Obviously, I don't own High School DxD.

[=-CHAPTER 5-=]

I blinked at Rias, waiting for her to continue. But it seemed she was waiting for some sort of reaction from me. Shock, maybe? I don't know.

"You... don't seem that surprised. Did you somehow already know?" She says with a cute tilt of her head. Something I've noticed is that her natural mannerisms and her body don't match at all.

She probably thinks I haven't noticed it, but seeing through fake behavior is a specialty of mine. She's been copying Akeno while trying to seduce me, I think. Although their bodies are equally as voluptuous, Akeno gives off a natural seductress vibe.

Meanwhile, Rias seems to be naturally inclined to innocence, weirdly enough. She's probably the type of person to walk around naked and think it's natural to not have clothes on. You aren't born with them, after all.

"No offense Rias, but you aren't exactly being subtle. I mean, you're very powerful and your surname is Gremory. It's not rocket science. Honestly, I was tempted to tease you about secretly being a guy and owning a camel of all things." I reply bluntly.

Seriously though, a camel? I know they're good transportation but horses are way cooler.

"Ahem. Well, since you obviously know of the supernatural, what are you doing here in devil territory?" She says with genuine curiosity after ruthlessly suppressing her embarrassed blush.

"Oh no, don't get me wrong. I have no idea what the hell is going on in this town. Half the girls I've seen have been monstrously strong and throwing magic around like it's normal. Please, enlighten me." I say while interlocking my fingers and resting my face on my hands.

She does a double-take at my words, "Wait, so if you don't know about the supernatural, how did you use touki?" In response, I shrug.

"I don't know. I just meditated for a really long time until something happened. I can instinctively tell how strong people are so when I saw that Sona girl on the first day I got scared and meditated the days away to calm down. Then, that happened."

A moment of silence happened where Rias put a finger to her chin in a thinking pose, propping her arm under her breasts. I was about to speak when she crossed her legs and raised them a tad bit high making me raise an eyebrow. That was an intentional move, using seduction to keep me quiet while she thinks.

Sure, I'll stay quiet. Though it is insulting she thinks I can be shut up by a few pantie shots. Whatever, her naivete will be her undoing sooner or later.

Interrupting my musing, Akeno set a cup of tea in front of me with a fake smile. I don't reciprocate until I get a good look at the tea. Could be poison.

[Macha Tea] (By: Akeno Himejima)

Near perfectly made in terms of taste and quality. Temporarily makes the consumer calm, rational, and think slightly faster. (30m)

Huh. Maybe I'm being too paranoid around these guys. Naahhh, I'm probably not being remotely paranoid enough. I don't know if these guys can subtly use mind manipulation, after all.

Either way, this tea tastes fantastic. I give Akeno a smile and a nod of thanks. In response, her smile turns from a fake one to a real one. Her honest reaction makes my smile grow more. Looks like someone enjoys praise. Or maybe she just enjoys making tea.

Fuck it, probably both.

"Even for our standards, your power unlocking that way is unusual. In fact, the entire reason we're speaking is that the girl you were afraid of took interest after noticing your magic core pulsating." Rias begins again, still visibly trying to organize her thoughts.

Pulsating though? Does she mean when I was meditating? I knew playing around with skills in school would be a bad idea, but to think it was that obvious.

"Huh. Well, whatever. So why did you want to speak with me instead of letting your little loli crush me?" I ask. I thought she wanted to talk because she thought I was a murderer and just wanted my side of the story.

Now, though, I think it might be something else.

"Right. I want you to join my peerage and become a devil." She says with a chipper tone. My eyes narrow immediately at this, however.

"Elaborate."

She collects herself and backs up a little. "Of course. You may not know this, but almost all of the mythologies you know of are true in some form. Gods, angels, fallen angels, devils."

"And my race is a Devil, one of the three parts of the biblical faction. But as you might've guessed, there are other factions. The Norse gods, for example. Sadly, our faction has always been at odds with each other. Angels, Devils, and Fallen Angels have never really gotten along. Years of war have dwindled each race down and as a species with a low fertility rate, our leaders looked to other sources of repopulating."

Ah. I see where she's going with this.

"In other words... people like me. People who already know of the supernatural and can't really get away from it anymore."

"Exactly." She confirms.

"I have... many questions. But before we continue this conversation any further, I have to ask my most important one. If I say no, what'll happen to me?" I ask in the most emotionless tone I can use.

I want to sound neutral here so she'll answer honestly, but if she says something I don't like I'm gonna just immediately download and deconstruct the ground below me. I might not be fast enough but I'll try and dig away. If not, I'm taking someone down with me if they try anything.

Luckily, her response isn't as bad as I thought.

"Normally we would just erase your memory of this encounter. But considering you're already involved in the supernatural, nothing would happen. I know my race has a... less than desirable reputation amongst humans, but my clan prides ourselves on being civil." She says that last part with a small frown.

That sounds pretty reasonable to me. Memory manipulation is a huge taboo in my opinion but it's not that bad in this instance.

"Alright, sell me on it. If I'm understanding this right, this should be a life-changing decision so I want all the details," I take a moment to think before continuing, "Pros and cons, don't leave anything out."

With renewed vigor, she answers with gusto while Akeno looks on with an exasperated but fond look. Rias is a bit excitable, huh. That, or prideful of her race.

"Got it! As I'm the heiress of the Gremory clan, you'll have our full support on anything you endeavor. The best trainers for magic, combat, and much more. Money won't ever be a problem and anyone who opposes you opposes us as well."

"On top of that, you'll gain thousands of years of lifespan, enhancements to your power, and the ability to use the devil's often desired imagination-based magic."

Neat. I don't need money though. I can just get a coal mine, transmute coal into diamonds, and then fuck off to Narnia. The power is nice but power without earning it seems cheap. I wouldn't go out of my way to get rid of power I didn't earn, but I definitely wouldn't look for it.

That being said...

"...The cons?"

She tits her head again cutely, "Hmm... well, for one you'd be expected to perform contracts. Basically, you do a job for a human, and in return, you get a small increase in your magic power. It's how most low-class devils reach middle-class."

"You'd also be obligated to fight in any battles we might get in, whether that be in a rating game or not." She notices the confused look on my face and explains further, "Oh a rating game is a sort of team combat sport."

"There's also some political matters that you'd have to be subject to as a reincarnated devil, but that's a fairly moot point considering how I treat my peerage members." She says that part quickly. She doesn't want me to think about that part. Suspicious, but I don't care. No amount of politics will stop me from slapping a disrespectful asshole.

This is not a wuxia novel or whatever where the nobles just shit on everyone and people act like it's okay. If someone is rude I'm gonna be rude back. The entire devil race can catch these hands when I get strong enough.

"I won't lie. The only thing I really care about is the enhancements and lifespan. Don't get me wrong, everything else sounds nice but I feel like I could substitute it with other things myself." I admit.

"Do you mind if I get some time to think about it? As I said, this is a life-changing decision." It's not really an enticing offer, but if I jump into this right away there might be some hidden stipulations and I don't want to deal with needless drama.

"I-I would prefer if you answered now." She stutters, looking nervous. That'd be suspicious if I couldn't tell she's just really desperate.

"Why? This doesn't seem like something time-sensitive."

Rias sighs, "...I suppose it would be unfair to demand an answer without explaining why." She takes a breath as Akeno lays a hand on her shoulder in comfort, "In a few days, I'm to be married to a man that I despise. However, there is a way out of this forced arrangement."

"A rating game. And you don't exactly need me, you're just bolstering your forces. Which I assume are lackluster in comparison to his if you've resorted to coming to me." I realize out loud.

I'm very much aware of how weak I am in the grand scheme of things. While her battle power of 850 sounds pretty high, the fact that she isn't strong-arming her engagement away means others can crush her like a bug. Either that or they're too valuable to harm.

So for her to come to me of all people? Even if I'm enhanced by being a devil I don't think I'd be that strong.

"That is pretty much on the mark, yes. So? Your answer?" She says without any of her seductive act. This is a genuine plea built on helplessness.

When I came into this world, I thought I was getting a slice of life anime that I could relax in and eventually become a billionaire through my inventions. If she offered me this at that point, I would've said yes in a heartbeat.

Creating machinery is very costly, and her promise of endless money is extremely enticing to a broke inventor or scientist. Funding is everything. But, now that I have a bit of power and can clearly see my own potential, this offer seems a bit... lackluster.

"Your... plight resonates with me. Freedom is a concept that I'm heavily involved with, after all."

I took a breath and collected my thoughts so I could say this without being misinterpreted.

"But, I'm going to have to decline. No offense, but you're a devil that I didn't even know existed until yesterday. In other words a stranger with a family history of excessive deceit and suffering. It would be foolish of me to give up my freedom to protect yours."

With each word, I watch as she winces and makes her slight frown morph into a grimace. She obviously understands what I'm getting at, but she still doesn't like it.

I don't blame her, I wouldn't like it either to be forcefully married to an enemy of mine.

"I-I see. I can't deny the logic behind that so I'll just have to go along with it." She says sadly, deflating completely. Slumping into the chair, she stares at the ceiling in defeat.

I think we're done here, so I silently put the empty teacup down and stand up and walk towards the door. On my way out, I give Akeno an apologetic look and a quick thank you for the tea. She responds with a sad smile, but nods and lets me go without much fanfare.

"Katsuo," I hear Rias say when I get to the door.

"Hm?" I reply without turning around.

I can hear the shuffling of clothes, but I only look over my shoulder and see her standing there with a determined look on her face. Akeno looks a bit confused, so this probably wasn't in any plan they had. Whatever she's about to say is coming from Rias, not a practiced sales pitch.

"The crux of the argument is that you don't trust me, right? To accept would mean trusting me with your life, and you can't exactly do that in confidence. Then I can't give up yet. I'll just have to earn your trust!" She says resolutely.

Goddammit. I shake my head and sigh at her words. I came in here expecting to get accused of murder and I left with a heartfelt promise to earn my trust.

This truly is an anime world.

"We'll see. Goodnight, Rias."

On the walk home, I think I finally recognized why I only seem to be familiar with the most minuscule of things in this world. If my memory serves me right, it'd mean I've never actually interacted with this anime.

At least, I've never interacted with the source material.

I read about this world in a certain fan-fiction. This fact I only realized after thinking thoroughly about what Rias told me; the implication that this world harbored almost every known pantheon and faction in human mythology.

A small, but significant detail that made me remember it clearly.

The only issue is that the setting of the fan-fiction was set hundreds of years before canon. Plus the main character was focused on the Greek pantheon and he was human. In other words, it was so far away from canon it might as well have been its own original story.

All my information about this world is so outdated it doesn't even matter. The only thing I know from reading that fan-fiction is that vampires will kick my ass and that there was apparently a... boob dragon in Kuoh Town?

Oh, and that Touki is way stronger than I give it credit for.

The main character was cutting up the Nemean lion and basilisks with it. Then again he had a legendary sword, years of training, and a full adventurer party.

...This world is much scarier than the Demonata. I don't regret my choice because getting stronger in the Demonata is near impossible but still, I may have miscalculated.

Another thing I think I miscalculated is my choice of magic.

The biggest part of transmutation is the ability to well... transmute things. To turn one substance into another substance. As it stands, I can't really do that. Yes, I can disassemble and reassemble things on a molecular level, sure.

But to change a base metal into gold like the 'pinnacle of alchemy' suggests, would require a level of control that I just don't have. On an atomic scale, in fact. Plus there are a ton of other factors that I think I know of, but then I'll somehow forget about some super obscure law of physics and blow up Japan.

So until my skills upgrade, I can't get into any of the more ambitious projects I had in mind.

Don't get me wrong, just being able to transform most things is a very powerful ability on its own, but I was hoping for more.

For now, though, I should probably start to push all my skills and abilities in one direction. Versatility and utility are good but with the looming threat of stronger beings, I need to get stronger quickly. And I can't do that if I'm trying to learn everything at once.

Therefore, I need a build.

Finally getting home, I step inside and make sure there are no surprises in my home. The first few days of my new life have been a bit hectic. Not too bad, but it undoubtedly put me on edge.

Thankfully, there's nothing around that I can see. That isn't too reassuring when magical creatures of any type could exist, watching me for whatever reason, but there's nothing I can currently do about that.

Either way, there are a few things I want to try when it comes to my Ki.

Closing my eyes, it takes a few seconds for me to get a hold of my Ki. This is something I thought about when I first played around with my life force.

I tried comparing it to other anime energy sources, but it was a little different in every scenario.

Unlike Naruto's chakra, it didn't originate from any one organ. From the moment I used Burst, my Ki has been in a certain perpetual state. The ball of light was still there, but I couldn't tell where it was exactly. I'm assuming my soul, but that's an assumption just based on anime stereotypes.

Different from the excitable ball of energy it was before, it seemed to be content now. Strands and branches of light originate from it now and connect to each and every pore in my body, seemingly just ignoring any of my fleshy parts and flowing through me.

I realize now that it was always doing that, but the light was dimmer before, to the point of being damn near invisible. It's what separates me from the average person. If I had to use a word to describe it, I'd say that normal people have dormant Ki, and mine is awakened.

The only thing similar it had to Naruto's chakra was that it couldaffect my perception.

But that's only if I made it do so. I could technically put myself under an illusion. But I wasn't skilled enough to do anything crazy like affect my perception of time so it really isn't useful. If I could control someone else's ki, then it could be useful. But that seemed impossible

And unlike in DBZ's Ki, it had nothing to do with my emotions or mental state. From what I could tell, I think it was less potent as well. Otherwise, I'd be able to blow up a neighborhood by now according to DBZ standards. And I... can't do that. Not with just my pure Ki.

It does carry some similarities, but not enough to say they're the same.

The closest energy in anime I could think of was Nen from Hunter x Hunter.

Although Nen isn't as abundant as the Ki of this universe, nor does it allow for the user to make self illusions, it functions the same as a substance. If I had to guess the difference? It'd be that Nen is more spiritual in nature while the Ki here is more physical.

I can't have a Hatsu, believe me, I tried the Water Divination test and nothing happened, but I can still similarly manipulate my Ki as one would with Nen.

I tried to guide my Ki towards my eyes before, but it was like trying to gather water with your hands and transfer it. Nearly impossible and would've taken forever. When I tried to force the Ki there instead, it felt like I was trying to push a mountain with my eyeballs with how much strain there was.

But there's one technique I hadn't considered until now.

If my Ki functions like Nen, for the most part, that means the reason people die by old age is that their Ki slowly leaks out of their body. Even if it's dormant and unusable.

By awakening my Ki, my lifespan should've increased quite a bit. Most likely it increases my lifespan the more Ki that I have. Eventually, it'll catch up to me and I'll die by old age but if I get much stronger it'll be a long time until that happens.

Basically, the stronger I am, the longer I'll live.

And what if I add on to that even further?

I can't force my Ki to completely stop flowing, that'd be a technique even harder than focusing Ki into my eyes. But I can try something else.

Focusing inwards, I see that familiar ball of light again. Mentally zooming out, I can see that it's slowly letting out waves of Ki and dispersing that Ki into the air once it reaches too far from my body. Keeping calm, I slightly alter the direction of the Ki to a cyclone.

The cyclone spins and whirls around my body, picking up any Ki that strays too far and pushing it back into that same rotating motion, layering my skin in energy and not allowing it to go any further.

[Technique Discovered: Touki – Shroud]

By allowing your Ki to flow outward but stay within and through the body, you keep it from wandering away. While active this reduces aging, slightly boosts healing, and offers limited protection against normal attacks. The smoothness of one's Shroud determines their internal Ki control.

[Touki Manipulation (Novice) has been upgraded to Touki Manipulation (Apprentice) by learning the most basic Touki techniques.]

That's what you like to see.

I should probably try and keep this active at all times. Even when I'm sleeping. No one besides other Ki users should even be able to see it. After all, I've technically been leaking huge amounts of Ki all day and no one has really said anything or looked at me funny.

Immediately, the sudden increase in Ki Control becomes noticeable. If before I could only flex my Ki like a muscle to make it do things, now I could control it as if it were a limb.

The focus of my Ki on parts of my body still seems impossible, but only because it would take a huge amount of Ki to do so. Further training would be needed for something like that.

I wonder if I can ask the Devils for help when it comes to training. They should know more than me about supernatural things and their leader thinks she can persuade me to join so she'll probably just give me whatever information I need.

They even gave me this Devil summoning thing. The magic circle makes no sense to me, but I guess that's the point of it being tailored to her clan. It's like an encrypted spell so I can't just read the circle and summon her without the paper.

I probably would've accepted, albeit reluctantly, if she wasn't a 'devil'. Not to be racist, but I barely trust random humans, much less a species known for making deals that seem good but are actually shit in the end.

Without the insurance that I can back out at any point, I don't think I'll ever make a deal with a devil.

My musing is interrupted when a sudden feeling ofisolationpasses over me. I have no idea what just happened, but it feels like I was just cut off from the rest of the world.

Instinctively, I check my body for anything even slightly off. Physically I look and feel fine, and even my magic and ki feel pretty normal, so what the hell just happened?

Then I heard someone ring the doorbell. Did just holding this paper summon the devils outside my house or something?

...No, I don't recall feeling like this when they were near me before.

Slowly, I get off the couch and walk over to the front door. Now that I'm standing here, something just jumped out to me.

It's quiet. Too quiet. Soundless, even. As if reality itself was holding its breath in anticipation.

As I stand there confused, whoever is at the door starts to get impatient. Ringing and ringing the bell over and over again aggressively. Normally I'd just open it but that earlier feeling has my blood pumping. Whoever this is definitely isn't friendly.

Going to the kitchen, I pick up a chef's knife and twist it around in my hand. Using a bit of transmutation magic, the knife now has the same effect as if it was just recently sharpened.

There are no real weapons besides the knife in this house so this is as good as it's gonna get.

By now, aggressive ringing at the door has turned into them banging on it. If they're saying anything, I can't hear it. I might be overreacting a little but I don't want to take any chances.

Putting the knife behind my back, I'm about to open the door when I remember I haven't checked out something.

There is a certain skill that was unlocked a while ago that I haven't looked into.

[Sacred Gear: Revelation Shatter]

Your eyes glow with a scarlet light. While active, you can see the weak points of an enemy. They become clearer the longer the user fights. Costs stamina while active.

There's a weird tingling in my eyes, but that's about it. If the stamina cost is this slim, I should be able to use this for a very long time while fighting.

Honestly, I'm a bit surprised. When I heard the word 'Sacred Gear' I thought it would summon an item or something. A crash course on how this world works would be really nice right about now.

Finally, I opened the door.

...And there was no one there.

"...Who the hell rung my doorbell?" I wondered out loud, not really expecting an immediate answer.

But a manic voice decided to answer behind me anyway, "Ooh, ooh! I know, I know, it was me!"

I spun around at the sound of the voice to see a man with white hair and red eyes. He was clearly not Japanese, and very clearly not right in the head. I don't know how he got in without me noticing, but he was acting like a toddler, raising his hand as if he was being called on in class.

Freed Sellzen – Battle Power: 0

Unique Ability: None

Honestly, almost forgot to post over here.

(Spoilers: To anyone confused why Freed has 0 BP, it's cuz it goes based on energy levels. As far as I know, he's just a prodigy swordsman at this point in the story. If I'm wrong, I don't care I already wrote it.)

To the guy who asked about DBZ power levels, No. I think people underestimate how truly broken the characters in DBZ are. If I'm not mistaken, Roshi blew up the MOON at a power level of 280. TWO EIGHTY.

I don't know if it was canon or not, but I think King Vegeta was blowing up planets left and right with just a 10k power level. Raditz would shit on Rias and curbstomp her whole peerage.

Anyway, this took a bit to make cuz someone damn near broke my thumb. And then my body decided to be stupid and fill my whole thumb with excessive blood so it looked like a balloon attached to my finger. And it's hard to type with a cast.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter despite everything.