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58.33% DxD: Prideful Gamer (Hiatus) / Chapter 12: [Exhaustion]

Chapter 12: [Exhaustion]

(Mittelt)

No matter how many centuries you're alive, there's always something that resonates with each and every sapient being.

Boredom.

And that was precisely what Mittelt was feeling before she walked into the human's house. Of course, this was Raynare's fault. It was always Raynare's fault these days.

In her infinite wisdom, she decided to appoint Mittelt to babysit the batshit exorcist while he went on his daily killing sprees.

Something about killing devils to satiate him and killing people who worked with devils because they were scum. Blah blah heretics and what not. She didn't care, and she was only here to put up a barrier so he wouldn't cause even more problems.

That nun they'd been waiting on was coming to town soon so Mittelt figured the girl could set up barriers in her stead. The man-child disgusted her, and every moment away from him was a blessing.

But when he was taking way longer than usual, she decided to investigate. When he killed regular people he liked to tell her in excruciating detail what he was doing to the body, so the fact he hadn't come back out worried her.

Worry? No, that wasn't the right word. She meant it filled her with the hope that he slipped and snapped his neck.

In comparison with the other strays, he wasn't even that good of an exorcist. Whatever experiments they did to try and make a descendant of Sigurd either failed or they overestimated him. As it stands, he's not much better than a regular human.

If it wasn't for his ability with the sword, nobody would put up with his... tendencies.

And what she saw when she walked in surprised her.

Taking slow, deep breaths, the target lay on the ground in what seemed like exhaustion. Covered in sweat, he looked worse for wear but he didn't have a single scratch on him.

In contrast, Freed, the bane of her existence, lay next to him clearly dead. His head was separated from his body and his sword was a few feet away from him.

'That would explain the how. Well, half of the how. The only question is, what do I do with him?' She thought and relaxed after getting over her surprise.

Without his sword, she assumed Freed was pretty much useless. So if the kid managed to get it away from him and had any actual power, the maniac would have no chance. That didn't explain how the kid even had any power since they scanned the town for sacred gears, but she didn't really care.

What she did care about, was that Freed was dead. An annoyance for Raynare, a blessing for her.

Were it any other exorcist or member of their little group, she would've killed the target immediately after realizing they weren't dead yet. But with this exorcist?

Ignoring the posturing of the much weaker human, she smirked.

"Heh, deserved."

And with that, a blue magic circle appeared and teleported her back to base without a word to the.

As much as she didn't like humans, this one was alright in her book. She still had to report to Raynare, but she didn't have to tell her that Freed's killer was still alive.

(Katsuo)

...

Uh, okay. That works for me, I guess.

I thought she was just going to try something but maybe she just really didn't like that guy. I can't blame her, he was insufferable.

That being said, I need to rest before I clean up this mess. I thought my sacred gear took little stamina, but it turns out that it takes way more when it's actually doing something rather than just being 'on'. I should've expected that, it was pretty obvious.

Should I call the devils about this?

...Nah. While they are strong, I get the impression that most of them don't know what they're doing either. Plus, I don't want to rely on devils of all people. I'll just break down the body and use the parts for later.

Speaking of later, what's my next quest?

[Main Quest 3: Conflicting Values]

Description: Some feel as though their race is something to be proud of, that their existence is a gift to the world. Others feel proud of a skill they're prodigious in and have cultivated for years. What, exactly, are you most proud of? What fuels your Pride?

Objective: Find an answer.

Hint: You believe that freedom is the most important thing, and that weakness is akin to a sin. But you are weak and consider yourself not guilty of that sin. Why?

Reward: Subspecies Unlocked

...What kinda bullshit is this? I thought my quest would just tell me to go do something, not think about the reason for having pride in myself.

And 'Subspecies'? Does that mean I'd be a different type of human or something? Like how there are different subspecies of frogs, but they're all frogs at the end of the day.

I don't really have an answer. I mean, I know that I'm proud of my strength but I feel like that's not enough of an answer.

Plus, I didn't really do much to become as strong as I am. Others, like that Freed guy, probably train every day as hard as possible just to get even a modicum of power. It took me a few days just to overcome that.

Ugh, whatever. I'll think about it later.

And speaking of Freed, what the hell is wrong with my Appraise skill? I mean, yeah, he used tools to attack me but the fact that he was even able to fight back annoys me. If 0 is a baseline human, having anything higher should put me leagues above him.

And yet, it didn't. It didn't account for his items, nor his fighting ability despite our difference in strength. If this were a game, I had the higher level but he had the stronger skills. That should be accounted for in Battle Power, shouldn't it?

Otherwise, the skill shouldn't be at the Master level. If it has flaws, I don't see how it's mastered.

[Appraise (Master) has been upgraded to Appraise (Unique) as a result of pointing out its many flaws.]

As a (Unique) skill, how it functions is tailored to the user. Choose one of three options.

1. Accurate assessment of the target's combat ability including overall strength in any and all combat-related fields, past fights, skills, and items. However, numbers will be replaced by letter grades.

2. Accurate assessment of the target's percentage chance to defeat the user based on the user's current status. Percentage changes as the user 'powers up'. However, the unique skill will be omitted.

3. Accurate assessment of the target's existence. Including their race, skills, and any relevant information about their past and plans for the future. Omits raw level of power.

Well, then. That is interesting. Does this mean skills that are mastered aren't exactly perfect? And what happens if I make a general skill like Cooking a Unique one? Could I then pick the skill back up, get the other 2 methods, and combine the three?

Or maybe I can only use it with semi-active skills like this one.

Either way, my choice. No for the second one. The issue with that one is that it probably functions off of a fair fight. For some enemies, I don't think a 'fair fight' would be fair for me. Like, I'm not going to fight Goku without trying to assassinate him first.

Fighting him without using sneak attacks or tricks while I'm only this strong would get me turned into a fine paste on the ground.

Three is interesting, but I think it has a glaring flaw. There are seemingly people out there who have lived thousands of years. The moment I used Appraise on them, it would either list out hundreds of combat-related skills or it would just send back a question mark.

The race thing would be useful since I can exploit their race's weakness, but I feel like I would know the race of the person I'm trying to kill. That seems like basic information that if I didn't know, I probably wouldn't be fighting them.

The past thing is useful, but once again. Thousands of years. It would get simplified just to fit in a description and the sheer scale of their experience wouldn't dawn on me until I'm dead.

So I'll go with 1, despite not liking a more accurate system than letter grades.

...

I thought something would happen. The screen closed after I made my decision, but nothing else did.

So how strong am I?

<Katsuo Naoki – Battle Rating: D>

Oof. Right in the pride. I wonder how strong the devils are.

And I wonder how strong the guy I just killed was. Speaking of him, I thought I'd feel bad after my first kill. But when a guy is that crazy, it feels like putting down a rabid animal. It sucks, but it's better than letting it continue to rampage.

Also, he was annoying as shit.

I really want to take these light weapons apart and find out what makes them tick, but I have a feeling I'll need magic or Touki to protect me in case they explode. And right now, my body feels like a sore thumb with how much stamina, Ki, and processing power I used in that fight.

Oh, does using Appraise on them still work?

[Light Gun (Common)]

A gun used by exorcists. Harnesses the light of angels and fallen angels and shoots it out in bullet form.

Current Ammo: 6/30.

[Light Sword (Common)]

A sword used by exorcists. Harnesses the light of angels and fallen angels and shapes it into blade form.

Charge Left: 3hr

That's disappointing. Even if I do break this down, I don't think I'll learn much. It seems like it just functions like a battery of light magic from the winged people.

Maybe I can fill it with Deconstruction magic after all the light has run out. I doubt it since that's not how that spell works, but it'd be pretty sick if I could.

Ahh, fuck it. I really wanna play around with it so I'm gonna meditate to pass the time.

Maybe I'll find the answer to fulfill my main quest while I'm doing that.


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Khyrrid Khyrrid

This chapter feels shorter than it is. [1724 words]

I'm probably gonna put this in the story, but for anyone suuuper curious.

The rankings are F, D, C, C+, B, B+, A, A+, S, SS, SSS, X.

D: Katsuo

C: Kiba, Koneko, Mittelt

B+: Akeno

A: Sona, Rias

If anyone has any ideas for the story, let me know. The legit only thing I've planned is his character development so anything besides that is fair game.

Chapter 13: [Calm]

After waking up, it became clear to me that I don't function logically when I'm tired. If I thought about it for two seconds, I would've realized I could've just eaten something to get my energy back.

I don't need sleep, therefore sleeping just made me lethargic but mentally refreshed.

Ignoring that, after I ate something I then realized that maybe sleeping while a dead body was in the house wasn't a good idea either.

By now I had taken it apart, but a ton of the parts simply went up in smoke. Mostly because a huge part of the human body didn't have any holdable substance when you stripped it down to the molecules and split all the chemical compounds.

Oxygen, Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Calcium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Sulfur, Sodium, Chlorine, Magnesium, and less than 1% of dozens of other trace elements.

That's right, I've been doing my chemistry homework.

Still, I waited too long before doing that so now the house smelled like absolute shit.

So to get out of the nasty-smelling house, I decided to exercise a bit before school. After thinking about it, I used my skill upgrade on physical conditioning and focused on increasing my stamina.

Repeated short bursts of intense workout coupled with running made for a pretty good workout. Combine that with my Shroud that slightly boosts my healing and I was sweating buckets but still going strong.

My stamina was the current weak point in the 'build' I was going for. Although I didn't know any martial arts or have any skills with a weapon, I was clearly a close combat fighter. Without touch, my transmutation magic wouldn't work. Add that I had a Sacred Gear that optimized my current fighting capabilities with Touki to boost my weak body, and it made for a clear picture.

If I managed to get fast enough, I could maybe add my Stealth skill into the mix and be sort of a weird monk assassin hybrid.

Speaking of assassins, I need to get some sort of actual fighting skill. My ability with the knife was clearly subpar and telegraphed if that stupid exorcist could dodge my swings with ease.

But for now, I was walking to school.

It was an odd dichotomy that I don't think I'll get used to anytime soon. One day you're fighting an insane exorcist with light-based weapons and getting invited to devil groups and the next you're just going to school.

And as much as I wanted to just ignore it, I think I need to tell Rias about this. While it isn't her business, the fact that the heaven part of the biblical faction tried to kill me is important information. It is also probably her fault since, well, she's a devil.

That sounds racist, and it probably is, but I don't really care. Her race literally steals the strongest humans they can find just to repopulate their dying race. I doubt they're the most upstanding of people.

Despite not knowing shit about anything, the more I find out the more I want to just leave town. The only reason I hesitated in leaving was because of Rias' lack of hostility and clear ability to just track me down if I ran.

Running is still a risky option, she could just beat me up and mind control me after all, but it's seeming the lesser of two evils more and more every day.

A part of me doesn't want to run. A huge part, in fact. But that part is being smothered by my overwhelming desire not to die. While I know death would just be a vacation for me, I can't get rid of that fear.

It's like knowing no one cares what you look like but still being insecure about your looks. You know it's nothing to worry about, but you can't help but do so anyway.

I was so absorbed in my thoughts I didn't even realize I was already in class until I sat down at my desk and I stopped moving on autopilot. Still, I just zone out and think about ways I can improve myself even while at school.

Yeah, my grades probably will be absolute garbage by the end of the year but who cares? Unlike the rest of society, I can manipulate matter on a whim. I don't really need to worry about getting a decent job.

Well, unless I need a persona to go along with the mass of wealth I'll eventually acquire.

Anyway, while I could do isometrics while in class, I'd look like a weirdo. Not that it matters what most people think but publicly shaking in place just for minimal physical gains isn't worth it.

I could turn on my Shroud and keep it on during classes. It's not a visible Ki technique since it's just me making sure my Ki doesn't go too far from my body. After all, Ki isn't visible. Otherwise, everyone would be able to see the slight amount of Ki that seeps out of their body all day.

The only visible Ki technique I know of is Burst.

So that's what I do, I activate Shroud and try and keep it active and calm throughout my classes. By keeping it on all the time I can practice my Ki control and do other things at the same time. Improving both my control and the autonomy of using the technique.

My current goal is to be able to use it even in my sleep. Gonna need a helper for that.

My thoughts are interrupted by the teacher addressing me for the first time since I came to this school. Well, besides my first day.

"-And Naoki, you're needed in the Student Council room. Take your things with you." She says, apparently finishing off the long droning speech she always does at the beginning of the class.

"How the hell would I know where that is?" Seriously, I didn't even know there was a student council. And what could they possibly want with me?

"Language!" She swiftly admonishes me. Seeing my expression not even budge, she continues annoyed. "Kiryuu, you take him since you like looking at him during class so much."

I usually ignore people watching me in school because it's school. People looking at you is pretty much all the time so I must've just ignored her stares.

"Okay~!" A girl with slightly messy twin braids chirps, getting up out of her seat.

Without a word, I gather my things and follow behind her as she walks down the hall. It's a silent endeavor. Not exactly awkward, just a calm silence. Sadly, I can't help but wonder why she was looking at me during classes.

Devils are one thing, they're probably just cautious. But this random person? Odd.

"...Looking at me?" I question.

My eyes are closed and my hands are behind my head as we walk, but I can hear her stop moving when I ask. Curious why she stopped but didn't answer, I open one of my eyes.

Instead of a response like I'm expecting, she looks me up and down before locking onto my crotch area. A slight blush appears on her face before she keeps walking.

"Nice," is all she says to explain herself.

Did she just…? Was that what 'Size Scouter' means? How would you even get that ability? Did she cultivate it from looking at the crotches of thousands of men? What the fuck just happened?

I have so many questions.

My questions go unanswered as we keep walking down the hall, and I shrug off any confusion from that interaction. I have to constantly remind myself this is an anime world. That doesn't excuse it but it makes me feel better about my current weird life.

The silence is still just as calm, but she's the one who interrupts it this time.

"...You really don't care about what other people think, do you?" She mutters.

"Hm?" I crack open a single eye and look at her.

She looks back at me now that she has my attention, "It's only been a little bit since you came here, but everyone's been avoiding you. Your looks, size, and attitude made for some nasty rumors."

"Is that so?" I remark, closing my eye again. I don't care what some regular ol' teenagers think about me.

Her voice picks up in… excitement? "And that's what I mean, right there! You didn't even know about it. Some people are even calling you the Delinquent King."

The what? No one's even attempted to speak to me until now, why do I have a nickname?

"Why delinquent?" I can't help but ask. The king part is cool, but that's the part that confuses me. I don't think I've done anything particularly violent or thuggish.

She lifts up one finger in response, "Well for one, you're huge. Like, bigger than anyone in the school." A second finger, "Two, you don't even act like you're paying attention in class and you ignore everyone." And finally a third finger, "Three, you have scary eyes."

I guess I can get the first and second ones since they are true. But the scary eyes one is just my natural look, it's not like I'm glaring at anyone.

It's probably not my eye-based ability. I only recently acquired that and she's saying it like this has been a constant since I got here.

"My... eyes?"

She nods sagely as she takes in my confusion.

"Most of the time you look like you're looking through people as if they were air. And when you do look at them, it makes people feel like your sizing them up. There was a guy the other day who pissed his pants because you looked at him too harshly." she explains dramatically.

That's concerning. I know some people don't have the strongest of wills but peeing yourself because someone looks at you, menacingly or not, is ridiculous. And I don't even remember that.

"And what do you think?" I ask, curious about her answer. While I am just mildly indulging her conversation, she must think differently if she decided to speak with me of her own volition.

And blatantly ogle at me.

"I think it's hot," She blurts out without missing a beat.

I stop walking and just stare at her as she stops too. She looks back at me with a cheeky smile and eagerly awaits my response. I don't know if this is flirting or if she's just naturally like this. Probably both. At the very least, it wasn't a lie.

I don't give her the light of day and just roll my eyes before closing them again and continuing to walk. I'm not even gonna acknowledge that one. Though, there is a smirk on my face.

"Aw, cmon. Not even a reaction?" She pouts, that glint in her eye leaving as she too starts walking again.

While it wasn't a lie, I can tell she only said it to mess with me. She's an interesting girl, honestly. Ignoring her very perverted personality, she's genuine. Not once did I sense she was lying to me or saying things just to fill the air.

I don't know how much time passed as we idly chatted. We talked about things that didn't matter for quite a while as we walked to the Student Council room. I'm pretty sure we already passed it and just looped around to keep talking, but I don't mind.

I haven't been in this world for very long, but I already am tired of all the mind games when people talked to me and the supernatural nuisances that pester me are incorrigible. A boring, genuine conversation with someone about nothing in particular is refreshing every once in a while.

By the time we've looped around the third time, the student council door opens up and a slightly annoyed white-haired girl drags me inside. I can only get out a quick 'see ya' to Aika before I'm standing in a room with... a bunch of devils.

Fucking fantastic.

"Finally making friends?" Sona begins, sitting at a small table with two seats. The white-haired one, a girl named Momo shuts the door and stands in front of it.

<Momo Hanakai – Battle Rating: C>

"She's interesting," I shrug, taking the seat opposite of her and crossing my arms.

"Now, what do you want?" I quickly say, wanting to get straight to the point. While I have no doubt they actually do their student council duties, I have a feeling that's not what this is about.

Calmly, she pushes up her glasses like a classic anime character before speaking, "Allow me to formally introduce myself. My name is Sona Sitri, and I'm the second devil king here in Kuoh."


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Khyrrid Khyrrid

If you haven't caught on, I write these chapters in pairs. So if one chapter is boring, the second will be at least somewhat more interesting. It's only when there's a ton of exposition does both chapters have nothing of substance.

That being said, I'm probably going to post again later tomorrow, this set of chapters was easier to write since I had a clear picture of what I wanted.

Feedback and suggestions for the story are appreciated.

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