Chapter 2

"Okay, let's see what you can do." Azazel brought Joshua to a spacious room after he escaped from the clutches of Penemue. A new Sacred Gear was too enticing for him to spent time doing paperwork. Pff, he just created something never before done, and Penemue wanted him to sit behind a desk. As if.

"Here goes nothing." Joshua quietly hyped himself before he brought his hands in front of him. His palms perpendicular to each other, with one of them facing up, the other down.

Azazel watched with rapt attention and got excited when a green magic circle formed between Joshua's hands. He had never seen one like that before, and his fingers started sketching it out on a piece of paper he had with him. His eyes shined as something started forming between Joshua's palms, but-

"Is that it?!" Azazel loudly asked after the spell ended and there was only a plank of wood in Joshua's hands.

"It's my first time." The teenager said impassively, staring at him with an empty look.

"Yeah, some are known to have performance issues during their first times." Azazel snickered. He was actually impressed by what he saw, despite how he reacted, but he just wanted to rile the teenager up.

If what Joshua did was simple conjuration that lasted x amount of time, then it was an okay ability. But if it was permanent, then that was creating matter out of nothing, and that was something Azazel was interested in. There was still the issue of how much wood Joshua could make and what exactly he could do with his creations, but that's why they were experimenting.

"Hand it over, will ya." Azazel motioned with his fingers in a 'gimmie' gesture. Joshua just threw it at him without a word. He touched it here and there, smelled, and even licked before he turned to the Fallen Angel behind him.

"Split in half and hand one part to Armaros and the other to Sahariel. Chop, chop. On you go, Bob." Azazel dismissed him with that.

"My name is Harahel." 'Bob' grumbled as he walked away with the plank of wood.

"That's what I said." Azazel just waved him off. "Okay, now that Bob is gone, let's continue."

"What do you want me to do?" Joshua asked in a steady tone. Knowing how humans were beings of emotion, Azazel was surprised the teenager was able to keep this up.

"Show some creativity. Is planks the only thing you could create, or... are you holding back on me?"

Deciding not to reply verbally, Joshua just looked at his hands and concentrated. Using Wood-Make was both easy and difficult at the same time. He had the instructions in his mind and knew exactly what he could accomplish with it, but this was his first time, as he said earlier, and he lacked magic power. That plank of wood Joshua created took about 5% of his reserves, and his next creation, a spear, took 15%.

"Interesting." Azazel grabbed it out of his hands. "A spear made out of wood isn't that dangerous of a weapon. It will break if used against the tough skin of almost all supernatural beings."

To prove a point, Azazel snapped the spear in half with ease. "Unless it's saturated with magic, then maybe it could achieve something. Like pricking them, for example."

"I can make it denser and tougher, I think." Joshua added.

"Hmm, but is that all you can do?" Azazel asked with a very perceptive glint in his eyes, making Joshua flinch. "Ha, I knew you are holding back on me. Show me, come on. The more I know, the more I can help you."

Joshua didn't want to show his hand, even if it wasn't very impressive. He just didn't trust the man. From the few interactions he had with Azazel, Joshua gathered he was a free-spirited one, kind of like a leaf that went wherever the wind blew it. Azazel was selfish, however, very much at that. His experiments were what mattered most to him. And Joshua understood he was looked at just that. A successful experiment.

Though he had to agree that Azazel would be able to help him the more he knew about his magic. He was the leader of a big organization like the Grigori, after all. Joshua still didn't understand much about the supernatural world, but he assumed the Fallen Angels were a big thing.

After making a decision, Joshua clapped his hands together before forming a wider magic circle. Azazel watched with interest as a wooden creation slowly started growing until a bird formed in the teenager's hands. It jumped out of his grasp and flew in the air, flapping its wooden wings.

"Interesting." Azazel said, watching it flew circles around them. "Does it fly on its own, or do you have to actively control it?"

"I have to control it and it drains my magical reserve." Joshua answered with a frown. The spell itself took about 30% of his reserves, with an added 1% every 10 seconds he kept it active. His Magical Core being at level 1 was an issue he had to fix asap, if he wished to throw more powerful spells.

"Your reserves aren't very impressive, though. Doesn't seem like you got a good deal." Azazel finally got a reaction from the teenager. Joshua's emerald eyes burned brightly, staring at him in pure hatred.

'Much better.' Azazel got exactly what he wanted. Sacred Gears amplified the emotions of their users and even drew powers from them. The glitch known as Balance Breaker was achieved when a user was in emotional distress, after all.

The two stared at each other, one with burning hatred in his eyes, the other with amusement. Joshua felt like sticking a stake through the Fallen Angel's heart, but he knew Azazel was out of his league. Azazel was the leader of an entire supernatural organization, while he was nothing but a human, who had just dipped his toe in this endless ocean.

'Pity.' Azazel felt disappointment when Joshua reigned his anger and steadied his breath.

"I will just raise my reserves on my own." Joshua was confident he could do it. His Mana Core was only at level 1, and though he might not know how to increase it at the moment, it was definitely possible.

"Oh?" A mischievous smirk formed on Azazel's face. "And how would you do that? As far as I'm aware, humans can't really increase their reserves."

"I will find a way." Joshua's voice grew quieter. "I have to."

Azazel nodded. He didn't get to push him emotionally, but Joshua was determined to achieve the impossible. A human had no right to fight equally against a Devil like Shalba unless a miracle happened. And weren't Sacred Gears supposed to be exactly that? A miracle given form and granted to humans.

There was a slight issue with Joshua's Sacred Gear not being one created by God, however. It was Azazel's very own creation that shouldn't have even worked, yet it somehow did. Wasn't that a miracle in itself? And even if Joshua didn't succeed in achieving anything worth mentioning, he would still be valuable research data for Azazel.

"Well then, let us continue and see what else you could do. I already have a few ideas in mind." Azazel cheerfully smiled as if he hadn't just poked holes at his recent history. Joshua was reluctant, but he agreed with a small nod.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Azazel gave him special attention only for the first few days, afterwards, Joshua was trained by other members of the Grigori. The teenager found out exactly how big the organization was from that. It wasn't filled with only Fallen Angels, but it also contained other humans like him and most of them had Sacred Gears.

The one that worked with him the most was Lavinia Reni. A pretty blonde with sapphire eyes that gave off the impression of a gentle big sister. It was hard not to trust Lavinia with her kind personality. She also did her best to try and help him.

Lavinia was a magician with an elemental type Sacred Gear. In a way, she was similar to him, though none knew its full extent, and Joshua hadn't used it to make sure to keep it hidden. As much as he wished to make use of it, he decided to keep it hidden for the time being.

With the gentle magician's help, Joshua increased his proficiency with Wood-Make. When he raised to Novice-level, the mana for his spells was reduced by quite a bit. He could achieve just as much as before but with far less of a stain on his reserves.

When his magic was raised to Apprentice-level, casting it became even easier, and Joshua gained greater control over his creations. He was making progress, but he wasn't satisfied with it.

As tempted as he was to make use of the other application of his Sacred Gear, he decided against it. He would keep it secret until he was on his own and free of the Grigori's clutches. They were still part of the supernatural world and the group consisted of mostly Fallen Angels, beings known for their sin.

Nonetheless, Joshua did learn a lot about the supernatural world from them. Angels, Devils, Dragons, Gods, Monsters, Yokai, all sorts of beings existed out there, and he realized how big the world really was.

Even though Joshua didn't fully trust the Grigori, there was one member besides Lavinia that he felt comfortable around, Baraqiel. The Fallen Angel had taken pity on him for unknown reasons, but he didn't mind it.

The two spent time together, and Joshua felt as if Baraqiel was grieving as well. He had tried asking him about it. However, Baraqiel just bitterly smiled as a response, which was an answer in itself. The Fallen Angel had suffered just like him it seemed.

Life was almost peaceful. Joshua continued training daily with various members of the Grigori observing him and gathering data for Azazel. It was monotone, but he got accustomed to it. Until he was called in Azazel's office if that room could even be called that.

Cabinets filled with alcohol, stacks of porn magazines as high as he was. No wonder Penemue complained that Azazel never did any work. He was just too distracted.

"You've made a good amount of progress." Azazel started while Joshua kept quiet. He wasn't called for no reason and he didn't particularly enjoy talking with the Fallen Angel that much. Azazel just knew how to push his buttons and was incredibly perspective.

"So I figured it's time to test you in action." Azazel beamed him a smile.

"Meaning?" Joshua had a faint idea what he meant. Lavinia and the team she was part of, Slash Dog, regularly went out to do various missions for the Grigori.

"Since I've deemed you fit to go out in the world, I'm thinking you could do a few missions." Azazel mischievously looked at him as he played with a glass in his hands.

"I'm not part of the Grigori." Joshua didn't trust him fully.

"Eh, don't be like that. I pay well, I promise." Azazel leaned in with a smirk. "Plus, you do owe me a favor for saving your life."

"I took part in your experiment and you've been gathering data for the past three weeks. Is that not enough?"

Azazel knew Joshua wished to leave and go out in the world. He'd made subtle enquiries, but nothing like that could get past someone as old as him. Joshua's Sacred Gear wasn't as great as Azazel wanted it to be, but he had encountered a problem recently. Despite trying to replicate his success numerous times, every single one failed. He wasn't ready to let Joshua go yet.

"Don't be like that. You've been getting along with Baraqiel and Lavinia quite nicely. The blonde bombshell has a nice body, don't you think? I think maybe something could happen between the two of you, and there'd be a higher chance of that happening if you join her team, for example."

The reply Azazel received was silence as Joshua just stared at him with his empty eyes. He almost felt like pushing his buttons just to see the fire burning inside them, but he let out a tired sigh instead.

"Fine, fine, I get it. How about this then. You do three missions for me. Just three. I believe I deserve that much after saving your life, no?"

"Just three?" Joshua asked suspiciously.

"Yep, just three. Do that for me, and you can walk away." Azazel confirmed with a nod and a smile.

"Fine." Joshua relented. He would prefer not to make an enemy out of him even if he didn't trust the Fallen Angel.

"Great! I'm glad we came to an agreement!" Azazel exclaimed with a mischievous glint in his eyes.