The Principle of a Philosopher by Eternal Fool “Asley”

We went around the gigantic hole left behind by the Pochi Pad Breath, heading toward the center of the overflowing arcane energy.

Our mental exhaustion is bound to hold us back some, but the same thing could be said for the Devil King, what with him not being fully resurrected yet.

“Rise! Storeroom!”

I reached into the Storeroom and took out the Awakening Stone I had received from Polco.

“That’s… a Philosopher’s Stone!”

Lylia looked at me, surprised.

As I’d guessed, the ‘Philospher’s Stone’ name is apparently what the Elves call this thing. After all, that’s what Tūs called it, too.

I nodded to Lylia and started drawing a fixed-position type Craft Circle.

“Rise! Limit Breakthrough!”

Putting the Awakening Stone in the center of the Limit Breakthrough Craft Circle, the Circle glowed, signifying the magecraft’s invocation.

…All right, this should work without any problem.

“Everyone, stand on this Circle. We’ve just been through a big battle — our levels must have gone up at least a little.”

All three nodded and approached the Craft Circle.

The light circled around everyone, ringing the level-up chime in their heads.

That includes me as well, of course…

All right, time for one last check. First off, Giorno… let’s see here…

GIORNO

TITLES: 

–Iron Heart

–Wind Deity

–The Strong

–Sword Deity

–Dragon Slayer

–Holy Warrior

–Hero of the Nation

–Apostle Slayer

–Star of Sodom

LV: 255

HP: 82,791

MP: 50,710

EXP: 651,339,032

SPECIAL SKILLS: 

–Support Magic (Advanced)

–Recovery Magic (Advanced)

–Fortify Strength

–Fortify Resilience

–Fortify Mind

–Blinding Speed

–Flight

–High-frequency Blade

–Earth Splitter

–Flash Thrust

–Brave Blade

One look is enough to tell me just how many monsters he’s killed over the past two years.

If I remember correctly, back during our first meeting, each of them had 400 million EXP. That’s the total amount of what they’d gained from their births up to that point. Considering how they’d accumulated half of that amount if just two years, they must have been through a lot of bloodsheds.

It’s very Giorno-ish to not let that show, staying as carefree as ever.

And now he’s a Hero of the Nation, huh… Probably got that from when we fought against Bathym’s army.

As for his title of Star of Sodom, that’s probably from his leadership role in the town.

Now then… how’s Lylia’s list look?

LYLIA

TITLES:

–Iron Heart

–The Swift

–Diamond Senses

–Sword Deity

–Dragon Slayer

–Holy Warrior

–Heavenly Beast Tamer

–Hero of the Nation

–Apostle Slayer

–Bloody Ogre

LV: 256

HP: 92,886

MP: 30,993

EXP: 660,921,703

SPECIAL SKILLS: 

–Support Magic (Skilled)

–Fortify Strength

–Fortify Resilience

–Fortify Mind

–Tempest

–Light Body

–Earth Splitter

–Smash-slash

–Aerial Dancer

–Smiting Flash

Basically the same as Giorno, but her level is higher… probably because she’s more carnage-hungry.

One of her titles is… Bloody Ogre? What in the– well, on second thought, I suppose that’s self-explanatory enough.

…Hmm? I’ve noticed this for some time now, but it seems that once one learned the ‘Fortify Strength’ and ‘Fortify Resilience’ special skills, they’d gain the title of ‘The Strong.’ Similarly, learning ‘Temptest’ and ‘Light Body’ would get them ‘The Swift.’

And it looks like once their Fortify Strength and Fortify Resilience got to a higher level, the title turns into ‘Diamond Senses’ instead.

There’s also Giorno’s case where he has the ‘Wind Deity’ title since he knows the skills ‘Blinding Speed’ and ‘Flight.’

All that serves as solid proof that titles could be gained from special skills.

Which reminds me, I think Pochi’s supposed to have the Wind Deity title as well… Let’s see here…

POCHI

TITLES:

–Advanced Familiar

–The Powerful

–Avian

–Advanced Mage

–One Who Requires Earplugs

–Godparent

–Sweet Tooth

–The One Raised by the Fool

–Wind Deity

–The Strong

–Ancient Slayer

–Sweets (Tentative)

–Violet Phoenix

–Holy Warrior’s Familiar

–SS Slayer

–Heavenly Beast’s Mother

–Archetype Error

–Iron Heart

–Familiar Chalice Champion

–Hero of the Nation (Legit)

–Dragon Slayer

–Heifer (Tentative)

–Twice a Miss Popular

–Pocchie Mask

LV: 252

HP: 72,091

MP: 28,044

EXP: 595,028,921

SPECIAL SKILLS:

–Breath Attack (Zenith)

–Air Claw

–Gigantification

–Blinding Speed

–Fortify Strength

–Flight

–Fortify Resilience

–Attack Magic (Advanced)

–Support Magic (Advanced)

–Recovery Magic (Advanced)

–Arcane Drain

–Fortify Mind

I knew it. It’s even in the same spot the older title originally was, considering the order in which she’d learned her skills.

She also got a title for winning the Familiar Chalice. This one ought to give her quite a good boost.

Is it just me, or is the ‘legit’ Hero of the Nation titles a result of her insistence on being recognized? 

Now she’s got the Dragon Slayer title, too… Probably from the time we went to mine Drynium Ore, during which she killed those Hydras.

I mean, she must’ve had already defeated at least a few Dragon-archetype monsters by then, but she didn’t have the title last time I checked. Maybe it has to be a high-level Dragon monster, or one that’s appropriately high enough relative to her level.

Heifer… yeah, that’s totally on me. I’ll juuust keep it a secret from her.

And Twice a… what!? How!? Is this because she’d been wooed by Weldhun and Haiko?

Considering that, her career as Pocchie Mask, the hero of justice, might end up being quite… miserable.

Anyway, time to cast a reflection spell on my glasses… there.

ASLEY

TITLES:

–The Eternal Fool

–Hermit Candidate

–Zenith Mage

–High-class Alchemist

–Staff Deity

–Six Archmages (Tentative)

–Honored Teacher

–Rank S

–Top Student

–Papa

–SS Slayer

–Guardian Mage (Tentative)

–The Swift

–Ancient Slayer

–Devil King (Tentative)

–Thousand Magician

–Holy Warrior

–Heavenly Beast’s Father

–Champion’s Master

–Hero of the Nation

–Iron Heart

–Diamond Senses

–Holy Emperor’s Father (Tentative)

–Investigator

–Apostle Slayer

–Airwalker

–Dragon Slayer

–Dreamgrasper

–Revenger

–Victor of Three Heavens

–Instructor of Prodigies

–Three-Devil Reaper

LV: 252

HP: 63,121

MP: 392,207

EXP: 582,201,012

SPECIAL SKILLS:

–Attack Magic (Zenith)

–Support Magic (Zenith)

–Recovery Magic (Zenith)

–Purification (Skilled)

–Fortify Strength

–Fortify Resilience

–Tempest

–Light Body

–Fortify Mind

I’ve been working with Pochi to raise our levels as much as possible, and now, finally, we don’t have to worry about being underleveled compared to Giorno and Lylia anymore.

Goes to show how far Pochi and I have come, I suppose.

Aside from all magic disciplines reaching the Zenith level, nothing has changed about my special skills.

Titles, though… there’s quite a lot more of them now. How?

My Great Mage title’s been changed to… Zenith Mage. Man, I’m SO gonna brag about this to everyone when I get home… IF I get home.

And Staff Deity… Guess that means I’ve gotten better at wielding staves as weapons, too.

Champion’s Master — the achievement’s all on Pochi. I’ll praise her a bit later.

Iron Heart must me from my upgraded Fortify Mind. Giorno and Lylia have it, too. AND I’ve got Diamond Senses as well, so cool.

But… why am I a Holy Emperor’s Father now? Is it because Leon’s time with me was so emotionally impactful to him? It’s been so long, there’s probably no way of investigating that now.

And speaking on investigations, I also got a title for that… Is it because I solved the mysterious issue that had been plaguing the Adams and Fulbright households? The latter half of that fiasco ended up being more heavy lifting than sleuthing, though… but hey, at least the title doesn’t sound bad.

Apostle Slayer is… self-explanatory. Fought a few ever since we’d moved to Sodom. Pochi never killed one, though, so she doesn’t get the title.

Airwalker is… also self-explanatory. But really, I’d never expected using arcane energy platforms to be able to bring me that high, that effectively.

I got Dragon Slayer, too, probably from the Hydras as well. My level had always been close to Pochi’s, which supports my appropriate-level theory.

Dreamgrasper should be from how I successfully obtained the Drynium Ore. It WAS quite an adventure, so I suppose that does warrant an impressive-sounding title.

…Where’d Revenger even come from, though? Is it from me giving a little beating to this era’s version of Shi’shichou? That’s the only thing I can think of, but it still doesn’t make sense…

Victor of Three Heavens — sounds super cool. Pretty sure I got this just now, from that tough-as-nails fight. This is probably one of those titles that only a select few and-or weirdly adventurous people can obtain.

Instructor of Prodigies… from my two apprentices, Bright and Ferris? The pair could definitely be considered prodigies, true. Without any favoritism, they ARE the best students I’ve had so far.

The last one on the list, though… it’s strange. Really, Three-Devil Reaper? Why does it sound so scary? And not to mention, it just happened a few minutes ago!

I’ll complain to the Devine Messenger the next time he appears. Yup, I definitely will.

“Everyone is done now, I believe?”

In response to Lylia’s question, everyone nodded.

I put away the Awakening Stone and erased the Craft Circle, then I noticed Pochi sitting down on the ground near me.

We’ve lived our lives to the fullest in this era of antiquity.

I’d been told to devote myself to my studies… and I’m sure I’ve been doing exactly that.

Doing what I can at the moment — that’s how it’s worked for me this whole time.

So now, I just have to do what I can, too…!

I gave Pochi a pat on the head, then proceeded to make the final preparations.

“Rise, A-rise! All Up: Count 4 & Remote Control!”

“Mm, thanks a bunch, Poer!”

“This wave of energy feels as if it’s trying to tear me apart. He’s here… any moment now.”

Lylia isn’t even hiding how nervous she is.

And she’s right — we really are standing against a wave of arcane energy that powerful.

“I-is it just me, or is the air… distorted? Hahaha…”

“It’s not just you, Shiro. It’s dark, like blood… you’re sure to be terrified if you could see what I’m seeing.”

Physically distorting the air just by being there… Just what manner of creature is Devil King Lucifer, really?

“There–!”

Called to attention by Giorno’s shout, all of us looked where he was pointing.

What we saw there were blue-white flashing lights, not unlike lightning bolts.

A myriad of blue lights converged on a single point, and then burst apart.

Surrounding it is a gigantic pit, not unlike the one my Pochi Pad Breath had left behind.

In the center of the pit, floating in the air, is a vortex of… darkness. The dark mass, the size of about one standard Devil, had smaller, cloud-like masses of darkness moving smoothly along its surface.

“Was this pit formed when… the Devil King first resurrected…?”

Lylia looked down the pit, which seemed to have been dug up by the spherical dark mass.

The surface of the pit isn’t so smooth, though, so we probably can go down safely… but if it’s the Devil King that inside that mass, going in carelessly would be our funeral.

“Seems like it to me…”

Giorno drew his sword and muttered, seeming to have sensed the uneasiness showing on my face.

Lylia did the same, of course.

Even Pochi had already gigantified by now.

Everyone must have felt equally just how dangerous this thing we’re facing is.

Yeah. That thing’s probably a shell, or a vehicle of shorts. The Devil King is most likely in there.

“”HAAAHHH!””

Everyone invoked all their self-enhancing special techniques.

I started up some Giving Magic spells, and then…

“Rise, A-rise, A-rise…! Everyone! Let’s go big from the start!”

“”RIGHT!””

At my signal, everyone began inducing their whole bodies with arcane energy.

“I bring down judgment in the name of God! My mind, my skill, my power, my life’s destiny, all embodied in this blade! Smiting Flash!!”

“Brave Blade!!”

“KAAAHHHHHH!!”

“We’ve got to blow that shell apart! Pochi Pad Laser!!”

We launched our first strikes against the Devil King, whose face we couldn’t even see.

Immediately upon impact, we heard the sound of the ‘shell’ cracking.

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