Disclaimer: I do not own Highschool DxD.

Gonna try and post this once or twice a week at the same relative word count.

An impossibility.

That's what he was - An impossible existence floating in an impossible reality. There was no comprehending the sheer scale of his surroundings. Shifting mounds of time and space, opening and yet not opening holes into other realities. An expanse of colors so vast that they barely existed at all. The cacophony of sound rang out, somehow containing all possible notes and tones.

Thus, it was nothing. Thus, it was colorless. Thus, it was silent.

Infinite so as to be meaningless; The void.

Him? He was barely a blip. Another soul that had somehow found its way in and was trapped. There were no questions to ask himself, such as why or how he'd arrived. Nor did he care to find a way out.

He shouldn't exist. The void was designed by nature to consume all that it encompassed. Somehow, he knew that. But neither should the other billions of souls that resided here as well. So what was the point of worrying about it?

And so, he observed the shifting colors in fascination. He peered into other realities for entertainment. He listened to the music to pass the tim-

For moment, the void did something it had never done before. It shook.

That's probably not a good sig-

Abruptly, what could only be described as two suns collided with him, dwarfing his tiny existence and filling him with the feeling of power.

Together, along with his soul, they slowly converged into something greater.

And in a place where existence should be impossible, where time and space shouldn't matter... something happened.

Gold.

His eyes were a vibrant shade of gold, almost glowing in the shade of morning dawn.

Long black hair flowing to his mid-back, thin eyebrows, and an angular jaw made for a distinctly Greek visage. His build as a whole was slim, his rather tall height making him look far less than he weighed.

Normally, he wouldn't bother staring at his reflection for so long, but he found himself stunned at what just occurred.

It took fifteen years for it to happen, but Shinjiro's mind, body, and soul finally synchronized. And that meant he remembered.

Remembered the void, however incomprehensible it was, and his time within it. He remembered the decades spent peering into other worlds for entertainment. More importantly, his mind made a connection.

Several connections, really.

For one, he realized the world he was apart of. A world of monsters, gods, and mortals alike. Of supernatural intricacies lying under the veil of modern society.

Draconic Deus.

And two, he realized with a shudder that he'd encountered this supernatural world already. Multiple times, in fact.

He just couldn't remember until now.

Without the memories of the void, he was functionally a normal citizen. An orphaned citizen, since he shouldn't exist in the first place, but a citizen nonetheless.

Early on in life he realized that strength was everything in this world. Not brute strength, as modern society didn't seem to reward that much anymore, but mental strength. There were multiple ways to go about it, but he decided to go with the easiest path.

Academic strength.

And so, he pushed himself enough to earn a scholarship for the prestigious Kuoh Academy. Today was going to be his first day at that school, coincidentally enough. And with his scholarship he was granted a small stipend for everyday life, paid tuition for the now coed private school, emancipation from the orphanage, and even his own house!

Except... no. That didn't make sense. No scholarship just provided a teenager their own property.

Someone made me forget, didn't they?

More accurately, they'd used some form of hypnotization or magic to make him less skeptical. To suppress his memories of questioning his bizarre circumstances. And they probably suppressed everyone else who was confused as well.

That revelation left a pit in his stomach. The thought of some unknown person meddling with his mind...

Yet, at the same time, he couldn't help a brittle smile from forming on his face.

Whoever was backing him clearly gave this house for a reason. They'd likely put over a dozen cameras in it to watch over him. Trying to figure out their intentions was a fruitless endeavor, however, with how complicated he knew the supernatural world was.

Instead, he'd focus on the positive. The reason why adrenaline almost flowed through him at his mere thoughts.

Because this wasn't just mundane society anymore. And his initial conclusion - that strength meant everything in this world? He couldn't be more right.

And I already have a head start over most humans... Status.

The ability he'd acquired from the void coalesced from two gargantuan fountains of power. Together, they grew and twisted together into an ethereal tree - their roots connecting his mind, body, and soul.

His lifeline, his savior, his beginning and likely the source of his eventual end. It blazed forth at his command, almost eager in its intensity.

And with a simple flex of his will, it provided him a screen only he could see.

-•o•-
Shinjiro
Level: 0
Rank: Mortal - T0
Class: [-]
Progress to next level: 0%

Strength: 1
Dexterity: 2
Toughness: 1
Chi: 3
Mana: 1
Faith: 7
-•o•-

Shinjiro still wasn't sure where this thing had come from since the void was only filled with other aimless souls like himself, but he wasn't complaining. It provided him power and even pushed his soul into a human body.

It damn sure wasn't a Sacred Gear. Even the strongest of them didn't really match up to the sheer potential this ability had.

And since it was linked to both body, mind, and soul, he could literally feel exactly what each function did.

Level was a measure of his gathered essence, the energy that made up most of a being's soul. Essentially, after he accumulated enough of it, he could increase his overall existence.

Of course, the only way to get more of it would be to kill and steal it from others. Their overall soul would be fine, though. He could only take a 'bit off the top' with each kill, so they'd just be set back a bit in natural power with their next reincarnation.

It wasn't like he had to kill people, either. This world was full of monsters.

His Class was a modifier of sorts. Or, perhaps it would be better to call it a path. He couldn't directly invest essence into his stats points, so his class determined which stats would be prioritized upon leveling up.

And with each new Class upgrade, the more he gained from a level up.

Rank, on the other hand, was a limiter of sorts. With each milestone of levels, he'd increase in rank, making it so gaining essence from those of a lower rank impossible.

But while it made gaining essence harder, it made each of his stats worth more than normal. A few strength points could equal the equivalent of a hundred eventually.

Speaking of stats, they were all fairly self explanatory.

Strength was his physique. His physical prowess or lifting strength. How hard he could hit.

Dexterity was a ton of things, actually. His sense of balance, spatial awareness, and reaction time. Alongside his fine motor control and finesse.

But while Dexterity seemed to be much more impactful than Strength, they were both nessecary. Without a healthy balance of the two, he was prone to injury. On the flip side, when the two were in harmony, they made up his speed.

Toughness was also included in the equation, in a fairly obvious way. It was his stamina and his general pain tolerance. Without enough of this stat his strength would be a major detriment.

The next few stats, however, were the real important ones.

Chi, Mana, and Faith all measured the amount of a certain energy he held within his body and soul.

Chi was his vitality, or life force. Mana, of course, was his magical power. And finally Faith was his holy power. Which apparently humans have for some reason.

He had no idea why he had so much Faith. Maybe his soul was a reincarnated hero? After all, the average human had stats ranging from 1 to 3, and the stats were not linear. Having a 4 wasn't just twice as powerful as a 2.

Granted, he didn't know if the stat difference was exponential or logarithmic, but it damn sure wasn't linear. According to his power, having any stat over 9 was beyond human limits.

Normal human limits. Not the abnormal ones of humanity like the higher ups of the church. And definitely not comparable to a human with a sacred gear.

And that was why he was so excited. This ability had the potential to grant him abilities far above what humans could ever hope to attain.

With it, it was possible to disregard his limits. To push beyond what should've been possible and usurp power he wasn't meant to have.

To trespass into the domain of the gods.

Shinjiro stared at the door with blatant confusion.

At first glance, there was nothing particularly wrong with it. It was dilapidated, for sure. The cracks and uneven planks of wood made for a very worn out sight. But that wasn't enough of a reason to garner his confusion.

No, despite the fact that the door was a bit old looking, the bigger problem was that it was there at all.

He hadn't moved into the house that long ago but he was sure of it.

This door... wasn't there the day before.

And now that he thought about it a bit, he'd never even gone in this corner of the house. Perhaps it was another example of him breaking out of being hypnotized? He wasn't sure. The day before he'd simply glazed over this way and moved on to his bedroom.

But today...? Today it really stood out.

So even if he had to go school in a few hours, he was really tempted to explore what this basement was about.

The owner of the house, the one whom was backing him, clearly didn't want him down there. They wouldn't have made him forget about it, otherwise. So while it was tempting, it was also dangerous.

He licked his lips, weighing his options on a mental scale.

On one hand, he could deal with this later. He could simply get ready for, and go to school. Increase his stats, gain a useful class, and come back to this when he felt confident. It wasn't like he was on a timer. The basement would be there even if he waited months.

On the other hand... he could just go down. Maybe there would be some clue to his backer down there. A clue to utilizing the three stats he had no real knowledge on. For humans, magic, chi, and even using holy power required either a teacher or a really high talent.

Without being sure of his own talent, the prospect of gaining some actual power was... enticing, to say the least.

Then again... if his mysterious backer didn't want him in the basement, they wouldn't have put it there in the first place. Hypnotizing others couldn't be a guaranteed thing, could it? Even a simple clue let's the human mind spiral into conclusion after conclusion. Something like this would've eventually raised alarm bells.

...And if he was honest with himself, he was just rationalizing a decision he'd already made. Between the choice of boring old school or a chance at using genuine magic, who could blame him?

So it was no wonder that by the time he'd made his choice, his foot was already on a step going down.

A secret basement, it seemed.

The stairs creaked and groaned under his weight, threatening to fall under him with each step. With one focused step after another, he stepped into the cold stone floor and found...

Not much.

Well, at first glance, at least. For a moment, nothing in particular caught his eye. The boiler and pipes strewn about here and there, going in and out of the walls was commonplace for basements after all.

Yet, there was still a few things of note.

An unconscious bag sat upon a meditation mat, lines and symbols strewn about its leather.

In the back, opposite of the boiler, was a simple wooden table and a chair. On top of the table sat a worn out parchment. As it was in the middle of the wall, the entire room seem to center on it.

But above said table was what really caught his eye. A rack where a bonafide spear sat, simply collecting dust. There was something about it's black spearhead that sucked him in, the darkness akin to the night sky.

Shinjiro blinked, taking all of this in before letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Not knowing what to expect, he was pretty much ready to run the moment something seemed slightly off.

Luckily, there was just a few odd items here and there.

He hummed to himself, considering which item to check out first. He didn't have much time though, since school was starting soon and he wasn't dressed...

Might as well check everything out quickly then, in that case!

Stepping further into the room, he stepped over the meditation mat, picking up the odd looking bag on his way.

Setting the bag on the table and reluctantly choosing not to take the extremely tempting spear off the wall, he settled into the chair and picked up the parchment.

A shiver went down his spine.

It was a concise note... addressed directly to him.

Shinjiro,

If you're reading this, you've finally awakened.

Do not worry, none know that you are my kin.

Sadly, though you inherited my power, your choice to be human has tainted it. You have to train to gain strength, like the weaklings do.

This is annoying, but I have accepted it.

I would have my subordinates train you, but I don't trust them around you. I would train you myself, but I have always been strong. Instead, I left for you a few items to facilitate growth that I forced my subordinates to make or give up.

Soon, we will take back our home.

Become strong. If you are weak, he will kill you when the time comes.

Do not die.

His mind whirled with the implications of the letter. The person backing him was someone related to him- someone who was clearly entrenched in the supernatural, and someone who... hadn't truly abandoned him.

While he didn't care for finding out who his parents were before, it would be a lie to say he didn't long for family relations once. He, too, was once a child after all. Some would say he still is one.

Now, learning that his relatives didn't abandon him, but were secretly watching over him? It made his mind swirl with questions.

Did his family actually care for him, and were simply protecting him from this... man? Who was this man, and why did they think he'd have enough strength to defeat him one day? What 'strength' did he inherit? The system? That power from the void?

Too many questions. And more and more piled on as he read the letter again and again.

Yet, no matter how he thought about it, none of it made sense.

Especially that line about being human. He didn't choose anything, so why did they think so?

The whole thing was giving him a headache, so he set the letter aside.

All in all, he learned at least a few things. One, whoever his family was, they'd been looking over him this whole time. So at least he probably wasn't being watched by a malicious person.

Two, eventually he had to face a great enemy, and he'd need to get stronger to do so. Though, he was already planning to become strong, so the only thing this did was add more fuel to the fire.

And finally, he'd apparently been given an avenue to growth.

Looking over to the bag, he opened it up and reached in, pulling out just a few simple items. It was clear how one of the items could help him grow, but the other two puzzled him.

The first item, the one that would obviously help him grow, was a positively ancient looking book. It was in terrible condition, with pages and almost sticking out of its leather cover. And speaking of the cover, there was a single word on it, but in a language he'd never seen before. The only thing likely keeping it together were the metal caps binding the corners.

That had to be a magical book of some kind, he figured. And since it was so old, that was probably one of the items his family member forced their subordinate to 'give up'.

The second was a... silver rosary? For some reason...? That tied into his Faith stat, sure, but what was he supposed to do with it?

And finally, the last item was a pair of wrist bands and ankle wraps. Both were a simple black with no defining features.

The letter did say their subordinates made a few things, so perhaps it had some special properties. Maybe it was weighted in some fashion like that one world with wish granting dragons. Or perhaps it made him undetectable magic-wise.

He'd figure it out later. No point speculating for now.

While he didn't know what to do with the other two items, he damn sure knew how to open a book.

Or... did he? Trying to pry the book open just resulted in him fruitlessly pulling at the cover. No matter how much effort he put into it, it didn't budge an inch. Maybe it needs key... or something?

There was a small hole on the cover, maybe he had to stick something in?

Rummaging through the bag, searched every inch of it for something to put in, but there was nothing left. He furrowed his brows, staring at the cover in mild frustration.

Tilting his head back and forth, he fiddled with the hole, seeing if his finger would fit in-

"Ow," He muttered, slightly shocked at the sudden sharp pain on his fingertip. Slowly, the pain faded, but his blood flowed out of his finger and into the book's slot.

Blinking, he watched in fascination as the unreadable title shifted it's ink around to fit into a word he understood. One that caused a budding seed of excitement to blossom in his chest.

'MANA' It read, in black bold lettering.

Excitedly, he attempted to open the book once more and... it worked! So the key was just a bit of his blood. Perhaps it was one of those binding rituals he'd seen in fantasy stories.

...He was doing too much speculation today. Not having all the answers was frustrating.

But not annoying to dampen his mood as he read. Because while it wasn't the type of book he was expecting, he realized, it was better than nothing.

Rather than being a magic book, detailing a list of spells or how to utilize magic at all, it was a book all about mana- the energy that fuels magic in the first place. And most importantly, how he could feel for and control his own.

Intrigued and eager to learn how mana worked, he meticulously began to read each and every word, taking nothing for granted. Ignoring the odd buzzing sound he could hear gaining volume in the background, he took to his studying with intensity.

The first step was always the most exciting, in his opinion.

Walking down the sidewalk, Shinjiro's expression was twisted into a grimace.

Without enough time to study the book too closely, he hadn't made much, if any, progress in the realm of utilizing magic.

And to make things worse, ever since he'd left the basement there was an ever-present buzzing that hadn't left him no matter what he did. In fact, it only seemed to grow in intensity as time went on.

It wasn't sound, per se, but something he couldn't quite describe in with physical sensations. A sixth sense, perhaps, that wouldn't stop badgering him without pause.

For a while he suspected that maybe bleeding all over a mysterious, clearly magical, book wasn't a good idea. That he'd been inflicted with some sort of... curse.

But, now that he was on his way to school, it was starting to come back to him.

This sensation wasn't something he was unfamiliar with. It wasn't a burgeoning affliction born from a cursed tome or anything like that. No, he'd felt this sensation a very, very long time ago.

In the void. The gap between worlds.

It was the sound he'd frequently enjoyed listening to. The infinite catalogue of songs which had no end. The raging silence. The silent cacophony.

He... wasn't sure what it was, actually.

Don't get him wrong, he'd definitely felt it before. But he still didn't exactly know where the 'sound' came from, nor did he know what it represented. It was just... something he was accustomed to.

Knowing the broad strokes of how his world functioned on a visceral level didn't account for knowledge of the soul. Trying to put the machinations of the void into words was... like trying to put the ocean into a cup.

Which, ironically, was the exact problem he was currently having.

The void was infinite, and as such, it contained all things within it. In layman's terms, the 'sounds' canceled each other out, resulting in nothing. Reality, though? It was finite.

Which meant, as he walked past the school gates with a small grimace on his face-

He froze, holding back a powerful wince.

-that the sound only increased in intensity, an unyielding cacophony of sounds that overlapped and battled in intensity. The sound's origin was made abundantly clear to him in that moment, as the bustle of people bumped into him and went about their business in droves.

The sound was coming from people. From himself.

Just... wow.

He clenched his fist, forcefully loosening his expression and took one step in front of the other. The piercing nature of the 'sound' meant he was rewarded a heavy migraine for his efforts. Just walking through the double doors of the academy was a feat all on its own.

That didn't matter though. He wasn't focused on school at the moment anymore. With how much effort it took just to get in the door, he needed to find a place to... calm down. Right. Calm down and... get his bearings. Find a way to endure.

Endure.

Endure.

Endure.

With that mantra repeating in his head, he focused on simply walking, getting one foot in front of the other. Keep his head down and ignore those around him. Steps up and steps down, doors open and doors closed. His destination didn't matter, just that he got control of himself.

He wasn't sure how long it took, but eventually he snapped put of his trance and realized he was... on the roof?

Why were the doors to get up here even unlocked...?

He scowled. Now he had find out where the hell the way to the auditorium was all by himself.

A sudden buzz of sound made him wince.

But maybe he could just... stay up here for a few more minutes. The sound was still there, but it was muted so high up.

It didn't actually take too long to find the auditorium. With the buzzing increasing in intensity the closer he got, he could effectively sense where the other students were gathered.

When he thought about it that way, this was technically his first actual supernatural ability. If only it wasn't so painful.

Taking a random seat in the back, he was planning to spend his time studying the Mana guide. None besides himself would be able to read it, after all. And if he was asked to explain what he was doing then he had a decent explanation already.

But, well-

The moment his eyes glanced at the stage he saw...

-He didn't know what the hell he was looking at, if he was honest. Why was school of all things turning out to be genuinely interesting?

Standing at the forefront of the podium was a man with long, bright red hair. And if one ignored his unnaturally good looks, they'd come to realize the man was wearing full royal regalia as if this was some cosplay convention.

And... he was just talking? Like a normal school board member. About how working hard as a student would give them benefits later on in life.

Shinjiro had no words.

Did not a single person think this was odd besides him...?

And now that he was thinking about it, most of the 'sounds' were still muted. There was one above them all, though, as if all the students had lowered their own 'songs' to listen to the man's masterpiece of a symphony. Almost like they were subdue-

Oh.

Oh.

His attention snapped to one of the few male students who seemed not infatuated with the man.

"-Stupid handsome normie, stupid perfect suit. What's he know about hard work? All normies should just go explo-" The boy grumbled to himself, arms crossed.

Turning his attention to the female side of the population pretty much confirmed his suspicions.

...The less said about their dreamy sighs and exaggerated swooning the better.

So he was apparently immune to being hypnotized now. But... why? Why was the man so lazy he couldn't just wear a suit instead of hypnotizing people? And why couldn't he be hypnotized in the first place?

Was it because his soul finally synchronized? Then that would mean his inability to be subdued would be a result of his soul.

And if it was apart of his soul, then... well, it's not like he had a plethora of soul-born abilities. It had to be a side effect of the system.

Which meant...

Skills.

-•o•-
[Innate Abilities]
"The skill which encompasses the advantages available to the user from birth."
-Some techniques may need to be unlocked depending on upbringing-
-•o•-

-•o•-
[Innate Abilities: Voidborn]
"An abnormal soul dwells within an abnormal mind, and an abnormal body."
-Conceals the user's presence. Massively improves the user's resistance to mental attacks. Massively enhances sensitivity to emanations from the soul-
-•o•-

Ah.

As he didn't have any other skills, he wasn't sure if this was weak or strong. It certainly seemed strong at a general level.

And it would actually explain his whole damn day.

Because his soul hadn't been fully synchronized with his body and mind before, he'd been functionally just a normal human. But now that it was, it was seemingly spreading that weirdness to his physical existence.

So that meant he could sense other souls. And sense what they were doing with their soul, even if it wasn't an exact science.

Therefore, the reason he couldn't be hypnotized wasn't really because of the system, but because it was hard to manipulate a mind that functions in an abnormal manner.

Didn't that mean he would be instantly noticed by anyone trying to hypnotize a large group like this?

Or, wait, the skill also concealed his presence. Hopefully that extended to supernatural senses. Being a blank spot is miles better than being a blaring alarm.

He narrowed his eyes at the adult who was still yapping on and on. The man didn't seem to notice him in particular, his eyes simply glazing over all of the students equally. A part of him, an excessively paranoid part, questioned whether the man could be watching him without his bare eyes. That even if he didn't physically see it, the man was still watching him.

Internally, he let out a sigh. Hopefully he'd have more studying time whenever lunch time was. And whoever the man was would just... leave him alone.

School was supposed to be the boring part of his life, not overtly stressful.