The morning mist lingered in the underbrush, veiling the forest floor in a light, smoky haze. Birds sang unseen in the canopy above, and a faint dew shimmered on the leaves like scattered diamonds.
A walked silently behind the family, his footsteps light, deliberate, and soundless despite the uneven terrain.
The forest trail wound like a serpent between ancient trees, their trunks gnarled by age, and their roots occasionally disrupting the path with natural obstacles.
Mina and Lily skipped ahead, giggling about something unspoken while Ronan kept a protective eye on them. Garron led the way, his stride confident but cautious. Selene lingered toward the rear, occasionally glancing back at A.
Despite the physical toll of walking for hours under shifting weather—hot sun, cool shade, and sporadic drizzles—A showed no sign of fatigue.
Not even a glimmer of discomfort touched his ethereal features. While the others paused for water or wiped sweat from their brows, A simply stood, calm as stone, watching the sky or examining passing wildlife with quiet interest.
By midday, Garron noticed.
"You haven't drunk a drop of water," he remarked, handing A a skin poach. "Or rested."
A accepted it out of politeness but didn't drink. "I'm not thirsty."
The man frowned slightly. "Even gods' children get tired."
"Perhaps," A replied vaguely. "But I'm not tired."
And it was true. Not in the slightest. His muscles didn't ache. His breath never shortened. His pace never slowed.
Deep within him, there was a stillness, a calm unshaken by the world's friction.
The gift Zamasu once sought—immortality—coursed through his being. And though he did not yet understand the full extent of it, he could feel the eternal nature of his new existence wrapped around every fiber of his being.
The anime version differed from the manga. As in the manga, fused Zamasu's immortality was not influenced by goku black's presence and was intact.
The anime counterpart only retained the agelessness and enhanced durability, with a high pain tolerance and regen sprinkled in.
'I hope it's the former' he thought, gazing upward at the canopy. 'Becoming a grotesque creature is unsightly…'
It was strange to know such a thing and yet feel so normal. The body he inhabited had once belonged to a godling of another world—a fusion of purpose and fury. Yet he, A, felt no rage. Only curiosity.
The girls had begun asking questions again—ones about the world, the sky, and even about A himself.
"What's your favorite animal?" Mina asked innocently, walking beside him, holding a blue wildflower she had picked.
A paused. "I'm not sure."
"Do you like birds?" Lily chimed in. "I like blue jays! They're loud but pretty."
"They are persistent," A said thoughtfully. "I used to see them as symbols of freedom… but, their "freedom" is merely relative "
Selene smiled faintly from a short distance behind. "That's an odd answer."
"I don't answer often," he admitted.
Being a working class citizen in his previous life taught him to not entertain certain people… especially if it had little benefit…
The day wore on, the sun arcing across the sky in its lazy passage toward evening.
At one point, while crossing a narrow wooden bridge over a shallow stream, A glanced at Garron and said, "You mentioned before… that you were level one. What does that mean?"
Garron turned to look at him, one brow raised.
"You remember that?" he asked.
"I remember most things," A replied. "But I wanted to understand it better. The levels… are they markers of strength?"
"In a way, yes," Garron said, gesturing for the group to stop and rest briefly under the shade of a willow tree.
"They're not like years or ranks. They're… milestones. You can't level up just by living. You need to grow stronger. The gods call it excelia—experience gained through battles, struggles, near-death fights. It gets engraved into your blessing."
"Blessing?" A repeated.
Selene sat down beside Mina, gently combing her daughter's hair. "When you join a Familia, your god or goddess gives you a Falna—a divine imprint on your back. It's how you grow. Without it, you stay the same, no matter how hard you train."
"So mortals are empowered by divine permission," A mused.
"Exactly," Garron said. "Levels measure that divine growth. Level 1 is where everyone starts. It's the longest road. But once you hit Level 2, you become something more. Stronger, faster, more magical. Each level is a massive leap."
A thought about this deeply. "And you… are still Level 1."
Garron didn't take offense. He shrugged. "Most people never get past it. It's a grind. And dangerous. I'm a decent swordsman, but I don't live for the Dungeon. I have my family. That's more important to me."
A nodded slowly before…
"And the difference between levels?"
"Like a chick facing a hawk," Garron grunted. "A Level 2 could crush a dozen Level 1s without breaking a sweat. Each level multiplies your abilities. They say the highest-tier adventurers, Level 8 or 9... they're like forces of nature."
A absorbed this, his mind cross-referencing the information with Dragon Ball's power scaling. 'No ki sensing here. So these "levels" are quantifiable, granted by external forces.'
Unlike martial artists who train their bodies and energy... Aloud, he asked, "And how does one level up?"
"By achieving something extraordinary,"
Selene interjected, falling into step beside them. "Defeating a powerful monster, surviving an impossible ordeal, you gain Excelia… The gods update your Falna."
"Excelia..." A repeated. 'Experience points, quantified. How... artificial.'
He looked at his own hand, pale green and smooth, strong. It flexed without effort. There was power there.
'I haven't felt it…' he realized. 'The energy that nearly defined everything in Dragon ball—Ki. Spirit. Flow. I can't sense it.'
He hadn't fired a blast. Hadn't sensed energy signatures. Not even a flicker. And yet… he was strong.
He could feel the overwhelming vitality with himself. Although he could not directly access his ki, it is still inside him empowering his being.
'The vessel is divine. Fused Zamasu's body—his essence—a tiny fraction of his power. But without training, it's a sword sheathed. Blunted.'
He stared down the path, toward the east.
'In Orario… I will find a place to test myself. To remember how to fight. How to unleash my full potential.'
The next day dawned cold and misty, a shroud of fog rolling through the trees like a slumbering spirit. They marched in silence for much of the morning, the children too tired for chatter.
As the forest began to thin and the path widened, Garron raised his hand and called a short halt. He turned to the others with a smile.
"We'll hit the river soon. Once we cross, we're about half a day from the main road."
True to his word, by midday, the glimmer of the Eda River came into view. The water moved swiftly, clean and glistening. A simple rope bridge stretched across it, swaying slightly with the breeze.
As they crossed, A paused at the center, staring down at his reflection.
He looked… unchanged.
Yet inside, he felt different. More focused. Sharper. Like the questions that had haunted him upon awakening were now aligning into something clear.
"You alright?" Selene asked from behind him.
He nodded. "Just thinking."
They reached the other side without trouble and continued on. The trail became more well-worn, more signs of civilization peeking through—wagon ruts, discarded tools, even the remains of a campsite.
By the time they reached the main road the next afternoon, the trees had given way to wide fields of grass and sparse groves. The horizon stretched out before them—and in the distance, rising like a great spire of stone and wonder, stood the walls of Orario.
The city loomed. Towering, circular, immense. But even that grandeur was dwarfed by the structure at its center—a titanic tower that reached into the heavens. Babel. The playground of the gods. The entrance to the Dungeon.
A felt something stir in his chest. A tremor of anticipation.
"We're here," Garron said, placing a hand on his daughter's shoulder.
The road ahead had shifted. A new trail, no longer through woods and whispering trees—but through stone gates and guarded paths. People moved ahead of them now, dozens of them.
Merchants with carts, adventurers in armor, mages with staffs and cloaks. A long line stretched from the outer gate into the distance.
The family joined the line, waiting their turn.
A stood apart, silent.
"Orario's gates," Garron said, relief and weariness mingling in his voice. "They'll check our papers, tax our goods... Might take hours."
A frowned. "No exceptions?"
Selene shook her head. "Even gods' children wait. The Guild enforces order."
"They won't let you in without a reason," Garron warned. "Especially not someone alone."
"I'll find my way," A said. "I always do."
Selene stepped closer to him.
"You don't have to leave right away. Come into the city with us. At least until you're settled."
As they joined the queue, Lily tugged A's sleeve. "Will you visit us? We're staying at the Sunflower Inn!"
A placed a hand on her head, a gesture alien yet instinctive. "Our paths may cross again."
Garron hesitated, then clasped A's shoulder.
"Whatever you seek in there... tread carefully. Orario chews up the righteous faster than the wicked."
A nodded, his gaze fixed on the gates.
'Finally. A starting place to unravel this world's mystery.'
End of Chapter 5