AdrianKing
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Game of Monsters - 141
🕑 Added 2024-05-21 17:56:29 +0000 UTCDisclaimer: I don’t own Highschool DxD.
Let’s Make Tonight the Weekend
“I don’t have four wings,” Raynare said, standing before the mirror he’d provided, as if he couldn’t notice that fact himself. Joshua just continued looking at her, checking with his spells to make sure. However, there was no denying one single fact.
He’d gotten the screen.
[Quest Complete: Give a Fallen Angel an extra set of wings.
+ Perk Revea#
+ Perk Partially Revealed: ######### of ###
+ 25 levels to Boon Magic
+ 25 levels to Light Resistance
+ 15 levels to Electric Resistance]
He didn’t think the system had ever been wrong about something like that, so he was trusting it at that very moment. There was also the fact that the change in Raynare’s energy had happened. Everything had worked just as intended, surprisingly enough, even if there’d been a solid minute there where he thought the fallen was about to explode or something.
The only reason for doubt was… well, the lack of extra wings.
“It might need some time to take, but I’m sure it worked,” he told Raynare, who seemed to very much want to argue. However, ultimately, she took a moment to calm herself down and nodded. That was a lot more controlled than he’d expected her to be. Evidently, even if it was still weird, she had seemingly decided that his word was all that was important.
All because he was giving her strength.
Joshua couldn’t say he could empathize, but he could sort of understand. What he wanted was safety and stability. What she wanted was power. Whatever worked for her, Joshua supposed. As long as she was on his side, he’d nod and be grateful. She was, after all, kind of growing on him.
Like a fungus, sort of.
“Now what?” Raynare asked, turning to look at him.
“Now, take it easy for a bit. Feel out your new energies and check that everything’s fine. Get used to your new… self, I guess. I’ll keep a close eye on you for the time being and see if anything of note happens,” he answered, tilting his head as he mulled over the question some more. “Anything you want to point out besides what you’ve told me already?”
“I don’t think so. I told you everything that I could about the process and what I feel like right now,” she replied. Then a half-smile that held the smallest bit of meanness to it appeared on her face, belying the fact that she was, indeed, the Raynare that he’d known from canon. “Besides the fact that I’m hungry, I guess.”
“As good a time as any for a snack,” Joshua commented, wondering if there was anything to that.
“You don’t have to sound so serious,” she pointed out.
“You being hungry right now might be important. The wings are flesh and blood, even if it’s all tailored through energy. Maybe you need the resources for your body to make those wings physically,” he explained, making the fallen stiffen. “Or it could just be that you are hungry,” he added with a shrug while she deflated. “Coincidences happen, but there’s no point in ignoring it just because it could be a coincidence. It’s why I like to wring every little detail when I test spells. Helps me find small things that might seem irrelevant but could actually be important.”
“Hmm, I guess that makes sense,” she said, her face as if carved out of stone. Joshua could almost see the gears turning in her head.
“Come on,” he told her, turning and starting to make his way to the kitchen. If the system wasn’t wrong and he’d actually succeeded, which he had little reason to doubt, but still, then he wanted to keep a close eye on the woman for the moment. ‘Projects are coming to a close,’ he mused to himself as he walked, the sound of Raynare’s steps following close behind and Cheshire moving right beside him.
‘Now that I have a moment though,’ he thought, glancing at the half-dismissed screen that had just popped up. Most of it was interesting, sure, like the Boon Magic boost. It was great. However, the part that called for his attention was the mysterious Perk. ‘Revealed, not new or whatever else,’ he noticed with narrowed eyes. Did that mean that he’d always had the Perk?
If so, he was very curious.
Unfortunately, his curiosity wouldn’t be anywhere near satisfied, considering the screen that appeared when he called for the Perk was empty.
‘Oh well,’ he thought, mulling over this new information for a bit before deciding to let it be. He was sure more would be revealed once more time had passed. As it was, he had too much on his plate to worry about that thing. If he’d had it that long and it hadn’t caused any problems, then it was fine. What was the worst that could happen? Another case like his memory seal or whatever? He’d come out of that rather fine, if he did say so himself.
If it was something troublesome, he’d deal with it when it came to it.
‘I can probably take a closer look at some point though, I guess,’ he mused. It couldn’t hurt to check if he had some free time, he guessed. Not that he had a lot of that, but still. Maybe he’d have some, he supposed. ‘For now…’
“What do you feel like eating?” he asked once they reached the kitchen, with Cheshire jumping on top of the counter while he opened the fridge to check its contents. Sure, he had a lot of stuff in Storage Spells and such, but he liked to do things the mundane way at times. Kind of like how he still walked between places in his home instead of teleporting everywhere.
“I get to choose?” Raynare asked, more genuinely confused than being sarcastic.
“Call it me feeling generous. It’s always nice when a test goes well,” he commented with a shrug and a lazy smile. The Sleep Disease test had gone well and now this. He felt pretty good about himself, if he were honest.
Now he just needed to keep the ball rolling.
[}-o-{]
“Can I?! Can I?!” Kunou exclaimed, bouncing on her feet and putting on her best pleading expression. It was… very effective, Joshua would admit. He wasn’t very sure why she was putting on such a show though. Neither was he very sure why she wanted to be there for the gathering of friends Jeanne was going to have at their home at Kuoh. They didn’t use the place much ever since they got it, but it was better than explaining how Jeanne lived in Kyoto but still had no problems attending Kuoh every day.
“I don’t know,” he answered with a flat look before turning towards a very amused Yasaka. “I don’t have a problem with it, so…”
“She can go, if it doesn’t bother you,” the woman replied, turning the whole thing back to him. He noticed that she looked kind of sad, which he guessed was because she couldn’t come with them if Kunou did go there. She couldn't leave Kyoto, after all.
He needed to work more on Project Freedom, evidently.
“I guess you can come, brat.”
“Yaaa-” Kunou started celebrating before pausing. “Wait, what? I’m not a brat!”
“Sure you aren’t, Kunou,” he commented, planting a hand over her head and ruffling her hair. “Sure you aren’t.” Her daughter pouted up at him before huffing and looking aside. She didn’t move from under his hand though. “Well, you have to get ready if you want to come, right?” he pointed out, which seemed to remind her that, indeed, she needed to do that. In the blink of an eye, the girl had already dashed away.
That is, before peeking back into the room for a moment.
“Don’t you dare leave without me, dad!”
“I wouldn’t dare,” he replied with an amused smile. Once she was gone once more, he chuckled and shook his head. “It’s fine, right?”
“Of course,” Yasaka reassured with a smile of her own.
“I guess I’m still kind of stuck in the times when we kept it all hidden,” he mused out loud, leaning forward on the table and still looking at the spot where his daughter had disappeared. “Feels odd to be able to introduce her to everyone now.”
“Doesn’t seem to be the case for her,” Yasaka pointed out, giggling a little behind her hand and he could only chuckle along too. “I suspect that she wants to make sure none of those girls get too friendly with you.”
To that, Joshua just rolled his eyes.
“First of all, I very much doubt that,” he said, only earning himself a raised eyebrow from Yasaka, which was… fair, he supposed. He’d been deliberately oblivious and actually oblivious with her and Serafall for quite a while but still. What were the chances?... On second thought, he didn’t want to know. “Second of all,” he continued on, vanishing those thoughts from his mind. “I’m not interested in them anyway. They are minors,” he said and that seemed to be enough for Yasaka to let things go with a nod.
“Not quite the case with these mothers that Jeanne mentioned the other day,” she pointed out, making him groan. He was going to make his sister pay for that one. If Yasaka was teasing him about it, then he didn’t want to know what Serafall was going to do whenever she got around using that info.
“I’m still not interested. As it happens, I already feel in over my head more often than not with just you two,” he said, being painfully honest. Because really, how was he supposed to feel when he was in a relationship with people like Yasaka and Serafall? A part of him told him that they’d asked for it, and that he wasn’t the same lonely boy he’d been growing up anymore. However… old habits died hard, he supposed. “So, no, I think I’m happy with you two. More than happy, really.”
Because he was still riding that high, really. Even if it’d calmed down plenty, it was still there. Going from being happy to have friends and a daughter, he’d jumped straight to having two wonderful women that were interested in him, that loved him. It was… more than a little overwhelming, especially when he stopped to think about it.
His thoughts were interrupted when Yasaka, sitting beside him, leaned against his shoulder.
“I love you,” she told him and it would never not bring a smile to his face to hear that, he was sure.
“I love you too,” he replied softly. “I wish I could invite you to come too.”
“Hm, it’s unfortunate, yes,” she said and he didn’t need to look at her to know she was sad. He wouldn’t stand for that.
“How about Kunou and I teleport back and forth between here and there?” he suggested, the plan forming in his head. “I can’t ditch Jeanne just like that, even if I can place illusions and such, but they’ll be busy with each other more than caring if I’m there all the time.”
“If you say so,” she teased once more and he just rolled his eyes.
“And I’d much rather spend more time with you, quite honestly,” he continued, and Yasaka snuggled against his side some more. He was definitely going to be putting more work into Project Freedom. Good thing that Project Ascension had seen great progress and so had Project Awakening.
“Kunou might want to stay there though, and I’d rather you be there to keep an eye on her,” Yasaka pointed out and he rolled his eyes again.
“Kunou just wants to go so she can tell them that I’m her father,” he said, drawing a giggle from the woman. “Once that’s done, it’ll just be a regular night for us, I’m sure.”
“Hm, you might be onto something there,” Yasaka whispered, shifting her head and grabbing his chin to move his. “Thank you,” she said before kissing him.
“I’m ready!”
“You have shit timing, Kunou.”
“Language,” Yasaka chided him, slapping his chest weakly.
He stood by what he said though and she seemed to agree, even if she wouldn’t say it.
[}-o-{]
“Am I doomed to this? Sometimes I wonder,” Joshua said, his voice barely avoiding being just a sigh.
“You’ve got to be one of the most confusing and refreshing people to ever join my association,” Agnes commented, looking like she didn’t know if to be annoyed or amused. Ultimately, she seemed to settle for the latter. “Look at everyone else,” she added, glancing around the room. “They are right at home.”
“No wonder most of them are shit magicians,” he mused mildly, drawing a snort from the woman next to him. He wasn’t even kidding. He had a sense of them through the defenses he’d placed around House of Water and through his own Magic Sense. Most of the people present weren’t all that, with some notable exceptions like Agnes herself or Elizabeth.
Funnily enough, lower ranked people tended to have more and more controlled energy.
“Maybe they should stop playing politics and attending stuffy parties and work more,” Joshua continued blandly. Because God damn, no wonder these people were so in awe of him. Most of them looked like they barely put effort into anything other than settings like that.
“Ouch,” Agnes said, not even trying to fake offense.
“You know what I mean. You have to know that most of them are…” he trailed off then, waving his hand towards the crowd while words failed him.
“You are not wrong, I guess,” Agnes acknowledged without having any problems. If anything, she sounded and looked as disappointed and annoyed as he felt. Evidently, the situation of her association left some things to be desired.
Not that the party to announce his official place within House of Water was only attended by members of the association. There were people from other associations, as Agnes had pointed out as they arrived. Hell, she’d commented on members of factions dropping by. He was a little nervous about that, but he was also looking forward to it. Maybe he could get some more balls rolling in regards to Khaos Brigade, if he was lucky.
For the moment though, it was just magicians around.
“At least it’s not just House of Water,” he commented, drawing a snort from Agnes once more. It wasn’t even a lie. The magicians around looked all about the same. If the Director had told him that they were all from the same association, he’d have believed her.
“What about your stars?” Agnus asked all of a sudden, making him blink. That came a bit out of left field, or was it just him?
“What about them?” Joshua replied, looking towards the corner of the room where his star students had gathered and seemed to awkwardly sit or stand, as if trying to blend with the wall. He could relate to that, but he rather suspected it wasn’t because they were all terribly awkward in a party like he was.
“Do they look better?” Agnes clarified.
“Leave them to me for a little longer and I’ll have them running circles around everyone here except you and people around your level,” he answered confidently. Because he’d seen the progress his students made. If most of these people were at the level they were after living as long as they had? His students would catch up in no time and he’d be damned if he let them stagnate like that.
“Well, I hope you help me poach more of them, because that sounds like a promising batch of magicians,” Agnes commented, but he wasn’t sure if she was serious or not. Half serious, maybe? That sounded like the most likely.
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but if I never have to attend another of these parties, it’ll be too soon,” he said flatly, as his awkwardness got the better of him. It was only because everyone had told him that no, it wasn’t a good idea to skip the party, that he went through with it. Apparently, it worked against his purpose for joining to do so, since he wanted everyone to know and add it to his growing reputation.
“Is my company not enough for you, Davis?” Agnes growled jokingly. She’d been acting very friendly throughout the whole event so far, Joshua had noticed. However, she wasn’t doing a very good job with the act, at least to him. Maybe it was because it looked painfully obvious in his Life Sense though.
She was rather on edge, and she seemed to get even worse at random times when he’d do something. Evidently, his presence made her nervous. It wasn’t the first time he noticed though, and Yasaka and Serafall had rolled their eyes when he pointed it out. Apparently, he was very intimidating, what with his reputation and power.
Personally… he guessed he kind of saw it, but still, he couldn’t help but think it was weird.
“Right now, you are the only reason I’m not skulking in a corner like my students,” he admitted, making the woman giggle. Was she acting like that to make it seem like they were on good terms to others? It was kind of silly, considering they were, but he didn’t point it out. He guessed she wanted to make it clear to everyone for some reason and he didn’t see one to bother asking or interfering.
Agnes was afraid of him for a reason, so he guessed she’d be too afraid to try to cross him anyway.
And if she did, then she could kiss his classes goodbye. If what everyone told him about it was any indication, then she’d suffer a great loss with just that. At the back of his mind, he felt Nephthys send him a pseudo-message at that very moment. Apparently, the Pantheon would take his side in such a situation, unsurprisingly. That was sure to hit Agnes’ even harder.
“Somehow, that’s both surprising and not,” Agnes commented, and her amusement seemed more genuine. Not that she was faking a lot, mind, but she’d been a lot more open about her emotions, which was the part that stood out. “So, you’ll run away if I leave you alone?”
“I’ll find a way not to, Ravel would pout if I don’t at least try over here,” he said idly, and he could tell that the woman didn’t believe him. Well, that was her bad. Ravel would definitely pout. She’d already done so when he’d flatly denied her request to do some networking. He’d see if he bothered, but it wasn’t likely.
“I’ll come back to make you feel better as soon as I can, Joshua,” Agnes said, to which he just waved her away. She was worrying too much. Sure, it was nice to have someone around that he was sort of familiar with instead of having to deal with the strangers, but it wasn’t like he’d die if she wasn’t around.
Really, even if he complained just as much, the stuffy party at House of Water was, at least, much better than the one the devils had thrown. At least there, he felt like he was important. With the devils, it’d felt like he was being circled by sharks. With the magicians, he felt like he was a lion in between dogs. Worrying to an extent, but nowhere near as bad.
There wasn’t much reason for him to worry about messing up either. After all, even if he messed up, what were they going to do? That’d be Agnes’ problem at worst. They couldn’t make things troublesome for him. Not enough to be relevant, at least, so they weren’t really threats.
Still, that didn’t mean he’d approach any of them now that Agnes wasn’t making him seem busy anymore. No, he had a plan B. Enacting it, Joshua started making his way to a particular table. With all eyes on him very often, it didn’t take long for people to notice where he was going. The people he was walking towards seemed to straighten where they sat and stood.
“Having a good night at the antisocial table?” he asked with a half-smile and a raised eyebrow.
“Yep,” Meredith replied playfully in a way that reminded him of Serafall, sort of.
“We don’t really… get invited to this sort of thing often,” Fortune commented then, as if trying to excuse them. “We don’t know what to do or how not to mess things up.”
“Hm, I guess it makes sense. Maybe I dragged you into this a little impulsively,” Joshua mused, looking around. Ravel had said this would be a great favor for them, but even if it was, it was also properly intimidating for them, he supposed. Maybe they were more relatable to him than anyone else in that party, funnily enough.
‘Well, Ravel did say I should network,’ he mused with a wry smile forming on his face. ‘Might as well, right?’ he decided, glancing around the room and remembering some of the people that Agnes had pointed out to him as they arrived. Slowly, methodically, he went over the information he had and the tools he had at his disposal.
Then he nodded to himself.
“Fortune,” he said, his gaze focusing on one group in particular.
“Yes, Professor Davis?” she replied, straightening on her seat as she would in class when singled out for a question.
“You see that group over there?” he asked, pointing at a gathering at another table. “Rosenkreuzer. I heard the guy with the long beard is trying to cast a new spell. Supposedly is struggling with the energy output and hasn’t been able to get it just right,” he explained before turning towards his student and give her a raised eyebrow. “Sounds like something someone could help with.”
“Ah… I, uh, could, probably,” she commented, unsure. It was quite the contrast with the woman she usually presented herself as. Certainly different from the shamelessness she displayed when she self-promoted in his class.
“Go then. Just be polite, be clear and if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. If they are assholes in any way, let me know. I’ll deal with any trouble they might want to cause,” he told her calmly. Well, it was Agnes the one that was going to deal with any trouble, but still, he’d be the one asking. That counted, right?
“If you are… sure, sir,” Fortune mumbled, not really standing up. He just gave her an amused look.
“You are always going on and on about what your magic can do, Fortune. Time to put your money where your mouth is, lady,” he told her, moving next to her and giving her a pat on the back. “You are one of my stars. You’ll do well.”
“I… Yes, sir,” she mumbled again, but she did stand up and shuffle her way towards the gathering of magicians. As she moved though, he saw some of her usual personality bleed through as her steps gained confidence. ‘That’s more like it.’
“Now, as for you lot,” Joshua continued, turning towards the rest of his star students gathering. For whatever reason, they didn’t look thrilled that he was helping them out. “Don’t look so nervous. You’ve got the skills and I’ve got your backs, it’ll be fine,” he told them with a roll of his eyes.
From there, he directed his students around the room to people that they could probably at the very least get a job off of. He kept an eye on them as they talked with the other magicians though. Just to be sure to get a good glare in if he thought anyone was going to take advantage of his students. He almost wanted one of them to try so that he could set an example.
Alas, nobody seemed to be dumb enough for that.
When his students started coming back, all of them had good news.
‘Pretty sure this counts as networking, right?’ Joshua thought to himself. ‘Ah, the power of delegation is wonderful.’
[} Chapter End {]
Hey guys! How’s it going?
Nothing better than having someone else deal with the troublesome stuff, amirite? Truly, Joshua is an unprecedented genius and not just because of his spell crafting. I’m sure the Stars won’t feel even more in debt because of this.
Either way, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.
Discord Link: discord.gg/UTDransjJZ
Random Question: What’d you do during the weekend? I traveled, which left me exhausted, but it could have been worse.
See you.
Comments
Joaquin Cisterna
Trabajo ocupado pero entre semana mas libre me gusto como se esta acostumbrando a ser el gran perro y no el raton que se esconde y se fortalece.
