Returning Welsh Dragon Hero (High School DxD - FGO Chapter 3)
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
The sound of the digital clock with an anime girl themed alarm was the only sound in Issei Hyoudou's room.
"Was it always so loud?" Issei said, staring at the ceiling.
It was three in the morning, and he was too wide awake to go back to sleep.
"I even went to sleep early today." He frowned; he thought he was starting a good habit again.
Looking at the clock one more time, he saw only a few minutes had passed.
With sigh he got up from his bed, and decided to do something productive. Issei put on a training suit, walked quietly out of his house, and went on a run.
[Boost]
The Sacred Gear announced in a quiet voice, its effects taking place, even without Issei summoning the red gauntlet.
The intention alone was enough, that was the level of mastery Issei had over his Longinus: as an object bonded to his soul, there was no need to physically manifest it to activate its ability. Of course in an actual fight, he would summon the Longinus, so he wasn't mentally focusing on not summoning it.
As Issei took a long route around his hometown, his Sacred Gear acted as a way to add pressure on his body, as further training. It is possible to decrease the time between Boosts using the Longinus in its normal state. It would take effort and stamina, but with skill it could be done.
The Boost wasn't targeted at Issei's own body to empower him, but rather at the immediate environment around him. The cool air became colder, his clothes became heavier, the gravity acting upon him increased, and the density of the air acted as further resistance to his movement.
For the next two hours, Issei pushed his body as he Boosted the environmental effects interacting with him every five minutes.
On his way back, Issei was drenched with sweat, with some of it running down his brow and falling off his face. The sun was beginning to rise up, the sky shining with yellow light across the azure blue. His body felt sore in that pleasant way of making a worthwhile effort.
The soul is reflected upon the body. Issei recalled one of Wavers and Da Vinci's many lessons on Magecraft and metaphysics.
It's been near two weeks now since Issei had returned back to his world. Something he noticed in the past few days though were small changes in his body without him having done anything. Stuff like his palm and fingers starting to develop calluses, becoming more rougher and hard skinned.
Some bright spots on his body almost looked like his old scars. It was actually something the brought a smile to him, when he first saw it. His journey with Chaldea throughout the Grand Order was one that, ended up with him collecting scars from the harsh battles he faced. Since he had a Servant body at the time, he should have returned to a pristine state once healed, but he ended up with marks upon his body after every battle. Da Vinci theorized that his Soul operated a bit differently from their Humans of their world, letting him "grow" even as a Servant. Or it might be that him technically being alive in his home world, and still connected to it via his body, meant he was a "Living Servant" and thus could still "grow" and "change", with scars being a part of that. As well as growth in skill and magical power.
So given all that, Issei thought to might as well train his body and see how much of his powers from when he was a Servant he retained.
And if he can go even further now that he's back in his original body.
As Issei was on his way home, he looked toward the convenience store that started to open. He had some pocket money with him, and wondered if he should get some snacks.
"Hmm, no, there should be snacks at home." He muttered to himself.
Then something else, more important came to mind. He needed to make his home better protected and safe for his parents and Asia.
"There should be some in the supermarket, right? Should be in the barbeque section." He said to himself, and went on his way.
"Hey, son. Didn't see you in the house, or come down from your room." Goro said to Issei, as he found his son in the garden around the house.
Issei was in one of the corners of the garden, next to the intersecting fences, planting something in the ground.
"Yeah, I went to a run this morning." Issei said, smiling at his dad, before getting back to his task.
"Oh? Trying to build up muscles to look good for girls?" Goro joked. "Trying to look good for Asia-chan?" He added with a knowing grin.
"Heh, something like that. Truthfully I woke up really early and couldn't sleep." Issei said back with a laugh. "I was gonna take a shower, but then I remembered this, so I thought take care of this first." Issei said, as he finished digging a small hole with his hand.
Goro kept smiling, but the moment Issei looked away, he frowned. Something was off with his son, but he wasn't sure what it was exactly. Issei was still himself, his perverted goofball of a son, but... there were these little moments, that he seemed different. As if he had aged by years and holds this heavy sadness within him.
Should he confront him or have Miki talk to him? Was this a sensitive topic, or something he could confront head on with his son as a man?
Before he could make a decision, he couldn't help but be curious about what Issei was doing.
"'This' being?" Goro asked, before he saw what Issei took out of his pocket, making his eyes bulge out. "I-I-Ise, where did you get that?"
'That' was a marble sized diamond. About two thirds of a finger wide? Goro guesstimated.
"I bought some charcoal earlier and compressed it into that." Issei casually said.
"...We could make so much money-" Not that the Hyoudou family were pressed for money, but having some away for a rainy day was always good.
"D-Dad, dad, no. Trust me, you don't want to go down that rabbit hole." Issei quickly said back, as he could almost see Yen signs in his father's eyes. "Well, maybe in an emergency or something, but something to depend on." He said.
Issei then summoned his Boosted Gear, and began transferring energy into the compress made diamond.
Goro sighed, "welp, there goes that get-rich-quick scheme." Issei chucked. "So why are you making diamonds and burying them in the backyard?"
"Jewels in general are good for transferring and holding energy." Issei began to explain. Once charged, he placed the diamond in the hole and covered up the hole completely.
"Hmm, hmm," Goro nodded like he understood.
Issei smiled, internally laughing a bit at his dad's reaction, even though Goro didn't see why Issei was doing this yet.
"Which means, they are good for holding up a barrier." Issei said, making Goro stop play acting and raise an eyebrow at his son.
"'A barrier'? ...And why would we need that?" Goro asked calmly. Issei dusted his hands off and walked slowly with his dad to the house.
"Because it never hurts to have some safety. Being the guy with the Boosted Gear is kind of a big deal in the Supernatural side of the world, I want our home to have something like a security system around it. Hey, is grandpa's broken fishing rod still in the attic?" Issei asked at the end.
"Yeah, it should still be there. So this thing is like an alarm system? Will it call the magic police if a Youkai jumped over?" Goro joked, but seeing Issei not laugh back, he frowned. "Should we be worried?"
"Not... really. For the most part." Issei began to explain. "Kuoh Town being under the supervision of the sisters of two of the current Satans, basically makes it a big deal kinda in the Supernatural world, because no one wants to piss off the leaders of the Underworld. While I am strong, people don't know that, so they might think they can try something. This barrier is to stop them from trying." Issei explained.
Issei and Goro reached the attic and began looking around for the fishing rod.
"Huh, and how does burying energy filled diamonds in the garden help with this? Actually why do you want your grandpa's fishing rod?" Goro asked.
"The diamonds to maintain the barrier, and for being rechargeable. Also they are tough so shouldn't break easily, due to well, being diamonds." Issei answered.
"Uh huh," Goro nodded.
"The fishing rod is an anchor because it has a sentimental value to us, so would act as a good focus for the barrier. I could have done the same cornerstones, rather than the diamonds, but then I'd have to rampage around the house looking for stuff we cared about, and I didn't want sacrifice my hentai games or porn magazines."
"Uh huh," Goro turned to Issei with a deadpan look.
"Or your printed harem fictions." Issei gave a dry look back. "Seriously why do you print and book bind them? Just read them on the computer."
"That is a very smart use of limited resources, son. Good job." Goro instantly smiled as he replied. "Same reason why you buy dirty mags rather than watch on the computer then scrub your browser history like a smart person. It just feels nice to hold a book in your hands." He said to the second question.
"Touche." Issei nodded at his father's wisdom.
The two were silent for a moment, then laughed to themselves.
Finally they found the fishing rod, or rather Issei found one half and Goro found the other half.
"Open maw." Issei spoke his personal aria for using magic. He didn't need to do so.
In fact due to having different spiritual organs for using magical energy, he didn't use magic the same way as humans from Chaldea's world. However when it comes to using Magecraft, rather than his own magic system, that he learned with Ddraig and his friend coach him to create and learn, he simply liked the mental reminder of the difference.
It helped him get into that academic headspace for Magecraft, rather than working off of being hot-blooded for his Dragon Magic, as he and Ddraig called it.
In order to use Magecraft, on first needed to connect to the Foundation of it said magic system, that's engraved into the World. What is that? How can something be engraved upon the World?
History. The simple answer is history, stories and myths.
Thank god for Waver simplifying things.
Simply put the history of magical events places a Foundation for that miracle to be revisited over and over through Magecraft, thus reenacting that miracle once more.
Simply things like Reinforcement or Alteration exist in the subconscious of all humans due to what they all think of, when they think of "magic". Something to make greater. Something to make different or change.
It was something that was thankfully present even in Issei's world. Other Magecraft however, he might have to revise by studying on the history of how things happened here, as opposed to Ritsuka's world.
Using a simple Reinforcement, Issei mended the broken fishing rod returning it to a greater whole.
Issei smiled at his work, even though its a simple spell, while Goro looked fascinated.
"Did Ddraig teach you all of this?" Goro had wanted to comment that they could save up on so much money, by just repairing anything that broke, but that question had a much stronger pull in his mind.
"...Something like that." Issei said, giving a slight smile. He then got to work realizing the Bounded Field and placing the conditions within it.
Goro frowned at the non-answer, but stood back for now given how busy his son looked.
"Is this gonna take long?" Goro asked.
"Mmm, ten minutes maybe at most?" Issei said back.
"Alright," Goro nodded.
Issei nodded back, then focused on the fishing rod.
Bounded Field. Magic Barriers. Wards.
Whatever name they had across the world, it was a place designated by a mage to separate the space inside a boundary line from the outside.
Issei wouldn't call himself an expert in this magic field. He couldn't do any of the insane stuff he had seen other Servants pull off, or even dream of something like a Reality Marble.
Although fuck it would be cool to have something like Unlimited Blade Works. Issei thought romanticized wistfulness. He could hear Ddraig snort in the back of his mind.
However due to being technically a Dragon, Issei carried a Thaumaturgical Foundation, one that existed within him regardless of World placement.
Being a Dragon.
It might be annoying, and definitely inflated Ddraig's ego even more, but the proverb was right.
"You should always be yourself. Unless you can be a dragon, then always be a dragon."
[Damn straight.] Ddraig said back in Issei's mind, making the teen chuckle.
The important thing is, there are endless stories related to Dragons, thus multiple Magecraft disciples that could be applied to them.
Dragons were known to steal things of value. To hoard and guard their treasures gained by right of conquest.
In most stories, one can't steal from a dragon without major consequences. One can't take the most valuable treasure unless they first slayed the dragon guarding it.
In this case, Issei was the Dragon, and his treasure was his family and new friend.
"I hereby declare this ground mine by right of blood, its treasures mine by love and safeguarded under my wings as my Dragon's Hoard."
When Issei finished the incantation, the aimless magic energy covering the house, converged and was shaped into the barrier, marking this place as property of a Dragon, and mercy be upon any who trample it lightly.
"Phew," Issei wiped his brow, as he placed the fishing rod in an out of the way place, to be hidden in plain sight in the attic.
Within the barrier his family and friends would be safe, as long as he was alive. He would be instantly alerted should anyone with malicious intent tries to enter his house or get close to his family.
The barrier was vague on some specifics, but had enough power to bull rush most problems.
It would take someone insanely skilled in magic to bypass it, some unique being or a god. Even then he should still get a heads up if something like that happened. Hopefully something like that doesn't happen, since he hadn't went out of his way to really make that much of a splash on the supernatural scene.
"Since when can you speak English that well?" Goro asked curiously. Before Issei answer, Goro continued, thinking out loud with his arms crossed. "Also, I have to say I'm surprised at how good your Italian is, that you can communicate with Asia-chan in almost everything, even though you only met her a little while ago."
"Hey, for the sake of a pretty girl, I can be very studious." Issei chuckled, to which Goro laughed back in agreement and nodded.
"Issei, son." Goro however wasn't deterred by Issei's deflection. "Ever since that date with that Yuuma girl, what was it? Two weeks now? You've been different. It seems like something is weighing you down."
Issei had told his parents that he had been pranked that day. That the girl was just dared by her friends, and they came and made fun of him for thinking she was asking him out for real. Then he spend the entire day either in the cinema or the arcade playing and wasting time till he was tired, and that's why he came home late.
Issei looked away, half-glad that his parents noticed, and half-dreading the long talk he was going to have with them to explain... everything.
"You know you can come to me or your mother if something's bothering you. If something happened, right?" Goro said gently.
"Yeah... yeah, I know that, dad." Issei sighed and nodded, but the grateful smile never left his face.
"It's... a little but crazy, but it would take too long to talk about. Can you and mom just give me some time?" Issei asked.
"Sure," Goro placed a hand on his son's shoulders. "Anything you need. Now... go take a shower, you stink."
"Oi!"