Ethereal Paradigm

"Talent hits a target no one else can hit. Genius hits a target no one else can see."

- Arthur Schopenhauer

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"Also... here's a little parting gift."

Then out of nowhere, appeared a dagger with black encrusts and crimson-colored blade, with both rain and knuckle guards alike of a fiery snake's steel scales. A rare weapon from the start? Not bad, but cliched...

"A dagger? You deities really have the fetish to serve the usuals huh."

"My, my, what an insolent word that was! Fetish you day? Are you perhaps expecting that you're the main character here and that you should have more than a dagger for a starting weapon like that high class Classmate of yours?"

"Hmmm, that's a mere assumption at its best... It's not weak isn't it?"

"Certainly not..."

"Then I guess this should do it."

"Besides its not just any dagger though. It's a chakram actually."

"Huh"What is that supposed to be?"

"You don't know what a Chakram is? For an eastern enthusiast like you, I could have never predicted your ignorance."

"And what good might it bring to both me and my neurons, memorizing weapons from eons ago."

"Ara-ara! Kawaikoto!" (English: What a cute thing!)

"Yametekudasai... So, back on point, this dagger is only an outward appearance? And it has the capacity to metamorphose itself in some chakram or something, when wanted?"

"Yes... It was a gift from Hades when I was promoted to the ranks and he somewhat showed me what it's capable of with a proud look in his face, which I think is just another... puny trick. Never used it once though and I probably don't need it..."

"So what's a chakram anyway?"

"Guess, there's no helping it, let me show you what it looks like in personal...Try holding to the callous-looking dagger once and say 'Le Chant de Roma'."

"Here we are again, with the weird algorithm of foreign chanting spells."

"Can't help it. It's not like I was the one who designed the system."

"Hayst... Can't hurt."

Then, as I was about to grab hold of the weapon's handle I can't help but think of what Amadea said to us earlier. If I remember correctly, the moment an individual obtains his first weapon, they will then be illegible for peril. I'm no different. But, I think there's no use delaying it now. As much as Lacrimosa here has implicitly thought, it's better for us to start venturing to the pangs of danger, rather than delay it even more, while those that are in the Mirage Armada are only getting more acquainted with actual combat. And I don't think that I'm the only one with this idea. Everyone in that 690 should already be feeling the need to get a hold of a weapon they can call their own... No matter the rarity.

I then took my first hold of the weapon. It was light and has quite the cool and legendary feel to it that I think even a kid could wield it without errors... and then, appeared in front of my field of vision its basic description with a three-dimensional representation of what the weapon looks like all inlaid in a futuristic platform of violet.

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Weapon Description

Rarity: Mythical

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"There's also a rarity tier for weapons huh", I asked.

"Per se, yes. There are 6 relic and item tiers; 1) Prevalent, 2) Rare, 3) Prototype, 4) Mythical, 5) Sacred, 6) Arcana, but if I were you, I would choose to ignore such minor details. It's only there to show the reputation of the weapon. There's this one time that I saw a prevalent relic holder defeated a Scared. Simply put, I think it's just there to show merchants the value of the relic...nothing more and nothing less." Lacrimosa exclaimed.

So unlike games, it does not show the damage or any of the attributes it incorporates. All it displays is a weapon's name and guess what? It even has rarity. Everything else from that, I think would be 'User-Dependent' meaning that no matter how cool it looks like, it depends on the dexterity of the user and the capacity of utilization to use it effectively and efficiently. And then, heeding the chanting instruction I proceeded...

"Le chant de Roma" I chanted, the same tone how Lacrimosa stated it before, and then in my hand, the dagger 'Grendel' became something else entirely. A 'Chakram' so to say... but, in their little monkey dreams. I would like to describe it more vividly... It's like the 'Mirror Wheel Eye' actually, also known as the 'Sharingan', but a large weapon which I think is long-ranged.

From a dagger, It suddenly became a circular blade, almost like the shuriken of old but relatively larger with three surrounding larger blades that took the form of number nines encrusted in a circle perfectly distanced from each other. I think the size was half of Shiro but it was light as ever. It maintained its colors of both black and crimson and at the diameter of the round weapon, the handle came to be.

"Nice isn't it? Hades did have a legendary blacksmith to do it from its interior."

"Can't argue about that, but... Shiro, would you come down here for a moment!"

"Yes! Oni chama!" Shiro then signaled the Pegasus to let her down and it was so. I think Shiro has the innate capability to befriend mythical creatures at this point.

"Hmmm??? What are you planning now?" the goddess with an evil smirk on her face and cold eyes asked...

Then as the flying horse's heel touched the ground, so did Shiro, jumping out from the back of the befriended creature facing me with all curiosity of why I called her while her face expressed the unequivocal joy of her most recent joy ride around the nominal place.

"What is it, oni-chama?"

" Want to have this? This here, is Grendel" I then presented to her, the weapon 'Grendel' but still in its secondary form, the chakram.

"Hey! Are you serious?!" Lacrimosa, as though knowing my plan began to rant in a very noisy way.

"Giving a child a weapon of this caliber is absolute madness," she added, but not in a harsh way, as though interested as to why I resorted to such.

"I don't need it."

"Heeee???"

"Even before I came here, I am well-equipped... All I need is my pen's jet black ink and I'm good to go. I can make my own weapon and it's not limited to only having two forms. " I don't mean to sound cool, but it's what I think is rational. If I were to have this weapon, it would be great but it would likely destroy the purpose of me choosing my paradigm of utter manipulation of bleak things. besides, I can't just focus all ends meet to myself while Shiro walks about in an all 'easy-go-lucky' warfare... sarcastically speaking of course. It's best if she would have a weapon with her, given that I don't know how her paradigm really works.

"Painstakingly, I'm having a hard time understanding a nimrod of your level, an expert at that!"

"Oh, there's no need for you to understand me. That's one hard and time-consuming work, and anything but that for someone like you."

As I and Lacrimosa began to throw off waste sound arguments, Shiro began to examine the weapon herself even reading the weirdly limited description.

"So what do you think of it, Shiro? It's nice, isn't it? I would like you to hold into it, to protect yourself okay?"

"Hai! Oni-chama!" she answered as if she knew how serious I really am.

"Shall we try it then?" I suggested, without taking into account the plausible harm it could bring to Shiro... Yet, I don't know why but I'm somewhat confident...and it's one weird gut feeling.

"Hey, all that is needed d to do is throw it right? And it will come back to the hands of the user" I asked the insulted goddess.

"Basically, but it would take an enormous amount of dexterity to catch it. Normally, I would not recommend you using it here, but it's a kid, so I guess it should be fine. Try hard to not break anything, especially the painting... Or else, I will-"

Shiro, feeling the urgent impulse to try it out, threw it as Lacrimosa is still speaking some words of warning. The said chakram as though thrown by a giant came adrift to the vast emptiness and slashed across a few of the crystal chandeliers obliterating it into bits and debris of discrepant sizes came falling down making the realm shook in its own accord.

From its fast-phased rotation gushed forth strong and aggressive winds that dented anything on its way. And then, the chakram having lost all of its resistance to continue forward rotated 160 degrees to return to the point where it came from with momentum still enough to break a chandelier or two. I was worried for a bit but, the kid as though catching a thrown frisbee seized it without any difficulty. A mere Childs' play.

"Hey... Tell me, where did you get this kid again?" the Goddess being reluctant of the damage and focusing all of her blatant curiosity in the happy driven girl, asked...

"Hey, don't make it sound that I bought her from a meat market," I answered as if I was a proud parent or something... Could she be in fact a prodigy? At this point, I don't know. All I know is that my eyebrows won't cease from raising. First was as to how she conveniently set up her paradigm without asking for assistance. And now, throwing and catching a dangerous mythical weapon with her fragile-looking arms which is thinner than the blades itself, even going so far as to get the attention of such a frivolous deity.

"Shiro, how was it?"

"It's nice oni-chama... tehee, but it's big, I can't carry something like this oni-chama, I'm only gonna slow you down", she replied.

"Don't worry Shiro... You can make it handy by chanting another magic word."

"What magic word oni-chama? 'Open Sesame"?"

"Ahahahah... No. it's 'Le Chant de Roma'"

"Hai oni-chama... 'Le Chanto de Roma" the little girl in Japanese accent chanted, and the chakram re metamorphosed to its primary state, a callous looking dagger which Lacrimosa named 'Grendel'. A wolf in a dog's clothing, so to say...

"Wooahhhhhh!!!!" Shiro marveled as she began to be flabbergasted by the fact that she is to have the weapon herself the same as to have a new toy.

"Keep it with you always ok? And be careful in walking around with that"

"Hai! oni-chama. Mondainaidesu!" (English: Yes! oni-chama. No problem!"

"Yosh Yosh! Shall we go now? Say your bye-bye to Pegasus-san... Aunt Lacrimosa has some cleaning to do, isn't that right??" I somewhat insulted her again, but this time it was of no effect.

"Huh? I think you're misunderstanding something here..." And then with as little as a little flicker,

everything has gone back to the way it should be, as though nothing has ever happened, with the Goddess not resorting to a superfluous effort of cleaning up the mess. The broken crystal chandeliers once again assembled itself with unseen hand and the dents the wind left on the floor began to fix itself as though there were some auto-fixing microch.i.p.s there...Well, it's a realm of her own design so it's her will that would be prioritized in this place...

"You got anything to say?", the goddess with a deride expression asked while clapping her hands in the same fashion as someone do after cleaning the dust off a window.

"We're leaving," I answered with a half-assed face.

"Hmmmmm... Hahahahahaa!" the goddess laughed her soul out, while I and Shiro slowly jumped off a warp gate leading outside.

As my business with Lacrimosa was brought to fruition, I and Shiro found ourselves in the third realm once more.

Get as much experience as we can... Reconcile at a small town located in the west... That was the plan...Ok here goes nothing.