He cried out as manly as he could as another piss missile barely avoided his junk. It was like Koneko could sense he peeked on her last night. The stoic girl continued to lob ball after ball at him despite his whining and screaming. It didn't help that the training from yesterday made him feel like someone put him through a taffy stretching machine. His entire body was sore and every overextended movement threatened to send him into a death spiral of cramps. He was getting the hang of it, though. He jerked left just as a dodgeball slammed into the wall where his head had been.
"Geez Koneko, do you think you could take it easy on me!?" he shouted at the small girl.
"Sorry," she said, not sounding apologetic at all. "I thought you could handle it."
He somehow doubted that. Issei slumped down the side of the wall and took a deep breath. His lungs burned like he'd swallowed a gallon of fire. His dreams had been wracked with more of the usual. Far-fetched designs and distant visions of new technology clamoring at the edges of his consciousness. He shook his head and sighed. His head was still in a mess following the incident from last night, and the rough night's sleep hadn't helped. The young hero looked out over the training field to see the rest of the Occult Club hard at work.
Kiba practiced his swordplay, switching between different blades as fast as he could build them. Issei made sure his goggles recorded everything so he could study it later. If he fine tuned a combat engine to put into his HUD he could use algorithms to simulate and try to predict his fighting style. But that would require dozens of hours of data to be even partially worth the investment. Hmm, maybe something for later.
Akeno and Rias were currently engaging in some kind of weird meditation. Below each of them a magical circle produced currents of energy, blue and red respectively. There was something about the signatures he was reading that piqued his interest. That power Rias was wielding wasn't normal demonic energy. With a huff, the inventor stood and made his way across the field to them. He wanted to get a more in-depth scan of that power.
Rias must've sensed him approaching, because she cut off the magic and opened her eyes to regard him with a smile. "Hello Issei."
"Hey, I, uh, had a question if you don't mind? For you and Akeno."
Akeno blinked in surprise, but didn't speak. Her mistress tapped a finger to her chin and cocked her head to the side. "Oh? By all means."
"I wanted to ask about magic power. Specifically, how it works. My technology uses magic and aura as a battery and energy source, but it's built in and honed through various parts of the device. It's not free-flowing like yours is," he explained as best he could.
"Oh, is that all? Akeno, do you mind explaining?"
"Of course, miss," the raven-haired beauty stepped forward and extended a hand. A mote of green light appeared above her palm. "Magic is primarily about focus. It is using your aura to tap into the energies surrounding you and focusing it to a single point. Our demonic power utilizes imagination and good sense to create the effects you see."
From her tone, he suspected there was more to it. "But is that the same for human magic?"
"Not at all. While there are different types of magic, they are all derived from demonic power. Human magic uses complex 'equations' to affect the forces of our reality."
So a lot like his power, then. Except while magic could be considered temporary and impermeable, his Longinus hardcoded magical equations into physical items and parts to produce the effects. By utilizing different "equations" and algorithms he could produce combined and varied effects. In a way, it was almost like an enchantment.
"If you know what you're doing, then you produce known effects by tuning an equation the right way and using your aura as a fuel source," Akeno added.
"So it's a lot like science. If I do 'x' then it will produce 'y'," fascinating, he'd never thought about it like that.
"Exactly! Other things such as the amount of aura you possess or your affinity for certain magic types over another also affect what you can do," the young woman finished by clapping her hands together.
"The power us devils use is slightly different. As Akeno mentioned, we utilize our imagination to craft the spells and can do so on the fly, more or less. Of course a lot of it comes down to skill and the amount you have in reserve," it was Rias's turn to extend her hand. Another mote of light appeared, but this one was red with an almost pitch black center. "This is the power the House of Gremory wields. It is capable of vaporizing almost anything it hits."
His eyes were instantly upon it, drinking in the properties of the energy. As coolly as he could, he adjusted his goggles so that they'd get a deeper scan for his archive back home. Combined with the scans he got from the Excalibur Destruction, he might be able to produce nearly triple the power output in a single blast. Issei smiled as he resolved to see it in action.
"That's amazing, Rias! I-If you don't mind, could I see it in action?"
Rias looked at him and shrugged. "Sure. Akeno?"
The girl's vice president bowed slightly and gestured towards the open field. A magical circle appeared, and from it a simple, faceless humanoid appeared. It was grey, and lacked any clothing or real characteristics. A perfect target dummy. Akeno nudged him aside as Rias extended both hands out. The bit of light exploded into a chaotic storm of red-black energy that burst forth like a branch of wicked lightning.
It made an odd sound as it flew. Somewhere between the sharp hum of glass and a bestial roar. Black sparks flew as the blast traced an irregular path towards the target before it finally slammed dead center. Issei watched with immense fascination as the target was more than just blown to bits, it disintegrated! Whatever that power was, it was tearing apart the molecular bonds and scattering them!
He honed in on the physical interaction and compiled as much data on it as he could. Using a simple model and the readings he'd taken from Rias, he'd be able to estimate her max output. From there, he could devise a countermeasure for this power if he ever had to go up against it. It never ceased to surprise him how trusting these devils were of someone who was practically a stranger. Issei licked his lips dryly and put on his best amazed smile, which wasn't hard.
"That was incredible! That's more power than I could ever output!" he cried.
Rias preened a bit. "Well, I'm not nearly as strong as my brother. However, I am known as one of the Four Novice Kings back home."
Ajax would be impressed with this data. He already had the capabilities of half of Rias's peerage. Issei didn't want to press his luck and appear suspicious by asking for more, and since this training was going to be pretty regular he could afford to be patient. His mouth was almost watering at the chance to sink his teeth into all those scans. It would be nonstop work from here on out. Maybe he could even try to replicate the actual power source of Rias's ability to synthesize a better battery for his prototype flight suit.
Training continued as normal, but after a few hours Issei told them he was heading back. He assuaged their concerns by simply saying he needed to get back to avoid making his parents suspicious, which was true. But, more importantly, he needed to rendezvous with his team to discuss where to go from here. Akeno teleported him back home and he soon found himself back in his room. Not a single minute after arriving home, he was already contacting Ajax to debrief on what he'd found.
0-0-0-0
"Well I'll be a monkey's uncle," Ajax took a long drag of his cigar as he looked over the hastily put-together report. "You got a real knack for spywork, you know that?"
"Thank you, sir. As of now, I'm compiling all the data I can in my workshop so we can better get a handle on their abilities. Right now, though, I'd say that Rias could probably take on everyone on our team singlehandedly, except for maybe you."
Issei's boss hummed and poured over the file. His brow quirked up every so often before he finally finished it and set it down.
"Sword Birth, huh? That's a pretty high-tier Sacred Gear, and in the hands of a knight no less. I'll have our contacts do some snooping around about the rest of them. For now, keep up with them. They offered you more training, didn't they?"
Issei nodded. "Yeah, they said they'd be doing it every weekend. I think they're preparing for something."
"Do you have any idea what that is?"
"Not yet, sir. It seemed to be a personal matter, though. Rias was cagey about it."
"Alright, see what you can dig up. You've made me proud, boy," Ajax stood and walked around his desk to tower over Issei. "Damn fine work, son. Between all this and your innovative devices, I'm considering you for a promotion."
"A-A promotion!?" Issei stammered.
"Yep. As of now, you're officially Lower Management. You still need to answer to Castor and I, but consider yourself something of a squad leader. If you ever get transferred, the newbies will rely on you for on-the-mission leadership."
Issei didn't know what to say. He guessed that he shouldn't have felt so surprised. Only a couple months here and he'd already wormed his way into the ruling devils of this town and connected with the Vatican agents as well. Not to mention all the strides he was making in his technology. He didn't know what else to do, so he just snapped into a half-assed salute and gave a stalwart nod.
"Thank you, sir!"
Ajax chuckled. "At ease, 'soldier'. Keep up this kind of work and you're looking at another promotion. I've passed some of the reports you've sent my way up the chain of command. Apparently some of the Executives are taking notice of you."
Issei couldn't tell if that was good or not. "Thanks, I think? I still have a lot I need to work on, but I'm getting stronger every day. It's all thanks to your training though, and all the resources the Hero Faction has given to me."
"Ah, magic really does feel like cheating, don't it? I have zero talent for the stuff, but I can't deny its use. Things are changing in this town, bit-by-bit. I project that in another six months we'll be ruling this town, whether the others realize it or not. Georg promised us some new transfers if we keep up the good work."
New teammates? He wasn't going to complain. Between the Church, the devils, and this impending tide of supposed witches, Issei was beginning to feel outnumbered. Being back at his lab meant he could get back to working towards his flight suit, but he could only do so much on his own. Regardless, today was a big win for them all. He'd managed to collect some incredible data on the Gremory group, and would be getting even more with time.
"Ah, right, there's one last thing," Ajax cleared his throat and stood. "As you can imagine, the higher ups are keeping tabs on your progress. They want to make sure their 'investment' is turning a profit, so-to-speak."
"Right…" Issei trailed off.
"I've told them that you are, by all accounts, doing well. And yet- Well, I suppose it's not really my place to say. In any case, just try to keep calm," Ajax patted him on the shoulder and walked out of the office.
Before the hero could ask his superior what was going on, the door shut behind him and the windows darkened. For a moment, he was shrouded in black before the dim light of a magic circle appeared. It was with sudden surprise that Issei saw Georg materialize out of thin air and regard him with stoic eyes. The two squared off against one another, neither making a sound for several moments until the Board Member cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses.
"Hyoudou, we meet again," he said with less of the smarm he'd had before. Maybe because he was talking to a distinguished comrade now?
"We do," Issei replied uselessly. "I… gotta admit this is surprising."
"You didn't really think we were just going to let you off the leash as soon as you picked up a Longinus, did you? I've been making sure you haven't done anything stupid or reckless, and, by all accounts, you haven't. Good job."
"Gee, thanks."
Georg stepped forward. "There are things you need to know. Not as a member of the Hero Faction, but as a fellow Longinus user."
Ah, so this was one of those conversations. Issei could admit to still being in the dark about a lot of things, but his Sacred Gear helped supplement the gaps every so often. He'd been buried in his workshop for so long that the political landscape of pretty much everywhere that wasn't Kuoh might as well have been a distant dream to him. However if Georg of all people was coming to speak with him personally it must've been a matter of great importance.
"Things are changing, as you no doubt know. We of the Hero Faction hold a large share of the thirteen Longinus users, but we don't own all of them. As of late, a recent… departure of one of our more finer members has seen us steer the ship in a new direction, so-to-speak. Lucky, or perhaps unlucky, for you, a new Longinus user has made some waves with their debut," the bespectacled wizard continued. "The President wished for me to brief you on how things are shaping up outside of this podunk town."
What a dick, but the man made a good point. Given everything Georg had told him about Innovate Clear, or, more specifically, about its past possessors, he should be aware of other factions around him. There was more to this crazy world than just the powers brewing in their own little corner of Japan.
Issei huffed slightly. "Okay, but what does that have to do with me? In case you haven't noticed I haven't been making much of a name for myself."
"Ah, but you have. In your infiltration of Rias's peerage and the Vatican agents, information is slowly being disseminated. We picked it up on a few channels, about the Innovate Clear possessor currently serving the devils, or the church, or their own cause depending on who you ask. We were preparing for when it finally became a flood when all of the sudden a new player steps into view."
"And this new player is?" the inventor felt a jolt of alarm at the man's words. With getting so close to Rias and her station of power, he shouldn't have been surprised. But instead he'd gotten careless and let key details slip. Now instead of those rumors being unsubstantiated they were nothing less than the total truth.
"The wielder of the Boosted Gear has debuted to the world. From what we gather, they're from the Olympian faction and apparently possess the blood of the gods in them. Too much so for us to think of recruiting them," Georg affixed his glasses and leveled a stern glare at Issei.
"Woah, they sound badass," a demigod with god-slaying powers? How fucked up was that?
"Think harder, idiot. An agent of the Olympian gods with a god killing Sacred Gear? It's already raising all sorts of hell, just enough to completely cover your tracks. However, it's also kicking up a lot of scrutiny. Zeus is apparently holding this one over the heads of the other mythologies, and in turn they're trawling the waters for their own champion. It's getting things stirred up again," Georg finished as realization set in.
If the other factions weren't on the hunt for the other Longinus users before, they would be now. Whatever time the distraction had bought him would only go so far as when the first scout reported his position. If anything, the devils would've already known and could be sending agents as they spoke. Not to mention the church who must've been connected to the angels. His little slip-ups could mean a lot of pain was coming his way.
"Oh. Ohhhhh shit."
"Oh shit indeed, Hyoudou. We're covering you as best as we can. It's no secret to the higher ups that we possess a lot of Sacred Gear users, but for now our allies are providing a smokescreen for us as we provide one for you. But there's no stopping this from getting out indefinitely. When the time comes and you must take your place at the adult's table, you need to be ready," he emphasized with grim sincerity. "Whatever technology you must produce, do it faster and do it better. Half-measures and faulty toys will not cut it when your life's on the line."
Issei swayed on his feet and felt his back press against the cool metal of the wall behind him. His head was suddenly swimming and he felt hot in the face. This was bad. Really bad. He couldn't even take on Rias's servants let alone anyone important! He needed to double- no, triple down on his work. The flight suit was no longer the final product, but rather the first step on a long road of improvements. Things would only stay quiet for so long.
"W-What should I do, man!? Can't you guys help me more!?"
Georg raised an eyebrow. "More than training, protection, legitimacy, and endless resources?"
Ah, right. Issei had the good grace to feel embarrassed. "Oh, r-right. Sorry. I guess I need to focus more on my work. But if I do that the school will take notice!"
"Is that what's holding you back?" Georg asked. When Issei nodded, he sighed and waved a hand. "I can do something about that. Enough to keep them from noticing if you skip a few days. So long as you can make it once or twice a week then no one should ask any questions and your report card should remain static. Will that help?"
It would. Immensely so. That was eight more hours in the day he could spend working, researching, or training! At that rate he could halve his production time while still keeping up with Rias's peerage. It would be tough, and leave little room for much else, but if it meant surviving he would throw himself into his work! Georg nodded and leaned against the desk as he stared out one of the eclipsed windows.
"We've heard good things from your Upper Manager, Ajax. In time, I have no doubt you'll become the Ace of the Hero Faction. Even more so than Siegfried is or Arthur ever was."
He didn't know who those people were, but they sounded important. Issei nodded along with the older man as he watched his expression. Oddly enough, it seemed almost wistful in a way. There was so much more at work behind the scenes that he could have imagined, and while a part of him was terrified of what it meant, a much more secretive part yearned to be involved with it. He could only imagine what kind of arcane secrets and esoteric abilities were hiding out there, just waiting to be picked apart and improved upon by him. A whole other world full of powerful foes that he could learn from. Being stuck in this town was almost menial by comparison.
"When the White One and the Red One finally meet to fight one another, then I think we will see how it all shapes up. There are forces at work that threaten to disrupt the status quo of the mythologies. With any luck, you may be a part of it," Georg kicked off the desk as another teleportation circle appeared around him. "I suspect we will meet again, Issei Hyoudou. Until then, get stronger."
And then he was gone, leaving the young tinker alone with his many, many thoughts.
0-0-0-0
What was it about churches that drew so many people in? He knew it was a stupid question even before he asked it, but it still stuck in his mind. It was obvious now that God, Lucifer, and all the angels were very, very real, but to the normal person it was almost vexing. To talk in a big stone box to someone who never talked back. Or maybe he was just thinking in circles to prevent himself from getting nervous.
He knew that he should be using this time to research, but he wanted to touch base with Irina since it had felt like so long since they'd talked. He owed that girl pretty much everything, and he felt bad for having basically shunned her all this time. At least she would be able to understand why.
"Come to confess your sins, young pervert?" her voice quipped from behind him.
"Ha, ha, you're so funny," he replied sarcastically. "How's it going Irina?"
He turned to see the young girl in more conspicuous clothes. Even with no one else in the church, he figured she couldn't be in her "battle nun" attire, or whatever it was, all the time. That leather had to chafe something fierce. She smiled and took her seat next to him in the pew.
"It's going, more or less. You'd be surprised at how much politics can slow down the machine. I feel more like an honor guard than an exorcist at times."
He laughed, more genuinely this time. "Waiting is the worst, isn't it?"
Irina leaned back and he caught just the barest sight of her bra. White, lacey, and totally okay with him. Again, something felt off with the desire though. It was muted, a step removed from his thinking. He shook his head as his friend nodded.
"I can't help this anxiety. I feel like if I'm not paying attention to the threats on their way, then Rias is going to do something, and if I'm paying attention to her then I'm not keeping tabs on you. It's a whole messy cycle of worrying."
"Hey now, you're not my babysitter. I can handle myself now. Our mutual friends helped with that much," he tried to calm her down.
It didn't seem to work. The exorcist pursed her lips together and glared into nothing. "Yeah… say, Issei, how is that whole thing going?"
He opened his mouth to blurt out an answer, but hesitated as he remembered Georg's words from earlier. He needed to be smarter with what he told people, even if they were his friends. He didn't want to lie to Irina, but she had her own bosses she needed to report to. It's why they were keeping her out of the loop in the first place. To protect her.
That's what heroes did.
"It's going," he said, parroting her words from earlier and drawing a smile to her face. "Mainly just kinda quiet. Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful for all of it but we try to keep a low-profile. Help out the little guy, you know?"
"Yeah. I like to think we do that too, but we're a bit too caught up in everything else. Makes it hard to clear all the red tape, you know?"
Their conversation was friendly, but it was tinged with something distant. Had he really come to the church just to talk about work?
"Don't beat yourself up too bad. You're still my best friend and I can't have you feeling too down about yourself. Then who would save me from the kendo club and their wooden swords of doom?" He tried to cheer her up with the light jab. It worked, and he saw a bit of the old Irina he'd come to know in the expression she sent his way. "You're still way better than a scrub like me. I'm learning that more and more every day."
She shook her head. "We're all human at the end of the day, Issei. There's only so much we can do against devils, gods, and monsters."
Was that true? He liked to think humans deserved a bit more credit for having gotten so far on such fewer natural abilities. Sure they were squishy, but they made up for it in ingenuity. But what did that matter if your foe could crush a mountain with their pinky finger? Was there some impassable wall that humanity could never hope to climb? It was something to think about.
"Hello? Earth to pervert? Mcfly?" Irina snapped her fingers in front of him. "Geez, don't tell me that head of yours is filled with nasty thoughts in a place like this?"
"My head is always filled with nasty thoughts! The place matters naught!"
She groaned and fell back into the pew. "And here I thought you'd stop being such an irreverent perv."
"Hey, where's Xenovia?" he asked, suddenly realizing neither her nor Asia were here. Maybe they lived elsewhere?
"Hm? Oh, right, she's on a small scouting mission. There was some weird stuff going on in the forests outside of town, where that creepy old mansion is? Or was, rather. Place is all burned down now."
He could feel the pointedness in that statement. How could he say that he was at fault without incriminating himself? Giving the run-around to a servant of God seemed like a good way to end up in the eternal hotbox, but what choice did he have? "Don't worry we just massacred every living soul in that building. Nothing to concern your superiors about!", that was a fine way of getting his ass nailed to the wall.
"Well, you know old buildings. They're liable to go up in flames when it gets dry out."
"Issei, it's been raining on and off for the last few weeks."
"... I mean, maybe they didn't change their smoke detectors?"
Irina huffed. "Fine, I get it. But Issei you gotta understand that I sent you to those people so they could get you out of that slump, not so you could gallivant around shooting up everything you see."
That was reductive, and unhelpful. He wasn't some deranged gunman, he was taking care of a very real and very present threat to the town. Issei felt a flicker of ire as she disparaged his work, but recognized that she had a point as well. It wasn't like he was doing a victory dance for having killed Hironori. He still wasn't sure how he felt about that whole situation. Maybe that's why he was drowning it behind a tidal wave of work orders and research.
She wasn't prying too hard because she was his friend, he could see that. Irina had always had a soft spot for him, and it felt shitty to lean into that trust. But, in a roundabout way, this was for her benefit as well. Even if he spilled his guts she'd need to tell her superiors why and how a new Longinus user had been pushed to another faction. He had no idea how the Catholic church handled punishment, but he suspected it was a bit more grave than a simple dishonorable discharge or a dock in her pay.
"Relax, Irina. I have it all under control. Look, if it would ease your concerns then I can tell you what we have planned. Right now I'm putting together something to figure out where Abella is," he was quick to add when it looked like she was about to say something. "Not so I can go after her half-cocked or anything! Just so we can help you guys do what you need to do. All we want to do is help."
None of that was a lie, technically. It really was a primary concern of his. And man if "not technically a lie" was beginning to grate on his soul. He raised his hands in a placating gesture and faced his longtime friend.
"I get that you guys are in a tough spot, but this would be an awesome way to make both your factions look good. The devils and the exorcists teaming up to take down a rogue element. Think of it!"
If it happened to get Abella out of the way and give him some more data to use, then so be it. He imagined they were all in agreement in wanting the stray dead. Irina considered the argument before sighing and nodding her head in acquiescence. So long as he played up the fact that he wasn't going to do anything stupid, she seemed content to trust him. And to be honest, if there was one person who didn't want to die because of this operation it was him. There was so much more he needed to do. So much more he needed to learn.
"Well… I guess that would be pretty good. Alright Hyoudou, you have me sold on the condition that you let us do most of the heavy lifting," it was his turn to protest only to be cut off by her hand. "I know you're not some helpless damsel, but Abella is still pretty high up on the food chain. You just finding her on your own where we could not speaks pretty well for you already."
Alright, he could compromise that much. Besides, if he wanted to stay low to the ground he was going to have to start acting like it. Even if he wanted to rip that bitch's head off for what she did, that might not be what was best in the long run. Issei sighed and threw up his hands in mock defeat.
"Alright, alright. I'll let you know if and when I find anything."
"Thanks Issei," he felt one of her hands wrap around his. "I get that this must be a hard thing for you, but I appreciate your help. All of it."
Her face was so close to his, and she smelled so nice. Had her skin always been this clear? He felt his heart race slightly as his mind shifted mental gears. The hero could feel a bit of his former self reinvigorate as Irina leaned closer. Was this weird? No, they were just friends is all. Really good, really close, opposite sex childhood friends is all.
Oh man, years of half-dreamt fantasies were coming back to bite him.
"Say, Issei, when this whole Abella thing is over, do you wanna hang out again? It feels like it's been forever since we've really just chilled with each other. Play some games or go out to a movie or something. I really miss hanging out with you," her voice was too sweet and cute to say no to! Damn this woman's charm!
"Y-Yeah, sure. No problem, Irina," he stood up, hoping his hoodie was long enough to cover his fly. "Tell Asia and Xenovia I said hi!"
"Asia?"
"Yeah, the new nun. Asia? Blonde hair, kinda ditzy, cute."
Irina furrowed her brow. "Asia… that name seems familiar. Where have I heard it before?" the girl thought for a moment more and shrugged. "Well, I'll keep an eye out for her. Maybe she got mixed up."
"Maybe…" he trailed off.
There was something about that whole situation that bugged him. It would need to wait though, there was too much to be concerned with to add Asia's tenuous employment with the church to his growing list of problems. He stepped around his friend and into the aisle, giving the thumbs up to the oversized figure of Jesus crucified to the wall. Issei always thought that was a morbid statue of his Lord and Saviour and an odd centerpiece.
The young inventor said his goodbyes to his friend and quickly stepped out into the cool night air. The transponders and beacon were ready, by this time tomorrow they would be feeding him the data of Abella's magical signature. The stink of a stray devil was one that wasn't missed easily. From there, it would only be a matter of getting everyone together.
As well as putting together his first working prototype of his flight suit.