The Dungeons Open and Devils Observe

Wizards are a special sort of hacker that can dive into an electronic network, Mind and Soul. Our bodies are defined as just devices containing our souls. Magi who have lost their magic can use magical circuits to successfully program their souls, which had more or less denied a previous thing I had believed. This was what was known as Soul Hacking and what was normally used by those who wanted to enter the Moon Cell.

All of this had been explained to me between Touko and Aoko and the words repeated with what seemed to be bold outlines in my head as I just groaned and forced myself to move. If the System was sending me to the Moon Cell the normal way, that meant my Mind and Soul left my body to be present there.

So how, then, was an alarm clock in Kuoh able to wake me from the Moon Cell!?

…while I normally didn't have anything against Mondays, somehow having an alarm clock reach impossible, soul deep, levels seemed like a very Monday thing to happen.

As just about all teens should probably do, I spent a while after turning the alarm clock debating if I should just skip school and just do something more interesting. Tsukumihara theoretically had everything I needed. Every bit of knowledge I would need and ultimately, I doubted I even needed true qualifications to get far in the sort of life I could live. I could just be a high school drop out with inhuman levels of intelligence that…

…actually, what exactly was my future? Normally, Issei became a sort of movie star, or well, actor, between being kept so busy he supposedly didn't even have time to be there for his children while they were growing up. Considering that latter part, it was likely that I would get dragged into so many troublesome things that I wouldn't need to worry about keeping myself busy. Depending on the skills and paths I choose, I could just start doing Alchemy or something and start selling potions or some other classical Gamer move prevalent in fanfictions.

I could also just 'marry' into successful individuals. I would not be ashamed to be a sort of trophy husband, being supported by the women in my life while I support them as well. With the general existence of the System, it was also quite possible that I could easily earn money by various other means. With some of the implications of the Dungeon Keys, I could probably run my own country, my own world.

I could skip PhDs and Doctorates and just be a scientist or something. I did not need formal acknowledgements of my knowledge to make it work as long as I was self-sustained. I could fuck off and be a hermit somewhere… There were certainly a lot of options ahead of me which did not actually—

[Quest Generated: Get Yo Ass Up

Go to Kuoh Academy before the School Day starts

Rewards: None

Failure: ???]

Oh fuck off!

Ah… And now the unknown failure punishment was somehow worse than actually knowing what would happen, so I couldn't even relax in my bed anymore and forced myself to get moving again. It was time for school, it seems…

o.O.o.O.o

Several minutes into heading toward the academy, I remembered some things. Such as the fact that Osakabehime and Musashi had history. I was pretty sure that Osaka had a crush on Musashi… That could be fun and depending on how things turn out it could also the the first official love triangle I would be a part of… Maybe. For the time being however, nothing really came out of training with Musashi yet, aside for some minor stat increases.

She seemed nice… And the sort of person that Tamamo would shoot glares at, but considering what was in my future, that sort of individual was likely going to be encountered a lot so I figured it best to get used to her.

For some reason, Tamamo hadn't followed me into the Moon Cell, at least on a visible level. Maybe she was in spirit form by my side. Maybe she was giving me some space after the… Bathroom incident… Hopefully she was not avoiding me or doing something else in a sneaky fashion. Just thinking about that seemed to increase my anxiety, so I dropped the subject.

I had wings but not the actual freedom to fly just yet. Or the time to learn how to fly. It might get difficult being up like that, considering my reaction to the Arena… Well, I couldn't just start flying in public, which brought about the main line of thought as a certain skill was activated to be explored.

[Create I.D.

Available Instant Dungeons: [Program], [Fallen]]

I willed the [Fallen] option as not to be pressing that many invisible buttons in public and… Everyone else seemed to vanish. It was as if a sort of wave spread out from me, harmlessly moving along but removing everyone from around me. This had… Implications… Though maybe it was just some strange sort of shift that seemed like everyone was gone. It lacked the strange coloration of the time stop while making the dialogue choices, but maybe this was just another oddity that did not have greater further implications. Either way, to suddenly have this happen was… Possibly troublesome. Was I gone from the normal world already? That suddenly?

[Choose Difficulty

The higher the difficulty, the better the rewards

[Very Easy] – Enemies are scaled greatly below your level

[Easy] – Enemies are scaled to be lower than your own level

[Normal] – Enemies are scaled to your level

[Hard] – Enemies are scaled to be greater than your own level

[Very Hard] – Enemies are scaled to be greatly above your level

[Impossible] – Enemies are scaled to be twice or more your level]

For a few moments, I hovered over the [Very Easy] option just to be safe… But well… I was feeling a bit bold, among other things such as strangely personally offended at the thought of choosing the safest option. My stats were probably high for my level already and with the additional power of the Ray Horizon, I could probably take on enemies above my weight class. On the other hand, Musashi had beaten me pretty thoroughly in spite of that.

Just to be safe, I ended up going with the [Hard] option instead. My life was not in direct danger from enemies from the Dungeon yet and well… I couldn't find myself as cowardly as I thought I was, as cowardly as I would need to choose the absolutely safest option instead.

Assuming that the implication of twice meant something, it was likely that the enemies would be… Level eleven to fifteen? [Very Hard] would then be sixteen to twenty with [Impossible] possibly having no upper level cap. At level ten, that was not really that large, but at level one hundred, that is a fifty level scale within which the enemies could move!

Either way, as things were, I did not have an actual skill to perceive the levels of my enemies. Instead, I just covered myself in the Ray Horizon armor and looked around myself. In spite of some expectation, there was… No actual difference in location. I was still in Kuoh, where I had been when I activated the skill in exploring it. Actually being here caused considerable amounts of second guessing to return to me however, as well as a small amount of latent panic and performance anxiety. I probably shouldn't have actually chosen any option and just found an option to cancel selection…

Yet before I could look for a way to get out, a bright object moved past me. Shifting my attention to it, I saw an… Individual. Male, I assumed, wearing some light armor with a cloth covering his face, the rest of his head covered by a hood. A new spear of light was already in his hand without even a 'Hello', the two black wings on his back somehow… Oriented aggressively. I don't think I actually saw a bird threatening to attack before, but they would probably look vaguely like that.

"I'm not sure what you did." Tamamo materialized along with her mirror "But whatever it is, I am ready as well!" Oh good she's not avoiding me!

Well, if I have her watching my back, I can probably do this, can't I? Standing up a bit straighter, I hoped I would be able to project the right amount of confidence. "Caster, keep guard in case more of them show up. I want to try taking this one on myself."

"H-Huh?" She wasn't expecting that, but I was already walking forward, a jerk of my arm causing an Arondight to go out of my left forearm while Dimension Slicer was put in my right. "O-Okay…"

Even if he was scaled to be higher than me, a Divide should put him below instead and Tamamo was rather doubtlessly higher still, so it should be safe. Even so… I couldn't help but wonder where exactly this bravery was coming from. It was better than being frozen in fear, of course, but why wasn't I more apprehensive toward the fight? Why was I so ready and felt more talkative recently? Maybe it was the dragon physiology affecting me?

The spear of light in the Fallen's hand changed a little, becoming a sort of halberd, still being held by one hand but thrust at me in what seemed to be an awkward sort of position, the further head of it pointed up and the stance very wide rather than what I would have expected. Regardless, I was not confident enough in my ability to actually parry it, instead moving Dimension Slicer to be sideways, blocking the tip as best as I could with the flat of the blade.

In the moment, I considered not even using Divide when the option would appear to do so. With my current stats, unless he was holding back a considerable amount, we actually seemed to be well matched. His body tensed for a moment as the halberd was lifted up, scraping against, and as a result lifting up, Dimension Slicer as it did so, the wide stance apparently letting him manifest a second spear at point blank range.

It likely would have pierced me as well if not for the fact that he got hit in the head by a flying mirror. "Be careful!"

"R-Right…" It took me a moment to properly recover from that, which was longer than it took the Fallen to snap out of the effective stun. He attacked again and I moved forward instead of backpedaling, putting my body against his own. It was too early to be confident in what I can and can't do. "[Divide]" The condition had been met and I leaned back and away.

My footwork still needed some work. The power increase was greater than it had been with Raynare but less than with Musashi. I caught myself before I could actually trip over my feet and swung my left arm, Arondight moving to try and cut the Fallen down only to be blocked by another light weapon, though it 'shattered' due to his decreased power and my increased power. It was enough to stop my attack however, leaving us in a temporary standstill.

A set of Mana Bursts lifted my right hand and Dimension Slicer high before launching it down in an almost vertical slash that none the less seemed to do what was needed. While he didn't split apart or anything that dramatic, the Fallen's body became limp and he fell down to the floor. No, fell isn't the proper word, punny as it is. He rag dolled!

[+85 EXP]

A single program at the stage of the Arena we were at gave about twenty EXP on defeat, so this was four times more for a single Fallen. I was unable to really celebrate however as the power increase vanished with the Fallen's death and a short wave of heat made me aware of the fact that Tamamo was facing another two who were pretty much identical to the first. Well, in the first place they had just about all distinguishing features hidden…

[Unable to leave while in combat]

Ah… That's a bit of a problem right now, isn't it… "…I should probably hurry up so… Melusine. Go ahead and do what you feel is necessary." The armor vanished from my body and I felt her leave, turning my head slightly and seeing her summersault on the floor once before ending up in a proper position from which she launched herself forward in a powerful leap, swiftly followed by another notification.

[+90 EXP]

…Hm… A margin of experience or a higher enemy level? Either way, she dealt with him in one swift cut, engaging the other one as well and swiftly dealing with him as well. She was elegant and confident in movement, lacking any implication of doubt or second guessing. She fought so naturally… And I wasn't even sure how it was that I managed to fight.

I chose not to think too hard about it right now and instead turned back to the Academy, planning on checking if I could choose where I leave the Dungeon as well… Only for a dozen or so more Fallen to appear over the horizon to continue challenging us. The fight goes on, it seems.

I was not actually sure how many enemies there would be per Dungeon. Were there bosses? Did items randomly drop directly into my inventory or would I have to loot them off of their dead bodies? …could I properly handle being around dead bodies? Would any dirt I accumulate here carry over to the normal world? So many questions started forming in my mind, so many worries…

I should probably loot them directly when I get a quiet enough moment. I did not seem to be repulsed by the deathly still Fallen and even the act of killing them still brought a disturbing lack of reprehension even without a mental skill to accomplish it. I should either get a skill to clean myself off or try not to get dirty in the first place… But the fact remained that the best, if not only, way to find out was simple experience.

Then again… If I don't do this fast enough, I would fail the Quest!

o.O.o.O.o

Rias frowned in thought. It had been quite some time since she last got someone stuck in her head like this. She hadn't expected to be giving him so much thought, thinking that he would just be a passing interest and yet here he was, still stuck in her head like some anime that she had finished but the ending of which did not have a satisfying conclusion and instead left her thinking about it for days after the fact. She hated those.

Issei Hyoudou, as Akeno had informed her that his name was, was… An individual. On Friday, she had done some basic research on him and found that he was… Entertaining in a rather rare way. Most were at least a little apprehensive with their perversions, but seeing the reports of his behavior on paper certainly painted a picture of the opposite. She supposed she should have found that repulsive instead, but… She could appreciate the honesty.

She couldn't really expect anyone else she would have to deal with in the future to be perfectly honest with her… Maybe not even her own Peerage members… Well, they had their own lives and secrets they wanted to keep, topics they did not want to discuss and she would not pry into those matters as long as they do not cause anyone problems. Even Riser, for his directness, was not painted as honest with his desires as Hyoudou, but maybe that was out of fear and respect.

Badmouthing the third son of the Phenex family would be a poor move by anyone, meaning he had to be respected by those who wanted to actually stay in good relations to the family, to the only suppliers to the Phoenix Tears. There were certainly some other healing items available, but to willingly give up the best for the sake of mockery would be a foolish endeavor. Well, for anyone else as it didn't seem to matter what she said, even if she held her tongue from the worst of the things she could say.

But she did not want to think about him. He was to leave her alone until she graduates University and by then, she might even figure out a proper way to be rid of him. She knew she would eventually have to deal with him, but that would not be for another few years and the longer she can choose not to think about him, the better.

Returning to the interest within a close distance, she had barely known Hyoudou… Existed… Until last Thursday. Infamous as he actually was, she did not really concern herself with the rumors floating about and he had never… Targeted her specifically before in spite of the fact that she had the sort of body that he should have been following and pursuing with desperation. Akeno had also lacked direct experiences.

It was almost as if they go to completely different schools and she was hearing, reading, about him that way. Maybe it was one of the quirks of being a Devil among humans. She barely paid attention herself during those explanations, but if even the police do not stop any of them during their late night actions, then maybe it extended to this sort of situation.

Realizing the line of thought wouldn't get her anywhere she moved on, or rather back. She felt something strange around Hyoudou and her attention was found with that. Koneko was tasked with following him a little and, as it turned out, the Fallen had also taken interest. That was, of course, problematic. She could hardly hope to compete with the Fallen, but she lacked an interest greater than noticing something about him. If they wanted him, she saw no reason to go further out of her way to prevent him from slipping through her fingers so to say.

Some basic actions were still taken as she deemed appropriate. It was a bit of a shame in retrospect that he and the Fallen hadn't actually interacted before their supposed date. A flier was given to him, but it wasn't used. By this morning however, just about everything else was gone and she didn't even have a picture of her she could have used as some sort of leverage to try and further try to get him on her side. The Fallen had clearly pulled back after all, so he should be free pickings for her.

All she had to do was somehow get him to acknowledge the existence of the supernatural and from there they could go in various directions. Maybe get him together with Akeno, so to say. She would certainly enjoy teasing the pervert and he could easily become a repeat customer.

A small problem she had to acknowledge was the chance of him not asking around about the girl, about the Fallen. If he still remembered her and no one else did, then she had a leg to stand on and go ahead and try to get him in the proper position. If she was gone from his memory as well, then it would be a bit more problematic and complicated. But someone like him might be able to just be approached directly, skepticism quickly moved past.

It should be easy to find out as well. By his profile, he should have been far more vocal about the event that had surely happened to him and suddenly 'losing' her should spark quite the amount of panic. If he remembered, then he'd probably but running around, asking just about everyone about her. If he didn't, then he probably didn't even remember her… And she'd still be unable to prove she existed in the first place either way, lacking as she was in a photograph.

Well, there was also the possibility that the reason he hadn't used the flier was instead that he had somehow managed to deal with her himself. But the chances of that were so astronomically low that there was no point in considering it. He did not have the sort of background for that and even if his Sacred Gear was a Longinus and he freshly awakened it, he shouldn't have the means to defeat an experienced Fallen Angel on his own.

He really was stuck in her head… Perhaps slightly worse was the fact that she… Felt weird just thinking about him. His power had changed a little recently and something about it caused her to be… Excited. No, that was not the word, or so she tried to convince herself. Something had changed about him and now he wouldn't leave her mind and his sheer existence was… Something she decided not to think about while in the presence of Akeno.

There was an instinct deep down that just about all Devils had, some having it better and more developed while others didn't, an instinct about who had immense potential to have deals struck with, to be corrupted if the old standards of Devils corrupting the minds of mortals were used. Hyoudou activated that sense of greed somehow while he had just barely been sparking a passing interest before. So excitement was not the word, but neither was arousal and she lacked the actual best word to use it.

He ignited something deep within her, something primal, that filled her with a powerful desire of wanting and possessiveness from deep within her core and being. But it wasn't arousal. Of that much she was certain.

Well, no, maybe it was arousal. She couldn't just dismiss it like that, but it brought about the wrong sort of mental image. To say it like that felt like acknowledging him as some superior and that she wanted to submit herself. If she did want him, then it was wanting to make him hers, not make herself his and saying that she felt excited or aroused by his potential implied things the wrong way, at least to her…

"Ah, good morning." And he suddenly passed by her after walking out of a nearby door. He had a… Powerful smell to him. Not that his power smelled or anything like that, but having passed by her, she couldn't help but note a particular smell she found too familiar for a girl of her age. The smell of blood. Of fresh blood and death.

She turned around, but he was already gone by then, having turned some corner and vanished deeper into the academy… But she could still feel him and everything gradually started falling apart. The previously astronomical chance shot up in likelihood as he seemed to be… Four? Maybe more… Times what she felt on Friday. Maybe such a growth of power could be expected of someone just starting, but it was still… Unusual.

The chance was still low. To suddenly undergo a Sacred Gear awakening usually requires a sufficiently traumatic event. Sometimes, they don't even show up after one of those either. Even if one knew that they had a Sacred Gear, it wasn't easy either that they could just awaken it easily either, or so she heard. In order for him to end up with a Sacred Gear powerful enough to defeat a Fallen he should have gotten attacked already.

A certainly normal boy with no supernatural background suddenly being in a situation like that… He was likely to freeze up. Every bit of logic in her mind told her that the chance for him to reach an awakening before getting attacked was far, far too low. The Fallen wouldn't just let him go after helping him awake it either, even if it would be a weak one, but it obviously wasn't a weak Gear considering his growth in power.

So it had to be something powerful enough to defeat a Fallen while still injured. If it was a healing type, it wouldn't explain the increase in power and not even the Boosted Gear could have given him the sheer increase in power to fight a Fallen Angel without experience and while injured.

It was illogical, but it was proven right in front of her! And why did he feel like he killed recently!? Just what was— "Isn't that the girl's bathroom?" Ah, Akeno had a point, he walked out of the girl's bathroom for some reason.

Looking around, Rias confirmed that there was no one in the immediate distance that would need to be additionally… Manipulated to ensure secrecy before slowly opening the door. There was nothing of note. Not even the smell of having recently being cleaned, let alone one of a crime scene. So he hadn't killed anyone in the bathroom… And there was no one in the bathroom that he could have been spying on… So why was he there?

o.O.o.O.o

If there was a limit to enemies, we hadn't ended up hitting it before we reached the Academy. Though we did only kill about four dozen of them, which netted me another two levels and required the purchase of a pair of skills.

[[Clean Body Lv.1/10] – A relatively cheap spell that removes dirt, grime, stains and so on from self or intended target. Affects clothes as well. Even the hardest of stains will be removed no matter how old!

[Odor Removal Lv.1/10] – Removes the foul and unnatural smells from self or intended target. Does not work on smells still being made and does not remove the true source]

They hadn't worked immediately, but repeated casting managed to get rid of the blood and, as far as I could tell, the smells that came along with the fight. Realizing that someone like Koneko might be able to smell it, I started rapidly casting both skills as if trying to instantly get both skills to level ten by repetition. I had passed Rias and Akeno before I came to the realization, so hopefully I hadn't already made a mistake…

As it turns out, I was able to go somewhere in the Instant Dungeon and then leave it in that location, which did provide me with enough privacy to try and start flying around town privately, possibly. The insides of buildings were also not safe as some of the Fallen were in the Academy building itself with one in the damn bathroom trying to shock and surprise us! Still, their presence also told me that environmental damage was repaired.

The Fallen blew up a toilet but when the I.D. was left, everything was proper and normal again. What a ridiculously powerful ability this was… Assuming that every new enemy type gets an I.D. as well on top of that…

Well, I was more or less already planning on making a particular trip as soon as I could do so, not quite sure how it would work with the Lunar War and actual timing but hoping it goes well. Maybe it wasn't for the best to go there, but I had more or less drilled and rooted the idea into my head and now I couldn't move on from that. As such, the Key to God of War Ascension was obtained to be experimented with after school.

The I.D. apparently provided me with the place to actually fight, potentially better than even the Arena were it not for the fact I had to collect the Triggers, but that did not inherently provide me with powerful items… Yet. I more or less knew what was waiting for me in GoW and the loot would be immensely powerful, maybe even able to carry me quite far and continue being used all the way to the very end.

For now however I had just looted loose feathers and outfits from my defeated enemies. Hopefully I manage to properly think of a good thing to use them on. The outfit was actually rather nice so maybe it could be useful as sleepwear or something… Maybe I should try to get some crafting type skills and see what comes out of it. Though the embarrassment finally caught up to me, due to no small part being played with Aika's smirk that just screamed 'I know you got your dick sucked!'. What a strange expression…

Then again, it's not really all that stranger than the general fact that I could use fucking and foreplay in general to grow to immense levels of skill and power…