The following day arrived at Kuoh, and Issei, together with Ingvild, after classes were done, went to the Occult Research Club. Thanks to Rias, they were now registered as official members, which got some guys to be jealous of Issei as he was going to spend time with the two 'Great Ladies' of Kuoh, and even some girls were jealous of Ingvild for a similar reason but with Kiba. They were quick to get attention, he will give them that.

Walking into the room, Issei stretched a bit before sitting down on the sofa, Ingvild taking a seat across from him. Rias was already at her desk. "Good Day, Rias." Issei greeted her. "So, do tell me, what plans do you have for now?"

"Well, normally, we would be handling the Stray Devils around Kuoh. But thanks to someone's actions, we find ourselves with a lot of free time." Rias replied, being a bit sassy in hinting at Issei's rampage through the population of Strays. "So, everyone is pretty much enjoying their after-school time."

"I did see Shirone head towards my place." Issei said. "I think she is going to spend some time with Kuroka."

"Akeno will also be unavailable today, she said she has some things to take care of at her shrine." Rias added, then she explained further. "Akeno is also the local priestess and the local shrine."

"Really? I wouldn't have imagined her being the shrine type."

"She always seemed more…strange, in a way. She is nice, and being around her is not awkward, but she seems a bit strange, so I guess this would seem odd." Ingvild added. "What about Kiba?"

"He is actually not as busy." Rias replied. "He is currently running a small errand, but he should be back at any moment now."

"Perfect!" Issei said, catching her attention. "I wanted to ask him if we could spar. I want to improve my swordsmanship a bit."

"That is alright. You can use the backyard of the building. We have a few barriers set around the perimeter, keeping out unwanted visitors and allowing us to act with a bit more freedom around the place." Rias explained. "Granted, I do recommend you don't go too crazy. No Balance Breaker."

Issei sighed. "Fine. Wasn't planning on using it anyway. I think some simple sword-to-sword action would be better overall."

"Good. What about you, Ingvild? Any plans?" Rias asked, switching her attention to the Leviathan in the room.

"Oh! Well, I wanted to practice a bit with my abilities. Despite having a large amount of power, I lack overall control of it, so my arsenal is a bit limited." She confessed, to which Rias nodded.

"If so, I will be happy to help you with it while the boys have their little stick-fight competition." Rias said, throwing a small joke in the air Issei caught on. Soon after, Kiba arrived, knocking on the door.

"I am back, president." He said, entering the room.

"KIba, perfect timing!" Rias replied, gesturing for him to put the small bag of groceries on the table. "Issei here was just telling me how he'd like to spar with you, if you don't have any plans, that is."

"Not at all." Kiba replied, then he looked at Issei. "When is a good time to start?"

"How about right away?" Issei suggested getting up from the sofa. "We will leave you, girls, for now."

"Take care, Issei." Ingvild told him as the two guys went out of the room, going outside to practice their swordsmanship.


"So, Issei, since you use a sword, I am very curious to know what kind of sword you wield." Kiba asked, standing on the opposite side from Issei, facing him. Issei, for his part, played along.

"Well, I cannot really make swords out of nothing, but I do have some things to my name." Issei said, deciding to brag a bit as he pulled out his Mystical Moonlight Blade. Kiba immediately took note of how the sword appeared out of nowhere, believing that Issei also has some kind of spatial magic for storage, but his attention was more on the sword.

He could tell it was magical right away, but also powerful. It radiated with power, and at the same time, it was beautifully crafted. He never saw a sword like that before. "That is quite the interesting blade." Kiba said, smiling a bit at Issei, but it was more of a cocky grin than anything. Curious, Issei used his [Observe] on Kiba to get a better insight into his stats.


Yuuto Kiba

Title:

Knight of Gremory

Level:

32 (279808/2511436 EXP)

HP: 20000/20000 (1 HP/Min)

STA: 16500/16500 (1 STA/Min)

D.P: 12000/12000 ( 1 D.P/Min)

Mana: 9500/9500 (1 Mana/Min)

STR: 48

AGI: 116

MGI: 40

DUR: 59

ACC: 37

WIS: 58

INT: 43

CHA: 87

LCK: 38

Status effects: N/A

Perks:

Normal Perks

[Expert Runner]: This perk enables you to run quicker using your [Run] skill! Whenever you use this skill, or any related AGI-based skills, you will gain a +25% to your AGI based on its current value.

[Sword Talent]: Talented with a sword, any EXP earned in any sword-related skill is doubled. Additionally, all sword-related damage is twice as high as stated in the Skill description.

[Technique over Power]: A skilled swordsman who admits his short-comings and uses technique and strategy to overwhelm his opponents instead of raw power. As a result, you gain bonus EXP when fighting with a sword based on your INT, using the following calculation: INT/10=x%

Evil Piece Perks

[Feeble but Nimble]: Unfortunately, due to the nature of Knights, you cannot really take a punch. +10% damage from physical and magical attacks. However, thanks to your speed, when in combat, you have a higher chance to dodge the incoming strikes if possible.

[Locked additions]: Due to your Knight Piece, you cannot gain perks related to your STR and DUR stats alone. Any perk related to those needs to include the AGI stat.

[Speed Boost]: +15% AGI, +1 AGI per level-up.

Sword Birth Perks

[Natural-Born Demon Sword Wielder]: You have a higher compatibility using swords imbued with a demonic element, allowing you to deal 50% more damage with them.


Immediately, he zoned in on the 'Sword Birth' part, and Ddraig jumped in to explain. "He has a Sacred Gear. Sword Birth allows him to create demonic swords, each capable of holding certain abilities."

"But I think mine are better." And true enough, multiple swords erupted from the ground around Kiba, who picked one up to use against him. Issei didn't know what kind of sword he made, but he has to admit, being able to make items with any ability he wants was pretty sweet. Granted, his sword did grow during his training. It reached its next level, as the sword could level up, and granted him access to a new skill in its arsenal.


[Mystical Moonlight Blade]

[A powerful weapon of old, rare and powerful, said to be only made by the old blacksmith clans far into the heart of the Urals. When wielded, this weapon will store up to 5000 Mana which it will use for its own skills. Additionally, this weapon is capable of leveling up, doing so by gaining EXP equal to 50% of what the user gained]

(Current Level: 2 / 3. EXP Required: 350000)
[Durability: 550/550]

As this weapon levels up, the user gains access to more of this weapon's skills. Those are the skills the user is currently able to use:

[Self-Reparation]: The Sword is able to repair itself naturally, restoring Durability and even remaking lost parts with the handle acting as the core. This Skill is passive and always active, draining 1 Mana per Durability point to maintain the blade.

[Moonlight Grace]: An offensive skill which awakens and makes use of the power within the sword; once activated, the user can decide how much Mana is to be used, with each 5% of the blade's MAX capacity used offering an equal amount of bonus damage. This can be both short and long-ranged, with the short ranged version simply coating the blade in a pale blue light, and the long range one implying launching a wave of pale blue light at the enemy that deals damage based on your MGI plus the bonus given by the consumed Mana.]

[Blessing of the Moon]: An enhancing skill that allows the wielder to utilize lunar energy stored within the sword whenever it has been exposed to the moon.

Lunar Energy stored: 547/1000.

When activated, the skill will drain 1 LE per second, but in exchange it will grant the user a 5% Stat bonus to their STR, DUR, MGI, AGI, and even double their HP recovery rate! During a Full Moon, when the sword is exposed to the moon, no LE is drained.


He did leave it out to gain some LE, but it was not that much. Still, he planned to make full use of it. He got himself into position, waiting for Kiba to do the first move, and before he had time to think, Kiba charged in. Issei, seeing his speed in action despite having read his stats, was taken by surprise, but he was able to put up his sword to [Block]. Kiba's strike didn't have that much weight behind it, but rather, it was quick.

He might be able to tank some strikes, but if they pile up it can be bad for him. However, he noticed something quickly as he kept his blade up, seeing the durability drop at a steady rate. He raised up his leg to kick Kiba away, but he saw it and jumped away. "First a Sacred Gear, and now my sword is growing weaker." Issei said, surprising Kiba.

"How did you notice that I was affecting your weapon?" He asked.

"Part of my secret." Issei replied, then he used his mana to restore the lost durability. "That sword damages other weapons, doesn't it?"

"I call it Rust Bug. It causes other metal-based weapons it comes into contact with to degrade at an accelerated rate." Kiba explained. "But I see your sword is not that easy. I knew it was a magical weapon."

"This little sword of mine has quite an amount of tricks. However, I don't wish to use them here, since it defeats the purpose. Now, be ready!" Now it was Issei's time to charge in, going in with his sword ready to deliver a [Slash] to Kiba. However, the experienced knight noticed this and he was able to duck under Issei's attack, then he went in for a stab at him. Luckily, Issei thought fast, summoning his gear to block the sword strike like a shield. This had Kiba surprised, allowing Issei to swift the hold on his sword to try and [Stab] Kiba, but he was able to jump and roll back to avoid the strike.

Issei had to admit, Kiba's perks were not kidding. He was not trying to overpower him, but rather he was relying on a strategy to take him out, and currently, he was barely sweating. Issei had not used any of his gear, fair be fair, but Kiba was not even sweating! "Your skills are that of a novice, sorry to say, but you do seem to possess a fair bit of cunning. Sacred Gears are nigh-indestructible, so using your Boosted Gear as a shield is quite the idea."

"It was more of a moment thing." Issei admitted, keeping his Gear out. "Still, using it as a shield is a pretty nice suggestion. Thanks for the tip."

Kiba chuckled. "You are welcome. Now, to quote your words: Be ready!"

And like that, the boys began their sparring. Although, in all fairness, it was more Issei struggling to get a hit in and barely avoiding hits himself. He didn't wish to use any of his other skills, wanting to focus solely on his sword-related skills to better grind that out. Today, he was going to grind with a sword.


The sounds of their little spar were heard faintly in the office of the ORC, where Rias and Ingvild remained. "Looks like they are going at it pretty hard." Rias remarked, trying to make conversation. She knew Ingvild seemed to have some shyness to her, so she was taking it slow. "Tell me, Ingvild, how did you meet Issei? I know he saved you from that last base he mentioned, but what are the details of it?"

Ingvild took a moment to answer. "Well, truth be told, I was actually down with the Sleep Disease."

"The Sleep Disease? But then, how are you here? There is no known cure for it." Rias said, already stunned by the revelation. If Ingvild was awakened, that could mean Issei could have found a cure. If so, then maybe he was more valuable than she imagined. And he can help her with something later.

"Issei cured me. He…Has help." Ingvild said, trying to not reveal the existence of Solomon. "But, telling you everything would mean revealing a big part of Issei's secret, which I don't think he'd like me sharing around."

"That is fine." Rias replied, curious, but willing to make a compromise. "For how long were you asleep?"

"A century." Ingvild replied. "At first, I was pretty distraught. My mother is human, and I am afraid she is no longer around."

"I am sorry to hear that."

"It's alright. I was able to come to terms with everything thanks to Issei and Kuroka. Kuroka even helped me recover some of my physical strength since sleeping for so long took a toll on my muscles." Ingvild continued. "Thanks to her I am able to walk around like nothing happened. Almost."

"Do you have problems adjusting to the modern world?" Rias asked.

"A bit. I don't get the more complicated devices that are around nowadays." She confessed, feeling a bit embarrassed. "I also have a Sacred Gear, since I am half human, but I am not that well-versed in using it yet. I am still practicing."

"And what is your gear, if you don't mind me asking?"

"It is called Nereid Kyrie." Ingvild replied, introducing her Gear.

"I never heard of that gear before." Rias commented. "What are its abilities?"

"Well, it allows me to control water in some regards, like my original abilities, which kinda helps master that part of it quicker." She explained. "But since I barely have any training with either of them, despite Issei and Kuroka saying I am a quick learner, I feel fairly behind compared to them. I have more raw power than Issei currently if you don't count his gear, yet I barely have any control over it and I don't know what I could do to fix that."

"Well, have you tried to use your imagination? I am sure that can solve most issues." Rias suggested, but Ingvild didn't seem to be feeling better.

"I did, but I don't want to risk hurting someone, so I, well…"

"You are hesitating." Rias summarized, the girl before her nodding. "I see. Truth be told, I was also somewhat shy at first when training with my Power of Destruction."

"Power of- Isn't that the power of the Bael House?" Ingvild asked, confused about Rias' lineage.

"It is, but my mother is from the Bael House, so I and my brother both inherited it. Well, my brother has more than me. He is the Super Devil." Rias answered. "However, when it comes to the ability of our own house, I dare say I am the master out of the two of us."

"The Gremory ability…If I remember correctly, it's called Charm, right?" Ingvild said slowly, and Rias nodded.

"Yes. Using it, members of my house can charm other beings with a lesser will, making them more…infatuated with us." Rias explained, trying to use better-suited terms. "In a way, it is like hypnosis, but through the use of physical appearance and charm, as well as maybe some pretty words here and there. However, it requires the members of my house to have a greater will than the target."

"What if you genuinely like the one you are trying to use it on?" Ingvild asked.

"Well, here is the thing. This ability, throughout the generations, has proven itself useless against most other devils. Unless they are reincarnated ones or descend from them, pure-blood devils seem to be immune to it for the most part." Rias explained. "As for genuine feelings, they act as an instant dissolver of the ability."

"So, if you come to truly love the one you are affecting with your ability, then they will break free of it." Ingvild summarized, and slowly, she realized the less pleasant implications of that. "It sounds a bit bad, I won't lie."

"I admit. For example, my father used it once to seduce a human queen, and the results were quite disastrous when, for a split second, he got real feelings for her. She immediately called out his 'mind control' as he said she called it and banished him using help from the church." Rias explained, recalling her father's story. "Despite having a greater proficiency with it, I personally dislike our house's ability."

"I guess not everyone would be open to such tactics." Ingvild replied. "But, in essence, you say that I shouldn't be afraid of my own power?"

"Being afraid of it will only drag you down and limit your potential, Ingvild." Rias replied. "You need to be bold, and use it if you can."

"I see…" Ingvild replied slowly, then she thought for a moment. "I think I will give it a go next time we go train."

"Marvelous! Now, in regards to something that has had me curious." Rias looked at Ingvild, trying to formulate her question carefully. "Tell me, how is Issei? As a person?"

"You are asking me how he is?" She asked, and Rias nodded. "Well, I haven't known him for as long as Kuroka has, but I can tell he is an honest and kind young man. He is hard-working and always tries to make others feel better. Though, I do admit, he has a pretty large love for the female body."

Rias snorted. "Figures…So, is he a boob or butt kind of guy?"

"Definitely breasts." Ingvild replied, and Rias, seeing her, could see it being true. "But although he prefers them, he doesn't seem to lack knowledge regarding other areas."

"Did you and him-"

"No!" Ingvild replied quickly, a blush on her face. "At least…Not yet." She muttered. "But I did peek at him and Kuroka when they…You know."

"Oh my." Rias said, sensing the gossip material. "And?"

"Well, I think you'd need to ask Kuroka for more spicy details, but she seemed to really enjoy it." Ingvild explained; the blush on her face was constant. But Rias also picked up on something.

"And while you were peeking at them…Did you also do something?" Ingvild blushed more, which was all the answers Rias needed. "No need to be embarrassed, Ingvild. As far as I am concerned, everything we talk about here will stay between us. But judging from your reaction, it seems they are not the only dirty individuals in that household."

"I'm not- I mean I don't…" She slumped down in defeat, covering her face.

"As I said, there is no need to be ashamed. It is only natural. Even I rub one out at times to relieve some stress." Rias confessed, even if it was a bit embarrassing for her as well, Ingvild needed it to feel better. "But back on the subject of Issei; I am very curious about the kind of person he is, and everything you have said so far checks out. Except for one thing…"

"Hm?"

"I cannot come to believe he is helping me for nothing in return." Rias said, which had Ingvild worried. "It might be my upbringing since devils are known to never be generous without ulterior motives, but I cannot come to fully trust him when he says he won't take advantage of such debt."

"I guess I can see your point." Ingvild replied. "But I assure you, he meant every word."

"Still, is he strong enough to face Riser?" Rias said, voicing more of her worries. "I did see his strength, but Riser is not weak. In fact, I daresay he is stronger than me by a fair bit."

"Issei will defeat him." Ingvild said, quite boldly so, which got Rias' attention. "Believe me, Rias, he is far more special than you can-"

Suddenly, Ingvild was interrupted by a big explosion that was heard outside. The girls immediately rushed to the window to see the boys lying on the ground in the center of a small crater. "What in the blazes did they do?" Rias asked, getting another impression of Issei. That of a silly idiot.


"I cannot believe…You boosted my sword…until its own ability exploded…" Kiba said slowly, feeling his body ache. "Smart."

"Ugh. I guess, but…" Issei got himself up slowly, wobbly even. "I would never do it again."

"Agreed." Kiba replied, then Issei went to him, helping Kiba up. At that moment, Rias and Ingvild showed up, seeing the two guys with their clothes dirty and needing a shower.

"What happened here? I thought the two of you were sparring with swords, not bombs!" Rias said, clearly irked by the commotion.

"Apologies, Rias, we got a bit carried away with our Sacred Gears." Kiba apologized.

"Sorry as well for scaring you, girls." Issei said as well. "I might have boosted Kiba's sword, and it blew up."

"Are you both alright?" Ingvild asked.

"We are fine, just a bit shaken. The explosion mostly shook us rather than harmed us." Kiba answered her. "Still, I think I need to sit down and rest for a bit. It was a good sparring session." Issei snorted.

"You are selling yourself short. You had me on the defensive most of the time." He confessed, making Kiba shrug.

"Well, it seems we know who is the better swordsman." Rias said with pride hearing that her knight did well against the red dragon, even if they were not using their full power. Granted, unknown to any of them, this sparring session allowed Issei to level up his [Deflect] and [Block] skills for his swordsmanship once each. Kiba was going to be an invaluable source for him in that regard.

"Here, I give Kiba the win." Issei said, not wishing to argue in a losing argument. "I do hope we can go again sometime soon."

"I would also like that a lot." Kiba replied.

"Well, it is getting a bit late, so I think I will be heading home." Issei said, then he turned to Ingvild. "Are you coming as well, Ingvild?"

"Actually, I was wondering if I could remain here for a bit. Rias here was actually helping me with my Demonic Power mastery." She replied, and Issei nodded his head.

"I see. That does sound like a very good idea, so I will leave your girls to get to it. Take care of her, Rias." Issei told her.

"She is in good hands." She replied, then Issei used his [Self-Clean] skill to make himself pristine again. This skill also reached the MAX level some time ago, and now it fully cleans him! Though, he'd rather shower than abuse this. Rias and Kiba were both somewhat taken aback by his little trick.

"A spell I know." He replied, then he didn't waste any more time and left before they began to ask questions.

"So…How many spells does he know?" Kiba asked, curious.

"Well, if he goes to train again, he might get more." Ingvild replied.

"Well, as long as he is a friend." Rias muttered, then she turned to Ingvild. "Let us try and see about helping you with your abilities, Ingvild. Maybe we can work something out for your gear as well."

"R-right!'


Returning home, Issei stretched his arms a bit. He could hear Kuroka and Shirone in the living room, talking and, after taking a small peek, he confirmed that they were playing a game. Not wanting to get into their sister-bonding time, he instead went inside the dungeon. There was that new section he wished to check out, so he took out his key and used it on the door, vanishing inside the dungeon and going down the hallway towards the stairs, going down the spiral until he reached the new room. Or rather, a new level. This was another nexus of hallways, four this time going into the cardinal directions.

This was the part that cost him extra. One of the hallways was open, allowing him to walk into it and towards the room at the end. He pushed it open, revealing a well-lit, empty room with an interface in the middle. Issei went to it, pressing the button to see the screen pop up.


Welcome to your room!

Although an addition that is usually added at the end of every other thing in a dungeon, your room is yours alone to decorate as you wish! Below, you will be given a list of objects you can add in. Anything that would require stuff like power, internet, or signal will only work after you built a room where all the tech stuff can go.


"Hmm. I wonder if I can at least get a bed." Issei said, then he brought up the list, typing in 'beds' and searching for anything worth the time.

"Issei, if I may?" Solomon interjected suddenly. "Given your desire for a harem, and from my personal experience, you may want to invest in a bigger bed."

"A pretty big one."

"How big?" Issei asked, then Solomon began to rub his beard, thinking. Luckily, it was Ddraig who spoke.

"Depends on the size of your eventual harem, but if we are to give a recommendation, just scroll through the options and see what works best." Ddraig told him, then Issei went back to the interface, messing with the filters. He saw a bunch of King-sized beds on the options, all of them being quite costly. Then, finally, he found something.

"Alaskan King bed…Damn, those things are massive!" Issei said, looking at various models for it. Although, he did have the option to customize it too. "Definitely our best choice!"

"Indeed! This would do nicely! How much for it?" The guys all looked at the price, of course, Ddraig and Solomon using Issei's eyes for it. But what they saw shocked them quite well.

875533.75 Y

"E-EIGHT-HUNDRED THOUSAND?!" Issei shouted, eyes going wide at the price.

"Is this some kind of scam?!"

"Dear me!"

"We don't have that much cash on us! We no longer even have 100K, let alone 800K!" Issei said, falling on his ass and ruffling his hair. "No way we can buy this now…"

"Agreed. We need money." Solomon pointed out.

"It was easy before, the System gave us a good amount of cash, but looking through the quests now doesn't give us much…Scratch that, we have 0 Quests that give us cash right now." Ddraig said after checking the quests himself. "Maybe we should have looted the Strays more? Or the golems? Surely whatever they had was worth some more."

"Wait…" Solomon suddenly said, entering his 'thinking face', which Ddraig picked up on.

"Looks like someone has an idea. Spill!"

"Well, looking back at the Peerage System, each time the girls will gain EXP for their levels, we also get a percentage of it, correct?" Solomon asked, which was obvious. "This sounds like a 2-stage pyramidal scheme, in a way, but they also gain a bonus when we level up. We get part of what they gain, but what if we can develop something similar for money?"

"You mean, getting a business going?" Issei asked, finding the idea a bit…nuts. "Solomon, it may have been easy for you during your time, but there is no way I can start a business. Not until I graduate, at least."

"Still, it does sound like a good option." Ddraig said, voicing his opinion. "But even with your aid, old friend, there is nothing we can do! Things are too different from your time, I know shit about running businesses, and Issei here is not good at math as is!"

"Hey, I take offense to that!" Issei half-shouted.

"Well, that kind of stuff didn't stop the system so far, has it?" Solomon pointed out, and Issei and Ddraig both seemed to catch on. "Plus, we cannot start a business, true, but maybe there is something else we can do? Such as investments?"

"We do have quite a bit of money left in our inventory…" Issei said, thinking about the idea as he looked over his money. Currently, they sat at around 70K Yen, which was not that much all things considered. Issei shook his head. "Let's not risk it until we get some more cash, shall we? Investing is a gamble as is."

"Agreed." Solomon replied. "Well, in that case, shall we head up to the training grounds?"

"I guess we do have some time." Issei replied, and so he headed to the training grounds. He needed to grind his skills more, but due to the disadvantage of this place, it was twice as hard to level them up.

So he went to the training grounds and faced the dummy. First on the list? His martial arts skills. He began with his [Furious Fist] combined with [Power Punch], grinding out both skills at once, but there was still that cooldown to take into consideration on the skill. When that was done, he threw a [Shield-Breaking Punch] as well, just to get some EXP for that too. Since those skills required cooldowns, he was going to continue with punches and kicks in rest, grinding out the EXP for those.

And oh boy, was it a slow process. It also didn't help that Solomon advised him not to use any Ki-related skill or create any. Why? The answer was Corruption. Kuroka had some information on that which she shared. It was apparently something unavoidable when dealing with Ki, like some malicious force. And since the system made it clear that the stuff is no good, he didn't feel like testing what it could do in higher amounts. He already had 14% Corruption, and his [Ki Pulse] alone added 1% every time he used it.

He needed a way to get it cleaned. But currently, nothing was coming to mind. But then he had the other Ki-related stuff, namely his elemental use of them. And that is when it hit him.

"Avatar!" Issei suddenly exclaimed, getting the attention of the inhabitants inside his body.

"Ise, care to explain why a show you watched relates?" Solomon asked, confused.

"Yeah, partner, that is pretty random." Ddraig added.

"Think guys! In Avatar, you had the benders, who controlled the elements, right?" Issei explained, the beings within him nodding their heads. "What if I applied the stuff from there in order to train my elemental youjutsu?"

"That…That actually sounds like a pretty good idea!" Solomon said, agreeing with the proposal. "We can also take major inspiration from it in regards to possible skills you can develop!"

"You better develop something cool, like lavabending." Ddraig added. "Apart from that, nothing really seemed that great to me."

For coming up with a good idea on how to handle your abilities, you were awarded 1 INT!

"Looks like the system agrees." Issei said, then he got himself thinking. He had an affinity for air/wind and fire, meaning he should focus on one of those. There was the possibility of using air, but then again, fire has been the best element for offense in the series, while air is arguably the best for mobility and evasion. So, fire it was! He thought back to the techniques he saw in the show, then he recalled the streams of fire often produced. Those seemed basic enough to try.

Issei focused his Ki and heated it, but unlike before, he imagined it coming out of his in that stream of fire. He thrust forth his palm, then, almost instantly, a stream of fire erupted from his palm, engulfing the dummy which, of course, remained almost undamaged.

Skill Created! [Fire Ki Stream] acquired!

"YES! Oh man, I cannot wait to try out all the other moves as well!" Issei said, excited about trying out more techniques. He got right to work and decided to try the Fire Jabs next. Once again, he focused and channeled his Ki to his fist. He threw a couple of jabs in the air, then, eventually, a small ball of fire came from one of them, and another, and another until he was sending them at a frequent rate. "That's it!"

Skill Created! [Fire Ki Jab] acquired!

"Alright! Time for another one!" Issei said, pumped at the progress he was starting to make. Creating new skills was easy when you had a source to inspire them on! This time, he thought about a smaller technique in nature, namely the Fire Knife. It was a very small technique, from what he could recall, and he was confident he could make it using only two fingers. So once again, he focused and envisioned the technique itself. Then, slowly, fire came out of his fingers in the same way as it would come out of a blowtorch. Not exactly what he envisioned, but it worked.

Skill Created! [Fire Ki Knife] acquired!

"Getting skills has never been easier, guys!" Issei exclaimed.

"Agreed." Solomon said.

"Hmmm. What about your fire magic? Couldn't you do the same stuff with that?" The dragon proposed, which actually got the boy thinking. Luckily, Solomon jumped in his defense.

"While it may be true the same might have been possible, magic tends to be difficult at times. If I recall correctly, this bending of the elements could easily transition from one move to another, like in martial arts. With magic, you do a spell, but you cannot easily use another spell by building on the previous." The wise king tried to explain.

"So, basically, this is better because?"

"I think Solomon is trying to say I can develop this more with my martial arts and stuff like that." Issei said, trying to get an understanding of Solomon's words. "You already saw the jabs I did with fire! Imagine what I can do once I start using more advanced techniques!"

"Hmm. Fine, I will entertain your little side-arsenal of fire moves." Ddraig replied. "So, are you going to develop more techniques?"

"As many as I can manage, I guess." Issei said, bringing up his skill page for his elemental youjutsu. "All the skills seem to be falling in the same category within my proficiency skill, meaning it is bound to get quite messy as it fills up."

"No worries." Solomon said, acting a bit smug. "The system does have a function that sorts skills after their number grows too much. It will manage itself when the time comes."

"I forgot you read more of the instructions in-depth." Issei replied, and then he got himself back to training. He was not going to develop more skills, for now, since he wanted to grind the ones he already made. It was fairly easy to level them up, considering their simple nature to perform, and he managed to get his jabs to level 3, and his jet of fire almost to the same level as well. The knife was harder to work out, but he did get it to level 2.

Then they ended their training session, meaning he got the EXP from the quest. 150 EXP, courtesy of his additional title. That put him on the verge of another level, which had him excited. Granted, for now, he went out of the dungeon and spent the rest of the day with the girls, both Ingvild and Kuroka having finished their business and currently waiting on him to start dinner.

A peaceful evening.


Too bad peace doesn't last…

"I keep telling you, Issei, this is not very nice towards Kuroka and Ingvild." Solomon told Issei as they were walking towards a more remote place on the academy's grounds. Today, Issei got what looked to be a letter of some kind, but when he opened it, it revealed itself to be a confession letter asking him to come here.

"Screw that, Solomon, something simply smells fishy about this." Ddraig, always the skeptical one, said, voicing his doubts.

"Chill out, guys. Look, if it's an actual girl I will politely turn them down, and if it's a trap, then…I will think something on the spot." He replied to them as he turned the corner, and true enough, there was a girl there. "Umm. Hello?" He said, getting her attention.

The girl before him had a slender body with a large bust, but not quite as large as Ingvild, and maybe around Kuroka's size. Her attire consisted of a dark red jacket with the letter "P" embroidered in gold, a white undershirt, a red bow, and a green skirt with a thin white stripe around the lower end of it. She had long, silky dark hair flowing down to her hips, and violet eyes. "H-hello, I…" She fidgeted a bit, but Issei, feeling suspicious, quickly used his [Observe] skill on her as she talked. "My name is Yuma Amano, and I- I was wondering if you'd like to go out with me?"

After that question, Issei only had a couple of thoughts in his head.

"Ah, fuck me sideways…"

"CALLED IT! I FUCKIN' KNEW IT!"

"Well, this is quite the predicament."

Those were Issei, Ddraig, and Solomon, in order, all giving their reactions to what they were seeing before them.


[Raynare (Yuma Amano)]

[Level 26 B]

[HP: 16000/16000 (1 HP/Min)]

[Fallen Angel]