Chapter 8

All kinds of ideas swirled through my head as I drove my car, hundreds of different ways of how to boost my movement speed. A majority of them were instantly discarded. In fact, all except one were thrown away without hesitation.

I just didn't have the Magic reserves to properly make use of them. They also required a bit too many steps for my liking since I needed to sit down and study the process before I could actually utilize any of them.

The only one I kept and focused on was the one that worked with Ki. It was by far the simplest spell since it only required me to burn my lifeforce to greatly boost my speed. It clicked just like that since I was already proficient in using Ki in a similar way.

Magic was great, amazing even. Its potential was truly limitless, but I appreciated Ki as it tended to follow the KISS rule. Of course, it could get very complicated as well at its highest level, considering it could manipulate souls, be it by attacking them directly or even healing them. Regardless, it still tended to lean towards simpler methods that barely required any sort of calculations on my part.

Not that I had any issues with that anymore. I still thought that I was pretty good at math, but my newest powerup changed a lot of things for me. It made me a genius, no, that was wrong. It made me a savant when it came to Magic, technology, and their sum, Magitech.

I could just stare at a magical phenomena, and I'd get all kinds of ideas of how I could replicate it with technology. Well, it wasn't that simple since I didn't immediately get a complete blueprint on how to perfectly recreate it with some kind of device.

Instead, it gave me… a puzzle. Yeah, that was an apt description. It provided me with an image of how the puzzle should look, but I needed to be the one to paint and create the puzzle pieces myself. The more knowledge I had, the faster and easier it was for me to complete the puzzle. It was the same when it came to replicating technology with Magic.

That's why I appreciated Ki so much since I didn't need to create that many pieces to finish the puzzle. The Magic happened once everything clicked into place as my brain was flooded with knowledge and all kinds of new puzzles I could create with said knowledge.

Take the latest spell I figured out as an example. It was about consuming my Ki to greatly boost my speed, effectively replicating how an engine worked to a certain extent. Figuring it out led to a flood of knowledge about ways to convert power into motion.

With this power of mine, I could easily become the Merlin or Solomon of this world, even if my Magic reserves were currently shit. They would surely grow in time as long as I put in the work.

Or I could become the Tony Stark of the world. That was another possibility, though I wasn't sure how far I could go with technology alone.

It was far better to combine the two paths, in my opinion. Why settle for one when I could easily do both and all that jazz? It seemed obvious to me that Magictech was the way to go.

Nevertheless, this was a truly bullshit power with an endless amount of potential. Given enough time and knowledge, I could basically create anything. Of course, I would also need all kinds of materials and a shit ton of energy to power most of my creations as well.

Thankfully, I could source most of those things from Sairaorg and his peerage. I had more than enough money to buy materials and knowledge from them since my job as the chef of a Devil paid very handsomely. Plus, they gave me a pretty decent discount. The only two problematic ones were energy and time.

Now, I had no reason to rush anything. I had all the time in the world, and I could slowly but surely achieve anything I set my mind to. Hell, I was sure I could even figure out a way to make myself immortal, ensuring that I truly had all the time in the world.

However, I knew better. Well, I didn't really, but I liked to think that I did. See, Sairaorg had all the signs of being a protagonist. And what did all the shounen main characters have to do? They had to face all kinds of dangerous situations that forced them to push past their limits in order to overcome their tribulations.

What did that mean for me? It meant that I would one way or another be forced into a dangerous situation. Sure, I could always take a step back and let them deal with it on their own. I might be strong for a human, but I was still insignificant in the grand scheme of things after all. The obvious choice was to let them deal with their tribulations on their own.

However, I didn't wish to be a spectator. Those guys were my friends, and I wasn't going to let them suffer on their own. Another thing was that I also wished to personally experience being a shounen character. I would more than likely end up regretting this wish, but that was something future me had to deal with.

Of course, I currently wasn't in any position to help them. Sure, I was making great progress, but I was still weak compared to them. All I was good at was being a meatshield thanks to my durability and Ki.

That's why I wanted to create a Hyperbolic Time Chamber so much. It would give me more time to catch up and it was also the perfect place to train… as long as it was stable, that is. There were plenty of ways it could go wrong, killing me in all kinds of horrifying manners. 

Disregarding that for the time being–I could worry about my safety later–I was actually making good progress with the chamber. Lidan's Sacred Gear was feeding me all kinds of interesting data, and I was sure I would crack Gravity Magic in a week or two just by observing and experiencing it for myself. If Kuisha could get me a book on it, I would definitely figure it out in a few days at most.

Time was the thing that was giving me more problems. I had no idea of where to even start at first. Until I realized one simple thing. We were constantly traveling forward in time just by existing. Once that clicked into place, I started getting vague ideas of how to possibly manipulate time, but I was still nowhere even close to figuring it out. It would probably take me months to work out a solution with this alone.

But if I had the chance of seeing someone manipulate time in front of me? Or better yet, if I got to personally experience it? That would drastically reduce how long it would take me to figure it out.

I snorted as I parked my car. Less than a month ago I was your regular Joe, but here I was now thinking of how to manipulate time and gravity. My life sure took a turn after I met Kuisha's familiar, huh?

I could think about that at a later time since I had a date. We spent a few hours just idly talking on the phone yesterday before we decided on going out today. I had no idea why she wanted to come here, but I was happy to go along with her wishes.

Soon enough, I spotted Cori as she calmly walked over, probably having teleported somewhere nearby. Now that was one ability I really wanted. I didn't have much use for it at the moment, and I definitely didn't have the reserves to use it, but it was teleportation, damn it!

Right. This was not the time to be thinking about that, so I focused on Cori. She wore an eastern dress that tightly covered her body, perfectly showing off her curves.

Cori image.

Damn! The women in the supernatural world sure were something else. The supermodels in the human world couldn't even compare to them when it came to appearance. Long shapely legs, thin waists, large breasts, and alluringly beautiful faces. Cori fit that description to a T.

"Wow, you look stunning," I said as she neared me.

"Why thank you," she replied with a pleased smile.

"I kind of feel underdressed now," I said with a sigh. I was wearing jeans and a simple black t-shirt that showed off my own figure. They were from an expensive brand, but they paled in comparison to her dress.

"Hmm." Cori looked me over with a critical eye. "You're not that bad, and I honestly didn't expect more than this."

"Ouch," I winced and tapped my heart. "You hurt me right here."

"Well, you'll just have to do better next time." Cori playfully winked at me. "Perhaps we can even make sure that you will have some better options."

Oh, I liked the sound of "next time." Though I wasn't sure how to feel about the other part as that implied shopping, which I wasn't the biggest fan of. Usually, I'd just grab the first few things that caught my eye, but it seemed today my experience would be a bit more different than that. Oh, well.

"Shall we?" I asked and offered my arm to her.

"We shall." Cori offered me a brilliant smile as she wrapped her arms around mine, hugging it tightly and pushing it right up against her breasts.

Hmm. I could definitely endure a few hours of shopping with a girl like Cori hanging from my arm.

"I'm honestly a bit surprised you chose this place," I said as we stepped towards the mall. "Aren't there much better clothing stores in the Underworld."

"You'd think so," Cori replied as she leaned on me. "But the ones around here have some pretty good stuff."

"Really?" I was a bit doubtful of that. Devils had access to better materials, and they had hundreds of years to practice and develop their craft.

"Mhm." Cori nodded. "The quality down there is a bit better, sure, but you have a much bigger variety here. New and different types of clothing are being made all the time here while we… take a bit longer to come up with new things."

"I suppose that makes sense." They were a race that was practically immortal. Naturally, they would be more inclined to take things at a slower pace than humans since they had no reasons to rush things.

Really, Sairaorg and his peerage were the strange ones. They were practically babies in comparison to the rest of their kind, yet they were competing against the clock with the way they were pushing themselves each day.

"I'm also a bit partial to human clothing due to my mother," Cori admitted with a sigh.

"Due to your mother?" I asked, prompting her to go on.

"Yeah… she is a human," she answered quietly.

I blinked in response, taking a moment to process that. I read through the information that Kuisha provided me on the supernatural, but there was no mention of this on it. "That… works?"

Cori snorted. "Yeah. There's a small chance, but it does indeed work."

"Huh." I absentmindedly nodded.

"She's one of the reasons why I wish to become High-Class as quickly as possible, so I could reincarnate her," she admitted as we entered the mall.

"What about your father?" I hesitantly asked. "Can't he do that?"

"He can't." Cori shook her head with a frown and continued with a distasteful tone. "He has accepted his fate and has no hopes of advancing.

I reached with my free hand and gently placed it over hers as I offered her an encouraging smile. Admittedly, I wasn't very good at this, but I still had to give it a try.

"I'm sure your hard work is bound to pay off. Really, it's only a matter of time until you advance. You just have to believe in yourself."

Cori chuckled and looked at me in amusement. "You're starting to sound like Sai."

"Bah." I looked away in embarrassment. Stupid protagonist bullshit. "Well, I might've been slightly influenced by Saiborg."

"Saiborg?" Cori titled her head. "You know you can just call him Sai like the rest of us."

"Nope. I refuse." I shook my head without hesitation.

"Why?"

"Because he's not a pale and skinny emo."

Cori blinked at me. "I don't get it. Is that a reference to something?"

"Yep." I nodded without elaborating.

"You're not gonna tell me from where?" She curiously asked.

"Nope." Because Naruto didn't exist in this world! How was I supposed to explain that?

Cori hummed thoughtfully before mischievously smirking. "Fine. Don't tell me."

"Hmm?" I looked at her with narrowed eyes. What was she planning?

"I have my ways to make you sing." She winked and started pulling me towards a certain store. "Now let's get you some new clothes first."

I was both looking forward to and dreaded what she had in store for me. Could she actually make me spill my secrets? Perhaps, but I was ready to resist until the very end.

We finished shopping for my clothes surprisingly fast. Cori knew a thing or two about fashion and was able to quickly pick out the ones that fit me best. I now had a bunch of new outfits that I could wear during our next outing.

Next, came the fun part as I got to enjoy watching her try all kinds of dresses. Cori was quite the sight, and I found myself enjoying this far more than I thought I would.

"What do you think about this?" Cori asked as she slightly pulled the curtain in the changing room. I gulped as I saw what she was wearing.

Cori Image. 

"It seems you like what you see," she teased as she licked her lips. "Perhaps you'll get to see more of this later."

Oh, I was eating good tonight!

Seeing her alluring figure, I was reminded of a particular quote from a story I read in my past life, "The taste of a Demoness ain't bad." I might get the chance to confirm that as long as I played my cards right and didn't fuck this up somehow.

The rest of our shopping was a blur as I was understandably eager for our dinner. Or to be more precise, the event that would come after that. I was looking forward to that so much that I even considered asking her to teleport us to my house. In hindsight, I should've done exactly that.

But how was I supposed to anticipate what happened next?

I was driving us back to my house when an explosion of black fire erupted from a nearby parking lot. The cars around me swirled out of control, and I tried my best to avoid them, but a scorched body came out of nowhere and landed on my hood, catching me by surprise.

"Motherfucker!" I cursed as I ended up crashing in the car in front of me.

Of course, something would happen on the way back! This was a shounen world, after all! I even wished to experience the feeling of being a shounen protagonist earlier! I really should've anticipated that the world would try to cockblock me.

"Are you alright?" I turned to Cori. She was a Devil and was far stronger than a regular human, but it was the thought that counted.

"I'm fine," she replied with a nod before looking me up and down, seeing that I wasn't hurt as well.

"What the fuck happened?" I asked as we got out of the car.

The black flames had erupted from what looked to be a high school parking lot, and they were slowly spreading and circling around it. The fire felt odd to me, beyond its weird color, that is. I couldn't exactly explain it, but the flames felt like they had a certain weight behind them.

"I'm not sure." Cori stood beside me as we observed the situation. "But we… I will have to do something about this."

"I'm helping," I stated, not willing to let her deal with all of this on her own.

Plus, there was a small part of me that was itching for a good fight. I had been feeling that way ever since the Grimoire changed my body. Thankfully, it wasn't some overwhelming feeling that constantly urged me to fight, and it was something I could easily suppress. Not to mention that my daily training with Sairaorg's peerage was enough to satisfy it.

"Thank you." Cori gratefully nodded at me, and I noticed that she typed something on her phone before pocketing it.

"I'll take point?" I was willing to listen to her in this situation since she was far more experienced than me. However, I was essentially a tank, so this seemed obvious to me as she was more like a support/damage dealer. It made sense for me to be the one to lead the way.

"Be careful," Cori said as her little bat wings formed behind her before she took to the skies. People gawked and pointed at her, some even screamed in terror, though that was maybe due to the quickly growing black flames.

I shook my head and reminded myself that I did ask for this earlier today. Note to self, don't tempt Murphy in the future because he's an asshole. Bad decisions aside, there was a fight ahead of me, and I had to play my role.

Touki flared around me, and I pushed off the ground, my jump carrying me over the street right into the parking lot. I looked around, spotting a dozen cars that were overturned before noticing the one responsible for all of this.

The person looked male, but I couldn't tell for sure since they had some kind of sleek black armor covering most of their upper body. Their helmet caught my eye since it looked like the maw of a lizard. There was another person right next to them, whimpering on the ground in fear.

"NO MORE!" The armored guy yelled before releasing a torrent of black fire upon the dude on the ground. The flames crashed into him and… splattered his body on the spot before digging into the concrete below him.

'That's not how fire works.' Weirdly, that was the first thing that came to my mind upon seeing that scene. Countless ideas of how to replicate this began popping in my head before I squashed them down. Now wasn't the time for that.

A dozen ice spears rained down upon the armored guy from the skies, courtesy of Cori. The ones that crashed into his armor crumbled upon impact, but the rest pierced right through his body, mainly his legs.

"GRAH!" He roared in pain, but he managed to keep standing still despite the ice spears lodged in his legs. His helmet looked up, probably spotting Cori, judging by how black flames started building in his maw.

That's when I acted. My newest spell activated without any issues, greatly increasing my speed. Then I moved, appearing in front of him in a second, my fist already cocked back.

I might not know fancy spells, but I learned how to punch good. And that's exactly what I did. I punched him with all my might right in the head before pushing out my Ki through my fist. His body flew back as if it was shot out by a cannon, and he tumbled on the ground, just like I did every time Sairaorg punched me.

For a moment, I thought that was it. A part of me was even disappointed how quickly it ended. Was that how Saitama felt when all of his fights ended with a single punch?

That's when my sixth sense screamed at me to move. I leapt from the ground, trying to quickly get away from my current spot, but my world turned black, and I slammed face first into a wall. Black flames surrounded me from all directions, rapidly closing in on me.

"What the fuck?" I was understandably confused as I was trapped in a prison of solid black flames. They were hot, and I felt the temperature steadily rising even more. Worst of all, I was starting to have a hard time breathing.

Trapped in this dangerous situation, I did what I knew best. I started punching. Again and again, I slammed my fists against this barrier made out of fire, hitting it with all my might.

"Break, damn it!" I yelled as I drew more and more from my Ki, infusing as much as I could in my fists. It was starting to get hard to breathe, but I didn't stop even for a second and continued punching over and over again. I don't know how long I kept hammering the barrier–to me it felt like hours–but my prison finally broke apart.

"Michael!" Cori landed next to me just as I jumped out. Her dress was singed, and she had burn marks all over her body.

"I'm fine," I said with a frown, anger bubbling inside me due to her condition.

"Time to end this," Cori stated with a snarl, and I felt her Demonic Power explode into action.

Looking up, I saw a massive block of ice form above the armored guy, who seemed like he was barely standing on his feet. I was honestly surprised he was even standing considering she had pierced through his legs with her ice spears.

"I WILL BE BULLIED NO MORE!" He roared as he fired a wave of black fire and somehow caught the massive block of ice with it.

That wouldn't do. My body shot forward, appearing right next to him in a split second. An uppercut from my left hand lifted him off the ground, positioning him right above me. I then focused all of my remaining Ki–not the one I had stored in my Seal–into my right fist before I punched.

His body shot in the air, slamming against his solid black flames. He went right through them before hitting into the block of ice.

"Michael, move!" Cori warned me, and I quickly got out of the way, landing next to her with a single jump.

With a snarl, she brought her hand down. The block of ice in the air followed her movement as it began descending down now that the solid flames weren't blocking it. I stepped in front of Cori just as it crashed into the ground with an earth shattering thump, covering her with my body in case something flew right at us.

"I had us covered," Cori said with an amused smile, and I looked back only to see a wall of ice standing in front of us.

She brought it down a moment later, and we carefully observed the aftermath of her attack. There was now a massive crater in the parking lot, and I spotted the broken body of the armored guy in the middle of it. I didn't think he was getting up this time.

"I believe–"

Whatever she was about to say was drowned out by the Grimoire appearing in my mind's eye. Pages flipped open until it landed on a particular one that flashed with light as it engraved itself in my body.

Kara no Kyokai: Awakened Predator - 400 CP 

Ah, more direct than most, are you? All this talk of predators and prey awoke an ancient lineage in you, a calling back to the days when we all had to crush and kill with our bare hands. When humans and beasts were no different. It might have been a miraculous success of the bloodchip drug or the result of an awakened origin, but you've become rather like Lio Shirazumi. Your body is powerful now, able to leap several storeys and tear through stone walls or crush human skulls with ease. Your senses have quickly come to match some of the best in the animal kingdom and the sharp fangs and claws that appear when you grow hostile slice flesh like it was just water. These traits slowly increase as time goes on and you hunt more, perhaps even new abilities sourced from predator animals appearing on you.

Unlike Lio, you can halt and start the progress of this when you desire. Useful given it has an effect on your mind. Much more limited than the Shirazumi beast suffers but you still find that the more monstrous you become, the more your mindset begins to reflect that of a predator. Sheer force of will can restrain your urges to devour and kill, with magecraft perhaps holding keys to treat this mental affliction. Should you give into the power, you'll soon be more than a match for many of the denizens of this city.

I clenched my fists as my body shifted and changed ever so slightly. I felt that I was now just a bit more powerful, but the biggest change was the fact that I could now grow claws and fangs on demand.

Oh, and that my senses were now far more sharper than before. So much that I could even hear the people on the street behind us calling and talking to the police, not that the guys in blue would be of any help in this situation since this was way above their pay grade.

The bloodlust could've been a big problem, but thankfully I could control my actions no matter how angry I was. That was one problem solved before it could become a major issue for me.

You know what? I wasn't even surprised by this. If anything, the last power that I got from the Grimoire was the truly weird one. Because so far it seemed like it was adamant on making me a punch wizard no matter what.

"Michael?" Cori snapped me out of my thoughts as she gently tugged my clothes in concern.

"I'm fine," I told her and offered her a reassuring smile. To distract her and myself from what just happened, I followed that with, "So… are we still up for dinner?"

"Ha!" A snort came from beside us, causing all the hair on my body to stand on edge. I spun in the direction of the sound, nails growing into claws on pure instinct alone.

Azazel image. 

There stood a tall and handsome man with black hair, golden bangs, and a well trimmed goatee. He felt oddly harmless to my sense, but I knew better than that. After all, he had somehow snuck up on us, and I hadn't even heard him approach us even with my newly enhanced senses. This was definitely not some harmless guy, that was for sure.

"I like you," he said with a smirk as he chuckled.

"Sorry, I'm not into men," I replied without even thinking about it while I stood defensively in front of Cori. My own Ki reserves were low, but I still had plenty more in my Strenght of a Hundred Seal. I didn't want to use them so soon, though it wasn't like I had much of a choice if we ended up fighting this guy as well.

"Neither am I," he replied with a large smile on his face.

"Really?" My mouth acted before my thoughts. "You look like the type of guy that's into femboys."

"Huh?" His eyes blinked a few times before he thoughtfully looked up. "It seems you're right. I'd totally bang a guy if he was feminine enough. Unfortunately, you are not my type."

He then chuckled to himself before walking away towards the armored guy in the crater. I kept my eyes on him, though I heard the flapping of wings rapidly approaching us. The familiar presence calmed me down, and I let out a sigh of relief.

"Who is that?" I asked quietly.

"Azazel," Kuisha was the one that answered as she landed next to me.

"Huh." I muttered as we all stared at the leader of the Grigori.

He took out some weird device and placed it on top of the armored guy. My mind was flooded with ideas as I watched the sleek armor shrink back and disappear before Azazel pulled out a black orb out of the guy's body.

The leader of the Grigori then pocketed both the device and the orb before he sauntered over to us with undisguised confidence in his steps. We all stood on edge as he stopped right in front of us, staring at us with an arrogant smile.

"Well, now," he said at first as he slowly observed the three of us. "I did end up taking your spoils of war, but it's not like you could've taken them for yourselves in the first place."

That wasn't entirely correct since a Devil could've reincarnated the guy with an Evil Piece. I was fairly sure that Sairaorg wouldn't have done that, but Azazel couldn't have known that.

"But let it not be said that I'm not a generous guy!" He spread his arms wide as he watched us with amusement. "I will take this little Vritra Gear for myself, and I will reward you with another Sacred Gear of my choosing. How does that sound, eh?"

"That will be acceptable," Kuisha replied with a slight bow of her head. "We thank you for your generosity."

"Let's see." Azazel tapped his chin for a few moments before he raised his finger. "I know just the right one."

A red orb appeared in his hand and he threw it over to Kuisha. My mind tried to process how exactly he did. It definitely had to do something with space. I just wasn't sure if he had a pocket space or if he had summoned it from another location.

"Fiery Minokawa. One fire type Sacred Gear traded for another. Seems fair, right?"

"That sounds more than fair, Governor General," Kuisha tensely replied.

"What about you, friend?" Azazel looked at me with a glint in his eyes. "I'm feeling generous today, so what do you want?"

Put on the spot, I had no idea what to ask for. Admittedly, I was interested in Sacred Gears, but I didn't want one for myself. Well, I did, but I wished to make one with my own hands.

"Could I perhaps study the device you just used?" I carefully asked.

"Ha!" Azazel slapped his thigh as he barked out a laugh. "And give the Devils yet another way to increase their forces? Please, my poor organization already has to settle with gathering the scraps that everyone else throws away."

I still had a lot to learn about the supernatural world, but I was very much aware that the Grigori had two Longinus users working for them. Those were two powerful Sacred Gears that could slay Gods. Were those the scraps he was referring to?

"How about this, eh?" Another reddish orb appeared in his hand, and he threw it over to me. "A nice little Twice Critical."

"Thank you." I nodded at him. This was better than nothing, especially since I didn't even think I'd be getting anything out of this. And now I had something interesting to study.

"Ah ah ah." Azazel wagged his finger at me. "I'm not done yet."

A black card appeared in his grasp, and he handed it over to me with a wink. "Give me a call if you ever decide to switch sides."

I was half tempted to repeat my words from earlier, reminding him that I wasn't into men one more time. However, I wisely chose to keep my mouth shut this time.

"Toodles." Azazel gave us a jaunty wave before he disappeared with a flash of white light.

"Well that just happened." Kuisha turned to glare at me the moment those words left my mouth.

"It seems you will have to be taught how to properly conduct yourself in front of people with status," she said slowly, her eyes boring into mine.

"Perhaps another time," I said with a wince while Cori giggled from beside me.

Kuisha sighed before shaking her head. "Yes, perhaps another time. Regardless, good job, you two. I will… deal with the aftermath myself."

"Thanks!" That's all I needed to hear, so I grabbed Cori's hand and started pulling her away. She got hurt earlier, and I had the perfect way to heal her.

"Let's grab our stuff, and you can teleport us to my house," I told her as we walked away. "Then I'll see about healing those burns."

"Oh?" Cori raised an eyebrow as her grasp on my hand tightened ever so slightly. "And how would you do that?"

"It's a secret~"

A/N

Fighting scenes aren't my strong suite, so I decided on doing something potentially stupid. I let the gamba Gods decide the outcome. The results are below. Not sure if I'm gonna do it again, but it was kind of fun tbh. 

[SPOILER="Rolls"] BB Vritra Gear User - 2, 88, 9(No idea what's going on. Angry dragon. Exhausted since still a normie human.)

Cori - 43, 14, 92 (Assessing the situation. Surprised by flames. Time to nuke. )

Michael - 67, 14, 48 (Eager for a fight. Why the fuck are the flames solid? Just punch good. )

Amriel - 2, 39, 10 (Sleep. What was that? Must've been the wind.)

After fight event/gains - 93, 100, 54 (THE FUCK DO I DO WITH THIS?!?!?) [/SPOILER]