The Book of Solomon - Chapter 3

Solomon Payne woke up in his new comfortable bed and let out a sigh. He was still annoyed that Serafall had given him such a cool last name before he could think of one himself. The fact that it matched his reasoning for picking Solomon for his first name just irked him more.

On the bright side, the apartment's bed was exceptionally comfortable and he'd had a wonderful nights sleep. On the not so bright side, he'd awoken to the sound of his alarm clock that meant he had to get up and go to fucking school. He hated the very concept of having to go to school once again. The full details of his education might be gone, but the knowledge was there and he remembered an overwhelming sense of boredom.

Still, he didn't want any more trouble adding to his punishment so he got out of bed and went through his morning routine. He decided to wear his mage robes transformed into the school uniform. He made his way to his kitchen and looked around. Honestly, his apartment wasn't much different from the suite that had served as his prison cell.

When coming in the front door of the apartment the kitchen was immediately on his left and was pretty small. The only bright side was it had a full sized fridge and oven, but very little counter space and a small sink. At the transition from the kitchen there was a door on his left that led into the full sized bathroom. The wall of the bathroom turned the kitchen into more of a hallway. Still, it was a nice large bathroom with a nice tub in it. He'd have to see what the big deal about baths was in Japan later.

After leaving the kitchen he was in the combination living slash dining room where there was a smaller, older, television and a clearly used living room set. He couldn't help bitching, in his mind, about Serafall cheaping out on his accommodations. She was definitely richer than Rias or the Gremories, but Rias could have Issei's house turned into a gigantic mansion in a night! Surely Serafall could have put him in a bigger place or even an actual house.

Anyway, on the right side of the living room close to the kitchen was the door to his bedroom. It was a good size, had a closet, and was stuffed with a large bed. He appreciated that, at least.

He made himself a quick breakfast of eggs, bacon, and toast with jam before leaving to make his way to the school. Obviously the school year had already started and been going for a while so he was being introduced as a new transfer student from America. On the bright side? He was being put in third year, the same one as Sona and Rias so he wouldn't share any classes with the remaining two perverts on campus. Which, honestly, was a good thing as he would probably kill those guys himself. Issei might've been boob obsessed, but he was still way better than those two. Especially the lolicon who was most likely to become a criminal among the three.

Maybe he should make sure those tow discreetly... disappear? Something to think about while bored in class.

Arriving at the gate he was met by the cold gaze of Sona. She took a moment to take in his uniform seemingly looking for any minor infractions to peg him with. Lucky for him, his transforming clothing replicated the uniform in crisp perfection. There wasn't even a single piece of lint or stray hair anywhere to be found.

After giving a small nod of approval, she addressed him, “Payne-san, Tsubaki will be in charge of leading you around for the day. Pay close attention to what she says.”

Sona gestured to her Queen right next to her. He hadn't payed much attention the previous evening, but now that he was actually looking, he found Tsubaki to be quite beautiful. Not surprising really, but with long black hair down to her knees and her heterocromatic eyes, she was quite stunning. It also didn't hurt that the school uniform for girls showed off her feminine curves quite well. Though the only thing detracting from her looks was the serious look she wore the mirrored Sona. She'd look much prettier smiling.

He gave Tsubaki a nod of acknowledgment, “I'll stick close, promise.”

That reminded him of something interesting he'd discovered on his way to his apartment last night. Just like devils, he had Allspeak. When he spoke people heard the language they understood best and he always heard them speaking English. He'd just thought that his understanding of everything so far was only due to speaking to devils, but no, he was universally understood. Which was good, because aside from crap picked up from watching subbed anime, he didn't speak Japanese.

He quietly followed behind Tsubaki, he might have enjoyed the view more if her hair hadn't been in the say, as she led him around the school and introduced him to the different buildings. It's as she's showing him where the old school building is that he feels someone watching him. Looking around he spots the source, which was obvious in hindsight. Rias Gremory was staring down at him. While she didn't look particularly angry, he was clearly not her favorite person given the look she was giving him.

Well, best fix that. He gave Rias a bright smile and a jaunty little wave, before sticking up his middle finger. Still smiling he put his finger down and turned to follow Tsubaki once more. He found her giving him a disapproving look as she calmly asked, “Was it really necessary for you to antagonize Lady Rias?”

Solomon chuckled while nodding, “Absolutely. I don't like being blamed for things that aren't my fault.”

Tsubaki hummed but didn't offer her own opinion. The tour only lasted a little longer before they arrived at a classroom, “You will be joining Sona-kaicho and myself in this class for the remainder of the year. Class will start soon, please wait out here until the teacher requests your presence.”

Solomon grunted and did as requested. This was going to suck so much.

-----Line Break-----

Rias glared at Solomon's back as Tsubaki led him into the school's main building after his tour of the grounds. She'd been informed of his presence at the school and wasn't thrilled about it. Still, he seemed to have at least some strength, even if she couldn't tell how much, if he could drive off a one winged fallen angel without injury.

She was willing to led her minor grudge against him go after she'd taken some time to calm down. She realized he was right and Issei's body being too damaged to resurrect wasn't entirely his fault. To add to that, she'd never figured out exactly which Sacred Gear Issei had possessed. Given Koneko smelled dragon and how magically weak Issei was, even for a human, she expected he'd had a Twice Critical, the most common dragon based Sacred Gear. Frankly, given how weak he was both physically and magically, a Twice Critical wouldn't have done much at all to improve his strength. Hell, she'd seen human babies with more magical power than Issei had before he died. So, looking at it from that standpoint, losing out on him wasn't a massive loss.

So, she was willing to let all of that go, until the jerk had given her the finger. It might not be a gesture commonly seen in Japan, but she knew what it meant and it annoyed her greatly. She might not have made a great first impression on Solomon, but that was no excuse for him being so rude to her!

With a huff, she turned away from the window and made her way to her desk. Classes were still a few minutes out and she wanted to take a moment to calm down and relax so she could maintain the attitude expected of her from the students in the school. Just as she got comfortable a soft voice spoke up from the Victorian love seat it was sitting in, “Smells like dragon, strong dragon.”

Rias's head jerked up to look at her only Rook, Koneko. Koneko was a small petite young girl with white hair in a bob cut with two long bangs framing her face. She stared calmly at Rias with her golden eyes as her statement sunk in. Koneko as a Nekoshou, a rare subspecies of Nekomata, had an unbelievable sense of smell. The fact she could smell a dragon scent while in their clubhouse meant it was a strong scent. Even Issei's dragon scent had been so weak that Koneko had to practically be on top of him to catch it.

“When did you smell a dragon, Koneko? Just now?”

Koneko gave a small nod while nibbling on a chocolate chip cookie. That was enough for Rias. She looked at the window she'd left open and bit her bottom lip as she considered what Koneko had said. The only people to come by recently had obviously been Tubaki and Solomon. Koneko knew Tusbaki's scent by heart so she would have ignored it. That left Solomon, which meant he smelled heavily enough of a Dragon to have the scent reach Koneko with ease.

That changed things. Dragons were the pinnacle of the species pyramid. If Solomon smelled of dragon so strongly, then that meant he had to have a strong dragon based Sacred Gear. Perhaps even one of the two strongest? Getting Divine Dividing or Boosted Gear into her peerage would easily solve her problem.

She bit her thumbnail as she considered what she should do. Her 'relationship' with Solomon mostly consisted of mild animosity between them. She also didn't know how strong he was or if he could use his Sacred Gear or... well anything really. She hadn't been focused on checking his strength and he clearly wasn't too strong or she'd have automatically noticed his aura. Even so, that was good! It meant she could bring him into her peerage and train him to be stronger. Once he was, he could help her put an end to the stupid engagement and help her obtain her freedom!

A smile slowly curled her lips as she pictured it. Yes, she would recruit Solomon and he would be the key to her freedom.

-----Line Break-----

Solomon calmly sat in his newly assigned seat and considered something he'd not paid any real attention to since he'd arrived in Kuoh. It was now becoming a much bigger issue and one he needed to deal with soon.

He couldn't read Kanji.

As far as everyone was concerned he could speak flawless Japanese thanks to Allspeak, or whatever it was the beings who put him here did to him. However, reading the language was something else entirely and something he would have to teach himself! That was super annoying.

Thank god he could cheat!

Not only could he cheat, but being in a classroom with Sona, Tsubaki, Rias, and Akeno presented him with an excellent opportunity. He dug a Rare Candy out of his pocket and quietly unwrapped it so no one would notice. The school was big on their no food and drinks policies and he didn't want to deal with that headache. Once the candy was wrapper free, he carefully looked around himself to make sure there would be no surprises. He did not want to end up choking on the candy in class. No matter how little he cared about their opinion of him, choking on a piece of candy would be goddamn embarassing!

With the area clear and the teacher calmly lecturing the class on Classical Japanese, he carefully put the candy in his mouth and immediately bit down on it. A few quick crunches later and he swallowed. Once more it was like he was living through the training he was gaining from the magical sweet. Once it ended, he pulled another Rare Candy out and repeated the process.

When he came out of the fugue state that the candies put him in, he'd gained a solid year of training in several fields. His understanding of Kanji had become fair, if not flawless. He'd also focused on learning how to sense the magical strength of other people to get a sense for them. Aside from those new things, his other skills had gone through quite a lot of improvement and his overall strength and magic had increased as well.

He was now confident that even if even he wasn't quite as skilled with a sword as Kiba, who'd trained most of his life, he was at least close and would only need a couple of spars to surpass the guy's skill with a sword. Of course, that's what he thought having never seen Kiba in person, let alone swinging a sword.

His magical skills had progressed nicely giving him a vast array of spells for various situations. Though he'd focused on one field in particular, conjuration. Thanks to Annihilation Maker and Sword Birth, conjuration was a skill he excelled in, now he did so magically as well. He could create anything short of magical items with a snap of his fingers. With enough power he could make whatever he conjured nearly permanent. Though, to a human, what was the difference between a thousand years and forever?

Of course, his skills in fist fighting and using his Sacred Gears had grown as well. Having a full two years experience with them meant he now had way more experience in their use than Issei had with Boosted Gear. Frankly, even with his stupid ass pulls in canon, he was confident he could crush Issei without even trying. Of course, that was because he wasn't an idiot and would deliberately go all out on the idiot from the beginning and not give him any time to ramp up.

That was a moot point though. The next Red Dragon Emperor was still a good fifteen plus years away from showing up. Whoever it turned out to be probably wouldn't be worse than Issei... probably.

-----Line Break-----

Finally! The last class of the day was letting out. Solomon would swear on a stack of bibles that he'd been stuck in that room for weeks. And no, it had nothing to do with taking a years worth of Rare Candies. He was simply bored out of his mind so time seemed to drag on forever. The only break in the monotony had been lunch time. Even then he'd been mildly bored the whole time. Though there was one funny incident. He'd been sitting beneath a tree, because acting normal was for posers, also he just wanted to try it out after seeing similar scenes in dozens of anime. Turned out, it was pretty nice.

Anyway, there he was eating the lunch he'd gotten from the cafeteria, which was amazingly delicious for school food, when a girl a year or two younger then him had looked at him. She'd been kind of cute with her brown hair in pigtails and her glasses giving her a somewhat nerdy look. She also stood out because she was one of the very few girls in the school who wasn't completely stacked. She had a nice svelte frame and modest bust that made her far more unique than other girls. It wasn't her looks that made the moment memorable. No, it was how she'd taken one look at him and immediately had an atomic blush. Just as he wondered if it was safe for someone to blush so much, her nose began to bleed.

It was only then that he remembered her, not her name or anything. But he remembered she was the female pervert and nemesis to the perverted trio. Much like the idiot with glasses who could tell a woman's three sizes at a glance, she could tell all about a mans size from a glance. Solomon didn't want to brag, but he was definitely packing and, judging by the blush and nosebleed, the girl clearly liked what she was seeing. It only ended when she noticed him looking at her. She tried to play it off and gave him a 'saucy' wink, but then she sped walked away like he was going to chase her down or something.

If nothing else he'd found the whole incident amusing. He'd have to see about running into her again to see what her reaction would be when she wasn't caught completely off guard.

So, aside from the most outgoing female pervert in the school perving on him, the entire day had felt like a complete waste of time. Which was why he so happily climbed to his feet and grabbed his school bag with the full intention of leaving the school. Sona had already informed him that he wasn't needed for the day so he didn't need to stick around for anything.

As he made his way to the door, he was cut off by Rias with Akeno standing nearby. Rias gave him a polite business-like smile that didn't reach her eyes, “Payne-san, I was hoping you would be willing to join me at the Occult Research Club for a short talk.”

He gave her a completely flat look at her request, “Pass. I don't believe in the occult so I'm not interested in such a club.”

That was obviously a lie, and going by the look he was getting from Rias she knew he was just fucking with her. She couldn't order him around like Sona even though she was the second king of Kuoh. He was required to follow Sona's reasonable orders and no one else's. That meant he could tell Rias to fuck off to his hearts content.

He calmly stepped around Rias, though he noticed her fists were clenched tightly, and made his way out of the room and toward the main entrance. He needed to swap his shoes and head home. He had some spell casting to do to improve his living conditions.

Just as he was getting to the gates, he heard his name being called from behind. Turing around he found himself facing one of Sona's peerage members. He didn't remember her name but recognized her because of her blue shoulder length hair, matching eyes, and surprising height. She was also rather tomboyish which made her stand out a bit among the others. She was kind of cute and while not the bustiest, still pretty busty. Frankly, he found that more attractive than the more common massive chests of the other girls. It was rarer and therefore more valuable.

Seeing that she had his attention, she approached closer so she wouldn't have to shout, “Sona-kaicho has asked for you to be escorted to the student council room.”

Solomon let out an annoyed groan, “I thought she didn't want me for anything today?”

The girl shrugged her shoulders, “I don't know what to tell you Payne-san, she merely sent me to fetch you before you could leave.”

He grunted but wasn't going to give her a hard time, it wasn't her fault after all. He gestured for her to lead the way and followed right behind as she led him into the student council room. Sona looked up from the paperwork she was doing at her desk as they entered, “Thank you Tsubasa.” Her sharp gaze moved to Solomon, “Payne-san, I have a job for you. After your... spar with Saji last night...” It was less of a spar and more of a one sided beat down, but whatever.

“You have been requested for some training by Rias Gremory. Her peerage has both a swordsman and a fist fighter, both things I am led to believe you are good at. Rias has requested you spar with her two peerage members to help them train. I've agreed and marked you down for an hour of work. Do let me know if the training lasts longer. She is awaiting you at the old school building.”

Solomon was not thrilled with the current development, but he also wasn't too opposed to it. He did need someone to spar with to progress his skills and both Kiba and Koneko were supposed to be good in their respective fields. Yeah, he could work with that. He was just less than pleased that he would have to spend time around Rias at the same time. Thankfully, conversation wasn't a required aspect of his job.

He acknowledged Sona's dismissal for what it was and made his way to the old school building where the found the blonde pretty boy of Rias's peerage waiting for him. Yuuto Kiba, though he would always be Kiba to Solomon, was a young man with blonde hair, blue eyes, and even a freaking beauty mark under his left eye. The guy was definitely handsome and it was clear to see why he was the 'prince' of the academy and the envy of most of the other guys.

Kiba gave a small polite bow of his head as Solomon approached, “Welcome to the occult Research Club Payne-san.”

Solomon waved his hand dismissively, “Just call me Solomon. All this Payne-san talk is a bit awkward for me as an American.”

Kiba chuckled politely, if fakely, but commented, “I understand, as an Englishman it took me some time to adapt as well.”

With that comment being the end of the conversation, Kiba led Solomon into the building and up the stairs to the main room of the ORC. He admired the nice Victorian styling of the place and the furniture did look fairly comfortable. What he didn't enjoy was the clearly smug look Rias was sporting as she sat behind her large desk, “Welcome to the ORC Payne-san and thank you for joining us.”

She gestured to one of the counches, inviting him to take a seat. He could be petty, but he wasn't petty enough to make himself uncomfortable to snub that invitation. He took the seat as Rias continued, “I'm not sure how much Sona explained, but I asked you here to spar with my Knight, Yuuto Kiba, and my Rook Koneko Toujou. Neither of them has had someone new to spar with in quite some time and I felt it would be a good chance for them to grow and improve.”

He wanted to call bullshit but didn't. Sure, some of her motive might have been helping those two, but he expected a larger portion was a desire to recruit him. He didn't know where her sudden interest in him came from, but he didn't like it.

“Fine. I don't mind. I could use the practice myself.”

She clapped her hands together, “Excellent. We can head to a small clearing out back and put up a barrier. No one will notice while you three have some fun sparring.”

Solomon stood right back up, “Let's get going then.”

Maybe he should have been a bit petty and stood, might have actually been more convenient. Something to remember in the future. As they made their way out of the building, Solomon finally took a moment to look over Koneko and came to a singular conclusion.

She was goddamn adorable! He just wanted to grab her, snuggle her, and spoil her rotten. Which was a thing... a thing he didn't know about himself until that moment. Was he a cat person in his previous life? He didn't remember having any pets at all though. So, either his memories of his pets were erased or he'd never had any. He had no way of knowing which it was.

Once outside, Akeno set up the barrier to keep people away from their practice. They were pretty far from any of the school facilities to begin with so odds were no students would come that way anyway. Once everything was set, Rias addressed Kiba, “Why don't you go first.”

Together the two boys made their way into the clearing. With a quick flash of light, Kiba summoned his most commonly used sword, the Sword of Sharpness. A simple sword with an enhanced edge that he could wield with ease. Solomon hummed and in a flash of the exact same light created a simple Cavalry Saber in his own hand. There were two gasps from Rias and Akeno, Koneko just silently raised an eyebrow. Kiba looked mildly curious as seeing someone using the same Sacred Gear as himself. He knew there was more than one copy of Sword Birth, but it was still surprising. Even so, he quickly transitioned into giving Solomon a smile, “This should be interesting.”

Solomon nodded in agreement. He'd not had much of a chance to play with his Sacred Gears so this seemed like a prime opportunity. The pair of them held their swords in different positions. Kiba was a technical fighter using refined techniques to fight his foes. Solomon, on the other hand, was currently an instinctive fighter using instincts granted to him by his CYOA picks to fill in the blanks. With enough time and training he could become a technical fighter just like Kiba. This fight would be the first step onto that path.

At an unseen signal both of them began to move. Kiba moved at an impressive speed that no human could ever hope to compete with without something to give them and edge. Solomon moved slightly slower, not because he was actually slower, but because he was more focused on observing the way Kiba moved as he slashed at Solomon with his sword.

Solomon moved his sword into place to deflect the blow, rather than intercept it. Deflection took less energy but more skill and presented more chances to get an opponent to overextend. Naturally, Kiba wouldn't fall for such an obvious ploy. He redirected his attack to come at Solomon once more from a different angle.

The others watched, transfixed, as the two boys began exchanging blows at high speed. The sound of metal clashing with metal rang out constantly as their swords intercepted each other. It was impossible for the observers to tell who was winning but that didn't mean they couldn't enjoy the spectacle! The spectacle only came to a stop when both boys swords shattered like glass, their durability worn out from the combat. That didn't stop them for very long though as both summoned duplicates of their swords and went right back to the spar.

Twenty minutes and a dozen shattered swords, each, later and the fight wound down with no clear winner. Though, technically, it could be said Solomon was the winner as the battle only ended because Kiba ran out of stamina. The poor guy was completely soaked through with sweat and breathing heavily from his exertions. The last time he'd fought so long and hard had been against his teacher in the Underworld and Sirzechs Knight, Souji Okita the legendary swordsman of the Shinsengumi.

Solomon had nowhere near his sensei's skill, but Kiba had never met a more skilled instinctive fighter. Iit hadn't been so bad in the beginning, but as the fight went on, Solomon grew more skilled and began using proper sword techniques that he'd clearly learned from fighting Kiba himself. It was a shocking display of skill and talent that made Kiba just a bit envious. Still, even after fighting so long he was still far more skilled than Solomon. Though that didn't mean he would win in a fight. He expected it would come down to which of them had the more impressive or useful swords to use in the battle. Otherwise, as they currently stood, they were matched in the use of the blade, though from two very different schools of thought.

Kiba gave Solomon a bow of respect, “Thank you for the spar. Clearly I need to work harder on improving my stamina.”

Solomon smiled happily. He'd never had so much fun in his life! Clashing against Kiba had been exhilarating in a way he'd never experienced before. He wanted to keep experiencing it and planned to as long as Kiba was interested in sparring with him in the future. To make sure he gave a good impression, he returned the bow, “It was my pleasure. I look forward to future spars to improve both of our skills.”

When Kiba retreated from the field, he was replaced by Koneko. Not wanting to use the sword still in his hand, Solomon dismissed it and instead curled his hands into fists. This was meant to be a fist fight after all.

Once across from him, Koneko lifted up her small fists and took a stance similar to a boxer. Again, there was no starting signal but they both moved at the same time. Koneko let out a quiet 'Hei' and launched herself with enough force to crack the ground beneath her feet. She flew at Solomon like a missile. A very predictable missile as he quickly moved to his left and easily dodged out of her reach. It wasn't over though as she flipped in the air and landed on the thick trunk of a tree feet first.

Her legs bent as she absorbed the force of her jump. Just as she canceled her momentum, she pushed off of the tree with all the force she could muster. The bark of the tree exploded into fragments leaving a huge dent in the wood. Once more she flew directly at Solomon with the intent to clobber him. Once more the dodged to the side and let her fly by. This time she slammed into the ground fist first with enough force to create a small crater. Solomon let out a low whistle at the sight, something he'd never seen or experienced before just happened right in front of his eyes.

He didn't let it distract him for long though. He dashed forward and lashed out with a right cross. Despite being nearly two feet shorter than him, she caught his fist on her left forearm and stopped his blow cold, though the ground beneath her feet did crack loudly as it was forced to endure the weight of his blow traveling through her body.

Koneko shifted her weight and jumped into the air, her small foot lashing out in a spinning kick aimed at his head. Much like Koneko had, he caught her kick on his forearm while the weight of the blow caused the ground beneath his feet to crack.

Soon the pair of them were engaged in a deadly dance of fists and feet. The both of them were instinctive fighters making the exchange of blows look more savage than it was. Koneko used her smaller size, enhanced agility, and racial speed to her advantage. Solomon used his greater reach, higher strength, and quickly growing skill to his. If not for her greatly enhanced durability, the exchange of blows being blocked would have already heavily bruised the petite woman.

As their spar, or more accurately battle, progressed so too did the damage being done to their surroundings. While Kiba and Solomon had fought the damage had been limited to the swords they created. With Koneko every blow that landed did damage not just to the person it hit, but to the area beneath them. It was worse for some of the blows that missed as they left craters in the ground or outright broke trees in half.

The fight lasted for a full half an hour before Koneko finally looked about ready to collapse from exhaustion. Solomon was feeling a bit tired himself. His magical stamina might be crazy but his physical stamina was far more limited, an issue he would need to look into fixing in the near future. Koneko stared at him even as she gulped down breaths to try and regain at least some energy. She clenched her fist tightly and crouched down. Solomon understood her intention, once final big clash to end the fight.

Grinning from ear to ear, Solomon copies Koneko fully intending to go along with the final clash she wanted. They both launch themselves forward at the same instant and put all of their power into the upcoming blows. Their fists slam into each other, knuckle to knuckle, with enough force to crater the ground beneath them. They hold the clash dramatically for a few brief moments before several things happen at the same time.

First, the small watch-looking monster he'd created to hide his energy signature suffers significant damage from the clash and dies, shattering into small black specs that fade away quickly. The death of the monster unveils the entirety of his previously hidden power and sends out a metaphorical shock wave that surprises everyone with its strength.

Second, the clash ends, after lasting only a few moments, with Koneko being blasted backward until her lithe form slams into a tree with enough force to break it in half. Solomon very much had the edge when it came to physical strength between them. However, Koneko was far more flexible and used that to bleed off power from his blows. Additionally, she was a Rook making her far tougher than she would have otherwise been. Those two factors worked together to drastically lower the damage he could deal to her.

Lastly, Solomon fell down to one knee panting heavily from the final exertion. The fact that he'd been fighting almost non-stop for nearly an hour was finally catching up with him and left him reeling. Yet, he was deliriously happy. He had no memories of fighting in his last life but having now experienced it... He might be addicted. He'd never felt more alive than when battling against Kiba and Koneko. The rush of adrenaline, the feeling of power in his limbs, the knowledge that one mistake could prove costly... He wanted to experience it more!

After calming down from the fight, he finally took notice of the people who'd been watching. Rias, Akeno, and Kiba all had looks of shock on their faces as they stared at him. Though in the case of Rias there was some disappointment beneath the shock.

Solomon decided to ignore all that, “Thanks for the spars. If you ever want more, let me know. This is a great way to work off an hour of my sentence.”

He didn't wait for a reply before leaving to collect his bag and head home once more.

-----Line Break-----

A short while later Rias sat behind her desk while the rest of her peerage sat in front of her. They'd taken time for Kiba and Koneko to get cleaned up and changed after their spars against Solomon. Speaking of him, he was why they were having this little meeting. She wanted to know what Kiba and Koneko had learned from their respective fights. She focused on Kiba first, “Yuuto, what can you tell me about Solomon's sword skills?”

Kiba took a moment to consider his response before speaking, “He is a monster.” Seeing the look of surprise and knowing questions were coming he continued, “I'll explain. When we first began our spar he was skilled but fought more instinctively than with technical skill. This does not mean he was bad, far from it. What makes him a monster is that the longer we fought, the most skilled he became. Honestly, it was more like he was remembering how to fight rather than learning.”

Rias hummed at that, “Well, Sona did say he had amnesia. Perhaps he'd forgotten how to fight with a sword and was remembering his lost skills while fighting you?”

Kiba thought about it for a moment, “Possibly. I couldn't tell for certain though. Either way, by the time the spar ended his skill with the sword had grown rather considerably. I'd expect it to take weeks, if not months, for an individual with excellent talent to grow as much as Payne-san did.”

Rias turned to look at Koneko, “What about you?”

The taciturn nekoshou muttered a single word around the cookie in her mouth, “Same.”

Not expecting much more from Koneko, Rias leaned back in her chair and considered her options. She still wanted to recruit Solomon, now more than ever. The problem was, she was fully aware that she could not. He was stronger than her and had a Sacred Gear on top of that. Though it was not a Longinus, or dragon related, so it wouldn't increase the difficulty of recruiting him. That left the question of just why he smelled like a dragon.

“Koneko, did you get any clues about why he smells like a dragon?”

The head shake from the young woman caused Rias to sigh, “So we've learned that he is skilled in both fist and sword fighting, is an Ultimate Class being, smells like a dragon, and has a copy of Sword Birth. Am I forgetting anything?”

Akeno chimed in, “He's also a Dhampire meaning he likely has the abilities of a Vampire, much like Gasper.”

Rias nodded at that. Dhampires were rare, very rare as most were killed as children. That would have been Gasper's fate if she hadn't happened upon him when she did. For Solomon to not just survive, but to become so powerful, meant he must have lived a hard life. Though that also seemed rather irrelevant since he couldn't remember any of it. It might be because of how bad his life was that he forgot it. She couldn't imagine how terrible someone's life would have to be that amnesia was a better option than remembering it.

Rias let out a sigh and slumped slightly in her seat. There was no way she would be able to recruit Solomon in time for it to matter. However, that didn't mean he couldn't be of use to her. She looked at Kiba and Koneko once more, “Do you two believe that sparring with Solomon will help you improve your own skills?”

Kiba nodded immediately, “I haven't had a spar so engaging since the last time I met Okita-sensei. The closest I've come to a spar since we moved up here has been the kendo club and while they're decent, for humans, they present no challenge at all. Solomon-san does. If he continues to improve as he did in our spar, then he will continue to prove to be an excellent partner for some time yet.”

Koneko's response was a simple nod of her head. She enjoyed her little bought with Solomon as she didn't often get to go all out and really use her strength. Even the majority of the strays they hunted provided no challenge to her.

Rias nodded at their replies, “Then I will speak to Sona about setting up regular sparring sessions since Solomon seemed to enjoy himself as much as you two did.”

She smiled a little at that. She might not be able to get Solomon himself, but she would be helping her people get stronger. It wasn't much, but it did give her a little bit of hope. Though, perhaps he could help herself and Akeno grow as well? He did have a massive amount of magical power so he probably knew magic as well. It was possible...

She looked at Akeno, “I'll also ask what he knows about magic. Perhaps he can help you and I to become stronger as well.”

Akeno giggled as she considered blasting Solomon with her lightning, “I think that would be just fine.”

Rias ignored the perverse giggles coming from her Queen. She had a good idea of what Akeno was imagining and didn't want to ask for details. She almost felt a little sorry for Solomon... Almost.

-----Line Break-----

Slomon hummed to himself as he walked into the park where Issei had died. It had been less than ten minutes since his spars and he was already fully recovered. His Necklace of Regeneration was as good as he'd thought it would be. As for why he'd come to the park? It was nearly deserted and had plenty of shadows. He needed to remake the little beasty he'd used to hide his mana signature and the park seemed like a good place to do so.

He left the main path and found a little clearing that would suit his needs. After making sure he was alone he pictured the creature he wanted to create with Annhilation Maker. He hadn't used it much in the real world, but two full years of Rare Candy memories made it exceptionally easy for him to use. Not to mention other things providing a boost as well. He was willing to bet he could use it better, and more creatively, than the guy who was originally supposed to have it.

His shadow began to wiggle and then grow as he birthed his new monster. It looked almost identical to the previous one, though this time it had a full eight legs and the watch-looking portion that made up its body was slightly bigger.

The creature quickly crawled up his pant leg and wrapped around his left wrist just as the previous one hand. That was where the difference kicked in. He'd given the creature more legs for a reason. The original four would still absorb the excess mana his body was emitting to mask him from being sensed. The extra four began to absorb mana from his body directly. It wasn't much, by his standards, but it served an important purpose.

After absorbing his mana for a few moments, the creature pulsed slightly creating a brief ripple that looked much like a clear bubble wrapping around Solomon's body before becoming fully invisible. The excess mana being siphoned was converted into a shield that was now wrapped around his entire body. The shield was strong enough to absorb a single blow of any strength before shattering. In exchange, it would always shatter in a single blow no matter how weak that blow was. So, in RPG terms, whether a blow dealt one or one million damage his shield would block it and break in the process. After that it would take about ten seconds to make a new one. Provided there was mana to power it, of course.

A sound similar to glass shattering filled the clearing as the shield that had just gone up came crashing down. Slowly, Solomon turned his head to stare blandly at the idiot fallen angel that had just attacked him from behind. Standing across the clearing, looking surprised at the failed attack, is the only male of the group residing in the church. Solomon tried to recall his name.. Donald? No, that was a duck's name. Donovan? Donatello? No, no, that was a cool teenage turtle.

It was Don-something, Solomon was sure of that. Well, when you're not sure, make shit up! To that end, he slowly turned around to face the fallen, “Donny, Donny, Donny, you just done fucked up. I realize that you and the others are a particular brand of stupid, but attacking me? That's a kind of stupid that I can't comprehend.”

Solomon lifts his left hand with his palm facing the sky and his fingers curled. A deep purple colored magic circle leaps to life and sends out a ripple of dark purple light that nigh-instantly blasts past Donny-boy and places the pair of them beneath a special barrier. It had the usual redirection magic to keep the mundane folks away, plus a little something extra just for Donny.

The fallen, getting over the surprise of the failed attack and the following spell assumes an aggressive stance, “My name is Dohnaseek you mosquito abomination!”

Solomon puts on a look of mock shock at the insult, “Why I never!” He snorts, “No, seriously, I've never heard someone say something that lame before.”

Dohnaseek, clearly pissed from the comment, conjures a twisted blue light spear and immediately throws it at Solomon. Solomon crosses his arms over his chest and does nothing to stop it. Once again, the spear slams into the invisible barrier around his body, shattering it. It had been well over ten seconds so he'd had nothing to fear from the attack. To drive home how little he fears Dohnaseek, Solomon lifts his hand to his mouth and covers a fake yawn.

That was clearly the right call as Dohnaseek immediately conjures and throws yet another spear. This time Solomon has no shield so he has to react, but that doesn't mean it has to be a big reaction. The spear flying at him is slower than a thrust from Kiba's sword and he'd blocked those for nearly half an hour! With contemptuous ease, he jerks his right arm up and to the side using the back of his fist to slap the light spear off course.

He hides a small wince at the mild burn that hitting the spear caused to his hand. As a Dhampire he's much more resistant to light and holy damage than a pureblood vampire, but he's still got a minor weakness to it. Not to mention that even if he had zero weakness to Light, the spear would have still been hot enough to singe him.

Seeing his spear so effectively dealt with, Dohnaseek finally realizes he's bitten off a bit more than he can chew. He'd chosen to attack Solomon because the boy was clearly unaffiliated with either of the devil bitches in charge of Kuoh. And wasn't that a joke? Fucking Devil teenagers holding territory on Earth! Killing the Dhampire freak should have been a little bit of fun on the side, no big deal. Hell, he couldn't really even feel anything from the kid so he should have been exceptionally weak. Being that weak was probably why the devil bitches ignored him and didn't recruit him. They only grabbed special folk, after all.

Unfortunately, it looks like he's been duped. Three light spears with only a small burn to show for it when a single one should have been enough to cripple the blood sucking freak. Dohnaseek spread his wings and quickly took to the air. It wasn't running away if it was a strategic retreat to report his findings to the others!

“Hey! Get back here you stupid bird!”

And the kid said his insult was weak! He huffed and flapped harder to increase his speed dramatically. He saw the edge of the barrier the kid had put up. It was something he'd neglected to do as he'd expected it to take no time at all to kill the boy. Why waste the time and energy when he was going to be in and out nice and quick?

Well, he'd get the others and come back lat...

His thoughts were cut off as he slammed face first into the barrier and came to a completely halt. The blow from his face impacting the barrier barely made it ripple showing just how strong it was. Dohnaseek, ignoring the blood leaking from his likely broken nose, began slamming his hands on the solid barrier. When that didn't work, he conjured a light spear and tried stabbing it. It too, did nothing.

He only stopped when he heard snickering coming from behind him. Turning around he found Solomon floating right behind him. Baring his teeth, he lifted his spear and prepared to fight the freak since he clearly wasn't going to get away. It looked like the only way out, was through.

Solomon studied Donny-boy for a moment and smirked, “You know, at first I was thinking of just killing you. It'd be pretty easy, after all. But then I realized something. Killing you would be giving you an easy out. Where's the fun in that?”

Dohnaseek did not like what he was hearing and has Solomon continued, he liked it even less, “So. Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to beat the shit out of you, break your lips, knock out some teeth, then cripple your wings. Only after that will I capture you and lock you up so I can use you as a bargaining chip.”

Solomon's grin grew rather wicked, “After which I am going to go over to that old church and do the exact same thing to anyone who doesn't immediately surrender to me and beg for my mercy.”

Dohnaseek scowls, “Are you trying to restart the war boy?!”

Of course, that was entirely hypocritical on Dohnaseek's part as he would gladly welcome the continuation of the war. He knew he wasn't the strongest, but there was still plenty or prey even for someone like him.

Solomon snorted, “Yeah, like that'll happen. I'm not a member of any of your three factions. I'm an independent. It's just your bad luck that I happen to be a strong enough independent to kick the shit out of you and your friends.” He laughs a bit, “Even if it did restart the war, so what? It's got nothing to do with me!”

Solomon taps his chin with his finger as he ponders aloud, “You know, I bet I could ransom you all back to Azazel. He's got some pretty cool toys laying around and I wouldn't mind having one. Yeah, I think that's what I'm going to do!”

Mind made up, Solomon focuses completely on Dohnaseek, “Well, it's time Donny.”

That's all the warning Dohnaseek gets before Solomon bursts into action. His entire form becomes a blur that arrives directly in front of the fallen. Before the man can even react, Solomon slams his fist into his gut burying it deep enough that he can feel the fallen's spine.

Dohnaseek folds in half, gagging loudly as spittle flies from his mouth. Solomon pulls his arm back only to lash out once more, this time with an uppercut that snaps Dohnaseek's head back and causes blood and teeth to spray from his mouth. Solomon doesn't stop. His right leg lashes out and slams into Dohnaseek's left, breaking his kneecap with a very loud 'crunch' that sent a shiver of revulsion down Solomon's spine. It was not a pretty sound.

The one sided beating lasts for only a few moments before Solomon stops and allows Dohnaseek's unconscious body to finally fall to the ground. The only thing that had kept the fallen in the air after the uppercut had been Solomon's brutal attacks. Solomon had kept his word though. All of Dohnaseek's limbs were twisted or bent in ways they were not meant to be. His wings though... they were the worst of the bunch. The joints had been dislocated, the tendons torn, and the bones shattered in multiple places.

He might have gone a tad overboard... Ah well. No one cares about the guys in this world.

-----Line Break-----

Kalawarna sat on one of the pews in better condition within the, not so, abandoned church they'd taken over as a base. They'd bunked down here since it was one of the few places that the devils in charge of Kuoh couldn't come without good reason. Not that they feared the two of them or their little slaves. No, it was their siblings they were wary of. Only a fool of the highest order would want to piss those two monsters off.

So... Dohnaseek.

She turned the page of her trashy bodice ripper novel and smiled to herself. She'd never say anything in front of the others, but she loved these books. The only reason the others never bothered her over reading them is because she lied about their contents. They never read anything so she didn't fear them picking up one of her books and actually reading it.

“Fucking Dohnaseek. He should have been back by now. He knows better than to spend so long torturing that mosquito in devil territory.”

Kalawarna pauses in her reading to look over at the 'leader' of their little cell, Raynare, “You know how he is when he gets carried away.”

Raynare scoffed, though Kalawarna didn't think Raynare was much better than Dohnaseek. Both of them liked to 'play with their food' as it were. They just did so in different ways. Raynare got off on destroying the innocence of young men while Dohnaseek just liked the sight of blood. Was it any wonder he got along so well with that freak of a stray priest Freed?

She shuddered at the thought of the two of them working together. Kalawarna knew she was a bit arrogant and definitely a condescending bitch to her enemies, but who wasn't? And yeah, sure she could be sadistic to her enemies, but what else was she supposed to do? Be nice to them? Most of her hate was reserved for devils anyway. She'd fallen because of her hatred for them and their defiance of her father. She'd never enjoyed having to fight her brothers and sisters after she fell. No, her anger was all reserved for those living weapons made by her bastard traitor of a brother.

All that to say that, much like Mittelt, she was one of the more stable fallen angels. Mittelts reason for falling was fairly obvious. She'd been upset at being made as she was. To be a woman who resembled a child for all of eternity. Her jealousy at the more mature bodies of her sisters eventually led to anger at their father and her fall. Her worst sadistic behavior was reserved for a certain type of man. Otherwise, she was pretty much just like Kalawarna when dealing with devils.

It was why the pair of them got along and fought together so often. Though there was no denying that even after thousands of years of friendship, Mittelt was still fairly jealous of Kalwarna's own... assets. Why her father saw fit to make her breasts so big she would never know. Though she did take a fair amount of pride in them, after her fall.

Kalwarna stopped her reading as a dark purple wave of magic washed through the church. Instantly she, and everyone else within the church, were on their feet with weapons in hand.

“Attention losers within the church. You have thirty seconds to unconditionally surrender before I do to you what I did to...” There's an awkward pause, “Uh... Don-something or other. There is no chance for escape. You will surrender or be broken.”

Kalawarna turns to look at Raynare, “Did Dohanseek actually lose to that mosquito? I thought he was supposed to be so weak he couldn't even be sensed without being really close.”

Raynare shrugged her shoulders, “He didn't feel very strong when I met him, I even warned that idiot about the boys fire magic.” She clicked her tongue, “Leave it to that moron to lose to a weak child.”

Kalawarna wasn't convinced the Dhampire was so weak. Vampires were known for their trickery in combat. They were masters of shadows, bats, and mist. It was possible the Dhampire relied on those to win against Dohnaseek via ambush. She wasn't so sure though, he sounded rather confident... until he failed to remember Dohnaseek's name. She would have found that fairly funny in different circumstances.

Well, there was nothing for it since they were not going to surrender, obviously. Instead, Raynare began issuing orders to the stray priests they had under their command. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on your outlook, Freed was out looking for people who'd contracted with the local devils. She thought he was a coward since he focused on normal humans the majority of the time and was more than happy to run away if a fight turned against him.

“Time's up!”

That was all the warning they got before the two large doors at the front of the church were blasted off of their hinges and reduced to splinters. She got her first look at the 'boy' standing in the doorway and subconsciously licked her lips. He was no boy, that was for sure. He was definitely all man given the way he filled out his clothing with a lithe muscular body. A normal human would need to live at the gym to look like him!

His blood red eyes swept over the people gathered against him and he smirked at the sight! She could tell he didn't consider them, any of them, to be a threat. She, Raynare, and Mittelt didn't hesitate though. All three of them launched their conjured light spears right at him. Dhampire's might not be as weak to them as a pure blood, but they were still more than capable of killing him.

Or would have been if he didn't simply slap them out of the air. The fuck?!

She watched as he casually waved his hands in the air while mockingly saying, “Ohhh that stings.”

Kalawarna was no idiot. She knew that for someone to do what he'd just done would require that they be a fair bit stronger than herself and the others. Which meant that, somehow, he was hiding his true strength. To put it in devil terms, they were all Low Class which meant he had to be at least High Class to so easily deal with their attacks.

While she tries to decide what to do, Raynare and Mittelt launch yet more spears at Solomon, only for him to slap them aside like he'd done before. Their attacks were accompanied by Raynare shouting, “Open fire!”

All of their stray's did as commanded and fired their light guns. Solomon didn't seem the least bit concerned while he cast a spell that created a barrier that looked like a thin pane of glass floating in the air. Its looks were highly deceiving as it blocked every last bullet without so much as rippling, let alone looking like it might break. The strays fired until their guns clicked empty while Raynare and Mittelt continued to uselessly lob spears. All of it was blocked by the barrier while Solomon actually yawned while standing behind it.

Yeah, that made her mind up for her. Kalawarna calmly stepped behind the group and found somewhere comfortable to sit and relax. She wasn't stupid enough to attack when she was at a clear disadvantage. Her choice was proven to be wise as Solomon spoke moments after the strays ran out of ammo, “My turn.”

Solomon dropped the barrier spell and moved practically vanishing from where he was to appear in front of the strays. His fists lashed out, each time dealing a devastating blow that broke bones. It was a matter of moments before all the strays were on the ground groaning in pain from the damage he'd inflicted.

Raynare screamed in rage while conjuring a spear and attempting to stab Solomon with it. A flash of light erupts from Solomon's hand as he conjures up a sword with a golden blade. Kalawarna arches an eyebrow at that, so he either had Sword Birth or Blade Blacksmith? That could explain how he beat Dohnaseek. Though he was also clearly good with magic and physically strong.

The sword blade intercepts Raynare's thrust and parries it to the side. But something else happens. Something rather terrifying. While the sword blade is touching the light spear it very clearly begins to absorb the spears power causing it to grow smaller and weaker. Such a short contact time and the spear looked to be half of what it had been.

Raynare did the smart thing and jumped back to gain some distance from the strange sword. At the same time she fed more power into her spear to bring it back up to size. She glares at Solomon with her purple eyes as she spits out, “Is that how you beat Dohnaseek? Some cheap trick with that sword?”

Solomon glances at the blade in his hand for a moment before he smirks, “Nah. I beat the ever loving fuck out of him with my bare hands. Little pussy passed out before I was halfway done.” He lifts the sword, “This? This is just a toy I made in my spare time. Though I should thank you for letting me test it. Here, a gift.”

His 'gift' turned out to be the sword. He did... something to it that caused cracks to form all along the golden blade before he casually tossed it toward Raynare. Raynare, showing a hint of intelligence for once, jumped back even further, but it did not save her. While still in the air the sword exploded sending out a wave of light power and shrapnel that lightly burned both Raynare and Mittelt while peppering them with small cuts.

Raynare glares murderously at Solomon, “I'm going to kill you for that!” Her venomous gaze turns to Kalawarna where she's sitting and not participating, “Get over here and help us you useless bitch!”

Kalawarna shakes her head, “Hell no. I'm not that stupid.”

Raynare screams in rage and actually throws the spear in her hand at Kalawarna. For her part, Kalawarna just barely manages to duck down and keep from getting speared, though it does cut right through the pew she'd been sitting on.

Solomon snorts at the interaction, “Well, at least one of you has brains.”

Kalawarna sits back up and gives Solomon a brief smile, though she keeps her eyes on Raynare and Mittelt in case there's another attack. Solomon focuses back on Raynare and clicks his tongue, “You know, I was going to play around a bit more, but that kind of pissed me off.”

That's the last thing he says before he's in front of and unarmed Raynare and driving his fist into her solar plexus. Raynare's breath leaves her body as she fold in half. She doesn't even have time to worry about being unable to breathe as Solomon's fists, become a blur. Kalawarna watches, wide eyed and rubbing her thighs together as Solomon tears Raynare apart.

When he finishes with her she's nothing but a broken pile of pain on the floor. He turns to find Mittelt, only to see the short and petite fallen sitting on the pew next to the flushed looking Kalawarna. Clearly she gave up and had no desire to experience what Raynare had just been put through.

Solomon smirks at the pair, “Wise choice.”

A magic circle erupts from beneath his feet and covers the majority of the churches floor. Steel cables rise out of the circle and wrap around the defeated people, binding them tightly where they lay. Or, in the case of Kalawarna and Mittelt, where they sit. At the same time Dohnaseek's broken body, similarly tied up, floats into the room as a gesture from Solomon.

With everyone secure, Solomon focuses on the two conscious fallen angels, “So. Either of you feel like giving me Azazel's phone number?”

-----Line Break-----

AN

This chapter comes in at a solid 10.5k words. I also had plenty of fun writing it.

By the way, I could seriously use a decent title for this thing. I just can't think of anything fitting. What do you guys think? Also, let me know what you thought of the chapter!