บท 31: Chapter 31: Nice to meet you, Mr. Dragon
Author's Note: For those interested, there are now three advanced chapters (we're on chapter 34) on P-atreon, which you can read for just $3.
Also I just published the first chapter of my new story: "Tales of Saiyans, Demons and Gods".
And I will publish the second chapter here on Wednesday.
For now I'm prioritizing the multiversal chat story, so the TOSDAG updates won't be as frequent as this one, still, if you can, please go to my profile and check it out, and if you're interested you can see another 3 chapters on my P-atreon, it only costs $3.
Remove the spaces and dash: p-atreon/ Krakenian01
X-X-X-X-X
Ryuichi P.O.V
Kaname Ryuichi: After that, none of them have approached me, but I am completely sure that they are watching me.
I finished telling my entire situation with the devils, until now I had been avoiding talking about this topic with the members of the chat, but, in the end, I felt the need to ask for opinions, and since my options were so limited in the end I decided that my "colleagues" were the only ones with whom I could share my situation and hope for useful advice or points of view.
However, I have to admit that it was a bit complicated to explain what devils were to everyone except Kyujin because Christianity didn't exist in the other worlds.
Ling Yao: Well, it seems like you're pretty cornered.
Leone: If you ask me, you were lucky they took you lightly, but that proves they aren't as dangerous as you thought.
Ling Yao: That's true.
Kyu-chan: They sound like a bunch of amateurs.
Kaname Ryuichi: What do you mean?
Ling Yao: Underestimating an opponent you know next to nothing about is a mistake only made by those without much combat experience, let alone with life or death situations.
Kyu-chan: No one worth their salt would let their guard down enough to be defeated unless they wanted to prove something.
Kaname Ryuichi: What?
Leone: Maybe they wanted to show you that they didn't even have to take you seriously to beat you.
Kyu-chan: But if they want that, the shot backfired, well done Ryu.
Ling Yao: The problem is that after that, who knows what they think of you, I doubt they'll leave you alone.
Kaname Ryuichi: Yes, and although I really don't think they want to harm me, there is only one way to be completely sure that nothing bad will happen, I am going to continue training.
Leone: Heh, it seems that the little man has more guts than I thought, I respect you a little more now.
Kaname Ryuichi: Don't treat me like a child, it won't be long until I turn 18.
Ling Yao: Ha, that sounds like something a child would say.
Kyu-chan: Children must strive to grow strong.
Kaname Ryuichi: Go to hell, all of you.
Leone/Ling Yao/Kyu-chan: Ha.
Kaname Ryuichi: Now on a serious note, thanks for listening to me, I feel a little less pressured now, I have to go, stay safe.
Kaname Ryuichi has gone offline!
After seeing the chat screen disappear, I stretched while lying on my bed, waiting for Touji to finish getting ready for school.
And to pass the time I closed my eyes for a moment before immersing myself in my inner energy, my ki was now completely fine after resting both Saturday and Sunday, which, in my opinion, was somewhat worrying.
I knew that my body was very fragile compared to that of someone like Goku, but I didn't expect that the Kaio-ken could incapacitate me for just over 2 days even though I had completely healed myself physically almost immediately after using the technique.
I had to increase my strength and the control I had over my energy because even with the kaio-ken I had only been able to win because that devil underestimated me.
I did not doubt that even with all my stats increased by double I would not be able to reach the maximum speed of that blonde, I didn't know how fast he was, but if I was forced to make an estimate, I would say that I would have to use a kaio-ken x4 in my current state to surpass his speed by an almost decent margin, which was impossible considering how long my body endured the burden of a simple kaio-ken.
And that doesn't take into account that he wasn't a hand-to-hand fighter, but a swordsman, so unless my fist could break his sword next time or my skin withstand its edge, I would be at a complete disadvantage.
So, what to do? I was not a swordsman, a spearman, or a user of knives, daggers, or any other combat-oriented tools.
In Dragon Ball, after a certain point, almost all the characters were strong enough for those types of weapons to be useless at worst in the cases or a minor annoyance at best, since theoretically everyone should be able to project a blade of energy that covered their arm like Goku Black or throw energy in the form of discs like the Kienzan was.
And even if I managed to take advantage of Goku's knowledge and fight using a staff like he did with Nyoi-bō, or simply using gloves like Heracles from God of War to power my attacks and improve my defense, there was the problem of where to find weapons like those that were durable enough to be worth it.
If I could gather enough to buy things like that from the chat shop I think that would be the best, at least until I was able to use an energy blade that covers my arms, because since I can't use something like Ultra Instinct, I doubt being able to dodge all attacks, and getting cut or stabbed was not on my bucket list to accomplish this year, or any other year for that matter.
"Brother, I'm ready!" Touji's voice brought me out of my thoughts, so I got out of bed, I had already talked to my brother yesterday about what I wanted him to do from now on, but reminding him as we walked to school would be a reinforcement not wasted, especially all if I took into account his slightly rebellious attitude of the last few days.
######
Ryuichi P.O.V
"You… are unexpectedly weaker than I thought." I said while calming my slightly labored breathing.
"Well done, brother." Approaching us now that the fight was over, Touji seemed excited.
"Urgh, shut up, I told you I had never fought before." Said who I had baptized as "the least cool Basara", the boy was lying on the floor in front of me trying to get up.
"I didn't believe you." I responded, after all, I was really surprised by the strength of this demon, I thought that everyone would be more or less at the level of that swordsman and that he was simply good at hiding his power, but based on what I had seen, the only thing that seemed to me was striking was the red glove that made his power double from one moment to the next as if it were a rip-off of kaio-ken.
But beyond that, I didn't see anything particularly impressive, no considerable speed, no overwhelming strength, no plan, no tricks up his sleeve, not even a hint of technique.
"Didn't the president tell you anything about that in the letter?" He said, and I couldn't help but sigh remembering how I got into this situation.
After leaving school and picking up my brother we arrived home, and shortly before I could get ready to go out to train, I received an unexpected visitor, and to no one's surprise, it was, just like the last time, a devil.
But contrary to last time, this time it was not Mio Naruse's long-lost twin, but rather I had to be the host of the one who could easily pass as Basara Toujo's younger brother.
After an awkward introduction, he gave me a letter written by Rias offering me 250 thousand yen to test the so-called Hyoudo Issei and prepare a training routine for him.
Initially, I refused and asked the brunette why he didn't train with his group, and he told me that everyone had gone to train on their own at a complex outside the city while he stayed behind because he was the weakest of them.
I thought that was nonsense, but after the fight and feeling his ki all that time, I had to admit that this boy was quite weak compared to the knight, it's not that his physical abilities were very low, in fact when they doubled, he took me by surprise and almost managed to punch me in the face.
But in terms of technique, although I was not yet a specialist, my skill made enough of a difference that I could dominate him throughout the fight.
"Didn't they say that they hunt down stray devils that enter the city? Are you the support type? If so, I don't know what kind of advice or training I could suggest"
"No, I saw one for the first time recently, and I've never fought with them before, I became a demon recently." He said, and his statement surprised me enough to make me stop the rest of my thoughts.
"What do you mean by that?" I asked, not knowing what he was referring to.
"I… was human until recently." He said after hesitating for a moment.
"What?" That information took me by surprise, and I was sure my expression made my disbelief clear.
"I do not like talking about that." He said looking away.
"No no no, you can't say something like that and then stop, what do you mean you were human before?" I said hurriedly, if this boy was human before and had been transformed into a devil, I wanted to know how that was possible, and who had done it.
Issei ended up sitting down and looked between my brother and me before looking down.
"Hey, uh, I'm sorry if I was rude, you... were forced to transform into a devil? Is that why you don't want to talk about it?" I asked and felt my paranoia slowly returning.
"What? No!" He seemed surprised by my question, and he denied it with a firm voice. "Rias-senpai, I mean, the president saved my life." He said looking directly at me, and I could see that this boy was sincerely grateful to Rias.
"Alright, let's do this, if you tell me what happened and how you became a devil, I promise to help you with one thing you need in the future, okay?" I said, maybe I was being a little careless, but in my opinion, the information I wanted was worth it.
Issei hesitated, but in the end, he sighed and nodded. "Ok"
And that's how I learned more things that I was sure would cause me a headache the more I thought about them.
Fallen angels, special artifacts created by the guy who lived above the clouds, and objects capable of changing the race of humans, transforming them into devil vassals of another devil.
After he finished I sighed and let out my honest opinion. "What a fucking nuisance"
This seemed to take both my brother and Issei by surprise, but I didn't stop and looked at my brother. "You will not leave the house anywhere other than school until these fallen angels are gone"
Touji blinked a few times and nodded, but based on his previous actions, I wouldn't leave any room for misunderstanding or possible excuse. "I'm being serious, you will only go out to class with me accompanying you and back when I pick you up." I said while making sure to be as forceful and clear as possible.
"Y-yes." Touji looked a little nervous but nodded again.
With that clear, I looked at the devil that was with us, in a way I could understand why he was satisfied or even happy to have become a devil, after all, that allowed him to stay alive, but somehow I wondered if that had been the reason why both Sona and Rias had approached me beyond the fact that I was a "member of the supernatural world".
I mean, as far as I believed, none of the meetings had suggested anything that I could interpret as a recruitment attempt, although I was sure that with how "tense" our meetings had been so far there would be no room for a proposition like that.
I decided to put my thoughts on this topic aside, there was no point in thinking about this because whatever the case was I had no intention of surrendering to a system that was basically slavery, or slavery with extra steps at best.
"Putting all those problems aside, can I see your glove again?" I asked, I had my reservations about the God of the Bible, but this was a unique opportunity to see something that had apparently been created by one of the most famous divine entities in history, so I was curious.
"Eh? Sure." He said raising his arm, and after a flash, a red gauntlet with a green gem covered his limb.
I stared at the object for a few seconds before lifting a finger and poking it. "It's pretty flashy, but it doesn't look that threatening." I said trying to guess what material it was made of, it looked like metal, but the texture resembled that of a tile, although it was clear that it was neither of those, this thing was probably the most durable I had ever touched.
"President told me that he is a double critic and that it can double my power." He explained while my brother and I continued picking at the thing, although I didn't notice the moment Touji approached.
"Does it only do that? Doesn't it shoot energy beams like it's Megaman's cannon or something?" I asked, after all, for an object created by literally God, it seemed a little simple.
"No, at least as far as I know." He said, and I could notice a disappointed tone in his voice.
'That doesn't seem right.' I thought as I looked with all possible concentration at the gem, there was something, I had no idea what, but my ki sense picked up something in this glove, as if I were trying to see the inside of a room through the peephole in the door, being unable to see everything.
I took my brother's hand before speaking to him. "Touji, get behind me." I told him, and he seemed a little confused before moving and peeking his head over my shoulder.
"Can I try something? I feel something strange about this thing." I asked looking at the devil in front of me.
He seemed hesitant for a moment before somewhat hesitantly reaching out his arm toward me.
I took his arm and breathed as deeply as I could. 'Okay, let's do something that goes against all my better judgment'
######
Third Person P.O.V
Ki accumulated in Ryuichi's hand, coating his limb with the characteristic layer of semi-transparent energy. "Ok, let's see if this Works." He said before placing his palm on the green gem and pushing his energy into the object just before Issei could say that he had just regretted it and that this didn't seem like a good idea at all.
But before he could say anything the glove quickly absorbed all the energy that had been offered to it, the green gem glowed brightly while the rest of the glove illuminated in a red tone.
The entire light show lasted just a couple of seconds, but when it was over, the object had undergone a transformation, the glove, previously simple in appearance, now had a more refined, but at the same time threatening, appearance, with some spikes protruding from the sides and the fingers looked more like claws now.
However, before any of the three could make a single sound, a fourth voice made an appearance.
"So my current wielder is a devil, huh? Interesting." The voice was deep and domineering, drawing the attention of everyone present.
"What the hell! Why is my hand talking?!" Issei was the first to react by stretching out his arm and shaking it up and down.
"Don't worry kid, I'm not going to hurt you, I'll answer any questions you have, the quicker you understand who I am, the better it will be for everyone." The voice spoke drawing the young devil's attention while Ryuichi, who had taken a few steps back, stood back, observing the situation with Touji behind him.
"It is safe?" Ryuichi asked, approaching slowly.
"I think so?"
"Hahaha, even if I wanted to harm all of you in some way, it would be impossible for me in my current state." The voice spoke again as the gem blinked with light with each word it said.
"You…what are you?" Issei asked looking directly at the glove. "The president told me that double critics could only double the power of their users, not that they could speak"
"Double critical? Kiddo, don't compare me to that trinket, my name is D-draig, one of the 2 celestial dragons, and the weapon you wield is the Boosted Gear"
None of the three responded anything to the words of the so-called Draig.
"Um, that's a little strange, usually people are surprised when I say that"
"Well, everyone here is… pretty new to the supernatural world, so we don't understand much of what you're saying." Issei replied.
"So you're a dragon? Are you… sealed or something? You know, like Igniel inside Natsu?"
"Oh, so now I'm a Dragon Slayer?!" Issei seemed excited at the prospect.
"What? I don't know who this Igniel is, but having a dragon sealed inside doesn't mean that whoever has it will have dragon Slayer abilities, things don't work like that, and that sounds silly." The dragon said, killing Issei's hopes of shouting dragon force while he punched some bad guy.
"Since it seems like you have no idea about anything, I'm going to be as clear as possible, pay attention kid, what I'm going to explain to you is important." He said the self-proclaimed celestial dragon before explaining what he considered the most important things about the Boosted Gear was, and his identity.
X-X-X-X-X
I don't have much to say about this chapter, a few interactions with some members of the chat, and with Issei, now, it seems that thanks to Ryuichi, the boy completely awakened his SG a little earlier than in canon, will this have any impact on the story? Yes, a little, mostly in the short term.
Remember that if you like this story, you can leave a comment, review, and a power stone, that will inspire me to write more, see you in the next chapter.
สถานะพลังงานรายสัปดาห์
-- การจัดอันดับด้วยพลัง 
-- หินพลัง