215 A Challenge to Spar... But We'll fire up the Grill First.

Human World, Japan, Kuoh.

After returning to his art studio, this time with Tatsuya, James and Tatsuya wasted no time in beginning the negotiations for their pact.

"So, I heard that you have an ability called [Elemental Sight]." James said with interest apparent in his tone.

"I don't know how you found out about that, but yes." Tatsuya replied with a slight frown.

Like Tatsuya said, no one should know about his [Elemental Sight] ability. However, something that even fewer people know about is that Tatsuya was a character from a light novel James had read in his past life. What James found strange, though, was that Tatsuya should be from almost a hundred years in the future.

'Seriously, what the fuck is up with this world?"' James asked himself as he listened to Tatsuya's reply.

"Don't worry, I have no interest in anything like taking that power from you." James said while waving dismissively. "I just want you to use those eyes of yours to watch me as I try to break through to the next level. That way, you can help me know what kind of progress I'm making."

"I see." Tatsuya replied. "I can understand that having an outside view of an issue could be helpful."

"Exactly." James said with a nod. "For a devil... Well, I don't know if it's the same for other beings, but for devils, we have to integrate more deeply with our attribute to progress into the major god-rank."

"Interesting." Tatsuya replied. "And you intend to use my [elemental Sight] to see how much you've integrated with your attribute."

"Right." James replied simply. "But I'm still not sure what it is that you want from this pact."

"Honestly, I only chose you because you're the closest to the devil that Miyuki chose to form a pact with." Tatsuya said without changing his expression.

'Oh, got damn it.' James said, keeping his expression from changing with all his might. 'The brother is a sis-con, too.'

As James maintained eye contact with Tatsuya, he felt there was something wrong with his gaze. Then, he began to analyze all of Tatsuya's micro expressions since he arrived.

'Wait, there's something wrong with the way this boy acts.' James thought to himself. 'I'm not sure what it is, but his lack of emotions is more than it seems.'

"Well, you didn't need to form a pact with me to accompany your sister when she comes over to work with Mizore, right?" James asked.

"That's true." Tatsuya agreed. "However, I also heard that you're quite the capable hand-to-hand fighter. If you are as good as the rumors say, then you could help me improve my own technique."

"Oh, so you're looking for a sparring partner, huh?" James said with a battle hungry grin. "If you wanted to throw hands, you should have said so."

To James' surprise, Tatsuya wore a similar grin to James'. Then, he spoke once more.

"Good." Tatsuya said. "I've never met someone near my age that could keep up with me in hand-to-hand combat."

'Hmm... so it's not that his emotions are lacking.' James thought to himself while he observed Tatsuya. 'It looks like his emotions are being suppressed. I know that his mother removed the majority of his emotions in the light novel. But I don't know if that's how it is in this world. Well, since I intend to spar with him, I'll ask Master to check him out while we spar.'

"Well, I don't mind sparring with you whenever you want." James said. "You might even benefit from sparring with the other three hand-to-hand fighters in my peerage. As long as you don't have an aversion to sparring with women, that is."

"With a sister like mine, I know that looking at women as the weaker sex is foolish." Tatsuya said while shaking his head gently.

"That's probably a good thing." James said with a nod. "It's embarrassing to get your ass kicked by someone you look down on, or so I hear."

"I wouldn't know, either."" Tatsuya said. "I've never lost a fight before."

"Interested in finding out how it feels?" James asked in a mischievous tone.

"Don't be too confident." Tatsuya said in a competitive tone.

"Well, then, why don't we seal the deal on this pact." James said. "Then, we can have a little spar and see who will see their first defeat from their peers."

"Oh, wait." Tatsuya said, as if he had just remembered. "I've heard that you're quite the artist. Your manga sales throughout the realms prove that rumor even more."

"I'm not too bad." James replied with a smile. "What's that got to do with our pact, though?"

"I'd like to have you help in designing the outward appearances of my CADs." Tatsuya replied.

"CADs?" James asked, although he was fully aware of what the term meant.

"I'm sure you know that human magic relies on mathematical calculations for casting their phenomenon, right." Tatsuya asked.

"Yeah, I'm aware." James replied.

"Well, I've been designing devices that assist in the calculations necessary for humans to cast magic that I call Casting Assistance Devices, or CADs for short." Tatsuya explained.

'So, he's not just a front runner in the field in this world.' James thought to himself. 'Instead, he's the pioneer.'

"And you want me to design the external appearances of these 'Cads,' right?" James asked to be sure.

"That's right." Tatsuya replied.

"And do you plan to sell these devices?" James asked.

"Eventually." Tatsuya replied with a nod.

"Then, there will have to be some monetary compensation for my work." James said.

"That was expected." Tatsuya said.

"I'll have my manager contact you about that in a few days." James said.

Like that, James and Tatsuya spent a few more minutes hashing out the details of their contracts. Then, they signed a pact that stated that James would spar with and assist Tatsuya in designing his CADs. In return, Tatsuya would use his [elemental Sight] to observe James' progress in breaking into the major god-rank and that James' CAD design drawings would be compensated with cash.

After that, the two young men left the art studio and returned to the living room. When they arrived, Mizore and Miyuki had yet to return. So, they decided to join the rest of the group, chatting until the other two came back. While Tatsuya sat alone to the side, James joined the table with Leona, Scathach, Irene, and Evangeline, who had returned to her adult form.

"Hey, Sweetie, how did the negotiations go?" Leona asked as James took a seat.

"Not bad." James replied. "He didn't ask for much."

"What did he want?" Leona asked curiously.

"He wanted someone to spar with in hand-to-hand combat and for me to put my drawing talents to use." James replied nonchalantly.

"Oh, is he talented in combat?" Scathach asked in interest.

"He should be." James replied. "His posture and physique would suggest so."

"I would assume that means that you're talented in hand-to-hand combat as well." Evangeline asked.

"I'm passable." James replied with a smile.

"I've heard of your feats with a sword." Irene chimed in. "But this is the first time I'm hearing of your barehanded fighting skill."

"Huh?" James exclaimed in confusion.

"Yes, the rumors say that you're a phenomenal swordsman who uses strange and unique magic." Irene explained. "But there have never been any mentions of you being a skilled hand-to-hand fighter."

"That's weird. James said, scratching his head in confusion. "I've shown off my hand-to-hand ability twice in public. And both times, there were more than a few spectators. I wonder why it hasn't been taken seriously?"

"it's probably because you outclassed your opponents in terms of power at those times." Leona said.

"Did I?" James asked, thinking back on the two fights where he engaged in hand-to-hand combat. "That might be true for the fight with Sai. But when it comes to Vali, we were on par at the time. He just sucked at hand-to-hand combat."

"Really?" Leona asked. "According to Sera, you beat him like he stole something."

"Yeah, we were both at the ultimate-rank." James replied. "In fact, I think we were both at the intermediate-level."

"Does it really matter?" Evangeline asked. "You use a sword more often anyway, right?"

"That may be true for now." Irene said. "But when he starts using [Dragon Slayer Magic], there's a good chance that will change."

At that moment, Mizore and Miyuki made their way down the stairs.

"Yo, Mizore, how did it go?" James asked as soon as he noticed Mizore was back in the living room.

Hearing James' question, Mizore looked to where he was sitting. When she saw that he was sitting alone, she sprinted in his direction. Then, before getting too close, she jumped at him.

Seeing that, James smiled wryly. Then, he opened his arms and plucked Mizore out of the air and sat her on his lap.

"Tee-hee. My seat." Mizore said happily.

After Mizore spoke, Rias, Sona, Akeno, Koneko, Moka, Shuna, Shion, Mio, and Ophis looked like they had not realized that James' lap was free.

"Oh, Mio, why do you look so disappointed." maria asked in a mischievous tone. "Did you want to sit on James-Nii's lap, too?"

Hearing Maria pointing out that she might have wanted to sit on James' lap, Mio blushed so hard that it was hard to distinguish between her face and her hair.

"Shut up Maria!" Mio shouted as her embarrassment had been transformed into anger. "Or I'll kill you a hundred times."

"Wow, they really are cousins." Sona said in an exaggerated tone. "No one blushes quite like a Gremory. You should have seen Rias the first time James kissed her on the cheek. She... hmph."

"Shut up, Sona." Rias said, covering Sona's mouth with her hands at the same time.

"Oh, this sounds like a story I'd like to hear." Akeno said with a sadistic smile. "Why don't you share with the class, Rias."

"Hmm.... The first time I kissed Rias on the cheek..." James began stroking his chin as he thought about it. "That was when she told me to make my own manga after I complained about how much the manga available at the time sucked."

"Manga?" Kokoa, the youngest of the Shuzen sisters, asked. "You draw manga?"

"Yes, he does." Moka replied. "he's drawn some of the world's most popular manga."

Then, Moka went on to list all the manga James has drawn over the years. Naturally, Kokoa was surprised. She had read most, if not all, of those manga and enjoyed them from cover to cover.

"He really is quite the talented boy." Akua said with an interested gaze.

"Yeah, plus that girl looks so comfortable sitting in his lap." Kahlua said with intrigue in her tone. "I wonder if it's really that comfortable."

"It is." Moka said with a smile. "A lot of the girls in the room right now consider it their favorite seat."

"I guess that includes you as well." Akua asked.

"Naturally." Moka replied without hesitation.

"I wanna try..." Kahlua said.

*Clap!*

After realizing that they had not served lunch yet, James clapped his hands to draw everyone's attention.

"Alright, since the work is out of the way, why don't we have lunch and celebrate the successful pacts?" James asked with a smile.

"Can I cook?" Shion asked.

"Absolutely not!" Leona and the members of the three peerages present shouted in unison.

Hearing the adamant rejection, Shion almost cried.

"I'll be cooking." James said. "I bought a bunch of steaks for today. I figured they would be good celebration food."

When James mentioned that he would be cooking, everyone familiar with his cooking knew that he would be grilling the food. However, they had no complaints. James may be a trainwreck when cooking in the kitchen, but when cooking outdoors, he is on the level of a professional chef.

"Before I get started, though." James said while looking around the living room. "Does anyone know where Flora is?"

"Oh, she had an appointment at the salon." Shuna replied.

"Oh, okay." James replied. "Well then, everyone should head up to the roof. I'll be grilling near the pool. So, if anyone wants to swim, they can feel free. Oh, and Ise."

"Yeah? What's up, Senpai?" Issei asked in response.

"If you get out of hand, I will kick your ass." James said with a smile.