Chapter 41-Brace Yourself

Disclaimer: I don't own Highschool DxD.

Brace Yourself

[Yasaka]

She couldn't believe this happened.

Things hadn't been going particularly well as of late, of course, but this really drove that point home. Why her faction was being targeted like it was, she didn't know, but the fact remained that it was. First, her daughter, and now the very people that Yasaka hired to protect her.

If she didn't know they wanted more from her, she'd have thought they were trying to make her look bad. How would the factions that had sent her help react if she lost those very people? If for that reason alone, this situation was a disaster.

And then there was the target of the attack himself.

Joshua Davis.

Yasaka didn't need to interrogate or investigate to know, or at least suspect, why he had been targeted. There were two very likely reasons among others. First, he was young, inexperienced and not attached to any association. That made him an easy target, especially if these people were just getting started. Second, he was close to her, or Kunou, more specifically. That was why she was all but rushing when she got word that the people that had been assigned to look over him had gone silent suddenly.

At least they hadn't attacked on multiple fronts, so there was that.

Yasaka could only hope that she wouldn't be too late. Her daughter would be devastated if something happened to Joshua. Yasaka herself liked the young man well enough, she'd freely admit. It was nice having someone… normal, around.

He wasn't a subject, subservient and deferential. He also wasn't an equal, having their own agendas to push. No, Joshua didn't seem to fit in any of the boxes that encapsulated the people of the supernatural world. He drifted around the edges, never quite entering them. She supposed his self-introduction to their side of the world had something to do with that.

The man was also a godsent, truly. Yasaka had long since worried for her daughter, since little Kunou hadn't taken well to growing as the daughter of their faction's leader and she couldn't blame her child for that. The Kyubi had seen for herself how the way people treated her daughter affected Kunou, but she couldn't do much to change that.

Which was why she was so grateful for Joshua allowing Kunou to be a child. Yasaka wasn't sure exactly what he'd done to do so, but her child seemed to be free around him. She seemed to act the way she wanted instead of the way she thought she needed to, as she had for a good while already. For that alone, she needed to do her best to…

Yasaka blinked as she teleported outside the house Joshua had been given. It looked fine, but looks could be deceiving. What couldn't was life energy, or at least not easily. To the point that she knew it was highly unlikely that she'd come across someone that could fool her senses.

And thus, her confusion.

Joshua seemed to be… fine? And so were Jeanne and his familiars. There were other life forces too, weakened ones, which she guessed were his attackers but then… 'What is going on?' She thought as she shared a look with the people she'd brought to fight. If she was getting things right, there would be no need for that though.

Nodding her head, someone opened the door and they stepped in.

The first thing she found was a magician and Nagini, Joshua's serpent, in what seemed to be a stare contest of some kind. The man was unmoving and his magic, even his life force seemed to twist in odd ways. She looked at Nagini then and she realized that she was doing that. 'Since when can she do that?' Yasaka had to wonder, but those were questions for later.

The room had one of its walls exploded, from what she gathered, which gave her a clear view of the outside. A view that had the Youkai leader blinking once more.

"Yasaka. I was wondering when someone would come. It seems our communications were… rudely interrupted," Joshua greeted her with a lazy smile, the last words said as he side-eyed the people that were being pressed against the ground by his wards. "Khaos Brigade decided to come uninvited, as you can see, and I could use some help getting them out of here, you know?" The human added blandly.

"... Gladly," Yasaka said, regarding the man once more.

He was skilled as a magician, she knew. Her people might not be very accomplished in those arts, since they'd need outside help to set up extra defenses, but they knew enough to tell her that much about the man. Everything she'd seen of him since they'd met told her that.

Nothing she knew of Joshua Davis pointed towards him being a combatant though, that was for sure. However, there he was, standing in the middle of a battlefield with the same expression he'd wear when working on ward crafting. It was… unexpected, to say the least.

"You hear that, man?" Joshua asked, poking the man lying at his feet with the tip of his shoes. "You are finally getting off the ground," He said flatly before turning towards Yasaka. "Thanks for coming. Fight just ended, actually, but you were still pretty fast and I appreciate it."

Was he intentionally saying it like that? Stressing the fact that he'd taken down these people in minutes, if that? Yasaka almost believed so, if she hadn't known the man herself and couldn't sense his life force.

"So, I'm guessing you won't be working on this yourself. You want some tea?" He asked then, as if this were an everyday thing. "I could… use something to calm down."

Ah, there it was.

She had been confused before, about how Joshua remained calm. Shrugging off an attack on himself, his familiars, his sister. What person went through that and just came out… normally? Certainly not the man she'd gotten to know.

And indeed, it wasn't the case.

She'd been almost deceived by the exterior. Even his life force seemed calm, at a glance. Focusing deeper told a different story altogether though. His eyes showed the anger hidden behind them and his life force wasn't calm at all, it was waiting, like a crouching animal, ready to fight at a moment's notice.

"By the way," Joshua said then, as if just remembering something. "The man inside, that's Dimension Lost's holder," He told her and Yasaka blinked once again.

Then her brain caught up on what he said and, through the disbelief, a grin formed on her face. One that held no warmth at all, and one that Joshua himself returned, in a way that reflected her own malice towards the man in question. Joshua was a gift that kept on giving, truly.

[}-o-{]

[Serafall Leviathan]

"I'm sorryyyyy," She apologized, and despite the tone, she meant it. Oh, she'd have to talk with some people about this. She'd definitely made sure that there were defenses around the place. Defenses that should have activated, at the very least after the Dimension Lost holder was… incapacitated, however Joshua had pulled that off.

She was curious about that, she'd admit, but she also didn't want to push for what was definitely a secret.

Back on topic though, she'd have to check with her people. This mess stunk of Old Satan faction all over and she definitely didn't need that mess, not when things were going so well with the Youkai thanks to Joshua. Hopefully, Sirzechs and her could get this dealt with quickly and without causing issues.

"Don't worry about it, Serafall," Jeanne reassured. She was a nice girl, but the Satan wouldn't let this go. She couldn't, not when she risked alienating Joshua as a result. She doubted the man would back away from his deal with Sona and Rias, but Serafall was sure he could be a great ally to have in their corner in the future. Hell, he already was, for the most part.

"But Gin-tan," She said, causing the girl's eyebrow to twitch. "The meanies attacked here, in the home I gave you," She explained with a pout.

"It's fine," Jeanne replied simply, and she sounded like she meant it, strangely enough. "Joshua said it before. With Dimension Lost out of the equation, risks went down by a lot," She added and Serafall had to give that point. Besides, Joshua probably knew more about wards than she did, but still.

"I still want to help," She said, pout intensifying.

"Well, I'm sure Joshua wouldn't say no to some books about wards," Jeanne suggested, half-joking. Then she looked to the side, where Joshua stood, looking at the house with his eyes unfocused. "He'll be like that for a while."

"Is Jo-tan alright?" Because if he was affected by all this like she thought he was, then that could be bad, in a number of ways.

"He's fine. He gets like that a lot, actually… usually not for this long though," Jeanne explained, waving the whole thing off before taking a thoughtful expression. "It's his 'I'm thinking about wards' face. If you hang around, you'll see it a lot."

"That so?" Serafall asked, tilting her head. She thought she might have seen that expression on the man at some point or another, actually.

"It's a little annoying. He can get like that at any moment, really," Jeanne half-complained. "The best way to deal with it is just to leave him to it… or snap him out of it swiftly and bluntly. Being subtle will just get you ignored, I've learned."

Serafall took note of that, it could come in handy at a later point.

"Oh, Serafall, when did you get here?" Joshua asked, apparently having snapped out of his ward trance.

"I've been here for hours, Jo-tan~" She whined. It was actually around fifteen minutes, but same thing. The response ended up drawing an awkward smile from the man. He usually reacted like that to her antics, but it was fine, because-

"Sorry about that," He said, rolling with it, just like she'd come to expect. "Just… making plans, is all."

"You don't say?" Jeanne asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah." Joshua nodded, either not noticing or ignoring the sarcastic tone of his sister. "I gotta double down on our security, here and at home. Maybe it's time I really got into the book Sona and Rias gave me about hexes."

"So, you'll be holed up in your study even more, huh?" Jeanne asked, drawing a chuckle from the man.

Serafall though, was thinking. Thinking about what a warder like Joshua could do with hexes added into the mix. He was already being praised by people like Ajuka as it was…

Granted, hex magic wasn't all that. In the magic community, it was usually called the discount ward magic. If you couldn't or didn't want to pay a warder for the job, someone that could do hexes was what you got instead. It wasn't a bad brand of magic, really, but it was much less well received.

If Joshua could work both though…

'I don't know if I should be glad or annoyed,' Serafall thought to herself as she considered the possibilities. On one hand, that was a possible ally that could be really useful. On the other, she didn't like the 'possible' in that phrase. They really needed to secure their place in Joshua's list of allies. She was sure that it would be a great boon for them. Ajuka had seen potential in Joshua, and she'd learned to trust her fellow Satan in these sorts of things.

"That's for after the job is done though, I guess," The man in question considered then with a slight grimace. "Man, I really need more time in my days," He grumbled before cracking his neck.

Serafall, for her part, could only look at him. With the progress he'd made, as fast as he'd done so, he still wanted more? Granted, maybe it was the attack that had made him want to progress faster, but it was still slightly baffling. After all, she knew that many magicians would kill to get as good as Joshua as fast as he'd done so.

Truly, Joshua Davis was an anomaly, if nothing else.

[}-o-{]

[Joshua Davis]

He looked in front of him, reading through screens that had popped as soon as the fight had been done.

[Quest Complete: Survive the attack of Khaos Brigade

Rewards:

+3 to all Stats

+3 to Ward Magic

+3 to all Ward Spells

+Perk Title: Ward Specialist]

[Quest Complete: Defeat and capture Georg

+5 to all Stats

+5 to Dagger Mastery

+5 to Throwing Weapon Mastery

+Perk Unlocked: Bane of Legends]

'Well, at least I got a good haul out of this absolute mess,' Joshua thought with a sigh. That wasn't a very reassuring thought though, when he was surrounded by people on high alert. He'd half expected Yasaka or Serafall to pull him away to ask him how he'd gotten stronger all of a sudden, or to accuse him of not being himself.

Nothing of the sort happened though, which was weird. 'Am I missing something?' Joshua wondered to himself, frowning. 'Is the system applying those changes slowly, to hide them? Is the system hiding the progress from the world? Is something else going on?' He had a lot of questions and, as usual with the system, no answers.

It was what it was though, so he decided to do as he usually did and roll with it.

"Say, does anyone want a cup of tea? Yasaka never did get to answer the question before and I really do want one myself," He commented out loud.

"I do, I do!" Serafall called excitedly, jumping in place like an hyperactive child. He nodded at her, before looking at everyone else.

"I could use one," Jeanne admitted with a weak smile.

"I can have someone prepare that, you've just gotten out of a fight," Yasaka said, frowning slightly, but Joshua just waved that off.

"Don't. I need to do something to distract myself that's not wards or Jeanne will smack me," He told her with a grin. "So, I'll do this. Good thing they didn't blow up the kitchen, huh?" He added as he walked into the house. Through the door, not the explosion hole in the wall.

As he moved though, he called for new screens.

[Ward Specialist

Increases the growth speed of Magic, Spells and magic related Skills by 20%.

Increases the efficacy and efficiency of Spells by 15%.

Increases growth speed of Ward Magic and Ward Spells by 35%.

Increases the efficacy and efficiency of Wards by 30%.]

'Sweet,' He all but cheered internally as he immediately switched Magician for the new title. They were basically the same thing, but with the new one giving even greater buffs to Ward Magic. What more could he ask for, right?

Now, that left one more new thing to check out.

[Bane of Legends

Increases stats when facing a Legend by 25%.

Increases skill efficacy when facing a Legend by 25%.]

'Hmm, wonder what it considers Legends?' He wondered as he read through his new Perk. 'Is it Longinus, since that's the Quest that gave it to me? Do Hero descendants count? Do monsters? Gods? Anything with a legend?' Sadly, he could only test one of those theories, but it would be something, at least. 25% should be noticeable enough in a spar against Jeanne. Maybe he could check if it counted against Devils too, with some help from Sairaorg… He doubted it, but it wouldn't hurt to try and he already trained with them anyway, so he didn't lose anything.

[Joshua Davis

Title: Ward Specialist

Race: Human

Strength: 53

Speed: 51

Dexterity: 47

Vitality: 54

Perception: 44

Magic: 71]

'Looking good,' Joshua thought. Even though the numbers didn't tell him much without a point of reference against other people, they were a nice way to keep track of things and a way to keep himself motivated. Besides, if he really wanted to know how he stood compared to other people there was always Appraisal. 'Speaking of,' He mused.

[Joshua Davis

Title: Ward Specialist

Race: Human

Gender: Male

Rank: C

Strength: C

Speed: C

Dexterity: C

Vitality: C

Perception: C-

Magic: C+]

'Man, I hate seeing the screen like this,' He thought with a grimace. It really drove home that he was weak. However, Joshua wouldn't be brought down just like that, especially not after he'd taken down a Longinus wielder. So what if he'd only done so by being underestimated, having the element of surprise, tricks and being more prepared?

That only made the victory that much sweeter to him, honestly.

As he thought that though, his mind started to drift while his hands prepared the tea. Plans formed in his head, ward arrays and hexes. He hadn't tried his hand on the latters just yet, but he would as soon as he got some free time. He already had tons of ideas for it, really, especially combining them with wards.

His home, if nothing else, would be an absolute fortress, if he had any say in the matter. He was sick and tired of people being able to just wave his defenses off. Allies or otherwise, nobody would get into his home without permission.

A thought crossed his mind then, however.

Why stop at that?

Why limit himself to defense, when he could improve so much more with his system? He could grow so much… And he would. Joshua's eyes narrowed as a resolution formed in his mind. He'd get strong enough that nobody would threaten him or anyone he cared about.

He'd lost everything once.

Never again.

[}-o-{]

[Kunou]

"Everyone is acting weird," She mumbled, looking around nervously even as Joshua chuckled lightly at her words. She almost pouted, but that would be childish. She was right though!

Throughout the whole day, she'd seen people give Joshua looks. Some concerned, some awed, some a little more complicated than those. The worst thing was that Kunou had no idea why that was the case. Granted, sometimes they'd give him looks before, but those were different.

The other magicians would look at him with disdain, scorn, jealousy and mockery. They also whispered mean things about Joshua, whenever they thought the man and Kunou herself weren't listening. She didn't let those bother her though, Joshua himself had told her that she shouldn't. He'd said that if he himself didn't care, why would she concern herself with them.

The servants and other Youkai were different. Some looked worried about having an outsider near Kunou so much. Those were fools, she knew, since Joshua was here to help protect her in the first place. Besides, mother was almost always around or close by, there was no way anyone could be a danger to her then. Even if Kunou herself could be fooled by the natural energies, her mother couldn't.

Other servants though, seemed… happy to have him around. Relieved, in a way. It was strange, Kunou hadn't expected that kind of reaction at all. When she'd heard them talking, it had confused her even more. She hadn't caught the entire conversation, but two words had stuck out and had cleared the picture quite a bit.

'Father figure'.

Now, she didn't remember her father. Moreover, mother hardly talked about him, which… Kunou wasn't sure what that meant or how to take it. As for everybody else… it was like her father hadn't even existed at all.

Strangely, her thoughts hadn't gone down that road when she heard those words though. Instead, Kunou found herself thinking about Joshua and what the servants could have seen to make them comment on that. And what she found was…

She didn't know what it was.

"Kunou? Everything alright?" Joshua asked then, turning towards her. "They aren't bothering you, are they?" He asked, eyes darting towards the magicians and sometimes the servants. She shook her head quietly, hoping that he wouldn't pry too much. That would be embarrassing. "You sure?" When she nodded, he gave her a small smile. "It's nothing, really. Something just happened that involves… Khaos," He explained to her, turning towards the notebook in front of him. He did that often, but his eyes always strayed to check on her, even when she wasn't working on his magic teachings.

It was… nice, to have someone who cared besides her mother. The servants cared and were good people but… they were servants. They had to care, otherwise they wouldn't be there to begin with. The only one that truly cared was her mother, and for a time Kunou was fine with that.

That is, until someone else did.

Until Joshua.

"Nothing bad," He continued speaking then, and Kunou wondered if he was taking her silence as her being worried. It was just like him, to care a little too much. Not that she was complaining. "Just… something that might have changed things, is all. Actually, it means less danger of them, really."

That… Kunou didn't know if that was a good thing, even if it made her feel awful to think so. After all, Joshua was here because they needed to improve their defenses. If they didn't need that anymore, would he go away? Would he disappear from her life? Like he was never there to begin with?

"I guess that could mean more free time so that I can teach you illusions," Joshua continued, giving her a sideways grin before focusing on his work again. "That might have been the problem, really. I've been teaching you, but only in bits and pieces. Proper classes might be what you need, instead of just working on it while I do something else."

"But your work is important," Kunou protested weakly. She wanted what he was saying to be true. Would he stay then? Even after his work was done? What would happen if she continued failing at magic? Would he stay until she succeeded? Would he leave, if she failed for too long?

"It is," Joshua nodded. "Can't have the princess be in danger, after all," He added with a chuckle, before pausing and pushing the notebook away. Then, he turned towards her, giving her his full attention and Kunou had to fight a smile at that. "Besides, I like spending time with you. Maybe when you start throwing illusions around we can do something else, yeah? We'll have to see if your mother agrees though."

She froze.

Had he… He had said that, right? She hadn't heard wrong, had she? Joshua said he'd be around after she learned? Surely she wasn't reading too much into his words. That was what he said.

"Kunou?" Joshua asked, giving her a concerned expression that she'd often been annoyed by when worn by a servant. An expression that was different with mother, and now with Joshua.

"Sorry, I'm just… distracted," She said, quickly making up an excuse. There was no way she would tell him what was in her mind. "I'm just, frustrated, with my progress," She managed, turning towards the cards laid in front of her on the table, and was quite proud of having come up with that on the fly. Besides, it wasn't that wrong anyway. Magic was hard.

"And I keep telling you," Joshua told her, rolling his eyes. "You'll get it eventually. We've been making progress, even if it's not much. I'm not going anywhere unless you or your mother kick me out."

All of a sudden, Kunou felt like her cheeks were hurting. It was a good thing that her face was partially hidden by her hair. She couldn't imagine she'd managed well against questions about why she was smiling like she was. That didn't matter though…

"Guess I'll better get used to you then," She mumbled. Even Kunou herself was unsure of what she was even trying to say with that, if she was honest.

"Well, that's reassuring," Joshua commented with a chuckle. "So, anything you want to do?"

Hm, maybe the servants were onto something.

[} Chapter End {]

(AN:Please remember that this story is not mine and will never be mine. Make sure to give thanks to the original author on fanfiction.net https://m.fanfiction.net/u/11459794/)