20 DxD: Getting Into Shape 01

"I'm not marrying you, Riser," Rias immediately denies, ignoring Atsuko's outburst. "I don't care what my parents say. Besides, they promised me that I would be free to do as I wish while I received an education here in Japan and looked for Peerage members."

"And us being married wouldn't change that," Riser replies easily. "You would still be able to do as you wish up here. But our parents are worried, and so am I, about the state of your household."

Rias glares at Riser. "And what, exactly, is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that the Gremory house only has one heiress, and that has left your parents anxious about the future of their house," he answers with faux-sympathy. "What if something were to happen to you?"

"Then Millicas would become the heir," Rias snaps. "You know that as well as I do."

"True," Riser accedes. "But no one really wants that. It's unavoidable for the current Lucifer to have ties to one of the major families, but for Lucifer's own son to be head of that house? No matter how it comes about, it stinks of potential favoritism, and it's cleaner if you inherit. And for that to be secure, you yourself need a child, so they can inherit after you." Riser pauses to smirk. "And making a child is so much work for us. It's better if we get started as early as possible, and try and try as many times as it takes."

A collective shiver runs through the room as everyone understands the meaning of his words. Even Atsuko picks up on his true intentions and I feel her tense up and her anger rise, but I put a hand on her shoulder and hold her back.

She looks at me surprised, but I shake my head lightly and use [Sound Domain] to whisper to her. "Let Rias handle this for now. I have an idea, and I'll step in if she needs it."

Atsuko looks hard at me for a moment, but relaxes, nodding slightly. She's still angry, but she's willing to trust me and let me handle that. Good. Because I do have an idea. Not a very original idea, but I thought I would have more time before this happened, and so I have to improvise.

There are a lot of ways to handle Riser, from things as extreme as assassinating him, or as simple as using my new political weight to try to get Serafall to back me up. But considering my goals, there is only one way to handle this.

I can't let him marry her. For one, Atsuko is in her peerage now, and no way am I giving her to anyone else. For two, I intend to claim most of the rest of Rias's peerage, herself included, and I can't do that if Riser gets his hands on them. So while I don't really have anything against Riser himself, other than him being a douche, I can't let this happen.

But there's another goal I have that restricts my options somewhat. Ravel Phenex, the younger sister of Riser Phenex. I want her. And not just because she's cute. Mostly because of that, but I have justifications other than that. She's shown herself to be intelligent and level headed, and I need her for an idea I have.

So whatever option I take needs me either in a position of power over the Phenex family, enough that I can claim her, or on good enough terms that it leaves me options for obtaining her down the road. I'd prefer the latter because it's less of a headache and makes me fewer enemies, but I'm willing to piss off the Phenex clan as a whole just to get her.

All that makes my choice very clear. I just need to pick the path that gains me the most Affection with Rias, gives me Ravel, and pisses off the fewest people.

The conversation between Riser and Rias has continued as I plotted and things are getting tense. Which is why I'm glad when the teleportation circle lights up again as someone else appears in the room. A woman with silver hair and red eyes dressed in a maid uniform. The Strongest Queen, Grayfia Lucifuge.

Good, I was starting to get worried that she wouldn't be included in this conversation, and that would make things more difficult.

"Grayfia?" Rias asks in confusion. "What are you doing here?"

"If the two of you are having a conflict over the terms of your marriage agreement, we thought it best if there was a third party there to help officiate any discussions and negotiations," Grayfia answers, her tone formal and neutral.

Rias sighs. "Brother…" she says softly.

"And this is why no one wants Millicas as Gremory Heir," Riser mutters, but not quietly enough. A sudden pressure fills the room, pushing down on everyone like a suffocating force. Atsuko, Aika, and Asia shiver next to me, and I struggle to extend my own presence to protect them. But the presence disappears quickly.

"As a neutral third party," Grayfia continues, shooting a glare at a shaken and much less confident Riser, "I have come to fill that role."

It seems the title of the Strongest Queen isn't for show. I can sense that she's strong, even if her actions just now hadn't made that obvious, but I use [Observe] on her anyway to see her numbers.

<------>

Grayfia Lucifuge

Level: 3,710

Race: Devil

HP: 149,340

MP: 367,800

SP: 173,100

CON: 2,489

STR: 2,885

DEX: 5,648

INT: 6,130

WIS: 5,685

CHA: 2,879

LUK: 325

<------>

Almost as strong as Serafall. Wow. That's kind of terrifying. Also annoying. I'm level 239, but I haven't seen anyone at a similar level to compare myself against. Everyone I've seen is either below level 150 or above level 3,000. There's no middle ground here it seems. Maybe Riser?

<------>

Riser Phenex

Level: 145

Race: Devil

HP: 9,200

MP: 6,690

SP: 4,380

CON: 230

STR: 146

DEX: 152

INT: 223

WIS: 198

CHA: 71

LUK: 69

<------>

A bit stronger, and higher than even Sona or Rias, but still lacking compared to me. Well, being comfortably stronger than any threats I'm likely to face is exactly where I want to be in terms of strength.

Riser seems to have collected himself, and his expression is once again confident, though [Empathy] reveals he's a little more on edge. But not as much as he should be. He really is an idiot, isn't he? Good. That'll make him easy to manipulate.

"I don't see why you are needed in that capacity," Riser says haughtily. "Our marriage has been agreed upon by our families for years. Just because she doesn't want it doesn't mean it's not going to happen."

Atsuko tenses again, her anger rising, and this time I don't hold her back, and in fact, I remove my hand from her shoulder.

"How dare you talk about Rias like that!" Atsuko shouts at Riser. "She's not some slab of meat to be haggled over! If she doesn't want to marry you, then that's final!"

Riser glares at Atsuko before sneering and dismissing her, turning his attention back to Rias. "I advise you to keep your underlings in check, it seems as if they haven't learned their manners yet." He casts a disgusted look at the four of us, still awkwardly standing to the side. "Though if she's keeping company with a bunch of humans, it's no surprise that she hasn't acclimatized to her new life yet."

"Yoooouuu-" Atsuko starts, but I pull her back again, and once again whisper in her ear with [Sound Domain].

"That's enough," I advise her. "Don't worry, we won't let him get away with it. Rias has a plan."

Atsuko struggles to clamp down on her anger, but at my words she does so, closing her mouth with a snap and crossing her arms.

Riser and I briefly make eye contact. "Well, at least one of them knows how to recognize their betters."

<+5 Affection with Riser Phenex>

"More like I can recognize when anger and words would be wasted," I deny. "After all, for words to have any effect, the listener needs to be smart enough to understand them. I'm just saving her from a fruitless endeavor."

<-12 Affection with Riser Phenex>

This time I feel Riser's anger spike as he glares at me, which I respond to with a smirk. "And who, exactly, are you?" he asks, restrained anger clear in his voice.

"Oh no one important," I reply casually. "Just a local magician and friend of Rias. Please, I didn't mean to interrupt your conversation. Pretend like I'm not here."

I can see Riser grit his teeth as his desire to turn his attention back to the more important Rias and his unwillingness to follow my suggestions conflict, but finally, he dismisses me and turns to Rias.

"No matter the outbursts of the lowly, our marriage has been agreed upon already," he continues. "Your insistence on fighting it is childish and disrespectful not only to your family but to our society and culture."

"I don't want to hear about being disrespectful from you," Rias shoots back at him. The conversation starts to quickly devolve into bickering. I make eye contact with Grayfia, and we acknowledge each other for the first time.

<+25 Affection with Grayfia Lucifuge>

She narrows her eyes in suspicion at me but I just roll my own and motion with my hand for her to carry on. She narrows her eyes further, but turns her attention to the two bickering and clears her throat.

That small action is enough to immediately silence both of them and draw their attention to the maid as she begins to speak. "The Gremory and Phenex clans, alongside Sirzechs, are well aware of Rias's unwillingness to go ahead with the marriage, and therefore have collectively come up with a last resort solution. A Rating Game between the two of you."

Rias feels relieved, surprised, and a little annoyed at her announcement. Riser narrows his eyes, annoyance and suspicion coming off of him. "Oh? My father agreed to this then?"

"He did not believe you would mind this method, considering your relatively far greater experience with Rating Games," she answers flatly.

He leans back, annoyance gone and back to feeling confident. "That is true. If that's what it takes to end this stubborn resistance, then that is fine by me."

"I'm also fine with this," Rias replies, sounding just as confident. "I'll gladly defeat Riser in a rating game to break this engagement."

There's a flash of annoyance and anger from Riser, but it quickly gives away to amusement. "Oh? Are you sure about that?" he asks. "After all, your peerage is...underwhelming." He looks around the room at Akeno, Kiba, Koneko, and finally Atsuko. "Your Queen is formidable, but with so few other members, and with one of them being newly turned, can you really face a full peerage?"

With a snap of his fingers, the teleportation circle lights up again, and behind him appear 15 figures. I quickly check all of them with [Observe]. Besides his Queen, Yubelluna, and his sister, Ravel, most of them are between level 79 and 90, except for one smaller girl who is only level 56. On average, they're a higher level than I thought, with an average level higher than Rias's peerage with three times her members.

But I let out a snort anyway, laughing. The room goes silent as Riser turns to me, too shocked to even be angry. I 'accidentally' laugh again, and act as if I'm trying to contain it. Even Atsuko and Aika are staring at me weirdly.

"And what's so funny, nobody?" Riser snarls. Ahh, there's the rage.

I wave him off. "No no, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to laugh. Please, go back to pretending I'm not here. It's just…" I trail off and shake my head. "No, nevermind."

"No, I insist," Riser says with gritted teeth. "Please, it's just what?"

Rias is staring at me, confusion and shock on her face, and Grayfia is staring at me blankly, but I feel the tiniest hint of curiosity coming from her. I wonder what information she has on me. Serafall had a bit, and I'm sure Sirzechs collected some on me as well, he's just as much of a siscon.

"It's just...I've heard you've had a good track record in the Rating Games," I said. "See I've been educating myself on the relevant people in the current scene of Devil Politics, especially those attached to my friends. And your track record is impressive."

"And this results in you laughing how?" Riser asks, patience quickly running out.

"Well...when you boasted about your peerage, and I got a chance to see them for myself...well it's just funny isn't it?" I chuckle again, stoking the fire of his anger. "Did your opponents let you win? Or is a peerage of such a low level of strength normal?"

<-16 Affection with Riser Phenex>

Again the room goes silent at my blatant disrespect. I can't tell who's more shocked, Riser and his Peerage who I just insulted, or the people who knew me and had never seen me be anything other than easy-going and non-confrontational.

"Come again?" Riser asks in a quiet voice as the smell of ash and fire slowly fills the room.

I run my eyes back over his peerage. "Yourself, the woman who I assume is your Queen, and your sister," I state, my tone a bit less laid back and more serious now. "They're the only ones in your entire peerage that stand out as even approaching strong enough to match your deeds. And even then, just barely. The rest of your peerage is...lacking." I shake my head in pity. "It's obvious that you've spent more time indulging in your peerage than training them."

I turn my gaze to him directly, staring at his rage-filled eyes without flinching. "So which is it? Did you bribe them to let you win? Or is the difference in strength between someone who has won so many Rating Games and someone who can't even participate in normal Rating Games so small that I could train the latter to close the gap in just a week?"

<-12 Affection with Riser Phenex>

"You dare accuse me of cheating? And call me weak?" Riser says. The smell of fire grows stronger, and Asia clings to me as the room grows hotter.

But I just maintain eye contact and smirk. "I'm just curious, and asking a genuine ques-"

I'm cut off by a gout of flame headed straight to my face, but I don't move. Sure enough, before it reaches me, the temperature of the room drops instantly and the fire disappears as that heavy presence fills the room again.

"No matter what words are spoken, I will not let this meeting descend into violence," Grayfia declares. She once again pulls back, lifting the weight from the room.

"You would let this human insult me like this without reproach?" Riser asks Grayfia, spitting in rage.

"His inclusion in this conversation and his input into it are beyond the scope of my responsibility here," Grayfia answers coolly. She looks at me with searching eyes though, briefly turning her eyes to Atsuko and Aika behind me, gauging them and their new level of strength. She turns her gaze back to me, and there's a question in her eyes, and I smile. I love working with intelligent people.

I nod in confirmation, and she turns her attention back to Riser. "However, he does bring up a valid point. Considering Rias's lack of experience and the fact that her Pawn is only recently reincarnated, a period of time for her to prepare is reasonable."

"Fine," Riser spits out, annoyed. "I wouldn't want to be accused of being unfair." He looks at me, hatred in his eyes. "A week you said? I'll give you your week." He turns to Rias. "Next Monday night we'll have our Rating Game and put an end to this farce. Train hard Rias. You'll need it."

With that, he storms to the teleportation circle to join his peerage and they disappear with a flash of light.

Grayfia turns to me. "If you trained those girls that fast, then I will trust you to help Rias here."

"Atsuko is also part of her Peerage," I reassure her. "And that guy pisses me off, treating Rias like that. I'll get them ready."

Grayfia nods, and I swear I can see a small smile on her lips for just a moment. But then she turns to Rias. "I must go make preparations, but please let me know if you need further assistance." She bows slightly before vanishing in a flash of light as well.

The room is quiet for a few moments as everyone recovers from what just happened.

"Axton?" Rias asks. "What was that?"

"That was so badass!" Atsuko interrupts, excited. "I really wanted to chew out that jackass, but Axton just swooped in with a sucker-punch!"

I pat the literally bouncing Atsuko on the head while I turn my attention to Rias. "That was me buying you more time," I say, ignoring that without my actions she would have gotten 10 days of training instead of just a week. She doesn't know that, and a week is more than enough for me to train her to the point where she can kick Riser's ass. I underplayed the strength of his peerage a little, but honestly not by much.

"I wasn't lying when I said I've been looking into Devil politics recently," I lie. "I knew about your engagement, and it's certainly no secret how against it you are. I've been looking into ways to help you without joining your peerage, but, like you, I thought I had more time to work with."

Rias is shocked. "You were doing that, for me? No wait, you let Atsuko join my peerage knowing that?"

"Of course. You're a friend after all," I say.

<+10 Affection with Rias Gremory>

Knew that line would work on her. "I have personal reasons for not joining myself," I continue, "But I was reasonably confident I could help you get out of this engagement. Confident enough that I was okay with Atsuko joining you. Even if it came down to this."

"I know I agreed to the Rating Game, but are you sure it'll turn out fine?" Rias asks, nervous.

I wrap my arms around Aika and Atsuko's shoulders. "I got these girls to this level of strength in a casual morning of training. Give me a week dedicated to it? I'll make your entire peerage more than strong enough to kick his ass."

--<New Quest added!>--

Fall of the Phoenix

Objective: Train Rias and her Peerage and have her win her Rating Game

Bonus Objective: Get her entire peerage above Level 100

Bonus Objective: Ger her entire peerage above Level 150

Reward: +10 Affection with Sirzechs Lucifer

Bonus Reward: +10 Affection with Sirzechs Lucifer, 1 Phenex Tear

Bonus Reward: +10 Affection with Sirzechs Lucifer, +10 Affection with Grayfia Lucifuge, 2 Phenex Tears, [Devil Magic]

--<>--

Good. It's been too long since the last quest that wasn't Kyu egging me on to seduce girls. That's what I get for keeping my head down I guess. "Besides, I never got a chance to tell you what Atsuko's Sacred Gear is," I continue. I nudge Atsuko. "Go on, show her your Sacred Gear."

Atsuko nods and raises her left hand. With a declaration of "BOOST!" that fills the air, the red gauntlet of the Boosted Gear appears on her hand.

I can feel the shock coming from Rias, Akeno, Kiba, and Koneko as their eyes widen. "That's-!" Akeno starts in shock.

"Ladies and gentlemen," I say. "I present to you Atsuko Hyoudou, newest wielder of the Longinus class Sacred Gear, the Boosted Gear. Meet the new Red Dragon Empress."

For the third time the room goes silent at my words as everyone looks at me, and this time also at Atsuko, in shock. Even Asia is shocked, understanding at least a little, though Aika just looks lost.

Not as much as Atsuko is though, who tilts her head and looks at me. "Huh?"

"Your Sacred Gear is a super powerful one that is really well known that pops up once every now and then and you having it is a really big deal," I explain in simple terms. "It's classified as a Longinus because it's one of the Sacred Gears that is recognized as something that is capable of killing a god."

Her eyes widen. "Really?" She stares at the gauntlet in awe.

I turn back to Rias. "So yeah. With my help and the Red Dragon Empress in your Peerage, I'm confident you'll be able to take on Riser even with just the five of you."

"Six," I hear from behind me, and I turn to Aika, who has a determined look on her face. "I'm not entirely sure what's going on, but I decided this morning that I wanted to ask you to join your Peerage as well. I want to fight alongside Atsuko."

I turn to Rias. "You still have a Bishop piece right? She's picked up the magic I've taught her extremely fast."

Rias is looking extremely overwhelmed. "I- you- she-" Rias stammers, before sighing and rubbing her temples. "Can you just give me a second?"

"Sure sure," I say easily, a little amused.

"So Atsuko has the Boosted Gear," Rias says out loud. "That makes sense. She took 8 Pawns to reincarnate despite her low magic and how hard it was to sense her Sacred Gear. I was expecting something big. Not that big, but big."

She turns to me. "And you trained her for a single morning and now she is...what? Almost as strong as Kiba?"

"Only when boosted twice," I say. "But she's growing quickly, yes."

"And Kiryuu, you've started to learn magic, have also grown explosively in a short span, and want to become a Devil so you can stay close to Atsuko?" Rias asks Aika.

"Yes," she replies with a serious nod.

Rias turns to me. "And whatever method you used to train them so quickly you want to use on the rest of us?"

"That is everything summed up, yes," I answer.

She takes a deep breath and her eyes unfocus as she thinks about everything. "Okay. Yes. Let's do it." She looks me in the eyes. "I'm going to trust you on this Axton."

"I won't let you down," I promise. "I'll even go beyond that, and I'll surprise you for sure."

"I really hope that will be the case," she says with a sigh. "Come on, let's start getting ready. We have a lot of preparation to do."

-x-

I stick around for Aika's reincarnation as a Devil, but it's just as anti-climatic as Atsuko's, just a chess piece and a bump to her HP, MP, and SP. After that, we all split up, getting ready. Atsuko and Aika have to explain to their parents that they were going on a trip for a club activity, Rias has to make preparations for a place for us to train, and I have some shopping to do.

So I do what I should have done early on. I contact Sona and ask her if she knows where I can buy common goods in bulk without being asked questions. And of course, she's able to direct me to a supplier that does business with her family that knows about Devils, is loyal to her, and won't ask questions. And also accept payment in a suspiciously large amount of cash. I should really look into setting up a bank account or something.

Not that secrecy is terribly important for what I need. I just don't want to explain why I need these strange things in bulk. Or questions about how I was going to transport them. Still, buying things by the pallet is surprisingly satisfying. And within an hour, I have enough alchemy ingredients to last me ages.

I also buy 2,500 yards of wool to grind my [Tailoring] skill, and a Magic Needle from the Hunie Store that turns MP into thread, just so I didn't have to worry about managing that. I also buy 400 more vials, because they're cheap and I need more.

All of these purchases puts a pretty big dent into my savings, but that's fine with me. What is the point of money if you don't spend it to better yourself? Besides, with all these potion ingredients, I can make that money back a few thousand times over.

Ingredients purchased, I make sure I have Yua and Kyu with me before I [Void Travel] back to the club room, to meet with the others, and we all teleport to the training area.

As expected, it's the same mountain retreat area that they trained at in the anime. But unlike then, we teleport directly to the building instead of having to hike up there. I guess Rias doesn't feel the need for it.

The sun is setting by the time we arrive though, and before we head into the place, I gather everyone around.

"Alright guys, here's how this next week is going to go," I say. "Truth is, I haven't been fully upfront about what I can do. It's not that I don't trust you guys, but I try to keep my cards pretty close to my chest. But the time for that is past. I'll explain everything tomorrow though. For tonight, we're just going to rest. Because tomorrow I'm going to put you all through hell, got it?"

Everyone nods and agrees, serious expressions on their faces. "Good," I respond. "But for tonight, relax! I'm going to be making the food while we're here, so don't worry about that."

The rest of the evening passes quickly. I cook up a feast of food and the evening is spent filling Aika and Atsuko in on some of the basics of being a Devil and Devil culture. Aika shows off some of her magic, and it's undoubtedly stronger now. Already she's starting to grasp the basics of Devil magic and is using it to enhance her Dark magic.

But soon we all separate into our own rooms. But there are two things I need to take care of before everyone is asleep.

First, I cast [Erotic Dreams] on everyone except Kiba. I can cast the skill on as many people equal to the skill level, which means I can put it on 15 people right now. I do this mostly so I can level up the skill. But also because while everything I said to Rias is true, my other main objective of this training camp is to get closer to Rias and her Peerage. An entire week of focusing on them? Way too good of a chance to pass up.

Though I go ahead and use a Large Heart Crystal on Kiba to get him above 50 Affection. Might as well earn as many points with him as I can.

Perk Reward for 50 Affection with Yuuto Kiba

[Way of the Blade] - Increases Affection gain with those who use swords by 20%

The second thing I need to do tonight is to have a quick conversation with Asia. Sensing that she's still awake, I knock on her door, opening it when I hear her invite me in. She's sitting on her bed, already in her nightgown, reading her grimoire.

"Axton!" she greets me with a smile. "Is there something you needed?"

"Just wanted a quick talk," I say. "I know I kind of dragged you along with this, and just wanted to make sure you were okay with it. You don't have to train with the others if you don't want to."

She shakes her head. "No, I want to train as well. Even more than before. I need to get better. I need to be useful."

I sigh. "No Asia, you don't have to be useful. You can be useless as you want. I care for you, and I won't let you go, no matter what."

She blushes but pushes past her embarrassment. "Well, I want to be useful. I want to be better."

I walk up to her and pull her into a hug, which she returns. "Okay," I say. "If that's what you want, I'll include you in the training. It'll be hard, but you're tough, so I know you can take it." I pull away. "Now, don't stay up too late, we'll be getting an early start in the morning."

She nods but opens her grimoire to start reading again, studying it. I leave her room and head for my own. There won't be any sleep for me tonight, or probably at all during this week. Which is fine. I can use the time for grinding my crafting skills and farming the dungeons.

I shut the door behind me. The bedrooms we have are all simple, having only a bed, a night table, a small dresser with a mirror, and a desk with a chair in front of it. Yua and Kyu are already curled up on my bed, sleeping, and I sigh and sit down at the desk. It's going to be a long night.

-x-

The first thing I do is blitz the last Tier 1 dungeon, the Pharaoh's Tomb. It's a neat dungeon, focusing more on traps and secret stashes of treasure than enemies. I take the time to disable all of the traps. My [Trapping] skill doesn't get many chances to be leveled, so I disable them rather than just avoid them.

The enemies are roughly what'd you expect. Sphinxes, mummies, snakes, and scorpions. Nothing I can't handle at my level, even challenging myself by only using [Void Drain]. Though my level is an issue since the whole trip barely gets me any XP at all because of the penalty. Still, I get plenty of loot, so it worked out.

Aside from the normal range of crafting materials and potions, I also find a few different kinds of Heart Crystals, another INT Crystal that gets used immediately, a lot of money, a scroll that summons a swarm of bugs, another wand for Yua, and the pelts of various kinds of magical and mundane creatures, such as bears, sphinxes, unicorns, and even the hide of a Dragon.

That isn't even the best of it. I also find 5 Adamantium Ingots, and I have no idea what I'm going to do with them. Pick up the [Blacksmithing] skill sometime soon maybe, or use them with [Alchemy]. They're valuable though, so I'll have to think carefully before I use them.

I also get a skill and some neat items.

<[Bastet's Cure] - Level 1(0%)>

The boss fight is especially lucrative. The fight itself is boring. The Pharaoh himself rose from his tomb, but he was a rather lackluster magic caster, and [Void Drain] took care of him without issue. But his hoard was another matter.

4 Gacha Tokens, 100 Gold Ingots, and 25 golfball-sized gems of various kinds. I don't consider myself to be very greedy, but seeing that much wealth is a rush.

But more importantly than all that, the boss also dropped the thing I came here for in the first place. The Crafting Skill Gem. I crush it immediately and choose the skill I need.

<[Enchanting] - Level 1(0%)>

Making light armor and robes with [Tailoring] is good and all, but this is what I really need in order to make things that can protect my girls. Though the skill description is annoying. Not only do I need to learn enchantments by destroying enchanted items, but apparently I need something called catalysts to use the skill. Which, if I had to guess, I could get as dungeon loot only now that I've unlocked the skill. Which is weird, considering I could get all sorts of other crafting materials before I had a skill to use them with, but whatever.

Time to go farm for some of those. But first. Let's go ahead and use those gacha tokens. No point letting them sit there.

...wait, just the one? How is that any more useful than a normal chest? Ugh. I guess I have to roll it again.

Sounds like good enchanting material to me. I set it aside for now though.

Another item to consume for its enchantment. Which I appreciate, but so far these pulls have been kind of disappointing. One last one.

First a piece of the Light, and now a piece of the Dark, huh? When I got the Shard of the Traveler I was hoping that this was a possibility as well. I have a plan for this, and for the Shard as well. They will both help strengthen me in two very different ways.

I quickly go through my inventory and pull out all the items I don't use often enough to be worth keeping that I can consume for enchantments. And I end up with quite a few, I've collected a lot of stuff.

The Blackened Bone Dagger, Bloodhound Ring, Double Strike Dagger, Exorcist Robes, Handmaid's Dagger, Iron Dagger of Fire, Ivy Chest Piece, Multiversal Telepathic Collar, Ragged Mantle of Death, Red Tearstone Ring, Ring of Visibility, Sanctified Whip, Expert Belt, Monocle of Appraisal, Pendant of Curse Resistance, and Float Stone all get consumed. And I'm pleasantly surprised to find that learning enchantments gets me a good chunk of XP. It's just enough to get the skill to level 25.

<[Enchanting] - Level 25(19%)>

Already up to being able to add 2 enchantments to things without ever having enchanted any. Nice. Now to get what I need to actually enchant.

I hop over to the zombie dungeon. It's the dungeon I can clear the fastest and I'm just looking for the drops. But there's a surprise waiting for me in the safe room.

A man in a large coat with his face wrapped in cloth is standing in the corner. He gestures as he sees me.

"Aah, stranger, good of you to drop by," he says in a raspy and familiar voice. "I've got a selection of good things on sale for ya."

Suspicious, I use [Observe] on him.

<------>

The Merchant

Race: Dungeon Vendor

???

<------>

Dungeon Vendor? So he's some kind of NPC? He does look and sound exactly like the merchant from Resident Evil 4.

I make a show of relaxing and walk over to him. "What are you selling?"

"I've got a fine selection for ya stranger," he says with a raspy chuckle. "With that nasty Lich no longer watching over this place, I managed to collect all sorts of useful things. Give it a look." He waves his hand and a game window appears in front of me.

Definitely an NPC then. And looking at the list, an NPC that sells me the things that drop from the Dungeon. I guess that means I can skip the farming. Though maybe not entirely, as I note that the currency I have to use is Hunie. Well, no matter. I have a lot of potions just sitting in my inventory I can sell, especially now with all the ingredients I have.

I scroll through the list of things I can buy. Most of it is unremarkable, though having a place where I can bulk buy rotweed and human bone is convenient. But at the bottom is something especially nice. Minor Catalyst, 25 Hunie each.

"Gimme 300 of those Minor Catalysts," I say. That's all my Hunie, but I can make it back easily.

"Spending big on the good stuff eh?" he comments. "Done deal stranger. You'll clean me out though, and it'll be a few days before I can restock on those. Is that all?"

"For now," I reply as I check my inventory. I'm now out of Hunie, but I have more than enough items for enchanting. Annoying that he won't have more though. I'll have to get to work on another Hardmode Dungeon.

"Come find me if you want anything else," the Merchant says. "You can usually find me in one of these safe rooms."

I nod and use [Dungeon Traversal] to leave the dungeon and go back to my room. I don't have time to chat with NPCs. He saved me time, sure, but that just meant I could focus more on grinding my skills.

Which is what I do. I can't do anything with the magical animal hides I've gotten from the dungeon, presumably because my level is too low. But I expected that much, so it's fine. That's why I bought an insane amount of wool.

My first cloak takes me 10 minutes to make. But my second one only takes me five minutes. And then, as [Tailoring] levels up and as I figure out tricks to save time for making a lot of them, such as [Void Edge] and a sharp knife letting me cut over twenty layers of cloth at once, over the next three hours I'm able to make 100 simple hooded cloaks with black wool.

Enough to get my [Tailoring] to level 29. The skill description didn't change at 25, but if I think about the non-magical animal hides I have in my inventory, I can imagine how to turn them into armor. Hell, I know how to turn my normal cloth into padded armor.

Still, that's pretty good progress for now. Now for the next part, enchanting them all. First, I take out a Minor Catalyst. It's a small square completely transparent gem, like glass, but not quite. I wanted to use a better enchantment for these cloaks, but minor will work.

Or maybe I can? As I think about better catalysts and [Enchanting], I get a niggling feeling in the back of my mind. Following that feeling, I pull two more Minor Catalysts out of my inventory. I press all three of them together and watch as they fuse together, flowing like water into each other, to form a slightly larger gem. [Observe] confirms that it's now a Moderate Catalyst.

So I can turn my lesser catalysts into better ones. Good. It would be annoying to have a bunch of Minor Catalysts and no reason to use them at higher levels. I quickly make a bunch more Moderate Catalysts and try to fuse them to the next tier, but it doesn't work. It's probably restricted by my [Enchanting] level then.

Whatever, Moderate is fine. Holding just one of the moderate catalysts in my hand, I use [Enchanting] on it. I watch it transform from clear to a murky gray as the magic seeps in.

Moderate Enchantment Crystal(Fortify Stealth)

Add to an item to give it the Moderate Fortify Stealth Enchantment

I grab one of the cloaks I made and press the catalyst against it. Once again, it flows almost like water into the cloak, and the cloak suddenly becomes slightly magical to my senses. [Observe] confirms it.

Interesting. The enchantment I used on it was one I got from the Ivy Chest Piece and that increased stealth in forested environments. Does it partially depend on what I put the enchantment on? I'll have to keep that in mind.

I spend another hour enchanting all the cloaks I made with the same thing. A hundred cloaks later, [Enchanting] is up to level 40. Then, I pull out my phone and see how much I can sell them for. I go through the process of selling them through the Hunie Store. When I make my selection, a massive cardboard box appears in the room.

The Mailman really sticks to that class delivery aesthetic huh? I dump all the cloaks into the box, shut it, and hit confirm on my phone. The box disappears, and I become 25,000 Hunie richer.

Yes, that's right. I sold each cloak for 250 Hunie. Honestly, it feels too cheap. But then again it was only a moderate enchantment and some cheap wool, so maybe not.

Still, I need more catalysts if I want to improve my skill, and since the Merchant said he would be out, that means farming in the dungeons, old school style. I glance at the time. A little under four hours until I wake everyone up to start training. Let's see how much of the Hardmode Forest Dungeon I can get done. If I finish that, maybe an NPC will appear there as well.

-x-

The Hardmode Forest Dungeon is intense. It's just a large patch of woods, not separated into four quadrants like the normal version. Instead, there are a dozen pockets of factions that I discover, and I'm pretty sure I only explored half of it. Not to mention the roaming boss, a large boar the size of a semi-truck.

I tried attacking it to clear the dungeon early, but my attacks bounced off. A belated [Observe] showed that it was protected by four seals. Just like the door to the boss room in the normal version of the dungeon.

After teleporting away from the then enraged boss, I clear out a dozen encampments of different kinds of creatures. Mostly different kinds of plant-based creatures, with a few furry beasts such as bears and large cats.

I find one boss, a large gryphon, that [Observe] tells me is a "Keeper of a Seal". Killing it seemed to enrage the boss and bring it rushing to my location, though [Fade] keeps it from finding me, and I was able to [Observe] it and confirm one of the seals protecting it is gone.

Unfortunately, that's all I had time for. Still, I made some decent progress. One mini boss down, some good loot, more catalysts, and some good XP.

<------>

Axton

Level: 248

Class: Hollow Knight(48/100)[0%]

HP: 11,100 (222 per second)

MP: 45,520 (1366 per second)

SP: 13,840 (277 per second)

CON: 555

STR: 667(692)

DEX: 872

INT: 1138

WIS: 1004

CHA: 391

LUK: 483(493)

<------>

<[Mana Factory] - Increases mana regeneration>

Just like 1000 INT, all the 1000 WIS perk does is increase my MP regeneration rate. Which I'm more than fine with, because now I can cast [Void Beam] at effectively no cost, so long as I'm not casting anything else that uses MP.

Besides the normal array of crafting ingredients, potions, money, and heart crystals, I also get a dagger that deals poison damage and a bracelet that increases STR that I immediately break down with [Enchanting] and a nice piece of wooden armor that will fit perfectly on Atsuko.

I also pick up two new skills.

<[Control Plants] - Level 12(16%)>

<[Hunt] - Level 13(39%)>

And [Void Drain] reaches level 50, unlocking two more things it can drain.

<[Void Drain] - Level 50(62%)>

I've already tested out draining both elements and Stats. elements aren't something I can drain directly from enemies, but it increases how much of their attacks I absorb. And I can stick my hand in water or dirt and start absorbing those as well. I don't gain anything from it, but I can do it.

As for draining stats, I do get the stats I steal, but only temporarily. As soon as the drain stops, I start losing them at about 1% a second. And I don't think I get all of them either, the efficiency of the stats I steal is low. Still, it's a pretty good short term boost that also weakens my opponents. It's just not a game-breaking way to gain unlimited power quickly.

And then finally, the best of them all. Six more gacha tokens. I don't hesitate to use them.

Ooh, interesting. The sword itself isn't very special, just a pretty standard iron longsword, but that enchantment is nice. Immediately I destroy it with [Enchanting] to learn it myself.

Another powerful enchantment, don't mind if I do. Though isn't this from Hollow Knight? Shouldn't it restore soul, not MP? Then again, the Game doesn't seem to offer much assistance when it comes to soul stuff, so maybe it just tweaked it to fill MP instead. Whatever, MP is more useful to me anyway. Mostly because I can put the enchantment on other things.

Now, this is the sort of thing I expect from the Gacha. The potential for five different areas where I can fight enemies without risking collateral damage. The Devils have a way of doing something similar, but I don't like having to depend on them for things. I wonder if it works in Dungeons. Something to try later.

Another enchantment, and a damn good one at that.

Another powerful item, though it's a consumable one. There's a part of me that's tempted to pull it out and figure out the best way to deal with Kokabiel. But I quash that thought. There are a dozen ways to handle him, all within my capabilities. No, he's not a threat worth wasting this on. There are much bigger threats that will be much more annoying to deal with. So I pocket it for now. I'll wait until I'm confronted with one of those.

Oh? Interested, I pull it out. It's exactly as the item describes it. It's a small disc, slightly smaller than a dinner plate. It feels like metal, but it's hard to describe what it looks like. There's black, and then there's an absence of light, and then there's this. But rather than give me a headache, I can only describe it as beautiful.

I can think of a few uses. Yet more defense for Atsuko for one. Or perhaps someone less tanky, since it's pretty light. Or perhaps I could use it for something else. I skim through my inventory, picking out items. Hmm. One item short. I'll save the Void Plate for now, but I have ideas for it as well.

Gacha done, I look at the time. It's still relatively early in the morning, but it's about thirty minutes before I told everyone to wake up. I shrug, and [Void Travel] downstairs. Might as well start getting breakfast ready. Thankfully Rias has the place stocked with ingredients, so I don't have to worry about that.

Koneko is the first one to arrive downstairs, nose twitching as she enters the room, and her eyes widen at the feast I've laid out on the table. Pancakes, bacon, toast, ham, eggs cooked three different ways, and a few other things. Since I had the ingredients and what turned out to be a very nice kitchen, I went a bit overboard. Enough to bring [Cooking] up to level 49. So close to level 50. I'll hit it tonight, for sure.

"Good morning Koneko," I greet her as I finish up one last batch of scrambled eggs. "The others are waking up now. Go ahead and start eating while we wait for them."

She wordlessly bolts to the table and starts assembling multiple plates of food, taking bites of them even as she gets more food. I laugh and turn my attention back to cooking. [Void Detect] lets me know that the others are in various states of waking up and will be downstairs soon.

In the few minutes that it takes for everyone else to trickle in, Koneko makes a sizable dent on the food just by herself. She's definitely eaten more than she should be able to physically fit into her stomach. It's actually pretty impressive.

The others are in various states of alertness, struggling to wake up. Asia, the only person here other than me that isn't a nocturnal Devil, seems to be doing the best, alongside Kiba. On the other end of the spectrum, Atsuko and Aika look like they're barely managing to stay awake. It must be rough to be a freshly turned Devil.

The food seems to help wake everyone up though, both when they smell it and after they take their first bites. I'm basked in compliments as I finish cooking and make my own small plate of food.

While we eat, I use [Observe] on Rias, Akeno, Koneko, and Kiba, to remind myself how strong they are.

<------>

Rias Gremory

Level: 119[0%]

Race: Devil

HP: 2,040 (1,224 per minute)

MP: 3,690 (111 per minute)

SP: 1,650 (50 per minute)

CON: 68

STR: 55

DEX: 48

INT: 123

WIS: 112

CHA: 164

LUK: 333

<------>

Akeno Himejima

Level: 102[0%]

Race: Reincarnated Devil(Half-Fallen)

HP: 1,740 (1,044 per minute)

MP: 5,250 (158 per minute)

SP: 1,560 (47 per minute)

CON: 58

STR: 52

DEX: 60

INT: 175

WIS: 168

CHA: 145

LUK: 126

<------>

Koneko Toujou

Level: 78[0%]

Race: Reincarnated Devil(Nekoshou)

HP: 4,200 (2520 per minute)

MP: 1,740 (52 per minute)

SP: 4,200 (126 per minute)

CON: 140

STR: 140

DEX: 100

INT: 58

WIS: 73

CHA: 75

LUK: 36

<------>

Yuuto Kiba

Level: 75[0%]

Race: Reincarnated Devil

HP: 3,090 (1854 per minute)

MP: 1,470 (44 per minute)

SP: 3,330 (100 per minute)

CON: 103

STR: 111

DEX: 196

INT: 49

WIS: 33

CHA: 85

LUK: 23

<------>

Honestly, not that bad compared to Riser. With even numbers, they might've stood a chance. Maybe. They'd still need a way to get past his regeneration. But it's a non-issue now. I can make them strong enough to have no problem, Rias has Atsuko and Aika she can rely on as well, and I have a few ideas on ways to deal with Riser.

Also, it's nice seeing the Overflowing Health perk in action. They regain their HP at a monstrous rate thanks to it.

Surprisingly, all the food gets eaten. I made more than what I thought would be needed and planned on storing the rest in my inventory, but I guess a [Cooking] level approaching 50 really encourages people to eat as much as they can.

"Alright everyone," I say as everyone is finishing up. "Here's the plan. In the morning, we're going to be doing group training using my secret method. The goal here is to strengthen you and get you guys used to working in groups against multiple enemies."

"How are we going to train against multiple enemies?" Kiba asks. "Are we going to split up into teams and fight each other?"

"You'll see," I answer him. "Don't worry, I'll explain in a moment. After group training, we'll eat lunch and go over what we did, what worked, what didn't, and what we need to work on. Then after lunch, we'll do some individual training. You all have different strengths and skills to focus on. I'll be going around and helping each of you one on one, giving you tips and helping you practice. Here's where some of you might also benefit from sparring against each other.

"After that, we'll break for dinner and spend an hour or so talking strategy. By then it'll be night, the perfect time for you devils to get some strength training in. You'll all work on your stamina, and the more melee-focused combatants will get some strength training in. After that, we all cool down with a bath and I'll be offering massages for anyone who wants one to help prevent sore muscles before we go to bed to start it all again tomorrow."

Atsuko perks up at the mention of massages, and Aika smirks knowingly at me.

"That's quite the schedule," Rias comments. "Are you sure it's going to be enough though? You've covered everything but…" She glances at Atsuko and Aika. "Our two newest members are still weak, and they may need more than that."

"We can adjust things if necessary," I say, not worried. "But I don't think we'll have to." I stand up. "Come on, if you guys are ready, we'll go ahead and get started."

The others get up to follow me as I lead them outside, and I start explaining as we walk. "Atsuko, Aika, and Asia already know this, but I have access to what I believe are pocket dimensions, little bubbles of reality tucked away out of normal reach. I call them Dungeons, because each one is filled with fake monsters to fight, and defeating them makes you stronger, and they even drop loot, just like a video game or tabletop roleplaying game."

I can feel the shock and disbelief coming from behind me. "That's…." Rias starts but trails off, apparently not knowing how to comment on that.

"Pretty useful, I know," I finish for her. "But as they say, seeing is believing, so why don't I show all of you instead of explaining it?" Before anyone can protest, I use [Dungeon Traversal] and bring us all into the normal Forest Dungeon.

"Did you just teleport us?" Akeno asks as she looks around at the drastically changed landscape. The mountains and woods have been replaced with a much flatter terrain with much denser trees, and the feeling in the air has changed.

"Sort of," I say. "We're now in one of those pocket dimensions. We're safe right here, but beyond this clearing live a variety of 'monsters'."

"This isn't the place you brought us yesterday," Atsuko comments as she looks around.

"That one would be too easy for this group," I say. "Hell, this one is probably too easy for Rias and Akeno. But we need to get all of you up to a certain level of strength before we move on to anything too difficult."

"I'm sorry Axton, but can you explain more about what this place is?" Rias asks, confused.

I shrug. "Not a lot, no. I know you can't exit this forest. You get to a point where you can see further, but you can't go. Not even my teleportation works." Or at least I assume it doesn't. I haven't actually tried though. "The creatures here are fake, and they disappear when slain. I know this place is somehow tied to my ability to store things in my pocket space though, because sometimes after I kill something here, items will appear in there."

Her eyes widen, though she also relaxes some. "So this is part of you Sacred Gear?" she asks.

I shrug. "If my pocket space is a Sacred Gear, then I guess so yeah." I guess the idea of this being a Sacred Gear functionality makes more sense to her. Well, whatever makes her more focused on training than trying to figure out this place.

Seeing that there weren't any more questions, I continue. "Alright, so here's how it's going to work. This forest is split up into four different quadrants. Each of those quadrants is home to a different variety of monsters. Our goal will be to work as a group to clear each of these one at a time. Understood?" Nods all around. "Great. Let's get started."

-x-

Fun fact, when you bring a bunch of people into the dungeon, the spawn rates increase. I had noticed it a little yesterday when I had Atsuko, Aika, and Asia with me and the first room had two hollows in it instead of just one, but it's even more obvious here.

Suffice to say, even with all of us, there are plenty of enemies to go around. I bring them to the area with the mushroom people and pixies first, figuring they would have the easiest time of that.

And that turns out to be true. The enemies aren't dangerous for them, especially after I give them all [Unnatural Rhythm] with Mentor, since that's the only skill of mine that helps everyone no matter how they fight. Even the mushroom people aren't dangerous to Atsuko with the Elderwood armor I gave her and with her maintaining 2 boosts. With the Cloranthy ring, she could maintain a much higher boost, but it's important that she gets used to her strength before going all out. I gave her a big ax after all. It wouldn't do for her to make a mistake with that and hurt someone else. Two boosts are more than enough for enemies of this strength anyway.

But while the enemies themselves aren't a threat, it quickly becomes clear that their teamwork needs work. Though in their defense, it seems to be caused more by it being new than them being bad at working together. Rias eventually takes charge and starts organizing things so that the casters are no longer flinging spells at the same targets, and that the fighters aren't getting in the way of attacks and were aggroing properly.

Though the pixies remain a nuisance throughout, proving difficult to hit with both melee and ranged spells. Kiba probably has the easiest time of it, his sword quick enough to slash through them before they can react, and Akeno can usually get them with her lightning. Rias and Aika struggle to hit them with their spells, but it's good practice for them so I encourage them to keep at it. Atsuko and Koneko struggle the most though. It wasn't impossible for them, but it's difficult, especially when Atsuko gets frustrated and starts swinging her ax wildly.

Asia...well, she was trying. She learned a new miracle, one that let her emit a wave of force. She could control it to either burst in every direction, or just a narrow range, and so far she's been using it mostly just to keep the pixies off of her. It doesn't hurt them, just sends them tumbling in the air and makes them a little dizzy. But I think they find it fun because she seems to get targeted the most. I send Yua to help her and make sure not too many crowd her at once.

Even with the increased enemy spawn it only takes them a couple of hours to clear out that section of the forest. I go ahead and deactivate the wardstone. Finding it isn't part of their training, just killing things and working as a team. And neither is finding the treasure chests, which I've looted all of while they killed, sending a Doppelganger to do so while I keep an eye on the rest of the party.

By the time that section is clear, we've made some decent progress. Rias's level rose by five, while Aika and Atsuko's levels rose by twelve, and everyone else increased by an amount between those two values, depending on what level they were before we started. Even I gained a level, putting me at level 249.

The loot I got is okay, but not great. Mostly more crafting ingredients, including some nice magical animal pelts and some enchanting catalysts. But I did get a LUK Crystal that increased my LUK by ten and two Super Heart Crystals.

More interestingly, teaching [Unnatural Rhythm] to all of them and having them fight pushed my [Mentor] level to over 60, and after 50, my limit on taught skills increased to three. I hold off on teaching any for now though. I have a couple in mind, but honestly, not a lot of my skills are very helpful for some of them.

After a fifteen-minute rest, I bring them to the next area, the one with the hidden living plants. That area is far more hectic, and their lack of coordination and teamwork shows. As they are ambushed, their formation falls apart as they scramble to find the plants and take care of them.

No one gets really hurt though. Some cuts, bruises, and a few burns. But those are healed quickly by both Asia and their natural healing rate boosted by Overflowing Health. We make good time cutting through the forest and clearing it of living plants.

By the time I disarm the wardstone, everyone is tired and sweaty. I look at the time and decide that's enough for the day. We made some good progress here too, even better than in the other section. Rias gained six levels, while Aika and Atsuko gained fourteen. Both of them reached level 54, and when they rose to above 50, their HP, MP, and SP jumped up.

I also reached level 250 and gained yet another Trait.

<[Hollow Soul] - Your mind and soul are immune to tampering, even by divine forces>

[Gamer's Mind] had already been protecting my mind, even against Divinity I assume, but having my soul protected as well is a massive boon. That should prevent The Man in the Wall from fucking with me directly. I half expected him to show up when I got it, but he didn't. Maybe because I'm surrounded by other people. Or maybe he can't now? I doubt it though.

[Mentor] rose all the way to level 85. Teaching such a large group of people, even if they didn't know they were being taught skills, was doing wonders for the skill level. And the higher it rose, the faster it rose as they gained more of the XP.

As far as loot goes, it's mostly just more crafting ingredients. The only item of note is the pair of Livingwood Gauntlets that I give to Koneko.

"Good work today guys!" I tell them as I pull them back to the real world with [Dungeon Traversal]. "I'm sure you guys can feel it, but you've made a lot of great progress today."

And they have.

<------>

Rias Gremory

Level: 132[94%]

Race: Devil

HP: 3,210 (1926 per minute)

MP: 4,860 (146 per minute)

SP: 2,820 (85 per minute)

CON: 107

STR: 94

DEX: 87

INT: 162

WIS: 151

CHA: 203

LUK: 372

<------>

Akeno Himejima

Level: 117[6%]

Race: Reincarnated Devil(Half-Fallen)

HP: 3,090 (1854 per minute)

MP: 6,600 (198 per minute)

SP: 2,910 (87 per minute)

CON: 103

STR: 97

DEX: 105

INT: 220

WIS: 213

CHA: 160

LUK: 141

<------>

Koneko Toujou

Level: 95[15%]

Race: Reincarnated Devil(Nekoshou)

HP: 6,240 (3744 per minute)

MP: 2,250 (68 per minute)

SP: 6,240 (187 per minute)

CON: 208

STR: 208

DEX: 134

INT: 75

WIS: 90

CHA: 92

LUK: 53

<------>

Yuuto Kiba

Level: 92[46%]

Race: Reincarnated Devil

HP: 4,110 (2466 per minute)

MP: 1,980 (59 per minute)

SP: 4,860 (146 per minute)

CON: 137

STR: 162

DEX: 264

INT: 66

WIS: 50

CHA: 102

LUK: 40

<------>

Atsuko Hyoudou

Level: 54[39%]

Race: Reincarnated Devil

HP: 3,090 (1860 per minute)

MP: 2,880 (86 per minute)

SP: 3,120 (1954 per minute)

CON: 103

STR: 104

DEX: 102

INT: 96

WIS: 97

CHA: 147

LUK: 122

<------>

Aika Kiryuu

Level: 54[25%]

Race: Reincarnated Devil

HP: 2,640 (1584 per minute)

MP: 5,130 (192 per minute)

SP: 1,830 (55 per minute)

CON: 88

STR: 61

DEX: 62

INT: 171

WIS: 171

CHA: 63

LUK: 63

<------>

Asia Argento

Level: 61[65%]

Race: Human

HP: 660 (7 per second)

MP: 2,640 (79 per second)

SP: 650 (7 per second)

CON: 66

STR: 65

DEX: 64

INT: 132

WIS: 204

CHA: 135

LUK: 67

<------>

For just four hours of grinding in the dungeon, it's good progress. I'm tempted to keep them in there longer, but their level isn't the only thing that matters. They need to practice their skills and their specialties to make the tools they can use in battle, and some one on one time would do those skills wonders. Especially Aika, Atsuko, and Asia; the newbies.

But that's later. Right now it's time to eat and debrief. There are some tables outside, and walking over to them I pull out several large platters stacked with sandwiches and sliced fruit. Turns out, even something as simple as preparing fruit increased [Cooking], though not by much. I prepared these before I made breakfast this morning.

I turn to the others, still catching their breath. "Well, for now, rest up and eat. We'll discuss how the dungeon went as you eat."

Everyone perks as I mention food, and they quickly make their way to the tables and start grabbing sandwiches. As they eat, I address them one by one.

"Rias," I start, capturing her attention. "You did good coordinating the group when you saw that things were messy, though it took you too long to start doing so, and you struggled to maintain that in the second section. As a King, you lead your peerage. Whether you do that from the back, middle, and front, you're in charge of organizing your Peerage."

She nods and swallows the sandwich in her mouth. "I know. I'm just not used to leading such a large group."

"Thankfully, that's what this training is for," I reply. "Make that your priority when we're in the dungeon. Leave getting better at your magic for the individual training we'll do after lunch. I have some ideas to help."

She nods, a determined look on her face, so I shift my gaze to Akeno. "You did a pretty good job with the pixies. You picked your targets well, keeping them from bunching up on the front line, and your lightning was accurate. I have to ask though, can you use more than lightning?"

She nods. "I can. Lightning is my best, but I can use most of the elements fairly well."

"Then did you not notice that the mushroom people were resistant to electricity?" I ask.

She frowned. "I assumed that the damage was difficult to see, or they were tough enough to ignore it."

I shake my head. "Only to electricity. They're quite weak to fire, as are the plants in the second section. When facing unknown enemies, experimenting with different types of attacks to figure out what they're weak to is important. If everything is neutral, then use what you're best at. But if they don't go down easily and they have a weakness, it's almost always better to exploit that."

She frowns, but I can tell from her expression that she's mulling it over. "I'll try to keep that in mind," she says.

"Great," I reply, before turning my attention to Koneko and Kiba. "You two did great together. You split your targets, made sure to keep the backline safe, and never got in each other's way. It's obvious you two have worked together before. If I have any criticism, it's that you need to get used to there being three melee fighters now that Atsuko has joined you. Rather than all three of you working together, it was more you two working together while you left a portion of the enemies to Atsuko. Which worked here, but that's because the enemies here are dumb and weak. In a rating game, you'll need better coordination. So communicate with her. You two might be able to fight together without much communication, but you'll have to communicate with her until she reaches that point as well." Both nod and Kiba looks a little sheepish.

I turn to Atsuko. "Speaking of you. You did fine. You need practice with your ax and with your Boosted Gear, but that's a given. For now, focus on working with Kiba and Koneko. Listen to what they say to do, learn from them. And be aware of where they are. You have a heavy weapon, and used improperly, that can be dangerous to your teammates if you are fighting in close proximity. Keep that in mind."

She nods. "Should I be using more Boosts? I know you said to only do two, but I'm pretty sure I can do more than that."

"We'll slowly increase how many boosts you use," I placate her. "You'll use more for your individual training. For now, when working with others, I want to keep it low until you get used to fighting." She shrugs, accepting that, and turns her attention back to the food.

I turn to Aika next. "Like Atsuko, what you need is practice. But unlike her, what you also need is a wider repertoire of spells. Part of your individual training will be studying your grimoire to learn more. It'll be something good to do while you wait for your magic to recover. After that, we'll start focusing on how best to use those spells."

"There are a lot of useful ones I have left to learn," she says. "Which ones should I focus on?"

"You and I will take some time to figure that out during individual training," I tell her. "Until then, focus on controlling your Dark Missile. See how much you can affect the size, how quickly you can make it, how fast it moves, and its flight path."

"Okay," she says. "There is one more spell I think I can cast. But I need a gem or focus of some kind to cast it on."

"I know what spell you're talking about," I say. The Soul Trap spell. I saw it when I was flipping through the grimoire when I first got it. It captures the souls of those that died in a certain range of the focus it's cast on and those souls can be used to empower her other spells. I understand why she would be vague about it too. It's kind of dark, especially since it doesn't mention what happens to the souls when they're used like that. Are they killed? Just transformed into pure power? Do they move on to whatever afterlife? No idea. I don't care, and Aika doesn't seem to, but it's a touchy subject for many.

"What kind of gem do you need?" I ask. I have several sitting in my inventory.

"Any type really," she says. "The bigger the better, and some produce slightly different results. Like a ruby would make my attacks stronger, but the range shorter. Not by a lot, but it would be there. Diamonds are 'pure' though and don't have any effects at all, so I'd prefer that, but finding a diamond that would work would be-"

I pull one of my golfball-sized diamonds out of my inventory and toss it to her. She catches it out of reflex and her eyes widen as she looks at it. "Impossible," she finishes before she looks up at me. "Is this real? Where did you get a diamond this big?"

I shrug. "As far as I can tell, yes. And I got it in the dungeon. Let me know if you need more. I have a few different kinds of gems, all the same size and shape. That should also fit perfectly in the slot on top of your staff."

She looks at the blackened bone staff leaning on the table next to her and gently pushes the diamond into the slot where Kronika's Gem was held. It snaps into place perfectly. Then she looks at me. "How rich are you?" she asks.

I shrug. "In terms of cash? Not very. More than a highschooler for sure, but not enough to really start investing in businesses or whatever rich people do with their money. But I do have a lot of really valuable things that would probably make me rich if I sold them all."

Her brow furrows as she thinks about that, and I move on to Asia to finish up. She looks nervous. "I'm not sure what critique to give you," I tell her honestly. "Like the previous two, you need practice, but you play a more supportive role. The healing you did was good, even if it wasn't needed often. I don't think I can help you improve that. As for your waves of force, you just need to use them more and get used to it. Learning other miracles would be useful in the long term, but most of them you can't use on anyone here but me."

She nods sadly. "There are only two other ones that would be fine, but neither of them are very helpful here…" she trails off.

"Do you maybe want to try a weapon?" I ask her tentatively. "I have some Exorcist weapons I stole from the Fallen. The gun is probably a little too dangerous to use as part of the group until you get better at it, but the sword should be fine, at least for something where you get surrounded by enemies like with the pixies."

"I'm not sure," she says hesitantly, her eyes downcast. "I don't really want to fight." She looks up at me. "Do you want me to?"

"I just want you to be safe, and for you to be able to protect yourself," I tell her. "We'll figure it out during the individual training. For now, just focus on that force one. It's a good one. If you can get a lot of control over it, and if you can make it strong, it'll help keep you safe."

"Okay," she agrees, and she slowly nibbles on a sandwich. [Empathy] reads frustration and helplessness from her, and I have to hold back a sigh. It seems her not contributing much is bothering her a lot. I pat her on the head before I sit down next to her and grab a sandwich of my own.

Only halfway through the first day of training out of seven. Already we've made some good progress, but we have a long way to go.

-x-

-Bonus Scene-

Hibiki sighed and finally relaxed as the last person left. Moving was difficult, and doing it by herself would have been impossible. She was a small girl, and even a normal-sized 20-year-old girl would have trouble moving all of her furniture and boxes of stuff from one apartment to another all by herself. Especially since she didn't have a license.

Thankfully her family was very understanding and willing to come all the way to Kuoh to help. They could have hired a moving service to do it, but they knew that having a bunch of strangers handle her things would have made her uncomfortable, so her father rented a truck and drove it himself. It wasn't a very big truck, so even with the relatively small amount of stuff she owned it required a few trips, but he didn't complain, and he had even helped her unpack Hibiki loved him for that.

Though there was one box she handled herself. She insisted on it, and her father didn't fight her on it. He probably thought it was her panties or something, rather than the small collection of sex toys it really was.

At first, she had only had a couple. A vibrating wand that she had owned for a couple of years now that her mother had actually gotten for her in one of the most embarrassing moments of her life, and a small dildo she had gotten on a whim one day and briefly experimented with before deciding she liked the wand more.

But recently she had gotten more curious, and her collection had grown a bit. The first thing she bought was an egg vibrator. She saw them a lot in porn, and since she liked her wand, she thought that the egg vibrator would be more her style. And it was, sorta. It wasn't like the wand at all really, not unless she held it against her clit. But when she put it inside of herself, it was...different. The orgasm she got from that wasn't like the ones she got from using her wand. That was an electric buildup until it all exploded. The egg was slower, hotter, and it felt more like waves of pleasure washing over her than the sharp jolts the wand produced. It wasn't bad though, even if it took longer.

She also bought two more dildos, one medium-sized and another large. She knew she was small, so the plan was to slowly work her way up to increase how much she could fit inside herself.

She blushed as she thought of that plan. That was definitely inspired by the dreams she'd been having recently. The weirdly realistic ones where she would have sex with her neighbor.

Or well, her former neighbor. She sighed. She moved out because she wanted a cat, and to be closer to the handful of places she went to. Mostly the convenience store and the game store. But she was going to miss listening in on him and the girls he slept with. Those were the best masturbation sessions she'd ever had, and her art had really kicked off since then.

She went into her bedroom and onto the small porch and looked out at the view. This place really was nice. She was still in the middle of town, so the view wasn't amazing, but she was higher up than any of the other buildings she could see from here, so she could see pretty far.

The noises of construction pulled her attention downwards though, and she frowned. Right next door was a large construction site. The ground had been leveled and equipment was being moved in. She frowned. Wasn't there a building there just yesterday when she came to pick up the key? It was some old supermarket or something. She hadn't paid close attention. But now it was just gone.

She frowned at the scene closer. Wasn't that way too many people for a construction site this new? Not that she knew anything about construction, but there were a lot of people down there, and all of them were moving quickly. The equipment looked a little weird too. It was just slightly off of anything else she had ever seen. Maybe some fancy new brand? But who would pay that much money for a random spot in Kuoh?

At least it wasn't too loud. Not yet at least. She hadn't heard it until she came out onto the porch. Hopefully it wouldn't get too much louder than this. Putting it out of her mind, she goes back inside. Now that she had moved into her new place, she could do the most important thing. Adopting a cat.

As she moved to her computer to start looking for places she could adopt a cat from, her eyes caught on the one unpacked box. The one filled with her sex toys. She bit her lip softly as a small pulse of arousal washed over her.

Deciding that research can wait a little bit she opened the box and pulled out the small dildo. It would do as the device that brought her to her celebratory first orgasm in her new place.

Stripping and crawling onto her bed, her thoughts filled with fantasies about her ex-neighbor, wishing she could see him again even as she starts pleasuring herself.

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