The Cursed, Ch02: Kuoh

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my original characters and works; all other characters and worlds belong to their respective owners. I'm just playing with them.

Betad by Priapus Malcolm Tent, Old man of the mountain, Beans, Mike God of Lore

The Guild of Gamers: The Cursed*

Chapter 02: Kuoh

– Rias Gremory –

Watching as Samuel was transferred to her, she winced slightly at his utter disinterest in this entire procedure. As far as he was concerned, he was trading one master for another. Nothing was really changing, so why would he care who held his leash?

"It's done. Are you ready to go to Kuoh, Samuel?" Sirzechs asked, making Samuel turn to him with a bored expression on his face.

"I am; I have lessons to plan and want to get to know the school before I start," Samuel replied, getting a smile from Sirzechs. "I have no belongings to pack, so I can leave whenever."

She'd have to take him shopping soon. 

"Excellent, it's been a pleasure to meet you, Samuel. I look forward to seeing how you progress," Sirzechs said cheerfully, patting him on the back.

"Likewise. I may not be thrilled with my current predicament but I am grateful you brought me back from the dead," Samuel replied, making Sirzechs smile softly. "I'm in your care, Lady Gremory."

"You can just call me Rias," Rias replied quickly, getting a raised eyebrow.

"In private, perhaps. But I am going to be your teacher. There's a certain decorum to maintain." Samuel explained, making her smile as she noticed Grayfia's approving look. "Do not expect special treatment in my class; I have my pride as a teacher."

The serious look on his face made her giggle. She might just be the first King to get detention from a member of her own Peerage.

"Of course, that's fine," Rias agreed, giving him a warm smile. "Shall we go? I can teleport us both back to your new home."

"If you are ready to leave," Samuel agreed. 

"I'll just be a moment; I want to talk to my brother before we go home," Rias promised, making him nod as he went and took a seat, pulling a strange book out of thin air.

It seemed to have fur on the cover and a single green eye that seemed to be staring at her as she moved toward Sirzechs. Did it have fangs along the edge?

"He is certainly an odd one; that's not one of my books. Quite the mysterious character," Sirzechs said, making her smile.

"I look forward to unravelling that mystery," Rias replied simply, turning to him. "Thank you."

It was a simple proclamation, but it conveyed the depths of her gratitude as Sirzechs simply smiled softly. 

"Of course," Sirzechs said, ruffling her hair with a proud smile. "I've done what I can; now you just need to prepare for the upcoming fight. I know you have a habit of putting things off until the last moment," he teased, making her flush at the very accurate accusation.

"Well, I need to help him get settled in before we start any serious training; it wouldn't be fair to just drop him into the deep end," Rias defended herself, as he called her out, if only softly.

"Perhaps, but I do believe he would learn to swim, not sink," Sirzechs said, looking back over at where Samuel was utterly enraptured by his tome. He seemed very studious. Hopefully, that would translate to training as well.

Thanking him again and saying her goodbyes to him and Grayfia, she approached Samuel with a gentle smile.

"Are you ready to go?" Rias asked, putting off her questions about the book as he closed it, and it simply vanished.

"I am," Samuel replied easily, rising. Offering her hand, he paused for a moment before he took it. She didn't blame him, he must have felt somewhat silly taking the hand of a teenage girl like a child.

Waving to her brother, she focused and made the teleportation circle. They both vanished in a flash of light and reappeared in the occult research club building.

"Welcome to the Occult Research Clubhouse; it's the front for my Peerage," Rias explained, making him smirk ever so briefly in amusement. "We're one of two Peerages in Kuoh; the other is led by my friend Sona Sitri. Her Peerage makes up the school's student council," Rias explained.

"It makes sense; I take it I'll be your new club advisor?" Samuel asked, making her nod. "Do you actually do any club activities, or is it just an excuse for you all meeting up regularly?"

"We do, or to be more precise, we did. Our last club advisor left at the end of the last school year, and while I could have gotten a new one, my engagement became more pressing around the same time," Rias clarified, making him nod. "I know it can be a little silly for a group of devils to be investigating the occult, but I enjoy it all the same."

"It's as good a reason as any," Samuel agreed with a small, kind smile. "Will I be staying here?"

"If you want. I could also prepare a house for you if you'd rather live separately from us, but this clubhouse is our main home. It's larger on the inside than it looks," Rias explained, making him nod.

"This will suffice, for now at least. Will I be meeting my fellow Peerage members today?" Samuel asked, making her beam. She didn't really like her Peerage being separate, so she was happy he was willing to stay with them.

"Most of them, I took the day off, but most of them are in class at the moment. Akeno, Koneko, and Kiba will be back soon. There's also your fellow Bishop, but you won't be meeting him in person; he has severe agoraphobia and doesn't leave the sealed room just down that hallway," Rias explained, seeing him frown slightly. "He has issues controlling his powers, so he was sealed away for both his and everyone else's safety. He does his classes remotely. We gave him the option to leave at night, but he just doesn't want to come out."

She knew she was almost babbling, sensing some minor disapproval from him. Finding out one of his Peerage members was basically locked away wasn't a great start.

"I see," Samuel said calmly. "May I see where I'll be sleeping?"

"Of course! It's just this way," Rias said, moving up the stairs to the bedroom she'd had prepared for him. It was fairly extravagant but lacked any real personalisation at the moment. "Feel free to change whatever you want; we can get you some personal belongings later to decorate it."

She'd also gotten him a high-end computer since she knew he would probably need it for work.

"Thank you. Now, I don't mean to be rude, but I have lessons to plan. I have a fair amount of work to do before I start on Monday, and I'd like to get a head start. I also need to contact the principal and discuss things with her," Samuel said, making her nod easily.

"Of course. Mrs Hayashi is well aware of the supernatural. Kuoh is unofficially owned by my brother and Lady Serafall, Sona's sister," Rias explained. "She knows you're a devil, along with some details about your circumstances. She should be very helpful, but let me know if you have any issues."

"I see. I will, thank you," Samuel replied.

"Good luck! I'll leave you to your preparations," Rias said, giving him a smile as she left. They might have had a rough start, but she was hopeful things were going to go well with her new Bishop.

– Samuel Morgan –

Feat Achieved: Join Rias Gremory's Peerage (One Roll Granted)

Odd that it would give me a roll for something that my curse ensured would happen, but I am not one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Rolling. Result: Common Artefact

[Boots of Fast Blinking] - Common 

Allows the user to teleport a short distance at will, however it will leave behind everything except the Boots.

Unlimited teleportation at the price of constant nudity? That's an interesting item, to say the least. Let's hope I don't ever need them.

On the bright side, I've learned my first spell from the Tome of Beasts.

[Nature Magic Mastery (Novice)]

[Support Spell: Call of the Wild]

Empower your allied beasts with the power of nature, bolstering their defence and strengthening their attacks.

It would be more helpful if I had any beasts, but I suppose it is a start. I didn't quite think becoming a Druid was in my future but it seems like I need to get used to a lot of strange things now.

Kuoh used to be an all-girls school, but that only very recently changed to allow some male students into their ranks. That means it has an almost 90% female population, sending a brief feeling of dread through me.

Well, I intend to be a good teacher regardless of my unfortunate past experiences. I do wonder what happened to the last English teacher to make room for me, but maybe it would be better if I didn't know. From what I've been able to find out, they suddenly and inexplicably retired.

The not-so-invisible hand of the Satans that rule this school? Suddenly, two heiresses spending their time here makes sense when you consider their very powerful siblings own the place. 

Still, from what I've managed to find out from Sirzechs and Grayfia (especially Sirzechs, who was happy to talk about his 'adorable little sister' in great detail), Rias is here because she simply really likes Japanese culture. This isn't some devil tradition; Rias is just a massive weeb. I don't know about Sona, but I do know that she and Rias are apparently friends on very good terms, so maybe she just came with her friend?

Of course, there's also the fact that Kuoh is apparently 'devil territory', so this could also be more. A test for two heiresses to see if they can manage a small town before they end up becoming the eventual heads of their families?

I suspect it is none of my business, regardless of my new race. I'm going to be far too busy dealing with training and my new job to focus on it. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

– Akeno Himejima –

Hearing the fuss about the new teacher, she smiled secretly. Rias must be back sooner than expected if their new Bishop was already on the school grounds. Classes had finished a short while ago, but most of the students were still milling about.

Curious to see him for herself, she followed the commotion. 

Walking next to Miss Kawakami, she spotted her new comrade. He was obviously aware of the attention he was getting but didn't seem too bothered as he chatted with his new co-worker.

She could see why he was getting so much attention. He certainly stood out in a school where the only male teacher was an old, balding man and most of the male students weren't particularly impressive either. He was undeniably attractive, and had probably been a heart-throb even before he became a devil.

She could hear those three perverts whining about the pretty boy- though pretty man was far more accurate- the girls sighing as he ran a hand through his hair with a sigh at whatever Miss Kawakami had said.

He seemed like a serious person, but she'd already heard as much from Rias, who called him a male Grayfia. That sent a shiver through her spine; Grayfia was a very strict person and wouldn't hesitate to scold any of them for impropriety.

She wasn't sure if the shiver was dread or excitement; maybe being scolded by Mr Morgan wouldn't be a bad thing~

"Pervert," Koneko said quietly, making her jump in surprise. She hadn't even noticed Koneko was even following her. 

"Ufufufu, I don't know what you mean," Akeno replied innocently, earning a deadpan stare from Koneko.

"That's him?" Koneko asked, making her nod.

"I think so; we'll be meeting him at the clubhouse later," Akeno replied, having already put up a small privacy spell. "Rias seems happy. Apparently, he's very impressive."

"He smells like dragon," Koneko said blankly, making her pause. She'd heard he had Boosted Gear, but Koneko's nose was as impressive as ever. They weren't even close to him. 

"What do you think?" Akeno asked, but to her complete lack of surprise, Koneko just shrugged.

"I don't care; Rias is happy, so I'm happy," Koneko replied blankly, a sleepy look in her eyes.

Watching them go into the building, she decided to head back and talk to Rias while their new member was out of the house. Things were certainly going to be interesting from now on.

– Later –

"Samuel, you're back!" Rias said excitedly as he entered the building, a folder of paperwork under his arm. "Did everything go okay?"

"Yes, I should be more than ready for Monday at this rate. It turns out a lot of the work was done for me, so I just need to go over it and make some minor adjustments here and there," Samuel replied, looking over at her and Koneko.

For some reason, his gaze lingered on Koneko for a moment longer, seeming confused by something. She was mildly irritated that his gaze had quickly moved on from her.

"Oh right, Samuel. This is my Queen, Akeno Himejima, and my Rook, Koneko Toujou," Rias introduced, gesturing to them. "Girls, this is our new Bishop, Samuel Morgan."

"A pleasure to meet you both; the last one is your Knight, Kiba, right?" Samuel asked, making Rias nod. "I met him while I was on my tour of the school grounds. He asked me to tell you that he'd be late. He got roped into helping the kendo club, though he did offer to teach me how to use a sword," Samuel explained, making Rias chuckle.

Of course, Kiba immediately offered to teach him. Kiba wanted a fellow swordsman in the Peerage and he'd failed to get any of them interested. 

"Ah, thank you. That's unsurprising; he isn't a part of the Kendo club, but he enjoys practising with them," Rias replied before pausing. She'd noticed him glancing at Koneko again. "Is there a problem?"

Koneko just blinked, uncaring, as she stared back at him.

"Ah, my apologies. I recently learnt a new spell, my first to be exact, and for some reason, my magic is claiming that it would work on Miss Toujou despite it being meant for buffing beasts," Samuel explained, making Koneko flinch back slightly, Rias' eyebrows furrowing.

"Did you learn it from that strange book you were reading earlier?" Rias asked, getting a nod.

"It's the Tome of Beasts; my power gave it to me. I learnt a spell called Call of the Wild, which is supposed to empower allied beasts. Hence my confusion, because while teenage girls can be intimidating at times, she's certainly not an animal," Samuel explained, and as Rias went to reply, Koneko beat her to it.

Hopping to her feet, Koneko stared at him challengingly as her ears and tail came out, the illusion hiding her Nekoshou heritage falling.

"As you can see, Koneko is part-Youkai. Specifically, she was a Nekoshou before she joined my Peerage," Rias explained, making him nod.

"Ah, I see. It's curious to know that my spell works on Youkai; I expected it to only work on more mundane beasts. Thank you for clearing that up," Samuel said with a small smile to Koneko.

"It's fine," Koneko replied quietly, sitting back down. 

"It's definitely interesting; we'll have to test you 'empowering' Koneko," Rias agreed, looking intrigued. Koneko didn't seem to care. "If you're feeling up for it, I was hoping for a short training session tonight after dinner."

"That will be fine; as I said, I have less work to do than I originally expected," Samuel agreed before pausing. "That said, I couldn't help but notice that there were a considerable amount of take-out boxes around the building. Have you been living off take-out since moving to the human world?"

"Err, not entirely. I can cook, I'm just busy with training and-" Rias started, looking like a deer caught in the headlights. The actual answer? Rias was naturally slothful.

"Hm, your mother said you'd say that," Samuel cut in, making Rias freeze. "She contacted me earlier, just a short chat to welcome me to the family. It came up. She's worried about your eating habits. I also noticed that the kitchen was remarkably bare and did some grocery shopping," Samuel continued, Rias turning increasingly red as Akeno and Koneko shared a smirk. "I understand the freedom that comes with moving out of your parent's house, but it is not good to get into such unhealthy habits, especially when you are responsible for several other teenagers as well. Have you been feeding Gasper with only takeaway? Not to mention that Koneko is a growing girl; she needs more than Chinese takeout."

Koneko paused, looking down at her chest before she frowned and glared at Rias. She knew this was going to be interesting; watching Rias flounder was very entertaining.

"Wait, how do you know his name?" Rias asked, making Samuel blink. "Did I mention it earlier?"

"I asked Venelana; she gave me his number. We've been texting; I've dealt with introverted teenagers before," Samuel waved off. "Do not change the subject, Miss Gremory. I understand that you are the King here, but I will not tolerate you developing such unhealthy habits and passing them on to the rest of the peerage. It is highly irresponsible. I shall be taking care of the meals from now on. Fortunately, I am rather an adept hand in the kitchen, enough to pass Lady Grayfia's standards anyway. If you have any issues with this, take it up with your mother."

Rias stuttered something out, bright red at being scolded already. 

"You can cook?" Koneko asked, making him nod.

"I can, rather well, in fact," Samuel said, slightly boasting as Koneko gave him an approving nod. The way to her heart was through her stomach, after all. Rather well was probably an understatement if Grayfia approved of his cooking.

"You're alright," Koneko finally said, making him chuckle. 

"You told on Rias to her mother?" Akeno asked, a grin on her lips.

"I resent that statement; it simply came up during our conversation. Of course, Lady Gremory wanted to check in on her daughter's health, as any mother would once her daughter has flown the nest," Samuel explained. 

"You won't be able to get Gasper to leave his room for dinner," Akeno pointed out, very amused.

"I know, not yet anyway, but I can certainly make him food that's more healthy than what he's been fed," Samuel said, his nose turning up slightly. "I take it that won't be a problem, Miss Gremory?"

"I told you to call me Rias," Rias sighed, clearly embarrassed. "And no, it's not a problem. I did cook! Sometimes," Rias mumbled, looking somewhat ashamed. Scolding Rias for not taking care of herself wouldn't work, pointing out that she wasn't looking after her Peerage properly was far more effective. 

What a dangerous man~

"That's good because your mother gave me permission to spank you if you disagreed," Samuel said, entirely deadpan as Rias went red again.

"Damnit, mom. Sorry, everyone, I have a phone call to make," Rias growled out, her face almost as red as her hair as she left. 

"Ufufufu, are you going to spank me if I misbehave, sensei~" Akeno asked, making him turn to her.

"Considering no less than three teachers, as well as Lady Venelana and Lady Grayfia all warned me about you, Miss Himejima, I suspect that would only make matters worse," Samuel retorted. Oh my, she was so infamous~ 

"Now, I'm going to start dinner. Koneko, would you like to help me pick the menu for today?" Samuel asked, making Koneko perk up.

"I like you," Koneko decided, making him smile slightly as he ruffled her hair. Despite her aversion to touching, Koneko only slightly frowned at the action, her body betraying her as she pushed her head up to meet his hand.

"And I am going to go and spy on Rias; that conversation sounds far too funny to miss," Akeno declared shamelessly, making Koneko roll her eyes. It was nice to see that Samuel was going to be fun; he seemed to be fitting in well, at least.

– Rias Gremory –

Maou damn it, mom.

Who knew what embarrassing secrets her mother had shared with Samuel? Still, despite her embarrassment at being scolded in front of her Peerage, she had a small smile on her face. She worried that Samuel would be too obedient, treating her like a cruel mistress holding a whip, ready to punish him for any insubordination.

The fact that he was comfortable enough to scold her was a good sign, not to mention how quickly he'd wrapped Koneko around his finger. They'd been sequestered in the kitchen since they started dinner, and peeking in; she saw that he seemed to be teaching her the basics and having her help with the simpler parts of cooking.

It was a very good sign that he was already making progress befriending Koneko and Gasper, her Peerage's two introverts. His maturity and background in dealing with teenagers were clearly helping him here.

Akeno wasn't going to stop teasing her about this, and the tattletale had told Sona as well. Of course, Sona then scolded her for not taking her dietary plans seriously and had exactly zero sympathy, but Sona was the type of girl to have planned out the meals for her entire Peerage for the next three years.

Sona was very big on everything being planned out and didn't deal well with those plans being interrupted. 

Getting the message that dinner was ready, she smiled to herself. Samuel was fitting in nicely. Heading downstairs, she hid a grin at the sight of Koneko wearing an apron, with flecks of what she was guessing was going to be dessert around her mouth.

– Later –

So, he had Boosted Gear, magic, strange powers, and he was an amazing cook. Far better than the takeouts she'd ordered and far better than her. Samuel really was an amazing find.

He'd gone out of his way to make a banoffee pie (picked by Koneko) for dessert. She'd even managed to pry a slice from the food-obsessed Nekoshou, guarding her pie like a jealous dragon would with its hoard.

Apparently, he'd sent Koneko to pick up some ingredients for it, so she was convinced that she deserved most of it, with Samuel getting two slices. The rest of them could get lost. Akeno had managed to snatch a slice of the fairly large pie, but Kiba had utterly failed to claim a slice of his own as Koneko warded him off, finishing off the last three slices.

"Koneko, if you aren't going to share, then I won't let you pick dessert tomorrow," Samuel scolded, making her freeze. With a deep sigh and a betrayed look, she reluctantly gave Kiba one of her final slices. "Don't pout, you do remember that we made two pies, correct? Where did the second one go?"

"...I ate it," Koneko admitted.

"Which isn't healthy; too much of a good thing can be bad for you. If you can't enjoy your desserts in moderation, I won't make one every day," Samuel warned, making her freeze. With a shaking hand, she reluctantly pushed one of her last two pieces over to Akeno, who took it with an amused smile.

Nobody dared take her final piece, tears in her eyes as Samuel ruffled her hair. 

"Good girl," Samuel praised. "You can choose tomorrow's dessert as well."

She perked up, eating her final piece with a small smile. Samuel was good with her. It took a brave man to try and get Koneko to share her sweets and treats, and a smart one to succeed.

"So, training? I think I have a few pounds I need to work off," Kiba laughed, quickly finishing his slice, which Koneko was now watching intensely.

"The dishes need doing first, and since Samuel and Koneko made dinner, it's only fair that we deal with the cleaning," Rias said sternly, unwilling to be scolded a second time. She was not risking her mother coming to Kuoh because she'd heard they weren't being responsible.

Now that Samuel was apparently having parent-teacher conferences with her mom, she had to be more careful. This was an unexpected side effect of adding Samuel to her Peerage, but he was definitely worth any trouble.

After cleaning up, they headed out to the clearing behind the clubhouse they used for training, entering the barrier made around it. 

"So, I think the best way to start this is just to have a friendly spar. I'm thinking we'll have Samuel and Koneko vs. Kiba and Akeno," Rias announced, making Akeno smirk. "Don't worry about hurting anyone too much; this barrier functions similarly to the ones that Rating Games use, so no injuries will remain once we're done. And don't worry about the result; I know you don't have much experience fighting."

"Shall I try my new spell on Koneko?" Samuel asked, making her pause before she glanced at Koneko. She didn't seem averse to it, so after a moment of thought, Rias nodded.

Holding out his hand, his palm gave off a slight green glow, which engulfed Koneko, making her gasp. The spell ended, but Koneko still had a slight green aura around her, seemingly excited as her tail swished behind her.

"Are you okay, Koneko?" Samuel asked, making her nod firmly.

"Let's kick their asses," Koneko declared, making Akeno and Kiba blink. 

It was odd to see her this excited for anything.

"If we win, make me another treat," Koneko said, making him chuckle and ruffle her hair again. 

Yeah, that sounded about right.

– Akeno Himejima –

"I'll handle Koneko," Kiba said, making her nod as she turned to face Samuel with a smile that promised pain. She wouldn't hurt him too badly.

"Then I get to play with our new friend," Akeno said excitedly, sparks coming off her fingers as Rias declared the fight had started.

Kiba and Koneko dashed forwards, Kiba caught off guard by her increased speed as she landed a kick directly into his chest, knocking him back somewhat. With the promise of treats, Koneko descended on Kiba with fury as she turned to face Samuel.

Not seeing a reason to play fair, she took to the air, knowing that he hadn't had much practice flying himself.

"Nobody is allowed to fly," Samuel declared, causing her to pause in confusion. Then, she let out a confused shout as her wings just stopped working, sending her falling to the ground.

She hadn't been too high, but the fall was still annoying as she landed face first, barely being able to roll away as he tossed a strange grey orb at her. Landing where she had been, it started to expand as she backed away in confusion.

It was turning everything inside it that same grey, but she had no idea what it was actually doing. Not wasting any time, she aimed her hand at him and sent a bolt of lightning towards him.

The orb was between them, and she watched as her lightning bolt went inside and just slowed to a crawl. Her magic was very fast, but as it moved through the orb, it reduced its speed to a snail's pace, making her eyes widen.

Was he like Gasper?

Running to the side so she could fire around the orb now that she couldn't go over it, she gave him a flirty look as lightning sparked in her hands. 

"Lightning is harmless," Samuel shouted as she sent her magic forwards, her eyes widening in surprise and frustration as her powerful magic struck him and just didn't hurt.

But she quickly realised that her wings were working again. Could he only have one rule at a time? 

Well, she could still spank this naughty bishop for his annoying skills as she rushed forward. She was quicker than him, that much was obvious, but as she went to grapple him, he showed off his next surprise.

From his shadow, an inky black tentacle sprouted up and slammed into her, making her gasp in surprise, a quiet moan leaving her as several more tentacles formed around him, growing to be larger than him.

They swayed as they surrounded him; some were far thicker and larger, while others remained smaller.

"Pervert!" Koneko shouted from across the arena, making her blush as she realised she'd been staring at them for a while. 

If he thought she could only use lightning magic, he was in for a surprise. It was simply her favourite. The tentacles surged forwards, several remaining behind to protect him as she tossed a small bolt of fire at him, one of the tentacles striking it out of the air.

Flying into the air, she was unsurprised when he changed his order again, much to her annoyance. As she started to fall once more, one of the tentacles wrapped around her leg and slammed her down to the ground. 

Letting off a powerful burst of lightning, she electrified the tentacles, which actually seemed to work until the largest and thickest simply hit her through her attack, pounding her against the ground as they swarmed her, binding her limbs.

As one wrapped around her leg, going under her skirt, she let out a lewd sound. This wasn't so bad~

– Rias Gremory –

Samuel's edicts were powerful, and they'd clearly caught Akeno by surprise. Still, did her Queen have to be so lewd? 

With tentacles wrapping around her limbs and holding her in the air, she tried to shock them again, but once more, she found that Samuel had changed his orders. He didn't need an Edict to bind her to the ground when he had her wrapped up.

Once more her lightning just failed, the tentacles binding her tighter as she was held aloft, spread eagle with a lewd smile on her face. She looked like something out of the videos Rias would never admit to watching.

Kiba rushed to her aid, slashing through one of the tentacles, but Samuel wasn't passive.

"Men can't move!"

Kiba froze in place, mid-swing, as his eyes widened. Samuel was just as bound in place, but while Akeno was struggling to unbind the tentacles, Koneko could move just fine.

The Call of the Wild gave her a noticeable boost to her strength and speed, possibly her durability, and she descended on Kiba maliciously.

Grabbing him by the scruff of his collar, she just tossed him into the grey bubble of incredibly slowed time. Kiba's eyes widened as Koneko threw him into it, barely moving once he entered it. The lightning bolt hadn't made it to the other side yet, and it was faster than Kiba. 

"No one can cast spells." 

Akeno let out a frustrated (or aroused) groan as her magic just stopped working, still bound as Koneko moved towards her.

She didn't miss the way Samuel gasped, panting from the exertion of altering reality.

"I give up!" Akeno finally said, hints of arousal and annoyance in her tone as she couldn't free herself. The tentacles were physically very strong but rather slow. Once someone was captured, they'd need to be very impressive to escape the shadowy tendrils.

"You are a uniquely frustrating man to fight," Akeno complained, giving Samuel a half-hearted glare as the tentacles retracted into the ground and vanished.

"My apologies, I'm simply a competitive person," Samuel admitted, making Akeno smirk. The bubble popped at the same time, Kiba hitting the ground and the lightning bolt shooting off into the distance. 

"It's fine, but you might have awakened something in me with those mean tentacles of yours~" Akeno flirted, making Rias roll her eyes. "I can think of a few ways you can make it up to me, sensei~"

Samuel just rolled his eyes as well, already having worked out that Akeno was a flirt. 

"That was just cheating," Kiba whined, disappointed by his performance. He had been doing well against the enhanced Koneko, but how do you fight when someone can just take away your ability to move?

His power had so much potential, so much so that she was already excited about her chances against Riser and his Peerage. Samuel was amazing, far better than she'd expected. 

She couldn't wait for the practice match she was setting up with Sona; that was going to be fun. As she watched Koneko basically kidnap her new Bishop, she smiled proudly.

A good start, now if only she knew how to stop Akeno from looking so Maou damned lewd.

"He's bullshit," Kiba declared, making Akeno snort.

"All you got was tossed into a bubble," Akeno waved off.

"I could think at full speed, but I was falling so slowly. What the hell even are his powers?" Kiba asked, making Rias chuckle.

"I have no idea," Rias admitted. "But I can't wait to find out."

– Samuel Morgan –

Feat Achieved: Win the sparring match (One Roll Granted)

I won because they underestimated me; Kiba moves so incredibly fast he could have rushed me down long before I could finish a single sentence. If Koneko wasn't there, I can almost guarantee I'd have lost no matter who I was fighting.

Rolling. Result: Common Power

[Phantom Strikes] - Common

Punching and kicking empty air creates phantom limbs in the distance, which will copy your movements. You can choose where they appear, and they strike with your strength.

Not bad, but until I find a way to enhance my own strength, it won't be that useful. 

Still, I have a rather large problem. 

Kuoh's uniform.

How, in Satan's name, did they decide skirts that short were an acceptable uniform for a school of teenage girls? I've only spent a short time in the school, but goddamn. Akeno is probably the worst case; that body does not belong to a teenage girl; she's a massive flirt, and her shirt is fighting for its life. 

But she's far from the only one; there's something wrong with this world because every girl looks like they have pornstar bodies. The school nurse had the largest breasts I've ever seen on a human being, and she's far from alone.

And unfortunately, my body is being uncharacteristically disobedient. I normally have great self-control, trained from years of being flirted with by barely legal girls, but I've struggled to not stare at every barely-covered backside on display.

A side-effect of my devil nature, perhaps? It's something I'm going to have to get under control fast because the girls here seem even more aggressive. I genuinely felt like some of them were going to outright jump me.

The girl with glasses and braids was drooling; I swear she was actively touching herself. God-

Ow.

Right, I can't use that word anymore. Maou, she's going to be in my class. That's not even mentioning the three perverts. Three infamous male students who are known for some truly absurd perverted acts. I have no idea why they haven't been punished, but I certainly won't stand for it, and I'm not above abusing my position as a devil to get the Principal to fall in line. 

Pushing my glasses up, I nod to myself. I can deal with this; at least this time, I'll have a way to fight back if some lunatic shows up.

— Bonus Scene — Ddraig

Listening to her host's thoughts, she paused. Should she mention that Albion wouldn't be far behind, now that her power had awakened?

Pausing, she shrugged and went back to sleep. He hadn't used her power enough for her to talk to him yet, so it was his problem if her rival showed up with whatever battle maniac she'd found as a host this time.

She was going back to sleep.