(RAA) Chapter 1: Accelerator!

Chapter 1: Accelerator!

AN: I just got bored and decided to write something other than DxD in the spur of the moment, I haven’t the faintest idea as to what I’m doing with this, but if you want to give me some basic feedback then that’d be nice. Maybe it’ll be a continued story, maybe not.

If you want a basic summary, it’s an MC reincarnated as Accelerator in Danmachi. If you have further questions, just comment them below.

The story will probably be called "Danmachi: Reborn As Accelerator"

At least here you'll have something to read while I do the weekly releases for TPD. So that's cool I guess.

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The Labyrinth City, Orario.

A city that had been built above a massive labyrinth called “The Dungeon”, a place homed to a near infinite variety of monsters, loot, and mysteries simply waiting to be explored.

A massive tower by the name of “Babel” had been erected over the core of the Dungeon, smack-dab in the center of the city for both visitors and residents alike to marvel at.

And among those residents, stood a young man leaning against a wall near the Market Area, wearing a harrowed look on his face as he looked up at the moving clouds.

“Yeah, I’m definitely not dreaming,” he muttered to himself as he breathed a hearty sigh, having pinched himself multiple times which had drawn a fair amount of stares his way.

Reincarnation; the concept of a soul being reborn in another body.

That’s what he had been subjected to, for better or for worse.

It hadn’t happened in the usual fashion, where one would meet some sort of omnipotent being and be briefed on what was going to happen to them, maybe even receiving a few boons for the road.

It had happened in the blink of an eye, literally.

One minute he was minding his business, and the next he was here.

No warning, no premature death, it hadn’t even happened in his sleep.

His name was Noah Crofton, a 30 year old Mathematician from Earth. Fairly accomplished in his field, but unfortunately not accomplished enough to receive something like Fields Medal, the highest honor someone in his field could achieve.

He had been a fan of fiction works as a pastime, predominately in his youth. Including works such as “Danmachi”, and “A Certain Magical Index.” The latter of which he was especially fond of for its heavy inclusion of science in a battle fantasy setting, and the former for the charming world it had created.

Even if the nature of the protagonist had left much to be desired.

He looked down, staring at his own reflection in a lone puddle that laid atop the brick flooring.

He sported the appearance of a skinny teen, with strikingly pale skin almost to a vampiric degree, moppy white hair that was about chin-length, and bright red eyes coupled with a static menacing expression.

The appearance of “Accelerator”, the strongest Esper in the Index series.

He even had the constantly grating voice to go with the look, and the striped white and gray sweater he wore that confused onlookers fashion-wise.

However, he wasn’t wearing the Calculation Assistance Device, or CAD that Accelerator needed after getting shot.

In other words, he was fortunate enough not to be a cripple.

As for his powers, well, he wasn’t exactly sure what to think of them at the moment.

Accelerator’s power was Vector Manipulation, which as the name would suggest allowed him to control vectors, being magnitude and direction, and influence objects that have vectors such as heat, bullets, and electricity.

It was an unbelievably powerful ability, one that allowed Accelerator to passively redirect pretty much anything without needing to even move a muscle. Making him effectively invulnerable.

However, while Noah had this sort of “gut-feeling” that he could interact with the objects around him in such a manner, his influence didn’t feel as strong as he expected Accelerator’s to be, nor did he seem capable of setting up passive redirection.

There were only two conclusions he could draw from this.

One; he was stuck this way with no way to strengthen his ability, which he figured was extremely unlikely.

Or two; it was a result of him having not received Falna yet.

Falna was a blessing given by Gods and Goddesses to their familia members, granting them superhuman physical prowess, and the ability to gather Excelia to bolster their strength and level-up.

Excelia was what adventurers gathered by slaying monsters in the Dungeon, the amount they received dependant on the strength of the monster they defeated, and the difference in strength between them and said monster.

It was basically like EXP from a video game.

Noah’s assumption was that his ability to use Vector Manipulation needed to be “leveled up” in such a manner, meaning that he wasn’t fortunate enough to be as strong as the strongest Esper right from the get-go.

But before worrying about that, Noah had a much more immediate problem that required his attention.

He was penniless, lacking both a roof over his head and food to satiate his hunger.

Groooowwllll!

The latter of which appeared to be already acting up.

Earning Valis, which was the currency used in Orario, didn’t seem to be much of an option either since not only did he doubt he was capable of monster-slaying as he was, but the Guild also had complete control over the entrance to the Dungeon. A place where only adventures registered with the Guild were allowed to enter.

And without joining a Familia and receiving Falna, he couldn’t become an adventurer.

(AN: This isn’t explicitly stated in Danmachi, but I just thought it was logical.)

‘I’m not too sure about housing, since the price for a decent home in Orario is said to be a whopping 800,000 Valis. However, I should be able to solve the hunger problem.’

His eyes wandered throughout the Market Area, eventually landing on a Fruit Vendor who seemed to be preoccupied haggling with a customer.

‘Sorry, but my stomach demands I do this.’

He walked past the stall, not making any eye-contact with the owner whatsoever as he reached his right hand out.

A single apple flew into his hand, which he hurriedly stuffed into his pocket and continued to walk away from the stall at an even pace.

‘I don’t need Falna to use my laughably weak Vector Manipulation, that must mean it’s counted as Congenital Magic,’ he mused as he waited until he was far enough from the local stalls to pull out the apple and start munching on it.

Congenital Magic was inherent, which was granted depending on one’s ability and race.

Acquired Magic on the other hand, was given through the Falna one received from their God or Goddess.

Magic required something called “Mind” to be cast, which was basically Mana. If you ran out of it, you’d more likely than not succumb to physical exhaustion, or a condition called “Mind Down.”

Noah wasn’t sure how much Mind he had, but the civil district of Orario certainly wasn’t the place to find out.

‘I’m not sure where Hestia is at the moment, actually I’m not even sure what the current timeframe is either. However, it’s still an option I should keep at the back of my mind.’

There were obviously more established Familia’s in Orario, and having a proper home was far more appealing to him than a run-down abandoned church.

Still, he couldn’t deny that there was a certain appeal to starting from completely nothing.

…

Time continued to pass by, an orange sky taking over the pale blue signaling that sunset had arrived.

Noah had found himself at the doorstep of a place he recognised, a well-known pub called the “Hostess of Fertility”, run by the semi-retired former Captain of the Freya Familia, Mia Grand.

‘I might as well poke my head in just for a bit and try to get some information.’

The bell attached to the top of the doorframe rang the second he stepped inside, a woman with bluish-gray hair fashioned in a ponytail instantly approaching him with a welcoming smile on her face.

She wore a white and green maid outfit, and held an empty silver plate in her hands.

“Welcome! There’s an empty seat right this way, if you’d please follow me.” She met him with a friendly demeanor and burning enthusiasm, evidently a hard-worker.

“Sorry, I’m not here for patronage. I’m just hoping you wouldn’t mind humoring a few questions of mine, I’m new to Orario.”

Noah knew that the woman in front of him went by the name Syr, or at least that’s who she was supposed to be.

He was fairly confident that there was something more to her character in the source material, but either his memory was failing him, or he hadn’t actually consumed enough of Danmachi to recall.

Having some knowledge was better than being a flat-out headless chicken.

Syr didn’t show any disappointment on her face upon hearing that, thankfully not offended by his loitering.

“I see! In that case I’d be more than happy to be of assistance, but before that, could I ask you one quick question in return?” She asked with an innocent smile.

“Of course,” granted, it was hard for Noah to sound amiable with a voice that made every word sound like a threat. Alongside a constant frown he wore on his face that he couldn’t seem to change no matter what he did.

“Are you here to become an adventurer by any chance?” Syr tilted her head to the left in a cute manner, her tone fluctuating a little.

“Something like that, I’m honestly just trying to find my bearings at the moment.”

“Really? I think you’d make a pretty good adventurer, you should consider it.”

Noah raised his brow.

“What makes you say that?”

“No particular reason, it’s just a hunch of mine, adventurers visit our pub constantly, and I think you’d fit in with them.”

Noah hummed, eventually discarding the comment as nothing but plain conversation.

“Maybe,” he shrugged. “Anyhow, I was wondering if you’ve met someone by the name of Bell Cranel? He looks like me, just a lot more adorable.”

“Bell Cranel?” Syr put a finger to her lower lip, trying to recall the name. “No, I don’t think I’ve met someone like that before. Should I know him?”

“No, he’s just an acquaintance of mine.” A one-sided acquaintance would be a much more accurate description. “If I did want to become an adventurer, what would be the best way of going about that?”

“Do you know what a Familia is?”

Since he had introduced himself as someone “new to Orario”, Noah figured he might as well play the character to the best of his abilities.

The Hostess of Fertility was an important location after all, there was no reason not to avoid arousing any sort of suspension with its staff.

Acting was also a useful skill to have in general, he figured he might as well train it up while he had the chance. Maybe it’d come in handy somewhere down the road.

“No, mind filling me in?”

“Of course! Familia’s are run by the Gods and Goddesses in Orario, you’ll need to join one if you want to acquire the necessary tools to become an adventurer. Not all of them are dedicated to exploring the Dungeon as most outsiders believe though, some of them are industry and research focused if that’s more your taste.”

Even though this was all given knowledge to him, Noah decided to put his hand on his chin, purse his lips, and nod in an understanding manner.

“How do I join one?”

“The most common way is to approach the headquarters of a Familia and let them decide whether you’re worthy or not, but in some rare cases they might scout you completely on their own.”

“How would they do that? They’d need to actually test your abilities before making a decision wouldn’t they?”

Syr shrugged. “You never know, all Familia have their own special criteria. You might end up just finding yourself in the right place at the right time.”

“Syr! What are you dawdling over there for? We have customers to serve!” A voice called out to Syr from the other side of the pub, belonging to a brown-haired cat girl.

“Sorry! I’ll be right there!” She looked back at Noah with an apologetic expression. “As you can see I have some work to attend to, hopefully next time we meet you’ll be an adventurer.”

“No worries, I’m grateful that you took the time to help me out.” Noah prepared to take his leave.

“Would you mind telling me your name before you go?” Syr inquired.

“I’m Noah.”

“Noah, I see. I’m Syr, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Likewise,” he waved her goodbye, leaving to go use his sleight of hand on some more food.

‘Joining a Familia, I guess since I have this ability I might as well explore the option. The only question is, which one do I join?’

Syr wore an inquisitive look on her face, sparing one last glance at Noah’s departing figure.

‘I don’t think he’s my Odyr, however, he’s definitely not an invaluable specimen either.’

“Syr”, had a decision to make.