An: I just realized that I made Adam look like Sephiroth. I don't know if any of you made the connection before, but I assure you now you will. I don't know how to feel about that to be honest, he wasn't even in my mind when I made Adam up. Maybe my subconscious wants me to play more Final Fantasy?

Well, aside from the startling revelation, I ain't got much to say. Let's just jump into this!

After Adam made the incredible discovery of the new magic system, he was high in spirits for the rest of the night, and into the following morning. It wasn't until school had ended did he finally calm down, and even then he was extremely eager to continue writing in his notebooks. However, he knew he had to focus, so he decided to go and research this new magic system a little more before he did anything else.

Once he was back at his house, he went upstairs and checked out SpaceyWiz's channel on DeviTube, and found a video called 'How YOU Could Be a Magican in 4 Easy Steps! (NOT Clickbait!),' typo included. Despite the ridiculous title, he found out quite a bit thanks to it.

First, the potential to even become a magician varied from person to person. Some people could create everything out of thin air on their first try, and some people could be stuck to party tricks for the rest of their lives (if they didn't train, of course). In other words, some people had talent in it, some people didn't, and a majority of the human populace fell in the middle. Apparently it was due to the person's connection to their soul, which acted as the main converter from Life to Mana. If one couldn't feel their soul, or didn't even believe in the soul, their potential to becoming magicians were very little, if there was a chance at all. Meaning that very religious and spiritual people had the potential to wield magic much easier than Atheists and Nihilists.

This explanation, however, confirmed something that he didn't know: if souls were limited to Humanity. He had been paranoid about losing his soul to the supernatural, and the fact that all species were able to use Merlin's 'Life-to-Mana' theory proved that every species-supernatural or not-had souls, which piled on more questions than answers. Were humans the only ones that really specialized in the 'Life-to-Mana?' Did humans have the strongest souls out there? If a person had a stronger soul would their magic be stronger? Would the stamina be converted faster and easier? Would anything happen at all? So many questions, so few answers.

Moving on, beginner magicians needed an item to be used as a focus point, which was aptly called a 'Focus.' Without a Focus, most amateur magicians wouldn't be able to make their mana move in a way they wished. Essentially, a Focus was the beacon mana could flock to. Expert magicians could manipulate mana without said beacon, but it took a lot of time and dedication to reach that point for most.

Once the aspiring magician placed Merlin's equation somewhere on their body or on their Focus, there were four steps: Step one was to grab the life force, which was easier achieved if one meditated. Step two was to turn that life force into mana, using the soul as the 'converter.' Step three was to grab all that newly converted mana and concentrate it at the desired location(a Focus assisted in that step). Finally, step four was to use the focused mana and manipulate/create a certain element of nature with it. Congratulations, you did magic.

Now, the next reasonable question would be: 'What elements can a magician manipulate?' Well, Adam realized, anything related to nature was allowed to be manipulated. As he stated before, Fire, Water, Earth, and Air were the basic four, as well as not so basic elements, such as Ice and Lightning, but really, those were the basics. If one truly pondered what was considered "natural," then a human magician would be able to manipulate so much more than what the planet holds. Time, Gravity, Space, and more were all natural occurrences, so would a human be able to create and manipulate such dangerous properties?

The answer to that was yes. A human had the potential to do all that and more, but only one man had managed to even come close. Surprise surprise, that man was none other than Merlin Ambrosius, the founder of modern magic.

Adam found it predictable, but he understood why Merlin was the only one to achieve such heights. It made sense for the man that created the 'Life-to-Mana' formula to be one of the strongest mages in history. It was like exclaiming that Albert Einstein, the man who made the Theory of Relativity, barely understood physics. It just didn't add up. Moving on, if Adam truly wished to harness the elements that were out of his reach (could he manipulate the soul itself? Soul magic? Hmm…), he would have to start small. So, once he finished his research, he went out to find a Focus. According to the ever so reliable SpaceyWiz, literally anything had the potential to be a Focus, so Adam decided to go to a local commercial district in hopes of finding what he was looking for.

If he really wanted to, he could've just used one of his spare note books, but the imagery of watching one of his beloved notebooks-filled with words or not- burn or get destroyed in some way just didn't sit right with him. Each and every single notebook had a place, and being used as a magical concentration point was not in any of their foreseeable futures.

Adam shook his head. Focus, he needed to focus to find a Focus. Pulling himself back to reality, he found himself at the entrance of said district. Without hesitation, he began to stroll down the street, reading ever single store name as he did.

"Let's see..." He muttered. "Shoyu's Sweets... Shinozaki Sack and Tacks… Gart's Garish Furniture… David's Food… Net Café #1..." He kept walking, but nothing seemed to have anything close to what he was looking for. It wasn't like he was looking for anything rare, just a nick-knack shop with some shiny rocks or something, but as he passed the third bakery, Adam felt like he was looking in the wrong place. Maybe he should-?

*Bump.

Lost in his thoughts, he failed to notice the shorter than average girl that had bumped into him. He looked down, ready to apologize, when he noticed two things: One, the girl was none other than Koneko Toujou. Two, she was staring at her dropped bagged of cakes, which were spewed all over the floor.

They were everywhere.

Not a single one had a wrapper.

Adam, who was very aware of how much said girl liked her sweets, began to slowly tip-toe away. If he was lucky, she would be so focused on the sweets that had just been ruined, she wouldn't notice Adam leaving, and-

"You're buying."

"...Fine."

So, just as Adam predicted, he met another main character. The two went into a nearby bakery, 'Sugar Sweets,' and they were sitting across from each other, next to the window that showed the outside. The place was relatively small, but there were a few tables and chairs to the sides of it, and the smell of baked good was enough to make the teen realize he forgot to eat lunch. So, he settled on a compromise: give the cat girl what she wanted, and he would grab a few as well. So, Adam ordered six pastries, four for the girl, two for himself.

Not a single word was uttered past that point, with the two munching on their sweets, each one savoring the flavors of the freshly made confections. Adam scarfed down the first, a cheese danish, when he decided that he should start writing the details about the girl in front of him. She was a main character after all. So, with his second pastry-a doughnut- in his mouth, he whipped out his notebook and pen, and began to analyze the teen in front of him.

Starting from the top, her hair was white as snow, and reached her shoulders. The notable exceptions were two long bangs on each side of her face, which reached her chest. Like with all the named characters so far, her hair was extremely beautiful, each strand almost shining in the light. Next, she had two black cat-shaped hair pins, one on each side of her head. They were small, and if Adam didn't know any better, he would've believe they were glued or stapled to the sides of her head, as he couldn't even see the linchpin of either one. Moving past her hair, her face was the definition of adorable. Pale skin, big golden eyes, button nose and small mouth, she was (in Adam's purely factual thoughts) absolutely precious.

Moving past her face, he looked at her body. Her chest was the same as her height: the smallest yet. They were still noticeable, albeit barely, but he digressed. Moving on, he then looked at her legs, which were thin, but firm looking. He idly wondered if her thighs and butt were as toned as her legs, but immediately chased those thoughts out of his head. He was examining her to write her down, not to satisfy whatever sick fantasy he knew was somewhere in his mind. He was in DxD after all, it wouldn't be a surprise if it turned out he had a kink for… something, he mused.

His hand twitched, eager to write. He was in a different universe, yes? Did that mean that fundamental rules of reality were different as well? A good example was Issei as a whole. Adam could count multiple times where he had tripped, tagged multiple girls as he fell, and then somehow snapped his fingers, which used Dress Break. In his old world, the chance of that happening was practically non-existent, yet the mega-pervert managed to do it once an episode. Was reality altered in a way that encouraged or increased the likelihood of these events happening? Was reality simply more… lewd? Was he a bigger pervert in this reality than the last simply because he was born in this universe? Hm, that was some good food for thought.

Adam blinked. He needed to focus.

Back to Koneko, her outfit itself was also something to notice. Because she wasn't in high school yet, she was wearing a middle-school uniform instead of Kuoh Academy's. It was one of those Japanese 'sailor uniforms' that some anime used. White long-sleeve shirt, navy blue knee-long skirt, the red tie-thing (he didn't care enough to know the proper term), and some navy blue accents on the wrists and neck/shoulders.

"Pervert."

Adam stopped and sent a curious gaze at the girl in front of him. "Who is?" She simply stared at him, eyes narrowed. Realizing what she meant, the teen sighed. "Ah, I see. I suppose you can confuse what I am doing with ogling, but I assure you, I am not." She raised a single eyebrow, obviously not believing him, so he decided to simply show the girl. After all, this notebook was filled with people he found interesting, and that was it. He got up from his chair, went around the table, and set his notebook down right in front of her, on her page. "I simply write the details of every interesting person I come across." Two whole pages were given to the girl. The left page was split between a rough sketch of the girl's body and face, with the other half describing said features in detail. The right page had a few points, such as the girl's obvious affection for sweet foods, her voice, as well as her attitude.

"So fast?" She asked, open curiosity on her face.

Adam nodded and said, "Indeed. Mind you, I only do these things with people I find interesting, so I don't analyze every single person I come across."

She nodded and grabbed the notebook, about to flip it when she paused and turned to the teen next to her. "Can I?"

Adam nodded, and she began to flip.

When Koneko saw Adam Suzuki walking down the street, the man her Master was currently fascinated with, she decided she would try to interact with him. After all, if Rias was that interested in the boy, it was only a matter of time before he became a peerage member. So, she walked up to him and opened her mouth, but the teen was so lost in thought, he didn't see her and crashed into her, causing the cakes she just bought to be sent flying everywhere, sullying every last one of them.

He then tried to walk away, but she had none of it, demanding to be compensated. Fortunately, he caved pretty easy and bought her some sweets, as well as a couple for himself as well. What made her really not like him was when he pulled out his notebook and started perving on her. She ignored it at first, but when he unashamedly starting leering at her entire body, she called him out like the scum he was.

Except, that wasn't it at all. Instead, he decided that she was 'interesting' enough and was actually documenting her into his notebook, for some odd reason. As he showed her the pages of herself, she was surprised. The teen had done such a thorough examination of her, and had even described a majority of the details of her outfit, her looks, and her body, despite the short time they were together.

So, now extremely curious, she had began to flip through the pages of his notebook. Right before herself was Akeno, and before her was Rias. The next few pages were Sona Sitri and Tsubaki Shinra. Going past them were pages of people she didn't recognize. A green-haired boy, who appeared to be in middle school, a pink-haired girl with light blue eyes that looked to be in elementary school, and finally, Suzuki's parents.

That should've been the end, if the dates in the top right were indicated. He should've only documented nine people so far, herself included. His two parents, when he was two or three, a girl while he was in elementary school, a boy in middle school, and the Devils he had just recently encountered.

So why were there still so many pages? More curious then ever, she flipped past Suzukui's parents. The next person was… boring. An adult-24 apparently-with short brown hair, black eyes, a pair of glasses, and a standard, if slightly slim, body. He had bags under his eyes, he was carrying a book, and his clothes were the definition of casual, a plain white t-shirt, jeans, and some sneakers. In fact, in Koneko's opinion, he was the most average man she had ever seen.

So why did this man have eight whole pages for him?

However, before she could start reading, the notebook was snatched out from under her. "Well, as you can see, I only write about people I find interesting." Suzuki had taken the notebook back and sat back down on the seat across from her.

She furrowed her brow and asked, "Why?"

"Inspiration." Not satisfied by his answer, she raised an eyebrow, and he thankfully explained. "I'm an aspiring author, you see, so I write down interesting people to use as inspiration for my characters in my books. Surely you've seen someone that just screamed 'This person is important,' yes? I am simply documenting them for later, so I don't forget about them." Her mind flashed back to an image of a black cat before she quickly erased it. On the outside, she wordlessly nodded. Suzuki gave a hum of appreciation and began to write in his note book once more. "I'm glad you get it. So, will you please stay still for a few minutes longer? It's easiest to examine someone when they're not moving."

She pointed towards the pastries that just came out of the oven. "Only if you get me more."

He looked up from his notebook with a raised eyebrow. "Six words in a single sentence? I'm shocked." Ignoring his remark, she kept pointing, and he sighed. "Fine. I'll get you two more, and myself one. What do you want?"

Admittedly, Koneko could see why Rias had grown interested in Suzuki. He really was a character.

With the cat-girl satisfied and well on her way (most likely to inform Rias about her encounter with him), Adam's search for a Focus resumed. He walked through the entire district, but not a single shop had anything viable for what he deemed to be a Focus. No matter hard he searched, there simply wasn't a store that sold anything spiritual, or even one of those 'Empathy Rock' scams. Maybe Japan just didn't fall for the same trick Americans did? Or maybe said scams didn't exist in the first place, since they might've actually done things, and henceforth were restricted to supernaturals?

More questions, but never an answer. Adam found himself in that situation more and more lately. So many questions, and the world didn't reveal a single answer. Or, better yet, a single question would be answered, but three more would pop up.

The fact that he finally found out what universe he was in, that one question, filled his head up with more questions than he could've ever dreamed. Three, for example, were his biggest priorities. One, does DxD have every super natural belief in existence? Cause if so, then he would have much more the worry about then losing his soul. Fearing that one day his existence, his everything, could end due to an Ancient One waking up was a fearful thought. Almost as fearful as his air conditioner gunning for his life.

Two, would DxD even be the same story he once knew? At the moment, the answer was a tenuous yes, but that was only due to Adam not seeing anything that directly contradicted the canon yet. Some changes of the world, yes, with the biggest examples being the new magic system and the openness of the supernatural (DeviTube had countless magic tutorials) to the public, but there wasn't anything fundamentally different with the story so far.

Three, would classic anime tropes and clichés still be… used? Be around? Be a thing that happened? Because so far, the answer was 'yes.' Real life or not, what were the chances of Adam being the only male in a school full of girls, meeting multiple main cast characters in only two days, and having the leading female protagonist show interest in him? These incidents all pointed to Adam being the MC replacement, which was something he did not like thinking about. It was a predictable and cliché solution. Nine times out of ten, an MC replacement story was just that: a story with a different main character. No different story beats, no different plot points, just the same story with a new coat of paint. If the focus of the story were the characters interacting with the new character, okay, it could work. Most never worked that way though. Using DxD as the example, the replacement character was just Issei with a different look. You could replace Issei with a god of destruction and mayhem, but if that very same 'god' fights against Raynare, the Phenex, Kokabiel, and so on and so forth, then they really are just Issei with a different mindset or image. They feel like replacements instead of characters. Or even worse, they feel like a 'self-insert,' where the author uses their 'OC' to place themselves in the situation. How ridiculous. Adam sighed. He was getting too worked up over something that didn't mean anything. He needed to concentrate.

Moving past his dislike of that specific thought-which was to be discussed at length on a different day-he had evidence that pointed to the lack of anime tropes and such as well. His first fifteen years was enough evidence for that. His life that led all the way up to high school was more than just normal, it was basic. As he stated at the very beginning of all this, if it wasn't for the fact that he was in Japan and the amount of differently colored hair, Adam would've believed he was reincarnated in the same world.

Adam sighed. All these thoughts and problems led back to one thing: he was in DxD, and he had to brace himself for the shitstorm that was going to inevitably occur. Whether the story line was a thing at all was up for debate, but something was going to happen, and Adam knew it. He didn't know if he was sent here on purpose or not, but the fact that he was in DxD at all meant that he had a role to fill.

What that role was, he didn't know, nor did he care that much. His biggest desire was to simply write the best story he can, and he would do anything to achieve that goal. It didn't matter what world he was in or what fate beheld him in each one, all that mattered was that people recognized the greatness that he would make, and that he earned said greatness through sheer will and determination. Nothing else mattered.

Nothing.

Shaking his head, he forced himself into reality once more. He still had a Focus to find after all. If the rate he was going at was any indication though, he was going to be looking for a while. He sighed. Oh well, he might as well get it out of the way. Once he finds his Focus, he can finally work on his magic. Then, he would get strong enough to fend off any threat, and he would be able to write whatever he wished, with the inspiration he found.

He gave a hum of thought. "But what element to master, hm?" Yes, that was the real question. Should he begin with a basic element, like Earth? Or should he jump into more complicated Elements, like Ice or Wood? Yes, this truly was a conundrum. "Decisions, decisions..."

Now, Adam realized this sounded egotistical. Believing he was going to master an element, let alone actually use it? How arrogant! However, he personally didn't see anything wrong with it. It was a goal, and he was going to achieve it, no matter what. Simple as that. Now, how much difficulty he was going to face in actually mastering said element? He didn't know. What he did know was that he was in DxD, and he had discovered a completely new type of magic. Why, the story was writing itself at this point! It was a little disappointing, but he genuinely thought that he was going to quite easily master at least one element by the end of the week, maybe two. Why? Well, if the current pattern continued (the pattern of him obviously being a Main Character replacement), then he would breeze through the magics. He was the 'Protagonist,' after all.

"Ugh." The word was sour on his mouth. Him, a protagonist?! The main character in a story that thousands, if not millions would see?! Laughable! He was not someone so interesting, so deserving, of that title. He was a man on a mission, a boy with a dream, but that was all. He was a simple man trying to become an author, caught up in a world much grander than he was. Issei Hyoudou might've not been the most interesting hero, but he was still a hero. He still had the qualities of a King, someone to watch, to judge, to root for. Adam wasn't any of that.

He wasn't a hero.

He wasn't a villain, either.

He was just himself. Basic, boring, standard himself.

…

"Let's just find this damn Focus."

As he stared at the smoldering ashes of his Focus, Adam couldn't help but appreciate the twist of his utter ineptitude in magic. He had finally found a small shop that had what he was looking for, 'Who Do Voodoo,' and had bought a single small red rock for two hundred yen. Apparently the rock was supposed to help 'drain the anger and resentment from the soul,' but Adam didn't buy it. Instead, he had bought it because he decided for his first element to be a basic one, Fire. Red was a more fire-related color than almost any other, after all. Along with the rock he bought a small lighter, remembering what SpaceyWiz said.

"Beginner magicians have an incredible hard time turning mana directly into an element, so it's always best to have said element nearby when you're preparing to cast a spell." He had stated, and his example was pulling water from a bottle. "Only those truly understanding of their element can flawlessly create their element from pure mana. So, to be safe, get a little of that element first before you even start casting. Trust me, it's easier and more efficient. And remember: you can only control an element that has your mana in it. Don't go running into a burning building or jumping into a river if you don't have the mana to manipulate such large quantities!"

So, his magic training began. He went into an abandoned factory (not his smartest idea in hindsight, but it had to do) and began the four step process. Step one took about four hours, but only because he had been focusing on the wrong things. Instead of taking his life force, he was accidentally trying to move his soul.

See, due to him being nothing but a soul before he was reborn, Adam was always aware of his soul. It became one of those things you were subconsciously aware of, like breathing or blinking. Once he noticed it, he had trouble ignoring it.

One's life force was a bit different though. Adam found himself struggling to describe it, but he was an author at heart, so he decided to try to describe it as much as he could. The life force was… it was… himself. It was his beating heart, it was the blood in his veins, it was his lungs absorbing oxygen. Life force was his very existence, it was like the energy inside a battery. It was reason he could write, the reason he could breathe, the reason he could blink. So, he had to take that energy, that ability to function, and just… throw it at his soul.

And throw it he did. He grabbed the life-force that was slipping through his hands and 'pushed' it through his soul, with the intention of converting it into mana. Thankfully, it worked perfectly. He and his soul was in perfect tandem, the two able to understand each other perfectly. After he finished converting his life force, he was admittedly really tired. He had converted far too much, and suddenly the dirty concrete floor of the factory felt quite enticing to sleep on.

However, after a moment of rest, he focused back on the transparent blue mana that was now floating all around him. (Was he able to see it due to it being his life force converted? Could anyone else see it? Questions for later.) He grabbed his Focus, the red rock, and… focused on it. Really, there was no other way to explain it. He was aware of the mana that was all around him, and that mana was specifically his, so all he had to do was now get the mana into a concentrated state, which took longer than he expected. Almost two hours later, he finally dragged the last of his mana into the palm of his hand, all of it swirling around the red rock. The sun had set by this point, and Adam was all alone in the dark.

"Time for a little light." Still focused on his Focus, he grabbed the lighter and lit it. In an instant, the little contraption lit, and a flicker of flame was born. Slowly, ever so slowly, he moved his lighter into the area his mana was, in the palm of his hand. He felt the heat, and slowly willed his mana to latch onto said heat. Slowly, ever so slowly, the little flame was pulled into his palm, and the lighter was now discarded. His mana, now having a firm grip of the fire, was in his hand, encompassing the little flame.

Finally, he willed his mana to change into the fire. For around twenty minutes, he attempted to convert his mana into fire, before something happened. His mana was finally changing! He felt his heart leap into his throat, and despite everything, he felt excited. So this was real magic! His saw-and felt- his mana slowly change into the fire, with the tiny flame growing bigger and bigger! He smiled, a feeling of victory washing over him, but right as he did…

*Fwoosh!

The fire burned up the rest of his mana in an instant, and the fireball that was growing in his hand was snuffed out, like a candle in the wind.

Thus, the present. As he stared at the smoldering ashes of his Focus, Adam couldn't help but appreciate the twist of his utter ineptitude in magic. He had finally found a small shop that-

"Wait, I already did that flashback." Moving on, he continued to stare at the ashes, mind whirring. What caused the failure? Was he simply too green in the art of magic? Was there some sort of step he had skipped out on? Was his potential simply not as great as he believed it was? Questions, so many damn questions, and there was never a satisfying answer, if there was one at all.

He sighed. He was getting worked up, frustrated at his predicament. He pulled out his phone and checked the time. "It's late, Mother and Father are probably wondering where I am." He had informed his parents that he was going to be home at an extremely late time, but he knew at least one of his familiar figures would still be awake. So, annoyed but not deterred, Adam grabbed the discarded lighter and left the abandoned factory, grateful that no Strays had decided to take said factory as their living space.

He shouldn't get too upset, he quite literally just started, but the desire to discover and master something new to him made failure unacceptable. Plus, there was the additional problems of the Devils and whatever supernatural nonsense he would get caught up in, which spurred him to get stronger faster.

"Whatever." It didn't matter. He vowed that no matter how long it would take, he would master human magic. Getting upset on the first day was a very bad sign. It wasn't like he made zero progress at all, anyways. He found out he was incompatible with Fire, for one reason or another. Whether it was because he was too inexperienced or because of some other reason he wasn't aware of at the moment (Fire and Water have never mixed well. If one had an affinity for Water, would their Fire training go poorly? More and more questions…), all Adam had to do was find out. So, he would use whatever tools he had at the moment, and come out on top. This was simply another obstacle, one that he knew he could overcome. All it took was patience and will.

He could wait.

He had the time.

Two whole weeks went by, and Adam still wasn't any closer to mastering any element. Outside of that particular conundrum, he had to increasingly dissuade and ignore Rias's recruitment offers, pay attention to subjects that school offered, and, of course, find and write any and all inspiration.

School wasn't that big of a deal, not yet. The Academy held a few events yearly, such as a sporting event in spring, an autumn festival, a concert of some kind in winter, and more. Of course, Adam's biggest interest was the 'Family Day,' where the families of the students would have a day to see what the teens do at school, for a few reasons. First, he would have to make sure his parents never found out about it. They were simply too eccentric, and Adam didn't want either of them interacting with the supernatural any more than they had to. Having his parents meet someone like Sirzechs and piss him off would spell the end of quite a lot, including his willingness to play nice.

Now, it wasn't like he was going to get strong enough to challenge the current Lucifer in a few months, but knowledge is power, and Adam had quite a decent amount of knowledge regarding the future of Rias, as well as a few other key figures in the future of Devil society. If a certain human only faction caught wind of the plans of the Three Faction's peace meeting early, or if a certain someone gave a tip to a certain war-hungry Fallen Angel about the whereabouts of Rias Gremory and Sona Sitri, well, wasn't that a shame?

He digressed. Speaking of Gremory, Rias continued her seduction tactics to convince Adam to join her club (peerage), and he kept refusing. Said boy wondered if the red head was going to drag Akeno into her little feud, or if she'd continue trying to convince him on her own. After all, she was a devil, and a devil uses every available tool to get what they want.

Circling back to his magic problem, Adam had found out a couple interesting details. Natural affinities, such as being able to manipulate fire easier than normal, directly impacted the ability to learn and control the conflicting affinities of said element. A good example would be a person with a high affinity with Wood would struggle with anything that directly harmed it, such as Fire or Parasites (Yeah, he discovered Parasitical magic was a thing. He nearly fainted when he stumbled upon a demonstration video).

Another interesting detail was that any human could learn any element, no matter how their affinities lie. A person could master Ice even if they had an extremely high affinity with Fire. It's just takes a lot longer.

Unless, of course, the magician was a Sacred Gear user. Then, depending on said Gear, almost all rules of human magic is thrown out. A Boosted Gear user had zero potential to cast any magic that wasn't linked to Fire. A Forbidden Valor View user had zero potential of learning any magic that wasn't linked to Time. A Sword Birth user had zero potential of learning any magic that wasn't linked to Darkness.

You can see where this is going.

Adam had struggled for two weeks, daily, practicing every element he could possibly get his hands on. He bought three of every colored 'healing' rock, he had scrounged up sticks, water bottles, hell, even a dust ball, only for each and every single one of them to fall apart. His Fire experiments turned the Focus to ash. His Water attempts turned his Focus into puddles. His Earth Focuses crumbled away, and his Air nights ended with his Focus simply dissipating into the wind.

He had to have some sort of Sacred Gear at this point, right? Why else would the basic elements reject him so harshly? Was there some sort of stipulation that he just didn't know about? Was he truly destined to not have any magic talent? As much as it bothered him, he was a character in Fate's game. So why wasn't he given any tools to help play his part at the very least?

Once more, the thought 'I'm missing something,' went through his mind. He had found himself in a similar situation before, where he had all the details, he just didn't connect the dots, so to say.

*Fwoosh!

His final Focus, another one of those small spiritual rocks, turned to ash in his hands. As he started at the now familiar ashes in his hand, he realized there was one good thing of him constantly failing at casting magic, and that was his ability to make and control his mana. He wouldn't say he was a master at the process, not yet, but it had taken a lot less time of going through the whole 'Life-to-Mana' process now than at the start of his dive into magic.

Moving past that, Adam began to think back on his entire new life. There was something there, something that at least gave a hint towards his capabilities, he knew it. He just had to find it. So, throwing the ashes to the side, the teen dusted himself off and began to think. What was he missing?

Did his family already have some supernatural in their blood? Was his father a Devil, or his mother a Fallen Angel? No, that seemed extremely unlikely, if not outright impossible. Due to the extremely low population and birth-rates of the Three Factions, they wouldn't let a single new-born devil or fallen get away, even if they were a half-blood.

Was he connected to a lineage of heroes? Once more, extremely unlikely. When Adam was in middle school, he specifically went out of his way to find everything about his family's bloodline and ancestry, only to find nothing (for inspiration, of course).

Well, that wasn't entirely true. His father's great-great-grandfather was a wandering samurai who fought in wars that paid him the highest, and he died of old age rather than in battle. Surprising, given the nature of war, meaning the man was most likely incredibly skilled. His mother didn't have anything noteworthy either, only a small link to fortune telling as 'tradition.' Adam himself experienced it, watching his mother pull out tarot cards whenever an especially stressful day came by, but those only happened once in a blue moon.

Did he perhaps interact with someone during his life-time that changed him in some way? He didn't think so, not before he moved to Kuoh, but one couldn't be so sure. So, he pulled out his notebook for the interesting people he met in his life and turned to Sai Kazuki, a boy he became acquaintances with during his middle school years, and Sayaka Koizumi, a girl he was friends with in elementary.

Sai was a friendly boy, but he was a bit… shy. No, that wasn't a good enough word. Passive! Yes, Sai was a very passive individual, and because of that, he would always go with the flow. If someone asked him a favor, he'd do it with a smile. If someone made fun of him, he'd let the insult slide right off. If there was a fight happening? He was the first to walk away. The green haired preteen was like that all throughout middle school, and Adam was intrigued by his personality. So, he had decided to form a relationship with him. Adam would make a request, Sai would fulfill it. Of course, Adam didn't let the boy do it for free, so he opted to either pay for the boy's lunch or bring some extra from home. Adam never requested anything out of the ordinary for Sai, though. Indeed, the most strenuous thing he requested from the boy was to fetch him that one delicious noodle-filled sandwich during lunch. Sai had to fight someone for the last one, but Adam gave him extra home-made food, as well as doing the boys homework that week.

The teen didn't think Sai did anything to him, realistically speaking. While Adam wasn't the best judge of character, he had a feeling that Sai was always 100% genuine. The boy didn't have a malicious bone in his body. So if he did mess with Adam, somehow, then it was either because the boy believed Adam needed it, or he did it accidentally. All in all, there was an incredibly large chance, almost 100%, that Sai didn't do anything to him.

Sayaka Koizumi, on the other hand, was a spit-fire. If she wanted something, she would get it in the end. She was also a social butterfly that wanted to make friends with every single person in her class, and didn't take no for an answer. Predictably, she and Adam got into scuffles quite often, with the boy wanting nothing to do with her, while she tried her damnedest to befriend him. In the end, Adam accepted a begrudging friendship with the girl to leave him alone, but every now and then she would rope him into some scheme or another. Hell, Adam remembered one time where she tried to jump from rooftop to rooftop, like in an anime, and Adam had to catch her the minute she fell.

…Yeah, she was trouble. But once more, Adam had a feeling she wasn't the reason for his inability to use magic. It was the same situation with Sai. Either she had some sort of dormant or passive power she was oblivious to, or she was one of the best actors at the age of nine.

So… what now? Unless someone manipulated him somehow behind the scenes, there was no one left. Adam didn't have a shred of magic in him in his previous life, so there was no way he was targeted there, so what changed between leaving his old world and coming to the new-!

"Wait..." There was one time it could've happened. One moment in his lives where he very well could've made a deal with someone, or perhaps angered the wrong god. Yes, if there was a time for him to gain an unknown power, it'd have to be…

"After I died…"

Yes, there was a gap in his memory, a single gap, that had the potential to answer his questions regarding his current situation. Between him walking home after summer classes and him waking up in the darkness, then covered in light, there was a blank space. Like a couple squares of film cut from a reel, and the rest of the film simply skipped ahead, Adam's memory of the day he world-hopped weren't complete.

So what exactly happened at the time? Well, the teen had a few hypotheses. The first was the simplest: his mind was actively forcing down whatever traumatic event that had transpired, and Adam unfortunately lost his life during said event. His soul then just happened to find the right dimension instead of going to Heaven or Hell, or wherever his soul was supposed to go (reincarnation could very well be the answer and his soul simply wasn't cleansed properly before he was reborn). This solution meant that his current magic problem wasn't due to this moment of lapsed memory though, so Adam decided it wasn't very likely, but kept it in his mind just in case.

The next plausible answer was one that he had discarded long ago due to his less than exciting first fifteen years, and it was that he was plucked from his world by a higher being and was given the option to reincarnate with his memories or some extra power. Going further than that, there was a chance he bargained to keep his memories or gain some sort of extra power for this world, and the price to pay was what world he was getting sent to and what his abilities were.

There were a few other options, but Adam had a feeling it was either of the two. They were the most likely, he believed. Then again, he didn't know if higher beings would even bother messing with universes and worlds, but Adam figured that his own personal experiences, both real and fiction, should be used to at least get a better idea of what he was going through.

That could be a problem later on, if his personal biases and experiences hindered his progress instead of helping it, but Adam didn't have the time nor will to psycho analyze himself and what the potential problems his biases could bring.

It suddenly occurred to Adam that he was simply staring at the ground in an abandoned factory late at night for at least an hour, and decided to leave. The sun had set awhile ago, and Adam needed to get home before his parents began to suspect more than they already were (he hinted that he might've had a girlfriend, and his parents came to their own conclusions and said that he could be out for as long as he wanted, but he didn't wish to abuse that kindness. They were his parents after all, even if they weren't his first ones).

The reports Sona had been receiving from Tsubaki's familiar about Adam Suzuki had grown more and more worrying. The teen had barely arrived in Kuoh, and the moment he did, he met with the most influential people in the town (herself and Rias) immediately. Then, it was discovered that he would go to an abandoned factory almost every night and experiment with magic, for two weeks straight.

That alone would be intriguing, if not even tempting, for a devil like her. After all, she respected a person with a high intellect far more than a person with a low one, and his ambition was truly up there next to his smarts. His personality, however, was a problem.

He was manipulative, and Sona was the only one who could see it. She had caught Tsubaki daydreaming about him multiple times while she did her work. She heard about him from Rias whenever they talked, and despite how much she bragged about him slowly getting wrapped around her finger, Sona believed it was the opposite. Finally, Akeno was the most obvious. Even saying his name would bring a blush to her face, and lightning would spark when she thought no one was looking.

He was cunning. He said and did the perfect things to each of these girls to force himself into their minds, and for those thoughts to stay. Rias wanting to recruit him, Akeno always thinking about...'playing,' with him, and even her Vice-President, Tsubaki, had mentioned him more than any other male so far (on Earth, at least).

He was determined. Going by the reports of his past and present activities, whenever something interested him, Adam Suzuki would do every single thing he could to make his desires reality. He started writing when he only a year old, and never stopped writing since. His latest example showed more than ever his determination, with Adam practicing magic every single moment he wasn't in school or sleeping. Once school ended at three in the afternoon, Adam would head to the factory immediately, begin his magic training from four to midnight-a whole eight hours-and he had been doing this for two weeks.

Finally, he was apathetic. No, that wasn't true. He was… separated. Sona had seen it herself, how Adam carried himself. He walked with confidence, but he always looked like he was in another world. If he deigned you unworthy of his attention, then he simply wouldn't give it (Rias being the biggest example). It always seemed like he didn't want to interact with anyone, as if they weren't worth his time, or like they weren't suited to his needs.

Like he was an actor forced into a play. Even during class this would continue, as he would write and write, never once looking up at the board or listen to whatever the teacher was explaining. She would've called him out on it, but his grades were incredible, almost perfect. Perfect. Yes, that sounded right. Adam Suzuki acted perfect. Like he was the perfect actor playing his role, Adam played the part of student perfectly. A new student who didn't want to talk much, but still gave his attention to others in an effort to make friends. That's what it seemed like on the surface. Sona knew he was more. There was one day when that thought was proven true. One day when his act wasn't played.

The day he discovered magic. Instead of the 'perfect' person, the character that played his part of the ice-cold man was no where to be seen. Instead, there was a man who was so ecstatic that his cheeriness bordered on psychopathy. He happily babbled on about how life was a prison, and how he was forced to walk path that he had seen since the very start, and how he had made a discovery that unchained him from the path he had been forced to follow. A part of her was glad that he had found such relief from discovering the supernatural. Another warned that he was no longer chained down by that very path he despised. Yes, that was the most appropriate statement. He was unchained.

That worried her.

She had tried to warn Rias about him, but of course her friend waved it off. "He discovered magic, right? That's another reason to recruit him!" She smiled. "I wish I had that luxury, of being able to break off my path..."

The Sitri Heir decided to drop the matter with Rias, but still talked about it with Tsubaki, who responded, "President, are you sure it's something to worry about? He hasn't even managed to cast a single spell correctly yet. His drive is admirable, yes, and his emotions can be..." She blushed, "...Infectious, but he doesn't seem to be a bad person."

A bad person, no, perhaps not.

A man that would eliminate everything in his way, yes.

Sona worried if she or Rias ever would be in front of him, against him.

That was why she was cautious. He had a brilliant mind that was just given the greatest opportunity to grasp it's greatest desires and more. Should she let him grow stronger? Or should she snuff out the spark that could eventually burn her down? She gave a small sigh. "Decisions, decisions." Whatever her choice would be, she could not hesitate. Attacking him and letting him escape would mean a very powerful enemy soon enough, and befriending him would mean a potentially very strong ally.

She was thinking things a little more black-and-white than what reality entailed, but she needed to be certain. If she made a mistake, either way she would get into a lot of unnecessary trouble. She signed her last paper and looked past her window, into the night sky. She needed to make a decision.

She saw a fallen star. As it shot through the sky, bright and fast, it failed to complete it's course as it burned up in the atmosphere, turning itself into dust in the void that was the sky. Sona narrowed her eyes. She had decided.

As he walked home, Adam saw a shooting star, and saw it disappear in the sky. He smiled. "How poetic." His stomach growled. "I wonder what Mother made for dinner…?"

AN: BOOM! Another chapter (and my biggest in this story) has been finished!

The 'Life-to-Mana' lore is getting filled out more and more, and Adam is slowly but surely ruling out potential elements! He ain't Fire, Water, Earth, or Air, that's confirmed. Keep guessing though, cause I've given a few hints to narrow down the scope! Seeing everyone give their own ideas of what magic Adam is going to wield is fun watching, and they give me a few ideas for future… encounters, so to say.

Adam still doesn't know what to do in the long term either, so I implore you all to state what you believe Adam will do in the future! Will he join Kokabiel? Khaos Brigade? The Hero Faction? Give me your thoughts!

Yeah, that's about it. Adam will finally discover his magic either next chapter or the chapter after that one, so get excited for that! Other than that though, if you enjoy this story so far, don't forget to follow and favorite, or even write a review! I appreciate all thoughts (even negative ones), so don't hesitate to write down questions, critiques, or praises!

Thank you all for reading, and have a good one!