1 「Seven Years And Setting Out」

"A-Are you sure about this, Erland-nii…?" A young girl called out worriedly, peering below the tree branch with sweat dripping down her face as she held a jug with both hands.

"Ghahaha! It's fine, it's fine! Eydis, I didn't take you as much of a scaredy cat~! Did you really think I'd do something like this if I didn't have the confidence? Who the hell do you think you're talking to?"

A young boy, seemingly about the age of 9, stood beneath that branch with both arms crossed in front of him.

His short dark brown hair bobbed up and down as he gave a hearty laugh.

"Alright… Just don't you dare look up here. Oh, and don't call me a scaredy cat ever again or I'll tell the boys to beat you up!"

The young girl seemingly 6 years old sighed before shimming forward while clutching the hem of her brown dress down. It wasn't until she made it halfway across the branch that she tied a rope connected to the jug around the branch she sat on.

Her light brown pigtails glimmered with sweat, her dark green eyes shimmering as she concentrated on tying them the best she could.

"Look? Oi oi, surely you wouldn't make a joke like that knowing my circumstances? Where I come from that'd be enough to get ya canceled, y'know~!"

The boy shook his head disappointedly. The knot of the black blindfold covering his eyes slightly swayed with each movement.

"Besides, who the hell do you think taught those boys everything they know? If they dare to mess with me I'll just have them endure this training as well, just with bricks! Hahaha!"

He, of course, wasn't "blind" by choice, in fact even if he tore the thing off his vision would remain about the same as it is. Not that it bothered him, he spent 9 years getting over the fact himself.

"Canceled? What does that mean? And where you come from is here! You better stop coming up with these weird pasts or granny Silva will beat you up again, hmph!"

The young girl pouted again for who knows what time today, she slightly sighed again before wiping the sweat from her brow.

"The knots are done, just say the word and you'll get the pain you want!" Eydis said, holding the jug over her head as she leaned slightly to her right in preparation to let it go.

"I got it…" The young boy, Erland, immediately stopped his foolish acts before composing himself.

Truthfully he expected things to go about as she said, the pain he wants will be received. Though he wasn't afraid, after all, he'll just take that pain and turn it into the fruit of his labor.

"Swing it!" He yelled aloud, causing some leaves to fall from the great oak tree he and the girl were around.

"...." The young girl showed brief signs of hesitation before following through with the plan, with all her strength she lobbed the tied-up jug as far as she could.

Then, she held both hands over her eyes as she waited to hear the sound of glass breaking.

'H-Here it comes!' The young boy thought. His palms became sweaty, his forehead glistened, and his eyebrows creased.

'I could feel it… the movement of the air, the sound of the wind swis—'

*THUD*

At least that was what he thought as the jug hit him square in the forehead. Immediately he lay out on the ground, holding his forehead with both palms as he slightly massaged it. He grit his teeth before curling up his toes.

"Puhuhuhu!"

"Gehehehe!"

"Oi, oi! Erland-nii, what the hell was that!? Ahahaha!"

From behind him, he heard the voices of three young boys.

"Rudolph, Burt, Caston, who the hell do you think you're laughin' at! Besides, you're all half an hour late!"

Erland got to his feet almost immediately, his hands on his hips as he "looked" toward their general direction. As the teacher of the three boys in front of him, he couldn't allow himself to look so pathetic. But even then a smile crescent his lips as he heard their excuses.

"A-Ah, well… y'know how my mother is, Erland-nii... She said since I'm 6 already I should throw away all this fighting stuff and help her run the clothing shop…"

A young boy with black hair stepped forward, one bang covering his left eye as his right eye peered at the floor nervously.

"Maaa~ As for me, my papa is all happy for me gettin' stronger, but he says to leave defending the village to him… He said that right now he just wants me to study so I can become rich like those merchants that visit the village every now and then."

Another boy, this time with untamed red hair that reached his shoulders spoke up, his fingers laced behind his head as he kicked at the pebble beneath his foot.

"You're so lucky, Erland-nii~! My mom and dad keep pestering me to manage the farm with them… It must be nice to not have any parents, at least that way I'd have all the time in the world!"

The final boy spoke up, his neck-length purplish hair swaying slightly as he cracked his neck disappointedly.

"Hahaha… well, just don't worry about it. I'm sure when you all get older they'll understand. At least by then, you'll surely be able to protect this village when I'm gone.

Erland laughed nervously, shaking off his discomfort before talking sternly. Though his last words happened to make the boys each show an expression of reluctance.

Including the girl who had just shimmied down the tree.

"You're really going to leave, Erland-nii…?" The young girl said, her green eyes glistening with tears.

"Mm, I've said this from the beginning. There's a whole world out there to explore… With all sorts of people and beings, each with dreams of their own. Orario… haven't you guys heard the stories? That's where legends are born… At least there I can get stronger than ever before…"

Erland spoke wistfully, nodding his head upward as he took in the rays of the sun. The warmth was all he needed, just that in itself told him he was still alive.

"...." The children remained silent. In their eyes, there was no need to worry about how he'd live in such a dangerous world when he can't see. To them, he was the absolute strongest.

"Hmph, what's with the long faces? I said I'd be leaving but not yet! No way in hell am I going to die to some no-name monster! That's why I'll be here with you all, getting stronger side-by-side. So that way for sure, when the time comes, I can leave this village knowing for sure it'll be safe in all your hands…"

"Yes, Erland-sensei! We'll work hard so you can leave this village without a worry!"

"Umu, umu! Don't need to tell us twice! We'll get so strong even you won't be able to beat us!"

"Hmph, We'll protect this village for sure, no matter what!"

"And I'll be here to keep all these knuckleheads in place while you're gone, you can count on me!"

Eydis was the last one to speak, she puffed out her nonexistent chest before pounding on it with one fist proudly.

"Kukuku! Talk is cheap, I want results!" Erland spoke with an evil smile marring his face. The 3 boys shivered in fear as they expected another crazy training regimen from their sensei.

He took out three more giant jugs from behind the tree with another three bundles of rope.

"Oh yea, Erland-nii! How come the jug didn't break? Mom always told me to watch out how I handle the glass cups and I thought jugs were made out of glass so they'd break too!"

Eydis extended one of her hands up to the point where she was practically on her toes, even then she still spoke without even waiting for Erland to call on her.

"Pupupuh! My careless student, how can you be so naive~? Tell me, Eydis-chan~, what do you think of people who drink too much?" Erland spoke annoyingly, getting real close to Eydis' face with a smug smile crossing his lips.

"W-Well… they smell bad! And uhm… let's see, they can't think right either… oh yeah! When my dad drinks a lot he can't walk right!

A blush covered Eydis' cheeks, being looked at like an idiot by her sensei and her fellow students made her extremely embarrassed and ashamed. It wasn't until she got to the last part that she acted as if she discovered the answer to the universe.

"Bing! Bing! Bing! Correct, a drunk person is clumsy~! So they gotta make these things realllll strong so they don't break when a drunk person falls over!" Erland spoke in a matter-of-fact tone, everyone else on the scene practically had shining eyes as they stared at him with admiration.

'As expected of Erland-sensei!' Each of them thought.

On the inside, Erland felt a bit ashamed of his act.

'Even on Earth, I didn't know how glass could get this particularly strong… If I was going to spend my nights watching videos about pointless things, why couldn't it have been about glass manufacturing!'

"Ahem! Now that I've answered your question, get back up on the tree! It took a while to steal these from the drunkards around the bar so don't you dare drop them!"

Eydis nodded nervously, she tied each jug around her using the extra rope and shimmied up the tree again with more carefulness than last time.

As for the boys, well, each of them were preparing for their foreheads to end up as red as their teacher's.

______________________________________________________________________________

Then, 3 years passed by—

*THUD*

"Kuhuhu! There goes the last one, which means I alone stand victoriously!"

On a hot summer day, one boy stood proudly as surrounding him were the bodies of three other boys, each with a swelling forward.

The white shirt he had worn to cover his rigid abs was now wrapped around his forehead to act as a sweatband. The other boys had considered doing the same to protect their foreheads, but their sensei directly prohibited them. Stating that only he could do it because he was sure he wasn't even going to get hit.

Yes, Erland had completely mastered monitoring his surroundings without needing to see. The vibrations in the air, the swaying of the jug as it breaks through the wind, and the sound of it as it moves.

It was as if he could see the jug itself swing from the tree branch.

Now, at the age of 12, he had somewhat overpowered the disability his current body was born with. And simultaneously he even turned it into a positive, as with his now heightened hearing he was able to listen in on conversations from a secure location.

He was about to declare his victory again when—

*DING*

"Huh…"

In his head was a loud dinging noise. And for the first time in 12 years, he was finally able to see something other than darkness.

[Congratulations User, for your recent development. As a reward, you have been gifted [Observation Haki]. Continue working hard and you may gain even more rewards!]

The mysterious, robotic voice left as fast as it arrived. Not even allowing Erland a moment to ask a question as he was still stunned by the 'object' in front of him.

It was a screen, a display written in white with the black darkness surrounding it acting as the background.

On it, it simply said 'Skills' in addition to the following:

[Observation Haki]

And that was it.

The next second Erland was stunned again.

'Silhouettes! The colors! The people!' Erland began to see the people around him by their silhouettes and the color within them.

He stared at Eydis' light pink silhouette as she shimmied down the tree, he was able to faintly make out her neck-length hair as she brushed it with one hand as if tidying her appearance.

Erland turned his sight to the 3 people beside him. Each of their silhouettes was a light gray as they heaved in an attempt to catch their breath.

But by simply thinking about it, the 'Status' display showed up once again at the front of his mind. He made sure he wasn't reading it incorrectly.

'What the hell is Haki doing here?! Isn't this Danmachi?!' The moment he learned this world's language he immediately knew what world he had been reborn in. Though it was all because it was his parents who had spoken of the Tower of Babel and the city of legends, Orario.

'And a system this late in the game!' He nearly slapped his own forehead with all his strength just to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

'No, no, no! This is something to rejoice about~! You want me to work hard? Fine, I'll work hard! I'll work harder than anyone else! But by then you better be preparing a good reward for me!'

Erland felt a fire in his heart, one that had gone out when he perfectly mastered the jug-sensing trial.

'If I can obtain [Observation Haki] by doing something like that, then… Could I achieve [Armament Haki] if I simply trained my body…?'

Erland's head snapped at that, now that he was free from the jug training he had time to test things out. At least until the boys mastered the training.

Of course, he wasn't going to neglect his [Observation Haki] either, there were still levels his reward didn't grant him. Such as future sight, or growth in detection range.

"Eydis, we're not done yet! Grab a nearby stick and hit me with it!" Erland declared before showing her his back and spreading his arms out. Eydis flinched slightly at the sudden display, her cheeks blushing slightly as she did what he said.

The boys on the other hand flinched for a different reason, a bad premonition entering their minds as they reluctantly sat up to see what new training they were going to be forced through.

Even with his [Observation Haki] Erland was unable to see objects, as in anything that is not living. As such he relied on understanding his surroundings using his acute hearing. Though obviously a stick just sitting in the grass wasn't going to make a noise.

"Al-Alright! Prepare yourself! She yelled out loud before slashing the stick downward, slightly cringing as Erland's pale back became slightly red.

"Not enough.." He lightly muttered.

"Huh…?" Eydis was confused. Sure it was a stick but she swung it as hard as she could. It should have at least hurt enough to make a boy her age tear up.

"It's not enough! Pick up one of the boy's wooden swords and strike me with that instead!"

"Wh-What?!" This time she and the boys exclaimed loudly. Each of the boys got up to their feet so they could dissuade their sensei before he really hurt himself.

"Fuhuhu! How many times I gotta say it? No pain, no gain! How can you expect to carry the burdens of others when you can't even deal with a little pain? You all said you'd do whatever it takes to protect the village, right? Well, when have I ever said I won't do the same!? So, hit me!"

"...."

No one could rebuke him, so with a nervous heart, Eydis lifted one of the wooden swords the boys used for their blade training.

"O-Oi, you can't be serious, Eydis!" One of the boys, Rudolph, yelled out worriedly.

"He is our sensei! As his students, it's our duty to support him in all of his endeavors! So grow a spine and watch a real man!" Eydis unexpectedly lashed out, her eyes growing teary as she glared at the boys with determination.

Once again, the boys had no words. Instead, shame filled their hearts as they blamed themselves for not being strong enough to bear the burden Eydis was insistent on doing.

Erland stared at all of this with pride in his heart. Even if all of their silhouettes glowed a light blue, there was a tinge of orange in each of them signifying their desire to grow.

"Rightly said, my dear student! Now, hit me—!"

"Yes, Sensei!" Eydis held the wooden sword with both her hands, positioning it to her side with the pose of a knight who was determined to strike their foe. With just her pose alone, she was able to display how her training with Erland had strengthened her martial prowess.

"Here I come! Hiyaaa—!" She swung diagonally with all her might, her eyes still watered with tears as they flung from her face with her cry.

*BANG*

The wooden sword slammed on Erland's back, impacting it with a loud thud. For a second Erland felt the wind get knocked out of him. But even then he didn't dare take another step.

Instead, he grit his teeth before looking upward with his gray eyes.

"Again!" He yelled out defiantly.

"Yes!" Eydis swung again, her strike just as strong as the last one.

*BANG*

This training continued until the sun fell down. Each of the boys watched in silence as their sensei endured the pain.

______________________________________________________________________________

And then, 2 years passed by—

*BANG*

*DING*

"Yes!" Ignoring the searing pain on his back, Erland extended his hands upward with joy visible on his face.

Eydis, who had just swung the sword, yelped before taking a few steps back as her hair that reached her waist glistened in sweat.

[Congratulations User! Your determination has been rewarded. You have received [Armament Haki]. Continue working hard and you may gain even more rewards!]

'Finally… I did it…'

Erland clenched his fists as he stared at the 'Status' board in his mind again.

Skills:

[Observation Haki] [Armament Haki]

"Eydis hit me again!" He turned his head to face the girl behind him from over his shoulder. The same girl had her mouth hung open before she shook her head and snapped herself out of her thoughts.

"You got it, prepare yourself, Erland-nii!" Her melodious voice rang out.

Over the past few years, her strikes had only gotten stronger. Of course, a bit of that progress was because Erland happened to be the perfect striking dummy who often gave feedback regarding the way she swung or the position her legs were in.

"Hiyaaa—!" She swung with all her strength, the wind practically following the wooden blade as she struck him square on the back.

Except, the familiar thud she heard for the past two years didn't emanate.

"Huh…?"

Instead, her wooden blade snapped in half the moment it came in contact with his back. Or at least what she thought was his back.

"W-What is this?" It wasn't the same chiseled and defined back she had been staring at for the past two years. Instead, right where she struck, was a similarly structured black steel-like material that followed the contour of his muscles.

She reached out her hand before caressing it softly.

"It's hard too!"

Then, the black steel receded at a speed visible to her naked eye.

"Woah! How did you do that, Erland-nii!" Eydis spoke with stars in her eyes, her hand still on his back.

"Fufufu~! When you reach my level of training maybe you'll understand. I'll teach you one day, so for now, focus on the basics! With your talent, you'll make it in no time~!"

For a second Eydis wanted to swing again when Erland was distracted and showing off, but she quickly retracted her thought as she looked at the 3 boys hitting each other with swords.

"You hear that, boys! Sensei said I have the best talent out of all of us!" The boys were about to rebuke when they saw a hand hurling toward Eydis' head.

"Ouch!" She exclaimed tearfully.

"I said you have talent, you can be proud of your skills or knowledge. But talent I will not accept. After all, without persistence talent means nothing. Take care to remember that~" Erland spoke with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Yes, sensei… I'm sorry for acting haughty…"

Erland smiled seeing her light purple silhouette, over time he learned the meaning behind each color. As currently, she was feeling shame.

'But now I have to learn how to use [Armament Haki] as well. At least I know there are levels of proficiency the system didn't give me.'

Though there was one thing Erland noticed with his [Armament Haki] that he didn't have with his [Observation Haki], and that was the requirement. Using [Armament Haki] required spiritual energy to manifest its protection, basically, it drained his stamina.

'Covering that small part of my back wasn't too bad, but I don't think I'll last long if I try to cover my whole body.' For now, his Haki was quite limited, something he assumed would grow if he strained it enough and allowed it to recover.

Just like muscles.

Erland smiled happily before putting on his white shirt again. He walked to the nearby tree before lifting up his seemingly black cane that leaned against it.

Even with his [Observation Haki] getting around without pure vision of non-living objects tended to result in him walking into things. If it was just a crowd of people, he could get through it without even grazing anyone, but put him in a maze without his cane and he'll likely bump into every wall.

Though there was a secret about the cane that not everyone knew, and that was the hidden function it revealed when someone pulled the handle and stick apart with enough strength.

*SHING*

The blade extending from the handle glistened under the setting sun. Erland had spent almost all of the money he had been saving since he was 9 just to obtain it from one of the many passing merchants.

He focused on the blade for a few seconds, smiling brightly as the glimmer disappeared in place of black steel.

Slowly, he sheathed it back into the cane with a satisfying click.

Imbuing his weapon with Haki wasn't as costly as he thought it was. Considering it enhanced the strength and durability, the drain was well worth it.

He was only 14, but he had been training since the day he learned to walk again. His strength outclassed every adult in his village. His swordsmanship was unsurpassed as far as the village folk were concerned. Even the few passerby adventurers without Falnas struggled to challenge him.

Erland's smile disappeared as he sensed the children in awe behind him with his Haki.

"What are you all doing? We got more training to do!" Each of the children swallowed nervously before giving a faux salute.

______________________________________________________________________________

And then, another 2 years went by—

"He's finally leaving huh…"

"And so young too…"

"What if he never returns?! What if he ends up like his parents?!"

"Shhh! How can you say such a thing! Don't you have any tact!"

It was bright and early in the morning, and yet many of the villagers stood around a line of merchant carts murmuring incessantly.

For 16 years these people had been Erland's family. Even when his parents passed away testing their strength against the Tower of Babel, it was them who supported him.

In a way, every single one of the older folk were his parents.

Each of them were worried about the little boy they had watched grow up into a man. And as such, each of them spent their time giving him what could be a final goodbye.

Erland listened to all their worries with a warm smile on his face, neither rushing them nor telling them to back off as he cherished the moments he listened to their voices. In the past, he would have been worried about leaving these peaceful folk to defend themselves.

For anyone who told him not to go, he responded to them all the same. A warm smile on his face as he said:

"I don't blame my parents for leaving me alone in this world. They each had a dream, and I'm glad even with my birth they never chose to give them up. And as their son, there's no way I'm going to give up either! But I won't lie, I can't say for certain there isn't a tinge of resentment in my heart for the family they denied me. So because of that, I'm going to do what they never could. I'm going to Orario to make a name for myself, I'll become the legends they dreamed of becoming. So that the next time I see them, I can gloat in their faces as I tell them all my accomplishments!"

With that, he said every goodbye he needed to say.

"Hurry up, kid! It's a long ride to Orario, if we don't get there before the sun falls there's a good chance we'll get attacked by wild monsters. Maaa~ Not that I'm worried about them with these adventurers guarding us, but these cheapskates tend to charge extra for "emotional damage", so I'd rather not risk meeting any danger!"

An old man with a bald head and scruffy white beard yelled out, ignoring the hateful stares of the villagers and adventurers alike.

"Coming!" Erland raced to the old man before tossing him a sack of money and entering the cart. There wasn't quite a lot of room with all the old man's wares, but he wasn't exactly expecting much when he asked to hitch a ride.

Well, there was still one last thing he needed to do.

Erland stared out of the window of the cart before directing his vision to the 4 figures standing atop a hill. His [Observation Haki] training really paid off as otherwise, he wouldn't have noticed them.

Each of them held the look of a warrior, there was no need for tears or cries for them. Instead they each bowed gratefully as his cart started moving forward.

Even the adventurers who were saddled up on horses stared at the 4 with awe as the sun crescented the hill and illuminated their figures.

"Hmph, those children, honestly… 13 years old, and they're already doing something so cliche… Ahhh, if I wasn't worried about missing my ride I'd go out there and clobber them one more time for the heck of it~"

Erland stared fondly in their direction, all the way up until they left his range.

"...."

He closed his gray eyes one last time before resting to cement their figures into his heart.

But then—

*DING*

[Congratulations User! You have reached a milestone in your life. Your journey begins, but to aid you on it please receive this reward! You have received [Ackerman Blood]. Continue working hard and you may gain even more rewards!]

"What the?!"

The system decided he wasn't going to be getting any rest on his trip.

---------- 「Author's Corner」----------

And just like that, the story begins! Sorry if the constant time skipping was a bit confusing, it was either that or spending 5-7 chapters essentially writing out the same events. I thought it'd be better to get over the usual song and dance and just get to the meat of the story, Orario. But of course, I also wanted to give information to the readers instead of having our Gary Stu over here descend out of nowhere kicking gum and chewing ass. Hence, this little chapter here.

Oh yeah, about the cover art. It was made using NovelAI (image generation AI) as a test for me to create the cover art for this novel. As the character I wanted to have on the cover initially from Danmachi has little to no official or fan art (she'll show up in the next chapter). So I tried creating said art using AI, though I ended up completely failing and instead created a pink-haired loli maid somehow. I guess you could say I got distracted with it being my first time ever using the software.

Before I realized it I ran out of the currency needed to generate more art and with it being kinda expensive I gave up. Though I did learn a lot from the experience and am quite confident of being able to get it right next time, maybe when I could afford it again...

In any case, what I'm trying to say is that the cover art right now is just a placeholder! I think... who knows, maybe there'll be a pink-haired loli maid in this novel, maybe not... I haven't decided yet. Though I do have to say that she looks a lot like Louise from Familiar of Zero! Maybe this art will be useful in the future after all...

Anyways, read the next chapter, and you'll find out what character I'm talking about. Erland is going to be in the same Familia as her after all. And if you guys have any good art of hers, please send it my way to hopefully take the place of the cover art.