After a good night of sleep I stretched when I woke up. Luckily it is the weekend so I can sleep until a bit later thanks to not having to deal with school.
Still, I probably will need to deal with the devils coming to visit soon enough. Not only did my gear awaken, I should also be the number one suspect regarding what happened with the fallen.
Not getting out of bed just yet I decide to check my skill list from the adventurer card. A final push for my strength before I go take care of things with the devils and plan things out regarding MHA world.
Will need to think well about what I can offer, to who, and what I will want as payment. There are many options, after all, but I must think carefully about it.
Looking at my card I observed my stats and I saw that I had 700 skill points. No, now it was 705 skill points.
I guess those two fallen were doing their job well. Anyway, seeing the points I checked all my options for skills and there were quite a few.
I suppose these are the basic 'hero' package as well as some abilities and skills I saw as well as those that the two fallen and Asia had seen before. Nodding to myself I peruse the options and buy the skills I think will work best.
Skill Obtained: 'Elementary Swordsmanship' (-12 points);
Skill Obtained: 'Intermediary Swordsmanship' (-36 points);
Skill Obtained: 'Magic resistance (low)' (-24 points);
Skill Obtained: 'Magic resistance (Intermediary)' (-96 points);
Skill Obtained: 'Charisma' (-144 points);
Skill Obtained: 'Exorcism' (-60 points);
Skill Obtained: 'Mana Enlargement (Low)' (-48 points);
Skill Obtained: 'Mana Enlargement (medium)' (-120 points);
Skill Obtained: 'Elementary Light Magic' (-12 points);
Skill Obtained: 'Elementary White Magic' (-12 points);
Skill Obtained: 'Intermediary Light Magic' (-96 points);
Skill Obtained: 'Guidance' (inherent)
Looking at all these skills I nod to myself, this is certainly an interesting assortment. As the skills were selected I felt my body and energy increase and while my physique did not improve I felt how my previously miniscule magic reserves grew considerably.
I also have a lot of knowledge now of Exorcism as well as Light magic. Pretty sure I could make for a decent exorcist right now, if I was not intending to become a devil soon enough.
Honestly, I almost selected Fallen and Pure Angel magic, but I figure that those can wait for later if I ever want to take them.
Anyway, the best skill was without question the inherent skill 'Guidance'. It centers around guiding and leading others, it not only improves the speed of training of those working with me towards a goal by at least 60% it also makes the cooperation between the members of the 'heroes party' improve as well as facilitate the unlocking of secret talents and such.
According to the description, it is due to this skill that the 'hero party' usually can keep up with the hero even if they normally would not be able to do so. In other words-
"I got a cheat!" I said happily, getting out of bed knowing I did the right call in selecting the Hero class. Sure, there were other broken classes amongst those I could select, but the hero class has many advantages. The only one that can compare would be the Heavenly Dragon class, but considering I have a sacred gear related to them it should be possible for me to remake my body to be like that of a humanoid Albion.
Not that I will do it now. I will improve myself first before that.
Still, I am satisfied for this moment. Let's go check how Isane is doing as well as make sure that Asia is doing alright. The poor girl needs some help, she must be feeling lonely and such right now.
Getting outside my room I start searching for the two girls. Surprisingly, Isane was still sleeping so I slowly closed the door to let her relax some more. Considering the time and what happened yesterday I would think she'd be awake and nervous by now, perhaps Asia's inherent and kinda BS dragon taming ability helped calm Isane down and let her relax enough to sleep this long?
Well, it can be that or a myriad of other reasons, I don't really care which one right now. Instead I just let her rest a bit more. Yesterday was stressful enough for her, she needs to rest and later I will talk with her about what happened and help her with whatever it is she decides to do next.
Moving along I keep on searching until I find where Asia is.
She is in the kitchen, with both uncle and aunt staring at her in doubt over just what to do.
Shit, I forgot she can't speak Japanese. I am just lucky that Uncle and Aunt are far too kind to throw out a girl that looks as innocent as Asia.
"Ace-kun, it is good to see you up so early." Gorou Hyoudou, my uncle, said with a smile. "We were worried about when you would wake up. Did you get a late night job yesterday?"
"Something like that. It was pretty sudden but the payment was good. I will transfer over some of it for you guys to help with the bills." I told the two.
"Good, it is great to see that my nephew is so dedicated and hard-working." Gorou said since he quite liked that I would do stuff like that.
In truth, something like this was rather commonplace in the house. The two quite liked that I was hard working and contributed to the house
"So, could you introduce us to your friend over here? We are not sure who she is, but considering how she is a foreigner and everything we thought she might be related to a job you took." Uncle says and I wince a bit inside.
… I guess I forgot to give her the language skill so she could talk in Japanese. Damn, I miss it there.
I know I could just spout something to make them accept her, but knowing that she can't speak Japanese is a problem. Feeling bad about what I was doing I concentrated a bit as I used one of the elementary level White Magics on the two.
"[Sleep]." As I chant this both uncle and aunt fall down to sleep on the table.
This will only last for about ten minutes at most and this magic only worked because the two have no magic resistance to speak off. Seeing they fell asleep I saw Asia move to them.
"Are you alright? Here, let me heal you and-"
"Asia, stop." I told her who froze and looked at me with a frightened expression.
Seeing that I try to show her a reassuring smile as I use my essence to do one of the things I despise to do the most in this world.
I 'buy' the memories my uncle and aunt had of Asia before discarding them. I hate doing this since it is mind control and I only consider it a good alternative when it is done against an enemy or when it is something truly necessary.
Better I do something to this degree than asking someone of the supernatural side to interfere. They'd probably not care how much or what exactly has changed, which is unacceptable.
I know I can do much if I use this aspect of my essence more freely and mercilessly, it is not even that hard to 'cheat' in such a way to get whatever it is I so desire, but I refuse to do it. A personal rule of mine to make sure I never become a monster that I despise.
Completing what I had to do for Asia and my family's well being (their questioning about how Asia learned to speak Japanese would probably not end up well for anyone) I saw the girl gathering her courage before softly questioning.
"Uhm, sorry but what is going on? I don't quite remember what happened last night after..."
"I understand. You see, last night you died." I told her bluntly who widened her eyes as she questioned.
"Did, did I get resurrected by a d-d-devil? Am I one now?"
"No, nothing of the sort." I told her. "I mean, I do intend to turn into one for personal reasons, but I am not a devil now and neither are you. What I am, is one hell of a merchant and I can do any sort of trade I desire. It is an ability of mine, I can trade anything with anyone, but it must be something they agree to." Or I pay an exorbitant higher price for, which normally is just plain not worth it. "Before you fully died I proposed a deal to you. You become mine, and I would save your life, guarantee you can find friends and live a much better and more fulfilling life than what you experienced until now. Any deal I make, I ensure will happen. I will arrange so you can join school here and you will live here too, you will have friends and be safe."
"But, but I died. How can you bring me back to life like that?" She questioned.
"Oh, I gave you some of my life span and vitality, transferring it until you were healed back up." I told her easily and… why is she suddenly crying.
Shit. Shit, shit, shit, my uncle and aunt will be waking up soon. If the first thing they see is some foreign girl they 'have not met yet' suddenly crying like that, it will not go well.
Thinking fast, I take the girl in my arms and dash using my newly knight enhanced speed to get to Isane's room and let her there.
"Stay here for now. I will talk with my uncle and aunt about your situation and they will understand it. Just you wait, they will probably all but adopt you, they are kind like that." I told her with a smile before I moved to my uncle and aunt.
Asia was still sniffing and making some noise that will probably wake up Isane. Before I leave I buy with my skill points the Language skill. It cost just a few points, so I transferred it to Asia so now she can talk with others too.
Satisfied I went back down to talk with my uncle and aunt.
The two woke back up and I spoke up.
"Well, I guess everyone was more tired than I expected. I know I was busy last night with a job, but what did you two do last night to be so tired now?" I questioned, moving my eyebrows suggestively making Uncle cough on his hand with a slightly smug expression and aunt to blush a bit before she slapped him in the back.
"See? We need better sound isolation in the room." She said to him who looked apologetic as he tried to calm her down, but shooting me a smirk at which I nodded.
Good for them, they may have already been married for over 15 years but they are still going at it in bed. Uncle really is a lucky guy, aunt Miki is hot for a woman her age.
Anyway, seeing as they completely lost what they were thinking of before, I continued.
"Speaking of which, I had some trouble at work last night."
"Oh, what happened? Are you okay?" Aunt said, turning her attention in my direction.
I nodded my head and explained.
"Last night I was called to try and help with the old church's renovations. The nun that came over was excommunicated because of some problems with her higher ups, but she knew of Kuoh thanks to Irina and her family and she still wanted to serve God so she decided to come over and help with opening the abandoned church here." I begin, making the two widen their eyes and say.
"Oh no, is that nun fine? If she loved the church so much to still try to spread it even after being excommunicated, she must have been devastated by being excommunicated." Uncle said with aunt nodding her head.
See? They are far too nice for their own good.
"She was very hurt, but she was barely hanging on. The problem is that the church is in no condition to live in right now. The whole place is far too broken and too unsafe to live in, I could not let her sleep there considering the whole place could break down and collapse with her inside. I have no idea how to even make it safe again, but the last of her finances were used to come here. She is a client and a good person, I could not let her go and sleep under the bridge or worse when we could help her." I will explain to the two. After I finished, uncle and aunt looked at one another and I saw it.
I am still shocked how older couples seem to be able to have full conversations just by looking at one another. It is quite amazing really.
"Ace-kun, let us meet her. If you want her to live here for a time we should at least know her ourselves to see if she really is as nice as you say she is." Aunt says with uncle nodding.
"Exactly. Adding a new person would be extra expenses and we will need to think carefully about it." Uncle mentions and I nod my head.
"That is fair, but I was the one who brought her over. Let me cover for her expenses, I will be getting a new job soon that will pay me more than enough for that." I tell them and they look slightly troubled by my words.
I guess it makes sense. They usually do not ask what jobs I take, but a teenager getting a job paying enough to sustain someone else is quite a suspicious thing.
Regardless, they do not question further and we soon were going to Isane's room and-
"Asia-chan, don't worry. We will make sure to let you live a good life." uncle said confidently after meeting and talking with Asia for just a few moments.
"You don't need to be sad any longer, you can think of me as your mother from now on." Miki said with uncle nodding enthusiastically.
The blond nun was still shocked with big tears falling down her face as she heard them saying this to her.
Well, fair. She has grown up in a church as an orphan, before she could have friends she became little more than a tool in the pedestal for the church, unable to make any friends and instead being idolized by her powers. She lived basically alone all this time, and when she saved a devil in need of help with the power (dead) God bestowed on her, she was kicked out and called a witch and such.
Honestly, I sometimes wonder how the church can disgust me more than most devils do since the devils are at least honest about being sinful by nature while the church is just, ugh.
I just smile though, seeing how my family was reacting to Asia even as I see Isane on the side with a troubled expression. Indicating with a nod of my head for her to come with me we were soon in my room and-
"Isane, put your clothes back on." I told her as the girl had started taking off her blouse.
Seriously, how horny is she that the first thing she does when she comes into my room is that?
"Sorry, reflex." She says sheepishly and I shake my head.
Sitting down on my bed I indicate for her to sit and she sits down with a confused expression.
"You are giving me mixed signals here, you know?" She says and I sigh.
"Please, just sit down a bit. We need to talk." I tell her who, with an uncomfortable expression, sits down.
I look at her and sigh.
"Sorry." I tell the girl who turns her head in my direction. "I said I'd do my best to protect you and you still went through what happened yesterday and-"
"No, no, it is my fault. I saw how strong you are yesterday and I am, well, weak. If I were only half as strong as you, I would not have troubled you and-"
"And nothing. It was my responsibility to take care of you." I told her. "You are still weak right now, you have not yet awakened your sacred gear and, even if you had awakened it, you are still just a civilian. I had the skills but was not there when you needed me, I am sorry."
The girl scratched her head a bit, then more, and more until she snapped and said.
"Ah, I hate this. Stop it, stop it now!" She says as she looks at me intensely and says. "Stop thinking I want you to protect me all the time or cover up for my mistakes. I do them all the time, I mostly just do them because I like the attention you give me, but stop it. I was the one who got beaten up and defeated, and I should be the one that needs to fix things. So, stop babying me like when we were kids!" She says as she gets up and runs away.
I stared in shock at what happened and my first instinct was running after her… but she was right. Maybe, maybe I have been protecting her too much. Taking a deep breath I feel like I will regret this immensely, but I must at least try and respect her in this.
Opening a communication circle to talk with Garie.
"Hello master, is something the problem?" The water autoscorrer questioned.
"Yes, my cousin just left home. I want you to follow her, make sure she doesn't end up being attacked somewhere but… if she wants to do something, let her." I tell Garie, feeling as if I had just swallowed sand.
I hate this, but I must at least try and respect her. Looking back, I have been too controlling of her and her actions for a while now. She is my dumb cousin, but she is also her own person who needs to make her own mistakes if she is ever to grow.
…. I still hate this.
Not wanting to stay here for a moment longer, I decided that I would take out my phone. I check my contacts for a bit before I reach one and call.
"Hyoudo-san, is something the matter? You calling me is rather unexpected." Sona said on the other side and I gulped before I requested.
"Miss Sitri, I was wondering if you have a training ground or something? I need to train to get my mind out of some stuff that is happening, could you help me?"
She stays silent for a while before she answers.
"I am sending you my location, take a cab to come here. There is a training ground underground that was reinforced by my sister, it is where my peerage and I normally train on the weekends. You are welcome to come over."
"Thanks, I think I need this." I tell Sona as I end the call.
She will probably be curious about what is going on, and why I requested her for help, but I am not an idiot. There is a chance Isane will go meet Rias next to become one of her peerage members. I can't say for certain that she will do so, but there is a chance and me being there won't make things any better. I pretty much already gave up on joining Sona by this point, her way of doing things don't match well with me and I doubt she can resurrect me now with just three pawns or a Rook. It would obviously not be enough.
Honestly, at this point I think that it would need a Satan, a Mutation Piece, several pawns, or a Queen Piece before my reincarnation is remotely feasible.
I also had the number of Ravel, but she has been in town for a week at most and I don't know if she already has a training ground or not. Besides, with her being the most likely person for me to be reincarnated by, it would not look good if I show up in front of her as I am now.
So, I called the cab and soon I was traveling away towards Sona's place. I have a lot of new power, new strength, and I just really, really want to punch something and vent.
I just, I really think I need to do that.