Wish Fulfillment System

[ Veteran Hunter (SSS): When battling a monster one has already gained excelia from previously - 60% increase in all stats, 60% increase in excelia gained. ]

[ Veteran Hunter has reached its maximum grade.

Quest 'Make four Development Abilities' grades reach the maximum.' completed. 4,000 AP rewarded. ]

With a refreshed smile on his face, Isaac finally ended his horrific slaughter. Taking a deep and relaxing breath, he grew a little nostalgic about what he had accomplished tonight. It completely blew all of his earlier efforts out of the water - it was absolutely ridiculous.

About two and a half hours after he had entered the dungeon, his indiscriminate killing of Level 1 monsters had borne fruit. When his system showed that he had slain a total of 250,000 of them, his Huntsman Development Ability had finally been maxed.

[ Huntsman (SSS): When battling a monster one has already gained excelia from previously - 15% increase in all stats, 15% increase in excelia gained. ]

[ Huntsman has reached its maximum grade.

Quest 'Make one Development Ability's grade reach the maximum.' completed. 1,000 AP rewarded. ]

This was when he first took note of a peculiar development. Every single grade before the SSS one, Huntsman's effects had increased by 'only' one additional percent. For the last grade, however, the change was now thrice that amount - three percent. Admittedly, when numbers that were this small were involved, to an outsider, it wouldn't look like anything impressive. Still, considering the higher Level Development Abilities of the same series, there was much to look forward to.

When eliminating Level 1 monsters wasn't of much use to him anymore, Isaac teleported to another spot in the dungeon to continue his grinding efforts - the depths of the 25th floor. Although he couldn't reach as many floors from here as before, his sphere of death still encapsulated areas from the 19th to the 30th floor. This allowed him to begin working on increasing his Level 3 monster kills as well, because starting from the 28th floor, the Green Wasteland thematic zone that these last few floors were a part of spawned Level 3 monsters.

One and a half hours later, it was yet again time to rejoice when the 250,000th Level 2 monster fell without any resistance.

[ Hunter (SSS): When battling a monster one has already gained excelia from previously - 30% increase in all stats, 30% increase in excelia gained. ]

[ Hunter has reached its maximum grade.

Quest 'Make two Development Abilities' grades reach the maximum.' completed. 2,000 AP rewarded. ]

Just like before, this last advancement provided him with a percentage increase that was three times as high as it had been previously. From two to six percent, the difference was now far more noticeable. With this second example, Isaac could be close to certain that this same pattern would persist through all other Hunter-series Development Abilities.

Now that he was done with the Level 2 monsters as well, he had to choose another spot to teleport to. Ultimately, he decided on the 34th floor. While this would only enable him to barely extend his area of influence upwards to the 30th floor, the 29th one was a Safety Point anyway, so it would be a bit of a waste for him to include it. The lowest point of his sphere reached slightly into the 38th floor, allowing him to kill a very small amount of Level 4 monsters while primarily focusing on the Level 3's. As the depth of the dungeon's floors only increased the deeper one descended, it was still a monumental feat to cover this much ground at once.

Because more than 95 percent of the monsters that he slew during this time were at Level 3, even though Experienced Hunter required him to kill 275,000 of them to achieve its maximum grade, it only took him a little less than one and a half hours to get to this point. The ratio had been closer to 85:15 when he had been working hard on getting Hunter maxed, so now that this had changed, even though the requirements had increased, the time that he took to reach his goal was almost the same.

[ Experienced Hunter (SSS): When battling a monster one has already gained excelia from previously - 45% increase in all stats, 45% increase in excelia gained. ]

[ Experienced Hunter has reached its maximum grade.

Quest 'Make three Development Abilities' grades reach the maximum.' completed. 3,000 AP rewarded. ]

His next destination was the 46th floor. From here, he could only influence an area from the 43rd to the 49th floor considering the currently designated range of his Eyes of Hermes. Because he had yet to unlock and obtain the 5th Level's Hunter-series Development Ability, he didn't even bother with slaying any Level 5 monsters for now and only focused on the very strongest - and most valuable - of the Level 4's.

Then, at 5 a.m., after 300,000 of them had met their end, his killing spree had finally come to a stop. After seven hours, he could allow himself to lessen the mental burdens that he had piled on top of his shoulders.

While he still maintained his Eyes of Hermes, he freed up the rest of his focus except for a bit of it which he diverted to supporting his manual mana drop recovery.

Speaking of, his Spirit Healing had made considerable strides forward as well. While it couldn't even hope to catch up to the four others that he had maxed, it was nonetheless still progress.

[ Spirit Healing (G): If the user doesn't utilize any mana for five seconds, regenerates 0.3% of the total mana every three seconds. ]

He had also managed to discover a metric with which he could keep track of his progress in the training of this Development Ability. By comparing his rate of mana drop recovery from before his successful manual intervention to afterwards, he could calculate the amount of mana drops which his direct support had been responsible for. During these past six hours, he had been going at a rate of about 10,000 per hour. The last time that he had gotten a notification about Spirit Healing advanging in grade had been at 50,000, and before then it had appeared at 25,000 - these numbers seemed far too 'planned' for this to be a simple coincidence.

When looking at the total bonus to his stats and the increased excelia gain, Isaac couldn't help but grin to himself - 150 percent! With this, the amount of monsters that he would have to slay to reach the next Level would be markedly reduced, and his growth further accelerated. Even more important was the stat increase, which he would have a certain use for in the not all too distant future.

In any case, while his Development Ability-related gains had been impressive to say the least, the AP that he had gathered in the process were truly mind-boggling. Even after his teleportation expenses were deduced, he had still made a net profit of 246,305 AP, placing his total at 339,324 AP. This was all thanks to obtaining every single AP that he could get from the monster slaying quests for the Level 1 through 4 monsters. Only by continuing further into the dungeon could he ever come across such a staggering sum again.

'With this… yeah, I finally have more than enough.'

Smiling happily, Isaac nodded. If he hadn't already chosen what he would do with his 'sudden' wealth, then there would have been a few paths which he would now have the ability to tread.

First of all, he could buy himself a few Divinities and Arcanums. Still, doing so would alert any divine lifeforms that shared the same abilities, and circ.u.mventing this was even more expensive than what he could currently afford: 500,000 AP. Of course, Isaac had no specific need to hide, but as he simply had no use for these divine powers at the moment, especially considering that he was still very, very far from mastering his control over mana and fully understanding magical formations, et cetera, this would only give him more things to work on. No, he definitely wouldn't choose this route, at least not for now - also, he already had some clues as to how to acquire these abilities, so there was no need to waste the AP.

Secondly, he could save up even more until he arrived at one million AP. This was the amount that he needed to circ.u.mvent the heavy restrictions that prevented him from accessing the vast majority of his inherent divine abilities and power while he was in the Lower World. In other words, doing this would enable him to be close to completely invincible here. Maybe in a direct confrontation with the strongest primordial gods, he would still not have the upper hand, even though they would be in a painfully handicapped state, but he would certainly be able to keep this vessel intact.

In Isaac's eyes, the second option was the worst waste of AP. Not only would he be able to get rid of the shackles binding him if he ascended to Heaven, the only thing which he could prevent by being this irrationally unrestrained and powerful down here was his own body's demise… which he already had numerous countermeasures for anyway. And even in the worst case, he could simply use the system to create a new vessel for him, one at the peak state before his previous one's demise… for 5,000 AP. Yeah, it was - comparatively - dirt cheap, and more of a formality. As his real self, his soul, was incapable of being harmed in any way, no matter what happened, reconstructing a vessel would be ridiculously easy. Considering this, paying 5,000 AP for it was actually already a rip-off.

His only other gain from spending one million AP would be the ability to trample over everyone like an invincible and arrogant overlord, which wasn't something that he felt any particular need or desire for at the moment. Sooner or later, he would arrive at that level of strength anyway - let's be honest, it would be 'sooner'. He had never found it difficult to be patient and also had no inferiority complex-induced need to show off. Of course, he wouldn't abstain from a little bit of refined flexing here and there, but he would never go out of his way for it.

Lastly, there was a third option, and the one which he had decided on a considerable while ago.

After teleporting back and enjoying a swift shower, he got enveloped by the recently awoken Ais' arms while he scrolled through the system store. Very quickly, he found the entries that he was looking for.

[ Product - Cost ]

[ ... - ... ]

[ Teleportation node - 1,000 AP ]

[ ... - ... ]

[ Teleportation network - 50,000 AP ]

[ ... - ... ]

[ Private world creation - 200,000+ AP ]

[ ... - ... ]

During his initial assessment of the system store, he had noticed how nearly all items on sale were practically just for his own convenience. For a while, he had even disregarded the store after obtaining all necessary products with the valis that he had earned in this world, only occasionally making use of it on two occasions to upgrade this vessel into a divine lifeform. That was why it had taken him quite some time to notice that many new items had been added while he hadn't been looking. Thankfully, the system was generous enough to retroactively tell him the unlock criteria for the new products that had appeared.

Teleportation-related entries were added after he had spent 1,000 AP in total on teleporting himself and others across the system map. After this apparently satisfactory amount of AP expenses, he had gotten the option of saving AP in the long term via expensive investments.

As for the creation of a private world, this one had been added back when the first spatiotemporal displacement had occurred. In fact, that term wasn't even sufficient to explain all of what had happened during those times. Not only had he been disconnected from this world's spacetime, he had been temporarily removed from it in its entirety, returning him to the 'void' between worlds. For his duration there, an impromptu, miniscule world had been created, whose laws had emulated those of the world that he and the ones accompanying him had come from, at least on the surface. That way, nobody would feel any discomfort. Of course, minor matters such as 'not having enough Oxygen' had been dealt with automatically by the system as well.

Due to his return to the place where he had been for the short amount of time before transmigrating into this world, and the system already having created a temporary, private world during those aforementioned instances, it gave him the option of making use of this feature to procure a more permanent accommodation within the void.

After making all necessary adjustments in the various windows that popped up before his eventual purchase, Isaac was finally satisfied with the cornerstone of the world that he wanted to create to serve as his private residence - and, later on, so much more.

With a last confirmation, he forked over 207,000 AP, not at all unwilling. Then, just as he had anticipated, he noticed a new addition to his system map. He could now switch between the world of DanMachi and… 'Isaac's Private World'. Yeah, the name wasn't anything extraordinary, he honestly hadn't even bothered thinking about one for now and had just settled on the default one that the system had generated for the time being. When he switched 'tabs' on the map, he could now gaze upon the entirety of the newly created little haven.

Still, he didn't plan on getting engrossed in the sight, because he would go there in person shortly anyway. Instead, he bought the 'Teleportation network' and set the 'home node' at one of the edges of his new world. It could be moved around later, so he didn't need to make thorough plans about its final placement at the moment, saving him a lot of time. He then proceeded to purchase six more nodes, spending a total of 56,000 AP. Depending on future explorations and changes, he could both alter their locations and buy even more of them, so there was no need to worry about running out.

The first node was - temporarily - placed close to a wall of the training courtyard that Titania was still staying in. Later on, he would move it to one of the rooms of the base in the Twilight Manor that he had rented for his students and subordinates many weeks ago.

The second to fifth nodes were placed at the various Safety Points of the dungeon. The 18th floor had an obvious choice - he simply put it in a room inside of the house that he had rented in Rivira. On the 29th, the 39th and the 50th floors, he had long since taken note of a few well-hidden and naturally sheltered places. The 29th and the 50th floors were perfectly inhabitable, so it hadn't been difficult to choose secluded and safe locations - in the latter's case, he had even found a good place close to Titania's designated bathing lake. But the 39th floor was an extremely hostile environment - it was a part of the Infernal City, after all. The best that he could do was to choose a relatively 'cold' area far from any lava. He settled on a small, uninhabited cave, in which he unceremoniously put the node.

As for the last node, he placed it very close to the Xenos' currently used hidden village. To make its use less conspicuous, he chose one of the paths leading to the massive cavern that they all resided in, to get them to think that he or anyone else using it had come from there. Of course, if they checked whether or not the wall in that direction had been damaged, they would realize that nobody had actually properly used the passage. But anyway, he was already sufficiently polite by not appearing right in the middle of the place that seemed like the 'town square' of their village and giving them a fright. He may or may not have scared some of them when dropping off certain individuals there earlier today.

With a satisfied nod, Isaac rose to his feet, reluctantly leaving Ais' warm embrace. With a small smile, the otherworldly beauty opened her golden eyes and climbed out of bed as well. She tilted her head slightly and asked a question.

"Have you finished preparing what you want to show me?"

Grinning happily in response, he gently took her hand.

"Yeah, finally! For now, it's not even a very bare-bones skeleton of what I plan to build, but it's a first step. Let me bring you there."

As he had already announced that he wanted to take her somewhere in a bit back when he had returned from the dungeon, Ais had changed from her sleepwear into casual clothes - that way, she at least didn't have to be too embarrassed to go outside.

Although she already had a vague inkling of what it was that he had done - she could see the teleportation nodes popping up on the system map, after all - she didn't want to ruin his fun of showing her the specifics and also didn't want to spoil the surprise for herself, so she had completely ignored the second tab that had appeared on their shared map.

Barely a minute of casual strolling later, conveniently avoiding any and all eyes even here in the Twilight Manor, the two arrived at Titania's training courtyard and entered. As they didn't bother to hide the sound of their footsteps any longer, the coiled plant quickly sprung up from her relaxed slumber, ready to defend herself if need be. When she realized that it was her master who had returned, she heaved a sigh of relief.

"Phew, false alarm… Good morning, master! Is it already time to set off?"

Because he had told her that he would give her the opportunity to bathe every morning, Titania had looked forward to him teleporting her back to that lovely spot on the 50th floor ever since close to a day ago. An expression of eagerness was plastered on her face, one that she was completely unable to hide. Although it wasn't necessary for her survival, and the little bit of filth that she would acc.u.mulate was barely worth mentioning, it still felt great to clean oneself every now and then - even for her.

"Yes, but we're not going to the place that you're thinking of. At least not directly."

Seeing the strange smirk on her master's face, Titania became bewildered. Where else did they need to go? Still, she didn't think about it for long, as she had no need to. She would just obediently heed his orders.

"Move fifteen meters in that direction, then stop."

After both Ais and her master had taken a seat on her back, the sofa confusedly proceeded to do what she was told. But before she even had any opportunity to wait for further instructions or to give voice to her puzzlement, the world around her changed in an instant. She was already familiar with this phenomenon, as her master had teleported with her in tow numerous times before. This time, however, they arrived at a place that she had never been to.

Due to the outstanding eyesight of a Level 6, she had no problems making out the entirety of the area. If viewed from above, one would see a circular landmass with a radius of ten kilometers. Beyond that… there was… nothing? Or at least not anything that she could discern. There was just an endless, black void. Contrary to what might be expected, it didn't make her feel fearful or like she was staring into a bottomless abyss. She just… felt nothing in particular about it, as if her brain simply accepted that 'there is nothing beyond that point'. Venturing out there didn't even cross her mind.

As for the landmass, it was luscious, but the only vegetation was grass that was softly blowing in the gentle wind. But where did the wind come from? She honestly had no idea, it was just… present.

There were countless questions that one could have upon seeing this place. During the day, one would ask oneself 'How is there sunlight if there is no sun?', and during the night, one would be confused by dim moonlight painting a darker but nonetheless beautiful scenery even though there was no moon in the sky. Well, rather than that, there was no actual sky. So how was there even a day-night cycle?

Honestly, the amount of perplexing things about this place was nearly endless. Many things that, according to the knowledge that most people had, were considered to be 'impossible' could be found everywhere. It 'didn't make sense'... of course, this statement only applied to those who didn't have a sufficient amount of understanding - in other words, almost everyone.

Aside from the baffled plant, Ais was also taken aback by what she was seeing. She didn't fully understand everything about this place - very far from it - but due to her previous experiences during the spatiotemporal displacements and the many years that she had spent observing Isaac's past, she had a good idea as to what was going on.

Looking at his beloved from the side and appreciating the gusts of wind that were gently swirling around her as if inviting her to a dance, Isaac showed a gentle smile, getting lost in the heavenly sight.

He had chosen a 'plane' type world out of the numerous options that were currently available to him. It was by far the most practical one for his purposes - not only for now, but also in the future.

For comparison's sake, if he had gone with a 'universe' type world instead, then he would have needed to design a celestial body of some sort on which to house what he was planning to build. There was just one problem with that: He could only afford a ridiculously small one! In the future, upgrading it would be possible, but due to having to obey a few laws that celestial bodies were bound to - of course, more AP could be 'wasted' on circ.u.mventing or changing these as well - lots of space would have to be occupied by the interiors of the eventual planets, et cetera.

Expanding a plane type world was ridiculously simple, and not much space needed to be 'wasted' on the aforementioned interiors of any planetoid spheres. While the type of world that he had chosen could have a depth, it was not a requirement.

One way to visualize this - albeit not 100 percent accurately - would be to compare 2D objects to 3D ones, from the perspective of a three-dimensional being. A 2D object would seem just like a flat drawing on a sheet of paper, one with no depth at all. A 3D object would actually… well, 'take up space', or rather, take up the space that was relevant to a three-dimensional being. The reason that this example didn't entirely apply to the situation was that a plane type world would be two-dimensional if it wasn't given a depth, while it would be three-dimensional if the creator chose to do the opposite.

Although a regular human being from Isaac's past world would feel more at home in a universe type world, those simply weren't cost efficient enough for Isaac. He wasn't yet in a position where he could splurge on entirely useless luxuries like that. Maybe one day, he would choose to overhaul this place from the ground up, but for now, a plane type world would more than suffice.

"Master… what is this place?"

The voice of his most faithful of plants - not that she had any competition - made him snap out of his Ais appreciation-induced daze. With a smirk on his lips, he turned his head to face Titania.

"Oh, this? It's a world I created today. It's not very impressive a sight right now, but this is the foundation that will be built upon. It's also your new home."

Even though that was just the very beginning of the long explanation, Titania had already opened her eyes so widely that Isaac grew a little worried that they might potentially pop out of their sockets…

'This… M-Master… he… created a world!?'