DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN ARIFURETA.

ARC I: ORCUS GREAT LABYRINTH — Part 01

—»O«—

The death throes that the massive Demonic Beast known as Behemoth echoed soon ceased. The stone bridge made a huge rattling noise as it crumbled. Nagumo Hajime disappeared into the abyss along with the rubble. That sight played in slow motion and it filled her with despair.

Kaori was a typical pretty girl about 17 years old. She had long glossy black hair that reached her waist, and large slightly weeping eyes that conveyed a sense of gentleness. She had a straight bridge nose that was small, and thin lips of Sakura colors arranged to perfection. A girl with the endless smile, she is very caring and has a strong sense of responsibility that often people, regardless of the school year, rely on her help. She is always seen with a sincere expression without any unpleasantness, which is why it is hard to believe she was just a high school student.

At that moment, however, the usually gentle girl was anything but. She was in hysteria as she tried to break the holds on her body by her friends, who were also summoned into this other world called Tortus to fight a war against Demons, which didn't have any relation with them whatsoever.

In her head, the previous night's event repeatedly played in her mind. In the room illuminated by the moonlight, she sat here chatting with Hajime while they drank the fake black tea. That was the first time they had talked so in depth with each other. Being driven by her nightmares, she paid a sudden visit to Hajime. Even if he was surprised, he had talked to her truthfully.

After a bit, she noticed that talking to him had erased her uneasiness. She returned to her room in a jubilant mood. When she arrived back at her room, she noticed how boldly she was dressed and she writhe in shame. Kaori felt depressed because Hajime had not even reacted, in her eyes, to her looks. She felt she had no appeal. When Kaori saw Shizuku caught her making a funny facial expression, she wanted to pretend it never happened.

On that night, the most important occurrence was the promise she made to "protect Hajime". The promise that Hajime mentioned to relieve Kaori of her anxiety, but Hajime disappeared into the abyss, as she stared at him, doing nothing and breaking her promise. She kept recalling that memory over and over again. Somewhere in the distance, a scream can be heard. When Kaori noticed that the voice belonged to her, she grimaced as she was quickly brought back to reality.

"Let me go! I need to go to Nagumo-kun!"

Yaegashi Shizuku and Amanogawa Kouki had to restrain her because Kaori looked like she would just jump after him.

Yaegashi Shizuku was Kaori's best friend. Her trademark was her long black hair done in a ponytail. Her slightly slitted eyes were sharp, but in the depths, there is a feeling of softness, this gives her the impression of being cool rather than cold. She was tall for a girl at 172 cm, her posture and physique was very dignified and it was similar to how a samurai was. In fact, her family is in ownership of a Kenjutsu(Sword Art) dojo. Shizuku herself is a veteran of her family style. Since she was a child, she had never lost in a tournament. Currently, she appears in magazines as the "Beautiful Swordswoman", she even has some diehard fans. Back in their normal life in their original world, the underclasswomen would call her "Onee-sama (big sister)" because of their admiration.

Meanwhile, Amanogawa Kouki was a boy who could be called the stereotypical popular boy with good looks, athletic body, a smart mind and good personality. He had silky brown hair and gentle eyes. His body was toned and slender at about 180 cm. Kouki was nice to everyone and had a very strong sense of justice. Since he was small he attended the Yaegashi Kenjutsu dojo. Like Shizuku, he was a national level athlete. Shizuku and he are childhood friends. Dozens of girls have fallen for him, but he is always close to Kaori and Shizuku so the other girls are hesitant to confess their feelings. Still, he was a very popular guy back in Japan, the boy who got confessed to at least twice a month from all over.

"I promised! I will…I said I will protect him! Let me go!"

While screaming like a possessed woman, Kaori displayed such extraordinary power that they wondered where she got such power and how could she display such an amount with her slender body. Unlucky for them, she used that power to break free from them. If she kept struggling like this, she might damage her body. Nevertheless, they could absolutely not let her go. If they released her, she would jump off the cliff. She did not have her usual calmness, not even a shadow of it, now she had such a frantic expression. No, it might be heartbreaking to say.

"Kaori! You can't! Kaori!"

Because Shizuku could understand Kaori's feelings, she could not find the right words to say. All she could do was calling out her name desperately.

"Kaori! Are you also trying to die? It's too late for Nagumo! Calm Down! You'll hurt yourself!"

Kouki tried to best to convey how worried he was of her. To the confused Kaori that was here and now, these were not the words to say to her.

"What do you mean by "too late"? Nagumo-kun is not dead yet! If I don't go, he is surely asking for assistance!"

Nagumo Hajime was a lost cause... at least this is what everyone else thought. He fell from the cliff into that dark abyss. The composure to accept that reality, the present Kaori did not have it. If anyone was to word it though, she would just deny it over and over again. Ryutaro and the other students did not what to do, so they stood there flustered.

At that moment, Meld approached them and struck Kaori in the back of her neck without saying anything. She jerked for a moment but this point is where this story diverged from how it should have progressed. Instead of falling unconscious, Kaori held her consciousness from falling into darkness. She showed why all countless women in the unlimited worlds were worthy of respect. She forced her consciousness to stay awake by sheer willpower alone.

Usually, women were looked down upon because they were physically weaker than men. However, women could become stronger than men when the situation called for it. Women could bear the burden of long nine months pregnancy and the dangerous process of delivering the newborn baby, something that truly shows the mettle of women. And at that moment, Kaori showed such willpower because she finally realized ... that she liked Nagumo Hajime, that she loved the weak boy with a very strong heart.

Kaori glared at the one who struck her, the Knight Commander Meld Loggins. Her silent glare screamed murder at him. When the veteran soldier saw that glare, he unconsciously took a step back, intimidated by the sheer intensity of the glare directed towards him by the usually harmless girl.

Hell hath no fury like women scorned, indeed!

"F-forgive me! I, I just tried to calm you." ...by knocking you out.

The Knight Commander continued in his mind, but his action was enough to speak his mind.

Kaori said nothing. The stinging pain from Meld's blow had cooled her frantic mind. She finally could think calmly, eerily. Of course, she still harbored intention to follow Hajime, but she realized she would get nowhere when these people kept hindering her.

At that moment, her mind worked in fast speed. She recalled how everything started. She realized that the friendly fire wasn't an incident. Well, there was a chance that it was really an incident, but her intuition said otherwise. She might be an airhead, not like she was aware of it, but she could become attentive person too. But, mostly, she was an airhead who couldn't read the atmosphere. However, for that moment, she wasn't.

She turned her gaze towards other students who was also dragged into this world. She saw none of them were worried about Hajime. They were flustered and in a state of shock because the tragic experience from earlier, but none of them, maybe, except Shizuku, felt worried over Hajime who fell from the bridge after he held back the Behemoth from killing them.

Realizing that, she felt sick.

"Are you going to knock me too, Amanogawa-kun? Yaegashi-san?"

Shizuku and Kouki blanched when Kaori's cold gaze was directed towards them. It was so different from her usual gentle gaze. The thin smile on her face also sent them to the edge. They couldn't help but feel uncomfortable feeling from that gaze and smile, and disturbed by the overly formal calling to their name. Because of that, they slackened their grips on Kaori's body.

It was a mistake.

That mistake would become the impetus that would change the outcome of everything.

When Kaori realized it was her chance, she slipped under their guard and dashed towards the hole.

"Wha?!"

"Kaori!?"

Kouki and Shizuku were shocked for a moment, they rooted on their spot for a split second, but that split second had created a distance between them and the unstable girl. Just like the show of extraordinary physical power from before, Kaori's speed was extraordinarily fast. When they snapped out of their daze, Kouki and Shizuku ran towards Kaori. They used «Ground Shrinker» skill to cut the distance between them and their target. However, they were already late.

Kaori jumped into the hole with a determined expression and eyes shining with unshakable resolve. Her gaze was straight ahead, unwavering as her body fell into darkness. Kouki could only gape mutely at Kaori's body, falling and disappearing into the darkness. His hand stretched forwards and his fingers spread open, grasping the empty space.

"KAORI!"

Shizuku released a shrill scream. She tried to jump down following her best friend, and Kouki had the same intention. However, they were stopped by Meld. They were knocked by the blow on their nape, and this time, the Knight Commander didn't hold back his blow. Not after what happened. He used his sheathed sword to knock them out.

And, the pandemonium erupted. The fragile foundation of their unity rattled.

—»O«—

Shirasaki Kaori and Nagumo Hajime had hidden for more than a day below ground. Long lines of dried tears marred her face and her sleeve was covered in snot. She had been crying silently, pleading wordlessly at the boy laying in front of her, holding onto the unmoving body on the ground, and healing him desperately. She pushed herself beyond her limits until her «Mana» dried up. She sacrificed even what she believed to be her life force, converting it into «Mana». But it wasn't enough. Hajime hadn't awoken yet, unconscious in front of her.

Hajime had a plain oriental face with black hair and also has a slim body. He also had a kind face and attitude. Even though he looked plain, Kaori had fallen in love with him. She fell in love with him because of his personality.

He was a weak and average person with a timid and tolerant personality, but with an extremely kind and gentle heart. While a bit of a "Herbivore", he had a special type of bravery and strength of heart that would allow him to sacrifice his own dignity and well-being to protect the child from harm even though he was against great odds. His inner strength was what made Kaori fallen in love with him.

To her, it would be easy to be a hero to fight against evil if one were already strong, but it takes true strength to go against evil if one knows that they are weak. This strength of heart is evidenced by his ability to keep calm when his class faced perilous dangers by a Behemoth, while Kouki had momentarily stood paralyzed by fear until snapped out of it by Hajime. He was also an honest person and had a Motto of "Hobbies First" and would put his hobbies over everything else despite ridicule by his peers.

She had met up with Hajime when she was attacked by a twin-tailed wolf that could use «Lighting Magic». She had found out that the Demonic Beasts in this place, a place she dubbed as the Abyss, were in the different dimension than the monsters she and her classmates had fought in the upper floors of the Dungeon. She could only protect herself with Holy Element Barrier Magic «Light Severance» and ran away from the powerful monster. When she had used all her «Mana» and «Mana Potion», she finally met the dead end.

At that time, she was sure that she would die before she could even find Hajime. Just before the wolf tore her body apart, Hajime came. He leaped and kicked the wolf before transmuting the ground and trapping the wolf in what apparently was a makeshift yet durable cage. After that, they had their reunion and Hajime brought her to his hidden place.

Kaori had been crying and pleading at the boy lying only a few feet away from her. She held onto the unmoving body on the ground, healing her desperately until her «Mana (Magic Energy)» almost dried up as she tried her best to keep him alive.

When her healing magic wasn't enough, Hajime was saved by what appeared to be water, dripping into his mouth from above. Kaori quickly cupped her hands together to collect some of the incandescent liquid and feed it to him. She had to give it to him, mouth to mouth, Hajime being weak and in an unconscious state to swallow by himself.

If she was still the former Shirasaki Kaori who hadn't experienced the despair in the abyss, she would be delighted for the action. However, her mind only took priority on Hajime's survival, their survival.

The brutality of the abyss had robbed her innocent.

When some of the liquid accidentally spilled down her throat, a warm feeling began to spread from her abdomen to her aching, tired muscles. Her «Mana-reserve» had become full almost immediately and recovered her life force bit by bit as well.

Hajime was still laying on the floor, at least, his ragged breathing finally calming.

Kaori gaze fell to his left arm. No, at the stump that remained of it. Taken from him, and eaten, after he pushed her out of the way, away from the attacking Demonic Beast, out of the path of that Demon Bear's attack. It was her fault Hajime had lost his arm. This shouldn't have happened. It was wrong. Hajime, the boy she loved, shouldn't have been maimed because of her mistake. She had promised to keep him safe, and yet her carelessness had harmed Hajime.

This tragedy started when they had looked upon the spectacle of one demonic bunny laying waste to several twin-tailed wolves that threw lightning at it to no avail. The bunny's form kept appearing and reappearing, traveling in a zigzag pattern, dodging paws, teeth and lightning strikes. A popping sound and a wolf-head stuck at an odd angle, convinced her of which creature proved the most menacing.

Caught off guard, they yelped. Because of that, the demonic bunny snapped its head towards the duo, the other wolves escaping into the depths of the dungeon, fleeing with their tails tucked between their legs. It then tilted its head, almost cutely, but Kaori could only feel a sense of impending doom.

Unable to even move, she just stood there, looking stupidly in its direction. Then, its figure vanished, but a shadow filled her blurry vision. It was when Hajime had blocked the attack and fell against her. Holding onto him, Kaori returned her attention to the demon beast. It just stood there, a few meters from them, maw agape, quivering in apparent dread. Her gaze followed the demon bunny's line of sight, staring at a gigantic white-furred bear demon — named Claw Bear — in terror.

The bear trained its eyes on the trio, seemingly looking down on them, standing over two meters. It snorted then suddenly dashed forward, passing her and Hajime. The demonic bunny was attempting to flee, but its flight was cut short.

Helping Hajime stand, she noticed his left arm dangling from his elbow like a long rubber tube. She immediately tried to heal it. When she saw where his gaze was directed at, she followed his gaze and saw the demonic bear munching, quite noisily in fact, at the remains of the demonic bunny. It turned its head towards the two, and snorted, before returning its attention back towards its meal.

Kaori was feeling frantic now, urging Hajime to stand up and pulling at his shoulders. Her movement snapped him out of his daze. Her eyes darted from her companion to the bear and she barely registered its movement. The bear had swiped at her from afar, and only Hajime had realized the potential danger. He pushed her out of the way with both arms, and she fell unceremoniously on her behind.

At first, she was surprised. She was about to ask 'Why did you push me?' but no sound left her throat when she looked at him. The lower arm was severed by translucent blades shooting out the bear's claws. Hajime hadn't even noticed, looking at her strangely, before offering her the stump that used to be his left arm. She will probably never forget the faces he made during that moment, for the remaining of her life. First, the look of urgency, transforming into disbelief and then outright terror as his eyes fixated on the bloody mass at his elbow.

The demon bear leisurely made its way towards them, presumably having decided that these two little creatures that had wandered into its domain, were merely a tasty snack it could feast on. Possibly by pure chance, Hajime's arm had fallen towards the bear, and it picked the severed arm up with its claws and started chewing.

The sound of bones being crunched and flesh being torn filled in the cave, droning out even the splashes of the stream, as Kaori pushed them into the river, to get away from the unbeatable monster, to survive.

Kaori stomach grumbling returned her mind to the present. Her traumatized mind didn't react to her hunger. She heard Hajime stirring and her dull brown eyes looked into his direction again. There he lies, only a few feet from her, in a pool of his own blood. His figure was only visible because her eyes had slowly gotten used to the low level of light. The person who saved her life not once, but many times since coming into the dungeon, just remained face-down, breathing steadily. She felt pathetic. She had confidently promised to protect him, yet look at his condition. He was like this because of her. She wanted to cry, but her tears had long since dried. Her heart had shattered.

Her stomach made some unflattering sounds again. This time it was growling. She ignored it.

At that moment, Hajime was awoken by a low rumbling sound. It took him a few seconds to realize it was the sound of an empty stomach, and more seconds still, to realize it wasn't his own.

At first, Hajime wasn't certain of his surroundings. Wasn't even certain he had opened his eyes, judging by how dark it was. He noticed a familiar figure huddled next to him.

"...gumo-kun ..." the voice whispered in a barely audible, but familiar voice.

His mind was still groggy. Recent events all but erased from his mind, Hajime fell onto his side, as he tried to lean on his left arm. Something wet and slightly sticky stuck to his body. A smell of iron assaulted his nose and Hajime quickly tried to scuttle away from whatever he was laying in, falling face first into the jelly-like substance several times, every time he tried to transfer some weight on his left hand.

"Nagumo-kun!" the voice called again, a bit louder this time, concern apparent in her emotionless voice.

Yes, her voice.

Emotionless.

So alien.

It disturbed him.

He didn't think he could relate her emotionless voice with the gentle and cheerful Shirasaki Kaori back in Japan.

"Why am I still ..." Hajime started to ask, as a shimmering silvery drop fell onto his face, flowing into his mouth. Vigor filled his body for the briefest of moments. Hajime looked up, looking for where the drop had come from.

Kaori apparently heard his unfinished question and produced one of the vials she had filled with the liquid and held it towards him.

"This saved you. My healing magic isn't enough. It dropped into your mouth and you seemed to be getting better. I collected some and forced you to drink it," reported Kaori with dull, almost robotic voice.

Hajime took hold of the vial and studied its content. The silvery liquid gave off a faint glow, barely fighting against the dark. It brought a modicum of light into the darkness. But this light in the darkness had healed his injuries, no, it had stabilized him when he was already in death's jaws, had allowed him to survive.

"We should figure out where it's coming from ..."

...and I don't wanna stay here, Hajime finished the sentence in his mind, deliberately avoiding looking at the pool of blood, as he began using his one remaining arm, pressing the hand, a fingerless glove with an inscribed Magic circle, against it, to transmute the ceiling the liquid leaked out of.

"Hai," Kaori agreed in monotone.

Inwardly, she was happy Hajime was awake and happier still he spoke to her. It was her fault that Hajime lost his arm. Guilt and grief threatened to overwhelm her again. She needed to be tougher, needed to stop being a burden for him.

Hajime began his work immediately. He was glad Kaori at least looked fine. No, she was far from fine. As the matter of fact, the abyss had affected her and shattered her innocence. He wanted to console her, let her crying and releasing her grief and sorrow. But, he knew, it wasn't the time. They needed to survive. He needed to keep both of them alive in this hell.

Unbeknownst to the both of them, the other had become a vital support of their fragile psyche. Making sure Shirasaki Kaori remains alive became his mission, and vice-versa. The last strand of Kaori's sanity depended on him to keep it together. She couldn't see him breaking down, or she would turn worse than her current state. She couldn't see him lament over the loss of his arm, as it would break her. No, she was already broken. But, he wouldn't let her more than that.

He needed to protect her, needed to protect them both, protecting each other, just like their promise on that night.

And for Kaori, having seen the cold hard reality of the dungeon, watching Hajime almost being killed by that demon bear, and then slowly bleeding out, right in front of her, broke her, shattered her mind, almost. What would she have to do to keep both of them alive? What could she do, really? Hajime had managed to survive. He had taken charge during the incident with the Behemoth and basically saved the whole class. He saved her when she was almost killed by the wolves after she jumped down the abyss, following him. He saved her from the demonic-bunny and the demon-beast-bear. And the most important of all, he saved her from being utterly destroyed.

He had enough, and she needed to do something. She couldn't always be protected by him. She needed to protect him too. But, what she could do? She could only heal and make a low-level barrier. It wasn't enough. She needed to contribute something.

Unaware of Kaori's inner turmoil, Hajime continued for a few meters before tunneling around the area he suspected the liquid originated from. His «Transmutation» skills had increased slightly, and whenever he ran out of «Mana», he had a few drops of the "miraculous liquid" and it replenished his stamina and magical energy.

Kaori was following behind him, not letting him leave her sight. Not a hard task considering they were in a tunnel, barely fifty centimeters in diameter. Finally, they reached a small pool of the silvery liquid, barely a radius of 10 centimeters. The more interesting thing was the stone emitting an aquamarine glow atop the pool.

The ore, about the size of a basketball, seemingly leaked the liquid, producing it in its center.

A certain legend resurfaced from Hajime's memories. Something he read in the library while arming himself with knowledge of this world.

"«Divinity Stone»?" Hajime muttered more to himself.

"You know what that is?" Kaori asked, slightly surprised he would know something like this. She scrutinized his face as she waited for her answer, trying to find something to help her with her dilemma.

"I read about it in the library, the god supposedly used it to heal his followers," answered Hajime off-handedly.

Kaori nodded, impressed by her love interest's knowledge, but the feeling was quickly replaced by guilt. She felt inferior and useless. She couldn't contribute to their survival. She desperately tried to find something, to help her. Then, she saw Hajime's thoughtful expression. She could see the exhaustion and mounting stress.

Exhaustion...

Stress...

Relief...

If Kaori was her former self, she would feel embarrassed and mortified by where her train of thought goes. But not the current her. Then, Kaori's gaze towards Hajime had changed. An unknown glint had entered her eyes. A glint he couldn't notice since he was fixated on the crystal before him.

Then a beast-like growl sounded in the tunnel.

Hajime looked from the crystal, straight ahead onto the wall, leaned his head to one side, before shaking it and turning towards the origin of the sound.

Shirasaki Kaori still had her flat expression, but there was red hue smearing her pale, sunken cheeks. She looked downwards, refusing to meet Hajime's eyes.

Perhaps due to fate or the whim of a "benevolent god", Hajime's stomach also made a sound.

"Right, I guess we should find something to eat first."

—»O«—

Writhing in pain, Kaori felt helpless. Flashbacks of her first menstruation and the accompanying stomach cramps could not compare but were a close to second to how she felt right now.

Unknown times have passed since the incident in the bridge with that Behemoth. Neither Hajime nor Kaori could keep with the time. Their mind was focusing on to hold back the pain from the feeling of starvation. It was new experience, excruciating and full of anguish for both of them.

As usual, the day had started so well. As well as the hellish environment in the abyss can present. But, everything wasn't perfect. Life was unfair, cruel even. But, the abyss took it to next dimension.

Hajime had used his Synergist class skills to enlarge the place where they had discovered «Divinity Stone». He transmuted a 6 Tatami-sized room and a stone bowl under the crystal to collect the drops of potion it dispensed. But these were not the only preparations Hajime and Kaori had taken.

Sure of the danger this level of the dungeon presented, Hajime made certain that both he and Kaori had access to at least one vial of potion each. The staff Kaori managed to keep would likely turn out useless in defending from the monsters inhabiting the dungeon, but it could prove handy as a focus for her White Magic: Healing and Barrier. The needed to spare the "miraculous liquid" Hajime dubbed as «Ambrosia». At least, Kaori felt useful but not much, not enough to change her plan to contribute to their survival.

Meanwhile, Hajime had made sure to study botanical books when he was still in the castle, searching for useful and edible plants. He wasn't certain if the ecosystem in the dungeon could provide any edible flora, but when they fell down they landed close to a river. River meant water, water meant fish. And fish should be edible. So, with preparations finished and plans set up, Hajime and Kaori made off to leave the safety of their tunnel.

Kaori held back the pain of starvation. She pushed forwards. She followed Hajime silently, her worn out staff in her right hand while her left hand gripped stone dagger tightly. The dagger was something Hajime had created, together with another makeshift weapon.

To be useful for Nagumo-kun, that mantra kept repeating in her mind.

When they hunted for food, they saw something unbelievable. They doubted their eyes as they saw a familiar face, twisted in despair, as the owner was in the death's maw, mutilated, and in the middle of three wolves' encirclement.

Yaegashi Shizuku.

She was down in the abyss.

Why?

—»O«—

Footnote:

And, the first chapter of my Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest fanfiction I humbly presented to you guys. This story is inspired by Jackie Avocado's Arifureta SI fanfiction and Arifureta with "what if Hajime wasn't alone in the Abyss" scenario I read in Japtem. For you Arifuretamania, expect a different outcome from canon Arifureta. The more hardcore version of our favorite Demon King's entourage! The more crazy head-reaping rabbits! And crazy shenanigans!

As you can read, Kaori's involvement in abyss will wreck the canon. You can see how they met Shizuku in abyss and Kaori's change. What next? Well, you must wait.

Please don't forget to leave your review.