Several minutes before James awakened from his three-day dream.
The mixed martial artist whose life James had just experienced was also experiencing the young James' six years of life, as well. And his viewing had just come to an end.
"I'm not exactly sure what the hell is going on here." the MMA fighter thought to himself. "I do believe in reincarnation due to the Old Samurai, but this seems more like transmigration, like some isekai shit."
Lost in thought, the MMA fighter began reviewing what he could from the memories of the six-year-old James.
"It looks like my new life is gonna be taking place in a world with magic, monsters, and all that shit." He thought aloud while cross referencing the two sets of memories.
"Hold the fuck up!"
Or he was... Until he recognized the names and appearances of the young James' two childhood friends and their families.
"Red headed Rias and glasses wearing Sona. If that wasn't a dead giveaway for where I ended up, then I read all those light novels and manga for nothing!" The MMA fighter shouted in excitement while pumping his fist into the air.
"Hold on, what is this? My parents, or rather the new me's parents, are alive?" He thought in confusion, before realizing how screwed up that thought felt.
"Damn... that was dick-ish. I mean, I'm not wishing death on anyone. But seriously what kinda self-respecting isekai story gives the new guy two loving, good-looking parents?" He said with jealousy.
[[Fuck this guy! This transmigration story just became a reincarnation story!]]
The MMA fighter shivered after hearing what he thought to be an angry roar accompanied by the sound of a wall breaking. Looking around and not catching sight of anyone or anything, he shrugged it off, thinking his mind was playing tricks on him.
"Hell, the new me's got it better than I did. I only had one loving, good-looking parent!" He continued where he left off with noticeably less bite to his criticism.
[[Sorry buddy, the bridge has already been burned.]]
Unsure as to why, the MMA fighter slumped his shoulders in defeat. After a little more grumbling about the unfairness of it all, the MMA fighter shook his head to get rid of all the stupidity running around in his head.
"Okay dude, focus." he said to himself while smacking his cheeks. "What else can I see about myself? I'm a half-devil. Not bad... Not bad... My father is a pure-blood devil, so that makes my mother a... devil, too?"
'How the fuck does one plus one equal half?' Was the first thought that ran through his mind after getting that weird bit of information, before he started remembering the settings in this world.
"Okay, I gotta stop looking at this world with the common sense from my life. The new me lives on anime logic." the MMA fighter reminded himself. "Okay, going by the context clues... I'd guess that dad knocked up mom while she was human. Then mom died during childbirth or sometime after the new me was born, and then got reincarnated with an [Evil Piece]. Or something like that."
The [Evil Pieces], a system brought into devil society by one of the Four Great Satans, Ajuka Beelzebub, in response to the devil's low population after the Great Three-way War and Devil Civil War in the past. Due to the devil's naturally low birth rates, the creation of the [Evil Pieces], which are based on the human game of chess, allowed devils to convert those of other races, excluding gods and angels, into devils with bonus attributes depending on which [Piece] was used to convert them.
"Well, I guess that clears up the half-devil question."
As the MMA fighter continued skimming through James' memories, he had to stop in surprise yet again.
"How the hell did a power from Bleach end up in DxD?"
Yes, the excitable man child took notice of the inborn devil ability of Cassiel Alaverus, James' father, "Senbonzakura." His ability works in a similar way to Byakuya Kuchiki's Shikai release in the Bleach manga/anime. Using the trigger word, "scatter" an item breaks down into cherry blossom petal shaped blades equal in volume to the item they originated from.
There are, of course, differences between the Alaverus bloodline ability and the source ability.
For one, the Alaverus inborn ability does not create an item that is linked to the user such as a zanpakuto. Instead, the user must select an item, then mark it with their spirit and demonic energy for the ability to take effect.
Secondly, the aforementioned spiritual mark can be switched from one item to another, with a twenty-four- hour cooldown from removal to reapplication. Also, only one spiritual mark can exist at a time.
And lastly, pumping more demonic energy into the spiritual mark can temporarily improve the parameters of the petal blades. I.e., Sharpness, durability, and movement speed can all be augmented with additional energy consumption.
"I guess that's a pretty good power conversion. I've seen better, though."
[[Yup this is your last chapter, for sure.]]
With his left hand supporting his right elbow, and his right hand stroking his chin, the MMA fighter mused to himself "I guess the only thing I need to worry about now is... Now that I'm here, what will happen to me and the boy?"
'It's probably better if I disappear...'
After some time in silent contemplation, that was the conclusion the MMA fighter came to.
"But I'm not going out quietly." He said with determination on his face, while pumping his fist into the air.
Just after putting his determination in words, there was a flash of light and the figure of a child, James, appeared before him.
The MMA fighter and the Boy locked eyes.
'What is this old man doing?' James thought to himself in curiosity.
'Well... This is awkward...' The MMA fighter thought to himself in embarrassment.
Lowering his raised hand slowly, the MMA fighter was the one who eventually broke the awkward silence.
"So, you must be James Alaverus."
"Yes, I am. And you're..." James stopped to think, before continuing with a cheeky smile, "the Samurai Nerd?"
'This kid isn't cute at all.' the MMA fighter thought to himself with a frown making its way to his face.
Seeing the MMA fighter's reaction James began to laugh.
"Before seeing your memories, I never wanted to make people upset or uncomfortable." James said, the MMA fighter adopting an expression filled with curiosity at his words. "But after seeing the way you 'trolled' people, that's what you called it, right? I thought it looked like fun."
Pin drop silence fell between the two.
'Oh shit, I think some of my personality bled into his when I was awakened.' the MMA fighter reasoned, before starting to laugh boisterously. 'Fuck it, this will make his life more interesting.'
"I really like you kid..." the MMA fighter began. Taking a couple of steps forward, he placed his hand on top of James' head before continuing, "because of that, I'm not gonna fight you over control of the body. You can have it."
"Uhm... Thanks?" The young James wasn't sure what that meant exactly but it sounded like a good thing, so, he thanked the MMA fighter for it.
"But in return, I'm going to download my knowledge of otaku culture, love of otaku culture, combat instincts, knowledge of fighting skills, and love of trolling." the MMA fighter said all in one breath.
James looked at the MMA fighter with his eyes wide. Having just watched his entire life, James was aware of all of the things he just mentioned. Then he stopped as he came to a realization.
"Wait, does that mean I'll know what's..."
"Slow down, kid." the MMA fighter interrupted. "I know what you're thinking. I won't be leaving the information I have about this world's future."
"Why not?" James questioned with a pout.
"Because knowing the future would take the fun out of life." the MMA fighter answered matter of factly.
Seeing the boy pouting at his response, the MMA fighter chuckled and began ruffling the young boy's hair.
"Quit pouting, kid. I'm gonna make sure that you'll remember everything you saw, but you won't have much of an impression of anything other than the things that I'm pushing into your head myself." the MMA fighter explained.
After another somewhat heavy silence, the MMA fighter began pushing the information into James' head as he said...
"Okay, Kid, let's get started."
As the MMA fighter made the specified information more prominent in James' memories, his figure began to fade.
"Why are you starting to disappear!?" Having noticed the MMA fighter's figure beginning to fade, James reacted frantically.
"Take it easy, Kid." the MMA fighter dismissed James' concern very casually as he continued to fade from their shared mindscape. "Remember, I told you that I wasn't going to fight you for your body, right? To let you have it, I have to leave, for good. I don't think one body having to consciousnesses is a good look."
Hearing that the MMA fighter intended to fade away forever, James' mood fell even lower. He had just experienced the entire thirty-seven years of his life. Developing an attachment was probably inevitable.
"Don't give me that look, it's just a guess, but I don't think you'll even remember this conversation." the MMA fighter shrugged his shoulders before continuing. "And before you ask me how I know... It's just a hunch."
As he continued speaking, the MMA fighter's body continued to dissipate. And James began to shed tears.
Seeing James about to cry, the MMA fighter felt his annoyance rising.
"Would you cut that shit out?" the MMA fighter shouted, surprising James to the point that his tears stopped. "I guess I'll have to imprint this into your memories, too. Whenever you send someone off that you care about, always send them off with a smile. That way they know you'll be alright without them."
Hearing the MMA fighter's words, James froze until he could process those words. After understanding the meaning behind them, James wiped his eyes and put on a big smile.
"That's much better." the MMA fighter smiled back at James then muttered to himself. "I really hate seeing kids cry."
James was able to hear the mutters but decided not to comment.
"Well, looks like my time is just about up." Said the MMA fighter, noticing that his body was nearly transparent at this point. "Live a good life, James Alaverus, and try not to do things that you'll regret later."
"Thanks for the advice. I'll do the best I can with what you gave me. Gooby, Warren Thomas..."
Hearing James use his real name in his goodbye, the MMA fighter, Warren Thomas, smiled brightly. Yet, that smile froze solid on his face when he heard the kid's continuation.
"... the Uncoachable Samurai Nerd."
"You really aren't cute at all, Kid!" Warren shouted as his figure completely disappeared from the mindscape.
And just as Warren's hunch suggested, James lost his memories of that conversation. The specified impressions did stick, though. Along with the bit of advice pertaining to goodbyes.
And shortly after that, one of the loudest beeps he had ever heard from either of the two lives woke him up.