Church

"What the hell are you all doing? Old man, have you gone senile?"

The annoyance in Ryujin's voice was pretty audible. To think the first thing he saw and heard after waking up would be this.

His face told them that he had heard everything till now.

Seeing him Irina's face grew hot and she started blushing in shame while Issei appeared confused.

"What a rude brat. Don't get angry at others for missing out on what you could've learned but refused." The old man harumphed and left after asking Issei his name.

Soon he disappeared from their sight and only the three kids remained in the park.

"Who are you? I've never seen you before. Wanna play with us?" Asked Issei, as if forgetting his previous encounter.

His mind as a kid couldn't stay focused on one thing for too long anyway but he didn't know how much of an impact this meeting with the old man would cause him.

Ryujin sighed before looking at Issei.

'To think this person would be 'The Red Dragon Emperor'. Regardless, forming a little bond with him shouldn't hurt. After all, He might be useful in the future.'

As for whether his use would be good for Issei or bad he didn't know.

He nodded and said his name, "Ryujin."

"Kay, Ryujin let's see who can make the biggest sandcastle," Chirped Irina from the side, also forgetting what had happened previously.

Ryujin nodded his head and started playing with them.

After 15 minutes of idle chatter and making sandcastles Ryujin got up, "Guess I'll have to leave now see ya both later."

Ryujin dusted his hands and started leaving.

""Bye Ryujin!"" Both Issei and Irina yelled from their positions and Issei added another sentence.

"Me and Irina always come to play at the park at this time you should come too!"

Ryujin looked back and waved his hand at them before leaving.

...

Walking towards his home, he didn't pay much attention to his surroundings.

'So there's around 7 years before the plot starts.' Issei and Irina told him they were 10-year-olds.

Two years younger than him, Ryujin's current age was twelve.

Well, He had a bit more than 7 years to get stronger. He had to first understand how powerful he was.

He had to try his super strength out.

As soon as he thought of that his eyes darted towards the silent alleyway in the corner.

He entered it and stared at the wall in silence Activating his sacred gear he stepped back and moved his arm back as well. The crown silently hovered above his head.

He activated super strength for the first time and curled his hand into a fist.

He then swung it towards the wall. As soon as his fist was about to hit the wall he stopped.

He looked at his fist and deactivated his crown.

Why?

Because he could sense that had he gone through with that punch, the whole wall would've had broken which would've caused quite a commotion.

He had no interest in being under the radar of the devils for now. He would find a more secluded location and try it later.

At least he could confirm that if he hit a normal healthy adult with his full power they would instantly die.

And in devil terms, he could probably beat a low-class devil easily with some preparations.

This might seem insignificant but one should remember that this is only through the power of the sacred gear that had recently awakened and he's also just a 12-year-old human kid.

Devils, even the weakest, were ten times stronger than average humans.

Soon he headed towards the church, It was the same abandoned church in the anime where the incident with Asia had occurred.

But that was in the future, the church right now was considered 'healthy'.

Reaching the entrance of the church, he changed his expression to curiosity.

He didn't have to act too much since he was truly curious about the church.

He entered and saw people praying while the head priest chanting something.

He went towards one of the minor priests and happily said, "Hello!"

The priest he was talking to was young. Around 20-25. He had short black hair and blue eyes. He wasn't really muscular but he wasn't too lanky either.

He was like the physical manifestation of 'Average'.

He warmly smiled at Ryujin and asked, "Have you come to pray to the Lord?"

'No'

"Yes, but I was also looking for something." He then darted his eyes around before landing it on the cross hanging on the priest's neck.

The priest noticed his gaze and chuckled before removing his necklace and hanging it in front of Ryujin.

"Do you want this?"

"Yes,"

"Well, then I can give this to you," As he said this a smile formed on Ryujin's face but he found it hard to maintain after he further listened.

"But tell me why do you want it?"

"Well, I think there are," as he said this he leaned a bit forward while motioning the priest to come closer, who obeyed.

"ghosts in my house!"

As soon as he said this both of them stared at each other in silence. The priest was amused by Ryujin's claim.

Ghosts were rare entities and if one had somehow come in contact with a ghost then there would be a lingering aura around them, which Ryujin obviously lacked.

"Oh I see, Here have it, It will protect you." But he still gave his cross to the kid in front of him because why not?

The kid might have some psychological issues and maybe the cross would comfort him or maybe the kid wanted it for some other reason, there could be many reasons.

Taking the cross Ryujin nodded in satisfaction before suddenly asking, "Can I get Holy Water as well?"

"Huh?" The priest was baffled for a second before he returned to his senses.

"And why do you want that? Don't tell me you're going to throw it at the ghosts?" The confusion on his face was reasonable.

"I don't care, I don't like ghosts, they are bad. I just wanted everything that had 'Holy' in it but I don't know anything besides the Holy Cross and Holy Water." Said Ryujin with a serious face that only looked cute on his face.

The corner of the priest's mouth twitched but his expression didn't change, "Sure."

He then handed a container filled with holy water. It was just slightly larger than those glass tubes in chemistry labs.

Ryujin's eyes lit up and he pocketed the Holy Water.

Seeing that the priest turned around and started focusing on praying.

But he felt something nudge him from behind again.

He looked back and saw that the kid hadn't left yet and was looking at him seriously, soon he heard him say, "But what if there is more than one ghost?"

The priest's face fell, 'This kid.'

...

Ryujin was happily walking back as his goal was completed. He had gotten three tubes of Holy Water. Though he wanted five but three was enough as well.

After reaching home he went straight to his room and sat on his bed after placing the things he got from his trip on his desk where the computer was at.

'Now to take the next step.'

He sat cross-legged on his bed and took a deep breath before closing his eyes.

It was time to see if he could sense the mana in the air and hopefully absorb it as well.