A/N: We're nearly at the end of disk 0. Once we're done I'll be taking a hiatus to finish my other fanfiction stories and professional novels before writing the sequel which will cover the game itself.

I'm also writing a light novel but set in my own fantasy game world, but basically based off this story, so the Necromancer Goblin, Grey Magic, and serial killer arc will be included cos why not?

(Start of chapter)

DINGIR AVATAR STATS

Character class: Grey Mage

Rank: Pluto Knight X (Private)

Level: 21, 8826xp until next level up.

HP: 2551 / 2551

MP: 999 / 999 (maxed)

Strength: 63 (99)

Speed: 39 (35)

Spirit: 55 (59)

Magic Defence/Defence: 48 (79)

Magic: 94

Magic Evasion/Evasion: 34 (53)

Primary Weapon: Ice Brand (freeze add-on)

Secondary Weapon: Mythril Dagger

Weapons available to switch out: Iron Sword, Goblin Dagger, Javelin, Pinwheels x20

Headwear: Iron Helm + Headgear

Armour: Iron Armour + Chain Plate

Accessory: Steel Gauntlet with buckler + Leather Wrist

Skills: Minus Strike, Mental Break

Abilities: Bright Eyes, Level Up, Man Eater, Bug Killer, Grey Magic, Antibody, Bandit, Dragon Killer, Devil Killer, Undead Killer, Beast Killer

Magic: Poison, Regen, Sleep, Panacea, Osmose, Protect, Cure, Bio, Shell, Stop, Scan

Magic Stacking: Asag's Toxin – level 1/2/3/4/5 (40/80/120/160/200MP) Adel's Healing – level 1/2/3/4/5 (30/60/90/120/150MP) Hypnos Field – level 1/2/3 (50/100/150MP) Physical Barrier – level 1/2/3 (30/60/90MP) Magical Barrier – level 1/2/3 (30/60/90MP) Magic Gluttony – level 1/2/3 (20/40/60MP) Frozen Time – level 1/2/3 (40/80/120MP) Eagle Eye – level 1/2 (50/100MP) Toxic Bomb – level 1/2 (99/198MP)

All Mana (999+MP) combine with a spell/skill/trance and boost it beyond normal limits, requires all of a user's MP. (This Grey Mage ability is unlocked when MP reaches 999.)

Trance: Balmung Strike, Balmung Omni, Balmung Blaster

Items: 99 D-Potions, 99 Phoenix Down, 99 P-Potion, 99 R-Potions, 99 Potions, 99 Eye Drops, 99 Echo Screen, 99 Soft, 99 Ether, 99 Mana potion, 13 Goblin Steak, Traveller's cloak, Isekai ring, silk shirt, lots of regular clothes.

Gil: 3,915,149

A nerfed Dingir in Final Fantasy 9, seriously?

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

If you promise not to sleep with my sister

(Mark POV)

Several more months had passed since I stared my potion making deal with the Lindblum's merchant's guild. I'd been making an absolute fortune, though I didn't spend much on myself except for ordering MP restoring items and putting in a request for a full suit of armour made from a Magnesium alloy, which on Earth was considered the strongest light weight metal and with magic it could be shaped more easily and then empowered with grey magic to be immune to most forms of magic and even more increased endurance to physical attacks than was normally possible, effectively putting it on par with the legendary magic metals from fantasy fiction. It was dark grey in colour, almost black, and cost a ridiculous amount of money, as in several million Gil ridiculous. The armour was to be custom made to fit my body, and would be so light I'd apparently scarce notice it, while also allowing for full freedom of movement. There were no places for a sword to slip in the tiny gaps of the armours plates as beneath the joins was finely and densely woven chainmail; the design was similar to early 14th century medieval armour. It wasn't flashy, but it was practical and in my opinion would look pretty badass.

It would take quite a while to make with all the add-ons I requested. By my estimate I should be able to collect it from the synthesiser in Lindblum shortly before Brahne's invasion of Bumercia. It would be nice to have it earlier, but I dare not ship it, for fear of it being stolen, nor could I explain why a private in the Pluto Knights could afford such equipment. I ate out more regularly, I drank better booze than before, but otherwise I lived the same as before my windfall. I also brought a few gifts for some of the women I spent time with, not the ones for whom I was purely a sexual release object, but the ones I genuinely got along with, and enjoyed spending time with even when we weren't fooling around.

The mistake I made was buying a gift for my friend Claire, not because she had a crush on me, though that wasn't smart of me, as she might misunderstand my intentions. No the mistake was that she had a level 99 older sister, and overly protective one, and one who not only didn't like me, and despite saving me once, also had a hand in me being flogged, she thought me a sexual deviant (not that my past was any kind of record breaker – there was a depressing number of rejections to every yes) and Beatrix DEFINITELY misunderstood my intentions in giving Claire a gift.

I had just finished my guard duties, escorted Garnet to the royal dining hall, handing her off to the next shift and the general guard and was on my way back to my room when my instincts screamed that I was in danger. I didn't look back, I simply moved. "What the fuck?"

Something blurred past me. They skidded to a stop. I saw who it was, it was General Beatrix, then I saw the look on her face and I knew I was in trouble. It was an unsettling look to see on a young woman, but I was reminded of the look a dad made make when he caught me with his daughter. It had happened once when I was sixteen, and I jumped out of her second floor bedroom to avoid him, even though I was both a fighter and larger than him, the dad might as well been a monster in that moment. Now though I've fought actual monsters, heck I slew a fucking Grand Dragon and the look Beatrix showed me still made me want to either empty my bladder or flee, possibly both, who says a man can't multitask?

Then the more aggressive part of me surged to the foreground, what was this bitch's problem? I was just walking back to my room. Did she think because she outranked me she could walk all over me when I wasn't doing anything wrong? I did my job and I did it well, I was beginning to develop pride at being a knight and her actions were stomping all over that. I may have been a bit presumptuous during the battle at sea, but being flogged for it erased any gratitude I felt for her saving my life from the Necromancer, and she'd probably only done that because I saved her sister from those rapists not long before that. Otherwise she would have likely left me to die.

(Back to normal POV)

"YOU…" She growled.

"You shouldn't run so fast in the halls General, if I wasn't so swift, you would have run me over." Mark said politely with a tiny hint of mockery. "If it keeps happening, our colleagues are going to mistakenly assume you have it out for me, dear General." He silently cast Physical Barrier level 3, making it cover him like a second skin rather than the standard defensive wall. He had learned the trick of changing the shape and density of his barriers in the fight against the Grand Dragon, softening it to act as a cushion to avoid being crushed into the side of the mountain Lindblum was built atop.

This spell along with Time Freeze level 3 meant he could avoid or at least block Beatrix's assault if it came to it. If Beatrix sensed his use of magic, she didn't indicate, she merely ground her teeth and strode towards him.

"YOU DARE PRETEND YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" Beatrix growled without reason, hands reaching for him. At level 99 her grip could rip meaty chunks from him with ease.

'Time Freeze level 3,' their surroundings warped and lost its colour. Beatrix's movements froze. Mark swiftly slipped behind her, pausing briefly to kick her in the back of the leg. It wouldn't really do anything though, anything caught in this spell effectively became rock solid. It had taken tremendous physical effort to escape the dragon's jaws while the flames were briefly frozen. It wasn't like Dio's Za Warudo from that 80's manga, which allowed you to pummel on a time frozen enemy or throw projectiles at them and they would continue once time resumed, sadly grey magic wasn't that convenient. However Mark could turn off the spell and attack very quickly before the opponent realised his new location. However he only had a brief moment in which to act, and when your opponent was much stronger and faster than you…

!

(Grab!)

Mark was roughly grabbed by his arm as Beatrix reached into her blind spot.

(Squeeze!)

The barrier broke under her grip, and Mark's surroundings blurred as she hurled him.

…And when she was a warrior with war time instincts, that brief moment wasn't enough, particularly when Beatrix had seventy-nine levels over him, so no matter how broken his powers were compared to most people in Gaia, with the possible exception of Kuja, the clowns, and a few others, he'd still lose. There was no plot armour here.

Mark felt himself pressed up against the wall. Beatrix eyes were burning into his, though she seemed calmer now somehow. "How did you do that?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" Mark replied, his eyes losing their usual warmth, his features stoic… no cold. His unused trance energy flickered ready to be used. Oddly he had found that unused Trance attacks were stockpiled for future use. Perhaps it was because in the Grey Faction books, Balmung was a weapon that stole and stored magic, as a trance that suited the avatar of Dingir it apparently retained some of those traits. His grey eyes flickered black and his haired flared unnaturally for a moment. "And why have you attacked me unprovoked, General?" his voice took on an almost guttural tone.

(Mark POV)

Beatrix's eyes widened as she felt the dark and frankly evil energy that the pinned Pluto Knight was emitting, it belonged to someone of a much higher level than she knew Mark to be.

"How did you evade my sight?" she asked me, more cautiously and curiously now.

"I'm fast," I replied coldly, not breaking eye contact. She didn't deserve to know the truth. "Now let me down or I'll put in an official complaint to my Captain and the Queen about you harassing me for no reason."

"For no reason?" she remarked, surprised, having seeming forgotten for a moment her reason for accosting him in the face of his magic fuelled evasion. "I am here to warn you to leave my little sister alone." Finally I knew the reason for her aggressively accosting him.

"This again," I growled. 'You damnable idiot!' I'd had enough of this bitch's obsession. "How many times do I have to tell you, she's too young for me."

Well she was going to be eighteen soon…so it wasn't as bad as when we met two years ago…However I was nearly thirty; I'd feel weird if I did anything with more than a ten year age gap with my current age, though I have to admit it was flattering that she considered me an option for romance, though I think most of it came from playing hero when we first met. Still in this medieval world she'd been 'legal' for quite a while. Urgh, I hate this primitive magical world sometimes. I wasn't having that conversation again; it was bad enough with Zidane half a year ago when he wanted to know how attractive the Princess was based off my opinion…No, just no.

Neither was a relationship of that nature viable. As I could tell, Claire wanted something more serious than a casual one night stand or fling, and even if I was willing to chance the wrath of her psychotic older sister – which I wasn't – the game was starting soon and its events lasted less than a year, after that – assuming I survived – I'd be sent back to my world. That's why I tried to keep my distance. I was a visitor here, a passing ghost – my casual and work relationships were one thing, but I didn't want to form that kind of connection only to be whisked away. I'd soon be forgotten I'm sure. I wasn't the hero in this story. I simply needed to help out a little to make sure Kuja and the last boss didn't destroy life in this world, as if they did, then that was my return trip home cancelled. I hadn't even been asked to save the world, but with my decent knowledge of future events and seeing the sheer power that Kuja possessed with my own eyes, how could I not act? And that bastard knew that.

It was all to return home.

I missed my family. Bizarre, loving blighters that they were, by the gods I missed them.

I missed the few friends I managed to keep in spite of how quickly I got bored with people.

I missed the caffeine fuelled late nights writing novels, comics, and whatever else creative project that came my way. Though I had managed to recreate my first book Grey Faction; handwritten of course in a blank leather tome, which I had done on my night watch shifts, which equated for three days a week for me. It had taken about four months to complete, but I was proud I could leave one of my creative works in this world. I had written a note in the back. 'Might make a good play…'

I had enough to deal with in this world already, so I needed to sort this obsessive sis-con General, otherwise I'd end up attacking her with Balmung Omni combined with All-Mana, and I was pretty sure I could kill anyone who hadn't broken the level cap. However if I used All-Mana I'd pass out and then probably be killed by Beatrix (if she survived) or anyone else in the castle.

"…And you seriously expect me to believe that?" Beatrix remarked, "Buying her gifts as though you were courting her!"

"Is that what this aggression was about?" I remarked, finally understanding, not that made her behaviour any more acceptable. I was a very over protective older sibling too, so I understood that irrational need to be a shield and occasional sword. I was the eldest of three, with one brother, one sister, not that they needed my help much, even so I was there. "I had a little leftover Gil from my wages the last few months so I brought a few friends some gifts – you know just being nice. I was a stranger to this city when I moved here. I didn't have anyone, so I appreciate those who were nice to me." A partial truth, tailored to calm this aggressive woman.

Beatrix paused slightly, her grip on the front of my armour relaxed slightly, enough that I could probably pull myself free. I didn't do so however, as my mind was zooming ahead planning different scenarios and replies that would work to my advantage. There was a way I could both convince this annoying sis-con and gain an advantage from it.

"Is that really it?" she pressed.

"Beatrix," I began, actually calling her by her name for once. "I think the problem stems from a difference in standards of what's appropriate."

"Standards?" Beatrix repeated, frowning, perhaps assuming an implied insult. I can't blame her; I'm rather good at those, forever toeing the edge of politeness and veiled insults.

"You were born and raised in this city right?" I enquired.

"Correct."

"Well for me, I grew up in the dark city Treno. So tell me, when you think of that place, what descriptions enter you mind? Be honest now."

Beatrix considered it for a moment; I'd successfully distracted her from her initial anger, now it was time to weave the narrative to my needs. "Dark, dirty, cramped, corrupt nobles, slums, poverty, and rife with sin."

If she was expecting me to be offended, then she was in a surprise. I was from another world after all; I simply lied when I needed to fill in my application to the Pluto Knights. It was a crime riddled city, on par with some of the worst from my own world, and with it being so far from the capital city named after the country itself they wouldn't send someone just to check my paperwork.

"You're not wrong about that. It's a cesspool of evil, corruption, criminal empires. Even as a child you are nothing more than prey, prostitution gangs used to kidnap kids like me," I said, referencing my own world, though my own observations confirmed that the sex trade was a real issue in this world too, though far more under control in this city due to the woman dominant military in this city. Even so I had killed several pimps and pushers during my brief stint as a serial killer to gain XP so it still existed even here. Thankfully I knew a black mage with orphanage connections so it worked out.

Beatrix actually let go of me at this point. She likely recalled how I had met her and Claire. In a piss stained alley having killed the gang of drunkards that had pinned Claire, about to rape her, and had I arrived even a minute later that night she would have been deflowered by force, a fate no female should have to experience. I was glad to be male for that reason, though having lived in Brighton; I had still needed to defend my honour upon occasion.

"Go on," she urged.

"Well it got so bad, the people pressured the nobles to introduce certain protective laws so that nobody under eighteen could marry or work in the sex industry, those that ignored that were harshly dealt with. As a side effect it protected a lot of underage girls from arranged marriages as well as those kidnapped by gangs as they could be more easily caught with the raised age requirement."

Beatrix shuddered at the thought. Thankfully their capital city was firmly controlled - the dark city indeed.

"I grew up there so I won't consider anyone under eighteen and even that is too young for me, so even if I didn't have to worry about you killing me for it, I doubt I'd do anything anyway."

Beatrix seemed to consider my words, my fiction seemed to be working, though Treno did indeed have a higher marriage age than most countries and city states, but it only applied to the nobles in the dark city as a mean to reduce potential de-flowerings and bastards being born or sired before they could be wedded off for their parents benefit. It wasn't for the sake of the suffering masses in the slums.

"But considering you don't have much of an opinion of me, how about we make a little deal?" I then suggested.

"Oh?" she replied, tone sharpening. "What did you have in mind?"

"In exchange for never putting the moves of Claire and making an effort to not unwittingly encourage her henceforth, you provide me something – if we're both benefiting, I bet you'll believe me more than my words alone, additionally I'll give up my position in the Pluto Knights if I break our agreement – not that you'd let me live that long."

Beatrix snorted at that. She seemed to relax and her gaze and bearing became normal.

Alright I managed to bullshit my way through!

"What is it you want in trade?" Beatrix enquired.

I smiled. "I want two things, both quite simple. First I want the promotion I was denied back we didn't know if I'd recover to continue my role as a Pluto Knight."

"A simple matter, very well." Beatrix agreed; she could handle that herself. Any rank below captain she had near-full authority to promote from within the troops, a Lance Corporal was easy to arrange, particularly for the token force that was the Pluto Knights. "And the other?"

"I want to accompany the squads that deal with mist monsters outside the city as a means to level up. Currently I'm stagnating. Even once a week would be good."

"Hmm…Very well, then it's a deal."

CHAPTER END

Next Chapter: Finally a promotion!

A/N: In the course of writing this, my self-insert OC's age has caught up with my real life age. I turn thirty today. Holy shit! Where did the time go? Though with how sick I am and no end in sight with that, my birthday feels more like a reminder of my mortality than a celebration – not aided by my nearly dying several months ago from a gut wound. No matter, I'm actually at home this year rather than selling my Jinhai's Justice comic at the MCM London Comic Convention so I daresay my family will make an effort to cheer my depressive self up… I'm going to drink cider and eat cake.