DxD - Game Master - Chapter 9

Seeing the larger orc decimating the defenders in front of it, Rias called out, “Kiba! Koneko! Stop the Lieutenant!”

Even as she sent out the order, which was swiftly obeyed, she addressed Akeno, “Akeno! We'll support them.”

The pair focused their spells on the Lieutenant. Rias continued to fire smaller blasts of her Power of Destruction, aiming for disabling shots. There were simply too many friendlies nearby for her to go for a stronger, and therefore bigger, attack. Her control over her power still wasn't fine enough when it came to her bigger blasts. So, she aimed smaller blasts at the Lieutenant aiming for the joints of his armor to try and disable, or at least slow him down.

The large orc let out an intimidating roar as the spells from Rias and Akeno hit it. Yet it didn't seem to take too much damage from each individual hit. The Power of Destruction from Rias did visible damage while the orc almost seemed to shrug off the blasts of lightning from Akeno. Akeno didn't let it bother her though, she was long used to there being monsters resistant to certain elements or only weak to certain ones. Instead of wasting her Demonic Power on more lightning, she switched to fire for her next attack.

After the first barrage of attacks from the magic wielding duo, Kiba was the first to arrive and attack the orc in melee. He lashed out with a sword created from his Sacred Gear, a rather basic longsword with no special properties other than being extra sharp. The orc met blade with blade. As the two swords clashed, Kiba was forced to jump back in shock as the orcs sword sliced through his own as if it were tofu.

As Kiba retreated to make a new sword, Koneko took his place foot first, flying through the air to try and kick the orc in its face. Instead her foot only collided with its large shield. The sound of her small foot slamming into the hardened steel rang out but didn't even damage the painted effigy of Hionos on it. The orc tried to shove her back but the nimble cat-girl easily used the momentum of the shove to make some space between them.

While Koneko vaulted through the air in a lazy backflip, blasts of magic from Rias and Akeno slammed into the orc once again. Rias continued to bombard it with small blasts while Akeno launched a scorching ball of flames right at its head. The orc used its shield to block the flames while it endured the small blasts of Destruction that were once again aimed at vulnerable joints, mostly aimed at its legs.

The orc wasn't simply going to sit back and allow itself to be taken down so easily. It re-positioned its shield in front of its body and charged forward with all of its not inconsiderable might. Kiba and Konko chose to dodge to the side rather than take the charge head on. As the orc passed them, they both took shots at attacking it. Kiba slashed out with a new sword covered in flames aiming at the orc knee. Koneko, meanwhile, kicked out aiming for the back of the orcs knee opposite from the one Kiba attacked.

Both attacks rang loudly as they hit the orc armor, their blows enough to cause the orc to stumble and lose some momentum, but not stop it entirely. It continued its charge directly toward Rias as it once more began to gain momentum. Rias stood her ground believing her peerage would have her back. She was immediately proven right when Akeno cast a spell that cause the ground to shift beneath the orc's feet. A small stone wall rose from the ground between the orcs legs as it was running, it's back foot caught on the wall causing it to completely lose its balance and fall flat on its face.

It took no time at all for Akeno, Koneko, and Kiba to all take advantage of the orcs new vulnerable position. Kiba swapped to a large sword with a serrated edge in the hopes that it would carve through the armor better. Koneko switched to her fists, she was good at kicking but even better at punching. Akeno summoned up razor sharp steel hard ice spears to pierce through the orcs armor. And lastly, Rias started gathering a large amount of Destruction in her hands causing a powerful aura to erupt around her body that made her hair whip around above her head.

Kiba's blade slammed into the back of the orc carving deep into the metal with a loud screech that sent sparks flying. After he moved out of the way, Koneko came crashing down from a short jump and slammed her small fist right into the middle of the deep gash Kiba had created. The gash cracked open completely breaking portions of the armor open. Koneko retreated moments before the ice spear Akenko conjured slammed into the weakened portion of the armor and completely shattered it open.

The orc screamed in rage and pain when the ice spear dug deep into its back but it didn't stop. It would never stop. As it raged, it's skin began turning from a light green to a bright red, steam exploded out of its armor as it forced itself to its feet despite the damage Akeno's ice had done to its spine. It ripped its helmet off while its chest armor collapsed to the ground and roared at the sky with enough power to send some nearby people stumbling in fear. When its roar finished it focused its bloodshot eyes on Rias, the obvious leader of the ones assaulting him, “YOU CANNOT STOP OUR LORD! OUR GOD! LORD GRIZUS WILL RAZE THIS CITY TO THE GROUND IN THE NAME OF HIONOS!”

Rias, crackling with the black and red colored power of destruction glared at the orc Lieutenant, “Let them come! They will face the same fate as you!”

As the last word of her declaration fell she unleashed all of her gathered power in a single destructive blast that drove into the orcs exposed chest and erased it from existence. The orc stood in place for a moment, a massive gaping hole where its chest used to be, before it fell onto its back to stare sightless at the sky.

At the sight of their dead leader, the few orcs that remained broke and fled back into the forest. The adventurer's continued to fire arrows at the retreating enemy under the orders of the Guard Captain. The fewer that survived their retreat, the fewer there would be when they returned for another attack in the future. It was a cold but practical action.

As the last of the orcs disappeared from sight everyone cheered in triumph!

Rias and her group, sweating, exhausted, and magically drained, made their way back into the city with everyone else and joined the other adventurers within the Guild. Not everyone had returned from the battle giving the room an air of mixed feelings. Everyone was happy they'd driven off the invasion, yet many were sad from the loss of friends.

Lana stood on a crate once more to address the crowd. With the majority of the adventurers being male, the sight of the gorgeous blonde was a welcome sight. She gave them all a smile as she spoke, “Welcome back! I believe I speak for everyone when I say, thank you for protecting us! Thanks to all of you, not a single civilian was so much as scratched by the invaders! Tonight, and for the next week, all food and drink is on the house! Enjoy yourselves! Send your lost friends off not with sadness but with pride in what they all accomplished!”

Everyone cheered when Lana finished her speech. They'd all lost at least one friend and they wanted to send their friends off with pride, not sadness. So, they partied! Food and drink flowed as the adventurers celebrated their hard won victory. Even the devils joined in for the celebrations, though Rias forbid them from drinking alcohol. It was a good time for everyone involved.

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

Ryuji smiled to himself as he closed the feed from his scenario where Rias and the others were still celebrating their victory. Sadly, the Orc Lieutenant was as strong as he could make it with his current limits and it hadn't managed to do anything. He needed to be even stronger if he wanted to present the devils with a real challenge that they would have to work hard to overcome.

He felt his Dungeon Energy and considered what he should do. He had a large amount of it built up from the battle. Emotions had run high and were still high as they celebrated. Even now the amount he had saved up was still growing. He tapped his finger on his desk while he decided. Personal power was very important. It meant he was safer in a dangerous world and could produce stronger NPC's for his scenarios.

On the other hand, he needed to upgrade his Alchemy. He wanted to produce stronger potions and sell them to Serafall for even more profit. The more cash he had, the more supplies he could gather and the cooler the items he could make for his scenarios.

He stopped tapping his finger, “Fuck it.”

Decision made, he bought the upgrade to his Alchemy Station. New knowledge came to him, though it wasn't all that much. Just new methods for making extracts from ingredients that he would come in contact with now that he had access to a new tier of supplies. The Alchemy Station itself over went a more drastic change. The room became bigger and was filled with more sophisticated equipment making it look closer to a modern chemistry lab than it had before. He could now make potions with up to three ingredients with the automated system the station included.

It was time for him to get back into the Alchemy Station and begin experimenting again to learn the properties of the new ingredients he had access to. He actually enjoyed this part of Alchemy and was looking forward to it.

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

Ryuji looked at the potion sitting on the table in front of him. He'd spent the last week experimenting with his new materials as well as mixing and matching them with what he'd previously had available. The number of potions he could make had skyrocketed. Naturally he'd been able to make Minor level healing, mana, and stamina potions. He honestly hadn't expected it to be so easy to find the materials to make them, let alone the potion he was staring at.

The potion on the table didn't look like much at all. In fact, it looked simply like a vial containing water, yet it was the most interesting potion of the bunch. A Minor Race Change Potion. Most might consider it to be a... waste or useless because the potion didn't fully change someone into the race that provided to final material.

To use the potion he would need to add something from the species he wanted to change into that contained genetic material. So a hair without the root was useless, blood would be the best option. Once added to the potion, it would change and be ready to drink. The thing most might consider garbage was that the potion was only a partial race change. In other words, if he was to drink it he would become a half-breed. Another thing that might be considered 'bad' was that the same 'half' would be changed if he drank it a second time.

In other words, if he finished the potion with some blood from a devil, he would become a human devil hybrid. Then, if he later took a potion finished with yokai blood and drank it, he would become a human yokai hybrid rather than a devil yokai hybrid or a combination of the three races. He would always remain at least half human if he used the Minor Race Change Potion and he wasn't sure that was a problem.

He was only hesitating for two reasons. One, he wasn't sure which race he would want to add to himself. Though he was definitely leaning heavily toward devil. Two, he didn't know if things like half-breeds even existed in DxD. Well, except for probably demigods, but he didn't have access to any godly genetic material so that was irrelevant. Were half-devils, half-angels, or half-fallen even a real thing in the world? Or would he become a one of a kind freak of nature if he took the potion and became half-devil?

He was focusing on devil since it was by far the easiest to get his hands on given that there were a dozen, or more, of them at his school. Though he only considered two of them valid targets, Sona and Rias, because of their pure-blood status. Realistically, he was only interested in getting some material from Rias. He had a few reasons, but only one was a good one. He wanted access to the Gremory bloodline for the Power of Destruction. Less seriously... He thought it would be amusing as hell to gain the power of the Gremory's since he already had the looks.

Rias now knew he was a magician so he expected he would have a meeting with her sooner or later. Maybe they could come to some sort of deal so he could get himself a drop of her blood. Though Rias and Sona had been completely ignoring his existence in the school since that night. He'd found it surprising, at first, but figured Serafall must have said something to them that had them being wary or cautious. He hadn't done anything out of the ordinary though so he expected that wouldn't last much longer.

After staring at the potion for a bit longer, he picked it up and stuck it inside of his inventory. Until he got a piece of someone to put into it, it was useless. Once the potion was put away, he looked at the other items he'd created over the last week with help from the NPC's in charge of Tailoring, Blacksmithing, and Jewelcrafting. Each item had been personally enchanted by him for Rias and her peerage, a single item each as a reward for their part defeating the mini-boss they'd fought and beaten.

He'd had Lana take requests for items they'd like, though he chose the enchantments himself. He was looking forward to seeing how much they liked them, and then spending the Dungeon Energy he'd gain from their happiness and appreciation. Man, it was good to be him.

He did a final check on them before adding them to his inventory. With them safely stored away, he stood and made his way to the Blacksmithing section of his Home Base, “Is it ready?”

The blacksmith nodded and went to collect the item in question. When he returned, Ryuji couldn't help smiling. This was his third iteration of the Blacksmith, each one given more magical power toward their skill. The sword the Blacksmith handed over, as far as an amateur like Ryuji could tell, was a masterpiece. The sword was a katana made in a somewhat traditional manner. Some steps had been skipped or sped up as Ryuji didn't want to have to wait weeks to months for it to be finished.

“Thanks.”

He didn't technically have to thank the NPC, it was essentially a Biological Virtual Intelligence that was entirely loyal to him and completely incapable of doing anything against his wishes. He still wouldn't abuse them though.

With the sword in hand, he made his way to his ritual room with a bright smile. He'd tried to summon a good Blacksmith spirit a few times using items made by his various versions of the Blacksmith NPC. None had summoned anything worthwhile. His plan this time was to use the most famous kind of sword from Japan to try and summon a Japanese Blacksmith. Essentially he was trying to make a call to the local afterlife.

There was nothing different about the ritual, he still had to say the cringe poem to summon a spirit while using the new sword as the focus. Same as before, a soul appeared floating over the center of the ritual circle and the sword. Though this soul was definitely the most visually interesting. The vast majority of souls that he'd seen were just plain white. Others would have hints of color, most often blue. Ryuji assumed that blue meant the soul had access to magic to a high degree. The more blue, the more powerful in life.

This new soul, actually had a solid streak of silver running through it that stood out starkly even though it shouldn't have. Silver on white should have blended together, but it didn't in this case. It was... odd. Well, regardless, Ryuji spoke first, “Thank you for answering my call.”

The soul bobbed in the air as it answered in a deep and aged voice, “Thank you for inviting me.” The soul floated down toward the sword, “This blade reminded me of something my apprentice once attempted. I beat him for his impertinence. Still, sensing something so similar to his trash made me feel a little nostalgic. Why have you used this trash to call a spirit from Yomi?”

Not seeing any reason to not be polite, Ryuji gave a polite bow toward the spirit, “My name is Okane Ryuji and I have been searching for a true master weaponsmith to work with me. I am a skilled, though young, magician looking to expand my skills in enchantment. I hope to be capable of working with a partner to make legendary weapons. In exchange, I offer a second chance at life. I have the ability to create a body, to your exact specifications, that has no mind of its own allowing you to easily possess it. As I grow in power and experience I can even make the body that's beyond human.”

It was true too. If he focused purely on the body, not giving it skills, thought, or anything else, he could make a body that was superhuman. He could imagine that a blacksmith would love to have a body designed purely for their passion.

The soul rolled from side to side as if contemplating things. Eventually it asked, “You claim to be capable of making a body, can you offer proof of such an amazing skill?”

Ryuji nodded and created a brain dead copy of himself with a simply thought. He gestured to the comatose body that lay on the ground staring at the ceiling and just breathing, “It's not very difficult. Though it will obviously take longer to make one to your specifications. Though this is all predicated on you being a bladesmith I would want to employ.”

The soul laughed at the implication that it might not be worth hiring. He seemed to consider for a bit before saying, “If you can make a body to my specifications, I would be willing to work the forge once more in exchange.”

Ryuji considered it, but he first wanted to know something, “Can you tell me your name before we go any further?”

The spirit paused for a moment before it answered, “You may call this one Yasa.”

Ryuji smiled, “Alright, Yasa-san. Once we finish making your body we'll have to do some paperwork. Shall we get started?”

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

Ryuji was simultaneously thrilled, and annoyed. His new bladesmith, Yasa, was already in the forge, excited to get to work on a new creation after signing a binding contract with Ryuji. He hadn't gotten much use out of his abilities with contracts, but it was nice to know they worked properly. However, he was also extremely annoyed because of just how picky Yasa had been on the creation of his body.

Ryuji had spent the last five hours making, dismissing, and remaking the mans body over and over. He couldn't simply modify an existing NPC creation, he had to dismiss it and then summon it again if he wanted to make even a minor change. If Ryuji never had to modify another mans junk again it would be too soon. Seriously, when Yasa had realized just how much Ryuji could modify his body, he'd gone nuts. If Ryuji hadn't refused, Yasa would be more hung than a horse!

As it was, Yasa was now the definition of ikemen. Young, handsome, and about to be making a lot of money. That last one was part of the deal between them. Yasa would be paid and allowed out into the real world on a regular basis. Not that Ryuji would want to imprison someone. His NPC's plain didn't count.

Thanks to more modern tools and high quality materials, it wouldn't take Yasa all that long to produce his first blade. Yasa promised it would be an excellent sword, but had been thin on the details and hadn't revealed all that much about himself. Ryuji wasn't even certain when Yasa had been alive as a swordsmith or if he was someone famous or not. But, honestly? It didn't matter as long as Yasa could produce nice stuff.

Ryuji was definitely looking forward to seeing the final product in a couple of weeks. Until then he had his current Blacksmith NPC making 'inferior' products. At least, inferior according to Yasa. That man definitely had a lot of pride that bordered on arrogance.

Ryuji liked him.

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

It was a nice day as Ryuji walked down the street heading for the school gates. It was Monday once again and he'd had a very productive weekend. He'd been sending Rias and the others into scenarios, gathering Dungeon Energy, selling them items, getting millions of yen from Serafall, selling Serafall the more powerful potions for a higher price, and, in general, just having a lot of fun. All of that energy was spent pretty much as fast as he could get it.

The new contract with Serafall was pretty straightforward, just a modified one for the Lesser potions while substituting in the Minor ones. Some things were drastically different through. For starters, it took thirty minutes to make a Minor potion, so he was limited to exactly three hundred and thirty-six per week. They settled on three hundred. He planned to use the remaining ones for his scenarios as items to sell or for rewards in scenarios.

So, he would be using his facilities non-stop to produce one thousand Lesser Healing Potions and three hundred Minor Healing Potions to sell for a profit of forty-two million yen per week. He'd need to look at the next upgrade to increase his production speed soon.

Well, no point in thinking about that right now. He focused on what was happening around him once more as he crossed the threshold onto the school grounds. When he looked around he spotted Sona staring at him, once again. Only, this time, he definitely saw a light blush on her cheeks. The only thought that went through his mind was, 'what the fuck?'

He decided to ignore it. If he didn't pay any attention to it then it didn't exist. That was his solution and he planned to stick to it. He had no idea what was going through that girls head and he didn't want to know. So, he ignored it.

Things got a little stranger when Rias and Akeno arrived at the classroom. Neither of them had paid much attention to him, other than idle curiosity in the beginning. Even after he'd revealed his magical abilities, Rias hadn't tried to talk to him. In fact, she'd practically ignored him since that night. Now, he caught her looking at him with interest once more and he wasn't sure how to take that.

Neither of the women said anything, or approached him, throughout the day. However, as he was heading toward the gate to leave the school, Kiba Yuuto, the blonde pretty boy of the school, apprached him, “Excuse me, Okane-san. We haven't met before, I'm Kiba Yuuto. Rias-sama asked me to invite you to the Occult Research Club this afternoon for a chat.”

Ryuji contemplated blowing the invitation off, but decided not to. Honestly, he liked Rias. Watching her run his scenarios made him feel a bit closer to her... Which now that he thought about it was kind of creepy and stalker-ish. He definitely needed to watch out for that in the future. He didn't want to turn into a complete weirdo... Or at least any weirder than he already was.

“Sure, I don't have any plans this afternoon.”

Kiba gave him a polite smile and led the way to the club room. The interior of the room was actually really nice. The room was wood-paneled with Victorian-style couches and chairs along the walls with one section to the side setup to be a bath, and a large Gremory Family magic circle to allow teleportation with ease.

Kiba gestured to a couch, “Please, have a seat. Rias-buchou with be with you soon.”

Ryuji took a seat on one of the couches and looked around the room. It was nicely appointed and he definitely appreciated the ambiance. It was... comfortable. As he settled down, Akeno came from a different area pushing a trolley with a tea set on it. She poured a cup of the steaming hot liquid and held it out toward Ryuji, “Would you like a cup of tea?”

Ryuji held his hand out and accepted the cup of tea. He wasn't a huge tea drinker, in either life, but he recalled that Akeno's tea was often praised so he decided to give it a try. As he accepted the cup of tea he nodded to her, “Thank you Himejima-san.”

“Ara ara, so distant? We've been classmates for so long, call me Akeno.”

Ryuji smiled, but refused to be pulled into her little games. He remembered her as being a sadomasochist who liked to tease people to get a rise out of them. Honestly, she didn't feature all that much in the show so he'd learned most of what he knew about her from seeing her in his scenarios. She definitely got off on using her lightning to torture the monsters within.

“As you wish, Akeno-san.”

He took a sip of the tea and was pleasantly surprised at how good it tasted. He always found tea to have a bitter taste to it, he avoided it for that reason. He never touched coffee. If tea was bitter, coffee was hell. Yet there was no bitter taste to Akeno's tea. It was pleasantly earthy, warm, and comforting with a sweet aftertaste to it.

He didn't know how the hell she pulled it off but he saw no reason not to say, “This is delicious. I've never really liked tea, but I like this.”

Akeno gave him a demure little bow, just her head, “Thank you for the complement.”

A few sips of his tea later and he was joined by the rest of the peerage. Koneko, Kiba, and Rias walked into the room as a group and took various seats. Koneko sat down at a love seat and place a tray of cookies in front of herself, one of which she immediately picked up and began to nibble on. Kiba took a chair for himself while Rias sat behind the large desk in the room with Akeno by her side. He did find it a little disconcerting that everyone but Koneko was eyeballing him.

Rias broke the silence, “I've been wanting to talk to you since our little run-in last week Okane-san. You left me quite a mess to deal with.”

Ryuji actually flushed a little at that, “In my defense, I didn't really know what to do with a captured fallen angel that just tried to kill me.”

Rias smiled a little, “Yes, I can see how that might be an issue. Still, you could have at least stuck around to answer a few oh my questions.”

“Well, I'm here now. Ask away.”

Rias arched an eyebrow but clearly took him at his word as she asked, “Just how much do you know about the supernatural world?”

Ryuji shrugged, “Just the basics really. Everything mythological is real, essentially. I also know that I'm classified as an independent magician. Broad strokes, basically.”

Rias nodded in understanding, “So you don't know that it's expected for magicians, and others, are expected to inform the ruler of an area about their presence? To not do so is seen as suspicious.”

Ryuji tilted his head slightly, “Ah, no I definitely didn't know about that. Whose territory is this?”

He really didn't remember anything about that sort of etiquette from the show. It was either a minor mention or something from later on in the series that he never saw. Well, whatever, he could probably take care of it now, since it was expected.

Rias smiled playfully, “That would be Sona and myself.”

“Oh. Well... this is awkward. What exactly am I supposed to say?”

Rias laughed lightly and gave him a teasing smile, “Not that you need to, in this case, but it would normally be polite to ask for a meeting, introduce yourself, and let the person in charge of the territory know why you're there.”

Ryuji chuckled, “Ah, well. In that case. I am Okane Ryuji and I'm here to go to high school thanks to a generous scholarship.”

Rias tilted her head curiously, “Oh? Is that all?”

He nodded, “Pretty much. Was I supposed to talk about my magic or something? It's a rather new development for me. I've only been practicing since shortly after I moved here. Found myself a good primer and studied it.”

Rias nodded along as he spoke, “It's impressive that you managed to defeat and capture a fallen angel like Raynare with so little time to learn and practice.” She looked him over for a moment before she continued on a completely different tangent, “Tell me, what do you know about the Abrahamic Factions?”

“Not a whole lot. Angels, Fallen Angels, and Devils all slaughtering each other for pointless reasons. Then they all suddenly stopped and it became a cold war. That's about it.”

Rias nodded, “Skipping the details, that really is about all there was too it. There were other things, such as the Devil Civil War, but that's not really relevant at the moment. But, are you aware of the relationship between magicians and devils?”

Ryuji shook his head so Rias explained, “Devils and Magicians have a long history of forming pacts with each other. There are several reasons for doing so. If you were to make a pact with me, for example, then I would be able to give you things like protection, information, and some prestige. Even getting items or resources cheaper or from equal exchanges.”

Ryuji's eyes widened slightly, prompting Rias to smile knowingly. Resources were always something Ryuji was on the lookout for. If he could get the things he needed for his potions, crafting, and other things at a discount, it would definitely be worth it to form a pact with Rias. Though it was important for him to ask, “You made sure to highlight what I would get out of a pact, but what do you get in exchange?”

Rias didn't shy away from the question, “I gain access to your unique research and formulas during the contracted time frame. I can also ask, and I mean ask, for your help with researching specific topics of interest. For example...”

She was cut off as a mass of flames erupted out of the teleportation circle within the room accompanied by a sound similar to a bird screech. Rias glared balefully at the flames until they settled to reveal a young man. Riser was a tall and handsome young man in his early twenties with short blond hair and dark blue eyes. His outfit consisted of a burgundy blazer with gold embroidery on the right with matching pants and black dress shoes. Underneath his open blazer he wore a white dress shirt that was not fully buttoned.

He didn't even bother looking around the room as he spoke in an arrogant voice, “It's been a long time since I came to the human world.” He ran his fingers through his hair and zeroed in on Rias, “My lovely Rias, I have come to see you.”

Nobody in the room looked happy to see the blonde, least of all Rias. Though Ryuji was looking over Riser and was surprised to realize something. He was more powerful, magically, than Riser. Not by a huge margin, but by enough to be noticeable. Even more interesting, Rias was more powerful than Riser putting her power between Riser and himself. That was interesting.

Rias didn't reply to Riser, instead she glared at him, which didn't seem to put him off his game. He walked right up to her, happily invading her personal space, “Now then Rias, I know it's sudden, but lets go visit the location for the ceremony.” He got even closer, “The date is set, after all. Might as well get it over with.”

Rias gave Riser's shoulder a shove, “Get away from me Riser.”

Riser chuckled lightly, “Seems like you're embarrassed Rias.”

Ryuji couldn't take it anymore and snorted. Seeing Riser in person, the way he acted, the cocky tone of his voice, it was all so... over the top. He tried to stay quiet and see how things panned out, but he just couldn't hold in the amused snort.

Naturally, the snort drew Riser's attention. He turned his head to face Ryuji, “Huh? Who the hell are you?”

Ryuji calmly waved his hand in a dismissive manner, “Sorry, sorry. I couldn't keep it in. Just seeing something so cliché... Well, you can understand why I found it funny, right? Ah! But where are my manners? I'm Okane Ryuji, just a local magician who was in talks with Gremory-san over a pact, until you appeared.”

Riser's face fell flat as he stared blandly at Ryuji, “Just some common magician?” He snorted derisively and faced Rias, “You should pick better magicians to make pacts with. This one doesn't even recognize when he's in front of his betters.”

That caused Ryuji to snort again, he couldn't help it. He had a dozen different methods he could use to kick the shit out of Riser so being belittled by the flaming chicken was just plain amusing to him. He might have been willing to keep to himself and back down before he got some real combat practice, but now? Now he was sure he could take Riser on and win. Though he wasn't so sure about taking on Riser and his entire peerage at the same time.

Riser's head snapped around violently to glare at Ryuji, “Was something I said funny?”

Going by the venomous tone, the answer Riser obviously expected was a 'no' so, of course, Ryuji said the opposite, “Yes. I didn't honestly believe there were people out there so full of themselves that they would talk about people being someones 'betters' and mean it. It's just... what century are you from man? Are you going to start walking around talking with the royal 'we' next?”

Riser was clearly enraged, but he didn't speak to Ryuji again, rather he turned his head to address Rias, “You've yet to make a pact with this low born piece of trash, correct?”

The question was clearly rhetorical because he didn't even wait for an answer before he said, “Good.” while lifting up his right hand, palm facing the ceiling, and conjured up a mass of hellfire. He faced Ryuji as the temperature in the room grew dramatically, “Since you haven't finalized a pact with this trash, I'll be nice and take it out for you.”

Ryuji watched calmly, he'd trained against creatures that could conjure flames, ice, water, earth, lightning, and more. He'd also developed defensive spells to protect against those specific elements making them far more effective than general shielding spells. He had noting to fear from Riser's flames. He'd even designed a few spells specifically to hurt Riser since he knew the guy would show up at some point. It was honestly about the only thing he knew about DxD. He had no excuse to not be prepared for it.

Though it turned out he had no reason to even begin casting a spell to defend himself. Before Riser could launch his attack, the Gremory Crest on the floor glowed ice blue as a woman teleported into the room. Her presence immediately caused a drop in the temperature in the room. Between Riser's heat and the new arrivals cold, the room now felt warm and humid. It was kind of annoying.

Riser paused in his attack and looked at the new arrival. Ryuji honestly didn't recognize the woman by her looks. What he did recognize was how powerful she was. Her strength dwarfed everyone else in the room, combined. Riser looked slightly unnerved by her appearance but made no more to dismiss the flames hovering over his hand.

Rias, looking surprised, spoke in a questioning voice, “Grayfia-nee?”

Grayfia was a beautiful young looking woman with a voluptuous body, appearing to be in her early twenties with back-length silver hair styled with a long braid on each side with small blue bows at the ends, while the rest is partially let down which ends in twin braids and more blue bows. Her red eyes sweep the room while she calmly walks toward Rias, the skirts of her blue and white French Maid outfit swishing as she moves. A proper French Maid uniform, not a sexy one.

Riser seemed like he wasn't sure what he should do with Grayfia there. She hadn't said a word, yet everything seemed to pause until she arrived next to Rias. She observed the room, her brow arching at the scene before her of Riser holding flames while clearly planning to attack the only human in the room. One she knew, for a fact, Riser could never hope to beat.

As if Sirzechs could ever keep a secret from her. She knew everything about Okane Ryuji that the four Satans did. She had been watching the situation unfold and decided to step in to prevent something happening to the third son of the Phenex family. She focused her eyes on Riser until he got the hint and snuffed the flames in his hand. Once they were, she focused on Ryuji, “Since no one seems to wish to do so properly, I shall introduce you to Riser Phenex-sama. He is the third son of the Phenex Clan and a high class pure-blood devil. He is also the fiance of the heir of the Gremory Clan, Rias Gremory.”

Riser smirked and looked at Rias in a way that clearly set her off. Rias growled as she practically yelled, “I've said it before and I will say it again. I won't marry you Riser!”

Riser was completely unphased, clearly used to the little song and dance, “Isn't your family pushing for this as much as mine?”

Rias stomped her foot on the ground and clenched her hands into fists, very similar to a petulant child, “It's none of your business! I don't care what anyone says! I will marry who I want to marry! Everyone is in too much of a hurry. I was promised that they would let me do as I pleased until I graduated from university in the human world.”

Akeno silently made her way over and set a tea cup down in front of Riser. He gave her a rather polite smile and picked the cup up to take a sip. Only after that did he address Rias, “Your parents, and Sirzechs-sama as well, fear that your household will go extinct. So many houses have gone extinct from the original war and then the civil war. Isn't it natural for us Pure-Blooded Devils to due our duty and protect our blood and household by joining together? A successor from two highly ranking pure-blood devils is extremely valuable, even you know that.”

Ryuji watched, hardly remembering any of this, and actually finding it kind of interesting to listen to. With a more mature mindset, he could see where Riser, his parents, and Rias's parents were coming from. He didn't think it was right or agree with them, but he could see their point.

Rias crossed her arms and looked away from Riser, “I won't destroy my household, I do plan on getting a spouse for my house.”

“Then you'll marry...”

“But I won't marry you! I will marry someone who I think is good. Even love. I should have at least that much right as a pillar clan!”

Riser scowled and rose to his feet, “You know, bearing the name of the Phenex Clan, I can't allow that name to be stained. I went out of my way to come here and get you and I hate the human world.” Wings made of fire erupted from his back as his voice took on a growl, “The flames and winds of this world are filthy. I can't stand it as a devil who governs fire and wind.” His eyes narrowed dangerously, “I will be taking you back to the underworld with me, even if I have to burn this building and your entire peerage into ashes.”

Rias stood firm with her hands on her hips as she glared right into his eyes, “I'd like to see you try.”

A cold voice cut between them, “Ojou-sama, Riser-sama, please calm down. If you do something rash then even I won't sit idly by.” She glared at both of them as if they were petulant children, “I definitely won't hold back for Sirzechs-samas honor.”

Both Rias and Riser froze and carefully looked at Grayfia. Riser was the one to speak first while dismissing his flaming wings, “If I'm told that by the 'strongest queen' then there's no helping it. I don't want to confront Sirzechs-samas 'family' of monsters.”

Grayfia spoke into the following silence, “It was expected that things would become like this. If the situation can't be settled with talks, then there is only one, final, resort measure.” She faced Rias directly, “Ojou-sama, if you are insistent on your wish, then how about settling it with a Rating Game?”

Rias sighed, “So father and the others foresaw my refusal and made preparations already. Just how much do they intend to interfere with my life?”

Grayfia calmly asked, “Do you intend to refuse the game as well?”

Rias straightened up tall and proud, “Of course not! I won't get another opportunity like this! This game will settle this once and for all Riser.”

Riser just sighed in exasperation, “You're accepting huh? Well, that's fine. I've already won plenty of rating games. Even then you still plan to fight me, Rias?”

“I'll do it! I'll fight you until the end, Riser!”

He scowled, clearly getting fed up and angry with Rias and her defiance, “Fine. If you win you can do as you like. But when I win we will get married immediately.”

Grayfia, speaking in an official sounding tone, stepped in, “I, Grayfia, confirm your intentions. As the representative of both your houses, is it alright for me to manage the game's details?”

Both Rias and Riser agreed. Grayfia accepted their confirmations. With that done, Riser looked to the side where Akeno, Kiba, and Koneko were all standing together. Ryuji glanced at them as well and couldn't help feeling that her peerage looked even smaller than it should have been. He knew he'd accidentally led Issei to his death, but someone else seemed to be missing. He just couldn't remember who. It was definitely a girl though.

“Is this your entire peerage, Rias?”

His condescending tone definitely got under Rias's skin as she brusquely answered, “They are. What of it?”

Riser snorted, “Nothing. Though maybe you should hurry up and recruit that impertinent magician. It won't help you, but at least the game will be slightly less one sided.” He seemed to think for a moment then nodded to himself, “Tell you what, since I'm so magnanimous, I'll give you a small handicap. We'll have the Rating Game in ten days. Maybe you can train your pet magician in that time?”

Ryuji arched an eyebrow at the presumption that he would join Rias's peerage. Something he would never do and something he was certain was impossible. He was stronger than Rias and possessed Dimension Lost. If he recalled right, Issei took all of her pawns to reincarnate and he was significantly weaker than her. Only his possession of Boosted Gear made him take so much to revive. Clearly, Ryuji would be worth significantly more. Add in his Essence's and he wasn't even sure if anyone could actually turn him using the Evil Pieces.

Rias scowled deeply, but said nothing. Even with her pride stinging, she knew she couldn't refute what Riser said. He had a filled peerage and a Queen as famous as her own. Seeing her silent acceptance, Riser walked over to the teleportation circle on the ground. As he stepped into it and it began to glow, “See you in ten days Rias.”

As his final word fell flames roared out of the circle and teleported him away. Grayfia gave a small bow from her waist, “I will begin preparations for the game field, Ojou-sama.”

Grayfia soon left leaving Ryuji alone with Rias and her peerage once more. Rias walked back around to her seat behind her desk and sat down. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and slowly let it out. After taking a moment to calm down from the encounter, she opened her eyes and focused on Ryuji, “I'm sorry you had to witness that Okane-san.”

Ryuji waved it away, “It's no problem.”

Rias sighed and seemed to calm down some more, “Right. So, we were discussing a potential pact between us. Did you have more questions about it?”

Ryuji shook his head, “Not really. I think I've got the gist of it. I'd love to sign a pact with you.” He grinned a little playfully, “I'll even see if I can research something to help you out with your little problem.”

Rias very clearly perked up at that, her luscious lips curling into a smile, “Really?” At his nod, she bit her lip for a moment before asking, “Would you, maybe, be interested in joining us for our ten day training session? I hate admitting Riser is right about anything, but I could really use some help and training with a magician could be invaluable.”

Ryuji considered her offer for a moment. It would make doing his Scenario-thing a bit harder, but not impossible. He wasn't required to go into his Home Base to make a senario, nor was he required to do it visually with the holographic screens. Everything could be done in his head, if he desired. There didn't seem to be any downsides and he could use the time to get closer to the entire peerage. He liked them and wanted to be their friend, so, why not?

He nodded, “Sure, I can do that. Though what about school?”

“Oh, that's easily taken care of. A little weak hypnosis and no one will even realize we're gone. Thank you, Okane-san, for everything.”

Ryuji smiled brightly, “Feel free to call me Ryuji. I'll head home and pack some things. Should I just meet you back here in a little bit?”

Rias shook her head, “Tomorrow morning would be better. We'll head to where we will train then. Oh! I'll also have the pact for your to sign ready and waiting.”

He climbed to his feet with a smile, “Until then.”

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

Grayfia stood before her husband and king, Sirzechs Lucifer having just finished reporting the events that took place earlier. Sirzechs was tapping his finger on his desk as he considered the events that had happened. The events between his adorable Ria-tan and Riser went pretty much as expected. What was unexpected was for Ryuji to be there for the whole thing. Even more interesting was Rias offering him a Magician's Pact.

After the silence dragged on for a while with Sirzechs going over the possibilities of what could happen, there was only one conclusion he could come to, “Interesting. This could change things.”

Grayfia nodded in agreement. They were both aware of just how unusual Okane Ryuji was as well as the variety of potions he produced. They might only be buying his healing potions, but they got regular reports, and samples, from Rias of other potions he'd produced. All doing what the labels said they would. It was possible he could make potions to help Rias. Or even his enchanted items. Those had been showing up more and more. Sirzechs even had one of the expanded bags that Rias had found.

Until he'd heard Ryuji was there for the event, he'd fully expected Rias would lose the Rating Game. It wasn't that he didn't have faith in her or her peerage, but facts were facts. Rias was young, inexperienced, and didn't have a full peerage. He firmly believed that the quality of her members outshone Riser's but quantity was a quality all its own. On top of which, Riser was experienced in Rating Games whereas Rias was not. He had more than enough skill, power, and experience to beat Rias.

However, Okane Ryuji was an unknown and unpredictable. He could change everything, give Rias what she needed to win. He smiled at that, “Still, we'll have to make sure we prepare. Just in case.”

Grayfia bowed, “I'll have everything in place.”

As she left to do her work, Sirzechs started tapping his fingers on the desk once more, “Perhaps I should have a little talk with Okane Ryuji. Maybe a little encouragement.” He smiled to himself, “It might be interesting to see someone who looks so much like a Gremory as the next Red Dragon Emperor.”

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

Ryuji smiled to himself as he walked into the old school building to meet up with Rias. It was early morning and they would be leaving for the training ground soon. He was kind of looking forward to it. He hadn't really made any friends so he'd been feeling kind of lonely. Not to a massive degree or anything, but it would be nice to spend some time with people he thought could be friends.

Stepping into the room, he found Rias and the others all wearing workout clothing. Ryuji had worn a track suit himself. Seeing him arrive, Rias waved him over to where they were standing with their bags, “Right on time. We'll be teleporting to the location I booked.”

She looked him over and frowned when she didn't see a bag for spare clothing, “Did you forget to pack?”

Ryuji smirked and called up a magic circle that materialized his packed bags, “I packed.” The bags then vanished once more, “I just find carrying heavy loads to be so... pedestrian.”

Rias looked a little impressed and excited, “Was that... Do you have a hammer space?!”

He laughed lightly and nodded, “Something like that. It seemed stupid to me that a pocket space to store stuff wasn't standard for magicians, so, I made one.”

He had too. Mostly as practice for crafting spells since he had his inventory, but it came in handy at times like this. The big bosses of the devils might know who he is and what he was capable of, but he still didn't want to advertise it to the general public. Mostly just so he can keep flying under the radar and live a normal life during the day instead of being hounded.

Once everyone confirmed they had all of their items and were ready, the group stepped onto the Gremory Crest in the room. It filled with red light and teleported them to their destination. Ryuji looked around and let out a low whistle, “Nice.”

He wasn't sure where they were, but they were somewhere in the mountains at the base of one that had stairs leading up to where they would be staying. Rias looked at the long flight of stairs and declared, “I thought we would get started with a nice trek up to our lodgings as a warm up for the long road ahead.”

No one made a sound so Ryuji gave the required groan of annoyance. Naturally, that only made Rias smile happily. She threw her hand up in the air and enthusiastically called out, “Let's go!”

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

Ryuji groaned and collapsed to the ground when the finally crested the last step and arrived at the lodge. The group of devils had a light sheen of sweat but Ryuji felt like his legs were dying as he flopped like a fish and tried to catch his breath. He wasn't out of shape, but he was nowhere near as physically capable as the devils. Just another reason to change his race.

Rias walked over and knelt down near Ryuji's head and poked him in the cheek as he continued to breath deeply, “That was hardly a warm up, you know.”

Ryuji glared at her, though it was powerless and only caused her to give him a beaming smile, “Don't worry. Once you catch your breath we'll head inside and get some food. After that we'll discuss how we want to train.”

Ryuji took a few breaths, wiped the sweat off his brow, and managed to barely pant out, “I... have... an idea.”

Rias looked intrigued but left it at that for now. It took Ryuji a few more minutes to recover and he swore he would get himself into better shape because this... This was just embarrassing. Rias and Akeno weren't even melee fighters like Kiba and Koneko. At least those last two had an excuse for being so physically fit. Rias and Akeno just had their natural gifts from being devils. So unfair.

Once inside the nice, air conditioned, lodge and after a few drinks, Rias finally asked Ryuji, “You mentioned an idea?”

This was why she wanted to make a pact with him, magicians had a different way of viewing the world and could come up with some great things. There were even rumors that one or two clan traits had started out as spells developed by magicians. Any proof of such a thing was long lost to time but the rumors still persist to this day. Whether any devil wanted to admit it or not, humans were exceptionally creative creatures. For proof one only needed to look at the cities of the Underworld to see the influence of human cultures everywhere. Without human ingenuity, devils would probably still live in torch-lit stone castles, not well constructed mansions with electricity and all the modern conveniences.

Ryuji took another sip of water and set the glass down, “Alright, it's not much and I will need to do some work on it, but I think I can make a spell to increase gravity in an area. With how much stronger your bodies are, compared to mine, I think it could help you grow stronger faster. Combined with my healing spells to fix your muscles and we should be able to make you all grow physically stronger at an astounding rate.”

There was silence as the four devils stared at him in silence. Akeno was the one to break the silence, her voice almost a whisper, “Do you really have a healing spell?”

Ryuji nodded calmly, “Several. I got bored on day and designed a whole host of different healing spells. Designing spells is something I do in my off time.”

Rias finally came out of her stupor, “That's amazing! Devils don't have healing spells. Our only option for healing requires a lot of skin-to-skin contact to transfer demonic power and accelerate natural healing. Would you be willing to share the diagrams for your healing spells as part of our pact? Oh! Speaking of!”

She dug into her bag and pulled out a sheet of parchment and set it in front of Ryuji, “I forgot to do this first.” She slid the sheet of thick paper over for him to examine, “It's the standard pact contract that's been used for centuries.”

Ryuji picked it up and turned it around to examine it. He was a master of legalese and contracts, but it was written in pretty straightforward language. He couldn't find any hidden loopholes or ways for him to be exploited. It also clearly outlined his responsibilities and the expectations he would be required to fulfill. The same applied to Rias and what was required of her. He definitely looked to be getting the better deal in the bargain, if one forgot just how long Devils lived. They'd have access to the results of a magician's research for millenia after the magician was dead. Less than a hundred years of investment into the magician for access to their knowledge for near eternity.

Seeing no issues with it and that Rias had already signed it, Ryuji signed his own name on the bottom. The contract glowed and split into two, a copy for each of them. Rias excitedly snatched her copy up and gave him a beaming smile, “Thanks! You know, you're my first contracted magician. I look forward to a long and prosperous relationship with you.”

Ryuji smiled at her in return, “I look forward to the same. Now, let me show you a little of what I've been working on and we can discuss some options.”

He used his magical hammerspace to pull out a notebook filled to the bring with calculations and diagrams of all kinds of spells. Any idea that popped into his head for a spell ended up in a notebook with a spell circle finished for it. And the more he learned, the more spell ideas and modifications he came up with.

He was really looking forward to finally showing someone all of his hard work. The next ten days were going to be amazing.

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

AN

A tiny bit shorter than usual at only 9.7k words, but this was a good spot to stop.

This one took a little longer than I wanted it to, but I am happy with how it came out. We're moving along and I plan for the next chapter to have the rating game with Riser.

Those of you who are sharp might notice a certain character missing from the cast. I wonder where she might be? I'm sure we'll find out, eventually.

Let me know what you guys thought of this one.