Meddling The Omniverse

Location: Guild's Hall, Time: a few days after Darkness joined

Kazuma looked decently stumped on the guild's bar on this peaceful day.

"Salutations Satou Kazuma!" Darkness Had just entered the guild and rushed towards Kazuma with a cheer.

"Oh darkness… looks like you're satisfied with the skills Seth taught you."

"Absolutely! Seth taught me a couple of new moves: 'taunt' and 'counter-attack'. With those skills, I could fulfill my dream of fighting like a real swordswoman and getting hit– I MEAN protecting others!" Darkness answered with appreciation. 

Seth has given up on teaching Darkness in offense. The moment her target wiggles even for a bit, she loses all of her aim. 

In the end, Seth taught Darkness two skills that were usually inaccessible to crusaders, 'taunt' and 'counter-attack'. 'Taunt' forces the enemy to target her, while 'counter-attack' allows her to 'accurately' strike back after being hit. 

To complete her kit even more, Seth was currently crafting an artifact that reflected damages back to her enemies.

"Eh? What's with that frown?" Darkness asked.

"I have enough points to get some skills. Yet now I don't know what to pick. Dang it…"

"Haven't you asked the other's what to pick?"

"I did. But…" Kazuma reminisced about what transpired.

—

"You want to learn skills? Why bother with all the hassle? Just join my religion! Become my chosen one and change your class into my chosen champion! You'll automatically get tons of points and can choose any skill you want! So what do you say?" Aqua enthusiastically pitched her axis order.

Kazuma palmed his face and rejected, Why did I ask her…  he pondered.

—

"PICK THE MAJESTY OF SPELLS THAT IS EXPLOSIONS! CAST ASIDE ALL ELSE AND DEDICATE YOURSELF WHOLLY TO THE GLORIOUS PATH OF EXPLOSIONS! WITH IT, THOU SHALT OBLITERATE THINE ENEMIES WITH BUT A SINGLE THOUGHT!" Megumin preached passionately about her beloved spell.

"But that thing costs so many points," Kazuma replied.

Megumin's eyes blazed with intensity as she retorted, her voice resounding with enthusiasm, "THEN LEVEL UP MORE! ASCEND TO GREATER HEIGHTS! FORSAKE THY REDUNDANT SKILLS! EXPLOSIONS ALONE ARE THY SALVATION! TREMBLE NOT AT THE HIGH COST AND DRAWBACKS! FOR MASTER SETH, THE GRAND MAGIC MASTER OF LEGEND SHALL SURELY ALLEVIATE THAT!"

—

"RIGHT! Seth! He is so good with so many things, why didn't you ask him?"

Kazuma pulled out a small but decently thick book. Darkness who saw this asked, "What's this?"

"His answer. I did ask him for suggestions, but since he was busy making your artifact, he gave me this." Kazuma handed the small book to her. 

Darkness, filled with curiosity, read aloud the book, "Congratulations, you have just asked the great *** Seth for guidance. To find out, let's make this a game. Go to the next page to start."

She flipped the page and continued, "Now here's how it works, each page offers choices that will direct you to another page. You just have to choose the ones that fit you the most. Now let's begin, which one do you prefer: A. Fight enemies head-on. / B.Attack enemies from afar."

Darkness uncharacteristically chose 'B' out of curiosity "What do you want to do from afar: A. heal and buff teammates / B. annoy and weaken enemies / C. send them to their graves." Darkness noticed that some of them direct you to multiple pages.

Darkness had fun playing along with the book, each end suggested a decent number of skills, teaching many different ways a skill could be used for many scenarios. Like using 'flee' to not just dodge, but also jump toward an enemy to take a hit, No! To absorb an attack for a teammate.

Kazuma took out a piece of paper noting a few skills, "I narrowed down to these six skills from the many options previously. Yet from these six I can't decide." He struggled with what to choose in the end.

"Why don't you let me have a look?" A white-haired girl asked.

"Of course you can, Hey! Excuse me but who are you?"

"Ahh sorry! Where are my manners, let me introduce myself. I am Chris the thief. A friend of Lady Darkness here. I came to find out what kind of party my friend got into." Chris greeted Kazuma.

"Pleasure to meet you, I guess. Here, have a look."Kazuma handed his paper, Chris examined his choices and contemplated for a while.

"I suggest you take these two first." Chris pointed out the 'steal' and 'lurk' skills. "I may be a thief but I am not biased when I said you should take this. Out of the six, these two provide both decent offense and defense capabilities. 'Quickdraw' is good for melee and archery but it's mainly offensive. And the others like 'flee' and while still useful, is not as effective as these two."

"Thanks for the suggestion! I'll go to Seth so he can teach me." Kazuma arose from his seat before suddenly facepalming himself, "I forgot, Seth's still busy smithing."

"Just buy me a drink, and I'll teach you both skills outside the guild, we don't want any accidents in here," Chris replied with a wink, and Kazuma obliged.

—

Location: outside the guild

"Listen up," Chris spoke in a mentoring manner. "The thief skill is very versatile, but it comes with a risk. There's a chance to fail or get you the wrong item, giving a certain randomness to it." With a glow, a pouch appeared from her right hand, " behold! The 'steal' skill!" 

"Whoa! Is that?" Kazuma checked his pockets before realizing she was holding his actual pouch.

Tossing it back to him, Chris continued, "Now let's get you to learn this skill." 

A few minutes later, Kazuma successfully learned the 'steal' skill, officially adding it to his adventurer's card. 

"Now that that's settled, go ahead and test it on me!" Chris taunted with a playful grin.

Kazuma became hesitant, "I don't think that's a good idea. My luck is no joke."

"Nonsense!" Chris waved off his concerns. "As a certified thief, I must ensure you can use the skill without a hitch. And don't worry…" She revealed her hands filled with pebbles, "These should even out the odds."

"Welp here goes nothing! STEAL!" Kazuma's hand glowed, and suddenly, Chris felt something different in her pants, causing her cheeks to blush.

"OOH! I DID IT!!! I HIT THE JACKPOT!!!" Kazuma exclaimed, proudly displaying his 'prize': Chris's panties. With no remorse, he waved it like a flag. 

"NOOO!!! GIVE IT BACK! " Chris pleaded in distress, to no avail.

Darkness on the side as a witness to this whole mess stood in shock, "My hunch was right…" Her cheeks reddened, "HE IS A TRUE PERVERTED TRASH ALL ALONG!"

*Plop!* A sound interrupted the scene. Darkness quickly turned around only to find Seth, frozen and wide-eyed with a small smooshed box in front of his feet.

His gaze shifted between the crying Chris and Darkness, clearly realizing something significant.

—

Location: inside the guild's hall

As Chris tearfully recounted her heart-wrenching experience, the atmosphere grew heavy as the adventurers in the guild slowly became disgusted at Kazuma.

"...AND WHEN I BEGGED HIM TO GIVE IT BACK, HE REFUSED AND WAVED IT LIKE A TROPHY!" Chris cried out, her voice echoing in the tense silence.

Looking at the deteriorating situation, Kazuma thought hard for Seth to hear telepathically. SETH! GIVE YOUR BRO A HELP! 

Seth who was hanging around with Aqua and Megumin replied telepathically, "I refuse."

WHAT! BRO! WHY! Can't you do something about this!? You're my cheat! isn't this part of your duty!? Or are you too P*SSY to quote even a single thing? Didn't you brag about your planet's worth of smarts in your noggins? USE IT!  Kazuma ranted in his mind.

"This is too messy for me to deal with, plus you dug your own grave with this one," Seth stood his ground with annoyance.

Seth! I'll even do you a solid favor! ANYTHING! Just get me out of this sh*t show! Kazuma begged. 

Seth hearing this snapped his finger and Kazuma felt a mark etched into his very being.

"Fine, I'll do it. Don't worry, I just added an IOU on your soul," Seth told Kazuma in his mind with a 'smile'.

Receiving this Kazuma's heart plummeted; he had accidentally screwed himself over. 

He didn't know the weight of this IOU, but he knew that he would now be at the mercy of Seth.

From his knowledge of games and anime, he understood all too well the precarious position he now found himself in, and the thought of what Seth might demand in the future sent a shiver down his spine.

There was no escaping the consequences of his impulsive actions. At least Seth isn't the cruel evil kind, right?

With a deep breath, Seth spoke up, "Alright everyone. On behalf of Kazuma, let me apologize for his... antics. You know how he is—always getting himself into these ridiculous situations. He was just trying to use his 'steal' skill and things got out of hand. Sure, he's a bit of a perv, but this time it was not unintentional, right?" Taking the cue Kazuma nodded at his words frantically.

The adventurers murmured among themselves. Kazuma seized the chance to chime in, "Yes, Like what Seth said! I was just really 'lucky' at that time!" 

He looked at Seth who sat near Aqua and Megumin to ask, "Can I use my 'steal' skill on you Seth?" 

"Go ahead." Seth consented.

With this Kazuma activated his skill. and surprise-surprise, another pair of panties materialized on his hand again. 

What the!? Kazuma was utterly dumbfounded. Before he could react, Megumin, next to Seth, intervened while blushing, "Kazuma-san! Can you give it back…" 

Realizing the predicament his luck had brought upon him. Kazuma watched as the crowd's perception of him sank to rock bottom. As his last hope, he turned to Seth only to receive a resigned smile from him.

Seth gestured toward his chest and made a slashing motion across his throat—a universal sign for 'calling it quits'. With that, he left Kazuma to face the fallout alone.

As Seth retreated to escape from Kazuma's Social murder. Someone tapped his arm, It was Darkness, she held the book that Kazuma used to choose his skills.

"Sir Seth, I would like to talk about your book." Darkness spoke, "This book is well thought out and useful for newbies. Suppose this book was distributed to all the guilds, institutions, and militaries worldwide. It would help strengthen the whole human race!"

"Darkness?" Seth looked intrigued.

"Ahh! Forgive me! How inconsiderate of me, you will be paid handsomely if you allow us to spread this book, and if you make subsequent sequels, that would be appreciated."

"I was about to say that your action was quite noble."

"Ahh… Ohh…" Darkness blushed.

"Now that you said it like that, I thank you for the payment. Though, how will you distribute it?"

"Oh don't worry! The house of- I MEAN I know a person who can handle this matter." Darkness flustered from her slip of the tongue.

Seth chuckled softly before continuing, "Darkness, you're nobility right?" He connected the dots. Her being a crusader in a beginner town, her reluctance to reveal her identity, and finally her 'connections' and the slip of the tongue. 

Flustered, Darkness nodded.

"Don't worry, I'll keep it a secret." Seth assured her, "As for that book, I think I'll accept your offer, as for the contract and my conditions… I'll address them at a later date."

"Really Seth! Thank you!" Darkness showed her most pure joyous face, untainted by any form of her usual 'ecstasy'.

"Oh before I forget, your artifact has been finished. Here you go." Seth handed his roughened box to Darkness.

She opened the box and found a lovely necklace inside. Its pendant was a beautiful collection of gems ornate in the shape of a rose with accents of gold and platinum. The moment she examined the artifact. She instantly dropped the box.

"BY THE GREAT GODDESS OF ERIS! WHAT KIND OF ARTIFACT HUMPH!" Seth covered Darkness's mouth to suppress her outburst. 

Darkness's eyes widened with masochistic pleasure as Seth's hand forcefully covered her mouth. She couldn't help but feel a strange thrill at the unexpected physical contact. Her body shook and her cheeks flushed with embarrassment and exhilaration. But Seth remained serious, urging her to compose herself.

Taking the hint, Darkness reluctantly calmed herself down before gently pulling Seth's hand away.

With a complicated expression, she whispered, "I can't take this! This artifact is worth too much! An entire empire could have hunted my whole family just to get their hands on this!"

"Don't worry, I have enchanted it so that only those who can be trusted can see and know its true form and value," Seth assured her as he touched and revealed its fake form–a simplified silver rose pendant with a small ruby on its center. 

Darkness was still perplexed to receive such an item, but after some insistence, Darkness reluctantly took it.

"Why would you give me something this valuable?" Darkness asked her last question.

"Because you're my friend, and because I can make better things than that," Seth replied with a mischievous twinkle. 

Darkness was still confused but decided not to inquire further. She wore the necklace and walked back shyly to Kazuma and the rest. Everyone around only saw the fake form of the artifact. Only Kazuma and Aqua could perceive its true value, and the look of their shocked face was a sight to behold.

"That's quite daring of you Seth. To give Darkness such an item in public. What if some unsavory people noticed?" A sweet voice rang next to him.