"What happened? What does it say?" Orion asked.
Currently, he had his back exposed to the huffing goddess who couldn't turn his runes into strength for some reason.
When she tried to do it, it failed rather spectacularly. Oh the joy of her making faces trying to explain why she couldn't do it.
However, Orion did feel a warm feeling on his back, so he asked her to check it out.
[Tis… I-it is unlike aught I have ever beheld. The power of runes is not meant to manifest in such a manner.]
Marika replied, narrowing her eyes with both confusion and suspicion. She genuinely sounded confused though.
However, more than confused at the writing on the boy's back, which was clearly from the Lands Between, she was shocked at the rune on his back…
Orion wasn't paying attention to his new goddess's plight, as this was also when his super-late golden finger acted up.
Orion didn't wait a second before skipping all the useless welcome notes the system sent his way before opening what really mattered.
'Status…' he internally said and noticed a window pop up in front of him.
---
Name – Orion Star Storm
Familia – Marika Familia
Level – 1
[Stats]
- Strength – I 0 > I 57
- Endurance – I 0 > I 72
- Dexterity – I 0 > I 41
- Agility – I 0 > I 38
- Magic – I 0
[Magic]
- None
[Skills]
Soulslike
- Inventory
- Flask Of Crimson Tear – One Charge
- Flask Of Cerulean Tear – One Charge
- Dodge Roll – 1 Second iframe
- Dodge Steps – 0.30 second iframe
Elden Lord
- Physical Vessel of the Elden Ring
- Demi-God Identity
- Blessing of the Erdtree
- Grace Rest Spots
- Grace Rebirth
- Grace Teleportation
- Grace Storage
Animus Ignus
- Growth During Battle
- Fast learner
- Battle Rage
---
Orion read it and was speechless. How come it didn't show up when he was getting his ass kicked by those Goblins?
Irritation gnawed at him, but he knew why. The very first few lines were enough to tell him what was going on.
'Familia…'
That word was a dead giveaway.
He was starting to connect dots here. He died playing Elden Ring while watching Danmachi. Of course it made all the sense in the world to send him to the Danmachi universe with Elden Ring Powers.
If his estimation was on point, then he even knew where he was currently.
'I'm in the dungeon, but not any dungeon, but the only dungeon in this world. And right above this dungeon lies the Babel Tower of Orario.' He subconsciously looked up.
At least he hoped so.
Then there were his stats.
It wasn't following the Elden Ring formula of levelling up, but instead the Danmachi one. That had its own pros and cons, but he'd deal with that later.
He did see a good improvement, maybe fighting those goblins gave him Runes or Exilia in Danmachi's setting, and when Marika checked his Falna it auto-updated his status.
Good thing it was Exilia, since even after dying he could keep that. If it was Runes, and he was playing with Souls logic, then he would have been running around searching for his lost runes…
Sigh…
Anyway, he saw good improvement in both Strength and Endurance, not so much in Agi and Dex though. But it made sense, since he didn't run away much in that fight.
His Magic was still zero though, and that kind of troubled him. Magic was overpowered in both Danmachi and Elden Ring; he wished to have it.
Then his eyes went back to the earlier gaping goddess who composed herself as soon as he turned around.
'Can she see this?' he thought, but then recalling how Familia worked in the Danmachi world, she most likely could. Though not the window in front of him, but what he supposed was the exact copy of his status imprinted on his back if his Falna used the same method as shown in the anime.
The system itself was pretty simple. Gods could give humans or other races their Falna, a leveling system of such, to get stronger by killing monsters or accomplishing hard tasks and through collecting Exilia, in a sense, experience points or Runes where Souls-like games were concerned.
[I comprehend it not. What is this 'Familia'? These skills and numbers… I presume they measure thy strength, yet how can this be? By these markings thou art but feeble. How didst thou vanquish Radagon, or even Godfrey, in such a state? It is nigh impossible.
And then there is…]
Marika was mostly muttering to herself but by the end, she trailed off as she read. Something caught her eyes which shut her mouth instantly. Her beautiful eyes widened; Orion could see it since he had his back in front of her, but there was a tremble in the goddess's eyes.
'Ah, calling me weak so politely, a goddess indeed.' Orion rolled his eyes, though he caught that hitch in her voice as she trailed off.
He didn't know what exactly she saw in his status which drew that response, but he had his doubts.
"So you can see this." Orion asked, pointing at his window. Testing.
She blinked, taking her time to respond, which was already proof enough that what she saw was big.
[What should I see?]
Her eyes trailed to where Orion's hand pointed, where his window screen was, but she didn't react, genuinely looking confused.
"This."
Orion smiled, and the next second his empty hand suddenly had a very familiar-looking seal. It was the Two-Finger Seal from the game, an item which allowed the player to cast Incantations.
He just noticed that he had an inventory where he already had many items stored.
His expectations were dashed though when he didn't see any of the items from his gameplay from 3 years ago.
If anything, all the items in the inventory were beginning-level stuff, what most players get upon choosing a few classes the game gives them at the start.
[A seal…? But how can such a thing be? How camest thou by this? Wert thou hiding it from me ere now?] Her eyes narrowed, but then she recalled his status from earlier. And realisation hit her.
[Inventory. It is spatial sorcery, then…?]
Marika's eyes widened just a bit. Even sorcerers from Raya Lucaria couldn't master the very space itself. And her champion could?
Goddess, she could be; however, Marika had no idea about video game logic. She was shocked, but masked it well. Of course she did, after all she had been queen for a very long time.
"Correct, somehow when you checked my back, I got access to this skill. There are already known items." Orion explained.
This at least explained to him that she couldn't see his status window, though she definitely knew the status upon seeing his back. Though even if she could see the status window, there was no harm in it. Eventually she was going to check his back on occasions anyway, since to level up, one must update their Falna with their deity.
Orion's deity was obviously Marika, so that would be a given.
However, this explained at least the fact that she didn't react that way toward the window; it was something else in the status.
'A future curiosity to have. Right now I need to fucking get out of here.' He reminded himself.
"I might have an idea where we are. Though I can't say for sure. For now though, we need to try to find our way out of this dungeon. We need to find the upstairs from here." Orion got up, halfway ready to wear his half-torn shirt when he recalled he had clothes in his inventory.
So he discarded the bloodstained rag and took out something that matched his size.
Turns out dying and coming back to life doesn't come with washing facilities for clothes. Truly, we learn something new every day.
[Most intriguing… art thou not curious as to what I beheld upon thy back?] Marika folded her hands under her more than generous breasts and cocked up one eyebrow.
"I am, however I'd rather get out of this place before another Goblin sees dinner in me. And it's not like I have no idea what you saw. Just like how I knew about inventory. When you updated my fal… I mean, touched my back, I partially knew what I'm capable of. At least a few of them. Should be more than enough to get us out of here." Orion shrugged. He really didn't wish to die a second time.
Marika didn't say anything immediately, just looked into his eyes. Those piercing golden gazes were as unnerving as they came, especially when a drop-dead gorgeous woman was looking at you.
But he didn't falter this time; he just looked back at her eyes.
After a short staring contest, she finally relented.
[Very well. It is not as though I grasp the full meaning of it myself. Yet I know thou concealest something from me. We shall speak of it once we have quitted this accursed dungeon.]
She huffed, back to her Haughty Goddess persona, ready to travel with him.
"Well, I doubt it, but can you fight in your current state?" Orion asked, recalling she stated that she didn't have her body here. This was her spirit.
He still had that bullet roaming above him, didn't he, possibly travelling with a ghost… what better luck could he ask for.
[Nay… as I have said, I am haughty but a spirit in this place. My powers are sorely weakened, and I cannot sustain a physical form for long.]
She shrugged, completely nonchalant.
'Meaning you're useless as you were a few minutes ago…' Orion almost muttered under his breath with irritation and started to walk off. The ghost goddess behind his trail.
With some unfamiliar motion from his hand, he chose a katana from his inventory.
The sword manifested in his hand out of thin air, once again taking Marika aback at the casual display of Spatial Magic in her eyes.
It was the Uchigatana from the game which the Samurai class gets.
"Let's find those green bastards… I have some payback to give." He said menacingly.
~O~
A/N: I thought hard about it. I do believe that following the Danmachi system of status and leveling is just better. Not only does it match my future plans, but also it's a bit easier to handle since I often have to compare MC to other Danmachi characters, and it would be a pain trying to compare a level 57 Elden Lord against a level 5 adventurer in Orario.
Yes, pretty hard. Let's just follow the Danmachi method here, shall we?
Give stones and do comments, it helps.