Chapter 91: DXD 9
(Andrew's POV)
Standing in the middle of my newly constructed training room within a portable pocket dimension, I couldn't help but feel a sense of pride in my accomplishment. Although a new "trunk" didn't accurately describe my creation, since it was technically another dimension with a shape-shifting object linked to it, I will continue to refer to it as such until I could come up with a better name.
My design incorporated technologies from Star Trek as well as magic from DanMachi and Harry Potter, and while it wasn't flawless, given my current abilities and resources, it functioned almost perfectly. The interior of the trunk was not predetermined and instead used enchantments akin to the Room of Requirements, which made it fully modular and allowed me to add or remove features at will.
The trunk had the ability to adjust to the user's needs, constructing rooms based on their wishes, whether it be a cozy apartment with a kitchen and bathroom or something else entirely. The replicator technology would then furnish the room as needed. I had invested a considerable amount of time in developing an interpreter algorithm, which worked in tandem with a semi-sentient AI to ensure that the user could easily control the interior of the trunk with their minds or with voice commands.
If the user was satisfied with the number of rooms, their layout, and the furniture within, they could lock the trunk into its current configuration. This would prevent any accidental changes or additions to the space without intention.
Unfortunately, there was a significant design flaw that I needed to address. The magical and electrical power requirements for the trunk were astronomical. In its standard configuration, the cozy apartment previously mentioned drained approximately 10,000 mana points per second, and an additional average-sized room required an extra 2,500 mana per second. The reason for this was quite simple - I wasn't just expanding upon an already existing space, I was actually creating a new space, a new domain.
I had already brainstormed several ideas to tackle the high mana requirements, but one of my favorite solutions involved constructing a Dyson sphere around a sun and shrinking it down to the size of a basketball. This miniature sun could then be used to generate solar energy, which could be converted into mana through the use of solar panels.
However, there were a few issues with this idea. Firstly, I had the ability to convert mana into other forms of energy, such as electricity or light, and multiple methods of converting countless types of energy into various other forms, but I had not yet figured out a good way to convert other forms of energy into mana. With my current knowledge, types of magic, and technology at my disposal, it was impossible for me to convert energy into mana. Secondly, the process of extracting not just the trunk, but also a sun from this world would be incredibly expensive, perhaps, even more, WP than what we had earned up until now. While the design of the trunk was already stored within the replicator and could be recreated inside the library at any time, the same could not be said for a sun.
The thought of attempting to replicate a sun was overwhelming, as I couldn't even imagine the amount of energy that would be required. For instance, the sun in Earth's solar system weighs almost 2 times 10^30 kg, and the energy required for the replication process is proportional to the weight of the object being replicated. So yeah, practically an impossible feat for the current me.
I was left with few options for addressing the mana requirements of the trunk. I could rely on my own mana regeneration, but that wasn't a sustainable solution. I also considered the possibility of creating a magical garden within the trunk, populated with plants that naturally produced high quantities of mana as a byproduct of their growth.
However, upon trying to recall any such plants, I found myself unable to come up with any viable options. While it was true that mundane plants produced mana just like any other living organism, the quantities produced were so negligible that I would need a huge area for them to grow in order to generate enough mana to be useful. Unfortunately, this would end up being counterproductive as it would cost more mana than they would produce to upkeep such a large garden.
There was also an option of gaining some kind of biological matter manipulation ability, and maybe gaining the ability to morph mundane plants into magical ones, but for that, I would need to jump to another world and acquire that ability, which I currently didn't want to do. I already had the ability to cross-breed and genetically manipulate plants, courtesy of [Biology], but without useful magical plants or their genome sequences, I wouldn't get far with that idea.
Alternatively, I could travel to tech worlds and collect the necessary technology to construct a sun, in addition to visiting magi tech worlds where the energy-to-mana conversion problems had already been solved.
As I pondered on the issue further, one particular world came to mind that could potentially solve my mana conversion issues. However, I wasn't certain if the principle of equivalent exchange could address the problems with my initial design. Regardless, it was worth investigating and exploring the possibility in the future.
After considering possible solutions for the sun creation problem, I recalled a sci-fi animated movie that didn't do so well in theaters, but it became one of my favorites in my childhood and my gateway into science fiction.
While they didn't create a sun in the movie, they did create a planet with an atmosphere and vegetation in a matter of minutes. With some tinkering and modifications, the technology shown in the movie could maybe be recreated using replicators and adapted for my purpose. If I disregard the quests in that world and use the Location System, I could just enter the world inside the enormous spaceship and scan it.
Feeling a bit lonely while standing in the trunk, I reminded myself of Olivia's admirable dedication to self-improvement. Reflecting on the past few days, I realized that Olivia and I hadn't been able to spend as much time together as we had hoped.
After I got back from the visit to Kuoh I started working on the new trunk design, with Olivia only showing up later that day. The newfound races that I had recently acquired piqued her curiosity. While the Nekomata's abilities did not grant me any new powers, Olivia, on the other hand, gained the [Enhanced Hearing] ability, enabling her to easily pick up on my murmurs and curses. That's when I realized giving her this race was a mistake.
[Enhanced Hearing LVL:1/100]
- Provides the user with superior auditory perception, granting them the ability to hear sounds with exceptional clarity and precision.
- Enhances the user's ability to discern different frequencies and tones, enabling them to identify specific sounds or distinguish between similar sounds.
- Provides increased sensitivity to subtle changes in sound, allowing the user to detect nuances and details that others may miss, while also providing them with an enhanced sense of sound directionality, allowing them to pinpoint the location of sounds accurately.
However, from the Fallen race, we both profited as we gained two fascinating abilities: the power to imbue abilities, skills, and spells with holy affinity, and the ability to fashion weapons from light.
[Holy Enhancement LVL:1/100]
- The user gains the ability to imbue a skill, ability, or spell with an additional holy effect, amplifying its damage or bestowing an extra benefit.
[Light Weapons LVL:1/100]
- The user gains the ability to conjure and manipulate various types of weaponry created solely from light, solidifying them into tangible constructs.
- Light weapons, formed by the user's power, inflict amplified damage against targets that the user deems impure or dark.
However, the most noteworthy aspect was Olivia's stunning appearance in her Fallen form. Although the race did not alter her physical features, the black wings she could summon at will, greatly enhanced her allure, amplifying her appeal by leaps and bounds. While she was a deviant in the bedroom, the black Angel wings didn't quite align with Olivia's personality. So, I made it my mission to seek out a Pure Angel as soon as possible, hoping to find a better match for her true nature.
As the days passed by swiftly, Olivia was fully engrossed in her role as a sword instructor, diligently training Yasaka's guards. Surprisingly, she found great satisfaction in this responsibility. On the other hand, my own duties were relatively light, as the guards were primarily focused on honing their martial arts and Ki-based abilities, a subject that even Olivia found intriguing.
[Ki Manipulation LVL:1/100]
- Improves the ability to control and direct Ki by 1%/LVL.
It might have been due to her Kyuubi no Kitsune race, but it only took Olivia a couple of days to learn how to manipulate Ki. The amount of Ki she could store and generate was based on both her physical and mental abilities, and unsurprisingly, the amount of Ki she possessed far exceeded her mana capacity. With this skill, she also gained a new bar within her system.
Stamina: 2,377,280 (5,293/s)
Mana: 69,592 (900/s)
Ki: 2,138,168 (3,564/s)
From what I knew, Ki in this world was called Youki and was divided into two distinct forms: Youjutsu and Senjutsu. Youjutsu was the ability to cause various effects ranging from producing poisons, illusions, or manipulating elements, to creating Ki-based barriers. On the other hand, Senjutsu, was the ability to sense and manipulate the flow of life force, in other words, aura, allowing the users to strengthen their internal and external bodies or cause the vegetation around them to bloom or wither.
Olivia primarily focused on Senjutsu, as it strengthened her body and allowed her to see through illusions, heal physical or mental conditions, relieve fatigue, and restore lifespan. Furthermore, Senjutsu could enable her attacks to inflict internal damage by rupturing organs, and blood vessels, and disrupting the flow of an opponent's Ki.
As far as I knew, Ki could even restore or damage the soul, or should I call it the "spiritual body", and at the same time the life force of targets. However, I wasn't particularly interested in this aspect of the supernatural. Still, I wanted to help Olivia achieve something significant with it, so after a few attempts, I gained the skill as well, and my status screen also showed my Ki capacity.
Stamina: 1,241,686 (3,063/s)
Mana: 5,133,956 (561,289/s)
Ki: 1,711,462 (2,852/s)
Although my Ki capacity was not as significant as Olivia's, since it was dependent more on physical abilities than mental ones, I still had a decent amount of Ki to experiment with. When I learned that Olivia was interested in this type of energy, even though I wasn't particularly interested in it, I stopped all my training and ongoing projects and used my wide range of abilities, combined with my comprehension and information-processing skills, to scour the replicators database and research ancient martial arts and all those bothersome Chinese martial arts novels. Despite my personal dislike for it, I gained significant theoretical knowledge about Ki.
However, I was careful not to interfere too much in Olivia's journey, as she preferred to solve problems on her own and did not like to ask for help. Even though Ki manipulation was a nuisance for me, I secretly guided her in the right direction whenever she struggled with it. It was a satisfying feeling to witness Olivia's excitement as she would perk up and rush out of the room, after discussing a problem with me and receiving a subtle nudge in the right direction by suggesting, 'Have you tried to...'. I took pride in the fact that she had found something she was passionate about and took pleasure in doing, and I was committed to supporting her even if it meant working from behind the scenes.
It only took her just a few days to develop several new Ki-based skills, and her hard work had paid off, leaving her feeling ecstatic. I was beaming with pride, as she shared her newly acquired abilities.
[Ki Reinforcement LVL:1/100]
- Enhances the user's physical abilities by reinforcing their body with Ki energy, allowing them to move faster, hit harder, and endure more damage.
- The user gains the ability to channel Ki energy into their attacks, increasing their destructive power and allowing them to break through defenses.
- The user can use Ki energy to heal their minor injuries and fatigue, but not major wounds or life-threatening conditions.
[Aura Sight LVL:1/100]
- The user's Ki energy can be used to sense the presence of other beings and detect their life-force, allowing them to track and locate targets.
- The user gains the ability to discern the strength of the life-force they sense, giving them an idea of the target's physical and spiritual power.
- The user gains the ability to detect hidden or concealed beings that would otherwise be undetectable by conventional means, by sensing their life-force.
As I stepped out of the newly created trunk, still lost in thought about my ideas for mana generation, I caught sight of Olivia returning home looking worn out. She took off her shoes and before I could utter a word, I rushed up behind her and embraced her tightly, feeling the loneliness that had plagued me dissipate in an instant.
"Don't, I'm all sweaty," she protested, trying to pull away.
But I held her firmly and responded, "I don't care."
After a sigh, she gave up and leaned back against me, her body relaxing into mine, and I sensed the tension in her shoulders begin to fade. "Hey there," she said with a grin, turning her head to face me. "What's gotten into you?"
I just smiled back, feeling grateful to have her in my arms. "I missed you," I whispered, my voice low and intimate.
Olivia's smile widened as she turned around to face me, wrapping her arms around my neck. "I missed you too," she said softly, before giving me a gentle kiss. As we pulled away, she raised an eyebrow and asked, "So, how was your day? I noticed that you completed a quest."
"Ehh... I might have caused a bit of an incident with the devils," I admitted with an awkward smile, "but nothing too serious..."
"You killed that Phenex prick, didn't you?" She asked, giving me a deadpan look.
"I might have stolen his regenerative abilities, then accidentally hit him hard enough to kill him," I replied with a nod, causing her to shake her head in disapproval, but she still held onto me.
"We really need to work on your murderous tendencies," she chided, but it was clear that she didn't take her own words too seriously. She then let go of me and headed to the bathroom. "I'm gonna take a bath. Want to join?" she asked, giving me a pleading look.
"Wait a minute," I interject, surprised. "You're not going to bitc- I mean, complain about me killing someone?" I quickly correct myself as I notice her eyes turning dangerous for a moment.
"If he was the same as portrayed in the anime, then he got what he deserved," she replies with a shrug.
"Then why did you stop me from killing Issei?" I ask, confused.
"Well, even though I don't like Issei, he's just a pervert, and he wouldn't do anything without the consent of the others. The things that happened between him and his girls were mostly accidental, fan service, or the result of world laws, in this case. However, it was clear what Riser has done to his peerage," she says with a grimace. "Oh, and now that you've taken away Issei's sacred gear, I'm not sure he'll be able to achieve his 'Harem King' dream."
"I don't know, Asia seems to be in love with him, although Rias seems to despise him for some reason."
"Poor Asia, she's too gullible," Olivia says, shaking her head and gesturing towards the bathroom. "So, are you coming?"
"As I've said numerous times, if you ever ask me this and my answer is no, then shoot me. It might be an imposter posing as me," I replied, laughing.
"Noted," she giggled, grabbing my hand and pulling me towards our Japanese-style bathroom.
Due to the thin walls and the presence of our voyeuristic maid, we didn't take our bathing session to the extreme. Nonetheless, we washed each other's backs and explored each other's bodies with our hands. After cleaning her thoroughly, leaving no nook or crevice uncleaned, I left her to catch her breath while I submerged myself in the warm water of the bath. I reclined and relaxed, while she rinsed herself using a bucket of water, displaying her knowledge of traditional Japanese practices learned from my memories. It didn't take her long to join me in the bath, snuggling up to me and resting her head on my chest. As she lay there, I relished the warm, comforting sensation of her being there.
We continued to enjoy each other's company in the warm bath until I asked about her progress with the trainees. "How are they doing?" I inquired.
She lifted her hand out of the water and made a so-so gesture. "Some of them are advancing, but others are falling behind," she replied. Then she brightened up and grinned at me. "Oh, and I also gained the [Teaching] skill!"
"Congratulations, it was time," I congratulated her with a smile. "But that does mean that the sparring matches you had with Haruhime and Lily couldn't be considered teaching." I tried not to laugh as she pouted and squinted her eyes at me.
"Stupid system. They should count! They learned from their failures, didn't they? It's not my fault the system didn't recognize it as teaching," she retorted, crossing her arms and letting out a little huff.
I nodded in agreement, "Yes, the system is definitely at fault here. Your teaching methods of beating them up daily were clearly effective."
She shot me a grumpy look and asked, "Whose side are you on?"
"Yours, of course. I would never side with anyone else but you," I assured her before adding with a sly grin, as something came to my mind, "Wait scratch that, there might be a few people I would support more than you."
"What?!" she exclaimed, rising up from the bath, revealing her flawless body, and placing her hands on her hips. Her expression quickly turned dangerous as she asked, "And who might those people be?" while narrowing her eyes.
I answered with a smirk, "Our future children, obviously." Disregarding her stunned face, I passionately kissed her and pushed her underwater, causing her to yelp and flail around in surprise.
I couldn't help but chuckle at her reaction as she emerged from the water, gasping for air and coughing. "You really need to work on your reaction times," I teased her. "Even with your augmented physique and skills that increase your perception, you're not immune to my sudden surprise attacks."
After my tease, she playfully slapped my chest, which for anyone else might have been a deadly attack, and pouted, "That wasn't fair." She mumbled shyly with a pout as a red blush appeared on her face, which only served to awaken the beast in me.
"Okay, bath's over," I declared, grabbing her hand and warping us out of the bath and straight into the bedroom of the old trunks.
"Hey, wait!" she protested for a second as I dropped her wet body onto the bed and jumped in, but as I attacked her lips, she quickly gave up and reciprocated my passionate kiss.
As our lips locked in a passionate embrace, the scent of her wet hair mixed with the smell of the soap from the bath, sending my senses into overdrive. I traced my fingers along her curves, feeling the goosebumps rise on her skin as she let out a soft moan. Our bodies entwined, we lost ourselves in each other, the world outside fading away as the only thing that mattered was the intensity of our desire for each other.
She responded eagerly to my every touch, her body arching towards me as I explored every inch of her skin. Our breathing became ragged as we moved together, the rhythm building towards a crescendo of pleasure. At that moment, I knew that nothing in the world could compare to the feeling of being with her, the one I loved more than anything.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone