Chapter 36: DxD: Weaving Threads 03

I arrive at Sona's training hall with Yua, Momo, and Ruruko in tow a few minutes before 8 am. We left the other girls resting in bed, tired from our activities last night. [Link Sensations] worked extremely well, especially once I leveled it up a bit and could link multiple girls to the one I was focusing on. The girls are big fans of it.

I look around and see that Sona and the rest of her peerage are predictably all here already, dressed in their normal exercise gear. I'll have to look into getting them some upgraded gear as well. I make a note to ask Sona about that later as we all form a group.

"So I've already told Sona about my training pocket spaces that I call dungeons," I start, addressing all of them. "And I'm going to assume she already passed on the relevant information to all of you." They nod, confirming that. You can always rely on Sona for things like this.

"I used two different ones to train the Gremory group," I explain. "You guys are a little strong for the first one, and a little weak for the second. But that doesn't matter, because I'm going to take you guys to a new one I found recently, and it's a bit special."

That was half a lie, I unlocked it ages ago. But I haven't touched either of the Tier 2 dungeons, The Colosseum and The Water Temple. And while Sona has a high affinity for water magic, I don't want to deal with that bullshit yet. So I scoped out the Colosseum earlier, and it's perfect for training Sona's group on.

"The dungeon that I'll be bringing you to is styled after the ancient Roman colosseum," I explain. "In it, we'll be able to fight in matches against enemies that grow progressively tougher. It starts pretty easy, but I'm not sure what the limit is."

The arena is even filled with fake people. They're more like holograms that aren't physical and don't react to you if you enter the stands. Though they react appropriately to things in the ring.

"So we'll be facing off against increasingly challenging opponents?" Sona clarifies. "How is the variety?"

"Pretty large I think, to the point where it doesn't fit the theme of the dungeon at all," I say. "It's not limited to gladiators and lions and whatnot. The first battle is a small wolf pack, and the second one is a group of imps. I haven't gone too deep into it though." In fact, it was just those two that I did.

"That does seem like the perfect way to train for Rating games," Sona agrees. "Are your other dungeons not like that?"

"No, they're more akin to labyrinths or large open areas with objectives to complete," I explain. "They're not bad training, especially for real-world situations, but this is more suited to Rating Games. Though all of them are fairly straightforward and can be reduced to 'defeat these enemies,' unlike a Rating Game, which can have other rulesets. I'm afraid I don't have anything to serve as convenient training for that." Not yet anyway.

"This is already more than adequate," Sona reassures me. "Is there anything else you need to do before we depart?"

"Nope," I say as I mentally remove the Gremory Peerage from my party. I asked Kyu and it turns out I do have a maximum party size of five additional party members plus five more per maxed out class. That number doesn't include familiars. So right now, with three maxed-out classes, I can have twenty party members. Which means I could keep both Rias and Sona's Peerages in my party at all times. But I'm going to be bringing Ravel's Peerage into the dungeon tomorrow, and Ravel and Sona's peerages together add up to more than my maximum.

So it's easier if I just have whoever I'm bringing into the dungeon in my party. At least until I max out another class or two. And this way I have some room so I could potentially keep a couple of others in my party at all times. Which is helpful, because people can only level the skills I taught them with [Mentor] when they're in my party. Asia is a good example of that, I've kept her in my party while she's been gardening and she's been steadily increasing her skill levels.

Party management done, I tell everyone to grab hands, and I pull us into the dungeon for some training.

-x-

Training Sona's Peerage is very different from training Rias's. For one, they already know how to work well together and they're competent fighters led by a competent leader. There's nothing I can teach Sona. Teaching Rias? Easy, just point out a few common sense things she's missed. Sona though? Even though I beat her in chess, I'd still say she's much better at strategy than me.

I believe most of it is experience. Sure, Sona isn't the most experienced in terms of practical applications, but she has been training and studying for this sort of thing for years. Where I've only been fighting for what...six weeks? And that's been mostly solo.

So I mostly just sit back and watch Sona kick ass. I stick around the edges, occasionally helping out and ready to hop in and take care of anything beyond their ability, but I'm not needed. Despite being a higher-tier Dungeon it starts out pretty slow.

In fact, during our time, we make it through twenty rounds, fighting a boss every tenth round. Things stopped being a breeze around the 17th round, but it was still more than manageable, and even the second boss was well within our abilities. Reaching thirty will probably be a challenge at this rate though.

Which is good. While I might not be able to contribute directly, providing a space where Sona can get more practical experience is valuable enough that I feel like my job has been done. And I got a few benefits from it as well.

<------>

Axton

Level: 344

Class: Lightbearer(44/100)[17%]

HP: 69,050 (4,557 per second)

MP: 138,600 (11,920 per second)

SP: 104,520 (7,944 per second)

CON: 1281(1381)

STR: 1642(1742)

DEX: 1837(1937)

INT: 1880(1980)

WIS: 1761(1861)

CHA: 941(1041)

LUK: 1219(1319)

<------>

<[Blessing of Health] - Increases Health and Health Regen>

<[Enforced Bets] - Whenever you make a bet with someone, you and that person are forced to uphold your end of the deal.>

<[Channel Arc-Light] - Level 1(0%)>

<[Solar] [Void]>

<[Conjure Solar-Light] - Level 1(0%)>

It's a lot of progress considering how little I did. But everyone in my party gets the same amount of XP no matter their contribution. Well, base XP. XP multipliers are specific to individuals, so I got a little more. Sona's Peerage got more than they should have too, thanks to the Major XP Potions I made and handed out.

Something I won't have to do again though, because I also got loot, and among them was the thing I wanted most; a ring that increased XP gain. It only did it by 1%, but that didn't matter, because I disenchanted it and now I can make way better versions of it.

The other loot I get is a pair of boots that increase the wearer's speed and lets them fly, a pair of bracers that can emit a bright flash of light to stun enemies, a necklace that boosts water magic, another necklace that boosts team members, a scroll that can compel someone to duel me, and a couple of gacha tokens. I gave the boots to Ruruko, stashed the scroll and gacha tokens, and disenchanted the rest.

And now we're all in the bath in Sona's training hall. Once again I've been ordered to wear a towel around my waist, but that's fine. While I don't mind being seen, I'm not really an exhibitionist, and so long as I get to see the girls, it's fine.

I haven't really made any progress with many of them outside of Sona though, so in terms of who is covered up, it's pretty much the same as last time. Even Sona is fully covered, which is a shame, but I can be patient. Sona also made sure the towels weren't booby-trapped this time.

I spend some time relaxing and flirting with them, but eventually, we get out of the bath and make our way home. I say my goodbyes to Momo and Ruruko, and I give Sona yet another reminder of our date, just to tease her a bit more, before I [Void Travel] away, Yua in tow.

When I get home it's a bit after lunch and [Void Detect] picks up Atsuko sitting with Irina and Xenovia in a nearby room, all of them dressed casually, though Irina and Xenovia still have their weapons with them. Yua gives me an affectionate lick on my cheek before leaping off of my shoulder and running off somewhere, and I decide to go butt in on Atsuko's conversation a bit before I get some other work done.

I [Void Travel] into the sitting room they've gathered in, silently arriving behind Atsuko, my hands wrapped around her head and covering her eyes. "Guess who?" I ask her.

"Axton!" she says cheerfully before turning around and awkwardly giving me a hug over the back of the couch she's sitting on. As she does, I see Irina and Xenovia tensed from my sudden appearance, and only now are they relaxing and removing their hands from the hilts of their weapons. I grin at them. At least they reacted quickly, even if it wasn't quick enough.

"I finished up training Sona's group and thought I'd stop by and see what's going on here with you girls before I get to my other work," I say. "I'll be honest, this is not a combination of people I expected to find." Atsuko finally lets go of me so I make my way around the couch and sit next to her, grabbing one of the snacks sitting on a platter on the table between them. My house sure does have a lot of rooms that are just couches facing each other with a table between them, doesn't it?

"I'm the most surprised of all," Atsuko explains. "Irina is an old friend of mine from when we were little. We were the two rowdy tomboys of the neighborhood. But then she moved away."

"Our family moved to the Vatican," Irina explains. "My father is an exorcist as well, and I was able to train to become one there as well."

"Because you can wield the Excalibur Fragment?" I ask.

She nods. "That was part of it, yes. But I never expected to come back, and I especially didn't think my precious childhood friend would be a Devil of all things."

"Hehe," Atsuko laughs awkwardly while scratching the back of her head. "Well, it sounded like fun, and it came with a lot of perks, soooo," she trails off.

"I bet you tempted her, didn't you?" Irina accuses.

I raise an eyebrow at her. "You do realize I'm not a Devil right?" I say, but Atsuko responds as well.

"Yeah, all Axton did was explain what Devils are to me, he left the decision up to me," she protests in an attempt to defend me. I hold in a sigh as I see a glint of satisfaction in Irina's eyes.

"So he was the one to bring you into things," Irina replies smugly. "I could tell he's a corrupting heathen. Even if he's not a Devil, he tempts you into Sin as good as one would."

"Is the Church incompetent?" I ask a little coldly before Atsuko can say a word, surprising everyone. Even Atsuko is looking at me with a bit of surprise, so I rein it back a little. "You guys do know what her Sacred Gear is, right?"

"I don't see how-" Irina starts, but Xenovia speaks up for the first time.

"The Boosted Gear," she answers, and I nod.

"With a Longinus, there was no way she was going to remain uninvolved forever," I explain. "So I made sure to explain as much as I could to her and explained her options. She made her own choices, I just helped her do it in the way that was most likely to keep her safe. Because that's my number one priority."

<+7 Affection with Irina Shidou>

Atsuko reaches over and grabs my hand, causing me to smile at her as we intertwine our fingers. Xenovia looks thoughtful, and Irina is blushing.

"Be- be that as it may, you're still a bad influence on her!" Irina protests, blushing. "Don't think I didn't hear what you did last night!"

Atsuko and Xenovia tense, blushes creeping over their faces as well. I grin and look back at Irina. "Sorry, I'm not sure what you're talking about," I tell her. "Could you tell me exactly what you mean?"

Irina's face grows even redder, and she stands up, pointing a finger at me. "You- you know! Don't lie to me! Those noises! We all heard them!"

"Ah, you did?" I ask. "Sorry about that. The soundproofing for my bedroom must not be working properly, I'll get that fixed."

That's a lie of course. [Sound Domain] is one of my most useful skills. Making sure everyone got a taste of what life in my harem is like was a very intentional move. The only person who didn't get to hear it was Griselda, because I'm not an idiot.

"Good! No, I mean that's the issue here!" Irina continues. "The issue is you're corrupting my childhood friend." She looks at Atsuko. "You should- wait, are you okay Atsuko?"

Atsuko's face is completely red, and she's staring off into space. "Everyone heard us," she mutters quietly. To a normal observer, she looks embarrassed, and she is. But I can also tell how aroused she is too. Accidentally giving her the exhibitionism fetish might be the best thing I've ever done.

"Alright alright, let's change the subject," I say as I put an arm around Atsuko's shoulder and bring her into a hug. "Poor Atsuko's getting embarrassed. Where's Griselda at? I noticed she isn't around." At least, she isn't in range of [Void Detect], which covers most of my house after my race change boosted my Void affinity, but not quite all of it.

Irina, face also red, sits down and seems to calm down. "She's out delivering the potions to Heaven," Irina explains. "She can't do it from within Kuoh's barriers, so she has to travel to the edge of town to do it."

"Hmm, that sounds inconvenient," I say, not meaning it. In truth, it's quite convenient. For me at least. It provides me chances to talk to these two girls alone without having to worry about Griselda. "So-" I start, but Xenovia's eyes widen.

"Wait, she's going to be back soon," Xenovia says.

"Uh-huh, probably," Irina agrees, confused. "So what?"

"We still haven't done that thing she asked us to do," Xenovia explains, standing up.

Irina's eyes widen as well. "Uh oh," she says. She shoots up. "Sorry Atsuko, we gotta go do something real quick! We'll talk more later, okay?" She glares at me. "And we aren't done talking about this!"

Xenovia pulls at her arm and the two literally run from the room, heading towards their room. Huh. I wonder what it is they need to do? I keep an eye on them with [Void Detect] while I turn my attention back to Atsuko.

"You know, I can tell embarrassment isn't the only thing you felt when she mentioned that she heard us last night," I gently tease her.

"You did that, didn't you?" Atsuko asks. "You used your sound magic to let them hear us?"

Ah right, I did showcase my ability to do that, didn't I? "I wanted to see what their reaction would be," I admit. I'm not worried about Atsuko knowing I did something like that.

"How many?" she asks.

"Everyone in the house except for Griselda, Wilhelm, and Sakuya," I say. "The latter two weren't in range."

Her legs squeeze together as a surge of arousal shoots through her. "Oh," she replies.

"And?" I ask her in a teasing tone. "How does that make you feel?"

"Didn't you say you already know?" she grumbles.

"But I want to hear you say it," I insist.

She sighs. "It's...kinda hot," she admits. "Even though I still feel tired from last night, the thought of them listening to us makes me want to do it again." Her breathing is getting heavier, and she repositions herself so she's straddling my lap. My hands instantly go to her waist as I feel myself harden.

"You know, I have some free time tomorrow," I tell her. "How about after I train Ravel's group, you and I go out and walk around town, just to the two of us?"

She pauses. "Just us?" she asks.

"I mean, if you want to invite someone else as well, I certainly wouldn't mind, but yeah, I was thinking just me and you."

She smiles at me and kisses me. "I'd like that a lot," she admits.

"It's a date," I promise her. I lean forward to kiss her again as my hand makes its way under her shirt when I notice something with [Void Detect]. With a sigh, I pull back, causing Atsuko to frown at me. I turn to the door a fraction of a second before there's a knock on it.

"Come in Mittelt," I call out. Sure enough, the door opens to reveal Mittelt in her maid outfit. She's a little nervous, but not scared. Good, that's an improvement. "What do you need?" I ask, curious and a little annoyed.

"Azazel contacted us, saying that you were interested in meeting with him," Mittelt reports with a slight bow and downcast eyes. "He's available now and can be here in just a minute if you are available."

Damn. I do need to have a meeting with him. I sigh again and turn to Atsuko. "Looks like I've got business to deal with. I'll see you tomorrow?" She nods and kisses me again before she climbs off of my lap and leaves. Mittelt gives her a small curtsy as she passes, and I can tell Atsuko has to hold back a reaction of delight. Mittelt normally wears goth lolita clothes, and the maid outfit looks natural on her, and it's very cute.

The door closes behind her, leaving just Mittelt and me in the room. I sigh and stand up. "Come on, let's go greet Azazel," I say.

"Actually," Mittelt starts, nervous. "Raynare is in the lobby, waiting to greet him and lead him here. That way you don't have to inconvenience yourself."

"I see," I say as I slowly sit back down. "I suppose that would be nice." It would be, but my gut is telling me it's a lie. Or not a lie, but that it's not about inconveniencing me. Rather, it's about giving Raynare a chance to report to Azazel while Mittelt makes sure I don't overhear.

Annoyingly, the lobby is out of range of my [Sound Domain]. I can see it just fine with [Void Detect], but not hear anything. Oh well. I'll let her report whatever she likes. Azazel is just curious about the potions. I know what kind of man he is, I don't need to worry about him using that information against me.

Thankfully, neither Mittelt nor Raynare know where I do my Alchemy. It's tucked away at the back of the house amongst a series of other locked rooms. Sakuya has told them that those rooms are for storage but they're not in use right now. And that's actually true. Most of the rooms in there are filled with tables and shelving but otherwise are empty. Even right now my alchemy lab looks exactly like the others since I don't keep anything stored in there save for a few sturdy tables lining the walls.

Speaking of Mittelt, I glance over at her. "You know, you don't have to stand by the door and wait?" I tell her. "Come stand over here by me. I promise not to bite unless you ask."

She doesn't visibly react to my light teasing, but it sends an interesting jumble of emotions through her. Not a large one, but it's noticeable. That's right, her first fetish is "submission". Maybe I can have some fun with her while I wait for Azazel.

As she comes to stand next to me, I look her over. "Out of curiosity, how did you find me? It's a big house, I can't imagine it's easy to track me down. Especially since I just got back and I tend to teleport to places rather than walk."

"I asked Miss Sakuya, sir," she replies politely. Hmm. Another girl calling me sir, huh? Ravel did it too. I asked her not to do it the first time she did it, but she forgot almost immediately, and I didn't ask her again. Mostly because I discovered I actually kind of like it.

"Smart thinking," I reply, not surprised that Sakuya has a way of keeping track of me. It's impressive, and I have no idea how she does it, but it's not surprising. "You're adjusting to being a maid fairly well," I compliment her.

"Thank you, sir," she replies with mixed feelings. I suppose praise for something you don't want to be doing sort of cancels itself out, huh? Ah well.

"So did Azazel pick those outfits out himself?" I ask her, continuing to make conversation. "I have to say, they're quite nice. You were cute in the clothes you had on before, but these are pretty fitting for you as well."

<+8 Affection with Mittelt>

Really? Just for calling her cute? Well, I guess she was only at 10 Affection, so that could be enough. And since submission is her fetish, she shouldn't hate this situation.

"Azazel describes them as the 'perfect maid uniforms'," Mittelt explains with a tired voice. "In his words, they're the precise balance between proper and sexy that a maid should have."

"Is that so?" I ask. "From the way you say it, it sounds like something you've heard multiple times."

"Azazel enjoys describing his inventions, even the more mundane ones," Mittelt says with a sigh.

"I see," I say. I run my eyes up and down her, looking at her in more detail. Honestly, she's pretty cute when she's not trying to kill me. Ah, who am I kidding? She was cute trying to kill me too, not that I was in significant danger.

But really the fact of the matter is that I'm horny from what almost happened with Atsuko and Mittelt is the one that interrupted it. Normally I wouldn't act on that. Maybe it's Kyu's influence on me, but sex that isn't loving or at least mutually exciting just isn't something I'm interested in. Even when I had sex with Raynare and it was willing, I didn't enjoy it all that much because I knew she was just doing it to kill me.

But all that being said, Mittelt does have the submission fetish. And I'm nothing if not accommodating to the fetishes of my girls. Mittelt might not consider herself one of my girls yet, but I do. It's just the matter of sealing the deal.

"Mittelt," I say, catching her attention. "Show me your panties."

There's a beat where neither of us moves or speaks and I can almost hear the wheels in her head grind to a stop in confusion. "Pardon?" she asks.

"Lift up your skirt and show me your panties," I say nonchalantly. "I trust Azazel to be thorough, and I'm curious about the panties he chose for this outfit." She hesitates, squirming. "That was an order Mittelt," I say, a bit of steel in my voice.

"Y- yes sir!" she replies with a start. Her nervousness and embarrassment skyrocket, but there's a trace of arousal as well. Good enough.

She turns to face me directly, her hands holding the bottom of her skirt. It's not a very long skirt, but it's long enough to show only an inch of the skin of her thighs above the top of her black thigh-high stockings.

Her face turned away and the tips of her ears red, she slowly raises the thin fabric up, exposing herself in front of me.

Truth be told, I already knew exactly what kind of panties she was wearing. [Void Detect] gives me a lot of detail. So the sight of the sheer and lacy black panties was not a surprise. But that's not what this is about.

"Azazel really does have good taste," I say as I stare at her panties, watching her squirm. Her hands start to move down, covering herself again. "Did I say you could stop?" I say, causing her to freeze. She slowly raises her skirt again, shooting me a glare. I guess not all of the fight is out of her yet, huh?

"Oh, don't look at me like that," I scoff. "You should have realized last night that I'm a pervert. You heard it all, right?" She nods, blushing even more. Her nervousness and embarrassment are still high, but her arousal has been slowly creeping up to match them. Good. I would have started feeling bad otherwise.

"Besides, I know you don't hate this as much as you pretend to," I casually continue, even as she freezes. "I have a knack for telling these sorts of things you know? And you?" I reach out and caress her thigh, causing a shiver to run through her. "I can tell you enjoy being ordered around by me."

<+8 Affection with Mittelt>

"That- that's not true," she protests, but it's weak.

I remove my hand from her thigh and lean back on the couch. She doesn't make a move to drop her skirt though, making me smile. "Is that so?" I say. Distantly, I note that Azazel has just arrived in my teleportation room, and he is speaking with Raynare. Not a lot of time then. "In that case, you can lower your skirt now."

She does so with a sigh of relief, and a tinge of disappointment. Hah, who does this girl think she's kidding. "Now give me your panties," I order her.

"....what?" she asks, once again caught off guard.

"I'm not going to repeat myself again," I say. "You heard me. Don't worry, I won't demand to see you naked, yet. But skirts are nice in that it's easy to remove your panties without being seen."

"I…" she trails off before her eyes lock with my own. She gulps, and a large bolt of arousal shoots through her. "I understand, sir." She reaches her hands up her skirt before pulling them down, bending over as she slides her panties down her legs. She steps out of them, moving carefully, and then stands up again, panties in hand.

I hold my hand out expectantly, and she hesitates, embarrassment and arousal both spiking. After a moment she sighs and places them in my hand.

"Good girl," I tell her.

<+8 Affection with Mittelt>

That puts her at 34 Affection. Not bad. I turn my attention to her panties, and my grin widens when I find exactly what I knew I would. "So much for not enjoying this," I say. "These are feeling kind of damp, like the person who was just wearing them was pretty turned on."

Mittelt blushes and turns away, but doesn't say anything. I'm still horny and I'd like to take this further, but at only 34 Affection, I probably shouldn't push things. So instead, I pocket the panties.

"As punishment for lying earlier, I'm going to hold on to these," I tell her. "During my meeting with Azazel, you'll stay here with us. I'll give them back to you when he leaves. Understood?"

"Yes sir," she replies obediently.

"Good," I say with a nod. "Now, go open the door for them."

She shoots me a confused look, but she does what I say and heads towards the door. One of her hands is surreptitiously holding her skirt down, desperate to not flash me. The skirt is long enough that I don't think that's a risk unless she makes a very sudden movement though. Probably by design, Azazel likely agrees with me that sometimes teasing is better than showing.

She opens the door just in time to see Raynare standing in front of it, fist raised to knock. Both girls look surprised, but they get over it quickly. "Azazel has arrived," she announces.

Both girls step out of the way and Azazel himself steps into the room. His eyes roam the room. "You know, I've been here before, but now that I've gotten a chance to walk around a bit, I have to say, this place is nice."

"You can thank Serafall for most of that," I reply as I stand up to greet him. I notice Raynare slipping away. Well, that's fine. Mittelt is obediently sticking around, closing the door again and following Azazel as he approaches me. I'll talk to Raynare later, I need to get her negative affection up.

"That makes sense. Devils are naturally very good at indulging in luxury," he says with a nod of understanding. He approaches me and we shake hands. "So, my surrogate son tells me you had something interesting to talk to me about? He didn't mention what though, he just said that he wouldn't explain it very well." He shakes his head. "That boy needs to socialize more. All he thinks about is fighting."

"I have two things actually," I say as we sit down. "One more personal, and one more business. But first, I want to ask. How are the potions?"

"They're certainly very popular," he replies. "Most of them we haven't had cause to use yet, but the cosmetic ones were popular for sure."

"I suspect those will be my best seller, maybe even ahead of the health potions," I say with a laugh. "The good news is that thanks to the efforts of my new assistant, my store should be up and running soon."

"Oh, an assistant?" Azazel asks as he rubs his chin, a gleam in his eyes. "How cute is she?"

This is why I like Azazel, he understands things. "The cutest," I reply. "But also deadly smart."

Azazel nods. "The perfect combination for an assistant," he replies seriously. His eyes dark to Mittelt, and they glance down at her hands, still at her skirt, and I see his grin widen. He could just be appreciating how she looks in the maid uniform, but my gut is telling me he's realized she's currently without underwear. If so, that sort of intuition is impressive.

"So, how are these two doing?" Azazel asks, still looking at Mittelt.

"It's only been a couple of days, but they're settling in just fine so far," I reply. "Mittelt here has been adjusting particularly well, isn't that right?"

"Yes sir," she dutifully replies, causing Azazel to grin.

<+8 Affection with Azazel>

"How about Raynare then?" he asks, turning his attention back to me.

"She still has a bit of an attitude problem," I say. "But it's certainly not anything I can't handle. We had a small talk when she first arrived, and we believe we understand each other."

Azazel chuckles. "'A small talk', huh? Well, I'm glad to hear it's working out. Now, to business. I don't have all the time in the world after all. What's this personal matter you wanted to talk about? I admit, that intrigues me more than whatever boring official business you have."

"Sure thing," I reply. "I've heard some rumors that you know a thing or two about Sacred Gears. And more than that, you've started dabbling in making your own."

His gaze sharpens a bit even as his expressions remains just as friendly as it was before. "Oh?" he says, interest piqued. "I suppose that's not a secret, but I didn't think enough people knew that for it to be called a rumor."

Is it not more widely known? I wasn't sure. I shrug. "I keep my ear close to the ground," I offer as an excuse.

"I'm sure," he says, clearly not believing me, but amused anyway.

"What is it you need to create an artificial Sacred Gear?" I ask him.

"Usually I start with the soul of a specific type of magical creature," Azazel says. "Not all Sacred Gears need a soul, but if you want anything more than a basic one, it's required. Only the strongest souls remain self-aware though. Or ones that are still living."

"Still living?" I ask.

"A powerful being could donate a portion of their power to create an Artificial Sacred Gear," Azazel explains. "If they did that while still living, they'd be connected to it."

"And all you need is that?" I ask.

He shrugs. "There's a material cost as well, but the exacts of that are different for each Gear." He looks at me closer. "Why so curious anyways? I'm afraid I can't tell you more. Unless you're willing to explain how you make your potions." He grins. "I'm sure we could work out a deal."

"Actually, I was interested in commissioning you instead," I explain.

"Ah," he says. "Fine, keep your secrets. So, finally admitting you don't have a Sacred Gear, and now you want one?" I blink in surprise, and he scoffs. "Please, I'm the Sacred Gear expert. The first time I saw you I could tell you didn't have a Sacred Gear." He frowns. "Your soul is pretty weird though, and it's gotten weirder since our last meeting."

"I know, that was something I did," I reply. I spot Mittelt frowning in confusion, but I ignore her. "And fair enough. I was pretty sure I didn't have one. It didn't seem to fit. But no, I don't plan on using this myself."

"Ah, you want to give it to one of your girls," he says, nodding. "Girls do love pretty gifts that give them superpowers."

"Pretty much," I confirm. Sacred Gears are useful, but I have more than enough tools to protect myself. "I'm glad to hear that the soul is the primary thing you need though, because I have the perfect thing."

"Oh?" Azazel replies, leaning forward in interest. In response, I pull out the Soul Trap Gem that contains the Ender Dragon Soul and throw it to him. He catches it easily and starts analyzing it. I feel the faint pulse of magic as he does so. After a few moments, he looks up at me. "This is a Dragon's soul," he says.

"Yep," I reply shortly with a smug smile.

"Where did you get it?" he asks. "Most of the Dragons were hunted down, and this doesn't feel like any of the ones that lived. In fact, it feels unfamiliar." He narrows his eyes. "Mostly, at least. There's a hint of something I'm having trouble analyzing-" he stops, and I can see the thoughts turning over in his head before he gives me a serious look. "This isn't related to Ouroboros, is it?"

I tilt my head, confused. Why would he- ah. The Ender Dragon wasn't quite a Void Dragon, but it was definitely touched by the Void.

"Not as far as I'm aware," I reply honestly. "Though truth be told, I'm only vaguely aware of this Ouroboros person. Sirzechs mentioned them too, but I haven't gotten around to digging more info up."

"Is that how it is?" Azazel says casually, but his eyes are sharp as they study me. I have yet to meet Ophis, but it seems like some of the more powerful and older people in this world have enough experience to connect my relationship to the Void to her. But until we do meet, I have to keep playing dumb.

"Why do you think it would be?" I ask, playing dumb. I can't tell if he buys it or not, but he does return his attention back to the gem.

"There are a few vague similarities," he answers. "But I suppose it could be a coincidence. Where did you get this?"

"I happened to stumble on a dragon's hoard hidden and forgotten in the mountains in the south of France," I explain, technically telling the truth. "I found a few interesting things there."

"Oh?" he says, definitely interested. "I'm surprised there are still ones that haven't been discovered, especially in Europe."

I shrug. "I guess I got lucky," I say. No point in dragging the story out any longer. The more excuses I try to offer, the more potential holes there could be in my story.

"Hmm," he responds. "Well, with something like this, I can definitely make something interesting. But there's one thing we have to discuss before I do that."

"What's that?" I ask.

He grins. "Payment."

-x-

Azazel and I haggle for a bit. Now that I know what my potions are worth, thanks to Ravel, coming to an agreement for the cost of it is much easier. After that, we talk about the thing I talked to Vali about. It's not a long discussion, but it's a productive one.

Azazel leaves, and once again it's just me and Mittelt in the room. She has calmed down somewhat, no longer nearly as nervous or embarrassed as she was before.

"Alright, you can return to your duties," I tell Mittelt. "I have my own business to take care of."

"Umm, but sir-" she protests nervously. "My- my panties."

"Hmm?" I reply, pretending as if I had forgotten. "Ah, that's right. I suppose you want them back?" She nods, relief flooding through her, though it stops short when she sees me grin.

"Well, if you ask really nicely, I might consider it," I tell her.

She pauses, her emotions a whirlwind. "Please sir, can I have my panties back?" she eventually asks, doing her best to keep her face blank.

"You can put a bit more effort in than that," I reprimand her. "Unless you don't want them back? I'd understand if you've come to discover you enjoy the freedom. Maybe the breeze feels nice?"

She bites her lip, frustration rising alongside her arousal. She's fun to play with. Eventually, she sighs though. She stands up straight before grabbing the edge of her skirt and doing a curtsy. "Please sir, this lowly maid would like to have her panties back."

I run my eyes up her legs as she holds the curtsy, and I note that she has the skirt almost but not quite high enough to show off her lack of panties. That has to be a deliberate tease, and one I approve.

"That's much better," I say approvingly. "You learn quick Mittelt." I throw the panties at her, and she catches them, a little surprised. "Now, put them on, and then you can leave."

She nods and carefully puts her panties on, making sure not to reveal herself as she does so. I watch the entire time of course, just in case she messes up. Sure, I could just use [Void Sight] to peek up her skirt, but seeing her pussy isn't really what this is about. It's about the scenario, and it's about what she perceives, not me. And right now, she's very aware of the way I'm looking at her, making sure she follows my orders and ogling her.

Once her panties are on she curtsies again and quickly makes her exit. I sigh. I guess that means my playtime is over and that it's time to get back to work. I teleport down to my Alchemy lab, where the equipment I ordered is located.

A much larger grinder, a sharp knife, a scoop, a rack made to hold a hundred vials, a pair of leather gloves, and the largest item, a massive contraption made of glass. It looks like two glass barrels that are partially fused, sharing a wall. In the wall that they share, near the bottom, is a seal that can be opened and closed. And on one of the sides is a tap meant to dispense the contents of one of the barrels.

Everything I need to automate my potion-making.

I take the Water Tree Sapling, a mystical tree that produces an infinite amount of pure water that I picked up from the gacha, and I place it in the glass barrel without the spigot. Immediately it starts filling with water that trickles from the roots of the sapling.

Satisfied at the rate it's filling, I pull two more things from my inventory. One is a golf ball-sized sapphire and the other is a pile of Ultimate Enchanting Catalysts.

I enchant the sapphire with Mana Battery, which lets it store mana, and Infuse, which lets it infuse other things with Mana. And then I enchant everything, including the glass contraption, with Animated, which allows them to move on their own and follow simple orders, and Repair, which fixes the items over time.

All of which actually brings [Enchanting] to 100. Another crafting skill maxed out, huh?

<[Enchanting] - Level 100(0%)>

Ooh, interesting. My enchantments are no longer permanent, and I can now place five of them per object. That's extremely useful. That means I can even hot-swap enchantments. That makes a lot of sense actually. I thought the whole method was strange, how I'd enchant a catalyst and then install the catalyst into an item. But if they're made to be removed then it makes more sense. It's more like the games where you can slot gems into your equipment and swap them out. Useful indeed, though it makes some of my past hesitance unneeded. Oh well.

Since I have the room now, I add on the new Teamwork enchantment. Normally it boosts stats when people using items with that enchantment work together, but I'm wondering if it might help here too. At the very least, it shouldn't hurt.

But with all of those enchantments, my work should be complete. Now all that's left to do is to test it out.

After taking a few moments to fill the sapphire with a few hundred thousand points worth of mana, I take out two small piles of ingredients, place them next to the equipment I just enchanted. Then I direct a mental command at them, willing them to turn the ingredients into potions.

I watch in fascination as the items spring to life, floating and moving of their own accord. The knife starts chopping the ingredients of one pile while the scoop brings the other pile to the grindstone, which starts turning on its own to grind down the ingredients.

When they're done being prepared, the scoop brings everything to the glass barrel and drops everything into the side with the tap. Immediately, the seal between the two containers opens up and lets a very specific amount of water through before closing.

The sapphire, which is sitting on a small stand right next to the glass barrel, or what should more accurately be called a cauldron, emits a glow. In response, the water in the cauldron glows as well, in a way that I recognize as the [Alchemy] taking hold. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding when I see it.

[Alchemy] is a skill that only works because of my System. There was a good chance that automating [Alchemy] like this wouldn't work. But when I floated the idea by Kyu to get her more 'admin' perspective on it, she said it should work. I have the skill, and because I'm making the tools, that should transfer. She wasn't 100% sure though, as the rules for what did and didn't work are supposedly infamously finicky. But this is working.

In just a few seconds, the large amount of liquid has turned the familiar cherry red color a Minor Health Potion.

It's always been possible for me to make potions en masse like this, but it was never worth it. For one, it's not actually any more efficient. It's a little faster, but it takes just as many ingredients and just as much mana for the same amount of potions as making them individually. And before, when I was making potions in my tiny apartment, it was way more convenient to make them in the vials directly.

But now that I'm going to need them in large numbers? It's definitely worth it. It's not any more efficient, but it's not any less efficient either, except for the single factor of time. This saves a lot of time.

And that's partially thanks to the sapphire I used. Sapphires can store less mana than a ruby or a diamond, but they excel at using that mana and can output more at a time. Which means it's capable of turning the entire cauldron's contents into a potion in the same amount of time it would take to turn a vial worth of ingredients into a single potion.

I watch as the vial holder, animated and filled with empty vials placed there by the animated gloves, moves and positions itself under the tap of the cauldron. With the precision of a factory plant, the potion is distributed from the cauldron and into the vials. The gloves then seal the top of each one before settling back down on the table, job done.

And just like that, ten potions were made with out my input or direction beyond placing the ingredients down, supplying some mana, and giving it a mental command.

Perfect. Now I won't have to spend all my time crafting potions once my store kicks off, and I don't have to teach anyone else the skill either. Once Ravel's Affection hits 100 and I know she's mine and only mine I might teach her the skill using [Mentor], but I'd rather she spent her time managing the business side of things rather than production.

I pull out large piles of ingredients and get a bunch of potions going. I have a list from Ravel detailing how popular she expects each potion to be, so stocking up on the better ones might be a good idea. She also already set up a deal with a Devil glassworking company to create vials exactly like the ones I buy from the Hunie store, meaning I no longer have to manage that either.

We're just a couple of days of work away from officially finishing setting up my business. A large part of that is thanks to Serafall, who's been fast-tracking a lot of the paperwork. Honestly, she's one of the best allies I possibly could have gotten.

While the potions are made, I turn my attention to the other business I need to take care of. I can't train any of my combat skills, since I do still need to babysit the automated potions setup and keep feeding it mana and more ingredients. But there are other things I can do in the meantime.

It feels like it's been a while since I've worked like this. I've been spending a lot more time with my girls lately, enjoying the fruits of my labor of weeks of seducing each of them. Prioritizing the long-term sucked sometimes, but it was worth it now. Things wouldn't be nearly as nice for me if I had rushed things earlier. A lesson I need to keep in mind as more and more temptation surrounds me. Remember Axton, no rushing.

Speaking of things I haven't done in a while, I've had three gacha tokens burning a hole in my pocket for ages now, and I got two more in the dungeon earlier. Before I move on to the other skill I want to train, I go ahead and use those.

<Yorgh's Ring>

Ooh, not bad. The outfit isn't that useful honestly, but I'll keep it in my inventory. You never know when you might need a spare outfit. The cryo-chamber is similar in that it's only situationally useful. It also makes me glad that gacha items go directly into my inventory. I don't want something that large just appearing out of nowhere.

The sanity pills are interesting. They're in an orange bottle that has a worn-down label, but the pills themselves are plain white in clear gel capsules. Their description is rather specific about what they can be used on though.

The ring I immediately disenchant, discovering that it still crumbles to dust when I learn an enchantment. I guess it's only my enchantments I can remove without destroying the item. But that's pretty much what I expected, so no big loss.

Finally, I turn my attention to the Crystalarium. Here's a good enough place to store it, so I go ahead and drop it in a corner of the room. It's a small machine that is a couple feet wide but only comes up to my waist. Most of the front is taken up by a large glass window. Looking into it, I can see that inside of the machine there are two areas. One is labeled "In" and the other is labeled "Out". That seems pretty self-explanatory. Below the glass window are two lights, a red one and a green one.

The description says it can replicate even unique gems, right? Well, let's try the really unique ones first. I picked up a Crafting Skill Gem from the dungeon earlier, let's see if that works. I place it "In" section and close the door. Immediately, the red light flashes twice, and the machine doesn't do anything.

Either it can't duplicate that gem, or it is doing it? I try opening the door, and it pops open easily enough. Probably can't duplicate it then, which is what I expected. Out of curiosity, I put a gold coin in there and see what happens. Two flashes of the red light again. That practically confirms that as the error message for invalid input.

Okay, let's try another gem that probably won't work, a Companion Gem. After some debate, I pick the one for Kuro Usagi. On the off chance it works, I'd rather have two sexy bunny girls than two vampire lolis. If only because I have several good vampire lolis available to me here in this world. Though if it works, there's no reason I can't do both. Or that even if it duplicates it, I can summon more than one anyways.

In the end, it doesn't matter, because it doesn't work. Oh well. I don't think that the 'gems' that the game is fond of giving me are real gems anyways.

Hmm. How about something different? Something more likely to work? I pull out Cloth Cutter, a gem that does what its name implies. Give it some mana and run the point of it across some cloth, and it cuts with no resistance.

I place the gem inside and close the door, and the light turns a solid red this time and hums to life. There we go, that's almost certainly working now. I try opening the door, but nothing happens. Good, that confirms that it's actually going.

That should take anywhere from a day or a week according to the description, so I turn my attention elsewhere. The alchemy production line is still okay, and there's some [Enchanting] I want to get done, but first I turn my attention to the Crafting Skill Gem. Might as well use it and see what's available to me.

--<Crafting Skill Gem used>--

Please pick a crafting skill

Blacksmithing

Brewing

Construction

Fletching

Jewelcrafting

Scribing

Wardcrafting

--<>--

Hmm. Blacksmithing I immediately dismiss. It'd probably be useful, but it's too time-consuming. I bet I'll be able to find someone to do that for me anyway. Scribing and Wardcrafting I also dismiss for the same reason, while I dismiss Construction and Fletching for just not being very useful or interesting.

Which leaves me deciding between Jewelcrafting and Brewing. Brewing is pretty straightforward and is almost certainly related to making alcoholic beverages. Probably magical ones at higher levels. Jewelcrafting is a little less clear, as what exactly it is could be a lot of different things. But with my new Crystalarium and my wealth, I could definitely get my hands on as many gems as I need.

So Jewelcrafting, whatever that is exactly, will probably increase my strength. Or at least give me more options.

But I find myself leaning towards Brewing. I can't even imagine how popular booze made by a Gamer could be. Wine that could catch the attention of even gods. And honestly, having a nice luxury item to trade with and to gain favor with sounds far more appealing than yet another way to blow shit up.

Mind made up, I choose it.

<[Brewing] - Level 1(0%)>

Oh right. Fermentation means that all of these are going to take ages, aren't they? I sigh, even as my mind goes over a mental list of the things I need. Well, I have enough time for a quick shopping trip and I can get it started at least. Maybe Sakuya can use her time magic to speed up the fermentation process?

-x-

My knuckles rap on Sona's front door at precisely 5:45 pm. Her house is fairly large, but not very ornate. Considering the half a dozen girls I can feel in there, I'm guessing a good number of her Peerage live here with her. It's not fancy, but it's nice.

A few moments pass before the door opens, and Momo's smiling face greets me. She immediately gives me a hug and a kiss.

"Good, you're here on time," she says. "Sona is still getting ready, but Tsubaki is helping her, so she should be ready soon."

"That's fine, we still have time," I reply. "Did she get a late start though? I told her she didn't need to do anything fancy."

Momo shakes her head in an almost pitying manner. "You've seduced so many girls, but you're still such a guy. Girls need time to get ready, you know? Especially when they're as excited and nervous as she is."

I let the comment about my gender slide and focus on the latter part. "So she is excited?" I ask.

Momo smiles at me. "You have no idea how much this means to her. Make sure you show her a good time, okay?"

"I promise," I say with a nod. "On that topic, don't think I've forgotten about you either. How about we go on a date next weekend? Just us two?"

"I'd like that," she says. "But for now, focus on Sona."

"Yes ma'am," I reply dutifully. "Speak of the Devil," I continue, turning to face the hallway, where Sona and Tsubaki step into view.

Sona is wearing a simple white dress, a little heavier than a sundress. The sleeves are short and puffy, and the collar dips down to show her collarbone, but not any cleavage. She has a simple brown belt around her waist, and on her feet are a nice pair of flats made of the same material.

"Hey there Sona," I greet her with a smile. "You look beautiful."

<+7 Affection with Tsubaki Shinra>

The tips of her ears turn a little pink, but she otherwise doesn't get embarrassed. Instead, she smiles back at me. "Thank you. You look nice as well."

"Are you ready to go then?" I ask, and she nods.

"Have fun you two~" Tsubaki says with a grin. She definitely seems to be enjoying this.

"Don't worry about a curfew either, keep her out as long as you want," Momo teases.

Sona blushes but acts as if she didn't hear the other girl. Instead, she focuses on me with her hand out. "Shall we go?"

I grin and take her hand before pulling us both back a step while activating [Void Travel]. We appear in an out of view spot I found ahead of time off of a side street.

Sona takes the teleportation in stride and is already looking around. "Tokyo?" she asks.

Her hand's still in mine, and I don't let go, instead shifting position so we can walk side by side. "Just a couple blocks from our destination," I explain. "This part of Tokyo isn't too crowded, but there's still not a lot of places to discreetly teleport to."

"So that's a problem even with teleportation as subtle as yours?" Sona comments. Her grip tightens in mine, accepting the handholding. "I suppose that makes sense. Even without an eye-catching magic circle, a person appearing out of nowhere draws attention."

"It still has its advantages," I say. "For example, I can get away with teleporting into a heavy crowd. Even with me being a couple of inches taller than most people, people don't notice."

"You've tested this," Sona concludes.

"I've come to Tokyo a few times," I explain. "When marking spots I wanted to see if I could get away with it. Spent a few minutes teleporting around the pedestrians coming home from work. No one even raised an eyebrow."

Sona frowns. "Seems risky," she comments.

I shrug. "A little. Worst case scenario, there's a blog post or a video of me appearing or disappearing. I've seen quite a few videos like that and I didn't believe any of them until I got involved in the supernatural myself."

"I suppose that's true," she says. "But you should remember that you don't look Japanese. You stand out a bit more than you think."

"And here I was thinking it was my dashing good looks that caused people to stare," I joke, causing her to smile in amusement. I come to a stop. "We're here," I say.

She looks at the building we've stopped in front of. It's a small-ish theater, the kind used for open mic nights, improv groups, small-time plays, and indie movie screenings. There are a bunch of signs up for tonight's event, which is a screening of several anticipated short films by relatively popular local filmmakers.

"You-," she starts, surprised. "How did you know?" Sona asks. "I don't think I ever expressed an interest in independent films in front of you."

"I did my research of course," I reply smugly.

She looks at me, eyes narrowed slightly. "Momo told you, didn't she?"

"That's still research," I insist. "I gathered data from available sources to arrive at the right answer."

She smiles, amused. "I suppose that's true," she admits. Still hand in hand, we walk in and purchase a couple of tickets. Heading further in, we enter the theater and find seats. There's not a lot of seating, and it's decently filled.

We get seated about five minutes before it's due to start, and when we sit down, I pull out a couple of snacks from my inventory, handing some to Sona. She raises an eyebrow at me. "I made sure no one was looking," I assure her. "And I made these myself, so I can guarantee their quality."

She rolls her eyes but takes the offered snack with a small smile.

-x-

A few hours later, Sona and I are among the small stream of people leaving the theater. Like the others, we're excitedly talking about the films. Actually, it's mostly Sona talking, with me contributing wherever I can.

This is definitely a side of Sona I haven't seen before. She's so animated and excited and I've certainly never seen her talk this much at once. It's not like she barely talks, but this is on a whole new level. She critiques the acting, the directing, the camera work, the effects, the soundtrack, everything. Some she praises, some she points out the flaws.

It's actually a fun conversation. I don't have the critical eye she does, nor do I have as much passion for it, but I enjoyed my time watching the movies.

Our conversation keeps up even as I lead her to a nearby restaurant and halfway through our meal. It's around this time where she finally runs out of things to talk about, and I can see it on her face as she realizes how much she's been talking.

There's a moment of embarrassment as her mouth snaps shut. But after a moment it fades away and is replaced with relief and happiness.

<+9 Affection with Sona Sitri>

"You know, this has been nice," Sona comments as she smiles at me. "Is this what dating is normally like?"

"Pretty much yeah," I reply. "You spend time with someone you like, have a good time, and get to know each other a little better."

"Hmm, I can see why it's appealing," she says. "I never thought I'd get the chance to experience this. Typically, men approach me intending to court the Sitri Heiress. But instead, here I am as Sona, on a date. It's nice."

"I'm glad to hear it," I reply. "I'd consider it a personal failure if you weren't enjoying yourself. Though before we get too far from the topic of getting to know each other better, I did have a question for you."

"Oh?" she asks. "By all means, I'll answer it if I can."

"Why is someone like you in Kuoh?" I ask. "Don't get the wrong idea, I'm very glad you are. But of all places, why there?"

"I suppose that's a fair question," she replies, turning contemplative. "I would have to say that the main reason I'm here in Kuoh specifically is Rias. Rias has been fascinated with Japan since she was young, and Kuoh has had a Devil presence for ages. So when the position for Overseer for Kuoh opened up, she was able to take that role."

"The two of us have been friends since we were babies," she continues. "Our families are close, and we were born near the same time. It only makes sense for us to have spent a lot of time together. So when she moved to Kuoh, she invited me to come with her. And truth be told, I was interested in going to a human school and I probably would have picked one anyway. Being invited to where my friend was going as well just worked in my favor, especially since Kuoh Academy is a good school."

"Why were you interested in a human school?" I ask. I have a vague idea already, but I want this conversation to happen.

She hesitates, seemingly unsure if she wants to explain it. "How much do you know about Rating Games? Or rather, the current state of the professional Rating Game scene?"

I shrug. "Not many of the specifics. The top 10 has been pretty stable for a while, the rules can get more complicated than just a straightforward battle, and there's a lot of political power tied up in it." All things I picked up from talks with Rias and a few other girls.

She nods. "All that is true. But there's one aspect that's relevant here. Nearly every Devil who takes part in the Rating Games comes from a High-Class family." She shakes her head. "There are a few Reincarnated Devils, and obviously the Kings are High-Class because only High-Class Devils gain an Evil Piece set."

"But that's not the issue," she says. "Classes for Devils are a mix of political power and actual strength. Rias and I are from High-Class families, and we've inherited that Class. But, if we were born into Low-Class families, even getting Middle-Class status might be hard for us right now. But because we are High Class, we have Peerages, and more importantly, we have opportunities."

She sighs. "Reincarnated Devils make up nearly all of the Low and Middle-Class Devils in the Rating Games. Nearly every pureblooded Devil is from a High-Class family. And the reason behind that comes down to just one thing. Education."

"Not the answer I expected," I fib.

"It's not obvious at first glance, but once you dig into it a little, it becomes glaringly obvious. High-Class Devils receive training from schools, tutors, family, and even peers. Training that Low and Middle-Class Devils just don't have access to. So the High-Class Devils stand out as better options, and because the Low and Middle-Class ones are never recruited into Peerages, they never earn recognition or strength through the Rating Games, and it makes it hard for them to climb up in the ranks."

"So your goal is to fix that?" I ask. "Do something along the lines of making a school or something for Low and Middle-Class Devils? Train them to be good Peerage members and try to get them recruited?"

"That is precisely my goal, yes," she replies, a little tense and nervous. "I'm attending Kuoh to learn how to gain some firsthand experience in running a school like that."

"I see," I reply seriously before breaking out in a smile. "That sounds awesome!"

She blinks, caught off guard. "It- it does?" she asks, unsure.

"Hell yeah it does," I reply. "A school like that ran by you? I bet you could do some amazing things. Are you still looking for teachers or whatever? I'm down to help however I can. I might be too busy by the time you open it up to be a full-time teacher, but I'd be down for doing occasional lectures or spars or whatever. Could even take some groups into one of my dungeons. Oh, and of course there are my potions, I'm sure those will be helpful."

"You'd do all that?" Sona asks hesitantly.

"Of course," I reply earnestly. "Even if I didn't think it was an awesome idea, which I do, I'd support whatever you did."

<+9 Affection with Sona Sitri>

<[Hydrokinesis] - Level 1(0%)>

<[Window to the Heart] - Displays the cause of the Affection gain>

That's a lot more than I expected. But my attention is immediately pulled back to Sona, who looks and feels happy enough that I worry for a moment that she's about to start crying.

"I- thank you, Axton," she says with a warm smile and watery eyes. "That means a lot to me. A whole lot. I'll take you up on your offer when the time comes. It will still be a few more years until that happens though." She shakes her head, reining in her emotions. "Are you done eating?"

Recognizing the subject change for what it was, I just nod. "Yeah, I'm done. You ready to go?" She nods, so I pay our bill and we leave.

We start walking aimlessly down the street. The sun set hours ago, but the streets are far from empty.

"So what now?" Sona asks.

"Truth be told, I don't really have anything else planned," I tell her. "But from the way I see it, we have three options." She looks at me. "First, we call it a night here. I drop you off at home, go back home myself, and we see each other again on Monday. Second, we find something to do around here. I think there's an arcade or something nearby, and a few other things that might be worth checking out."

"And third?" she asks. I can feel a hint of nervousness from her. I suppose I'm fairly predictable at this point.

"Third, we could go back to my place, and spend some time together in a more private fashion," I say.

"I see," she replies. She doesn't say anything after that, thinking hard about it. It's obvious she understood the implication though, just based on what I feel from her with [Empathy].

I consider using [Erotic Pierrot], but there's a part of me that rejects that idea. I don't think it's some hidden morals rearing their head for the first time. It feels more like...boredom. [Erotic Pierrot] and my other skills could guarantee that she ends up in my bed tonight. And that's boring. Sure, I want Sona. I want her badly. But I feel like getting her without using those skills would be more satisfying. They have their place, but right here, right now? I don't think it's one of them.

"There's no rush on that, by the way," I reply. "I know I give off a certain impression, but there's no pressure to move faster than you're ready for or want. There's plenty of time for whatever. Or if you only want to go up to a certain point, that's fine-"

"Okay," she interrupts my slight rambling.

"Okay, what?" I ask, slightly confused.

"Let's go back to your place," she says, face red as she refuses to look at me. "I'm...curious. I want to try that sort of thing too. And...there's no one I'd rather do it with than you."

I tense as her words bring me from 'vaguely ready to get in the mood' to 'I need her now' nearly instantly. I hold myself back from rushing at her though. Instead, I pull her into my arms. She seems to know what's coming, and she turns her face up to meet mine, and we kiss there on the side of the street.

Her lips are sweet and supple, and her body within my arms is warm and comforting. Our kiss is deep, but neither of us uses our tongues. Not yet.

Uncaring about who might be looking, I [Void Travel] the both of us to my bedroom. Not the master bedroom, where Asia and Kyu are currently sleeping, but to my second bedroom. It's smaller and not as nice, but it's still better than most of the guest bedrooms. And it has one other important feature; several cameras hidden in the walls and furniture installed by Serafall. Part of our deal was to make sure I bring Sona to this room when I sleep with her the first time, and she wouldn't install any in the master bedroom.

Our lips separate, and I don't need [Empathy] to tell me how much she enjoyed that kiss. But it does paint a clear picture of the happiness and arousal that is rising within her. "Tell me if you want to stop or slow down, okay?"

She nods, and I lead her to my bed. We sit down on it, side to side, and resume our kissing. This time, I extend my tongue out, and she opens her mouth, accepting it. I can taste her tongue and her breath as we make out, moving beyond the loving kiss and into something hungrier and more arousing.

My erection tents my pants, but I ignore it, focusing on Sona. My hands run up her waist, causing her to shiver as we kiss. Slowly, making my intentions clear, I reach up to cup her boobs. She gasps, briefly interrupting our kiss, but she responds by wrapping her arms around my neck and I feel her arousal flare a little higher.

I can feel the bra she's wearing underneath her dress, but that's fine. Sona's chest isn't the largest, but she's roughly the same size as Atsuko, and there's more than enough there for me to feel her even with a bra on. I rub my thumb in circles where her nipple is, causing her to tighten her grip around me.

The two of us fall backward, going from sitting on the edge of the bed to laying down on it on our sides, facing each other as we kiss.

My hand drops from her tits, moving down to her lower thigh as I slip my hand underneath her dress. She doesn't protest, so I slowly slide my hand from her soft thigh and to her butt cheek, which I squeeze appreciatively.

She suddenly pulls back a little and sits up. There's a moment where I worry that I've pushed things too far, but those fears are immediately put to rest as she grabs the bottom of her dress and pulls it off of her entirely.

She looks down at me where I'm propped up on an elbow on the bed, drinking in the sight of her in her underwear. Her bra and panties are a rich blue and lacy, but not that risque. "What?" she asks, nervous and blushing. "It was getting in the way."

"Sorry, just appreciating the view," I reply, causing her blush to deepen. "Is there anything else you want to get out of the way?" My eyes are on her chest as I say this, clearly indicating what I mean.

She thinks about it for a moment, and then she nods. I watch with rapt attention as she reaches behind and unclasps her bra, causing it to drop a bit. She shyly takes it the rest of the way off, revealing her cute breasts topped by her hardened nipples. She halfheartedly covers herself.

"You're beautiful," I tell her.

"I know they're small," she protests.

"And?" I ask. "Size doesn't matter. They're a part of you, and they're as beautiful and sexy as you are." I'm not lying either. I'm not picky. So long as she's not flat as a boy and they're smaller than my head, all boobs are the perfect size.

She blushes again, but lowers her hands, fully exposing herself. I stash my own shirt in the inventory, and motion for her to lay down again with a smile.

She does so, and I go back to kissing her and groping her, this time directly fondling her boobs. Her skin is warm, flushed with arousal, and a small application of [Touch of Pleasure] has her moaning into my mouth as I draw circles around her areola.

After a few moments of this, she breaks contact. "Axton," she breathes. "I- I want more." She grabs hold of my hand and directs it downwards, towards her crotch.

I don't need any more encouragement than that. I immediately start rubbing her with a fingertip over her panties, running my finger up and down where the damp fabric clings to her lower lips. She moans as I do so, enjoying the sensation.

I plant a kiss on her cheek before I move down, still rubbing her over her panties. I kiss down her neck, past her collarbone, and end it at her nipple, which I start teasing with my tongue.

When her panties move beyond just damp and become wet I slip my hand under them and start touching her directly. Her entrance is slick and hot with arousal, and she sucks in a breath of surprise at the sensation.

Moving slowly, I tease a finger just into her entrance, feeling her out. She's a Devil, so I know I don't really need to worry about it, but I go ahead and cast [Elasticity] on her to make sure she stretches without pain.

She responds well as I push my finger into her up to my second knuckle, crying out as she tenses, her legs pressing together in pleasure. I keep using my tongue on her nipple as I gently finger her, using my finger to explore and stretch out her insides. When I feel like she's used to it, I add another finger. And when she's used to that one, I start focusing on bringing her to orgasm.

Finding the spot that she responds to the best, I start focusing on that, slowly increasing the speed of my movements as her moans increase in volume and pitch. I lift my mouth from her tit so I can watch her face, twisted in pleasure as she cums. Her hips buck, and I feel her fluids cover my hands.

As her climax finishes, I pull my hand out of her panties and slowly lick the results of her orgasm from my fingers. I didn't use [Alter Flavor] on her, so the taste is nothing special. But she sees me do it, her eyes widening as her arousal flares back up, having died down after she came.

"How was that?" I ask her, a teasing grin on my face.

"That was...satisfactory," she replies stubbornly, her chest heaving as she breathes in. "But now it's my turn." She sits up, gently pushing me onto my back as she swaps our positions so that I'm laying down and she's partially on top of me, draped over my side. I enjoy the sensation of her bare skin pressing against my chest as she tilts her head toward me to kiss me again.

As we kiss, her hand starts rubbing along my erection where it's straining against my pants. I make a small noise of satisfaction as her actions send small tingles of pleasure through me. And I make a small noise of dissatisfaction when her hand leaves me, but I quiet down when I feel her fingers working at the button for my pants, undoing it.

With just a few moments of work, she unbuckles my pants. I raise my hips as she pulls them and my underwear down enough so that my cock springs out, standing tall and pulsing with arousal. She stops kissing me as she grasps it, her hand feeling cool in comparison to it.

She starts to move her hand but stops immediately at the rough movement. I can feel a slight sense of confusion from her. "Lube," I tell her. "You need a lubricant for it to be pleasant, whether that's natural lube or not. Spit or our own natural lubrication works enough until I start producing precum that you can use. Or I can give you a bottle of my lube."

"I- I knew that!" she said, blushing again.

"Hey, you don't have to pretend," I say. "This is a learning experience, I'm not gonna judge you."

She relaxes, nodding. "Right. Sorry."

I shake my head. "It's fine. Do you want lube? I have plenty."

She hesitates before shaking her own head. Instead, she reaches down to her own panties. "You said this would work, right?" she says, bringing her hand out, covered in liquid. My dick twitches at the sight, causing her to grin victoriously.

She wraps her fingers around my shaft and spreads as much of her juices onto it as she can, diving back to her own panties a few times to reapply some to her hand. And I swear her hand comes out wetter each time. I twitch in pleasure each time I feel her delicate fingers wrap around and stroke my shaft.

Once she's satisfied by the level of lubrication, she starts moving her hand up and down my erection as she starts kissing me again. She alternates between pumping up and down my entire shaft and using her fingers to stimulate just the sensitive head. I wrap my arm around her side and grab her ass, the tips of my fingers just barely reaching the soaked spot of her panties. In response, she starts grinding herself against my side, her crotch pressing against my hip.

As my orgasm gets closer, she mirrors my actions earlier and stops kissing me to focus on her actions. She watches my face intently, her eyes sparkling and arousal spiking at my every reaction to her handiwork.

My hips buck and I groan in satisfaction as I cum, releasing the pressure that had built up inside of me. Sona continues to wring my dick as thick spurts of semen shoot from my dick, landing on the both of us. I'm not a fan of my own jizz on my stomach and chest, but it's worth it to see it on her leg, side, arm, and just a bit on the side of her breasts. And to see her reaction, which is unsure, but extremely turned on.

"And I thought my orgasm was messy," she comments teasingly.

"The more there is, the more it shows I enjoyed it," I tell her with a smile. "And I definitely liked that." I pull her towards me and kiss her. "Thankfully, I also have a spell to clean that up."

"Of course you do," she says. "But please, go ahead and use it." I quickly cast [Clean Body] on both of us. As much as I like seeing her covered in my cum, we have more to do. "Stay right there," she instructs me as she gets up, getting off the bed.

I watch with interest as she takes a breath to steady herself before she bends over, slipping her panties off. She turns to me, still blushing but no longer looking shy, and she climbs back onto the bed over me, and I quickly stash the rest of the clothes so we're both naked.

The tip of my dick presses against her stomach as she leans down and kisses me. "You've reassured me multiple times that we can take this slow," she says. "But I don't want to. You've stirred feelings in me I didn't know I had, and I want to keep going and see where they lead me."

"By all means," I say with a grin. "I'm certainly not going to stop you."

She grins back before reaching down and grasping my dick again. She carefully lines it up with her entrance, and I can feel the sensitive skin of my tip rub against her slippery folds. She bites her lip, enjoying the feeling, and then slowly pushes herself back.

My length slowly enters her pussy, stretching out her insides. I can feel her inner walls convulse and shudder in pleasure as more of me enters her, and there's no hint of discomfort from her as she lowers herself onto me.

She doesn't stop until my entire length is inside of her. She lets out a shuddering breath. "It feels incredible," she admits.

My hands reach down to her waist. "It feels great for me too," I tell her as I throb inside of her. She smiles down at me and lays down on top of me to kiss me. I feel her hardened nipples and her small but soft mounds pretty against my chest as our tongues intertwine.

I experimentally raise my hips, thrusting into Sona from below as she makes out. From the small noise of pleasure she releases and the way her inner walls clench around me, I can tell she enjoyed that. So I do it again, settling into a rhythm of thrusting upwards into her.

Before long, she starts raising and lowering her own hips in time with me, never breaking our kiss. Her hands travel up and down my body as our limbs intertwine. Her skin is hot against my own, but it only makes my head fuzzier with pleasure as we sink into each other. I start to lose track of time, and it's not until I feel my orgasm draw near that I gain some clarity again.

Sona breaks our kiss long enough to let out a low moan as she goes rigid, shuddering as she climaxes. I speed up my own motions, and right as her climax ends I reach my own orgasm, grunting as I release my seed deep inside of her. She gasps at the sensation, and she smiles hungrily down at me as I cum inside of her.

She sits up, peeling herself off of me. The air feels cold against my skin now that she's no longer pressed against me and I'm covered in sweat. I watch her, curious what she plans on doing next. I drink in the sight of her slender body, pale skin glistening in the sweat of our exertion. Her glasses are slightly fogged from it as well, but her eyes are still clear.

With a smug and excited look on her face, she slowly starts gyrating her hips while on top of me. I can tell when she finds an angle she likes, because her grin widens, and she starts focusing on that angle.

I reach up to caress her, but she catches my hand. "Lay still and watch," she tells me. "I'm in charge here."

Her tone and her words send a thrill through me. I'm very aware of the fact that I'm a switch, willing and interested in both being dominant or submissive. So I'm very okay with Sona taking charge here, it's a big turn-on.

She doesn't speed up her movements though. Instead, she gently rides me as she slowly brings me closer to my climax. Her expression never fades, her own enjoyment fueled by the visible tells of how much I'm enjoying it. She drags it out for what feels like hours but is probably only around ten minutes, and my dick twitches as I'm on the verge of orgasm.

And then she stops moving.

I feel an expression of confusion and annoyance flash across my face before I can control it. The pressure inside of me is distracting, my thoughts are almost entirely taken up by the need to cum. "Sona?" I ask, voice a little tight.

She just smiles down at me. "You know, you have a bad habit of not addressing me correctly at school," she says. "I can tell from the way you're twitching inside of me you're about to cum. And I'll let you. But only if you ask for it respectfully and correctly."

So this is what we're doing. I'd be annoyed at the blue balling if the situation wasn't turning me on so much. There's not much room for debate in my mind, I just want to cum, so I dutifully do as she says.

"Student Council President Sitri, will you please let me cum?" I ask, dick twitching inside of her as I struggle to not just thrust up into her and keep my hands off of her. "I'm so close, I need it."

I feel her own arousal spike at my words, and I also feel her cunt clamp tightly around me. "Very well," she says, trying to sound serious, but her own excitement is clear. She starts moving again, faster than before, and the shock of pleasure that it sends through me is a magnitude stronger than what I've felt so far.

"Permission granted," she says, and it's at those words that I burst, balls churning as I unleash another load deep into Sona's pussy. She bites her lip and shudders as she has her own climax in response, and the two of us enjoy the sensation as ecstasy washes over us together.

"Good work," Sona praises me, pleased. "But we're not done yet."

I raise an eyebrow in askance as she moves forward, slowly sliding my dick out of her. But she keeps moving forward even then, and it's not until the last second that I remember her fetishes and realize what she intends to do. The moment before she sits on my face, I cast [Clean Body] on her.

I've noticed in the past that whenever I cum inside a Devil girl, they never seem to have to worry about my semen leaking out of them afterward. But as Sona lowers her freshly fucked pussy onto my lips, all I can think is that it's better to be safe than sorry. I can feel some amusement from her as the spell takes effect. But more than that is a still strong flame of arousal. I've definitely awoken something in her.

But then all of my thoughts are gone as my entire world is reduced to just Sona. I can see her above me, a wall of pale flesh, and her face looking down at me over her beautiful breasts. But for the most part, all I'm aware of is the feeling of her entrance on my lips and tongue, and the way she tastes as I begin to eat her out.

[Clean Body] unfortunately also got rid of her own fluids, but between my saliva and her arousal, it only takes seconds for her pussy to be sopping once again.

My tongue explores every fold of her, making sure I continuously go back to the nub that is her clit to stimulate that. My hands reach up and grab onto her legs so I can more enthusiastically service her. Her hips gyrate on my face as she moans lightly, her arousal increasing by the second. I can feel her love and excitement and lust.

Her hands tangle in my hair as she grips my head, careful to avoid my cat ears. Wait, when did those come out? She grips tighter, moaning as I suck on her clit, and the question is forgotten. I feel her movements increase in speed, and her emotions reach a peak before she cums, her head thrown back as she wails in pleasure. My face is splattered in girl cum as her pussy convulses in its orgasm.

Sona doesn't get off my face immediately. Instead, her grasp on my head turns to a gentle petting as she smiles down at me. "That was fantastic, Axton." Talking with her still on top of me like this is bound to not work out, so I just respond by teasingly licking her again, my tongue running up her entrance.

She giggles and climbs off of my face. She doesn't move back down my body as I expected though, instead she makes her way to the head of the bed. While on her knees, she places one hand on the headboard, and then she turns back to face me, her other hand reaching back and pulling her pussy lips open, giving me a clear view of her dripping cunt.

She smiles seductively back at me. "Doing such a good job deserves a reward," she says. "Come, take your reward."

I waste no time in positioning myself behind her and immediately thrusting the entirety of my length into her. She moans in pleasure, leaning back against my chest as I penetrate her. I reach up with both hands to knead her tits as I pound into her from behind.

As I do, I look straight at where I know one of the secret cameras is and give it a wink. I hope Serafall is enjoying the show so far, because I know I'm certainly enjoying myself.

Sona's head turns back, and I respond to her hungry gaze by meeting my lips with hers, kissing her as I thrust into her. I forget about our voyeur for now and lose myself in the moment with Sona.

-x-

-Bonus Scene-

Hidden in an unnamed mountain range and surrounded by subtle wards was a facility that housed a group of terrorists called the Khaos Brigade. This was one of several facilities that they controlled around the world, and it was currently their main base.

Deep underground, in the lowest basement floor of this facility, was a simple room that looked out of place in a villainous base like this. It looked more akin to a bedroom, complete with a young girl with an odd attire and jet black hair sitting curled up in a beanbag.

In front of her was a man who was suited for potentially being a terrorist, but looked out of place in this room. Nevertheless, he spoke respectfully to the little girl as he gave his report.

"According to Georg's preliminary studies, it seems that his guess was correct and the Rating Game arena used by the Devils is connected to the Dimensional Gap in some way," the man, Cao Cao, reported. "Exactly how it's connected is something that will need more investigation though. Georg believes it should be suitable no matter what, but the details will determine how exactly we need to proceed."

The girl, Ophis, nodded. "Good. Do that."

A flash of frustration crossed Cao Cao's face, but if Ophis noticed it, she didn't care. "Very well," Cao Cao responded, his voice calm. "We'll coordinate with the Old Satan Faction to get a closer look. This might take some time, a few months maybe."

"Fine," Ophis replied shortly, seemingly disinterested. Cao Cao sighed but ignored it. He knew it wasn't that she didn't care, that she was always like this. But it frustrated him to have a 'leader' who acted like this.

"If that's all, then I'll get back to work," Cao Cao said, to which Ophis nodded her head. Cao Cao turned and left the room, getting on the elevator across the hall and going back up into the main part of the facility.

Ophis sat in silence for a few moments, not moving much. But after a moment, she pointed her gaze at a seemingly empty corner of the room.

"Creepy person, stop watching me," she called out. At first, nothing happened save for her words echoing in the empty room. But after a moment, space tore in a way that most beings would be unable to detect, and someone who looked exactly like Ophis stepped into view. But their eyes were a swirl of chaotic energies, and they wore a smile that didn't fit their face.

"Who are you, and why are you so loud?" Ophis, the real one, asked.

"I'm called The Man in the Wall by most, and I'm someone just like you, just a little different," they explained, their voice echoing with a strange undertone. "I come from a place similar to your home, your Dimensional Gap, but at the same time it's very different."

"Is it quiet?" Ophis asked.

"No, it is not," they answered. "There are hundreds of thousands of children who disrupt it. But I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Then I don't care," Ophis dismissed. "Why are you watching me?"

"Oh, I just wanted to greet my neighbor, so to speak," the Man answered. "But you seemed busy earlier, and I didn't want to intrude." Their grin widened. "That man will betray you, you know? He loathes working under you."

"He won't," Ophis denied. "I'm stronger than him."

"I've found it never pays to underestimate someone just because they are weaker than you," The Man in the Wall replied. "I suffered at the hands of a single weak individual for a very long time until recently."

"Then you're weak too, weaker than me," Ophis replied.

The Man in the Wall laughed. "That is true. I am still recovering my strength. But my warning still stands."

"I don't care," Ophis repeated. She raised her hand threateningly. "Go away, you're too loud and talk too much."

"Now now, don't be like that," The Man said. "There's one more important thing I wish to tell you." Ophis paused, lowering her hand. "There is another like us, one who is both more and less."

Ophis frowned. "Explain."

"He cannot claim the Void as his home, but he is connected to it, and that connection grows stronger every day," The Man in the Wall explains. "He is of great interest to me, and I thought, as someone like myself, you may be interested as well. Who knows, he might even be able to help you with your little problem?"

"Is he strong?" Ophis, her interest piqued, asked.

"Right now? Not really. But he grows at an astonishing rate, and if you give him enough time, and enough obstacles to overcome, he'll become stronger than you or I could ever be."

"I see," Ophis replied. "I'll look for him."

"Your people should be able to help," The Man in the Wall says. "If you spent your time in your home, you surely would have noticed him. His powers are subtle, and you won't be able to detect him from this plane from this distance. But he recently made some waves by participating in a Rating Game against a Devil, and in it, he showed off an interesting form, something that very few people have realized the implications of. Ask for that boy, and your people should be able to find him."

Ophis nodded. "Okay." She pointed a finger at the corner. "Now leave. Too loud."

The Man in the Wall laughed again. "Very well. Until next time, neighbor." With those final words, space tore again, and they vanished, leaving Ophis alone in her room.

Ophis spent some time contemplating the words of the being that was so like her, but at the same time so different from her. She had put a lot of time into using this Khaos Faction to achieve her goal of reclaiming her home, but progress had been slow. She was initially fine with this, she wasn't in a rush, but the being's other words, the warning of betrayal, made her unsure.

Perhaps it was worth investigating this other person, the one that was like her but not like her, in a way different from how the Man in the Wall was like her but not like her. She wasn't in a rush, but if she could reclaim her home, her silence, faster, then that would be better.

Making up her mind, she got up and stepped forward. She disappeared from her room and reappeared next to a man whose name she didn't know who was sitting in front of a computer. He jumped, startled, and spilled his coffee on his lap.

"Shit fuck hot!" he yelled, jumping up and trying to get the hot liquid off of him. Then he saw who had appeared, and he stilled, nervous. "Oh uhh, Lady Ophis! What uhh, what do you need?"

"I need you to find someone for me," she said, uncaring of his situation. All she cared about was getting rid of the nuisance in her home. Nothing else mattered.

CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Shifty_Sword

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Chapter 36: DxD: Weaving Threads 03

CREATORS' THOUGHTS Shifty_Sword

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