Hearing Roy's words, the adventurers who'd stopped smirked mockingly.
"What's that, kid? We gotta pay to see it?" one jeered.
"Bold, trying to scam us," another sneered.
"Quit yapping and hand it over, or we'll make you regret it," a third growled, eyes glinting with menace.
In the dim night, Roy's slight frame and youthful face marked him as an easy target—weak, they assumed, ripe for intimidation.
"Enough talk. Search him," one burly man said, lunging to grab Roy, a cruel grin spreading.
"Stay still, kid, or you'll learn the hard way."
Roy raised an eyebrow.
As the man's hand neared, Roy slapped the adventurer.
The force sent the hulking figure flying, crashing to the ground with a pained groan.
The other five froze, stunned.
They hadn't expected the frail-looking boy to fight back, let alone with such power.
The sudden reversal left them reeling.
"Made a mistake, didn't you?" Roy said, his sneer sharp.
"I'm saying… this is a robbery. Hand over your money."
If these were ordinary passersby, Roy wouldn't have bothered.
But their predatory intent—planning to rob him—flipped his mindset.
He saw no reason to hold back.
The grounded adventurer staggered up, clutching his swelling cheek, blood trickling from his nose and mouth.
Shaking, he glared at Roy. "Damn brat, you hit me? You're dead!"
"This kid's got guts!" the others snapped, their shock giving way to fury as they closed in, faces twisted with malice.
"Break his limbs, then drag him off to sell," one snarled.
"Clean face like that? Old hags'll pay good money," another cackled.
They encircled Roy, emboldened by their numbers, assuming their combined strength would overwhelm him despite his surprising display.
Within a minute, the air filled with wails and the dull thuds of fists meeting flesh.
Roy stood unscathed, six valis pouches in hand, looted from the battered adventurers.
They'd claimed the bags held roughly 200,000 Valis.
While Roy didn't yet grasp Valis's value in Orario, the adventurers' pained expressions suggested it wasn't trivial.
It'd cover his immediate needs.
"That's it?" Roy said, eyeing the groaning heap of men.
"All we got!" one whimpered, his face a mess of bruises.
The others, equally battered, stared at Roy with terror, their earlier bravado gone.
They cursed their greed, regretting chasing a "treasure" that turned out to be Roy's wings, mistaken for a prize in the dark.
Now penniless and injured, they'd need funds for healing.
"Poor bastards," Roy muttered, delivering a sharp kick to the crotch of the man who'd suggested selling him.
The adventurer's eyes bulged, veins popping as he curled up, gasping silently in agony.
Roy glanced at their gear—potentially worth more than the 200,000 Valis—but dismissed it.
Lugging bulky equipment through Orario's streets wasn't practical.
A flame sparked in his hand, and under the adventurers' horrified gazes, it consumed their weapons, reducing them to ash.
Roy walked away without a backward glance, leaving the six men to lament their fate.
Following the glow of lights, Roy reached a bustling night market, alive with an otherworldly charm.
The architecture, medieval European in style, echoed a fantastical past.
Beyond humans, demihumans populated the streets—elegant elves with pointed ears, burly beastmen with tails and animalistic traits, and diminutive Pallums.
Roy politely asked a passerby for directions to the Guild, the Adventurer's Guild that managed Orario's adventurers and maintained order.
But as it was night, the Guild was closed, so he shifted focus.
"Need a place to stay," Roy decided, the collected Valis sparing him a night on the streets.
After a meal, he found a modest inn and settled in.
Lying on the bed, Roy planned his next steps.
In the Danmachi, the most valuable asset was Falna, a divine blessing bestowed by gods.
A thousand years ago, bored deities descended from the heavens, granting mortals this power to unlock their potential, transforming them into superhuman adventurers.
It was, in essence, a gamified system brought to life by the gods.
Roy chuckled, imagining how a friend might react to this tangible RPG world, but his thoughts turned serious.
Falna functioned like a character stat panel, but Roy wasn't fixated on its basic abilities, which he could replicate through his system.
Instead, he coveted the unique skills it unlocked, like Ais's Ariel— abilities tied to an individual's experiences and growth through combat.
"Getting Falna is a must," Roy resolved, as it was the key to developing such skills.
He pondered the timeline.
"Where's the plot now? Has Hestia formed her Familia?" Hestia was his top choice to join.
With his strength, any Familia would welcome him, but Hestia's nascent group offered the most freedom.
If she'd already recruited Bell, Roy would look elsewhere—crowding her Familia held little appeal.
Beyond Falna, he was curious about challenging divine figures, a feat daunting even in DxD due to their overwhelming power.
Here, gods were more accessible, if still formidable.
"Besides Falna, I can scout others' abilities," Roy mused.
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200 Stones = 1 chapter
400 Stones = 2 chapter