Dread filled me as I took another step.

Right now, I was atop the roof of my apartment building. More specifically I was walking on the roof ledge. Oh yeah, my eyes are closed.

I know it sounds stupid, but I'm getting desperate here. I tried all sorts of ways to unlock my Sacred Gear, and none of them had any success, so I thought that maybe by using terror, I'd be able to achieve it.

Addmintately I was desperate and grasping at straws here, but if this doesn't work then I'm not sure what I can do.

Another step and I almost lost my balance. My breath hitched another level, and my heart skipped a beat. Still, I continued step after step until I felt my foot hit the other end of the ledge.

[Your negative emotions have reached the threshold of the tolerance limit]

[FLAW REMOVED: Sealed Gear]

Upon hearing the notification, I noticed a black chest plate had appeared on my person. It wasn't any Sacred Gear that I had heard about or seen from canon. I'll have to look into what its capabilities are later. I closed my eyes and focused on the chest plate; sure enough, it dematerialized.

[TRAIT GAINED: Act of Desperation]

[Act of Desperation]

It is often said that a cornered animal is a dangerous one. In that regard, so are you. The worst the situation you are the more dangerous you become. Getting impaled will let you land a blow on your enemy you otherwise wouldn't have been able to. Making rash decisions that put you in more danger will yield opportunities that otherwise might've been unavailable. Gambling your life on a single strike will be significantly more effective. As long as you are more than willing to do anything for an advantage, it will work in your favor more times than not.

[NOTE: Act of Desperation is a trait of Do As You Will.]

My first trait huh? I can't say it bodes well, but I'm sure it'll have its purpose. Still, I have a bad feeling about it.

Hmm, I should get ready. I made sure to get to school long before anyone else would so I could conduct this little experiment of mine. Making my way down from the roof I waited at the entrance gate for half an hour before the first few students and faculty members arrived.

"Excuse me, your Regis Chasseur, right?" I turned around to face the one who spoke to me only to be greeted by Yuuto Kiba, the blond Knight of Rias Gremory and wielder of the Sacred gear Sword Birth.

"That's right. Can I help you?"

"Actually, I was kinda wondering if you'd like someone to show you around? I imagine it can't be easy being the new guy in town," Kiba offered, so that's the angle.

An idea popped into my head.

"Sure. Since classes are due to start for a while, how about we start now?" I question, and he seems surprised for a moment but quickly casts that away.

"Sounds great in that case how abo-"

"Hey, you're a part of that occult research club, right? That's in the old school building. How about we go there first?"

I think Kiba realized that I wasn't giving him a choice in the matter.

"Can I ask why you seem so interested?" Kiba asked, keeping his smiling facade up.

The occult has always been interesting. How could I not go to a club dedicated to it?

We walked in silence, earning the attention of various students who began murmuring amongst themselves, "Does this happen often?"

"Sadly, yes," he answered with an apologetic smile, "You'll get used to it."

"I doubt that…" my muttering was followed by a long sigh.

Luckily it didn't take long before we arrived at the entrance of the old school building, and it seemed that not many people went around it despite the popularity of the ORC. I guess that it's the work of some sort of Devil magic involved in making everyone avoid it, but I could be jumping to conclusions.

Kiba led me to the main room, where Rias was sitting at a desk and going over what I assumed to be paperwork involving the club's extracurricular activities.

"Yuuto, who's this that you brought here?" Rias looked up from the paper and glazed between the two of us.

Wow, her hair really is as red as blood. So far it seems that the anime didn't do justice to any of the girls. Granted, I've only seen Rias and Koneko…oh god, what if Koneko is here? Shit, I didn't think this through!

"This is Regis Chasseur," Kiba introduced.

"The new student?" Rias raised from her seat and eyed me up and down.

"He said he wanted to check out the club immediately," Kiba informed.

"Is that so?" Rias seemed intrigued by that tidbit, "Is there any reason for that?"

"Rias Gremory, I would like to join your Peerage!" I declared without any hesitation and immediately, I could feel the temperature in the room drop.

-Rias-

This had surprised her but confirmed the suspicions that Regis had at least some knowledge about the moonlit world. Still, she had many questions that needed to be answered, and she could tell that Yuuto was on edge at the sudden request.

"You know that entering another's territory without permission is not polite. At the very least, you should've introduced yourself sooner," Rias reprimanded with a slight frown on her face.

Regis did something that Rias didn't see coming. He apologetically got on his knees, "Is that the way it works? In that case…I humbly ask your forgiveness!"

Rias hardened her gaze at her fellow redhead. He seemed truthful, as she couldn't sense any deceit in his apology. She sighed and motioned Yuuto to lower his guard before addressing the new student again.

"I take it by your body langue that you haven't been aware of the supernatural long, is that correct?" she asked, and sure enough, he nodded, "In that case, how exactly do you know about Peerages?"

"Oh, that? I heard and read a lot of secondhand stories about it growing up. I never really believed in Devils, Angels, and the like until yesterday when those things attacked me. Truthfully if not for the fact that they were chatty, I might've suspected them being yokai or something else," his answer was seemingly truthful. However, still, she couldn't help but feel a bit suspicious, "Then I heard that one of my upperclassmen was named Gremory. Well, that settled any doubts I might've had. After all, I can't say I've ever heard of someone sharing the name of one of the Demons recorded in the Ars Goetia."

Regis continued smiling, "Honestly, it wasn't hard to put two and two together."

The Gremory heiress blanched briefly before clearing her throat to regain her composure and spoke with an air of authority, "You expect me to believe that?"

"Yes?" was his meek response.

"Then how do you explain your magic?" she looked at him with an accusatory stare.

"Magic? Sorry, I don't follow. I just hit things really hard." Regis had a genuine look of confusion.

That didn't make sense. There were signs of magic that didn't belong to the Stray Devils, meaning only Regis could've used it, but he was not lying. There was no deceit in his voice, face, or body langue. Could he have a Sacred Gear?

"You're telling the truth. I can't deny that. Nevertheless, I do have to wonder why would you want to join my Peerage?"

"Addmitabley, it's for selfish reasons. If I'm a Devil, I gain a stronger body, the use of magic, and a near-endless lifespan. I also figured I'd gain resources that I lack as I am now," Regis explained, and the look in his eyes shone with greed, a look that Rias had seen in many Devils in the past.

" I'm only hearing things you'd gain. Why should I take you in? What could you provide?" Rias pressed, trying to gauge a sense of the boy's character.

"Right! It makes sense you'd want to know that. Well, to start, I hit things really hard; as I said before, I may also be related to a hero, but I don't know who, oh and I have this," suddenly a black plate mail covered his chest with sharp, almost triangular pauldrons resting on his shoulders and his neck was surrounded by armor that resembles the lower jaw of some sort of beast, "I'm not sure what it does, but hey its something."

"Interesting…"

Rias started to move around Regis, examining him and his Sacred Gear. She'd never heard of anything quite like this one before. However, she would like to see him in action to get a proper sense of what role would be best for him.

"Yuuto," upon hearing his name Yuuto perked up.

"Yes, President?"

"Would you mind sparring with Regis here? I'm curious to see what he can do."

"Of course," Yuuto bowed before turning to face the new student, "Come this way, please."

Rias watched as the two boys left the main room.

-Yuuto-

"Isn't Rias going to be watching?" Regis questioned when he noticed that the redhead hadn't followed the two of them.

"Hmm, look at you already using her first name so casually," Yuuto teased.

"Sorry? Am I supposed to refer to her as Ms. Gremory?" Yuuto simply chuckled at Regis before answering.

"Don't worry; I'm sure she'd have no problem with the informality. As for why she didn't follow, there's a monitoring spell in this room. She can see everything happening in this room and then some," Yuuto created two blunted swords and offered one to Regis, "Before we begin, I have to know just how much experience you have with using a blade?"

"Honestly? I swing the thing randomly, as embarrassing as it is to admit I'm an absolute brute regarding swordplay."

"That's alright, this is just a spar," Yuuto watched as Regis took hold of the practice sword and immediately stiffened, "Hey, you said you're self-taught?"

"That's right," Regis gave a few practice swings.

"Just checking. So the rules will be simple, first to disarm the other wins, which includes breaking the opponent's sword," he explained, taking a stance.

"Sounds fair to me," Regis responded.

Yuuto took off at full speed, ready to strike Regis' head, only for his blow to be countered by the redhead's sword. The other teen swung his blade at Yuuto, who could barely keep his footing when he blocked.

The Knight disengaged, creating distance between them, only to be surprised when Regis lunged forward and unleashed a vicious series of slashes that Yuuto could barely react to. Regis raised his blade above his head and slammed it down in an attempt to hit Yuuto, who managed to dodge by sidestepping, only to be taken off guard when he changed his momentum for an upward slash.

Kiba managed to lean back enough to cause the blow to lessen. Still, he felt a sting where Regis' blade had glanced off. Wasting no time, Kiba went in for a sideways chop at the other boy's neck, only for his blade to bounce off Regis' Sacred Gears armor.

Regis went in for a one-handed strike that Kiba met with a defensive block using both hands. Yuuto was focused on keeping himself rooted that he didn't notice the smirk on Regis' face as he grabbed ahold of Kiba's blade with his other hand and pulled the blonde closer.

Time seemed to slow down as Yuuto watched as the blade was brought down towards him. He was powerless to do anything, but just before the edge met, it broke mid-swing, sending half it flying to the other side of the room.

"Damn, looks like it is your win. Can't say I'm too surprised," Regis conceded as he looked at the snapped weapon in his hand, "Here I thought I had you too…maybe next time."

Yuuto blinked in confusion.

"What just happened?" he thought to himself as he looked between his blade and Regis.

"That's enough," Rias' voice was heard overhead causing the new student to look around, "Regis, could you please come back to the club after classes are over?"

The boy in question nodded and gave a very enthusiastic "Sure" before being asked to leave for class. Once he was gone, Yuuto spoke to his King.

"Did you see that?" he asked.

"I did. It seems whatever he did, he had gained ownership of the sword you handed him," Rias answered, but Yuuto shook his head.

"No, not that. He said he was self-taught and a brute. While the power of his blows gives that impression his technique is another story," Yuuto paused for a moment trying to figure out how to put it, "He had an unnatural amount of control of it like it was an extension of his arm."

For the first time in a long time, Yuuto Kiba felt something burning inside him.

"I want to surpass him," he said to himself, but Rias still heard his words.

"Interesting," Rias thought before looking at her remaining Evil Pieces, one Rook, one Knight, one Bishop, and eight Pawns, "I wonder what I should use?"

-Regis-

[CLASS UNLOCKED: Brute]

How fitting. It makes sense that I'd gain something like that after the show I put on. I feel bad if memory serves me. Kiba is a technique-typed fighter. I can imagine what it must've been like for him to watch me swinging a sword around like a stick. I should ask for lessons on sword fighting or something.

HP: 37/50

SP: 20/60

Apparently, I can use Flash with a weapon as well as my bare hands, which is good to know for future reference. I also gained a small amount of EXP from the spar split between Flash and my Street Fighter class. I wasn't close to leveling either up, but it was progress.

"Yo!"

I heard someone call only to see Issei and his friends in tow.

"Oh, hey, Issei, what's up?" I asked the brunette, who looked to be on cloud nine.

"Nothing much. I just thought I should introduce you to the guys. This is Motohama," Issei gestured to the one with glasses before pointing to the one with a shaved head, "and Matsuda. They're the pals I told you about yesterday.

"Oh, well, it's nice to meet you two. My name is Regis Chasseur, and I hope we can be friends," I politely introduce myself, which seems to catch the two students off guard.

"Ugh? Likewise," the two spoke in an uncertain manner.

"By the way, you sure you don't wanna join us for the show after classes?" Issei questioned with a determined look.

"I already have commitments. Besides peeping really isn't my thing," at hearing my words Motohama and Matsuda seem heated as they both glared at me with accusatory looks.

"Oh, what so you too good for us you damn pretty boy?" Matsuda shouted angrily.

"I bet you he's able to just ask a girl to show him the goods and they'd do it! Damn it why do all the douches get the girls? What about the rest of us!" Motohama bemoaned.

"You guys are jumping to conclusions there I never said anything like that. Isn't that right Issei?" I turn to face the aforementioned teen only to see him also fuming.

"Damn, bishounen, how about you show us some sympathy! You are no better than that douche nuzzle, Kiba!"

All this yelling has brought in a crowd. People are talking, trying to figure out what is going on. I don't think I can deal with this right now, "I'm going to class…"

A sigh escapes my lips as I part ways with the Perverted Trio.

….

Once more, the day passes without incident other than the constant pestering from some of the students. Word travels fast, and like in a game of telephone, details can get misconstrued. Not only did they think the trio of pervs was harassing me, a lot of the students felt the need to console me or tell me that I should report them. Of course, I assured them that nothing had transpired, and they seemed willing to let go of the matter for now, but I'm sure that'll change in time.

As for right now, I'm just outside the main room of the ORC. I knock three times to let Rias and the others know I'm here.

"Come in!" I heard a faint response from the other side.

Entering the room, I was greeted by the four currently active members of the club. Rias was toying with her Evil Pieces, Akeno was pouring tea for all the members, Kiba looked at me and smiled with a sword in his lap, and Koneko only glanced at me before frowning, slightly returning to snack on some sort of bun.

"Hello," I greet, moving to a free spot next to Kiba and across from Koneko.

"So..what exactly happens next?" I ask only for Rias to set four chess pieces in front of me.

A rook, knight, bishop, and finally, pawn.

"I take it that you know what these are, correct?" Rias asked, and I nodded in response, "Good, then I don't need to explain what each piece does. After reviewing your spar with Yuuto and a few other things, I've determined that you'll serve as my second Knight."

That's surprising. I was sure she would've made me a Rook, given my strength. She must've noticed my shock as she gave me a concerned look, "Is something wrong?"

"No, it's just I'm surprised by the choice," I admit, and she seems to understand.

"Ufufu, while it's true that you have an unusual amount of physical strength, Rias thought it would be best to give you the Knight piece to increase your speed," surprisingly it was Akeno who explained the reasoning to me, "You'll no doubt be a powerhouse regardless of the piece used so why not give you an edge in another department."

"That makes sense to me," I let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been keeping in, "So when can we do this?"

"Oh my, you are an eager one," Akeno said, placing a hand to her mouth.

"I prefer the straightforward approach," my reply was met with a giggle from the Queen.

"Well, in that case, I see no reason to hold on ceremony," Rias stood with the Knight piece in hand.

"Regis Chasseur, from this day until your last, you are a member of my lustrous family and peerage. You are hereby reborn as a Devil and Knight serving under me," Rias spoke, placing the knight piece into my chest.

A light glow surrounded me briefly before dying down.

[RACE UNLOCKED: Reincarnated Devil - Knight (LVL 1)]

[Level Increase 3-4]

STR 14-114

AGI 14-214

END 14-114

VIT: 10-110

CON: 12-112

MAN: 10-110

[PERK GAINED: Pure Blooded Hybrid]

[Pure Blooded Hybrid]

You are a hybrid, but also a pureblood? Such a thing can happen? Well, in your case, you just happen to fit the hybrid lifestyle better than others. With this, you can be counted as two races at once while not losing any benefits your purebred brethren would have over someone with mixed blood. How this works is a mystery, but hey, it means you can have multiple racial classes simultaneously and gain levels and benefits from them independently and together. This perfect harmony also means that races that usually wouldn't mix well are taken care of and won't cause damage to you.

Current Races : [Reincarnated Devil - Knight] [Human - Hero Descent (Unknown)]

Already, I could feel a difference. I took a look at my stats and- what!? What are those numbers?

HP: 1700/1700

SP: 1740/1740

MP: 1700/1700

Becoming a Devil really was an easy way of gaining power…this is awesome!

However, my inner celebration was cut short by Rias, who pulled out a large pile of fliers.

"Starting today, you'll be handing these out to possible customers. It's essential so try not to mess it up," she instructed, and I deflated slightly.

"Any chance I can skip this part?"

My question was met by a snort from Kiba, of all people.

"Come on, it's not that bad, and we all had to start there, too," he assured me, but something told me I wasn't in for a good time.

-Unknown-

Well this just wouldn't do. Unfortunately, it seems that the Devils managed to get their hands on the newcomer right before they could do anything about them.

Oh well, they suppose that was going to happen regardless. Honestly, most of his kind were quick to jump onto the Devil bandwagon without so much as a second thought.

But what to do now? Perhaps it would be best for them to wait and see what happens in the coming months. To see what sort of waves this one would cause with their actions and inactions. That sounded fun enough.

Still…they were shocked to find that Seed of Malice in them. They suppose that that means they found a nice soil bed to let it grow. But they had to wonder what sort of flower would grow? Maybe a push in the right direction couldn't hurt? Could it?

AN: That's a wrap. Chapter three is done and it was a lot harder to write, I think I ended up scrapping it around five times before settling on this version. I have a hard time with passing, so please let me know if things are too fast or slow.

Also reviews and messages are welcomed and really appreciated. I'm honestly amazed at the feedback I've gotten so far with story it feels nice. Anyhow I hope this chapter was an enjoyable to those that took time out of their day to read it.

Thank you so much.