The book of his was truly something impressive, but he still couldn't wrap his head around how it worked. The words appeared on a page that it flipped to, and faded out just as he read they faded out. But one of the things about the words in the book he failed to notice before, was how the words, when he looked at them, seemed to have an endless starry background, like he was looking into a kaleidoscope.

Of course, he had noticed it, but he hadn't ever questioned it.

Both him and Irina had arrived at the abandoned school house that hadn't been torn down for the sole purpose of housing the Occult Research Club, which just so happened to be Rias' group of devils. Since Issei wasn't well versed with where to go in the building, Irina had guided him, since she had traversed it with Yasaka to get Rias' help.

The only other person in the room with them was Rias, who welcomed them with happiness, but she couldn't talk to them much as she had papers she needed to get done. She wore a pair of glasses as she focused on the papers and filled them all out with speed, and Issei couldn't help but think about how cute she was with those glasses on.

Irina had laid her head down in Issei's lap and began to sleep. Which would have felt very strange if he hadn't focused his own energies into learning something in his book he thought would help him with what was to come, and since he hadn't practiced much magic, he was hoping this would help him even when he couldn't see his opponents.

So why was he learning something so specific? Well… the storm clouds he thought he left in Kyoto had began to roll in from a distance. He looked intently at the book, letting it float with his magic and read the page carefully, trying to understand every part as he let his other hand pet Irina.

He closed his eyes, it was the same thing Ddraig told him to do with listening, but it was different in the sense that it relied on magic to see.

Focus magic power into your body. And imagine that power floating out around you.

That part was easy. He felt his body began to warm as a red aura began to form around him, catching the attention of Rias for a moment as she studied his power curiously. He couldn't explain where his manipulation of magic had come from, he didn't ever remember practicing or rehearsing it, but it came to him almost like it was second nature. He didn't give it much thought anymore, it just happened with ease.

But the next part was difficult, especially the more he thought about it. He needed to use the magic pouring off him to sense the things around him. The thing about that was, he remembered experiencing something similar to that when he was just meeting Irina again, but since then the feeling had slowly started to fade away. And now, he didn't know how to do it anymore.

And the book read things he wouldn't have ever imagined. Once he was good at this, could sense even the flow of his opponents magic, rather than just their physical appearance. And if he could sense the flow of their magic… couldn't he manipulate it? It was like his mastery of magic not only gave him offensive magic capabilities, it also enabled him to have clairvoyance and a sense of precognition.

And learning how to use his magic to sense people… it would change everything. And it wasn't the same kind of magic sensory that supernatural get naturally. He forced more magic through him and around him, causing his aura to grow to a level that was starting to make it hard for Rias to focus on her studies.

He needed to be more acute in his focus of the things around him. If he was extremely good at it, he could even feel things around him… wouldn't that be quite the party trick. But… he needed something to touch…

Perhaps the pie he had resting on the table in front of him? No… that would get messy. And besides… that was for Koneko and Akeno—assuming they wanted any. Rias had already said maybe later.

He decided to pass that part of the magic and focus on simply being able to sense. He focused intently, steadying his breathing and clearing his mind. And after close to three minutes of what looked like meditating, Issei was able to detect Irina, sleeping peacefully on his lap. He saw her figure almost like a silhouette of colors, white was the main one he saw, a symbol of her innocence.

He opened his eyes and looked at the girl as she slept, watching her delicate features and she slept made him feel tired as well, but he couldn't bring himself to sleep when he had things he wanted to learn. And there was a lot he wanted to learn.

He closed his eyes and focused in his surroundings once again, this time having considerably less magic, and Irina came into his view almost instantly, but this time as he focused on his surroundings, he drew a mental map of his surrounding and he could very accurately make out details of the room he hadn't noticed before, such as the small and intricate details of the carved wood. As he kept his eyes closed, his hearing had sharpened further, and off in the distance, through the walls of the building, he heard rumbling and thunder from the oncoming storm.

He could make out Rias, who was still working fiercely on her work, and now he could see himself. He was shocked as he felt like he was looking at his surroundings from something else, and his breathing had become extremely slow. He looked down, and what he saw was a form of what he could only call magic, he was a silhouette of flowing red that resembled a human form, but he had huge wings on his back that faded through the ceiling and streaks of green moved around him to highlight his red. He didn't know what was happening, but he knew he was in control, and the only thing close to explaining what was happening was a term he had read in a manga…

Astral Projection.

He could feel the flow of magic through him in a way he hadn't ever felt before, and he could feel it in the girl who was in his lap, but in his own body, which looked to be asleep, he felt no magic at all.

He took a few steps towards Rias, which made the hairs on her arms stick straight up, a detail he wouldn't have normally noticed. He reached for a cup on the table that Rias had sat aside and nudged it, the liquid inside the cup moved opposite of the direction of the force he applied, and the cup moved as well, causing Rias to drop her pen almost instantly and look at the cup in panic.

"I-Issei?" she seemed terrified. Had she never experienced something like this before? He reached for her pen, and as he picked it up, she moved away from her desk un shock. He wrote a single word in a blank notepad and she watched intently.

Yes.

"Amazing…" she said, swishing her arm out in front of the pen, and as soon as her arm passed through him, a feeling that was almost ticklish for him, she recoiled back. "Cold? How are you doing that Issei?"

He wanted to speak but he couldn't, it came as a series of almost whispers with no discernable language or direction, and Rias seemed to have heard it. And he didn't even know how to return back into his body. He tries closing his eyes, but it wasn't the same as in his body , he couldn't. He moved over to his resting body, and reached his hand out to touch himself, and almost instantly, he jumped awake and was staring at the world normally…

But he felt extremely strange. He felt both dizzy and disoriented, but he didn't dare move his entire body as the girl on his lap was still sleep. Rias had moved to him and had a hand placed on his shoulder to balance him as his hand began to move like his neck was broken.

"Issei are you alright? How did you do that?" Rias asked, worried for the boy, he nodded at her.

"Yeah, I'm alright. And I don't know what I did, but man it was awesome!" Issei said to her. Of course, he lied. He knew exactly what it was he did, he just didn't know how to explain it, so it was better to keep it a secret. And now that he was back in his own body, the amount of questions he had about what he had just discovered was running rampant. There were so many discoveries he could make, so many things he could do.

He figured he would stop his studying in that regard and try to learn new types of magic. Which he knew wasn't going to be easy at all without practice, and he couldn't practice while inside because it could be dangerous.

"Well, try not to exhaust yourself too much, okay? The others will be here in a few minutes from now, and then we can find something to do… I think it's about to rain, so we will figure something out as a group." Rias said, standing in from of him. "To pass some time, would you like to play a game of chess with me?"

"I don't know how to play chess." Issei said to her, but he was willing to learn. He wanted to look over his book, so a part of him was hoping she would leave it at that, but he knew better than that.

"I can teach you, if you'd like?" Rias said, trying to get closer with the boy who basically volunteered to save her from a marriage that had absolutely nothing to do with him whatsoever.

"I think I'll pass this time, I would be honored to be taught later on though. There is just… a few things I want to study before we start today." Issei explained, summoning his book which disappeared as he fell asleep. She looked at the book in curiosity as it didn't have a front cover that was discernable, and even when she had seen the pages opened, they were all empty to him.

"What kind of stuff are you reading in the book?" Rias asked, letting her curiosity take over her mental process.

"Well… that's hard to explain. Magic, I guess?" Issei said, trying to avoid telling the girl who looked at him with a disappointed pout. He looked at her for a few seconds, letting her appearance seep into him. "Okay. Fine. I'll show you."

Her expression lit up, and she moved and sat down on the arm rest to his left, looking over his shoulder with a happy expression on her face. He opened the book, and Rias stared at a blank page questionably. Issei thought about what he should show her, but he didn't know. He thought about basic magic, which he mentioned to Rias before, and suddenly the blank page in the book began to fill itself in, revealing many types of spells and enchantments.

"Amazing… I've never seen a book like that before. How much can it show?" Rias asked, pushing her glasses up further onto her face as she leaned near Issei. He shook his head to get the thoughts he had about her sexy appearance out of his head. He didn't have to lie about this question of hers, because he hadn't tested it much himself.

"I'm not sure. I haven't tested it out much." He explained. He wanted to keep the whole Merlin thing on the down low at all costs. And thankfully, the girl understood and didn't question him any further.

"I see. Well, I'll leave you alone so you can study." She hopped off the arm rest beside him and moved back to her desk. Issei saw her face as she moved, and she tried to hide it, but her sadness was as clear to him as daylight. He didn't mean to make her feel sad, and he didn't mean to make her feel like he wanted nothing to do with her as well.

"When I find out more, I'll tell you. We can study some of the things together." He said quickly, causing her to turn around a look at him with happiness in her sparkling beautiful blue eyes. He just realized how much contrast her body had, the beautiful blue eyes with the flamboyant red hair complimented one another perfectly.

"I look forward to studying with you then, Issei." Rias said, before turning once again and sitting at her desk. He didn't know why he decides to share some of the books secrets, it might have been because she showed more interest than the others… it might have been because be felt bad for seeming like he was trying to distance himself from her. Or, it might have been to establish a better relationship with her.

He shook his head and removed his own thoughts from his mind. If this book could show him magic of all kinds, whatever he wanted to see could become a reality. He had already come to understand that he could control the elements, and his only limit was what he could imagine the elements doing… but what about magic that wasn't considered one of the main elements? Was there even such a thing that existed?

He recalled how Merlin mentioned time magic… and he couldn't help his curiosity.

'Show me Time magic.'

The book hummed as magic filled its pages, but nothing appeared on the pages. But it was almost like the book tried to show him, but was restricted by some exterior source.

That's what he thought would happen. Merlin had wanted to destroy the magic by wiping it from history and stopping it from being discovered by anyone else. So… time magic was out. But maybe he was being to specific with his choice of words, so what if he asked for something far less specific?

'Forbidden or lost magic spells.'

That… was when things got extremely interesting. Almost instantly, the whole page was filled with spells he hadn't ever been able to imagine, along with description of them and instructions to form enchantments, circles, and incantations.

And the first spell he read… was something he could probably never use, solely for its lethality and grandness. But, in a particular fight… it might be feasible to use, if it worked. But… it worked both ways. It would hurt his teammates as well, especially since the area were it wad suppose to be, was limited only to a series of magic circles that formed a perimeter.

Apocalypse – A forbidden magic spell, all sources of learning this magic have been destroyed or lost. Requires caster to have control of the four main elements to use successfully. Thirteen magic circles create the perimeter of this spell. This spell combines the four elements, and causes reactions strong enough to destroy even the largest of surfaces.

So basically… he wouldn't be able to use this spell against Riser because he would destroy all the land around him as well. He knew the magic spell was powerful, but his imagination for the spell and what it would truly do, didn't do it justice at all.

Light Nova – This lost magic spell uses light magic, extremely deadly to unholy creatures. This spell will split into a pure white flash with a thunderous roar. This spell will disintegrate and annihilate anything, and everything, in its path. If caster has mastery over light magic, this spell can be casted instantly without a magic circle. This spell, being made of light magic, has a near unlimited distance, unless restricted by caster.

Well… he supposed that was a trump card. Only if he could practice it. He hadn't ever used light magic, and if he used it here, assuming it wasn't a complete failure, he would successfully attract the attention of literally every human on the planet.

He was beginning to see a trend with the magic spells that were on this list. They were gigantic powerhouses, with repercussions that could destroy mountains…

'How about forbidden magic?"

And just as he thought things were reaching the peak of how interesting things could get, the page began to fill with types of magic he didn't know about.

There were multiple pages, and he flipped through them individually, looking at how there were at least five types of magic for each letter of the Alphabet.

But there was one particular magic that caught his attention. A magic that had a strange symbol beside it that glowed different than everything else in the book.

Eldritch Magic.

He began to read the description.

A strange magic with no discernible understanding of how it came into creation. How this magic is obtained is through…, but it is said to come from unknown beings, perhaps gods. But, more often than not, it is never a good thing to use this extremely powerful magic. While it is capable of performing extremes that normal magic in its rawest form couldn't, the price is also extreme as it often uses the life force of the user and often drives them insane. This magic allows you, in its earliest stage, to manipulate astral entities such as soul, essence and other astral bodies.

What… the hell did he just read? Hadn't he already used astral projection? And what was up with the section of the description that was marked out? Why had it been marked out? He flipped back through the pages to the start and landed on the A section of the book, and there a name stated up at him which only racked him with more confusion.

Astral Magic.

It was exactly what it sounded like, but how were it and Eldritch magic even remotely related? He couldn't make sense of it, was that why it was marked with a symbol?

He flipped the page once more, landing on the B section, and one of the first things that stared up at him was Blood Magic.

There was just too much for him to learn. Having things like this would be cool and all, but some of them aren't practical at all. Blood magic was one of those things where the caster was injured to. He closed the book, letting the words fade away and letting the books disappear.

As soon as he did, the door into the room opened and Koneko entered. Irina wrapped her arms around Issei and pushed the back of her head into his stomach. Just how tired was she? Koneko moved towards the two pairs of couches and sat directly across from Issei. She looked at him, and then looked at the pie in interest.

"Hey Issei." The small girl said, still eyes the pie.

"Hey Koneko, did you have a good day? And feel free to have the pie, I brought the rest for you all." Issei said to her. The girl kept her stoic expression but she immediately move to get a plate and a slice of the pie. He didn't know it at the time, but the simple act of kindness to the white haired girl was going to change their relationship from not knowing each other at all, to being good friends.

As she sat down with her players and grabbed a slice of pie, Akeno had come in as well, shutting the door behind her silently as she noticed the sleeping girl in Issei's lap.

"My, oh my, to whom do I owe the pleasure?" Akeno asked walking to the front of the two glasses and looking at the pie.

"The pleasure's mine, Akeno. Have you had a good day?" Issei asked the girl, her smile grew even more and she brought a hand up to cup her face.

"My day is a lot better now that you're here. I'll go get us some tea, okay?" Akeno said with a smile and walked away to prepare tea. It only took her around fifteen minutes to prepare the tea and she brought one for each of them over on a silver plate. She started with Issei, leaning over in front of him and offering him his tea, giving him a damn awesome view of her assets. He took a cup, just as Irina stirred from her slumber from the sudden change in light. She leaned up, resting her hands in Issei's lap to support her weight.

"Sleep well, Irina?" Issei asked the girl, who started to yawn. She wanted to lay back down and snuggle into him because she knew tonight she wouldn't get that chance with him again. She knew it was bad to want to cling to him, but she couldn't help it. "Would you like some tea that Akeno made? It tastes great."

Irina sat up straight, but stayed close enough to Issei to touch him. She grabbed one of the cups of tea and thanked Akeno, who smiled at her and moved to Koneko next. She gave a drink to Rias, and then sat across from Irina, beside Koneko.

"I slept great Issei, would you like to try?" Irina said, patting her lap as she took a sip of the tea Akeno made for her. "This is really good!"

Issei hadn't expected her to get along so well with the group of Devils, considering she was trying to be an Angel. But she seemed surprisingly comfortable with them, and perhaps it was because they had come to save him, but that was a question for another time.

"Thank you, I'm happy to know you like it!" Akeno said smiling at the girl.

Well… so far, Koneko had been the only one to not respond to him. He didn't know how to feel about that, at least he could say he tried though. He had already asked Rias that question, as she had greeted him with a hug that wasn't something he was used to but returned it regardless.

"Is this pie for us? Looks like Koneko beat us to it." Akeno asked Issei. Koneko sipped on her tea with her eyes closed. The look on her face screamed that she planned to have a second slice as well.

"Yeah, we thought you all would like it. We ate together. Before we came here and bought it on the way." Issei explained. As he did so, Akeno put a slice on a plate for herself to enjoy.

"Well, thank you for treating me~" Akeno said with a hum. The small blush on her face confused Issei to no means, but he shook his head of the confusion and watched as she enjoyed the meal with glee.

"Well… I guess we are waiting on Kiba. What do you all want to do today? It looks like it is going to prove the forecast wrong and rain bad today, so I imagine most after school activities will canceled from the thunder and lightning. We can go and practice outside in the rain, or we can have Grayfia take us to the underworld and practice. What do you think Issei?"

He thought for a second about his response. A chance to go to the underworld to practice? How could he refuse that?

"Well, practicing in the rain would help with staying aware of our surroundings… but the underworld? How could I say no to that adventure?" Issei said, earning him a smile from Rias. The door to the room opened and in came the prince of Kuoh, Kiba.

"Hey Issei." Kiba said, offering him a wave.

"Hey Kiba. Having a good day?" Issei said, returning the wave.

"Not so bad, yourself?"

"Not so bad." Issei replied as Kiba moved to the couch and sat beside Akeno, keeping his distance from her and keeping to himself.

"Alright, wonderful. Since we are all here, I'll call Grayfia here and we can get started." Rias said, standing from her seat and moving away as a magic circle formed beside her ear.

And he got to see Grayfia again? Man, today was going to be one hell of a wild ride. And he was excited to finally be able to test his magic out against them as opponents. Well… he already knew how is magic worked against other people—it was extremely effective. But, he hadn't been the one to personally attack people, it was Ddraig, but he had remained conscious and had seen the entire seen and felt it as well.

So, he was ready to go! He hoped it didn't take too long to get there, he wanted to make the most of his time. Irina latched onto his arm and hugged him. He looked at the girl who hugged him, her beautiful brown, long twin-tails and her beautiful amethyst eyes that sparkled like a waterfall of liquid diamonds in the setting sun. He was happy and thankful to have her back in his life as well as Yasaka.

The feelings he held for Yasaka was something he knew he wouldn't be able to explain with words. The woman saved him, gave him a family, gave him a new place to call home. He loved her deeply. And he liked Irina too… he couldn't quite get over the feeling of being shared by the two, even knowing polygamy was legal in the supernatural, he still felt a pang of guilt in his chest.

Chapter 21: The Gremory Territory

It had only taken around thirty minutes for Grayfia to turn up in the old school room that Rias had made the center of operations for her team. Once Grayfia arrived, the first person in the room she acknowledge and greeted was Issei, offering him a deep bow that he returned to her.

Rias explained to her the plan she had come up with, and within another thirty minutes, they were standing in a large clearing in a forest, and were told that all things here were safe to destroy, as once they all left, it would simply regenerate back to normal. It was apparently a type of dimensional magic that was used to create the same fields where rating games were held.

Which meant… wherever they were in regards to their fight, it was completely changeable and customizable to someone's liking. Or, customizable in someone's favor. That changed a few things. Especially in regards to the outcome of the battle.

In his mind, it became quickly impossible to formulate a plan of attack or retreat. Why did he need a plan of retreat if he planned to just charge straight through his enemy? Well, that was simply because he wasn't stupid. He may have been gifted power beyond his dreams, but he wasn't invincible. And he was by no means immortal like the Phoenix he was going to battle, or mostly invulnerable to attacks. He wanted to test his powers, but testing them against someone who is immortal and invulnerable both? Not a good plan.

That's why he needed a way of assuring for himself that he wouldn't just be an insect to that devil, which also meant he couldn't afford to hold back against the group of Devils he had befriended. Since he couldn't form a plan of attack, or plan of defense, he needed to know the strengths and weaknesses of each member of Rias' group, and how it could be used against the group they were going against. He just wished there was a way he could test the trump cards he had learned, he needed to steel his resolve on them and trusted the methods he learned worked, but how could he be sure? He had learned to trust a lot, but not that much, especially when his life was on the line. And he needed to be careful with his own attacks as well to avoid friendly fire casualties. Which could restrict his personal abilities quite a load.

And at the moment, he wasn't in a good position either. He was surrounded by trees with a fog so thick he could make out figure that formed silhouettes between them. He couldn't tell if they were bushes or one of his opponents in this match, and his mind played tricks on him as he looked to find discernible shapes and objects in things that simply weren't there, such as movement in all directions. And now that he thought about the said movement, he had wondered when the sparring session had even started. It was everyone against him… it was a four versus one. And he needed to not injure them…

His thoughts began to pile up one on top of the other without a discernible pattern, and he searched for an answer that was goo enough for them all. How was he going to attack them? How could he practice his own abilities and not injure them? How could he avoid ending the battle before he learned the information he needed from the each of them?

His mind worked in hyper drive, moving at the speeds of a fighter jet at mach speeds, and the one question that rested on top of them all was the one that confused him the most: since when had he ever been the one to plan or strategize like this at all? He worries had faded as soon as he heard the voice of Grayfia ring through the field.

"This is a mock battle and will not count towards anything. The rules are the same as in a rating game. When a devils has sustained enough damage to be rendered useless, they will be retired and pulled from the game. However, Issei, do not fear killing anyone. As soon as they are pulled from the game, they will be brought to me and will be perfectly fine and able to watch the remainder of the game here. Any questions?"

He knew the instructions were mostly for him, and she probably wouldn't say the same things during the real battle, so he needed to know as much as possible.

"You said this world was completely destructible and customizable. Who decided the terrain we fight on?" he asked, if he hoped correctly… he might be able to form a plan after all.

"The person who is challenged get to decide on the area most familiar to them, and since Rias is the least experienced, and she was challenged, her area will be Kuoh Academy, her territory."

He nodded his head, the happiness of the revelation almost grazing it's way on his face. That just worked perfectly. He could form a general idea of his plan of attack is he was at… Kuoh. No, that wouldn't work, he wasn't going to head back that quickly. But… he supposed he could return early. It wouldn't change much in the grand scheme of things, but he was enjoying the change of pace and relaxing.

"If there are no more questions, then let the game begin!"

Seconds passed, but he still saw nothing move in the trees. He began to take a few steps forward, and just as he got close to a shrub, a white-haired mess jumped out swiftly, moving at extreme speeds and delivered a bone snapping and body breaking punch to his stomach that sent him flying backwards.

The pain was incredible, and he was extremely shocked. He was sent rag dolling by such a small girl? Once he was done rolling like tumbleweed in a dessert breeze, he caught his bearing and coughed blood.

That hurt. That was a true pain, and there wasn't any lax to it, it was, in fact, very real. He hadn't noticed the girl, hadn't sensed her presence, and she delivered a punch like a freight train at full speed. She wasn't joking around, and he imagined none of them would.

He looked at the girl as his vision was blurred from tears that formed reluctantly in his eyes. She stood that, her hands balled into fists as though she was prepared to throw another attack at him, but she didn't move. There was a cocky feeling he got from her, and he was getting pissed by how easily he had been taken by surprise. He wouldn't make that same mistake twice.

He felt magic build in the sky above, and as soon as he looked up he saw the magic circle that was casted by Akeno. And then the lightning shot towards him, and before he could move, because science, the bolt hit him almost instantly, but he was able to get out a single fragmented word:

"Fu-"

The second he saw the bolt, it had connected, and he was on the ground in a spasming mess as he felt the bolts zip through his body. What was this feeling? The pain was something he couldn't explain, it was tamer than the drug he had been injected with, but it was a sapping feeling that made him feel momentarily useless.

He was a dragon…

And he had been taken by surprise twice. He was pissed. Enraged that the small girl had did so much damage to him, angry that they had taken him by surprise twice. He wasn't about to let it happen a third time. He bit down on his teeth. Hard. And just as he fell to his hands, the feeling of pain faded, and he eventually felt energized beyond anything he could explain.

He stood up, slowly, and held his hand towards the girl I'm the sky. And just as he did, the lightning arched and zapped her out of her spot. The lightning stopped. He smiled.

They weren't holding back, so why should he? He didn't plan on doing that anyway, so it made sense to honor them as a dragon.

Dragon's pride after all.

"Right. Well, let's get serious then." Issei said, letting some of his magic siphon out around him. He wasn't going to be rag dolled just to learn about them when he needed to learn about himself as well. Just as he steadied his resolve Akeno took her place back in the sky and the question he had left was simple but bothered him.

Where was Kiba and Rias? The bushes behind him ruffled.

End of Chapter 21: The Gremory Territory

Well guys. I made it. I graduated, set a lot of first for the Air Force and was able to keep my name almost completely hidden. Mostly.

It's been a crazy ride, from the first trainee with corona to my graduation and I'm sorry for the wait, but now I'm at tech school, and here is that update I promised.

The day after I arrived to my tech school.

My updates might be very staggered, I'm not sure yet. I've not got my computer AND I've got 2 roommates, so there is three people in a two person room. If I get moved and can finally have a desk to work at, expect faster updates, but I cant lay on a top bunk all day and write on my phone when my charger doesn't even reach that far up.

I hope for the best, always the optimist. Hope of far flung hopes and dreamer of improbable dreams.

Leave me a review you all, they mean so much to me, more than any of you can imagine.