Lyze's Musings.

A.N. Yeah, a very late update. I'm sorry but my life is a little bit chaotic at the moment. I'm trying to get the family business expanding and I've also completed my induction at my university, so I'm moving out in less than two weeks.

I've got several family members to visit and several people to see as well as tidying out my bedroom and getting rid of personal belongings that I just don't need.

So please guys, have patience with me because I'm literally saying goodbye the life I've had since I was born for a few years and beyond that is even more ambiguous as my family is going to be more grown up and spread out, so the home I'd want to come back to won't be the same.

On another note, I plan on making these uploads less frequent in return for longer chapters. Lately I've been trying to write longer chapters because I believe this story's following is big enough now.

For now, this chapter is a short one.

Longer chapters with more quality but less frequency. That's the trade-off. Sorry if this disappoints. It will stay this way as well once lectures begin for me.

The unknown is on the horizon for me.

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(General POV)

"Of course, you do remember our agreement correct Odr?" Freya said as Lyze made his way out of her apartment.

"Yes, yes." Lyze sighed exasperated. "Our expedition is in a week's time. I'll make some space in my schedule to come and see you when I'm done." Lyze levelled his gaze at her table. "For now, I hope my gift keeps you satisfied until then."

On Freya's tea table were three jackbird eggs. Menial gifts as a result of a spontaneous afterthought. He had so many at this point, he may as well find rich people to sell them to, perhaps from among the many merchants that came by the city on a regular basis.

Freya happened to be among the people he liked he supposed, so he just gave them away.

"Indeed." Freya replied. "Although, to even give just one of these treasures away for free would be considered madness by most. They are so rare that upper class citizens all around the world constantly pine for them. And yet you give me three?"

"It's of no consequence." He waved her off.

"If you insist." She said before what looked to be a genuine smile came over her face. "But truly, thank you Lyze."

"Don't mention it." He smiled. "It's a small repayment for giving me a chance to enact vengeance. The satisfaction I derived from that is enough to outweigh the value of a thousand eggs."

"Are you sure that we should have left him hanging there like that?" She questioned.

After Lyze was 'finished', they had left the the grotesque aftermath strung up above the ground by the manacles. After that, the three of them had made their way out unseen with no evidence left behind of what they had done. The guards were soon to wake with beer bottles in hand which would earn them a reprimand that would cover Lyze's footsteps and his involvement.

"Don't worry about it." He said. "People will just assume that foul play was involved, committed by certain dark elements that the Soma Familia were dealing with. It's not that uncommon."

"Sometimes the way you so casually speak of such dark things really leaves me speechless. That a child could think up such cruel ways of retribution, and then I remember you are only a child in body."

"I consider it a part of my charms." He waved. "Bye for now."

"Goodbye Odr." She smiled. "Oh and by the way, I have been investing in Daedalus improvement just as you asked."

"You have?"

"Yes. I said I would, didn't I?" She gave him a smile that made him a little suspicious for some reason. "Rest assured, it is well underway to changing forever, with plenty of people to soon support it as well."

"Hmm."

Lyze turned to Ottar and bowed a little. The man responded with familial grunt and a nod. And with that, the King of Chaos flourished his cloak in style and teleported out of the tower.

Ever since his confrontation with some members of the Freya Familia a few days before , he'd made good on his promise to himself that he would practice his teleportation spells and he was beginning to get a hang of it. At the moment he was able to instantaneously move short distances but could not yet travel across entire kingdoms like Merlin or Vivian. Partly due to his shortcomings in practical magic like this but he was getting there.

He floated at the highest point in Orario, this being the first time he did in all the time he'd spent in the city. From this vantage point, the city really did look mystical and fantastical. A perfect medieval city but something about it gave it a magical touch that could not be physically seen yet all the same conceived.

These days he found the city really growing on him. He couldn't deny that despite his objectives, he really was having a lot of fun in this world. He enjoyed his powers, and enjoyed socialising with more people than he'd ever had in his previous life. And although fame was not a foreign concept to him, it was nice being recognised for your achievements and being respected where you went.

Had it not been for what Nekros had done to him, Lyze would have happily taken this life. There was little else that could best it.

Lyze did not intend on returning home now though (Loki Familia home, not 'home' home). His brain was always working at a fast pace, always looking for new ideas and new innovations to try out, especially with his magic. And recently he had such an epiphany that he was dying to test it. So he ascended into the sky, higher than Babel peak, climbing until he was nearly above the clouds and the city had become little more than a spot on the ground below.

Turning in different directions, he looked around until he caught sight of a sheet of glimmering light in the far distance. A strip of reflected light that stretched across the further horizon. Activating his demon mode, he began to fly towards the sea at incredible speeds, almost leaving a sonic boom from how quickly he departed.

The ground shifted quickly below him as he flew over forests and lakes, over villages and fields, slowly going further outland as the greenery began to disappear and the ground slowly became more yellow as he continued towards the biggest body of water around. The last signs of life he saw before he was blitzing over crashing waves and endless blue was a tiny fishing settlement that he noted down.

He'd been having ideas of travelling soon outside of Orario. There were many secrets hidden in this world after all, left over from the bygone ages. Treasures, artifacts, monsters...actually, speaking of monsters, would it be a wise idea to go to the Elsos Ruins and see if Antares existed in this world?

He knew that the ruins did exist because it showed on maps that were held within the guild library. The ruins were in a separate continent altogether but was relevant enough to be marked down by cartographers, particularly because of the lore surrounding the place.

The nearest locals shared stories about how in ancient times, spirits under the orders of a goddess worked to seal away an extremely powerful and malevolent monster. Lyze would bet anything that those spirits had been children of Artemis. Spirits were known to be pretty much the Apostles of the gods, and each followed a god they were closest to in nature he supposed.

Sword Spirit Jupiter, the entity that Argonaut had contracted with was known as a spirit of Zeus. The chances that the spirits who sealed away Antares, if it existed, were likely followers of Artemis and why her Familia had been the ones hunting the thing in the supposedly 'non-canon' movie. Otherwise, what business did she have to be poking around that place in the non-canon movie?

Now don't think that the only thing on Lyze's mind was the Dungeon and levelling up. During his time in this world, he'd made note of every last place a spirit was supposedly seen and had marked down certain territories to visit.

Among them was the mountainous country of Beltane and the Great Tree. Said to be a country of mist, home to the spring of life.

That sounded a lot like the Fairy King's forest, and the Fountain of Youth from Britannia, and he was sincerely hoping that the two countries were similar in some sort of way.

Because if the fabled Spring of Life was in anyway similar to the Fountain of Youth that Elaine guarded in Brittania... oh boy, Lyze was not going to let a treasure like that slip by. Even if Chaos could regenerate him to an extent that even Ban could only dream of having, having a power like that in his possession would be better than the chance of somebody with sinister intentions obtaining it.

He would have to see if the spring had a guardian though. Come on, it was a given with these things that there was some sort of person or creature guarding a treasure like that.

Then there was the city of Altena, governed by Athena and her Familia. The place was a goldmine of knowledge, and its academy was like the House of Wisdom of this world. There was no telling what he could find there that would prove to be useful.

But more than anything was one place he was keen on finding.

The hiding place of Zeus, the mountain village to where he had retreated after he was banished. And where he would find Zeus, he would find a certain albino protagonist.

Once upon a time, Lyze had despised the boy. But upon living in this world, and seeing exactly how dangerous the Dungeon was, and reading the tales of all the great heroes of past, he could understand why Bell was the way he was. Especially if some small part of Argonaut's mighty ambitions remained in the kid.

Argonaut had struggled, fought tooth and nail to bring about the Age of Heroes and set an example for all the others that would follow. Being reborn at a time when that very era, the age which he had created had come to a close, it was natural that the boy would seek to rekindle it even if he was none the wiser.

That was the spirit of a hero. The First Hero, reborn as the Last Hero. As poetic and wonderful of a story that it was, Lyze had a hard time comprehending what kind of responsibility that was upon a single soul.

It did not excuse the wimpy behaviour around women though. That would be a lesson Lyze would have to teach the boy if they ever came around to meeting.

Lyze finally came to a stop in the middle of the ocean where none would see him. Momentarily activating Chaos Vision, he locked onto Orario so he knew the direction he needed to take in order to return. He needed to be back quick before any of his Familia became suspicious.

"Cruel Sun." He threw his palm towards the sea as a familiar sun flew out of his hand and buried itself beneath the waves. Even that far under the water, the light it emitted could be seen as the fire refused to be put out. After activating 'Pride Flare' upon which the sun exploded, the ocean was disturbed a little, making it froth and churn violently before settling again.

What he had come to test was if he could achieve something similar yet drastically different. Cruel Sun required him to use the Light side of Chaos magic. What if he was able to achieve the same using Darkness instead?

Channelling as much Darkness as he could muster, he summoned a black flame in his hand and focused hard on the image he wished to to conjure in his mind. He imagined the Cruel Sun forming again, but this time instead of the golden flames, the miasmic fire of the demon clan comprised the celestial imitation.

He felt the Darkness splutter and shift a little but he remained steadfast in his intention. The limits of what he could do with Chaos magic was his imagination. It stood to reason that if a sun made from Light magic was possible, then one made from Dark magic was also possible.

For a few minutes he floated there, focusing on the flow of magic as he used his mind to guide the threads and weave it into the image he desired. The flame in his palm swelled before it took a spherical shape and spat out streams of purple fire.

"Dark Sun!" Lyze exclaimed excitedly and triumphantly as he succeeded. A bead of sweat rolled down his forehead but he didn't care as he was too fixated on his creation. Where the Cruel Sun emitted great light, Dark Sun seemed to swallow it in. It was like he was looking into an abyss burning black with the occasional purple solar flare coming out from time to time. If the Cruel Sun was terrifying, this new attack was bone chilling.

Lyze launched the new attack towards the ocean and what happened next eft his jaw hanging.

Ocean water simply evaporated before the black sun as it seemed to split the sea, charring the coral and the ocean floor as fish, crustations and gelatinous sea creatures just crisped under the heat. The Dark Sun hit the ocean floor as the waves crashed back on top of it. Lyze was certain he just vaporised a few million litres of water but he was positive that it mattered little.

Before he could bask in the afterglow of the success, he was hit with another idea. Something that seemed so stupid and dangerous...he just had to try it.

"Cruel Sun." He said holding out his right hand. "Dark Sun." He said while holding out his left hand. Both respective attacks formed in his palm. Bringing them together her tried to force them into one. "MERGE!"

...

What happened after that...is not to be covered until a later part in the story. But safe to say, Lyze swore he would never do something so stupid again unless the situation absolutely demanded it.

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