EXTRA: Old Chapter 1
Part 1.
Imagine being me. You can't. Instead, imagine being you and then being dead. At this point I'd assume that some of you will hit a snag. After all, how can one know what being dead is like without experiencing it first? Saying otherwise would be the height of pretentiousness. But for those that have trouble imagining being dead, I have good news: there is an afterlife! Kind of. Sort of.
For me, the afterlife was a white void, if that makes sense. Aside from that void, I was there, floating about with a distinct lack of a body. As it turns out, at least for me anyway, who you were physically in the past doesn't carry over into the afterlife. Kind of makes sense if you think about it. If you're going to be reincarnated—also a thing, sort of—then bodily holdovers shouldn't be carried over. Only the essence of you, will.
Now.
Imagine being you in this limbo and waiting for an eternity for something to happen. Really maddening. No concept of time exists in that place, but both you and I have that concept in ourselves. It's a quintessential part of living as a human—and if you're not a human, then as a person I suppose—so knowing of time in a place where time doesn't exist screws with the mind. It certainly screwed with mine.
And then, in a moment that I'd call the "Big Bang of the Soul", I was metaphorically—or is that literally—sucked out of the void and into somewhere else. Specifically, into somebody's er, well, body. Reincarnation, kind of. Actually, transmigration is more appropriate for my situation. In any case, it's another shot at life—no complaints there—but it comes with its own problems. Namely, being somebody else entirely. And having to deal with… What was left behind.
Takahashi Daichi (高橋 大地). Orphan. Independent. A horrible cook.
…A 2nd year high school student of Kuoh Academy.
Kuoh Academy! Seriously. I'm in that—or rather, this—dimension! A part of me is really excited to be here. I mean, magic is real. Angels, fallen angels, devils, gods, and youkai—they are all real. More than that, Kuoh is a town inexplicably full of beautiful ladies! More importantly Daichi, and thus me too, is a student of Kuoh Academy, one of the places to be in this world to find the most beautiful women around! …And let's stop the shallow thinking right there.
Regardless of the possibilities that are now open to me, that doesn't do away with the fact that the world of High School DxD is dangerous. Hidden in the mundane are supernatural creatures more than capable of enjoying me as a snack. A rather big snack, that is. Well, it's not concern at the moment and if my knowledge of canon is correct then I can rely on the fact that Sona Sitri does whatever she can to ensure that the normal are not wrapped up in supernatural conflicts. A darling, that Sona.
Seeing this whole transmigration business to live anew for both myself and Daichi, I decided to clean up the mess I woke up in. Starting with the itchy thing around my neck and the smelly puddle I was lying on. It took well over fifteen minutes fumbling around the Spartan apartment hunting down cleaning supplies to deal with the mess that clung to the wooden floor; the cleaning itself took about half an hour. The hole in the ceiling that Daichi left behind, I decided, would have to be dealt with later. My transmigration took place in the dead of night, and even if stores were open I was more concerned with having a shower.
One hot shower later, which revealed a lot of welts and bruises aside from the one around my neck, I was met with a pleasant surprise shortly after toweling dry.
Quest Alert – Awakening (Complete)!
Despite the condition you've woken up in post transmigration, you've soldiered on with conviction and managed to relax yourself to a state of relative normalcy. Now it is up to you to live a new life under the guise of Daichi Takahashi in a world that is both familiar and strange.
Reward: +5000 EXP, Gamer Functions Unlocked!
You have leveled up! (x6)
Blue screens of all sorts popped up in my field of vision basically telling me that, yes, I did somehow awaken the powers of the Gamer while also being transmigrated to the world of High School DxD in a disadvantaged body. It's like the powers up high decided to grab my soul from the void, pile up some clichés, and get a kick out of it in the process. That's not a complaint by the way. Now then, let's see what there is to my—blessed be Gaia—copy of this amazing ability!
Part 2.
"Status," I intoned with the gravitas of a black hole. No voice cracking happened. Nope.
Name: Daichi Takahashi
Title: N/A
Job: The Gamer
Level 6 (0/1800)
HP: 200 (Regen: 1/s) | MP: 289 (Regen: 4.5/s) | SP: 204 (Regen: 2/s)
STR: 8 | VIT: 7 | DEX: 5
INT:20 | WIS: 15 | WIL: 5
Stat Points: 30
I closed the window with the stroke of a neuron or two and then employed the rest to go over the rest of what I had learned. At around 1 AM I finally managed to parse everything about my Gamer ability currently available to me. And there's quite a bit to go over as well. First off, functions. [Status], [Inventory], [Options], [Help], [Journal], and [Skills] are the primary calls I can make to access portions of my ability. No [Map] though, apparently not leveled enough to access it. [Status] provides an at-a-glance look at my current standing and any other information relevant to my person sorted in convenient tabs. [Help] was rather useful in telling me what each stat does.
HP, MP, and SP are Health, Mana, and Stamina Points respectively. These three can be collectively described as resource points.
STR increases SP and Physical Attack. VIT increases HP and Physical Defense.
INT increases MP, Magical Attack, and the ability to retain information. WIS increases MP regen, Magical Defense, and the ability to make better decisions.
DEX is a bit of a weird one. It apparently increases the dexterity of both the body and the mind, which would allow me to not only move faster and accurately, but think in the same way as well.
Then the final stat WIL, or Willpower. It increases SP regen and HP regen, but also works as some kind of anti-luck stat. If high luck stacked probability so that fate constantly worked in your favor, then high willpower made fate work in your favor by sheer force of will.
According to the [Help] function, a stat of 10 is considered to be statistically average. Also according to [Help], my version of the Gamer doesn't reward stat gains based on repetitive actions or clever decisions. A bit of a bummer, but nothing that I can't work around.
[Inventory] opens up an interface that allows me to interact with the Gamer's hammerspace. I was given a 10-by-10 grid with each space having an unknown capacity. Unfortunately, the [Help] function gave no hints in that regard, so some testing will be needed.
[Options] is a function that makes one think of modifying gameplay—and it does do that—but this function does so in different ways. Unlike some stories I've read that toyed around with the Gamer ability, save scumming is not a thing here. Neither is changing difficulty; there's only one: real life. What [Options] does provide though, among other things, is the ability to migrate things from games I've played in my past life and have had the most impact on me. Sounds broken, is broken—but more on that later.
The [Help] function… Is something like a search engine. Ask a question pointed towards it and you may get the answer you're looking for. Apparently this world's Gaia—or is it the Gaia of my previous world, or both—likes to be cooperative… And chatty.
[Journal] is where I can view my quests past and present as well as view observation entries. Pretty useful.
Lastly, the bread and butter of the Gamer, [Skills]! Within the window there was only one tab labeled "Common" which contained three skills: Gamer's Mind, Gamer's Body, and Observe. The three core skills to any Gamer story, and now, my life.
Gamer's Mind/Passive/Lv. MAX/No Cost
Allows the user to process information calmly and logically. Can forcefully revert harmful states of mind. Confers immunity to psychological damage and mental status effects.
Gamer's Body/Passive/Lv. MAX/No Cost
Grant's the user a body akin to that of a video game character. Completely nullifies the severance of body parts, critical hits, and normalizes damage as HP lost. Sleeping will restore all point resources and remove temporary status effects.
Observe/Active/Lv. MAX/No Cost
Channeling power through the eyes allows the user to obtain information about the world and everything in it. This ability can be nullified by wards and people stronger than the user by 20 levels.
The Gamer ability has always been such a broken thing, the fact that my version doesn't require me to level up my own Observe? Even more so. However, the skill itself acts like an overeager muscle. For example, I used Observe on Daichi's bed and was bombarded with the composition, entire history, and tons of tangential information related to the bed. Without Gamer's Mind working its wonderful Gaian magic, I might have passed out from the migraine. It'll take some time to only Observe what I want to see, rather than everything that can be seen.
Having only three skills seems a touch empty, right? Of course, the Gamer ability allows for me to create new skills by repeatedly doing stuff, but there is a shortcut! In [Options] is a wonderful item called System Adaptation. By using it, I am allowed to bring certain things from games that I've played in the past. I can choose up to three games and am limited to one aspect of each game to migrate to my Gamer ability. And once one aspect is chosen for one game, that same aspect can't be used from another game. The migration isn't exactly 1:1, for example, if I brought in skills from another game, I won't get any of the stats they provide—as that would just be too easy—but I still obtain mastery, knowledge, and any damage modifiers. And just having those at the cost of stats is alright to me.
Even though I have this vaunted ability, I was never much of a gamer in my past life. Meaning to say, I never really played a wide number of titles and instead mostly devoted myself to a couple of MMOs that I had taken to in my hormonal years. Like Mabinogi, the Fantasy Life. An MMO from the early half of the 2000's, it was never graphically impressive, but had that anime-esque charm to it. Character building in that game was rather free, as you could build your character in anyway as you pleased so long as you had Ability Points (AP) to spare. As well as plenty of time to grind.
For myself, I gradually built my character into that of a Master Puppetmancer, which was a hidden talent title that one could get by becoming a master in two other talents: Puppetry and Transmutation. These weren't the only talents that my character ended up mastering, but my favorites. There were a couple of talents that I never bothered with, such as Magic and Dual Guns. Magic was a very heavy AP sink, and the Gunslinger skill set required a lot of grinding… So I ended up giving up on those.
Mabinogi had its flaws, but it was a game I constantly game back to until the end of my previous life. And in this life, it was the first game that I would use System Adaptation on. As I expressed my intent, I was once again flooded with screens in my vision and before I could even react, I immediately blacked out. For the second time today, Daichi's body met the floor.
System Adaptation
Slot 1: Mabinogi/Aspect: Skills
Slot 2: Empty/Aspect: None
Slot 3: Empty/Aspect: None
Adaptation – Skill: Alchemy Mastery
Parsing Soul Memory…
Interpreting…
Adapting to System…
Downloading information through Gaia…
Progress… 35%
Adaptation – Skill: Pierrot Marionette
Parsing Soul Memory…
Interpreting…
Adapting to System…
Downloading information through Gaia…
Progress… 26%
Adaptation – Skill: Egg Gathering
Parsing Soul Memory…
Interpreting…
Adapting to System…
Downloading information through Gaia…
Progress… 100%
…
…
…
Part 3.
You are somewhat rested. Resources fully restored. Wounds are recovered.
Pain. Pain was an understatement to describe what I was feeling when I finally woke up, yet at the same time, it was the perfect word. Remnants of Daichi's psyche aside, which was more visceral than anything else, there was also the deluge of information that Gaia crammed into me and made whole with my person. It was… Unpleasant, but seeing all of the Rank 1 skills—which was equivalent to the Gamer's Lv. MAX, apparently—in my [Skills] window sorted into Alchemy, Puppetry, Combat, Life, Music, Ninja, Fighter, and Hidden made it all worth it. These tabs were prefixed with 'Erinn', reminding me where the skills originated from. I was, however, curious as to why so many skills were transferred and were at their maximum rank.
"Gaia," I voiced aloud, wincing from the very act of talking, "I was really expecting only to get the Alchemy and Puppetry skills from my character… How did I get everything else I had worked on, and at max rank to boot?"
Good Morning, my chosen!
There's a reason for everything.
But I don't feel like telling you right now!
However.
I fully expect my chosen to exercise these gifts with utmost responsibility and caution.
With utmost responsibility and caution!
I sighed at the [Help] window that appeared in my vision. It was not an ideal answer—and was it really necessary to repeat that last bit—but at least she outright stated that there was a reason for it. And I wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth, so I just rolled with it. She was right about caution, however. Having the Alchemy skillset already maxed out at my level was incredibly dangerous. Those skills had no stat dependence whatsoever and the damage modifiers were already enough to kill the average human. As an example, these were the details for one of my favorites, Water Cannon:
Water Cannon/Active/Rank 1/5 SP + 1 Water Crystal per Charge
Unleashes a powerful stream of condensed water released from a crystal. Damage is distance dependent. +120~140 Water Damage per charge + 30% of MP. 120m effective range.
Additional Effects: Capable of knockback. Multiplier at 5 charges is changed from 5 to 6.5.
Elemental Wave Effect: Quadruples cannon blast, +Possible freezing effect.
Ridiculous. And a very good reason to exercise caution at this point in time!
Since I had nothing else to ask Gaia, I spent a couple of hours lying on the much cleaner floor. I was still wracked with pain, and when the day passed into evening, I was feeling much better. On the other hand, this meant that I missed a second day of school, an action that would no doubt get the attention of both the student body and the student council. Would either miss me, I mean, Daichi? No, probably not. Definitely not.
Before the transmigration, Daichi was just a normal person starved of kindness. His academic record prior to two days ago was excellent, but it's not like he had any talents worthy of catching Sona Sitri's attention. No, that honor went to his classmate and class president, Reya Kusaka. But Daichi never blamed Reya—soft, polite, beautiful Reya—in fact he was at his happiest when he found out two weeks ago that he'd be classmates with her again. She was the flower in a desert full of selfish, arrogant, despicable, hypocritical, traitorous BASTARDS…!
I felt tears well in my eyes, eyes that didn't seem to be fully under my control. Even if I was largely unaffected by Daichi's memories—thanks to Gamer's Mind—his, our, my body wasn't. I refused to allow myself to be consumed by the remnants of Daichi's psyche. With some struggling, I forced back those memories to the back of my mind.
With that done, I thought canon. Canon was a decent measuring stick that I could use to plan my actions, but canon was a written work. And it would have been impossible for canon to cover the endless subtleties of real life that could complicate the progression of events as they should be. Which was what I was going to have to deal with. Great.
It was still early in the academic year, and going on what Daichi knew about Kuoh Academy's rumor mill, Issei was still the unrepentant pervert that he was. How he, Matsuda, and Motohama haven't been arrested yet in this reality boggled my mind. Anyway, there were no rumors regarding Issei's dubious entry into the Occult Research Club, so there was anywhere from a couple of days to weeks before the events of Volume 1 and 2 kicked off. That's at least if I didn't do anything to upset canon, though I'm sure I would eventually.
Another thing to consider was who I was going to associate myself with in the long run. Skills are a matter of resource, application, and time, which would eventually allow me to mimic the powers of any supernatural faction out there. Paired with the Mabinogi skill Transformation Mastery, I can also mimic their forms once I commit them to memory. The idea of changing my body was appealing, but at the same time I was uncomfortable with the idea. There's always the possibility that any transformation I make would be undone at a later point in time. Not wanting to have to explain my way out of a situation like that, I decided that I'd rather work on my aesthetics naturally—or as natural as I can get.
Still, Kuoh was going to be the center of activity for the Abrahamic factions. My best bet would be to somehow get into an alliance with either Rias Gremory or Sona Sitri. I highly doubt that Gaia or my Gamer ability would allow me to be transformed by an Evil Piece, but at the very least an alliance seems doable. And on that note, Sona Sitri would be—at least in my opinion—the better person to be allied to. Rias is… She's well-meaning but ineffective. When you think about how she absolutely failed to handle her Peerage's issues until Issei became the heart of the group, ineffective was the least offensive term I could think of. Sona, possible control issues aside, knows how to handle her people effectively, has a Peerage free of explosive elements, and has applied her managerial talents well beyond her inner circle. She's also my type, which was the most important reason.
Grigori, ignoring the splinter group under Kokabiel, was also attractive. From what I remember, Azazel and his crows were the most inclined to progress technologically alongside humankind. The Governor-General himself was the reason why artificial Sacred Gears were a thing. If I joined them, somehow or another, I could potentially have access to all sorts of skills and recipes in the vein of self-modification and Sacred Gear creation.
As for Heaven… I was confident that I wouldn't get along with them, no matter how personable angels were. They were missing their central pillar and clung to a failing system. They relied on faith more than the other two factions, but how true that faith is was questionable. Perhaps I was being a bit biased—having been apathetic to religion—as they do get better post-peace treaty.
If I were more savvy and manipulative, I could try to strike an alliance with all three factions at once. Since I'm neither incredibly savvy or manipulative, if I figured that trying to do so would end up badly for me. So it was a "No" to that plan.
The worst bet I could go with, was to throw canon to the wind and ally myself with an entirely different faction. As amusing as it would be to hang ten with Zeus and Poseidon or try to get into Yasaka's pants, they aren't central to events—Yasaka was, if only temporarily. Going with this option would me throwing myself into the unknown. And when I thought about it, I wasn't willing to go along with this option any further than it being just an idea.
Sona. It took a bit of time, but I ended up choosing to throw my lot with Sona and her Peerage. If I could get in with her, then school would no longer be a cage, but a haven instead. Of course, I didn't plan on just relying on Sona's clout to handle my problems there. And the advantages didn't just end there either. Heh.
With my short term goals in sight, I decided to answer the calls my stomach was making and fetch some food. It was also a perfect opportunity to test out two of my imported skills from Mabinogi—Cooking and Tasting.
Cooking/Passive-Active/Rank 1/Rarity Dependent
You can cook with various food ingredients. Which means not starving. Exquisite base quality. Rarity and quality of ingredients used affects success rate.
Tasting/Passive/Rank 1/No Cost
You can't just cook something without tasting it! How else would your dishes improve otherwise? 100% chance of increasing quality stage by 1, 15% chance of increasing quality stage by 2.
Part 4.
Cooking Production Success!
You have made Godly Common Rice Balls (x3)!
Restores 150 HP, SP per serving.
"Godly Common Rice Balls…" I was dumbfounded by what I made. Were the words "Common" and "Godly" allowed to exist in the same sentence together like that? The short answer was: Yes, they were.
The long answer had to do with my ingredients and my wonderfully broken skills. The overall rarity of a finished product, according to [Help], was dependent on the average rarity of the ingredients I used. Store-bought rice, salt, and nori were all common ingredients, and thus my rice balls were also of the common variety. Quality is a different story. From worst to best the quality ranks are: Broken, Damaged, Poor, Normal, Good, Fine, Excellent, Exquisite, Divine, and Godly. The quality of ingredients generally increased production success rate, whereas the quality of the finished product relied on your skill rank or level. And so it was by happenstance that I managed to make Godly-quality rice balls.
It was a bit of a humbling experienced when Gaia informed me that the crafting skills she provides can produce things at a base Godly quality once maxed out, and that by importing skills, I've locked myself out of those Gaian counterpart skills. I didn't know this before I imported those Mabinogi skills, but even after I learned about it, I had no regrets. It's kind of difficult for me to feel bad over taking a shortcut.
As for the rice balls themselves…
"…Is it okay to faint? It's okay right? This flavor can't be real!" Let it be known that Gamer's Mind didn't work when I ate a rice ball. Minor breakdowns due to flavor-induced orgasms was considered as a good thing and so the skill had nothing to act on. If this was how I was going to react every time I ate something of Godly quality, I couldn't even begin to imagine what would happen if my dishes were eaten by somebody else. Dangerous, this was dangerous! And I wanted to put a ban on it, but Gaia had other ideas.
Quest Alert – Through the Stomach (0/3)
The ever magnificent lady of earth is disappointed with her chosen's attempts to put a ban on his wonderful cooking. Make amends with Gaia by using your cooking to subvert 3 individuals to your cause.
Limitation: Dishes given must be of Godly quality.
Reward: +10000 EXP, Allies, ?
Failure: Gaia will be really, REALLY upset with you.
"You're not serious are you?" I faintly muttered at the sight of the latest window that popped up in view. "You told me this morning to exercise my gifts with responsibility! Drugging up people on Godly food is not responsible!"
Sure it is.
Are you going to abandon the people you feed?
"That's presuming that I would even do something like that in the first place—and of course not!"
Then all is well.
You may abuse your advantages so long as you take responsibility for the consequences.
"…That can't be okay." I felt Gamer's Mind kick in, driving my more explosive motions into the depths of my mind. While I still didn't feel comfortable with what was tantamount to feeding someone with aphrodisiacs—albeit in an unconventional manner—my more logical portions saw the advantages. My cooking was a rather clean and nonintrusive method to get involved with other people. There was still another problem, "Besides even if I can make Godly dishes, no one is going to want to eat them. And I can't be indirect about it either, otherwise people will refuse to make the connection between myself and the food I make."
So it comes down to Daichi's appearance?
Have you tried dumping your stat points into STR yet?
Hint, hint. Wink, wink.
"You interact with me through screens, you can't wink." I retorted weakly, and then as if to spite me, Gaia's message screen flashed into existence twice. "Argh, you win. Let's see what this is all about."
Despite inheriting some old money from his parents, Daichi lived in a studio apartment. The only mirror that he owned was in his bathroom which was to my immediate right when I entered the hall—leaving a trail of clothes in my wake. I frowned when I saw my reflection.
Daichi was not ugly, within the deposits of fat laid a potentially handsome man. It was just that he chose to attend the wrong school. While other schools in Japan had a wide spectrum of physical appearances, Kuoh did not. From the students all the way down to the custodian, everyone at Kuoh Academy was physically above average. To everyone who was used to a certain level of appearance, Daichi was inexplicably other. And for quite a few, that was all the reason they needed to torment him.
"…Everything will be alright, Daichi. I'll make sure of it." My hands which had gripped the sink under the mirror until their knuckles turned white relaxed a little. I would not allow him, me, us, to be beaten down by scum. I took a deep breath, then summoned up my [Status]. I added to my STR point by point, and watched as Daichi's body underwent a drastic transformation.
Pounds of fat were shed off of our frame and were summarily replaced with thick ropes of muscle. It was not a pleasant experienced, as it felt like worms were crawling beneath my skin every which way until they finally settled in place as new muscle. In the span of about 20 seconds—a point per second—I turned from marshmallow Daichi into hypertrophied Daichi. Personally, I didn't like the new look. No offense to bodybuilders and the like, but I hated how I looked like I was jacked up on steroids.
Seeing that STR had an effect on my appearance, I spent my remaining points on DEX, the stat that was related to speed. The feeling of worms returned when I brought up my DEX to 15. This time it felt as if they were condensing, focusing my newly attained physical prowess into cords ready to strike at a moment's notice. When the feeling faded, my reflection showed that Daichi's body was much thinner. I looked as though I achieved the height of physical conditioning—if I ignored my pallor.
"I'm annoyed that I didn't think of this earlier… So, STR makes me look stronger, DEX makes me look sleek, or condensed, not really sure… What do the others do?"
You're really doing a disservice to those INT and WIS stats aren't you?
"Hey! There's no need to be mean." I wasn't particularly offended by the dig at my intelligence. I was more offended that Gaia found it necessary to make a comment!
Anyway.
Other than STR and DEX, VIT also has an effect on your appearance by making you healthier.
Oh!
And they stop having drastic effects on your appearance past 40 points.
The other three stats only have internal effects.
"Good to know. I should have saved some points for VIT... I could also use more HP as well." Even though I said that, I didn't feel that I wasted my points. I was fully intending to build myself as a Puppetmancer, like I did in Mabinogi. Most of my skills imported from Mabinogi had a high dependence on SP and Physical Attack, both of which were increased by STR. DEX on the other hand would make me faster in everything I do, which lowers battle time and reduces the odds of being injured in a protracted battle.
"On the other hand, I'm a little concerned that Daichi's appearance was trivialized with a handful of stat points. Is this going to be a thing?"
As in…
The feeling of disappointment that you get from knowing that any problem you come across usually has a trivial solution to it?
"Yep." I replied, leaving the bathroom to pick up the clothes I left behind.
It comes with territory.
I'm sure you'll get used to it!
Besides, you're the Gamer, my chosen, you can make your own fun!
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, I guess." I said as I got dressed again, "Now that my looks have been addressed for the most part, what should I do with those leftovers… Throw— "
Save them!
You're not allowed to forget things around me.
If you continue to resist, I will only make things more awkward for you.
Speaking of which…
Quest Replacement – Feeding the Ladies (0/3)
Your futile attempts at resisting the ever magnificent lady of earth has annoyed her. Now you must subvert three WOMEN through the power of your cooking!
Limitation: Dishes given must be of Godly quality.
Reward: +10000 EXP, Harem, ?
Failure: Gaia will be really, really, REALLY upset with you. Or at least she'll make you do more uncomfortable things.
"Now you're just messing with me," I reluctantly tossed the two uneaten rice balls into my [Inventory], where they took up the first of one hundred slots.
I am.
But I'm also completely serious as well.
I sighed a sigh from the very depths of my soul. This was my life now.
Part 5.
The very next day I once again abstained from going to school. I had to remind myself that I was doing this to further my plans for getting involved in canon and give me some time to train. I wasn't avoiding school because I was a coward or anything, nope!
The first thing I wanted to do was gain more skills, not because I needed more of them—I already had 140 skills imported from Mabinogi, and that's plenty—but because the ones I properly obtained from Gaia would provide stats I desperately need to make my skillset work. In the end I'll just end up ballooning my [Skills] window even further. Urgh.
"So before I get started on a skill creation marathon, mind explaining what skills are exactly?" I think I can blame Gamer's Mind for making me so at east with casually conversing with the Gaia, primordial entity of the planet and mother ancestor to all life! Or maybe I'm just lacking self-preservation instincts and Gaia is only tolerating me because it amuses her. Nah. Definitely the first one.
If I could describe it in a phrase, it would be…
"I am one, I am many."
As the mother of life, I am intrinsically tied to the living.
As a result, the memories, experiences, and thoughts of humanity are preserved within me.
And I can make use of this in many ways.
I have crystallized legends into gods.
Fashioned the realms in which they reside.
And for you, my chosen…
Skills are packets of information that you gradually access through my system.
"That makes sense… But wait, what about those skills I used by using System Adaptation?"
"I am one, I am many."
"…Oh. Oh! Alright, I got it." I wasn't sure before if there was actually more than one Gaia. By repeating the same phrase, she basically confirmed that, yes, she is one of many Gaia—but they are all the same. And somehow they can communicate with each other and share information, culminating in the skills I have now. "I assume that's the reason why I don't receive any stats from my Erinn-based skills?"
Of course.
I won't let you cheat on me with another Gaia!
Just what do you think stats are?
"Buh… My growth as a person?" As soon as I said that, my vision was filled with screens that only said 'LOL'. Tch. Can I get another Gaia? This one was being annoying. The screens disappeared as soon as they appeared and in their place came about a single screen.
No, silly!
They represent the power of our LOVE for each other!
The more you use my system, the more you become one with me!
It feels good, y'know?
"I wouldn't." Okay, I was definitely certain that Gamer's Mind was preventing me from freaking about these revelations. So Gaia was apparently in love with me—which might explain why I am her apparent chosen—and I wasn't about to question a primordial woman's attraction for me. I do have self-preservation instincts, thank you very much. That said, I could now claim that I was in with a primordial entity. That's even better than being in bed with a regular deity. Probably. "But I am very flattered. Anyway… Back to obtaining skills. Um, there isn't a thing where you can just straight up give me skills is there?"
Why do you sound like you don't want it to be a thing?
Because I'm going to tell you now…
It is a thing.
"I'm fine with taking shortcuts, but taking too many is bad for my mental health."
It's not like the skills I can give you will be immediately maxed out, y'know?
The requisite grinding is a safety feature.
Otherwise you'd die in a way I can't fix.
Anyway!
You can request 1 skill of any kind per 1 level.
So at the moment you can request 6 skills from the great me!
"Ah. A little broken, but fair… I think." Even better was the casual confirmation that I could die with ill effects. It was a concern—and an important one too—that I was too afraid to address. I continued, "I'll take up your offer. Hm… Why don't you pick the six skills for me? They have to be skills that I can't feasibly get in the next couple of hours, but it'll be your pick."
I get to choose?
Yay!
Let's see… Oh!
You'll like these I'm sure!
Realm Creation/Active/Level 1/20% MP
A skill after my own heart! This will allow you to gradually create more complex personal realms for you to use. These realms are tied to you and can only be accessed by yourself and those you give permission. +25% WIL. +3 WIL per level. Current realms available: Mirror, Malice.
Haste/Buff/Level 1/15 MP per second
Faster and faster! Temporarily increase the speed of your body and mind by 5%. +0.5 DEX, INT per level.
Charming Aura/Passive/Level 1/No Cost
The only reason why Vampires can get away with being stalker-ish is because of their skills at charming others. Plenty of other supernatural races are capable of using charms, but Vampires do it best. +5% Attractiveness to females.
Peerless Digestion/Passive/Level 1/No Cost
Everyone needs to eat, even you as the Gamer. But the human digestive tract is not as it could be! With a touch of internal magic, you can pull out even more from the food you eat. +5% Bonus to food effects. +10% VIT. +1 VIT per level.
Shadow Walk/Active/Level 1/20 MP per second
Where there is light, there is also shadow. Become one with the dark to traverse great distances all at once. +0.5 WIS per level.
Mortal Languages/Passive/Level MAX/No Cost
Some skills are pure information. Through Mortal Languages, you can understand and fluently speak all human languages dead or alive in the past, present, and future. This skill provides no other advantages, but as a polyglot, you'll look impressive.
I stared at the six new windows that flashed into view and then sighed when I saw the third one. "I should've known you'd give me something like that! Not subtle at all, Gaia," I palmed my head with both hands, "And I know you're aware that I am not a harem seeker, so what gives?"
It amused me.
Besides, you're a person of power.
You'll end up attracting all kinds of attention.
Think of it as preemptively smoothing over any problems in the future!
"Ugh. Fine. Not like I can return it anyway." Part of my problem was that with skills like Charming Aura in conjunction with my cooking, I felt that any relationships I made with the opposite sex would be disingenuous because they were ultimately forms of compulsion. Would they truly love me even without these factors, and could I love them knowing that coerced them in some way? Or maybe I was underestimating the willpower of others. I don't know.
"…Aside from that, all the other skills look useful. Especially Mortal Languages." I said after closing the windows, expressing my thanks to Gaia.
You're very welcome!
Oh.
I recommend that you visit the Malice realm in the near future.
"Oh. Anything else you want to tell me about it?" The [Help] window remained static and when she didn't respond for another 10 seconds I figured Gaia wanted to keep the whole thing a surprise. With a name like 'Malice,' it couldn't be a very good surprise either…
Part 6.
'So he didn't come after all…' A soft sigh escaped the lips of one Reya Kusaka as she left classroom 2-C. The normally kind and pleasant young woman was distinctly unhappy and couldn't get over the feeling of apprehension welling up in her chest. It was because of Daichi Takahashi, her self-appointed academic rival. Even though she thought of him as such, the two of them never spoke a single word to one another. Daichi, because he was usually a nervous wreck around women up close and Reya, because she didn't know how to converse with someone so withdrawn. It was no secret that Daichi was the most anti-social student of their year. Not even the boisterous Pervert Trio, known for transcending all sorts of social barriers to the consternation of many women, could break through the walls that Daichi put around himself.
Still, it was his presence more than any other that brought out a severe competitive streak within Reya. For high grade point averages, that is. And now that rival of hers had been gone for 3 days, too soon into the school year, without a reason. So the story went, but she knew the reason.
Roughly a year ago, Reya was recruited by Sona Sitri, under her guise as Souna Shitori, into both the Student Council and her Peerage due to high magical potential. Reya was reincarnated as a Bishop, which unlocked said potential and bolstered it. Her true value came into play when it was discovered she had a strong affinity to mental magics. There were many times in Kuoh where the public had to have their memories rewritten due to a nearby supernatural event, and Reya took to it like a fish takes water. And that was not even the limit of Reya's talent in mental manipulation. She found that she could easily slip pass the mental barriers of her peers, her master even, and touch upon the core of their personalities… And if she dared to, twist them into different personalities—permanently. The cognitive dissonance had frightened her so badly that she swore off on using her talents unless it was an emergency and switched her studies in magic to that of barriers and wards, which was Momo's talent.
She stuck to her oath for over half a year until she felt compelled to break it yesterday, and broke it today. The Evil Piece within her soul did many things aside from increasing her mana pool and the efficiency of her spells. It also slowly adapted her physiology so that it was more human than devil, and as the change came closer to completion, traits specific to devils rose to the surface. During the spring break, she was granted a weak empathic sense. She couldn't sense the subtler emotions like a highborn could, but when emotions rolled off the body like waves, it was hard to not sense them. They had the subtlety of a boot to the head.
And it was with this sense that she noticed that a significant proportion of her classmates were happy that Daichi was gone for the second day in a row. No one had said anything about it, instead turning to mundane conversation topics. But that did little to hide the satisfaction in their tones. When everyone shuffled into class in the morning and once again saw the empty desk that belonged to Daichi, it was as if a dam broke. 'Gone for good is he,' 'I wonder if the fat bastard offed himself, now I won't have to look at such an eyesore when I look at the board,' 'This must surely be divine punishment,' and the like were muttered under the breaths of the sinners. And Reya, with Evil Piece enhanced hearing, heard it all.
To say she was livid… Would be an understatement.
Reya shattered her oath with full force, scanned the memories of all her classmates, and found that she needed all of her self-control to not render almost everyone into a vegetative state. Even if they, in her opinion, absolutely deserved it. What she saw in those memories was a systematic attempt to destroy Daichi Takahashi as a person. Why? Because he was, in their eyes, morbidly obese and thus a blight on the reputation of Kuoh Academy. It was such an inane reason, but that was all they needed.
When Reya had enough of the memories skirting her mind, she shifted her power, intending mete out punishments worthy of the crime. For those intimately involved Daichi, she rewrote their entire personalities, murdering their old selves. And while it sounded incredibly petty, she had also inserted into these new personalities a handful of debilitating phobias. For those that were complicit to a lesser degree, but involved all the same, she removed the memories of any bullying and had it so that they were missing something and that nothing they did could ever fill that void. And for those who were only tangentially aware of what was going on, she merely removed any knowledge of Daichi's torment. With all of that done, she extended her power to surround the high school grounds and made subtle changes to the student population so that her over changes were consistent.
By lunch time she had finished her work, and was now making her way to the Student Council room. Her master had definitely noticed Reya using her magic and she would be expecting an explanation. Maybe even punish Reya for the severity of her actions, but that wasn't much of a concern at all to Reya.
'I wonder if President has Takahashi-san's records… I have to see if he's okay.'
Part 7.
Cooking Production Success!
You have made Divine Common Stir Fry!
Restores 200 HP, SP, MP per serving.
Lunch rolled around, and I was enjoying some stir fry. Mainly to recover from the last two skills I had obtained on my own after Gaia gave me hers. At the same time, I couldn't get over the flavor of my cooking. My reaction wasn't as extreme and messy as when I had eaten one of my rice balls, but with every bite I was getting pleasurable shivers all over my body—kind of like the ones you get when you listen to damn good music.
Meditation/Active/Level 1/5 SP per minute
Center your body and mind to attain the next level of consciousness. In this state, you can reach out to the energies diffused into the atmosphere and pull them into your core, increasing your mana regeneration. +1/s MP regen. +10 MP per level.
Mana Sense/Passive/Level 1/No Cost
A form of Observe and Perception that modifies your eyes to see flows of mana. You can completely perceive the components of spells and wards equal to this skill's level. +5% INT. +0.25 INT, WIS per level.
Perception/Passive-Active/Level 1/15 MP per minute
People have their ways of being aware of the world around them, but many of these methods can be detected by those with sufficent strength. The greatest, and most invisible, method is to use the world itself to see the world. 10m radius of complete awareness. +0.75 WIL per level. Additional Effect: +10m radius when skill is activated.
Pain Resistance/Passive/Level 1/No Cost
Luckily the Gamer's Body skill prevents the loss of brain cells… If the walls could think, I'd bet they'd form a union against your abuses! +1% Pain Reduction. +2 STR per level.
Shock Resistance/Passive/Level 1/No Cost
Well… At least you didn't wait for a lightning storm to get this one… But, really? Inserting a fork into a socket? Are you five? +1% Reduction against Electric Damage.
Gaia… didn't exactly approve of my methods for obtaining my resistance skills, as the real world equivalents were usually obtained in mid-combat or when resisting nature. I, on the other hand, thought I was being rather clever by making use of my surroundings. Ah well.
With 11 shiny new skills in my [Skills] window, I had more than enough skills to work on for the next week or two. So I decided to move on to the next thing on my non-existent list of things to do—crafting. I wanted to make use of the knowledge within Daichi's mind to create several facsimiles of Erinn-born items. And to do that I needed several tens of kilograms of mithril and oricalcum. Not because the replicas I wanted to make needed them, but because I could produce these metals and I might as well make them! Fantasy metals, tally ho!
I went outside for what would be the first time in this new life.
From what I remembered about canon, the physical location of Kuoh Town was rather vague. As it turns out, it was somewhere between the Shizuoka and Nagano Prefectures nestled in the Akaishi Mountains. An underground line connected Kuoh to the Shizuoka and Mikawa-Anjo Stations of the Tokaido Shinkansen, allowing the relatively isolated town to remain in contact with Japan proper. Kuoh's location meant that you could easily find a forest if you just went beyond the town's limits. Which was great for my purposes. Daichi's apartment was on the southern edge of town, which made it all the easier. After setting a waypoint with the Erinn-adapted skill Crisis Escape, I let myself get lost in all the nature nearby.
Crisis Escape/Active/Rank 1/25% SP
The original function of this skill behaves similarly to Transformation Mastery, so I have taken the opportunity to make the "Escape" in Crisis Escape more literal. Set a waypoint by using the skill once, then return to the waypoint by using the skill a second time. The waypoint is reset when using the skill again. 10m cooldown. Addtional Effect: Allows you to escape without taking any damage.
After an hour or two of aimless walking and staring at the flows of mana that streaked along the ground, I had found a place that was sufficiently dense in the Earth element. I plopped down, activating the Erinn skill Rest, turned on Meditation, and began to course my mana through the air, into the trees, down into the earth, and back into my body. I was doing this because I wanted my mana to become Earth-flavored, so to speak, before I turned it into a crystal by using Mana Crystallization. And when I had a lot of these crystals, I'd be able to use yet another Erinn skill, Metal Conversion, to turn them into the metals I desired.
Rest/Active/Rank 1/No Cost
Sometimes you just need to sit down. 400% increase to HP, SP regeneration.
Mana Crystallization/Active/Rank 1/15 MP
Capture sources of mana and render them into crystalline form. Also allows for the synthesis of elemental crystals by interacting with the relevant elemental sources. +90% base success rate to element and mana conversion. +50% base success rate to mana conversion mid-combat. Elemental Wave Effect: 100% success rate to mana conversion mid-combat.
Metal Conversion/Active/Rank 1/Rarity Dependent
If the distinct attributes of a substance can be changed, it is possible to create new substances. Alchemists have long studied the relationship between the flow of time and the changes in substances. As a result, Alchemists have become successful in changing the attributes of metals. Through this skill, you will be able to transform normal and readily available metals into rare and valuable metals. Exquisite base quality. Rarity and quality of ingredients affects success rate. Additional Effect: Clay crystal conversion possible.
After 5 minutes of labor, I ended up getting a new skill called Mana Manipulation.
Mana Manipulation/Passive/Level 1/No Cost
Just because you can see the flows of magic doesn't mean you can manipulate them just as easily. As one trains in the art of Mana Manipulation, they gradually find themselves capable of moving the flows with surgical precision and energy to spare. -0.75% MP cost to all actions requiring MP. +10% WIS. +2 INT, WIS per level.
Three or so hours had passed by, and at a rate of one Clay Crystal every ten seconds, I ended up with about a thousand crystals. Saving 400 in my [Inventory], I converted one set of 360 into 24 kilograms of mithril, and another set of 360 into 18 kilograms of oricalcum. If the dwarves—they exist—were to see me now, just casually creating kilograms of rare metals, they'd probably hemorrhage blood from the ears at the audacity of it all. Maybe kidnap and lock me up, too. It took decades for natural deposits to create even a kilogram of mithril or oricalcum, and the dwarves guarded their deposits with a ferocity that could make dragons blush.
…I probably should've done all this in the Mirror Realm. It's a good thing that dwarves were based in Europe and not Japan. Then again, Japan is likely home to its own brand of metal nuts, so I ought to be more cautious the next time around.
My gains didn't just end at my newfound riches. I had leveled Peerless Digestion to 5—I was snacking the entire time—Meditation to 10, Mana Sense to 4, Perception to 5, and Mana Manipulation to 10. At some point, I had noticed that my MP regen was constantly keeping my MP topped off, so I decided to take advantage of it and train in Perception as well.
"Sun's coming down… I should get going." Crisis Escape activated soon after and felt its 'pull' as I was transported out of the forest and back into my home. When I opened my eyes, I saw Daichi's room as I had left it.
Except for two things. Or rather, people.
"Who are you!?"
Ah shit.
Part 8.
"Who are you!?" It was with considerable self-control that Sona Sitri did not obliterate the young, admittedly handsome, man that just phased into existence right before her very eyes. She loathed surprises and was already feeling just a mite tense from being in the home of a possible suicide victim.
She was disappointed when she felt the flexing of magic that was unique to her Bishop, Reya, earlier in the day. Sona usually took discretion very seriously, the exception being when her competitiveness with Rias got out of hand or when her sister was nearby, and was naturally going to have words with Reya as soon as she came in to explain herself. When she did come in, that disappointment was gradually turned inward as Sona took in Reya's explanation.
Sona was an heiress, a King, a leader. Unlike many highborn Devils, Sona was an adherent of noblesse oblige. She may control her Peerage, her students, but in return they were elevated to a higher standard. Under her tenure as Student Council President, students thrived. In return she cracked down on inappropriate and petty behaviors. To have discovered that an instance of bullying existed for over a year spoke ill of her ability to maintain control. Without Reya finding out, this entire incident had the potential to ruin Sona's reputation of control, something that she has been cultivating for years in preparation for her future plans.
With the main perpetrators already taken care of, all that remained was to ascertain the safety of one Daichi Takahashi. When they arrived at his studio, the lack of response from the doorbell being rung felt damning to Reya and Sona. As one minute passed into five, they took the plunge and broke into the apartment and found it… Empty. There were signs that it had been lived in until at least today, the smell of cooked food still clung to the air and there were dishes in the sink that looked like they'd been recently used. It at least meant that Daichi was probably still alive, just not around at the moment. At least not within a distance that they could sense, anyway.
Which brings them back to the present.
Just as they were about to leave, he appeared out of nowhere, forcing Sona and Reya into defensive stances, Devil sigils at the ready and thrumming with potency. Despite being held at spell-point, the alarm in the man's eyes faded as recognition took their place, "I'm… Ah. Takahashi Daichi."
The two girls blinked at the man's admission. This was Daichi Takahashi?
'Reya-san…?' The girl in question understood the implied telepathic request.
'His outward thoughts are muddled and some of his memories are obscured…' The soft-spoken Bishop was temporarily awed by the structure of the man's mind. Everything at the surface was completely shattered, making it impossible for Reya to discern any meaning from them. But as Reya peered deeper into the man's mind everything became more open, vulnerable. She found it odd that the most important part of the mind would be so unprotected, but it would allow her to find what she needed. And when she did, she faltered, the spell in her hand losing all of its power, 'It's there. Deep in his mind, the memories… The abuse… it's really him Sona-sama. It's Takahashi-san.'
Sona sent a mental nod of thanks to Reya and cut the power to her own spell. She once more regarded the young man confirmed to be Daichi Takahashi. Potential, where none had existed before, was how Sona evaluated the current Daichi—the teleportation ability made it that obvious. She remembered Daichi, like how she remembered all students with good academic records. In her memories, he was a large, taciturn young man that could be constantly found in the library, studying in his spare time. His work ethic impressed her, and had once considered using a Pawn on him. And she was regretful that she didn't.
"I apologize for the hostilities then, Takahashi-san," He nodded, "Reya-san learned about the… Treatment you were facing and feared the worst for you when you didn't come to class today. I'm sure you must have questions about what we just did," Daichi nodded again, "And I'll explain eventually, but we'd really like to know what had happened to you the past couple of days."
Daichi's body locked up for a moment, then with equal measure and tone said, "I died," Reya gasped, "I died. And then I woke up… Changed. My body became as it is now and in my mind there's… Information? Yes, information of how to use my newfound abilities. Just earlier I was in the forest, practicing."
"I see…" Sona briefly pondered over what she just heard. Daichi's story was actually kind of common if a Devil was involved—as they had the technology to do that sort of thing. However, Daichi lacked the distinct aura that all reincarnated Devils had, so something else had to be involved. And she was very interested in discovering what that something was. She continued, "Is there anything you can do other than teleporting?"
"Yes," replied Daichi.
When no other answer was forthcoming, Reya began to shift uncomfortably in the silence. On the other hand, Sona inwardly approved of the lull in the conversation. Her compulsions—which she had no compunctions about using even in this situation—were failing to take hold on Daichi, suggesting an ability of some kind. And the fact that Daichi didn't take to her simple prompting even without those compulsions also increased her interest in the young man. In a single word, he had made it so that the only way for them to continue the conversation was for her to contribute what she owed. That was fine with Sona, she had plenty of chances to get what she wanted out of Daichi—and she was going to get it.
"…Tell me," she began, "what do you know of the Abrahamic God?"
A/N: Hi. There's a lot I don't like in this chapter, but it had to go up eventually.
