32 DxD: Weaving Threads 01

I don't need to sleep, but I can't say that I don't like to. Especially when I get woken up like I do today, with the sensation of a pair of lips wrapping around the head of my dick, a gentle tongue following it.

I open my eyes and look down and see Asia between my legs, taking my erection into her mouth even as she looks up at me with love in her eyes. I smile at her and then look around some more. My arms are around Momo and Aika, who are cuddled up to either side of me. Atsuko is hanging off of Aika's back on my left, and Ruruko is a little lower, clinging more to my right leg. All of us are naked, and I can see marks left by the cum I covered them in last night. Save for Asia, all of them are still deep asleep.

It turns out, sleeping with five girls, four of whom are devils, is enough to exhaust me. Not surprising when the math works out to cumming roughly three times for each of them. Even Asia is at the level where her endurance can handle three rounds, while the others can handle even more.

It was a very good bonding experience though, just what I needed to help mesh together the disparate parts of my harem. Atsuko was especially happy and intermingling, and seeing her make out with one of the other girls or play with their breasts or sit on their face increased my own arousal by an incredible amount. Asia was especially receptive and did what she could to make whatever girl I was inside feel even better.

Speaking of which, I turn my attention back to her. Neither of us has spoken a word, but we don't really need to. She woke up and decided to give me a blowjob. I can feel her warm mouth slowly and tenderly exploring the first few inches of my penis. I've gotten quite a few blowjobs before, but this one is loving and caring on a whole new level.

I move my hand and place it on her head. I twine my fingers into her hair and start running them through it and over her scalp, showing her how much I appreciate it. I feel her love and happiness spike and she redoubles her efforts, but not her speed.

While I sit back and enjoy Asia's blowjob, I turn my attention to the Game windows that I've been ignoring since yesterday.

<[Weighted Words] - Your words carry weight, and people are more likely to obey you so long as you ask them for something they would reasonably do.>

I only just now got to 500 CHA? Looking at my stats, I notice how imbalanced they are. STR, DEX, INT, and WIS are all over one thousand. But CON, CHA, and LUK are around five to six hundred. I guess for CHA and LUK that makes sense. Most people I've seen have those two stats much lower than their others. But my low CON is a problem.

Fortunately, it's a solvable one, considering the next window I look at is the class selection screen. Yesterday I maxed out the Hollow Knight class, but never picked a new one to replace it. Hopefully one of these would help me increase my CON.

--<Please choose a new Class>--

[Void Knight] [Void Monk] [Void Berserker] [Void Ranger]

[Void Assassin] [Void Ninja] [Void Thief]

[Void Summoner] [Void Manipulator] [Void Trickster]

[Blue Mage] [Lightbearer]

--<>--

Is this what the Game meant by my class options being updated? It certainly is specialized, which is something I have mixed feelings about. On one hand, these classes are no doubt extremely powerful. But on the other, I'm wary of overspecialization after my experience with the Ender Dragon.

Fortunately, I still have options for non-Void classes in the Unique classes. Blue Mage is still there, and it's joined by a new one. Lightbearer. No doubt this is a result of including the Shard of the Traveler in my race change potion. I was surprised when it didn't add anything, but I suppose this is what it did.

Honestly, I have no reason not to pick it. Just by itself, it's a powerful class, but it's also likely to increase my CON and it will offer me non-Void combat options. I have a few more of those now with Devil magic and the Power of Destruction, but more is good.

Some of the Void classes are extremely tempting, but they can wait a bit longer. My mind made up, I choose the Lightbearer class.

<[Lightbearer] - A seed of Light has joined with your soul. It will grow as you do. Draw from it to unleash the power of the Light.>

<[Solar] [Arc] [Void]>

Another unique class giving me a trait right at the start. I'd be worried if it wasn't then immediately asking me to pick an element. Solar, Arc, and Void are the three elements Light is commonly turned into for use by Guardians in the Destiny games. I guess it lets me choose which one I want. Do I only get one? Or am I just deciding the order?

There's no way to tell, but either way, my choice is the same. I choose Arc, the element that's like electricity, but it's also more than that. I need something that isn't Void, and between fire and electricity, I prefer the latter. I'm hoping that I'll get the others later on as well though.

<[Conjure Arc-Light] - Level 1(0%)>

<[Shape Arc-Light] - Level 1(0%)>

So I do get skills, good. And already I got the two I was hoping for. The ability to turn Light into Arc, and the ability to shape it. Even just that alone made the class worth it, though I'm a little annoyed that I now have to deal with what seems like yet another pool of resources. Unless it just pulls from my Soul?

A wave of warm pleasure washes over me as Asia's tongue runs over a sensitive spot. Right, now isn't a good time for testing, I'll figure it out later. There are only a couple more windows left to look at.

I honestly nearly forgot this is even a thing. I've been enjoying my time here so much, and there's so much to do here, that I haven't even thought about moving on. I could move on now, try for a lower-level world, do some free easy leveling.

But I really don't want to. If I leave now, with all that I have going on, it's going to be confusing coming back. And I've only just gotten back from a week-long training camp where I only did that. My to-do list built up from that interruption, and interrupting it again doesn't sound appealing.

The notification says I can do it whenever, so I won't rush things. That decided I move my attention to the last window.

<[Maestro of Moans] - Satisfy five girls in a singular sexual encounter

Reward: Lewd Skill Gem>

Ah, a reward from Kyu. I guess she enjoyed the show. I look around for her and spot her immediately, sleeping in her pixie form, nestled between Momo's breasts. Of course, she went for the largest pair of tits. I go ahead and use the reward, knowing exactly what I want.

--<Lewd Skill Gem Used!>--

Pick a Lewd Skill!

[Refraction Reduction]

[Alter Size]

[Imbue Tightness]

[Summon Appendages]

[X-Ray Vision]

[Lubricate]

[Seal Orgasm]

[Link Sensations]

[Phantom Hands]

[Bind]

--<>--

[Link Sensations] is tempting, and I'll probably go for that next. But right now I'm going for [Refraction Reduction]. I thought my sexual stamina was excessive, but I was proven wrong last night, and I'd like to start fixing that as soon as possible.

<[Refraction Reduction] - Level 1(0%)>

One percent at level one. Does that mean one hundred percent at level one hundred? I can only hope.

I take a quick look at my status.

<------>

Axton

Level: 321

Class: Lightbearer(21/100)[69%]

HP: 52,950 (3,495 per second)

MP: 119,280 (10,258 per second)

SP: 87,960 (6,685 per second)

CON: 959(1059)

STR: 1,366(1466)

DEX: 1,561(1661)

INT: 1,604(1704)

WIS: 1,485(1585)

CHA: 711(811)

LUK: 897(997)

<------>

My stats jumped up quite a bit. A new race and a new unique class combined with 21 free levels really helped with that. And just as I hoped, the Lightbearer class seems to focus on CON, and it's already on its way to matching my other stats. After double-checking everything, I close my status.

With no more windows distracting me, I let myself fully appreciate Asia's loving blowjob. While I was taking care of that, she managed to get more than half my dick down her throat, and was gently massaging it with her tongue and even by contracting her throat. I twitch inside her, silently letting her know how good it feels for me, and I feel a surge of satisfaction.

She picks up her movements slightly, and over the next few minutes, she slowly pulls me towards my climax. I grip her hair slightly in warning as I cum, thick ropes of semen shooting directly into her throat, flavored at the last minute to taste like strawberries.

Asia, already used to this, takes my load without any hesitation. When my orgasm finishes, she pulls herself off of my erection. There's a quiet popping noise as her lips separate from it, and she opens her mouth wide for me to see her empty mouth. For a moment, I wonder where she got the idea to do that, but I quickly realize it was probably Aika that taught her that. I'll have to thank her for that later.

Asia closes her mouth and smiles at me and then crawls to lay more directly on top of me. My dick pushes against her soft stomach as she settles her chin on my chest.

"I love you," I tell her in a hushed voice, hand still in her hair, petting her.

"I love you too," she replies, just as quietly. But not quietly enough it seems, as the other girls start stirring. Or maybe it was Asia's movement that woke them up. Either way, the bed suddenly becomes more active as the four other girls start moving and opening their eyes.

"Good morning everyone," I tell them. I use [Void Sight] to quickly look at a clock since I can't see one from my angle. "We need to be up soon if we want to make it to school on time."

Reactions to that are mixed, as many of them are still getting their bearings and waking up. Asia's excitement grows, and she quickly sits up. Momo looks a little confused at first, but as she looks around I can see the pieces click into place for her. She kisses me on the cheek and starts to get up as well, shaking Ruruko, who is a little more lethargic. Kyu tumbles out from between her boobs, catching herself mid-air and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes while grumbling.

On my other side, Aika and Atsuko both grumble, but they seem less confused by waking up in this pile of bodies, and they slowly start getting up, eyes still half-closed. Only once everyone else starts getting up can I finally sit up, bodies no longer keeping me in place. Though I miss the feeling almost immediately.

"The bathroom is right through that door," I tell them. "It should be big enough for all of us to wash up."

Atsuko yawns as she stretches, and I take a moment to appreciate her toned body. "I definitely don't want to go to school like this," she murmurs, still half asleep.

"I wouldn't mind, but Sona would chew me out if she figured it out," Ruruko says as we all pile into the bathroom. It's pretty large, and it's a weird hybrid of Western and Eastern, having a separate shower and bath, but done in western styles.

"As much as I enjoy the thought of marking you girls, it'd probably not smell great," I reply.

Ruruko raises an arm and sniffs it, her nose scrunching slightly at the smell. "Good point," she accedes.

We shower quickly, making sure to scrub each other down. Momo doesn't let us get too distracted, though I get some gropes in on all the girls before we finish up. Unfortunately, we have to skip the bath, but just a few short minutes later we're heading down to the kitchen for a quick breakfast.

Wilhelm is doing great as a butler, and while he managed to set up catering for last night, cooking is not his forte. I'm able to whip up a quick breakfast though, and we chow down. While Asia and Momo talked about Asia's first day of class, I see Kyu fly into the room in her normal outfit and at her full height. And to my surprise, the other girls turn their heads to look at her too.

"Hiya everyone!" Kyu says cheerfully, hand raised in greeting. "I'm Kyu, an old friend of Axton's, and I'll be staying here too!"

The girls turn their attention from Kyu and back to me, curious expressions on their faces. I sigh. "I didn't expect you to show up like this so soon," I address her. I knew she was thinking about revealing herself to my harem. The orgy last night probably pushed her to rip that bandaid off though. "Everyone, meet Kyu Sugardust. She helped me out of a bad situation before I came to Kuoh and has helped me out a lot since. She's the one I met up with on Sunday."

"What are you?" Atsuko asks bluntly, eyes glued to Kyu's outfit. And not for no reason. Kyu's outfit is little more than a flowing top that shows off her midriff and cleavage and a pair of panties. Not to mention the giant wings sprouting from her back.

"I'm a fairy!" she answers, thankfully omitting the 'love' part.

Momo frowns. "I didn't know fairies actually existed."

Kyu shrugs. "Eh. Relatively speaking there aren't that many of us, and we generally tend to stay out of sight. I'm only showing myself to you guys because you're so close to Axton."

"Are you close to him yourself then?" Aika asks, a twinkle in her eyes.

"We fuck, yeah," Kyu replies bluntly. I'm torn between sighing and laughing. None of my girls care who I sleep with thanks to my efforts and the [Harem King] perk. But there's still a part of me that feels like I should be hiding that sort of thing.

"You should have joined us last night," Asia says, proving my thoughts correct. I'm especially glad to see her inviting other girls.

Kyu waves her hand dismissively. "Nah, I didn't want to interrupt. I'm definitely down to join next time though." She winks at Asia. "You girls are pretty cute, I'd love to share a bed with you." Asia blushes in response.

"We need to leave now if we want to make it on time to get Asia set up before classes," Momo interrupts, glancing at the time on her phone. "Sorry Kyu, we'll have to talk more later."

"Lame," Kyu replies. "But that's fine, I just wanted to say hi, introduce myself, all that jazz."

I throw the last bit of food in my mouth and stand up, the girls following suit. "In that case, thanks for dropping by Kyu. Talk to Wilhelm if you need anything, and we'll talk more later, okay?"

"Aye aye captain," she replies with a lazy salute. "See you girls later! I hope to get to know you all very well." With a final wink, she leaves as suddenly as she came in. Only to immediately come back in, shrunken and invisible, settling on top of my head.

"She's...interesting," Ruruko comments hesitantly. "I kinda couldn't keep up with her." Momo nods in agreement

"She's unique, that's for sure," I reply as we gather our stuff and start heading out, ignoring the tiny swat from her on top of my head. "But she's fun, and she's helpful."

"What's the story about how you guys met?" Aika asks.

"I don't want to bore you with the details, but to make a long story short, before I was awesome as I am now, I found myself somewhere I really shouldn't have been in. Thankfully, she was passing through and was able to get me out before anything bad happened, and then we just sorta became friends."

All true, if misleading. I'm not sure why I'm hesitant to tell them the full truth, that I'm not from this world and the place I was stuck was the space between worlds. I think it's because it makes the story so much more serious, and that's not really a discussion I want to have right now.

"Have you met any other fairies? Are they all like her?" Atsuko asks.

"No, but from what she's said, she's pretty normal for a fairy," I reply. "I find it hard to believe though." I get another swat to the top of my head.

"So fairies dress like that, huh?" Atsuko says in a voice filled with wonder. "Awesome."

I laugh and throw an arm around her shoulders as we walk towards school, pulling her in for a hug. "Never change Atsuko," I tell her. The others laugh as well, and Atsuko blushes a bit from embarrassment, but there's a smile on her face as well.

"You know, you could have just teleported them to school," Kyu says from the top of my head.

"Walking to school with friends is an important part of the school experience," I reply using [Sound Domain] to create the sounds where only Kyu could hear them. Not that easy when surrounded by girls and moving, but that just makes it good practice.

She snorts. "And you care about that? I thought school bored you?"

"It's important to Asia," I point out. "Besides, didn't you come in at the last minute on purpose?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she snaps back immediately.

"Oh I'm sure," I reply, a bit of sarcasm in my voice. "I'm just saying, I'd understand if someone who spent most of her time invisible to nearly every other person was a little nervous about meeting five pretty girls."

More hits to the top of my head follow. "Bitch, I'm a Love Fairy, I do not get nervous talking to girls."

"No no, you're right of course," I placate her sarcastically. "I apologize for suggesting otherwise. I suppose it was someone else's nervousness I was picking up with [Empathy]."

"Keep it up buster and I'll lock the damn skill," she growls.

"Sure sure," I reply. "Still though, real talk? I get it. I'm not saying you're getting nervous in front of cute girls, you're just getting nervous being the center of attention. How often does that happen to you, huh? You're either invisible to everyone but your client, or you're looking for a new client while sort of blending into the background. There's no shame in being nervous when you're outside of your normal comfort zone."

Kyu grumbles but doesn't reply, and I fight down a sigh. "What I'm saying is, there's no rush. I appreciate you showing yourself, and I'm looking forward to you joining us, but feel free to do so at your own pace. We have all the time in the world."

She doesn't respond, but I can feel her emotions of relief and gratitude, and that's enough.

-x-

Asia's first day of classes is going pretty well. Everyone is excited to meet the pretty foreign girl, and during the lunch break, she's practically surrounded by classmates asking her questions. At first, she seems pretty overwhelmed, but she manages herself well and is naturally talking to the other students with a smile on her face.

I receive looks of jealousy, surprise, and interest when Asia mentions she's staying with me and when she blushes and goes quiet when asked about our relationship. When classes are over though, I extricate her from the curious classmates and the two of us head to the Student Council room, while Aika and Atsuko head to the ORC.

I'm still technically part of both clubs, but I've just spent the past week and some change with the members of the ORC, and I'd like to catch up with the Student Council some, especially with Serafall's proposition hanging over me. Also, Sona is at 82 Affection, and I'm very ready to take things to the next step with her.

Which is why the first thing I do when we enter the Student Council room is to ask her for a game of chess.

There's a charge to the atmosphere when I ask, and I can see Sona tense slightly. "That's...rather sudden," Sona replies. "Is there a particular reason you want to play?"

"Do I need one?" I ask her, though I continue before she can reply. "Well, I wanted to talk to you about something, and it's been a while since our last game. I've been practicing hard since then."

And I have been. Well, maybe not hard, but I have been practicing. My high INT makes learning Chess easy. It doesn't make me instantly good at it, but my ranking on the chess app I use has shot up quickly as I learned from each game I played here and there. Based on the last game we played, I'm more than ready enough to beat Sona now.

"I see," she replies, a little nervous and struggling not to show it. "Very well, I suppose I have time right now, and I wanted to talk to you as well. Let me set up the board."

Asia goes to sit next to Momo and Ruruko and talks with them while I sit down on the couch at the center, sitting in the same spot I have in the past when I've played games against Sona. She places the Wizard's Chess Set on the table in front of me, and I watch as the pieces scramble into their respective places. White on my side, black on hers.

"So what is it you wanted to talk to me about?" she asks as I move one of my pawns forward, starting the game.

"I wanted to talk to you about training you and your Peerage," I say. "While you don't need it as desperately as Rias did, not by a long shot, I believe you'd benefit a lot from it. You guys haven't participated in any Rating Games or any real-world combat, right?"

"We've participated in hunts for Stray Devils that enter our territory," she answers. "But no, nothing like that. Stray Devils are by themselves and very rarely are they capable of thinking straight, so they don't put up much of a fight. Rias takes care of some as well, and even with her smaller and less strictly trained Peerage she doesn't have any trouble with it."

I nod in understanding. "In that case, I can offer you exactly that. Real-world, or as close as you can get to it, experience. And I suspect that I don't need to tell you how much of a difference there is between training and the actual thing."

She frowns as she considers the board. "No, no you do not. I wanted to talk to you as well about training, but I was hoping for a different arrangement, one that wouldn't have us missing a week of school."

"I fully agree on that front, and without a time limit, there's no need for that," I reply. I do not need yet another week-long training camp that puts everything else on pause. "My training of Rias was composed of two main parts. Group training in those pocket spaces I told you about, and then individual training. The group training was to get used to actual combat as part of a team and to hone all the skills required for that. The individual training was to refine everyone's specialties and talents."

"Do you have an idea in mind already for how you want to schedule things then?" Sona asked. "We already do the individual training you describe as part of our normal training."

I nod. "Which is part of why you don't need it as much as Rias did. But I was thinking that for six weekends, every Saturday morning, I'll take you guys to the dungeons for group training for four hours. That's how much I did for Rias, four hours in the morning six days in a row. And I figured that some weekdays, depending on availability, I'd spend a couple of hours one on one with you or one of your Peerage members, helping them hone their skills as well. Whether it's to give them tips or just act as a sparring partner where they can go all out without fear of hurting me, it might help."

"Hmm," she replies, considering both my words and the board. So far things are even in the game, but I'm slowly pushing her into a disadvantageous position, and if she doesn't break out soon, things are going to swing my way very quickly.

"That would work for me," Sona finally replies as she moves a piece. It doesn't get her out of the bad position, but it makes it harder for me to push her into it. But it only delays things a bit, and judging from her emotions, she realizes it too.

"Are you fine with starting this Saturday then?" I ask. "And then starting the individual training sessions the week after that?"

"There's one more thing we need to discuss," Sona says. "Payment for your services."

I shake my head. "Don't worry about it. Rias didn't pay me either, and I didn't ask. I'm doing this as a friend." And because the goodwill I get from it is far more valuable than whatever money, connections, or items she could get me. All of those I can get more easily from other places, such as my potions business. But just like I did with Rias, training Sona's peerage is an easy way to get closer to all of them.

Sona frowns, looking up from the game board. "Rias didn't pay you anything?"

"Nope," I reply. "I didn't ask for anything and she didn't offer anything. She thanked me a bunch, but I don't really want payment for this. I'm doing it because I can, and because I want to."

"I see. Well, in that case, I'll gratefully accept," she says before shooting me a sharp look. "However, you are far too casual about this sort of thing. One of these days, someone will take advantage of you. You were like this with my sister as well."

I shrug. "Don't worry, no one that I don't want taking advantage of me will do so. But I don't mind if you want to take advantage of me a bit." I wink at her suggestively, and a very slight blush appears on the tips of her ears.

"How is your business with my sister going for you?" Sona asks, changing the subject. "I know she can be...difficult to work with at times, but she does her job well. Most of the time."

"It's been great actually," I reply. "She's been prompt and extremely helpful. And she went above and beyond with the house I asked her for."

"I'm glad to hear it," Sona replies. She pauses, distracted by the board. Things have started to turn against her, and no doubt she can tell how the rest of the game is going to play out. Still, she makes a move and doesn't give up yet. "She's simply repaying your kindness in the deal between the two of you, and doing what she can to not take advantage of you."

"You guys are unreasonably honorable for a race called Devils," I reply as I make my move, causing her to grimace as I shut off her attempt to pin my Queen. I start using [Erotic Pierrot] to slightly increase her arousal. Just a touch, as subtlety is the name of the game here. It's just to get her into the right mindset by the time I win this game.

"Not all Devils are like that, but Sitri's believe in good business relationships," Sona says. "My sister may have given up the name, but she's still a Sitri."

"And Rias?" I ask.

"The Gremory's have always been more kind than other Devils," she replies. "Primarily to their servants, but also in general. They have a reputation for it, though whether it's a good or bad thing depends on who you ask."

"So you're saying I have a skewed perspective of what Devils are like," I reply as I take another one of her pieces. She flinches slightly as the stone sword of my knight cuts down her rook.

"I'm saying you've met some of the best, and I wouldn't hold others up to those same standards," she replies. She takes out one of my pawns using her bishop, only for me to immediately take that bishop with my queen. She grimaces as she realizes the trap I set for her. Normally she would have caught that, but she's running out of options and is starting to get flustered. The game is nearly over either way though.

"I'll keep that in mind when interacting with other Devils in the future then," I say. She studies the board for a moment before sighing and making a move. The ending is clear, but I appreciate her letting it play out and letting me claim my win. "Checkmate," I declare three moves later.

She gives the board another glance, confirming that she no longer had any other options. "So it is," she admits, causing the shattered pieces to start repairing themselves now that the game is officially over. She looks up at me, and her face is blank and politely smiling, but her emotions are muddled. Frustration, hope, nervousness, arousal, and a few other emotions are all conflicting against each other.

"You know, back on that day when we played a few games in the park, I asked you if there was a prize for beating you," I say casually, ramping up her arousal just a little bit more. Her nervousness also spikes a bit.

"I remember," she replies, fidgeting slightly but otherwise keeping her cool. "I also did not give you a definitive answer one way or the other."

"I didn't really expect one at the time, as it was just playful banter," I say. "But I've been thinking about it, and there is something I want from you."

"Oh?" she asks, tone indicating casual interest, but [Empathy] reveals the true mess of emotions inside of her.

"There's only one thing from you I'd want as a prize," I say. "And that's a date with you. This weekend if possible, but I'm flexible when it comes to scheduling it."

She blinks, and her emotions still for a moment. "You want...a date?" she asks. "With me?"

"Absolutely," I reply with a grin. "This week I've been gone, I've thought about it a lot, and I'd love to take you on a date."

The others in the room had been vaguely paying attention to us before this but were partially distracted by their work and their own discussions. When I won, some of them started paying more attention. I saw Momo and Tsubaki's heads turn to look at the board. But now all of them are paying attention, and the room is quiet.

"And that's...all you want?" she asks, unsure. "You must have worked extremely hard to improve yourself so quickly, especially when you've been so busy."

"And a date with you would be a prize worthy of that effort," I say. "I wouldn't dare ask for anything more." I hadn't thought of it before, but her reaction reeked of insecurity in her own attractiveness. She's had marriage suitors, but I suppose most of them were more interested in her as the Sitri heiress than anything else. And she's also best friends with Rias, a red-headed bombshell. Even her own peerage was filled with beauties. I guess it's not surprising that she was insecure about her relatively plain looks.

Though honestly, she's more my type than someone like Rias. Slim, smart, and she has an elegant air to her. And the thought of having her naked in my lap as I make her cry out in pleasure arouses me far more than Rias in the same situation does. Maybe because it's harder to imagine? The normally serious Sona mewling in pleasure versus the already pretty sensual Rias. The contrast is higher for Sona, and I like that.

Sona's blushing now, and not just in the tips of her ears. Her cheeks are pink, and it's honestly adorable. "I- I see," she replies, stammering slightly. "In that case, I suppose I can accept. You've earned it after all. I can make time this Saturday evening."

"Perfect," I reply with a large grin. "I can't wait."

She blushes a little harder before clearing her throat. "Anyways!" she blurts out. "Asia, has Rias invited you to the ORC yet?"

I sit back and try not to look as smug as I feel. Her Affection is at 82, and I've been hitting her with [Erotic Dreams] nearly every night since I started the training camp for Rias. I skipped a couple so it would seem more random and less likely to be unnatural, but the idea of us together should be firmly in her head by this point.

"No, she has not, why?" Asia asks.

"One of the benefits of having our clubs is that we can use club activities as an excuse for supernatural business," Sona explains, calming down now that the subject has been changed. "Previously, this has been limited to just our Peerages, but since Axton's arrival, I've decided that that isn't strictly necessary. And so, since Rias hasn't invited you yet, I'd like to invite you to join the Student Council."

"Me?" Asia asks, shocked. "But I just got here, I don't know anything about what the Student Council does."

"I'm aware," Sona says. "But I'm not worried. Consider it a learning experience. You'll join as an assistant, and you'll merely help everyone else out until we find something you excel at. Or maybe we'll find that supporting others is what you're best suited for, either one would be fine."

"It's also a really good way to get the Japanese school experience," I add. "Joining the Student Council will get you involved with most aspects of school life."

Asia hesitates, but I can tell that she's tempted. "And you're part of the Student Council too?" she asks.

"I'm currently part of both the Student Council and the ORC," I answer. "So I'll be here sometimes, but not all the time."

Asia goes quiet, thinking about it, but I feel her determination rising. "Okay, I'll do it. I'll join."

"Excellent," Sona says. "We're happy to have you."

As they start discussing the details of what Asia would be doing as part of the Student Council, my mind wanders to all of the other things I need to take care of. I'm glad Asia now has something to do after school, but this week away has left me with a pile of stuff to take care of. All of it worth it in the end, but it's a lot to juggle.

Hmm. There is something I can do to help me manage it though, and it's even one of the items on my list. I'll take care of it tonight, right when we get home. The sooner, the better.

An hour later, Asia and I are back at my home. The others all went back to their own homes. As much as I'd like to have all of my girls move in with me and spend every night with me, they have their own families and homes. Still, I'd like to get as many of them as possible here. Another long-term project to throw on the pile.

As we arrive back home, I find Wilhelm with [Void Detect] and use [Sound Domain] to ask him to meet me in the basement, where I lead Asia as well.

There are a few entrances scattered through the house to the subfloors of the mansion. There aren't many floors beneath the house. Most of it is, well, a shelter. The entire thing is reinforced enough, according to Serafall, to "withstand the barrage of a Super Class Devil". There are storage closets filled with canned food, water, cots, medical supplies, and anything else that would be needed in an emergency.

But the bulk of it is a singular massive room that Serafall called a training room. It's reinforced from the inside and the outside to be highly resistant to damage and Serafall said it was intended to be used to train without worrying about damaging it.

That being said, there's a slight score on one wall from where I tested it with a [Void Beam]. I'm not sure if the attack just did so much damage it surpassed the defenses, or if it bypassed some of them, but either way, it's still not suitable for practicing my Void attacks. But I'm sure I'll get plenty of use out of it anyways.

Like now, when I'm about to use one of my companion gems. I know Wilhelm said that future me had told him that no one was summoned against their will, but he also said I might have to negotiate with them. And if negotiations go poorly and a fight breaks out, I'd rather it happen in the room meant for fighting.

All that being said, I don't anticipate trouble here. But then again, I don't know the person I plan on summoning very well. Still, I'm just trying to be cautious where I can. I'd ask Asia to stay behind, but her presence might keep things calm, and if the person is summoned injured, she's a better quick healing option than my potions.

Asia and I meet Wilhelm in the training room, and I explain what I'm doing.

"Wilhelm already knows this, but Asia, I'm going to let you in on a secret," I explain. "One of the types of items I can get is a gem that will summon specific individuals from other worlds."

Asia's brow furrowed. "Like from the dungeons?"

I shake my head. "No, from worlds like ours, maybe even down to its geography, but they have different people, different factions, even different abilities. There are an infinite number of them out there. Wilhelm is from one of those worlds, and I summoned him with an item like I'm about to use."

Asia's eyes widen as she looks at him. "So when you said you called him…" she started.

"Called is not an inaccurate term for it," Wilhelm says. "From my world, a voice called to me and asked if I wished for a chance to visit another place. Due to various circumstances, I was expecting this call, and I gladly accepted."

I shoot Wilhelm a grateful look for not getting into the whole time travel thing. That would just make this more confusing for Asia.

"He comes from a world where the countries, the races, the magic, and the religions are all very different," I explain.

"Religions?" she asks. "Is...is there a God in your world?"

"There is a divine being that many from my home worship and there were some vile curs that worshipped the Witches. But neither are equivalent to what or how you worship," Wilhelm explains. "I only learned of Christianity after arriving here and doing some studying of this world. We do not have anything like that in our world."

"I see," she says a bit sadly. Her emotions are a bit mixed, part disappointment and part relief. I put a hand and her head comfortingly, and I feel her mood lift as she smiles up at me.

"Due to certain circumstances related to my abilities, I've 'seen' a lot of these different worlds," I explain. "So I know a lot about them." She nods in understanding, accepting the vague explanation at face value. Maxed out Affection scores are great. I take out the Summon Gem for Sakuya Izayoi. "I'll go ahead and use this one then."

I crush the gem, and just like when I summoned Wilhelm, a pillar of light appears in front of me. I can't see inside of it at all, even [Void Detect] just gives me a garbled mess of information, like the area inside is filled with static.

After a moment it fades, revealing Sakuya Izayoi inside. She's not very tall, just a couple inches taller than Asia. She has silver braided hair and striking red eyes, and she's dressed in a blue maid uniform with black stockings. I use [Observe] on her to see how strong she is and nearly flinch.

<------>

Sakuya Izayoi

Level: 6,498[0%]

Race: Human

HP: 754,100 (75,410 per minute)

MP: 1,045,900 (104,590 per minute)

SP: 325,500 (32,550 per minute)

CON: 7,541

STR: 3,255

DEX: 8,472

INT: 10,459

WIS: 8,745

CHA: 4,598

LUK: 2,487

<------>

She outclasses even Serafall in almost every stat. This is my first time seeing both a five-digit stat and an MP over a million. How about her more fun stats?

<------>

Sakuya Izayoi

Arousal: Low

Perversion: Low

Affection: 0

Orientation: Bisexual

Fetishes: None

<------>

Hmm. Kind of bland and boring. Bisexual isn't a surprise though, considering the yuri vibes of Touhou. I suppose I should count myself lucky she's bisexual instead of just a lesbian. I can work with this though.

"Hello there Sakuya Izayoi," I greet her. "Thank you for accepting the summons."

<+25 Affection with Sakuya Izayoi>

Nice, that's a good starting amount. And for someone so strong, I very much want to quickly get a high Affection score with her. I'll wait to see if I can get some more Affection with her before I use a Heart Crystal though.

Sakuya curtsies politely in greeting. "For certain reasons, I am currently looking for new employment. Your method of contact was novel, so it piqued my interest."

"I see," I reply. "Well, I'm certainly in need of a skilled maid. I recently come to own this large mansion, and hiring normal maids would be difficult. I'm afraid I don't know much about you or Gensokyo, but you should be familiar with the concepts of other worlds, yes?" She nods. "Right, well this is one such world. And here, the supernatural is also hidden. Hiring mundane maids isn't an option, not unless I could vet each and every one of them. And I could hire from the supernatural factions, but I currently don't have the time to make sure they're not spies."

I shake my head. "I'm sorry, I'm going off on a tangent. In short, hiring new maids and people to assist in the upkeep of this place is tricky to do on short notice. So a maid of your skill would be greatly appreciated. Will you serve as my maid?"

She tilts her head at me. "You've summoned me, but you aren't making demands? Instead, you're asking?"

I shrug. "There's nothing binding you to me or my orders. You've accepted the summon and are here, now, but that's all. You could leave if you wish. I'm not sure how you'd get back to your homeworld, but I'm sure someone like you could find a way, or I could help you given enough time."

Plus, I just saw her stats. There's no way I'm going to try to bully her into anything at all, not when she could kill me a hundred times over before I can blink. Literally, thanks to her ability to stop time. Besides, willing participation based on positive feelings is way safer and more consistent than coercing or intimidating someone to do what you want.

"You won't be alone, for all my talk of not having time to hire help. Wilhelm here is the Head Butler, and I trust him. In the next couple of days, I'll be getting a few more helping hands as well. It also helps that, as of right now, the only three people living in this house full time are Asia, Kyu, and myself" I wrap an arm around Asia's shoulders. "This is Asia by the way. One of my lovers and healer extraordinaire."

Asia blushes at the praise. "It's nice to meet you," Asia says while ducking her head.

"Kyu is a fairy with pink hair. She's a little shy, but you'll probably see her now and then," I explain. "As occupants here increase, so will the workforce. What I'm offering you is the position of the Head Maid, to work alongside Wilhelm as my Head Butler. I don't think I could find a maid more qualified than you, and some of the new hands I get will be inexperienced and will need training and supervision."

"I see," she replies. "Very well, I'll agree to serve you as your Head Maid. On one condition."

"Name it," I say, a little nervous. I have no idea what sort of condition or price she'll be interested in. I know too little about her.

"I will only serve as your maid," she states firmly. "I will clean up your messes around this home, but not the ones outside of it. I will not fight your battles or take care of your enemies. I am not a fighter or an assassin or a thug. I will defend this home and its occupants, but I will be a maid, not a soldier."

"That's perfectly acceptable," I respond immediately, though in truth my feelings are mixed. Someone with such high stats would make a lot of issues coming in the near future practically irrelevant. And I could breeze through dungeons and do some real power leveling.

But on the other hand, not only is that one of the easiest things she could have requested, I also don't want to rely solely on a powerful ally. I'm not some hot-headed shounen protagonist, even if I have my moments of poor decision-making. But I am a Gamer, and no self-respecting Gamer is going to sit back and rely on someone else's strength. Making strong allies is one thing. Relying on them alone to do the heavy lifting without me doing anything? Absolutely not.

"Defending my home and the people I care about within it is already more than enough to lift a burden off of my shoulders," I continue.

<+7 Affection with Sakuya Izayoi>

"In that case, I look forward to serving you Master…?" she trails off, looking at me questioningly. Ah, right.

"I'm sorry, I guess I failed to introduce myself," I say. "My name is Axton Smith, but feel free to call me anything except Smith."

"Master Axton then," she replies. "Is there anything in particular you require of me?"

"For your general duties, coordinate with Wilhelm here about what needs to be done," I reply. "Divide the work between the two of you based on your preferences and skills." An idea strikes me. "But there is one responsibility that I'd like to ask you to take on, and that is waking me up. Every weekday I have to be up at a certain time to go to school. If you could wake me up every morning at that time with a breakfast prepared, it would be appreciated."

She nods, accepting it. "Very well Master Axton," she says. "Is there anything else?"

"Nothing from me personally, unless you have any questions?" She shakes her head. "In that case, I'll leave you to Wilhelm to help catch you up." I turn to him. "Feel free to tell her about my current abilities and the state of things."

"Understood, I will handle it from here," he says, one hand over his chest.

The two of them start talking while walking out of the training area. As they walk away, Asia speaks up. "She looks a lot like that woman that was with Rias's brother at the Rating Game," she comments.

"Grayfia?" I ask, and Asia nods. "Yep, they're practically mirror images of each other. Though Sakuya is a little shorter and wears stockings. It's going to be interesting when they meet."

"They're not related, are they?" Asia asks. "I mean, she's from a different world, there's no way they can be."

"They're not," I confirm. "But the fact that she's from a different world is a secret, so explaining things might be a little difficult." I shrug. "Doesn't matter though, we'll figure that out when we get there." Asia nods in understanding.

"In the meantime, there's a part of the house I want to show you," I continue. Grabbing her by the hand, I pull her forwards and [Void Travel] to an area behind the house. "Welcome to the greenhouse!" I say.

The building in front of me is indeed a greenhouse, with emphasis on 'house', because it's the size of one. It's larger than my entire old apartment twice over. And inside is plenty of equipment and subsections that can each be controlled at a different state. Perfect for growing my own special plants.

Asia's eyes widen. "Wow, it's so big!"

"You liked tending to the plants back in my apartment, right?" I ask her.

She nods. "It's relaxing and I like seeing them grow up so fast and healthy," she confirms.

"Well then, I hope you like upgrading from some pots in front of a window to this, because I'll leave this entire greenhouse to you," I tell her. "I have some magical plants that need special care, and I'd appreciate it if you could help grow those for me to use in my potions."

"I'd love to!" she replies, beaming up at me. We enter the greenhouse together, and the first thing we see is a small entry. On one wall is a map on a whiteboard with an erasable marker next to it. I guess so you could designate each room with what's in there? On another wall is a row of aprons and various farming tools.

Asia's eyes sparkle and she immediately starts putting on an apron. I laugh, and pull a mixture of seeds and plants from my inventory, putting them in a nearby container. "I can see you're raring to go, so I'll leave you to it. I'll be nearby doing some work of my own, just shout for me if you need me. I'll keep an ear out for you."

"Okay!" she responds cheerily, and I leave the greenhouse. With her having [Dryad's Aura], I should be set for all the magical plants I need for my [Alchemy]. Speaking of [Alchemy], I should get some of that done soon. But first, there's something I've put off for a while that I need to take care of.

I [Void Travel] to the warehouse I butchered the Ender Dragon in. It's not empty anymore. Instead, the Orbiter is sitting there. I moved it with another Soul empowered [Void Travel] a few hours after I brought it to this world before I left to go watch Rias's Rating Game. This warehouse is locked, and only Wilhelm has the key, so I'm not too worried about it being here.

Still, now that I have some time and no pressing concerns, I can investigate it more thoroughly. I've left it alone long enough as is. I activate [Void Detect] to see what I'm working with.

Two things immediately stand out. First, that as far as I can tell, the outside of the ship is unblemished. I can't even find a hole where air would be leaking out of, but it's a little hard to tell due to the second thing I noticed. Which is that there's some level of space fuckery going on. If I'm sensing this right, the inside of the Orbiter is bigger than the outside. Not by a lot, but enough that it's noticeable.

Thankfully [Void Detect] doesn't have issues with that level of spatial manipulation. And after I make certain that the outside is undamaged, I step inside with a quick [Void Travel]. Who needs walking when you can teleport? Not that there's a way to enter the ship otherwise. At least, not one I could recognize. The only entrance I could find was also the connection between the Orbiter and the landing craft, which was the standard arrowhead-shaped Liset. As I arrive inside, I also note that the Liset is untouched.

The inside of the ship definitely isn't though. I've already seen it, but the inside is pretty damaged. The fighting must have been fierce. I'm no forensic analyst, so I couldn't recreate the actual fight just based on this evidence. But very few parts of the ship are unscathed.

In fact, as I walk through with [Void Detect] active, I realize only one is. Down past the arsenal, on the opposite side of the Tenno's personal quarters, there's a door that leads to a special room, one I had forgotten about before now.

I hadn't checked it last time due to following the signs of fighting, which go down the other side of the ship. But now I stepped up to the door. The ship seems to still have power, at least enough for some lighting and door operation. And as the door opens, I look into a room and confirm what [Void Detect] already told me, an empty room

It's not completely empty. In the center is a chair with a robotic arm ending with surgical equipment, and in the back is a tank. But the room is clean, and it's definitely not supposed to be.

If the Orokin were good at anything, it was making weapons that turned against them. The Tenno were one of those, alongside the Sentients. But one of their more versatile creations was the Infestation.

The Infestation is a biomechanical pathogen capable of converting flesh and robotics to more of its own kind. The name is pretty on the nose, it infested things and took them over, and added them to its hivemind.

Honestly, it's basically just a rip-off of Flood from Halo, but with more colors and it works on robotics as well.

The Infestation is pretty versatile though, and there are a couple of strains of it. One of them is the Helminth strain, and that strain was responsible for the creation of the original Warframes. By infecting soldiers with the Helminth, they would be twisted into far more powerful biomechanical beings capable of amazing things. However, the experience also drove them insane.

That is until the Tenno came along. The Tenno could connect to the turned soldiers, control them, calm them down. And so, the Tenno become operators of the Warframes.

It's not clear if every Warframe is a converted person. Gameplay versus lore made it difficult to tell how certain things worked out. My money was on no, that the original Warframes were scanned and replicated in a way that could be built instead.

But either way, the Helminth's role in the Warframe didn't end with just creating them. It also extended to managing them, repairing them, and modifying them. And so, every Tenno had a sample of the Helminth aboard their ship, locked away in a special room.

The Helminth wasn't as hostile as the other strains of the Infestation and was even beneficial. And as I looked around the room, looking for any sign of it, I couldn't decide if that was the only thing keeping me from panicking, or if it ultimately didn't matter.

Because the Helminth is gone. Or rather, it's not here. And I have no idea when it disappeared.

When I arrived on the ship, while it was floating in the Void, I didn't investigate this area at all. I didn't go near it and I had [Void Detect] because of the sensory overload. And when I was spreading my soul through the ship, I have no idea if it was there then. I was more focused on the hull of the ship, on grabbing as much of it as I could. And when I arrived back in this world, I didn't think to check then either.

Hell, it took me seeing the door to even register that it was something that needed checking. It wasn't an aspect of the game I ever really interacted with. But this isn't a game, not in the sense that it is restricted in its mechanics by whatever the developers add. It's a super-advanced biomechanical weapon with a mind of its own.

But the question is, did it make it to DxD? It's not unreasonable to think that it died long before I stepped onto the Orbiter. How many years did it spend in the Void? I'm not sure what sustained the Helminth, but I doubt it could get it in the Void. But if it died, wouldn't the 'corpse', for lack of a better word, still be here?

I'm looking all around the ship and finding nothing, but a possible answer presents itself to me. Self-cannibalization. It could have definitely eaten itself, slowly staving off starvation that way, leaving behind just the barest speck that eroded to dust on its death.

I grimace. Or at least, it theoretically could have done that. I don't know enough about the Helminth to say how possible that is.

Okay, so let's say it was alive when I brought it back. Where is it? I've already confirmed that there are no holes in the hull, and the only way into the Orbiter is through the landing craft connection. I've checked every inch of the Orbiter and the landing craft and it's not anywhere in either of them.

Could it have opened a hatch or something I don't know about? I didn't get the impression it was that mobile though. Or mobile at all. Or that it would have a reason to escape.

I shake my head. No, there's no way for it to have gotten out, and it doesn't have a motive. It must have died before I got there, nothing else makes sense. It was scary for a moment, having something like that missing, but no, there's nothing to worry about.

Too bad it's missing though. There are so many broken Warframe parts that I'm not sure I can fix without the help of the Helminth. Oh well, I have at least one intact Warframe, and I'll figure out something to do with the parts.

Speaking of which. I go around and collect all of the Warframe parts, scooping them into my inventory. As I do so, I also go around and check each piece of equipment. Most of them are fucked, with massive gashes in them rendering them inoperable. If I had to guess, it was done by Nidhogg, the greatsword I picked up from here. The damage looks deliberate, and there are very few bullet holes in them. Sabotage by the attacker?

The only things unscathed are the Helminth room and the Transference room. The Transference room, the room that had contained the Tenno's corpse, has some minor damage, but not much was in here in the first place besides the transference chair, or throne, or chamber, or whatever it's called. The white root-like material that led to it is untouched as well. I consider getting a sample but decide to hold off for now. I can always mess around with it later, and I don't know what messing with it now will do.

But none of the equipment responsible for maintaining, storing, or modifying the weaponry works at all, and neither do the navigation systems. Even the radio is busted.

It's a little strange that I can't find where the weapons are stored with [Void Detect], but I suspect that there's something extra-dimensional happening. There's a spatial warping in the walls to make the inside larger than the outside, and it's not impossible for it to also lead to a sort of pocket space where everything is stored.

So to access them, I'll either need spatial manipulation skills, which would be risky, or I need to repair the Orbiter, which will be difficult, but safer. The question is, how to do it.

My options are to develop the skills for it myself, find an item that can do it, or find someone smart enough to figure it out.

The first would be time-consuming. I would most likely have to obtain [Blacksmithing], max it out, and then max out who knows how many other skills until I can unlock a mechanical skill good enough to repair this.

The second would be relying on luck and waiting for a good item, if it even existed. A quick scroll through the Hunie store didn't bring up any items that could work.

The third method made me uneasy. In terms of people in DxD who are potentially up to the task, only two names come to mind. Ajuka Beelzebub, and maybe Azazel. Azazel is more of a Sacred Gear focused researcher, but he has a few mad scientist-like devices unrelated to Sacred Gears, so it's possible he could manage it.

I'm hesitant to allow either of them access to this though. Mostly because I don't want to answer questions about where it came from or who made it. But also because I'm not sure I want either of them learning how to make Orokin level technology.

Sure, I'm allied with the Devils, and I'm working on my relationship with the Fallen, but I don't want anyone making Orokin technology. Call me paranoid, but my gut tells me that there's no way that doesn't end poorly.

I sigh. I'll have to leave it for now then. Maybe I'll get lucky and I'll jump to a world with a genius I feel like I can trust, one that's not the leader of an entire Faction of people and won't be tempted to use what they learn to equip an army. Not that I think Ajuka or Azazel would do that. But the paranoia that they might is something I can't shake.

Satisfied that I've gleaned all I can from the Orbiter, I leave the ship and head back into the house.

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