Who cares if we are not the main characters

[blueayes]

"Did you see that girl that's what it takes to climb the tower" Kazuma heard the Egiptian-looking creature say to the blond girl who began to cry in front of it.

'Bamm that boy stole everything from me!" she screamed as jealousy and regret filled her.

'Calm down." he says to her as he approaches the pair.

'He Egyptian creature, you look like you're in charge can you tell me where I am?" he asks the creature who stares at him.

"You're from Erth.' it answers him but Kazuma ignores its words and looks at the girl who's kneeling on the floor crying.

'Hey why are you crying?" he asks her but the girl just glares at him.

"She wants to go up the tower, everything that anyone wants or desires is at the top. Including the answers that you seek." the creature says to him.

"Okay, so how do we go up? Are there stairs, an elevator maybe?" he asks as he walks closer to the girl and places his hand on her head.

"You can only take the test one at a time and you can't help each other." it answers him.

"Liar, I just saw that guy get help from two different people. So that means that we can help each other." He says to the creature whose eye begins to glow as its presence grows inside the room.

Kazuma stares into the creature's blue eye and feels his skills warning him about the danger that he is in, but he forces himself to stay in place.

The creature lets out a frustrated breath and summons what looks like a minotaur.

"This beast knows nothing of pitty and its speed is faster than that of any mere mortal, its body is stronger than any weapon that can be forged on this floor."

Kazuma can't help but smirk, he's already fought this thing before and it has the same weakness that every man does.

"So do we have to kill it?" he asks the creature, who glares at him even more.

"Yes, now let the test."

"Waite, just one more question, do we both have to beat it, or do we both pass if just one of us beats it?" he asks the creature who looks at him, its glare is gone and Kazuma swears that the thing is laughing at him.

"Just one of you is enough for both of you to pass."

The creature is gone and Kazuma can't help but smile, in the past, he would have run away and tried to think of a way of escaping, but he wasn't that person anymore and he needed a way out of wherever this was.

In the past, he would have tied the Minotaur up and had the girl hit it in the balls so that they could win.

But Megumin would never forgive him if he did that.

So he began to chant, even while he teleported himself and the girl away from the creature, and appeared in the same spot where he had woken up.

He ignores the girl's screams when the Minotaur turns and charges at them again, but it's too late.

The mana of this world begins to turn as it's forced into itself, faster and faster it spins before vanishing and detonating from within the minotaur.

"Hu, it's weaker now." he says to himself before turning to look at the girl who is sitting on the floor with wide eyes.

A light from the ceiling circles them and the feeling of weightlessness takes over.

"Looks like we passed, so what do you say partners?" he says to the girl before giving her his hand \.

Yeah," she weakly answers him, before she grabs his hand and shakes it.
"Partners," she says as the world around them turns into a field full of grass that is so tall that they can't see anything except for what's in front of them.

"Attention Regulars you need to survive to pass to the next floor.' they heard someone say but Kazuma ignored it, right now he needed answers and the girl in front of them had some of them.

He sits on the dirt floor and leans back, he doesn't bother running or hiding, not even as the sounds of gunshots, and explosions along with the screams of injured or dying people reach his ears.

"Sit down." he orders the girl who is looking around in panic.

"Your blond hair sticks out like a sore thumb here, so sit down that way no one can see you." he says to her.

"Look if we are going to be partners I need information because I have no idea where this is and what I'm doing here.' he says to her.

He looks at the girl who stares at him for a moment, he can see that her fear is now replaced with confusion and finally acceptance, it's only now that she lowers her guard and sits next to him.

he listens to her take a deep breath before she tells him about the tower and how it grants people all sorts of powers, weapons, and fortunes, but it is a place where everyone kills and betrays each other.

She tells him about the guardians, the gods, and devils that live inside of it and she even tells him about all of the beings that live in the tower.

"Okay, so why are you here? I mean there's a reason why you came here isnt it." he says to her.

"I want to see the stars." she answers hi, as she blushes.

"Yeah, that's a good dream." Kazuma says to her as he remembers the times that he and his party looked at the stars together.

When you are alone the night sky is dark no matter how many stars the sky has, but when you are with your friends those same stars light up even the darkest night.

'You've seen them?' she asks him with wide eyes and an even wider smile.

"Yeah, but it's better to look at them with friends." he answers her.

By the way, my name is Kazuma, what's yours?' he asks her.

'Rachel." she answers him, before saying partners, her words were more of a question but he repeated himself and said partners.

The screaming and the fighting are slowing down, only the strongest, and luckyest remain.

The grass around them begins to dry and wither away revealing six more people, Kazuma ignores the dozens of dead bodies. It's not that he isn't disgusted by how many people died here, but they all fought and killed others in this place.

he does look at the different kinds of creatures that are lying around, some look almost Human while others are monsters.

"All of you survived, congratulations, you can pass." the same voice from earlier says as a door opens and the flood beneath them starts to move to force them to leave

 

[blueayes]

They find themselves in what looks like a giant hallway with white floors and massive windows that let the light of the sun in.

Kazuma can't help but walk towards the windows so that he can get an idea of how big the tower is, and he nearly bursts into laughter when he sees how massive the floor they are in is.

Despite being on the highest floor of a building he is still unable to see the end of the room that he is in.

He doesn't say anything because he doesn't have anything to say, so he concentrates on figuring out what he does know.

One, his team isn't with him and he has no way of knowing if they are in this world or not.

Two, the mana of this world is strange because the explosion spell teleported itself into the minotaur's body instead of exploding from the outside like it was supposed to.

Explosion is a spell that changes with the user's experience and he isn't anywhere near experienced enough to make it do something like that.

Three, the people in this place have no problem manipulating others so that they can do whatever they want for them.

Rachel was being pushed by that creature on the first floor into a dark place that would turn her into someone who would end up alone and hated by everyone.

If he had stepped in like he had, the girl would be forced to do things that would only turn her into something that wouldn't be any different from a monster.

Fourth, Rachel has the information that he needs, she may not know everything but it's enough for him to use, and he has the power that she needs so there's a reason for them to work together.

Finally Fifth

"So what do you think?" Rachel asks him as she walks up to him.

"I think that we have a lot of work to do." he says to her as he summons a ball of light between them.

He ignores Rachel who looks at the ball of light with wide eyes, but the girl isn't shocked by it, this means that Rahel is used to seeing people with powers that don't fit into the way that the tower does things.

The ball of light begins to flicker as the strange mana of the tower enters it, the light goes from its original white to blue, yellow, red and finally white again.

"Yeah this is going to be a problem." he says to himself but sees that Racher is staring at him as if asking him what he means by that.

'The mana here is odd, my spells aren't doing what they are supposed to and they are doing things that they shouldn't." he says to her before turning his attention to the people around him.

The hallway is massive and while there is still a lot of unused room he can't deny that there are a lot of people here.

"So what can you do I mean do you know how to cook, clean, create fireballs?" he asks her but stops talking when he notices that she frowns at his question.

"Hey if you know how to cook then you won't have to eat raw meat that's still dripping with blood."

"If you know how to clean then you won't have to sleep in a place where insects are everywhere." he says to her as he tries to defend himself.

"I know how to clean and cook, but I don't have any spells or powers like you. At least not yet." she answers him.

He doesn't say anything, Rachel is just like him, someone way over her head in a place that's full of people and creatures that can and will kill her in a heartbeat.

The difference between him and her is that there isn't a loud goddess crying.

He stops thinking and turns to look at his reflection, for a brief moment, he sees Aqua's face instead of his reflection.

He can't help but laugh, it was always Aqua who pushed him forward when he stopped moving.

"So you said that we need a team to go up, do we get to make one ourselves or do we make them up as we go?" he asks her.

'I'm not sure but I think that we have to make them." she answers him.

"Good then that means we have some control over what happens." he says as he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a gold coin.

'Eris if you can hear me, heads we go left, tails we go right. I'm counting on you." he says to Eris despite knowing that she might not be able to hear him.

With the sound of a ping he uses his thumb to throw the gold coin into the air, it spins in the air for a moment before he tries to catch it, unfortunately, he fails to catch the coin and it rolls away.

"Come on." he says to Rachel before the two of them chase after the coin, they bum and run into people who either shout or step out of the way to let them pass.

The coin finally stops and Kazuma picks it up, he sees that the coin landed on heads, but they had gone right.

Kazuma couldn't help but stare at the coin, he couldn't avoid feeling as if something was wrong, it was as if Eris had heard him but something else had interfered.

He looks around and sees that there is another path, when before he could only go left or right there was now another path that led in the same direction as the room that was full of tall grass.

He hears the sound of footsteps quickly approaching but before Rachel can say anything, he hands the coin to her and leads her to the new path.

Rachel doesn't say anything but turns to look at the window at her right she then turns to Kazuma who is now walking into the hallway that wasn't there before.

It doesn't take her long to understand that Kazuma was going left even when the left that he was taking wasn't the same as before.

She runs after Kazuma and finds him standing over what looks like the dead body of a woman.

The woman has long blue hair and pale skin, but Rachel doesn't know if the woman's skin color is like that because she died or if she normally looks that way.

Once again she sees Kazuma begin to low as he digs into his bag of tricks and uses another spell.

She doesn't know how someone who isn't that much older than her, has so much control over mana, but she is happy that she met him when she did.

She sees the energy of the world around her spin just as it did when he fought the minotaur and when he created the ball of light, but this time the energy spins around the dead woman.

Rachel wanted to ask Kazuma what he was doing, but she knew that she didn't have to ask that question as she would have her answer soon enough.

The woman begins to moan loudly before she opens her eyes revealing a pair of dark blue eyes, that could easily be mistaken for purple.

As the woman grew more and more conscious, Rachel noticed that the white dress that the woman was wearing seemed to be missing several accessories.

There were marks where something should have been, but Rachel had a way of knowing what they were, if they were just to show the woman's wealth or to show that she was someone important didn't matter anymore as they were all gone now.

 

[blueayes]

"Is she okay?" she asks Kazuma who nods at her.

"How am I alive?" she hears the blue-haired woman ask before she turns and looks at Kazuma and then at her.

'I don't have any money, so don't ask for it. Everything that I had is gone." she says to him before falling back to the floor.

Rachel didn't say anything, she didn't know if the woman was just putting up an act or if she had lost everything and had given up living, both options came with their problems.

"Greate, then that means that you won't have a problem coming with us." she hears Kazuma say to the woman who only stares at the white floor.

"We are going up the tower and that means that we need a team, so what do you say?" he says to the woman who doesn't move.

"Kazuma." she says to the brown-haired man who tells her to wait and let the blue-haired woman think.

Rachel couldn't help but raise an eyebrow when she heard Kazuma let out a breath, he didn't sound frustrated, nor did he sound worried, if she had to say anything, she would say that Kazuma sounded like an adult who was surrounded by children.

She doesn't say anything even when he starts walking toward her, he stops halfway and looks at the other woman.

"I've been around long enough to know that there are heroes and there are villains."

"Devils and gods, but we aren't any of them." he says to the two of them.

"There are knives, plates, and chairs, everyone uses them but no one cares if they break, but then there are those special, knives, chairs, and plates that people brag about and then get furious whenever anything happens to them."

"What I'm trying to say is that we are the normal plates, we break and no one cares."

"And that's where we shine." he stops talking and points at her.

"You want to see the stars and you're willing to go up there alone. Let me tell you it's boring if you do it alone." He turns and looks at the blue-haired woman.

'You lost everything, that means that you have nothing to lose but everything to gain. Take it from someone who's done it before, it's easier if you have friends to help you." he says to the woman.

She doesn't know why but her feet begin to move and before she knows it she finds herself holding Kazumas hand.

"Waite what do you want?" she asks him.

"Me." he smiles at her, his eyes shining with a hint of mischief along with something that she can't understand.

"I want to go home, but if I can't, I guess I'll settle for a harem of beautiful women and so much gold that I won't have to work ever again." Kazuma answers her.

"Gross." she hears the blue-haired woman say.

"Look she has enough strength to talk back.' he says while looking at her

Rachel can't help but feel her eyes widen as Kazuma tightens his grip on her hands, it's not enough to hurt her, but it is enough for her to know that she won't be able to let go of him, even if she opens her hand.

"Attention Regulars follow the blueline so that you can begin your lessons.' a voice that seemed to come from every direction said to them.

"So Rachel, how do we" Kazuma starts to ask but an arrow made of blue light appears between them.

"Okay but how do we get her to pass the test? I mean we both started at the bottom." he asks her.

She doesn't know what to say because none of the stories that she has read ever said anything about someone who was from the tower entering without being chosen.

For a moment she considered lying, but then decided that there was no point in doing it, so she told him the truth and said that she didn't know.

He turns to look at the blue-haired woman and says ." It's time for you to choose, stay here and do it alone, or come with us, and we will figure it out."

They follow the arrows of light that guide them through the halls of the second floor until they reach a room where a man with long gold hair is waiting for them.

Rachel can see several people that look Humanbut there are a few that look completely different.

The man looks at her and raises an eyebrow, she quickly realizes that she is still holding Kazumas and and lets go of it.

His grip isn't as strong as it was before so she can free herself without any effort.

She was about to step forward when she noticed that someone ran up to where Kazuma was and grabbed his other hand.

The blond man seems surprised but doesn't say anything, he just smiles and hums to himself, before pointing at the open door.

For a second she doesn't move, she doesn't understand why but she hesitates to follow the pair inside, something inside of her doesn't like what she sees.

Kazuma had promised to go up the tower with her and see the stars with her, he had never said anything about anyone else and here he was holding another woman's hand.

It was true that they had just met, but a promise was a promise.

She takes a deep breath and mentally kicks herself, he hadn't broken his promise and in fact, he had asked her about how they could go up before she told him that they needed a team.

The second passed, and she ran back to his side before he could go any further, again she held his hand, the moment that they entered the room they felt the eyes of everyone.

She looks around for an area with enough empty seats that she doesn't have to be separated from him, but her eyes stop when she sees a familiar face.

"Baam," she says to herself.

the boy who stole her place as the main character of this story, the curse that would devour the tower, the monster that can never die until the story is over.

The boy that she raised, the same boy who she gave everything to. She taught him how to speak, act, and to some extent think.

He smiles at her as their eyes meet.

She hates him more than she can hate anyone, she didn't know that she could hate anyone until he stole everything from her.

A gentle squeeze reminds her that she isn't alone and she turns to look at Kazum, she smiles at him and they walk to an empty spot.

She makes sure that her back is turned to that boy whose name she wants to forget, it's only when she finally sits down that she lets go of Kazumas hand again.

 

[blueayes]

She looks back for a moment one so brief that if a person blinked they would have missed it.

She doesn't understand why she did it, perhaps there's something deep inside of her that still cares about him, their eyes meet once again. He smiles at her and hears him say her name, she turns away.

She knows that what she just did was cruel but it's better this way, the sooner that he forgets about her the better.

"Hello everyone." the blond-haired man from before says to them, he looks at the the blue-haired woman and frowns.

"This class is only for Regulars and you aren't one." he says to the woman. Rachel doesn't say anything, but she can see the woman shaking, maybe it's fear that stops her from talking, but the woman doesn't say anything.

"She's my teammate.' Kazuma says to the blond man who raises an eyebrow and smirks.

"Don't be ridiculous, she hasn't been chosen and even if I allowed her to pass, she has to pass the first test just like everyone else.' the blond man answers Kazuma.

Kazuma turns to look at her, his smile turns into a full-blown grin. "She just needs to pass the first test." she hears Kazuma say before he turns to the other woman.

"Just one question, do we have to take your class now or can we do this later?" he asks the teacher or whatever the blond man is.

"No, but if you leave now you'll have to wait for the next group." the man answers Kazuma.

"Good because I paid in gold for her." she hears Kazuma say before he takes out another gold coin and throws it into the air.

Rachel can't help but blink somehow she's on the first floor again looking at the same creature who mocked her not too long ago.

Its cold blue eyes glare at them, it doesn't bother speaking nor does it move it just stares at them. 'Why?' it asks them, but its words feel as if they are directed at her.

"Because we need a team." she hears Kazuma answer it with the same carefree voice that she has gotten used to hearing from him.

"Three tests one to go up, one to pass, and one or the one that you just left." it says to them.

'You know we just need her to pass." Kazuma says to the examiner while pointing at their future teammate.

Rachel can't help but blink, she was on the first floor but now she's outside again, the door to the tower is beneath her but there's no one else here.

She can feel the oppressive air of the rulers blowing, she can feel her heart beating faster and faster as fear becomes dread, they're coming, they're going to hurt her for disobeying them.

She falls to her knees and starts beating on the door, she screams over and over again for the doors to open but they don't.

She knows why the doors don't open for her, it's because she hasn't been chosen, she isn't special like Baam so the doors won't open for her.

Her tears fall and she cries in despair.

She doesn't bother screaming because that would help them find her, she clings to the gold coin that Kazuma gave her, but her hands are so sweaty that the coin slips from her hand and rolls onto the doors.

"I paid in gold for her." she hears Kazuma say to someone before the doors open beneath her and she sees something that shouldn't be possible.

A vortex of energy spins above Kazumas head as he threatens the examiner, she can barely hear anything, the light in the room is so dim that she could swear that she is looking at a dark tunnel whose exit can barely be seen.

She can see Kazumas rage-filled expression as lighting falls around him, the temperature begins to fall and she feels herself becoming colder and colder.

"Fine if you won't free them! then this floor doesn't need to exist!" she hears Kazuma scream, as the vortex turns into a ball of fire that pulls everything towards it.

The ground shakes as the walls around her break the moment that the lighting touches them.

She gasps for air as a pair of hands wrap themselves around her. "We have to stop him" she hears someone say to her.

She turns and finds her teammate, she doesn't know her name so she doesn't bother saying it, despite wanting to ask questions she doesn't ask them as the fear in the woman's face is clear.

"Lightning Saver, Explosi!"

"Kazuma stop!" they both scream, while hoping that he hears them.

'You pass." they hear the examiner say before they find themselves back in the classroom sitting on the same chairs that they were in before they left.

She turns to look at Kazuma and sees that he is still surrounded by the red lightning that was destroying the first floor.

"Guess what she passed." he says to the instructor who nods and looks back at everyone.

Rachel can see the man's sweat, it isn't hard for her to notice that he's afraid, she looks around and sees that everyone else is acting the same way.

They are afraid not of her but of Kazuma.

'And that's our lesson" she hears the instructor say before he walks out of the room leaving them behind.

 

[blueayes]

Kazumas Gold Coins
"I paid in gold for your life\ this floor \ this chance
Kazuma's great lie from the very beginning he has been seen holding a gold coin before he does anything.

A gold coin to know where to go
A Gold Coin to move from one floor to another.
A gold coin to resurrect the dead.
A gold coin to alter a person's fate
A gold coin for more power

Each coin has become extremely valuable as the coins seem to have a mind of their own and have been seen helping their owners either escape or survive things that they shouldn't be able to.

Kazuma isn't aware of it but his team has begun to fight over who gets what coin, as each coin does something better than the others.

 

[blueayes]

No one says anything, not because they are afraid but because there's nothing for them to say. She can't help but turn to look at her teammate and partner.

She wants to ask about the test and what happened between her returning to the outside and his fight with the examiner, but before she can say anything she hears her name being called by him, by the monster that she has been trying to escape.

She turns and sees Baam walking towards her, his eyes are just as innocent as they always have been and his smile is just as bright as it's always been.

She wants to run away, to find a place so far away that he would have no hope of finding her, unfortunately, she's here in the same room as him with no way of escaping from him.

She feels Kazuma stand, and in a mixture of instinct and desperation, she does the same and follows him outside.

Again she hears Baam calling to her, and again she ignores him, the moment that she passes through the entrance she notices that she is holding a sheet of paper, one that lists the things that she needs to be able to take the next test.

"Thank god that worked!" Kazuma loudly says before he sits on the floor and leans on the wall behind him.

She doesn't understand why but seeing Kazuma has his legs open, while he uses his left hand to cover his eyes makes her feel better, for a moment she had forgotten that he was Human, but the man in front of her is just that a man.

She frowns when she sees the blue-haired woman sit next to him and take his arm before leaning on him.'

If she hadn't been there when the two met she would have mistaken them for lovers.

She sits next to Kazuma and copies the blue-haired woman's actions.

"Rache!" she hears Baam say and when she looks up she sees the shocked expression that he has when he sees her holding onto Kazuma.

She wants to run away, but she is trapped now, and even if she ran away where would she go? She needs to take the test and that means that she is going to have to see him again.

'Go away.' the blue-haired woman says to Baam who ignores the woman's words and walks towards her.

Rachel can only stare as Baams hands reach for her, she closes her eyes and imagines those same hands holding her, shaking her, while he yells at her to explain why she abandoned him.

She waits for the hands to tighten their grip on her, but they never do and when she opens her eyes she sees Kazuma holding Baams right hand while the blue-haired woman is holding his left.

"Go away." Kazuma orders Baam, but his voice isn't the same carefree voice that she has gotten used to hearing, nor is it filled with rage like when he threatened to destroy the first floor.

Kazumas voice frightened her, it was cold, and it lacked the emotions that she had gotten used to hearing whenever the man spoke.

"Rachel come home if you want to go up, I'll go with you.' Baam says to her.

"Rachel please look at me!" he begs her when he sees that she lowers her gaze and turns her head away from him.

"I paid in gold for her and now she is mine." Kazuma says to Baam.

The moment that Kazuma said those words was the moment that a heavy silence filled the hall, and even the crowd that had gathered to see them arguing stopped making any noise as the implications of Kazumas words set in.

'She isn't something you buy!" Baam yells at Kazuma and while Rachel isn't able to see Kazumas face, judging by how still Baams feet have become, she can almost swear that Kauma is smiling at him.

"You see I'm starting a Harrem full of beautiful women."

"You know don't you, how she shines when everything is dark. No well I do, because she's mine." Kazumas words sounded heavy and filled with malice.

"Rachel." she hears Baam say to her.

"Forget about me Baam, I'm not yours." she finally answers him, but doesn't understand why her voice is shaking and why she feels her tears falling.

She was the one who abandoned him, she was the one who wanted to escape and she was the one who accepted Kazumas help. So why does her heart feel so heavy?

"No!" Bam yells as he frees himself from the woman's grip and tries to push Kazuma onto the wall.

The difference in experience shows itself and Kazuma is the one holding Baam in place.

'I paid in gold for her, so forget about her>' he says to Baam before pushing him away.

She sees Kazuma reach out to her and she takes his hand, again she follows his lead and leaves Baam behind, with any hope he finally gives up on her.

Out of weakness he turns back and sees him crying, he knows that he can't separate her from Kazuma so he doesn't try. She looks at Kazumas hand and smiles.

This hand isn't too big, it doesn't feel like it could break her under its weight nor does it feel like it could erase her just because it exists.

Kazuma's hand feels Human.

 

[blueayes]

"So Rachel what do you want to be?" Kazuma asks her. She doesn't answer, and he notices the confused expression that she doesn't bother to hide.

'I'm afraid that if we are going to take positions then shouldn't I be first? I mean I am a part of the ten" the blue-haired woman began to say but stopped talking.

Rachel looks past Kazuma and sees the pale woman's face her eyes are wide and her her mouth is closed. It doesn't take a genius to understand that the woman has just remembered something that was both shocking and painful.

"I was a member of the Ten Families.' she hears the other woman say, with the same low voice that she had heard her use when Kazuma found her.

"It doesn't matter." they both hear Kazuma say and immediately stop walking. They force him to stop moving before he turns to look at them as if asking why they stopped.

"Think of our group as a table, tables have plates, cups napkins, and so on."

"What I'm asking is what are you? are you a plate, a fork, a knife a cup?" he asks her before he turns to look at the other woman.

Rachel doesn't know what to say, she just stares at Kazuma while trying to understand his question.

'I'm the main plate because everyone's eyes will be on me.' the other woman answers Kazuma who smiles at her, he turns to look at her, but she doesn't have an answer.

"That's nice, me I'm the napkin because everyone always forgets about the napkin until they need one." Kazuma says to them before he lets go of her hand and pats her on the head.

he doesn't understand why but again her body moves on its own and she holds Kazumas hand in place with both of her hands.

"Can-can I be the glass cup? I mean everyone looks for a glass even when they don't need one." she asks him and he smiles at her, she doesn't understand why but she smiles when she hears his answer.

'Okay, so what now?' the blue-haired woman interrupts their moment.

"When we left the room I had this, it's a list of things that we need to pass the test.' she answers the other woman.

"Greate let's get them before we have to come back." Kazuma says before freeing himself from her head, she can only stare with a feeling of dread as she sees him reach into his pocket before handing the blue-haired woman a gold coin.

"A gold coin for more power." he says to the other woman.

Rachel can't help but touch the coin that he gave her, it felt so worthless now that she compared it to the one that he gave the blue-haired woman.

"Ka-kazuma." she whispers while lowering her eyes and remembering that her place is on the floor while theirs is at the top.

"And this one's for you, a gold coin to escape." she looks at him with shock before she holds onto both the coin and his hand, she lets go of them and throws herself at him.

She hugs Kazuma tightly but when she opens her eyes she sees the other woman's face, but it's the woman's eyes that fill her with fear.

They are filled with envy and hate, she can see the woman holding onto her coin so tightly that her pale hands have started to turn red.

She slowly lets go of Kazuma and begins to walk again.
][][
'Power, power was and is all that matters."

With power she can gain influence, with power she can take everything that was stolen from her.

She doesn't move despite being left behind by a pair of ignorant fools.

A boy who gives away treasures that are overflowing with power and a girl whose worth is so low that even the insects are worth more than her.

Out of curiosity, she throws the coin into the air, she doesn't expect anything to happen and if it does she is well aware that she can handle it.

The world begins to spin as the coin rises, she can feel the energy flowing around her as it moves through the tower, the people the plants, and even itself.

She feels it, no she feels everyone that has been on this floor, it doesn't matter if they are gone now she can feel them as if they were next to her, as if they were her.

Drool, she can feel herself drooling.

Her mind drifts as she feels the world around her and its infinite possibilities.

Power, this is what she needed, what she wanted, and it was overwhelming.

Her heart, blood, lungs she can feel them all moving, her eyes she can feel her eyes as they focus.

The coin lands and the world goes back to how it was, the pair haven't gone far, and judging by their distance it hasn't been more than a few seconds.

She looks at the coin and then at the boy.

He had used this power, he had controlled this power, fought an administrator, and won while she couldn't even hold it.

She looks at the girl and is disgusted that she has to share him with her. The girl isn't anything special, just some blond girl, with light skin and a freckled face.

She turns her attention back to the coin that he gave her, to think that he only gave her one, while the blond b## was given two.

She picks up her coin and walks back to their side, to his side, it won't be long before she takes everything from him and deals with her...she doesn't know what Rachel, yes that was her name.

She doesn't know what Rachel is to her, the only thing that she knows is that the girl is annoying and deserves to disappear, it doesn't matter how it's all the same.

Rachel could die, get lost, or fail to go up, she just has to leave and never return.

She would have to return the coins that Kazuma gave her, even if he refused to take them back, she would make sure that they returned.

It didn't matter if she had never held them before or that she didn't know that they existed until today, they were hers because they always had been.

This was her payment, her reward for touching someone that is beneath her.

She reaches for Kazuma's hand and holds it just like she held that man's hand. She smiles at him and pretends to be lost again.

 

[blueayes]

One step too fast, you leave your back exposed, and one step too slow then they will catch you unprepared. Keep your eyes straight but don't ignore what's happening beside you.

Listen to people's words but pay attention to the small details, every joke has bits of truth but it's up to you to know how to use them.

"So Rachel where are you from?" Kazuma asks Rachel while they walk, the sound of a coin being flung into the air every once in a while is the only thing that she hears despite the people around them.

"It's hard to say."

"I don't have a house but I lived in a mansion full of people.' Rachel answers Kazuma before she throws the coin in the air again.

She can't help but smirk every once in a while the girl would miss the coin and they would be forced to chase after it. It was a pointless task after all if they wanted anything she knew places that sold them.

The coin turns yet when she takes three steps to the right she can't help but frown.

The wall in front of her is just that a wall or at least it would appear that way to someone who didn't have any skill.

They stood before a black market that sold things that a normal person could have never gotten on their own.

She doesn't say anything when Rachel turns to look at them with disappointment, and when the girl tries to pick up the coin she accidentally pushes it into the wall revealing its secret.

She feels herself frown even more until she can't hide her envy and anger anymore.

The ability to know where to go even when you didn't know the location is a skill that many would kill to have, no matter how small the ability is, it's still something that everone wants.

Her eyes move away from Rachel who pulls Kazuma through the wall. "How much gold do you have?" she silently says to herself before Kazuma sticks his head out of the wall and pulls her in.

The world around them falls silent and the eyes of everyone are on them, she looks around and sees that from one corner to the other just above the bombs, swords, needles, ropes, and other items is her family seal.

"I think we should"

"That way!" Rachel loudly says before she pulls Kazuma towards what looks like a shop that hasn't been cleaned in years.

She wanted to kill the girl for forcing her to run past the judging eyes of those who she once stood over and stepped on.

"Customers." she heard an overly friendly voice say as they entered the store.

The inside had barely any light, the place was filthy and covered in dust, and then there were the goods sold here. All of the items were so worn out that they were falling apart or broken.

"Excuse me sir we're looking for this." Rachel says to the store owner, or who she assumes is the owner considering that a place like this couldn't possibly have anyone else working in it.

The man behind the counter is nothing to look at just another brown-haired man with light tan skin, his clothes while clean were just as old and used as the things that he sold.

He raises an eyebrow and warns Rachel and Kazuma about impersonating a Ranker, but stops talking when he sees her.

She can't help but feel a small amount of joy when she sees the fear and respect that she once enjoyed seeing on the faces of the people who served whenever she spoke or entered a room.

"I have everything you need but the woman behind you was a member of the Kuhn family. For your own good and safety you'll leave her behind and not listen to anything she says." he warns the pair.

This was the final drop that broke the cup, she couldn't believe that someone so low, someone so insignificant would dare to say those things in front of her.

It was one thing for a person to gossip behind someone's back, it was a completely different thing for them to say it in front of them.

She gathered her power not out of will but out of instinct, the Shinsu spun around her hand and acted as if it was a wild beast, its mouth forming and unforming as it tried to break and recreate the form that she never gave it.

She threw her attack at the man but then there was nothing "Ping" the sound of a coin spinning between Kazuma and the man landed on the ground.

"A coin to drain away power." she hears Kazuma say before he picks up the coin and turns back to the man.

'So you said that you have what we need, how much?" he asks the store owner who is still looking at her with fear, but when he realizes that he is still alive he answers Kazuma.

"Everything I have is either damaged or barely usable, so one gold for everything. You want three of everything right?" the man says to them but only Rachel answers with a yes.

"Three pockets, three inventories, and three keycards." The store owner says to them.

'Greate so how much is that in gold?" Kazuma asks the man.

"That's too much." the store owner says to Kazuma who takes out a fist full of gold and puts it on the counter.

"Too bad because that's all I got. So how about this if one gold is too much you take one coin and if we ever need anything we will come to you."

The pair stare at each other before they shake hands.

][][]
Baam couldn't move he could only stare at Rachel as she walked away, it hurt seeing how she smiled at that man her gold eyes looked at him with wonder, but it was her smile that hurt him the most.

She was smiling at him.......she used to smile at him like that.

The world around him felt a lot darker now, despite being in a place filled with light and full of people, he felt as if he was back in the cave alone.

He didn't say anything even as she walked away he lifted his hand just as he did back then when he stacked the rocks on top of one another the hole in his chest, the same hole that she had felt seemed to open again and become even deeper than before.

"Rachel," he said before she vanished, and before he knew it he was chasing after her again.

It was just like back then, back when he was building his tower of rocks, when she had broken through the ceiling and rache out to him, or back then when she was running towards the entrance of the tower.

He nearly reached her but he stopped running when he saw her throw herself at that man and hug him in a way that she never hugged him, again he said her name and he noticed the gold light that came off the coins that she lent in her hands.

He wanted to force them apart, to take the coins away from her and throw them at that man's feet.

He wanted to yell and say that if she wanted gold he would do everything to get as much as she wanted, he just wanted to tell her that he wanted her to stay.

It was just like when they entered the tower, she was just in front of him but she was getting further and further away and now the doors were open for her and she was gone again.

'Kazuma.' he says to himself as his anger and jealousy grows.

 

[blueayes]

Kazuma couldn't help but stare at the gold coin in his hand, he had used this draintouch skill to drain whatever attack the woman next to him had used but it somehow made the coin feel heavyer.

He wasn't sure but it felt as if whatever power was in the air had been dragged into the coin along with the mana.

he closed his eyes and, but felt nothing.

Mana is needed for magic to work it's the most basic thing, it doesn't matter if mana doesn't exist because anything can be turned into it, blood, dirt even the air itself.

It's why basic skills like Create Water, Tinder, and Create Earth can make things like fire, water, and rocks suddenly exist, but his senses didn't detect any mana so what did he absorb?

He looks to his left, to his right back up and down, he has no reason to look forward because he is already doing that.

He stops walking and calls to Aqua, Eris, and every other goddess that he has met before and even made friends with, he can't help but smile when he feels them turn to look at him.

He can feel how worried they are but they feel so far away, he calls out to Vanir and the other two rulers of hell, their dark and anything present is everywhere but they are so far away that he can barely sense them.

He tries his last option and calls to Wiz hoping that whatever brought him here was one of her items, and if it was then she would know how to get him back home.

"Kazuma." a pair of worried voices force him back to reality, he opens his eyes and sees his new party.

They were the complete opposite of the people that he once knew, where Darkness was strong and confident, Rachel didn't have any fighting abilities that he had seen, and if she did have any she hadn't used them.

It didn't take a generous that she was running from something and that thing was probably the boy who tried to force her to go back with him.

Then there was the other one, she was a mystery that was answering itself, and despite the many questions that he had he did know one thing.

The woman is dangerous, she has Aqua's temper and beauty but none of her kindness. Perhaps she does but what she experienced before meeting him changed her to the point that she wants to kill anyone that criticizes her.

"Sorry I had to check something" he says to them before they start to walk again.

He can feel something moving through the tower, its eyes are on him and Rachel but he can feel it looking at someone else. It moves through the mana that doesn't exist as if it were a part of it, or perhaps it was made of it.

He decides to ignore it, it isn't a threat, if it was his skills would have warned him about it.

He wonders why he was unable to sense it before, but again he dismisses the thought. He needs to concentrate on the things that he can do and ignore the things that he can't do.

"So I've been wondering what's your name?" he says to the blue-haired woman who looks at him.

"My old name is Khun Angel Agnis, but I'm no longer a part of the Khun family, and I can't use my father's name anymore so Angel Agnis." she answers him.

Kazuma doesn't say anything but pays close attention to the way that she speaks and even the step that she didn't take when he asks her the question.

"She's starting to get used to her situation." he thinks to himself, now comes the hard part, he has to ask about the power that everyone here uses.

"So what's the thing that everyone uses to do things' he asks her before pointing at a blue box that floating over a girl who is on top of a floating pillow.

She stops walking and he sees the look of confusion and disbelief that she is giving him.

"How do you not know about Shinsu, you've been using it all of this time?" she says to him, her disbelief and shock that he even asked her that is clear in her voice.

"Well because I'm not from the tower, I woke up in here while that white shark, or maybe he was a rabbit."

"That thing that I had to fight on the first floor," he stops talking and confesses that he isn't from the tower, he feels Rachel's hand on his before she tells Angel that she isn't from the tower either.

The silence that followed could be heard by everyone as those close to them immediately tried to separate themselves from them and Angel let out a quiet scream.

"I can't believe it, not one but two Irregulars.' she says to herself before using her hands to cover her face.

"What do I do, people have seen me with you." Kazuma heard Angel say to herself the panic that she was feeling was contagious and he nearly didn't try to calm her down.

"Relax whatever happens we'll protect you. I mean I'm not the strongest guy in the world, but I'm not the weakest either." he says to her.

The moment that she looks up at him, he sees the madness that lurks just behind her eyes, one that is quickly hidden away when she listens to his words.

"I'm your partner, Rachel and I are your partners. the three of us, if we go up then we will get stronger and they won't be able to come after us so easily.' Angel says to him, but her words sound as if she is talking to herself instead of him.

"Rachel I need to speak to you alone." she says to Rachel before grabbing the girl's arm and pulling her towards the windows.

He doesn't follow them because he doesn't have to, he just needs to focus and he is able to read Angel's lips.

The skill isn't necessarily right now but there have been times when the things he hears and what a person says are completely different.

Luckily for him, this isn't one of those times so he is still able to hear what the two say to each other.

"In a Harrem only the main wife is the true wife."

"But I'm not"

"You know that I know that but everyone else doesn't know that, but it's up to us to make sure that the others know that they are beneath us."

He couldn't help but feel a headache coming, but his luck made itself known when a blue arrow appeared in the middle of the hallway.

'It's time" he says to himself, the sound of the girls running to his side reaches him and they head back to that room where their journey will truly begin.

 

[blueayes]

"Ting ting ting" the sound of a coin being flipped in the air before it was followed by two others.

The sound seemed hollow yet at the same time it seemed so heavy, for what was the price of their destination when compared to simple gold?

They reached the room that they were supposed to return to and found everyone waiting for them.

The instructor looked at them with interest in his eyes, no one said anything despite how they stared at them, it was as if a spell had fallen over everyone, but when the instructor clapped his hands the spell was broken and everyone turned to look at him.

"There will be two separate tests." the man said with an overly joyful voice.

"You" he points at Angel. "You weren't chosen but you found your way around the rules and then there's the pair next to you."

"You know don't you." The man's smile is quickly replaced by a mask that hides his emotions, but that too vanishes, and his happy expression returns.

"Murals of what was and was to come are now broken, the story has changed, and yet it hasn't."

Kazuma couldn't help but react to the man's words, it was as if he knew something that Kazmaa was completely unaware of.

"So what's the test, I mean we have a right to know don't we?" he asks the instructor as he steps forward and places himself between the man and Angel.

"The blond man opens his arms wide and points at the weapons and floating items that the group in front of him has.

"Your test is to earn the right to have a role. Normally one of these objects would be given to you after the elimination round but, you made things complicated."

The man taps a finger on his chin and points at them. "How about this one of you gets an item of my choosing while the rest of you don't." Rachel, he, and Angel answer causing the instructor to laugh.

"Here it can divide, float, and do all sorts of things, but it's up to you to learn how to use them.' he says to Rachel before throwing her a red cub that begins to glow, before it floats in front of her.

"So what do we have to do?" he asks the instructor.

"Survive, I mean they had to and she hasn't done that yet." the instructor answers him before a hole opens underneath them and they fall inside.

"Now let's watch how they handle things before your test begins." he hears the instructor say before everything completely goes dark.

The first thing that he noticed was the mist that covered the floor beneath him, he could hear Rachel and Angel moaning as they stood up.

His enemy detection skill was screaming every corner had something or someone waiting to kill him and his team and not even the shadows or the mist were safe.

He didn't know why none of the monsters or people had attacked them yet but he was thankful for the chance to catch his breath.

"Kazu." Rachel began to say, but she never got to finish saying what she wanted because his hand moved on its own and threw a gold coin toward her and then toward one of the spots where there weren't any enemies at the moment.

For Racheel and perhaps Angel none of this had happened and they were completely unaware that he had done it, they just knew that one moment they were standing in one spot but then they weren't.

His skill evade, escape and enemy detection skills had once again proven why he depended on them so much.

He quickly covered both girls' mouths and peeked out of the shadows, he could feel himself starting to shake, as three giant worms were now fighting each other.

"They probably think that one of them ate us." he thinks to himself before his body moves on his own and he is forced to pull the girls onto the ground.

they had barely avoided the giant bat that flew just above their heads.

Again he was reminded that whatever power fulled this world it acted different from the one that he was used to.

"There are monsters everywhere." he whispers to the girls who stare at him.

"He said that we need to survive, so maybe there's a time limit or"

"He plans to kill us>" Angel answers him loudly as she gives away their position.

The air around them begins to fill with electricity and Kazuma can see the area around Angel begin to glow blue.

Angel turns to look at him and with a voice filled with malice and bloodlust, she says. "I don't run and I don't hide."

A blast of cold wind blows the mist away and Kazuma can't help but gasp when he sees the giant bat fall from the sky dead.

Angel had somehow managed to cut it in half despite the creature not being anywhere near her.

"Well I guess sneak attacks are out," he says to Rachel before he throws a coin in the air and begins to drain the energy from it.

There's no point in hiding now, Anngel is hell-bent on fighting her way out, he knows that because the woman has just cut threw the giant worms from earlier.

He quietly signals to Rachel to move closer to him before he starts to create a wall of ice behind them, there's still a chance that more monsters will show up and he would rather have them fight each other instead of attacking him from behind.

"Hey, that guy gave you the cube for a reason. Try to figure out how to use it." he reminds Rachel about the Lighthouse that she had been given earlier.

"Lightning Skill bind!" he screams, and the walls around him charge with yellow lightning that flies towards a man who is gathering something that looks like water around his hands.

The man manages to fire his attack, and Kazuma smirks when the lightning comes in contact with it forcing whatever spell or skill to stop working.

He feels something pull on his shirt and when he looks down he sees Rachel holding on to him. The girl is scared and he hates himself for making her go through something like this.

"Do you still have those coins I gave you?" he asks her and she nods at him.

"Goodtehy do a lot more than what I showed you, those coins may seem weak but their only limit is what you make it." he says to her hoping that he can give her some much-needed confidence.

He's forced to grab and throw Rachel away before using his Bind Skill to force a creature that's made out of string to tie its tentacles or whatever they are around itself.

The creature shrieks and screeches, but it only exposes itself more, he doesn't bother waiting and runs to Rachel's side before he grabs her hand and runs to where the sounds of battle sem loudest.

He doesn't bother turning back when he hears the creature's shrieks and cries become ones filled with panic and then pain.

When he doesn't see any danger he lets go of Rachel's hand and creates another wall of ice, but when he turns around he sees a terrified Rachel who slowly points at something.

He looks up and sees Angel covered in blood, her once pale skin now drips with the various colors of the blood of creatures, but when he looks down he sees that there are people lying beneath her.

He ignores the empty stares of the men and women and calls to her, but he doesn't expect her to listen but she does.

He doesn't say anything else when she looks at him blinks twice and uses the clothes of one of the people she killed to clean her hands.