25 DxD: Getting Into Shape 04

With Asia asleep in my bed, I turn my attention towards my crafting skills. After hopping into the Zombie dungeon and buying a bunch of Minor Catalysts from the Merchant there, I get to work making more Shadow Cloaks.

It doesn't take me long to turn all my catalysts to enchanted cloaks, and I'm left with 96 new Shadow Cloaks, bringing me to more than 100 of them. My Enchanting skill rises to 69, which is nice, but I was really hoping to be able to push it to 75. Oh well. I look at all the cloaks building up in my inventory. I should probably sell them now, huh? I did want to do some shopping at the Hunie Store and maybe use that coupon I got from the gacha.

I navigate through the app and go through the process of selling the 110 Wool Cloaks of Shadow and the 106 Shadow Cloaks I have, dumping them in the large box that appears in my room. When the box vanishes, my eyes widen at how much Hunie I get.

250 Hunie for each Wool Cloak of Shadow and a whopping 1000 Hunie for each Shadow Cloak means I'm now 133,500 Hunie richer. Added to what I had from my last sale and completing Kyu's quest, I now have 182,500 Hunie. Truly a mind-boggling amount.

It does make me wonder how much Hunie I got to customize this world. Kyu never mentioned specific amounts. Was it less than this? More? I'll ask her later so I have a good idea of how much I'll want to bring when I eventually world hop. Which is also something I'll have to ask her about. She's back to full power now, so that should be possible soon if it isn't already. Unless there's some arbitrary goal I have to reach first?

I shake my head. It doesn't really matter, I'm in no rush to move on, even temporarily. There's still so much for me to do here.

I turn my attention back to my phone and start browsing for things to buy. With this much Hunie, I can get almost anything I wanted. But what I'm most interested in are enchanted items, so I can learn their enchantments for myself.

Unfortunately, those are the most expensive ones. Still, I have enough Hunie to get a bunch. Accessories that increase HP, MP, and SP regen rates, rings that increase each of my stats, robes that protect against Holy and Dark magic, weapons that steal HP and MP, boots that allow for flight, and a dagger that can be telekinetically controlled are the basic ones I buy. None of them are very high quality, but they don't need to be for me to learn the enchantment.

Three of the items I get are special. A bag of soul storage, an arcane infuser, and what is basically a knock-off of my Hestia Knife, a short sword that grows in strength. The soul storage one would let me enchant items with the ability to be stored in the user's soul, letting them summon and unsummon it at will. The arcane infuser is for a future project. All it does is infuse items with MP.

The last one increases the quality of a weapon based on time, kills, and the legends that are told about it. It also costs a hundred thousand Hunie, but it's worth it, especially since I use the 50% Off Coupon to reduce that to just fifty thousand.

I'm left with just enough Hunie to buy a thousand potion vials, which I do. Cart full and coupon applied, I submit my order and teleport back to my apartment to pick up my items. The enchanted objects are immediately consumed for their enchantments and the vials I store into my inventory before teleporting back to the mountain resort.

After that, I turn back to Alchemy, but this time I'm not making potions. No, it's time for me to finally experiment with combining items. I take out a bit of chalk and draw a simple magic circle onto the desk. When I say simple, I mean very simple. It was basically six circles; five circles in an x formation and one larger circle to connect the four outside ones. Inside I draw straight lines to connect each circle to the others.

I dig through my inventory for five appropriate items. Like making potions, not every combination results in something. But unlike potions, I have to use five items. Less doesn't work at all.

But it doesn't take me too long to figure out something simple I can test with. An Iron Dagger, a bottle of Holy Water, a piece of living wood, a Cure Curse Potion, and a gold ingot. I put the dagger into the center circle and the other items in the circles around it. After that, all I have to do is pour a little mana into it and watch as the items sink into the simple chalk circle and combine into the center circle.

The result is a small wooden dagger proportioned like a cross. It has gold details etched into it and its edges are razor sharp.

It's not a bad item, though considering the value of the ingredients, it's roughly what I would expect. Depending on how strong the healing and cursing are, it might not actually be that good. I pick it up, pause for a moment, shrug, and then stab it into my hand.

A lance of pain shoots through me. I was curious about how it would judge me, and it seems like it deems me a heretic. Not surprising. I look at my status. I've barely lost any health, just under five percent, but I have a status effect on me now.

<[Smited(Minor)] - Your body has been damaged by holy energies, all forms of regen are reduced for 5 seconds>

I watch as it ticks down from five seconds to zero before the status effect disappears entirely. Five seconds of reduced HP, MP, and SP regen for anyone not Holy or devout? Not bad, but not amazing either. Considering that I put an Ultimate tier potion and a Gold Ingot into it, I'm satisfied but not blown away.

But I suppose that's exactly the tier of effectiveness I should have expected. Unlike enchantment, I'm not improving an object, but instead mixing them all together into one. The result is definitely greater than the average of the items, but it's not as great as the sum.

Out of curiosity, I try learning the enchantment for the Cross of Judgement, but it doesn't work. I guess I can't just get whatever enchantments I want by combining items. A shame.

Still, it means I can't just combine recklessly. I can't just combine all my knives together to create one super knife, it wouldn't work like that. But I could still make my super knife.

I look in my inventory. Using my Hestia Knife as the base, I have three objects that stand out as extremely good ingredients to mix with it. But no good fourth one. There are some things I can use, but none of them match the quality of the other ingredients. I shake my head and set it aside. I'll figure something out later, or wait for a good gacha item or something.

I glance at the time. There are several more hours before people start waking up. Still, I have grinding left to do. I have plenty of cloaks left to enchant, so instead, I decide to start making more complicated clothes. Mostly wool jackets that are still pretty simple but a lot more fashionable. They use twice as much fabric but give me four times the experience. But they also take a lot longer, and in the time I have, I only make fifty.

Partway through my crafting session, I'm interrupted by a text message. I pull up my phone to see a text from Serafall. I texted her about the specific things I wanted for the house earlier and she had told me that they wouldn't be a problem. But maybe something came up? I open the text to see two images attached.

The first image is of Serafall dressed in a magical girl outfit. Not her normal one, but one that looked like a sexy cosplay version of her normal outfit. It's a lot tighter and shows a lot more skin, but it still covers everything important. The skirt is short enough that I can see her panties. She has a sultry expression on her face and her hands are pressing her tits together to increase the effectiveness of the cleavage the outfit shows.

The second image is even better. It's her in the same outfit but she's shoved the top part up to show off her tits, one of which she's groping. Her other hand is down below her skirt, the small amount of fabric moved aside so I can clearly see her hand down her panties, the bulge of her fingers making it obvious that she's a knuckle deep into herself at the time of the picture.

As I'm appreciating the pictures, my phone buzzes again and I see a new text from Serafall.

Serafall: Saw you had some pictures saved in that tablet you gave me and thought I'd offer you some replacement ones while I borrow it ;)

Having the best Satan at 94 Affection sure did come with a lot of nice perks. I'll have to focus on Sona as soon as this training camp is done. I've been using [Erotic Dreams] on her every night I've been here, but that's just laying the foundation. I want to have both her and Serafall in my bed ASAP.

I send her a text back telling her I appreciate the pictures a lot and that I'd put them to good use before I go back to grinding my [Tailoring].

A few minutes before I would normally go to start making breakfast I clean up my stuff and make my way to the bed where Asia is still sleeping.

"Asia," I call out to her softly while shaking her lightly with a hand on her shoulder. "It's time to wake up."

Slowly her eyes open, and I remember that Asia is not a morning person. She looks at me blearily for a while before nodding and sitting up. The blanket slides off of her as she does so, and I'm treated to the sight of a naked Asia stretching as she yawns, waking up.

"How'd you sleep last night?" I ask her, a grin on my face.

"Good," is her single-word answer, but then she frowns. I can see the gears turning in her head as she looks around. But the spark of recognition doesn't happen until she looks down. A blush creeps up her face as she realizes her state and remembers what happened last night, and she tenses a little, but I'm extremely pleased to see her almost immediately relax. She looks back at me and smiles. "Really good!"

"I'm glad," I say, and it's an understatement. Seeing her now, comfortable and happy in her nudity and in having lost her virginity and waking up in my bed means that I succeeded in my efforts with her. "I'm about to go down and make breakfast. Do you want me to teleport you to your room so you can start getting ready for the day?"

She nods and gets up. I grab her by the hand and step backward, causing us to appear in her room. I then pull her closer to me and into my arms before I kiss her. She places her hands on my chest and leans into the kiss.

"I'll see you downstairs," I say after I pull back. She nods, and I teleport to the kitchen to start making food.

-x-

The atmosphere of my one on one training with Koneko is a little awkward. I want to try to encourage her to embrace Senjutsu, but she's still tense, and I'm hesitant to push it. I know that the story she knows is bullshit, but I don't have a way to know that or a line of reasoning figured out that would lead to a similar outcome.

So instead, I settle for us training Iron Body, taking turns hitting the other with our strongest attacks while the other blocks the damage with the technique. It's a simple training method, but effective, and no risk of her accidentally using Senjutsu again.

Halfway through our training, I get a notification from the System.

<[Ticket Scratcher] Perk Activated!>

Oh? I quickly expand my senses and skills, looking for something out of the ordinary. I find it almost immediately, a figure in the distance with a good line of sight on us that definitely isn't supposed to be here. [Void Sight] gives me a good look at her.

A short woman in a revealing kimono with black cat ears and a black cat tail. Kuroka? I guess her appearing right as I'm struggling with figuring out Koneko's issues is definitely lucky. Though things aren't as straightforward as me just needing to arrange a confrontation between the two. Things won't go that well.

She suddenly glances around, eyes sharp and searching. Did she notice the skill? Or something else? Either way, I decide to play it safe and deactivate [Void Sight]. As far as I know, there's no way to detect the skill itself, but perhaps she could sense being watched? Either way, I don't want her running.

Thankfully, she isn't spooked enough to flee, and she sticks around as Koneko and I finish our training. I [Void Travel] away like I normally do to start training the next person, but instead of heading to Atsuko, I appear right behind Kuroka.

Her reaction is instantaneous, and she whirls around, fingers ending in claws that aim straight for my throat.

Unfortunately for her, Void pumps through my veins and my stats with [Void Blood] active rival a Satan class Devil. I easily catch her wrist, stopping her attack dead. Her eyes widen and she tugs on her arm to try to escape and make some space, but my hold on her doesn't budge an inch, so she goes still instead. I use the chance to use [Observe] on her.

<------>

Kuroka

Level: 1,919

Race: Reincarnated Devil(Nekoshou)

HP: 58,680

MP: 212,820

SP: 58,500

CON: 978

STR: 975

DEX: 2,751

INT: 3,547

WIS: 3,392

CHA: 1,089

LUK: 777

<------>

She's strong. The strongest non-Satan I've seen. Unless you count Grayfia, but she's barely a step removed from being a Satan herself. If I wasn't using [Void Blood], all of her stats would be higher than mine, though my STR would be pretty close to hers. But with [Void Blood] active, my lowest stat is equal to her highest one.

"The Underworld's most wanted criminal and the older sister of Koneko," I say, voice casual. "What are you doing here Kuroka?"

<+25 Affection with Kuroka>

"You seem to have me at a disadvantage," she says, tone casual. But her calm act is easy to see through when [Empathy] detects her rising panic.

"In more ways than one," I joke as I squeeze her wrist slightly, just enough to make it clear what I'm talking about. "But I'll tell you my name. I'm Axton, an independent who is currently allied with the Devils."

Her nervousness increases. "So what, now that you've caught me, you're gonna call your friends and arrest me?" She tries to make her tone teasing, but her acting isn't good enough to sell it. Internally, I frown. What is up with her? Sure, from her perspective I'm no pushover, but she's panicking way more than she should be. She's barely even tried to get out of my grip.

"No," I deny eventually. "I'm allied with the Devils, but I haven't been asked to capture their outlaws, and while I'm sure they'd be very grateful, my relationship with them is already good enough that I'm not so inclined to capture someone who I just learned about yesterday."

Some of the panic disappears, but not as much as I expected. "So you'll let me go then?" she asks hopefully.

I smile. "Not yet," I say, and I can feel the sliver of hope that was building up vanish.

She drops the calm act, choosing to be angry instead. "What do you want then? If you're not going to capture me then unhand me."

"If I do that you might run," I counter. "And that would be inconvenient for me. Besides, all I want to do is ask you some questions."

She narrows her eyes at me. "What sort of questions?"

"Personal ones that you probably don't want to answer," I admit. "Like what really happened that day you killed your King."

She freezes, eyes widening as she stares at me. She snaps out of it and puts a confident mask on though. "I don't know what you mean, isn't it common knowledge what happened? I went mad with power and killed him because I could."

Even without my metaknowledge, it's an obvious lie. If she wasn't so off-balance by whatever has her so spooked she'd probably be able to lie more convincingly, but she's like a live wire right now; exposed and dangerous.

"See, I don't believe that," I say. "I only learned about that happening yesterday, but after looking into things a bit and thinking over it, it just doesn't sit right." She glares at me but doesn't comment, so I continue.

"You go drunk with power, presumably because you're super talented at like what, three different kinds of magic? If you count Senjutsu? And so you lash out at your King, the one who gave you the Bishop piece which increased your magic ability and let you use Devil magic?"

"Being drunk on power means you don't exactly make rational decisions," Kuroka points out.

"True," I admit. "But you made the rational decision right after that, didn't you? You fled instead of continuing your rampage. So did killing your King bring you down from your power trip? Or were you not on one?"

Our eyes lock and I can tell she has to hold back the urge to flinch. She attempts to pull her hand out of my grip but my STR stat is four times as high as hers is right now, and her hand doesn't budge. "Obviously I sobered up," she says. "So I fled. I knew that the Devils wouldn't forgive me no matter what."

"That's almost believable," I say. "But there are still two things that bother me. First, how did the investigation team reach the conclusion that you went mad with power? That's not exactly something that leaves behind evidence. To say they figured out a motive like that when you escaped capture and there's no evidence of anything wrong smells like a cover-up."

She opens her mouth, to argue presumably, but I continue. "And secondly, you've been lying to me this whole conversation," I say, and she freezes. "Oh yes, I can tell," I bluff. "I'm no holy man but I've learned a few tricks in my time, and your lies stand out clear as day."

The panic is back, but this time it comes alongside the anger. "So what?" she spits out. "Either way, I killed him. Why I did it doesn't matter."

"It might not matter to you, and it might not matter to the Devils," I say, a small amount of anger starting to leak into my voice. "But it sure fucking matters to Koneko."

She pauses, not expecting that. "What about Shirone?" she snaps.

I unconsciously clench my hand around her wrist a little tighter. "What about her? You mean besides the deep trauma that is a direct result of your actions? The fact that she was almost killed just for being your sister? That even now she's deathly afraid of getting stronger for fear that she turns out like you?!" I'm almost yelling now so I take a moment, take a deep breath, and rein in my anger.

Kuroka's eyes are wide with shock. "Is that why she hides her ears?" she whispers.

Ah, so that's how it is. I sigh, the anger leaving me. "You didn't know." It's not a question, but she shakes her head anyways. "You came to check up on Koneko right? That's why you're here?" A nod. "How often do you do that?"

"A few times a year," she answers, the fight gone out of her, though there isn't any fear or panic either. I decide to take a gamble and let go of her wrist. She shoots me a grateful look even as she rubs at her wrist. "I never get close, and I'm never able to learn much about her, I just make sure she's okay. I wasn't ever too worried, I know of the Gremory's reputation, and the fact that Sirzechs protected Shirone from the others who wanted to punish her for what I did helped me trust her with the Gremory Heiress."

"But you never got close enough to do much more than see her, and you didn't really hear anything about her, did you?" I ask.

"There weren't exactly any rumors about her," Kuroka says. "I noticed she was withdrawn, but even before she was a pretty quiet girl. And I thought that she hid her cat ears because the Gremory girl spends so much time in the human world and it was just easier for her to keep them hidden all the time rather than risk forgetting about it."

"She very rarely shows them," I tell her. "The only times I've seen her ears and tail are when she's either extremely relaxed or fighting one on one with me, and according to Rias it's surprising that I saw them at all."

Kuroka is silent for a moment. "Is she really so scared of ending up like me?" she asks in a soft voice.

"She reflexively used Senjutsu in our spar yesterday," I tell her. "Despite it not hurting me, once she realized what she had done she had a panic attack and was unresponsive for a while. 'Scared' is probably an understatement."

Kuroka flinches, guilt radiating from her. "If I had known..." she starts, but trails off.

When she doesn't start again I speak up. "Why did you kill your King?" I ask.

She sighs. "Fine, I'll explain. The truth is, being part of his Peerage came with a condition. To be a subject in his experiments. I didn't have a lot of options after the deaths of our parents, so I accepted so I could take care of Shirone." She folds her arms and looks away. "The experiments were...unpleasant. They were painful and invasive. But I got stronger, and he stayed happy, and Shirone was happy, so it was worth it."

"Until?" I ask.

"Until it wasn't," she continues. "Until further experiments stopped showing results, even as they got worse. I hit a plateau, and he couldn't figure out why." Her expression turns dark, and I feel anger from her, but it's a different kind of anger. "One day, he decided the problem was a lack of data, that he was working with too few variables. So he went back on our deal, and decided he was going to start the same process on Shirone."

She scoffs, shaking her head. "I don't think he even remembered making a deal with me that she was off-limits. The thought that there could possibly be a reason he couldn't use her as he used me didn't even occur to him. He brazenly stated his intentions in front of me after all. I suppose I had been so cooperative up to that point he didn't think twice about it."

She looks at me, and her eyes are like ice. "That was why I killed him. I was not drunk and feeling powerful. In fact, I don't think my mind has ever been as clear as it was at that moment. I knew what the consequences of my actions would be, they flashed through my mind in excruciating detail. But I also knew the consequences of not doing anything." Her fists clench. "And between the two, it was an easy choice."

She shakes her head, clearing her expression, and her anger recedes a bit. "Them going after Shirone for what I did was a bit unexpected, but Sirzechs stepped in before I had to do anything drastic."

I already knew the story she told, but to hear it from her gave it far more weight. "I know I'm the one that asked you, so it may seem strange for me to ask this now, but why did you tell me that?" To be honest, I never expected to get a full answer out of her. In fact, this conversation really hasn't gone the way I expected it to at all. I thought it would be banter and words games, but it started out with me somehow intimidating her and then turned into this rather serious moment. I check her Affection, but it's still at 25 and didn't rise when I wasn't looking.

She laughs a little. "That is strange, but at the same time, it's a reasonable question. After all, even my allies think I did it for the thrill of it and out of a desire to fight strong people." She shakes her head again before looking at me, a serious expression on her face. "I don't know what you are, but I do know one thing. You didn't ask me for your own benefit or to report to someone else. You're asked for Shirone's sake, right? I saw you training her earlier, and I saw the way she walked off those blows of yours. She's come a long way since last time I saw her."

That does make sense, and it's even true. "In that case, you can help. Explain your story to her, I'm sure that will help her get-"

"I refuse," she cuts me off, surprising me. Before I can recover my wits, she continues. "That girl...You wouldn't guess it at first, but she can be extremely stubborn about some things." She shakes her head. "If it's as bad as you say, she won't listen to me, and she certainly won't believe me."

"If I'm there as well, backing up-" I start, but she interrupts me again.

"She'll just think you've been tricked by me," she says. "I'm sorry. I'd like for her to get over her fears and embrace what she is as well, but any help I could offer would only backfire."

"Fuck," I spit out. "Back to square one again then." I sigh and run a hand through my hair. "Getting your name cleared isn't exactly an option either, is it? As far as the Devil's care, what you did might actually be worse in their eyes."

"I suspect the Satans have an inkling as to what actually happened," Kuroka admits. "It's true that there's really no way for them to know my motive, but I didn't do anything to his research, it's possible they had an idea after going over it. They can't condone what I did, but they could keep Shirone safe, and they could spread a story that would have me less targeted than the truth." She scoffs. "Devils. The way most of them view things, killing my King to protect my sister is worse than killing him out of bloodlust."

I grimace. "I have some political favor with the Satans, or one of them at least but…" I trail off before shaking my head. "Not enough to get your name cleared, especially if they are really aware of the truth. I need more time before I'd have enough pull for that."

She looks at me, her gaze searching. "You would do that? Trade in any goodwill you have with them to clear my name?"

"To help Shirone? Yes." Not that it wouldn't be something I couldn't recover from. The only Satans I cared about are Serafall and Sirzechs, and so long as I stick with Serafall's plan and so long as I assist and protect Rias, I'm guaranteed a good relationship with both. It would temporarily reduce how many favors I could get from them though.

She spends a moment examining my face before turning away. "Don't bother. I'm perfectly content with my current life." She frowns. "But Shirone is a different matter." Her brow furrows as she's lost in thought.

"Your best bet would probably be a two-pronged attack," she speaks up after a few moments. "First, continue the train of thought you approached me with. By yourself, you came close to the correct answer. If you can make her doubt the 'truth' that she knows, it could help break past her stubbornness. For the final piece you need, draw her attention to what she remembers of him."

I frown. "What would she remember?"

"I was very obvious about making sure he never had a chance to be in the same room as her," Kuroka explains. "She should remember that much. At the time, she didn't think much of it. But now that she's older, and if you present it the right way, it should be easy for her to realize I was protecting her from him. There were dozens of tiny clues, she should remember enough of them to figure it out."

"Using that combined with the suspicious nature of the investigation, you think those will be enough to make her doubt?" I ask.

"Just enough to lower her defenses," Kuroka specifies. "Which is where the second part comes in." She locks gazes with me. "More importantly than learning the truth about me, she needs to overcome her fear of herself. So if you really care about her, reassure her that you won't let her 'go berserk'. For something like yourself, keeping that promise should be well within your ability, no?"

I frown at her referring to me as a 'something', but I let it slide for now. "Yeah, but in the first place there's no chance of that, so she just needs to believe that I can stop her. And sure, I can convince her of that. You think that'll be enough though?"

Kuroka shrugs. "If you want it to happen soon? It's your best shot."

I nod in understanding. There's no surefire answer when it comes to this sort of thing. "In that case, thank you. For trusting me with the information and for helping me. And I'm sorry for scaring you. I wasn't sure what to expect when I first spotted you."

She looks at me for a moment before relaxing a little, her shoulders no longer so tense. "It's fine," she says. Then she smirks. "Though usually, I prefer it when a guy buys me dinner before they get so rough with me."

Seeing the flirting for the subject change it is, I go along with it, a grin on my face. "I'll keep that in mind for next time then. Dinner, and then be rough with you."

She laughs. "Good, don't forget it." She then turns around. "If that's all, I'll take my leave now."

"Wait," I call out. "One more thing." She looks back at me over her shoulder. "K- Shirone and I train at around the same time every day, and tomorrow during that time I'll attempt to convince her to use her Senjutsu. If you want to watch at that time, or if you want to hang around during our training, I won't tell anyone. Aside from me, there's only one person who might notice you, and he's loyal to me. I'll tell him to leave you alone and he won't say anything."

She looks at me for a moment longer, face and emotions unreadable, before turning away. "I'll think about it," is all she says before a teleportation circle appears beneath her feet and she disappears, leaving me alone.

I sigh. That went...okay. Not perfect, but at least I have a plan. I'm worried about the possible consequences of it failing and how that might impact not only Koneko's performance in the Rating game but her relationship with me. But I think the risk is worth it. Not only for her but for my own plans as well.

I step forward, vanishing. I need to let Wilhelm know that Kuroka might be hanging around.

-x-

Rias lets out another moan as my knuckles knead into her oiled back. As I've been doing these massages I've slowly been increasing the strength of [Touch of Pleasure] and [Increase Sensitivity], causing each massage I give to feel better than the last. And it seems like I've crossed the threshold where Rias starts moaning.

She's biting her lip, trying to hold it in, but I still hear them. I wonder briefly if I'm pushing it too far. So far I've been careful with my erotic skills, only using them at a time and strength where they can be written off or explained as the person being attracted to me or just sensitive. There's a limit to how far I can take that though.

But I don't think this is past that limit. It's a massage, it feels good, and she's been having erotic dreams about me. Still, I'll have to not go above this, or else they might start getting suspicious. Aika already is I think, but I'm not worried about her of all people figuring it out.

Sadly, the massage eventually comes to an end, and I run out of muscles to massage. Also, Akeno is waiting outside the door, having gotten here after Rias for once.

"There you go," I say to Rias as I pat her on the leg. I quickly sneak a peek between her thighs, but there's no gap between them that would allow me to see her pussy. A shame, though it's just a sign of how nice and plump her thighs are. "You're all done."

She gets up and wraps a towel around herself, face a little red but otherwise not showing any sign of embarrassment. "Thank you, Axton. Your massages are getting better every day."

"A combination of you guys being tired and me getting to practice much more often than usual is to blame for that," I say.

"At this rate, I'm tempted to hire you full time as a masseuse," she laughs.

"There's no need for that," I say. "Any time I'm free and you're in the mood, I'd be happy to give you a massage."

"Careful what you promise," she teases. "I might just take you up on that." With a wink and a wave goodbye, she opens the door and leaves, allowing Akeno to enter.

"Sounds like she had a good time," Akeno comments after she closes the door behind her. "Have you started seducing her as well?"

I roll my eyes. "That was just the normal massage making her do that," I say as I watch Akeno unwrap her towel and lay down. "She seemed to be a bit sensitive today though."

"She has been working pretty hard lately," Akeno admits as I get started on her massage. "Harder than I've ever seen her work actually."

"She just needed the right motivation I guess," I comment. I'd be pretty motivated if I had a marriage with Riser as a threat on the horizon.

"I don't think you should underplay your own role in things," Akeno says, her breathing slightly heavier as the effects of my skills start to arouse her. "I've tried to convince her in the past to exhibit more control over her Power of Destruction, but she never took it seriously. But lately, her performance and control have been impressive. She took on the boss nearly by herself today."

We had faced the third guardian of the seal today, a bear that was at least twenty feet tall. The attack I had taught Rias the day before was a perfect counter to it, so I had her take the lead and had the others support her. Destruction Scattershot is the attack I described to her during our first day of training, an attack that covered a large area efficiently by shooting a large number of small orbs. Unlike Destruction Gatling, they all fired at the same time, though it wasn't as good at a range.

But against a big and slow enemy? She tore it to shreds. Each shot of her power took massive chunks out of its flesh and HP. It was easily our quickest boss fight yet, taking less than a minute. It helped that there were only a handful of other monsters supporting it.

"She learns quickly," I say. "I do think the motivation has more to do with things than my teaching. You guys would manage even without me." Not strictly true, they lost in canon after all, but a large part of that was not having an answer for Phenex regeneration and being outnumbered.

"Too bad you don't have any tips for me," Akeno teases.

I roll my eyes. "I might know a bit of magic, but I'm no magician. You're already talented at control over a wide degree of elements and other forms of magic, and now that you know the importance of leveraging the right type of magic against an enemy, there's not really anything else I can teach you. Rias just needed to have her eyes opened a bit, and I've provided her a concrete path on how to expand her control over her power."

Akeno hums in agreement but doesn't reply. I continue her massage in silence, and it's starting to look like nothing is going to happen this time. We've been taking turns initiating our fooling around, and it's her turn right now.

But as I finish her massage I spot a look in her eyes that I recognize. "Is the next person going to be here soon?" she asks.

I shake my head. "You got here pretty late today, only Koneko is left and she's still enjoying her bath." Asia had moved up in the order, coming right after Aika did, and Atsuko was right after her. Of course, no actual massages had happened with any of them. Even Asia has taken to sex really well, though I have to be much more gentle with her than I do with the Devils.

"Then how about we swap positions for a bit?" She asks, a teasing grin on her face. She gets off the table. "Strip and lay down, face up."

"Yes ma'am," I say, a smile on my own face. Whether I'm the one in charge or my partner is, it doesn't matter to me, and I know that Akeno likes playing both roles. I stash my clothes and lay down. I'm not at a full erection yet, but that quickly changes when Akeno climbs onto the table above me, her face at my crotch, her warm breath brushing my cock. And her crotch is right above me, her pussy lips glistening with her own arousal.

"Be a good boy and keep yourself busy," I hear Akeno says, and she lowers herself onto my face, filling my view entirely. I reach up to grab her by the hips and I do as she says, getting to work eating her out, even as I use [Void Sight] to be able to see what she's doing on her end.

She bites her lip and moans slightly as I get to work, but she only lets that distract her for a moment before she turns her attention to my now erect dick.

I get to see an expression on her face that I've never seen before, nervousness. It's not strong, but it's clear that this is new territory for her. She doesn't hesitate for long though, and soon she lowers her head, her soft and full lips wrapping around the tip of my penis.

I twitch involuntarily as I feel her tongue probe against the sensitive skin of the head of my dick, something that seems to encourage her. She lowers her head more, taking more of my dick into her mouth.

I've had blowjobs before, but this is my first time in the sixty-nine position. Being able to indulge in the erotic taste of her while her tongue dances around my shaft, exploring it even as I explore her.

I can feel her large tits press against my lower stomach as she lowers herself onto me more, and I'm able to probe her deeper as she rests more on my face. I decide my tongue isn't doing enough work and stick two fingers inside of her, looking for her g-spot even as my tongue flicks at her clit.

Akeno moans around my dick and lowers her head more, and I feel the hot and wet walls of her throat as she takes more of me inside of her. In response, I increase the pace of my fingers, and in moments she cums.

Her thighs clamp around my head and even her throat seems to squeeze me tighter as she cums. But rather than finish there, she starts enthusiastically bobbing her head up and down, seeking to make me cum.

It only takes her a couple minutes to do so, and my back arches as I pump chocolate-flavored semen straight into her throat. She latches on, working hard to swallow spurt after spurt of my cum, making sure not to waste a drop. I don't cum an abnormally large amount, especially since I had cum a few times already not long ago, but I'm still impressed that she manages to get everything, not spilling a single drop.

I lay back and catch my breath as she gets off of me, her legs shaky. She catches my eye and I can see a playful twinkle in hers as she opens her mouth and sticks her tongue out, showing me that she swallowed it all.

I sit up and look at her. "I know we've been doing this whole back and forth thing, but I have to admit, I really like both of us feeling good."

"That's because you're someone who likes to give as much as they receive," she says. "But then again, so am I. We should do it more often." She winks at me.

"You know I'm always down for that," I laugh. "Though it looks like our time right now is up. Koneko is on her way."

"I'll see you next time then," she says with a wave. She exits the room, not even grabbing her towel this time, naked. I shake my head and put my clothes back on. I need to clean up a bit before Koneko gets here, and after that, I can join my girls in the bath again.

-x-

I use my Cloth Cutter and a bit of MP to cut through a thick stack of wool, cutting out a pattern that is muscle memory at this point. I'm only half paying attention to it though, the majority of my focus on the phone currently being held between my shoulder and my ear.

"So then Miyamoto started getting mad, like the President was specifically targeting him," the voice of Ruruko comes from the speaker of my phone. "Never mind that she had just shown him the entire budget and that all the other clubs that didn't compete in anything were getting the same budget. The budget that I worked so hard on."

"And I'm sure losing his temper worked out well for him," I comment sarcastically.

Ruruko laughs. "Have you seen the President mad yet? She might be a water mage, but she gets very icy when she gets angry. Cold and sharp. All she had to do was repeat her explanation and Miyamoto was cowering in his boots. He left thanking us for our time and the budget."

"I wish I had seen it, that sounds extremely amusing," I reply. It also sounded pretty hot, to tell the truth.

"Well if you hadn't gone and been so nice and decided to help out Gremory, you could have seen it," comes her rebuttal.

"I miss you too," I say in a kind voice. "If you want, I can hop over real quick, we could watch a movie or something."

"We both know you're too busy for that," she comments.

"Not true," I deny. "Everyone else is asleep."

"And you're not doing anything besides talking to me right now?" Ruruko asks.

I pause, looking down at the fabric I'm working on. "Nothing that can't wait."

She sighs. "I appreciate the thought, but it's fine. I want to see you again, but it's just a few more days. I'd rather you focus on helping Gremory." She pauses for a second. "We all really appreciate it, you know. Even the President looks like she's carrying a bit less weight on her shoulders. She was really worried about what was going to happen to Gremory."

"I see," I comment. "Well, if you're sure."

"Don't worry about it," she reassures me. "Once Gremory beats down that Phenex dude we can celebrate and then have a big slumber party. I want to meet Asia!"

"I'm getting a new place soon, one that should have plenty of space," I say. "I can easily play host to those."

"Oh yeah, the President mentioned you made a deal with her sister that included a big house. She had to give permission for Serafall to buy the land. Oh, and speaking of Sona, guess what else she's been doing?"

"What's that?" I ask as I start to sew the cut pieces of cloth together.

"Playing chess," she giggles. "And not just playing it. She's studying grandmaster games as well. Whenever we ask her about it she blushes but she says she's just keeping her skills polished."

That's adorable. "I'll have to make sure my own skills don't get too rusty while I'm busy out here," I say. "I wouldn't want to disappoint her when we have our next match."

She laughs again, but it turns into a yawn. "Oh wow. I didn't realize it was this late," she says. "I should probably head to bed soon."

"Alright then," I say. "You do that. Good night, sleep well. I love you."

"Love you too! Good night!" she makes a kissing noise and then hangs up. I pull the phone down from my ear and look at the call duration. An hour and thirteen minutes. It was nice talking to Ruruko again. She's a pretty energetic girl, and just talking to her helps reinvigorate me.

I'm about to turn back to my [Tailoring] when I quickly use [Void Detect] and notice something off. Frowning, I put down my tools and stand up. [Void Travel] brings me to the study downstairs where I find Rias sitting at a desk, glasses on and studying the information on Riser and his Peerage.

"I would've thought you had those memorized by now," I comment from over her shoulder, causing her to jump in surprise.

"Axton!" she admonishes me, one hand over her chest. "I didn't hear you come in."

I grin. "Sorry. It looked like you were pretty absorbed in your reading." My expression becomes more serious. "It's late, you should be resting rather than reading the same information you've gone over a few dozen times already."

She sighs and turns back to the documents. "I know, but I couldn't sleep. The day of the Rating Game is getting closer and closer and-"

"And you could kick his ass even if you fought him right now," I interrupt her and place my hands on her shoulders. She's wearing an old-fashioned nightgown, thick and long enough to reach her ankles. "You've grown a lot in just these few days. Not just in terms of strength, but far more importantly in terms of mindset and teamwork. Each of your Peerage members are worth at least three of his, and when they work together, they'll be able to sweep Riser's peerage. Then you just have to deal with the Phenex regen, and we've already come up with strategies for that. You'll be fine."

She doesn't respond to me, but I can feel her slump slightly beneath my hands. The room is quiet. I can't see her face and her emotions are both too muted and too jumbled for [Empathy] to give me an idea of what's going on in her head.

"Axton, how strong are you really?" she asks, and I freeze, caught off guard.

I debate my options. I can lie, and claim to only be a little stronger than her...but it's a weak lie. My actions have consistently put me as confidently above all of them in terms of strength. I'm a Rogue who brawls better than her Rook and has more powerful magic than her or her Queen. I regularly spar with the Red Dragon Empress when she's using multiple boosts, though admittedly her strength has started to eclipse mine.

The point is, I've been doing a shit job pretending to be weak enough for her to reincarnate. But as I try to think about the downsides of that, I can't really think of any. Honestly, the ploy of trying to get her to do sexual stuff to entice me to join her peerage has passed. She has the Red Dragon Empress and talented mage, and she knows she can't convince me before the Rating Game. Her motivation to recruit me has decreased, especially since I've taken more of a teacher role.

"I don't really have a good frame of reference," I admit. "So far, most of the people I've met have either been far below me in terms of strength, or far above me. Wilhelm is close to my current physical strength, but I'm also just as talented with magic."

She sighs. "So I never could have had you join my peerage."

"What do you mean?" I ask, feigning ignorance. I think I can get away with this much.

"You don't know?" she asks, genuinely surprised. "A Devil can't reincarnate someone too much stronger than them. Or well, they might be able to, but it usually either requires a mutated piece or some other specific circumstances. But I don't have any more mutated pieces. My only option would be to ask a stronger Devil to reincarnate you and then trade you to me."

"And that works?" I ask. I hadn't considered that as a possibility.

"So long as they actually trade you, yes," she says. "So it'd have to be someone I trust. Probably my brother." She looks over her shoulder at me. "Would you be willing to do that?"

I grimace and shake my head. The game is over, and playing coy isn't the right call anymore. "Sorry, I have no intentions of joining a Peerage." Besides not wanting to be part of a Peerage, I have another reason for not joining. My Race Change potion. Becoming a Devil either before or after using it could give rise to issues.

If I use the Race Change potion before becoming a Devil, then I lose a lot of the benefits of it when I become a Devil. I've been paying attention to the stat growth of each of the members of Rias's peerage. And Koneko doesn't grow faster than the others, despite being a Nekoshou turned Devil. Any racial modifiers to stat growth get changed to the new race, and while it's possible I'd been an exception to that, that's a gamble I don't want to take.

But using the potion after becoming a Devil is no good either. For one, I still just don't want to be part of a Peerage. And second, changing my race while being part of a Peerage might screw with something. Would I still be part of her peerage? Would the Evil Piece just pop out of me? Or would it disappear, leaving her missing an Evil Piece? I'd lose the benefits of being a Devil either way.

"I see," she says, looking back away from me. She's silent for a moment. "You know, I think I've known that you're strong for a while. Or at least suspected. But I didn't want it to be true, so I ignored it."

"Oh?" I ask, wondering where I messed up. Was I too casual with the Fallen? With Serafall?

"I think it's when you came back with Atsuko and Aika being so much stronger than they were before that it really clicked," she continues. "After the incident with the Fallen, it was clear you were at least as strong as one of my peerage members, maybe even as strong as me."

She sighs. "And then that day happened. Where you came back after a morning of training and my Peerage member was stronger than I could have hoped to get her by myself with a dedicated week of training. And then the way you interacted with Riser and even Grayfia. Those were not the actions of a human at my level of strength."

She's silent for another moment. I'm unsure what to say, and while I'm thinking about it, she picks back up again. "I think that's why I trusted you so much though. Why I trusted you with my Peerage and their training. I've been raised since birth to be the next Gremory Heiress, and taking the lead is something I naturally do. But this entire time I've been deferring to you, and the only strange thing about it is how not strange it felt to do that."

"Because I'm strong?" I ask.

"Because you're reliable, I think," she corrects me. Then she nods. "Yeah, that's it. It's because it felt like I could rely on you. So I've let you take the lead, let you organize everything, and order me and my peerage around. And it's paid off. We've grown a lot thanks to you." She sighs and rubs at her eyes. "But I'm still nervous. I can't stop worrying about it."

"Which is perfectly understandable, considering what's at stake," I say. "And I won't say don't worry, because I know that won't help anything, but I will repeat what I said earlier. If the Rating Game happened right now, you'd still kick his ass. A lazy guy like him doesn't stand a chance against the hard work you're doing."

I reach over her shoulder and grab the papers she was reading. "That being said, part of training is getting the proper amount of rest," I say as I pull the papers away from her. "Which means you should call it a night here."

She sighs. "I know," she admits. I step backward as she gets up from the desk. "I think I can get to sleep now." She smiles at me, and I can sense that her emotions have calmed down some. "Good night Axton, and thanks."

<+10 Affection with Rias Gremory>

It's been a while since I've gained some Affection with her. I was wondering what I needed to increase that. I guess a heart-to-heart was the perfect thing. She leaves the room and I use [Void Detect] to make sure she goes to bed while I put away the information she was looking at. She does, and I [Void Travel] back to my room.

I check the time. Plenty of time left in the night for a quick dungeon run to farm a few materials and to train some skills, and finally take care of something I've been putting off for a while.

-x-

A cool wind ruffles my hair as I look around. The setting sun, hidden behind the mountains around me, casts the sky in orange and purple.

With a frown, I pull out my phone and use the GPS to find out where I am. I then compare it to my map. I had decided to finally use one of the Treasure Maps I gained in the Dungeon hoping to find some of the last ingredients I need. The problem is, it's not very specific. The map shows a section of what is recognizably Europe, centered on France, and in the bottom right is a small circle.

Traveling here was annoying, I had to use chain [Void Sight] to teleport as far as I could, but even then, [Void Sight]'s range wasn't far enough for me to make it in one go. It took me three hops to make it this far.

But I made it without too much hassle. And as far as I can tell, I'm in the right area. Roughly at least. I'm within the circle on the map. Which means that I have to turn to the other thing this map has. The riddle scrawled on the back.

Atop the lone and craggy peak

Behind the stone severely scored

Lies the path to what you seek

The long-dead dragon's forgotten hoard.

Tread lightly, for without the dragon's might

Death and danger are around every bend

But if the shrines are all alight

You will be treated as a friend.

At the bottom, riches beyond measure

A hoard that rivals Hell and Heaven

You will find, amongst this treasure

A holy sword, one of seven.

As far as riddles go, it's pretty transparent. Which is fine with me, I'm here to loot, not get my daily brain exercise. I turn in a slow circle, looking for a 'lone and craggy peak'. There are a lot of mountain peaks around me, and my gut reaction is to go for the tallest peak. But one catches my eye. Most of the peaks are sort of clustered together, but there's one not too far from me that stands alone.

I [Void Travel] over to it and then double-check with my GPS to make sure I'm still in the area circled on the map. It looks like I am, so I then start making short hops around the top of the mountain, [Void Detect] extended at its maximum range and looking for "the stone severely scored", which I take to mean it has a bunch of gashes in it. Or it has some sort of tally marks maybe. Either way, I'm looking for a marked rock with a tunnel behind it.

I end up finding the tunnel first, and a short hop brings me to the entrance of it. The rock in question is covered in claw marks made by something big. Just guessing based off of the riddle, probably a dragon. I'm tempted to just teleport straight in, I can feel the tunnel that winds its way downwards, but the mention of "death and danger" has me deciding to play it safe.

I'm almost positive that with all my skills, whatever traps are in there are things I can easily avoid. But this is a dragon's hoard we're talking about, and dragons are pretty powerful in this universe. They're pretty powerful in most universes, to be honest. The riddle describes a safe method of entering though, so I'll follow it for now.

Rather than try to shove the rock aside, I simply use [Void Cloak] and quickly step through it. I find myself in pitch blackness. Right, of course. I need to find a permanent form of being able to see in the dark soon. Oh well, [Void Detect] does a good enough job.

I look around with [Void Detect]. The tunnel is massive, roughly circular with a twenty-foot radius. I suppose it would need to be at least this big for a dragon to travel through it. Hanging from the ceiling above me is a stone chandelier, each corner carved into the shape of a dragon's head. [Void Detect] notes a few of them at regular intervals down the length of the cave. Are these the shrines?

I use [Shadow Step] to sink into the floor and come out of the 'shadows' on the ceiling, where I use [Spider Climb] to cling to it. I pull out my Wand of Flame and shoot a gout of fire at the chandelier.

Sure enough, it absorbs the fire and lights up, lighting the cave below it, and the magical feeling in the walls recedes a bit. I'm guessing the traps disarmed then? I drop down back to the floor and start walking down the tunnel. Nothing jumps out at me and I don't trigger any traps. It seems like that worked.

I make my way down the spiraling tunnel, lighting up the chandeliers as I go. I'm not sure how far down I go. Far enough that [Void Detect] no longer feels the air around the mountain, just the stone and tunnels within it, and then down some more. But eventually, I arrive at a chamber a bit larger than the tunnel.

My eyes widen as I get a look. The place glitters with gold, the massive piles of gold coins are illuminated by the light coming from the tunnel. Spots of color break up the gold, coming from gems the size of golf balls.

But my eyes are immediately drawn to the center of the room, where an ornate sword is on display on top of a pile of gold. It's clearly meant to be the centerpiece of the hoard, and I waste no time in using [Observe] on it.

I had guessed as much from the riddle, but I'm still surprised to find an actual Excalibur fragment here. If I remember correctly, this was the only one missing. This dragon must have gotten its hands on it somehow and stashed it away here without anyone knowing. Or maybe not no one. The Khaos Brigade finds this sword soon and uses it for their own purposes. I must have gotten here right in time to claim it before they do.

I reach out and pick it up. When I do a message pops up from the Game.

<Reason: Do not meet skill, bloodline, or Faith requirements. One of those must be met.>

The sword seems to lose some of its luster in my hands. So I can't use it, huh? I'm surprised it can even reject a Gamer. I shrug. Oh well, even if it's powerful, it's not really a weapon I'm interested in personally using. Too large and unwieldy, I'll stick with my daggers and the critical hit multipliers they offer.

Still, it's amazingly valuable. I'll definitely figure out a use for it. I stash it in my inventory and another Game window appears in my vision.

--<New Quest!>--

The Fragments Reforged

Objective: Collect all seven Excalibur's and combine them back together with [Alchemy]

Reward: True Excalibur, 100k Hunie, 1 million Class XP

--<>--

Now there's a use for it. True Excalibur would be a lot nicer to have. Would it earn the attention of the Church? Oh absolutely. But that's fine, I'm past the point of worrying about keeping my head down. Besides, even if Kokabiel stole some, they should still have Destruction, Mimic, and Blessing. I'll have to get them from them somehow. I could most likely steal them easily enough, but would it be worth pissing them off?

Something to worry about in the future. A chance to get my hands on them more legitimately might occur, though I doubt it. Instead, I turn my attention to the rest of the haul. Now that I look closer, there are a handful of items that aren't gold coins or gemstones.

I start scooping everything into my inventory, cleaning the hoard out. By the end, I've obtained a nice haul of things considering how little work I put into it.

<32,184 Gold Coins>

<23 Ambers>

<21 Diamonds>

<21 Rubies>

<24 Emeralds>

<24 Sapphires>

<22 Topazes>

<21 Amethysts>

Just in terms of pure wealth, this is enough to make me quite rich. Not that I need it, and these are better used for crafting. Or just for hoarding.

<6 Pots of Marvelous Pigments>

[Observe] tells me that Marvelous Pigment is an ink that lets me draw things that become real. It can't be anything valuable, but I can use it to make traps or doors or just random mundane things that I might need. Maybe I should look into getting a painting skill?

I immediately disenchant that. [Pericognition] and [Empathy] can usually pick up when I'm being lied to, but a magic item would work against even skilled liars. Assuming they don't have their own magical protection against that sort of thing.

I'm not sure what a Gogmagog is, but it must be quite big. The shard is about two feet long but only two inches wide at its widest point. It may have been smooth gemstone or glass at one point, but the surface is pockmarked and roughened like it's been sandblasted. But both the description and my own senses told me it wasn't sand that did this, but Void.

The interesting thing about it is that the feeling of Void is coming from inside of it. It looks like the Void started eating away at it, but then was absorbed, and then that protected it? Or something along those lines. Either way, it's clear that it started out as something different than before, but now it's attuned to the Void energies in the Dimensional Gap. I'll have to research what a Gogmagog is later.

<50 yards of Arachne Silk. Arachne Silk offers moderate physical protection and high magical protection. It is also a great conductor for magic and can amplify magical effects placed on it.>

I've been missing a good source of magical cloth. So far, it's been just mundane cloth and hides, and magical hides. Now I can make some proper light armor, and put enchantments on it that will be boosted.

<5 Gacha Tokens>

These surprised me at first, as I've never seen what gacha tokens actually look like. I found them on top of a pile of gold, pure white discs neatly stacked on top of each other about five inches wide and only a few millimeters thick. Did the Game put them here when it generated the Treasure Map? Or maybe when I came in? Could someone else have found them? Unfortunately, as soon as I touched them, they entered my inventory and I couldn't pull them back out. Oh well. I'll use these later.

Vague description is vague. Does it subtract a set number of years? Or rewind them to a certain point? Or what?

I guess it doesn't matter that much. No matter what it does, I'm sure whoever drinks it will be grateful. I'll hold on to that, surely I'll find someone willing to give me something good for it. Eventually.

I nearly had a heart attack when I used [Observe] on this. Not just because of what it is, but because I didn't use [Observe] immediately and had very nearly drawn a card. The cards are kept in an ornate wooden box with a hinged lid, and the cards themselves are made with black obsidian and detailed with gold. They're absolutely beautiful. And their potential is terrifying.

I stash them in my inventory. There's a very good chance that they'll never see the light of day. I don't remember the exact details of every possible effect, but I do remember that there are an equal number of good and bad cards, and I don't think any of the good effects are worth risking some of the worst ones in there.

I look around the now empty chamber. The only sign that anything was here before are a few slight claw marks on the smooth stone floor. Satisfied that I cleaned the place out, I [Void Travel] out and head home. I have more work to do, as always.

-x-

Rias let out a moan of pleasure as Axton's hands dug into the sore muscles of her back. She wasn't sure how he could make a massage feel this good, but she was sure that the feeling of his skilled and strong hands on her back was one of her favorite feelings, and the evenings of these training sessions were quickly becoming her favorite part of the day.

Axton's hands stopped, and she realized she had been quite loud in expressing her enjoyment. "Sorry, I didn't mean to let that slip out," she apologized.

She heard Axton chuckle. "No, it's no problem," he said, the amusement in his voice clear. "If anything, I take it as a compliment. It's just a little…" he paused, looking for the right word. "Distracting, I guess."

"Distracting?" she asked while turning her head to look at him. Axton didn't dress much differently than usual when he did these massages, only forgoing his armor and jacket. Still, jeans and a plain t-shirt seemed odd attire for someone giving a massage, but they looked right on him.

But even the rough material of his jeans wasn't enough to hide his obvious erection, the material straining against the pressure from inside of the pants.

Rias wasn't a prude, and it certainly wasn't the first time she had seen Axton pitching a tent. In fact, she had purposefully aroused him a few times herself. So instead of getting embarrassed or looking away, she just smiled at him teasingly. "Oh? I'm sorry, was that a little too stimulating for you?"

"Truth be told, this happened as soon as you dropped your towel," Axton admitted without shame. That was one thing she liked about him, how open he was about that sort of thing. Most people got embarrassed or defensive about nudity and sex. Even some of the most lecherous devils she knew didn't like talking about that sort of thing with others. But Axton would talk to you about those things like he was discussing the weather.

Though the direct compliment still made her heart skip. It wasn't like she was unused to compliments. Quite the opposite actually, as one of the two great Onee-samas of Kuoh, she was used to flattery and attention of all sorts.

But Axton admitting he had been aroused by seeing her naked still managed to get a reaction out of her, despite how obvious it should be.

"Well then," Rias started. "I'm glad I'm not the only one enjoying themselves."

Axton's hands worked on her lower back, sending tingles through her as his fingers worked on the sensitive flesh so close to her butt cheeks.

"How could I not enjoy myself?" he asked rhetorically. "I'm doing this out of the goodness of my own heart, but the eye candy is a nice side benefit. Even if my pants get uncomfortably tight."

"If you like, I don't mind you taking them off," Rias heard herself say before she could even think about it. "I mean- a little nudity between friends is fine, isn't it?" She tried to recover. "Besides, I'm already naked too."

"That's a great point," Axton said, and Rias wasn't sure if she regretted opening her mouth, or if she was thankful. Those thoughts went away when she glanced back at him just in time to see his clothes disappear without a trace, causing his erection to swing up and outwards, swaying from the force of being released. "Oh yeah, that's much better," he said.

Rias swallowed, her eyes tracking the slight swaying motions of his penis. "Like what you see?" She looked up to see Axton looking at her, amusement clear on his face. But she saw something else in his eyes. Desire.

"I appreciate the eye candy," she joked back at him with more confidence than she felt. Axton laughed, which helped Rias relax. "This isn't my first time seeing it, but it's still just as impressive."

"Would you like a closer look?" Axton asks, and Rias's eyes widened as Axton stepped closer to her, his dick right at her eye level. She opened her mouth to say something, but no words came to mind. The image of Axton shifting just a couple inches and putting his penis into her open mouth flashed in her mind, causing her to close her mouth with a snap. But she didn't stop staring.

"I don't mind if you want to inspect it closer," Axton said in a husky voice. Head filled with fuzz, Rias nodded and sat up. Axton repositioned himself in front of her, his dick nearly touching her knees. She reached out with a tentative hand and softly grasped his hard shaft.

Axton's dick twitched in her hands, and the feeling of it sent a jolt of excitement through her. She ran her fingers over the hot skin of his erection. The skin itself was soft and smooth, but just under the surface, she felt hard muscle.

She spotted Axton biting his lip at her gentle caresses, trying not to let the pleasure show, something that excited her. She started being bolder and more deliberate in her actions. Wrapping her fingers around his shaft, she slowly moved them up and down, wringing pleasure out of him.

He let out a low groan. "That feels so good Rias, better than I imagined it would."

"Oh?" She asked him. "Do you often imagine what me touching you would feel like?"

"Just once," he admitted, voice a little rough. "That day at the pool, when Akeno touched me from behind." His voice was low, and the sound of it sent shivers down her spine. "It was you I was facing, you're the only one I saw, and in my mind, it was you touching me like that."

Rias's eyes widened and a wave of heat rushed over her, emanating from her core. That day at the pool had left her with mixed emotions. Jealousy had been among them, but one she hadn't managed to figure out. Was that why? Did she want to be the one that did that to him?

She's drawn from her thoughts and the heat of arousal that they send through her by another grunt from Axton. "Fuck Rias, I'm going to cum!"

Rias, unsure of what to do, simply kept moving her hand. Apparently, it didn't matter, because almost immediately after he said that, his dick twitched massively and started shooting spurts of semen. She flinched at the feeling of it landing on her. Most of it collected in her hand or up her arm, but much of it got on her legs, stomach, and even her chest.

Rias couldn't think properly. Her body felt like it was on fire and her head felt like it was filled with cotton. The smell of sweat and flesh and semen filled her nostrils. She looked down at her hand, Axton's seed pooling in her palm. A memory sparked, the image of it cutting through the fuzz in her head, and she slowly lifted her hand to her mouth before licking the liquid there.

"Chocolate again," she muttered.

"Again?" she heard, causing her to look up in surprise. She had forgotten Axton was there, lost as she was in her thoughts. He's looking down at her, a teasing smile on his lips, but more than that is the hunger in his eyes that's only stronger than it was before. "Did you give it a taste before then? That day at the pool?"

Rias blushed, her face heating up, but she nodded. She had. After she entered the bathroom, right before she stepped into the shower, she stopped, her curiosity nagging her. She had tried it, just a little bit. It was normal for girls to taste it right? Blowjobs were common in porn.

She was surprised when it tasted like chocolate. She wasn't sure what it was supposed to taste like, but she was pretty sure chocolate wasn't it. So she had tried some more, and it still tasted like chocolate. She might have tried a few more fingertips after that before realizing what she was doing and embarrassing herself.

"I guess your curiosity got the best of you?" Axton asked. Rias nodded again, not trusting her voice right now. "That's really hot you know." She feels something hot press against her stomach, and her eyes widen as she realizes the position the two of them have ended up in.

Somehow, her legs are spread, and Axton is standing between them, his still very erect dick pressing against her stomach. She gulped again, her throat dry. She was suddenly very aware of the bare inches that separated his dick from her lower entrance.

She looked up at Axton, her emotions swirling. The hunger in his eyes is stronger than ever, and seeing that caused another rush of heat from her core. Axton used his hand to reposition his dick, tracing the head of it down her stomach, to her crotch, and finally leaving it pressing against her wet entrance.

"How about I return the favor?" Axton asked, his voice soft and husky. "You made me feel good, and now I can make us both feel good."

A small shock of pleasure sparked through her, and she slowly nodded. Axton leaned down, his lips headed for hers, even as the pressure against her pussy increased as he pressed-

Rias jolted awake at the sound of her alarm going off, the familiar melody bringing her to wakefulness immediately. Her heart pounded in her chest as her mind struggled to fit the pieces together. It took her several moments to figure it out. A dream. She had been having a dream.

It wasn't the first time she'd had a dream about Axton. She blamed his massages, as she'd been having them ever since she'd started getting massages from him right before going to bed. But they'd never been as intense as that.

Was it because of last night? How he had reassured her? His hands had felt so strong on her shoulders, and so reliable.

She felt a blush forming on her face and she shook her head, ridding herself of those thoughts. No, it didn't matter. Training is all she should be focused on right now. She started to move to get up when she noticed another problem.

Rias slept naked. She always had. The soft sheets against her skin had always felt more comfortable than any pair of pajamas, and even underwear got in the way of that. But for the first time, she regretted that. She got up and drew the blanket back, revealing the small but palpable wet spot. Hesitantly, she reached between her legs and felt herself. Sure enough, she was dripping with arousal.

She couldn't stop the blush this time. Nothing like this had ever happened to her, but then again, never before had she had such an arousing dream.

The scent of breakfast reached her nose, reminding her of her situation. She shook her head clear again and started getting dressed, ignoring the wet spot on her bed. She'll clean it up later...sometime.

Dressed and ready for the day, she left her room. She concentrated on clearing her thoughts and forgetting the dream, but she didn't think she'd be able to look at Axton at all today without remembering. She sighed. It was going to be a long day.

-x-

I pause on my way from sparring with Akeno. I have a bunch of Gacha tokens burning a hole in my pocket. Now should be a good time to use them, right? I ignore the voice in my head telling me to stop procrastinating the confrontation with Koneko and pull up my inventory.

Over the past couple of days, I've collected ten Gacha tokens, so I go ahead and use them all.

Not a bad first pull. I'll have to ask Kiba later if he's interested in incorporating a shield into his fighting style, though I don't think he will. Still, worst-case scenario, it's free vibranium. I'm sure I can find a use for that.

While chalk is pretty easy to come by, having an infinite source of it is useful, I guess. Especially since combining items with [Alchemy] requires chalk circles.

<Azal's Staff>

Useful. I wonder which member of Rias's Peerage would benefit the most from this? Most likely Akeno. Aika has more MP, but also already has a staff that boosts her spells without having to increase their cost. I'll give it to her to try out in the Dungeon tomorrow when we fight the boss.

I'm quite pleased by how many "Get out of Jail Free" cards I've been collecting through the Gacha. Seven seconds of invincibility is a powerful advantage if leveraged correctly, not to mention the regen increases.

Ah yes, the coolest looking cyberpunk dystopia weapon. I wonder how well the kill setting works on anything above a baseline human? Considering the exact effect it has on humans, it should still probably be pretty decent, though there's almost certainly a ceiling it hits in terms of effectiveness. I'll test it out in the dungeon later.

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

Weird name, but it's definitely a good skill. While the ability to make potions would be better, making chemicals is pretty good too. I'll have to read up on some chemistry, see what I can make.

I am curious though, so I try to make some now. Water is a chemical substance and the safest one I can think of off the top of my head. Two hydrogen atoms and an oxygen one. I create some in the palm of my hand and...it's slow. It's so fucking slow. 30 seconds of using the skill results in just a few drops of it in my hand.

I shake off the droplets in annoyance and go back to using my Gacha tokens.

Moderately useful. Not to me, since [Far Reach] is a much more useful version of this. But I can give it to someone to use without having to teach them the skill. Maybe Atsuko? As a Devil, she can just fly, though she still isn't very good at it. And being able to pull people towards her could be pretty useful. We'll experiment with it during her training later.

<"Nut" Button>

...I've gotten some useless loot before, but this is almost definitely the least useful thing I've ever gotten. I take it out of my inventory. It's not very big, fitting comfortably in my hand. It feels like it's made of cheap plastic. The base is a plain grey and the button itself is red with "Nut" on it in white letters. I hesitate, but then I push the button.

"Nut," says the voice of an old woman with absolutely no inflection. I push it again. "Nut," it says in a deep manly baritone. I push it a few more times, and each time it says "Nut" in a different voice.

It's childish, but it's actually pretty amusing. It's not useful at all, but maybe I can use it to annoy someone or something. Whatever. Two more Gacha tokens.

Another Devil fruit, and it's also a good one. Or at least, one that's been proven to be powerful and useful. My mind instantly starts trying to figure out who it would be best to give this to. It's not a good fit for me or my fighting style, not compared to other potential abilities I could get from a Devil fruit. Asia maybe? She's been getting used to her Holy barriers and has gotten a lot better with them.

Or maybe, rather than Asia who spends all of her time near me and has several other options, maybe I should give it to Momo? If I recall correctly, when Momo described to me how Sona's Peerage fought as a group, she said that she and Reya usually focus on controlling the battlefield. Momo uses barriers and alters the battlefield, while Reya sometimes assists with barriers but often uses long-range magic or magic with a large area of effect.

The barriers made by the Barrier-Barrier fruit are extremely powerful, and being able to replace her magically created ones with them would free up magical power for other things. Or she could possibly even mix the two? Magic wasn't really a thing in One Piece, so it's not clear if that's possible. But I feel like it should be.

Besides, as much as I want to protect Asia, I feel like I've been neglecting Momo lately. Giving her a powerful ability like this would help, especially since I'm going to have to give Sona and her Peerage the same treatment I've given Rias. This will work towards that.

Mind made up to give it to Momo later, I use my last Gacha token.

It's...okay? It's more useful than the "Nut" Button I guess, though only barely so. I don't really have any use for a bike though, and neither does anyone I know. Whatever. Free stuff is free stuff. Not all my pulls can be Devil Fruits.

I sigh and close my Inventory. I can't put it off any longer. I [Void Travel] to where Koneko is training. She's back to throwing rocks around, but these ones are even bigger, and she has more in the air. She spots me as I arrive, catches the rocks, and sets them back on the ground before turning to me.

She's not the only one to have spotted me. I can feel Kuroka's eyes on the back of my neck. I guess she took up the offer of staying to watch. Sorry Kuroka, but you won't be able to see much today.

I pull out the Game Board. "You ready?" I ask her. And she nods, placing a hand on the box. Not strictly necessary, but it's a good indicator of her readiness. I pull us both into the Gameboard, shunting us into the pocket dimension there. Where she won't be able to run away and she can rampage as much as she likes. It also provides some privacy, which could help Koneko lower her guard a little.

Once we enter, Koneko looks at me expectantly, silently asking what the plan is for today. I keep my face blank as I look at her.

"You know, I'm not sure what else I can teach you," I admit. "We could spend an hour beating each other again, training the Iron Body technique, but honestly you're already better at it than you need to be for anyone you'd face fighting Riser's Peerage. And in terms of pure skill, you're better than me in hand-to-hand combat. Continuing to train that seems inefficient right now."

Koneko frowns at me, not understanding, but she doesn't say anything, so I continue. "But there is one thing I can think of that you could use some training in. Something that would help a lot." I look her in the eyes. "Senjutsu."

She flinches and looks down. I grimace, but I don't stop. "I told Rias about what happened the other day, and she explained things. I'm sorry that happened to you, I can't imagine what that must have been like. But I think you're making a mistake, rejecting Senjutsu and your heritage."

I feel anger from her now. It's small, but it's there. No one likes being told they're wrong, especially when it comes to a subject like this. So I keep talking, monologuing at her, trying to get out all of my thoughts before she...I'm not sure. Snaps? Runs? I don't know. Before her emotions reach the point where she does something besides listen.

"Something about the story Rias told me seemed off," I explain. "So I've spent the past couple nights investigating. I'm in the middle of a pretty big trade deal with Serafall right now, and I was able to get my hands on the info about it pretty quickly." I shake my head. "Not that it helped, because there basically isn't any. The official story is that Kuroka became drunk on her own power and killed her King to feel strong. But there is exactly zero evidence for that claim."

Shock and confusion rise to match Koneko's anger. She didn't expect me to claim that. She's no longer looking at the ground, but instead looking at me with an intense gaze. "Kuroka was strong, that's for sure. Becoming a Bishop only increased her natural talents, and she grew quickly. But there is no evidence or logic that is in the official report that could lead to the conclusion of why she did it. I asked Serafall, but she said she wasn't involved with that incident and didn't know anything beyond the official report."

It's a bit of a risk saying I talked to Serafall about this when I never actually did, but it's a calculated one. There's almost no chance of Koneko acting on that information, or even speaking of it.

"What are you saying?" Koneko asks, speaking for the first time. Her voice is tight, and confusion is definitely the most overwhelming emotion she's feeling right now.

"I'm saying I don't think that's why she killed her King," I say bluntly. "It doesn't make sense. Kill the King, but no one else? Immediately flee, avoiding all of her pursuers instead of confronting them?" I shake my head. "Those aren't the actions of someone drunk on their own strength."

"Then why?" Koneko asks. Her eyes are watery, tears threatening to spill. "Why would she do that?"

I grimace again. "That, I don't know," I admit. Koneko's frustration spikes, but I keep speaking before she says anything. "But I can maybe come up with a theory. Tell me, what do you remember of the Devil she served?"

Koneko blinks, and her brow furrows. Her emotions calm slightly as she thinks, but they're still a mess. She eventually shakes her head. "Not much. She didn't let me see him. I only talked to him once, at the start."

"That's fairly indicative of itself," I point out. "Was Kuroka a protective older sister? If so, the fact that she actively didn't want the two of you to interact says a lot about the kind of person he probably was." Koneko's eyes widen as she realizes what I'm saying. "While there's no evidence to prove it, it's possible that her killing him was in response to something he did, something he deserved. Not all Devils are as nice as Rias or Sona. If that's the case, then Kuroka's actions afterward make more sense. She fled because it didn't matter why she did it, a Bishop killing her King is a serious crime no matter what in the eyes of Devil society. And it makes more sense why Sirzechs would protect you."

Koneko tilts her head in confusion at that last statement. "I know a lot of Devils wanted to punish you in fear that you would do what Kuroka did," I explain. "But obviously Sirzechs didn't. If he did, there's no way he would have had you join his precious little sister's Peerage. He wasn't worried at all about you repeating the actions of your sister, and honestly, that is probably the biggest sign that not all is what it seems."

I can see it on her face and feel it in her emotions when the realization clicks. She walks over to one of the tables and sits down, the energy gone out of her. "She didn't go berserk because of her power?" she asks in a soft voice as if she can scarcely believe it.

I sit down next to her and put an arm around her shoulder. "I don't think so. And I don't think Sirzechs thought so either. I don't know why she did it, or why the official story is what it is. But I think there's definitely more to the story than we know."

Koneko nods in agreement, and I have to suppress a smile. Good, we're past that initial hump. The thought of "Kuroka bad, I don't want to be like Kuroka" should be weakened in her mind now.

"I know you don't want to use Senjutsu, that it brings up those thoughts of turning out like her, but no matter what her reasons were, I think that line of thought is wrong." She looks at me. There's no longer any anger in her emotions. Just doubt and confusion, with a little tiny spark of hope. She looks emotionally tired though, so I decide to not draw this part out.

"It's simple really," I continue. "You and Kuroka are different people. We can't know why she did what she did, but it doesn't matter. Because if you don't want to do anything like that then you won't. Senjutsu isn't dangerous, it's just another tool for you to use as you see fit. Besides, you have two advantages she didn't." She continues to look at me, but the question is clear on her face to my eyes.

"For one, you have this place," I say, indicating the area around us. "In this pocket space, you could rampage and burn it all to the ground, and it wouldn't matter. It's all easily replaceable, and it's just the two of us here. It's a safe place to train." She doesn't look as reassured as I would've liked, but it did seem to help a little. "And more importantly, you have me."

She blinks in surprise and confusion, so I continue. "Not just me either. You have Rias, Akeno, Kiba, Atsuko, Aika, and even Asia. All of us care about you, and we will all do whatever we can to keep you safe and happy. We're here to support you, and together, we can make sure nothing bad happens." I pat her on the head. "So don't be afraid. Show off those cute ears of yours, and use the options available to you, your Senjutsu. If you do that, Riser won't be a challenge to you at all."

Koneko doesn't say anything for a long moment, and I have to rely on [Empathy] to tell what she's feeling. Things aren't as much of a mess as they were before. There's still some confusion and fear, but there's no anger, and the strongest emotions are positive ones. Determination and hope especially. The way she's pushing slightly against my hand as if asking to be patted more is also a good sign.

Eventually, she nods, and her cat ears appear on top of her head. "Okay," she says, voice filled with determination.

<+8 Affection with Koneko Toujo>

Koneko, huh? That's probably a good sign. I smile down at her. "Great!" I exclaim. "Now, I don't know much about Senjutsu, but I don't doubt you have some rust to shake off. Let's spar, no holding back. Let's see what you can really do."

Koneko nods and stands up. She walks a bit away and takes a fighting stance, blue fire appearing around her hands. We're both smiling as I rush towards her, and our sparring begins.

-x-

- Bonus Scene -

Gasper was alone in his room like he always was. It brought comfort to him to be inside of these four walls, heavily warded as they were. The only person he ever saw was Rias, and that was only for a short time whenever she came in to check on him and bring him more things. That was fine with him. In fact, he appreciated it. Being around others and being out in the open was too scary.

He had everything he needed here, in this room. Food, entertainment, company. The internet was a wonderful thing. With it, he could even keep in contact with his peerage members without putting them at risk. Though they've all been too busy lately, preparing for some big event. He wasn't sure exactly what event, they hadn't mentioned, but whatever it was had kept them busy all day for days now.

His computer, which was almost always on, dinged, signifying that he had received a message. He pulled up the chat client to check it.

hibi-sama: alright, i've finished up another one. take a look at it for me?

hibi-sama: neighbor_dream_14_WIP.png

It was from a friend of his that he had met online a few months ago. He had complimented one of her art pieces once, and she had responded, and things ended up progressing from there until they talked online almost every day.

But recently her art had gotten a lot more...explicit. Gasper had mixed feelings about that. It's not that he didn't like it, because he did. Her art had definitely improved a lot when she started drawing that sort of thing. But they all featured the same two characters, and from the file names and the things she mentioned, he was pretty sure one of them was meant to represent her. And it was weird critiquing art featuring one of his closest friends in those sorts of situations.

He opened the file she had sent to find a short comic. That was another thing about the art she'd been doing lately, they were usually comics about a scenario, rather than just single images. Though the majority of the page would be taken up by one or two 'action' shots, with the setup sort of skimmed over.

In this one, the usual guy character appears behind the female character while she is drawing on a tablet. He offers to pose for her, and within a couple short panels, she's sucking his dick. Though the focus is the last panel of the girl on her side, having sex with the guy. She looked like she was enjoying it a lot.

Gasper blushed and tried to ignore the feelings the image stirred up in him. He reminded himself that this was art, and his friend was just trying to get better, and the weird feelings caused by the male character-

He shook his head, clearing the thoughts away before they strayed into dangerous territory, and instead typed out his response.

gaspi (＠＾◡＾): First off, you didn't do any first-person perspective angles this time, so there's an improvement

hibi-sama: i still think it'd come out better if i did that though…

gaspi (＠＾◡＾): Stand-alone images occasionally from that angle are fine, but they limit your audience. A lot of your followers are guys, they don't want to see pictures from that angle.

hibi-sama: i know i know. ugh

hibi-sama: any other thoughts?

gaspi (＠＾◡＾): How did the guy get in her room?

gaspi (＠＾◡＾): Also, you really need to come up with a name for the characters.

hibi-sama: oh right. i actually came up with one for the guy. akisu, or akisu-tan.

gaspi (＠＾◡＾): I'm not sure the -tan honorific really fits the character…

hibi-sama: it's not supposed to! it's that thing...uhh. gap moe! it's cute because it doesn't fit.

gaspi (＠＾◡＾): Ah, I see. Yeah, I get that. How about the girl?

hibi-sama: not sure yet, still thinking

hibi-sama: coming up with a name for her is a lot harder

hibi-sama: but to answer your question, he teleported into her room

gaspi (＠＾◡＾): Oh. He can do that?

hibi-sama: he's like a modern-day ninja, of course he can do something like that

gaspi (＠＾◡＾): He's a ninja? Since when?

hibi-sama: since always?

hibi-sama: oh. looking back on what i've drawn of him, i guess it isn't obvious.

hibi-sama: that's how he did some of the weird sex stuff, like changing the flavor of his cum. ecchijutsu.

gaspi (＠＾◡＾): I see…

gaspi (＠＾◡＾): You should probably make that more clear at some point. Maybe show it off more obviously?

hibi-sama: i guess i could make like a character bio of him or something...yeah, i'll do that soon.

gaspi (＠＾◡＾): His name makes more sense if he's a ninja though

hibi-sama: huh?

hibi-sama: oh! yep, that was definitely what i was going for.

gaspi (＠＾◡＾): …

hibi-sama: anyways!

hibi-sama: the art quality itself, what do you think?

gaspi (＠＾◡＾): It's even better than your last one. You managed to really capture the sense of motion while still keeping your lines clean. It's really amazing how much you've improved these past couple of weeks.

hibi-sama: i guess i just found my calling lol

gaspi (＠＾◡＾): I do have one question though.

hibi-sama: yeah? what is it?

gaspi (＠＾◡＾): Just judging off of the file names, is Akisu-tan based on a real person that you live near? Or used to live near, since you mentioned you just moved a few days ago.

hibi-sama: …

hibi-sama: i completely forgot you could see the file names

hibi-sama: uuuuugh. look, you can't tell anyone, okay? i know it's fucked up to be drawing porn of my old neighbor

hibi-sama: but if you think about it, it's all his fault! he kept bringing girls home and sleeping with them. loudly. the walls were thin, i heard everything

gaspi (＠＾◡＾): No no no! I wouldn't judge you for that!

gaspi (＠＾◡＾): I mean, you're just using him as inspiration right? It's not like you lived next to an actual ninja.

hibi-sama: right! Yeah, that's exactly right. That stuff is just all fantasy.

gaspi (＠＾◡＾): It makes sense that you'd have dreams like that too if he had girls over while you were sleeping. I think turning those dreams into art is perfectly normal!

hibi-sama: please stop paying attention to the file names i didn't want you to know i've been dreaming about it too aaaaahhhhh

gaspi (＠＾◡＾): Oh...I'm sorry

hibi-sama: no, it's not your fault. i'm just an idiot who can't keep a secret to save her life.

hibi-sama: i'm gonna go scrub every mention of 'neighbor' and 'dream' from every file i've made and then i'll post this one

hibi-sama: then later i'll get started on a bio for him

gaspi (＠＾◡＾): Okay! I'll talk to you later then?

hibi-sama: yeah, talk to you later

Her status icon changed from 'Online' to 'Away', and Gasper let out a sigh. So she had been drawing porn of a real person and her. And the person Akisu was based on slept around a bunch.

Gasper ignored the confusing tangle of emotions that arose from that line of thought. Instead, he got up from his computer and moved to the couch, where he picked up a controller and booted up his game console. Some games should take his mind off of things.

As the game booted up, he wondered how the rest of the Peerage was, and what they were doing right now.

Next chapter