A Big Change of Pace

"How dare you treat one of my peerage like that, Erik!" Rias huffed, her cheeks blown up slightly like a chipmunk who'd stuffed it's mouth full. Yet her cheeks were red when she was near me and I could feel her aura going chaotic and her pulse going haywire. What does that mean?

She's getting flustered speaking to such a handsome guy.

Sighing, I pinched the bridge of my nose before leaning against the wall behind me, "Rias, your peerage member tried to hit on my mom...how else was I supposed to react?"

"I-I just think you should have acted with a bit more maturity is all!" she said, her face turning a deeper shade of red before she averted her gaze from me. Seeing this I could only close my eyes and when I re-opened them, Issei was standing in front of me with two pieces of tissue paper stuffed up his nose to stop the bleeding.

"What do you want?" I asked, my tone impolite and impatient. I was willing to give him a chance to prove me wrong but he practically shit on that chance when he hit on my mom.

He laughed a little awkwardly before scratching the back of his head, averting his his eyes as he replied, "I'm...I'm sorry about what I said, Basaka-san. It's just I get nervous around beautiful women and say dumb stuff," he laughed a little more naturally this time before he turned his gaze to me, "I'd have probably done the same if someone said that to my mom, so...I respect you for doing it, Basaka-san!" he smiled and I could see the sincerity in his eyes.

Raising my eyebrows a little, I felt surprised that he'd composed such a good apology. Not once did he try and shift the blame - not that he could - and he realized his faults. No less, he doesn't seem to hold a grudge for me hitting him.

...He's a pervert, sure, but he might be more than that. I'll have to see how he develops in the future.

"...Haah~ Sure, sure, I forgive you. But I was being serious last time, you know? Do it again and I'll make it so you can't have kids," I smiled a little too viciously before I wiped it off my face and slapped his shoulder, sending him staggering a little. Issei paled a little but nonetheless looked pretty relieved that I wasn't holding too big of a grudge.

Anyway, looking over to Akeno and mom who were laughing with one another, I felt my own face pale a little. I guess no matter how powerful you are, mom's serve to always embarrass you when they can. Must be payback for all those nights I woke her up as a kid with my crying.

...Yep, it's surely payback.

Sensing my gaze, mom looked over at me and smiled before saying some whispers to Akeno and then standing up and clapped her hands together. The clap wasn't loud or especially effective on the environment, but it seemed to attract everyone's attention almost immediately.

"Are you all made up now?" she looked to me, Rias, and Issei, and seeing the atmosphere around us, she nodded with a satisfied look on her face before she looked over to Rias specifically, "Rias-chan?"

Getting shocked out of her dazed gazing at me, Rias looked to mom with a red face and stuttered out a reply, "Y-yes, Aunt Himiko?" even after hearing the reply mom didn't answer immediately and instead walked over to Rias and pinched her red cheeks with a knowing smile which only made Rias even more flustered. After a bit of pinching, Rias was pouting when she saw mine and Akeno's smirking, so she met mom's green eyes with her blue-green ones, "What do you need, Aunt Himiko?" she huffed out, clearly getting embarrassed.

I'd seen her like this quite a lot, actually. Mainly because Rias was my childhood friend. Rias had been living here in Kuoh Town since she was 11, and Akeno had came with her. A few nights a week, until they were 14, Rias and Akeno used to stop at mine and have tea with us. Back then, mom had just told me they were daughters of friends of hers, but now I know that they actually came over so my mom could tutor them on how to properly lead their Territory and to also have meetings over the events in the town.

But just because they were there on business didn't stop us from becoming friends. It's how I met Kiba as well. And Koneko.

To think all my childhood friends were Devils...What a world, huh?

It was around those times that I started to develop a crush on Akeno.

"What I need, Rias-chan...is for you to take my son into your peerage~!"

"Eh?" was the reply that came from my mouth and just about everyone else's mouths. I...couldn't quite understand what her reasoning could possibly be. I didn't need to join a Peerage for power, nor did I need protection or influence. Unless--

"Don't you think he'd be the best way for you to climb the ladder of Devil Society? He's already strong and he's not a brute without skill either - I've trained him in martial arts since he was a kid. He could also double for your bodyguard," mom said, smiling proudly as she looked over at me.

But I still didn't understand.

"But mom, why?!" I said, confused and not quite understanding why I had to join a peerage to do any of those things, "I could protect her without becoming a Devil, right?"

Mom just smiled at me before shaking her head, "It's not about a lack of strength or anything like that. But some events are exclusively for Devils to participate in. Even if you're a Demigod, Erik, you can't just barge past years of tradition," she sighed before looking back to Rias, "You get why I'm letting my son join your peerage, don't you, Rias?" she seriously asked, dropping the honorifics she used earlier and sounding much more serious.

"Mhm," Rias nodded solemnly, "I assume that my brother asked you if Erik could join the Peerage, didn't he? Just so I could have a powerful bodyguard in the things to come..." she ominously said this and I felt my instincts flare:

Big things were coming.

Mom nodded sadly, seemingly knowing what Rias meant by 'the things to come', "Don't worry, Rias-chan, I'm sure with Erik in your peerage you can overcome the hurdle that's coming. Just stick to the plan and have a Rating Game with him...okay?" at mom's warm words, not just me but everyone was confused with what they were talking about. But we weren't given much time to think about it either, as mom clapped her hands before speaking up again, "Enough about that serious stuff, what pieces do you have left? I heard you used all eight of your Pawn Pieces on that Issei kid...so that would mean you have a Rook, Knight, and Bishop piece, right?" seeing Rias nod her head, mom smiled before holding out her hand, "Give me the Knight piece then, Rias-chan~!"

She'd completely lost that solemn and serious air from before and all I could do was roll my eyes thinking about how unless it's about training, fighting, or life-altering things, mom's hardly ever serious.

Rias, of course, was used to mom's eccentric behavior so she held up a hand and a piece appeared in her palm with a flash. It looked like a traditional knight chess piece but it was pure red in color and looked to have some kind of energy moving around inside of it:

Demonic Power, probably.

Mom took the piece before turning to me and holding it out toward me, "Take it, Erik, and instill it with your aura. Fully flood it with everything you've got, okay?" she told me and I just did what she said. I picked up up, held it in between my two hands and closed my eyes.

Though I say that my God blood was awakened, I didn't mean fully. I had a golden glob of blood in my heart and ever so slowly if was distributing itself into my bloodstream and enhancing my physique. My initial awakening awakened 5% of it, while over the last month, I'd awakened an additional 2%. Apparently it gets harder the higher the percentage but it isn't too bad for me just yet.

Why am I thinking about this? Because that's where my aura comes from. Where my Lifeforce comes from. So concentrating and thinking of the glob of blood in my heart allows me to better draw out my essence and imprint it on something.

This wouldn't be the first time I've done it, either. I've done it with Spears to enhance them. So I can only assume that this is what I'm doing with this so-called Evil Piece.

I brought my aura out, a cyan blue flood of energy, and instilled it into the piece.

The piece absorbed the energy like a hungry animal, chomping down on it and eating whatever I gave it. Seeing this, I smirked and increased the aura going into it. Now it was a massive tsunami of blue energy and mixed in with the wave were dark brown pieces that signified my affinity with earth.

Finally, the piece couldn't take anymore and I opened my eyes only to see the same piece...but a shining cyan blue covering in fissure-like cracks of brown.

"Now press it against you chest and absorb it, Erik," mom said and I absentmindedly followed her instructions, knowing that she wouldn't steer my wrong. The piece just passed through my uniform, past my skin and muscles and entered my chest before slowly dissolving and redistributing itself among my cells.

I felt myself change but not by much. I felt somewhat light and more flexible, but other than that, I felt the same. If anything, I felt the next percent of God blood getting ready to awaken. Flexing and relaxing my hand, I looked to mom before questioning her, "Why'd you pick the Knight piece? Wouldn't the rook better fit my style of fighting and brute strength?"

Hearing my question seemed to hilarious because mom just laughed before shaking her head, "Pfft! Do you think a measly Rook Piece could make you any physically stronger than your father's God blood? You've got physical strength and durability in buckets, Erik. Movement and Reaction Speed are what you need," she spoke in a matter-of-fact way and I could only sigh and accept her explanation.

It made sense. Kind of, at least. My strength and durability were what had been enhanced the most about me, with my reaction speed being next on the list. Movement speed, however? Unless we're talking about explosive power deployed through my leg strength, then I don't have much of it.

Seeing I wouldn't be getting anymore answers from her, I turned away from her and looked toward the others in the room. Kiba, Akeno, Issei, Koneko..."Well, I guess I'm a part of your little happy peerage, huh? Look after me, I guess," I chuckled before turning back to Rias and pulling off a mock bow, "Rias-sama, you loyal peerage member is at your service~"

Seeing Rias go completely red was a brilliant sight, huh?