Chapter 8

Junichiro let Ddraig get over his laughter at Koneko essentially emotionally blackmailing him for food so he would have Ddraig's full attention. Today would be the first time for Junichiro to use the Boosted Gear and they were both excited about it.

With a simple thought, the Boosted Gear appeared on his arms, yes both arms. The final evolution of the Boosted Gear had made it become two gauntlets in its base state. Even Ddraig wasn't sure why as none of his previous hosts had done anything like Junichiro had. It was new territory for him as well so they both planned to explore it. On the bright side, it meant he had nigh unbreakable armor covering both of his arms from his elbows to the tips of his fingers.

Both gauntlets maintained a streamlined look of interlocking plates of metal with a large green orb on the back of each hand. Where they terminated at the elbow, a single large golden spike stuck out and would rest against the back of his upper arm with them straightened out. He took the time to enjoy the look of the gauntlets before focusing on the task at hand, "Okay Ddraig, let's do it!"

[BOOST!]

An automated copy of Ddraig's voice called out loud while the orbs on his hands flashed with green light. Junichiro felt his magical power suddenly explode within himself as it, along with everything else about himself, was suddenly doubled in strength. They both agreed that until he was much stronger, they wouldn't even contemplate high-powered boosts.

Junichiro flexed his fingers into fists while rolling his shoulders and bending his legs. He was getting a feel for the sudden increase in his abilities, "By all the Gods Ddraig, this feels amazing." His face split into a wide grin, "I finally fully understand why you were called the Dragon of Domination. Just feeling this single boost makes me feel like I could crush anything beneath my might."

Ddraig laughed in a carefree manner, 'That's right partner! You're a DRAGON! We live for what WE WANT! All that matters is OUR DESIRES! We are power incarnate. Fight for what you want! Take what you win! Walk with PRIDE!'

[BOOST!]

Once again Junichiro felt a massive rush of power flood through his body as everything doubled yet again. He now had four times the magical power he'd had less than thirty seconds ago. Though, his physical abilities hadn't improved as much as he would have liked. Magically he was extremely powerful at the moment, but physically he would probably lose to just about anyone in the supernatural world. Not including the increases from his armor, of course. But his armor wasn't enhanced by his boosts as his physique was. That wasn't much of an issue though, he could always use the Transfer ability to send his built-up boosts into his armor. Something to think about later.

'I don't think you should boost again, Partner. While you're not in terrible shape, you're not at a physical peak either and the disparity between your magical and physical strength is likely to become a detriment if you boost any higher. Your body simply won't be capable of holding in such a large amount of magical energy. Kaboom.'

Junichiro nodded in agreement with Ddraig. He could already feel some strain coming from his magical core as the energy within it fought to get out of his body. He would do something to help increase his physical ability soon. The stronger he was in his base form, the more he would gain from boosting and the more boosting he could handle.

'For now, you should hold at two boosts and try to maintain it for as long as possible. You might have infinite mana but you don't have infinite stamina... Do you?'

Junichiro laughed and shook his head, "No, I don't Ddraig. I'm not even sure what I would need to do for that. 'Stamina' covers a lot of things, ya know? Like, I could easily purge lactic acid from my muscles and use them as much as I like. It's the chemical energy from food that powers everything that I'm not sure I could replace. I'll get around to researching it and see what I can come up with. Until then, I'm thinking I need a personal upgrade for myself, and I think I have the perfect idea for it."

Putting action to words, he dropped some metal and electronics from his storage ring and activated The Workshop. The items he summoned out melted into a small puddle similar to mercury once again, because honestly what else would room-temperature liquid-seeming metal look like? When the green glow faded from his hand and the red sparks stopped flying, he placed his bare foot into the puddle. Like his nano-machine clothing previously had, the puddle began to move on its own. Only this time, instead of covering his body, the machines sank into his skin and disappeared from sight.

'So, what did you make this time?'

Ever since he'd revealed the true power of The Workshop to Ddraig, the dragon had been curious about Junichiro's previous creations and his ideas for the future.

"I decided that doing things the long way, while fruitful, was simply too slow. I created a bunch of nanites that are programmed to get my body into the best possible physical shape and maintain it for me."

Even as he was speaking, Junichiro could feel a low-level ache spreading to every muscle in his body. The nanites were creating micro-tears in his muscles and then helped heal them. The process was constantly repeated to force his muscles to grow stronger at an accelerated rate. At the same time, the nanites would focus on keeping his body in the classic swimmer build. He did not want to become a massive mountain of muscles.

Even as he was thinking about what his body would become in a pretty short amount of time, he felt his stomach emptying of his recently devoured lunch. He sighed and called out, "Computer, another serving of lunch!"

It looked like his appetite wasn't going to calm down anytime soon and might even get worse. As he sat down to enjoy some more sushi he called out, "Computer, I'd like some random tempura too!"

[RESET!]

As his food was being created, the extra strength and energy from the boosted gear vanished. Junichiro instantly felt drained and exhausted, "Ugh, that's going to take some getting used to."

Ddraig hummed in agreement, 'It usually does. You'll get used to the highs and lows over time. As you grow stronger and can maintain more boosts, the boosts themselves will slowly increase your base power. Think of it as if a little piece of the boost is left over every time you boost to your limit.'

Junichiro nodded in understanding while dismissing the gauntlets. They looked awesome and he liked having them on, but the sharp claws made eating with them activated, impractical and he was suddenly starving. He actually had to sit at the table and continue to order more and more food for the next hour as the nanites within did their work. The first burst of activity from them took his body from normal 'in shape' to highly athletic in that single hour. Junichiro was shocked when he lifted his shirt and saw his once flat stomach was now showing the beginnings of abs.

All of his muscles were growing slowly while they, essentially, underwent workout cycles at an impossibly fast pace. By morning he would have a significantly improved body and in no time it would be the peak of what a standard human could achieve. Still, nothing much on the supernatural races but he'd settle for it for now.

As he slowed down on his food intake to allow it to digest and go elsewhere in his body, he addressed Ddraig, "Ddraig, what you said earlier has me thinking. You spoke of walking with pride as a dragon. I can't help wondering what you think of my desire to become a devil."

Ddraig remained silent for a moment as he ordered his response, 'Partner, I can't tell you what to do or what constitutes your pride as a dragon. I know dragons who fought against devils, who joined them, and who simply work with them. Despite my residing within your soul, you are not technically a dragon, yet. You are still very much a human and humans are a race that excels in finding, creating, and using any tool to their advantage. As much as I hate admitting it, I am a tool to be used. That steps on my pride, but having been as such for so long has mellowed the pain being such causes me.'

Ddraig let out a forlorn sigh before he continued, 'Your desire to become a devil is something I can understand after having spent so much time with humans. Comparatively speaking, humans are weak. Despite that, they do have strengths they can call upon and use to elevate themselves. Humans have a powerful determination that many races could do to learn from. You are determined to become powerful. I respect that. However, your choices are pretty limited. If I could I would suggest letting me turn your entire body into a dragon's, but you'd likely be hunted down and slaughtered or forced into a peerage before long.'

'If you are worried about being the servant of another, then search for an alternative. If you insist on becoming a devil, then perhaps find one of their strays and use a machine of some sort to study it. Perhaps you could transform yourself without being suborned by someone else.'

Junichiro silently thought that idea over. It might not be impossible for him to find a stray to examine and possibly find the secret to changing himself into a devil. That would present its own list of issues though. Such as the fact that anyone looking could easily confirm that his parents are perfectly human, along with records of his entire life lived in the human world. Even if he claimed to only be half-devil, which clan could he claim to be from? He had no idea which ones existed and which ones were extinct. Not to mention that the abilities of only a handful had ever been explained. If he claimed to be from one clan, but showed an ability that was from another clan, or worse never existed before, he would be screwed. Not to mention what would happen if he never showed any special ability related to the said clan. Then there was the fact that many looked down on half-devils. He simply knew far too little at this point.

Taking that route would also deprive him of the potential protection provided by a pillar house. Sirzechs might be a bit of a pussy that allowed himself to be pushed around politically, but Junichiro was sure the man had some backbone to him, somewhere. He did lead a rebellion and had likely massacred hundreds, maybe thousands, of other devils during the civil war. Junichiro was also sure that if Riser had ever actually tried to push things too much with Rias that Sirzechs would have wiped the little shit out of existence. It was also interesting how quickly and easily Sirzechs had a dueling arena and exit strategy prepared for Issei when Rias lost in the show. Still, he would keep his options open and if he spotted a stray, he'd do some research on it.

Rias Gremory sat behind her desk in the old school building that housed the Occult Research Club which she was the president of. In reality, it was just the cover for her peerage and their work fulfilling contracts around the city.

Currently, she was very annoyed. Last weekend had been a mess with an odd event happening each day. First the death of the fallen angel on Saturday, then the massive spike of magic on Sunday. She was annoyed because she had no new information on either event. Even after spending the last week scouring every inch of the few blocks they'd tracked the magic down to, they had nothing to show for it. Both she and Sona, along with both their peerages and familiars, had looked for anything out of the normal and had found nothing.

The only thing even the tiniest bit suspicious that anyone had found was Koneko's new lunch buddy happened to live in that area. It wasn't really anything to look at though since another dozen students lived in the area as well, along with hundreds of adults. Aside from that, Koneko had approached the human boy, not the other way around. Having food tasty enough for Koneko to mooch some off of you wasn't a reason for suspicion. It just meant he was a good cook.

As she was thinking of the little rook, Koneko walked into the clubhouse with a little pep in her step. Rias pulled the glasses she was wearing down her nose to look at Koneko over them, "Koneko please tell me you didn't go and bother Arai-san at his home."

Rias was fully aware of who Junichiro Arai was. The moment Koneko had sat next to him the first time, rumors had immediately sprung up. Rias wasn't one to let strangers get too close to her little family without knowing who they were. So the moment she found out about their lunch together, she'd gone to Sona to get all the information on Arai-san that she could. Everything they had on him showed he was a normal human who'd practically been forced into Kuoh Academy by his parents. No signs of anything supernatural about him at all. Koneko even confirmed he smelled completely human and had about average magical potential for a human.

Koneko gave Rias a small smile, one of the few people she would show emotion to, and replied, "Sushi."

After she spoke Koneko got a pensive look on her face prompting Rias to ask with concern, "Was there something wrong at his home?"

Internally Rias was promising Junichiro a painful death if he'd done anything to her precious Konkeo-chan. Koneko took a moment before she answered with a small bit of drool forming at the corner of her mouth from the memory, "Prime Bluefin tuna, over half a pound for each of us."

Rias froze in surprise. Doing a bit of rough estimation in her mind she was shocked when she spoke, "That's easily over a quarter million yen worth of tuna. Probably closer to half a million yen. And he just gave it to you?"

Koneko was brought out of her memory of the delicious fish and shook her head to focus. She frowned a little in confusion as she replied, "He was surprised. Didn't show it but I could smell his worry and surprise."

"So... he was surprised that he was serving you such expensive fish... Even though it was him who served it to you? That doesn't make sense."

Koneko nodded in agreement with her King. Koneko frowned a little more and began to fidget in place. This instantly drew Rias's attention, "Is there more?"

Koneko nodded in response. She was a little conflicted about the next part. If she told Rias then Rias would become interested in Junichiro and she might have to share his food! It was bad enough that she had to share with Junichiro himself, if Rias got her claws into him she might have to share with the entire peerage! That would be terrible! She was brought out of her thoughts by Rias asking, "What else?"

Koneko silently bemoaned the future fate of Junichiro's food while replying, "His home smelled like dragon."

Rias froze for a moment. Smelling a dragon was a big deal. Many sacred gears contained parts of, or entire souls of, dragons and most were pretty powerful. Even the much-derided Twice Critical had the potential to change a losing situation into a winning one. However, she didn't miss the distinction in Koneko's word choice, "Just his home smelled of dragon? Not Arai-san himself?"

Koneko wrinkled her nose a little as she focused on remembering the scents she'd picked up. The dragon scent really wasn't that strong, it's why it hadn't really come to her attention like the suspiciously expensive sushi had. She'd really only consciously noticed it as she was leaving, the sushi had her entire attention until then. Slowly she nodded her confirmation but felt she needed to add, "I didn't smell anyone but him there."

Rias sat back in her chair to think, "So, the scent was in the apartment but not on him. Perhaps the scent is too weak on Arai-san and it just built up in the apartment over time? He might have a sacred gear that is just beginning to awaken..."

Koneko shrugged her shoulders and made her way over to one of the couches in the room. Once seated she pulled out some snacks to munch on and left Rias to her musing. She'd done her job and informed Rias of the dragon scent. She might learn more when she went over for lunch tomorrow. Dragon sacred gear or whatever, nothing was going to stop her from getting more of that delicious food!

Rias, meanwhile, decided she needed to keep a closer eye on Arai-san and see if he did indeed have a sacred gear that was about to awaken. If so, he might be able to help her with her problem. She'd keep a closer eye on him starting Monday. If the scent was that weak then it would still be some time before the sacred gear awoke.

Back at his apartment, Junichiro was completely unaware that the little dragon body he made for Ddraig was giving off any kind of scent that a curious cat might pick up on. He'd really focused on realism for the dragon giving it features even he wasn't fully aware of.

Instead, he was rubbing his throbbing head while trying his best to ignore Ddraig laughing in a manner that let Junichiro know that he was enjoying Junichiro's suffering. Despite the pain he was feeling, Junichiro was rather proud of what was sitting in front of him. Two brand new magical gems to add to his collection. The first was a deep orange color and gave him the ability to use fire magic similar to the ice one. While Ddraig's flames were godly powerful, they also really only had one setting, 'kill everything.' The fire magic gem would give him access to all ranges of fire magic from a lighter flame to Fiendfyre levels of damage. Yes, he recreated the cursed flames from Harry Potter that could even burn magic itself.

The second gem was crystal clear and looked like a large diamond with the way it glittered. Its power was telekinesis, the power to move anything with just a thought. Though it was, naturally, much more than that. Telekinesis had so many possible uses that it was probably the ultimate power in the metaverse, provided the user had enough power. With the right application of telekinesis, he could act like a knock-off of Superman. Flight, super strength, invulnerability, and more could be provided by the gem. Honestly, he wished he'd thought of it first.

Of course, the reason Ddraig was laughing at his pain is that the moment he'd finished making the Telekinesis Gem, he'd realized he should have made one that encompassed all psionic abilities. Now his head hurt far too much to even attempt it and Ddraig was laughing at him for his oversight. Prick dragon.

It didn't matter, he could make it tomorrow. Maybe he'd give the Telekinesis gem to someone else in the future. Since the gem amplified and controlled the magic, even someone with weak magic could use it to do some pretty impressive things with telekinesis. He contemplated it for a bit before he had a shit-eating grin on his face, Kiba. Kiba Yuuto was Rias's knight and he had an amazing sacred gear known as Sword Birth. Sword Birth lets the user make demonic swords that could have magical abilities, make as many as the user wanted, and had the magical power to create. He'd need to give Kiba some idea's to abuse the fuck out of Sword Birth but if he could get him making tons of different swords, especially explosive ones, and combine them with the Telekinesis gem... Kiba could have a knockoff of Gate of Babylon!

While his nanite clothing changed into sleepwear, Junichiro started adjusting his concealment bracelet. Following guidance from Ddraig he was able to get it down to about the amount a newbie mage would have. Additionally, he let some of the draconic scent he was emitting leak out. It was nothing impressive by any measure, but considering it was an improvement from what he had before, it would still draw the attention of certain devils. That was good enough for him.

On Monday, Junichiro walked through the gates of Kuoh Academy just as he had done all of last week. However, he noticed an immediate change. One of the girls on the student council, he wasn't sure of her name, had looked at him in surprise when he passed by. He caught her brief moment of shock before she quickly hid it. Sona would know about the new development before long. He was certain that Rias already knew thanks to Koneko's Sunday lunch visit.

He surreptitiously looked toward the old school building and sure enough, Rias was standing at the third-floor window looking down at him. He had to fight to keep the smile off of his face. He had no doubt that he was going to be closely watched from now on. Though, he really wasn't certain when the recruitment attempts might begin. Or who might try first, for that matter. He would be refusing Sona though. No matter how physically attractive he found her, she was not his type at all.

With their attention on him, he knew his plan was working as he expected it to. That was all that really mattered to him. He walked to his class with a bit of a spring in his step, yes, he was looking forward to the future.