Chapter 8

"Nope. Just an ordinary copper sword." Kiba replied, utterly mystified, "Aside from the fact someone, probably this creature here, hit it hard enough to break it in two."

"Buchou, these mannequins…" Koneko pointed at the faux Fallen, Angels and Devils scattered around the room.

"Yes…this is…unusual." the Crimson-Haired Ruin Princess nodded slowly, "Akeno, take this…ratman, I suppose we should call it…to Beelzebub-sama's local research department drop-off centre. The fact that these things were able to set up a nest in my territory without us catching so much as a hint of it is worrisome."

'Almost as worrisome as someone taking it upon themselves to massacre them in their own nest.' she added silently.

As Akeno vanished in a magic circle, taking the corpse away with her, Rias examined the mannequins with a frown. They were disgusting, filthy mockeries of the real McCoy that gave her chills up her spine for some reason.

When Akeno reappeared, Rias looked around at her beloved Peerage with a smile.

"Well, that's everything we needed to do here." she said, "Let's leave this place and seal up the entrance."

"Rias, should we keep an eye out for the magic user who did…this." Akeno asked, gesturing at the slaughtered ratmen as they walked back out of the large chamber.

"Yes…I want to have a word with them about exactly what these things are doing in my territory. And why they didn't contact me before entering my territory to deal with them." the Gremory Heiress answered with a hint of irritation in her voice.

Kuō was her territory, her responsibility. Whoever had killed these ratmen had snuck in and acted as they pleased without so much as a by-your-leave. Rias couldn't allow anyone, Yōkai, Devil or otherwise, to flaunt her authority like this.

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The Next Day

With Issei

With a yawn, Issei padded down the stairs of his family home. He was still tired after he took down that ratman den the previous day, even although he had gotten plenty of sleep. Odd.

Floating above his bed had been a screen telling him that his HP and MP had been restored for sleeping in a proper bed, which was useful information.

"Morning, Kaa-san." he greeted his mother as he entered the kitchen.

"Good morning, Issei." his mother replied as she dished up breakfast.

"Where's Otou-san?" he asked as he sat down at his seat.

"He got called in to work early." his mother replied with a sigh, "Apparently there's a flu going around and a lot of people in his office have caught it, so he's going to be working overtime until everyone's well again."

"Poor dad." Issei commented as he tucked in.

As he ate, Issei snuck a look at the words floating over his mother's head.

Hyōdō Yukariko LV10

[Housewife]

So his mother was four Levels higher than he was. Considering she was an adult, that seemed a bit low, but then again, she didn't kill monsters for large whacks of EXP, so maybe it was average.

Whatever the case may be, he had to get stronger in order to better protect his family from the Purifiers…whoever they were.

The fact that he was legitimately under threat of being murdered by a secret organisation that seemed to have a chip on their shoulders regarding supernaturals was like something out of a manga. Issei wished it wasn't the case, but what could he do?

After finishing his breakfast, Issei headed back up to his room and opened his Status Screen.

Name: Hyōdō Issei

Class: The Gamer

Level: 6| Next Level: 2000 EXP

Title: Oppai Baka

HP: 300/300

MP: 125/125

STR: 35

STA: 31

DEX: 36

INT: 9

WIS: 9

LUK: ?

CHA: 11

Attribute Points: 5

¥: 14712

Issei blinked at the state of his STR, STA and DEX, but then remembered his trait as an [Awakened Sekiryūtei], which added ten points to those three stats every time he levelled up, and he had levelled up twice yesterday. [Lesser Draconic Charisma] accounted for the increase in his CHA score for similar reasons.

Deciding that he could afford to spend the points on his mental stats now, he put two into INT, two into WIS and then tried to put the last point into CHA, which he presumed stood for charisma, but a screen popped up when he tried.

[Charisma can only be raised either by undertaking quests that specifically raise charisma as a reward or by skills.]

Very irritating. He flipped a coin and put the last point into WIS. Issei then checked the two skills that levelled up yesterday, [Lesser Draconic Charisma] and [Basic Swordsmanship].

[Lesser Draconic Charisma] (Passive) [LV2, 31.01EXP)

Dragons are massive creatures, able to do a great many things, one of them being transformation into other beings. But regardless of what form they take, all dragons have a natural air of charisma about them that draws people to them. As someone who bears a Dragon-type Sacred Gear, you have inherited a small portion of this charisma.

- Grants you the Charisma stat once this entry has been read.

- Automatically adds 6 Charisma each level.

- As one who bears the [Boosted Gear], you gain a 50% EXP boost with this skill as this is a [Draconic] skill.

[Basic Swordsmanship] (Passive) [LV2, 01.25]

Throughout the entirety of the world, the one weapon that is used the most often, barring the human body itself, is the sword. No matter what kind of sword it is, from Rapiers to Broadswords, from Dao to Katana, the sword has rightly earned its name as the Queen of Weapons throughout humanity's long and bloody history. Basic Swordsmanship is, as the title suggests, very basic thrusts and cuts.

- Grants the user the ability to carry a sword with ease.

- Passively grants the user +2 to [Slashing] Attacks.

- Passively grants the user +1 to [Piercing] Attacks.

Not a large improvement, but still better than nothing.

Reaching into his inventory, Issei pulled out the skill book he received for completing the main quest yesterday.

[You have received the 'Mental Mapping' skill book]

Do you wish to learn this?

Y/N

"What the heck is Mental Mapping?" Issei wondered. As he'd expected, a window popped up.

[Mental Mapping is the ability to create a map in the mind of the user of every location that they have been to.]

"Huh…sounds useful." He said with a shrug, "Let's go for it."

Pressing the 'Y' button, he saw the book dissolve into blue light, which flew into his chest. A moment later, a screen popped up.

You have learned the skill [Mental Mapping]!

[Mental Mapping] (Passive/Active) [LV1, 00.00EXP]

Mental Mapping is a skill that allows the user to create a map in their mind of any location they enter. At low levels, it is restricted to buildings and dungeons, but once you reach higher levels, it can and will function in the outdoors as well.

- Actively allows the creation of mental maps of locations.

- Passively increases WIS by 5.

- Costs 5MP per minute to use.

- Passively allows the user to recall any map created in exacting detail.

"Cool." Issei said before he noticed another window appear.

[Do you wish [Mental Mapping] to scan your memory for any locations that it can create maps for you?]

[Warning: Costs 50 MP]

Y/N