Dragons, Devils and Saints, Oh my!
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"So what can I do?" I ask Dulio over the low hum of the pub as people socialised with pints of beer and Lager in their hands.
"Huh?" Dulio said dumbly as we sat down on a table for two in the far corner.
"What can I do exactly with you know what? You said it was Holy Magic, but not much more than that."
After figuring out I was in DxD and I had taken the choice to become an Exorcist, I went through my thoughts and I tried to remember what I know about the world and any people I should know about it.
Considering I only watched the first season of it and did some light wiki browsing on it, plus the fact it's been years since I even last thought of Highschool DxD, to say I had a spotty memory of it would be a compliment.
I know about that one guy, Kakabal I think his name was, stealing some swords or whatever. I know he told everyone God was dead, but that just made me think he's been reading a bit too much of Friedrich Nietzsche.
But that wasn't useful to me considering how I don't really care about the 'main plotline'. I doubt I'll actually get involved with Issei Hyoudou and his Harem and even if I do, it will probably be for short while before I leave to do more important things.
Still, though, my foreknowledge of this world being practically useless wasn't a huge loss if Dulio tells me what I can do-
"I have no idea." The bastard told me with a smile.
Thanks for your help 'big brother'. Don't hurt yourself thinking about it.
"You're joking." I deadpan while Dulio just smiles without a care and picks up the single sheet menu.
"Nope," He said and scans the menu with the most intense look I've seen on Dulio since I met him, "The way Humans use magic and people like Devils and Angels use magic is completely different, even Holy Magic. For Humans to use magic, any kind of magic, they have to use equations along with a certain amount of knowledge and force of will. For Angels and Devils to use magic, all they have to use is their imagination and the power to create a magical circle and boom. Done."
Great.
"Wait a minute, you said equations. Like maths?" I hurriedly ask Dulio who just laughs at the look of pure dread on my face.
"Heh, kinda. But don't worry, I doubt that applies to you. You've already done magic, remember? You infused yourself with Holy Magic, a technique that is mostly used by Angels and a very, very small group of Exorcists who have been given that technique." Dulio tells me with a comforting smile.
"Oh thank God," I let out a sigh of relief.
I noticed Dulio cringe a tiny bit at my words and I couldn't help but wince.
I know God is quite literally dead, but I don't know if Dulio knows that. In any case, that was in pretty poor taste and a habit I'm probably going to have to kick.
"Sorry about that, I didn't mean to offend," I said to him honestly which caused him to just smile like he usually does.
"Don't worry about it, but just a word of advice: Be careful when you say something like, some of the people you'll be meeting are a bit...strong in their belief and worship of our Lord."
"Right," I nod gratefully, "Anyway, are you done now? I've been here before and I know there isn't a lot of choice on that menu."
"Patience, little brother," Dulio says with the grandeur of a wise old man, "This is the first time I've been in an English Restaurant. These aren't choices to be taken lightly."
I looked at with half-lidded eyes, glaring at him with exasperation of the highest order.
"Dulio, this is a pub."
"Yes, and?" He said with an innocent look on his face as if he was a cherub. I just let out a sigh and let it go.
I looked over the pub and the people in it. Men and women drinking and chatting the day away. It was only a quarter full, but it was the only pub in the village so people usually came here to socialise or if they were feeling a bit peckish.
The pub was known as The Squealing Pig on the account the previous used to have a pet pig that squealed non stop, but thankfully moved away a couple of years ago along with his fat pig.
"Have you been here before?" Dulio asked me while I was lost in my thoughts.
"One time. About a year ago, Samantha wanted to go into the village for something or other and decided to drag me along, but it started raining as it usually does around here. We took shelter in here and the owner apparently took a liking to us and gave us some food to wait out the rain."
"Truly? That was nice of the-"
"But after we ate the food, the owner asked us to pay. So I and Samantha did a hit and run."
Dulio's smile freezes in place, "Eh?"
"Yeah," I nod without regret, "We spent all our money on whatever it was Samantha wanted, probably sweets, so when the owner asked us for money we ran out in the pouring rain back home."
Dulio looked at me, smile still frozen in place, while I smiled about old times.
"Don't worry. I told Mother Superior about it and she paid for the meals after dragging us back by the scruff of our necks to apologize. Plus, the owner was only joking about the money. Samantha just jumped the gun so to speak."
Dulio let out a sigh and finally put the menu back down, "All's well that ends well, I suppose."
Soon enough, a waiter came to table to take our orders. A young man, a teen really, with that fake smile that people like him usually wore.
"Hello, are you ready to order now?"
"Yes, thank you," Dulio smiles back him and picks up the menu again, "I would like the whitebait to start with and the fish and chips-"
"Okay, that's one whitebait and one fish and chips-"
"-And the black pudding for dessert," Dulio tells the waiter with an ignorant smile who just looks back at him with wide eyes, dropping his fake smile for a genuine look of shock.
Jesus Christ.
The waiter looks at me for help as I just stare at Dulio in shock.
"D-Dulio, you do know what black pudding is, right?" I asked him, trying not to laugh.
Dulio looks back at me with a scrunched up face and confused expression, "I presume it's like a Sticky Toffee Pudding. Am I wrong?"
Yes.
Yes, you are.
I look at the waiter who just keeps looking back and forth between me and Dulio, probably not prepared for this level of idiocy.
"...You know what, let this be a lesson on English cuisine for you, brother of mine," I tell him as I look to the waiter.
"I'll have the same as him. Black pudding and all."
It was no skin off my back, I love black pudding but I have no idea about Dulio, who is just looking more and more confused.
Poor fool.
"R-right, I'll be back with orders then…" The young waiter stutters and quickly walks off.
Dulio shrugs his shoulders, probably just chalking it up to something else while I tried my best to not laugh.
While waiting for our food, I peppered Dulio with questions about everything really. Sacred Gears, other races of the supernatural and about himself. During this, he went into greater detail about Sacred Gears, telling me about Balance Breakers and about the Longinus. I asked Dulio about his Sacred Gear, but he got awfully embarrassed about it and just told me to 'not worry about it'.
It didn't seem like he wasn't telling me out of malice or anything, so I let it go. I know he has a Longinus, but I don't really remember which one.
Probably isn't important anyway.
And so I asked the all-important question instead:
"Could I have a Sacred Gear?"
Dulio pauses for a moment and drops his fork full of fish on his plate and hums for a while before coming to a decision.
"I'm willing to bet on it." He tells me with a confident nod.
"Really? What makes you say that?"
From what little I remember and from what Dulio told me, Sacred Gears are stored in the soul of a Human, given to them by God's System.
Except that doesn't make any sense for me.
I was a soul, I remember being a soul floating in nothing but the inky Void until I was born anew.
If something was shoved into my soul, more than anyone else, I would know.
"Sacred Gears, you see, they have a habit of being wielded by people that really have no right possessing them or people who already would've been strong without them. We'll see when we get back, but there is a quite high possibility that you have a Sacred Gear."
I suppose that makes some sense. If I remember correctly, one of the people that have a Longinus is like the Anti-Christ or something. Which is just dumb, but whatever.
"Hmmm…" I look down at my empty plate, thoughts racing through my head until I let out a sigh.
If I did have a Sacred Gear, great but I'm not going to bother thinking about maybes that won't help me.
After that, I and Dulio carried on eating through our lunch and we just talked about other, more normal things like why Dulio became an Exorcist.
Turns out Dulio was an orphan himself. His parents were killed in a civil war and he, along with many other children, was raised in a Church Institute. When Dulio's Sacred Gear awakened, the Church took him and trained him to become an Exorcist.
"Wait, they just took you? As a kid?"
Dulio looked at me strangely for a bit, "Yes, but I didn't fight until I was much older. Why are you so surprised?"
"Are you serious?!" I harshly whisper to him, his eyes widening up in surprise, "Dulio, you were a kid!"
Dulio just carried on staring at me before he just chuckled and shook his head.
"Adam, you must be the strangest 6-year old I've ever met."
"I'm the smartest 6 years old you'll ever meet," I grumbled but don't deny it. I didn't really bother acting my age so to speak, simply because I suck at acting. It would've been far more unnatural for me to act like a 6-year-old. I would probably have made Mother Superior and the others think I'm a sociopath or something.
It only struck me after this conversation, but I just realised.
The stuff in the Bible is true. Or at least some of it.
And holy shit did God do some fucked up things if that was the case.
But then again, the Bible was written by men so there could be some miscommunication involved. Maybe the events in the Bible were actually telling the events of the Great War. Hopefully, at least.
I really don't want to think that God was ever going to send someone to Hell because they ate a prawn. Or said that they can stone their wife to death because she isn't a virgin.
Still though, whatever God may or may not have done, it doesn't matter.
He's dead.
And speaking ill of the dead just doesn't sit right with me, especially now.
I'm not going to delude myself into thinking that the Church was the 'good' Faction out of the Devils or Grigori. That experiment that killed those kids and that psychopath Freed are already a pair of scary skeletons in their closets, even if they did exile Freed and the experiments were part of a splinter faction.
To be honest, I don't really care about the Three Factions. While I have no intention of betraying the Church when I become an Exorcist, I'm not gonna lie to myself either and say I'm doing this out of some moral obligation for Humanity or something like that.
I'm doing this so that I can grow stronger. So that the people I care about won't be attacked by some random villain of the week or whatever. Plus, Mother Basilissa, Sister Agatha and Sister Anastasia have done a lot good for me. Maybe I could do some good as well. It's the least of what I could for them.
Cliche as all hell for sure, but it's not like I can actually do anything on a big scale or actually want to do something big scale. If I ever get the chance to grow old and grey without even meeting the main characters, I'll consider that a good life. God knows what else they get involved with.
And then I saw it come.
On a plate of porcelain, carried by the waiter who took our orders and looking like they would rather be anywhere else.
"Hope you're still hungry because here comes dessert," I said, my tone as dry as an actual desert.
Dulio brightens up like a child on Christmas and looks behind him to see the awkward waiter bring our black pudding.
The waiter gives us a very scared, "e-enjoy," and runs away as soon as he can before Dulio could say anything. He looked back the waiter with a confused look, but just shrugged and picked up his utensils to dig in along with getting a proper look at what black pudding actually is.
Dulio stiffened like a statue. His usually bright and warm smile turned brittle and fake. The light in his eyes fades like a shooting star.
The black pudding was cut up into 6 large brown circles, much like a sausage and spots of white fat in it along with some oats. It honestly looked like a fleshy sort of chocolate sausage if it wasn't for the waft of meat and iron that Dulio no doubt smelled.
I happily pick up my knife and fork and cut one slice into four quarters and enthusiastically start munching on it, the rich taste of pork flooding through my mouth along with the faint taste of iron and spices.
Really though, they didn't fry them or anything. Cheapskates, just giving us raw black pudding.
"Adam. What is this."
So that's how it sounds when someone dies inside.
"Black pudding, despite the name, isn't actually pudding in any way," I lectured my adoptive brother as I ate my way through this exquisite meal, already on the 4th slice.
"It's a mix of oats, onions, spices and its most important ingredient: Pigs blood."
Dulio looks up to see me swallow the last of my black pudding and with a wide grin on my face. His smile even more brittle than before and it transforms into a look of shock and horror at seeing my empty plate.
"You gonna eat that?"
.
.
I always wanted to visit Italy. I suppose I was like Dulio in that regard, in that I wanted to try some of its food. Chalk it up to pizza and pasta, but italian food was always something I looked forward to.
Speaking of Dulio…
"Are you still pouting about the black pudding? I told you what it was before you even took a bite." I said to Dulio who was sitting across from me in this private jet.
A private jet.
God, that's still weird to think about.
After our lunch at the Squealing Pig, Dulio suddenly got a call from someone. Apparently whoever called him was scary enough for him to turn pale at the face. I didn't catch the whole conversation, but apparently, someone called Griselda wasn't too happy with Dulio taking so long and wanted him to come back to Italy ASAP.
Griselda was a familiar enough name to me, but I come up blank from where I actually try to remember her or what she can do so I'm probably just gonna have to wing it.
I feel like that's something I'm gonna have to do a lot.
"You tricked me into thinking it was pudding," Dulio crosses his arms childishly and pouts at me, "That is nothing short of pure evil. Honestly, I expected more from you, Adam."
I rolled my eyes at his overdramatic acting, "Dulio, it was a pub, not a restaurant. You're lucky you had me with you to take that black pudding off your hands. Or plate. And besides, you liked the whitebait and fish and chips, didn't you?"
"Yes, they were quite nice," Dulio nodded and took out a notebook from inside of his robes, "I'll have to write those two down for later, but I don't think that 'black pudding' is really suitable."
"Some kids grow up on that, you know."
"Then I shall pray for them."
I rolled my eyes at Dulio and he just gives me a small smirk and puts his notebook away.
We sit in a comfortable silence for a little while with the hum of the jet for background noise. I was about to ask Dulio where we were going exactly until I noticed another noise besides the engine humming.
I look at Dulio in wonder as he snores slightly in his sleep.
How did he even do that so fast? That's actually quite impressive.
The thought of waking him up did pass my mind, but I quickly got rid of it. I've done nothing but ask him questions all day and just to wake him up for more would be a dick move.
"Oh well. If you can't beat them, join em." I mutter as my eyelids close shut.
I was asleep in seconds.
.
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"Dulio Gesualdo. Mind telling me why you're so late?" A beautiful woman dressed in nun's clothing who looked be late 20's with icy blue eyes glared at Dulio, her lips turned upwards into a stiff smile.
"A-ah, well you see, Griselda…" Dulio scratches the back of his head and chuckles nervously while he fails about explaining what took so long.
From what I could gather, Dulio was supposed to ring Griselda when he either recruited me as an Exorcist or I refused, but still had the whole Holy Magic thing going on. At least, that's what I presume.
After the jet landed and we got off, a large car was already parked with Griselda standing there, smiling and all.
I've never seen someone go so pale so fast when Dulio realised that she was here.
What made it even better was the look of betrayal he shot me when I laughed at him.
Still, though, Dulio didn't deserve the grilling he's no doubt going to get. Might as well see if I can help him out.
"It wasn't his fault," I cut through the ensuing conversation and both Griselda and Dulio look at me, "I was hungry so we went to a pub to eat some food. Sorry."
I was lying through my teeth of course, but she didn't know that and Dulio was too busy looking at me with a gobsmacked expression to say anything. Griselda's somewhat scary glare softened a bit when she looked at me, but her smile turned into a frown.
"Child, you shouldn't lie," Griselda lets out a small sigh, "But it wouldn't do to have this conversation now."
Griselda gives me a small but warm smile, "Forgive me, Adam. I didn't me to make you uncomfortable. My name is Griselda Quarta and I'm an Exorcist, much like Dulio."
"Nice to meet you, Miss Quarta. My name is Adam, Adam Gesualdo." I introduce myself fully just to be polite.
Turns out that was the wrong thing to say.
Griselda's smile, along with her whole body, immediately stiffened like a statue when she heard me say my full name. Her head slowly turned up to look at Dulio, her neck moving in stiff and unnatural ways.
"Dulio~"
Now that's a scary voice.
"Ho-hold on a minute, Griselda!" Dulio quickly moves behind me as if I'm some sort of shield, "I have a good reason for this!"
Griselda looks at Dulio with a raised brow, her wrath abating for now.
I look up at Dulio.
Dulio looks down at me.
I look up at Griselda.
Griselda looks down at me.
"...I didn't ask to be adopted."
"Adam!" Dulio wails out in fear and anguish.
"Well, what do you want me to do?!" I spin around to look at Dulio, "It's not like I can do anyth-!"
"Your hands Adam! Show her your hands!"
"Oh," I blink at Dulio, "Right. Forgot about that."
I turn around to see Griselda hiding her hand behind her mouth, but her eyes were filled with mirth and laughter. I held up my hands and felt the familiar warmth flood them as they start to glow with a gentle light.
Griselda's eyes open wide for a moment, "I see. So what Vasco said was true then…"
Vas-who?
"...I suppose I can see why you adopted Adam now, but we'll talk about that later. For now though, Dulio."
"Errr, yes, Griselda?"
"You are to go back to Japan and finish your assignment there. I'll take Adam here to start his training." Griselda states matter of factly.
"Ehhhhh?! But I was just in Japan! Do you know how hard it is to find certain Youkais in Jap-!" Dulio starts to whine and complain until he notices the look on Griselda's face. Her eyes shadowed by her nun's habit and the unerring smile on her face.
"R-right, I'll get back to it," Dulio whimpers like a whipped dog before looking back at me with a small grin, "Looks like this is where I'm gonna have to leave you alone for now, Adam."
"I'm sure I'll survive," I remark dryly which causes Dulio to grin wider and ruffle my hair.
Fuck.
"I'm sure you will, but before that…"
Faster than I could even see, Dulio's hand that was on my head suddenly moved to my cheek.
And lightly pinches.
Ow.
While I flail about, trying to get Dulio's iron grip off of my face, Dulio lectures me:
"Don't lie in the future, please. You'll hurt the ones that you care about if you keep doing it."
Dulio let's go my aching cheek and I rub it while glaring at Dulio's smirking face, "What, did I hurt your feelings?"
"Why Adam, I'm touched that you care so much," Dulio teases me with a smile while I just scowl at him.
"Whatever. Just go, I'll see you later." I wave him off him and he just laughs at me. We wave goodbye to each other as he walks towards the jet and I walk to Griselda, who's looking mighty amused.
"You and Dulio already seem to be quite close," Griselda said to me as we went into the back seats of the large car. I give Griselda a shrug and settle in the surprisingly comfy chair and the driver, who I could only tell was a man, starts to drive to an unknown destination.
"Dulio seems like a good person, Miss Quarta. I'll admit I've been kinda annoying him with a lot of questions ever since I took him up on his offer but he's been answering them without telling me to shut up."
"Hmm…" Griselda peers at me for a moment, "Tell me, Adam. Why did you accept Dulio's offer of becoming an Exorcist?"
Oh no.
"To...fight for the glory of God?" I, again, lie through my teeth to Griselda who looks thoroughly unamused.
"Adam, I've been raised among Exorcists and the devout alike. I can tell when someone praises our Lord and wants to fight in his name or not. Plus, you are a terrible liar." I couldn't help but wince.
"Do you really have to know? It can't be that important." I whine like the child I pretend to be, while Griselda just sighs and gives me a look that Mother Basilissa used to give the other kids when they complained.
Jokes on her though, Mother Basilissa is way scarier than her.
"Call it simple curiosity. Dulio wouldn't have lied to you about what being an Exorcists entails and yet you still accepted it anyway. Most of our recruits are raised already knowing about the Supernatural and the dangers of being an Exorcist. It's quite rare that we recruit someone, especially someone as young as you, from outside."
For a few moments, neither of us said anything. I looked out the window of the driving car, signs of shops, restaurants and people just living their day to day life. I eventually look at Griselda who looked back with a non-judging stare.
"Matthew 7:12: "So in everything, do unto others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." I quote effortlessly from 6 years of living under 3 protestant nuns who saw to my education, "If someone could do what I can, I would want them to help me. It'll be pretty hypocritical of me to expect something like from someone else, but not do it myself."
To my utter surprise, rather than not believing me or just flat out order me to say the main reason, Griselda giggles and gives me small but genuine smile.
"Oh my, I didn't expect such a precise quote. Maybe I was wrong about your devotion?" She teases me, her tone laced with mischief.
"Nothing like that," I rolled my eyes at her, "It's just that the nuns who raised me always used to quiz me and other kids on stuff like that. If we didn't answer correctly, they forced us to read the passage again."
Which makes a hell of lot more sense now than it did back then. I just guessed it was because they were religious and they wanted to make sure we would know about the Bible.
In a world of Stray Devils and monsters that get migraines from prayers, shy away from Crucifixes and holy water that acts like acid, them teaching us so many Bible verses just shines an entirely new light on the whole thing.
"You'll be thanking them later then as reciting verses like that is one of the training regimes that our recruits go under," Griselda informs me and I could feel excitement rising up within me at the prospect of what kind of stuff I'm going to be put through.
"What am I going to be doing exactly? For training, I mean. I know about Sacred Gears and magic and all that stuff, but Dulio didn't tell me what kind of stuff I'm going to be doing here."
"Of course he didn't. Leave it to him to recruit someone and not tell them about their training" Griselda lets out a sigh, "Listen up then. And no interruptions because I'm only going to explain this once."
During the long drive, Griselda told me what kind of curriculum I'll be going through as training to become an Exorcist.
Or rather, training that'll see if I'm fit to actually become an Exorcist in the first place. Turns out becoming a Super Crusader for the glory of God is a bit more complicated than I initially thought.
Because I'm starting a bit later than the other recruits, which actually says a lot if a 6-year-old is starting late, I'm going to be getting a crash course in everything; Swordsmanship, physical and magical training, learning how to recite verses in the middle of combat. Everything that'll turn me into Exorcist.
I was about to ask why they train to basically amount to child soldiers until faint memories of Devils like Rias Gremory and her peerage. Wasn't even there some dude that couldn't be hurt because he was made out of fire or something stupid like that?
And titty acid. I don't think I could ever forget that scene.
God, just what kind of world have I been reborn in?
After memories of these Devils flashed through my mind, I stayed quiet. With people like Dulio and Griselda, I doubt they force any kids into it and I guess I could understand a little even if I did disagree with it.
"We're here." Griselda's voice snapped me out my thoughts and I looked outside to see that we've been driven deep into the woods and at the end of the road is a church.
Not a Cathedral, not some sort of large Institute, not even a school.
Just a small, but well hidden Church in the woods.
What.
Griselda and I make our way out of the car and I stare at the Church in a kind of stupor. As if my brain has just shut down due to crushed expectations.
I look up at Griselda, who is having trouble not smirking at my face.
I look back at the Church.
"...So did you guys just kidnap me or what?" I bluntly ask Griselda. She puts her hand over her mouth and tries to stifle the giggles that threaten to escape.
"I can assure you, Adam, there is more than meets the eye here. Come with me, I want to introduce you to someone." Griselda walks towards the church while I walk behind her, dragging my feet if anything.
To be honest, I don't really know what I was expecting but I should've expected this. I mean, where else are you going to train exorcists if not on holy ground? But I was expecting...bigger I guess? Like a Cathedral or something. But then again, I doubt anyone could find this. There's probably magic involved around here that makes sure no one finds it I bet.
Instead of going inside the Church, Griselda walks to go around the side of the Church and I follow behind her, getting a better look at the Church meanwhile.
The Church didn't have any signs of rotting, it's pure white walls almost glowing brightly in the sun. The bright and colourful stained glass portrayed battles between the Three Factions, most of the time the Angels being triumphant over their enemies.
Damn, that is some nice looking propaganda.
While admiring the stained glass the faint sounds of grunts, yells and twacks could be heard just around the corner we're heading towards. Strangely though, it only sounds like two people are fighting right now.
I swear, if my organs get sold on the Black Market or I get turned into a sex slave, I'm gonna be so pissed.
Turning around the corner of the Church, I'm greeted by a massive clearing, more of a backyard of a mansion if anything. It could easily hold 15 people and still have more room to spare. It's outfitted with 5 wooden posts holding a sandbag up with rope and off to the sides were stands holding a multitude of different weapons made out of wood and in the middle is a somewhat large oak ring that two people were currently sparing in.
It was two girls, about the same age as me, one had brown chestnut hair made into two long twintails while the other had shoulder length...blue hair? And a single green fringe?
What? Whatever, moving on. Both are wearing some sort of clothing that had light padding on their stomachs.
Twintails darts around Blue hair with a small wooden sword held in one of her hands, my eyes barely able to keep track of her speeding around. Blue hair holds a longer, heavier looking sword in both of her hands and stays in one place in contrast to Twintails.
Twintails lets a quick slash to Blue hair's stomach, only to be blocked and swatted away. Blue hair gives a wide overhead swing, but Twintails quickly side steps away.
Only for Blue hair's sword to swing in an upwards diagonal slash and catches Twintails in the ribs, giving a meaty thwack and a yelp of pain.
"Ow! Muuu, Xenovia! That hurt, you know! You're the one that dragged me into sparring!" Twintails pouts and rubs where she got hit, giving her partner a glare who just shrugs.
"You should learn to dodge better. And you know no one else is going to spar with me" Blue hair tells her bluntly, causing Twintails to pout harder.
They banter back and forth before Blue hair finally took notice of us. Or rather took notice of Griselda if the look of sheer terror on her face is anything to go by. Twintails continues to chatter on until Blue hair points behind her. Twintails turns her head to look behind and adopts the same look of terror as Blue hair.
"Ah! S-sister G-Griselda, welcome back, and uhm…" Twintails greets Griselda with a scared smile and looks at me in confusion.
"You don't know me," I help her out, but she becomes even more confused if her face scrunching up in thought is anything to go by.
"Irina, Xenovia. I thought I might find the two of you here."
The now named Irina and Xenovia stiffen up like statues at Griselda's tone which gave me time to try and remember who these were exactly.
Xenovia was the chosen wielder of a Holy Sword I think? Excalibur or something? But wait, doesn't she become a Devil? How does that even work with a Holy Sword?
Irina, I honestly know very little about. I know they're friends and they work together, but for the life of me, I can't remember anything else.
Griselda lets out a small sigh and gives Xenovia and Irina a tired look, "I understand why the two of you keep leaving target practice for this, but at least make a token effort to keep the noise down."
"Understood, Sister Griselda…" The both of them bow their heads and mumble like chastised children and Griselda gives a satisfied nod.
"Good, now let me introduce you two. This here is Adam and starting today, he's training to become an Exorcist like the two of you."
"Eh? Really?" Irina says in surprise while Xenovia just looks at me with...I don't want to say glare? It's more of a calculating look really.
"Indeed," Griselda gives the both of them a nod and looks down to me, "Adam, there are some things I need to prepare in the Church. They'll take some time though and in the meantime, I want you to train with Xenovia and Irina here."
...Well, I knew what I was signing up for. If I backed out now, I don't think I could live with myself.
"Alright, Miss-" I start to say before I heard Xenovia and Irina let out some sort of strangled noise and Griselda gives me a smile that sent chill down my spines.
"Errr... Sister Griselda?" I try again and, thankfully, Griselda gives me a satisfied nod and walks back to the Church to prepare whatever dastardly thing she's preparing for me, leaving me along with Xenovia and Irina.
"Hi, there!" An enthusiastic voice calls to me and I turn to see Irina and Xenovia make their way to me, "My name's Irina Shidou and this is my friend, Xenovia Quarta! Nice to meet you, Adam!"
Irina greets me with a bright smile while Xenovia gives me a stoic nod and I give both of them a nod in return.
"Nice to meet the both of you. My name is Adam Gesualdo," I decide to greet them properly, but it seems something took them by surprise.
"Eh? Gesualdo? As in, Dulio Gesualdo?" Irina asks me with wide eyes while Xenovia's stare intensifies, looking at me like a hawk.
"Yeah," I give an easy nod, not really caring about my guardian's fame, "But we're not related by blood. I'm adopted."
"Oooh! Just like Xenovia then!" Irina claps her hand and turns to her blue-haired friend, "Come on Xenovia, say something!"
Xenovia makes a contorted face at Irenia for a moment before she looks at me, "...How old are you?"
Ah, awkward socializing. I know your pain well, Xenovia. I'll try my best to make this less painful.
"I turned 6 this year. What about you guys?"
Xenovia's eyes lit up for some reason, "We're 7. That means we're older-"
Great detective work there.
"And so you have to listen to us."
Excuse me?
I look at Xenovia, who's blank look was betrayed by the glint in her eye.
I look at Irina, who's currently looking at me apologetically and mouths the words 'sorry'.
"Okay...I guess? I mean, I was going to do that any-"
"Good. Now follow me." Xenovia grabs my hand and starts forcefully pulling me along while Irina just lets out a sigh, but follows along anyway.
God, this is just like Samantha all over again. I really hope Xenovia here at least knows about personal space at least.
"You don't have to drag me, you know. I would've followed you anyway." I told Xenovia who looked back at me with an honestly confused expression on her face.
"Oh. My apologies," She says, nothing but honesty in her voice, and looks to the weapon rack she just dragged me to, "Take a weapon and we'll start on your training."
Xenovia walks back to the ring and I look over to see Irina rubbing the back of her head and chuckling nervously.
"I'm really sorry about that, Xenovia doesn't really have any…" Irina struggles to find the words so I gave her some help.
"People skills?" I drop my backpack onto the ground next to weapon rack and pull out a short wooden sword that had a surprising amount of weight to it.
"Mhm," Irina nods at my answer, "She's a good person, but she can be kinda...honest, is all. Sometimes too much."
"Don't worry about it. I know she doesn't mean anything by it and she reminds me of someone back home." I tell Irina who gives me a grateful smile in return and she goes to ask me something else before we heard swishes of air behind us.
We both look back at Xenovia whos currently looking at me with impatience in her eyes, holding her longer sword in her hand and I couldn't help but grimace at what's going to happen.
"U-uhm, Xenovia, maybe I should go first? You know how much you get into it an-"
"But I'm better than you with the sword," Xenovia's words cut into Irina who lets out a 'hrk!' "So I should be the one sparring with Adam."
Ouch.
Irina hangs her head after what Xenoiva said, her twin tails almost touching the ground. I give her an awkward smile as if to say you at least tried and I walk off to meet my fate.
This is gonna suck.
I take up a position opposite to Xenovia and tightly grip my sword out in front of me with both hands and spread out my legs, preparing myself for whatever Xenovia is going to put me through.
Xenovia and I look at each, the wind blowing between us and the gently swaying trees, until:
"You're terrible at this."
I couldn't help but raise my brow and a rueful grin pulled at my lips at her blunt observation and the giggling that came from the sidelines, courtesy of Irina.
"Really? What makes you say that?" I asked her, sarcasm practically flooding out.
"Everything," Xenovia said with her usual bluntness and drops her posture to come over to me like a disappointed teacher pointing out an obvious mistake to a student.
"Your legs are too far apart. Close them," She taps both of my legs with her sword and then taps my knuckles, "You're holding it too tight. Loosen it."
Xenovia then circles me and carries on tapping everything she sees wrong with my form.
Which is everything, apparently. My head isn't straight enough, my arms aren't loose enough and my muscles were too tense, to name a few.
I suppose this is training in a way, but something tells me this is only delaying the inevitable.
After a solid 30 seconds of tapping my body parts and lecturing me about how bad I am at swordsmanship, she finally took a good look at me and gave me a satisfied nod.
"Good. Now we can start." Xenovia tells me as she takes up a position opposite me.
I, however, was decidedly not ready.
"Are you sure this is right? I felt a lot more comfortable before you started tapping me."
In more ways than one, that's for sure.
"It is," Xenovia told me with a slight frown, "Now get ready. I'm starting."
I go to take a small brea-
Twack. Twack. Twack. Twack. Twack. Twack. Twack. Twack
Ow.
Though I couldn't hear anything else besides Xenovia absolutely destroying me, I did see Irina off to the sidelines with her hands clasped in a prayer.
Xenovia lashes out in a blur and faster than I could react to her sword strikes, hitting me everywhere except for my head and pelvis.
Everything else-
Twack. Twack. Twack. Twack. Twack. Twack. Twack. Twack.
Was fair game, however.
I desperately take a step back and Xenovia suddenly stops her assault on my person, thank God.
My whole body throbs with aches and pain. My arms have slight red marks on them where I was hit and even the padding couldn't hold out against the monster known as Xenovia.
"I win."
I look up from my gasps of air to see Xenovia pointing at something near my feet. I look down to see that I had stepped out of the wooden ring in my desperate attempt to get some space between us.
"...Would you like a break?" Xenovia asks me, her tone blank and neutral. I look up to her and see that her face was much of the same.
Irina claps her hand and she bounces over to us, "You know Xenovia, that sounds like a good-!"
"Nah. Let's go again." I finally stand upright, my body screaming in protest and Irina looks at me in shock and even Xenovia's eyes widen up a little.
"Ehhh?! But Adam, you just got your butt kicked!"
"Really? I didn't notice," My voice holding nothing but biting sarcasm and I let out a sigh, "Listen, by the sounds of it I started a lot later than you guys on this so I'm just gonna have to work that much harder. So come on."
Walking, well it was more like limping, back inside the ring, I shakily raise up my aching arms which scream in protest like the rest of my body when I move.
"Round two."
For the first time since I met her, Xenovia gives me a grin and takes up her position opposite me in the ring. Irina lets out a huff and goes back to the sidelines, clasping her hands back in a prayer.
While I'm willing to go the extra mile for my training…
Twack. Twack. Twack. Twack. Twack.
I wouldn't be too upset if Griselda came back sooner rather than later.
Twack. Twack. Twack. Twack. Twack. Bang.
.
.
20 minutes later, I'm dead on the grass.
"Okay, let's take a break now." Xenovia declares over my beaten and broken body as I lay on the soft grass.
"Oh thank God." I pant out as sweat drips down my face and I gasp for gulps of air. I heard both Irina gasp while Xenovia just gives me a disapproving look and a poke in the ribs with her sword.
"Adam! How can you say that?!"
"What?" I frown at her, "I said thanks to Him. That's polite you know."
More polite than the other stuff I've said, that's for sure.
"You…" Irina puffs out her cheek in a huff like a squirrel, "What kind of Christian would take the Lord's name in vain? Or Exorcist for that matter?"
"Not a devout one, that's for sure." I joke lightly as I force my aching body to sit up despite the electrical strikes of pains I get across the bruises that Xenovia no doubt gave me.
"What kind of Christian are you, anyway?" Xenovia asks me as she sits down next me while Irina walks over and sits down next to both of us.
"...Not a good one?" I told her with confusion. Xenovia just tries to frown at me again, but I could see her mouth twitch upwards.
"Not like that. What sect do you belong to? Catholicism?"
"Oh like that. I...guess you could say Protestant? I'm from England and I was raised by Protestant nuns so, yeah."
"Catholic." Xenovia told me and Irina gives me a wide smile.
"Me too! My dad is a priest of the Protestant Church, you see." Irina told me, puffing out her chest in pride.
Huh. I wonder if he knows Mother Superior and the Sisters then? I'll ask about that later.
And so the three of us sat around, talking about each other and getting to know them. I asked why they were speaking perfect English as Xenovia was quite clearly not an English name and Irina was Japanese.
Apparently, the answer is magic with a bit of education sprinkled in. Because Exorcists can come from all walks of life and learning another language is difficult and time-consuming, some of the more magically inclined Exorcists made a spell that binds itself to a building and makes a field around itself. Everyone inside the 'field' can understand each other in their own tongue and have no problems talking to each other.
Sounds almost exactly like the Devil's ability to talk in any language to someone, but I'm not gonna point that out.
Of course, everyone is taught different languages due to our work and the fact we're going to be going around the world, killing monsters. Not being able to talk to someone and ask them questions because you don't talk Russian would be embarrassing for an Exorcist.
Xenovia eventually ask a question that only she can ask:
"Why are you here?"
"Eh?" Irina looks at her blue-haired friend with trepidation. Xenovia ignores her and stares right through me while I just stared back, already guessing where this is headed.
"Why are you here? You don't have a natural talent for the sword so you can't be a Holy Sword wielder. From what you've told us, you did not know about the Supernatural until now and you have no Sacred Gear. If you are this weak, why are you here?"
"Ehhhhhhhh?! Xenovia, don't be so rude!" Irina waves her arms around in the air and looks back at me with a frown on my face, "Adam, I'm so-"
"But it's true though." Xenovia words cut in like a hot knife and Irina once again whips her head around to her friend and tries to refute her claims. But her words die in her throat.
I can get where Xenovia is coming from. Her and Irina both grew up with Exorcist, Griselda for Xenovia and Irina with her father, and they've no doubt been training a lot longer for this than I have. Being an Exorcist isn't exactly a safe job.
I just let out a sigh and decide to cut in, "I know what you're getting at here, but I can't tell-"
I stop mid-sentence as I realise something.
I don't think Dulio or Griselda actually ever told me I couldn't show someone.
I mean, common sense would say I shouldn't just show someone what is probably my second deepest secret and my secret weapon.
But…
"Hmmm…" I hum and look around us to make sure we're alone. I feel both Xenovia and Irina staring holes into my head.
"So, where is everyone else? I doubt it's just you two here." I ask the two girls. Irina looks at me strangely for a second and goes to tell me before Xenovia interrupts her.
"They're underground right now, training with Light Guns. They won't come up here for some time."
Underground? Seriously?
"...So, can you two keep a secret?" I ask them, ignoring the bit about the underground for a moment. Irina and Xenovia glance at each, but they both give me a nod.
"Right then," I bring my hands up for them to see, "Promise? Because if this gets out, my life becomes a lot less enjoyable."
"Promise." Xenovia declares, giving me a serious look.
"I swear, in the Lord's name," Irina tells me, her hands clasped in a quick prayer.
"Thanks," I give them a grateful nod and get to work.
In front of their very eyes, my hands light up as usual and I could hear two gasps. Irina covers her mouth with her hand and looks at my Holy infused hands with wide eyes and Xenovia gapes at them with a mouth open in shock and snaps her head to look at me.
"Well," I give her a nervous smile, "You asked why. This is why."
.
.
It was a faint thing.
So faint, they could've never have sensed it if they weren't keeping watch on the young child.
When Dulio abruptly left Japan during his mission, Michael and the others were curious to find out what caused him to do so. Dulio was known for being unmotivated to do such work, but he never actually left when on a mission.
It was even stranger when he went to England of all places and made his way to a small village with its only distinctive feature being home to an orphanage known as Saint George's Orphanage, ran by three nuns.
When Dulio made his way into the orphanage, they tried to follow him in but found that their sight was broken by magical wards that blocked anyone trying to look in.
And so they waited.
Eventually, Dulio made his way out with a young child in tow. The young child hugged another and they wonder if he knew what she was or what she will grow into.
It was not hard to figure out what Dulio did. One does not enter an orphanage and leave with a child and not adopt them. Eventually, her brother left to figure out this child's name to the one person that might be able to order Dulio to leave his mission.
And so she watched them alone. Uriel and Raphael were away from Heaven and Michael had left to find out what's going on.
If Dulio had adopted this child out of the kindness out of his heart, Gabriel would've simply stopped and informed her brother.
Instead, the two of them boarded a private jet and flew to Italy. To a place that only those of the Church knew about.
And when they met Sister Griselda, it was obvious what the child was to become. And so Gabriel watched, curious as to why Dulio of all people would agree to adopt a child and bring them here to become an Exorcist.
She got her answer. And in return, she got more questions.
When she saw how Adam infused himself with Holy Magic, she thought for sure that he was a Miracle Child. That some Angel had used the ritual to have a child with their loved one.
And so she casted a spell that would find the young child's parent, hoping the mirror she was looking at would show her what she wanted to see.
It did not.
It showed her a painfully thin looking woman, working the oldest job in the world.
It showed her two grown men, one with bright blond hair and wearing little more than rags and the other wearing a sharp suit, with dirty blond hair. They were having a roaring argument in a filthy apartment, the one in rags waving around a half-filled bottle and stood amongst many other empty bottles, laying on the floor, while the one in the suit shouted back. Eventually the one in the suit looked at the other, his gaze holding nothing but pity and remorse, and left.
It showed her enough.
She switched over to the child, no longer having the heart to watch the scenes any longer, and found him currently being pelted with blows by Griselda's ward in the training ring.
She recognised the Church as one of their secret training facilities for Exorcists, one of the few in the world.
She watched as Xenovia trounced the young child in the duel and him trying desperately to defend himself, only able to block a few strikes before he either fell down or left the ring. After a few moments, he would step back in and repeat the process all over.
Eventually, he fell down and could no longer get up. In light of this, Xenovia called a break for now.
"I found out his name." A familiar voice said behind her. She turns her head to be greeted with 12 familiar golden wings and the face of her brother, Michael.
"Oh?"
"Adam. Adam Gesualdo."
Both her and Michael watch the three children sit around the circle and talk amongst themselves.
"Vasco got a call from an old friend of his. Sister Basilissa, it turns out. She was the head of the orphanage that we saw."
"I see. It's good to see her doing well ever since she left. I was...worried that she wouldn't be the same after we found out what Valper Galilei was doing."
"Mhm," Michael hums in agreement, "Sister, did you notice anything about him while you watched? Vasco, he told me that Sister Basilissa informed him about Adam being able to use Holy Magic."
"He can," Gabriel informed her brother casually, causing him to look at her in disbelief and she tilted her head at her brother.
"What?"
Michael couldn't help but let out a sigh at his sister's attitude and tries again.
"How? Did he make a Light Spear?"
"No," Gabriel shakes her head, her golden blonde hair swaying from side to side, "He infused himself with Holy Magic and showed it to Griselda."
Michael's face screws up in thought as he looks back to the mirror to see Adam's hands have lit up with Holy Magic and he let out another sigh at the sight in front of him.
"...I suppose Sister Basilissa asked Vasco to not say anything to us. In any case, it's good that we discovered him before anyone else. Father only knows what kind of stuff Azazel would do if he found a Miracle child."
"Uhm…"
Michael looks to his sister whos looking incredibly nervous, "Yes, sister? Did you find out who his parents are?"
"Yes, I did but they're human. Moreso, they were...ordinary. They didn't seem to be an Exorcist, Magician or anything."
Michael turns to his sister in shock, "Are you sure, Gabriel?"
"Mhm," She nods, assured, "I could not sense anything from them. Light, Demonic or even any magic and...it might've been for the best that Dulio adopted young Adam, instead of finding his parents."
The sad tone of his sister told Michael what he needed to know about the humans. A heavy silence fell upon the siblings as they watched the children. Griselda had snuck up on them and by the way 3 of them stood in line with heads down and Griselda giving them one of her famous 'smiles', it was clear what she was scolding them for.
Soon enough, the older Exorcist had to stop scolding them and leads them inside the Church. Where the alter to their Father would be was instead pushed to the side, revealing a stairway underground.
Adam swishes his head back forth between everyone and the stairway, his shocked face asking questions of the older Exorcist. The answer he gets is a slightly smug smile as she and her students go down underground.
"Brother?"
Michael turns to his sister, her face written with worry.
"What do you plan to do?"
As Griselda leads her students through the underground halls, eventually coming up to a massive, nearly empty room save for a single pedestal in the middle of an intricately drawn magic circle that held a large, white crystal ball, Michael said nothing for a moment.
But as Adam cautiously stepped to the pedestal, he gave his answer.
.
.
Holy fuck, I was so wrong about everything.
I thought this place was a bit shabby for supposedly being a place to train Exorcists.
That was before Griselda showed me the stupidly large underground lair underneath the bloody Church.
Like seriously! How did they even make this?! The answer is probably magic, but still!.
Putting the thoughts of the evil underground lair in the back of my head, I take a proper look at the object in front of me.
On the marble pedestal in front of me, there is a large crystal ball, about the size of my head. I take another look around me, not really trusting anything about this.
The room was big, really big but it held nothing besides this pedestal, the crystal ball and this almost certainly magic circle I'm standing in the centre in.
There were words written around on the outside, but I don't recognize any of it. It wasn't anything I've ever seen before and just trying to make sense of it was giving me a headache.
"So, is there a reason for this? I'll be honest, this whole thing is giving me a very sacrifice vibe." I yell to Griselda who's standing far away from me along with Xenovia and Irina, outside the circle.
"Considering how late you starting, I've decided to help you along and see if you possess a Sacred Gear or not. Usually, we unlock it through intensive physical training. However, sometimes that isn't enough and so we've devised this method." Griselda tells me from the very far side of the room.
"Okayyyy…" I had more than a couple of questions about this, but I suppose I should just get it over and done with.
But before that.
"One thing though: Why are you two here?"
I look at Xenovia and Irina, the former looking at me like a cat with a canary in its mouth and the latter just grinning at me.
"I want to see what else you pull out. Plus, I've never seen anyone use this method before." Xenovia tells me bluntly and Irina sheepishly rubs the back of her head.
"Eheheh…"
Great. It's like being at a zoo.
Rolling my eyes at the two, I look at Griselda with a raised brow.
"Put your hands on the crystal ball and think of the strongest person you know. If you have no Sacred Gear, we'll know."
The strongest person I know? Considering where I am, that's a long bloody list.
I put my hands on the crystal ball, cool to the touch, and I close my eyes as I thought about God.
I mean, he's got be the strongest right? He's God, how much stronger can you get than that?
And so I waited.
And waited.
And waited.
"...Is anything supposed to be happening right now?" I heard Xenovia whisper.
"I don't know," Irina whispered back, "Maybe Adam just doesn't have a Sacred Gear?"
"Hmmm...Adam, what are you thinking about?" Griselda asks me and I open my eyes to see her look at me with a perplexed frown.
"Well, you said the strongest person I know right?" Griselda nods at my question, still confused, "So, I kinda thought about God?"
"I suppose that makes sense," Griselda hums and suddenly gives me an intense look as if she was looking right through me.
I had to force myself to suppress the chill that trickled down my spine.
"Adam, who gave you that necklace?" Griselda suddenly asks me out the blue. I wasn't the only ones confused as Xenovia and Irina looked at their teacher, puzzlement written on their faces.
"...The Mother Superior at my orphanage, one of the women who raised me. Why do you want to know?"
I'm not an idiot. I knew that Mother Basilissa was probably an Exorcist when she was younger. How else would she have the connections to get Dulio, an Exorcist of the Church, to come and check on me?
But the key word being; 'was'. I don't know if people can actually retire as an Exorcist and I'm really hoping that's the case, but if it isn't, then that means Mother Basilissa is a Stray Exorcist.
And if she is, then that probably means Sister Agatha and Sister Anastasia are Strays as well. And if anyone goes looking for them and finds them at the orphanage where Samantha and the others are…
Yeah. I refuse for anything like that to happen.
"I see. In that case, I would like you to think on her if you can." Griselda more or less orders me. I raised my brow, but I eventually close my eyes again and think about the women who raised me.
I thought about when Samantha and I dined and dashed the pub and how she got all teary-eyed when she realised what we did and how I had to go and get Mother Basilissa to calm her down. After the calming and soothing words came the scolding and then the dragging us back to apologize to the pub owner.
I thought about when Samantha and I decided to run off one day into the woods for a 'camping' trip. Except that we didn't have any camping supplies, let alone a tent. Samantha, not be deterred by little things like food and shelter, dragged me along with her in our exploration of the forest, playing until sundown. It wasn't till then that Sister Anastasia finally found us; her robe torn and tattered, little more than rags. She scooped the both of us in a tight hug before smacking her fists hard against our temples and dragging us back home.
I thought about when I was just a baby and it was midnight. I was having trouble sleeping though I don't quite remember why. I was shuffling my little baby body, trying to get comfortable and making a racket of it in the progress. Eventually, a smaller and younger Samantha came up to me with bleary eyes, clutching to a blanket. She takes one look into the crib and stumbles off where I can't see her. Soon after, she comes back with Sister Agatha in tow and tells her that I've been moving in my sleep, but not crying like I should be doing. Sister Agatha gently picks me up and looks over me, to see if anything was wrong with me. Like a lightbulb that had lit up above her head, her face brightens up and she takes both me and Samantha to the soft sofa in the lounge. After making sure the both of us were comfortable, she handed me over to Samantha and read the both of us a bedtime story of Red Riding Hood. We were asleep in seconds.
Shing.
Then the crystal ball exploded in my hands.
I'm flung backwards, my back smacking down hard onto the cold stone floor, my ears ringing like I had been hit with a freight train and my eyes seeing double of everything.
"Adam!" I heard someone scream my name through rings in my ear and I let out a groan of pain in response as I force myself to sit up.
"Jesus fucking Christ…" I mutter under my breath and I could feel the presence of two people by my side, probably Xenovia and Irina if I had to guess.
God, I hope they didn't hear that.
"Adam, are you alright?!" Irina's voice is muffled through the ringing, but I can make most of it out.
"No," I bluntly tell her, my words slurred like my mouth is full of cotton, "But nothing's broken. So it could be worse."
Though I may have a concussion. Maybe. Possibly. Probably a minor one.
I shake my head to get rid of the fluff floating around in it after my sudden intimate with an explosion and I look up to see Griselda kneeling infront of me, looking more worried than I've ever seen her and currently turning my head side to side, gently.
"Good," Griselda sighs out, "The explosion seemed to turn the crystal into dust and I don't think you've cracked your skull, but I will take you the infirmary to make sure."
"Please tell me you knew that wasn't was going to happen." I plead Griselda who adopts a guilty look.
"I didn't. I knew the equipment was expensive, so to speak, and it would expire on use. I didn't know it was going to do...that. But, you may have been lucky that it did."
Lucky? Are you bloody serious?
"And why is that, exactly, Sister Griselda?" I ask the older Exorcist. I tried to shakily stand up and both Xenovia and Irina help me up, giving them a thankful nod.
"Because if it didn't explode, you would've died. Look." Griselda nods towards the centre of the room, where the podium was.
Keyword being was.
"Holy shit…"
Xenovia and Irina let out shocked gasps and even I couldn't close my mouth at what we saw.
Instead of the podium holding dust from the crystal or nothing, it was something else.
It was swords.
A small pile of swords had sprouted from nowhere and completely demolished the podium and everything around. None of them were same; some long, others short. Some of them had a single edge to them while others were double-sided. A couple of them were even alit with flames or sparked with electricity.
That wasn't what caught my attention, though. Despite all that, it was a single sword that caught me off guard.
On top of the pile of swords, I no doubt summoned, stood one. Alone and standing tall like it was stuck in a stone, with no others around as if none of them would even dare to try and contest it. Unlike the others, this positively hummed with power.
It was a simple sword made out of nothing but silver and held no ornate designs. I knew what it was instantly.
Because it was given to me. Because I wore it around my neck.
And upon on it were inscribed three words:
Gladius Domini Deus.
"Congratulations Adam," I heard Griselda say, my attention still fixated on the silver sword.
"You are a possessor of the Sacred Gear: Blade Blacksmith."
.
.
.
So here is Chapter two of Dragons, Devils and Saints, Oh my! And I let me clear up some confusion no doubt some of you are having:
First of all, the necklace is not the Sacred Gear. Because it was a gift that means a lot to the SI, that is what he perceives as 'strong'. And considering how Sacred Gears work on desire, I just figured it makes sense that he would care about that sword more than most.
And lets talk about the SI's parents and why I decided to show them. The reason is, quite frankly, they don't matter to the story and I wanted it to be beyond a shadow of a doubt that Adam is 100% Human. Not 50%, not 25% and not 70%. 100% Human. They won't turn up again, I can assure you.
And here is the big one: My decision regarding the Harem.
There isn't going to be one. The reason being is that this is a Self Insert and I don't really think I could handle the whole Harem shtick, realistically. I gave a much longer, personal answer on SB so I won't take too much time, but bottom line: Unlike the people that have a Harem in Canon like Issei, the SI will not get one. This doesn't discount the idea of pairing or even romance, but that's a different discussion entirely.
Anyway, that's it for this A/N. Next chapter, you'll see Adam in action and get to see what he can actually do. I wanted to be this chapter, but this is a good stopping point and it's already 10k words long. Plus, I wanted to use this chap to show case Adam's relationships and why he's willing to go so far. Have a good one.