Daichi's Inquisition Part 2

The enormous, floating courtyard continued sailing along within an endless void. Every word that was uttered came accompanied with a vexing echo, but the current silence was golden.

From his wooden seat, Daichi hunched forward and examined each statue lined up in a horizontal row ahead of him. He recognized a swordsman, a wizard, a boxer, and several others. However, each statue already had a plaque on their base that stated their exact class.

Whether his guesses were correct or incorrect was irrelevant. Daichi was just feigning immediate interest to process Dominion's isekai statement. "So, you're gonna beam me down to some fantasy world? That means everyone who's entered a coma lately because of their chip is down there too, right?"

"Mm! I can confirm," the green-haired goddess said. Her revealing outfit still left little to the imagination. "I've already escorted thousands into Paradise, and I'm gonna escort tons more as well."

He wasted no time. Daichi rose to his feet and hustled to inspect every statue up close. He paid particular attention to their backs. "Which of these have the ability to fly?"

"Hold up!" Dominion shot out of her stone throne and got in Daichi's face. "You gotta let me finish explaining everything first!"

"I'll figure it out as I go. Just tell me the essentials and send me down there."

"Listen! I know you're in a rush to find your sister, but if you go in blind you won't survive a single day! How about sitting your booty down and listening to what I gotta say?”

Daichi's fists tightened. He sent Dominion a scowl but reluctantly picked up his chair and got comfortable.

"Good, now pay attention." She pointed towards the swordsman's face. "These ten statues represent the ten classes offered to Adventurers before they're 'beamed' down to Paradise. Paradise is populated with various NPC's, and there's no set goals so you're free to do whatever you wish; no demon lord or anything to defeat."

We don't have any goals, but what are your goals? Daichi thought. His emerald eyes tried reading into the girly pinkness of Dominion's glittering counterparts.

"Pro tip," she continued. "I recommend reaching at least level 10 so you can somewhat defend yourself. There's 120 levels to conquer, and since you've played RPGs, you should know what that entails: stat gains, skill points, and power-ups galore!"

Dominion started prancing between every statue, her green-tinted veil trailing behind, and made her way to the furthest left statue depicting a summoner. "This is the first class: the Invoker class. It specializes in summoning magic. Every class has a specialty they excel in, but their toes can be dipped into other specialties as well."

"Like mages using swords?"

"Sure! As long as you inherit two proper classes!"

"Wait, two classes?" Crap, that reminds me I probably won't be graduating this year.

"Yup yup!" Dominion described every detail with cute hand gestures. "You can focus either on one class or divide into two. Every class has a skill tree you use skill points to unlock skills from as you level up. If you choose only one class, you have potential access to that class's entire skill tree— including its strongest skills. Choosing two classes gets you access to two skill trees, but then each of those trees get nerfed, so it's a trade off."

Daichi absorbed every scrap of information like a sponge. He scanned the statues ahead of him again. "So if I choose two classes, how would that affect my stats?"

"Good question! Picking two classes mixes and averages out their base values. If you choose the class with the highest strength, the Berserker, alongside the weakest strength of Cleric, their new base Strength will have a happy marriage somewhere in the middle."

"Which class or class combination would you say is the strongest then?" Daichi itched his head, still deep in thought.

"No comment! But most classes are balanced the same way: a base stat value of 615 with that amount distributed to their respective HP, MP, Strength, Defense, Magical Strength, Magical Defense, and Speed stats.”

“Pretty straightforward then.”

“Yup!" She gave a thumbs up. "There’s two exceptions though: The Fairy and Vampire class."

Dominion made her way towards a statue resembling a western Dracula. She gleefully rubbed its chiseled chin. "Vampire is technically the strongest of all classes, since it flexes base stats worth 675 versus 615. But it comes with a huge drawback: he's completely useless during the day! Bummer!"

"Vampire's extra power doesn't seem worth the trade," Daichi replied.

"Depends. There's ways to mitigate the weakness but you'll have to find out on your own."

Guess I'll be finding out a lot of things on my own. "And what about the Fairy class then?"

She smirked. "You're wondering if our Fairies have wings, right? To help find your sister? Well too bad, it's top secret! But applying common sense should yield educated guesses."

Daichi nodded. Even before Dominion's explanations he'd already singled out three classes to maybe inherit: The Invoker, Fairy, and Mage class. "Mage" was imprinted on one of the wizard-like statues, as were the other statue’s respective classes.

If Invoker specializes in summons, maybe it can summon a dragon or something to fly on? he pondered. Air support would be key in finding Kyouko but choosing two classes might block out their flying skills. I’ve seen enough anime to know most Fairies can fly, but it’s not guaranteed here. It's all a risk either way, though I think I’ll go with . . .

"Now let me explain the Fairy class," Dominion motioned towards a statue with elf ears. "Like Vampire, it's stronger than other classes, but needs to fight in a nature setting to fight at full—"

"I've decided. I want a pure Invoker class. Nothing else matters so beam me down now."

Her cheeks puffed up again. "Do you just not like hearing me talk?"

"Perhaps."

"Fine! I'll speedrun through what's left: besides the ones I've mentioned already there's also the Brawler, Paladin, Mage, Assassin, and Archer classes. They specialize in exactly what they sound like. If you’re set on Invoker I won’t explain them in detail."

Dominion walked back to her stone throne, swiped at the air again, and sent nine of the ten statues flying away, leaving only Invoker’s statue. It wore a wizard-like robe with a large, hefty book under its armpit.

“Let me finish explaining your Void Soul,” Dominion said. “You came to this in-between world specifically to craft yours and get it synched with mine. Without it, if you died in Paradise you would die in real life. But once the experiment is over, whether you died in Paradise or not, you’ll safely reawaken wherever your physical body is.”

“Good to know,” Daichi said. “So what happens if I die in Paradise before everything ends?”

Dominion gave a confident nod. “Umu! Like I said earlier, if you die in Paradise your body evaporates and leaves your Void Soul behind. It’d be up to your friends to take it and revive you at a Revive Tree. There’s just a two day window though, and you can only be revived once by a Revive Tree so try not dying often."

"I'd rather not die even once."

"Heh. Should you die twice though, or not revived within 48 hours, you'll be unconscious until the experiment concludes.”

Daichi narrowed his eyes. “Then how long does this ‘experiment’ last?”

“This much.” She held up five fingers. “Dominion’s Paradise will last exactly five years. However, the experiment already elapsed twenty-nine months on Earth before you got here, so it's about half finished. You’ll be entering a world where many players already made a name for themselves.”

That might be problematic. “Can players kill other players?”

“It’s possible. Local laws prohibit it but there's no Game Law under my authority that punishes it. Powerful beings down there called Game Wardens act as administrators and execute naughty boys that break my Laws." Dominion dragged her thumb across her neck in a threatening gesture. "Unfortunately, you're in a rush so I don’t think you need to know those laws! Humph!”

Daichi sighed. “Whatever. Just get me down there. I’ve heard enough.”

“Piece of advice,” she responded. “Once in Paradise, you’ll awaken in a temple of mine. Make your way out and through the forest into a big city outside it. There’s something called a Guild House there. If you wanna survive long-term, join a guild ASAP. Your Void Soul means nothing if there’s no one to revive you.”

“Got it. And there's one last thing I want to clear up.” Daichi crept out of his chair and walked over to Dominion. He stood over her as she shrinked into her throne. “I didn’t wanna say anything because I knew you probably wouldn’t talk, but you’ve called Paradise an ‘experiment’ several times now. If there's anything you can tell me about Dominion, either as an affiliate or a virus with access to their databases, please do." He leaned over and grabbed her hand. "Please!"

“EEEEEEEK!” Her cheeks dyed a cute, rosy red.

“Sorry for being so upfront. This is something I’ve obsessed over for almost half my life—ever since my mom died eight years ago. Nothing about it ever felt right and I feel like I'm closer to answers than ever. If there’s any link between her and Paradise, please tell me!”

"I-I'm just an elaborate AI! I only know what I have to know to get new players started!"

“Yet, you know enough to call Paradise an ‘experiment’,” Daichi said, releasing her hand. “I’ve never trusted Dominion, and I’m not about to start now just because of a pretty face. Even if you're some outside faction, if there’s at least something I can do to earn your trust and get my answers, tell me.”

From her stone throne, Dominion looked up at him as if she were looking down on him. Her expression ebbed and flowed and then settled on a sneer.

“What was that phrase your dad mentioned? ‘If you shake a tree hard enough you might not like what falls on you’. I think that's a terrible philosophy. It's not possible to gain anything without risk, but a goal with no plan is just a delusion. You're not that kind of person so tell you what: I'll grant you a very special, rare exemption from everyone else!"

"Huh? You gonna make me ask for what?" Daichi grumbled.

"Even if you did, my lips are sealed! But for now, I'll keep my eye on you and if I like what I see, you'll get your answers." Her devious eyes seemed to size him up. 

"I'm used to being kept in the dark, so I'll play along with whatever you want."

"Oh? There's things I wish you could do, like eliminating a certain individual down there, but that's wishful thinking."

Daichi's eyebrows furrowed. "Why can't you just do it yourself?"

"Bonehead!" she yelled. Her vivid pink eyes looked annoyed. "You'd think I'd ask if I could? Forget I mentioned it. There's too much going on for me to think properly."

"So much for being an elaborate AI."

"Eh? Wise guy, huh?" She crossed her arms before narrowing her eyes. "Well no matter; I only wonder what you're gonna sacrifice to achieve your goals."

Daichi slowly backed away from her, aware of what was approaching. Familiar squishing noises were manifesting all around them. "I don't have much else left to lose."

"Careful, you might cut yourself on all that edge," she snickered. "It's a shame because I wanted to spectate you anyway. People shine most beautifully when they think nobody is watching, but alas."

Dark, mucous water pooled under Daichi's feet. It crawled up his legs and wrapped around him as its pull dragged him to his knees. He gave the Greek, green-haired goddess one last defiant look.

"Get comfortable Dominion, because I'm gonna find my sister and then I'm coming back," he gurgled. "Just wait!"

"Heh. I think you have more pressing issues to worry about."

His cheek planted onto the ground. Water surged with force into his mouth as Dominion walked over, grinning like a feral child. She mouthed something before Daichi and his consciousness sank below into everlasting darkness:

"We'll be in touch, Daichi Ayanami."