Confontation

Due to my shock at suddenly being called out, I freeze. 

I see 'Yuuma' narrowing her eyes and panic. So, I blurt out, "I was wondering if you could give me some directions." Due to the effect of my Shade Choker, my voice that would have been more of a shout came out as soft but audible. 

"Excuse me?"

Relying on high school drama class to properly project my words to make sure I'm heard, I sound like a soft-spoken, shy teen rather than a panicked adult…teen. "I…I'm not from around here and got a little lost. I was just about to try to find someone to ask directions from when I saw you. I thought to ask you but you were so beautiful I wasn't sure how to approach you. I guess, I was so busy trying to think of something to say, I didn't realize I was staring."

I don't know if it's genuine or not, but she seems taken aback by my compliment. Blushing, she puffs up her chest and responds, "W-Well thank you for the compliment. Where exactly were you wanting to go?"

That's not what I expected. If not for Observe, I'd assume I had the wrong person. Either Rayner has a different personality than I know or this is a result of Acting (Expert). The best way to act is to mix in some genuine emotion…So, if Rayner is like the Rayner I know, then she probably would see my compliment as a natural thing - accepting it but looking down on me. Like thinking I'm blind if I couldn't see her beauty. Take that reaction and wrap it in a sweet girl coating…That's about right.

Still, the offer to give me directions is a surprise. No clue where that came from. Maybe she just doesn't see the harm in being a decent person? Or her personality isn't as trashy as I think it is? 

"I was looking for a convenience store. Somewhere I could buy some food and basic necessities for cheap." Hmmm, if she's being so nice…I add, "Do you think you could show me the way?"

Giving me a look over, I can almost feel the judgement behind her kind expression. Is it Rayner's genuine feelings showing through or me being paranoid? 

"Umu, I don't know," she said hesitantly. 

"It's fine," I quietly give up. "I just thought it be nice to be shown around by such a pretty girl is all." I'm not one for interacting with others so I'm not that good at talking with people. I'm blunt, to the point, and can come off as abrasive. However, I'm good at customer service and know how to feign friendliness and offer false pleasantries. Between that and considering myself to be in an anime world that functions on soft-core porn logic, I just say whatever cliché thing I can think of which amounts to 'honesty plus repeated compliments'. 

Suddenly, 'Yuuma' changes her tone while blushing. "Well, I suppose I can't just leave a foreigner to wander around lost now can I. I'm Yuuma Amano."

"O-Oh, I'm James Harlem," I introduce myself with a bit of genuine surprise. I wasn't expecting her to change her tune. Again, good person or throwing me a bone because she's vainly flattered by my compliments? "Thank you Yuuma…I mean, Yuuma-san. Is that right?" Damn, honorifics are one of the gaps in Beginner level Japanese Language. I know what they mean, but I don't know how to use them. Maybe if I had Japanese Etiquette to go with it…

Fortunately, Rayner just nodded. "Yes, we aren't close or friends, so calling me 'san' is fine. I must say, you're Japanese is fairly good for a foreigner."

There it is! Although, I feel a little down that the cliché came from someone with a skill like All Language. No matter who you speak with, you're golden. 

"Yeah, I figured, if I'm going to another country I should have a basic grasp of the language." 

"A good idea to have. Oh, since you're a foreigner, do you prefer I go without honorifics?"

"Whatever's fine."

"Alright, then. Now follow me, Harlem-san, there's a store over here you can buy some simple stuff at." She then turned and began walking and I tried to stay close behind.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It might still be an act, but I think Rayner might not be too bad. 

After buying stuff at a store, she continued to show me around. Every so often, I'd compliment her - mostly genuine but slightly exaggerated - and the way she seemed bolstered by it led me to believe she was either really vain or just a sucker for compliments. Maybe both.

Anyway, the sun begins to set and our little outing comes to a close when a realization hits me. I was basically on a date with a girl?

Like I said, I was never very social. When I was younger I had a preconceived notion of what made someone 'boyfriend material' and did not think I fit the bill. By the time I thought I did I was too busy with college and work to really worry about it, and as I got older I became more cynical and apathetic to the whole thing. Since starting high school, I considered myself to have acquaintances to kill time with rather than actual friends. The effort to form connections and find love and friendship just seemed more and more like a nuisance that would cut into my personal life. 

But now I had a different life. I don't know what I really expected by trying to get close to Rayner. Maybe sponge off her and the Fallen if the devils didn't work out? But, hell, I had a good time with another person. Can't say that since I was a kid. And DxD is the world of harem. 

The little voice in my head geeking out and fanboying over all this with his only braincell having long since exploded out his cock is telling me to Pokémon this shit. I've been able to ignore it due to trying to stay on task. But can't hurt to try and establish a basic connection to at least one person right…

I hear Rayner say something to me and snap from what feels like an epiphany. I quickly say, "I wanna say thanks again, Yuuma-san. I'd probably still wandering around if not for you."

"That's fine, I understand what it's like to be in a completely new place," Rayner says with a gentle smile. 

Is she talking about Kuoh or falling from Heaven? "Well, it's getting late so, I should get going. I hope we meet again Yuuma-san. It was really nice getting to talk with you."

Her eyes widened. "I-I'd have to talk to my…friends. We have this project and have been really busy recently."

I think I saw a genuine crack in her act. Interesting. 

"I just wish I had a working phone and I'd give you my number to at least try meeting up again. Who knows, Kuoh's a big place maybe if we do, it'll be a sign that we were fated to meet again." I'm mostly making this shit up, but I'm not wrong, canon can be seen as a type of fate.

"We'll see what happens, Harlem-san, goodbye." She then began walking away. 

I turn and walk away myself until I find myself alone. Then, I duck into an alleyway and inaudibly say, "Nexus."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The grind. 

I returned to the Shade dungeon to begin collecting Shade Cloth and money. 

Outside of the tutorial, it's a typical dungeon with Shades, Shades, and more Shades. Usually alone but sometimes in groups. And, because they just seemed to aimlessly wander around, it was not difficult to avoid them when needing to recover with Rest & Relaxation. 

I learned a few things as I fought them. Shade Cloth, Iron Hook, and three-to-five Copper Coins drop every time. Stat orbs seem to drop one-in-ten times, and spirit crystals are a one-in-twenty odds. I'm not really keeping track, but that seems about right. 

After a while, it fighting them got easier and I had room to mess around a bit and experiment with some stuff. 

I confirmed that Chi is based on my VIT and SPT stats and how much I could hold was based on STR. 

I then tried using Body Control on my own without Calm Mind. It took some fine tuning to get it right. If I go full control, I'm like a puppet on strings and have to consciously 'pull' my body around which makes my movements super jerky and unnatural like a Silent Hill cannon-fodder. But as I got used to it, I was able to become more nuanced to let my body function normally while still being able to move my body in ways I normally wasn't - preforming acrobatic feats I would otherwise be incapable of. I hurt myself quite a bit though. 

Just because I can make my body do tricks it normally can't or move in ways it normally wouldn't doesn't mean I should. 

There's more I can do with this and I look forward to what I have in mind, but right now isn't the time. I can't be sure, but skills like Body Control always come with the side effect of needing calories in stories. So, for what I have in mind, I should stock up on food first.

I also experimented with my use of Invigoration and Reinforcement. The former is similar to an active version of Rest & Relaxation. By consuming internal energy, it improves the performance of my bodily functions to increase recovery speed, flexibility, movement, recovery from status conditions, etc. For the latter, I managed to gain better movement and control of the energy. I may have cheated a little with Body Control, but I managed to concentrate and focus the energy in my body to create moves like energy fist, super jump, etc.

I finally stopped when I felt too hungry to continue.

I proceeded to Cook Kitchen where I stashed my food when I got back. Like in the Parlor and Study, I gain this room's specific profession while I'm here with an initial proficiency of Beginner. Supposedly, as my proficiency increases I'll be able to imbue my cooking with special properties. 

Fortunately, I didn't buy anything complicated so there was little risk of failure and I made a decent meal. Decent but not satisfactory. This is what I was afraid of in using Body Control - and likely Invigoration. Maybe it's just because it was cheap noodles, but I'm fairly sure these two skills result in a higher metabolism and I need more and better quality food to sustain myself. Oh well, I'm still hungry but I should be good until tomorrow. 

After eating, I go to the Inventory to check and organize my gains. 

I find about two-hundred Shade Cloths, about as many Iron Hooks, roughly seven-hundred copper coins, twenty stat orbs, and ten spirit crystals. 

While I have enough Shade Cloth now and the recent battles have left my current clothes in near tatters, I decide to put off making new clothes for in the morning. It's late and I don't care right now. 

For the Iron Hooks, I think I'll make time to use the Blacksmith Forge later to melt them down and use them for armor or something. 

Seven hundred dollars for a day's work? Not even that, more like a few hours. Nice.

I go ahead and use the stat orbs. I find each one has a different amount of stats they give ranging from one to twenty. However, they might go higher; twenty-three was the highest I found and anything above ten seemed to be harder to get. I can choose which stat it goes to, but I can't divide it up. Also, I tested things a bit and found I can use multiple orbs at once but they all go into the same stat if I do.

[James Harlem]

[Age: 16]

[Race: Human (M)]

[Class: Monk (Beginner)]

[STR: 33 +5]

[VIT: 32 +5]

[DEX: 32]

[INT: 21]

[WIS: 23]

[SPT: 2000 +5]

[LUK: 31]

[CHM: 29]

[Skills: Body Control, Rest & Relaxation, Calm Mind, Mental Immunity, Observe, Nexus, Power Bank ()]

I distributed everything pretty evenly for now and there was a noticeable change. As my strength grew, I became more muscular. As DEX went up, I grew leaner and more nimble - call it compact. Needless to say, my looks shot up with charm which may or may not have been intentional. Don't judge me, I've never been that good looking so I'm taking this chance; plus it'll make me more convincing and persuasive. Still, note to self, next time I meet someone from the supernatural, find way to initiate physical contact to trigger Power Bank.

The next thing I did was grab one of the Shade Spirit Crystals. Rayner was the entry level boss and yet I'm still weaker than her. That'll change after some more grinding, but better safe than sorry. I need allies.

I focus on trying to absorb the crystal. When I did, I felt like there was something trying to get out but was trapped inside. So, like the stat orbs, I applied some pressure and the crystal broke easily. Then something flowed out of the crystal and into me. I used Observe on myself and noticed a new skill - using Observe on it.

Summon Spirit (active): You can summon spirits that you have formed a bond or contract with to do your bidding. These spirits possess their own capabilities and skills. To summon the spirit, you must call their name. Be warned, more powerful spirits will possess a will of their own and may be rebellious.

In conjunction with Nexus - Dungeon Creation, you will receive spirit crystals. By absorbing the spirits contained within them, you form a bond/contract with them. The spirits you form a contract with in this way may dwell within your soul when not summoned. (Soul Capacity: 1/2000)

Wait. I can have two-thousand spirits? I'm guessing the capacity is based on my base SPT stat. Next stat orb I get I should test that. For right now…

"Let's see…Summon Shade?"

At my call, my shadow suddenly moves and a Shade emerges from it and floats in front of me. 

"Let's see if anything's different with you. Observe."

[Shade]

[STR: 10]

[VIT: —]

[DEX: 10]

[INT: 10]

[WIS: 5]

[SPT: 5]

[LUK: 10]

[CHM: —] 

[Skills: Intangible, Enter Shadow, Flight, Physical Resistance, Light Weakness]

A spectral entity that can enter and inhabit shadows. Shades have no need for food, water, or rest. Although capable of following basic instructions, Shades lack a will of their own. They are weak spirits better suited to stealth and spying than direct confrontation. A form of undead, they are vulnerable to light and holy instruments. 

Nope. Still the same but with a race descriptor. Also, good for spying but bad for confronting an angel - fallen or otherwise. Still, 'quantity is a quality all its own', right? 

I go ahead and absorb the other ten spirits to give me a total of eleven and have them all hide in my shadow. 

Once all that's done, I find myself with a lack of anything to do. I have no books to read, anime to watch, nothing. And the sudden rush of power from raising my stats has me too energized to try and sleep. 

After thinking about it for a minute, I decide to try and get into a habit I was always too lazy or distracted for in my past life - going for nightly walks as a form of exercise and enjoying the night sky. My dirty, bloody, and ruined clothes might draw some attention, but I don't care. Who's going to be wandering around at…whatever hour it is. 

"Nexus."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I slowly walk through the brisk night air while taking long, deep breaths - enjoying the cool air entering my longs. It's a pleasant night and I feel like it's been a good day. 

Then, I hear a female voice, "Lookie here~. A human wandering all alone in the dark~. How delightful~."

I freeze. Oh course. I'm in an anime world. Since when can anyone just go for a nice walk and not have something happen. 

I turn to the source of the voice and see a young woman who I'd guess was in her late teens or early twenties. She looks fucking adorable. Kinda like a puppy. An axe-crazy, evil, murder puppy, but still. She had brown, chin-length hair in a bob cut and bright red eyes that seemed to glow in the darkness of the night. All she was wearing was a spike-nipple, black, C-cup bra, black panties, and spiked black boots and in her hands was a blood red katana and its sheath.

"Observe," I inaudibly mutter. 

[Hiromi Haruta]

[Age: 22]

[Race: Devil (Stray, Reincarnated, Human) (F)]

[Class: Evil Piece - Rook]

[STR: 22 +50]

[VIT: 23 +30]

[DEX: 25 +20]

[INT: 20 +20]

[WIS: 50 -39]

[SPT: 20 +20]

[LUK: 14 +20]

[CHM: 29 +20]

[Skills: Longevity, All Language, Retractable Devil Wings, Winged Flight, Night Vision, Demonic Power, Holy Vulnerability, Light Vulnerability, Demonic Magic (Beginner), Basic Education (Expert), Sword Mastery (Beginner)]

Really regretting not getting any of Rayner's skills before…