Prologue Arc
Meeting the Miko and the Samurai
"I think I've found my new stress reliever," I sighed content as I walked downstairs for breakfast. Sure I didn't need to eat, but that didn't mean I didn't like it either.
My little "adventure" through the Undead Zone had been good all things considered, even if it took the entire night which made me thankful for my not needing to sleep. I had ended up progressing almost halfway toward my objective while pretty much shredding my way through the Zone. During said shredding, I had come across some new enemies in the form of Three Legged Zombies (exactly how it sounds), Armored Zombies (again, just like it sounds), Hard Armors (which were literally headless suits of armor), and Zombie Warriors (which was really inaccurate considering they were skeleton warriors with swords and shields). All of this had led to me getting some new items like: Reinforced Bones, Skull Servant Skulls, Scrap Metal, some sword and shields from the Zombie Warriors, and a lot more Magic Saturated Cloth.
Besides dozens of just about every drop I could currently get, I also got a decent amount of Yen, levels in all my skills, at least 5 more levels in Horus (though no new skills unfortunately), enough Exp to get me to Lv10, and a good number of stat points thanks to either using my STR in a situation that didn't require it or a number of different scenarios. At the end my overall stats were looking something like this:
[Name: Warren Fall]
[Race: Human[Gender: Male] [Age: 16]
[Titles] [The Gamer] [Novice Zombie Slayer] [XXX]
[Sacred Gear: Trinity Tuner {Lv: 3} {Exp 6.8%}]
[Level: 10] [Next Level: 32.7%]
[HP: 325/ 550] [HPR: 6.5 a Minute]
[MP: 720/ 720] [MPR: 8.0 a Minute]
[SP: 325/ 325] [SPR: 6.5 a Minute]
[STR: 14]
[AGI: 15]
[VIT: 13]
[END: 13]
[INT: 16]
[WIS: 16]
[LUCK: 8]
[Unused Stat Points: 73]
Title:
[The Gamer: Grants Passive Skills: {Gamer Body} and {Gamer Mind}
[Novice Zombie Slayer: 10% DMG to all Undead Enemies
Passive Boosts:
({Magic Core} 320 MP)
Oh and these are just my basic stats. No, the real game changer last night was my boosted stats gained from equipping Horus with Trinity Tuner.
Let it be known that Phantasms are OP as fuck.
Horus alone was granting me a higher level of power than I had any right to have at my current level, and that's not even getting into the utter thrill having his presence in my mind brought as I tore through the undead. His thirst for all things battle and carnage had been a powerful adrenaline rush during fighting, and it had helped me get out some rather nasty spots quite a number of times. Thankfully even with his influence I didn't quite lose my sense of mind enough to put myself in severe danger, but I was now truly starting to understand the power Phantasms could give me in battle.
Especially once I used the two Unused Skill Points I gained by getting Horus to Lv10 in order to level up {Black Fire Manipulation} to Lv3. This achievement shooting the base DARK and FIRE damage up to 75 damage without stats included and dropping the initial 25 MP cost a second to a decent 15 MP a second. It also gave me much more overall control of the {Black Fire} I used and instead of simply using it to shoot fireballs or doing a decent interpretation of a flamethrower like most would assume for a fire based skill; it allowed me to actually coat both my different skills and even weapons in the powerful flames. (When I initially used it last night it turns out I was really just me spamming the fire down through my hand, and it just so happened to be in the direction that the blade was pointing.)
Let it be said that spearing the undead with {Black Fire} coated {Shadow Spikes} was a very cathartic experience.
That all aside, I should probably go about actually cooking something in order to start my day. Of course actually cooking a somewhat complex meal, aka homemade pancakes and bacon, led to me getting a new skill.
[A new skill has been discovered thanks to a specific action!]
Cooking, Passive/Active {Lv: 90} {Exp: 1.6%}:
What's on the menu today Shifu-san?
Grants 90% proficiency when cooking which helps get the best out of each meal.
[You were an amazing chef in your last life, so we figured there would be no harm to have it transition over.]
Thank you, thank you, thank you [Gamer System]! I take back every bad thought I've ever had about you because if I actually had to start over with my cooking skills; I might have honestly cut off my own hands.
My cooking skills are that important to me.
With my morning routine pretty much done, I figured I should go about seeing what new gear I could make with the new items I had attained.
Looking in my Workshop led to me discovering a few new items I could make, though quite a few of them required a higher {Crafting} level…
Guess it's time to grind.
About thirty minutes later, I had more Basic Mage Hoods and Basic Warrior Gloves than I had any need for as well as some Bone Meal which was a basic Crafting Material that I got from grinding up some Reinforced Bones. Thankfully I could also rend down the hoods and gloves into their original materials which also leveled up {Crafting}. This eventually brought {Crafting} to Lv7 which was the minimum for what I needed in order to get some new, semi-decent gear.
In the end I decided to make a Skelly Head Hood and a pair of Knuckle Bone Gloves.
Skelly Head Hood {Common} {Item: Hat}:
A hood crafted with protection in mind. By using the bones of the undead, you've made yourself a piece of clothing with the defense of a hard hat.
Grants 15 Physical DEF and 2 END
Knuckle Bone Gloves {Common} {Item: Gloves}:
A pair of gloves meant for combat, these gloves have been empowered with a force to match that of an unrelenting, undead horde.
Grants 10 Physical DMG and 3 STR
All together the two items cost me a bit of Yen as well as a good chunk of my current resources, but in the end it was well worth it.
Especially once I equipped the new items and found that I could toggle the equipment into "natural mode" to have it simply add designs to my clothing or simply disappear altogether. My new sleeveless green hoodie (Yeah pretty much all my clothes got trashed after last night.) now sported a cartoonish like skull along the hood portion, and my gloves were now designed to resemble boney hands with a metal plate across the backs of each.
"Not that bad really," I muttered looking at the new additions in a full length mirror that I was pretty sure hadn't been in the garage a minute ago. Not even gonna question that. "Not exactly my usual style, but what can ya do?"
That done with, after taking time to think about what to do today, I came to realize that it'd probably be a good idea to take a look around Kuoh Town. I didn't necessarily know the town all that well after all, and if yesterday's food run was any indication, I needed to figure out the lay of the land.
[Good idea! In order to help with that here's something to help you along!]
[The item –Kuoh Map- has been added to the [World Map] Tab!]
"Yeah that'll help," I said with a chuckle as I went about looking for the new map. Just like when I unlocked the Undead Zone Map a mini-map appeared in my lower vision. I also discovered that I could simply pull up a map in the [World Map] Tab, or I could even pull it up on my phone as an app.
Yeah that had also been a bit of a surprise as apparently my new phone (conveniently set up on my bedside table) was linked up with my Gamer powers, and I could even get notifications on it as a means to hide my powers at times if the need arose.
Figuring there wasn't really anything else I would need; I exited the house and began walking in the opposite direction of the mall. Doing so led me to discovering more suburban areas as well as the occasional grocery store, café, book store, and coffee shop. (They had Starbucks. Life was good.) It was also the area that housed the park and fountain where Issei was first killed.
From there I ventured in the direction of Kuoh Academy in order to not only learn the route, but also see the school that would be the center of so many important events to come. Of course I couldn't actually go about exploring the grounds (yet), so I only got a quick look at it through the front gates before I began walking toward the East side of town. The East side seems to hold more traditional styled estates and houses with the occasional walled property.
While exploring the area, I actually came across a rather long stone staircase that led into a wooded area on a rather large hill. After reading the sign set up at the bottom of said stairs, I learned that the top of the hill housed a shrine. Having never visited a traditional Japanese shrine before I figured, "Why not?", and started ascending the stairs. I couldn't help but feel I was forgetting something; however, the closer I got to the top. The feeling only grew stronger as even Horus began to slowly shift in the back of my mind, clearly sensing something amiss as well.
'That reminds me, note to self: come up with a sensing skill,' I thought idly as I really only had Horus around to help me in that regard and my mini-map which really wasn't all that helpful except for learning if someone was there or not.
Reaching the top, I found myself looking at what I only could imagine was a traditional Japanese shrine. It was a fairly large place housing a number of buildings here and there. It even had a large Torii gate setup at the top of the staircase-
'Okay that didn't feel normal,' I thought as my entire form suddenly tensed as an outside force seemed to "scan" my entire being. The "scanning" feeling made what little I could feel of my own magic twitch and snap inside. Horus made his own feelings of the force quite clear as he began actually squawking in the back of my mind and his presence rose to harshly push against the link between us.
The feeling continued to persist for a few more minutes before whatever it was seemed satisfied with me and disappeared. The fact that Horus also seemed to deem whatever it was no longer an issue, I relaxed and took another cautious look around the grounds before hesitantly making my way along the path.
A flash of red and white to the side had me stopping; however, and I realized why exactly I was feeling like I was forgetting something.
It also didn't stop me from voicing aloud the first thought I had.
"Wow is your smile fake."
That seemed to catch Akeno Himejima (also known as the Priestess of Thunder, the Queen of Rias Gremory's Peerage, someone who could most definitely kick my ass with barely a thought, and who was dressed currently in her miko attire) off guard and forced her smile to become even more strained and fake than before.
[Name: Akeno Himejima]
[Race: Reincarnated Devil (Queen)/Fallen Angel Hybrid[Gender: Female] [Age: 17]
[Titles] [SM Priestess of Thunder] [Devil Queen]
[Bloodline Ability: Holy Lightning (Self-Locked)]
[Level: 43]
[HP: 1,875/ 1,875] [HPR: 25.5]
[MP: 4,000 / 4,000] [MPR: 31.5]
[SP: 1,500/ 1,500] [SPR: 20.5]
[STR: 30] [AGI: 35] [VIT: 55] [END: 40] [INT: 80] [WIS: 45] [LUCK: 25]
'For fucks sake I feel like a kitten standing beside a twenty foot lion,' I thought with a grimace. 'And for Gabriel's sake Horus we are not fighting the walking, talking thunderstorm,' I snarled into my mind to make Horus shut the fuck up with his damn cries of glee and pulses of battle-lust. Oh, the joys of having an Evil Dragon living in the back of my head/soul.
"Ara ara, that was a bit rude," Akeno chided me that fake as fuck smile (that I vaguely realized was probably her "Onee-sama" smile) still plastered across her face.
'When you stop wearing such a fake smile then perhaps I'll greet you with the same level of courtesy!' Was what I wanted to snap at her because such a fake thing across such a pretty (read effing gorgeous because damn the anime did not do her justice) face was just insulting to both herself and I.
So instead I adopted the most apologetic smile I could and said, "Sorry about that, I'm just not a fan of fake smiles is all." I openly grimaced moments later as I realized that wasn't any better than what I originally wanted to say.
Akeno at least seemed to realize that I didn't mean it as an offense to her personally and a slightly more pleasant (and real) smile graced her face for a moment before it changed to a questioning look.
"Apologies received. Though may I ask what you're doing in my shrine?" She asked with a textbook perfect head tilt.
"Ah sorry if I was intruding," I said apologetically, "I'm new to town and Japan in general. When I found out there was a shrine in town, I thought I'd take a look around as I've never been to one before."
Akeno proceeded to stare at me for a moment before the slight tension that had been in her shoulders seemed to leave her slightly as (I could only assume) she determined my words to be true, and her questioning look soon turned into a far more pleasant one.
"Ara ara, if that's the case then please look around all you like. All I ask is that you don't go into the main shrine area. I was in the process of cleaning it when you arrived," she said while drawing my attention to the broom I hadn't even realized was in her hand until that moment.
"Really? Thank you!" I said happily while internally I was chiding myself over not realizing she had a potential weapon in her hands. I mean sure she could just shoot me with a bolt of lightning, but I'd be damned if I underestimated a woman with a broom in her hands. I mean it's like the "Frying Pan of Doom" trope! A woman can make any household item into a weapon if necessary.
"I will leave you to your observing then," she said with a wave as she walked back to the main shrine.
It was only when she was finally inside and the door closed that I took a breath and released the tension that had been boiling up in my gut. Horus's presence also settled in his little niche for the time being and finally allowed me to not have to fight off his battle-lust in order to have a civil conversation.
'I swear, you're gonna get me in trouble one of these days you damn dragon,' I thought irritably as I started exploring the shrine grounds. The huff I got in turn was so equal parts annoyed and scoffing that I just wanted to sag in tiredness over the fact that I had to get such a bloodthirsty Phantasm first.
Not like I'd trade him of course as our bond, even if it wasn't all that strong, was still a bond nonetheless. A bond I didn't plan to abandon anytime soon.
(I pointedly ignored the spike of irritation mixed with embarrassment from said dragon as I did not want to even contemplate the idea of having a tsunade literally living in my soul.)
Still, exploring the grounds was quite the little adventure as the entirety of the shrine grounds extended well into the forest around it. Paths and forest trails led me past different memorial sights all along the back of the hill, and most, if not all of them, had brief text explaining the importance of each with {Observation} adding just a bit more information than was originally given. It reminded me so much of a historical tour that I honestly had to wonder if Akeno had ever considered selling recordings for visitors to listen too as they explored the grounds as a sort of a guided tour. The grounds were plenty big enough for it.
About a half hour of walking later, I found myself at the end of the trails present, and I must admit to finding the final memorial to be quite the eye opener.
A clearing of rich green grass spread along the clearing which housed the occasional rusted sword, rotting, wooden, flag poles still streaming their personalized flags, and a large, cylinder shaped stone easily 20 feet tall stood proud and imposing in the center of the clearing. All in all the clearing was the very definition of "ancient battlefield".
"Wow," I whispered in awe as I walked a naturally made path toward the stone; the thrum of past battles that practically vibrated in the air around me honestly scaring me to raise my voice past a certain volume.
Reaching the stone I was met with a small plaque that read:
Here lies the final battleground of Misaki, the Legendary Swordsman. A man who won battle after battle until one hundred men had fallen to his blade without a single defeat. It is said that swordsmen wishing to also claim such a feat come to this battleground, wishing to draw strength from a man who has claimed such a right before them.
"One hundred battles? That's quite the accomplishment," I couldn't help but muse as I allowed my hand to guide over the stone monument at the center of this final battleground…
Up until a pulse of energy springing from the stone under my hand caused me to jump back with a yelp as something seemed to try and draw my mana towards it.
Glancing between the stone and my hand in confusion, I slowly went about placing my hand back on the stone. The draw from whatever was under the stone returned quickly, and began to, not necessarily pull in my mana, but rather it seemed to try and anchor itself to me.
"Now, what are you?" I murmured trying to help whatever it was trying to anchor itself. Never having done such a thing before I was having quite a bit of trouble; however, and I began to wonder if this would even work…
Right up until Horus cried out from the back of my mind and tried to make the connection to Trinity Tuner on his own in order to materialize. He couldn't do such without my permission obviously, but if he understood whatever was going on I figured, why not?
Now let it be known that linking with Horus through Trinity Tuner from where he resided in my Soul Plane was weird. If I were to describe it, the closest thing I could compare it to would be a set of Russian nesting dolls. At the center there was my soul which housed my Soul Plane and in turn contained my true self and any Phantasms I had awakened. Surrounding my center was a single shell that represented both the physical side of me as well as my own personal "persona" that I showed others. For most people this would be the limit of shells available. Thanks to Trinity Tuner however, more outer shells were created for my use as Trinity Tuner became stronger i.e. leveled up. This in turn allowed Horus to "link up" with one of these new outer shells thus allowing him limited access to the real world past what he originally had as a lost soul.
In a burst of golden flames, one of Horus's incorporeal metal talons formed above my own hand on the stone. Said talon then proceeded to phase into the stone clearly trying to find something within it. The deeper the appendage went, the more the pull seemed to grow, and soon enough I realized what exactly I had been feeling this whole time.
"There's a Phantasm in the stone," I gasped in shock. Horus clicked its beak in agreement through our link as he reached even further into the stone to try and pull out the lost soul.
"Let's see if I can help," I murmured while pumping more power into Trinity Tuner in order to try and form a connection, my third flaming eye flashing into existence above my brow in the process (and yeah, hadn't that been a shock to discover). The extra power helped Horus reach just far enough to find the lost soul and rip it from its confines within the stone.
In a flash of gold and dark silver Horus retracted his, now full, talon and flung the Phantasm to the side, leaving me momentarily confused over why he would do such a thing.
Up until I realized that the lost soul was already awake.
From what I could see, the Phantasm's original flame colors were a combination of deep browns, forest greens, and dark blues in color. Its size was also a bit smaller than Horus had originally been while still in his Unawakened form. That quickly changed; however, as soon the flames started forming shapes that looked vaguely like human limbs. The green flames started to show up a lot more than the browns and blues in the process. Soon enough actual limbs burst forth from their flaming confines until a fully grown man stepped forward, flames of green, brown, and blue wafting off his form like an aura.
The man appeared to be wearing traditional samurai armor of some variation, the main coloring being a jade green for the armor and dark blues for the cloth between the armor pieces. Atop his head (with eyes that were covered by shadows) was a traditional samurai helmet with a golden crescent moon crest attached to the top. The final thing of note was the blue sheathed katana strapped across his lower back; the handle of the katana being the same blue as the sheath.
Feeling Horus tense through our link, I soon followed after I pulled my cutlass from my [Inventory] and stuffed my revolver into the space between my two belts for easy reach and to not be seen. Good thing too considering the first thing the Phantasm did upon reforming was to grab his katana in a clearly experienced grip.
'{Observe}.'
Masaki, the Legendary Swordsman, Tier ? {Lv: ?}:
The lost soul of a once famous swordsman, this Phantasm is an offensive specialist who focused so intently on his swordsmanship in his first life that his skills far exceed the usual limits of human potential.
[More information cannot be gathered from Phantasm that is currently "lost".]
'Misaki? That was the name from the plaque,' I thought in shock over the new development. The fact that I couldn't even get more information on his stats and such was also pretty damn concerning, but hopefully that was just because he was still "lost" and not that he was so high a level I couldn't get any more information.
Oh course he then did something that caused my brain to sputter out and question what the actual fuck was going on.
"Where am I?"
…Ooookay since when could Phantasms talk?!...I mean technically I haven't met any Phantasm besides Horus but still! I had kinda assumed!
"Kuoh Town, Japan," I said tensely as his gaze (and unholy hell no wonder his eyes were usually shadowed; they were literal orbs of green fire!) snapped toward me which meant he hadn't actually noticed me until that moment. Perfect.
"I only recognize one word you just said," Masaki said tersely as he thumbed his sword in and out of his sheath in a clear act of unease. A rather dangerous act of unease it needs to be said.
"Well that may have to do with the fact that you've been "sleeping" in that stone," here I gestured with my head towards said stone, never letting my gaze stray from the clearly tense, undead swordsman, "for probably a couple centuries now."
By the time I was done talking, Masaki had stilled so much that even his flaming aura had frozen in the air around him. His gaze locked on my frame with such intensity that I thought I might actually go up in flames myself, and not in the way I've become somewhat familiar with either.
Finally, he finished sheathing his blade from where it was still extended, drew into a slightly more relaxed stance (though it was clear he could make a grab for his sword without a moment's hesitation), and said-
"I believe you." What?
"Really?" Because if I were in your position buddy; I would probably be raving about what the fuck was going on.
"Really. I could tell from within the stone that time was passing around me…though I hadn't expected quite this much time to pass," he said with a frown tugging at his thinned lips.
"Oh…alright then," I uttered a little sheepishly before going into a more relaxed stance myself. "May I ask what exactly you were doing in the stone to begin with?"
Here his frame locked up for another brief moment, the flaming orbs he had for eyes flashing with unmistakable anger and loathing while his aura began to become much more wild than its former wafting state.
"Before I answer, may I know what is known of me in this time period? If anything at all." He asked instead of outright answering.
"Well the plaque over there," here I once again gestured with my head, "said you were a legendary swordsman who had fought one hundred battles without a single loss."
Wow…so that's what it would look like to be pissed off if you had fireballs for eyes. Like a pair of effing supernovas going off in your eye sockets.
"Oh is that what history says," Misaki ground out practically strangling his sword's sheath with how angry he was.
"Do I need to direct you too somewhere you can vent?" I asked my hands up in a show of clearly not volunteering for such.
That thankfully snapped him out of his lapse in professionalism as he released his hold on his blade and took a step back to sit on a small boulder with a heavy sigh.
"I…apologize for my lapse in composure," he uttered tiredly. "I was simply reminded of what led to this being my final battlefield," he said with a wave to articulate said battlefield.
"Oh…so I'm not gonna have to explain to you the fact you're…ya know," I said, trying not to say the "D" word in case it set him off again.
"No, I accepted my death-actually no, I guess I haven't accepted my death," he corrected himself rather quickly before gesturing to a small rip in the blue leather like area between armor pieces. "From your own use of a sword I can only guess you can recognize that this wound did not in fact come from a sword."
Taking a closer look at the damage in his armor (and wow it is just occurring to me his armor is otherwise undamaged which means he went 100 battles without any other damage to his person. Damn.) I saw what he was talking about in the fact that the actual area pierced was far too small to have been made by a sword of that time. (Well except maybe a rapier, but I honestly doubt you would find all that many rapiers in ancient Japan.) Rather it looked to have been made by-
"An arrow?"
"Yes, a poison tipped arrow," he spat out in barely restrained rage.
Oh…ohhh that explains his anger. He was killed not in battle but by an assassin. One that clearly had no intention of fighting him face to face in a battle of honor which, considering he wore samurai garb was probably a pretty big deal to him.
"To have been defeated in such a way…my very soul refused such an end," Masaki snarled, his voice rising in pitch and his aura raging along with him as he continued. "When I felt myself beginning to pass, I latched onto the closest thing I could in order to keep myself anchored to this life." Here his gaze shifted to the stone beside us.
"And in doing so you became a lost soul," I muttered finally having all the pieces click into place.
"Yes…I suppose so," Masaki muttered tiredly as he fully reclined against the rock he sat on. The fact that he was already dead seemed to finally register which meant he really didn't have a need to try and defend himself or attack me. "The worst thing about dying like I did however," he continued the rage in his voice building once more," is that I never truly earned the so called title I now have!"
Here he snapped his gaze to me, the supernovas he had for eyes burning now with the intensity of a pair of dying stars from the abyss that was his rage. "The moment that arrow pierced my armor, I lost any right I had to claim one hundred battles won which makes my last battle, the battle that took place on this spot against one of my greatest foes completely worthless!" He roared for the world to hear. To hear of the goal that was lost to him by the hands of an unworthy opponent.
The clearing stayed silent after that. Masaki thankfully taking this time to calm himself of what was rightfully stolen from him while I was processing what I had learned.
Truthfully I came up with a way to fix this particular problem rather quickly.
"What if I could grant you a new final fight?"
At Masaki's raised brow, I forged on. "As you've probably figured out, I have access to a way to allow lost souls such as yourself limited access to the real world." Here I had Horus fully flare into existence behind me from the single limb he had originally been. "I also happen to know of a rather skilled swordsman in town who I can only imagine would be interested in fighting such a skilled opponent in order to test himself-"
Before I could continue Masaki cut me off with a snort," I'm afraid that whoever this swordsman is wouldn't be able to match up to the one I fought so long ago. The man I fought was practically my equal in combat even with his European blood and style of swordplay-"
Here I cut him off because honestly the fact that his so-called "equal" was of European blood could not be a coincidence. "The swordsman I'm thinking of mainly uses broadswords, was trained by the current Lucifer's Knight, and is the Knight of the current Lucifer's sister." Here I leveled him a flat look," if that doesn't at least match up to at least a decent fight for you, I'll eat my own sword."
Now that clearly got his attention as his fireball eyes flared in what I imagine was a show of shock before they started to blaze with an eagerness to them that really had me questioning if this was a good idea after all.
"Hmm, now that does sound like a challenge," he mused, the vicious undertones most definitely not going ignored.
"Er r-right," I stuttered reeling a little from the suddenness in his change in behavior. "It might take me a bit to get him to agree though since I've never got the chance to actually talk to him personally. I only really know him by reputation."
Masaki seemed to slump a little at his inability to fight at that very moment before straightening out. A smile now tugging at the corner of his lips. "Very well then, I shall await the fight here," at "here" he gestured to the stone," so as to try and retain as much strength as I can. Even now I can feel the power I have left waning." He finished, frowning as the flames sprouting off his form gained a bit more mass. The increase in flames probably showed the strain of keeping even a semi-solid form on his already limited reserves of strength.
"Until then…sorry I don't believe I ever learned your name," Masaki said followed by a few chuckles over such a thing never coming up.
"My name is Fall Warren," I said with amusement in my own voice.
"Goodbye for now then Fall-san," he said with a bow before he burst into flames and entered the stone once more.
"…well that was a thing."
Ding! Quest Alert!
[Soul Quest: A Swordsman's Final Battle!]
Arrange a battle between the best swordsmen in town and in return earn the eternal gratitude of a wronged soul.
{Objective: Arrange a battle between Kiba Yuuto and Masaki, The Legendary Swordsman}
Rewards: 10,000 EXP, 75,000 Yen, 1 Rare Item Randomizer, and 1 New Passive Skill
{Bonus Objectives X 3: 1000 Exp per Bonus Objective completed}
Accept / Decline
[Looks like you've found your first Soul Quest! Soul Quests are unique events that you can discover by trying to help lost souls pass on in peace. Note that since you are helping lost souls pass on you CANNOT gain them as Phantasms.]
[Also, just a heads up, you were put within {ID: Empty} as soon as you entered the clearing as otherwise the Gremory Queen would have learned something was going on. This is a one time deal; however, so know that you'll have to deal with the fallout if you're not careful the next time.]
"Unholy shit I forgot about Akeno," I cursed harshly, while absentmindedly pressing {Accept} because that could have been really bad if not for the system helping me out.
"Still, I didn't figure this would happen when I came out here," I mused while exiting {ID: Empty} in order to walk the rest of the way back to the main shrine complex. "I wonder if Shrine Maiden-san has any more info about Masaki I could read about?"
My outward appearance continued to appear laid back as I made my way back to the shrine while muttering mildly to myself about random things. My inner self on the other hand was wondering who the hell was hiding in the woods about twenty feet to my left. I couldn't get more information from my mini-map as it only showed me a flashing blip, but Horus apparently saw whatever was watching us as a non-hostile, if not a strong non-hostile, if his battle-lust was any indication.
'I bet Akeno called Rias or something, and Rias in turn is having Koneko watch me,' I mused idly as I had no doubt that Akeno had been able to tell I could either use magic or at the very least had it, and if not her, I was pretty sure the "scan" thing that happened when I entered the shrine would have definitely alerted her to that little fact.
Finally arriving back at the shrine with my stalker in tow, I arrived to find Akeno apparently having been waiting for me.
I also took the time walking up to give her a more thorough once over as I had been preoccupied during our first meeting.
And let me just state rather bluntly that Akeno is easily one of, if not the most gorgeous women I have ever seen in my life. (And yes she is most definitely a woman with curves and a face like that.)
With a figure woman around the world would most definitely kill for, hair hung up in a ponytail that curved all the way down to her very prominent rear in one almost never ending wave, violet eyes that shone brightly on her utterly beautiful face, and all of this wrapped up in a very hot miko outfit that did nothing to hide her figure. I could honestly say that I was attracted to her with that single glance alone.
Though I did make sure to only make the one glance over as I considered myself a gentleman. At least enough to not ogle a girl shamelessly and treat them like sex on legs like a rather unfortunate amount of people do.
"Ara ara, how was your walk?" Akeno asked politely. I will admit to being momentarily surprised as I could have sworn I saw Akeno give me her own once over. I also pointedly ignored her quickly licking her lips while possibly doing so.
"Quite enjoyable," I returned pleasantly before turning curious. "I must admit to having been surprised when I found Masaki's battlefield. Usually sights like that are torn apart for artifacts and the like."
Here Akeno's face turned slightly somber before she pursed her lips in annoyance. "Yes, many historians have tried to in the past sadly. Thankfully the past owners of the shrine were able to keep the lease of the land surrounding the hill in order to preserve the sights."
"That's good. It would have been a shame to tear apart such…intense sites," I mused with a smirk, though inwardly I was a little surprised she was even informing me of such.
"Yes, that is what most people experience after visiting Masaki's site," she mused with a smile of her own. A real smile and damn was it breathtaking. "I'm happy you enjoyed your look around," she continued pleasantly before she gained a sheepish look," and I apologize if this is rude, but I don't believe we ever exchanged pleasantries earlier."
'Ah that's what it is.' I inwardly chuckled over her obvious dig for information. Outwardly…well I just chuckled as well to show I just realized the same." Yes, you are quite right. Now that's just rude of both of us," I chuckled as politely as possible though the greater amusement in my eyes must have shown through as she gave her own chuckle, but even more politely. Even going as far as to lift her sleeve to try and hide it.
"Yes well I am the current owner of this shrine, Himejima Akeno." She said with a small bow.
"Fall Warren, new resident of Kuoh Town," I said with a small bow of my own.
"Ara ara, it is nice to meet you Fall-san."
"To you as well Himejima-hime," I replied brightly. I seemed to surprise her with my honorific; however, as she gained an amused smile.
"Ara, I believe you meant to use the honorific san or perhaps even chan Fall-san. Hime is reserved for people of royalty, mainly princesses or those who you consider to be a princess. Though it can also be used when addressing a girl you admire, or used as a type of endearment." She said clearly believing I didn't realize I made a mistake.
The thing is…"No, I understood. That's why I said Himejima-hime," I said with an innocent tilt of the head because honestly, SM fetish aside, Akeno has the looks and behavior of a princess.
It took a grand total of three seconds before Akeno realized I honestly meant what I said and another two for a light blush to dust her cheeks. Wow did that make her look cute.
Raising a hand to her slightly pink cheeks she gave me a closed eye smile. "Ara ara, is Fall-san saying I look like a princess-"
"That is correct Himejima-hime," I said cutting her off with a smirk and playful wink. The light blush she originally had growing just a bit darker in color, and her eyes fully opening in surprise at my blunt honesty because, once again, Akeno is definitely princess material.
Unfortunately Akeno seemed to come to a rather frantic decision if the look in her eyes was any indication. Her "Onee-sama" smile, the one that must have made her quite popular in Kuoh Academy, slid back into place from the more open and surprised look I had so been enjoying looking at. Heck, I actually gave a slight cringe over the change that occurred because the change was that significant when you knew what to look for.
"Y-Yes well, I know this may seem a little sudden Fall-san, but I'm afraid I have to ask you to leave," Akeno said slightly rushed. At my look of surprise, she backtracked quickly while waving one of her hands in a show of apologizing. "I'm sorry. What I meant was that I was about to leave to meet with someone, and I would rather no one was wondering the grounds while I was gone," she explained quickly.
'Damn I must have put her more off guard then I thought with the whole -hime thing.' I thought amused over the whole thing.
"Oh if that is the case then by all means, I will leave Himejima-hime," I said while trying to make my tone as understanding as possible if only to make her calm down. Gotta admit, it was weird seeing Akeno not being her confidant self. Especially since it only took one compliment to make her this way when I knew for a fact that she's complimented in school probably more than any girl would want to be.
Still, after exchanging goodbyes with the Thunder Priestess and hopes of returning if only to explore the trails again as well as actually see the main shrine house which she accepted almost eagerly, I quickly made my way back down the hill, and went about wondering what exactly I would make myself for supper tonight.
If Akeno Himejima was to use one word to describe her day so far it would be…roller-coaster. Not the most graceful or even elegant of words she knew, but it was the only word that did work to describe her day so far.
It had started off simple enough. As it was one of the few days she had off from both her contracts and her duties as Rias's Queen, she had started the day off by cooking herself a heavy breakfast to help fuel her through the long day ahead. After the dishes were done, she went about cleaning her home top to bottom. Every building was swept, moped, and dusted. Every trail was cleared of trash or fallen branches. Every speck of the grounds was cleared of anything even resembling litter or rubbish.
To others the rather mind-numbing tasks would have been practically torture, especially since the grounds were far larger than most would assume, and she had to do it all alone.
Quite frankly though, Akeno rather enjoyed the menial tasks.
If anyone were to ask, Akeno would gladly claim that she cleaned her home so thoroughly because it was the first place she could truly claim as her own outside of some other influence. (She loved Rias, she truly did, but she needed her space sometimes.) The fact that she wished for the closest thing she ever had for a real home to be clean would satisfy just about anyone.
Even herself.
Though the real truth (the truth she herself didn't wish to admit) was that the task reminded her of the first home she had. It reminded her of performing such tasks with the first person she ever truly loved with all her heart…
Those rather dangerous thoughts aside, Akeno would readily admit that the progress of the day took a rather massive change when the wards of her home went off.
Now what most probably didn't realize was that Akeno's home was probably the most heavily warded place in all of Kuoh besides the homes of the town's resident Kings and the school which both resided. As such the wards surrounding her home were top of the line, and they would have no problem repelling any attacker that may wish her or her home harm.
Which is why it was a rather large surprise for her when the wards not only went active at seemingly random but stayed active for well over three minutes in their confusion on whatever they were sensing. Checking out the window of the main shrine house led to her discovering the target of the ward's confusion.
Firstly, Akeno will gladly admit to anyone who asked that her first thought upon seeing the individual practically on her doorstep was, "Did an SS-Rank criminal just break into my home?!"
The individual underneath the Torii gate bore such an incredible resemblance to Kuroka, an SS-Rank criminal and older sister to her fellow Peerage member, Koneko, that Akeno couldn't help but stop short and question why her wards were not either blaring like sirens or trying to incinerate the individual.
Taking a closer look at said individual, Akeno came to a few quick realizations. For one, the individual had much shorter hair than Kuroko's files said she had, secondly the individual was in fact male, and thirdly that he was a rather attractive male.
Even from where she was standing, Akeno could tell that the young man was quite the looker with a build slightly bigger than her other fellow Peerage member, Kiba, a very defined face, and hair as black as her own. His yellow eyes were being shadowed by the slight bangs he had while the rest of his hair was pulled back into a small pony tail sticking out the back. With clothing that gave him a rather rough exterior; Akeno would gladly admit to finding the roguish look quite attractive on him.
With her appraising done; however, Akeno had to frown as her home's wards were still trying to decide how they felt about the young man on her front lawn. Sighing in quiet annoyance, Akeno turned off the intention wards (keeping the defensive wards on in case he turned out to be hostile because she wasn't stupid), and quickly made her way towards the young man.
Getting closer led to her discovering something quite interesting; however, as the young man was either magic active, had one of the highest reserves of latent magic she had ever personally sensed in a human, or…he was on the cusp of unlocking a Sacred Gear.
She quickly decided that she would need to contact Rias after this.
So plastering on her "Onee-sama" smile that had won over the hearts of practically every young man and woman in her school, she walked toward the young man in hopes of discovering just what made him tick.
Only to falter when his molten gold eyes snapped towards her and seemed to find every little secret she held within her very soul.
(Something she would later deny had made her almost immediately aroused if only because she was supposed to be professional at the time.)
He then went even further with digging in the ice pick trying to chip her apart with his gaze alone by saying something no one had ever claimed before. (Not even Rias, though she would not be surprised if her best friend and King knew.)
"Wow is your smile fake."
Even if on the outside she only seemed to be caught off guard and tense slightly, on the inside it was like getting hit with a sledgehammer.
Never before had someone so blatantly called her out on her mask. Never before had someone pointed out her practically pristine persona in such a blunt manner before that it caused her to be thrown off balance so badly.
Thankfully, after learning his reasons for being there, she allowed herself to relax and return, if only slightly, back to her center. It had been some time since someone had wanted to visit her home, and from the genuine eagerness in his tone (and the sheer warmth that his gaze and presence brought with them) she couldn't help but relax.
Upon waving him off and retreating back to her home's main shrine, she couldn't stop herself from leaning against the shrine's main entrance in order to properly rebalance herself. Once done she quickly went about pulling up the map of her home which showed the position of everyone on the property, and she followed the young man's path through the trails as she called Rias via a magic circle.
Updating Rias on the situation took no more than two minutes. During which time Akeno scolded herself for not being able to give her King the name of the young man as she was focused on reorienting herself at the time. Rias agreed to send Koneko to start tailing the young man, but not before Akeno quickly gave her the warning that the young man resembled Kuroko, and to pass it on to Koneko so that she didn't try to attack him on a misunderstanding.
That over with she continued watching the young man traverse her home while she idly cleaned the main shrine house. She did note that he seemed to stay quite a bit longer at the last site than Akeno would have figured, but considering it was Masaki's battlefield she could understand the feelings he was probably experiencing just standing within the site.
Akeno herself would admit to having been both surprised and respectful of that site after her first time visiting it. The sheer pressure that one battleground held even years after its last battle was easily one of the biggest reasons Akeno was so proud of her shrine, and she felt quite honored to host such a site in her home.
Thankfully the young man seemed to be experiencing the same thing as he stayed long enough that when Koneko finally arrived (a bit stiff she could only imagine because of the warning she gave Rias to pass along) she was able to give her directions to his location and even watch as Koneko arrived at his location not five minutes later.
It took another five minutes before he seemed to have gotten his fill of the former battleground, and he began his slow return to the shrine. It also gave her enough time to finish her cleaning and even go about walking out to meet with him personally in order to fix her previous mistake in the off chance he tried to leave without seeing her.
Talking to him a second time was only a little better than the first as she was slightly more prepared for his smoldering (and she meant that quite literally) gaze to fix itself on her.
Though she would admit to preening a little when she saw him give her a proper once over with only appreciation in his gaze. Something that also made her respect him a little as it was only appreciation in his gaze and nothing more. She had been on the receiving end of enough lustful looks to last a lifetime, so the fact that he didn't look at her like a pair of tits on legs was honestly both a surprise and a relief.
(Why she was relieved by such a thing she pointedly ignored as well as ignoring the way the realization caused her heart to speed up a little.)
Not to say that she was unappreciative of her own looks mind you. She took pride in her looks just like any other woman, and she could easily admit to liking what she saw in the male across from her.
Which is why she also gave him a proper once over in order to show her own appreciation for his form because she could easily admit to finding him quite attractive with his roguish looks, defined face, and golden eyes that were doing things to her insides that she couldn't properly describe.
When he began to blatantly compliment her with pure honesty radiating from his tone; however, she couldn't stop herself from being thrown off center once more. Only this time far worse, as she very rarely received compliments of such honesty from anyone nowadays. The rare exceptions being from her fellow Peerage members and King.
The fact she was receiving such compliments from a male she had already admitted to finding (very) attractive just made the whole thing that much worse. The fact he kept calling her hime (Rias was the princess, not her!) made the "much worse" into "insanely worse" in a matter of moments after he admitted to calling her that on purpose.
The "worse" growing so bad that she knew she had to get him out of her home (she got his name that should appease Rias for now) before she somehow made a (bigger) fool of herself.
So plastering on her "Onee-sama" smile, something she noticed caused him to openly cringe from how fake he somehow knew it was, she went about quickly asking him to leave with a hurriedly made excuse. She didn't even care that Warren (a rather nice name she couldn't help but note) clearly saw her lack of composure because she knew it was only going to get worse the longer he stayed.
When he asked if he could return whilst she was rushing him off (Something her kohai was most definitely going to tease her about. She just knew it.), she would later deny being a little eager to have him return. (Something she also later realized was very hypocritical of her considering how much she wanted him to leave in the first place.)
With him finally gone, she had to take a breath to slow her rapidly beating heart and take a moment to consider just how much she had screwed up her second meeting with Warren. (A name she just couldn't stop thinking was rather nice. Especially when it meant "safe, protected place".)
It was also when she finally realized her kohai was standing beside her with a clearly conflicted look on her own face before it smoothed over, and she turned slightly gleaming eyes to her (all while still sporting her usual monotone look) and uttered something that would seal her fate of teasing for the foreseeable future.
"Crush."
Akeno couldn't stop the red flooding her cheeks if she tried.