Chapter 6: Breathing Room

April 25th-26th, 2017

The next day I was up and about at roughly 4:15 in the morning; a truly ungodly hour.

Which was perhaps fitting given my current activities.

As was the thin bank of mist which blanketed the entire area, subtly refracting the faint glow of the swiftly setting moon and the few visible stars overhead.

What activities in particular you may ask?

Primarily, hovering a good fifteen feet in the air, using what could uncharitably be referred to as "Magical Impact-Sensitive Landmines" as an impromptu staircase; all whilst peering through the window to what Alice had identified as likely being a certain new-found Devil's bedroom. Or at least the place he was currently located.

After several minutes of fruitlessly trying to see anything through the fogged up glass and dim lighting, I summon a Mana Bolt into my hand, and hold it in place to use as a makeshift light source.

Ah yes, there he is.

Thankfully, the head of his bed is pretty close to the window as well. Should make this easier.

All alone too. Good.

Cutting off the feed of Mana and allowing the bolt to slowly dissipate with a hiss as it makes contact with the surrounding air molecules, I begin gently tapping my fist against the glass.

It takes a while to get his attention, but after a minute or two of persistent effort, he finally pokes an arm out from the huddle of blankets covering him; flailing it about with weak motions. This was followed by his head slowly peeking out, and then him sitting up as he groggily looks around for whatever was making the noise.

"Hey, Issei." I hoarsely whisper to try pull his gaze in my direction.

"What?" He mumbles through a yawn, before turning around in his bed and catching sight of my hunched over form, hovering just level with the windowsill.

He lets out a slow blink, before suddenly scrambling backwards and falling off his bed in a tangle of sheets. Thankfully the fabric manages to soften the landing, so it doesn't make too much noise.

"What the fuck!?"

I consider messing with him for a bit, but ultimately decide to just shake my head and respond in a slightly louder voice, "It's me, Alex. Could you please try and be a bit quieter? I'm trying to not wake up anyone else just yet."

His wits seemingly returning to him as he begins to fully wake up, he slowly nods in understanding. Then, suddenly pausing, he stands with an extremely annoyed expression, and storms over to the window; although he nearly trips over the blankets still tangled around his legs in the process.

Pressing his face near to the glass he furiously whispers at me, "What the fuck are you doing here? It's like 3:00 A.M. dude."

"4:00, actually. And that's why I'm here now! I woke up a few hours early and couldn't fall asleep, so I figured I should come check on you while I knew you would be alone. That way we could talk without the others watching us. By the way, you mind opening the window? It's slightly uncomfortable out here."

He just stares at me.

After what I assume to be a lengthy internal debate, he deflates a bit and rubs a hand over his face before replying in a defeated tone, "Fine. Just… gimme a minute. Need to put on some pants first."

"Sure. Take your time."

Now looking much more presentable, he gingerly opens the window for me to climb through.

I nod in thanks, then carefully crawl through the gap and into his bedroom, making sure to jostle the iridescent plane of Mana as little as possible in the process.

Finally getting a clear look at what exactly I had been crouching on, Issei seems visibly impressed at my grand display of sorcery.

Truly, I am the greatest wizard of all time.

On an unrelated note, "Nice digs. Cleaner than I would have expected too."

It's a relatively small room, but very cozy. Similar furnishings to my own, actually, although not in the same arrangement. I could only imagine how bad the glare must be, given his computer was perpendicular to the window rather than back-lit by it.

"The hell's that supposed to mean?" Issei indignantly grumbles in response.

Oh right. I suppose that could be taken as a backhanded compliment.

"Oh, you know. It's kind of a stereotype for teenagers to have messy rooms, right? I thought I might just be a statistical anomaly in that regard. Although I guess that could be more of an American thing than a teenager thing. Anyway, not really important."

Mostly dropping my light-hearted tone, I turn to fully face him, "How did it go yesterday? They didn't do anything weird to you, did they? No waterboarding or strange blood-oaths?"

His face goes through a complicated series of expressions upon hearing that, and his eyes defocus slightly. Recalling the events of yesterday, I presume.

After a moment, he seems to shake himself out of it and finally gives me an answer.

"No? It started out pretty well actually. Totally sucked balls by the end though…"

He positively exudes depression and disappointment as he trails off his speech.

Well, at least it isn't fear and trauma.

Could be worse.

"You mind expanding upon that? Actually, I remember Rias mentioning a "club room" she was taking you to. Is her Peerage also operating as a school club, like Sona's?"

Temporarily perking up at this, he responds, "Uh, yeah. The Occult Research Club, she said. It's in that old building in the middle of the forest. Kinda creepy, but actually really nice on the inside. Also, most of the others are total babes! Rias Gremory, Akeno Himejima, Koneko Toujo, it's like a list of all the hottest girls at school! The club room even has a shower that they apparently use sometimes..." After a moment of fantasizing, his expression suddenly sours, "Oh. Right. Kiba's there too. Damn Bishi Bastard."

Hmm.

So there really is a den of monsters in the woods.

Good to know my instincts are still working on that count.

I mean, they were surprisingly friendly and approachable monsters so far, but whatever.

I still count that as a win.

"Anything else interesting happen? Did you find out anything about your possible Sacred Gear, maybe?"

"Yeah, loads of stuff. Not the Sacred Gear though. Rias says I definitely have one, but I got no clue how to use it. She said I just needed to "focus on my strongest part", but how the hell am I supposed to do that?" Simply shaking his head at this, he sighs lightly.

"Hmm. Well, if you keep having trouble with it let me know. I might have a way to help out." I say with an only slightly malicious grin.

"Uh. What would that be?"

"Well, my Sacred Gear seemed to react quite strongly to nearly getting gruesomely killed and eaten, so maybe yours just needs another kick in the pants like that? I am sure we could arrange something."

He simply stares at me, as though I had suggested something completely unreasonable.

How strange.

"No thanks."

"Alright. Just putting it out there. You said there was other stuff though?"

Moving on from his previous glare, he gets noticeably excited at this, "Yeah! She said that if I get strong enough I can have my own servants, just like her, and that they would have to do whatever I want! I could start my own Harem! I just have to, like, exercise and follow orders. Make contracts with people too, I guess." He frowns at this part, "That didn't go very well though. I totally fucked up. She had me hand out a bunch of fliers, then let me take one of Koneko's contracts since she was busy."

Shoulders slumping, he collapses onto his bed and curls into a ball before continuing with a defeated whimper, "But apparently, I don't even have enough magic to use a teleportation circle, so they had to send me there on a bike. A bike! What kind of shitty Devil uses a bike! Then, I didn't even make a contract; I just got into an argument about Dragon Boy Z, and ended up binging the first season with him."

Ok then.

That's a lot to unpack.

First off, "they have to do whatever I want"? That does not fill me with confidence about Issei's situation. I think I may need to prioritize reading that book about Peerages.

Secondly, wow. I mean, I know Issei's natural Mana output is pretty tiny compared to most people, he only puts out around 10 MU per second, but that must have sucked.

I wonder what the guy thought about some dude riding up on a bike, claiming to be his "friendly neighborhood Devilman", here to wheel and deal.

Lastly, "Isn't Dragon Boy Z that horrible knock-off Dragon Ball clone that got into a huge legal battle?"

"Hey, fuck you man! Dragon Boy Z is totally different and way better than that Dragon Ball garbage!"

Nice.

All it took to break him out of his self-pity was affronted nerd-rage.

Putting my hands up defensively, I respond, "Okay, okay. I understand. I was never a particularly huge fan of either one, so I was just mentioning something I had heard in passing."

"Yeah, well, just keep those kinds of trash opinions to yourself, you hear?"

Now smiling, I nod, "Understood. I shall be more careful in the future. Going back to the main point though, your story does bring up an idea that may be beneficial to us both?"

"What do you mean?"

Smiling broadly and gently tapping a fist against my chest, I share my clearly wonderful idea with him.

"Why not make your first contract with me? I've even got an idea for a nice and simple short-term one, that could be repeated in the future."

"Really? You would do that for me, dude? What is it?"

"Of course. Just helping a friend secure his first sale on the job. That's something friends do, right? As for the details, well, as I might have mentioned before I am a wizard, of sorts. My Sacred Gear does a few different things, but the two main ones are helping me manage my Mana, and helping me create new spells." Relaxing my stance slightly, I allow a note of sorrow to enter my voice before continuing, "Unfortunately, the second one can be quite slow if I don't have the information I need, or if I lack practical examples to observe. So, if you wanted, I wouldn't mind giving you a few of my MUs in exchange for helping me out with making spells. Nothing dangerous, of course. Unless you want to."

"MUs? The hell are those, and why would I want them in exchange for being a guinea pig?"

Oh right.

I had kinda forgotten Alice just made up that term for the sake of record-keeping.

"Ah, MU stands for Mana Unit. It's a term I made up to measure a specific quantity of Mana; that obviously being what I call Magical Energy. You would want them because, as I recently learned, Devils can use Mana to strengthen their bodies and change how they look. Not sure exactly how, or what the limits are, though. Unfortunately, you don't make much on your own. Oh, and I'm also pretty sure contract making may also have some kind of benefit in and of itself, but it may just be a social status thing. Don't really know yet."

As my used-car-salesman worthy speech continues, I can see him gradually coming around to my way of thinking.

Nice.

I think being so social may be having a bad influence on me. I have been acting far too competent recently.

"Huh. That actually sounds pretty good. If I can get stronger faster…" At this his eyes lock on to my own with a fiery passion, "what exactly would I be doing?".

"Good question. I'm a bit low on magic at the moment, so how about I give you 40 MU per second for the next two hours. In exchange, why don't you come on my morning run with me? I can scan your body for changes caused by your, uh, new outlook on life, and how it reacts to physical exertion. Then I might be able to use that information to adjust some of my other spells to work on you, or even create a few new ones."

My words douse his fiery passion as quickly as it had appeared.

"Running? Why does it have to be running?" A pause as he closes his eyes tightly, before opening them just a crack, "How much is 40 MU?"

"You make about 10 per second right now. So, theoretically, it would quintuple your growth rate for the next 2 hours. That's pretty good, right?"

His face contorts into a rictus of deep thought for the next several minutes, obviously quite conflicted by the prospect of having to go running at what was probably 4:30 in the morning by now.

He also may still be a bit skeptical at the prospect of having some mad scientist-wizard poking at his body with untested magic.

His resolve does eventually return though; no doubt fueled by his desire to be "Harem-King".

"Fine. I'll do it. You wanna start this right now?"

"Of course. Why else would I have come here in my tracksuit? I was planning to go running right after we talked regardless. You got a piece of paper to write the contract all down on?" Pausing for a moment to see if I was forgetting anything, I slam my fist into my hand as it occurs to me, "Ah, and we should probably go out through the window to make sure we don't wake anyone up. Just… carefully, please. Be sure to make as little of an impact on each platform as you can manage while going down."

"Why?"

"Well, they weren't really designed to be walked on. Technically, they're shields. More specifically, they are modeled off of something a bit like the Reactive Armor on an M60A1. If they get hit too hard, they violently explode in the direction of whatever hit them. Very effective in theory."

Silence descends upon the room.

"What the fuck, man?"

The run is a downright goldmine of valuable, and existentially horrifying, information.

Issei was a total baby about going down my staircase though. Constantly whining about things like "you madman" or "what kind of deranged lunatic uses an explosive staircase".

I swear, he's gonna give himself a heart attack worrying about such trivial things.

Better to use your paranoia on more important issues. Such as the possibility of being suddenly attacked at any moment, by monsters that are literal orders of magnitude stronger than you.

I mean really, they won't explode as long as you don't stomp on them or something. So long as you go nice and slow, making sure to evenly spread out your weight and not make any sudden movements, they were perfectly safe.

I mean, it's not like landmines have ever hurt anyone before, right? Well, as long as they were following procedure anyways.

I probably should work on a more stable version though, if I want to do this again. Not very practical if you need to be fast, currently.

Besides, I'm not sure I can regrow a leg just yet.

Anyways, that's enough distracting myself from horrifying revelations for now.

While I had apparently already been getting some interesting data from my link with Sona, it was much easier to get fine details up close and personal like this.

I could examine in real-time as his body soaked up my supplied Mana, like a desiccated sponge did water. Something about the way it contrasted with his own made it easier to tell what it was doing, when compared to examining his native Mana.

At first it went all over the place, working on various minor cosmetic changes and general strengthening. Very slow overall, but significant.

He wouldn't suddenly turn into Superman, but over time it would have a noticeable effect.

Interestingly, some of it also seemed to flood through his Mana Channel itself. Trying to expand it, I guess?

I knew that using your own Mana is supposed to do that for a normal person, based on Arcane's database, but I guess outside sources work as well.

At least for Devils anyways.

While I was willing to trust that the basic information Arcane possessed was accurate as a general rule, I was already learning that it was certainly not complete. Hopefully there were not too many broken rules and special cases out there.

Back to the main point though. As soon as we got into the run proper, the entire system changed.

All of the Mana coursing through his body switched tasks in an instant; focusing entirely upon reinforcing and growing the systems being most heavily stressed. His legs, his circulatory and respiratory systems, and everything else even vaguely related to the strain his body was being put under.

All of it began to improve at a blatantly superhuman pace.

At the current rate, if he focused solely on running, he might surpass the best human athletes in days. Maybe a week or two.

Of course, this would require him to run literally non-stop around the clock, and would leave other aspects of his body underdeveloped, but still. Even if you included a potential need for rest and recovery in-between training...

Let's just say that I hoped to God there were diminishing returns at higher levels of Mana saturation and physical development, or that Issei was just unusually talented at it.

Otherwise I could be in for a world, nay, a Multiverse, of hurt when meeting older and more powerful Devils.

Also of interest was seeing how his Soul itself was slowly adapting to become more like that of Sona or Rias. Currently, it was still noticeably Human.

However, over time, it was visibly changing.

Like pulsating waves of baleful, corrupting energy emanating from a central core, slowly spreading throughout the whole. Leaving everything they touched just a little bit different. Altered in both configuration and substance.

Based on what I had seen of the others, and their much more stable readings, it would eventually halt after reaching a certain point. It was still disturbing to see in action though.

I could only wonder at what deeper effects it may have on his mind and body given enough time.

I really, really needed to get on reading that book about Peerages. Hopefully it would have whatever answers Alice could not glean from our current preliminary study of Devil Soul Structures.

Well, more precisely I should read the "digital" copy I had Alice make. One of the first things I did upon waking up was quickly flip through each of the books, and have Alice carefully catalog all of the information to add to the database.

The spell book I would probably just leave alone for now. Given that I still couldn't make heads or tales of even relatively simple spellforms.

Although I would read A History of The Worlds from a Devilish Perspective by Svikari Bael and Peerage: The 16 Pieces of Unholy Salvation by Lina Astaroth.

While I could just have Alice analyze them and tell me the most important bits, I would rather do it myself first; then see if her summary matched up. It would feel a bit wrong to do otherwise. Not really respectful to the book and its author.

To that end, after the two hours of our contract were up, I bid Issei a brief farewell, receiving only mutinous grumblings in return. I suppose he was still unhappy about the stairs. And the making him run in circles for two hours straight.

How ungrateful. Can't he understand the tremendous gains to not only his physical form, but my scientific endeavors?

Oh well. I'm sure he will be happier after a shower and some food. Perhaps once he starts noticing his improved endurance as well.

Quickly going home, I make my own final preparations for school, then return to his house to walk to Kuoh Academy together.

All while beginning to read about the "truly ingenious work of the great, albeit reclusive and surly, Ajuka Beelzebub", and how it was, "The salvation of the Devil race".

Unfortunately there are no nuns on the path we follow, and Issei only seems confused when I casually ask if he had met anyone interesting on his way to school recently.

How vexing.

For the third time now, I find myself just outside the Kuoh Academy Student Council Meeting Room.

For the third time, I raise my arm up, to just below the pair of small deformations in the wood, and I proceed to gently knock precisely one time before politely calling out, "Hello. May I please come in?"

Silence.

Shock.

Horror.

Other such things I imagine to be going through the minds of anyone inside the room.

Then, a voice.

"Sure?" A slight pause. "You're not gonna try and knock the door down with your fist this time?"

What? How horrible. Such slander.

Truly, I was affronted by these words.

"Why, of course not. Good Heavens! What sort of upstanding member of the Student Council would dare to set such a deplorable example for his fellow students? Why, can you even imagine the sort of deviant malcontent that would treat school property with such disdain? I can scarcely believe that such a person even exists!"

More silence.

Just as I go to try the handle, seeing as nobody had actually come to open the door yet, I hear a peal of suppressed laughter from the same voice that had been speaking earlier.

How wonderful.

For once, someone else who appreciates my unsurpassed comedic genius!

Finally pulling the door open, I see that the room is nearly empty. The only one there being one Ruruko Nimura, seemingly eating lunch by herself.

Or at least she was, before being interrupted by her current fit of laughter.

Upon seeing me walk into the room and take a seat across from her, she finally manages to cease for long enough to put together an answer, "Of course, you're right! That would be crazy. How could I ever believe someone like that might come here?"

I simply smile and nod in return, "Just so. On an unrelated note, nice to meet ya. I don't think we have ever actually spoken before. Just call me Alex, if you like. I don't really do the whole last name only bit, for the most part," Pausing to look around the room, I then continue in a questioning tone, "Do you always eat alone in here?"

"Alright Alex, I'm Ruruko. Nice to meet'cha. Oh and, nah. The others are just out for a bit. Some of them will come back eventually. Anyways, I hear you're pretty new right? Doing some Merc work for the Boss?"

I take a moment to think over that.

I suppose it's true enough. I am a mercenary now, if you look at things in the right light.

I might have to run with that, I kind of like the idea.

Alexander Blackfel, Mercenary Wizard. Will blow up Clanners for C-Bills and Salvage.

Well, I suppose not that last bit. Maybe, Will blow up Strays for Magic and Knowledge instead?

Something to think about.

Anyways.

"Sort of, yes. She's helping me out with a few things, and in exchange I'm hanging out with y'all for a bit to see if we click. Among other things. Having a little backing is nice, even if I'm still not sure about some of the details. The more I think about our deal, the more I think I should have spent some more time thinking about it… But oh well. Ink's dry by this point."

Although... Clause Seven in particular.

It may have been a bit excessive in hindsight.

On the other hand, it is an important test.

And if I'm wrong, it's not like it'll really matter. I would have been fucked anyway given the power imbalance.

At least this way I get a peek at her character. Plus, if I leave an exploit there, then it may dissuade more brute force methods assuming they really are sticklers about abiding by their word like I think they are.

Of course, she probably knows that herself, and could always play the long-con; not exploiting it until I am further lulled... Then again, if she really is that type there's not much point in waiting to spring the trap.

While I go off on my mental tangent, Ruruko leans back in her chair a bit, before raising a hand parallel to the floor and shaking it slightly, "Eh, I doubt ya need to worry so much. The Boss's kind of a softy honestly, least compared to some of the other dudes around. Just between you and me, I kind of jumped into things too. Leaped before looking too hard if ya know what I mean. But it all worked out pretty well. She probably won't do anything too cruel long as you don't first." Despite the toothy grin with which she says that, it isn't entirely reassuring to me.

Still nice to hear though, assuming it isn't intentional deception.

"Well, thanks for the reassurance."

It was also good to know, if true.

It implies that while Sona may not be the type to exploit loopholes, other Devils are. If it bears out, I may need to be more careful when dealing with other unknowns.

Then again, that was part of the original "plan".

Better to strike out and hope you can grab onto an ally of questionable character than to fly entirely blind. If I didn't make a deal with her... There is no reason to assume someone else wouldn't have come along with a more forceful approach.

I need someone that I can rely on, and I'm not exactly spoiling for choice. Not until I can make more connections and gather more information.

At least I kind of knew her by reputation, and the times I had talked to her while settling in to school.

Yeah.

This was the best decision I could make.

I think.

And at least if I'm wrong, its probably better than getting eaten in some back alley because I tried to go it alone or find someone else.

"No problem. Just speaking the truth. You looked like you could use it. Even when you're being all funny-like I can still tell how jumpy you are. Ya really need to relax a bit, maybe go bust a few heads, yeah?"

I laugh in surprise at her suggestion, finally managing to slip free of my internal rationalizations. "Heh. Never really gotten into fighting myself, but I get the point." Actually, this might be a good opportunity, "Speaking of recreation, I've noticed there seems to be quite a few chess boards lying around. It's also cropped up in some of the books Sona lent me. Is it just popular with Devils or something?"

Nodding vigorously in response, she responds, "Oh yeah, super popular. Sometimes it seems like Chess and Rating Games are all anyone cares about. Guess it's cause of how the Evil Pieces are based on it or something, I don't really know. Although there is some other stuff nowadays. I guess a few of the other reincarnated folks have been trying to start up some Anime and TV studios down in Hell, of all things."

Hmm.

Well, that matches with what I have read so far. Guess I will keep it in mind while going over everything later.

She seems genuine enough; although, on the other hand, she is a reincarnated. So even if she is telling the truth, it could still be propaganda.

I wonder what Devil TV is like?

Nevermind.

I can always find out later.

"Say, you planning to eat something? I don't see a lunchbox anywhere on ya."

Once again shaking myself out of my thoughts at her question, I answer, "Nah. I don't always bother. Usually I prefer to just slip away and get some reading in if I'm not feeling hungry. In this case, I thought I should stop by here instead, since I am technically a council member for the next two weeks."

She merely nods sagely at this, before perking up, "We could play a game while we wait for the others? What'd'ya think?"

"Sure? I will warn you though, I'm not particularly good at it. I've never really bothered learning anything about Chess other than the piece movements and an opening or two. I was always more of a Risk, or Axis and Allies type of guy. OGRE too."

"Eh, that's fine. I don't really play much either. That's more the Boss's thing; she plays it whenever she gets a chance; I don't think she's ever even lost a game."

As I quickly find out, Ruruko may have been understating her skills slightly.

We go through several matches in quick succession, me only winning maybe one out of three.

It did give me an idea though. Several in fact.

"Alice, I got a few new ideas for the queue. Some kind of learning rate enhancer, and maybe a predictive engine. Something that could analyze the best moves and feed them into my brain. Might be useful for all sorts of stuff."

Acknowledged. They have now been added to the queue.

Actually, this might be a good excuse to spend more time in close proximity to Sona as well. If she was as much of a Chess Fiend as Ruruko implied, it might be an easy way to pump her for information while playing; get some nice up close readings on her too.

Might even help with the whole "building good will" thing as well.

Plus, it is actually kind of fun.

Chess may be a little too deterministic and well-studied of a game for my liking, but at least at lower levels there was still a degree of unpredictability.

Eventually, a few others filter into the room and begin idly chatting or getting in some work; although it takes a little while for them to adjust to my presence.

I even come back after school and spent a few hours helping out with paperwork, since that was theoretically a responsibility of mine now. There is a surprising variety of different stuff.

Way more than a regular Student Council should really be managing.

Ranging from pretty normal things like club budget reports and student petitions, all the way to lesson planning, personnel management, and maintenance requests. I'm pretty sure there is even some higher level governmental business, although apparently only Sona and Tsubaki actually handle any of the more serious work.

Still, it drives home the whole "pseudo-owning the school and surrounding city" bit.

Overall, I have a strangely good time.

I wasn't expecting that.

Although I will say, some of the things they mention in passing do just as much to sharpen my sense of foreboding, as their actions and demeanor do to dull it.

Later that evening, I finally finish reading through Peerage: The 16 Pieces of Unholy Salvation, and begin skimming through the history book before starting a proper read through of the relatively massive tome.

Just as I was really getting into it, I receive an announcement I had been anticipating.

Preliminary analysis of Devil and Half-Devil Soul Structures now complete. By comparing observed results, it is possible to largely verify the contents of the book containing information on the phenomena of "Peerages" and "Evil Pieces". Historical information and anecdotes are, of course, not included in this.

Additionally, the collected information has significantly increased our understanding of general Metaphysical Biology by comparing the readings of Devils, Half-Devils, and Humans, thus opening new avenues of research.

Of particular interest to you may be a more in-depth study of Devil Souls, and a project to increase the capacity of User Thalex's own Soul.

Further information is available upon request or viewing of the relevant logs.

Ok. In that case, I think it's time for a review.

First off, Peerages.

Apparently they are a recent invention, about 500-ish years old or so. The exact date was not recorded, but one of the earliest people confirmed to be reincarnated was Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, back in 1520. Just a bit after the Great War went into ceasefire mode.

Apparently its invention was actually one of the many sparks that led to the Devil Civil War, even.

It works by taking a person, usually but not always Human, and shoving a magical artifact shaped like a chess piece directly into their Soul.

They come in sets of 15 such pieces, 1 Queen, 2 Bishops, 2 Rooks, 2 Knights, and 8 Pawns.

They even have corresponding point values, just like in the game. 1 for Pawns, 3 for Knights and Bishops, 5 for Rooks, and 9 for Queens. Apparently there are King pieces as well, but they are not in active use for some reason.

Didn't specify why.

Some pieces also "mutate" and have strange properties or differing point values, but it doesn't go into much detail.

Oh, and apparently besides acting as a race-change/resurrection mechanic, each piece also empowers the person it is granted to; with the exact nature and degree determined by the type of piece.

Pawns get small overall boosts, plus the ability to flexibly switch between the properties of any of the other pieces for short periods.

Rooks get increased strength and endurance.

Knights get agility, dexterity, and a bit of strength.

Bishops get increased magical talent.

Queens get all of the above, except to even higher degrees, minus the boosts granted to Knights.

One must wonder if there are practical reasons for all that, or if the inventor was just really dedicated to the whole "Chess" bit when designing the system, and eccentric enough to refuse to change anything.

Regardless, those sets of pieces are then handed out to Devils who fulfill two requirements.

The first is a minimum level of strength, High Class, going by their terms.

The second is that the Devil must be considered "mature", whatever that means.

Although by reading between the lines, and based on my own observations, it would seem that if you have sufficient social status you need not follow the rules so strictly.

How Nice.

Sigh.

Once a set of pieces is bound to an individual, they can use them to, in turn, bind said Reincarnated Devils to their will. More precisely, while it stressed that there was supposedly no direct mental compulsions or anything, a "King" retained the right of life and death over all members of their Peerage, and could even trade them around to other "Kings" if so desired.

There was also the whole, "horribly mutate out of control" bit that Sona had mentioned, and which I had very personal experience with.

All of this being the brainchild of "the greatest inventor of all Devilkind, Ajuka Beelzebub".

Who also apparently happened to be quite reclusive and ill-tempered. Sounds like a pretty cool guy to me.

Hell, I'm not even being sarcastic there.

I can also see why the system was considered so important when put into place.

Apparently Pureblood devils are, on average, something like 10-20 thousand times less fertile Humans. Even Reincarnated Devils are still something like half that.

Better, but still bad.

Combined with that, the vast majority of their population had been wiped out over the course of what was supposedly multiple millennia of never-ending grinding warfare. And that was just as far back as records remained intact; at least according to what I had read.

Less than 50% of the original 72 Noble Houses, Pillars, remained in any capacity. The general population had it even worse.

Honestly, it was astounding that they had supposedly managed to go from just over 50,000 Devils in existence, to just over a million in a mere 500 years. Even with over 90% of those being reincarnated.

That would mean something like a 0.1% growth rate per year for Purebloods. Pretty bloody low for Humans, especially given they had just wiped out most of the competition and were in the process of rebuilding, but damned impressive nonetheless.

Just how much time must they devote to, er, "rebuilding the species" so to speak?

It also puts into perspective how the integration of so many former humans could have a noticeable impact on their society and culture.

It seemed just a little bit insane.

Anyways.

In addition to the Peerage system itself, it seems to be closely related to something called "Rating Games".

The topic wasn't covered in detail, but there were a few passages that mentioned it, and I pieced together that it was something like a cross between State-Sponsored Wargames and Football. Peerages going head to head in simulated combat for glory, prestige, money, and to climb the social ranks.

I guess it's a way to work out their more destructive tendencies, while keeping their population sharp. Just in case the war restarts in earnest.

At least, that was the explanation that seemed most obvious to me.

Actually, given what I had seen during my run with Issei, it might also promote greater personal growth given the physical stresses involved.

Speaking of, on to the second matter. Namely, Devil Souls.

Based on what Alice had written in the logs, their Souls were just as rigid and inflexible as their bodies were mutable, at least by Human standards.

A Devil has a fixed limit upon how much Mana their soul is capable of producing, determined either at birth, or upon reincarnation. Once their Mana channel reaches that limit, they are incapable of growing any more powerful.

At least magically.

A Reincarnated Devil receives a significant boost to their innate Mana Channel growth rate, their maximum production rate, as well as the ability to use Mana instinctively much like a Pureblood; with the effect most pronounced in the case of a Bishop or Queen piece being used.

A Human does not possess this limit.

According to our, admittedly extremely small sample pool, and the information present in Arcane's initial database, a Human could theoretically keep growing their Soul's maximum output, in addition to their Mana channel, with no as of yet discernible limit.

They were the only creatures that could. At least that I had seen so far.

Although based on the fact that Humans were not ruling everything, I assumed this was rarely a practical issue.

Presumably we didn't really live long enough, or have enough ways of speeding our growth, to really take advantage of it. We might lack a stat cap theoretically, but our actual average strength and the rate we grow stronger were both so much lesser that it rarely amounted to anything.

For that matter, I only had preliminary evidence, and inferences based on observed differences; I had no idea how to actually go about growing a Human's maximum potential beyond it's natural limitations.

Except for me.

Theoretically.

Alice had said that my only limit was how many MTCs I could stuff into my soul without it bursting or burning out.

Could I just keep growing? Get stronger than even the strongest Devils?

Stronger than anything?

Maybe.

Given time.

Time which I probably don't have. Definitely don't have in the short term.

No need to be having Delusions of Grandeur just yet.

Although that does remind me.

"Alice, you mentioned that I could undergo a soul expansion project now? Could you clarify?"

Acknowledged. Using information gleaned from the study of Devil Soul Structures, as well as your natural growth from utilizing Mana, it is possible to make a number of optimizations to your ability to contain additional SCPUs and MTCs, then allocate further space for both.

Uh. That sounded good, but it also sounded like I would be changing the structure of my Soul to be more like that of a Devil's.

"Would there be any side effects? Like, suddenly growing wings or flinching at crosses?"

Negative. These would merely be surface level alterations. To fully recreate the effects of an Evil Piece, or to significantly alter your nature to be more Devilish, would require a deeper understanding of their biology. Metaphysical and otherwise. This process would be well within your acceptable risk threshold.

"… Then, I suppose prioritize it above all other projects. Exponential growth and all that. Then start analyzing that Transmutation book afterwards. What sort of time-frame are we looking at?"

The development and planning of the process shall be done within 3 hours. Restructuring shall take an estimated 3-5 hours. Construction of new MTC's and SCPUs shall proceed as standard, and may begin on command.

Well. Time for bed then, I guess. Although I would like to at least finish this chapter first...

The next morning I still woke up early, but not nearly as much so as last time.

Strangely, I didn't feel strange at all.

It was almost like nothing had changed, other than the knowledge that I could now fit up to 20 MTCs and SCPUs inside of me.

I suppose that was a good thing? Or not.

It would certainly encourage me to make further such changes in the future.

Well, hopefully the trend would continue, in that case.

Pointedly deciding to not dwell too much on the philosophical implications of not only what I had just done, but what I may do in the future, I moved on to more practical matters.

Matters such as getting dressed, shooting a message to Sona informing her that my Mana Production levels would drop for the next 24 hours but it was nothing to worry about, and heading on over to Issei's to see if he would be interested in another "experiment".

The second part of that being facilitated by my having acquired her, or at least a, phone number from her yesterday.

This being when I realized that I had no way to suddenly contact her if such a thing were to be required or useful.

Surprisingly, she was actually awake as well, and immediately responded. She seemed slightly concerned despite my reassurances, but stopped asking questions when I said it was to increase my overall Mana output, thus increasing her overall cut as well, and that I could possibly explain in more detail later.

Painfully, I had to disable my Physical Enhancer for the day.

With a mere 20 MU/s to work with, I could not afford to keep it running while still using even my full scanner suite; much less any combat spells or paying Issei.

Without it's warm energy coursing through me, I felt sluggish; as though I was immersed in a morass of molasses.

I was still stronger than I had been even a week ago, courtesy of its growth enhancing effects, but the difference was almost unnoticeable when compared to the full multiplier.

I really would have to get onto developing more effective, and possibly cheaper, enhancements along that vein at some point. Hopefully my observations of the mutagenic properties of Devil Physiology would help with that.

As things stood though, I merely jogged over to Issei's house at a sedate pace, while idly continuing my reading.

Issei was actually waiting for me outside this time, and while he seemed disappointed that I would only be able to spare 15 MU per second for this deal, he considerably brightened when I informed him that there would be no running required today.

Instead, given that I was running on such low capacity at the moment, I offered to simply take some further readings of him, and his Sacred Gear in particular.

I also temporarily re-tasked Alice to developing a few enhancements to my scanner suite, given that it would be significantly cheaper than the proposed Transmutation research.

I even got to try out active testing!

As it turns out, being able to actively utilize a spellform in a real situation while fine-tuning it was significantly less expensive in terms of PUs than merely simulating everything. It could also be horribly destructive in the case of more, er, energetic spells.

But this was mostly safe. At worst, it might cause a little bit of radiation poisoning or something, but I doubted that would be an issue for several reasons.

Anyways, by the end of the day my scanner suite should be significantly more capable in three primary areas: detecting Sacred Gears, obtaining high-resolution images of physical structures, and converting said images into models and maps.

I even had her add in an option to increase the Mana feed, in an effort to better break through concealment, or to assist in gaining higher-fidelity readings.

Unfortunately that last part had certain diminishing returns, as more and more power was required to cancel out interference caused by my own Mana.

It would also be highly noticeable to anyone looking.

Amazingly, none of these were the most exciting thing to result from my meeting that morning.

No, that would be when, after coming to a halt and waving to a smiling Issei, who was leaning against the side of his house right next to the front door, he came over and punched me in the shoulder hard enough to nearly knock me on my ass.

This all occurring whilst he imperiously pointed at my face with his other hand and let out an indignant shout, "You fucking jinxed it dude! You jerk!"

I sat there in shock for a moment, slowly blinking as I considered what had just occurred.

"What? Why am I getting punched exactly?"

"I found out how to use my Sacred Gear. When I got attacked by another Fallen Angel last night and she nearly killed me again. The only upside is that I accidentally stripped her and got to see her Boobs before she ran away."

"Uh, congratulations?"

Suddenly scrunching his face up and closing his eyes, he eventually replied in a quiet voice after several moments of thought, "… Yeah. It was probably worth it. She was really hot."

"… I was speaking more about the whole Sacred Gear bit, but that too I suppose. They are typically portrayed as seducers, so I suppose they would probably be quite attractive in many cases... Anyways. How did you run into them exactly?"

While waiting for him to respond, I slowly climbed back to my feet and brushed the dust off of my clothes. He did at least have the courtesy to give me a hand up, before going off on an excited ramble about his experiences last night.

"I went back to that dudes house again to try and get another contract, y'know the one I told you about yesterday. Then I ran right into her while I was coming back to the club room. She was totally gonna kill me! Then I thought about what Rias told me, and just focused on my Dragon Yell, when suddenly this huge-ass gauntlet formed on my arm and I totally kicked her ass!" While saying this he started madly posing like an anime character, before suddenly thrusting his left arm out and shouting, just as a, well, a huge-ass gauntlet formed around it.

It was big, red, and had two massive yellow spikes pointing backwards, in addition to a huge number of smaller red ones covering the rest of its surface.

This was all topped off by a dark-green perfectly spherical gemstone glimmering with an inner constellation of lights, inlaid just above the center-back of his hand.

It was pretty damn cool looking, really. Certainly fancier than the sleek helmet that my own Sacred Gear currently appeared as. Maybe just a bit gaudy though.

Also, those spikes were probably a safety hazard given half of them pointed in his direction.

"So, do you know what it does yet? Other than accidentally strip people naked I mean?"

Silence, as he suddenly clams up and scratches at the back of his neck with his free hand.

"… I can use it to hit people really hard?"

This of course would not do. Hence my decision to change up the nature of today's experiments.

Unfortunately, I was not able to determine too much, at least not until the upgrades to my scanner were complete.

The most I was able to glean from my preliminary readings was that it might have something to do with Dragons, or strength enhancement.

Maybe.

Although that would kind of explain why him trying to go Super Saiyan, er, I mean, totally distinct not copyrighted at all ultra-powerful mode, might have helped to finally wake it up.

Along with the extreme danger and fear for one's life of course.

I was fairly confident that must play a role as well, based on my current handful of data points.

Further testing would of course be needed to confirm that though. Or disprove it for that matter.

All in all, it was a surprisingly productive morning given how neutered I was at the moment. I had also come up with an interesting idea for something to test later today.

Something that might combo well with transmutation.

Already I could see a glorious half-formed image in my mind of endless possibilities. All I had to do was unlock them.

I really did not know what I was doing. Even forcing myself to slow down and consciously analyze the board instead of going with my instincts, I could still only predict 2 to 4 moves into the future.

It really felt like no matter what I did, I was walking straight into a trap I couldn't see coming.

Which, coincidentally, was not making me more confident about the details of my contract with her. Hopefully her seeming sadistic streak was mostly confined to the Chessboard.

Trying to buy a little extra time before I was forced to make my next move, probably leading to a checkmate in three, I looked up and caught Sona's gaze before suddenly breaking the intense silence between us, "So, I've been doing some research recently. Thanks for the books by the way. They have been… Enlightening. Horrifying too sometimes, but mostly interesting."

Sona raises an eyebrow at my sudden exclamation before cautiously replying, "You're welcome? Although it is not as though I gave them to you for free. You are paying for them after all." Pausing briefly, she then continues on in with an inquisitive lilt to her voice, "Speaking of, perhaps you could now explain exactly what is causing the, disruption, in the flow of your Mana today?"

Right. I had said I could maybe explain more later hadn't I?

Well, I couldn't exactly hide it from her given our current link. Although I also didn't really feel like completely spilling my guts about Arcane just yet…

Perhaps a partial answer then, "You might say that my Mana Channels are a bit strange compared to the average person's. A side effect of my Sacred Gear. When they grow, I can't immediately make use of the increased capacity. I have to partially shut them down for a bit first."

She slightly raised one eyebrow at this, "Channels? Are you implying that you have more than one?"

Ah fuck. Right.

Normally people only have the one, don't they?

"Sorry, just getting used to the terminology still. I sometimes accidentally slip in terms from games and stuff occasionally. Can be a bit confusing. Anyways, on a related note, I understand that Devils don't need to actually use spells? They can just want something to happen, and then use their Mana to do it? That right? Sounds useful."

Thankfully she at least pretended to take the bait, and dropped her previous line of questioning for the moment. I had noticed that she seemed quite enthusiastic about going on lectures about various bits of information whenever given the opportunity.

It was quite nice considering I had plenty of information I was quite enthusiastic to learn about.

Her eyes sparkling with amusement, she proceeded to enter teacher mode, "That is partially correct. We do not require the use of memorized or written spells in order to utilize magic, no. However, it is not so easy as you may be thinking. The downside of having such flexibility, is that it requires great focus and imagination. You must be able to envision exactly what you desire to happen, and keep that image in your mind throughout the process. It is also much less, predictable, than the more structured varieties of magic developed by Human mages. No two spells cast instinctively will ever be exactly the same, or have the exact same effects."

"Of course, it is still of great use, and exceptionally experienced or talented Devils can internalize the process to the degree that it happens almost without thought. It also means that we do not have to spend the days, weeks, months, or even years that it may take to properly calculate out and design an entirely new spell. We can still make use of such spells though, as well as artifacts imbued with magical effects; with certain exceptions. I make a point of being versed in Human casting styles myself. They can be quite useful."

Hmm. Implications there.

Lots of interesting implications.

SCPUs and my Spellcasting Matrix may be a lot more valuable than I realized.

Maybe.

Also, imbued artifacts, huh? Like enchanting? That might be interesting to look into.

Especially given the other things I am tentatively planning to learn in the near future.

On that note, "So, if you wanted to, would you be able to, say, telekinetically move your chess pieces without using a prepared spell? Or maybe some form of wind magic if not telekinesis? It could be interesting to see something like that." I say while carefully timing my next move to coincide with the end of my sentence.

She seemed to take that as a challenge, and with a slight grin, she simply flicked one hand, causing her selected piece to glow with a dull blue light before sliding across the board of its own volition. "Of course."

"Did you get that Alice?"

Affirmative. Further examples would, of course, be beneficial to any potential reproduction.

Nice. Just as planned.

"Neat! I have always been interested in more utility focused varieties of magic. Being able to come up with spells like that on the fly would be pretty useful."

"Perhaps you will be able to obtain the ability yourself. Ruruko has already informed me that you left quite a positive impression on her, with your visit yesterday. If you keep that up, who knows what may happen?"

While the content of her speech and the tone of her voice was quite friendly, the implication still unnerved me slightly.

"I'll keep that in mind."

Not that I was particularly interested in that particular line of possibilities just yet. Other than as an emergency backup and bargaining piece, anyways.

No need to mention that out loud though.

Our game continued for a little longer, her now exclusively using magic to move her pieces, before needing to restart as my predicted defeat occurred.

While resetting the board, I decided to bring up another topic which I was curious about, courtesy of a few things I had read in my new books.

"On another topic, I was reading about Peerages and Evil Pieces when I noticed that it said that sets of them were usually only handed out to "mature" Devils of a certain level of strength, but it never specified exactly what that meant. Also, exactly how old are you really, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Rias and myself are both 18, as could be expected based on us being third years."

Hmm. True enough, I suppose.

However, "As in, 18 Standard Earth Years, or?"

She seemed slightly amused as she answered my question, "Yes. As in 18 Standard Earth Years. As to your first question, Devils mature at roughly the same rate as Humans for our first 20 years, at which point the process of aging begins to slow to a near halt. Both physically, and in some cases mentally; at least in certain respects. Traditionally we were not considered to be full adults until either reaching 100 years of age or proving ourselves worthy in some manner; although that has become less relevant as of late. Especially here on Earth."

Yeah.

I can't imagine too many reincarnated 40-year-olds would be particularly happy with being considered children in the eyes of the law.

"So, Earth is something like a get-away for young Devils who don't wanna deal with the stuffy old laws and traditions in Hell? Related to that, I have noticed, at least based on the two books you gave me on the topic, that Devil society seems to be highly, Medieval European, in some ways. Why is that exactly? For that matter, and this might be a bit skewed due to my limited information, are you guys just really bad at innovation? The book on Peerages in particular made it out like this "Ajuka" fellow was the only decent scientist slash inventor in your whole species."

She seemed to think this over for a moment, pausing in her reset of the board and idly tapping her king piece in place before nodding to herself and coming to a decision.

"That, is not an inaccurate way of looking at things. Generally speaking Devils are significantly less creative when compared to Humans, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that our truly great outliers occur less commonly. When combined with our low population, this has led to a lack of so-called "Great People" appearing in our history. Although, it is important to keep in mind that the common Devil is unlikely to deviate too greatly from the common Human in that respect."

Interesting. I guess that makes sense; amusingly it also reflects the difference in our soul structures to some degree. They had a higher and tighter bell curve, but less chance for true standouts on either end.

"As to the, "Medieval European" part, it is more the other way around; although not entirely so. During that period there was a great deal of influence between the two groups, leading to similar social structures forming. Our longer lives and more gradual rate of change have simply made us far more traditional as a species. That being said, in many ways the resemblance is more superficial than anything. Especially now, with the changes wrought by our current leadership and the many reincarnated Humans. So many young Devils spending on time on Earth to 'get away from the stuffy old laws and traditions' as you put it, has also had an effect."

Smiling, I put forth a suggestion in a teasing voice, "Well, in the interest of further such bucking of traditions, I do insist that we try some other games eventually if we are going to continue playing together. Chess is fine and all, and getting better at it might be helpful if I am going to continue making deals with your species, but I really am curious how you would do at something a little more chaotic. Risk maybe, that's a fun game."

Initially her only response was a slightly sour look, followed by a grudging nod after a few moments.

"Perhaps eventually."

She did not seem overly fond of the idea.

Well, I'm sure she'll come around at some point. It really was no fun to only ever do the same thing over and over again. I was sure that I could convince her to give other games a try at least.

If not, perhaps I could stipulate it in our next contract. That would be amusing.

Really, it was nice. Being able to just chat about interesting topics over a game. Much less stressful than what I had been doing the past few days.

Ideally, things would continue like this for at least a while longer.