Disclaimer: I don't own Fate Stay Night or High School DxD. They belong to Kinoko Nasu and Ichiei Ishibumi respectively. If I did, I would have already created an Ilya route in the VN with a fully-grown and matured Ilya as the heroine and make a badass protagonist for High School DxD instead of a pervert like Issei.
- Next morning, Akeno's home -
The last time he remembered kissing someone was when he was forced to have a tantric prana ritual with Rin and Sakura during one of the reenactments of the 5th Grail War in order to restore his depleted reserves. It was one of the few times he was summoned by Emiya Shirou instead of Rin, where he experienced many hardships in having an incompetent Master who can't even supply him the needed prana.
Still, during those times, the kisses were awkward and stiff, not to mention there was no love in them as the act was done out of necessity instead of passion. After all, having sex while being defenseless as an enemy Servant was nearby, doing its best to hunt them all down, was a very nerve-wrecking experience and wasn't as sensual a night as others might have thought it to be.
Though perhaps having the boy that the girls had a crush on in the next room also contributed to that awkward atmosphere.
Right now however, the kiss that Akeno was giving him was full of passion.
It astounded Archer that not just a few minutes ago that he found himself waking up while being embraced by a beautiful Japanese girl with long silky black hair that he identified as Akeno. The next thing that he noticed was that they were both naked. Literally.
He was already used to finding himself in various compromising situations with women whether when he was still alive or during his summonings in the various reenactments of the 5th Grail War, so he was able keep himself from being flustered. That said, seeing Akeno's expression that was filled with fear made him unconsciously hugged her closer to his body. He was rewarded with her having a more peaceful slumber, if the small smile she had was any indication, that set his heart at ease.
No doubt that these actions and feelings were the result of Shirou's 16 years of accumulated experiences and emotions in this world. Of course, his own memories seemed to have affected it in someway as well. For one thing, he was experienced enough to know that his reincarnated self's feelings for Akeno was far more than just love for an older sister figure. To Archer, the fact that Shirou didn't even realize this obvious fact was typical Emiya Shirou behavior. He's reminded again why his younger self was always so dense about these matters.
As there were no other distractions present (he's experienced enough to ignore Akeno's soft breasts that's pressing against his side at this moment), he started to assess his current situation as quickly as possible before his thoughts could be derailed from some unexpected event that might crop up if his terrible luck was still present.
Recalling the memories from last night and some use of Structural Analysis on his current body, he arrived at the most obvious conclusion.
It looks like I've been turned into a Devil.
If this was something that happened in his home world, he would've already cursed everything to high Heaven as that would mean that his soul was most likely damned for all eternity. It was a fate that was most likely worse than being a Counter Guardian. Fortunately, he had already determined that it might not be the case with the Devils of this world.
On the contrary, turning into a Devil was what had most likely saved him from being reclaimed by Alaya as he had not even achieved any of the prerequisites to become a Heroic Spirit yet. There were still some questions of what will happen if he died as a Devil but something told him that it was probably not as bad as becoming a Counter Guardian.
Another thing that he discovered was the current condition of his psyche. A normal person might not have easily noticed when their way of thinking was subtly changed or affected by the existence of just a few extra years of memories in their minds, but Archer was someone who had once steeled his mind in order to perform atrocities that would ultimately save more lives than what he had taken. Thus, he immediately recognized the abnormality of his previous action trying to comfort Akeno just a few moments ago.
If this was the normal him, Akeno would not have mattered much to him as he barely knew her but the existence of the memories from Shirou's 16 years of life, had caused him to have feelings for Akeno in extension. His current psyche was like an amnesiac who lived more than decade without his memories only to recover all of them after that.
Basically, the 16 years of memories from the moment he reincarnated had also become a part of him as much as or perhaps more than his memories from before that as it had now basically become his most recent memory. In other words, those who his reincarnated self had deemed as important became important to Archer as well, hence the feeling of affection he currently had for Akeno.
Although this made him feel a bit like a pedophile at first seeing that he was mentally a few centuries old, in the end he decided to just go with the flow. After all, this current life was supposed to be a second chance for him so why not treat it as such? Not to mention that he will have a hard time ignoring his emotions as his current teenage body will be producing a lot of hormones to make sure that he won't.
He was however a bit puzzled at how accepting he was at being called Emiya Shirou again. He had discarded that name after being a Counter Guardian and found being called that very irritating as it reminded him of how he had doomed himself when he decided to make that contract with Alaya all those centuries ago in his quest to become a hero.
After some further ruminations, he considered it was most likely because he was about to take up the dream to become a hero again. A dream that he had once discarded. The motive behind that desire might have changed slightly but somehow using that name again while pursuing a path to become a hero seemed...fitting.
It was ironic that the same dream that had once doomed him was what will now save him.
It was at this moment that Akeno started to stir and slowly woke up. Seeing Akeno got up into a sitting position, Archer also started to haul his own body up as well.
"Good morn-" As soon as their eyes met, he decided to adopt some of his reincarnated self's behavior to avoid suspicion but before he could even finish his greeting, Akeno had kissed him. It was not even a small peck on his lips either but a full-blown deep and passionate French kiss, complete with the tongue and tongue play, sucking and moans from Akeno.
Despite the amorous kiss however, he was able to detect signs of her body trembling in his arms. With her obvious fear coupled with what his reincarnated self knew of her and his own experiences with women, Archer was quite sure that Akeno was currently frantic about his apparent death last night and was seeking comfort from him in the form of sexual pleasure.
If it was the usual him, he would've already broken the kiss and pushed her back but the effects of Shirou's own strong emotions that was now his, resulted in him gently reciprocating her kiss and hugging her body close to him. It was the only compromise he could think of to calm her down. Of course, he would still stop her if she decided to go any further than that.
It didn't matter how lusciously seductive her body was,
or how he could feel her pressing her soft breasts against his chest,
or how she was rubbing her womanhood against his own manhood,
or how her pleasurable moans could make any man who hear them become very horny,
or how her hands were moving on his back in a way that could increase any man's sexual desire, he was not going to let his libido get the better of him!
His feelings that he had inherited from Shirou for Akeno aside, he was not about to take advantage of a teenage girl's moment of weakness and take her virginity (even if she was a Devil that was the very symbol of giving in to one's desires) even if his teenage hormones are practically begging him to do so.
...At least, he thinks that she's still a virgin.
After a few minutes, the two of them finally ended their lo~ng kiss. However, Akeno seemed to have an expression that's a mix between disappointment and pouting which made her look very cute.
Archer, who already knew why she made that face decided to tease her a little. "You're gonna have to do better than that if you're planning on seducing me." Archer said with a smug grin.
Akeno blinked a few times after hearing his challenge and gave him her most seductive smile and sultry voice yet. "Is that so?"
The kiss might have started because Akeno was seeking comfort but after the first 30 seconds, it seemed his own kissing technique had some how aroused her, making the kiss after that completely due to lust and passion. What can he say? He was just that good. He needed to be, with the amount of women that he usually got involved with.
Still, he deemed that a repeat performance of their earlier 'activities' might be bad, so he decided to just change the subject. After all, it's been more than 8 years since the last time they've spoken to each other so a more appropriate greeting was to be expected. "It's been a while Akeno."
"Yes, it has. And wasn't it supposed to be Akeno-nee?" She smiled softly at him. Most of the traces of lust disappearing from her face, replaced with a smile that she used give Shirou when they were younger.
He shrugged. "I've grown up."
"Clearly." She trailed her fingers across his abs as she said this, a blush appearing on her face as she tested the muscles that felt as solid as steel on her fingers.
Despite having given up on trying to become a hero, Shirou was never able to completely abandon that dream, thus he always made sure to keep his body fit with routine exercises everyday that concentrated on his basic foundations such as strength, endurance and agility. As a result, his body was very fit. Although it was not as fit as a body builder, his body had enough muscles and a six pack abs to surpass an average high school student.
"What can I say? I work out a lot."
"Of course you would. You're aiming to be a hero aren't you? Fufufu."
Come to think of it, Shirou had once told Akeno of his dreams when they were younger. Although it's mostly because Akeno managed to trick him to reveal it. She really was wily fox wasn't she? As expected of a Fallen Angel turned Devil.
Before Archer could give another reply, Akeno suddenly hugged him tightly with her head on his chest.
"I'm glad you're alright Reiji-kun."
"Shirou."
"Hm?"
"I changed my name to Emiya Shirou after I was kicked out of the Himejima clan 8 years ago."
"...I see." There were hints of sadness in her voice. Since she was the cause of his excommunication, it's no wonder she felt guilty about it.
"Don't worry about it. It's not like you're the cause that made me a failure in their eyes."
"You're not a failure!" Akeno immediately refuted his statement heatedly.
Seeing Akeno recovering her spirit, Archer just smiled at her which made her smile as well. It was then that Archer realized the current time displayed on a clock on one of Akeno's dressers.
"By the way, aren't you late for school?"
"We can just teleport there using my magic circle."
Teleportation, huh? The magi from my world would salivate if they knew there was a way to use that kind of Magecraft. Hm? Wait a minute.
"What do you mean 'we'?"
"Buchou already prepared the necessary arrangements last night for you to transfer to Kuoh. She had to ask for help from Sona and Grayfia-san however." Akeno seemed happy at this.
To think that I have to go to high school again even though I've already graduated a few centuries ago. Well, this world's history seem to be a bit different than what I know so I guess that's one thing I can be sure that won't be completely boring.
While Archer was deep in his thoughts, Akeno started fidgeting uncomfortably on his lap. Thinking that perhaps she was becoming uncomfortable with their current...position, he had half a mind to apologize but decided to play the ignorance card to just tease her again.
"Something wrong?" He said innocently.
"Um...Rei-Shirou-kun. Aren't you...going to ask?"
Reassessing his previous assumptions, Archer finally figured out what was really bothering her.
"About me becoming a Devil?"
"Yes." Akeno said in a low voice. She was clearly afraid that he would blame her for losing his humanity.
"Unless my soul has become damned for all eternity, I don't really have much problem with it. At least, I'm still alive."
"It's okay. Unlike what the Bible says, those who become Devils aren't eternally damned. We're just expected to serve the Devil that accepted us into their peerage. I'll explain in more detail at school. Before we get ready however..." Saying that, she turned her gaze downward at our respective manhood and womanhood that were still rubbing at each other. A mischievous smile appeared on her face.
Oh, no.
Before Archer could react however, Akeno had already started rubbing her womanhood against his sword more intensely and had once again resumed their kiss. Before he knew it, the both of them had released their juices with Akeno having an expression that was filled with euphoria.
"Fufufu. What was that about having to do better to seduce you?" Akeno's said directly in his ears with her previous seductive and sultry voice returning. With a vengeance.
She got me. Well, at least we didn't actually ended up doing it. Should've remembered that she's a Super 'S' hardcore pervert. Archer thought, out loud however, he said, "It was alright I guess."
Akeno only smiled at Archer. She probably thought that he was just bluffing. Although Archer couldn't really deny that it did felt good, his sex life really did include those that were much more...intense.
Of course, he wasn't going to tell Akeno about them.
"I'll definitely get you to admit defeat." Akeno said playfully before getting up from her straddling position and started getting ready for school.
Archer only had one thing to say about that morning. "Well, that was rowdy."
- Scene Break, Kuoh Academy, Lunch Time -
"You girls had enough yet?" Said Archer.
"Huff huff... This guy is...huff...unbelievable."
"His stance...huff... is full of holes so...huff... why can't we hit him!?"
"Dammit! I've went to the nationals! I even went all out! I can't believe we couldn't even make him move from his SPOT!"
Right now, he was being surrounded by more than a dozen girls, all of whom were down on the ground. They were all women from the kendo club. Despite the scene, none of them was hurt. They were all just exhausted.
To explain the current situation, let's go back to this morning.
Archer had found out that the Gremory's preparation for his transfer to Kuoh was quite thorough.
His school uniform and some change of underwear was already prepared at Akeno's home so he didn't have any problem in getting ready for school. Also, he had enough time to prepare both his and Akeno's lunch with simple onigiri and tuna fillings.
It was simple for him to use Structural Analysis to find the kitchen and the location of all the ingredients in the temple where Akeno resided. This caused Akeno to become a bit miffed because she was looking forward to show him her own progress in the kitchen for the last 8 years but she conceded once she had a taste of his cooking.
She did however started to look at him more seductively than ever. No doubt she was planning something more perverted in store for him but Archer just pretended that he didn't notice. That way lies madness.
On another note, Archer was surprised when he was able to get a good look at himself in the bathroom mirror (Akeno didn't ambush him in the bathroom, thankfully). Before this morning, his hair was black and short and he had brown eyes while his face was pretty much the same as before he was reincarnated but now, although his face was still the same, his hair colour had become the same shade of white due to extensive use of Projection that his previous body had. The same thing had happened to his eyes as they've become steel colored and his previous slightly brown skin had become tanned.
Basically, he pretty much looked the same as when he was a Counter Guardian, only younger.
When he had brought this up with Akeno, she said that she didn't know what happened either. She was just glad that he was still alive so she never commented on it. He wondered if recovering his memories had caused the changes. If so, what other changes should he expect? He doubted that his parameters would change as well to match the time he was a Servant but he decided to keep an eye out for it, just in case.
When he arrived with Akeno at one of the clubroom at Kuoh, Akeno led him to a teacher who in turn brought him to his classroom (he had already separated from Akeno by then) which turned out to be the same one Ise was in. Archer immediately realized that Ise had also become a Devil. Ise didn't recognize him at first due to the changes in his hair, skin and eye colour and only realized it was him when he introduced his name to the class.
After a few conversations with Ise, Archer found out that he agreed to join Rias's peerage as it was too dangerous for him to be left with his own devices. He was being hunted by Fallen Angels after all. However, the most compelling reason for him to join was the chance to be close to two of the most popular girls in Kuoh. Namely, Rias and Akeno. He was also convinced because Rias told him that it was possible for him to be a Harem King if he became a High-Class Devil.
What a horny guy.
Although he was supposed to be friends with him, even Shirou usually tried to avoid him when he was in his Pervert Mode. Archer decided to do the same.
When lunch time arrived, Archer went to look for a quiet place to eat. He discarded the idea of eating on the roof because it was somehow crowded instead of empty. When he was wandering the grounds he spotted Ise and his two friends Matsuda and Motohama peeking into the kendo club's girl's changing room only a few meters away.
He wanted to escape before events that would lead to him being accused of being a pervert by the girls could happen (as they usually did due to his E-Rank Luck) but he was too late and he ended up being surrounded by a dozen angry girls that were wielding shinais to punish him. Matsuda and Motohama have already fled, leaving him and Ise to take the fall.
"Me and my E-Rank Luck."
"MEN!" One of the girls tried to hit him with her shinai with a standard kendo technique to score points.
In response, Archer just used the same technique that Saber used to disarm Taiga and took her shinai when Taiga challenged her to a match. Despite not using Reinforcement, his movement was too fast for the girl to even react before he was behind her and he had her shinai.
"Divine punishment!" Another girl tried to hit him and he just used the same technique to get a hold of her shinai too.
Now that he had two shinais however, he started to fight using his personal style against the girls. The style involves leaving obvious openings in his guard to predict where the enemy will try to strike and retaliate with his own attack after he had blocked their strike. It was a style that he had continued to perfect for centuries. This time however, Archer only concentrated on his defense by either parrying or deflecting all the attacks sent at him and never retaliated himself.
His purpose was to gauge his current body's capabilities, as he was only recently turned into a Devil. Also, he didn't really want to hurt the girls as he had no reason to. It's not like they were a threat to him anyway.
As a result, after being attacked from all sides by more than a dozen girls with shinais for more than 15 minutes, none of them was able to hit him or even made him move from where he was standing. All the girls have now collapsed on the ground exhausted.
"You girls have no stamina. You should focus on your basic training more." Archer gave his advice before he started leaving. Lunch break was almost up and he wanted to finish his bento in peace.
"Wait!" A girl that Archer noted was the captain of the club, from how the other girls had called her, called out to him.
"Yes?" Archer asked while only turning his head around to look at her with his peripheral vision instead of turning his whole body to face her.
"Who are you!?"
"Just an Archer." Archer decided to part with that cool phrase while being amused at the girl's dumbfounded expression.
Later, after class resumed, Ise entered the class with bruises and scratches all over his body. Apparently, he was too amazed at how Archer had fought off all the girls with ease that he forgot to run away himself. The girls who were frustrated with their loss took out all their pent up anger at Ise who was too stupid to realize an opening to escape when he saw one.
- Scene Break, Kuoh Academy, After School Ended -
Archer never felt more bored in his life as the subjects that he was being taught were those that he had already learned. So he was eager to exit the class when the bell that signified that school had ended, rang.
It was at this moment that a bishounen entered the class.
"Hi. How are you doing?" The bishounen approached Ise and Archer who was sitting beside each other (this was due to the sitting arrangements).
"You are?" Archer asked in a relaxed tone. He already recognized the bishounen as one of the Devils associated with Rias Gremory. He wasn't sure if he was part of the so called 'peerage' though. He should really ask about that later.
Ise however, looked at the bishounen with half-lidded eyes. "And what business do you have here?"
"I'm Kiba Yuuto. I came here by the order of Rias Gremory-senpai. Please come with me."
"""""NO!"""""
This time it's the girl's screams.
"No, for Hyoudou and Kiba-kun to walk besides each other! Emiya-kun is fine but not Hyoudou!"
"You will get infected, Kiba-kun! Stay close to Emiya-kun!"
"I won't agree with the Kiba-kun×Emiya-kun×Hyoudou pair!"
"No, maybe its Hyoudou×Emiya-kun×Kiba-kun pair!?"
Looks like half the class (the female half) have gone ballistic. Teenage girls these days seem to like male on male pairings. Not like Archer even gave a damn. They can gossip all they wanted for all he cared.
"Lead the way. Though, my guess is that we're headed to the Occult Research Club right?" The aforementioned club was where the Magic Circle he used with Akeno to come to Kuoh this morning was located.
"That's right." As he said this, he started walking ahead while Archer and Ise followed him.
"H-Hey, Ise!"
Matsuda shouted Ise's name.
"Don't worry, friend. I'm not going to have a fight."
"What are you going to do with this DVD, "Me, the Molester, and the Udon"!?"
Matsuda said it out loud while holding the DVD up high.
Ise's only response was to look out the window while Archer was suppressing the urge to just facepalm.
After that silly event, Kiba led Archer and Ise through the school and as Archer had expected, they were heading to the Occult Research Club. On the way however, Archer noticed that they were being watched by almost all the girls that they passed. Some of the girls from the kendo club even approached them and asked Archer for a rematch.
Archer wanted to just dismiss them but their clear and honest eyes made it quite hard for him to just ignore their request (damn hormones) so he agreed if it was just this once. He considered it to be a way for him to adjust with his new body, so it wasn't a total waste of time.
There were no other interruptions as they headed to the Occult Research Club.
When they arrived, Kiba knocked on the club room's door. "Buchou, I've brought them."
A moment later came a reply from a female voice. "Yes, come in."
As all of them entered, Archer noticed that there was the sound of a shower coming from the back of the room. It seemed that Rias or someone else was taking a quick bath. Also, there was a small girl with white hair and an expressionless face was sitting on a sofa opposite where he planned to sit. She was eating youkan quietly. A quick Structural Analysis told him all he needed to know what she was.
A cat youkai? How did something like her became a Devil?
Despite his curiosity, Archer decided to just mind his own business.
"Koneko-chan, this is Hyoudou Issei-kun and Emiya Shirou-kun. Ise-kun, Shirou-kun, this is Toujou Koneko-chan." After Kiba introduced them, Koneko gave a small bow to them which Archer and Ise returned.
Sitting down, Archer pulled out some daifuku that he made during a Home Economics class a few hours ago. Before he was able to eat it however, he noticed that Koneko was looking at the daifuku he was holding.
"Want some?"
She just nodded.
Thinking that there was no harm in it, Archer just passed her a daifuku that had a red bean paste filling. He was interested what a cat would think of his creations.
As soon as Koneko took her first bite (Archer could swore that he saw a lightning strike in the background), her expressionless face suddenly changed to someone who was in absolute bliss. The next second, the daifuku completely vanished from her hands and she was already wiping her mouth with that expressionless face of hers.
This girl can give Saber a run for her money.
"How was it?"
"Delicious." Koneko answered simply, though she kept staring at the remaining daifukus.
"Sorry, but these are for everyone else. I'll make some more for you next time okay?"
"...Okay." Came another simple answer from her but the disappointment from her voice was evident despite her expressionless face.
A moment later, Rias came out of the shower. They could see her changing from the shadows on the curtain. This caused Ise to have a lecherous face which disgusted Koneko. Seriously, Archer was beginning to think that Devil's don't really care about modesty. Rias greeted them after she finished changing into her Kuoh uniform.
"Sorry. I worked until late last night so I needed to freshen up."
"Don't worry about it. It was for our sakes after all." Archer replied.
"Yeah. Thank you, Rias-senpai." Ise also expressed his gratitude.
"It's nothing. Oh, and please call me Buchou. So, how are the two of you adjusting?"
"Other than having to come to school again, my appearance changing a bit, becoming more sensitive to light and feeling a bit lethargic during the day, not much different than before."
The part about being lethargic was something that Archer concluded was something that concerns a Devil's constitution. Since they were creatures of the night, they were probably weaker during the day.
"Me too. Since I'm already a student here, it wasn't really much of a change." Ise agreed with Archer.
"I see. That's good then. Oh, do you mind if I take one Shirou?" Rias pointed to the daifuku.
"Go ahead."
"I think I'll have some too." Said Akeno.
"You can give my share to Koneko-chan. I'm not really interested." Kiba said while offering his share to Koneko.
"Thank you, Yuuto-senpai." Despite being expressionless, Koneko's happiness seem to permeate the room.
"I wonder how good it is? Seeing Koneko earlier made me curious." Ise said while looking at his daifuku like it was something strange.
""""Itadakimasu.""""
Just like that, everyone took a bite of the daifuku and just like earlier with Koneko, all their faces started showing that blissful expression like they were in Heaven (this time, Archer was sure that the lightning strike in the background wasn't his imagination. It was actually there.).
"Wow...this is...really good. Somehow I feel like I can die happy now." Ise was even crying while eating the daifuku.
"I agree. I've eaten high class food prepared by the most skilled chefs but this is just...heavenly. ...I can't believe I just said that." Rias looked like she was in a trance.
"Oh, my. I didn't think that you would improve so much after 8 years. Fufufu." Akeno seems to be holding back her sexual desire. She was going to make sure that Shirou doesn't escape her tonight. She had so many 'punishments' planned for him.
"Delicious...more?" Koneko just gave her simple answer while looking at Archer pleadingly. It's a wonder she managed to pull it off even with that expressionless face of hers.
Kiba however, was becoming curious of how tasty Shirou's daifuku could be if everyone who ate them had that kind of reaction. He was regretting a bit that he gave his share to Koneko.
"I'll make more tomorrow. I promise." Archer on the other hand, was deciding what dessert to make for everyone tomorrow. It's been a long time since he was able to indulge in this hobby of his.
"Looks like you have many talents Shirou. Even your swordsmanship is remarkable." Rias commented while making plans on how to use Shirou's cooking talents to develop a new franchise.
"...Did you see me fight the kendo club during lunch?"
"Yes, I did. Yuuto saw it too didn't you?"
"It was impressive. I don't think even I could hold off all of them without even moving from where I was standing, and you didn't even use any magic." Kiba said while sounding impressed.
"Yeah, that was amazing! I was completely stunned when I saw what you did!" Ise said excitedly.
"Thank you."
To be honest, handling some girls who knew how to wield a shinai wasn't really that big a deal to Archer. He's fought Servants that were hundreds of times more powerful than those girls, so being praised for it didn't really make him happy even the slightest bit. Not that he would be happy if he was praised for defeating foes that were on par or stronger than Servants. It was just how he was.
"Alright then. Since we've introduced ourselves, let's talk about what happened yesterday." Rias declared nonchalantly. "Ise, can you please materialize your Sacred Gear like I taught you yesterday?"
"Yes, ma'am."
Saying that, Ise started to use some weird pose with both his hands and mumbled 'kamehameha'. As soon as he finished his pose, a red gauntlet appeared on his left hand. Archer was able to analyze the gauntlet and find out what it was.
A freaking dragon's soul is being sealed inside the thing! And it has the ability to double the owner's parameters multiple times too! If something like this fell into the hands of a Magus or a Dead Apostle the world would be doomed. Ugh. Just thinking about a Magus becoming 10,000 times stronger with that thing is making me dizzy.
"As I've explained last night to Ise, this Sacred Gear was the reason that the Fallen Angel that called herself Amano Yuuma was trying to kill him last night."
"In order to seek shelter, Ise agreed to become part of my peerage and I needed to use 5 Pawn Pieces, of which one was a Mutation Piece to turn him into a Devil. Shirou, who was coincidentally at the scene, died protecting Ise so I had to use one Pawn Piece to revive him." Rias started giving a simple summary of last night's events but there was one part that Archer didn't understand.
"What's a Pawn Piece and a Mutation Piece?"
"It's the system we Devils use to reincarnate a human or another species into a Devil. A High-Class Devil will be given 15 Evil Pieces that correspond to to the chess pieces that humans like to play Chess with to create their peerage. The High-Class Devil will be the King and they will have 1 Queen, 2 Rooks, 2 Bishops, 2 Knights and 8 Pawns just like Chess."
"There are times that during their creation, one of the Evil Pieces would become a Mutation Piece that are worth more than their usual counterpart. For instance, Ise's Mutation Piece was valued to have the same worth as 4 Pawns." Rias continued her explanation. "The amount of Evil Pieces that's needed for a person to be reincarnated into a Devil varies according to the amount of potential one has."
In other words, Archer's potential was regarded as only worthy of being valued as 1 Pawn Piece while Ise's potential was valued as 8 Pawn Pieces in total. Not surprising, as he was a third rate Magus in his world while Ise had a Sacred Gear that could increase his powers indefinitely. It's a shame that Archer didn't have the ability to Project it. He might be able to make a carbon copy of the gauntlet but without the dragon's soul, it would just be a normal gauntlet without the ability to double his powers.
"Is there any significance with being reincarnated with different kinds of Evil Pieces?" Archer decided to keep fishing for information instead of musing about pointless things like the value of his potential.
"Yes, there is. A person reincarnated using a Knight is given amazing agility, a Rook is given powerful strength and defence, a Bishop is given magic power while a Queen incorporates all the advantages of the Knight, Rook and Bishop."
"And the Pawn?" Since this was based on the game of Chess, Archer already had a suspicion regarding what a Pawn was most likely given. It's probably the same kind of attribute that the game gives a Pawn.
"Pawns can use an ability called Promotion to promote into either a Knight, a Rook, a Bishop or a Queen. By the way, Akeno is my Queen, Yuuto has one Knight Piece and Koneko has one Rook Piece."
Looks like he was right. In Chess, Pawns who were able to reach deep into enemy territory could be turned into any other Chess Piece of their choosing other than the King. So, as a Pawn, he could promote into any piece of his choosing and he will have the same advantage as those who were reincarnated with the other pieces, though Promoting into a Queen would be best as it had all the attributes of the other pieces.
"Buchou. Were able to find out what my Sacred Gear is?" Ise appeared eager to know what his Sacred Gear could do.
"Not yet, I still have to-"
"It's called the Boosted Gear. It's a Longinus class Sacred Gear." Archer interrupted Rias.
"Eh?" Rias was surprised at having been interrupted with her explanation.
Everyone looked at Archer.
"Shirou-kun, how did- Did you use Structural Analysis?" Akeno seemed to have answered her own question.
"Yeah."
"Structural Analysis?" Rias, who felt being left out of the loop, decided to ask Akeno.
"Ever since I knew him, Shirou-kun had a strange ability to analyze any object that he sees which includes their structure, composition and even history. He calls it Structural Analysis." Akeno answered Rias.
"I see. That's...actually very useful. Shirou, the more I know about you, the more intriguing you become."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"Is there any limitations to this...Structural Analysis?"
"Only that I can only analyze what my mind could understand and belongs to this world. Anything that's beyond human comprehension is impossible for me. My mind wouldn't be able to understand them. Also, I have to either see it directly or through another person's memory. I can't analyze anything from photos and televisions."
"Basically, other than those limitations you can easily analyse anything else right?" It was Akeno who asked this time and she had a mischievous smile as if she was planning to tease him which was exactly what she was planning to do.
Archer already knew that he was going to be screwed but decided to just play along. After all, he was sure that he would be able to counter anything that Akeno might have come up with.
"Yes."
"So you can completely analyze a woman's body and all their secret parts?"
PFFFFTT!
Ise did a spit take. He was drinking tea that Akeno gave to everyone a while ago.
Koneko just looked disgusted.
Rias looked as if she hadn't reacted but she was clearly uncomfortable.
Kiba just smiled uncomfortably.
Akeno looked like she was suppressing her giggle.
So that's what you're after. Well, it's gonna take more than that to try and make me embarrassed.
"Yes, actually. How do you think I know where all your sensitive places are?"
"..."
"..."
"..."
The whole room was silent. Everyone just looked at Archer dumbfounded. Even Akeno was stunned seeing that her ploy to tease Archer didn't seem to have worked. Ise was the one who recovered first.
"Shirou!"
"Yes?"
"Teach me Structural Analysis! That wonderful ability that lets you know all the secret parts of a woman just from seeing them! I WANT IT!"
Looks like I activated his Pervert Mode. Then again, he's always like this.
"...Pervert." Koneko simply described both Shirou and Ise in that one word.
"Now, now. My culinary skills are also thanks to my Structural Analysis, you know? Since I have a complete understanding of the ingredients, all my dishes can be made perfectly. Or do you want me to stop using them? You won't be able to have some more of those daifukus you know?"
Koneko looked conflicted at this. On one hand, Structural Analysis can be considered the ultimate peeping tool. On the other hand, Shirou also used it to make food like those delicious daifukus. She doesn't know whether to condemn Shirou and make him stop using that ability or ignore the whole issue so that she can taste some more of his cooking.
Archer just looked amused at Koneko's conflicted face. It was actually very cute.
"Shirou, stop bullying Koneko." Rias reprimanded Archer.
"Sorry, Master. She was just so fun to tease."
If Rias reacted at the way Shirou addressed her, she didn't show it. She was already used to being called that back at home anyway and it was true that Shirou was now her servant. She just decided to go back to the topic about Ise's Sacred Gear which was identified as the Longinus Sacred Gear, the Boosted Gear.
To think that she would gain the Sekiryuutei as part of her peerage. She was very lucky.
"Now, then. Ise, let's talk about your Sacred Gear."
"Yes, Buchou!"
"Now that we know that your Sacred Gear is the Boosted Gear, this will be simple. Basically, your Boosted Gear is able to double your abilities multiple times every 10 seconds. For instance, if you use it once, it will double your abilities. Twice, it will quadruple it. Thrice, you'll be eight times stronger and so on until you have enough power to even defeat a god. Hence, it's classification as a Longinus Sacred Gear."
"T-that's...wow. I-I can really become that strong?" Ise looked at the gauntlet in his hand while being amazed. He never thought that he would have such a powerful Sacred Gear.
"Yes. Provided that you have enough time to multiply your powers to surpass a god's, that is. If you were killed before that however, than it's useless." Archer gave a more detailed explanation to Ise while mentally making a note to himself to keep an eye on Ise, lest he went down a path that would potentially ruin many lives.
"Shirou's right but that's why you have to train hard to master it. Understood?"
"Yes, Buchou!"
"Master, you haven't told him about the Transfer ability yet."
Rias blinked a few times before speaking. "Transfer?" She asked while cocking her head a little in a cute pose.
"It's the Boosted Gear's secondary ability to transfer the accumulated energy that the user has stored after multiplying their powers. It can be transferred to almost anything, from increasing the healing aspect of a medicine to increasing the power of another Sacred Gear." Archer explained in more detail what he was able to glimpse from his Structural Analysis of the Boosted Gear's abilities. There were actually more, like how to achieve the Boosted Gear's Balance Breaker, the ultimate state of activation for a Sacred Gear, but he decided to keep that information to himself for now.
There's no telling what Ise would do if he suddenly gained a power that's enough to conquer the world.
...With his perverted tendencies, Archer figured that Ise might just build a colossal harem with all the beautiful women in the world. Despite how silly the image sounded, it's actually a very bad thing to happen in it's own way. For one thing, if Ise used the Boosted Gear to increase his libido, he might end up impregnating thousands of women which will eventually cause the world to be overpopulated. Not to mention, this doesn't even take into account the feelings of the women he impregnates.
Archer never thought that there would come a day that he would worry about a person's libido being the cause of the world's instability. This situation was really absurd.
"I see. That means, Ise will be suitable for both fighting on the front-lines or providing support from the rear. Alright, now that Ise's Sacred Gear has been sorted out, it's your turn now Shirou. Can you pull out your sword type Sacred Gear?"
At first, Archer was confused at Rias's command. He didn't have a Sacred Gear. A moment later however, he figured that she must be talking about his Projection of Kanshou and Bakuya from last night. Ise must have told her about it.
Silently, Archer activated his Magic Circuits. It might be because he was turned into a Devil but after he experimented during the whole day, he found out that he could activate his Magic Circuits without chanting his usual aria, Trace On. Not only that, his Od felt different than when he was human. He supposed it was because his Od was converted into Demonic Energy.
Fortunately, even if Demonic Energy felt different than Od, they seemed to react the same in regards to performing his Magecraft. All he needed to do was to get used to the feeling of Demonic Energy when using Magecraft. That said, he was sure that he still needed to chant the full ten count of his aria to activate his Reality Marble.
Flooding his Magic Circuits with Demonic Energy, Archer Projected Kanshou and Bakuya in his hands.
"So this is your sword type Sacred Gear. What are their names?"
"Kanshou and Bakuya. By the way, they're not Sacred Gears."
"Eh? What do you mean? If they're not Sacred Gears, then what are they?" Rias asked looking puzzled.
"I guess you can call them pr-magical constructs. I made them using magic." Archer said while almost blurting out the word 'prana'. He still needed to get used to the different terms of his world and this world.
Archer had been thinking whether or not he should reveal his ability to make swords and just pass it off as a Sacred Gear like everyone had originally assumed. Normally, he would've kept that piece of information to himself as long as possible but his current situation where he would be serving a Devil for possibly decades would only garner distrust among his peers. Of course, he would still keep what he was truly capable of a secret. He still needed to know how much he could trust Rias's group before he was willing to tell them anything else.
"Ara. You mean you can make swords appear out of thin air using magic? I've never seen you do that before." It was Akeno who posed the question this time.
"It's something I learned just recently." To be more specific, he had re-learned how to do it last night when he recovered his memories.
"Regardless. Whether it's a Sacred Gear or not, according to Ise, it was strong enough to deflect a spear made of Holy element so it should be quite strong. How many of them can you make during a fight?"
"A couple hundred."
This estimation was of course after he was turned into a Devil. Compared to his original Od reserves, his Demonic Energy was about twice the number of his Od. Not only that, the quality of his Magic Circuits was also much better than before as his current Magic Circuits can hold up to twenty units each as opposed to his original Magic Circuits that could hold only ten units each.
Rias seemed satisfied with his estimation. "Good. That should be enough in a fight or two. Now that we've settled the issue of your abilities, it's time to tell you about your duties as a Devil."
Saying that, Rias gestured to a pile of leaflets that were on her desk.
