*I am seen organizing piles of possible ideas for dungeons and skills.* No. No, to weak. Now it's to overpowered. Gah! Head pain! *Notices you guys.* Hello there my lovely fans. As you can see I'm alive and well. I had planned for this to be out before new years but my Beta tester had to finish his own chapter which put my much larger one on the back burner. Enjoy!
Chapter 5 It's time to draw out a chicken, Reaper style!
Omega note: As always this chapter of The Reaper of DxD has been edited by your friendly neighborhood OmegaKenichi!
No way. No way! This can't be happening. That can't be Riser! He's three weeks early. Yet here I watched as the blonde douche with the stupid leather jacket arose from that blasted magic circle. Along with his harem, which still includes his little sister which is still gross. What's the deal with that? Go! Observe!
Ravel Phenix
Level: 48
Alignment: Lawful good.
Bio: Youngest child of the Phenix clan and bishop to her older brother. Hot headed, quick to anger, and is a definite tsundere; while strong in many ways she's physically the weakest of the siblings and because of that she's often babied by her older siblings. Unknown to her, her 'master' added her to his peerage to protect her better. A puny flame to be extinguished, though it will try to re-lite its puny flame again and again.
Huh. I did not know that last bit, now the other important figures. However before I could look at anybody else I got a huge error screen in front of me and time froze solid.
"What the hell?!" I cursed, quite loudly, but everyone else was frozen solid; to add to my confusion I could move around freely.
'Strange, very strange.' I pondered. I looked back at the error screen which soon mutated into a type of update screen.
Buffering.
Loading packages; 80%, 100%
Recalibrating time and space
Adjusting for future irregularities
Adjustments complete.
From now on you are able to see the level of anyone you Observe, even if they're fifty levels or higher.
Enjoy Gamer update 1.956
Time returned to its natural state, this being forward. I took the time to Observe Riser and I understood why that update happened.
Riser Phenex.
Level: 220
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Bio: Second eldest of the Phenex clan and has the strongest regenerative capabilities of all his siblings. Secretly a giant Sis-Con which is why he made his little sister his Bishop. Undefeated in every rating game ever participated in. Even though he may act like he's for the arranged wedding. He despises it just as much, if not more, than Rias herself. But unlike her the fight was beaten out of him a long time ago. Be warned, for this flame will do anything to protect his sister, though is that truly a strength?
Well, that's vague, but holy shit that level! No wonder he kicked their asses in the show with numbers like that on his side. This is so freaky!
I turned my head to look at the strongest queen and I can certainly say I ain't gonna even try and observe her. Mainly so what small amount of sanity I have left doesn't evaporate. Luckily the Riser's peerage was substantially weaker than him it was laughable. His queen was barely level 90. I could reach that in a day or so!
'Okay, just don't do anything to risk my neck.' I told myself repeatedly. My partner agreed with me wholeheartedly.
"Ahh. Riser's bride. Riser hopes this sudden visit wasn't to unexpected." The way he said that was completely unapologetic.
{He's an asshole for sure but for now we have to grind our teeth and hope this passes quickly.} Bahamut told me. I ground my teeth but nodded ever so slightly in agreement.
"Riser just came to check on our wedding schedule and to set a date." Riser pronounced. Rias looked furious as did the her original peerage members; Issei and Asia were very much confused about this.
Though Issei seemed to understand after a moment. "Hold the fuck up. Are you saying Rias is engaged to this douchebag?!"
Rias turned back to Issie and explained how she was forcibly engage to Riser.
So, Rias and her peerage on one side, Riser to the other side with me and Grayfia in the middle of this mess. I glanced at the strongest queen and she looked a tad bit tired, as if she had to deal with this for a large amount of time. She probably had to, then she looked at me, and I reflexively gulped under that glare of her's.
"I don't think i've met you. Are you a friend to Rias?" She asked emotionless in her inflection.
"Yes, in a way." Vague, yes that works. Though when she looked like she was analyzing me I was worried she would see through me and figure out who I really am! Though she, thankfully, looked away and I breathed a silent sigh of relief. I watched as Riser gradually got closer to Rias as she tried to scoot further away from him while talking, until she fell off the couch itself. If this had happened in the anime I would've laughed my head off but now?
I, with Issie, helped her up. This got Riser's eye as he stared at me in, what can only be confusion.
"Is he one of yours Rias dear? Because if so you can do better than edgelord chemical romance here." The way he said it deeply infuriated me and I have no reason why. As she was about to defend me I stopped her with a look.
'Show time.' I told myself and talked for the first time during this meeting.
"I'm an independent party. I'm no one's servant, can you say the same thing, you overgrown chicken." I insulted, that's right insulted, Riser. Who was at least three times my level. What in hell am I thinking!
"This one has quite the mouth on him. Don't you boy?" Riser sneered and looked down on me. My eyebrow twitched erratically as I tried, and failed, to bottle my annoyance down.
{Easy partner. Don't do anything you'll regret} Bahamut warned me mentally. I took a calming breath. He's right; I can't do anything rash. I'm not strong enough to back anything up.
When I had calmed down enough Riser had lost interest in me and was back with Rias and the others. I returned to being a silent and useless sentinel by the others. Though Riser then did something we'll both regret.
"If you don't agree to marry Riser perhaps Riser will burn some of your precious 'family'. Perhaps with that nun you just added, Riser's sure you wouldn't mind since you just got he-"
He never got to finish that sentence because of my fist smashing his stupid, arrogant face. I broke his nose, but it healed instantly. But, thankfully, he didn't recover before I did it again and kneed him in the stomach and threw the pompous prick into the nearest wall, which sent him flying through the cheap plaster. I was a green belt in taekwondo when I was human and the teacher had to pull me off my opponent, who was supposedly better than me since he had a black belt. Man was crying like a bitch after I shattered his nose.
'Oh shit. I just did that.' My mind finally caught up to my body and let's say I wasn't the only one. {The fuck did I just say!} Bahamut screamed through our mental link.
His battle harem, yes i'm calling them that since their names aren't important, looked ready to pounce; except Riser walked back through the hole I threw him through smirking like the bastard he was.
"Riser's impressed. Riser didn't expect that at all, so why doesn't Riser's peerage pay you back." He said with a malicious sneer on his smug face.
Event alert!
Survive 2 minutes of Riser's peerage barrage.
Bonus objective: Test out your new skill.
Rewards: Riser's respect and the ability to manipulate his ego.
Well that's open ended. What are you thinking Ragnorak? Oh well. The timer popped up in the upper left and started the second they moved. Might as well get that bonus objective out of the way.
"High council, arise!" My servants appeared from the ground, from the sky, even under the very floorboards. Cerberus and Wraith were by my side, and the big dog demolished the room of the club room. Oopsie.
What I can assume is the Keeper of the Damned arose behind one of the twins, the green haired ones with chainsaws, slipping two gnarled curved daggers out of it's billowing brown robes. It angled it's blades behind both green haired twins necks and readied them in case I gave it the order to slice their heads off.
The three cursed knights, two defenders and remains of the damned were far less subtle. They burst through the other side of the wall, the one without holes, and drew their swords right in front of the enemy.
The knights wore platemail that covered them head to two. Their weapon was a simple, but effective, claymore that they held with only a single hand, while also was earing a helmet that resembled a crow's beak with small slots for the eyes.
The defenders wore excessively heavy armor with mighty tower shields that were far bigger than themselves. And these guys were no dwarves either, they were 6'4 easily and the armor must've added a few inches to make it more like 6'10. They held javelins with runes etched into the pole.
The remains was a bit of a let down since it was just a half rotted corpse with a short sword and some boiled leather armor. Yet it didn't look frail, rather, it looked the exact opposite. Whatever muscle that hadn't rotted off was tensed and strong, its stance resembled more of a duelist rather than a lowly grunt.
I was most excited for the Nazgul to show up but they didn't. I was about to call bullshit when I felt a small chill go up my spine as a presence of death and darkness flooded the ruined club. Everyone, and I mean everyone, became far jumpier after this.
The Nazgul can only be summoned physically by the witch king, spiritually however is another matter entirely. While they can't bridge the gap on their own in this state they can however still force their will onto the physical plain.
That's disappointing, and here I thought I found an exploit in the gamer system. This, still works in my favor. Not only was Riser's peerage and Rias's peerage were antsy due to the Nazgul's presence even the strongest queen was looking around with a wary eye. Riser himself was frantically looking around for the invisible ghosts.
"Seems we reached a standoff." I started. Watching the counter tick slowly down. Only thirty seconds passed?! This is gonna be long.
Riser tried to regain his cocky attitude but thanks to the ringwraiths he can't even focus on me. "S-So it appears. Riser has better things to do than stand here and wait for who goes first." He finished confidently, but he was anxious, and he wasn't such a good bluffer.
"Well, here's my proposition. We continue this another day, perhaps tomorrow or next week, if it suits you. A rating game, to be specific." I offered.
'The line has been cast, will you bite little fishy?' just gotta bluff my way out of this. I've done it in real life and I've done it here.
"A Rating game? Your no devil, how can you even participate?" Riser asked, challenged is a better world. A nudge, the fish is interested.
"It doesn't have to be official. Consider it a friendly diplomatic battle between species. Just think about it. Riser Phenex, the first devil to create bonds with the most reclusive species of supernaturals besides the fairies. You'd be lorded as a diplomatic genius." I was lying of course but what he doesn't know makes me stronger. To catch a fish you need bait. Playing to his ego is very appetizing bait indeed.
He seemed to be in his own little world before a small smile emerged on his face before he sculpted it back into a smirk. Did anyone else catch that or was it just me?
"And what would the stakes be? Official or not a rating game must have stakes." Raiser said, interest oh so poignant in his tone. A nibble, not enough to get hooked on but just enough that it might bite for real.
"The stakes would be simple, if I lost then you could do what you wished to me. Make me a servant or even execute me for challenging you." Time to take a page out of No Game No Life. This shocked the devils, Riser laughed menacingly.
"As much as Riser would love to see your head roll, I would rather have you serve my little sister. She may not have her peerage pieces yet but once she comes of age I can imagine you serving us. How does that sound Ravel?" Riser asked his little sister. She blushed from either the attention from us or her brother's proposal.
"That sounds perfect I could make him my first pawn, have him scrub my feet, make my bed, and do the rest of my chores." She said with an air of pomp and privilege a little brat like her would have.
I twitched in response at her casualness towards enslavement, but then I remembered what they are. Devils, plain and simple. But the fishy had taken another nibble of the bait, time for a yank.
"And if I win I become you and Rias's marriage proctor with full right to dissolve your marriage contract if I believe you two aren't right for eachother and a crate of Phenix tears delivered to me every month of every year until either of us die."
Riser looked even cockier, his smug smile only grew larger as Rias's eyes grew with it.
"Sure! Why, if you beat Riser, Riser will also throw in Riser's peerage as a bonus."
"That won't be necessary. I wouldn't know how to use them and they don't look like they have a brain between the twelve of them."
Several glares were pointed at my direction as the timer ticked to zero.
Event success.
Rewards: Quest. Increased standing with the phenix clan, Gremory clan. Rias's peerage.
Main Quest acquired. Suffocating the flames.
Time limit: to be determined
Objectives: Become level 180 before determined date of rating game. Win the rating game.
Bonus Objectives: Use the Nazgul to their fullest potential. Destroy the enemies morale during the game.
Rewards: Choice between three 'items'. 40 levels worth of EXP. Increased standing with allies. Other Half of the velvet room key.
Penalties for failure: Loss of all respect and to be enslaved by a little girl.
A high stakes game of chess with my life on the line, to sum this up. Oh and that's quite the gap I need to climb, well I'm sure I can reach that in a few days-
"Riser is sure a day will be sufficient for a Grim Reaper such as yourself." Riser added with a cruel smirk. He also whipped the smile off my face and somehow punched me in the gut without moving towards me. Oh the fish bit but now it's dragging me down.
"A day. You think that's enough to get your peerage battle ready?" I tried to sound calm but I'm sure my voice cracked somewhere from my nerves acting up. His smirk faltered for a few precious seconds as he glanced towards his sister before he set it back as if it didn't disappear. 'Now that I saw.' Why is this Riser different from his cannon counterpart? Is it his past?
"Riser is certain." He said shortly. I nodded in agreement and the time tables for my quest switched to twenty four hours. He left with his peerage not a moment later. Grayfia waited a few moments before speaking up.
"That was rather brave of you. Foolish, idiotic, and life threatening but brave for sure." She left before I could ask her if that was a good thing or not.
'Oh shit. Oh shit! I can't believe I did that! What in the world was I thinking? Easy answer there I wasn't! I reacted, damn you Wisdom! Why didn't you work and stop me from pulling that stupid shit! And where the hell was that damn Intelligence stat! I mean its my highest stat so why did I act like a stupid reckless idiot. Like that anime 'Gamer' in RWBY. Ah and now I have a god damn HEADACH-?!'
Asia walked over and hugged me. I actually stopped mid rant from the sudden contact.
"Um. Asia? Why the sudden hug, not like i'm complaining or anything but it is a bit random." I reasoned.
"You were shaking. You looked scared out of your mind," Asia answered curtly.
At this I looked down and saw I was indeed shaking, knees buckling along with my shaking form. Heh, a gamer that's afraid; isn't that the most pathetic thing you've ever seen.
"Well. That's because I reacted and put myself in the most horrible position possible, but-" I emphasised the but when seeing Asia's worried face. "-I'll think of something, I won't leave so easily." I smiled softly and rubbed her head, like I did with my younger brother.
My hand stopped at the thought and I could feel the bottles about to burst however I managed to shove them back down in the depths.
"Um, I have several questions. Though the most important one, is that the Wraith from Evolve?" Issie asked.
'Shit.' I so eloquently thought as I tried to figure out a way to explain that this wasn't the same assassin from Evolve. Luckily, I have the perfect excuse.
"Magic," I explained. Even did the jazz hands for effect. Issie gave me a blank stare as did the others, except Asia.
"Magic," Issie repeated flatly. Ok, so, that didn't work. This Issei isn't an idiot; Well, a big idiot at least. Need a better answer than that, ooh! Idea!
"It's a type of special interdimensional summoning magic that brings creatures, and possibly people, from other dimensions. So that might be why my Wraith looks like the one from the game." I honestly felt proud for that little explanation.
For making up a believable bullshit answer like that. +2 int and +3 wisdom.
And that cheapened it, dear lord, no wonder the other gamers hated these things. Issie and the others looked satisfied with such an answer.
"Now, who wants to help me train so I don't die tomorrow?" I asked them after Asia walked back to Issie.
"Wait. You need to train? I thought you had Riser handled with how you acted around him and his peerage." Kiba mentioned, to which I laughed hysterically.
"Oh hell no. As I am now I'll get my ass handed to me; on a silver plate no less. You guys have a better chance against him than I do right now." I told them as I finished laughing. I still chuckled though.
"Then why did you stake your freedom on a game you can't win!" Rias asked, no, demanded of me. To which I shrugged.
"I honestly thought he would've given me more than a day to prepare. But it's doable, if not, then I'll have to count on you guys to bail me out of my mistake." I told her while scratching the back of my head awkwardly.
Issie gawked at my statement before he began to chuckle himself. "You don't change, do you? Oh well, can't let my friend be enslaved to that bratty toddler. So, how are you gonna train?" Issie had my back, and by the nods from the others I knew I could count on them, at least with this.
"Okay, but you must promise me that you never tell a soul about what i'm about to do. This is a secret that only the reaper race knows of. I'm trusting you guys with this secret." I told them seriously, I even took off my mask to show them I wasn't joking.
They all looked shocked that I would tell them an important secret but they all nodded. I briefly thought of telling them about their world and I know about it but. 'Stats.' I thought, and my stats popped up.
Name:Spencer A. Hott
Alias: Mores M. Operandi
Alignment: Chaotic good
Title: The Gamer/Merciful Death.
Level: 68
HP: 1200
Regen: 100 HP per minute
MP: 2700
Regen: 1130 MP per minute.
VIT:56(-8)
STR:65
DEX:135 (+4)
INT:102 (+6)
WIS:107 (+6)
LUC:83 (+5)
Stat points: 40
Money: 500000 yen
Skill points: 8
Affinities:
Chaos:50(+20)
Fire: 40(+20)
Lighting: 90(+20)
Earth: 55(+20)
Water: 70(+20)
Wind: 35(+20)
Dark: 50(+20)
Light: 95(+20)
But then, they would know I'm not who I am. And I can't allow that, I won't allow it. I will not lose their friendship so easily, which is why this little secret stays with me until I either figure out how to swap the alias with my real name or I die. While I had my screen up I used up my stat points. I put a majority of them into my Wisdom but I spread out the last three points.
Name:Spencer A Hott
Alias: Mores M Operandi
Alignment :Chaotic good
Title: The gamer/Merciful death.
Level: 68
HP: 1200
Regen: 100 HP per minute
MP: 2725
Regen: 1460 MP per minute.
VIT:56(-8)
STR:65
DEX:136 (+4)
INT:103 (+6)
WIS:140 (+6)
LUC:84 (+5)
Stat points: 0
Money: 500000 yen
Skill points: 8
Affinities:
Chaos:50(+20)
Fire: 40(+20)
Lighting: 90(+20)
Earth: 55(+20)
Water: 70(+20)
Wind: 35(+20)
Dark: 50(+20)
Light: 95(+20)
That's better. Though still not strong enough.
"Alrighty. Hang on to something. Deadzone Deus vult! Deus Vult!" I shouted. Like last time I was sent to another plain of existence, but this time I have company, but unlike last time we weren't brought into a wasteland. This time we were sent into a unearthly large catholic cathedral with mountainous pillars and effigies of the catholic religious hierarchy carved in stone.
"Wha! I- how! The fuck?!" That surprisingly came from Koneko, I think that's the most emotional I've ever seen her if I'm honest, that's rather sad now that I think about it. Akeno was mumbling similar words except with far more curse words.
"I know teleporting to another dimension is jarring and all-" I began, eye slightly twitching from their reactions. "-but don't you think you guys are overreacting just a tad?" I finished, trying, and failing, to keep the sheer annoyance out of my voice.
But these people are acting like the world is ending for god's sake! Akeno and Rias were in the fetal position murmuring, "The fuck?!" over and over! Issie was trying and failing to make sense of what happened. Kiba had resigned himself to smashing his head into one of the pillars, also murmuring "The fuck?!" under his breath. Asia and Koneko had equally annoying acts of running around like turkeys on thanksgiving!
Luckily, my summons still had their heads on straight and looked on with me at the peerage's acts of buffoonery. One of the cursed knights actually began recording it with a camcorder. How it obtained that I haven't the slightest clue but sometime during these two moments I had also brought out my phone and began recording them also. This is pure gold and I ain't wasting it like Trump wastes his money.
*Thirty minutes later.*
"You guys done or do you need another half hour to make fools of yourselves?" I asked with a raised eyebrow and crossed arms.
They looked at the ground embarrassed by their reactions, though I can't exactly blame them, though thirty minutes of this crap was just tiresome.
"So, you can create dimensions?" Koneko asked. I nodded as did my council. "So you can do this at any time?" Another set of nods. "Neat."
One final set of nods and we were off. Scythe drawn and ready for leveling. The rest of my companions followed me and my council, setting into a combat stance of sorts. Except for Asia who had no clue why we were walking weirdly and with many weapons drawn. Luckily, she was in the back and far from danger.
As we rounded a corner we walked right into some guards. Crusader guards to be specific. A quick 'Observe' told me all I needed to know. Also it seems like either the update gave me their race or it leveled up somewhere back there.
Crusader grunt.
Race: human
Lv: 79
Alignment: Lawful evil
Bio: Deus Vult! Deus Vult! They won't stop until they conquer Jerusalem or the supernatural realm.
The 'grunts' were about 6'5 with gleaming metal armor with pieces of thatch and cloth sewed in around the joints for extra movement and comfort. They wielded broadswords and simple kite shields with a bloody red cross painted on them.
The Crusaders tried to defend themselves, but my guys struck first and they struck hard. The cursed knights acted as assault units and peppered the grunts with quick, but efficient, strikes. Even the damned remains got a few strikes under their guard after the initial strike. The crusaders growled animalistically as they swung their swords at my exposed units.
With trained discipline the guardians heaved their massive tower shields and managed to block the strikes just in time. Wraith, Cerberus and I shared a look and I vaulted over the shields. The grunts swing their swords towards my face, I manage to block their strike and hold my ground against the two grunts. Yet, I was being pushed back at a rapid rate. The tile cracked and exploded under my feet at their sheer strength. I was pushed to my guardian's shields and it was only because of them I wasn't pushed farther back.
I gave the guardians a look and they raised their shields and I moved out of my clash with the two. They stumbled under their own wait, right into the waiting jaws of Cerberus and into the claws of Wraith. And let's just say limbs were ripped/eaten and I nearly hurled from the sight.
"Well, that was a thing," Akeno commented with a very red face. Oh right, she's a sadist. Forgot about that. Asia looked pale from such a vicious display, before she shook it off. Even though she doesn't like it, seems like she knew this had to have been done.
"Let's keep moving. We need to beat the head honcho if we want to leave and, yes I know it sounds like a videogame, but that's just how my magic and techniques are." I explain, technically not lying.
Most encounters followed the same pattern though Rias's peerage, after getting over the initial shock, found their groove and helped demolish the small groups of two or three. I soon learned that I only got half the experience if they were the ones to get the last hit in, better than I originally thought so I was ok with it.
The rooms only got more ornate as we ventured further in with even more statues. Kiba was getting trigger happy and every now and then would not so subtly destroy a statue when in a battle. I sighed at the wasted effort as I decapitated another grunt, such hate; no wonder it nearly consumed him. Now as we made our way to what I believed to be the halfway point; after a bit of exploring for extra loot, but to no avail(So mad!). There was a large, and I mean large, battalion of grunts as well as several other types of enemies in our path.
"Umm, we may have a problem." I so intelligently thought as they charged. I used my 'Thorn Bind' skill to root some of them to the ground, but the crazy bastards just cut off the vines themselves and tanked the damage. And that's how we found ourselves running for our lives while blasting them with ranged magic from very far away.
"I didn't think this through!" I screamed as we fled for our lives. My council members, yeah, they got obliterated. Defenders got over swarmed by their sheer numbers as did the rest of the damned creatures. Cerberus charged through them and managed to eat a few of them...until they literally sliced out of the poor things stomach and beheaded the poor creature.
What the hell are these things!? They for sure ain't human! They put themselves back together after Wraith literally sliced them in three! Three! It doesn't help that we impaled them on rocks, snapped their necks and spines. Ripped out said spines and they just grew them back and kept coming at us!
Luckily, I still had Wraith closely behind, mainly because of its speed and it ain't dumb! Out of sheer curiosity on how the fuck they can all still be living I checked their level, and, well…
Crusader Army
Race: human(?) mob. Field boss
Lv: 180
Hp: ?
Alignment: Chaotic evil.
Bio: The slauters of every living being in their path. They do not care for titles nor stature, only battle and glory! By their zealot faith and sheer tenacity these creatures had exceeded humanity and became something in between demon and humanity. Giving them inhuman regenerative abilities and a shared life force. Meaning, run Forest! Run!
I ain't Gump! But still, how?! Why?! Screw it! I decided to use my elemental knowledge to my advantage and tried to weaken the ground under us. Not enough to fall under our weight but, with a little luck.
The army fell right as they all got on the weakened earth. I capitalized on this and used my water affinity to flood the hole with a thundering monsoon. While not as strong nor as copious as I wanted, it would suffice. I used my knowledge of both the earth and water to squeeze the life out've those bastards. They still have lungs and need air. But, I couldn't hold the army down by myself. Metallic hands bursted out of the water and their wet bodies grasped onto the opening of their tomb in an effort to escape their doom. I kept trying to push them down, yet they continued to resist. I fell to a knee beginning to become too exhausted to keep this up by myself, luckily I wasn't alone.
Akeno and Rias stood by me and used their own magic to push them back down into their holes. Asia came up from behind me and used her twilight healing on me. I was flabbergasted to see not my hit points go up, but my Mana instead. I stood back up and with their help keeping them down I focused on the earth, their tomb, and put my everything into crushing them into paste.
'C'mon! C'mon, you bastards!' I screamed mentally and pushed even more mana into my efforts. My efforts began to bore fruit as they began to gargle for breath and scream simultaneously from the pain of compression.
"One last push." I grunted out as I could almost hear the metal in their armor screech against the rock. "Almighty crush!" I shouted and that was the last push to completely smash the enemy army into tin cans.
"We did it! We did it!" Rias cheered. Issei and Asia whooped with joy, as did Akeno. Kiba and Koneko just looked relieved that the mobs were dealt with. Even Wraith looked more relaxed after that debacle. Me? I was trying not to collapse from exhaustion, but that didn't stop the big goofy smile on my face. I had won. I won, again, against something far stronger than me. And so I reap the rewards in the form of a few screens, none of them saying if I leveled up or not, but they did say some more imperative matters.
For conquering an army using a combination of teamwork, smarts, and luck. +5 to Wis, Luc and Int.
For using your affinities in a compatible and ingenious way. +40 to earth and water. +20 to chaos for the sheer audacity to try something new.
New skill!
Almighty crush(Active) Lvl: 1 (40%) Mp cost: 300 per person: A parody of a man's technique who walked down several paths of pain. Inflicts massive crushing damage underground. Only works when target is underground, or covered in earth. Has B+ scaling with Earth and D+ scaling with Water.
Field boss defeated. Would you like to return? Yes/no?
Useful, but I need to be sure I'm strong enough to smash Riser's. The question, though, is can I put them in any more danger?
Damnit!
I pushed the no option and dusted myself off. As I was about to rejoin my allies trumpets blared and rang across the halls. The slamming of swords in to shields also resonated the hall, except these sounds caused my allies to grab their heads in agony.
"Oh my lord! Are you ok?!" Stupid question I know, but I what was I supposed to do?!
"It hurts," Asia whimpered. Clutching her head and tearing up from the agony of her headache. The others were in similar states.
"Your allies have been disabled. Our holy trumpets and shields are filling these demons with the our lord's power." A gruff voice spoke behind me. I spun on my heels and was about to tear the shit face in two when I caught his Level. Observe told me the rest
Crusader Captain Apollodorus(Boss!)
Race: Human/(40% fallen)Angel hybrid
Lv: 190
Alignment: Chaotic good(?)
Hp: 100,000
Mp: 100
Bio: The captain to the crusaders. One of the first to enlist into the holy war and as such he was blessed with countless boons from the catholic church and entrusted with a holy sword; The protector of the seven virtues. He embodies the heavenly virtue Justice but his sense of justice is far more cruel than what should be allowed.
Mother fu- "I can and will have them killed. But, I wish to make an example of their leader. Fight me boy!" Apollodorus stated. I had the sense of mind to not tell him to shove it, but decided to look him over. He's a massive mountain of a man, standing at 8'11 feet tall with light plate mail armor. Colored white and gold with silver trimmings along the rims of the helmet and shoulders; he had a massive red cross in the middle of his chestplate. Basically a much bigger Warden class from for honor.
His holy blade was a rapier of about average length with the point of the sword being slightly larger than average, perhaps to have a better chance of hitting something important. It had a enchanting jade color palette from point to handle. The very blade seemed to exude a calming aura of grace, yet held a air of menace to it.
Like his men he also had a kite shield, except this one was made of higher grade material. It also looked far more stable as well as resilient to more attacks. That blood red cross was on his shield and it made the shield, a tool to protect, more of a hidden blade.
"I will fight you by myself. My men will make sure your little friends won't interfere with this battle. If you win they will live, I don't think I need to explain what happens if I win, boy. They won't be harmed until I win, of that I give you my word. Except your little creature."
The commander sliced off wraith's head with one fluid swing. My hands twitched and ,before I knew it I had begun to shoot black lighting from my fingertips and the man felt it through his tin suit. I want him to die. But the captain's lunge for my head woke me back up and I just managed to deflect the blow to my head with my scythe.
"Don't worry boy. You'll see your little friend soon, in Hell!" He promised and broke my guard and went for my head.
'Wraith form!' I activated my skill just in time. The blade went through my skull, but at that time I was barely a cloud of mist. He hopped backwards and kept a eye on me.
[Bgm start: 'The Last Stand']
Of course. But, I couldn't focus on that right now since my skill was about to run out. I grabbed onto my weapon and waited until my skill ran out and made it look like I was gonna fight him in a straight up fight. He smirked and went into a strange stance that mixed normal sword and shield techniques with a fencer's.
I felt myself materialize back into my solid form and focused on making the ground far weaker. The moment he stepped on it he fell straight through. I capitalized on this so evilly. Time to get some mileage on those skills! First I used Chains of the damned to bind him in place. Then, I summoned all the water my current affinity could allow me and flooded the hole. "Almighty crush!" I used my new skill to smash the fool. Yet-
He exploded out of the tomb and grabbed me by the head and slammed me into the rock. I hacked up blood as my health plummeted, I growled animalistically and kicked him where the sun don't shine.
He released me and I backpedaled away from this mad crusader. He was on me faster than I could blink and slammed the pommel of his weapon into my skull, cracking the armor underneath the hood. I tried to slice the bastad in two but he deflected the blade with ease and tried to riposte, but hours of Dark Souls trained me well and I used my high DEX to roll out of the way.
'I'm getting my ass handed to me!' I shouted mentally. He lunged once again but this time I was ready and deflected his blow away from me. He kept striking and I kept on the defensive. Whenever I tried to counter attack he would wave aside my blade and strike me when my guard was down. I didn't do it often, so I stayed on defensive, at least until I learned I could use my Thorn Bind on him. I kept secretly summoning Thorn bind hostage vines every couple of seconds to get in some extra damage. While it was paltry I did notice that it was working. Sorta working at least, he lost at least three thousand from the Almighty crush and the thorns were slowly building up in damage. But, hot damn was this power-leveling my mastery over this weapon! I was just deflecting, yet this thing was gaining levels like no business, just gotta keep this u-
I misjudged one his strikes, or he feinted, and it left me completely exposed. He capitalized on this and buried his holy sword into my chest, just a hair's breadth away from my heart. I was bleeding like a stuck pig, the pain, by god it hurts so much. I began to cough up pieces of torn skin and plenty of blood.
'God..Damn it!' I cried mentally but didn't give the bastard the satisfaction of seeing me in pain. I spat in his smug face and used this moment to slit his throat with my scythe.
Surprised I was alive he wasn't able to defend his most crucial vital point. My scythe split the flesh open with perfect ease. He dropped me, and his blade by proxy, to try and stop the blood flow. I ripped the holy blade out of my chest and instantly used my healing spells to stop the most painful of the wounds from getting worse.
I glanced at my health and saw it was flashing between 5 and 8. Must be from the blood loss. I just focusing on pumping as much mana as I could into my healing spell to fix myself up. The bleeding did eventually stop and gamer's body did fix the gaping hole in my chest. My health was now in the two hundreds and steadily rising. I couldn't say the same for the shit stain in front of me.
His health was plummeting faster than a stone in the ocean. His HP was barely in the high thousands and wouldn't even stick there. He was still mostly human; a fact he forgot up until now.
"What are you waiting for! Kill them now!" Apollodorus ordered his men. I looked back at them in horror, hoping against hope they wouldn't. Imagine my shock that they refused to do it.
"Sir, your fight is not yet over. Until then, I will not do anything. To do so without your victory is against our code and a stain upon our honor as the lord's mighty vassals." One of his men told him. He was flabbergasted, but that soon turned to rage as he glared at me with such ferocity I was surprised I didn't ignite into flames.
"You! I'll kill you; I'll kill you and crucify your corpse in front of the chapel for all to see! I will not be made a fool! Not by a child!" He screamed and with beastal fury he grabbed onto his shield and pulled a hidden sword from it. It was curved broadsword with saw bladesque teeth and a jackal engraved onto the pommel.
'Devil's fang'. That is its name and it was obvious what type of sword it is. He charged recklessly and slashed at me with renewed fury. Even with his dropping health the fool refused to die. Dodging became almost impossible as the one time I tried I nearly lost my bloody arm!
'Fuck! Fuck! Fuckity fuck fuck!' I violently cursed mentally as his strikes were beginning to wear down on me. It was only thanks to my healing spell that I didn't die from the few but powerful strikes he got through. My mana was starting to get ever closer to that dreaded zero. 'Gotta time this.' I calmed down as I fully analyzed my opponent's fighting style.
Rapid, animalistic with a high offense, but putrid defense. Strong strikes, but they always follow the same 123 pattern. Lowering health by a slit throat, speed being lowered over time. I waited, I lowered my guard for a single second and like I anticipated it went right to it. First hit I tanked with no show of blocking, 400 health gone. 450 left. Second hit I also tanked, it was making him sloppier in his execution. Another 430 gone. Twenty left. The final strike is where it all comes down too.
His blade curved upward in a attempt to slice my head open no doubt. 'Bahamut, you ready?' I asked my partner as I prepared myself.
{I don't have much a choice now do I?} Bahamut sighed but sounded like he was laughing at my asinine plan. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as the blade inched closer and closer by the second. My sacred gear materialized in one hand and I gripped my scythe in the other.
I moved my gauntleted hand in the way of the blade and pushed it aside(Parry!). He stumbled off balance and that was opening enough for me. With speeds that I didn't even know I could do, my scythe sliced his head off his shoulders. His face had a priceless expression of pure shock and what can only be known as terror ingrained into his face, yet I wasn't done quite yet. With a twirl of my weapon I used the pole of the lethal weapon to smash the skull into the pavement, causing a mortal kombat level of gore to explode in a very violent manner.
I ended up wiping the blood off my face with several napkins I had shoved into my inventory. His soul appeared out of his headless corpse and once again I was met with the choice to reap or save. As much as I want to split his soul in two, I just couldn't. My friends are watching and doing shit like cutting a soul in half sends the wrong type of message. So with a sigh I chose to save the soul.
Like last time my body went into autopilot as the soul turned into a younger version of Apollodorus and like last time he grabbed my hand and I led him to the same strange door. However unlike last time the small soul child seemed scared to go through the door. My body sighed and bent down and gave him a comforting hug while gesturing to the door, while still hesitant he seemed far braver than before, as he was about to go through the door he remembered something and ran back to me and gave me a hug, which my body returned.
"Thank you." He whispered and finally went through the door. When I could control my body again I noticed my pocket felt heavier than usual. I reached in and grabbed a small crest with a blood red cross on it. 'Observe'
Crest of the crusades. Chest plate Accessory.
A crest given to those brave souls who fought for king and country during the dark ages. This specific crest is given to those the king and church hold among the highest regards, it is the dark ages equivalent to the medal of honor. Effects. +90 light when equipped and makes all affiliated to the church far more friendly to you. Even the fallen will respect you more when equipped.
'Huh. Neat. I'll just pocket it for now.' I plopped the crest into the inventory for later uses. I noticed that I hadn't gotten any pop ups yet. Please don't tell me there's more to this hellish dungeon. I turned to see my friends being released by the crusaders. The one that spoke against their very dead leader approached me and bent a knee to me.
"You have beaten our commander in a honourable duel, I humbly ask if we may serve you?" The crusader asked confidently. I raised an eyebrow and before I could give them an answer time stopped and a new screen came into existence.
Sometimes in dungeons you may be able to recruit followers for your castle and high council. There is always benefits to this, but they won't be known until much later. Grow your army, you fool!
Time resumed, but now the screen was replaced with a small accept or deny button. I shrugged and pressed the accept button. My voice and body went rigid and robotic as I stared down at my new servants and began.
"You now serve me. My will is to be carried out without questions. Am I understood?" The men all nodded in unison. "And so the contract is forged. Until time ends and even beyond."
The men all disappeared in a gust of wind and ash, exactly like what happens in dark souls 3 where you bring NPCs back to the shrine. Now my vision was peppered with screens, one of them asking if I want to leave, which I instantly pressed yes and we were back at the very destroyed club.
"Well. That was fun, we should do it again sometime." I remarked bluntly and was starting to reheal myself so I don't end up dying by falling on my face or something silly. Asia seemed to snap out of the shock faster than the others and went over to heal me and, by god,was she far better than me. All my health refilled in a minute. Hot damn, Twilight Healing broke, please nerf.
Nah!
Well fuck you too, Ragnorak. I noticed Asia was still healing me even though I was fully healed.
"Um Asia. I'm good, you don't need to heal me anymore." I told her, she looked down at me and noticed I was fully healed and stopped, her hands shaking for whatever reason. "You ok Asia?" I asked, I was fine, wasn't I? HP says I'm good and I don't feel sore so bonus.
She looked down and scrunched her hands into fists and her entire body was shaking. I was about ask when I heard her murmur something. "Um. Can you say that again?" I asked.
"You almost died." Asia repeated louder this time, and she started beating her fists against my chestplate. I raised an eyebrow, but let her get it out of her system before I pulled her into a small hug. She accepted it and began tearing up, making me feel like shit for her ending up like this. "I was so worried, you were so hurt and I couldn't help. Were those really God's crusaders of justice? Why were they so brutal? It doesn't make sense."
Now I feel like I kicked a puppy, damn my weakness for cute things. "They fell from grace and went mad. He couldn't find them, otherwise, such a thing wouldn't have happened." I comforted her, I don't know if it was the truth or not, but it did work on calming her, and that was enough for me.
Kiba however scoffed at my explanation and decided to add his own unwanted cents. "Hardly. That's just how they all are, all of them. Monsters, barely human and using their 'faith' as an excuse to do whatever the hell they want. Hell, I bet their 'God' was in on it." He spat that last sentence out like bad gum.
Asia looked even more sad then before and that made me pissed, no correction, it made me mad. Issei, who had snapped out of it earlier, looked as mad as I felt. "Dude! The hell's your deal?" Issei demanded of the blonde swordsman and the glare that hid under my mask also demanded an explanation, although I know the answer already, still doesn't give him the right to say that.
"Why? Are you kidding me?! The church is our number one enemy. Always has been, no truce is gonna change that. So why are you defending our mortal enemy-" He was probably gonna say more, but I had enough.
"Death's glare." I hissed under my breath and whatever resolve Kiba had crumbled under my gaze. I stood up from the destroyed couch and towered over Kiba while bending down to glare him straight in the eye. "Enough of your squeaking, rat. You have a right to be angry, but to lump all those in the church to what happened to you is pathetic and asinine. This will consume you if you allow it, so grow a pair of Fucking balls and deal with your problem instead of pushing it down on others." I disabled the glare and without a second thought I walked off before I did something that I'd regret.
'That son of a bitch. If he wasn't a part of Rias's peerage I swear I would feed him to Cerberus and Wraith!' I ranted mentally. My anger caused my body to heat up with the fire element and left a trail of melted stone behind me. I managed to correct this, but only so I could sit down and process with I got from the dungeon. Now, to check on the screens I ignored up till now….Good lordy this'll take a while.
For surviving an encounter by the skin of your teeth using quick thinking, reflexes and luck. +5 to all stats.
Following skills have leveled up. Thorn bind hostage x5. Mana channeling x9. Almighty Crush leveled up once. Grand Scythe mastery x15. High Council x3. Healing hands x9. And Observe x8.
New dungeon unlocked 'Kingdom of Darkness'.
Level up x130!
Quest objective A: Complete.
Oh boy. I can't wait to use all of my new power on Riser tomorrow. This will be a lot of fun. But, before I do, let's see how my new stats look.
Name:Spencer A Hott
Alias: Mores M Operandi
Alignment: Chaotic good
Title: The gamer/Merciful death.
Level: 198
HP: 1325. Regen: 105.0 Hp per minute
MP: 3850. Regen: 2150 Mp per minute.
Vit:61(-8)
Str:70
Dex:141 (+4)
Int:139 (+15)
Wis:200 (+15)
Luc:100 (+5)
Stat points: 550.
Money: 500000 yen
Skill points: 138
Affinities:
Chaos:50(+20)
Fire: 40(+20)
Lighting: 90(+20)
Earth: 55(+20)
Water: 70(+20)
Wind: 35(+20)
Dark: 50(+20)
Light: 95(+20)
That will work, for now. "What? No milestone skills?" I asked rhetorically, strangely there was no rebuttal. Weird. So, I relaxed for once and decided to stay here and just watch the sunset for a bit.
It wasn't for maybe half an hour later I heard someone walk by and sit next to me, when I glanced over I saw it was Koneko. "I'm not apologizing." I said after I noticed her.
"Good." Koneko replied, that caused me to sit up fully and give her a suspicious look.
"He crossed the line. He deserved what he got." She told me in a deadpan, but was that a hint of a smile before it submerged into the mask?
"You hold nothing back, do you Koneko?" I asked chuckling slightly. She nodded in silence but I was sure I heard her chuckle, but she passed it off as a cough.
We stayed in silence for another half hour before. I asked why she was here. She shrugged. "This is where I always go to when I need to relax." She answered me. I just now noticed we were under the cherry blossom tree where I tried to level her arcana. I chuckled quietly, but she picked up on it.
"What's so funny?" She asked me as I was trying not to bust a gut at what was happening.
"It's nothing just, whenever we have a normal-ish conversation we're under this tree. I'd say it has a spell on it." I joked.
She looked at the tree and back at me with a blank stare. "That's dumb. Your dumb." She finally said. At that I just laughed.
"Yes, and your point? We live in a world of magic and dragons. A fantasy nerd's wet dream, yet a spell on a cherry blossom tree is stupid?" At that I got an honest-to-goodness smile out of her. It took a moment for her to realize what she was doing and she hastily schooled it to a deadpan, but it was too late and I had seen it clearly.
"I knew it! You can smile." I teased the little girl. She gave me a glare, but my own smile only grew.
"Of course I can." Koneko tried to put up a defense, but my experience at teasing my sister and younger brother tore down the defenses.
"Really now? Then why try so hard to hide it?" I asked, with the teasing grace of only a older sibling can give.
"Because till now I didn't know what to think about you." She said with blunt honesty. That actually caused to drop the smile and take this seriously. "When you first showed up, you were an enemy. You knew my real name, you knew about Gaspie. When the magic trap they set up activated. It wasn't an accident. I set it off." She stopped to take a breath, I didn't show any signs of judgement, simply a statue to talk too. But, I did raise an eyebrow and since I had taken my mask off she saw it.
"But when you used your sacred gear to disperse the attack, and when Kiba attacked you and you absorbed his swords and copied his gear; I was worried you would kill us then and there. Yet you didn't, instead you offered to help with Riser and you became so friendly. I didn't know how to deal with such a change so I kept or talking to a minimum, even when you tried to befriend me. I shut you out." I was so confused by this confession. What is it supposed to mean?
"So what changed? If you distrusted me so much what changed your mind?" I asked the nekomata. She seemed to think on and as her hands fidgeted, I guessed this couldn't be easy.
"I guess I did." She finally said. I blinked lamely and gave her a questioning look.
"As in I judged you too harshly. I saw how you fight, you only kill if you need too; like us and unlike some of us you don't enjoy it, you don't even like you have to do it." At that my eyes widened, was I so obvious? But then, I remembered that nekomata specialize in sensing emotions at such a young age that it becomes instinctual. Guess she picked up on that, wouldn't be too hard.
"And what you did for that crusader a few minutes ago. I'm not sure what you did exactly but I know one thing for certain, you didn't have to show mercy. Yet you did and you sent him off to the afterlife. So what I'm trying to say is that I judged you to harshely and I'm sorry for not giving you a chance." Koneko finished with a small huff. For a long minute I didn't move, blink, or even breath. I just stared at the young girl and she did the same for me.
After what felt like to long I sighed before crossing my arms and putting them behind my head. "Don't worry about it. If I was you I would've done the exact same thing." I told her and she relaxed, seems like she was tensed up. Probably expecting me to lash out, well I'm not that dumb nor am I so arrogant to not see her side of the story. Besides, past is past, best not to dwell on it.
A crackle of glass and the strength arcana grew to five. A chuckle escaped me as I read the newest effect of the arcana.
Strength Arcana.
Rank: 5/10
Effects: Sweet tooth; Lazy cat nap
Sweet tooth: Because you two share a common trait Koneko may invite you for eating sweets by the cherry blossom tree. Has a chance of increasing WIS and LUC, but takes up entire lunch period.
Lazy cat nap: Due to the common respect and trust of one and another the two of you may take a nap during either the day or evening. 25% chance of Koneko crawling into your lap and purring like a kitten, if this happens, raise VIT by three from the sheer cuteness of such an act.
"What's so funny?" Koneko asked me, I stifled my chuckling and I said "I just remembered a funny joke was all."
After a few more moments of rest I stood back up and stretched myself out, after hearing several cracks I began my walk back home. Koneko followed me for a bit before wandering back to her master. I enjoyed the silence such a lonesome night brought me. I breathed in the night air and enjoy the silence.
Well, enjoyed being the prime word because when I turned the corner I saw Murayama looking ragged and out of breath. A side quest notification popped up and I simply rolled my eyes and accepted it without even looking at it, it was probably just to escort her home or something like that.
"Yo, you look lost." I pointed out as she turned so fast I was worried she would break something, but her face was fearful before she realized it was me and she instantly relaxed
"Oh thank god its you. My car broke down and Katase is sick and couldn't pick me up and I missed the train home. I've had a rough day." She finished with a huff of air. I sighed, what did I agree too?
'I can't just leave her here, I'm many things, but a bastard I'm not.' I ground my teeth as a headache began to brew. I pinched the bridge of my nose to get rid of it and it had minimal results.
{Well you do live close by~} Bahamut began and I knew where he was going with this.
'And here I thought I wouldn't bring a girl home until I was in my twenties. Oh well.' I reasoned with myself and Bahamut who was most definitely on board for this idea. "My home isn't to far from here, if you want you could stay over for the night." I suggested casually.
She seemed inherently against such an idea. Her bio did say she wasn't exactly trusting of men, but given the other lack of options she didn't have much a choice. Though she wanted to go with the more dangerous choice of not coming over at all. "It's your choice if you want to come with me or not. Heck, if you want I can pay for a hotel or something." I offered a way out, to show I had no intention of doing anything more than help her out.
She looked shocked that I offered such a thing and as I was about to leave she walked up beside me. "I always did want to see where you lived." Murayama said, blushing ever so lightly. I pretended not to notice and led her to my home, and every so often I may have caused some misfortune to the perverted dogs that leered at her. Nothing to noticeable, or deadly just them falling over into some mud and having a small rock smash their nads to dust. Nothing that could be proven that I did it.
Thankfully, we made it to my home without to much fanfare and before the moon fully rose. Bonus. I idly noticed she was staring in awe at the sheer size of my home and I noticed a starry eyed glint of wonder in her eyes. I chuckled quietly and opened the garage and walked in that way.
Dead silence and the living room was cloaked in the night and remained practically untouched, a tomb of a former life long gone. This time she didn't even try to hide her wonder at my home, I wonder why. Is it such a big deal? Shrugging mentally I flipped on the lights and illuminated the living room and kitchen.
"Make yourself at home. Netflix can be used by pressing the red button on the remote, if you want to play games I have literally thousands of them." I informed her and she went batty when I mentioned the sheer amount of games I had. I'm probably exaggerating on that part, probably.
"This place is a mansion. How do you afford this?" She asked in wonder. I shrugged.
"Family home, its been paid off fully and I moved back after my treatments." That explanation seemed to sate her curiosity. I wandered into the kitchen and heated up some leftovers from last night. After my food was done I grabbed it and sat on the couch and tried not to chuckle as Murayama tried, and failed, to understand how to change the source and turn the cable on.
After another few minutes and a second plate of picadio she finally surrendered the remote to me. I grabbed the cable remote and the tv remote and with hours of experience put on both the source and the cable at roughly the same time. Nicktoons was on and I sat back and enjoyed some mindless cartoons along with Murayama who hadn't any idea what these western cartoons were.
After a glorious four hours of pure cartoons I noticed a light snoring and a weight on my shoulder. A quick turn to find Murayama using my shoulder as a pillow, why she would want to sleep on a armored limb I have no clue. I checked the time and realized it was a quarter till midnight.
With a sigh, I gently pulled away and scooped up the younger girl in my arms and proceeded to carry her up the stairs like a parent carries their child. I laid her down in my older sister's bed and began to tuck her in, which didn't take long at all. I was about to leave when I notice her fidgeting and squirming around, it seems she's having a nightmare. Luckily, I knew of something always helps with nightmares.
I quickly walked to my younger brother's room and expertly moved around the sheer amount of trash in his room! Dear lord, I told him to clean this weeks ago and as per normal he didn't listen! Luckily, even in the piles of clothes and other crap I saw a single brown teddy bear.
"Mind if I borrow your teddy boyo?" I asked the empty room and after a moment I nodded and brought the teddy to the sweating teenager in my sister's bed. With deliberate sneakiness I slipped the artifact of my family in her arms and she instantly calmed down. She shifted the bear in her grip and relaxed into a more peaceful slumber. 'Works every time. I wonder….Observe.'
Teddy bear.
Name Teddy.
Title: guardian to the troubled nights
Bio: This small bundle of fluff and cloth had been created and lovingly cared for, for several years and as such it now helps those with a troubled mind in the sleeping world. As is its duty as a bear.
I felt my eyes mist up at the description before wiping my eyes and retiring to my room for the night. I grabbed my own gray teddy bear and wondered what type of bio he would have. I Observed and this time I didn't wipe away the tears.
Teddy bear.
Name: Teddy hott.
Title: Eternal comrade.
Bio: Given to a young child by his sister this bear has been through a lot in its seventeen years of life. Chewed, ripped up and spat out by several fanged beasts, yet his owner didn't leave and helped him come back from certain extinction. Even as its battered and slightly torn it still sits by for its own to tell him his secrets. He has never told a single other person these secrets and the bear responded in kind. It will forever stand by its owner until the end of time and beyond.
I hugged my bear and slowly drifted to sleep, the side quest dinging complete and my dreams of a white castle began anew.
Pov flip, Murayama, Third person
Blinking in discomfort at the morning light that drifted through the blinds on her face, she slowly stirred to consciousness. She yawned at the sleep and idly noted it was some of the best she's ever had. A flash of realization came to her in that instant as she recalled the events of last night, she had followed a boy to his house, watched several hours of cartoons with him and had some of the leftovers in his fridge. But the most noticeable to her paranoid mind was she fell asleep here. In a man's home.
'Did he do something to me?' That was her first thought and she took off the covers to see she was in the exact same clothes as she was in last night and that she knocked over a brown teddy bear. For some ungodly reason she felt bad and put it back on the bed, she smelt something coming from downstairs, a metal bat in her hands that she found in the room she slept in. It was awkward in her grip but she'll manage.
She crept down the creaking stairs with pained slowness and peeked out. There was her host making pancakes and off to the left was the pervert himself and a young blonde girl at his side. 'Did that pervert get a girlfriend? No way, I sooner believe hell froze over. Must be a adopted sister.' Her mind reasoned as the scent of the pancakes hit her full force. She was drooling, chocolate chip and was that pumpkin?!
"Finally!" The pervert yelled which caused her to backup a few stairs. "I haven't had your mom's famous chocolate pumpkin pancakes in years. They smell just like they used too dude!" She sighed in relief, he didn't notice her but that does raise the question. How long did these two know each other? Fairly long if he was allowed in Mores's home without question.
"Well, you won't be disappointed." Mores told the pervert as he plopped the absolutely massive pancake that covered the whole plate along with a entire bottle of maple syrup. The blonde girl also got the same and when she bit into it her eyes widened to the size of saucers and she wolfed it down with the occasional dollop of syrup.
"Wanna join or do you wanna stay by the stairs with my little league bat Murayama?" Mores said with a casual air, how he knew where she was she hadn't the foggiest clue. His back was turned to her for crying out loud! Exposed and with all eyes (save the chef's) on her she walked in the kitchen. Carrying the bat on her shoulder in a threatening manner in case the pervert got any funny ideas, but it seemed he was far more occupied in his pancake than her, which was strange since he never gave up a chance to oogle her.
"Sleep well?" Mores asked while flipping another pancake, the extremely pale skin that his face was a shocker this early in the morning. She saw flashes of his skin during practice, but she thought it was just the light making his skin so pale. She couldn't have been more wrong. Yet those red eyes of his never strayed from either her eyes or the pancakes.
Murayama nodded, last night was one of the best nights she's ever had. She hadn't felt this well rested in years. "Well that's good, hope your not allergic to pancakes, pumpkins or chocolate chips, cause that's breakfast." He said while flipping over the pancake, making sure it was nice and golden. She was about to refuse nicely, but a overly excited pervert leapt over and grabbed her by the shoulders.
"You've gotta eat his pancakes. They're incredible!"
She glared at the pervert touching her and sung the bat to smack him off her, but a armored hand caught the bat before it made contact and and its twin uppercutted the pervert over the table and back into his seat. The perv shook off the dizziness and continued eating like he wasn't sent flying, while Murayama stared in shock at Mores's capabilities. 'Holy shit. He was sent flying, not to mention he caught the bat in mid swing. How much is he holding back during training?!' That was her thought process until the beautiful scent of pancake and warm syrup hit her full force.
When did he even have the time to- and he was back making another pancake, this one for himself most likely. Tentatively she cut into it with the plastic utensils and placed a piece into her mouth. Flavor unlike anything before blasted into existence and she couldn't help but moan in delight. She added some syrup to it and it made it even better, soon enough she was wolfing the tasteful pancake down with reckless abandon as was the other two who partook in this joyful food.
Mores joined the table with his own and a giant mound of them, when he made them she had no clue but she didn't care. "These are if your still hungry, so dig in." Mores finally said and began to eat his own food. Maybe he wasn't so bad afterall?
Pov restored!
Now, this is perfect. I smiled widely in pride as they devoured the food I made, seemed like I followed the recipe perfectly. As I ate such a familiar food I can't help but remember the occasions when they were made. Early fall or late winter were the popular time these bad boys were made. Waking up instantly when the smell reached me was one of the greatest times of my life. 'I wonder if she was gonna make these after I came home that day?' I thought soberly and finished off my third pancake. The grief hit, but I bite it back and shoved it down into a dark place with the rest of my emotions that appear when I think about my past life.
'Heh. Not exactly a happy camper am I?' I thought to myself I didn't expect Bahamut to answer but he did.
{Well you do have a good reason but remember what's at stake today.} Bahamut comforted/reminded me. I threw away my plate and plastic utensils and thought back.
'Don't worry. I haven't forgotten my friend. I have a few ideas how to win our game, but some of it rides on the fact that I'm not a devil.' My partner hummed in agreement with the latter parts of my plan.
{That is a rather good plan of yours. But no plan survives contact with the enemy} Bahamut warned me as I slipped on my mask. I chuckled at the dragon.
'And that is why I have at least a dozen contingencies just in case.' I thought maliciously, a equally evil grin morphed into being and I began to chuckle sadistically. That chuckle soon turned into malicious laughter that resounded across the walls of my room, thank god I soundproof my room. Time to clip a Phenix's wings.
End note: ohh. What will happen next I wonder. Also I'm open to any and all ideas for skills, dungeons, weapons and anything else you can think of. comment if you have a skill or something you want my character to use and I may add it into my story. Until next time. One final thing, go check out A Game Worth Dying for if haven't already. That's my Beta tester's gamer story, it reads more like a OP self insert rather than a gamer story but hey. If you like my stuff you should take a look at his