Tet -
"This will be your new residence. The Church has quarters for staff nearby. Your room has been allotted there already. If you need anything, tell me directly." Masaomi said, guiding me to the Kuoh town's church area.
"Yes, teacher."
"No need to be so stiff. It's already late at night so others must be asleep or on patrols. I will introduce you to them during the morning prayers tomorrow. Be sure to get up by seven for the morning prayers. No slacking off." He reminded me.
"I won't."
"Good then. I will take you around Kuoh Town to get you familiar with the place later tomorrow. Any questions?"
"No."
"Then you can take some rest. You must be tired from the journey." He said as he patted my shoulder.
From the time I had spent with him, he seemed like a good guy but I didn't want to put all my faith in just a feeling.
That's why I had been planning on how to address his situation.
After thinking for three days and nights I could only come up with one plan.
But I needed to verify some things for that.
That will have to wait till tomorrow.
He left after showing me to the room and I too began unpacking… which wasn't that hard when you only had four sets of clothes and equipment as your possession.
x_
"Welcome to Kuoh Town and Japan, Tet." A brown haired man greeted me with a smile on his face.
The next morning after the morning prayers, Masaomi introduced me to the rest of the members of Kuoh Church.
To my surprise, most of them were exorcists with only one priest and no nuns.
This was because Kuoh Town was actually more of a way to restrain Devil influence on the human world, a checkpost of sorts.
Apart from this, the Church had a bigger branch in the neighbouring town which actually managed bigger operations.
"Thank you. Please take care of me during my time here." I replied with a bow.
Masaomi had taught me the Japanese way of greeting people. He said he will be guiding me on the Japanese mannerisms later.
"Ahahahaha, he is a polite one. If I didn't have to take care of Irina, I would have liked to take in an apprentice too." the man laughed as he brushed my hair.
One by one I was introduced to the rest of the church members and after breakfast, Masaomi took me around the town.
"Kuoh town has both church and devil territories. We share very clearly marked territories so keep the borders in mind. We don't go to their side and they don't come to ours. There are however some times when we encounter each other, for those times, try not to escalate the matter. If there is any misunderstanding, call for backup and we try to talk things out. Do not attack first. Understood?" Masaomi warned.
"Yes, teacher. Umm…"
"Hmm?"
"What kind of person is the devil incharge of Kuoh town?" I asked and saw him raising an eyebrow, so I quickly explained what I meant. "I mean, I haven't seen any devils or other supernatural beings yet so I don't know what to think of them."
"Oh! You don't think what they thought in church is true, that all devils are evil?"
"I have seen many people in church say something and do the exact opposite."
"Oh, like?"
"Hmm, like they always tell us to eat only what we need and not crave for meat and yet the Archbishop and some of the higher ups in the church are so fat."
"Pfft!" he snorted a laugh. "That's your reason?"
"I mean, don't you think that's weird? If they don't eat more than they need, why are they fat?"
"Ahahahaha… alright alright… stop that. Don't let anyone hear you say that or you will be punished."
"I haven't said that to anyone's face. I know that's rude."
"Don't say that to anyone at all. Someone might pass the comment on to the higher ups and then you will be in trouble."
"Oh, okay then."
He stopped his laugh and looked in the direction opposite to the church.
"We exorcists are taught not to question the decisions of the higher ups. We are soldiers and soldiers only follow orders."
"Really? But what if the orders are wrong? Who will be the one responsible for the mistakes committed then? Us or them? And what should we do in that case?" I asked.
The man remained quiet at this question for a while before letting out a sigh. "If you truly believe something is wrong, then follow your heart. As long as your heart is in the right place, God will never blame you."
"I see."
"As for what kind of beings devils are? There are as many kinds of devils as there are humans. Some are good, some are bad. It's just that… there are more devils who are bad to us and that's where the church comes in. I am proud that you are not blindly following the books but have some faith. They are not completely wrong either." He said after some thought.
I nodded.
"Then what about the devils in this town?"
"Hmm, the one who manages the devil side of the town is a devil from the House of Belial. She is a high class devil and the little sister of one of the strongest devils alive. That's why any mess here will escalate the matter very quickly."
"Really? I mean is it really that serious?" I asked.
"It is. Listen Tet… everything that you see now, despite the dangers we face… it's still much… much better than a Great War. None of us can afford another Great War, that's why the Three Factions, despite hating each other's guts, are in a state of cold war. If another Great War starts, it will cost the lives of millions if not more. We cannot allow that to happen."
The seriousness in his voice couldn't be faked.
I nodded at his words. "I will keep that in mind."
"Good. You don't need to be that serious. Cleria Belial is a reasonable lady. We haven't had any skirmishes with each other over the years I have stayed here and I hope we can continue it that way. Actually, that reminds me… I will have to take some time to inform her about you being my apprentice and not some rogue exorcist sneaking into the town, to avoid any problems."
"Inform her? You can talk to her?" I asked, pretending to be surprised.
"We are stationed in the same place so it is inevitable that we cross each other's paths and in very rare cases, work together against a third party intruding on Kuoh. That's why we maintain contact with each other. I am the one who takes care of that part in Kuoh."
"Oh."
"Alright now. Do you think you can remember the way back to the Church?" He asked.
"It's on top of a hill so it wouldn't be so hard to remember." I replied, nodding my head.
"Good then. Show me the way back."
We took another round around the town and I found my way back to the church with slight difficulty.
"Go and get cleaned. It's time for lunch." He ordered as he went ahead to wash up himself. "Meet me after lunch. We will see where your skill is."
I did just that and got dressed.
After that, we met and had a little spar and he tested my skill level.
"Your skill level is very good for someone your age. Really, I wasn't this good when I was your age. There are some flaws here and there but we can fix them in time. I will devise a training routine for you later today."
"Thank you, teacher."
"Good. Then you can go and rest. You just had a full sparring session after routine patrols on your first day. You must be tired."
I nodded and then thought of something and spoke up.
"Umm, teacher."
"Hmm?"
"This… I…"
"What's the matter? If you have any problems, you can tell me."
"I… well, this is a bit embarrassing but, I have something for you." I said as I brought out a letter from my pocket and gave it to him.
"What is this?" He asked as he looked at the letter and his eyes widened in surprise. "A letter from the Saintess? Why would she send a letter to me?"
"Umm, Lu… I mean Saintess was from the same orphanage as me and we came to the headquarters together. We were quite close so she left a letter for me in my equipment case. There was also a letter for you and she said to give this to you when I reached Japan. I didn't see it before as it was in the pocket of my shirt in the equipment case. I don't know what's in there but please don't mind if it's something embarrassing. She… doted on me quite a bit back then. I can see her doing something like that."
"The Saintess? I did have a chance to meet her this time. She… seemed…"
"Quite cold and stoic, right?"
He nodded, looking embarrassed at my straightforward words.
"She is like that with people she is not close to… and she seems to have gotten colder somehow. I had only been able to meet her after a year and thought she would have forgotten about me but it seems she didn't."
He looked a bit sad at the information and patted my shoulder. "They carry a very heavy burden on their shoulders. Don't blame them for it. Anyways, thanks for this."
With that, he took the letter and left the church.
I let out a breath I had been holding for so long.
I don't know if this bet would work or not or if things were even the same in this world but this was my only chance. So I decided to use Lucrezia's name.
The envelope and letter was actually from the one she wrote to me. I had just carefully cut it and then changed the contents.
Calligraphy had been hard and it had taken me both the nights in the headquarters to get it done.
Now all I hope is that it works.
This was a risky move on my part as I wasn't sure if they were even together in this world or not.
I didn't want to do this either but the risk of being hunted down by the church and the devil faction together was just too much for me to bear. That is why I asked him questions about his opinions on Devils and the devil in this town.
Apart from this Touji being in Kuoh with Irina still being born as well as Dulio having the Zenith Tempest were all pointing towards a positive direction.
Not like he could do anything with it in case it was wrong.
One inspection would find that the letter was not written by Lucrezia and I never said that she had given the letter to me herself or that she had even talked to me in my time there. To tie up the loose ends and make sure she was not implicated, even by mistake, I had actually copied the real letter from her in the same writing as the one given to Masaomi. Even if Masaomi somehow complains, it will only lead to the conclusion that someone was trying to cause trouble with the Saintess and perhaps increase the security around her a bit.
I had done everything I could and all that was left for now was to wait and pretend to not know anything.
And that's what I did.
I went back to rest.
- Masaomi Yaegaki -
"What do you think of this?" He asked the woman in his arms.
Cleria Belial… his supposed enemy, a devil… how she had become his lover, he didn't know but it was not something he had regretted even one moment.
Both of them were true to their feelings and the only reason they were hiding their relationship was to not cause inconvenience for the other.
To say that their relationship was unusual would be like saying the sun was just warm.
An exorcist and a devil, both were enemies who hunted each other… have been doing so for over a thousand years and yet she had somehow wormed a way into his heart.
They had met each other because they were in charge of the territories and the church side needed someone to maintain contact with the other side.
One thing led to another and in their talks, they realised that they had far more in common than they had thought.
Masaomi found out that devils weren't that different from them… or at least this one wasn't that different from them.
And before they knew it, they had come together as lovers.
"Well I would have doubted this was a move to test the waters from the church side to see what exactly was going on between us but that's out of the question. I just discovered some discrepancies in the Rating Game players a few days ago when I was going through some of my cousin's century old videos in my home. It was just a hunch. I haven't even told anyone about it yet and was only thinking about investigating it but now this letter came. There is no way anyone could have known about it, other than…"
"Other than seeing the future." He completed with a frown.
Saintess Lucrezia Ricci was discovered by the church a year ago and was found to have prophetic visions and immediately recruited into the Church.
These visions were verified by the higher ups from the Vatican and many of them were found to be true, helping the church increase their influence over the past year. But that said, those visions were just vague descriptions of the events. This… this was on another level.
"But this level of visions… I have never heard of anyone possessing this level of future sight… not even some Gods. This Saintess is hiding a lot more than anyone could think." Cleria said.
"Do you think she is planning something bad?" He asked.
"Unlikely. If she did, you would either be getting questioned in a church's holding cell or…" She left it at that. "Even just this information about the King Piece is enough to shake the foundation and the peace of the devil race which is based around Rating Games now. But she not only gave this information away to us but also warned us about our possible futures… so, I don't think she means any harm to us… at least yet."
"But then… why?…"
"Well obviously for your apprentice. Didn't he say that they were close? Apparently the kid didn't realise just how close they were for her to go so far for him. In case you forgot, the girl threatened to chase us to the ends of the world and use any means to ruin us if even a hair on his head was harmed. That's not something a 'Saintess' would say… normally at least."
He winced.
Yes.
For the calm and friendly tone of the entire letter, those last two lines were a clear threat. He remembered the face of that girl… finding it hard to associate such words from her and yet, here it was.
"Then… what do you think we should do now?"
"Well, obviously I don't want any part in this future. While I wouldn't be afraid to die with you… that's not something I would prefer. As for the King Piece, she has made it abundantly clear that we would be ruined if I poked into that topic as we were. Even Diehauser and my family would be implicated if we proceeded without caution. So… let's take it slow. We need to investigate first. How is this apprentice of yours?"
"Tet? He is a very kind child. I have talked to some people at the headquarters about him when he was assigned to me and no one had any complaints about him. He got along with everyone and always helped everyone. Everyone only had good words to say about him. Something which is quite rare as exorcist trainees are often rougher than normal priests and deacons."
"Oh. What else?"
"Despite staying in the Church since birth, he doesn't have a bias against other races. His reason for not believing their words completely was hilarious." He explained the reason and she snorted a laugh at that.
"Very observant to pick up."
"Come on. That's not true or a valid reason."
"It's something observed by an unbiased kid. Can you say that there is not even a bit of truth to that? Kids in orphanages have a tougher time and they grow up faster than most. They are more observant and know how to maneuver around the world better than others. I know some of it is childish thinking but somewhere, his simple thinking holds truth too. Anyways, we are not here to argue about these things. Tell me more."
"More? Then I guess he's very talented. I wasn't even close to his level when I was his age. I haven't known him that long to say anything more."
"Then observe him. See if he knows anything about the letter or its contents. I will work on my end too. I will contact Diehauser and see what he thinks. I will be busy for a few days maybe."
"I was about to bring him to you for introductions. Guess I will have to push that back for a few days."
"Alright. Then let's meet again in a week."
"Hmm."
- Tet -
My next few days were quite a strain on my nerves.
Contrary to my expectations, Masaomi didn't react any differently the next day.
Or rather, he didn't show any different behaviour which was far more suspicious than him actually reacting.
Still, I kept on behaving as normal.
In this week, I got to know the other members of the Kuoh Church much better.
Touji was quite a friendly guy who seemed to adore his daughter and kids in general. He even invited me to his house one day for dinner with them. It was the day I met Irina.
If I had to describe her in a single word, it would be 'tomboy'.
She was a complete tomboy who liked to play with other boys more than girls her age. Her short hair and male way of speaking was adorable in a way.
Touji had apparently told his family that I was a prodigy of some kind that led Irina to ask me a lot about the world. She was already aiming to become an exorcist.
As for Issei, he was a normal kid right now who was just as excitable about stuff as other kids.
That said, I had noticed something else.
I didn't get any points for just meeting them.
But then again, the same was the case with Dulio.
I had only received the points much later.
Perhaps when I actually become friends with them.
I did visit Touji's house sometimes to spend some time with them.
Today however, something changed.
As I was memorising the verses from the Bible, something which was used in the use of Holy Magic.
The one guiding me was Touji, someone who was more well versed in Holy Magic than Masaomi. The latter had asked him for assistance with this part and the man had agreed quite easily.
It was then that something happened.
A notification popped in front of me.
Hidden Mission Completed: Star Crossed Lovers
Cleria Belial and Masaomi Yaegaki are two people from opposing sides who had let aside their differences and come together with sincere feelings.
Unfortunately this act which could have been the first step towards peace between the Three Factions was brutally crushed due to the selfishness and prejudice of a few people.
Change the destiny of Cleria Belial and Masaomi Yaegaki.
Mission Completion Rank: B
Points Awarded: 8
I froze at the notification in front of me.
A Mission?
Hidden Mission?
This was the first time I had encountered something like this.
How did this even work?
Was there a Mission Function in this System?
Dammit…
What exactly was the criteria for the missions?
How was I supposed to get any more missions?
Tell me something more, dammit.
My feelings of frustration must have shown on my face because Touki noticed it and spoke up.
"Is something the matter, Tet?"
"Umm… I… I think I forgot to turn off the tap in the bath."
…
…
…
…
The excuse came out of nowhere and not even the man was expecting something like that but he nodded nonetheless. "Go check."
I nodded and quickly ran ahead to check.
On the way, I quickly opened the status menu.
Name: Tet
Physique: Level 2(1/2)
Spirit: Level 3(0/3)
Mind: Level 3 (0/3)
Magic Power: Level 2(0/2)
Swordsmanship: Level 2(1/2)
Martial Arts: Level 2(1/2)
Holy Magic: Level (0/1)
Marksmanship: Level 2(0/2)
Points Remaining: 10
Devil Fruit Synthesizer [5 Points to Unlock]
Gacha [1 Point per Roll]
Inventory
Ten points.
There really was an increase.
This changes things.
I needed more time to think and experiment, unfortunately now was not the time so I quickly checked the room and then returned back to Touji.
"My bad. It was closed."
"Ahahahaha no matter. It can happen to the best of us. Anyways, the spell we are learning today is quite important. Holy Light is a difficult spell but it is very effective against any demonic creatures or the creatures of the dark. It however needs a lot of preparations to use so it cannot be used in active combat and only to purify cursed and haunted items. We need to cooperate with other priests to cast this spell. "
"But, don't we already use the Light Weapons from the Church? Why not use them instead?" I asked.
"The weapons we use form the Church, the light gun and even the light swords both use light magic. They don't contain holy magic. Light Magic is effective against demonic creatures and the creatures of dark too but they don't compare to the effect of the holy magic. That's why Holy Swords are so important to us and each named Holy Sword user is a treasure to the Church."
"Aren't you a holy sword user too?" I asked. I had seen a Holy Sword in his home too.
"Hahahaha, well, I can use low ranked Holy Swords. I cannot use something like a named Holy Sword. Each one of those people are a pillar of support for the church, the true trump cards of the church. Too bad, not everyone is worthy of using those swords. They have a will of sorts of their own."
The man did seem happy at the fact that he could use Holy Swords but didn't dwell on it too much.
"Actually, Masaomi has the potential to be a high level Holy Sword user. He has the potential and would probably be granted one when he is promoted."
"Oh. I didn't know that."
I did remember him using the Ame no Murakumo no Tsurugi so the guy must have some insane affinity with Holy Swords. Did he not already use that one yet?
Over the next few hours, he taught me a way to invoke the Holy Spell.
The way the church people used Holy Magic was by praying to Heaven who in turn rewarded their prayers with power.
Was it a function of the Heaven's System?
I didn't know.
That said, I made it a point to learn the magic either way.
At the end of it all, the man actually sealed it inside a crystal and handed it over to me.
"Here's a gift for you. This can someday bail you out. Just throw it at a demonic creature if you are in trouble and it can probably stop them for a while. It's not good enough to hurt the stronger ones, but it could give you an opening to escape."
I looked at the crystal in awe. "Can we make more of them?"
"Nope. These crystals are very expensive and used in cartridges of the Light Guns. It is just not feasible to use them as one time consumables for storing Holy Spells of this level. As for the Higher Level Holy Spells, they can't be contained in these crystals, not to mention the amount of effort it needs to cast them. It would probably take Angels coming down from Heaven to actually use that level of Holy Magic."
"Really? Can humans not use Holy Magic in active combat by themselves?"
"Umm, let's see. It's not that no one can do it. But those people are rarer than even named Holy Sword users. For example, Cardinal Strada can use such a level of Holy Magic but he is able to do that due to the direct support of Heaven itself. The degree of mastery and strength he possesses is beyond even many angels. Unfortunately not everyone can replicate that. Holy Light is special even among Holy Magic as it is a combination of Holy and Light Magics. Only Angels and Saints from the Bible have been able to use the Holy Light due to the blessing of God. It's just that… we haven't had any Saints being born in the past few hundred years."
"That's amazing."
"Isn't it? Good now. You memorise these verses and the procedure. We hold group practices every three months. The next practice will be in two months. I hope you will be able to participate in that."
"Okay. I will do my best. Maybe one day I will be able to use Holy Light magic by myself." I nodded.
"Hahahaha that's the spirit. Good boy. Keep training. I would love to say that I had a hand in training a future Saint of church too."
The man laughed as he messed up my hair and left me alone to practice.
It's just that I had too much on my mind to think about this. My entire thinking capacity was occupied by the notification of the System.
How did this hidden mission pop up?
By changing the fates of Masaomi Yaegaki and Cleria Belial.
So does that mean that without me it would have gone the same way it did in the novels?
This led me to think about things that had happened before.
The first time I had received a point was when I had befriended Dulio… or at least that was what I had thought. But thinking about it more closely, it was the day I had beaten him in the exorcist training classes and gained the first position in the class.
Then, it was because of me that he became the second place in that class and I changed the future… was it because of that?
Obviously, this also led us to being friends.
All this time I was thinking that the point was due to me befriending him but it could have been due to something else completely.
Then again, during that test, Dulio had actually awakened his Sacred Gear to shield me.
Was it because he had done so before time?
Then it could be another change in the supposed progression of this world?
Could it really be that?
Next was Masaomi becoming my mentor.
I don't know if he had an apprentice in the novels but me getting chosen meant that the one who was originally meant to be his apprentice was replaced. Another change.
And I was rewarded another point for it too.
The more I thought about it, the more the logic seemed to work.
But why the notification this time?
Was it because the previous changes were too small?
And there was another thing, the completion rate… what did that mean?
Is it because they are not completely out of danger?
No, I probably wouldn't have received the points if that were the case.
Then… because it could have been much better?
Maybe ousting the King Piece scandal and the ones behind it trying to silence Cleria?
Who knows?
But if my hypothesis is correct then I need to test it out as soon as I can.
Changing the future of this world… what else could I do?
And just like that several things came into my mind.
No.
I need detailed plans for those.
There was another thing which needed my immediate attention right now.
Status.
I called on the Status Menu in my head.
The menu appeared and I chose directly to unlock the Devil Fruit Synthesizer option.
5 points disappeared just like that.
That said, the Devil Fruit Synthesizer option was now unlocked.
Name: Tet
Physique: Level 2(1/2)
Spirit: Level 3(0/3)
Mind: Level 3 (0/3)
Magic Power: Level 2(0/2)
Swordsmanship: Level 2(1/2)
Martial Arts: Level 2(1/2)
Holy Magic: Level (0/1)
Marksmanship: Level 2(0/2)
Points Remaining: 5
Devil Fruit Synthesizer
Gacha[1 Point per Roll]
Inventory
I opened the menu and quickly looked over the functions.
The Devil Fruit function allowed me to create any devil fruit but the process was not so straightforward either.
I could create an invisible spherical field, similar to Trafalgar D. Water Law's Room but only visible to me, and encase the material or item I want to make a Devil Fruit out of inside the field.
This would give me the options of the fruits I can make with those materials.
My Devil Fruits do not have any weaknesses like One Piece's Devil Fruit which were weak against seastone and water.
Any person could only eat one devil fruit. This rule still remained, which wasn't that bad to be honest.
The only exception to this rule was myself who could eat 3 Devil Fruits, one of each type, Paramecia, Logia and Zoan.
I couldn't make duplicates of any fruits.
When any devil fruit user died, the Devil Fruits were returned into my Inventory.
This was something I was very grateful for.
It prevented the whole mess of having to run around and search for these Devil Fruits everywhere in case some user died, not to mention the risk of it getting into the hands of someone I didn't want them to.
That said, if someone does somehow attain the power of a devil fruit by some chance, I couldn't just snatch it away from them.
Without any delay, I tried it out.
Now, what material should I try first?
Let's try something normal first.
I brought out a candle and lit it up.
Then took a step back and opened the Devil Fruit Synthesizer option, and spread the zone to envelop the fire.
One after another several options appeared in front of me.
Fire Fire Fruit [Paramecia] [5 Points]
Heat Heat Fruit [Paramecia] [5 Points]
Flame Flame Fruit [Logia] [10 Points]
… points.
Those damn points again.
But still, the Flame Flame Logia needs 10 points.
As for Fire Fire and Heat Heat Paramecia, I wasn't going to waste the time on those.
There were much much better options. Then again, there were probably better options for Logia too.
No, I only had three choices and these choices could make the difference between life and death for me.
I can't hurry this one.
I need to make a list.
I need to make a list of which fruits I want for myself and how I can earn more points.
Sure it was a lot of work but becoming strong was never easy.
I have been worrying so long about how to get points and now that I had another clue, I wasn't going to take a step back just because things were hard.
And so I got to work.
My Devil Fruits need to complement each other to get the full use of these powers.
Not to mention, this was not the One Piece world so there was no Haki but there was Magic and several other types of power systems so who knows how they would interact with the Devil Fruit powers?
This needs a lot of research and thinking.
Over the night I tried my Devil Fruit Synthesizer over many different things.
Spark Spark Fruit [Paramecia] [5 Points]
Lightning Lightning Fruit [Logia] [10 Points]
Rubber Rubber Fruit [Paramecia] [4 Points]
Wood Wood Fruit [Paramecia] [4 Points]
Plant Plant Fruit [Paramecia] [5 Points]
Forest Forest Fruit [Logia] [10 Points]
Air Air Fruit [Logia] [10 Points]
Scanning the cooking gas earned me another useful Fruit.
Gas Gas Fruit [Logia] [10 Points]
Poison Poison Fruit
Scanning the Exorcist Weapons gained me several great results too.
Weapon Weapon Fruit
Blade Blade Fruit
The Light Cartridges gave me something great.
Flash Flash [Paramecia] [5 Points]
Light Light [Logia] [10 Points]
And finally the last one I scanned was the crystal given to me by Touji.
Holy Light [Logia] [12 Points]
It was actually two points higher than other Logia I had scanned.
Was it because of the dual elements?
After all, it had both the Holy and Light powers?
Which other elements would be similar?
Holy Lightning and Holy Flames were a thing too.
Would they cost higher too?
I will have to check it somehow too.
x_
"Tet nii-san, why do you look like a panda?" Irina asked me as I ate my breakfast.
I had been invited to Touji's house for breakfast.
"Ahahahaha, he was too excited yesterday and last night and didn't sleep." Touji laughed.
He wasn't wrong.
I was indeed too excited last night and couldn't sleep but not for the reason he was thinking. He thinks I was excited to learn Holy Magic while the actual reason was that I had spent the entire night trying to explore the System and list out which Devil Fruits I wanted for myself and how to get them.
Devil Fruits, even of the same type, have different values.
Two Paramecia could have different values and the same went for the Logia Fruits. That said, the degree of fluctuations was the most in Paramecia Fruits.
In fact, I was not even close to testing out everything.
Capturing phenomena like Vibration was easy but there were several things which were very hard to capture.
I had no idea how I could capture something like… gravity, emotions, or luck.
As for Zoan, something with the power/energy of the one I am trying to make a Zoan for. There was however a rule. The better the material, the less the cost of the Fruit.
For example, if I had just a nail of someone, it could need 10 points for the Devil Fruit but if I had the whole hand of the said being, it could take me 5 points. The points would not go below half the maximum number of the required points obviously but even this changed a lot of things.
Another thing was that I couldn't use any living being directly inside the sphere. Last night I didn't have anything I could get my hands on… except Mosquito and Ants but both of them could be made into Zoans costing 3 points each, and that was because I just killed the mosquito and ant and directly used their whole bodies as materials for the creation of the Devil Fruit otherwise both would have cost me 5 points.
If even insects had this much cost, then how much would stronger beings cost? And how do I even make such Devil Fruits… by collecting the blood or DNA of Mythical Beings? That's crazy.
Ultimately, I was awake all night because of all this and now I feel like shit.
"You shouldn't skip out on your sleep, Tet-kun. That's not good for your health." Touji's wife, Yumi-san said as she served us some more food.
"I will keep that in mind." I agreed.
"So, what's your plan for today?"
"I… Sensei said that he will take me to…" I looked at Irina and her mother and considered my words. "The other side of the town for some introductions so as to avoid any unnecessary misunderstandings later."
"...alright. Keep yourself safe." Touji nodded seriously, ending the topic then and there.
"Hmm."
"So you have the morning free today? Then can we play at the park? Issei will be coming there too." Irina cheered up.
"Hmm, alright. We can go there." I agreed.
They had the summer holidays and played around all day, even inviting me along.
We finished breakfast and I left with her to go to Issei's house and then to the park.
"Nii-san, see the castle I made." I heard the shout of the kids.
"Hahahaha, that's great. But you have two pieces of sand all over your head. Here, let me get it off for you." I said as I brushed the sand from their head, in the process getting a few strands of Issei's hair too. "Yosh, that's done. Go on, play now."
As the kids nodded and rushed off to play, I grabbed the hair in my hand and used the Devil Fruit Synthesizer on it.
Human Human Fruit [Zoan] [5 points]
Dragon Dragon Fruit Model: Ddraig Y. Goch [Zoan] [25 Points]
Bloody hell…
25 Points?
If Ddraig costs this much then how much will stronger beings will cost?
What about Ophis and Great Red? They would absolutely cost some insane amount.
x_
"Is this the place?" I asked, looking at the large Victorian mansion in front of me.
It was a two storied building which had a dull gray colour and blue tiles. The walls were covered to the top with vines with flowers on them.
The lighting around the house was a bit low and it was silent enough for us to hear even the wind passing through the leaves, something which gave the whole place a more… creepy feeling.
"Yes." Masaomi said as he opened the gate and walked inside.
I looked around one more time and followed him quickly.
He knocked at the door and the one who opened was a woman in a kimono.
She had pink hair and blue eyes and bowed to us. "Miss Cleria is waiting for you."
"Thank you, Miyamoto-san." Masaomi bowed and followed her.
We were led to the living room of the place where a woman with greyish white hair and golden eyes sat reading a book.
The one called Miyamoto bowed in front of her. "I have brought the guests."
"Thank you, Miyabi."
The girl bowed once more and moved to the side of the room.
"Welcome, Masaomi Yaegaki. I take it that this is the apprentice assigned to you?" the woman who I now knew was Cleria Belial said as she took a look at us.
Masaomi nodded. "This is Tet."
They are certainly doing a good job to hide their relationship.
"Hello." I greeted her.
"Oh hello. Please have a seat. I wasn't in town for the last few weeks so imagine my surprise to learn that the Kuoh Church has a new member. You seem a bit nervous. Are you perhaps afraid of me?"
I looked at Masaomi and he nodded. Oi, what the hell is that even supposed to mean?
Getting no other response from him, I turned towards the woman in front of me.
"Not so much as afraid as unsure of what to say. This is my first time meeting a devil and not in a situation I have been taught all my life to respond to. I am currently adjusting to it."
"Oh how so?"
"Like I am not sure if I should say nice to meet you or if I should bow due to polite Japanese manners I was recently taught or would that be heretical. I need more time to come to terms with this."
"Hehehehe that's… understandable. Take your time. You are already doing better than most other people."
"Thank you."
"Well, nice to meet you Tet. As for the introductions, although I am sure you already know about me, I will still introduce myself. My name is Cleria Belial, a High Class Devil of the House of King Belial and the governess of Kuoh Town's Devil territory. This is my Knight and only peerage member Miyabi Miyamoto. We are the only ones who manage this place." She then looked at Masaomi and asked. "Have you told him about the reason you brought him here?"
"Not yet. I thought it would be better to explain it in front of you to get your opinion too. After all, there is a high chance that he might be the one carrying out the correspondence in my stead in case I am absent in the future."
"Ah I see. Well thought." She nodded and turned towards me. "Tell me. What do you know about the relationship between the Three Factions?"
"We are at war… umm… kinda war." I answered, trying to sound confused.
"Hmm, the term for that is cold war. But I am not talking about that. The Three Factions have always had a very complicated relationship with each other. We fight with each other but at the same time we stand together against outside forces. Now, do you know why you know why you are here?"
I nodded. "So that you don't mistake me for an intruder and attack me."
"True. But do you know who these intruders are?"
"Umm, criminals?"
"Hmm, true. Stray Devils and Stray Exorcists are our targets most of the time, and are criminals for both sides. There are however others. Inside Japan, while the majority of youkai and onmyoji are fine with keeping out of our territory, there are always some who enter here to cause trouble. Man-eating youkai sometimes wander around here or sometimes they are just born here and onmyoji practitioners sometimes can be pretty brutal too." She explained patiently.
"Then there are the Fallen Angels, a common enemy of both sides… and also the side where the strays of the church all gather at. They would love nothing more than to see both sides fight and die out together and thus they also tend to cause a lot of trouble here. That's why the most common enemy we get here… Stray Exorcists." Masaomi took over. "That's why a new face, an exorcist, attracts fire from both sides. We already knew your face but it was also important to show your face here."
"I see. Am I expected to do anything else?"
"No. We just respect each other's boundaries and do what we are supposed to do."
"Alright."
"Well, in that case, I have some news for you. According to the news we have obtained, a group of man-eating youkai have been seen in the neighbouring town. There have been some murders. Even some onmyoji were killed. There is a chance that some of them might intrude in our territory too. Keep an eye out for them."
Masaomi grew serious at this and sat up straight. "How sure are you of this?"
"This came straight from my brother's sources. He informed me personally when I went to the Underworld this time."
"Can't we take the first step here?"
"Well, as much as I would like to do that, the territory they are in right now belongs to youkai. We cannot intrude there first no matter the reason or it would cause a whole other problem. As long as they don't enter Kuoh Town, it's their business. Obviously, this is just for the devil side. I can't speak for the Church side though."
"I see. In that case, thank you for giving us a heads up." Masaomi said as he got up. "I need to inform the rest about this too."
"Very well. Miyabi, see them off."
"Yes, Cleria-sama."
The woman led us outside and we took off on our own.
"Any questions about today's meeting, Tet?"
"Hmm. Why was she the one who explained things to me?" I asked.
This was something which had been bugging me for a while now. Why would an exorcist allow a devil to explain things to his apprentice?
I knew they were together but they were obviously trying to hide it from everyone.
Or was it that they were now giving me hints because of the letter?
"Because I wanted you to talk to her on your own. Communicating with other factions, especially those unfriendly with us is also something every able exorcist must encounter. Sometimes our targets hide in the territories of other factions or groups who don't have the best relationship with us. In those cases, it is necessary to get their permission before we can pursue our targets or it could escalate tensions between us and the faction whose territory we are intruding. Unfortunately, this skill is not something a lot of church people possess. Most exorcists have very bad communication skills. Trust me, sometimes more lives can be saved with words than with swords." He said, patting my head.
"But why would she help us teach me how to do well? Wouldn't that be a bad thing for the devils?"
"Cleria Belial is a… relatively tolerant devil. In fact, the conversation we had just now, was only because it was amusing to her so she did it on a whim. As for it being a bad thing for her, that's not exactly true either. In a few years, Touji-san will leave Japan for Irina's training in the headquarters. I might get promoted or maybe transferred too and there will be a high chance that you will be the one in charge of Kuoh. If that happens, you will be the one dealing with her. Having someone who has a better relationship with her to deal with will be much more preferable than someone who hates her just for being a devil."
Wasn't that because she was worried about you?
You were too comfortable there. Even if I didn't know about your case, I would have been doubtful.
"Well… she didn't seem that bad."
"Oh. You thought so?"
"I mean she didn't do anything bad to me and even gave us that information about the man-eating youkai."
"That was probably a sign of goodwill."
"What do we need to do about the youkai then?"
"Hmm, that will depend. I need to discuss it with Touji and the rest of the members but we might have to increase our patrols especially around our side of the town since that's the side bordering the youkai territory." He said, seeming to be in a thought.
"Umm, I can understand why the devils won't do that but don't we at the church protect humans? Why can't we go and exorcise those youkai? How is that a problem?"
"Politics. Unfortunately, politics is something which is involved everywhere. While a move from us could potentially help a dozen lives, it could also cause a war between the church and the youkai and lead to the deaths of hundreds. We don't have the authority to make such decisions based on our thoughts alone. That's why we need to report it to the church and get the opinions of everyone."
Seriously, not even supernaturals were left out by politics…
We went directly to the Church that day to inform everyone about the information we had just received.
Seems like there will be trouble in the coming days.