Capítulo 18: Chapter 18.
As I was walking on the way to Father Anderson's house, I suddenly felt that my Celestial Grimoire was acting up… it felt like it was flipping itself to a specific page, the one that felt like it had been bookmarked.
Then after a few moments, it reached the 'page', but I strangely didn't feel any sort of headache or any pressure like that, as the knowledge of this strange new ability made itself known to me.
And I couldn't help but laugh incredulously in the middle of the street at the influx of knowledge.
Bond - Inheritance Cycle - Control (200 CP)
Should you forge an actual bond with someone it is for life. Almost nothing can make you two betray one another, and you grow stronger and fight harder in each other's presence. (Anyone with a Social Link of 8+ will be put under the effects of Bond.)
So apparently, this newfound magical ability of mine… was the goddamn Power of Friendship manifested.
From what I could tell, as long as I've formed a proper bond with someone, it would last… forever, nothing could break the bond between me and my friends.
I wouldn't be capable of betraying the people who I've properly bonded with either, like from what I could tell… not even mind control would be able to do it. Nothing can make the people I'm bonded with betray me.
But again, that also worked in reverse, as due to the effects of the ability, I also couldn't betray them, not that I wanted to betray anyone.
Then there was the true Power of Friendship bullshit that made it so as long as I'm fighting alongside my bonded people… I would grow stronger by a fairly decent degree, capable of fighting harder and longer in their presence.
And strangely enough, I also had a general sense of just who I bonded with… and they were Tomoko (obviously, she was my sister and my lover, that just made sense), Ember, and the Sundancers, which was also for fairly obvious reason as they were my summons, and then my mom was also someone who I had a bond with.
Then there was the final one that kind of confused me… how the fuck did I have a bond with Koneko but I didn't have one with my own father?
Well, now that I thought about it, I kind of knew why, as he wasn't really around that often. I was generally lucky to see him in the mornings or if I stayed up late into the night. I knew that he loved Tomoko and I, but he just wasn't really… around.
I couldn't really feel anything through the bonds though, so unfortunately I wouldn't be able to know what the conditions of those who I formed a bond with were, but just knowing that I had these bonds was good.
And hey, if Koneko couldn't betray me, I felt a bit better about dealing with the Devils as she'd at least be somewhat compelled to tell me if there was some sort of plan in place to screw me over.
Or at least that's what I hoped, it's not like I got a user's manual for this ability, just a general idea and a lot of extrapolation on how it works.
Eventually though I was somewhat forced to stop thinking about the implications of this ability, as I reached Father Anderson's front door, and found myself already knocking on it by sheer instinct.
The door opened not long later, revealing a pretty girl wearing a nun's habit, she had long blonde hair and kind green eyes, giving me a beautiful and pure smile.
"Ciao a tutti, ti serve qualcosa?" The girl asked, speaking a language that I simply didn't know.
"Hello, I'm Ryuuji. I wanted to talk with Father Anderson?" I asked, hoping the priest's name would ring a bell with the girl.
"Ah, Padre Anderson? Sì, è appena dentro." The girl said happily, as she stepped to the side.
"Chi c'è, Asia?" I heard Father Anderson ask in what I assumed was the same language as he walked over to the front door, before stopping upon seeing me, "Oh, hello there Ryuuji. How are you doing?"
Thankful that he'd switched languages I gave the priest a small grin.
"I'm doing well, Father Anderson. I just came here to talk to you about a couple of things?" I said, glancing over to the nun for a moment. Not sure if she was 'in the know' when it came to supernatural affairs.
"Don't worry about her lad, Asia here's just been assisting me with some stuff around the house. Come in, come in." Father Anderson said cheerfully as he gestured for me to walk inside.
"Alright, thank you for the hospitality." I said, giving the larger man a small bow as I stepped inside of the house, and were led into the living room by the nun named Asia.
Father Anderson sat across from me while the nun Asia sat over in another chair, and I gave the girl a small smile, causing her to smile in turn.
"So, what did you want to tell me, lad?" The priest asked rather seriously as he looked at me.
For just a fleeting moment, I thought about lying- saying something that wouldn't cause the older priest to get annoyed with me. But, seeing the expectant look on his face, and the way he quired a brow, likely already knowing something was up... I slumped my shoulders slightly and let out a small sigh.
"Alright, so uh don't be mad… but I might have made a sort of deal with one of the Devils in Kuoh." I said, causing his eyes to sharpen in almost an instant, which made me a bit uncomfortable so I quickly continued my sentence, "I- I decided to become a Contracted Magician for Rias Gremory, in exchange for tutelage in magic and protection for my sister. She… she has a Sacred Gear, and I didn't want the Devils to- to get their hands on her."
"…A Contracted Magician, eh?" He said after several tense moments, as he placed his palm in his head, "Dear lord… what exactly did you promise her in exchange? Do you have the contract on you?"
"Uh no, no. We haven't finalized the contract yet, technically we're currently in the negotiating stage I guess? Or at least until the contract is written up, and in exchange for me creating several enchanted items Gremory-san's Peerage, she swore that she wouldn't attempt to reincarnate Tomoko-chan. Oh, uh the contract also isn't exclusive to just her… I thought that it would be a good idea to include that as a clause?" I said after a few moments, causing the older man to let out a resigned sigh.
"Well, at least you didn't screw up too badly… do you intend to become a Devil?" He asked, giving me a pointed look.
"No, no I don't. I have no intention whatsoever of becoming a Devil." I said after a moment's hesitation, and watched as he gave me a small relieved smile.
Damn, I almost forgot that he could tell if I was lying or telling the truth. How the hell had I nearly forgotten that? The events of today must have been really getting to me.
"Good, good. At least you're not too far gone, lad. Now, what sort of magical items are you making for the Devils? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but I'd prefer to be prepared in case they come after me." Father Anderson asked, and I just gave him a shrug.
I didn't see any reason not to tell him, it wasn't like this was some grand secret… and hey, he's not wrong. If the Devils did betray me and I ended up dying or some shit? I would much rather have someone who was able to avenge me.
"Alright, well first up are the Zap Wands they're both the most and least dangerous of them… they're wands that fire off weak magical blasts of any type, so they could hit you with fire, water, holy, anything they can think of. Now that's not the most dangerous part, the most dangerous part is the fact that with every use it grows more powerful, at the cost of costing more to use." I said, causing the man to hum lightly, "Then there are the Divination Cards and Clairvoyance Compact Mirrors. One's a blank card that can show you what you're looking for, while the other is a compact mirror that allows for remote viewing of any target- I don't know if they can get through magical scrying defenses, but I assume that they can't."
"Hrm, okay. Okay, those are rather worrying." He said, stroking his chin in thought.
"Right yeah, and then there's the Thought Acceleration Glasses which do exactly what you'd think, being able to accelerate the thoughts of whoever wears them, and finally are the Disguise Bracelets which let a person store a near infinite amount of outfits and instantly put them on with a thought and a small amount of magic." I told him, finishing with my explanation on what they're capable of.
"Shit, alright. Good to know ahead of time, I guess." He hummed in thought before giving me an exasperated look, "But I just have to ask… what in God's name put it into your head that you had to make a contract with a Devil of all things, ya daft boy?"
"Oh, that's pretty simple. I got attacked by some Fallen Angels, they detected Tomoko's Sacred Gear and were trying to either kill or recruit her- I couldn't let that happen so I ran them off, and well… I exposed myself to the Devils. They currently don't know that it was me who did it, due to some quick thinking and a disguise, but they still know about me having magic and whatnot… so I decided to make sure the Devils couldn't target her." I told the man, an annoyed look making its way to my face as I clenched my fists, still fucking pissed that the blue-haired bitch had attacked me just outside of my family home.
If I didn't get that sealing spell, my family could have been in danger… and if either my mom or sister got hurt, I just knew that I wouldn't be able to forgive myself.
And just like that, I found that I was growing more and more angry with myself by the second, but those thoughts were quickly interrupted by the sound of a glass clinking on the table in front of both Father Anderson and me.
"Oh ecco, ti ho preparato del tè." The pretty nun, Asia said with a cheerful smile as she walked into the room and placed a small cup of tea on the table.
Huh, I hadn't even noticed that she left- probably because I was too busy paying attention to speaking with Father Anderson.
"Grazie, Asia." Father Anderson said with a kindly smile as he picked up his tea and took a sip.
The room practically lit up with the way that Asia smiled at the older priest, before she looked to me curiously.
"Uh, thank you as well, Asia-san." I said with a smile as I took a sip of the admittedly good tea, inwardly cursing the fact that I couldn't properly speak with her due to the language barrier.
…Actually now that I think about it, would it really be that hard to create some sort of translation spell?
"Excuse me for a moment, Father Anderson. I just want to do something really quickly." I said, causing the man to give me a slightly confused nod, as I closed my eyes and pulled on the magical energies within me.
And just like that... my magic, I could practically see it, it was a mixture of red and purple, the same color as my eyes oddly enough.
The magic within me swirled around, sort of like it was a whirlpool of energy within me… or at least, that's what I assumed it was.
Looking up 'above' I could see a giant glowing grimoire floating in the sky, pages periodically floating alongside it. Behind the grimoire, I could see a roaring inferno that was wrapped around a gigantic golden sun that seemed to eclipse everything other than the similarly sized grimoire.
And just to the side of it, I could make out some strangely dark and malevolent aura… it felt like if I went toward it, I would just instantly die.
Then I heard the sound of Ember cawing off in the distance, but when I turned to where her voice came from, I couldn't see her.
I then turned back around and hummed to myself at the marvelous sight in front of me, before focusing on what I was just trying to create.
I had wanted to create a translation spell, sort of like what the Devils are apparently able to do, but just for myself so I don't have to deal with those pesky and annoying language barriers.
Grabbing a handful of the nearly liquid-like red and purple energy that swirled all around me, I stretched and contorted its form, finding it rather malleable.
Then guiding it with my thoughts of wanting translation, I slowly gave it form, this was a strange experience… as I didn't think this was how spells were normally made.
But I was kind of going in blind here, doing whatever I thought would work the best. And if this was what my instincts were telling me to do? Then I guessed that it would work well enough for what I needed here.
After several moments, the magical energies within me took on a sort of form and washed over my body, and I kind of had the general idea that I could automatically translate any language spoken to me, just like that.
I'd have to actually test this out though, of course. I could have just given myself magical cancer or some other shit with that experimentation. But hey, I could probably just use the jelly to heal that if it actually screwed me over.
Not long after, I opened my eyes and found that I was suddenly back in the real world, with Father Anderson looking over me curiously.
"What did you do there, lad? I could practically feel the magic swirling around you." He asked, concern laden in his voice as Asia's hands glowed a bright green and she pressed one on my shoulder.
Strangely I felt my body start getting… better, like I was being healed. Huh, odd. Did she have some sort of healing magic? Was that even a thing?
"Thank you, Asia-san." I said with a smile, causing her to stiffen in shock before I turned back to Father Anderson, "Oh I didn't do much, I just tried to create a translation spell- did it work?"
"Ah, yes. It seems like it worked, Mr. Ryuuji." Asia said in perfect Japanese as she looked at me in awe, causing me to turn back to her in shock.
"…Huh it did work, damn that's nice. You have a lovely voice, Asia-san." I said, my smile turning into a grin, causing her to blush slightly.
I mean, I knew that she had a nice voice from hearing her speak before- but now that I could understand her, it seemed to radiate a warmth that I don't think I've heard before.
"Th-thank you." She stuttered, her eyes darting away in a sudden influx of shyness- she must have not really spoken to a lot of boys, at least that's what I assumed due to her nature as a nun.
"Well that's just fascinating, do I have it right that you figured that you couldn't speak with Asia here, and so you decided to just… magic up a solution?" Father Anderson asked, causing me to give him a nod.
"Yeah, you're just about right there. Though it wasn't due to Asia-san in particular, I just figured that it would be annoying to have to constantly deal with language barriers in the future and nipped that problem in the bud." I said, causing the older priest to let out a bark of laughter.
"Damn, alright… I take back what I said about you before." He said as he slapped his leg, causing me to quirk a brow, "About you not being on par with the likes of Merlin… because you seem to be getting closer to that sort of level with every day."
"Oh, uh thank you I guess? Speaking of magic, do you know anything about light-based magic? I wanted to see about getting some training in that, just in case the Devils uh… well, in case they betrayed me." I asked, causing him to hum lowly.
"Hmm, no. I don't really have any light magic, the best I've got is some simple light daggers, but they're not all that useful- would barely hurt a Low Class Devil, and that's with their inherent weakness to light. I mostly use it to coat my bayonets which have been blessed by myself, forged with holy water, I've inscribed crosses into the blades, and also blessed during the forging process by a bishop, the layers of light and holy natures are what allow me to contend with most Devils." He gave me a small grin at that, brandishing one of his many bayonets which gleamed with a holy light, before he flipped it around in his hand with practiced ease, "But even then… all it allows me to do is contend against Mid Class Devils on equal ground. Now, if I'm on sanctified ground or have a cross with me, then I might be able to fight against a High Class, but those rely on a lot of 'what ifs' and aren't all that useful if they get the jump on me."
"Damn… High Class Devils are that powerful?" I asked, causing the man to nod.
"Yeah it's all fucked… but we already knew that. Just have to have the proper training, a good plan, and a lot of allies alongside you if you want to fight against a High Class Devil." He told me, and I just nodded along in agreement.
From the sounds of it, that would be a damn tough fight, I wouldn't want to get on the bad side of one of those High Class Devils… wait, wasn't Gremory-san one? She had a Peerage after all, so that would make sense.
Damn, how strong was she, if even Father Anderson didn't feel confident in beating someone like her?
"So, uh… about that Light Dagger Spell?" I asked, causing the man to give me a grin. I don't know why, but I didn't like how shark-like that grin of his was.
I almost instantly regretted asking for Father Anderson's help in learning that Light Dagger spell, as he gave me something that he called the 'training from hell'.
The mad bastard instantly told me to go out in the backyard which was apparently some sort of training area, and had me running laps while taking potshots at me with his bayonets.
How this translated to me learning how to make a dagger made out of light, I didn't know. But whenever he'd nick me with one of his bayonets, Asia the blessed saintess herself would heal me and give me a smile, before I was once again forced to run.
Then when I would get used to it, he would start quoting scripture from the bible to me, and his bayonets would fly faster than they did before, and I was forced to dodge out of the way of them again and again.
This all lasted for the rest of the day, the sun coming down and the moon coming up, while I spent all of this time training to apparently learn how to get the spell.
"Alright, stop!" Father Anderson said, causing me to finally and blessedly come to a stop as I looked at the man.
"What is it? Have you decided to stop torturing me and finally teach me the spell?" I asked, which made the man grin.
"Ha, yeah. I was just pullin' your chain there… honestly, I thought you would've given up earlier, kind of makes me feel like an arsehole not stoppin' ya earlier, but hey. At least you got a good workout in!" He laughed, which simply caused me to glower at the man.
"…So this was all for nothing?" I asked, feeling rather annoyed when he shook his head.
"Well no, not exactly. The first hour? That was to determine if you had the potential, the rest was for fun though." He told me, the cruel man that he was, "But hey you had Asia around so I knew you'd be fine!"
"Ah, Ryuuji are you alright?" Asia asked me with a smile, causing me to turn to her… looking into her eyes I just knew that she had no idea that this was all basically one sort of prank.
No, she was too pure for that sort of thing, so I gave her a slightly strained smile in return.
"Yes, Asia-san. I'm fine, I think Father Anderson's going to finally teach me the Light Dagger spell now." I said, causing her to clap happily.
"Oh, that's great! I just know that you'll be able to do great things with it!" She exclaimed cheerfully.
"Hopefully, I'll be able to." I told her, before hissing slightly in pain having been sliced a few times by Father Anderson's blessed bayonets.
"Ah, you're hurt! Here, let me help." She said as her hands glowed a bright green and I felt my wounds magically stitch shut within nearly an instant.
"…Thank you, Asia." I said, causing her to give me a light blush and a shy little smile, "Hey, I've been meaning to ask… what sort of magic is that?"
"Oh no, this isn't magic. This is my Sacred Gear that was given to me by God, it's called Twilight Healing and it allows me to heal anyone's injuries." Asia told me rather happily.
"That's really interesting, so a Sacred Gear can grant someone the ability to heal others? Are there any limits to this ability?" I asked, causing the nun to tilt her head confusedly.
"Um no, I don't think so? At least I haven't found any limits. I mean, sometimes if I heal too much I start to feel tired, but that's about it." She said, after placing a finger on her chin in contemplation. It just made her look so much cuter.
Just being around this girl filled me with the overwhelming urge to protect her and her innocence… and I knew that I could never let her meet Tomoko- or go anywhere near her. She'd corrupt this pure nun, and that would be a horrible fate.
Or maybe I could get lucky and Asia would purify my sister, but no… I shouldn't risk such a thing. The universe was more likely to implode with that sort of paradox than anything else.
So I just gave her a smile and went to talk with Father Anderson before pausing mid-step as I gained a sudden influx of knowledge on a new… transformation.
Bone Daddy - Helltaker - Transformation (100 CP)
You now have an alt-form which is a large bone demon (not a skeleton), which allows you to take harder hits and push giant blocks of stone as easily as the Helltaker could. It also allows you to meld through demonic materials, phasing through them. This also translates to limited control of other demonic materials, such as demonic metals or demonic creatures with weak wills.
Apparently now I was capable of transforming into something called a 'Bone Demon', a large horned skeletal demon with what looked like bone armor on its frame.
It was decently physically strong, not as much as the Firebelly Ogre but good enough. But where it shined was with its ability to go straight through demonic materials, and how it had a limited amount of control of those demonic materials.
So I could theoretically gain some form of limited control over a Demonic Sword, while it wouldn't be able to hit me in this state, the blade just going through my body.
With that though, I went over to Father Anderson, who was able to pretty easily teach me how to actually do the Light Dangger Spell, all it really took was converting my magical energy into holy energy and then shaping it into a small blade.
It was surprisingly simple, but from the expression on the priest's face, I was fairly sure that I'd accidentally just done something considered impossible… again.
Seeing that the sun was already down though, I figured that now was as good a time as ever to head home.
So I said my goodbyes to both Father Anderson and Asia-san, and headed on home.
Estado de energía semanal
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