Chapter I

Greetings! Yes... I know... another new one. I apologize, but this is also a fusion of ideas that have been stewing in my head and just cannot really be added to existing stories, which would be my usual path. So I am throwing them in here. Read if it interests you, if not, I have plenty more stories in plenty more genres to pique your peepers. That said, Rise of the Spirit King is a crossover, though at this point I do not think that needs said anymore from me, nor that it is a harem story. The protagonist is... well technically Shin Walford from Wise Man's Grandchild (Kenja no Mago) but also not. It's difficult to explain any of this without spoilers, so just know it will become clear later. As for the setting, it is my usual fantasy setting of Overlord, Dragonar Academy, DanMachi, and a few others, so again, no surprise there. Bakuto Masaki is along for this ride because I am holding him hostage. So, with all of that out of the way, on with the main event!

He ran. It was all he could do. Run while holding her hand. Holding it tight. Holding her close. To escape him. To get away from the man after her. The trees looked like looming monsters, the night sky twinkled as if to mock him. And then they were stopped. He found them. The boy and the girl. The boy told her to run, but she would not. Suddenly, he heard a loud sound. A noise that shook his ears. Then he saw her face twisted in terror.

Looking down, he saw the red liquid staining his shirt, the heat and pain filling his chest before everything went dark.

"No!" he shouted as he sat up from his bed with a startle.

The teen with bright blue hair and dark amber eyes wiped his eyes as he awoke.

"Dammit… the same thing every night lately…" he cursed as he walked outside of his tent. Morning had come, and the sun was baking the forest he set up his camp in.

Packing up his things and then heading for the nearby road, he sighed in exasperation. "I know that I told her I wanted to keep things quiet, but did she really need to make me walk all the way there…?"

He grumbled the woman's name as he walked, a light bag slung over his shoulder as he made his way down the road.

"She could have done something to make the trip faster but no…"

Looking ahead, he saw his destination, or at least its marker, in the destination. An amazingly thin, stark white tower that reached straight up into the clouds, vanishing beyond their cover and into the sky, as if to rise forever.

"Well at least Orario isn't too far away now…" Grumbling mildly to himself, he wondered, "I just hope Mom didn't make a big deal to them about me coming…"

Hoping he had not set in motion the wheels of karma, he made his way towards the tower. The Labyrinth City, Orario.

The sun nearing its highest point, he finally made his way to the city. The tower, aside from its awe-inspiring height, was barely a footnote, the actual city was massive and sprawling. Surrounded by a circular wall that rose high in the sky, high enough that seeing over it from any height was a difficult task.

"That thing's gotta be a hundred meders tall… Why is a wall so damn tall…?"

His knowledge of the city itself was relatively limited, mostly just its reputation. A city built around the tower, Babel, erected atop an almost endless, sprawling, labyrinthine series of caverns referred to as the Dungeon.

The city itself was almost perfectly circular, with eight main roads dividing into slices, akin to the spokes of a wheel.

He focused, however, on his main reason for arriving as he approached the gate on the western side of the city.

A man in heavy plate armor standing at the massive double doors saw him approach, raising a hand.

'That must be the way in, I would think.'

"Halt. I welcome you, traveler, but I must first know your name and reason for coming to Orario before allowing you entry."

Nodding, the blue-haired teen answered. "Shin Itsuka. I'm here to attend Ansullivan Dragonar Academy," he explained as he handed the man a document written on simple paper.

Reading it over, the guard nodded. "Very well. Welcome to Orario, Shin Itsuka." Opening a small door located at the bottom of the massive gates, the man motioned Shin inside.

The teen's eyes went wide with awe as he entered the city. 'There's… so many people! There's got to be hundreds – no, thousands of them! I've never seen so many people in one place!' Flinching slightly as he laughed to himself, he looked around. 'Not in this world, anyway. It was mostly just Mom and me in her shack in the middle of the woods.'

Looking around, he tried to figure out his way to the school, slowly walking down the western road of the city. After several minutes of wandering, narrowly avoiding colliding with people in a hurry, humans, elves, Pantherians, Lizardpeople, and more, he came to a sobering realization.

'… I… have absolutely no idea where I'm going!'

His frustration at his lack of direction would have to wait when he heard a loud scream from nearby. Looking for the source, he saw a group of three men in plain armor crowded around something.

As he got closer, he realized the "something" was in fact two girls.

"Would you cut it out already!?" one of the girls shouted as she swung at the leader of the group, a burly man with slicked back hair.

"Ha, so scary, no need to be so mean," he taunted. "I'm just saying that we should have some fun."

"You'll have fun too, it might even feel good!" the second man in the group taunted. "Ey, Mord?"

Seeing this, Shin sighed heavily. 'Could they be anymore cliché?' Making his way towards the group, he flexed his shoulder and took off the ring on his right hand, stowing it in his pocket. "Ooy, are these guys bothering you?"

Mord and his group turned suddenly, angry at the intrusion.

The louder of the two girls, a redhead with a curvy figure, shouted as forcefully as she could, "Yes! They're ultra-bothering us!"

Mord hissed angrily and rest a hand on his sword. "The hell do you want kid?"

"You heard the pretty lady, you're bothering her."

The blonde next to Mord huffed indignantly. "No we aren't. We are just some guys that had a long day in the Dungeon and thought to have some fun with these two ladies. After all, it's Adventurers like us who keep these girls safe from Monsters, the least they can do is pay it forward."

"And we're not interested in being anywhere near you creeps!" the redheaded girl shouted angrily.

"Little brat!" the other man in Mord's group growled as he grabbed for the woman.

Shin responded by kicking a stone with his foot, sending it careening in the dark-haired man's cheek.

"You little shit!" the blonde man howled as he reached for the sword at his waist.

Before he could act, Shin dislodged it from his belt, hit him over the back of the head with it, knocking him unconscious, swung it forcefully, sending the scabbard at the man who was still nursing his cheek, hitting him squarely in the nape and knocking him to the ground.

Mord made for his own blade, but before he could Shin closed the distance in an instant and slammed the pommel of the sword up, ramming it against the man's chin and arcing his head back harshly before he collapsed to the floor like a sack of flour.

Picking up the discarded scabbard, he tossed it to the unconscious man he had taken it from before looking to the two girls that had witnessed the short altercation. "You two alright?" he asked, the redhead running up to him in a frazzle.

"Us?! What about you? They tried to kill you!"

Shin raised an eyebrow in confusion. "So? Their skills we pretty pathetic."

"Pathetic? They were Adventurers!"

"Okay…? So they go on travels a lot, doesn't change whether they suck at using a sword or not."

The girl's face contorted in confusion at him. "Do you… know what an Adventurer is?"

Before he could answer, the other girl stepped forward nervously.

"U – Um, thank you for helping us…" she offered with a deep bow.

Turning to her directly, Shin felt his entire face flush as he looked at the blue-haired beauty, her eyes the same deep blue as her hair, and her body accentuated with a bust that threatened to spill out of her loose-fitting white dress. 'Sh – She's… so… CUTE!'

The girl just stared at him curiously.

"Hey…" the redhead piped up, "maybe we should find somewhere else to talk before these guys wake up."

"Good idea."

"If we're going to take this somewhere, it shouldn't be out in the public like this," Shin urged.

"Right…" the red-haired girl trailed off as she looked for somewhere to go.

The blue-haired beauty pointed nearby to a small restaurant with a cat-eared woman standing out front of it in a green, maid-like uniform. "What about that place? Benevolent Mistress."

Looking over the exterior, Shin nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that should work."

As they approached, the woman saw them and smiled brightly. "Nya! Welcome to the Benevolent Mistress, nya! How can we serve you, nya?"

"Think you can give us a table away from the crowd?"

The girl smiled with a flick of her ears and motioned inside. "Certainly, nya! Follow mew, nya! Oh, by the way, my name is Ahnya, nya."

"Right, I'm Shin."

"This way, nya!" she urged before taking the trio to a small, circular wooden table inside the restaurant, one seated comfortably away from the boisterous crowds of people both within and without the tavern. "Your waitress will be right with mew, nya!" Ahnya chirped before running off.

Sitting down at one chair, the girls sitting diagonally to him on the other side, Shin started the conversation. "Right, I guess we should start with introductions. I'm Shin Itsuka."

Putting a hand on her moderate chest, the redhead greeted, "I'm Maria von Messina. And this is Cecily."

Bowing as best she could while sitting, her twins momentarily resting on the table, Cecily added, "C – Cecily von Klaude."

"Right, nice to properly meet both of you."

Maria then slumped in her chair and puffed her cheeks obstinately. "Dammit… if only we could use magic already we could've taken those jerks…"

Shin raised an eyebrow in thought. "Really? They didn't seem that skilled or powerful at all."

Sighing, Maria explained, "Yeah, on purely physical grounds, a normal person wouldn't stand a chance against an Adventurer. If we had some magic it could've evened the playing field, but we don't have any yet…"

Shin hissed before spitting out the words. "Those thugs really were Adventurers…?"

"Yeah, adorned with Falna and everything…" Her expression souring deeply, she lamented, "If Cecily and I had tried to actually fight them we would've been killed. Or worse…"

Shin clicked his tongue with distaste. 'Guess I should've just killed them then…'

Cecily, visibly confused, then interjected, "Worse? What could possibly worse than being killed…?"

Maria and Shin both stared at her with looks of sympathy. "… It's best you don't know."

Cecily just pouted.

Shin then turned his attention to what Maria had said. "Wait, magic? Are you a student at the academy?"

Maria shrugged. "I will be when I pass the entrance exam with Cecily."

Shin smiled with excitement. "Great! Do you think you two can lead me there?"

Before the two could pursue the conversation further, a girl in the same uniform as Ahnya, her figure far more filled out, dark silver hair tied in a ponytail with matching eyes, walked up to the table with a bright smile. "Hi there! Sorry to keep you waiting!"

Shin, deciding to shelve the discussion in favor of food, turned to her. "It's okay Miss, we weren't waiting long."

The girl puffed her cheeks in response. "My name isn't Miss, it's Syr. And I'll be your waitress!" she finished with a smile.

Shin just smiled with a nod. "Right, then. Thank you, Syr."

Syr flashed a smile before setting down some menus in front of the three. "Well, I've not seen you three here before, so I'll give you some menus."

The trio continued their conversations after ordering their food and drinks, talking about what led them to the city and such.

As they waited for their food, Maria decided to finally sate her curiosity. "Hey, Shin, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what's up," he answered simply.

"You asked if we could show you the way to Ansullivan, how come?"

Shin tilted his head curiously. "Why else? I want to become a student there."

Maria frowned in confusion. "Right… I didn't know Adventurers could join the school."

Shin remained silent for a moment before voicing his bewilderment. "… Heh? What do you mean?"

Maria frowned in mild irritation. "What do you mean what do I mean? You're an Adventurer, aren't you?"

"Erm… no, I just got into the city today."

Maria and Cecily stared at him in disbelief. "Eehh!?"

Shin winced slightly at their volume. "L – Loud…"

"How'd you take those jerks down if you're not an Adventurer?!"

"They were dumb, that's how."

"They were Level Two! Do you even know anything about Adventurers?"

Shin thought for a moment before shrugging. "I know that they serve the gods and that they fight in the Dungeon for them. That's about it, I haven't really felt the desire to look into it beyond that. Why?"

Maria slumped her shoulders heavily. "Right… I guess I'll try and simplify it then. They don't just serve the gods, the gods put a tattoo of sorts, a brand called a Falna, on the Adventurers who serve them. These Falna enhance the Adventurers' existing abilities and grant them access to further enhanced abilities that the average person could never hope to achieve on their own. With the Falna on its own their abilities are far beyond a normal person, without any actual training or skill. Once they fulfill certain criteria that are absurdly vague, they gain a massive boost in all of their capabilities and obtain the ability to enhance themselves even further, a process called Leveling Up."

Shin nodded attentively as he listened to her.

"To put all of that into perspective, a standard Level One Adventurer is worth about two to three normal humans. A standard Level Two Adventurer is worth two or three Level Ones. And the scale just keeps going the higher the Level is."

Shin frowned with deep suspicion. "That… sounds extremely cheap and like it has extreme drawbacks."

Maria could only shrug in response. "Maybe, there aren't many I know of. Anyway, what you did back there, taking out those Level Two guys, is something that would, at best, require about thirty people in a group all working together, and you did it on your own like it was nothing! And you say that you're not even an Adventurer?"

"Um… no, I'm not. I'm still not sure what the big deal is. They were just brigands."

Maria groaned at Shin's seeming unwillingness to grasp the concept. "The big deal is that they are many times stronger than a normal person."

"Zero times one hundred is still zero."

Cecily and Maria just stared at Shin in utter disbelief.

"Here's your food!" Syr cheered as she arrived with Ahnya carrying several trays of food.

After finishing off all the food, Shin looked at the two satisfied girls. "So, everyone ready?"

"I'm too full…" Maria groaned.

Chuckling lightly, Shin questioned, "Mind taking me to Ansullivan then?"

"R – Right…" she muttered, still reeling from their discussion.

"Then let's go."

"What about the bill?"

"Don't worry, I'll handle it."

"S – Seriously!?"

"W – We can't let you do that…" Cecily whimpered.

Shin laughed with a shrug. "What, you think I'd save two pretty girls and then make them buy me lunch?"

The two both stared at him silently as their faces slowly heated up.

"Hey, Shin, did you go to school anywhere near here?" Maria asked as the trio made their way to the academy.

"No, this is my first time coming to this area of the continent."

"Hey, hey, did you hear that the Wise Sage and his partner are visiting the city?!"

"Wise Sage?"

"Yeah, Merlin!"

Shin felt every fiber in his body flinch. "Um… right…"

"Oh, also, I heard that his grandson could be joining the academy too!"

"R – Right…" he responded weakly. 'Him…? Grandson…? The hell kind of twisted stories have they been telling!?'

Maria merely continued with her babbling.

'Wait… knowing Mom she's been spreading false information again…'

Maria, finally done with her rambling, noticed Shin off in his own mind as they walked and so took the chance to get close to Cecily, whispering to her friend. "Hey, Cecily, this guy's pretty neat, don't'cha think?"

"Yeah…" Cecily answered half-heartedly, staring at Shin.

"Kinda makes you want to get close to him, huh?"

"Yeah…"

"He's strong, supposedly a magician in training, and he certainly doesn't put out any weird vibes."

"Yeah…"

At that moment, Maria took notice of Cecily's trancelike state and gained a devious grin on her face. "Hey, is it okay if I kiss him?"

"Yeah…" Cecily responded, still not paying much attention.

"You want to marry him?"

"Yeah…"

Her smirk growing wider she decided to poke the bear. "What if I just take him for myself?"

"Ye –" Cecily began, only to wake from her stupor almost immediately and dart at her friend. "N – No, you can't!"

"Oh, so we share?"

Cecily's face continued to turn even deeper shades of red.

"Oy, what are you two doing back there?" Shin asked, having gotten far ahead of the girls.

"Oh, coming!" Maria chirped as she ran up to him.

Cecily just pouted at her friend. "Mariaaa…!"

Soon the three made it to the school proper.

Shin was, as he had been throughout the day already, in awe of the building. For starters, the building itself was pressed right against the northern edge of the wall, taking up the vast majority of real estate in the area. The tallest peak of the roof stood almost as tall as the wall opposite.

'That's a huge school… Why is it so huge…? Why is everything in this city so big!?'

However, as they entered, something caught Maria's eye. Hard to notice under his sleeves, she saw that Shin's left arm had thick bandages on it, though she could not tell how much of his arm they covered. And before she could ask, a new voice shouted from nearby.

"Shiiin!"

Hearing the familiar call, Shin turned to the source and braced himself as something slammed into him.

"T – Tackle!?" Maria exclaimed before she saw the person who had tackled Shin in a hug.

He looked down at the rather petite girl, her bright lavender hair tied in two buns with the rest hanging freely, some just above her bright emerald eyes, wearing a uniform consisting of a short brown dress with vertical stripes, one that very tightly hugged her heaving chest, along with a white coat and thigh-high stockings.

"C – Catue?" Shin muttered as the girl clung to him before backing away.

"Well who else would it be?" she asked with a cheeky grin.

Maria stood in silence for a moment. "C – Catue? A – As in Princess Catue!?"

"Cat, what's going on? I didn't know you were a student here," Shin remarked at the girl.

Maria's shock increased further. 'C – Cat?! He uses a nickname with the princess?!'

Catue frowned in mild annoyance. "Really? Huh. I thought mom would have told yours I would be."

Shin just sighed heavily with a shrug. "You know what Mom's like… unless it involves her experiments, she probably won't remember…" Gaining a hint of anger in his voice, he digressed, "You know, she left me in the forest for three days once!"

Catue folded her arms in thought. "Oh yeah… how long ago did that happen?"

Shin scratched his head in thought. "I… don't actually remember."

Maria finally had as much of the display as she could. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Back up! Not only are you on friendly terms with the princess, your mom is friends with the queen?!"

Shin could practically feel his blood freeze. 'Crap! I got too comfy around Cat… my time here is screwed if people find out who I am…!'

Catue put her hands on her hips defiantly. "Well yeah. We are engaged."

"EEEHHH!?" Maria exclaimed, Cecily seeming to just sort of deflate next to her.

Shin gave his pink-haired friend a firm knock on the bonce. "Nice going, Cat…" However, he then noticed that the students wandering through the courtyard began to take notice of the commotion and were closing in on the group.

Catue, rubbing her head in discomfort, retorted, "Wh – What, was that supposed to be a secret?"

Shin nodded firmly as the crowd approached. "Yes. Now let's continue this somewhere else. Now."

"Huh?" she muttered before seeing the crowd, figuring out he wanted them gone. Pointing in a seemingly random direction, she shouted, "Look! A Meistro!"

All of the gathered students looked where she pointed as Catue grabbed both Shin and Maria's hands, Maria grabbing the defeated Cecily as well.

As they sped off, a blonde-haired girl landed nearby, riding on a massive white reptile. Seeing everyone looking at her, she frowned in annoyance. "What?"

Shin gasped repeatedly to try and catch his breath, the group finally away from the crowd of people. "Finally…"

After catching her own breath and sorting her thoughts, Maria exploded. "Okay, what the heck's going on here?!"

Shin groaned in slight irritation, but decided there was no getting around it. "If I tell you, do you promise to keep it a secret?"

Pointing at Catue, Maria retorted, "Why? She certainly couldn't."

Shin could not put much of a fight there. "Fair… but in her defense she didn't know I was trying to keep it that way."

Catue clenched her fists defiantly at the teen. "Shin! That's mean!"

"But it's also true."

The girl just folded her arms with a pout.

"Alright, alright, fine!" Maria snarled, trying to prevent further side-tracking. "So who are you then?"

"My real, full, name, is Shin Walford."

Maria stared silently for a moment as her mind put the pieces together. "Walford? Wait…"

Shin confirmed the train of thought she was on. "Yes. My mother is the Sage Wizard, Merlin Walford."

"Wow…" Cecily gasped in shock.

However, Maria took issue with what he said. "Mother? Isn't Merlin a man?"

"Whoever told you that is probably in on her jokes."

"Jokes…?"

Shin nodded before releasing a hefty sigh. "Mom is… weird. She has a habit of spreading bizarre rumors about herself to see how long it takes for them to get back to people who know her."

"Why…?"

He laughed weakly before shrugging. "I think you'd have better luck getting blood from a stone than getting an answer to that question. Even her two wives don't. Though Shirase enjoys getting in on the… 'fun'…"

"You're hurting my brain!" Maria exclaimed as Cecily stood next to her, her ears smoking from exertion.

Shin, however, looked at them completely lost. "H – Huh?"

"First you say Merlin's a woman and now you say she has not one, but two lovers and they're both women!?"

Shin merely nodded plainly. "Yes. Is that weird?"

"YES!" Maria shouted with unnecessary volume.

"I see…" he mumbled in confusion.

Maria sighed and decided to let the issue go for favor of a more important one. "So you're really engaged to Princess Catue…?"

Catue answered her by grabbing Shin's left arm and burying it in her substantial cleavage. "Yep, we are!" she chirped.

Cecily's expression turned somber at that answer.

Catue, however, tilted her head in confusion. "Why? You want to be his wife too?"

Both girls went stiff as their faces turned red.

"H – Huh?" the blue-haired girl stuttered in bewilderment.

"I'll just be his first wife," Catue explained.

"C – Cat, stop it, you're confusing things even more!" Shin argued.

Catue turned to him with a pout. "Oh come on." Turning to Maria and Cecily, she added, "I'm not going to be handle… everything he has to offer on my own."

Their faces got even redder at the poorly disguised insinuation.

"You're being ridiculous!" he snapped, Catue flicking him on the forehead.

"No. I'm not."

Attempting to assuage some of the head threatening to boil her mind, Cecily changed the subject. "M – May I ask you something…?"

"Sure," Shin responded, trying to ignore Catue rubbing her cheek on his shoulder like a cat.

"If you really are Merlin's son, why are you trying to hide it?"

Sighing, Shin explained fully, "Simple. To not have to deal with being popular because of who my family is. I don't want to go through my whole academic career with people trying to bribe me, assassinate me, or trying to be my friend just to get ahead in life. I just want to be here as a student and see what other people my age can do with magic. I can't do that if everyone is trying to use me."

"Ah…" Maria answered as she mulled over his words, not fully appreciating his answer.

Cecily, however, nodded with an encouraging smile. "Yes, I understand that. That's a great idea."

Catue nodded with a smile. "Right, let's go find the assignment board and see where we're all going. Hope we are in the same class."

Shin stared at the girl firmly. "You can't cling to me like that in class, it'll cause problems."

Catue pouted in defeat. "I know, but still…"

Sighing, Shin leaned close and whispered into her ear.

Catue stiffened and then saluted firmly. "Roger!"

Cecily blinked curiously. "Roger? I thought your name was Shin?"

Shin waved a hand, laughing weakly. "Don't worry about it…"

"Right…"

"So many names…" Cecily remarked at the huge billboard of names in front of the school.

"Yeah…" Maria commented.

Shin looked around curiously. "Now where is mine…"

"You're in the way," an angry voice growled.

Shin just ignored the voice. "Okay, where… ah. Here we are."

A scowling, blonde young man growled as he grabbed Shin's shoulder. "I said you're in the way! Move!"

Shin reacted almost instantly, grabbing the man's arm and twisting it behind his back, pinning the man to the ground with his knee on his back. However, his focus was still on the name board. "Huh. Looks like we are in the same Class Maria. Cecily."

"Unhand me, dammit!"

Shin blinked curiously and looked down at the pinned man. "Um… who are you?"

"I said unhand me you bastard!"

"My parents are happ… er, married."

"I am the heir to Count Rietzberg, let me go!"

"… So?"

"I think that's enough torturing him," Catue commented.

Shin nodded in understanding and released Kurt, causing him to hit his face on the floor. "Right."

"Why you…!" Kurt growled as he stood up before hearing some of the students nearby snickering.

Shin, ignoring him, looked at Catue. "So which class are you in?"

Catue just shrugged. "We won't know yet. We need to pass the entrance exam first to see where we place."

Cecily gulped anxiously. '… I hope I'm in the same class as Shin…'

Maria stood next to her friend with a catlike grin. "You just wished you're in the same class as Shin, didn't you?"

Cecily's entire face turned such bright red it looked like it might ignite as she sputtered at Maria, "N – N – No I didn't!"

"You want to as well?" Catue asked, excited.

Cecily sputtered and flustered, trying to find an argument.

Kurt merely growled at Shin, before Catue, annoyed, gave him a sideways stare. "Yes? Unless you have further business, leave."

The man winced, upon realizing who she was. "Hurk, you're…"

Turning to him, she nodded, annoyed. "Yes, Catue Lautreamont. Now leave, you're disturbing the public."

Kurt growled impotently before leaving.

Shin sighed in annoyance as he disappeared into the crowd. "First day here and I've already met an asshole…"

Catue just shrugged before grinning. "Well, good luck on your entrance tests!"

Shin nodded before heading into the academy proper.

Once inside, he headed for the room he was assigned and saw three other students waiting inside with an instructor holding a clipboard.

Taking a moment, he looked the instructor over, a tall, curvaceous woman with knee-length, lustrous silver hair that fell in waves, her dark grey eyes scanning the prospective students intently, her uniform consisting of a long, deep black dress that wrapped around her back and bust, its almost obscene mass barely being held by two strips of fabric attached to her collar, the skirt cut with slits high enough that her wide hips were almost fully exposed, thigh-high dark stockings, full-length, fingerless gloves covering almost her entire arm, and a tall, black, pointed hat that nearly doubled her height. A long black cloak was slung over her shoulders, in theory used to cover her outfit.

Shin gulped deeply with a light tint before focusing on the other students in the room. Looking them over, he smirked subtly to himself. 'Perfect, I get to see what regular people do for magic. This should be interesting.'

"First up!" the instructor called out as a teen with slicked back, pale blonde hair walked up to the area. "Use the best spell you have and attack the dummies. You don't need to destroy them, as your skill is what matters most."

The boy smirked before raising an arm at the targets. "Oh flames that eradicate all matter!"

Shin winced slightly. '… What…?'

"Light inside my hands, set my foes ablaze! Fireball!" he howled before hurling a baseball sized orb of fire that gently floated towards the target, bounced off, and fizzled out unspectacularly.

Shin's jaw nearly hit the floor. '… Whaat?!'

The teen turned to the other students, Shin included, and flashed a confident smirk.

'Why does he look so proud with something so pathetic!? That is the weakest fireball I've ever witnessed! And what's up with that cringe-inducing chant?! And why do the others look so impressed!? Is this seriously the extent of magical capabilities in people my age!?'

The second student approached the platform.

'This is complete and utter bullshit!'

Raising his hands, the second student exclaimed, "Raging waves, wash away my adversaries! Water Shot!" Three small spurts of water fired out, hitting the targets but with little impact.

Shin's eyebrow twitched furiously. '… That wouldn't even be able to carve through mud!'

The third student approached the practice area. "The wind spins, the wind dances! Form a gust and mow them down!" he shouted before slicing a hand in the air. "Wind Blade!" he exclaimed before three small blades of wind flew towards the targets, bouncing off yet again.

'That wouldn't even spin a pinwheel!' Groaning he watched as the sole girl in the group walked up to the test area. 'Oh please have some idea what you're doing…'

Raising her arms, she cried out, "Lend me your strength mother nature!"

Shin almost fell on his face. '… No…!'

"Repel my enemies with a glacier! Ice Needles!"

'… You are an insult to your gender…'

The instructor looked at the list in thought. "Alright, that's almost everyone. Next is… ah. Okay, you're up," she noted to herself as she looked at Shin.

"R – Right…" he muttered, walking up to the test area, demoralized.

"Hold back as best you can. If you can avoid destroying the testing area I'll be satisfied."

"Right," he answered with a nod. 'Okay… something simple… Firebolt should be good.' He raised a hand as a small magic circle appeared in his hand.

The second teen who had tested stumbled back in awe. "N – No incantation!?"

A large blast of fire shot from his hand like lightning before impacting the furthest target with a powerful explosion.

The instructor raised a light blue magical barrier to keep herself in place, but the students near her were flung against the wall from the shock wave.

Shin winced slightly at the destruction. 'I could have sworn I dialed back the power…'

"I thought I told you to hold back," the instructor grumbled, fixing her robe.

"I… did… That was restraint…"

The woman just stared at him silently for a moment in surprise.

After several moments of silence, Shin sighed and asserted, "I'll fix it up…"

"I would hope so…" she remarked as she thought.

The silver-haired woman sighed slightly as she leaned back in her chair.

"So, is he truly as strong as they say, Magisa?" an old man sitting at the head of the long table asked.

The instructor, Magisa, nodded with a shrug. "He meant to hold back and still destroyed the testing area. So what do you think?"

"Is there even anything we can teach him…?"

"Well you saw him in action, what do you think?" one of the other teaches asked.

"Perhaps one thing," Magisa remarked. "His social skills are severely lacking."

"Well that's not good," the old man remarked.

Magisa nodded in agreement. "Indeed. He's not particularly rude, he just doesn't know the proper etiquette. It could go badly if he's rude to the wrong noble."

The old man stiffened as a shiver shook down his back. "Indeed…"

"Perhaps, rather than a normal class, we should put him in one that teaches him how to behave. Maybe even put the highest scorers in it as well."

He put a hand on his chin in thought for several long seconds. "Hm… it's also possible some of the students could learn from him as well."

"Which is why I suggest the top scorers."

The old man nodded in acceptance. "That should suffice. Her highness said she wants him to learn social skills by being here."

"Right. Then I'll pick those that will be in his class then," Magisa stated as she stood up to leave the room.

"Wait –" the old man began to interject as she left, only to be interrupted.

"I need to look over the candidates. I don't have time to sit around," she responded coldly.

"We're not done yet!" the old man growled as he slammed a fist on the table. "You haven't told us the rankings!"

"They're not finalized yet, the only one that's certain, and the only one that matters, is Shin Walford."

"A – Ah…" he trailed off as she left.

Shin wiped his brow as he looked over the testing area, now returned to its original state. "Done… That took way too long to fix…"

"Maybe you should learn control," Magisa chided as she walked into the room and looked around.

Turning to her in surprise, he laughed weakly. "Huh? Oh, Instructor. I didn't see you there."

"My name is Magisa," she responded bluntly, a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"Sorry…" he trailed off. "So, erm, do you need something?"

She nodded in return.

"What is it?"

"Well I wanted to see if you would help me set up a special class."

"A special class?"

"Yes. I suppose you could also call it a club, but the important factor in either scenario is you."

Shin could only tilt his head in mild confusion. "How so?"

Thinking for a moment, Magisa explained, "I suppose the simplest way to explain it is for others to learn how the Magi herself, Merlin, uses magic. I doubt it would be simple for her to be involved in such a class herself, so perhaps you would be willing to lend a hand in that regard."

Shin nodded swiftly. "Sure. It's clear these people need it. Badly."

That intrigued her. "Oh?"

"Watching them cast their magic with those chants was beyond embarrassing. I understand that most people need chants or incantations to get their mana flowing properly to perform magic, but does it really need to be so… bad? I thought it was only Crimson Devils that had that kind of embarrassing stuff… And with those idiots it's obvious it was just to show off. I mean, even that girl was pathetic. Why was she so pathetic!?"

Magisa could not help but laugh at his rather verbose rant. "You certainly are an interesting one."

"H – Huh…?"

"Just what I'd expect from her son!" Magisa added before taking a breath to calm herself.

He stared at her in stunned silence, not entirely sure what was happening.

"Right, I'll let you know when I have everything organized. For the time being, you can head home."

"Sure…"

"Good. I'll see you then, Shin Walford," she proclaimed before leaving.

Shin stood there silently for several long minutes as he tried to process everything. "… What… just happened…?" Eventually he saw it was futile and just sighed in defeat. "Guess I need to get home…"

Looking around the edge of the city, he furrowed his brow in thought. "Okay… I think she told me the house was on the northwestern edge of the city…"

"Master Shin!" a rather exasperated voice called out.

Turning around, he saw a young woman with long, knee-length white hair, the sides tied into braids, and deep blue eyes hidden behind rimless spectacles, wearing a simple blue dress with a white apron and frills, armored gauntlets, knee-high stockings, and simple brown boots. "Huh? Oh, hey Edinburgh."

The girl ran up to him and came to a stop, panting. "Master Shin, Miss Merlin has been wondering when you'd be home."

Shin rubbed the back of his head in mild embarrassment. "Sorry, I couldn't find it. She told me it was on the northwest side of the city."

"Yes…" she answered with a nod, somewhat confused.

Her bewilderment only confused him further. "… What?"

"This is the southeast corner of the city."

"… Eh!? How am I in the southeast side!?"

"Erm, I don't know, but, do you want me to show you to the mansion?"

Slumping where he stood, Shin nodded weakly. "Yes please…"

"R – Right this way then."

After following Edinburgh, Shin made it to the home, a large, three-story brick building with a slanted, dark green roof, numerous pillars in the front patio, and a round tower that stuck out from one side.

"Yo, Shin, glad you could make it," came a flippant greeting.

Shin turned to the source and saw a woman with short, shoulder-length, wild, bright white hair and dark chestnut eyes wearing a long white coat with a hood flopped over her back, and an outfit of black and white that left very little of her curvy form covered.

"Get lost on the road of life?"

"No, I got lost because of your directions! And put some clothes on!"

She looked at him confused. "I've got some on though, Shin."

"That 'outfit' barely counts as a swimsuit!"

She waved a hand dismissively. "Oh come on, this is my own home, isn't it?"

"So?! I live here too!"

"Merlin!" a new, extremely upset voice shouted.

"Ah crap, Melinda's pissed," the white-haired woman, Merlin, cursed.

Suddenly a young-looking woman with long pink hair tied up in a ponytail, wearing a relatively plain purple and gold dress that hugged her modest figure nicely, along with tall white boots, came storming out of the mansion. "How many times do I have to tell you not to go outside wearing that thing!?"

Merlin tried to sprint away, only for Melinda to grab her by the arm.

"Oh no you don't!"

"Oh come on! It's hot out and I can't stand that dress!"

"Be an adult about this!"

Shin and Edinburgh just sighed as the two's bickering continued. After a moment, Shin turned to the maid in thought. "Oh, Edinburgh, is Myusel here?"

"Huh? Oh, yes. Miss Myusel should be just about done cleaning your room."

"Thanks," he responded with a smile before heading inside.

Walking inside the large double doors, he looked around the front entryway in thought. "This place is just as big as when I was a kid." 'This time anyway.' His attention was drawn from his thoughts when he turned and saw another maid struggling to carry a basket stacked high with laundry. "Th – That's a lot of stuff…"

Suddenly the maid flinched where she stood, a small voice from the other side of the mountain of laundry eking out. "M – Master… is that you?" The maid stumbled as she walked, trying to carry the mountain of clothing and speak to Shin at the same time.

Sighing, he approached her to help.

"N – No, I'm okay, Master," she answered shakily as she attempted to balance the pile of laundry that rose over her head.

Shin frowned slightly as he tried to keep himself in front of her a few paces ahead.

"O – Oh!" she gasped as something occurred to her. "W – Welcome home Mas – uwah!" she screamed as she caught her foot and fell forward, the mountain of fabric falling to the floor. Fortunately for her, Shin managed to catch her before she hit the floor herself.

"Geez, you gotta be more careful, Myusel," Shin chided.

Myusel, a petite girl with long, light brown hair tied in twintails, small, slightly pointed ears poking out from the sides, her black and white maid uniform stained from the dirty clothing, stared up at him with her bright amethyst eyes. "S – Sorry…"

"It's okay," he responded with a worried smile. "Just let me help you next time, okay?"

"B – But I can't!" she argued vehemently. "It's a maid's job to –" he cut her off.

"Do as her master says."

She stared up at him in silence for several long seconds before nodding with a smile as he helped her to her feet. "Okay…"

He nodded in approval as he looked at the mess at their feet. "Good. Now let's get this stuff picked up."

"O – Okay," she answered with enthusiasm as she grabbed the basket. However, her cheeks turned bright red as she saw Shin pick up a particular piece of clothing from the floor. "W – Wait, that's…!"

Looking down, he quickly realized what he was holding, with its bright pink color and small ribbon in the middle. Quickly dropping it in the basket, he ordered curtly, "… We will never speak of this again."

"R – Right…"

"There," Shin remarked as they got the last of the items to the laundry room.

"Thank you, Master," Myusel responded with a bow.

Shin waved a hand with a smile. "Sure. Edinburgh told me you were getting my room organized, how'd it go?"

Her face brightened up more than normal as she proclaimed, "I got all of your most precious belongings moved to the new room and organized as close as I could to how it was in the cottage. I placed your clothing in the dresser that was there and your sheets are fresh and clean."

"Thank you Myusel," he answered with a smile.

The girl blushed slightly and began to fidget. "D – Don't mention it… It's the least I can do after everything you've done for me."

Shin was somewhat perplexed by her answer.

"You and Lady Merlin bought me from that slave trader and raised and trained me to be your maid, remember?"

He just shrugged. "Well, yeah. But I don't think you need to make that big a deal of it."

"H – Huh?"

"It was the right thing to do. I had the power to help you, and it would've been wrong not to."

Her eyes momentarily widened before an even brighter smile formed on her lips. "R – Right!"

"Unless you need me for anything else, I'm going to check out my room."

She just nodded happily. "Go right ahead."

Shin arrived at his room on the top floor of the mansion and looked around in mild shock. "Wow… she really did get it set up just like in the cottage back home…"

The room was shaped like a perfect square, the door sat in the center of the front wall, to the left was a small wardrobe with his various suits and outer clothes inside, around the corner on the next wall sat a long dresser filled with his inner clothing and some of his supplies for sewing. In the corner of the left wall was the door to the restroom, with the next corner of the wall being bare aside from some paintings, the window in the center of the back wall overlooking a portion of the city. On its right a moderately sized desk with several books, blank pieces of paper, and a few quill pens and ink wells. Around the corner from it, his bed, just big enough for one person, and on the wall adjacent to it. On the other side of the door, a tall bookcase crammed to bursting with books of various sizes and colors. In the center of the room a decently sized table with seating for four.

Smiling warmly at the perfect set up, he praised Myusel's skill. "It must have taken her a lot of work to get this all set up."

His attention on her work was taken when he heard a disturbance outside. Looking out the window, he saw a girl with black hair talking with two men.

"Please, I'm begging you!" she argued desperately.

The taller man brushed her hand aside roughly. "Back off. We're not interested in following some goddess no one's ever heard of."

Shin narrowed his eyes as he watched the interaction.

"Please! I'll do anything!" she responded.

Both men's faces gained twisted grins at that proclamation. "… Anything?"

'Oh goddammit!' he cursed and bolted out of his room and down the stairs.

The tall man grabbed the black-haired girl's wrist and pulled her towards him. "I think I might have an idea that'd help us both."

"H – Huh?" she stammered in confusion and concern.

However, before the situation could get any further, Shin approached the three and smacked the man's arm away from the girl. "That is enough."

The man snarled at the intervening teen. "Oy, butt out."

Narrowing his eyes, Shin began squeezing the man's wrist, putting more force in. "I'm not going to ask you again. Leave."

"Wh – Why you…!" he growled as he tried to free his arm from the blue-haired teen's grip, only to find it impossible.

Shin's grip tightened, the man's hand starting to contort and change color. "Leave. Now."

"Gah! Alright, alright!" the man relented before Shin let him go and the two ran off.

"U – Um, thanks…" the girl offered quietly.

Turning to her, Shin got a better look at the girl. She was rather short, shorter than himself by several celch, her body almost appearing childlike, with one exception, her long black hair extremely lustrous, held in her twin pigtails with plain blue ribbons, her deep blue eyes adorning an almost perfect, doll-like face, wearing full-length white gloves, and a short, simple white dress, along with a long blue ribbon that looped under her very ample bust, incongruous with her overall childish appearance.

He raised an eyebrow as he looked at her. 'With a face like that… and from what those two said, she must be a goddess.' He just shook his head with a smile at her gratitude. "It's okay. Those two where harassing you. So what are you doing this far out?"

"I'm trying to get people to join my Familia…" she answered dejectedly.

He nodded in understanding. "Ah. Low on members I take it?"

"… None…" she mumbled under her breath.

"Pardon?" he asked, not quite hearing her.

Grumbling with embarrassment she shouted, "None! I don't have a single Follower!"

He just looked at her in mild surprise. "… Ah. Brand new goddess then?"

She glanced to the side away from him, her face reddening in further embarrassment. "… Not exactly…"

"Okay…?"

"I just… haven't found anyone who'll join me yet…"

"Ah…" he intoned, beginning to piece together the situation. "What is your Realm of Authority then?"

She looked at him as if he had just spoken in an alien language. "… Huh?"

"Your Realm of Authority or the Domain you preside over as a Goddess."

She folded her arms under her bust in thought, groaning and grumbling as she pieced through her brain.

Shin, again, sighed in exasperation. "… You don't know?" 'This might tip my hand a bit, but I feel like I should help her.' "What's your name then?"

"Hestia," she answered with a smile.

'Goddess of Home and Hearth huh?' He raised an eyebrow in thought. "Huh. You're in charge of quite a bit."

"I am?" she asked in genuine surprise, before trying to cover it with boisterous confidence. "I – I mean, of course I am!"

Staring at her, he decided that, even though he wanted to help her, he would still tease her. "If you're that confident, you should know what it is you're in charge of."

She lurched back as she realized she only had two options and decided to try and save face, if only a little. "… Th – The home!"

He just sighed. "Close enough." 'She's supposed to be the oldest Olympian? She acts like a child. She even looks like a child. Well… except for those… If she had horns I'd swear she was a Draph…'

"Is something wrong?" Hestia asked, given his extended silence.

"Nothing, just thinking about something, Ms. Hestia."

"Oh. So, uh… are you looking to join a Familia?"

"Not particularly."

"Oh…"

He sighed as her expression fell, only to stop when he heard a low growl that, unmistakably, came from her starving belly. "… Want something to eat?"

She looked at him with a mixture of excitement and surprise. "A – Are you sure?"

"I don't mind at all." Motioning to the mansion, he urged, "Come on, I'll see if we can find something you like."

She nodded energetically and followed after him.

Merlin smirked wryly as she saw Shin walk in. "Hoh? You brought a girl home."

Shin just sighed in exasperation. "It's not like that, Mom. She's a goddess I found outside who's hungry."

"Hungry, huh?" she responded an even wider grin, only to get smacked on the back of the head with a book.

Melinda sharply chided, "I know what you're thinking, and stop it immediately."

"Aw… but Shin loves Draphs…"

Shin swiftly grabbed Hestia's hand and directed her towards the nearby hallway. "Come on, let's see what we can find in the kitchen."

"O – Okay," Hestia stuttered, surprised by the whole situation.

As they walked in, Shin saw Edinburgh mixing several ingredients and preparing a meal. Noticing him walk in, Edinburg looked up at him. "Huh? Oh, hello Master Shin." She blinked in surprise when she noticed Hestia with him. "Wh – What's a goddess doing here?"

"Saw her being harassed by a few guys wanting to take advantage of her situation."

"Ah…"

A low growl filled the kitchen.

"… Want something to eat?"

"Y – Yes please…" Hestia answered shyly.

Edinburgh nodded with a smile and then turned to Shin. "Do you need any help making anything, Master Shin?"

"No thanks," he replied with a shake of his head. "You can just focus on dinner. I think I can put something together for us."

"Understood," she nodded and went back to what she was doing.

"This place is so big…" Hestia muttered. "And that woman back there, was that Merlin?"

Sighing, Shin nodded slowly. "Unfortunately yes."

"So then, that makes you…?"

"Her son, Shin Wolford."

Hestia frowned slightly as she looked at him.

"Something wrong?"

"You're her son?"

"Well, adoptive son, same thing though. Why?"

"Mind if I ask what your name really is though?"

Shrugging, he answered, "I can't say really. Shin is the name she gave me when she found me."

Hestia's frown deepened.

"… What?"

"A deity can tell when a mortal is lying."

'… Shit. This isn't good.'

"So what is your name really?"

Sighing, Shin shrugged in defeat. "Shinji Takamiya."

And fin! Thus ends the first chapter of the new story! Let me know what you thought. If you enjoyed it, as I sincerely hope, leave a review letting me know. If you were confused, unsure, or simply have questions on anything, I will do my best to address your queries in the story's reviewer responses. If your questions involve future story events or other spoilers, I am afraid the reviewer responses will be no help, as I need to avoid spoilers for the vast majority of readers who would prefer not to see them. If you did not enjoy it, a review is fine, though I would appreciate actual suggestions instead of just saying that it is crap. That said, until next time, bye-bye!