- Shin –
As I look at Kuisha throwing spells at me, I use Mirror Alice to reflect it every minute, while dodging the others. After finding that we had to wait for a minute everytime before I could reflect the other magic, we decided to spar instead of just reflecting magic once a minute. This spar is to teach me how to use Devil's Magic which by the way is awesome. I still don't have a Magic Circle of my own as I am not related to any of the 72 pillars or any other houses. This causes a heavy wastage of my mana. If I don't get one soon enough, I will try to make one for myself. I think runesmiths can make runic magic circles or magic crests of similar nature. Something to think about in the future.
This grind is turning out to be fun. She has been asking me a lot of questions about my Shadow Magic and Fire God Slayer Magic. The second one is honestly a cheat on its own. I did learn quite a few handy spells for my own use though. The best among them being Teleportation. It is honestly amazing. I can go to any place I have been to or just imagine going to if it is not warded, restricted, or too far for my magic reserves to support.
I also raked in some Affection points with her giving me a 35 affection score with her right now. Slow and steady wins the race.
By the end of the day I made a decent progress on the 3rd cooldown reduction quest on Mirror Alice.
[Sacred Gear : Mirror Alice(Apprentice) ](Active)
Reflects all magical attacks back to the caster with two times the force.
Max Reflected Amount = [(INT + WIS) x 20]
Costs : 200 SP per use.
Cooldown Time : 15 seconds.
Please Note that to unlock the Balance Breaker you have to upgrade the Sacred Gear to (Expert Level) and every level requires Level x 1 number of upgrades to reach the next level.
One minute is too much for the skill to be effective. Select Cooldown Reduction
Upgrade Quest Gained
[Mirror Mirror on the Wall III.]
Objective : Reflect 500 magic attacks back to the target.
(276/500)
Rewards : Cooldown time for Mirror Alice is reduced.
Failure : Are you seriously asking this.
Last night after coming back from the exam, I was too tired to play around. Mental exhaustion could affect anyone who has been in tense situations like I have. So I did the best thing I could. Took a good long nap. Gamers Mind is good and all but nothing beats plain old fashioned sleep.
I am currently waiting for Siaraorg because he said that he would show me around the Bael territory today. I also have to think about gathering members of my peerage.
I have some people in mind. The first being Ingvild Leviathan. She is already a Satan Class, has a Sacred Gear that gets classified as a Longinus and most of all, she is extremely HOT. She is however suffering from the devil's disease and is in a hospital in the Leviathan territory. Now the question is how to find her. I can't exactly go around searching for her asking around for a Leviathan descendant. That is a sure shot way to get fucked. I need a place to myself first. So when I finally kidn…..escort and cure her of her illness like a kind-hearted, gentleman that I am, I can keep her there.
The second one is killing Issei and getting the Boosted Gear. I won't use it myself though. As much as I would like the power to double my strength every 10 seconds, I would rather not have a talking dragon in my head. I have too many secrets for that to even be considered.
The third is to get my hands on the sacred gears of the Hero Faction. They are an overpowered bunch of wannabees and Dimension Lost and Annihilation Maker is too good to let be.
The fourth is to somehow trade the Vritra-type Sacred Gears from Azazel while I get my hands on the one Saji has. The combined Vritra-type Sacred Gears are almost on par with any Longinus.
The last are Rossweisse and Valerie. Valerie is currently too hard for me to even consider making an attempt on right now. Rossweisse is fair game. I just have to snag her by offering her a good payment. And I currently have enough gold to do that easily enough.
While thinking about random things Siaraorg arrives to pick me up. The Bael territory is seriously huge. It is the size of a country and has various famous places in of the underworld. I did get a map of the underworld during my trip. It will help me in my search later. To be honest, just chilling out like was something I really needed. I have been on the edge since I arrived in this world, and it was really burning me out. Games are supposed to be fun to play. I have to pace myself out properly in the future.
Maybe it's time to check out the professions and see what I can get.
Coming back at the Bael castle. I check out the support classes in the game. Support classes makes you rich in any game. Right now though, I have money and what I need is more power while also checking out for a way to spend time when I am not in a dungeon.
With that in mind I select, the Artificer Class
Class Gained
[Artificer] – LVL 1/50 [0%]
Gain 4 DEX, 3 INT and 3 WIS every level.
Skill Gained
[Design Blueprint (Novice)] (Active)
Design a blueprint of Common class artifacts.
Costs : 200 MP.
Skill Gained
[Create Artifact (Novice)] (Active)
Create a Common class artifact.
Costs : 1000 MP
Requires : Blueprint, Materials.
Crafting Materials added to ID drops and Gacha rolls.
Time to level up. Quickly jumping into the IDs I start hunting around. The Fire God Slayer Magic Upgrade Quest is close enough to completion. I just need to get the veteran monsters and some regular monsters. I can hopefully be done with it by today. The IDs start dropping new materials for craft. I start hoarding them as much as I could. I was always a hoarder in MMOs. Don't judge me, that's just my thing. I like my treasury full. The Sin of Greed is my sin for a very good reason after all. I am not easily satisfied.
The new classes are always easy to play. Especially for the first few levels, they level up really fast.
By the time I need to stop for the night, I am already level 40. The PoD and Fire God Slayer Magic (FGS from now on, it's too big to write over and over again) are just too good for clearing mobs at a fast pace. The loot from the previous grinding sessions has been piling up as well.
I currently have 12 Stat Crystals, 7 Gacha tokens, 1 Normal Heart Crystal, 1 Medium Heart Crystal and a few random drops. The Stat drops include 3 CHA, 2 STR, 2 DEX, 2 END and 2 LCK and 1 WIS.
Random are just some small trinkets. The only one with good effect is a bracelet.
Black Demon's Bracelet
-25% cost of demonic magic.
This one can help me with my problem with the Magic circles.
Anyways, my current status looks quite good.
Shin Kageyami
Level -140
Class – Artificer – LVL 40/100 [25%]
Race – Devil (6- Winged Devil)
Rank- Mortal
Alignment- True Neutral
HP- 55375 [8860 per minute]
MP – 177300 [40275 per minute]
SP- 55375 [8860 per minute]
STR – 438
END – 443
DEX – 419
INT – 591
WIS – 537
CHA – 163
LUK – 235
Perk Upgraded
[Wisdom of the Sage]
Increases MP regen by 50%
Perk Gained
[Noble's Grace]
Your steps are measured and balanced and carry the grace of noblemen.
DEX Checks are more likely to be successful.
The Artificer class did give me a great deal to work with too.
Skill Upgraded
[Design Blueprint (Master)] (Active)
Design a blueprint upto Epic class artifacts.
Costs : [200 x Level of Artifact] MP.
Skill Upgraded
[Create Artifact (Master)] (Active)
Create upto Epic class artifact.
Costs : [10 x 10^ Level of Artifact] MP.
Requires : Blueprint, Materials.
Skill Gained
[Scan Artifact](Active)
Study an artifact carefully to understand the workings of an artifact and recreate its blueprint.
Only Artifacts upto Epic Class can be scanned.
Costs : [5000 x Level of Artifact]MP
Skill Gained
[Upgrade Artifact](Active)
Upgrade an artifact below Epic class.
Max : Epic Class
Costs : [10 x 10^Level of Artifact] MP
Every bit worth it. I have many materials in my Space enchanted suitcases from Gringotts. I can use them for practice till I get an idea about what I want to make.
Anyways, it's time to sleep now. I am not going to cut my sleeping time from now on. I am still in my teenage years. I need proper sleep to grow.
- Next Day –
Mornings are good and all but I really need a place of my own. I am not used to staying at other people's houses. There are many things that are restricted if I have to keep doing this.
Anyways I didn't check my Gacha yesterday.
Let's Roll.
Gaea's foundation
A Teigu that grants the ability of transformation and disguise to the user.
One Punch Man Anime Dvds
Blue-Ray Dvds of One Punch Man anime.
Companion Gem : Sakuya Izayoi
Summons Sakuya Izayoi as a companion.
Senzu Bean
A Single Senzu Bean
Skill Orb : Fire Sealing Method Fuinjutsu
Gives the user the knowledge of Fire Sealing Method Fuinjutsu.
Demonic Spear Ten Commandments.
Gives the user the Demonic Spear 10 commandments.
Strike Freedom Gundam
A brand new ZGMF-x20A Strike Freedom Gundam.
…hahahahahahahaha.
Okay, I don't care if Zekram or even Trihexa itself comes here. I am going to laugh like mad all day long. I GOT A FUCKING GUNDAM.
Who in their right minds won't laugh?
Oh My God…..ouch.
Okay, that cleared my head. Big G's name still hurts.
I wonder if I can use it in the Rating Games. Is it even legal? Something definitely worth checking up.
Sakuya Izayoi, from Touhou Project? Wasn't she the maid in the Scarlet Devil Mansion? She is a good fighter and maid as well. Perfect for someone looking to hire extra help.
I just have to create an opportunity to 'find' her during my travels.
I don't get much opportunity to think about before Siaraorg arrives….with another guest alongside him. Well hello, Mama Gremory.
If Rias looks anything like her, I can definitely get behind the idea of fighting a Rating Game or ten to get her hand.
She is an S+ class Milf. Who is an EX you ask? Why Yasaka of course. The two must fuck Milfs in DxD.
"Hey, Shin. How are you doing today?" Siaraorg greets me as he and Venelana take a seat opposite to me.
"Good enough, there are quite a few books to read, so I can pass the time easy enough. Could I ask you for a place where I can work on some of my hobbies though? Some crafting and stuff. I was hoping to try my hand on some crafting.
"You craft?" he asks with a surprised expression.
"Nothing serious, just a hobby. As much as I like reading and training. There is only so much I can do before I start to burn out. I need something to take my mind out of it."
"And you choose crafting for that?" Venelena asks joining the conversation for the first time since she arrived.
"I apologize for not introducing myself. My name is Shin Kageyami. Nice to meet you, and yes I do like crafting. I like playing chess and cooking too. But I doubt the staff here would let me try my hand in the kitchen." I finish with a chuckle which she shares with me.
"I am Venelana Gremory, nice to meet you too Shin. It is rare to see boys trying to cook even as a hobby. It is quite…..refreshing."
"It is just something that helps me think and I like the food I make. Honestly I think being able to cook has nothing to do with being male or female. It's just our own choice to make."
"True enough. I suppose one could state it that way too." She says before pausing to take the tea the maid offered us before continuing again. "So how are you adjusting to being a devil Shin? Some people find it really hard to adjust to something like this." She enquires or just trying to keep up polite conversations.
"Being a devil has definitely has been something …unique to say the least. There a new things I have to take care of to avoid. Saying the name of a certain 'someone' causes massive headaches, so that a negative. Other than that it's been mostly good. Not much that I can complain about."
She smiles at that before she starts with the real reason of her arrival today. Taking a sip of her tea, she begins "I am the mother of Rias Gremory, the one you have a marriage contract with." And she drops the bomb.
I could see Siaraorg's eyes widening again. He has been having that face a lot since I saw him first.
Straightening up a little, I speak with a more serious tone. Putting all my experience with acting behind it. "I was unaware of the Marriage contract mentioned to be honest with you. Marriage is a very important decision for anyone to make in their lives, so if possible I would like to meet Miss. Rias before that if it's possible. This is actually the first time that I have heard her name, so I hope you understand how strange it is for me to wrap my head around this idea." I blabber again trying to convince her to let me meet Rias.
If Rias is forced, she will react violently. I don't know what was in that letter and I won't take that risk with her, much less with Sirzechs.
Second reason, if I can be allowed to go to Kuoh, I can always teleport there later and get my secret job done when they are unaware.
She eyes me carefully for a while before agreeing to me.
+5 Affection with Venelana Gremory (5/100) for being serious about Rias.
Score.
"Very Well, I can arrange for that to happen. Though I must tell you that Rias is already in an engagement contract with another devil and she is not quite fond of the idea of contracts. I hope it will be helpful to you. Siaraorg here can take you to Serafall and she can take you to my daughter's school in the human world." Is she giving me hints? Why though? She doesn't want Rias to marry Riser, so maybe she is giving me a chance to break that engagement. Well not a problem. I was already being dragged there anyway so I might as well get some help.
"Thank You, I will try to get her views on this matter as well." I reply ending this conversation for now.
"I look forward to meeting you again Shin. Please take care of Rias." With that she left the hall.
"Surprises never stop around you do they, Shin. You have a Marriage contract with Rias, since when?" Siaraorg gains his ability to speak when Venelana leaves and bombards me with questions.
"Like I said, even I didn't know that until I came here. Heck, I didn't even know her name till right now." I lie through my teeth, at least the second part.
"I guess we will have to go to Lady Serafall then. I know where Rias studies but it is a joint territory with Sona and Lady Serafall would be the best person to take you for your first time to the town."
I nod, to him as we get ready to go to Serafall again.
Never a boring day, is there.
- Rias –
Rias Gremory has been confused since yesterday. The Gremory clan heiress has been given everything since her birth. Always the best of everything, be it clothes and tutors or even her own peerage members. But the biggest regret in Rias' life was this fact has not been extended to her choice of husband.
Riser Phenex, even the name of that vile wretch makes me stomach twist with disgust. The third son of the Phenex's is nothing like his brothers, who are independent, respectful and honourable. He is the very list of reasons for which devils are scorned by all others. Selfish, crass, arrogant and disrespectful to everyone and especially women. He treats them as his toys. His own peerage too is used to satisfy his lust more than anything else. And her father has almost sold him off to that disgusting filth.
She still couldn't understand her father's obsession with having strong descendant. It was like he was trying to compensate for his own weakness. Sure he was strong compared to other High Class Devils but he was the weakest adult in the family (Rias still has a month before she is considered an adult.) This is something she had heard her mother saying when she was drunk but couldn't help but think was actually true. Devils desire power in any form. It attracts them instinctively. And this was her father's way of gaining power. In some way her deep friendship with her Queen was also due to that fact that they disliked their fathers just as much. Both of them did abandon their daughters when they needed them the most.
Yesterday, things changed though. She was told that she has another Marriage contract which was actually unknown until a while earlier and this contract was brought by none other than her ancestor Zekram Bael. On one hand she was elated that she would have a chance to marry someone other than Riser but on another she couldn't help but feel worried what kind of person this…..Shin guy will turn out to be. She did not like arranged marriages. Her mother was a major reason for this. She had seen her mother's frustrations when she got drunk on rare occasions and it made her dread such a thing happening to her.
It is better if Shin Kageyami is acceptable or else she will just have to go with her plan of challenging him to a rating game. If Koneko was correct in her sensing then the Hyoudou boy has a dragon type sacred gear. She will have to plan out to recruit him in her peerage. Sona has already claimed the other one for her own.
Oh, well you can't have everything.
Looking around at her peerage, she feels her heart grow warm. They were the people who will always be by behind her no matter what decision she takes.
- Shin –
Serafall Leviathan is like a kid on a perpetual sugar rush, I know that this is her façade but still you have got to hand it over to her. She maintains it damn too well.
So when we arrived in the middle of the Student Council room in a flash of Magic Circle, I was a bit taken aback at the sight of her glomping Sona right off the bat.
It was honestly fun to see Sona become a stuttering mess and flustered like a kid. After the initial drama is over, she introduced us to each other.
"Sona-tan, this is Shin-kun. He is also a cute bookworm like you, not as cute as you though, my Sona-tan is the cutest." And another try to glomp Sona interrupts the introductions once again.
"Hello, my name is Shin Kageyami. Nice to meet you Stiri-san. Serafall-sama has told me a lot about you."
"Moo Shin-kun, call me Miracle Levia-tan." Yup, she keeps that act up really well.
"Hello, Kageyami-san. Nice to meet you too. I am really sorry about my sister's behavior. She sometimes doesn't act like a respectable Satan or even a responsible adult. I hope you don't mind it. She doesn't mean any harm."
The roles are reversed. Are you sure that Sona wasn't secretly the older sister. I mean Serafall even looks like younger if you don't consider her breasts. Yup, they are adult all alright.
"No, no, it is actually fun and quite refreshing to talk with Serafall-sama. I enjoy it."
+2 Affection with Sona Stiri (2/100) for being tolerant to her older sister.
"Okay Sona-tan, onee-sama needs to meet Rias-chan now. Have some important things to discuss. I will come to meet you soon, bye-bye. Come on Shin-kun." Serafall says before she takes off by herself.
The sight of students looking at a girl dressed in Magical Girl costume in the middle of school and just accepting it was more than a bit weird. It took me a moment to realize that she had cast a spell on us to make us meld in.
We soon arrived in front of an old building which could give any haunted house in those movies a run for their money. This is the base of Rias Gremory's peerage. The Occult Research Club.
Entering the building after Serafall, I find that the interior of the building is much more cleaner than what one would expect of the exterior. Then again for me who has memories of Hogwarts, this is not much of a change.
We soon arrive at a bog wooden door, which was opened by Serafall who doesn't seem to give a crap about anyone's privacy. Well she is strong enough not to care. Her problem, not mine.
"Serafall-sama, why are you here all of a sudden. Is everything alright?" a sweet bell-like voice tickles my ears.
"Rias-chan, how are you. I came to visit you and Sona-tan but she is being a meanie and doesn't want to give her onee-sama a hug or a kiss, not even a yuri-yuri situation between the two of us. Please helpppppppp."
Wtf, yuri-yuri situation. Damn she is really hardcore.
Even if I knew what Serafall is like, I couldn't help but feel my jaw drop a little which was followed by an extreme urge to do something….which I did. I…..laughed. For the first time since reincarnating in this world I laughed really hard. "Seriously yuri-yuri situation….hahahaha…..maybe Sona-sa is a bit shy. You should try asking her in private. Better chances that way." I suggest giving her a thumbs up while still struggling with my laughter.
"You think so Shin-kun. Maybe she Sona-tan doesn't want others to hear about her secret fantasies and gets all shy and cute because of that. Okay I will go and ask her everything in private. She can be such a tsundere somethings. See you later Shin-kun. Take your time." And with that she ditched me without any explanations as she disappeared with a flash of her magic circle.
Damn, she one upped me here. Not all bad though. I could still use this situation to have a private conversation with Rias without Serafall staring at me like a hawk trying to look under every word I say.
"So, uuh, hello, I'm Shin Kageyami. Nice to meet you. Does this happen often?" I ask Rias pointing at Serafall who just disappear.
I can see that she was a bit tensed. So she knows about it already. Good for me I guess. I don't have to speak unnecessary things then.
"Yes, hello. I am Rias Gremory, the Heiress to the House of Gremory, Ranked Duke. Nice to meet you Shin-san." Wow this is all that pureblood crap all over. Although I didn't encounter it myself, the memories in this body are enough to make me cringe a little at such an introduction.
"Uhh, I am not that big on the formality thing. I hope you don't mind. I actually wanted to just meet and talk to you for a bit. This whole marriage thing kind of sprung up on me all of a sudden and haven't had the time to full accept this fact yet. In fact the first time I even heard you name was this morning, so I hope you can understand if I am a bit out of it for a while."
"You didn't know about the Marriage contract?" she asks me with a disbelieving tone of voice. Can't blame her. The situation is just that weird.
"No, I was brought to underworld, well more like I followed Zekram myself. and after reaching his castle I was told that I have a marriage contract with someone. Hell, I don't even know what was in that letter." I reply shrugging my shoulders a bit. I should have read the letter…then again I seriously doubt I could even open it if Death didn't want me to.
"Oh, so you were caught unaware too. Do you want to marry me? I don't know what this situation is about anyway, but I doubt I could refuse. This situation seems much more complicated than it looks." she says while letting out a sigh. She didn't even ask me who or what the letter was about. Is she that trusting? Or is she not even considering to trust me? Damn this girl is confusing.
"I guessed as much and that's why when I found who you were today, I requested to have a meeting with you. I was told that you were already engaged to someone and didn't know if I was coming between you two. I wouldn't want to force myself between two people if they like each other"
Yeah right.
Shut it game not now, I'm trying to act here.
+5 Affection with Rias Gremory(0/100) for thinking about her choice.
Wait what, 0. Fuck so she already disliked me because of the marriage contract. Damn, close save there. Secretly using the Medium and Normal Heart crystal I have save from my recent runs, I make her Affection rise upto +25. Am I cheating by doing this? Yes. I am a Gamer, and Gamers cheat.
Heart crystals can't raise someone's affection beyond +25. So I can't just span them on a hot milf and bring her home. A bummer but understandable. That's just bad game design.
The effects are visible too, I can see her eyes softening up when she looks at me and the next time she speaks, her voice is warmer too.
"No, no, you don't have to worry about that. I don't have any positive feelings for 'that' person." Wow that 'that' made me shiver even in my seat. The saying that hell has no wrath like a woman scorned holds some meaning after all. "I have been trying to find a method to break the engagement myself. you don't need to worry about coming between anyone." Aw she is really desperate to get away from Riser, isn't she?
"Good, at least one of my worries is out of the way the. Now for the other one, I would like to get to know about you a bit. If I am going to marry someone I'd rather take it seriously. After all it's not something you do on just a whim…at least not if you are not drunk in a casino in Vegas, those things are just weird. Anyways back to the topic would you mind if we get to know each other a bit before continuing any further." I state in a serious tone of voice, as I watch her lighten up a bit at that.
+5 Affection with Rias Gremory (30/100) for wanting to know her.
Fuck yeah, who said playing galges all those nights was a waste of time. In your face bitches. This is a real life galge and I am acing it like a boss.
Still she is kinda naïve for a devil. Sona would have doubted me if I had done this to her or at least kept me at a much sharper watch. Another thing to watch out for. Rias and Sona are close friends so I don't want Rias to babble something to Sona and make her doubt me instead. Food for thought.
As we were chatting, a magic circle appears in the middle of the room. Crimson coloured and out of it comes…..wow those are big.
"Ara ara, do we have a guest President. If I had known, I would have brought some treats." No no no no no, you yourself area treat Akeno, no need to go anywhere for getting anything.
"He is Shin Kageyami. He has come here to meet and have a chat with me." she says signaling Akeno something with her eyes. Now what plan is this devil concocting? I could feel them communicating something with their eyes but I ignore it or at least pretend to ignore it. I could always use the situation to my advantage if there is a chance anywhere.
"Nice, to meet you Shin-sama. I didn't know you were going to arrive so was not present to greet you. You have my heartfelt apologies for it" wow she went from a tease to a noble lady all of a sudden.
I look at her weirdly and check around her for something for a bit. Nope she doesn't have anything like that.
"What are you looking for Shin-san?" Rias asks me with curiosity lacing her voice.
"I was checking if she had something like a Millennium Puzzle or something similar on her. That change in personality was definitely not normal." I reply with a serious tone of voice. She chuckles at that and I can see Akeno's lips twitch a little at that. Yup, throw her off the game with stupid comments and then attack her where it hurts. These big sister types need a certain tactic to win over.
"Please don't call me –sama or lord or something. I don't like serious things like that if it's not binding." 'You could always call me 'Master' or any other kinky titles that you like. I am all up for it I add that in my mind'.
"So what are your hobbies Shin? What do you want to become? Tell me something about yourself, family friends and stuff." Rias relaxes a bit around me. That +30 affection doing wonders for her mental state around me.
"Answering your questions in order, I like reading, learning magic and playing chess. I am not really sure what I want to become. I am new to this for now, I guess I will look around and decide later. As for my family and friends" here I put all my acting skills to full throttle before replying "The only person I considered my family, my god father passed away a week ago. As for the people who gave birth to me, they are just that and not my family. I'd rather not share this information with anyone but I don't think hiding things about me from you will be fair to you considering our current situations. I do have a few people I could call friends. Recently Siaraorg has been a good friend to me. So that's it for me. Your turn now Rias."
And that left them in a somber yet intrigued state of mind. I know it makes me appear like an emo but it is actually for the better. They will probably try to investigate me and in turn find out about the things that they are curious about rather than what my current plans. Diverting their attention is a better choice here so they don't stick their nose where I could be inconvenient for me. If they find about James and his ilk, I might even gain some affection and sympathy points depending on how I play this situation.
"I am sorry to remind you of such unpleasant things. As for me I like Japan and things in this country, my peerage and my friends here. I want to make the strongest peerage and compete in the rating games and prove meself to everyone. My best friends are Sona and Akeno, whom you have already met." Good she is opening up a bit to me. I doubt she would say even a part of it to Riser, so that a plus for me.
We keep on chatting for a while, she tells me more about the underworld and I listen to her adding some points and asking questions in between. Overall it was nice having the peaceful chat. She then takes me out to show me around the academy and I have to agree, this place is beautiful. Akeno follows us quietly.
"This academy is quite beautiful." I say not lying about it for once.
"Yes. How was your school?" she asks a bit curious, probably wanting to know about me and my life.
"Well, certainly not as bright and homely like this. It was an old medieval castle with giant three-headed dogs and thousand year old basilisks around on year by year basic. We even had dragons about a year ago." I smirk at the stupidity that was Hogwarts, the so called safest place in the world. Safest place my ass.
She chuckles at my reply until she looks my unamused face and her eyes widen a bit at the implications of my words. "Wait you were serious about it? What kind of place does that? A Cerberus of all things?" and she reacts like every sane person would react to it.
"Oh, no Fluffy was basically alright if you didn't disturb his sleep. It was Sevvy, the basilisk that was a bitc….ughh dangerous and as for the school. It was the so called 'safest place in the world'. No it was not." I whisper the last part to myself.
"Fluffy? You named a Cerberus….. Fluffy?" she asks looking at me like I was insane. Not that I blame her, I would look at myself the same way if I actually did that. Hagrid is just….. unique.
"He was the Groundskeeper's pet. And no I have better things to do than naming a three-headed dog, who could bit my head off by accident 'Fluffy' of all things. These kinds of things were the reason I ran away from that place as soon as I could leaving my education in incomplete." Yeah, and a certain manipulative old coot, James, the fake and Tom being the others. "Damn, that reminds me that I have to get admitted to a different school."
"I…..can't blame you for that. It am just amazed that you stayed that long or your….umm guardians allowed you to."
While we were talking about random things, I saw one of the targets I was looking for being chased by girls with shinai's in their hands. As they pass by us, I secretly use my 'Create Shadow Servant' skill and let it slip in Issei's shadow. Our shadows were connected so it wasn't noticed by anyone, still I diverted their attention to myself by asking of the obvious question. "What is going on here?"
For her part, she looks slightly embarrassed while explaining the matter to me.
"So they don't get disciplinary actions taken against them or even better does no one seals that hole from where they peek?" I ask the obvious yet again.
"Well, Sona gave them a chance and it will be bad for the school's image if something like this happens." She is dismissing the subject. Oh, she doesn't want me knowing about Issei's sacred gear. Too bad for her, he is already my target.
She shows me around the Kuoh Academy after that and boy were they right about the stares of the students being a pain. The boys were starting daggers, swords, spears arrows and whatever they could at me while the girls were already making weird fantasies. I know I am now much better looking than before but seriously…..wait what the fuck was that about Me and Kiba being together. These fujoshi's are crazy I tell you, absolutely crazy.
I even asked her to show me around Akihabara sometimes, which she agreed whole-heartedly. Went I told her that we had no access to animes in my previous school, she looked at me with an expression Naruto would have if someone told him that ramen was banned in Konoha, after which she gave me some of her own collection of animes to watch.
Overall today was quite productive. I even got Akeno's reputation at +5 and Rias was at +35 by the time Serafall took me back.
- Same evening in Underworld –
Siaraorg arranged for a workshop for me. I can finally get started on some basic stuff. First thing I invented was a Magic Gun which can shoot elemental bullets after being powered by mana. Basic stuff but insanely useful for the current me who need to reflect magic to level up my Mirror Alice. It didn't take too long to make it either. As I said basic stuff.
The second was more important, a magic cloaking device. It looks like a simple bracelet which uses my own magic to make a barrier around me and prevents the stray magic which leaks out of me from spreading around. It even gives a barrier which stops 10k points of damage to me.
The third was something I worked on in my ID while my Shadow Servants kept low level zombies at bay. It is not something I can afford to let someone know about. A scared gear extractor. It was actually difficult as it was an epic grade artifact. I even had to use up some of the raw materials in the workshop that was present before I arrived there. Mental note, have them replaced soon. To avoid letting them know which materials I exactly used, I took some from many of the raw materials present, so they might not be able to guess, what I needed all of the metals and materials for.
It looks like a mechanical octopus which would latch onto someone and suck out the sacred gear from their bodies, changing it to an orb. The target could offer resistance to the extraction process but that can be prevented if they are unconscious. So I have to knock them up before using it. Of course it would lead to death of the target if a gear is not returned within a certain period of time but I don't care about that.
I had a good sleep though. Sleeping is important after all. At this rate I might gain the sin of sloth soon.
- Next day –
I am going out with Kuisha today to get some materials for my workshop. I was adviced by Zekram to check out the markets of the Bael territory when he heard about my hobby of artificing. Kuisha decided to follow me to show me around. She was quite interested in the magic cloaking bracelets and the mana powered guns so she decided to join me for the shopping trip.
"What are we looking for today, Shin." she asks while looking around the market.
"Magic conducting materials, magical ingredients you know claws and fangs of dragons an stuff to be used as a catalyst for artifacts. I would like some bloodstones from Romania if possible." I read out the list that I made mentally for her. Even if we don't get all the things we could always keep a lookout for them.
"So what inventions are you trying to make this time." So yeah, as it turns out Kuisha Abaddon is a geek. To be more precise a magic nerd.
"I was thinking about some protective or power increasing type artifacts. It could help out in dangerous situations." It's true. I am looking for something to boost my elemental resistance or increase the damage of my magic attacks. But the real target that I have in my mind is a Magic Disruption Device.
Suddenly we were interrupted by an arrogant voice which broke my line of thought. Something I hate when I am seriously planning about my future moves.
"Well what do we have here, the queen of the magic-less dropout of the Bael House. I don't understand why you are wasting your time with such mistakes of nature. You could always have a position by Riser's side. Riser would always appreciate someone of your skills" I look back to see a devil equivalent of Draco Malfoy leering at Kuisha as if she were nothing more than an object to satiate the lust of others. I suddenly understand why Rias would detest the very thought of getting married to this chicken.
I sense Kuisha tensing up a bit before her Magic flares up and she speaks in a tone I hadn't heard from her yet. "Lord Riser, you coming to the Bael's territory and insulting my king in front of everyone present. Should I take it as an insult to the House Bael and report other of your presumed challenge to the House of the Great King. I am pretty sure you will get the answer to your questions after that." And that's strike 3. Batter out. With one sentence she turned his previous taunt to a situation of a lesser pillar challenging the Great King. As foolish as Riser is he wouldn't dare 'rise' up to this challenge. And as expected he lets out a click of his tongue and shuts up before he notices me.
I am wearing a normal white full sleeved shirt with black trousers. Nothing like any high class devil would wear normally. To be honest all those fancy clothes are a pain in the neck to wear and pretty uncomfortable too. I wonder if the high class devils are masochists to enjoy wearing such heavy clothes. I ignore him as Kuisha already took care of the situation. I think I might have to fight him as it is but I'd rather avoid unnecessary fights if possible. But as it would have it the life of a game protagonist is not that simple, so when I am happily ignoring him I hear his Malfoyish voice irritating my ears once again.
"Your tastes are declining Kuisha, first the talentless failure and now a low class scum. Are you that blind that you cannot even see the difference between the diamond like Riser and society's dregs like him who doesn't even know how to address his betters properly?"
Observe
Riser Phenex
3rd son of House Phenex, High Class Devil
Level – 49
Rank – Veteran
Race – Devil
HP – 10,240
SP – 10,240
MP – 19,480
STR – 102
END – 85
DEX – 95
INT – 157
WIS – 153
CHA – 113
LCK – 62
Thoughts about you – Disdain, Disgust.
"So who is this Chicken guy?"
And everyone froze over.
-20 Reputation with Riser Phenex (-30/100) do you even need to ask why.
Then after a few seconds it took for the chicken brain to register, that I supposedly insulted him. He flared his magic and roared with rage like a wild boar pierced in the butt with a spear.
"You low class insolent plebian dare insult me. I will burn you to ashes end your life right now." as he was shouting, I asked Kuisha the most obvious question.
"What low class thing is he talking about?"
"He thinks you are a low class devil Shin." Kuisha answers a little worried.
"Ah, so he is an idiot who can't tell right from left if it stares him in his face." Taking out my pawn piece from my inventory, I wave it at his face. "I am a high class devil too." Yup, I am having fun doing this.
"As if a nameless plebian like you could ever match a majestic Phenex who carry the blood of the immortal Phoenix themselves. You will pay a price for your insolence and no one will stop me from delivering judgement today." I see a hint of surprise on his face at the mention of me being a High Class Devil before he dismisses it and flares his magic even higher and flames start to manifest around him heating up the surroundings."
"So you say that you carry the blood of the Phoenix?" I ask him all the while faking a look of confusing.
"Yes, so even if you are a High Class Devil, you can never compare to the likes of me. You are forever destined to live in the lowest dregs of the underworld." wow, this guy is hardcore. He makes Malfoy look better, then again nah, about the same. At least he hasn't gone around saying my Father will hear about this.
"Wait I don't get it. How is that possible? Did your ancestors fuck a Phoenix or did they get ahem a…..…well you know." Yup, that did it. I finally made him blow up.
-20 Reputation with Riser Phenex (-50/100) for obvious reasons.
His magic blasts through but before it could hit me, a yellow magic circle appears in front of me and blocks at attack completely and from behind us comes out an elderly figure in black. His majestic presence making Riser freeze in shock before he back down, fear evident on his face. Yes, it was none other than Zekram Bael.
I sensed his presence right before Riser appeared. So when the idiot started his stupid rant I secretly looked at Zekram, who gave me a nod. I am not a fool who would pick up fights without any reason and seeing the coincidence that Riser appeared here right when we were taking a trip for shopping so far away from Phenex territory, I got a gist of Zekram's plans.
The results are, if I say so myself fabulous to say the least.
"Has the House of Phenex become so bold that they can come to the territory of Bael and attack one of my wards under my nose? It seems that my days of retirement has made in unaware of the current status of the 72 pillars. When did the House of the Great King fall behind the Marquis Phenex's house?" Zekram speaks in an even tone, without any fluctuations in his voice which makes it all the more intimidating. "If you had any disagreement you could have challenged him, maybe had a rating game but who gave you the power to 'judge' my ward."
"I didn't know he was under your protection Great King. It is just that he said something which caused me to lose control over myself. I apologise for my mistake regarding the way I reacted." Oh putting the blame on me now. Go on, I'll play along with it.
"So you mean that you got enraged with the reply he gave when you insulted his standing and lineage? Am I getting this wrong or is there something I missed there?"
Checkmate bitch.
"I..i didn't meant to sir. I did not know of his standing." stutters Riser.
"Since insults have been used from both sides, I will not blame anyone regarding this, however if I let you go without any action then it will be a black mark on my House's image, which I absolutely cannot allow. I know you have grievances with him so you two will fight in a rating game. 10 days from now. Use that to decide the end of this feud. Let no one say that The Great King is unfair to others."
Damn, he acts really well. Then again thousands of years of experiences must teach you at least that much.
"How goes your progress with collecting your pieces Shin."
"I have been looking around for potential candidates. I have one or two in mind. Maybe I will get my first member in a day or two." feeding information to the opponent is good if you are the one who controls the information being fed.
"You are challenging Riser with no members in your Peerage. Riser has a full peerage, he will crush you like any ant." Oh my god…..ouch, did this guy just forget that he was just stuttering like an idiot moments ago.
"We'll see about that." I reply casually as if not even considering him a threat.
"Very well the, it's been decided. I will arrange the matches to be held 10 days from now. It would be prudent for you to inform your house about it. You challenged the House of The Great King, if you lose there will be consequences. Now leave my territory." commanded Zekram and Riser leaves in a flash of orange fire covered magic circle.
"So I need to collect my peerage now?" I ask turning back to him.
"That's what you said. You picked a fight. You decide how to finish it. If you require help, I could allow you to take some servants from the Bael household as your peerage." and the fucker threw everything on me.
"In that case allow me to travel for a week and search for my peerage Lord Zekram. I will be back within a week with whatever members I can find." I won't fill my peerage with his servants. I have many plans for it.
"Very well, 7 days. Be sure to be back within that time." He left the rest unsaid. Maybe he would declare me as a stray devil. I wonder what he would do if he finds out that the game allows me to change back to human at will. Probably have a stroke or something. Food for thought.
Poor Kuisha looks like she deer caught in the headlights. After Zekram leaves, she starts to apologise to me. She thinks it is her fault that I got dragged into this mess in the first place. Naïve little girl. Good for me though. Way to gain easy Affection points when she is feeling guilty about it.
"Shin, I didn't mean to do that. It's my fault. I should have stopped you when it started. I am really sorry that I didn't stop you soon enough." she keeps on blubbering nonsense that wouldn't have mattered either way.
"The idiot was here to pick a fight. He would have gotten it either way. If you had retaliated, you as a Middle Class Devil would have faced punishment but I get away with a slap at my wrist at best. Don't worry your pretty head about it." I play things off as casually as I could.
+10 Affection with Kuisha Abaddon (45/100) for saving her.(I really like this part)
Aren't you having too much fun with this game?
Why? Did you think that only Gamers can have fun?
Not really. Glad that you are enjoying it.
Thank you.
We casually exchange words while making our way back to the Bael castle. I did get some good materials for my next experiment.
- Later that night –
The day was quite eventful as Siaraorg came running after he found out what had happened during our shopping trip, and as much fun as it would have been to see watch me stomp into the Phenex territory and punch the arrogant chicken to oblivion, I couldn't have that. All this was planned and I have to play a part in that plan. The people here wanted to see Riser get beaten up and I was going to give them just that.
Later calls from Venelana and surprisingly even Rias wishing me luck for my match. Rias was more worried though. She finally had a hope of escaping from that engagement and I went on ahead and picked a fight with Riser. Foolish girl still thought that the Phenex's would back down from the engagement just because Zekram and her family decided that she would marry me.
Good for me. If she is that stupid, then I can make better use of her. Smart girls are harder to manage.
Now for the plans for the Rating Game. I am not planning to show all of my abilities for the game. It's better to keep most of it hidden for a surprise against future foes. A fight against his entire peerage on my own could be slightly problematic. Even if they individually might not be strong enough but the saying 'power in numbers' does hold some merit.
I have to accelerate my plans far faster now.
Thus right I am in the workshop working on an entirely different invention. This one was a challenge to design in general. Especially the range of the device. A 10m or 100m range won't help me at all. I needed something like a 100 Km radius range at the very least for it to have some effect. And for that reason I had to create an independent power source for it. A battery which requires me to fill mu my entire mana 5+ times over every time I need to use it. It was like 1 million MP, per use and this is where the bloodstones came in handy.
Bloodstones can hold a lot of magic inside them. Vampires feed on the magic in the blood and they use Bloodstones to substitute the magic in blood they steal for a higher grade meal. Other factions use the bloodstones for different purposes too, as catalyst, as raw materials for artifacts, etc.
Two such batteries later my main device was ready. It is definitely something I can get behind and give an approval.
Sacred Gear Locator (Epic)
Detects presence of any Sacred Gears within Range of the user.
Different colours indicate different status of the gears.
Grey : Unactivated
White : Activated.
The power level of the Sacred Gears is indicated by a spectrum of colours. Violet being the least and Red being the most dangerous.
Range : 100 km around the device.
This device is going to be the key to my victory in the Rating Game. Now let the Sacred Gear Hunt begin.
- Ravel Phenex –
This was all wrong.
Her idiot brother had come back home bragging how he would show everyone that the power of the Phenexs was the supreme in the underworld. She couldn't help but scoff at it. Even as young as she was, she knew that the Phenex Clan trait was not infallible. The very proof that none of the Satans were Phenex was a proof of that. Even her eldest brother, one she was actually not ashamed to be related with was only ranked ninth in the Rating Games overall ranking lists. There were many people in the underworld who could kill him easily.
However her heart completely stopped when she found out, just what he did to prove his moronic delusions.
He challenged the ward of the Fucking GREAT KING ZEKRAM BAEL. Although she had not heard of this so called ward of the great king, she did know of a simple fact. 'If Zekram Bael has taken someone under his wings, you don't fuck with them' but apparently her brother didn't know of this. That is why he was bragging how he would crush the…..bug and take Kuisha Abaddon as his own.
She doesn't know where she got this idea from but Kuisha is Siaraorg's queen. His win or loss won't matter to her a proof that Riser never thought of anything before acting on it.
The part that made her furious was her father actually encouraging Riser to carry on with his foolishness.
He father has been using the power of House Phenex for his own personal agendas for a long time to actually care about the consequences of such actions. It is due to his deals and threats to stop the trade of Phenex tears to other houses to gain advantage in the said deals, that the House Phenex is one of the most hated of the 72 pillars. She could only thank the Satans that there were no substitute for the tears or they will be razed by the other Pillars both financially and politically in a matter of months if not weeks.
But all these farce has been giving her a sinking feeling in her stomach. There was no way Zekram Bael would just go around taking a walk in a market so stop Riser and if what she thinks is true, the great king has had enough of her father's attempts of usurping power and now House Phenex was going to be judged. The only question was could she save her mother, other two brothers and herself from all this mess.
- Multiversal Schemes –
"I thought that we decided not to interfere with the lives of newbies while they grew up, so what was that about." A voice questions in the endless darkness of the void, waiting for a response to the question.
"Oh come on, I just gave him a push in the right direction. It's not everyday that we get an interesting one like him. First day as a gamer and he already, kills his watcher, robs a bank, throws out others from their inheritance and leaves the fuck out while showing them a middle finger. I just 'suggested' him to open the box and summon the devil. Not much." A second voice replies in a cheerful tone.
"You could have always created quests to make him involved, no need for mental manipulations. That's the one thing we decided to avoid." The first voice remains unfazed by the cheerful tone of the second.
"And now you are being a spoil sport, don't worry. I have prepared a …..gift for him because of my prank. It will even everything out."
"Really, you are going to give him that?"
"Can you imagine all the chaos it can cause if when he tries to use it? He could always let it sit aside. Wasted opportunity I suppose. All his choice this time."
"True Enough."
"Let's see how our junior gamer lives through this mess."