D&Devils 3: Celestial Artistry: Chapter 3

"Alright... now having dirt thrown in my eyes... I can say... not a fan." I grumble as I rub my eyes. "However. This will help me in the future. When someone else tries this." 

"Exactly!" Xenovia beams. "Thank you for showing me this wisdom, Luce!" 

The girl towers above me a hand on her hip as I lay on the floor. My ribs ache from where she smashed a punch into my side after throwing some dirt in my eyes. 

I think she might have held a grudge. 

She offers a hand which I take, allowing myself to be pulled up. 

My palm glows slightly as I press it to my ribs, the ache fading with a single charge of 'Lay on Hands'. 

We look to Irina who wilts under our gaze. "So. Who's next?" 

"H-Hey." The brown haired girl winces. "Can we maybe... ah... not do that?" 

"Hmmmm." Xenovia hums, cupping her chin. 

"Oh! Actually if we're going to be working together, maybe it would be best for you to learn what it feels like when I cast my enhancement spells on you." 

"Enhancement?" Xenovia echoes.  

"I can improve your strength and speed but it's pretty costly on my reserves." 

"Sister Griselda. Should we? He is right in saying that it would be better to test his capabilities here instead of on the field." The blue haired girl asks, looking to her adoptive mother. 

"If it will get you to stop throwing dirt in each other's eyes." The woman grumbles. "It would be better to see how much it improves it by... so let's go to the gym for some testing." 

"Yes, Sister Griselda." Xenovia nods once as we all turn and walk away. 

[Split] 

"Strength." I whisper as I point towards the blue haired girl as she lifts a large weight. 

"This- this is effortless." She gasps as she does a few squats with her normal baseline weight. 

"How long does this last?" Griselda asks. 

"About four minutes." I answer as I try to draw my eyes away from Xenovia's toned legs and short shorts. 

She has a REALLY nice ass. 

"It should also make her roughly... eighty percent stronger? The same for my speed enhancement spell. Eighty percent faster." 

"Eighty percent?!" The older woman seems caught off guard. 

"Yes. I can also cast a spell that grants someone a form of invisible armor. This one lasts about four hours at my current strength... it should be more helpful than the... ugh... body suit." I scoff. 

I look to Irina running on a treadmill. She's beginning to look a little exhausted from the sheer speed of her sprint so I wave a hand. "Grace." 

She nearly runs face-first into the front of the treadmill but catches herself, taking a few deep breaths as she continues to run. 

She slowly pushes the speed upwards as she continues to run. 

"This is really impressive, actually." I can hear the nun whisper. "You may not know this, Luce, but... humans are sometimes born with items created by the God in heaven. Powerful artifacts called Sacred Gears. A method to grant humanity a fighting chance against the supernatural races of Vampires, Werewolves, Devils, and Fallen." 

"Among them is a sacred gear called a Twice Critical. A weapon that doubles a person's combat ability for a short time... some in the supernatural think that it is a joke of a weapon... but among sacred gears it is quite powerful. A lot of people underestimate what you can accomplish with even a simple times two multiplier to your strength. To have the ability to bless others with strength comparable to that... I don't think most angels could do such a thing, let alone one with only two wings." 

"It's nothing, really." I reply as I watch Xenovia lift much more weight than she ever has. 

"Ah... Xenovia maybe you should put that down so you don't hurt yourself, you've got around two minutes left." 

[Split] 

I look towards a large canvas, a smile on my lips. A simple wooden paintbrush with a golden ring holding the brussels to the wood rests in my hand. 

It has been about a month since I first appeared here. I've grown quite a bit stronger. I feel relatively safe in my strength now. 

Exorcism boot camp: {Ongoing Quest} 

Current days of Training: 42 
Successful Duel Victories (Against Unique Opponents): 2 

Special Objectives: 
Thirty One Days of Training: [x] 

Rewards: 
4600 Exp Total 

Special Objective 4: 
1000 Exp, Raise Physical Stats that are 16 or lower by 1, Martial Weapon Proficiency (Sword) Feat, One magic item worth 3000 Gp 

One. More. Day. 

ONE MORE DAY! 

It's so close I can genuinely taste it! 

I gently tap at the landscape before me. As a certain someone would say, 'Happy little trees'. 

There's a knock at my door causing my gaze to flick towards it. "Come in!" 

The door creaks open revealing Xenovia, she lets out a quiet yawn, her hair is slightly wet, seemingly just leaving the shower. 

"Oh. Hello Xenovia." 

"Hello, Luce." The girl smiles slightly. "Do you have a minute to... talk?" 

"Sure!" I hum as I gesture to my bed. "Have a seat." 

The girl walks over, eyes straying my room, gazing the numerous paintings I have lining the walls. 

"Did you... paint all of these?" The girl echoes. 

"Yes." I nod once.  

"Is that... me?" She gestures towards a painting at the far wall. It's a fairly mundane piece with an art style similar to that one Japanese wave painting, but at the forefront is the blue haired girl, a sword in hand, colored streaks following the blade as if it were taken right from the Demon Slayer anime. 

"Yes." I nod once, continuing to paint. 

"it's... beautiful." The girl whispers. 

"Thank you." I smile as I add in some brighter yellows and whites to the painting to show sunlight. "So what did you wish to talk about, Xenovia?" 

"Ah... d-dreams... I guess?" 

"Dreams?" I echo. 

"Like... what do you wish to do with your life... surely you don't see yourself staying an exorcist forever... right?" 

"Hm." I hum mutely, gazing into the landscape of my painting. "Angels live a... long time... in fact, one has never died of old age. Nor do I think we age at all past our prime. I'm unsure. I've never met another angel before." 

"I haven't really thought about what I want to do with my life... before, back at the old church I wanted nothing more than to just... leave... to go out and see the world. I was lonely. Verbally abused... I might have even been close to falling at a few points. But. Then you, Sister Griselda, and Irina arrived. You took me from that place... became my friends... my teachers." 

The corners of my mouth turn upwards. "I don't want to run away anymore... I just... haven't given my new dream much thought. Maybe get back into Heaven? Visit my father? I don't know if he wants to see me and I don't wish to cause him any anguish... maybe I could become a Seraph? That could be a dream. Grow stronger so people will actually listen to me. Try and make the church the bastion of good it's supposed to be." 

"What about you, Xenovia? What's your dream?" 

"A-Ah... it's much less impressive than yours." She admits. "A lot less... ah... wholesome than your own." 

I blink twice, turning to face her. "Well, now I'm a little curious." 

"Its- well, ah... I want to be bred." 

"..." 

"..." 

"I-I mean I want to become a mother and raise a family!" The girl exclaims. 

"Ah. I see. That's a wonderful dream, Xenovia." I smile as I go back to painting. "I hope you achieve it." 

I blink twice. "Wait... did you come to me because-" 

I look back at her to see her face a deep scarlet. She squirms in place slightly. "W-Well... I'd want my children to be strong... so... so I'd never be forced to see them hurt... a-and well... Miracle Children are only a small step under regular angels... so... uh..." 

"You're such a handful, Xenovia." I sigh wistfully. "Look. I'm not going to say no. You are very beautiful... however as an Angel, I'll fall if I partake in too much debauchery. You're aware of that, right?" 

"Y-Yeah..." She nods slowly. 

"So, before we even consider that. We'd need to get married because premarital sex is a sin. But. I'd say we're both a little too young for this conversation at the moment. Ask me again in a couple years and maybe we can ask Sister Griselda about it." 

"Y-You agree though?!" She questions, sounding a little meek. 

"Like I said. You're beautiful... if a little blunt at times... but I would be truly blessed to have a wife like you." I nod once.  

"..." 

"hey, Luce... can you close your eyes for a moment?" 

"Uh... sure?" 

I close my eyes. 

Her lips press against my own. 

Ping 

I blink twice as my halo appears. My wings pop out... 

Then another set of wings appears just below those. 

"Huh?" Xenovia squeaks. 

An achievement has been unlocked: 

Kiss Stealer: 
Xenovia willingly gave you her fist kiss... Lucky! 
Reward: 100 Exp, +1 Charisma 

"Y-You just grew another set of wings?!" 

A long breath leaves my lips. "Hang on... what's..." 

You have been given divine inspiration. Natural 20 Ensured. 

"Divine Inspiration?" I whisper. 

"Wait... wh-" 

I snap my fingers, a large body-length canvas appearing leaned up against the wall. The world fades away, leaving only myself and the canvas. My paintbrush glows as I float forwards, long amber-gold streaks being left on the blank surface. 

[Split] 

Xenovia stares at the angel she... ah... might have just kissed a few minutes ago. 

Beside her stands her adoptive mother, Griselda whom she had gone and gotten after Luce stopped responding to her. 

"Luce!" She calls out. There's not so much as a twitch to his hand as he continues painting. 

"What brought this about?" Griselda asks, turning to look at her. 

"Well... I came over here to talk about our dreams for the future..." Xenovia begins quietly. "We talked for a while... and... well... he grew another pair of wings and muttered the words 'Divine Inspiration' and started painting." 

She's... not going to tell her mother that she stole the lips of her angel friend. That's a conversation she really doesn't want to have. 

"His eyes are gold." Griselda observes. "Perhaps... we should leave him to it? He'll probably tell us something after he's done with... whatever it is he is painting." 

From what they can see so far is a stone brick road, lightly cracked and overgrown with vine. The amount of detail packed into each square inch of the painting is probably more than all of his other paintings combined. It's... strange. 

She has never seen Luce be this serious before, his face flat and impassive, his now golden eyes flicking over the painting as his hands move like a master surgeon, adding a little color... little details here and there. 

[Split] 

Xenovia pauses outside the door of her angel friend- a set of words that only just last year she would have never DREAMED of thinking. 

The door creaks open as she steps inside. 

She freezes, noticing that he is no-longer painting as he has been for the past seven days. He is instead hunched over his desk, sleeping. 

His hair is slightly greasy as he lays his head down, but... 

The painting is finished. 

They were starting to get worried. He moved like a man possessed. Not reacting at all to any attempt at conversation. He ate the food brought, drank the water provided, but his eyes barely left the canvas. 

She quickly approaches the sleeping angel, gently shaking him. "Luce! Luce are you alright?" 

"Hnn?" He groans as he cracks open an eye, his hair is messy, there's dark circles under his eyes. His blue eyes are a little out of focus as he sits up, letting out a quiet yawn. "Xeno...via? What is it? What time is it?" 

"It is noon." The girl informs as he rubs his eyes. 

He touches his hair, letting out a sigh as he lazily waves a hand downwards. 

The filth is utterly removed from his body, his clothes quickly follow. 

He lays his head back down. 

"..." 

"Wait... Noon?" He echos, sitting back up. 

[Split] 

Noon? What is she on about. I just laid down and- 

My eyes catch a large full-length body painting. 

"Oh shit..." 

"LUCE!" Xenovia gasps, sounding scandalized. 

"Oh, pardon me. Crap." I whisper as I shakily stand up. 

My tiredness is washed away. 

"I... really did that?" I whisper. 

"You've spent the last seven days painting." 

"SEVEN DAYS?!" I ask. 

"Yes." 

"Straight?!" I gasp. 

"Yes." She nods once more. "Only pausing to eat and drink... I don't know if you slept much if at all." 

"..." 

A weary sigh leaves my lips. "I'm going back to bed." 

I let out a quiet groan as I stand up, walk across the room, and curl up under the blankets. 

"Why were you painting this for seven days, Luce?" The blue haired girl questions, causing me to crack open an eye. "Egh... magic painting or something. I don't know... it's kind of just a blur since I started painting." 

"Magic... painting?" The blue-ette echoes. 

I sit up again, letting out a quiet yawn. "Whatever. Let's do this now. I can sleep after, I guess." 

I make my way to the painting, truly looking over it for the first time. 

This is... holy shit I made this? 

It's... extremely powerful. Like, beyond what I'd typically expect... 

It's a robed figure in a dungeon. Skin made of metal, a face peeking out from under its hood, a large rounded blue crystal surface with a white cross splitting it. 

It has four arms, light seeming to pool around its claw-tipped fingers. Curls of energy radiating off a twisting bolt of arcane energy 

An automaton. 

"Ah... well..." I mutter. 

It looks like I made what I wanted. 

"Come here for a moment." I order. 

"P-Pardon?" 

"Not you, Xenovia." I hum, glancing over my shoulder, my gaze eventually returning to the painting. "Him." 

The painting ripples, Xenovia letting out a gasp as the clockwork figure within the painting slowly moves. It takes one step forwards, followed by another. Its metallic boots thudding out on the worked stone it was painted upon as it comes closer and closer. 

It take a step back as it reaches out. The painting seems to ripple. A single finger protruding from the surface of the canvas. 

Suddenly the hunched figure steps forwards, a leg moving through the painting as if it were passing through a curtain of water. 

He is surprisingly tall, reaching six feet despite being slightly hunched over. His featureless stare seems to stray from Xenovia to myself. 

It drops to a kneel a deep and melodious voice echoing out. "I greet my great creator... my master. The one who has given me form." 

"A-Ah... yes. Hello." I wave. "What is your name?" 

"You have given my painting the title 'Tock, the Priest of Clockwork'. Thus, my designation is 'Tock' or 'Priest of Clockwork'. However, my master, you may call me anything and I shall respond." 

A small window opens up in front of me... one only I can seem to see. 

Tock: 
Challenge Rating: 14 
Race: Trompe L'oeil 
Health: 308 
AC: 30 

My eyes slowly trail downwards. 

He can heal... infinitely. 

Wait... Psionics? 

Mind Thrust 6: 5/day (Caster Level 18) 
You divine the most vulnerable portions of your opponent’s mind and overload it with a glut of psychic information.  
This attack deals 1d8 points of damage per caster level (maximum 20d8) The target receives a Will save for half damage. Targets that fail are exhausted and stunned for 1 round. This attack has no effect on creatures without an Intelligence score. 

"..." 

"Oh wow..." I whisper. 

This is what I wanted to create... Clockwork Priest. But it seems pretty... upgraded... 

That mind thrust ability could likely allow it to punch up at an eight-winged angel quite easily... 

I wanted to make this guy BECAUSE it can cast cure light wounds at will. 

Well, plus the fact that as a Trompe L'oeil it costs like... not even a quarter of the cost to make the LEGITIMATE construct and is literally immortal and adds its charisma to its health per hit-die and, well... gains free magical enhancements. 

The Trompe L'oeils are fucking overpowered which is why I instantly built towards them... theoretically you can paint any creature with intellect... Youkai. Dragons. Heroes. Literal. Fucking. Deities. 

I snap out of my musings as I feel Xenovia pulling on my shirt. 

"What do we do?" 

"Uh... talk to sister Griselda... this is Tock. He can cast low powered healing magic... infinitely." I weakly introduce Xenovia. 

"I can indeed, master!" The construct beams. "I can also vastly bolster someone as they are being healed. Granting them a shield that can absorb vast amounts of damage! However, I can only do this twice per day per person." 

"He also can project an extremely damaging mental attack which likely could defeat a strong high-class or weak ultimate class being... and reforms in this painting anywhere from two to eight days after being slain." 

Xenovia's gaze snaps to me. "He's immortal?!" 

"As long as the painting lasts, yes." I nod once. "Could you go get her, please? I don't know if Tock here should be walking around the sanctuary without permission from the Archbishop." 

"A-Ah! I should tell her that you are awake!" With that, Xenovia slips from my room. 

I sit back down at my table, letting out a long breath as I rub my temples. 

"Are you feeling unwell, master?" Tock asks from behind me, his foremost set of arms steepling their fingers in front of his chest. 

"I'm just tired, Tock." I sigh. "It has been... an eventful week or so." 

I notice a new window on my character sheet. 

"Ah... right... I did gain an extra pair of wings, didn't I?" I mutter under my breath. 

Race: Four-Winged Angel 

From what I can see, these appear to be the changes. 

Firstly, a flat plus two bonus to Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, and Charisma. Next? My light magic trait has improved. 

Light magic (Lesser): 
You are granted a pool of magical energy equal to your (Level+Charisma Modifier)*1.5. Using a point of this energy you may cast 'Cure', 'Light' or 'Dia' as a spell-like-ability with a caster level equal to your hit-die. And by using two points you may cast 'Cure 2', 'Light 2', or 'Holy Weapon' as a spell-like-ability with a caster level equal to your hit-die. 
Special: If you are a White Mage, you may instead convert this energy into MP at a 1-1 Ratio. 

Not bad. Not bad at all. Becoming level five gave me third level spells plus a little bump in MP... with this I should have twenty-six MP if I convert all of this to mana. 

I shake my head, gazing at the canvas which now lacks the mechanical figure. 

'now I suppose I just have to wait for Griselda.' 

[Split] 

"He can heal?" The woman asks. 

"Infinitely. Yes. For weak healing magic he has infinite magical power. He has stronger versions of the spell, but he can only cast those at most like two times per day. But he can make up for it with his medical skills."  

"How... did you make him exactly?" The nun continues. 

"My creator is an artist!" The construct beams. "His skill with painting is utterly unmatched! A true visionary! Truly he is a child of the lord in heaven to be able to bring something to life with paint and canvas!" The construct beams. 

"Magic paint." I deadpan, already being slightly fed up with the robot's ass-kissing antics. "I sort of entered a... fugue for a moment there... like my body was moving on its own. I feel like I made something at the genuine peak of my current abilities." 

My gaze flicks to Tock. "I don't know if I'll be able to create another version of him with my current skill... but... I am skilled enough to make other things." 

"What are the limits that you can create?" 

"I... am not sure." I shake my head. "It... has to be sentient... or well... have an intellect at all so beasts are on the table. I cannot paint something like... excalibur or some other powerful holy sword." 

"No limits?" The woman echoes, blinking twice. 

"Well... I guess the limit would be materials. I need stuff for my paints." I scratch the back of my head. 

"And those materials... would be?" 

"Oh! Let me get you a list. One moment. Tock can you hand me that pencil there and a sheet of paper?" 

"Of course, my great creator!" The clockwork bows, a pen and paper being floated across the room. 

Materials come to mind. Turns out I don't need to use GP for the items I need to create. There's some real-world substitutes which is useful. 

I quickly write down what I need and hand it to the blonde nun. Her gaze seems to scan the paper. 

"Some of these are... quite valuable." Griselda frowns. "But... I'll see what I can do." 

[Split] 

Since that day, I've gone back to my training. Before I knew it, a week had passed, Tock being taken to the medical wing where his magical prowess seemingly was quite helpful. My new strength has closed the gap between Irina and myself somewhat. Xenovia is still a brute powerhouse, but Irina is now physically weaker than me which has led to this situation. 

A wooden blade is knocked aside as I step forwards, my heel slipping around the long-haired girl's. 

I lunge forwards, body crashing into hers as I take her to the floor, one hand wrapping around her neck, my knee coming up and pressing the wrist of her sword arm into the dirt. 

"My win?" I ask slowly, the girl squirming in place briefly. 

"Y-Yeah..." She sighs as I slowly stand, offering her a hand which she takes. 

"So... is it time to fight Super Xenovia again?" I ask weakly, eyes straying to the blue haired girl who's eyes are practically glinting with excitement. 

We've taken to fighting her two-on-one after I boost her up with Mithra’s Grace and Galka Strength. 

It's... kind of even at that point. 

A stronger Xenovia is scary... but a stronger AND FASTER Xenovia is nearly unbeatable. Irina with the boosts is more manageable but you can hardly ever catch her. 

The reason we do this is quite simple... firstly, for the attackers, it gives us the opportunity to face someone stronger than us and get used to fighting in tandem. For the defender, it grants them the time to get used to the enhanced strength before we are forced to use it in the field. Grow used to the time limit. And even learn how to fight multiple opponents at once. 

"Luce." I pause, looking over to our teacher as she walks over. "Someone is here to speak with you." 

"Oh. Okay." I mutter as I brush myself off. 

With a pulse of my magic, my body is cleaned, my dusty clothes are returned to their original pure white robes. Any sweat from my workout utterly vanishes. 

This could be super annoying... I wonder what trope I'll be meeting today? 

The angry 'you have no right' one. The 'nice' one. The 'you are property of the church' one. The 'I'm taking all of your paintings' one? 

I wonder if Serafall is hiring... cause that's where I'll be going if they pull that shit. 

Maybe she won't make me do much beyond painting extras for her show. 

We walk through the church sanctuary eventually stopping in front of a large door. 

"S-So... who wants to see me?" I ask meekly. 

"You'll see." Griselda notes as she opens the door. 

I step into a circular room with a large table inside. Sat around it is numerous old men, the highest authority within the sanctuary. Bishops of the lord. but. Behind them is a figure that radiates pure power. A woman with long silky blonde hair. 

Her face lights up upon seeing me, her hands clasping together briefly. "Ah! Hello Luce! It is wonderful to meet you." 

A halo rests above her head. My eyes widen slightly as I bow my head. "It's an honor to meet you, Seraph Gabriel!"