High School DxD - Archmage

Chapter 1

Rage. Pure and unbridled rushed through his veins. He'd never felt such anger in his short life. The burning rage fueled his desire to live, to destroy the bastards that had placed him in his current situation.

Just a few days ago he was a normal guy. Well... mostly normal. He did have a special ability that no one else he knew seemed to have. It made him slightly special, but only slightly. He had the ability to think faster than normal people. So fast that, sometimes, the world around him seemed to slow to a crawl. It gave him more time to think, which was really helpful when taking his exams at school.

He'd planned to leverage the ability to get himself a first class education. After graduating high school he planned to emigrate to the United States and enroll in M.I.T. To get the best education he could in his chosen field, computer technology.

Things had been going great for him! He was top of his class with a First-Class Degree, the equivalent of an A, or four point zero G.P.A. in the United States. It was while celebrating his achievement of becoming the 'Head Student', or 'Valedictorian' as the Americans would call it, that he met Jeanne. She was gorgeous, long golden blonde hair, sky blue eyes, a perfect face, and a body men would kill for.

And she only had eyes for him the whole night!

He'd never really talked to women, too focused on his studies for something like that. Even so, he had managed to go on a few dates here and there, though nothing ever came of it with any of those women. It was fine though, his education came first. There would have been plenty of time for women after he had a job making millions in the tech industry!

Yet, Jeanna had spent the night talking to him, making him feel something he'd never felt before. His pulse had raced when she'd invited him back to her place. When she led him out of the club by the hand, he couldn't help asking himself if he was really so lucky.

He wasn't.

With Jeanne leading him by the hand, he hadn't paid an iota of attention to where they were going. He really should have. Without any warning, something had slammed into the back of his head. He'd barely registered the pain while darkness consumed his mind.

When he'd woken up, he'd been in a sand pit with the single worst headache of his life. Before he could get his bearings, a man had appeared on the other side of the sand pit. The guy had been huge, at least two meters tall, and covered in muscles. He wore the weirdest looking clothing too, like a crazy mix of a Japanese school uniform and ancient leather armor.

The man had clearly been crazy because as soon as he appeared, he'd shouted about fighting to the death and something about a Sacred Gear. Then the man did something impossible, he made an explosion with just his hands. 'It's a trick!' had been the first thought...

That didn't last long.

Despite all of his questioning and eventual begging, he'd been forced to fight to weird man. It did not go well. Even using his mental ability to the maximum he could, even pushing it further than he ever had before, he could do nothing but prolong his pain and suffering as the large man beat him half to death.

He'd lain, broken and bleeding in the sand while the large man derided him for being weak. What kind of sick joke was that? He was just an average guy! How was he supposed to fight a two-meter-tall wall of muscles that could punch explosions?! Especially when he'd never been in a fight ever in his life.

It wasn't fair.

The only saving grace was that he'd passed out from the pain and drifted into blissful unconsciousness.

Unfortunately, he woke up in even more agony. He writhed in agony as some horrible black wriggling thing burrowed into his chest. His veins felt like they were filled with acid as the snake-thing dug into him.

Even through the pain, he felt something he'd never felt before, power. He had no idea what the power was, how to use it, or what it was even capable of. All he knew was that at the same time he felt like he was dying, he also felt stronger than he ever had.

Then it happened. Something inside of him, something deep inside a place he never knew existed, cracked. The acid in his veins felt like nothing compared to the agony rolling through his entire being when whatever it was cracked. Something fundamental, so intrinsic to his being that he couldn't live without it, had fractured.

The agony was so intense that he couldn't even scream. So deep that no surgeon could reach it to stitch it back together. His very being, his... soul, was broken. He knew he was dying. He didn't know why, or how, just that he was.

He welcomed it.

Anything to get away from the pain that filled his entire being in ways he'd never even imagined as being possible. When the darkness encroached, he embraced it, welcomed it into his very being with gleeful relief. His suffering would finally be over.

And yet...

And yet he was awake once more. Thankfully, he didn't feel any pain. That relief had been short-lived and rapidly replaced with the seething rage filling his veins where once the burning acidic pain had been.

REVENGE.

That was what filled his furious mind. Jeanne, the bitch, and the guy who'd beaten him half to death. They needed to pay for what they put him through. He didn't know how, or when, or anything really, but he would find them and he would make them suffer like they had made him suffer. They would pay!

“Ara? You're awake?”

He jerked in shock at the soft, feminine voice coming from nearby. His head whipped around to find the person that spoke and froze when he did. Jeanne had been beautiful, even with his new hatred of her he could admit that. But the girl he was looking at now? She was beautiful too, but that didn't seem to be the right way to describe her. No, she was... Sinfully gorgeous.

Standing in the doorway of the room he was only now noticing he was in was a woman around his age. Maybe a year or two younger, given the school uniform she was wearing. Though, 'wearing' might not have been the proper word. It was like the uniform was painted onto her voluptuous body. The uniform seemed designed to show off her glorious assets, what with the corset top accentuating the largest bust he'd ever seen and the short skirt showing off thick, long, and pale thighs.

His eyes finally trailed above her breasts to get a full look at her, and he found himself breathless, his rage completely forgotten at the sight of her beauty. He first noticed that she was clearly Japanese. She had long black hair held in a high ponytail that still reached down to the floor. Then he noticed her eyes and was stunned once more. They were a gorgeous shade of violet that reminded him of amethyst crystals.

Seeing him looking at her, the young woman gave him a bright smile and he swore he felt his heart skip a beat.

“How are you feeling?” She asked while taking a step toward him.

That single step shattered the moment. Adrenaline flooded through his system as his recent memories of the last time a gorgeous woman had approached him flashed through his mind once more. Fear, paranoia, and anger suffused him, causing his wide-eyed stare to immediately turn into a heated glare. He tried to jump to his feet off of the bed he'd paid no attention to to defend himself. Unfortunately, his body was still extremely weak, causing him to crash to the floor in a heap, tangled in the blanket he'd been covered with.

He struggled fiercely to get himself free, but froze at the sound of giggling. He stopped struggling to glare hatefully at the young woman who was politely covering her mouth with a hand as she giggled at his predicament.

She stopped when she noticed how he looked at her. She cleared her throat and smoothed out the front of the skirt she was wearing while donning a more serious look, “I apologize for laughing. I didn't mean to upset you.”

He continued to glare at her even as she continued to ignore said glare, “My name is Himejima Akeno, or, I suppose, that would be Akeno Himejima to you since you're English.”

Even as he continued to glare and struggle out of the tangle he'd gotten himself into with his weakened body, Akeno continued in a very serious manner, “I know you have no reason to trust me, but you're safe here. All we want to do is protect you.”

He growled out a single word, the one that concerned him the most, “We?”

Akeno nodded, “As I said before, I am Akeno Himejima, Queen of Rias Gremory's peerage. You're currently in our hotel suite in London. We brought you here after my King, Rias, revived you.”

That statement caused him to pause in his feeble struggles. He stared at her with a bit of shock, “R-revived?”

With a truly serious look on her face, Akeno nodded, “There's no easy way to say this, but when we found you, you had just died. My King used one of her precious pieces to resurrect you as a member of her peerage. Without her, you would be dead in an alley right now.”

He completely froze at her words. He wanted to deny them, but he knew they were true. He could feel their veracity in his bones. He... He died. He was dead and somehow, some way, he'd been brought back to life by the person Akeno called her King. Odd choice of word aside, after all King's were men, not women, he felt a debt toward this Rias deep in his soul.

Akeno let silence reign for a few moments before she spoke once more, “I realize this is a lot to take in, and normally I would not be so blunt, but given the state you were in when we discovered you, I felt it best to be as straightforward as possible. Take a few moments. When you're ready, there is some clothing that should fit you in the closet. I will meet you in the main room when you are ready.”

With those final words, she left the room, gently closing the door behind her. He had to admit, even if only to himself, that he felt slightly safer being alone. It took him a few minutes to finally release himself from the confines of the blanket he was tangled within. Frankly, it was embarrassing how weak he felt.

Once free of the blanket, he climbed onto unsteady legs and made his way to the closet Akeno had pointed out. Opening it revealed a variety of men's clothing. He dug around a bit before he found something he liked. He started with a pair of black jeans, added a dark grey button-up shirt, and tossedon a black vest over it. There were no shoes so he was left in just his socks when he finally exited the room, which he noticed was extremely well appointed.

Outside of the room he found himself inside of a living room with furniture that probably cost more than the mortgage of his parents entire house. Standing off to the side, behind a service cart, was Akeno. Sitting in a nice leather chair and sipping a cup of tea was yet another stunning woman.

Seriously, what was up with the number of absolutely drop dead gorgeous women he'd been meeting lately? This new woman was just as stunning as Akeno, maybe even more so. Unlike Akeno, she sported more European features that matched her crimson red hair, clear blue eyes, and pale white skin. Even her figure was more than a match for Akeno, though it looked like her bust was just the tiniest bit smaller. Not that it detracted from her beauty in the least.

He watched, almost mesmerized, as she uncrossed her legs and then recrossed them. He swallowed, heavily, before shaking it off and frowning, “Who are you?”

Akeno took the question, “This is my King, yours now too, Rias Gremory, Heiress of the Gremory Clan of the Seventy-two pillars of the Underworld.”

He stared, a little confused. He still wasn't sure what was going on. Especially after the talk about resurrection. Even if, deep down, he knew Akeno had bee truthful, it was still hard to accept.

Silence filled the room for almost a minute before Akeno cleared her throat, “It's polite to introduce yourself when someone is introduced to you.”

He looked between the two women for a moment, then sighed. Never let it be said that he couldn't be a proper gentleman, “Alexander Avery.” He looked past them toward what he believed to be the exit to the massive hotel suite, “I would like to leave now.”

The pair looked at each other and then back to him. This time it was Rias that spoke and he found the sound of her voice to be quite pleasant, “I'm afraid that's not a good idea, at this time.” Seeing the look of anger quickly building on his face, she continued, “There are things you need to know, important things.”

Her words didn't lower his glare one bit. Rias glanced at Akeno, then back to Alexander, “As Akeno told you, you died. I resurrected you, but that comes with a few strings attached.”

His eyes narrowed and he grit his teeth, “What strings?”

“There's no simple way to say this. Akeno and Myself are... Devils. And now, so are you.”

Alexander scoffed, “What kind of bull-”

He was cut off as a pair of black leathery wings suddenly sprouted from Akeno's back. He was further stumped when Rias calmly rose to her feet and sprouted a pair of wings herself. More concerning, was the 'whump' sound that came from behind him and the sudden feeling of weight on his back. Slowly, almost mechanically, he turned his head to witness a pair of wings sprouting from his own back, “The fu-”

“Ahem.” Akeno cleared his throat cutting him off.

Alexander focused back on the pair of women with a glare, “What did you do to me?!”

The wings on the backs retracted, prompting his own to do the same. After retaking her seat, Rias addressed him calmly, “I used an item known as an Evil Piece to resurrect you and in turn make you a member of my peerage.”

As she spoke she held her hand out and and honest to god magic circle appeared hovering over the palm of her hand. A small intricately designed box appeared within the circle that disappeared shortly after being created. Rias opened the box to reveal a collection of chess pieces, with several of them missing.

On his end, while shocked, and even curious about the magic circle, Alexander didn't like the sound of anything labeled as 'evil' in the least. His eyes narrowed into a sharp glare, “You used something blatantly labeled as EVIL to bring me back from the dead? W-what the hell did you do to me?! Am I going to hell now?!”

Rias giggled at his questions, which really only served to piss Alexander off further. Seeing that, she quickly spoke up, “No, nothing like that. While Devil society is based in the Underworld, it is distinctly different from any version of hell you would be aware of.”

That caught him off guard, “Version of hell?”

Rias sighed and crossed her legs while looking serious, “I probably should have started by saying that just about anything you've heard about mythology or the supernatural is most likely real. Gods, angels, demons, yokai, and more. Devils are part of what's known as the Abrahamic Faction, along with Angels and Fallen Angels.”

Alexander frowned, “Are you saying God-” He grimaced as a sharp pain lanced through his skull, stopping his mid-sentence.

“Ah, yeah, you can't speak his name, pray to him, or anything similar or it causes pain.”

He grunted but continued where he left off, “You're saying he's real.”

Rias nodded, “As real as you or I. The Angels and Church serve as his hands. I should explain about the Great War. When Lucifer rebelled against his father, he created the Devils to serve as his army. As the war began, Angels were tempted and began to fall. It became a three-way battle between them all and lasted for thousands of years. After one particularly devastating battle, a cease fire was called. That cease fire is still holding to this day, though all it would take is the proper spark to reignite the war.”

“As fascinating as that all is. What does it have to do with the here and now and what you've done to me?”

“I was getting there. With the war on hold, all sides wanted to begin building up and recovering from their losses. Unfortunately, Devils have an exceptionally low fertility rate. It can take hundreds of years for a couple to conceive a single child. In fact, having more than a single child in a century is considered our version of a miracle. Then, one of our greatest leaders came up with the Evil Piece system. By using these objects, we can reincarnate anyone aside from gods and Buddhas into a devil. Those, like me, build a peerage using these pieces.”

She uncrossed and recrossed her legs to get more comfortable while she continued to explain, “We found you abandoned in an alley moments from death. We don't know how you got there or what happened to you, but...”

She swallowed and shuddered, “When I looked into your eyes, I could see your desire to live. One of our primary jobs is fulfilling the desires of others. I granted your fervent wish and revived you using one of my precious Evil Pieces. Now, you're a member of my peerage, a member of my family.”

Alexander gave her a blank stare, “I have a family already.”

Rias paused for a moment. That was something she wasn't used to. Every member of her peerage so far had lacked a family of their own and had easily transitioned into her peerage. To make matters worse, he was English and naturally lived in England, while she was in charge of a territory located in Japan. Well, lucky for her she had a very powerful family to help her out with her newest family member.

“That wont be a problem. My family is quite powerful. It shouldn't be very hard at all to get your mother, father, or even both great job offers so they'll move to my territory.”

He stared at her, “Your territory?”

Rias nodded, “Together with a friend of mine, we rule over a small city called Kuoh, in Japan.”

He gave her a flat stare, “You want me and my parents to move all the way to Japan just to keep me with you?”

She nodded enthusiastically, “I do! Like I said, you're family now. Family should stick together.”

He frowned, “What if I don't want to go all the way to Japan? I have friends and family here. My school is here. My home is here. I've lived here all my life! I don't want to move halfway across the world!”

Rias looked uncomfortable, “I can sympathize with you. It's not something that has to happen right this second. I'll only be here for a few more days for MCM Comic Con.”

Alexander deadpanned at her after hearing that, “You're a devil anime nerd?”

Rias pouted and puffed out her cheeks, he refused to admit how adorable it made her look, “I'm not a nerd! I'm an otaku, thank you very much.”

If anything, her reply just made his gaze even dryer. She looked mildly embarrassed under his gaze causing Akeno to cover her mouth while she giggled at her King. Rias huffed at her Queen, but kept her attention on Alexander as she spoke to him, “I realize its not the most convenient thing, but you do need to come to Japan with me when I return.”

Alexander scoffed, “Not happening. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to go home. It's been days since those bastards kidnapped me, and I'm sure my parents are freaking out.”

Without another wor,d he started to make his way out of the hotel room. He completely ignored Rias calling out to him repeatedly. It wasn't hard to find his way out of the room and into an elevator heading down to the ground floor. Within a few minutes, he was out on the streets and finally noticed the time thanks to it being dark out.

It was around that time that he realized something very important.

He had nothing on himself.

All of his things had been taken from him when he was kidnapped. His wallet, cell phone, and even his cheap Timex watch had been stolen from him. Without his wallet, he had no way to pay for a cab and lacked his transit passes.

That wasn't going to stop him. He quickly walked around the side of the hotel getting between it and another building. He looked around to make sure he was alone before releasing his new appendages from his back. Sure, he'd never flown before and wasn't exactly clear on how it worked, but he was smart enough to figure it out!

With a simple flex of his will, he activated his special ability. The world around him slowed a small amount. He couldn't slow things down too much, or he would be thinking significantly faster than he could react. With how he was using his ability at the moment, he had essentially given himself reflexes faster than any human could hope to match. Those reflexes should be an excellent help in learning to fly!

Just as he flexed his new wings, trying to get a feel for them, pain lanced through his skull. It was as if someone had driven a red hot poker right through his brain. The moment he felt the pain his concentration faltered and his ability shut off.

Moments later he was barely coherent and incapable of understanding how he'd found himself laying on concrete. Less than a minute later that was where Rias and Akeno found Alexander, laying on the concrete, curled up into a ball, and groaning in pain.

Both women looked concerned and quickly used magic to lift him up and bring him back into the hotel. Liberal use of simple memory magic kept anyone from remembering the incident.

It didn't take too long, less than an hour, for the pain to fade enough for Alexander to once more pay attention to the world around him. His head still throbbed with a rather nasty headache that put his worst migraines to shame, but it was still better than what had come before.

He was, once again, in the bed he'd woken up in not too long ago. This time it was slightly different though. For one thing, he was certain the clothing he'd put on had been taken off. Second, he was not alone in bed. He could feel the heat of someone else's bare skin pressing against his own. Opening his eyes showed him a sight he wasn't sure how to process.

A head of bright red hair.

As he shifted, the head of hair moved and he found himself looking into the concerned eyes of Rias Gremory from up close. She was the first to speak, “Are you alright?! We found you collapsed on the ground outside!”

Alexander let out a groan at the sound of her voice. While he found the timbre pleasant, the volume hurt like hell at the moment, even if she wasn't shouting and was only speaking normally. He closed his eyes with a groan but nodded his head, “It's better now. I tried to fly and it felt like someone jammed a hot poker into my brain.”

Obviously, it had to be his newly acquired ability to fly that caused the issue. He'd been able to accelerate his thoughts for years without any issues at all so it obviously wasn't that! Hell, even when he pushed his ability to the limit for too long and developed a headache, it was nothing like the one he'd just gotten.

Rias frowned at his statement, “That seems... unlikely. Even if you couldn't figure out how to fly, just trying shouldn't have hurt you like that. Maybe you're not fully healed from whatever happened to you? Do.. do you think you can tell me what happened?”

At her question his mind went back to what he'd suffered and rage flooded through him. He grit his teeth while his whole body tensed in anger. It was only the continued look of concern coming from Rias that kept him from lashing out at the nearest target, her.

He took several deep breaths to calm himself down and finally began to speak. He told her everything he could remember about what happened. As he spoke, her look of concern turned to horror. When he finished his story at the point where he blacked out, watching the black thing wriggling into his body.

Silence reigned for a couple of minutes while Rias got her emotions under control. While she did that, Alexander stared off into space at nothing. When she finally recovered, she focused on his eyes once more, “It sounds like they targeted you because of a Sacred Gear. Balance Breaker is a state Sacred Gears can reach that vastly increases their power or grants them new special abilities.”

Alexander frowned at that. Rias hummed, “If they thought you had one, then you probably do. Though I have no idea what it could be.”

He huffed, “What the hell is a Sacred Gear anyway?”

“Sacred Gears are special items given to humanity by the big guy from the Bible. They're meant to give humanity a fighting chance against the other factions of the supernatural world. No one knows how many there are or what all of them do, but we do know all of them grant some sort of special ability. Are you sure you don't have anything like that?”

Alexander hummed, “I suppose there is one thing special about me, but it's really not all that impressive so I doubt it's a Sacred Gear thing.”

“What is it? Can you show me?”

He shrugged, “I can't really show it to you. All I can do is make my thoughts move faster. If I push it hard I can think so fast that the whole world seems to be frozen in time.”

Rias hummed and thought about it, “I've never heard of such a thing. It sounds interesting, at least.”

She hid it well, but she was rather disappointed. The discovery that the random boy she rescued had a Sacred Gear had gotten her hopes up, for a moment anyway. Thought Acceleration had some use, but that use was very limited and didn't grant any direct power at all. It was only a small step above not having a Sacred Gear at all. She couldn't even imagine a way for it to evolve into a powerful Balance Breaker.

There was no regret though. She didn't resent Alexander for not being more powerful. It was her choice to use her Bishop piece to save him. The fact she would have had to use as many pawns as the value of her second Bishop had her believing he had to have some sort of potential somewhere. Even if that potential wasn't strictly related to his Sacred Gear. It just meant she would have to search out where his talents lay.

As for why she chose to make him a Bishop, well, he didn't have a very strong physique, so she assumed he was the brainy type. So far, she seemed to be right. Maybe that would help him in his magic studies? She didn't plan to hold out hope for that, though.

Alexander sighed, “So, what now? I still need to go home, my parents must be worried sick.”

Rias pushed herself up onto her arms, removing herself from his chest and instantly causing him to blush. Thanks to the talk, he'd forgotten the fact that he'd woken up feeling skin to skin contact. Now he had a straight view down between their bodies, and neither of them was wearing a stitch of clothing. Rias's breasts were not the first pair he'd seen. He might not have gotten around to dating, but that didn't mean he didn't fool around a little bit at parties.

Hers might not have been the first, but they were definitely the greatest he'd ever seen, including women on the internet. He stared at the cherry capped peaks until he heard a soft giggle. His eyes immediately snapped up to look into hers, his cheeks flushed with embarrassment at being caught staring.

Rias gave him a playful smirk while she addressed him, “My eyes are up here. But, I don't mind if you look.”

His cheeks warmed even further at her comment. He had no idea how to take it and decided the best course of action was to pretend everything happening was normal. Even if he couldn't control his blushing.

When he moved to sit up, Rias moved back, the blanket falling from her shoulders and leaving her entire upper torso on display. He did his best not to stare, but his eyes occasionally dipped down. Trying to be less conspicuous, he sped up his perception so he could get a good eyeful for a little longer without embarrassing himself. He also hoped it would get the desire to stare out of his system and calm himself down through exposure.

It worked, for all of two seconds before he felt like a red-hot nail was driven through his skull. With a gasp, he stopped using his Sacred Gear and gripped his head in pain. Rias immediately grabbed his shoulders and held him carefully, “Alex, what happened? Are you okay?”

Alexander groaned and held his head in both hands, “It happened again. There's something wrong with my power.”

Rias frowned in concern, “I... I think whatever those people did to you damaged your Sacred Gear. I don't think you should use it at all until we can get someone more knowledgeable to try and figure out what's wrong.”

She bit her lip for a moment in frustration. She preferred to deal with things herself, but she didn't know nearly enough about what had happened or Sacred Gears in general to diagnose the issue. It meant she would have to do something she preferred to never do, ask her brother for help, “My brother should be able to get the help we need to figure the issue out.”

It took another hour for the pain to fade away enough for Alexander to think properly once more. Rias had stayed with him the entire time, and once he felt better they proceeded to get dressed. Together, along with Akeno, they made the trip to his home. Thanks to some quick hypnotism from Rias, the panic from his parents was taken care of. It was only then that Alexander learned he'd been gone for over two weeks.

After calming down his parents, Rias had bid Alexander farewell, for now.

-----Line Break-----

Alexander stood across the street from a pair of gates, staring at them with a mixture of anger, resentment, unwillingness, and resignation. It had been a month since Rias had saved his life and turned him into a Devil. He hadn't seen her again after she led him home and helped smooth over things with his parents.

He'd hoped that was the end of the weirdness in his life. Said hope was mercilessly murdered when not one, but both of his parents were offered jobs in their respective fields, all the way in Japan. Normally, they wouldn't have entertained such a thing, but the offers included the full package, including paid moving expenses, a large house for free, and over double their current salaries.

Needless to say, they were thrilled and considered it a wonderful opportunity. Especially since both jobs, apparently, included tuition help for dependents that would give him a free ride at an approved college.

Technically, Alexander was an adult and could make his own choices. He didn't have to move all the way to Japan with his parents. He could have chosen to stay in England and attend a school of his choice, or tried his hand at heading to America to attend M.I.T. Unfortunately, the tuition assistance from their jobs only applied to schools in Japan. It also just so happened, that the college in their soon-to-be new hometown was one of the best rated ones in Japan.

Kuoh might not be as big as Tokyo or Kyoto, but it has some of the best schools in the country. With a full ride and free room and board, there was no logical reason for him to fight the move to Japan. Other than sheer pettiness. But he didn't feel like going into tens of thousands of dollars of debt was worth being petty toward the person who saved him.

It just really annoyed him that he didn't have all that much real choice in the matter.

With a deep sigh, he waited a little longer until students in uniforms that made him do a double-take began to stream out of the gates and into the city. The boy's uniform was nothing out of the ordinary, it's was the female uniform that had taken him aback. Were... were the girls wearing corsets as a school uniform? What the hell?

…

Oh, right. Hell probably had something to do with it. Or at least, residents of hell. Still, he couldn't help wondering what two gorgeous women like Rias and Akeno would look like in those uniforms. He expected he would be finding out soon, that was why he was here after all. Once they'd gotten settled into the house, he'd gotten a letter asking him to meet Rias here, at Kuoh Academy. It was the sister school to the college he would be attending, Kuoh College, obviously. They also had a middle school. The whole thing was known as an elevator school. Once you got into the middle or high schools, you were pretty much guaranteed to move into the college.

Interestingly, the schools had only gone co-ed the year before. That included both the middle school and college as well. He found it mildly interesting, but expected Rias had something to do with it. He knew he wasn't the only male in her peerage, so he didn't think it too out there to think she changed the school rules just for them. Given what she'd done with his parents it seemed rather likely.

Eventually, once the flood of students thinned to a trickle, a blonde boy a few years younger than himself walked out of the school gates and peered around. It didn't take long for the guy to spot Alexander and make his way across the street to speak to him, “Are you, Alexander?”

Alexander gave the guy a nod of his head, “I am.”

The blonde gave him a smile, “It's nice to meet you. I'm Kiba Yuuto, Knight of Rias Gremory.”

“Likewise. So what now?”

Yuuto turned and gestured toward the school, “Follow me, I'll take you to the old school building where we always meet after school. It's the official building for the Occult Research Club, which we are all officially members of.”

Thanks to school being out and most of the students either heading home or enjoying their club activities, only a couple of girls happened to spot Alexander being led to the old school building. When they arrived, Alexander looked the place over and wondered why it hadn't been demolished. From the outside, it looked ancient and was overgrown with vines.

Yuuto, seeing the look on Alexander's face, interjected, “It's really much nicer on the inside.”

“I suppose I can reserve judgment for a little longer.”

The pair entered the darker interior of the building. It was lit, but not very well. The interior didn't look much better than the exterior until they made it to the second floor and entered a massive room. The entire interior of the room was furnished in a Victorian style with furniture that looked authentic. Given the kind of money and connections Rias seemed to have, he suspected they were all original pieces. Either that or very good copies.

His attention skipped over the darkly lit interior to where he could hear the sound of running water and spotted a shower sitting right out in the open. To top it off, the shower seemed to be lit from within, allowing for a rather provocative shadow show to be viewed. Given he spotted Akeno in the nearby kitchenette, he was left to assume it was Rias' shadow he was viewing through the fogged glass.

He wasn't about to complain about the free show, though he felt he would look like a creep just staring. To keep at least some self respect, he picked a random spot on the couch and sat down. This had the benefit of turning his gaze away from the shower and letting him calm down.

There was silence in the room, only the sound of Akeno doing whatever she was doing in the kitchen breaking it. At least until the door to the room opened and a new person Alexander hadn't met walked into the room.

His first thought on seeing the new person? 'Adorable!'

She was short, somewhere around five feet tall. He'd never been great at guessing people's height, so that was as close as he could get without something to measure. She had her white hair cut into a short pixie cut with long bangs on either side of her face that just highlighted her golden eyes. While she was petite, matching her height, she still had all the curves of a woman and filled out her uniform rather nicely. She wasn't voluptuous like Rias and Akeno, but she had her own charms that didn't leave her behind them in looks.

She gazed at him for a moment, but didn't say anything. After taking his measure, she made her way to the love seat in the room and sat down. She ignored his presence and dug into her school bag to pull out a small bag of snacks that she immediately began to munch on.

Yuuto chuckled a little, drawing Alexander's attention to himself. Yuuto gestured to the smaller girl, “That's Koneko Tojou, another member of our little family.”

Koneko glanced over and gave a little wave, then returned to ignoring Alexander's presence. He wasn't sure why, but he felt a little disappointed at being ignored by her. He was familiar with the feeling as it reminded him of a cat acting aloof toward him, something he'd experienced plenty of, as cats didn't seem to like him much. It was a real shame because he was a total animal person, cats, dogs, lizards, snakes, bring on the cuddle creatures!

Eventually, the shower shut off and Rias joined them shortly after that. Her hair was still damp and she was only loosly wearing her school uniform. She gave everyone a smile then focused on Alexander, “Sorry about the wait, I don't feel right until I've taken a shower after classes.”

Alexander just shrugged, “That's fine. I'll just come a little later next time.”

As they spoke, Akeno left the kitchenette and pushed a serving cart out into the room where she began serving tea to everyone, starting with Rias. At his comment, Rias pouted a little but didn't say anything. So, he pushed the conversation forward, “So, you got me here in Japan, away from everything I knew and cared about. Now what?”

Sure, that might have been a bit petty of him, but he didn't care. He had a right to be upset over, essentially, being strong armed into moving to the other side of the world into a whole new culture where they only people he knew were his parents, his new 'King' and his fellow peerage members. None of which he was remotely prepared to call more than an acquaintance.

The slight look of hurt on Rias's face made him feel slightly guilty for his words, but he ignored the feeling and held onto his petty anger. Rias took a sip of tea to buy herself a moment to pull herself together then addressed him, “It's necessary for you to be near me as a member of my peerage. It's unfortunate, but England was no longer safe for you to live in.”

Alexander stared at her, “Explain.”

Rias sighed, “England has strong ties to the church, not to mention the Pendragon Family and other groups that make the country their home. If you had stayed there alone for too long, you would have been noticed by someone eventually. They could have decided you were a stray devil and decided to exterminate you.”

Alexander stared in horror, “Exterminate me?!”

Rias nodded seriously and, glancing around, he could see that everyone else in the room was equally serious. Rias continued after letting him digest that, “I'm sorry to say this, but in terms of the supernatural world, you're weak. You are a low-class devil in both power and rank. Unfortunately, this means that most of the other groups out there, and even some of our own kind, will view you as nothing more than fodder.”

She looked him directly in the eyes, “That's another reason for you to be here, for us all to help you grow stronger so you can protect yourself.”

Alexander sat in silence for a short time before asking the obvious, “How?”

Rias stood and walked over to a bookshelf where she ran her fingers over the spines of several books, “We teach you how to use magic, for a start. As one of my Bishops, you will have enhanced magical power and demonic power reserves. Between Akeno and these books, you should be able to learn a lot about magic. I just hope you have a talent for it to take full advantage of the Bishop piece.”

She moves back to her desk and looks at him once more, “Kiba, my Knight, and Koneko, my Rook, can both help you train physically to get into better shape and see of you have any talent in sword or fist fighting. Lastly, you can fulfill contracts and gain a small amount of power for each fulfilled contract.”

“Contracts?”

Rias nodded at his question, “Correct. Humans summon us and ask us to fulfill their wishes. Once we do, we get paid, and your power will increase a small amount. The more contracts you fulfill, the more power you will gain over time. It's a slow but steady process. It's also the fastest way to earn yourself a promotion from being low class to middle and, eventually, even high class. Akeno and I are already high class, while Koneko and Yuuto are middle class.”

“So, I'm the weakest? I guess that makes sense. I haven't even been a devil for a month.”

Rias smiled softly, “I'm sure you'll grow stronger over time, and given our lifespans, you have plenty of that time.”

He chuckled at that. He was essentially immortal now. No devil had ever died of old age, and there were plenty of devils that were millennia old. It was hard for him to fathom as a young man. He'd get used to it, though. He let out a sigh and made his way over to the bookshelf to look at the books and see if anything caught his attention. Naturally, he had no idea what he was looking for; it was just an excuse for him to take a few moments and think.

His life had changed so much in such a short time. He'd died. He'd been resurrected as a devil. He'd moved half way around to world to be with his 'king' against his will. And now he knew he was the weakest of the weak, little more than fodder, and his best hope of changing that was with magic.

Well, that wasn't so terrible. He smiled a little. After all, what kid didn't grow up wishing they had super powers of some sort? Now he had the greatest super power of all at his finger tips. He just needed to learn how to use it properly.

He paused as a book title caught his attention. Curious, he asked, “Why does this book title specify 'human' magic?”

Rias, content to let Alexander come to terms with things in silence, had begun to do some paperwork. She stopped at his question, though, “There are many different branches of magic. Humans are unique because they modeled their usage of magic after devils. Merlin, the first human mage, figured out how to give humans the ability to cast spells by performing complex calculations. For them, it basically boils down to 'if I do this, then this will happen,' though that is a gross oversimplification. Humans who use magic are referred to as Magicians. I have some books on their magic just in case a Magician decides to sign a pact with one of us.”

Alexander paused at the description of human magic. It sounded a LOT like a program executing and if/then statement. He looked at the title of the book, 'Librum Novice, An Introduction to Human Spellcasting.' Without any hesitation, he pulled it off of the shelf and made his way back to his seat. Seeing curious looks being sent his way he just shrugged, “It sounds interesting. I'll at least take a look at it to learn a little.”

After that, there wasn't much more talking, just Rias setting a schedule for Alexander to meet Akeno on the weekend to learn and practice magic.

-----Line Break-----

Alexander sat in his room reading the book he'd borrowed from Rias on how humans did magic. It was fascinating, honestly. He'd always loved technology, especially programming. He'd spent the last year learning the Python programming language after he'd learned that the company Dropbox had gone to a full Python code base. It looked like it would be the language of the future, with even Google looking into it seriously. He knew that if he wanted to play with the big dogs, it was the language he needed to know.

Obviously with only a year of self learning he hadn't become super proficient in it, and it looked like he would need to relearn a lot with the release of Python3. He hadn't cared then and didn't care now. It was a good language to write code in and he planned to learn it even with his new lot in life.

All that to say, reading the book on human magic was like reading a primer on a new programming language. It began with describing how to get in touch with his magical power, then progressed into teaching the kinds of calculations that would need to go into performing his first spell. Thankfully, the book had a full tutorial on how to go through the calculations for a spell called Match. According to the description, doing everything right would let him generate a small match-like flame from the tip of his index finger.

Step one, he meditated until he felt the warmth of his magical power within himself. It was surprisingly easy. He believed that to be due to his race and status as a Bishop. He was basically meant for using magic, after all.

Step two, going through the calculations. He read the book step by step and had to keep all of it in his head. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite like real math where you got a final answer. It was... strange. A mix of math and programming language-like inputs and outputs. The input being his magical power and the output being the desired effect.

It took him another three hours to finally be able to keep the whole process in his mind and run it through flawlessly. The results? Exactly as expected! He stared at the small yellow flame flickering above his index finger and felt a rush of excitement. It was even more of a rush than completing a complex bit of code and getting it to work. His whole body vibrated with excitement at the knowledge that this was real magic. That he had real power and could grow it into something truly impressive with time and practice.

It wasn't until his mother called him down for breakfast that he realized he'd spent the entire night reading the book. It was that enthralling to him.

-----Line Break-----

Alexander stood near Akeno as she explained how to use demonic power for magic. The explanation and example was pretty straight forward. It all boiled down to focus, imagination, and pouring in demonic power, which Alexander decided to mentally refer to as mana. He liked RPG's, it made it easier for him to quantify and understand.

Thanks to his reading the last few days, he mastered five super simple spells from the beginners book. Obviously the first was the match-like flame spell. The second was a water spell that let him produce about half a gallon a minute when channeling it. He'd never, ever, have to worry about not having fresh drinking water again. Third was an earth spell that let him reshape small stones as if they were clay. Hey would retain their new shape when the spell ended. Fourth was a wind spell that let him produce a very weak stream of air from the palm of his hand. It worked as good as using a hand fan. Lastly, was a weak lightning spell designed for the modern world as it would allow him to charge small electronic devices without destroying them.

After Akeno finished her explanation and demonstration, she encouraged him to try. So, he went with the first spell he'd learned on his own. He concentrated on just the result he wanted, imagining the flame hovering over his finger tip as he'd seen a few times now. Finally, he fed power from his core into the image and brought it to life. The small magic circle appeared, and the flame came to life, though he found himself frowning.

Seeing the frown, Akeno inquired, “It's impressive that you got something already, but what seems to be the problem?”

Alexander shrugged his shoulders, “It's just... It's so inefficient. This is taking at least five times as much power as it did when I did the same thing using the human method.”

Akeno's eyes widened slightly at his admission, “You got a spell to work using the human method already?”

Alexander shrugged, “Five, technically. This one was the first, though.”

Akeno wasn't sure how to respond to that. Clearly Alexander had some talent for magic, it gave her some measure of relief to know Rias hadn't completely wasted her valuable Bishop piece. So, instead of addressing the number of spells he could cast, she addressed his complaint, “I can explain that. Due to their inherently smaller reserves of power and complete lack of Demonic Power, human methods focus on efficiency to get as much 'bang for their buck' as they can. Due to their inherent advantage in magic, devils don't.”

She let that sink in before she continued, “This discrepancy is the main reason for the pact magicians and devils form. The magicians research demonic power and the magic of the devil to improve on, or even create, spells. This makes the devil more efficient in the use of their magic. In exchange, magicians get protection, information, and status on top of the things they learn.”

She giggled a little, “If you continue to learn human magic, you would basically become your own contracted magician.”

Alexander studied the flame conjured using the devil method and smirked. That sounded perfect to him. He could use the devil method to make new spells, then enhance their efficiency with human methods. It might be a lot of work, but he felt the results would absolutely be worth it.

He wasn't afraid of hard work!

-----Line Break-----

Alexander sat in a private room in the old school building. Rias, true to her word, had gotten someone to come take a look at him to see what the issue with his Sacred Gear was. Ever since his revival any attempt to use it led to a debilitating headache.

The person had arrived during his lesson with Akeno and taken him to a private room to be examined. The woman was fairly attractive and wore business attire underneath a white lab coat. She was using some sort of device to scan his body for any irregularities. Every time it let out even a little beep, she would hum and exam the screen he couldn't see, then move on. This had been going on for over twenty minutes, and it was starting to get on his nerves.

After the woman let out yet another hum, he couldn't take it anymore and asked, “What is it?”

His sudden question caused the woman to jump a bit in surprise. She gave him a sheepish smile, “Sorry. I've never seen readings quite like this before. The events leading to your reincarnation were forwarded to me and I can see evidence of the events still lingering in your body. Something very powerful was forced into you, into your Sacred Gear to be specific. As a lower-tier one, your Sacred Gear was not equipped to handle the power and fractured, nearly shattering. That fracturing and the subsequent release of energy is what led to your death.”

“How?”

“Well, Sacred Gears are tied directly to their user's soul. Dealing such damage to the Sacred Gear would have directly and heavily damaged your soul. Such damage would be reflected on the physical body, leaving you in the desperate state that Ms. Gremory found you in. While your reincarnation and subsequent healing by Ms. Gremory helped your physical body, it did much less for the damage to your Sacred Gear and soul. The fractures are still very much there and are the cause of your pain when attempting to use your Sacred Gear.”

“So, what? I'm forever going to be broken?”

She shook her head, “Not quite. Your soul is healing, but the damage was severe, so it will still take more time for it to fully recover. Only after your soul recovers can your Sacred Gear begin to recover. Though... I suppose it's possible that the Governor General of the Grigori could repair your Sacred Gear. He's known for experimenting with them and trying to make his own. It's unlikely that he will be able to help you though, given we're still technically at war with the fallen angels and all.”

He frowned at her. What was even the point of saying that someone could fix it if it was pointless to even ask?! That was just rude as hell! Even so, it didn't stop him from asking, “Is there any way to heal my soul faster?”

The doctor nodded, “Sure, just live a happy life. By doing and experiencing new things souls grow. In your case, that growth would turn towards healing. Souls are extremely complex esoteric things, but at there most basic they are a clump of energy and stored memories.”

She pauses for a moment, “Actually, I believe fulfilling contracts would help hasten your recovery as well. The life force given by your completed contracts will likely go to repairing your soul before it will increase your demonic power.”

Alexander considered that and then nodded. E had no idea what he would be asked to do for contracts, but if it would fix him faster than he planned to spend all of his time fulfilling contracts. It wasn't like he had all that much to do in all of his spare time. The enrollment period for Kuoh College was the same as for the lower education tiers. This meant that he'd missed his chance to enroll for the year and would have to wait until next year. He'd be going to the college at the same time as Rias and Akeno.

Frankly, he didn't mind the gap year. With the sudden changes in his life, it would give him time to process, come to terms with everything, and be truly ready to begin his education in earnest next year.

“Is there anything else I can do to speed up my recovery?”

The doctor shook her head, “Not really. You'll recover over time regardless of anything you do. Until you're fully recovered, I suggest not attempting to use your Sacred Gear at all. Overuse of it could stall or even reverse the recovery process. Given you're status as newly reincarnated, I'd suggest focusing on learning magic and getting used to your new responsibilities. Other than that, just try to have some fun!”

His consultation with the doctor ended shortly after that and he informed Rias of his results. She promised to get him into the rotation of contracts that all the peerage members fulfilled. Given his lack of anything else to do, she also planned to allow him to perform contracts during the day, unlike the rest of the peerage whom had to attend school during the day.

It sounded good to him, a solid plan to get himself on the road to recovery. His Sacred Gear might not be as impressive as Kiba's Sword Birth, but it was his and he wanted it back. He missed having all the time in the world to think things through before making any decisions. Maybe it was a good thing he couldn't attend college at the moment. He'd be more than ready by next year!

For now, his goal was to recover. He'd deal with whatever happened after that.

-----Line Break-----

I'm sorry for the great delay in my putting anything out at all. Things have been... bad at home. One of the women I take care of, Mary, had an acute onset of hallucinations. She was seeing things that weren't there and having full on conversations with people that didn't exist.

It was terrifying. It's calmed down some over the last few days, thanks to her primary doctor putting her on antipsychotics (which take weeks to kick in), but we're not out of the woods yet. We're waiting for an appointment with a neurologist.

On top of that, the hallicinations made it hard for her to sleep. Several times, she hallucinated things that made her literally throw herself out of her bed and onto the floor. We had to call emergency services twice in a 24-hour period to help lift her off the floor since I can't do it alone. That was just one day. We had to call them so much that they were forced to report it.

So, yeah, that was just the first week of her new problem. Not even going into the still ongoing electrical issue our rental has. Needless to say, I've not only not had much time to sit down and focus on writing, I've also not been in the appropriate mindset.

Anyway, onto something more interesting! This chapter! It's sitting pretty at 9.8k words. It's also the weakest protagonist I've ever written. He knows nothing of the world he's in, and has a Sacred Gear that, even in Balance Breaker, will not give him any direct power.

I wanted to challenge myself to write a character that didn't just have a broken power or the ability to simply hunt down Issei and steal the Boosted Gear from him. He'll be mostly focused on learning and improving on magic to get stronger.

In case it's not clear, Alexander is one of the victims of the Hero Faction. They kidnapped him and tried to use one of Ophis' snakes to force his balance breaker out. As for what his sacred gear is...

Sacred Gear: Talos' Judgement

Information: Talos' Judgement is a simple and straightforward Sacred Gear that allows the user to accelerate their thoughts. The more used to it the user becomes, the faster the acceleration can become. It can even reach the point where the world seems to come to a stop in the perception of the user. The Sacred Gear does NOT confer the ability to move at such accelerated speeds.

Notable Users: King Solomon, Leonardo da Vinci, Isaac Newton, Nikola Tesla