Arsène went to the underwater kingdom under the cover of a Devadom Orca whom Uraj, a simple Merman soldier, managed to tame, a feat not heard of in the last one hundred years.
With the might of his partner, not unlike Croix and his dragon, Uraj's reputation and his lot in life improved sharply. It hadn't been that long since everything seemed to be going his way so he was still in the high period, drunk on the newfound power and glory.
Meanwhile, Arsène made various actions behind the scenes. With the Devadom's space power, Arsène's multiple thievery had gotten him more than a few precious valuables. X family's heirloom, Y clan's secret treasure, Z style's forbidden Arte, and so on. The amount of loot Arsène had gotten was on par with what the power fantasy novels' MCs usually got after the end of a major arc.
However, unlike them, Arsène had gotten them without the mandatory life-threatening situations and epic battles against great adversaries.
Getting the most benefit with as little effort and risk as possible was Viers' business motto.
Sure, reading heart-thumping battles of other main characters in their novel was exciting but Viers didn't want to suffer like them. Work smarter, not harder. With the Fables, surely there was a more economical way of doing things?
Viers had played Skyrim and Baldur's Gate 3, he knew stealing could gain you things that should normally be available only at the later part of the game, skewing the 'standard' progressions. Viers followed that line of development and geared his skills in stealing, among other things equally evil. As a villain, he had no moral codes that the righteous template MCs were supposed to have so stealing galore was just fine.
He already thought of this way back since he gave his other self the name of a famous thief.
He preferred stealing things that could improve his cultivation rather than static equipment. Strong gear was good but Level was better. This was one of the secrets of Viers' meteoric rise in power; why he was so far above the other Pathseekers his age.
Of course, if he could steal those fancy gear he swiped them too. Was there ever an option not to for a villain like him?
Arsène was also aggressively aiming for special opportunities, like inheritance or trials, sure-death places or unknowns. Since the cost of this life dying was pretty minor on his other half, Arsène could be rather bold in his attempts.
Thanks to one of his daring escapades, including a few mysteriously missing Mer, he managed to enter a training ground for the kingdom's super-elite, like the upper nobility exclusive. This place was special, it gave impartment about the Sea Universe sword style.
In the Book World, one of the rewards he found in that strange realm was Sea Universe sword style but only the first form. In the Mualammu Kingdom's training ground, they had records until the fifth form.
Arsène was getting serious Kimetsu no Yaiba vibes from this so of course he was dead set on learning it. Besides, the sword style was extremely strong. Using only the first form of the Sea Universe sword style Viers laid down the basics of his own style, Suiten Mitsurugi-ryuu. With other forms, his swordsmanship would be more fearsome… if he mastered it.
Viers scoured the surface for the traces of the Sea Universe sword style but found next to nothing but the underwater world had it. Perhaps it was no surprise seeing the name. The sword style might even have originated from the underwater world.
As an orca naturally Arsène couldn't wield a sword so during the training session with the sword phantoms, he turned back to human. Underwater, it took some time getting used to but he made it work. Good thing he was a Water Pathseeker.
He wanted to record all five forms in one go but he couldn't, only after he mastered the previous form would the training ground unveil the next. During the short days available to him, Arsène managed to master the second form and was halfway to mastering the third.
A feat that would send an uproar if it was known. Major families would want to recruit that kind of genius. Truth was, Arsène was not really a genius. The reason he mastered the second form so fast was that Viers had thoroughly deciphered and extracted the first form in the past, plus his deep foundation of swordsmanship gained from uncountable souls.
Viers might have worked hard training his skills day by day but honest work alone would not let him compete with older, more experienced Pathseekers. Did those guys not work hard too day by day? How could he catch up or surpass them without a plus ultra?
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Even though Viers theoretically could gain countless expertise and skills from all the souls he caught, Viers did not do so. Doing so without restraint was dangerous and stupid.
From the soul of an expert cook Viers could learn the way he cooked but that was different from integrating the cooking skills, sense, and experience into his own soul. The former Viers had done it repeatedly on various things but the latter, Viers rarely did it even though it was a much faster and more complete learning method.
He could become warped into something else because he wantonly fused with the souls of others.
Viers evaded the clichéd villain trap from the very first day he became a Soul Pathseeker. He carefully chose what he put into his soul. Since Viers put his fighting skills quite high on the priority ladder, he boosted his swordsmanship by consuming the foundation of others who were skilled with the sword.
And Viers didn't stop there. He might have had an unfair boosted start like using a pay-to-win scheme, but afterward, he also trained to make those skills truly his, integrated into his very being instead of sword skills sticky notes on his soul.
If he continued thoughtlessly using the skills of others while having none of his own, there would be a gate that he could not open somewhere up there on the path of the sword.
It was clear as day to someone as genre-savvy as Viers.
That was what the Suiten Mitsurugi-ryuu was. Skills that he managed to put there were things that he personalized that were custom-tailored to him as an individual. Something he personally created and truly his own. He did not create a new sword style because he thought it would be cool. Not entirely, at least.
That was also why he did not use the Sea Universe sword style as is even though it was perfectly usable.
Thus Arsène, whose mind and personality were a perfect copy of Viers, put his damnedest effort at the training grounds. That focus had the cost of lessening his attentiveness.
After concluding a training session, eager to go back tomorrow, Arsène went back to Uraj's place. He was mentally tired each day, the sword forms were not simple to learn. He wanted to sleep as soon as possible.
Then he was suddenly surrounded by Mermen, Pathseekers all.
Arsène was actually caught off guard. Not even he could be vigilant all the time. Furthermore, in monster form, he lost his soul abilities, which Viers and Arsène relied on heavily for sensing ill intent.
The way they managed to trap the Devadom Orca that had the space affinity showed how prepared these people were. Arsène was unable to teleport and he was bound by magical chains.
The soldiers were tense but their target showed no signs of struggling.
"That's it? For a great Godkin I thought it would show more resistance," a snobbish Merman who looked like he was the scion of some bigshot approached. Beside him was Uraj, Arsène's 'master'.
"That is because I'm restraining it, Your Highness."
"Mmm, alright," The Mer Arrogant Young Master threw an inventory pouch at Uraj which the latter received with glee. "You'll find half the payment there. Once I've eaten the Godkin, you'll get the rest."
"Certainly, certainly. Like the legends said, I'm certain Dom will give you unparalleled strength. You'll become the greatest Mer in the Mualammu Kingdom."
Uraj then patted Arsène's snout, not realizing the intelligence behind the monster's eyes.
"We've got a good run, Dom. Do not resent me for this, alright? Though, I doubt you understand me."
Ah, so that's how it is, Arsène realized.
It seemed, Uraj had sold him to some noble for an exorbitant amount of money, despite how much gain he'd given Uraj already. The tale about The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs instantly appeared in his mind.
Unfortunately for him, Arsène was no harmless goose.
"Eh?"
Uraj, who was sure of his control over Dom, who never had in the first place, couldn't react at all seeing the opened maw of the Devedom Orca. A chomp thus ended the life of a foolish Merman. He could have a life of plenty and high status, and Arsène would have let him. Arsène was willing to let things go as they were since it suited him just fine.
But Uraj wanted the golden goose's eggs in one go and tried to kill the goose, only to be killed by the goose first.
Uraj's corpse including his belongings was shifted to the orca's own pocket space. With Uraj's death, the Merman soldiers were acting like bees whose hive had been kicked. Arsène was still surrounded but he got just the thing to allow him to break this man cage.
Of course, he was implying about the nearby snobbish Mer noble kid, whose face was struck with terror seeing Uraj's head getting chomped off gruesomely.
"R-release me!"
Arsène bound the weak fish-kid using water magic and kept him close. With a hostage, the soldiers couldn't attack him harshly.
Next, Arsène went full throttle towards one of the weaker members, ramming a seahorse lady out of the way. The noble kid screamed like someone riding on a roller coaster. Arsène sped up after breaking through his chains, but naturally, the soldiers gave chase. If they couldn't rescue the kid, their life might as well be forfeit.
One of the kid's bodyguards was a Level 4. Arsène was not keen on fighting that guy since he was outleveled and outnumbered. Escape was his only priority.
But where? They had called in reinforcements. Soon an army might have come here. Escape wouldn't be easy.
Thankfully, Arsène had read many power fantasy stories. In times like this, the MCs usually went to a super death zone where people that went in, never went out. Things happened, then the MCs survived.
Arsène went towards one such place without hesitation.