I will become God-Harem King of the World! [Highschool DxD/Exalted] (CLOSED)

[X] Smuthunter and Megrisvernin

I Burn
----

You shift your stance in the loose earth before launching yourself into the air with a combination of Monkey Leap Technique and Whirlwind Sprint, the flash of heat on your skin & the singed edges of your hair the only signs of a narrowly avoiding a powerful blast of fire from Yatagarasu.

[The critter has guts! I like him!]

'Please don't cheer for the enemy!'

With great grace you land on a branch at the same height of Yatagarasu, your instincts providing you perfect footing without the need of you consciously concentrating on it.

Using fire is obviously a bad idea, so you shoot two Air Strikes in rapid succession. The balls of pressurized air whizz towards the Sun Raven who takes flight trying to avoid them. When it becomes clear it cannot be done the bird raises a hastily made shield of fire, but judging by how its body is violently blown backwards with each impact it surely felt the force. Without doubt you managed to injure it.

Yatagarasu retains control and narrows its eyes at you. You look back with a confident expression, one hand on the trunk and one on your hips.

{Wind is not a good choice to use against Fire. Beside some exceptions fire made with magic still requires oxygen, so I suggest you develop a countermeasure against future fire-users.}

'Duly noted.'

[BOOST!]

Your eyes narrow as Yatagarasu flies higher, putting two dozen yards between you and it and starting gathering red flicking flames around itself as it builds up for another attack.

You smile: this time, you are prepared.

[EXPLOSION!]

You jump in the opposite direction. A sea of branches and leaves zoom past you as you arc through the air, until a great tree hundreds of feet tall suddenly fills your vision. You twist in midair, planting your legs along a massive branch as thick as your waist, the enormous momentum of your thrust bending it backwards. A bitter pungent scent fills the air as the surface of the branch cracks and twists but your attention is focused up at the raven. A feral grin crosses your face as the branch finally bends back shooting you through the air but instead of dodging you aim straight for Yatagarasu your body graying from the Adamant Skin as you suddenly pass through a beam of hot concentrated flame.

There is a collective scream from the ORC, and then gasps of surprise as you emerge completely unharmed a moment later. You can see the black and white feathered Yatagarasu glistening in the sun's rays, shocked into stillness at your sudden appearance before you smash into it, a tangle of limbs and claws tumbling madly through the air. The noble creature twists and struggles in a frenzy but as you invoke First Martial Arts Excellency it's unable to escape your grasp before its efforts suddenly cease altogether as you Bind it.

However, your howl of triumph is short-lived as the both of you plummet towards the forest floor.

[Partner! At this speed and height both of you will end with a lot of broken bones!]

'You don't say!?'

You grab Yatagarasu with your left arm and twist in midair, your right hand stretching out to seize a passing branch. It breaks, but it last enough to diverge your patch towards the trunk. The claws of Boosted Gear dug into the wood: your arm is pulled painfully, but you manage to slow your fall. When there are only six yards to the ground you jump and land gracefully.

"You sure brought along a crazy one Gremory-san. Where did you find him?" You hear Satooji saying as the group comes into view.

"I swear, how it is possible that when you try something, the more absurd it is the more it works?" Dohna shakes his head in bafflement.

"That was reckless Ise." Bucho chastises you. "What possessed you to jump straight into the enemy's attack?"

"A technique to negate all damage?" You answer as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

Rias opens her mouth. And then closes it. The same action is mimicked by the others.

"There are conditions, and it costs a lot." You roll your eyes. "More importantly."

You lift up Yatagarasu, who is still bound by golden bands of Essence, and look it in the eyes. "You are at my mercy. I can do whatever I want with you. Do you surrender, or do I need to force you?"

You raise a clawed hand.

The Yatagarasu stares at you for a few moments before bowing in submission.

"Good. I am going to free you: you will refrain from attacking anyone, and you will explain why you attacked me."

Two nods.

Satisfied with the answer you put the raven down and snap your finger, ending the Bind. Yatagarasu stretches its wings and limbs before taking a wings-propelled jump and landing on your shoulder. It caws joyfully before sitting down as if relaxing.

"...This is an unexpected development." Rias comments. "Did it choose Ise as its Master?"

Did it? That's an unexpected development.

"Seems like it." Satooji says with an interested tone. "Yatagarasu are proud creatures: they will not submit to someone else unless they think he fits all the criteria. Even then, one must have an exceptional affinity to be deemed worthy."

"Affinity? I suppose we both have an affinity for the Sun. Welcome into the band Yatagarasu." You smile and prepare to dispel Boosted Gear so that you can pet it.

[PING! PING!]

However, you are stopped when a strange sound comes from the jewels on your hands.

'What's happening?' You ask. On both jewels an image has appeared, two arrows pointing in different directions.

[Boosted Gear is trying to evolve. Looks like you unlocked a new ability. No, they are two. But only one can be accessed now, so you must choose which one you want.]

{Let me see that. Mmh. You have two options: the first is the creation of another Overdrive Pool. It will act like and in tandem with the other, but the motes from it can only be used defensively; the second is a powerful ranged attack, but its use fall into the purview of Archery.}

Both sounds useful, but like they say you can choose only one now.

[] Second Overdrive
[] Ranged Attack