Prologue Arc
Preparing for a Meeting
It was just as I was about to arrive home with a few groceries for tonight's dinner tucked in my [Inventory] that I was met with the door of Issei's house slamming open so abruptly that I almost fell over in shock.
"What the fuck Hyoudou?!" I shouted in alarm as I tried to slow my racing heart.
"Ah, s-sorry Fall-san," Issei stuttered out clearly in a rush over something as he raced towards me before jogging in place," but my friend has got a new porno that I've gotta go see!" He said practically salivating at the thought of whatever porn (because obviously, what else would get him this excited except actual tits?) one of his other halves had discovered.
Inwardly huffing in amusement, I outwardly sighed in annoyance before I waved him off in order to continue on his way. I was thus surprised when Issei looked from the street and then back to me in a hurried state.
"Hey, you wanna try and go to the Junk Shop tomorrow?"
Blinking in surprise (Seriously where did that come from?) I tilted my head in thought before giving him an amused smile.
"Sure. How does tomorrow around noon sound?"
"That works great alrightseeyalater!" He rushed out before he began sprinting down the street much faster than I would have figured he could achieve with his 5 AGI. I can only imagine the power of the pervert was at play, and I decided to drop the topic for the time being.
Chuckling in amusement, I went about entering my own home. While in the process of emptying my new groceries for dinner that night; however, I was quite surprised when my phone began going off.
Staring at the unnamed number calling, I slowly lifted it to my face and answered the call.
"Yes, this is Fall Warren speaking."
"Fall-san, this is the Student Council President of Kuoh Academy, Shitori Souna. I apologize for not contacting you sooner, but I am calling to set up an appointment so that you can be informed of the school's rules and regulations." A feminine, no-nonsense voice said from the other end of the line. A voice I could vaguely recognize as the voice of one Souna Shitori, otherwise known as Sona Stiri, the heir to the Sitri clan and little sister of the current Leviathan.
"That is quite alright Shitori-san, though I must admit to not knowing a meeting was even going to be made," I responded, honestly wondering if Rias had told Sona about my presence in town already.
"Yes, I must admit that appointments such as this are not usually made for new students; however, your file states that this is your first extended period of time in Japan. As such, I thought it would be for the best that someone sat down with you face to face to explain any changes you may experience and answer any questions you may have." She said, voice practically dripping with authoritative power. (Trust me. You'd know the tone if you heard it.)
"Ah, that is quite considerate of you Shitori-san, though may I ask where the appointment will be taking place?" I asked in a subtle attempt to try and figure out if her venture to do her job was sincere, or if there was an alternative motive.
"As the school is currently under some renovations at the moment, I was hoping to have the appointment set at your residence." Of freaking course. "I already have the location thanks to your records."
Yeah. No. "I am afraid I would rather not Shitori-san," I said, trying to sound sincere." As you said, I am new to Japan. As such I am still in the process of unpacking, and I would rather not host such an event until I am done."
"That is quite alright." Oh? Then why do you sound so disappointed/vexed?" I believe there is a café/bookstore not too far from your home. Would that be an acceptable location? If so I will message you the address."
"That will do just fine, Shitori-san."
"Excellent. Then does tomorrow work for you?"
"Unfortunately, I agreed to do some shopping with a helpful neighbor tomorrow Shitori-san. I will be free two days from now. Would that work for you?"
"Yes, that will work fine for me." Again, why do you sound disappointed then? "Does around noon work for you?"
"That works just fine, until then Shitori-san."
"And to you as well Fall-san."
Click.
Lowering my phone down, I stared at the ended call for a moment before smacking my head into the cabinet behind me with a groan.
"Dammit," I hissed in annoyance as I thought over what exactly this meant.
Clearly the two Peerages in town knew about me, and from what I could tell at least one of, if not both, were clearly growing interested in me. The major problem with this being the fact they were growing a lot more interested, a lot sooner than I would have liked.
I had hoped that I would be at least near their own top levelers before I got involved or even noticed. Heck, I had really hoped I could last until school started!
Now I've got a two day time limit to try and get to a decent enough level that if a fight were to break out, I wouldn't get my ass handed to me frickin' immediately.
"Looks like I'm gonna be skipping dinner tonight," I sighed tiredly before putting away the groceries for later use. I was gonna make grilled tilapia dammit!
'Get moving Horus because we're about to have a longgg night,' I thought with a burst of irritation at the Evil Dragon in order to get Horus to get his own tail feathers moving. I swear it was either battle-lust and carnage or lazy and lethargic with him.
(Him sending a burst of irritation and the feeling of him snapping his beak at me showed just how much he appreciated my last thought.)
Quickly stepping into ID: Battle Zone, I took a quick stock of my stats and equipment-
Ding! Quest Alert!
[Timed Quest: An Appointment has been Set!] {Time Remaining: 1 Day, 18 Hours}
An appointment has been set with one of the resident devils, and you need to be prepared for anything that may happen!
{Objective: Complete Tutorial 4 and reach Lv20 before time is up!}
Rewards: 7,500 EXP, 50,000 Yen, 1 Rare Item Randomizer, and 1 Random Tier II Phantasm
{Bonus Objectives X 2: +1 Uncommon Item Randomizer per Bonus Objective completed}
Accept / Decline
"That works!" I said eagerly as I practically smashed the {Accept} button.
Taking a quick look around where I last left off in the Undead Zone, I quickly went about gaining access to the roof of the nearest building in a burst of {Black Fire} acting like a booster from the bottom of my feet. This happened to be a trick I figured out after getting {Black Fire Manipulation} to Lv2 as a means to escape hordes easier and quicker than simply jumping.
Glancing at the mini-map, I began roof hopping in the general direction of where my "checkpoint" was marked. (Thank Gabriel for small mercies) As far as my "rampage" last night was concerned, I had traveled just under half the distance needed to reach the end of this particular Zone. I also had a strong suspicion that since the boss of this Zone was called the "Tier One Boss" that there were multiple difficulties to the Zones.
[For figuring out an interesting piece of information concerning the Battle Zones +1 WIS!]
"I thought I toggled those to not appear in combat," I muttered aloud while taking pot shots at some random mobs down on street level. {Black Fire} enhanced bullets and {Shadow Spikes} were damn good at picking off easy targets in one or two shots. The fact that all drops went straight into my [Inventory] after I found the toggle opinion for such was honestly a blessing.
[Figured you would like to know when you're not in intensive combat.]
"Ehhh alright I guess-Oh not these guys again!" I groaned in annoyance as I soon found an entire platoon of Zombie Warriors (again they were skeletons not effing zombies) waiting for me at a long break in the surrounding buildings. They by themselves weren't all that annoying honestly, even if they were about Level 6-8 apiece. No, it was the fact that they had an entire row of Skull Servants positioned right behind them ready to fire off rounds of fireballs, bolts of lightning, and two effing meter long icicles at me at the drop of a hat.
"Okay screw that, Horus," there was my best dragon-bird friend in all his vicious glory," we're gonna {Black Fire Breath} these fuckers." The, somehow, upturn of his beak was equal parts disturbing and bloodthirsty as he superimposed his incorporeal head onto my own.
To put it bluntly, {Black Fire Breath} was using {Black Fire} and {Dragon Breath} at the same time. The results of which were honestly pretty damn impressive considering it was pretty much a spray and kill attack where I just need to point in one direction. The only downside, the actual cost for using it constantly was really steep. Short term, it was a great way to mow down easy to kill mobs. Long term, the cost for using it was almost not worth it. Even after I had put every skill point Horus gained into {Black Fire}, the 20 MP per second cost when using both together was still pretty high.
I had also found that I couldn't register or create new skills via my Phantasms' own skills which I will admit kinda sucks, but I hadn't yet tried to create new skills beyond those I made in Tutorial II so perhaps I can still create new skills with ones I already own. Food for thought.
That aside though, there was honestly something really cathartic about breathing out black flames like an overly excited flamethrower and using said flames to purge the world of annoyances in the shape of magic slinging skeletons.
Of course I didn't keep the skill going for very long before I dropped down onto level ground and began laying into them with all the vicious battle-lust Horus took to trying to express through our bond. I found just letting it flow out worked better towards helping us bond…oh and increasing his level, but the bond thing was important too!
Slashing my cutlass in a wide arc version of {Flying Slash} the last of the Skull Servants were soon defeated, and I was able to go around and finish off the random Zombie Warrior. Once done, I looked through the list of drops to see if anything new had popped up.
Surprisingly enough there was-WHAT THE HECK?!
Skeleton Key {Rare} {Item: Consumable / Mystic Code}:
A key made of bone that was once enchanted by a necromancer; it now has the ability to open any lock you may come across.
Can be used to unlock/break a single seal, ward, contract, or lock of the same or lower rarity.
"D-Did I just get a Rule Breaker?!" I sputtered incredulously as I stared down at the creepy as fuck key that apparently had the same, one time, ability as a Noble Phantasm.
Said key appeared to be made entirely of bone with a small skull etched into the handle while the actual teeth of the key were almost constantly shifting into new designs. It was actually a little mesmerizing (and a little morbid) to watch.
Shaking my head, I put away my newest broken as fuck item and began once again traversing in the direction of my goal.
Sona Stiri would only admit under the threat of death that she was currently pouting in worry.
(Or being threatened to spend the day with her sis-con of an older sister because while she did love her sister; she could be extremely overbearing and childish.)
The reason for her (not) pout could be blamed squarely on the fault of Kuoh Town's newest resident and her soon to be junior.
Warren Fall, to put it bluntly, was an enigma.
The transfer papers to have him move to Kuoh Town were basic and really only just met the necessity needed to move here. His school records showed he was at least competent enough to stay within the top ten percent of his school for all his years of attending, and the only extracurricular course/club he attended was a cooking club which he apparently used in order to compete in state level competitions and even one national level event.
(If everything worked out after all was said and done, she was honestly considering asking him to cater some meetings if some of the rumors she was finding out about his skills were true.)
The only other things to really note beyond that was the fact that both his parents apparently died in an accident when he was very young, and he had been living with an aunt ever since.
Of course there was now the new piece of information Akeno had been able to dig up concerning the young man that had her very interested.
It wasn't often that humans, especially those outside of magical communities, were born with larger than average magic potential. The rare few that did were usually snatched up rather quickly by said magic communities, or even the lucky Devil who happened upon them as a possible new member of their Peerage. The fact that the cause of his magic potential could even be a nearly unlocked Sacred Gear was really only icing on the cake.
Then finally add in the fact that he apparently struck a very large resemblance to a SS-Class criminal (to the point Akeno claimed he looked like a gender bent, short haired version of said criminal), and you found yourself wondering just what in hell the information departments were doing to have missed such an individual.
The fact that Warren had made it to 16 years old without anyone finding out about him when Akeno had confirmed he had at least Low Class Devil reserves of latent magic was quite frankly baffling. Add in his looks and baffling just grew to downright shock.
Besides this fact, Warren looked to be your slightly more than average high school student with an apparent gift for cooking…
Well…there was one more thing, but she wasn't planning on airing that particular piece of information until she had someone to bounce her ideas off of, and while usually she could trust her Queen to help her do such…this particular issue really needed to be brought to her fellow King's attention before Rias got it in her head to try and "claim" the young man without all the facts.
So gathering her notes together she finished her preparations for when Rias, her Queen, and Rook were to arrive. The only members of her own Peerage present were her Queen, Tsubaki Shinra and her only Knight, Tomoe Meguri, who was simply there to help her deal with paperwork as the student council's secretary.
Not three minutes later, a red flash appeared through the gaps in the student council doorway, and Rias, Akeno, and Koneko made their way in with all the poise that came from their station. Or in Koneko's case just her usual monotone that somehow came across as semi-respectful at that moment.
Though the scene probably wasn't as professional as it could have been as Rias was harboring a rather mischievous smile, Koneko's usually monotone face sported a slightly twitching lip, and Akeno wore a small pout and blush.
The reverse in roles was actually large enough to give Sona pause as she tried to figure out how her three friends had switched bodies before the thought left just as quickly, and she decided to simply question them after the meeting.
"Rias, Akeno, Koneko," she greeted with a bow of her head.
"Sona," they greeted with their own bow of the head which they then copied to the other occupants of the room.
"Tea, sweets?" Tsubaki asked as she brought over a tray of said tea and sweets and after delivering thanks and taking a few sips. (Koneko doing her name sake proud when she practically pounced on the sweets provided.) The meeting started with a single question.
"So what have you found?"
"Only the basics," Sona replied with a small frown as she passed over some of the files she had while choosing to air her most interesting piece of information only after they had a basic understanding of who Warren Fall was.
"A national level chef at only sixteen, that is quite the accomplishment," Rias couldn't help but note with a raised brow.
"Yes, if all goes well, I was considering hiring him to help cater some meetings and events down the line," Sona commented while hoping Rias would understand what exactly she was implying.
Something she thankfully did as Rias lowered the file down and gave her a questioning look.
"What exactly is there to worry about? From this it looks like he's just your regular, if not decently smart, high school boy. National level chef and the fact that he has a rather large magic potential or even a Sacred Gear aside, it doesn't look like there would be any problems."
That had Sona's frown twitch for a moment as she slid over the last file she had been holding onto and inwardly sighed as Rias clearly didn't want to mention Warren's looks in front of her Rook if the worried looks she was sending said tense girl were any indication.
"I am afraid the situation could be a bit more complicated than we expected," she said before folding her hands together to rest her chin on. "It appears that Fall-san's choice to move here may have been influenced by a former relative who once lived in town."
It took only five seconds of looking through the final file for Rias's entire frame to lock up and her eyes to grow wide as she stared down at the same information that was causing Sona to frown (not pout) in worry.
"He is…" Rias started before trailing off; worry clear in her tone and stance.
"Yes," she nodded, her frown growing deeper and her glasses glinting pure white. "Fall Warren is the nephew of the late Yaegaki Masaomi, the previous exorcist in charge of the Angel Faction in town…and previous holder of the title, 5th Strongest Exorcist in the World."
"{Shadow Stitching}!" I yelled out in turn causing the shadows around me to lash out in long bending spikes that pierced the Zombie Warriors and Hard Armors around me. The resulting attack anchoring all the enemies around me and allowing me easy access to all their weak points in order to nearly one hit each one that came upon my currently flaming blade-
"{Counter}!" I yelped as I swung my cutlass at an incoming bolt of lightning and in turn sending it right back at the Skull Servant that tried to take a pot shot at me.
A mental nudge from Horus then had me turning to the left just enough to see one of the newest banes of my existence charging at me while mowing down its allies like they were traffic cones.
[Mammoth Graveyard] [Lv: 12] [Race: Undead Beast]
[HP: 1000/ 1000] [SP: 500/ 500] [MP: 125/ 125]
[STR: 30] [AGI: 10] [VIT: 40] [END: 20] [INT: 5] [WIS: 5] [LUCK: 0]
'Jump, jump, jump!" I thought frantically as I pushed {Black Fire} through my feet fast enough to send me flying upwards like a rocket. Thankfully this had the side effect of finishing off the remaining undead that had pinned me in a corner and getting me out of the way of the mammoth skeleton's charge.
Unfortunately, it also caused me to be in the direct line of sight for all the remaining Skull Servants that took the obvious opportunity to lay into me with a virtual storm of magic spells and I was just so fucking done.
"Horus, {Nova}. Now," I snarled with all the frustration I had been accumulating from my twelve fucking hours in this nightmare zone coloring my tone the shade of murderous red.
On my command, Horus let the entirety of his battle and blood lust flood through me like lava, and he fully materialized around me in order to wrap me in his black and gold flaming wings from the combination of my flames and his own. The monstrous rush of emotions in turn then caused the black and gold flames around us to flare inward for the barest of seconds in an imitation of a dying star…
Before Horus spread his metallic wings outward and roared, blasting the flames outward in an AOE explosion of flames and murderous rage.
The utter carnage caused was easily enough to flash fry every mob that had been on the street below and drop the Mammoth Graveyard to well under half its original HP from where it was thrown backward and through a nearby building.
The remaining HP it soon lost when I slammed into it from the air like a meteor, digging my cutlass into what remained of its spinal column while blasting the back of its skull with {Black Fire} enhanced bullets.
The Mammoth Graveyard finally defeated, I was able to finally breathe for a moment…
'SKRRRR!'
Before I then had to duck in order to avoid the large, blood red saber that attempted to make me twenty pounds lighter by cutting my head off, and Horus exploded into existence from my back in order to drown the fucker with the reddish, orange flames created by {Dragon Breath}.
"Are you finally done running?!" I snarled at the wielder of the crimson colored sword as I stuffed my revolver into my [Inventory] and pulled out an Iron Broadsword (I got a lot of them from fighting Zombie Warriors) instead.
The wielder of said sword was a demonic looking skeleton dressed in dark grey, knight based armor with dull yellow outlines spread throughout, two, large, horn-like protrusions shooting out horizontally from its helmet, and finally a blood red cape streaming behind it like a crimson fog. The entirety of the image gave form to one of the most powerful enemies I've yet to face.
It was also the single most rage inducing enemy I've faced since entering the Zone.
[Skull Knight] [Lv: 15] [Race: Fiend Knight]
[HP: 625/ 625] [SP: 500/ 500] [MP: 250/ 250]
[STR: 20] [AGI: 50] [VIT: 25] [END: 20] [INT: 10] [WIS: 15] [LUCK: 0]
"Come here you pile of doggy treats!" I roared as I sped toward the Skull Knight before it could recover from getting hit point blank with Horus's {Dragon Breath}. It gave its own battle cry in the form of clacking its jaw bones together loudly before it met my charge by blocking my two swords.
"{Dragon Breath}," I snarled in its face as Horus flashed into existence above my head in order to try and flash fry the undead pest by pumping out a cyclone of dragon fire from his opened beak-
Only for it to seemingly disappear in a burst of speed just like it had for the last three hours.
"Oh fuck you!" I yelled at the Skull Servant as it reappeared about ten meters back. It cackled at me for a moment (for the twelfth fucking time in the last hour) before shooting forward once again in a burst of speed.
I barely had enough time to raise my swords to block the strike, but even then it didn't matter as the attack, amplified by the boost in speed thanks to whatever skill it was using, proceeded to crack and break my Iron Broadsword in a shower of shrapnel. The resulting shrapnel burrowing its way into my arms and chest and almost blinding me while my Steel Cutlass only barely hung on from where the Skull Knight's saber was halfway lodged in it.
Now let me explain something really quick.
Over the last three hours this single enemy has continuously attacked, taunted, and downright harassed me as it appeared at seemingly random and performed hit and run tactics like a pro. During which time it has destroyed up to ten Iron Broadswords, twenty Wooden Shields (that I also got from Zombie Warriors), and drained me of well over 1000 HP that I have only regained thanks to acquiring a means to create HP Potions from the Bone Meal I got from grinding up Reinforced Bones and another new item, Small Mana Crystals.
Of course thanks to it always running away for enough time to let me heal up to full that also led it to being fully healed at the beginning of each fight.
Thanks to this, I have unfortunately become very familiar with its mannerisms as well as its methods of attack. One such mannerism being that it loves to destroy my swords any chance it gets. The fact that it has constantly tried to destroy my Steel Cutlass by striking the same spot repeatedly every time we cross blades just goes to prove this further.
Now though, as it begins to pull back from my block and stares at me with demonic glee over finally, permanently causing damage to my favored blade, I did something that I hope will finally kill this undead fucker.
I twist the hand holding my Steel Cutlass in just a way, the steel it's made of practically screaming from the strain of such an action, to lock the Skull Knight's sword in place.
"You're not going anywhere," I hissed at it as the shadows under us began to bubble and whip around from the force my rage had become. Something the armored skeleton seemed to only just then pick up on as it tried and, most importantly, failed to retch its crimson sword from where it was locked in my own blade.
I then thrust the hand no longer holding my Iron Broadsword down in order to make it easier to make the connection for what I was about to do.
"{Shadow Spear}," I intoned with a sneer as a good chunk of the shadows under us suddenly jumped just a little ways from my outstretched hand and formed an eight foot long spear of pure shadow. A spear I then launched into the surprised Skull Knight's chest and in turn sent it flying up and backwards from the force behind the blow.
I only paid the barest attention to the fact that the skelly was so surprised that it let go of its prized saber from where it was still attached to my own cutlass, and I instead focused on the mob as it flew upward while trying to grab at the {Shadow Spear} in order to stop it from carrying it higher and higher.
I then dropped the remains of my Steel Cutlass and the skeleton's sword and thrust a hand down with another call of {Shadow Spear}. Once the shadow based spear was in hand, I braced the arm loaded with the shadow weapon and proceeded to condense it.
It was only when the spear was about two feet in length and more so resembled an arrow (Well an arrow that practically absorbed the light around it because condensing darkness leads to a lot more darkness. Who knew?) that I stopped condensing it in order to take a deep breath from the strain such a thing required and prepared myself for the next step.
"Alright Horus, light it up!"
And like that the {Condensed Shadow Spear} was coated in a layer of {Black Fire} thick enough for me to feel the heat (which was really impressive considering I had a complete immunity to it thanks to {Black Dragon Scales}), and I threw the condensed spear upward like a reverse bolt of black lightning with how fast it flew at the still struggling Skull Knight-
"BOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!"
-and proceeded to engulf the skeleton in an explosion of {Black Fire} and shadowy death that lacked the bright light most would incorporate with an explosion and replaced it with darkness that practically swallowed the sky.
I simply stood there for a moment, staring at the darkened sky caused by my, frankly overpowered, attack, and I only allowed myself to release the breath I had been holding when I saw the Exp needed for my next level up increase thanks to the kill.
"Fucking finally," I groaned out more tired than I had ever found myself in either life. Horus actually agreed with me as he disconnected from Trinity Tuner and proceeded to try and hunker down for a nap. Taking a quick look at my HP, MP and SP, I didn't even bother hiding the wince that appeared upon seeing them all below 100. This being the lowest they had ever dropped in battle sans my first, big fight with Zombie Dragon. The fact that I was still a good half way towards my next level up also meant I couldn't depend on a level up to restore my stats quickly, and considering I haven't gone a solid ten minutes without running into a horde in the last couple of hours…
"Yeah, I think that's enough for the time being," I muttered with drooping eyes as I forced myself to stand, wincing as the action pulled at the metal shrapnel still lightly embedded in my arms and chest. It was only upon grabbing for my Steel Cutlass that I remembered the fact I had to pretty much sacrifice it in order to finally kill Skull Knight.
"Well I suppose you're as good a replacement as any," I muttered as I grabbed for the Skull Knight's own saber still anchored in my cutlass. A quick {Observe} only proving that statement-wait what?!
Demon Blood Saber {Rare} {Item: Sword / Mystic Code}:
A sword originally meant to slay demons, it absorbed the blood of so many demonic creatures that it gained demonic resonance of its own, so only the most bloodthirsty of individuals or most secure of mind can wield it.
Deals a Base 30-50 Physical (DARK) DMG
Grants a 25% increase to all Physical DMG dealt to DARK aligned beings while in use.
Grants +10 STR and +10 AGI
"Well that explains some things," I whispered in shock as I stared at the blood red blade I now held wide eyed. Shock that was further compounded when Horus reared back in my mind, emerged from behind me, and grabbed my head in order to direct my gaze upward because floating there in the sky, as innocent as could be, was what looked like a black and red colored Phantasm.
"…How the hell am I supposed to get that?"
In the end I ended up having to use what little remained of my MP in order to make an extremely stretched thin {Shadow Stitching} in order grab the Phantasm, and the end result was me gaining Skull Knight as a new Phantasm which I had some very mixed feelings about.
For now though, I was so done with {ID: Undead} that I decided to "screw it" and pretty much collapsed out of the ID into my living room. I then quickly went about stumbling my way upstairs, trashed all the clothes that had been ruined from my little "excursion", finally removed the shrapnel that had further trashed said clothes, took a relaxing shower, and crashed onto my bed for a nice, long…
"I have to meet Issei in four hours," I almost wept as I stared at the clock placed on my night stand with tears in the corners of my eyes.
[You have an appointment set for 12:00 PM. Would you like to set an Alarm to wake you?]
{YES/NO}
Staring at the textbox, I could only sigh in defeat before taping what time I would like it to wake me up. Three and a half hours would hopefully be enough time to recharge with {Gamer Body} in the mix.
With a means for me to wake up on time, as soon as my head hit my pillow I was out like a light...
...
...
...
...
[Alarm will go off in-]
[5]
[4]
[3]
[2]
[NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYANNYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN -]
"FOR FUCKS SAKE TURN IT OFF!" I screamed at the top of my lungs to make the bloody noise STOP!
Thankfully, telling it to stop was all that was needed as one of the most annoying sounds I had ever heard finally stopped. Seriously, who the fuck decided it would be a good idea to have the word Nyan going on for infinity?! Much less the actual Nyan Cat version of all things!
That little slice of insanity over with; however, I laid back fully awake and thought over what all had happened last night.
Besides the rather sucky way it ended, last night had been massively productive. I had not only reached the ¾ mark as far as the ID went, gotten tons of material (both new and old), at least 35,000 Yen in a single night's work, and massive level gains for all my skills (again both new and old). I could also proudly say that I was well on my way to reaching Lv 14 while cruising around the mid-range of Lv 13.
Also, big news here! I actually got {Magic Core - Small} and {Magic Control - Beginner} to high enough levels that they maxed out and "evolved" into two new Passive Skills, {Magic Core - Medium} and {Magic Control - Novice}
{Magic Core - Medium} worked basically the same way as {Magic Core - Small} in that it not only worked as my means to use MP, but it also increased the MP gain from the skill up to 500 as well as boosting MPR by a good 5 points per minute which was huge.
{Magic Control - Novice} on the other hand didn't really change as far as the text for the skill went, but I still noticed some rather big changes thanks to the evolved skill. Case in point my new ability to condense magic based attacks. Something I most definitely would not have been able to do before evolving the skill.
If I'm going to be completely honest, I'm pretty sure the only reason I advanced as much as I did last night was based solely on the fact I evolved these two skills.
That aside, I also got {DARK Manipulation} high enough to start creating some new skills as was previously seen in the forms of {Shadow Stitching} and {Shadow Spear}. Those weren't the only new skills I had made; however, as I had also created some rather basic weapon based DARK skills such as {Shadow Arrow} and {Shadow Sword} both of which pretty much did what they were called. Though the later was pretty much a higher costing/damage dealing version of {Shadow Spike} at the moment.
Before I go on; however, let me make one thing clear. My version of the [Gamer System] was probably one of the more realistic versions out there. Now before someone starts yelling or something let me explain. (Also Ya for fourth wall breaking!)
It first needs to be said why exactly I ended up creating my new skills when I was already in a time crunch as it was, and I needed to cover as much ground as possible.
The simple truth of the matter is that I simply wasn't strong enough to continue with the skills I had.
Within the first couple hours of my being in the Undead Zone, I found myself having to take up to twenty breaks in the span of a single hour because I either ran out of MP and SP or my HP dropped so low that I didn't want to risk it. The results of such breaks usually gave me time to not only look through all the loot I had gained (and seriously some of what I got was reallllly obscure. I mean really what use did I have for Zombie Teeth, Undead Tongues, or Rotting Flesh?), but to also use my new {Meditation} skill in order to regain my lost stats even faster.
Meditation, Active {Lv: 16} {Exp: 22.2%}:
A skill created in order to improve inner focus, this skill allows one to find their inner self and improve themselves by finding it.
Grants +8 INT and +8 WIS while in use and a 50% increase in HPR, MPR, and SPR
CONDITION: Cannot be used in combat!
And honestly those first four hours weren't all that bad because even with the breaks I knew at the time that I needed to pace myself. Something that I really didn't do all that well my first night here, but in my defense an Evil Dragon supplying a rage induced adrenaline boost can really carry you far as long as the enemies aren't all that strong.
But it was when the enemies started getting tougher that became the exact problem.
It was right when I reached the half-way point of my "expedition" that I started running into much more annoying but also much more dangerous threats.
Because while Skull Knight may have been the most annoying/difficult enemy I had to deal with last night; it wasn't the only Phantasm I gained after a difficult fight last night.
It was the third.
The first difficult fight I endured had ended up being against a stronger version of a Hard Armor called a Headless Knight. Not only had the magical set of armor been a much better swordsman than any other threat I had endured so far; it had also been the first enemy I encountered to have its own Passive Skill. In this case the Passive Skill was {Iron Defense} which granted the Headless Knight a boost in Physical DEF (something I only learned after I gained it as a Phantasm) which only factored into its own natural defenses and high END and VIT stats. This had forced me to have to rely on {Shadow Spike} and {Flying Slash} for a time before I came to realize that the attacks simply didn't have the piercing power I needed to deal any significant damage. This had led to me having to make a tactical retreat in order to recover as my first engagement with the superior mob had led to me being drained very quickly.
(The fact that it was surrounded by other Hard Armors that were prepared to make me a shish kabob at the first sign of weakness at the time had also played a rather large part in my decision.)
With the realization that my current skill set just wasn't enough to deal with the new enemy, I spent the following three hours creating numerous new skills that would allow me to defeat the new enemy. The most important of which had been {Shadow Spear} which I had gotten inspiration to create from both Angel Factions.
Shadow Spear, Active {Lv: 8} {Exp: 3.9%}:
By taking inspiration from the Angel Factions, you have created an elemental spear of your own power that has all the piercing power you could ever need.
Cost: 13 MP
Deals 42 (DARK) Magical DMG + Base INT
Unique Skill: {Piercing I}
With new skills in hand/mind, I had quickly gone about finding the "mini-boss" and proceeded to bombard it and its surrounding bodyguards in a rain of {Shadow Spears} and {Shadow Arrows}. {Shadow Arrows} being exactly as the name suggests.
The end of that fight had been slightly anti-climactic as a result, but I had been rather surprised upon finding the Headless Knight had been converted into a new Tier I Phantasm for my use.
Headless Knight, Tier I {Lv: 1} {Exp: 0.0%}:
A Tier I Phantasm of the DARK element. This Dark Warrior Phantasm was originally created to work as a defensive measure by mages by putting an artificial soul within a suit of armor, but it was eventually inhabited by a dark spirit. It uses its high defense and lack of common weak points to rush an opponent with reckless abandon while still displaying proficient sword skills.
[STR: 5] [AGI: 1] [VIT: 10] [END: 10] [INT: 1] [WIS: 1] [LUCK: 1]
Unused Skill Points: 0
Skills:
Iron Defense, Passive {Lv: 1}:
By channeling the defensive power of Headless Knight, you can now strengthen your own natural defenses with ease.
Grants a 25% increase to Physical DEF
Overall I had been pretty happy at the time, and I had even been able to immediately use my new Phantasm as Trinity Tuner had reached Lv10 thus giving me the ability to have two Phantasms Active at once. Though it worked more like the Persona franchise in that while I could have a few in my party at a time I could still only use one truly actively at a time.
Unfortunately I should have figured it my good luck wouldn't last.
I had traveled a good two hours after that particular fight when I had stumbled across what looked to be a large cathedral like church that was in disrepair. Obviously, as it was the first big change I had found in my environment in a while, I went about exploring the new area in hopes of finding something interesting.
Instead I found bats. Lots and lots of bats.
So many bats that in the end I had ended up having to literally blow the building the pieces via my new {Condensed Shadow Spear} plus {Black Fire} combination (I should probably name such a destructive skill now that I give it some thought.) that had left me drained and tired for a good half hour after using it. I did end up getting a new Phantasm in the form of an eyeball, bat, demon thing that was able to shoot DARK based attacks from well…its eye.
Meda Bat, Tier I {Lv: 1} {Exp: 0.0%}:
A Tier I Phantasm of the DARK element. This Fiend Phantasm was created by a dark mage to act as his familiar and scout. As such it does not have many offensive capabilities besides its signature skill: {Dark Blast}.
[STR: 1] [AGI: 5] [VIT: 1] [END: 1] [INT: 10] [WIS: 10] [LUCK: 1]
Unused Skill Points: 0
Skills:
Dark Blast, Active {Lv: 1}:
A rather basic DARK skill that focuses the more destructive forces of darkness into a sphere to be launched at the enemy.
Cost: 1 MP
Deals 25 (DARK)Magical DMG per blast
The new Phantasms aside; however, actually creating the new skills that allowed me to hold my own had been a much harder experience than I had originally imagined.
From what I could tell the actual level of {DARK Manipulation} was not based on the experience I gained from using DARK Affinity skills, but rather it was based on my actual skill with the Affinity. Or rather my proficiency with controlling dark based techniques.
So when I went about actually trying to create new DARK skills, it took a lot more effort than I had anticipated as any new skill I was creating would only properly register with my [Gamer System] after I had gained enough proficiency in whatever new skill I was trying to create.
(Something that I questioned as I had easily been able to create skills during Tutorial II, but a notice from the [Gamer System] pretty much explained it was looking the other way with those skills because all together they were rather basic skills. Minus [Counter] that is, but the [Gamer System] figured throwing a Lv15 boss at me required a unique skill so it allowed it as well.)
That's why it took a solid half-hour to just create {Shadow Spear} even though the actual concept behind it was fairly simple. The fact that even after the skill was created I still had to actually concentrate and focus on the manipulation the entire time it was in use was also rather taxing mentally. Heck {Shadow Stitching} took me a solid hour to make from the sheer fact that I simply didn't have the mental capacity or experience to create a large amount of moving {Shadow Spikes} at the same time. Instead I had to cheat a bit by simply having four "stitchings" stretch out as that was my limit of control at the moment.
In fact the only DARK skill I found that I didn't have any problem using was {Shadow Spike}. I believed the reason behind this; however, had to do with the fact I gained the skill from a Skill Book rather than actually creating the skill.
"I wonder if increasing my stats would make it easier to use certain skills?" I pondered while getting dressed. My outfit for the day consisted of a pair of blue jeans, a dark grey shirt, a sleeveless black hoodie with a yellow stylized sun along the back, a set of duel belts, and a pair of heavy duty hiking boots that were just plain cool in my personal opinion. I had also decided to have my equipment designs toggled to not appear for the time being. The final item of note was my Lucky Charm which I took off its leather cord and instead pinned to the inside fold of a white bandanna I found in my closet and tied around my left bicep.
"I mean, I'm pretty sure it's easier to gauge how much strength I actually need to put into my swing in order to activate {Power Slash} without vocalizing it," I continued to think aloud as I made my way downstairs. "Even if that is the case; however, it's not like I'll be able to use my Unused Stat Points. I'm already pushing it with the stat boost I got last night, and that's not even considering {Magic Core}." I muttered a little irritated as after meeting with Akeno I realized that my "cap" for my overall magical power was now known. Any truly major increases in such would probably cause them to get either worried or suspicious.
Before I could let my irritation grow any farther; however, knocking from the front door had me blinking in surprise and turning to a clock in my living room.
'Hyoudou is kinda early,' I thought in surprise as I didn't really see Issei as being one to arrive early for anything other than something to do with "oppai".
Actually opening the door though led me to blinking in surprise and voicing a question rather quick.
"What the hell happened to you?"
"Ehheheh," Issei chuckled lowly before wincing as he rubbed a number of bruises along his face. "My friend's porno from last night ended up being a bit…different than what I expected."
I could only stare at him as my mind raced to figure out what exactly that meant. Actually no, I understood what probably happened, but I couldn't help asking the first thing that came to mind with both his wording and his new injuries.
"Did he or she call you over for some S&M or something?"
You know my friends in my old life had said that I had a talent for making people uncomfortable or just flat out embarrassed with very few words. The worst part of it being the fact that I would say or ask things with such a straight face they could never figure out if I was really messing with them, or if I was just honestly curious.
The truth was a little of both really.
Still didn't stop me from smothering a laugh when Issei practically choked on air and then proceeded to both convulse in disgust and dry heave into the bushes near my front door.
"I am going to guess I was wrong?"
"Y-Yes you're wrong!" Issei stuttered out with green tinting his cheeks; the disgust clear in his eyes and tone.
"Well from the way you worded it I could only really assume-"
"J-Just stop talking! My friends, Matsuda and Motohama, found a peep hole in a hot spring on the edge of town. We got caught in the act and beaten up," he rushed out frantically in order to try and clear up the misunderstanding.
"Ohhh, that makes much more sense," I said with a nod. Inwardly I was cackling at making him so flustered while Horus and Headless Knight joined me with a screeching/squawking version of a chuckle and clanking of metal on metal. Trust me when I say it is just as creepy as you think.
"R-Right let's get going then," Issei muttered, clearly still a little flustered before he began making his way down the road in a hurry. In fact, he was going so fast I actually had to jog to catch up with him, and then had to keep jogging in order to keep up with him.
"Are we in a hurry or something?" I asked not even panting like I would have in my past life. The fact that Issei was the same was honestly a bit baffling. Though now that I give it a bit more thought, his END and VIT stats were pretty damn high last I checked, and considering END is what influences his stamina...
Though now it just makes me sad to think that pre-Devil Issei has better base stamina than me.
"Yeah, a little bit actually," he said, wincing after just about every step. Man he must have gotten hurt worse than I thought. "I happen to know the guy running the Junk Shop well enough to call him to see if anything new has come in. When I called to tell him I was bringing someone new over today, he warned me that he had some stuff he needed to take care of later today, so he was gonna be closing up early."
"Oh! If that's the case, we could have rescheduled," I said with a frown.
"Welll I may have left out the fact when I called him I also told him your name," Issei said while scratching the back of his head before wincing worse when he came across a pretty bad bump. He then gained a rather big grin and continued," its turns out I did know your uncle! Apparently he was the godfather of a childhood friend of mine, so I had met him a couple times! Heck, he used to baby sit me and Irina when my parents went out on dates! So now Jack-ji-san wants to meet you in order to give you some stuff your uncle left behind after...well you know." He finished with a slight grimace at bringing up what he thought to be a sensitive topic.
Which bravo to him because it honestly was a bit of a sore spot for me. My uncle Masaomi had been a massive help for me growing up. Even if I hadn't had the chance to see him all that often since he traveled a lot, the times he did stay around were probably some of my best childhood memories. The day he died was always gonna be one I remembered, and I would happily continue to do so in this life. Well…even if my uncle had been changed into a kick ass Exorcist from his former job of being a translator for mission teams that went all over the globe. The fact that in both lives he was still a member of the Church was just funny really.
Also let's not even bring up the fact that from Issei's wording it looks like my uncle had been Irina's godfather. For all of you who don't remember why that is a very big deal it's because it was Irina's father who went about actually killing my uncle or at the very least was a part of the team that did the deed.
Instead of any of the things I just thought about, I instead asked," does this mean I'm related to your childhood friend in some weird, non-blood, related way?"
That made Issei stumble for a moment as it did kinda come out of left field. "Umm I'm not all that sure," he said with a weak chuckle," I mean if you ever meet Irina-chan in person, I guess you could just ask her then."
That made me stumble for a moment as Issei just addressed Irina as her and -chan when at this point in time he should have still thought Irina was a he.
I didn't get a chance to come up with a means to question/work my way around the topic to ask how he knew Irina was a girl as we soon arrived at the mall. Walking inside, both of us only slightly winded which really made me question how the fuck Issei's END and VIT were so high, we made our way towards The Junk Shop.
The store itself didn't look all that interesting mind you. It was just kinda squeezed in between two other buildings, and it looked like it needed a new coat of paint with the once tan bricks being a pale brown in color from probably years of just sitting there.
Walking inside was a completely different story as it made me understand exactly why it was named The Junk Shop.
Walls lined with books, old toys, electronics, and other assorted nic naks were the main things of focus when you first entered the store. The second thing you would notice would probably be the dozens of cords tied from the top of each aisle in criss crossing patterns that each held even more nik naks and miscellaneous items from baskets or just bags in general. The fact that the isles set up along the rest of the room were pretty much the same really only just added to the picture of it being a rather nice, if not really cluttered, junk shop.
"Hey Jack-ji-san!" Issei yelled out upon walking in. That action probably wasn't the best idea as a loud crash was soon heard from an area behind the store counter and a various assortment of curses soon followed.
"Dammit you Ero-gaki!" A rather gruff voice yelled out from the back room before a large man stumbled his way from behind the counter. Once he got his bearings, he glared at Issei for a few seconds before his gaze landed on me and...went glazed over?
The man himself was pretty tall and broad looking if not quite old if his graying hair and beard were any indication. He also had some of the most stormy grey eyes I had personally ever seen. His outfit for the moment consisted of a loose tank top and ripped blue jeans with a work apron set up along his front that did nothing to hide the numerous scars adorning his arms and chest. All in all he looked like some kind of old grizzled war veteran, but he didn't really display any kind of supernatural leanings from what my limited senses were telling me.
A quick {Observe} had me immediately revising that last thought greatly.
[Name: Jack Abbott]
[Race: Human][Gender: Male] [Age: 62]
[Titles:] [Retired Exorcist]
[Bloodline Ability: ?]
[Level: ?]
[HP: ?] [HPR: ?]
[MP: ?] [MPR: ?]
[SP: ?] [SPR: ?]
[STR: ?] [AGI: ?] [VIT: ?] [END: ?] [INT: ?] [WIS: ?] [LUCK: ?]
Okayyyy I'm just gonna let the fact that this guy is probably one of the strongest people in town drop dead where it stands.
'Something I'd really like to do Horus, so would you kindly shut the fuck up,' I snarled into my head as Horus repeatedly slammed burst of battle-lust into our connection while crying out in anticipation of whatever fight he believed would happen. Thankfully he stopped when asked and instead went back to tormenting Skull Knight by using it as a chew toy.
(Something I didn't exactly stop as Skull Knight did attempt to cut off my head just a couple hours ago.)
Jack seemed to finally get himself together when he shook his head to clear it of whatever was causing him to space out in the first place. He then took a deep breath before smiling at the both of us with a lot more cheer than he had previously.
"Well well well, if it isn't my least favorite, little pervert," Jack said with so much snark in his tone he could have choked a shark. (Hehe I rhymed.)
"You're one to talk, you Ero-oji-san!" Issei bit right back with just as much snark. The action surprised me greatly as I didn't think Issei had it in him.
"What'd you say, you Ero-gaki!"
"You heard me, you Shitty Geezer!"
They stayed in a dead lock for a solid ten seconds, lightning actually flashing between their eyes anime style, before both gained large smiles, and Jack slapped Issei on the back with a bark of laughter.
"Good! You've still got some spine in ya! I was afraid you'd lost it with whatever beating you ended up in this time," Jack said with a proud look on his wrinkled, bearded face.
"Like I'd let one little beating stop me from my dream," Issei replied with a grimace as the slap to the back clearly set off all the bruises he probably had there, though the conviction in his voice held strong.
The mention of his so-called 'dream' (and I think we can all figure out what that is) made Jack grimace and slap his back much harder than before.
"Dammit you Ero-gaki, how many times have I told you to give up on that perverted little fantasy of yours!"
"Never!" Issei screamed not moments later while striking a dramatic pose. "I shall never give up my dream of being a HAREM KING-ERK!"
"I think that's enough," I ground out while my hand was clamped down on Issei's mouth to stop his screaming. It wasn't even the topic that annoyed me, just the screaming. Oh and Horus making me the tiniest bit irritable at the moment by shreking along with Issei in what I now knew to be laughter.
A huff from Jack caused me to snap my attention back to him because even if he wasn't hostile at the moment that didn't change the fact he was the strongest person I've met to date, and I really shouldn't take my eyes off him."Glad to see you've finally made a friend who's willing to curb your stupid ways gaki," Jack chuckled before gaining a sly look.
"And how exactly are you planning on becoming a Harem King when you couldn't even remember your childhood friend was a girl!? I had to actually pull out the scrapbook of her in a sundress at a Sunday service just to convince you!"
"Mph mmm hmphhhh!" Issei tried to respond only for my hand to stay clamped on his face. He even attempted to pull my hand off only to fail at every turn while I barely gave any effort. My actions mainly stemmed from the fact that I now had confirmation on where Issei learned Irina was a girl.
It also made me realize; I was making waves a lot faster than I had anticipated.
Once Issei finally seemed to understand I wasn't letting go (though he didn't realize it was due to slight shock), he turned a teary eyed gaze to me. Something that had me cringing as it looked downright weird to see on a teenage guy who couldn't pull it off at all.
"I swear you are such a weirdo Hyoudou," I sighed while releasing him from his muted state.
"S-Screw huff huff y-you," Issei huffed out while trying to get his breath back. Whoops, looks like I had covered his nose when I did that. My bad.
"Heh and here I thought you swung for the other team gaki," Jack butted in with a bark of laughter. The green that tinted Issei's cheeks seconds later only added to his laughter and for me to release a few chuckles of my own.
"Fuck both of you bastards!" Issei yelled at our amusement.
"Seriously though Issei I don't swing that way, but hey you do you man," I said, amusement clear in my tone. Issei released a groan of annoyance at our continued insults/jokes before finally straightening out. Though mutters of "I only love oppai" and "oppai for life you bastards" just made me laugh more.
"Anyways, Fall Warren this is Abbott Jack also known as the Shitty Geezer or Ero-oji-san. Ero-oji-san I brought Fall-san like you asked so I'm off," Issei said before quickly walking off to look through the aisles and in turn leaving me alone with the stupidly overpowered and retired exorcist.
A stupidly overpowered and retired exorcist who was scrutinizing my form with the keen eye of someone clearly experienced with seeing underneath the underneath. Something that was made very clear with his first words.
"So...what are your plans as far as what happened to your uncle?"
For a moment, I just stared at him trying to come up with how to even begin either asking or saying what first came to mind with his words.
Of course since my internal filter seemed to just be shitty as usual the first thing I said was, "Nothing."
That clearly threw him off as he went wide eyed while staring at me with shock clear in his frame.
So I continued on with the second thing that came to mind," which version of events do you know?"
Dang that seemed to throw him even more off kilter though he was quick to get his bearings as he stared at me with narrowed eyes. Eyes that bore into my own while clearly trying to figure out just how much he could either say, or how much I already knew which is why it didn't really surprise to me when his eyes widened as he seemed to realize that I knew what really happened.
"Masaomi-kun informed me of his relationship with Cleira-chan pretty early into their relationship," he began with a reluctant sigh. "He had told me of his suspicions that some of the higher ups in the church had found out, and that Cleira-chan thought the same for her own higher ups. This was only three days before I was informed that Cleira-chan supposedly killed him but died in the end from her own injuries. Of course since I had been informed of their suspicions, I looked into it a bit, and I found out that the devils were pretty much running the same story but with a clear lack of information about how Cleira died in the end." Here he huffed in tense amusement," funny how the higher ups always try to tell us Devils are completely different from humans, and yet they came up with practically the same plan."
"More like it's sad that the so-called "people in charge" can't see the hypocrisy of it all," I drawled out with only the tiniest hints of my actual rage in my tone. Horus excluded from the cause of such emotions for once.
The amused (yet sad and tired and ashamed) sigh from Jack was all I needed to know that he agreed with me.
"How exactly did you know my uncle, Abbott-san?"
Here Jack started in surprise before smiling a smile only an elder remembering something in his past could make. "I'd known Masaomi-kun from when he was a little younger than you. I was both his mentor and uncle, perhaps even father figure if I may be so bold. I watched him grow up to become a man I could proudly follow behind as my better." Here he chuckled nostalgically," that uncle of yours was easily one of the best damn swordsmen I've ever had the honor of training...of course his taste in women left much to be desired." He finished with a rueful look. He stayed silent after that with glazed over eyes as memories of the past seemed to haunt him for a minute. Eventually he seemed to be over it; however, and he turned to me with narrowed eyes as if just realizing something.
"I must admit to being surprised that you even found out the truth," Jack said with the barest hints of suspicion in his tone. A tone that told me if I didn't tell him how I found out then we were gonna be having a problem here and now.
A problem that I may not walk away from.
"Would you believe me if I said I read about what happened in a book?" I asked with as straight a face I could manage in order to not let my worry show. The fact that I even worded it that way making me tense as the fact I knew this world as a story was something I planned to take to my grave.
Thankfully he seemed to think I was referring to something else, and he gave a sound of understanding before he reached under the counter and pulled out a cardboard box.
"Found one of Masaomi-kun's journals did ya? Good. That means you'll hopefully be able to read these then." Here he opened the box up to show it was full of leather bound books without titles.
Grabbing one, I opened the book and found the only thing I could understand within the text was the first page. A page that said it belonged to my uncle. The rest of the text made not a lick of sense to me, and it didn't look like any language I had ever seen. When I voiced this aloud Jack explained what exactly I was looking at.
"Damn and here I was hoping the one you read was like these," he said while clicking his tongue in annoyance before further explaining." I don't know if you're aware of this or not, but your uncle was one of the only humans on the planet who could read and write in Enochian, the language of the Angels. Apparently the baka was on a long term assignment with Uriel of all Angels and asked to learn Enochian simply to strive off boredom." Here he grunted in annoyance as he glared down at the books in the box," and while he was at it he apparently learned a spell to turn anything written into Enochian. Damn brat started turning books into Enochian just to mess with me sometimes," he finished with a tick mark pulsing away on his forehead.
"So...this is Enochian?" I asked/stated as I looked through the book in my hands. The words/symbols on the pages gave me a slight headache just looking at them.
"Yeah, Masaomi-kun made it a habit to write everything he wrote in Enochian in order to have extra security," here his annoyance resurfaced," which included the journal containing proof of the higher ups trying to kill him off!"
Now that made me blink for a moment as something he said earlier didn't add up," but I thought you said he was on a long term assignment with Uriel. If he got to know one of the Four Seraphs don't you think he could have pulled some strings to make the higher ups back off? Heck he could have given the evidence to Uriel if he really had it!"
"Whoever said it was the Heavenly higher ups that ordered the attack," he replied with a tired sigh." From what backtracking I could do, the orders apparently came straight from the Vatican during a period of time when Uriel was in Heaven for a publicly known assignment."
"Tch...well at least it's reassuring to know that it was human stupidity that ordered an unjustified death," I muttered while my mind raced to try and remember if this particular bit of information was ever revealed in the original story.
"No kidding. Anyways I figure that these would probably be better kept in your hands for the time being," here he pushed the box over. "I wasn't able to get any of Masaomi-kun's old equipment unfortunately, or I'd be giving you that too...oh wait there actually was something else." Here he ducked under the counter and began looking for something. It took him a solid five minutes of searching (during which time he cursed a lot and I looked over the books in the box to see if any of them were legible which they weren't) before he finally found whatever it was that he remembered.
Placing a square mahogany box on the counter, he pushed it forward for me to open. The box itself wasn't all that interesting to look at besides the cross design on the lid. Popping the box open led to me blinking in surprise at what exactly I found.
At first glance it appeared to be a small metallic book the size of my palm made of shiny silver with a thin metal chain attached at the top of the spine. The book itself only had the barest of designs with a simple cross engraved into the front and the initials M. Y. carved into the back. Actually opening the tiny book led to me staring in shock as engraved in tiny letters was the verse: Psalms 136:1.
"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever." I muttered with tears starting to prick the corners of my eyes because this verse...this verse was my uncle's favorite verse.
"That was your uncle's favorite verse," Jack said, voicing my thoughts aloud.
"Y-Yeah," I stuttered out with a slight hitch in my voice," he always said that this was the version of God he liked best. Not the versions that tell of God's wrath, or even those that tell of his forgiveness...this simple verse that tells us that if nothing else he is good." I finished while having to constantly wipe away the tears that wanted to fall free.
"...I suppose that's the version of God most people forget nowadays," Jack replied after giving me a moment to calm myself. The emotion in his tone that spoke of countless men and women he knew who had forgotten this simple message ringing loud and clear.
We stayed silent for a few more minutes after that. Jack took this time to stack up some books he had on the counter while I just stared down at the little book in my hands and rubbed my fingers along its smooth surface.
Eventually Jack broke the silence," that's yours now as far as I'm concerned. Though you should know that it's not just a little trinket that your uncle wore as a reminder." At my look of confusion he continued," your uncle was a strong person Warren, and like most strong people out there, they all have a bad habit of letting their power flare up at the smallest of things." Here he leaned over the counter to show me that there was in fact a second part of the memento that could be opened up. The inside now displayed a dial of sorts that glowed a bright yellow in color.
"What you're holding is known as an Energy Suppressor. With it anyone can suppress their true level of strength to a certain extent as long as they wear it. It's mainly used to hide people who are undercover while people like your uncle use them to stop their energy from flaring up when their emotions go wild. Though in his case it was also to make sure his new girlfriend wasn't uncomfortable around him when he got to…passionate," He explained with a huff of amusement. He then went on to show me how to link it to myself (just had to drop a bit of blood on the cross on the cover) and have it suppress a certain amount of my overall power.
It was during this time that I couldn't even begin to reign in my utter glee at having a way to hide any power increases I may have. Not that it gave me an excuse to use my Unused Stat Points frivolously mind you, but it at least would help hide when my MP took a boost like with {Magic Core} evolving.
I also went about actually using {Observe} on the keepsake.
Psalms Memento {Legacy Rare} {Item: Accessory / Mystic Code}:
A memento left behind by Masaomi Yaegaki for you to have. It doubles as an Energy Suppressor that allows you to hide your true strength from friends and foes alike.
Can hide overall magical power
Grants +25% (LIGHT) DEF from all sources
Psalms Memento...heh ironic I suppose.
Once Jack was done explaining the ins and outs of my new trinket, which I immediately strung along my neck, I made sure to set the Suppressor to start suppressing any power I would gain past this current point. If nothing else than because I know for a fact Koneko is watching the shop at the moment thanks to my mini-map (as I highly doubt someone would casually sit on a roof in the middle of the day), and I can only hope that the boost in stats I got last night won't be enough to tip off the devils.
I also couldn't help but smile from the feeling of warmth the silver charm gave me as it rested against my chest.
"Now with that all sorted, I suppose you'll want to take a look around?" Jack asked while discreetly pulsing his own power slightly and dropping the barrier that had been around us from his first words to me. What? Did you really think neither of us would make sure Issei heard nothing of our conversation? If Jack hadn't gone about placing up a barrier (which I should probably ask him if he can teach me), I had planned to drop both of us into an {ID: Empty}. Even if it would probably confuse Issei over where the hell we went it still would have served the same purpose.
[WARNING!]
[Only the one bearing the title [The Gamer] may enter IDs at this point in time.]
Oh…well that may be an issue.
"Yeah, I had originally agreed to come here to look around after all," I said before making my way into the aisles. While looking around I also ran into Issei who appeared to be totally engrossed in a magazine (yes, it was that kind of magazine), and I couldn't stop myself from pointing something out.
"I thought you said this place didn't sell smut or porn?"
"I did! This is a Playboy magazine!"
"That's the same thing Ero-gaki!"
"OI! Don't butt into other people's conversations Shitty Geezer!"
"What was that?!"
"You heard me!"
That little slice of hilarity aside (Jack ended up putting Issei in a choke hold), I did in fact find something I was very interested in while looking around.
Crafting Manual: Chest-plates {Common} {Item: Skill Book}:
Thanks to this Skill Book, you will gain the ability to craft Chest-plates with ease!
Grants ability to craft Chest-plates
Requirement: {Crafting Lv10}, WIS 20, VIT 15, END 15
Fuck yes! I can finally craft more equipment!
Looking around a bit more, I also found three more Skill Books for grieves, gauntlets, and accessories that's requirements were within range with what stats I currently had. The real game changer; however, was when I found a Skill Book for Barriers.
And yes that is barriers, plural. Apparently absorbing this one skill book would give me access to at least 4 different Common Tier barriers: {Basic Physical Barrier}, {Basic Magic Barrier}, {Basic Avoidance Barrier}, and {Basic Silence Barrier}. Looked like I wouldn't have to ask Jack to teach me how to create that silencing barrier after all!
With one final sweep to see if I could find anything else of value, I finally walked up to the counter with a smile on my face that wasn't gonna be leaving anytime soon.
"Found some good books?" Jack asked while ringing me up only slightly raising his brow at my selection. Issei having already gone about buying the magazines he found and Dragon Quest V which I promised he could play on my "Wall of Gamer" as long as he behaved and waited until the weekend.
"Oh yes, I found some very interesting books," I said with a smile that seemed to freak Issei the fuck out if his paling face was anything to go by.
"Should I be worried about any bodies being found soon?" Jack asked with a joking tone though I think it was for Issei's sake. Not that it did him any good.
"Not any that could be found," I replied with a level of cheer in my voice that set Issei even more on edge and chuckling uneasily as he couldn't tell if I was joking or not.
"Good enough for me," Jack said with a shrug while he finished ringing me up. The overall cost of everything being around 15,000 Yen, which yikes, but still totally worth it.
Finally done with our shopping we began making our way out the door only for Jack to call out to me with a final message.
"I get it if you don't have the time or anything, but if you ever get the chance to decipher those journals let me know alright?"
Ding! Quest Alert!
[Language of the Angels!]
Find a way to decipher your uncle's journals, and perhaps you'll find information to prove the whole truth to any who wish to hear it.
{Objective: Find someone to teach/translate the journals}
Rewards: 50,000 EXP, 100,000 Yen, 1 Random Tier III (LIGHT) Phantasm, 1 Super Rare (LIGHT) Item Randomizer, and Information that proves your uncle and his former lover's innocence
Accept / Decline
Looking at the new pop up and back at Jack, I found myself smiling widely as I answered both requests at once.
"Leave it to me."