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Chapter 1

A soul floated through the Between, the place where all souls visit once their fleshy vessels expire. With no flesh, the souls had no feeling. No sight. No sound. No smell. No touch. All they can do is float while thinking about their lives and waiting for what comes next. Souls constantly appeared and disappeared from the Between.

A soul that had been floating within the Between for an unknown amount of time had its musing interrupted by the sudden appearance of a screen filled with writing. The soul was dreadfully confused for a while. It hadn't seen anything since its death and couldn't help wondering how it was seeing something without eyes. After a moment it realized the 'why' didn't matter at all and read the message.

[Greetings!

The time for your reincarnation has come. Your karma has been weighed and your reward has been decided. Your karmic value is evaluated as average. Your reward is reincarnation into a random reality you are familiar with. You are granted your choice of an item, skill, or ability to help you in your next life. Your choice must fit within your new reality.

Your new reality has been chosen. You know the reality as 'Highschool DxD.'

You will be inserted a few months before 'canon' begins. Please begin making your choice for your item, skill, or ability. You will be informed of invalid choices and you may make inquiries to refine your choices.]

It took some time for the soul to process what it read. Questions flooded through its mind before it settled on one, "Why am I being reincarnated? Isn't this something that's supposed to happen in fanfictions and to either random or really good people?"

[Incorrect.

Every soul is reincarnated into its own universe after the death of its fleshly body. The concept of an infinite universe is something that fleshly minds truly fail to comprehend.

Anything and everything is reality.]

"But... isn't a world like Highschool DxD just a piece of fiction someone imagined?"

[Incorrect.

There are many ways that 'fictional' worlds are introduced to alternate realities. In your reality, they existed simply because the soul reincarnated into that reality expected them to exist. Many fictions are introduced into realities by people who lived them and write stories based on what they know or experienced in their last life. Over time additional souls are introduced to these stories and they spread into various realities.]

"Wait... so my entire reality was created just for one person to reincarnate within?!"

[Correct.

New realities are created, curated, and prepared for the insertion of a reincarnated soul. This process produces new souls which will live, die, and reincarnate to produce more new souls. Reincarnated souls act as guidelines for the creation of new realities and simplify the process greatly.

What you do within the reality you enter is of no concern. How long you live your next life can depend on what choices you make.]

It took a while for the soul to process the reality-shattering information it had just been given. After a while, it recovered and decided to get over it. Shattered reality or not, it was heading into a reality where gods legitimately walk down the street and truly incomprehensibly powerful beings existed.

"So, I pick an item, a skill, or an ability then reincarnate?"

[Correct.]

"What do sacred gears count as?"

[Items.]

"Excellent."

It had taken a lot of questions for the soul to come up with its choice. Unlike it had first expected, it couldn't ask for unlimited power or anything truly broken. It had wanted Omnipotence, who wouldn't want infinite power? It was instantly denied though. Even 'limited' Omnipotence was denied. Same for full-blown Omniscience and Omnipresence. Even the biblical God of the Highschool DxD reality didn't have all three of those at full power. If that version of God did have Omnipotence how could he have possibly been killed?

The soul figured most people wanting a sacred gear would ask for something like the Boosted Gear, Divine Dividing, or True Longinus. Instead, it felt like Annihilation Maker had the most potential for being broken and making life easier. The guy, Lenard or whoever, in the show just made human-sized and bigger monsters and crap. LAME! No imagination! Human-sized and bigger monsters aren't scary! No, what's scary is a microscopic monster capable of invading the desired target from the inside out! Supernatural biological warfare! Forget making Godzilla, make super-powered smallpox and laugh!

Worldwide supernatural pandemic monsters aside, the sheer versatility and possibilities of Annihilation Maker were simply ridiculous. Why ask for the Boosted Gear when he could make a monster version of it?! Or, failing that, why not make a monster that can just straight up steal other sacred gears from people? Annihilation Maker should really be the number one Longinus.

"I pick the sacred gear Annihilation Maker."

[Denied.

Sacred gears that will be in use when you revive are unavailable.]

If it could, the soul would have pouted. Annihilation Maker was an extremely flexible and powerful Longinus that would give him not just power but also utility. He growled and tried something else, "Can I design a sacred gear?"

[Possible.

The sacred gear must fall within the parameters of existing sacred gears.

Present your design.]

The soul sat and pondered. It didn't want a one-trick pony sacred gear, it wanted something with flexibility. Blade Blacksmith and Sword Birth came to mind. Especially Sword Birth. Kiba used it to make many different kinds of elemental swords. Besides, who said a sword had to be a certain size? Kiba made a sword he called Flame Delete, the sword absorbed and extinguished fire. Couldn't he make pendant-sized swords with the property of his Flame Delete sword to give people immunity to flames?

But... The soul didn't want to be limited to the shape of a sword or require a balance breaker to make something else like Kiba did. It didn't know how long it spent thinking or how many questions it asked but the soul finally came up with something that would have given it a shit-eating grin if it could, "So it's decided. I want the sacred gear I designed, 'The Workshop.'"

[Compiling.

Sacred Gear: The Workshop

Source: Kris Kringle, a.k.a. Santa Claus, and his Magic Workshop

Details: Considered by most to be a somewhat useful, though not very powerful, mid-tier Sacred Gear, The Workshop allows the user to turn random scraps into just about anything they find useful. Historically it's been used to make simple items such as weapons and armor. No one has really pushed it to the limits of its power. Most consider it to be similar, if different from, Blade Blacksmith and Sword Birth.]

The soul was practically vibrating in joy. In reality, it had just snagged the ability Omnifabrication. In essence, the ability to invent and create anything with anything nearby. Drop him in a junkyard and he could walk out with a Gundam. It wasn't just limited to technology though. He could use the same junkyard to produce magic swords and items. He didn't even need to understand what he was making, just picture the final result and its properties to achieve anything. Still, he did need materials to work with and couldn't just pull something out of thin air. Regardless, it might be considered mid-class but his knowledge would make it into a Longinus instantly.

Okay, slight exaggeration on instantly. As it was a sacred gear it, like all sacred gears, had limitations. In this case, the ability to make things was limited by the amount of mana that could be spent on the process. So, while it could make a full-on Gundam, it couldn't do it in an instant the moment the soul entered the world. With what mana it would have available, a Gundam would have to be made piece by piece over time. That was the main limitation of 'The Workshop.'

[Choice made and accepted.

Reincarnation commencing.]

With a jolt, Junichiro Arai awoke. He looked around and immediately realized what had woken him. He reached over and disabled his alarm with a snort. It was Saturday morning and school didn't start until Monday morning. The school year was just beginning and he was joining as a third-year transfer student. His parents had insisted he transfer to the school without telling him why. He hadn't been suspicious yesterday, but today he was very suspicious. He remembered everything about his life. There was no download, sudden surge of memories, or anything similar, he remembered it all and his time floating around in the Between.

It was like putting on a pair of comfortable shoes, it just fit.

Unfortunately, he wasn't certain of exactly when he was in the timeline. Fortunately, he had access to a decent laptop and the internet. Junichiro hopped out of his bed and made his way to his laptop in his boxers. He had no reason to be concerned over how he was dressed, he was now living alone in a nice new apartment on his parents' dime.

It was little effort to find out that Kuoh Academy had only opened its doors to male students last year. That meant that 'canon' for this universe would begin in just a few short months. That didn't give him much time and he needed a solid plan.

For now, he needed to focus on personal strength. That was one of the most important things in this world. If you didn't have personal strength then you were nothing but fodder for anyone who wanted to rip you apart. He had plenty of ideas but he was certain the really powerful ones were currently out of his reach. So, step one was to improve that reach.

Junichiro quickly got up and made his way into his tiny kitchen. It was but a moment of effort for him to pull an empty drink can from his trash. Thankfully the way to use his sacred gear was included in his revivification. He closed his eyes to focus on what he desired to make using 'The Workshop' and the empty can. His hand immediately began to glow green while tiny sparks of a light red color surrounded the can. He held it flat on his palm as it began to break down into tiny particles. As the small particles of metal hit the palm of his hand, they began to disappear, sinking into his skin.

By the time most of the can was gone, Junichiro was covered in sweat and panting heavily. He was forced to stop before he passed out from exhaustion. He pulled out one of the chairs at his little kitchen table and tried to catch his breath. His first creation was already going to work. The first creation was simple and impossible, which didn't matter to him. Impossible was just another Tuesday to the power of Omnifabrication combined with the magic of Sacred Gears.

As he recovered his lips curled into a smile, "Step one, infinite power, complete."

Well, sort of infinite power. What he'd created was a swarm of nanomachines. Their job was to locate his mana core and gather near it. They would then form themselves into a device that would generate as much mana as possible and then feed it directly into his core. Specifically, it was meant to always feed a small amount into his core to force it to grow bigger as well as dump large amounts into it to refill it whenever necessary.

Essentially, the maximum amount of mana he had would only go up over time. His ability to use mana in instant bursts wouldn't change very quickly. For example, if he cast a spell that was a quick blast of fire using all of his mana. If his mana was ten then he would use all ten on the fire blast spell and instantly be refilled with another ten. So he could indefinitely fire off such blasts but they would all be tens until his mana pool grew to an eleven, then they would all be elevens.

However, if he was to take his time and charge up a spell over time, he could pump as much mana into it as he wanted. For example, a fireball spell that he had to charge over time to get a bigger and hotter explosion. He could charge that for as long as he wanted without ever running out of mana and set it off whenever he felt like it. Though, the speed at which he could charge it would still be throttled by his maximum mana capacity. If his capacity was ten then something like ten mana per second.

It would definitely be a very helpful tool and would help to increase his maximum mana capacity over time. He had no idea about any other ways to increase his mana capacity. Everything he knew about mana and magic, from fiction and his somewhat basic knowledge of the world, suggested that using it was the best way to make it stronger. It was a start and would let him build anything he wanted, as long as he was willing to take the time.

As he waited for his new mana generator to kick in, his stomach began to growl loudly. He reluctantly climbed to his feet and made himself a simple breakfast. Part of the excuse his parents used when sending him to Kuoh was that it would teach him how to live on his own and his responsibilities. At least he knew how to cook some simple meals. He'd definitely have to make a robot or android or some sort of automaton to make food for him.

Just as he finished eating, Junichiro felt a sudden rush of energy and felt much better. His mana generator was online and now feeding him an unending stream of magical power. Now he could get to making awesome things! … After he washed his dishes. Maybe the chef automaton should take care of that too, in the future.

Once his petty chores were taken care of, he made his way back to his computer and started searching for the largest nearby scrapyard or junkyard. Such a place would have all the materials he would need to make whatever he wanted. Survival came first. For that, he needed defensive and regenerative ability. Preferably in a cool-looking way. He let that stew while he searched for what he wanted. It didn't take long for his google-fu to locate the perfect place. For five thousand yen he could take as much scrap as he wanted and it was only a few train stops away. That also put him outside of Kuoh, a nice bonus.

After getting dressed and packing a simple lunch, he quickly left his apartment and caught his train. As it barreled down the tracks, he continued to think about what to make first. Some kind of armor seemed like a good idea. Soon he had a thought and it brought a smile to his face. His flash of inspiration led him to think about all kinds of interesting things that he could make. Things of power. He really had to fight not to smile like a mad scientist while cackling like the insane. He was pretty sure that feeling would happen often.

Thanks to the efficiency of public transportation in Japan, Junichiro quickly found himself entering the scrapyard after paying his entry fee. His parents only gave him so much money every month, but it wouldn't matter too much longer. He could easily build a computer so advanced that it could slip through any firewall without being noticed and let him digitally rob any bank for any amount. He had a better idea than that though. For now, other things took precedence.

It took all of his willpower not to let out a full-body mad scientist cackle as he looked over the hills of scrap filling the yard. Cars, appliances, broken electronics, just about anything he could desire to use as materials. He immediately got to work on his next project. He had so many things to make!

AN

I don't have a complete plan for this story, I'm just sort of free writing to get into the swing of being an author once again. I've written original stories in the past but it's been a few years and I wanted something relatively easy to get into. Fanfiction seemed the easy way to restart the creative juices.

Why Highschool DxD?

I'm not a huge diehard fan of the series and have only seen the anime. Despite the issues with the source material, I do find some of the concepts in the show to be pretty interesting, especially Sacred Gears. So, I wanted to write a story about one that wasn't an SI or an Issei takeover. I originally planned to use Annihilation Maker as the OC's sacred gear, but after thinking about it I wanted to make a new Sacred Gear. I like writing stories about characters that make equipment and magic items, so that's what I gave my OC.

Enjoy!