Chapter 1 The Supernatural World
"This… this… what… Am I dreaming?" Mumbled Issei Hyoudou as he stared at the two gauntlets that covered both of his arms.
Although the things that covered his arms couldn't be considered gauntlets. Instead it was the closest thing to it. It was akin to a fantasy boxing glove on which only the upper part covering the arm was visible. Something akin to a very fancy armguard.
The material seemed to be made out of something hard, the red shiny color was reminding him of Ruby and the comfortable feeling it gave him indicated that it fitted perfectly onto both of his arms. One jewel seemed to be embedded into these Gauntlets. A large green glassy object was located above each hand palm.
If Issei wasn't sure that they appeared out of nowhere, then he would definitely deem these props as high quality fantasy armor. But as a voice emitted from the left armguard, the chance of it being a prank from his friends diminished by the second.
We finally meet my host. It seems that you are part of my entourage that possess two Sacred Gears. I am expecting a lot from you during our brief time together.
The left Gauntlet started to speak in a deep voice.
"What?! You can talk? What is going on?" Asked Issei bewildered. The mere thought of talking to a random cosplay prop that appeared out of nowhere seemed absurd. But there were moments when he lost himself during the time he enjoyed eroge. So while it was weird, Issei deemed it more important to get to know what the hell was going on.
It seems that my current host is someone who never entered the world of the supernatural. For that I will pity and at the same time laugh at you. For you are about to gain power what many only dream of.
Gulping, Issei stared at his left arm. This didn't sounded particular good if the voice inside the left arm pitied him. Besides, Issei didn't desired power, his innermost wish was to become a Harem King.
"I don't want power! I want to become the Harem King!" Shouted Issei. As he was in his own room, there wasn't anyone besides his parents or his two close friends who might be nearby who could possible listen to his brave declaration.
Power and the things you desire are closely related. If you have power, what prevents you from taking whatever you want? Regardless of Gender, power is a fascinating thing. It draws people closer to you and the more you have it, the more mesmerizing and destructive it becomes.
Indeed, Issei imagined himself surrounded by beautiful girls that all wanted to touch him. The short speech of his left arm made him imagine things.
But when the erotic daydream ended, Issei shook his head. He had read plenty of dark fantasy novels and knew clearly where this was going.
"If you stare into the Abyss, it will stare back at you. Isn't this some kind of famous saying? The power you speak of sounds like something that a devil would grant someone who deeply desires it, only to bitterly regret it."
Regardless of whether you want it or not, you will attract people who want your power. For their selfish reasons, for protection or simply out of necessity to see what your goals and desires are. For only a fool doesn't guard from power that might endanger him.
This didn't sounded good. Issei had read plenty of b*tches who were able to pretend to be kind girls only to stab the naïve protagonist into the back. In most scenarios it didn't ended well.
But what concerned him most was that he still had no idea what was going on.
"Excuse me… eh… But what is going on right now? Didn't you talk something about power? Besides you mentioned the supernatural?"
My name is Ddraig. Also known as the Red Dragon Emperor. You see, in this world the supernatural is reality. Angels, Devils, Youkais and even Gods are real. Mostly hidden from your average human in order to not make them feel like they have a sharp knife dangling over their heads.
For a moment, Issei stood completely still.
'Angels exists? Devils exists? Does it mean that… Succubus exists? And sexy Angels?!' Realized Issei as he imagined curves that were out of this world.
"Does that mean… that… that… that… there exists Succubus and sexy Angels!" Shouted Issei with excitement. His started to display various sexy supernatural beings that he knew out of various sources.
Elves, dark Elves, giant Oni girls, Mermaids, sexy and busty dwarf women and plenty more.
Yes, Magic exists… wait what?
As if something inside his mind clicked, Issei started to roar.
"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Sexy Women of various races, you are not safe of the appreciation of ISSEEEEEI HYOUDOOOOOU!"
Immediately his mind connected the possibility of having various races inside his Harem. No longer did he had to limit himself to humans.
But there was one problem. He still had no idea what the supernatural was. Turning towards his left hand, Issei spoke.
"Ddraig… what is this power that you speak of? Wait, first tell me everything the supernatural world. So that I will be prepared when I meet Angels and sexy Devils."
It was as if Issei could hear Ddraig smirking.
Fine. Everything that you probably know from mythic fairy tales and fantasy settings is real. Magic is also real. While not many humans are proficient with it, there are people who have made names for themselves. But at the same time, the supernatural world isn't all sunshine and rainbows.
Necromancy, torture, human battery, slaves and much more are commonplace. Since it is easy to create sub-spaces if you are a decent powerful magic user, dungeons and lairs are sown across the world. Not only that, if we consider the spaces of multiple Underworlds, Heavens and Spaces that are mentioned within the myths, the world is far bigger than you can ever imagine.
For a while, Issei did nothing more than to lie on his bed. He had digest the information he had received. It sounded too unbelievable.
'Legends exists? What about the kingdom shattering beauties in this world? Do they have divine boobies? Questions over questions.'
Issei would love to ponder about supernatural boobs, but there were more pressing matters.
"Ddraig, so what are you? And what do you mean by me receiving power? Are you some sort of dangerous sealed beast that now enables me to become someone very powerful?"
It was the most cliché thing in fantasy novels, while it worked in stories, it sounded unbelievable that he would gain such power. But the next word turned cliché into reality.
Indeed. For that I will have to explain what a Sacred Gear is. They are equipment that are created due to various circumstances. Legends and myths surround these items and often belong to heroes that wield them. But I am a special Sacred Gear. People have given me the title of Longinus, a Sacred Gear that under certain circumstance is capable of slaying Gods.
A shudder ran down Issei's back as he heard the last part.
"WHAT? Slaying Gods?"
This didn't left much to imagine. No wonder Ddraig said that he would soon draw people in. Having enough Power to contest against Gods sounded quite impactful on the world. Akin to possessing a nuke.
At the same time, the Sacred Gear that I am sealed within, the Boosted Gear, has a fated rival. Throughout the ages and through our hosts, we battle in order to resolve our grudge. Many of my hosts have tried to run from it or simply deny it. But fate has plans and whether you want it or not, often times it will be a fight to the death. Only few of my hosts did not encounter my fated opponent.
"To the death? That is..." Issei wasn't able to speak further. For a moment he simply thought about his future.
If he had to confront another one, perhaps someone with more knowledge from the supernatural world then he was doomed.
Don't worry. Compare to some of my hosts, you seem to possess a second Sacred Gear. While rare, they will give you an advantage in the beginning. Besides, it always depends on what Hosts your fated rival possess. Perhaps he is even more pathetic than you. But looking at your body, the chance for it to happen is quite rare. Your magical energy seems to disappear periodically. While not dangerous, it certainly makes it harder for you to activate magical abilities.
Having a lack of something sounded quite bad. Especially when it was something about magical power that might be important down the line. After all, magic is the romance of man.
Who wouldn't want to throw around some fireballs? Naturally without hurting anyone innocent.
Let me see what kind of second Sacred Gear you possess… So it seems to be some sort of mirage Sacred Gear. Perhaps a lesser one that imitates the look of a magic item. A quite common one but quite useful if you want to bluff your way out. There was a time when one of my host got fooled by someone seemingly possessing a dragon slaying sword, only to be a mere prop. So it has its uses.
Before Issei could ask more questions, Ddraig stopped the conversation entirely.
It seems that your body is not quite capable of withstanding a long duration of my existence. The lack of magical power is truly disheartening. In order to combat that, you should train your body. While it is a quite primitive way of increasing magical power and thus prolonging the usage time of a Sacred Gear, it is an effective one. Next time I hope that we will be able to have a longer conversation.
The Gauntlet on his left arm vanished as if it never existed. But this time Issei was able to sense a certain power within him. As if he could summon his Sacred Gear at will.
Fascinated at the revelation of the supernatural world, Issei would have loved to hear more about it. But he felt a sense of exhaustion washing over him when the left Gauntlet disappeared. There certainly was no more 'magical power' within him that he could summon.
Looking at the right Gauntlet, Issei frowned. While Ddraig bid goodbye, only the left Gauntlet disappeared.
'So this is a Mirage Sacred Gear that is able to copy the appearance of other Sacred Gear. I hope that you will be useful.' Smiled Issei as he tried to unsummon the righ armguard.
Having felt Ddraig unsummoning the Boosted Gear, Issei applied the same feeling towards the right Gauntlet.
Immediately Issei felt how his body felt lighter. As if a burden disappeared from his shoulders. It was truly a great feeling.
While it was still early for him, the revelation as well as the consummation of magical power exhausted him to such a degree that he decided to go to sleep.
Stripping himself all of his clothes except for the underwear, Issei crawled into his comfortable blanket. Today was an eventful day.
But before he could close his eyes, a voice that reminded him of his childhood woke him up. It was the voice that appeared during one of his playdates with Shidou-kun. Something about a dragon claw.
[Copy of Dragon Claw successful]
'If I remember right, I got mocked for a whole month because I believed that I copied a dragon…' Thought Issei with embarrassment. He remembered telling his parents that he copied a dragon with his innate ability.
So he tried to gain access to his second Sacred Gear. There was a high chance that the voice belonged to it. While he couldn't summon them, he could internally manifest them and look at them.
Manifesting the second Sacred Gear, Issei expected something that symbolized Illusion. For example a mirror or fog. But what awaited him was a surprise.
It came alongside an operation manual.
[Requires time to analyze the targeted Sacred Gear]
[Sacred Gear is constructed by using redundant magical power of the host]
[Time depends on many factors, can be estimated]
There were more rules, but most were limitations that might be lifted in the future. For example currently he could only have a single Sacred Gear in production. Meaning it wasn't possible to analyze two Sacred Gears or store the blueprints.
Simply listening to the possibilities made Issei look forward. If he had copied the Boosted Gear, then doesn't that mean he had gained two Longinus? Perhaps he could double the chance of killing a God. Or become twice as powerful by using two Sacred Gears.
Issei could feel how his body started to become comfortable. It wouldn't take long for him to fall asleep.
Tomorrow he would meet up with Motohama and Matsuda in order to visit Kuoh High. His future School where he would spent three years of his life. Perhaps even meet a few cute girls.