feeble strength

“What are we doing here anyway?”

“We are waiting for the people who are going to train us  you idiot”

A boy and girl were talking inside of a cafe named Death’s Soul Eatery, a very uniquely named cafe but that was the one they were given by principal Velstia. The cafe itself was quiet and peaceful giving it a sincere serenity that couldn’t be found anywhere. They could actually relax in here, whoever chose this spot was a person with exceptional tastes. 

“Say what do you think they look like Ren?”

“Hmmm that’s tough to say, they could be a bunch of adults with lots of experience or frauds wanting to make a quick buck out of the old man, who knows really”

“I really don’t like that idea”

“Sorry, I’ve been researching ways of activating my job but I have failed and I might have become very pessimistic. Had I known I would have at least made it in time to be dispatched with him”

“Same here”

“They were pretty unique individuals at their own right”

“I wish I had the strength to prevent them being sent off like that”

“Hey Toshiro”

“Do you think they would hate us for not being there for them?”

“…….”

Ren Tachibana initially had long blonde hair which she cut short and dyed it black with magic when she found out what her childhood friend had been done by the other students from their school, she mourned his death this way and wore black nearly all the time. Getting into the gothic lolita culture of this place whilst modifying the clothes a little bit for ease of movement. Toshiro who had the same hair color as  had his changed from the moment he got here it changed into a white color with his brown eyes had turned into turquoise wearing a black coat over his white shirt and jeans as well as boots of the same color as his coat. He had a laid back demeanor about him and one would say he wouldn’t be the type that thinks much about anything.

“I don’t know…….maybe they hate us in the afterlife right now and this is our punishment.”

“Not really”

“Actually Fate is not that cruel”

The two froze for a moment as their shock was written on their faces, they could hear the voices of their childhood friends telling them that is not the case. They looked at the seat that was behind them and there sitting amongst other people were their childhood friends, Ryou and Chloe. 

“RYOU-KUN!!”

“CHLOE YOU DAMNED BITCH!!”

They immediately stood up and went over to hug them. Toshiro wasn’t subtle on the tears he had for Chloe who was there for him since they were young and Ren who took it to heart that she was unable to do anything to help Ryou and ultimately led him to die alone, and of course she was crying whilst hugging him.

“Sheesh you are always like this Ren”

“How could I not?!”

“Quit you’re crying you little bitch!”

“Shut up you idiot!I am having a moment here!”

The other three smiled to see that their predictions were on the nose but they hadn’t expected this to happen so soon. They were reunited with them and it was heartwarming to see them. They now sat together at the same table staring at each other waiting to hear what they had to say.

“So you are the ones who are going to make us stronger huh?I didn’t expect such a twist in fate”

“Me neither”

“How did you guys survive anyway”

“We used the useless skills that useless god gave us and met Sensei”

“Sensei?”

“Yes we were being led by well….alien gods to her and that’s where we grew to be stronger”

“I am not sure I follow”

“I’ll explain it to your stupid ass Toshiro, we were gifted a divine protection by gods who do not live in this world and became stronger after we got trained by sensei”

“Ah I see”

“Do you also have similar divine protections?”

“Where’s that?”

“Unique skills section”

“Ah…..I do mine’s written Yidhra”

Toshiro said with clear confusion in his voice since he didn’t benefit anything from this god or goddess, but then Mochizuki smiled, laughing even.

“Well you are set for life then?”

“W-What do you mean?”

“As for you Ren?”

“Its written as System of Yog-Sothoth”

“Well I guess sensei would be having a headache from this one”

“Just who is your sensei anyway and why do you keep saying that!”

Toshiro spoke out in a loud voice, he didn’t like the way they sounded.

“Roughly speaking you are being watched over by gods similar to ours and they are interested to see what you would do”

“Ah”

“Eh?”

“So how will we train them?We have no idea what their skills are like”

“My other unique skill is Automata”

“Mine’s Fiend”

“Heh, I’ll ask sensei to send one of her servants here since we are sharing skills”

“Great idea”

“…….”

“……”

The two were silent because they didn’t know what they were even talking about, how could they?What they were about to see was going to break common sense and logic.

☆

Lunch was fulfilling and they stood in the empty space that was the entrance area to the Academy City, the four were casually playing a game of cards as they waited with Toshiro and Ren bewildered by what was happening. Why were they here?Were they allowed to exit or they waiting for something they just didn’t know anything abut the situation.

“So uh where’s this servant of your sensei”

“She arriving in any moment from now”

Minami the beastkin girl said with a yawning voice before winning the card game and staring at the sky as soon as she finished her words the sky got torn open as something jet black was coming out of the gaping dimensional tear. It dropped onto the ground like a slime, in fact it was a slime before a single crimson eye stared at them back. Ren wanted to scream and Toshiro wanted to run away in fear but it was good they continued watching it as it formed a body from its slimy liquid. Copper brown skin with long white hair tied into a high ponytail and crimson red eyes wearing a black suit, she adjusted her spectacles and smiled at them. She bowed before hugging them in place of Yukiyo who was not here. 

“You resemble sensei as well, her skill has certainly increased hasn’t it?”

“Yes Our Master has become even stronger than before, she greets you and welcomes even the new members”

“She is getting more ridiculous yo”

“Yup”

“My name is Beatrice you can call me Trish, I am here to train the new students. Worry not I have all the experience of Master Yukiyo, I will train you accordingly.”

“Somehow that doesn’t make me happy at all”

“Me neither”

“Now then I must get the important things out of the way”

Within the blink of an eye she had grabbed their heads and threw them inside of a white cube that was rapidly expanding placing itself sky high right above the Academy City. The four sighed as they could see them screaming their lungs out when they entered that box.

“I pray for their souls, how long will it be before the tournament?”

“2 weeks”

“Aye they are certainly going to be in one hell of a training”

“What are we to do in the mean time?”

“Sight seeing?”

“Great idea”

“I’ll check on them from time to time”

“Same here”

The childhood friends, Ryou and Chloe were worried that it might break them but knowing what they’ve faced here it would be highly unlikely.

The room was pure white covered from top to bottom in tiles, Beatrice stood there and clapped her hands with an emotionless gaze staring at them.

“Welcome to your new home, I’ll be teaching you in the Empress’ stead. Make yourself as comfortable as possible in this Cubic Loop Room”

“…….So that’s where we are”

“Yes it is a skill created by the Empress to train those who are fit for the criteria”

“Just who is this Empress of yours”

“Empress Yukiyo is the creator of the Dark Matter Universe where I came from, she is the supreme goddess of power whom we all worship and are elated to serve. When she is angry we are angry as well, when she is sad we are sad as well, certainly a being worthy of worship”

“……..This Yukiyo certainly broke several rules of common sense”

“Yup”

“Now then onwards to your training”

“Uh is the room going to stay like this?”

“It can change to fit the will of the Empress or one of her servants. Now then the basics”

“Basics?”

“Of what?”

“Movement. You have to be fast enough that even in the face of a hurricane you can pierce through it. Strength. Being able to shatter an entire mountain with a single punch. Magic Proficiency. You have to be able to cast a thousand different spells all at the same time whilst fighting. Those are the basics. We will get to your unique skills later on with experts on hand.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?!”

“That’s impossible to do!Wait you are actually serious?!”

“Of course I am, Ren. One must push their limits for them to unlock their potential also this training is individual based but it will link up at several points.”

“I feel like we are in for one hell of an experience”

“Indeed, ah well let’s make the most out of it”

They got up immediately with tired smiles on their faces watching the way the water was moving they had to adjust otherwise they would seriously die here.

“Your unique skills are Fiend and Automata, you have two more which are hidden but those are related to the gods who granted you those skills after Yidhra and Yog-Sothoth”

“This is getting wilder than I thought”

☆

“I was like Hey dude I can totally beat your ass right, I am a Hero after all!”

“What did the loser do after that?”

“He ran at me and I just slammed him to the ground and made him lick my boots!”

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!”

“Oh shit would you look at that girl”

“Bro she is looking mighty fine”

“Even those cat ears of hers are so adorable”

“Yeah”

“I am going to hit on her”

“I would like to see you try”

“If worst comes to worst I can always just use my skill and get myself some nice relief at night”

“What a chad”

Shinichi approaches the beastkin girl in front of him and smiles unpleasantly at the things he would do to her later on but then freezes as her eyes lay upon him.

『Warning: Immediate Death, Cause: *^%%*^R%*^%*&%**7』

What?!Just what was this girl that his Warning skill would glitch out this much, he was scared of what she could do to him.

“Tch what a coward, let the real men do the work!Hey I am a hero I would like to fuck how much are you selling that body”

“WAIT YOU FUCKING BASTARD!”

“For what?She’s weak I checked her out there’s nothing to be afraid of”

“Selling my body huh?To you?”

“Yeah how much?”

“Well all your limbs”

“Wha- Don’t go fucking with me I am Makoto Midorigawa!I am a fucking hero and you will do as I wish”

“So?You look plenty weak to me”

“WHY YOU!!I’LL MAKE YOU HOWL PLENTY TONIGHT!!”

“Heh”

“WAIT MAKOTO SHE’S GONNA-?!”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGHHHH?!!!!!”

His limbs fell off from his body with his screams being the indicator of what he wanted to stop, Makoto was limbless and on the ground with blood spraying out from everywhere. She was abnormally fast, to the extent that he didn’t notice what had happened until after.

“You are so proud of your strength you forget there are beings out there who might just show you your place in the world. Anyway I’ll fix you up before you are too beaten up about it”

Within a second Makoto finds himself on his feet and staring at his hands the girl smiles at them with a vicious smirk. Shinichi pauses for a moment and holds his breath as her aura leaks out for a brief minute revealing an eldritch dog coming out of the corner that she walks into laughing at them before it vanishes. Something was in the city and they were too afraid to admit to investigate what it was. 

☆

【Fight Against Death Constantly】

This was the message he was given by Beatrice who placed him inside of a ruined city filled to the brim with demons, not only that but he was severely wounded before she dropped him into this hell hole. There was a hole in his stomach with him bleeding lesser demons would certainly come to fight against him. Despite giving him a skill that would heal his wounds before they get serious this was rather too slow. 

“Fuck this bullshit”

He was trying to get up but he couldn’t, the only thing he could do was lay there and wait for his death. Toshiro began to remember all the times he struggled in life, when his parents divorced, when he went to bed starving, when he got bullied. These were all moments that were as painful as the torment he was feeling right now. Crying tears of blood he slammed his fist in the ground before slowly getting up and facing the demons that were in his way.

“Oh look its a human, the master said we could eat you if we wanted to!And so we will!”

“WE WILL DEVOUR YOUR FLE-?!”

“NOT BY A FUCKING CHANCE!!”

Toshiro punched the demon in the face sending it flying towards the wall where it stayed lifeless. Red particles came out from its body and went into his body causing him to feel more power from within, he understood what kind of demon it was. This was an imp, it was highly adept at casting lower tier fire magic. The information about an imp and its weaknesses were all in his head now, he then smiled as his eyes glowed red as the tears dried up and become something like mark on his face.

“C’mon you said you wanted to devour my flesh right?Come get a piece!!”

His voice boomed as the imps ran towards him, he could feel the power surging into his body as his skill Fiend activates in full swing with him leaping into the horde of demons who he kills with his bare hands. 

Toshiro stood on top of the corpses of the imps, the fire magic of the imps was very effective but he still needed more power. At the moment he hadn’t leveled up despite killing 20 lives here, they were all pretty strong for their level. His strength had increased and he could feel that he was much faster than before running through the streets of the city, demons were everywhere. This city was doomed and there were no humans left in it, he was stranded here all alone and decided to reach the top of the tower he was staring at.

“Hey you!”

He raised his hands as he immediately turned around ready to fight whoever would attack him.

“Woah?!Time out, time ouuuuut!!I am not here to fight with you dude!”

It was a fairy dressed in clothes that he could clearly say were street fashion wear, she had short black hair and blue eyes with goth makeup, she fixes her hat and smiles.

“You’re human or…..not?What are you?”

“Huh?What do you mean?”

“I am just saying you don’t have the aura of a human, you kinda look like one”

“……”

“Anyway are you headed for the Tower of Babel?”

“Is that what it’s called?”

“Yes, everyone’s trying to reach the top so they can escape this place”

“And where is this place?”

“This is a reality where Tokyo got overrun by demons as you can see, it exists in the dimension of the god who created it here.”

“Ah I think I know who did that”

“Oh really?!Then please I will aid you to reach the top I want to see the outside world!”

“Alright then”

“Let’s give it a shake”

She puts out her hand to which Toshiro offers his right index, he feels the same power of killing a demon enter him. The wings of a fairy is drawn on his hand in black ink and stays there for a period of time before vanishing. 

“I am now contracted to you?!Well call me lucky because I would love to be with you seeing the world!”

“Likewise, what’s your name?”

“Sylvie”

“Let’s reach for the top”

“Alrighty”

Toshiro’s journey with the fairy Sylvie began to reach the top of the tower of Babel.

☆

【Evolve Constantly】

Those were the words that carried her into consciousness, she awoke within a glass container filled with water breaking it with her fists before she could drown, Ren coughs out the water within her lungs. She was weak and couldn’t stand up for a short amount of time. Right after talking with Beatrice she found herself here, she blacked out and saw herself here. Wires and tubes covered the place giving it a overwhelming aura that could have sent her into despair but she had to move on, her body was strange as if she had no control over it at the corner of her eye she was watching numbers flying. Not understanding any of it she summoned the strength to slowly get up.

『Automata System……Booting Up……』

Her skill was active but what did that mean to Ren who was still on the ground?She could use her hands to crawl but that wouldn’t be good for her so she waited for the booting screen to end.

『Automata System Has Booted Up……Now Initiating Body Movement...... 』

She got up from the floor looking at her body, it was still very much normal but something was different about it. Like Beatrice had said she needed to get the basics down: Movement fast enough to pierce through a hurricane. 

『Physical Speed Increased By 30%』

Ren began to run inside of the facility with her speed increasing the more she ran. There were thousands of other bodies inside of here but she ignored them, her physical speed had reached 100%. 

『Activating Jet Boosters』

Her body reacted in an unnatural way with her back opening up a wing like structure that made her fly even faster as they used the energy source that is located inside of her, she wasn’t sure what it was but it must’ve  been using the mana of her very soul. She flew past thousands of more seeing the large light that was in front of her widen and then she saw it, a large field with a singular tower piercing the sky.

“That’s my destination, alright I’ll just have to make it up there……huh?”

A group of robots appeared from out of nowhere, they were like mechanized versions of orcs with their roars being unified in the might of their lust to kill her, Ren smiled as she stared at them. She materialized a black body suit which glowed as a laser canons and a flamethrower as well as a large machine-gun appear respectively from her shoulders, back and right arm. Her eyes glow into a bright blue color as she cruises towards them shooting them and setting them on fire as she does so. Their bulky bodies fall into pieces as they drop to the ground with a smile on her face having dealt with the mechanized orcs she flies into the sky right above the clouds, she looks at the large world she is seeing with the tower stretching even longer still. Rem heads back down to the ground.

“My body had transformed into that of a machine’s huh?That’s fun I’ll be sure to surprise Toshiro”

Ren walks towards the tower, her life as a machine had only begun. The gears of fate were turning for these two and the outside were nonetheless wiser for it. 

『

• Name: Toshiro Shiromae

• Age: 17

• Race: Faux Human

• Title: Outcast with Inactive Skills, Fiendish Human

• Job: Summoner

• Level: 10

•Job History: Low Summoner

○ Attributes:

• HP: 1,000

• MP: 3,000

• Strength: 400

• Agility: 300

• Stamina: 100

• Intelligence: 4,000

○ Skills:

• Summoning Level 1 (INACTIVE)

• Chantless Magic Circle Creation Level 1 (INACTIVE)

• Summon Mimicry Level 1 (INACTIVE)

• Summon Skill Mimicry Level 1 (INACTIVE)

• Skill Inheritance Level 1 (INACTIVE) 

○Passive Skills:

• Mana Sharing Level 3 (INACTIVE)

• Strength Sharing Level 3 (INACTIVE)

• Agility Sharing Level 3 (INACTIVE)

• Summon Contract Creation Level 1 (INACTIVE)

○ Unique Skills:

• Fiend Level 1

• Divine Protection of Yidhra Level 1

』

『

• Name: Ren Tachibana

• Age: 18

• Race: Faux Machine

• Title: Outcast with Inactive Skills, Mechanized Human

• Job: [ERROR 1]

• Level: 10

•Job History: [ERROR 0]

○ Attributes:

• HP: 2,000

• MP: 2,000

• Strength: 4,000

• Agility: 3,000

• Stamina: 6,000

• Intelligence: 4,000

○ Skills:

• Augmentation Level 1 (INACTIVE)

• Electricity Manipulation Level 1 (INACTIVE)

• Body Part Manipulation Level 1 (INACTIVE)

• Weapon Creation Level 1 (INACTIVE)

• Mechanization Level 1 (INACTIVE)

○Passive Skills:

• Machine Strength Level 2 (INACTIVE)

• Machine Agility Level 2 (INACTIVE)

• Fatigue Resistance Level 1 (INACTIVE)

• Machine Healing Level 1 (INACTIVE)

○ Unique Skills:

• Automata Level 1

•  System of Yog-Sothoth Level 1

』