Disclaimer: I do not own High School DxD. This is a non-profit-based work.
Note: Originally I was going to write a lemon in this chapter, but decided to postpone it until the next one so I could focus a bit more on his transformation, a bit of magic, and begin the introduction of Sirzechs' peerage.
I don't want to just dump all of them in there at once, because then you'd have to sit through maybe 7000 words describing each one of them and how they behave, where they come from, and Lucius' reactions. Nobody got time for that.
So, the next chapter is gonna have a lemon, don't like that? Don't read it, lmao. Though it's DxD, so I suppose not many are gonna complain, but just in case.
If y'all are interested in joining a community of readers and several talented authors, consider joining AizenTheGoat's Discord server.
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-Chapter 2-
Ascension.
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Lucius' eyes fluttered open as he woke up within the depths of his own mind. A groan escaped his lips as he forced himself into a sitting position, and stared around at his surroundings.
He'd expected to see the green and bright Avalon but was surprised to see the large plains replaced with a sea of red. The usually blue sky was replaced by a deep purple, making the tower in the distance seem ominous compared to how it'd look like a beautiful landmark on a normal day.
The mage moved to stand up as his feet splashed in the crimson liquid that reached all the way over his ankles, yet his clothes weren't getting drenched.
Despite how it felt like each step would drag him further into the water, it didn't take long for him to reach the entrance to the tower.
His red eyes wandered around the place as he noticed something was out of the ordinary. Well, aside from the red water and purple sky. His fingers traced around the doorframe as he stared at a little red chess piece at the top of the stone doorframe. Like it was engraved into the place.
"I guess that means I really am changing because of that chess piece…" He chucked out of amusement as he retrieved his fingers and entered the tower.
As he got to the stairs, he dragged his feet out of the heavy water and ascended each step patiently. He'd been here before, but was still a tad bit nervous about what he'd experience once he reached the top.
If the evil piece had changed him so drastically already, there was a chance he wouldn't like what he was about to see.
With each step echoing throughout the large tower, he kept glancing toward the top that came closer and closer, with an occasional glance through the small windows built into the sides.
He had to admit that it was almost terrifying to look at. From what Merlin had told him, while his gear was called Avalon, it was actually named after a place with that exact name.
It should've been a place of peace and purity, but this seemed more ominous than anything now.
Briefly, he shuddered as he got to the last couple of steps and entered the top part of the tower. His eyes were now able to gaze as far as the horizon allowed him to, but he didn't focus on that for too long before he turned to face what he was seeking.
It was a man that appeared to not be much older than himself. In fact, it was almost like looking into a mirror. He was a tall man with white hair and violet eyes, and he was wearing a cloak as he stood with a staff in his hand.
As he turned around, Lucius stared directly at the as-usual smiling face of his teacher.
"Took you long enough. I was starting to think you got lost," Merlin commented.
Lucius snorted with a small smirk, "Please, we have the same ability. You've watched me since I got here."
The mage smirked, "I did indeed give you quite the powerful ability, didn't I? It's hard to be so good. I don't know how I do it."
With a roll of his eyes, Lucius sighed, "You love to toot your own horn, huh?"
"What's wrong with a bit of self-appreciation?" Merlin asked with the same easy-going smile.
Lucius shrugged, "Too much isn't good either."
At that, Merlin chuckled, "Don't worry, I'm also extraordinarily humble and modest."
"Sure…" Lucius mumbled, "So, I was almost afraid you weren't going to be here anymore. Would suck, having an empty tower in my head, which sounds pretty wrong out of context."
The flower mage walked toward the railing of the tower and gazed out into the horizon, "Worried? About me? I'm flattered, Lucius, truly flattered. I didn't know you cared."
The younger mage raised a brow, "Keep messing with me, and I'll push you off the tower."
"Fine, fine." Merlin smiled.
A sigh left the young man's lips as he crossed his arms over his chest, "This place… It looks very different. Is it going to stay like this?"
Merlin shrugged slowly, yet the smile on his face never faltered, "Who knows? It seems to be an illustration of your body changing as we speak. The water filling the plains is your mana pool growing at an almost alarming rate, and the colors represent the change in your genetic structure."
"That doesn't sound too bad," Lucius commented.
The flower mage nodded, "It's good. Power is always good. As long as you use it with good intentions, you can live with it. Not many people can. At this rate, you'll have more mana than I had at my disposal back in the day." He laughed.
Lucius cringed, "Yeah, but skill will always triumph over raw power. I still have a long way to go."
"Patience, young apprentice."
The young man just grunted, "Do you think I'll lose some of my abilities?"
Merlin raised a curious brow, "Any, in particular, you're worried about?"
"My clairvoyance, incubus skills, stuff like that," Lucius answered truthfully.
The mage smirked at that, "Scared you will not be able to woo women as easily as before?"
Lucius rolled his eyes, "Come on, be serious."
"You shouldn't. Given that incubi at the base are already a type of demonic race, you should not feel any changes there. If anything, they'll likely be stronger. So far, it's only your human genetics." Merlin answered.
He nodded at that, "I've been meaning to ask about that before. Did I ever really have true incubus skills?"
Merlin looked confused, "You've used them before, have you not?"
"I have, but you've said things… Like, incubi not being able to feel human emotions and understand them without at least sapping people's dreams. I've never done that, but I can still feel them." Lucius explained.
The former teacher of King Arthur chuckled, "I think you misunderstand how sacred gears work. In fact, who knows exactly how they work? God designed them in a mysterious way, perhaps a way that only a select few will ever be able to understand. Though, I do have a couple of theories… If any of them are correct, I cannot say."
"What kind of theories?"
Merlin smiled, "As your new friend Sirzechs said, in many views, you could be viewed as a type of reincarnation of myself. Even your appearance is awfully familiar, yet it wasn't always like that, no?"
Lucius hummed, "I guess not."
"You were born a human," Merlin started, "Your sacred gear first took effect when it awakened and became another layer on top of that, and even then, I'm not a parasite. If the sacred gear's function were to erase your soul and replace it with my own, you'd already have been long gone. Instead, we co-exist, inhabiting the same body."
"I suppose that makes sense," Lucius replied.
Merlin grinned, "Think of it like this. We're two souls, a human body is not designed to house that many. So you could say that the potential use of this sacred gear is to make it possible. You could theorize that the way it does that is by making you take on some of my traits and, in turn, have me adopt some of your traits and thus have us become closer to one entity than two separate ones."
Fighting the urge to sigh at the possibility of the two of them being the one and the same, Lucius replied, "So I should not be worried about waking up and suddenly losing a lot of skills I've gotten used to having?"
He shook his head, "Nope, it doesn't seem like it. You also stopped gaining incubi traits a long time ago, so don't worry about becoming an emotionless husk. And even if you did, you used to be human. You could do as I did. Feed upon the dreams of humans, and with your ability to understand and sympathize with them, it'd be the same."
"Just with a bit of extra work." Lucius chuckled.
Merlin just chuckled as he gazed into the horizon, "Seems like the skies are clearing up. You might be able to wake up soon."
Turning his gaze, Lucius stared up at the sky and realized the purple color was slowly fading back into clearer blue, "Took long enough."
"I'm a bit jealous," Merlin smirked, "So many beautiful women at your beck and call. I wonder which one you'll try your luck with?"
"I'm not you…" Lucius retorted.
Merlin waved his finger around, "Do we need to talk about the blacksmith's daughter again? I seem to recall her having some jewelry on her ring finger…"
The young mage grimaced, "Alright, alright, I made a few close calls… Though in my defense, the guy was a complete asshole. He didn't deserve her."
"It's natural. It's in your genes, and what's wrong with a little fun?" Merlin asked.
Lucius deadpanned, "The last time you had fun, you got locked inside this tower."
"Good times."
The younger mage shook his head, "You're crazy."
Merlin didn't give any visible reaction before he let out a breath, "I think we've chatted for long enough for this time. You have a busy day ahead of you." He spoke simply as he walked over and pressed a thumb against his apprentice's forehead, "Good luck."
"Now, hold on a second-" Lucius started, but as soon as he felt the thumb press against his forehead, his vision started to fade.
The last thing he saw was the same annoying grin on the mage's face.
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Within the next couple of seconds, the young mage woke up with a grunt. A small scowl on his face as he inwardly cursed the lineage of the flower mage that just happened to live inside his mind.
He crawled out from under the covers as he swung his feet to the ground, and stood to his feet. A yawn escaped his lips as he rubbed his tired eyes.
At first, he didn't feel much of a difference. Though the more awake he got, the more evident it became. His mana pool felt like it was ten times bigger than before. If that was the actual increase in power he'd gotten through the link to Sirzechs, he didn't know.
Psychically, he also felt stronger as he clenched his fist and gazed at it. Normally, he'd use magic to enhance his strength and speed to match those of supernatural races, but now… Well, the playing field had been evened.
As he remembered he was supposed to meet Sirzechs after he'd woken up, the white-haired mage swung his cloak over his shoulders and reattached his staff to his back, and began to make his way out of his room.
Since he hadn't really unpacked yet, there was no reason to wait. He'd have to remember to ask the man if there were some books on devil magic available for him to learn from.
He knew plenty of human spells as it was, even some from other mythologies, but devil spells had been unreachable for him so far. With the exception of the spells that Merlin could teach him.
Though in reality, Merlin could probably teach him everything he ever needed to know, the flower mage had also made it known that it was impossible to be able to gather that type of information himself. So while he was still more than happy to teach, on occasion, he made it a goal to pursue knowledge on his own.
Getting every spell and chant handed to him on a silver platter was not healthy and also the incorrect way to become a proper mage. If you always were handed the answers, you'd never innovate and create masterpieces that would make a difference in a life-or-death situation.
Which was why he made it a point to do things himself. But if he was going to try and learn new spells, it was best to learn from books instead of going through trial and error as he did before.
Reaching the door, he exited into the hallway. Though he wasn't quite sure which way he should go. There was a slight feeling of anxiety as he began to wander through the castle.
With no idea where he was going, he just followed the paths that seemed to take him down and around, but he couldn't tell if they were taking him closer or farther away from Sirzechs.
After a bit, he finally found the hall that led to the man's study. But when he got there, he couldn't find the man anywhere. His brow furrowed as he opened the door, stepping inside the room.
"Sirzechs? Are you in here?" He called out as he walked deeper inside. There were many bookshelves, and one large desk in the center of the room, but no one was behind it.
A sigh left his lips as he turned to leave the room. The only thing he had to do now was wait outside the office door until the man got back.
As he exited the room, he didn't look where he was going and thus ended up bumping into one of the many servants working inside the large castle. He heard a soft gasp escape the servant's lips and a thud from the floor as he visibly cringed.
"Real smooth."
Lucius inwardly scowled, 'Out of all times to speak up, now?'
The flower snickered, "Come on, I don't keep an eye on all the time… I just happen to always be there when the fun happens."
'Uh huh, like I'd believe that.' Lucius sighed.
Turning his focus back to the present, Lucius looked down at the poor servant he'd just walked into and was visibly surprised once he took in her features.
It was a pale-skinned young woman with waist-length dark purple hair that was tied in low pigtail braids with square bangs hanging over her eyebrows, and blue eyes. Much like Grayfia, she was wearing a maid's uniform, but this one was simple, colored black and white. Aside from that, she was wearing a pair of round glasses.
"This one is cute."
A drop of sweat rolled down the side of his face as he crouched down and extended a hand to her, "Are you alright?"
The maid didn't seem to have any visible reaction as she accepted his bigger hand and his help to pull her back to her feet. Once she regained her footing, she dusted her uniform off and bowed her head down, "My apologies Lord Caelum, I wasn't looking where I was going."
The white-haired mage raised a brow at being called 'lord' and waved his hands, "Just Lucius is fine. And it was my bad. I was caught up in my own thoughts. What's your name?" He asked with a polite smile.
She gave him a blank stare, "Roberta, Lord Lucius."
Visibly, Lucius cringed, "No, no, uhm… My name is Lucius Caelum, alright?"
"So… Lord Lucius Caelum?" She asked with a minor tilt of her head.
The mage scratched the back of his head at that, "Can you… Just call me by my name? No title."
She shook her head, "It'd be disrespectful to both you and your master if someone of my standing were to address you in such a casual manner."
'Probably Grayfia's doing… She seems like the type to 'train' these girls up.' He inwardly chuckled, "Fine, fine. Still, I'm sorry about that, I wasn't looking where I was headed at all."
"Please don't apologize. I'm not worthy." She shook her head and moved down to pick up what she'd dropped from their collision.
The white-haired mage quickly stopped her and crouched down himself, "Let me go get that for you."
"You should not trouble yourself, my Lord. I'll take care of it." She tried again.
Lucius shook his head, "Nope, it was my doing, even if you don't admit it." He chuckled and started to gather up what appeared to be a basket of laundry that'd scattered across the entire floor, though with a few quick moves, he'd gotten it all back into the basket.
Dusting his hands off, he held onto the basket and got back to his feet, "So where are we going?"
"I can take it from here," Roberta said and held her hands out.
Once more, he shook his head with a grin, "I'll carry it. I'm lost anyway, so just show the way. I might end up finding what I'm looking for if we walk together."
The young woman just seemed more confused, but let her hands drop down in defeat as she gestured for him to follow, "You're most kind. It is this way. I was on my way to hang up the laundry in the gardens."
The tip to the outside was uneventful. Lucius did his best to try and initiate some small talk, but the maid seemed to prefer to keep it professional.
Her tone was almost dry with each response, and the only reactions he seemed to get were either confusion or a tad bit of intrigue whenever he behaved in a way that didn't seem fit that of a Lord.
After they got to the outside, it took just a minute before they got to the area where they'd hang up the clothes. White lines of rope stretched between metal pipes in the ground serving as clotheslines to dry the laundry.
"Now, let me-"
Before the woman could finish, the mage had put down the laundry basket and raised his palm over it. A simple elemental spell of wind carried the clothing out of the basket and spread it out across the clotheslines.
He did it as carefully as he could, putting even space between each article of clothing before he lowered his hand with a small smile.
The woman didn't say anything as she moved over to start tidying up the laundry now that it was hung up on the line. He figured she had to do that to make sure it wouldn't wrinkle too much.
"You've been most kind and helpful." She muttered as she moved in between the laundry.
Lucius raised a brow. Despite the praise, the lack of reaction on her face made him doubt that he'd been more helpful and instead more of a nuisance. Perhaps it was because he wasn't sure how it worked in the Underworld yet.
But, he'd never really had complaints whenever he'd tried to help before, so this was a new one. Not that she had complained, but she hadn't seemed thrilled either.
As if he could sense the young man's confusion, Merlin decided to speak up, "Quick, go grab a flower. Girls love those kinds of things. That'll for sure get a reaction. Trust me, my young apprentice."
Figuring it wouldn't hurt to try, Lucius looked around the garden to find something that resembled a flower.
Since the place was a castle, it didn't take him too long before he found a whole flower bed surrounding the majority of one of the towers. Cupping his chin, he wondered which one he should pick, and decided to go for a blue one.
After all, the woman had blue eyes, so perhaps that'd show some thoughtfulness, and maybe manage to brighten her mood up a bit.
So he waited patiently for her to come back around, and as she moved to go grab the empty laundry basket, he slowly pulled his hand forward and handed it to her, the same smile on his face, "Got something for you."
Roberta stood and stared at him for a second before she lifted her hand and wrapped two delicate fingers around the stem, "Thanks." Yet as she said that, he could've sworn not a single muscle moved on her face.
"Abort, abort. It isn't working!" Merlin called out in his head.
The newly reincarnated devil mentally groaned, 'Abort? You said it'd work. How useless are you?'
Merlin snorted, "It should work. She got to be a robot or something."
'Or maybe you're just not as good as you think you are.' Lucius retorted.
At that, the flower mage gasped, "Take that back. I'm great."
Lucius just shook his head at that and returned his focus to the present once more.
"My apologies. Did you not have an appointment with Lord Sirzechs?"
He blinked and turned to face Roberta, "Oh… Right. That was why I was lost. Do you have any idea where he is?"
Roberta nodded, "He is at the moment in the dining hall. You should be able to find him there or in his study."
Since he hadn't found him in the study earlier, Lucius decided it was probably best to try and look for him in the dining hall.
"Thanks. I'll get going then." He replied, but before he left, he got reminded of something. While he had almost everything he needed in his new room, he did lack a desk, "Oh, by the way. Could you meet me in my room later? I need your help with something."
For once, she seemed surprised enough to do a visible reaction, but she just bowed her head down, "Certainly, my Lord."
"Great, see you then." He waved as he began to walk off.
Yet, as he did, he failed to notice the slight quick upward of her upper lip as her tongue subtly flicked across it.
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Lucius skipped through the castle in the direction he could remember the dining hall was, inwardly making up with himself that he should apologize to the maid if he met her later on during the day when she was going to do a favor for him.
Truth be told, he didn't know if he'd accidentally upset her by intruding on her work routine, but if he had, he'd at least man up enough to apologize for it.
As he got to the dining hall, he made a quick knock on the wooden door and took a step backward.
Instead of hearing an 'Enter' as he expected, he was surprised to see two butlers professionally opening the doors for him, and gesturing him inside with a swift move of their hands.
'That's cool…' He chuckled to himself as he entered and extended a brief nod as the door creaked behind him, and was soon shut with an audible click.
The white-haired mage looked around the place for a brief second before spotting Sirzechs standing toward the end of the room, in the middle of a conversation with a man that seemed oddly familiar, but he couldn't tell from where because he had his back turned.
As the crimson-haired Satan noticed him, a smile appeared on his face as he waved him over.
"Ah, you're awake? Please, come join us. There is someone you should meet." The man called out in a friendly manner. And a lot less professional compared to how it'd been earlier.
Perhaps it was a sign that he was indeed part of a 'family' as he'd called it.
A couple of seconds later, the newly reincarnated devil stood beside the two and nodded his head in greeting.
"Sorry about the wait. I got lost…" He said sheepishly.
Sirzechs just chuckled, "No problem, now, I'd like to introduce you to a fellow member of our peerage. My bishop of two pieces."
As Lucius turned his head to face the man, he was surprised by what he saw. Not because it was someone weird, but because he was more than familiar with the face from his time in the Golden Dawn.
It was a skinny man, appearing to be in his late twenties, with sharp eyes and long and slightly wavy hair, which was a mixture of black and blond. Though, the most noticeable feature was his slitted eyes and rather… shallow smile.
"This is-" Sirzechs started, but Lucius managed to finish his sentence with a grin.
"MacGregor Mathers." He chuckled, "I'll be damned." The mage finished as he extended a hand to greet the man.
At that, MacGregor smirked and shook his hand, "The prodigy of the Golden Dawn, I presume? I'd have expected someone with your reputation to be a little older."
Lucius returned the smirk, "I'll take that as a compliment."
"Which you should." The infamous mage responded swiftly.
As this went on, Sirzechs raised an amused brow, "You two already know of each other?"
MacGregor nodded, "I've heard a few birds sing praises about a noticeable young man within the ranks of the Golden Dawn. Given that you said yourself that you recruited someone from there that was extraordinary for our cause, I figured it could be no one else."
"Perceptive as always." Sirzechs commented as he turned to Lucius, "What about you?"
The young mage just scratched the back of his head, "Everyone in the Dawn knows who he is. Co-founder of the entire place, and practically a legend in the magical world. It'll be an honor to work together."
"Perhaps the youngster will even be able to teach us old dogs some new tricks," MacGregor added with that unnerving shallow smile.
Sirzechs deadpanned, "We're not that old…"
"I suppose not, per devil standards at least." MacGregor snickered.
As the two had their short back and forth, Lucius just looked on with clear amusement until he could ask his question, "So what can I do for you? You told me to come and meet you when I woke up."
Clearing his throat, Sirzechs replied, "Ah, yes. Since you've gained quite noticeably large mana reserves, we figured it'd be best to have a bit of a field test before putting you to work. Which is why MacGregor is with us today."
"Got to see what the Dawn teaches these days." The slitted-eyed man added deviously.
Lucius crossed his arms over his chest confidently, "Just name the time and place, and I'll be there."
With a chuckle, Sirzechs replied, "I have duties elsewhere, so that'll be up to MacGregor here."
"No time like the present, unless you're scared? First-day performance issues, I'd understand." The man smirked.
The younger mage snorted, "As if."
A wider smirk found its way to the co-founder of the Golden Dawn's face, "You pass the first test. We've got no room for messing around, and we're all going to be busy people, even you. Come on then, let's see what you're made of."
With no further words needed to be spoken, the two nodded to Sirzechs, who excused himself before they made their way toward the yard.
They pass by the maids, and funnily enough, Roberta as well, as they went to the large fields behind the castle.
MacGregor stopped abruptly as he looked around, probably to see no one would get caught in a potential spell that the younger man could pull off. Despite his sharp tongue, he'd heard a great deal about what he was able to do, even as a mere human.
You didn't get far in the magic world if you didn't stay in touch with it, so during occasional conversations with some current members of the Golden Dawn, the name Lucius Caelum had popped up a time or two.
"Alright, listen up." He started, "Offense, defense, utility. I need to see what you're capable of and see if you can control your new mana pool. Any type of magic you like to specialize in?"
Lucius shrugged, "I'm an all-around fighter, I use illusions at times, but I'm adept enough to perform pretty much anything else they threw at me back at the camps."
MacGregor hummed, "Jacks of all trades usually don't make it far."
"Only if you're a scrub," Lucius added with a snort.
The older mage gave him a calculative look, "You got spine. Let's see if it's worth anything then. The stage is yours when you're ready. Take it from the top. First is the offense."
With just a nod as a reply, Lucius freed the staff from his back and planted it firmly into the ground as he took a deep breath.
He was more than confident enough that he could back up his words, but he was also not stupid. His power had grown more considerably since Sirzechs had reincarnated him into a devil, and he had to keep it together to pass the tests.
As he began to channel his mana, he figured he'd use one of the spells he'd learned to perform crowd control.
The skies would darken above him as black clouds would begin swirling into existence. Roars could be heard from the sky as he twirled the staff around once and pointed it toward a forest in the distance.
Releasing the build-up of the spell, blue lightning bolts began storming down from all over the heavens above, scorching the ground and incinerating the trees to sad lumps of coal to decorate the charred ground beneath.
The magnitude of the lightning was so great the usually purple sky was painted in a crackling blue.
With the velocity of the spell strong enough to quake the ground beneath their feet, cracks formed rapidly in the earth, yet all the damage remained within the confinement of the forest as pillars of smoke began to rise from the woods.
As he lowered his staff to his side, he stared calmly at what had once been a lush green forest, which was now just reduced to a wasteland devoid of any life, as if it'd been a desert in the first place.
When the first performance was over, he could hear mild applause from his right.
"Impressive, but I could tell you had to hold back a lot. It is not necessarily a bad thing, but you need to learn how to administer your flow of mana better, so the technique is performed smoother." MacGregor commented.
Lucius nodded in agreement, "I also didn't want to scare the people at the castle too much, I didn't know how much damage I could perform in theory either."
MacGregor cupped his chin, "You'd be able to do even more damage, but still in the same controlled manner?"
He smirked, "Absolutely."
"How about we create a little pocket dimension, then?" The man offered as he returned the grin.
Lucius raised a brow, "Space magic? Need to teach me some of that."
"I hear you know plenty as it is. Quite impressive spells of your own creation as well." The man scratched his chin, "If you pass the test, I'll show you more than just space magic. As servants of Lucifer, we're meant to be the best."
"Then bring it on." Lucius retorted.
The currently superior mage made a simple snap of his fingers as space distorted around them. As if they were standing inside a bubble that looked identical to their previous surroundings, yet with the exception that there was no one else.
As the barrier blurred into existence, the maids doing their work for the day vanished outside and were truly out of harm's way.
Lucius glanced around just to be on the side, and then turned to MacGregor, "You say a lot about me, as if you really know who I am. I know you said you heard a couple of birds sing praises about me, but how much do you really know?"
The man got intrigued as he circled around the younger mage, "Lucius Caelum, a son of one of the mages at the high table. You learned the basics quickly, almost too quickly. A bit of a loner didn't play too well with others. And when they ran out of lessons to teach you, I hear you taught yourself."
He shrugged, "They were a bit too… Passive, for my taste. We were supposed to be a modern society for magic and development, but everything had to go through a higher power before we could really do anything as an association."
"So you moved into a lighthouse on the other side of the country, and did it yourself." MacGregor finished with hidden amusement.
Lucius gave a brief nod of his head, "Sounds about right."
The co-founder of the Golden Dawn chuckled, "I hope you realize that won't fly any longer. We're part of a team, serving a greater purpose than ourselves, so while you're free to pursue your own goals as promised by our master… You'll have to behave."
"Don't worry. I won't ditch all the group assignments." Lucius sighed with a mild roll of his eyes.
MacGregor seemed satisfied with that as he gathered his hands behind his back, "So why don't we skip ahead to the real reason I created this space? With your last spell, we clearly saw you can control the immense mana pool you're now in possession of. Now, let's see what they make you capable of." The man finished with a smirk.
As he heard that, Lucius tightened his grasp around the staff in his hand, "Hm, so all of this was theatrical just to see how badly I can blow stuff up?"
"Well, maybe don't go all out. If you destroy this pocket dimension, you might end up getting someone on the outside caught in the crossfire. How about we limit it to the castle?" MacGregor suggested.
Lucius switched his gaze to said building, "It's built to resist this type of thing, right?"
A nod was the response he got as the dark-haired man eyed the castle, "From what I've heard, the stones aren't just ordinary brickwork. It's built to resist a lot more than what meets the eye, which is why it's a prime target for a mage of your caliber."
"My caliber?" Lucius asked with mild amusement.
MacGregor grinned, "You talked about space magic and how you'd want to learn as if you didn't know any, but that's not the case, is it?" He paused and looked around at the small space he'd created, "In the traditional way, space magic is often used to make places like this. Commonly used for rating game arenas, but it can be surprisingly rare to find someone skilled enough to use such attributes in an offensive manner."
The apprentice of Merlin raised a brow, "Oh, so you know that much about me? Let me guess, Sirzechs had you do homework on me."
"Our master would not go ahead and bet on a wildcard if he couldn't be sure that it would pay off. I'd say that's enough chit-chat." MacGregor snickered, "Show me Reversal Red."
"For once, you're not the one with all the cards. It's quite fascinating. He read you like an open book." Merlin chuckled.
Lucius' brow twitched, 'He is a co-founder of the Golden Dawn. I should've expected him to know me better than I know myself.' He sighed inwardly.
Merlin just hummed idly, "So, what will you do now?"
'If he wants to see Red that badly, why not put on a show?' The young mage replied.
All he could hear was Merlin snickering in his mind as if it was somehow approved. The mage was boastful, very boastful. In fact, Lucius couldn't remember one training session where Merlin hadn't somehow been his own hype man.
Perhaps this was a way for him to maintain that self-preservation. By having him do something great, he'd probably clap himself on the shoulder for being his teacher.
And he had every right to do so. The young man wouldn't have come this far without the flower mage's help after all.
"So what will it be?"
Broken out of his thoughts, Lucius took a short breath as he raised his left hand and tightened the grip on the staff in the palm of his right hand.
The technique in question would manifest itself as a ball-sized, but extremely bright red orb in the palm of his hand, representing the very essence of convergence and divergence brought into reality.
Bright red flashes of light would swirl into existence as the very properties that made up space came into question. As if the area within the sphere was trying to collapse outward at any given moment, Lucius remained calm to persevere its shape and stability as he pointed it directly toward the wall of the large castle.
As this went on, the calm and collected smirk on MacGregor's face widened more and more until you could almost hear him laugh out loud.
Feeling a bit excited himself, Lucius released the technique as a violent explosion erupted from the palm of his hand, and the light flashed out of control to the point it'd blind anyone looking directly at it.
With the ground tearing up in the violent shockwave, dirt and debris would form a thick cloud that travelled at high speeds across the ground as the very velocity of the technique neared the castle.
In the cloud of dirt and debris, the castle walls crumbled as the earth shook like an earthquake was passing below their feet. The veil just cleared in time for the two of them to see a huge and almost perfectly circular hole in the magnificent structure before the bricks began collapsing into a pile on the ground.
Only a few of the outer towers managed to stay intact, as the rest of the foundation and floors collapsed in on themselves.
What'd once been a great castle was now a ruin.
Lucius chuckled nervously as a drop of sweat rolled down the side of his face, "I thought it was supposed to withstand something like that?"
"As I said, space magic in an offensive manner like this is quite rare… And normally, no one would get close enough to fire something like that against it, so a mix of happenstance and skill caused that havoc you just created." MacGregor summarized.
He just nodded, "So, defense next?"
"How about we save that one for a field test?" MacGregor suggested.
Lucius gave him a blank stare, "So all of this was just to see if I could blow stuff up enough to satisfy you? Real creative."
The older mage just raised a brow, "As I said before, I did my research. I'm more than aware of your ability to use protective spells and various utilities. This was all mostly just a question of how good you were at controlling your power. And, perhaps, a bit of curiosity from my side."
He sighed, "Did I at least pass your little test?"
"For now," MacGregor started, "We both know you'd be able to unleash even more destruction if you let loose with the power you've been gifted by our master, but this space hardly qualifies as sufficient for that. It'd take a tad bit more preparation before we go ahead and do a show like that."
Lucius just nodded dumbly, as he watched the space disappear. As if the castle had never been destroyed, it stood perfectly in front of them. The maids and servants working were completely clueless about what'd transpired.
The young man just shook his head as he dusted himself off from the dirt that'd tainted his clothes after his little display of strength, and turned to MacGregor.
"So what's next?"
With a shrug of his shoulders, MacGregor began to walk ahead of him, "I have matters to attend to, books to read, and spells to analyze. For the time being, I have no further orders. I suggest you use this time wisely as well."
As he heard that, Lucius knew exactly what he was going to do. Which was absolutely nothing.
He knew that it was just a matter of time before Sirzechs would deem him fit for duty, and he'd have a lot of tasks to take care of. The man had promised work that'd make use of his skills, and he figured, since the man knew his background, that he'd be out of town quite often.
Or, well, out of the Underworld.
As MacGregor disappeared from view, Lucius strapped the staff to his back and began to make his way inside the castle again, and toward his room.
Not much happened on the way, as he just greeted the various servants that crossed his path. Much like Roberta, they were respectful and seemed like they didn't want to take up too much of his time.
At least, that was the vibe he got from them.
Not that he'd mind having a chat. He was practically alone now. Sirzechs and MacGregor were busy, so he'd have to find something to pass the time.
And he didn't want to pursue Grayfia for idle chit-chat. The woman terrified him too much for that. They'd barely spoken, but he felt it was clear that she was skeptical of him. The way she'd eyed him like he was a question that should be answered was a tad bit unsettling.
But he just assumed that was her role as Queen, plus it was the man's wife. She was bound to make sure he wasn't a troublemaker that'd potentially be a threat.
He shook his head as he entered his room and shut the door behind him, and with a swipe of his hand, he removed both his cloak and staff out of the way as his face dove straight into one of the couches.
Despite how much of the furniture looked like antiques, it was surprisingly comfortable.
With a quick glance outside, he felt like it was still early in the afternoon. He truly couldn't tell. The sky was purple, after all… All he had to base his opinion on was how dark he deemed the sky to be.
For all he knew, it could be morning as well.
Didn't change the fact he was starting to feel tired, though. Even after sleeping off the after-effects of the transformation into a devil, he could still feel a bit of fatigue.
And thus, he decided it was time for a nap.
MacGregor had told him to use the time wisely, and this was probably not what he meant. Oh well, what he didn't know couldn't hurt him.
改行
And that's yet again, another wrap. Hope you liked it, I'm having a blast writing this now that I'm back. Haven't even released the first chapter yet because I didn't want it to be just another story where I have motivation enough for one chapter, and then never touch it again.
Let me know what you thought, I hope I did a decent enough job of describing how he thinks and what the sacred gear has done for him in terms of ability so far. Of course, I didn't want to reveal everything at once, but just enough to keep it coming. Safe to say y'all probably know where the inspiration for some of his spells comes from, lmao.
Also just FYI, if you were wondering about the maid, it's Roberta from Black Lagoon. Though we've adjusted some story, so it makes her fit.
Anyhow, until next time.