Firstly, please read both notes, top and bottom of the chapter.
Now, I have news, after an excruciatingly long and stressful process (well, it felt like it to me), I have successful gotten into medicine at my Uni and as long as I get through the next few years, will become a doctor, the first in my entire family.
This is the good news that has some bad news attached to it. In order to do this, I need to spend time working in rural areas, that is, places that are very isolated and which would require me to move there temporarily for months on end. The problem with this, is that I would then have to pay for transport and accommodation, which is partially subsidised by the Uni, but does have an out of pocket cost. In light of this, I have considered getting a part time job again, as I need about an extra $150-200 a month to afford it and I don't exactly have this. However, I don't want to do this unless I have no other option, as it will obliterate my writing time. Right now, I am able to write about 4-5K a week during study periods, but if I need to get a part time job, this will most likely become the most I can do in a month or two. I can't stress enough how much I don't want to do this, because I have, after 4-5 years or so, finally developed a good writing system, allowing me to update consistently.
I'm not asking out of greed, but this is the only other avenue I can pursue.
Recently, I set up a , where I can upload my stories and can even include NSFW stuff, such as lemons, on the off chance I need to remove them from FF. All I ask of all of you, is any support you would be willing to give me. The link to my page is on my profile page, all you need to do is remove the spaces.
I will also post my chapters up there as I complete them, as a thank you for your support. Right now, the next chapter for A Man's Heart, A Third Chance, What Hides Beneath The Surface and Shatter, Naruto Uzumaki, are all up there.
I have even more chapters almost done and this is my proof to all of you, that I can and will, write a great deal, even with my studies being ongoing, but as I've said, getting a part time job would force me to cut back a great deal.
If any of you can support me in this way, I would be immensely grateful and promise to continue my writing to the best of my ability.
Now, for more good news which doesn't have any bad news attached to it. Exams are nearly over, which means I will soon have two months of freedom in which I can write again. Most of you would have seen during my mid-year break, I cracked out over 100K+ words in under three weeks so lots of updates will be coming for all of my stories very soon. I need to stress this again though, I will never abandon any of my stories. Every story I have started will be finished, it is only the time in between that is variable.
A little bit more of bad news though, sometime over the next few months I'm going to need surgery for something. It is relatively minor and common, however, it is caused from sitting for prolonged periods of time. For this reason, while it heals, I'll have to limit my sitting to about 3 hours a day, which means I can only write about 3K words a day while I'm healing. I don't know when it will happen, as I haven't received a letter from the hospital yet though.
Finally, to end on a good note, I remembered my plans for the Issei/Irina scene and have now written down the rough gist of it, so I won't forget it again. I know I said it would be this chapter, but I have again, pushed it to the next chapter, so look forward to that.
Finally, enjoy the chapter and prepare for many more soon.
SSJ3 Kyuubi Gohan.
Disclaimer – I don't own anything from the High School DxD anime/manga/light novel. All I own are my original characters and plot twists.
'Talking'
"Thinking"
'Ddraig talking and Sacred Gear sounds'
"Ddraig thinking"
*expression*
Flashback
Chapter 24 – Changes
Issei slammed his door shut and hurriedly locked it. Giving a quick searching glance over his room, he found nothing out of place and eagerly headed to his desk. Sitting down, Issei pulled his latest cargo out of his pocket and placed it on his desk. Issei quickly leafed over the material in front of him, stopping occasionally to grin at certain points.
'This… this is perfect.' Whispered Issei, staring intently at the pages in front of him.
Not only did the notes contain the theory of how the Evil Pieces worked, but also described the method they used to change someone into a devil.
'Now all I need is Ophis' help for this and I can get started.' Said Issei happily.
'What do you need help with?' Asked a monotonous voice, causing Issei to jump in his seat.
Sitting on his bed, a blank expression on her face, was the Infinite Dragon God. Her grey eyes were intently focused on Issei.
'This.' Said Issei, quickly grabbing his notes and showing them to Ophis.
'With this and your help, I can finally do what I told you I would do one day and bring the dragons back into prominence. With this, we can turn people into dragons.' Said Issei eagerly, getting Ophis to slightly raise her eyebrows.
'What do you need?' Asked Ophis calmly, but Issei could tell she was in fact a little excited, something which he could only discern due to how long he had spent with her.
'You know how you can distribute your power with snakes? Well, I need you to do that for me, but form it into a solid object.' Explained Issei.
'I see.' Said Ophis.
'Before that though, I need to figure out what medium to use to contain the power.' Muttered Issei thoughtfully brushing his lips in thought, before having an idea.
'That's it, dragon fangs!' Exclaimed Issei, before frowning.
'Where am I going to get some though?' Muttered Issei.
'Great Red.' Suggested Ophis instantly, causing Issei to sigh.
'Didn't we already go over this Ophis? Great Red is a dragon too. Besides, you said talking with me was more interesting than the silence of the Dimensional Gap anyway and you know I can't go there.' Said Issei tiredly, having already discussed this matter with Ophis numerous times before.
'I know, that is why I used Khaos Brigade. You won't fight Great Red with me.' Said Ophis.
'It was interesting seeing them try to use your power, even funnier when I took it from them. I honestly love the feeling you power gives, the purest source of dragon energy I can get, aside from Ddraig and I don't really want to give up any other parts of my body.' Laughed Issei.
'For the record, with Ophis' eye now, it would be unwise for you to try something like that. Dragons work on a power hierarchy and trying to get any more power from me, might be rejected by Ophis'. At this stage, you can only accept another power source integrated into your being, which is stronger than Ophis and I don't even think such a thing exists.' Interjected Ddraig, announcing his presence, by appearing as a gauntlet on Issei's left hand.
'Hmm, that's too bad… but I wasn't planning on doing it anyway, so no real loss I suppose.' Said Issei thoughtfully.
'Still… where to get dragon fangs from… hmm, actually.' Muttered Issei, before immersing himself into his notes again.
Ophis merely watched Issei intently. For reasons unknown to the Dragon God, Ophis found Issei, as a person, very curious. Initially, she had only been interested in him because of Ddraig, but then, when he offered his friendship to her and interacted with her over the years, she found her idle curiosity becoming more focused. When she wasn't trying to figure out how to get rid of Great Red, her thoughts were largely dominated by Issei. She couldn't care less about Khaos Brigade, hence why she didn't care about how Issei had killed some of them, nor that he would most likely kill more later. Issei was infinitely more valuable than any of them and of course, the Dragon God of Infinity, would pursue infinity.
'Hmm, Ddraig, you said since I gave you my heart, I became part dragon as well, right?' Asked Issei.
'I shouldn't need to say this, but yes, as I've told you before, you are somewhere in between the boundary of human and dragon, however, given Ophis' eye, you are now no doubt closer to dragon than human.' Explained Ddraig.
'I see… in that case.' Said Issei, before firmly griping his far right incisor and pulling harshly.
'God damn it!' Shouted Issei loudly, as a massive pain shot through his head.
Ophis looked at Issei oddly, before sticking her finger in his mouth, right into his gum-line, which caused a new, slightly sharper incisor, to grow out of it.
Issei, still holding his recently extracted tooth in his right hand, lightly traced his new tooth with his left index finger.
'Is that how you gave me an eye as well by any chance?' Asked Issei curiously.
Ophis merely nodded, which made Issei glad he had been unconscious. Having Ophis stick her finger in his mouth was one thing, into his empty eye socket however… that didn't sound pleasant.
'Anyway, Ophis, can you imbue my tooth with your power?' Requested Issei, holding his tooth out to the dragon girl.
Ophis took the offered tooth and placed it in the centre of her right palm and looked at it curiously for a moment, before laying her left hand on top of it, hiding the tooth from view. A brief purple glow flashed between Ophis' hands, before she lifted her top hand off and revealed the tooth once again.
It was by no means a dragon fang in terms of size, being only as long as Issei's index finger, but the shape had switched from a normal human incisor to a curved dragon fang, becoming much thicker than it had been before, not to mention longer and larger overall.
'I really hope I don't need to pull out a tooth every time I want to do this.' Mumbled Issei, unaware that Ophis had heard him.
'Open.' Prompted Ophis, getting Issei to look at her funny.
'Huh?' Asked Issei, opening his mouth slightly, only for Ophis to stick her left hand into his mouth and send a burst of power into his mouth.
As Ophis retracted her hand, she now held thirty-one teeth. Issei carefully explored his mouth with his tongue, feeling a full set of teeth, however, they felt much sharper than previously.
'Problem solved.' Said Ophis, before placing the newly acquired thirty one teeth, that barely fit into her left hand, into her right one, before laying the left on top of the right once again and sending a burst of power into them, causing them to shift into a full set of dragon fangs, which Ophis was currently levitating, not being able to fit thirty two dragon fangs into one of her petite hands.
'I guess so… I wonder if we'll need them all… or even if we will need more. I know that we can theoretically turn everyone with these, even reincarnated devils, since I doubt there is a king whose power can displace yours… hmm, I think I already have three in mind as well, which should hopefully help me get rid of the whole binding thing… especially considering the risks it poses me.' Said Issei thoughtfully, rubbing his jaw, as he unconsciously felt out his new teeth.
'Indeed. You are very lucky that none of those three died, otherwise you would have joined them. It is frankly a miracle considering things.' Agreed Ddraig.
'Yeah, good thing Katerea didn't know that, because if she had taken any of those three out and I'm pretty sure she could have, I wouldn't even be here right now.' Added Issei.
'Issei, go do it now.' Commanded Ophis bluntly.
Issei was surprised at the hint of urgency he detected in Ophis voice, before smiling at the Dragon God.
'Don't worry Ophis. I made a promise to you and I won't die until I fulfil it… actually, I've made quite a few promises, so don't worry about me, I'll be around for a while.' Said Issei, as he gently grasped the Dragon God's free left hand, only to feel the dragon grip his hand tightly.
'I don't want to lose my friend.' Said Ophis quietly.
'Don't worry, you won't.' Said Issei reassuringly, as he squeezed back.
'Well, the fallen is still downstairs with the exorcist and the other two are in the training ground, along with everyone else.' Said Ddraig.
'Alright, we'll grab Raynare and Xenovia first, then head downstairs. We can do it there, in case anything flashy happens… although, bringing Ophis there might be difficult…' Said Issei, glancing at the dark-haired girl.
'I can hide.' Said Ophis simply, before shifting into a very small, pure black, Japanese dragon and perched herself along Issei's shoulders, barely reaching around him, her head resting on his right shoulder, while her tail waved lazily over his left.
'Well that works I suppose. What happened to the teeth though?' Commented Issei, gazing at the dragon, which merely gave a small nod to Issei, before gesturing to his gauntlet.
'They're embedded into the Boosted Gear now.' Explained Ddraig, getting Issei to nod.
Issei then exited his room and made the trek back down to where Raynare and Xenovia were. As he neared the room, he could hear Xenovia.
'I don't understand. Why would I need to plug my butt? It does so on its own.' Questioned Xenovia in confusion.
'No, you don't understand, you use a plug so your butt is more receptive to Issei, what are you doing here?' Explained Raynare, before suddenly changing her tone when she saw Issei.
Issei walked right up to Raynare and flicked her in the forehead with his right index finger.
'Stop trying to corrupt Xenovia. There are enough of you perverts in this house already.' Chided Issei.
'Hmm, including you, isn't that right, boob man.' Purred Raynare, as she slid up to Issei and pressed her bust against his chest.
Ophis watched this interaction in confusion. For some reason, the body contact with the fallen angel was increasing Issei's heart rate and body temperature, as well as causing a spike in his hormone levels. This begged further study.
'Whatever pervert, let's go, you're coming with me. You can come too Xenovia.' Said Issei, before he wrapped his arm around Raynare and turned around, dragging her with him, before heading to the elevator.
Once they reached the elevator, Issei released Raynare, getting her to pout slightly, while Xenovia reached them just as the elevator doors opened. The three entered the lift, which swiftly descended and reached the floor of the underground training room in a moment.
They were fortunate that they had arrived when everyone was taking a small break, which made approaching Karlamine and Xuelan easy.
'Can you two come with me for a minute?' Requested Issei of the two devils, who looked at him in confusion for a moment, before nodding after a shared look.
The remaining devils watched in interest as the group of girls and Issei made their way to a section of the room further away from the group.
'Did anyone else see a dragon on Issei's shoulders?' Asked Kiba, with a smile.
'Good, I'm not hallucinating then.' Confirmed Rias.
Kuroka meanwhile was suddenly very twitchy and her twin tails were swaying erratically behind her.
'Is something wrong big sister?' Asked Koneko, drawing attention towards Kuroka.
'Yes, something is very wrong.' Said Kuroka simply, before following after Issei.
-line break-
'Ok, first things first, Raynare, take your true form please.' Instructed Issei.
'Why? Do you just want me to flash you again?' Teased Raynare, to which, Ophis noticed Issei's heart rate increased.
'Just please do it, this is important.' Said Issei seriously.
Raynare was intrigued and did so without any further posturing, donning her iconic threadbare, leather outfit.
'Okay, now I haven't tried this before, so I must ask, do you three trust me?' Asked Issei, earning a few quizzical expressions from the girls.
'Of course, why wouldn't we?' Replied Karlamine, with the two nodding in agreement.
'Alright in that case, can one of you step forward?' Requested Issei.
After a brief lull, Raynare stepped forward.
'Now, I don't know if this will hurt or not, but if it does, bear with it.' Warned Issei, getting a look of confusion from Raynare as she titled her head to the right.
'What are you going to do exactly?' Questioned Raynare curiously.
'This.' Said Issei, before his gauntlet appeared and he placed it on Raynare's torso, directly over her heart.
'You know Issei, my boobs are up here?' Teased Raynare, to which Issei merely smirked, slightly confusing the fallen angel.
'Dragon Fang Transfer.' Echoed both the Boosted Gear and Issei.
Raynare's chest glowed red for a moment before a red magic circle appeared under her. All at once, Raynare gave an ear-piercing shriek, which caused everyone around them to recoil and clamp their hands over their ears. After a brief moment of screeching, Raynare let out a deep moan, which caused those around to look at her in confusion, as she suddenly seemed to switch from pain to pleasure. After a moment of moaning, the magic circle under Raynare's feet disappeared and she instantly slumped to her knees, with Issei catching her from hitting the ground completely.
'Hmm, I think it worked.' Commented Issei appraisingly, as he looked to the dragon on his shoulders.
'W-what the h-hell was that?' Gasped Raynare.
'Well, I could explain, but I won't know for sure unless you show me your wings.' Said Issei, as he raised Raynare back to her feet.
'Why?' Asked Raynare in confusion.
'Just humour me.' Said Issei, as he rolled his eyes.
Raynare narrowed her eyes at him, but obliged nonetheless, before staggering forward a little, leaning against Issei's chest to steady herself.
'What the hell, why do my wings feel so… heavy?' Said Raynare, trailing off midway, as she looked behind her and instead of six feathery wings, saw two, metre long, scaled wings on her back. The wings which had two large spines at the top and were split into three sections, were also red in colour. Essentially, they seemed to be a smaller replica of Issei's Juggernaut Drive wings.
'Dragon wings… are these seriously dragon wings…' Muttered Raynare in shock.
'Yep, so this means it worked for sure.' Cheered Issei.
'What did you do exactly?' Asked Raynare, as she turned back to Issei.
'Made you a dragon.' Said Issei simply.
'Oh… wait… what?' Questioned Raynare in shock.
'Well, you remember me binding you to me way back… you know, when you were stupid.' Said Issei teasingly, getting a small scowl from Raynare.
'Uh huh.' Said Raynare, through pursed lips.
'Well, me doing that bound my life to yours, meaning if either one of us died, the other was coming along for the ride, same for you two.' Said Issei, getting the attention of the two devils behind Raynare as well.
'Why would you do it then if it is so risky?' Asked Xuelan.
'Well, for you two, it was either that, or leave you guys in a coma and I couldn't let that happen.' Said Issei kindly, getting Xuelan to smile at his kind words, while Karlamine merely nodded to convey her thanks.
'Well, anyway, what I just did was turn Raynare into a Dragon and remove the binding seal on her. Hopefully, when I do it to you two, the dragon power will offset the intrinsic need in your bodies for a king power source and allow you two to be independent.' Explained Issei.
'Is this your way of trying to get rid of us? By making us free?' Asked Raynare quietly, looking to the ground.
'Well I wanted to make you all free so you wouldn't be stuck with me, but I hope you guys don't leave me… I mean, I'm not trying to kick you girls out at all, especially since it is fun being around all of you.' Said Issei, before he found his lips assaulted by Raynare, who then forcefully invaded his mouth and explored it fully.
Raynare's tongue explored Issei's mouth intently, probing his tongue with her own and roughly pressing her lips against his, as she moaned into the kiss.
'Good, because this just means I can come at you with full force, since we aren't bound anymore. Especially since I want us to bind in a more… intimate manner.' Whispered Raynare, after breaking the passionate kiss.
Issei took a moment to recover, before looking over to the other two bound to him.
'Bound or not, you said you would help me become strong and I declared that I would serve you from that day on. Nothing has changed, even if I go from devil to dragon.' Said Karlamine passionately.
'I will stick with you as well. You are caring and worthy of respect and I would be honoured to continue to be at your side.' Added Xuelan.
'See, no shrinking your harem allowed, you have to deal with all of us.' Teased Raynare.
'Alright, who wants to go next then?' Asked Issei, as he moved Raynare off him, after which, Karlamine stepped forward.
Karlamine stepped up to Issei, as Raynare took a few steps back.
Issei prepared to place his hand on her chest plate, only for her to raise her hand and stall him. Karlamine then removed her chest plate, to which Issei then made to place his hand on her again, only for her to continue to undress until she was topless, bosom exposed to all.
'Damn… and here I thought I was forward.' Muttered Raynare, as she watched Karlamine give a small smirk when Issei placed his hand over her heart, unavoidable kneading her chest slightly.
When the magic circle appeared under Karlamine, her expression didn't change at all through the entire process, but it seemed to take some effort out of the knight, who promptly collapsed onto Issei when he finished, pressing her body against his as, she regained her bearings. After a moment, she leaned in closer to Issei.
'Since we are not bound anymore, let me just clarify, I didn't just offer to serve you in combat, remember that.' Said Karlamine, before stepping away from Issei and redressing.
"The hell is this Ddraig? You made Karlamine forward! The knight! Seriously, is Ophis' eye this intense?" Shouted Issei mentally, to his Boosted Gear.
Ddraig didn't respond, but Issei could feel the amusement rolling off him in waves.
After Karlamine had redressed, Xuelan stepped forward and approached Issei shyly.
'Um, please be gentle.' Whispered Xuelan, before Issei placed his hand on the rook, who unlike the other two, wasn't indecently dressed, or lacking clothes at all.
As the magic circle appeared Xuelan's cheeks gained a massive rosy hue, before she started panting heavily, letting out small mewls. After the magic circle disappeared, she collapsed on Issei as well.
'Thank you, master.' Whispered Xuelan.
"… Xuelan is a sub… this makes so much sense actually…" Thought Issei to himself, before the rook pulled away from him.
'Okay, Xuelan, Karlamine, show me your wings please.' Requested Issei, to which the two obliged, revealing two dragon wings each to Issei.
'Awesome, it worked perfectly.' Declared Issei excitedly.
'So, not that I'm not interested in the new wings, but why did you suddenly do this now?' Asked Raynare.
'Well, to be honest, I've always been planning something like this for a while now… I just didn't know how to do it. Thanks to the notes on the pieces I got today though, I could finally implement it.' Said Issei thoughtfully.
'So, aside from the new wings, are there any benefits to this?' Queried Raynare.
'Increased stamina, durability and magical energy. You guys don't get my regeneration though, but you do heal faster. Aside from that, you also get sharper vision and hearing.' Explained Issei.
'Interesting.' Muttered Karlamine, before pulling out her sword and engulfing it in flames, causing everyone around her to duck, as a massive wave of fire burst from the sword.
Karlamine quickly stopped the flames dancing along her blade and blinked in surprise.
'That's a lot of extra power.' Commented Karlamine.
'Yeah, so please be careful with it.' Said Issei hesitantly, as he rose to his feet again.
'Hmm, Kiba, let's spar!' Shouted Karlamine, with a gleam in her eyes, as she raced off to engage the knight.
'Oh boy, this isn't going to end well.' Said Issei, as he slapped his hand across his face.
'Oh, I think things will end well, especially since I have more power now.' Said Raynare, as she gazed at Issei with half lidded eyes.
Xenovia meanwhile had been watching the events before her in interest and had come to a decision, before turning around and leaving, without alerting anyone.
'Nya? Issei, care to explain the dragon on your shoulders?' Asked Kuroka, as she walked up to Issei, stopping a good three metres away from him, her tails twitching behind her erratically.
'Um, a friend?' Said Issei weakly, which caused Kuroka to narrow her eyes suspiciously.
'A friend who I might be familiar with?' Queried Kuroka hesitantly.
'…yes.' Said Issei, getting Kuroka's ears to twitch.
Kuroka gave him a small glare.
'A dozen and I won't take no for an answer.' Said Kuroka, before walking off, leaving Issei looking at her in shock.
'So, why exactly did it hurt me so much compared to the other two? You know, turning into a dragon.' Asked Raynare curiously.
'I think because angels are further away in composition to dragons than devils.' Said Issei, getting the dragon on his shoulder to nod.
Raynare hummed at this but didn't speak.
'Okay, that's all I needed from you all, so you can do what you want now, I'm going to take a nap. Turning you all was surprisingly *yawn* exhausting.' Said Issei, before two large mounds pressed against his back.
'Would you like some company, Issei?' Whispered the half-fallen devil, getting Issei to stiffen.
"Body contact seems to increase fluctuations in Issei's body, particularly from those mounds on the upper abdominal area." Observed Ophis silently.
'Well, not really…' Said Issei, as he glanced to Ophis on his shoulder.
'Are you sure?' Asked Raynare, pressing up against his front.
"It seems that greater contact magnifies the fluctuations as well." Thought Ophis, as Issei took a deep breath.
'Yes I'm sure.' Said Issei shakily.
'Okay then, have a nice rest.' Said Raynare, before both Akeno and her released Issei from his fleshy prison and walked off to join the others.
Issei slumped to the floor and sat down on his bottom, legs sprawled out in front of him.
'This is getting unbearable.' Muttered Issei, as he tried to calm himself.
'Master, are you okay?' Asked Xuelan, as she crouched down in front of Issei.
'Just call me Issei, Xuelan… and I could use some help getting upstairs, I'm feeling a little faint.' Said Issei.
'As you wish.' Said Xuelan, as she helped Issei to his feet.
"Ddraig, what's going on?" Asked Issei tiredly.
'Remember what I said before the meeting, specifically before you reunited with the cat.' Said Ddraig.
"…Shit, I need to stay from everyone for a while then." Thought Issei.
'Alternatively, you could just deal with it. I'm sure many of the females interested in you would be happy to oblige, even the one leading you to your room right now.' Suggested Ddraig.
Issei was torn, on the one hand, he'd kill two birds with one stone if he just gave in. On the other hand, he did have one reservation, which would be arriving here in a few hours.
'Take your time and think it over, it won't reach maximum levels for another four days… but the longer you wait, the worse it'll get. Right now, you're just feeling faint and hot, but dragons are very primal and the longer things go, the more intense it'll be. Something to think about.' Pointed out Ddraig.
"Is there any other option?" Asked Issei.
'Find an isolated desert somewhere to blow up for a few days before returning to normal.' Advised Ddraig.
"Great." Thought Issei, before realising he and Xuelan had arrived at his door.
Issei opened the door and realised Xuelan was still guiding him. She led him to his bed, before helping him get inside it and comfortable. Ophis had flown off his shoulders and rested at the head of his bed, watching him.
'If you need anything Issei, please ask, anything at all.' Said Xuelan kindly, to which Issei nodded, before falling asleep.
Ok, so if it wasn't entirely clear, next chapter could go one of four ways. Three of them are lemons and one is not. The people who are available for the lemon are Irina, Ophis and Xuelan. I'm leaning towards Irina and Ophis more heavily, but I'm willing to listen to your suggestions... that being said, I think it should be with Irina, given things, but I do have a good idea for Ophis as well… I could always do both in time, but they would be spread out, as, like I said in A Man's Heart, lemons are not my main priority. Please let me know if you want a lemon next chapter or not and who you'd like it with.