The Daeva

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'After eating a simple but heartful dinner with the kids and Maria, Silver, together with Loiju escorted Syr out of Daedalus Street before parting ways, each going to their corner of the city.'

'Syr went back to her home, whenever that was, to enjoy the remainder of her vacation while Loiju did the same.'

'From his own words, he had some things left to be done by tomorrow so he could go back to work.'

'Silver was glad he would be able to see his friend again at work, though a bit sad for him too.'

'He had finally become rich, but he could not enjoy the life of one yet…'

'To enjoy life, he had to first understand what life was for him.'

'Perhaps it was a partner, or adventuring, whatever it was he had yet to find it.'

'Although from his tone, Silver noticed that he may have the intent to go back and visit his parents, something he was sure would be beneficial to him, especially considering how positive his brother.'

'No matter what feelings they had for each other in the past, after 2 decades without seeing each other, everything was already well under the rug.'

'At most he would be beaten up by them for a while, but after that...'

'There is no one better to guide him than his parents right now.'

"If he can get over that pride of his..." Silver mumbled as he stopped walking

Loiju promised to go back with a wife, but he has none, if he goes back like this then it would be a humiliation...

I wouldn't put it like that, I'm sure they would laugh a little, but if he were to explain what he did, they wouldn't mind.

At least, that is how I think parents should behave, I have no idea what kind of Elves they are...

/Turns…/

'As for what he did… Silver turned around.'

'He had yet to figure out the purpose of the Aeshma Familia, and because he didn't want to tension the atmosphere while they were still together, Silver prioritized enjoying his remaining time with everyone rather than seeking answers.'

'Now that everyone had parted ways, this was a great opportunity to seek them out.'

'The Aeshma Familia's home wasn't in Daedalus Street, but he decided to start his investigations there, considering they do not exactly operate in the dark, if there were any members of their Familia in there, he would be able to find them pretty easily just by asking some questions here and there.'

'Once he was done with this, he planned to go to Babel.'

'At this time, Hestia would be working at Hephaestus' shops, so he wanted to visit her and give her a small surprise.'

'As for what he would do after that… He wasn't sure.'

'He could go back and continue training with others, rush a meeting with Fels, or just focus on recovering his sight.'

'A few more days was everything he needed to retire his bandana and dark glasses.'

'After that would be his arms, and the sooner he did so, the sooner he could push for a higher record in the Dungeon.'

'Though that would have to be left for later.'

…

/SLAM!/

"Arg!"

/Clap clap…/

'Inside a dark alley somewhere in Daedalus street, 4 men could be seen fighting each other.'

'Though it would be rather extreme to call this fight... It was more of a one-side beatdown.'

/SMACK!/

"Good, make sure he doesn't wake up." Silver commanded as he pointed at the adventurer on the ground

"Understood." The other adventurer said, his eyes flashing white as he raised his right hand to grasp his 'companion's' neck

"GHA! W-What are y-you doing Riro?!" The man on the ground exclaimed in pain as his neck was violently grasped

'Next to him on the ground, another man stood, unconscious due to a heavy concussion, slowly bleeding out from his broken nose.'

"Sir." Riro spoke in a simple tone as he pulled his 'friend' to Silver

"ARG! What have you done to him?!" The man spoke as he grasped at his neck, trying his best to breathe but having difficulty doing so

"..."

'Silver did not reply, merely putting his hand over his face.'

"N-n..."

/Flash!/

'When the white light receded, the man's eyes turned absent as his gaze unfocused.'

"Let go of him before he loses consciousness."

"Understood."

/Flop!/

'The man fell to the ground, he breathed heavily but he did not complain even as his neck grew purple due to the force applied to it just now.'

'He merely rose and stood next to the other man, shoulder to shoulder as he awaited for commands.'

"..."

It worked better than I thought.

Creating ice spikes, lightning, burning, or the usual isn't the only way to defeat my opponents.

There are many things I can do, though most of the time, I lack the proper means to deal damage.

However, due to the existence of Magic resistance, I can't use this sort of thing on the usual opponents I face.

I'm always fighting above my Level, and because of this, most intricate Plasmids can't really be used.

Control, enrage, to mess with someone's mind and body… It's just resisted.

My Plasmids have always been behind in terms of offense capabilities, but currently, with my high magic Stat and my Development Ability that enhances them, I can aim higher than my Level.

I don't know if I'm strong enough to blast a Level 4 adventurer's head from the inside out yet, but I should be able to mess with his ability to properly make judgments.

Don't misunderstand, I can create flames strong enough to damage Level 5s and even a Level 6 like Phrine...

But more intricate Plasmids fall due to their complexity.

Not that these guys are Level 4, they are all Level 2, so even if I didn't have those, my Higher Level is enough.

"Tell me, what are you guys doing here?" He asked coldly

"Looking for talented people."

"... What?" Silver blurted out in surprise

'He did not expect that.'

'Furrowing his brows he continued.'

"We… Can leave that for later, first, answer me, were you the ones that stole money from the Orphanages?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because we are looking for those that dare to stand up."

'Silver's frowned even further.'

"Explain!"

"Lord Aeshma seeks to create great adventurers with the goal of one day creating the destined Daeva."

"..."

Ah, of course, another God with another great plan... Great.

As if we hadn't enough of those.

"What is the Daeva? How do you intend to achieve it?"

'The man shook his head.'

"The methods of Lord Aeshma are beyond the likes of us, we merely carry on his orders."

"According to his own words, the Daeva is the culmination of 'mortality', the one who carries everything that makes them unique, the ultimate one."

"He wishes to see him in action, to push mortality to its very limits, the birth of the strongest, this is the will of Aeshma."

"When we were younger, we used to be Orphans too, we were selected by him, raised by him, and those that weren't fit to become warriors were left behind long ago."

"To replenish our numbers, we constantly seek out talents, preferably children that have a lot of space for growth."

'Silver scratched his chin.'

"So this is why you guys maintained a close relationship with the Orphanages."

"Correct, Orphanages are a great source of manpower, we help them stabilize and grow, to see us in a good light so they eventually join us."

"This… Makes no sense, why steal if that goes against your reasons then?"

"Lord Aeshma seeks one with the determination of a great warrior like the one that slew the Man eater many days ago, so to lose a bit of reputation to find the worthy one is worth it."

"Lord Aeshma believes he embodies an aspect he has failed to take into account in his divine oracles, as power, talent, beauty, intellect, and so on aren't enough to create the Daeva."

"As such, he is seeking out someone with the will to rebel against even the Divine."

"So you all are… Pocking around the place to see if someone with those characteristics appears?"

"Correct."

"..."

'Silver became silent as his hand rose to his face.'

So this is because of me?

A God that wishes to create the perfect adventurer has taken me as a model…

Should I be honored? Or revolted at such behavior?

No… There is no point in getting angry at a God.

Their morals are different, and even if that doesn't affect the weight of their actions, the only thing I'll end up doing is creating trouble for those around me.

As whatever happens to the God is inconsequential to him as he is eternal while the people around me aren't.

In this regard, he is similar to Hermes...

Their difference is that Hermes prefers to watch as the Hero plays in the field he set while Aeshma prefers to mold this person like clay?...

I lack too much information on Aeshma as a whole.

These guys seem to venerate him... They even seem to hold a bit of fear...

I won't get what I want by asking them.

'He thought deeply before asking:'

"How much longer do you plan to do this?"

One day, they'll have provoked all Orphanages, there won't be a point in doing it once they confirm the person they're looking for isn't here.

"For a few more days in the least, we have searched almost all of Daedalus Stree, but we have yet to find a fitting candidate…"

"Are there any other groups apart from you 3?"

"None, other groups would be patrolling around other districts, searching for possible candidates there."

"Hmm..."

"... Then, stop doing it here." Silver said after some pondering

"Return all of the money you've stolen discretely, you may continue searching for this 'Talent', however, you are not allowed to directly interfere with the people living here."

Instead of completely restricting their movements, having them follow a set pattern is easier to monitor while also not appearing odd for Aeshma.

Besides, it seems they won't trouble the Orphanage again anytime soon.

They stole from them twice and were about to do it a third time, they wanted results as fast as possible as it hasn't even been a week since Phryne died.

By the time they finish scouring through the district, I would've finished my investigations.

"If your Lord asks of your progress, just answer that you found no candidates."

If they found nothing for close to a week, then nothing will change after a few more days unless a surprise comes by.

My control over them should still be in effect for many more days to come and even when it wears off, they won't remember this interaction.

This should resolve the problem with these children, however, I may have to seek out the movements of their Familia.

If they leave the children alone, then it's fine, though I would still like to see what they'll do to achieve their goal.

If my previous actions have caused others to suffer like this, even if I'm not to blame for other people's actions, I'll at least not ignore it now that I've come to learn of it.

Besides… This entire matter of the 'Daeva' has irked me.

How exactly does Aeshma plan on creating it? How many years has he done it?

It seems as if its been a few years at the very least.

I'm curious.

'Silver ordered the two adventurers to grab the collapsed man before altering his mind as well.'

'After using his Plasmids to make sure they were all under his control and that they wouldn't remember what happened here today, Silver turned around and left Daedalus Street.'

...

"Should I change my appearance again?..." He thought as he entered an alley

The Orphaps may have not recognized me, but others will...

Alright, this won't take long.

…

/A few minutes later.../

/Chatter.../

"Ah, Babel's Plaza, I visit this place much less than I should've."

Watching the people go by and exploring the fancy floors of the tower can be quite nice.

Sitting by the waterfall as you wait for your partner to exchange the loot for money...

A shame I never went through this phase.

/Chatter chatter.../

"Place seems quite busy."

'Silver saw adventurers and workers coming and going from Babel in droves, it felt like he arrived at a convention.'

'All kinds of weapons, all kinds of attires, be it people from the Guild or normal adventurers, they were everywhere...'

"Hm..."

'Silver raised his head to stare at the tower above, taking the sun's position, it should be around 5-6Pm.'

'He turned his head to look at another tall tower nearby, it was a pretty famous clock tower...'

"5:25, quite late already considering I left home around... Hm?..."

'While he looked around, he noticed someone...'

Oh! It's been a while...

'At the edge of his vision, he saw a green-haired Goddess hug a group of adventurers as they left the Dungeon.'

'It was Leto and her Familia!'

They visited some time ago before the War game, a shame I wasn't able to talk with them.

By the looks of it they're doing fine, that's good to hear.

'Looking around again, he saw a group of buff men walking into the Dungeon in a coordinated march...'

'The warriors of the Hercules Familia!'

Babel is indeed the center of Orario, if you stay here for long enough you'll likely meet with all of the big shots of the world.

I can understand now why some teens hang around the place, they must be looking to take a peek at their idols...

Though it's still a bit dangerous to do so, not all adventurers are good people, and I'm sure most parents wouldn't want their children near the brutes that are most adventurers...

'Thinking about this, Silver was about to take a step towards the Plaza when he stopped.'

'He saw someone rather familiar, he watched and watched until...'

/Smile/

'He smiled, turning back to enter an Alley...'

...

/Not long after.../

"..."

Today I made... No, I lost about...

The potion... Plus repairing the backpack... Food... And...

About 970 Valis.

'A young girl sat by one of the fountains near the plaza, her fingers up as she made several calculations one after the other.'

'Sometimes, she raised her head and scouted, looking for someone before dropping her head in defeat.'

"Hm?..."

'But her gaze changed as she saw an adventurer walk by her.'

'And in one swoop, she rose from her seat and approached the boy...'

"E-Excuse me!"

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