Chapter 9: The existence of the King Piece
The next day Masaru left behind his peerage with Calfa and Shuri who thought it was about time these girls get extra lessons on their Manners, etiquette, cook, dancing, etc. Masaru was feeling relieved he focused on those lessons from an early stage so he could then focus on other subjects for the future, he did not even decide what he wishes to become in the future!
Yes, Champion of the Rating Game is but a goal, but a future dream job?
'Sigh... I am still young so I can still let it slide till I reach high school'
Currently, Masaru was on his way to Ajuka alone as requested by Ajuka himself, Masaru was not certain why this man wishes to call him alone and could not help but feel wary as if something is about to happen. This time the driver was taking Masaru to one of Ajuka's private research facility that was not known to many people which indicated how seriously he took Masaru's current situation,
'I wonder if it is possible to have a second King Mark to act as a vessel'
[It's impossible, maybe something similar or an artificial one. But an exact same thing would place too much of a burden on your soul, remember boy some power comes with a cost]
Masaru nodded at this dragon, despite appearing to be a crazed battle junkie it appeared he was acting quite meek towards Masaru who was oblivious that the dragon was actually fearing the spellbook might obliterate him instead.
"Welcome to Ajuka-sama's private laboratory, My name is Yui Bael Asaka."
A beautiful girl wearing a white robe, Curly long brown hair and a pair of violet coloured eyes. From the hair and eyes, it appears to be similar to Venelana he once met but the facial feature should be from her mother's side,
"Thank you, My name is Masaru Belial. I have come to respond to Ajuka-sama's invitation"
The girl nodded thinking this boy knew his manners well, not too uptight or haughty nor too humble.
"Follow me"
Masaru follow the girl through the misty forest which was something Ajuka created as a defensive mechanism against spies,
"Be sure to stay close as it is easy to lose your way here"
Yui explained to Masaru who increased his pace instead of appreciating the beauty of nature surrounding him. Soon they reached a three-story white building, if it was not for the thick steel frames he noticed he might have misunderstood this building was made out of glass.
When they entered the ground floor had a lobby and lounge where guests could take a rest along with a self-help cafeteria nearby, at the back were stairs leading to the second floor that was outfitted with several testing labs with a variety of equipment Masaru naturally saw but did not understand their usages and finally the third floor was Ajuka's lab and office.
The office was naturally the location Ajuka was currently at when they entered Masaru saw the familiar Devil King Ajuka who was reading something which was probably a result report.
"Ajuka-sama, Masaru has arrived"
Ajuka looked up at Yui nodding at her to leave then turned to Masaru,
"Take a seat, I have heard about your circumstances from Sirzech and the recent report your father told me about that Sword Spirit told you about.."
Masaru took his sea, smiling wryly he nodded at Ajuka's summary
"Yes, with all honesty I can't understand if the spellbook is not a sacred gear then why did it lodge into my soul like one"
"Well We are about to find that out, let's go to my laboratory"
Masaru followed Ajuka into his lab, in one of the rooms was a machine that was similar to the X-ray scan people used to scan however this one is created to scan the soul.
"Take off your clothes except for your underwear and lay on the table"
Ajuka gave some instructions to an assistant in the control room to prepare for the scan, Masaru complied, he took off his clothes and rested on the table.
Honestly, he felt nervous, the traumatic scar left by the experiment was still etched into his bones which he could not entirely remove. So he grits his teeth while hearing the machine hummed and began to move up and down scanning him, what he did not realize was that this was the latest machine that was used to scan the soul itself so his fragmented soul was naturally discovered.
"Damn"
Ajuka was shocked to the point he felt he could finally understand a few things about this boy, because of the nature of this result he called the assistant out of the lab and removed her memories of the event entirely.
"To think a soul in such a state could still survive"
He felt it was truly a miracle the soul was still alive but he felt the reason for it was the spellbook that was lodged in the head section of the soul instead of the heart where the Sacred gear was located at.
'That book is a divine armament of some sort of God but from which mythology? it can be the only explanation for it... But how did the boy get his hands---'
While Masaru was putting on his clothes Ajuka stormed into the room and locked the door looking sternly at Masaru,
"Are you really Masaru or have you possess him?"
Masaru was shocked at the way Ajuka was currently acting and the second question he did not immediately react to it
"huh?"
Ajuka pulled two chairs allowing Masaru to take a seat while he did as well, he looked at Masaru
"I am asking if you have been possessed or are you Masaru?"
'Well in honesty I would say I'm not, but I have memories of him so I can say I am....'
Masaru sighed shaking his head
"I'm Masaru as far as I understand, I have never felt anything different... Although I have to say ever since I gained control over the book, I could access a portion of memories latched onto it"
Ajuka nodded thinking that it was indeed difficult to confirm by yourself if you are posessed or not unless the thing is too weak to hide itself or a stong being would expose itself. But he did not openly mention to Masaru that he considered the fact he was posessed but did not want to expose it.
"Those memories, do they relate in any way to a god of some mythology like the Norse Gods?"
Masaru 's eyes widen thinking where the hell does Gods come in the picture so he shook his head
"No, the memories I have managed to see is that of a Human who lived in the human world"
"This makes it difficult to explain... Your situation that is"
Masaru thought about why he would say this so he asked,
"Could it be about the spellbook?"
Ajuka nodded but then shook his head
"Your soul state is currently something close to a body that had been eaten chunks out of by a beast or something"
Masaru nodded and comprehended some of his weird behaviours might be linked to this,
"So that explains the times my reaction differs from time to time towards similar things"
"There is no way to immediately heal your soul, but I believe if you can fully awaken that spellbook which is a Divine Armament belonging to some god your soul would recover faster"
Ajuka took a deep breathe
"But when you do, your sacred gear that is lodged in a dormant state will be stimulated which will then bring it to what that sword spirit of yours told you about"
"Is there a way to prevent this?"
Masaru could finally feel the urgency of his situation, if he does not fix his soul faster he will have problems but if he awakens the book he will still have problems. Ajuka could only smile wryly at the boy who displayed a childish fearful face, the solution was simple but there will be problems if the wrong people discover it.
"I have a solution, but are you prepared to take the risk that is big enough for your family to suffer for it"
"I'd rather die... I already lost my mother... My elder sister figure was branded as a murderer and had to flee... I don't want to lose anymore"
Ajuka felt reassured with this, it was a gamble to trust this boy but for the boy to reject a solution and have to worry about his impending death to rather sacrifice himself for the safety of his family was admirable. It reminded him of a certain crimson siscon friend of his,
"Then how about I will become the backer of your family, you take the solution I have in mind but you will have to deal with the attacks from the shadows"
'Assassin or trap ploys huh?'
Masaru naturally understood the term attacks from the shadows, he could finally agree with this deal
"Please"
It was the only word he could say, but Ajuka did not start immediately
"But as a condition you will have to work for me until the time you will attend high school"
Masaru thought the condition was more favourable than he imagined
"I agree"
"You agreed so easily? Well, I will be making full use of your power... the element Worthless that is"
'I can have him scan the king piece in his body and then invalidate the king pieces of those people at the top of the Rating Game without them realizing it'
Ajuka was already formulating a plan on dealing with the King pieces he could not receive, since he could not get it he could simply destroy it with the boy who was sitting in front of him.
"The solution I have is called the King Piece, now this one is a rare piece created in the early days of the Rating Games. Unlike the other pieces which grant special abilities, the King Piece simply boosts its host power. However, the King piece's strengthening is anywhere from 10 to 100 times and more."
Masaru who heard this could not help but feel some hope which Ajuka naturally poured cold water on
"There are restrictions to its use. One, the user cannot already have an Evil Piece(s) because the King piece would overlap with their current piece(s) and expose them to dangers. Two, the user can potentially die if they are too strong. Luckily for you, you can use your ability to nullify these side effects but the boost in strength will also be removed as well"
Masaru naturally understood, when Ajuka took out the King piece Masaru began scanning the piece, first he appraised the piece to understand what it was made of followed by an energy scan which gave him a vague understanding of each energy behind the characteristics.
After a few more scans he more or less understood what he wanted to nullify, the parts he removed were mostly mechanisms that were berserk energies which is the reason why the boost of strength varies. By doing this, he created a simple vessel for his sacred gear but the piece itself did not grant him any power boost.
"Not bad, from the looks of it, do you think you can completely disable a piece like this?"
Masaru allowed the piece to enter his body, he felt his body was being washed over almost as if he just had a bath. His initial energy within his body undergone a purification through the king piece allowing the quality of his demonic energy to increase, except the quantity did not. Meanwhile, he could faintly sense his sacred gear lodging within the king piece causing the once uncomfortable feeling he had on occassions to vanish.
"I should be able to, but Lord Ajuka my instinct tells me if I completely disable the piece while it is inside the body it will cause harm, although I feel it will not be permanent, but it will probably be like a sickness?"
Ajuka naturally already had a theory that this would happen so hearing what Masaru explained meant the boy found a way to disable it,
'a Rare quality to find in people... To think he wouold already consider using his ability in other fields without me guiding him, could it be he is a genius or perhaps that spellbook is aiding him?' He thought.
"Well, how does your body feel?"
Masaru closed his eyes inspecting his body, he could feel much lighter as if something finally clicked but there was an additional presence he did not sense up till now was showing signs of waking up.
"It appears the sword spirit spoke the truth"
Ajuka nodded his head understanding that the Sacred gear linked with the King Piece using it as it's host was now showing signs of awakening.
"So, for now, we can say you are out of danger but you will have to arrange with your parents to stay for a year with me"
"Is it possible to arrange it a Month from now?"
Masaru thought he could not delay his survival trial or his trip to the Vatican, Ajuka nodded feeling he could understand this child probably made plans he needed to complete first
"Very well, finish what you have to do and when you are ready, be sure to contact Yui a day before you arrive"
>\/<
[AH, it finally feels more peaceful inside you]
Grendel or it was the name Masaru gave him since he took on the form of the dragon,
"So does it mean I won't have trouble?"
[I am not sure, it does feel peaceful since I am connected to you I can naturally see your soul, for now, it seems the Spellbook has quieted down in King Mark while the Sacred gear seems to be waking up thanks to the King piece you received]
"Welcome back Ma-kun (Big Brother) (Master)"
Akeno, Shirone and Stephani were wearing maid clothes they wore a few days back causing Masaru to flinch from seeing such a shockingly beautiful view, a smile formed on his lips
"I'm back"
When he entered the manor he saw his Father, Grandfather and Grandmother were discussing something serious but when they noticed his presence they put a stop to it.
"So do you like your welcome?"
Calfa smiled teasingly to Masaru who appeared to be calm but she knew her grandson was not calm at all,
Masaru coughed while a faint tint of red surfaced on his face as he tries to hide his embarrassment
"Ye-Yeah"
Akeno who heard this naturally smiled but Stephani pouted
'I-I'm only wearing this maid outfit for Big Sis's sake, not be-because I like you or anything... Idiot Master' She thought.
"So I take it Ajuka managed to fix your situation?"
Masaru nodded at his father's question
"Yes, however it came on the condition I will be working under him for a year when I return from my Vatican trip"
"Working under Lord Ajuka is a good opportunity for you, my boy!"
Dominic felt the most excited of them all, having Masaru work for Ajuka will then indirectly gain the Belial Family a backer. Calfa smiled warmly
"Make sure when you study under him you take each lesson you learn there seriously, many people want to study under him but not many have the chance to"
Shuri who entered the room bringing a tray with cup of teas for everyone while wearing a Maid uniform shocked Masaru, unlike children bodies this was a Mature woman who had an erotic body wearing a maid uniform.
Being a boy it was understandable that such a sight was a bit too stimulating causing a slight trail of blood to run down his nose, Akeno who saw this stomped hard on his feet causing him to yelp out of pain while pointing at her mother
"I have not lost yet!"
Akeno was not even realizing at that moment she was talking to her mother as her jealousy towards the way Masaru reacted clouded her judgement. But when she realized it, she blushed feeling embarrassed and ran out of the room
"Big sis!!"
Stephani naturally ran after Akeno while Shirone came forward with a tissue wiping away the blood while she said in a tone that was loud enough for Masaru to hear
"The worst..."
"Ara ara, it appears Ma-kun got a bit too excited to see Mother-in-law in a maid uniform? So he does has a maid fetish"
Masaru who heard this shook his head with vigour
"It's not it! I was only surprised, yes that's all"
Masaru nodded while everyone looked at him with a united thought
'Yeah Right'
But then Masaru took his seat and began to explain the nature behind his book and his sacred gear, hearing this the family were naturally relieved that there is no danger to Masaru and naturally felt happy he grew stronger.
"I am coming up faster than you expected, right father?"
Diehauser who heard his son smiled
"If you did not grow strong fast, I might end up growing old before you reach me"
The father and son began their playing argument about who is going to win and lose while the grandparents smiled warmly,
"Dear, I wish days like this remain forever"
Dominic who heard his wife nodded
"Yes, but I wonder when our grandchildren will come"
Shuri who heard him naturally laughed
"Fufu, we will have to wait a few more years then the kids could take that step"
And thus a few days pass by, Stephani trained under the supervision of Julia who instructed her on her healing sacred gear as well as her Power of Beast and Angels which allows her to cast light attributes magic in a mode that removes the devil's weakness although temporary.
Masaru focused on experimenting with his Worthless ability, thanks to his continued hard work he managed to develop a method of the only temporary nullifying an ability instead of permanent.
The application of this would allow him to temporarily remove his weakness to holy attribute from his body, the reason he could not use it permanently as nullification removes apart so he will need something else which can fill that part otherwise in the future he might have problems with his body.
But he was certain in the future he will be able to develop this power even further, as for his sacred gear it was still dormant only flashing like it wants to wake up but nothing else.
Grendel grew grumpy these past few days since his awakening he did not experience a single combat since Masaru does not use him when he spars against anyone, it was simply too unfair using Hrunting to spar but thankfully this dragon took a liking to some kiddie shows from the Human world so Masaru could temporary keep this dragon busy.
Akeno, however, grew even bolder by wearing slightly revealing clothes since her declaration of not wanting to lose to her mother, although she knew her mother was only teasing her.
Shirone however finally began to show signs of being able to control her senjutsu when her second tail sprouted next to her first tail, Shirone was excited that she finally achieved a breakthrough since her sister also had two tails back before the experiment incident. Masaru naturally spoiled her with sweets to congratulate her.
>\/<
Diehauser was standing overseeing a nearby mountain, next to him stood a purple scaled dragon with golden horns also looking towards the mountain.
"Have you sent your representative?"
Diehauser spoke while looking ahead,
"Yes I have, but to think you would approach me for such a thing..."
Diehauser chuckled
"Well it was out of a spur of a moment, my son requires peerage members and you are struggling to find a perfect man for her"
The dragon nodded
"Yes, that stubborn girl went and beat up all the younger generation dragons including her brother to prove her seriousness of only accepting a male stronger than her"
"But remember, a Dragon can acknowledge someone stronger than them but courting is an entirely different matter"
Diehauser nodded
"Yes, I already knew about it. Besides I only arranged this with you so Masaru could get a decent Rook, whether their relationship goes further or not is something for the future... Right now the one seeks someone strong while the other seeks family... Don't you think it's interesting?"
The dragon who heard this naturally laughed
"But that sword is out"
Diehauser smiled knowing what sword this dragon was talking about so he agreed.
--------------
Author Note:
The chapter has been edited, If I missed something please just drop a Paragraph Comment and I will Fix it
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
CompleteNoob
CompleteNoob 27/07/2020 - Made some changes
Please be patient, my shifts are quite hectic with people self isolating and the workplace has few manpower
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone