Songs in the Void: A Multiversal Score

Arifureta Universe, Tortus, Heiligh Kingdom, Ur Village. 

The next morning, still a bit groggy, Tatsuo made his way into the dining hall for breakfast with Sumire, Aletia, and Shea. When they arrived, they found a fairly packed dining hall. However, while looking for a place to sit, they saw a familiar face. Sitting alone in one corner, James was eating happily as if he had just woken up from the best sleep of his life. 

"I don't know how you can be so energetic this early in the morning after traveling by carriage for so many days in a row." Tatsuo muttered as he took a seat at James' table. 

"Well, what can I say?" James asked with a winning smile spread across his face. "I'm just built different. You know, Half-Devil and all that. The night energizes me." 

"*Sigh* Yeah, I forgot about that." Tatsuo said while shaking his head. 

Before continuing the conversation, Tatsuo raised his hand to get the waitress' attention. Then, when she came over to the table, he, Sumire, Aletia, and Shea placed their orders for breakfast. Though, Tatsuo did have to place an order on Shea's behalf because of the deep-rooted discrimination against beastmen. But that was easy enough to deal with. 

With their orders placed, the quintet returned to their conversation. 

"Did you find anything suspicious about Shimizu-Kun last night?" Sumire asked. 

"Well, yes and no." James replied, slipping into his work mode voice. "As I'm sure you and Tatsuo are aware, Shimizu is a Black Mage. So, his primary magical means are debuffing his foes. Basically, weakening them with negative status ailments. And that includes inflicting the Charm Status, making him capable of controlling monsters and people if he has enough time and mana to do so." 

In response, Tatsuo, Sumire, and Aletia immediately nodded their heads in understanding. Shea, on the other hand, took a moment longer to take in what James was talking about. However, she eventually nodded in response, as well. 

Though, only Shea would know if that nod was because she understood or just to not look dumb. 

"Well, I saw him running around the mountains north of the town doing just that." James continued. "He was basically brainwashing every monster he came across. Like he was trying to create an army." 

"*Sigh* And nothing good is going to come out of that." Tatsuo muttered. 

"Did he do anything else?" Sumire asked. 

"No, not really." James replied. "In fact, he wasn't even particularly malicious in the way he went about enslaving all those monsters. Then, again, they were much weaker than him. So, he didn't really need to be." 

"What about the other presence you sensed?" Tatsuo asked. "I'm assuming it was the dragonman." 

"Probably." James said with a nod. "But it's still a few days out. So, I haven't actually seen it yet." 

"Well, just keep an eye out." Tatsuo said. "As for Shimizu, if I had to bet, he was probably just testing the water last night. But when he's comfortable with the process, he'll probably disappear for good." 

"Yeah, that unhinged look in his eyes every time he was successful in brainwashing a monster made me think the same thing." James replied with a shrug. 

"Wait! You were close enough to see the look in his eyes?" Shea asked, intrigued by the prospect, as her tribe was rather gifted in stealth, as well. 

"What can I say, I'm good at what I do." James said while pretending to buff his nails on his shirt. He then looked down and continued at a barely audible volume. "Master beat the concept of stealth into me during my training. So, even if I messed up while I'm in another world and time is frozen in my world, I'm sure she'd find out somehow and make sure that I never messed up again." 

"*Cough* Anyway... We need to make sure Shimizu can't get close to the dragonman, too." Tatsuo said, trying his best to get the image of Scáthach punishing James out of his head, and the trauma that the image would bring with it, as well. "If we don't have to beat her up to get her back to normal, there's a good chance she won't end up like... she did... in the version of events I've heard about." 

"Yeah, Ayame is enough for me." James replied. "I'm not sure I could deal with another one." 

"You make it seem like she would automatically get attached to you." Sumire said while tilting her head. "Why is that?" 

"It's my dragon aura." James replied with a shrug. "It kinda attracts women that I interact with to me."

Instead of replying, Sumire only pointed at Tatsuo, who had raised his hand that was now covered in purple dragon scales. 

"Ah! Right..." James said in an understanding tone. "I forgot about that. Your dragon aura is just as potent as mine now. Makes me wonder where the hell that dragon bloodline came from. I've been feeding off the aura of a Heavenly Dragon for half my life. So, that explains why mine is so strong. But you, you awakened yours less than a year ago. It's kind of interesting." 

"Well, if I knew, I'd tell you." Tatsuo replied with a shrug. "But I don't. So, I'll think about it later." 

"Fair enough." James replied with a similar shrug. "Either way, that means I can leave the masochist dragonman to you." 

"Hold on... I don't want a masochist, either." Tatsuo objected. 

"Too bad, not it." James said with a playful grin. "And you know the rules, once not it has been invoked, it's pretty much as good as set in stone." 

"Where the hell did a rule like that come from?" Tatsuo questioned in a somewhat distraught tone. 

"Sorry, Tatsuo-Kun." Sumire said while patting Tatsuo on the shoulder. "I know you don't know about the 'Not It Rule' because you didn't have a normal childhood. But Alaverus-Kun is telling the truth. It's kinda universally recognized." 

"Seriously?" Tatsuo asked in a forlorn tone. 

"Hey! Stop with the honorifics!" James exclaimed at the same time. "I didn't even do anything to deserve it, this time." 

Sumire only smiled in response, not giving a reason for using honorifics with James' name. Meanwhile, Aletia and Shea watched the interaction between the three world travelers. And while Shea thought the three looked like they were having fun, Aletia felt a little left out. Even so, she did not interrupt. Sooner or later, she would be a dimensional traveler, as well. 

"Anyway, what are you guys planning to do today?" James asked curiously. 

"We're gonna head to the Adventurer's Guild and take some quests to make some money." Tatsuo replied. "Along the way, we'll experiment with the [Gravity Magic] we got from the last Labyrinth." 

"Damn... I need to take a trip to some of those Labyrinths, too." James said in an envious tone. "I doubt I'd get much out of the [Creation Magic] you told me about, but Gravity would be great. I bet Master could get a lot out of it during the training sessions." 

"You don't really like your peerages, your fiancées, or their peerages very much, do you?" Tatsuo asked while deadpanning. 

"Seriously, from all you've told us about Master Scáthach's training regimens, you'd think it was more than enough torture." Sumire added. "Adding gravity training sounds like overkill." 

"You're probably right." James said, thinking about how he would become public enemy number one back home if he made their training even more difficult. 

Before the conversation could continue, however, the waitress returned with the group's orders. And not long after that, Aiko led her students and the Templars into the dining room, as well. So, the original group of five decided to end their conversation there for the time being as a few tables were pushed together so the entire group could eat together. 

After breakfast, the group split up. While Tatsuo, Sumire, Aletia, and Shea went to the Adventurer's Guild to accept as many quests as they could, James and Aiko led the students and Templars to the village's farms so Aiko could work her agricultural magic. Meanwhile, the Templars were thre to protect Aiko from danger while the students were there to protected Aiko from the Templars. 

And if it weren't for the potential problem, Yukitoshi, there was no way James would have stuck around with Aiko and her group. Not even half an hour in, he was bored out of his mind. Though, there was some entertainment to be seen in all the ways Yuka and the others found to cock block the Templars. 

Tatsuo, on the other hand, found out that he had very little affinity for [Gravity Magic]. It did not really suit his fighting style, either. So, instead of trying to cast [Gravity Magic] spells, he imbued it into objects. More specifically, grenades. Grenades that could either lower or increase the gravity in a specific area. 

As for Sumire, she learned to lighten her own personal gravity. Or rather how gravity affects her. That way, she could raise her gravity, in turn increasing her mass when taking a defensive stance. Or, she could lower her mass when she needed to move faster. 

Aleita, the magical genius that she was, found a way to create compound magic spells with the newly learned [Gravity Magic], using gravity to shape her spells into different forms. It also helped to compress her spells, which raised their potency proportionally. 

Lastly, Shea, who was also rather talented with [Gravity Magic], used it to increase or decrease the weight of her weapon in combat. Her ultimate goal was to decrease the weight before swinging her hammer, making it easier to swing it at high speed. Then, once the hammer's head was about to strike its target, increasing the weight to the limit of what she could handle, increasing the force of the impact significantly. Unfortunately, just a few days of training and practice with the new magic was not enough for her to gain that level of proficiency. 

And things continued like that for the next two days. However, on the evening of the third day, Yukitoshi must have reached a point where he was comfortable with the surroundings. Because he disappeared from the inn without a word to anyone. Though, it certainly did not go unnoticed. 

Luckily, Yukitoshi was not capable of moving fast enough to escape from James' range of detection. So, instead of disappearing with Yukitoshi to continue following him, James returned to the inn that night and waited for Aiko and the others to realize that Yukitoshi was missing. 

And when she did, Aiko, against her better judgement, asked Tatsuo and Sumire, registered adventurers, to find Yukitoshi and help him if he was in trouble. And they naturally accepted the commission. Though, they did make sure to have Aiko write up a formal request at the Adventurer's Guild so that they would be able to raise their ranks when, not if, they completed the request. 

Also, when Tatsuo and the others left to track down Yukitoshi, James came with them, sighting that he was the strongest person there. So, he would be able to help in case Yukitoshi was in trouble. 

And just like that, the group of five left Ur to move through the mountains to the north of the village. Though, they had no intention of bringing Yukitoshi back immediately. Instead, they wanted to catch him while he was making a deal with the demon. They also wanted to talk to the masochistic dragon man that was a day or two away by now. 

"So, you're the strongest one here, huh?" Tatsuo asked while raising an eyebrow as he, Sumire, James, Aletia, and Shea moved towards the place where James could sense Yukitoshi. 

"Well, I probably am." James replied. "I don't know where they get these arbitrary numbers on the Status Plates, but I was strong as hell before I got here. And I can guarantee that these numbers are nowhere close to representing how strong I am." 

"*Sigh* If we weren't supposed to be following Shimizu secretly, I'd want to put that theory to the test." Tatsuo said in a tone that made it clear he was not convinced. "But that would make too much of a commotion. And unless he's that self-absorbed, there's no way he wouldn't notice if we were to fight out here." 

"True that." James replied with a nod. "How 'bout this? When you're on Winter Break, why don't you come to my world. We can fight there. I've got a few good places where we could fight, and it wouldn't bother anyone." 

"Why do we have to wait that long?" Tatsuo asked curiously, a hint of battle thirst in his tone. "We're all supposed to be going to Sumire-San's world after this quest to fight the wyverns, right? Let's do it there?" 

"If you wanna show what you're capable of in front of that loli-baba Sherifina, then I'm fine with it." James said with a shrug. "But I'm pretty sure we'll be going back there at least a few more times." 

"He's right, Tatsuo-Kun." Sumire said. "We don't want her to know too much about us, right?" 

"*Sigh* I get it." Tatsuo said in a disappointed tone. "I can wait a few weeks, I guess." 

While this conversation was going on, Aletia and Shea naturally did not have much to contribute. Still, they listened eagerly. 

"Hey, Miss Aletia, do you think we could go with them?" Shea asked curiously. 

"I don't' know about you." Aletia replied. "But I'm going." 

"That's not fair." Shea replied while pouting with her cheeks puffed out. "I wanna go, too." 

Like that, the quintet continued to follow Yukitoshi without being discovered. And that lasted for the next three days. Along the way, the group had to fight a few of the more dangerous monsters that could be found in the mountains. On top of that, they put more than a few of the monsters Yukitoshi put under mind control to rest, as well. 

However, on the third day, something, or rather someone, finally showed up. At first, it appeared as a dot passing over the horizon. But as it got closer, its features could be made out more clearly. 

Jet black scales, golden eyes, four limbs, large, bat-like wings, and seven meters from snout to tail. If anyone were to see this figure, they would only have one word to describe it. 

A dragon. 

And that dragon was the masochistic dragonman, currently in her dragon form, that Tatsuo had mentioned several times since arriving in Tortus. 

As soon as Tatsuo, Sumire, James, Aletia, and Shea saw the dragon flying through the sky, they all exchanged glances. Then, as fast as they could, they dashed through the mountains, with Aletia, the least physically inclined, jumping onto Tatsuo's back to keep pace. 

And after the group got far enough away from Yukitoshi, they all started flaring their [energy], mana, and demonic power to get the dragon's attention. And they succeeded. 

Meanwhile, the dragon formed dragonman, after feeling the flaring auras, looked in their direction. And when she saw the group of seemingly young humans, she was reminded of the reason why she had left the Dragon Kingdom in the first place. 

"Such strong human children." The black dragon said to herself while flying through the air. However, when she looked closer, she narrowed her eyes. "No, not just humans. There is also a rabbit beastman, and a… vampire?" 

As a long lived member of the dragonman tribe, the black dragon was around before the vampires went extinct. However, she was unaware that there were any who survived. So, her surprise at Aletia's appearance was understandable. 

"But those other two, the males…" The black dragon continued speaking to herself. "Why do they both feel like dragonmen and not, at the same time. This is interesting. Perhaps I should speak with them. Finding out their origins might be a good idea. Plus, I've been flying for weeks. And I must admit, I'm getting rather fatigued." 

With that said, added to the fact that she could not feel any malice coming from the group below, the black dragon decided to land before them to engage in conversation. 

And as she drew nearer, she could feel the fatigue from her long journey catching up to her with every second. 

"But perhaps, I'll take a little nap before I engage in lengthy conversations." The black dragon mumbled to herself. "I'm sure they won't mind keeping me safe while I sleep. And even if they do have evil intentions, I doubt they could get past the defenses my scales provide." 

Only a few moments later, the black dragon landed in front of Tatsuo and the others. Then, after telling them that she needed rest and would talk to them upon waking up, she curled up on the ground and fell right to sleep, leaving the five onlookers dazed. 

"Are you serious?" James muttered in disbelief. 

"Well, I kinda expected this. Tatsuo said while shaking his head. "We'll just have to wait here. We'll make sure that Shimizu can't do anything to her, too." 

"Speak of the devil… no pun intended." James said. "It looks like someone is approaching Shimizu from the sky. If I had to guess, they're a riding a magical beast. So, I think I'm gonna go take care of that little nuisance." 

As soon as he finished speaking, and without giving anyone a chance to respond, James vanished in a burst of purely, physical strength driven speed. 

"Well, I guess we should set up camp." Tatsuo said while watching James run away. 

And just like that, Tatsuo took the collapsable house out of his [Inventory] and the group prepared for the dragonman to wake up.