Shrine Shenanigans

Softly caressing the girl's hair we suddenly hear a call from the kitchen.

"Dinner's ready!" I look over my shoulder causing my body to twist, but Utena refuses to let go of me. She's kind of cute like this to be honest. Sigh, my past life must have been a real freak if he liked clingy and scary girls. Past life, why'd you have to do this to me?

"Utena, we should go eat." She takes a tiny step back and nods with shyness visible on her features. Honestly I'd rather hide the fact that we're going on a date from her mother in case it doesn't work out. I really like Hiiragi-san and I don't want her to give false hope for our relationship.

Moving towards the kitchen Utena follows me with a strange smile on her face as she begins talking about magical girls once again.

"Did you see the new magical girl at school?" That catches a raised eyebrow from me. I was literally there and didn't see one? Unless she's referring to the demon lady? No- Utena has always been opposed to those villains, she wouldn't call a villain a magical girl. Normally I'd just give a casual nod but she actually has me invested, maybe she saw something important and that's what has shaken her up?

If something scared her I might have to handle them. Which will be much easier with my new powers.

"I only saw Tres Magia and that new villain. There was another magical girl?" She shudders lightly at my words, but gives a nod. A faint blush on her face as her teeth grit ever so slightly.

"I-I think that new villain might have been a magical girl!" At that we enter the kitchen, curry in a pot with white rice in another. A large bottle of tea from my mother's store is inside of a jug off to the side. I knew I was a genius for gifting Hiiragi-san some tea!

"Utena-chan, you seem to be feeling better." She gives a light smile at our pair, but Utena's reaction to my words is unfathomably strange. I give Hiiragi-san a greeting, but Utena is staring right at me with determination in her eyes. Why is she so desperate to convince me that demon girl is a magical girl- could it be?

Do Utena-chan and I . . . share the same taste in women? Perhaps this date will go better than I thought, maybe my past life is good for something after all. I give Utena my usual stoic nod and she relaxes for a moment before her mother berates her for ignoring her presence.

"Utena-chan. What did I say about magical girls at the dinner table?" Utena freezes and slowly glances off to the side as a blush creeps onto her face. She rapidly shifts the topic instead.

"T-thank you for the meal Kaa-san!" Her mother lets out a small sight but fills our plates nonetheless.

"Thank you for the meal Okaa-san." I accept the plate and begin to dig in after filling up my cup with tea.

"So how was school today for you two?"

"A new villain attacked Utena's school, but Tres Magia saved the day before anyone got hurt." As much as I'd love to talk about how cool I was, I think I might die of cringe. I'll just act like I don't really know what happened.

Utena's mom has her eyes widen slightly as she looks at Utena in concern. The small girl was blushing in embarrassment as a response.

"I-I think the new villain was just misunderstood!" Alright, Utena likes bad girls. Or is she also into men? She agreed to go on a date with me so I'm going to assume yes. Honestly for a long while I assumed she was lesbian because of her obsession with Tres Magia, but as I spent more time with the girl I could have sworn she was lightly crushing on me. I'd had some doubts but our recent interactions only confirmed it.

Thinking back I can sort of see how from the right angle that demon girl could be seen as some form of lewd magical girl.

Or maybe a corrupt magical girl? I blush faintly at the idea, past life why have you cursed me with these feelings! Softly pressing a hand on Utena's shoulder I give the girl a small pat as if to console her. We both share the same burden after all.

Hah, imagine trying to ask that magical girl out on a date? She'd probably just kill me on the spot. Well she'd fail because my life is more important than my 'secret identity' but the point still stands.

Unless that girl is secretly the final boss, and is 'holding back her true power' or something equally inane.

Either way I wouldn't cheat on Utena, even if we aren't officially dating. Though with that look in her eyes I wouldn't be surprised if given the chance she'd date all of Tres Magia at once alongside the new 'Corrupt Magical Girl'.

I let out a small snort at the thought which seems to only drive Utena deeper into her blush.

"A-aki, you believe me- Right?"

"If Utena-chan thinks the new villain was misunderstood then it must be true." Her mother only sighs in response.

"You spoil her far too much Aki." Utena however preens at my praise and rubs her shoulder into my hand. Maybe I do spoil her too much. I washed down another bite of the curry with the green tea in my cup. The stronger tastes flowing away, and giving a small reset to my palette allowing me to continue enjoying the curry to the fullest.

Tea isn't just good on its own, it even makes other foods better!

"My day at school was fairly boring." Utena pouts lightly when she looks at me.

"Aki, your school days are always boring." Must resist- I give in to the chunni temptation.

"When you possess the skills I do, that which would challenge anyone else becomes a mere chore." Utena gives a deadpan stare as I hold a hand over my face, only allowing my right eye (demon eye) to be revealed to the mortals of the table.

Hiiragi-san puts a hand over her mouth as she lightly laughs at our antics. No! You're supposed to think I'm cool!

"The two of you are so cute together." My face pales lightly and for a second I hear the death bells toll my name before I lower my head.

"Sorry, I don't know what came over me." I know exactly what came over me. I let out a soft sigh as I contemplated dealing with the chunni within. I had developed it throughout my entire life to avoid boredom, and couldn't blame my past life on something like this.

This was a self afflicted curse, and now that it's finally time to remove it I find myself unable to relieve myself of its company. Maybe I should have gotten a better coping mechanism. Well it's too late now, all I can do is handle it the best I can. Fulfilling my dark urges under the guise of another. Or through those portals . . . that's not a bad idea actually.

I still plan on fighting that new villain again though. Even if both Utena and I think she's hot. I also am going to have to fight Tres Magia again I'm sure, I could try and explain things to remove the bad blood between us after the previous misunderstanding but that would not be dark and mysterious at all!

Also getting rewards for defeating them does play a role. If I were to get a reward for killing them, I'd refuse without hesitation, and probably throw this shitty game in the trash as well. However they seem to have a healer on standby, so defeating them for more shards isn't my worst idea.

Defeating the villain always comes first. I'm not putting the world at risk for a few stat ups.

"It's so sweet of you to check up on Utena-chan, she couldn't have asked for a more reliable friend." She gives me that sickeningly sweet smile. The smile that is constantly trying to push me to date her daughter. That scary smile is my biggest reason for not telling her I'm dating Utena.

"Y-yep Hiiragi-san." Instead of focusing on the woman, I just shove food into my face instead. Only to find porcelain at the end of my fork. Pushing my chair back I give a nervous smile to Utena.

"It's getting late, I'll meet you tomorrow after school Utena." She blushes at the words.

"Thank you for the meal!" After that I practically sprint out the door. I'm not getting sat down with Hiiragi-san for another not so subtle 'Why you should date my daughter' speech. Honestly her speeches may have contributed to me asking Utena if she wanted to date me in the first place.

But if she ever finds out I'm actually going on a date with her daughter . . . I think I'll never hear the end of her gushing over the two of us.

Running home I spot the shrine and my steps slow down. Should I tackle this now or should I just head home? I should do this now, the darkness of the world is ever present after all. With a nod and narrowed eyes I walk towards the portal.

As I pass through the large torii gate a screen appears.

[Shrine of the Faceless Dragon]

[This shrine once belonged to the Faceless Dragon, a powerful evil spirit. Help cleanse the world of its Malice.]

[Stage One Unlocked]

[Worshipers]

Another multi stage, and another non descript title. Seriously, how could 'zombies' describe what happened last time? It fits vaguely, but gave no hint of what the Red Moon Army was. At least this time I have a name going in, but isn't this a fox shrine? Or at least dedicated to a major goddess . . . not a faceless dragon.

My eyes glance over the hanging fox masks before turning back to the portal.

Fuck it, only one way to get to the bottom of this. This mystery shall not allude to my darkness piercing gaze for long . . . With a faint blush I enter the portal.

[Clear Worshipper 0/49]

[Clear the Faceless Heir 0/1]

[Secret: ???]

[Secret: ???]

Forty nine worshippers? Another two secret objectives as well . . .

Looking over the area I activate Stealth instantly. The shrines, tourist traps and other goods are gone. The area is empty of life and the sky is dark. The sounds of all life are missing from the area. A single familiar wooden building still standing tall.

What? Looking around the area I spot nothing, instead the only thing making itself obvious is the temple building up ahead. Guess I'm going in there. Checking the outside of the temple it seems to only have one entrance, the main gate which is closed.

With a small huff of annoyance I crack the thing open. The sliding of wood makes quite the nasty noise and instantly Stealth blares at me, a massive drain on my energy causing me to rapidly move out of the doors line of sight.

What the fuck? My tank almost hit half instantly! Sweat rolls down my face and the brief feeling of exhaustion washes over me as heavy breaths exit my mouth. I waited a moment to collect myself and then slowly peeking around the corner. To my great relief I don't start rapidly losing energy.

Looking inside the large open room is a large group of people prostrating themselves in different Japanese peasant clothing. A row of twelve baskets lining the front of the room with cushions within.

Upon an elevated stage is a young boy dressed in a black kimono and bearing two small dragon horns upon his head. The head which bears only a mouth.

Besides the boy is a mountain of a man with a huge curved blade over his back, clad in thick plates of armor. Their form jagged and color a dull grey.

I don't immediately enter the room as I observe the pair upon the stage. The young boy speaks in a language I don't understand and the 'knight' nods his head before speaking. The room seems to shudder with a fervor I hadn't expected. Slowly and silently one worshipper the front rises from the ground, the old woman's head is bowed.

She slowly paces, each footstep lighter than a feather as she makes her way to what I can only assume to be the faceless heir. Then she stops. Throughout this entire action not a single sound was made in this room besides the boy's voice.

Then the knight's blade falls slowly and the woman's head gently falls into a basket, the impact making no noise. Is this some sort of ritual sacrifice!? Also I seem to have noticed a pattern . . . thank you intelligence boost.

From what I gather of 'intelligence' it's more numbers and connecting informational concepts . . . because otherwise I'd be way better at reading people! Anyways, I've noticed something strange about this whole place.

It's eerily quiet. I've been standing here and Stealth hasn't sped up its decay as is normal when something spots me. Even those enraged zombies increased the speed of my Stealth drain a little bit.

But here? They only noticed the sound of the door didn't they? With a smirk I'm quite certain I've figured it out, but I decide to test my theory. Slinking away I grab a rock from the nearby land and slowly make my way inside. When I return I notice two more heads have fallen into individual baskets, with now three of the twelve baskets being full.

Time to use the oldest trick in the book, throw a rock and have someone investigate it!

Softly tossing the rock to a corner of the room the knight stands up and turns his head at the thing. Then he does something I didn't expect. He disappears without a sound and appears next to the rock.

Holy shit he's fast. Maybe coming here was a bad idea. But I can't leave until I complete an objective. I quickly check to see if I can leave to no avail. Didn't hurt to try though.

[Clear Worshipper 0/49]

[Clear the Faceless Heir 0/1]

[Secret: ???]

[Secret: ???]

So one of those secret objectives is probably something to do with the knight guy. I don't think I can take him in a one on one fight so it's best I actually use my rogue abilities to do some assassinations.

How am I going to get through that armor though? All of his vitals are covered and that sword- wait what's he doing? The knight picks the rock of off the ground before turning to the nearest prostrating figure with a glare, the individual shudders under the knight's gaze before there's a brief pause. The knight disappears and appears next to them.

The figure is picked up and goes limp in the man's grasp, not daring to make even the slightest noise. There's a tense few seconds where nothing happens, and then the individual is lightly set down upon the wooden floor. The knight starts repeating the process and I decide it's time to take advantage of this situation.

I only need to clear one goal to escape, the ritual has been halted due to my actions causing a disturbance. Which leaves the faceless kid all alone. The child is a few years younger than me. Mostly likely twelve to fourteen in age, my hand twitches lightly against nothing as I realize I'm going to kill a child in cold blood because my Game told me to.

I really hope these dimension scenarios aren't real. Not because I don't want to kill a child, even though that is part of it. But because that would imply this whole situation is occurring, or has occurred somewhere.

I think of how to deal with the kid, and don't think throwing an arrow would work. I'm not that accurate with them and the knight might just flash step or whatever he's doing and deflect it. Then I'm fucked. Additionally, summoning the damn thing might make some noise, so that plan is out.

I have to take this slow, like a real assassin.

Then I move, slowly and carefully until I make my way onto the stage. The area reeks of blood and death. Some of the white pillows in the baskets now stained a sickly crimson. The child is in a seiza position and is facing straight ahead with a light frown on his face. I continue to approach and I feel my heartbeat accelerate. One wrong move and I could get cleaved in half.

My heart slams in my ears as I near and for a moment I see the ear of the blind kid twitch. What? I didn't make a sound? My heart practically stops and the child turns his head in confusion as I bring a hand to my chest. Stealth blaring at me for a moment as the child returns to staring at the mass of people gathered.

No. There's no fucking way he heard my heartbeat? My breath is silent, but my heartbeat is not. I can't get close to him like this. I need a better plan. So I stand there. Stealth slowly drains away as I try to formulate a plan. Then I hear something. I hear a small gasp, shortly followed by the sound of a head falling to the ground.

Turning to the ritual baskets my eyes glaze over them, the pillows would have muted the sound. So then what could have- the knight pulls back his sword and a dead body falls to the ground. It seems they've found the 'culprit' of the rock incident. The knight slowly pulls away from the body and I sense his gaze shifting towards the heir.

Time seems to slow down as my heart begins to slam in my chest again. Stealth is running out. I'm about to be discovered. The knight is about to be right in front of me. I need to kill this child in order to live, and I need to do it now. I feel another part of me take hold and I allow it to revel in its own feelings.

This child is a monster to allow all of this to happen. This pointless slaughter and sacrifice. The child is the heir to an evil spirit and is followed around by a teleporting knight.

I've infantilized this little bastard. Even if he's so young he can still be a terrible person. My mind flashes back to that evil magical girl as my hand tightens in a fist. Maybe that girl is misunderstood like Utena said, but she's hurting people and needs to be stopped. Just like this little nightmare child.

Then I move. Pulling a part of my Stealth inwards, I wrap it around my heart in a desperate attempt to muddle the sound as I move towards the Faceless Heir. A dark resolve burning in me as I bring my fist down on the top of his head prepared to crush his skull.

The child lets out a single word. Perhaps the name of his defender, or a command for them to follow.

Then my instincts scream at me to Dodge. I throw myself forward into the child and tumble off the stage as a massive sword cleaves where my head had just been. The eyes of the knight now glowing with a red hue in his helmet. The movement of the blade is much slower than if originally anticipated, confirming to me that the knight must be teleporting and now moving at extreme speeds.

Stealth breaks like a veil as I let out a gasp, my body suddenly feeling like it's been dunked in tar.

The heir lets out a small scream, all forms of decorum gone from him as he tries to scramble away. Several worshippers rise and run at the two of us but I don't give them, or more importantly the knight. The chance to do anything.

I summon the quiver, hoping it appears somewhere convenient as I panic. It appears in the air and I see an arrow begin to form. Perhaps it was at my will, or perhaps luck was simply on my side, because while the arrow was forming it began its formation at the pointed end.

I allow the quiver to fall to the ground as I power through the feeling of exhaustion and Dodge one more time, the slash missing and cutting through several of the worshippers. My flowing movement with the arrowhead sliced through the boy's neck. Both a Sneak Attack and hopefully being enhanced by my bonus damage to humans.

But he does not die. Turning back the boy is choking on his own blood, he'll die soon. But not fast enough. I throw myself into the crowd and try to blend in among the large group. The sounds of butchery resound out as I pull upon Stealth as hard as I can. All the while internally screaming get out like a command that would set me free.

Then I see the sword flying towards me, a smirk on my face as I see something quite peculiar behind the knightly figure. I see the corpse of the little fuck behind us. Before I can scream get out in my mind, the chunni takes over at the worst possible time.

[Clear the Faceless Heir 1/1. Primary Objective Succeeded. You may Exit at your Leisure.]

[Ritual has been halted. Secret Objective Completed]

"You've failed to protect your disgusting master. You're a disgrace to what you once were." The figure shudders, its eyes widening slightly as it turns around at the dead body of its lord.

[Clear Worshipper 0/49]

[Clear the Faceless Heir 1/1]

[Secret: Halt the Ritual]

[Secret: ???]

The light behind his eyes fades slightly and from the ground an invisible array appears. Shortly after appearing it crumbles. The knight turns at me and charges. Not teleports, but instead barrels towards me like a truck.

Hah. The knight is clearly weakened, but I'm not stupid enough to think I can win in my current state. I'll remember this for next time.

Then I vanish from the temple.

The exhaustion blazing through my entire physique, yet a massive smile on my face as I fall against the shrine wall covered in sweat. My body moves into a sitting position as I move my back down the wall.

Despite everything that happened in there, I feel good. This feeling of grasping my fate in my own two hands is a kind of high you can't get anywhere else.

[Status]

Name: Akihiko Inoue

Class: Rogue 2 -> 3

STR: 14

DEX: 19

CON: 14

INT: 16

WIS: 10

CHR: 12

Skills:

• Stealth II

• Sneak Attack I

• Dodge I

Equipment:

• Quiver of Red Moon

Claims:

• + Damage against Humans

[For defeating the Faceless Heir. Gain a compatible Skill. Gain a Skill Point. Gain associated equipment.]

[For completing Secret Objective (Halt the Ritual) gain a Skill Point.]

[Performance Reward: None]

[Choose Dash or Distract]

[Choose to upgrade Stealth 0/2, Sneak Attack, or Dodge.]

[Choose Faceless Mask or Darkblood Robes]

Dash or Distract. I think I'm piecing together how this whole thing works. I ran around quite a lot, and used distractions so those are the available skills to pick from. It also seems like I'll need two skill points to upgrade Stealth.

Luckily I'd just so happened to have two. Though I don't think I'd be using them both on Stealth today.

I select Dash, but decide to save my skill points for later after I've tested Dash out.

Anyways I get to pick a piece of equipment. The Faceless Mask or Darkblood Robes? You'd think I'd go with the edgily named Darkblood Robes, but robes are only chunni if you're a wizard. I'm not going to go around stabbing my enemies in what amounts to a bathrobe.

With a light sigh I pick the Faceless Mask, it has the title of the heir in the name so it's probably pretty good anyways. Though that guy didn't seem to be wearing a mask at all . . .

[Faceless Mask]

Each of the three Faceless Heirs were given a magical mask to allow them to hide among the peasantry. While wearing this Mask any defining facial features shall be unnoticeable and ignored by the viewer. The Faceless heirs were famed for using slow but powerful mental magic while disguised, a fact only later revealed after their downfall.

That's quite good, but not really for these dungeons. It will be a great help against hiding my identity around those Magical Girls and whatever else this world has going on without having to constantly be using Stealth.

Also looks like assassinating the evil little fucker was a good idea. Mind control is a scary as shit power, one I don't intend to ever be on the receiving end of. Also it's nice that someone ended up dealing with the Faceless, good on them.

After a few minutes of resting I hear footsteps approaching me, but I don't move my eyes away from my status as I review it.

[Status]

Name: Akihiko Inoue

Class: Rogue 3

STR: 14

DEX: 19

CON: 14

INT: 16

WIS: 10

CHR: 12

Skills:

• Stealth II

• Sneak Attack I

• Dodge I

Equipment:

• Quiver of Red Moon

• Faceless Mask

Claims:

• + Damage against Humans

"Are you alright?" Turning my eyes up from the screen I spot a girl about my age in some kind of ceremonial robe. I give a pause as my eyes glaze over her. The girl is just staring down with concern, causing me to let out an awkward chuckle.

Spoiler: Just a Random Shrine Maiden

I must have been sitting here looking like I've just ran a marathon. Pushing myself off the ground I give an apology.

"Sorry! I've just been running around all day and needed some rest." Looking up at the sky the sun seems to be setting. I should get home soon.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Staring down the blue haired girl I can only shake my head lightly. If I've learned anything since coming to this world, it's best not to get involved with people who have weird hair colors.

"No thank you, I'll be heading home now." She gives a polite goodbye which I return, but I'm not getting involved with her if I can help it.

There was this one boy with green hair and this one girl with purple hair back before I met Utena. Those two somehow started the most annoying Rom-Com 'Will they, won't they' situation before reaching age 12. I watched them for a bit as the genetic anomaly hair color had me completely confused, but the 'antics' became brain rotting and at a certain point I just stopped caring before I drove myself insane.

The momentary distraction pulling me away from my loading bar, but I'd started being chunni shortly after as a fun pass time when I couldn't do anything else.

Truly the darkness of this world can only be eclipsed by one such as I . . . Letting out a light snort I continue down the short walk home.

Knocking on the front door my mother opens it and I greet her with a hug.

"How'd the date go?" I give a slight shake of my head as I trudge to the bathroom as I take a swig of the Black Tea on the counter. Its strong taste helping me stave off my desire to throw myself in my bed just long enough to take a shower.

"I'm going on the date tomorrow, but for now I think I'm about to pass out, so goodnight Okaasan. I love you." She lets out a light sigh from the otherside of the restroom door before mirroring my words and going down the hallway.

After my shower I throw myself into bed and go out like a light.

You have rested for 8 Hours. You have healed.

Slowly pushing my back against the wall I let out a soft sight as I peer out the window. Another day of waiting it would seem. At least this wait doesn't have a bar that's constantly blaring in my face and telling me just how much longer I've got.

After a short meal my mother gives me even more money for my date, this better not be coming out of her savings . . . maybe I should pick up some part time work? I don't think the Game is providing me any material wealth outside of magic items so that isn't a bad idea.

Walking my way to school with a piece of toast in my mouth, and a canteen of tea in my hand I give Utena a casual wave. She speedwalks but doesn't run like she normally does. Maybe she's feeling awkward about the whole date thing?

That's Utena for you. Social awkwardness ramped up to the max.

AN: Another dungeon this chapter, also my first random story up to three chapters. Honestly I just really like writing Aki. He's chunni as fuck and quite enjoyable with all of his odd quirks. Next chapter we are going to have to deal with some evil puppets and something far more dangerous . . . a date!

As always please leave some nice comments and grammatical corrections as they help push me forward. Hope to see you all next time!

Thanks for reading!