Chapter 2
After playing with fire for a little longer, just because he could, Alexander finally, FINALLY, sat down at his desk and turned on his new computer. He had to go through the annoying setup process for the new machine, but once it was done, he had his first game immediately downloading. While waiting for that to happen, he pulled out his portable system and resumed the RPG he'd been playing on the school rooftop.
As he played, he found himself understanding the game systems like never before. He was optimizing his moves and pulling off perfect plays. It took him longer than he would admit to realize his Grandmaster Math was making the game trivial.
He scowled and immediately turned the skill back off. What the hell would be the point of playing a game if it were too easy? He huffed and tossed the system onto his desk. He'd try the game again later when he was less annoyed by his fun being ruined.
Just as his game finished downloading, the door to his room opened, prompting him to groan loudly, “What now?!”
Lucy chuckled at his misery, “She's back. She's demanding a rematch at chess for some reason.”
Alexander scowled. He wanted to refuse, truly he did. But his third and worst curse kicked in the moment he even thought of blowing the challenge off.
[Pride, Severity 14, You cannot let a challenge to your person go. Whenever someone challenges you, whether that is to a game or a duel, you have to accept. And losing in any contest or challenge halves all of your stats for 12 hours. Resolve: Win 10 (9) fair fights against someone around the same power as you or stronger | or acquire Expert level or Above Discipline]
Looking at it, he began to grin. Apparently, Miss Sona was considered his equal, and beating her had counted as a win toward removing the curse. Excellent! He hopped to his feet eagerly, confusing Lucy, until he explained, “If I keep beating her, I can get rid of my curse of Pride!”
She nodded in understanding, “Ah, I suppose that makes sense. You're both pretty weak.”
He scowled at her and flicked a small dagger of fire in her direction. She easily conjured a small magical shield to block it, “Oh? New ability?”
“Yeah, got it after beating her at chess yesterday.”
Lucy arched an eyebrow and asked in a knowing tone, “And exactly why did beating this girl at chess earn you a ticket?”
He shrugged. There was no point in hiding it, “It would seem that beating her at chess somehow made me her fiancé.”
“I'm sorry... what?”
He shrugged again, “Beats the hell out of me. She made a bet with me that if she won, I had to go to school properly, and if I won, I never had to go back. So, I won.”
“Do you even know how to play chess?”
He laughed, “Barely. But Grandmaster Math was a lot more helpful than I imagined.”
She made a face of understanding, “Got it. Well, get out there and whoop her ass again, but see if you can get something out of it.”
He chuckled at her greed but decided she was right; it would definitely be worth scamming her out of some stuff. The question was, what? Well, the first step to scamming her was turning Grandmaster Math back on. Hopefully, the toggle switch in his brain wouldn't break from how often he was turning it on and off!
-----Line Break-----
Alexander stepped into the main reception area of the resort and spotted his foe immediately, along with her usual shadow. Were they dating or something? OH! That made SO much sense! No wonder she was upset at losing to him, and that somehow made him her fiancé. She wasn't into guys! Man, he felt kind of bad for accidentally butting into their relationship now!
Oh well, there was literally nothing he could do about it. His Pride curse wouldn't allow him to go easy on her even if he wanted to. She'd have to legitimately beat him and the odds of that... Oh, ouch. Grandmaster Math did not give her good odds of beating him at all. Damn, that was almost as harsh as the ROBs were to him.
He shook it off and made his way over to a stressed-looking Sona. The moment she spotted him, her whole body went stiff, and she quickly marched over to him, “I demand a rematch! That last one didn't count, I wasn't prepared for someone of your level and went easy on you at the beginning of the match!”
Probability of her lying? One hundred percent. He scoffed but didn't agree or disagree to the rematch. Well, he couldn't disagree, but he could take the time to push for stuff before he inevitably accepted. But she didn't need to know that! And going by her tone and actions, she was pretty desperate for the rematch.
That only left a single question, “What's in it for me?”
Sona sputtered, “You want to make another wager?”
He scoffed, “That's not what I said. I said what's in it for me? You think I'm just going to replay you again for nothing?”
He would if she refused to give him anything, but she didn't need to know that!
Sona glared spitefully at him and asked through gritted teeth, “Then what do you want?”
He tapped his chin in thought, then nodded. He had a feeling he could scam her quite a few times with repeated chess matches, so he needed to know more. What better way than to ask? He grinned at her, “I want to know what you are and why this matters to you so much, before we play.”
Sona jerked back as if struck. She stared at him while chewing her bottom lip in indecision. Finally, she let out a sigh and sagged slightly, “Fine! But we need a private room first.”
Alexander nodded and turned around to lead them into the resort's private areas. He found one of the smaller rec rooms empty and led the pair into it. He locked the door behind them so no one else would join them. Sona picked a table and sat down while Nice Eyes set up a chessboard they had brought with them.
He sat across from Sona and looked her in the eyes, noting they were a pretty purple color, “Alright, fess up and don't even think of lying, I'll know.”
Maybe Grandmaster Math wasn't as bad as he'd thought. It was definitely showing some pretty neat uses, like detecting lies by measuring and calculating her actions, micro-expressions, and words.
Sona stared at him for a moment before she huffed and asked, “What do you know of the supernatural world?”
He shrugged, “It exists, and you're not human. That's about it.”
Sona was curious how he knew she wasn't human, but she pushed past it, “I see. Then what you need to know is that anything you know of as myth, such as the Asgard, Greek, Hindu, and Abrahamic pantheons, is real. Gods and all. I'm part of the Abrahamic faction...”
He cut her off, “Ohhhh you're a demon! That makes so much sense.”
Sona scowled, “I am not a demon, I am a Devil. There is a difference!”
He stared at her blandly until she cleared her throat, “Continuing where I left off. The Abrahamic faction consists of three groups: the Angels of Heaven and the Church, the Fallen Angels of the Grigori, and the Devils. I am a Devil, specifically Sona Sitri, Heiress of the House of Sitri, one of the Seventy Two Pillars of the Underworld.”
“Fancy. So, why are you so desperate to play me in another game of chess?”
Her face went completely flat as she hid all of her emotions to the best of her ability, “As a member of such a prestigious family, there are certain expectations placed upon me. One of those expectations is that I will marry a pure-blooded devil and continue my bloodline. My parents chose someone I absolutely refused to marry, so I challenged him to a chess game, which I proceeded to use to gain my freedom from the engagement. After which, I proclaimed I would marry the man who could defeat me at chess. Many attempted to beat me, none succeeded.”
Her eyes focused on him with laser intensity, “Until you.” Her lips curled in disdain, “I refuse to marry a lazy, uncouth human such as you.”
Alexander might have been offended if she wasn't so on point about him, “Ah, I get it. You want to beat me to erase your defeat and not be forced to get married to me. I can totally respect that.” She looked shocked at his statement, clearly having not expected him to agree with her. He continued, “Unfortunately, for you, I can't just lose on purpose and you, frankly, haven't got a snowball's chance in hell of beating me.”
He wasn't bragging. It was a fact as far as his math skill could calculate. Unless she had a sudden and massive boost in her chess skills, she would forever be unable to beat him when he was actually trying. And, unfortunately for her, he HAD to try his best.
Sona scowled at him but gestured to the board, “It's your turn to be white, let's get this over with so I can return to my life and ignore your very existence.”
He shuddered as the temperature in the room literally dropped several degrees. He reached for a pawn and began the match.
-----Line Break-----
Sona stared at the chessboard in abject horror. The first game back at the Academy had taken a respectable half hour to finish. This one had only taken ten minutes, and nine and a half of those minutes had been her trying to decide what move to play! Alexander had viciously and thoroughly crushed her into the ground.
If she knew that their first game was the first time he'd played chess in at least thirty years and hence needed a bit of a refresher, she would have lost her mind.
She looked up from the chessboard to see the bored expression on Alexander's face. Her tone was small, lost as she asked, “How?”
He sighed, “I told you that you have no chance of winning. We could play a thousand games, and you will never defeat me.”
Why was he doing his best to discourage her instead of trying to goad her into another match? Simple, he didn't get any credit toward resolving his Pride curse from beating her the second time. His complete lack of deep knowledge of chess was the only reason his first match against her had counted. Now that he had experience and could crush her with such ease? Well, it obviously was no longer a very even match, was it?
Sona looked down at her hands clenched in her lap, “Are you really so petty that you would force me to marry you to punish me?”
He scoffed, “As if I want to marry you any more than you want to marry me. I told you, I've got no choice but to play to the best of my ability. It's a LITERAL curse that forces me to play to the best of my ability.”
Sona shot to her feet, knocking her chair over backward, “That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard! This isn't over.” She turned her head to the side, “Tsubaki, I'll meet you at school.”
With those final words, Sona rudely teleported out of the room and back to Kuoh Academy. Alexander looked at Tsubaki with a raised eyebrow, “So, your name is Tsubaki, eh?”
Tsubaki paused in packing the chess set to look at him, “Did you not know before now?”
He nodded, “That's right. You two never introduced yourselves. I didn't know Sona's name until her little explanation or yours until she said it. I've just been calling you 'Nice Eyes' in my mind.”
Tsubaki blushed faintly at the comment on her eyes, “I see. Then allow me to formally introduce myself. I am Tsubaki Shinra, the Queen of Sona Sitri's peerage.”
“Queen? Peerage?”
She waved it off, “A discussion for another time, perhaps.” She finished packing the chess set and gave him a small bow from the waist, “Thank you for hosting us, Smith-san. I look forward to our next meeting.”
The next moment, she followed Sona's example and teleported out of the room, leaving Alexander alone. He flopped back down in his seat and let out a deep sigh before saying to himself, “This sucks.”
-----Line Break-----
Alexander happily sat in his dark room, where the only light provided was the computer screen and the flashing lights of his game. Finally, he had the next twenty-four hours all to himself. He planned to spend every last one of those hours in the dark playing his game and enjoying the hikikomori lifestyle to the fullest!
The door to his room swung open and vanquished his pleasant darkness with the harshness of light. He turned his head toward the door and hissed loudly, “The light! She burns!”
Lucy rolled her eyes at his antics, “Yeah, yeah. Listen up, I've got an extra customer for a pressure point massage today.” Seeing him about to complain, she cut him off, “Not only is she paying a huge amount to get this appointment, but I will also let you have all of tomorrow off if you see her now.”
Alexander immediately jumped to his feet, “Let's gooooooo!”
He charged out of the room while Lucy rolled her eyes in exasperation. Maybe she should have only mentioned the time off work? She sighed at her lot in life, managing her lazy layabout Master. Well, she wouldn't change him for anything in the world.
-----Line Break-----
Alexander happily rubbed his hands together. He didn't care how old, ugly, or flabby the woman he was about to poke and prod was; he just wanted to get it over with so he could game nonstop! He cackled to himself at just the thought of so much free time.
“Well, that's not really a laugh one would want from their masseuse.”
Alexander froze as the sweet young voice of the woman who'd just spoken. His head slowly turned, and the moment he saw her, he froze solid as his brain ground to a halt. Standing there with a towel held vertically against her front that only barely hid her nudity from him was the second most beautiful woman he'd ever seen in his life.
Lucy would always be number one.
Even so, the beauty before him was putting in one hell of a fight to claim that spot. Long red hair hung down to her waist. Not orange, but crimson red, almost like a waterfall of blood. Gorgeous, large blue eyes looked at him with curiosity while her naturally luscious lips were formed into a playful smile. Her body was... insane. Large breasts, thick thighs, long legs, and pale white, unblemished skin.
He tried to swallow despite his very dry throat, and when he spoke, his voice was rough and even cracked just to embarrass him even further, “SorRy.” He cleared his throat, “Sorry, I was just thinking about how long I would be playing my new game after this.”
The gorgeous redhead perked up and actually looked interested, “Oh? What game?”
After asking him, she walked past him and toward the massage table. When he turned to look at her, his brain short-circuited again. This time, even the hamster came to a complete stop and stared. He should have realized it, given she was holding the towel lengthwise in front of her body, but her back was completely bare. He could see every last inch of her from behind, and it sent a shock of pleasure down his spine. Pale, smooth, lusciously round, and something he very much would happily kiss.
He just stood there, staring, while she calmly lay down on the massage table and didn't make a single move to cover up her glorious posterior. She turned her head to the side to look at him with a knowing smirk. She lightly cleared her throat and commented, “While I'll take it as a compliment, it's not polite to stare.”
Alexander jerked like he'd been electrocuted and blushed furiously in embarrassment. He shook his head rigorously and slapped his cheeks several times to get his hormones back under control. He'd just slept with Lucy! On top of that, this was his second life, he should be able to control his hormones better than that!
His little bit of self-harm drew a soft giggle from the woman on his table, and drew his eyes right back to her. She arched a sculpted eyebrow and smiled playfully, “Better?”
He coughed and cleared his throat without answering. He was one hundred percent certain his voice wouldn't crack, but would shatter, and that would just be the WORST. He decided to try his best to be professional, even if he'd clearly failed at that so far. He moved up to the table and kept his eyes firmly on her back above her waist, even if he could see much more in his peripheral vision.
His fingers got to work and danced across her back like a pianist playing the piano. His fingers poked and prodded at various pressure points with different levels of pressure to exert control on her muscles and tendons. It took an unholy amount of willpower for him not to react to the sweet-sounding sensual moans his gorgeous naked client was letting loose.
“Drag-so-ball Fighters 3.” He finally answered her question.
The woman hummed and quietly asked, “What?”
“The game. That I'm playing.”
“Oh, that.” She let out a deep sigh of pleasure as he hit a new pressure point, “Are you a big Drag-so-ball fan?”
Considering he was a massive fan of Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball Super in his last life, it would be fair to say he was a fan of that franchise. Drag-so-ball was a clear knock off, but it wasn't terrible, and he did enjoy it, “Yeah, I am. I'm enjoying running through the story mode and leveling up to increase my power level. I can't wait to play new game plus with a max level character to crush everyone.”
The woman let out a deep moan as he pressed hard on a particularly tight spot in the middle of her back. She sighed, “That's nice.”
They stopped speaking after that, and he focused on his work. Which was terrible timing because he was moving onto her lower back, which put her perfect backside right back in his direct line of sight. Worse, his hands were moving closer towards it because there were, in fact, several pressure points in a person's ass. They had zero use for combat, but they were included in his knowledge regardless.
The next spot required him to place his hands on the sides of her thighs just below her hips so his thumbs could press several areas on the small of her back at the appropriate angles. The moment he touched the first one in that particular area located right in the middle of the small of her back, several things happened at once. First, he reveled in the feel of her under the palms of his hands. The best word his addled mind could think of was 'soft.' Second, the woman let out a deep throaty moan that wouldn't have been out of place in a porno. Third, her whole body shuddered gently.
The next two spots were located on either side of the first, so he pressed his thumbs into them. She let out an even deeper moan while her whole body tensed, then relaxed dramatically.
[Feat Achieved! Give Rias Gremory an Orgasm With Your Fingers! +1 Random Gold Gacha Ticket.]
So, her name was Rias Gremory? Alexander committed that to memory. He also noted that she must be someone important in this world. Sad as it was to admit, she was NOT the first woman he'd given an orgasm to on his massage table. In fact, when it came to his work on women, it would be easier to say that if Rias hadn't climaxed, she would have been the first woman NOT to do so. He had a suspicion that his skill wasn't quite what the description suggested it was.
Little did he know that it wasn't the skill, it was the world.
He decided to ignore the ticket for the time being. He didn't want to have a random extreme reaction to whatever he got with Rias in the room to see it. She probably already had a terrible impression of him, and he didn't want to worsen it by seeming to be crazy. Or crazier.
He resumed his work, and while he was VERY aware of every inch of her body that he poked and prodded, he did his best to remain professional and not mention the growing wet stain on the table, her short, rapid breaths, or the number of times her body tensed and then relaxed as she climaxed again.
Yeah, there was definitely something up with his pressure point skill.
-----Line Break-----
Alexander collapsed, boneless, into his gaming chair and let out a long sigh. Seventeen. That was the number of orgasms he'd given Rias Gremory during the course of the massage. He adjusted himself and decided to look for some porn. With how pent up he felt, it wouldn't take much.
First, though, “Roll the ticket.”
[ROLLING!]
[Witch Ring, Rare Item, Dark Souls 3- Rings bestowed by the Witch of Izalith and her daughter to the successors of the art of pyromancy, the ring thrums with a strange warmth. Increases the potency of fire-based abilities and spells while decreasing their costs when equipped.]
“That's... huh. I actually got something useful? How rare!”
He pulled the ring out of his inventory and looked it over. It looked to be made of a dull metal with a bauble in the center, with something inside of that he couldn't make out. Well, it didn't matter what it looked like since it would further boost his Pyrokinesis! He slipped it on his finger with a bright smile. He immediately conjured a small ball of flame and felt the difference the ring provided. Not only did he use less energy to conjure the flames, but they also felt hotter.
He waved the flames away and turned to his computer, “Now, time to play!”
-----Line Break-----
Rias stepped off the teleportation circle in her private club room on the Kuoh Academy campus. Better known as the Ooccult Research Club Building, or the old school building. She felt... amazing. Normally, even she, with her lack of nudity taboos, might've been embarrassed by the number of times Alexander had made her climax. Except that she just felt so relaxed that she simply lacked the ability to worry. About anything.
Sona looked up from the book she'd been reading on complex chess strategies, and studied her close friend. She was surprised to note that Rias looked relaxed and happy, something she hadn't truly seen since Riser began pushing for the marriage between himself and Rias to be moved forward. Rias flounced around her desk and lazily dropped into her chair.
Sona pushed her glasses up and calmly asked, “So? What did you learn?”
That's right, Sona had sent her best friend into 'enemy' territory to get a better understanding of her new 'fiancé.' If she was going to defeat the annoying human, she needed as much information as possible to build a complete profile of him. She no longer felt she could beat him in pure skill at chess. So, she would gain an understanding of him and use that knowledge to distract and possibly control him during their next game. She was no longer focused on playing chess, but on playing Alexander.
Rias slowly looked toward Sona, her eyes still a little glazed from the pleasure of the massage. She finally registered the question and smiled, “He likes Drag-so-ball.”
Sona stared at Rias for several moments before gritting her teeth and asking, “Is that all you learned?!”
Sona's tone managed to get through to Rias, bringing her more into the present. She blushed lightly and looked away, “I may have chosen to approach him in a poor manner.”
Sona's narrowed eyes prompted Rias to explain, “I bribed the Resort Director into opening a special slot for a one-on-one pressure point massage from Alexander. I figured I could fluster him and question him at the same time. Only...”
“Only?”
Rias blushed, “The massage felt really good, and I ended up only asking him one question.”
The cold gaze Rias received from Sona made the redhead shiver a bit. Sona glared from behind her glasses, “So, you managed to spend half an hour with him and learned only two things. He likes some silly cartoon, and he's good at giving massages.”
Rias's eyes glazed over at the memory of the massage, “Really, really good massages.”
Sona slammed her book closed, causing Rias to jump. After standing, Sona made her way toward the door, “Thank you for your help, Rias.”
She slammed the door behind her, leaving Rias alone in the club room. Rias huffed and crossed her arms under her bust while pouting and muttering, “It's not my fault he made me climax until I couldn't think.”
She bit her lip and made a note to herself to get a regular appointment with Alexander set up.
-----Line Break-----
Alexander walked down the aisles of the convenience store, looking at the array of drinks on display. Due to his Dead Tongue curse, food sucked. So, he took solace in drinks. He'd tried smoothies, but they seemed to count as food and not a drink, which sucked so much. So, one of the very few things he was willing to leave his room for was to go out and discover new drink flavors.
That was one of the saving graces of being moved to Japan, the sheer number of different drink flavors they offered. That sheer availability of different flavors was why he felt the need to come to the store himself rather than just tell Lucy what to get him. Sure, he couldn't read a lick of Japanese, but he could look at the pictures and make guesses!
After thirty straight hours of gaming, he'd run out of drinks, hence his impromptu trip to get more.
He grabbed a juice box with some sort of green fruit on it that he didn't recognize. As he reached for a different juice box with what looked like a Dorian fruit on it, his hand brushed against someone else's. He paused and turned his head to the side to see a girl around his age in a school uniform who had reached for the same juice box.
She was kind of pretty, but fell short due to his now unrealistic standards. Between Lucy, Sona, Tsubaki, and Rias, the girl next to him almost looked plain. Was... was he becoming desensitized to women with normal levels of beauty? That was horrible!
The girl blushed slightly and slowly pulled her hand back and brushed a strand of hair over her ear, “You can go first.”
He just nodded and grabbed the juice box, which was the last one, naturally. He sighed and offered the juice box to the girl. Normally, he would have just taken it and moved on. Except this time, he felt a little guilty for thinking of her as being kind of plain. Just a few months ago, he would have thought she was beautiful. She was beautiful! His standards were just... skewed.
She smiled softly and gently accepted the juice box from him while offering a soft, “Thank you.”
He just nodded and returned to browsing the drinks, his good deed for the millennia done. After loading a few more juice boxes, he noticed the girl had stuck around. When he looked at her, she blushed and fidgeted with her fingers, “Uhm... I'm Amano Yuuma. A-are you new to Kuoh?”
Alexander paused and looked at the girl in the school uniform curiously, “You know, you speak really good English.”
He saw a very brief moment of surprise that she quickly covered up by smiling brightly, “Thank you! I studied really hard. I'm hoping to visit America one day after I graduate.”
With a shrug, he turned away and selected a final drink that filled his hand basket to overflowing. He noticed the girl was following him and felt mildly annoyed by it. He paused and groaned to himself. The inhuman beauties around him were ruining normal human beauties! He honestly couldn't tell if that was a good thing or not!
Not! Definitely not! Lucy and Sona had issues, which made him certain that Tsubaki did as well! Normal human beauties should have fewer issues than inhuman supernatural beauties, right?!
Right?!
The girl continued to follow him to the counter, where he paid for his large collection of drinks. He'd just closed the trunk to his Regalia when the girl walked up and stared at the gorgeous machine, “I-is this your car?!”
He preened at her obvious shock and admiration of his sweet ride, “It is.”
“Wow! It's gorgeous!”
Alexander could see the clear appreciation for his wheels in her eyes, “Thanks. It's always nice to have it appreciated.”
Yumma turned her gaze to him and immediately blushed but seemed to push through her embarrassment to ask, “Uhm... would... would you consider going out with me on Saturday?!”
“Yes! Hell Yes!”
Why did he immediately jump on the offer? Because he needed to get back to a point where someone as beautiful as Yumma registered to him as beautiful! What better way to do that than to take the offer for a date?
Yuuma smiled brightly and pulled a small notebook out of her attache case, in which she wrote her name, number, a location, and a time for the date on before handing it over. She blushed brightly when he took the offered paper, “I'll see you Saturday!”
-----Line Break-----
Lucy watched Alexander drive away in his Regalia to go on his date with some human floozy. She felt rather proud of him for getting a date and getting out of the house! Though she was mildly disappointed, it was some human floozy instead of that tasty redheaded devil she'd allowed to bribe her way into a massage session.
Oh well, she couldn't have everything she wanted... yet.
Alexander hummed along to the music coming from his radio as he calmly drove through the streets toward the meeting point for his date with Yuuma. He hadn't been on a date in years, and he was definitely looking forward to it! Something light and innocent to pass the time, that maybe ended in an innocent little kiss.
Ah, romance!
He may have also enjoyed the way heads turned to follow him as he casually drove the most unique car in the world. He was slightly annoyed that he couldn't use the flight mode. Well, technically, he could if he didn't mind the prospect of being shot down by a pissed-off Japanese Air Force. He didn't know how fast the Regalia could fly, but he doubted it was faster than supersonic jets or the missiles they fired.
Well, maybe he'd get lucky and get a roll related to stealth magic or technology. That would be nice.
Eventually, his joyride came to an end when he parked at the mall Yuuma had selected for their date. Man, when was the last time he'd been to a mall? The early two thousands in his last life? Nope, not thinking about that awkward time in his life! Especially since he was about that age again, and it was annoying as hell.
After parking, he made his way to the main entrance of the mall where he found Yuuma waiting for him. She was wearing a cute sundress with fluffy arms, thigh-high sheer socks, and wedge sandals. Her purse hung from her shoulder, and her long hair was pulled back into a ponytail.
When she spotted him, she smiled brightly, “You came!”
He chuckled, “Only a monster would stand up a cute girl like you.”
She blushed and looked down in embarrassment, “I just wasn't sure you would come. You didn't call or even text.”
“Ah, my bad. Between work and gaming, I lost track of time.”
He'd had a wonderful time the last couple of days. Sona hadn't shown up to bug him at all. His pressure point customers actually contained a few younger people in their twenties and thirties instead of all being sixty-plus! Now, if only he could convince Lucy to restrict his clients to just women. Men's moans were... Well, he could live his whole life without ever hearing that sound again!
Yuuma smiled brightly, “It's okay! You're here now, and that's what matters most.”
He stepped closer to her and offered her his arm like a gentleman. If he hadn't already gone through this stage of his life once before, he might have been as nervous as Yuuma seemed to be. He decided to put that maturity to use and give Yuuma a good date! After all, he wanted that kiss!
Their date was fairly normal. They started with some window shopping while they chatted about themselves. That was followed by lunch at a moderately expensive restaurant, which he insisted on paying for. Lucy had given him a card and told him to have fun, so that's what he was going to do!
After lunch, they went back to shopping, only this time Yuuma modeled some of the clothing for Alexander. He had to admit, Yuuma had a nice figure hidden in her loose, flowing dress. The sight of her in a modest bikini was a sight he planned to treasure for quite some time. He could feel his distorted view of beauty being fixed as the date continued.
Once they finished clothes shopping, which included him modeling for her, they enjoyed a nice movie followed by an early dinner. It was as they were leaving the mall that Yuuma asked, “Would you walk with me through the park for a bit?”
Kiss incoming!
Alexander nodded and gave her a bright smile, “That sounds like the perfect way to end the date.”
Yuuma smiled brightly and led him toward the park she'd chosen. It was a short walk from the mall, so there was no need to take the Regalia. Which was too bad, he would have loved to impress Yuuma more by driving her around in his supercar!
They walked through the park with Yuuma's arm through his and her head resting on his upper arm, she was too short to reach his shoulder. The sun had begun going down, and the park was growing darker by the moment. As they approached a water fountain, Yuuma released his arm and skipped over toward it. She smiled playfully at him with her hands behind her back while leaning over to give him a view of her cleavage, “Hey, will you do something for me?”
Alexander grinned. He knew where this was going! Next, she was going to ask him to close his eyes, “Sure, Yuuma.”
Her smile was bright and her voice sweet as she asked, “Would you die for me?”
Alexander paused halfway through closing his eyes, “I'm sorry, what?”
Yuuma's clothing exploded off her body while her body began to simultaneously change and grow larger and more mature. He could see her naked body for a few moments, and he had to admit mature Yuuma had it going ON. Sadly, clothing seemed to appear out of nowhere and wrap around Yuuma to cover her up... as much as a BDSM fetish-wear outfit could be called clothing.
Alexander wasn't entirely stupid and knew something was up. He double checked that he hadn't lost his Witch Ring and activated his Grandmaster Math skill. It was the only skill he ever disabled, meaning he was good to go for whatever this was.
When Yuuma's magical girl transformation ended, she was hovering in the air using a pair of massive, black, feathered wings. Her new outfit consisted of black, leather straps around and under her breasts, a thong-like piece held around her hips by three thin straps, gloves that ran right up her arms with small lengths of chains hanging from them, shoulder guards with three large spikes sprouting from her right shoulder, and black thigh-high heeled boots.
Alexander let out an appreciative whistle at the change. Honestly? She looked a hell of a lot more beautiful in her current, more mature form, “Man, I wish you'd looked like this when we were in the clothing store!”
Raynare, having expected a more scared or confused reaction, found herself being the confused one as he took her whole transformation in stride, even commenting on her changed looks! Was their information on him wrong? Did he have some connection to the supernatural?
She looked at him, noticing that his eyes were locked on her breasts. Well, even if he was in the know, he was still clearly a weak-willed human. She conjured up a jagged reddish-purple spear of light in her hand, “It was a lovely date, now die for me.”
She cocked her arm back and threw her spear at a speed no normal human could possibly dodge. Which explained why she was thoroughly surprised when Alexander casually sidestepped her attack and let it pass him by within a mere fraction of an inch.
For Alexander, dodging her attack was all a matter of math. From the moment she lifted her arm, he was calculating trajectories. By the time she began her throwing motion, he'd calculated exactly where the spear would fly and began moving preemptively. He didn't need to be faster than her if he could predict her attack trajectories with such ease.
He looked at her through lidded eyes and spoke in a mildly annoyed tone, “Now that wasn't very nice. I thought our date was going well enough to end in a kiss, not a murder attempt. Was it something I said?”
Raynare scowled, “You can blame God for this. He's the one who gave you the power sleeping within your body. Now die!”
Raynare conjured another jagged spear of light and launched it at him. This time, he didn't dodge. He, instead, pointed his finger at the spear and fired a small but highly compressed bullet of fire at it. The impact of the fire bullet on the spear sent it careening off course. All as he had calculated.
Alexander hated admitting when he was wrong. So he would never admit he was wrong about Grandmaster Math being worthless. It was definitely showing worth as it kept him alive while some crazy lady with wings tried to kill him. He also realized it was only the calm, logical calculations running through his mind that were keeping him from freaking the fuck out and running away while screaming. Why? Because he calculated a zero percent chance of survival if he tried to do so.
Nothing like certain death to make you stick around and fight.
Raynare glared at him, “What was that?! What did you do?! Did you already awaken your Sacred Gear?!”
Alexander stared blankly at Raynare while he asked, “The hell is a Sacred Gear?”
Raynare's answer was to conjure and throw another spear at him, which he deflected again. He was getting annoyed at her constant attempts to kill him. It was alright if he tried to kill her back, right? Right!
Raynare, clearly fed up, lifted both of her arms and began conjuring five spears at once behind her. It clearly took her more effort to do it, which slowed the process down dramatically. In short, it was a terrible attack to use in a life-or-death fight!
Case in point, Alexander casually summoned a spear of compressed fire that actually looked like a spear with a razor-sharp spear tip and all. Raynare's eyes widened at the sight, but it was far too late for her. When Alexander released the spear, the back end of the shaft ignited and acted like a rocket thruster, accelerating the spear from zero to the speed of sound in a second. He knew because his ears were ringing from the sound barrier being broken.
Raynare's half-conjured spears shattered into motes of light while she stared down at the fire spear piercing her chest, “W-what?”
The fire spear vanished, leaving a cauterized hole completely through her body. That seemed to be the end of it as she collapsed to the ground in a still heap. Alexander scratched his head, wondering what he should do, when his actions caught up to him.
Blood drained from his face, and the adrenaline he'd been able to ignore through sheer focus came flooding in with that focus broken. His breathing picked up speed, sweat poured from his pores, and his whole body began to shake. Fight or flight fully kicked in, and flight was instantly chosen. He spun around and began running at full speed back toward the mall and his car. He could NOT be found here near the dead body of whatever the hell Raynare was.
His legs burned as he ran, but he didn't even think of stopping. His once logical mind was now gone, and his math skills were all focused on how to run fucking faster! It never occurred to him that running would only make him stand out more in people's minds. Especially if they saw him run up to a unique car like the Regalia.
As soon as he got to his car, he jumped inside and took off. He was at least coherent enough not to speed. The last thing he wanted was a cop pulling him over for a speeding ticket!
His heartbeat didn't begin to calm down until he made it to his bedroom at the resort. He slammed the door shut, kicked off his shoes, and dove under the blankets on his bed for the safety and security they would provide him!
He didn't know when it happened, but he eventually fell asleep.
-----Line Break-----
Four women stood over the body of a fallen angel that was just barely alive. Someone had blasted a small hole clear through her body and just left her to die. One of the girls, Rias, looked over to another, Sona, and asked, “What do we do? If we leave her, she'll die.”
Sona, practically reading the redhead's mind, frowned, “Reincarnating her could cause some serious issues. I know you're desperate, but do you think it's wise to bring a complete unknown into your peerage?”
Rias shrugged, “Why not? It's worked out pretty well for me so far.”
Sona winced, but conceded Rias's point. Aside from her Rook, which was given to her, every other member of her peerage had randomly been found on the verge of death and reincarnated by her. Each one of them was completely loyal to her and willing to help her get out of her marriage contract. So, Sona understood her desire to reincarnate an actual fallen angel with the power of light to counter the regenerative powers of her fiance.
She turned away from the fallen angel and looked Rias in the eyes, “Don't come to me when this blows up in your face.”
Her eyes flickered to the young woman behind Rias, Akeno Himejima, a woman with a fierce hatred of fallen angels and Rias's Queen, best friend, and second in command. If Rias went through with her plan, she could see that becoming a massive problem for the entire peerage. However, it wasn't her peerage, and she'd done her duty as a friend by warning Rias.
She stepped away, “Come, Tsubaki. We need to begin our surveillance of Alexander now that things with Saji have calmed down.” She scowled, “I won't be able to justify keeping my defeat to myself much longer.”
Rias watched Sona and Tsubaki teleport out of the area before she turned to her Queen, “Akeno. I know how you feel about the fallen angels. Will you be able to put your hatred aside in this one case, for me?”
Akeno glared at the nearly dead fallen angel. She wanted to throw her hands forward and unleash a blast of lightning with every fiber of her being. It would feel so good to put an end to one of their kind. However... she sighed. Reincarnating the fallen angel would be the first true chance Rias would have at defeating that sleazebag Riser. Could she really condemn Rias to an unhappy life for a moment of vindictive pleasure?
She sighed again, more deeply this time, “Do what you must, Rias.” Her gaze hardened, “Just don't expect me to suddenly be best friends with her just because you reincarnated her into our family.”
Rias reached out and grasped Akeno's hands, “Thank you.”
She turned and walked over to the fallen angel and gently turned her over enough to see her face. She was barely breathing, and her eyes were vacant. A few more minutes and she would die. Rias gently tapped the side of her face, trying to get the woman to focus. Despite having Akeno's tentative permission, she wouldn't reincarnate her without her own input since she was in no danger of dying right that second.
Seeing the woman's eyes slowly focus, she spoke slowly and clearly, “My name is Rias Gremory, and you are dying. I can save you by reincarnating you, or I can leave you here to die.” Normally, she would be a bit nicer, but this was a fallen angel, “If I do save you, you will become a member of my peerage, ” she stared deep into the woman's eyes, “Do you want to live?”
It took the fallen angel a moment, but slowly she nodded her head in agreement. Rias wasted no time. She summoned a box containing her Evil Pieces and selected her one remaining Bishop piece. She believed that a fallen angel would work best as a long range magical fighter. She held the piece up and began channeling her demonic power into it, “Then I, Rias Gremory of the House of Gremory, command you to live and serve me.”
She pressed the glowing Bishop piece into the fallen's chest and watched it sink inside of her. It had begun its work, and Rias needed to do her own part. She scooped up her new bishop in her arms and looked to her Queen, “Akeno, let's go.”
Akeno walked over with a slight scowl, but did her duty and teleported them to the ORC building. Rias deposited her newest family member on a large bed in the back of the building and quickly stripped off the fallen's clothing, followed by her own. Nothing like a little skinship to begin her relationship with her new Bishop.
-----Line Break-----
Alexander yawned and stretched as he slowly woke up. He grumbled in discomfort and started pulling off the clothing he'd fallen asleep in. He stripped to his boxers and made his way toward his bathroom for a nice soak, when he noticed a flashing notification in the corner of his vision. He blinked and wondered what he'd gotten a roll for. He quickly opened it to check.
[Feat Achieved! Defeated Raynare (Yuuma Amano)! +1 Random Silver Gacha Ticket]
[Feat Achieved! Massive Canon Divergence! +1 Random Legendary Roll]
He stared blankly at the feats for a moment before memories of the night before came back in crystal clear HD quality. His face paled while he ran toward the bathroom. He dropped to his knees to worship at the porcelain throne, but despite a lot of dry heaving, nothing came out.
It wasn't until a few minutes later that he could focus enough to reread the feats and realize he hadn't killed the girl he'd spent all day on a date with. He only defeated her, right? Defeat didn't mean kill, right?
He grimaced and walked over to the shower to start cleaning himself off. Even with hot water pouring down his body he still felt dirty. Maybe some filthy gambling would help him feel better? Worst case scenario, he rolls something stupid and gets angry instead of morose.
That sounded nice, “Roll the silver ticket.”
[ROLLING!]
[Dress Break, Rare Ability, DxD - By touching a target you can destroy their clothing or armor, you can also delay this effect for up to an hour.]
“... That's stupid! You're stupid! What the hell is this shit! The only good thing about it is it's my fourth ability and will let me equip a second one. Electromagnekinesis, welcome back!”
He reactivated Electromagnekinesis with a small smile. He'd missed the ability. Hell, if he'd had it active when he met Yuuma he would have known she wasn't human from the start! Now that wouldn't happen again!
“Roll the gold ticket.”
[Gold Tickets x0]
He blinked and double checked the feat, “Oh, oh SHIT! Roll the legendary ticket already!”
[ROLLING!]
[Noble Beastkin, Epic Trait, Race Change - You are a Noble Beastkin, a beast hybrid that has mystical blood running through their veins. You possess potent physical abilities and greatly enhanced senses depending on your race; your natural instincts are very potent. You possess a greater affinity towards Changer and Nature-based abilities, allowing you to utilise them to greater effect with more finesse. You also possess control over your beast side, being able to completely suppress your traits or completely transform into your beast side. It is easier to command respect from beast-aligned beings.]
“Goddammit, what's wrong with being human?! Besides, if I'm going to change my race it'll be for one with either a huge lifespan or straight immortality! Re-roll!”
[ROLLING!]
[Throne, Legendary Trait. Race Change - You are a Throne, one of the highest-ranking angels with four pairs of wings. As a Throne, you possess great physical and magical abilities. All Holy and Light attributes are greatly boosted and cost less mana to use. You are capable of instinctively developing Holy and Light Magic. You also possess the ability to convert your own energy to searing holy light or pure holy energy. In exchange, all Darkness and Unholy attributes are greatly weakened and will hurt you upon use.]
“Again?! Fuck you! Re-roll!” He scowled, what was with the gacha trying to constantly change his race? Was there something about the world he was in that made a race change so acceptable?
[ROLLING!]
[Unknown Dictator, Epic Item, DxD - Unknown Dictator, one of the modern Longinus. It is capable of manipulating metal and technology on a massive scale, as well as being able to construct advanced technology like ion canons and aura engines at will without detailed input from the user. The stronger the user, the stronger the creations made by Unknown Dictator are. When taken out of the inventory, it resembles a small marble that fuses with the person who swallows it.]
Alexander stared at the result of his roll. While an Epic-tier roll was probably the lowest possible for a Legendary Ticket, he was not the least bit disappointed. He couldn't stop smiling even when his smile stretched so far his cheeks hurt! An item that would let him make any kind of technology his heart desired? All without him even having to provide blueprints or even understand how it worked?! Granted, it looked like it had some limitations, namely his own strength, but still!
Imagine what could be done if he made machines that combined flawlessly with his Electromagnekinesis?! He could just imagine the sheer power his creations would have!
…
Eventually.
He quickly retrieved the small marble that was Unknown Dictator and swallowed it readily! He didn't feel any different even after a few minutes. He was tempted to try it out as soon as he finished his bath, but decided to wait. He would need to talk to Lucy about acquiring a junk yard for raw steel and an electronics recycling plant for electronics. He wasn't about to experiment with his PC or gaming systems! The last thing he needed was to break them by accident.
This was going to be fun!
-----Line Break-----
Sona sighed as she looked over the pitiful amount of information she'd been able to gather on Alexander Smith over the last week. His background was a mystery. It was as if he'd appeared out of nowhere one day. His school records were complete and seemed legitimate, but every time she tried to confirm something, she ran into a dead end. Two of the schools he supposedly attended had burned down, losing all of their records! The third refused to release any information without an American police warrant.
The address he had supposedly lived at until moving to Japan existed, but she could find no proof that he'd ever lived there. Any attempts made to contact his legal guardians ended with voice mails that were full, so she couldn't even leave messages!
Then there were the results of their spying, either in person or via familiar. The only thing she learned is that he didn't seem to care about what food he ate. On the other hand, he was ridiculously picky when it came to drinks. The only time he seemed to voluntarily leave the resort was to buy his drinks. Such a waste of a beautiful car.
She was able to confirm a few things. For one, he was definitely human and not just really good at hiding his supernatural traits. They could detect his magic, and while it was higher than average for someone his age, it wasn't high enough to be suspicious or impressive. He clearly didn't know any magic or even any books on magic. He owned no books at all, really.
If he wasn't gaming or sleeping, then he was working his short shift in the resort as a masseuse specialized in pressure point therapy. Given Rias's review of his skills, she believed his skill to be impressive, but not supernatural.
So, aside from the fact that the resort was clearly built and maintained by someone supernatural, and that he knew of the supernatural, there was nothing actually supernatural about him.
Thus, her brilliant idea was born! Alexander had told her that she would never beat him in chess. Loath as she was to admit it, he was probably right. However, she was no longer bound to her chess restriction because she'd already lost and they were engaged, even if she'd never told anyone outside her peerage. This meant she could challenge him at anything, with his loss meaning the marriage was off!
Her brilliant plan? Challenge him to a magical duel! Now, she had her own pride to contend with as well, which meant she wouldn't just challenge him and then duel him right away. That was beneath her. No, she had procured a primer on human magic which she would give to him. Then she would challenge him to a duel three days later. Even if he had little to no talent at magic, three days should be enough to get at least a spark out. She still felt a little gross, taking advantage like that, but she could live with it. She would have given him a chance, after all!
She picked up the thick leather tome and walked toward the teleportation circle. Tsubaki moved to follow, but she held her hand up, “I will only be gone long enough to deliver the book and issue my challenge. There is no need for you to join me this time, Tsubaki.”
She teleported out while Tsubaki returned to her work. The next moment, Sona was a short distance away from the resort. Luckily, it was on the very edge of town and surrounded by thick forest. That made it easy to find a place to teleport back and forth from without arousing suspicion. From there, it was a short walk to get to the main entrance of the onsen, where she requested Alexander's attention.
-----Line Break-----
Alexander sighed as he set the phone down and stood up from his gaming chair. It had been such a quiet week, and now this. Sona was back, which meant he was about to be greatly annoyed. Just as an example, he was now required to put on pants because he needed to go out in public. Still, he would suffer through the annoyance of it for his... fiance. Man, he hoped she'd come up with a way to get them both out of that!
He collected her from the reception area and led her to an empty private room. As soon as he closed the door, he blurted out, “Please tell me you have a way to get us out of this mess.”
Sona looked surprised at his outburst, then a little offended. Wasn't she good enough for him? It was her breasts, wasn't it? She looked down at her chest and frowned. There was nothing wrong with her breasts! How dare...
Oh, right, calm down. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly to regain her calm, “Yes, I have a plan. First, I need to be sure of something. Do you know anything about magic?”
His response, “It exists.”
That brought a smile to her face, “Perfect.” She held up the tome in her hand, “This is a primer on human magic, the very basics like how to get in touch with your magical power and how to cast your first simple spells.” She held the book out to him, “I challenge you to a magic-only duel in three days. If I win, the engagement is canceled.”
He would be forced to accept by his Pride curse, but he also couldn't let a bet be so one-sided, “And if I win?”
Sona bit her lip but shrugged, “What do you want?”
He thought for a bit and smirked, “Since I'm definitely going to lose this time, as your fiancé, currently, I demand your virginity within a week, should you lose.”
Sona's eyes widened, and she was ready to rip into him, but she paused and ran his words through her mind once more. Slowly, she nodded. She'd been practicing magic since she was a child, and she was fairly powerful, a High Class Devil. Even the most talented human in the world would take more than three days to even hope to compete with her in a magical duel. She literally had hundreds of times more magical power than he did. She couldn't lose.
“Agreed. I will see you in three days.”
They stepped out of the room and began walking in opposite directions down the hallway. Alexander flipped open the tome. He had to begin studying now, whether he wanted to or not. Before reaching the end of the hallway, he came to a complete stop.
“Sona,” He called loud enough to cause her to stop and turn. Without looking, he asked, “Is all human magic based on math and special calculations like this says?”
Confused by the question but not unwilling to answer, she called back, “It is. The tome will explain the history of human magic and how Merlin created it.”
“I... I see.” He let out a long sigh, “I'll see you in three days.”
Back in his room, he sat down and stared at the tome in misery. It just had to be based on math, didn't it? It couldn't have been based on obscure astrological knowledge or being able to cross ones toes without using their fingers. No, it had to be MATH.
He sighed, flipped to the next page, and took in the information. She just had to be nice and give him three days, didn't she? She couldn't have been a bitch and just given him a single day? Or better yet, how about just three hours?! But nooooo, she had to be a decent person and give him three WHOLE days. One day, just twenty-four hours would have been more than enough for him to become an expert at calculation-based magic.
In three days, he would become capable of calculating and casting new spells in seconds or less. He slowly shook his head while he studied the book with absolute focus.
He definitely didn't think about what it would be like to claim Sona's virginity within a week of her losing to him.
…
He knew Sona showing up would cause nothing but trouble!
AN
10k words
So, lots happened in this chapter. Though that Legendary roll, MAN it was a PAIN. It took 6 rolls to get Unknown Dictator. The three rolls you don't see? The first, Majin Physique. Basically, he would have Majin Buu's body. So, immortality, super regeneration, and even the power to absorb people for more power. Broken much?
The next?
Slaanesh.
Yes, as in the chaos god from Warhammer 40k. Just. No.
After that? Hound of Tindalos. Sounds cute, right? Doggo get! Who doesn't love a doggo? Only... this is Cthulhu's doggo. It's an immortal, unkillable doggo capable of emerging from any sharp corner in existence. Capable of going from one universe to another as easily as turning a corner. Even if the doggo can't take Alex to other realities, Alex could send the doggo to fetch all kinds of broken things. Imagine sending the doggo to look for a version of Enel in One Piece just as he found the Goro Goro no Mi and stealing it? Or heading to the Ben 10 universe to steal the Omnitrix before Ben gets it? Marvel for the Infinity Stones? A Green Lantern ring from DC? It just goes on and on.
So, no, that had to go. So, if you think Unknown Dictator is too strong, imagine if I'd let him have any of the above options!
Anyway, Sona fucked up, and now Alex will be learning human math and putting people with decades of experience in it to shame. That's going to be fun!
Let me know what you think! Back to work for me.