The Guild of Gamers: The Shopkeeper
Chapter 7: Holy Swords Lost and The Path to Balance Found
A/N: So my pat...reon is live! The site doesn't like that word so I have to space it out. The name for the link is my pen name and the name for my page is Omega's Fanfiction Emporium. Feel free to give me a little love over there. If nothing else free members can view my lemons from my works on that site. Disregarding all of that! Let's get right on with it!
Disclaimer: I only own my dreams. The Guild of Gamers is a concept created by TheDarkWolfShiro and as many of you keep pointing out I did take many parts of the start from Warranty Void if Soul is Broken. Go check out his stuff and that story if you haven't as they make great works and makes stories come to life.
{System speech}
[System screens]
"Active Thoughts/Telepathic communication"
"Speech"
"SCREAMING AND OTHER LOUD SCHIST."
"ROB's and other higher plane beings speaking."
POV: Alex Asími
It has been about a week since the incident that turned me into a demon and I still find myself having issues. My eyes seem unable to stray from Runeas's chest or backside and while she might laugh it off it is bothering me rather heavily. My job at the bakery is getting difficult to maintain as well. Getting my evil pieces had been interesting as when I had touched them they had all mutated one by one. I would have gone to change Valerie Tepes and steal her away from the vampire clans but with as fragile as my restraint is right now I genuinely don't trust myself not to molest her in some way shape or form.
Thankfully SOME good came out of the whole situation. Sirzechs gave my house the whole treatment that Issei's home received with turning it into a mansion overnight. I had to learn my way around the place all over again. I now have enough rooms I could house my whole peerage here even if I got one person per piece and still have tons of rooms left over. Even better the place has a training room since Le Fay called me to tell me her brother was going to come over to train me in the art of the pointy stick.
My thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. Hopefully this is her brother as this was the third time in the last hour I had answered the door only for it to be some curious idiot from outside the city wondering who would live in a massive mansion in the middle of the city. I opened the door to find myself staring at someone who could be my half brother with my new looks. Blonde hair, Blue eyes, and a relaxed yet formal disposition stare back at me.
"I assume you're Le Fay's brother?" I ask noticing the sword on his back that makes something deep inside twist and lurch as a greater part of me desires to run away from it screaming. Thankfully after having dealt with my demonic instincts messing with me as much as they have been (Which has not been helped by the face Runeas sleeps naked and has no sense of shame or boundaries) I was able to avoid running away.
"Is your name Alex Asími?" He asked after he stared at me for a moment.
"Actually it is Alex Asími Mammon now, but nevermind that come on in!" I said with an excited grin as I stepped aside to let him inside.
"Ah well then congrats on your marriage?" He said/asked as he stepped inside which caused me to laugh.
"Oh I didn't get married. Turns out when people called me a bastard they were right." I said with a smirk of amusement. "If you follow me to the training room we can get started on teaching me how not to stab myself with the pointy bit." I said as I turned and started leading the way to the training room.
He chuckled behind me but still seemed rather on guard. I led the way through the twisting halls of my new home and eventually we came across a fairly traditional Japanese dojo. One filled with wooden and metal versions of a rather large number and types of weapons. I walked over to one of the racks with wooden swords and picked out a bastard sword with an eager grin. Arthur walked over and grabbed a sword of similar make to the one on his back.
"Okay, now take a stance for me. I need to see what I am working with." He said as he looked at me expectantly. In response I took a stance with my feet spread apart and the sword held with both hands in front of me. He seemed to grimace a bit. "Okay good news is I won't have to undo many mistakes in your fighting style as clearly you do not have one." He said as he walked over and started adjusting little things about my stance. He kicked my feet a bit more inward, pushed on my knees slightly to force them to bend a bit, and started to move how my hands were holding my sword. He moved my thumb of my top hand so it rested nearly in line with the edge of the blade and moved my other hand down further to nearer the pommel. Then from there he started showing me a few basic forms and swings. After each one forcing me to go back into my stance and correcting any problems with it. This went on for over three hours and the entire time Arthur never so much as broke a sweat.
I could tell that the only reason I wasn't sweating myself was due to my new demonic nature.
"Alright Alex time for a short break. After that we can have a short sparring match so you can see where you stand." He said as he paused to pull his glasses off to clean them.
"Okay. Would you like some tea or something while we wait? I have some still from when I last saw Le Fay." I asked still panting from the effort of swinging around a large hunk of wood for hours on end when I was unused to such effort.
"That would be kind of you." He said stiffly as I reached through a portal into the kitchen to start some tea brewing.
"Alright that should be done fairly soon." I said rather awkwardly as I started to fidget. "Do you... Do you mind if I release the glamor on my appearance when we spar? I am still not used to the sensation of wearing one all the time and the magic rather... itches."
"I do not mind what you do so long as it will not harm me or other innocents. We are in your home after all." He said rather politely as he put his glasses back on.
In response I ended the glamor with a sigh of relief as the itchiness fades and my demonic features once more surfaced. For a moment Arthur seemed to tense before seemingly forcing himself to relax.
"I'm sorry if my appearance bothers you... I'm not really used to it either to be honest." I said with a sigh.
"It's fine. I may only be teaching you how to wield a sword because of the deal you made with my sister. But that does not mean that I do not like you. So far for a devil you have been properly polite. It just means I must remind myself that you have only known you are a devil for a short time and up until that point you believed yourself to be human." He said as something in his features seems to have softened as he spoke of my predicament. By this time the tea was done brewing and we sat for a short time sipping our tea as I groused to him about all the things Runeas has been doing. In turn he shared a few stories from when Le Fay was younger that I filed back in my head to tease her with later. By the time we had finished our tea he seemed to have relaxed a good deal. A soft smile had glued itself to his lips when he started talking about the antics his younger sister would get up to.
That smile didn't fade even when he removed the overcoat on his suit and set his sword down on a nearby bench. He proceeded to roll up his sleeves before he picked up his practice sword and got into a stance.
"Well? Come at me." He said with a confident smirk.
In response I charged him and swung my practice sword at his head. In response he easily side stepped and proceeded to smack my blade. "Decent! Aim for center mass though not my head. Most opponents will just dodge such a heavily telegraphed attack!" He said as he swung at me in return to demonstrate exactly what he was talking about. The swing connected heavily with my side and caused me to wince with a hiss. I tried a swipe at his side in response as I thought I saw an opening. Unfortunately I was wrong as in response he batted my blade aside before kicking me in the hip. "Don't just use your sword to attack! Your whole body is a weapon. Use it!" He said calmly. This went on for a further three hours and by the end I was one big bruise covered in sweat. Arthur seemed absolutely fine which part of me wanted to call bullshit on. He told me to get into my stance at the end and I did so. This time with only a few things he had to correct thankfully.
We walked to the weapon racks to put back the rather battered looking practice swords. And it was at this point he spoke up.
"You did well. For someone who never held a blade before today you kept up decently and you didn't once complain. Keep up your practice in your own time and the next time I come by you should be ready for sparing with some actual steel practice weapons rather than this wooden ones." He said with a proud smirk on his face.
"Great. Oh you left your stuff over on the bench let me get it for you!" I said as I rushed over to get his stuff. I picked up his vest as he shouted at me.
"WAIT STOP!" He managed to get out. But then my hand came in contact with the hilt of his sword.
For a moment everything seemed to freeze as that something inside me resonated and vibrated in turn with the sword in my hand. Then the sword in my hands vibrated apart and the fragmented dust started to drift into my body and everything felt like it was burning.
I came too ten minutes later with Arthur looking at me with a mix of confusion and suspicion as I got up from the floor. It seemed like I had passed out.
"You should be dead... Just picking up that sword should have severely burned you but you... absorbed it." He said as he looked at me with a troubled expression.
"Arthur I am so sorry! I had no idea that would happen to your sword!" I said with a look of panic. After all if he decided I was an enemy for doing whatever it is I did to his sword; There was very little I could do to stop him from killing me. He stared at me for several minutes and as time ticked on I grew more and more nervous. Finally he spoke.
"I believe you. Now however I need a new sword. This will postpone our next training session by a month or two." He said before gathering his overcoat and putting it back on. He left with a troubled expression on his face soon after.
I shut the door behind him and started to go through the screens that had popped up after the incident.
[Relic Resonance has occurred. Absorbing of corresponding relic has begun... Absorption of relic (Excalibur "Ruler") completed. Assimilating relic will take some time. Basic level of abilities of relic (Excalibur "Ruler") unlocked!]
[Ability/Skill unlocked:
True Ruler (Mythic): You have control over all things. Be they organic or inorganic you can command it all. (WARNING! Due to both the "Will of God" and the relic not being fully assimilated skill is reduced heavily! You have the ability to command any animal and should "Will of God" agree you have the ability to command humanoid creatures)
Trait unlocked:
"Will of God" (Divine): A small fragment of the One True God of the Abrahamic faith resides within you. This fragment is a miniscule speck of a fraction of what it once was. God is Watching you.]
{Quest Updated:
[Quest: A Demon will have his Due. OR Striking a Balance.
Objective: Bring balance back to your mind body and soul by absorbing the fragments of Excalibur: 1/7
Reward: Perk Perfect Balance, Powers of all the Fragments, Reputation boosts with "Will of God" and the heavenly Faction (Other bonuses to be determined.)]
[Resistance: Holy
25% Resistance to Holy Element. 0/250]
[Resistance: Light
25% Resistance to Holy Element. 0/250]
For a moment I stared in disbelief before running my fingers through my hair only to pause again as I noticed the silver tufts in my hair had grown in number. Honestly this whole situation was SO fucked, but it was two things that stood out to me most out of all this. The first was that my resistances had a massive boost and I would gain powers from absorbing the fragments of Excalibur. The second and most pressing was "Will of God". This not only meant that now I had a hitch hiker in the form of a fragment of God but I was also now being watched and limited by it. While I knew I was an OKAY person I still knew I would be doing things God would NOT approve of. Not only was I now a demon with Greed and Lust being prime facets of who I am but I wasn't exactly a good person before that. I just hope that this doesn't mean I am gonna get Smote for looking at Gabriel's tits. From what I remember she had some of the largest in this world and based on my primary sins I wouldn't be able to stop from looking.
POV: Arthur Pendragon
As I walked away from the home of the strange devil my thoughts were in turmoil. On one hand my dear sister had asked for my help teaching the man how "Not to stick himself with the pointy end." in his words. Not only that but it aligned with an "order" that Khaos Brigade had received from both the Old Satan Faction of the devils but also from Ophis of all entities. Their orders had been simply to sway him to their side. It was clear why the Old Satan Faction wanted him on their side. After all even for a bastard child of a devil and a human; He turned into a full demon alike to those who ruled before when he became a full devil. And that was cause enough for them. Who knows why Ophis wanted him on their side.
On the other hand not only did I rather dislike the idea of helping a potential enemy but my sister seemed rather star-struck with the young devil the last time they talked. On top of that there was what happened to my sword. Excalibur Ruler was a powerful sword and the idea that it would fight against a demon holding it was expected. When the young devil had grabbed onto the blade I had been sure at best it would have given him rather severe burns and at worse his hand would have been turned to ash. Instead something unexpected had occurred. Not only had the devil seemingly been unharmed but the sword had proceeded to seemingly shake itself apart before fusing with him! The first thing would be odd on it's own, but the second and the third were downright impossible. The first could be explained by him having the natural ability to wield holy swords. One which overpowered his devil heritage.
The second and third would require him being even further attuned to holy swords and Excalibur in particular. And while that is possible the only ones I knew of who were that attuned to that sword were my own family. It appeared I needed to sneak in and take a look at the family records to see if there was anyone cast out who took up the name "Asími" Hopefully I would find answers there.
A/N: Well here is the next chapter everyone. Sorry it took so long but hopefully the wait was worth it. Please enjoy reading!