Magician Of Darkness (DxD/OC)

[Accel14]

10+ Advance Chapters: patreon.com/Accel14
Discord Link: KQAtTw9u7x

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The ever-present rays of sunlight continued to beam down on the classroom, illuminating the front row as one student in particular continued to softly drum his fingers across the wooden surface of his desk.

A distinct look of boredom clung to his face as he stared downwards aimlessly, with only the reflection of his glasses providing any cover to the strain apparent in his cornea.

How much longer is left?

He glanced at the clock, watching its handle tick away at an achingly slow pace.

It's at times like this I find myself actually regretting having studied. At least I would've been able to stimulate my brain somewhat rather than listen to Shiba-sensei's monotone drivel.

His name was Ashikaga Takauji, or Taka for short as most people opted to use. A third-year student at a high school by the name of Kuoh Academy. Formerly an all-girls school now reconstructed into a co-ed one, granted the majority of the student body was composed of women.

He was a fairly tall and lean young man, with brown scholarly hair and square glasses, matched with soft brown eyes.

The best way to describe him was someone who was above ordinary, but also not exactly notable either.

To put it into perspective, he was the type of guy you'd see pretty high up on the post-exam rankings and go "Oh, he must be pretty smart" but make no attempt to go out of your way to communicate with or pay any special attention to.

And he liked it that way. It was normal, and he could go about his day unperturbed.

The only thing about him of note beyond that, was the fact that he was a member of the Track and Field Club. As someone who was relatively competent with time management, he had a fair amount of spare time even with his studies, which had led him to seek out something to do in order to pass the hours.

His parents had both gone overseas for work since the pay was significantly better, that coupled with being an only child meant that there wasn't a whole lot of activity back home.

Again, he was fine with this. He'd frequently exchange texts and calls with them, and they'd come over to visit whenever they had free time. "Mildly estranged" was about as far as their relationship could ever deteriorate.

However, his parents weren't perfect either. When it came to academics they could be quite demanding to say the least, Takauji was to go to a good college, with a solid degree, and get a high-paying job. Even if the sky were to fall they would not budge on that expectation, and Takauji ultimately relented.

If that was what they wanted from him in exchange for the freedoms he was allowed, and rather generous allowance, then so be it.

It was by no means an impossible task for him to begin with, so why not just let them be happy.

Nevertheless, the mundane cycle of school and study bored him to no end. Leaving him with an ever growing want for excitement, entertainment, anything that would add a splash of color into the bland substance that was his life as of now.

"Does anyone know the answer to this question?" Shiba, the teacher in charge of class 3-B asked. Looking around the room for any takers.

For the love of God don't let it be me, someone raise your hand, I'm begging you.

"If no one volunteers then I'll have to choose someone," he continued to scour the classroom, looking for anyone who didn't seem keen on answering as teachers did.

Uh-oh. I don't like that look on his face.

"Ashikaga-kun. Your brain looks like it could use a little stimulation this afternoon," he said with a very punchable smile on his face.

With all due respect, I hope someone force feeds you your shoes once class is over.

He reluctantly took the chalk from his teacher's extended hand, his chair creaking as he hauled himself to his feet and towards the board.

"Just answer the first five, I'll let you call on someone else to complete the latter half," the corner of Takauji's lip twitched as he could feel his classmates recoil.

I take it back, I hope you're only forced fed one of your shoes.

"Sure," he complied with a slight elevation in his mood. Only needing a few minutes to solve the polynomial based questions on the board.

Shiba looked over it, nodding as he found everything to be in order.

"Good work. So, who would you like to answer next?"

Takauji turned around, easily picking up on his classmate's attempt to make themselves stand out as little as possible.

What's this now?

Except for one that is.

A beautiful young woman with long raven hair tied into a ponytail, and bright amethyst eyes was currently staring him down. Making direct eye contact and showing no intent to conceal her presence.

She wanted him to know, that much was obvious.

What's with that knowing look on your face? I might be jumping to conclusions, but it doesn't seem like it has anything to do with wanting to answer the question.

He brooded for a brief moment, choosing to swallow his thoughts for another time.

"Himejima-san, if you would," her reputation was pretty much the polar opposite of Takauji's in terms of popularity.

She was hailed as one of the "Two Great Ladies" throughout the school alongside Rias Gremory of class 3-A. A result of her profound beauty and her "Yamato Nadeshiko" like demeanor.

Akeno didn't respond, instead she simply got up from her seat and calmly approached the board.

Stop looking at me like that, I don't like it.

His expression was quick to sour as they passed by one another, him noticing the side-eye she gave him as she maintained both her poise and silence.

Don't tell me, she knows about that? No. That doesn't make any sense, I've made it a practice not to use it at school. And I've only had it for a few days. Unless she's some crazy stalker who's been watching me?

He made sure to compose himself with haste, suppressing his twitching fingers before she could notice.

"Mhm. Well done." Shiba commended, motioning for her to return to her seat.

Again, no words were exchanged between the students as she passed by his seat. However, much had been conveyed through mannerisms alone.

━━━━━

Time continued to pass, and the inner workings of Takauji's mind remained irritable. As much as he wanted to deny it, his intellect kept bringing him to one conclusion regardless of which train of thought he chose to pursue.

The only expression of his discontent being the constant fiddling of his eraser between his thumbs.

The way I see it there are a few options I have. I could approach her, avoid her, or feign ignorance. But there is the possibility it's all an overreaction and I'll just end up creating a problem when there was none to begin with.

His nails scratched the surface of his stationary.

Assuming the worst, would that mean she can use it as well? I'm clueless about it so I have no way of even making an educated guess as to what she wants with me if that were the case.

He clenched his eraser, causing a few shavings to get under his nails.

"Oh, I guess that's time," Shiba announced as the sound of the bell ringing snapped Takauji out of his deliberation.

He heaved an internal sigh of relief, packing his things with haste as he eagerly awaited dismissal.

"The test is on friday so make sure you study accordingly, I'll be here until 6 so if you have any questions feel free to come to me," Shiba announced.

Much to his delight, Akeno made no attempt to approach him as he fast-walked towards his locker. Grabbing his sportswear as he went to the boy's changing room.

"Oh, Taka. You're here early," a youthful young man with spiky black hair and pupils burning with vigor greeted him.

"I could say the same for you, Hairo," the man in question being the current captain of the Track and Field Club and a member of class 3-A.

Takauji looked him up and down. "Just out of curiosity, why are you already sweating? Class literally just ended. Did your air conditioning break down or something?"

Hairo looked down at his drenched body.

"Taka my dear friend," he placed his sweaty hand on Takauji's shoulder. "This is just my body expressing its undying passion for the sport, and someday yours will too," he pointed his thumb at himself and beamed.

"Hairo," Takauji deadpanned. "You ran here didn't you? Again might I add."

"That is a possibility," he replied shamelessly.

"Dude," his friend pinched his nose bridge. "Didn't your teacher say she was going to give you a detention next time you did that?" He recalled the many times he had heard Hairo's teacher lose her patience.

"That, is also a possibility."

"Whatever man," he could do naught but shake his head helplessly. "Let's just get started already."

"That's the spirit!" Hairo somehow had the audacity to grin.

The club itself was pretty small in size, consisting of only about 5 members Hairo and Takauji included. And none of the members besides Hairo were really interested in competitions or anything, it was mainly just a place where people joined for free fitness management.

All in all, they were a cozy group, something Takauji appreciated.

They gathered around the school's track and started by doing their warmups led by Hairo which lasted for about 10 minutes.

Following which they began their drills also led by their captain, with the newer members focusing on lower intensity stamina building exercises so as to not overstrain their muscles.

Whereas Hairo had Takauji follow his high-intensity torture training since he was the only other member who had been a part of the club since they were a first-year. The latter was pretty confident that Hairo took some sort of sick pleasure in seeing him collapse to the floor after every session.

But with that said, he couldn't deny that Hairo's menu brought results, hence why he listened to him albeit reluctantly.

"So, you meet any cuties lately?" Hairo asked as they jogged side by side.

"You've asked me that literally every single time we're training together, without fail. Isn't it about time you got tired of it?"

"Tired? What's that? Can I eat it?" Takauji showed immense restraint by not slugging him in the face right that second. "Don't give me that look, I just want to make sure you don't end up a monk, that's all."

"What are you, my mom? Besides, I'm only 18. You're acting like I'm 30."

"Good grief, I guarantee you every middle-aged bachelor has said the same thing. You have to strike while the iron's hot. If you let it cool for too long you won't be able to bend it anymore."

Takauji's face contorted.

"That has got to be the most ill-fitting analogy my ears have ever had the displeasure of hearing. Also if you're referring to what I think you're referring to, then your biology needs some serious work."

"Dramatic as always," he retorted. "If you're not going to spend any energy getting some action, then you might as well use it to do 10 more laps," he picked up the pace.

"I hate you."

"No you don't."

Takauji grudgingly forced himself to pick up the pace.

━━━━━

"You've improved," Hairo leaned over the sprawled out figure of his friend. "Not bad."

"Shut up you stamina-freak. Let my muscles ache in peace," he currently felt as if hundreds of microscopic needles were piercing his body.

"Don't be like that. Here, I'll help you up," he crouched and supported Takauji's weight with his shoulders. "Want me to walk you over?"

"Yes please," Hairo quickly said his goodbyes and thanks to his underclassmen before assisting the worn out club member.

"Here we go," he laid him down gently. Grabbing Takauji's casual wear for him as he put it on. "If you want I can help you go home, I've got plenty of time on my hands."

"No need, I'll call a cab," knowing Hairo as he did, he would more likely than not try to make him walk all the way home in spite of his condition.

"Alright then. Well, see ya tomorrow," they waved each other goodbye as Takauji took his time leaving the changing room.

I wonder, maybe I really was just overthinking things. Himejima-san didn't approach me at all, which doesn't really explain the odd behavior. But I'm more than willing to let bygones be bygones at this point.

He was just about to exit the front door.

"Ashikaga Takauji, is it?" A gentle voice reached out to him just as he was about to take his leave.

His posture stiffened as he was met with the sight of someone he really wasn't keen on meeting.

Speak of the Devil.

He wore a well-fitted poker face as he faced the woman.

"Do you need something? Himejima-san."

"It's nothing major, I was just wondering if you'd be alright with having a little chat?" Once more, a knowing smile was plastered on her face.

A chat, huh? Fine, if I can't avoid you then I'll confront you.

━━━━━

And so the story begins. Let me know your thoughts, and your predictions for how this interaction will go down.

 

[Accel14]

10+ Advance Chapters: patreon.com/Accel14

Discord Link: KQAtTw9u7x

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"Quite the subtle location you've chosen," Takauji commented with a blatant amount of sarcasm in his voice as he observed the antique looking infrastructure before him.

Why are we in the old school building? If she's trying to ambush me then this is probably the worst way to go about it. I mean this entire place literally screams horror.

"I assure you that nothing underhanded awaits you, and I believe you'll find our club quite accommodating should you get to know us," she breathed a coy giggle.

Club? Wait, I'm pretty sure there's a club with a weird name using this building.

"We have arrived," they reached a rustic looking door. "Please, make yourself at home," she held the door open for him as a kind gesture. Letting him breathe in the grandeur of their abode momentarily.

The clubroom was fitted with lavish furniture, elegant decor, and objects that looked to be way above the school's budget.

Just how on earth did they get the faculty to agree to this? I don't even know what this club does for crying out.

"Is this him?" An authoritative voice spoke.

Takauji turned his attention to the center of the room, making eye contact with a woman just as beautiful as Akeno with bright crimson hair that reached down to her thighs coupled with a striking ahoge on her head.

An awkward situation would soon ensue, the two looking at one another briefly with an expression of neither pleasure nor displeasure apparent on their face.

She knows.

"Is there something on my face?" The woman asked in a composed tone.

He was quick to replace his poker face with a warm smile. "No, I was simply mesmerized by your beauty, Gremory-san," it was such a barefaced lie that the woman almost wanted to laugh.

Even her vice-president couldn't help but let out a constrained chuckle.

She was Rias Gremory, a third-year in class 3-A and the other half of the "Two Great Ladies" of Kuoh. Furthermore, she was also the president of the Occult Research Club which they were currently standing in.

"There's no need for flattery, Takauji-kun," she motioned towards the couches arranged in the center of the room. "If you would."

Something's off.

He retained his forced smile, sitting down on the couch opposite to Rias and Akeno. Looking behind them with a look of mild confusion.

I don't recognize them, they must be second or first-years.

To his surprise, there were two other supposed members present in the room. One of which being a knightly looking man with blonde hair and a mole under his eye, alongside a petite young woman with snow-white hair fashioned into a bob cut.

"As you've probably guessed, these are also my club members. This one here is Yuuto Kiba, and this is Koneko Toujou," she pointed to them respectively.

They each met Takauji with a polite bow, but offered to exchange no words with their guest. To which the latter met them with the same respect.
"So, why did you call me here?" He wasn't one for beating around the bush.

"Don't worry, I'll get to that eventually," she looked towards their in-house kitchen, hearing the sound of a kettle whistling. "But before I do, would you care for a cup of tea?" Akeno had already begun walking over towards it.

I don't like this.

"Haha, how could I reject such hospitality?" Her vice-president brought over a tray, pouring a cup for each of them as Takauji leaned forwards to look at the cup.

It had a warm jasmine hue, and a just as pleasant aroma to it, but as someone not very well versed in the craft he couldn't identify the blend.

He gently picked up the cup so as not to burn his fingers, and held it towards his chin. However, he did not drink from it.

"Is something wrong?" She corked her head.

"No, not at all," he still wasn't drinking from it.

It took a few moments, but eventually she figured out what was going on.

"I see," she drank from the cup first, and only then did Takauji follow suit. "This might seem out of the blue, but too much brooding isn't good for one's heart."

"I agree," he sat his cup aside as her expression eased up. "That is out of the blue," he could feel them recoil as the tension in the atmosphere returned just as fast as it had left.

Rias was quick to clear her throat and recompose herself.

"With the pleasantries out of the way, I think it's about time I got to the point of this meeting."

Indeed.

"Takauji," he noticed the dropping of honorifics. "You possess Mana, do you not?"

I knew it.

Other than the faint twitch of his ring finger, there were no abrupt oddities in his demeanor.

"Mana?" He repeated in a clueless tone.

"Mana, Magical Energy, MP, whatever you want to call it. We're aware that you're a possessor of it," she calmly sipped her tea, awaiting his reaction with bated breath.

"Sorry, I'm afraid I don't follow," he shot her a condescending look as if she was just some deluded chuunibyou.

Which was pretty annoying, to say the least.

"Please don't play dumb with me, I assure you we have no intention to cause you any harm. On the contrary cooperating with us would be to your benefit," she grimaced internally. Noticing the stone-faced look of "I don't believe you" plastered on his face.

"What makes you so certain that I'm in possession of such a thing?" He had never tried it out in school, which meant either that they had placed cameras in his house or they had some other method of figuring it out.

"We can sense it," she stated boldly.

You're going to have to give me more than that if you want my "cooperation", as you call it.

"Unless you can prove to me you're a psychic or something, I'm afraid I don't find that explanation quite satisfactory."

"Psychic? Not quite," she stood up alongside Akeno. Causing him to raise his brow as he wondered what they were up to.

And then the sound of fluttering echoed.

What the hell.

The amount of restraint it took for him not to drop his teacup was beyond admirable.

"We're Devils."

He removed his glasses temporarily, wiping the lens with the bottom of his shirt as he felt the need to confirm reality.

"Are those, wings?" He couldn't help but ask, staring at the two bat-like wings protruding out of their backs.

"Mhm," Rias moved hers up and down, confirming to him that they were in fact real.

"I need a second," she just continued to smile at him as he paced around the room for exactly 4.3 seconds before sitting right back down. "Alright I'm good."

"Oh? You can take a little more time to process if you need," she had expected him to need at least a few minutes of contemplation.

If my power exists, then I suppose it makes sense for a whole lot of other strange phenomena to appear.

"No, I'm fine," he adjusted his tie. "But are you really Devils? I mean you look pretty, how do I put it, human."

"A piece of advice from here on out, don't believe everything you read in fantasy books."

"Fair enough," he nodded, leaning into the couch as he continued to gather his thoughts.

"Now that we've shown you our hand, don't you think it's only right that you do the same?" He took a few moments to think the decision over.

Unless she's a master manipulator, I don't think she was lying when she said that cooperation could earn me some benefits. What I should be worried about is what comes after that.

"Very well," he opened his palm. Focusing as a bizarre shadowy substance started to form in the center of his palm. "This is all I'm capable of doing right now, so I apologize if it isn't as flashy as you'd have liked."

She leaned closer, observing the tangible darkness with a finger on her chin.

"I see," she hummed. "You have a darkness affinity."

Darkness?

"People born with Mana such as yourself normally have an attunement to a specific type of Magic, or in rarer cases multiple. What you have there is one of the rarer forms of Elemental Magic called darkness."

He listened attentively as she took a seat beside him.

"When did you first acquire the ability to use it?"

"Only about a week ago."

"I see, the Magic humans use isn't something one can master without proper guidance so it makes sense that you aren't able to do much with it as of now."

I think I can see where this is going.

"When you mentioned that this meeting could be of benefit to me, I imagine you were referring to your capacity to teach me?"

"Precisely," she beamed. "Actually, collaboration between Devils and Magicians is pretty common. The Magic humans use was originally derived from the study of Demonic Power, which is what we Devils wield. Throughout the years Devils have made contracts with Magician's in exchange for access to the spells and formulas they create."

So she wants me to make a contract with her? But I possess no skill whatsoever when it comes to Magic, which means she plans on nurturing me first before reaping the rewards. Surely such treatment will come with some sort of catch?

"And you wish for me to make one with you?"

"Spot on. The deal is pretty straightforward, you work for me, and I'll ensure you have all the materials you need in order to learn Magic."

As if it's that simple.

"I'm going to need you to elaborate on what work entails," he wasn't going to enter into something like a contract without sufficient knowledge.

"In that case I'll need to offer up some more explanation. You see, Kuoh is currently under the joint jurisdiction of me and another group of Devils. And it is our job to supervise and manage everything supernatural related that goes on here."

The Devils put a high schooler in charge of an entire town? I don't know if that's really a good idea but I suppose it's none of my business. Also there's more of you here?

"So you're like a government official for everything non-human?"

"That is one way to put it," her expression grew firm. "The thing is, lately there's been some disturbance around here, and I'd like to have as many people as possible capable of dealing with them on hand."

"You mean like, combatives?" He adjusted his glasses.

She nodded.

"I see," he pondered. "These contracts you speak of, if I were to enter one with you how long would it last for?"

The Devil's in the room flinched. Having not expected such abrupt decisiveness from someone who had expressed such deep paranoia.

"The duration of a contract depends on those entering it," her smile widened. "But don't worry, I wasn't planning on having you start with a long-term one."

"Oh?"

"Here's my deal, you will make a contract with me for a week. You'll get a chance to experience what it's like being a contracted Magician and I will teach you as much as I can throughout that duration of time. Then once it expires, you can decide whether you want to enter into a long-term one or not."

That's actually not a bad deal.

"You're basically offering me a trial period then."

"Yes, I am."

He stood up, looking her right in the eyes.

"I accept."

Devils, Magic, Combat, Contracts, and a sea of things I've yet to uncover. It's just too interesting for me to pass up. This just might be the color I've been looking for all along.

Might.

"Wonderful," she made sure not to sound too excited as that would probably set him off. She conjured a sheet of paper in her hand out of thin air and handed it towards him.

"You already had it written up?" Her lips twitched faintly. "Whatever, so do I just sign this with a pen or something?"

"That's half of it," she handed him a specialized pen. "Just channel your Mana like you did before when signing it."

He made sure to read over the terms carefully, just in case she decided to pull some "fine-print" on him.

But after a few minutes, everything seemed to check out, and he signed causing the contract to vanish.

"Make sure to come here first thing after school tomorrow, I'll spend today getting all your materials prepared."

"Will do," they shook his hands as he made his departure. Leaving the members of the club to discuss among themselves.

"Are you sure about this Rias?" Her vice-president asked her.

"Sure about what?"

"You know what I'm talking about, he has a darkness affinity," affinities often represented the characteristic of their wielder. "We could've at least run a few more background checks?"

"We could've," she said dismissively. "But you felt it too, didn't you? The sheer quantity of his reserves and his perceptiveness despite having no knowledge of our world. He has the potential to become a valued asset."

"Perceptiveness like that could be a double-edged sword," Akeno frowned.

"Perhaps, but that's why I have you here to protect me," she grinned, to which her Queen could only sigh and relent.

━━━━━

His affinity has been revealed, and Akeno seems to have her own take on what that means for Takauji's character.

However, Rias has the final say on whether he'll be with them long/short time. Let me know your thoughts as always.

 

[Accel14]

10+ Advance Chapters: patreon.com/Accel14
Discord Link: KQAtTw9u7x

━━━━━

I see, even though Magic was derived from Demonic Power, the way they're applied in practice are polar opposites. Magic is a calculated art and Demonic Power is a matter of intuition and feeling. Sort of like the difference between instinctual-type and calculative-type Generals hundreds of years ago.

For those who understood the reference, Demonic Power was Li Xin, and Magic was Ou Ki.

Right now Takauji was sat in the middle of the clubroom, thoroughly reading through an introductory book on Magic Theory that his contractor had acquired for him. Said contractor sitting on her desk nearby just in case he had any questions.

The first step to learning Magic is to be capable of channeling it in its rawest form and understanding what your affinity is, which I've already done. After that, I need to learn how to construct something called a Magic Circle.

"Ara, someone's awfully focused," Akeno observed as she passed by his contemplating figure. "Need any help?" She placed a cup of tea alongside some sweets next to him.

"Not right now, but I'll probably need to call on you once I get to the more advanced sections," being the learned man that he was, Takauji figured he should be more than capable of landing down the basics.

"It's only your first day of study, I'd recommend you not to rush things lest you build a shoddy foundation of which the rest of your Magic is constructed on," she advised him.

"Noted."

Hmm. So in essence one could say that Mana is just pure electricity, which is extremely hard to use on its own. However a Magic Circle serves as an appliance that works as a medium for electricity.

He took a bite out of the Daifuku she had given him as he fell even deeper into thought.

It's basically an equation, take "a + b = c" for example. In this case "c" is the spell, "a" is Mana, and "b" is a Magic Circle. Wait, maybe multiplying it would be more accurate? It's not as if you can remove either "a" or "b" in this scenario and still get "c". Which would make it "ab = c", or something. Wait, that can't be it either because you can't divide either by "c" to get- no actually you can can't you? Or not? I don't know.

He continued to turn through the pages with an eerie amount of silence, making it impossible for both the vice-president and his contractor to tell whether he was struggling or not.

No, I'm rushing things. I shouldn't be worried about the equation when I don't even have the tools to solve "b" to begin with. So let's start there.

The level of focus his mind was exerting as he flipped through the pages had caused him to forget to chew every now and then, as if he hadn't noticed that there was even food in his mouth.

This pretty much seems like a circuit board to me. Channel the mana, chant the incantation, and let the mana flow according to the formula as shown.

The book had a beginner's guide on how to form a Magic Circle which included a chant, however any competent Magician would normally be able to form their circle without one. The spells themselves were where incantations became much more important.

Those who could perform them without chants, were called prodigies.

The formula for a Magic Circle is like an arithmetic sequence, it'll continue to increase depending on the magnitude of the spell. But of course if the caster inputs the incorrect values, it'll result in an incorrect answer.

"Takauji," Akeno snapped him out of his stupor with a firm voice.

"Yes?"

"You weren't blinking," he was left at a loss for words as he only now felt the dryness and itchy sensation in his eyes. "Are you sure you're alright?" Both her and his contractor now seemed genuinely concerned.

Even the Knight and Rook were shooting somewhat worried glances his way.

"I'm fine," he replied bluntly. Not that anyone was buying it.

"Just try to be more mindful, there's no point in you learning Magic if you're going to compromise your health for it," she chided. Deciding to remain seated next to him just in case anything happened.

"Yeah, of course."

He extended his hand, closing his eyes as he started to channel the Mana from his core towards his fingertips.

Step one done. Now comes the tricky part.

All eyes were glued on him as they watched his Mana start to accumulate in front of him. Slowly fissuring out as it spread itself in a circular manner.

He grit his teeth, feeling the strain on his mind increasing as it began to taste the closest thing to real Magic so far for the first time. But he couldn't relent, he needed to succeed.

The numbers don't lie, just trust them and keep pushing.

Calculation after calculation, he preserved.

"You… already did it," the feminine voice beside him spoke.

He opened his eyes, an ecstatic grin appearing on his face as he witnessed the spectacle before him.

So this is a Magic Circle.

A black slightly luminescent circle hovered in front of his hand, filled with runic symbols making up its inside and the design of a face with four eyes on it right in the middle.

"Good work," his contractor recollected herself as praised him. Even though this hardly counted as the first stepping stone towards becoming a Magician, progress was progress. "The first time is always the hardest when creating a circle, from here on out you should rarely ever struggle with activating it."

He heaved a sigh of relief as he leaned back into the cushions behind him, bringing the book up to his face once more.

"You should take a break, if you overstrain yourself it's just going to reduce your effectiveness in the long run," Akeno placed her hand on the book, gently pushing it down.

But Takauji simply stared at her, looking her in the eyes with a very unnerving gaze as she slowly grabbed the manual out of his hands and set it aside.

It wasn't intimidating by any means, it was just, plain creepy.

"Takauji?" She called out to him.

"Sorry, I spaced out for a second," he said as he averted his stare, closing his eyes as he allowed the back of his head to sink into the pillows. "If you insist then I suppose I'll take a rest for a bit."

She felt a weight lift off her shoulders as he seemed to return to normal. His resting face actually appeared a lot more peaceful unlike when he was immersed in Magic.

I need to familiarize myself with the process of creating a Magic Circle as soon as possible. From what I've read thus far, one's proficiency in Magic is determined by how much they can subtract from a process. The less effort I need to exude in order to create a Magic Circle, the better off I'll be.

But if there was one thing he struggled to do, it was knowing how to turn off his brain.

━━━━━

Three days passed, and right now Takauji was in his room clenching his forehead as he tried to wrap his head around the spell before him.

He had a stack of mini whiteboards all laid on top of one another on his desk, each of them covered in scribbles as he tried to figure out how to use the formula for the spell known as Shamak.

It was a low-grade spell that contained the ability to separate the target's senses to varying degrees. The most basic application of the spell made the affected person unable to sense where they are, however they would still be capable of feeling the ground beneath them and sense what's happening to their body.

Many of the spells found in darkness magic demanded one be capable of Shamak, some even requiring complete mastery over it.

"This is starting to get mind-numbingly difficult," he muttered to himself. Ruffling his hair out of frustration as he resisted the urge to bang his head against his table.

I've figured out how to formulate the 5 senses in general, but this "low-grade" spell requires me to go even a step further than that. I have to actually grasp the individual senses in equation form, and then choose which to affect. I know being able to affect all 5 right out of the gate would be too easy, but how the hell am I supposed to turn the concepts of "senses" and "perception" into a formula?

Since affinities such as Darkness and Light were so rare, the amount of research conducted on them paled in comparison to that of the four basic elements for example.

This meant users of rarer elements would have to figure out a majority of their affinities on their own, whereas more common ones had a wealth of teachers, materials, and studies to back their growth.

Put simply, the more uncommon your affinity was, the more holes you would have to fill should you wish to excel in it.

He tossed the whiteboard in front of him across his room, picking up a new one as he steeled himself to persevere.

Alright. The brain is the root for the senses, and senses themselves are received by it. But this spell aims to get in between that process of receiving and warp it to a certain extent. However, a low grade spell shouldn't be capable of targeting the central nervous system itself.

His eyes twinkled with a spark of understanding.

Hold on, maybe it had nothing to do with the brain itself this whole time. Shit, how could I let myself get so tunnel-visioned? It's just going after the mana around the target, that's why the spell itself takes on the form of a cloud-like eruption of smoke. There was never any need to go after the process of receiving information to begin with, I should've been focusing on the information itself to begin with.

Takauji wrote down every last detail that was swimming through his mind, the numbers finally seeming to connect as he could feel his lament gradually being replaced with elation sequence after sequence.

"So this is Shamak?" He held up the whiteboard, fastening it to a board with a tack and taking a few steps back. "I guess there's only one way to find out," he took a deep breath.

He conjured a Magic Circle in front of him, the runes on it constantly twisting and turning as if to adjust to what his brain was trying to enact.

Yes, this feels right.

One by one the runes started to light up, successfully linking with one another as they endeavored to form a successful chain.

Mana welled up from his gut and coursed through his veins, pouring into the circle as he neared the casting of his first spell.

And now for the finishing touch.

The last of the runes connected, causing the entire circle to light up with bright white text as the words left his mouth.

"Shamak," he ordered, causing a controlled cloud of black smoke to encompass his surroundings. Obviously he would need to use it on an actual target to see its effects in action, but he was confident that this was a successful casting. Everything just felt, right.

I did it! I actually casted a spell!

It was absolutely cause for celebration.

I have quite a bit of pocket money saved up, maybe I should go spend it on Korean BBQ or something?

He grabbed his wallet and shoes with haste, heading straight towards the door as he prepared to go treat himself.

"Oh. Good afternoon, Ashikaga-senpai." but upon opening his door, he was greeted by a certain Knight who looked like he was just about to ring his doorbell.

"Why are you here?" He asked impatiently, eager to fill his stomach.

Also who told you my address? That wasn't in the contract.

"Buchou wants you to go to the clubroom," he answered.

"That's fine and all but why did she send you? She can just summon me whenever she needs."

"She wanted to make sure she didn't disturb you while you were in the middle of anything, and by the looks of things it appears she made the right call," the Darkness Mana in the air was still pungent.

"Fair enough. So, what does she want me for?"

"We have a new member in our peerage," Takauji raised his brow.

"What does that have to do with me?"

Kiba could only shrug, "No clue, she just told me to get you."

━━━━━

For all those of you pulling out your hair over "No! Issei's going to be focus of the story now!" relax, he's not. He's a part of the story, but the focus will always remain Taka so chillax.

Besides that let me know your thoughts on the story thus far, comments/reviews are always helpful.

 

[Accel14]

10+ Advance Chapters: patreon.com/Accel14
Discord Link: KQAtTw9u7x

━━━━━

"What's taking them so long?" Rias asked impatiently as she constantly glanced at the clock, the rhythmic tapping of her foot signifying her irritation.

"This is why you should've just summoned him," her Queen sighed.

"Maybe, but he's been pretty gung-ho with his studies ever since we made our contract so I still think it was for the best that I didn't risk interrupting anything," her ears perked up at the sound of the clubroom door opening. "About time."

"Sorry we're late Buchou," her Knight apologized to which she simply waved off his concern.

"It's fine," she took an internal step back upon noticing the disheveled and near zombie-like appearance of her Magician. "Takauji," her brows knitted together.

"I'm Takauji," he replied promptly.

"You haven't been sleeping have you?" Even a goldfish could figure that out just by observing the state of him. Eyebags, bloodshot sclera, a droopy face, the whole shebang.

"My hours were well spent in the pursuit of knowledge, it was worth it."

She rolled her eyes. "I don't know how many times we've been over this, but you really need to start taking better care of your health. Unless you'd rather myself and Akeno babysit you round the clock."

He shuddered at the thought of having his treasured study time interrupted. "You wouldn't dare."

"We would," both leaders of the club responded in unison.

The Devil's have shown their true colors, I should have foreseen such betrayal.

"Fine, I'll cut back one hour a day. Satisfied?"

They turned to each other with deliberating looks on their faces.

"Make it two," Akeno added, to which Rias met with an affirmative hum.

"Now that's just borderline extortion," he complained.

"You're the one who signed the contract," she shrugged innocently. Bringing out the sheet of paper and waving it in front of him.

And boy do I regret it, luckily there's only three days left on it. If I end up making a new one I shall make sure to push for unlimited study time.

"Uhm President, who is this?" An unfamiliar voice spoke, belonging to a young man with spiky chestnut hair wearing his uniform.

"This is our contracted Magician, Ashikaga Takauji, a third-year. And Takauji, this is Issei Hyoudou, a second-year and the new member of my peerage Kiba should have told you about," her Magician approached the Pawn.

"A Magician? Like someone who does card tricks and stuff?" She responded with a chop to his head, causing him to rub his scalp in pain.

"Don't be ridiculous Issei-kun. A Magician is just a term for a human who uses Magic," his expression conveyed a verbal "Ohhhh."

"Sorry about that," he walked up to him and extended his hand. "Nice to meet you, Takauji-senpai."

"It's fine. And likewise, Issei-kun," he clasped his hand tightly, causing his underclassmen to wince a little under his Hairo-powered strength.

"So what does being a contracted Magician mean?" He wondered.

"It means in exchange for providing us with valuable research and his strength, I allow him to make use of my family's resources and my own power base and knowledge in order to support him."

"Yeah I think the strength thing will need to wait, I've only been learning how to use my power for about four days."

"Oh, so you're also a new guy like me? Guess that makes us buds," he smiled.

"Please don't attempt to drag Takauji-senpai into your perverted mannerisms, Issei-senpai. It's unbecoming," Koneko's harsh comment was like a dagger through his heart, causing his shoulders to slouch.

That's the first time I've ever heard her talk.

"You can save the banter for another time, right now I need to teach you about your responsibilities as a Devil, namely your duty to make contracts," Takauji shuddered at the mention of the dreaded c-word.

"Contracts?"

"Mhm. It's one of the requirements you have to meet if you ever want to get promoted and achieve your dream of obtaining a harem," like a switch had been flipped in the back of the Pawn's head, he had suddenly become all eyes and ears.

"Bestow upon me my duty, wise one," he beckoned, causing her lips to twitch nervously.

"To summarize, contracts are basically exchanges between Devils and humans with a strong enough sense of greed to warrant our presence. You'll have to go meet with these people and convince them to enter a contract with you, of course if you have any questions on what can and cannot be granted, as well the prices for certain exchanges then you can just ask me."

"So basically all you need me to do is convince these people to trade with me?"

"That is about the jist of it, yes," she affirmed.

"Easy-peasy, I can already hear my harem calling out to me from the great beyond," he huffed as he struck a confident pose.

"Try not to get too overconfident," she walked over to him and conjured a teleportation circle beneath his feet. "I'll be teleporting you to your first client now, make sure you behave while you're talking with them. You represent our group as a whole when you're on official business."

"Fret not Buchou, if it's for the sake of my dream no one is more serious than I am," she smiled a little, which did not go unnoticed by her Queen.

The teleportation circle continued to brighten as Issei's figure was surrounded by its radiance, the light only disappearing after he had been sent on his way.

Or at least, that was how it was supposed to go.

"Ar-e? What happened?" Issei wondered, confused as to why he was still in the club room.

"Ara ara, it looks like you've run into quite the unfortunate predicament Issei-kun," Akeno giggled with her palm covering her mouth.

"Uh Buchou, a little explanation would be nice right about now."

"Teleportation circles require the person being moved to possess a certain amount of Demonic Power. Actually the prerequisite is so low that even Devil children are capable of passing through it," she said woefully with a hand on her forehead.

"Then, what does that mean for me?"

"It means that your Demonic Power is even weaker than a child's Issei-kun," Takauji's face was quick to turn beet red as he tried not to laugh, still letting a few brief giggles slip through.

Bahahahaha! Low Mana? Can't relate!

"Is that three hours I hear? Takauji," he was quick to shut up. "That's what I thought."

"That can't be… hold on, then how am I supposed to make my contract?" He pleaded.

"It looks like you'll have to go by foot," she admitted.

"Seriously?"

"Seriously, now hurry up. The longer you make your client wait the lower chance you have of them making a contract with you, punctuality is important," his eyes widened as he rushed out the door.

"I refuse to lose my harem!" He yelled as he took off in a full sprint.

"Yuuto-kun, Koneko-chan. I'll send you two off now as well," they nodded as she conjured a teleportation circle beneath them, which actually ended up succeeding.

Now it was just the three of them left in the clubroom.

"I assume that I'm allowed to go as well now?" Takauji asked as he took a step towards the door.

"No, you're staying here," his mood immediately dropped.

What's the difference in treatment? It's because I'm a human isn't it? You're discriminating against my race right? This is clearly a conspiracy to prevent me from enjoying my well-deserved Korean BBQ.

"Fufufu, don't look so grim. We just want to check up on your progress," Akeno said as she motioned for him to come sit beside her. "I even prepared some snacks to make sure you're comfortable."

Unless it's Korean BBQ I'm not interested.

Making no effort to hide the reluctance on his face, he did as they asked and sat down with folded arms alongside a pout on his face.

"I mean if you really want to leave you can but," Akeno reached down and pulled out a thick book. "If you did that I wouldn't know what to do with this textbook on intermediate magic theory I just happen to have laying around, I guess I'd have to give it to someone else." She side-eyed him. "Ah, what a shame."

"Wait wait wait wait wait," he slid towards her. "Let's not do anything rash here shall we?"

"Oh? Are you saying that you are perhaps interested in this book backed by the organization belonging to the great Mephisto Pheles, Ashikaga Takauji?" She said in an exaggerated tone.

"I am indeed interested in that book backed by the organization belonging to the great Mephisto Pheles, Akeno Himejima. As the contracted Magician of your group, I do believe it only natural you hand it to me, wouldn't you agree?"

"Are you now?" She hummed with a finger placed on her lip. "I see reason in your argument, however perhaps complying with our previous request would motivate me to comply with yours."

This bi- I mean woman!

"Well, for starters I finally managed to learn my first spell right before you sent Yuuto-kun to bring me here," their eyes went round as they heard him speak.

"You, already learned a spell?" His contractor felt the need to ask again.

"Yeah."

"Care to demonstrate?" She prompted.

"Sure," he stood up, his Magic Circle appearing in front of him as he took a deep breath. Remembering the still fresh sensation from a few moments ago. "Shamak," the room was quickly covered in obsidian colored smoke.

Both Akeno and Rias were shocked to find themselves unable to properly hone their senses, thanks to their increased resistance as a result of their superior strength they weren't exposed to the full strength of Shamak. But the fact that Takauji's Mana could affect them at all at such an early stage was something to take note of.

"The spell basically distorts the Mana around you, feeding your brain false information about your surroundings, allowing me to get the jump on you," he deactivated the spell before they felt the need to dispel it themselves. "It has quite a few limits, but I'd say it's pretty useful considering the fact that it's supposed to be one of the weakest spells my affinity has."

The lack of information on rare affinities such as Darkness and Light served as a double-edged sword, sure it made it hard for the caster to progress their expertise. But at the same time it meant it was harder for the enemy to form counter-measures for their spells.

"Honestly, I don't know whether I should praise you for progressing this fast or scold you for putting your studies above your health," his contractor brooded.

"Well for starters," he leaned further towards Akeno. His chest pressing against hers as he yoinked the book out of her hands. "I think I've earned this much."

They couldn't help but agree, though his success did nothing to ease their worries about his self-preservation.

"I was planning to give you the book anyways," Akeno confessed. "But could you at least get some proper rest tonight, we're genuinely worried about you if that wasn't already obvious."

We haven't even known each other for a week and you're already getting all sentimental on me. I thought your society valued strength above all else? I fail to see the cause for concern.

He was forced to meet their expecting gazes as he swallowed the urge to click his tongue. Their affiliation was based on a contract making it a business relationship, why did he have to put up with their misplaced worry?

"I planned on enjoying myself a little before you summoned me here anyways, relax," that was about the best he could do as far as reassurance went. "Anyhow, I'll be taking my leave now," he got up from the couch.

"Goodnight," they both said in unison.

He waved at them with his back still facing their direction. "Yeah, goodnight."

"Rias, you were right about his talent. But it won't count for much if we can't do something about his lack of concern for his well-being. Remember what happened when Kiba-kun started acting out a few months ago?"

"Like it was yesterday," she sighed. "But Takauji's going to be a lot harder to handle, setting aside the fact that he's like Sona. I don't think he actually acknowledges our concern to begin with."

Akeno nodded approvingly. "I concur, but maybe that isn't entirely a bad thing."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, why don't we just ask Sona for help? If anyone can get through to him, it'd be her," her point was solid.

"Yeah…"

"You don't want to ask her for help do you?" She inferred by the look on her King's face.

"Not really," she replied.

"I doubt Sona will see this as a way of getting a one-up on you, I mean it's not as if either of you have had experience dealing with a contracted Magician before."

"But it's not really about the position, but rather the person itself isn't it?"

"You have a point."

━━━━━

Looks like Takauji's feeling a little bit of animosity towards his contractor. But is it just a one-off thing? Or cause for genuine concern. Who can say?

 

[Accel14]

10+ Advance Chapters: patreon.com/Accel14
Discord Link: KQAtTw9u7x

━━━━━

"What's got you looking like an overburdened salaryman, Rias?" Her Queen asked as they both remained seated in the clubroom.

The heiress ran her fingers through her hair as she flipped through a list of contacts in front of her. "I'm still trying to find someone who's well-versed in Darkness Magic to act as a tutor for Takauji, but as it turns out there isn't even a single other able practitioner on my contacts to begin with, let alone a teacher."

Only one day remained in his contract, and she felt compelled to find a strong pull in order to keep him around for the long-term.

"To be honest, I don't think getting him an instructor is even necessary at this point," Akeno suggested. "He's figured everything out just with the book knowledge we've supplied him alone, not to toot his horn or anything but maybe a teacher would just slow him down."

"That might be true for now, but once he starts approaching the more advanced topics he's definitely going to need some help," she claimed.

I wonder if that's true.

"If that's the case, you should probably contact Sirzechs-sama for help. He could probably find one if he tried," the chances of a Satan not being able to do something were astronomically low. Especially one as well-connected as the Lucifer.

"You might be right," she admitted with a sigh. "But if I depend on him before that is settled, then it might just restrict my breathing room later on."

"True. But he seems pretty happy with the current arrangement we have going on, so I imagine he'll probably agree to an extension nonetheless," Akeno mused. "However, if you want him to help you out more directly, you could always try making use of a spare piece you have hanging around."

"You mean my Bishop piece?"

"Mhm. Think about it, even if he sticks around as a Contracted Magician he won't be able to join you in the Rating Games. However, it's a different story if he becomes a member of your peerage."

She couldn't deny the logic in the vice-president's argument.

"That's not a bad idea, but if I were to go through with it I'd have to find something else to persuade him with."

"Well, it's just a suggestion at the end of the day. And you've been successful thus far, so I'm sure you'll find a way when it comes down to it," Akeno stood up and casted a teleportation circle beneath herself.

"Where are you going?"

"To go check up on our spectacled friend of course," she smiled faintly.

Her King's brows knitted together. "Come to think of it, you've been getting pretty close with him as of late haven't you?" She asked somewhat accusingly.

"Ara ara, so you're allowed to bed Issei-kun but I can't even go meet Taka? I didn't know my King could be such an unfair woman."

"That's not-" she noticed something. "Wait, since when did you start calling him that?"

"I'll see you later," Akeno dodged the question as she whisked away in a pillar of light.

━━━━━

She reappeared right in the middle of Takauji's living room, noticing that all the lights were off giving the house a fairly doom and gloom feel.

Only one room remained illuminated which was more likely than not his bedroom where he conducted most of his studies.

"Great, he's already back to not sleeping," she sighed as she looked at the time. Unlike her Takauji was in fact not nocturnal and required a lot more rest than her body did.

She walked towards his room, finding him sitting at his desk and hunched over a sea of whiteboards, books, and sticky notes. Not to mention the hoard of study material scattered all over the floor behind him, making the place look like it was riddled with landmines.

Even just by looking at his back, she could already tell that he was in poor shape.

"A-hem," she cleared her throat audibly.

But instead of giving her an outright reply, he reached for a mug and held it up with his back still facing her. "What is this?" His voice was somewhat hoarse.

She raised her brow. "A mug, obviously."

He smiled, squeezing the mug with all his might as Akeno watched it squish together with a flabbergasted expression.

Now the "mug" appeared to be one of the buns he was snacking on.

"Apparently Darkness is pretty well suited to various sorts of Illusion Magic. The one I just used is based of Shamak, but it internally changes the composition of an object to make it only affect sight. And makes use of a new technique I'm studying called Mana Wiring which can give inanimate objects magical properties."

Of course what he just did hardly even counted as the surface of Mana Wiring, the real deal was when people used it to create enhanced weapons and usable items through it, and he was nowhere near that level yet.

"Yes, that's very interesting," she said, only half-listening to him. "But it's almost midnight now, so what you need to be doing is going to bed."

"Tomorrow's Saturday, bed can wait," he slowly turned his head. Facing her with one eye. "Your visit wouldn't happen to have anything to do with my expiring contract?"

"I'm here because you'll self-destruct without someone watching you," he rolled his eyes. "But Rias is indeed interested in extending your contract."

"I see, well you can tell her I don't mind extending it."

"Really? Just like that?" The reassurance she had given her King was just for the sake of keeping her calm, truthfully she didn't know whether Takauji had any interest in elongating it or not.

"Were you expecting me to say no?"

"Honestly I didn't know what you were going to say."

"I see. I like the current arrangement we have going on though, so I don't see any reason not to continue the contract. How long does she want it extended to?"

"She hasn't specified. But do you mind telling me how long you're willing to extend it so I can pass it on to her?"

"I think a month would be good for now?" Akeno couldn't help but wonder where his strength would be in that much time.

"Good to know," she beamed, walking up to him and reaching her hands out.

"What are you doing?"

(Scoop!)

She swiftly picked him up in a princess carry, causing him to stare at her with eyes of pure shock.

"Oi, put me down," he demanded with a not so calm tone. "I'm not done yet."

"Relax, the book isn't going to grow legs and run off."

"Put me down anyways," he pressed.

"No thanks, if you're not going to look after your wellbeing then I suppose I'll just have to do it for you," he continued to glare at her but it did little to affect her resolve.

Rest this, rest that, give it a break will you?

She brought him to the bed and set him down on the mattress.

"This is unnece…unnecesar… mmm." As a result of the immense fatigue his body was currently experiencing, just having his back lay against the bed was more than enough to cause him to immediately fall asleep.

"See? You needed it after all," she chuckled to herself.

Akeno leaned downwards, enjoying the sight of his sound asleep face. "You look much better like this," she muttered. Gently brushing her hand against his face as she placed his glasses on the nightstand.

She picked up the blanket and put it over him, spending a little extra time in his room to clean the mess of equations and formulas littered around his floor.

"I should probably get going now."

Is what she thought upon finishing, but for some reason she found herself at his bedside once more.

"You're a pretty hard worker all things considered, if you were a part of her peerage she'd probably fare a lot better against her odds."

She looked at his hand, clasping it softly as she noticed the bruises that stemmed from the failed casting attempts he had probably experienced.

"Even if you're not doing it for her sake, I think it's still admirable in a way. Everyone has a dream to chase, and I doubt that's any different for you."

Though it wasn't incredibly effective, her Demonic Power still had some faint healing properties which she decided to use on him.

"But I don't know if she'll be able to manage you on her own. I guess it's a good thing I'm here," she enjoyed a little bit of self praise.

"Or maybe I can just take you for myself when I become a High Class Devil. You could probably accomplish a lot with a Queen piece," if he was awake he'd be able to feel her breath on his face as she fiddled with his hair. "I wonder, what is it about you that's endeared me?"

She let go of his hand and continued to stare at him.

"And I wonder if I've endeared you? Call me arrogant, but I can tell you're calmer with me then when you're with them," maybe it was just her own delusion, or the fact that she had spent the most time with him out of the entire Gremory peerage.

But whenever she was alone with Takauji, chiding him for his inability to take care of himself, she felt a different presence from him. One that differed from both his unhinged study-obsessed mindset, and also the more calculative one he had displayed when they first met.

Takauji just seemed to be at ease, even if he wasn't aware of it himself.

She corked her head, putting a finger to her lip as an idea hit her.

"Fufufu, if Rias is allowed to do it then I don't see why I can't." She made a bold decision, sliding into the covers under him as she got a close up look of his face. "I don't mind if you get mad at me later, but I think I deserve to enjoy this after all the work I've put in."

Her arm coiled around his waist as she scooted closer, causing her voluptuous bosom to squish against his arm.

One by one she undid her garments, starting with the ribbon she used to tie her ponytail and then her shirt, skirt, and thigh-highs.

"Oh? I didn't know that you had all this hidden under your shirt, how naughty." She slid her hand under his shirt, surprised to see it ridden with muscle thanks to Hairo. "Actually on second thought that might be a bit much."

Mischief was one thing, straight up assault was another. Granted she had quite literally snuck into his bed with his knowing.

Eh, why sweat the details?

She allowed her head to rest in between his neck and shoulder, a satisfied moan leaving her mouth as she enjoyed the softness of Takauji's bedsheets. The quality of which almost tempted her to steal them for herself.

Almost.

"Sweet dreams, my little weirdo." She pressed her lips against his cheek and closed her eyes.

━━━━━

In a world of illusions, what can be determined as real?

 

[Accel14]

10+ Advance Chapters: patreon.com/Accel14
Discord Link: KQAtTw9u7x

━━━━━

Takauji's eyes begrudgingly opened as rays of sunlight pierced through the blinds covering his window. A groan left his mouth as he came to.

Hold on. Why does my arm feel so, heavy?

Wondering why the right side of his body had been plagued with a sense of numbness, he turned his head.

"What the hell?" He muttered aloud. Shocked by the sight of his contractor's Queen sleeping in the same bed as him, and completely naked to boot.

Her arms were coiled tightly around his waist like a snake, and her legs interlocked with his. Akeno's bear-like grip made it seem as if she was using him as a body-pillow.

"Oi, wake up." Takauji withdrew his arm from the confines of her cleavage and gently shoved her head. Eager to retrieve the sense of feeling in his arm.

"Mmmfff… five more minutes." She moaned while still half-asleep. Pushing herself even closer towards him as her hold grew strong enough to make him wince.

"In five more minutes you're going to push all the oxygen out of my lungs. Come on now, wakey wakey." He tried to free himself for her clutches, but her subconscious strength proved to be too much for him to handle.

Fine, if that's how you want to play it.

He moved his head closer to her neck, with a plan in mind to get himself out of bed.

(Chomp!)

"KYA~!" She jolted out of her slumber as she felt his teeth playfully chomp down on her exposed clavicle. "Mou… what was that for?" She pouted as she rubbed her now sore spot.

"You're the one who decided to sneak into my bed, blame yourself." He huffed as he sat upright. "Speaking of which, why exactly are you in my bed?"

"Just felt like it," she smiled as she rested her chin against her palm.

"Uh-huh," he didn't seem convinced. "And why aren't you wearing any clothes?"

"Just felt like it," part of him was tempted to just slug her off his mattress. "Besides, you don't seem to hate it."

"You using my bed doesn't bother me that much, but trying to constrict me to death does," he rubbed his almost bruised abdomen.

"Ara? Is that an okay to use your bed whenever I like?" She basically ignored the latter half of his comment.

"Do as you please," he shrugged.

Akeno on the other hand seemed elated, grabbing her phone and snuggling up to him as she took a picture of them.

"What was that for?"

"I need a new wallpaper, is that a problem?" Now she had a good tool just in case she planned to tell anyone he was hands off.

"No, I suppose not. Now put on some clothes before you catch a cold." He got out of bed, having to crawl over Akeno who was reluctant to leave in order to reach his glasses.

"Devil's don't catch colds."

"The same goes for idiots," she pouted.

"That's no way to talk to a lady," she folded her arms together as they pushed her exposed chest upwards. "Now come here and give your classmate a good morning kiss," Akeno held her hands out towards him.

"No thanks, you haven't even bought me dinner yet." He rejected the advance, letting out a hearty yawn as he went to the bathroom to freshen himself up.

Are all Devil women this strange? Actually it's probably just her now that I think of it.

"You're no fun," she relented. Stretching her arms as she finally decided to get out of bed. "Oh, I just remembered we don't have school today," she looked at her sprawled out uniform on the floor. "Hey, can I use your clothes?"

"As long as you don't touch my Dragon Ball pajamas, sure."

She raised a brow as she went up to his wardrobe, opening it only to find a set of pajamas with Goku plastered on them.

"Why do you even have this?"

"It's Goku. Why wouldn't I have it?" Any man who claimed to be a man and didn't like Goku, was in fact no man at all.

"It looks like something Issei-kun would wear," she remembered him screaming "Kamehameha!" when he first activated his Sacred Gear.

"If that's the case then he's a respectable man," if only he knew. "What's with that look on your face?" She seemed about ready to break into a nervous chuckle.

"It's… nothing," she replied awkwardly.

"If you say so," he shrugged. Washing his face with a towel and walking towards the kitchen. "You hungry?"

"Now that's how a lady ought to be treated," she smiled. Wearing one of his shirts that struggled to contain her chest. "What are you making?"

"Pancakes."

She walked up behind him, grabbing him by the waist as she leaned forward with her head on his shoulders. Almost like a married couple.

"Smells good," she complimented. Making a relaxed face as to her surprise, he made no attempt to push her off. Even though the true reason behind it was that Takauji knew he was incapable of suppressing her gorilla strength.

For now at least.

"And tastes good as well," having lived alone ever since he entered High School. Takauji had quite a bit of practice when it came to cooking.

"Thanks," he finished his plate in a matter of seconds as a result of having only eaten snacks lately. "Anyhow, I'm going to get back to work. You should probably get going as well."

"Ara, you want me to leave?" She pretended to act hurt.

"Like I said, do as you like, you're the one who created a summon point in my house without my knowing after all." He returned to his room as she hummed to herself.

"Uh-oh," upon turning her phone off silent mode, she was met with an onslaught of missed calls from her King. All because she had told Rias that she would "see her later". "Maybe I really should get going," she summoned a teleportation circle and returned to the clubroom.

━━━━━

An uncounted amount of time had passed, and Takauji was still glued to the seat of his room as he spun his marker in between his fingers. Studying up on his Illusion Magic.

"That's quite troublesome. Even if I manage to successfully make someone believe another person is someone else, as long as they verbally remind the person of their identity before anything happens. The illusion will most likely end."

That alone added a number of variables to whether he'd be able to successfully make use of the art or not.

First, he would have to make sure he does it quickly enough. Second, he'd have to make sure the situation was such that the wait time between the cast and his expected result wouldn't be overly delayed. And lastly, he would still have to take into account the level of his opponent.

The more magically-able a person was, the more resistance they'd have to Illusion Magic, sometimes even making them invulnerable to it if the difference between Takauji and his opponent was large enough.

"In other words, if my decision making when using the spell isn't done within a split-second. I will fail." If he could make an enemy think their ally was him during a fight, he could quite literally win battles without even having to move a muscle.

The only actual thing he could do to progress the art before he needed to deploy it, was to reduce his casting time as much as possible. Magic was a game of subtraction after all.

He set the book of spells aside, bringing in another one that had been newly added to his collection.

They gave me this on a whim, but who would've figured that it held the answer to a majority of my problems?

It was an encyclopedia of all the known encounters logged in the "Familiar Forest", which is where Devil's went to make a pact with their familiars/servants.

These creatures each held a variety of abilities, whether it was catered to offensive, defense, mobility, recon. You name it, there was a familiar for it.

But there was one problem standing in his way in particular.

Only Devil's were allowed to enter the forest, also it wasn't known whether he could even form a pact with a familiar from that forest as a human if he did somehow manage to gain access.

He flipped through the pages until he arrived at his bookmark.

[Cursed Eyes - Parasitic Type Familiar.]

[This Familiar is known for the potent miasma made from Demonic Power of the Darkness variety. It takes the form of a shadow blob that moves around the southern side of the forest at a slow pace, they each have a set of two amethyst colored eyes that move around freely in their goo-like body.]

[In order to make a pact with this creature, one must allow it to enter their brain stem through either of their orifices. Upon doing so, it will begin to fuse itself with the host. Granting them significantly heightened processing speed, heightened regeneration, enhanced eyesight, improved reflexes, and bolstered physical prowess.]

[It has not been tested yet whether there are additional benefits given to those who have the same affinity as the creature.]

[Making a pact with this Familiar bears a huge risk. Allowing it to inhabit and mesh with one's brain could result in a failed merging because of a host's lackluster strength, which would lead to the host either losing all rationality until their brain implodes, or allow the familiar to take over the host's body entirely.]

[Editorial Note: Parasitic familiars should be used for light testing at most, the risk is not worth the reward when it comes to making a pact with them. No matter how enticing they may sound on paper, trust me.]

[Should the host be successful, the creature will lose all sentience, effectively dying and living on only as a part of the host's genetic code. The host will then have a set of smaller eyes appear beneath their actual one's, which can be controlled at will to improve their sharpness of vision, and field of view.]

"To think it would have a Darkness affinity," he smiled as he placed his hand on the picture of the creature. "I am destined to have this, I can feel it."

Even if he wasn't able to absorb the creature, he felt the need to try nonetheless, even if it resulted in his demise.

"Maybe I should ask her to reincarnate me? No, on second thought it's too early to go that far. There's still time before the forest opens according to this. I should first try to find some favor with her in order to persuade her to let me go. I'm sure her family's influence could pull a few strings for me."

He leaned back into his seat, looking at the ceiling in deep thought.

"Should I strongarm her with the contract renewal? But even if that succeeds, it'll sour the relationship from that point onwards. Am I willing to make such a compromise?"

The answer was no, he was not yet strong enough to become self-reliant.

"Wait a minute, didn't she say that there were some troublemakers in Kuoh? If I can find a way to get rid of them, surely that should give me the leverage I need."

That course of action seemed a lot more feasible.

"The problem is, I don't know who or where these troublemakers are. I'd rather not elicit suspicion by asking her out of the blue either." He continued to rock back and forth in his chair, deliberating on how he should proceed.

"Wait, rather than using the contract as a strongarm. Maybe I could use it as the solution itself?" He thought of a stipulation he could add, one that was actually written in her favor rather than his. "Yeah, that should work."

He had decided on his course of action.

━━━━━

Sukuna x Aizen. What could possibly go wrong?

 

[Accel14]

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Discord Link: KQAtTw9u7x

━━━━━

Today was the day, he was going to discuss the renewal of his contract with Rias Gremory. And plant the seeds that would be necessary for him to obtain the Parasitic Familiar he coveted.

For once he had actually taken Akeno's advice to heart and rested properly by his own volition. Making him appear significantly more rejuvenated than usual.

He ensured that his hair was combed neatly, and his glasses wiped squeaky clean.

"This should do."

Since it was Sunday school was off, so instead of his uniform he decided to wear a well-ironed dress shirt and black slacks, accompanied by his thoroughly polished loafers.

"Even if I'm doing this for my own ambition and greed, it's not as if this will be a disservice to her. On the contrary, if all goes according to plan this will only serve to her benefit in the long run."

Although he had already taken a shower, he opted to put on a bit of deodorant just for good measure.

"Now then, time to face the music."

He stepped into his living room, prepared to head out the front door before he noticed a presence starting to appear behind him.

"A teleportation circle? I wasn't expecting them to come to me, how unfortunate. I could've flattered them by arriving earlier than they had anticipated."

Three figures had appeared through the circle.

Two of which he had expected, being his contractor and her Queen.

"Why are you here?" However, it appeared that he didn't quite enjoy the presence of the third.

A bespectacled young woman entered through the circle, with black hair fashioned into a bob cut and violet eyes just like Akeno's.

"When I heard that you had become her contracted Magician I was beside myself at first, but lo and behold it turned out to be true." She was Souna Shitori, the Student Council President of Kuoh Academy.

"You know each other?" Rias questioned.

"Know each other, is an understatement." Takauji replied with an audibly bitter tone.

"Don't look so grim Ashikaga-kun, now you'll be able to lose to me even after you graduate." She said with a venomous smile.

"First of all, Shitori-san. I'm up one point as of last week. And secondly, you still haven't told me why I have to put up with the displeasure of having your feet sully the sanctity of my floorboard."

The two of them were long time exam score rivals, ever since they were first-years. They constantly allocated points against one another whenever they scored higher in their exams, but because they both shared an equal amount of pride in their intellect, the rivalry between them had become fairly hostile to say the least.

"Oh please, I doubt it could get any more rotten if you've been stepping on it your whole life. You could probably cut the flooring up and sell it as radioactive material if you so wished."

You could basically see the sparks of electricity clashing between their steeled gazes, causing the other two present in the room to become increasingly uncomfortable as time went by.

"That's enough you two," Rias intervened. "Listen, I'm glad you guys are having your little reunion and all, but right now I'm here to discuss Takauji's contract. So it will have to wait."

"Indeed, we are here to discuss my contract." He turned to her. "So pray tell, why must she disgrace me with her existence?"

"Because Sona like me, is a Devil." He was taken aback. "And on top of that she's the heiress of her household like me, as well as the person sharing ownership of Kuoh alongside me."

"I see, that probably explains why this town has been having problems as of late." Takauji spat. "The title of Devil suits you well, Shitori-san." He responded with some venom of his own.

"I'll take that as a compliment, after all I can't deny the pleasure I get from torturing you."

Rias cleared her throat in order to gain their attention. "Didn't I say that was enough?" They both just silently glared at one another.

"Good. Now then, first I ought to apologize for appearing without telling you. But I thought it rude to make you walk all the way over to the clubroom."

Takauji forced himself to plaster on his usual smile.

"There's no need to apologize, actually I'm thankful that you would hold me in such regard." Sona wanted to refute, but as a friend she didn't want to get in Rias's way.

"I see. Shall we take a seat?" She motioned to the couch.

"Of course. Can I get you two anything to eat or drink?"

"No, we're quite alright. But thank you." He nodded as he sat down opposite to Rias and Sona, with Akeno sitting down next to him.

I'll have to buy a new couch later today. Don't want her germs giving everyone who enters my house e-coli after all.

"I know you're not one for beating around the bush so I'll just cut to the chase. You said you were willing to extend the contract to a month?" She seeked to confirm.

"That is correct."

"That's pleasing to hear. But I noticed you didn't request any added stipulations from me?"

"That is also correct, honestly speaking I'm quite satisfied with the material you've been supplying me. And I'd like this arrangement to continue for the time-being, but."

"But?"

"There is one small clause I'd like to add to the contract," Sona's ears perked up.

"And what would that be?" Rias raised her brow.

"I want to add a condition where any members of your peerage may request to summon me," everyone in the room found the clause quite random. "Of course that means I get to choose whether I answer it or not."

Rias narrowed her eyes, playing close attention to his face which seemed to display no oddities.

Obviously she found the request somewhat suspicious, but not nearly as much if he had asked to make it so he could teleport to any of the members if he wanted to.

"I must confess, I don't quite understand why you'd make such a request. Could you explain your reasoning to me?"

Takauji smiled internally. He would now use a present truth to conceal a future lie.

"Well. if I remember correctly you did inform me once that you were experiencing trouble with some sort of group in Kuoh." She still hadn't let him in on what was going on, whether for good or bad purposes he knew not.

"Mhm."

"And, I figured that I may be able to be of use should they find themselves in a pickle of sorts." Sona could tell that he was being truthful, but that only confused her all the more. This attitude was not in line with her image of Takauji.

"I appreciate the sentiment, and don't mean any offense. But right now your strength is still underdeveloped, are you sure you'll be able to help should one of my members find themselves in the pickle?"

Sona breathed a constrained chuckle.

And Takauji, and open one. "You misunderstand me, I am by no means doubting the strength of your subordinates nor overestimating that of my own. But as you know Darkness Magic proves quite useful as support, and like the spell I've shown you. It could surely turn the tides of a battle if used correctly."

He made sure to speak calmly, preventing himself from appearing arrogant.

"Indeed, you have a point. But you're basically giving me more in exchange for you elongating the contract. I find it hard to see reason in your abrupt generosity." Even she could tell something wasn't right.

And he had expected as much.

"Then let's even the table, you're Knight is quite the skilled swordsman is he not?"

"That he is."

"Then have him become my instructor," he had read that weapons worked in tandem with Darkness Magic, so there really wasn't any reason to not take advantage of someone proficient in them who happened to work for his contractor.

"You wish to learn swordplay? Now that's surprising." Her eyes rounded. "But it is something I can arrange, are there any more terms you wish to add?"

Asking for too much or too little and you'll be outed, balance between what was lost and what was gained was key when it came to negotiations on even ground.

"Splendid. I suppose that means we have a deal," he extended his hand to which she returned the gesture.

"I suppose we do," she conjured her contract. Adding down the added clauses and handing it towards him to sign.

Takauji firmly embedded his name into the slip of paper, officially starting the one month relationship between Rias Gremory and himself, a month that would determine how their relationship proceeded as the contractor and the contracted from this point onwards.

"Yuuto-kun takes swordsmanship very seriously, so you'll need to be at the clubroom first thing after school." She advised.

"Understood." They all stood up as Takauji waved them goodbye while they left his abode through a teleportation circle.

At least that was how it was supposed to go.

"Sona?" Rias noticed she wasn't going with them.

"I'd like to stay and chat with him for a bit if that's alright with you," their relationship taken into account, Rias wasn't exactly in a position to tell her no when it came to things like this.

"Very well," she replied with a tinge of hesitation. "Just try not to do anything rash."

"Who do you think you're talking to? I know that much." Rias had never seen this side of Sona in spite of knowing her basically all her life, but she could tell right now wasn't the time to question it.

"Alright," Akeno and Rias made their departure.

And the exact millisecond they were gone, Takauji completely dropped any and all pleasantries found in his expression.

"What do you want?"

"I should be asking you that. Just what type of scheme are you cooking up against Rias?"

He laughed. "Even if I was scheming, why on earth do you think I'd tell you of all people?"

Sona paused for a bit. "I expected as much, but listen to me closely when I say this," she looked him dead in the eye with a virulent look. "If you so much as become the cause for a scratch on Rias in any way, shape, or form, I will kill you."

Her aura flared to life, pressuring the atmosphere itself as a dangerous glint shone through her pupils.

"Empty threats from an empty woman," but to her surprise. He wasn't affected in the least, not because of his strength, but rather because of his immortal level of confidence as of now. "Threats themselves are just a result of one's inability to take action."

He stepped closer even with her aura still active, a burning sensation coursing through his skin as he ignored the pain.

"Don't test me, even if it came with some backlash I'm not opposed to putting you down where you stand if it would ensure her wellbeing in the future," she was dead-serious.

"Unlike you, I'm not ignorant. I know your strength exceeds mine both physically and politically, but fearing your strength would be a form of admiration. And admiration is the farthest thing from comprehension, so I will not grant you that luxury."

They stood only centimeters away from each other, his common sense telling him to retreat, but his will refused to listen.

"If you want to kill me just do it. The less I have to look at you the better," a stare off ensued. Lasting for a good few breaths before Sona ultimately relented.

"This is your one and only warning, I suggest you treasure it." She glared at him before making her departure, not even interested in hearing his response if he had one.

But he merely sighed as he looked up at the ceiling.

"Foolish girl, if I were to genuinely scheme against anyone. It would be you, not her." He returned to his room, eager to continue his studies. "After all, I loathe you just as you do me."

━━━━━

Doubt most of you were expecting Sona and Takauji to have been old rivals.

I thought it would be a fun little addition, where the "intellectual" characters would be at odds with one another because of their pride.

Word Count: 2081

10+ Advance Chapters: patreon.com/Accel14

 

[Accel14]

10+ Advance Chapters: patreon.com/Accel14

Discord Link: KQAtTw9u7x

━━━━━

"And that's the jist of it, Yuuto-kun." She explained the contents of the contract to her Knight, to which he nodded attentively with a content look on his face.

"I see, very well. I don't mind teaching Takauji-senpai if that is what he wishes." He looked at the Magician. "But I must warn you, I have no intention to give you any special treatment regardless of your position."

"I wasn't expecting any to begin with," Kiba approved of his attitude.

Akeno spoke up. "Kiba-kun, you'll be in full control of how you choose to instruct him. So make sure you set a schedule for yourselves when you have time, it's important you ensure that he manages his time properly. Especially his rest."

He pretended not to notice her glare, shrugging as if it had nothing to do with him.

"Understood, Akeno-senpai." Even he couldn't help but sport a faint smile, knowing full well what she was talking about. "Takauji-senpai, you should probably change into something easier to move in for the time being, you can meet me at the grass pitch once you're ready."

"Will do."

He went to his locker, putting on his school tracksuit and switching into a pair of white trainers. Then proceeding to do a few warm up stretches Hairo had taught him before going to meet the Gremory Knight in the grassy field outside.

Stretching was vital to avoid muscle damage after all.

"If you don't mind me asking before we start, could you tell me why you're interested in swordsmanship? Honestly I thought you would rather spend all your time immersing yourself in your Magic studies."

"You're not wrong," he confessed. "However, if there's one thing I've learned about Darkness Magic it's that it's only a passive art on paper. In practice, it requires the user to be extremely aggressive if they want to make good use of it. That's why I need something that'll enable me to engage in close quarters combat."

Kiba found his explanation intriguing. "I see, but why swordsmanship in particular? There are plenty of other schools of combat you could pursue."

"Just a hunch," he said with a quaint simper.

"Haha, who can argue with that?" He tossed him a sword made of dried bamboo.

"The first thing you need to learn is how to hold your Shinai properly," he listened attentively as Kiba approached him so he could watch his form. "You are right handed correct?"

"Yes."

"Alright, with your left hand hold the bottom of the hilt," Takauji did as asked. "Good, now with your right hand hold it right below the guard like you're giving it a handshake."

"Like this?"

"Good, now squeeze." He could feel the strength of his grip on the sword's hilt, giving him a good sense of control over the training weapon. "Now you need to find your footing, start by planting your left foot in front of your right."

He followed Kiba's instructions.

"Then straighten your back, it's important you don't let your body wobble when you're holding your Shinai." Kiba grabbed his shoulders, adjusting his posture accordingly. "Alright now raise your sword above your head, but make sure your right hand doesn't drop below your left at any point. Otherwise you'll end up poking your behind." He said with a chuckle.

"Is this alright?"

"Mhm, now perform a vertical swing. But make sure you're in control of your Shinai throughout the motion, you wouldn't want a blade logged in your kneecap or anything."

"No, I wouldn't." Takauji swung, looking at Kiba to see if he had succeeded or failed. But the latter's face told him little.

"Alright, now watch me do it." Kiba performed a swing of his own. "Did you notice anything different?" Active learning was arguably the best form of learning.

Takauji took a moment to think, having noticed one discrepancy between them.

"The sound?" Kiba's swing made the sharp sound of the Shinai cutting through the wind, whereas his swing seemed noticeably more dull in comparison.

"Correct, and do you know why the sounds our swings made were different?"

"If I had to guess, I'd probably say it's because of the firmness between us." He concluded.

"Correct again, your problem is that you lean into your movements too much. Flexibility does have a role in swordsmanship, but that comes later. Right now all you need to do is master the basics, then you can go about creating your own style and all that flashy stuff."

He honestly couldn't care less about whether he was flashy or not, it just had to be effective. That was all that mattered.

Kiba looked at his wrist. "I probably need to start meeting with my clients which will take about 2-3 hours give or take. Until then I want you to focus on nothing but getting this vertical swing down. Think you can do that?"

"No problem," he immediately got to work.

And as he continued to work away at his swordplay training, his brain subconsciously started to dissect the factors that he needed to hone in order to get a good swing.

First was form, if your form wasn't good then you'd just end up tripping over your own incompetence.

Second was strength, if you didn't control your strength properly you'd either create a swing that was too weak, or a swing that was too strong to the point where you just ended up stabbing yourself in the leg.

He had noticed that whenever the pressure on his right hand felt too great upon bringing his sword downwards, he would lose control of the swing.

And thirdly, was posture. The position of your hands, feet, shoulders, back and arms. All played key roles in whether you would be effective or not.

Even if just one of these body parts were out of order, he would fail.

All he could really do at this point, was continue to chip away at the same motion until he managed to execute it properly.

━━━━━

The day was relatively ordinary for Rias, she was simply relaxing to some anime in the club room as per usual. Enjoying a set of snacks and beverages her Queen had prepared for him.

"He actually was serious about learning swordsmanship," she mused. Looking outside the window briefly at the training figure of her contracted Magician. "I guess I was worried for nothing."

"Maybe he's aiming to become a Magic Swordsman?" Akeno suggested.

"That's possible, but if it's true he's in for quite the challenge. Having to learn both spell-craft and swordplay from scratch at the same time isn't going to be easy."

Her Queen sighed. "Nothing he tries to do is easy, for better or for worse."

That's why I need to watch over him, so he doesn't end up actually hurting himself.

"At least his work ethic is good, though I wished he'd come to us for help more often. Come to think of it, despite me offering it he hasn't asked for any direct tutoring from us until now has he?"

"He hasn't," Akeno confirmed as she raised her teacup. "But I don't think it's because he has a lack of faith in us or anything."

"Then?"

"From what I've seen, I'm fairly certain it's just because he hasn't considered the prospect to begin with."

Rias lifted an eyebrow. "Elaborate."

"When he's studying Magic at least, his brain is like a speeding train with only one track and no brakes. Once he's decided on something he'll just push at it until he gets it, he sees anything besides that as a distraction. Or in simpler terms, he's stubborn."

That wasn't a hard statement to agree on.

"I see, but aren't you glossing over something Akeno?"

"Hm?"

"The only time he's studied at the clubroom was the day after we made the contract, after that he's been studying exclusively at his house up-till now," her eye twitched as she looked at her Queen. "And in order for you to know that, you'd also have to have been at his house."

Akeno had a wry smile on her face. "And what if I was? Someone has to look after him right?"

"I know that. But is that really all you were doing?" She pressed.

"Who can say?" She had a suggestive smile on her face.

And before Rias could continue to dig for answers, she was met with a transmission from her Knight.

"Yuuto-kun?"

"Buchou, it's urgent. I need you to teleport to my location immediately, and if Akeno-senpai is with you, bring her along as well."

By the tone of his voice, whatever was going on seemed urgent.

"Hold on, first tell me what's going on."

"It really is better you see it for yourself, I insist."

By the sound of things Kiba didn't seem intent on relenting. "Very well, stay put. We're coming over to you now." Akeno looked at her with a questioning face.

"Is something the matter?"

"I'm not sure," she replied with a tense expression. "Apparently something's happened on Yuuto-kun's end, and he wants us to come over to him."

"Then we best not keep him waiting, he isn't one for jokes." They both gathered and teleported to the Knight's location.

"Well?" Rias asked, facing him in the confines of what seemed to be an ordinary looking apartment. Save for the pungent stench of metal in the air.

"Look," he pointed to the wall. Causing the two Devil's to hold their breath as they witnessed the gruesome scene before them.

Stapled onto the wall were the limbs of an older woman, each nailed in different locations as if to make it appear like a crucifixion of sorts. Blood was scattered all over the room, signs of brief struggle shown by the markings on the floorboard.

"That's my client," Kiba admitted with clenched fists. "She tried to forcefully summon me out of nowhere while I was dealing with a different one, so I went to investigate. But by the time I arrived, it was too late."

That much was obvious.

"And it looks like whoever did it, left us a message." Rias scowled, looking at the bloody writing on the wall that read, Death to the heretics, torment for their benefactors.

"This definitely has something to do with the Fallen Angel's that attacked Issei-kun," Akeno stated. Earning a nod from her companions. "But to think they would go so far as to target our clients, truly despicable."

"I concur," Kiba said, turning to his King. "What should we do about this?"

"This is clearly an outright declaration of war against us, so we'll start preparing for a direct confrontation with them immediately. Yuuto-kun, when we get back I need you to tell Takauji that he'll be responsible for keeping an eye on Issei-kun for the time being."

Kiba seemed confused. "You want Takauji-senpai to watch him?"

"Yeah, since I've been sending him to speak with clients as of late they probably know that he's still alive. I imagine they're going to send one of their goons to dispatch them while he's unguarded."

"I understand that much, but why Takauji-senpai? I mean no disrespect but isn't he still a little bit green to be fighting them? Why not send me instead?"

"No, I need you ready to fight their main circle once they appear. Obviously if they decide to send more firepower than expected against Issei-kun then you are free to intervene."

He nodded affirmatively. "Understood."

━━━━━

Takauji wasn't sure how many times he repeated the same action. But in truth, it really didn't matter to him. What he was doing now wasn't all that different from when he was studying Magic after all.

Trial and error, trial and error, and then some more trial and error. It was all the same to him, and he was more than willing to endure it.

Power came at a price, and he would pay up with a smile on his face.

"Mm, the sound your swing makes has already improved quite a bit. Good work." He had been so immersed in his training, that he hadn't even noticed the Knight approaching him, wearing some sort of purple sling carry case on his back.

"Thanks. But judging by the look on your face, you're not interested in my swordplay right now." He keenly observed.

"That is correct, this may come as a bit of a shock to you but Buchou has an assignment for you." On the contrary, he seemed calm as ever.

"That was indeed a part of our contract. What does she require of me?"

"Are you familiar with Fallen Angels?" He shook his head. "I see, in short they're basically Angels that have fallen from the grace of God by giving in to their own temptations, or evil Angels for simplicity sake."

"Angels and Devils, how poetic."

"They've been responsible for a couple acts of hostility against us as of late, and now we're worried that they're going to be a lot more open about their animosity."

"Oh, that's terrible."

"Indeed, and we're worried they're going to go after Issei while we're not around. So she would like you to act as a guard for him, at least for now."

"Me? Not to be self-deprecating, but I'm not exactly the toughest nail she has at her disposal. Furthermore I have absolutely no combat experience to my name."

"I brought up that concern with her, but it seems she has a great deal of faith in you." He said, not actually knowing what her motive was for electing him.

Which Takauji could see as clear as day.

"Well then who am I to betray the expectations of my contractor? I'll gladly accept." Kiba shot a half-smile his way as he tossed the carry case towards him.

"What might this be?"

"Open it and find out," Takauji reached into the silk-laden case, pulling out what looked to be a finely smithed Katana with an emerald colored and diamond patterned hilt. "Honestly speaking, you aren't nearly ready to use that thing. But if there's a chance that you're going to run into a Fallen Angel, I'd rather you have it on you anyways."

"I appreciate it," he bowed politely. "I'll make sure to take good care of it."

"Properly looking after one's weapon is another skill a swordsman should possess," he said. "You'll be briefed on everything you need to know first thing tomorrow."

"Then I shall be there punctually."

Kiba nodded approvingly as he walked away.

To think such an opportunity would just fall into my lap like this, whomever you "Fallen Angels" happen to be. You have my gratitude.

━━━━━


Taka has finally got his hands on "Kyoka Suigetsu". I wonder if he'll actually manage to turn it into a special weapon?

Word Count: 2470

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[Accel14]

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Discord Link: KQAtTw9u7x

━━━━━

Night had long since fallen, and the sun would soon make its appearance. But Takauji was still hard at work, studying in his backyard instead of his room this time.

And also barefoot, for some reason.

I see, when you channel Mana into your foot you're not performing a continuous action in order to increase your speed. But rather you're doing bursts in order to cover distances in a short amount of time. It sounds simple on paper, but in practice it's a rather tricky technique to learn.

He had decided to take a small break from practicing Darkness Magic, and opted to spend a little time working on some seemingly useful non-affinity spells.

The one he was working on now was known as "Mana Step", a movement technique that required one to learn how to use a spell that exuded Mana internally rather than externally.

The reason he didn't have any footwear on at the moment, is that the spell was easier to learn when you could actually feel the ground you were moving on with the bottom of your feet.

According to the book, it made it easier to get a sense for how much Mana you were supposed to inject into your feet muscles.

"Alright, let's give this a try."

Mana started to travel from his core into the tendons of his feet, spreading itself evenly as he felt the temperature of his muscles drop ever so slightly.

This seems about right.

He closed his eyes, continuing to optimize the channeling of Mana until he felt satisfied with it.

It's now or never.

Takauji took a step forwards and,

(Crash!)

Ended up falling head first into the pile of bushes in his garden. Swallowing a handful of dirt in the progress which he spat out instantly, and sticking out his tongue as he tried to spit the taste out.

That… hurts like hell. My head would've probably exploded like a watermelon if it hit the fence.

There was a reason having a teacher was important, and he had just experienced it first hand.

Clearly I used too much Mana, let's try toning things down a bit this time.

One issue that came with his abnormally high amount of Mana, was the fact that keeping it under control at times could be problematic. Resulting in him overdoing spells like Shamak, or making his illusions appear not as he had intended.

With a groan, he hauled himself to his feet out from the foliage of his garden. Dusting himself off and picking the bits of grass that now clung to his shirt.

This time he tried reducing the amount of Mana he poured into his feet, taking a deep breath and preparing himself for his second attempt.

Eh?

But this time, he hadn't moved at all. Quickly coming to the realization that the amount of Mana he had used was too little to even move the weight of his body.

Ok, now I've toned it down too much. I need to find a balance between these two extremes.

Luckily Darkness Magic required him to develop a solid level of control over his Mana input and output, so it didn't take long for him to attain what he believed to be the right amount of Mana in his feet.

Third time's the charm.

Success!

The corners of his mouth stretched as he managed to cover the entire distance of his garden without eating soil, causing him to praise himself internally as he basked in his accomplishment momentarily.

But this is just a basic application, after this I need to figure out how to move in other directions than just a straight line. And I should also probably look for a way to imbue my affinity into Mana Step.

With Darkness Magic's exceptional ability to hide and disguise things, he could only imagine what it could do in conjunction with such a handy movement technique.

If only I had that Familiar, I'd probably be able to just figure it out right this instant. No matter, all will come in due time.

He picked up the book on attunement-less spells from the ground, carrying it back to his bedroom as he decided to make use of what little time he had left to get some shut-eye.

He would be playing bodyguard for Issei once school ended after all, and it was also possible that he would have his first ever confrontation against a supernatural being.

How exciting.

How truly exciting.

━━━━━

Everyone had gathered around the clubroom, Takauji stood the furthest from the group as Issei was smack dab in the middle. Currently receiving a fairly stern talking to by his master for something that had gone down yesterday.

"Issei-kun, you approaching a church like that so brazenly was basically attempted suicide! Devils and Exorcists are like oil and water, you have no idea how lucky you are that you weren't killed on the spot."

She took a deep breath as her Pawn's shoulders slumped, waiting a bit before she continued to vent her frustration.

"I can't revive you twice, if you had died there then I would have lost you for good. Do you have any idea just how worried I was?" Her voice was soft, but it did nothing to diminish the honesty in her words.

Greed and empathy at the same time, it's almost like she's a two-faced spirit. What an interesting contractor I have.

"I'm… sorry," Issei replied with his head down.

"As you should be," Rias pulled him into a hug. Pushing his face into her bosom. "Promise me you'll never go near the church again, or that nun girl either."

Issei felt the words getting caught in his throat, trying to leave his mouth but failing.

"But Asia is…"

"Promise me," she repeated sternly.

He found himself falling silent, but he could tell that his King wouldn't release him until she got a satisfactory answer.

I would say she's manipulating him, but this seems a bit too genuine, and excessive as well. Don't tell me, is she unintentionally manipulative?

If that's so, I might need to reconsider my approach.

"I promise," he finally found the strength to tell her. But whether he would keep that promise or not was uncertain from Takauji's perspective.

"Good," she heaved a sigh of relief. "Now, it's time for you to get back to working on your contracts. And while it's all well and good that you're receiving positive feedback from your clients. Do try to actually get their signature this time."

He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "Ahaha… will do."

Believe it or not, he wasn't inspiring a whole lot of confidence at the moment.

"Also, Takauji will be going with you as you make your rounds. So make sure you work together in case any trouble comes your way."

"Takauji-senpai will? But won't clients find it weird if a human is following along," he turned to him. "No offense by the way."

"None taken," he smiled warmly. "I promise not to get in the way, honestly I'm fine with just waiting outside while you do your runs if need be."

"No, you don't have to go that far. As long as you don't try to sabotage me or anything I think all should be well," Issei said.

"In that case, shall we get going?"

━━━━━

"I think this is the place," Issei and Takauji had arrived at what looked to be a fairly ordinary looking house. "Guess I'll just ring the doorbell."

Right as Issei was about to press the button, Takauji grabbed him by the shoulder and pointed to the front entrance.

"Takauji-senpai?"

"It's unlocked," he stated with a grim expression. Feeling an eerie chill crawl down his spine as he unsheathed his Katana.

"You're right…" Issei said, just as nervous. "Do you think something happened to the client?"

"Clearly. But there's only one way to find out for certain." He narrowed his eyes, walking in front of his underclassmen as he carefully inspected every nook and cranny of the house as they went inside.

All the lights had been turned off, save for a single room at the end of the first floor.

"I don't sense any humans inside," Issei stated.

"Me neither," he affirmed. "Keep on your toes, something might be about to go down." Takauji's gut churned as the foreboding sense in his abdomen strengthened.

Once they were only inches away from the doorway of the room, Issei decided to call out.

"Uh… I'm a Devil with the Gremory household… are you here client-san?"

There was no response. Only an eerie silence remained.

And then they stepped into the room.

(CHILLS)

"Now that isn't quite what I expected," both Takauji's and Issei's eyes were glued to the wall.

A corpse.

There was a corpse on the wall.

It had been nailed into the concrete, hung upside down with an array of vicious wounds all over its skin and torn limbs.

Issei vomited. Puking up everything he had eaten that day as he tried to avoid the stench by covering his nose.

Screws had been used to fixate the cadaver to the wall, arranged to make the shape of an upside down cross. And what looked to be a giblet coming out from its wounds.

"... Why would someone… do something like this… ?" Issei felt the need to ask, coughing a little after he regurgitated.

"If I had to guess, it's probably to send a message of some kind," he didn't seem to pick up on the rhetoric. "A bit sloppy though if you ask me."

"Oya oya, do I hear a filthy Devil collaborator insulting my masterpiece?" Footsteps started to come down the stairs. "Good grief, what level of arrogance must you have to think yourself worthy of passing judgment on me?"

A bishounen with silver hair and vermillion colored pupils approached them, wearing an outfit that made him look like some sort of battle priest out of an anime.

"Oh? And you also brought a Devil with you. I'll call you Devil-kun! Nice to meet you Devil-kun!" His voice was hoarse and raspy, as if he hadn't had a drop of water in the last month.

"... Are you the one who did… that?" Issei asked the man in a threatening tone.

"Well that's no good Devil-kun. You mustn't question your betters. But because I am so kind, generous, and loving, I will do you the honor of answering that question."

He sported a maddening grin. "Yes, me, the great Freed Sellzen, am the curator of this wonderful masterpiece that you see before you." Freed bowed like he had just finished a performance.

"However, just because I introduced myself it doesn't mean you have to. Quite frankly I have no interest in hearing a single decibel come out of your mouth, for it would rot the atmosphere of this lovely abode." Issei clenched his fist as he steeled himself for confrontation.

"You see, I belong to a certain Exorcism organization. And for the humble price of nothing at all, I shall do you the service of ending your pathetic existence right this moment. It might hurt a little at first, but I promise it'll feel good later."

He brought out what looked to be a genuine lightsaber, pretending to lick it before pointing it his way.

"To think you would ignore me, I'm wounded." Takauji spoke up, his eyes covered by the reflection of his glasses.

"Ah. Yes yes, I'll get to you in a bit. First let me chop up Devil-kun over here and then you can be sliced and diced as well. Ok? Yes? Happy? Satisfied? Content? Hey, say something, are you happy? I need to know, hey say something."

His maddened rambling proved him to not be of sound mind.

Good, that would work in his favor.

"Please don't use such strong words, it makes you look weak." He started to get on his nerves, causing the "Exorcist" to scowl and stare daggers at him.

"Oi, oi oi oi oi oi oi. That's not how this is supposed to work? Are you dumb? Are you an idiot? Are you mentally compromised? You're just useless scum, your role is to run away and cower as I chase you and inevitably cut you into pieces. Do you not know your role?"

The Magician smiled. "Issei-kun, would you mind taking a step back?"

"... Huh?" He replied, still in shock.

"I'll need some space while I'm fighting him, that's all." Takauji said calmly, shooting a kind smile his way. "Don't worry this'll all be over soon." He spoke like a parent consoling their child.

"Fight me? Have you gone mad?"

"It's a shame you don't see the irony in that," he pointed his sword towards him. "But yes, I will fight you. After all, I've been entrusted with protecting Devil-kun over here."

"Hey," Freed corked his head. "Are you perhaps, mentally handicapped? Now that I think of it, it would make sense. After all you have the smell of filth all over you."

Takauji no longer showed any intention of conversing with him. Taking the initiative to charge at him much to the madman's surprise.

"What's with that sloppy ass form? You'd need a miracle to even scratch me like that."

Of course, he didn't actually plan to come at him with just swordplay. That would be a fool's errand if anything.

Takauji took the initiative to swing, causing Freed to roll his eyes as the trajectory of the swing seemed all too predictable to him.

Gotcha.

"Huh?" Freed blurted out, blinking repeatedly as the trajectory of his attack changed the very second it was about to make contact with his blade. Now aiming directly for his neck all of a sudden.

(CLANG!)

But thanks to his significantly superior reflexes, strength, and combat experience. Freed was able to move his blade in time to counter the attempt to decapitate him. But still ended up sustaining a shallow cut on his hand.

"Ah, I was hoping to take you out in one go. How unfortunate."

"What sort of trickery is this?" Freed asked in a dark tone.

"Figure it out yourself."

Takauji swung again, and the exact same thing happened. The instant before contact was made, his blade would suddenly be aiming somewhere else.

As if it had never been going after the spot Freed had predicted to begin with.

Freed could tell that Takauji's swordsmanship was practically non-existent, but nonetheless he was managing to land these mysterious hits on him, slicing him on the shoulder this time.

I was right. Darkness Magic really does excel in close quarters combat.

"Stop that already and fight me head on! You are living, walking, breathing a pile of filth!" Takauji continued, hitting him again and again and again.

Never managing to land a decisive blow, but continuously chipping away at Freed. Which pissed him off to no end.

But he couldn't bring himself to throw out any more insults at the moment, he needed to focus his all into figuring out what exactly Takauji was doing to him.

"You're all brawns and no brains, even a preschooler could put up more of a fight. Are you even trying?" The Magician on the other hand, was more than happy to onslaught him with insults.

Riling him up as much as he could in order to make his strategy more effective.

"That face of pure confusion, I almost pity you."

His trick was pretty simple, he was casting an illusion on the trajectory of his blade. Concealing his target as he attacked Freed.

Obviously he wanted the illusion to last through the duration of the entire swing, but because of his lacking proficiency in both Magic and swordplay at the moment, coupled with Freed's superior Mana density. The illusion would dissipate right before the hit was made, allowing Freed to respond with his immense speed before he was hit in a vital area.

Still, for someone who had been practicing Magic for only a little over a week. His performance against someone of Freed's caliber was exceptional.

"Alright alright, you don't need to glare at me like that. I'll put you out of your misery now."

I wonder, do I have it in me to take a life? Well to be fair, this guy is pretty repulsive so it's hard to feel any sort of remorse for ending him. Eh, I'll worry about it after he's dead.

"Shamak."

The word left his mouth, enshrouding them both in a cover of thick smog.

Takauji raised his sword, fully prepared to end his life.

(BANG!)

But all of a sudden, he felt a sharp pain enter his shoulder. Turning only to notice a wound having opened on his shoulder, caused by what could only be described as a bullet made entirely of light.

"Idiot, I can still decipher your position from the vibrations on the ground." One flaw the low-grade spell had, was indeed that the opponent would still be aware of the ground beneath them.

And Freed's senses were somehow on the level where could figure out where Takauji stood from footsteps alone.

"You're lucky this party trick of yours is clogging up my vision and all that, otherwise that would've gone through your heart."

"But it didn't," he calmly replied. Already starting to plot his next move.

"Please stop!" Until a voice decided to intervene, that is.

Everyone in the room turned their heads, met with the sight of a petite blonde haired girl with emerald eyes, wearing a nun's outfit.

"Asia," Issei called out to her.

"Well if it isn't my cute assistant Asia-chan. Did you finish putting up the barrier yet?" Freed asked the girl.

"F-Father Freed… you shouldn't…"

"Shouldn't what? Oh Asia-chan, surely you aren't about to suggest I shouldn't finish executing this vermin in front of me? If that's the case you'll surely need to repent once I've finished up here."

"Sorry Freed, but it looks like we've run out of time to enjoy our little dance we have going on here." Takauji lowered his blade, noticing that a teleportation circle had appeared behind him.

"Ara ara, it seems we've been met with quite the repugnant sight," Akeno glanced around the room, noticing the corpse art Freed had made on the wall.

"Oh? Oh? Oh? What's this? Devils coming to rescue a fellow Devil. Are you Devil Rangers or something? Will you cut me down with the power of friendship?"

His ramblings went ignored.

Instead, Kiba simply rushed at him exchanging blows with the priest as the sound metal echoed through the air.

"Woah-hoh. So bold~" Freed seemed to be able to keep up with his movements, slowly creating a distance between themselves and Takauji as Akeno approached him.

"You're hurt," her gaze turned icy as she watched blood drip from the wound on his shoulder.

"So it would seem," he nonchalantly adjusted his glasses. Placing his palm on the injury and staining his hand with blood. "To think I would be injured by the likes of him, how unsightly."

"Buchou!" Kiba yelled as he put some distance between himself and Freed. "There's a group of Fallen Angels approaching the house!"

"Understood," she immediately started to cast another teleportation circle. Preparing to vacate the premises at once.

"Wait! What about Asia!? Are we just going to leave her!?" Issei protested, earring a firm look from his master.

"I can only teleport my servants or those bound to me by contract. We'll have to leave her here." She said without a hint of hesitation.

"B-But we can't just leave her-"

"Issei-kun," she interrupted. "You promised me."

"I know but… she'll be in danger if we just abandon her!"

Rias started to get annoyed. "She is not one of us Issei-kun, and she never will be." She turned to her Knight. "Yuuto-kun, if you would."

He nodded, grabbing the Pawn by the collar and dragging him towards the circle as he squirmed.

"N-No! Please Buchou!" It was too late. The spell had already activated.

━━━━━

Not bad for his first fight all things considered, but he could definitely use some improvement on his swordplay.

10+ Advance Chapters: patreon.com/Accel14

Discord Link: KQAtTw9u7x

Word Count: 3415

 

[Accel14]

10+ Advance Chapters: patreon.com/Accel14

Discord Link: KQAtTw9u7x

━━━━━

Following the incident with the manic Battle Priest. Everyone had returned to the clubroom, Rias currently working on getting her Pawn to think rationally.

And Akeno on the other hand paying close attention to Takauji, alongside the wound he had sustained from Freed's light bullet.

"We should've arrived earlier," she said. Confounding the Magician a fair bit.

"Why? Sure he had a little bit of strength, but he wasn't really anything to worry about." Freed had indeed displayed exceptional physical strength. But was there really much meaning to that if he couldn't use it properly?

Especially when things as elementary as provocations proved effective on him. He just didn't seem like all that much of an opponent.

"But… you got hurt." She continued to treat his wound.

"And? This is a minor wound at most, I'm not a Devil like you guys. Light Magic really doesn't hurt very much." It stung a little when she applied treatment, but that was about it. The bullet hadn't actually managed to enter his shoulder, only grazing it.

Akeno didn't seem to have a response as she continued to heal him, confusing the Magician even more.

"Next time I should be able to kill him. I've pretty much got the gist of how he fights now."

"No."

"No?" He repeated.

"There's no need for you to fight him again. We can take care of him." Takauji hummed inquisitively, corking his head in response to the strange look on her face.

"I think you're overreacting a little." He concluded, causing her to bite down on her lower lip.

"I'm not overreacting."

"Mmm. I think you are." He insisted, trying to understand her pained expression.

"I'm not. I just don't want to see you get injured again."

"Well that's not going to happen," she raised her head at him. "I want to finish up this fight, and then go fight even stronger people once Freed's dead. Of course I'm going to get injured."

"I won't allow it," Takauji's eyes seemed to harden a little.

"With all due respect, I don't think that's your decision to make. It's mine." He needed to fight in order to understand the weaknesses, strengths, and possible improvements he could make to his technique.

To tell him otherwise, was akin to ordering him to stagnate.

Akeno's clasp on his arm grew tighter, causing him to silently wince a little.

"But if you're going to be so insistent, then I'll make a deal with you." She looked him in the eyes. "I will kill Freed in one hit, that way he won't have a chance to wound me. Sounds good?"

"Are you making fun of me?" She didn't appear to be taking the proposition seriously.

"Nope. Do you not think I can pull it off?" He smiled.

Her expression started to ease as she took a deep breath. Trying to compose herself again.

"No, you can do it." She decided to encourage him. Not understanding that he meant his declaration literally.

"Then it's settled."

Rias started to clap, gathering the attention of everyone in the room.

"Issei-kun, Takauji. You both should probably listen to this." They looked at her attentively. "There are two types of Exorcists. One is the type that works for the Angels and God, and receives blessings from them in order to carry out exorcisms. And then there is another type, Stray Exorcists."

Even from just a reputational standpoint, Takauji had found it weird that Freed had so openly created such a desecration.

"Similar to how Angels can fall as a result of giving in to their own desires. The same can happen for Exorcists, for example their duty to eradicate Devils could turn into an unhealthy obsession that consumes them in the end. And they end up being kicked out of the Church for this."

"But that's not the end of it, is it?" Takauji beckoned.

"No, it isn't. Since they have nowhere to go once they lose the Church's backing. They need someone else to act as their support if they survive the Church's attempt to kill them."

"The Fallen Angels," Issei blurted out.

"Indeed. Since both parties are against us Devils, it ends up in them collaborating with one another, which is why that Stray Exorcist had Fallen Angels coming to his rescue."

"Wouldn't that also mean that the Church he visited, isn't an actual Church?" The Magician deduced.

"Mhm. I imagine it's probably the Fallen Angels base of operations. I'd advise keeping your distance from it."

"But, I still need to save Asia!" Rias glared at him.

"If I hear that nun's name out of your mouth one more time. I'm going to start actually getting mad." He couldn't help but stand down. "And even if you were to go, what would you do? They'd kill you on the spot. Like I said, I cannot revive you twice."

Issei wanted to refute her, but she had a point. Each time he had encountered a Fallen Angel it had led to him getting a one-sided beating, needing Rias to come save him.

As he was now, he did not have the strength to rescue Asia.

━━━━━

Some time had passed since they had returned to the clubroom. And both Kiba and Takauji were currently standing opposite one another, the Knight sporting a befuddled look on his face.

"You want to– spar me?" He hesitated to ask.

"Yes, there was a certain technique I used against Freed that I want to improve on, and I'd like your help to do it." In truth, the illusionary sword technique was something he had just made on the fly, but to his fortune it had ended up being rather useful.

Basically giving him a technique that functioned like a Phantom Blade.

"I'm more than happy to help you believe me, but I really don't understand much about human Magic. I'm not sure I'd be of any assistance."

Takauji could only chuckle. "I'm not talking about the Magic aspect of it, I just need your help correcting my swordsmanship."

Normally Kiba wouldn't approve of someone not completing all the groundwork before they started sparring, but since they were engaged in a mini-war at the moment, he could make an exception.

"I see. Sure, I can do that." He agreed, assuming a stance.

And Takauji made an attempt to mimic it.

"Remember, keep your back straight." Kiba corrected it, and then the spar began.

Obviously the Knight intended to hold back, fully aware of how much a greenhorn the Magician was.

But little did he know, he was in for quite the surprise.

"What did you do?" He felt a faint pain on his wrist as the tip of Takauji's Shinai somehow managed to whack him.

It didn't make sense, he had perfectly read the attack. How could he have been hit?

"I think it's easier to explain it through a demonstration," Takauji took a step back. Gently moving his training sword in a circular motion as Kiba followed the movement with his eyes.

And then it happened, at the last second the Shinai appeared in a slightly different location than where it was supposed to be.

"An illusion?"

"Yes, an illusion. I knew you'd figure it out." The Magician praised.

"I must admit, that is a rather troublesome technique to deal with. But that makes it all the more effective," Kiba fell into thought.

"Any advice on how to use it better?"

"For starters, I think a one-handed grip might suit you better from now on." He suggested.

"Oh?"

"That technique will require a greater range of movement if you want to aim for your opponents blind spots. So switching to a one-handed stance should allow you to access that range."

"I see," he did as the Knight instructed him. Waving his Shinai around a little. "Mhm, this does feel a lot better."

"That's good to hear," Kiba returned to his original stance. "We're short on time so I don't think I'll be able to teach you how to use that grip the conventional way."

"Of course," meaning he'd have to use the faster way.

Also known as, getting the living daylight beat out of you until you figure it out.

For the first solid half hour of sparring, Takauji failed to even meet Kiba's Shinai with his own. Obtaining a sea of bruises all over his arms and hands.

Getting smacked with dried bamboo again and again, hurts a lot more than one would imagine it to.

Notwithstanding, he decided to persist. As per usual.

Freed also made use of a one-handed grip so he could wield his gun in the other hand, and as much as he hated to admit it, the guy's swordsmanship was exceptional. So there were a few learning points he could take from their fight.

"Are you sure you want to continue?" Thanks to being a Devil, Kiba's stamina was far above Takauji. Making the former looked like he had just gone for a light jog, and the latter a marathon.

It was only now that Takauji had started to actually make his sword clash with Kiba's.

"Yes, like you said we're short on time." He swallowed the pain coming from his bruises, intent on getting this technique down.

"Very well, but do let me know when it becomes too much for you."

"Sure," that was a straight-up lie. "But do you mind if I try something else out as well?"

"Be my guest," Kiba welcomed it.

"Thanks," all of a sudden Takauji's speed increased more than twofold. Surprising Kiba as he started to exert some of his strength in order to meet the momentum of his attack.

"Don't tell me you made that up on the go as well?"

"No, I learned this recently." He had just used Mana Step, another technique he absolutely had to perfect.

Even though his physical stamina was nearing its limit, his Mana reserves were nowhere near depleted. Not only a result of his naturally high reserves, but also because of the fact he didn't yet possess a technique that consumed a large amount of Mana.

All would come in due time. One needed to learn to walk before they could run after all.

"Seems handy, but by the looks of things you're not actually able to traverse in any direction other than a straight line," Kiba grinned a little.

"Sharp as ever."

Right now the technique could only be used when he had a good amount of distance between himself and the opponent, which was usually before a fight began.

Or he could use it in order to retreat or get from point A to B, that was about it for now.

He's not even using his eyes to trace my movements when I use Mana Step. Which means he's able to sense the burst of Mana itself and predict my trajectory based on that, how troublesome.

However, I wonder if I could mask Mana Step by fusing it with my Darkness affinity once I'm able to. Would it then become Shadow Step or something?

I suppose there's no use focusing on that right now, I'll get to it once I've finished this technique first.

Their sparring had continued fairly late into the night, Kiba actually having made some improvements of his own. Which wasn't all that surprising considering that it was his first time dealing with such a strange technique.

And an incredibly hard one to counter to boot. It basically forced an opponent to make the correct split-second decision twice during every swing.

One for the original movement of the blade, and another for the sudden change in path.

If they failed to do so, they would die. No exceptions.

But eventually Akeno decided to stop their duel, not wanting Kiba to replicate Takauji's tendency to overwork himself.

There were still plenty of enemies in Kuoh they needed to deal with, being well rested before they encountered them was crucial.

━━━━━

It looks like Taka's acquired a pretty handy technique.

10+ Advance Chapters: patreon.com/Accel14

Discord Link: KQAtTw9u7x

Word Count: 2019

 

[Accel14]

10+ Advance Chapters: patreon.com/Accel14

Discord Link: KQAtTw9u7x

━━━━━

Right now Takauji found himself strolling through a children's park, being ordered by his contractor to go looking for a certain someone who had decided to skip school.

Christ it's hot out here.

He used his palm to shield his eyes from the blinding rays of sunlight. Taking off his blazer in an attempt to save himself from the scorching temperature.

I should've bought ice cream or something before I came here, it's like I'm about to turn into a puddle of gooey flesh.

Fueled with the desire to return to the sweet embrace of air conditioning, he decided to hasten his search. Putting all his effort into locating his target.

Not him. Not that guy either. Nope, nope, nope. Oh?

He narrowed his eyes, noticing a figure with spiky brown hair sitting on one of the benches by himself. His head glued to the ground with a solemn look on his face.

Bingo!

"I've been looking for you, Issei-kun."

He approached his underclassmen, causing Issei to look in bewilderment as he faced his upperclassmen.

"Takauji-senpai? What are you doing here?" His tone seemed pretty weak, void of its usual annoyingly high enthusiasm.

"That's my line, my contractor sent me here after you decided to skip school. They're probably worried about you or something."

Issei's lips quivered as his mood took another hit.

"It looks like I've caused them even more trouble."

Takauji breathed a sigh, deciding to sit down next to him as he turned to the Pawn.

"I'd ask what's eating you, but judging from how you were yesterday. I'm going to assume this is about the nun girl?"

Issei clenched his fists together.

"She's not the nun girl, she's Asia." Takauji didn't take his sudden burst of anger all that seriously.

"Right, Asia." He repeated with a distinct lack of care. "I take it you are still looking for a way to rescue her?"

"Yes, but yesterday has made me realize that I'm still too weak. Unless I get stronger, I'll never be able to get her back." He said with a faint sense of brimming resolve.

"So you're going to wield your strength for another? Rather than yourself?" Issei looked at the Magician with widened eyes.

"Is that so surprising?"

"It is for you, I thought you wanted to be stronger so you could have your harem or whatever it was?" The Sacred Gear welder donned a conflicted expression.

"I still do, but Asia is my friend. And she has a good heart, it doesn't sit right with me to just abandon her when she needs me."

"In that case, what are you doing brooding over here? You should be training with everyone else, if you actually want to help her that is."

Issei was about to respond, but the sound of a bell-like voice would soon catch his attention.

"Issei-san? Is that you?" He turned, a sense of elation welling within him as he faced the blonde individual standing before him.

"Asia?" He said, almost not believing that she was here himself. "What are you doing here?" She was supposed to be captive as of now, or working under the crazed Exorcist.

"I was just going on a stroll." The events of yesterday started to resurface in their minds, forming an awkward atmosphere between them.

"... I see," out of the blue, Issei decided to turn to Takauji and bow in front of him. "Takauji-senpai, please don't tell Buchou, but I'd like to spend a little time with Asia."

The Magician fell silent for a bit, his eyes shifting between the two momentarily. Thinking about his request briefly.

"Tell her what? I don't see anything out of place. Is there something I should be aware of?"

I shouldn't have to babysit her boyfriend to begin with, they can solve this mess on their own. I'd rather be at home working on something actually productive.

"Thank you," Issei held his bow. "I'll find a way to pay you back."

"No need, as you are now there's nothing of value you could give me. Pay me back when you actually have something worth giving to me." Takauji disappeared into a pillar of light.

━━━━━

He found himself back in the clubroom, expecting looks all focused on him.

"He's fine," sighs of relief could be heard from the members. "I think he just needs some time to destress and process everything that happened in that house."

You're lucky I need that Familiar. Otherwise I wouldn't even think about putting up with having to be a babysitter.

The Magician sat down on the couch, making himself comfortable and politely receiving a cup of tea from Akeno.

"Is there anything else we should be aware of?" Rias questioned, looking at him expectantly.

"Not particularly, he does have an inferiority complex at the moment as a result of his lacking strength. So maybe training him up would be to his benefit."

"I see, I'll take that into account."

Takauji picked up a book he had left on the table, finding his bookmark and continuing where he left off.

"What are you studying this time?" Akeno inched closer, looking at the book with piqued interest.

"Something that I probably won't figure out for a long time. It's technically a high-tier spell, but doesn't possess any direct combat value."

"Do tell," she prompted.

"Apparently Darkness can be used to create a little Pocket Dimension if you will, however all you can do with it is store inanimate objects, and even those come with a whole array of restrictions and limitations depending on weight, size, and all that good stuff."

"A Pocket Dimension? Are you sure you should be working on something like that now?"

"No, that's why I said I wouldn't learn it for a while. All I'm doing is looking for bits and bobs that I have a vague understanding of, and using that to enhance the spells I do understand. It's kind of like taking the hilt from a steel sword, and applying it to a wooden one."

His approach to studying Magic was quite unorthodox in this regard, but that didn't necessarily mean it was useless.

Normally Magicians in academies such as Grauzauberer would follow a strict syllabus, forbidding them from touching material that they were not supposed to interact with.

But as a self-taught Magician, Takauji was free to choose his own method of study.

The spell basically creates a tear in space, opening up a pocket of "nothing" and allowing the caster to use that "nothing" as storage. But the amount of calculative prowess needed to pull this off… until I get that Familiar I won't even be able to touch the surface of this spell.

Everything comes back to that doesn't it?

Just be patient, Takauji, you'll get it when the time calls.

"How interesting," she said in spite of not fully understanding what he was blabbing about.

"Hey, Taka." She lowered her voice, and Takauji pretended that she hadn't just called him that. "Is Issei-kun really alright?"

He didn't move, only moving his eyes towards her.

"Of course. Why would you suggest otherwise?"

She hummed, bringing her face closer to him so she could see his expression more clearly. But Takauji's face revealed little as always.

"No reason, maybe I'm just more worried about Issei-kun than I thought," she softened.

"Maybe you are," Takauji closed his book and stood up. Deciding that he had enough interaction for the day.

"And where might you be headed?" Rias asked. "School's still on."

"You can cover for me, I'm going back home to prepare for our confrontation with the Fallen Angels." She couldn't deny him if that was the reasoning.

"You can't do it here?"

"Unless you want a face full of Darkness Magic exploding in your face while I train, then I'm afraid not."

"I'll come with," Akeno suggested, which was more like a declaration seeing as Takauji wouldn't have much of a choice in a matter. "Don't give me that look, you're the one who said I could do as I please after all."

"I did say that," as long as she didn't interrupt. He could find it in him to tolerate her presence.

Pretending not to notice the disgruntled look on his contractor's face, he took himself and Akeno back to his abode of knowledge acquisition.

"Hey, do you want to spar with me for a bit?" Akeno asked him out of the blue.

"Can't say I was expecting you to ask me that. Any reason you want to spar in particular?" He was understandably curious.

"Not really, it's just that I've watched you train for a bit now, and I've seen you use some spells here and there. But I've never had a chance to see where your strength actually is first hand."

"I see. But if that's what you wanted you should've asked me when we were still at the clubroom, if we spar here the neighbors will see it."

"That's not a problem," Takauji raised a brow. "I'll just create a barrier around us, that way they won't be able to see what's going on."

"You can do that?" He hadn't heard of such a technique, which was understandable considering he barely had over a week of experience.

"Mhm, watch." She twirled her finger as a dark-colored dome descended around his house, making it appear almost as if it were night time.

"That was quick."

"What can I say? I'm good at what I do." She beamed proudly, leading him to the backyard as they stood opposite one another.

"You ready?" Akeno asked.

"You didn't even ask me if I wanted to accept."

"True, but you would've agreed anyway. Aren't I right?" She had a fair point.

Takauji didn't need to respond, he simply unsheathed his Katana and looked at his own reflection in the blade momentarily.

"Whenever you're ready," she awaited.

He decided to take the initiative, opening the fight by using Mana Step in order to appear right in front of her.

His plan was relatively simple, he would keep pressuring her with Phantom Blade until he either managed to get a lucky hit, or stressed her enough into giving him an opening.

"Sorry, the truth is I've actually been watching your sparring sessions with Yuuto-kun."

She formed a widespread defensive circle that covered the entirety of her torso, blocking his blade effortlessly.

I see. If she covers her entire body to begin with, then it doesn't matter whether I disguise the trajectory of my blade or not. It just won't hit regardless.

"I don't mind," he stepped back. Using his foot to kick up a cloud of dust to hide his position momentarily.

Obviously, she could still sense him with her Demonic Power, but that sense only worked on things that contained a certain amount of Mana.

(SWOOSH!)

Her eyes widened as his blade came hurtling towards her from the dust, thrown at her like a javelin.

"That won't work either," she soon composed herself. Using another defensive circle to block the oncoming weapon.

You sure?

"Eh?" But once the "sword" made contact with her circle, she was stunned to find out that it had turned into a pebble out of nowhere.

And before she knew it, Takauji had Mana Stepped towards her with his actual blade pointed right at her throat, an impassive look on his face.

Defensive circles can't be casted without any delay unless you're a top-tier caster. You seem to still need a few seconds in between uses.

It was now that she remembered that he was able to mask inanimate objects with his illusions, but she hadn't expected him to have already progressed to the level where he can make something as small as a pebble appear like his Katana.

"That was a little cheap don't you think?" She said with a wry smile.

"One of the books I read said that a good Darkness Magician needs to be a good con-man as well. And I obviously can't contend with you in a contest of brute force."

He was not a Knight, he was a Magician. And Magicians have always been tricksters.

"You have a point but," she grabbed the blade with her hand. Squeezing it tightly and not shedding so much as a drop of blood. "Brute force has its uses as well."

"I suppose that is true," Takauji lowered his blade.

"But you did in fact win," Akeno said with a smile. "Good work."

Out of the blue, Takauji's face seemed to contort. Noticing something interacting with his Mana.

"What's the matter?" She asked.

"It looks like I have some business to attend to, I'll be back soon." It was a summon request from Issei.

━━━━━

Those of you with good memory probably already know what the summon is about.

Just as disclaimer for this point onwards in the story, it'll start to become clearer why I put the "villain" tag there so keep that in mind.

10+ Advance Chapters: patreon.com/Accel14

Discord Link: KQAtTw9u7x

 

[Accel14]

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Discord Link: KQAtTw9u7x

━━━━━

"Well? What's the situation?" Takauji appeared in front of Issei through a spherical construct of light. Folding his arms together as he hoped he had been summoned for good reason.

Issei didn't give a verbal answer, holding Asia closer to him as he pointed behind Takauji.

"Who's this?" The Magician wondered.

He was met with the figure of a tall, mature woman with intense mauve colored pupils just like Akeno. And long, spiky black hair that reached her thighs.

A pair of large onyx-colored feathery wings sprouted from her back, filled with feathers that radiated the sharpness of a Damascus Knife.

Her clothing consisted of dark, strap-like leather objects that covered only certain sections of her body. Leaving a fair amount of her skin exposed.

It was pretty skimpy all things considered.

"You called me here to meet an Exhibitionist? I know the contract doesn't specify what you can and can't request to summon me for, but try to use some common sense Issei-kun." He facepalmed, wondering if the conditions warranted a punch to his summoner's face.

"That's not it," Issei said. His face filled with a combination of fear and wrath. "She's a Fallen Angel, the one who killed me originally."

"Oh? A Fallen Angel you say?" The corner of his mouth curled upwards, staring at the figure with intent that she had misinterpreted.

"Ugh, I feel molested just by your eyes alone. I almost don't want to kill you just to avoid having to touch you," the Magician's demeanor remained unperturbed.

So this is a Fallen Angel?

He continued to observe her in silence, the smile on his face soon dissipating as he started to get a read on her.

Such a weak presence. Let's hope she isn't the strongest of the bunch.

"So, Fallen Angel. You seem to have some business with Issei-kun over here," his tone remained peculiarly placid as always.

"First of all, it's Raynare-sama to you, filthy human. And secondly, I'm here to retrieve my property." She looked at Asia, causing the nun to flinch.

"I won't allow it," Issei declared. Summoning a small red gauntlet on his hand.

"Oh you can't be serious," Raynare shook her head. "Do you honestly think you can accomplish anything with that piece of junk? Just go run off to your master already, if you want to live that is."

I've never actually seen a Sacred Gear before. But is that what it's really supposed to look like? Pretty underwhelming if you ask me.

"Did you not hear me? I said I wouldn't allow you to take Asia." Issei stood firm, clenching his fist.

"Then you can go ahead and die here, again." She created a spear composed entirely of a pink light-based compound.

Light Magic, the counter to my Darkness Magic. Such a shame that it's in her hands, my instincts aren't even a little wary.

She charged at Issei, exceeding his reaction time by a good amount as aiming right for his heart.

Might as well allow myself a little fun.

(STAB!)

"GUH!" Issei coughed a mouthful of blood, being met with the tip of her spear inserted into his heart. Effectively killing him.

"ISSEI-SAN!" Asia cried out, attempting to run towards him before Raynare grabbed her by the shoulders. Or at least tired too.

"You would seek to get in my way as well? Human." Her spear was intercepted by Takauji's blade, courtesy of him using a half-strength Mana Step to reach her.

"Well, you did stab my contractor's subordinate. So I believe I'm inclined to help," their exchange began.

"Uh-huh. Then you can go ahead and die here alongside him." She started to exchange blows with Takauji, pushing him back as he seemed to struggle to keep up with her blows.

"Oh, you're quite strong, Fallen Angel-san." He said as she continued to gain the upper hand on him.

"Can't say the same for you though, human." Takauji rolled his eyes internally, already having planned his next course of action.

Time for a bit of acting.

"... You… how did you… ?" All of a sudden, Raynare had spotted an opening in Takauji's defense. Taking advantage of the moment to thrust her spear through his neck. Killing the pesky human.

"I warned you," Raynare said with pride. Watching as Takauji fell to the floor with an expression of pure horror, the type you felt in your last moments on face.

"... No!" Asia shouted, only to be silenced by a chop to the neck from Raynare as she flew away with the nun in tow.

And then Takauji got up.

She wants that nun for some purpose, so I doubt she'll die.

As long as that Fallen Angel remains alive, she should be able to conclude that the Gremory's will retaliate in response to "killing us."

A one sided battle would be too easy, so make sure you make your higher ups prepare well.

After all, there's no way to fix my techniques without facing actual battle. Fighting someone as half-assed as you just won't do.

Then again… if she does happen to be their leader which I severely doubt… then I might have just done all this for nothing.

Oh well, I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Sorry in advance nun just in case you do end up dying. I'll make sure to use your death as fuel for Issei's strength should that come to pass. That way it won't completely be in vain.

"For such a basic illusion to work on her despite possessing my element's weakness, what a joke." There was no hole through his neck, only a semi-deep wound on his shoulder.

He walked over to the passed out Issei, who had fainted from the shock of seeing a spear get driven through his heart.

Which in reality, was a fairly deep wound that had been plunged near his ribcage. However none of his vitals had been hit.

"Then again, I did actually need to get injured in order to cast the illusion on such a feeble opponent. So I suppose I have some work to do as well."

Through a combination of Shamak and an external application of Phantom Blade, he had first warped Raynare's perception of her position and Issei's and himself.

And then made it look like the wound which she did in fact create, had been sent elsewhere. Her overwhelming confidence that she was stronger helped as well.

"Damn he's light, could use some protein if you ask me." He picked Issei up, casting a teleportation circle back to the clubroom.

And now time for some more acting. I might earn an Oscar at this rate.

"... Hey guys, a little help here would be nice." Everyone went bleary eyed the second they saw the state of Issei and Takauji.

"Put him down here," Akeno ushered. Saving the questions for after they had been stabilized.

"We got attacked by one of the Fallen Angels along the way, I think they were planning to finish off Issei-kun just as you said." He looked at his contractor as he started his explanation. "He summoned me and I was able to hold her off for long enough, but as you can see I got nicked as well."

He let himself fall onto the couch, pretending his injury was more serious than it actually was.

"Luckily she didn't manage to get him in his vitals, but I don't know much of the effect the Light Magic will have on him."

"She?" Rias asked as Akeno devoted all her attention to treating Issei, seeing as he was the more injured of the two.

Takauji nodded. "She called herself Raynare, does the name ring a bell?"

"Yeah, that's the one who attacked Issei-kun when I first found him." She dug her nails into her palm, cursing the arrogance of the people who dared act so brazenly in her territory.

"I see," he decided to continue his recounting of events. "Issei used the summon clause in the contract to get my assistance." Now she owed him. "Also, I think I saw the nun girl with the Fallen Angel."

His contractor's eyes rounded. "Did you now?" If not for the fact Issei was both injured and unconscious, her attitude would have differed.

"Vaguely, but who knows, maybe I was just seeing things." He shrugged, breathing a pained groan as he put a pillow behind his head.

"I'll talk to him about it later," Rias looked at Akeno. "How's his condition?"

"Like he said, none of his vitals have been punctured. There was just a fair amount of blood loss which he should recover from," she wiped the sweat from her forehead. "He'll make it."

Rias heaved a deep sigh of relief, finally finding the strength to ease up a little as she planned her next move.

"Good. When do you think he'll wake up?" She asked.

"Probably tomorrow morning, his body should be able to manage itself from here on out." Asia did not in fact have that much time, but they didn't know that.

It was safe to say, her fate was sealed.

"Alright, we'll keep him here for the night to keep watch just in case anything happens." Akeno agreed, approaching Takauji with a distinct scowl on her face.

"To be fair, it wasn't Freed who attacked so-"

"Shut up," she interjected with a harsh tone. "You should have told me that you were being summoned by Issei-kun, but you didn't."

"It's not like I could've predicted what was going on over there before I went," he countered.

"Maybe, but you should have called on one of us once the confrontation began." With Akeno's mood taken into account, there was really no use trying to argue with her.

"I suppose I should have," he forced his voice to sound genuine. "Sorry about that."

"I'll decide whether I forgive you or not later, for now just stay put and let me do what I need to." She didn't bother trying to ease the pain of his treatment, but Takauji's mind was simply too preoccupied with what he was going to next to notice.

We already know where their base is now, so if I really wanted to I could just walt in there and see what's up.

He briefly looked at Issei.

He would probably be pretty enthusiastic to go with, he probably wouldn't complain if I were to take him along.

His mind continued to wander, his interest starting to rise in anticipation of what was to come.

There's no way that "Raynare" could be the leader, which means I should be able to fight someone who can properly make use of the Light element.

"There, you're all healed up."

"Grazie," he thanked her in Italian for some reason. But her power of translation simply interpreted it for her.

"So, how shall we deal with the Fallen Angels?" He asked his contractor. "Now that I've got a better grasp on their abilities, it won't be hard for me to one up them now." Truly an unrivaled level of shamelessness.

"We'll attack them first thing tomorrow, their intentions are clear enough and there's no reason for us not to respond at this point." She looked at Issei's unconscious body. "No reason at all."

Guess everything will work out as I want it to, haha, though I am starting to find even my own actions a little random.

But that's good, random is interesting. I could use some "interesting" right about now. Maybe if I'm lucky I'll run into Freed again. My techniques need some serious fine tuning.

"Hm, well it is better to get rid of them sooner rather than later." He gave her a satisfied nod. "In that case I ought to start preparing, I can't afford to have a poor performance on such a decisive day."

He prepared to return home, with Akeno soon walking up towards him.

"You're staying here Akeno, Issei's condition still needs to be monitored. You've already finished healing Takauji." Priorities, I suppose.

"You heard her," Takauji said with a smile. Eager to continue his pursuit of magical perfection as soon as possible.

━━━━━

Truly shamelessness personified. But will his actions have consequences or not? Perhaps those around him are more perceptive than he thinks, or perhaps everything will go as he wishes.

10+ Advance Chapters: patreon.com/Accel14

Discord Link: KQAtTw9u7x

Word Count: 2062

 

[Accel14]

Relax, the story isn't going anywhere nor is it getting dropped/paused.

Uploading on QQ has been kinda hectic, and I'd rather just focus on my main platforms which are webnovel and patreon. (Updates continue as normal on there.)

So if you wanna keep reading I'll drop the links here, but this about it for me on QQ. Cool site and all, just not really my cup of tea.

DxD: Magician Of Darkness

Story about a Magician who awakens the Darkness Element, going on a DxD adventure filled with girls, treachery, and a tad bit of tomfoolery. I have a patreon for 10 advance chapters if you want to read ahead (patreon.com/Accel14)

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