DxD: The Plunder System Chapter 67

Chapter 67: Trial of the Sage

In Japanese mythology and folklore, Kagetsuchi was not simply the god of fire, but also the craftsman god. Kento had already seen with Susanoo’s shrine how brilliant of a craftsman Kagetsuchi was.


And now, he was left bewildered once again when he saw a door leading to a forest when there was supposed to be another sacred structure behind the door.


"Our brother was a master craftsman, capable of manipulating the very fabric of time and space to create marvels like this," Amaterasu expressed with a tinge of sadness. "When he crafted this, I inquired about his vision. His response was to forge a path, a maze that would assess one's courage, strength, intellect, and loyalty."


After being with the Shinto pantheon for a while, if there was one god that Kento wanted to meet, it was without a doubt Kagetsuchi. The fact that the god had control over so many aspects, made Kento extremely curious about the being. But he had heard from Susanoo about Kagetsuchi’s fate.


‘Truly a tragedy.’


But there was nothing that he could do about it.


“Your first trial will be the Trial of the Sage, in which you will go through this forest and complete a series of tests to be able to move onto the next one.’


“May I get a hint as to what I can expect?” 


At Kento’s question, the gods shook their head.


“Unfortunately, no.” Amaterasu said, “Kagetsuchi designed this place in a way that it is ever changing. Not one test will be similar to the other, with the only exception being the forest. You need to make your way out of this forest to make it to the other part of this trial.”


As Kento looked at Susanoo, the god gave him a smirk, “All I can say is Good Luck.”


Kento realized that it wasn’t going to be easy and he wasn’t going to be getting any help.


Especially when he had a bonus quest on.


<<:Quest: Complete the Trial of the Sage in under a day: 0/1>>


<<Rewards: Points x300, {Leaf Blade (B+)}>>


‘I need all the points that I can get. As the class of beings increase, their stats do not increase by a level or two, but it increases in the exponents.’


There was no comparison between a high class and an ultimate class, he had already seen examples of such.


So, the three hundred points was important to him.


“I wish for your success, Kento Yamazaki,” Amaterasu said, “But do not disappoint me.”


“I will try my best.”


…

…


Under the thundering sky, a shadowy figure was perched upon a rugged stone. The contrast in the scenery between the angelic beauty of the man and the ruggedness of the surrounding was striking.


The figure, beautiful enough to be termed an angel, enjoyed the sounds of thunder as it sang to him about the upcoming doom.


The somberness, the melancholy, that was present around him was a result of his thoughts and beliefs.


He wasn’t a normal being, but contrary to his appearance, he wasn’t the pure angel that the spectators would like to believe, no, he was something sinister.


He was someone that fell from the grace of God for his rebellion alongside Lucifer.


However, the difference between the reason for rebellion that the two brothers shared was far too contrasting.


Yet it didn’t matter, for his brother had perished long ago yet he still remained, looking for a way to bring his centuries worth of hardwork to fruition. 


And now, it was time. Time for him to succeed.


“My lord, we are prepared for the event.”


This was all that the angel of the stars was waiting for.


“Then prepare the army, for we are about to wage war.”


And after years of neglect, the supernatural world was about to remember the angel of stars once again.


They were bound to remember him, the angel of the stars, Kokabiel.


…

…


Unaware about the upcoming chaos, Kento stood in the middle of the deep forest with worries of his own.


The moment he entered the forest, the door behind him had vanished and he was stranded in the dense forest with absolutely no sense of direction or escape.


The forest was mystical with trees that should not exist together, joshua and mahogany, coastal mangroves and alpines, coniferous and deciduous.


It was truly a wonder to see such trees existing together.


Truth be told, it wouldn't have been a challenge if he was allowed to fly up and scout the area, but he wasn’t. And the place was so dense that simply climbing over a big tree would not cut it.


Kento frowned, fearing that he would waste too much time in the forest.


He searched around the place, looking for any possible ways to find an exit or to find any hidden clues. 


Sadly there weren’t any.


But there was something that worked as a hint for him.


As he stood in the middle of the forest, he noticed something.


“The wind…” He frowned, “Why has it been blowing from the same direction?”


It was weird but Kento had noticed since the beginning that the wind had been blowing with a certain interval every time towards the same direction.


“Towards the source or against it?” He wondered.


There was a general rule that people followed in case of prevailing winds.


Usually the direction from where the wind originates, there lies a water body. But in this case, it was not simply prevailing wind but a very consistent and steady wind that came every other second.


Much like a breath.


Kento was a little worried that it might be something dangerous towards the source of the wind, but then he remembered something.


“This is the Trial of the Sage, not the Oni. It is supposed to test my intellect and not my strength.”


Now, there were two possibilities. One, it was a test where there was a danger in the direction of the source of wind and he was to take the other route…


“Or they want to make me cynical so that I take the opposite direction.”


So, he chose the direction of the wind. 


Why? Because at that time he wanted to believe the latter assumption.


"Well, at least I've got a solid explanation if someone ever asks why I made that choice, right?"


And with that excuse, he walked towards the source of the wind.


At first, it was fine as the wind was soft and slow. However, as he continued the wind became stronger.


With each step, the opposing force grew stronger and stronger. The wind was trying to push him back but he persisted.


'This won't work.' He thought, as after a while he felt the wind pressure increasing to the point that without using his abilities, he wasn't going to be able to walk forward.


But there was one way around it.


'The wind blows after a certain interval.'


He mused, 'I'll have to start moving when the wind pauses.'


But there was one issue.


'If the wind keeps getting stronger, I'll need to find a cover to hide when it blows against.'


Otherwise he was going to get blown away and that would ruin the whole hard work.


But then something clicked.


"I was told not to use my powers, but was I told anything about my weapons?"


His smile grew wider at figuring out the massive loophole.


"Tessaiga!"


However, he knew that he could not use the abilities of the weapons other than the passives. As almost all the weapons required him to use his magical energy to activate them.


Even Tessaiga to a certain limit was the same. 


However, he wasn't going to use the abilities of the Tessaiga, but rather its body.


He walked forward the moment the wind stopped, and paused once it blew.


He kept repeating the process for a solid few minutes, till his body was unable to withstand the pressure of the wind without stumbling back. And because of the pressure, there was nothing nearby, even the plants and rocks around were uprooted from the constant wind.


If not for his enhanced physique, even reaching this far would have been impossible.


But now, the enhanced physique wasn't enough. So he did what he hoped would work.


The moment the wind blew, he plunged Tessaiga into the ground and held onto the handle with the tightest possible grip.


Although even with Tessaiga it was difficult, the sword allowed him to have something to grab onto to stand against the wind torrents, and his inhuman strength allowed him to be able to withstand the pressure.


Kento thought that this might not work for long, but surprisingly; it did.


It worked to the point that he was able to see a shadowy figure, a MASSIVE shadowy figure ahead.


At the start, he thought it was a mountain but as he walked closer, the mountain formed limbs, small limbs as compared to the body.


And as he kept walking forward, he was amazed at discovering of what it actually was.


"Holy…"


The being in front of him, the size of a mountain, was nothing but a cat. A Beckoning Cat, like the ones people had in stores to attract good luck.


'It's humongous…'


He wasn't sure if he should attract its attention, but since he was confident that it wasn't a fighting type enemy– given he was taking the Trial of the Sage– he decided not to worry unnecessarily.


"HELLO MISTER CAT!" Kento shouted, trying to draw the cat's attention, but couldn't.


As he saw the cat trying to blow another breath, he jumped closer to avoid the range of the wind. And thankfully, he was successful.


"MISTER CAT!" He shouted again, but to no avail.


There was no way to reach the cat's ear and unless the cat lowered himself, he wasn't going to be able to hear either.


Kento looked at the cat and then at his sword, realizing that there was only one way to draw the cat's attention.


So, taking a calm breath, he decided to do what was necessary.


And without a second's delay, he plunged the sword into the cat's foot, drawing out the loudest possible noise he had ever heard.


"MEAAOOOWWEEWWWWW!!!!"


It bellowed, "WHATTT BIT ME!"


…

…


Maneko Neko was an ancient deity known to bring good luck. Since ancient times, he had been looking after the Japanese people and keeping them away from bad luck and omens.


But after the war that eradicated most of the gods, Maneko Neko hid inside the forest that Kagetsuchi created, with the condition that whenever Kagetsuchi might need his help, he will help. 


But after the passing of Kagetsuchi, Maneko had been living in the forest alone in the hope that someone might be able to free him; because he was unable to escape on his own.


Yet, no one had been able to discover him. As time passed, he knew no one would be able to find him in his original size, so he turned his body to the size of a mountain in the hope that if anyone ever walks into the forest, they would notice him.


But for years, no one came to the forest, and even those that did never made their way towards him.


He had never been able to figure out why no one came to him, when he was known for bringing good luck to others.


And Kagetsuchi's promise kept him trapped there in the same spot as the only way he would be able to leave was if someone completed three riddles that Kagetsuchi made him remember. 


Yet no one ever got close to him to answer the riddles.


So, he had been trapped in the forest for centuries, with the only possible interaction to the outside world being through the toys and puppets of him that people created to bring good luck.


He had given up hope that he would ever be able to get out.


The request he made to Kagetsuchi turned out to be a great mistake, and he had lost all hope.


Until…


Until now.


"MEAAOOOWWEEWWWWW!!!!"


Never in so many years had he felt such a sharp pain, a pain so bad that made him scream after centuries.


"WHATTT BIT ME!"


However–


It was when he lowered himself to look at his foot that he heard–


"MISTER CAT!"


He squinted his eyes, trying to focus on the ground.


"MISTER CAT CAN YOU HEAR ME!"


And that was when he realized that there was someone below him.


This realization made him immediately forget about the pain as the joy of finally seeing someone had overwhelmed him.


"A-A HUMAN!" 


He was shocked, excited, happy but above all else relieved.


Tears sprouted from his eyes as he was finally able to see a being after centuries, possibly eons.


"–EAR!"


Sadly, he wasn't able to hear him properly.


"-EAR!"


"OH WAIT!"


Realizing that it was difficult because of his size, he immediately shrunk his size. 


He shrunk his body to a size that was not even a fraction of what he previously was.


Now, he was barely 2 feet tall that, which didn't even reach the hip of the guy in front of him.


"Can you hear me now?"


At the man's question, he nodded vigorously, "I can, meow!"


He was too excited to finally have some form of interaction.


"How did you find me, meow!" He asked, "Even after so many centuries, no one came to find me, meow!"


"I… followed the direction of your breath." The guy answered honestly, surprising the cat deity.


"My breath, meow?"


The boy nodded, "Indeed." He said, "My name is Kento Yamazaki and I am here to take the Test of the Sage."


"Test of the Sage?" The cat asked, "Do you mean the three riddles?"


The boy paused for a while before nodding, "I believe so?"


"Is that what they are calling the riddles now, meow?" The cat was amused, but he was still curious about the breath thing, "But what did you mean by my breath, meow?"


Hearing this, Kento answered, "Since your size was so big, your breath felt like a natural wind to me from where I started this test. But as I walked following the wind, the force became so strong that I was barely able to reach you. And if not for me plunging my sword into the ground, I might not have reached you."


This felt like a bolt of lightning to the cat deity, "Y-You mean people weren't able to reach me because I increased my size, meow?" He repeated, "Because of my size, meow?"


The cat deity felt like crying, "All these years I had been stranded here because of my own mistake, meow!!!"


Kento got curious at this statement, "Err… What do you mean stranded?"


The cat replied angrily, "Kagetsuchi promised me to stay in this place unless someone solves the three riddles that he gave me, meow. And since no one was able to find me in this forest because of my small size, I decided to increase my size, meow…" He said with tears in his eyes, "But I did not know that no one would be able to come close to me because of me becoming big, meow!" 


Kento was amazed at this reveal.




Rubbing the tears off of his face, the cat said, "I am Maneko Neko, the cat deity of luck that had been stranded here because of my own stupidity, meow," The deity introduced himself, "Pleased to meet you, meow."


"The deity whose statues are placed near every shop?" Kento was surprised, "I… did not expect to meet you here, Kami Maneko."


"Call me, Maneko, meow!" The deity said, "I am not a greater deity like others, meow!"


"But you are still a god," Kento countered, "And as a follower of the Shinto pantheon, I cannot disrespect you like–"


"Just do what I say, meow!" The cat frowned, "I don't like being called a Kami! That Kagetsuchi being a Kami had me stranded here, I don't want to be called a Kami, meow!"


Kento realized that the cat wasn't being humble but it was simply his frustration that prevented him from being identified as a deity.


"Very well then… Maneko."


"That's more like it, meow!"


Kento smiled seeing the cat deity's antics, he was far different to any diety that he had previously interacted with.


"I hope you will provide me with the riddles, Maneko. To pass this test, I have to answer them."


The cat froze, "Oh! You have to answer them, meow! If you fail, I will have to remain stranded here, meow!"


Once again, tears gathered near the cat's eyes.


"Don't fail, meow!" He said, "I want to leave this place, meow!"


Kento felt like that was quite the pressure that was presented to him, but he knew that failure was never an option.


"Besides I am an Asian now," Kento mumbled, "Anything but perfection is considered a failure."


"Meow?" The deity hummed in curiosity.


"I was talking to myself, Maneko." He smiled, "Please proceed with the riddles."


The cat nodded, "Be prepared, it will be difficult."


"I am." Kento assured, and the cat nodded.


"I'm tall and slender, yet incredibly strong,

In the wind, I sway, all day long.

From my shoots to my leaves, I grow without rest,

Used for many things, I'm among nature's best.


What am I?"


As he finished the first riddle, Kento looked at him in shock.


"Is it too difficult?" The cat looked at him in horror, "I know it was difficult! That damned Kagetsuchi!"


Hearing this, Kento shook his head immediately, "No! No! It is not difficult. Instead…" He was baffled, "Why is it so easy?"


"Eh?" Maneko turned his head curiously, "It is easy? I wasn't able to figure out the answer for days until Kagetsuchi gave me the answer." He asked, "Do you know the answer?"


Kento nodded, realizing why the test was a test of intellect, "It is bamboo."


Maneko grinned, "Correct!"


It wasn't that the riddle was difficult, it was just that Maneko was dumb enough to make the test tough. It was him that made it near impossible to reach him, and if not for Tessaiga, Kento would neither have been able to reach him nor been able to draw his attention.


'He is dumb…' Kento wondered, 'Did Kagetsuchi expect this?'


"But I hope that you will be able to solve the rest! I don't want to be stuck here, meow!" Maneko said.


"I will try my best, Maneko."


This made the cat happy, as he asked with a hopeful expression–


"I can rise with the sun, at the start of the day,

Guiding your path, showing the way.


In shadows I cast, I'm the direction of light,

Where morning arrives, banishing the night.

From where the Earth spins, I'm the first to see,

A cardinal point, a cardinal key.


What am I?"


'Is this for real?' Kento almost chuckled, "It's east."


"Bingo!" The cat jumped in joy, "You are very smart, meow!"


Kento didn't want to say that it was not him that was smart, but Maneko who was dumb. Yet he nodded nonetheless.


"Here is the final one, listen carefully!"


"In geometry, I have no curve or bend,

A line unbroken, from end to end.

No twists or turns, a direct connection,

A shortest path without any correction.


I am honest and true, with no deviation,

A synonym for honesty, without hesitation.

I may describe a posture or a narrow path,

A word that embodies simplicity's math.


What am I?"


"I was correct," For the first time, Kento felt happy that he was talking to a dumb person.


He looked straight and saw a massive bamboo forest and he was certain that the direct was east.


The riddle was solved, the answer was right in front of him.


"Straight." Kento answered, "The exit is through the east of the bamboo forest and to reach it… we have to walk straight through the forest."


"CORRECT!"


The with that, he heard a familiar sound.


<<Bonus Quest Complete!>>


<<Quest: Complete the Trial of the Sage in under a day: 1/1>>


<<Rewards Obtained: Points x300, {Leaf Blade (B+)}>>


<<Leaf Blade (B+): Allows host to turn any fauna into a weapon and enchant magical properties into them to use as swords and blades.>>


<<Note: Can only apply magical properties that host possesses in the fauna.>>


Taking a deep breath, Kento muttered.


"That is one down, two more to go."

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

[[A/N: Edited the previous chapter to add the condition that he isn't allowed to use his powers in this Trial.

And sorry about the "Meow" part after every sentence, that's just how I made Maneko's character. The meow is his tick/habit.

And once the trials end, it will be time for the peace talks where MC's true strength will be revealed as well as his connection to the Shinto Pantheon.

It will be quite interesting.]]