Nahemah Chapter 1: Afterlife 401k, a high school dxd/ハイスクールd×d fanfic

AN: I don't own anything as always.
This was a spur of the moment idea to the Waifu Catalogue fics I have been reading on QQ so I wrote it out and made crappy notes on the idea. Wanted to be different from the gamer system like usual. Not sure if it works but it got me writing again for now, so fingers crossed.

Reviews appreciated

Nahemah

Chapter 1: The Afterlife 401K

I died young. It was in my sleep. There is no tale to tell, no profound lesson to be found, except the truth that death can come sudden for anyone. I can at least admit that I am feeling regretful about certain parts of my life as most people would. Things like not valuing my relationships enough, not being honest with myself, not taking care of myself better etc. In this purgatorial mindscape, I could only reflect on what life was.

Maybe in my next life, I would try to enjoy it a bit more.

The afterlife was not what I expected but then again, I never put much thought into it to have expectations. Life after death was just the everlasting embrace of primordial nothingness, like television static without the sensation. For however long I have been dead, I have no answer. It could be centuries or just the flash of a nanosecond.

Ding!

My consciousness was forcefully awoken as the feeling of electricity runs through my being like a defibrillator My first sight was the pink haired lady in an office suit sitting behind her desk, patiently waiting for me as if it was standard procedure to watch people panic. My second sight as a frantically look around was enough to process where I am at. White walls that have gone stale, blinders covering all the windows, obscuring the answer of whether it was day or night. No, it was twilight. The interior design all clued me to a certain feeling. A bank, a civil office, the DMV, Purgatory.

Welcome to Memento Mori consultations. Due to some special circumstances, you have been assigned here instead of being instantly given a standard forget beam and reincarnation package. I will be your handler, Calliope. As you are probably aware, you are dead.

I kept quiet and nodded. There was nothing much else I can do. Hell I had no body when I looked down so moving was obviously out of the question.

Relax. My job here is to guide you to your next life. Usually, we offer a few plans for you to pick and then send you off to your new life. Someone like you should have heard of the terminology used in these plans. Self Insert, Gamer, CYOA, MultiCross, Waifu Catalogue, etc.

Aren't those fan fictional frameworks?

Yes, the PR department had a information insemination campaign a while ago. Promoting it as fanfiction helps spread awareness of our reincarnation packages when people eventually arrive to the afterlife. Anyway, as I was saying, we usually offer them but-

There was a pregnant pause to the but as she opens a drawer and pulls out a folder, sliding it towards me.

Your arrival was not managed properly nor was your awakening. Those packages are well.. incompatible with your soul. You can always opt for basic reincarnation but we have an experimental plan that was compatible with you. However, we were only able to secure one world for it at present moment.

Monster Catalogue

Capture creatures, Collect artifacts, Create an army. Waifus are temporary, absolute power is forever. With this system plan, bind creatures into your preferred medium and then call them into existence to fight for you.

So like a Waifu catalogue but for creatures?

Yes. Well, there are some creatures that other people might consider as wife material but its a grey area. Monster Catalogue was created because there was a fallout a while back. Some people were kind of strong armed into taking the plan and those people.. they uh formed a union. The company handling it also got review bombed when some sensitive people found out their purchases' affection was not genuine. Anyway, the monster catalogue won't be messing with your relationships except for monster obedience but since it's the latest plan, R&D has included some features from our old plans to it as a test.

I guess I will take it, if its the only thing I have other than basic.

Great. Let me just key that in real quick. From your previous life, you have 1800 credit points to spend on the plan you like. The credit for purchasing the system has already been subtracted. Any balance will be put to your system once you have reincarnated for future spending. For this system, it works a little different from its predecessor so I suggest you read up on how Binding works.

Monster Binding

Unlike previous plans, natural seduction is not recommended as a way to bind monsters. And while logic would say a good collar and leash is enough, R&D and common sense suggest a binding power and a binding medium for quality of life.

Submission by Strength – 300 credit

The tried and true method. Beat them to an inch of their life and they are yours. At least that's what daddy tells me when he drinks too much adult juice.

Reduce a monster to weakened state to capture them.

Feeding Kink – 500 credit

The way to a monster's heart is through their stomach. Feed them enough and they go uwu.

When a monster's hunger meter is filled by you, they are captured. Cooking Skill is added to your skill list.

Magical Leash – 500 credit.

This is not your ordinary collar and leash. It's company guaranteed or your credits back.

Successful leashing with this tool will start the binding process. Keep it for an hour on and its captured.

Naming Ritual -700 credit

Names have meaning. Names have power. Speak it proudly and bind them forevermore.

Discover their true name and say it in their presence to capture them. For non sentient creatures, naming them instantly binds them.

Binding Medium

Sure, you can have all 300 of your captured monsters follow you around. Definitely not a logistics problem and trouble with society. A binding medium allows you to bring them around portably and are cooler to use for summoning. All monsters will be stored in a default comfort space.

Fat Balls – 300 credit

Carrying around a pair is already hard enough. Lol. With this medium, you can project the ball with your capture of choice and then throw it ala Pokémon.

Heart of Cards – 500 credit

You may be a second rate duelist but this endless deck of cards is first rate. With this medium, you can draw the card with your capture of choice and then summon it by revealing it. Also acts as magical card that can show your legal documents, business card or substitute as credit cards.

Grimoire Echidna – 500 credit

Looking Smart is more your style and a book makes you look well studied. What a nerd. It also somehow never runs out of paper. With this medium, you can call forth your monster by turning to their page and invoking their name. The book is always light and can be summoned from wherever you left them. You can also easily change the cover to make it less suspicious.

Apple X – 700 credit

Do you guys not have phones? Well then get one of these bad boys. With this medium, just access the bloatware we provide and tap to summon your monsters. Company does not provide sim card or data plan. Please get your own. Only comes in generic shape. No custom preferences.

There were other perks as well. Personal Dimensions, Vehicles, Appearances, Talent, purchasable monsters off the start but before I could decide on my build, there is one thing I needed to know.

The world is the DxDverse. It has a good amount to be captured but we are not looing for anything specific. The goal is to just run the system through it's pace but if you succeed in getting a T11, it will mean a lot. As you are technically our first tester of the system, we are providing certain perks. In my experience, I would say getting a custom background or some initial monsters would help you cope with the danger level of the world.

It was good advice and I knew what to get now. I was somewhat acquainted with DxD. I read the novel once up to somewhere I can't remember. It's been a long time since that happened after all. I just knew enough to know God is dead and anything could kill me if I was not strong enough to protect myself, especially if I am going around fighting fantasy monsters.

Submission by Strength – 300 credit

The tried and true method. Beat them to an inch of their life and they are yours. At least that's what daddy tells me when he drinks too much adult juice.

Reduce a monster to weakened state to capture them.

Heart of Cards – 500 credit

Self Insert Background (Devil, Extra Demon) – 400 credit

You start as the devil from a randomly chosen house of the Extra faction. Your house will provide you with a unique bloodline power and/or special family magic. Actual background status is randomly picked from pool. One random rarity heirloom will also be included depending on status.

Fifteen piece chess monster set (Black) -600 credits

Except for the king piece, you have the other pieces as monsters at your beck and call. Set includes 8 skeleton pawns, 2 armored knights, 2 golem rooks, 2 shadow bishops, 1 succubus queen.

With that, I was done with my build plan as I submitted application.

Thank you for your patronage. All purchased items and the smartphone for you to contact the Company for future purchase will be on your person when you are awake. Your name and any important information in terms of monster cataloguing will be added to your mind during the transfer. Once you are ready, please sit back, relax and close your eyes.

Enjoy your new life, Arslan Nahemah

[Employee Mind Protection] passive gained

As per company policy, all employees have their mind protected from external influence of a certain threshold.

Reduced Mental Debuff and Psychological effects.

Immune to Mind Reading, Mind Control.

Improved brain process.

[Meta Perception] ability gained

To accommodate your task, perceiving things will grant you metaknowledge about subject.

[Devil Physiology] passive gained

The nature of devils grant you racial features.

Stats scaled to Devil preset.

Devil Wings unlocked, [Flight] ability gained

[Devil Magic] system unlocked

[Language] passive gained

[Darksight] passive gained

Immune to Sunburn.

[Feast: The Esurience] ability gained

The clan ability of the Nahemah, Eater of desires.

With their demonic power, they can consume a target whole and gain a percentage of their strength, knowledge and if compatible, their very power. Mastery of this will increase the percentage.

[Inventory] ability gained

The infinite space of hope and dreams. Has a fixed weight limit and size maximum.

Items added to Inventory

[Deck of Monsters]

A deck of cards containing the monsters you own

[Company Smartphone]

A device to contact the company for any purchase or inquiries. Acts as a modern smartphone.

[Nahemah Family Grimoire]

A spellbook containing knowledge of all the family magic specialty, Sanguimancy and Eromancy.

[Nahemah Regalia]

The banner spear of House Nahemah that proves the bloodline legitimacy of the wielder thanks to the blood magic imbued within. It is a unique artifact and weapon that can trace its origin to the first of its ancestors.

The wielder and its allies including minions gain a status buff when near it's vicinity

Download Complete.

I was thrust back into the primordial nothingness that I had awoken from. And in that darkness, the prologue of Arslan Nahemah played like a still image film.

The devil civil war was a bloody affair and if you did not pick a side, you were with the other side. It was why so many houses of the Extra demon faction went into hiding but not many of them succeeded, there were only so many places you could turn to and the human world was still a hot battleground for the other enemy faction. House Nahemah was one such fool that failed in the endeavor, hiding in Europe, thinking that Heaven and the church would not find us beneath their nose. For a few years, it did. Years turned to decades and decades almost reached century but our family let slip our presence just for a moment and wrath came thundering down on them. As one last ditch effort, they buried their youngest deep within the dirt, preserved by the demonic arcane and the blood magic of their line so that one day, their legacy would survive with him, the last heir of the Nahemah, me.

For centuries, my body was trapped in sleeping stasis but eventually the magic has to run out and when it did, it chose to not be subtle. A wave of magic like a bell tolling runs through the human world and underworld alerting certain people to the source, in an isolated town between the border of France and Italy where the rubble and ruins of an ancient mansion once stood as the earth beneath tore open like the maw of the beast, revealing a sleeping teen.

While my mind and soul has was familiar with the idea of being dead, my new body was not or to be clear, my body was experiencing what it was like to be stuck in one position for centuries. It took a while to get up and when I went to stretch my back, it came with the relief afforded that no one could hear me in my vicinity curse.

Status?

Arslan Nahemah

Forgotten Heir of House Nahemah

Age: 18

Race: Pureblood Devil

Forgotten? Well that was understandable. I was probably the last as well. None of the family survived which left me to fend for myself. Devil politics was sure to be annoying if they found me still kicking. Arslan's old memories was still trying to settle in as I put faces to things and the ruins around me. There was a sad tug of empathy even though my personal connection to my family was non-existent.

Whatever corpses they would have, there is none to be found in this era so out of some useless sense of a past life, I started to make a makeshift tomb for all of the relatives gone. Stones stack together and some ragged red cloth. Nothing scenic but as least the lack of sun on this cloudy European weather made moving around much better. I put my hands together in a Buddhist prayer, out of touch with my current existence before looking around the ruins and thinking on what to do next.

Whoever that massacred us did just that and nothing else because the vault room in the basement was untouched or at least that I am aware of by the presence of gold and gems that are still there. Maybe the door was protected by blood magic or no one wanted the devil's gold. It was at least a blessing. Thank Go-aHHHH fuck. Forgot about the devil thing.

Wealth added to Inventory

Whatever the weight limit of the inventory was, I have not reached it yet but I should find a bank to deposit. Surely they would not as where an 18 year old got all these gold from. Yeah nevermind, it will make a scene. How does one go back to Hell anyway? I tried to jog my memory on it as I got out of the basement ruin only to be met by a sight of hungry animals.

Warg

Magic-touched wolf

Status: Hungry and Disturbed

6 of them, a pack of hungry hungry boys, no leader in sight, odd but I was new to this world. Who knows how it works. My family spear appears in my hand behind me as the foreign pull of Company magic creates a hand of 6 cards in my other before I call them forth.

Skeleton Pawn x 3

Sword, Shield, Spooky

Status: Has Cold Feet

Armored Knight

Horseback Lancer

Status: First Day on the job

Golem Rook

Ruins Elemental

T2
Status: Slow

Shadow Bishop

Black Widow

Status: Pleased about the weather

With my spear around, they should receive a buff and in my eyes, a faint icon is seen beside their names. I spoke a word and they readily took it as my command. "Attack." They rushed forward just as the wargs do. Skeleton Pawn 1 drew first blood as its sword pointed forward sunk into the warg's belly only to be then pounced and crushed beneath the weight. That was when I realize my monsters don't revive as well.

Skeleton Pawn 1 defeated.

I felt a tug as if a small amount of life left my body. The card of the deceased fading into ether. Anger, frustration at my self for not realizing it, a memory triggers from my unknown past as I draw blood from my tightly gripped hand before lashing out

[Blood Tendril] skill unlocked

A tendril of one's blood, empowered by the dark nature of devilkin.

It seeks vengeance upon the warg that was stomping bones underneath its paw, unaware as the tendril sunk into its back and impaled the heart. I felt the need to consume, my stomach ready to digest as my demonic power began to consume the warg through the channel of my blood.

[Feast: The Esurience] activated

Strength improved.

Endurance improved.

Dexterity improved.

Warg weakened.

Warg killed.

I could already feel the changes of my stats. It renewed my senses as I took in the surroundings, the two pawns left were managing by ganging up on one warg instead and the other three could handle themselves on a one vs one which left one warg unattended as it aimed for me. It was smart enough to know I was the one leading. As it came, I moved to the left and delivered a front kick right to the neck, enough to push it as my spear slammed into the back limb.

Warg weakened

I still needed to try binding. A blank card formed between my fingers before I threw straight. It somehow turned sharp enough to sink into the warg's flesh before absorbing the warg in a flash of light.

Warg bound

20 credits added.

First capture bonus +50 credits.

Warg killed

I turned to see one of the ward crushed into a bloody pulp under the fist of the rook as knight came up to me to present his kill, skewered by his lance, discarding it before returning to assist the skeletons who were barely holding their warg at bay.

Warg weakened

Bishop succeeded in capturing her warg as she waited for me. The warg struggling badly against black rope that held it down against the ground. Bishop seems to be much more intelligent but then again, she was the magically inclined. Another card, another capture.

Warg bound

20 credits added.

Warg Killed.

The last one died soon after as the corpses of those uncaptured remained. Do I even need materials to do anything? Maybe there was but I did not know any better and carrying corpses around my inventory did not seem fun. There was one thing I could do though as I reached forth with my hand.

[Feast: The Esurience] activated.

Stats improved.

In my stupor of feasting on magic wolves continued, I failed to notice someone had come to investigate the source of the magic shockwave, someone close to the current head of the underworld, the titular Satan. My pseudo peerage were still there but they were on standby. With the last warg feasted upon, my demonic crest upon my hand that they recognized faded away.

"Arslan Nahemah?"

The presence made themselves known by only uttering my name. Something not many people should have known. I turned to see who it could be and recognized them not by my ailing memory but by the show this world was.

It was Sirzechs' queen, Grayfia Lucifuge.