Chapter 8

  It has been around 3 weeks since the events with the Fallen and things were going quite well for me. I continued to be quite satisfied in the deal I made with Rias. After 18 years of growing up again, going through all the annoying parts of the adolescence, nothing was more annoying than a lack of agency. Not having your own money, income, place to stay or just the basic trust of others to manage yourself like an adult. After 18 years of all of that, I finally managed to carve for myself a piece of normalcy.

  Money was not an issue anymore, I got to play around with my powers, and I didn’t have to constantly worry about being found out. Having a Longinus put a serious target on my back, there would always be people who would wish to use me for their ends, and if they could not, dispose of me. With Rias it was different, I choose to become a devil, I choose to serve, I did not have to, but I did, because I have decided it was the best thing for me to do. Me. No one else.

  As if that wasn’t enough, as a son of Kronos, I would most likely be a target for Olympians as well. I didn’t imagine Zeus would be very partial to my very existence, no matter how little say I had in it.

  I suddenly stopped mid swing as a though hit me. Draig, I just realized, Zeus is my brother.

  …

  TOOK YOU 18 YEARS TO FIGURE OUT?

  No, it’s just that I never thought about it that way.

  YEAH WELL, BETTER HOPE HE DOESN’T THINK ABOUT YOU AT ALL, YOU ARE NOT READY FOR THAT KIND OF ATTENTION

  I guess he was right. Not much point in agonizing over such things. I have always known my secret would get out at some point; it was just a matter of statistical probability. Thankfully, now I was friend with Lucifer’s little sister, so the old Thunderer could suck a fat one.

  Going back to my insightful retrospection. If there was one thing I hated right now, it was the fact that I had to go to school … perhaps hated was a strong word, but it was just annoying. Since I was the same age as Rias and Akeno, I was placed in the third-year classes. Kuoh had previously been an all-girl school, making the change to co-ed only recently. I had a suspicion that the only reason that change happened was so that Kiba could attend the same school as Rias. The dates of the two events coincided, and I knew enough about Rias to know that it was most likely what actually happened. Fortunately, my personal misgivings for school aside, it was balanced by all the good that was happening to me recently, so I guess you win some you lose some.

  I turned my full attention back to the sword in my hand. I was currently going through the forms, getting myself more familiar with the blade. After about 3 weeks, the sword no longer felt so foreign in my hands.

  Because I managed to break the sword gifted to me by Kiba break during the raid on the church, Rias provided me with a sword from Gremory armoury. Nothing fancy, just something their own guards would use. It was made of magically treated steel that was less likely to break and could withstand punishment of supernatural combat.

  I was in process of trying to add magic towards my attacks. With the debacle of losing myself to battle, I was very much aware of working on my battle lust.

  Draig’s best advice to avoid such was through discipline, and the best way to practice it was apparently through learning magic. Magic was one of the more complex disciplines when it came to fighting, requiring mental fortitude to properly maintain spells and direct them to you will. For this reason, I was trying to add magical attacks to my swordsmanship. Using the blade as the focus, I hoped I could channel demonic power to create the desired effect.

  To be honest, right now I was still at the phase where instead of focusing on elemental magic, I was just channelling pure demonic magic to add sort of blasts to my swings. It was not meant to be used in close quarters, as I didn’t want to blow my own face off, but that suited me just fine. Having a ranged option while wielding a sword felt like a good advantage to have.

  I spoke with both Akeno and Rias, and they both gave me tips on how to proceed, but to my surprise the biggest help was actually Kiba. The knight was not unskilled in magic, but neither was it his focus. What Kiba could do however, was create swords with different magical effects, and what I was trying to do actually had much in common with the way his Sacred Gear functioned. I had no intentions of trying to do all he was capable of with it, I just needed a sure way to send out ranged attacks during a fight. I would rather have one attack that was versatile and I could cast reliably.

  There was always a Dragon Shot, but it had too much power for my liking. It was good for an all-out attack, but not something I could fling around casually mid fight, at least not yet.

  Thinking about the Draig’s power brought forth a smile on my face. Since I was reincarnated as a devil, I trained every day. My body so far being able to take it quite reliably and my enthusiasm undiminished. Every day, I could feel my body strengthen just a little bit, both physically and with how much power it could handle. I was still limited to 10 seconds between each boost, but I no longer felt the fatigue I once did when using it. And I’m just getting started. I though with a toothy grin.

  MAINTAIN DISCIPLINE PARTNER

  Draig has honestly been more helpful than I expected of him. He seemed to understand my distaste for draconic mindset and despite how it could have perhaps offended him, he has been the one to rein me in when I got too excited. The old dragon may not say it directly, but I now knew he cared.

  Thanks partner

  DON’T THANK ME YET. CONCENTRATE, I CAN FEEL YOU ARE GETTING CLOSE, JUST FEW MORE DAYS

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  What Draig was talking about was my progress towards learning one of the functions of the Boosted Gear, the ability to Transfer boosted power, either to someone else, or even to a different part of my body, enhancing their use. For example, when I finally achieved that precipice and managed to control the power, I could target the transfer of a boost to my legs to increase my speed, or to my eyes and do the same with my eyesight.

  Breath in and breath out.

  I summoned my boosted gear, drawing forth a single boost and consuming the power. The strain on my body was minimal. I focused on the blade I held in front of me with both hands, my stance wide and steady.

  Breath in and breath out.

  I brought the blade above my head as if to strike from high guard.

  Breath in and breath out.

  Power swelled within me and I drew it forth from my stomach, guiding it towards the raised sword.

  Breath in and breath out.

  The magic I guided could almost be called slippery; it did not want to stay in the form I was willing it to.

  Breath in and breath out.

  It resisted the blade I guided it though and some of it was leaking out. I refocused again.

  Breath in and breath out.

  With a concentrated power of will and muscle, I swung the sword downwards, the red magic peeling off from the sword and sailing towards a tree I was aiming at. Even as it sailed through the air, I could see the problems. It was wobbling, not willing to stay in shape, and when it impacted the tree, it did so in a splash of magical energy, rather than a cutting edge I was going for. The tree still had a large crater in its trunk, but it was not what I was going for.

  I breathed out a frustrated sigh. It was getting better, I knew that, but a man can hope.

  “It’s getting better.” Sudden voice echoed my own sentiment.

  I turned towards Rias who appeared to be watching me from the side. I did not notice her at all.

  I TOLD YOU THAT YOU NEED TO WORK ON YOUR AWARNESS

  I am working on it.

  The Red Dragon’s reply was silence. Instead I turned to Rias, taking the towel she handed to me as she came closer.

  Wiping the seat of my face, I look towards the tree I manged to damage, noting few others just like it in the area. “Yes well, better for sure, but still not what I hoped for.”

  Rias hummed in thought.

  “Have you tried shouting?”

  …

  “Or calling out the attack’s name?”

  “Rias, it does not have a name.”

  “Perhaps naming it could help?”

  I sighed but even as I did so, I smiled. Rias was a hopeless otaku, and half the time she was not even joking with ideas such as these.

  Totally unbothered and undeterred, she continued. “We could watch Bleach together tonight. That’s where you got the idea, right?”

  I looked at her from the side; she had me figured out by this point. This was not my first idea I shamelessly yoinked from fictional world, and Rias was starting to catch on.

  “I suppose we could, wasn’t there some other anime you wished to show me though? Doctor Boulder or something?”

  “Dr. Stone and I cannot believe you haven’t seen it.”

  “I was busy in life, I saw some anime, but it was not always available.” I tried to defend myself.

  “No time like the present to remedy that then.”

  I chuckled at that. Rias and I started watching anime together at some points when I mentioned I haven’t seen one series or the other. Since we were now neighbours, Rias regularly dragged me to her apartment where she had a massive TV and a very comfy couch. So we just watched anime most of the evenings. Rias even had popcorn from the underworld, it was spliced with all kinds of exotic flavours and apparently you did not gain weight from eating it. Figures.

  I finished cleaning myself as much as was possible right now, and turned to Rias fully, leaving my training results behind me. “Was there something specific you wanted with me?”

  She just smiled at me with hand behind her back, acting like an innocent angel, when in fact she was a devious little imp. “Can I not see my cute servant if I want to?”

  “You can, but is there something specific, master?” My raised eyebrow punctuating my question and her pout signalling I hit another bullseye with the teasing honorific.

  “Mou, you do this on purpose. But yes, I did wish to see you for something. Akeno told me you had completed another successful contract, and I wanted to know how it went.”

  Ah yes, the contracts. To be fair they were pain in the ass, but they were necessary if only for the optics of devil society. Besides the monetary compensation from successfully completing one, every devil that managed to form a contract with a mortal was rewarded with a very slight amount of their life energy. It was nothing that would inconvenience the contracted human in the course of their life, but for devils it was slivers of free power that they could empower themselves with. An individual contract with a human would be like adding a few drops in a bucked for a devil, but over time, the droplets added up. With devil lifespans still being undiscovered in their longevity, as no devil has yet died from natural causes, the contracts were a sure way for young devils to incrementally grow in power.

  That being said, most devils did not have my heritage nor my Sacred Gear, so for me it was less useful. However, Draig brough up good point regarding fulfilling contracts. Because I was now part of the devil society, in the near future, my existence was sure to become common knowledge for the devils, at least my Longinus was. At such time, some might consider me dangerous or a wild card, so showing I could work within the devil system would be a good idea to integrate into their society. It made sense to me, and Rias was happy when I did contracts, so I persevered.

  I hummed softly and though to Rias’s question. “It went fine, little annoying to be honest. Some rich woman got cheated on and wished for me to make her husband jealous, so she took me to a very nice restaurant where she knew he would see us.”

  “So she wined and dined you, and then …?”

  “Then she tried sticking her tongue down my throat, but I politely turned her down.”

  “So a good contract then.”

  “Yeah I guess, the steak I got was quite nice actually.”

  As we were talking we began to walk towards the apartment building we were both staying at. I was still carrying the sword in my hand. Though it was sheeted, I forgot to bring the harness to attach it to my belt, so I had to carry it in my hand. I also kept a small spell over the blade, making it seem completely normal to everyone around us.

  Rias looked towards the sword as we walked and pointed at it. “Have you though that your spell might not be working like you desire because of the sword?”

  I looked at it as well. It was a good sword, the magic in it was nothing to boast about, but it was robust and would not break. Right now it was just what I needed.

  “Perhaps, but it’s the one I have, so I shall have to make do.”

  “You are not using a spell circle when casting, correct?”

  I shook my head. “It’s not so much as casting a spell and more about directing energy, the spell circle is not really compatible with what I am trying to achieve. Perhaps in the future I could modify one to do so, but right now I think that’s beyond my capabilities.”

  Rias hummed slightly, smiling at me.

  “What?” I asked with a blush, this woman was dangerous with her smiles.

  “Nothing, just thinking about a surprise I have been preparing for you.”

  “Rias, if it’s a surprise then don’t tell me.”

  “Mou, but I just get so excited thinking about it.”

  “Then tell Akeno, you can gush over it together.”

  “You are being mean to me Kairos-kun.” The added honorific made me pop a vein on my forehead. This woman will be the death of me.

  Despite it all, I just couldn’t help but smile. Yeah, life was good.

  AN: This story is being cross posted on AO3, WebNovel, Questionable Questing and Royal Road. Updates will be regular every Saturday at minimum. It is possible I will be able to write faster, if that happens I will post the chapters sooner, but 1 chapter per week is guaranteed.

  If you wish to read 5 chapters ahead, you can do so on my Patreon.