Sharing

With his second day of classes wrapping up, Vahn made his way to the Old School Building with a notable skip in his step, this time entering it of his own accord.

"My, you got here quickly," remarked Rias, getting up from her desk and making her way around it to greet Vahn as she playfully inquired, "Did you miss me?"

"It's similar but different..." answered Vahn, reciprocating Rias's embrace as she wrapped her arms around and leaned into him for a brief, welcome kiss. When she pulled back, he smiled and added, "I was looking forward to seeing the real you, but your memory never left my heart..."

"I see..." hummed Rias, angling her head slightly to look up at Vahn with upturned eyes. It had only been a day, but he had gotten much better at speaking...

"Unfortunately, you'll have to wait until after club activities before I can reward you for being so adorable," said Rias, releasing her hold on Vahn's body and using the index finger of her left hand to trace the underside of his chin.

Nodding, Vahn turned and sat on one of the two sofas while Rias leaned against the edge of her desk, waiting for the members of her Peerage to arrive. Akeno was the first, offering a few playful remarks to both him and Rias, but Kiba and Koneko arrived not long after, prompting Rias, standing with her arms crossed, to nod and state, "Alright, now that everyone has gathered, today's club activity will be training and familiarizing ourselves with Vahn's Corridor of Intertwined Fates. Its unique rules will allow us to improve our teamwork and coordination, and after discussing it with Vahn, he has generously agreed to allow you to retain any items from monsters you defeat individually. You can also submit these items to him to acquire points toward unique items and equipment."

"It reminds me of a video game," remarked Kiba, a glimmer of excitement in his usually calm blue eyes as he rarely got to wield his sword in such an active manner. The ORC occasionally hunted Stray Devils that trespassed Kuoh Town, believing it was a good place to hide, but that happened once or twice a month on the high end.

"Just don't treat it like one," appended Rias. "The safety measures of the Corridor might prevent death, but we don't know how severe the mental collapse Vahn referred to is. Be sure to treat it like real combat. Because there are no second chances in a real battle."

"Yes, of course..." responded Kiba, offering a slow, affirming nod as his smile faded to a calm but serious expression.

"Alright...!" exclaimed Rias, unfolding her arms and clapping her hands together. "Everyone's first goal within the Corridor should be to acquire enough points to obtain protective equipment similar to Vahn's. This will require defeating approximately three to five hundred ordinary monsters each, so let's get to it."

Following a round of nods, everyone stood up from the sofas and linked hands. A moment later, they were at the entrance to the fifth floor, which now had a small encampment set up after they had spent approximately half a day exploring the previous afternoon.

"Well, then, shall we try descending to the next floor...?" questioned Rias, directing the question at Vahn as it was ultimately his decision to make. It felt a little strange, leaving someone else to decide things, but since Vahn was far more exceptional than she initially suspected, she wanted to form a relationship with him as equals.

"Sure," responded Vahn, nodding and revealing, "I was planning to take a look while we were resting, but I don't mind checking it out with everyone together."

"Then we will follow your far more experienced lead," stated Rias, smiling as Vahn offered a second, affirming nod before instantaneously changing into his combat attire and leading the way. His power and speed were less than Koneko's and Kiba's, but he was calm, focused, and highly observant when he got into a battle-ready state...

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[Status]

Name: [Vahn Mason]

Age: 17

Race: Human, Sealed

Title: N/A

Parameters: High School DxD

Power: 69(82)

Guts: 142(156)

Proficiency: 38(91)

Charm: 63(119)

Alignment: Neutral

Soul Tier: 1 (Mortal Soul)

Karma: 1,094

OP: 59,442

[Skills]

[Chainbreaker(S)], [Veil of the Traveler(S)], [Pain Tolerance(A)], [Wound Transfer(B)], [Aura Conversion(B)], [Spearmanship(C)], [Battle Focus(D)], [Keen Senses(D)], [Treasure Sense(D)], [Meditation(D)]

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"Ah...before we leave the safe zone, there's one more thing..." said Vahn, stopping just shy of leading the group out of the ruin serving at the Fifth Floor's Starting Zone.

"What is it?" asked Rias.

"I grow more powerful each time I defeat a new monster for the first time," explained Vahn. "It's not a big deal since I can always come and hunt while everyone is busy with their Devil work, but it would make things easier if I got the killing blow on any new monsters we encounter together."

"Then, as for our battle formation, how about Koneko at the front, you and Kiba in the second row, and me and Akeno at the rear...?" suggested Rias. "You've witnessed it before: Koneko is a capable vanguard. She can draw the enemy's attention and create opportunities for you and Kiba to deal as much damage as possible."

"Nn...I can do it..." affirmed Koneko, punching her right fist into the palm of her left hand.

"Then we'll be relying on you, Koneko," responded Vahn, nodding and smiling. Koneko's expression didn't change in the slightest in response, but he was fairly certain he had said the right thing as she stared at him for several seconds before stepping past him, muttering, "Leave it to me," in passing.

"Ara ara~" hummed Akeno, cupping her cheek. But before she could say anything more, Rias shook her head, compelling her to suppress her urge to comment on how cute her adorable kouhai were...

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Emerging from the Starting Zone, Koneko's expression soured as she remarked, "I hate sticky stuff..." in response to seeing a group of seven three-meter-tall, moss-green Slimes. The number of monsters increased depending on the number of people present within the Corridor, so while the OP acquired from defeating them decreased, it was more efficient.

"Yeah..." responded Vahn, recalling a particularly unpleasant experience where he had been covered in the viscous goo of a Poison Slime. He was unaffected, thanks to his immunity to poisons, but removing the goo from his hair and clothing was a tremendous pain.

"Then, allow me to make things a little more bearable," hummed Akeno, rising into the air using her bat-like wings. The green Slimes bounced forward one grid space every one and a half meters she ascended, but since they started fairly far away, Akeno had plenty of time to raise her left hand, producing six crimson Magic Circles that rained down bluish-white and yellow lightning onto six of the seven Slimes, reducing each to a mass of charred and hissing green goo.

Undaunted by the deaths of its presumed kin, the final Slime bounced nearly ten meters vertically, its body appearing to solidify as it fell like a meteor towards Koneko, the closest target. In response, she reared back her right fist, exhibiting no fear despite the Slime's much larger size.

Waiting until the very last moment, Koneko punched forward, the ground beneath her cracking slightly as her tiny fist produced a strikingly similar effect when it impacted the Slime. Its body had briefly become like stone, so as a consequence, her immovability caused it to fragment like a melon thrown at the face of a sledgehammer.

Though it was repelled and critically injured by Koneko's attack, the green Slime wasn't out of the fight as it landed two grids away and attempted to regenerate. Before it could, Vahn and Kiba darted past Koneko, the former stabbing the Slime center mass while the latter circled around to its back, just in case.

With Vahn's attack discharging flames into the Slime's body, it promptly exploded into countless chunks. Unfortunately, it didn't drop anything, but as it was his first time vanquishing one, his Power parameter increased to seventy, and his OP had increased by 154 compared to the average of 45 he received from those slain by Akeno.

"Well done, everyone," said Rias, nodding approvingly with her arms crossed under her breasts as she instructed, "Kiba, please collect any items dropped by the monsters Akeno killed. Koneko will move ahead to safeguard the passage. Vahn—"

Realizing she was falling into her usual routine of issuing orders, Rias paused mid-sentence, causing Vahn to briefly tilt his head in confusion before Sis helped him make sense of things, causing him to smile as he appended, "I'll go with Koneko to secure the passage."

"I was hoping you might," replied Rias, beaming. She appreciated that Vahn was quick on the uptake, as, had he just stared at her, she would have felt increasingly embarrassed. Thus, unbeknownst to Vahn, Sis had just secured him an even greater reward once they had an opportunity to be alone...

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After a little more than eight hours of exploration, followed by three hours of rest at the Checkpoint they had discovered, Vahn and the members of the ORC reappeared in the club room, precisely at the locations they had departed from.

Checking the time using a miniature, wall-mounted grandfather clock, Rias nodded approvingly and stated, "Excellent. Getting accustomed to longer days will doubtlessly take some getting used to, but this should enable us to grow our strength steadily without affecting our daily lives and schedules too significantly."

"It really is quite something..." appended Akeno, staring at the ring she had looted and petitioned Vahn to put on for her. It was silver and had a tiny green gem that she had confirmed to increase the effectiveness of her Lightning-elemental Magic. Such a ring would cost millions of Yen, if not much more, so she was still a little shaken to learn it could simply be acquired from defeating a relatively weak monster.

Seeing through Akeno's thoughts, Rias gave her a look that conveyed that they would talk about it later before stating, "Alright, everyone. I wish you luck acquiring new contracts and preserving those you already possess. I will be retiring early tonight to spend time with Vahn, so unless there is an emergency, please grant us privacy."

Though he was surprised by Rias's words, Vahn didn't mind them in the slightest, a smile developing across his face as he looked forward to the next four or so hours preceding their bedtime. Each time he and Rias had the opportunity to be alone, it resulted in a more exciting experience than the last. That night was no exception as, alongside learning the taste of her breasts, he got to experience the softness of her inner thighs in more ways than one...

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"Hmm...this could be trouble..." remarked Rias, slightly annoyed as she stared at the photo of a raven-haired girl wearing the uniform of a rival Academy. She would prefer to be in her room, cuddling Vahn, but based on their investigation, the girl wasn't a student but a Fallen Angel. There was nothing prohibiting Fallen Angels from entering Kuoh Town, but since the girl had been spotted nearby, presumably searching for vulnerabilities in the barriers they had erected, it was clear she had a target within Kuoh Academy.

Shifting her gaze to a second photograph, one of a fairly infamous boy with wild brown hair and matching eyes, various thoughts crossed Rias's mind. They had known for a while that the boy had an abnormal amount of Spirit Energy, indicating that he might be the inheritor of a Sacred Gear, but they had been reluctant to recruit him since he had a family and lived a fairly ordinary life. The best candidates to convert to Devils were those who didn't have attachments, but if their suspicions were correct, the boy, Hyoudou Issei, was the Fallen Angel's target. She could also be targeting Vahn, but since she believed him when he assured her he had told no one else about his powers, Rias doubted the Fallen Angels would risk looking into him when doing so risked offending the younger sister of the current Lucifer...

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