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Hello, new person! (I limit myself to typing out your username one time, for the sake of my fingers and sanity) I'm glad you're enjoying the story, let's see what you've left me here…
Rest assured, Vin will get his moments to shine. I know this arc really does him dirty in a lot of ways, but it's mainly done to reflect how he's a real person who's been thrust into this insane new world, and forced to adapt or die. The reason he's failing so much is because he's still growing, both as a person, and as a fighter. We're reaching later into the nine months that this arc covers now, so in both the last chapter and in this one, we get to see a Vin that's much more confident and overall much more competent at everything. By the end of this arc, he's supposed to be either on par with Xenovia/Irina and the others, or just a little weaker. But in terms of epic moments… Well the story arc finale is rapidly approaching, so get ready.
Also, like I said before, Vin is growing stronger, both emotionally and physically, so rest assured, he won't become a simple stepping stone for other characters. He's simply a person who has to visibly struggle more than some characters.
Thank you for the compliments! I really enjoy writing, so hearing that people really enjoy my style is wonderful to hear. I'm also glad that you're loving both Ezekiel and Xenovia, I'll be honest, when I first made the OC exorcists, I was really scared that people would just write them off as nothing but fluff, but hearing that people like you were able to connect and grow to love them is nothing short of heartwarming. Same with Xenovia, mainly because I'm treading a fine line here, since I'm trying to apply some tweaks and character work to her in order to justify her personality switch pre-and-post devil reincarnation, all while not making her OOC. I like to think I'm doing a good job, and your comments certainly help me feel that way.
Thanks for both the follow and the review! I hope that you enjoy this chapter as well, and all the other chapters that will be coming out over time. Rock on!
Sakiv Says:
"Really liking this story been reading since the beginning and it's really refreshing to have actual characters rather than just tropes like a lot of the fanfics on here do. The character interactions are always well done. Can't wait to see his hear continue to evolve this might have been mentioned in the story but is vins special for not being gold or did Midas himself have the special version of the gear. Either way I'm really excited to see what it's balance breaker and other abilities are glad your not rushing into them immediately before we even see the full potential of the base gear"
I'm glad to see that you've been supporting the story since the beginning, Sakiv! And it's wonderful to finally hear from you as well!
I agree that it's fun to have characters that don't rely on tropes in a DxD fanfiction, not only to read, but also to write. It's a lot more fun when I get to explore different sides of a character, and stretch their character traits in new directions. Take the banter between Irina and Vin at the beginning of this chapter. I really enjoyed writing responses using Irina's personality, especially her response to being told to 'go to hell' by Vin.
The Sacred Gear, of course will continue to evolve as the story goes on, you and I both can agree that it's very boring whenever an OC gets a Sacred Gear, and instantly, they unlock Balance Breaker, or Juggernaut Drive. And then when the author writes themselves into a corner, because in order to up the ante, they can no longer pull out one of those transformations, they just give up and give pointless, even more overpowered 'alternate Balance Breaker forms' or something. It's lame, honestly. That won't happen here. As a matter of fact, I've actually never even entertained the thought of another Balance Breaker form for Vin, so yeah, if it ever does happen, it won't happen for a loooong time.
Finally, I may not have been perfectly clear, and that mostly rests on me, because I hid the answer away in another chapter's Review Roundup, but let me confirm what's going on with Vin's Sacred Gear.
The Midas' Rings is a mid-tier Creation-Type Sacred Gear that allows the user to create gold structures using motions of their hands. King Midas, the namesake for the Gear, is arguably the most famous user of Midas' Rings in history, as he used it to gain his notoriety of having 'the golden touch'. Like other common Sacred Gears, there are a few copies of Midas' Rings floating around the world, probably about three or four copies.
Now, Vin has gained one of these copies, but over time, it's mutated into a subspecies of Midas' Rings. Right now, no one knows why it mutated, or really anything about it beyond just changing the material created from the Gear from gold to a quartz-like crystal material. In this chapter it's hinted by Albion that something within the Gear may have been what caused it's sudden mutation.
It was a normal breakfast that day; cartoons on the television, the group of teens and young adults sprawled around the room, all in various states of sleepwear as they shoveled their various haphazard breakfasts into their mouths while conversing in muffled, groggy chatter. At the table, Vin chewed on a breakfast sandwich, Xenovia on his left, and across from them, Griselda, who read a newspaper with casual disinterest.
Sipping at her mug of coffee, her eyes never leaving the paper, "I've made the necessary preparations for Vin to undergo the ritual in the next few days."
That simple statement seemed to be enough for everyone in the room to stop what they were doing, and turn around to face Griselda.
"Wait, seriously?!" Ethan exclaimed.
"I put in the request about a month ago, I've just been waiting to tell you all until we could find a date to make it work."
"Um," Vin spoke up, "What's the 'ritual'?"
He really hoped it wasn't some sort of blood sacrifice.
He wasn't ready for that today.
Xenovia turned to him, "Nothing bad, it's a ceremony where a powerful angel uses their holy magic to place a crystal inside you, which contains the genes necessary to wield a holy sword; a blessing of sorts."
Oh, that made a lot more sense… It always did seem weird to him that supposedly holy sword wielders were rare, but here the church was, sitting on at least six of them at all times.
"Yes," Griselda's voice drew Vin out of his thoughts, "It's a moment of great significance in many exorcists' lives, and it's a rare opportunity not open to many."
Griselda folded her paper, leaving it on the table as she stood up, "Now that brings me to the most important detail about today: you have another stray devil hunt. The only problem is, I've been called to escort our distinguished guest from Heaven, and won't be back until the evening, and with Lint already dispatched too far away on a mission of her own, we have no one to properly direct you."
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want to read ahead or want to support you can join my patr-eon and u will be able to read ahead by 15 chapters
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