DxD: Recruitment Week 7.5

An hour or so later, after the girls, Kyu included, have left to do their slumber party, I start shopping around for more alchemy ingredients. I made sure to give Aika the Grimoire of Dark Magic and to apply [Erotic Dreams] to all of them, since the maximum number of people I can use the skill on went up after it leveled from being used on Asia.

This morning I discovered that a lot of my potions can be made with ingredients that are relatively easy to buy in bulk, but for some, I can only partially supply the ingredients in bulk. So my goal for tonight is to find substitutions for the ones I can't buy in bulk so I can mass produce all of the recipes I've discovered.

It's as I'm walking the aisles of some beauty shop looking for more ingredients to use in some Beauty Potions, I run into two familiar faces. Sona and Tsubaki.

"Hey ladies," I greet them. "We sure do seem to run into each other a lot, don't we?"

"I'm surprised to find you in a place like this though," Sona replies. "It doesn't seem like the kind of place that caters to you. Unless you're searching for a gift?"

"Ingredients, actually," I laugh. "You wouldn't believe the sorts of things I've turned into useful potions."

"Potions?" Sona asks, curious.

"Have I not told you guys about my potions?" I ask. "I'm sure I mentioned it at some point." I think back. "Oh, right. It was after that thing with the Fallen angels."

"I remember now," Tsubaki says. "You mentioned it when you were listing what you could do, and I believe we all were distracted by everything else and didn't question you more on them."

"Yeah, a lot was going on then," I say. "Still, I'm surprised they haven't come up again since then, they're super useful."

"Oh?" Sona asks. "What sort of potions do you make? I'm afraid I haven't really heard of any potion makers before."

"Well, I have your standard ones for healing, restoring magic, and restoring stamina," I start.

Sona cuts me off. "Wait, you can make potions like that?" She has a calm mask on, but I can feel her getting excited. "How effective are they?"

"So far the ones I've made can practically instantly heal grievous wounds," I say, trying to estimate what 50% and 75% max HP translates to. "But I've been working on a new recipe that should be able to completely heal any wounds. Doesn't do much for illnesses, but I have a different potion for that."

"You can really do all that?" Sona asks.

"And more," I confirm. "I figured out a couple new recipes this morning. I have maybe 20 or so potions I can make."

I can see Sona's mind racing. "Are you willing to trade or sell these potions?"

"I've been thinking about selling some of them, yeah," I say. "The problem right now is that I'm working on figuring out recipes with ingredients I can get in bulk. Some of the ones I use right now are rare or hard to buy. I've been trying to grow my own, but there's only so much room in my tiny apartment."

"Would you be open to making a deal then?" Sona asks, in full business mode already. "We can supply you with ingredients and anything you need in exchange for the potions."

"I'm open to negotiations, sure," I answer. "Some help in procuring ingredients would save me a lot of time. Surely you don't expect me to give you potions for just the cost of the ingredients though, right?" I grin. "Especially since I finally cracked the code on Fertility potions."

Both of them freeze, though Sona recovers herself quickly. "Are you busy right now?" she asks suddenly.

"I mean, aside from the shopping, no," I say. "Why?"

"I want to make this more official," she says. "If you have a potion like that…" she trails off. "Well, that's big. I'm sure Momo has told you about Devil's struggling to reproduce."

"It's something that's come up a few times, yes," I say. "And it's part of why I started trying to make this kind of potion. I know how valuable it could be."

"Something as valuable as this, if they work, is something I need to bring my sister into," she says, slightly regretfully. "While I could provide you some recompense for them as the Sitri Heiress, for something on this scale it would be best left in the hands of my sister, especially since you aren't a devil. Yet." She gives me a fierce look. "I haven't given up on recruiting you."

"So you want to bring her into this," I say while nodding. "Makes sense. Sure, I'm down. I'd love to talk more with the super-powerful magical girl."

Sona closes her eyes and sighs, and I see Tsubaki's eyes twinkle with barely constrained amusement. "Somehow I get the feeling that I'm going to regret this."

Sona leads us to a nearby restaurant that offers discreet and private rooms. Apparently, it's often used for business deals. You wouldn't think there would be enough of that going on in Kuoh to warrant it, but maybe this town is more of a business hotspot than I thought.

Serafall is already waiting for us in one of those rooms when we arrive. Sona had called her on the way over and I guess she was able to drop whatever she had going on to teleport here immediately. Sadly she's not in her magical girl outfit but instead is dressed in a black business suit with a knee-length skirt and stockings. Her jacket and shirt below it are cut low enough to show a little skin but still be professional.

She stands up as we walk in. "Axton! My precious little Sona tells me you have quite the surprise up your sleeve."

I shake her proffered hand. I don't activate any of my skills. Do I want to seduce Serafall? Hell yes I do. Does she terrify me and make me hesitant to do anything even slightly out of place? Oh yeah. So no [Touch of Pleasure] or [Erotic Pierrot] or anything of that nature. Although…

"And she tells me that you can help me get the ball rolling on production," I say as we sit down. With my hands hidden beneath the table, I quickly withdraw and use a Super Heart Crystal, bringing Serafall's Affection from 34 to 54.

Perk rewarded for reaching 50 Affection with Serafall Leviathan

[Defender of Love and Justice] - Increases Affection Gain with Magical Girls by 20%

If I had thought ahead I could've used a Large one yesterday and a Super one tonight to get her even higher, but above 50 is pretty good already.

"So," she starts when we're all sitting. "Let's cut to the chase. Tell me about this fertility potion."

I pull the potion in question out and set it on the table. The liquid inside is pink and milky. "This is what I dub my Ultimate Fertility Potion. Ultimate is a tier, mind you, not just a cool-sounding adjective. Ultimate tier potions are the best ones I can currently make. I just discovered the recipe for this one this morning, so I only have the one and I haven't tested it yet. But, if my understanding of it is right, and it always has been with my other potions, this should guarantee conception for 24 hours."

I feel shock coming from all three of them with [Empathy]. "Guarantee? Even on a race with low fertility?" Serafall asks me.

"I have no reason to think it won't work on any race," I say. "It doesn't actually affect fertility, and instead magically ensures the success of fertilization," I bullshit. I have no idea how it works, but I trust in the Game to make it work.

"Here," I say and I push the potion towards her. "Take this one, free. Consider it a sample. You can test it, verify it works, and any deal we make can be contingent on that."

+10 Affection with Serafall Leviathan

"Are you sure?" Serafall asks, even as she reaches for it.

"I only had ingredients to make the one," I say. "But that's more due to happenstance than anything else. It's not expensive to make, just difficult." I considered playing up the cost of the ingredients, but I have a plan in mind for this conversation and I need to be truthful about the ingredients for it to work. Which is why I emphasized the difficulty, even though it's not really hard.

"Besides," I continue. "I know that I'm making some pretty bold claims. Without seeing the results of it yourself, it will be difficult to bargain in good faith."

<+7 Affection with Tsubaki Shinra>

Oh? I guess Tsubaki likes that logic? Though I feel similar levels of gratitude and respect from all of them. Maybe it was only her Affection that was low enough to go up from something like that?

"Thank you, Axton. I'll put it to good use," Serafall promises.

"It shouldn't matter who drinks it either," I say. "One person needs to drink the entire thing for it to work, but it doesn't matter if it's the guy or the girl. My advice? Give it a male with a harem that he wants to knock up and let him go crazy for the next 24 hours."

"Oh? What happens if both partners drink it?" she asks.

"Hmm," I say, trying to guess. "It wouldn't cancel each other out or anything, but I'm not sure it would offer any benefit. It might increase the chance of fraternal twins? Something to test once I make more."

"Can you?" Serafall says. "Make more that is? You said the ingredients weren't expensive?"

"They aren't," I confirm. "Not to go into details about how I make them, but the physical ingredients I need are often somewhat random. Not completely, there are patterns to what works. But there's no real correlation between ingredient rarity and the effect of the potion. The Fertility potion is a case where a very useful potion is cheap to make, but I also have the opposite case where the only recipe I've figured out for some less useful potions uses expensive or rare ingredients.

"They're still not easy to make though. Not very time consuming, but that's because I've spent a long time refining my processes. I don't have any intention of extortion, but just because the ingredients are cheap doesn't mean I'm going to sell them cheaply."

"I understand completely," Serafall says seriously. "And I wouldn't ask you to."

"The downside is, I'm not sure what price to put on these. In short, I need to do some market research, and I need to do all sorts of business management stuff I haven't done yet. But, rather than sell them to you, I am willing to offer you a one time trade. A batch of these fertility potions in exchange for the ingredients they need and what I need to set up a proper production."

Serafall smiles. "That's perfectly acceptable. What do you need?"

"To be honest, what I need is a house," I say. I feel small notes of surprise from them all. "A large one, with space where I can grow a lot of my own ingredients. I have some rare plants that I can't buy anywhere but are easy enough for me to grow in large quantities if I have space. And honestly, I just want more space than my cramped apartment. But as a 16-year-old, real estate is difficult for me to purchase myself. So, for housing with enough land for me to grow whatever I need and the ingredients themselves, I'll provide you with fifty of the potions."

I'm instantly hit with a huge amount of shock radiating from all of them. "Fifty?" Serafall asks. "Are- are you sure? Just for that?"

...I may have underestimated how valuable these potions are to them, despite my speech. Still, it's too late to back down without looking like a dick, and if I'm stupidly generous then the Affection with Serafall will be worth it.

"As I said, I'm not interested in extorting the Devils for this. For the amount of work and my expertise in making potions, that seems fair to me." I reason. "I can even have them done tonight. I've fine-tuned my process enough that it doesn't take too long. If you can get me the ingredients tonight, I can have them ready for pick up by morning."

<+10 Affection with Serafall Leviathan>

"There's no need to rush them that much," Serafall says. "But if the ingredients are as easy to get as you say, then I can probably arrange for them to be sent to your place by tonight. As for the rest, if testing with this first one proves fruitful, I'll start arranging the rest of it. That should only take a day or two."

I pull out a scrap of paper and a pen and start making a list. "Here, this is what I need," I say when I finish, handing her the list of ingredients. I kept the ingredient list mostly truthful, though I doubled how much of everything I needed. Making 100 Ultimate tier potions should max out my [Alchemy] class, or at least get me close. This way I have something to sell to the other races too.

Serafall glances over the list. "Really? This is all you need?"

"I said they were cheap, didn't I?" I say. "Really, it's the amount that is annoying for me. You get a lot of weird looks buying some of those things in bulk at the grocery store."

"I suppose," she says. "Still, I can get this on your doorstep within a couple hours, even in these amounts."

"Great!" I say. "Looks like we have a deal then. And once I get set up, I'll set up a store or something and we can discuss more deals then."

"Sounds good to me!" Serafall says, and I can tell from her tone that she's back out of business mode. "Come on, let's celebrate with some dinner. The sirloin here is fantastic."

The atmosphere relaxes as Serafall calls in a waiter and orders sirloin steaks for all of us. I noticed during the talk that Sona was feeling tense, but she's more relaxed now.

The steaks come out within a couple minutes, and we chat casually while we eat.

"So Axton, I notice you're going for a new look," Sona mentions.

"My new jacket?" I say. "Yeah, I was shopping with the girls earlier and they picked it out for me."

"Well, they chose well," Sona says matter of factly. "It suits you."

"Thanks, Sona," I say with a wink. "I'll let them know you think they did a good job." I notice Serafall looking on at our interaction with interest, and decide to tease Sona just a little bit. "You know, last time we ran into each other, it led to a chess game. We should have another game soon. I've been practicing, and I think I might be able to beat you soon."

A slight blush creeps up Sona's neck and at the tip of her ears, but she does a good job keeping a calm mask. "I've been practicing as well," she replies only a little stiffly. "When we get some time we'll have to play again. I've been using that chess set you gave me, it's been making my games much more satisfying."

"Ooh, Axton gave Sona a chess set?" Serafall chimes in with a teasing grin.

"I pick up a lot of interesting things," I explain. "And one of them was a nice magically animated chess set. I figured Sona would get more use out of it than I would, and I'm glad to see that I was right. I'm glad you're enjoying it, Sona."

"It was a thoughtful gift," Sona says with a nod.

Serafall doesn't comment further, but there's obvious interest in her eyes.

It doesn't take long for us to finish our steaks, and I make my excuses and travel back home, walking out of the building before [Void Traveling]. I check up the girls briefly with [Void Sight], able to focus it directly on Yua instead of trying to figure out where Aika lives, and they seem to be doing alright. They're eating as well, though it's more casual fare. Still, they're safe, and that's enough.

I leave them to their fun as my thoughts turn to tonight. I have a couple of hours to kill before those ingredients get here, so I may as well work on my [Alchemy]. And maybe my [Poison Resistance] as well, it's been a while since I've done that.

I once again sit on my couch and start pulling out ingredients. Yeah, it'll be nice when I get a proper lab for this.

-x-

"One, two, three, another chance spot!" Asia cheered as she moved her piece along the board. She drew a chance card and read it out loud. "You accidentally trigger a trap. Thankfully, it activates the trap somewhere else. The player on your right moves back five spaces to avoid the trap." She looked at Atsuko. "Oh no! I'm so sorry!"

Atsuko sighed. "No, it's okay. Accidents happen, and you can't control the chance cards." She reached down to the board and moved her piece, which was already a distance behind the other two pieces, and moved it back five more spaces. Then she turned to Aika. "It's your turn Aika."

"Hmm?" Aika asked as she looked up from the book she was reading. "Oh right, sorry." She rolled the dice, rolling a seven. As she moved her piece up, passing Asia's piece on the way, Atsuko spoke up.

"Is that grim-thingy really that interesting?" Atsuko asked.

"Grimoire," Aika corrected her. "And of course it is! Today I discovered that my boyfriend is magic, my girlfriend is a Devil, and I was given a book that can teach me magic."

"I guess if you put it like that," Atsuko admitted.

Asia fidgeted slightly. "I know you kind of explained it before, but are you both really dating Axton?"

Aika's attention fully focused on Asia at her question, and she closed the grimoire as a smile spread across her face. "We sure are," Aika confirmed. "And not just us, Axton's dating two more girls too. Both are Devils now that I think about it."

"Harems are normal for Devils," Atsuko comments. "They explained that before they reincarnated me."

"Four girls?" Asia asked, surprised. "Isn't that cheating?"

"Not if we all agree to it," Aika countered. "Which we did. Like I said earlier, Axton has a lot of love, and he likes spreading it, but it's too much for just one of us, so we share it." Atsuko blushed as Aika repeated her innuendo. "But this way everyone's happy," she continued. "We all feel loved, which makes us happy, and Axton gets to share his love, which makes him happy."

"I never would have thought about it like that," Asia said in a wondering tone. "I guess, if everyone's happy and is okay with it, then it's fine."

"Exactly," Aika confirmed with a smirk. "Besides, it also means I get to share a little love with my cute little Atsuko too." She latched on to Atsuko and kissed her deeply on the lips while Asia watched with widening eyes and a blush creeping up her face.

Aika broke off the kiss after just a few moments and winked at Asia. Atsuko looked shocked, but also pretty pleased with what just happened.

"But- two girls- you can't-" Asia stammers, confused and embarrassed.

"It's fine," Aika denied. "We're both dating Axton, but he's not here right now, so we're just sharing the love he gives to us and we feel for him between the two of us. It makes us both happy, and it makes Axton happy to know that we can be happy and loved even when he's not around."

Asia doesn't seem convinced. "Really?"

"He just really wants us to be happy," Aika claimed. "And he works really hard to make that happen."

"I guess that's true," Asia says. "He's done a lot for me too, all because I wanted to stay with the person who saved me, even though he didn't know I even existed. But despite my selfishness, he's been really nice and kind and he's let me experience new things and meet new people and I'm really grateful for that."

"That's just the kind of guy he is," Aika said, and Atsuko nods in agreement.

"What's it like living with Axton?" Atsuko asks suddenly.

"It's very different from the Church," Asia answered while she thought about it. "I've only been there a couple days, so I'm not sure what normal is yet. He said he talked to someone and I'd be able to go to school. But so far it's been...relaxed? We've spent the past couple of mornings just doing some simple work and then usually the afternoons we go around town. Axton seems like he's always busy with something or someone."

"He did mention that he has a lot going on the other day," Aika said. "But wait, his apartment is pretty tiny, and it's all Western-style and he uses a bed instead of a futon. Where do you guys sleep? Does he sleep on the couch?"

Asia blushed. "Ah, well. He was going to do that, but I didn't think it was right for him to in his own home. So we eventually compromised and we're kind of sharing the bed."

Aika's grin widens. "Oooh? What's that like?"

"It's warm and comfortable," Asia admitted. "It makes me feel safe. But it gives me weird dreams."

"What kind of dreams?" Atsuko asked.

"Umm, well," Asia hesitated. "I had a dream last night where I was sitting on his lap. And we were both in our underwear." She trailed off there.

"And? What next?" Aika asked, prodding the other girl on.

"He- he had his arms wrapped around me," she continued, a blush creeping up her face as she got more embarrassed. "And I could feel his- his thing. Pushing into my bottom." She stops, face flushed.

"Is that it?" Aika asked.

Asia hesitated. "He also was kissing the back of my neck," she admitted in a rush before burying her reddened face into her hands.

"That is adorable," Aika commented with a caring smile. She turned to Atsuko. "I think it's pretty obvious what's happening here."

Atsuko nods. "It's going to be five girls soon."

"Five girls?" Asia asked, confused, before it clicked, and she grew even redder. "I- you mean- me and Axton- there's no way-"

"Please," Aika interrupts. "It's obvious you've got the biggest crush on him. And you're the most adorable little thing, I'm sure he likes you too. If he hasn't made a move yet, it's probably because he doesn't want to make you uncomfortable."

Asia paused and didn't say anything for a moment. "You think so?" She eventually asked in a small voice.

"I'd bet you anything that if you start giving him obvious signs that you're interested, he'll pick up on them immediately and start acting on them," Aika said.

"How would I do that?" Asia asked, and Aika grinned.

"Here's what you do…"

-x-

The first thing I did when I got back was make five Ultimate Poisons and started soaking my Poisonous Sheath in them. So far I've been going against a lot of undead where the poison isn't very helpful, especially since [Void Edge] let me one-shot most things, but it will vastly improve my damage when I can't score a critical hit.

<Ultimate Poison>

<1008 damage per second for 60 seconds>

I was going to then drink that to level up my [Poison Resistance] but even with that skill, the poison does too much damage. Thankfully I have weaker versions still.

Though only the Major Poisons do enough damage to actually level up the skill but not so much that I'm at risk of going below 50% health, so I make some more of those while drinking them. I would do what I did with [Void Blood] and balance it out with restoration potions, but I don't get XP in the skill unless my health actually goes down.

As I get the skill above 61 and the Major Poisons stop doing a very good job, I sense someone land on the balcony in front of my door with [Void Detect]. I stash all of my ingredients and such and head for the door before they even knock.

"I thought you would send someone rather than come out here yourself," I greet Serafall, who is now dressed in her magical girl outfit. "I'm flattered. Please, come in."

"There's something I wanted to talk to you about," she explains as she comes in and I shut the door behind her. "So I figured I'd swing by and drop off the ingredients myself."

I lead her to the living room. "Well I certainly don't mind seeing you again," I comment. "Please, have a seat. You want anything to eat or drink?"

She sits down, looking weirdly out of place in her magical girl outfit on my plain couch. "No thank you, I don't have that much free time, so I'll have to be relatively quick with this."

"Understandable," I say as I pull up a chair across from her. "So, to business then."

"First, here are your ingredients," she says, waving her hand. A magic circle appears on the table and a large box appears on top of it. "And second, I wished to talk to you about something of a more personal nature."

"And what's that?" I say as I wrack my brain. Her Affection is pretty high now at 74, but that's not high enough for her to make a move. Something to do with Sona then?

"You mentioned earlier at dinner that you played chess against Sona?" she starts. "Are you aware that for years, Sona has been using her skill at chess to ward away suitors? She's refused to marry anyone that can't beat her in chess, and our parents have accepted that, though they're growing annoyed that no one's beaten her yet." She bites her thumb in irritation. "I myself have mixed feelings about it. On one hand, only the best should have a chance at my precious little Sona, but on the other hand, those who can beat her in chess haven't tried and it pisses me off that they're not scrambling at the chance to marry her. Not that I'd let them."

Wow, she has it bad, huh? I wonder how many of those who can beat Sona in chess are also smart enough to know Serafall would never let it happen? "Well to address your points, yes I've played a few friendly games with her. She kicked my ass the first time, but it awoke my competitive spirit and our last match was very close. No, I didn't know she used chess to ward off suitors, but it fits her perfectly so I have no trouble believing it. And finally, I agree, Sona deserves the best."

"I'm glad you understand," she says primly. "But that is what I wanted to talk to you about. You see, it's not that Sona doesn't want to marry anyone that isn't smarter than her, or at least it's not just that, but she's just not interested in marriage at all, especially any that are arranged. My Sona is a prideful girl who wants to be able to make her own decisions. And if she holds out long enough, she will be able to.

"But tonight I saw something from her that I've never seen before," Serafall continues. "It looks like she has a little crush on you~"

"There's been a little bit of back and forth flirting," I admit, hoping she doesn't get protective. "It can be hard to tell with Sona, but the signs are there."

"The way Sona plays it cool but gets all embarrassed is so cute," Serafall coos. "But yes, I've noticed the two of you. I've been paying very close attention to you, Axton."

Ah. Shit. "I thought I've felt someone watching me," I fib. "But I could never sense anyone who it could be nearby."

"Please, I'm not an amateur," Serafall dismisses. "I've been spying on Sona for years, and I've had to get very good at it so she doesn't notice." She pouts. "For some reason she doesn't like me watching her."

"I can't imagine why," I say in a deadpan voice.

"Me either," she says earnestly. "But I'm very good at it. And when a strange boy like yourself starts getting close to my precious little sister, I pay very close attention. And there's one thing I've figured out about you."

I struggle to not panic. Has she figured out I'm manipulating Sona and Rias into fighting over me? Does she know that my history is fake? The scary thing is that her emotions have barely registered any change over the whole conversation, she's just been confident the whole time. "And what's that?" I ask casually.

She grins. "You're a pervert."

I blink in surprise, staring dumbfounded at her for a moment. "I mean. Yeah, I guess that's true," I say, caught off guard. "Is this the part where you say 'you pervert you better stay away from Sona'?"

"The opposite actually," she says with a smug grin. "In fact, I think you're the perfect match for Sona."

That is not the answer I expected, though I think I see the direction this is going now. Still, I'd rather hear it from her to be sure. "Can you explain your reasoning for that?" I ask.

"Well for one, the fact that Sona actually likes you puts you ahead of just about anyone else," Serafall says casually. "Which is fine and all, but there are a few things specific to you that mean I can use you to enact my plan."

"What plan is that?" I ask immediately. "And do I benefit from it as well?"

"Of course," she replies immediately. "See, you're a pervert, and I've seen the way you look at me. You're not the only one who finds me attractive. But there's only one person that I really want to be with."

"Sona," I supply, surprising her for the first time. I roll my eyes. "Oh please. There are rumors, and I'm not so bad at sniffing out information myself. Plus, the entire conversation has made it clear that your love for Sona is less than pure." I smile. "But please, continue. I'm very interested in this plan of yours."

She looks at me, and I see my own smile reflected back at me on her expression. "You know, I think I see what Sona likes about you," she comments. "As you've said, I'm in love with my little sister. But I can't act on these feelings, not without consequence. And while Sona loves me, it's not in quite the same way. But if, hypothetically, Sona were to be courted by a powerful young magician who moved in and started helping her, and if I were to be seduced by the person responsible for creating the potions that will save our race, then wouldn't it be fine if the two of us, as your lovers, also shared some quality time with each other?"

"I certainly don't see a problem with it," I say, grinning. This is going better than I possibly could have hoped for. Approval from Serafall to seduce Sona, and I get Serafall too? I couldn't ask for a better outcome. "And I'm sure that with a little bit of time, I could encourage Sona to broaden her horizons and to try new things."

"That's what I'm counting on," Serafall says. "So we have a deal? You officially court Sona, encourage her to try new things, and in return, I'll gladly become one of your girls."

"I'd have to be an idiot to turn down such a deal," I say. "I was already interested in both you and Sona after all. Sona because she's Sona, but I also have a thing for magical girls."

"Is that so?" she asks, intrigued. "Well, that just shows you have good taste. As to be expected from someone who has earned Sona's approval. Unfortunately for you, you'll have to wait until you make some progress with Sona before you can get me in your bed."

"I'll eagerly wait for my reward," I say. "Though it feels odd to be rewarded for something that is already a reward." Easy pro-tip for earning Serafall's favor, just keep praising Sona.

"It's a situation where everyone wins," Serafall says. "Speaking of which, your potions. I gave the potion you gave me to a lucky young male from some minor family who has a full peerage of fifteen women who all wanted to get impregnated. I hadn't even left by the time their fun started, so we should know soon if your potions work. Once I have confirmation, I'll get to work on your new housing. Do you have any other preferences for it?"

I shrug. "Something nice so I won't want to upgrade it or move again within a year or two. And something within Kuoh. It's convenient being close to the center of town."

"Both are easy to arrange," she says cheerfully. "Now, if that's all, I should probably get back to work."

An idea occurs to me. I don't need to do it, but I think I'll like how it will play out. "One more thing," I say.

"Oh?" she says, stopping from where she started to get up. "Did you need something else?"

"The opposite actually," I say, and I pull the Imaginary Porn Tablet out of my inventory. "I have something of a gift for you. I'm not willing to part with it permanently, but until I fulfill my end of the bargain, I'm willing to let you borrow this."

She eyes the tablet, unsure. "What exactly is that?"

"I pick up a lot of strange things," I say. "And this is one of the weirdest. I wish I knew who made it because it's beautiful. This tablet can create realistic porn of anything. Punch in your request, your kink, the person it features, the format, and any other information you want. And it creates it. I have no idea how it works, but it does."

Her eyes widen. "The blackmail potential of it alone…" she wonders.

I shake my head and make a small noise of disapproval. "You're thinking too small Serafall," I say, and I work at the tablet, bringing up a specific video. "I'm sure spying on Sona is great and all, but you know what's better?" I ask. I press play on one of the videos and flip it around so she can see.

I feel a spike of arousal so strong with [Empathy] that I suspect I'm going to find a wet spot on my couch when she leaves. She snatches the tablet out of my hands hungrily staring at the video of herself eating out Sona in dominatrix gear.

"This, this is," she says, flabbergasted.

"It's not real, but it looks convincing doesn't it?" I say with a grin. I hear Sona moan in arousal as the video plays, and Serafall can't stop watching even as one hand goes below her skirt and starts masturbating without a care that I'm watching.

<+10 Affection with Serafall Leviathan>

"And you're just giving this to me?" she says distractedly. From my angle, I can clearly see her hand shoved into her panties and furiously working away at herself.

"Letting you borrow it," I correct her. "You weren't wrong about the blackmail potential, and I might need it for something else in the future. But by the time I need it, we'll have turned that video into a reality."

She forcefully tears her gaze away from the screen and looks at me. "I'm so glad I chose you for this," she says genuinely. Then she suddenly stands up. "I need to get back and take care of this quickly," she says. She bends over and pulls her panties off before throwing them at me. "Here, have fun with those while I have fun with this."

Before I can reply a magic circle appears beneath her feet and she vanishes, teleporting away.

Well then. I take hold of the very cute and very wet panties and I'm tempted for a moment to use them as she described. I haven't masturbated since arriving on this world, but the sight of Serafall fucking Leviathan masturbating on my couch in her full magical girl outfit had left me horny as hell.

I sigh and stash them away in my inventory. I said I'd get these potions done tonight. I can ignore a little bit of horniness. It'll be worth the good reputation I earn with the Devils, and Serafall especially.

So instead of dropping my pants or calling up a girl for a booty call, I turn to the box that Serafall left me and open it up to discover twice the number of ingredients I asked her for. I smile. Perhaps being overly generous was a good move, if this is the kind of thing it earns. Pulling them out and placing them on the table, I have my automated mortar and pestle start turning them into neat little piles of powder. I have a long night ahead of me.

-x-

I sit back as the first rays of sunshine come in through my windows. It took all night, mostly due to having to prepare all of the ingredients, but I did it. 100 Ultimate Fertility Potions, and finally, [Alchemy] is maxed out.

<[Alchemy] - Level 100(0%)>

<Combine ingredients, items, and materials to create something from them. Limited to five ingredients max. Skill can also be used to find out what would be made from held ingredients. The results of Alchemy can be used as ingredients.>

As I suspected, the number of ingredients I could use didn't go up, but the skill description did change. My previous limitation of not being able to use my potions as ingredients is gone now, and I can't even imagine how many more things I can do with the skill now. That's experimentation for later though.

I pull out my phone and send a text message to a number that was written on a business card that was inside of the box along with instructions to contact that number when I was ready for them to be picked up.

I get a text back almost immediately.

???: Thanks Axton~ <3 I'll send someone to pick them up. I'm super busy right now so I can't come myself :(

???: By the way, your gift works great ;)

Huh, I guess it's Serafall's number. Neat. I packaged up 50 of the potions I made as best I can in the box that Serafall gave me the ingredients in, making sure they're secure. The vials are made of some pretty tough stuff though, so I'm not too worried.

Just a few moments after I finish that up, [Void Detect] picks up someone unfamiliar landing in front of my door, just like Serafall did last night. I close the box as they knock, and carry it to the front door.

I open the door to find a young man I don't recognize, though my senses make it clear he's fairly powerful, more powerful than any Devil I've come across other than Serafall. He doesn't come close to matching her.

"You're Serafall's guy?" I ask.

"That's me," he responds cheerfully. "You the potions guy?"

"Got 'em right here," I say, shaking the box slightly so the vials clink together. "Here. They should be pretty secure, but handle them carefully anyway."

"Thankfully, magic makes transportation safe," the guy says, and with the flash of a magic circle, the box disappears. He smiles at me. "As of a few minutes ago, the first potion drinker is still in the process of testing it out, so to say, but we should know within a day or two if it works, and either Serafall or one of us will let you know."

I whistle. "Damn, it's been like 8 hours, hasn't it? That's some impressive stamina, especially for something so last minute."

The guy smiles. "There's a reason this Devil was chosen in particular." He looks at his wristwatch, checking the time. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get these back to the Underworld, so we can start figuring out how best to distribute them."

"Sure, sure," I agree, waving him off, and he teleports away with another magic circle.

I close my door and pull out my phone, sending a text message to the girls to have them let me know once they've woken up, had some breakfast, and are ready to do some training. I was going to do more [Poison Resistance] training, but I realized I was being dumb about how I was doing it. I just need to wait for my Poison Sheath to finish absorbing the Ultimate Poison, and then I can apply the effect to myself as many times as I need to for free by cutting myself instead of drinking expensive poisons.

So instead, I decided to spend the next couple of hours waiting for the girls by training [Void Cloak]. It's bound to be one of my most useful skills, and if I can get the MP cost down to something reasonable, I'll be untouchable.

-x-

As I kill the Vampire Lord with a soul empowered [Void Beam] through its head, I pull up my Game window and check on my party members. Perfect, it looks like the final boss was just enough to get them high enough.

The girls let me know this morning when they were ready, and as I was preparing to take them into the Zombie dungeon I realized a small issue. Because Asia was in my party the other day, her level was a lot higher than the other two girls, which meant they wouldn't share full XP. So I decided to run through the Vampire Mansion dungeon again, but with just Atsuko and Aika in my party. This time I used [Void Beam], hoping to level it up some, but I ran into a small problem.

Apparently, I'm too high level for this dungeon, so the game reduced how much XP I got from it. It seems like the girls still got 10% of the amount I would have gotten, but I also only got that same 10%. I felt like less loot dropped as well. The only thing of note I picked up besides alchemy ingredients were a few okay quality weapons and armor pieces.

Still, the main point of this was to get the girls within ten levels of each other, and as I [Void Travel] back to the first safe room, I'm able to [Observe] them and confirm it.

<------>

Atsuko Hyoudou

Level: 28[42%]

Race: Reincarnated Devil

HP: 1020 (10.2 per second)

MP: 880 (8.8 per minute)

SP: 1040 (10.4 per minute)

CON: 51(102)

STR: 52(104)

DEX: 50(100)

INT: 44(88)

WIS: 45(90)

CHA: 95(190)

LUK: 70(140)

<------>

<------>

Aika Kiryuu

Level: 28[21%]

Race: Human

HP: 360 (3.6 per second)

MP: 670 (6.7 per minute)

SP: 350 (3.5 per minute)

CON: 36

STR: 35

DEX: 36

INT: 67

WIS: 67

CHA: 37

LUK: 37

<------>

<------>

Asia Argento

Level: 38[43%]

Race: Human

HP: 430 (4 per second)

MP: 1720 (52 per minute)

SP: 420 (4 per minute)

CON: 43

STR: 42

DEX: 41

INT: 86

WIS: 135

CHA: 89

LUK: 44

<------>

Atsuko has benefited the most due to her Race. Not even 48 hours since she reincarnated and she's already surpassed Kiba in some stats, though she's still much lower in the ones Kiba specializes in. That's the difference between a Pawn and a Knight I guess. And being leveled up by the Game. Honestly, that's probably the bigger difference.

Paltry as the XP might've been, it was still enough for me to level up as well, passing a few milestones in the process.

<------>

Axton

Level: 229

Class: Hollow Knight(29/100)[0%]

HP: 10,340 (207 per second)

MP: 42,080 (842 per second)

SP: 10,800 (216 per second)

CON: 517

STR: 515(540)

DEX: 720

INT: 1052

WIS: 928

CHA: 353

LUK: 445(455)

<------>

<Perk rewarded for 500 CON>

<[Tough Skin] - Negates external damage that would deal less than 1% of your maximum health>

<Perk rewarded for 500 STR>

<[Who needs physics?] - You can lift and push things even if you don't have enough leverage for it.>

<Trait Added>

<[Devouring Soul] - Your attacks passively drain the strength of an enemy's soul to fill your own.>

Hollow Knight still hasn't given me any skills, but the new trait is nice. I could feel it too as I experimented with empowering my skills with Soul, which tired me out. But as I killed more vampires, I felt that fatigue wash away quickly.

"Axton!" Atsuko says when she sees me. "I did it!" She holds up her left hand, now covered in the bulky red armor of Twice Critical.

"Yua told me," I said. "You've kept it manifested the entire time?"

She nods. "It disappeared a couple times, but it was a lot easier to pull it back up after the first time." She tilts her head. "I'm still not sure what it does though."

I look at it. "Oh, that actually looks familiar. I think it's one of the common types, Twice Critical. It should let you double your strength for a time."

She frowns. "That's kind of underwhelming actually," she pouts.

"I think you underestimate how good it can get once you get stronger. Ten times two isn't that much more, but double a thousand is a big deal," I counter. "Besides, I think there's something else to it. You took 8 Pawn pieces to reincarnate, and that's a lot. You might just need some more training to reach it."

I'm not sure how to unlock the Boosted Gear. I know she has it. The perk I got when I reached 100 Affection with her and the fact that it still took her 8 Pawn pieces to be reincarnated pretty much confirms it. In canon, Issei only unlocks the Boosted Gear after Asia died and when getting revenge on Raynare. I can't exactly recreate that sort of emotional turmoil though, so I'm hoping just getting her strong enough will do it.

"How about you girls?" I ask Asia and Aika, who are both reading their grimoires.

Asia nods. "I think I understand," she says. "I might be able to protect you, a little." Her gaze lowers. "I- I don't think I can do any fighting though."

I step over to her and pat her head. "Don't worry, you won't have to. Being there to support the rest of the team is also a crucial role." I look at Aika, who is still reading the grimoire. "How about you?" She doesn't respond. "Uhh. Aika?"

She looks up, blinking as she focuses on the room. "Oh! Axton, you're back," she says distractedly.

"Yep," I reply, amused. "You're pretty into that thing, huh?"

"It's just so interesting," she says. "And it makes so much sense."

"Oh? Have you made progress then?" I ask. She nods and closes the book. She raises her hand and points it to the wall, palm first. She concentrates, and I feel power well up within her and then move to become a small mass of darkness. When it reaches the size of a marble, she lets it go, and it flies at the wall, cracking it.

"That was bigger than the last time I tried it," she said with a grin. I check her MP. She only used 50 MP for that, not bad for her level.

"Good job Aika," I praise her. I turn to the other two. "Come on girls, I have some gifts to hand out. It's time you guys get some experience fighting."

"Gifts?" Atsuko asks.

"Well, sorta," I correct myself. "Armor and weaponry mostly. Atsuko! Let's start with you. First here's some armor." I drop a black leather cuirass and black leather boots on the table in front of her. "It's not a lot of armor but some protection is better than none." The game had definitely changed the drop tables though to include stuff for my party members rather than just me.

"Oooh," she makes a noise of excitement. "This is so cool!"

"As for your weapon, you can choose anything you want," I say as I drop a selection of weapons on the table. Her eyes widen as she considers the weapons in front of her.

"I'm the tank, right?" she asks suddenly. "I mean, you're the thief, Asia is the healer, Aika is the mage, so that would make me the fighter who acts as a tank."

"I don't think we have to stick to proper party balance," I say. "But if we were to, then yes, that is the role that would suit you best."

"A tank?" Asia asks, confused.

Aika sighs. "It's a video game thing, I'm sure Atsuko will explain it to you at some point."

"Oh yeah!" Atsuko says. "We totally should have played games last night!"

"We were at my place, remember?" Aika points out. "I don't have any."

"Oh right," she says, slumping. "Well, if I'm gonna tank, then I wanna use this guy!" She picks up the largest weapon on the table, a double-headed ax meant to be wielded with two hands. It's made of simple wood and iron, but it's solid.

"As a Devil and with Twice Critical, you can probably use it pretty effectively," I comment. "If you're sure, then we'll go with that for now. If you want to try something else, let me know."

"Got it!" she says as she takes a few practice swings with it, facing the other direction. Well, at least she's having fun.

"For Aika, I have some sexy robes, a cloak, and a staff," I say as I pull them out. The robes I picked up just a few minutes ago from a Greater Vampire. "These robes offer a bit of protection and will increase how fast your magic regenerates by a little bit."

The cloak and staff I picked up in previous dungeon runs. "This cloak will help you hide a bit better," I say as I hand her my Shadow Cloak. "It works especially well in the shadows. And this staff will boost the strength of your magic if you use it to cast your spells." I give her the Blackened Bone Staff that the Lich used, minus the time stop gem.

"Ooh, creepy," she says with a grin. "I love it." She starts stripping out of her clothes so she can put on the robes, uncaring of where we are or the people around her. Asia blushes and turns away, but Atsuko just watches, a grin on her face.

I chuckle but turn my attention to Asia. "I have a lot of weapons you could use, but if you don't want to fight, I don't have much to give you. I do have one armor option for you though." I pull out a set of Exorcist Robes. "These will provide a bit of protection, so if you're comfortable wearing them, you can."

She hesitates, looking unsure, but she nods. "I don't feel like I deserve to wear those, but if it's to be safe, then I will." She blushes. "Do I have to change here too?"

I shake my head. "No, Aika just got impatient. We'll go back to my apartment and you can change there. We're going to be training in a different dungeon anyways, one a little more suited for training."

She nods, and I turn to address the room. "One last thing. I have some tricks to teach you girls."

[Mentor] lets me teach each person a maximum of two skills, though I'm certain it's close to reaching three skills. Still, I plan on teaching them what I can.

Atsuko I teach [Iron Body], showing her how to strengthen her muscles so they act as armor. If she's going to act as a tank, then this is the best possible skill I can give her. I also try to give her [Void Blood], because it's my most useful skill, but a window appears when I attempt it.

<Warning!>

<Void skill not compatible with party member>

<Skill may be incomplete, degraded, or dangerous to the party member>

<Do you wish to continue teaching them the skill?>

<Y/N>

I guess that Void Touched perk is more important than I thought. I don't want to imagine what a dangerous [Void Blood] looks like, and I'm still not sure how to remove skills I teach my party members if it's at all possible. So instead I go with a passive skill, one I don't even have to tell her about and give her [Unnatural Rhythm].

I thought about giving her [Photosynthesis], to boost her healing, but as a Devil, she probably won't be fighting in the sun too often. Something to make her harder to predict and harder to hit when she's not using [Iron Body] is a better choice.

Instead, I silently add Asia back to my party and give her [Photosynthesis]. She's more likely to be in the light, and rule number one is to always keep your healer alive because if they go down, you're fucked.

Picking skills for Aika is hard. I'm tempted to give her [Shadow Step] for the mobility, but right now it would just be a large drain on her relatively small mana pool. So instead, I lean into the cloak, and I teach her [Fade] since it uses SP instead of MP. It's a lot for her right now since it costs a flat amount of 100SP/s, but as she levels up and maybe once I get some better items that won't be as much of an issue.

As I'm showing her how to activate it, and as she fades from view just ever so slightly, I also give her a passive skill, [Pericognition]. My ability to notice and deduce things since gaining this skill has gone way up, and Aika's a smart girl wielding a type of magic that lends itself more towards a tactical mind than brute force. It will be an invaluable tool for her.

Once I teach them the basics I bring us back to my apartment so Asia can change, and then I bring them straight to the Zombie Dungeon. With their levels, such an easy dungeon shouldn't be an issue.

We arrive in the safe room, and [Void Detect] picks up two zombies in the next room.

"Okay girls, this dungeon is an easy one," I start explaining. "You know zombies? The dead walking again, on the hunt for brains? This place is filled with those. The ones you guys will be facing at first are slow, dumb, and barely dangerous at all."

"Will we turn into zombies if we get bit?" Atsuko asks.

"You won't," I assure her. "Not with Asia here to heal you. And with me here there's a zero percent chance of that happening. Also, I don't think they're infectious. Not the ones we'll face at first anyway, maybe some of the ones deeper in. They get a little more dangerous the deeper we go."

"Then what are we waiting for, let's go!" Atsuko shouts, and she starts for the door. I grab her by the back of her collar and stop her from going.

"Wait just a second Atsuko," I chide her. "Until you guys get more used to this, you can't just rush in." She pouts but stands still. "So through that door is a room a little bigger than this one. Inside are two zombies. They might not even notice you when you go in, they're dumb and not very observant. They will notice as you approach though.

"So this is the plan. I'm going to go in first, stealthed. Atsuko you go in next, followed by Aika, then Asia, and Yua will bring up the rear. Atsuko you attack the closest one. I suggest just rushing it and not giving it a chance to notice you. Don't hesitate, remember, they're not real, they're projections of this place. Aika you attack the farthest one. Atsuko, after you kill yours I want you to draw the other one's attention so Aika can hit it as many times as it takes, but don't kill it, let her do that. If Atsuko doesn't kill hers in time I'll prevent it from getting too close to you Aika. Asia, you stay near the door and be ready to heal, or cast your barrier if it looks like either of them are in danger. Got it?"

Asia and Aika nod, but Atsuko looks a little lost. "Umm…"

I sigh. "Follow me. Kill the closest zombie. Distract but don't kill the other one, let Aika kill it. I'll keep you safe."

"Okay, got it!" she says confidently. I'm not totally convinced she does, but if she messes it up, I can step in easily enough, so I'll have a bit of faith in her.

"Alright then. Yua, you be ready to protect one of them, but let them get the kills, okay? They need the practice, just like I let you practice on the pixies and the bees." She nods, and I ignore the confused looks on the girls' faces. "Let's go," I say, and we head for the door in formation. I don't bother activating [Fade], wanting them to be able to see me, and when we're lined up at the door, I enter.

The plan starts smoothly, with me sticking close to the wall as Atsuko rushes in. As she engages with the Zombie I keep a close eye on her stats. I noticed her SP slowly trickled down whenever Twice Critical was active, but now it fell rapidly as she swung. So passively doubling her stats cost a little, but as she expended energy it dropped in chunks. Still, with her doubled stats she bisected the zombie on her first swing and still had most of her SP.

As the first zombie fell and disappeared, Aika's bolt of darkness shot from her staff and impacted the chest of the other one. It did a lot of damage, but not quite enough to kill it in one hit. The zombie turned to shamble at Aika, but Atsuko appears and gets in front of it, drawing its attention, as Aika prepares another bolt.

"One more will do it Aika," I tell her, and she nods, even as she concentrates. Next to me, I see Asia clasp her hands around a cross and focus on Atsuko's back. My eyes widen as I suddenly realize something important and I place my hand in front of her. "Don't!"

Surprised, she stops, and Aika yells at Atsuko to move. The other girl does, and a second bolt of darkness shoots out and punches a hole through the zombie, and it falls, defeated.

Atsuko turns around. "What happened?"

"I'm an idiot is what happened," I explain. I turn to Asia. "I didn't think of it until just now, but please only use Twilight Healing on Atsuko. I'm pretty sure your shield will hurt her since she's a Devil now."

Asia's eyes widen. "Oh no, I didn't even think-"

"Neither did I," I cut her off. "And that was my job. But I remembered in time, so no harm done." I turn to Atsuko. "Sorry, no buffs for you. Healing should be fine though."

"Aww," she says, disappointed.

I roll my eyes. "Being a Devil makes up for it. But here, put this on." I throw her the Cloranthy Ring. "With that on, you should be able to keep your Sacred Gear up indefinitely."

She sputters. "A ring- Axton you can't- this is so sudden-"

I roll my eyes. "It's a magic item that boosts your stamina, not an engagement ring. Please. That'll be much nicer looking."

Her mouth clamps shut as she goes the most red I've ever seen her as she blushes, but she puts on the ring. Grinning, I turn to Aika. "Those darts-"

"Missiles," she corrects me.

"Those missiles," I start again. "Can you make them bigger and stronger? By say maybe 20%? If you can, the zombies will go down in one hit. You have time for more charging, especially with Atsuko here."

She thinks about it. "Maybe. The more energy I put into it, the harder it is to put more in. But this staff makes it easier. I'll try that next time."

"Good," I say. "Other than that, you did perfectly." I turn to Atsuko. "You did well too. The only note I have for you is to try not to block Aika's shot when you distract a zombie."

She nods. "Right, makes sense." She pauses. "Are you sure they're not real?"

"Their bodies have disappeared right?" I say, indicating the empty room. "And you didn't see any guts?"

"No, but," she hesitates. "It was pretty...hardcore. I could feel it through the ax as it cut through it."

I frown. "Do you want a different kind of weapon? Maybe something with less feedback?"

She shakes her head. "No, I'll get used to it I think. I just didn't think it would be like that."

"If you change your mind, let me know, I have other options," I tell her, and she nods. Next, I turn to Asia. "Sorry about the scare earlier. If you want to practice the shield, use it on me or Aika. I'm sure Aika will appreciate the extra protection. But mostly you should save your energy in case of an injury. That's the most important thing you can do as a healer."

"Okay Axton," she says, nodding slowly.

I look at Atsuko's SP. With the ring, her SP recovery is faster than the cost of keeping Twice Critical active. Hopefully the same will be true for the Boosted Gear.

"Okay guys, let's go. The next room also has two zombies, so follow the same plan."

The next few hours are spent like this, slowly clearing rooms. The girls got really good at it, even in rooms with five or more zombies. Atsuko did a good job drawing their attention all at once and using her heavy ax to take one or two out immediately, and then she'd keep as many alive as she safely could by kiting them around the room as Aika bombarded them with her dark missiles.

Once Aika started to be able to comfortably reach a level of missile that could kill a zombie in one hit, I had her focus on getting to that point faster. Often this meant we had to rest between rooms as she recovered her mana, though I help a little with some of my cheaper potions. Serafall distracted me last night from getting all the ingredients I need to produce a ton of them, but I'm able to make a few Regeneration Potions and give them to her.

The XP they're getting from this is..well it's pretty much nothing. Even as we started coming across Armored Hollows and normal Zombies, which offer better XP and have more health, it's still barely putting a dent in the girls' levels. But the actual combat experience they are getting is invaluable.

Except for Asia, who I can feel growing frustrated. Things have been going too well, and no one has gotten injured. Something I'm glad of, but it's resulted in Asia basically following us and watching. Whenever we're about to enter a room with a lot of undead she puts a protective barrier around Aika. It's a shimmering thing that contorts to her body and shines with weak and calming light and it lasts for a minute or so. But it's not really necessary, as Aika is never even in danger.

There's nothing to be done about it though. I'm not going to let someone get hurt just so she can heal them. Hopefully this will encourage her to study some of the other spells in her grimoire. There are offensive ones and buffs that Aika could benefit from. It's a shame that she can't use them on Atsuko though, who needs them most as the Tank. But we confirmed earlier, even going near Aika when the shield is around her makes Atsuko's skin tingle.

Atsuko is another issue. I can sense some sort of energy building up in her Sacred Gear as it's being used, but it's plateaued. I suspect that it's nearly ready to reveal itself, but it needs something to push it over the edge.

So I guess I'll have to give her one. And [Void Detect] finally spots the undead I've been waiting for that will give me a good opportunity to do so. I turn around to face them at the door to the next room. "Okay, so there's just one zombie in the next room, but he's a little different from the ones we've fought so far. So I want you girls to stay by the door, and let me show you how to handle it, okay? Just so I can give an example. I'll trust you guys to handle the rest."

They all nod, and I enter the room. The girls stay near the door, and I stride confidently into the center of the room. The girls look around, confusion emanating from them when they can't see the enemy. Note to self, for their next lesson, teach them to look up.

The Hunter crawling on the upper edges of the ceiling, a good twenty feet high, leaps down at my apparently defenseless back.

"""Axton!""" all three of them shout out in unison, and [Empathy] feels fear spike from them. But I hear the fourth voice I was hoping I would.

"Boost!!"

Atsuko is rushing at me to help me, but I've already spun around and grabbed the Hunter by the throat, and Atsuko skids to a halt, confused.

"I probably should have explained more about what I was doing," I say, acting sheepish. "This is a Hunter. They like to attack you while you're distracted or unaware of them, pouncing on you from above. I didn't mean to scare you guys, I just wanted to show that the best way to deal with them is to reverse that on them and catch them as they pounce." I throw the Hunter back slightly and shove a knife through its eye, killing it instantly. "Guess I should have explained that first though."

"Dammit Axton, I nearly had a heart attack!" Atsuko chides me, though her shoulders slump in relief.

"Well, on the bright side, I think something good came of it," I point out. She looks at me confused, and I point at her now transformed Sacred Gear.

"What the hell, it's changed?!" she exclaims. "Is that normal?"

"No idea," I say. "But it means that I was right. It wasn't just a Twice Critical, that was just a disguise, or a first form or something."

"Well, what is it now?" she asks, looking at the similar but much sleeker design of the Boosted Gear. "Are these roman numerals? I think this is...two?"

"Boost!!!"

The gem shines brightly as a loud voice comes from it.

"Is that your Sacred Gear saying that?" Aika asks as she comes up to us.

"I think so?' she asks. "Now the two is a three."

"Holy shit," I say, acting surprised. "I think I've read about this one too."

"Another common one?" Atsuko asks with a sigh.

"The opposite actually," I deny. "How does your ax feel? Lighter?" I notice her SP dropping. Not too fast, but it's considerable, and her stats have increased.

<------>

Atsuko Hyoudou

Level: 28[60%]

Race: Reincarnated Devil

HP: 1020 (10.2 per second)

MP: 880 (8.8 per minute)

SP: 1040 (10.4 per second)

CON: 51(204)

STR: 52(208)

DEX: 50(200)

INT: 44(176)

WIS: 45(180)

CHA: 95(380)

LUK: 70(280)

<------>

I note with interest that those aren't her stats doubled three times, but instead, her stats are four times as high. So instead of doubling each time, it's a linear growth? That certainly makes more sense. Exponential growth would be insane, even if capped by the user's body. Though this is too, considering the large SP drain at even just three boosts.

"Oh wow yeah, it's way lighter now," she comments.

"You may want to deactivate it though," I comment as I watch her SP drop to about half. "You're a lot stronger now, but I can tell you won't be able to keep it up for long."

"Oh, okay," she says, and the gear disappears with a small flash of light. "Guh," she exclaims as the ax she was casually holding in the air suddenly becomes a lot heavier for her, though still well within her ability to lift it.

"I think we should call it there for a day," I say. "We need to go talk to Rias."

"Rias?" Atsuko repeats. "Why?"

I use [Dungeon Traversal] and take us out of the Dungeon and back to my apartment. "I'll let her do the explaining, she can probably do it better, but that Sacred Gear is kind of a big deal, and she'll want to know as soon as possible."

"Should we wait here?" Aika asks.

"Nah, we'll go as a group," I respond. "I told Rias on Friday that we'd be bringing you into things. And this way I don't have to explain it to you guys later."

I check with [Void Sight] to make sure she's where I think she is, and she is, and then I check to make sure no normal humans are within eyesight.

Now, I haven't tried it with this many people, but it should be fine. I pull the three of them close to me and use [Void Travel] to move us to a couple hundred feet from the Occult Research Club room.

"Wow," Aika comments. "That was...weird. It didn't feel like we moved at all."

"My teleportation is the best," I say with a little pride. "Come on, let's go talk to Rias." I stride to the clubroom, the girls following close behind, and I open the door without hesitating. Rias, Akeno, Koneko, and Kiba are all there, sitting around the center of the room, eating lunch.

"Axton?" Rias says in surprise. "What is it? Why are you dressed up in combat gear? No wait, is that Atsuko and Kiryuu? When did they get so strong?" Shock radiates from the others as they realize that the magic power of the two girls has grown massively.

"To sorta answer all of your questions, after telling Aika everything, she wanted to learn magic. So I've spent this morning training all of them, Asia included. And we've discovered what Atsuko's Sacred Gear is, and when I recognized it, I decided to bring her straight here."

"What is it?" Rias asks, looking a little lost in all information I just dumped on her.

Before I respond though, I feel a pulse of magical energy as the magic circle in the corner of the room lights up. But something about it looks different.

"Phenex?!" Akeno exclaims, and I realize what's happening.

With a flash and the scent of ash, a young blonde man appears in the circle. He's wearing an unbuttoned red suit with a half-open white shirt, showing off a lot of his chest. His hair is slicked backward, and the only way I can describe his face is arrogant.

"There you are Rias," he says as his eyes latch on to her. "You haven't replied to any of my messages, so I got worried, and came to find you." Rias's eyes narrow, not believing his excuse, but he ignores it, uncaring. His eyes flicker to me, and then to the other occupants of the room. "But you seem to be doing fine."

"I have been busy, that's all," Rias says while crossing her arms.

"Busy for four whole days, huh?" Riser says, grinning smugly. "I had no idea it could be so hectic up here. Are you sure it's healthy for you to be working so hard? Maybe you should take a rest for a few days. You're welcome to come to relax at my family's manor."

Annoyance and disgust roll off of Rias, and she does a poor job of keeping it from showing on her face. "I don't see how that's any of your business."

"Come on, don't be like that," he says, seemingly good-naturedly. "That's no way to talk to your fiancé after all."

"Her WHAT?!" Atsuko exclaims from behind me, and I just sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose.

I guess this is happening now. Joy.