The Hero became a Part-Time Devil
The next few days flew by, I was expecting to almost immediately be put to work but it's been radio silent from Rias since that day.
But in other news, I've been bothering Momo enough that her friends basically drag me to their lunch spot, a win if I've ever had one.
Also, we're on a first-name basis now? So we are friends. Honestly, most of the time I hang out with her friends asking questions and trying to gauge my interest in things.
Momo has also introduced some other devils all of which were on the student council. Given my current need to become stronger, I did ask for some pointers from some of them since they seemed to be melee fighters.
The result? You don't need to know. Oh, these bruises? I fell down the stairs, nothing to worry about.
Okay, but seriously? These girls are strong, and I learned after the fact that they were using their devil power. Yura Tsubara herself admitted that if she didn'tuse it, I may have won.
I don't believe it, to be honest, but maybe they just wanted me to feel better about getting beaten black and blue by girls.
When I'm not getting beat up at school, 90% of my free time is in the gym. Let's just say the power of Gym Nut plus all the synergy really did a number on my physique.
While I'm not super buff, my muscles feel more dense than before, and not to mention the definition! I went from a casual 4-pack to a 6-pack in the span of two days. My max weight has increased by at least 20-30%.
Not to mention a funky little number has appeared next to the Gym Nut trait.
[Rare++ - Gym Nut] 10%
My best guess? It's my progression percentage until my entire physique is at a very low superhuman level.
Training with Tiche? That is hell. She has said she will only teach the basics of what she knows since my style doesn't suit assassination. I have no idea what she means.
Most of the training is repetitive or learning my limits with my abilities. I've learned two things about my abilities.
The first is that an uncommon ability takes a minute to be able to swap back, and a rare ability takes 5 minutes. The second thing I've learned is that lightning claws take more energy than I thought; I can barely keep them on consistently for a minute before running out of energy.
I'm too busy learning and working out to properly experiment with it right now, but I have ideas to get around it in the future.
The good news, though, is that it currently only takes about 30 seconds for Energy Regeneration to completely recharge me, and after several hours of testing, it takes 10 lightning sessions to have me start panting for breath.
So doing some minor guessing, my physical stamina is roughly 10x the size of whatever mana pool I have. But honestly? It's a guess, and it's not like I have to explain it to anyone.
After nearly a week of acting like a regular student, I get contacted by Rias.
The one she sent? Yuuto Kiba, the Prince of Kuoh. I swear I'm straight, but holy damn, Yuuto lives up to all the hype in the looks department.
"Yo! Barnes!" Eh? Why did his aloof demeanor collapse?
"Yuuto? I didn't realize you knew me."
"Honestly, Barnes, I'm just finally glad to have a fellow guy in the group."
This bastard... Ahem, I mean this lonely soul.
"It's ok, Yuuto, even if I'm not working for Rias in the proper sense, we're still working together, so you'll be seeing me more often."
"Sounds good, Barnes."
"So, Yuuto, what's on the agenda today?"
"Ah, well... Koneko is busy, and she was supposed to patrol the town."
---Several Hours Later ---
Ah, at least I'm not scheduled to do grunt work like this regularly, which makes me feel sorry for Rias's peerage and their low numbers.
Nah, they probably get help from the president's peerage. But this is kind of boring, so I might as well treat it as cardio.
Luckily today was Friday, so I was able to do this patrol without messing up my school attendance, but doing cardio at 3 am makes me look like a weirdo.
Once the sun started to rise, a screen popped in front of my face.
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Ding! Detected host has completed a task for Rias Gremory's peerage.
You have gained 1x Random Bronze Ticket.
Would you like to use the tickets now?
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Ex- fucking -cuse you?!? Why is it so easy?
No, wait, like actually, why did this get a ticket? Is it because it's a main character assigning it? I don't understand the rules of this Gacha, but this is basically a free power-up!
'System! Roll that ticket!'
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Rolling Random Bronze Ticket...
You have rolled a common trait!
[Common - Perfumer]
You smell nice, that's about it. You have no distinct odor; you smell like what the person that's smelling you likes.
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There are no words to describe how disappointed I am with this. Like, why? Why does this exist? I mean, I'll take it because I have to, but I'm not happy about it.
I'm just going to go home and sleep this off.
---Several Weeks Later---
You know? I thought this anime would be more dangerous than it is.
Oh, I've also figured out why the Gacha System assigned that Bronze Ticket. It turns out that the first time you do a task, it triggers, and I've only triggered it one other time due to Rias requesting I spar with Yuuto.
The results of said spar will not be said...
To give an update on my status, let's take a look.
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[Host: Sam Barnes]
[Race: Human]
Active Abilities (1/1)
- Lightning Claws - Uncommon
Other Abilities
- Energy Regeneration - Rare
Skills
-N/A
Traits
- Enhanced Vitality - Uncommon
- Hero Candidate—Rare
- Gym Nut - Rare++ [35%]
- Perfumer - Common
Items
- Familiar Contract - Rare
- Tank - Common
Familiars
- Black Knife Tiche - Rare
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Yeah, as you can see, I got a fucking tank. It's a completely normal tank besides the fact it has unlimited ammo and fuel.
Yeah, normal.
Okay, it's so fucking cool. The only real downside is, uh...I don't know how to drive it or anything, so it's just kind of sitting in my inventory.
But it's a tank, so it's automatically one of the best things I own.
But enough about my tank.
Over the last few weeks, I've gotten closer to people at school, particularly Momo and the rest of the Sitri Peerage. Yuuto is a close second, but the way girls stare at us when we hang out kind of scares me.
Momo and the gang can no longer completely body me, which was a surprise to everyone. We had to actually hold back a lot due to our respective healing factors, only able to do so much.
All in all? This has been a pretty successful school life so far.
I've also told Momo to tell Sona if she ever needed my help to just tell me. I'm just trying to see if I can get more random bronze tickets.
If life keeps going as it is, I'll reach a superhuman physique in roughly a month and a half.
OH, I almost forgot, I found out that there is no Asia Argento in Kuoh Academy, so I think I appeared before the anime started. I just don't know how long beforehand.
But surely I'll be fine, right? I haven't been attacked ever since that first day, plus I'm way stronger!
So now I just head on home and—
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Sudden Quest! You are about to be ambushed!
Objective: Survive—1x Gold Ability Ticket
Optional Objective: Defeat all opponents before help arrives! 1x Advantage Gold Ability Ticket
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"AH, COME ON!!!"